ABSTRACT
The MANDE languages are spoken over a vast area extending from the Atlantic coast to the Black Volta. In the north they are bounded by the Sahara; in the north-east and east by the GUR languages; in the south-west and south by West Atlantic languages, the coast, and the KRU-dialects; in the south-east by the KWA languages. In the northern and eastern part of the MANDE language area, from Senegal in the north to the Ivory Coast in the south, and from the west coast to Haute-Volta. MALINKE, BAMBARA, and DYULA, with other dialects, are so closely interrelated that they must be considered, on a linguistic basis, as dialects of one Cluster, in spite of the vast area over which they are spoken and the great number of people speaking them, in spite, also, of the various dialectal sub-divisions made by different authors.
