Mooré

Mooré is a Gur language of the Oti–Volta branch and one of the three official languages of Burkina Faso. It is the language of the Mossi people, spoken by approximately 6.46 million people in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Ivory Coast, 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 to Dagbani.

Mooré
More, Mossi
Mòoré
Native to	Burkina Faso, Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Togo, Niger, Senegal
Ethnicity	Mossi
Native speakers	12 million (2012–2022)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Volta-Congo Savannas Gur Northern Gur Oti–Volta Western Oti-Volta Northwestern Mooré
Writing system	Latin (Mooré alphabet) Minim Dag Noore
Official status
Official language in	Burkina Faso
Language codes
ISO 639-2	mos
ISO 639-3	mos
Glottolog	moss1236
Majority areas of Mooré speakers (see also on a map of Burkina Faso)

Person	Moaaga
People	Mosse
Language	Mòoré
Country	Moogho

A Mooré speaker speaking Mooré and Dioula, recorded in Taiwan.
Video 1 min:23 sec, 2018.

The Lord's Prayer in Mooré translation (Church of the Pater Noster)

Blackboard with text in Mooré, including use of the letter Ʋ (v with hook)

Phonology

The Mooré language consists of the following sounds:

Vowels

		Front	Central	Back
Close	close	i		u
	near-close	ɪ		ʊ
Close-mid		e		o
Open			a

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).

Consonants

Mooré consonant phonemes

		Labial	Alveolar	Postalveolar / palatal	Velar	Glottal
Nasal		m	n	ɲ
Stop	voiceless	p	t		k	ʔ
	voiced	b	d		ɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s			h
	voiced	v	z
Liquid			r
Approximant			l	j	w

Notes

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

Orthography

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.

Burkinabé Mooré alphabet
A	ʼ	B	D	E	Ɛ	F	G	H	İ	Ɩ	K	L	M	N	O	P	R	S	T	U	Ʋ	V	W	Y	Z
a	ʼ	b	d	e	ɛ	f	g	h	i	ɩ	k	l	m	n	o	p	r	s	t	u	ʋ	v	w	y	z
Phonetic values
a	ʔ	b	d	e	ɛ	f	ɡ	h	i	ɪ	k	l	m	n	o	p	r	s	t	u	ʊ	v	w	j	z

References

Works cited

• Kabore, Raphael (1985). Essai d'analyse de la langue mooré (parler de Wàogdgò: Ouagadougou) (Thesis) (in French). University of Paris 7.

External links

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

Learning materials

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