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Baoulé language

{{Short description|Language in Ivory Coast}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Baoulé

| nativename = wawle

| region = Ivory Coast

| ethnicity = Baoulé people

| speakers = {{sigfig|5.284060|2}} million

| date = 2021

| ref = e26

| script = Latin

| familycolor = Niger-Congo

| fam2 = Atlantic–Congo

| fam3 = Volta-Congo

| fam4 = Kwa

| fam5 = Potou–Tano

| fam6 = Tano

| fam7 = Central Tano

| fam8 = Bia

| fam9 = North Bia

| iso3 = bci

| glotto = baou1238

| glottorefname = Baoule

}}

Baoulé (native name: {{Lang|bci|wawle}}), also known as Baule or Bawule,{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} is a language spoken in central and southern Ivory Coast, including in the regions of Lacs, Lagunes, Gôh-Djiboua, Sassandra-Marahoué, Vallée du Bandama, Woroba, and Yamoussoukro, by approximately 5.3 million people. It is a Kwa language of the Central Tano branch, forming a dialect continuum with Anyin and closely related to Nzema and Sehwi.{{Cite book|url=http://orthographyclearinghouse.org/papers/koffi_Ettien_1990_Phonology_and_Orthography_of_Anyi.pdf|title=The interface between phonology and morpho(phono)logy in the standardization of Anyi orthography|last=Koffi|first=Ettien N'da|year=1990}} It is the common language of the Baoulé people, the largest ethnic group in Ivory Coast.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/bci|title=Baoulé|website=Ethnologue|language=en|access-date=2020-01-03}}

Translations of the Bible

In 1946, portions of the Bible translated into Baoulé were first published; the full New Testament followed in 1953.{{Citation needed|date=July 2021}} The complete Bible was published first in 1998, by the Bible Society in Abidjan.

Phonology

= Consonants =

class="wikitable"

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Labial-
velar

align="center"

! rowspan="2" |Plosive

!voiceless

|p

|t

|c

|k

|kp

align="center"

!voiced

|b

|d

|ɟ

|g

|gb

align="center"

! rowspan="2" |Fricative

!voiceless

|f

|s

|

|

|

align="center"

!voiced

|v

|z

|

|

|

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Nasal

|m

|n

|ɲ

|

|

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Lateral

|

|l

|

|

|

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Trill

|

|r

|

|

|

align="center"

! colspan="2" |Approximant

|

|

|j

|

|w

= Vowels =

class="wikitable"

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

align="center"

!Close

|i

|

|u

align="center"

!Close-mid

|e

|

|o

align="center"

!Open-mid

|ɛ

|

|ɔ

align="center"

!Open

|

|a

|

Of these vowels, five may be nasalized: /ĩ/, /ɛ̃/, /ã/, /ũ/, and /ɔ̃/.{{Cite web|url=http://sumale.vjf.cnrs.fr/phono/AfficheTableauOrtho2N.php?choixLangue=baoul%C3%A9|title=Système alphabétique de la langue baoulé|access-date=2017-01-29}}{{Cite book|title=Parlons baoulé: langue et culture de la Côte d'Ivoire|last=Kouadio N'guessan|first=Jérémie|last2=Kouame|first2=Kouakou|publisher=Paris: L'Harmattan.|year=2004}}

= Tones =

Baoulé has five tones: high, low, mid, rising, and falling.{{Cite web|url=https://phoible.org/inventories/view/668|title=PHOIBLE 2.0 -|website=phoible.org|access-date=2020-01-03}}

Orthography

Baoulé uses the following letters to indicate the following phonemes:

class="wikitable"

!Uppercase

|A

|B

|C

|D

|E

|Ɛ

|F

|G

|GB

|I

|J

|L

|K

|KP

|M

|N

|NY

|O

|Ɔ

|P

|S

|T

|U

|V

|W

|Y

|Z

Lowercase

|a

|b

|c

|d

|e

|ɛ

|f

|g

|gb

|i

|j

|l

|k

|kp

|m

|n

|ny

|o

|ɔ

|p

|s

|t

|u

|v

|w

|y

|z

style="white-space: nowrap;"

!Phoneme

|/a/

|/b/

|/c/

|/d/

|/e/

|/ɛ/

|/f/

|/g/

|/gb/

|/i/

|/ɟ/

|/l/

|/k/

|/kp/

|/m/

|/n/

|/ɲ/

|/o/

|/ɔ/

|/p/

|/s/

|/t/

|/u/

|/v/

|/w/

|/j/

|/z/

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

Further reading

  • Timyan, Judith E., [https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1817 "A Discourse-Based Grammar of Baule: The Kode Dialect"] (1977). CUNY Academic Works.
  • Carteron, Michel. 1972. Étude de la langue baoule. Baconda, Cote d'Ivoire: s.n.

External links

  • [http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_ble Baoulé entry] at the World Atlas of Language Structures
  • [http://www.bisharat.net/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/AnyiBaule PanAfriL10n page on Anyi & Baule]
  • [http://sumale.vjf.cnrs.fr/phono/AfficheTableauOrtho2N.php?choixLangue=baoulé Baoulé Phonology (French)]
  • [http://bci.kasahorow.org Baule kasahorow]

{{incubator|bci}}

{{Languages of Ivory Coast}}

{{Kwa languages}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baoule Language}}

Category:Central Tano languages

Category:Languages of Ivory Coast

Category:Bible versions and translations

Category:Baoulé people

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