title: Northern Birifor language
text: # Northern Birifor language
  
  Northern Birifor or Malba Birifor is a Gur language of the Niger–Congo family. It is spoken by a few hundred thousand people, mainly in the southwest of Burkina Faso, particularly in the provinces of Bougouriba, Ioba, Noumbiel and Poni and in western Ivory Coast.
  
  ## Phonology
  
  ### Vowels
  
  | | Front | Central | Back |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Close | i iː ĩ ĩː | | u uː ũ ũː |
  | Near-close | ɪ ɪː ɪ̃ ɪ̃ː | | ʊ ʊː ʊ̃ ʊ̃ː |
  | Close-mid | e eː ẽ ẽː | | o oː õ õː |
  | Open-mid | ɛ ɛː ɛ̃ ɛ̃ː | | ɔ ɔː ɔ̃ ɔ̃ː |
  | Open | | a aː ã ãː | |
  
  ### Consonants
  
  | | | Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labio- velar | Glottal |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Plosive/ Affricate | voiceless | p | t | c | k | k͡p | |
  | Plosive/ Affricate | voiced | b | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |
  | Implosive | voiced | ɓ | | | | | |
  | Fricative | voiceless | f | s | | | | h |
  | Fricative | voiced | v | | | | | |
  | Nasal | plain | m | n | ɲ | | ŋ͡m | |
  | Approximant | plain | | l | j | | w | |
  | Approximant | glottal | | ˀl | ˀj | | | |
  | Trill | Trill | | r | | | | |
  
  ## Orthography
  
  It is written in this alphabet:
  
  Majuscules :
  
  | A | Ã | B | Ɓ | C | D | E | Ẽ | Ɛ | Ɛ̃ | F | G | Gb | H | I | Ĩ | Ɩ | Ɩ̃ | J | K | Kp | L | ʹL | M | N | Ny | Ŋm | O | Õ | Ɔ | Ɔ̃ | P | R | S | T | U | Ũ | Ʋ | Ʋ̃ | V | W | Y | Ƴ |
  | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
  | Minuscules ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  | a | ã | b | ɓ | c | d | e | ẽ | ɛ | ɛ̃ | f | g | gb | h | i | ĩ | ɩ | ɩ̃ | j | k | kp | l | ʹl | m | n | ny | ŋm | o | õ | ɔ | ɔ̃ | p | r | s | t | u | ũ | ʋ | ʋ̃ | v | w | y | ƴ |
  | Phonetic value ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  | a | ã | b | ɓ | c | d | e | ẽ | ɛ | ɛ̃ | f | ɡ | ɡ͡b | h | i | ĩ | ɪ | ɪ̃ | ɟ | k | k͡p | l | ˀl | m | n | ɲ | ŋ͡m | o | õ | ɔ | ɔ̃ | p | r | s | t | u | ũ | ʊ | ʊ̃ | v | w | j | ˀj |
  
  Long vowels are written double but without doubling the nasal tilde, e.g. ⟨ẽe⟩ for /ẽː/
  
  