Baga language

Baga
Barka
Native toGuinea
EthnicityBaga
Native speakers
Koga: No data
Sitemu: 40,000 (2018)
Mandari: 4,000 (2011)
Kaloum: Extinct by the 1950s
Sobané: Extinct by the 1950s[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
bgo – Koga
bsp – Sitemu
bmd – Mandari
bqf – Kaloum (spurious)
bsv – Sobané (spurious)
Glottologtemn1245  adds Temne & Landoma
ELP

Baga, or Barka, is a dialect cluster spoken by the Baga people of coastal Guinea. The name derives from the phrase bae raka Slaves trading place ( a mispronounced bae=arabic for sellers and Raka= Arabic for slaves)and understood by the local as 'people of the seaside' outcasted people. Most Baga are bilingual in the Mande language Susu, the official regional language. Two ethnically Baga communities, Sobané and Kaloum, are known to have abandoned their (unattested) language altogether in favour of Susu.

  1. ^ Koga at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Sitemu at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Mandari at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Kaloum (spurious) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon
    Sobané (spurious) at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022) Closed access icon

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