This article should specify the language of its non-English content, using {{ lang }}, {{ transliteration }} for transliterated languages, and {{ IPA }} for phonetic transcriptions, with an appropriate ISO 639 code. Wikipedia's multilingual support templates may also be used - notably kdu for Kadaru.(October 2024) |
Kadaru | |
---|---|
Kodhin | |
Native to | Sudan |
Region | Nuba Mountains |
Ethnicity | Kadaru |
Native speakers | 25,000 (2013) [1] |
Dialects |
|
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | kdu |
Glottolog | kada1282 |
ELP | Kadaru |
Kadaru is classified as Definitely Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger |
Kadaru (also Kadaro, Kadero, Kaderu, Kodhin, Kodhinniai, Kodoro, Tamya) is a Hill Nubian language spoken in the northern Nuba Mountains in the south of Sudan. [2] It is spoken by around 25,000 people in the Jibaal as-Sitta (Mountains of the Six) [3] hills, between Dilling and Delami. Kordofan Nubian is a cluster of dialects also called Ajang Language with names of dialects varying according to specific clans. [3] According to Ajang people, they all belong to one language group and although some sounds and words might have changed with time, they can understand each other quite well. [4] It is closely related to Ghulfan, with which it forms the Kadaru-Ghulfan subgroup of Hill Nubian.
In the Middle Ages, the Nubian language was used as lingua franca of the Sudan and was used in writing, commerce and by the government. [5] According to Ali Obeid Birema, Kadero should be considered as a diminishing language caused by the influence of Arabic and the ever-decreasing number of speakers. [5]
Ethnologue reports that there are six dialects spoken by six clan groups living on six separate hills: Kadaru (Kodur), Kururu (Tagle), Kafir (Ka’e), Kurtala (Ngokra), Dabatna (Kaaral) and Kuldaji (Kendal). The Western form used by the Berko people at Habila (southwest of Jebel Sitta, neighbouring the Ghulfan) may be another dialect or a separate language. [6] Since Kadaru per se is understudied, many articles on Ajang Language use examples from various dialects, based on the fact that these are closely related dialects. [3]
There are 22 consonants in Kadaru, with voiced and voiceless plosives in five places of articulation. “There is only one fricative /ʃ/ which we assign to the palatal column. There are three alveolar liquids – a lateral, a trill, and a flap – and there are two central approximants.”. [3]
Labial | Dental | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
plain | labialized | plain | labialized | |||||
Plosive | voiceless | p | t̪ | t | (tʷ) | c | k | (kʷ) |
voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | g | |||
Fricative | ʃ | |||||||
Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
Lateral | l | |||||||
Trill | r | |||||||
Flap | ɽ | |||||||
Approximant | w | j |
When it comes to the distribution, only 10 consonants were found in all the positions (initial, intervocalic and final). As seen in the table labial dental and velar consonants appear on the initial position only voiceless. The situation changes, however, in the final position where only labial and velar consonants appear, both voiceless. Contrary to Sudanese Arabic, Kadaru-Kurtala labial plosives are voiceless in the final position of the word.
ɪ́p “tail”
ʃap “giraffe”
kɔ́p “lion”
nɔ́p “gold” tɔ́p “earth” [3]
Phoneme | Initial | Meaning | Intervocalic | Meaning | Final | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
(p) | - | - | kɔp | lion | ||
b | bʊ́l | dog | àbʊ́l | mouth | - | |
t̪ | t̪uríɲ | locust | jat̪ʊ | goat | ít̪ | person |
(d̪) | - | bid̪id̪ | bat | bid̪id̪ | bat | |
t | tidəm | ostrich | titim | dove | ʃʊ́t | thread |
d | doː | skin | dɛdʊ | cloud | ʃúd | sand |
(tʷ) | tʷanʊ | bellies | - | - | ||
(c) | caŋ | python | - | - |
Since the language lacks minimal pairs, the following table shows pairs in which the two consonants are in minimal contrast in the syllable in which they occur. [3]
p-b | - | - | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
b-m | abʊl | mouth | ɔmʊl | elephant |
b-w | bara | yellow | wata | ash |
m-w | mɛɲ | back | wɛŋɡa | that |
t̪-d̪ | (ít | person | bid̪id̪ | bat) |
t̪-t | (t̪uɾíɲ | locust | titim | dove) |
d̪-d | ʊd̪ʊ | breast | dɛdʊ | cloud |
t-tw | taɽʊm | tortoise | tʷanʊ | bellies |
t-d | tɛɲʊ | thigh | dɛdʊ | cloud |
katʊ | field | dɛdʊ | cloud | |
ʃʊ́t | thread | ʃúd | sand | |
d-n | dʊl | larynx | nʊm | throne |
d-l | (dɛdʊ | cloud | bɛlɛ | sesame) |
n-l | (ɛnɛn | mother | bɛlɛ | sesame) |
l-r | kɛlɪ | food | ɛrɪ | rope |
l-ɽ | ʃalɛ | salt | taɽɛ | plate |
r-ɽ | (ɪrɪɲ | nose | kɪ̀ɽáŋ | drum) |
c-ɟ | (caŋ | python | ɟadʊ | tongue) |
Consonant sequences in Kadaru are considered relatively free, even including a sequence of two plosive consonants. The table below shows that the range of consonant sequences in Kadaru is bigger than in, for example, Uncu, a different Ghulfan language closely related to Kadaru.
Kadaru-Kurtala | Word | Meaning | Uncu | Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
nt̪ | nɔnt̪ʊ | moon | nt̪ | t̪ɛ̀nt̪ʊ | intestines |
nd̪ | ɟʊ́nd̪ʊ | small | nd̪ | kánd̪ɛ̀t̪ʊ | bird |
nt | kúntú | knee | nt | ɔ̀ntʊ́ | arm |
nd | kʊnda | smoke | nd | arɛndʊ́wa | sky |
ɲɟ | kʊɲɟaŋ | lyre | ɲɟ | tɔɲɟɔ | thigh |
ŋɡ | ɔŋɡɔl | road | |||
mt | kʊmtɛ | (woman's name) | |||
ɲd | akiɲdʊ | adze | |||
ld̪ | eld̪o | heart | ld̪ | ábʊld̪ɛ | adze |
lt | káltʊ́ | eye | lt | káltʊ̀ | eye |
lɖ | kʊlɖaɟɪ | (clan name) | |||
lɕ | ʊlɕa | ear | lɕ | ʊlca | ear |
lm | ʃalmɛ | chin | |||
rb | t̪arbʊ | twenty | rb | t̪àrbɔ | twenty |
rt̪ | kɔrt̪ʊ | shoe | rt̪ | ɔrt̪ɪ | sheep |
rt | wərtíl | sheep | rt | àmʊrtɛ̂ | palm |
rd̪ | kɔrd̪ʊ | forest | rd̪ | ʃɛ̀rd̪ʊː | short |
rd | kʷardɪlɛ | cock | |||
rʃ | kɔrʃʊ | six | rʃ | ɪ́rʃʊ | wind |
rk | bɛrkʊ | (placename) | |||
rŋ | ɔrŋaɽʊ | leaf | |||
kl | taklɛ | (clan name) | |||
kr | kákrɪ́ | stones | |||
kɽ | ŋɔkɽal | (clan name) | |||
dk | kudkire | dust |
In Kadaru one can identify 10 vowels distinguished by the advanced tongue root dividing them into two 5 element groups. [3]
[-ATR] | [+ATR] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
front | central | back | front | central | back | |
close | ɪ | ʊ | i | u | ||
mid | ɛ | ɔ | (e) | o | ||
open | a | (ə) |
two identical vowels | meaning | single vowel | meaning | |
---|---|---|---|---|
i | irid̪ | canoe | it̪ | person |
íríɲ | scorpion | ʃiŋ | termite house | |
titim | dove | ʃíːl | king | |
bid̪id̪ | bat | t̪i | cow | |
ɪ | kɪ́nɪ́ | doors | ɪ́p | tail |
ɪ́rɪŋ | nose | t̪ɪ̀l | hair | |
ɲɪŋɪl | left side | ɪː | sun | |
e | nenɟê | what is it? | kel | stick |
ɛ | bɛlɛ | sesame | kɛ́l | boundary |
ɛnɛn | mother | mɛ̀ɲ | back | |
t̪ɛrrɛ | bull | bɛ̀ː | one | |
bɛɟɛ | green | |||
ə | kəɽəl | (placename) | ||
ʃəʃə | k.o. tree | |||
a | kàkà | crow | kal | porridge |
kákáː | stone | |||
áɾa | rain | |||
tataŋ | all | tɔ́ː | belly | |
ɔ | ɔ́kɔ̀ | chest | kɔp | lion |
ɔŋɡɔl | road | ɔŋ | year | |
ɔrrɔ | two | kòl | house | |
o | doː | skin | ||
oː | hillside spring | |||
ʊ | kʊddʊ | leg | bʊ́l | dog |
ʊ́ɡʊ́ | blood | nʊm | throne | |
ʊ́d̪ʊ́ | breast | dʊ́l | larynx | |
kʊmʊ̀l | snake | ʃʊ́t | thread | |
u | unu | flies | ʃúd | sand |
kúntú | knee | kuː | chicken stomach | |
kúndu | smoke | |||
kùd̪ú | mount |
Vowel distribution. Vowels appear unrestricted when it comes to the position of the phoneme in a word. However, vowels from different [ATR] sets do not appear together in a word. [3]
phon. initial | medial | final | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
i | ɪrt̪id̪a | root | kedil | bone | èʃí | hand |
ɪ | ɪ́ɟɪŋ | nose | t̪ɪ́l | hair | kɪ́nɪ́ | doors |
e | èʃí | hand | bèrí | yellow | biɟe | beer |
ɛ | ɛnɛn | mother | t̪ɛrrɛ | bull | bɛlɛ | sesame |
u | unut̪ | fly | ʃút̪í | fish spear | úɡú | big |
ʊ | ʊ́nɪ | relative | bʊ́l | dog | ɪ̀d̪ʊ | woman |
o | óndo | donkey | kól | house | doː | skin |
ɔ | ɔ́mʊl | elephant | bɔ́lt̪ʊ | ɔrrɔ | two | |
ə | əboki | (place name) | koɟəŋ | alligator | ʃekkə | (pers. name) |
a | àttʊ́ | wing | kal | porridge | dɔta | tool |
In Kadaru-Kurtala one can find all four basic syllable types: CV, V, VC, CVC. [3]
CV | t̪í | cow |
---|---|---|
V | ɛ̀ː | we |
VC | ɔŋ | year |
CVC | kòl | house |
The four types also combine in longer words, however the language lacks the combination V.V. [3]
CV.CV | bɛ.lɛ | sesame |
---|---|---|
CV.CVC | ka.ɽɔl | fish |
CVC.CV | kɔr.t̪ʊ | shoe |
CVC.CVC | wər.til | sheep |
VC.CV | on.do | donkey |
VC.CVC | ɔŋ.ɡɔl | road |
V.CV | ʊ.nɪ | grass |
V.CVC | i.rid | canoe |
V.V |
Evidence shows a strong presence of long vowels both in word of one open syllable and in longer words. The evidence also suggests tonality in the language. Tagle (Kururu) language also from Jibaal as-Sitta shows more tendency of tonality with three tones: falling, high and low. [7] Due to the lack of sufficient research, one cannot say for sure, but one could assume that Kadaru is also a tonal language, since all Ajang languages are considered tonal languages. [4]
One of the possible systems of writing Ajang languages is the Arabic script. ALESCO (Arab League Educational Scientific Cultural Organization) offered some solutions to how to write non-Arabic languages in Arabic script. [4] The issue with the Arabic script is the fact that Arabic has thirteen consonants that do not exist in Ajang. Moreover, for six consonants that could be found in Ajang but not in Arabic, ALESCO suggests solutions only to three of them. [4]
for g | گ |
for ɲ | ݧ |
for ŋ | ݝ |
for t̪ | no symbol |
for d̪ | no symbol |
for ɽ | no symbol |
Vowels become even more problematic, since Arabic has only three short and three long vowels. Ajang in contrast has seven vowels. Here ALESCO also suggests a possible solution. The proposed symbols, however, are confusing and are not available on computers. [4]
The advantage of Old Nubian is the availability of symbols for all consonants. The script becomes problematic when it comes to spelling of + and – ATR vowels. The Ajang community has decided that the Old Nubian script would have to be adjusted for a better distinction between ATR vowels. [4]
Sound | Spelling |
---|---|
a | Ⲁ |
ʷa | ɯⲀ |
ɛ | Ⲉ |
ɘ | Ⲁy |
ɪ | l |
ʊ | |
ɔ | Ⲟ |
e | ɛy |
i | ly |
u | |
o | ⲞY |
b | B |
w | Ⲱ |
m | M |
f | Ⲫ |
d̪ | Ⲇ |
d | Ⲇ' |
t̪ | T |
t | T' |
n | N |
l | Ⲗ |
r | Ⲣ |
ɽ | Ⲣ' |
ʃ | Ϣ |
dʒ | Ⳝ |
ɲ | Ⳡ |
g | Ⲅ |
k | K |
ŋ | Ⳟ |
h | Ϩ |
Adapted Latin script is considered the best option for spelling of Ajang languages because of its flexibility, availability of many symbols, and the possibility to indicate tone. [4]
b [b], c [S], d [d], f [f], g [g], h [h], j [dz], k [k], 1 [1], Ir[c], m [m], n [n], ng [n], ny[n], r [r], t [t], th [t], w [w], y [j][ clarification needed ]
a [a], e [e], i [i], o [o], ø [o], u [u] [4]
Diagraphs are considered a solution to the challenge of writing of all eleven vowels present in Ajang languages. For example, Warki and Kaak use diagraphs for some consonants: [4]
Warki: /lr/ , /th/, /ng/ and /ny/
Kaak: /dh, /th/, /rh/, /ng/ and /ny/
In order to include both the [ATR] and tonality of vowels a different solution was created. By using some symbols available on computers and by putting diacritics one could both indicate the vowel and its tone. [4]
i | u | |
ɨ | æ | ʊ |
e | o | |
ɛ | a | ø |
Alaki and Norton suggest a slightly different orthography to the one proposed by Jabr el Dar. They added ‘s’ for the palatal fricative in order to distinguish it from the palatal plosive ‘c’. They also propose umlauts for +ATR vowels in Kadaru, with the exception of the letter ⟨a⟩. The also recommend an orthography without tone marks, since it could have negative effects on the process of writing and reading. [3]
Uncu, a closely related language to Kadaru, shows evidence of verbal number in its grammatical structure. In Uncu the number of the object or subject determines participant number, whereas the event number is determined by the frequency or repetition of an event. [8]
When the object of a transitive verb is plural, the extension -er is added to the root of the verb before the infliction markers. In the case of intransitive verbs, the extension -er is added to the root of the verb when the subject is plural. [8]
kɪ̄tʊ́
door.SG
kūj-ōóŋ
open-PAST.2SG
“You (SG) opened a door.”
kɪ̄nɪ́
door.PL
kūj-ēr-ōóŋ
open-PLr-PAST.2SG
“You (SG) opened doors.”
Intransitive verb:
ŋāj-ōóŋ
walk-PAST.2SG
“You (SG) walked.”
ŋāj-ēr-ūúŋ
walk-PLR-PAST.2PL
“You (PL) walked.
Transitive verbs with a plural object or intransitive verbs with plural subject sometimes need a suppletive form including -k or -ʃ extension or involving change in vowel quality. [8]
s | o | sell | eat | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
SG | SG | ʃàn-í | kōl-í | ||
PL | SG | ʃàn-é | kōl-é | ||
SG | PL | ʃàn-î | kàm-î | ||
PL | PL | ʃàn-ê | kàm-ê |
Event number is used when a speaker wants to express performing of an action habitually or iteratively. It is marked by -ʈ, -ug, -k, -ʃ, -c extensions and partial reduplication of the root. [8]
ǐ
1SG
ùljé
ear.PL
òná
1SG.GEN
ʃērg-ēr-ēé
puncture-PLR-PAST.1SG
“I pierced my ears.”
ǐ
1SG
kūmé=nàá
rat=GEN
ūrtál=gí
exit-hole=ACC
wār-í-kò
search-SSC-INS
tób=gí
ground=ACC
ʃērk-éé
puncture.REP-PAST.1SG
“Searching for the rat exit-hole I poked the ground repeatedly.”
In Kordofan Nubian, like in many Nubian languages one can find noun phrase constructions. There are two types of noun phrases in Nubian, namely ones consisting of a noun with or without modifiers, and ones with a single person pronoun, determine or a single quantifier without any nominal modifiers. [2]
In Kordofan Nubian possessive adjectives are derived from personal pronouns by adding the genitive linker -n. [2] Examples from Tabaq language.
singular | plural | |
---|---|---|
1st person | an | ʊn |
2nd person | ʊn | wun |
3rd person | ʈɛn/ʈan | ʈin |
an
1.SG.GEN
uudo
goat
‘My goat’
Source: [2]
This | iŋ |
These | ɛnɛ |
That | waŋ |
Those | wanɛ |
iŋ
DET.SG
dʊl
granary
‘this granary’
In Nubian numerals follow the head noun. The same happens with quantifiers. [2]
idu
person
bɛra
one
‘one person’
ʊʊdʊ
month
kimiɲ
four
kɔɔ
have.3SG
‘s/he has four months’
Because of the language policy in Sudan, the Arabisation of the educational system, and the fact that Arabic became the lingua franca of Sudan, indigenous languages become highly influenced by Arabic. [9] Ali Obeid Birema studied the amount of loan words in Kadaru in many areas of life, ranging from daily life, through songs, to politics and market. In some cases, the amount of loan words in an expression was as high as 83.3% and the average percentage of loan words in the studied statements was 49.9%. [5]
Iru robber ella tiigi robbema ogugi robbema kukuri robbema alla inɖigi onɖii robbema hamaamgi robbema ayyi haja.
Schalenjeruwa shalenjerigi eiye ʈe she, inɖi iyembergi ilɽan kuner oway kil fanongu aan kora fanongu aan ger irshu fanongu, haa laakin eiyembe illa kunen kije ʈe.
‘The people rear cows, they rear goats, and they rear chicken, and also, they rear donkeys, they breed doves anything.’
‘The wild animals I know of, and there are those which I do not know of. I only hear people talk about them. There are gazelles; there are antelopes and porcupines. I do not know them all, I only hear about them.’
Borrowed Words and Expression | Meaning |
---|---|
robber | to keep animals |
robbema | used to keep animals |
hamaamgi | domestic doves |
ayyi | any |
haja | thing |
laakin | but |
illa | except (only) |
Number of loan words: 6 out of 42 = 14.3% deviation
Allijir lowaariko, fi alkharif neji belkureein.
‘In summer we come in lorries, in rainy season we walk.’
Borrowed Words and Expression | Meaning |
---|---|
lowaariko | by lorries |
fi | in |
alkharif | rainy season |
neji | we come |
belkureein | with feet (walking) |
Number of loan words: 5 out of 7 = 83.3% deviation
The Nubian languages are a group of related languages spoken by the Nubians. Nubian languages were spoken throughout much of Sudan, but as a result of Arabization they are today mostly limited to the Nile Valley between Aswan and Al Dabbah. In the 1956 Census of Sudan there were 167,831 speakers of Nubian languages. Nubian is not to be confused with the various Nuba languages spoken in villages in the Nuba mountains and Darfur.
Comorian is the name given to a group of four Bantu languages spoken in the Comoro Islands, an archipelago in the southwestern Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It is named as one of the official languages of the Union of the Comoros in the Comorian constitution. Shimaore, one of the languages, is spoken on the disputed island of Mayotte, a French department claimed by Comoros.
The Tagoi language is a Kordofanian language, closely related to Tegali, spoken near the town of Rashad in southern Kordofan in Sudan, about 12 N, 31 E. Unlike Tegali, it has a complex noun class system, which appears to have been borrowed from more typical Niger–Congo languages. It has several dialects, including Umali (Tumale), Goy, Moreb, and Orig. Villages are Moreb, Tagoi, Tukum, Tuling, Tumale, Turjok, and Turum.
Nobiin, also known as Halfawi, Mahas, is a Nubian language of the Nilo-Saharan language family. "Nobiin" is the genitive form of Nòòbíí ("Nubian") and literally means "(language) of the Nubians". Another term used is Noban tamen, meaning "the Nubian language".
The Elgeyo language, or Kalenjin proper, are a dialect cluster of the Kalenjin branch of the Nilotic language family.
Sulka is a language isolate of New Britain, Papua New Guinea. In 1991, there were 2,500 speakers in eastern Pomio District, East New Britain Province. Villages include Guma in East Pomio Rural LLG. With such a low population of speakers, this language is considered to be endangered. Sulka speakers had originally migrated to East New Britain from New Ireland.
Najdi Arabic is the group of Arabic varieties originating from the Najd region of Saudi Arabia. Outside of Saudi Arabia, it is also the main Arabic variety spoken in the Syrian Desert of Iraq, Jordan, and Syria as well as the westernmost part of Kuwait.
Bangime is a language isolate spoken by 3,500 ethnic Dogon in seven villages in southern Mali, who call themselves the bàŋɡá–ndɛ̀. Bangande is the name of the ethnicity of this community and their population grows at a rate of 2.5% per year. The Bangande consider themselves to be Dogon, but other Dogon people insist they are not. Bangime is an endangered language classified as 6a - Vigorous by Ethnologue. Long known to be highly divergent from the (other) Dogon languages, it was first proposed as a possible isolate by Blench (2005). Heath and Hantgan have hypothesized that the cliffs surrounding the Bangande valley provided isolation of the language as well as safety for Bangande people. Even though Bangime is not closely related to Dogon languages, the Bangande still consider their language to be Dogon. Hantgan and List report that Bangime speakers seem unaware that it is not mutually intelligible with any Dogon language.
Estonian grammar is the grammar of the Estonian language.
Komo is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Kwama (Komo) people of Ethiopia, Sudan and South Sudan. It is a member of the Koman languages. The language is also referred to as Madiin, Koma, South Koma, Central Koma, Gokwom and Hayahaya. Many individuals from Komo are multilingual because they are in close proximity to Mao, Kwama and Oromo speakers. Komo is closely related to Kwama, a language spoken by a group who live in the same region of Ethiopia and who also identify themselves as ethnically Komo. Some Komo and Kwama speakers recognize the distinction between the two languages and culture, whereas some people see it as one "ethnolinguistic" community. The 2007 Ethiopian census makes no mention of Kwama, and for this reason its estimate of 8,000 Komo speakers may be inaccurate. An older estimate from 1971 places the number of Komo speakers in Ethiopia at 1,500. The Komo language is greatly understudied; more information is being revealed as researchers are discovering more data about other languages within the Koman family.
Uyghur is a Turkic language spoken mostly in the west of China.
Midob is a Nubian language spoken by the Midob people of North Darfur region of Sudan. As a Nubian language, it is part of the wider Nilo-Saharan language family.
Iatmul is the language of the Iatmul people, spoken around the Sepik River in the East Sepik Province, northern Papua New Guinea. The Iatmul, however, do not refer to their language by the term Iatmul, but call it gepmakudi.
Afitti is a language spoken on the eastern side of Jebel el-Dair, a solitary rock formation in the North Kordofan province of Sudan. Although the term ‘Dinik’ can be used to designate the language regardless of cultural affiliation, people in the villages of the region readily recognize the terms ‘Ditti’ and ‘Afitti.’ There are approximately 4,000 speakers of the Afitti language and its closest linguistic neighbor is the Nyimang language, spoken west of Jebel el-Dair in the Nuba Mountains of the North Kordofan province of Sudan.
The Hill Nubian languages, also called Kordofan Nubian, are a dialect continuum of Nubian languages spoken by the Hill Nubians in the northern Nuba Mountains of Sudan.
Tamashek or Tamasheq is a variety of Tuareg, a Berber macro-language widely spoken by nomadic tribes across North Africa in Algeria, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso. Tamasheq is one of the three main varieties of Tuareg, the others being Tamajaq and Tamahaq.
Vamale (Pamale) is a Kanak language of northern New Caledonia. The Hmwaeke dialect, spoken in Tiéta, is fusing with Haveke and nearly extinct. Vamale is nowadays spoken in Tiendanite, We Hava, Téganpaïk and Tiouandé. It was spoken in the Pamale valley and its tributaries Vawe and Usa until the colonial war of 1917, when its speakers were displaced.
Neveʻei, also known as Vinmavis, is an Oceanic language of central Malekula, Vanuatu. There are around 500 primary speakers of Neveʻei and about 750 speakers in total.
Longgu (Logu) is a Southeast Solomonic language of Guadalcanal, but originally from Malaita.
Turkmen grammar is the grammar of the Turkmen language, whose dialectal variants are spoken in Turkmenistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and others. Turkmen grammar, as described in this article, is the grammar of standard Turkmen as spoken and written by Turkmen people in Turkmenistan.