ABSTRACT
THE GUR languages are spoken in French Sudan, Haute-Volta, the northern part of the Ivory Coast, the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast, northern Togoland, and Dahomey, and into Nigeria in the east. In the north they are bounded by SONGHAI, TUAREG, and FULANI, in the west by the MANDE languages, in the south and south-east by the KWA languages, in the east and north by NUPE, BUSA, KAMBARI, HAUSA, and DYERMA. The name SENUFO, originally a name given by the AKAN-speaking peoples, is used by Europeans, and by other African tribes, to denote both the dialects belonging to this Cluster, and the people speaking them. SYENA, SYENE, &c., are probably variants of the same name. Parts of the Bible have been translated, and there is a considerable amount of vernacular literature, mainly religious. Tone is important, but not to the same degree as in, for example, the KWA languages. Tonal doublets are rare.
