A DICTIONARY OF KANA an Ogoni language of the Niger Delta, Nigeria Nwinee Williamson Kay Williamson Roger Blench DRAFT ONLY All correspondence to; Mallam Dendo Ltd. 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Fax. 0044-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7967-696804 E-mail [email protected] http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm Cambridge, 04/12/2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3 2. Phonology.....................................................................................................................................................3 2.1 Vowels.....................................................................................................................................................3 2.2 Consonants.............................................................................................................................................3 2.3 Tones.......................................................................................................................................................4 Parts of Speech used in the dictionary..........................................................................................................4 References........................................................................................................................................................5 Notes on interpreting the dictionary..............................................................................................................5 DICTIONARY OF KANA.............................................................................................................................6 TABLES FIGURES 1 Preface This document has been put together by Roger Blench from materials left by the late Kay Williamson. The Kana language was initially worked on by Nwinee Williamson (no relation) at the behest of Kay Williamson and a card-index of lexical items was apparently put together, probably in the 1980s, prior to computerisation. When the early SIL systems became available, it seems that some of this material was typed as a text file. At some point, Nwinee Williamson compiled a series of notebooks, with each lexical entry set out in standard SIL format, presumably in preparation for typing. Only two of what was presumably a set of three notebooks survive, covering the letters G-O and Ọ-W. Letters K and KP seem to have been omitted and Y and Z are also missing, but given the space at the end of the second notebook, they may never have been written out. However, the notebooks do not match the computer file, with some entries existing electronically and not written and vice-versa. I have converted the computer file as far as possible by checking it against the written materials. However, it seems that multiple incompatible conventions were used, because there are a series of entries using letter sequences whose conversion is unclear, especially in the letter F. It is occasionally possible to reconstruct the correct forms using the grammar of Ikoro (1996) but many are obscure words which can only be retranscribed with a speaker. There are also a significant number of entries with no definition. The second half of the entries beginning with gb- are missing from the electronic file. At one point in the electronic ms. towards the end of K, file corruption has led to a significant loss in the entries. The originally card files were in the possession of Nwinee Williamson, who migrated to the United States and has long ago left the field of linguistics. The editorial process has thus been as follows; 1. Conversion of original text-file to Unicode and table format 2. Cross-checking of entries against ms. notebooks 3. Correction of English in definitions 4. Parts of speech added 5. Cross-checking of entries against Ikoro (1996) 6. Entering of field materials of Roger Blench (marked with a red shading across the entry) The conventions for marking tone are different from those in Ikoro (1996) and in particular there is a sporadic ^ in the file which is not matchable to existing tone analyses. In the light of these problems, it might be thought the dictionary is not worth circulating. However, it is a rich document and has numerous example sentences, and represents a group of languages which is otherwise only poorly known. Moreover, the political situation in the Delta is such that it seems unlikely it will be possible to finish work on the dictionary in the immediate future. The ms. is therefore circulated for comment. I hope to put in more time checking the file against the notebooks. Roger Blench KWEF Cambridge 04 December 2007 2 1. Introduction This is an early draft of a dictionary of the Kana language, the largest language in the Ogoni group, which is in turn part of the Cross River branch of Eastern Benue-Congo, part of the NC phylum. The origin of the document and the problems of the manuscript are described in the preface. 2. Phonology 2.1 Vowels Kana has seven oral and five nasal vowels; Front Central Back Close i u Close-Mid e o Open-Mid ɛ ɔ Open a Front Central Back Close ĩ ũ Open-Mid ε ɔ Open ã Nigerian orthographies tend to use ọ and ẹ for /ɔ/ and /ɛ/ and the electronic ms. was partly orthographic. However, in the absence of an agreed Kana orthography and active involvement of a literacy committee, this document has converted all symbols to IPA-like conventions. 2.2 Consonants Kana has twenty-four consonant phonemes: Labial Labio- Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio- Glottal dental velar Plosives vls p t k kp ʔ vd b d g gb Fricatives vls f s h vd ß z ɣ Affricates vd dʒ Nasals m n ɲ N Laterals l Vibrants r Approximants y w Velars are contrastively labialised, thus /kw/, /gw/ and /ŋw/. Ikoro (1996:10) notes the final unreleased /b¯/ and /g¯/ but these are in complementary distribution with /ß/ and /ɣ/ and are written ‘b’ and ‘g’ in the current document. The ms. does not record /dʒ/, /ʔ/ or /ɣ/ for reasons that are unclear. 3 2.3 Tones Kana can be analysed as having four contrastive tones, as follows; Ikoro (1996) Orthographic Example Gloss High fá intestine ˊ ˊ Rising fä vehicle ᷇ ̈ Mid fa x weeded ˉ unmarked Low fà to weed ˋ ˋ The convention of using a diaeresis for the rising tone is not very helpful, as it easily become confusing in some contexts, especially on ‘i’. I am therefore considering replacing it in due course. Parts of Speech used in the dictionary Like all languages, Kana words can be classified according to the function they have in the sentence. These are known as 'parts of speech' -the most well-known types are nouns and verbs. The following table gives the abbreviations used in the dictionary with short explanations; Abbrev Full form Explanation iation a. Adjective Describes a noun adv. Adverb Qualifies a verb aff. Affix Bound morpheme marking alteration in sense aux. Auxiliary Added to a verb to modify it, like a tense-marker cond. Conditional Expresses the relation between two events conj. Conjunction A word used to join two or more nouns, verbs or clauses dem. Demonstrative Words used to point out something. 'this', 'that' etc. excl. Exclamation Greetings or expressions that do not form part of an ordinary sentence int. Interrogative Question words loc. Locative Words describing where a thing is n. Noun Refers to things, objects etc. n.p. Noun phrase A phrase where a head-noun is joined to other words to form an expression num. Numeral Number part. Particle Short words added to complete the sentence p.n. Proper Name A name of a person or object; always capitalised prep. Preposition A word positioning nouns or verbs in time or space pron. Pronoun A word that stands for a noun v. Verb Expresses action v.i. Intransitive A verb with no object Verb v.n. Verbal Noun A noun formed directly from a verb to express a state of being v.p. Verb phrase A phrase where a head-noun is joined to other words to form an expression v.t. Transitive verb A verb with an object Needless to say, these categories were developed to describe English grammar and not all Kana words fit neatly into them. For example, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish verbs from adjectives. Only a clear grammatical description will help the reader understand the function of a word in a sentence. At that point, the assignment to a particular part of speech is somewhat arbitrary; what counts is consistency throughout. 4 References Ikoro, Suanu 1996. The Kana language. Leiden: Research School, CNWS. Notes on interpreting the dictionary A red bar across an entry means added from another orthographic source or my own field data and thus not necessarily checked for tone and transcription according to current understanding of Kana phonology. 5 DICTIONARY OF KANA Kana PoS Gloss Example a n. yawn à v. to yawn m~ beè a a [?] à= ã1̀ int. appeal/question marker à, a2 pron. he; she (3rd person àgaa toora he is carrying singular normal subject pronoun) à3 v.a. please lu à please come dé nu à please eat á1 det . variant of lo bárí á = lo bárí the fish á, ã2́ part. particle placed at end of sentence containing ná -ã aff. instrumental suffix àà v. return from bàè'ààra máá they have returned from the stream (also aã instrumental kwl) àà! v. move out! àa v. hold in hand àa! v. catch! aa1 v. leave èsáa gaa léé aa topiè is ready to leave the hospital aa2 v. catch (crayfish) gaa aa is catching sí ì aa bárí has not yet caught a fish tóbá áa bárí the hook holds a fish (simple) beè aa lo bárí caught the fish à'áá to catch áã bá catch with hand Áà excl. shout of pain áa v. to catch áá v. to possess (spirit) áàa a. new ãà̀ v. move with a"àà v. exodus aará v. hold in hand, catch áara is holding (simple) tóbá è'áara bárí the hook has caught a fish à'áárá to entertain; to carry su bá aã to catch by hand aara v. to go with áára v. has gone with ààrá! v. carry along! ábá only àbà pron. they àbéré n. cloth made from palm (Sogbo) fronds, no longer used àbùè-bänì n. banana àdɛ ̀ n. stomach ádɛḿ ́ n. tooth aɛmɛ v. seal àgà be strong àga is strong ágã ́ n. mouth ãǵ ànà snatched (also tear apart) ãgàna zóo [?] àgàrá! v. redeem!/straighten agara to redeem/ straighten 6 Kana PoS Gloss Example ágára has redeemed/ straightened agɛr̀ ɛ made stronger àgɛr̀ ɛ make stronger àg ìá n. redemption àka n. crab ákóbee n. head ékóbee [?] ákpá n. bark (of tree etc.) ákpóbá n. hand àkúḿ v.n. pounded; to pound (Babbe) àkúḿ zĩ ́á pounded yam; to pound yam (Tai) àkum~ zĩ ́á yam stand àkum~ n.p. cassava stand or cassava ájákpo(cid:12) plant alábà pron. they álábà p.a. theirs alɛ pron. he/she álóló = élóló n. bottle ama n. broad-headed sea catfish Arius gigas ama dem. this kɔɔ̃ ̀ná ámá? is this a fowl? kɔɔ̃ ̀ná ama this is a fowl ámá dem. that àmànà v. refuse ámúnú? = int. which? ámúnu? ána a. old áná a. old age ànà v. deny ànàànà n. stubbornness àŋ ̀ v. snatch, to take by force àŋ ̀bá take by force àŋa v. get stuck áŋa v. is stuck aŋa v. to get stuck àŋààŋà n. argument áŋána v. to force through áŋàná v. has snatched àŋànà v. to snatch ápátɛ ̃́ n. buttocks átáa n. scissors (Yeghe) àwékéré n. groundnuts áyo, áyó n. onion <Port. ázákpɔm~ n. cassava cf. èkpàkpòrò B. bà1 pro. n. they (3rd person plural bàgaa si they are going tɛ ̀bàLéwa lè Bèké the father normal subject pronoun) of Léwa and Bèké bà2 v. eat fish/meat bá n. hand (also arm kwl) lè ye bá is in her hand bã1̀ n. forked stick or iron bã ̀tóbá stick for hooks 7 Kana PoS Gloss Example bã2̀ n. pillar bã n. branch bã ́ n. pot = cooking-pot kpãɛ̀ ̀ bã ́ near the pot bu bã ́ inside the pot bãá́ mááló pot of soup bàà v. tear, split àgaa bààkááni she is splitting firewood báá1 n. enmity, hatred báá2 n. tree sp. báá náa lee lóó sib zíá yɔɔ̃ bee nu wee taa báá is not useful for staking yam because it is easily eaten up by insects bààrá n. enmity baàrà n. something torn bààrà v. to get torn baàrì n. elder bààŋà n. mourning, grief àle bu bààŋàyɔɔ̃ ǹ ɛbee ye ka ú [?] bàbà n. child's name for fish baãd̀ ɛɛ̃̈ n. beg with eye bàɛ ̀ num. two bàɛ ̀tub num. forty bãɛ́ ́ n. clay bàɛzá [?] bàg n. wickedness náa lée èsí bàg it is not good to practice wickedness bàga n. [?] bàga v. to tear in pieces (cf. sãà) bägà n. cudgel bàgàrà be early bagàrà early baghábari n. conger eel ? Guinean conger Paraconger notialis bànà n. pit bàná gleaning bána v. to glean bànàmáá n. well bàra n. village compound bàra1 v. ask (request) bàra2 v. take bàrá v.n. begging bará v. to beg bárá aside bárákpãɛ̀ ̀ prep. near (cf. kpãɛ̀ )̀ lè ye bárákpãɛ̀ ̀are near him Bàrì p.n. God bárí n. fish Bàrìkpɛ ́ p.n. male name bé n. fight, war bé v. to fight be1 n. compound, (family circle, division of village) be2 n. home be3 v. swell (of boil) bè1 n. fence bè2 v. to fence 8 Kana PoS Gloss Example bè3 n. swamp vegetation bè4 n. hourglass-shaped wooden used by traditional healers as part of contact with clapper bell spirits bè5 n. bell for hunting dogs can be made of iron or wood bébu n. cruelty, wilful damage or nɛɛ ̀bébu cruel person harm to people or property bebũ n. padlock beè1 v.a. past marker àbeè aa lo bárí dáàtóbá he (previously) caught the fish on a hook lo tùàbeè le dùmɛ kànàmáá the hoe was behind the water pot beè2 part. marker of abstract nouns zĩì̀ beè lóó one folktale in numeral constructions bée n. name wa bé kurà K. lè W. their names are (called) K. and W. béé' uwè n. word Bèké p.n. name of a boy bére n. missile bérè n. gain, interest nɛɛ ̀ùràdù gbĩ ́bére lóó nu a oo trader looks for profit in his trade berèfà n. toad bɛ1 n. cloth bɛ2 v. to burn gaa bɛ is burning bɛ ́ n. a curved stick bɛb̀ n. chin bɛɛ̃̀ ̀ need bɛɛ̃̀ n. rack for storing fish above fire bɛɛ̃ v. to need bɛgara v. carry on should bɛgàra v. is carrying bɛg̀ àrà v. carried ... bɛg̀ àrà carried it on shoulder bɛ-lóó n. robe, gown bɛm̀ ~ v. be rotten bɛm v. stink bɛr̀ ɛ n. pledge bɛr̀ ɛ ̀ n. bag bɛrɛ v. pledge bɛŕ ɛ ̀ v. to pledge bɛr̀ ɛ n. pledge bí n. faeces nɛ ̀bí defecate bía n. woman bia n. Nile Monitor lizard Varanus niloticus bìa v. remain bĩã n. bat bíábúɛ ́ n. guinea-corn (cf. kpààkpàà) bíáɛ ́ n. dirt bíáɛ ́le bu bɛ the cloth is dirty biaɛ n. judgement biaɛ ue judge cases nɛɛ biaɛ a judge bíamáá n. spotted eagle-ray ? Aetobatus narinari 9