Kasena language
Kasena | |
---|---|
Region | Ghana, Burkina Faso |
Ethnicity | Kassena |
Native speakers | (250,000 cited 1998–2004)[1] |
Language family | Niger–Congo?
|
Writing system | Latin, Goulsse |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | xsm |
Glottolog | kase1253 |
![]() The region in which the Kassena people live in Ghana and Burkina Faso |
Kasena or Kassena (Kasem or Kassem) is the language of the Kassena ethnic group and is a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana and in Burkina Faso.
Orthography
Aa | Ǝǝ | Bb | Cc | Dd | Ee | Ɛɛ | Ff | Gg | Hh |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
/a/ | /ə/ | /b/ | /t̠͡ʃ/ | /d/ | /e/ | /ɛ/ | /f/ | /ɡ/ | /h/ |
Ii | Ɩɩ | Jj | Kk | Ll | Mm | Nn | Ŋŋ | Oo | Ɔɔ |
/i/ | /ɪ/ | /d̠͡ʒ/ | /k/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /o/ | /ɔ/ |
Pp | Rr | Ss | Tt | Uu | Ʋʋ | Vv | Ww | Yy | Zz |
/p/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /ʊ/ | /v/ | /w/ | /j/ | /z/ |
An independent 30-letter alphabet called the Goulsse alphabet (from gʋlse, “writing” in Mooré) was devised by Burkinabé app developer Wenitte Apiou, Babaguioue Micareme Akouabou and Kassem linguist Fernand Ki in summer of 2021 based on the geometrical patterns found in Kassena architecture. The alphabet is also planned to be applicable for the related Mooré language as well.[2]
Phonology
Consonants
Bilabial | Labio dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | ||||
voiced | b | d | ɡ | |||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
Affricate | voiceless | t̠͡ʃ | ||||||
voiced | d̠͡ʒ | |||||||
Fricative | voiceless | f | s | h | ||||
voiced | v | z | ||||||
Approximant | l | j | w | |||||
Trill | r |
Vowels
Front | Central | Back | |
---|---|---|---|
Close | i | u | |
Near-close | ɪ | ʊ | |
Close-mid | e | ə | o |
Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
Tone
Kasena has three tones, a high tone, a mid level tone and a low tone. Tonal changes either change the lexical meaning of a word or its grammatical function.[3]
Lexical
A
A
„I“
Á
Á
„You (PL)“
Grammatical
Wu
Wu
Negation
Wú
Wú
Futur
Grammar
Noun class system
There are five classes of nouns that can be identified in Kasena. These classes correspond to grammatical genders and are differentiated in terms of number, such that there are five classes for singular nouns and five classes for plural nouns.[3]
Gender | SG | PL | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
1 | bu | biə | child/children |
2 | bɪnɪ | bɪna | year(s) |
3 | naga | nɛ | foot/feet |
4 | piu | pweeru | montain(s) |
5 | bʊŋʊ | bʊm | goat(s) |
Pronouns
Personal and possessive pronouns
There are two classes of personal pronouns. One class is referring to humans, whereas the other class is referring to non-human entities. The personal pronouns are also used as possessive pronouns, thus there is no special form for possessive pronouns in Kasena.
Human personal pronouns
Person | SG | PL | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
1st | A | Dí | I/we |
2nd | N | Á | You/you |
3rd | O | Ba | He/she/They |
Non-human personal pronouns
Class | SG | PL |
---|---|---|
I | O | Ba |
II | Dɪ | Ya |
III | Ka | Sɪ |
IV | Kʊ | Tɪ |
V | Kʊ | Dɪ |
Emphatic pronouns
Person | SG | PL | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|
1st | amʊ | dcbam | Me/we |
2nd | nmʊ | abam | You/you |
3rd | wʊm/wʊntu | bam/bantʊ | He/she/they |
Reciprocal pronouns
Reciprocity is expressed by the pronoun daanɪ, which sometimes occurs as a prefix or suffix.
Ba
3PL
soe
like
daanɪ.
each.other
Ba soe daanɪ.
3PL like each.other
„They like each other.“[3]
Reflexive pronouns
Reflexivity is expressed by a personal pronoun to which either tɪtɪ or katɪ ('-self')is added.
O
3SG
cɔgɪ
destroy
o
3SG
tɪtɪ.
self
O cɔgɪ o tɪtɪ.
3SG destroy 3SG self
„He destroys himself.“[3]
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns are formed on the basis of the personal pronouns for non-human entities to which the suffix -lʊ is attached.[3]
Class | SG | PL |
---|---|---|
I | wʊlʊ | balʊ |
II | dɪlʊ | yalʊ |
III | kalʊ | sɪlʊ |
IV | kʊlʊ | tɪlʊ |
V | kʊlʊ | dɪlʊ |
Indefinite pronouns
Class | Number | Certain | Some | Any |
---|---|---|---|---|
I | SG | wʊdoŋ | --- | wʊlʊ wʊlʊ |
I | PL | badonnə | badaara | balʊ balʊ |
II | SG | dɪ doŋ | --- | dɪlʊ dɪlʊ |
II | PL | yadonnə | yadaara | yalʊ yalʊ |
III | SG | kadoŋ | --- | kalʊ kalʊ |
III | PL | sɪdonnə | sɪdaara | sɪlʊ sɪlʊ |
IV | SG | kudoŋ | --- | kʊlʊ kʊlʊ |
IV | PL | tɪdonnə | tɪdaara | tɪlʊ tɪlʊ |
V | SG | kudoŋ | --- | kʊlʊ kʊlʊ |
V | PL | dɪdonnə | dɪdaara | dɪlʊ dɪlʊ |
Demonstrative pronouns
Class | SG | Gloss | PL | Gloss |
---|---|---|---|---|
I | wuntu | this/that | bantu | these/those |
II | dɪntu | this/that | yantu | these/those |
III | kantu | this/that | sɪntu | these/those |
IV | kuntu | this/that | tɪntu | these/those |
V | kuntu | this/that | dɪntu | these/those |
Interrogative pronouns
Class | SG who, what, which | PL who, what, which | How much |
---|---|---|---|
I | wɔɔ | bra | bagra |
II | dɔɔ | yɔɔ | yagra |
III | kɔɔ | sɔɔ | sɪgra |
IV | kɔɔ | tɔɔ | tɪgra |
V | kɔɔ | dɔɔ | dɪgra |
Syntax
Word order
The Kasena language has a basic SVO word order.
Ada
Ada
diim
yesterday
toŋe.
work.PFV
Ada diim toŋe.
Ada yesterday work.PFV
„Ada worked yesterday.“[4]
References
- ^ Kasena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Brookes, Tim (August 23, 2022). "The Vanderbilt-Burkina Faso Connection". Endangered Alphabets. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Niggli, Urs; Niggli, Idda (2008). Grammaire élémentaire du kasim. Burkina Faso: Société Internationale de Linguistique.
- ^ "The VP-periphery in Mabia languages | Kasem". The VP-periphery in Mabia languages. Retrieved 2023-02-17.
External links
- Languages of Ghana
- Kassena-Ninkarse.org
- Riddles in Kasena
- The VP-periphery in Mabia languages
- Web version of Ethnologue
- Kasem language and alphabet – Omniglot
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languages
Mande | |
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Gur | |
Senufo | |
Wara–Natyoro | |
Other | |
Immigrant languages |
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