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The relationship between the Songhay and Mande language families has fascinated West Africanists. The typological similarities run deep, but the respective lexicons are noncognate. I focus here on a typological rarity, a bidirectional case marker (BCM), namely Proto-Songhay *nà and its descendants, and argue that it was most likely borrowed from Mande as part of the adoption by Songhay of the equally typologically rare Mande-type S(‑infl)‑O‑V‑X syntax, which reduces to S‑O‑V‑X when there is no post-subject inflectional morpheme (predicative marker). Apparently Songhay had little choice but to borrow the morpheme on the grounds that it did not previously possess the S(‑infl)‑O‑V‑X construction of which it is a key component, especially since a buffer between S and O prevents real-time mis-parsing of two adjacent NPs as possessor-possessum. The medial (‘caught in the middle’) position of the morpheme in the S‑BCM‑O sequence favored the borrowing, in spite of its abstract relational function which in some theoretical models should block borrowing.

Focus and newness are distinct features. The fact that subconstituents of focus can be given or discourse-old has been pointed out in Selkirk (1984) and Lambrecht (1994). Nevertheless, when it comes to Sentence Focus, it is still common to equate Focus with newness, and to treat SF sentences as necessarily all-new. One of the reasons for such bias is that formally or typologically oriented descriptions of SF tend to analyze only intransitive ‘out of the blue’ SF utterances stemming from elicitation. Based on SF utterances in natural speech in Kakabe, a Western Mande language, the present study shows that in natural speech SF utterances are associated with a rich array of discourse strategies. Accordingly, the discourse properties of the referents inside SF are subject to variation and affect the implementation of the focus-marking. The study also shows how the discourse properties of referents define the distribution of the focus marker in Kakabe.

This paper deals with the etymology and the evolution path of one of the two future tense constructions (the First Future construction) in Kla-Dan, a South Mande language. In order to propose a hypothesis on the origin of the construction and its semantic evolution, firstly, the data of other languages of the same subgroup are involved, and secondly, an analysis of the meaning of the First Future displaced to the past by a retrospective shift marker is provided. The First Future construction is reconstructed for the proto-language of the Dan-Mano-Goo-Tura subgroup. In Goo and Tura, it has the standard prospective meaning; in Mano and Dan-Gweta, the construction has extended its use towards the area of the futural meanings. Dan-Blo is the only language of the subgroup where the reflex of the prospective construction is absent; in this language, it has apparently been replaced by a new periphrastic prospective construction. In combination with the retrospective shift marker, the First Future construction in Kla-Dan has an avertive meaning and is also used in the two parts of irreal conditional constructions. This path of semantic evolution is typical for prospectives in the past. The First Future construction shares the semantic domain of the future with another construction which is also reconstructed for the Proto-Dan-Mano-Goo-Tura and has recently extended its use over a wide range of futural meanings. Based on the data of the closely related languages, this construction should be considered as progressive. From the synchronic point of view, no difference in meaning of the two future tense constructions of Kla-Dan can be found. At the same time the first construction, which is originally prospective can be considered as the main way to express the meaning of the future, whereas the Second Future construction is much less frequent and is only attested in elicited examples.

We analyse a Liberian text from the first quarter of the twentieth century written in Vai, a Mande language of West Africa, using an indigenous syllabic script. Rank–frequency distributions...

This paper presents an introductory overview of the pronominal system in Bissa Barka, an Eastern Mande language spoken in south-east Burkina Faso and northern Ghana. Primary focus is placed on the tonal behaviour of the pronouns. The paper begins with a discussion of the number of level tones represented in the language, including a summary of past tonal research. Next, it presents the two sets of personal pronouns used in the language. The tonal behaviour of each of the personal pronouns is presented, along with the tonal behaviour of the pronouns in a possessive phrase, and the tonal behaviour of the logophoric pronoun. The paper ends with a discussion of the four tonal processes identified in the pronominal system including a floating H tone, L tone spread, final falling tone and a restriction of L tone followed by a L tone. Cet article présente une introduction au système pronominal du bissa barka, une langue mandé-est parlée au sud-est du Burkina Faso et au nord du Ghana. Il met l’accent sur le comportement tonal des pronoms. L’étude commence par une discussion sur le nombre de tons unis présents dans la langue et un aperçu des travaux antérieurs traitant du ton en bissa. Puis les deux groupes de pronoms personnels bissa barka sont présentés. Le comportement tonal de chaque pronom en fonction sujet est analysé, de même que dans le syntagme génitival ; une attention spéciale est portée au pronom logophorique qui ne se distingue du pronom de 3e personne que par son influence tonale. L’article s’achève par un résumé des quatre phénomènes tonaux identifiés dans le système pronominal : le ton H flottant, la propagation du ton B, la chute du niveau du ton final et la restriction de la combinaison B suivie de B. В статье даётся предварительный обзор местоименной системы биса-барка, языка восточной группы манде, на котором говорят на юго-востоке Буркины Фасо и в северной Гане. Главное внимание уделено тональному поведению местоимений. Обсуждается количество уровневых тонов в языке, даётся обзор предшествующих публикаций на эту тему. Представлены две серии личных местоимений языка биса-барка, рассматривается тональное поведение каждого из местоимений, в том числе в генитивной конструкции; особое внимение уделено логофорическому местоимению. Статья завершается обсуждением четырёх тональных явлений, обнаруженных в прономинальной системе: плавающего высокого тона; продвижения вправо низкого тона; конечного понижения тона; ограничение на низкий тон, за которым следует другой низкий тон.

This dataset provides the first comprehensive diachronic comparison of the Vai script of Liberia, as derived from sixteen sources dated between 1834 and 2005. The Vai syllabary was invented by non-literate speakers of a Mande language and is of interest to scholars in the fields of writing and cultural transmission as an emergent writing system. Script samples that entered the dataset were retrieved from a wide variety of published manuscripts. The compiled dataset tracks the evolution of the Vai script via archival records and has reuse potential across various fields of research.

This paper addresses noun plus verb combinations in Mano, a South Mande language, and suggests novel syntactic and semantic criteria for distinguishing compounds from the free combinations of noun phrases and verbs. Nominal and verbal components of all N+V combinations in Mano are systematically detachable, and certain N+V combinations contradict the Lexical Integrity Hypothesis and the No Phrase Constraint, all of which are against the definitions of compounding as a formation of “single words”. Nonetheless, the contradiction and circularity of valency assignment in the nominal component and the combination itself make such combinations more syntactically bound than corresponding free combinations of a NP and a V. These criteria can be considered an argument in favor of defining certain N+V combinations in Mano as compounds, and all these criteria applied together present a complex picture where N+V combinations should be considered, more or less, compound-like with no clear division between free combinations and compounds. L’article présent analyse les combinaisons verbo-nominales en mano, Mandé-Sud, et introduit des critères syntactiques et sémantiques originaux qui permettent de distinguer les composés verbo-nominaux des combinaisons libres des groupes nominaux et des verbes. Les composantes nominale et verbale des combinaisons verbo-nominales en mano sont systématiquement détachables l’une de l’autre. Ces combinaisons contredisent l’Hypothèse de l’Intégrité Lexicale, ainsi que la Contrainte sur une Phrase Complexe à l’intérieur d’un mot. Ces trois critères sont en opposition avec la définition de la composition en tant que formation des « mots intègres ». Néanmoins, la contradiction et la circularité dans l’affectation de la valence de combinaisons verbo-nominales les rendent plus syntactiquement cohérentes que les combinaisons libres. Elles peuvent être considérées comme arguments en faveur de la définition de certaines combinaisons verbo-nominales en mano en tant que composés. Tous ces critères pris ensemble offrent un tableau complexe où les combinaisons verbo-nominales sont plus ou moins proches des composés mais il n’y a pas de division claire entre la classe des composés et la classe des combinaisons libres. В данной статье анализируются глагольно-именные сочетания в языке мано (южные манде) и предлагаются новые семантические и синтаксические критерии, отличающие композиты от свободных сочетаний именных групп с глаголом. Именной и глагольный компоненты глагольно-именных сочетаний систематически отделяются друг от друга в ряде контекстов. Эти сочетания противоречат Гипотезе о Лексической Целостности, а также Ограничению на Составную Группу в составе единой словоформы. Эти три критерия свидетельствуют против того, чтобы считать данные глагольно-именные сочетания композитами. Однако вновь задействованные критерии, а именно цикличность и противоречие в валентностных характеристиках именного компонента и всего глагольно-именного сочетания, свидетельствуют о большей синтаксической связанности данных сочетаний. Эти критерии свидетельствуют в пользу того, чтобы считать данные сочетания композитами. По совокупности примененных критериев следует считать глагольно-именные сочетания более или менее похожими на композиты, однако четкого деления на класс композитов и класс свободных сочетаний добиться не удается.

2.1. Beng people and their language The South Mande language Beng is a minority language of Cote d’Ivore, spoken by the ethnic group of the same name. The Beng people is isolated in space from all other South Mande speaking groups. The closest of them, Wan, is spoken about 200 kilometers west of the Beng territory. In historic times, another closely related linguistic community, the Gbin, populated a territory to the East of the Beng (Delafosse 1904). The Gbin were heavily assimilated by the...

This paper examines the polysemy patterns of two postpositions marking class-membership and property assignment in Jeli, a Central Mande language, in terms of metaphorical extensions and iconic motivation. It thus aims at broadening the empirical base for a typology of “identificational” postpositions in the Mande languages. Cet article traite des modèles de la polysémie de deux postpositions marquant l’appartenance à une classe et l’attribution d’une caractéristique en jeli, une langue Mandé Centrale, dans les termes des extensions métaphoriques et de la motivation iconique. Cela permet d’élargir la base empirique de la typologie des postpositions d’identification dans les langues Mandé. В статье исследуются модели полисемии двух послелогов в джели (центральные манде), маркирующих принадлежность к классу и приписывающих свойства, в терминах метафорических расширений и иконической мотивации. Таким образом, статья направлена на расширение эмпирической базы для типологии послелогов «идентификации» в языках манде.

Measurements were made of the fundamental frequency of a register two-tone language, Kono, a Northern Mande language from the Niger-Congo group. This language has the tonal feature of downstep which conveys linguistic information in specific contexts and introduces a terracing effect on successive high tones. The physical values were converted into their musical scale equivalents and comparisons were made with a three-tone system. They were found to be different. Observations of local and global tone ranges were made and were discussed in terms of tone spacing.

This paper considers the issues and options in creating orthographies for languages without alphabetic traditions. In particular, it looks at issues that face linguists and anthropologists in creating such orthographies for preliminary descriptive work on a language. It is often the case that these orthographies by linguistic outsiders later serve as the bases for literacy-aimed orthographies. Thus, the lexicographer is constrained not only to present the language accurately, but to not undermine indigenous literacy projects for that language. This paper looks at the particular case of devising an orthography for Beng. a Southern Mande language of Cote d'Ivoire, in order to illustrate the problems inherent in alphabetising an unfamiliar language.

Nearly all of the natives tribes have their own language, which is only partially, or not at all, intelligible to the members of the neighbouring tribe. The languages of the Liberian natives may currently be classified within two groups: the Mande and the Kru languages. The Bassa language is indeed very closely related to the Kru language. Strangely enough, and especially for the numbers 1-10, a close relatedness may be observed between the languages of the Kosso, the Vey and the Pessy. Closer down towards the coast, the natives are frequently in touch with the English-speaking Liberians. Some will have been in their service or in the service of Europeans; others have learned to speak English fairly well in the mission schools. The languages of the natives are very well developed, and this is most readily observed at the numerous palavers where the speakers display a quite admirable eloquence. Keywords:Bassa language; English-speaking Liberians; Kru language; Liberian natives; Mande language; Negro languages

In an oral discourse passed down through many generations, the village elder Vase Kamara describes how a slave named Zo Musa Kòma founded the ancient town of Musadu in Guinea-Conakry, and he explains how the legendary Kamara ancestor Foningama later became a leader in Musadu. We tentatively date some elements of the Zo Musa stories to about the fourteenth and fifteenth century, when the Manding began to assimilate and push the Southwestern and Eastern Mande-speaking peoples from the Musadu area in the Konyan to the forest. Some of the Foningama related accounts seem to correspond to the era when the Kamara who settled in the Konyan became active in the sixteenth-century Mane “invasions.”Stories about Musadu's founding provide information about these movements and help bridge the histories of the savanna and forest peoples who live in Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia. The Musadu legend links the Konyaka to their kinsmen who live in the traditional heartland of the Mali empire in present-day northern Guinea and southern Mali. In addition, some Manding, Vai, Loma, Gola, Kpelle, Konor, Dan, and Mano trace their origins to Musadu, and reflect one Loma writer's claim that “all of the tribes in Liberia are from Musadu, or have some association with Musadu” (Korvali 1960:7).The main actors are Manding (Mandekan) speakers who migrated to the Mau/Gbè and Konyan regions of western Côte d'Ivoire and southern Guinea respectively. The Mauka/Gbèka and Konyaka are members of the Northern Mande language group and are classified as Maninka (Malinke). The Bamana (Bambara), Dyula (Jula), and Vai are other Northern Mande speakers. Vase claims that Foningama was Manding, and that Zo Musa was Kpelle. The Kpelle, Loma, and Konor are Southwestern Mande speakers, and the Dan (Gio) and Mano are Eastern Mande speakers.

Beng is a South Mande language of Cote d’Ivoire. The core Beng population lives in a compact area in the Prefecture of M’Bahiakro at the northern edge of the tropical forest zone in Cote d’Ivoire. Until now, descriptions of only some aspects of the structure of Beng, particularly phonology and, to some degree, morphology, have been available to the general reader. The current work makes the first attempt at a systematic description of Beng grammar, providing a typologically oriented overvie...

The Vai of northwestern Liberia speak a Northern Mande language, fairly closely related to Manding. Previous attempts to date the breakaway of the Vai from their Manding homeland have been unconvincing. The most we can say is that they probably reached the coast more than 500 years ago. The leaders of the Mani or Kquoja invasion of Sierra Leone in the mid-sixteenth century almost certainly spoke a contemporary version of Vai.There is little evidence of a direct connexion between the movement of the Vai towards the coast and that of the Ligbi towards eastern Ivory Coast, despite linguistic similarities. More probably the Vai entered present-day Sierra Leone in company with the Kono. Traditions that the Kono were ‘left behind’ sound misleading: it is more likely that the Kono, Vai and speakers of the now extinct ‘ Dama’ language formed a continuous band from eastern Sierra Leone to the sea, cutting off the Gola and Kisi from other Mel speakers. Later (perhaps before the mid-seventeenth century) this band must have been split by the westward movement of Southwestern Mande speakers.The ‘migration’ of the Vai need not have involved a mass exodus or conquest. What was probably involved was the gradual creation of trade corridors, with a few Northern Mande speakers resident on the coast and a large number carrying salt, dried fish and other wares from the coast towards the head of the Niger. Although the corridors were eventually to some extent disrupted, the Vai language survived near the coast, because of its importance in trade and because links with the Manding were never entirely severed.