Southern Songhay is the more populous branch of the

Songhay languages The Songhay, Songhai or Ayneha languages (, or ) are a group of closely related languages/dialects centred on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the West African countries of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Nigeria. In particular, ...

, centered on the Niger River, including

Timbuktu Timbuktu ( ; ; Koyra Chiini: ; ) is an ancient city in Mali, situated north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali, having a population of 32,460 in the 2018 census. ...

and the old capital of

Gao Gao (or Gawgaw/Kawkaw) is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an imp ...

. It includes Zarma (Djerma), a major language of

Niger Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...

Languages

The languages are, approximately from upstream to downstream: *

Koyra Chiini Koyra Chiini (, figuratively "town language"), or Western Songhay, is a member of the Songhay languages spoken in Mali by about 200,000 people (in 1999) along the Niger River in Timbuktu and upriver from it in the towns of Diré, Tonka, Goundam ...

* Humburi Senni * Tondi Kiini *

Koyraboro Senni Koyraboro Senni (Koroboro Senni, Koyra Senni or Gao Senni) is a member of the Songhay languages of Mali and is spoken by some 400,000 people along the Niger River from the town of Gourma-Rharous, east of Timbuktu, through Bourem, Gao and Anson ...

Songhoyboro Ciine Songhoyboro Ciine or Songhay Ciiné ( or ) is an upriver dialect of the Southern Songhay languages, southern Songhay dialect of Niger. It is spoken mostly in the northwestern corner of Niger's Tillaberi Region, Tillaberi region, an area known as ...

* Zarma * Dendi

Classification

The subclassification of the Southern Songhay languages is problematic. Some researchers have provisionally classified it into Eastern and Western clades, but Heath 2005 described shortcomings of this model, and Nicolaï 1981 cautiously refrained from proposing to classify Southern Songhay into two or three divisions. The proposed western division contains Djenné Chiini and–most prominently–

(KCh) (meaning "town language"), which is the local language of the historically eminent university town of

in Mali (Tumbutu). The proposed Eastern division contains the remaining languages and dialects. Zarma (Djerma, Zabarma), the most widely spoken Songhay language, is a major language of southwestern

(downriver from and south of Mali) including in the capital city,

Niamey Niamey () is the capital and largest city of Niger. As the Niamey Urban Community (, CUN), it is a Regions of Niger, first-level division of Niger, surrounded by the Tillabéri Region, in the western part of the country. Niamey lies on the Nige ...

. (In 2009, an official Malian government population estimate for the

Djerma people The Zarma people are an ethnic group predominantly found in westernmost Niger. They are also found in significant numbers in the adjacent areas of Nigeria and Benin, along with smaller numbers in Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, and Sudan ...

residing in Mali is 3,300,000.) Downriver from Zarma in the country of

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

is Dendi, heavily influenced by the neighboring

Bariba language Bariba, also known as Baatonum, is the language of the Bariba people and was the language of the state of Borgu. The native speakers are called Baatombu (singular Baatonu), Barba, Baruba, Berba and a number of various other names and spellings. ...

of the Niger–Congo family. Upriver from Zarma is

, spoken northwards up to the border with Mali. In

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 ...

or Koyra Senni (KS) (meaning "town dweller language"), is the language of the town of

, the seat of the old Songhay Empire. Koyra Chiini is spoken to its west. Humburi Senni, classified by Nicolaï 1981 as "Central Southern Songhay", is spoken in a Songhay language enclave around

Hombori Hombori is a small town and rural commune in the Cercle of Douentza in the Mopti Region of Mali. The commune contains 25 villages and in the 2009 census had a population of 23,099. The town lies just to the north of the Hombori Tondo mesa on the ...

, south of the Niger River's great bend. Another Eastern Southern dialect called Tondi Songway Kiini (TSK) (meaning "mountain Songhay language"). Among the Malian Songhay languages, Tondi Songway Kiini is the only one with lexical tones, and in several ways it seems to be the most conservatively evolved member.Heath 2005

References

Bibliography

* Charles, M. C. & J. M. Ducroz. 1976. ''Lexique songay–français, parler kaado du Gorouol''. Paris: Leroux. * Heath, Jeffrey. 1999. ''A grammar of Koyra Chiini: the Songhay of Timbuktu''. Mouton de Gruyter. 453 pp * Heath, Jeffrey. 1999. ''A grammar of Koyraboro (Koroboro) Senni: the Songhay of Gao''. Köln: Köppe. 402 pp * Heath, Jeffrey. 2005. ''Tondi Songway Kiini (Songhay, Mali): reference grammar and TSK–English–French dictionary''. Stanford: CSLI. 440 pp {{Songhay languages Songhay languages