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LINGUISTICSURVEYSOFAFRICA
Volume18
LINGUISTICANALYSESTHENON-BANTULANGUAGESOFNORTH-
EASTERNAFRICA
LINGUISTICANALYSESTHENON-BANTULANGUAGESOFNORTH-
EASTERNAFRICA
HandbookofAfricanLanguages
ANTUCKERANDMABRYAN
Firstpublishedin1966byOxfordUniversityPress
Thiseditionfirstpublishedin2018byRoutledge2ParkSquareMiltonParkAbingdonOxonOX144RN
andbyRoutledge711ThirdAvenueNewYorkNY10017
RoutledgeisanimprintoftheTaylorampFrancisGroupaninformabusiness
copy1966InternationalAfricanInstitute
AllrightsreservedNopartofthisbookmaybereprintedorreproducedorutilisedinanyformorbyanyelectronicmechanicalorothermeansnowknownorhereafterinventedincludingphotocopyingandrecordingorinanyinformationstorageorretrievalsystemwithoutpermissioninwritingfromthepublishers
TrademarknoticeProductorcorporatenamesmaybetrademarksorregisteredtrademarksandareusedonlyforidentificationandexplanationwithoutintenttoinfringe
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationDataAcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
ISBN978-1-138-08975-4(Set)ISBN978-1-315-10381-5(Set)(ebk)ISBNISBN978-1-138-09793-3(Volume18)(hbk)ISBN978-1-315-10464-5(Volume18)(ebk)
PublisherrsquosNoteThepublisherhasgonetogreatlengthstoensurethequalityofthisreprintbutpointsoutthatsomeimperfectionsintheoriginalcopiesmaybeapparent
DisclaimerThepublisherhasmadeeveryefforttotracecopyrightholdersandwouldwelcomecorrespondencefromthosetheyhavebeenunabletotrace
Duetomodernproductionmethodsithasnotbeenpossibletoreproducethefold-outmapswithinthebookPleasevisitwwwroutledgecomtoviewthem
LINGUISTICANALYSESTHENON-BANTULANGUAGESOFNORTH-
EASTERNAFRICA
BY
ANTUCKERANDMABRYAN
Withasupplementon
THEETHIOPICLANGUAGESBY
WOLFLESLAU
PublishedfortheTHEINTERNATIONALAFRICANINSTITUTE
bythe
OXFORDUNIVERSITYPRESSLONDONNEWYORKTORONTO
1953
OxfordUniversityPressElyHouseLondonWIGLASGOWNEWYORKTORONTOMELBOURNEWELLINGTON
CAPETOWNSALISBURYIBADANNAIROBILUSAKAADDISABABABOMBAYCALCUTTAMADRASKARACHILAHOREDACCA
KUALALUMPURHONGKONG
copyInternationalAfricanInstitute1966
ThisstudyhasbeenpreparedandpublishedinconnexionwiththeHandbookofAfricanLanguagesandwiththeaidofgrantsfromtheBritishColonial
DevelopmentandWelfareFundandlatertheDepartmentofTechnicalCooperationandtheInternational
AfricanInstitute
CONTENTS
Introduction1MORU-MANGBETU2BONGO-BAGIRMI3and6SERE-MUNDUandBANDA-GBAYA-NGBANDI4MBA5ZANDE7BUA8SOMRAI9EASTSAHARAN10MIMI11MABA12TAMA13FUR14DAJU15NYIMANG16TEMEIN17KATLA18aKOALIB-MOROampc18bTEGALI-TAGOI19KADUGLI-KRONGO20NUBIAN21BARYA22KUNAMA23BERTA24TAB125GULE26KOMA27DIDINGA-MURLE
28BAKO29TEUSO30NILOTIC31PARANILOTIC32aCUSHITIC32bOMETO32cGELEBA34IRAQW35MBUGU36SANYESupplement33ETHOPICINDEXESMAPTHENON-BANTULANGUAGESOFNORTH-EASTERNAFRICALanguagesnottreatedinthisvolume
INTRODUCTION
THEaimofthisbookistopresentthelinguisticmaterialmuchofitatfirsthandassembledbytheauthors in thecourseof theirclassificationof theNon-BantulanguagesofNorth-EasternAfricaThisbookdealsmainlywithmorphemesandwithgrammaticalandsyntactic
behaviour Though some Vocabulary material is to be found here and somemore in vol iv of the Linguistic Survey of the Northern BantuBorderlandl1(hereafter referred toasLSNBB)Vocabularycomparison itselfplays littlepartWithineachLanguageGroupand indeedwithinmostLargerUnitscorrespondenceinvocabularyissostrongastobeselfevidentwhilethediscussionoflexicalaffinitiesatahigherlevelisoutsidethescopeofthepresentworkTheSectionshere followthoseof theHandbookofAfricanLanguagesPart
III2(hereafterreferredtoastheHandbook)Sinceitspublicationnewdatahavecome to lightaffecting thepreviousclassificationTheseWillbementioned insituandthereaderisreferredtoSections345and67and812and271832The Sections on SANDAWE-HOTTENTOT (37) andBUSHMAN-HADZA
(38)arenot representedherehavingalreadyhadgrammatical treatment in theHandbook byDr EO JWestphal3while the Section onMBUGU (35) hasalreadybeendealtwithinLSNBBGrammaticaldataonSOMRAI(8)MIMI(10) lsquoGULEI (25) BAKO (28) and SANYE (36) are so inadequate that notreatmenthasbeenpossibleProfessor Wolf Leslau has kindly contributed the Section on ETHIOPIC
(AFRI-CANSEMITIC33)
CHANGESINNOMENCLATURE
Thefollowingnewnomenclatureisbeingusedhere
It has been the practice of the authors not to classify languages above theLarger Unit level4 In dealing with CUSHITIC however it has been foundnecessary to lay stress upon certain phenomena that underlie not onlyCUSHITICbutBERBERandSEMITICaswellAll these languages togetherwithAncientEGYPTIANhave longbeen recognizedasaunity towhich the
term lsquoHamito-Semiticrsquo has often been applied Since it has by now beenestablished1thatlsquothenon-SemiticlanguagesoftheHamito-SemiticfamilydonotformalinguisticunityasagainstSemiticrsquo2theauthorsareagreedthatthetermlsquoHamiticrsquo should be discarded They venture to propose in place of lsquoHamito-SemiticrsquothetermERYTHRAIC3sincetheRedSeacanberegardedasacentralpointorhingebetweenthetwoareasofAfricaandAsiainvolvedGreenbergrsquostermlsquoAfroasiaticrsquoisconsideredtoowidewhileMurdockrsquosuseoflsquoHamiticrsquoastheoverallterm4isliabletomisinterpretation
SOURCESSources of information are listed at the head of each Section Since a full
bibligraphyhasalreadyappearedintheHandbookonlysuchpublishedworksashaveactuallybeendrawnuponaregivenherethosewhichhaveappearedsincethepublicationoftheHandbookareCitedwithfullbibliographicaldetailSomeofthematerialpresentedhereistheresultoffieldworkintheSouthern
SudanCongoUgandaandKenyabyANTuckersupplementedbyworkwithexpatriate informants at the School of Oriental and African Studies whosenamesarelistedinsituOther investigatorshavealsohelpedbycontributingtheirownfieldnotesor
manuscriptgrammaticalsketchesOutstandingamongtheseareBWAndrzejewskiwhosuppliedourinformationonSOMALIandGALLAobtainedinthefieldandfrominformantsatSOAS
RCStevensonwhowroteupmanuscriptBAGIRMIandSARAMBAIgrammarsespeciallyfortheHandbookbesidescontributingothernotesalsomuchsupplementarypersonalinformationespeciallyontheNubaHillslanguages
PEHackettwhocontributedthefieldnotescollectedbyhimintheCongoasamemberoftheLSNBBteamSSantandreawhocontributedgrammaticalsketchesofNDOGO-SEREandtheSudanmembersoftheBONGO-BAGIRMIlanguages
The authors are also deeply grateful for the information and help from allthoseotherswhosenamesarementionedinthevariousSectionsunderlsquoSourcesrsquoandinfootnotesOriginalmaterial from the fivemain contributors above is printed in heavy
typeasisquotedmaterialwheninasystemoftranscriptioncomparabletothatused by the authors Where however quoted material is in a systemphonemically divergent (eg a different allocation of vowel symbols) orphoneticallyinadequate(egnon-distinctionoflsquoopenrsquoandlsquoclosersquovowels)itis
reproducedhereinitalicssometimeswithminormodifications
THECRITERIA
Inmaking the following analyses the authors have selected certain specificcriteriatoinvestigateandconcentrateonThesecriteriahavebeenchosenwithtwoaimsinview(a) To present in as short a space as possible an overall picture of the
workingofrepresentativelanguagesfromeachsectionoftheHandbook(b)Togivesuchgrammaticalmaterialaswillbehelpfultofuturestudentsin
classifying the languages according to their typological as apart from theirlexicalfeaturesThecriteriaarearrangedunderthefollowingfifteenheads
1Phonetics
Where transcriptionoforiginalmaterial isconcerned theprinciple followedby the authors is towrite phonemicallywherepossibleThismeans that somesymbolsmayhave averywide connotation thevaluesof the symbols lsquoirsquo andlsquoursquo for instance may vary from very close to very open according to thelanguageunderreviewsimilarlythesymbolslsquocrsquoandlsquojrsquomayrepresentanythingfrompurepalatalexplosivestothepost-alveolaraffricatestʃanddȝWhere phonemes have not been satisfactorily isolated the transcription is
morenarrowlyphoneticThe authors have tried to follow faithfully the phonemic systems of the
variousauthorities fromwhichsourcematerialhasbeen takenFor thesakeofuniformity however there has been from time to time a certain amount ofadaptationintheuseofsymbols
1aVowels(i) The following is a complete list of vowel symbols used (apart from
material in italics) in a narrow transcription they would have the followingvalues
As said before the values given to each vowel symbol must needs varyconsiderablyfromlanguagetolanguageThusinafivevowellanguageiandurepresenttheclosestvowelsofthatlanguageandeandosoundswhichmaylieanywherebetweenCardinalVowels2and3and6and7respectivelyandwhichinanarrowertranscriptionmightneedsymbolssuchasẹandọorεandɔThesymbols and areusedonlyinseventotenvowelsystemstorepresentveryclose vowels which in addition exercise strong influence over neighbouringsoundsegMORUZANDEInsuchlanguagesthesymbolsiandustandforclose soundswhich do not exercise this inffuence or for cases of uncertainty-undeniablyopensoundsbeingrepresentedbyIandUinsuchlanguages
Semi-mutevowelsIn some languagesegBAGIRMITESOGALLA final vowels in certain
words are barely articulated on certain occasions though fully pronounced onothers (This apart from the common tendency of final vowels to be elidedbeforefollowingwordsbeginningwithavowel)Such barely articulated vowels are called here Semi-mute vowels1 and are
representedbyitalicsegGALLAnaacutemagraveman(Acc)cfnamaacute(Gen)
VoicequalityIn some languages notably the NILOTIC languages vowels may be
pronouncedwithtwotypesofvoice(a)lsquobreathyrsquoorinthecaseofSLWOlsquohollowrsquovoice(b)lsquohardrsquoandsometimeslsquocreakyrsquovoice2Thesemi-vowelswandymayalsohavethesetwowaysofarticulationIn ZANDE and the PARANILOTIC3 languages voice quality is associated
withvowelqualityallclosevowelsbeinglsquohollowrsquoandallopenvowelslsquohardrsquo(seeiibelow)
InNorthernNILOTIC languageshowever nearly all vowels are capableofeither articulation In these languages therefore lsquobreathyrsquo or lsquohollowrsquo vowelsandsemi-vowelswillbeprintedinromanwhilelsquohardrsquovowelsandsemi-vowels(aswellasallconsonants)willbeprintedinboldface
NasalizedvowelsThetilde()isusedtorepresentnasalityexceptwhensuchnasalityisadirect
andinevitableresultofaneighbouringnasalconsonant
DiphthongsDiphthongsarevariouslyrendered-au-or-aw--ai-or-ay--ua-or-wa--ia-
or -ya- according to the word structure of the language under discussion oraccordingtothesourcematerial
VowelanddiphthonglengthVowellengthisnormallyshownbydoublingthevowelletterinthecaseof
diphthongs themore importantvowel letter (seeNUER)Where it ismerelyasporadicaccompanimentofStressaraiseddotmaybeusedIn some languages (notably KALENIIN) where more than two degrees of
vowel lengthhavebeennoted ithasbeen foundmoreconvenient to representhalflongvowelsbyaraiseddot(˙)andfullylongvowelsbyacolon()eg
Themacron(ˉ)isusedonlyinquotedmaterial
AnaptycticvowelsThese are vowelswhich only occur as a glide element at certain consonant
junctions(asbetweenlandkinDutchlsquomelkrsquo)
(ii)Vowelrelationshipsandvowelchangearediscussedunder
VowelCategoriesandCategoryHarmonyInsomelanguagesvowelsmaybegroupedintoCloseandOpenCategories
ForinstanceinACOLI-LANGOandinsomeofthePARANILOTIClanguagestherearefiveClosevowelsieaumlouandfiveOpenvowelsiεaɔU(intheseparticularlanguagestheClosevowelshavelsquohollowrsquovoicequalityandtheOpenvowels lsquohardrsquo voice quality) In the build-up of words Close vowels tend toassociatewithClosevowelsandOpenwithOpenThisisverynoticeableintheallocation of Affixes to words as words with Close Stem vowels will take a
differentseriesofAffixesfromwordswithOpenStemvowelsAffixesinwhichthevowelalternatesaccordingtotheStemvowelarecalledlsquoWeakAffixesrsquoFor examples of this type of Vowel Harmony (called here lsquoCategory
Harmonyrsquo) see thePARANILOTIC languages sect4a andACOLI-LANGO (butnotSHILLUK)CasesofFullHarmonyalsooccurSeeZANDEsect1a
UmlautAblautandCategoryChangeUmlautisnearlyalwayscausedbyaClosevowel or exercisinginffuence
onaneighbouringOpenvowelInnearlyallcasesCategorychangeisinvolvedastheOpenvowelisreplacedbyitscorrespondingClosevowelForexamplesofthistypeofvowelchangeseeMORUZANDEsect1aalsoACOLI-LANGOUmlautmaybeexertedeitherbyCloseStemvowelsorbyClosevowels in
AffixesAffixeswhich exert this inffuenceonStemvowels are called lsquoStrongAffixesrsquoA few instances havebeen recordedwhereUmlaut ofCloseStemvowel to
OpenhasbeencausedbyanOpenvowelSuffix(seePAumlKOTsect1a)AblautmaybedefinedassoundchangewithnoapparentphoneticreasonIt
mayoccurwithintheVowelCategoryorbetweenCategoriesinthelattercaseitisknownasCategoryShiftSeeDINKAsect1aforbothtypesofAblautTheFrontingofvowels inSOMALI isagoodexampleofbothUmlautand
Ablaut at work in one language-both involving Category change Other goodexamplesaretobefoundinKALENJIN
IbConsonantsThe following is a complete table of consonant symbols used with their
narrowrealization
ThelsquoAfricaAlphabetrsquoconvention isemployedhereofwritingny insteadofthe IPA symbolɲ alsoy for the palatal semi-vowel andẅ for a frontedwapproachingthesoundinFrenchlsquoluirsquoThebilabialrolledsoundsarewrittenpẉto avoid new symbols1 but Dokersquos symbol is adopted to represent a ffappedsound in which the lower lip is drawn into the mouth and ffapped outwardsagainst the upper teeth2R represents lsquouvular rrsquo (in ZANDE) represents anasalizedvarietyof thesoundwhichvariesbetweenr landr thesymbolsṛand ẓ (in LENDU) denote lsquodarkrsquo r and z pronounced with the back of thetongueraisedthesesoundsaresyllabicInsomelanguagesnotablyBAGIRMIaslightlyretroffexandveryunstable
pairofsoundsisoftenheardrecordedhereṭandḍInotherlanguagesthereare
affricates tr and dr pronounced with the tip of the tongue slightly retroffexImplosive ɗ is also somewhat retroffex as is SOMALI ɗ which is eitherimplosive or explosive according to context The strongly retroflex ʈ andɖsoundsofIndianlanguagesarenotheardhoweverCrazzolarahaspopularizedthesymbolʈtorepresentalsquofricativetrsquosound(acousticallysimilarto butwithnorolling) inNUERandACOLI3 thissymbol italicizedwillbeusedhere inNUERandDINKAonlyTheauthorsalsofollowtheconventionofLarochette(forMANGBETU)and
Muratori (for LOTUHO) of using lsquot lsquok ampc to indicate strongly articulatedsoundswhicharehowevernotquitedoubledTherearevoicednasalcompoundsmbndnj(ndȝ)ŋgŋgb4mvnzina
greatmanylanguages unvoicednasalcompoundsmpntampcarehowevernotsocommonTherearecompoundswithwandyegkwkyampc(orkwkyampcwherethe
semi-vowelelementisslight)ItshouldbenotedthatinsomelanguagesawordlikelsquokwalrsquorepresentsaW-compoundofkfollowedbythevowelainothersitrepresents a simple k followed by the diphthong -wa- In some cases eitherinterpretationisfeasibleAswiththevowelsymbolsabovethevaluesgiventotheconsonantsymbols
whenemployedphonemicallywillvaryfromlanguage to languageThus tdandn can represent eitherdentalor alveolar sounds in anygiven language Inthose languages howeverwhere the two sorts of consonant are phonemicallydistinct the symbols and areused for thedental varietyeg inNILOTICand some of the Nuba Hills languages Similarly the symbols c and j arepreferred to tʃanddȝunless there isaphonemic reasonfordistinguishing thepalatalexplosivescandjfromthepost-alveolaraffricatestʃanddȝTheaboveconventionsapplyalsotomaterialquotedfromothersources(see
p2)exceptthatinmaterialquotedinitalicsthefollowingconventionsusuallyapply th and dh stand for either the dental explosives and or the dentalfricativesθandethnhforthedentalnasal khandghforthevelarfricativesxand ɣ sh and zh for the post-alveolar fricatives ʃ and ȝ lsquob and lsquod for theimplosivesoundsɓandɗrsquongforeitherŋorŋggThefollowingphoneticprocessesareimportantinsomelanguagesassimilation (including palatalization velarization labialization)
dissimilationslurringelisioncontractionlsquoGandaLawrsquoaprocesswherebyavoicednasalcompoundlosesitsnon-nasal
elementwhenthenextsyllablecontainsanasalseeZANDEsectIbConsonantalAblaut ie sound changewithout apparent phonetic cause see
NILOTICsectIb
AnaptycticconsonantsareoccasionallyfoundeginUDUK
TheglottalstopandglottalizationTheglottalstophasbeenrecordedinitiallymediallyandfinallyIthasthree
functions(i)ItisaconsonantinEFEwhereitcorrespondstohorkelsewhere
ItisalsoaconsonantinBARIwhereitreplaceslinfinalposition
(ii) Itservesasoneformofhiatus toprevent twoelementsfrommerging inthechainofspeechHereitmaybecomparedtoGermanfesterEinsatzeg
(iii) It occurs at the end ofwords as a prosody of vowel closure (GALLATESOPAumlKOT)orconsonantclosure(SOMALI)thesoundsbeingsaidthentobelsquoglottalizedrsquoInPAumlKOTGlottalizationisintimatelylinkedwithintonation
InTESOGALLAandSOMALIithasgrammaticalassociations
2ToneandStress
2aToneThefollowingtonemarksareused
The Mid-tone mark is used sparingly and only in isolated words whereotherwiseitmightbeassumedthatthetoneisunknownThus
Whereotherpartsof thewordor sentencearemarked for tonehoweverMidtoneisleftunmarkedThus
Themark before a word or syllable indicates that all subsequent High orFallingtonesareinalowerkey(lsquoDownSteprsquo)
Languages occur in which certain words demand a particular tone onpreceding or following words Thus in MORUm-ˊ indicates that the Stemvowelfollowingthem-PrefixmusthaveHightoneWhereithasbeenfoundimpossibleorinconvenienttousetheabovesystem
oftonemarkingthisisindicatedintherelevantSectionInmanySectionshowevertonemarkingiseithersporadicorabsentowing
todeficienciesinthesourcematerial
2bStressStressisindicatedwhereconsiderednecessarybytheuprightmarklsquobefore
therelevantsyllable
In certain circumstances and in order not to depart too much from theorthographyof the sourcematerial the acute accent has been used to indicateStress accompanied by High tone eg lsquoProminencersquo in BILIN p 500(lsquoProminencersquo in NUBIAN however is indicated by a stress mark as abovebecauseofthenecessityofmarkingtoneinHILLNUBIANp315)In the great majority of languages Stress is unmarked and only the most
generalcommentscanbemadeonthistopic
3WordShape
lsquoShapersquoherereferstothepatternofvowelsandconsonantsfoundinaWordorStemorAffixorParticle lsquoFormrsquo refers toanyShapewhen itsgrammaticalpotentialityisdiscussed
In some languages words exist without Prefixes and Suffixes in othersPrefixesandorSuffixesareanessentialpartofthewordInthelattercaseforpurposesofanalysisandcomparisonitisoftenconvenienttodiscusstheshapeof theWord Stem shorn of its Affixes The term lsquoStemrsquo is preferred here tolsquoRootrsquoowingtoourinsufficientetymologicalknowledgeoftheselanguagesWords or Word Stems or Affixes are regarded as being built up of the
followingcomponents
4StructuralElements
4aVerbs(i)Verbs inmany languages fall intoMorphologicalClasses (similar to the
ConjugationsofLatin) theseClassesmaydifferaccording to the shapeof theVerb Stem andor its behaviour in conjugation In some languages amultipleclassification of Verbs is possible according to different criteria See forexampleFUR(p220)andAGAU(pp502-3)lsquoBehaviourrsquo as criterion for classification includes choice of Subject
PronounseriesTenseorAspectAffixseriesorderofSubjectVerbandObjectin the Sentence (MORU-MArsquoDI) or of SubjectAffixVerb Stem andObjectAffixintheVerbComplexSAHARAN)(ii) Inmany languages too thereareToneClassesofVerbs In somecases
(egZANDEKALENIIN)thesecoincidewithMorphologicalClassesinothers(egMORU-MArsquoDIAGAU)theycutacrossthem(iii)InmostlanguagesthereareDerivativeVerbsformedinmanywayseg
by changes within the Stem by Prefixes by Suffixes by Stem Extensions(usually Suffixes attached to the Stemwhichmay themselves be followed byConjugational Suffixes similar to those which can be attached to the SimpleStem)MostDerivativeVerbsareDeverbativeafewDenominativeMany concepts are implied some of the most common being Causative
NeuterMotiontowardsspeakerMotionawayfromspeakerDative(actiononbehalf of or at) Intensive Frequentative Plural Action (or Plural Subject orPlural Object) Inceptive Intransitive forms of otherwise Transitive VerbsQualitative ie similar to Intransitive except that a Qualitative Verb maysometimestakeanObjectinageneralasopposedtoaspecificsense-theSimpleVerb being then known as Applicative In languageswhere this distinction ismade it is important torealize thatwhen theSimpleStemof theVerb isusedwithoutexpressedObjectanObjectisalwaystobelsquounderstoodrsquo
It is to be noted that the Passive is a Derivative Verb in relatively fewlanguages (eg BARI) In most languages there is a lsquoPassive Equivalentrsquoconsistingofvariousconstructionsincluding
3rdPersonPluralActive(correspondingtotheuseoflsquotheyrsquoinEnglish)egBAGIRMI
3rdPersonSingularActivewithImpersonalSubjectPronoun(correspondingtotheuseoflsquoonrsquoinFrench)egMORU3rdPersonSingularorPluralActivewithaspecificSuffixtotheVerbegMAASAI
InsomefewlanguagesthePassiveisaVoice(iv) Compound Verbs are an important feature of some languages where
these occur it is usually found that only one element of the Compound isconjugatedtheotherbeingconstantNote that the expression lsquoVerbComplexrsquo is used here to describe theVerb
Stem complete with Subject- Object- and Tense-Affixes sometimes it isnecessarytoincludeNounSubjectandObjectwithintheterm
4bNouns(i)MorphologicalClassesare rareNounClassesof theBANTUtypebeing
found only in the twoGroups ofClass Languages-MBAGroup (bymeans ofSuffixes) and KOALIB-TAGOI (by means of Prefixes) In these languagesClassesaremostlypairedforNumber inaddition theClassAffixesmayoftenactasNounFormativesandachangeofAffixmayradicallyalterthemeaningofaNounItisdoubtfulwhetherKADUGLI-KRONGOcanbeconsideredastrueClass
Languages (seep 303)Here as in theother lsquoTKrsquo languages (seep 22) themultiplicity of Singular and Plural Affixes gives the impression of a Classsystemlongsincebrokendown
Morphological Classes of a totally different type have been established inKALENJINSeep457(ii)InmanylanguagesthereareToneClassesandintheMBAGroupthese
cutacrossMorphologicalClassesItshouldbefurthernotedthatwhereasintheMBAGroup the Singular and the Plural of a Noun belong to the same ToneClassinMANGBETUDIDINGAandthePARANILOTICLanguagesatleasttheSingularandPluralofNounsmayoftenbeindifferentToneClasses(iii)InmostlanguagesNounsmaybeformedfromVerbsAdjectivesorother
Nouns in various ways by changes within the Stem or byAffixes producingVerbal Noun Gerund (often to be distinguished from the Infinitive) NounAgentNounInstrumentPlaceofactionampcIn some languages there are Affixes with no apparent function and only
deducible as such by comparativemethods egMORU-MANGBETU p 37andBONGO-BAGIRMIp68(iv)InMANGBETUandsomeofthePARANILOTICLanguages(LOTHUO
TESO MAASAI) there is in addition an Article-like Prefix1 which may beomitted in certain specified contexts--usuallywhen theNoun is qualified by aDemonstrativeorisusedinanadverbialorverygeneralsenseInKALENIINmuchthesamefunctionisperformedbySecondarySuffixes
eachNoun thushaving aBasic formwithorwithout aPrimarySuffix and aSecondary form with additional Secondary Suffix 2(Primary Suffixes in theselanguagesareNounFormativesandNumberSuffixes)(v)CompoundNounsareusuallydiscussedunderIntimateGenitive(sect13a)
but the term lsquoNoun Grouprsquo is used to describe a Noun with its attendantQualifier (Adjective Possessive Demonstrative Relative) when forgrammaticalpurposesitisimportanttodiscussthewholephraseasaunit
4cAdjectives
In some languages there are no such things as Adjectives only AdjectivalVerbs and they are associated attributively with their Nouns by means ofParticipialorRelativeconstructionsInotherlanguagesthoughAdjectiveshaveVerbalbehaviourinthattheymay
beconjugatedtheymayalsodistinguishNumberGenderorCaselikeNounsIn many other languages there are Adjectives in their own right with or
withoutspecificFormativeAffixesandsometimesfallingintoToneClasses
5Number
5aNouns
In most languages Number is indicated usually by Affixes though StemvowelqualityandTonearenoticeablefeaturesintheNILOTICLanguagesInsomelanguagesNumberisneverindicatedinothersitisindicatedonlyin
thecaseofanimateobjectsDual forms Singulative forms (eg a drop of water) and Collective forms
(egmanyherdsofcattle)aretobenotedinsomelanguages
SpecialCategory
There is also inmany languages aSpecialCategory towhich relationshipterms(andoftenthePersonalInterrogativePronounlsquowhorsquoandsometimesevenPersonalPronouns)belongWordsinthisCategoryoftenformtheirPluralsinawaytotallyatvariancewithallotherNounsinthelanguageconcernedinsomelanguagestheirbehaviourmaybeconsideredaspronominal
5bAdjectives
InsomelanguagesAdjectiveshavetheirownPluralformswhichmaydifferfrom those of the Nouns Reduplication is a common feature in AdjectivePluralsIn some languagesAdjectivesnever showNumber In some languagesboth
NounandAdjectiveshowNumberinothersonlyoneofthemdoesdependingonthewordorder
5cPronouns
Here only significant or outstanding Plural phenomena are discussedPronounsingeneralaresetoutundersect8
5dVerbs
ApartfromlsquoPluralActionrsquoDerivativeVerbsdiscussedundersect4atheSimpleVerb in some languages has a special form of the Stem or takes a specificAffix in thePluralConjugation thismayapply toall threePersonsor toonlyoneofthemandmayimplyPluralObjectorPluralActionaswellasorinsteadofPluralSubjectNote in many languages a Verb such as lsquoto gorsquo or lsquoto comersquo will have a
differentStemaltogetherinthePluralegMArsquoDI
Thisphenomenonis toowidespreadtomeritdiscussionexcept in thosefew
languageswhereanoticeablenumberofVerbsbehaveinthiswayegUDUK
6Gender(andConcordAgreement)
6aNominalGender(ieGenderofNounsandGenderAgreement)
(i) Gender is only recognized here if it is accompanied by some form ofgrammaticalagreementThuswhereastheɔl-andεn-PrefixesofMAASAIareregardedasGenderPrefixestheklp-andcεp-PrefixesofNANDIthoughalsosex-distinguishingarenotregardedastrueGenderPrefixes
ThefollowingCategoriesofGenderinNounshavebeennoted
MasculineandFeminineCUSHITICBARI-LOTUHOMBAMasculineFeminineandNeuterKADUGLI-KRONGOMasculineFeminineandCommon(inclDiminutivePejorative)TESOMasculineFeminineandPlace(onewordonly)MAASAIAnimateandInanimateMA
In some languagesGender isdistinguished in theSingular and in thePlural(PARANILOTIC) in other languages in the Singular only in still otherlanguagesthePluralistoberegardedasathirdGender(BILIN)InsomelanguagesNounsmayhaveoneGenderintheSingularandanotherin
thePlural(SOMALIIRAQW)ThisphenomenonisknownaslsquoPolarityrsquoGendermayberevealedintheNounStemintheAffixintheArticle-Prefix
oronlyintheagreement(iewithDemonstrativesPossessivesAdjectivesorintheVerbalconjugation)(ii) Gender allocation may follow general sex lines (lsquoprojectedrsquo in some
languages to inanimate objects-PARANILOTIC) or be attached primarily tocertaintypesofAffix(SOMALI)In IRAQW there are three Genders but the allocation of Nouns to these
GendersissovaguethatnolabelscanbeattachedtothemandtheyarereferredtoasGendersiiiandiii
6bPronominalGender(ieinPersonalPronounsandorVerbConjugation)
This usually applies to the Self-standing Subject Object and PossessiveformsofthePersonalPronouns(i)PersonalPronounsmayshowGendersignsofatotallydifferentkindfrom
NounsSeeCUSHITICInZANDEGenderdistinguishingMasculineFeminineAnimal Inanimate
orImpersonalisfoundonlyinthePronouns
InMAASAIontheotherhandwhichhasthreeGendersinitsNounsthereisnoGenderinthePersonalPronouns(ii) Conjugation of Verbs for Person also has its own ways of Gender
realization sometimes differing from that of the Personal Pronouns SeeCUSHITIC
6cConcordAgreementIn theClassLanguages there isConcordAgreement in thatDemonstratives
ampc assume Affixes related to the Noun Class Affixes when qualifying theirNounsInsomelanguagesnotablytheMBAGroupthereareseveralkindsofGender
andConcordagreementoperativeatonce
7Case
CaseisonlyrecognizedhereifitisindicatedbysomechangeintheformofthewordshapeorStemchange in tonepresenceorabsenceofAffixesMerepositioninthesentenceisnotacriterionforCaseIn many languages it is difficult to distinguish Case Affixes from
Postpositions which can also express different kinds of relationships InBEDAUYE for instance there is a Genitive Case but innumerablePostpositionsattached to theGenitiveCase InMORU-MArsquoDI therearemanyPostpositionsbutnoCaseformsTonalcriteriacanalsobemisleadinghereWhereas inMAASAIthere isno
doubt about the way Case is indicated by tone in BARI tonal ffuctuation isbrought about by other factors such as tonal assimilation exerted byneighbouringwordsInmanylanguagesnotenoughresearchhasbeendoneforanauthoritativestatementtobemadePronounsandAdjectivesmayalsoshowCaseandinNUBIANandinsome
CUSHITIClanguagesVerbsinDependentclausesmayalsotakeCaseendingsThefollowingCasetermsareusedNominativeAccusativeGenitiveDative
Ablative1The term lsquoAbsolutersquo refers to the form of the Noun or Pronounampc used
whencited Insome languages this is in theNominativeCase inothers in theAccusativeCaseSeeCUSHITIC
StatusconstructusInNDUNGADINKALUOandIRAQWthePossessedNounhasaspecial
formbefore thePossessorwhich somegrammarians like to comparewith theStatusconstructus(ConstructState)ofEthiopiclanguagesSincehoweverthisformcanoccurbeforeotherQualifiersaswellitmightequallywellberegardedasoneoftherealizationsofaNouninJunction1
8Pronouns
8aPersonal
Herearedistinguished(i)theSelf-standing
PersonalPronouns(ii)theSubjectforms(includingVerbConjugationAffixes)(iii)theObjectforms(iv)thePossessive
forms(v)ReferringPronoun-SubjectObjectorPossessivethisisfoundin
indirectspeechinsomelanguagesandrefersbacktothespeakeregMORU
(vi)ImpersonalPronounthisisoftentobefoundinoneformofthePassiveEquivalentandcorrespondstotheFrenchuseoflsquoonrsquoegMORULUO
Personal Pronouns are an important item inVocabulary comparison but incertain languages theactual formsof thePronounsareof less importance thantheiroverallpatternThreesuchoverallpatternsneedspecialattentionBlockPatternThePluralPronounsare thesameas theSingularwithsome
tonaloraffixalmodification
InterlockingPattern(realizedpredominantlyinthepronominalelementinVerbconjugation)
Combined Block and Interlocking Pattern (if the 3rd Person SingularFeminineisleftoutofaccountthepatternisaBlockpattern)1
OtherpronominalfeaturesfoundimportantincludeDifferentseriesofPronounsorPronominalAffixesfordifferentAspectsMoodsTensesorMorphologicalClassesofVerbs
InclusiveExclusiveandorDualformsof1stPersonPlural(egNDOGO)GenderorAnimateInanimatedistinctionSeesect6bPositionofthePronominalcomponentinVerbconjugation(prefixedorsuffixedtoVerbStemor-asinDINKA-realizedassoundchangeintheVerbStemitself)Subject-ObjectComplexegMAASAIMABAKUNAMAIRAQW
8bInterrogativeIn some languages there is a general Interrogativemorpheme onwhich the
InterrogativePronounsAdjectivesAdverbsarebuiltegNGBAKAGBAYAInmostlanguagestheWordscorrespondingtolsquowhoPrsquoandlsquowhatPrsquoareseparateentitiesInsomelanguageslsquowhorsquobelongstotheSpecialCategoryseesect5a
8cDemonstrativeandDeterminative
(i)Insomelanguages(egBAGIRMIandsomeCUSHITIClanguages)thereisaDeterminativeParticleattachedtotheNounorNounGroupThisParticleisoften(thoughnotalways)relatedtoaDemonstrative
InCUSHITICtheDeterminativesareoftwokinds(α)DeicticieequivalenttotheDefiniteArticlelsquothersquoinEnglish(β) Singulative or Particularizing (Reinisch individualis) ie selecting one
individualoutofacrowdoroneitemoutofthemassInmostotherlanguageshowevertheDeterminativeisusuallyDeictic(ii)DemonstrativesaretobedistinguishedaccordingtowhethertheyarelsquoSpatialrsquoorlsquoReferencersquo
thedegreeofdistancefromthespeakerwhethertheyindicatepostureorpositionaswellasdistance(egSARAMBAIandKATCHA)
whethertheycanindicateTimeaswellasPlace(egPARANILOTIC)Note that in many languages the Determinative andor Demonstrative may
alsohaveRelativefunctionormayintroduceAdjectives
8dRelative
Only specific Relative Pronouns or Particles are mentioned here (In somelanguagestheRelativeisindicatedbyaDeterminativeoraDemonstrativeseesect8eaboveinothersbyaformofVerbconjugation)In many languages the Relative is also to be found in the Genitive and
Adjectivalconstructions
8eReflexiveandReciprocal
SpecificReffexiveampcPronounsoccurinrelativelyfewlanguagesInmanyothersthePersonalPronounsareusedinareflexivesenseorelsethewordforlsquobodyrsquo with or without a Possessive Suffix In some languages there areReffexiveorReciprocalDerivativeVerbs
8fIndefinite
Indefinite Pronouns (lsquosomersquo lsquootherrsquo) occur very infrequently See SERE-MUNDUampcandKADUGLI-KRONGO(NotethatinmostlanguageslsquosomersquolsquootherrsquoampcarerepresentedbynormalAdjectivesandneednodiscussionhere)
9VerbConjugation
9aAspectMoodVoice
Thissectionattemptstoclassifymodesofconjugationchoiceofterminologycannotbutbearbitraryandtentative(i)InsomelanguagesonecaneasilydistinguishbetweenanIndicativeanda
Dependent(Subjunctive)MoodInsomelanguagesthereisalsoanInterrogativeMoodInotherlanguagesthedistinctionseemstoliemorewithAspectDefinite completemomentaryperfectactionegIseeyouIhaveseen
youIsawyouIndefiniteincompleteprogressiveimperfect(sometimesfuture)actionegI
amwasseeingyouIshallseeyou
SubjunctiveorDependentthatIseeyouIn some languages the terms lsquoPerfectrsquo and lsquoImperfectrsquo are more applicable
thanlsquoDefinitersquoandlsquoIndefinitersquoinotherslsquoMomentaryrsquoandlsquoContinuousrsquoInTESOandKALENIINeven theAspects are subdividedaccording as the
action of the Verb has Present or Past Implication (TESO)-Single Action orRepeated Action Implication (PAumlKOT) Here the term lsquoTensersquo would beinapplicableTenses(seesect9c)maybegroupedunderMoodsorAspectsas thecasemay
bebutsomelanguageshavenoTensesassuchInstillothersonefindsoneselfdealingwithtypesofconjugationwhichcouldbecalledlsquoTensesrsquoprovideditisfirst understood that one particularAffix serieswill give aTime significationanother a Subjunctive signification and another aRelative signification1 (SeeBILINp531)(ii)SomelanguagueshavethreeVoicesApplicativeiewherethereisanObjectexpressedorunderstoodQualitativeiewherethereisnoObjectoranObjectinonlyaverygeneral
sensePassiveSHILLUK and UDUK on the other hand have two Voices-Active and
PassivetheApplicativeandQualitativeherearebestregardedasAspectsofthetwoVoicesIn BARI the Qualitative and Passive are more conveniently regarded as
DerivativeVerbs(seesect4a(iii))
9bConjugationforPerson
(i)Here themainparadigms foreach representativeClassMoodorAspectaresetoutwithdueregardtoGenderdistinctionandInclusiveExclusiveDualdistinctionwherepresentandtothefunctionofalternativeAffixalseries(seesect8a)(ii)Imperativeformsaresetoutseparately
9cTensesAs said earlier (sect 9a) lsquoTensesrsquo may be indistinguishable from lsquoMoodsrsquo or
lsquoAspectsrsquowhererecognizedhowevertheyarediscussedaccordingto(i) Tense Prefixes andor Suffixes and their position as regards Personal
Affixes(ii) Tense Postpositions which may follow the Verb Stem or the whole
sentence(iii) Auxiliary Verbs and the form taken by theMain Verb in conjunction
withthemsomeAuxiliaryVerbsareNegative
Somelanguageshoweverdonotlendthemselvestotreatmentunder9aorborcassetoutabovenotablyIRAQWAGAUTAMA
9dIndicators(SOMALI)orSelectors(IRAQW)
These are Particles which precede the conjugated Verb Stem and arethemselvesconjugatedforPersonandcarrywiththemsignificanceofTimeorAspect or Mood or Interrogation or Negation or Relative or Subject-Objectrelationship
10Non-verbalPredicationandtheVerbslsquotobersquoandlsquotohaversquoFromtheformalpointofviewaretobenoted(i)ZeroCopulaiethewordinisolationorinsimplejuxtaposition(ii)CopulaalinkingParticleconjugatedornotwhichisnotaVerb(iii)VerborVerbslsquotobersquo(lsquotobecomersquolsquotostayrsquoampc)(iv)VerborVerbslsquotohaversquo(lsquotogetrsquoampc)Correspondingveryoftenwiththeseformalcriteriaaretheconcepts(i)Identity(ii)DescriptionespeciallyAdjectival(iii)Existenceingeneralorinaparticularplace
(iv)Possession
ThereisagreatdealofoverlappinghoweverandPossessionismostusuallyexpressed by means of (i) (ii) or (iii) combined with a Preposition orPostpositionWhere there are Adjectival Verbs Predication is Verbal with or without
indicationofGenderandorNumber
11Negation(andInterrogation)11aVerbal
(i) Sometimes Negation is conveyed bymeans of an Auxiliary Verb (sect 9c(iii))butmoreusuallybyaprecedingorfollowingParticle-eitheraSuffixoraPostpositionNotethatinBANDAitisexpressedbyreduplication(ii)NegativeImperativeformsaresetoutseparatelyTheysometimesinvolve
ParticlesnotfoundintheotherNegativeforms
11bNon-verbal
ThecorrespondingNegativeformsofthosetreatedundersectIoaregivenhere
InterrogationInterrogationneedsspecialtreatmentinonlyafewlanguagesegTAMA
KUNAMANote that in a great many languages there is a special Interrogative
Postposition
12WordOrderintheFiniteSentenceNotethat thetermlsquoWordGrouprsquoisusedforanypartof thechainofspeech
selected for syntactical discussion as a unit (Compare lsquoVerbComplexrsquo sect 4aandlsquoNounGrouprsquosect4b)Thefollowingconventionsareused(nottobeconfusedwiththeconventions
undersect3)S=SubjectV=VerbO=Object
Aux=AuxiliaryVerb
12aNounSubjectThefollowingconstructionshavebeennoted insomecasestheycanactas
classifyingcriteria
Where there is an Auxiliary Verb the situation is more complex but animportantfactoristhepositionoftheObjectinrelationtotheMainVerb
12bPronounorPronominalSubjectIn many languages theWord Order is as in sect 12a Where the Pronoun is
realized as anAffix however and especiallywhere there is a Subject-ObjectComplexadifferentpicturemaybepresentedTheorderofthecomponentsoftheVerbComplex for instance is of great importance in E SAHARAN andKUNAMA
13TheGenitiveConstruction
13aNounPossessor1
Thefollowingconstructionshavebeennoted
(i)PossessorPossessed(insomelanguagesthePossessorisintheGenitiveCase)PossessorLinkingParticlePossessedParticlePossessorPossessed
(ii)PossessedPossessor(insomelanguagesthePossessorisintheGenitiveCaseinsomelanguagesthePossessedisinStatusconstructus)PossessedLinkingParticlePossessorPossessedPossessorPostposition
WhetherthePossessorprecedesorfollowsthePossessedhaslessimportancethan some scholars have thought More important is the variation of patternwithin the Word Group in any language and whether such variation issemantically significant or not Some languages for instance distinguishbetweenIntimateGenitivePossessedasanintimatepartofthePossessorlikeapartofthebody
Non-intimateGenitive-PossessedintemporarypossessionofPossessorordes-tinedforthePossessorrsquosuse
In most languages where this distinction is made the Intimate Genitive isformedbysimplejuxtapositionofthetwoitems-sometimeswithsoundchangeThisisalsothecasewithCompoundNounswhicharetobefoundinalmostalllanguages
13bPronounorPronominalPossessorWhere Self-standing Pronouns are used the situation is much as in sect 13a
thoughtherearesomelanguageswherefullcorrespondenceisabsenteg
WherethePronominalcomponentisanAffixadifferentsituationmayariseeg
SometimesthereisacombinationofaandbeglsquothechiefhisspearrsquoorlsquothechiefspearhisrsquoCrossreferenceastotheoccurrenceofArticle-prefix(asne-inMANGBETU
above)NumberAffix andCase signwhen theWordGroup is regarded as aunitisalsomade
14ConstructionswithQualifiers
Here againwhetherQualifiers in general precede or follow theirNoun haslittle classifying value but it is important in some languages eg SERE-MUNDUampctoknowwhichQualifiersprecedewhichfollowandwhichmayeither precede or follow In this respect Numerals and the words for lsquoallrsquolsquomanyrsquo lsquohow manyrsquo lsquootherrsquo lsquoeveryrsquo are often found to be in a differentbehaviourcategoryfromthatofotherAdjectivesAdjectives are introduced by Relative Particles in some languages in
DINKALUO and IRAQW theNoun undergoes sound change before certainAdjectivesCross reference as to theoccurrenceofNumberGender andCaseagreement in Qualifiers is made (this to include Adjectives ParticiplesDemonstrativesPossessivesandRelatives)
15Miscellaneous
IncertainlanguagesspecificParticlesneedtobesingledoutbecauseoftheirspecialbehaviourSuchforinstanceare
si(FUR)gi(UDUK)ga(GELEBA)
Occasionally Prepositions and Postpositions need extra discussion Forinstance the Prepositions of BONGO-BAGIRMI have possible etymologicalrelationshipwiththePostpositionsofMORU-MANGBETU
SUPPLEMENTTOINTRODUCTION
ElementsdistinguishingNumberinNominalsPronominalsandVerbalsSince the publication of theHandbook (Part III) researches byBryan have
revealed the remarkably widespread occurrence of similar elementsdistinguishing Number in many of the languages dealt with here These aresummarized below and will be found in detail by reference to the relevantSectionsinthetext
INumberinNominalsTKoppositionIn an article in Afriacuteca1 Bryan suggests the possibility of a substratum
underlyinganumberoflanguagessomeofwhichdifferveryconsiderablyfromeach other in their present state and which she calls lsquothe TK Substratumrsquonamed after the two most outstanding morphemes observed The underlyingrelationship between all these languages is thus morphological though somelexicalaffinitieshavealsobeenfoundThe outstanding features which they have in common and which are
remarkablyconstantthroughoutare1theuseoftheelementt(also crarelyd)asaParticularizerieaSingularSingulativeDefinite
Affix(beitPrefixorSuffix)toNouns2theuseoftheelementk(alsorarelyghampc)todenotetheoppositeoftiegenerallyaPlural
AffixtoNouns3theuseofanasalelementN(iennyŋ)asaPluralAffixtoNounsThedistributionoftheseelementsinNounsisasfollows
It isalsonoticeablethat inthelanguageslistedabove(withtheexceptionofTEPETH and IRAQW) there is amultiplicity of Singular and PluralAffixeswhich occur inmany different combinations to distinguishNumber inNounsTheseincludenotonlySingtPlurkandNasabovebutalsovariousvowelAffixeszeroAffixandinsomelanguagesSingkandPlurtFurtherinmostof these languages thismultiplicity ofAffixes occurswithAdjectives also (sect5b)5Whether thePluralSuffix ink org found inmanyEasternmembers of the
BONGO-BAGIRMIGroupcanbeconsideredasrelevantisdoubtful
IINumberinPronominalsandVerbalsAlveolarVelar(NK)oppositionAnevenmorewidespreadphenomenonthanthetkoppositioninNominalsis
the opposition between a Singular alveolar element (generally n) and a Pluralvelar element (generallyk g or ŋ) in Pronominals andVerbals the alveolarSingularelementoccurringlessfrequentlythanitsvelarPluralcounterpartThisphenomenonoccursnotonly inall the lsquoTK languagesrsquo1 but ina large
numberofotherlanguagesaswellascanbeseeninthefollowingtableItmightbearguedthatsincetisalveolarandkvelarthetwophenomenaare
one and the sameThe following outstanding differences have however beenfound
(a)WhereasthetkoppositionoccursinNominalsonly(butseeCUSHITICbelow) theNKoppositionneveroccurs inNominalsexcept incertainSpecialCategoryNounswhichmaybeconsideredasPronominalinbehavior2
(b)ConcerningtheTKelements
tandkarealwaysvoicelessexceptwhenphoneticallyassimilatedNinPluralAffixesincludesnandnyaswellasŋ(c)ConcerningtheNKelements
thealveolarelementisalwaysvoiced3andisnormallynthoughoccasionallydor r the velar element isk g orŋ in Pronominalsk g (occasionallyŋ) inVerbalsPalatalizedandorvelarizedformsofbothelementsoccursporadicallyThus
thesymbolsNKareusedinthiscontextasconvenientformulaeasagainstthemorespecificallyphoneticconnotationofTK(d) TheTK elements are or form part ofAffixes only theNK elements
frequentlyconstituteaninseparablepartoftheStemthoughtheymaylikewisebeorformpartofAffixesThus
Actually the Singular alveolar element is more common in Stems than inAffixeswherethenormaloppositioniszeroVelareg
DISTRUBTIONOFNKELEMENTS
ANOTEONCUSHITIC
TheCUSHITIClanguagesappearatfirsttobebasedonthelsquoTKSubstratumrsquobut the situation is bedevilled by the fact that in CUSHITIC there are twoseparatetelementsthetdiscussedonp22(t)andtheERYTHRAICFeminineelement t (ER t)1 These two elements are sometimes distinct sometimesmergedThusinGALLAandSIDAMOt(gtc)existsalongsideERtbutbecausethe
latterisFeminineaswellasParticularizingcisrelegatedtotheMasculinekinvirtue of its essential opposition to t appears here not as Plural but asMasculineFurther theassociationof theelements tandkwithGender ratherthanprimarilywithNumberhasledtotheirbeingusedinPronominalaswellasinNominalformsThustgtcParticularizer(Masc)usedwithNominals
ERtFeminineParticularizerusedwithNominalsandPronominals
kMasculineusedwithPronominals
Seeespeciallypp525-9(sectsect8c(i)(ii)(iii))InSOMALIbothtandERtarerepresentedbyt(withvariants)andk(with
variants)istheoppositeoftinbothitsfunctionsThiscanbeclearlyseeninthephenomenonknownasPolaritykisMascinitsoppositiontotheFemfunctionoftPluralinitsoppositiontotheSingularfunctionoftandsincekisthePluralofFemttislikewisethePluralofMasckThus
ItisimportanttonotethatwhereasERtoccursthroughouttheERYTHRAIClanguagesanoppositionoftkoccursonlyintheCUSHITIClanguagesIt isalsoworthnoting that inKALENJIN(PARANILOTIC) theSecondary
Suffixes ofNouns show t andk in theirTK functions (Sing Suffix -t PlurSuffix-k)butthePrefixesMasckip-andFemcep-arereminiscentratheroftheCUSHITICGendersystem(Seepp456511)
1OxfordUniversityPressforInternationalAfricanInstitute1957TheabbreviationLSNBBisusedheretorefertothepublishedreportalso(whennotitalicized)totheresearchexpeditionthatprecededit
2TheNon-BantuLanguagesofNorth-EasternAfricabyANTuckerandMABryanOUP1956FrequentreferenceisalsomadetotheclassificationsmadebyProfessorJosephHGreenbergTheLanguagesofAfrica1963
3SincethattimedetailedlinguisticmaterialonHADZAcollectedbyJamesWoodburnarguesstronglyagainsttheclassificationofHADZAwithBUSHMANinoneGroup
4HandbookIntroductionpviii1CoheninMeilletetCohenLesLanguesdumonde1924andinmanysubsequentworksGreenberg
opcit2Greenbergopcitp503From theGreeknameforRedSea4AfricaitsPeoplesandtheirCultureHistoryNewYork19591TermtakenfromDelafosseothertermsarelsquoshadowvowelrdquo(HildersandLawrance)lsquovowel-coloured
breathrsquo(Andrzejewski)2SeeANTuckerlsquoThefunctionofvoicequalityintheNiloticLanguagesrsquoProceedoftheIIIntern
CongrofPhonSciCambridge19363Forthistermseep4431CfDokePhoneticsoftheZuluLanguagepp52-532SeeDokeAComparativeStudyinShonaPhoneticspp2242983PCrazzolaraOutlinesofaNuerGrammarp5AStudyoftheAcooliLanguagep74Thesymbolsŋgbindicatethelabio-velarcompoundforwhichthesymbolsmgbwouldbeequally
validŋgbispreferredhereasbeingnearertheofficialorthographicrenderingngbintribalnameslikeMangbetuNgbayaNgbandiampcSamarin(inlsquoTheGbayaLanguagersquoAfrica1958)recom-mendsthe
spellingmgbforofficialuse1NotusedforaPrefixstandingbetweenanotherPrefixandtheStem1ThisParticlehasoftenbeencomparedwiththeDefiniteArticlelsquotheinEnglishthisanalogyisfalse2ThesetwoformsoftheNounarealsoknownasIndefiniteandDefinite1ButseeBILINp514forfurtherlesscommonterms1InLUOitoccursEvenbeforeNounPluralSuffixes1ThispatternalsooccursinBERBERandistypicalforERYTHRAICandconstitutesanadditional
argumentinfavourofGreenbergrsquosclassifyingofIRAQWinwithCUSHITICSeealsoHand-bookp14o1ThusinsomelanguagestheSubjunctiveistobetreatedasaMoodinothersitismoreconveniently
treatedasanAspectandinsomeasaTenseNormalEuropeangrammaticalcategoriescannotbeappliedherewithcompleteconsistency(ForinstancethereareParticipialTensesinEASTSAHARANandaconjugatedGerundinAMHARIC)
1ThetermslsquoPossessorrsquoandlsquoPossessedrsquoaretoberegardedinastrictlygrammaticalsensehereequivalenttonomenrectumandnomenregensastheGenitiveconstructioncoverssuchexpressionsaslsquobowlofwaterrsquoandlsquoroofofgrassrsquoaswellasactualpossession
1MargaretABryanlsquoTheTKlanguagesanewsubstratumrsquo(Africa1959)SeealsothesameauthorrsquoslsquoTheNKlanguagesrsquowhichisincourseofpreparation
2ButprobablyNKseep2213AlthoughbothSingtandPlurkarecommonoppositionoftkhasnotbeenfoundinanyoneword4ThereisalsoaCUSHITIC-likeuseofttodenoteGender(seep577)5OnlyPluralNhassofarbeenrecordedwithAdjectivesinFURInKADUGLI-KRONGOall
lsquoAdjectivesrsquoareVerbs1ButnotTEPETHinIRAQWinthe2ndPersonPluralPronounonly2ButseeNumberinFURp2213ExceptforthevariablealveolarelementoftheDAIUDeterminativeseepp238-91InsofarastheelementsNKdistinguishNumberofPronounPossessor5HereaSubject-Object
ComplextheelementKshowspluralityofObject
2InsofarastheelementsNKdistinguishNumberofNounPossessed6Oneofmanywaysof
distinguishingNumberintheVerbStem3WherenotsimplyacontractedformoftheSelf-standingPronoun7ButnototherNUBIANlanguages4InKRESI-IonlyintheotherlanguagesPersonalPronounsaswellasthePersonalInterrogativetake
theNounPluralSuffix-ge1AswellastheERYTHRAIC2ndPersonelementtwhichisnotrelevanttothisdiscussion
1THEMORU-MANGBETULANGUAGES
IT has been found convenient to discuss these languages under four headsMORU-MArsquoDI(LUGBARAischosenhereasmainexponent)1MANGBUTU-EFE(MAMVUischosenhereasmainexponent)MANGBETULENDU(examplesfromNLENDUunlessotherwiseindicated)
SourcesANTuckerfieldnotessupplementedbyworkinLondonwithinformantsEBLawiriMORUMIZA
GaspariOdaLUGBARATheEastemSudanicLanguagesvoliLondon1940(citedhereasESL)PEHackettfieldnotes--LSNBBLIBarrACourseinLugbaraJPCrazzolaraAStudyoftheLogbara(Marsquod1I)LanguageGrammarandVocabularyOUPforIntAfrInst1960pp373
AVekensLaLanguedesMakeredesMedjeetdesMangbetuGhentandBrussels1928TLarochetteGrammairedesdialectesmangbetuetmedjeTervuren1958pp232LMolinaroAppuntidigrammaticadellalinguaMadiVerona1925
1Phonetics1aVowelsAtfirstsightMORU-MArsquoDIwouldseemtohaveabalancedsystemofseven
vowelphonemescoveringtenvowelqualitiesfallingintotwocategoriesOpenandClose(The vowels in brackets represent the close varieties of ε a ɔ under the
inffuenceofiandu)
Therearehoweverafewwordsinwhicheaumlooccurintheirownright
TheClosevowels and haveanUmlauteffectonneighbouringvowels(seebelow) where this effect is not found or where there is some doubt as towhetherthevowelinquestionisCloseorOpenthesymbolsianduareusedThere is a tendency for Close vowels to be pronounced with a somewhat
lsquohollowrsquo voice quality whereas with Open Vowels the voice is harder ThistendencyhoweverisnotsostrongasinforexampleLUOThe vowel systems of the other languages have been less intensely studied
butwouldappeartobeofthesamenature1LarochetterecordsaninevowelsystemforMANGBETU-MEIEbutwithno
centralvowel
Diphthongs of the type -ia- -ua- have been recorded by Larochette otherinvestigatorsprefertorecordthemas-ya-and-wa-ampc
Longvowelsarefoundastheresultofjunctionherecontractionandelision
mayalsooccur
SeealsounderStresssect2b
Vowel Category Harmony is very common the tendency being for Closevowels to associate with Close vowels and Open with Open within words orwordgroups
ThereismuchUmlautofOpenvowelsbeforeianduespeciallyinMORU-
MArsquoDI
1bConsonants
(i)InMORUthereisoftenatendencyforoverroundingwithkandgbeforebackvowels
ky and gy are separate phonemes in MORU MIZA only where thepronunciationapproachespurepalatalcandjotherMORUdialectshavetsanddz (or tʃanddʒ)here InMAMVUandMANGBETUkandg are somewhatfrontedbeforeiNote that Hackett records neacutegyoacute house in MANGBETU and MEJE as
opposedtoLarochettersquosnedjoacutealsokpandgbwhereLarochettehearskpwandgbw t and d are dental (except in combination with s r ampc) r and l areseparatephonemesɽseemstobelongtothel-phonemeFlapped labio-dental has been noted outsideMORU-MArsquoDI and a bilabial
roll pw and bw in the MANGBETU2 Group Compare
Larochette further distinguishes lsquop lsquot lsquok and lsquokp fromp tkkp the formerbeing pronounced almost doubled these distinctions have occasionally beenobservedbyHackettwhoalsorecordslsquoƥ(unvoicedimplosive)
Comparealso
VoicednasalcompoundsarecommonthroughoutincludingndrnotethatndisalveolarordentalaccordingtolanguageCompoundswithwarecommonbutnotwithyLENDUisunlikealltheotherlanguagesinhavingvariouskindsofsyllabicZ
and r corresponding to vowels in the other languages Compare
( and hereindicatelsquodarkrsquoasopposedtolsquoclearrsquoarticulation)
LENDUisalsotheonlylanguagetohavedentalfricatives
(ii)ConsonantassimilationisconsiderablesomeofthemainprocessesbeingpandbgtfandvbeforebackvowelsinMORUsandzgtʃandʒbeforefrontvowelsinLUGBARA
Labialization before back vowels and palatalization before front vowels isvery common In some cases it is responsible for sound change between
languagesanddialects
ConsonantelisionevenwithinonelanguageisalsocommonCompareinMANGBETUtheformsasheardby
2ToneandStress2aToneToneisbothlexicalandgrammaticalIntheMORU-MArsquoDIlanguagessofar
investigated(MORUMArsquoDILOGOLUGBARA)andinLENDUthreetonelevels have been established and the same would seem to be the case withMANGBUTU-EFEAccording to Larochette however there are only two tonemes in
MANGBETU-MEJEI1FallingandRising tonesarefoundonly inMANGBETU-MEJEwhere they
occurinlongsyllableswhicharevirtuallydisyllabicInalllanguagesthereareToneClassesinNounsandVerbs
2bStressLarochettereportsatendencytowardsstressonthepenultimatesyllableofa
wordorphraseinMANGBETUaccompaniedsometimesbyextrahightoneasinnεkacirc-lsquokiacutedriɔheadacheNo such uniformity of stress pattern however has been found in the other
LanguageGroupsEvensuchintimatelycloselyalliedlanguagesasMORUandMArsquoDI have quite different stress behaviour InMORU stress is on the firstsyllableofdisyllabicwordsevenwhenitisavowelPrefixeglsquoizameatafteraconsonant there isa tendency to lengthen thevoweleg tongue
blood insomefewwords the finalsyllable isvirtuallynotpronounced1 person shadowInMArsquoDIhoweverstressisonthefinalvowel
Inbothlanguageswordswithinaphraseretaintheiroriginalstress
3WordShapeThesimplest formof theword ismonosyllabicCVThe formVCV isalso
very common especially in the MANGBUTU-EFE Group Where the formCVCV occurs the first elementmay usually be regarded etymologically as aPrefix(exceptincasesofreduplication)InMANGBETU-MEIE there is an additional anddetachablePrefix inmost
words indicated below by a hyphen (In ASUA the detachable element is aSuffix)ExamplesofNouns
ExamplesofVerbs(notedetachablePrefixinsomeVerbs)
StemsinVonlyhavebeenrecordedinrareinstancesLarochetterecordso-uacutespitograve-ugravebeabundantagraveaacute-ogiveinMANGBETUWordswithdetachablePrefixes lose thesePrefixesonly tootherPrefixesor
com-parableParticlesitisrarefortheStemofsuchwordstostandalone(Butseesect4b)
LarochettenoticesmanyCVCVStemswithrepeatedvowelandwith-r--l-or-ɗ-assecondconsonantinMANGBETU1
ThedetachablePrefix inMANGBETU-MEIEmaybe longor short and anexaminationofVerbStemsinMEIEseemstoindicatetwotypesoffundamental
WordStemintheselanguages
Forexamplesseesectsect4aand4b
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i) Verbs fall into three (in some languages two) Morphological Classes
according to the shape of their Stems and their conjugational behaviour(includinginsomelanguageschoiceofSubjectPronounseriesSeesectsect8aand9)
LENDUapparentlyhasonlymonosyllabicVerbs
InmostlanguagesClassIVerbstakeaPrefixusuallyɔ-(o-)invariousanddifferingcontextsThisPrefixhasbeencalledlsquoCharacteristicVowelrsquobyTucker(ESL) and Larochette (op cit) in MORU it is found in the Infinitive inOKErsquoBU and MAMVU it seems to occur in most Tenses in MArsquoDI andMANGBETU-MEJE it is found in some Tenses but in the 3rd Person only(whereitevenfollowsaNounSubject)ItishowevernotaPronounTheinitialelementinClassIIandClassIIIVerbsmayoftenbeshowntobea
FormativePrefix(seeDerivativeVerbssect4a(iii))
AssaidbeforeVerbsinMANGBETU-MEIEfallintotwotypesTypeIwithshortPrefixes(bothlanguages)
(NoteCharacteristicVowelPrefixinClassI3rdPerson)
(NoteCharacteristicVowelPrefixinClassIinMEJE3rdPerson)
LarochettersquosCVCVStemswouldseemtobelongtoClassIITypeI(withshortPrefixes) sneezeTypeII(with longPrefixes)begin (ii) InMORU-MArsquoDI there are threeToneClasses ofVerbswhich cutacrosstheMorphologicalClasses
(tε isaPostpositionSeesectgcNoteCharacteristicVowelPrefixtoClassIII
Verbsinthistense)
(dreisaPostposition)
InLENDUonlytwoToneClasseshaveasyetbeenfound
Tone Classes in MANGBUTU-EFE have yet to be worked out inMANGBETU Larochette combining Morphological and Tone Classespostulates six Verb Classes His numbering is given below probablecorrespondingnumbersintheotherlanguagesaregiveninbrackets
MANGBETU(bothStemandInfinitiveformsgiven)
TypeIwithshortPrefixes
TypeIIwithlongPrefixes
Longer Stems would seem to have inseparable vowel Prefixes εɓaacuteraacute belargeediacuteliacuterespect loosen praise
(iii)DerivativeVerbsare formedbymeansofvowelPrefixes (a- e-o-)orconsonantPrefixes(withl-ort-forthemostpart)convertingtheVerbstoClassIIandClassIIIrespectively
Causative
IntensiveRepetitive
PluralActionorPluralObject
Neuter-passive
FormativeSuffixesarevirtuallyabsentbutnote
ThereisalsoaSuffix-ainsomelanguageswithnoapparentsignificance1
4bNouns(i)ThereisanArticle-likePrefix1nε-ne-na-n-Plε-e-a-(zerobefore
vowel) in theMANGBETU-MEIE Groupexcept in ASUA and AKA whichtake a Suffix instead The vowel element of this Prefix is elided beforeVCVStems
ThisPrefixisomittedincertaingrammaticalcontext2Seealsosect13a
(ii) There is also a Prefix in ama- or m- with unknown function
ElsewherethisPrefixisfoundonlybeforetribalnames3
The tribal names MANGBETU MEJE MAMVU MArsquoDI never lose the
ma-PrefixNotehoweverinLESE
NotethattheLENDUSuffix-lεasinɓa-lε(=Lendu)aswellasthePrefixlε- to thenamesof all parts of the body is probably theword for lsquopersonrsquo orlsquobeingrsquo It occurs as an optional Suffix to words for parts of the body inLUGBARAbutapparentlynowhereelseinMORU-MANGBETU4
(iii) There are also Noun Formative Prefixes Note that the Verbal NounPrefixandtheInfinitivePrefixdonotoftencoincide
NotevowelPrefixin
NotefrequentreduplicationintheInfinitivein
(iv) Certain Formative Suffixes are characteristic of the MORU-MArsquoDIGroup but do not seem to occur outside it some of them occur in Relativesentences the Verb however being in its Infinitive form and unconjugated
Seealsosect4candcompare
AswithVerbstherearealsovowelSuffixeswithuncertainmeaning1
ThisisnottobeconfusedwiththeDiminutiveSuffixin
(v)ThreeToneClasses inmonosyllabicNounshavebeennoted inMORU-
MArsquoDIandinLENDU
IndisyllabicNounsnineToneClasseshavebeennotedinMORUandeight
inLUGBARAThere are four main Tone Classes in MANGBETU according to the tone
patternsofdisyllabicStemsThesehoweverhavetobesubdividedaccordingtothetoneoftheArticle-likePrefix(seeabove)ExamplesfromLarochette(rearranged)1
HighToneonPrefix(shortandlong)
ToneClassesintheotherlanguageshaveyettobeworkedout
There is a fair degree of consistency in tone pattern between languagesCompare the following LUGBARA words with their MAMVU andMANGBETUequivalents
4cAdjectivesInMORU-MArsquoDI there is a common Suffix -rɔ -rU tomanyAdjectives
including those derived from Nouns
OtherSuffixesareParticipialorRelativetheVerbbeinginitsInfinitiveform
InMANGBETU-MEJE thereareAdjective-formingPrefixesk- andm- thelatter often being Participial or Relative Larochette gives
5NumberSomeoftheselanguagesexhibitNKcharacteristicsSeep23
5aNouns
InMANGBETU-MEIENumberisdistinguishedinthedetachablearticle-likePrefixes(seesect4b(i)ThePluralPrefixε-(e-)a-ishoweverabsorbedbythefirstvowelinVCVStemsInASUA-AKAtherearePrefixesfoundmostlywithpersonsInsomeNounsthereisalsoachangeintonepattern
IntheotherLanguageGroupsthePluralisnotusuallyindicatedthoughthereis an optional Suffix -(y)i in some languages and in MORU an occasionalchangeintone
SpecialCategoryInMArsquoDIandLENDUcertainNounshaveaPluralSuffixin-nz-
InMORUsomeNounstakeaPrefixɗI-
InMANGBETU-MEIEthereisaPluralPrefixma-forcertainNouns(mostlykinshiporstatusterms)andthePersonalInterrogativePronoun1
5bAdjectivesPluralityisnotshowninAdjectivesexceptintheMANGBETUGroupwhere
thereissometimestonaldistinctionandinMAMVUwherethereisoccasional
reduplicationaswell
InMORUtheoptionalPluralSuffixfollowstheNounGroup
5cPronounsAn alveolar Singular element (n) and a Velar Plural element (k) occur in
Demonstratives in some languages sect8c) inMORU -ka is suffixed in the 3rdPersonPluraloftheSelf-standingPronoun8aPossessivePronounsmaytaketheoptional Plural Suffix -(y)i
5dVerbsNotetheprevalenceofthevelarelement-k-PluralSubjectisindicatedinsomeoftheMORU-MArsquoDIlanguagesbymeans
ofaSuffix-ki1or-(r)iattachedtotheMainVerbortotheAuxiliaryinthe3rd
Person
InLESE-ka-standsbetweenthePronounPrefixandtheVerbinthe1stand2ndPersonPluralSeesect9bInMANGBETUthereisaPluralPrefixk-forthe3rdPersoninmostVerbs
Seesect9bInLUGBARAtheSuffix-kialternateswithalengtheningoftheStemvowel
accordingtodialect
6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGender
7CaseThereisnoinffectionforCase
8Pronouns8aPersonal
InnearlyalllanguagesthePersonalPronounsformaBlockPatternofsortsinthatthePluralformsofthe1stand2ndPerson(andinsomelanguagesthe3rdPersonalso)arerelatedtotheSingularformsbeingdistinguishedfromtheminsomecasesbytonealoneorbytheadditionofavowelPrefixa-(i)Self-standing
LENDUisexceptionalinhavingadifferentseriesinthePlural(exceptinthe2nd Person) and in having ExclusiveInclusive distinction in the 1st PersonPlural
(ii)SubjectofVerb
InmostlanguagestherearetwoseriesofPronounSubjectPrefixaccordingtotheMorphologicalClassoftheVerb(andinMORUMIZAaccordingtoAspect
alsoSeesect9)
InMArsquoDItheVerbtakesSuffix-kiinP3inLUGBARAittakes-kiinsomedialectsandalongStemvowelinothersNoteo- inthe3rdPersoninMArsquoDIwhichisretainedwhenthereisaNounSubject2InbothlanguagestheSelf-standingformsareusedintheIndefiniteAspectin
MORUandMArsquoDIthereisa3rdPersonParticlekaaswellInMAMVUampcthiskaseemstobeusedinbothAspectsNotealsoitsuse
inthePluralinLESE
InMANGBETU-MEJEthek-onlyappearsinthe3rdPersonPluralando-in3rdPersonSingular2
(InMANGBETU owing to vowel assimilation the forms are not so easy toisolateSeesect4a(i))(iii)ObjectofVerb
ThePronounObjectoftheVerbdifferslittlefromtheSelf-standingform
(iv)PossessiveIn all languages outside theMANGBETU Group the Possessive forms are
also similar to the Self-standing forms In theMANGBETUGroup there is adifferent series used in Possessive Referring and Reffexive-Reciprocalconstructions built up on
Comparethus
(v)ReferringPronoun
ThereisaReferringPronouniinMORU-MArsquoDIInLUGBARAitoccursinthe3rdPersononlybutinMORUitisfoundinthe2ndPersonaswell
IntheMANGBETUGroupthePronounseriesasundersect8a(iv)isusedhereMANGBETU
(vi)ImpersonalPronounInMORUthereisanImpersonalSubjectPronouna-2usedwithClassIVerbs
in the Passive Equivalent Class II and Class III Verbs use the CharacteristicVowel
Inmostotherlanguagesthe3rdPersonPluralisusedinthissense
In theMANGBETUGroup thePronounseriesas insect8a (iv) isusedhere
8bInterrogativeThe Interrogatives lsquowhorsquo and lsquowhatrsquo are virtually constant throughout
OtherInterrogativesvary4
In most languages though not in MANGBETU-MEJE there is also anInterrogativePostpositionagraveoryagrave5(seesect15)
8cDeterminativeandDemonstrative(i)InsomelanguagesthereisaDeterminativeParticlenanεorniwhichcan
follow a Noun Pronoun or Noun Group to give it precisionl1
(ii) Inmost languages there are twoDistanceDemonstratives (distinguishedbytheirvowels)andoneReferenceDemonstrativeTheelementsnandd(Sing)andk(Pl)aremuchinevidence
In MANGBETU the Demonstratives and Determinatives are used as
RelativesLarochetterecords8dRelativeIt would appear that MORU is the only language to have a true Relative
Pronounsε
OtherMORU-MArsquoDI languages use Participial forms of theVerb (see sect 4c)MANGBETU-MEJE uses Demonstratives ampc (see above) LENDU uses theLinkingParticlesnaorcu(seesectsect13and14)theotherlanguageshavenotbeeninvestigatedinthismatter
8eReffexiveandReciprocalMORUhasawordagravendiacutevUgravecorrespondingtolsquoselfrsquoinbothitsReffexiveand
EmphasizingsenseegagravendiacutevUgravemaacute-rɔmyselfThewordslɔmvcandrUgravebothmeaninglsquobodyrsquomaybeusedinthesamewayandalsoinaReciprocalsenserUrorɔiscommontoallMORU-MArsquoDIlanguages1Similarly
ForMANGBETUhoweverseesect8a(iv)
9VerbConjugation9aAspectInalllanguagesexceptthoseoftheMANGBETU-MEJEGroupDefiniteand
Indefinite Aspect2 are to be distinguished principally by means of the wordorder though in some languages there is also a distinction in the SubjectPronoun series (see sect 8a (ii) In some languages the Subjunctive-Imperativeconstitutes a separate Aspect (see sect 9b (ii)
MORU(TC2Verbschosenhere)
InOKErsquoBUMAMVUampcallVerbStemsapparentlytakeaCharacteristicVowel Prefix for all Persons
In MAMVU further the word order O S V is preferable to S V O thisvariationhoweverseemstobeamatterofemphasisMAMVU
ThiswordorderreversalisalsopossibleinLENDU
NotealsotheIndefiniteAspectintheInfinitive
There isnoAspectdistinction in theMANGBETU-MEJEGroupwhere thebehaviouroftheVerbisasintheDefiniteAspect
9bConjugationforPerson(i)TheVerbStemisinvariableforPerson(exceptforthe3rdPersonPlural)
the Pronoun Subject often shortened is prefixed to the Verb Stem in theDefiniteAspectbutstandsapartintheIndefiniteAspectNote3rdPersonPrefixɔ- in MArsquoDI the 3rd Person Pronoun may be omitted in MORU andLUGBARATheBlockPatternbehaviourofthePronounsisnoticeablehere
ClassIVerbsaregivenbelow
(Notepresenceofk- element inS3 aswell as in allPlural forms in last twoparadigmsSeesect5d)InMAMVUthewordorderOSV(Definite)andOVSAux (Indefinite) seems to be preferred inmost cases Two alternative sets ofSubjectPronounsarealsorecorded(perhapsdialectal)
NoIndefiniteAspecthasbeenrecordedinMANGBUTUorEFE1
ThereisnoIndefiniteAspectinMANGBETU-MEJE
Subjunctive-ImperativeAspect(ii)ThisAspectisliketheDefiniteAspectinWordorderbuthasPrefixesand
ParticlesofitsownNotek-in3rdPersoninMORUandMArsquoDI
9cTenses(i)ThereisaTensePrefix-a-inafewlanguages
(TheexactdifferenceinmeaningisnotclearSeealsoLESEabove)(ii) In all languages much use is made of Postpositions These are found
usually in theDefiniteAspectandcovermore thanmere timesignificance Inmostlanguagestheystandattheendofthesentence
InMANGBETU-MEJEtheyaresuffixedtotheVerb
(iii)AuxiliaryVerbs(tobetodo)arealsomuchusedusuallytoextendtheIndefinite Aspect (where there is one) though themselves conjugated in theDefiniteAspectSeesect12
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerbslsquotobersquo10a In all languages Zero Copula is much used to express Predication ofIdentityorDescriptionInMORU-MArsquoDIthereisanoptionalPostpositioniIeandanAdjectivalSuffix-ra-ro-rU-runotfoundelsewherePossessionisusuallyindicatedbymeansofaPostposition
I0bTherearealsoVerbslsquotobersquoandCopularParticles(someofwhicharehardto distinguish from Verbs lsquoto bersquo) they are usually found in sentences
expressing Place Predication or in sentences introducing past or future timeThereishoweversomeoverlappingwith10aabove
LENDUandMANGBETUseem todemandaCopulaorVerb lsquotobersquo inallformsofPredication
Note that inMANGBETU the Plural Particleka is found in all three PersonsWith the Copula (Compare its use with Verbs sect 5d)
11Negation11aVerbal(i) Inmost languagesNegation isexpressedbyaNegativeParticlewhich is
postpositionaltotheVerbortothewholesentenceintheDefiniteAspectandtotheSubjectintheIndefiniteAspect(unlessthereisanAuxiliary)
In MANGBETU and S LENDU the Negative Particle is postpositional incertain contexts but precedes the whole sentence in others
InMAMVUtheNegativeParticlelinkstheSubjectPronountotheVerbortotheAuxiliary
(ii)NegativeImperativeforms(insomelanguagestheseareidenticalwiththeDefinite Negative in others different Negative Particles are used)
11bNon-verbalHeredistinctionisusuallymadebetweenlsquonotbeingrsquoandlsquobeingabsentrsquofor
which a different Particle is used
1WordOrderWhere there isAspect distinction theword order in the finite sentence is
ThereisalwaysanAuxiliaryintheIndefiniteAspectinMAMVU)InMANGBETU-MEIEwherethereisnoAspectdistinctionthewordorder
isForexamplesseesect9b
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessorInmostlanguagestherearetwotypesofGenitiveconstruction(i) Possessor (nomen rectum) Linking Particle (if any Possessed (nomen
regens)(ii)PossessedPossessorPostpositionInsomelanguagesTypeiisusedforIntimatepossessiononlysuchasparts
of the body and Type ii for non-intimate possessionsuch as objects intemporary possession In other languages the two constructions areinterchangeable
Type iwithoutLinkingParticle is used in all languages in the formationof
CompoundNouns
13bPronominalPossessorThesameconstructionsaretobeseenwithPronominalPossessors(exceptin
MANGBETU see sect 8a (iv))
14ConstructionswithQualifiersAll Qualifiers (see sectsect 4c and 8c) follow their Nouns except in LENDU
where they normally precede
15MiscellaneousPostpositionsTheselanguagesaretobenotedfortheirgreatnumberofPostpositionsmany
ofwhichcorrespondinmeaningtoPrepositionsinEnglish1SomeofthemalsooccurasNounsorVerbsothersexistonlyasPostpositionsTheyare attached toNounsandPronouns in the samewayasNouns in the
GenitiveconstructionTypei
TheymaybeattachedtoVerbseitherdirecttotheVerbStemorattheendofthesentencetoindicatedifferencesusuallycorrespondingtoTensedistinctionsinotherlanguages(seesect9c)
1LUGBARAwaspoorlyrepresentedinTheEasternSudanicLanguagesvoliandhasbeeninvestigatedmoreintenselysinceitisfeltpreferabletousethisnewmaterialratherthanquotetheMORUandMArsquoDImaterialalreadypublishedthoughnewmaterialonMORUisalsogivenhere
1Thesymbols and willnotbeusedintherecordingoftheseotherlanguages1ieslightlyretroffexSeeIntroductionsect1b2NotedbyHackettonlySeealsoBAKAp631HethusmarksHightoneonlyleavingbothMidandLowtoneunmarkedasbelongingtoonetoneme
InthepresentworkhoweveramorenarrowtranscriptionisusedandthematerialborrowedfromLarochetteisadaptedtoconformtoit
1Thesemi-mutevowelsofBONGO~BAGIRMIhowever(seep60)cannotbesaidtobeafeatureoftheMORU-MANGBETUlanguages
1HeregardsthesefinalsyllablesasSuffixesnotehoweversimilarformsinSERE-MUNDUp86andZANDEp143
1InMANGBETUthevowelPrefixesandthePronounPrefixesareinextricablyfusedandthetwoClassesaccordinglymerged
1CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp671CalledlsquoarticlersquobyVekensandlsquodeacuteterminateurrsquobyLarochette2ComparethePrefixa-(dialU-)ofMAp113andtheGender-PrefixesofMAASAIp4913SeealsoNGBANDIp884ButseeMBAGroupNounClass3p1111CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp682VuraCountypronunciation1PrefixesnotseparatedbyhyphensherebecauseofvowelassimilationLarochettersquosownclassification
isaccordingtodifferentcriteriavizaccordingtowhetheraNounchangesitstoneinthePluralornotSeesect5a
2ExamplesfrombothHackettandLarochette1Compareasimilaruseofma-inMBAp1131CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp701ThisformisprobablyanAuxiliary-awithClassIIseriesofPrefixesthecorrespondingAuxiliaryin
MORU-A NDRIis-rɔwithClassIseriesofPrefixes2CfNILOTICpp4254271LitI-sayingampc
2CfNGBAKAMArsquoBOBANDAp92NZAKARAp1493Saidbywifeonly4ThereishoweveranoverallresemblancetotheInterrogativesofSERE-MUNDUampcp92MBAp
118andZANDEp1495CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp731CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp732TakenfromHackettLarochetterecognizesonlytwoDemonstratives
1AndtoBONGO-BAGIRMIp74KANURIp183andNILOTICp4232ThetermslsquoDefinitersquoandlsquoIndefinitersquoAspect(seeESLp180)arepracticallysynonymouswiththe
termslsquoMomentaryrsquoandlsquoContinuousrsquousedonp17hereIntranslationthevernacularcouldberenderedbyphrasessuchasDEFINITEIbitesomethingIbitsomethingINDEFINITEIambitingsomethingIwasbitingsomething
lProbablyowingtoinsufficientresearchthetonesrecordedherearenotreliable2BothLarochettersquosandHackettrsquosrenderingsgivenhereMEJEaacute-nyɔuacute-nyɔampc1ThisprobablyexplainsoldspellingslikelsquoLogwarersquo2NotePostpositionusuallyfoundafterVerbs1yagraveisanInterrogativePostpositiontobedistinguishedfromya=bellyin1ThispatternholdsforOKErsquoBUalso1AndinbothshapeandmeaningtomanyPrepositionsinBONGO-BAGIRMISeep83
THEBONGO-BAGIRMILANGUAGES
IT has been found convenient to discuss these languages under three headsWesternlanguagesBAGIRMIGroupSARAGroup
CentrallanguagesKRESHGroup(includingYULU-BINGA)KARAEasternlanguagesBONGOGroup
SourcesANTuckerfieldnotesinSudanandworkwithSARAMBAIinformantsinParis1TheEasternSudanicLanguagesvolii(MS)SSantandreagrammaticalsketchesofBONGOlsquoBELI2YULUBINGAKARA(MSS)SSantandreaAConciseGrammarOutlineoftheBongoLanguageSocofStPeterClaverRome1963Pp157
RCStevensonBagirmiGrammar3(MS)SaraMbaiGrammar4(MS)MSnotesonBAGIRMIGroupYULU-BINGA
JLukasfieldnotesonBAGIRML5HGadenEssaidegrammairedelalanguebaguirmienneParis1909MDelafosseEssaisurlepeupleetlalangueSaraParis1897HBarthSammlungundBearbeitungCentral-AfrikanischerSprachenGotha1862JHallaireandIRobinneDictionnaireSara-Franccedilais6Koumra-Fourviegravere1955-9398pp
1PhoneticsIaVowelsBAKA has a clear-cut balanced seven-vowel system like that of MORU-
MArsquoDIwiththesameUmlautprocessesThe Vowels of the other Eastern languages are far less distinct and the
phonemesmoredifficulttodelineateSantandreareortsanindistinctoenformofianduinmostofhismaterialwhichherecordsiumlanduumlBothheandTuckeremploythesymbolsεandɔaswellaseandobuttheirexamplesdonotalwaystally7BAGIRMI and SARA MBAI according to Stevenson have five vowel
phonemes i e a o u but there are also open varieties I eɔ U conditionedlargely by neighbouring consonants or by stress Lukas reports only fiveperipheral vowels i e a o u for BAGIRMI Tucker reports nine for SARAMBAI i I e ε aɔ oUu but his examples do not always tallywith those ofStevenson8Allthreeinvestigatorsrecordatleasttwocentralvowelsaumlandə(orouml) the latterconsiderablycloser thantheformerStevensonandTuckerrecordcentralizediumlaswellTheDictionnaireSara-Franccedilaisusessevenvowelsymbolswiththefollowing
values1
(oandɔthoughoftendistinguishedinfinalpositionandoccasionallyininitialpositionarehardtodistinguishinmedialpositioninwordsaccordingtoDictSara)Thegeneral impression isof avowel systemsimilar to thatofMORU-MANGBETUbutlesspreciseExamplesofcentralvowel
Stevenson adds however that he had heard pronunciations varying betweenkrjga(withnointerveningvowel)andkInjgainlsquoaxersquoaboveVowel length is indeterminate and rarely significant (but see sect7) In the
WesternlanguagesitisfoundmostlyinmonosyllabicwordsandisindicatedbyaraiseddotDiphthongs ending in -i or -u (sometimes -o) occur sporadically in the
Western languages where it is sometimes difficult to distinguish them fromdisyllablesCompare
Nasalizedvowelsoccur inBONGOandBAGIRMI incertaincircumstances(egintheneighbourhoodofhinBONGO)theyaresignificantonlyinSARA
MBAIAnoutstandingcharacteristicofrsquotheBONGO-BAGIRMIlanguagesisthatthe
final vowel of certain words is semi-mute ie pronounced so softly as to behardlyaudibleandreadilyelidedbeforefollowingsounds2Semi-mutevowelsarehererepresentedbyitalictype
In some languages andor dialects no semi-mute vowels occur in final
position-the word ending in either a full vowel or no vowel Such wordshowever behave in context as if ending in a semi-mute vowel Thus
Noaccountistakenofsemi-mutevowelsintheDictSaraadtogivegεrtoknowcfStevensonadigeɽiSemi-mutevowelsoftenundergoassimilation
1bConsonants
(i)ConsonantsarelessclearlyarticulatedherethaninMORU-MANGBETUand free variants (Variphones) are commonwithin certain languagesThere isalsomuchslurringeg
In most languages t and d are either dental or alveolar according to thespeakerortheoccasionandevenoverlapwithretroffexṭandḍinsomewordswhereasinotherwordstheretroffexsoundscanbeprovedtobeetymologicallyseparateThe latter soundsarenot strongly retroffexbutapproximatemore tothe Southern English pronunciation of lsquotrainrsquo and lsquodrainrsquo Implosive ɗ isconstant throughout Compare
NotethattheDietSararegardsɗasanimplosiverthoughrecognizingɓ
indicatingprobablyanasalized asinZANDEitdoesnotrecordɽIntheDictSara there is no ny but nasalized occurs instead1eg ng lsquomarcherdoucementrsquob lsquoodeurrsquo aacute thingbi goat Cf Stevensonny b nya Thedictionaryrsquoslsquongrsquo(retainedhere)isapparentlytobeinterpretedasŋginitiallyandŋfinallyStevensonoccasionallyrecordsafaintimplosivejinBAGIRMIwhereLukas
hearsaglottalstopornothingandGadenldquouneaccentuationspeacutecialequinrsquoestpasuneaspirationrsquo
TheDiet Sara notes thatwords such as iacutem tohate igraved tobe cooked arepronounced(thoughnotwritten)YiacutemandYigraved theyaretobedistinguishedfromwordssuchasyib oil
ThefollowingsoundsaretypicalofEasternlanguagesonlythelabio-velarskpandgbflapped -verycommoninKRESHandoccurringsporadicallyinBAKAand
MOROKODO bilabial roll in which both lips are vibrated occurring bothunvoicedandvoicedinBAKA1eg
Nasalcompoundsarecommonthroughout(ii) Consonant assimilation as such is negligible but owing to the great
instabilitywithinandbetweenthephonemesthemselvesrulesforregularsoundchangeareverydifficulttoworkoutNotehoweverinBAGIRMI(Lukas)theeffectofginStevensonrecordslabializationbeforebackvowelsinBAGIRMIandSARA
MBAIandvoicingoffinalStemconsonantsbeforeaSuffixcontaininggintheBAGIRMIGroupeg
TheDictSaraalsonotes thatwordssuchasg ypestlek lsquoproprieacutetairersquouacutelrsquopoisrsquoarepronounced(thoughnotwritten)gw ykwoacutewuacutelanddistinguishesthelastfromwollsquopoilrsquoThedroppingofsemi-mutevowelsoftengivesrisetoconsonantjunctionsof
variouskindsToavoid these junctions thesemi-mutevowel isoftenreplacedbyahomorganicnasalconsonantinSARAMBAIandKENGA
2ToneandStress2aToneToneisbothlexicalandgrammatical(seesectsect489)Inthelanguagessofar
analysed for tone (BONGOBAKAMOROKODOKRESHYULUKARASARAMBAIandtosomeextentBAGIRMI)threelevelshavebeennotedbutitisnotcertainthatalllanguageshavethreetonemes(Butseesect4a)NotethattheDiet Sara in which all entries (but not the examples) are tone marked alsorecognizesthreetonelevelsThereareToneClassesinNounsandVerbs
ThereisgreatvariationbetweendialectsandevenbetweenindividualsinthetonepatternsofWordsespeciallywhenspokeninisolation1
2bStressStress isnormallyonthefirstsyllableofdisyllabicwordsandinvariablyso
when the second syllable contains a semi-mute vowel Occasionally stress isheard on the second syllable when the first one contains a central vowelStevenson records stresson the second syllable inBAGIRMIk laacute snake forinstance
3WordShapeThesimplestformoftheWordismonosyllabicCVTheformVCVisvery
commonespeciallyinKRESHandYULUwherethesimpleformisrareTheformCVCVismorecommonthaninMORU-MANGBETUthoughhereagainthefirstelementmayoftenbe regardedetymologicallyasaPrefix InKRESHCVCVisoftenamerereduplicationofCVIntheWesternlanguagescertainwordsendinsemi-mutevowelswhileothers
donotandtheirbehaviouratjunctionsisdifferent(NotethatinSARAMBAIsemi-mutevowelsareneverheardafter-l--r-or thenasalconsonants thoughtheydooccurafter-ɽ-)IntheEasternlanguagessemi-mutevowelsarerareandseemtobeconfinedtoBONGOandBAKAExamplesofNouns
InKRESHsincethefinalvowelsofwordsarealwayselidedbeforetheinitialvowelsoffollowingwordstheamountofvowelelisionintheaveragesentence
isverygreat4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i)VerbsfallintothreeMorphologicalClassesaccordingtotheshapeoftheir
Stems and their conjugational behaviour (see sect 9)
In SARAMBAI and BONGO Verbs consisting of V or VV are Class IIVerbsTherearenoClassIVerbsinKRESHorYULU-BINGA(ii) Tone Classes cut across Morphological Classes There are three Tone
Classes in SARA MBAI and two in BAKA and KRESH The number inBAGIRMIisuncertainSARAMBAI(Tucker1)
(iii)DerivativeVerbsareformedmostlybymeansofPrefixesofwhichl-t-andnd-are themostcommonsuchVerbsare thus for themostpartClass IIIVerbs The following categories have been noted
SuffixesarenotsocommonBAGIRMIhasaPluralActionorPluralObjectSuffix-tieg
andSuffixes-laand-seinafewwords
KRESHhasanIntransitiveSuffix-ineeg
oftenattachedtoAdjectivalVerbseg
ThereisalsoanoccasionalSuffix-a insomelanguageswithnodiscerniblefunction1
4bNouns(i)Noun Formatives are few TheDict Sara givesk- beforeClass IIVerb
StemsExamplesfromotherlanguages(notethattheInfinitivePrefixandtheVerbal
Noun Prefix do not always coincide)
ManyVerbStemsfunctionasNounswithoutaPrefix
Notelengtheningoffinalsemi-mutevowelin
(ii)NumerousToneClassesofNounshavebeenobserved
NotethefollowingtonaldoubletsintheDictSara
4cAdjectivesThe Prefixesm- k- and g- occur occasionally as Adjective Formatives
In predicative constructions however Adjectives are in most languagesindistinguishablefromVerbsSeesect10
5NumberSomeoftheselanguagesexhibitNKcharacteristicsSeep23
5aNounsIntheWesternlanguagesthereisaregularPluralSuffix-ge(dialectally-ke)
attachedtotheNounortheNounGroup1InsomelanguagesitmaybeattachedtopersonalnamesSelf-standingPronounsorInterrogatives(seesect5e)AdoubleSuffixhasbeennotedinSARAMBAI(seebelow)Semi-mute vowels are elided before this Suffix and final Stem consonants
occasionally voiced (see sect 1b (ii))
(InthedialectstudiedbyLukasthePluralisrarelyusedhowever)
KRESH occasionally suffixes the Plural Pronoun igi but usually does notdistinguishNumberSantandrea reports aPluralSuffix -n inOldYULUmessen chiefsmodern
YULUmessSgandPlIn the Eastern languages the Plural is hardly ever distinguished but the
followinghasbeenheardinBAKA5bAdjectivesTheAdjectivemayalsoshowPluralityintheWesternlanguagessometimes
insteadofsometimesaswellastheNoun
ThereisanoccasionalPluralPrefixwithprecedingAdjectivesinKRESH
5cPronounsIn the Western languages the Personal Pronouns and the Personal
InterrogativetakethesamePluralSuffixasNounsie-geItWouldthusappearthatthisSuffixmustberegardedasnominalratherthanpronominalInKRESHhowever -g- is itself an element in theStemofPluralPersonal
Pronouns(seesect8a(i))
5dVerbsPluralSubjectisindicatedinsomeWesternandCentrallanguagesbymeans
ofaSuffix-ki(-ke-ka)attachedtotheMainVerborAuxiliaryinconjugation
2
IntheImperativethereislikewiseaPluralSuffix-kiSeesect9b(ii))InotherWesternlanguagesthePluralSuffixis-nor-ni3
TheDictSararecordsoptionalPluralSuffix-iin1stand2ndPersonand-n
or-anin3rdPersonegForPluralActionandPluralObjectVerbsseesect4c
6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGenderwiththesoleexceptionoftheBONGOS3
PronounSeesect8a
7CaseThereisaLocativeSuffix-kior-tiintheWesternbutnotintheCentralor
EasternlanguagesInBAGIRMIandSARAMBAIcertainNounshavespecificLocativeforms
obtained largely by lengthening or reinforcing the final vowel
8Pronouns8aPersonal(i) Inmost languages theSelf-standingPronouns forS1andS2 resemble
thoseofMORU-MANGBETU1PluralformshoweveraretotallydifferentanddonotformaBlockPatternwiththeSingularforms
BONGOalonehasGenderdifferentiationinS3(alsoinSubjectObjectandPossessive forms)
(ii) The Pronoun Subject of a Verb is a Prefix consisting usually of ashortened form of the Self-standing Pronoun though the Dict Sara gives adistinctSubjectseriesmagraveinigravejigravesinigravenAccording to Lukas S 1 is frequently omitted in the Definite Aspect in
BAGIRMIS 2 and S 3 are omitted in the Definite Aspect of BAKA distinction for
PersonbeingshownherebythetoneoftheVerbStem(seesect9b)TheSubjectPronoun is suffixed to theVerbStem in theDefiniteAspect of
BONGO(P1and2)andBAKA(P12and3)Seesect9b(iiiandiv)TheObjectandPossessivePronounisaSuffixconsistingusually
ofashortenedformoftheSelf-standingPronounexceptinS3whereitis-ainSARAMBAIandBAKA-nyainBAGIRMIintheotherlanguagesitisoften
notexpressed(v)ThereisaReferringPronouninsomeofthelanguages
ItisnotfoundinBAGIRMIwhichusesneinbothcontexts
8bInterrogativeThePersonalInterrogativelsquowhorsquovariesconsiderablybetweenlanguages
OtherInterrogativesarevirtuallyconstantthroughout
InmostlanguagesthereisalsoanInterrogativePostpositionayawa1
8cDeterminativeandDemonstrative(i)InmanylanguagesthereisaDeterminativeParticlenani2whichfollows
theNounorNounGroupandisusedtogiveprecision(Insomelanguagesitisidentical with the lsquonearrsquo Demonstrative)
CfBONGObuḍunathispersonorthepersoninquestionStevensondoesnotmentionDeterminativesinSARAMBAInotehowever
in the Diet Sara yatilde-n ndam isa ni thing (which) squirrel ate in which aDeterminativeoccurstwice(ii) In most languages there are two degrees of Demonstrative in some
languages the Demonstrative is built up on the Determinative
BAGIRMIDemonstrativesareinvariableforNumberinformationislackingconcerningtheotherlanguagesabove
SARAMBAIhasthreedegreesofdistanceeachwiththreepostures4
Demonstratives follow the Noun in all languages (Note in BONGO apreceding Particle ba-apparently optional)
8dRelativeMost languages have an invariable Relative Pronoun in BAGIRMI the
Determinative follows the Relative phrase
InsomelanguagesCompoundNounsarepreferredSeesect13a
8eReflexiveandReciprocalTherearenoReflexiveorReciprocalPronounsintheselanguagesFromthe
comparativepointofviewhoweveritisusefultonotethattheuseofthesameword for lsquobodyrsquorUro as found inMORU-MArsquoDI isalmostuniversalhereSeep46andnote
9VerbGonjugation9aAspectInmostlanguagesDefiniteandIndefiniteAspectaretobedistinguishedThe
Imperative seems to belong to theDefiniteAspect and the Subjunctive to theIndefiniteAspect for themost partTheAspects are distinguished formally asfollows
(Lukas-noteelisionofsemi-mutevowelsbeforePostpositionga)
Examplesofreversedwordorder
SARAMBAIhasnoAspectdistinctionthebehaviouroftheVerbresembles
thatoftheDefiniteAspectinotherlanguagesButseeAuxiliariessect9c(iii)
9bConjugationforPerson(i) In conjugation the Verb Stem is invariable for Person in shape but not
always in tone (see especially BAKA and KRESH below) the pronominalSubject or a contracted form of it is usually prefixed to the Verb Stem andsometimes reduplicated In some languages it is omitted in the 2nd and 3rdPersoninsomelanguagesfurtherthePluralformsfollowtheVerbStemintheDefiniteAspectNotethePluralSuffixinsomelanguages(seesect5c)
(ii)Imperativeforms
BAGIRMI(Lukas1noteelisionofsemi-mutevowelsbefore-ki)
9cTenses(i)TenseParticlesareveryrarebutnoteinBAKA
(ii)PostpositionsaremuchusedintheDefiniteAspectusuallytoindicatethattheactionisinthepastCfMORU-MANGBETUp50
Inmost languages there isan InterrogativePostpositionayawaNegativePostpositionsarealsocommon(seesect11a)
(iii)AuxiliaryVerbsAuxiliaryVerbsareconjugatedintheDefiniteAspectfollowedbytheMain
Verb in the IndefiniteAspect and their function is to stress theprogressiveor
futurenatureofthisAspectThePluralSuffixisusuallyontheMainVerbbutmay sometimes be on the Auxiliary as Well
In SARAMBAIWhere there is noAspect distinction both Auxiliary andMainVerbareconjugatedIn some languagesNegation is also expressed by anAuxiliaryVerb (see sect
11a)
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerbslsquotobersquo10a In most languages Non-verbal Predication (whether of identity or of
place) may be expressed by mere juxtaposition (Zero Copula)
10bInBAGIRMIandKRESHthereisaVerblsquotobersquoindicatingexistenceinaplaceInmanylanguagestherearesporadicParticles(suchasinina)whichmightbecopulativeormightevenbedeterminative
10cAdjectivesmaybehaveeitherlikeVerbsorlikeNounsinthelattercasethey take their Formative elements ( see sect 4c)
WithIntransitiveSuffix(sect4a(iii))lit-aacutemogravezograve(orogravez-igravenegrave)Myboyisgood
11Negation11aVerbal(i)InmostlanguagestheNegativeisexpressedbymeansofaPostposition-in
some languages in the Definite Aspect only
(ii)TheNegativeImperativeisintheDefiniteAspectexceptinBONGOandBAKANotethePluralSuffixesinBAGIRMIandSARAMBAI
InBONGOandBAKAtheNegativeAuxiliaryisused
NotealsoinSARAMBAI(Tucker1-alternative)
11bNon-verbalWhereas theWestern languages merely employ the Postposition BONGO
BAKA and KRESH use the Auxiliary (with or without Postposition)
NotetheuseoftheVerbgwototobeabsentinBAGIRMI
12WordOrderThewordorderinfinitesentencesisS(+Auxiliary)+V+1+O(+Postposition)
the Postposition may sometimes follow the Verb
SomeSubjectPronounssometimesfollowtheVerb inBONGOandBAKASeesectsect8a(ii)and9b
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessorThewordorderisPossessed+PossessorthroughoutWherePossessionisNon-
intimatethereisusuallyaLinkingParticle
Where Possession is Intimate it is expressed by direct juxtaposition thisconstruction is identical with that for forming Compound Nouns
InmanylanguagestheNoun+VerbCompoundactsasaSubjectRelative(seesect8d)1
13bPronominalPossessorThecontractedPronounfollowstheNounandinmanylanguagestheLinking
Particle of the Non-intimate Genitive is optional or absent
Asalreadymentionedthe3rdPersonPossessiveSuffixisinsomelanguagesdiffeentfromtheSubjectPrefixSeesect8a(iii-iv)
14ConstructionwithQualifiers(i)ItwouldseemthatAdjectiveswhetherintheirverbaloradjectival(seesect
4c) formmay either precede or follow theNoun in theEastern languages inmany of these languages the predicative and attributive constructions areidentical(seesect10(iii))InmostWesternlanguagesAdjectivesalwaysfollow
(ii)Demonstratives (sect 8c) andRelative constructions (sect 8d) always followNumerals vary their position in KRESH but follow elsewhere
15MiscellaneousTheselanguagesarecharacterizedbyagreatnumberofwordsandorParticles
whichareprepositionaltoNounsandpostpositionaltoVerbs1ThePrepositionsareattached toNounsandPronouns in thesamewayas in
the IntimateGenitiveConstruction (ie there is no Linking Particle) there is
howeveraLocativeSuffixinsomeWesternlanguageswhichcomesattheendoftheNounGroup
LARGERUNITS3456ANDISOLATEDUNIT7THE languages of these sections have much Vocabulary in common1 thoughfromthegrammaticalpointofviewtheyarebestdiscussedunderthefollowingheads3and6SERE-MUNDUandBANDA-GBAYA-NGBANDI
TheselanguagesarenowbeingtreatedasbelongingtooneLargerUnit
4MBAGroupofClassLanguagesGrammaticallythisGroupisanIsolatedLanguageGroup
5ZANDEGROUPGrammatically these languageshavemuchincommonwithSERE-MUNDU
and BANDA-GBAYA-NGBANDI but there is enough divergence to warrantseparatetreatment
7BUAGroupFortherealignmentofthelanguageswithinthisGroupseep161
1Fromtwodifferentvillagesandhencenumbered1and22BothSantandreaandTuckerworkedinthesameareashereoftenwiththesameinformantsNoattempt
ismadeinthetexttosortouttheirdata3TakenlargelyfromoneexpatriateinKordofan4TakenlargelyfromoneexpatriateinKordofanspeakeroflsquoMAJINGAIrsquo(litlsquoverygoodrsquo)dialecton
whichtheNewTestamentisbased5Fromtwoinformantsfromdifferentvillagesnumberedhere1and26BasedonSARAMAIINGAYofBeacutedayaandhereinafterreferredtoasDictSara7NoteveninlsquoBELIwherebothinvestigatorsusedthesameinformantatdifferenttimesButitwasalso
discoveredthatinbothBONGOandlsquoBELItheinformantsthemselveswouldgivedifferentpronunciationsondifferentdays
8TuckerrsquostwolsquoSARAMBAIrsquoinformantsdifferedstronglyfromStevensonandfromeachotheritwouldappearthateachvillagehasitsowndialecthere
1InordertoavoidconfusionofsystemsmaterialquotedfromtheDictionnairehasbeenrewritteninthe
presentphoneticsystem2ThisphenomenonwasfirstobservedbyGadeninhisEssaidegrammairedelalanguebaguirmienne
itwasalsonotedbyDelafosse(opcit)whofirstusedthetermlsquosemi-mutersquo1ieslightlyretroffexSeeIntroductionsect1b2ieimplosiveʋandy1FoundalsowithTuckerrsquosinformantNo22CfBarthgela1SeealsoMANGBETUGroupp291LukasrsquostwoinformantsoftendifferintonepatternwhilethereistonaldifferenceinBONGOand
lsquoBELIinthematerialcollectedbySantandreaandTuckerinthelatterlanguagethesameinformantwaslargelyusedConsequentlymuchofthematerialhasnotbeenmarkedfortone(Stevensonrsquosmaterialismostlyunmarked)1ProbablypronouncedgaacuteŋSeesect1b(i)
1CfMORU-MANGBETUp351CfMORU-MANGBETUp371ComparealsowesternDAJUp2351-naisaDeterminativeSeesect8b2CfMORU-MArsquoDIp413CfNounPluralsinOldYULUsect5a1ButcompareKRESHS12and3withMABApzoo2SeealsoReferringPronoun1CfMORU-MANGBETUp442CfMORU-MANGBETUp453Fromdebεtna=person(who)istheone4CfthePositionalDemonstrativesinKATCHA(KADUGLI-KRONGO)p3071NotethatParticlesing-occurinRelativeconstructionsinZANDE(p150)MABA(p202)
RASHAD(p295)BARYA(p332)UDUK(p362)andGELEBA(p566)1OrIshalleatmeat2m-ɔʃ y-ɔʃ ampcifnootherwordfollows1ProbablypronounceddiŋamcfStevensoninsect5a1NoteasimilarParticleinLENDUp541SeealsoNDOGO-SEREp1031Manyofthese(bothPrepositionsandPostpositions)correspondtothePostpositionsofMORU-
MANGBETUSeep58(84)1GreenbergplacestheminthelsquoAdamawa-EasternSubfamilyrsquoofhislsquoNiger-CongoFamilyrsquoOpcitp9
3THESERE-MUNDULANGUAGES6THEBANDA-GBAYA-NGBANDILANGUAGES
SourcesPEHackettandANTuckerfieldnotesonmostofthelanguages-LSNBBSSantandreaAcomparativegrammarofNdogoSereBaiandBoiriCatholicMissionWau1934ComparativelinguisticsIndri-Togoyo-Feroge-Ndogo-Mangaya-MonduMuseumCom-binianum1950PRiberoElementidilinguaNdogoVerona1922CTisserantEssaisurlagrammairebandaParis1931RMortierlsquoWoorclvorminginhetMbanzarsquoAequatoria1940alsoMSnotesJHilberthNatesurlalanguegbaya(MS)PLekensDictionnaireFranccedilais-NgbandiNgbandi-FranccedilaisTervuren1952Ngbandi-IdioticonTervuren1955pp1091Ngbandi-IdioticonIITervuren1958pp1072JMCThomasLeparlerngbakadeBokangaParis1963pp307
1Phonetics
Santandrearecords fivevowelphonemesforNDOGOSERE iεaɔuwithsub-sidiaryvalues I eoU inunstressedsyllablesHacketthowever recordsatleast seven vowel phonemes for Congo SERE Lekens records seven vowelphonemesforNGBANDIieaaɔouInMUNDUNGBAKAMArsquoBOBANDAandGBAYAthesituationisnot
atallclearanditisveryoftendifficulttoisolatethephonemesInMUNDUforinstance theword for lsquoeatrsquo hasbeen recordedzU zo andzɔThere is also acentralvowelauml(orouml)sometimesalternatingwithabackunroundedvowel(ɯ)ThetribalnamesMUNDUMAYOGONGBUGUandNGBAKAforinstancehavebeenheardvariouslyas
UmlautiscommoninNGBANDIelsewhereitissporadic
Long vowels and diphthongs are absent Nasalized vowels are common inBANDA GBAYA and NGBANDI absent in NDOGOSERE and sporadicelsewhere(Insomelanguagesit isdifficulttosortouttheinherentlynasalized
vowels from those nasalized by proximity to a nasal consonant)
pfandbvarecommonalternantsofpandbinNDOGOSEREImplosiveɓandɗ do not occur in MUNDU BANDA and NGBANDI but are commonelsewhere(wheretheycorrespondtogbanddinMUNDU)Flapped ismostcommoninNDOGOSERE(cfSERE uMUNDUwwgrindstone)l-r-ɽareonephonemeSlurringoccursoutsideNDOGOSEREkoftenbeingslurredtoXorɣVoicednasalcompoundsarecommonthroughout
2ToneandStress2aThereappeartobethreemaintonelevelsintheselanguagesHighMidandLow1 Rising and Falling tones are common outsideNDOGOSERE but seemfor the most part to be the result of assimilation Tone classes in Nouns andVerbshavebeennotedtonealsoplaysagrammaticalroleinVerbconjugation(See sectsect 9a andb)Lekens further records a vowel-less tone (lsquodoffe bijtoonrsquo)beginningsomesyllablesinNGBANDIMortierreportsthesamephenomenoninMBANJA`taacute(withhim)
2bStressisoftenresponsibleforchangesinvowelqualityandvowellengthInMAYOGOthereisatendencytowardsvowellengthonthepenultimatesyllableIn NGBAKAGBAYA and BANDA on the other hand there is a tendencytowardsextrashortnesshereCompareEboueacutersquosBANDAspellingsyaʋra(dog)2yabru (goat) akblo (child) With Hackettrsquos TOGBO renderings
3WordShapeThe simplest form of the word is monosyllabic CV (but VCV in some
languages)TheformCVCVisalsoverycommoninwhichthevowelsareoftenidentical and the second consonant a liquid3 Reduplication of CV is alsocommon especially in BANDA (CVC is found in some Verbs in GBAYAKAKAwhereitwouldappearthatafinalvowelhasbeenlostSee4aand9a)
4StructuralElements4aVerbs
(i) Verbs in GBAYA KAKA seem to fall into two Classes according towhether their Infinitive Stems end in -i or not
buttheirconjugationforPersonisuniformThereseemtobenoMorphologicalVerbClasseselsewhere
(ii)Lekens records threeToneClasses ofVerbs inNGBANDI exemplified
by
WhetherVerbssuchasvicirctoopenbelonginwithTC3isnotmadeclearThereseemtobenoToneClasseselsewhere
(iii)DerivativeVerbshavenotbeen recorded in these languages except forthefollowingdoubtfulexampleinGBAYAKAKAhasitohurrypresscfhatogive
4bNouns
(i) An apparent Sufiix -sα1 with no discernible function is found in somelanguages of the SERE-MUNDU Group
NGBANDIhasanoptionalPrefixmu-beforesometribalnames2
But note in GBAYAKAKAmᴐ-nᴐ lsquoboissonrsquo lt nᴐ-a to drink In NGBAKAMArsquoBOandNBGAKAGBAYANounsdenotingpartsofthebodyarefollowedby -vo and -wi respectively unless followed by a Possessor
There is an Infinitive-VerbalNoun Prefix in some of the languages and inNGBANDI an Infinitive Suffix
OtherwiseNounFormativesarelacking(ii) Nouns may bedivided into Tone Classes though these have not been
workedoutButnote
4cAdjectivesAdjectivalVerbsasWellastrueAdjectivesoccurinmostlanguagesbutthere
arenospecificAdjectiveFormativeelementsapartfromanoptionalPrefixme-inNDOGOSEREeggbolograveorme-gbologravebig
5Number5aNounsIn all these languages (except NGBAKA MArsquoBO and neighbouring
languages) the Plural is formed bymeans of a Prefix In some languages thisAffixisusedonlywithNounsindicatingAnimatesIn NDOGOSERE the Prefix is nda- (ka- in BVIRI)
InMUNDUMAYOGOandBANGBAthePrefix isᴐ-oro-oru-1but inNGBAKAMArsquoBOBURAKAandMONZOMBO the -o issuffixedNotealsoanadditionalsuffixinlsquoMAYOGO2
In the GBAYA Group too the Prefix is ᴐ- or o- (or hio-) and confinedusually to Nouns indicating Animates
The Prefix hiu- is reported in YANGELE and ye- in BANGANDO (bothGBAYAdialects)InBANDAandNGBANDIhoweverthePrefixisa-3
Note also the following use of the Plural Prefix in NDOGO ndaacute-duu taŋgagravembv theTortoiseandtheFox4
SpecialCategory
In some of the BANDA dialects kinship terms have extra Prefixes in the
Plural
5bAdjectives
InmostlanguagesthoseAdjectivesthatprecedeNouns(seesect14(i))takethePluralAffixaswellas(sometimesinsteadof)theNounInmanylanguagesthePlural Adjective is reduplicated
Inthoselanguageswhichemploy-oasaPluralSuffixthisisattachedtotheNounonly1
In the BANDA Group the Prefix a- is attached only to the Noun
5cPronouns
InsomelanguagesthePersonalInterrogativetakesthenominalPluralPrefix(seesect8b)
5dVerbs
PluralityisnotindicatedinVerbs
6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGender
7CaseThereisnoinffexionforCase
8Pronouns8aPersonal(i)AccordingtotheSelf-standingPersonalPronounstheselanguagescanbe
grouped into three types NDOGOSERE (an outstanding feature is theExclusiveInclusiveDual distinction in the Ist Person Plural)
MUNDUNGBAKAMArsquoBOalsoBANDA
NGBAKA GBAYA and NGBANDI (here there is no ExclusiveInclusive or
Dualdistinction)
(ii) The Pronoun Subject of a Verb is a Prefix consisting usually of ashortened form of the Self Standing Pronoun but there is an alternative 3rdPersonSingularPrefixa-inMUNDUandGBAYAKAKA(seesect9b)
(iii) and (iv) The Pronoun Object and Pronoun Possessor are likewiseshortened forms used as Suffixes in some languages however there aredifferentformsinsomePersons(seesect13b)
(v)ReferringPronounsarecommon
(vi) Insome languages there isan ImpersonalSubjectPrefixconsistingofa
Vowela-1ore-
8bInterrogative2
The Interrogatives lsquowhorsquo and lsquowhatrsquo are fairly consistent
In NGBAKA GBAYA many Interrogatives are built up on -nde
CfGBAYAKAKA
ongege-ndehando(-nde)
CompareTOGBOabove
8cDemonstrative
In most languages there are three degrees of Demonstrative but inNDOGOSERE there are only two There is little correspondence in formbetweenthelanguagesSeparatePluralFormsarerareDemonstrativesfollowtheNouninalllanguages
TheselanguagesseemtolackaDeterminativeParticle
8dRelativeNodataonRelativePronounsistohandbutseesect13a(i)foroneuseofthe
CompoundNountoindicateSubjectRelativeinNDOGOSERE
8eReflexiveandReciprocalSome languages have a word for lsquoself in both Reflexive and Emphasizing
sense
A more common construction is Preposition ti followed by the ObjectPronounSuffix2
Alsocontainedin
mɛ-mɛpaacutet -mɛagravenjaacutepaacutet -njaImyselftheythemselves8fIndefinite
GBAYAKAKAmasomehio-mangoyahio-mangoyna
Somearewillingsomearenot
mbwa-kiawenhiacuteo-ma-e Theyquarrelledamongthemselves(littheirsome)
9VerbConjugation9aAspect(i)TherearetwoAspectsinGBAYAKAKAImperfect (including Infinitive andNegative)WithSuffix -i orZeroSuffixPerfect(actioncompleted)withSuffix-aor-oThus the Perfect forms of the Verbs listed in sect 4a are
Nosuchformaldistinctionhasbeenrecordedinanyotherlanguage(ii)InNGBANDIhowevertherearethreeAspectsdistinguishedentirelyby
Tone (example from Tone Class 3)
9bConjugationforPerson(i)InalllanguagestheVerbStemisinvariableforPersoninsomelanguages
absence of an Object is compensated for by a Particle
9cTenses(i) Most languages have Tense Particles standing between the Subject
PronounandtheVerbNDOGOSEREhasthegreatestnumber
(ii) Postpositions (or Suffixes P) are also found but are often difficult todistinguish from Adverbs
(iii) Auxiliary Verbs are common usually followed by the Verb in the
Infinitive
hia-gbabafa-obatɔ-yoOurfathers(longago)saiditAuxiliaryVerbshavenotbeenfoundinNDOGOSERENGBAKAMArsquoBOorNGBAKAGBAYA(iv)RepetitionandreduplicationNotethefollowingconjugationaluses
SeealsounderImperativesect9b(ii)andNegationsectIIa
(v) Tonal variation plays an important part in most languages (outsideNDOGOSERE) butwhether to distinguishAspect or Tense cannot be said atthisstage
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerblsquotobersquo10aZeroCopulaistobefoundoccasionally
A Preposition may be used to indicate possession
GBAYAKAKAmԑnede-demɔnedɔgahakɔmYouhavemanygoodthingsinstorelityouwithgoodthingmanyinstoreNotealsohere
ԑngԑneyangaThisisahorselingmԑneoWhatisyournamelitnamethywithwho
VerbalAdjectivesmaytakeneoromititmɔԑngԑde-apenmɔԑngilitthingthisis-goodmorethanthingthatfopomnebe-be-apenfopԑm(ԑ)Myplantationisbetterthanyourplantation10bThereisaVerblsquotobersquoinalllanguagesusuallydudadaumlordԑ2InsomelanguagesitisalwaysusedinothersonlytoindicatePastorFuturetimeInsomelanguagesitisidenticalWiththeVerblsquotohaversquo
There seems to be noVerb lsquoto bersquo inNDOGOSERE SERE yԑɽɔkɔlɔ amvԑtɔIwasonceachieflitIonce(Copula)chief11Negation11aVerbalInalltheselanguagesNegationisexpressedbymeansofaPostpositionsome
languages havemore than one according toAspect or Tense In the BANDAGrouptheVerbStemisusuallyrepeated-especiallyintheNegativeImperative
GBAYAKAKA(VerbalwaysinImperfectAspect)
mi-zɔkwindɔngnaIdonotsee(havenotseen)thosepeopleReinforcedbyAuxiliarytԑorParticlemami-tԑzakwԑnenaIhavenotseenhim
mi-benԑmahapԑ-mԑnaIshallnevergolsquocheztoirsquoFollowedbyInterrogativePostposition
ԑne-betԑnandeWillyou(Pl)notcome
11bNon-verbalThe Postpositions here are virtually the same as with Verbs in some
languageshoweverthereisaNegativeCopulaaswellNotethatinthephraselsquoitisnotIrsquothereisoftenanImpersonalSubjectPrefixa-Whilethe1stPersonPronounisinitsObjectform(Whereithasone)Seesect8a(vi)
GBAYAKAKAtwaԑngigasinaThathouseisnotbigReinforcedbybobonewԑnenaItisnothebomԑginaThatisnotsobonedalonaThatissolitnotWithlienotmobofinhatwanaThereisnothingmoreinthehouselitthingnotmoreinhousenothakombɔsariboangnaThereisnogameintheforestlitinforestgamenotexistsnot12WordOrderThewordorderinthefinitesentenceisS(+Aux)+V+OGBAYAKAKAkologdangsaliwarrainhasspoiledtheroadWhentheVerb
StemisrepeateditusuallyfollowstheObject(seesect9abcd)
TheonlyexampleofareversedconstructioncomesfromBVIRIwhereit isoccasionallyused foremphasisgbi-ninɔawiɗiacuteWhichboybeathimP litbeat-himthisisboywhat
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessor(i) Theword order is Possessed+Possessor throughoutWhere possession is
Intimate there is noLinkingParticle InCompoundNouns the construction issimilarbutStemsareoftenreducedtomonosyllables
Note the use of the Noun+Verb Compound to indicate Subject Relative inNDOGOSERE1 (see sect 8d)
(ii)WherepossessionisNon-intimatethereisusuallyaLinkingParticle(kainmostlanguages)
NGBAKA MArsquoBO (note difference in Plural forms between Animate andInanimate Possessed)
13bPronounPossessorNotethatinsomelanguagesthePossessiveformofthePronoundiffersfrom
the Self-standing or Subject form in the Singular1 (see sect 8a (iv)) (i) Intimatepossession
(ii)Non-intimatepossession
14ConstructionswithQualifiers2
CertainAdjectivesalwaysprecedetheirNounwhileothersalwaysfollowitInsomelanguages(notablyinSERE-MUNDU)therearealsoAdjectiveswhichmay either precede or follow in the latter case they usually take AffixesAdjectivesareoftenreduplicatedinthePlural
(a)PrecedingAdjectives
(b)FollowingAdjectives
AlsoDemonstratives(seesect8c)
(c) Adjectives which may precede or follow
(MostAdjectiveshoweverseemtofollowinNGBANDI)
1SeeLekenspixSantandreap25Riberop7NotealsothatthehuntingwhistleogindaacuteoftheBVIRIhasthreenotesonwhichspeciacuteficmessagesaresignalled
2agravevrointheSudan3CfMANGBETUp32ZANDEp1431CfZANDEp1452CfMANGBETUampcp363NotinMUNDUhowever1InthoselanguagesinwhichtheSingularNounhastheformVCVthePluralPrefixsometimestakes
theplaceofthefirstvoweloftenwithchangeintone2CfPluralClassSuffix-sԑinMBAGroupp1113CfZANDEp1454CfZANDEp1461ButseeDemonstrativessect8c1ProbablyborrowedfromBONGO-BAGIRMISeep712CfZANDES1and2p1471CfMORUp44NZAKARAp1492Seefootnoteonp441ReferringPronounseeabove2AlsofoundintheMBAGroupp123andZANDEp1501Or ŋgu-1Molegbevariantcitedheretonepatternsvarywithlocality2CflsquoDONGOp117SeealsoNILOTICp4251CfZANDEImperativep1521tɛ=Verbŋgɔ=InfinitiveSuffix2yeisaddedtoaTransitiveVerbwhenthereisnoexpressedobject1CfsimilarconstructioninZANDEp154andSLWOp431
1ProbablyborrowedfromZANDESeep1541Litit-to-mewithdogCfBANGBAma-nigravebuacuteruka-ma2CfZANDEp155andMBAGroupp1283ImpersonalSubjectPrefixSeesect8a(vi)1TheNounObjectislsquothingrsquointheSEREexamplelsquomeatrsquo=s inMUNDUandNGBAKAMArsquoBO=
ԑnUinMAYOGO1CfBONGO-BAGIRMIp821ThisdistinctionhasbeennotedinNDOGOSEREMUNDUandsomeoftheMAYOGOandBANGBA
dialectsalsoinTOGBOcfZANDEpp1481581TheLinkingParticlesherebearastrongresemblancetotheMBAformsndIandɓ(i)Seep1342SeealsoMBAGroupp137andZANDEp159
4THEMBA(CLASS)LANGUAGES
THE four languages of this Group MBA (lsquoKimangarsquo) NDUNGA(lsquoMondungarsquo)rsquoDONGO andMA (lsquoAmadirsquo) appear to be the only non-Bantulanguages in the Congo to employ a system of Noun Classes and Concordagreements-usuallybymeansofSuffixesSourcesANTuckerandPEHackettfieldnotes-LSNBBJCarringtonlsquoEsquissedelalanguemba(Kimanga)rsquoKongo-Overzee1949LBdeBoeckGrammairedumondunga(LisalaCongoBelge)Bruxelles1952
1Phonetics
Both Carrington and de Boeck record a seven-vowel system to Which thepresentauthorsaddIandUWhichappear tobeunstressedformsofɛandɔ)(andwhichare includedundereandobyCarringtonandundereandobydeBoeck)andanoccasionalcentralvowelaumlLong vowels have occasionally been heard in all languages but no
diphthongsNasalizedvowelsoccurinMBASporadicUmlautɛampgteɔampgtoaampgtaumloccursintheneighbourhoodof
i andu InNDUNGAthere isvowelchangeaampgtɛore inconnexionwithClass2Suffix-y-(seesect4b)There isCategoryHarmony in theSuffixesofClasses Iand2 inMBA(see
noteonsect4b)
Voicednasalcompoundsarecommonŋisrareoutsidethecompoundŋg1-r-ɽareonephoneme
2ToneandStress2aThereappear tobeonly twotone levels lexically-HighandLowMid toneandFalling toneoccurgrammaticallyToneClasses inNouns andVerbshavebeennoted
2bStresssometimesaccompaniedbyaslightdegreeoflengthseemstofallonthefirstsyllableofawordStemTheNounClassSuffixisneverstressed
3WordShapeThesimplestformofwordStemwhenshornofitsAffixes(ClassSuffixesin
the case of Nouns) is CV The form CVCV is also very common oftenconsisting of the reduplication of CV or else where the second consonant isdifferentarepetitionofthefirstvowel1Forexamplesseeespeciallysect4
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i)VerbStemshavetheformCVorCVCVwithreduplicatedvowelbutthere
donotappeartobeanyMorphologicalClasses(ii) Two Tone Classes have been distinguished giving rise to two tone
conjugations2
(iii)DerivativeVerbsareformedbymeansofSuffixes
Causative
FrequentativeIntensive
Directional
NeuterThere is a Particle -la or -le (-ta in lsquoDONGO) indicating Neuter
PassiveReflexive or Reciprocal action This Particle appears to be aPostpositioninMAbutaSuffixelsewhereInNDUNGAit isevenconjugatedforPerson(seesect9c(ii))
4bNouns(i)AlltheselanguageshaveNounClassesshownbySuffixesandaConcord
systemindicatedbyPrefixesandorSuffixes(seesect6)TheallocationofspecificNounstoClassesisfairlyconsistentbetweenthelanguagesbutlittlecorrelationbetweenClassandmeaningcanbeestablishedbeyondthefact that theNounsindicatinghumanbeingsoccurinClasses12and7andmanypartsofthebodyinClasses3 and4TheClassSuffixes themselves are closely related and thepairing of Singular Class With Plural Class also shows a high degree ofconsistencythroughouttheGroup1TheClassSuffixesandConcordelementsaresetouthereinthesameorderas
inCarrington(opcit)butwithdifferentnumbering
Theformssetoutaboverepresent themainphoneticvariantsothervariantswillbefoundintheexamplesbelow
Examples
TheClassSuffixesmayalsohaveaFormativefunction
OntheotherhandthereisoftenvariationofSuffixwithoutapparentvariation
inmeaningIn lsquoDONGO and MA the final vowel itself appears to be a Suffix and
alternativeformswithoutthisvowelareoccasionallyheardThusa-maacute-ɗiacuteora-maacute-ɗyoacute(tribalnameofMA)AllnounsinMAbeginWithanInitialVowela-(U-inthevariantspokenat
Niangara)whichmaybeomittedincertaingrammaticalcontexts1InNDUNGAmanyNounsinClasses3and4takeaSingularPrefix(l)i-anda
PluralPrefixma-2inadditiontotheSuffixes
Notealso
(ii)Nounsalso fall intoToneClassesand tonaldoubletsareverycommonNotethatthePluralofaNounisusuallyinthesameToneClassastheSingular
4cAdjectivesInNDUNGAsomeAdjectiveshaveaPrefixe-othersaSuffixndashme3 Inall
languages except MA most Adjectives take the same Class Suffixes as theNounstowhichtheyreferSeesectsect6and14
5Number
5aNounsAs already shown each Singular Noun Class has its corresponding Plural
NounClass occasionally there is a choice of Plural forms and inNDUNGAsomeNounshaveSingularandPluralPrefixesasWell(seesect4b(i))DeBoeckalso notes in NDUNGA suumaahԑ un cheveu suumaazԑ des cheveuxsuumԑԑyelescheveuxtouslescheveuxSpecialcategoryPlural Prefixes have been found in some kinship terms in the Personal
Interrogative and in NDUNGA in the 3rd Person Pronoun
5bAdjectivesApart from the various types of Concordial agreement (see sect 6) in the
Adjectives of all languages only NDUNGA Adjectives have specified Plural
forms5cPronounsSeesect5aaboveandsect8c
5dVerbsInMBA3rdPersonPlural(DefiniteAspect)isindicatedbyHightoneonthe
Verb Stem-only apparent however in TC 2 Thus from Carrington
InNDUNGA3rdPersonPlural is indicatedbyvowelor tonechange in theVerbStemandorSuffix-ugraveSeealsosect9b
InlsquoDONGO3rdPersonSingularandPluralaredistinguishedbytonealone
InMA plurality of Subject is indicated for all Persons by various kinds of
inffectionoftheVerbStem
DeBoeck further notes that inNDUNGA a FrequentativeVerb Stem oftendenotesPluralSubjectObjectoraction(seesect4a(iii))1
nɛgwagwaacutehaacutejesuiscasseacutenugwagwaacutehaacute-kaacutenoussommesbriseacutes6GenderandConcordingElements
(i)Gender ismostmarked in the Pronouns InMA there are fourGenders-Masculine FeminineAnimal and Inanimate2 InMBAFeminine andAnimalfalltogetherInlsquoDONGOallAnimatesfalltogetherandaredistinguishedfromInanimates (see sect 8a) There would seem to be no Grammatical Gender inNDUNGA(ii) Both Gender Agreement and Concordia] Agreement With the Noun
Classes exist in fact four types of Agreement are to be distinguished (notcommontoalllanguageshowever)(a)GenderConcord(MBA)
bymeans ofMasculine Feminine (andAnimal) or Plural Pronoun-usedwithAnimatesonly
(b)Animateamp124InanimateGenderConcords(lsquoDONGOMA)
bymeans of Particles bearing no resemblance to Pronouns but distinguishing
AnimatesfromInanimates
(c)NounClassConcords(MBANDUNGAlsquoDONGO)
by means of Particles bearing a strong phonetic relation to the ClassSuffixes
(d)NounStem()Concords(lsquoDONGO)
by means of Particles often (but by no means always) bearing somephoneticrelationtotheNounStem
Theirdistributionisasfollows
7Case(i)CarringtonnotescertainLocativeSuffixesinMBA
(LSNBB recordings laacutegyigrave house laacutegyiacute in the house) (ii) InMBA aNounwhichistheSubjectofanon-verbalsentenceorVerbldquotobersquotakesaSuffiixndasha
Class 1 Nouns take -wa and Class 2 Nouns take -ya here
Adjectivesadd-ga(Sg)and-ya(Pl)insuchcontexts
Seefurthersect10a
Statusconstructus1
(iii) In NDUNGA a Noun When qualified by an Adjective (sect14b) or aPossessive (sectI3a b) takes a Suffix -aacute which often replaces the vowel of the
ClassSuffix
ThisSuffixalsooccursinRelativeconstructions
ItmayevenbeattachedtoClassConcordsthusfromlɛ(Class3)andkɛ(Class5) de Boeck gives
This Suffix is also to be found with the first component of the Intimate
GenitiveinMASeealsosect13a
8Pronouns8aPersonal(i) The Self-standing Pronouns of MBA and NDUNGA have much in
common except that NDUNGA does not showGenderMBA andMA showGender in varying degrees lsquoDONGO shows AnimateInanimate distinctiononly lsquoDONGO alone shows ExclusiveInclusive distinction in the Ist PersonPlural
(ii)ThePronounSubject of aVerb is either theSelf-standingPronounor ashortenedformofitusedasaPrefixInMBAtheformsareidenticalexceptintheIstPersonPluraliacute-intheotherlanguagesdifferentseriesofPrefixesarealsotobefoundWithsomeAspectsandorTenses(seesect9b)
InlsquoDONGOwhenaNounisSubjecttheVerbtakestheAnimateInanimateConcordPrefix(seesect6b)viz
When however theNoun is the Subject of a Passive Equivalent theVerbPrefixisthatofthe3rdPersonSingular
(iii) The Self-standing Pronoun may also act as Pronoun Object inMBANDUNGAandMAexceptthattheIstPersonPluralinMBAisiagainandthe3rdPersonPluralinMAisiacutepograveonlyFor NDUNGA de Boeck gives in addition a contracted series of Object
SuffixesusuallyfoundWithNegativeVerbs
InlsquoDONGOthereisadistinctseriesofObjectSufiixes1
(iv) The Pronoun Subject acts as Possessive Prefix inMBA except in theNon-intimateformsoftheIstand2ndPersonsSingularwherethereareSuffixes-agraveand-(w)acirc(seesect13b)In NDUNGA the Object forms are used as Possessive Suffixes and after
Prepositionstothesemaybeadded-liacute-lo-oloPl-leacutereferringtoAnimalsor
InanimatesDeBoeckgives
lsquoDONGOandMAhaveadistinctseriesofPossessiveSuffixes
(v) There is a Referring Pronoun in MA Which may also be used in aReflexive sense
(vi)DeBoeckrecordsanImpersonalPronounmi(=Frlsquoonrsquo)forNDUNGAbutgivesnoexamples
8bInterrogative2Pronominalforms
SometimesConcordSuffixesareattached
In NDUNGA the Interrogative sentence may begin with a Particle du (de
Boeckrsquodo)
Adjectivalforms
InMBANDUNGAandDONGOtheseareformedontheClassConcordsinMBA and NDUNGA the Noun loses its Class Suffix
In MA the Interrogative Adjective which here precedes the Noun showsAnimate Inanimate agreement the particle is -gɔ in the Amadi and Dakwavariants-gɔinNiangaraAnimate
Inanimate
8cDemonstrativeInMBAtherearetwodegreesofDemonstrativeassociatedWiththevowel-I
(Carrington -e) for lsquonearrsquo and -U (Carrington -o) for lsquofarrsquo distance1 The
DemonstrativeQualifiersareSuffixesbuiltontheClassConcordsInthelsquonearrsquoformtheDemonstrativeSuffixfollowstheNounClassSuffixoftengivingtheimpressionofreduplicationinthelsquofarrsquoformtheDemonstrativeSuffixreplacestheNounClassSuffixIftheNounreferstoanAnimateitmaytaketheGenderConcordinaddition
Carringtongivesthefollowingpronominalforms
InNDUNGAthereare threedegreesofdistanceDemonstrativeending in -t(this) -e (that) -ola (yonder) there is also a Reference form -o6a (the one inquestion)The formsmayprecede theNoun follow it ormergewith it in theformofaSuffixAsinMBAtheyarebuiltupontheClassConcords
ExamplesfromdeBoeck
Precedingforms
(DeBoecksayshowever that it is rarefor the last formtoprecedeitsNoun)Followingforms
ThelsquoDONGOformsaresimilartotheuncontractedNDUNGAformsexceptthat the vowels are -e (this) -gt (that) -i (yonder) the Reference formBe isusually incapsulated between the Noun and its Class Suffix
In MA the Demonstratives are based on AnimateInanimate ConcordialdistinctionThere are twodegrees of distance shownby vowel quality andortoneAsinNDUNGADemonstrativesmayprecedeorfollowtheNoun
In NDUNGA one tentative division may be made into Indicative andSubjunctiveMoodaccordingtotheSubjectPronounseriestheIndicativeMoodmay be further divided intoTenseswithout Suffixes (Present Perfect Future)andTenseswithSuffixes(Past)(Seesect9bandc)9bConjugationforPerson
(i)ApartfromsometonalfluctuationtheVerbStemisinvariableforPersoninMBANDUNGAandlsquoDONGO(thoughNDUNGAshowschangeinthe3rd
PersonPlural) inMAthePluralVerb forall threePersonsdiffersappreciablyfromtheSingularVerb
When a Noun is Subject the 3rd Person Pronouns are omitted lsquoDONGOhoweveremploystheAnimateInanimateGenderConcord(seesect8a(ii))1(ii)Imperativeforms(noterepetitionofVerbinlsquoDONGO)
NDUNGA(examplesrearrangedfromdeBoeckretaininghisterminology)
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerblsquotobersquo10aZeroCopulaisfoundinsentenceslikethefollowing
In MBA the leading Noun or Pronoun in Non-verbal Predication takes aSuffix-aPronounsandAdjectivesWhenreferringtopersonstaketheConcordSuffixes of Class 7 (Sg) and Class 2 (Pl) as well as this Suffix SubjectPronounsfollowtheseforms
In lsquoDONGO a Suffix -na is added to Adjectives in such constructions
10bTheVerblsquotobersquoisɗuiɗoɗaaccordingtolanguage2InMBAitisusedforexistenceinaplacemostly
11Negation
11aVerbalIn MBA the Postposition ɓԑ is used in all Tenses except the Negative
ImperativeWithintroductoryParticleta
12WordOrder12aVerbalS ( +Aux)+Verb ( +Postposition)+OWhen theVerbStem is repeated it
usuallyfollowstheObjectInDONGOthereisreversedwordorderintheDefiniteAspectS(+Aux)+
O+VSeesect9aReversedword order also occurs inMBA and rsquoDONGO inNomino-verbal
constructions112bNon-verbal
S+ComplementinalllanguagesexceptMBAinMBAapronominalSubjectfollowsaNounorAdjectivewhichhasaSuffiix-aSeesect10a
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessorIn MBA the order is Possessor-l-Possessed in lsquoDONGO and MA it is
Possessed+Possessor inNDUNGA both constructions are found according asthe possession is Intimate orNon-intimateMBA (Intimate andNon-intimateOptional Particle formed from the Class Concord of the Possessed+I2)
Non-intimate-Possessed (with -aacute Suffix see sect 7 (iii))+Linking Particle
ta1+PossessorDe Boeck records an alternative Non-intimate form built on the Class
ConcordthePossessedstillwithSuffix-aacute2
Non-intimate-Possessed+LinkingParticle+PossessorthelatterlosesitsInitialVowel Linking Particle varies in shape but there is as yet no clue to its
composition13bPronounPossessorHere in MBA Intimate and Non-intimate possession are usually
distinguished in that the Intimate form cannot be used for Non-intimatepossessionthoughtheNon-intimateformmaybeusedforbothNotethatinthelatter form the Pronoun follows the Class Concord for 1st and 2nd PersonSingularbutprecedesitforallotherPersons
(NotethatlsquochildrsquonormallytakesClass7ConcordlsquochildrenClass2)Otherexamples
InNDUNGAand DONGO theNon-intimate construction is used for bothIntimateandNon-intimatepossession(NotendashaacuteSuffixinNDUNGAandlsquoNounStemrsquo as well as Class Concords in lsquoDONGO)
14ConstructionswithQualifiersInMBAandNDUNGAallAdjectivesfollowtheirNounswiththeexception
of the Adjective for lsquootherrsquo in lsquoDONGO this Adjective also follows and noAdjectiveprecedesInMAallAdjectivesprecedetheirNounswiththeexceptionoftheNumerals
andtheformsforldquohowmanyrsquoandlsquoallrsquo1As regards concordial behaviour Adjectives may be subdivided into (a)
precedingAdjectives
(b)followinginflectedAdjectives(c)followinguninflectedandNumeralAdjectives
(a)PrecedingAdjectivesInMBAandNDUNGAthewordforlsquootherrsquoprecedestheNounandis itself
preceded by the Class Concord
ThewordforlsquomanyrsquoneedsnoLinkingParticlelsquootherrsquoisrepresentedbytheAnimateInanimateConcordwithSuffix-gtinbothinstancestheNounlosesitsInitialVowel
InNDUNGAtherearefouralternativeconstructions(i)Noun+AdjectivewithorwithoutPrefixe-(dependingonAdj)(ii)Noun+AdjectivewithSuffix-lԑ
or-mԑ1(dependingonAdj)(iii)NounwithSuffixndashaacute+AdjectivewithClassConcord(iv)NounwithSuffiix-agrave+LinkingParticle+Adjective(cfGenitive)Examples
In lsquoDONGO there are two constructions apparently depending on theAdjective(i)Noun--Adjective-bothwithClassSuffixesParticle-bԑ-maybeincapsulatedintheAdjective-ɓԑisusedwiththeSingularAdjectiveinsteadofthe Class Suffix when referring to Animates (ii) Noun (with ClassSuffix)+ClassConcordParticleinndashaacute+Adjective(withoutSuffix)Examples
1WrittenlsquobandlsquodandlsquobyCarringtonanddeBoeck1Owingtothegreatnumberofcompoundwordsinthelanguagesitisoftenimpossibleatthepresent
stateofourknowledgetodeterminewhetheragivendisyllabicStemisoriginalorcomposedoftwomonosyllabicStems
2SetoutveryclearlyforMBAbyCarringtonandforNDUNGAbydeBoeck1ThereisalsoacertainamountofcorrespondencebetweensomeoftheseSuffixesandsomeoftheClass
PrefixesandConcordsofBANTUSeealsoKOALIB-MOROp2742TherearenoClassConcordsinMA3InMBA-VofCl2isalwaysafrontvowelitsrelationtothe-VofClIaccordingtoHackettis
1CftheArticle-likePrefixne-Ple-inMANGBETUp362CfBANTU3SeealsoBARAMBU-PAMBIAp1454ComparesimilarPrefixinMANGBETUp401ThisistheonlyexampleofVelarPluralelementinthelanguagesofSections345and62CfZANDEp146
1Seep152NotechangeinVerbStemwhenObjectisPlural3NiangaravariantintheAmadiandDakwavariantsofMAthewordisaacutewu`lɔPlagraveyaso1CfZANDEp1482Seefootnoteonp441CfZANDEGroupp149andSLWOp4211SeealsoSERE-MUNDU(p93)ZANDE(p150)2Carringtonregardsthe-a-PrefixasanAspectcharacteristicvowelhereitwouldratherseemhowever
tobeaTensePrefix1CfNGBANDIp951NotetonalchangeinAntecedentbefore3rdPersonSingFemand3rdPersonPluralPronoun2CfSERE-MUNDUamp38cp100andZANDEp1551CfMORU-MArsquoDIp472-eaccordingtoCarrington1DeBoeckrecordsotherLinkingParticleslaaikiwithslightlydifferentimplications-rsquoanimalofthe
forestrsquolsquofoodforthedogrsquoamp38camp38c2ThewordorderissimilartothatinZANDESeep1581AsinSERE-MUNDUampcp105andZANDEp1591DeBoeckregardsthisasanabstractNouninapposition1BilabialrolledsoundCfBAKAp63
5THEZANDEGROUP
RECENT research Would seem to point to regarding these languages asconstituting a Language Group consisting of ZANDE with its main dialectNZAKARA
theBARAMBUDialectClusterwithcloselyrelatedlanguagePAMBIAandrelatingittotheLargerUnitalreadydiscussedunderSections3and6above
Certain divergent aspects of their grammatical behaviour however justifyindividualtreatmenthere
SourcesANTuckerfieldnotesinSudanandCongo(includingmarkingofGorersquosDictionaryforvowelqualityandtone)workinPariswithinformantHilaireMrsquoBaryNZAKARAofReacutepubliqueCentrafricaine
mdashmdashLegroupelinguistiquezandeTervuren1959286ppPEHackettfieldn0tes_LSNBBEdeDampierreMSnotesonNZAKARAofReacutepubliqueCentrafricaineECGoreAZandeGrammarLondon1931mdashmdashandMrsAZandeandEnglishDictionaryLondon1931CRLagaeLalanguedesAzandeGent1921-5
1Phonetics(i) Ten vowels have been recorded five Close and five Open the Close
vowelsbeingaccompaniedby lsquohollowrdquovoicequality and theOpenvowelsbyldquohardrdquoorlsquocreakyrsquovoicequalityThere are however only eight vowel phonemes (see below) Thus in
ZANDE1
The letters i and u are written when it is uncertain whether the vowel inquestionisCloseorOpenorwhenithasnoUmlauteffectThissamesystemwouldseemtoholdinBARAMBU-PAMBIAbuttimefor
researchinthoselanguageswaslimitedconsequentlythematerialderivedfromthose languages is not marked so accurately for pronunciation (nor forintonation)astheZANDEmaterial
Diphthongs and long vowels occur in final position in many words egZANDEbaacutea fatherɽԑbowelsmaacutel rainŋguacutea treecfbaacuteplaceɽ tobe
worthyIt may be argued however that such words are actually disyllabic on the
otherhand spellings such asmay andngwa have alsobeen recordedSee alsoStresssect2b
Nasalizedvowelsarecommon
(ii) Umlaut of Open vowels in the neighbourhood of j and u is regular
Thus Thevowelseand0thereforedonotexistasseparatephonemesbutaumlexistsasaseparatephonemeinafewwordseg
rhinoceros
InBARAMBUaumlalsoexistsasanon-stressedvarietyofa
FullVowelHarmonyistobenotedinthePerfectStemofmanyVerbs
t and d are usually alveolar and sometimes sound like ts and dz inBARAMBUzalternateswithdzɽ-l-rareonephoneme(withfurtheralternativeyinPAMBIA)inNZAKARAthervariantisneverheardandinZANDEonlybefore ndashu occasionally h and are very unstable sounds varying with eachother andwith zero There are no implosive sounds except in a fewwords inPAMBIA1Velarandlabio-velarsoundsareoftenfrontedbeforefrontvowelsthusw
(fire)isoftenpronouncedwAcircumlg(todig)asgyorevenj
Thesemi-vowelswandycanhavelsquohardrsquoorlsquohollowrsquovoiceaccordingastheaccompanyingvowelsareOpenorCloseInadditionhowevercloseyhasbeenestablished as a separate phoneme in
whereitcausesUmlautoftheaccompanyingvowel1CfyɽatochooseyɽatocutVoicednasalcompoundsarecommonincludingnɽusuallypronouncedr~
(See P 7-) Voiced nasal compounds often lose their explosive element whenfollowedbyanothernasalcompound2
In PAMBIA alternation betweenVoiced explosive and corresponding nasalseems to be optional and unregulated
2ToneandStress2aToneToneisbothlexicalandgrammaticalInZANDEtwomaintonelevels3have
beenestablishedbutthreetonemesHigh(Mid=loweredHighorraisedLow)
LowandFalling
There are ToneClasses inNouns andAdjectives inVerbsToneClass andMorphologicalClasscoincide
2bStressInZANDEstressusuallyfallsonthefirstsyllableofdisyllabicortrisyllabic
wordscombinedinsomedialects(andinBARAMBU)withslightlengtheningIn some words in BARAMBU however it falls on the final syllable seebacircfrac12brvbarx027DaacuteaboveStressneverfallsonPrefixes
3WordShapeMost words in their simplest form are disyllabic CVCV the second
consonantisoftenaliquid4InNounsthetwovowelsareoftenidenticalintheInfinitiveStemsofZANDEVerbs however the final vowel is always -a5 (-aumlafter Close Stem vowel)Monosyllables of the types CV and CVV are alsofrequent (more frequent in BARAMBU and PAMBIA than in ZANDE) hereanyvowelmaybefinal
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i ii) Disyllabic Verbs in ZANDE fall into two Morphological Classes
distinguishedbytoneintheInfinitive(IndefiniteAspect)StemandbyaVowelSuffix1 in the Perfect (Definite Aspect) Stem of Class II Verbs
MonosyllabicVerbsdonotchangetheirvowelqualitybuttoneticallyseemtobehavelikeClassIVerbsVerb Classes in NZAKARA are much as in ZANDE but most Verbs in
BARAMBU-PAMBIAaremonosyllabic(iii)DerivativeVerbsareformedbymeansofStem-extendingSuffixes2which
themselves are capable of Perfect forms ZANDE provides the most material(note that Verbs derived from Monosyllabic Verbs are in Class II)
Note that the Suffix -mԑ in BARAMBU has both Passive and Neuter
function
4bNouns(i)ZANDE(butnotNZAKARAnorBARAMBU-PAMBIA)hasanoptional
Suffix -sԑ or -ԑ especially to Nouns describing parts of the body1-droppedhowever before Possessive Suffixes
OtherSuffixesaremostlyDeverbative
(ii)InZANDEsixToneClassesofdisyllabicNounshavebeenobserved
ToneClasses 4 and 5 fall together in someZANDE dialects ToneClasseshavealsobeennotedinBARAMBU-PAMBIA
4cAdjectivesAdjectivesfallintoToneClasseslikethoseofNounsinZANDEsothatitis
quite a common thing for a Noun in one Tone Class to be qualified by anAdjectiveinadifferentToneClassAdjectivesderivedfromVerbsareoftenformedfromthePerfectStem
In BARAMBU-PAMBIA the Suffix -me is used with some Adjectives inNonverbalPredication3Seesect10
5Number5aNounsThere is aPluralPrefix a-in all languages4 InZANDE it is attached to all
Nouns in NZAKARA and BARAMBU-PAMBIA it is normally confined toNounsdenotingAnimatesNotethefollowinguseinZANDE1
5bAdjectivesInZANDE (but not inBARAMBU-PAMBIA) a-is occasionally attached to
Adjectives as Well as to Nouns Plurality is often shown in BARAMBU byreduplicating the Adjective and sometimes by a different word altogetherReduplicationmayoccurinZANDEalsobutisnotsocommon
5cPronounsThe a- Prefix is also found with the Personal Interrogative and the
Demonstrativesseesect8bc
6GenderGenderisshowninthePronounsonlyIt isatitsfullestinZANDE2Which
distinguishes
In NZAKARA Masculine and Feminine fall together in BARAMBU-PAMBIAAnimalandInanimatefalltogetherSeesect8a
7Case(i)ThereareLocativeSuffixes (Postpositions) -nɔ -yɔ inZANDE -zɔ in
NZAKARA -ya in PAMBIA
(ii)InBARAMBU-PAMBIAandoccasionallyinZANDEaPronounorevenaNounindicatingahumanbeingtakesaSuffix-guwhenitistheSubjectofaPredicative sentence
ButseeDemonstrativessect8c1
8Pronouns8aPersonalTherearetwodistinctseriesofPersonalPronouns
Self-standingandSubjectPrefixorSuffixObjectandPossessiveSuffixGender (Masculine Feminine Animal and Inanimate) is distinguished in
bothseriesthemaximumdistinctionbeinginZANDESeesect6
(i)and(ii)Self-standingandSubjectforms
The Self-standing form when used as Subject is normally prefixed to theVerbinZANDEandNZAKARAthoughinsomefewTensesitmaybesuffixed(seep151)ItmaybeeitherprefixedorsuffixedtotheCopula(seesectIoItisalsosuffixedincertainformsofpersonalrelationship(seesectI3b)andinZANDEtotheGenitiveParticle(seesect13b)ItalsofollowscertainPrepositionsnotablyna==with
InBARAMBU-PAMBIAitisprefixedtoVerbsinthe1stAspectandsuffixedtotheminthe2ndAspect(seesect9b)
(iii)and(iv)ObjectandPossessiveSuffix
This Suffix occurs after a Verb as Object after a Noun as Possessor (forexceptionsseeabove)aftermostPrepositions(V)ReferringInalllanguagestheReferringPronounsareidenticalwithorsimilartothose
representingAnimalGenderinZANDE1
(vi)ImpersonalNZAKARA employs an Impersonal Pronoun Prefix a- (= Fr lsquoonrsquo) in the
PassiveEquivalent1ZANDEandPAMBIAemploythe3rdPersonPluralPrefixhere (For BARAMBU see sect 4a (iii))
8bInterrogative2
Pronominalforms
8cDemonstrativeTherearetwomaindegreesofDemonstrativeinalltheselanguagesindicated
byParticlescontainingthevowel-I(near)and-U(far)3In ZANDE the Noun or Pronoun is preceded by gl (near) or gU (far) and
followed by the Particle ɽԑ In NZAKARA and BARAMBU-PAMBIA theDemonstrativefollowstheNoun
Demonstratives aswell asNouns take the Plural Prefix in ZANDE but not
else-where
TheSelf-standingformsare
DemonstrativesmaybereinforcedbymeansoftheVerblsquotobersquoandLocative
Postpositions great distance may be shown by vowel length
8dRelativeInformationonRelativeconstructionsinBARAMBU-PAMBIAislackingIn
ZANDEandNZAKARADemonstrativesareused1
8eReffexiveandReciprocalHere the construction is2Preposition (ti inZANDEandNZAKARAka in
BARAMBU) With ObjectPossessive Pronoun Suffix
9VerbConjugation9aAspectTherearetwoAspectsinZANDEandNZAKARAtheymaybeconveniently
labelledldquoIndefiniteorImperfectrsquoandlsquoDefiniteorPerfectrsquo inBARAMBUandPAMBIAhoweversuchconvenientlabelscannotbefoundFormal distinctions1
The Subjunctive and Imperative belong to the 2nd Aspect in ZANDE andNZAKARA but to the Ist Aspect in BARAMBU and PAMBIA where inadditionallNegativeforms(excepttheNegativeSubjunctive)belongtothe2ndAspect
9bConjugationforPerson(i)TheVerbStemisinvariableforPersonthroughoutInsomeZANDETensesonly3rdPersonPronounshaveHightone inother
TensesallPersonshaveHightoneirrespectiveofAspectThisisapparentlynotthe case in NZAKARA except in the Imperative-Subjunctive
In BARAMBU-PAMBIA the Subject Pronouns are prefixed or suffixed
accordingtoAspect
TheVerbWithoutpronominalAffixisusedinall languageswhenthereisaNounSubjectSeesect12
(ii)Imperativeforms(PluralPronounprecedesVerbexceptinBARAMBU)
DisyllabicStems
9cTenses(i) ZANDE has a greatmany Tense Particles standing between the Subject
Prefix andVerb Stem in bothAspects1 The following are typical (though notexhaustiveterminologyasinGore)Larochette2listsmanymore
InBARAMBU-PAMBIAthereareonlyafewTenseParticlesconfinedtothe
1stAspect
(ii) Postpositions (Suffixes )-apart from Negative Postpositions-are foundonly in BARAMBU-PAMBIA
(iii)AuxiliaryVerbsareoftenusedandtheMainVerbStemoftenhasPrefixin t- in BARAMBU-PAMBIA
(iv)RepetitionandreduplicationTheZANDEVerb isoften repeatedat theendofaphrasewhere itusually
hasaPrefixa-1
10NonverbalPredicationandVerblsquotobersquo10aZeroCopulaiscommontheNounorPronounSubjectoftenhasaSuffix
ndashgu (see sect 7 (ii)) Adjectives behave like Verbs in that they may follow orprecedetheNoun(andmaybereduplicatedasinsect9c(iv)above)
Copular Particles ni ka wa ŋga have been noted In ZANDE andNZAKARA a reversed construction is common Adjectives in NZAKARABARAMBUandPAMBIAneedaCopula inBARAMBUandPAMBIAtheyoften take a Suffix also (either -me or an Object Pronoun Suffix) ZANDEAdjectivesalsotakeaPronominalSuffixwhenfollowingaCopula
10b There is a Verb lsquoto bersquo in all languages (ZANDE and NZAKARAdUBARAMBU-PAMBIA dU or dl or dԑ1) with full Tense conjugation thereversed construction is common with this Verb
In NZAKARA dU occasionally alternates with sԑ or sU when indicating
existenceinaplace
11Negation11aVerbal(i)IntheNegativestatementinZANDEtheVerbisfollowedbyŋgaandthe
wholesentencebythePostpositiontԑInNZAKARAthePostpositionisdUIn BARAMBU-PAMBIA the sentence (expressed in the 2nd Aspect) is
preceded by the Particle a- (The occasional Postposition te in PAMBIA isprobably a borrowing from ZANDE)
(ii)IntheNegativeImperativeinZANDEtheSubjectisprecededbykaandthePostpositionisya1InNZAKARAthePostpositioniskaIn BARAMBU-PAMBIA the sentence (expressed in the 1st Aspect) is
precededbyaParticle(ormaybeaNegativeAuxiliary)
11bNonverbalInZANDEtheNegativeCopulaa-ŋgaisoptionalthePostpositionistԑ2InNZAKARAthePostpositioniskUInBARAMBU-PAMBIAtheNegativePrefixisagaina-andtheVerblsquotobersquo
ismuchused
12WordOrder12aVerbal
12bNonverbalS+Complement in all languages Alternative reversed construction with
Copula in ZANDE and NZAKARA (see sect 10 (i)) and with Verb lsquoto bersquothroughout(seesect10(ii))13TheGenitiveConstruction
I3aNounPossessor(i) In the IntimateGenitive (includingCompoundNouns) thewordorder is
Possessed-sect-PossessorthroughoutThePluralPrefixisnotusedwithpartsofthebody
(ii)IntheNon-intimateGenitivethefollowingConstructionshavebeennoted
Plural Prefixes are attached to both Nouns if the names of Animates in alllanguagesexceptZANDEthereisatendencytoomitthePluralSuffixbeforethenamesofInanimates
13bPronounPossessor(i) Intimate Genitive Possessed-[-Object Pronoun Suffix 8a (iii-iv))
CertaintermsofrelationshipdemandtheSubjectformasSuffix
(ii)Non-intimateGenitive
14ConstructionswithQualifiers1
MostAdjectives precede theirNoun but there are certainAdjectiveswhichfollowitAdjectivesdonotnormallytakeaPluralPrefixbutanAdjectiveStemcanbereduplicatedinthePluralespeciallyinBARAMBUSeesect5c(a) PrecedingAdjectives (inBARAMBU -mԑ is sometimes attached to the
Noun)
1ThissystemisverysimilartothatofMORU-MArsquoDIp271ProbablyundertheinfluenceoftheneighbouringBANTUlanguageBUGURU1NospecialsymbolhoweverisusedhereContrastNILOTICp4062NoteanalmostparallelsituationinGANDAandmanyotherBANTUlanguages-oftenreferredtoasthe
lsquoGandaLawrsquo3AsmaybeheardontheZANDEslit-drum usedforsignallingSeealsoTuckerLegroupe
linguistiquezandeforafulldescriptionoffailledeton(loweredHighorDownStep)4CfMANGBETUp32SERE-MUNDUp865CfBANTU1CfPerfectSuffixinBANTU2CfcorrespondingStemextensionsinBANTU1
2CfMA(a)ma-ra(theMALanguage)3CfsimilarSuffixinNDUNGAp1134CfBANDAandNGBANDIp891CfNDOGOp892CfMAp1141ComparealsothePersonalNounSuffixes-gl-gԑ-gɔintheMBAGroupp1121ThusinBARAMBUtheReferringPronounisnotliketheAnimal-InanimatePronouninthatlanguage
butliketheAnimalPronouninZANDE2HeretheresemblanceistotheZANDEObjectform1CfMORUp44andNGBAKAMArsquoBOamp38cp922Seefootnoteonp443CfMBAp119SLWOp4211NotethatParticlesing-occurinRelativeconstructionsinBONGO-BAGIRMI(p74)MABA(p
202)RASHAD(p295)BARYA(p332)UDUK(p362)GELEBA(p565)2CfNDOGO-SEREamp38cp93MBAGroupp1231Goreopcitp52distinguishesfourlsquoformsrsquoofconjugationwhichhecallslsquoordinaryrsquolsquohabitualrsquo
lsquorelativersquoandlsquohabitualrelativersquowhicharereminiscentofDokersquoslsquoimplicationsrsquoinBANTU(SeeTextbookofZuluGrammarp150)InfactofalltheselanguagesZANDEisnearestBANTUinverbalbehaviourthoughGorersquoslsquoformsrsquoaremorenotionalthanformal
2ClassIVerbsdonotchangethefinalvowelSeesect4b3Reversedconstruction(seep157)1SeeNegationfor2ndAspectinPAMBIAsect111AnotherBANTU-liketrait2Personalcommunication
3ActuallyEmphaticratherthanRelativeegItisIwho1CfMAYOGOp98sLWOp4311CfSERE-MUNDUhellipcp100andMBAGroupp1281AlsoaftertheNegativeConditional2CfLINGALA(BANTU)1CompareoneoftheconstructionsinNDUNGAp1321CfSERE-MUNDUhellipcp105andMBAGroupp137
7THEBUAGROUP
NEWallocation BUA LanguageNIELIM LanguageKOKE LanguageMANA LanguageTUNYA LanguageBUSO Language(probablyaplace-name)DAI Language
SourcesRCStevensonMSnotesonDAIMGaudefroy-DemombynesDocumentssurleslanguesdelrsquoOubangui-ChariParis1907JLukasZentralsudanischeStudiacuteenHamburg1937
ThisGroupWas given toowide a coverage in theHandbook the languageSARWAandprobablyMILTUaswellshouldhavebeenlistedintheSOMRAIGroupontheVocabularyevidence1Greenberg2hasalreadyplacedthethreelanguagesBUANIELIMandKOKE
in the lsquoAdamawa-Eastern Subfamilyrsquo of his lsquoNiger-Congo Familyrsquo and aVocabulary check of available material from Lukas and Demombynes withmaterial assembledby theLSNBBTeam inthe languages alreadydiscussedWould seem to indicate closest affinity with BANDA andor NGBAKAMArsquoBO3FurtherVocabularycomparisonwithTUNYA(lsquoTouniarsquo)andMANAfromDemombynes justify his inclusion of these languages too in his lsquoGroupeBoarsquo4NothingisavailableonBUSOTherewould thus seem to be enoughVocabulary evidence to associate the
BUAGroupwithSections345and6oftheHandbookontheotherhandtheBUA languages contain a considerable number of words not found in thelanguages of these Sections The following grammatical points have beendeduced fromDemombynesrsquos examples (spelling as in the original except forthe tentative use of hyphens) and would seem to support the VocabularyevidenceofclosestrelationshipwiththelanguagesofSections3and68Pronouns8aPersonal(i) Self Standing (note that in BUA the ist Person form is like that in
NGBANDIandthatthentildei-inNIELIMisprobablyaPrefix)BUA TUNYA NIELIM
S 1 bi ntildee ntildeimman2
2bwomboacutemdo5 unagen ntildeimhedao
3 bwamdobordo5 lahi ntildeimulile
(ii)Subjectforms(inBUAandTUNIAtheIstandzndPersonformsaremostlikethoseinBARAMBU1but theabsenceof2ndPersonPrefixinNIELIMismore reminiscent of lsquoDONGO2)
(iv)PossessiveformsNotethatthePossessorprecedes
Possessive Pronouns () (note Prefixes and Suffixes here)
8bInterrogative
8cDemonstrative
Seealsounder8band13a
9VerbConjugation9b (ii) Imperative forms (Verb Stems underlined)
11Negation11aVerbaland11bNon-verbalBUA uses a Postposition kaeli1 TUNYA a Particle ka the construction in
NIELIM is uncertain but Demombynes gives lo as the sign
12WordOrderS+V+Oseems thenorm In the Infinitivehowever theObjectmayprecede
theVerbinBUAandTUNYA2butnotinNIELIM
NotealsoinBUA
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessorNon-intimate (Possessed+ Particle-l-Possessor)
ForIntimateGenitiveseelsquoWhosespearicircrsquoabove(sect8b)
ANOTEONDAI
ThelanguageDAI(alsoknownaslsquoSaraDairsquo) isverydifiicult toplaceasitwouldseemtobeamixedlanguageastoVocabularyOutofI67itemscollectedby Stevenson 35 showed affinities with BONGO-BAGIRMI (thus justifyingprevious allocations to the lsquoSARArsquo languages) and30withBANDAamp38cThe restcannotasyetbeassociatedwithanyparticular languageorLanguageGroup It isperhaps significant that in thosecasesWhere theBUAGrouphasformsuniquetoitselftheseformsfindnocounterpartinDAIIn the following Vocabulary of 61 items1 the DAI material collected by
StevensoniscomparedwithcorrespondingformsinthelanguagesofHandbook
SectionsWordsapparentlybearingnorelationshipwhatsoevertoDAIareomittedall
other discernible or remotely possible affinities are included
Insomeof theabovecases theaffinity isbeyonddoubtandthequestionofborrowingmighthavetobeconsideredeglsquocowrsquoIn most other cases however affinity is possible but not yet capable of
etymologicalproofegldquobellyrsquoIn some cases the reader has a choice of correspondences Thus lsquofiversquo sari
maybecomparedon theonehand tobiacutesweon the strengthof theelement -s-butontheotherhandtolaronthestrengthoftheelement-arsincebiacutesweandlarshownoobviousaffinitiesoneofthesecomparisonsatleastmusteventuallybeprovedfalse
GrammaticalcomparisonTheveryfewgrammaticalnotestakenbyStevensongiverisetothefollowing
points5aPluralSuffix-getoNounsandAdjectives1
8a(i)Self-standingPronouns3mdashBlockpattern(ii)SubjectPrefix
(iv)PossessiveSuffix
On balance the grammatical material would seem to associate DAI mostclosely with Handbook Section 3 especially with MUNDU and NGBAKAMArsquoBO
1AsdonebyGreenbergopcitp46Grammaticalevidenceislacking2Opcitp93GeographicallyNGBAKAGBAYAstandsnearesttotheselanguagesthenBANDANGBAKA
MArsquoBOisrelativelyfaraway4Demombynesopcitp1075Lukasopcitp531m-forthe2ndPersonalsooccursinZANDENGBANDIandMUNDU-NGBAKAMArsquoBO2ButseealsoBAKAp723CfMANGBETUpp43574Demombynesrsquostranslation1CfBAGIRMIelip802CfMORU-MArsquoDIp47MBAp1311ConsistingofsuchitemsinGreenbergrsquoslsquoNiger-Congorsquowordlistopcitpp13-24andourownword
list(seeLSNBBvolivpp75etseq)asarefoundinStevensonrsquosmaterial2GreenbergdoesnotincludeBONGO-BAGIRMInorSQMRAIinhislsquoNiger-Congorsquo1lsquothrsquoprobablyrepresentsdentalthere1lsquothrsquoprobablyrepresentsdentalthere1CfBAGIRMI(butthisSuffixhasalsobeenrecordedinDAJUperhapsitisborrowed)2ye=comeinZANDE3CfMUNDU-NGBAKAMArsquoBO4-a-isacommonTenseParticleinZANDE
8SOMRAIGROUP
Nogrammaticaldataavailable
9THEEASTSAHARANLANGUAGES
SourcesCandMLeCœurGrammaireettextesTeda-Daza(MernlFAN)Dakar1956Pp394JLukasDieSprachederTubuinderzentralenSahara(DtschAkadWissBerlin)1953Ppxix206----AStudyoftheKanuriLanguageLondon1937RCStevensonMSnotesonZAGHAWAHAMacmichaellsquoNotesontheZaghaacutewarsquo RAnthropSoc1912CaptChalmellsquoNoticesurlesBideyatrsquoBullSocRechcongolaises1931
Thefollowinglanguagenamesareusedhere
TEDA-TUBUTEDA(TUDA)ienortherndialects(examplesfromLeCœuritalicized)TUBUiesoutherndialects(examplesfromLukas)ExamplesheadedlsquoTUBUrsquomaybetakenasrepresentativeforatleastseveraldialects
TUBUincludesDAZAanameusedbyseveralTUBUtribes(examplesfromLeCœuritalicized)KASHIRDAdialectfromwhichmostofLukasrsquosexamplesaretakenKREDAanon-DAZATUBUdialect(examplesfromLukas)
KANURI(examplesfromLukas)ZAGHAWA(examplesfromStevensonandMacmichaelthelatteritalicized)BIDEYAT(almostunknownafewexamplesfromChalmelitalicized)
1Phonetics
1aVowels
BothLeCœurandLukasrecordabalancedvowelsystemofnineVowelsin
TEDA-TUBUplusoneortwocentralVowelsKANURI has six vowel phonemes i e a o u andә (Lukas records two
varietiesofawhichhoweverarenon-phonemic)1InZAGHAWAStevensonrecordsieԑaooualsoIandUwhichare
perhapsvariantsofianduVowel length does not seem to be significant arising out of vowel
juxtaposition(egPluralSuffix-afollowingafinalaintheStern)orelisionofan intervocalic consonant In TEDA-TUBU length is perhaps associated with
stressDiphthongsappeartobeabsentinTEDA-TUBUinKANURILukasrecords
diphthongsendinginiandualsoeaoaioNasalization occurs in TEDA-TUBU as the result of the elision of a nasal
consonantFinalvowelstendtobesemi-muteinTEDA-TUBUbutthisdoesnotseemto
besignificantIntheKREDAdialectfinalvowelsareoftenlacking
In all these languages vowels are extremely fluid andLeCœur points outthatthesamewordisoftenpronouncedWithdifferentvowelsevenbythesamespeakerInfactitwouldappearthattheonlyvowelsinTEDA-TUBUwhichare
significantinVerbconjugationareForthisreasoncertainAffixes(PersonSubjectandObjectDerivativeandotherelements)arecitedinthetextWithconsonantsonlyIt is clear that Vowel Harmony operates in some cases but the principles
governingitarenotknown
1bConsonants
Thesymbolsusedhereare
cisusedtorepresentkytytintinTEDAtintinKANURIjisusedtorepresentgyjyinTEDAdӠinKANURIfandfareseparatephonemesinKANURIperhapsalsoinTEDAthoughinthelatterfisalsosometimesanoptionalvariantofbfandharealsorecordedasoptionalvariantsinTEDAasaresandh
visamemberoftheb-phonemeoccurringintervocalicallyinKANURL2landrareseparatephonemesɽisaseparatephonemeinKANURIStevensonrecordsdentaltanddaswellasalveolartanddinZAGHAWALabializationofkandgisrecordedbyLukas
The voiced Nasal Compounds exist but many heterosyllabic consonantcombinationsoccurDoublingofconsonantsoccursastheresultofassimilationAssimilation dissimilation elision voicing devoicing palatalization
amp38careallhighlycharacteristicoftheselanguagestosuchanextentthatitisoftendifficulttodeterminethebasicconsonantsofanyRootorAffixwithoutextensivecomparisons1
2ToneandStress
LeCœurexpresslystatesthatTEDAdiffersfromKANURIinnothavinganelaboratetonalsystemhedoesnotmarktoneIn TUBU tone is important but tonal patterns apparently fluctuate and are
difficult to follow Tone can however have both lexical and grammaticalsignificance
Lukas records High and Low tone also Rising tone Which may be acombinationofLow+High
ormayalternatewithHightone
OnlyHightoneisconsistentlymarkedinhisexamplesIn KANURI however tone is of great importance both lexically and
grammaticallyandallexamplesaremarkedfortoneTherearetwomainleveltonemesHighandLowMidtonerepresentsraised
Low or lowered High tone Many of the Rising and Falling tones can beexplainedascompoundtonesThereareToneClassesinVerbs(sect4a(ii))SomeSuffixeshaveinherenttonewhichaffectsprecedingtonesthetoneof
othersisaffectedbyprecedingtonesTonaldissimilationisfrequentIn ZAGHAWA Stevenson records three level tones Lexical tone doublets
havebeenrecorded(Verbs)Toneisalsogrammatical
(Toneishowevernotmarkedonallhisexamples)Nothing is known about Stress inKANURI Lukasmentions (but does not
illustrate) a strongrsquo Akzent (Druck)rsquo in TUBU which may apparently affecttones
3WordShape
ManyNoun andVerb Stems aremonosyllabicCV orCVC though longerformsalsooccurespeciallyinNouns
4StructuralElements
4aVerbs
The Morphological Classes are distinguished in both Simple and DerivedVerbs(sect4a(iii))andinVerbswithObject(sect8a(iii))alsointheVerbalNoun(sect4b)Examples aregivenhere in theAorist (Perfect) inTEDA-TUBUand in the
lsquoConjunctiversquo2inKANURItheseTenseshavenoTenseSuffixesSingularonlyisgivenforfullparadigmsseesect9b(i)
IIIVerbsofthisClassareformedbytheadditionoftheClassIIVerbnsaythinkconjugatedforPersontotheMainVerb3thiselementnisabsentinS3in TEDA-TUBU in S 3 and P 3 in KANURI
ItwouldappearfromtheorderofthecomponentsoftheVerbComplexthattherearelikewisethreeMorphologicalClassesinZAGHAWAbuttheelementn is not discernible in Class III Verbs
Tonaldissimilationoperatesinconjugation(seealsosect9)
InClass IIVerbs tonal conjugation appears to behighly complex themainvariation being in the tone of S 3 It has not proved possible to work out asystemofToneClassesbutthefollowingexamplesshowtwoofthemaintypes
oftonalconjugationIn ZAGHAWA there appear to be Tone Classes but they have not been
studied
(iii)DerivativeVerbsDerivativeVerbsareformedbytheadditiontotheVerbComplexofelements
whichbehavelikeVerbsandareheretermedDerivativeelementsPassive-Reflexive-Reciprocal The Derivative element is t d with Class I
Behaviour1 (only discernible in the 3rd Person in KANURI) it precedes theVerbSteminClassIIVerbsfollowsitinClassIIIVerbs2
INoexamplesavailable(mostClassIVerbsareIntransitive)
I(TheincapsulatedDerivativeelementisshownincapitalsinthestarredforms
givenhere)
IIIInTUBUtheCausativeoftheClassIIVerbrug(seeabove)followstheMainVerbwhentheObjectisSingulartheSimpleVerbhԑtbringoutfollowsthe Main Verb When the Object is Plural
DenominativeMany Class III Verbs are made by the addition of the element n with
Conjugation Affixes to a Stem which is basically nominal
4bNouns
VerbalNouns
InTUBUVerbalNounsare formedby theaddition to theVerbStemof the
followingelementsOwingtosound-changetherelationshipbetweentheNounandtheVerbStem
isobscureinClassIVerbsExamplesarethereforegivenofS1S3andP3of the Verb for comparison
Note that inVerbalNounsfromAppliedVerbs incapsulationof theDerivativeelementtakesplace(cfsect4a(iii)) thestandingon
II (Note that before certain consonants the Prefix t-is elided)
VerbalNounsofClassIIIVerbsconsistoftheStemwithDeterminativendasht(sect8d) (also -tagravewith lowToneonStem)This suffixedDeterminative should
not be equated with TUBU -t-iacute
In KANURI -ma can also be Suffixed to other Nouns
Tribal names have the Suffix -de -dԑ Pl -da in TUBU
Tone is also used in Noun Formation in KANURI sometimes with
reduplicationLittleisknownofNoun-FormativesinZAGHAWAthefollowinghavebeen
recordedNote in the above examples that the Infinitive element l is a Prefix before
Verb Stems beginning with a vowel a Suffix after Stems beginning with aconsonantOn theotherhand it ispossible that thepositionof thiselement isdeterminedbyVerbClass
4cAdjectivesAdjectivesareofthreetypes
5Number
5aNouns
ThePluralismostoftenformedfromtheSingularbytheadditionofSuffix-aor by change of the final vowel to a
Notetonaldissimilation-aacuteisalwaysprecededbyLowToneInTEDAageneral tendency towardsamoreopenfinalvowelalsodenotes
thePluralThesamePluralSuffixisalsotobeseenin
KANURIalsohasaCollectiveSuffix-socirc1whichisfinalintheNounGroup(butprecedesCaseendingssect7)ItmaybeaddedtoaSingularorPluralNoun
WithQualifier
5bAdjectives
SimpleandderivedAdjectivesformthePlurallikeNounsinTUBU
OthertypesofAdjectivedonotdistinguishNumber
5cPronominalandconjugational
In TEDA the Self-standing Personal Pronouns (sect Sa and someDemonstratives (sect 8c) distinguish Number in the same way as Nouns by aPlural Suffix -a Number of the Possessed Noun is similarly distinguished inPossessives(sect8a(iv))InVerbConjugationbothPluralSubjectandObjectaredistinguishedbyaPluralelementintheVerbComplexinTEDA-TUBUthisist d or sound-change in the preceding consonant also in some contexts 0 inKANURIitisa(sectsect8a(iii)9b)Number of the pronominal Possessor (all Persons in TEDA-TUBU 3rd
PersononlyinKANURI)issimilarlydistinguished(sect8a(iv))
5dVerbsInKASHIRDA a number ofVerbs have distinct Singular and Plural Stems
(usuallydenotingNumberofObject)(about30examplesaregiven)InKANURIPluralActionorObjectisindicatedbyreduplicationoftheStem
wuacutelookatwugravewucirc-ŋinIlookat(manythings)lookoften6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGender
7Case
In all these languages there are Postpositions or Suffixes some of Whichmight be considered as Case endings In TEDA-TUBU they are very looselyusedandtheirfunctionsappeartovaryasbetweendialectsoreventooverlap
within any one dialect They include
8Pronouns
8aPersonal
(ii)SubjectofVerbInTEDA-TUBUtherearetwoseriesofPronounSubjectAffixesThesearein
strict Block Pattern Number being distinguished in Conjugation by Pluralelements(sectsect5c9)andthereforeonlyPersonandnotNumberisshownbelow
vowelsbeinghighlyvariableareomitted
InKANURIthereareseparateAffixesforallPersons
Ir ZAGHAWA there are perhaps two series as in TEDA-TUBU The
followinghavebeenrecorded(iii)ObjectofVerbInTEDA-TUBU thePronounObjectAffixes resembleSeriesAofPronoun
SubjectAffixes1td2n3zero(sect8a(ii))3InKANURItheyare1s2nz3zero(SgandPl)Thepositionof theObjectAffixes in theVerbComplexvariesaccording to
MorphologicalVerbClassinalllanguagesNotethat thePluralelement(sect5c)ispresentwheneverSubjectorObjector
botharePluralinTEDA-TUBUandinsomePersonsinKANURI_NoexampleswithClassIVerbshavebeenrecorded
TEDA
The3rdPersonObjectelementbeingzero there isnodifferencebetweenlsquoIshowedrsquoandlsquoIshowedhimthemrsquoamp38c
KASHIRDA
KANURI
(iv)PossessivePossessivesaresuffixedtotheNouninalllanguages1
A Self-standing Possessive has been recorded in some Persons in TEDA-TUBUwhich is clearly related to the Self-standing Pronoun (sect 8a (i) )
InZAGHAWAStevensonrecordsthefollowing
8bInterrogative
Thefollowinghavebeenrecorded
8cdDemonstrativeDeterminativeRelativeThefollowinghavebeenrecorded
The lsquonearrsquo Demonstrative is clearly related to the Determinative or DeicticSuffix-tThisSuffixhasthefollowingfunctionsDeterminativesuffixedtoNounorlastwordinNounGroup
Relative
8eReflexive
Note that in KANURI rocirc life with Possessive Suffix can be used in anEmphasizing sense1 (for Reflexive see Derivative Verbs
9VerbConjugation
9aTheredoesnotappeartobedistinctionofAspectMoodamp38c
9bConjugationforPerson
(i)TheVerbComplex contains aminimumof two componentsVerbStem(V) andSubjectAffix (S)WithPluralSubject aPlural element (P) is addedThis Plural element is TEDA-TUBU often obscured by soundchangeinKANURIitisa(sect5c)OthercomponentswhichcanformpartoftheVerbComplex areDerivative (sect4a(iii) )Object (sect8a (iii)) andTense (sect9c)elementsalsoinClassIIIVerbstheverbalelementn(seesect4a(i))TheorderofthecomponentsvariesaccordingtoMorphologicalClassClassITEDA-TUBUTheorderofthecomponentsisS+V(+P)WithPronounSubjectAffixesofSeriesA(sect8a(ii))ExamplesinAoristTenseWithnoTenseSuffix
InKANURI Class I Verbs differ from those of Class II in the 3rd Persononly The 3rd Person Subject Prefix is zero and the Plural element Whichnormallyfollowsthe3rdPersonSubjectAffiixisheretransferredtothesyllablefollowingzeroPrefix3rdPersonformsonlyaregivenhereintheConjunctiveTense1withnoTenseSuffix
In ZAGHAWA the following would appear to be a Class I Verb
ClassIITEDA-TUBUTheorderofthecomponentsisV(+P)+Sin1stand2ndPersons S-I-V(+P) in 3rd Personwith Pronoun SubjectAffixes of SeriesB
In KANURI there are separate Pronoun Subject Affixes for Singular andPluralof1stand2ndPersonsinthe3rdPersonthePluralelementafollowsthePronoun Subject Affix The order of the components is V-I-S in Ist and 2ndPersonsS(+P)+Vin3rdPerson
TheVerbnsaythinkisaClassIIVerbNotetheabsenceoftheSteminS3inTUBUand inbothS3 andP3 inKANURIThisverb isnot recorded inTEDA
Class IIIVerbsare formedby theadditionof theClass IIVerbn to theMainVerb InTEDA-TUBU the order of the components isV+n(+P)+S in 1st and2nd Persons V+S(+n)(-1-P) in 3rd Person with Pronoun Subject Affixes ofseriesBSound-changeof three typesoccurs in the3rdPersoncausedby thePronounSubjectelementinPluralPersonscausedbythePluralelementintheStemncausedbyprecedingconsonantinMainVerb
Furtherexamplesshowingsound-change
Furtherexamplesshowingsound-change
In KANURI the order of the components is V+n+S in Ist and 2ndPersonsV+S(--P) in 3rd Person Here again there is much sound-change
Furtherexamplesshowingsound-change
InZAGHAWAtheelementnappearstobeabsentthroughout
(ii)ImperativeformsInTEDA-TUBU someSingular Imperatives end in u the Plural sometimes
has a Suffix -tu -to much obscured by sound-change
9cTenses
(i)MostTensesareformedbySuffixeswhicharefinalintheVerbComplex
Le Cœur records a second Continuous Progressive Tense with Suffix -deaddedtothefirstContinuousHe further records two Conditional TensesWith Suffixes -ɔ (TEDA) -gɔ
(DAZA) and -onda (TEDA)
PerfectSuffix-nawithsound-change
lsquoPredicativersquoSuffix-iacuteGenerallyusedinaPastsenseinmostdialectsitcan
replacethePastTenselsquoRelative Pastrsquo used after Interrogative Pronouns also after any part of
speechemphasizedbytheParticle-maacuteSuffix-oinS1There are two Participial Tenses formed with Suffix -na (cf the Perfect
TenseSuffix)
InKANURItheformoftheTenseelementvariesaSuffix-0alsooccursinsomePersonsInClassIIItheTenseelementfollowsthestem
ThePastTenseinKANURIissimilarinshapetotheFuture
ZAGHAWA
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerblsquotobersquo
10aZeroCopulaisrecordedinTEDAandKANURI
11NegationandInterrogation
11ANegation
(a)Verbal
InKANURI theNegative of the Continuous and Perfect Tenses is formed
withthePostpositionbacirc(=notherenotthere)Past and Future Tenses have a Negative based on gnyiacute (= not it)
13TheGenitiveConstruction
13aNounPossessor
NotealsoinTEDAyagabidahohanohouseroofits(roofofhouse)13bPronounPossessorseesect8a(iv)
14ConstructionswithQualifiers
AdjectivesandNumeralsfollowtheNouninalllanguages
InTEDA-TUBUbothNounandAdjectivenormally take thePluralSuffix -aNotethatwithNumeralstheNounisinthePlural
TheDeterminativeelementisfinalintheNounGroup
1Personalcommunication1Writtenasflapped1byLukas2Notnowwrittenintheofficialorthography1Lukasrsquossectiononsound-changes(vowelandconsonant)inTUBUoccupiesover21pages1TheexistenceoftwoseriesofPronounSubjectAffixesandtheirpositionintheVerbComplexare
reminiscentofKUNAMA(p337)ComparealsoCUSHITICp5012Usedafterlsquoandrsquoexceptfinallyinthesentence(seeLukasopcitp35)3WiththisconstructioncompareClassIIVerbsinBEDAUYEformedbysuffixingtheconjugated
ClassIVerblsquoantotheStem(p501)SeealsoETHIOPICp6064The-ŋgeformofthePronounSubjectSuffixisthenasalizedformof-ske(ampltn-ske)accordingto
Lukas1LeCœurcallsthisDerivativeformlsquoconjugaisonmoyennersquoandincludesinitSimpleClassIVerbs
havingfailedtoobserveinthoseVerbstheabsenceoftheDerivativeelement2ComparetheformationofDerivativeVerbsinBEDAUYEandSAHO(CUSHITIC)(p504)1IncapsulationlikewiseoccursinVerbalNounsmadefromAppliedVerbsofClassI(sect4b)
IncapsulationofaDerivativeelement(hereCausative)isalsofoundinPARANILOTIClanguages(seep454)
2NotethattheCausativeAffixinCUSHITICisS(p504andfootnote)inPARANILOTICbothsandtareused(p454)
1ATKcharacteristictheselanguagesdonothoweverexhibitanyothercharacteristicfeaturesoftheTKlanguages(seeIntroductionp22)OntheotherhandcfBEDAUYEp506
1LukasnotesthatnodifferenceismadeinthedialectofYerwabetweenthesetwoformsitappearsfromcomparisonwithotherdialectsthattheNounswith-tahadageneralthoseWith-tamorespecializedmeaning
1Contrastcagravem-maacutemilk-seller(sect411)2InsomedialectstheSuffixis-waacute1PerhapsfromlsquoCHADO-HAMITICrsquoaccordingtoLukas1ThepatternoftheSelf-standingPronounsinTEDA-TUBUstrikinglyresemblestheconjugationpattern
ofClassIVerbs(sect9b)InTEDAthereisstrictBlockPatternSingularandPluralbeingdistinguishedby
changeofthefinalvowelto-8asinNounPlurals(sect5a)TheelementsIinS1ninS2arealsofoundinOMETO(p558seealsosectSa(iii)footnotebelow)
2TheformsSegәnamp38cusedforthe3rdPersoninsomeTUBUdialectsareprobablyIudefinitePronounsaccordingtoLukas
1ProbablyfromlsquoCHADO-HAMITICrsquoaccordingtoLukas2Seefootnote4onp1713IdenticalwithPronounObjectPrefixesinRASHAD(TEGALI-TAGOIGroup)p2941ThepatternofthePossessivesinTEDA-TUBUstrikinglyresemblestheconjugationpatternofClassII
Verbs(sect9b)ThereisstrictBlockPatternSingularandPluralbeingdistinguishedbythePluralelementt(sect5c)
1CfMORU-MArsquoDI(p46)BONGO-BAGIRMI(p74)NILOTIC(p423)1Seefootnote2p1711CfNUBIAN(p3z5)andBILIN(pp531536--7)1LukasrecordsoneSingularandonePluralformonlyforallPersonssuacute-nusuIthouhewilldiesu-
nuint-iduweyoutheywilldiebutcommentsthatthislsquoisnotveryprobableandrequiresfurtheriacutenvestigationrsquo
1From =nothereaccordingtoLukas
10MIMI
Nodataavailable
11THEMABAGROUP
SourcesGTrengaLeBura-MabangduOuadaiumlParis1947JLukaslsquoBeitraumlgezurKenntnisderSprachenvonWadaacutei(MarareumltMaba)rsquo2rsquoSocAfric1933-----VerbalwurzelundVerbalaffixeimMabarsquoAfrikauUbersee1952---lsquoTonbezeichneteMabatexte(Waddai)rsquoAfrikauUbersee1953RCStevensonMSnotesonMASALITRDaviesMSnotesonMASALITAll examples are from MABA unless otherwise stated Examples from
TrengaandDaviesareinitalics
1PhoneticsIaVowelsTrenga normally uses five vowels only i e a o u to which he adds uuml
(which however seems to be rare) egrave (here transcribed 2) occurs in a fewexamplesLukas records seven vowels i eԑ aᴐ o u stating that it is not clear
Whetherԑ and ᴐ are phonemic From his examples and comparison WithTrengarsquos material it would appear that G and 0 regularly occur in certainSufficircxes(Future-tἑPast-5)InMASALIT Stevenson records seven vowels i eԑ aᴐ o u he also
writesIandUwhichmaybevariantsofianduDaviesusesthefivevowelsieaouonly
VowellengthoccursandmaysometimesbesignificantDiphthongsarecommonmostlyendinginitherearealsojuxtaposedvowels
and it is not always possible to distinguish them inTrengarsquosmaterial TrengasometimeswritesiumloriWhereLukashasyanduWhereLukashasW(Trengarsquostranscription retained here) Lukas indicates diphthongs and long vowels byabsenceoftone-markonthesecondvowel
AssimilationelisionandVowelHarmonyoccurbuttheprinciplesgoverningsound-changeinvowelsarenotknown
IbConsonantsThefollowingappearstobetheconsonantsystem
It isnotknownwhether t anddaredentaloralveolarLukasstates that thesymboltrdrrepresentretroffexsoundsTrengaalsowritestrdranditwouldappear that in some cases these represent t+r d+r 1 and r are separatephonemesVoicednasalcompoundsmbndnjŋgoccurTrengastatesthatgisalways
sounded in the compoundwhich he variouslywrites as ntildeg ngLukas recordsbothŋandŋģ
Otherconsonantcombinationswithnasalsandliquidsarecommon
AccordingtoLukasallsyllablesconsistofCVthereforeaninitialvowelisprecededbyaglottalstophedoesnothoweverwriteitHealsostatesthatfinalplosivesareunexplodedLongordoubledconsonantsoccurinLukasrsquosmaterial
Trengarecordsassimilationofvoicelessplosivesmafukgothemanrealizedasmafug go in Lukasrsquos material however elision takes place agravemaacuteragravek lionagravemaacuteragravegugravethelionNoteontranscriptionofconsonants
Trengarsquosšrsquoisheretranscribedf
2ToneandStressTrengagivesno informationon toneLukas suggests that theremaybe two
mainleveltones(HighandLow)alsoRisingandFallingtonesInMASALITStevensonrecordstwomainleveltonesbutsuggeststhatMid
tonmayalsoexist(exampleswithMidtoneoccurinhismaterial)TonesareheremarkedasgivenintheavailablematerialNothingisknownaboutStress
3WordShapeVerbStemsoften seem to consist ofCCVCV orVC though shorter and
longerformsalsoseemtooccurThereisconsiderablevarietyinNounsCVCVandCVCarebothcommon
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i)MorphologicalClassesItwouldappear inMABAatleast thatVerbsmaybegroupedaccordingto
two different criteria (α) the Subject Prefix of S 2-Primary MorphologicalClasses here numbered With Roman numerals (β) The Past Tense Suffix-SecondaryMorphologicalClassesherenumberedwithArabicnumeralsThesegroupingscutacrosseachother1
(α)PrimaryMorphologicalClasses(S1S2S3PresentTensegivenhere)IS2Prefixzero(withvoicingofinitialtks)a-nar-inar-ita-nar-iIyouhebring(s)a-tan-idan-ita-tan-iIyouhemount(s)u-sk-izuk-itu-sk-iIyouheweave(s)a-uls-ilus-it-uls-iIyouhemeet(s)a-ban-iban-ita-ban-iIyouheleave(s)
IIS2Prefixd-a-ms-idi-ms-iti-ms-iIyouhebury(buries)u-kun-idu-kun-itu-kun-iIyouhefind(s)a-rk-id-rak-ita-rk-iIyouhebuy(s)
IIIS2Prefixg-a-da-iumlge-da-iumlta-da-iumlIyouheWant(s)a-uf-ig-uf-it-uf-iIyouhebind(s)
IVS2Prefixl-a-tin-ile-tin-ite-tin-iIyouhepass(es)a-uk-il-uk-it-uk-iIyouhewash(es)a-ol-il-al-it-ol-iIyouheweep(s)a-ur-il-ur-it-ur-iIyouhedig(s)
VS2Prefixn-(fewVerbsonly)a-nfa-iumlna-nfa-iumlta-nfa-iumlIyouhelose(s)
VIS2Prefix2-(veryfewVerbs)a-iumlrez-iret-ireIyouhedo(es)
BothStevensonrsquosandDaviesrsquosmaterial suggests that similarMorphologicalClasses exist in MASALIT the six Verbs of which Davies gives paradigrnscontainVerbsofClassesIIIandIIIalsooneWithS2Prefixj-(β)SecondaryMorphologicalClassesIPastTenseVowelSufiixgenerally-aor-o(Lukas-aacute- )
a-nar-aIbrought(I)a-ms-aIburied(II)a-uf-aIbound(III)a-tin-aIpassed(IV)a-uls-oImet(I)u-kun-oIfound(II)(Lukas) hewasangry
2PastTenseSuffix-(V)rigenerally-eributalso-eri(Lukas-ri-oacuteri-iacuteri(buseesect4a(iii))u-sk-eriIwove(I)a-rk-eriIbought(II)(Lukas)Wagrave-rk-iacuteritheyboughta-ur-eriIcried(III)a-ur-eriIdug(IV)a-da-riIwanted(III)
Whether there are Secondary lIorphological Classes in MASALIT is notknownthesixVerbsgivenbyDavieshavePastTenseSuffix-a
(ii)ToneClasses
ItwouldappearfromLukasrsquosmaterialthattherearetwoToneClassestaacuten-aacutenmountingkugrave-dugravem-ugravenhitting
(iii)DerivativeVerbsTrenga records a Causative only With Prefix nd-and Primary Class I
behaviourv(iezeroPrefixinS2)a-ko-iumlIseea-nd-oko-iumlIshowla-ko-iumlyouseend-oko-iumlyoushoww-aiuml-atheyenteredwa-ndaiuml-atheybroughtinNote consonant change inwu-sur-o theydescendedwo-njur-0 theybrought
down(Lukassuacuter-uacutendescendingnjucircr-uacutenbringingdown)Lukas states that Singular and Plural Object or Action are distinguished in
severaldifferentwayssometimesbySingularorPluralStem-extendingSufiixsometimesbychangeinfinalconsonantofStemNOTEExamples fromLukasrsquosmaterial are here given in Stem form only
constructed from his material by comparison With that of Trenga They arethereforenottone-marked
Note alsondun- light (one)nduʃ- light (many)with a further Singulativeformed from the Pl nduʃ-uŋ- (cf Trenga o-ndufon-i I light) perhaps aCausativeofunPluʃSgStemendsinnPlink1
tan-mount(one) tak-mount(many)
Waan-pourin(one) Waak-pourin(many)
PlSuffix-kesndԑkԑl-ŋa leanone thingupndeksl leanmany thingsupndskel-kes lean
thingsupofteninmanyplaces(perhapsaCausativewithPrefixnd-)NotealsochangesinthePastTenseSuffix
Lukas further gives a Passive-Reffexive-Neuter-Intransitive with Stem-extending Suffix -Vr andor sound-change in Stem or Tense Suffix
Notealsoa-riw-ariIshaveda-riw-eriIshavedmyselfwasshaved
TherearemanyCompoundVerbsformedwiththeVerbs
baa-a-rontildegiIdividefi-w-iretheyburn(Trans)
InLukasrsquosmaterial thereappear tobemanyCompoundVerbs formedWithsuŋ-(meaningunknown)eg
bacirc-suacuteŋuDivide
ThereisnoinformationonDerivativeVerbsinMASALIT
4bNouns_VerbalNouns are formed by the Suffix -Vk Participles by the Suffix -Vn
The Noun Agent is formed by Prefix nV-and sometimes Suffix -Vk as wellTwo main forms of the Verb Stem are involved Compare S 1 (Present)Imperative Participle Verbal Noun2 Noun Agent
5NumberTheselanguagesexhibitsomeNKcharacteristicsSeeIntroductionp23
5aNounsSingularandPluralaredistinguishedbySuffixesandortoneHightoneand
vowellengthseemtobeassociatedwithPluralitySingularSuffixesinkandŋPluralSuffixes in tandnyorŋhavebeenrecordedasWellaszeroSuffix inbothSingularandPluralinMASALITSgSuffix-ti-diisrecordedwithStemsendinginror11
In MASALIT further the Plural Suffix -ta is used With loan wordssanduksanduk-tabox(ARABIC)5bAdjectives
According to Trenga Adjectives like Nouns have various Singular andPluralformsthecommonestbeingSingSuffix-(V)kPlur-tufafar-akfafar-tuwhitekomol-akkomal-tustrongBothNounandAdjectivedistinguishNumberNothingisknownofAdjectivesinMASALIT
5cPronounsAvelar Plural element occurs in the Self-standing Personal Pronouns (sect 8a
(i)) the Subject-Object Complex (sect 8a (iii)) and Demonstratives (sect 8c) In
MASALIT the Suffix -ŋa is added to a Possessive or Possessor Noun in theGenitiveCasewhenthePossessedNounisPlural(sectsect8a(iv)7)
5dVerbsForSingularandPluralObjectorActionseesect4a(iii)Note thatamongthe
manywaysofdistinguishingNumberinVerbsisannkoppositiontan-mount(one)tak-mount(many)6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGender
7CaseTrengastatesexpresslythatthereisnoinffexionforCaseinMABAHedoes
however give both -(a)ntildeg and -na as Genitive Sufiixes (sect 13) buramaba-ntildeglanguageoftheMabaanyidrabag-naexcrementofhyena
InLukasrsquosmaterialitwouldappearthatNominativeandAccusativeCasearedistinguished by tone on the Determinative Particle ģ (sect 8d)
There are also several Particles considered as Postpositions by Lukas eg
DaviesgivesanumberoflsquoCaseendingsrsquoinMASALITAccus(Sgonly)changeoffinalvoweltoou
GenitiveWithP1PossessedNounSg-tu-ŋaPl-ni-ŋa1
Case endings may also be attached to Possessives Demonstratives andInterrogatives8Pronouns
8aPersonal
(i)TheSelf-standingPronounsare
(ii)ThePronounSubjectoftheVerbisaPrefix
ThevowelsinSubjectPrefixesvaryaccordingtoVowelHarmonyMABAVerbsbeginningWithavowel
a-uf-it-uf-iIbindhebinds
VerbsbeginningwithaconsonanthavingStemvoweluo(Lukasᴐ)u-sur-itu-sur-iIdescendhedescends
havingStemvowelaei
a-naf-ita-nar-iIbringhebrings
Someapparentexceptionshavebeennoted
(iii)ObjectoftheVerb
ThereisaseriesofPrefixesdenotingSubjectandObjectsimultaneously1(Istand 2nd Person Object only) According to Trenga these are
egand-ui-tԑtlitme-hewillkillDavies lists a similar series inMASALIT butwithamb(a)- as P 1Object
(lsquousrsquo)
(iv)ThePossessivesare
LukasgivesexamplesWiththeDeterminativeģugravewithshortenedfinalvowelἑmbἑ-ģugraveminealsowithaSuffix-k(SingularSuffix)
hicircraacuteaniktἑnἑ-khispupilInMASALIT the Possessive has a Sufiix -ŋa when the PossessedNoun is
Plural(sectsect5c7)-
8bInterrogativeTrengalistsanumberofInterrogativesinMABAallofwhichcontainnny
orngnyiawhonyiԑm(Lukasnyecirck)whatnyiԑwhichngewhathowniet(Lukas nyeacuteenaacute) why ngun (Lukas ŋguacutema ŋgucircun) where ngotu whennganahowmuchDaviesgivesthefollowinginMASALIT
ŋaPlŋa-tawhowhichŋeriwhat
TheycantakeCaseendings
8cDemonstrativeTwodegreesofDemonstrativesarerecorded
(cfinMABAwitherelelfar(Adverbs))
8dDeterminative-Relative
InMABAtheParticlego(Trenga)ģu(Lukas)2appearstobeaDeterminativeand among its many functions is that of Relative Particle aek te-tina go themonthwhichispastCase(NominativeandAccusative)appearstobedistinguishedbytone(seesect
7)-nualsoseemstohaveDeterminativefunction
9VerbConjugatiacuteon9aTheredoesnotseemtobedistinctionofAspectMoodamp38c
9bConjugationforPerson
(i) Verbs are conjugatcd for Person by Prefixes those of S 2 varyingaccordingtoMorphologicalClass(sect8a(ii)4a(i))InMABAatleasttheSelf-standingPronounsnormallyprecedetheVerbasWellThe3rdPersonPrefixesbutnottheSelf-standingPronounsareusedwithNounSubject
(ii)ImperativeformsThe Imperative varies according to Primary Morphological Class The
PrefixesarerelatedtobutnotalwaysidenticalwiththeS2PrefixesInMABAtheSingularhasaSuffix-a(sometimes-iespeciallyinClassIIveryrarely-e-o-u)thePluralaSuffix-e
(noexamplesofClassVIavailable)
InMASALITthesituationWouldseemtobesimilar
9cTensesTensesareexpressedbySuffixesinbothlanguages
Trenga gives no otherTenses inMABA butLukas has an lsquoOptativersquowithSuffix-neeandaConditionalwithSuffixorPostpositionnuIn MASALIT Davies records a Subjunctive with Suffix -n(i) and an
OptativewithSuffix-teiItappearsfromthefewVerbsgivenbyDaviesthatthePresentTensehasa
differentStemfromthatoftheotherTensesComparea-rn-eiIsleep a-miy-aIslept a-mig-tiIshallsleepa-ny-eiIeat a-nyan-aIate a-nyan-tiIshalleata-ser-eiIsee a-kel-aIsaw a-kel-liIshallseea-iaw-eiIkill a-wi-aIkilled a-wi-tiIshallkilla-g-eiImake a-n-aImade a-n-tiIshallmake
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerbslsquotobersquoNOTEAllexamplesarefromMABAthereisnoinformationonMASALIT
10a ZeroCopula can be used to express Identity orDescription zalak kerekGod(is)good
10bTherearetwoVerbslsquotobersquo
To be someone something (Identity or Description) Note that S 2 variesaccordingtoTense
egmi kulak li lit you big you-aremantildegmaba mi weMaba we-are To besomewherestayremainnd(ClassI)ama-nd-ihereIamgulekti-nd-ithereisawellwantildegtang-nuunwi-nd-atheywereinthehouselittheyhouse-inthey-werelsquoTohaversquoisexpressedby-newithSubjectPrefixesasforClassIVerbstorrombosinehaveyoucamelsgulekinjite-nethewellhaswaterThereappearstobeanInterrogativeVerb-gin(ClassIV)ithasperhapsaRelativemeaningandmaythusbeconnectedwiththeDeterminative-Relative(sect8d)
11Negation11aVerbal(i)TherearetwoNegativeTensesinMABAGeneral(PresentandPast)withSufiix-aandPostpositionacircndiama-mor-a
andiIamnottired
FuturewithSuffix-tan
miga-tanyouwillnotgo
TrengaalsorecordsaNegativeParticlekaiumlfollowingtheAffirmativeFutureTensetantildeg-tetkaiumlhewillnotenter
(ii)TheNegativeImperativehasaSuffix-an
and-adani-anDonrsquotdeceivemezir-anDonrsquotfight
11bNon-verbalTheinvariableNegativeParticlekaiumlisused
12WordOrderWord order in the finite sentence is S+O+V The Verb is always final
howeverlongthesentencebitakjama-nagomajuktimsik-nagoti-nyi-arilitriverDjama-oftheslavePrincess-oftheit-has-eatenietheDjamariverhasswallowedupthe
Princessrsquosslavejermagomboroajiidsalamaat-namborikfufiekwenegot-as-olitDjermaGomboroAjidSalamatrsquosslavechieftheirhe-gaveietheDjermagavethemGomboroAjidSalamatrsquosslavefortheirchief
WhereseveralVerbsareinvolvedtheParticiple(sect4b)isusedforallexceptthelast1tijatorrombositenennar-annemereka-dau-antimszlg-gokamajetutenekatorrombosi-nuunta-nlan-alithethencamels-hisbringingwellsaddlingPrincesstheandslavesherandcamels-onhe-caused-to-mountieThenhehavingbroughthiscamelsandsaddledthemwellmountedthePrincessandherslavesonthecamelsamarakkok-1nyi-ankil-inkugin-intaiumlalitliongoingeatingbeingsatedreturn-ingheentered
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessorBothordersarerecordedinMABA
Possessed+Possessor with Case ending or Genitive Particle -ng -na satinyngon-nateethelephantrsquos
lingaklulum-naroadWestrsquosiethewesternroadPossessorWithCaseendingorGenitiveParticle-I-Possessedsoltaan-natantildegSultanrsquoshousealin-natifiiostrichrsquosfeathersLukashasexamplesofsimplejuxtapositioninbothorders
13bPronounPossessorPossessivesfollowthePossessedNoun
mbortuambemyslaves
Trenga also records a number of Suffixes added to the Possessive whose
meaningisnotknown(Determinative)14ConstructionswithQualifiers
1ComparethetwotypesofMorphologicalClassinFUR(wherehoweverthePrefixesofS3dis-tiacutenguishPrimaryClasses)(p220)VerbClassesdistinguishedbyTenseSuffixesarealsofoundinGELEBA(p562)
1NotethealveolarSgelementnandvelarPlelementkhere(seeIntroductionp23)thisishoweveronlyoneamongmanywaysofdistinguiacuteshingNumberinVerbs
2NotethatinFURtheVerbalNounisidenticalwiththeImperative(seep221)1SingularSufiix-kisfoundalsoinGELEBA(p564)SgSuffixin-tisreminiscentoftheTK
languagesbutnooppositionoftkhasbeenrecorded1NotetheuseofavelarelementtoindicatePluralityofthePossessedNoun1Subject-ObjectComplexisfoundinTESOandMAASAI(p471)andKUNAMA(p341)alsointhe
lsquoSelectorrsquoinIRAQW(p587)NotetheoccurrenceofthevelarelementkwhentheObjectisPlural2Trengarsquosvowelsareinconsistentasbetweeneandegravenoattemptisthereforemadetodistinguishthem
here1CfFURp2242RelativeParticlesngarealsofoundinBAGIRMI(p74)ZANDE(p150)RASHAD(p295)
BARYA(p332)UDUK(p362)andGELEBA(p565)1CftheconstructionsinBARYA(p334)KUNAMA(p346)andBILIN(p589)andtheuseofthe
GerundinAMHARIC(p611)1TheSuffix-anissometimesashereelided
12THETAMAGROUP
SourcesRCStevensonMSnotesincludingmanyverbparadigmsonTAMAalsoonMARARITJLukaslsquoDieSprachederSungorinWadai(AusNachtigalsNachlass)rsquoMittdAusland-HochschuleUnivBerlin1938
mdashlsquoBeitraumlgezurKenntnisderSprachenvonWadairsquoJSocAfric1933BroadbentMSnotesonERENGAVMABryanldquoTheVerbintheTamaandDidingaLanguageGroupsrsquoAfrikanischeStudien(FestschriftWestermann)Berlin1955
1PhoneticsIaVowels
STEVENSONusesninevowelsinhisTAMAmaterialiIeԑaᴐoUuLukaseightinSUNGORieԑaoᴐuandaFor MARARIT Lukas gives the following (orthography adapted)
VowellengthiscommonandsometimessignificantTAMAkalsevenkaalWater
Diphthongsendingini(y)andu(W)arecommonVowelHarmony undoubtedly exists but the principles governing it are not
known
IbConsonantsThe following occur in Stevensonrsquos material and may be considered as
representa-tive for the Group
Lukasdescribesjasapalato-alveolaraffricatelandrareseparatephonemesɽ
perhapsbelongstothet-orr-phonemeNonasalcompoundshavebeenrecordedinTAMAandMARARITandfew
otherconsonantcombinationsexceptthosewithWandywhicharecommonbutmaybeduetoinffuenceofneighbouringbackandfrontvowelsrespectivelyIn SUNGOR there aremany consonant combinations especially with liquidsandnasalsandthereappeartobenasalcompoundsLongordoubledrhasbeenrecorded
TAMAarrskyrain
Consonantsound-changehasbeenrecordedegTAMAatPlaɽ-iŋperson(butat-InAccusativeSg)2ToneandStress
StevensonrecordsexamplesoflexicalandgrammaticaltoneinTAMAthreelevel tonesare implied inhisexamplesLukasconsiders that theremaybe twoleveltonesandaFallingtoneinMARARITLexicaltone
Grammaticaltone
TAMAtἑἑPltἑἑcowToneisnotmarkedthroughoutNothingisknownaboutStress
3WordShapeNounStemsarehighlyvariablebutVCandCVCseemthemostcommonVerb Stems cannot be isolated owing to the extreme complexity of
conjugationinvolvingmanyAffixesandmuchsound-change
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i) It has been found convenient to divide Verbs into two Morphological
Classes according to shape
Class I Verbs have a vowel Prefix in Ist and 2nd Persons (Sg and Pl) inconjugation(seesect9)Since no twoVerbs inTAMAappear to be conjugated alike this grouping
mustberegardedassomewhatarbitrary
ThesametwoclassescanbedistinguishedinSUNGORandMARARITSome Verbs have been recorded in MARARIT in which the order of the
components of theVerb Complex differs from the lsquonormalrsquo order As can beseenfromtheparadigmsinsect9thenormalorderisPrefix(n-inIstPersonSgandPlsporadicn- inS2k- inP2)+VerbStem--Numbern-utt-ayyougoout Suflix (--Aspect Sufiicircx)
ItisthuspossiblethatsuchVerbsconstituteaseparateMorphologicalClassofadiffer-entorderfromtheClassesgivenabove1(ii)ItisnotknownwhetherthereareToneClasses(iii)StevensonrecordsthefollowingDerivativeVerbsinTAMA(ImperSg
(iii) forms are givenhere these however provide little or no indication as toother forms of the Verb)
4bNouns
CertainSuffixesappeartobeusedasNounFormativesbutsincetheStemoftheVerb is extremely difficult to isolate the examples are here givenwithoutreference to the original Stem TAMA Noun Agent Verbal Noun InfinitiveSuiacutefixes-it-It2-Vi-itkillerjowo-ItwashermanA
li-1t to drink drinkingŋan-It to eat eating foodԑɽ-1t songŋun-i thiefŋun-otheftber-atofightfightingSUNGORVerbalNoun-ut-Vtolk-ut(alsotolok)tocoughcoughingen-ebirthony-efeargᴐn-aseeingbar-eebattle4cAdjectives
ThereisnoevidenceofAdjectiveFormatives
5NumberThese languagesexhibitbothTKandNKcharacteristicsSee Introduction
p225aNounsNumberisdistinguishedbySuffixesofwhichtherearemanysomeofthese
being of the TK type others not Nouns can conveniently be grouped as
follows
5bAdjectives
AdjectivesaswellasNounshaveSingularandPluralSuffixesTheNumberSuffixesareapparentlyasvariableandunpredictableasthoseofNounseg
5cPronominalandconjugational
A velar Plural element occurs in the Self-standing Personal Pronouns (allPersonsinMARARIT3rdPersononlyinTAMAandSUNGOR)(sect8a(i))intheObjectPronoun(sect8a(iii))inPossessives(sect8a(iv))inDemonstratives(sect8c)andinVerbconjugationandtheImperative(sect9)Thesporadicoccurrenceof an n-k- oppositionin the 2nd Person Prefix inMARARIT should also benoted
5dVerbs
ForPluralObjectorActioninTAMAseesect4a(iii)An alveolar element in the Singular and a velar element in the Plural have
been recorded in a few instances in TAMA indicating Number of Subject
6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGender
7CaseCaseisshownbySuffixeswhichfollowtheNumberSufficircxesThefollowing
CaseshavebeenrecordedNominativenoSufiixAccusative-(1)ŋ-nInTAMAapparentlyonlyusedwhennecessarytoavoidambiguitythereisnoevidenceoftheuseoftheAccusativeinSUNGOR-withNounsatleastbutseePronounssect8alsquoBroadbentrecordsanAccusativeSuffix-(e)ringinERENGA1
Genitive-V-ŋV2amp38c
Broadbentrecordsboth-erand-ringinERENGAJ1
Examples
Broadbentrecords`AblativersquoSuffixes-(e)rge1and-deninERENGA
8Pronouns8aPersonal
(i)TheSelf-standingPronounsare
BlockPatternwithPluralElementŋisclearinMARARITtherearetracesofitintheotherlanguages
(ii) The Pronoun Subject of theVerb is contained in theVerb Complex insuchawaythatitisimpossibletoisolateitAcharacteristicoftheGroupisthepresenceofaprefixedn-intheIstPersonSingularandPluralSeesect9(iii)TheObjectformconsistsintheSelf-standingPronounAccusativeCase
in TAMA the Plurals contain an additional Element -kU
(iv) The Possessives precede the Noun in TAMA follow it in SUNGORMARARIT both orders are apparently possible (sectI3b) Note that MARARITalsohasPossessiveSuffixes
8bInterrogativeExamplesareavailablefromSUNGORonly
8cDemonstrativeandDeterminative
(i)ThefollowingDemonstrativeshavebeenrecorded
(ii) A Suffix -Ir has been recorded in TAMA which is perhaps a
Determinative9VerbConjugation9a b Owing to the extreme complexity of Verb conjugation it has not beenfoundpracticable todiscussAspectsamp38c separately fromconjugation forPersonThemaincharacteristicsofconjugationarethereforesummarizedbelowandparadigmsfollow1Verb Class Class I Verbs have a vowel Prefix in Ist and 2nd Persons
sometimesthereisvowelchangeintheSteminthe3rdPerson
Aspect The difference between theAspects varies considerably as betweenVerbstheDefiniteAspecthasaSuffix-ŋVinTAMAandSUNGOR(whichisfinal in theVerbComplex) inMARARITaSufiix -iappears tobeassociatedwiththeDefiniteAspectFurtherinTAMAandSUNGORaprefixedElementt(V)-occursinsomeVerbs2
Person Inall languages there is aPrefixn- inS I andP I3 inMARARITPrefixn-inS2k-inP2alsooccurssporadically4
NumberInmostVerbsSingularandPluralSubjectaredistinguishedeither
by a change of vowel Sufiix (lsquo Stem Suffixrsquo) or by the addition of a PluralElementbetweentheStemandtheStemSuffixorbetweentheStemSufficircxandthe Aspect Element this Plural Element often consists of a velar or nasalconsonant (k g n ny ŋ)5 sometimes there is consonant change in the Stemitselfusuallyofthetypenyampgtnjyampgtnynampgtzeronampgtŋ]TheStemisoftensomuchobscuredbysound-changeastobeunidentifiable
andinsomeVerbsitseemstodisappearaltogetherIntheexamplesbelowsomeofthelessobscureVerbshavebeenselectedbut
it must be remembered that many Verbs especially in TAMA are apparentexceptions
NotetheelementsinthePluraloflsquodrinkrsquoThisistheonlyVerbinwhichthiselementisrecordeditoccursalsointheImperative(seep216)IntheDefiniteAspect of lsquolook atrsquo the Stem has disappeared and there is an unexplainedelementģinthe3rdPerson
ImperativeThe Imperative appears to be as unpredictable as the other forms of the
VerbThe frequent occurrence of the velar element k in the Plural should benoted
9cTenses
Stevenson does not record any Tenses in TAMA beyond the AspectsInSUNGORthereisasecondTenseoftheDefiniteAspectperhapsaldquoPluperfectrsquoWithSuffix-ŋV-precedingtheAspectSuffixn-a-u-ŋi-ŋinaIhadwept()n-u-du-ŋu-ŋoIhadseen()n-i-di-ŋi-ŋaIhadtaken()Lukas states that there is also a Future Tense apparently of the Indefinite
AspectwithSuffix-s(a)-NoexamplesaregivenLukasobservesthataPreffixt-hasbeenoccasionallyrecordedinthe3rdPerson(SgandPl)inthisTenseHefurtherrecordsseveralConditionalTensesWithSuffix-nen-ig-oŋ-neifI
hearn-ig-oŋ-uŋ-neshouldIhearn-a-un-neeifIWeepn-a-un-iŋ-neshouldIweep
10Non-verbalPredicationandVerbslsquotobersquolsquotohaversquo10aZeroCopulahasbeenrecorded
TAMAInlil-Irwԑlnethisdonkey(is)goodSUNGORiinareeyou(are)who
10bTherearevariousVerbslsquotobersquo
There are also Verbs lsquoto haversquo recorded from SUNGOR andMARARIT
Notealso
SUNGORiŋwonareeiThisismine(litthisImineis)MARARITmaasħonniormaas-iħonniThisismyboy(seesect13)11NegationandInterrogation11AInTAMAandSUNGORNegationisexpressedbyaSuffixndashtowhichisfinalintheVerbComplex
InMARARITm(V)-isprefixedtotheStemn-ᴐ-m-gutIdidnotseemᴐ-guthedidnotseeInthePluralthereisa
sufficircxedelementtwhichisperhapsrelatedtotheSuffix-toinTAMAandSUNGORn-ᴐ-m-ģut-n-etwedidnotseema-ģut-tetthey
TheNegative ImperativehasSuffix -aito inTAMAandSUNGORTAMAԑn-aitoPlԑŋģ-aitoDonoteatSUNGORisek-aitoPlisek-iny-aitoDonotask
NothingisknownofNegativenon-VerbalPredication
11BStevensonrecordsanInterrogativeinTAMAwithSuffix-ԑP1-aintheIndefinitenoSuffixintheDefiniteԑn-ԑareyoueating(Sg)ԑԑŋģ-a(Pl)
ԑrniŋhaveyoueaten(Sg)ԑɽԑŋģaŋ(Pl)12WordOrderWordorderinthefinitesentenceisS-amp124-O-I-V
TAMAiimaataeŋalitWomansonbore
13TheGenitiveConstruction13aNounPossessor
The normal Word order is Possessor (with or without Genitive Caseending) +Possessed in all languages
The order Possessed--Possessor has also been recorded in SUNGOR sigitkul-unhair(of)mouth-his(hismoustache)
13bPronounPossessorThe Possessive Pronoun precedes the Noun in TAMA follows it inSUNGORIn MARARIT several constructions are possible Possessed--PossessiveSuffixmaas-naourboy
PossessiveP1-onoun+PossessedaģaamaasPossessed+PossessivePronounmaasaģanPossessivePronoun+Possessed+Suffixaģaamaas-na
14ConstructionswithQualifiersTheAdjectivefollowstheNounNumberSuffixesareattachedtobothNoun
andAdjective
1NotapparentlyaPrefix1CftheMorphologicalClassesinEastSAHARANandCUSHITICinwhichtheorderofthe
componentsoftheVerbComplexisthemaindistinguishingfeature(pp17I501)2ATKcharacteristicSeeIntroductionp221APluralSuffix-tinalsooccursinTEMEIN(p256)andPARANILOTIC(p462)allTKlanguages
SeealsoTEPETH(p395)2CfDIDINGAp3761TheelementrinthisSuffixisperhapsaDeterminative(sect8d)2CftheGenitiveSuffixorPostpositioninFUR(p223)andKUNAMA(p340)3Contraɽ-iŋPluralwithconsonantchange1CftheSelf-standingPronoun3rdPersonPlural(sect8a(i))1SeealsoBryanopcit2CfDIDINGAp371NYIMANGp2493InDIDINGA-MURLEthereislikewiseaPrefixintherstPersononlybutthereitisk-Seep3824AnNKcharacteristic5CfDIDINGA-MURLEp382anNKcharacteristic1ThisVerbappearstohaveClassIbehaviourintheDefimteAspect1CfD1DINGA-MURLEp385
13FUR
Sources
ACBeatonAgrammaroftheFurLanguage(MS)EZyhlarzlsquoDasVerbumimKondjararsquoAnthropos1926CMeiacutenhoflsquoSprachstudienimaumlgyprischenSudan29KondjararsquoZKolSpr1917ndash18
1Phonetics1aVowelsBEATONrecordseightvowelsieԑaᴐouandacentralvoweləVowellengthissignificant(iiaaanduuarerecorded)ur-shutuur-
kick
DiphthongsendinginioccurElisionandassimilationarecommon
1bConsonantsThefollowingconsonantsoccurinBeatonrsquosmaterial
According to Beaton t d and j are lsquoas in Englishrsquo z alternates with s incertaincir-cumstances(seesisect15)landrareseparatephonemesConsonantlengthissignificant
ur-shuturr-bury
Consonantcombinationswithliquidsandnoccurinstemsd-ᴐrmathrowing-stickd-ᴐrtԑgruelpotd-ᴐlbahornOtherconsonantcombinationsoccurwhenSuffixesareattachedtoaStemendinginaconsonant
Consonantassimilationhasbeennoted
2ToneandStressThere is little informationMeinhofrecordssomelexical tonedoubletsegwater monkey
3WordShape
ThemajorityofVerbStemsappeartoconsistofVCalsoVCVCmanyNounStemsconsistofVCVorVCCVafewofCVCCVCVBothshorterandlongerformsalsooccur
4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i)MorphologicalClassesVerbs may be grouped according to two different criteria Morphological
Classesarethusdistinguishedby(α)theformoftheStemandortheconsonantPrefixin3rdPersonSingular(thecriteriaadoptedby
Beaton1)ndashPrimaryMorphologicalClassesherenumberedwithRomannumerals(β)theTenseSuffixesusedndashSecondaryMorphologicalClassesherenumberedwithArabicnumerals
These twogroupings cut across eachotherThere are alsomany apparentlyirregularVerbs(α)PrimaryMorphologicalClasses(S1andS3PastTensegivenhere)IS3identicalWithS1(zeroPrefix)
uwil-ᴐuwil-ᴐIheWinnowedIISIbeginswithVCS3withC
aliŋ-ᴐliŋ-ᴐIhebathedIIIS1beginsWithVCS3withCV
irg-ᴐrig-ᴐIheboundIV(BeatonrsquosClassesIVandVcombined)S3hasaconsonantPrefix
sometimesWithvowelorotherchangeintheStemaswellTheconsonantPrefixesare
VerbsinthisClassWillbereferredtobytheirClassnumberfollowedbytheconsonantoftheS3Prefix
V(perhapsavarietyofI)S3beginswithi-an-iin-iIhegave
(β)SecondaryMorphologicalClassesThere isconsiderablevariation in theTenseSuffixesTheP3Suffixof the
PastTenseisheretakenascharacteristicfortheClassesasitappearstobethe
most stable (a detailed table of Tense Suffixes is given under sect 9c) In thefollowingexamplesPrimaryMorphologicalClass(asdeducedfromS1andS3)isgiveninbrackets
Identical Stems not infrequently occur in different Verbs but these aregenerally in different Morphological Classes eg ul-
(ii)ThereisnoinformationconcerningToneClasses
(iii)Beaton recordsoneDerivativeVerbonlyaNeuter-PassivewithStem-extendingSuffix-iŋ-(sometimes-uŋ-)precedingtheTenseSufiixkuunyal-iŋ-ul thecattlehavebeenbewitchedZyhlarz furthernotesanelement -n-whosesignificanceisuncertaink-am-n-aWeate
(Note that the -s- element considered by Zyhlarz to be a Transitive orCausativeelementprobablyrepresentssi-seesect15)
4bNounsTheonlyNounFormative recordedbyBeaton is thePrefix j-which forms
VerbalNounsfromtheSubjunctive-ImperativeStemj-uwil-ᴐwinnowingj-ur-ishuttingThisformisidenticalwiththeImperativeSingular1
TribalnamesandsomeotherNounsdenotingpersonsareperhapsCompoundNounsintheSingularfᴐr-duŋᴐfᴐr-aFurjurԑ-duŋᴐjurԑ-ŋamessengerV
SeealsoCompoundNounssect13a
5NumberFUR exhibits NK characteristics (see Introduction p 23) in pronominal
NumberdistinctionextendingalsotoNouns
5aNounsNumber is distinguished by both Prefixes and Suffixes in various
combinations the nature of some of these Affixes appears to be phonetically
controlled
PrefixesSgbeforeconsonantotherthanzuzero
beforevowelorwd-whentheStemconsonantisnotanasal(cfPossessivessect8a(iv))n-
whentheStemconsonantisanasalPlbeforeconsonantotherthanzozero
beforevowelorwk-(cfPossessivesDemonstrativessect8cInterrogativelsquowhichrsquosect8b)d-agik-agitoothn-ansuk-ansubreastSuffixes
Sgafteravowel(butcomparativelyinfrequent)-ŋᴐra-ŋᴐrarafterd-iirᴐ-ŋk-iirᴐeggn-ansa-ŋk-ansafeatherWingPlaftervowelorr-ŋa(cf3rdPersPronounsect8a(i)PronounObject8a(iii)Interrogativelsquowhorsquosect8b)utᴐutᴐ-ŋamouthd-wak-wa-ŋaheadpadtaartaar-ŋalegafternasallorg-akaamkaam-athiefbaanybaany-astreamd-ԑrgaŋk-ԑrgaŋ-abranchlellel-adonkeymutᴐkmutᴐg-afield
apparentlynotphoneticallycontrolled-ti-ta-ntaamp38cbəubəu-taaxed-olk-ol-digrainstalkn-uumk-uum-tisnaked-uruk-uru-ntaarmn-iimᴐk-iinᴐ-ntameat
5bAdjectivesAdjectives appear to agree in Number with Nouns denoting persons (with
non-personsNumberisnotusuallydistinguishedintheAdjectiveaccordingtoBeaton)theonlyexamplesrecordedhavethePluralSuffix-ŋakiisᴐ-ŋakura-ŋalitchiefstallkwaburԑ-ŋapeopleshort(butk-uru-ŋaapatreesbig)
5cPronounsNumber in Pronouns is distinguished for the most part by the use of the
alveolar Singular element d- (Possessives distinguishing the Number of thePossessed Noun sect 8a (iv)) and the velar Plural elements k- (PossessivesDemonstratives sect 8b) Interrogative lsquowhich rsquo sect 8b) and -27 (3rd PersonPronounsect8a(i)ObjectPronounssect8a(iii)Interrogativelsquowhorsquosect8b)1
6GenderThereisnogrammaticalGenderZyhlarzsuggeststhatthereisanObjectPrefixk-iftheObjectismalelargeor
superiorj-iftheObjectisfemalesmallorinferiorkurok-u-athecrowspoke(tothehyena)tᴐrᴐj-u-athehyenaspoke(tothecrow)ThisisnotborneoutfromBeatonrsquosmaterial(k-andj-areofcoursebothS3PrefixesinVerbClassIV-seesect4a(i))
7Case
TherearefourCasesdistinguishedbySuffixesorPostpositions1thesefollowthe Number Sufiixes and are attached to the last word in a Noun GroupNominativezeroAccusative-siGenitive-(i)ŋ
Locative-le(mostlyusedwithNounsdenotingPersonsandPersonalPronouns-sect8a)kwasagal-sikanyiŋulThepeopleabusedtheheadman(litpeopleheadmanabused)duomurtafuta-silədilitmanhorsewhitebeat
lel-iŋtaardonkeyrsquoslegmurta-ŋa-ŋk-əwin-tahorsesrsquotailsmurtafuta-ŋkwethewhitehorsersquosfoal(lithorsewhitersquoschild)ahmedomar-leelԑAhmedhascomefromOmar
NotethatwhenaVerbhastwoObjects-siissufiixedtothemainObjectkiisᴐsagala-sijuriŋainiThechiefgavetheheadmanclothes(litchiefheadman(Acc)clothesgave)-siisnotusedwithallVerbsmurtaduouurolithorsemankickedSeealsoAccusativeformsofPersonalPronouns(sectSa(iii))
8Pronouns8aPersonalThe Personal Pronouns have separate forms for all fourCases (sect 7) in the
Accusative theCase ending -si can be used and there is a Particlegi whoseexact function is not clear TheNominative andAccusative Pronouns precedetheVerbasSubjectandObjectrespectively
There are also Subject Prefixes which consist of contractions of theNominativePronounsinS2P1andP2
The Genitiacuteve and Locative forms show little or no resemblance to theNominativeorAccusative(exceptperhapsinthe3rdPerson)TheGenitivehasSingular and plural Prefixesd-k-1 indicatingNumber ofPossessedNoun theLocativehasPrefixd-
egd-wii-ŋkamald-ii-lekalitmycamelyou-withis8bInterrogative
The following have been recorded Some of them can take Case endings
8cDemonstrativeTwodegreesofDemonstrativearerecorded
TheyprecedetheNounandthereforecanonlytakeCaseendingsWhenusedasSelf-standingPronouns
8dRelativeThereisaninvariableRelativeParticleal3
ThisParticleisalsousedtointroduceindirectspeech
9VerbGonjugation9a There do not appear to beAspectsMoodsamp38c inBeatonrsquosmaterial(butseep227)9bConjugation forPerson andwithNounSubjectTheSelf-standingPronoun(NominativeCase) precedes theVerbComplex In addition there are SubjectPrefixesandinP3theTenseSuffixdiffersfromthatintheotherPersonsandisacluetoSecondaryMorphologicalClass(sect4a(i)AsalreadystatedthePrefixorStemvariesaccordingtoPrimaryMorphologicalClassinS3With a Plural Noun Subject denoting non-person the S 3 form with P 3
Tense Suffix is used
9cTenses(i) There are four Tenses distinguished by Suffixes Past Subjunctive-
ImperativePresent and lsquoImperfectrsquo (PastandSubjunctive-ImperativeSufficircxesareoftenidentical thelsquoImperfectrsquoSuffix isrelatedto thatof thePresent)TheTenseSuffixesvaryaccordingtoSecondaryMorphologicalClass(sect4a(i))andare not predictable from the Stem nor always from the P 3 Suffix As theexamples will show a different grouping would result from the choice of adifferentSuffixascriterionfortheClassesExamples of Past Tense are given below for Verbs of all Classes (where
available)inSIS3andP3
ThemainSuffixesoftheotherTensesareasfollowsTheseSuffixesarenotdependentonPrimaryMorphologicalClassTherearemanyexceptionsSubjunctive-ImperativeSecondaryMorphologicalClass
PresentandImperfectThedistributionoftheseSuffixesislessregularthanthosegivenaboveThere
are three main types
(ii)TheFutureisexpressedbyaParticleniŋfollowedbytheSubjunctivekaniŋuwil-ᴐIshallWinnowbinimb-uwil-ᴐyou(Pl)willwinnowWhenniŋfollowssi(sect15)theNegativeParticlea-(sect11a)ortheInterrogativeParticlela(sect11b)itiscontractedto-ŋZyhlarzrecordsthefollowingSufiixeswhichperhapshaveAspectratherthan
Tensesignificanceԑl-aheiscominghecame(IncompleteorIndefinite)ԑl-iheisnowcoming
camejustthen(Immediate)ԑl-ᴐhehascome(Complete)ԑl-iheusuallycomescameasusual(Habitual)
10VerbslsquotobersquoNon-Verbal Predication is not recorded in FUR Identity and existence are
expressed by two closely related (irregular) Verbs
To haversquo is expressed by the Verb lsquoto be somewherersquo preceded by the NounObjectandsi(whichhoweverisnottheAccusativeCaseendingseesect15)kadagalaiissiaiŋlitIchildrenthreesiam11NegationandInterrogation
11 A Verbal Negation is expressed by the Particles a preceding and ba
followingtheVerb
lsquoNot yet is expressed by an Auxiliary Verb eiacutey with Particle na and theNegativeBothAuxiliaryandMainVerbsareconjugatedforPersoniyek-eiŋsinaaj-əgilabahehe-not-yethe-has-seen(it)(forsiseesect15)11BTheInterrogativeisexpressedbytheParticlelaThepositionoflainthesentence varies according to Beaton it is added lsquoto any suitableword in thesentencersquoItisherewrittenseparatelyexceptwhenitcombineswiththeFutureParticleniŋ(la-ŋ)Withsi(s-a)andwithbothsiandniŋ(s-a-ŋ)
12WordOrderWordorderinthefinitesentenceisS+O-l-V
13TheGenitiveConstructionI3aNounPossessorThe order is Possessor in Genitive Case--Possessed to express possessive
relationship
kiisᴐ-ŋtᴐŋchiefrsquoshousekiisᴐkura-ŋmurtatallchiefrsquoshorseThe order is Possessed-1rsquo-Possessor in Genitive Case to express non-
possessiverelationshipgԑrakaaŋ-iŋbasketforgraintawukᴐrᴐ-ŋpotforWaterPossessed+Possessor Without Genitive Case ending is recorded in what
appeartobeCompoundNounskԑwabloodkᴐrspearkwapeople(thesignificanceofduŋᴐisnotknown)kԑwa-duŋᴐkԑwa-kwaleperkᴐr-duŋokᴐr-kwaspearmanNotealsothealternativesbslefarspeech(ofthe)Furfyra-ybaletheFursrsquospeech
13bPronounPossessorPersonalandInterrogativePronounsintheGenitiveCaseprecedetheNoun
14ConstructionswithQualifiersAdjectivesandNumeralsfollowtheNoun
Case endings are postpostitional to the Noun Group (Noun-+-Qualifier)
BeatonrecordstwolsquoIndefinitePronounsrsquobutthebehaviourofkarappearstobe
similartothatofAdjectives
DemonstrativesandPossessivesprecedetheNoun
15MiscellaneousTheParticlesi
ThisParticleisassociatedwithcertainVerbsandusuallystandsbetweenanyprecedingword(NounorPronounSubjectorObjectConjunctionamp38c)andthe VerbIt does not seem to have any significance of itself although someVerbshavedifferentmeaningswhenusedwithandwithoutsiWhen si is used with a Transitive Verb and follows the Object it may be
difiicult to distinguish it from the Accusative Case ending -si (sect7) TheAccusative-sihoweverisnevercontractedwhereastheParticlesiiscontractedafteravoweltosbeforeanothervowelandtozbeforeaconsonantCompare
ExamplesofdifferenceinmeaningbetweenaVerbusedwithandwithoutsi
1BeatongivessevenClasseshisClassesIVandVareherecombinedbutheincludesVerbsWithS3initiali-inhisClassVHisClassVIislsquoIrregularrsquohisClassVIIlsquoDefectiversquoieusedin3rdPersononly
2ComparethetwotypesofMorphologicalClassinMABA(wherehoweverthePrefixesofS2distinguishPrimaryClasses)p195VerbClassesdistinguishedbyTenseSuffixesarealsofoundinGELEBAp562
1InMABAtheVerbalNouniscloselyrelatedtotheImperative(p197)1CfSpecialCategorySuffixesinNYIMANG(p246)KOALIB-MOROandTALODI-MASAKIN(p
276)1ThesearealmostidenticalwiththepostpositionalParticlesinKUNAMA(p340)comparealsothe
GenitiveSuffixintheTAMAGroup(p211)2NotrelatedtotheSelf-standingformsandthusperhapsanNKfeature1TheclosestresemblancetothisformisfoundinDINKA-NUERseep4202CfMABAGroupp2023CfKATLAp2661BeatonwritesakariacutebaasonewordIfheisrightthentheconceptoftheVerbComplexmustbe
enlargedtoincludenotonlytheNegativeInterrogativeandFutureParticlesbutalsosi(sect15)
1ThisprobablyaccountsfortheTransitiveorCausativesignificanceofspostulatedbyZyhlarzsect4a(iii)
14THEDAJUGROUP
SourcesRCStevensonMSnotesSSantandrealsquoLittleknowntribesoftheBahrelGhazalbasinrsquoSudanNotes1948
THEDAJUlanguagesfallintotwomaindivisionsVEasternSHATTandLIGURIWesternDAJUandNIALGULGULEStevensonrsquosmaterialdealsmainlywithSHATTfromwhichthemajorityof
examplesareconsequentlytaken
1Phonetics1aVowelsThereappeartobefivemainvowelsieaouwithacentralvoweloumlinthe
eastern languages this vowel would seem to be a separate phoneme in some
WordsbutsometimesalternateswithuStevensonalsorecordsopenIandUԑandᴐbutthesemaynotbephonemic
and are not written here except in the Demonstratives in SHATT whereStevensondistinguishesᴐandoVowellengthhasmorphologicalsignificance
AnaptycticəhasbeenrecordedVowelHarmonyundoubtedlyoccursbuttheprinciplesgoverningitarenotat
presentunderstood1bConsonantsTherearefourpointsofarticulation1
t and d are dental in most languages alveolar and slightly retroffex inSHATT a few examples of more retroffex ṭ and ḍ have been recorded inLIGURI1andrareseparatephonemes
CompoundswithWkwģwarecommonŋWalsooccursVoiced nasal compounds both explosive and implosive and long or
gerninatedconsonantsoccurusuallyas the resultof sound-changeConsonantchange is intimately bound up with morphology--see sect 4a (i iii)Voicing ofconsonantsinintervocalicpositionandelisionhavealsobeenrecorded
2ToneandStressThree tone levels have been noted but no tonal doublets have been found
(examplesherearenotmarkedfortone)Stress would also seem to have some importance but has not been fully
investigated
3WordShapeBothNounandVerbStemsmaybemonosyllabicCVCbeingcommonbut
longerformsalsooccurSomeNounshaveavowelending(SuffixP)inthewesternlanguageswhich
isabsentintheeastern(forapparentconsonantSufficircxesseehoweverDeterminativesect8c)4StructuralElements4aVerbs(i)Verb conjugation is highly variable and it is possible that theremay be
Morphological Classes of Verbs classifiable according to more than onecriterionTwoClassesofVerbsmaybedistinguishedby the typeof sound-change in
theinitialconsonantoftheStemIVerbsinwhichtheSteminbothAspects(sect9a)isthatofthePluralImperative(Withinitialconsonantexplosiveorzero)
IIVerbsinwhichtheSteminbothAspectsisthatoftheSingularImperative(allotherinitialconsonants)
Cutting across the Classes given above the following main types ofconjugation pattern have been noted (see also sect 9b (i) )
5Withotheraddedelements1
(ii)ItisnotknownwhetherthereareToneClassesofVerbs
(iii)DerivativeVerbsareformedinseveralways(Impergivenhere)2
DirectionalVerbshavevariousSuffixesorStemExtensions1
4bNounsThe followingNoun Formative Suffixes have been recordedVerbalNoun
SHATT-t2SILA-kA Suffix -n(V) occurs in all languageswith no apparent significance It is
oftenattached to loan-words SHATT aŋģareb-ne bed (ARABIC) murta-nihorse(NUBIAN)5NumberThese languagesexhibitbothTKandNKcharacteristicsSee Introduction
p22
5aNounsIn the eastern languages there is a multiplicity of Singular and Plural
Suffixessome of these being of the TK type others not In the western
languagesthereareseveralSingularSuffixesbutthegeneralPluralSuffixis-geor-ke1sometimesinsteadofsometimesaddedtothePluralSuffixasfoundineasternDAJUNounsinSHATTcanbeconvenientlygroupedasfollows
InSHATTthere isaCollective(withzeroSuffixes)asWellasaNumericalPluralofsomeNouns3
SpecialCategoryProper names have two Plural forms with the following meanings
5bAdjectivesAdjectiveslikeNounshaveavarietyofSingularandPluralSuffixes1Note
thatinSHATTthereappearstobeasmallerrangeofSuffixesthanwithNouns
butinSILAalarger5cPronominalandconjugationalTheoccurrenceofaSingularalveolarelement(n)andaPluralvelarelement
(k) in pronominal forms is very widespread These elements are found in
PossessivePronouns(wheretheydistinguishNumberofthePossessedNoun)(sect8a (iv) ) some Interrogatives (sect 8b) and the Demonstratives (sect 8c) TheDeterminativeParticle (sect8c)consists in theSingularofavariablebutalwaysalveolar consonant in the Plural of k In Verb conjugation a velar elementoccursintheIstPerson(k)and2ndPerson(ŋ)PluralbutwithoutcorrespondingSingular element (sect9b) in theSelfstandingPersonalPronouns avelar elementoccurssporadicallyinPluralPersons(sect8a(i))Singularn(alsoŋ)andPluralkarealsofoundinvarioustypesofPredication(sect1oa)
5dVerbsForPluralObjectandActionseesect4a(iii)
6GenderThere is Pronominal Gender in the 3rd Person only (in Selfstanding
SubjectObjectandPossessivesect8a)TherearetwoorthreeGendersaccordingto language the Gender-distinguishing elements being
(Material on otherDAJU languages is insuflicient to showwhether there isGenderdistinction)7Case
ThereisnoinffexionforCase
8Pronouns8aPersonal(i)TheSelfstandingPronouns are here given for a number of languages in
SHATTtheformsofthePronounsusedasObjectoftheVerbarerelatedtotheSelfstandingformsandarethereforealsogivenhere
Exclusive-InclusivedistinctioninPrhasbeenrecordedinsomelanguagesitisnotknownwhetheritoccursintheothers(ii)SubjectofVerb
SubjectPrefixesvaryaccordingtoAspect therearealsoSubjectSuffixesinsome Plural Persons
The forms given above for SHATT follow the Determinative (sect 8c) when
usedasAdjectives8cDemonstrativeandDeterminative(i) There are three degrees of distance and in SHATT a Demonstrative of
ReferenceaswellIntheeasternlanguagestheDemonstrativeAdjectivesrequiretheDeterminativeParticle(see(ii)below)