Busa language (Mande)

Busa^[2]
Busa
Person	Busa
People	Busano
Language	Bisã

Busa
Busa
Bisã
Native to	Nigeria, Benin
Ethnicity	Bissa people
Native speakers	110,000 (2012)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Mande Eastern Bisa–Busa Samo–Busa Busa languages Busa–Boko Busa; ; ; ; ; ; ;
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either:; bqp – Busa; bus – Busa-Bokobaru
Glottolog	busa1253 Busa; boko1267 Bokobaru

Busa, or Bisã, is the

Mande language of the former Borgu Emirate in northwestern Nigeria and northern Benin. It is called Busanci in Hausa

, and has also been called Zugweya.

Names

Busa language can be better known as Busa, but it is also known with the native name Bisã or with the Hausa name Busanci (also spelled Busanchi, Bussanci Or Bussanchi); This is extremely similar to the Busa language of Papua New Guinea or the related Bissa language of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast.Understanding etymology the mande branch consists of soninke, songhai, and mandika branches that slowly evolved due to slavery.

One person or speaker is called a Busa and more persons/speakers are called Busano and the language of the Busano/Bussawa people is called Bisã.

The Busa people are one of two subgroups of the

Gur language. The Bissa people proper speak the Bissa language

, which is closely related to Busa.

Geographic distribution

In Nigeria, Busa is spoken in

Kwara state. A number of Busa have migrated to other parts of Nigeria, including Abuja

. The Busa people are referred to as Bussawa in Hausa.

The

Bokobaru dialect also known as Bokhobaru is spoken mainly in Kayama

and Baruten LGA's, Kwara state.

In Benin, Busa is spoken in

Borgou

departments. The Bokobaru dialect is not spoken in Benin.

Busa language is spoken in cities like

Kalalé

, and Bokobaru is dominant in the city of Kaiama.

Gur language

, is also spoken by the Bussawa.

Classification

Busa language is the most populous of the

Speakers of Laru and Lopa, which are Kainji languages, are also speakers of Busa and are shifting and also speak it as a Second language along with the Hausa language, and some Laru/Lopa speak it as a native language.

Orthography

Busa language has 32 letters (Aa, Ãã, Bb, Cc, Dd, Ee, Ɛɛ, Ɛ̃ɛ̃, Ff, Gg, Hh, Ii, Ĩĩ, Jj, Kk, Ll, Mm, Nn, Oo, Ɔɔ, Ɔ̃ɔ̃, Pp, Rr, Ss, Tt, Uu, Ũũ, Vv, Ww, Yy, Zz) and 25 digraphs (Aa aa, Ãa ãa, Ee ee, Ẽe ẽe, Ɛɛ ɛɛ, Ɛ̃ɛ ɛ̃ɛ, Gb gb, Ii ii, Ĩi ĩi, Kp kp, Oo oo, Ɔ̃ɔ ɔ̃ɔ, Uu uu, Ũu ũu, gw, mb, mp, nd, ng, nk, ns, nt, nz).^[3]

High tones are marked with an acute accent and low tones are marked with a grave accent.^[3]

References

^ Busa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Busa-Bokobaru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.
^ ^a ^b "ScriptSource - Bisã written with Latin scrip".

External links

This article about Mande languages is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[e18-1] Busa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
Busa-Bokobaru at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)

[BlenchAtlas4-2] Blench, Roger (2019). An Atlas of Nigerian Languages (4th ed.). Cambridge: Kay Williamson Educational Foundation.

[ScriptSource-3] "ScriptSource - Bisã written with Latin scrip".

[1]

[2]

[3]