Maninkakan
Western Maninkakan
Niger-Congo
Western Maninkakan (Maninka of Guinea, formally "Maninkakan" alone) is the principal Manding variety of Guinea, sister to Bambara (bm, Mali) and Kita Maninkakan (mwk) within the Manding cluster. Spoken by ~750,000-1,000,000 people, primarily in the upper Niger River valley around Kankan, Guinea — the historic heart of the Mali Empire (13th-16th c.) and the cultural anchor of the Maninka people. Linguistically, Western Maninka shares Manding features with Bambara (subject-verb-object, verb-final aspect markers, classifier-noun constructions) but has distinctive tone system and vocabulary. The N'Ko script (1949 by Souleymane Kanté) is widely used for Maninka literacy.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Western Maninkakan
Water
ji
/dʒi/
Fire
tasuma
/tasuma/
Sun
tile
/tile/
Moon
kalo
/kalo/
Star
lolo
/lolo/
Mother
na
/na/
Father
fa
/fa/
I
ne
/ne/
You
i
/i/
Name
tɔɔ
/tɔː/
Eye
nya
/ɲa/
Hand
bolo
/bolo/
Heart
dusu
/dusu/
Love
kanu
/kanu/
Tree
yiri
/jiɾi/
House
so
/so/
Dog
wulu
/wulu/
Cat
nyaakuma
/ɲaːkuma/
Eat
don
/don/
Drink
min
/min/
One
kelen
/kelen/
Two
fila
/fila/
Hello
i ni sögöma
/i ni soɣoma/
Thank you
i ni baara
/i ni baːɾa/
Good
nyuman
/ɲuman/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Niger-Congo languages
| Meaning | Western Maninkakan | Kita Maninkakan | Xaasongaxango | Eastern Maninka | Dyula | Bambara | 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/ | 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/ |
| Star | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | lolo /lolo/ | dolo /dólo/ | dolo /dòlo/ | tɛnɛ /tɛ̀nɛ̀/ |
| Mother | na /na/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | ba /ba/ | 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/ | ń /ŋ́/ | ne /nè/ | n /ǹ/ |
| You | i /i/ | i /i/ | i /i/ | i /i/ | í /í/ | i /í/ | i /í/ |
| Name | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔɔ /tɔː/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ́gɔ/ | tɔgɔ /tɔ̀ɡɔ/ | to /tō/ |
| Eye | nya /ɲa/ | ña /ɲa/ | ɲa /ɲa/ | ɲa /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/ | yiri /jiri/ | jiri /dʒiɾi/ | yiri /jiri/ |
| House | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | lu /lu/ | so /so/ | so /so/ | so /so/ |
| Dog | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | wuli /wuli/ | wulu /wulu/ | wulu /wulu/ | fugo /fuɡo/ |
| Cat | nyaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | ñaakuma /ɲaːkuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | jakuma /dʒakuma/ | nyukuma /ɲukuma/ |
| Eat | don /don/ | don /don/ | domu /domu/ | domu /domu/ | dun /dun/ | dumuni /dumuni/ | don /don/ |
| Drink | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ | min /min/ |
| One | kelen /kelen/ | kelen /kelen/ | kele /kele/ | 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 sögöma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni sogoma /i ni soɡoma/ | i ni se /i ni se/ | i ni soɣoma /i ni soɣoma/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | ka kɛ /ka kɛ/ |
| Thank you | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni baara /i ni baːɾa/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃe/ | i ni ce /i ni tʃɛ/ | baraka /baɾaka/ |
| Good | nyuman /ɲuman/ | ñuman /ɲuman/ | nyi /ɲi/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | ɲuman /ɲuman/ | ka ɲi /ka ɲi/ | 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.