| Bagirmi | |
| Nativename: | pronounced as /tàrà ɓármà/ |
| States: | Chad, Nigeria |
| Ethnicity: | Bagirmi |
| Speakers: | in Chad |
| Date: | 1993 census |
| Ref: | e18 |
| Familycolor: | Nilo-Saharan |
| Fam2: | Central Sudanic |
| Fam3: | Bongo–Bagirmi |
| Fam4: | Bagirmi |
| Iso3: | bmi |
| Glotto: | bagi1246 |
| Glottorefname: | Bagirmi |
| Notice: | IPA |
Bagirmi (also Baguirmi; autonym: tàrà ɓármà) is the language of the Bagirmi people of Chad belonging to the Central Sudanic family, which has been tenatively classified as part of the Nilo-Saharan superfamily. It was spoken by 44,761 people in 1993, mainly in the Chari-Baguirmi Region, as well as in Mokofi sub-prefecture of Guéra Region.[1] It was the language of the Sultanate of Bagirmi (1522-1871) and then the Wadai Empire before the Scramble for Africa.
During the 1990s, Bagirmi was given written form and texts providing basic literacy instruction were composed through the efforts of Don and Orpha Raun, Christian missionaries of the Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America, late in their Chadian careers. In 2003, Anthony Kimball developed a font to support the Bagirmi alphabet and a Keyman input method for Latin keyboards, and the body of published Baguirmi literature continues to expand. The majority of this literature was distributed in Chad by David Raun, a missionary and the son of Don and Orpha Raun, at a token cost as a service to the Bagirmi-speaking peoples of Chad.
The consonant table presented below contains sounds which are supposed to be native to Bagirmi. The sounds f, v, z, ʃ and h are heard in loan-words.
| Explosive | p, b | t, d | t, d | c, j | k, g | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Implosive | 'b | 'd | 'j('y), 'ny | ||||||
| Nasal | m | n | ny | ŋ | |||||
| Fricative | (ʄ) | s, z | |||||||
| Liquids etc. | r, l | y | w |
| Close | i I | ö | uU | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Close-mid | e | ä | o | |
| Open-mid | ɛ | a | ɔ | |
| Open |
si - milk
ji - hand
ri -name
lua - year
mʷu - grass
tut(u) - dry
deb(e) - person
tej(e) - honey
gèl(e) - lefthand
ro - body
tòt(o) - hill
kʷɔrlo - giraffe
kʷɔlɛ - pot
mà kàb(e) - I shall go
köndèi - small basket
Most of the nouns in Bagirmi are disyllabic and the common noun form is a consonant + vowel + consonant + vowel. The final vowel is usually semi-mute.
Examples:
ŋʷon(o) - child
njɨl(i) - shadow
The simpliest form of nouns in Bagirmi is monosyllabic and usually consists of a consonant and vowel.
Examples:
ro - body
ŋga - foreigner
njo - night
In Bagirmi language plurality of nouns is presented by the suffix -ge. This rule applies not only to the simple noun but also to its possible qualifiers and to the end in noun compounds and genetive constructions. In this case, the suffix is added only once at the end of the noun phrase.
Examples:
kam(o) (eye)
→
bat(a) (sheep)
→
To indicate sex ŋgab(a) (man, male) or nee (woman, female) should be added to a noun.
Examples:
ŋʷon ŋgab(a) - boy
ŋʷon nee - girl
Most words in adjectival constructions act as nominal or verbal roots and cannot be differentiated from them (except the fact that they are more subject to reduplication). These words are “adjectives” only due to their applications. Also, a lot of these words can take both nominal and verbal affixes.
Personal pronouns in Bagirmi are used as:
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | ma (I) | je/jege (we) | |
| 2nd person | i (you) | se/sege (you, pl.) | |
| 3rd person | ne (he, she) | je/jege (they) |
Examples:
ma deb ŋgab(a) – I am a man
i ‘Barma – you are a Bagirmi
ne ŋgʷol(o) – he/she is big
ma mala or ma ‘döŋ – I myself
je mala or je ‘döŋ (or je ‘döŋge) – we ourselves
| singular | plural | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st person | -(ʉ)m(a) (I) | -je (we) | |
| 2nd person | -I (you) | -se (you, pl) | |
| 3rd person | -(i)ny(a) (he, she) | -je (they) |
The first and third persons: sing. -ʉm(a) and -iny(a) are used after a consonant, -(m)a and -ny(a) after a vowel.
Examples:
As object of verb:
(following a consonant) je j-ɛt k-ak- ʉm(a) – they see me
(following a vowel) je j- ɛt ki-nya-m(a) – they leave me
After a preposition:
sem(a), sɨ-m(a) – with me
si – with you
se-ny(a), sɨ-ny(a) – with him/her
In this position pronouns don't have any changes except the omission of semi-mute vowels. It's only about the first and third persons of B-forms.
The examples demonstrate only the general locative postposition -ki.
jo-m-ki – on me
jo-ny-ki – on him
'''but''' jo-je-ki – on us
For conjugational purposes verbs are divided into five classes built on the form of the verbal roots. Verbal roots mainly have a monosyllabic or dissyllabic form. A reliable indicator of class is the presence or absence of the prefix k- in the Indefenite Aspect or the Infinitive.
sa - eat
nya - put
nji - sit
ab(e) - go
ak(a) - see
ad(a) - give
tad(a) - make, do
ŋgal(a) - swim
'bar(a) - cook
ndokolo - roll
tatla - clean
susuri - scatter
There are two types of verb aspects in Bagirmi language: the Definite Aspect and the Indefinite Aspect. The Definite Aspect is applicable to complete, momentary verb actions. The Indefinite Aspect, conversely, represents verb actions which are incomplete, progressive. The Definite Aspect is also used to indicate the Imperative mood. The Indefinite Aspect is defined by the prefix k- in verbs from Class I and Class II.
The negation of verbs is presented by adding a postposition eli. The initial vowel is omitted when preceded by another vowel (except the situation when pronouns ma and i are placed).
Examples:
ma m-sa li – I did not eat
je j-ab eli – we did not go
se gei-ki li – you (pl) do not, or did not, want
There is also a postposition daali which means “no more”, “no longer”.
Examples:
ma m-tad-iny daali – I did not do it again
je j-ab nuu daali – they did not go there any longer
Bagirmi language saves a direct word order in a sentence (subject + verb + object).
When it comes to the genitive construction, the possessor always follows the possessed.
Examples:
‘bel an Paca – captive of the Patia
In Bagirmi there are only several words whose function is adverbial and could be described as adverbs. Majority of adverbial constructions are made up of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectivals, with or without implementing of prepositions and postpositions, could contain a phrase or even a sentence. Not rarely an adverbial phrase is built up by integrating a preposition or postposition with a noun or pronoun.
The usual place of adverbials is at the end of a sentence. This position is especially suitable for interrogatives and adverbials of place and manner.
| base numeral | +10 | 10 | 100 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | kɛ'dɛ | 11 | dokkeme kar kɛ'dɛ | 10 | dokkeme | 100 | aru | |||
| 2 | sap | 12 | dokkeme kar sap | 20 | dʉk-sap | 200 | aru-sap | |||
| 3 | mʷʉta | 13 | dokkeme kar mʷʉta | 30 | dʉk-mʷʉta | |||||
| 4 | so | 14 | dokkeme kar so | 40 | dʉk-so | |||||
| 5 | mi | 15 | dokkeme kar mi | 50 | dʉk-mi | |||||
| 6 | mika (5+1) | 16 | dokkeme kar mika | 60 | dʉk-mika | |||||
| 7 | c<s>i</s>li or cili | 17 | dokkeme kar c<s>i</s>li (cili) | 70 | dʉk-c<s>i</s>li (cili) | |||||
| 8 | marta | 18 | dokkeme kar marta | 80 | dʉk-marta | |||||
| 9 | doso | 19 | dokkeme kar doso | 90 | dʉk-doso | |||||
| 10 | dokkeme | 20 | 100 | |||||||
In Bagirmi there are no ordinal numbers. The order is expressed only by the cardinals, adverbs and postpositions. And adverbials ("times") can be expressed by using mʷot(o) (under).
Example:
'de nja mʷʉta - He came on the third day
ne 'de mi - He came fifth
ne tad ŋgas ɛnna mʷot(o) - dokkeme - He did this ten times
In Bagirmi language the order of numerals and nouns in relation to each other is reverse.
Examples:
nja sap - two days
nap mi - five months