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
31 core words in Mano
Water
yi
/ji/
Fire
kɔ
/kɔ/
Sun
lɛ
/lɛ/
Moon
lɔ
/lɔ/
Star
sĩ̄ã́ŋēlè
/sĩ̄ã́ŋēlè/
Mother
ɲɛ
/ɲɛ/
Father
de
/de/
I
mā
/ma˧/
You
ī
/ī/
Name
tɔ́
/tɔ́/
Eye
mi
/mi/
Hand
kɔ
/kɔ/
Heart
gba
/ɡba/
Love
ŋalo
/ŋalo/
Tree
ka
/ka/
House
kpɛ
/kpɛ/
Dog
gba
/ɡba/
Cat
poso
/poso/
Eat
mɛ
/mɛ/
Drink
mi
/mi/
One
do
/do/
Two
plɛ̀ɛ̀
/plɛː˩/
Hello
ye
/je/
Thank you
nyɛŋ
/ɲɛŋ/
Good
kɛlɛ
/kɛlɛ/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Mano | Dan | Vai | Bassa | Ga | Donno So | Berom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | yi /ji/ | yi /ji/ | ꕀ /dʒi/ | ne /ne/ | nu /nu/ | di /di/ | bí /bi/ |
| Fire | kɔ /kɔ/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | ꕪꔻ /kaːsi/ | so /so/ | la /la/ | yɔ /jɔ/ | cá /tʃa/ |
| Sun | lɛ /lɛ/ | lai /lai/ | ꔎꔒ /tele/ | plɔ /plɔ/ | hulu /hulu/ | naa /naː/ | kọs /kɔs/ |
| Moon | lɔ /lɔ/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | ꕬꖝ /laro/ | hwɔɖɔ /hʷɔɖɔ/ | ŋɔɔŋmɔ /ŋɔɔŋmɔ/ | ele /ele/ | cwèl /tʃwel/ |
| Star | sĩ̄ã́ŋēlè /sĩ̄ã́ŋēlè/ | céé /tséː/ | ꗋꗏ /tólò/ | kùɖù /kùɖù/ | ŋulami /ŋùlámi/ | tolo /tolo/ | taŋaten /taŋaˈten/ |
| Mother | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | da /da/ | ꖣ /na/ | mãɖe /mãɖe/ | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | na /na/ | ne /ne/ |
| Father | de /de/ | de /de/ | ꕝ /dɛ/ | gbe /ɡbe/ | tsɛ /tsɛ/ | ba /ba/ | da /da/ |
| I | mā /ma˧/ | ŋ̄ /ŋ̄/ | ꘋ /ŋ̀/ | M̀ /m̩/ | mi /mì/ | mi /mi/ | mé /me/ |
| You | ī /ī/ | ī /i/ | ꔤ /ì/ | Ɓe /ɓe/ | bo /bo/ | u /u/ | hó /ho/ |
| Name | tɔ́ /tɔ́/ | tɔ́ /tɔ́/ | ꕿꘌ /tɔ́ː/ | nyɛ /ɲɛ/ | gbɛi /gbɛ́i/ | boy /bɔj/ | reza /ˈrɛza/ |
| Eye | mi /mi/ | ŋkɛ̃ /ŋkɛ̃/ | ꕰ /ɲa/ | di /di/ | hiŋmɛi /hiŋmɛi/ | giré /ɡiɾe/ | nyíí /ɲiː/ |
| Hand | kɔ /kɔ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | ꗃꗏ /ɓolo/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | nine /nine/ | nu /nu/ | kpàá /kpaː/ |
| Heart | gba /ɡba/ | gbɔɔ /ɡbɔː/ | ꔖꕇ /sɛni/ | kẽ /kẽ/ | tsui /tsui/ | kɛɛla /kɛːla/ | kúgú /kuɡu/ |
| Love | ŋalo /ŋalo/ | be /be/ | ꖣꔆ /nai/ | wɛ̃ɖaa /wɛ̃ɖaː/ | suɔmɔ /suɔmɔ/ | suuli /suːli/ | shìr /ʃiɾ/ |
| Tree | ka /ka/ | gbe /ɡbe/ | ꕘ /wuɾu/ | tu /tu/ | tso /tso/ | ti /ti/ | kàn /kan/ |
| House | kpɛ /kpɛ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | ꕜꖢ /daɛ/ | kõ /kõ/ | shia /ʃia/ | gina /ɡina/ | wùm /wum/ |
| Dog | gba /ɡba/ | gbɛ /ɡbɛ/ | ꕝꖣ /dɛni/ | gbo /ɡbo/ | gbei /ɡbei/ | gɛɛ /ɡɛː/ | cà /tʃa/ |
| Cat | poso /poso/ | nyaa /ɲaː/ | ꖷꖬ /musu/ | blete /blete/ | adi /adi/ | monyi /moɲi/ | mìshí /miʃi/ |
| Eat | mɛ /mɛ/ | dɛ /dɛ/ | ꕒ /fa/ | gbɔ̃a /ɡbɔ̃a/ | yɛ /jɛ/ | kɔɔ /kɔː/ | rì /ɾi/ |
| Drink | mi /mi/ | mi /mi/ | ꕇ /mi/ | mɔ̃e /mɔ̃e/ | nu /nu/ | nɔ /nɔ/ | nyaŋ /ɲaŋ/ |
| One | do /do/ | do /do/ | ꕴꖝ /do/ | ɖaa /ɖaː/ | ekome /ekome/ | tum /tum/ | kòp /kop/ |
| Two | plɛ̀ɛ̀ /plɛː˩/ | plɛ̀ /plɛ˩/ | ꗱꘌꕟ /fèːrà/ | sɔ̃ /sɔ̃/ | enyɔ /eɲɔ/ | lɛy /lɛj/ | bà /ba/ |
| Hello | ye /je/ | daka /daka/ | ꕒꔢ /famo/ | nyɔɔnpe /ɲɔːnpe/ | ɔ jɔ /ɔ jɔ/ | agandɛla /aɡandɛla/ | kèèlé /keːle/ |
| Thank you | nyɛŋ /ɲɛŋ/ | kpe /kpe/ | ꖢꕜ /sɛda/ | mɔãĩ /mɔãĩ/ | oyiwala /ojiwala/ | biguƞ /biɡũ/ | gèyak /ɡejak/ |
| Good | kɛlɛ /kɛlɛ/ | ka /ka/ | ꖝꖢ /sue/ | nõ /nõ/ | ekpakpa /ekpakpa/ | suuli /suːli/ | mwa /mwa/ |
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