• Source: Kasena language

Kasena or Kassena (Kasem or Kassem) is the language of the Kassena ethnic group and is a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana and in Burkina Faso.




Orthography



An independent 30-letter alphabet called the Goulsse alphabet (from gʋlse, “writing” in Mooré) was devised by Burkinabé app developer Wenitte Apiou, Babaguioue Micareme Akouabou and Kassem linguist Fernand Ki in summer of 2021 based on the geometrical patterns found in Kassena architecture. The alphabet is also planned to be applicable for the related Mooré language as well.




Phonology






= Consonants

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= Vowels

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= Tone

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Kasena has three tones, a high tone, a mid level tone and a low tone. Tonal changes either change the lexical meaning of a word or its grammatical function.
Lexical

Grammatical




Grammar






= Noun class system

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There are five classes of nouns that can be identified in Kasena. These classes correspond to grammatical genders and are differentiated in terms of number, such that there are five classes for singular nouns and five classes for plural nouns.




= Pronouns

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Personal and possessive pronouns

There are two classes of personal pronouns. One class is referring to humans, whereas the other class is referring to non-human entities. The personal pronouns are also used as possessive pronouns, thus there is no special form for possessive pronouns in Kasena.
Human personal pronouns

Non-human personal pronouns



Emphatic pronouns




Reciprocal pronouns

Reciprocity is expressed by the pronoun daanɪ, which sometimes occurs as a prefix or suffix.



Reflexive pronouns

Reflexivity is expressed by a personal pronoun to which either tɪtɪ or katɪ ('-self')is added.



Relative pronouns

Relative pronouns are formed on the basis of the personal pronouns for non-human entities to which the suffix -lʊ is attached.



Indefinite pronouns




Demonstrative pronouns




Interrogative pronouns





Syntax






= Word order

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The Kasena language has a basic SVO word order.




References






External links


Languages of Ghana
Kassena-Ninkarse.org
Riddles in Kasena
The VP-periphery in Mabia languages
Web version of Ethnologue
Kasem language and alphabet – Omniglot

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Kasena language
• Languages of Ghana
• Wellerism
• Kaansa language
• Builsa
• Kassena
• Wawu language
• Proverb
• List of contemporary ethnic groups
• Art of Burkina Faso