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Talodi language

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Talodi
Jomang
Native toSudan
RegionNuba Hills
EthnicityTalodi
Native speakers
(1,500 cited 1989)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3tlo
Glottologtalo1250
ELPTalodi
Talodi is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger

Talodi or Jomang (Ajomang, Gajomang), is a Niger–Congo language in the Talodi family spoken in South Kordofan, Sudan. Talodi is spoken in Tasomi and Tata villages (Ethnologue, 22nd edition).

Grammar

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Noun Classes

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As most languages of the Talodi Family, it uses noun classes to indicate if the word is in the singular or a plural form. There exist both two-class and one-class gender groups, and in all of them mostly consonant prefixes are used as an indicator.[2] Following is presented the noun class chart of Talodi after Schadeberg (1981: 50–51):

Prefixe(s) Examples (translated to English)
b-/y-, a- bird, old man, person, snake, stick, woman/wife,
b-/g- mountain, tree
w-/m- guts (~g-/l-)
w-/g- cow, gazelle
d̪-/r- dog, fire, horn, liver, mouth, river, road, root, rope, tail, woods, year
d̪-/l- tongue
d-/l- clothing
j-/m- bone, day, egg, finger, fruit, head, heart, star, stone
j-/g- belly, breast, neck, tooth
s-/ ŋ- hand, leg
g-/l- arm, back, branch, ear, feather/wing, guts (~w-/m-), hole, louse, moon/month, nail, nose, old woman, skin, spear, stone, worm
ŋ-/ɲ- child, eye, fish
b- rain, smoke
m- word/language
ḓ- work
d- dust (~ŋ-)
r- food
l- night
j- cloud, salt, sun
y- thing(s)
g- bark, earth, grass, meat (~ø-), name, sand, sky, wind
ŋ- blood, dust (~d-), fat, water
ø- meat (~g-)

References

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  1. ^ Talodi at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Schadeberg, Thilo Christian (1981). A Survey of Kordofanian: The Talodi Group. Hamburg: Helmut Buske. p. 175.