Siamou language
| Siamou | |
|---|---|
| Sɛmɛ | |
| Native to | Burkina Faso |
Native speakers | (40,000 cited ca. 1999)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | sif |
| Glottolog | siam1242 |
Siamou, also known as Sɛmɛ (Seme), is a Kru language of the Niger–Congo language family. In 1999, it was spoken by 20,000 people in western Burkina Faso and another 20,000 in the Ivory Coast and Mali.[1] In Burkina Faso, it is mainly spoken in the province of Kénédougou, around the provincial capital Orodara. Siamou has one major dialect, Bandougou. In addition, there are minor dialectal differences among the Siamou spoken in Orodara and in surrounding villages.
Siamou is traditionally classed as Kru, however according to Roger Blench (2013) the language bears little resemblance to Kru.[2]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Siamou at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Blench (2013:50)
References
- Blench, Roger (2013) "Why Is Africa So Linguistically Undiverse? Exploring Substrates and Isolates." in Mother Tongue, Issue XVIII, pp. 43–78. Journal of the Association for the Study of Language in Prehistory.
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