Bassa wuɖu
Bassa
Niger-Congo (Atlantic-Congo, Kru, Eastern, Bassa-Nyabua subgroup)
Bassa (Bassa wuɖu, autonymously "Bassa speech") is the largest of the Eastern Kru languages of Niger-Congo, the principal language of coastal Liberia's Bassa County. The Vah script — a unique indigenous syllabic-alphabetic script developed by Liberian Bassa scholar Thomas Narven Lewis around 1907 — is used as a cultural and identity marker, though Latin is dominant in everyday writing. Bassa shows classical Kru features: 7-vowel system, simple tone system (high/mid/low), and verbs marking aspect through suffix tonal changes. Bassa was the principal language of pre-colonial coastal Liberia and remains influential in Liberian English/Pidgin via lexical contributions.
Où elle est parlée
20 mots essentiels en Bassa
Eau
ne
/ne/
Feu
so
/so/
Soleil
plɔ
/plɔ/
Lune
hwɔɖɔ
/hʷɔɖɔ/
Mère
mãɖe
/mãɖe/
Père
gbe
/ɡbe/
Manger
gbɔ̃a
/ɡbɔ̃a/
Boire
mɔ̃e
/mɔ̃e/
Amour
wɛ̃ɖaa
/wɛ̃ɖaː/
Cœur
kẽ
/kẽ/
Arbre
tu
/tu/
Maison
kõ
/kõ/
Chien
gbo
/ɡbo/
Chat
blete
/blete/
Main
kɔ
/kɔ/
Œil
di
/di/
Bonjour
nyɔɔnpe
/ɲɔːnpe/
Merci
mɔãĩ
/mɔãĩ/
Un
ɖaa
/ɖaː/
Bon
nõ
/nõ/
Sources
Mots comparés
Comparé aux langues Niger-Congo (Atlantic-Congo, Kru, Eastern, Bassa-Nyabua subgroup) apparentées
| Sens | Bassa | Mano | Créole seychellois | Dan (Yacouba) | Portugais (Europe) | Créole guadeloupéen | Créole réunionnais |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eau | ne /ne/ | yi /ji/ | delo /delo/ | yi /ji/ | água /ˈaɡwɐ/ | dlo /dlo/ | dlo /dlo/ |
| Feu | so /so/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | dife /dife/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | fogo /ˈfoɡu/ | difé /dife/ | dofé /dofe/ |
| Soleil | plɔ /plɔ/ | lɛ /lɛ/ | soley /solej/ | lai /lai/ | sol /sɔɫ/ | solèy /solɛj/ | soley /solej/ |
| Lune | hwɔɖɔ /hʷɔɖɔ/ | lɔ /lɔ/ | lalin /lalin/ | siŋ /siŋ/ | lua /luɐ/ | lalin /lalin/ | lalinn /lalin/ |
| Mère | mãɖe /mãɖe/ | ɲɛ /ɲɛ/ | manman /mãmã/ | da /da/ | mãe /mɐ̃j/ | manman /mãmã/ | manmon /mãmõ/ |
| Père | gbe /ɡbe/ | de /de/ | papa /papa/ | de /de/ | pai /paj/ | papa /papa/ | papa /papa/ |
| Manger | gbɔ̃a /ɡbɔ̃a/ | mɛ /mɛ/ | manze /mãze/ | dɛ /dɛ/ | comer /kuˈmeɾ/ | manjé /mãʒe/ | manz /mãz/ |
| Boire | mɔ̃e /mɔ̃e/ | mi /mi/ | bwar /bwaʁ/ | mi /mi/ | beber /bɨˈbeɾ/ | bwè /bwɛ/ | bwar /bwaʁ/ |
| Amour | wɛ̃ɖaa /wɛ̃ɖaː/ | ŋalo /ŋalo/ | lanmour /lãmuʁ/ | be /be/ | amor /ɐˈmoɾ/ | lanmou /lãmu/ | lamour /lamuʁ/ |
| Cœur | kẽ /kẽ/ | gba /ɡba/ | leker /lekeʁ/ | gbɔɔ /ɡbɔː/ | coração /kuɾɐˈsɐ̃w/ | kè /kɛ/ | ker /kɛʁ/ |
| Arbre | tu /tu/ | ka /ka/ | pye dibwa /pje dibwa/ | gbe /ɡbe/ | árvore /ˈaɾvuɾɨ/ | pyé bwa /pje bwa/ | pyébwa /pjebwa/ |
| Maison | kõ /kõ/ | kpɛ /kpɛ/ | lakaz /lakaz/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | casa /kazɐ/ | kaz /kaz/ | kaz /kaz/ |
| Chien | gbo /ɡbo/ | gba /ɡba/ | lisyen /lisjɛ̃/ | gbɛ /ɡbɛ/ | cão /kɐ̃w/ | chyen /ʃjɛ̃/ | lisien /lisjɛ̃/ |
| Chat | blete /blete/ | poso /poso/ | sat /sat/ | nyaa /ɲaː/ | gato /ɡatu/ | chat /ʃat/ | shat /ʃat/ |
| Main | kɔ /kɔ/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | lanmen /lãmɛ̃/ | kɔ /kɔ/ | mão /mɐ̃w/ | men /mɛ̃/ | lamin /lamɛ̃/ |
| Œil | di /di/ | mi /mi/ | lizye /lizje/ | ŋkɛ̃ /ŋkɛ̃/ | olho /oʎu/ | zyé /zje/ | zié /zje/ |
| Bonjour | nyɔɔnpe /ɲɔːnpe/ | ye /je/ | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ | daka /daka/ | olá /ɔˈla/ | bonjou /bõʒu/ | bonzour /bõzuʁ/ |
| Merci | mɔãĩ /mɔãĩ/ | nyɛŋ /ɲɛŋ/ | mersi /mɛʁsi/ | kpe /kpe/ | obrigado /obɾiˈɡadu/ | mèsi /mɛsi/ | mersi /mɛʁsi/ |
| Un | ɖaa /ɖaː/ | do /do/ | enn /ɛn/ | do /do/ | um /ũ/ | yonn /jõn/ | inn /in/ |
| Bon | nõ /nõ/ | kɛlɛ /kɛlɛ/ | bon /bõ/ | ka /ka/ | bom /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ | bon /bõ/ |
Fait partie de LangMap — un projet de visualisation linguistique. Ceci est un résumé statique et explorable ; les cartes interactives offrent l’audio de prononciation, des filtres et une vue globe.