Manjak language

Manjak
Manjáku
Native to	Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and the Gambia
Ethnicity	Manjack
Native speakers	320,000 (2021–2022)
Language family	Niger–Congo? Atlantic–Congo Senegambian Bak Manjaku–Papel Manjak
Dialects	Bok Ulekes Ucur Ulund Uyu Unuab Uteer Uyool Uyanga Undin Ubuey Uguejan Utimats Uroongaan
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mfv
Glottolog	mand1419

Manjak or Manjack (French: Manjak, Manjaque; Portuguese: Manjaco) or Njak is a Bak language of Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. The language is also known as Kanyop.

In 2006, the total number of speakers was estimated at 315,300, including 184,000 in Guinea-Bissau, 105,000 in Senegal and 26,300 in The Gambia.

Dialects

The Manjak dialects below are distinct enough that some might be considered separate languages.

• Bok (Babok, Sarar, Teixeira Pinto, Tsaam)
• Likes-Utsia (Baraa, Kalkus)
• Cur (Churo)
• Lund
• Yu (Pecixe, Siis, Pulhilh)
• Unhate (Binhante, Bissau)

The Manjak dialects listed by Wilson (2007) are

• Canchungo (kancuŋuʔ) – central dialect
• Baboque (babɔk) (formerly Teixeira Pinto) – eastern dialect
• Churo (cuur) – northern dialect
• Pecixe (locally called pəhlihl; otherwise pəsiis), on an island to the south
• Calequisse (kaləkiis), to the west of Canchungo

Phonology

Consonants

		Labial	Alveolar	Post- alveolar	(Alveolo-) palatal	Velar
Nasal		m	n		ɲ	ŋ
Plosive/ Affricate	voiceless	p	t	t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔	t͡ɕ	k
	voiced	b	d		d͡ʑ	ɡ
	prenasal vl.	ᵐp	ⁿt	ⁿt̠͡ɹ̠̊˔	ᶮt͡ɕ	ᵑk
	prenasal vd.	ᵐb	ⁿd		ᶮd͡ʑ	ᵑɡ
Fricative	voiceless	f	s		(ɕ)
	voiced				(ʑ)
Lateral			l
Approximant		w			j

• Sounds [ɕ, ʑ] are heard in free-fluctuation with affricates /t͡ɕ, d͡ʑ/ in all positions except following nasals.
• Sounds /b, d, ɡ/ may also be lenited as [β, ɾ, ɣ] when in intervocalic or word-final positions. /d/ can also be heard as a trill [r] in free variation with [ɾ] when in word-final positions.

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Close-mid	ɪ ~ e	ə	ʊ ~ o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɐ	ɔ
Open		a

Only vowels /u/ and /a/ may also have lengthened equivalents; /uː/ and /aː/.

• Sounds /ɪ, ʊ/ may also range to more mid sounds [e, o] in free variation.
• /ɐ/ may have a central allophone as [ʌ̈].

Diphthongs

	Front	Back
Close-mid	iə	uə
Open-mid	iɐ	uɐ

• Sounds /iə, uə/ may have some fluctuation with lengthened sounds [eː, oː].

Writing system

The official spelling system for Manjak established by the Senegalese government is regulated by Decree No. 2005-983 of 21 October 2005.

Manjak alphabet (Senegal)

A

B

C

D

E

Ë

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

Ñ

Ŋ

O

P

R

S

Ŝ

T

[illegible]

U

W

Y

Z

a

b

c

d

e

ë

f

g

h

i

j

k

l

m

n

ñ

ŋ

o

p

r

s

ŝ

t

[illegible]

u

w

y

z

Further reading

• Karlik, Jan (1972). A Manjako Grammar with Special Reference to the Nominal Group (PhD thesis). University of London.

External links

• Decree no. 2005-983 of 21 October 2005 relating to the spelling and the separation of words in Manjakú Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine via the website of the Journal officiel.