Atlantic-Congo · ISO 639-3 mos
Mossi Language Mòoré
Mossi is an Atlantic-Congo language spoken by about 8.3 million people in 1 country. It is written in the Latin script.
Where Mossi is spoken
- Official language
- Regional official
- Spoken by 10%+
- 1–10%
- Smaller communities
Countries that speak Mossi
Language family
- Atlantic-Congo
- Volta-Congo
- North Volta-Congo
- Gur
- Central Gur
- Northern Central Gur
- Bwamu-Oti-Volta
- Oti-Volta
- Nuclear Oti-Volta
- Gurma-Yom-Oti-Volta Occidental
- Oti-Volta Occidental
- Nuclear Oti-Volta Occidental
- Northwest Oti-Volta
- Mossi-Farefare
- Mossic
- Mossi
Writing system
Latin script
Related languages
About the Mossi language
Mossi (Mòoré) is spoken by about 8.3 million people, which makes it the 141st most spoken language in the world — just behind Sichuan Yi (8.4 million) and ahead of Kimbundu (8.1 million). It belongs to the Atlantic-Congo language family and, more precisely, to the Mossic group within the North Volta-Congo branch.
Where is Mossi spoken?
Mossi is used in 1 country. The largest communities live in Burkina Faso (9.2 million).
Mossi is not a national official language anywhere.
Writing system and status
Mossi is written in the Latin script. It is a safe, widely transmitted language: children still learn it at home as their first language.
Its closest relatives in the same branch of the family are Farefare, Southern Dagaare, Dagaari Dioula, Northern Dagara, Dagbani, Kabiyè and 2 more.
ISO codes: ISO 639-3 mos.
Frequently asked questions about Mossi
How many people speak Mossi?
Where is Mossi spoken?
What language family does Mossi belong to?
What is Mossi called in Mossi?
Is Mossi an endangered language?
Data: Languages of the World dataset (MIT) — ISO 639-3, Glottolog (CC BY 4.0), Unicode CLDR, Google LinguaMeta (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata; country lists: samayo/country-json (MIT). Speaker numbers include first- and second-language speakers where sources report them.