Zialo (

self-identification In the psychology of self, one's self-concept (also called self-construction, self-identity, self-perspective or self-structure) is a collection of beliefs about oneself. Generally, self-concept embodies the answer to the question ''"Who am I? ...

''Ziolo'') is a language spoken by the

Zialo people The Zialo are an ethnic group of Guinea. It is also the language traditionally spoken by these people. People Population is estimated at 25,000 Language Zialo is a Southwestern Mande language The Mande languages are spoken in several coun ...

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

. The language of Zialo which belongs to the Southwestern group of the

Mande Mande may refer to: * Mandé peoples of western Africa * Mande languages * Manding, a term covering a subgroup of Mande peoples, and sometimes used for one of them, Mandinka * Garo people of northeastern India and northern Bangladesh * Mande River ...

branch of the Niger–Congo language family is spoken by approximately 25,000 people residing in the province of

Macenta Geography Macenta is the capital of the Macenta Prefecture in southeastern Guinea is located in the Guinea Highlands (at ) on the road from Nzérékoré to Guéckédou. The Nianda River joins the Makonda River near Macenta. Macenta is also loca ...

in the southeast of Guinea. The Zialo area covers over 50 villages (including two centers of subprefectures). Nearly a third of all Zialo live now in the nearby towns of

and

Guéckédou Guéckédou or Guékédou is a town in southern Guinea near the Sierra Leone and Liberian borders. It had a population of 79,140 in 1996 (census) but has grown massively since the civil wars and, , it is estimated to be 221,715. It was a centre o ...

, as well as in the city of

Conakry Conakry (; ; sus, Kɔnakiri; N’ko: ߞߐߣߊߞߙߌ߫, Fula: ''Konaakiri'' 𞤑𞤮𞤲𞤢𞥄𞤳𞤭𞤪𞤭) is the capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its p ...

. The Zialo language does not have its own writing system; people use French in all official paperwork. Zialo was recognized as a distinct language and studied by the Moscow-based linguist , member of th
Russian Linguistic Expedition
to Guinea, in January–February 2010. Before that, Zialo was considered a remote dialect of the language of

Loma Loma may refer to: Geography United States * Loma, Colorado * Loma, Montana * Loma, Nebraska * Loma, North Dakota Other countries * Loma, Ladakh, a town in Ladakh, India * Loma (woreda), a district in Southern Nations, Nationalities, and People ...

, however, significant differences were discovered between the two. The tonology and phonetics of Zialo do resemble Loma, but the lexicon and the morphological systems of Zialo are closer to those of Bandi and Mende. Zialo is characterized by the extensive use of nasal vowels and consonants, the wide system of initial consonant alternations, a great number of analytic verbal constructions of time and aspect, and over 15 sets of personal pronouns. Zialo speakers name five major dialects of the language: Bayawa, Wolo-Ziolo, Woyjawa, Kelighigo and Lawolozu, of which the last one seems the most specific. The Zialo probably came to their present location from the south, the present-day territory of

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, as indicated by their legends. Nowadays, the majority of Zialo are Christians; there are also groups of Muslims and animists.

References

External links

* ''Babaev, Kirill''
Zialo: the Newly-Discovered Mande Language of Guinea
München: Lincom, 2011. 260 pp.

The Zialo language on the 'Mande languages' portal
Languages of Guinea Mande languages {{mande-lang-stub