Balanta
Native to	( Balanta-Kentohe ) Guinea-Bissau , ( Balanta-Ganja ) the Gambia , Senegal
Ethnicity	400,000 Balanta (2022) [1]
Native speakers	460,000 (2021?2022) [1]
Language family	Niger?Congo ? Atlantic?Congo Senegambian Bak?Bijago Bak proper Balanta
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Senegal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: ble  ? Balanta-Kentohe bjt  ? Balanta-Ganja
Glottolog	bala1300

Balanta (or Balant ) is a group of two closely related Bak languages of West Africa spoken by the Balanta people .

Description [ edit ]

Balanta is now generally divided into two distinct languages: Balanta-Kentohe and Balanta-Ganja. ^{[2] [3]}

Balanta-Kentohe [ edit ]

The Balanta-Kentohe ( K?nt?h? ) language is spoken by about 423,000 people on the north central and central coast of Guinea-Bissau (where as of 2006 it is spoken by about 397,000 people, many of whom can be found in the Oio Region ^[4] ) as well as in the Gambia . Films and portions of the Bible have been produced in Balanta-Kentohe.

The K?nt?h? dialect is spoken in the north, while the Fora dialect is spoken in the south. ^[5]

Ethnologue lists the alternative names of Balanta-Kentohe 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 [ edit ]

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. ^{[2] [3]} 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 the alternative names of Balanta-Ganja as Alante, Balanda, Balant, Balante, Ballante, Belante, Brassa, Bulanda, Fjaa, Fraase (Fraas?). Its dialects are Fganja (Ganja) and Fjaalib (Blip).

Grammar [ edit ]

Balanta has case prefixes and suffixes alternatively interpreted as a definite article dependent on the noun class . ^{[ citation needed ]}

Phonology [ edit ]

The following are the phonemes of the Balanta dialects. ^{[6] [7]}

Consonants [ edit ]

Voiceless sounds [c k kp] are only heard in the Guinea Bissau dialect.

Vowels [ edit ]

Writing [ edit ]

In Senegal, Decree No. 2005-979 provides for an orthography of Balanta as follows: ^{[8] [9]}

The distinction between tense and non-tense vowels is indicated by the addition of an acute diacritic above tense vowels. Pre-nasalised consonants are indicated by preceding their consonant with a homorganic nasal (i.e. mp, nt, nj). Unvoiced consonants are represented by doubling voiced consonants (i.e. bb = /p/)

References [ edit ]

Relevant literature [ edit ]

• Creissels, Denis. 2016. A sketch of Ganja (Balant). In Friederike Lupke (ed.), The Oxford guide to the Atlantic languages of West Africa . Oxford University Press.
• Mansaly, Jules. 2018. Dictionnaire des proverbes balant: Une langue du groupe atlantique-ouest de la famille niger-congo au Senegal . (Series: Verbal Art and Documentary Literature in African Languages Volume 37.) Rudiger Koppe Verlag.
• Migeod, F.W.H., The Languages of West Africa Volume II London 1913.
• Westermann, D. & Bryan, M.A. The Languages of West Africa. Published for the International African Institute by Dawsons of Pall Mall, Folkestone & London 1970.

External links [ edit ]

• Video about the Balanta language
• Swadesh List for Balanta-Kentohe
• Decree No. 2005-979 of 21 October 2005 relating to the spelling and the separation of words in Balanta Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine via the website of the Journal officiel (in French)