The Oti–Volta languages form a subgroup of the
Gur languages
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 ...
, comprising about 30 languages of northern Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso spoken by twelve million people. The most populous language is
Mooré
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 ...
, the national language of Burkina Faso, spoken by over 55% of Burkina Faso’s 20 million population and an additional 1 million in neighboring countries such as Ghana, Ivory Coast, Niger, and Mali.
The family is named after the
Oti and
Volta rivers.
Languages
The internal classification of Oti–Volta, as worked out by
Manessy 1975–79 and
Naden 1989 (Williamson & Blench 2000) is as follows:
Native Dagbani speakers assert that Dagbani is mutually intelligible with Dagaare, Frafra, Mamprusi, and Wali, but in the case of Dagaare, Frara and Wali it is rather the case that many people can understand some of a language which is not their mother tongue. These languages are not mutually intelligible with
Mõõré or
Kusaal (a language spoken in
Bawku West District
Bawku West District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988; which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 1442. The municipality is located in the eastern ...
and adjacent areas).
Bodomo (2017)
Bodomo (2017) refers to the Western Oti–Volta group (and also including Buli–Koma) as ''Central Mabia''.
[Naden, Tony. 2021. ''Comparative Dictionary of Central Mabia Languages (Formerly Western Oti-Volta) / Dictionnaire Comparatif Des Langues Mabia-Central (anciennement Western Oti-Volta)''. m.s.] The term ''Mabia'' is a portmanteau of the two lexical innovations ''ma''- 'mother' + ''bia'' 'child'.
The following is a classification of the Central Mabia languages from Bodomo (2017), as cited in Bodomo (2020).
[Bodomo, Adams. 2020.]
Mabia: Its Etymological Genesis, Geographical Spread, and some Salient Genetic Features
" In: Bodomo A., Abubakari H. & Issah, S. 2020. ''Handbook of the Mabia Languages of West Africa''. Galda Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 400 pages, (Print); (E-Book) Bodomo's Central Mabia group consists of 7 subgroups.
*Central Mabia
**Dagaare
***
Dagaare
Dagaare is the language of the Dagaaba people of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. It has been described as a dialect continuum that also includes Waale and Birifor. Dagaare language varies in dialect stemming from other family languages i ...
***
Waale
***
Birifor
***
Safaliba
**North
***
Moore
**Mid-Central
***
Mabiene
***
Nankanè
***
Nabit
Nabit (Nabt), or Nabdem (also ''Nabde, Nabte, Nabdam, Nabdug, Nabrug, Nabnam, Namnam''), is a Gur language of Burkina Faso and Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts t ...
**South
***
Dagbane
***
Mampruli
***
Nanuni
**Kusaal
***
Kusaal
***
Talni
**Buli–Konni
***
Buli
***
Konni
Konni may refer to:
* Konni (dog), Russian President Vladimir Putin's dog (1999-2014)
*Konni, Kerala, a town in Kerala state in India
* Konni (Hausa state), a traditional Hausa state in south central Niger
* Birni-N'Konni (shortened to Konni), a to ...
**Hanga–Kamara
***
Hanga
***
Kamara
See also
*
List of Proto-Oti-Volta reconstructions (Wiktionary)
*
List of Proto-Eastern Oti-Volta reconstructions (Wiktionary)
*
List of Proto-Central Oti-Volta reconstructions (Wiktionary)
Bibliography
*Bodomo, Adams, Hasiyatu Abubakari and Samuel Alhassan Issah (2020). ''Handbook of the Mabia Languages of West Africa''. Glienicke: Galda Verlag. .
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oti-Volta languages
Gur languages
Dagbon