Gourmanché language

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Gourmanchéma
Gulimancema
Migulimancema
Native toBurkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger, Ghana, Nigeria
EthnicityGurma people
Native speakers
1.5 million (2012–2021)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3gux
Glottologgour1243


PeopleBigulimanceba
LanguageMigulimancema

Gourmanché (Goulmacema, Gourma, Gourmantche, Gulimancema, Gulmancema, Gurma, Gourmanchéma) is the language of the Gurma people. It is the largest by number of speakers of the Gurma subgroup of the Oti-Volta languages, which includes among others the Moba language and the Konkomba language. It is the major language of the easternmost parts of Burkina Faso, around the traditional Gurma capital Fada N'Gourma; it is also spoken in neighbouring parts of northern Togo, Benin, Niger, Ghana and Nigeria.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velar
Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋ͡m
Plosive voiceless p t c k k͡p
voiced b d ɟ ɡ ɡ͡b
Fricative f s (h)
Lateral l
Approximant j w
  • /h/ only occurs marginally.[2]

Vowels[edit]

Front Central Back
Close i u
Near-close ɪ ʊ
Close-mid e ə o
Open-mid ɛ ɔ
Open a

Writing system[edit]

Gourmanché alphabet[3]
a b c d e f g gb h i j k kp
l m n ŋ ŋm ñ o p s t u y

Grammar[edit]

Like all its close relations and neighbours, Gourmanché is a tone language; it distinguishes high, mid, and low tones. In the standard orthography the symbols c j represent palatal stops; they sound somewhat similar to English "ch" and "j" respectively.[citation needed]

Gourmanché preserves most of the noun-class based grammatical gender system characteristic of the Niger-Congo family, with eight classes and regular agreement of pronouns, adjectives and numerals. As with other Gur languages, the noun classes are marked by suffixes (not prefixes, as in Bantu); the suffixes come in singular/plural pairs for count nouns, e.g. tibu "tree", tiidi "trees" and are unpaired for mass nouns, e.g. ñima "water", soama "blood", gulimancema "Gourmanché language."[citation needed]

Gourmanché has sometimes been said to have noun prefixes as well as suffixes, agreeing in class. However, these "prefixes" are in fact proclitic particles with an article-like function. They are written as separate words in the standard orthography: bu tibu "a/the tree", i tiidi "(the) trees", mi ñima "(the) water", and they are omitted, for example, when the noun is preceded by a possessor or followed by kuli "each"; thus u nuu, "hand", ki biga "child", o joa "man" but e.g o joa muubi o biga nuu "the man holds his child's hand"; o nilo "a person" but nilo kuli "each person."[citation needed]

Gourmanché verbs do not agree with subjects or inflect for tense but as with almost all Oti-Volta languages, they inflect for aspect (perfective vs imperfective.) The system is complex and unpredictable, with imperfective forms differing from perfective by the addition or dropping of several different suffixes, and/or tone changes.[citation needed]

The language is SVO. Possessors precede their heads. Gourmanché shares with other Oti-Volta languages the characteristic that adjectives regularly compound with their head nouns; the noun precedes as a bare stem, followed by the adjective, which carries the noun class suffix appropriate to the gender and number of the head: yankpaalo "shepherd", yankpaaŋamo "good shepherd."[citation needed]

Lexicography[edit]

There is a fairly full Gourmanché-French dictionary[4] but no readily accessible complete grammar.

Literature[edit]

There is a complete Bible translation.[5]

Animal names[edit]

Gulmancéma frog names and their Mooré and English equivalents (nearly all of the frogs species are consumed as food):[6]

Gulmancéma Mooré Scientific name English
Tiarli moanga Poond youga Afrixalus vittiger Spiny Reed Frog
Pouang piéga Poond youga Afrixalus weidholzi Weidholz's Banana Frog
Pouand boani Poond sablga Amietophrynus maculatus Hallowell's Toad
Pouand koulougou Poond sablga Amietophrynus regularis Egyptian Toad
Pouand gnouali Poond miougou Amietophrynus xeros Desert Toad
Gnissolopouandi Kossoilhg poondré Bufo pentoni Shaata Gardens Toad
Pouandi napoualé Yoondé Hemisus marmoratus Shovel-nosed frog
Tiarlo Souansga Hildebrandtia ornata Budgett's Burrowing Frog
Louandi moali Louanga Hoplobatrachus occipitalis African tiger frog
Tiarli pieno Boulwéoogo Hylarana galamensis Yellow-striped Frog
Pouand piéga Pouand youga Hyperolius concolor Hallowell's Sedge Frog
Tiarli moanga Pouand youga Hyperolius nitidulus
Tiarli bouanga Poondr zembouanga Kassina cassinoides
Pouand bouanli Poond bougdi Kassina fusca Pale Running Frog
Tiarli bouanga Poondr zembouanga Kassina senegalensis Senegal Kassin's Frog
Pouand koulougou Poond sablga Leptopelis bufonides Ground Tree Frog
Gnissolopoanga Poond youga Leptopelis viridis Savannah Tree Frog
Patanpouandi Louang sablga Phrynobatrachus calcaratus Boutry River Frog
Pouand bouanga Louong sablga Phrynobatrachus francisci
Pouand bouanga Boulwéoogo Phrynobatrachus gutturosus Guttural Puddle Frog
Batiarlo Boulonboukou Phrynobatrachus latifrons Accra River Frog
Thialondo Boulghin louanga Phrynobatrachus natalensis Natal River Frog
Pouang moanga Poond wiilé Phrynomantis microps Red Rubber Frog
Foipoando Mouonghin souansga Ptychadena bibroni Broad-banded Grass Frog
Tiarli Bouanga Bouonghin souansga Ptychadena mascareniensis Mascarene Grassland Frog
Pouand pièga Biihrin souanga Ptychadena oxyrhynchus Sharp-nosed Rocket Frog
Tiarli moanga Poughin souansga Ptychadena pumilio Little Rocket Frog
Pouandi gnoanli Louang sablga Ptychadena schillukorum Schilluk Ridged Frog
Tiarli gnoiarlinga Tampou souansga Ptychadena tellinii Central Grassland Frog
Tiarli gnoanrga Biihrin souansga Ptychadena tournieri Tournier's Rocket Frog
Pouand gourou Boulonboukou Ptychadena trinodis Dakar Grassland Frog
Pouandi koulougou Boulonboukou Pyxicephalus edulis Edible Frog
Pouandi bouali Poondré Tomopterna cryptotis Cryptic sand frog
Louand boani Louang boudi Xenopus muelleri Savanna Clawed Frog

References[edit]

  1. ^ Gourmanchéma at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ^ Beckett, Eleanor (1974). A linguistic analysis of Gurma. University of British Columbia.
  3. ^ Hartell 1993.
  4. ^ Dictionnaire bilingue Gulmancéma-Français, Benoît Bendi Ouoba, Sous-Commission Nationale du Gulmancéma, BP 167 Fada N'Gourma.
  5. ^ "The Bible in Gulmancema". worldbibles.org. Retrieved 2020-09-28.
  6. ^ Mohneke, Meike (2011). (Un)sustainable use of frogs in West Africa and resulting consequences for the ecosystem (Ph.D. dissertation). Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. pp. 40–41.