Mooré, also called More or Mossi, 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 ...

of the Oti–Volta branch and one of four official languages of

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 ...

. It is the language of 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 ...

, spoken by approximately 6.46 million people in

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 ...

, Cote d’Ivoire,

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 ...

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 ...

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

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 ...

, and

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 ...

as a

native language A first language (L1), native language, native tongue, or mother tongue is the first language a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period hypothesis, critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' ...

, but with many more

L2 speakers 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 ...

. Mooré is spoken as a first or second language by over 50% of the Burkinabé population and is the main language in the capital city of

Ouagadougou Ouagadougou or Wagadugu (, , , ) is the capital city of Burkina Faso, and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the List of cities in Burkina Faso#Largest cities, country's largest city, wi ...

. It is closely related to Frafra, and less related

Dagbani 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 ...

Phonology

The Mooré language consists of the following sounds:Cf. Kabore (1985) : (p.44) for the consonants, (p.85-86) for the vowels.

Consonants

Remark: * The semivowel is pronounced (palatal nasal) in front of nasal vowels.

Vowels

Notes: * All vowels (other than and ) can also be nasalized. * All vowels (oral and nasal) can be short or long. * Other linguists include the vowels and ; here, they are analysed as diphthongs, ( is considered to be ea and is considered to be oa).

Orthography

, the Mooré alphabet uses the letters specified in the national Burkinabé alphabet. It can also be written with the newly-devised

Goulsse alphabet The Goulsse alphabet or Gʋlse was created for writing Gur languages of West Africa, originally specifically for Mooré and Kasem. It was developed in 2022 by Wenitte Apiou and Babaguioue Micareme Akouabou of Burkina Faso along with several ot ...

References

External links

PanAfrican L10n wiki page on MooreDatabase of audio recordings in Mòoré - basic Catholic prayers

Learning materials

* Oti–Volta languages Languages of Burkina Faso Languages of Benin Languages of Ivory Coast Languages of Ghana Languages of Mali Languages of Togo Mossi people {{gur-lang-stub