352 km away
The Berber variety of the Tuareg confederations across the central Sahara. Written historically in the Tifinagh script, which Tuareg communities have preserved continuously.
Songhay
Also known as: Songhai, Sonrai
A Nilo-Saharan language cluster of the Niger river bend, the language of the medieval Songhay empire. Around 4 million speakers across Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.
Shareable facts
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Frequently asked questions
What language is Songhay?
Songhay is a dialect of the Songhay language.
Where is Songhay spoken?
Songhay is primarily spoken in Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso.
Which region is Songhay associated with?
Songhay is part of the West & Central Africa region on DialectAtlas.
Is Songhay known by other names?
Yes — Songhay is also referred to as Songhai, Sonrai.
Nearby dialects
See on the atlas →384 km away
The Hausa of the Republic of Niger, used alongside French as a national language. Differs from Nigerian Hausa in spelling conventions and contact lexicon.
384 km away
The Songhay-Zarma variety of south-western Niger, centred on Niamey and the Tillabéri–Dosso belt. The second national language of Niger after Hausa, with around 3.7 million speakers; treated by most descriptive work as a distinct standardized language within the wider Songhay cluster.
438 km away
A Niger-Congo branch of around twenty deeply differentiated varieties on and around the Bandiagara escarpment in central Mali, with smaller populations in north-western Burkina Faso. Around 600,000 speakers total; descriptive work since the 2000s treats several Dogon varieties (Toro So, Tomo Kan, Jamsay, others) as separate languages rather than dialects of a single Dogon language.
462 km away
A Gur Niger-Congo language and the largest language of Burkina Faso, spoken by the Mossi people on the Ouagadougou plateau. Around 8 million speakers.
671 km away
The Hausa of Sokoto in north-western Nigeria. Carries the historical prestige of the Sokoto Caliphate and a distinct lexicon of religious and political terms.