Kulango is a Niger–Congo language of

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

and across the border in

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. It is one of the

Kulango languages The Kulango or Kulango–Lorhon languages are spoken principally in Ivory Coast. They were once classified as part of an expanded Gur languages, Gur (Voltaic) family and are now part of the Savanna languages, Savannas proposal. The languages dist ...

, and it may be classified as 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 ...

. There are two principal varieties, distinct enough to be considered separate languages: the Kulango of

Bondoukou Bondoukou (var. Bonduku, Bontuku) is a city in northeastern Ivory Coast, 420 km northeast of Abidjan. It is the seat of both Zanzan District and Gontougo Region. It is also a commune and the seat of and a sub-prefecture of Bondoukou Departm ...

(Bonduku) also known as Goutougo locally, and that of Bouna (Buna). ''Ethnologue'' reports that Bouna-dialect speakers understand Bondoukou, but not the reverse. Bouna, in addition, has subdialects ''Sekwa'' and ''Nabanj''. In Ghana, the principal towns in which the language is spoken are Badu and

Seikwa Seikwa is a town located in Tain District, in Bono region (formerly Brong Ahafo), Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, both in the

Tain District Tain District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Wenchi District on 10 March 1989; until the western part of the district was split off to create Tain District on 12 November ...

, and

Buni Buni ( ur, ; also spelled Booni) is a town and the headquarters of Upper Chitral District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Demography The residents of Buni are Kho people, Khos, and they speak Khowar language, Khowar which is spoken and understoo ...

in the

Jaman North district Jaman North District is one of the twelve districts in Bono Region, Ghana. Originally it was formerly part of the then-larger Jaman District on 10 March 1989, which was created from the former Berekum-Jaman District Council, until part of the d ...

, all in the

Bono region The Bono region is one of the 16 administrative regions of Ghana. It is as a result of the remainder of Brong-Ahafo region when Bono East region and Ahafo region were created. Sunyani, also known as the green city of Ghana, is the regional capit ...

of Ghana. In addition, there are smaller towns and Villages closer to

Wenchi Wenchi is a town and is the capital of Wenchi Municipal of the Bono Region in middle-belt of Ghana. Wenchi is located at 7.73333 atitude in decimal degrees -2.1 ongitude in decimal degreesat an average elevation/altitude of 304 meters. We ...

in the Bono region and

Techiman Techiman is a city and is the capital of Techiman Municipal and Bono East Region of Ghana. Techiman is a leading market town in South Ghana. Techiman is one of the two major cities and settlements of Bono East region. Techiman is home to West ...

in the

Bono east region The Bono East region of Ghana is a new region carved out of the Brong Ahafo region. The capital of the new region is Techiman. This creation of this new region was in fulfillment of a promise made by the New Patriotic Party prior to the 2016 Gha ...

where this language is spoken. Among these are Asubingya (Asubinja) and Nkonsia. The Koulango are matrilineal like the Akans and possess similar cultural practices. Variations of the name 'Kulango' include ''Koulango, Kolango, Kulange, Nkorang, Nkurange, Nkoramfo, Nkuraeng,'' and ''Kulamo''; alternative names are ''Lorhon, Ngwela,'' and ''Babé.''James Stuart Olsen, ''The Peoples of Africa: An Ethnohistorical Dictionary'' (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1996; ), p. 311.

References

Kulango languages Languages of Ivory Coast {{gur-lang-stub