Moba language
| Subclass of | Oti–Volta  |
|---|---|
| Country | Togo, Ghana, Burkina Faso |
| Writing system | Moba Braille |
Moba anaa Bimoba be a Niger-Congo language wey de Moba people of Togo den Ghana dey speak. Der sanso be sam Moba speakers insyd Burkina Faso. E get two dialects (Moba insyd Togo den Burkina Faso den Bimoba insyd Ghana). De language cluster sanso be known as Moba–Bimoba.
Classification
[edit | edit source]Moba-Bimoba be a Gur language, a subset of de proposed Niger-Congo language family. E, along plus Bassari den Konkomba/Likpakpaln, be part of de Gurma (anaa Mabia) subgroup of Gur languages.[1][2]
De Moba people dey speak de Moba. De Moba people insyd northern Ghana den Togodey speak am.[3][4] Der sanso be sam Moba speakers insyd de central plateau of Burkina Faso.[5]
Moba be a relatively important den vigorous language insyd Togo. Na e be one of de first four languages dem use for literacy training by Togo ein government, den as of 2024, e remain one of ten languages dem use for dis purpose.[6] Ethnologue dey list Moba as stable, buh de Bimoba dialect as endangered.[7][8]
Phonology
[edit | edit source]Bimoba get twenty-two consonants den six vowels.[9]
Consonants
[edit | edit source]De singly-articulated consonants of Bimoba be listed below.
| Bilabial | Labio-dental | Alveolar | Post-alveolar (Palato-alveolar) |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | k | ɡ | ||||||||
| Affricate | tʃ | dʒ | ||||||||||||
| Fricative | f | s | h | |||||||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||||||||
| Trill | r | |||||||||||||
| Approximant | j | |||||||||||||
| Lateral approximant | l | |||||||||||||
De Bimoba dialect sanso get four doubly-articulated consonants, all of wich dey involve labial den velar occlusions. One be de labiovelar approximant /w/, den de oda three be de voiced den voiceless stops (/gb/, /kp/) den voiced nasal /ŋm/.[9]
Vowels
[edit | edit source]Chanard dey list six vowels insyd Bimoba.[9] Moba get both oral den nasal vowels, wey e get a distinction between long den short vowels.[10]
| Front | Back | |
|---|---|---|
| unrounded | rounded | |
| Close | i | u |
| Close-mid | e | o |
| Open-mid | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
| Gulmancema tone | Gulmancema word | Moba word | Moba tone |
|---|---|---|---|
| high-low | /kándì/ | /ka̋nt/ | extrahigh |
| high-high | /kándí/ | /kánt/ | high |
Grammar
[edit | edit source]Moba be an SVO language, like English. E get both a noun class system den a verb class system. Chaw Moba morphemes be monosyllabic.[3] Negation generally dey occur before de verb, buh e be placed clause-finally insyd sam constructions.[4]
Writing system
[edit | edit source]| a | b | ch /tʃ/ | d | e | f | g | gb | h | i | j /dʒ/ | k | kp | l | m | n | ny /ɲ/ | ŋ | ŋm | o | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | w | y /j/ |
| a | ã | b | c | d | e | ẽ | ɛ | ɛ̃ | f | g | h | i | ĩ | ɩ | ɩ̃ | j | k | l | m | n | ŋ | o | õ | ɔ | ɔ̃ | p | s | t | r | u | v | w | y |
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ "Moba-Bimoba". Glottolog 5.2. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- ↑ Bisilki, Abraham Kwesi (3 July 2025). "Online linguistic landscaping and indigenous languages in multilingual Ghana". International Journal of Multilingualism. 22 (3): 1794–1819. doi:10.1080/14790718.2025.2465601. ISSN 1479-0718. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- 1 2 Snider, Keith L. (August 1998). "Phonetic realisation of downstep in Bimoba". Phonology (in English). 15 (1): 77–101. doi:10.1017/S0952675798003534. ISSN 1469-8188. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- 1 2 Dryer, Matthew S. (2009). "Verb-object-negative order in central Africa". In Cyffer, Norbert; Ebermann, Erwin; Ziegelmeyer, Georg (eds.). Negation Patterns in West African Languages and Beyond (in English). John Benjamins Publishing. ISBN 978-90-272-0668-8. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- ↑ Ouédraogo, Cheick Félix Bobodo (2024). "Linguistic Policy in Burkina Faso". The Palgrave Handbook of Language Policies in Africa (in English). Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 405–435. ISBN 978-3-031-57308-8. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- ↑ Mouzou, Palakyem (2024). "Diachronic View of the Language Policy in Togo". The Palgrave Handbook of Language Policies in Africa (in English). Springer International Publishing. pp. 385–404. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-57308-8_19. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
- ↑ "Moba Language (MFQ)". Ethnologue. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- ↑ "Bimoba Language (BIM)". Ethnologue. Retrieved 24 December 2025.
- 1 2 3 4 Chanard, Christian (2006). "Langue : bimoba". Systèmes alphabétiques des langues africaines d'après Alphabets des langues africaines Unesco-SIL 1993 (in French). Retrieved 21 December 2025.
- 1 2 Moba OPL Workbook (Oral Proficiency Learning) (PDF). Peace Corps Togo. Retrieved 22 December 2025.
External links
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