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Southern Birifor language

{{Short description|Gur language spoken in Ghana and Ivory Coast}}

{{More citations needed|date=March 2023}}

{{Infobox language

|name=Southern Birifor

|nativename=Birfoɔr

|states=Ghana, Ivory Coast

|ethnicity=Birifor

|speakers={{sigfig|187000|2}}

|date=2017

|ref=e26

|script=Latin (Southern Birifor alphabet)

|familycolor=Niger-Congo

|fam2=Atlantic–Congo

|fam3=Gur

|fam4=Northern

|fam5=Oti–Volta

|fam6=Moré–Dagbani

|fam7=Moré

|fam8=Dagaare–Birifor

|fam9=Birifor

|iso3=biv

|glotto=sout2790

|glottorefname=Southern Birifor

}}

Southern Birifor is a Gur language of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken by about 200,000 people, mainly in Ghana, particularly in Upper West and Northern regions, with perhaps ten thousand in Zanzan district of Ivory Coast.

Phonology

= Vowels =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

!

!Front

!Central

!Back

align="center"

! |Close

|{{IPA|i}} {{IPA|iː}} {{IPA|ĩ}} {{IPA|ĩː}}

|

|{{IPA|u}} {{IPA|uː}} {{IPA|ũ}} {{IPA|ũː}}

Near-close

|{{IPA|ɪ}} {{IPA|ɪː}} {{IPA|ɪ̃}} {{IPA|ɪ̃ː}}

|

|{{IPA|ʊ}} {{IPA|ʊː}} {{IPA|ʊ̃}} {{IPA|ʊ̃ː}}

align="center"

!Close-mid

|{{IPA|e}} {{IPA|eː}} {{IPA|ẽ}} {{IPA|ẽː}}

|

|{{IPA|o}} {{IPA|oː}} {{IPA|õ}} {{IPA|õː}}

Open-mid

|{{IPA|ɛ}} {{IPA|ɛː}} {{IPA|ɛ̃}} {{IPA|ɛ̃ː}}

|

|{{IPA|ɔ}} {{IPA|ɔː}} {{IPA|ɔ̃}} {{IPA|ɔ̃ː}}

align="center"

!Open

|

|{{IPA|a}} {{IPA|aː}} {{IPA|ã}} {{IPA|ãː}}

|

= Consonants =

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

! colspan="2" |

!Labial

!Alveolar

!Palatal

!Velar

!Labio-
velar

!Glottal

rowspan="2" |Plosive/
Affricate

!voiceless

|{{IPA|p}}

|{{IPA|t}}

|{{IPA|c}}

|{{IPA|k}}

|{{IPA|k͡p}}

|

voiced

|{{IPA|b}}

|{{IPA|d}}

|{{IPA|ɟ}}

|{{IPA|ɡ}}

|{{IPA|ɡ͡b}}

|

rowspan="2" |Fricative

!voiceless

|{{IPA|f}}

|{{IPA|s}}

|

|

|

|{{IPA|h}}

voiced

|{{IPA|v}}

|

|

|

|

|

rowspan="1" |Nasal

!plain

|{{IPA|m}}

|{{IPA|n}}

|{{IPA|ɲ}}

|{{IPA|ŋ}}

|{{IPA|ŋ͡m}}

|

rowspan="2" |Approximant

!plain

|

|{{IPA|l}}

|{{IPA|j}}

|

|{{IPA|w}}

|

glottal

|

|{{IPA|ˀl}}

|{{IPA|ˀj}}

|

|{{IPA|ˀw}}

|

colspan="2" |Trill

|

|{{IPA|r}}

|

|

|

|

Orthography

It is written in this alphabet:

class="wikitable" style=text-align:center

! colspan="45" |Majuscules

A

|Ã

|B

|C

|D

|E

|Ẽ

|Ɛ

|Ɛ̃

|F

|G

|Gb

|H

|I

|Ĩ

|Ɩ

|Ɩ̃

|J

|K

|Kp

|L

|ʹL

|M

|N

|Ny

|Ŋ

|Ŋm

|O

|Õ

|Ɔ

|Ɔ̃

|P

|R

|S

|T

|U

|Ũ

|Ʋ

|Ʋ̃

|V

|W

|ʹW

|Y

|ʹY

colspan="44" |Minuscules
a

|ã

|b

|c

|d

|e

|ẽ

|ɛ

|ɛ̃

|f

|g

|gb

|h

|i

|ĩ

|ɩ

|ɩ̃

|j

|k

|kp

|l

|ʹl

|m

|n

|ny

|ŋ

|ŋm

|o

|õ

|ɔ

|ɔ̃

|p

|r

|s

|t

|u

|ũ

|ʋ

|ʋ̃

|v

|w

|ʹw

|y

|ʹy

colspan="44" |Phonetic value
{{IPA link|a}}

|{{IPA link|ã}}

|{{IPA link|b}}

|{{IPA link|c}}

|{{IPA link|d}}

|{{IPA link|e}}

|{{IPA link|ẽ}}

|{{IPA link|ɛ}}

|{{IPA link|ɛ̃}}

|{{IPA link|f}}

|{{IPA link|ɡ}}

|{{IPA link|ɡ͡b}}

|{{IPA link|h}}

|{{IPA link|i}}

|{{IPA link|ĩ}}

|{{IPA link|ɪ}}

|{{IPA link|ɪ̃}}

|{{IPA link|ɟ}}

|{{IPA link|k}}

|{{IPA link|k͡p}}

|{{IPA link|l}}

|{{IPA link|ˀl}}

|{{IPA link|m}}

|{{IPA link|n}}

|{{IPA link|ɲ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ}}

|{{IPA link|ŋ͡m}}

|{{IPA link|o}}

|{{IPA link|õ}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ}}

|{{IPA link|ɔ̃}}

|{{IPA link|p}}

|{{IPA link|r}}

|{{IPA link|s}}

|{{IPA link|t}}

|{{IPA link|u}}

|{{IPA link|ũ}}

|{{IPA link|ʊ}}

|{{IPA link|ʊ̃}}

|{{IPA link|v}}

|{{IPA link|w}}

|{{IPA link|ˀw}}

|{{IPA link|j}}

|{{IPA link|ˀj}}

Long vowels are written double.

References

{{reflist}}

Category:Oti–Volta languages

Category:Gur languages

Category:Languages of Ghana

Category:Languages of Ivory Coast