This publication is the first handbook of the Mabia languages of West Africa. This group of languages, numbering about 80, are spoken as first languages by more than 30 million people who live mostly in the Savanna grasslands of West Africa - in present-day northern Ghana, northern Cote d'Ivoire, northern Togo, northern Benin, northwest Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mali. This first handbook comprises of works in about 10 of these languages, including Dagaare, Gurene, Dagbane, Kasem, Kusaal, Buli, Sisaala, Safaliba, and Mampruli. Care has, however, been taken to include data from other languages in the chapters on these main languages. The 12 chapters in this book cover key aspects of the linguistics of Mabia languages, including the phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and literary appreciation. This book is essential reading for graduate and undergraduate students, as well as a core reference resource for established scholars and the general public.

Adams Bodomo is a Professor of Linguistics and the Chair of African Languages and Literatures at the University of Vienna. He specialises in theoretical linguistics with a focus on Mabia languages of West Africa. He has researched extensively in cross-cultural communication, digital humanities, and studies on Africa and Asia.