Kasena language
| Kasena | |
|---|---|
| kasɩm | |
| Region | Ghana, Burkina Faso |
| Ethnicity | Kassena |
Native speakers | (250,000 cited 1998–2004)[1] |
| Latin, Goulsse | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xsm |
| Glottolog | kase1253 |
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Kasena or Kassena (Kasem or Kassem) is the language of the Kassena ethnic group and is a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana and in Burkina Faso.
Phonology
[edit | edit source]Consonants
[edit | edit source]Vowels
[edit | edit source]| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Near-close | ɪ | ʊ | |
| Close-mid | e | ə | o |
| Open-mid | ɛ | ɔ | |
| Open | a |
Tone
[edit | edit source]Kasena has three tones, a high tone, a mid level tone and a low tone. Tonal changes either change the lexical meaning of a word or its grammatical function.[2]
Lexical
A
„I“
Á
„You (PL)“
Grammatical
Wu
Negation
Wú
Futur
Orthography
[edit | edit source]| Aa | Ǝǝ | Bb | Cc | Dd | Ee | Ɛɛ | Ff | Gg | Hh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| /a/ | /ə/ | /b/ | /t̠͡ʃ/ | /d/ | /e/ | /ɛ/ | /f/ | /ɡ/ | /h/ |
| Ii | Ɩɩ | Jj | Kk | Ll | Mm | Nn | Ŋŋ | Oo | Ɔɔ |
| /i/ | /ɪ/ | /d̠͡ʒ/ | /k/ | /l/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ŋ/ | /o/ | /ɔ/ |
| Pp | Rr | Ss | Tt | Uu | Ʋʋ | Vv | Ww | Yy | Zz |
| /p/ | /r/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /ʊ/ | /v/ | /w/ | /j/ | /z/ |
An independent 30-letter alphabet called the Goulsse alphabet (from gʋlse, “writing” in Mooré) was devised by Burkinabé app developer Wenitte Apiou, Babaguioue Micareme Akouabou and Kassem linguist Fernand Ki in summer of 2021 based on the geometrical patterns found in Kassena architecture. The alphabet is also planned to be applicable for the related Mooré language as well.[3]
Grammar
[edit | edit source]Noun class system
[edit | edit source]There are five classes of nouns that can be identified in Kasena. These classes correspond to grammatical genders and are differentiated in terms of number, such that there are five classes for singular nouns and five classes for plural nouns.[2]
| Gender | SG | PL | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | bu | biə | child/children |
| 2 | bɪnɪ | bɪna | year(s) |
| 3 | naga | nɛ | foot/feet |
| 4 | piu | pweeru | montain(s) |
| 5 | bʊŋʊ | bʊm | goat(s) |
Pronouns
[edit | edit source]Personal and possessive pronouns
[edit | edit source]There are two classes of personal pronouns. One class is referring to humans, whereas the other class is referring to non-human entities. The personal pronouns are also used as possessive pronouns, thus there is no special form for possessive pronouns in Kasena.
Human personal pronouns
| Person | SG | PL | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | A | Dí | I/we |
| 2nd | N | Á | You/you |
| 3rd | O | Ba | He/she/They |
Non-human personal pronouns
| Class | SG | PL |
|---|---|---|
| I | O | Ba |
| II | Dɪ | Ya |
| III | Ka | Sɪ |
| IV | Kʊ | Tɪ |
| V | Kʊ | Dɪ |
Emphatic pronouns
[edit | edit source]| Person | SG | PL | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | amʊ | dcbam | Me/we |
| 2nd | nmʊ | abam | You/you |
| 3rd | wʊm/wʊntu | bam/bantʊ | He/she/they |
Reciprocal pronouns
[edit | edit source]Reciprocity is expressed by the pronoun daanɪ, which sometimes occurs as a prefix or suffix.
Reflexive pronouns
[edit | edit source]Reflexivity is expressed by a personal pronoun to which either tɪtɪ or katɪ ('-self')is added.
Relative pronouns
[edit | edit source]Relative pronouns are formed on the basis of the personal pronouns for non-human entities to which the suffix -lʊ is attached.[2]
| Class | SG | PL |
|---|---|---|
| I | wʊlʊ | balʊ |
| II | dɪlʊ | yalʊ |
| III | kalʊ | sɪlʊ |
| IV | kʊlʊ | tɪlʊ |
| V | kʊlʊ | dɪlʊ |
Indefinite pronouns
[edit | edit source]| Class | Number | Certain | Some | Any |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | SG | wʊdoŋ | --- | wʊlʊ wʊlʊ |
| I | PL | badonnə | badaara | balʊ balʊ |
| II | SG | dɪ doŋ | --- | dɪlʊ dɪlʊ |
| II | PL | yadonnə | yadaara | yalʊ yalʊ |
| III | SG | kadoŋ | --- | kalʊ kalʊ |
| III | PL | sɪdonnə | sɪdaara | sɪlʊ sɪlʊ |
| IV | SG | kudoŋ | --- | kʊlʊ kʊlʊ |
| IV | PL | tɪdonnə | tɪdaara | tɪlʊ tɪlʊ |
| V | SG | kudoŋ | --- | kʊlʊ kʊlʊ |
| V | PL | dɪdonnə | dɪdaara | dɪlʊ dɪlʊ |
Demonstrative pronouns
[edit | edit source]| Class | SG | Gloss | PL | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | wuntu | this/that | bantu | these/those |
| II | dɪntu | this/that | yantu | these/those |
| III | kantu | this/that | sɪntu | these/those |
| IV | kuntu | this/that | tɪntu | these/those |
| V | kuntu | this/that | dɪntu | these/those |
Interrogative pronouns
[edit | edit source]| Class | SG who, what, which | PL who, what, which | How much |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | wɔɔ | bra | bagra |
| II | dɔɔ | yɔɔ | yagra |
| III | kɔɔ | sɔɔ | sɪgra |
| IV | kɔɔ | tɔɔ | tɪgra |
| V | kɔɔ | dɔɔ | dɪgra |
Syntax
[edit | edit source]Word order
[edit | edit source]The Kasena language has a basic SVO word order.
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ Kasena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
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External links
[edit | edit source]- Languages of Ghana
- Kassena-Ninkarse.org
- Riddles in Kasena
- The VP-periphery in Mabia languages
- Web version of Ethnologue
- Kasem language and alphabet – Omniglot
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