Bozo language

Niger -Congo

• Mande West -Mande northwest Soninke - Bobo Soninke - Bozo

BZX ( Hainyaxo ) boo ( Tiemacèwè ) boz ( Tiéyaxo ) bze ( Jenaama )

Bozo (sometimes Boso, ' House of Bamboo ') is a language that is by the people of the Bozo, the main fishing people of Massina in Mali, spoken.

According to the 2000 census, is the number of Bozo -native 132,100. The Bozo dialect continuum is often regarded as a language, but it is within which a wide variety. Recognized four languages ​​on the basis of the requirements for literacy materials. Bozo is part of the northeastern group of the Mande languages ​​; the nearest linguistic relative is the Soninke, a main language spoken in the northwestern section Südmalis, in Ostsenegal and Südmauretanien. The Bozo often speak one or more regional languages ​​such as Bamana, Maasina - Fulfulde, Western Songhay and increasingly lately French. Bozo itself is a tonal language with three lexical tones.

The Bozo cluster is divided into the following varieties:

• Hainyaxo ( Hainyaho ) (a few thousand speakers)
• Tiɛma Cɛwɛ ( tiema cièwe ) ( 2,500 people in 1991 )
• Tiéyaxo ( Tigemaxo ) ( only a few thousand speakers)
• Sorogaama ( Jenaama, Sorko ) ( 200,000 speakers in 2005 )

Hainyaho, spoken by the grove (so-called Xan ), is the westernmost dialect, spoken in two points Niger. It is related most closely with the Tigemaxo, its eastern neighbor which is spoken by Diafarabe. The central and most widely spoken language Bozo is Sorogama, which actually turn out four dialects of: Pondori (south of Mopti ), Kotya, Korondugu (north of Mopti ) and Debo (around the Débo Lake). Tiema Cièwè is the North Easternmost of Bozo cluster, spoken near the Debosees.