Baga language
| Baga | |
|---|---|
| Barka | |
| Native to | Guinea |
| Ethnicity | Baga |
Native speakers | unknown (undated figure of 13,000, possibly the ethnic population)[1] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 |
Variously: bgo – Koga bsp – Sistemu bmd – Mandari bqf – Kaloum (extinct) bsv – Sobané (extinct) |
| Glottolog |
temn1245 (adds Temne & Landoma)[2] |
Baga, or Barka, is a dialect cluster spoken by the Baga people of coastal Guinea. The name derives from the phrase bae raka 'people of the seaside'. Most Baga are bilingual in the Mande language Susu, the official regional language. Two ethnically Baga communities, Sobané and Kaloum, are known to have abandoned their (unattested) language altogether in favour of Susu.
The varieties as distinct enough to sometimes be considered different languages.[3] They are:
- Baga Koga (Koba)
- Baga Manduri (Maduri, Mandari)
- Baga Sitemu (Sitemú, Stem Baga, Rio Pongo Baga)
- Baga Sobané (extinct)
- Baga Kaloum (extinct)
Neighboring Baga Pokur is not closely related.
Noun Class Systems
Baga has prefixes for eight noun classes:[3]
| Variety | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baga Maduri | o- or none | a- | a- | i- | kə- | da- | cə- | sə- |
| Bagu Sitemu | wi- or none | a- | a- | none | kə- | da- | cə- | sə- |
| Baga Koba | i- | a- | a- | ɛ- | kə- | da- | cə- | sə- |
Vocabulary
All these are from Baga Maduri:[3]
- aceen - dog
- iceen - dogs
- alomp - fish
- asɔɔp - pig
- atɔf - earth, land
- daboomp da-ka-obɛ - the chief's head
- daboomp da-wana - the cow's head
- dafɔr - eye
- dasek - tooth
- isek - teeth
- gbak - hang
- kəca - hand, arm
- waca - hands, arms
- kufoon - hair
- mun - drink
- tafac - iron
- gbup - turn onto front
References
- ↑ Koga at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
Sistemu at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005)
Mandari at Ethnologue (15th ed., 2005) - ↑ Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Temne–Baga". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
- 1 2 3 W.A.A.Wilson, Temne, Landuma and the Baga Languages in: Sierra Leone Language Review, No. 1, 1962 published by Fourah Bay College, Freetown.
Further reading
- Houis, Maurice (1952) 'Remarques sur la voix passive en Baga', Notes Africaines, 91–92.
- Houis, Maurice (1953) 'Le système pronominal et les classes dans les dialectes Baga, i carte', Bulletin de l'IFAN, 15, 381–404.
- Mouser, Bruce L. (2002) 'Who and where were the Baga?: European perceptions from 1793 to 1821', History in Africa, 29, 337–364.
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