Minyanka language

Minyanka (also known as Mamara, Miniyanka, Minya, Mianka, Minianka, or Tupiire) is a northern Senufo language spoken by about 750,000 people in southeastern Mali. It is closely related to Supyire. Minyanka is one of the national languages of Mali.

Minyaka
Mamara
Native to	Mali
Native speakers	(740,000 cited 2000)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Senufo Suppire–Mamara Minyaka
Language codes
ISO 639-3	myk
Glottolog	mama1271
Map showing where Mamara is spoken.

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial			Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Labio- velar	Pharyn- geal	Glottal
		plain	lab.	pal.			plain	pal.
Nasal		m	mʷ	mʲ	n	ɲ	ŋ		ŋ͡m
Plosive	voiceless	p	pʷ	pʲ	t	c	k	kʲ	k͡p		ʔ
	voiced	b	bʷ		d	ɟ	ɡ	ɡʲ	ɡ͡b
	prenasal	ᵐb			ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	fʷ	fʲ	s	ʃ					(h)
	voiced	v			z	ʒ				(ʕ)	(ɦ)
Rhotic					r
Approximant					l	j	w	wʲ

• A pharyngeal fricative [ʕ] is also typically heard when in between vowels, or as an allophone of /ɡ/ when in intervocalic position.
• Glottal sounds [h, ɦ] are only heard in the Bla dialect, instead of labio-velar sounds /k͡p, ɡ͡b, ŋ͡m/.^[2]
• Sounds /k, ɡ/ can also be heard as fricatives [x, ɣ] when in intervocalic positions.^[3]

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i ĩ		u ũ
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ ɛ̃		ɔ ɔ̃
Open		a ã

• /u/ can also be heard as [y] when in the position of /j/.
• /o/ can also be heard as [œ] when before a glottal /ʔ/.

See also

• Senufo language