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Contents |
Sounds
The consonants are:
| p | t | c | k | |
| f | s | |||
| r | ||||
| l | ||||
| m | n | ɲ | ||
| y | w |
Stops are automatically voiced between two non-obstruents (obstruents = stops or fricatives.)
Stops and sonorants may occur geminate. Some consonant clusters are allowed (almost invariably two-consonant), most involving sonorants; prenasalised ones are particularly common.
ʃ, h, z are found in some Arabic loanwords.
The vowel system is unclear; phonetically, it seems to be basically: a, e, i, o, u, ɛ, ɔ, ɪ, ʊ, ə.
There seem to be three phonemic tones: high, low, and occasionally falling.
Grammar
Nouns
Each noun consists of a prefix plus a stem; the prefix identifies its noun class. It changes according to number.
The genders include:
- w-, pl. y-: this gender seems to consist mainly of persons and animals. Eg: wùttar "chief" > yáttar "chiefs"; wín "snake" > yínét "snakes".
- bilabial-, pl. yi-, including several trees; eg wòr "um-kaddaqi tree" > yíwóórèn, púrn "upper arm" > yìbúrn.
- pl. with no initial change, including a number of kinship terms; eg màrá "road" > màrnát, àppá "father" > àppánàt
- t-, pl. y-: mostly body parts; eg tárák "skin" > yárák, téŋlàk "tongue" > yáŋùlàk.
- t-, pl. ŋ-: almost exclusively body parts; eg téŋlàk "tongue" > ŋéŋlàk, tìɲèn "tooth" > ŋìɲèn.
- t- with no plural: place names, mass nouns
- y-, pl. ŋ-: notably fruits and body parts, but also a wide variety of others. Eg yé "egg" > ŋíye; yìmbó "knee" > ŋìmbó.
- ŋ- with no plural: languages, liquids, possibly verbal nouns; eg ŋə̹́gdìráá "Arabic" (< kə̀dráá "Arab"), ŋàì "water".
- k-, pl. s-: seems to be the commonest gender, includes all sorts of semantic fields; eg kábà "hut" > sábà, kám "hair" > sám, kàdìrú "pig" > sàdìrú.
- c-, pl. ɲ-: includes a wide variety of semantic fields; derives diminutives; eg: cíŋ "child, boy" > ɲín; cúdén "bird" > ɲúdén.
In genitive (possessive) constructions, the head noun is followed by a linking element which agrees with it in class, followed by the possessor noun; eg ɲín ɲi-adam "children of Adam"; kʊs ki-gai "skull (ie bone of head)".
Adjectives
Adjectives follow the noun, and agree in noun class, ie in gender and number; eg kús kàlló "a thin bone" > sús sàlló "thin bones".
Demonstratives
Demonstratives too follow the noun, and agree in class. There are:
- three short : -i- "this" (with the agreement prefix copied after the i as well as before), -ur, -un "that". Eg: gálám kɛ́k "this pencil" > sálmát sɛ́s "these pencils"; gálám kur "that pencil".
- three long, formed by adding (-)-an to the previous; eg wùskén wèwán "this knife", gálám kurkan "that pencil".
Numbers
The numbers one to four are normal adjectives; eg yʊ́r yùkók "two hands". Other numbers' behavior is unknown. When used without a head noun, they appear as follows, with the prefix w- for numbers 1-5:
- wàttá, ùttá
- wùkkók
- wìttá
- wàrʊ̀m
- wʊ̹̀ràm
- ɲérér
- ʊ̀mʊ̀rgʊ́
- tùppá
- kʊ́mnàsá(n)
- kʊ́mán
Pronouns
The pronouns are as follows:
| Independent | Possessive (agree in class) | Verb subject | Verb object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | yìgə̹́n | -ìríŋ | y- | àd- |
| you (sg.) | ɔ̀gə̜́n | -ìrɔ́ŋ | w- | nú- |
| he/she/it | tùgə̜́n | -ùrúŋ | - | - (í-?) |
| we | nìgə̹́n | -ìrín | n- | àníŋg(ì)- |
| you (pl.) | nɔ̀gə̜́n | -ìrɔ́n | ŋ- | núng(ì)- |
| they | nɛ̀gə̜́n | -ìrɛ́n | t- | níng(ì)- |
Examples of verbal personal inflection: Musa àdúbìr "Musa beat me"; yàyá "I drink".
Interrogative pronouns include agn "what?", tá̹jí̹n "who?", nɛ́gán "where?", cínàcɛ̀n "which (boy)?"
Verbs
There appear to be at least four basic forms: present (e.g. y-ìlàm "I see"), past (e.g. y-ílàm "I saw"), imperative (e.g. k-ìlmɛ́ "see! (sg.)), and negative imperative (e.g. ánák w-èlm-ò "don't see! (sg.)). The difference between present and past is typically marked by tone: LH or occasionally LL in the present, HL in the past. Sometimes vowel changes are also observed. In the imperative, some verbs take a k- prefix, others do not; this may depend on whether or not the verb begins with a vowel.
The verb "to be" has different roots according to tense: -ɛ́n in the present tense, -ɪ́rɪ̀n in the past tense.
Negation of the verb is expressed by a prefix k-, followed by the verb "to be", inflected for person; negation of the verb "to be", by k-àrà in the present tense, k-ɪ̀rá in the past.
Verbal nouns include agent nouns in t- (eg t-ubi "beater"), gerunds in t- (eg t-àyá "drinkable"), and action nouns (eg ŋ-ìlàm "sight".)
Syntax
The basic word order is subject-object-verb, including in the imperative. Locative complements also precede the verb. Nominal sentences use the verb "to be". Modifiers consistently follow their head nouns.
References
- Thilo C. Schadeberg & Philip Elias, based on the notes of Fr. Carlo Muratori. A Description of the Orig Language (Southern Kordofan). Archief voor Antropologie Nr. 26. Centre Royal de L'Afrique Centrale: Tervuren, 1979.
