Alternate Names: Bisã, Bisayã, Busa-Bisã, Busano, Bussanchi
Dialects: New Busa, Wawa. New Busa and Wawa dialects inherently intelligible. New Busa is prestigious, but Wawa dialect is viewed as purer and used for literature. New Busa has Hausa ,-influenced phonology. Illo Busa dialect has Boko , influence. Lexical similarity: 91% with Bokobaru ,, 85% with Boko ,, 57% with Kyanga ,, 56% with Shanga ,, 50% with Bisa , in Burkina Faso and Ghana.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 48,000 (2012 R. Jones). 20,000 ethnic Laaru, Lupa and Kambari.
Language Use: All ages. Positive attitudes. Also use Cishingini [asg], English [eng], Hausa [hau].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L2: 5%. Busa and Hausa adult literacy programs. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 2004.
Typology: SOV; postpositions; genitives before noun heads; articles, adjectives, numerals, imbedded relative NPs after noun heads; person, number, aspect suffixed to subject pronouns; CV, CVV, CCV; grammatical tone on verbs and pronouns; logophoricity, 3 level tones.
Writing System: Latin
Nation of Origin: Nigeria
Other Comments: Different from Bisa , of Burkina Faso and Ghana. The Hausa call several groups of people (Boko, Bokobaru, Busa, Bariba) Bussawa, while the Yoruba call them Bariba. Glossonym: Bussanchi by the Hausa. Muslim.