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{{Short description|Mande language spoken in West Africa}}

{{Infobox language
|name=Bissa
|altname=Bisa, Busansi
|nativename=Bɩsa
|region=[[Burkina Faso]], [[Ghana]], [[Togo]]
|speakers=590,000
|date=1999–2003
|ref=e18
|ethnicity=[[Bissa people]]
|familycolor=Niger-Congo
|fam2=[[Mande languages|Mande]]
|fam3=Eastern
|fam4=Bisa–Busa
|iso3=bib
|glotto=biss1248
|glottorefname=Bissa
|map=Languages of Burkina Faso.png
|mapcaption=Majority areas of northern dialects of Bissa, in dark blue, on a map of Burkina Faso.
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|person=Bɩsan|people=Bɩsanno|language=Bɩsa|root=Bissa}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Bissa
| image =
| caption =
| population = 1.7 million
| popplace =
| region1 = {{Flag|Burkina Faso}}
| pop1 = approx 6.8 million
| ref1 =
| region2 = {{Flag|Ghana}}
| pop2 = 1.1 million
| ref2 =
| region3 = {{Flag|Togo}}
| pop3 = 3,356
| ref3 =
| langs = Bissa, [[French language|French]]
| rels = [[Islam]] [[African Traditional Religion]]
| related = other [[Mandé peoples|Mandé]] peoples
}}

'''Bissa''' (or '''Bisa''' (singular), '''Bisan''', '''Bissanno''' (plural)), is a [[Mandé peoples|Mande]] ethnic group of south-central [[Burkina Faso]], northeastern [[Ghana]] and the northernmost tip of [[Togo]]. Their language, Bissa,<ref>Lewis, 2009</ref> is a [[Mande language]] that is related to, but not the same as, a cluster of languages in the old [[Borgu]] Kingdom area of Northeast [[Benin]] and Northwest [[Nigeria]], including [[Busa language (Mande)|Busa]], [[Boko language|Boko]], and [[Kyenga language|Kyenga]]. An alternate name for the Bissa is '''Busansi''' which is used by the [[Mossi people]] and Kusasi people or '''Busanga'''.

== Names ==
The name is usually spelled '''Bissa'''. It can also be spelled '''Bisa''', and the name in the [[Mossi language]] is '''Busansi''' (Singular) or '''Busanga''' (Plural); This should not be confused with the [[Bisa language (Zambia)|Bisa language of Zambia]] or the [[Busa language (Mande)|Busa language of Nigeria and Benin]].

== Geographic distribution ==
In Burkina Faso, Bissa is spoken in [[Boulgou]], [[Koulpélogo]], and [[Kouritenga]] Provinces of the [[Centre-Est Region]], in [[Bazaga]] and [[Zoundwéogo]] Provinces of the [[Centre–Sud Region]] ([[Garango]], [[Gomboussougou]], [[Zabré]], and [[Tenkodogo]] Cities), and in the [[Boudry Department]] of [[Ganzargou Province]] of the [[Plateau-Central Region]].

In Ghana, Bissa is spoken in [[Bawku Municipal District]], some other parts five districts in Bawku traditional area in the Upper East Region and also some parts in the North East Region.

In Togo, Bissa is spoken in [[Tône Prefecture]] of the [[Savanes Region, Togo|Savanes Region]]. There are also some Bissa speakers in Ivory Coast.
== Classification ==
Bissa language is the most populous of the [[Mande languages]] of Ghana and Togo. It is part of the [[Eastern Mande languages|Eastern Mande]] group, which also includes several other languages spoken across the [[Volta River]] and the [[Borgu]] Kingdom, including [[Boko language|Boko]], [[Busa language (Mande)|Busa]], [[Samo languages|Samo]], and [[Bokobaru language|Bokobaru]].
=== Dialects ===
Bissa has four dialects:
#Barka or Baraka (also known as Eastern Bissa)
#Gormine or Gourmyne closely related to the Barka and mostly speaking in YARGATENGA or YARGATALA
#Lebre or Zeba (also known as Western Bissa)
#Leere (also known as Northern Bissa)
The most widely spoken dialects of Bissa are Barka and Lebre.

To the East the Bissa people speak Barka/Baraka. To The West people speak Lebre/Zeba. To the North the Lere dialect is used. To the South, there is no specifics dialect.

== Phonology ==

=== Vowels ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]
![[Central vowel|Central]]
![[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPA link|i}}, {{IPA link|ĩ}}
|
|{{IPA link|u}}
|-
![[Near-close vowel|Near-close]]
|{{IPA link|ɪ}}, {{IPA link|ɪ̃}}
|
|{{IPA link|ʊ}}, {{IPA link|ʊ̃}}
|-
![[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
|{{IPA link|e}}
|
|{{IPA link|o}}
|-
![[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
|{{IPA link|ɛ}}, {{IPA link|ɛ̃}}
|{{IPA link|ɐ}}, {{IPA link|ɐ̃}}
|{{IPA link|ɔ}}, {{IPA link|ɔ̃}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|
|{{IPA link|a}}, {{IPA link|ã}}
|
|}

=== Consonants ===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+
! colspan="2" |
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|{{IPA link|m}}
|{{IPA link|n}}
|{{IPA link|ɲ}}
|{{IPA link|ŋ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Plosive]]
![[voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|p}}
|{{IPA link|t}}
|
|{{IPA link|k}}
|-
![[Voiced|voiced]]
|{{IPA link|b}}
|{{IPA link|d}}
|
|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
|-
! rowspan="2" |[[Fricative]]
![[voiceless]]
|{{IPA link|f}}
|{{IPA link|s}}
|
|
|-
![[Voiced|voiced]]
|{{IPA link|v}}
|{{IPA link|z}}
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Approximant]]
|
|{{IPA link|l}}
|{{IPA link|j}}
|{{IPA link|w}}
|-
! colspan="2" |[[Trill consonant|Trill]]
|
|{{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|}
<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vanhoudt |first=Bettie |title=Lexique Bisa-Français |publisher=Mandenkan |year=1999}}</ref>

== Writing system ==
High tone is marked with an [[acute accent]] and low tone is marked with a [[grave accent]]. The following is the alphabet of the Lere and Lebir dialects of Bissa:
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
|+ Bissa alphabet
|-----
| [[A (letter)|A]] || [[B (letter)|B]] || [[C (letter)|C]] || [[D (letter)|D]] || [[E (letter)|E]]
| [[Ǝ]] || [[Ɛ]] || [[F (letter)|F]] || [[G (letter)|G]] || [[H (letter)|H]] || [[I (letter)|I]] || {{IPA|[[Ɩ]]}} || [[J (letter)|J]] || [[K (letter)|K]] || [[L (letter)|L]]
| [[M (letter)|M]] || [[N (letter)|N]] || [[Ny (digraph)|Ny]] || [[Ŋ]] || [[O (letter)|O]]
| [[Ɔ]] || [[P (letter)|P]] || [[R (letter)|R]] || [[S (letter)|S]] || [[T (letter)|T]]
| [[U (letter)|U]] || [[Ʋ]] || [[V (letter)|V]] || [[W (letter)|W]] || [[Y (letter)|Y]]
| [[Z (letter)|Z]]
|-----
| a || b || c || d || e
| ǝ || ɛ || f || g || h
| i || ɩ || j || k || l
| m || n || ny || ŋ || o
| ɔ || p || r || s || t
| u || ʋ || v || w || y
| z
|}
The following is the alphabet of the Barka dialect of Bissa:
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"
|+ Bissa-Barka Alphabet (Burkina-Faso){{sfn|SIL|2016}}
|-----
| [[A (letter)|A]] || [[B (letter)|B]] || [[D (letter)|D]] || [[E (letter)|E]] || [[Ɛ]]
| [[Ǝ]] || [[F (letter)|F]] || [[G (letter)|G]] || [[H (letter)|H]] || [[I (letter)|I]]
| {{IPA|[[Ɩ]]}} || [[K (letter)|K]] || [[L (letter)|L]] || [[M (letter)|M]] || [[N (letter)|N]]
| [[Ɲ]] || [[Ŋ]] || [[O (letter)|O]] || [[Ɔ]] || [[P (letter)|P]]
| [[R (letter)|R]] || [[S (letter)|S]] || [[T (letter)|T]] || [[U (letter)|U]] || [[Ʋ]]
| [[W (letter)|W]] || [[Y (letter)|Y]] || [[Z (letter)|Z]]
|-----
| a || b || d || e || ɛ
| ə || f || g || h || i
| ɩ || k || l || m || n
| ɲ || ŋ || o || ɔ || p
| r || s || t || u || ʋ
| w || y || z
|}

== Comparison of dialects ==
{|class=wikitable
!Phrase!!Leere !!Barka/Gourmyne !!Lebre
|-
|Good morning||Domireh ki||Idomleki
|-
|come||bur||iahh||Eyaham
|-
|water||pi||hi
|-
|food||forbile||hobile
|}

== Lebre or Lere phrases ==
* Good morning: ''Domireh ki'' (Response: Domireh zain)
* Good afternoon: ''Sundareh ki'' (Response: Sundareh zain)
* Good evening/night: ''Yirbaa ki'' (Response: Yirbaa zain)
* Thank you: ''Barka''
* Good: ''Minga''
* Come: ''Bur''
* Go: ''Ta''
* You're welcome: ''An barka boi''
* I love you: ''Moi wam''
== The Busa and Boko peoples of Benin and Nigeria ==
The Busa and Boko peoples, two subgroups of the Bissa people, live in Northwestern [[Nigeria]] and Northern [[Benin]] near [[Borgu]] in the Nigerian States of [[Niger State|Niger]], [[Kebbi State|Kebbi]] and [[Kwara]] (mostly [[Bokobaru language|Bokobaru]] subgroup) and in the Beninese Departments of [[Alibori]] and [[Borgou]].

They speak [[Busa language (Mande)|Busa (also known as Bisã)]] and [[Boko language|Boko (also known as Boo)]]. This peoples are referred to as '''Bussawa''' in [[Hausa language|Hausa]].

== See also ==
* [[Busa language (Mande)]]
* [[Boko language]]
* [[Kyenga language]]
* [[Shanga language]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
* {{Cite web |title=Dictionnaire Bissa-Barka |url=https://www.sil.org/resources/archives/84260 |website=SIL International |language=en |date=25 April 2016 |ref=CITEREFSIL2016}}, the SIL entry direct towards {{Cite web |title=Dictionnaire Bissa-Barka |url=https://www.webonary.org/bissa-barka/?lang=en |website=Sous-Commission de la langue Bisa}}

{{Languages of Burkina Faso}}
{{Mande languages}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Mande languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Languages of Ghana]]
[[Category:Languages of Togo]]
[[Category:Languages of Ivory Coast]]

Bissa language - Revision history

imported>Remsense: Reverted 1 edit by 71.247.13.192 (talk) to last revision by 37.186.41.253