Oti–Volta Languages
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Oti–Volta Languages
The Oti–Volta languages form a subgroup of the Gur languages, comprising about 30 languages of northern Ghana, Benin, and Burkina Faso spoken by twelve million people. The most populous language is Mooré, 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 and ad ...
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Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,878 sq mi). In 2024, the country had an estimated population of approximately 23,286,000. Previously called the Republic of Upper Volta (1958–1984), it was Geographical renaming, renamed Burkina Faso by then-List of heads of state of Burkina Faso, president Thomas Sankara. Its citizens are known as Burkinabes, and its Capital city, capital and largest city is Ouagadougou. The largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso is the Mossi people, who settled the area in the 11th and 13th centuries. They established powerful Mossi Kingdoms, kingdoms such as Ouagadougou, Tenkodogo, and Yatenga. In 1896, it was Colonization, colonized by the French colonial empire, French as part of French West Africa; in 1958, Upper Volta became a self-governing colony wi ...
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Tammari Language
Tammari is a language which is spoken in Benin and Togo. It is also known as Ditammari. The Tammari people, who live in Benin and Togo, mostly speak the language. There are about 47,000 speakers. About half live in Togo, the other half in Benin. Ditammari is one of the Gur languages. There are two versions of the language, Eastern Ditammari and Western Ditammari. Western Ditamari is also called Tamberma or Taberma. Alphabet The tones are indicated using the acute accent (high tone) and grave accent (low tone) on the vowel or the nasal consonant . The nasalization is indicated with the tilde on the vowels . The accent indicating tone can be combined above these vowels. See also * Tamprusi language * Mamprusi language * Kusasi language * Gourmanché language * Berba language * Bariba language * Mòoré * Gurene language References

Oti–Volta languages Languages of Benin Languages of Togo {{gur-lang-stub ...
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Kusaal Language
Kusaal is a Gur language spoken primarily in northern eastern Ghana, and Burkina Faso. It is spoken by about 121,000 people and takes its name from the Kusaal people, or ''Kusasi''. There is a distinctive dialect division between Agole, to the East of the Volta River, and Toende, to the West. Agole has more speakers. The 6-district capital; Bawku West with Zebilla as capital (mainly inhabited by the speakers of Atoende Kusaal) and the rest; Binduri, Bawku, Tempane, Garu and Pusiga districts mostly Agole dialect speakers. The complete Bible translation is in the Agole dialect. Names The general and accepted name for the language is Kusaal. The name Kusasi Is mostly used to refer to the people who speak the language, and it is not accepted by native speakers to refer to the language. Grammar The language is a fairly typical representative of the Western Oti–Volta low-level grouping within Gur, which includes several of the more widely spoken languages of Northern Ghana, a ...
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Kamara Language
Kamara is a Gur language of Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t .... References Oti–Volta languages Languages of Ghana {{gur-lang-stub ...
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Hanga Language
Hanga is a Gur language of Ghana. The people of Hanga are found in the Savannah Region The Savannah Region is one of the newest regions of Ghana and yet the largest region in the country. The creation of the Region follows presentation of a petition by the Gonja Traditional Council, led by the Yagbonwura Tumtumba Boresa Jakpa I ... of Ghana. Example text References Bibliography * Further reading * * Oti–Volta languages Languages of Ghana {{gur-lang-stub ...
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Dagbani Language
Dagbani (or Dagbane), also known as Dagbanli or Dagbanle, is a Gur language spoken in Ghana and Northern Togo. Its native speakers are estimated around 1,170,000. Dagbani is the most widely spoken language in northern Ghana, specifically among the tribes that fall under the authority of the King of Dagbon, known as the '' Yaa-Naa''. Dagbon is a traditional kingdom situated in northern Ghana, and the Yaa-Naa is the paramount chief or king who governs over the various tribes and communities within the Dagbon kingdom. Dagbani is closely related to and mutually intelligible with Mampruli, Nabit, Talni, Kamara, Kantosi, and Hanga, also spoken in Northern, North East, Upper East, and Savannah Regions. It is also similar to the other members of the same subgroup spoken in other regions, including Dagaare and Wali, spoken in Upper West Region of Ghana, along with Frafra and Kusaal, spoken in the Upper East Region of the country. In Togo, Dagbani is spoken in the Savanes Re ...
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Southern Birifor Language
Southern Birifor is a Gur language of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken by about 200,000 people, mainly in Ghana, particularly in Upper West and Northern regions, with perhaps ten thousand in Zanzan district of Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci .... Phonology Vowels Consonants Orthography It is written in this alphabet: Long vowels are written double. References {{reflist Oti–Volta languages Gur languages Languages of Ghana Languages of Ivory Coast ...
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Northern Birifor Language
Northern Birifor or Malba Birifor is a Gur language of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken by a few hundred thousand people, mainly in the southwest of Burkina Faso, particularly in the provinces of Bougouriba, Ioba, Noumbiel and Poni and in western Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci .... Phonology Vowels Consonants Orthography It is written in this alphabet:http://vimeo.com/172854837 Long vowels are written double but without doubling the nasal tilde, e.g. for References {{reflist Oti–Volta languages Gur languages Languages of Burkina Faso Languages of Ivory Coast ...
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Dagaare Language
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 including: Dagbane, Waale, Mabia, Gurene, Mampruli, Kusaal, Buli, Niger-Congo, and many other sub languages resulting in around 1.3 million Dagaare speakers. Throughout the regions of native Dagaare speakers the dialect comes from Northern, Central, Western, and Southern areas referring to the language differently. Burkina Faso refers to Dagaare as Dagara and Birifor to natives in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire. The native tongue is still universally known as Dagaare. Amongst the different dialects, the standard for Dagaare is derived from the Central region's dialect. Southern Dagaare (or Waale) also stems from the Dagaare language and is known to be commonly spoken in Wa and Kaleo. ''Ethnologue'' divides Dagaare into three ...
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Wali Language (Gur)
Wali (Waale, Waalii) is a Mabia or Gur language of Ghana that is spoken mainly in and nearby the town of Wa, the capital town of the Upper West Region, Ghana. In the Upper West Region, there are two predominant ethnic groups, the Mole Dagbon (75.7%) and the Grusi (18.4%). The Wala (16.3%) of the Mole Dagbon and the Sissala (16%) of the Grusi are the major subgroupings in the region. The people of Wa are believed to have migrated from The Ancient Mali to settle in today's Wa, the western part of the Upper Region of Ghana. Orthography Wali is written in the Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from â ... using three orthographies: by the Ghana Institute of Languages, by the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), and by the ...
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Safaliba Language
Safaliba is a Gur language of Ghana. A recent project has developed a writing system for the language in order to enable its use in adult education and early school instruction. The Safaliba writing system is based on the work (1996) of Edmund Kuŋi Yakubu, a Safaliba teacher and activist; a few changes in that system were made by Paul and Jennifer Schaefer, based on their phonological work, but the writing system for the most part stayed the same. Safaliba audio recordings have been documented, transcribed, and discussed in Sherris, Schaefer, and Aworo (2018). Sherris, A., Schaefer, P., & Aworo, S. M. (2018). The paradox of translanguaging in Safaliba: A rural indigenous Ghanaian language. In A. Sherris and E. Adami (Eds.), Making Signs, Translanguaging Ethnographies: Exploring Urban, Rural, and Educational Spaces, pp. 152-169. Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters. A social media page on Safaliba literacy activism in Mandari, Ghana, can be found athis link References

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