The Bak languages are a group of typologically Atlantic languages of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau linked in 2010 to the erstwhile Atlantic isolate Bijago. Bak languages are non-tonal.
Name David Dalby coined the term Bak from the bVk- prefix found in the personal plural forms of demonstratives in the Bak languages. The -k- is not found in other Atlantic languages.Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Languages
Bak languages Bak proper Balanta
Jola languages (Diola) Papel languages (Manjaku) Bijago
Classification of Bijago Bijago is highly divergent. Sapir (1971) classified it as an isolate within West Atlantic.Sapir, David (1971). "West Atlantic: An inventory of the languages, their noun class systems and consonant alternations." Current Trends in Linguistics 7:45-112. The Hague: Mouton. However, Segerer (2010) showed that this is primarily due to unrecognized sound changes, and that Bijago is in fact close to the Bak languages.Segerer, Guillaume. 2010a. ‘Isolates’ in ‘Atlantic’. Paper presented at the International Workshop “Language Isolates in Africa,” Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage (DDL) Lyon, 3‒4 December.Segerer, Guillaume. 2010b. The Atlantic languages: State of the art. Paper presented at the International Workshop “Genealogical language classification in Africa beyond Greenberg,” Humboldt University Berlin, 21‒22 February. (accessed 30 March 2017). For example, the following cognates in Bijago and Joola Kasa (one of the Jola languages) are completely regular, but had not previously been identified:
GlossBijagoJoola Kasahead bu fu-koweye nɛ ji-cil
Segerer reconstructs the ancestral forms as *bu-gof and *di-gɛs, respectively, with the following developments:
*bu-gof > *bu-kof > *bu-kow > fu-kow > *bu-ŋof > *bu-ŋo > (u-)bu *di-gɛs > *di-kis > *di-kil > ji-cil > *ne-ŋɛs > *ne-ŋɛ > nɛ
Comparative vocabulary Comparison of basic vocabulary words of the Bak languages:Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
Language eye ear nose tooth tongue mouth blood bone tree water name; surname Diola (Felup) nyi-kil / ku- ka-ɔs / o- e-ŋindu / si- ka-ŋin / o- u-reeruɸ / ku- bo-ʂom / o- ha-sim ka-gaka Diola (Husuy) ji-kil ka-noo (outer); ɛ-jan (inner) ɛ-ŋendu ka-ŋiin ho-leluf bu-tum h-äsim ɛ-wool bu-nunukɛn / u- mal ka-jaw; ka-saaf / u- Diola (Diembereng) di-gin ka-gɔndin; ɛ-jamo ɛ-yinu ka-ŋiin kaa-leeluf bu-tum hallna na-nukanuk / nyu- mɔ-hujɔ ho-roo Karon ni-kin kaa-now y-iinu ka-ŋiin hi-lɛɛluuf pu-tum hi-sim kaa-cɛc Papel (Biombo) p-kihl / k- / i- k-warʂ bu-ihl / i- 'nose'; b-ihl 'nostril' p-nyiḭ p-remtɛ́ / k- / i- m-ntum p-nyaak p-mɔ(h)ɔ b-oonoʔ / ŋ- / m-; bu-mul 'log' m-nrʂup k-tim / i-; p-nɔntʂa Papel (Safim) kiś b-iś m-tuɣum Manjaco (Baboque) pə-kəs / k- kä-batʂ b-iis / g- pə-roomaj / i- pə-ndeämənt m-tum pə-nyak ka-muä b-kɔʔ / g- / m-ŋk m-lek ka-tim Manjaco (Pecixe) kəkähl / kə- / i- ka-barʂ bu-ahl / iihl 'nose'; b-iihl / ŋ- 'nostril' pədoomiʔ p-diämət m-tum / ŋ- / i- pə-nyaak ka-mua ka-tim Manjaco (Churo) pə-kəs ka-bah b-iis p-roomɛɛʔ p-reemint n-tum pə-nyaak ka-muh bo-mol / o- n-nek ka-tim 'land' Mancanha pə-kəʂ ka-batʂ b-yis pə-nyḭ pə-ndɛmənt m-ntum pə-nyaak pə-mɔh bə-jɛl / ŋ- m-ɛl ka-tim; ka-bɛp Balanta (northern, Kəntɔhɛ) f-kit / k- kə-lɔʔ / k- b-fuŋa / #- f-sec / k- kə-dɛmat / Ø- b-sum / #- k-saham f-hool / k- b-ta / Ø- wɛdɛ f-tookɛ; f-mbɛɛm Bijago n-ɛ̂ / ŋ- kɔ-nnɔ / ŋa- ŋɔ́-mɔ̀ ká-nyì / ŋá nú-númɛ̀ ká-nà / ŋa- nɛ-nyɛ ka-ŋkpeene / ŋa- ŋɔ-maŋgi / mɔ- n-nyo; n-to 'brine' ŋa-βin / N-
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