Frafra (ninkãrɛ / gʋrnɛ / fãrfãre)

Frafra is member of the Gur branch of Niger-Congo languages. It is spoken by about 663,100 people in northern Ghana and southern Burkina Faso. In Ghana Frafra is spoken by about 638,000 people in the Frafra area of the Bolgatanga municipal district of the Upper East region.

There are also about 25,100 speakers of Frafra in Boulgou province of the Centre-Est region, and in Narhouri and Zoundweogo provinces of the Centre-Sud region.

Frafra is also known as Farefare, Gurene, Gurenne or Gurune. In Burkina Faso the native and official name for the language is ninkãrɛ. In Ghana the popular name for the language fãrfãre, while the name used on the radio and by some older people is gʋrnɛ.

Dialects include Gurenne, Nankani, Booni, Talni and Nabt. It is a de facto provincial language in the Upper East Region of Ghana, and is used in literature and on the radio. It is written with the Latin alphabet.

Frafra alphabet and pronunciation

Download an alphabet chart for Frafra (Excel)

Notes

[ɣ] is an allophone of [g]. It is usually written g, although ɣ is sometimes used.
[ɲ] is an allophone of [j] and occurs before a nasal vowel
Nasal vowels are written en and on in Ghana, and ẽ and õ in Burkina Faso
Accents are sometimes used to indicate tones, although rarely outside grammar books

Sample text (The Lord's Prayer - Matthew 6:9-13)

To Sɔ' n boe saazuo ha, ho yu'urɛ nara pɛnka,ho sɔ'ɔlom wa'ana, ho sunboolom tom teŋa wa zuo wo lan ane se'em saazuo ha la. Bo' to to zina dabaherɛ dia.Bahɛ to be'em bo to wo tomam n dite suguru bɔ'ɔra to taaba se'em la. Da tare tɔ keŋɛ pan'ahe be'ero poan ge to'e to be'emdaana nu'uhen bahɛ.

Text provided by Michael Peter Füstumum

Translation

[...] Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen

Source: https://www.bible.com/bible/1/MAT.6.kjv

Sample videos in Frafra

Information about Frafra | Numbers

Links

Information about Frafra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frafra_language
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurenne
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/gur
http://sil-burkina.org/fr/content/de-la-phonologie-%C3%A0-lorthographe-le-ninkare-du-burkina-faso
https://yen.com.gh/133462-frafra-basic-phrases-interesting-facts.html
https://www.webonary.work/gurene/overview/introduction/

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: 24.08.22. Last modified: 05.06.23

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