Sisaala (''Sissala'') is a
Gur language cluster spoken in northern
Ghana
Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...
near the town of
Tumu[Edited by M.E.Kropp Dakubu, ''The Languages of Ghana'', Kegan Paul International, 1988.] and in the neighbouring republic of
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
. Western Sisaala is intermediate between Sisaali and Tumulung Sisaala.
Paasaal is similar and also called (Southern) Sisaala.
Distribution
Sisaala is spoken by the Sissala. The Sisaala in Ghana live in the
Northern Region, in the
Upper East Region
The Upper East Region is located in the northern part of Ghana and it is the third smallest of the 16 administrative regions in Ghana. It occupies a total land surface of 8,842 square kilometers, or 2.7% of the total land area of Ghana. The reg ...
and in the
Upper West Region
The Upper West Region of Ghana is located in the north-western corner of Ghana and is bordered by Upper East Region to the east, Northern Region (Ghana), Northern Region to the south, and Burkina Faso to the west and north. The Upper West regional ...
.
Burkina Faso’s
Sissili Province is named after the Sissala people.
Dialects
Tumulung Sisaala, which is also known as Eastern Sisaala, is spoken East of
Tumu in the Upper West region and
Builsa in the Upper East Region. Its name derives from the city of Tumu, which is the traditional capital of the Sisaala people.
Western Sisaala, which is also known as Lambishi Sisaala, is spoken in
Tumu in the upper west Region and
Gonja in the Northern Region.
Paasaal, which is also known as Pasaale/Southern Sisaala, is spoken between
Lambussie and
Tumu in the Upper West Region.
Burkina Sisaala, which is also known as Sisaali or Northern Sisaala, is spoken in the Burkinabe Provinces of
Sissili
Sissili is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Centre-Ouest Region. In 2006 the population was 212,628 and in 2011 the population was 240,830, an increase of 13.3%.
Its capital is Léo.
Education
In 2011 the province had 194 p ...
and
Ioba.
References
* ''Sisaala–English English–Sisaala Dictionary'' (1975). Ghana Institute of Linguistics, 231 pp. .
estern Sisaala
External links
A grammatical sketch of Isaalo (Western Sisaala)
Languages of Ghana
Gurunsi languages
{{gur-lang-stub