Kasena or Kassena (Kasem or Kassem) is the language of the Kassena ethnic group and is a Gur language spoken in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana and in Burkina Faso.
Phonology Consonants Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Post-alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Plosive voiceless voiced Nasal Affricate voiceless voiced Fricative voiceless voiced Approximant Trill Vowels FrontCentralBackClose Near-close Close-mid Open-mid Open Tone Kasena has three tones, a high tone, a mid level tone and a low tone. Tonal changes either change the lexical meaning of a word or its grammatical function.
Lexical
Grammatical
Grammar Noun class system
There are five classes of nouns that can be identified in Kasena. These classes correspond to grammatical genders and are differentiated in terms of number, such that there are five classes for singular nouns and five classes for plural nouns. +Gender SGPLGloss1bubiəchild/children2bɪnɪbɪnayear(s)3naganɛfoot/feet4piupweerumontain(s)5bʊŋʊbʊmgoat(s)
Pronouns Personal and possessive pronouns There are two classes of personal pronouns. One class is referring to humans, whereas the other class is referring to non-human entities. The personal pronouns are also used as possessive pronouns, thus there is no special form for possessive pronouns in Kasena.
Human personal pronouns +PersonSGPLGloss1stADíI/we2ndNÁYou/you3rdOBaHe/she/They
Non-human personal pronouns +ClassSGPLIOBaIIDɪYaIIIKaSɪIVKʊTɪVKʊDɪ
Emphatic pronouns +PersonSGPLGloss1stamʊdcbamMe/we2ndnmʊabamYou/you3rdwʊm/wʊntubam/bantʊHe/she/they
Reciprocal pronouns Reciprocity is expressed by the pronoun daanɪ, which sometimes occurs as a prefix or suffix.
Reflexive pronouns Reflexivity is expressed by a personal pronoun to which either tɪtɪ or katɪ ('-self')is added.
Relative pronouns Relative pronouns are formed on the basis of the personal pronouns for non-human entities to which the suffix -lʊ is attached. +ClassSGPLIwʊlʊbalʊIIdɪlʊyalʊIIIkalʊsɪlʊIVkʊlʊtɪlʊVkʊlʊdɪlʊ
Indefinite pronouns +ClassNumberCertainSomeAnyISGwʊdoŋ ---wʊlʊ wʊlʊIPLbadonnəbadaarabalʊ balʊIISGdɪ doŋ ---dɪlʊ dɪlʊIIPLyadonnəyadaarayalʊ yalʊIIISGkadoŋ ---kalʊ kalʊIIIPLsɪdonnəsɪdaarasɪlʊ sɪlʊIVSGkudoŋ ---kʊlʊ kʊlʊIVPLtɪdonnətɪdaaratɪlʊ tɪlʊVSGkudoŋ ---kʊlʊ kʊlʊVPLdɪdonnədɪdaaradɪlʊ dɪlʊ
Demonstrative pronouns +ClassSGGlossPLGlossIwuntuthis/thatbantuthese/thoseIIdɪntuthis/thatyantuthese/thoseIIIkantuthis/thatsɪntuthese/thoseIVkuntuthis/thattɪntuthese/thoseVkuntuthis/thatdɪntuthese/those
Interrogative pronouns +ClassSG who, what, whichPL who, what, whichHow muchIwɔɔbrabagraIIdɔɔyɔɔyagraIIIkɔɔsɔɔsɪgraIVkɔɔtɔɔtɪgraVkɔɔdɔɔdɪgra
Syntax Word order The Kasena language has a basic SVO word order.
References
External links Languages of Ghana Kassena-Ninkarse.org Riddles in Kasena The VP-periphery in Mabia languages Web version of Ethnologue Kasem language and alphabet – Omniglot