THE GUR LANGUAGES OF NORTHERN GHANA

                                                    

                                                           (At the Tamale-Gurugu fire festival)

The Gurs migrated from several places. They are found within the Northern parts of Ghana, Togo, Burkina Faso and the Ivory Coast. In Burkina Faso, they form the majority of the people. The Mossi language is the most widely spoken Gur language in Burkina Faso.

They speak different but related languages. Their languages extend as far as into all the neighbouring countries bordering Ghana. Most of their languages are not well known and called small languages because they are spoken in very small towns with very few populations including Kamara, Vagla, Safalba, Templima, Birifor, Lobi, Nankani, Deg, Ntrubo, Chala, Hanga etc. Further studies about this group of people will be dealt with in subsequent topics. We shall be taking the tribes under this ethnic group and study their histories.

The Gur could be further divided into three main ethnic groups: Mole-Dagbon, Gurma and the Gurunsi (Grushi). The Mole-Dagbon languages are spoken in mainland Dagbon and they have a common ancestor Naa-Gbewa. The Mole-Dagbon languages are very similar to each other and the languages under them are Dagbanli, Nanumli, Mampruli, Kusaal, Dagaare and Mossi. Mossi is the primary Mole-Dagbon language spoken in the Burkina Faso.

Other dialects broke off from the major Mole-Dagbon languages and we will still include them under the Mole-Dagbon family. They are Hanga from Dagbanli, Kamara and Safalba from Mampruli, Birifor, Lobi and Nandom from Dagaare.

The next group is the Gurma languages that look like the Mole-Dagbon languages except they may have a different ancestry. That is to say their history or their ancestor is not the same as the Mole-Dagbon languages. Some are within the northern regions of Ghana whereas the Ntrubo, Kotokoli (Temba) and Mo are within the southern regions. So we can separate them as Northern-Gurma, Western Gurma and Southern-Gurma. Northern Gurma would be Vagla, Templima, Sissaala and Mo. Southern Gurma would be Kotokoli, Basari, Ntrubo, Chala, Kabyle, Loso etc. Kokomba is very much related to Basari which is a southern Gurma language. Kokomba has also influenced Bimoba a lot. Bimoba is an Eastern-Gurma language but then, Kokomba could be viewed as a partially Southern Gurma language and partially Eastern-Gurma language.

Bimoba may be quite an interesting language as it has extensive Mole-Dagbon borrowings especially from Mampruli. The language is originally nothing like Mampruli but constant borrowings has made it look like Mampruli, Kusaal and even Dagbanli so we may say Bimoba is partially Gurma and partially Mole-Dagbon.

The last group would be the Gurunsi or Grushi languages. Gurunsi simply means those who speak Gurune. Gurune is the language of the Frafras and the term Gurunsi currently encompasses the languages spoken within the Gurunsi territory. Kasem is a language isolate that is to say it is nothing like any language spoken in Ghana but then the Frafras in a bid to bridge the gap between the Kasina and them; intermarried with the Kasina and with time, they developed a new language called Nankani which is a blend of Kasem and Gurune thus to some extent, Nankani ensures that Kasem is included as a Gurunsi language. And the Sissaala and Builsas have borrowings from Kasem which links them all up. So then, the mainland Gurunsi languages are Gurune, Nankani, Nabit, Talni, Kasem and Buli.

So the Gur language group would be: Mole-Dagbon, Gurma (Southern, Western and Northern) and Gurunsi (Grushi). They include the Dagaaba (a.k.a Dagaati), Dagomba, Mamprusi, Nanumba, Templima, Kusasi, Kokomba, Lobi, Sissaala, Builsa, Kasina, Frafra, Mossi, Kamara (Larabanga), Haŋa, Safalba, Vagla, Bimoba, Birifor, Ntrubo (Delo), Kotokoli, Mo and others. And below is the pronominal and numerical system of some selected Gur languages for comparison of languages.

Dagbanli	Mampruli	Birifor	Dagaare	Bimoba	Kusaal
N/Mani	N/Ma	N/Asin	N/Ma	N/Mɛ	M/Mam
A/Nyini	I/I	Fu/fu	Fu/fu	A/fini	Fu / ’f
O/O	O/O	O/O	O/O	O/wuo	O/O
Ti/Ti	Ti/Ti	Si/tĩi	Ti/Atii	Ti/Tim	Ti/Tinam
Yi/yi	Yi/yi	Yi/Yin	Yɛ/Yaa	Yi/Yim	Yi/Yinam
Bɛ/Bɛ	Bɛ/Bɛ	Ba/Abal	Bɛ/Bal	Ba/Ba	Ba/Bama

 

Dagbani	Dagaare	Kusaal	Kamara	Mampruli	Safalba	Bimoba
Ndaam	Bonyin	Yinne	Yinni	Yinni	Kpanleri	Yen
Ayi	Ayi	Ayi	Ayi	Ayi	Ayi	Ŋaanle
Ata	Ata	Ata’	Ata	Ata	Ata	Ŋanta
Anai	Ana	Anaasi	Anaasi	Anaasi	Anaasi	Ŋanna
Anu	Anu	Anu	Anu	Anu	Anuu	Ŋaanu
Ayuɔbu	Ayuab	Ayɔɔbɔ	Ayobu	Ayobu	Ayɔbe	Ŋanluob
Ayopɔin	Ayopɔin	Ayɔ’pɔi	Ayopoi	Ayopoi	Ayopoi	Ŋanluɔle
Anii	Anii	Anii	Anii	Anii	Anii	Ŋannii
Awei	Awai	Awai	Awai	Awe	Awãi	Ŋanyia
Pia	Pei	Piiga	Pia	Pia	Pie	Piik