Dagaare language

Dagaare is the maternal language of the Dagaaba people in Ghana and Burkina Faso. It has been described as a dialect continuum that also includes Waale and Birifor.

Dagaare
Native toGhana, Burkina Faso
EthnicityDagaaba people
Native speakers
1.1 million (2001–2003)[1]
Niger–Congo?
Latin (Dagaare alphabet)
Dagaare Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
dga – Southern Dagaare
dgd – Dagaari Dioula
dgi – Northern Dagara
Glottologsout2789  Central Dagaare
daga1272  Dagaari Dioula
nort2780  Northern Dagara
Majority areas of Northern Dagara speakers, in red, on a map of Burkina Faso.

Ethnologue divides Dagaare into three languages:

  • Southern/Central Dagaare language, which is spoken mainly in Ghana
  • Northern Dagara language, which is spoken mainly in Burkina Faso
  • Dagaari Dioula, which is spoken mainly in Burkina Faso, and has significant influence from the genetically unrelated Dioula language

Phonology

The consonant and vowel sounds in the Dagaare languages:[2]

Vowels
Front Central Back
Close i u
ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Post-
Alveolar		 Palatal Labio-
velar		 Velar Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate		 voiceless p t t͡ɕ k͡p k ʔ
voiced b d d͡ʑ ɡ͡b ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v z
implosive ʼh
Nasal plain m n ɲ ŋ͡m ŋ
implosive ʼm
Lateral plain l
implosive ʼl
Approximant j w

Allophones of /d, ɡ/ include [r, ɣ].[3]

References
  1. Southern Dagaare at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Dagaari Dioula at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Northern Dagara at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Ali M, Grimm S, Ali M (2021). A dictionary and grammatical sketch of Dagaare (pdf). Berlin: Language Science Press. doi:10.5281/zenodo.5154710. ISBN 978-3-98554-002-0.
  3. Bodomo, Adams (1997). The Structure of Dagaare. Stanford University.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.