Introduction

 

The Gulimancema language group of Burkina Faso has a population of 1,064,200. Most of the speakers reside in the East Central region: the Koulpelogo province; in the North Central region: the Namentenga province; in the Eastern region: the Gnagna, Gourma, Komandjari, Kompienga and Tapoa provinces; in the Sahel region: the Seno and Yagha provinces.

Gulimancema is classified as Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, North, Gur, Central, Northern, Oti-Volta, Gurma. The ISO code for Gulimancema is gux. The autonym is Gourma. Alternate names are Goulmacema, Gourmantche, Gourmanchéma, Gulmancema, Gurma, Migulimancema.

Dialects of the language are Northern Gourmanchema, Central Gourmanchema, and Southern Gourmanchema. The central and eastern dialects are inherently intelligible. The northern dialect is intelligible only with difficulty.

All ages use Gulimancema. The central dialect is prestigious and used for writing, including newspapers, radio, videos. A grammar has also been completed. The Bible was finished in 2005. Some also use French, Mòoré, Western Niger Fulfulde, or Zarma.

The Central dialect is prestigious and used for writing, including newspapers, radio, videos. Dictionary. A grammar has also been completed. The Bible was finished in 2005.

 

Dialecte indication in this dictionary:

(Ñ)  this letter written in brackets indicates a word from the province of Ñaña, North Gulmu, Prefectures of Bogandé, Piéla, Mani, Koala, Liptugu, Thion

 

(G)  this letter written in brackets indicates a word from the province of Gourma, region of Fada, Pama. Matiakoali

 

(Ta)  this letter written in brackets indicates a word from the Province of Tapoa, Diapaga, Kanchari, Botou, Tanbaga, Logobou

 

(To)  this letter written in brackets indicates a word from the region of Torodi (Niger), region of Makalondi