Bagirmi is a Central Sudanic language that is possibly part of the Nilo-Saharan language family. It is spoken by about 45,000 people mainly in the Chari-Baguirmi Region in the southwest of Chad, and also in the Mokofi sub-prefecture of the neighbouring Guéra Region, and in nearby parts of Nigeria. It was the language of the Sultanate of Bagirmi (1522-1871) and then the Sulanate of Wadai (1501-1912) before Africa was colonised by Europeans.
Bagirmi is also known as Bagurimi or Barma, and the people who speak it call it tàrà ɓármà. A way to write Bagirmi with the Latin alphabet was devised in the 1990s by Don and Orpha Raun, missionaries of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America. The published texts to help people to learn to read, and translations of religious works. Other orthographies have also been developed.
Download an alphabet chart for Bagirmi (Excel)
Bin̰a na ɓo taɗin̰a. Bin̰a na et kəsa mu. Bin̰a na et kəsa mu an sənda na. Bin̰a na et kəsa kam an wa na. Ŋan ge et tur bin̰a na. Bin̰a na et kəsa wa ga naj ngal raga naki. Nee ga na et tur bin̰a na se ger jije ki. Bin̰a na et kəsa pətəl ge. Ngaɓ ge na makje suŋo jejo bin̰a naki, ɗa jukon̰ jolin̰ midi. Ɗaŋ jiniɗ jijo jisan̰ koro ku.
Source: Bin̰a (The Goat), by Comité pour le développement de la langue barma. 2015
The goat is hungry. The goat eats the grass. The goat eats the horse's grass. The goat eats the cow's grass. The goat eats the leaves of the red millet. The children chase the goat. The goat eats the red millet. The women chase the goat. The goat eats the clothes. The people are not happy. The people eat the goat.
Translation provided by Michael Peter F¨stumum
Information about Bagirmi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagirmi_language
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Багирми_(язык)
http://www.language-archives.org/language/bmi
https://www.sil.org/resources/search/language/bmi
https://archive.org/details/rosettaproject_bmi_morsyn-1
Dictionnaire Bagirmi (Bagirmi-French dictionary)
https://morkegbooks.com/Services/World/Languages/SaraBagirmi/SoundDictionary/Bagirmi/#title
Aringa, Avokaya, Bagirmi, Baka, Beli, Bongo, Jur Modo, Keliko, Lugbara, Ma'di, Morokodo, Moru, Naba, Olu'bo, Wa'di
Languages written with the Latin alphabet
Page created: 29.01.25. Last modified: 30.01.25
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