Like most Niger-Congo languages, Gur languages have a noun class system. A common property of Gur languages is the verbal aspect marking. Gur languages are tonal. The tonal systems of Gur languages are rather divergent. Most Gur languages have a two tone downstep system, but the tonal system of the Senufo subgroup is mostly analysed as a three level tone system (High, Mid, Low).
Koelle first mentions twelve Gur languages in his 1854 list (Polyglotta Africana), which represent ten languages in modern classification.
Of these, the Kordofanian languages number only 31, all with small populations; they are found in a small area of the Nuba hills in southern Sudan, surrounded by languages of the Nilo-Saharan family and by Arabic.
North of the Bantu language area, in the north of the Republic of the Congo and adjacent territory, is a branch of the Volta-Congo subfamily, the North branch.
Its largest branches are Zande and Ngbandi languages; an Ngbandi-based creole known as Sango is widely used as a lingua franca in the Central African Republic, and is growing in importance.
The Gurlanguages belong to the Niger-Congo languages.
A common property of Gurlanguages is the verbal aspect marking.
Most Gurlanguages have a two tone downstep system, but the tonal system of the Senufo subgroup is mostly analysed as a three level tone system (High, Mid, Low).
Feeds |
Contact