| Lobi | |
|---|---|
| Lobiri | |
| Region | Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast; immigrants in Ghana |
| Ethnicity | Lobi |
Native speakers | (440,000 cited 1991–1993)1 |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | lob |
| Glottolog | lobi1245 |
 Majority areas of northern Lobi dialects, in light yellow, on a map of Burkina Faso. | |
Lobi (also Miwa and Lobiri) is a Gur language of Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Phonology
| Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p b | t d | c ɟ | k ɡ | kp ɡb | ʔ |
| Aspirated | pʰ | tʰ | kʰ | |||
| Fricative | f v | s | h | |||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋm | ||
| Approximant | r, l | j | w | |||
| Glottalic | ˀb | ˀl | ˀj | ˀw |
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | i iː ĩ ĩː | u uː ũ ũː | |
| Near-high | ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ɪ̃ː | ʊ ʊː ʊ̃ ʊ̃ː | |
| Mid-high | e eː ẽ ẽː | o oː õ õː | |
| Mid-low | ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː | ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː | |
| Low | a aː ã ãː |
Additionally, Lobi distinguishes between high tone and low tone. Falling and rising tones can be found on long vowels.2
References
References
- Lobi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- Maïmouna Le Men, Fané (2007). Parlons Lobiri (in French). Paris: L'Harmattan.