Frafra language
Frafra or Farefare, also known as Gurenɛ, is the language of the Frafra people of northern Ghana, particularly the Upper East Region, and southern Burkina Faso. It is a national language of Ghana, and is closely related to Dagbani and other languages of Northern Ghana, and also related to Mossi, also known as Mooré, the national language of Burkina Faso.
Frafra consists of three principal dialects, Gurenɛ, Nankani, and Booni. Nabit and Talni have been mistakenly reported to be Frafra dialects.
Orthography
The Frafra language uses the letters of the Latin alphabet with the exception of c, j, q, x, and with the additions of ɛ, ɔ, ŋ, and ɣ.| Sound | Representation | Example | Meaning |
| /a/ | a | ya /ja/ | houses |
| /a:/ | aa | gaarɛ /ga:ɹɛ/ | a type of bean cake |
| /ɛ/ | ɛ | ɛkɛ /ɛkɛ/ | to fly |
| /e/ | e | zoore /zo:ɹe:/ | mountain/hill |
| /ẽ/ | ẽ | tẽŋa | city |
| /ɪ/ | ɩ | taablɩ /ta:blɪ/ | table |
| /i/ | i | piika /pi:ka/ | little |
| /ɔ/ | ɔ | ɔɔrɔ /ɔ:ɹɔ/ | cold |
| /o/ | o | toma toma /to:.ma.to:.ma/ | a greeting similar to "hi" |
| /ʊ/ | ʋ | teebʋl /te:bʊl/ | table |
| /u/ | uu | buulika /bu:lika/ | morning |
Grammar
Words in Gurunɛ have different "classes" for verb endings:| Class | Singular | Plural | Example | Meaning |
| 1 | -a | -ba | nẽra > nẽrba | Person > People |
| 2 | -ka | -gsɩ | bɛka > bɛgsɩ | part/fraction |
| 4 | -ko | -gro | boko > bogro | hole |
| Used mainly for loanwords from Twi, English, and other languages | - | -dõma | ãnkɔra > ãnkɔrdõma | water barrel |
| Used mainly for loanwords from Twi, English, and other languages | - | -dõma | foto > fotodõma | photo |
| Used mainly for loanwords from Twi, English, and other languages | - | -dõma | taablɩ > taablɩdõma | table |
| n/a | -grɛ | -ga | dɩgrɛ > dɩga | dwarf |
| n/a | -ɩa | -ɩɩsɩ | bɩa > bɩɩsɩ | child > children |
| n/a | -kɔ | -grɔ | dʋkɔ > dʋgrɔ | pot |
| n/a | -õa | -õosɩ | kõa > kõosɩ | voice |
| n/a | -õa | -õosɩ | pɔgdɔgnõa > pɔgdɔgnõosɩ | Cuckoo bird |
| n/a | -lɛ | -la | ɩɩlɛ > ɩɩla | horn |
| n/a | -lɛ | -la | ʋʋlɛ > ʋʋlɛ | Uulea mushroom |
| n/a | -nɛ | -ma | gɩgnɛ > gɩgma | lion |
| n/a | -nɛ | -ma | bẽmnɛ > bẽma | Bemnea calabash drum |
| n/a | -na | -nɩba | sɔ'ɔna > sɔ'ɔnɩba | owner |
Greetings
Geography
Solemitiŋa means "land of the white man" and is used to refer to all non-African countries.Solemine is theoretically referring to all non-African languages however it is only used to refer to English.