Ethnicity Balanta people Glottolog bala1300 | Native speakers 510,000 (2006) | |
Native to (Balanta-Kentohe) Guinea-Bissau, (Balanta-Ganja) the Gambia, Senegal Language family Niger–Congo
Atlantic–Congo
Bak–Bijago
Bak proper
Balanta ISO 639-3 Either:
ble – Balanta-Kentohe
bjt – Balanta-Ganja | ||
Balanta (or Balant) is a group of two closely related Bak languages of west Africa spoken by the Balanta people.
Contents
Description
Balanta is now generally divided into two distinct languages, Balanta-Kentohe and Balanta-Ganja
Balanta-Kentohe
The Balanta-Kentohe language is spoken by a total of 423,000 people on the north central and central coast of Guinea-Bissau (where as of 2006 it is spoken by 397,000 people, many of which can be found in the Oio Region) as well as in the Gambia. Films and portions of the Bible have been produced in Balanta-Kentohe.
Alternative names for and Dialects of Balanta-Kentohe
Ethnologue lists alternative names as Alante, Balanda, Balant, Balanta, Balante, Ballante, Belante, Brassa, Bulanda, Frase, Fora, Kantohe (Kentohe, Queuthoe), Naga, and Mane. The Naga, Mane, and Kantohe dialects may be separate languages.
Balanta-Ganja
Balanta-Ganja is spoken by 86,000 people (as of 2006) in the southwest corner of and the south of Senegal. Literacy is less than 1% for Balanta-Ganja. In September 2000, Balanta-Ganja was granted the status of a national language in Senegal, and as of then can now be taught in elementary school.
Ethnologue lists alternative names as Alante, Balanda, Balant, Balante, Ballante, Belante, Brassa, Bulanda, Fjaa, Fraase; dialects are Fganja (Ganja) and Fjaalib (Blip).
Grammar
Balanta has case prefixes and suffixes alternatively interpreted as a definite article dependent on the noun class.
Writing
In Senegal, Decree No. 2005-979 regulates the orthography of Balanta as follows: