Foreword

The Kasɩm language (also spelled = Kasem, kassem ou kassim) is a «Central Gur» language which was classified as follows:

Classification of Kassem

There is a great inter-comprehension between the different Kasem dialects. We can, however, distinguish three distinct variants of Kasem in Burkina Faso:

  • The eastern dialect (in blue below) which is spoken around the agglomerations of Tiébélé and Kampala in Burkina Faso and around Navrongo, Paga and Chiana in Ghana.
  • The western dialect (in green below) which is spoken in the area of Pô, Ponkouyan and Songo in Burkina Faso.
  • The dialect around the town of Jaro / Guiaro (west of Tiakané, in red below).

 

dialectes kassem

The present dictionary contains more than 5000 entries which we have partly translated into English. As a general rule, we have written the standard dialect of Tiébélé. Sometimes, however, we have added some dialect variants where it was pertinent. Of course this dictionary contains only a fraction of the existing Kasem vocabulary.

This dictionary's scope is to:

  • Help the Kasem speakers to correctly write their GrammaireGuide Orth kaslanguage. For more explanations on the spelling, have a look at the books: "Guide d'orthographe kasɩm" and "Grammaire élémentaire du kasɩm".
  • This dictionary can help the literacy teachers to have a standard of reference or spelling guide.
  • This dictionary can help you to discover words and concepts in Kasem. For example, it lists over 250 animal names, about 180 names for plants, and even some words that are in danger to disappear in our modern world.
  • This dictionary can help you to discover the Kasena culture. Somebody has said the following:

         "A dictionary represents the life of a people group put in alphabetical order."

  • This dictionary can help Kasena individuals to learn some French or English.