Minyanka (also known as Mamara, Miniyanka, Minya, Mianka, Minianka, or Tupiire) is a northern
Senufo language spoken by about 750,000 people in southeastern
Mali
Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...
. It is closely related to
Supyire. Minyanka is one of the
national language
'' ''
A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...
s of Mali.
Phonology
Consonants
* A pharyngeal fricative
•is also typically heard when in between vowels, or as an allophone of /É¡/ when in intervocalic position.
* Glottal sounds
, ɦare only heard in the Bla dialect, instead of labio-velar sounds /k͡p, ɡ͡b, ŋ͡m/.
* Sounds /k, É¡/ can also be heard as fricatives
, ɣ
The comma is a punctuation mark that appears in several variants in different languages. Some typefaces render it as a small line, slightly curved or straight, but inclined from the vertical; others give it the appearance of a miniature fille ...
when in intervocalic positions.
Vowels
* /u/ can also be heard as
when in the position of /j/.
* /o/ can also be heard as
“when before a glottal /Ê”/.
See also
*
Senufo language
References
Further reading
* Dombrowsky-Hahn, Klaudia (ed. by Miehe, Gudrun; Reineke, Brigitte; Roncador, Manfred von) (1999) ''Phénomènes de contact entre les langues Minyanka et Bambara (Sud du Mali)''. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
* Prost, André (1964) ''Contributrion à l'étude des langues Voltaiques''. Dakar: Institut Francophone de l'Afrique Noire.
External links
Minyanka-French-Bambara-English Dictionaryto view online or download, from the Association for the Promotion of the Mamara language, Koutiala, Mali.
Resources in Mamarafro
SIL MaliPanAfrican L10n page on Suppire/Minianka
Suppire–Mamara languages
Languages of Mali
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