Dzuma language

Dzuma
Dzùmáá
Pronunciation	[ˈd͡zùmáː]
Native to	Bomakwodor Afa
Ethnicity	Dzuma
Native speakers	xxx xxx
Language family	language isolate
Dialects	Akpaleh Gaanin Afa-Gaanin
Writing system	xxx
Official status
Official language in	Bomakwodor

Dzuma (Dzùmáá [ˈd͡zùmáː]) is a language isolate native to the Dzuma people of southern Nkungu, and the official language of Bomakwodor. The language is also spoken by Dzuma minorities in southern Afa.

Varieties

Dzuma has a number of local dialects spoken in certain areas of Bomakwodor or exclusive to certain Dzuma tribes:

• Akpaleh - Primarily spoken by the Akpaleh tribe of northern Bomakwodor, but also by neighboring tribes in the area as a local dialect
• Gaanin - Local dialect of western Bomakwodor, also has a Nyamu-influenced subdialect spoken in Afa known as Afa-Gaanin
• Bandapor - also known as Ekwa, is a dialect exclusive to the Bandapor tribe of eastern Bomakwodor

Phonology

Dzuma consonants

			Labial	Alveolar	Palatal	Velar		Labiovelar
						plain	labial
Nasal			m	n	ɲ	ŋ
Plosive	normal	voiceless	p	t	c	k	kʷ	k͡p
		voiced	b	d	ɟ	g	gʷ	ɡ͡b
	prenasalized	voiceless	ᵐp	ⁿt	ᶮc	ᵑk	ᵑkʷ	ᵑk͡p
		voiced	ᵐb	ⁿd	ᶮɟ	ᵑg	ᵑgʷ	ᵑɡ͡b
Fricative	normal	voiceless	f	s	ç	x
		voiced	β	z		ɣ
	prenasalized	voiceless	ᶬf	ⁿs	ᶮç	ᵑx
		voiced	ᶬv	ⁿz
Affricate	normal	voiceless		t͡s	ᶮcç
		voiced		d͡z	ᶮɟʝ
	prenasalized	voiceless		ⁿt͡s
		voiced		ⁿd͡z
Approximant			w	l	j
Lateral fricative		voiceless		ɬ
		voiced		ɮ
Tap				ɾ

In northern Dzuma varieties, notably Akpaleh, labiovelar plosives /k͡p/ and /ɡ͡b/ are realized as implosives [ɓ̥] and [ɓ].

Dzuma vowels

	Front		Back
	normal	nasalized	normal	nasalized
Close	i	ĩ	u	ũ
Close-mid	e		o
Open-mid	ɛ	ɛ̃	ɔ	õ
Open	a	ã

Tones

Dzuma has five tones: low <à>, middle <a>, high <á>, rising <àá>, and falling <áà>.

Morphology

Dzuma is a highly isolating language with a primarily OVS word order. Unlike its surrounding languages, there is no grammatical inflection of nouns or verbs, but there are multiple noun classes which each have their own definite articles. Many grammatical features are indicated by markers that either come before or after a word, like definite articles and tense particles. Serial verb constructions are also common in Dzuma.

Definite articles

Dzuma has definite articles that differentiate based on noun class and number:

Dzuma definite articles

Class		Number
		singular	plural	none
C1	people (ex: bá "man")	nĩ̀ bá nĩ̀	nná bá nná	nnõ̀ bá nnõ̀
C2	animals (ex: ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ "fish")	rɛ́ ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ rɛ́	réé ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ réé	rɔ̀ ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ rɔ̀
C3	inanimate objects, dead beings (ex: àfí "book")	bí àfí bí	bé àfí bé	bí hɛ̃ àfí bí hɛ̃
C4	places (ex: bàáyá "house")	nnṹ bàáyá nnṹ	nnũm bàáyá nnũm	nnṹ hɛ̃ bàáyá nnṹ hɛ̃
C5	food (ex: ŋkèélé "meal")	mɔ̀ ŋkèélé mɔ̀	mmí ŋkèélé mmí	mɔ̀ hɛ̃ ŋkèélé mɔ̀ hɛ̃
C6	small objects, diminutive (ex: káádátí "small cloth")	nɛ̃̀ káádátí nɛ̃̀	nnõ̀m káádátí nnõ̀m	ñé káádátí ñé
C7	groups, peoples (ex: àdé "council")	nlɛ̀ àdé nlɛ̀	nló àdé nló	nlɛ̀ hɛ̃ àdé nlɛ̀ hɛ̃
C8	celestial and spiritual entities (ex: ndɛ̀kpɔ́ "sun")	ní ndɛ̀kpɔ́ ní	né ndɛ̀kpɔ́ né	náà ndɛ̀kpɔ́ náà
C9	plants (ex: ŋgwɛ́wɛ́ "flower")	maa ŋgwɛ́wɛ́ maa	maa rí ŋgwɛ́wɛ́ maa rí	maa hɛ̃ ŋgwɛ́wɛ́ maa hɛ̃
C10	body parts (ex: bálù "arm")	mɛ́ bálù mɛ́	mmɔ bálù mmɔ	mɛ́ hɛ̃ bálù mɛ́ hɛ̃
C11	generic article (ex: ké "thing")	ì / í ké í	rí ké rí	hɛ̃ ké hɛ̃

In informal speech, most nouns belonging to classes other than C1 are often paired with the C11 generic articles. The definite articles are also used as vocative particles (ex: Bɔyĩ́ nĩ̀! "Father!"), or to convey emphasis on a subject (ex: Káákɔ̀ɔ̀ nĩ̀ ɔ́ kòò nĩ̀ "It was Kaakor that bought it")

Pronouns

Dzuma pronouns

		masculine		inanimate / neutral		feminine
		singular	plural	singular	plural	singular	plural
1st person	nominative	mã	dza		dza	lɛ́	dza
	accusative	mi	dzõ		dzõ	lo	dzõ
	possessive	mɔ́	dzi		dzi	sɛ́	dzi
2nd person	nominative	ŋũ	rí	mɛ	mɛ rí	fè	rí fè
	accusative	ŋà	rí ŋà			fí	rí fí
	possessive	ŋé	rí ŋé	mó	mó rí	ñu	rí ñu
3rd person	(subj.)nominative	nĩ̀	nɔ́	ì (inanimate) à (neutral)	ì nɔ́ (inanimate) à nɔ́ (neutral)	la	la nɔ́
	(subj.)accusative	ná	nnɛ̃	ɔ́ (inanimate) à (neutral)	ɔ́ (inanimate) à (neutral)	lɛ̀	lɛ̀ nnɛ̃
	(subj.) possessive	nṍ	nà	ɔ́ró (inanimate) nṍ (neutral)	ɔ́ró (inanimate) nà (neutral)	lé	lé nà
	(nonsubj.)nom. & acc.	ɔ̀nĩ̀	ɔ̀nɔ́	ɔ̀bí	ɔ̀bí nɔ́	ɔ̀la	l'ɔ̀nɔ́
	(nonsubj.) possessive	ɔ̀nṍ	ɔ̀nà	ɔ̀nṍ	ɔ̀nà	ɔ̀lé	ɔ̀lé nà
demonstrative	proximal			(art.sg) de	(art.pl) di
	distal			(art.sg) yɛ	(art.pl) yi
interrogative				yè (art.sg)	yè (art.pl)
reflexive				wó
reciprocal				ntsí

In casual contexts, it is usual for the pronouns mã ("I"), ŋũ ("you"), and nĩ̀ ("he") to be shortened when following a vowel. In most varieties the pronouns are shortened to 'm, 'ŋ, and 'n, but specifically in the Bandapor dialect the preceding vowel is nasalized and the pronouns become 'ŋ, 'w, and 'y.

English	Standard sentence	Shortened	Shortened (Bandapor)
He gave me the food	Ŋkèélé mɔ̀ mbé mi là kpé nĩ̀	Ŋkèélé í mbé 'm là kpé 'n	Ŋkèélé í mbɛ̃́ 'ŋ là pɛ̃́ 'y
I will see his house	Nti nṍ kó mpáà mã	Nti 'n kó mpáà 'm	Nsĩ 'y kú mpã́ã̀ 'ŋ

Negation

Dzuma forms negative phrases via the phrase kɔ [...] ndì ì ("it lacks that ..."; "there is no"), often shortened to ndì in colloquial contexts.

ex: Ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ là ntshɛ̃́kpɛ lɛ́ ("She cooked fish" | fish PST cook 3F.NOM) → Kɔ ñõ̀ŋkpõ̀ là ntshɛ̃́kpɛ lɛ́ ndì ì ("She didn't cook fish" | REL fish PST cook 3F.NOM lack 3I.NOM)

Vocabulary

Loan words and NCLL censorship

Loan words in Dzuma are primarily from Bosso and Nyamu, as both languages have been predominant in the overall eastern Nkungu area. Although the influence of Nyamu on the Dzuma people in Afa brought about the Afa-Gaanin dialect, many Nyamu words and phrases are still used in the Dzuma varieties of Bomakwodor. However, the reign of Bayin Kabo in Bomakwodor also brought about an official censorship of words that are not Dzuma in origin in media and published works, which is overlooked by the government-sponsored Nganlokor Council of Language and Literature (NCLL). Words and phrases with non-Dzuma origins (particularly Bosso, since words of Bhala origin tended to be overlooked) are often censored and replaced with either existing Dzuma words or newer NCLL-crafted innovations.