Material for the following two sketches was gathered in January 1949 at Korhogo, Ivory Coast, and at Sikasso, French Sudan. This study was made possible by a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies, and by the generous hospitality of the Conservative Baptist Mission at Korhogo and the Christian and Missionary Alliance, which has a station at Sikasso.

According to the best information available in advance, it was expected that this would be a study of ‘the Senufo language’. In both areas, the people and the language are commonly known as ‘Senufo’ to the French, to missionaries, and to traders of other tribes. However, it was soon discovered that natives of the Sikasso area and natives of the Korhogo area speak languages which are not mutually intelligible; the informant used at Sikasso was taken to Korhogo, and found it necessary to communicate with the people there in Bambara, the trade language of the area, or in French.