Kasena
RegionGhana, Burkina Faso
EthnicityKassena
Native speakers
(250,000 cited 1998–2004)[1]
Latin, Goulsse
Language codes
ISO 639-3xsm
Glottologkase1253
The region in which the Kassena people live in Ghana and Burkina Faso

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.[2]

Phonology

Tone

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.[3]

Lexical

A

A

„I“

Á

Á

„You (PL)“

Grammatical

Wu

Wu

Negation

Wú

Wú

Futur

Grammar

Noun Class System

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.[3]

Gender SG PL Gloss
1 bu biə child/children
2 bɪnɪ bɪna year(s)
3 naga nɛ foot/feet
4 piu pweeru montain(s)
5 bʊŋʊ bʊm goat(s)

Pronouns

Personal Pronouns/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

Person SG PL Gloss
1st A Dí I/we
2nd N Á You/you
3rd O Ba He/she/They

Non-human personal pronouns

Class SG PL
I O Ba
II Dɪ Ya
III Ka Sɪ
IV Kʊ Tɪ
V Kʊ Dɪ

Emphatic Pronouns

Person SG PL Gloss
1st amʊ dcbam Me/we
2nd nmʊ abam You/you
3rd wʊm/wʊntu bam/bantʊ He/she/they

Reciprocal Pronouns

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

Ba

3PL

soe

like

daanɪ.

each.other

Ba soe daanɪ.

3PL like each.other

„They like each other.“[3]

Reflexive Pronouns

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

O

3SG

cɔgɪ

destroy

o

3SG

tɪtɪ.

self

O cɔgɪ o tɪtɪ.

3SG destroy 3SG self

„He destroys himself.“[3]

Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns are formed on the basis of the personal pronouns for non-human entities to which the suffix -lʊ is attached.[3]

Class SG PL
I wʊlʊ balʊ
II dɪlʊ yalʊ
III kalʊ sɪlʊ
IV kʊlʊ tɪlʊ
V kʊlʊ dɪlʊ

Indefinite Pronouns[3]

Class Number Certain Some Any
I SG wʊdoŋ --- wʊlʊ wʊlʊ
I PL badonnə badaara balʊ balʊ
II SG dɪ doŋ --- dɪlʊ dɪlʊ
II PL yadonnə yadaara yalʊ yalʊ
III SG kadoŋ --- kalʊ kalʊ
III PL sɪdonnə sɪdaara sɪlʊ sɪlʊ
IV SG kudoŋ --- kʊlʊ kʊlʊ
IV PL tɪdonnə tɪdaara tɪlʊ tɪlʊ
V SG kudoŋ --- kʊlʊ kʊlʊ
V PL dɪdonnə dɪdaara dɪlʊ dɪlʊ

Demonstrative Pronouns[3]

Class SG Gloss PL Gloss
I wuntu this/that bantu these/those
II dɪntu this/that yantu these/those
III kantu this/that sɪntu these/those
IV kuntu this/that tɪntu these/those
V kuntu this/that dɪntu these/those

Interrogative Pronouns[3]

Class SG who, what, which PL who, what, which How much
I wɔɔ bra bagra
II dɔɔ yɔɔ yagra
III kɔɔ sɔɔ sɪgra
IV kɔɔ tɔɔ tɪgra
V kɔɔ dɔɔ dɪgra

Syntax

Word Order

The Kasena language has a basic SVO word order.

Ada

Ada

diim

yesterday

toŋe.

work.PFV

Ada diim toŋe.

Ada yesterday work.PFV

„Ada worked yesterday.“[4]

References

  1. ↑ Kasena at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Brookes, Tim (August 23, 2022). "The Vanderbilt-Burkina Faso Connection". Endangered Alphabets. Retrieved January 30, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Niggli, Urs; Niggli, Idda (2008). Grammaire élémentaire du kasim. Burkina Faso: Société Internationale de Linguistique.
  4. ↑ "The VP-periphery in Mabia languages | Kasem". The VP-periphery in Mabia languages. Retrieved 2023-02-17.


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