Bissa language

Bissa (Bisa) is a Mande language that is spoken by the Bissa people of Burkina Faso, Ghana and (marginally) Togo. Its dialects are Barka, Lebir and Lere.

Bissa
Region	Burkina Faso, Ghana
Ethnicity	Bissa people
Native speakers	590,000 (1999–2003)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Mande Eastern Bisa–Busa Bissa
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bib
Glottolog	biss1248[2]
Majority areas of northern dialects of Bissa, in dark blue, on a map of Burkina Faso.

Writing System

Bissa alphabet (Burkina-Faso)

A

B

C

D

E

Ǝ

Ɛ

F

G

H

I

Ɩ

J

K

L

M

N

Ny

Ŋ

O

Ɔ

P

R

S

T

U

Ʋ

V

W

Y

Z

a

b

c

d

e

ǝ

ɛ

f

g

h

i

ɩ

j

k

l

m

n

ny

ŋ

o

ɔ

p

r

s

t

u

ʋ

v

w

y

z

Bissa-Barka Alphabet (Burkina-Faso)[3]

A

B

D

E

Ɛ

Ǝ

F

G

H

I

Ɩ

K

L

M

N

Ɲ

Ŋ

O

Ɔ

P

R

S

T

U

Ʋ

W

Y

Z

a

b

d

e

ɛ

ə

f

g

h

i

ɩ

k

l

m

n

ɲ

ŋ

o

ɔ

p

r

s

t

u

ʋ

w

y

z

Comparison of dialects

Phrase	Lere	Barka	Zeba
Good morning	Domireh ki	Idomleki
come	bur	iahh	Eyaham
water	pi	hi
food	forbile	hobile

Lere phrases

• Good morning: Domireh ki (Response: Domireh zain)
• Good afternoon: Sundareh ki (Response: Sundareh zain)
• Good evening/night: Yirbaa ki (Response: Yirbaa zain)
• Thank you: Barka
• Good: Minga
• Come: Bur
• Go: Ta
• You're welcome: An barka boi
• I love you: Moi wam

References

1. Bissa at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
2. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Bissa". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
3. SIL 2016. sfn error: no target: CITEREFSIL2016 (help)