Paasaal (Pasaale Sisaala)

Paasaal is member of the Southern Gur branch of Niger-Congo language family. It is spoken by about 53,000 people mainly in northern Ghana, particularly between the towns of Wa and Tumu in the Upper West Region. There are also a few thousand speakers of Paasaal in Ivory Coast / Côte d'Ivoire.

Paasaal is also known as Pasaale Sisaala or Southern Sisaala. There are two dialects: Gilbagala and Pasaali. It is closely related to Western Sisaala and Tumulung Sisaala, which are also spoken in northern Ghana, and Sisaali, which is spoken in Burkina Faso. These four languages are classified as dialects of Sisaala in some sources, however there is limited mutual intelligibility between them.

A way to write Paasaal with the Latin alphabet was developed by the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) for a Paasaal translation of the Bible.

Paasaal alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Paasaal (Excel)
Details of the Paasaal alphabet provided by Wolfram Siegel

Notes

Long vowels and long consonants are doubled
There are two tones in Paasaal: the high tone can be marked with an acute accent (á) and the low tone can be marked with a grave accent (à). Tone indication is optional.

Sample text (The Lord's Prayer - Luke 11: 2-4)

Ɛɛ rɛ Yesu basɩ tɩya ba a baa, “Dɩ ma ko kɩ kyɛ dɩ ma kyʋwalɩ Wɩɩsɩ buloŋ, ma baa, “Á Kuwo Wɩɩsɩ, leŋ dɩ ɩ feŋ gyɩŋ, leŋ dɩ ɩ koro hʋ ko.
Tɩya ma á nyʋwa kɩdiilii kyɛɛ buloŋ.
Kpa á wɩbɔmɔ kɩ kyɛ ma anɩɩ á mɛ aa kpaa á dɔŋtɩŋsɩ wɩbɔmɔ kɩ kyɛ ba gɛɛ, aŋ lɩɩ ma wɩɩ buloŋ aa sɩ kaŋ ma we wɩbɔŋ yayɩ tɩyaŋ.”

Source: Bible.com

Translation

And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.

Source: Bible.com

Sample video in Paasaal

Links

Information about Paasaal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paasaal_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paasaal
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Паасаал
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sig/
http://www.language-archives.org/language/sig
https://glottolog.org/resource/languoid/id/paas1238
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/sig

Gur languages

Berba, Birifor (Northern), Birifor (Southern), Dagaare, Dagbani, Frafra, Gourmanchéma, Kabiye, Kasem, Konkomba, Kusaal, Láá Láá Bwamu, Mampruli, Moba, Mossi, Paasaal, Safaliba, Sisaali, Tammari, Tem, Tumulung Sisaala, Turka, Waama, Western Sisaala

Languages written with the Latin alphabet

Page created: 05.09.23. Last modified: 08.09.23

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