Farefare language explained

Farefare
Nativename:Frafra
States:Ghana, Burkina Faso
Ethnicity:Frafra
Date:1991–2013
Ref:e26
Familycolor:Niger-Congo
Fam2:Atlantic–Congo
Fam3:Gur
Fam4:Northern
Fam5:Oti–Volta
Fam6:Mooré–Dagbani
Fam7:Mooré
Dia1:Gurenɛ
Dia2:Nankani
Dia3:Booni
Iso3:gur
Script:Latin
Glotto:fare1241
Glottorefname:Farefare

Farefare or Frafra, also known by the regional name of Gurenne (Gurene), is a Niger–Congo language spoken by the Frafra people of northern Ghana, particularly the Upper East Region, and southern Burkina Faso. It is a national language of Ghana, and is closely related to Dagbani and other languages of Northern Ghana, and also related to Mossi, also known as Mooré, the national language of Burkina Faso.

Frafra consists of three principal dialects, Gurenɛ (also written Gurunɛ, Gudenne, Gurenne, Gudeni, Zuadeni), Nankani (Naane, Nankanse, Ninkare), and Boone. Nabit and Talni have been mistakenly reported to be Frafra dialects.[1]

Names

The general and accepted name for the language is Farefare or Frafra. The varieties in Ghana are usually called "Gurene", and those in Burkina-Faso are called "Ninkare".

Orthography

The Frafra language uses the letters of the Latin alphabet except for c, j, q, x, and with the addition of ɛ, ɩ, ŋ, ɔ, and ʋ. The tilde is used for showing nasalization in Burkina Faso, but in Ghana it is shown using the letter n. The two nasal vowels /ɛ̃/ and /ɔ̃/ are spelt with ẽ and õ respectively.[2] All long nasal vowels only get their tilde written on the first letter.

Acute, grave, circumflex, caron, and macron are sometimes used in grammar books to indicate tone, but not in general-purpose texts. The apostrophe is used to indicate the glottal stop.

Examples of Gurunɛ orthography!Sound!Representation!Example!Meaning
/a/aya /ja/houses
/a:/aagaarɛ /ga:ɹɛ/a type of bean cake
/ɛ/ɛɛkɛ /ɛkɛ/to fly
/e/ezoore /zo:ɹe:/mountain/hill
/ɛ̃/tẽŋacity
/ɪ/ɩtaablɩ /ta:blɪ/table (French borrowing)
/i/ipiika /pi:ka/little
/ɔ/ɔɔɔrɔ /ɔ:ɹɔ/cold
/o/otoma toma /to:.ma.to:.ma/a greeting similar to "hi"
/ʊ/ʋteebʋl /te:bʊl/table (English borrowing)
/u/uubuulika /bu:lika/morning

Phonology

Consonants

Frafra has a system of 17 phonemes (or 19, counting /ɣ/, an allophone of /g/, and /ɾ/, an allophone of /d/):

LabialAlveolarVelarGlottal
Nasalpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Plosivepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Tap(pronounced as /link/)
Fricativepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/(pronounced as /link/)
Approximantpronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
The sound /ŋ/ appears in front of some words starting with /w/, leading them to change into the /j/ sound. /h/ only appears in loanwords, exclamations, and as an allophone of /f/. An example of both of these sound changes are weefo and yeho (both meaning "horse"). The only consonants Frafra words may end in are the two nasals /m/ and /n/.

Glottal stop

Glottal stops appear at the initial vowel of a word, but are not transcribed. Word-medially, vowel nasalization continues over the glottal stop. In rapid speech, the glottal stop is usually dropped, similar to how vowel hiatus gets dropped in Spanish.

Word medial glottal stops must be marked in writing.

Allophones

Allophones of /r/

[d] and [ɾ] are two phonetic realizations of the same phoneme. [d] occurs at the beginning of words, and [ɾ] is its counterpart everywhere else.

Allophones of /g/

[ɣ] is an allophone of /g/ that occurs after certain vowels. It is mostly written "g." Usage of the letter "ɣ" is quite rare.

Allophones of /j/

[ɲ] is an allophone of /j/ that occurs before a nasal vowel. It is always written as "y."

Sandhi

This section will describe all the morpho-phonological sandhi processes that affect Frafra.

Nasals

Nasal consonants undergo assimilation, coalescence, and elision.

= Assimilation at Point of Articulation

=Nasals assimilate to the point of articulation of the occlusive the proceed.

= Coalescence

=When a nasal is followed by /g/, the two consonants amalgamate.

This rule does not apply to compound words (e.g. tẽŋgãnnɛ "sacred land") or loanwards (e.g. maŋgo "mango")

= Elision

=Nasals disappear when they go before /f/

Stops

Two voiced stops become their unvoiced form. Remember that [ɾ] is the word-medial allophone of /d/

Sonorants

Vibrant assimilation

Vibrant consonants, also called taps, assimilate to a preceding lateral or nasal.

Lateral assimilation
Combination of these processes

C designates any consonant, and N designates any nasal.

Vowels

Frafra has 9 oral vowels and 5 nasal vowels.

FrontCentralBack
Closepronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/
Midpronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/pronounced as /link/
Openpronounced as /link/, pronounced as /link/
Diphthongs
All Frafra vowels have a long form.

Vowel harmony

Like many Mande languages, Frafra features vowel harmony. When suffixes are added to word roots, the vowel in the root selects whether the suffix will use the tense or lax form. The exception is suffixes ending in "-a" because /a/ is neutral in Frafra, meaning that it is only one form. Prefixes do not exist in Frafra.

Where all vowels must be in harmony

In disyllabic words, both vowels are always in harmony. The same applies in vowel sequences.

Mid vowels

The lax vowel -a in noun and verb endings will change the tense vowels /e/ and /o/ to lax vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/.

Close vowels

When a suffix's vowel is close, and stem's vowel is close and tense, it causes the suffix's vowel to become tense.

For example, the locative postposition "-ʋm" becomes "-um" after the vowels /i/, /ĩ/, /u/, and /ũ/.

However, tense vowels that are not close do not affect "ʋm". Therefore poore ("back") becomes poorʋm ("behind").

The particle "nɩ," which goes after a verbs to mark the incomplete aspect, becomes "ni" after /i/, /ĩ/, /u/, and /ũ/.

Grammar

Tone

Gurenɛ marks a high and a low tone. Changes in tone have an impact on either the lexical or grammatical function of a particular word.[3]

Lexical Function

With low tones the word becomes a verb, whereas with high tones it is a noun.

Grammatical Function

The low tone on the preverbal tense marker indicates future, while the high tone on the same element indicates aspect.

Noun Classes

Nouns in Gurunɛ have different "classes" with regard to plurals:

Frafra Plurals!Genre!Class #s (sg./pl.)!Singular!Plural!Examples!Meaning
1st1 / 2-a-banẽra > nẽrbaperson > people
-dõmadɛɛma > dɛɛndõmanaba > na'adõma

yaaba > yaabdõma

in-law(s)chief(s)

ancestor(s)

Loanwordsãnkɔra > ãnkɔrdõma

biki > bikidõma

nõtɩ > nõtɩdõma

sɛɛtɛ > sɛɛtɛdõma

water barrel(s) [Twi]

ballpoint pen(s) [French]

nut(s) [English]

shirt(s) [English]

2nd3 / 4-a-sɩtɩa > tɩɩsɩtree(s)
-gayɩbga > yɩbsɩyounger sibling(s)
3rd5 / 6-go-roboko > bogrovõogɔ > võorɔ

wɔbgɔ > wɔbrɔ

hole(s)leaf > leaves

elephant(s)

-todeego > detozuugo > zutoroom(s) / hut(s) / house(s)head(s)
-ko-grobɔkɔ > bɔgrɔshoulder(s)
-lgo-llobakolgo > bakollosoothsayer's fetish(es)
-ŋo-nnoFilippiŋɔ > Filippinnosõŋɔ > sõnnɔ

Tɩntɩŋɔ > Tɩntɩnnɔ

island in the Philippines > The Philippinesmat(s)

one of the Netherlands > The Netherlands

4th7/8-le(if the stem ends in /l/)-awille > wilazelle > zɛlabranch(es)egg(s)
-ne(if the stem ends in /m/ or /n/)bẽmnɛ > bẽmadũnne > dũma

gɩgnɛ > gɩgma

kãnnɛ > kãna

mã'anɛ > mã'ana

yẽnnɛ > yẽna

calabash drum(s)knee(s)

lion(s)

spear(s)

piece(s) of okra

tooth > teeth

-rebusre > busadĩire > dĩa

gere > gɛa

kũure > kũa

loore > lɔa

nõorɛ > nõa

pʋʋrɛ > pʋa

sore > sɔa

sũure > sũa

tʋbrɛ > tʋba

yam(s)forehead(s)

thigh(s)

hoe(s)

vehicle(s)

mouth(s)

belly > bellies

road(s) / trail(s)

heart(s)

ear(s)

-te (if the stem ends in /r/)tagtɛ > tagrawatɛ > wara

watɛ > wara

sandal(s)brick(s)

cloud(s)

5th(stem vowels change)9/10-fo-ilagfɔ > ligrimu'ufo > mũi

naafɔ - niigi

nifo > nini

weefo/yeho > wiiri/yiri

yoofo > yũuni

cowry shell > moneyrice grain > rice

bovine(s)

eye(s)

horse(s)

shea nut(s)

-sĩfo > sĩmzũfo > zũmabee(s)fish(es)
6th(mostly animals and diminutives)11/12-la-ntobʋdibla > bʋdimtobʋtɩla > bʋtɩtɔ

kɩɩla > kɩɩntɔ

niila > niinto

pɩɩla > pɩɩntɔ

pugla > pugunto

boy(s)billy goat(s)

guinea fowl(s)

chick(s)

lamb(s)

girl(s)

(No distinction between plural and singular)Class 13-bokɩ'ɩbɔbo'obo / bɔ'asoapgift
Uncountable nounsClass 14-mbɛglʋmbĩ'isũm

dãam

dabeem

dõndʋ'ʋrʋm

gẽem

ɩɩlʋm

kaam

ko'om

kɔm

kũm

mẽelʋm

nõŋlʋm

nõtõorʋm

tɩɩm

valʋm

yaarʋm

yɛm

zẽem

zɩɩm

zom

mudbreastmilk

beer, alcohol

fear

urine

sleep

milk

oil

water

hunger

death

dew

love

saliva

medicine, remedy

shame

salt

intelligence

potash

blood

flour

Pronouns

Source:

Personal Pronouns

!Person!Subject/Possessor!Object!Emphatic!!!
SGPLSGPLSGPL
1stma/ntumatumamtumam
2ndfuyafuyafumyamam
3rdabaebaeŋabamam

Emphatic Pronouns

Only emphatic pronouns can appear in focus positions, whereas all other pronouns cannot appear in those positions. Emphatic pronouns are used in exclusive contexts, in which the speaker indicates that only one thing is true and not the other.

Reciprocal Pronoun

The reciprocal pronoun is taaba and occurs postverbally.

Reflexive Pronouns

To form a reflexive pronoun in Gurenɛ the morphem -miŋa for singular or -misi for plural is attached to a particular personal pronoun. While in other Gur languages, the reflexive morphem is not sensitive to number, in Gurenɛ there exist two forms, one for each number.

!Person!Reflexive Morphem SG!Personal Pronoun SG!Reflexive Pronoun SG!Reflexive Morphem PL!Personal Pronoun PL!Reflexive Pronoun PL
1st-miŋannmiŋa-misitutumisi
2nd-miŋafufumiŋa-misiyayamisi
3rd-miŋaaamiŋa-misibabamisi

Relative Pronouns

There are two relative pronouns, ti and n. The former relativizes subjects, while the latter is used to relativize objects. Both pronouns are not sensitive to number or animacy, while this is the case in other Gur languages such as Dagbani for instance.

Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogative pronouns can either occur sentence-initially or sentence-finally.

Demonstrative Pronouns

Each demonstrative pronoun refers to a single noun class.

!Number!Gurenɛ!Gloss
SGina (CL1)that/this
kana (CL4)that/this
dina (CL5)that/this
kuna (CL7)that/this
PLbana (CL2)these/those
sina (CL4)these/those
tuna (CL8)these/those
buna (CL9)these/those

Syntax

Word Order

The word order in Gurenɛ is strictly SVO.

Verb Phrase

The verb phrase (VP) consists of pre- and postverbal particles surrounding the verb. Preverbal particles encode aspect, tense, negation, and mood, such as imperative and conditional. Postverbal particles also encode aspect and tense, but in addition to that they can also encode focus. The order of particles within the VP is strictly organized as shown below. Moreover, the maximal amount of pre- and postverbal particles is also strictly defined. There can be at maximum five preverbal and two postverbal particles within one clause in Gurenɛ.

Time > Tense > Conditional > Aspectual > Future > Negation > Emphatic > Epistemic > Purpose > Verb > Tense > Focus/Affirmative/Completive/Directional

Particles

There are a lot of particles in Gurenɛ, such that the total number is not fully clear. The following table provides an overview of the most common particles.

!Aspect!Gurenɛ
now, after thisnyaa
in a determined way wa
intentionta
an action/event still lastsnaŋ
onlykɔ'ɔm
evenpugum
againle
alreadypìlum
justkɔ'ɔm
rathertugum
necessairlyyɛrum
insteadyi
evertabelɛ
as usualya'am
habitual
Tense
pastdaa
two days agodaarɛ
three days agodatata
years agoyuum
the next day dagi
Imperative
mustta
needwa
Conditional
ifsan

Verb

The verb in Gurenɛ consists of an obligatory stem or root, that can take one or more morphemes. Verbs appear either in the perfective or imperfective form, depending on its aspect. The perfective expresses actions in the present, whereas the imperfective denotes actions in the past or progressive.

!Root/Stem/Infinitive!!Perfective -ri!Imperfective -ra
(single) closed eventopen event
GurenɛGlossfollows Object/Adverbfollows Pronominal
nyudrinknyuurinyuura
da'buyda'arida'ara
lebereturnleberilebera
dikɛtakedikɛridikɛra
pagesɛimitatepagesɛripagesɛra
pa'alɛteachpa'alipa'ala
dieatditidita
darɛdisturbdatidata
parɛbe a lotpatipata
kiŋɛgokinikina
siŋɛwalksinisina
sigumcome downsigenisigena

Question Formation

There are several ways of forming a question in Gurenɛ, but importantly the strict word order SVO is always to obey.

Ex situ

In subject questions the question word occurs as the first element of the clause and can either function as the subject or as the agent of the clause.

In situ

In general, questions are formed by raising intonation of the final tone. Questions without an explicit question word have a clause-final question marker .

Embedded

Questions can be embedded and are then preceded by the complementizer .

Multiple Questions

Question can also be formed by more than one question word. In these cases one question word occurs ex situ and the other(s) in situ. Again, a question word can only appear ex situ, if it replaces the subject or agent of the clause.

Long distance extraction

Question words in Gurenɛ can also cross clause boundaries, such that they originated in the embedded clause and have been fronted to the clause-initial position.

Greetings

GurunɛPhoneticEnglish
Bulika/bulika/morning (Greeting in the morning)
Wuntɛɛŋa/wʊn.tɛ:.ŋa/sun (Greeting around noon)
Zaanuurɛ/za:jʋɻɛ/Evening (Greeting in the evening)
Zaare/za:r̝e/Welcome
Tooma Tooma/to:.ma.to:.ma/a greeting similar to "Hello" (every time of the day)
Nambaa/ˈnaːm.ba:/Response to these greetings

Geography

Continents!English !Gurunɛ
AfricaAfrika
AmericaAmerika
AntarcticaAntartika
AsiaAsia
AustraliaAustralia
EuropeEuropa
OceaniaOkeania
Solemitẽŋa means "land of the white man" and is used to refer to all non-African countries.

Soleminɛ is theoretically referring to all non-African languages, however it is only used to refer to English.

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www-01.sil.org/iso639-3/cr_files/2015-014.pdf ISO change request
  2. Web site: Niggli. 2007. Equisse grammaticale du ninkãrɛ au Burkina Faso. 24 November 2021. SIL International Burkina Faso. 14.
  3. Book: Bodomo . Adams . Adams Bodomo . Handbook of the Mabia Languages of West Africa . Abubakari . Hasiyatu . Issah . Samuel Alhassan . Galda Verlag . 2020 . Glienicke.