This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2020) |
Mandinka | |
---|---|
Mandingo مَانْدِنْجَوْ ߡߊ߲߬ߘߌ߲߬ߞߊ | |
Native to | Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Guinea |
Region | Casamance |
Ethnicity | Mandinka |
Native speakers | 2.1 million (2017–2022)[1] |
Arabic, Latin, N'Ko | |
Official status | |
Recognised minority language in | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | mnk |
Glottolog | mand1436 |
Linguasphere | 00-AAA-aa |
The Mandinka language (Mandi'nka kango; Ajami: مَانْدِينْكَا كَانْجَوْ), or Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of Guinea, northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and in The Gambia where it is one of the principal languages.
Mandinka belongs to the Manding branch of Mande and is similar to Bambara and Maninka/Malinké but with only 5 instead of 7 vowels. The variety spoken in The Gambia and Senegal borders on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof.