Maninkakan
Eastern Maninka
Niger-Congo
Eastern Maninka (autonymously Maninkakan) is a Manding language of the Mande branch of Niger-Congo, spoken by over 3 million people in Upper Guinea (Kankan, Faranah, Siguiri prefectures) and adjacent borderlands of Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. Maninka is closely related to Bambara (bm) of Mali and the Mandinka of Senegambia — together forming the Manding dialect cluster. The Maninka are the modern descendants of the Mali Empire (c. 1235-1670) which dominated West Africa under emperors like Sundiata Keita and Mansa Musa. The 1949 invention of the N'Ko alphabet by Solomana Kanté specifically for Manding languages was an explicit reaction against the use of foreign scripts (Arabic and Latin) for African languages, and N'Ko has growing popular use particularly in Guinea. Maninka is one of the most-vibrant African languages with intact intergenerational transmission and major literary production.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Eastern Maninka
Water
ji
/dʒi/
Fire
tasuma
/tasuma/
Sun
tile
/tile/
Moon
kalo
/kalo/
Star
lolo
/lolo/
Mother
ba
/ba/
Father
fa
/fa/
I
ne
/ne/
You
i
/i/
Name
tɔɔ
/tɔː/
Eye
ɲa
/ɲa/
Hand
bolo
/bolo/
Heart
dusu
/dusu/
Love
kanu
/kanu/
Tree
yiri
/jiɾi/
House
lu
/lu/
Dog
wuli
/wuli/
Cat
jakuma
/dʒakuma/
Eat
domu
/domu/
Drink
min
/min/
One
kelen
/kelen/
Two
fila
/fila/
Hello
i ni se
/i ni se/
Thank you
i ni ce
/i ni tʃe/
Good
ka ɲi
/ka ɲi/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Eastern Maninka | Xaasongaxango | Kita Maninkakan | Western Maninkakan | Bambara | Dyula | Konabéré |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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/ | tasuma /tasuma/ | ta /ta/ |
| Sun | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tle /tle/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ | tile /tile/ |
| Moon | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ | kalo /kalo/ |
| Star | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | dolo /dòlo/ | dolo /dólo/ | tɛnɛ /tɛ̀nɛ̀/ |
| Mother | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | na /na/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ |
| Father | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ | fa /fa/ |
| I | ne /ne/ | ne /ne/ | ne /ne/ | ne /ne/ | ne /nè/ | ń /ŋ́/ | n /ǹ/ |
| You | i /i/ | i /i/ | i /i/ | i /i/ | i /í/ | í /í/ | i /í/ |
| Name | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ̀ɡɔ/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ́gɔ/ | to /tō/ |
| Eye | ɲa /ɲa/ | ɲa /ɲa/ | ña /ɲa/ | nya /ɲa/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ |
| Hand | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ | bolo /bolo/ |
| Heart | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ | dusu /dusu/ |
| Love | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kanu /kanu/ | kana /kana/ |
| Tree | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | yiri /jiɾi/ | jiri /dʒiɾi/ | yiri /jiri/ | yiri /jiri/ |
| House | lu /lu/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ |
| Dog | wuli /wuli/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | fugo /fuɡo/ |
| Cat | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | ñaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | nyaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | nyukuma /ɲukuma/ |
| Eat | domu /domu/ | domu /domu/ | don /don/ | don /don/ | dumuni /dumuni/ | dun /dun/ | don /don/ |
| Drink | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ |
| One | kelen /kelen/ | kele /kele/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ |
| Two | fila /fila/ | fila /fila/ | fila /fila/ | fila /fila/ | fila /fìla/ | fila /fìla/ | pla /plà/ |
| Hello | i ni se /i ni se/ | i ni sogoma /i ni soɡoma/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni sögöma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | ka kɛ /ka kɛ/ |
| Thank you | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | baraka /baɾaka/ |
| Good | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | nyi /ɲi/ | ñuman /ɲuman/ | nyuman /ɲuman/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.