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==Morphology== ===Syntax=== The typical [[word order]] can be summarised as [[subject (grammar)|subject]]–(verbal [[particle (grammar)|particle]])–[[verb]]–[[object (grammar)|object]]–[[adverb]]; [[preposition]]–[[noun]]; [[possession (linguistics)|possessed–possessor]]; [[noun]]–[[adjective]]. Nouns can be fronted when [[topic (linguistics)|topic]]alized. See the [[#Sample sentences|sample sentences]] below for examples and the [[#Conjunctions|conjunctions]] for clause syntax. ===Nouns=== Nouns have plural and singular forms (the latter are perhaps better viewed as [[singulative]] in some cases), with plural formation hard to predict: ''kò:g'' "bone" > ''kuagmi'' "bones", ''tuà:r'' "chicken" > ''tò:rò'' "chickens", ''ɲaw'' "hunger" > ''ɲə̀wə́r'' "hungers". Nouns do not have arbitrary gender, but three natural genders (male, female, non-human) are distinguished by pronouns. The possessive is expressed in two ways: * "[[inalienable possession|inalienable]]", or direct, possession: by following the possessed with the possessor (and modifying the tone or ending of the possessed in some cases): ''piá:r no'' "person's leg" ("leg person"); * [[alienable possession]]: by putting a connecting word, conjugated according to number and gender, between the possessed and the possessor: {{interlinear|indent=3 |làgɨˋm má màr-dɨb |horse CONN man+of-forge |"blacksmith's horse"}} : The connecting word is sometimes abbreviated to a simple high tone. However, if the possessor is a pronoun, it is suffixed with extensive vowel [[ablaut]] (in the first case) or prepositional forms with "at" and optionally the connector as well, are used (in the second case): ''na:ra ɟá ɗe:'' "my man" ("man CONN. at-me"), ''mùlù'' "her eye" ("eye-her", from ''mɨla'' "eye"). Some nouns (''páw-'' "friend") occur only with bound pronouns and have no independent form. That is called [[obligatory possession]] and is found in many other language, usually for words referring to personal relationships. See [[#Pronouns|pronouns]] for the relevant suffixes. A noun indicating someone who does, is, or has something can be formed with the prefix ''màr'', meaning roughly "he/she/it who/of": ''màr jùgòr'' "landowner", ''màr ce'' "farmer" (''ce'' = cultivate), ''màr pál'' "fisherman" (''pál'' = to fish), ''màr pàlà ta:'' "a fisher of fish". Laal does show traces of an old Adamawa-type noun-class system, but apart from loans, the forms do not appear to be cognate with the Adamawa system (Lionnet 2010). Some singular and plural nouns in Laal (Blench (2017):<ref>{{cite book|chapter=African Language Isolates|first=Roger|last=Blench|editor1-first=Lyle|editor1-last=Campbell|url=https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315750026.ch7|title=Language Isolates|series=Routledge Language Family series|publisher=Routledge|date=2017|doi=10.4324/9781315750026|isbn=9781138821057}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | Gloss ! colspan="2" | Laal |- ! singular ! plural |- | mahogany || círám || cúrmú |- | bag || bwālāg || bólgó |- | mat || sún || súnà |- | cock || kògòr || kwāgrā |- | hyena || ŋyāāl || ŋēē |- | ear || sɨ̀gál || sɨ̀gɨ́y |- | elephant || ɲé || ɲwáɲá |- | dog || ɓyāāg || ɓīīgāɲ |- | bird || ndíí || ndírmá |- | pigeon || lóóg || lwágmí |- | water || sū || sùgá |- | sheep || ɗēē || ɗwāār |} ===Pronouns=== ====Personal==== In the following tables, note the distinction between [[clusivity|inclusive and exclusive we]], found in many other languages but not [[English language|English]], and the gender differentiation of "I" in certain forms. The inanimate plural has been dropped by most popular younger speakers in favour of the animate plural, but both are given below. The object paradigm for verbs is quite complex; only two of its several sets of [[allomorph]]s are given in the table below. "He" and "she" are used only for human referents; other nouns take the neuter pronoun. That is quite distinct from the languages with which Laal shares vocabulary, but Laal has traces of an old Adamawa-type noun-class system (Lionnet 2010). The first- and second-person plural forms are quite similar to Chadic languages (specifically, [[Kera language|Kera]]) which are currently quite distant from the Laal-speaking region, but they have no similarities to Adamawa. {| class="wikitable" |- ! rowspan="2" | ! rowspan="2" | Simple ! rowspan="2" | Emphatic ! rowspan="2" | Benefactive ! rowspan="2" | At ! rowspan="2" | Possessive ! colspan="2" | Object |- ! n-type ! r-type |- ! I (masc.) | ''ɟá'' | ''ɟá'' | ''ni'' | ''ɗe:'' | ''-↑ər'' | ''-↑ə́n'' | ''-↑ə́r'' |- ! I (fem.) | ''ɟí'' | ''ɟí'' | ''ni'' | ''ɗe:'' | ''-↑ər'' | ''-↑ə́n'' | ''-↑ə́r'' |- ! you | ''ʔò'' | ''ʔùáj'' | ''na'' | ''ɗa:'' | ''-↓a'' | ''-↘(u)án'' | ''-↘á'' |- ! he | ''ʔà'' | ''ʔàáj'' | ''nar'' | ''ɗa:r'' | ''-↓ar'' | ''-↓án'' | ''-↓ár'' |- ! she | ''ʔɨ̀n'' | ''ʔɨ̀ní'' | ''nùg'' | ''ɗò:g'' | ''-↑o(g), -↗o(g)'' | ''-↗òn'' | ''-↑ò'' |- ! it | ''ʔàn'' | ''ʔàní'' | ''nàná'' | ''ɗà:ná'' | ''-↓an'' | ''-↓àn'' | ''-↓àr, -↓àn'' |- ! we (excl.) | ''ʔùrú'' | ''ʔùrú'' | ''nùrú'' | ''ɗò:ró'' | ''-↑rú'' | ''-↗(ˋ)nùrú, -↑(ˋ)nùrú'' | ''-↗(ˋ)rùú, -↑(ˋ)rùú'' |- ! we (incl.) | ''ʔàáŋ'' | ''ʔàáŋ'' | ''nàáŋ'' | ''ɗàáŋ'' | ''-↑ráŋ'' | ''-↑(ˋ)nàáŋ'' | ''-↑(ˋ)ràáŋ'' |- ! you (pl.) | ''ʔùn'' | ''ʔùnúŋ'' | ''nùúŋ'' | ''ɗòóŋ'' | ''-↑rúŋ'' | ''-↗(ˋ)nùúŋ, -↑(ˋ)nùúŋ'' | ''-↗(ˋ)rùúŋ, -↑(ˋ)rùúŋ'' |- ! they (anim.) | ''ʔì'' | ''ʔìrí'' | ''nìrí'' | ''ɗè:ri'' | ''-↑rí'' | ''-↑(ˋ)nìrí'' | ''-↑(ˋ)rìí'' |- ! they (inan.) | ''ʔuàn'' | ''ʔuàní'' | ''nuàná'' | ''ɗuà:ná'' | ''-↘an, -↑uan'' | ''-↘àn'' | ''-↘àr, -↘àn'' |} (The arrows indicate [[vowel harmony]] triggered in by the suffix by the root.) ====Relative and indefinite pronouns==== {| class="wikitable" ! rowspan="2" | ! colspan="3" | Singular ! colspan="2" | Plural |- ! Male || Female || Inanimate ! Animate || Inanimate |- ! who/of | ''ɟá'' | ''ɟí'' | ''má'' | ''jí'' | ''já'' |- ! some ... | ''ɟàn'' | ''ɟìn'' | ''màn'' | ''jìn'' | ''jìn'' |- ! such a ... | ''ɟuàŋá'' | ''ɟùŋú'' | ''muàŋá'' | ''jùŋú'' | ''jùŋú'' |} ====Interrogative==== ''jé'' "what?", ''ɟè'' "who?", ''ɗé'' "where?", ''sɨ̀g'' "how much?". ===Prepositions=== [[Preposition]]s precede their objects: ''gɨ̀ pə:l'' "in(to) the village", ''kɨ́ jà:ná'' "to his body" (="to near him"). ===Verbs=== The verb does not vary according to the person or gender of the subject, but some verbs (about a quarter of the verbs attested) vary according to its number: ''no kaw'' "the person eats", ''mùáŋ kɨw'' "the people eat". The plural form of the verb is hard to predict, but is often formed by ablaut (typically raising the vowel height) with or without a suffix ''-i(ɲ)'' or ''-ɨɲ'' and tonal change. The verb, however, changes according to the [[direct object]]. It takes personal suffixes to indicate a pronominal [[direct object]], and it commonly changes when a non-pronominal direct object is added to a [[transitive verb|transitive]] form with final low tone (formed similarly to the "centripetal", for which see below): ''ʔà ná ká'' "he will do"; ''ʔà ná kàrà mɨ́ná'' "he will do something"; ''ʔà kú na:ra'' "he sees the man"; ''ʔà kúù:rùúŋ'' "he sees you (pl.)". The verb has three basic forms: simple, "centripetal", and "participative" to [[calque]] Boyeldieu's terminology. The simple form is used in the simple [[present tense]] or the [[imperative mood|imperative]]: ''ʔà duàg jə́w gə̀m'' "he goes down the riverbank" (lit. "he descend mouth riverbank"). The "centripetal" indicates action "hither", either spatially, motion towards the speaker, or temporally, action up to the present moment; it is formed mainly by suffixing a vowel (often, but not always, identical to the last vowel in the word): ''ʔà duàgà jə́w gə̀m'' "he comes down the riverbank (towards me)". The "participative", generally formed like the centripetal but with final high tone, generally indicates an omitted object or instrument: {{interlinear|indent=2 |ʔà sá ɗa:g ʔà sɨ̀rɨ́ su |he take calabash he drink-{{gcl|PARTICIP|participative}} water |"he takes a [[calabash]] and drinks water with it"}} Immediately before the verb, a particle may be placed to indicate forms other than a simple present tense; such particles include ''ná'' (pl. ''ní'') marking future tense, ''taá:/teé:'' (pl. ''tií:'') marking continuous action, ''wáa:'' (pl. ''wíi:'') marking motion, ''náa:'' (pl. ''níi:'') being apparently a combination of ''ná'' and ''wáa:'', ''mà'' (pl. ''mì'') meaning "must", ''mɨ́'' marking reported speech (apparently an [[evidential]]), ''mɨ́nà'' (pl. ''mínì'') expressing intention, ''kò'' marking habitual action, ''ɓə́l'' or ''ga'' (pl. ''gi'') marking incomplete action, and ''wó'' (always accompanied by ''ʔàle'' after the verb) meaning "maybe". Mediopassives (see [[passive voice]], [[middle voice]]) can be formed from [[transitive verbs]] by adding a suffix ''-↑ɨ́ɲ'': ''no siár sà:b'' "someone ripped the cloth" > ''sà:b sérɨ́ɲ'' "the cloth ripped". For the inverse, forming transitive verbs from [[intransitive]]s, changes in tone or to the plural sometimes occur. [[Verbal noun]]s can sometimes be formed, mainly from intransitives, by the addition of a suffix -(vowel)''l'', sometimes with [[ablaut]] and tone change: ''wal'' "fall" > ''wàlál'' "a fall", ''sùbá'' "lie" > ''sɨ́blál'' (pl. ''súbɨ̀r'') "a lie". The ''l'' becomes ''n'' near a nasal and ''r'' near ''r'': ''man'' "taste good", ''manan'' "a good taste". ====Adjectives==== Adjectives do not seem to constitute an independent category in Laal; to all intents and purposes, they behave just like verbs: ''gò: ʔì:r'' "the goat is black". Attributively, they are typically linked as a [[relative clause]]: {{interlinear|indent=2 |gò: má ʔì:r |goat which black |"the black goat"}} ===Numbers=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Number !! Laal |- | 1 || ɓɨ̀dɨ́l |- | 2 || ʔīsī |- | 3 || māː |- | 4 || ɓīsān |- | 5 || sāb |- | 6 || cìcàːn |- | 7 || suàr ʔīsī |- | 8 || ɓìsán ɓīsān |- | 9 || yàwjáŋ (sāb) |- | 10 || tūː |} <ref name=":0" /> ===Adverbs=== Adverbs generally come at the end of the clause. Here are some important adverbs: Adverbs of location: * "here": ''ɗágàl, núŋú'' * "there": ''ɗaŋ'' * "over there, yonder": ''ɗàŋá'' Temporal adverbs: * "day before yesterday": ''tá:r'' * "yesterday": ''ʔiè:n'' * "today": ''cicam'', ''tari-màá'' * "recently": ''bèrè'' * "soon": ''sugo'' * "tomorrow": ''jìlí-kà:rì'' * "day after tomorrow": ''miàlgà'' ===Modals=== Here are the most important modals: *Before the verb: ''mɨ́'' "(say) that", ''gàná'' "then" *After the verb: ''wó'' "not", ''(ʔà)le'' "maybe", ''ɓə́l'' "again", ''ʔá'' or ''gà'' "already", ''à'' [[interrogative]], ''wá'' [[Phrasal exclamation|exclamatory]], ''ta'' "now", ''cám'' "again, anew". ===Conjunctions=== Conjunctions can be divided into five types: * only ([[main clause]] - [[grammatical conjunction|conjunction]] - [[subordinate clause]]}: ''mɨ́'' "(say) that", ''ɓə'' "because" * either {main clause - conjunction - subordinate clause} or {conjunction - subordinate clause - main clause}: ''ɟò'' "if", ''dànngà'' (possibly from Baguirmian) "when" * circumposed: either {conjunction - main clause - conjunction - subordinate clause} or {conjunction - subordinate clause - conjunction - main clause}: ''ɟò... gàná'' "if" * [[coordinate clause]] - conjunction - coordinate clause: ''ní'' "then afterwards", ''ku'' "then", ''kó'' "nonetheless", ''á'' or ''ná'' "and", ''ɓe:'' "or", ''ʔàmá'' (from Arabic or Baguirmian) "but". * circumposed: conjunction - coordinate clause - conjunction - coordinate clause: ''ku... ku'' "then", ''jàn... jàn'' "both... and".
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