Mossi language
 | A request that this article title be changed to Mooré is under discussion. Please do not move this article until the discussion is closed. |
| Mossi | |
|---|---|
| Mooré | |
| Native to | Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Togo |
| Ethnicity | Mossi |
Native speakers | 7.83 million (2009–2013)[1] |
| Latin (Mooré alphabet) | |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | mos |
| ISO 639-3 | mos |
| Glottolog | moss1236 |
 Majority areas of Mooré speakers, in pink, on a map of Burkina Faso | |
"talaat Octobre kiug daar 6 soaba 1981 / moor tarongo roogo la wooto / ed fãa tom ne taaba d bayira manegre yinga / ned ka être n le n encore yẽ seka un meng ye ned fãarata / ato sôngre, ta vum yi a noogo / Ziiga"
(Tuesday, month of Octobre, 6th day, 1981 / This is a Mossi tarongo(?) house / We all work together for the repair of our home (village, homeland) / Nobody can say .. / With help it gets good. / Ziiga)[2]
| Person | Moaaga |
|---|---|
| People | Moose |
| Language | Mòoré |
The Mossi language is a Gur language of the Oti–Volta branch and one of two official regional languages of Burkina Faso, closely related to the Frafra language spoken just across the border in the northern half of Ghana and less-closely to Dagbani and Mampruli farther south. It is the language of the Mossi people, spoken by approximately 8 million people in Burkina Faso, plus another 60,000+ in Mali and Togo.
Phonology[edit]
The Mooré language consists of the following sounds:[3]
Consonants[edit]
| Labial | Alveolar | Postalveolar / palatal |
Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | |||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | k | ʔ | |
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | ||||
| Liquid | r, l | |||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||
Remark:
Vowels[edit]
| Front | Central | Back | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close | close | i | u | |
| near-close | ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | ||
| Open | a | |||
Notes:
- All vowels (other than /e/ and /o/) are pronounced like their nasal counterparts.
- All vowels (oral and nasal) are pronounced like their lengthened counterparts.
- Other linguists include the vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/; here, they are analysed as diphthongs, (/ɛ/ is considered to be ea and /ɔ/ is considered to be oa).
Orthography[edit]
In Burkina Faso, the Mooré alphabet uses the letters specified in the national Burkinabé alphabet.
| Burkinabé Mooré alphabet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | ʼ | B | D | E | Ɛ | F | G | H | I | Ɩ | K | L | M | N | O | P | R | S | T | U | Ʋ | V | W | Y | Z |
| a | ʼ | b | d | e | ɛ | f | g | h | i | ɩ | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | t | u | ʋ | v | w | y | z |
| Phonetic values | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ʔ | b | d | e | ɛ | f | ɡ | h | i | ɪ | k | l | m | n | o | p | r | s | t | u | ʊ | v | w | j | z |
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "Mòoré". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
- ^ Kind translation by Afrika-Studiecentrum Leiden/African Studies Centre Leiden, 2021.
- ^ Cf. Kabore (1985) : (p.44) for the consonants, (p.85-86) for the vowels.
External links[edit]
Learning materials[edit]
 |
Wikivoyage has a phrasebook for Mooré. |
- Protestant Mission, Assemblies of God. More (Language of the Mossi Tribe) Phrase Book. Ouagadougou, Upper Volta: World Digital Library.
| National libraries | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
 | This Burkina Faso-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about Gur languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |