Buli language (Ghana)

Buli language (Ghana)

language, modern language

Subclass of	Oti–Volta
Country	Ghana
Indigenous to	Northern Region, Volta Region, Upper East Region
Ethnologue language status	5 Developing

 

Buli, bee Kanjaga, eɛ a Gur Kɔkɔre kaŋa naŋ be a Ghana poɔŋ. Builsa District, na be a Upper East Region poɔ la yelle a Kɔkɔre ŋa. O eɛ SVO Kɔkɔre ka noba na yele o taɛ 200 000 a yiele yelbe yoŋ.

Voonebie Tutaaloŋ

Voonebinyaane

	Front		Central	Back
High	i			u(ː)
Mid	e(ː)	ø(ː)	ɘ	o(ː)
Low			a(ː)

Voonoo

Voonoo wulo la lɛ a Voonebie naŋ maŋ sagra, O pãã sacra la kpeɛŋaa bee o ba e kpeɛŋaa. Ane lɛ a bie naŋ tutaa.

	Toneme
Sagra duoro	˦
Ba e kpeɛŋaa	˦˧
Tegroo	˦˨
Zele Sɔgɔ	˧
Sɔgɔ	˧˦˧
Sagra sigre	˧˨
Sɔgɔ sagsigibu	˧˨˧
Puli sagebo	˨
Sagra zagebo	˨˦
Ba e kpeɛŋaa a puli	˨˧

Bie Tɔna

 

bàng

bàng "lizard"

Kɔkɔre Merɛ

 

Ateng

a

chèng

yabanga.

Ateng a chèng yabanga. "Ateng was going to the market."

Kɔkɔre merɛ

Class	Singular	Plural	Example	Semantics
I	wà	bà	núr ''man''	human / loan words
II	dì	ŋà	yérí ''house''	dependent entities (body parts, fruits, languages)
III	kà	sì	bàŋ̩ ''lizard''	ethnonyms, trees, diminuitives
IV	kù	tì	síuk ''path''	animals, instruments, mass and abstract nouns
V	bù	-		trees, body parts. animals, liquids, abstract

Yoleɛrɛ

Pers/Num/CL	Strong forms	Deficient (weak) forms
1SG	mí	ǹ (mə)
2SG	fí	fì (fə)
3SG.CL1	wá	wà
3SG.CL2	dí	dì
3SG.CL3	ká	kà
3SG.CL4	kú	kù
3SG.CL5	bú	bù
1PL	támà	tì
2PL	námà	nì
3PL.CL1	bá	bà
3PL.CL2	sí	sì
3PL.CL3	tí	tì
3PL.CL4	ŋá	ŋà

   

Reflexive Pronouns

Pers/Num/CL	Strong forms	Deficient (weak) forms
1SG	mí dék	ǹ=dēk
2SG	fí dék	fì=dēk
3SG.CL1	wá dék	wà=dēk
3SG.CL2	dí dék	dì=dēk
3SG.CL3	ká dék	kà=dēk
3SG.CL4	kú dék	kù=dēk
3SG.CL5	bú dék	bù=dēk
1PL	támà dék	tì=dēk
2PL	námà dék	nì=dēk
3PL.CL1	bá dék	bà=dēk
3PL.CL2	sí dék	sì=dēk
3PL.CL3	tí dék	tì=dēk
3PL.CL4	ŋá dék	ŋà=dēk

   

Mannoo yoleɛrɛ

 

CL	SG	PL
1	(ɲā) wādɛ	(ɲā) bādɛ
2	(ɲā) dīdɛ	(ɲā) sīdɛ
3	(ɲā) kādɛ	(ɲā) tīdɛ
4	(ɲā) kūdɛ	(ɲā) ŋādɛ
5	(ɲā) būdɛ	---

Lá

CL	SG	PL
1	wálá	bálá
2	dílá	sílá
3	kálá	tílá
4	kúlá	ŋálá
5	búlá	---

  

Kpɛ-kyagebo yoleɛrɛ

CL	SG	PL
1	wànà	bànà
2	dìnà	sìnà
3	kànà	tìnà
4	kùnà	ŋànà
5	bùnà	---

 

Tense	Buli
Imperative I	kàá kūrī
Imperative II	kàń kūrī
Future	káǹ kūrī
Indicative I	kàn kūrī
Indicative II	àn kùríyà

 

Kane gaa niŋɛ

• Kröger, Franz. Buli-English dictionary: with an introductory grammar and an index English-Buli (Forschungen zu Sprachen und Kulturen Afrikas, Bd. 1). Münster: Lit, 1992.
• Schott, Rüdiger (1977). "Sources for a History of the Bulsa in Northern Ghana". Paideuma: Mitteilungen zur Kulturkunde, Bd. 23 (1977), pp. 141–168.