Manding languages
| Manding | |
|---|---|
| Manden | |
| Geographic distribution | West Africa |
Native speakers | 9.1 million (2017–2021) |
| Linguistic classification | Niger-Congo? |
| Subdivisions |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | man |
| Glottolog | mand1435 |
 Map of the Manding language continuum | |
The Manding languages (sometimes spelt Manden, and archaically Mandingo) are a dialect continuum within the Mandé family (itself possibly within the larger Niger-Congo family) spoken in West Africa. Varieties of Manding are generally considered (among native speakers) to be mutually intelligible – dependent on exposure or familiarity with dialects between speakers – and spoken by around 37 million people in The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia. Their best-known members are Mandinka or Mandingo, the principal language of The Gambia; Bambara, the most widely spoken language in Mali; Maninka or Malinké, a major language of Guinea and Mali; and Jula, a trade language of Ivory Coast and western Burkina Faso.