Wikipedia

Dan language

Dan
Yacouba
RegionIvory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia.
Native speakers
1.6 million (2012)[1]
Niger–Congo
  • Mande
    • Eastern Mande
      • Southeastern
        • Mano–Dan
          • Guro–Dan
            • Tura–Dan
              • Dan
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
dnj – Dan
lda – Kla
Glottologdann1241

Dan /ˈdæn/[2] is a Mande language spoken primarily in Ivory Coast (~800,000 speakers) and Liberia (150,000–200,000 speakers). There is also a population of about 800 speakers in Guinea. Dan is a tonal language, with nine tones.

Alternative names for the language include Yacouba or Yakubasa, Gio, Gyo, Gio-Dan, and Da. Dialects are Gweetaawu (Eastern Dan), Blowo (Western Dan), and Kla. Kla is evidently a distinct language.

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i ɯ u
Close-mid e ɤ o
Open-mid ɛ ʌ ɔ
Near-open æ
Open a ɑ

Writing system

The orthography of Liberia includes this alphabet:

Dan alphabet (Liberia)
A B Ɓ D Ɗ E Ɛ F G GB H I K KP KW L M N NW NY Ŋ O Ɔ Ə Ɵ P R S T U Ɥ V W X Y Z
a b ɓ d ɗ e ɛ f g gb h i k kp kw l m n nw ny ŋ o ɔ ə ɵ p r s t u ɥ v w x y z
IPA value
a b ɓ d ɗ e ɛ f ɡ ɡ͡b h i k k͡p kʷ l m n ŋʷ ɲ ŋ o ɔ ə ɵ p r s t u ɯ v w x j z

[3][4]

Dan West alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire)
A AƆ B BH D DH E Ɛ Ë ƐA F G GB GW I K KP KW L M N NG O Ɔ Ö P R S T U Ü V W Y Z
a aɔ b bh d dh e ɛ ë ɛa f g gb gw i k kp kw l m n ng o ɔ ö p r s t u ü v w y z
IPA value
a ɒ b ɓ d ɗ e ɛ ʌ æ f ɡ ɡ͡b gʷ i k k͡p kʷ l m n ŋ o ɔ ɤ p r s t u ɯ v w j z
Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 1982
A AƆ B BH D DH E Ë Ɛ ƐA F G GB GW H I Ɩ K KP KW L M N O Ö Ɔ P R S T U Ü Ʋ Ʋ̈ V W Y Z
a aɔ b bh d dh e ë ɛ ɛa f g gb gw h i ɩ k kp kw l m n o ö ɔ p r s t u ü ʋ ʋ̈ v w y z
IPA value
a ɒ b ɓ d ɗ e ʌ ɛ æ f ɡ ɡ͡b gʷ h i ɪ k k͡p kʷ l m n o ɤ ɔ p r s t u ɯ ɯ̞ ʉ v w j z
Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 2014
A Œ B BH D DH E Ʌ Ɛ Æ F G GB GW H I Ɩ K KP KW L M N O ɤ Ɔ P R S T U Ɯ Ʋ V W Y Z
a œ b bh d dh e ʌ ɛ æ f g gb gw h i ɩ k kp kw l m n o ɤ ɔ p r s t u ɯ ʋ v w y z
IPA value
a ɒ b ɓ d ɗ e ʌ ɛ æ f ɡ ɡ͡b gʷ h i ɪ k k͡p kʷ l m n o ɤ ɔ p r s t u ɯ ʊ v w j z

The capital ɤ is not in Unicode.[5]

Tones are marked with grave, acute, and circumflex accents. Nasalization is marked with a tilde.

References

  1. ^ Dan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
    Kla at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh
  3. ^ https://scriptsource.org/cms/scripts/page.php?item_id=wrSys_detail_sym&key=dnj-Latn-CI.
  4. ^ "Proposal to Encode Additional Latin and Cyrillic Characters" (PDF).
  5. ^ "SIL PUA assignments 11.0".

External links


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.