Dan language
Mande language of West Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dan /ˈdæn/[2] is a Southern Mande language spoken primarily in Ivory Coast (~800,000 speakers) and Liberia (150,000–200,000 speakers). There is also a population of about 800 speakers in Guinea. Dan is a tonal language, with 9 to 11 contour and register tones, depending on the dialect.
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Mande
- Eastern Mande
- Southeastern
- Mano–Dan
- Guro–Dan
- Tura–Dan
- Dan
- Tura–Dan
- Guro–Dan
- Mano–Dan
- Southeastern
- Eastern Mande
| Dan | |
|---|---|
| Yacouba | |
| dàn, ꞊daanwo, daã̀ | |
| Native to | Ivory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia |
| Ethnicity | Dan people |
Native speakers | 1.6 million (2012)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:dnj – Danlda – Kla |
| Glottolog | dann1241 |
Alternative names for the language include Yacouba or Yakubasa, Gio, Gyo, Gio-Dan, and Da. Dialects are Gio (Liberian Dan), Gweetaawu (Eastern Dan), Blowo (Western Dan), and Kla. Kla is evidently a distinct language.
Phonology
A sillable is minimally /V/ or /ŋ/, and maximally /ClVV/ or /ClVŋ/.
Vowels
Color coding:
Only in Eastern Dan when in the position of extra-high tone
Only in Liberian Dan
Consonants
- Nasal consonant sounds mainly occur when phonemes /ɓ, ɗ, j, w, ɡ͡b/ are in nasal positions.
Only in Liberian Dan
Not in Western Dan
Not in Liberian Dan
Tones
Dan has four to five level tones, depending on the variety, with level and contour tones.
Writing system
The orthography of Liberia includes this alphabet:[4][5]
Tones are marked as follows: extra high tone: a̋; high tone: á; medium tone: ā; low tone: à; extra low tone: ȁ; high drop tone: â; extra low hanging tone: aʼ.
The digraphs ⟨bh, dh, gb gw, kp, kw⟩ keep the same values as in the spelling of 1982, and the nasal vowels are also indicated by appending the letter n after the letter of the vowel ⟨an, æn, ʌn, ɛn, in, ɔn, œn, un⟩.
