Also Known As:
Bullom So, Northern Bullom, Bolom, Bulem, Bullun, Bullin, Mmani, Mandingi, Mandenyi
Dialects & Varieties
- Mmani
- Kafu
A Grammar of Mani
G. Tucker Childs. 2011. "A Grammar of Mani." Mouton de Gruyter.
Severely Endangered
60 percent certain, based on the evidence available
<200
Native Speakers Worldwide
Speaker Number Trends
Speaker Number Trend 5
A small percentage of the community speaks the language, and speaker numbers are decreasing very rapidly.
5
Domains of Use
Domain Of Use 4
Used mainly only in the home and/or with family, and may not be the primary language even in these domains for many community members.
4
Speakers
Native or fluent speakers:
No results found.
Second-language speakers and learners
No results found.
Semi-speakers or rememberers
No results found.
Children:
No results found.
Young adults
No results found.
Older adults
No results found.
Elders
No results found.
Ethnic or community population
No results found.
Year information was gathered
No results found.
Comments on speakers
"Revitalization at the institutional level in Guinea seems unlikely... On the Sierra Leone side there exists a concerted effort to preserve the indigenous languages through what is called the 'National Linguistic Program', a project devoted to developing indigenous languages... In Kigbali (Guinea), the Mani have been denied representation in the local cultural society because of their minority status... Nonetheless, the Mani of Kigbali were flattered by the attention being paid to them and their language... there is some deep-seated and even fierce attachment to the language."
Location and Context
Countries
Samu Region
Location Description
"...straddling the border on the coastal plain of Sierra Leone and Guinea. No villages in Guinea can be found in which Mani is the dominant language, although distinct sections and sometimes entire towns are ethnically Mani. In Sierra Leone, however, Mani remains a sometimes daily language in a small collection of geographically close villages around Moribaya in Kambia District."
Government Support
Virtually no [Guinea] government support exists.
Institutional Support
National Linguistic Program in Sierra Leone
Speakers' Attitude
Positive
Other Languages Used By The Community
Temne, Soso, French
Number of Other Language Speakers:
None
Domains of Other Languages:
French is the language of schools, government and former colonial power.
Writing Systems
Standard orthography:
No results found.
Writing system:
No results found.
Other writing systems used:
No results text.
Comments on writing systems:
No results found.
Recent Resources
Map of towns surveyed for the Mani Documentation Project, undertaken by Dr. Tucker Childs.