Dendi is a Songhay language used as a trade language across northern Benin (along the Niger River). It forms a dialect cluster with Zarma and Koyraboro Senni but it is heavily influenced by Bariba.

Dendi has been described as a four-tone language.[3]

Distribution

Dendi is mainly spoken in Northern Benin, but also in other parts of Benin, and neighbouring countries. The Dendi people are the main group in the Departments of Alibori, Borgou, Donga, and Atakora.

In Nigeria, the Dendi people are found in Bordering States (Kebbi, Kwara, Niger, and Sokoto), and in other parts of Nigeria. They are usually referred by the Hausa name Dendawa (which is also used for the Songhai people).

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-
velar 		Glottal
plain lab.
Nasal m n ɲ (ŋ) ŋʷ (ŋ͡m)
Plosive voiceless (p) t c k k͡p
voiced b d ɟ ɡ ɡ͡b
Fricative voiceless f s h
voiced z
Rhotic r
Lateral l
Approximant j w
  • /r/ may also be heard as a tap [ɾ].
  • /p/ is only a marginal phoneme.
  • /k, ɡ/ may be heard as palatal [c, ɟ] when before front vowels.
  • /m/ may also be heard with [ŋ͡m] in complementary distribution.[4]

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Close-mid e eː o oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː ɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Writing system

Dendi alphabet [5]
Uppercase A B C D E Ɛ F G Gb H I J K Kp L M N NY Ŋ Ŋw/Ŋm O Ɔ P R S T W Y Z
Minuscules a b c d e ɛ f g gb h i j k kp l m n ny ŋ ŋw/ŋm o ɔ p r s t w y z

The grave accent, the acute accent and the macron are used on vowels to indicate tones.[6]

References

  1. ^ Dendi at Ethnologue (26th ed., 2023) Closed access icon
  2. ^ This map is based on classification from Glottolog and data from Ethnologue.
  3. ^ Joe Salmons, Accentual change and language contact: Comparative survey and a case study of early Northern Europe
  4. ^ Zima, Petr (1994). Lexique Dendi (Songhay) (Djougou, Bénin) avec un index Français-Dendi. Köln: Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
  5. ^ CENALA 1990.
  6. ^ CENALA 2008.

Bibliography

  • Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) (1990), Alphabet des langues nationales (2 ed.), Cotonou: CENALA
  • Centre national de linguistique appliquée (CENALA) (2008), Alphabet des langues nationales béninoises (in French) (6 ed.), Cotonou: CENALA avec le concours de l’Initiative francophone pour la formation à distance des maîtres (IFADEM)
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dendi_language
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