Mandinka language

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Mandinka
Mandingo مَانْدِنْجَوْ ߡߊ߲߬ߘߌ߲߬ߞߊ
Mandi'nka kango
Pronunciation	[man.di.ŋka kaŋ.go]
Native to	Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, and Guinea
Region	Casamance
Ethnicity	Mandinka
Native speakers	2.1 million (2017–2022)[1]
Language family	Niger–Congo? Mande Western Mande Manding West Manding Mandinka
Writing system	Arabic, Latin, N'Ko, Garay
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Senegal
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mnk
Glottolog	mand1436
Linguasphere	00-AAA-aa
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The Mandinka language (Mandi'nka kango; Ajami: مَانْدِينْكَا كَانْجَوْ), or Mandingo, is a Mande language spoken by the Mandinka people of Guinea, northern Guinea-Bissau, the Casamance region of Senegal, and in The Gambia where it is one of the principal languages.

Mandinka belongs to the Manding branch of Mande and is similar to Bambara and Maninka/Malinké but with only 5 instead of 7 vowels. The variety spoken in The Gambia and Senegal borders on a pitch accent due to its proximity with non-tonal neighboring languages like Wolof.