Maa
Mano
Niger-Congo
Mano (autonymously Maa) is a Southeast Mande Niger-Congo language of the Mano-Dan group, spoken by ~400,000 people across the Nimba Mountains region of West Africa where Liberia, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire converge. The Mano people are agriculturalists in the rainforest, with a strong oral tradition and the historical Mano-Dan secret-society initiation rituals. Linguistically, Mano shares Southeast Mande features with sister Dan (dnj): SOV constituent order (rare in Africa), tone system (~3 tones), classifier-noun constructions, and an absence of grammatical gender. Khachaturyan's 2015 reference grammar is the major modern documentation.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Mano
Water
yi
/ji/
Fire
kɔ
/kɔ/
Sun
lɛ
/lɛ/
Moon
lɔ
/lɔ/
Mother
ɲɛ
/ɲɛ/
Father
de
/de/
Eat
mɛ
/mɛ/
Drink
mi
/mi/
Love
ŋalo
/ŋalo/
Heart
gba
/ɡba/
Tree
ka
/ka/
House
kpɛ
/kpɛ/
Dog
gba
/ɡba/
Cat
poso
/poso/
Hand
kɔ
/kɔ/
Eye
mi
/mi/
Hello
ye
/je/
Thank you
nyɛŋ
/ɲɛŋ/
One
do
/do/
Good
kɛlɛ
/kɛlɛ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Mano | Dan | Vai | Bassa | Mongo | Mende | Nalca |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | yi /ji/ | yi /ji/ | ꕜꕩ /daja/ | ne /ne/ | nzá /nzá/ | njei /ndʒei/ | mi /mi/ |
| Fire | kɔ /kɔ/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | ꕪꔻ /kaːsi/ | so /so/ | mokɛ́ /mokɛ́/ | ngombu /ŋɡombu/ | lakil /lakil/ |
| Sun | lɛ /lɛ/ | lai /lai/ | ꕒꔧ /foɛ/ | plɔ /plɔ/ | lokɔlɔ /lokɔlɔ/ | foni /foni/ | nyem /ɲem/ |
| Moon | lɔ /lɔ/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | ꕬꖝ /laro/ | hwɔɖɔ /hʷɔɖɔ/ | nzɔnzɔ /nzɔnzɔ/ | ngewɔ /ŋɡewɔ/ | lakum /lakum/ |
| Mother | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | da /da/ | ꖣ /na/ | mãɖe /mãɖe/ | nyangó /ɲaŋɡó/ | nje /ndʒe/ | ne /ne/ |
| Father | de /de/ | de /de/ | ꕝ /dɛ/ | gbe /ɡbe/ | ise /ise/ | nya /ɲa/ | ke /ke/ |
| Eat | mɛ /mɛ/ | dɛ /dɛ/ | ꕒ /fa/ | gbɔ̃a /ɡbɔ̃a/ | kolya /koʎa/ | mɛ /mɛ/ | ne /ne/ |
| Drink | mi /mi/ | mi /mi/ | ꕇ /mi/ | mɔ̃e /mɔ̃e/ | kome'la /komela/ | ngu /ŋɡu/ | mi ne /mi ne/ |
| Love | ŋalo /ŋalo/ | be /be/ | ꖣꔆ /nai/ | wɛ̃ɖaa /wɛ̃ɖaː/ | boláŋo /bolaŋo/ | ndolo /ndolo/ | ngam /ŋam/ |
| Heart | gba /ɡba/ | gbɔɔ /ɡbɔː/ | ꔖꕇ /sɛni/ | kẽ /kẽ/ | mongúma /moŋɡúma/ | mola /mola/ | ngal /ŋal/ |
| Tree | ka /ka/ | gbe /ɡbe/ | ꕘ /wuɾu/ | tu /tu/ | boléi /boléi/ | ngulu /ŋɡulu/ | ye /je/ |
| House | kpɛ /kpɛ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | ꕜꖢ /daɛ/ | kõ /kõ/ | ndako /ndako/ | pɛlɛ /pɛlɛ/ | kim /kim/ |
| Dog | gba /ɡba/ | gbɛ /ɡbɛ/ | ꕝꖣ /dɛni/ | gbo /ɡbo/ | mbwa /mbwa/ | nguje /ŋɡudʒe/ | ngal /ŋal/ |
| Cat | poso /poso/ | nyaa /ɲaː/ | ꖷꖬ /musu/ | blete /blete/ | nyaú /ɲaú/ | gɔngɔ /ɡɔŋɡɔ/ | kucing /kutʃiŋ/ |
| Hand | kɔ /kɔ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | ꕢ /sɔ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | lokáko /lokáko/ | lɔkɔ /lɔkɔ/ | ku /ku/ |
| Eye | mi /mi/ | ŋkɛ̃ /ŋkɛ̃/ | ꖌ /ɲa/ | di /di/ | liso /liso/ | ngama /ŋɡama/ | nye /ɲe/ |
| Hello | ye /je/ | daka /daka/ | ꕒꔢ /famo/ | nyɔɔnpe /ɲɔːnpe/ | losáko /losáko/ | bua /bua/ | silok /silok/ |
| Thank you | nyɛŋ /ɲɛŋ/ | kpe /kpe/ | ꖢꕜ /sɛda/ | mɔãĩ /mɔãĩ/ | olɛli /olɛli/ | bisɛ /bisɛ/ | amole /amole/ |
| One | do /do/ | do /do/ | ꕴꖝ /do/ | ɖaa /ɖaː/ | etomelá /etomelá/ | yila /jila/ | mom /mom/ |
| Good | kɛlɛ /kɛlɛ/ | ka /ka/ | ꖝꖢ /sue/ | nõ /nõ/ | mpɔlɔ /mpɔlɔ/ | nyande /ɲande/ | ko /ko/ |
Part of LangMap — a linguistic visualization project. This is a static, crawlable summary; the interactive maps offer pronunciation audio, filters, and a globe view.