Bozo ( meaning house of straw) is a

Mande language The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 millio ...

spoken by the

Bozo people The Bozo are a Mande ethnic group located predominantly along the Niger River in Mali. The name ''Bozo'' is thought to derive from Bambara ''bo-so'' "straw house"; the people accept it as referring to the whole of the ethnic group but use more ...

of the

Inner Niger Delta The Inner Niger Delta, also known as the Macina or Masina, is the inland delta of the Niger River. It is an area of fluvial wetlands, lakes and floodplains in the semi-arid Sahel area of central Mali, just south of the Sahara desert. Location ...

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Ma ...

. For

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques ...

, many Bozo are also found in other

West African West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, ...

countries where there are

Rivers A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

and

Dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

, such as

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

Burkina Faso Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...

and the

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. According to the 2000 census, the Bozo people number about 132,100. Bozo is considered a

dialect cluster A dialect continuum or dialect chain is a series of language varieties spoken across some geographical area such that neighboring varieties are mutually intelligible, but the differences accumulate over distance so that widely separated vari ...

, but there is a quite a bit of diversity. ''Ethnologue'' recognises four languages on the basis of requirements for literacy materials. Bozo is part of the northwestern branch of the

Mande languages The Mande languages are spoken in several countries in West Africa by the Mandé peoples and include Maninka, Mandinka, Soninke, Bambara, Kpelle, Dioula, Bozo, Mende, Susu, and Vai. There are "60 to 75 languages spoken by 30 to 40 millio ...

; the closest linguistic relative is Soninke, a major language spoken in the northwestern section of southern Mali, in eastern

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣� ...

, and in southern Mauritania. The Bozo often speak one or more regional languages such as Bambara,

Fula Fula may refer to: *Fula people (or Fulani, Fulɓe) * Fula language (or Pulaar, Fulfulde, Fulani) **The Fula variety known as the Pulaar language **The Fula variety known as the Pular language **The Fula variety known as Maasina Fulfulde *Al-Fula ...

, or Western Songhay. The language is tonal, with three lexical tones. The Bozo cluster is divided into the following varieties: *Hainyaxo (Hainyaho, Kelengaxo, Kɛlɛngaxo) (a few thousand speakers), spoken in Mali Ethnologue (15th edition) reports identical speaker counts for both Hainyaho and Tigemaxo: 117,696, from the 1987 census. In the fourteenth edition, this number was noted to be the number of 'all mother tongue Boso speakers'. In the light of the 200,000 reported speakers of Sorogama, by far the most widely spoken Bozo variety, speaker numbers for Hainyaho and Tigemaxo are put at 'a few thousand' here. *Tiɛma Cɛwɛ (Tièma cièwè, Tièma cièwe, Tiema ciewe, Tiema cewe, Tiemacèwè, Tiemacewe, Tiema) (2,500 speakers in 1991), spoken in Mali *Tiéyaxo (Tieyaxo, Tigemaxo) (a few thousand speakers), spoken in Mali and Burkina Faso *Sorogaama (Jenaama, Sorogama, Sorko) (200,000 speakers in 2005), spoken in Mali, Nigeria and Ivory Coast Hainyaxo (Kelengaxo), spoken by the Hain (sg. Xan), is the most western dialect, spoken in two spots along the

Niger River The Niger River ( ; ) is the main river of West Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in south-eastern Guinea near the Sierra Leone border. It runs in a crescent shape through Mali ...

. It is closely related to Tieyaxo (Tigemaxo), its eastern neighbour which is spoken around

Diafarabé Diafarabé is a village and rural commune of the Cercle of Ténenkou in the Mopti Region of Mali. The commune is at the southern boundary of the '' cercle''. It covers an area of approximately 980 square kilometers and extends on both sides of ...

. The central and most widely spoken Bozo language is Jenaama (Sorogama), which actually consists of four dialects, Pondori (south of

Mopti Mopti ( Bambara: ߡߏߕߌ tr. Moti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the conf ...

), Kotya, Korondugu (north of

) and Debo (around

Lake Debo A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much lar ...

). Tiemacewe (Tièma Cièwè) is the northeasternmostern Bozo dialect, spoken in the vicinity of Lake Debo.

Nigeria

In Nigeria, the Jenaama/Sorogama dialect of the Bozo language is usually referred to as Sorko. It is spoken in the Nigerian States of

Niger ) , official_languages = , languages_type = National languagesKebbi Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state whi ...

, and

Kwara Kwara State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Kwárà), is a state in Western Nigeria, bordered to the east by Kogi State, to the north by Niger state, and to the south by Ekiti, Osun, and Oyo states, while its western border makes up part of the internation ...

(

Lake Kainji Kainji Lake, in North Central Nigeria, is a reservoir on the Niger River, formed by the Kainji Dam. It was formed in 1968 and is a part of Niger State and Kebbi State. Kainji Lake National Park (KNLP), situated around the lake, is Nigeria's ...

Writing system

A long vowel is indicated by doubling the letter: ; nasalization is indicated by following the letter with an n: .

Notes

References

*Daget, Jacques & Konipo, M. & Sanakoua, M. (1953) 'La langue bozo' (Études soudaniennes, 1). Koulouba: Institut français d'Afrique noire, Gouvernement du Soudan, Centre IFAN. *Blecke, Thomas (1998) ''Lexikalische Strukturen und grammatische Kategorien im Tigemaxo (Bozo, Mande)''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. *

External links

Ethnolinguistic map of the Bozo languages
(

SIL SIL, Sil and sil may refer to: Organizations * Servis Industries Limited, Pakistan * Smithsonian Institution Libraries * SIL International, formerly Summer Institute of Linguistics * Apex Silver Mines (former American Stock Exchange ticker symb ...

)
La langue Bozo

Resources in Bozo-Tieyaxo
fro
SIL Mali
.
Resources in Bozo-Jenaama
fro
SIL Mali
. {{Authority control Languages of Mali Mande languages