Shabo language
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Shabo (also called Mikeyir) is an endangered language spoken by less than 1,000 hunter-gatherers in southwestern Ethiopia, in the south-central portion of the former Illubabor province. Many of its speakers are shifting to other neighboring languages, in particular Majang and Shakicho; its vocabulary is heavily influenced by loanwords from both these languages, particularly Majang, as well as Amharic. Its classification is uncertain; it may be Nilo-Saharan (Anbessa & Unseth 1989), or may be a language isolate (Ehret 1995). It was first reported to be a separate language by Lionel Bender in 1977, using a wordlist gather by the missionary Harvey Hoekstra. It is currently (as of 2004) being studied by Daniel Aberra of Addis Ababa University.
| Shabo | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Ethiopia |
| Region: | Former Illubabor province |
| Total speakers: | 400 - 1,000 (as of 1986) |
| Ranking: | Not in top 100 |
| Genetic classification: | Uncertain, possibly Nilo-Saharan Shabo |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | ssa |
| SIL | SBF |
| Linguasphere | 05-PEA-aa |
| Contents |
Sounds
Consonants:
The consonants are:
| Bilabial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosives | p b | t d | c j | k g | (ʔ) | |
| Implosives | ɓ | ɗ | ||||
| Ejectives | (p') | (t') | (c') | (k') | ||
| Fricatives | (f) | (s z) | ʃ (ʒ) | h | ||
| Approximants | w | l | y | |||
| Nasals | m | n | ŋ | |||
| Trills | r |
Consonants in brackets are suspected of being non-phonemic (by Tefera and Unseth); several of these seem to be in free variation. Consonant length is found in several words, such as walla "goat", kutti "knee".
Phonetically, the vowels are: a, e, i, o, u, ɪ, ə, ɛ (short and long). It is not clear which of these are phonemic.
The language is tonal, but its tonology is unclear. One minimal pair is cited by Tefera & Unseth: há "kill" versus hà "meat".
Grammar
Syntax
Basic word order is subject-object-verb; there are postpositions rather than prepositions.
Pronouns
| English | Tefera & Unseth | Hoekstra |
|---|---|---|
| I | tiŋ | tiŋ(ka) |
| you (sg.) | kuku | ŋaŋ(ka) |
| he | ŋa | ŋa(ufə) |
| we | yiŋ | yiiŋa |
| you (pl.) | ʃu(bək) | |
| they | kuka |
The pronouns "I" and "he" have been compared to Surmic languages; however, there are also resemblances in the pronouns with the Omotic Gunza language (Bender 1983.)
Verbs
Negation is by adding the particle be after the verb or noun negated: gumu be "(it is) not (a) stick", ʔam be-gea "he will not come" ("come not-?"). Negative forms in b are widespread in Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic languages.
There appears to be a causative suffix -ka: mawo hoop, "water boiled" > upa mawo hoop-ka "(a) man boiled water".
A particle git (infinitive? subjunctive?) marks the verb in constructions with "want": moopa git inɗeet ("sit git want") "I want to sit".
Much of the verbal morphology is uncertain; there appears to be a 3rd person singular future suffix -g- (eg inɗage t'a-g "he will eat") and a 2nd person plural suffix -ɗe (eg subuk maakɛle kak t'a-ɗe "You (pl.) ate corn", "you-pl. corn past? eat-2nd-pl.")
Nouns
The plural system is unclear. Three plural forms given by one person were:
- "house" ɗoku > "houses" ɗokuk
- "dog" kaal/kaan > "dogs" kaalu/kaanu
- "leg" bicca > "legs" biccaka
However, another speaker did not form separate plurals at all, or added them by uniformly adding the word yɛɛro afterwards.
There is a suffix -k which seems to sometimes mark the direct object, eg upa kaan-ik ye "a man saw a dog" ("man dog saw"). A similar suffix is found in many Eastern Sudanic languages.
Postpositions
Shabo uses postpositions after nouns, eg: upa mana pond ɗɛpik moi "a man sat on a rock" (lit. "man rock on ? sat").
Numbers
The number system, as given by Tefera and Unseth, is as follows:
- iŋki
- bap
- jiita
- aŋan
- tuul
- tulu(ŋ/m)
- tulikakiŋki (possibly error for 6?)
- tunajiita
- tulaaŋan
- bapif (bap if = "two hands")
- mabafifiŋki
and 20 is iŋk upa kor ("one person complete").
Sample sentences
mawo hoop: water boiled
upa mawo hoop-ka: A man boiled water (lit. "man water boiled-caus.")
gumu be: it is not a stick (lit. "stick not".)
ma gumu: it is a stick (lit. "stick ?")
dɛrbakan kaal nu ɗe-be: Derbakan does not have a dog (lit. "Derbakan dog poss.? ?-not")
dɛrbakan kaal nu yaaŋk: Derbakan has a dog (lit. "Derbakan dog poss.? positive?")
ʔam be-gea: he will not come (lit. "come not-?")
inɗigi am-k: he will come (lit. "? come ?")
tin-ta be-ge: he will not eat (lit. "? eat not ?")
inɗage t'a-g: he will eat (lit. "? eat ?")
paar bap: two snakes (lit. "snake two")
upa kaan-ik ye: a man saw a dog (lit. "man dog-obj. saw")
kaan upa-k ye: a dog saw a man (lit. "dog man-obj. saw")
koto upa dɛpik ye: a woman saw a man (lit. "woman man tense? saw")
gom c'uwa t'a: fire burned wood (lit. "fire wood ate")
cu ɗɛpik ibalabiyan-an ɗe (word divisions uncertain): you (pl.) came (lit. "you(pl.) ? ? come-2pl.")
subuk maakɛle kak t'a-ɗe: you (pl.) ate corn (lit. "you(pl.) corn aux? eat-2pl.")
wo ka git inɗeet: I want to drink (lit. "drink ? infin.? want")
moopa git inɗeet: I want to sit (lit. "sit ? infin.? want")
abiyaŋge: they came
upa kakaak jaal kaki ye ʔam: I saw the man who came yesterday (lit. "man came yesterday ? saw ?")
upa mana pond ɗɛpik moi: a man sat on a rock (lit. "man rock on aux.? sat")
Lexicon
Main article: Shabo lexicon.
Bibliography
- Peter Unseth. 1984. Shabo (Mekeyir). A first discussion of classification and vocabulary. [Unpublished manuscript]
- Tefera Anbessa and Peter Unseth. 1989. "Toward the classification of Shabo (Mikeyir)." In M. Lionel Bender (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan linguistics, 405-18. Nilo-Saharan, 3. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. ISBN 3-87118-927-8 (NISA 3). (This was the primary source for this article.)
- Tefera Anbessa. 1991. "A Sketch of Shabo Grammar". in: M. Lionel Bender (ed.), 1991, Proceedings of the Fourth Nilo Saharan Conference Bayreuth, Aug. 30.
- Fleming, Harold C. 1991. "Shabo: presentation of data and preliminary classification", in: M. Lionel Bender (ed.), 1991, Proceedings of the Fourth Nilo Saharan Conference Bayreuth, Aug. 30.
- Teferra Anbessa 1991. "A sketch of Shabo grammar", in: M. Lionel Bender (ed.), 1991, Proceedings of the Fourth Nilo Saharan Conference Bayreuth, Aug. 30.
- Teferra Anbessa. 1995. "Brief phonology of Shabo (Mekeyir)". Robert Nicolaï et Franz Rottland, eds., Fifth Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium. Nice, 24-29 août 1992. Proceedings, pp.169-193. Köln, Köppe Verlag. Sep. 2, 1989 (Nilo-Saharan 7), Hamburg: Helmut Buske. pp. 29-38.
- Christopher Ehret. 1995. "Do Krongo and Shabo belong in Nilo-Saharan?". Robert Nicolaï et Franz Rottland, eds., Fifth Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium. Nice, 24-29 août 1992. Proceedings, pp.169-193. Köln, Köppe Verlag. Sep. 2, 1989 (Nilo-Saharan 7), Hamburg: Helmut Buske. pp. 389-402. ISBN 3-927620-72-6.
