Kissi language

In Guinea, the main places Kissi is spoken are the cities of Kissidougou and Guéckédou and their préfectures.

Phonology

Vowels

can also approximate to the sounds .

Consonants

Kissidougou dialects preserve a distinction between /r/ and /l/ phonemes that have been merged as allophones in dialects south of Guéckédou. For instance, la huŋ means exactly the same as ra huŋ. Also, "thank you" is realized as barika around Kissidougou and balika south of Guéckédou. [r] is considered an allophone of /l/ in Kissidougou.

/w/ can also have an allophone of [v] when preceding front vowel sounds.

The voiced labial-velar stop occurs only in onomatopoeic phrases, and medial gb can be regarded as an allophone of its voiceless counterpart.

• gbaala 'outdoor kitchen'
• Gbaŋgbaŋ (a river in Kissidougou)
• gbɛŋgbɔ 'stool'
• maagbana 'city taxi'

Tone

Kissi has four tones: two register and two contour. The two register tones are level and high, and the two contour tones are a rising mid tone and a falling high tone. Kissi also has an extra-high tone, but occurs only sparingly, functioning in only a few grammatical contexts.