Manjak language

Manjak or Manjack (French: Manjak, Manjaque; Portuguese: Manjaco) or Njak is a Bak language of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The language is also known as Kanyop.

Manjak
Manjáku
Native to	Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and the Gambia
Ethnicity	Manjack
Native speakers	320,000 (2021–2022)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Senegambian Bak Manjaku–Papel Manjak
Dialects	Bok Ulekes Ucur Ulund Uyu Unuab Uteer Uyool Uyanga Undin Ubuey Uguejan Utimats Uroongaan
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mfv
Glottolog	mand1419

In 2006, the total number of speakers was estimated at 315,300, including 184,000 in Guinea-Bissau, 105,000 in Senegal and 26,300 in The Gambia.

Dialects

The Manjak dialects below are distinct enough that some might be considered separate languages.^{[citation needed]}

• Bok (Babok, Sarar, Teixeira Pinto, Tsaam)
• Likes-Utsia (Baraa, Kalkus)
• Cur (Churo)
• Lund
• Yu (Pecixe, Siis, Pulhilh)
• Unhate (Binhante, Bissau)

The Manjak dialects listed by Wilson (2007) are^[2]

• Canchungo (kancuŋuʔ) – central dialect
• Baboque (babɔk) (formerly Teixeira Pinto) – eastern dialect
• Churo (cuur) – northern dialect
• Pecixe (locally called pəhlihl; otherwise pəsiis), on an island to the south
• Calequisse (kaləkiis), to the west of Canchungo

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔	t͡ɕ	k
	voiced	b	d		d͡ʑ	ɡ
	prenasal vl.	ᵐp	ⁿt	ⁿt̠͡ɹ̠̊˔	ᶮt͡ɕ	ᵑk
	prenasal vd.	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᶮd͡ʑ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		(ɕ)
	voiced				(ʑ)
Lateral			l
Approximant		w			j

• Sounds [ɕ, ʑ] are heard in free-fluctuation with affricates /t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ/ in all positions except following nasals.
• Sounds /b, d, ɡ/ may also be lenited as [β, ɾ, ɣ] when in intervocalic or word-final positions. /d/ can also be heard as a trill [r] in free variation with [ɾ] when in word-final positions.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	ɪ ~ e	ə	ʊ ~ o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɐ	ɔ
Open		a

Only vowels /u/ and /a/ may also have lengthened equivalents; /uː/ and /aː/.

• Sounds /ɪ, ʊ/ may also range to more mid sounds [e, o] in free variation.
• /ɐ/ may have a central allophone as [ʌ̈].

Diphthongs

	Front	Back
Close-mid	iə	uə
Open-mid	iɐ	uɐ

• Sounds /iə, uə/ may have some fluctuation with lengthened sounds [eː, oː].^[3]

Writing system

The official spelling system for Manjak established by the Senegalese government is regulated by Decree No. 2005-983 of 21 October 2005.

Manjak alphabet (Senegal)

A

B

C

D

E

Ë

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

Ñ

Ŋ

O

P

R

S

Ŝ

T

[illegible]

U

W

Y

Z

a

b

c

d

e

ë

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

ñ

ŋ

o

p

r

s

ŝ

t

[illegible]

u

w

y

z