| Koyraboro Senni | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Mali |
| Region | East of Timbuktu, Gao |
| Native speakers | 430,000 (2007)[1] 300,000 monolingual |
| Language family |
Nilo-Saharan?
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ses |
Koyraboro Senni (or Eastern Songhay, or Koroboro Senni, or Koyra Senni) is a variety of Songhai in Mali, spoken by some 400,000 people along Niger River from Gourma-Rharous, east of Timbuktu, through Bourem, Gao, and Ansongo to the Mali–Niger border.
The expression “koyra-boro senn-i” literally denotes “the language of the town dwellers” as opposed to nomads (like the Tuareg) and other mobile people.
Although Koyraboro Senni is associated with settled towns, it is a cosmopolitan language which has spread east and west of Gao, to the Fulani living at the Mali–Niger border and to the Bozo. East of Timbuktu, Koyra Senni gives way relatively abruptly to another Songhai language, Koyra Chiini.