Baoulé language (original) (raw)
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Language in Ivory Coast
| Baoulé | |
|---|---|
| wawle | |
| Region | Ivory Coast |
| Ethnicity | Baoulé people |
| Native speakers | 5.3 million (2021)[1] |
| Language family | Niger–Congo? Atlantic–CongoVolta-CongoKwaPotou–TanoTanoCentral TanoBiaNorth BiaBaoulé |
| Writing system | Latin |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bci |
| Glottolog | baou1238 |
Baoulé (native name: wawle), also known as Baule or Bawule,[_citation needed_] is a language spoken in central and southern Ivory Coast, including in the regions of Lacs, Lagunes, Gôh-Djiboua, Sassandra-Marahoué, Vallée du Bandama, Woroba, and Yamoussoukro, by approximately 5.3 million people.[1] It is a Kwa language of the Central Tano branch, forming a dialect continuum with Anyin and closely related to Nzema and Sehwi.[2] It is the common language of the Baoulé people, the largest ethnic group in Ivory Coast.[3]
Translations of the Bible
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In 1946, portions of the Bible translated into Baoulé were first published; the full New Testament followed in 1953.[4] The complete Bible was published first in 1998, by the Bible Society in Abidjan.
| | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labial- velar | | | | -------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -- | -- | | Plosive | voiceless | p | t | c | k | kp | | voiced | b | d | ɟ | g | gb | | | Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | | | | voiced | v | z | | | | | | Nasal | m | n | ɲ | | | | | Lateral | | l | | | | | | Trill | | r | | | | | | Approximant | | | j | | w | |
| | Front | Central | Back | | | ------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------ | --------------------------------------- | - | | Close | i | | u | | Close-mid | e | | o | | Open-mid | ɛ | | ɔ | | Open | | a | |
Of these vowels, five may be nasalized: /ĩ/, /ɛ̃/, /ã/, /ũ/, and /ɔ̃/.[5][6]
Baoulé has five tones: high, low, mid, rising, and falling.[7]
Baoulé uses the following letters to indicate the following phonemes:[5]
| Uppercase | A | B | C | D | E | Ɛ | F | G | GB | I | J | L | K | KP | M | N | NY | O | Ɔ | P | S | T | U | V | W | Y | Z |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowercase | a | b | c | d | e | ɛ | f | g | gb | i | j | l | k | kp | m | n | ny | o | ɔ | p | s | t | u | v | w | y | z |
| Phoneme | /a/ | /b/ | /c/ | /d/ | /e/ | /ɛ/ | /f/ | /g/ | /gb/ | /i/ | /ɟ/ | /l/ | /k/ | /kp/ | /m/ | /n/ | /ɲ/ | /o/ | /ɔ/ | /p/ | /s/ | /t/ | /u/ | /v/ | /w/ | /j/ | /z/ |
- ^ a b Baoulé at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023)

- ^ Koffi, Ettien N'da (1990). The interface between phonology and morpho(phono)logy in the standardization of Anyi orthography (PDF).
- ^ "Baoulé". Ethnologue. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ^ Project, Joshua. "Baule in Côte d'Ivoire". joshuaproject.net. Retrieved 2026-04-11.
- ^ a b "Système alphabétique de la langue baoulé". Retrieved 2017-01-29.
- ^ Kouadio N'guessan, Jérémie; Kouame, Kouakou (2004). Parlons baoulé: langue et culture de la Côte d'Ivoire. Paris: L'Harmattan.
- ^ "PHOIBLE 2.0 -". phoible.org. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- Timyan, Judith E., "A Discourse-Based Grammar of Baule: The Kode Dialect" (1977). CUNY Academic Works.
- Carteron, Michel. 1972. Étude de la langue baoule. Baconda, Cote d'Ivoire: s.n.
- Baoulé entry at the World Atlas of Language Structures
- PanAfriL10n page on Anyi & Baule
- Baoulé Phonology (French)
- Baule kasahorow