Dagaare language

Dagaare
Native to	Ghana, Burkina Faso
Ethnicity	Dagaaba people
Native speakers	1.1 million (2001–2003)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Gur Northern Oti–Volta Moré–Dagbani Moré Dagaare
Writing system	Latin (Dagaare alphabet) Dagaare Braille
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Variously: dga – Southern Dagaare dgd – Dagaari Dioula dgi – Northern Dagara
Glottolog	sout2789  Central Dagaare daga1272  Dagaari Dioula nort2780  Northern Dagara
Majority areas of Northern Dagara speakers, in red, on a map of Burkina Faso.

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.

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:

Vowels

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

Consonants

		Bilabial	Labio- dental	Alveolar	Post- Alveolar	Palatal	Labio- velar	Velar	Glottal
Stop	voiceless	p		t				k	ʔ
	voiced	b		d				ɡ
Affricate	voiceless				t͡ɕ		k͡p
	voiced				d͡ʑ		ɡ͡b
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].

External links

• Alphabet and pronunciation at Omniglot
• Bodomo, Adams, "The Dagaare language and its speakers: Introduction"
• PanAfriL10n page on Dagaare
• Bibliography of Dagaare Studies
• Journal of Dagaare Studies
• Database of audio recordings in Dagara - basic Catholic prayers