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Fur language
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The Fur language (Fur bèle fòòr or fòòra? bèle, Arabic ?????? Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is the language of the Fur of Darfur in western Sudan. It belongs to the Fur branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. It has about 3,000,000 speakers (500,000 in 1983.)
symbols have their IPA value except for the following: j = , ñ = and y = .
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Encyclopedia
The Fur language (Fur bèle fòòr or fòòra? bèle, Arabic ?????? Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is the language of the Fur of Darfur in western Sudan. It belongs to the Fur branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. It has about 3,000,000 speakers (500,000 in 1983.)
Phonology
The consonantal phonemes are:
- Bilabial: f b m w
- Dental/Alveolar: t d s n l r
- Palatal: j ñ y
- Velar: k g (h) ?
All symbols have their IPA value except for the following: j = , ñ = and y = . z occurs only as an allophone of y. Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords. /h/ is very rare.
The vowels are as in Latin: a e i o u. There is dispute as to whether the +ATR vowels are phonetic variants or separate phonemes. is in free variation amongst a series of sounds ranging between and ; thus some sources give the name of the language as .
There are two underlying tonemes, L (low) and H (high); phonetically, L, H, mid, HL and LH are all found.
Interestingly, metathesis is an extremely common, and regular, grammatical phenomenon in Fur; when a consonant pronoun prefix is prefixed to a verb that begins with a consonant, either the verb's first consonant is deleted or it changes places with the following vowel. Eg: lem- "lick" > -elm-; ba- "drink" > -ab-; tuum- "build" > -utum-. There are also a variety of assimilation rules.
Morphology
Plurals
Noun, and optionally adjective, plurals can be formed with -a (-?a after vowels): àldi "story" > àldi?a "stories", tò? "(a certain species of) antelope"> tò?à "antelopes"; bàin "old" > bàinà "old (pl.)". This suffix also gives the inanimate 3rd person plural of the verb: lìi? "he bathes" > lìi?a "they (inanimate) bathe", kali?a "they (animate) bathe".
Vowel-final adjectives can take a plural in -là, as well as -?a: lulla "cold" > lullalà or lulla?à "cold (pl.)". A similar suffix (metathesized and assimilated to become -òl/-ùl/-àl) is used for the plural of the verb in some tenses.
A few CVV nouns take the plural suffix H-ta; ròò "river" > ròota "rivers"; rèi "field" > rèito "fields".
At least two nouns take the suffix -i: koor "spear" > koori "spears", dote "mouse" > kuuti "mice".
Nouns with the singular prefix d- (> n- before a nasal) take the plural k-; these are about 20% of all nouns. In some cases (mostly body parts) it is accompanied by L. Eg: dilo "ear" > kilo "ears"; nu?i "eye" > ku?i "eyes"; dagi "tooth" > kàgi "teeth"; dòrmi "nose" > kòrmì "noses".
- In some cases the singular also has a suffix -?, not found in the plural: daula? "shoe" > kaula "shoes", dìro? "egg" > kìrò "eggs".
- Sometimes a further plural suffix from those listed above is added: nunùm "granary" > kunùmà "granaries", nuum "snake" > kuumi "snakes", dìwwo "new" > kìwwolà "new (pl.)"
- Sometimes the suffix -(n)ta, is added: dèwèr "porcupine" > kèwèrtà "porcupines"; dàwì "tail" > kàwìntò "tails".
- One noun, as well as the demonstratives and the interrogative "which", take a plural by simply prefixing k-L: uu "cow" > kùù; ei "which (one)?" > kèì "which (ones)?".
- Several syntactic plurals with no singulars, mostly denoting liquids, have k-L-a; kèwà "blood", kòrò "water", kònà "name, song".
Nouns
The locative can be expressed by the suffix -le or by reversing the noun's final tone, eg: tò? "house" > to? "at the house"; loo "place", kàrrà "far" > loo kàrrà-le "at a far place".
The genitive (English 's) is expressed by the suffix -i? (the i is deleted after a vowel.) If the relationship is possessive, the possessor comes first; otherwise, it comes last. Eg: nuum "snake" > nuumi? tàbù "snake's head"; jùtà "forest" > kàrabà jùta? "animals of the forest".
Pronouns
Independent subject:
I |
ka |
we |
ki |
you (sg.) |
ji |
you (pl.) |
bi |
he, she, it |
ie |
they |
ìè-è? |
The object pronouns are identical apart from being low tone and having -?ò added to the plural forms.
Prefixed subject pronouns:
I |
- (triggers metathesis) |
we |
k- |
you (sg.) |
j- |
you (pl.) |
b- |
he, she, it |
- (causes vowel raising; *i-) |
they (animate)
they (inanimate) |
k- (+pl. suffix)
(*i-) (+pl. suffix) |
Thus, for example, on the verb bu- "tire":
I tired |
ùmô |
we tired |
kùmô |
you (sg.) tired |
jùmô |
you (pl.) tired |
bùmô |
he/she tired |
buô |
they tired |
kùmul |
gi, described as the "participant object pronoun", represents first or second person objects in a dialogue, depending on context.
Possessives (singular; take k- with plural nouns):
my |
dui? |
our |
daì? |
your (sg.) |
dii? |
you (pl.) |
diè? |
his, her, its |
dee? |
their |
diè? |
Verbs
The Fur verbal system is quite complicated; verbs fall into a variety of conjugations. There are three tenses: present, perfect, and future. Subjunctive is also marked. Aspect is distinguished in the past tense.
Derivational suffixes include -i? (intransitive/reflexive; eg lii "he washes" > lii? "he washes himself) and gemination of the middle consonant plus -à/ò (intensive; eg jabi "drop" > jappiò/jabbiò "throw down".)
Negation is done with the marker a-...-bà surrounding the verb; a-bai-bà "he does not drink".
Adjectives
Most adjectives have two syllables, and a geminate middle consonant: eg àppa "big", fùkka "red", lecka "sweet". Some have three syllables: dàkkure "solid".
Adverbs can be derived from adjectives by addition of the suffix -ndì or L-n, eg: kùlle "fast" > kùllendì or kùllèn "quickly".
Abstract nouns can be derived from adjectives by adding -i? and lowering all tones, deleting any final vowel of the adjective, eg: dìrro "heavy" > dìrrì? "heaviness".
Sources
- A. C. Beaton. A Grammar of the Fur Language. Linguistic Monograph Series, No. 1. Khartoum: Sudan Research Unit, Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum 1968 (1937).
- Angelika Jacobi, A Fur Grammar. Buske Verlag: Hamburg 1989.
- Constance Kutsch-Lojenga & Christine Waag, "The Sounds and Tones of Fur", in Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages No. 9. Entebbe: SIL-Sudan 2004.
External links
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