Dan /ˈdæn/[2] is a Southern Mande language spoken primarily in Ivory Coast (~800,000 speakers) and Liberia (150,000–200,000 speakers). There is also a population of about 800 speakers in Guinea. Dan is a tonal language, with 9 to 11 contour and register tones, depending on the dialect.

Quick Facts Native to, Ethnicity ...
Dan
Yacouba
Native toIvory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia
EthnicityDan people
Native speakers
1.6 million (2012)[1]
Niger–Congo?
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
dnj  Dan
lda  Kla
Glottologdann1241
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
Close
A Dan speaker, recorded in Liberia.

Alternative names for the language include Yacouba or Yakubasa, Gio, Gyo, Gio-Dan, and Da. Dialects are Gio (Liberian Dan), Gweetaawu (Eastern Dan), Blowo (Western Dan), and Kla. Kla is evidently a distinct language.

Phonology

Vowels

More information Front, Central ...
Close
  1. Only in Eastern Dan when in the position of extra-high tone
  2. Only in Liberian Dan
More information Front, Back ...
Nasal sounds in Eastern Dan[3]:451
Front Back
Unrd. Rnd.
Close ĩ ɯ̃ ũ
Open-mid ɛ̃ ʌ̃ ɔ̃
Open æ̃ ɑ̃ ɒ̃
Close

Consonants

  1. Not in Liberian Dan
  2. Only in Liberian Dan
  3. Not in Western Dan
  • /l/ is heard as [r] when preceded by alveolar or palatal consonants.
  • Consonant combinations /sl, zl/ are heard as lateral fricative sounds [ɬ, ɮ].[3]

Writing system

The orthography of Liberia includes this alphabet:[4][5]

More information IPA value ...
Dan alphabet (Liberia)
ABƁDƊ EƐFGGB HIKKPKW LMNNWNY ŊOƆƏƟ PRSTU VWXY Z
abɓdɗ eɛfggb hikkpkw lmnnwny ŋoɔəɵ prstu ɥvwxy z
IPA value
abɓdɗ eɛfɡɡ͡b hikk͡p lmnŋʷɲ ŋoɔəɵ prstu ɯvwxj z
Close
More information IPA value ...
Dan West alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire)
ABBHD DHEƐËƐA FGGBGWI KKPKWLM NNGOƆÖ PRSTU ÜVWYZ
abbhd dheɛëɛa fggbgwi kkpkwlm nngoɔö prstu üvwyz
IPA value
aɒbɓd ɗeɛʌæ fɡɡ͡bi kk͡plm nŋoɔɤ prstu ɯvwjz
Close
More information IPA value ...
Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 1982
ABBHD DHEËƐƐA FGGBGWH IƖKKPKW LMNOÖ ƆPRST UÜƲƲ̈V WYZ
abbhd dheëɛɛa fggbgwh iɩkkpkw lmnoö ɔprst uüʋʋ̈v wyz
IPA value
aɒbɓd ɗeʌɛæ fɡɡ͡bh iɪkk͡p lmnoɤ ɔprst uɯʊʉv wjz
Close
More information IPA value ...
Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 2014
AŒBBHD DHEɅƐÆ FGGBGWH IƖKKPKW LMNO ƆPRST UƜƲVW YZ
aœbbhd dheʌɛæ fggbgwh iɩkkpkw lmnoɤ ɔprst uɯʋvw yz
IPA value
aɒbɓd ɗeʌɛæ fɡɡ͡bɡʷh iɪkk͡p lmnoɤ ɔprst uɯʊvw jz
Close

Tones are marked as follows: extra high tone: a̋; high tone: á; medium tone: ā; low tone: à; extra low tone: ȁ; high drop tone: â; extra low hanging tone: aʼ.

The digraphs bh, dh, gb gw, kp, kw keep the same values as in the spelling of 1982, and the nasal vowels are also indicated by appending the letter n after the letter of the vowel an, æn, ʌn, ɛn, in, ɔn, œn, un.

References

Further reading

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.