Mande languages

E54190

The Mande languages are a branch of West African languages spoken primarily in countries such as Mali, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, known for including major languages like Bambara, Mandinka, and Soninke.

All labels observed (9)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (50)

Predicate Object
instanceOf branch of Niger–Congo languages
language family
associatedWithEthnicGroup Mande peoples
linked to: Mande
geographicDistribution West Africa
hasMajorLanguage Bambara
Bobo
Dan
Jahanka
Jula
Kono
Kpelle
Loko
Loma
Mandinka
Maninka
Mende
Soninke
linked to: Mande languages

Susu
Toma
Vai
hasSubgroup Central Mande languages
linked to: Mande languages

Eastern Mande languages
Southern Mande languages
Western Mande languages
historicallyAssociatedWith Ghana Empire
Mali Empire
Songhai Empire
linguisticFeature mostly tonal
predominantly SOV word order
rich aspectual verbal morphology
region Sahel
Upper Niger basin
linked to: Inner Niger Delta
spokenIn Burkina Faso
Côte d’Ivoire
linked to: Côte d'Ivoire

Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Liberia
Mali
Mauritania
Niger
Senegal
Sierra Leone
The Gambia
subclassOf West African languages
usedAsLinguaFrancaIn Guinea
Mali
writingSystemUsed Arabic script
Latin script
N’Ko script
linked to: N'Ko script

Vai script

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (28)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Niger–Congo languages majorSubgroup Mande languages
Mauritania recognizedLanguage Soninke
linked to: Mande languages
Mandinka languageBranch Mande languages
Mandinka languageGroup Manding languages
linked to: Mande languages
Mandinka hasLinguisticAncestor Proto-Mande
linked to: Mande languages
Bambara branchOf Manding languages
linked to: Mande languages
Arabic alphabet usedFor Mandinka language (Ajami)
linked to: Mande languages
Mande languages hasMajorLanguage Soninke
linked to: Mande languages
Mande languages hasSubgroup Central Mande languages
linked to: Mande languages
Ghana Empire associatedPeople Soninke
linked to: Mande languages
Mali Empire ethnicGroup Soninke
linked to: Mande languages
Mandinka people languageFamily Mande languages
Mende languageFamily Mande languages
Mande hasSubgroup Western Mande
linked to: Mande languages
Mande hasLanguage Central Mande languages
linked to: Mande languages
N'Ko script primaryUsage Manding languages
linked to: Mande languages
Mandinka languageFamily Mande languages
subject linked to: Mandika
Ajami script usedFor Soninke language
linked to: Mande languages
Mano people languageFamily Mande languages
Proto-Niger–Congo isAncestorOf Mande languages
Jahanka closelyRelatedTo Manding languages
linked to: Mande languages
Wagadou language Soninke language
linked to: Mande languages
Mansa Souleyman language Mandé languages
linked to: Mande languages
Mansa hasLanguageOrigin Mandé languages
linked to: Mande languages
Soninke people nativeLanguage Soninke language
linked to: Mande languages
Bambara people languageFamily Mande languages
Serahule Muslims language Soninke language
linked to: Mande languages
Mende language languageFamily Mande languages