Minyanka language

Minyaka
Mamara
Native to	Mali
Native speakers	(740,000 cited 2000) [1]
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

Consonants

		Labial			Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Labio- velar	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
		plain	lab.	pal.			plain	pal.
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 )
	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

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ ɛ̃		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/.

See also

• Senufo language

References

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.

Further reading

• Dombrowsky-Hahn, Klaudia (ed. by Miehe, Gudrun; Reineke, Brigitte; Roncador, Manfred von) (1999) Phénomènes de contact entre les langues Minyanka et Bambara (Sud du Mali). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.
• Prost, André (1964) Contributrion à l'étude des langues Voltaiques. Dakar: Institut Francophone de l'Afrique Noire.

External links

• 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