Minyanka language

Minyaka
Minyaka
Mamara
Native to	Mali
Native speakers	740,000 (2000)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Senufo Suppire–Mamara Minyaka; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	myk
Glottolog	mama1271
	Map showing where Mamara is spoken.

Minyanka (also known as Mamara, Miniyanka, Minya, Mianka, Minianka, or Tupiire) is a northern Senufo language spoken by about 750,000 people in southeastern Mali. It is closely related to Supyire. Minyanka is one of the national languages of Mali.

Phonology[edit]

Consonants[edit]

		Labial			Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Labio- velar	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
		plain	lab.	pal.	Alveolar	Palatal	plain	pal.	Labio- velar	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
Nasal		m	mʷ	mʲ	n	ɲ	ŋ		ŋ͡m
Plosive	voiceless	p	pʷ	pʲ	t	c	k	kʲ	k͡p		ʔ
	voiced	b	bʷ		d	ɟ	ɡ	ɡʲ	ɡ͡b
	prenasal	ᵐb			ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	fʷ	fʲ	s	ʃ					(h)
Fricative	voiced	v			z	ʒ				(ʕ)	(ɦ)
Rhotic					r
Approximant					l	j	w	wʲ

A pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] is also typically heard when in between vowels, or as an allophone of /ɡ/ when in intervocalic position.
Glottal sounds [h, ɦ] are only heard in the Bla dialect, instead of labio-velar sounds /k͡p, ɡ͡b, ŋ͡m/.^[2]
Sounds /k, ɡ/ can also be heard as fricatives [x, ɣ] when in intervocalic positions.^[3]

Vowels[edit]

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ ɛ̃	ə	ɔ ɔ̃
Open		a ã

/u/ can also be heard as [y] when in the position of /j/.
/o/ can also be heard as [œ] when before a glottal /ʔ/.

References[edit]

^ Minyaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Coulibaly, Sékou (2020). Le minyanka parlé dans le cercle de Bla: une description phonologique et morphosyntaxique. Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III.
^ Prost, André (1964). Le Mambar. In Prost, André (ed.), Contribution à l'étude des langues voltaïques: Dakar: Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, Université de Dakar. pp. 123–183.

External links[edit]

Minyanka-French-Bambara-English Dictionary to view online or download, from the Association for the Promotion of the Mamara language, Koutiala, Mali.
Resources in Mamara from SIL Mali
PanAfrican L10n page on Suppire/Minianka

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[e18-1] Minyaka at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[2] Coulibaly, Sékou (2020). Le minyanka parlé dans le cercle de Bla: une description phonologique et morphosyntaxique. Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III.

[3] Prost, André (1964). Le Mambar. In Prost, André (ed.), Contribution à l'étude des langues voltaïques: Dakar: Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, Université de Dakar. pp. 123–183.

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