Ligbi People Historic Background

Answer 1

Ok I am Ligbi form Ivory Coast : TRIBAL AFRICAN ARTLIGBI Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana Related to the Senufo, the Ligbi people, living close to the Senufo have moved from west Ghana to the Côte d'Ivoire. The Islamized communities who live as traders and artisans among non-Moslem groups in extensive areas of northern Côte d'Ivoire are known for an institution called do or lo, one of whose most striking public manifestations is colorful masquerade dancing. Though in decline, the custom is still practiced on important Islamic holidays, especially at the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. The feast goes on for severaldays. The performance of the maskers is accompanied by drums, singing and dancing, it expresses the joy of the faithful that the period of fasting is over. Prayers and sacrifices alternate for a full week before the assembled village. With its lateral wings, Ligbi masks show the influence of Senufokpelie mask. Nevertheless, the downcast curved eyes and the use of pigments are typical for Ligbi masks. To complete these masks, oil and make-up are applied and during the performance they are adorned with gold and silver jewelry. In the other type of mask (Yangaleye), human features are combined with the powerful bill of the hornbill bird. The Ligbi attach great importance to this bird, considering it one of mythical primeval animals, an attendant on the souls of the dead and a symbol of fertility. These masks are also popular among the dosociety. They are danced during the funerals of distinguished Moslem holy men, and their performances also mark the end of Ramadan. The masqueraders are greatly admired for the grace of their dance movements, which they perform in pairs and in perfect unison. They are also valued for the positive qualities ascribed to the hornbill, whose behavior and family life are considered exemplary by the Ligbi. source : http://www.zyama.com/ligbi/index.htm Ligbi (or Ligby) is a Mande language spoken in Ghana in the north-west corner of the Brong-Ahafo region. Ligbi is spoken by approximately 10 000 speakers (1988 GILLBT/SIL). It is a geographical outlier to its language family, fairly closely related to Bambara/Jula and to Vai and Kono. A small population of Ligbi speakers (4 000) is reported to live in Cote d'Ivoire (Vanderaa 1991). Ligbi is also known as Wela, Hwela or Numu. The latter of these refers to a subsection of the Ligbi people; Numu is Dyula for 'blacksmith'. The Ligbi area in Ghana is bordered to the west by Nafaanra, the Senufo language of the Nafana people. The Ligbi people have come to the area of Begho (Bighu), an ancient trading town on the Tain river in Ghana, in the early 17th century before the Nafana.[1] Ligbi has seven oral and seven nasal vowels. It is a tonal language with two level tones, High and Low. Syllables are of the form (C1)V(C2) or N (a syllabic nasal), where CV is the most common syllable type. C1 can be any of the consonants, whereas the optional C2 slot can have only nasals homorganic with the following consonants, e.g., gbám mádáánè "nine houses," gbán táà "ten houses." V (a vowel) alone occurs word-initial only in personal pronouns, some loan words, and names, e.g., á jádɛ̀ "we have come."