Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 1, 2026

Berba language

Berba, also known as Biali, Bieri, Bjeri, Bjerbe or Bialaba, is a Gur language of Benin. There are also a thousand or so speakers in the Kompienga Province of Burkina Faso, where they are believed to have originated in the Savanes Region of Togo.

Last revised
Jul 1, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
158 w
Citations
3
Source
Berba
Bieri
Biali
Native toBenin, Burkina Faso, Togo1
Native speakers
(180,000 cited 1991–2021)1
Niger–Congo?
Dialects
  • Dassari
  • Gouande
  • Materi
  • Pingou
  • Porga
  • Tangeta
  • Tihoun
Latin
Official status
Recognised minority
language in
Language codes
ISO 639-3beh
Glottologbial1238

Berba, also known as Biali, Bieri, Bjeri, Bjerbe or Bialaba, is a Gur language of Benin. There are also a thousand or so speakers in the Kompienga Province of Burkina Faso, where they are believed to have originated in the Savanes Region of Togo.

Writing system

Alphabet2
uppercase A B C D E Ə F G H I K L M N O P R S T U W Y
lowercase a b c d e ə f g h i k l m n o p r s t u w y

The acute accent on the vowel ⟨á é ə́ í ó ú⟩ is used to indicate high tone when there is ambiguity.

References

References