Guus, aka Sigidi (Chadic, West-B, South-Bauchi): Grammatical notes and vocabulary Bernard Caron To cite this version: Bernard Caron. Guus, aka Sigidi (Chadic, West-B, South-Bauchi): Grammatical notes and vocabu- lary. Afrika und Übersee, 2001, 84, pp.1-60. ￿halshs-00644644￿ HAL Id: halshs-00644644 https://shs.hal.science/halshs-00644644 Submitted on 28 Nov 2011 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Gùùs, aka Sigidi (Chadic, West-B, South-Bauchi): Grammatical notes and vocabulary B. CARON * Llacan 1. Introduction In his 1975 monograph entitled Boghom and Zaar : vocabulary and notes, Kiyoshi shimizu wrote : In addition to the Zaar dialects, we may perhaps be able to include the language of the Sugudawa to Zaar, for my informant of Zaar from Kal says that his dialect and this ‘language’ are mutually intelligible. [...] the Kal forms seemed to have the original tone reconstructed for the Proto-Ɓarawa. In addition, the independant pronouns elicited for the Kal dialect seemed to preserve the older status of the language. (p.6) Gùùs, called Sigidi by Shimizu (78 : 13) belongs to the Southern Bauchi group of the West Chadic- B sub-branch of Chadic (Afroasiatic). It is part of the Zaar dialect continuum and apart from these mentions by Shimizu, remains undocumented. The following notes will confirm Shimizu’s intuitions.  is the ethnonym of a group of people living in 16 villages or so around Sigidi, in the southern part of Bauchi state, Nigeria2. A Gùùs person is. is a verb meaning be * Llacan (Langage, Langues et Culture d’Afrique Noire), UMR 7594 (CNRS, Inalco, Paris7) - 7, rue Guy- Môquet 94801 VILLEJUIF Cedex France. [email protected]. This paper was inspired by Jaggar (98) which convinced me of the interest of publishing descriptive material without waiting for a full phonological or comparative analysis. Let him be thanked for it. 1 Transcription system : Long vowels are indicated by double letters ; low (Lo=L) tone =  ; high (Hi=H) tone =  ; middle (Mid=M) tone =  ; falling tone =  ; rising tone =We have preferred to use the IPA instead of Hausa spelling conventions to transcribe Gùùs sounds. i.e. Hausa  is  ;  is  and  is. Abbreviations : adv., adverb ; Aor., aorist ; C, consonant ; conj., conjunction ; Cont., continuous ; det., determiner ; Fut., future ; Hab., habitual ; id., ideophone ; Imm., immediate ; Ipl., plural imperative ; Irr., irrealis ; n., noun ; n.col., collective (=non-count) noun ; num., numeral ; Perf., perfective ; Pl., plural ; prep., preposition ; Rec., recent ; Rem., remote ; Spec, specific usage ; Subj., subjunctive ; V, short vowel ; v., verb ; v.i., intransitive verb ; v.t/i., transitive and intransitive verb ; Vn, verbal noun ; VV, long vowel. 2 These villages or wards are : Jigi, Kufai, Tungri,  After a short visit to the Sarkin Jigi in 1995, the data for this article was collected in Jos in two weeks in August 1996 from Ibrahim Isa Jigi, then 31, a teacher of English in a Federal College of Education. old, ancient. They refer to a human being as  (pl.) and to the language they speak as  (lit. the mouth of the Gùùs, or the ancient language). 2. Phonology 2.1 Consonant phonemes                                                                                                                                                             As in Hausa, all Gùùs words begin with a consonant and vowel-initial words in the transcription are preceded by a glottal stop : , do =  Consonants are labialised in front of short / and /, some= [] ; but [], cola nut. , , m,  and  are palatalised in front of // and //. 2.2 Vowels Gùùs has a six-vowel system, all of them occurring short and long, with no nasals. short long                      Pending a deeper phonological analysis, we have chosen to account for diphthongs as a sequence vowel+glide : a(a)w ; a(a)j ; oj ; uj. 2.3 Tones Gùùs has three levels of tone (Hi, Mid and Lo), plus a rising tone (Lo-Hi) and a falling tone (Hi- Lo). 3 3. Verbal morphology 3.1 Monosyllabic verbs Two thirds of the verbs are monosyllabic. They all have a Mid lexical tone. 3.2 Polysyllabic verbs Apart from those borrowed from Hausa, all polysyllabic verbs are disyllabic, and have either M or MH tone schemes. The tones don’t seem to be predictable : lick  try  be far  answer  3 This corresponds to a shallow phonological analysis corroborated by oppositions such as : , he is harvesting ; vs., they are harvesting. 2 3.3 Verb plurals Verbs have a plural Imperative, formed with a -( suffix and HL(L) tones. Verb Plural Imperative unroll   knead   chop   lick   There are traces of a pluractional derivation through lengthening of the first vowel : combine, glue  gather  bite  chew  tie  tie  see, look at  examine  answer  refuse  cease  stand, stop  3.4 Verbal extensions One verbal extension was identified, elicited with Hausa grade 5 ‘causative’ verbs. It is not very productive. The form is  with a Mid-Hi tone scheme. original vb. Hausa  derived vb. Hausa  come out fita  get out fitar (da)  enter shiga  let in shigar (da)  get up tashi  make stand tasar (da)  lie down kwanta  lay down kwantar (da)  come down sauka  take down saukar (da)  3.5 Verbal nouns Three classes of verbal nouns can be identified : (i) - suffix and L tones. beg   knead   boil   sleep   (ii) - suffix and MH tone. They correspond to monosyllabic verbs in CVV, and a few monosyllabic verbs ending in  , ,  or . unroll   dig   shoot   throw   cut   spin   A few monosyllabic verbs in CVV take a (i) Vn lie down   grow   (iii) verbal nouns of verbs borrowed from Hausa, keeping their original Hausa form, with L tones. 4 may be the causative of  (Vn ), unroll. 3 ask   hobble   protect   think   4. Numerals 1  11  2  12  3  13  4  20  5  21  6  30  7  40  8  50  9  100  10  10000  5. Nouns There is no morphological gender in Gùùs, but plurals are well developed. 5.1 Noun plurals Two classes of plural can be distinguished : Regular plurals (probably the more recent), use suffixes. The most common is  frequently combined with lengthening of a radical vowel, plus some other morphonological accidents (apophony, restitution of etymological consonants, etc.). The tone scheme of the singular is generally preserved in the plural. pumpkin   cloud   groundnut   shrew   stone   Nouns finishing in  or  replace these with a -ees suffix: locust-bean   bucket   ululation   thorn   leaves   Other plurals, limited in number (and probably older), don’t use these suffixes, but display different types of vowel lengthening and apophony : iguana   worm   baboon   lizard   squirrel   bone   broom   Finally, plural of terms of kinship are formed with the word  used before the singular : = grand-fathers ;  = grand-children ;  = uncles, etc.). 4 5.2 Possessive NP + NP constructions Like in Hausa, possessive constructions in Gùùs use a genitive link : . The use of the genitive link is not limited to possession, but expresses a more abstract link between two notions. It is used also for adjectival constructions (, a red mango ; , sow = pig of female) and composition. (, beard = hair of chin ; , bilharziosis = urine of blood). 5.3 Adjectival nouns In Gùùs, most qualities are expressed by verbs. The few adjectives comprise colour terms (black, white, red and yellow ; blue is borrowed from Hausa), terms referring to human states (male, female, young, drunk, lazy, insane) and a few other basic adjectives (long, big, new, round). (Cf. the lexicon at the end of the article.) 5.4 Derived nouns Abstract nouns are derived from nouns and verbs with a - suffix. bachelor  celibacy  beat, kill (v.)  murder, drunkenness  walk (v.)  journey  meet  celebration  thief  theft  6. Deictics 6.1 Indefinite determiner The indefinite determiner is  [] for the singular, and  for the plural. It occurs on the right of the NP : , a boy is harvesting corn ;  some children are harvesting corn. 6.2 Definite determiner The definite determiner is  : , child ; , the child ; , horse ; , the horse ; , goat ; , the goat. 6.3 Demonstratives this that over there sg    pl    Demonstratives occur on the right of the NP, and the Lo tone of the last syllable of the noun lowers the Mid tone of the first syllable of the deictic : , these heads ; , these houses. 6.4 ‘here’ and ‘there’ locative adverbs here :  ; there : . 6.5 Existential predicator The existential predicator “it is” (Hausa ) is ()... .  copies the preceding tone : , this is a man ;  , it’s meat ; , it’s a vulture. 5 7. Pronominal paradigms 7.1 Subject pronouns Subjunctive Perfective Imperfective Aorist Future Habitual5 1sg.   +H  +H  2sg.   +H   +H  3sg.   +H  +H  1pl   +H  +H  2pl   +H  +H  3pl   +H  +H  Immediate past Recent Past Remote Past Irrealis 1sg.  +H   2sg.  +H   3sg.  +H   1pl  +H   2pl  +H    3pl  +H   Comments : Subject pronouns are pre-verbal. The Lo tone of plural pronouns spreads on to the following Mid tone of the verbs, except in the Imperfective, Future and Recent past where they are followed by a floating Hi tone. With a nominal subject, specific morphemes appear for each tense. 7.1.1 Subjunctive The Subjunctive markers are  for the singular and  for the plural. This is the only case where there is a distinction between singular and plural.        I Cont. wanting child Subj. shoot bird I want the child to shoot birds.        I Cont. wanting children Subj. shoot bird I want the children to shoot birds. 7.1.2 Perfective The marker is . It is suffixed to the preceding word.     child some+Perf. shoot bird A child has shot a bird. 7.1.3 Imperfective The marker is  followed by a floating Hi tone.      child some Perf. shoot bird A child is shooting a bird. 7.1.4 Aorist The marker is . It is suffixed to the preceding word.     child some+Aor. shoot bird A child shot a bird. 5 Cf. Hausa . 6 7.1.5 Future The marker is  followed by a floating Hi tone.      child some Fut. shoot bird A child will shoot a bird. 7.1.6 Habitual The marker is . It is followed by a floating Hi tone.     child some+Hab. beat dog A child kept beating (the) dog. 7.1.7 Immediate past The marker is . This tense is compatible with , this morning.     child some+Imm.Past slaughter goat A child slaughtered a goat (this morning). 7.1.8 Recent past The marker is , suffixed to the preceding word. It is followed by a floating Hi tone. This tense is compatible with , yesterday.     child some+Rec.Past shoot bird A child shot a bird (yesterday). 7.1.9 Remote past The marker is , suffixed to the preceding word. This tense is compatible with , formerly.     child some+Rem.Past shoot bird A child shot a bird (formerly). 7.1.10 Irrealis The marker is , suffixed to the preceding word. The mark appears both in the conditional and in the main clauses.       child some+Irr. beat dog 3s.+Irr. die If a child had beaten the dog, it would have died Realis conditions are introduced by followed by the Aorist.       if you+Aor. beat dog 3s.+Fut. die If you beat the dog, it will die. 7.2 Other pronouns Object pronouns Possessive pronouns Independent pronouns 1sg.    2sg.    3sg.    1pl    2pl    3pl    The singular object pronouns have a Mid tone which assimilates to any preceding Lo tone. There is no specific marking of the Dative. 7 8. Syntax 8.1 Tone sandhi Even in the little data we have, one can but notice the importance of tone sandhi in nominal and verbal phrases. 8.1.1 Nominal phrases The Lo tone of the genitive link spreads rightward on to the next Mid tones : , the situation of the world (cf. Hausa ‘zaman duniya’ ; world = ; , bull (lit. cow of male ; male = ). When the genitive link is omitted, the Lo tone remains and spreads in the same way : , blacksmith (lit. man of forging ; forging = ). When followed by a Lo tone word, the genitive link raises the first tone : , wild animals (lit. meat of bush ; bush = ) ; , cobweb (lit. house of spider ; spider = ). 8.1.2 Verbal phrases Rem : the Lo tone of plural pronouns spreads on to the following Mid tone of the verbs, except in the Imperfective, Future and Recent past where they are followed by a floating Hi tone. The singular object pronouns have a Mid tone which assimilates to any preceding Lo tone. When a direct object begins with a Lo tone, it becomes Hi : , he hunted wild animals ( = wild animals) ;, he beat the dog (dog =). 8.2 Negatives The same negative particle  appears at the end of all negative sentences.   he+Imm.Past jump+Neg. He did not jump. In the Perfective, an extra  is inserted between the subject pronoun and the verb :      he+Perf. Neg. cut corn his+Neg. He has not yet harvested his corn. 8.3 Question 8.3.1 Yes/no questions Yes/No questions are expressed through intonation, without any syntactic change to the sentence. A  is suffixed to the last word of the sentence.   he+Aor. Come+Quest. Did he come ?    you (sg.)+Aor. see me+Quest. Did you see me ? 8.3.2 Wh- questions Questions words appear in situ.    who Aor. arrive+Det. Who came ?    he+Aor stay where ? Where did he stay ? 8    you (sg.)+Aor. arrive when ? When did you arrive ? 9. References Caron, Bernard. (2000). A propos de Kal et de Sigidi : problèmes de dialectologie zaar (tchadique sud-Bauchi). Communication au Troisième Congrès International de Linguistique Africaine (Lomé, 21-25 août 2000). Jaggar, Philip J. Guruntum () (West Chadic-B): Linguistic Notes and Wordlist. African Languages and Literatures, 1988, n° 2, vol. 1, p. 169-189. Schneeberg, Nan. Sayanci verb tonology. Journal of African Languages. Special Chadic Issue, 1971, n° 1, vol. 10, p. 87-100. Schneeberg, Nan. Sayanci Phonology. Ph.D. : Indiana University. 1974. Shimizu, Kiyoshi. Boghom and Zaar: Vocabulary and Notes. Kano :, 1975, 40 p. Coll. Centre for the Study of Nigerian Languages Monograph. Shimizu, Kiyoshi. (1978). The Southern Bauchi Group of Chadic Languages. A survey report, 50 p. Coll. Africana Marburgensia ; n° 2 (Special Issue ). 9