Introduction

 

The South San language of Burkina Faso is spoken by over 85,000 people in the Boucle du Mouhoun region: mainly Nayala province, Nouna and Solenzo areas; Sourou province; Centre-Ouest region: Sanguie province; Nord region: Passore province; Bobo-Dioulasso, Dedougou, Koudougou, and Ouagadougou cities. Gassan, Gossina, Kougny, Toma, Yaba, and Ye departments (Toma dialect).

The language is classified as Niger-Congo, Mande, Eastern, Eastern, Samo. The ISO code is sbd. It is also called Sa, Samo or Sane. There is a dialect called Toma (Makaa, Nyaana). The intelligibility across Samo varieties is low. There are positive attitudes toward the San language as it is used in many domains: in the home, religious settings, in the marketplace. Some also speak French, Jula [dyu], Moore [mos], and Western Niger Fulfulde [fuh].

Motivation to read Toma Samo is high. A literacy center in Toma teaches San.

The Rimaïbé are Samo who were former Fula slaves, but they now speak Fulfulde [fuh] as a second language, and live in Kawara, Kassan, Zoumou, and Teri in the Tougan area.