Bassari language

Not to be confused with Bassari language (Togo).

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

Basari
Oniyan
oniyan
Native to	Guinea, Senegal
Ethnicity	Bassari
Native speakers	31,000 (2017)^[1]
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

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.^[2]
• 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

References

1. Basari at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)  
2. "ScriptSource - Error - Writing System Not Found".

External links

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