Bassa language
| Bassa | |
|---|---|
| 𖫔𖫧𖫳𖫒𖫨𖫰𖫨𖫱 (Ɓǎsɔ́ɔ̀) | |
| Native to | Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone |
Native speakers | 410,000 (2006)[1] |
| Bassa Vah alphabet (Vah) | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bsq |
| Glottolog | nucl1418 |
| ELP | Lua error in Module:Endangered_Languages_Project at line 21: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
The Bassa language is a Kru language spoken by about 783,000 Bassa people in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone.
Phonology
[edit | edit source]Consonants
[edit | edit source]| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate |
voiceless | p | t | t͡ʃ | k | k͡p | |
| voiced | b | d | d͡ʒ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ||
| implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ʄ | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | xʷ | h | ||
| voiced | v | z | ɣʷ | ||||
| Approximant | w | ||||||
- /ʄ/ can be heard as a glide [j] intervocalically within compound words.
- /ɡ͡b/ when followed by a nasal can be heard as [ŋ͡m].
- /h/ only rarely occurs.[2]
Vowels
[edit | edit source]| Front | Central | Back | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| oral | nasal | oral | nasal | oral | nasal | |
| Close | i | ĩ | u | ũ | ||
| Close-mid | e | o | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɛ̃ | ɔ | ɔ̃ | ||
| Open | a | ã | ||||
Bassa alphabets
[edit | edit source]
It has an indigenous alphabet, Vah, first popularized by Thomas Flo Lewis, who has instigated publishing of limited materials in the language from the mid-1900s through the 1930s, with its height in the 1910s and 1920s.[3] It has been reported that the alphabet was influenced by the Cherokee syllabary created by Sequoyah.[4]
The Vah alphabet has been described as one which, "like the system long in use among the Vai, consists of a series of phonetic characters standing for syllables."[5] In fact, however, Vah is alphabetic. It includes 30 consonants, seven vowels, and five tones that are indicated by dots and lines inside each vowel.
In the 1970s the United Bible Societies (UBS) published a translation of the New Testament. June Hobley, of Liberia Inland Mission, was primarily responsible for the translation. The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) was used for this translation rather than the Vah alphabet, mostly for practical reasons related to printing. Because the Bassa people had a tradition of writing, they quickly adapted to the new alphabet, and thousands learned to read.
In 2005, UBS published the entire Bible in Bassa. The translation was sponsored by the Christian Education Foundation of Liberia, Christian Reformed World Missions, and UBS. Don Slager headed a team of translators that included Seokin Payne, Robert Glaybo, and William Boen.
The IPA has largely replaced the Vah alphabet in publications. However, Vah is still highly respected and is still in use by some older men, primarily for record keeping.
Latin Bassa orthography
[edit | edit source]Letters
[edit | edit source]- A - a - [a]
- B - be - [b]
- Ɓ - ɓe - [ɓ/ⁿb]
- C - ce - [c]
- D - de - [d]
- Đ - ɖe - [ɖ/ɺ]
- Dy - dye - [dʲ/ɲ]
- Ɛ - ɛ - [ɛ]
- E - e - [e]
- F - ef - [f]
- G - ge - [g]
- Gb - gbe - [ɡ͡b/ŋ͡m]
- Gm - gme - [g͡m]
- H - ha - [h]
- Hw - hwa - [hʷ]
- I - i - [i]
- J - je - [ɟ]
- K - ka - [k]
- Kp - kpe - [k͡p]
- M - em - [m]
- N - en - [n]
- Ny - eny - [ŋ]
- Ɔ - ɔ - [ɔ]
- O - o - [o]
- P - pe - [p]
- S - es - [s]
- T - te - [t]
- U - u - [u]
- V - ve - [v]
- W - we - [w]
- Xw - xwa - [xʷ]
- Z - ze - [z]
Other letters
[edit | edit source]- ã - [ã]
- ẽ - [ẽ]
- ĩ - [ĩ]
- ɔ̃ - [ɔ̃]
- ũ - [ũ]
Some Bassa speakers write nasalised vowels as an, en, in, ɔn, and un.
Tones
[edit | edit source]- á - [a˥]
- à - [a˨]
- a - [a˧]
- ǎ - [a˨˧]
- â - [a˥˩][6]
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Bassa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Starr, Frederick. Liberia: Description, history, problems. Chicago, 1913. P.246
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
External links
[edit | edit source]- Omniglot: Bassa alphabet
- Bassa-English Dictionary
- Brief Summary of Liberian Indigenous Scripts
- Gbokpasom - Non-Profit
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