Mandinka
Mandinka kaŋo
Mandinka is a Mande language spoken in Guinea, Gambia, Senegal, and Guinea-Bissau, by about 1.4 million people.
See it on the globeOpen in the family tree
The Mandinka language (Mandinka kaŋo; Ajami: مَانْدِينْكَا كَانْجَوْ), also known as Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and The Gambia, where it is one of the principal languages.
Mandinka belongs to the Manding branch of Mande and is similar to Kassonke but with only 5 instead of 7 vowels, due to lacking the ATR distinction.
The varieties spoken in the West Northern bank region in the Gambia borders on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof.
From Wikipedia · Mandinka language · CC BY-SA 4.0
Words in Mandinka
| Meaning | Word | Romanization |
|---|---|---|
| mother | naa | |
| eye | ñaa | |
| nose | nuŋo | |
| hand | buloo | |
| head | kuŋo | |
| knee | kumbaliŋo | |
| water | jí | |
| yes | haa |
Most similar languages
Vocabulary
- XaasongaxangoMande78% alike
- Kita ManinkakanMande63% alike
- Eastern ManinkakanMande53% alike
- Western ManinkakanMande50% alike
- Sankaran ManinkaMande49% alike
- KakabeMande48% alike
Vocabulary compares 40 basic words (ASJP); grammar compares 195 features (Grambank). Similar is not always related.
Nearby languages
Elsewhere
Glottolog · mand1436 · Wikipedia (English) · Ethnologue · mnk