Sembla language

Not to be confused with Southern Samo language.

Sembla, Sambla,or Seenku, is a Western Mande language within the Samogo group of Burkina Faso. The northern dialect called Timiku^[2] and the southern one called Gbeneku^[3] are easily intelligible.

Sembla
Seenku
Region	Burkina Faso
Native speakers	16,000 (2009)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo Mande Western Northwestern Samogo Sembla
Language codes
ISO 639-3	sos
Glottolog	seek1238

The language is also known as Samogho and "Southern Samo", which is also the name of one of the Samo languages.

This language also has a complex speech replacement system, which is implemented on the Sambla balafon, where the words of the Sambla language are translated into music, similar to the more famous talking drum communication.^[4]

Further reading

• McPherson, Laura (2020). "Seenku". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 50 (2): 220–239. doi:10.1017/S0025100318000312, with supplementary sound recordings.

• McPherson, Laura. "A Grammar of Seenku". Mouton Grammar Library (83). De Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110765021. ISBN 978-3-11-061295-0.
• McPherson, Laura (2017). "The morphosyntax of adjectives in Seenku". Mandenkan (57): 25–48. doi:10.4000/mandenkan.1041.
• McPherson, Laura (2017). "Multiple feature affixation in Seenku plural formation". Morpholog (27): 217–252. doi:10.1007/s11525-017-9300-4).
• Prost, André (1971). Éléments de sembla: phonologie, grammaire, lexique (Haute Volta: groupe mandé) (in French). Lyon: Afrique et Langage.