Gur Language

The Gur languages, also known as Central Gur or Mabia, belong to the Niger–Congo languages. They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Ivory Coast, the northern halves of Ghana and Togo, northwestern Benin, and southwestern Niger. A few Gur languages are spoken in Nigeria. Additionally, a single Gur language, Baatonum, is spoken in Benin and in the extreme northwest of Nigeria. Three other single Gur languages, the Tusya, Vyemo and Tiefo languages, are spoken in Burkina Faso. Another unclassified Gur language, Miyobe, is spoken in Benin and Togo. In addition, Kulango, Loma and Lorhon, are spoken in Ghana, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso. Additionally, a few Mossi speakers are in Senegal, and speakers of the Dagaare language are also found in Cameroon. The Samu languages of Burkina Faso are Gur languages.

Typological features

Like most Niger–Congo languages, the ancestor of Gur languages probably had a noun class system; many of today's languages have reduced this to a system of nominal genders or declensions or no longer have a class system. A common property of Gur languages is the verbal aspect marking. Almost all Gur languages are tonal, with Koromfé being a notable exception. The tonal systems of Gur languages are rather divergent. Most Gur languages have been described as following the model of a two tone downstep system, but the languages of Oti-Volta branch and some others have three phonemic tones.

History of study

Sigismund Wilhelm Koelle first mentions twelve Gur languages in his 1854 ''Polyglotta Africana'', which represent ten languages in modern classification. Notably, he correctly identified these languages as being related to one another; his 'North-Eastern High Sudan' corresponds to Gur in modern classification.

The Gur family was previously called Voltaic, following the French name ''(langues) Voltaïques'' (named after the Volta River). It was once considered to be more extensive than it is often regarded today, including the Senufo languages and a number of small language isolates. The inclusion of Senufo within Gur has been rejected by many linguists, including Tony Naden. Williamson and Blench place Senufo as a separate branch of Atlantic–Congo, while other non-Central Gur languages are placed somewhat closer as separate branches within the Savannas continuum.

Kleinewillinghöfer (2014) notes that the closest relatives of Gur appear to be several branches of the obsolete Adamawa family, since many "Adamawa" languages in fact share more similarities with various (Central) Gur languages than with other Adamawa languages. He proposes that early Gur-Adamawa speakers had cultivated guinea corn and millet in a wooded savanna environment.

Classification

The regions on the map denote regional distribution of the Central Gur languages. The tree-diagram below denotes the relations between these languages and their closest relatives:

* ? Greater Gur (or Gur–Adamawa)
** Central Gur (or Mabia)
*** Northern Gur
****
***** (1.) Oti–Volta (28 languages, including Mooré, Mamprusi, Dagbani, and Gurma)
***** (2.) Bwa (or Bwamu, Bomu, Bobo-Wule)
**** (3.) ''Koromfé'' (or Koromfe)
*** Southern Gur
****
***** (4.) East Mabia
****** Gurunsi (or Grũsi) (20 languages, including Kabiye)
***** (5.) Kirma–Lobi
****** Kirma–Tyurama ( Cerma, Turka)
****** Lobi–Dyan ( Lobi, Dyan)
**** (6.) Doghose–Gan ( Dogosé, Kaansa, Khisa)
**** (7.) ? Dogoso–Khe ( Dogoso, Khe)
** ? Waja– Kam
** ? Leko–Nimbari
** ? (possibly other putative Adamawa languages)

The position of Dogoso–Khe in Southern Gur is not clear; it is not closely related to other members of the branch.

Bodomo (2017)

Bodomo (2017) refers to the entire Central Gur group as ''Mabia''. The term ''Mabia'' is a portmanteau of the two lexical innovations ''ma''- 'mother' + ''bia'' 'child'.

The following is a classification of the Mabia (or Central Gur) languages from Bodomo (2017), as cited in Bodomo (2020).Bodomo, Adams. 2020.
Mabia: Its Etymological Genesis, Geographical Spread, and some Salient Genetic Features
" In: Bodomo A., Abubakari H. & Issah, S. 2020. ''Handbook of the Mabia Languages of West Africa''. Galda Verlag, Berlin, Germany. 400 pages, ISBN 978-3-96203-117-6 (Print) ISBN 978-3-96203-118-3 (E-Book) Bodomo divides Mabia into three primary branches, namely West, East, and Central.

* Mabia
** East (or Gurunsi, Grũsi)
*** Kasem
*** Sisaala
*** Kabiye
** West (or Gurma)
*** Bassari
*** Konkomba
*** Moba
** Central
*** Dagaare
**** Dagaare
**** Wali
**** Birifor
**** Safaliba
*** North
**** Moore
*** Mid-Central
**** Mabiene
**** Frafra (Nankanè)
**** Nabit
*** South
**** Dagbani
**** Mampruli
**** Nanuni (a dialect of Dagbani)
*** Kusaal
**** Kusaal (Kusasi)
**** Talni
*** Buli–Konni
**** Buli
**** Konni
*** Hanga–Kamara
**** Hanga
**** Kamara

The term ''Mabia'', instead of ''Gur'', is also used by Naden (2021).Naden, Tony. 2021. ''Comparative Dictionary of Central Mabia Languages (Formerly Western Oti-Volta) / Dictionnaire Comparatif Des Langues Mabia-Central (anciennement Western Oti-Volta)''. m.s.

Naden (2021) lists the languages of the Southern/Eastern Mabia group as Dagbani, Hanga, Kantoosi, Kamara, Kusaal (Kusasi), Mampruli (Mamprusi), Nabit, Nanun/Nanuni (also considered a dialect of Dagbani), and Talni.

Comparative vocabulary

Sample basic vocabulary of Gur languages:

''Note'': In table cells with slashes, the singular form is given before the slash, while the plural form follows the slash.

Numerals

Comparison of numerals in individual languages:

Writing system

The Goulsse Alphabet was invented in 2022 as a native script for the Gur languages

References

* Manessy, Gabriel (1968/71) 'Langues voltaïques sans classes' in Actes du huitième congres international de linguistique africaine. ongress was 1968, proceedings published 1971Abidjan, Université d'Abidjan, 335-346.
* Naden, Anthony J. (1989) 'Gur', in Bendor-Samuel, John & Hartell, Rhonda L. (eds) ''The Niger–Congo languages. A classification and description of Africa's largest language family.'' Lanham, New York, London: University Press of America, 140-168.
* Roncador, Manfred von; Miehe, Gudrun (1998) ''Les langues gur (voltaïques). Bibliographie commentée et inventaire des appelations des langues.'' Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.
*Williamson, Kay & Blench, Roger (2000) 'Niger–Congo', in Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek (eds.) ''African languages: an introduction'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 11-42.

External links

Journal of West African Languages: Gur languagesProto-Gur Swadesh lists
(Gabriel Manessy 1969, 1975, 1979)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gur Languages
*
Volta–Congo languages
Dagbon