Dan language

"Yacouba" redirects here. For the ethnic group, see Dan people. For the name, see Yacouba (name).
Dan
Yacouba
Native toIvory Coast, Guinea, and Liberia
EthnicityDan people
Native speakers
1.6 million (2012)[1]
Niger–Congo?
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
dnj – Dan
lda – Kla
Glottologdann1241
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A Dan speaker, recorded in Liberia.

Dan /ˈdæn/[2] is a Southern Mande language spoken primarily in Ivory Coast (~800,000 speakers) and Liberia (150,000–200,000 speakers). There is also a population of about 800 speakers in Guinea. Dan is a tonal language, with 9 to 11 contour and register tones, depending on the dialect.

Alternative names for the language include Yacouba or Yakubasa, Gio, Gyo, Gio-Dan, and Da. Dialects are Gio (Liberian Dan), Gweetaawu (Eastern Dan), Blowo (Western Dan), and Kla. Kla is evidently a distinct language.

  1. ^ Dan at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Kla at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student’s Handbook, Edinburgh[relevant?]