The Nubi Language of Uganda: An Arabic Creole in Africa

464 Pages·2005·2.056 MB·

by  Ineke Wellens

THE NUBI LANGUAGE OF UGANDA
STUDIES IN SEMITIC
LANGUAGES AND LINGUISTICS
EDITED BY
T. MURAOKA AND C.H.M. VERSTEEGH
VOLUME XLV
THE NUBI LANGUAGE OF UGANDA
THE NUBI LANGUAGE OF
UGANDA
An Arabic Creole in Africa
BY
INEKE WELLENS
BRILL
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2005
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wellens, Ineke Hilda Werner.
The Nubi Language of Uganda : an Arabic creole in Africa / by Ineke
Wellens.
p. cm. — (Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics, ISSN 0081-8461 ;
vol. 45)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 90-04-14518-4 (alk. paper)
1. Nubi language—Uganda. 2. Creole dialects, Arabic—Uganda. I. Title. II.
Studies in Semitic languages and linguistics ; 45.
PM7895.N83W45 2005
492.7’096761—dc22
2005051329
ISSN 0081-8461
ISBN 90 04 14518 4
© Copyright 2005 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill Academic Publishers,
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written
permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal
use is granted by Koninklijke Brill provided that
the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910
Danvers , MA 01923, USA.
Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
CONTENTS
List of Tables .............................................................................. vii
Abbreviations .............................................................................. xi
Preface ........................................................................................ xv
Acknowledgements ...................................................................... xvii
1. Historical and Linguistic Background .................................. 1
1.1. Historical Framework .................................................... 1
1.2. Linguistic Background .................................................... 24
1.3. Conclusion ...................................................................... 41
2. Phonology .............................................................................. 44
2.1. Phonological Segments .................................................. 44
2.2. Phonological Processes .................................................. 56
2.3. Conclusion ...................................................................... 67
3. The Noun Phrase .................................................................. 69
3.1. Pronouns ........................................................................ 69
3.2. Nouns .............................................................................. 75
3.3. Modifiers ........................................................................ 81
3.4. Constituent Order and Agreement within NP ............ 133
3.5. Conclusion ...................................................................... 135
4. The Verb Phrase .................................................................. 138
4.1. Final -u: Verbal Particle or Transitivity Marker? ...... 138
4.2. TMA-marking ................................................................ 145
4.3. Verbal Derivations ........................................................ 177
4.4. Copulas ............................................................................ 195
4.5. Asyndetic Verb Chains .................................................. 208
4.6. Conclusion ...................................................................... 213
5. Other Word Classes .............................................................. 218
5.1. Prepositions .................................................................... 218
5.2. Adverbs ............................................................................ 222
5.3. Conjunctions .................................................................. 228
5.4. Question Words .............................................................. 235
vi contents
5.5. Focus Markers ................................................................ 237
5.6. Morphemes of Denial .................................................... 245
5.7. Conclusion ...................................................................... 246
6. Clause Structure .................................................................... 247
6.1. Constituent Order .......................................................... 247
6.2. Subject-Predicate Agreement ........................................ 249
6.3. Negation .......................................................................... 250
6.4. Focus and Topicalization .............................................. 254
6.5. Questions ........................................................................ 261
6.6. Coordination .................................................................. 263
6.7. Subordination ................................................................ 264
6.8. Conclusion ...................................................................... 283
7. Nubi, from a Diachronic and Comparative Perspective .... 284
7.1. Introduction .................................................................... 284
7.2. Phonology ...................................................................... 289
7.3. Lexicon ............................................................................ 310
7.4. The Noun Phrase .......................................................... 314
7.5. The Verb Phrase .......................................................... 331
7.6. Other Word Classes ...................................................... 364
7.7. Clause Structure ............................................................ 368
7.8. Conclusion ...................................................................... 372
Appendix: texts .......................................................................... 381
References .................................................................................. 431
Index ............................................................................................ 441
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1. Population of Ba˙r al-Ghazàl zarìbas in 1874 .... 9
Table 2. Population in vicinity of Ba˙r al-Ghazàl zarìbas
in 1874 .................................................................... 9
Table 3. Composition of Equatoria Province garrisons
in 1874 .................................................................... 12
Table 4. Composition of Equatoria Province stations
1881–82 .................................................................. 14
Table 5. Population Amadi district station, September
1881 ........................................................................ 29
Table 6. Population of a Rohl district zarìba, October
1881 ........................................................................ 29
Table 7. Nubi consonant inventory ...................................... 44
Table 8. Stress and tone in verbs (bare verb, gerund,
infinitive, and passive) ............................................ 54
Table 9. Independent personal pronouns in Nubi .............. 69
Table 10. Possessive pronouns and adjectives in Nubi ........ 70
Table 11. The prepositions na “to” and ma “with” +
following pronouns .................................................. 70
Table 12. Bickerton’s three-way division of article use in
creole languages ...................................................... 82
Table 13. Givón’s three-way division of article use in creole
languages .................................................................. 82
Table 14. Three-way division of article use in Nubi ............ 83
Table 15. Demonstratives in Nubi .......................................... 95
Table 16. Features of (non-) individuation of the object ...... 142
Table 17. Future expressions .................................................. 166
Table 18. List of Nubi transitive/intransitive verbs .............. 181
Table 19. Regular/irregular gerund forms ............................ 185
Table 20. Distribution and use of the gerund and infinitive
forms ........................................................................ 189
Table 21. Nubi expressions of possession .............................. 207
Table 22. Creole TMA-markers and their functions ............ 213
Table 23. Nubi prepositions .................................................... 218
Table 24. Prepositional combinations .................................... 220
Table 25. Nubi question words .............................................. 235
viii list of tables
Table 26. Nubi verbs of manipulation .................................. 268
Table 27. Classification of the substrate languages of
Nubi ........................................................................ 286
Table 28. UN, Swahili words in k ........................................ 299
Table 29. Common features in p/cs and certain Arabic
dialects/ features unique to p/cs in
phonology ................................................................ 308
Table 30. Nubi-Turku distinctions in phonology .................. 310
Table 31. Nubi-Turku distinctions in the lexicon ................ 314
Table 32. Pronouns in Arabic p/cs ...................................... 315
Table 33. Pronouns in Arabic dialects .................................. 315
Table 34. Possessive pronouns in Arabic p/cs ...................... 316
Table 35. Possessive pronouns in Arabic dialects .............. 317
Table 36. Number in Arabic p/cs ........................................ 318
Table 37. Number in Arabic dialects .................................... 319
Table 38. Fossilized forms vs. Nubi innovations of plural
marking .................................................................... 320
Table 39. Articles and demonstratives in the Arabic
p/cs .......................................................................... 321
Table 40. Definite article and demonstratives in the
Arabic dialects ........................................................ 321
Table 41. Numeral formation in Turku and JA/Nubi ........ 327
Table 42. Numerals in Arabic dialects .................................. 328
Table 43. Features common to p/cs + certain Arabic
dialects and features unique to p/cs in NP ........ 329
Table 44. Nubi-Turku differences in NP .............................. 331
Table 45. Nubi/Turku verbs deriving from imperative ........ 332
Table 46. Nubi and Turku verbs derived from Arabic
perfects .................................................................... 334
Table 47. UN and Turku verbs derived from different
source forms ............................................................ 337
Table 48. Transitive u-final verbs and intransitive C-final
verbs in Turku ........................................................ 342
Table 49. Features of gerunds in Bari .................................. 358
Table 50. Arabic p/c features and common features of
Arabic dialects and p/cs in VP ............................ 362
Table 51. Nubi-Turku distinctions in VP .............................. 364
Table 52. Common features of Arabic dialects and p/cs vs.
unique Arabic p/c features in other word
classes ...................................................................... 368
list of tables ix
Table 53. Common features of Arabic dialects and p/cs and
features unique to Arabic p/cs in clause
structure .................................................................. 372
Table 54. Areal distribution of common features of Arabic
dialects and p/cs .................................................... 373
Table 55. Areal distribution of features of Arabic pidgins/
creoles ...................................................................... 377