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Shatt language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Shatt
ìkkɨ̀ cánnìñ
Native toSudan
RegionSouth Kordofan
EthnicityShatt
Native speakers
30,000 (2014)[1]
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3shj
Glottologshat1244
ELPShatt
Linguasphere05-PEA-aa
Shatt is classified as Severely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

The Shatt language is a Daju language of the Eastern Daju family spoken by the Shatt people in the Shatt Hills (part of the Nuba Mountains) southwest of Kaduqli in South Kordofan province in southern Sudan.

Villages are Shatt Daman, Shatt Safia, and Shatt Tebeldia (Ethnologue, 22nd edition).

Names

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The designation "Shatt" is an Arabic word meaning "dispersed" and is applied to several distinct groups in the Nuba Mountains. "Caning" is their own name for themselves, linguistically referred to as endonym, whereas "Shatt" is considered an exonym due to its external ascription. Speakers refer to their language as ìkkɨ̀ cánnìñ ('mouth, language').[2]

Phonology

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Consonants

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Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t c k (ʔ)
voiced b d ɟ g
implosive ɓ ɗ ʄ
Fricative voiceless f s x h
voiced z
Rhotic r
Approximant w l j
  • /x/ may vary between velar [x] or uvular [χ] fricative sounds.
  • A glottal stop [ʔ] may also occur, only in intervocalic positions.[3]

Vowels

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Front Central Back
Close i u
Mid e ə o
Open a
  • /ə/ is phonetically raised as [ə̝].
  • Sounds /e, o/ may also be heard as [ɛ, ɔ].[4]

Alphabet

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The alphabet consists of 27 letters,[4] which are shown in the table below with the corresponding letter from the International Phonetic Alphabet chart.

IPA [a] [ə̝] [ɓ] [c] [d] [ɗ] [ɛ] [f] [g] [i] [ʄ] [k] [l] [m] [n] [ŋ] [ɲ] [ɔ] [p] [r] [s] [t] [u] [w] [x] [y] [z]
Upper Case A Ä B C D ꞌD E F G I J K L M N Ng Ny O P R S T U W X Y Z
Lower Case a ä b c d ꞌd e f g i j k l m n ng ny o p r s t u w x y z

Grammar

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The grammar in this section is primarily based on the Caning Grammar Book (Second Edition 2017).[5]

Morphology

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Types of Words

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Types of Caning Words [6]
Type Example Translation
Noun Kig kasiy ya. Person ate meat.
Verb Kig kasiy ya. Person ate meat.
Preposition Kig kasiy ya tä pumpung. Person ate meat in bush.
Location Kig kasiy ya tagä pa. Person ate meat in front of house.
Pronoun Ma masiy ya. He ate meat.
Adjective Kig kasiy yana apo. Person ate good meat.
Quantity Kig kasiy ya käꞌday. Person ate all the meat.
Number Kig kasiy aska kodos. Person ate three fishes.
Adverb Kig kasiy ya tetex. Person ate meat quickly.
Question Word Xänang kasiy ya? Who ate meat?
Connector Ndä kig kasiy ya. Then person ate meat.

Nouns

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A noun in Caning "can be a person, animal, place, thing, or idea."[6]

Singular and Plural

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Plurals in Caning are built in three different ways:

  1. By adding a suffix to the singular.
  2. By adding a suffix to the plural.
  3. By adding a suffix to both, the singular and the plural form.
Suffixes: Singular and Plural [6]
Suffix

S/P

Root Singular Plural Translation
-ic / - ux uxic ux worm(s)
- / -iny ax ax axiny hut(s)
-ic / -iny win- winic wininy vulture(s)

When adding a singular suffix only as described in form one, the plural form remains unchanged.

Most common Singular Suffixes
Suffix Singular Plural Translation
-c / bebec bebe gourd
-dic, -tic/ gäldic gäl egg
-wec / ngaluwec ngalu bell
-wic / kadasuwic kadasu foundation

For the second for, when adding the plural suffix only, the singular form remains unchanged.

Some common Plural Suffxes
Suffix Singular Plural Translation
/ -u ux uxu women
/ -da, -ta oxay oxayda animals
/ -di, -ti bul buldi drums
/ -de, -te jen jende years

Certain patterns occur in pairs for the respective singular and plural forms, as described in form three.

Suffix pairs
Pair Singular Plural Translation
-ic / -iny winic wininy vulture(s)
-ic / -u banyic banyu light(s)
-wan/-wan penäwan penggäwan son(s)
-x/-ny osox osony lion(s)
-d/ -nu 'dawud 'dawunu type of fish
Plural-only nouns
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There are exceptions to the rule, e.g. words that change form, having a shorter plural than singular form or no singular or plural form at all.

Some nouns only occur as plurals, e.g. noncountable nouns that refer to masses or liquids:

Example: Plural-only nouns [2]
Singular Plural
/ / mem/mmem milk
/ / Ma/mma water
/ / zäg/zik earth, ground

Pronouns

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Subject and Object Pronouns [7]
Singular Plural
1st Person agä I Was We (not you)
Kog We (and you)
2nd Person gi You Anggo You
3rd Person ma He Sa They
ce She
nya It

It is noteworthy that Caning has two forms of the pronoun "we" (1st person plural) that could be distinguished by calling them inclusive and exclusive versions. One being -was (we - not you) and the other one being -kog (we - and you).

This difference is also made with the possessor and possessive pronouns us/our(s).

Possessor Pronouns

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Possessor pronouns can replace the possessor (apang = man) in the sentence below.

"Kig kasax axä apang. Person refused hut of man.

Kig kasax axang. Person refused my hut."[7] (ax = hut)

Possessor Pronouns [7]
Possessor Caning Singular Plural Translation
my -ang axang axinygang my hut
your (sg) -ägi axägi axinygägi your (sg) hut
his -äma axäma axinygäma his hut
her -äce axäce axinygäce her hut
its -änya axgänya axinygänya its hut
our (not your) -äsko axäsko axinygäsko our (not your) hut
our (and your) -og axog axinygog our (and your) hut
your (pl) -ägo axägo axinygägo your (pl) hut
their -äsa axäsa axinygäsa their hut

Possessive Pronouns

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Possessive Pronouns can also replace nouns.

By using the same example, the difference between possessor and possessive pronouns become more clear.

"Kig kasax axä apang. Person refused hut of man.

Kig kasax nämanggo. Person refused his."[7] (ax = hut)

All of the possessive pronouns below can therefore take the place of nämanggo in the above sentence.

Possessive Pronouns [7]
Caning Pronoun
nanggä mine
nänggi yours (sg)
nämanggo his
näcengga hers
nänyanggo its
näskonga ours (us, not you)
nänokanga ours (us and you)
nänggonga yours (pl)
näsanga theirs

Numbers

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Cardinal numbers

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Cardinal numbers in Caning [8]
N Text in Caning N Text in Caning N Text in Caning N Text in Caning
1 nuxu 11 asiny wang nuxu 21 ud wang nuxu 110 udiny mädäg wang asiny
2 pädax 12 asiny wang pädax 30 ud wang asiny 200 udiny mädäginy pädax
3 kodos 13 asiny wang kodos 31 ud wang asiny wang nuxu 300 udiny mädäginy kudos
4 tesped 14 asiny wang tesped 40 udiny pädax 400 udiny mädäginy tesped
5 mädäg 15 asiny wang mädäg 50 udiny pädax wang asiny 500 udiny mädäginy mädäg
6 aran 16 asiny wang aran 60 udiny kodos 600 udiny mädäginy aran
7 paxtänding 17 asiny wang paxtänding 70 udiny kudos wang asiny 700 udiny mädäginy paxtänding
8 tespetespe 18 asiny wang tespetespe 80 udiny tesped 800 udiny mädäginy tesped
9 paye nuxu 19 asiny wang paye nuxu 90 udiny tesped wang asiny 900 udiny mädäginy paye nuxu
10 asiny 20 ud 100 udiny mädäg 1000 päsic nuxu

Intermediate numbers, e.g. 785 are built similar to English, from front to end: udiny mädäginy paxtänding (700) wang (and) udiny tesped (80) wang (and) mädäg (5).[8]

Ordinal numbers

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The following table shows how ordinal numbers are built.

Ordinal numbers in Caning - Days [8]
Caning Translation Caning Translation
xongi näs nuxuzeneng first day xongondi näs paxtändingzeneng seventh day
xongondi näs pätaxeneng second day xongondi näs tespetespedeneng eighth day
xongondi näs kodoseneng third day xongondi näs paye nuxuzeneng ninth day
xongondi näs tespedeneng fourth day xongondi näs asinygeneng tenth day
xongondi näs mädägkeneng fifth day xongondi näs asiny wang nuxuzeneng eleventh day
xongondi näs arandeneng sixth day xongondi näs asiny wang pätaxeneng twelfth day

Numbers usually come after the noun with a modifier suffix, in this case -eneng.

Example of cardinal and ordinal numbers in the same sentence [8]
Caning English
Edekeny sawuno sasog täsa mänang tä sängga kodos, na xongondi näs kodoseneng cäläpede ta atänäce ka, For the next three days, they came and did the same, and on the third day she said to her grandchild,

References

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  1. ^ Shatt at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ a b Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2011. The modified form of Shatt Damam nouns and its Daju cognates. Afrika und Übersee 91. 9-84. Available at: https://llacan.cnrs.fr/publications/Shatt_nouns.pdf
  3. ^ Thelwall, Robin E.W. (1981). The Daju Language Group. School of Humanities of the New University of Ulster. pp. 41–50.
  4. ^ a b Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Consonant and Vowel Book" (PDF). Webonary Caning Dictionary. Yida: Sudan Workshop Programme, Development and Literacy Partners International.
  5. ^ Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF). Webonary Caning Dictionary. Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International.
  6. ^ a b c Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF). Webonary Caning Dictionary. Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 12–13.
  7. ^ a b c d e Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF). Caning Grammar Book. Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 36–40.
  8. ^ a b c d Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF). Webonary Caning Dictionary. Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 122–123.
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