Northern Birifor language

Northern Birifor or Malba Birifor is a Gur language of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken by a few hundred thousand people, mainly in the southwest of Burkina Faso, particularly in the provinces of Bougouriba, Ioba, Noumbiel and Poni and in western Ivory Coast.

Malba Birifor
Bɩrfʋɔr
Native toBurkina Faso, Ivory Coast
EthnicityBirifor
Native speakers
(110,000 in Burkina Faso cited 1993)[1]
Niger–Congo?
Latin (Malba Birifor alphabet)
Language codes
ISO 639-3bfo
Glottologmalb1235

Phonology

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Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i ĩ ĩː u ũ ũː
Near-close ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ɪ̃ː ʊ ʊː ʊ̃ ʊ̃ː
Close-mid e ẽː o õ õː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː
Open a ã ãː

Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velar
Glottal
Plosive/
Affricate
voiceless p t c k k͡p
voiced b d ɟ ɡ ɡ͡b
Implosive voiced ɓ
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced v
Nasal plain m n ɲ ŋ͡m
Approximant plain l j w
glottal ˀl ˀj
Trill r

Orthography

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It is written in this alphabet:[2]

Majuscules
A Ã B Ɓ C D E Ɛ Ɛ̃ F G Gb H I Ĩ Ɩ Ɩ̃ J K Kp L ʹL M N Ny Ŋm O Õ Ɔ Ɔ̃ P R S T U Ũ Ʋ Ʋ̃ V W Y Ƴ
Minuscules
a ã b ɓ c d e ɛ ɛ̃ f g gb h i ĩ ɩ ɩ̃ j k kp l ʹl m n ny ŋm o õ ɔ ɔ̃ p r s t u ũ ʋ ʋ̃ v w y ƴ
Phonetic value
a ã b ɓ c d e ɛ ɛ̃ f ɡ ɡ͡b h i ĩ ɪ ɪ̃ ɟ k k͡p l ˀl m n ɲ ŋ͡m o õ ɔ ɔ̃ p r s t u ũ ʊ ʊ̃ v w j ˀj

Long vowels are written double but without doubling the nasal tilde, e.g. ⟨ẽe⟩ for /ẽː/

References

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