part one grammar sketch
advertisement
DJERMA CONSANANT CHART p t k b d g m n ŋ β f s z #__ V__V poporó motorcycle t̪asa plate kɪɾi Salt ba:ni good dé:nɛ tongue guɾi egg muɾi sour/bitter ni you/your ŋwa to eat βla blue fondu street saɪgi forest za:ma knife poporó motorcycle fotu spicy makaranta school taba taste ɪd:u six fegi sheep fuma bellybutton kani᷄ sweet i koŋo tenders (ai) sa:βu thank you afo one kusu pot/bown i᷄ze child gudaʒi lump kulu all tawɛɪ twin sibling noru money bɪ:ɾi older sister kaje notebook ʒ l w r labu sand wa milk rabi half ɾ j h jaʒi spices haɾi water C__ __C __# kambɛ hand kogandi dry toŋko pepper ha:m meat ton to burn haŋ to drink kanti shop hiŋka two gɪɾbi sleep fondu street dunguɾi beans hamni hair goɾŋa chicken kɛ kɛmsɛ toenails hinza three kwara house kjau read albasa onion kawra fork/spoon farka donkey giɾbi sleep ii kowl kowti corn haw cow iɾ us, we, ours kuriŋj husband *I did not include consonants if I couldn’t find a word. I also didn’t use direct borrowings from French, Hausa, or Arabic that hadn’t been ‘Djerma-fied.’ One that I thought worth mentioning though was the only [v] thus far encountered in Djerma has been [livre]—a French borrowing—and when ‘Djerma-fied’ it becomes [livro.] This word was first introduced to the class when we were not using a contact language to prompt Bibi to speak in only Djerma. Bibi repeatedly called the book [livre] when she was only using Djerma (or in this case French); however, when we started talking in English again [livro] was used. The whole phrase is [wei higi koŋo] meaning bride’s tenders. This was the only time I found [ŋ] not followed or preceding a consonant. I don’t know if it appears in any other words between vowels but as for now I haven’t documented that it does. [kowl kowti] is the word for corn. Again this is an instance where the [l] consonant is found at the end of a word; however, it was only in this one environment. In class we discussed the possibility of it being an idiophone and in this case it wouldn’t follow the phonological rules. 2 ~The [h] is the only consonant not found betwixt vowels. ~Consonants can be found out the end of a word if they are not plosives, fricatives, or trills. Again we are only at the beginnings of Djerma so in the future we might see more consonants at the end of words. ~The only consonants that precede another consonants at this time (or what I have documented) are [ɾ],[ŋ],[m],[n], and [k]. DJERMA VOWEL CHART i ɪ #___ C__C __# isa sea ɪd:u six hiŋka two kɪɾi salt mɛɾi ugly mani grease kusu pot/bowl fotú spicy bɔŋ ̃ kõnu king jʌga nine fegi sheep haɾi water dɪ ̃ that/those gundɛ belly wa milk ɪfu what mo rice wɔ this ɛ a u o ɔ ʌ e a it moize eye We have documented numerous times the nasalization of vowels. I don’t if know there is actually an [n] that make the vowel before it be nasalized or if they vowel is just nasalized. We tried to identify it in a class period but I am not sure what we agreed on (we all tend to hear different things.) One word that we have written both ways is dog [hãnsi] and [hãsi]. I think there is definitely different lengths on vowels. We have seen in the minimal pair [goɾo]sit down and [go:ɾo]-cola nut, the length of the [o]vowel changes the meaning of the word. Although it has been sporadic we have decided that this Djerma definitely has tone contrasts. There seem to be level tones (indicated by Bibi by a head shake), high tones (head nods up), and low tones (head nods down.) As a class we all tried saying the different words bruise, black, and yesterday in Djerma and found out that bi᷄ - yesterday was a high rising tone, bi᷅ - bruise was a low tone or falling tone, and bī - black was a level tone. i The whole phrase is [wei higi koŋo] meaning bride’s tenders. This was the only time I found [ŋ] not followed or preceding a consonant. I don’t know if it appears in any other words between vowels but as for now I haven’t documented that it does. [kowl kowti] is the word for corn. Again this is an instance where the [l] consonant is found at the end of a word; however, it was only in this one environment. In class we discussed the possibility of it being an idiophone and in this case it wouldn’t follow the phonological rules. ii ~The [h] is the only consonant not found betwixt vowels. ~Consonants can be found out the end of a word if they are not plosives, fricatives, or trills. Again we are only at the beginnings of Djerma so in the future we might see more consonants at the end of words. ~The only consonants that precede another consonants at this time (or what I have documented) are [ɾ],[ŋ],[m],[n], and [k]. DJERMA VOWEL CHART i ɪ #___ C__C __# isa sea ɪd:u six hiŋka two kɪɾi salt mɛɾi ugly mani grease kusu pot/bowl fotú spicy bɔŋ ̃ kõnu king jʌga nine fegi sheep haɾi water dɪ ̃ that/those gundɛ belly wa milk ɪfu what mo rice wɔ this ɛ a u o ɔ ʌ e a it moize eye We have documented numerous times the nasalization of vowels. I don’t if know there is actually an [n] that make the vowel before it be nasalized or if they vowel is just nasalized. We tried to identify it in a class period but I am not sure what we agreed on (we all tend to hear different things.) One word that we have written both ways is dog [hãnsi] and [hãsi]. I think there is definitely different lengths on vowels. We have seen in the minimal pair [goɾo]sit down and [go:ɾo]-cola nut, the length of the [o]vowel changes the meaning of the word. Although it has been sporadic we have decided that this Djerma definitely has tone contrasts. There seem to be level tones (indicated by Bibi by a head shake), high tones (head nods up), and low tones (head nods down.) As a class we all tried saying the different words bruise, black, and yesterday in Djerma and found out that bi᷄ - yesterday was a high rising tone, bi᷅ - bruise was a low tone or falling tone, and bī - black was a level tone.
