Banyun (Banyum), Nyun, or Bainouk, is a

Senegambian The Senegambia (other names: Senegambia region or Senegambian zone,Barry, Boubacar, ''Senegambia and the Atlantic Slave Trade'', (Editors: David Anderson, Carolyn Brown; trans. Ayi Kwei Armah; contributors: David Anderson, American Council of Le ...

language group of around 8 closely related languages in

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

and

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

. Spellings are ''Bagnoun, Banhum, Banyung'' and ''Bainuk, Banyuk''; other names are ''Elomay ~ Elunay''; for the Gunyaamolo variety ''Ñuñ'' or ''Nyamone'', and for Gunyuño ''Guñuun'' or ''Samik''.Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices The language is referred to as ''gu-jaaxər'' by its speakers.Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. See

Baïnounk Gubëeher Baïnounk Gubëeher is a minority language of Senegal, whose speakers are concentrated in Djibonker, Casamance Casamance is the area of Senegal south of the Gambia, including the Casamance River. It consists of the Lower Casamance (, —i.e. ...

for the phonology of a Banyun language.

Varieties

There are three varieties of Banyun: Baïnouk-gunyaamolo, Baïnouk Samik, and Baïnouk gunyuño. * Bainouk-Gunyaamolo is spoken by 30,000 people in 2013. It is spoken in the northern Casamance River area, within a triangle formed by the towns of Bignona, Tobor and Niamone or north of

Ziguinchor Ziguinchor (; ; ) is the capital of the Ziguinchor Region, and the chief town of the Casamance area of Senegal, lying at the mouth of the Casamance River. It has a population of 214,874 (2023 census). It is the eighth largest city of Senegal ...

. It is also spoken in Gambia. * Baïnouk-Samik is spoken by 1,850 people in 2006. It is found mainly on the left bank of the Casamance River, around Samik and surrounding villages, approximately 20 km east of Ziguinchor. * Baïnouk-Gunyuño (Bainounk-Gujaher) is spoken by 8,860 people in 2006. It is found in the region of Cacheu and near São Domingos in Guinea-Bissau.

References

Senegambian languages Languages of Senegal Languages of Guinea-Bissau {{Senegal-stub