Siamou language
Encyclopedia
The Siamou language, also known as Sɛmɛ (Seme), is a Kru
language of the Niger–Congo
language family
. As of 1999, it was spoken by 20,000 people in western Burkina Faso
and another 20,000 in the Ivory Coast and Mali
. In Burkina Faso, it is mainly spoken in the province of Kénédougou
around the provincial capital Orodara
. Siamou has one major dialect, Bandougou. In addition, there are minor dialectal differences amongst the Siamou spoken in Orodara and in surrounding villages.
Kru languages
-References:* Westerman, Diedrich Hermann Languages of West Africa . London/New York/Toronto: Oxford University Press.-External links:* at Ethnologue*...
language of the Niger–Congo
Niger–Congo languages
The Niger–Congo languages constitute one of the world's major language families, and Africa's largest in terms of geographical area, number of speakers, and number of distinct languages. They may constitute the world's largest language family in terms of distinct languages, although this question...
language family
Language family
A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ancestor, called the proto-language of that family. The term 'family' comes from the tree model of language origination in historical linguistics, which makes use of a metaphor comparing languages to people in a...
. As of 1999, it was spoken by 20,000 people in western Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso – also known by its short-form name Burkina – is a landlocked country in west Africa. It is surrounded by six countries: Mali to the north, Niger to the east, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Côte d'Ivoire to the southwest.Its size is with an estimated...
and another 20,000 in the Ivory Coast and Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
. In Burkina Faso, it is mainly spoken in the province of Kénédougou
Kénédougou Province
Kénédougou is one of the 45 provinces of Burkina Faso, located in its Hauts-Bassins Region.Its capital is Orodara.Kenedougou is divided into 10 departments:*Djigouera*Koloko*Kourignon*Kourouma*Morolaba*N'dorola*Orodara*Samoghohiri*Samorogouan...
around the provincial capital Orodara
Orodara
Orodara is a town located in the province of Kénédougou in Burkina Faso. It is the capital of Kénédougou Province.- General :Orodara is the capital of the Kénédougou Province. It is also the capital city for the ethnic group known as the Siamou that live in the surrounding area...
. Siamou has one major dialect, Bandougou. In addition, there are minor dialectal differences amongst the Siamou spoken in Orodara and in surrounding villages.