Dan language
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Dan /ˈdæn/ 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.
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
A syllable is minimally /V/ or /ŋ/, and maximally /ClVV/ or /ClVŋ/.
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unrd. | Rnd. | Unrd. | Rnd. | ||
| Close | i | ɯ | u | ||
| Near-close | ɪ | ɯ̽ | ʊ | ||
| Close-mid | e | ɵ | ɤ | o | |
| Mid | ə | ||||
| Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ | ||
| Open | æ | ɑ | ɒ | ||
| Syllabic | ŋ̍ |
Color coding:
Only in Eastern Dan when in the position of extra-high tone
Only in Liberian Dan
Consonants
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | Glottal | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| plain | lab. | |||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ŋʷ | ɡ͡m | ||
| Plosive | voiceless | p | t | k | kʷ | k͡p | ||
| voiced | b | d | ɡ | ɡʷ | ɡ͡b | |||
| Implosive | ɓ | ɗ | ||||||
| Fricative | voiceless | f | s | x | h | |||
| voiced | v | z | ||||||
| Approximant | j | w | ||||||
| Lateral | l | |||||||
| Trill | (r) |
Only in Liberian Dan
Not in Western Dan
Not in Liberian Dan
- all consonants are nasalized in nasal feet
- /ŋ/ occurs only as a syllable or a syllable coda and has been treated as a vowel. it carries tone.
- /l/ is heard as [r] when preceded by alveolar or palatal consonants.
- Consonant combinations /sl,zl/ are heard as lateral fricative sounds [ɬ,ɮ].
Tones
Dan has four to five level tones, depending on the variety, with level and contour tones.
Writing system
The orthography of Liberia includes this alphabet:
| Dan alphabet (Liberia) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | B | Ɓ | D | Ɗ | E | Ɛ | F | G | GB | H | I | K | KP | KW | L | M | N | NW | NY | Ŋ | O | Ɔ | Ə | Ɵ | P | R | S | T | U | Ɥ | V | W | X | Y | Z |
| a | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ɛ | f | g | gb | h | i | k | kp | kw | l | m | n | nw | ny | ŋ | o | ɔ | ə | ɵ | p | r | s | t | u | ɥ | v | w | x | y | z |
| IPA value | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ɯ | f | ɡ | ɡ͡b | h | i | k | k͡p | kʷ | l | m | n | ŋʷ | ɲ | ŋ | o | ɔ | ə | ɵ | p | r | s | t | u | ɯ | v | w | x | j | z |
| Dan West alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AƆ | B | BH | D | DH | E | Ɛ | Ë | ƐA | F | G | GB | GW | I | K | KP | KW | L | M | N | NG | O | Ɔ | Ö | P | R | S | T | U | Ü | V | W | Y | Z |
| a | aɔ | b | bh | d | dh | e | ɛ | ë | ɛa | f | g | gb | gw | i | k | kp | kw | l | m | n | ng | o | ɔ | ö | p | r | s | t | u | ü | v | w | y | z |
| IPA values | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ɒ | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ɛ | ʌ | æ | f | ɡ | ɡ͡b | gʷ | i | k | k͡p | kʷ | l | m | n | ŋ | o | ɔ | ɤ | p | r | s | t | u | ɯ | v | w | j | z |
| Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 1982 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | AƆ | B | BH | D | DH | E | Ë | Ɛ | ƐA | F | G | GB | GW | H | I | Ɩ | K | KP | KW | L | M | N | O | Ö | Ɔ | P | R | S | T | U | Ü | Ʋ | Ʋ̈ | V | W | Y | Z |
| a | aɔ | b | bh | d | dh | e | ë | ɛ | ɛa | f | g | gb | gw | h | i | ɩ | k | kp | kw | l | m | n | o | ö | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | ü | ʋ | ʋ̈ | v | w | y | z |
| IPA value | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ɒ | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ʌ | ɛ | æ | f | ɡ | ɡ͡b | gʷ | h | i | ɪ | k | k͡p | kʷ | l | m | n | o | ɤ | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | ɯ | ʊ | ʉ | v | w | j | z |
| Dan East alphabet (Côte d'Ivoire), 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Œ | B | BH | D | DH | E | Ʌ | Ɛ | Æ | F | G | GB | GW | H | I | Ɩ | K | KP | KW | L | M | N | O | | Ɔ | P | R | S | T | U | Ɯ | Ʋ | V | W | Y | Z |
| a | œ | b | bh | d | dh | e | ʌ | ɛ | æ | f | g | gb | gw | h | i | ɩ | k | kp | kw | l | m | n | o | ɤ | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | ɯ | ʋ | v | w | y | z |
| IPA value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| a | ɒ | b | ɓ | d | ɗ | e | ʌ | ɛ | æ | f | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ɡʷ | h | i | ɪ | k | k͡p | kʷ | l | m | n | o | ɤ | ɔ | p | r | s | t | u | ɯ | ʊ | v | w | j | z |
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⟩.
Further reading
- Roberts, David; Boyd, Ginger; Merz, Johannes; Vydrin, Valentin (2020). "Quantifying written ambiguities in tone languages: A comparative study of Elip, Mbelime, and Eastern Dan". Language Documentation & Conservation. 14: 108–138. hdl:.