Gur, also increasingly called Mabia by some scholars, is a branch of the Niger-Congo family's Volta-Congo languages spoken across the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, chiefly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Niger. The family comprises 33 languages divided into a Northern branch, whose Oti-Volta group of 28 languages includes Moore, Mamprusi, Dagbani and Gurma, and a smaller Southern branch including the Gurunsi and Kirma-Lobi languages. Nearly all Gur languages are tonal, the main exception being Koromfe.
Facts
Disputed
Proto-Language StatusPartially reconstructed: Proto-Gur Swadesh basic-vocabulary lists were compiled by Gabriel Manessy (1969, 1975, 1979), but a full comparative reconstruction of Proto-Gur has not been completed. 1 Manessy's Swadesh lists are basic-vocabulary comparisons, not a full phonological or morphological reconstruction; the family's own internal classification (Central Gur/Mabia versus a broader Gur/Voltaic grouping) is still debated. RegionSahelian and savanna regions of West Africa: most of Burkina Faso, south-central Mali, northeastern Ivory Coast, the northern halves of Ghana and Togo, northwestern Benin and southwestern Niger. 1 Gur
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Source Wikipedia: Gur Languages
Open Questions
Source Wikipedia: Gur Languages
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1. Wikipedia: Gur Languages
Wikimedia FoundationIntroduction, first paragraph
They are spoken in the Sahelian and savanna regions of West Africa, namely: in most areas of Burkina Faso, and in south-central Mali, northeastern Ivory Coast, the northern halves of Ghana and Togo, northwestern Benin, and southwestern Niger.
External links section
Proto-Gur Swadesh lists (Gabriel Manessy 1969, 1975, 1979)
- Open Questions: How many speakers do the Gur languages total today?
View the Source Open Questions (1 open question)
How many speakers do the Gur languages total today?
The surveyed Wikipedia treatment names the individual member languages and the countries they are spoken in, but gives no combined aggregate speaker count for the Gur (Central Gur/Mabia) family as a whole.
What would resolve this A published aggregate count of speakers across the Gur family's member languages, for example from Ethnologue or a regional linguistic survey of Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast and Niger.
African linguistics (Niger-Congo, West African languages).Wikipedia: Gur Languages
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