Papers by Jonathan Moodie
A presentation at the 2021 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, hosted by the University of Edinb... more A presentation at the 2021 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, hosted by the University of Edinburgh.
A presentation at the 2021 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, hosted by the University of Edinb... more A presentation at the 2021 Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium, hosted by the University of Edinburgh.
Nilotic and other Nilo-Saharan languages have rich numbermarking systems and it has been difficul... more Nilotic and other Nilo-Saharan languages have rich numbermarking systems and it has been difficult to establish what rules might govern these systems (Dimmendaal 2000). This paper addresses the question of how number is marked in Lopit and describes some possible rules for number marking. Lopit has a three-way system for number marking involving plurative, singulative and replacement marking. Lopit has a greater plural in addition to the normal plural. It also has a special form of number marking whereby the marked singular can be used to denote very large numbers. This form of number marking has not been observed in the literature and I call it the greater singular.
àxɛr 'star.PL'-i áxéɾí 'star.SG' xɔfɪ̀r 'hair.PL'-i xófíɾí 'hair.SG' lɔdɔḱɔʔ 'sorghum.PL'-ti lo... more àxɛr 'star.PL'-i áxéɾí 'star.SG' xɔfɪ̀r 'hair.PL'-i xófíɾí 'hair.SG' lɔdɔḱɔʔ 'sorghum.PL'-ti lòdókòtî 'sorghum.SG' lɔǵʊɾʊḿ 'mushroom.SG'-oʔ lògùrúmóʔ 'mushroom.PL' 'Did you (really mean to) insult me?' COː40ː32 (21) x-í-mòr íjè nàŋ? Q-2-insult.N 2SG.NOM 1SG.ABS 'Did you insult me?' COː41ː25 'It rained for a week.' BEː10:58 'The farmer loaded sorghum onto the vehicle.' BBː39ː03 'In the morning (some time ago)' 'On another day' (50) tè krísmàs è-mét-ínì xíjó tè=toùn à=xàŋ at Christmas 3-go.in.numbers-VEN people.NOM from=town to=village.ABS 'At Christmas, people gather from the town to the village. BE:31:54 (51) ɪ̀l:ɛŋ ɪ́ɲɛ́ tɛ=xàŋ this.M 3SG.NOM at=home.ABS 'He is (there) at home.' DHː 01ː05ː18 'Throw the ball to me.' BRː02:56 (61) ò-wú ŋa-ídóŋ-ó-k nàŋ móɾwó àdàxɔ=xìŋóxù 3-go INF-throwN -DAT 1SG.ABS stone.ABS towards=dog.ABS 'He's going to throw a stone at the dog for me.' CYː30ː13 'We have some drums.' EG:07:29 (74) eí-wːòn íjòxoí xɔ=dòŋìʔ xʊlák 1PL-exist 1PL.NOM with=drums.ABS some.M 'We have some drums.' EG:07:58 'Ask the tall oneǃ' CIː50ː54 'He digs to the boundary.' CIː09:58 'And they take some (milk) to eat food with.' Cows and the Lopit 'The squirrel saw the child.' COː01ː07ː09 (218) eí-wóló àwːóŋ nàŋ 3>1-see.N monkey.NOM 1SG.ABS 'The monkey sees me.' BRː10ː12 'I harvested (a bit of) the field (maybe yesterday).' DO-13ː04ː57 (279) á-ŋà-bál-ìnì náŋ mànà 1SG-PFV-harvest-VEN 1SG.NOM field.ABS 'I harvested (quite a bit of) the field (a few weeks ago).' DO-13ː04ː57 'I taught the children English.' DP:08:00 'I was drinking coffee' ('but now finished'). DWː50:01 'I can drive a car.' CJ:24:09 'I had the car repaired.' AZ:01:31 (509) e-ìjáb-à ɪ́ɲɛ́ ìkúdò 3-tell-IPFV 3SG.NOM story 'He told a story.' AH:40:04 'I bake the bread.' AX:52ː45 'The person hit him/her.' ATː00ː22ː13 'I gave up watching TV because it hurts (my) eyes.' AH:01:26:14 'The Longahur leaders had already killed Arakori because of his talents.' Arakori story (809) eí-fwó à=tòrìt xò=ɟùbà á (áɾá) àɾìk 1PL-go.PL to=Torit with=Juba like two 'We are going to both Torit and to Juba.' CZː01ː08ː08 'I have a small book and a large book.' BG:38:00? 'Patrick saw Victor going with you.' (lit. 'Patrick saw Victor you-PL-going with you.') CRː29ː04 (850) ó-wòló pátrìk vìktòr l-eì-fwó xɔ=nàŋ 3-see.PFV Patrick Victor.ABS SBO-1PL-go.PL with=1SG.ABS 'Patrick saw Victor going with me.' (lit. 'P saw V we-going with me.') DF:29:33 'He tried to help/helping me yesterday.' AYː38ː11 (875) ŋaí l-e-ícák xìdìmá nà xàbùtérì who SBO-3-start.PFV VN.build.ABS of.F planes 'Who started (the) making (of) planes? BUː57ː27 'He became angry when the child broke the pot.' BZː11ː19 'If someone gets close, he is bitten.' Hojo monyomiji halas idek xɔɟɔ́ móɲómíɟí xálás ídèk and.then leaders.NOM IMP.stop(Ar.) IMP.stop 'Then the leaders stopped.' 'The heat of the fire gets strong… it's over.' Engaiboroni hiwaru, hojo hiyo dang, è-ŋa-ìbóró-nì xɪ́wàrʊ, xɔɟɔ́ xíjó dàŋ 3-PFV-come-VEN leopard.NOM and.then people.NOM all 'The leopard came out fast, and all people…' 'But the people must not wound it.' Lasim isiere hiyo tohoni la la hangoroni, haremoni, lásìm ìsìèrè xíjó tòxònî là l-á(-ra) xárémònì, must (Ar.) give.INF people.NOM person.ABS REL.M SBO-3(-be) spearer.ABS 'They must choose the person who is the spearer…' 'They speared, they killed the leopard.' Halas! Engafanu efa monyomiji xálás ɛ-ŋà-fán-ù ífá móɲómíɟí finish 3-PFV-come.PL-VEN PST leaders.NOM 'Finished! The monyomiji came.' 'The people come and take the skin of the leopard to dance with in dancing ground.' Hojo nia la hiringo hodumu hiyo hoisiere do urre otohonya xɔɟɔ́ nìá là xìríŋò x-ò-dúmú xíjó x-o-ìsíérè dò ʊrːɛ́ ò-tó-xóɲ-à and.then that.F ?? meat SEQ-3-take people SEQ-3-give to children 3-OBL-bite-N 'And then the people take the meat and give to the kids to eat.'
Studies in African Linguistics
Lopit is an Eastern Nilotic language of South Sudan. It has a number of ways of expressing condit... more Lopit is an Eastern Nilotic language of South Sudan. It has a number of ways of expressing conditionals. The most common way involves the use of the subordinate clause marker l- on the clause-initial verb which introduces the protasis. This marker is also used in other clauses which are not conditionals. There is also the conjunction lojo, ‘if, when’, which can introduce the protasis. Another method is the use of the irrealis, the conditional and the potential mode of the verb in the protasis. The first method appears not to be used in other Eastern Nilotic languages.
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Papers by Jonathan Moodie