| Koyra Chiini | |
| Nativename: | koyra ciini / jenne ciini |
| States: | Mali |
| Region: | Niger River |
| Speakers: | 200,000 |
| Date: | 1999 |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Nilo-Saharan |
| Fam2: | Songhay |
| Fam3: | Southern |
| Dia1: | Djenné Chiini |
| Dia2: | Koyra Chiini |
| Iso3: | khq |
| Script: | Latin Arabic |
| Glotto: | koyr1240 |
| Glottorefname: | Koyra Chiini Songhay |
| Notice: | IPA |
| Map: | Songhay languages.svg |
| Mapcaption: | Location of Songhay languages[1] Northwest Songhay:Eastern Songhay: |
Koyra Chiini (pronounced as /kojra tʃiːni/, figuratively "town language"), or Western Songhay, is a member of the Songhay languages spoken in Mali by about 200,000 people (in 1999) along the Niger River in Timbuktu and upriver from it in the towns of Diré, Tonka, Goundam and Niafunké as well as in the Saharan town of Araouane to its north. In this area, Koyra Chiini is the dominant language and the lingua franca, although minorities speaking Hassaniya Arabic, Tamasheq and Fulfulde are found. Djenné Chiini pronounced as /dʒɛnːɛ tʃiːni/, the dialect spoken in Djenné, is mutually comprehensible, but has noticeable differences, in particular two extra vowels (pronounced as //ɛ// and pronounced as //ɔ//) and syntactic differences related to focalisation.
East of Timbuktu, Koyra Chiini gives way relatively abruptly to another Songhay language, Koyraboro Senni.
Unlike most Songhai languages, Koyra Chiini has no phonemic tones and has subject–verb–object word order rather than subject–object–verb. It has changed the original Songhay z to j.[2]
| Close | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||
| Open | pronounced as /link/ |
| Nasal | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | |
| voiced | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | pronounced as /link/ | |
| voiced | (pronounced as /link/) | (pronounced as /link/) | |||||
| Approximant | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | ||||
| Flap | pronounced as /link/ | ||||||
Table below illustrates the Latin alphabet for Koyra Chiini in Mali, as standardized by "DNAFLA".
| A a | B b | C c | D d | E e | F f | G g | H h | I i | J j | K k | L l | M m | N n |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ |
| Ɲ ɲ | Ŋ ŋ | O o | P p | R r | S s | Š š | T t | U u | W w | Y y | Z z | Ž ž | |
| pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ | pronounced as /link/ |
Table below illustrates the Arabic (Ajami) alphabet for Koyra Chiini, based on UNESCO.BREDA report on standardization of Arabic script in published in 1987 in Bamako.[4] [5]
| Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (-) pronounced as /link//pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (B b) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (T t) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (C c) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (S s) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (J j) pronounced as /link/ |-! Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (H h) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (Kh kh) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (Ŋ ŋ) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (D d) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (Z z) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (R r) pronounced as /link/ |-! Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (Z z) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (Ž ž) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (S s) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (Š š) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (S s) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (D d) pronounced as /link/|-! Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (T t) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (Z z) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (-) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (G g) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (G g) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (F f) pronounced as /link/ |-! Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (P p) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" bgcolor="#FFEFD5" | (K k) pronounced as /link/| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (K k) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (L l) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (M m) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (N n) pronounced as /link/ |-! Arabic (Latin) [IPA]| style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (H h) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (W w) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (-) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (W w) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (-) pronounced as /link/ | style="width:7em; text-align:center; padding: 3px;" | (Ɲ ɲ) pronounced as /link/ |}
Sample textBelow is a sample text, a portion of a monologue recorded in Timbuktu in 1986. It describes the 1840 battle of Toya in which Tuaregs defeated a force from the Fula "Empire" which had its capital in Hamdullahi.[6]
References
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