Manjak language

Manjak or Manjack (French: Mandjak, Mandyak; Portuguese: Manjaco) or Njak is a Bak language of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The language is also known as Kanyop.

Manjak
Native toGuinea-Bissau, Senegal, and the Gambia
EthnicityManjack
Native speakers
310,000 (2006)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3mfv
Glottologmand1419

In 2006, the total number of speakers was estimated at 315,300, including 184,000 in Guinea-Bissau, 105,000 in Senegal and 26,300 in The Gambia.

Dialects

The Manjak dialects below are distinct enough that some might be considered separate languages.

  • Bok (Babok, Sarar, Teixeira Pinto, Tsaam)
  • Likes-Utsia (Baraa, Kalkus)
  • Cur (Churo)
  • Lund
  • Yu (Pecixe, Siis, Pulhilh)
  • Unhate (Binhante, Bissau)

The Manjak dialects listed by Wilson (2007) are[2]

  • Canchungo (kancuŋuʔ) – central dialect
  • Baboque (babɔk) (formerly Teixeira Pinto) – eastern dialect
  • Churo (cuur) – northern dialect
  • Pecixe (locally called pəhlihl; otherwise pəsiis), on an island to the south
  • Calequisse (kaləkiis), to the west of Canchungo

Writing system

The official spelling system for Manjak established by the Senegalese government is regulated by Decree No. 2005-983 of 21 October 2005.

Manjak alphabet (Senegal)
ABCDE ËFGHI JKLMN ÑŊOPR SŜT[illegible]U WYZ
abcde ëfghi jklmn ñŋopr sŝt[illegible]u wyz

References
  1. Manjak at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.

Further reading
  • Karlik, Jan (1972). A Manjako Grammar with Special Reference to the Nominal Group (PhD thesis). University of London.



This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.