Susu language

Last updated
Susu
Sosoxui
Native to Guinea, Sierra Leone, Guinea Bissau
RegionCoastal Guinea
Ethnicity Susu people
Native speakers
2.4 million (2017–2019) [1]
Niger–Congo?
  • Mande
    • Western Mande
      • Central
        • Soso–Yalunka
          • Susu
Latin script
Arabic script
Language codes
ISO 639-2 sus
ISO 639-3 sus
Glottolog susu1250

Susu (endonym: Susu : Sosoxui; French : Soussou) is the language of the Susu or Soso people of Guinea and Sierra Leone, West Africa. It is in the Mande language family, and its closest relative is Yalunka.

Contents

It is one of the national languages of Guinea and spoken mainly in the coastal region of the country.

History

The language was also used by people in the coastal regions of Guinea and Sierra Leone as a trade language.

The first literature in Susu was a translation of the first seven chapters of the Gospel of Matthew, translated by John Godfrey Wilhelm of the Church Mission Society. This was published in London as "Lingjili Matthew" in 1816. J.G. Wilhelm translated a considerable portion of the New Testament, but only this small part appears to have been printed.

Phonology

Susu consonants [2]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labial-
velar 		Glottal
Nasal m ⟨m⟩ n ⟨n⟩ ɲ ⟨ɲ⟩ ŋ ⟨ŋ⟩
Plosive voiceless p ⟨p⟩ t ⟨t⟩ k ⟨k⟩
voiced b ⟨b⟩ d ⟨d⟩ ɡ ⟨g⟩ ɡb ⟨gb⟩
prenasal nd⟨nd⟩ŋɡ⟨ng⟩
Fricative f ⟨f⟩ s ⟨s⟩ x ⟨x⟩ h ⟨h⟩
Trill r ⟨r⟩
Approximant l ⟨l⟩ j ⟨y⟩ w ⟨w⟩
Susu vowels [2]
Front Back
Close i ⟨i⟩, iː ⟨ii⟩ u ⟨u⟩, uː ⟨uu⟩
Close-mid e ⟨e⟩, eː ⟨ee⟩ o ⟨o⟩, oː ⟨oo⟩
Open-mid ɛ ⟨ɛ⟩, ɛː ⟨ɛɛ⟩ ɔ ⟨ɔ⟩, ɔː ⟨ɔɔ⟩
Open a ⟨a⟩, aː ⟨aa⟩
Nasal vowels [2]
Front Back
Close ĩ ⟨in⟩ ũ ⟨un⟩
Close-mid ẽ ⟨en⟩ õ ⟨on⟩
Open-mid ɛ̃ ⟨ɛn⟩ ɔ̃ ⟨ɔn⟩
Open ã ⟨an⟩

Grammatical sketch

Susu is an SOV language, Poss-N, N-D, generally suffixing, non-pro-drop, wh-in-situ, with no agreement affixes on the verb, no noun classes, no gender, and with a clitic plural marker which attaches to the last element of the NP (N or D, typically), but does not co-occur with numerals. It has no definite or indefinite articles. Sentential negation is expressed with a particle, mu, whose distribution is unclear (with adjectival predicates it seems to sometimes infix, but with transitive verbs it comes before the object).

Examples:

khame

man

didi

boy

to

see

ne

PAST

khame didi to ne

man boy see PAST

"The/a man saw the/a boy."

Pronouns

a.

n

1sg

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

n taami don ma

1sg bread eat PRES(generic)

"I eat bread."

b.

i

2sg

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

i taami don ma

2sg bread eat PRES(generic)

"You (sg) eat bread."

c.

a

3sg

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

a taami don ma

3sg bread eat PRES(generic)

"He/she/it eats bread."

d.

won

1inc.pl

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

won taami don ma

1inc.pl bread eat PRES(generic)

"We (including you) eat bread."

e.

mukhu

1exc.pl

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

mukhu taami don ma

1exc.pl bread eat PRES(generic)

"We (excluding you) eat bread."

f.

wo

2pl

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

wo taami don ma

2pl bread eat PRES(generic)

"You (pl or polite [sg or pl]) eat bread." ("wo" is used as French "vous")

g.

e

3pl

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES(generic)

e taami don ma

3pl bread eat PRES(generic)

"They eat bread."

cf.

a.

n

1sg

bankhi

house

to

see

né

PAST

n bankhi to né

1sg house see PAST

"I saw a/the house."

b.

n

1sg

taami

bread

don

eat

fe

PROG

n taami don fe

1sg bread eat PROG

"I am eating the bread."

Object pronouns have the same form as subject pronouns:

a.

khame

man

n

1sg

to

see

né

PAST

khame n to né

man 1sg see PAST

"A/the man saw me."

b.

khame

man

i

2sg

to

see

né

PAST

khame i to né

man 2sg see PAST

"A/the man saw you (sg)."

c.

khame

man

a

3sg

to

see

né

PAST

khame a to né

man 3sg see PAST

"A/the man saw him/her/it."

d.

khame

man

won

1inc.pl

to

see

né

PAST

khame won to né

man 1inc.pl see PAST

"A/the man saw us (including you)."

e.

khame

man

mukhu

1exc.pl

to

see

né

PAST

khame mukhu to né

man 1exc.pl see PAST

"A/the man saw us (excluding you)."

f.

khame

man

wo

2pl

to

see

né

PAST

khame wo to né

man 2pl see PAST

"A/the man saw you (pl)."

g.

khame

man

e

3pl

to

see

né

PAST

khame e to né

man 3pl see PAST

"A/the man saw them."

Possessive affixes precede the noun:

baba "father": m baba "my father" i baba "your (sg) father" a baba "his/her/its father" wom baba "our father" wo baba "your (pl) father" e baba "their father"

Adverbs

Adverbs can precede the subject or follow the verb:

a.

khoro

yesterday

n

1sg

fa

arrive

né

PAST

khoro n fa né

yesterday 1sg arrive PAST

"Yesterday I arrived."

b.

n

1sg

fa

arrive

né

PAST

khoro

yesterday

n fa né khoro

1sg arrive PAST yesterday

"I arrived yesterday."

Grammatical number

NPs come in a variety of forms:

khamé "boy (sg)", khame e "boys (pl) taami "bread (sg)", taami e "breads (pl)"

a.

khame

boy

e

pl

taami

bread

don

eat

ma

PRES

khame e taami don ma

boy pl bread eat PRES

"The/0 boys eat bread."

b.

khamé

boy

taami

bread

e

pl

don

eat

ma

PRES

khamé taami e don ma

boy bread pl eat PRES

"The/a boy eats breads."

Numerals

  1. woto keren car one "one car"
  2. woto firin car two "two cars"
  3. woto sakhan "three cars"
  4. woto nani "four cars"
  5. woto suli "five cars"
  6. woto senni "six cars"
  7. woto solofere "seven cars"
  8. woto solomasakhan "eight cars"
  9. woto solomanani "nine cars"
  10. woto fu "ten cars"
  11. woto fu nun keren "eleven cars"
  12. woto fu nun firin "twelve cars"
n woto nde e to né 1sg car indef.D pl see PAST "I saw several cars"/"J'ai vu des autos." woto nde "some car" di nde "some boy" bangkhi nde "some house" khame nde "someone" se nde "something" nde "who/some" i nde to? you who see "Who did you see?" i munse don ma? 2sg what eat PRES "What will you eat?"

Orthography

Susu has been written with a variety of writing systems, including the Ajami variant of the Arabic script (perhaps introduced during the time of the Imamate of Futa Jallon), various Latin script orthographies (formalized with the adoption of the Guinean languages alphabet under the government of Ahmed Sékou Touré and adapted in 1989 to adhere closer to the African reference alphabet), and the N'ko and Adlam scripts. [3] Additionally, an alphabetic script known as Koré Sèbèli or Wakara, developed by sociologist Mohamed Bentoura Bangoura based on traditional symbols used by secret societies, has been adopted by a small community of users since its introduction in 2009. [3] [4]

Other

Sosoxui is closely related to the Yalunka language.

Related Research Articles

In grammar, the comitative case is a grammatical case that denotes accompaniment. In English, the preposition "with", in the sense of "in company with" or "together with", plays a substantially similar role. Other uses of "with", like in the meaning of "using" or "by means of", correspond to the instrumental case or related cases.

Taba is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the South Halmahera–West New Guinea group. It is spoken mostly on the islands of Makian, Kayoa and southern Halmahera in North Maluku province of Indonesia by about 20,000 people.

The Nafsan language, also known as South Efate or Erakor, is a Southern Oceanic language spoken on the island of Efate in central Vanuatu. As of 2005, there are approximately 6,000 speakers who live in coastal villages from Pango to Eton. The language's grammar has been studied by Nick Thieberger, who has produced a book of stories and a dictionary of the language.

Manam is a Kairiru–Manam language spoken mainly on the volcanic Manam Island, northeast of New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najdi Arabic</span> Variety of Arabic spoken in the Najd region of Saudi Arabia

Najdi Arabic is the group of Arabic varieties originating from the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. Outside of Saudi Arabia, it is also the main Arabic variety spoken in the Syrian Desert of Iraq, Jordan, and Syria as well as the westernmost part of Kuwait.

Numbami is an Austronesian language spoken by about 200 people with ties to a single village in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken in Siboma village, Paiawa ward, Morobe Rural LLG.

Hoava is an Oceanic language spoken by 1000–1500 people on New Georgia Island, Solomon Islands. Speakers of Hoava are multilingual and usually also speak Roviana, Marovo, Solomon Islands Pijin, English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangime language</span> Language isolate of southeastern Mali

Bangime is a language isolate spoken by 3,500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the bàŋɡá–ndɛ̀. Bangande is the name of the ethnicity of this community and their population grows at a rate of 2.5% per year. The Bangande consider themselves to be Dogon, but other Dogon people insist they are not. Bangime is an endangered language classified as 6a - Vigorous by Ethnologue. Long known to be highly divergent from the (other) Dogon languages, it was first proposed as a possible isolate by Blench (2005). Heath and Hantgan have hypothesized that the cliffs surrounding the Bangande valley provided isolation of the language as well as safety for Bangande people. Even though Bangime is not closely related to Dogon languages, the Bangande still consider their language to be Dogon. Hantgan and List report that Bangime speakers seem unaware that it is not mutually intelligible with any Dogon language.

Biak, also known as Biak-Numfor, Noefoor, Mafoor, Mefoor, Nufoor, Mafoorsch, Myfoorsch and Noefoorsch, is an Austronesian language of the South Halmahera-West New Guinea subgroup of the Eastern Malayo-Polynesian languages.

Farefare or Frafra, also known by the regional name of Gurenne (Gurene), is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Frafra people of northern Ghana, particularly the Upper East Region, and southern Burkina Faso. It is a national language of Ghana, and is closely related to Dagbani and other languages of Northern Ghana, and also related to Mossi, also known as Mooré, the national language of Burkina Faso.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iatmul language</span> Ndu language spoken in Papua New Guinea

Iatmul is the language of the Iatmul people, spoken around the Sepik River in the East Sepik Province, northern Papua New Guinea. The Iatmul, however, do not refer to their language by the term Iatmul, but call it gepmakudi.

Buli, or Kanjaga, is a Gur language of Ghana primarily spoken in the Builsa District, located in the Upper East Region of the country. It is an SVO language and has 200 000 speakers.

Moi is a West Papuan language of the Bird's Head Peninsula of New Guinea.

Mavea is an Oceanic language spoken on Mavea Island in Vanuatu, off the eastern coast of Espiritu Santo. It belongs to the North–Central Vanuatu linkage of Southern Oceanic. The total population of the island is approximately 172, with only 34 fluent speakers of the Mavea language reported in 2008.

Tawala is an Oceanic language of the Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. It is spoken by 20,000 people who live in hamlets and small villages on the East Cape peninsula, on the shores of Milne Bay and on areas of the islands of Sideia and Basilaki. There are approximately 40 main centres of population each speaking the same dialect, although through the process of colonisation some centres have gained more prominence than others.

Lewo is an Oceanic language spoken on Epi Island, in Vanuatu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toʼabaita language</span> Malaita language of the Solomon Islands

Toʼabaita, also known as Toqabaqita, Toʼambaita, Malu and Maluʼu, is a language spoken by the people living at the north-western tip of Malaita Island, of South Eastern Solomon Islands. Toʼabaita is an Austronesian language.

Merei or Malmariv is an Oceanic language spoken in north central Espiritu Santo Island in Vanuatu.

Lengo or informally known as "Doku" is an Oceanic language spoken on the island of Guadalcanal. It belongs to the Southeast Solomonic language family.

Longgu (Logu) is a Southeast Solomonic language of Guadalcanal, but originally from Malaita.

References

  1. ↑ Susu at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. 1 2 3 Houis, Maurice (1963). Étude Descriptive de la Langue Susu. Dakar: Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire, Université de Dakar.
  3. 1 2 Sagno, Geneviève. "Langues nationales : comment la langue soussou en Guinée en est venue à être écrite avec autant d'alphabets". BBC Afrique (in French). BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Bangoura, Mohamed Bentoura; Guigon, Lucille; Sylla, Mohamed Lamine (July 2020). "Proposal for the encoding of « KORE SEBELI »" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.