Baga, or Barka, is a

dialect cluster A dialect is a variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standardized varieties as well as vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardized varieties, such as those used in developing countries or iso ...

spoken by the

Baga people The Baga are a West African ethnic group who live in the southern swampy lands of Guinea Atlantic coastline. Traditionally animist through the pre-colonial times, they converted to Islam during the mid-eighteenth century under the influence of ...

of coastal Guinea. The name derives from the phrase ''bae raka'' Slaves trading place ( a mispronounced bae=Arabic for sellers and Raka= Arabic for slaves)and understood by the local as 'people of the seaside' outcast people. Most Baga are bilingual in the

Mande Mande may refer to: * Mandé peoples of western Africa * Mande languages, their Niger-Congo languages * Manding languages, Manding, a term covering a subgroup of Mande peoples, and sometimes used for one of them, Mandinka people, Mandinka * Garo p ...

language Susu, the official

regional language * A regional language is a language spoken in a region of a sovereign state, whether it be a small area, a federated state or province or some wider area. Internationally, for the purposes of the European Charter for Regional or Minority La ...

. Two ethnically Baga communities, Sobané and Kaloum, are known to have abandoned their (unattested) language altogether in favour of Susu.

Varieties

The varieties as distinct enough to sometimes be considered different languages.W.A.A.Wilson, ''Temne, Landuma and the Baga Languages'' in: ''Sierra Leone Language Review, No. 1, 1962'' published by Fourah Bay College, Freetown. They are: :Baga Koga (Koba) :Baga Manduri (Maduri, Mandari) :Baga Sitemu (Sitem, Sitemú, Stem Baga, Rio Pongo Baga) The extinct Baga Kaloum and Baga Sobané peoples had spoken Koga and Sitemu, respectively.Hammarström (2015) Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: a comprehensive review: online appendices Neighboring Baga Pokur is not closely related.

Geographical distribution

Geographical distribution of Baga varieties, listed from north to south, according to Fields-Black (2008:85):Fields-Black, Edda L. 2008. ''Deep Roots: Rice Farmers in West Africa and the African Diaspora''. (Blacks in the Diaspora.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press. *''Baga Mandori'': coast of Guinea, north of the mouth of the Nunez River *''Baga Sitem'': coast of Guinea, south of the mouth of the Nunez River *''Baga Kakissa'': coast of Guinea, north of the mouth of the Pongo River *''Baga Koba'': coast of Guinea, from south of the mouth of the Pongo River to north of the mouth of the Konkouré River *''Baga Kalum'':

Îles de Los The Îles de Los () are an island group lying off Conakry, Guinea, on the west coast of Africa. Their name is derived from the Portuguese ''Ilhas dos Ídolos'', meaning "islands of the idols". They are located about off the headland limiting t ...

and area surrounding

Conakry Conakry ( , ; ; ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guinea. A port city, it serves as the economic, financial and cultural centre of Guinea. Its population as of the 2014 Guinea census was 1,660,973. The current population of C ...

Geographical distribution and demographics of Baga varieties according to Wilson (2007), citing a 1997 colloquium talk at Lille by Erhard Voeltz:Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. ''Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification''. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. *''Baga Manduri'': spoken at Dobale, and very similar to Citɛm. *''Baga Sitemu'' (properly ''Citɛm''): spoken in a cluster of villages on the Campaces River. This is the only vibrant Baga linguistic variety. *''Baga Sobane'': only two known speakers in an isolated location. *''Baga Marara'': spoken on three islands in the Rio Pongo. It is still being spoken by children. *''Baga Koba'': spoken near Kaporo town only by elderly speakers over age 60. It is reportedly very similar to Baga Kaloum. *''Baga Kaloum'': originally spoken in a quarter of what is now the

area, and in the

. It is close to Temne. Only spoken in a remote area now.

Noun Class Systems

Baga has prefixes for eight noun classes:

Vocabulary

Below is a selection of basic vocabulary in ''Baga Maduri'': * - dog * - dogs * - fish * - pig * - earth, land * - the chief's head * - the cow's head * - eye * - tooth * - teeth * - hang * - hand, arm * - hands, arms * - hair * - drink * - iron * - turn onto front

References

External links