Mòoré

Mooré

Niger-Congo (Gur)

FamilyNiger-Congo (Gur) Speakers~7M ScriptLatin (with ɛ ɔ ɩ ʊ) CountriesBurkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo Official inBurkina Faso (national) Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3mos

Mooré (Mossi) is the principal language of Burkina Faso, the mother tongue of the Mossi people, who form roughly 50% of the country's population and historically founded the powerful Mossi kingdoms of Ouagadougou, Yatenga, and Tenkodogo. It is a Gur language with two phonemic tones and characteristic ATR vowel harmony, written in Latin orthography with additional letters such as ɛ, ɔ, ɩ, ʊ. Public-health and literacy media in Burkina Faso lean heavily on Mooré-language broadcasting.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Mooré

Water

koom

/koːm/

Fire

bʋgʋm

/bʊɡʊm/

Sun

wəntinga

/wəntiŋɡa/

Moon

kiuugu

/kiuːɡu/

Mother

ma

/ma/

Father

ba

/ba/

Eat

/dɪ/

Drink

/jʊ/

Love

nong

/noŋɡ/

Heart

sũur

/sũːr/

Tree

tɩɩg

/tɪːɡ/

House

roogo

/roːɡo/

Dog

baaga

/baːɡa/

Cat

yʋʋga

/jʊːɡa/

Hand

nug

/nuɡ/

Eye

nin

/nin/

Hello

ne y yibeoogo

/ne i jibeoːɡo/

Thank you

barka

/barka/

One

a yɛmbɛr

/a jɛmbɛr/

Good

sõma

/sõma/

Words compared

Compared with related Niger-Congo (Gur) languages

Meaning MooréMampruliDagbaniBraj BhashaKoyraboro SenniSlovenianKoyra Chiini
Water koom /koːm/ kuom /kuom/ kom /kɔm/ पानी /paːniː/ hari /hari/ voda /voːda/ hari /hari/
Fire bʋgʋm /bʊɡʊm/ booma /boːma/ buɣim /buɣim/ आग /aːɡ/ nuune /nuːne/ ogenj /oːɡənj/ nuune /nuːne/
Sun wəntinga /wəntiŋɡa/ wuntiri /wuntiri/ wuntaŋa /wuntaŋa/ सूरज /suːrəd͡ʒ/ wayna /wajna/ sonce /soːnt͡sɛ/ wari /wari/
Moon kiuugu /kiuːɡu/ gɔoŋ /ɡɔːŋ/ goli /ɡoli/ चंद्र /tʃəndɾ/ handu /handu/ luna /luːna/ handu /handu/
Mother ma /ma/ ma /ma/ ma /ma/ मैया /məjjaː/ nya /ɲa/ mati /maːti/ nya /ɲa/
Father ba /ba/ ba /ba/ ba /ba/ बाप /baːp/ baaba /baːba/ oče /oːt͡ʃɛ/ baaba /baːba/
Eat /dɪ/ di /di/ di /di/ खाइबौ /kʰaːibaʊ/ ŋwa /ŋwa/ jesti /jɛːsti/ ŋwa /ŋwa/
Drink /jʊ/ nyu /ɲu/ nyu /ɲu/ पीबौ /piːbaʊ/ hane /hane/ piti /piːti/ hane /hane/
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