Table Of ContentSTEFANO SANTANDREA
The Kresh Group, Aja
and Baka Languages (Sudan)
A linguistic contribution
1976
ISTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO ORIENTALE
NAPOLI
Tipografia Don Bosco - Via Prenestina 468 - 00171 Roma - Tel. 25.82.640
ANCORA UNA PREMESSA
E trascorso piii di un decennio da quando ebbi il piacere, e Vonore, di
compiere un atto di doverosa e cordiale deferenza presentando il primo con-
tributo linguistico del Santandrea, quel « Languages of the Banda and Zande
Groups-A contribution to a comparative study », che porta il 1965 come anno
di pubblicazione. Primo, sia chiaro, con riferimento ai lavori usciti sotto il
patrocinio delVIstituto Orientale di Napoli, poiche assai piu ampia e Vattivita
di studioso del Santandrea sia per spazio di tempo che per quantita e varietd
di contributi, linguistici e storico-etnologici {si pub consultare la « Bibliografia
di studi africani della Missione delVAfrica Centrale », Verona, 1948, stesa dal
Santandrea stesso, e, per i lavori posteriori a quella data, ma fino al 1967
soltanto, « Hanno scritto », in « Nigrizia », Verona, febbraio 1967, pp. 37-38,
con fotografia dello studioso, che e anche Vautore di questa seconda notizia
bibliografica; dopo il 1967 il Santandrea ha continuato nella sua incessante e
alacre operosita).
Oggi, sono stato stimolato a mettere giu ancora due modestissime righe
dalla soddisfazione, non piccola certamente, di osservare come con il presente
volume {che avrebbe visto la luce con qualche anno di anticipo se non fosse
incappato in estenuanti lungaggini burocratiche in sede amministrativd) il Pa
dre Stefano Santandrea ha arricchito la sezione di studi linguistici sulVAfrica
delVIstituto Orientale con un'altra monografia, il cui valore pub essere im-
mediatamente colto nella sua sostanza se si consideri che i materiali organi-
camente analizzativi costituiscono un insieme di dati tutti originali e inediti,
raccolti sul posto, come di consueto, dalVAutore durante la sua lunghissima
permanenza, che delle lingue interessatevi gli consentl di diventare un co-
noscitore provetto per pratica e studio diretti ed una delle poche o addirittura
Vunica fonte di cui si disponga da parte europea.
E poi anche una felice coincidenza che, contemporaneamente al contri
bute del Santandrea, venga pubblicato un altro studio, anche questo per cura
e a spese delVIstituto Orientale, « A comparative-historical phonology of the
Chari languages {Nilo-Saharan languages of Central Africa)», dovuto alia
Dr. Linda J. Thayer {Monrovia). Questo saggio, infatti, costituisce una oppor-
tuna, e benvenuta, messa a punto del quadro dei fenomeni fonematici delVarea
a cui appartengono le lingue studiate dal Santandrea, nel cui nome il lettore
si imbattera alia prima pagina della trattazione come quello di una delle
— 6 —
fonti originali dei materiali presi in considerazione, mentre poi, scorrendo le
pagine successive della Thayer, egli potrd toccare con mano e trovare chiara
testimonianza delTimportanza del nuovo presente lavoro del missionario.
Siarno cost arrivati, caro Padre Santandrea, addirittura ad una Sua tri-
logia di scritti (Taltro, e superfluo rammentarlo, sono le 325 pagine del « Note
grammaticali e lessicali sul gruppo Feroge e sul Mundu (Sudan)», uscito nel
1969) venuti alia luce grazie alia Sua assidua collaborazione con noi, frutto
e attestazione nobilissima della Sua indomabile fede nei valori della cono-
scenza, capace di aiutarLa ad affrontare serenamente e ad avere ragione
delle continue sofferenze fisiche che mai cessano di accanirsi per piegare la
cagionevole Sua salute, messa a grande prova in tutti gli anni, i migliori della
Sua vita, spesi in quelle lontane e ardue regioni da Lei elette a sua seconda,
e amata, terra, il Bahr al-Ghazal.
Per cost fecondo operare e per tanto strenuo e splendido esempio di
quanto possa la forza delle esigenze libere e assolute dello spirito desidero
qui esprimerLe, in piena umiltd, la mia grata, e affettuosa, ammirazione.
Lanfranco Ricci
Direttore del Seminario di Studi sull’Africa
Istituto Orientale
Napoli 10 ottobre 1976
SOUTHWESTERN SUDAN
and adjoining territories
N.B. - The names of the tribes whose langua
ges are studied in this book have
been underlined.
INTRODUCTION
The linguistical situation in the Bahr el Ghazal (B. el G.)
A sketch, with additional explanations, will give - I hope - a fair
idea of the situation. Languages are classified according to the “ tradi
tional ” method used by Westermann, Tucker, etc.
group subgroup Dinka
Jur (= Luo)
Dembo (= Bodho)
Nilotic Luo
Shatt (= Thuri)
Boor (= Belanda)
Ndogo
Sere
Ndogo Tagbu
Bai
Bviri
Ndogo-Feroge- Feroge (= Kaligi)
Mundu Manga (= Bugwa)
Feroge
Indri
Togoyo
Mundu
Sudanic
Mundu Congo
C.A.R.
Bongo
Rumbek Jur
Bongo Amadi Moro
Sara-Bagirmi-
Yulu
Bongo-Kresh. . . ■
Kara
Kresh
Kresh Woro
Dongo
— 8 —
group subgroup
Kresh-Banda Aja
Banda
Banda Golo
Gabu.....
Banda-Zande Ngala
Sudanic
(cont.)
Zande
Zande Barambu
Pambia
Birri
Explanations
1) Aja and Ngala have been placed between two groups because they
partake of both.
2) Names in italics indicate locations of the tribes concerned. For
the Rumbek Jur and the Amadi Moro see my Bongo (7-8). The former
are a group of small tribes, surnamed Jur in Dinka, living near Rumbek,
and the latter a cluster of tiny ethnies in the neighbourhood of Amadi,
known under names whose first component is Moro. By Congo and
C.A.R. (Central African Republic) several tribes are intended, of whose
languages I have given a short account in my Feroge-Mundu (309-21).
3) Birri does not belong to any of the language groups within my
knowledge. It shows points in common with all those mentioned before,
but still more with the Moru-Madi-Logbara..., here omitted because it
lies wholly outside the B. el G.
I think it useful to record here, once for all, “ our ” publications on
languages not contemplated in this study:
a) Dinka — P. A. Nebel, Dinka Grammar, M.C.2. Verona 1948
(p. 175);
b) Jur — P. Stefano Santandrea, Grammatichetta Giur, Verona
1946 (p. 142);
c) Birri — Stefano Santandrea, The Birri Language - Brief Ele
mentary Notes, M.C.20 (p. 52).
A detailed bibliography is given further on of all the languages con
nected with this work for the sake of comparison. From it one gathers
that all the B. el G. groups have been illustrated in previous publications,
with the exception of the following.
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The Kresh Group
Though the Kresh are the most important tribe of the Western B. el
G., we must admit that they have been the most neglected in literature, as
I remarked in my short notes on this people k Only as far as history and
general information are concerned they have been given a fair share of
attention in my Tribal History (see: Bibliography), together with the Woro
and the Aja (pp. 191-229). The Dongo (alias Dango) - owing to particular
circumstances, mainly historico-geographical - have been illustrated together
with the Feroge group (ibi, pp. 156-59; 186-90). Therefore here a few
words will suffice to introduce the tribes whose languages form the main
concern of this study.
In former times (old maps should be consulted for the purpose) the
Kresh inhabited, roughly speaking, a long stretch of land on the Nile-
Congo Divide, starting in the north from the Bahr el Arab, down south
to the sources of the Kuru river. In the north their territory expanded
vastly on both sides of the Divide, being the main part of what used to be
called Dar Fertit. The Dongo formed the last ring of the tribal chain
in the north-west, that stretched from Hofrat en-Nahas beyond the Bahr
el Arab, up to Jebel Dongo (thus called after them), whereas the Woro
formed the last ring of the same chain in the south, going from Deim
Zubeir eastward up to, and beyond, the Kuru. The Aja, in their turn,
were the westernmost branch of the race, living alongside the paramount
section of the Kresh, the Naka, in what is now the C.A.R.
The Kresh were undoubtedly a great nation, as evidence from manifold
sources bears witness; but, being exposed more than others to slave-raiding
and internecine fights, more than others they were greatly reduced in number
and strength.
The true name of the Kresh
This is no fit place for discussing such an extremely complex problem
for which I beg to refer to my Tribal History (pp. 207-209). Suffice it
to say that Kresh, though a foreign name, is the only one that covers all
the sections of the peoples concerned, and is understood by all in the
Sudan and abroad; therefore it has been retained for its practical value.
As for the spelling, Kresh represents the commonest pronunciation in the
1 In Annali del Pontificio Museo Missionario Etnologico (formerly Annali Latera-
nensi), XXXm, pp. 125-211.
— 10 —
country. Other spellings to be found in books and maps are: Kreish,
Kreich, Kredj, etc...
The name Woro (phonetically Woro) has been preferred because it is
the commonest among themselves and kindred tribes; the pronunciations
Oro, Oro, and even Oor (with a long close “ o ”) are also heard.
Dongo is pronounced Dango in some quarters, and also this spelling
may occasionally be found in books and maps.
Aja, otherwise spelt Adja, Ajja, etc., is likewise an unequivocal deno
mination for the little tribe concerned, though its name, in their language,
is Gbaya. But, as I have explained in my Tribal History, the latter name
is shared by so many peoples that its use would only add to the already
great confusion existing in the western B. el G. in connection with tribal
names.
Kresh languages and dialects
Aja is a language apart, though the Aja themselves, owing to their
real name, Gbaya, have often been taken as a section of the Kresh tribe,
or else just confused with them. Their language stands - as I have stated
elsewhere - half-way between Banda and Kresh, being nearer to Banda
in vocabulary, but nearer to Kresh in structure.
The Dongo have been known so far simply as one of the many unimpor
tant tribes of the west, belonging to Darfur rather than to the B. el G.,
and their language has just been ignored. Its relationship to Kresh is so
evident that one is tempted to reckon it as one of its dialects. Without
entering into details, I think it may be safely stated that Dongo belongs
to the Kresh group, but has developed enough characteristics of its own
to be reckoned as a separate unit.
About Woro I have made elsewhere the same statement; but now,
after a more careful examination of the material available, I am inclined
to consider it simply a dialect of Kresh, though showing deeper discre
pancies than those existing between standard Kresh dialects. Possibly its
development into a unit apart (parallel to Dongo) was stopped half-way
by reasons beyond our present knowledge. In this connection a fact of
special interest should be pointed out. Dongo, the northernmost language,
and Woro, the southernmost dialect, exhibit certain features in common,
too remarkable to be casual: resemblance in pronunciation, and several
peculiar words of their own and different from other Kresh dialects. Mo
reover I succeeded in gathering here and there several hints of evidence as
to a close relationship between the two tribes in “very old times”.
Woro has not been given in the Vocabulary for it contributes no new
— 11 —
voice; but, to make up for the loss, whenever worth while I have added to
Kresh and Dongo, in brackets, (=W.), viz. the same as in Woro.
Now coming to the division of Kresh into dialects, the three main
ones are mentioned, corresponding to the main tribal sections: Naka
(also called Kpara or Kpara, but this name is taken by some as synonimous
of Kresh, generally speaking), Ngbongbo or Kresh-Hofra, and Gbaya,
spoken by the so-called Kresh-Ndogo. In connection with Ngbongbo,
special mention will be made of Goro (or Goto), the dialect of a clan
officially attached to the Ngbongbo, but actually not belonging to the
same stock.
The notes contained in this study represent mainly Gbaya. It has
been suggested that this dialect has strongly degenerated under Ndogo
influence, but such a statement is grossly exaggerated. As a matter of
fact, Naka and Gbaya, the two most distant dialects, differ very little from
each other, the main discrepancies lying in pronunciation. Anyhow real
Ndogo infiltrations into Gbaya will be duly noted whenever they occur.
Comparative hints between Kresh dialects will be met in the course
of these notes.
Comparative vocabulary
The comparative vocabulary given at the end of this study contains
Kresh, Dongo, Aja and Banda. I have already explained why Woro
has been excluded. Banda has taken its place, being extremely important
in order to show its relationship with A|a. Whenever Banda disagrees with
Aja, but Golo agrees with it, Golo has been given instead of Banda, pre
ceded by G. (=Golo); for, belonging to the same group, it, too, stands
as a witness to their mutual relationship.
The Baka and their language
For the tribe, I beg to refer to my Tribal History (chapter X, The
Bongo Group, pp. 309-315), where I gathered all the information available
on the Baka, who live in Equatoria around Meridi (= Maridi) and north
west of Yei, and in the adjoining territory in Congo, near Watsa and
Faradje.
Baka is well known as a language belonging to the Bongo group,
and the Small Comparative Vocabulary at the end of my Bongo Grammar
contains also Baka, besides Yulu and Kara. It was therefore thought
unnecessary to give it here.
