Boko, or Boo, is a
Mande language
The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 million ...
of
Benin
Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...
and
Nigeria
Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
.
Names
Boko language can be better known as Boko, but it is also known as Boo or with the Hausa name Busanci (also spelled Busanchi, Bussanci
Or Bussanchi).
One person or speaker is called a Bokoni and more persons/speakers are called Bokona and the language of the Bokona/Bussawa people is called Bokonya.
The Boko people are one of two subgroups of the
Bissa people
Bissa (or Bisa (singular), Bisan, Bissanno (plural)), is a Mande ethnic group of south-central Burkina Faso, northeastern Ghana and the northernmost tip of Togo. Their language, Bissa, is a Mande language that is related to, but not the same a ...
, the other being the Busa people, who speak the
Busa language. They are not a
clan
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...
but a subgroup. They are related to the
Bariba people
The Bariba people, self designation ''Baatonu'' (plural ''Baatombu),'' are the principal inhabitants of Borgou and Alibori Departments, Benin, and cofounders of the Borgu kingdom of what is now northeast Benin and west-central Nigeria. In Niger ...
, who speak the
Bariba language
Bariba, also known as Baatonum (also Baatombu, Baatonu, Barba, Baruba, Berba and a number of various other names and spellings), is the language of the Bariba people of Benin and Nigeria and was the language of the state of Borgu.
It is primari ...
, which is a
Gur language
The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Iv ...
. The Bissa people proper speak the
Bissa language
Bissa (or Bisa (singular), Bisan, Bissanno (plural)), is a Mande ethnic group of south-central Burkina Faso, northeastern Ghana and the northernmost tip of Togo. Their language, Bissa, is a Mande language that is related to, but not the same ...
, which is closely related to Boko.
Geographic distribution
Nigeria
In Nigeria, Boko is spoken in
Borgu
Borgu is a region in north-west Nigeria and in the northern Republic of Benin. It was partitioned between Great Britain and France by the Anglo-French Convention of 1898.
People of Borgu are known as Bariba or Borgawa.
History
According to the ...
LGA of
Niger State
Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was fo ...
, in
Bagudo
Bagudo is a Local Government Area in Kebbi State, Nigeria, sharing a boundary with the Republic of Niger and Republic of Benin. Its headquarters are in the town of Bagudo.
It has an area of 7,782 km and a population of 865,817 at the 2006 ce ...
LGA of
Kebbi State
Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while ...
, and in
Baruten
Baruten is a local government area in the North Central district of Kwara State, Nigeria, sharing a long border with the Republic of Benin. The local government begins in Ilesha Baruba and ends in Chikanda, the border town. Its headquarters is in ...
LGA of
Kwara state
Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...
. A number of Boko have migrated to other parts of Nigeria, including
Abuja
Abuja () is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. Situated at the centre of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), it is a planned city built mainly in the 1980s based on a master plan by International Plann ...
. The Boko people are referred to as Bussawa in Hausa.
Benin
In Benin, Boko is spoken in
Alibori
Alibori is the largest and northernmost department (French: ''département'') of Benin. Externally the department borders the countries of Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria, and internally the departments of Atakora and Borgou. The department of ...
and
Borgou
Borgou is one of the twelve departments of Benin. Borgou borders the country of Nigeria and the departments of Alibori, Atakora, Collines and Donga. The capital of Borgou is Parakou. The department of Borgou was bifurcated in 1999, with its ...
departments (
Segbana and
Kalalé Comunes).
Classification
Boko language is the most populous of the
Mande languages
The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 million ...
of Benin. It is part of the
Eastern Mande group, which also includes several other languages spoken across the
Volta River
The Volta River is the main river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The main parts of the river are the Black Volta, the White Volta, and the Red Volta. In ...
and the
Borgu
Borgu is a region in north-west Nigeria and in the northern Republic of Benin. It was partitioned between Great Britain and France by the Anglo-French Convention of 1898.
People of Borgu are known as Bariba or Borgawa.
History
According to the ...
Kingdom, including
Busa,
Bissa,
Samo
Samo (–) founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire (''realm'', ''kingdom'', or ''tribal union''), stretching from Silesia to present-day Slovakia, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to ...
, and
Bokobaru.
Boko speakers also speak
Busa,
Bariba,
Dendi,
Hausa
Hausa may refer to:
* Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa
* Hausa language, spoken in West Africa
* Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states
* Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse
See also
...
,
Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
,
Fulfulde
Fula ,Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student’s Handbook'', Edinburgh also known as Fulani or Fulah (, , ; Adlam: , , ), is a Senegambian language spoken by around 30 million people as a set of various dialects in a continuum that stre ...
,
French, and
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
Orthography
Boko language has 25 letters (Aa, Bb, Dd, Ee, Ɛɛ, Ff, Gg, Gb gb, Ii, Kk, Kp kp, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Ɔɔ, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Vv, Ww, Yy, Zz).
Nasalised vowels are marked with a
Tilde
The tilde () or , is a grapheme with several uses. The name of the character came into English from Spanish, which in turn came from the Latin '' titulus'', meaning "title" or "superscription". Its primary use is as a diacritic (accent) in ...
.
High tones are marked with an
acute accent
The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin, Cyrillic, and Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accent in the Latin and Greek alphabets, precomposed ch ...
and low tones are marked with a
grave accent
The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian and many other western European languages, as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other languages using t ...
.
References
Mande languages
Languages of Benin
Languages of Nigeria
{{Mande-lang-stub