Editing Manding languages

{{short description|Dialect continuum of Mande languages of West Africa}}
{{Infobox language family
|name=Manding
|altname=Manden
|region=[[West Africa]]
|speakers= {{sigfig|9.134300|2}} million
|date=2017–2021
|ref=e27
|familycolor=Niger-Congo|fam1=[[Niger–Congo|Niger-Congo]]?
|fam2=[[Mande languages|Mande]]
|fam3=[[Mande languages|Western Mande]]
|fam4=[[Mande languages|Central Mande]]
|fam5=[[Mande languages|Manding–Jogo]]
|fam6=[[Mande languages|Manding–Vai]]
|fam7=[[Mande languages|Manding–Mokole]]
|child1=Manding-East
|child2=Manding-West
|iso3=man
|glotto=mand1435
|glottorefname=Manding
|map=Map of the Manding language continuum.png
|mapcaption=Map of the Manding language continuum
}}

The '''Manding languages''' (sometimes spelt '''Manden''')<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IKE8AAAAIAAJ&dq=manden+manding&pg=PR18|title=Misreading the African Landscape: Society and Ecology in a Forest-Savanna Mosaic|last1=Fairhead|first1=James|last2=Leach|first2=Melissa|date=1996-10-17|publisher=CUP Archive|isbn=9780521563536|pages=xviii|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/epictraditionsof00belc|url-access=registration|quote=manden manding.|title=Epic Traditions of Africa|last=Belcher|first=Stephen Paterson|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0253212812|pages=[https://archive.org/details/epictraditionsof00belc/page/89 89]|language=en}}</ref> are a [[dialect continuum]] within the [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger-Congo]] family spoken in [[West Africa]]. Varieties of Manding are generally considered (among native speakers) to be mutually intelligible – dependent on exposure or familiarity with dialects between speakers – and spoken by 9.1 million people in the countries [[Burkina Faso]], [[Senegal]], [[Guinea-Bissau]], [[Guinea]], [[Sierra Leone]], [[Mali]], [[Liberia]], [[Ivory Coast]] and [[The Gambia]].<ref name=e27/> Their best-known members are [[Mandinka language|Mandinka or Mandingo]], the principal language of [[The Gambia]]; [[Bambara language|Bambara]], the most widely spoken language in [[Mali]]; [[Maninka language|Maninka or Malinké]], a major language of [[Guinea]] and [[Mali]]; and [[Dyula language|Jula]], a [[trade language]] of [[Ivory Coast]] and western [[Burkina Faso]]. Manding is part of the larger [[Mande languages|Mandé]] family of languages.

==Subdivisions==
The Manding languages, the differences from one another and relationships among them are matters that continue to be researched. In addition, the [[nomenclature]] is a mixture of indigenous terms and words applied by English and French speakers since before the [[colonisation of Africa]], which makes the picture complex and even confusing.

The [[Mandinka people]] speak varieties from the first two groups. The differences between the western and eastern branches manifest themselves primarily [[phonetic]]ally. While dialects of the western group usually have 10 [[vowels]] (5 oral and 5 long/[[nasal vowel|nasal]]), the eastern group, typified by Bambara, has 14 vowels (7 oral and 7 nasal):

{{tree list}}
* '''Manding'''
** West
*** [[Kassonke language|Kassonke – Western Maninka]] (Mali, Senegal)
*** [[Mandinka language|Mandinka]] (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea Bissau)
*** [[Kita Maninka language|Kita Maninka]] (Mali)
*** [[Jahanka language|Jahanka]] (Guinea, Senegal, Gambia, Mali; one of several dialects under this name)
** East
*** [[Marka language|Marka (Dafin)]] (Burkina Faso, Mali)
*** [[Bambara language|Bambara]]–[[Dyula language|Dyula]] (Northeastern Manding; Mali, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast)
*** [[Maninka language|Eastern Maninka]] (Southeastern Manding; multiple varieties in Mali, Guinea, Ivory Coast)
*** [[Bolon language|Bolon]] (Burkina Faso)
{{tree list/end}}

In addition, [[Sininkere language|Sininkere]] (Burkina Faso) is of an unclear placement within Manding.

==Writing==
The Manding languages have a strong [[oral tradition]], but also have written forms: adaptations of the [[Arabic alphabet]] and the [[Latin alphabet]]<ref>[https://repository.upenn.edu/gse_grad_pubs/2/ Donaldson, Coleman (2017) "Orthography, Standardization and Register: The Case of Manding." In Standardizing Minority Languages: Competing Ideologies of Authority and Authenticity in the Global Periphery, edited by Pia Lane, James Costa, and Haley De Korne, 175–199. Routledge Critical Studies in Multilingualism. New York, NY: Routledge.]</ref> and at least two [[Writing systems of Africa|indigenous scripts]].
*The [[Arabic alphabet]] was introduced into the region with the [[Islam in Africa|arrival of Islam]] and was adapted to write in the Manding languages as the [[Ajami script|Ajami]], which is still commonly used for [[Mandinka language|Mandinka]].
*The [[Latin alphabet]] was introduced into the region following European conquest and colonization. It is used fairly widely, with "official" versions in many countries, for teaching, literacy and publication.
*The [[N'Ko alphabet|NKo alphabet]], developed in 1949 by [[Solomana Kante]], is designed to write Manding using a common literary standard comprehensible to speakers of all these varieties. It is gaining popularity.<ref>[https://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI10681364/ Donaldson, Coleman (2017) ''Clear Language: Script, Register and the N’ko Movement of Manding-Speaking West Africa.'' Doctoral Dissertation, Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania.]</ref>
*A lesser-known alphabet for Bambara was developed in the early 20th century but is not used.<ref>[http://www.fakoli.net/nko/tutorial/intro.html N'Ko Language Tutorial: Introduction]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Mandekan reconstructions|Proto-Mandekan reconstructions]] (Wiktionary)
*[[Mande languages]]
*[[N'Ko language|NKo language]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20130516204859/http://www.panafril10n.org/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/Manding PanAfrican L10n page on Manding]
*[https://www.ankataa.com/resources Resources to learn Bambara, Dioula and Malinké] &mdash; An ka taa Project

{{Mande languages}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Manding languages| ]]
[[Category:Mande languages]]