Manden people live mainly
in West
Africa, however other people of Manden origin can be found as far as India, and Bangladesh.
They are also known as Bamanan, Dioula, Maninka-Mory, Maninka, Mandingo, Garo etc. The language they speak is known as Mandenkan,
the suffix, -kan in Mandenkan means language of, and the
suffix -ka, would means the people of. It is a combination of multiple languages,
dialects, and accents.
Mandens comprise many
sub-groups who speak the various branches of the language. Some of the branches like
Bamanan, Dioula, and Maninka, are different only by the dialect or by simple accents.
Mandenkan spoken styles range from the Vai in Liberia, Kono in Sierra Leone, the Kissi of the
Republic of Guinea, to the Dioula in Cote d’Ivoire. The Vai, the Kono, and the Kissi
dialects sound phonetically different from the basic Mandenkan therefore may required
some translation for other Manden speakers. They are nevertheless of the same Manden
origin. The Dioula dialect (Dioula means trader or businessperson), on the
other hand, is a newer dialect and is easily understood by other Manden speakers.
When Mandens from different
sub-groups talk to each other, it is common practice for them to switch, consciously or
sub-consciously, from one's own dialect to a conventional dialect known as N'Ko or Kangbe (the clear language). This is even true,
sometimes, during conversations between the Bamanans of Mali, the Maninka-Moris
of Guinea, and the Maninkos of Gambia or Senegal although pronunciations are
practically the same. As an example, the word “Name” in Bamanan is
“Toko” and in Maninka it is “Toh”. In
written communications each
will write it as Tô (^Qt) in N’Ko, and yet read and
pronounce it differently.