The Mossi language (Mooré) is a Gur language of the Oti–Volta branch and one of two official regional languages of Burkina Faso. It is the language of the Mossi people, spoken by approximately 8 million people in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Mali, Togo and Senegal as a native language, but with many more L2 speakers. Mooré is spoken as a first or second language by over 50% of the Burkinabè population and is the main language in the capital city of Ouagadougou. It is one of the official regional languages in Burkina Faso and is closely related to Dagbani, with which it is mutually intelligible. Mossi is also known as Mòoré, Mooré, Moré, Moshi, Moore or More.

Phonology

The Mooré language consists of the following sounds:Cf. Kabore (1985) : (p.44) for the consonants, (p.85-86) for the vowels.

Consonants

Remark: * The semivowel ''y'' is pronounced (palatal nasal) in front of nasal vowels.

Vowels

Notes: * All vowels (other than and ) can also be nasalized. * All vowels (oral and nasal) can be short or long. * Other linguists include the vowels and ; here, they are analysed as diphthongs, ( is considered to be ea and is considered to be oa).

Orthography

In Burkina Faso, the Mooré alphabet uses the letters specified in the national Burkinabé alphabet.

References

External links

PanAfrican L10n wiki page on MooreDatabase of audio recordings in Mòoré - basic Catholic prayers

Learning materials

* Oti–Volta languages Languages of Burkina Faso Languages of Benin Languages of Ivory Coast Languages of Ghana Languages of Mali Languages of Togo Mossi people {{gur-lang-stub