The Kassonke (Khassonké) language, Xaasongaxango (Xasonga), or Western Maninka (Malinke), is a Manding language spoken by the Khassonké and Malinke of western Mali and by the Malinke of eastern Senegal. Kassonke is an official language in Mali. Western and Eastern Maninka are 90% mutually intelligible, though distinct from the Mandinka (Malinke) of southern Senegal, which is a national language there.
| Kassonke | |
|---|---|
| Western Maninka | |
| Xaasongaxango | |
| Native to | Mali |
| Ethnicity | Kassonke, Malinke |
Native speakers | 2.5 million (2009–2022)[1] |
| Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | Mali |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | Either:kao – Kassonkemlq – Western Malinke (Malinka) |
| Glottolog | xaas1235 Xaasongaxangowest2500 Western Maninkakan |
Phonology edit
Consonants edit
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Uvular | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Stop | voiceless | p | t | c | k | q | |
| voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | |||
| Fricative | f | s | x | h | |||
| Trill | r | ||||||
| Lateral | l | ||||||
| Approximant | j | w | |||||
Vowels edit
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i iː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | o oː | |
| Open | a aː |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Kassonke at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
Western Malinke (Malinka) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Koite-Herschel, Ute (1982). Le systeme phonologique du Xasonga. In Bulletin de l'Institut de phonétique de Grenoble, vol. 10-11, 1981-1982: Institut de phonétique de Grenoble. pp. 201–249.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
Further reading edit
- Koite-Herschel, Ute (Autumn 1981). "La translation du constituent verbal: le cas du xasonga" (PDF). Mandenkan. 2: 3–16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-01-07.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link) - Sullivan, Terrence D. (2004). A preliminary report of existing information on the Manding languages of West Africa: summary and suggestions for future research (Report). SIL Electronic Survey Reports. Vol. 2004–005.
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