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{{Short description|Group of languages of West Africa}}
{{cleanup lang|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox language family
|name =Songhay
|altname =Songhai, Ayneha
|ethnicity= [[Songhai people|Songhai]]
|region =[[Niger River]] valley<br />([[Mali]], [[Niger]], [[Algeria]], [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Nigeria]]); scattered oases (Niger, Mali, [[Algeria]])
|familycolor =Nilo-Saharan
|child1 =[[Northern Songhay languages|Northern]]
|child2 =[[Southern Songhay languages|Southern]]
|protoname= [[Wiktionary:Appendix:Proto-Songhay reconstructions|Proto-Songhay]]
|iso2 = son
|iso5 = son
|glotto = song1307
|glottorefname =Songhay
|map =Songhay languages.svg
|mapcaption =Location of Songhay languages<ref>This map is based on classification from Glottolog and data from Ethnologue.</ref><br />
'''Northwest Songhay:'''
{{legend|#002b00|[[Korandje language|Korandje]]}}
{{legend|#008000|[[Koyra Chiini language|Koyra Chiini]]}}
{{legend|#00ff00|[[Tadaksahak]]}}
{{legend|#55ff55|[[Tasawaq language|Tasawaq]]}}
{{legend|#aaffaa|[[Gadal language|Tagdal]]}}
'''Eastern Songhay:'''
{{legend|#2b0000|[[Tondi Songway Kiini]]}}
{{legend|#800000|[[Humburi Senni language|Humburi Senni]]}}
{{legend|#d40000|[[Koyraboro Senni]]}}
{{legend|#ff5555|[[Zarma language|Zarma]]}}
{{legend| #ffff00|[[Songhoyboro Ciine]]}}
{{legend|#ffaaaa|[[Dendi language|Dendi]]}}
}}

The '''Songhay''', '''Songhai''' or '''Ayneha'''<ref>{{Citation |last= |first= |year= 1999|title=Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts: LLBA., Volume 33, Issue 3|publisher= |publication-place= |page= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UAgQAQAAMAAJ&q=Ayneha+zarma |access-date=2021-05-14}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last= |first= |year=2002 |title=Etudes de lettres|publisher=Faculté des lettres de l'Université de Lausanne|publication-place= |page= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KdorAQAAIAAJ&q=Ayneha+zarma |access-date=2021-05-14}}</ref> languages ({{IPA|son|sõʁaj|}}, {{IPA|son|soŋaj|}} or {{IPA|son|soŋoj|}}) are a group of closely related [[language]]s/[[dialect]]s centred on the middle stretches of the [[Niger River]] in the [[West Africa]]n countries of [[Mali]], [[Niger]], [[Benin]], [[Burkina Faso]] and [[Nigeria]]. In particular, they are spoken in the cities of [[Timbuktu]], [[Djenné]], [[Niamey]], [[Gao]], [[Tillaberi]], [[Dosso, Niger|Dosso]], [[Parakou]], [[Kandi, Benin|Kandi]], [[Natitingou]], [[Djougou]], [[Malanville]], [[Gorom-Gorom]], [[In-Gall]] and [[Tabelbala]]. They have been widely used as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' in that region ever since the era of the [[Songhai Empire]]. In [[Mali]], the government has officially adopted the dialect of Gao (east of [[Timbuktu]]) as the dialect to be used as a medium of primary education.<ref>Heath 2005</ref>

Some Songhay languages have little to no [[mutual intelligibility]] between each other. For example, [[Koyraboro Senni]], spoken in [[Gao]], is unintelligible to speakers of [[Zarma language|Zarma]] in [[Niger]], according to ''[[Ethnologue]]''. However, [[Songhoyboro Ciine]],<ref>{{Citation |year=1997|title=Southern Songhay Speech Varieties In Niger:A Sociolinguistic Survey of the Zarma, Songhay, Kurtey, Wogo, and Dendi Peoples of Niger|publisher=Byron & Annette Harrison and Michael J. Rueck Summer Institute of Linguistics B.P. 10151, Niamey, Niger Republic|url = https://media.corban.edu/hydra/media/files/2019/09/10/southern-songhay-silesr1999_004-1.pdf|access-date=2021-02-23}}</ref> Zarma, and Dendi have high mutual intelligibility within Niger.<ref>[http://www.ethnologue.org/show_country.asp?name=NE Ethnologue report for Niger]</ref>

For [[linguist]]s, a major point of interest in the Songhay languages has been the difficulty of determining their [[Genetic relationship (linguistics)|genetic affiliation]]; they are commonly taken to be [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]], as defined by [[Joseph Greenberg]] in 1963, but this classification remains controversial. Linguist [[Gerrit Dimmendaal]] (2008) believes that for now it is best considered an independent language family.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dimmendaal|first=Gerrit|date=18 September 2008|title=Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent|journal= Language and Linguistics Compass|volume=2|issue=5|pages=840–858|doi=10.1111/j.1749-818X.2008.00085.x}}</ref> [[Roger Blench]] argues that the Songhay and [[Saharan languages]] form a Songhay-Saharan branch with each other within the wider Nilo-Saharan linguistic phylum.<ref name="BlenchSouag">Blench, Roger & Lameen Souag. m.s. ''[https://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/General/Saharan%20Songhay%20branch.pdf Saharan and Songhay form a branch of Nilo-Saharan]''.</ref>

Historically, the name ''Songhay'' was neither an ethnic nor a linguistic designation for all, but a name for the ruling caste of the Songhai Empire which are the [[Songhai proper]]. The term used by the natives to address the languages and people collectively is '''Ayneha'''. Aside from the Songhai proper, some speakers in Mali have also adopted the name Songhay as an ethnic designation,<ref>Heath 1999:2</ref> while other Songhay-speaking groups identify themselves with other ethnic terms, such as [[Zarma people|Zarma]] (Djerma) or [[Tasawaq language|Isawaghen]] (Sawaq).

A few precolonial poems and letters composed in Songhay and written in the [[Arabic script]] exist in Timbuktu.<ref>Hunwick and Boye 2008: ____</ref> However, Songhay is currently written in the [[Latin script]].

==Varieties==
{{Pie chart
|label1=[[Zarma language|Zarma]]
|value1=58.4
|color1=#ff5555
|label2=[[Songhoyboro Ciine]]
|value2=18.9
|color2=#ffff00
|label3=[[Koyraboro Senni]]
|value3=9.3
|color3=#d40000
|label4=[[Dendi language|Dendi]]
|value4=5.5
|color4=#ffaaaa
|label5=[[Koyra Chiini language|Koyra Chiini]]
|value5=4.3
|color5=#008000
|label6=[[Tadaksahak]]
|value6=2.2
|color6=#00ff00
|label7=Others|value7=1.4|color7=Brown|caption=Percentage of Songhay speakers by population}}

Researchers classify the Songhay languages into two main branches; Southern and Northern.<ref>A map of the varieties is provided by Ethnologue at its Web site. See the list of External Links.</ref> Southern Songhay is centered on the Niger River. [[Zarma language|Zarma]] ([[Zarma language|Djerma]]), the most widely spoken Songhay language with two or three million speakers, is a major language of southwestern [[Niger]] (downriver from and south of Mali) including in the capital city, [[Niamey]]. [[Koyraboro Senni]], with 400,000 speakers, is the language of the town of Gao, the seat of the old Songhai Empire. Koyra Chiini is spoken to its west. The much smaller Northern Songhay is a group of heavily [[Berber languages|Berber]]-influenced dialects spoken in the [[Sahara]]. Since the Berber influence extends beyond the lexicon into the inflectional morphology, the Northern Songhay languages are sometimes viewed as [[mixed language]]s.<ref>[https://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?ref=2002-005 SIL Working Papers on Songhay]</ref>

==Genetic affiliation==
{{More citations needed|section|date=April 2025}}
[[Diedrich Hermann Westermann]], a missionary and linguist, hesitated between assigning it to [[Gur languages|Gur]] or considering it an isolate, and [[Maurice Delafosse]] grouped it with [[Mande languages|Mande]]. At present, Songhay is normally considered to be [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]], following [[Joseph Greenberg]]'s 1963 reclassification of [[African languages]]; Greenberg's argument is based on about 70 claimed [[cognate]]s, including [[pronoun]]s.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} This proposal has been developed further by, in particular, [[Lionel Bender (linguist)|Lionel Bender]], who saw it as an independent subfamily of Nilo-Saharan. [[Roger Blench]] notes that Songhay shares the defining [[Singulative number|singulative–plurative]] morphology typical of Nilo-Saharan languages. As of 2011, he believes that Songhay is closest to the neighboring [[Saharan languages]] and is not divergent.

However, a Nilo-Saharan classification is controversial. Greenberg's argument was subjected to serious criticism by Lacroix, who deemed only about 30 of Greenberg's claimed cognates acceptable, and moreover argued that these held mainly between [[Zarma language|Zarma]] and the [[Saharan languages]],{{fix|text=What about Tagdal, which neighbors Saharan?}} thus leading one to suspect them of being [[loanword]]s.<ref>Lacroix 1969: 91–92</ref> Certain Songhay–[[Mande languages|Mande]] similarities have long been observed (at least since Westermann), and Mukarovsky (1966), Denis Creissels (1981) and [[Robert Nicolaï|Nicolaï]] (1977, 1984) investigated the possibility of a Mande relationship; Creissels made some 50 comparisons, including many body parts and [[Morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] suffixes (such as the [[causative]] in ''-endi''), while Nicolaï claimed some 450 similar words as well as some conspicuous [[Linguistic typology|typological]] traits.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} However, Nicolaï eventually concluded that this approach was not adequate, and in 1990 proposed a distinctly novel hypothesis: that Songhay is a [[Berber languages|Berber]]-based [[creole language]], restructured under Mande influence. In support of this he proposed 412 similarities, ranging all the way from basic vocabulary (''tasa'' "[[liver]]") to obvious borrowings (''anzad'' "[[violin]]", ''alkaadi'' "[[qadi]]".) Others, such as Gerrit Dimmendaal, were not convinced, and Nicolaï (2003) appears to consider the question of Songhay's origins still open, while arguing against Bender's proposed etymologies.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}

Greenberg's morphological similarities with Nilo-Saharan include the personal pronouns ''ai'' (cf. [[Zaghawa language|Zaghawa]] ''ai''), 'I', ''ni'' (cf. [[Kanuri language|Kanuri]] ''nyi''), 'you (sg.)', ''yer'' (e.g. Kanuri ''-ye''), 'we', ''wor'' (cf. Kanuri ''-wi''), 'you (pl.)'; relative and adjective formants ''-ma'' (e.g. Kanuri ''-ma'') and ''-ko'' (cf. [[Maba language|Maba]] ''-ko''), a plural suffix ''-an'' (?), a hypothetical plural suffix ''-r'' (cf. [[Teso language|Teso]] ''-r'') which he takes to appear in the pronouns ''yer'' and ''wor'', intransitive/passive ''-a'' (cf. [[Teso language|Teso]] ''-o'').{{citation needed|date=April 2011}}

The most striking of the Mande similarities listed by Creissels are the third person pronouns ''a'' sg. (pan-Mande ''a''), ''i'' pl. (pan-Mande ''i'' or ''e''), the demonstratives ''wo'' "this" (cf. Manding ''o'', ''wo'') and ''no'' "there" (cf. Soninke ''no'', other Mande ''na''), the negative ''na'' (found in a couple of Manding dialects) and negative perfect ''mana'' (cf. Manding ''má'', ''máŋ''), the subjunctive ''ma'' (cf. Manding ''máa''), the copula ''ti'' (cf. Bisa ''ti'', Manding ''de/le''), the verbal connective ''ka'' (cf. Manding ''kà''), the suffixes ''-ri'' (resultative – cf. Mandinka ''-ri'', Bambara ''-li'' process nouns), ''-ncè'' (ethnonymic, cf. Soninke ''-nke'', Mandinka ''-nka''), ''-anta'' (ordinal, cf. Soninke ''-ndi'', Mandinka ''-njaŋ''...), ''-anta'' (resultative participle, cf. Soninke ''-nte''), ''-endi'' (causative, cf. Soninke, Mandinka ''-ndi''), and the postposition ''ra'' "in" (cf. Manding ''lá'', Soso ''ra''...){{citation needed|date=April 2011}}

The Songhay languages are considered to be an independent family by Dimmendaal (2011), although he classifies [[Saharan languages|Saharan]] as part of Nilo-Saharan.<ref>{{cite book|first=Gerrit J.|last=Dimmendaal|title=Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages|year=2011|publisher=John Benjamins|isbn=978-90-272-8722-9}}</ref>

==Grammar==
Songhay is mostly a [[Tone (linguistics)|tonal]], [[subject–object–verb]] (SOV) group of languages, an exception being the divergent [[Koyra Chiini language|Koyra Chiini]] of Timbuktu, which is non-tonal and uses [[subject-verb-object]] word order.

Songhay has a morpheme ''-ndi'' which marks either the causative or the agentless passive. Verbs can even take two instances of the morpheme, one for each meaning. Thus ''ŋa-ndi-ndi'' figuratively translates to "[the rice] was made to be eaten [by someone: causee] [by someone: causer]".<ref>Shopen, T. & Konaré, M. 1970. "Sonrai Causatives and Passives: Transformational versus Lexical Derivations for Propositional Heads", ''Studies in African Linguistics'' 1.211–54. Cited in Dixon, R.M.W. (2000). "A Typology of Causatives: Form, Syntax, and Meaning". In Dixon, R.M.W. & Aikhenvald, Alexendra Y. Changing Valency: Case Studies in Transitivity. Cambridge University Press. pp. 31.</ref>

==Reconstruction of Proto-Songhay==
{{Infobox proto-language
| name = Proto-Songhay
| altname =
| familycolor = Nilo-Saharan
| ancestor =
| child1 =
| target = Songhay languages
}}
Below are some Proto-Songhay reconstructions:<ref name="BlenchSouag"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Gloss !! Proto-Songhay
|-
| person || *bòro
|-
| bird || *kídòw
|-
| scorpion, mosquito || *(n)děŋ
|-
| ashes || *bó:sú
|-
| stone, mountain || *tóndì
|-
| year || *gí:rí; *mán(n)à
|-
| yesterday || *bǐ:
|-
| ask || *há˜
|-
| bring || *kàte
|-
| thorn || *kárgí
|-
| skin || *kú:rú
|-
| blood || *kúdí
|-
| year || *gí:rí
|}

Some Proto-Eastern Songhay reconstructions are:<ref name="BlenchSouag"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Gloss !! Proto-Eastern Songhay
|-
| thatch hut || *bùgù
|-
| armpit, wing || *fátá
|-
| thirst || *gèw
|-
| flank || *kéráw
|-
| mason wasp || *bímbín(í)
|-
| sweat || *súŋgáy
|}

==Numerals==
Comparison of numerals in individual languages:<ref name="ChanNumeralsNS">{{Cite web|url=https://lingweb.eva.mpg.de/channumerals/Nilo-Saharan.htm|title=The Nilo-Saharan Language Phylum|last=Chan|first=Eugene|publisher=Numeral Systems of the World's Languages|date=2019}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Language !! 1 !! 2 !! 3 !! 4 !! 5 !! 6 !! 7 !! 8 !! 9 !! 10
|-
| [[ISO 639:kcy|Korandje]] || affu* || jnka || jnzˁa || rˁəbʕa < Arabic|| χəmsa < Arabic|| sətta < Arabic|| səbʕa < Arabic|| tmənja < Arabic|| təsʕa < Arabic|| ʕəʃrˁa < Arabic
|-
| [[ISO 639:dsq|Tadaksahak]] || a-ˈfːo / a-ˈfːoo-da || hiŋˈka || kaːˈrˤad < Tamasheq || aˈkːoːz < Tamasheq || ʃaˈmːuʃ < Tamasheq || ʃaːˈdˤiʃ < Tamasheq || iˈʃːa < Tamasheq || iˈtˤːam < Tamasheq || tˤaːˈsˤa < Tamasheq || maːˈrˤa < Tamasheq
|-
| [[ISO 639:twq|Tasawaq]] || fó / a-fːó || hínká / à-hínká || hínzà / à-hínzà || táásì / à-tːáásì || xámsà < Arabic || sítːà < Arabic || sábàɣà < Arabic || tàmáníyà < Arabic || tísàɣà < Arabic || ɣàsárà < Arabic
|-
| [[ISO 639:ddn|Dendi]] || afɔ || hayinka / ahinka || ahinza || ataki || aɡu || ayidu || ayiye / ahiye || ayiyaku || ayiɡa || aweyi
|-
| [[ISO 639:ses|Koyraboro Senni]] || affoo || ihinka || ihinza || itaatʃi || iɡɡuu || idduu || iyye || iyaaha || iyaɡɡa || iwoy
|-
| [[ISO 639:khq|Koyra Chiini]] || foo / a-foo || hiŋka || hindʒa || taatʃi || ɡuu || iddu || iiye || yaaha || yaɡɡa || woy / wey
|-
| [[ISO 639:dje|Zarma]], [[Songhoyboro Ciine]] || àˈfó || ìˈhíŋká || ìˈhínzà || ìˈtaːcí || ìˈɡú || ˈíddù || ˈijjè || àˈhákˌkù || ˈjǽɡɡà || ìˈwéɪ
|}

==Bibliography==
* Dimmendaal, Gerrit. 2008. Language Ecology and Linguistic Diversity on the African Continent. ''Language and Linguistics Compass'' 2(5): 843''ff.''
* [https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/french_historical_studies/v027/27.3white.html Dupuis-Yakouba, Auguste]. 1917. ''Essai pratique de méthode pour l'étude de la langue songoï ou songaï [...]''. Paris: Ernest Leroux.
* Hunwick, John O.; Alida Jay Boye. 2008. ''The Hidden Treasures of Timbuktu''. Thames & Hudson.
* [[Robert Nicolaï|Nicolaï, Robert]]. 1981. ''Les dialectes du songhay: contribution à l'étude des changements linguistiques''. Paris: SELAF. 302 pp.
* Nicolaï, Robert & Petr Zima. 1997. ''Songhay''. LINCOM-Europa. 52 pp.
* Prost, R.P.A. [André]. 1956. ''La langue sonay et ses dialectes''. Dakar: IFAN. Series: Mémoires de l'Institut Français d'Afrique Noire; 47. 627 pp.

Publisher and publication abbreviations:
*CSLI = Center for the Study of Language and Information.
*IFAN = [[Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire|Institut Français d'Afrique Noire (since renamed the Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire)]].
*SELAF = Société d'études linguistiques et anthropologiques de France.
*''SUGIA'' = ''Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika'', journal published by Rüdiger Köppe Verlag, Cologne (Köln).
*Köppe = Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.

===On genetic affiliation===
* [[M. Lionel Bender|Bender, M. Lionel]]. 1996. ''The Nilo-Saharan Languages: A Comparative Essay''. München: LINCOM-Europa. 253 pp
* Roger Blench and Colleen Ahland, "The Classification of Gumuz and Koman Languages",[https://web.archive.org/web/20120316221945/http://25images.ish-lyon.cnrs.fr/player/player.php?id=72&id_sequence=433&quality=hd] presented at the ''Language Isolates in Africa'' workshop, Lyons, December 4, 2010
* D. Creissels. 1981. "De la possibilité de rapprochements entre le songhay et les langues Niger–Congo (en particulier Mandé)." In Th. Schadeberg, M. L. Bender, eds., ''Nilo-Saharan : Proceedings of the First Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, Leiden, September 8–10'', pp. 185–199. Foris Publications.
* [[Joseph Greenberg|Greenberg, Joseph]], 1963. ''The Languages of Africa'' (International Journal of American Linguistics 29.1). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.
* Lacroix, Pierre-Francis. 1971. "L'ensemble songhay-jerma: problèmes et thèmes de travail". In ''Acte du 8ème Congrès de la SLAO (Société Linguistique de l’Afrique Occidentale)'', Série H, Fasicule hors série, 87–100. Abidjan: Annales de l’Université d’Abidjan.
* Mukarovsky, H. G. 1966. "Zur Stellung der Mandesprachen". ''Anthropos'', 61:679-88.
* [[Robert Nicolaï|Nicolaï, Robert]]. 1977. "Sur l'appartenance du songhay". ''Annales de la faculté des lettres de Nice'', 28:129–145.
* Nicolaï, Robert. 1984. ''Préliminaires à une étude sur l'origine du songhay: matériaux, problématique et hypothèses'', Berlin: D. Reimer. Series: Marburger Studien zur Afrika- und Asienkunde. Serie A, Afrika; 37. 163 pp
* Nicolaï, Robert. 1990. ''Parentés linguistiques (à propos du songhay)''. Paris: CNRS. 209 pp
* Nicolaï, Robert. 2003. ''La force des choses ou l'épreuve 'nilo-saharienne': questions sur les reconstructions archéologiques et l'évolution des langues''. SUGIA – Supplement 13. Köln: Köppe. 577 pp

==References==
<references/>

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite encyclopedia |year=2019 |title=Songhay: Une langue Africaine en contact étroit avec le berbère |encyclopedia=Encyclopedie Berbère |publisher=Peeters Publishers |last=Nicolai |first=Robert |editor-last=Chaker |editor-first=Salem |volume=XLIII: Siga – Syphax |pages=7523–7537 |doi=10.2307/j.ctv1q26k1s.28 |isbn=9789042937932}}

==External links==
*[[wikt:fr:Catégorie:songhaï koyraboro senni|Wictionaire, Dictionary Songhai Koyraboro Senni – French, > 3000 Words]]
*[https://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?ref=2003-003 Relative Clauses in Tadaksahak]
*[https://www.sil.org/silewp/abstract.asp?ref=2002-005 Some verb morphology features in Tadaksahak]
*[http://www.bisharat.net/wikidoc/pmwiki.php/PanAfrLoc/SonghaiZarma PanAfrican L10n page on Songhai & Zarma]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070812190630/http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jheath/books.html Publications of linguist Jeffrey Heath on Songhay languages]
*[https://www.djerma.nl/ Language and Culture Djerma]
*Maps showing the Songhay languages of [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_map.asp?name=ML Mali] and [http://www.ethnologue.org/show_map.asp?name=NE Niger]
* [https://sites.google.com/site/lameen/northern-songhay Northern Songhay] – bibliography and brief description of this subfamily

{{Songhay languages}}
{{Nilo-Saharan families}}
{{Languages of Niger}}
{{Language families}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Songhay Languages}}
[[Category:Songhay languages| ]]
[[Category:Language families]]
[[Category:Languages of Benin]]
[[Category:Languages of Mali]]
[[Category:Languages of Niger]]

Songhay languages - Revision history

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