Banyun language

Banyun
Bainouk, Nyun
Native toGuinea-Bissau, Senegal
EthnicityBainuk
Native speakers
38,000 (2006–2022)
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Variously:
bcz – Bainouk-Gunyaamolo
bab – Bainouk-Gunyuño
bcb – Bainouk-Samik (duplicate code)
Glottologbain1264
ELP
Bainouk-Gunyaamolo is classified as Vulnerable and Bainouk-Samik is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger.
Languagegu-jaaxər

Banyun (Banyum), Nyun, or Bainouk, is a Senegambian language group of around 8 closely related languages in Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.

Spellings are Bagnoun, Banhum, Banyung and Bainuk, Banyuk; other names are Elomay ~ Elunay; for the Gunyaamolo variety Ñuñ or Nyamone, and for Gunyuño Guñuun or Samik. The language is referred to as gu-jaaxər by its speakers.

Tree

[needs update]

Varieties

There are three varieties of Banyun: Baïnouk-gunyaamolo, Baïnouk Samik, and Baïnouk gunyuño.

The variety of Bainounk spoken in southern Gambia and the north and northeast areas of Casamance appears to have gone extinct, or is at best only remembered by a few elderly people. Glottolog terms this variety "Northeast Bainounk".

References

  1. ↑ Bainouk-Gunyaamolo at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
    Bainouk-Gunyuño at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
    Bainouk-Samik (duplicate code) at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ↑ Hammarström, Harald (September 2015). "Ethnologue 16/17/18th editions: A comprehensive review: Online appendices". Language. 91 (3): s1–s188. doi:10.1353/lan.2015.0049. ISSN 1535-0665.
  3. ↑ Wilson, William André Auquier. 2007. Guinea Languages of the Atlantic group: description and internal classification. (Schriften zur Afrikanistik, 12.) Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
  4. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2026). "Bainounk". Glottolog 5.3. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  5. ↑ Cobbinah, Alexander Yao (2013). "Nominal classification and verbal nouns in Baïnounk Gubëeher". School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. doi:10.25501/SOAS.00017370. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ↑ Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2026). "Northeast Bainounk". Glottolog 5.3. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.