Gourmanché language


Gourmanchéma is the language of the Gurma people. It the largest by number of speakers of the Gurma subgroup of the Oti-Volta languages, which includes among others the Moba language and Konkomba. It is the major language of the easternmost parts of Burkina Faso, around the traditional Gurma capital Fada N'Gourma; its range extends a little into northern Togo and Benin, and into the neighbouring part of Niger.

Grammar

Like all its close relations and neighbours, Gourmanché is a tone language; it distinguishes high, mid, and low tones. In the standard orthography the symbols c j represent palatal stops; they sound somewhat similar to English "ch" and "j" respectively.
Gourmanché preserves most of the noun-class based grammatical gender system characteristic of the Niger-Congo family, with eight classes and regular agreement of pronouns, adjectives and numerals. As with other Gur languages, the noun classes are marked by suffixes ; the suffixes come in singular/plural pairs for count nouns, e.g. tibu "tree", tiidi "trees" and are unpaired for mass nouns, e.g. ñima "water", soama "blood", gulimancema "Gourmanché language."
Gourmanché has sometimes been said to have noun prefixes as well as suffixes, agreeing in class. However, these "prefixes" are in fact proclitic particles with an article-like function. They are written as separate words in the standard orthography: bu tibu "a/the tree", i tiidi " trees", mi ñima " water", and they are omitted, for example, when the noun is preceded by a possessor or followed by kuli "each"; thus u nuu, "hand", ki biga "child", o joa "man" but e.g o joa muubi o biga nuu "the man holds his child's hand"; o nilo "a person" but nilo kuli "each person."
Gourmanché verbs do not agree with subjects or inflect for tense but as with almost all Oti-Volta languages, they inflect for aspect The system is complex and unpredictable, with imperfective forms differing from perfective by the addition or dropping of several different suffixes, and/or tone changes.
The language is SVO. Possessors precede their heads. Gourmanché shares with other Oti-Volta languages the characteristic that adjectives regularly compound with their head nouns; the noun precedes as a bare stem, followed by the adjective, which carries the noun class suffix appropriate to the gender and number of the head: yankpaalo "shepherd", yankpaaŋamo "good shepherd."

Lexicography

There is a fairly full Gourmanché-French dictionary but no readily accessible complete grammar.

Literature

There is a complete Bible translation.

Animal names

Gulmancéma frog names and their Mooré and English equivalents :
GulmancémaMooréScientific nameEnglish
Tiarli moangaPoond yougaAfrixalus vittigerSpiny Reed Frog
Pouang piégaPoond yougaAfrixalus weidholziWeidholz's Banana Frog
Pouand boaniPoond sablgaAmietophrynus maculatusHallowell's Toad
Pouand koulougouPoond sablgaAmietophrynus regularisEgyptian Toad
Pouand gnoualiPoond miougouAmietophrynus xerosDesert Toad
GnissolopouandiKossoilhg poondréBufo pentoniShaata Gardens Toad
Pouandi napoualéYoondéHemisus marmoratusShovel-nosed frog
TiarloSouansga:fr:Hildebrandtia ornata|Hildebrandtia ornataBudgett's Burrowing Frog
Louandi moaliLouangaHoplobatrachus occipitalisAfrican tiger frog
Tiarli pienoBoulwéoogoHylarana galamensisYellow-striped Frog
Pouand piégaPouand yougaHyperolius concolorHallowell's Sedge Frog
Tiarli moangaPouand yougaHyperolius nitidulus
Tiarli bouangaPoondr zembouangaKassina cassinoides
Pouand bouanliPoond bougdiKassina fuscaPale Running Frog
Tiarli bouangaPoondr zembouangaKassina senegalensisSenegal Kassin's Frog
Pouand koulougouPoond sablgaLeptopelis bufonidesGround Tree Frog
GnissolopoangaPoond yougaLeptopelis viridisSavannah Tree Frog
PatanpouandiLouang sablgaPhrynobatrachus calcaratusBoutry River Frog
Pouand bouangaLouong sablgaPhrynobatrachus francisci
Pouand bouangaBoulwéoogoPhrynobatrachus gutturosusGuttural Puddle Frog
BatiarloBoulonboukouPhrynobatrachus latifronsAccra River Frog
ThialondoBoulghin louangaPhrynobatrachus natalensisNatal River Frog
Pouang moangaPoond wiiléPhrynomantis micropsRed Rubber Frog
FoipoandoMouonghin souansgaPtychadena bibroniBroad-banded Grass Frog
Tiarli BouangaBouonghin souansgaPtychadena mascareniensisMascarene Grassland Frog
Pouand piègaBiihrin souangaPtychadena oxyrhynchusSharp-nosed Rocket Frog
Tiarli moangaPoughin souansgaPtychadena pumilioLittle Rocket Frog
Pouandi gnoanliLouang sablgaPtychadena schillukorumSchilluk Ridged Frog
Tiarli gnoiarlingaTampou souansgaPtychadena telliniiCentral Grassland Frog
Tiarli gnoanrgaBiihrin souansgaPtychadena tournieriTournier's Rocket Frog
Pouand gourouBoulonboukouPtychadena trinodisDakar Grassland Frog
Pouandi koulougouBoulonboukouPyxicephalus edulisEdible Frog
Pouandi boualiPoondréTomopterna cryptotisCryptic sand frog
Louand boaniLouang boudiXenopus muelleriSavanna Clawed Frog