Tumulung Sisaala in Ghana

Sisaali is a Gur language cluster spoken in the Upper West Region of Ghana and south of Burkina Faso (for example, in the Sicily province). In Ghana they are found in towns such as Tumu and Gwollu in the Upper West Region. Sisaali is closely related to Tampuli and Mo/Deg and distantly related to Kasem which is spoken in the north east of Ghana and south eastern Burkina Faso. Although some scholars have identified four variants of Sissali (Sisaali, Tumulung (Eastern), Western Sisaali (sometimes referred to as Debi) and Passal [southern areas] (Neden 1988; Moran 2006, 2009), Moses Luri of the University of Education, Winneba, has identified seven dialects of the language: Bosillu, Bʋwaalɩ, Gelbaglɩ, Gbieni, Kpatolie, Pasaalɩ and Tumuluŋ. Despite variations, however, Dr. Luri maintains that there is a considerable degree of mutual intelligibility among speakers of these dialects. Other major Sissala enclaves in Ghana include Bosie (Lambussie), Hamili, Piina, Samuo, Fonsi, Kundugu, and Nabulo. Sisaali is the second local language of evangelisation after Dagaare. It is one of the fifteen official literacy languages in Ghana, and the Non-Formal Education Division of the Ministry of Education and the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) publish literacy materials in Sisaali. The regional FM station, Upper West Radio, broadcasts in Sisaali. It is also taught and studied at the University of Education, Winneba. Tumulung is the variant used in all these literacy and broadcast programmes, although it is relatively less intelligible with the other variants spoken by the Sisaala. However, Dagaare is taught as the mother tongue in communities where Sisaala (Isaala) are dominant. Number of speakers according to the 2010 Ghana Population and Housing Census (PHC) is 148,704. (figures from the 2021 PHC are not yet available).