| Koyraboro Senni | |
|---|---|
| كࣷيْرَبࣷرࣷ سٜنِّ | |
| Native to | Mali |
| Region | East of Timbuktu, Gao |
| Ethnicity | (850,000 (2007?)[1]) |
Native speakers | 430,000 (2007)[2] 300,000 monolingual (2007)[2] |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | ses |
| Glottolog | koyr1242 |
 | |
Koyraboro Senni (Koroboro Senni, Koyra Senni or Gao Senni) is a member of the Songhay languages of Mali and is spoken by some 400,000 people along the Niger River from the town of Gourma-Rharous, east of Timbuktu, through Bourem, Gao and Ansongo to the Mali–Niger border.
The expression "koyra-boro senn-i" denotes "the language of the town dwellers", as opposed to nomads like the Tuareg people and other transhumant people.
Although Koyraboro Senni is associated with settled towns, it is a cosmopolitan language which has spread east and west of Gao, to the Fula people living at the Mali–Niger border and to the Bozo people of the Niger River. East of Timbuktu, Koyra Senni gives way relatively abruptly to the closely related Koyra Chiini.
- ^ Koyraboro Senni at Ethnologue (16th ed., 2009)
- ^ a b Koyraboro Senni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ This map is based on classification from Glottolog and data from Ethnologue.
