Busa, or Bisã, is the

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 ...

of the former Borgu Emirate in northwestern

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, ...

and northern

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 ...

. It is called ''Busanci'' 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 ...

, and has also been called ''Zugweya''.

Names

Busa language can be better known as Busa, but it is also known with the native name Bisã or with the Hausa name Busanci (also spelled Busanchi, Bussanci or Bussanchi). This is extremely similar to the Busa language of Papua New Guinea or the related Bissa language of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast. The Mande branch consists of Soninke, Songhai, and Mandika branches that slowly evolved due to slavery. One person or speaker is called a Busa and more persons/speakers are called Busano and the language of the Busano/Bussawa people is called Bisã. The Busa people are one of two subgroups of the

Bissa people The Bissa (or Bisa (singular), Bisan, Bissanno (plural)) are a Mande ethnic group of south-central Burkina Faso, northeastern Ghana and the northernmost tip of Togo. Their language, Bissa, is a Mande language that is related to, but not the sa ...

, the other being the Boko people, who speak the

Boko language Boko, or Boo, is a Mande language of Benin and Nigeria. Names Boko is the best-known name of this language, but it is also known as Boo or by its Hausa exonym Busanci (also spelled Busanchi, Bussanci or Bussanchi). The Boko people are one of ...

. They are not a

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

but a subgroup. They are related to the

Bariba people The Bariba people, self designation ''Baatonu'' (plural ''Baatombu),'' are the principal inhabitants of Borgou Department, Borgou and Alibori Departments, Benin, and cofounders of the Borgu, Borgu kingdom of what is now northeast Benin and west-ce ...

, who speak the Bariba language, which is a

Gur language 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 Ivor ...

. The Bissa people proper speak the Bissa language, which is closely related to Busa.

Geographic distribution

In Nigeria, Busa is spoken in

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 ...

LGA LaGuardia Airport ( ) – colloquially known as LaGuardia or simply LGA – is a civil airport in East Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, situated on the northwestern shore of Long Island, bordering Flushing Bay. Covering , the facility wa ...

Niger State Niger State is a state in the North Central (Nigeria), North Central region of Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kaduna State and the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory, to the north by Kebbi State and Zamfara State, ...

, in Bagudo LGA of

Kebbi State Kebbi State (; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in northwestern Nigeria, bordered to the east and north by the states of Sokoto and Zamfara, and to the south by Niger State while its western border ...

, and in Baruten LGA of

Kwara state Kwara () is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger State, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the international border with Benin. Its ca ...

. A number of Busa have migrated to other parts of Nigeria, including

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

. The Busa people are referred to as Bussawa in Hausa. The Bokobaru dialect also known as Bokhobaru is spoken mainly in Kayama and Baruten LGA's, Kwara state. In Benin, Busa is spoken in Alibori and Borgou departments. The Bokobaru dialect is not spoken in Benin. Busa language is spoken in cities like Bussa, New Bussa, Bagudo, Kosubosu, Kaiama, Segbana, and Kalalé, and Bokobaru is dominant in the city of Kaiama. Bariba, which is a

, is also spoken by the Bussawa.

Classification

Busa 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 Nigeria. 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, Bissa, and

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 ...

. Bokobaru is a dialect.

Usage as a second language

Speakers of Laru and Lopa, which are

Kainji languages The Kainji languages are a group of about 60 related languages spoken in west-central Nigeria. They form part of the Central Nigerian (Platoid) branch of Benue–Congo. Demographics Four of the most widely spoken Kainji languages are Tsuvadi ( ...

, are also speakers of Busa and are shifting and also speak it as a

Second language A second language (L2) is a language spoken in addition to one's first language (L1). A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a foreign language. A speaker's dominant language, which ...

along with the

Hausa language Hausa (; / ; Hausa Ajami, Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken primarily by the Hausa people in the northern parts of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern parts of Niger, and Chad, with significant minorities in Ivory Coas ...

, and some Laru/Lopa speak it as a native language.

Orthography

Busa language has 32 letters (Aa, Ãã, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ɛɛ, Ɛ̃ɛ̃, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Ĩĩ, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Ɔɔ, Ɔ̃ɔ̃, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ũũ, Vv, Ww, Yy, Zz) and 25 digraphs (Aa aa, Ãa ãa, Ee ee, Ẽe ẽe, Ɛɛ ɛɛ, Ɛ̃ɛ ɛ̃ɛ, Gb gb, Ii ii, Ĩi ĩi, Kp kp, Oo oo, Ɔ̃ɔ ɔ̃ɔ, Uu uu, Ũu ũu, gw, mb, mp, nd, ng, nk, ns, nt, nz). High tones are 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 tones are 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 ...

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

Busa uses /a, e, ɛ, i, o, ɔ, u/ with nasalization and length distinction. Length is represented with a double vowel and everything else is written the way it is in the IPA.

References

External links

Alphabet and pronunciation

The New Testament and portions of the Old Testament in the Bokobaru language of Nigeria
Mande languages Languages of Nigeria languages of Benin {{Mande-lang-stub