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The Mampruli language is a Gur language spoken in northern Ghana, Northern Togo, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Mali by the Mamprusi people. It is partially mutually intelligible with Dagbani. The Mamprusi language is spoken in a broad belt across the northern parts of the Northern Region of Ghana, stretching west to east from Yizeesi to Nakpanduri and centred on the towns of Gambaga, Nalerigu and Walewale.

The language belongs to the Gur family which is part of the Niger–Congo language family, which covers most of Sub-Saharan Africa (Bendor-Samuel 1989). Within Gur it belongs to the Western Oti–Volta subgroup, and particularly its southeastern cluster of six to eight languages (Naden 1988, 1989). Closely related and very similar languages spoken nearby are Dagbani, Nanun, Kamara and Hanga in the Northern Region, and Kusaal, Nabit and Talni in the Upper East Region. Not quite so closely related are Farefare, Waali, Dagaari, Birifor and Safalaba in the Upper East and Upper West Regions and southwest of the Northern Region.

Comparatively little linguistic material on the language has been published; there is a brief sketch as an illustration of this subgroup of languages in Naden 1988. A collection of Mampruli proverbs has been published by R.P. Xavier Plissart, and a translation of the New Testament is in print, a sample of which can be read and heard online. There are also beginning Mampruli lessons in which the spoken language can be heard.

Names

The general and accepted name for the language is Mampruli. The name Mamprusi Is mostly used to refer to the ethnic group who speak the language, and it is not accepted by native speakers to refer to the language.

Other countries

Mampruli is also spoken at the border in the Savanes Region of Togo, across the Ghanaian border. It is also spoken by some emigrated communities in parts of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, and Mali.

Dialects

There is comparatively little dialect variation. The western (Walewale to the White Volta) and Far Western (west of the White Volta, area have some variant pronunciation standards. The far Eastern dialect (Durili) is most notable for pronouncing and where the rest of Mampruli pronounces and respectively, and for some characteristic intonation patterns.

Phonology

Vowels

Mampruli has ten phonemic vowels: five short and five long vowels:

Consonants

Writing system

Mampruli is written in an orthography based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of the letters ɛ, ŋ, ɔ. The literacy rate is fairly low. The orthography currently used represents a number of allophonic distinctions. There is a description of the process of formulating the orthography.

Alphabet

Grammar

Mampruli has a fairly conservative Oti-Volta grammatical system. The constituent order in Mampruli sentences is usually agent–verb–object. There is a simple, non-technical grammatical study <<to be expanded>>

Lexicon

The rather unusual trilingual (Mampruli-Spanish-English) dictionary was superseded by the more-reliable simple glossary: a full-featured Mampruli dictionary is in course of preparation. A hundred-word sample can be seen on the Kamusi project site

References

1. Mampruli at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
2. Tony, Naden. Gur Languages. London: Kegan Paul International for I.A.I. /W.A.L.S. pp. 12–49.
3. Dakubu, Mary Esther Kropp (1988). The Languages of Ghana. London: Kegan Paul International for I.A.I. /W.A.L.S. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
4. Plissart, Xavier (1983). Mampruli Proverbs. Tervuren: Musée Royale de l'Afrique.
5. n/a, n/a (2001). Naawunni Kunni Palli (God's New Volume). Tamale: GILLBT.
6. "Matiu 1".
7. "Red Mountain Mampruli Project". Archived from the original on 2020-07-01.
8. "Mampruli Dictionary » Alphabet". Retrieved 2024-10-22.
9. Naden, Di / Tony (2003). Community involvement in orthography design. Legon, Ghana: Linguistics Dept., University of Ghana. pp. 218–221.
10. Dakubu, M.E. Kropp / E.K.Osam (2003). Studies in the Languages of the Volta Basin 1. Legon, Ghana: Linguistics Dept., University of Ghana. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
11. "Tony Naden,A Sketch of Basic Grammar in Mampruli,1997".
12. Arana, Evangelina, / Mauricio Swadesh (1967). Diccionario analitico del mampruli. Mexico D.F.: Museo de las Culturas, , Instituto Nacional de Anthropologia e Historia.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Naden, Tony (1997). Mampruli Vocabulary / Ŋmampulli Yɛla. Gbeduuri, N.R.: Mamprint (mimeo). {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)
14. "Aardvarks Mampruli".
15. "Mampruli". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2014-05-22.

• Languages of Ghana
• Oti–Volta languages
• Mamprusi people