Bassari language

Not to be confused with Bassari language (Togo).

Basari
Oniyan
oniyan
Native to	Guinea, Senegal
Ethnicity	Bassari
Native speakers	31,000 (2017)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Atlantic Senegambian Tenda Basari–Bedik Basari
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Senegal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bsc
Glottolog	bass1258
ELP	Bassari

Person	aliyan
People	biliyan
Language	oniyan
Country	Liyan

Basari, or Oniyan (Onian, Onëyan, Ayan, Biyan, Wo), is a Senegambian language of Senegal and Guinea spoken by the Bassari people.

Writing system

This is the writing system of Senegal:

Bassari alphabet

A

B

Ɓ

C

D

Ɗ

E

Ë

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

Ñ

Ŋ

O

P

R

S

Ŝ

T

U

W

Y

Ƴ

a

b

ɓ

c

d

ɗ

e

ë

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

ñ

ŋ

o

p

r

s

ŝ

t

u

w

y

ƴ

• ĥ, ŵ, ŷ, or h̃, w̃, ỹ are the consonants h, w, y nasalised.
• When vowels e and o are open, they have the acute accent: é, ó.

This is the writing system of Guinea, which uses the Guinean languages alphabet:

Bassari alphabet (Guinea)

A

B

Ɓ

C

D

Ɗ

Ǝ

E

Ɛ

F

G

Gw

H

Hw

I

J

Ɉ

K

Kw

L

M

N

Nb

Nd

Ng

Ngw

Nj

Ɲ

Ŋ

Ŋw

O

Ɔ

P

R

S

Ʃ

T

U

V

W

Y

Ƴ

a

b

ɓ

c

d

ɗ

ǝ

e

ɛ

f

g

gw

h

hw

i

j

ɉ

k

kw

l

m

n

nb

nd

ng

ngw

nj

ɲ

ŋ

ŋw

o

ɔ

p

r

s

ʃ

t

u

v

w

y

ƴ

External links

• Decree No. 2005-987 of 21 October 2005 relating to the spelling and the separation of words in Oniyan Archived 5 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine via the website of the Senegalese Journal officiel (in French)