Mooré

Mooré, also called More or Mossi, is a Gur language of the Oti–Volta branch and one of four official languages of Burkina Faso. It is the language of the Mossi people, spoken by approximately 6.46 million people in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Mali, Togo, and Senegal as a native language, but with many more L2 speakers. Mooré is spoken as a first or second language by over 50% of the Burkinabé population and is the main language in the capital city of Ouagadougou. It is closely related to Frafra, and less related Dagbani.

The Mooré language consists of the following sounds:

Remark:

• The semivowel /j/ ⟨y⟩ is pronounced [ɲ] (palatal nasal) in front of nasal vowels.

Notes:

• All vowels (other than /e/ and /o/) can also be nasalized.
• All vowels (oral and nasal) can be short or long.
• Other linguists include the vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/; here, they are analysed as diphthongs, (/ɛ/ is considered to be ea and /ɔ/ is considered to be oa).

In Burkina Faso, the Mooré alphabet uses the letters specified in the national Burkinabé alphabet. It can also be written with the newly-devised Goulsse alphabet.

• Languages of Burkina Faso

• PanAfrican L10n wiki page on Moore
• Database of audio recordings in Mòoré - basic Catholic prayers

• Protestant Mission, Assemblies of God. More (Language of the Mossi Tribe) Phrase Book. Ouagadougou, Upper Volta: World Digital Library.