Koyraboro Senni (Koroboro Senni, Koyra Senni or Gao Senni) is a member of the Songhay languages of Mali and is spoken by some 400,000 people along the Niger River from the town of Gourma-Rharous, east of Timbuktu, through Bourem, Gao and Ansongo to the Mali–Niger border.

The expression "koyra-boro senn-i" denotes "the language of the town dwellers", as opposed to nomads like the Tuareg people and other transhumant people.

Although Koyraboro Senni is associated with settled towns, it is a cosmopolitan language which has spread east and west of Gao, to the Fula people living at the Mali–Niger border and to the Bozo people of the Niger River. East of Timbuktu, Koyra Senni gives way relatively abruptly to the closely related Koyra Chiini.

Geographic distribution The majority of speakers live in the Gao Region of Mali. It is also spoken in other parts of Mali and in other countries.

Phonology

Consonants LabialAlveolarPalatalVelarGlottalPlosive/AffricatevoicelessvoicedFricativevoicelessvoicedNasalLateralTrillApproximant

Vowels FrontCentralBackClose Mid Open Nasalized realizations of vowel sounds may also occur, but they are rare among different dialects.

Orthography

Table below illustrates the Latin alphabet for Koyraboro Senni in Mali, as standardized by "DNAFLA".

+ Koyraboro Senni Songhay Latin Alphabet (Mali)République du Mali, Direction nationale de l’alphabétisation fonctionnelle et de la linguistique appliquée, Alphabets et règles d'orthographe des langues nationales, Bamako, DNAFLA, 1993 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 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

Table below illustrates the Arabic (Ajami) alphabet for Koyraboro Senni, based on UNESCO.BREDA report on standardization of Arabic script in published in 1987 in Bamako.

+ Koyraboro Senni Arabic alphabet (Mali) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] ‌( - )/ (B b) (T t) (C c) (S s) (J j) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] (H h) (Kh kh) (Ŋ ŋ) (D d) (Z z) (R r) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] (Z z) (Ž ž) (S s) (Š š) (S s) (D d) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] (T t) (Z z) ( - ) (G g) (G g) (F f) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] (P p) (K k) (K k) (L l) (M m) (N n) Arabic(Latin)[IPA] (H h) (W w) ( - ) (W w) ( - ) (Ɲ ɲ)

+Vowel at the beginning of a word A E I O UShort Vowels Long Vowels Aa Ee Ii Oo Uu

+Vowel at the middle or end of a word a e i o uShort Vowels Long Vowels aa ee ii oo uu

References Jeffrey Heath: Grammar of Koyraboro (Koroboro) Senni, the Songhay of Gao. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Köln 1999.

External links

Open Language Archives Community Songhay Language Description