Bassa language

Bassa is a Kru language spoken by the Bassa people in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. With about 600,000 speakers, the language uses the Bassa Vah alphabet, also known as Vah, which has a unique Unicode block.

Bassa People and Language Distribution

The Bassa people are native to the Bassa Lands, which encompass areas in Liberia and Sierra Leone, with some presence in the Ivory Coast. The language is primarily spoken in these regions, with the number of speakers estimated to be around 600,000.

Bassa Vah Alphabet

The Bassa language utilizes the Bassa Vah script, which was invented by the Bassa Vah Association. This script is used to represent the sounds and tones of the Bassa language and consists of unique characters that may require special rendering support to display correctly.

Bassa Language in Context

The Bassa language is one of the many languages spoken in West Africa and belongs to the Kru language family. It is distinct from other languages in the region, such as the Bantu language Basaa (also spelled Bassa or Basa) spoken in Cameroon, and the various Basa languages spoken in Nigeria.

Related Languages and Dialects

While the Bassa language is the primary language of the Bassa people, there are also related dialects and languages within the broader Bassa cultural group. These include:

• Bassa Nge (Bassa Nupe): Spoken by the Bassa Nge people, this dialect is found in Nigeria and is one of the Basa languages.
• Basa-Kontagora and Basa-Gumna: These are distinct languages within the Basa group spoken in Nigeria. Speakers of these languages may not be aware of each other due to geographic distance.
• Kɔrɔmba (Basa-Gurmana), Basa-Gurara, Basa-Kwali, Basa-Makurdi: These are other Basa languages spoken in Nigeria, each with its own unique characteristics.

Further Reading and References

• "Final proposal for encoding the Bassa Vah script in the SMP of the UCS," by Michael Everson and Charles Riley (2010)
• "Bassa alphabet," in The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, edited by Florian Coulmas (1999)
• "History of the Bassa Script," by the Bassa Vah Association
• "Invention of Scripts in West Africa for Ethnic Revitalization," by Peter Unseth (2011)