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Tagoi language

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Languages

   The Tagoi language (ŋɔ̹́gɔ̹́lɛ̹́) is a Kordofanian language, closely
   related to Tegali, spoken near the town of Rashad in southern Kordofan
   in Sudan, about 12 N, 31 E. It has about 13,000 speakers in total. Like
   most other Kordofanian languages, it has a complex noun class system.
   It has several dialects, including Tumale, Tagoi proper, Moreb, and
   Jebel Turjuk; the following describes the Turjuk, or Orig, dialect
   (ŋóórig).

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' behaviour is unknown. When used without a head
   noun, they appear as follows, with the prefix w- for numbers 1-5:
    1. wàttá, ùttá
    2. wùkkók
    3. wìttá
    4. wàrʊ̀m
    5. wʊ̹̀ràm
    6. ɲérér
    7. ʊ̀mʊ̀rgʊ́
    8. tùppá
    9. kʊ́mnàsá(n)
   10. 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 (eg y-ìlàm "I
   see"), past (eg y-ílàm "I saw"), imperative (eg k-ìlmɛ́ "see! (sg.)),
   and negative imperative (eg 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.
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