grammar of dimli

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Please note that the page numbering in this electronic version (2008)is different from the page numbering in the printed version of 2002.

A GRAMMAR OF

Dimili

ALSO KNOWN AS ZAZA

Terry Lynn Todd 1985 All rights reserved

First edition 1985(University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

Second edition 2002(Iremet Frlag, Stockholm; ISBN: 91-973777-0-9)

Electronic publication 2008


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Preface to the electronic publication (2008)

For technical reasons, the page numbering in this electronic version differs slightly from thatfound in the printed second edition (2002).

Moreover, this electronic version includes four new footnotes (a, b, g and h), which we thinkthe reader will find helpful. The new footnotes are clearly labeled as such.

No changes other than these have been made to the printed second edition (2002).

Brigitte Werner (editor)Giessen, GermanyJanuary 2008

For more information, please contact:

Brigitte and Eberhard Wernerc/o Forum Linguistik in Eurasien e.V.An der Schwemme 479400 KandernGermany

Or contact us by e-mail: [email protected]


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Preface to the Second Edition

Dr. Terry Lynn Todd published the first edition of this grammar seventeen years ago as his PhDdissertation. The goal of this second edition is to make his research more accessible.

Dr. Ludwig Paul published the most recent Dimili grammar in German in 1998 (see Appendix E).Todd's older grammar in English, however, is still of great interest due to its concise and clearpresentation of the material.

With the full cooperation and permission from Dr. Todd, we have made a few changes and additions tothe first edition ofA Grammar of Dimilito make this second edition more user-friendly and accessibleto the linguist and non-linguist alike.

This edition, shows the orthographic form (in pointed brackets) with all examples and glosses (e.g., tea). We also made a few changes to the orthographic symbols (see Appendix B, footnotes e-

h). Throughout this edition, we have used the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) rather than theAmerican Phonetic Alphabet (APA) used by Dr. Todd.

We have added two appendices as supplementary references: Appendix E Bibliography of AdditionalLiterature, Appendix F The Dimili Alphabet. In addition, the reader will find extra footnotes (a-d) inChapter 2: Morphology; footnote (i) in the Dimili-English Glossary, and also a more detailed Table ofContents.

We thank Dr. Todd for his willingness to make his research more accessible to others and for hispermission to publish this second edition.

We recognize that a Turkish translation of this grammar would be more beneficial to Dimili speakers. It

is, nevertheless, our hope that this edition will find its way into the libraries of universities in Europeand Turkey and that it will cultivate a deep interest among the Dimili people in the written form of theirlanguage.

Eberhard WernerGermany, August 2002

Verqse matbaa ddn

No ktab ksta Dr. Terry Toddi ra verd 17 serra qand teziya toxtorey xo nsneyayo. O zuwanDmli Almanya d msa. Wastena ma aya k n ktabi ewro hrg merdm bo bwano. nstitdiya mazuwand ndo-Awrupay sero grweyena. Dmli ji, zuwano k miyabeynd zuwand zme rojakewtenda rani d est, ina miyan ra vjyayo. Blcki, Krdasi, Gorani zuwand Dmli/Zazakiyapra bol nezdiy. Hrg zuwan xo myan d kemi niyo, tamamo.

No ktab grameriyo k Dr. Terry Todd'i nuto (englzki, 1985), ktab grameriyo k Dr. Ludwig Paul'inuto (alamanki, 1998), zey eya muhimo.

Dr. Terry Todd fonemik (veng-zanayi), morfoloji (qse-zanayi) syntaksi (vraten-zanayi) sero bolgirweyayo. Ey xeyle rz qsa day xo desta. Meseli stankiy k ktabd xo d n t, ey prozanayen ra arday p ser. Ortografi (duzana nten) qaln kelasingana piya nsyen (mesela). Ju qsa seni veng vejena se miyabeynd n d xizand yampan d // wendoxi ra aysena


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A Grammar of Dimili ii

(mesela /taj/). Ortografiy Dr. Todd'i teney herf c ksta ma ra vrneyay (bewn perr 123/124,dipnotlar: e-h). Dr. Todd'i ma r destur da.

iyo k dma yeno ma nayo pa: dipnotlar a-i, perr 48, 49, 56, 81, 123/24 137; Appendixi E F.

No ca d ma wazem mnetdariya xo qand grdey izand Todd'i biyam ver. Ma anci mnetdar y k,ey na tgeyrayen geyrayen prn r akerda.

Ma wazem no ktab niversitand Awrupa Trkiya reso.Wa bol Zazay n ktabd grameri ra na'hfbvin ney aarn Trki. endk zuwand Zazakiya wenden nten berz bo, hend do fam bbo kno end muhimo.

Slameteya Homay maya piya bo.bo, Almanya, 2002.

Ikinci basmann nszdr

Bu kitap Dr. Terry Todd tarafndan 17 yl nce, doktora tezi diye yazlmtr. O, Zaza diliniAlmanyada rendi. Dileimizdir ki bu kitab bizim zamanmzda herkes rahatlkla okuyabilsin.Bizim derneimiz Hint-Avrupa dil ailesine dahil olan diller zerinde alma yapmaktadr. Dmli,kuzeybat-Iran diller grubunun bir dildr. Balucca, Kurmanci ve Guranca, Dmli (Zazaca)ya ok yaknakrabadrlar. Her dil kendi iinde kusursuz ve tamdr.

Dr. Toddun kaleme ald (ngilizce, 1985) bu dilbilgisi kitabi, Dr. Ludwig Paulun kaleme aldii(Almanca, 1998) dilbilgisi kitab gibi mhimdir.

Dr. Todd fonemik (ses bilimi), morfoloji (sz bilimi) ve sentaks (cmle dizimi) zerine ok almalar

yapmtr. Bu kitabnda kulland rneklerin ve hikayelerin hepsini Zazalardan derlemitir. rnekcmleler ve kelimeler Zazaca yazl kaln ve keli parantez eklinde yazlmtr. rnein byle yazlmaktadr. Bir szcn kard ses (fonemik) iki eik izgi arasnda /.../belirtilmektedir, rnein /taj/.

Dr. Todd'un 1985 'te yazd kitabnda kulland alfabeyi biz hogorne snarak baz deiiklikleryaptk. Baknz sayfa 123/124, dipnotlar e-h. Baz dipnotlar tarafmzdan eklenmitir. Dipnotlar s. 48,49, 56, 81, 123/24 ve 137. E ve F-ekleri de tarafmzdan eklenmitir. Bundan baka Todd'unalmasnn asil biimi hi deitirilmedi.

Sayn Dr. Todd bu pahabiilmez ok deerli eserini, okuyucularn hizmetine sunmamza msade ettiiiin kendisine teekkrlerimizi bor biliriz.

Bizim dileimiz u ki, bu kitap Avrupa'da ve Turkiye'de bir ok niversitede kullanlr. Temenimiz deuki, bu kitap en ksa zamanda trkeye evrisi gerekleir ve daha ok okuyucuya ulasr.

Diliyoruz ki, Zaza dilinde okuma ve yazma daha da geliir ve yaylr.

Sayglarmzla,bo, Almanya, 2002.


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iii

A GRAMMAR OF

DimiliALSO KNOWN AS ZAZA

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillmentof the requirements for the degree ofDoctor of Philosophy

(Near Eastern Studies: Languages and Literatures)in The University of Michigan

1985

Doctoral Committee:

Professor Ernest N. McCarus, ChairmanAssociate Professor Kenneth Hill

Associate Professor Piotr MichalowskiAssistant Professor Richard Rhodes

Professor Gernot Windfuhr

Terry Lynn Todd 1985 All rights reserved


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A Grammar of Dimili iv


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v

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Without the patient help of A and many other Kurdish friends, without the critical and helpfulsuggestions of my committee, without the enthusiastic and consistent support of my wife, Lynn, andwithout the grace of God Almighty, this work would never have been accomplished.

Many improvements in this work have come at the suggestion of Professor Gernot Windfuhr, the Iraniston the committee, who also taught a helpful seminar on Iranian dialectology in 1982, and modernPersian. Special thanks is also due Professor Richard Rhodes who selflessly gave of his time andexpertise in linguistics and editing. I am likewise indebted to Professor Ernest McCarus not only for themany suggestions and the constructive criticism regarding the content of this study, but also for hispatient instruction in Kurdish during four years of class work at the University of Michigan and forchairing the committee which involved a good deal of correspondence during the research abroad.

PREFACEDimili is an Iranian language, part of the Indo-Iranian subgroup of Indo-European. It is spoken incentral eastern Turkey by perhaps as many as one million people. The Turks and Kirmanji Kurdishspeakers around them call the language Zaza which has pejorative connotations (Mann-Hadank,1932:1). The most important analysis of the language is based on fieldwork done in the first few yearsof this century by Otto Mann whose notes were edited and published posthumously by Karl Hadank(Mann-Hadank, 1932).

Prior to Hadank, Peter Lerch (1857:49-87) had published some forty pages of Dimili texts along with

some Kirmanji texts but no grammar was attempted and his translations are not believed to be accurate.A few years later Friedrich Mller attempted an analysis of Dimili based on Lerchs texts but achievedlittle more than a comparison of some Dimili words with cognates, mostly in New Persian. In 1862 W.Strecker and O. Blau published less than 100 words reportedly from the vicinity of Quziljan in themountainousDersimarea of central eastern Turkey. Blau concluded that it was a dialect very similar tothe one which Lerch had recorded. Albert von Le Coq (1903) published two volumes of texts from theCermuk/Kosa area near Siverek, Turkey, volumes which unfortunately were not available for thepresent research. Again no grammatical sketch was attempted.

Manns fieldwork and Hadanks careful analysis of Manns notes have long been recognized as extre-

mely valuable and scholarly works. Of particular significance are the historical, cultural, and folkloristiccontributions, the detailed comparisons of vocabulary with other Iranian and non-Iranian languages andthe treatment of syntax which far surpassed that of most grammars of that era. Their work was alsoremarkable for the careful separation of various dialects of Dimili; the greatest description was of thedialect spoken in Siverek accompanied by 35 pages of texts, individual sentences and their translations.But a contrastive sketch of the dialect of Korwas included as well as 10 pages of vocabulary of the

Bijaqdialect, 25 pages of analysis and vocabulary of the Chabakhchur(Bingl) dialect and 16 pages ofanalysis, vocabulary and texts of the Kighidialect.

To the credit of Mann and Hadank, the present research confirms that their work is remarkably trust-worthy and insightful. Their research attests virtually all of the forms found in the present corpus plus a


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A Grammar of Dimili vi

few which do not occur in the present corpus. Their interpretation of those forms is occasionally inade-quate but that is primarily due to the linguistic time period in which the description was done.

Their research was done early in the development of modern linguistics and since that time linguisticresearch in the Dimili speaking area has not been encouraged. Our experience with grammars written in

that era has made us cautious about taking them as accurate and definitive. Wherever possible modernlinguists have sought to do new fieldwork to substantiate the older grammars, to extend ourunderstanding of the languages described and to describe them in terms that reflect more recent insightsinto linguistics in general.

For Dimili that effort has been hindered by the fact that their area has been under martial law almostcontinuously since the 1920s and serious linguistic research has not been permitted (MacKenzie, 1960:xvii). Windfuhr (1976) compiled from Mann-Hadank the more important details that can be drawn fromthat work and sketched a Mini-Grammar of Zaza that consists of a brief historical survey of thescholarship and a sixteen page structuralist abstract. The mini-grammar unfortunately remains

unpublished but it was graciously made available for this research.

Mann concluded (Mann-Hadank, 1932:19) that Dimili is not a Kurdish dialect and Hadank concluded(1932:4) that the name Dimili is most likely a metathesis of Daylemi, i.e. the language reflects that ofthe Daylamites who came from an area called Daylam on the south coast of the Caspian and who wereoften distinguished from the Kurds in medieval references. Dimili speakers today consider themselvesto be Kurds and resent scholarly conclusions which indicate that their language is not Kurdish. Speakersof Dimili are Kurds psychologically, socially, culturally, economically, and politically. It is quitepossible, especially since the term Kurd has always been ill-defined (MacKenzie, 1961b:69), thatspeakers of Dimili should be identified as Kurds today.

The language, however, is distinct from Kurdish dialects. MacKenzie (1961 b) attempted to defineKurdish by citing elements that were common to all Kurdish dialects that distinguished them from otherIranian dialects. Refering to the fact that historic /-m/ and /-xm/ have become /-v/ or /-w/ in Kurdish and the retention of /t-/ in the stem of the verb go, he says, In short, apart fromthis /t-/ and the treatment of /-m/ and /-xm/ , I can find no feature which is bothcommon to all the dialects of Kurdish and unmatched outside them.(1961 b:72) Those features are notshared by Dimili. Tedesco (1921:199) based on Lerchs texts classified Dimili as a central dialect.Kurdish he classified as north-western (1921:198). See also Windfuhrs comments (Azami and Wind-fuhr, 1972:13) and distribution maps (Azami and Windfuhr, 1972:198-99) regarding the development

of /*fr-/ into /hr-/ and the present indicative based on the old present participle in /-nd/ which Dimilishares with other dialects.

The research for the present study was conducted between 1983 and 1985 in the Federal Republic ofGermany. It describes the speech of a man in his early twenties who comes from a village approxi-mately 45 kilometers north of Siverek. This young man will be referred to as A for the purposes ofhis privacy and security. Among his immediate kin are leading figures in the Qirwartribe.

Though contact was established with some 20 speakers of Dimili, and something was learned from eachof them, the description is limited to the speech of A for the following reasons. 1. He wasacknowledged by all of his fellows as being the best Dimili speaker among them. 2. He was friendlyand had plenty of time on his hands. 3. As the study progressed it became clear that no two speakersspoke Dimili exactly the same since they represented as many different villages as there were speakers.


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4. As the study progressed it became apparent that he used markedly fewer Turkish loan words thanmost of his fellows and stubbornly clung to irregularities even when peers pressured him to go alongwith regularities of other sub-dialects.

It is probably to the last point above that we should ascribe As prestige among his fellows as the best

speaker and not to eloquence or outspokenness. In fact, A is rather shy and, especially with a taperecorder in front of him, rarely utters a monologue of more than a minute or two. In the beginning Iattributed his reluctance in front of the microphone to concern for his personal security, he having comefrom a place where his own language is under attack and not being entirely sure of the foreignersmotives. Late in the study, however, A was still very cautious with the tape recorder and expressedconcern that he would say something wrong and the recorder would document his error. This attitudeis not unusual among Kurds and is traceable to their awareness of their own educational shortcomings.When confronted with dialectal and idiolectal differences in their speech they do not have a textbookanswer to who is right and who is wrong. Thus right and wrong is usually decided by the personalprestige of the various speakers involved.

The initial contact language was Kirmanji Kurdish which most Dimili speakers know to some degree.After three weeks, however, all elicitation was monolingual in Dimili. The corpus consists of some 350pages of materials transcribed directly by the researcher and approximately ten hours of tape recordedmaterials.

Within this work reference is occasionally made to contrasts between As speech and that of some ofhis closer friends whose shopping town back home is Cermik. The actual villages in some cases are lessthan ten kilometers from As village but the topography and sociology of the region is such that peoplefrom As village belong to Siverek and the others to Cermik. See map below.

Frequent reference is made to the Mann-Hadank grammar (Mann-Hadank, 1932) since this is the firstopportunity to verify or falsify that early description. The present research confirms their findingsunless specifically noted otherwise.

Chapter One is a systematic analysis of the phonology of Dimili. Chapter Two presents word structureand inflection. In Chapter Three phrase, clause and sentence structure are discussed. Three appendicesprovide illustrative verb data, Dimili texts with English translation, and a Dimili English glossary.

Fig. 1 MAP OF EASTERN TURKEY


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Preface to the elctronic publication (2008) .............................................................................iii

Preface to the Second Edition ..................................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.......................................................................................................v

PREFACE...................................................................................................................................v

List of Abbreviations...............................................................................................................xiv

1.1 Phonemes ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.1.1 Consonant Phonemes...................................................................................................... 1TABLE 1.01 THE CONSONANT PHONEMES............. ..................... ..................... ...................... ................. 2

1.1.1.1 Stops..................................................... ........................................................... ..................................... 31.1.1.1.1 Voiceless Stops.............................. ........................................................... ..................................... 41.1.1.1.2 Voiced Stops...................................................... ........................................................... ................. 5

1.1.1.2 Fricatives ....................................................... ........................................................... ........................... 51.1.1.2.1 Voiceless Fricatives... ............................................................ ........................................................ 61.1.1.2.2 Voiced Fricatives........................... ............................................................ .................................... 8

1.1.1.3 Liquids.......... ........................................................... ........................................................... ................. 81.1.1.4 Semivowels .................................................... ........................................................... ........................... 9

1.1.2 Variants of the Consonants ........................................................................................... 101.1.2.1 Variants of the Stops ........................................................ ........................................................... ..... 10

Fricativization of /b/ and /d/ .................................... ........................................................... ..... 10Devoicing of /b/ ..................................................... ........................................................... ............... 11

1.1.2.2 Variants of the Continuants....................................................... ...................................................... 12Velarization of /n/ .................................................. ........................................................... ............... 12Portmanteau of /n/ + /g/ ........................ ........................................................... ......................... 12Portmanteau of V + /n/ ..................................................... ........................................................... ..... 12Morphophonemic Word-Final /n/ ........................................................ ............................................ 13

1.1.3 Vowel Phonemes .......................................................................................................... 13TABLE 1.02: THE VOWEL PHONEMES............... ..................... ..................... ...................... ..................... . 13

1.1.3.1 Front Vowel Phonemes .................................................... ........................................................... ..... 131.1.3.2 Central Vowel Phonemes ........................................................... ...................................................... 141.1.3.3 Back Rounded Vowel Phonemes ......................................................... ............................................ 151.1.3.4 Diphthongs .................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 16

1.1.4 Variants of the Vowels.................................................................................................. 171.1.4.1 Variants of Front Vowels........................................................... ...................................................... 171.1.4.2 Variants of Back Rounded Vowels........................ ........................................................... ............... 181.1.4.3 Variants of Central Vowels.................................... ........................................................... ............... 19

Ablaut (vowel change) of Central Vowels ........................................................... ................................... 22

1.2 Canonical Syllable Structure ........................................................................................... 23Syllable Combinations in Words....................................................... ...................................................... 25Words of More Than Two Syllables ........................................................... ............................................ 26

1.3 Stress................................................................................................................................... 26Endnotes to Chapter One ........................................................................................................ 29


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2.1 Nouns.................................................................................................................................. 33

2.1.1 Gender...........................................................................................................................33

TABLE 2.01 GENDER OF ANIMATE NOUNS ................... ..................... ...................... ..................... ........ 33TABLE 2.02 VARIABLE GENDER NOUNS............................... ..................... ...................... ..................... . 34TABLE 2.03 ANIMAL SEXES AND GENDER........................ ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 34TABLE 2.04 GENDER OF INANIMATE NOUNS................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 34

2.1.2 Number ......................................................................................................................... 35

2.1.3 Case and Specificity...................................................................................................... 35TABLE 2.05 CASE INFLECTIONS FOR NOUNS THAT ARE SPECIFIC.................... ..................... ........ 36

Locative Case ...................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 37Vocative Case............... ........................................................... ........................................................... ..... 37Oblique Case of Special Kinship Terms......................................................................... ......................... 38

TABLE 2.06 SPECIAL KINSHIP TERMS ..................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 38TABLE 2.07 ORDINARY KINSHIP TERMS ................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ............ 38

TABLE 2.08 SUMMARY OF CASE INFLECTIONS...................... ..................... ..................... ................... 39Specificity........................................ ............................................................ ............................................ 39TABLE 2.09 CASE FORMS AND FUNCTIONS........... ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 40

Specific But Not Necessarily Definite............................................... ...................................................... 41

2.1.4 Indefinite Suffix ............................................................................................................ 42

2.1.5 Ezafe Morphemes ......................................................................................................... 42TABLE 2.10 EZAFE MORPHEMES................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 43

2.2 Pronouns ............................................................................................................................ 44

2.2.1 Deictic Pronouns...........................................................................................................44TABLE 2.11 DEICTIC PRONOUNS................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 44

2.2.2 Personal Pronouns......................................................................................................... 45TABLE 2.12 PERSONAL PRONOUNS ..................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ................... 45

2.2.3 Anaphoric Pronouns...................................................................................................... 472.2.3.1 The Generic Anaphoric Pronoun........................................................ ............................................ 472.2.3.2 The Reflexive Pronoun... ............................................................ ...................................................... 48

2.2.4 Extrasystemic Pronouns................................................................................................48

2.2.5 Interrogatives ................................................................................................................50TABLE 2.13 INTERROGATIVES.................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ..................... ........ 50

2.2.6 The Relative Pronoun ................................................................................................... 51

2.3 Adjectives........................................................................................................................... 51

2.3.1 Descriptive Adjectives.................................................................................................. 51TABLE 2.14 ADJECTIVAL INFLECTIONS................................ ..................... ...................... ..................... . 52

2.3.2 Deictic Adjectives......................................................................................................... 53TABLE 2.15 DEICTIC ADJECTIVES....... ..................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 53

2.3.3 Numerals....................................................................................................................... 542.3.3.1 Cardinal Numerals ........................................................... ........................................................... ..... 54

TABLE 2.16 CARDINAL NUMERALS....... ..................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ............ 542.3.3.2 Ordinal Numerals.. ........................................................... ........................................................... ..... 55

TABLE 2.17 ORDINAL NUMERALS............................ ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 55

2.4 Verbs................................................................................................................................... 55TABLE 2.18 INFLECTIONAL FORMS OF VERBS AND THEIR FUNCTIONS.................... ................... 56


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TABLE 2.19 PERSON, NUMBER, GENDER INFLECTION............. ..................... ...................... ............... 56TABLE 2.20 DISTRIBUTION OF STEM FORMS .................. ...................... ..................... ..................... ..... 57

2.4.1 Simple Inflections ......................................................................................................... 572.4.1.1 Present Tense .......................................................... ........................................................... ............... 57

TABLE 2.21 PRESENT PERSONAL ENDINGS ..................... ..................... ...................... ..................... . 57TABLE 2.22 PARADIGM OF PRESENT TENSE..................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 58

Present Tense Copula .................................................... ........................................................... ............... 58TABLE 2.23 COPULA SUFFIXES................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ........ 58Verb of Existence............................................. ........................................................... ......................... 59

TABLE 2.24 VERB OF EXISTENCE................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ..................... . 602.4.1.2 Preterite Tense........................................................ ........................................................... ............... 60

TABLE 2.25 PRETERITE PERSONAL ENDINGS............................. ..................... ...................... ............... 61TABLE 2.26 PARADIGM OF PRETERITE TENSE...... ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 61TABLE 2.27 PRESENT AND PRETERITE PERSONAL ENDINGS........ ...................... ..................... ........ 61TABLE 2.28 PRETERITE TENSE TRANSITIVE PARADIGM: NEGATIVE.............................. ............... 62TABLE 2.29 PRETERITE TENSE INTRANSITIVE PARADIGM: NEGATIVE ..................... ................... 62

Preterite Tense of the Copula ............................................................ ...................................................... 63TABLE 2.30 COPULA: PRETERITE TENSE................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ............ 63

Verb of Existence: Preterite Tense................................................. ...................................................... 63TABLE 2.31 VERB OF EXISTENCE : PRETERITE TENSE .................... ..................... ..................... ..... 63

2.4.1.3 Subjunctive Mood............................... ........................................................... ................................... 64TABLE 2.32 SUBJUNCTIVE PERSONAL ENDINGS............. ..................... ..................... ..................... ..... 64TABLE 2.33 PARADIGM OF SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 64

Subjunctive of the Copula ....................................................... ........................................................... ..... 66Subjunctive of the Verb of Existence....................................................... ............................................ 67

2.4.1.4 Perfect Subjunctive .......................................................... ........................................................... ..... 672.4.1.5 Imperative and Prohibitive...... ............................................................ ............................................ 67

Imperative of the Copula ......................................................... ........................................................... ..... 69

2.4.2 Nonfinite Forms............................................................................................................ 692.4.2.1 Imperfect ....................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 692.4.2.2 The Gerund................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 70

2.4.3 Periphrastic Inflections ................................................................................................. 712.4.3.1 Perfect........................................ ............................................................ ............................................ 712.4.3.2 Past Perfect ................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 712.4.3.3 Periphrastic Inflections: Subject Clitics ...................................................... ................................... 72

2.4.4 Stem Analysis ...............................................................................................................722.4.4.1 Subjunctive Stem.................................................... ........................................................... ............... 722.4.4.2 Present Stem ........................................................... ........................................................... ............... 722.4.4.3 Past Stem....................................................... ........................................................... ......................... 742.4.4.5 Summary Charts of Verb System ....................................................... ............................................ 76

TABLE 2.34 BASIC ASPECTUAL SYSTEM................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ............ 76TABLE 2.35 SUMMARY OF PERSONAL ENDINGS......... ..................... ...................... ..................... ........ 76

2.4.5 Verb Stem Modifications............................................................................................... 77

2.4.5.1 The Passive Morpheme .................................................... ........................................................... ..... 772.4.5.2 The Causative Morpheme............................ ........................................................... ......................... 78

2.5 Particles.............................................................................................................................. 79

2.5.1 Adverbs......................................................................................................................... 79TABLE 2.36 ADVERBS............................. ..................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ............... 79

2.5.2 Postpositions ................................................................................................................. 79TABLE 2.37 POSTPOSITIONS THAT SUBORDINATE................... ..................... ...................... ............... 79TABLE 2.38 POSTPOSITIONS THAT DO NOT SUBORDINATE....... ..................... ..................... ............ 81

2.5.3 Prepositions................................................................................................................... 81

2.5.4 Conjunctions ................................................................................................................. 822.5.5 Interjections................................................................................................................... 83


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2.6 Word Class Derivation ..................................................................................................... 83

2.6.1. Complex Verbs ..............................................................................................................83

2.6.2 Compound Verbs .......................................................................................................... 84

2.6.3 Abstract Noun from Adjective...................................................................................... 842.6.4 Adjective from Noun .................................................................................................... 85

2.6.5 Noun from Noun........................................................................................................... 85

2.6.6 Adverbial from Noun....................................................................................................86

2.6.7 Diminutive .................................................................................................................... 86

2.6.8 Reduplication................................................................................................................87

Endnotes to Chapter Two........................................................................................................ 88

3.1 Noun Phrase Structure ..................................................................................................... 91

3.1.1 Ezafe and the Noun Phrase ........................................................................................... 913.1.1.1 Descriptive Ezafe Phrases.......................................................... ...................................................... 91

TABLE 3.01 DESCRIPTIVE EZAFE.......................... ...................... ..................... ..................... ................... 913.1.1.2 Genitive Ezafe Phrases... ............................................................ ...................................................... 92

TABLE 3.02 GENITIVE EZAFE ...................... ..................... ..................... ..................... ...................... ........ 923.1.1.3 Dependent Ezafe Phrases........................................................... ...................................................... 94

TABLE 3.03 DEPENDENT EZAFE............................ ...................... ..................... ..................... ................... 943.1.2 Intensifier in the Noun Phrase....................................................................................... 96

3.1.3 Numerals in the Noun Phrase .......................................................................................96

3.1.4 Deixis and the Noun Phrase.......................................................................................... 96

3.1.5 Phrase Level Functions of Oblique Case...................................................................... 97

3.1.6 Comparative and Superlative Expressions.................................................................... 98

3.2 Clause Structure................................................................................................................ 99

3.2.1 Case in Clause Structure ............................................................................................... 99NONPAST .................................................... ............................................................ ................................ 100PAST ................................................... ............................................................ .......................................... 100

3.2.2 Periphrastic Verb Structures .......................................................................................1013.2.2.1 Present Progressive .......................................................... ........................................................... ... 101

TABLE 3.04 SUBJECT CLITICS FOR PROGRESSIVE ASPECT....................... ..................... ................. 1023.2.2.2 Future Tense ........................................................... ........................................................... ............. 103

TABLE 3.05 SUBJECT CLITICS IN FUTURE TENSE............... ..................... ...................... .................... 1033.2.2.3 Past Predictive ........................................................ ........................................................... ............. 1043.2.2.4 Other Modal Auxiliaries ........................................................ .................................................... 104

3.2.3 Word Order in the Clause ...........................................................................................1053.2.3.1 Equative Clause ...................................................... ........................................................... ............. 1053.2.3.2 Verbal Clause...................................... ........................................................... ................................. 1063.2.3.3 Topic and Comment ......................................................... ........................................................... ... 109


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xiii

3.3 Sentence Level Syntax..................................................................................................... 109

3.3.1 Dependent Clauses......................................................................................................1093.3.1.1 Conditional Sentences ...................................................... ........................................................... ... 1093.3.1.2 Irrealis or Contrafactual.............................. ........................................................... ....................... 1103.3.1.3 Time Margins.................. ............................................................ .................................................... 111

3.3.1.4 Relative Clauses...................................................... ........................................................... ............. 1113.3.1.5 Purpose Clauses...................................................... ........................................................... ............. 112

3.3.2 Conjoined Independent Clauses.................................................................................. 112

Endnotes to Chapter Three................................................................................................... 114

!"#"$% &' #"#(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( ))*

+"! # #!#"$!((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( ),*

$-$$ . /$!0 !!#((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( )12

$'$/#30 (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( )*1

'$'$/#30 4 #$"$# $"#" (((((((((((((((( )**

0 $-$$ 30#'" (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((( )*2


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A Grammar of Dimili xiv

List of Abbreviations

1sg first-person singular

2p second person

3f third-person feminine

3m third-person masculine

a feminine gender

A the native speaker

ABS absolute

ADJ, aj adjective

ADV, av adverb

AG agent

ALV alveolar

ALV-PAL alveo-palatal

Arab. Arabic

aux. auxiliary

C consonant

caus. causative

CON concord

conj. conjunction

DEN dental

DEP.EZ dependent ezafe

DES.EZ descriptive ezafe

dir, DIR direct case

ERG ergativeesp. especially

exc. exclamation

exist. existence

EZ ezafe

fem, f feminine gender

fpn feminine proper name

Fr. French

FRIC. fricative

G goal, glide

GEN.EZ genitive ezafeGLOT glottal

I.O. indirect object

imper. imperative

imperf. imperfect

indic. indicative

interr interrogative

iv intransitive verb

LAB labial

lit. literally

LOC locative

masc, m masculine gender

MOD modifier

mpn masculine proper name

n. noun

neg. negative

NP noun phrase

num number

O direct object

o masculine gender

o/a variable gender

obl, OBL oblique case

P patient

pass. passive

per. person

PHAR pharyngeal, pharyngealized

pl plural

pn pronoun

pr, pres. present

prep. prepositionpret. preterite

prog. progressive

S subject

s.o. someone

s.th. something

sg singular

Si subject of intransitive verb

St subject of transitive verb

sub. subjunctive

subjunct. subjunctivetv transitive verb

UVUL uvular

V vowel

VEL velar

VD voiced

VL voiceless


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1

PHONOLOGY

1.1 Phonemes

One characteristic of grammars written before the development of the phoneme concept is theirunreliability with regard to the sound system. That is certainly true of the Mann-Hadank wherein the over-differentiation of vowels and the under-differentiation of consonants detracted from the value of thatimportant early study. The present research puts the sound system on solid footing.

There are thirty-eight segmental phonemes in this dialect of Dimili. Of those, thirty are consonants andeight are vowels. Stress is also phonemic.

1.1.1 Consonant Phonemes

Hadank (1932:47) lists twenty-seven consonants for Dimili and all but one of those (/n/) correspond tophonemes presented in this study. His // is in fact an allophone [] of /n/ . Four other consonantphonemes, however, are not reflected by the transcription in Mann-Hadank: trilled /r/ < rr>, velarized //

, pharyngealized /s5/ and pharyngealized /t5/ .

Of the thirty consonant phonemes in Dimili, three /s5/ , /6/ , and /t5/ , are quite infrequent andare probably due to Arabic influence. Of those, the /t5/ and the /6/ occur only in Arabicborrowings while the /s5/ may occur in native vocabulary as well as in Arabic borrowings. Thevoiceless pharyngeal fricative // could possibly be from Arabic but it occurs frequently in nativevocabulary as well. See Table 1.01. (The vowel phonemes are presented later in Table 1.02.)

In Table 1.01 labial (LAB) represents bilabial in /p/

, /b/ and /m/ , labio-dental in /f/ and/v/ and labio-velar in /w/ . The column marked dental, alveolar (DEN, ALV) includes dental

stops and fricatives and alveolar liquids.


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A Grammar of Dimili 2

TABLE 1.01 THE CONSONANT PHONEMES

LAB DEN,

ALV

ALV-

PAL

VEL UVUL GLOT PHAR

VL STOPS p t t k q

VD STOPS b d d g

VL FRIC. f s x h

VD FRIC. v z 7 6

PHAR. STOP t5

PHAR. FRIC. s5

NASALS m n

LATERALS l

FLAP 8

TRILL r

SEMI-VOWELS w j

ALV AlveolarALV-PAL Alveolar PalatalDEN DentalFRIC Fricative

GLOT GlottalLAB LabialPHAR PharyngalVEL VelarVD VoicedVL VoicelessUVUL Uvular


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Phonology 3

1.1.1.1 Stops

The two alveopalatal stops in the phonemic system are technically affricates. They and all other stops areunaspirated. The series of voiceless stops may be distinguished from the voiced stops by the following

examples:

/p/

vs. /b/

1. /pe/ each other2. /be/ come!3. /pos9t/ shoe

4. /bos9tan/ garden

5. /:9p:/ louse

6. /kos9bs/ wild goat

/t/ vs. /d/

7. /to/ you (OBL)8. /do/ buttermilk9. /t:/ you (DIR)

10. /d:9d:/ two

11. /9koti/ where?

12. /;9d:8/ fire

13. /s8t/ hard

14. /s8d/ cold

/t/ vs. /d/

15. /t:m/ eye

16. /d:/ him, her, it

17. /t;j/ tea

18. /d;/ bed, place

19. /to9mej/ around

20. /do8/ up

/k/ vs. /g/

21. /k;j/ game

22. /g;/ bull

23. /ks/ someone24. /gnd/ young

25. /fk/ mouth26. /w89dg/ duck

There is no voiced counterpart to /q/ and glottal stop is not distinctive in Dimili.


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1.1.1.1.1 Voiceless Stops

The /t/ is dental as opposed to the alveolar /t/ in English. The position of the /k/ does notfluctuate much in position on the velum and /q/ is consistently far back on the velum even when

juxtaposed to a high front vowel.

The symbol /t5/ represents a voiceless pharyngealized dental stop of Arabic origin. It occurs mostly,if not exclusively, in Arabic loanwords but it contrasts with /t/ as seen in these examples:

/t5/ vs. /t/

,?= @""""B C$ $"A

,2( ="5EF= @A"EFA"EFA"EFA"EFB C'#G$/ 3#"A

1H( ="G= @"G"G"G"GB C!$/A

The other voiceless stops may be distinguished from one another by the following examples:

/t/ vs. /t/

1)( =":-= @""""IIII---- B C#E#!A

1,( =":-= @JIJIJIJI---- B CA

11( =9G"$= @G"$G"$G"$G"$B CE0KA

1L( =9":"$= @JIJJIJJIJJIJ$$$$B CE0#"KA

1*( =G9":G= @G"G"G"G"IIIIGGGGB C/A1M( =G9":G= @GGGGJIJIJIJIGGGGB C!3A

/t/ vs. /k/

1


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Phonology 5

1.1.1.1.2 Voiced Stops

The /d/ , like its voiceless counterpart, is dental rather than alveolar. The voiced stops may bedistinguished from one another by the following examples:

/d/ vs. /d/

L2( =>E= @EEEEB C%$#/A

*H( =>E= @SESESESEB C'#A

*)( =;93$8= @#3$#3$#3$#3$B C/#-"0A

*,( =;= @S#S#S#S#B C'T 3#SA

*1( =:9:= @IIIIIIIIB C"EA

*L( =:= @SSSSIIIIB C0$!T 0T "0$A

/d/ vs. /g/

**( =;= @S#S#S#S#B C'T 3#SA

*M( =U;= @/#/#/#/#B C'A

*E= @SESESESEB C'#A

*D( =U>E= @/E/E/E/EB C!034A

*2( =;9>= @#S#S#S#SB C0 3!A

MH( =>9U:"= @////IVIVIVIV""""B C4$/A

1.1.1.2 Fricatives

The fricatives articulated in labio-dental, alveolar, and alveo-palatal positions do not differ significantlyfrom their English counterparts. The glottal fricative /h/ also is quite similar to the Englishcounterpart. The velar fricatives /x/ and /7/ have no counterparts in English, nor do thepharyngeal fricatives // and /6/ .

The voiceless fricatives may be distinguished from the voiced by the following examples:

/f/ vs. /v/

M)( =4>G= @4G4G4G4GB C-"0A

M,( =%>U= @%/%/%/%/B C%$SW -3"A

M1( =4:9F:= @4444IVIVIVIVFFFFIIIIB C-#A

ML( =%;= @%#%#%#%#VVVVB C0#A

M*( =!;4= @!#4!#4!#4!#4B C#/#'A

MM( =U:9;%= @////IIII#%#%#%#%B C!030A! /#-"C

/s/ vs. /z/

M


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MD( =O8= @OOOOB C$44$S"A

M2( =-9;!>= @-#!-#!-#!-#!B C$" !E!A

= @%%%%IIII#O#O#O#OB C0 -#G!A


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Phonology 7

21( =E>= @EEEEVVVVB C3#!#"A

/x/ vs. /h/

2L( =+;= @+#+#+#+#B CS Y-#"#ZA2*( =0;9>"$= @0#"$0#"$0#"$0#"$B C3EA

2M( =+$"= @+$"+$"+$"+$"B CS#OA

2E"= @A0E"A0E"A0E"A0E"B C!%A


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))1( =+>E+= @+E++E++E++E+B C3#S0A

))L( =[>= @A0A0A0A0VVVVB C'#A

))*( =+;!= @+#!+#!+#!+#!B C#"$S0GA

// is substituted for a postvocalic /5/ in words borrowed from Arabic such as the following.

))M( =!;9[;"= @!#A0#"!#A0#"!#A0#"!#A0#"B C0T SSGAYS4( #'( =!##5#"= Z

))E= @?E?E?E?EB CA

),H( =O= @QQQQOOOOB C%A

),)( ="= @""""QQQQ????B C!0#3A

),,( =+O= @+O+O+O+OB C3$/A

),1( == @????B C#W !A

The symbol /5/ is here used for a faint voiced pharyngeal fricative that contrasts in the followingwords.

),L( =5;:O9?>= @A#A#A#A#IIIIOOOOB C0 'S-! "$A

),*( =;9:8= @####IIIIB C4$A

),M( =5>8= @AAAAB C#"0A

),89$= @$$$$VVVVB C'#A

),D( =5; 9->U:= @A# -/A# -/A# -/A# -/QQQQIIIIB CA" 4#XA

),2( =;89E= @#E#E#E#ENVNVNVNVB C#''$"A

Of these three examples with /5/ Hadank (1932:48) traces the first to Arabic /5aadiz/ weak, feeble.The second is Arabic and the last results from the combination of Arabic /5rd/ earth and the Dimilipostposition /-8o/ . The resulting word is used exclusively in expressions regarding an animate beingfalling to the ground.

1.1.1.3 Liquids

Of the remaining consonant phonemes five /n/ , /l/ , // , /8/, and /r/ , are alveolar andare distinguished from one another by the following examples:

== @B %!( == @B %!( == @B

)1H( =;= @####B C"0$!A Y4-(Z


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Phonology 9

)1)( =;= @####B C$%A

)1,( =;?= @####B C#A

== @B %!( == @B %!( =8= @B

)11( =';= @'#'#'#'#B C0!A

)1L( =+;= @+#+#+#+#B CSA Y-#"#Z

)1*( =-;8= @-#-#-#-#B C!#GA

=8= @B %!( == @B

)1M( =!>98>= @!!!!B C0#A

)19>= @!!!!B C#A

)1D( =9'$8= @'$'$'$'$B C0 E$ S-A

)12( =9'$= @'$'$'$'$B C# #4" "-EA

)LH( =0>8= @0000B CGA

)L)( =[= @A0A0A0A0NNNNB C!$A

The symbol // represents a heavily velarized or dark /l/ that occurs relatively infrequently butis in contrast with /l/ which, itself, cannot be described as clear except by comparison to // .

== @B %! =\= @AAAAB

)L,( =>?9>U= @////B C!"GA

)L1( =\>?9-:= @A-A-A-A-IIIIB C$"A

)LL( =:U= @IIII////B C4"A

)L*( =9\:$= @AAAAIIIIS$S$S$S$B C-A

)LM( =G:-= @GGGGIIII----B C!0"A

)L


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)*1( =%>8U= @%/%/%/%/B CE4A

)*L( =>E= @?E?E?E?EB CA

)**( =>%= @%%%%B Y/#3 ?$S 3S"Z

)*M( =;E= @#E#E#E#EB CE#"A

)*9'>= @O'O'O'O'VVVVB CE#"-A Y#! !#$ $ -$GZ


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Phonology 11

/v/ also replaces postvocalic /b/ in borrowed words:

)98$%= @+$%+$%+$%+$%B C!"#/A Y#'( =7#8$$'=Z

)G9">%= @-G"%-G"%-G"%-G"%B C!S0A Y#'( =-#G"#'=Z

)8>9%;= @A%#A%#A%#A%#B CS#A Y#'( =5#8#9'#=Z

Also affected by a fricativization rule is the affricate /d/ . Like the /b/ it is replaced by avoiced fricative phoneme, in this case, // , i.e.

/d/ // / V__

)89!>= @"!"!"!"!B C 4#!( $! #4#$A

)DD( =9':">8!:= ] I!I_ @''''IIII"!"!"!"!IIIIB C #4#$XA


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1.1.2.2 Variants of the Continuants

Velarization of /n/

The alveolar nasal /n/ becomes a velar nasal [] when followed by the voiced velar stop /g/ .

/n/ [] / __g

)D2( =9:U$= [9lgi] @IIII/$/$/$/$B C4"A

)2H( =9%>U$= [9vgi] @%/$%/$%/$%/$B C%$S!A

Portmanteau of /n/ + /g/

When a word ends in the sequence /ng/ the /n/ becomes velar [] and the /g/ is not

pronounced. A suffix added to such a word causes the /g/ to be pronounced.

/ng/ [] / __ #

)2)( =:U= [l] @IIII////B C4"A

)2,( =%>U= [v] @%/%/%/%/B C-3"A

)21( =!:U= [s] @!!!!IIII////B C-!0-A

)2L( =9!:U$= [9s:gi] @!!!!IIII////$$$$B C-!0-!A

Portmanteau of V + /n/

Word-final /n/ following /;/ or // is manifested only by nasalization of the vowel. Thesequence /;n#/ , which is quite frequent, and the sequence /n#/ , which is relativelyinfrequent, are realized as [;] and [] respectively.

)2*( =:9;= ]:9;_ @IIII####B C""0A

)2M( ='!9";= ]'!9";_ @'!"#'!"#'!"#'!"#B C/#A

)2= ]U9%>_ @/%/%/%/%B C#SA

)2D( =9E>= ]9E>_ @QQQQEEEEB C$A

The portmanteau does not occur if the /n/ is not word final.

)22( =U>= ]U>_ @/S/S/S/SB C/A

,HH( =3;9;!= ]3;9;!_ @3#S#!3#S#!3#S#!3#S#!B C4$4"A

,H)( =G>9:= ]G>9:_ @GGGGIVIVIVIVB C0$/A

,H,( =;9>!= ];9>!_ @?#!?#!?#!?#!B C%A

Nor does portmanteau occur in a sequence of /n/ plus another vowel. See morphophonemic word-final /n/ , below. The portmanteau is not interrupted by an intervening /j/ and can extend across /j/ even into a prior syllable.

,H1( ="5;?= ]"5;?_ @A"#A"#A"#A"#B C$""A Y#-"Z


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Phonology 13

,HL( =5;:O9?;?;= ]5;:O9?;?;_ @A#A#A#A#IIIIO##O##O##O##B CY #-Z "$A

Morphophonemic Word-Final /n/

A word that ends in morphophonemic /n/ after the other six vowels will manifest the /n/ onlywhen followed by a suffix. Otherwise the /n/ is dropped and the preceding vowel is not nasalized.

,H*( =38= ]38_ @3333NNNNB C!!A

,HM( =938 ;?= ]938 ;?_ @3333NNNNNNNN ####B C0 !!A

,H


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,)L( =3= @3333NNNNB C#S0 "0A

,)*( =9'$= @'$'$'$'$B C#`#4"`"-EA

,)M( =938= @3333NNNNB C#A

,)89$= @$$$$VVVVB C'#A

1.1.3.2 Central Vowel Phonemes

The following examples contrast the phonemes // and /;/ .

// vs. /;/

,1)( =>= @????B CE#A

,1,( =;= @#?#?#?#?B C!A

,11( =!>= @!!!!B C0A

,1L( =!;= @!#!#!#!#B C#33A

,1*( =>O= @OOOOB CA YZ

,1M( =;9:8= @####IIIIB C4$A

,1":= @----VVVV""""IIIIB C"-EA

,1D( =-;!"= @-#!"-#!"-#!"-#!"B C/"A


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Phonology 15

The following examples contrast the vowels // and /:/.

// vs. /:/

,12( =3>8= @3333B C#4 A,LH( =3:8= @3333IIIIB C4A

,L)( =>!"= @!"!"!"!"B C0#A

,L,( =:9-:= @IVIVIVIV----IIIIB C-A

,L1( =>O= @OOOOB CA YZ

,LL( =:93:= @IVIVIVIV3333IIII????B C!A

,L*( =E>= @EEEEVVVVB C3#!#"A

,LM( =E:G= @EEEEIVIVIVIVGGGGB CA

The following examples distinguish the phonemes /:/ and /R/ .

/:/ vs. /R/

,L


35/179


,MH( =+R= @++++B C!4 A

,M)( =G= @GGGGB C-"#$A

,M,( =3= @3333B C0#$A Y4 0#T S(Z

,M1( =93R8"$= @3"$3"$3"$3"$B C4#"0A

,ML( =9">= @QVQVQVQV""""B C"#$!-#A

1.1.3.4 Diphthongs

Six diphthongs result from the sequence of a vowel and a following semivowel: /oj/ < oy>, /Rj/ , /;j/, /;w/ , /j/ and /w/ . They too must be distinguished from one another and fromsimple vowels.

The diphthongs /oj/ and /Rj/ may be distinguished from one another by the following examples.

/oj/ vs. /Rj/

,M*( =G?= @GGGGB C-"#$!A

,MM( =;97R?= @####PPPPB C3$!!A

The diphthong /j/ is distinguished from the front vowel /e/ in the following examples.

/j/ vs. /e/

,M?= @B C0A YZ,MD( == @NNNNB C"0A YZ

,M2( =3>?= @3333B C'0$A

,E= @'E'E'E'EB CGXA

,


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Phonology 17

The following examples distinguish /j/ from /;j/ .

/j/ vs. /;j/

,?= @B C0A Y/Z

,DH( =;?= @####B C!0A Y/Z

,D)( =3>?= @3333B C'0$A

,D,( =3;?= @3#3#3#3#B C 4"A

1.1.4 Variants of the Vowels

The most general modification of the vowels is faucalization and lowering that affects any vowel that

follows /s5/ , /t5/ , // , /6/ and // . More specific variants of the vowels aredescribed in this section.

1.1.4.1 Variants of Front Vowels

/i/ is a high close front unrounded tense vowel [i]. It is slightly lowered to high-open position and notshortened when adjacent to the postvelar stop /q/ , i.e.

/i/ [I] / __q , q__

,D1( =$F= ] aF_ @$F$F$F$FB C'$ 33$/A

,DL( =$G= ]$G_ @$G$G$G$GB C!"A

,D*( =F$9>= ]Fa9>_ @F$F$F$F$B C0 !S#-!A

,DM( =G$9= ]G$9_ @G$G$G$G$B CG$/#-A

In postvocalic position /i/ is realized as the semivowel /j/ , i.e.

/i/ /j/ / V__

For example, the plural morpheme /-i/ is realized as /-j/ on nouns which have a singular formending in a vowel.

,D


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Also the sequence /i-i/ which becomes /i-j/ is further reduced to a simple /i/ , i.e.

/i-i/ /ij/ /i/

Thus this sequence of rules gives a noun the singular of which ends in /i/ a homophonous plural.

,2)( =9G;8$= @G#$G#$G#$G#$B CG$4A =9G;8$= @G#$G#$G#$G#$B CG$%!A

,2,( =9">4$= @JJJJ4$4$4$4$B C!S#4A =9">4$= @JJJJ4$4$4$4$B C!S#%!A

The /i/ that results from these two rules is no longer than the uncompounded form.

/e/ is a slightly lowered mid close front unrounded tense vowel [e]. It is not as high and close as arethe German and French /e/ and has no offglide as does the nearest English approximation. In closedsyllables it becomes slightly lower and more open.

/e/ [c] / __C . (where . represents a syllable boundary.)

,21( =3= ]3_ @3333NNNNB C#S0 "0A

,2L( =3"= ]3c"_ @3333NNNN""""B C4#!"A

,2*( == ]_ @NNNNB C"0!A

,2M( =!= ]c!_ @NNNN!!!!B CE#A

1.1.4.2 Variants of Back Rounded Vowels

/u/ is a high close back rounded tense vowel [u]. It is slightly shorter when unstressed but not as shortas /R/ with which it contrasts.

,289->= @JJJJ----B C#"0A

1HL( =">89->E= @JJJJ-E-E-E-EB CY$"Z $! #"0A


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Phonology 19

1.1.4.3 Variants of Central Vowels

The symbol /R/ represents a high close central rounded lax vowel [R]. It is much more frequent inunstressed syllables but occurs in stressed syllables as well. It has no significant variants other than the

faucalization and lowering mentioned at the beginning of this section as being common to all vowels.

1H*( =GR= ]GR_ @GGGGB CEA

1HM( =GR9":G= ]GR9":G_ @G"G"G"G"IIIIGGGGB C/A

1H= ]-R9!>_ @-!-!-!-!B CY0Z #!A

/:/ is a high close central unrounded short vowel. In unstressed position it becomes so short that itsexistence in a given word is often difficult to establish.

1H2( =:"= ]:"_ @SSSSIIII""""B C3#$A1)H( =U:98"= ]U8"_ d ]U:98"_ @////IIII""""B CS!A

1))( =O:98;8= ]9O8;8_ d ]O:98;8_ @OOOOIIII####B C!!A

Even when /:/ is clearly established in the past stem of a verb, for example, the vowel is often missingin the gerund formed from that stem due to a shift in stress.

1),( =8;9-:"= @#-#-#-#-IIII""""B C%A

1)1( =8;-9":= @#-"#-"#-"#-"IVIVIVIVB C$%$/A

1)L( =:9G:"= @VIVIVIVIGGGGIIII""""B C'GA

1)*( =:G9":= @VIVIVIVIG"G"G"G"IVIVIVIVB C'#G$/A

When unstressed in word-final position also, the [:] is often not clearly pronounced though it makesthe difference between masculine and feminine agreement in a pair such as these:

1)M( =>? ':98;? +R G:"= @ ' ' ' 'IIII# + G# + G# + G# + GIVIVIVIV""""B C G$ 0$! E '"0(A

1)? E;? +R 9G:":= @ E# + G E# + G E# + G E# + GIVIVIVIV""""IIIIB C G$ 0$! E !$!"(A

All nouns which end in unstressed /:/ are feminine in gender though most feminine nouns do not endso.

1)D( =!;9?8:= @!#!#!#!#NNNNIIIIB C#33 "A

1)2( =';9?;:= @'#S#'#S#'#S#'#S#IIIIB C//3#"A

1,H( =F>?9;:= @F#F#F#F#IIIIB C3$3A

In a word like /qj9l;n:/ pipe, the existence of the final unstressed vowel is most noticeable inthat it prevents the /n/ from being realized as nasalization of the vowel /;/ .

1,)( =F>?9;:= ]F>?9;_ d ]F>?9;:_ @F#F#F#F#IIIIB C3$3A

1,,( ='!9";= ]'!9";_ @'!"#'!"#'!"#'!"#B C/#A


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When /:/ is stressed in word-final position, it is always slightly nasalized, i.e.

/:/ [ :] / 9(C(C)) __ # (where # represents a word boundary.)

This comes as no surprise for a word like /m:n/ [m:] I (erg), which has a latent final /n/ that appears only when the word is followed by a vowel such as the copula in the following example.

1,1( = -:= @NNNN ----IIIIB C0#" $! -$(A

But the nasalization occurs anytime the /:/ is stressed in word-final position and where no latent /n/exists.

1,L( =":= ]":_ @""""IIIIB CA YZ

1,*( =:9:= ]:9:_ @IIIIIIIIB C"EA

1,M( =;98:= ];98:_ @####IIIIB C-$S$A

This is not the same as the portmanteau of /n/ after /;/ and // since adding a vowel suffixdoes not result in the manifestation of an /n/ . Instead, /j/ is inserted between the two vowels andthe /j/ causes /:/ to be replaced by /i/ , i.e.:

/:= + V /:j/ V /ij/ V

1,= @B C0 S-!A =9'$8= @'$'$'$'$B C"0#" 0 S-A


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Phonology 21

One other allophone of /:/ occurs. /:/ is fronted and lowered to [] when it follows the alveopalatalsemivowel /j/ and is followed by the alveopalatal sibilant // , i.e.

/ :/ [] / j _

This happens frequently when the gerundial suffix /-:/ is applied to a past stem ending in a vowel.

11L( 3#!" !"- ="`= @""""`B b =`= @`VVVVB =9":= @""""IVIVIVIVB C!$/A

S4(

11*( 3#!" !"- =;->`= @#-#-#-#-`B b =`:= @`IVIVIVIVB =;-?;?:= ];-?;?_ @#-##-##-##-#IVIVIVIVB CS-$/A

The same fronted allophone occurs when /:/ is followed by the sequence /ng/ [(g)] such as inthe following words.

11M( =!:U= [s] @!!!!IIII////B CS0!"A11= @-#!-#!-#!-#!B C"#'A

=-;9!>?= ]-;9!c?_ @-#!-#!-#!-#!B C"#'!A

112( =9?>= ]9?c_ @B CY0Z S-!A1LH( =9U>= ]9Uc_ @////B CY0Z S!!A

Before /r/ and even more so before /8/ the schwa // is lowered so that it is difficult todistinguish it from /;/ . In the same position, however, /;/ is also lower than its norm and fartherback, preserving the contrast.

1L)( =3>9>= ]3;9>_ @3333B CY0Z '$"!A

1L,( =3>98>?= ]3;8c?_ @3333B C-A

/;/ is a low central unrounded tense vowel [;]. A word final /;/ is in some sense weaker in apolysyllabic word than in a monosyllable. That is, it is replaced by // when certain suffixes areapplied, but the replacement only occurs in polysyllabic words. Stress is not a factor in the distinction. Forexample, the pluralizing suffix /-i/ obtains the following results:

1L1( =!;= @!#!#!#!#B C#33A =!;?= @!#!#!#!#B C#33!A

1LL( =U;= @g####B C'A =U;?= @UUUU####B C'!A

1L*( =-;9U;= @-#-#-#-#////####B CSEA =-;9U>?= @-#/-#/-#/-#/B CSE!A

1LM( =G>?9;= @G#G#G#G#B C/$A =G>?9>?= @GGGGB C/$!A

The difference is not gender, since /s;/ apple is feminine and /U;/ bull is, of course,masculine.


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Likewise, the feminine Oblique case ending /-8/ impinges upon word final /;/ only inpolysyllabic words. A monosyllable like /s;/ apple receives the case ending only with the insertionof /j/ which preserves the vowel /;/ .

1L?9;= @G#G#G#G#B =G?9>8= @GGGGB C/$A YZ

1LD( =-;9U;= @-#/#-#/#-#/#-#/#B =-;9U>8= @-#/-#/-#/-#/B CSEA YZ1L2( =!;= @!#!#!#!#B =!;9?>8= @!#!#!#!#B C#33A YZ

Ablaut (vowel change) of Central Vowels

When the past stem of a verb ends in vowel it is usually one of the three unrounded central vowels. Whenthe feminine marker /-:/ is added to the past stem the stem vowel is subject to ablaut (vowelchanging): /:/ /i/ and // or /;/ /e/ .

1*H( =':98;? -: := @''''IIII# -# -# -# -IIII VIVIVIVIB C '"0 E"(A

'"0`4 - E"

1*)( =E;? -: $= @E# -E# -E# -E# -IIII VVVV$$$$B C !$!" E"(A

!$!"`4 - E"

1*,( =':98;? -: ;9->= @''''IIII# -# -# -# -IIII #- #- #- #-B C '"0 S#-(A

'"0`4 - S#-

1*1( =E;? -: ;9-= @E# -E# -E# -E# -IIII #- #- #- #-NNNNB C !$!" S#-(A

!$!"`4 - S#-

1*L( =-:9 $G` ; "= @----IIII $G$G$G$GNNNN # "# "# "# "B C /#% # !"(A

!"`# /#%

1**( =-: 9G>8U` "= @----IIII G/G/G/G/NNNN NNNN """"B C /#% # 0(A

0`# /#%

This fronting is due to the insertion of the semivowel /j/ between the stem vowel and the femininesuffix /:/ .

1*M( =:= @VIVIVIVIB b =`:= @ÌIIIB =e:`?`:= @eVIVIVIVI`ÌIIIB =$= @VVVV$$$$B

1*= @#-#-#-#-B b =`:= @ÌIIIB =e;9->`?`:= @e#-#-#-#-`ÌIIIB =;9-= @#-#-#-#-NNNNB

1*D( =;= @####B b =`:= @ÌIIIB =e;`?`:= @e####`ÌIIIB == @NNNNB

An adjective that ends in one of the central vowels undergoes the same changes when the feminine marker/-:/ is added:

1*2( =9; E>89:= @#? E#? E#? E#? EIIIIB C'.!-#A

1MH( =G>?9;? E>89$= @G# E$G# E$G# E$G# E$B C/$.!-#A

1M)( ='>98; !:93>= @'# !'# !'# !'# !IIII3333B C#-.E0$"A

1M,( =9-$?; !:93= @-$# !-$# !-$# !-$# !IIII3333NNNNB CE.E0$"A


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Phonology 23

The suffixes involved on both the verbs and the adjectives are historically the same. Insertion of /j/ isa regular means of suffixing vowels to vowels, but in other places it does not result in ablaut (vowelchange).

1M1( =!;= @!#!#!#!#B b =;= @####B =!;?;= @!##!##!##!##B C#33A YfO#4g $G$/ -30-Z

1ML( =!;= @!#!#!#!#B b =>8= @B =!;?>8= @!#!#!#!#B C#33A Y S#!Z1M*( == @B b == @B =9?= @B C0 $!A

1.2 Canonical Syllable Structure

Though the transcription on which Mann-Hadank is based was adequate for the study of syllable structure,that topic was not treated by Hadank. Both open and closed syllables are common in Dimili, as evidencedby the following examples.

3 #'! &&&&

1MM( == @B C"0$!A Y-#!S( Z

1M


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1D)( =>?= @B C0$-A YZ

1D,( =;?= @####B C0A YZ

1D1( =>8`;= @`S#S#S#S#B C$+3!$%A

1DL( =>-`';O= @----`'#O'#O'#O'#OB C4$A

Syllables frequently occur closed by a cluster of two consonants. Again, they may begin with a consonantor without.

$# !" &T &&T &&T &&T &

1D*( =>"= @VVVV""""B C"0EA &

1DM( =;8= @####B C'/0"A &

1D!"= @!"!"!"!"B C0#A &

1DD( =E:G= @EEEEIVIVIVIVGGGGB CA &

1D2( =%>E8= @%E%E%E%EB C!EA &

12H( =":8= @""""IIIIVVVVB C!A &

12)( =[8!= @A0A0A0A0NNNN!!!!B C#/A &

12,( ='>8O= @'O'O'O'OB C0$/0A &

121( =>8U= @////B C/A &

12L( =U>8-= @/-/-/-/-B C0"A &

12*( =":G= @JIJIJIJIGGGGB C3 4 $F$A &

12M( =":\-= @JIJIJIJIA-A-A-A-B C-S!A &

Syllables that begin with a consonant cluster are not frequent, but certainly do occur. Some of these words

are obviously borrowed, such as:

12


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Phonology 25

LH,( =OE;= @OE#OE#OE#OE#B CA &

LH1( =+8;%= @+#%+#%+#%+#%B C'#A &

We have then eight canonical patterns for syllable structure: V, VC, VCC, CV, CVC, CVCC, CCV andCCVC.

The word /psinU/ cat is particularly problematic since we have no other example of a CCVCCpattern and since a stop followed by a sibilant is not a typical word-initial cluster. Such clusters need moreevidence to substantiate them. At the very least we would need an unambiguous pattern for a CCVCCsyllable. In the absence of such evidence it would seem natural to interpret the word as having anunstressed and therefore disappearing vowel /:/ between the first two consonants. However, there isstrong native reaction against this shape, /*p:9sinU/ .

The syllable-final clusters are more frequent and their composition is less restricted than syllable-initialclusters. The final slot can be occupied by a nasal or a stop, and the preceding slot can be filled by alateral, a nasal or a voiceless fricative. Restrictions are that the voiced stops only follow voiced consonants

and one nasal cannot follow another.

The voiced stops do not frequently occur word final, but when preceded by /8/ or /n/ they are notso rare in word-final position. As mentioned earlier, /b/ never occurs in this position.

LHL( =>8U= @////B C/A

LH*( =G>8U= @G/G/G/G/B C0A

LHM( =;8= @####B C'/0"A

LH8= @!!!!B CSA

LHD( =:U= @IIII////B C/A

LH2( =">= @JJJJB C0E -#KA

Though only voiceless stops can follow voiceless fricatives and sibilants, both voiced and voiceless stopscan follow /r/ and /n/.

L)H( =+$"= @+$"+$"+$"+$"B CS#OA

L))( =">= @JJJJB C0E -#KA

L),( =!>8"= @!"!"!"!"B C0#T #/-"#"$%A

L)1( =!>8= @!!!!B CSA

A most unusual cluster occurs in the following word wherein a nasal is followed by a heterorganicfricative:

L)L( =:-O= @IIII-O-O-O-OB CEA

Syllable Combinations in Words

The following examples illustrate the most common phonological word shapes for two syllable words inthis dialect of Dimili.

L)*( &`& =;9= @####QQQQB C!#$%#A T =$9:= @$$$$IIIIB C!3$/A

L)M( &`& =;9:8= @####IIIIB C4$A T =9U#= @NNNN/#/#/#/#B C30EA


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L)!"= @!"!"!"!"B C+$!"!A T =9;-$= @####VVVV-$-$-$-$B C-A

L)D( &`& =>-9';O= @-'#O-'#O-'#O-'#OB C4$A T =:93:= @IVIVIVIV3333IIII????B C!A

=>8;= @S#S#S#S#B CS0#3A T =;89E!= @#E#E#E#ENNNN!!!!B C#''$"A

=>9U8= @////QQQQB C/#3A

L)2( &`& =>9U:"= @////IVIVIVIV""""B C4$/A

L,H( &`& =:!9"8:= @IIII!"!"!"!"IIIIB C0A

L,)( &`& =:9-;= @VIVIVIVI-#-#-#-#B C Y3(ZA T =9G"$= @G"$G"$G"$G"$B CE0KA

=0$98= @0$0$0$0$NNNNB C"0A

L,,( &`& =GR9":G= @G"G"G"G"IIIIGGGGB C/AT =0$98!= @0$0$0$0$NNNN!!!!B C"0$"A

L,1( &`& =;9-8= @S#-S#-S#-S#-NNNNB C-#AT =">93:"= @"3"3"3"3IVIVIVIV""""B CS#/0"A

L,L( &`& =9->":= @----VVVV""""IIIIB C"-EA =9>E8;= @VVVVE#E#E#E#B C-$/A

=89';= @VVVV'#'#'#'#B C!3A

L,*( &`& =:9-:= @IVIVIVIV----IIIIB C-A T =>?9>U= @////B C!"GA

=E>89>U= @E/E/E/E/B CSGA

L,M( &`& =G>89G:= @GGGGGGGGIIIISSSSB CS#4$!0AL,


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Phonology 27

However there are subclasses of words where stress is in some measure predictable based on morphologyand/or semantics. For example, the stress on a noun most frequently falls on the last syllable.

433. /:s-t;-98/ star

L1L( =-:`8$`9":G= @----IIII`$$$$`JIJIJIJIGGGGB C'$A

L1*( =";`9G"= @JJJJ####`GGGGQJQJQJQJB C0#--AL1M( =0`9E>= @0000QQQQ`EEEEB C!0%A

L1?9;:= @F#F#F#F#IIIIB C3$3A

LLL( =';9;:= @'#S#'#S#'#S#'#S#IIIIB C//3#"A

LL*( =[;9>"$= @A0#"$A0#"$A0#"$A0#"$B C3EA

There are also masculine and feminine nouns that end in stressed /i/ and masculine nouns that end instressed /:/ . Thus it appears that at one time stress may have been predictable until some femininesuffixes interfered with the pattern.

LLM( =9">4$= @JJJJ4$4$4$4$B C!S#4ALLU:9";= @////IVIVIVIV"#"#"#"#B C"0 4$/!A YZ

L*89;= @####B C"0 3'-!A YZ


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Stress is also contrastive in adjectives and adverbs.

Adjectives

L*D( =E>89:= @EEEEIIIIB C!-#A

L*2( =9-;G$= @-#G$-#G$-#G$-#G$B C4-$$A

Adverbs

LMH( =9'$`= @'$'$'$'$`B C#`#4"`"-EA

LM)( ='$`9">`= @'$'$'$'$`""""`B C!S # #4" "-EA

LM,( =%:`9O8= @%%%%IIII`OOOONNNNB C!"#A

LM1( =94:`;= @4444IIII`####B C#/#$A

LML( =0`9$= @0000NNNN`$$$$B C!EA

Verbal stress is predictable. It falls on the last syllable of stem unless a prefix such as the subjunctiveprefix /b:-/ , or a negative prefix supercedes this pattern. The following examples show theplacement of stress on various verb forms based on the past stem /v:8;t-/ made.

LM*( =? %:98;"= @NNNN % % % %IIII####VVVV""""B C -# $"(A

LMM( =? %:98;"= @NNNN % % % %IIII####VVVV""""B C 0#! -# $"(A

LM`= @ % % % %IIII#O#O#O#O`B C -#G! $"(A Y!"- =%:8#O`= @%%%%IIII#O#O#O#O`BZ

LO; -9!>`;= @O# -O# -O# -O# -QQQQ!!!!`####B C #- #$/(A Y!"- =-!`= @----QQQQ!!!!`BZ

When the subjunctive prefix /b:-/ occurs it is always stressedwhether it is used in the subjunctivesense, in the future tense, or in the imperative.

L


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Phonology 29

Endnotes to Chapter One

1. The pharyngeal is so light that I didnt detect it until the native speaker asked whether I had evernoticed that the words fire and tired did not begin the same. He then pronounced both words withthe above distinction. Though the difference is slight, it is quite important as his psychological

distinction cannot be based on any accustomed spelling. The dialect is not normally written and when itis written, no such distinction is made. Nor is any similar distinction made in writing Turkish orGerman, the languages in which the individual is literate. He does not consider all words with /5/ tobe of foreign origin.

2. There is apparently a negative semantic component associated with this particular phoneme:

=";\= @"#A"#A"#A"#AB C'$""A

=":\-= @JIJIJIJIA-A-A-A-B C-S!A

=\>?-= @A-A-A-A-B C3!A

=\>?9-:= @A-A-A-A-IIIIB C4$"0A=\:8= @AAAAIIIIB C#"A

=9\:$= @AAAAIIIIS$S$S$S$B C-A

3. Counter-examples exist that clearly come from outside influence such as occupational titles that haveTurkish /-di/ : /ql;9di/ blacksmith; /boj9di/ shoeshine boy. Anothercounter-example is /h;dh;d:k/ swallow where the second /d/ is intervocalic butis not fricativized. The name is based upon the Arabic /;;dd/ pilgrim due to the birds migratoryhabits. Perhaps that identification plays a part in the resistance to the phonological rule. A counterexample that is closer to home is the name of a neighboring tribe, /b:9d;x/ .

4. On one occasion and only one, I clearly heard my friend fricativize the /d/ in intervocalic position.The word was /od/ room from Turkish /od;/ , and the speech was informal in style.The resulting allophone of /d/ was a voiced dental fricative made with the blade of the tongue onthe back of the upper teeth [].

/no oojendo wo/

[no oocjendo wo ]

This room is a nice room.

5. The word /pan/ five is an exception to this rule: [p;] . The word /p;n9des/ fifteen is not exceptional: [p;n9des].

6. It could be that nasalization is in the process of becoming phonemic for this particular dialect ofDimili. There is a class of nouns ending in unstressed /:/ all of which are feminine. The unstressed

/:/ , however, is rarely pronounced except in careful isolation for me, a foreigner trying to learn thelanguage. In words such as /qj9l;n:/ pipe and /b;n9d;n:/ eggplant when theending is dropped it has a lingering effect in that the words are pronounced with a word-final [;n] andnot [;]. As such they provide a step toward contrast with words such as /bos9t;n/ gardenand /d:n9d;n/ tooth which end in phonemic /;n/ and are pronounced [;].


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=F?9;:= ]F?9;_ d ]F?9;:_ @FFFFNNNN####IIIIB C3$3A

=';9;:= ]';9;_ d ]';9;:_ @'#S#'#S#'#S#'#S#IIIIB C//3#"A

='!9";= ]'!9";_ @'!"#'!"#'!"#'!"#B C/#A

=:9;= ]:9;_ @IIII####B C""0A

The man whose dialect this represents objects to representing the nasalization with a word final /n/. He is quite aware that the nasalized /;/ is different than plain /;/and points out that it makes theimportant difference between the third person singular feminine and first person singular in the verbconjugation.

=:;= ]:;_ @VIVIVIVI####B C0 /!(A

=:;= ]:;_ @VIVIVIVI####B C /(A

Nevertheless, he pronounces such words as /b;n9d;n:/ so often without the final vowel

that he must conceive of the shorter form as an alternate phonemic shape /b;n9d;n/ andthus in contrast with such words as /bos9t;n/ .

He would prefer a diacritic over the nasalized vowel at least in verb inflections. Nouns ending in /n/ are frequently followed by vowel suffixes, thus making it apparent to him that an /n/ in theorthography is justified.

Hadank (1932:107 f.) records first-person singular inflection as /-;n/ and says nothing about the/n/ being dropped or modified. He also cites verbs from Lerch (on p. 113) and Le Coq (on p. 112)with no /n/ on the first-person singular inflection.

Friends of As from a village only 10 kilometers from his in Turkey, but whose market town is Cermikrather than Siverek, have been available for comparison. They too drop the final vowel of words like

/b;n9d;n:/ but they pronounce all word-final /n/s, seven in words such as /bos9t;n/.

7. In recent literature in Dimili native authors write the copula as a separate word and preserve theidentity of the morpheme by keeping the /o/ shape. For example, in the poem Welat Welat bySeyid Qaji (Hevi1:1983, p. 91-92) much of the rhyme scheme is based on the third-person copula /o/ which is written as a separate word throughout the poem.

Such are matters of practical orthography and do not necessarily conflict with the above analysis.There is no evidence from either phonology or morphology that would force us to interpret the copulaas a separate word. In fact, the above modification of /o/ to /w/ is less likely to have an effectacross a word boundary than with in a single word.

Further evidence that the copula is a suffix and not a separate word is the fact that the latent /n/ ispronounced when followed by the copula but not when followed by a separate word beginning with avowel.

= 9-:= ] 9-:_ @NNNN ----IIIIB C0#" $! -$(A=-: ;"= ]-:;"_ @----IIII #" #" #" #"B C 3(A


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Phonology 31

8. One would expect the lax /:/ to be modified to the lax /R/ rather than the tense /u/ .Perhaps in unstressed position it would do so, but the examples discovered to date involve thestressed subjunctive prefix.

9. I have frequently recorded what I consider to be initial clusters with voiced stops such as /b8;/ brother and =U8"= closed. Native speakers, however, insist that there is a short vowel /:/ in between. It is likely that they are reacting to the voicing of the stop which continuesthroughout the cluster.

10. In Sorani Kurdish there exists a related word /pil/ cat, that causes similar problems with Soranicannonical syllable patterns which allow noinitial clusters. Wahby and Edmonds, in their dictionary(p.110) and Joyce Blau in her Manuel de Kurde(p. 254) resolve the problem by inserting the shorthigh central vowel between the two consonants but native speakers have used that word (in personaldiscussions with me) to argue that initial consonant clusters do exist in Sorani. It is likely that this is

an echoic word based on the call for cats. Sorani speakers call a cat with a rapid repetition of /pi, pi,pi/ , while Dimili speakers use /psi, psi, psi/ .

11. Stress, however, does not carry a very significant burden in the distinction of lexical items from oneanother and would probably not be of great value if represented in the practical alphabet.


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33

CHAPTER TWO

MORPHOLOGY

2.1 Nouns

Nouns are inflected for case, number, specificity, and ezafe. In addition they have gender. The cases aredirect, oblique, locative, and vocative. The genders are masculineand feminine. And the specificitiesare specific, nonspecific, and indefinite. Ezafe, which is the traditional Persian term for the nominallinking morpheme, is phonologically bound to the noun but functions syntactically at the phrase level.Not all possible combinations of the above categories are reflected in distinct affixes. On the one handsome categories are unmarked in the presence of others and on the other hand two or more inflectional

categories are often expressed in a single portmanteau morpheme.

2.1.1 Gender

All nouns are either masculine or feminine. Most nouns have inherent gender. However, some nominalroots have variable gender, i.e. they may function as either masculine or feminine nouns.

On most nominal roots gender is not overtly marked, but is apparent from agreement with verbs andadjectives and in the ezafe morphemes. Hadank (1932:63-64) reported optional gender markers. In factthey turn out to be subject clitics that mark progressive action (section 3.2.2.1). The gender of somenouns is observable from their phonemic shapes. Nouns which end in unstressed /i/ or /:/ arealways feminine in gender and those which end in stressed // or /:/ are always masculine. Butwhen a noun ends in stressed /i/ or in a consonant its gender cannot be determined from itsphonemic shape.

The grammatical gender of animate nouns reflects the biological sex of the referent as in Table 2.01.

TABLE 2.01 GENDER OF ANIMATE NOUNS

masculine feminine

C-#A =;9-8= @S#-S#-S#-S#-NNNNB CE-#A =>9$= @S$S$S$S$B

C'A =;= @#?#?#?#?B C/$A =G>?9;= @G#G#G#G#B

C'A =U;= @/#/#/#/#B CSEA =-;9U;= @-#/#-#/#-#/#-#/#B

C$-GA =!:-9G= Y-3Z @IIII-G-G-G-GB C$%#A =9'8$%;= Y43Z @NNNN$%#$%#$%#$%#B

C0!'#A =->89>= @----B C!$!"A =E;= @E#E#E#E#B

Nouns denoting professions, occupations and societal roles have variable gender depending on the sexof the referent. One kinship term also has variable gender. Variable gender is also used for many

animals, especially non-domestic animals.


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TABLE 2.02 VARIABLE GENDER NOUNS

masculine feminine

C#$-# #A =;-9';O= @S#-'#OS#-'#OS#-'#OS#-'#OB =;-9';O= @S#-'#OS#-'#OS#-'#OS#-'#OB

C-#/$S$#A =!89';O= @!!!!NNNN'#O'#O'#O'#OB =!89';O= @!!!!NNNN'#O'#O'#O'#OBC4#-A =:9"8= @SSSSIIII""""NNNNB =:9"8= @SSSSIIII""""NNNNB

C$/0'A =>-:89?;= @----IIII####B =>-:89?;= @----IIII####B

C-#"# SA =+;= @+#+#+#+#B C-#"# #"A =+;= @+#+#+#+#B

C$A =8= @VNVNVNVNB C$!!A =8= @VNVNVNVNB

C!#GA =-;8= @-#-#-#-#B =-;8= @-#-#-#-#B

C#''$"A =;89E= @#E#E#E#ENVNVNVNVB =;89E= @#E#E#E#ENVNVNVNVB

The biological sex of animals, especially of domestic animals, is distinguished by words that often

show no historic relationship to one another. One of each pair of words is normally used as the genericterm. Again, gender is unmarked.

TABLE 2.03 ANIMAL SEXES AND GENDER

masculine feminine generic

C/#"A =G>= @GGGGB =9':O= @''''IIIIOOOOB 4

C0!A ='>89U$8= @'/$'/$'/$'/$B =:!59"58= @IA!"IA!"IA!"IA!"B 4

C/A =G9":G= @GGGGQQQQ""""IIIIGGGGB =>= @B -

CE4A =%>8U= @%/%/%/%/B =>9%>8U= @%/%/%/%/B -

C!"A =$G= @$G$G$G$GB C0A =G>8U= @G/G/G/G/B 4

C#-A ='>98;= @'#'#'#'#B CEA =-$= @-$-$-$-$B 4

C3#"$/A =O>98>= @O?O?O?O?B =-;98$= @-#$-#$-#$-#$B -

Inanimate nouns have invariable grammatical gender.

TABLE 2.04 GENDER OF INANIMATE NOUNS

masculine feminine

C-#""!!A =9>U= @VVVV////B C#!0A =E>= @EEEEB

C#A =U= @////VVVVB C'#A =>89$= @$$$$VVVVB

C'GA =3$89"G= @3$"G3$"G3$"G3$"GB C4"A =$U= @$/$/$/$/B

CA =G>?9%>8= @G%G%G%G%B C/#3A =>9U8= @////QQQQB

C0#A =>!"= @!"!"!"!"B C-A =9;-$= @####VVVV-$-$-$-$B

CA =t:-= @JIJIJIJI----B C4#"0A =938"$= @3333QQQQ"$"$"$"$B

CGA =G$"= @G$"G$"G$"G$"B CG$4A =9G;8$= @G#$G#$G#$G#$B

CGA =!;9F>= @!!!!#F#F#F#FB C!A =9O:$= @OOOOIIIIS$S$S$S$B

C'A =:!59"5>= @IA!"IA!"IA!"IA!" B C#33 "A =!;9?8:= @!#!#!#!#NNNNIIIIB

C4#SA =:= @IIIIB C3$3A =F>?9;:= @F#F#F#F#IIIIB

C4S!A =U$= @/$/$/$/$B C4"A =9$= @QQQQ$$$$B


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Morphology 35

Homophones exist that are distinguished by gender.

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