Bozo language

Bozo, or Boso, meaning house of straw, is a Mande language spoken by the Bozo people, the principal fishing people of the Inner Niger Delta in Mali. According to the 2000 census, the Bozo people number about 132,100. The Bozo dialect cluster is often considered to be one language, but there is quite a bit of diversity. Ethnologue recognises four languages on the basis of requirements for literacy materials. Bozo is part of the northwestern branch of the Mande languages; the closest linguistic relative is Soninke, a major language spoken in the northwestern section of southern Mali, in eastern Senegal, and in southern Mauritania. The Bozo often speak one or more regional languages such as Bamana, Maasina Fulfulde, or Western Songhay. The language is tonal, with three lexical tones.

The Bozo cluster is divided into the following varieties:

• Hainyaxo (Hainyaho, Kɛlɛngaxo) (a few thousand speakers)[2]
• Tiɛma Cɛwɛ (Tièma cièwe) (2,500 speakers in 1991)
• Tiéyaxo (Tigemaxo) (a few thousand speakers)
• Sorogaama (Jenaama, Sorko) (200,000 speakers in 2005)

Hainyaho, spoken by the Hain (sg. Xan), is the most western dialect, spoken in two spots along the Niger. It is most closely related to Tigemaxo, its eastern neighbour which is spoken around Diafarabé. The central and most widely spoken Bozo language is Sorogama, which actually consists of four dialects, Pondori (south of Mopti), Kotya, Korondugu (north of Mopti) and Debo (around Lake Debo). Tièma Cièwè is the northeasternmost of the Bozo cluster, spoken in the vicinity of Lake Debo.