Baga language
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Through Regional language
Varieties
The varieties as distinct enough to sometimes be considered different languages. They are:
- Baga Koga (Koba)
- Baga Manduri (Maduri, Mandari)
- Baga Sitemu (Sitem, Sitemú, Stem Baga, Rio Pongo Baga)
The extinct Baga Kaloum and Baga Sobané peoples had spoken Koga and Sitemu, respectively.
Neighboring Baga Pokur is not closely related.
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Geographical distribution
Geographical distribution of Baga varieties, listed from north to south, according to Fields-Black (2008:85):
- Baga Mandori: coast of Guinea, north of the mouth of the Nunez River
- Baga Sitem: coast of Guinea, south of the mouth of the Nunez River
- Baga Kakissa: coast of Guinea, north of the mouth of the Pongo River
- Baga Koba: coast of Guinea, from south of the mouth of the Pongo River to north of the mouth of the Konkouré River
- Baga Kalum: Îles de Los and area surrounding Conakry
Geographical distribution and demographics of Baga varieties according to Wilson (2007), citing a 1997 colloquium talk at Lille by Erhard Voeltz:
- Baga Manduri: spoken at Dobale, and very similar to Citɛm.
- Baga Sitemu (properly Citɛm): spoken in a cluster of villages on the Campaces River. This is the only vibrant Baga linguistic variety.
- Baga Sobane: only two known speakers in an isolated location.
- Baga Marara: spoken on three islands in the Rio Pongo. It is still being spoken by children.
- Baga Koba: spoken near Kaporo town only by elderly speakers over age 60. It is reportedly very similar to Baga Kaloum.
- Baga Kaloum: originally spoken in a quarter of what is now the Conakry area, and in the Îles de Los. It is close to Temne. Only spoken in a remote area now.
Noun Class Systems
Baga has prefixes for eight noun classes:
Vocabulary
Below is a selection of basic vocabulary in Baga Maduri:
- aceen - dog
- iceen - dogs
- alomp - fish
- asɔɔp - pig
- atɔf - earth, land
- daboomp da-ka-obɛ - the chief's head
- daboomp da-wana - the cow's head
- dafɔr - eye
- dasek - tooth
- isek - teeth
- gbak - hang
- kəca - hand, arm
- waca - hands, arms
- kufoon - hair
- mun - drink
- tafac - iron
- gbup - turn onto front