Fur | |
---|---|
bèle fòòr / poor'íŋ belé | |
Native to | Sudan, Chad |
Region | Darfur, Sila |
Ethnicity | 1.3 million Fur (2023)[1] |
Native speakers | 790,000 (2004–2023)[1] |
Nilo-Saharan?
| |
Latin | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | fvr |
Glottolog | furr1244 |
Linguasphere | 05-CAA-aa |
![]() Geographic distribution of Fur | |
The Fur language (or For; Fur: bèle fòòr or fòòraŋ bèle, Poor'íŋ belé; Arabic: فوراوي, Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Fur of Darfur in Western Sudan and Chad. It is part of a broader family of languages known as the Fur languages
Phonology
[edit]The consonantal phonemes are:
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Labiovelar | Glottal | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Plosive | p[1] b | t d | ɟ[2] | k ɡ | ||
Fricative | f[1] | s (z)[3] | h[4] | |||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||
Approximant | l | j | w | |||
Trill | r |
All sounds are spelt with their IPA symbols except for the following: j = [ɟ~dʒ], ñ = [ɲ] and y = [j]. Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords.
The vowels are: a e i o u. There is dispute as to whether the –ATR vowels [ɛ], [ɔ], [ɪ], [ʊ] are phonetic variants or separate phonemes.[2][citation needed]
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Close | [+ATR] | i | u | |
Near-close | [-ATR] | ɪ | ʊ | |
Mid | [+ATR] | [e] | ə | [o] |
Open-mid | [-ATR] | ɛ | ɔ | |
Open | a |
There are two underlying tonemes, L (low) and H (high); phonetically, L, H, mid, HL, and LH are all found.
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; e.g.:
lem-
"lick"
→
-elm-
ba-
"drink"
→
-ab-
tuum-
"build"
→
-utum-
There are also various assimilation rules.
Morphology
[edit]Plurals
[edit]Noun, and optionally adjective, plurals can be formed with -a (-ŋa after vowels):
aldí
"story"
→
aldíŋá
"stories"
tóŋ
"(a certain species of) antelope"
→
pira
"antelopes"
piraŋa
"old"
→
tooy'báiná
"old (PL)"
This suffix also gives the inanimate 3rd person plural of the verb:
liíŋ
"he bathes"
→
liíŋá,
"they (inanimate) bathe"
káliŋa
"they (animate) bathe"
Vowel-final adjectives can take a plural in -lá, as well as -ŋa:
lúllá
"cold"
→
lúllála or lúlláŋa
"cold (PL)"
A similar suffix (metathesized and assimilated to become -ól/-úl/-ál) is used for the plural of the verb in some tenses.
A few CVV nouns take the plural suffix H-ta;
roo
"river"
→
roota'wala gal rooŋa
"rivers"
ra̱yi' wala gal ra̱y
"field"
→
rǎ̱ytó'wala gal rǎ̱ytá
"fields"
At least two nouns take the suffix -i:
kóór
"spear"
→
kóórí
"spears"
dʉ́tʉ
"mouse"
→
kʉ́ʉ́tɨ́
"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; e.g.:
dɨ́ló
"ear"
→
kɨ́ló
"ears"
nʉ́ŋɨ́
"eye"
→
kʉ́ŋɨ́
"eyes"
dági
"tooth"
→
kagi
"teeth"
dormí
"nose"
→
kormi
"noses"
- In some cases the singular also has a suffix -ŋ, not found in the plural:
daulaŋ
"shoe"
→
kaula
"shoes"
dɨróŋ
"egg"
→
kɨro
"eggs"
- Sometimes a further plural suffix from those listed above is added:
nʉ́nʉm
"granary"
→
kʉ́nʉ́ma
"granaries"
nʉ́ʉ́m
"snake"
→
kʉ́ʉ́mɨ́
"snakes"
dɨwwô
"new"
→
kɨwwóla'wala gal 'kɨwwóŋa
"new (PL)"
- Sometimes the suffix -(n)ta, is added:
dewer
"porcupine"
→
kewértá
"porcupines"
da̱wi
"tail"
→
ka̱wíntó'wala gal ka̱wíntá
"tails"
- One noun, as well as the demonstratives and the interrogative "which", take a plural by simply prefixing k-L:
úú
"cow"
→
kuu
"cows"
á̱yɨ
"which (one)?"
→
ká̱yɨ
"which (ones)?"
- Several syntactic plurals with no singulars, mostly denoting liquids, have k-L-a; kewa "blood", koro "water", kona "name, song" koonà.
Nouns
[edit]The locative case can be expressed by the suffix -le or by reversing the noun's final tone, e.g.:
tòŋ
"house"
→
toŋ
"at the house"
loo
"place"
+
kàrrà
"far"
→
loo kàrrà-le
"at a far place"
The genitive (English possessive s) is expressed by the suffix -iŋ (the i is deleted after a vowel.) If the relationship is possessive, the possessor comes first; otherwise, it comes last; e.g.:
nuum
"snake"
→
nuumiŋ tàbù
"snake's head"
jùtà
"forest"
→
kàrabà jùtăŋ
"animals of the forest"
Pronouns
[edit]Independent subject:
Singular | Fur | Plural | Fur |
---|---|---|---|
I | ká | we | kɨ́ |
you (sg.) | jɨ́ | you (pl.) | bɨ́ |
he, she, it | yé | they | yɨeŋ + yeeŋ |
The object pronouns are identical apart from being low tone and having -ŋó added to the plural forms.
Prefixed subject pronouns:
Singular | Fur | Plural | Fur |
---|---|---|---|
I | – (triggers metathesis) | we | k- |
you (sg.) | j- | you (pl.) | b- |
he, she, it | – (causes raising; *y-) | they (animate) | y- (+pl. suffix) |
they (inanimate) | (*y-) (+pl. suffix) |
Thus, for example, on the verb bʉo- "tire":
English | Fur | English | Fur |
---|---|---|---|
I'm tired | ká ʉmo | we tired | kɨ́ kʉmo |
you (sg.) tired | jɨ́ jʉmo | you (pl.) tired | bɨ́ bʉmo |
he/it/she tired | yé bʉo | they tired | yɨeŋ kʉme + yeeŋ bʉe |
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):
Singular | Fur | Plural | Fur |
---|---|---|---|
my | dúíŋ | our | dáíŋ |
your (sg.) | dɨ́ɨ́ŋ | your (pl.) | dɨ́eŋ |
his, hers, its | dééŋ | their | dɨ́eŋ |
Verbs
[edit]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 -iŋ (intransitive/reflexive; e.g.
lii
"he washes"
→
liiŋ
"he washes himself"
and gemination of the middle consonant plus -à/ò (intensive; e.g.
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
[edit]Most adjectives have two syllables, and a geminate middle consonant: e.g. 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, e.g.:
kùlle
"fast"
→
kùllendì or kùllèn
"quickly"
Abstract nouns can be derived from adjectives by adding -iŋ and lowering all tones, deleting any final vowel of the adjective, e.g.:
dìrro
"heavy"
→
dìrrìŋ
"heaviness"
Media in Fur language
[edit]Radio Dabanga – broadcasts daily news in the Fur language and in other languages local to Darfur.
References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Beaton, A.C. A Grammar of the Fur Language. Linguistic Monograph Series, No. 1. Khartoum: Sudan Research Unit, Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum 1968 (1937).
- Jakobi, Angelika. A Fur Grammar. Buske Verlag: Hamburg 1989.
- Kutsch-Lojenga, Constance and Christine Waag, "The Sounds and Tones of Fur", in Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages No. 9. Entebbe: SIL-Sudan 2004.
- Noel, Georgianna. An Examination of the Tone System of Fur and its Function in Grammar, University of Texas at Arlington, 2008.
External links
[edit]- Huffman, Steve. "Language Map of Sudan and South Sudan (pre-separation)" (PDF). www.worldgeodatasets.com. Archived from the original on July 5, 2017.
Bariwarig Tooduo, "Participant Reference". University of Juba 2014