Eastern Sudanic language of Suda
The Shatt language is a Daju language of the Eastern Daju family spoken by the Shatt people in the Shatt Hills (part of the Nuba Mountains ) southwest of Kaduqli in South Kordofan province in southern Sudan .
Villages are Shatt Daman, Shatt Safia, and Shatt Tebeldia (Ethnologue , 22nd edition).
Names
The designation "Shatt" is an Arabic word meaning "dispersed" and is applied to several distinct groups in the Nuba Mountains. "Caning" is their own name for themselves, linguistically referred to as endonym , whereas "Shatt" is considered an exonym due to its external ascription. Speakers refer to their language as ìkkɨ̀ cánnìñ ('mouth, language').[ 2]
Phonology
Consonants
/x/ may vary between velar [x] or uvular [χ] fricative sounds.
A glottal stop [ʔ] may also occur, only in intervocalic positions.[ 3]
Vowels
/ə/ is phonetically raised as [ə̝].
Sounds /e, o/ may also be heard as [ɛ, ɔ].[ 4]
Alphabet
The alphabet consists of 27 letters,[ 4] which are shown in the table below with the corresponding letter from the International Phonetic Alphabet chart .
Grammar
The grammar in this section is primarily based on the Caning Grammar Book (Second Edition 2017).[ 5]
Morphology
Types of Words
Types of Caning Words [ 6]
Type
Example
Translation
Noun
Kig kasiy ya.
Person ate meat .
Verb
Kig kasiy ya.
Person ate meat.
Preposition
Kig kasiy ya tä pumpung.
Person ate meat in bush.
Location
Kig kasiy ya tagä pa.
Person ate meat in front of house.
Pronoun
Ma masiy ya.
He ate meat.
Adjective
Kig kasiy yana apo .
Person ate good meat.
Quantity
Kig kasiy ya käꞌday .
Person ate all the meat.
Number
Kig kasiy aska kodos .
Person ate three fishes.
Adverb
Kig kasiy ya tetex .
Person ate meat quickly .
Question Word
Xänang kasiy ya?
Who ate meat?
Connector
Ndä kig kasiy ya.
Then person ate meat.
Nouns
A noun in Caning "can be a person, animal, place, thing, or idea."[ 6]
Singular and Plural
Plurals in Caning are built in three different ways:
By adding a suffix to the singular.
By adding a suffix to the plural.
By adding a suffix to both, the singular and the plural form.
Suffixes: Singular and Plural [ 6]
Suffix
S/P
Root
Singular
Plural
Translation
-ic / -
ux
uxic
ux
worm(s)
- / -iny
ax
ax
axiny
hut(s)
-ic / -iny
win-
winic
wininy
vulture(s)
When adding a singular suffix only as described in form one, the plural form remains unchanged.
Most common Singular Suffixes
Suffix
Singular
Plural
Translation
-c /
bebec
bebe
gourd
-dic, -tic /
gäldic
gäl
egg
-wec /
ngaluwec
ngalu
bell
-wic /
kadasuwic
kadasu
foundation
For the second for, when adding the plural suffix only, the singular form remains unchanged.
Some common Plural Suffxes
Suffix
Singular
Plural
Translation
/ -u
ux
uxu
women
/ -da, -ta
oxay
oxayda
animals
/ -di, -ti
bul
buldi
drums
/ -de, -te
jen
jende
years
Certain patterns occur in pairs for the respective singular and plural forms, as described in form three.
Suffix pairs
Pair
Singular
Plural
Translation
-ic / -iny
winic
wininy
vulture(s)
-ic / -u
banyic
banyu
light(s)
-wan/-wan
penäwan
penggäwan
son(s)
-x/-ny
osox
osony
lion(s)
-d/ -nu
'dawud
'dawunu
type of fish
Plural-only nouns
There are exceptions to the rule, e.g. words that change form, having a shorter plural than singular form or no singular or plural form at all.
Some nouns only occur as plurals, e.g. noncountable nouns that refer to masses or liquids:
Example: Plural-only nouns [ 2]
Singular
Plural
/
/
mem/mmem
milk
/
/
Ma/mma
water
/
/
zäg/zik
earth, ground
Pronouns
Subject and Object Pronouns [ 7]
Singular
Plural
1st Person
agä
I
Was
We (not you)
Kog
We (and you)
2nd Person
gi
You
Anggo
You
3rd Person
ma
He
Sa
They
ce
She
nya
It
It is noteworthy that Caning has two forms of the pronoun "we" (1st person plural) that could be distinguished by calling them inclusive and exclusive versions. One being -was (we - not you) and the other one being -kog (we - and you) .
This difference is also made with the possessor and possessive pronouns us/our(s).
Possessor Pronouns
Possessor pronouns can replace the possessor (apang = man) in the sentence below.
"Kig kasax axä apang . Person refused hut of man.
Kig kasax axang . Person refused my hut."[ 7] (ax = hut)
Possessor Pronouns [ 7]
Possessor
Caning
Singular
Plural
Translation
my
-ang
axang
axinygang
my hut
your (sg)
-ägi
axägi
axinygägi
your (sg) hut
his
-äma
axäma
axinygäma
his hut
her
-äce
axäce
axinygäce
her hut
its
-änya
axgänya
axinygänya
its hut
our (not your)
-äsko
axäsko
axinygäsko
our (not your) hut
our (and your)
-og
axog
axinygog
our (and your) hut
your (pl)
-ägo
axägo
axinygägo
your (pl) hut
their
-äsa
axäsa
axinygäsa
their hut
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns can also replace nouns.
By using the same example, the difference between possessor and possessive pronouns become more clear.
"Kig kasax axä apang . Person refused hut of man.
Kig kasax nämanggo . Person refused his ."[ 7] (ax = hut)
All of the possessive pronouns below can therefore take the place of nämanggo in the above sentence.
Possessive Pronouns [ 7]
Caning
Pronoun
nanggä
mine
nänggi
yours (sg)
nämanggo
his
näcengga
hers
nänyanggo
its
näskonga
ours (us, not you)
nänokanga
ours (us and you)
nänggonga
yours (pl)
näsanga
theirs
Numbers
Cardinal numbers
Cardinal numbers in Caning [ 8]
N
Text in Caning
N
Text in Caning
N
Text in Caning
N
Text in Caning
1
nuxu
11
asiny wang nuxu
21
ud wang nuxu
110
udiny mädäg wang asiny
2
pädax
12
asiny wang pädax
30
ud wang asiny
200
udiny mädäginy pädax
3
kodos
13
asiny wang kodos
31
ud wang asiny wang nuxu
300
udiny mädäginy kudos
4
tesped
14
asiny wang tesped
40
udiny pädax
400
udiny mädäginy tesped
5
mädäg
15
asiny wang mädäg
50
udiny pädax wang asiny
500
udiny mädäginy mädäg
6
aran
16
asiny wang aran
60
udiny kodos
600
udiny mädäginy aran
7
paxtänding
17
asiny wang paxtänding
70
udiny kudos wang asiny
700
udiny mädäginy paxtänding
8
tespetespe
18
asiny wang tespetespe
80
udiny tesped
800
udiny mädäginy tesped
9
paye nuxu
19
asiny wang paye nuxu
90
udiny tesped wang asiny
900
udiny mädäginy paye nuxu
10
asiny
20
ud
100
udiny mädäg
1000
päsic nuxu
Intermediate numbers, e.g. 785 are built similar to English, from front to end: udiny mädäginy paxtänding (700) wang (and) udiny tesped (80) wang (and) mädäg (5) .[ 8]
Ordinal numbers
The following table shows how ordinal numbers are built.
Ordinal numbers in Caning - Days [ 8]
Caning
Translation
Caning
Translation
xongi näs nuxuzeneng
first day
xongondi näs paxtändingzeneng
seventh day
xongondi näs pätaxeneng
second day
xongondi näs tespetespedeneng
eighth day
xongondi näs kodoseneng
third day
xongondi näs paye nuxuzeneng
ninth day
xongondi näs tespedeneng
fourth day
xongondi näs asinygeneng
tenth day
xongondi näs mädägkeneng
fifth day
xongondi näs asiny wang nuxuzeneng
eleventh day
xongondi näs arandeneng
sixth day
xongondi näs asiny wang pätaxeneng
twelfth day
Numbers usually come after the noun with a modifier suffix, in this case -eneng.
Example of cardinal and ordinal numbers in the same sentence [ 8]
Caning
English
Edekeny sawuno sasog täsa mänang tä sängga kodos , na xongondi näs kodoseneng cäläpede ta atänäce ka,
For the next three days , they came and did the same, and on the third day she said to her grandchild,
References
^ Shatt at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
^ a b Boyeldieu, Pascal. 2011. The modified form of Shatt Damam nouns and its Daju cognates. Afrika und Übersee 91. 9-84. Available at: https://llacan.cnrs.fr/publications/Shatt_nouns.pdf
^ Thelwall, Robin E.W. (1981). The Daju Language Group . School of Humanities of the New University of Ulster. pp. 41–50.
^ a b Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Consonant and Vowel Book" (PDF) . Webonary Caning Dictionary . Yida: Sudan Workshop Programme, Development and Literacy Partners International.
^ Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF) . Webonary Caning Dictionary . Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International.
^ a b c Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF) . Webonary Caning Dictionary . Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 12–13.
^ a b c d e Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF) . Caning Grammar Book . Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 36–40.
^ a b c d Alfira, David Abbi; Kafi, Timothy Kuku; Kaki, Hassan Kuwa; Hasan, Ali Alaliim; Anjo, Anjo Kuku; Jas, Dayan Kuku; Sarukh, Sadik Kafi (2017). Written at South Sudan. "Caning Grammar Book" (PDF) . Webonary Caning Dictionary . Yida: Sudan Workshop Program, Development and Literacy Partners International. pp. 122–123.
External links