Bissa (or Bisa (singular), Bisan, Bissanno (plural)), is a

Mande Mande may refer to: * Mandé peoples of western Africa * Mande languages, their Niger-Congo languages * Manding languages, Manding, a term covering a subgroup of Mande peoples, and sometimes used for one of them, Mandinka people, Mandinka * Garo p ...

ethnic group of south-central

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 (105,87 ...

, northeastern

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 ...

and the northernmost tip of

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

. Their language, Bissa, is a

Mande language The Mande languages are a family of languages spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples. They include Maninka (Malinke), Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Jula (Dioula), Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are aro ...

that is related to, but not the same as, a cluster of languages in the old

Borgu Borgu is a region and former country split between north-west Nigeria and the northern Republic of Benin. It was partitioned between British Empire, Great Britain and France by the Anglo-French Convention of 1898. People of Borgu are known as B ...

Kingdom area of Northeast

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

and Northwest

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, including Busa, Boko, and Kyenga. An alternate name for the Bissa is Busansi which is used by the

Mossi people The Mossi or Mosi are a Gur languages, Gur ethnic group native to modern Burkina Faso, primarily the Volta River basin. The Mossi are the largest ethnic group in Burkina Faso, constituting 52% of the population, or about 11.1 million people. The ...

and Kusasi people or Busanga.

Names

The name is usually spelled Bissa. It can also be spelled Bisa, and the name in the

Mossi language Mossi may refer to: * Mossi people * Mossi language * Mossi Kingdoms * the Mossi, a Burkinabe variant of the Dongola horse * Mossi (given name) * Mossi (surname) *Mossi, a French fashion label founded by Mossi Traoré See also * Mossie (disambig ...

is Busansi (Singular) or Busanga (Plural); This should not be confused with the Bisa language of Zambia or the Busa language of Nigeria and Benin.

Geographic distribution

In Burkina Faso, Bissa is spoken in Boulgou, Koulpélogo, and Kouritenga Provinces of the

Centre-Est Region Centre-Est (, "East Central") is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative Regions of Burkina Faso, regions. The population of Centre-Est was 1,578,075 in 2019. The region's capital is Tenkodogo. Three Provinces of Burkina Faso, provinces (Boulgou, ...

, in Bazaga and Zoundwéogo Provinces of the Centre–Sud Region ( Garango, Gomboussougou, Zabré, and

Tenkodogo Tenkodogo is a town in southeastern Burkina Faso. It serves as the capital city of Boulgou Province and the Centre-Est Region of Burkina Faso with a population of 61,936 (2019). Tenkodogo was also the capital of the historic Tenkodogo Mossi Kingdo ...

Cities), and in the Boudry Department of Ganzargou Province of the

Plateau-Central Region Plateau-Central (, "Central Plateau") is one of Burkina Faso's 13 administrative regions. It was created on 2 July 2001 and had a population of 977,510 in 2019. The region's capital is Ziniaré. Three provinces make up the region— Ganzourgou, ...

. In Ghana, Bissa is spoken in

Bawku Municipal District Bawku Municipal District is one of the fifteen districts in Upper East Region, Ghana. Originally created as an ordinary district assembly in 1988 when it was known as Bawku East District; which was established by Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 143 ...

of the

Upper East Region The Upper East Region is located in the northern part of Ghana and it is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers, or 2.7% of the total land area of Ghana. The reg ...

. In Togo, Bissa is spoken in

Tône Prefecture Tône is a prefecture located in the Savanes Region of Togo. The prefecture covers 1,210 km2, with a population in 2022 of 388,775. The prefecture seat is located in Dapaong. The cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a ...

of the Savanes Region. There are also some Bissa speakers in Ivory Coast.

Classification

Bissa language is the most populous of the

Mande languages The Mande languages are a family of languages spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples. They include Maninka (Malinke), Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Jula (Dioula), Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are ar ...

of Ghana and Togo. It is part of the Eastern Mande group, which also includes several other languages spoken across the

Volta River The Volta River (, , ) is the main Drainage system (geomorphology), river system in the West African country of Ghana. It flows south into Ghana from the Bobo-Dioulasso Department, Bobo-Dioulasso highlands of Burkina Faso. The three main part ...

and the

Kingdom, including Boko, Busa,

Samo Samo (–) was the founder and sole ruler of the first recorded political union of Slavs, Slavic tribes, known as Samo's Empire ("realm", "kingdom", or "tribal union"), ruling from 623 until his death in 658. According to Fredegarius, the only ...

, and Bokobaru.

Dialects

Bissa has three dialect: #Barka or Baraka (also known as Eastern Bissa) #Lebir or Zeba (also known as Western Bissa) #Lere (also known as Northern Bissa) The most widely spoken dialects of Bissa are Barka and Lebir. To the East the Bissa people speak Barka/Baraka. To The West people speak Lebir/Zeba. To the North the Lere dialect is used. To the South, there is no specifics dialect.

Phonology

Vowels

Consonants

Writing system

High tone is marked with an

acute accent The acute accent (), , is a diacritic used in many modern written languages with alphabets based on the Latin alphabet, Latin, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic, and Greek alphabet, Greek scripts. For the most commonly encountered uses of the accen ...

and low tone is marked with a

grave accent The grave accent () ( or ) is a diacritical mark used to varying degrees in French, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Catalan and many other Western European languages as well as for a few unusual uses in English. It is also used in other ...

. The following is the alphabet of the Lere and Lebir dialects of Bissa: The following is the alphabet of the Barka dialect of Bissa:

Comparison of dialects

Lere phrases

* Good morning: ''Domireh ki'' (Response: Domireh zain) * Good afternoon: ''Sundareh ki'' (Response: Sundareh zain) * Good evening/night: ''Yirbaa ki'' (Response: Yirbaa zain) * Thank you: ''Barka'' * Good: ''Minga'' * Come: ''Bur'' * Go: ''Ta'' * You're welcome: ''An barka boi'' * I love you: ''Moi wam''

The Busa and Boko peoples of Benin and Nigeria

The Busa and Boko peoples, two subgroups of the Bissa people, live in Northwestern

and Northern

near

in the Nigerian States of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

, Kebbi and Kwara (mostly Bokobaru subgroup) and in the Beninese Departments of Alibori and Borgou. They speak Busa (also known as Bisã) and Boko (also known as Boo). This peoples are referred to as Bussawa in

Hausa Hausa may refer to: * Hausa people, an ethnic group of West Africa * Hausa language, spoken in West Africa * Hausa Kingdoms, a historical collection of Hausa city-states * Hausa (horse) or Dongola horse, an African breed of riding horse See also ...

References

Sources

* , the SIL entry direct towards {{Authority control Mande languages Languages of Burkina Faso Languages of Ghana Languages of Togo Languages of Ivory Coast