Bijago language
Encyclopedia
Bijago, or Bidyogo, is the language of the Bissagos Archipelago
of Guinea-Bissau
. There are some difficulties of grammar and intelligibility between dialects, with the Kamona dialect of Caravela
and Carache
Islands being unintelligible to the others.
, the voiced stop [d̼], in its basic sound system (Olson et al. in press).
. For example, the following cognates in Bijago and Joola Kasa
(a Bak language) are completely regular, but had not previously been identified (Serere 2010):
Bissagos Islands
The Bissagos Islands or Bijagós Archipelago are a group of 18 major islands and dozens more smaller ones in the Atlantic Ocean with an area of 2,624 km2 and a population of 30,000...
of Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau
The Republic of Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Senegal to the north, and Guinea to the south and east, with the Atlantic Ocean to its west....
. There are some difficulties of grammar and intelligibility between dialects, with the Kamona dialect of Caravela
Caravela (Guinea-Bissau)
Caravela is the northernmost island of the Bissagos Islands of Guinea-Bissau.The island is heavily forested with mangroves. It also has white, sandy beaches.- Data and Facts :* Areal: 128 km²* Coastline: 56 km* Distance to next Island: 1 km...
and Carache
Carache
Carache or Caraxe is an island in the Bissagos Islands, Guinea-Bissau. Its area is 80 km²....
Islands being unintelligible to the others.
Characteristics
The Kajoko dialect of Bijago is one of the few speech varieties of the world known to use a linguolabial consonantLinguolabial consonant
Linguolabials or apicolabials are consonants articulated by placing the tongue tip or blade against the upper lip, which is drawn downward to meet the tongue. They represent one extreme of a coronal articulatory continuum which extends from linguolabial to subapical palatal places of articulation...
, the voiced stop [d̼], in its basic sound system (Olson et al. in press).
Classification
Bijago is highly divergent. Sapir (1971) classified it as an isolate within the West Atlantic family. However, Segerer showed that this is primarily due to unrecognized sound changes, and that Bijago is in fact close to the Bak languagesBak languages
-Bijago:Bijago is highly divergent. Sapir classified it as an isolate within West Atlantic. However, Segerer showed that this is primarily due to unrecognized sound changes, and that Bijago is in fact close to the Bak languages...
. For example, the following cognates in Bijago and Joola Kasa
Kasa language
Kasa, or Jóola-Kaasa is a Jola language of the Casamance region of Senegal and neighboring Gambia....
(a Bak language) are completely regular, but had not previously been identified (Serere 2010):
| Gloss | Bijago | Joola Kasa |
|---|---|---|
| head | bu | fu-kow |
| eye | nɛ | ji-cil |