Suppire, Minianka

Supyire, Mamara

1. Classification / Classification

Suppire/Minianka belongs to the Northern Senufo subgroup of Gur Voltaic. (Webbook)

Ethnologue lists the classification as: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North, Gur, Senufo, Suppire-Mamara

This is a different group of Senufo from that treated under that title in this survey (that group is called Senari).

---

2. Where Spoken / Localisation géographique

It is spoken in southeastern Mali. (Webbook)

One dialect in Côte d'Ivoire may be related.

The maps below show the distribution of Supyire and Mamara within the broader range of Senufo language groups (source: Wikipedia; maps created by Mark Dingemanse of Vormdicht under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License):

---

3. Number of Speakers / Nombre de locuteurs

According to Ethnologue:

• Senoufo, Mamara: 737,802 in Mali (2000 WCD)
• Senoufo, Supyire: 364,000 in Mali (1991)
• Senoufo, Shempire: 100,000 in Côte d'Ivoire (1996)

---

4. Dialect Survey / Enquête de dialecte

Suppire and Minianka are, according to Voegelin and Voegelin (1977), mutually intelligible dialects. Further survey work is being conducted (l983) near Sikasso by Robert Carlson of the SIL. Grimes (1996) reports a dialect of "Shenpire" in northern Côte d'Ivoire with an undetermined relationship to Suppire. (Webbook) [update]

According to information compiled from Ethnologue:

• Senoufo, Mamara (Miniyanka, Minya, Mianka, Minianka, Mamara, Tupiire). Close to Supyire Senoufo, but intercomprehension is difficult.
  • Sõghoo
  • Bàjii
  • Nafãã
  • Mìjuu
  • Kle Noehmõ
  • Nejuu
  • Koloo
  • Kujaa
  • Suõõ
• Sénoufo, Supyire (Supyire, Sup'ide, Suppire)
• Senoufo, Shempire - 3 or 4 dialects. Relationship to Supyire Senoufo in Mali is undetermined.

---

5. Usage / Utilisation

Suppire is an important regional language in Mali. (Webbook) Minyanka (Mamara) is a "national language" in Mali. (Wikipedia)

The Ethnologue pages on Mamara and Supyire list the titles of numerous vernacular publications (apparently not available online):

• Mamara:
  • Kanha shazhɛɛyɛ ni xhùu pɔrigana. 2000.
  • Mamaara (Miyɛngaa jomɔ pu) taanni taanni semi (Minankakan kalanni sɛben). 1999.
  • Mamaara (miyɛngaa jomɔ pu) taanni taanni semi (Minankakan kalanni sɛben). 2000.
  • Mamaara kalaa wu tayerege shuun wogo ki wo semi. 2001.
  • Miyɛngáa kálaa nɔ-kɔɔnrɔ sémi (Minankakan kalan nɛbila sɛbɛn). 1996.
  • Ponɔ na nɛ shɔgɔ fuŋɔ ni. 1999.
  • Sige yakanhaya. 2000.
  • Wù giraya cee!. 1999.
  • Wù Mámaàra tì (Miyɛngáa jómɔ pú) taanni (Kʼa daminɛ Bamanankan na ka se Minankakan ma). 1998.
• Supyire
  • Jofoo u a ja jo na yɛ?. 1998.
  • ɲwɔkanbwuunni: Supyire - tubabushɛɛnre, Tubabushɛɛnre - Supyire (Lexique de l'orthographe Supyire; Supyire - Français, Français - Supyire. 2003.
  • Supyire ŋwɔhɔyi 1. 1998.

---

6. Orthography / Orthographe

6.1 Status / Statut

No information specific to Suppire / Minianka. (Webbook) [needs updating]

It is a Latin-based orthography with extended characters and apparently diacritics to mark tone.

Some of the titles above (5) and the following should have information:
Carlson, Robert. 1998. Wuu Supyire semɛ (Ecrivons le supyiré: Orthographe et grammaire pratiques du supyiré de Kampolondougou).

6.2 Sample Alphabet / Alphabet exemple

Page from Hartell (1993) with Minyanka orthography, on the Rosetta Project site: http://www.rosettaproject.org/archive/myk/ortho-1 .

A sample text of Senoufo (Mamara) is shown on the "Language Museum" site: http://www.language-museum.com/s/senoufo-mamara.htm

(See also the titles in 5, above)

---

7. Use in ICT / Utilisation dans les TIC

7.1 Fonts / Polices

Unicode fonts with extended Latin ranges should cover the needs of this language. (8-bit legacy fonts should be avoided.)

7.2 Keyboard layouts / Dispositions de clavier

7.3 Content on computers & internet / Contenu en informatique et sur l'Internet

7.4 Localized software / Logiciels localisés

Not aware of any localization efforts.

7.5 Language codes / Codes de langue

(No specific ISO 639-1 or ISO 639-2 codes)

Senoufo, Mamara

• ISO/DIS 639-3: myk

Senoufo, Shempire

• ISO/DIS 639-3: seb

Senoufo, Supyire

• ISO/DIS 639-3: spp

7.6 Other / Autre

---

8. Localisation resources / Ressources pour localisation

8.1 Individuals (experts) / Individuelles (experts)

8.2 Institutions / Institutions

8.3 On the internet / Sur la toile

---

9. Comments / Remarques

Apparently there is separate literature for Supyire and Mamara/Minianka. Would some kinds of localisation nevertheless be best done in a way to cover the two?

Questions re dialects:

• Should Nanerigé and Sìcìté (both of Burkina Faso) be added to this profile?
• There is also a larger question how to treat the Senufo dialects not part of either the Senari or the Suppire groups.

---

10. References / Références

Dwyer, David (1997), Webbook of African Languages, http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/hiermenu.html (page on "Suppire/Minianka," http://www.isp.msu.edu/AfrLang/Suppire_root.html )

Hartell, Rhonda L. ed. 1993. The Alphabets of Africa/Alphabets de Langues Africaines. Dakar: UNESCO & SIL.

SIL International, Ethnologue: Languages of the World, "Senoufo, Mamara," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=myk

______, "Senoufo, Supyire," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=spp

______, "Senoufo, Shempire," http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=seb

SIL International, "ISO 639 Code Tables," http://www.sil.org/iso639-3/codes.asp

U.S. Library of Congress, "ISO 639.2: Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages: Alpha-3 codes arranged alphabetically by the English name of language," http://www.loc.gov/standards/iso639-2/php/English_list.php

Wikipedia, "Minyanka language," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minyanka_language

______, "Senufo languages," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senufo_languages

______, "Suppire-Mamara languages," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppire-Mamara_languages

______, "Supyire language," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supyire_language

---

< Sukuma, Nyamwezi | Major Languages | Susu >