Julakan
Dyula
Niger-Congo (Mande, Manding)
Dyula (Jula) is a major West African trade lingua franca, mutually intelligible with Bambara (Mali) and Mandinka (Senegal/Gambia) — the three together forming the Manding dialect continuum. Centred on northern Côte d'Ivoire and southwest Burkina Faso, it has been the marketplace and caravan language of the Sahel-Forest interface for centuries. Although usually written in Latin script, the N'Ko script invented in 1949 by Solomana Kanté is increasingly used among literate communities.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Dyula
Water
ji
/dʒi/
Fire
tasuma
/tasuma/
Sun
tile
/tile/
Moon
kalo
/kalo/
Mother
ba
/ba/
Father
fa
/fa/
Eat
dun
/dun/
Drink
min
/min/
Love
kanu
/kanu/
Heart
dusu
/dusu/
Tree
yiri
/jiri/
House
so
/so/
Dog
wulu
/wulu/
Cat
jakuma
/dʒakuma/
Hand
bolo
/bolo/
Eye
ɲɛ
/ɲɛ/
Hello
i ni soɣoma
/i ni soɣoma/
Thank you
i ni ce
/i ni tʃe/
One
kelen
/kelen/
Good
ɲuman
/ɲuman/
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo (Mande, Manding) languages
| Meaning | Dyula | Kita Maninkakan | Western Maninkakan | Bambara | Xaasongaxango | Konabéré | Eastern Maninka |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ | ji /dʒi/ |
| Fire | tasuma /tasuma/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | ta /ta/ | tasuma /tasuma/ |
| Sun | tile /tile/ | tle /tle/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ |
| Moon | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ |
| Mother | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | na /na/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ |
| Father | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ |
| Eat | dun /dun/ | don /don/ | don /don/ | dumuni /dumuni/ | domu /domu/ | don /don/ | domu /domu/ |
| Drink | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ |
| Love | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kana /kana/ | kanu /kanu/ |
| Heart | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ |
| Tree | yiri /jiri/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | jiri /dʒiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiri/ | yiri /jiɾi/ |
| House | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | lu /lu/ |
| Dog | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | fugo /fuɡo/ | wuli /wuli/ |
| Cat | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | ñaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | nyaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | nyukuma /ɲukuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ |
| Hand | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ |
| Eye | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ña /ɲa/ | nya /ɲa/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲa /ɲa/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲa /ɲa/ |
| Hello | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni sögöma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni ce /i ni t͡ʃɛ/ | i ni sogoma /i ni soɡoma/ | ka kɛ /ka kɛ/ | i ni se /i ni se/ |
| Thank you | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni ce /i ni t͡ʃɛ/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | baraka /baɾaka/ | i ni se /i ni se/ |
| One | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kele /kele/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ |
| Good | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ñuman /ɲuman/ | nyuman /ɲuman/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | nyi /ɲi/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.