Nyimang language

Spoken in

  • Nilo-Saharan languages Ostsudanische languages Nyimang languages Ama

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Nyi

Ama (also: Nyimang, self- designation: Amad - u Wada " language of the people " ) is a language that is spoken in the state of South Kordofan, central Sudan on the mountain Jebel Nyimang of about 70,000 people (as of 1982). It belongs to the branch of the Nilo-Saharan language family ostsudanischen.

Together with the related Afitti [ aft ] (also: Dinik ), which has only about 4,500 speakers, the Ama is the subgroup of " Nyimang languages ​​" within this branch. The speakers of the two languages ​​can not understand one another.

Linguistic characteristics

A striking feature of this language is a paradigm of vocalic suffixes that are used for expression of Kasusfunktionen:

In group 1 are personal names, certain kinship terms, personal and interrogative " declined ", in Group 2, all other nouns. In group 2b nouns are declined in general, which end in a vowel, a liquid or the velar nasal ŋ.

The dependent genitive stands in front of a noun, which also carries a Kasussuffix.

The nominal word formation is also developed rich in this language:

  • - ( ɪ ) dA → verbal noun
  • - gɪd̪i → abstract
  • -eg/-ɛg/-ig → ​​noun agentis or residents
  • - ɛr → noun Instrumenti
  • -al/-ɪl → noun loci
  • - ɪŋ → Diminutive
  • -ma → " Father of ... "
  • -wʊn/-wɪn → " House of ... " or " in the house of ... "

The morphology of the verb in the Ama is also complex, inter alia, is the verb of the number (singular, dual and plural) both the subject and the object is selected (and not the noun ).

The basic word order of this language is subject-object - verb.

Note

A language of the same name exists in Papua New Guinea (see links).

Eastern Sudanic languages Comitative case Instrumental case Locative case Personal pronoun Declination (disambiguation) Liquid consonant Agent noun Grammatical number Linguistic typology
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