Maba language

Last updated
Maba
buraa mabaŋ
بُرَا مَبَݝ
Native to Chad [1]
Region Ouaddaï, Wadi Fira
Ethnicity Maba
Native speakers
570,000 (2019) [1]
Dialects
  • Maba
  • Kodroy
  • Kabartu
  • Kondongo
Arabic script
Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3 mde
Glottolog maba1277

Maba (Maban, Mabang, or Bura Mabang) is a Nilo-Saharan language of the Maban branch spoken in Chad and Sudan. It is divided into several dialects, and serves as a local trade language. Maba is closely related to the Masalit language. [2] Most speakers of Maba reside in Chad with 542,000 speakers as of 2019. In 2022 there were 28,000 speakers in Sudan where the language is known as Sulaihab. [1]

Contents

Phonology

Vowels

Front Central Back
Close i iːu uː
Open-mid ɛ ɛːɔ ɔː
Open a aː

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
Nasal mnɲŋ
Stop voiceless(p)t(ʈ)ck
voicedbd(ɖ)ɟg
prenasalᵐbⁿd(ᶯɖ)ᶮɟᵑɡ
Fricative voicelessfsʃ(h)
voiced(z)
Rhotic ɾ
Lateral l
Approximant jw

Orthography

Maba language is written with the Latin and Arabic Chad Alphabet.

Maba Latin alphabet [4]
A aB bC cCh chD dDr drE e (Ɛ ɛ)F fG gH hI iJ jK kKh khL lM mMb mb
[ a ][ b ][ c ][ ʃ ][ d ][ ɖ ][ ɛ ][ f ][ g ][ h ][ i ][ ɟ ][ k ][ x ][ l ][ m ][ ᵐb ]
N nN̰ n̰Nd ndNdr ndrNj njŊ ŋNg ngO o (Ɔ ɔ)PpR rS sT tTr trU uW wY yZ z
[ n ][ ɲ ][ ⁿd ][ ᶯɖ ][ ᶮɟ ][ ŋ ][ ᵑɡ ][ ɔ ][ p ][ ɾ ] ([ r ])[ s ][ t ][ ʈ ][ u ][ w ][ j ][ z ]
Maba Arabic alphabet [5]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
أ إ
‌( - )
[ ]/[ ʔ ]
ب
(B b)
[ b ]
پ
(P p)
[ p ]
ت
(T t)
[ t ]
ث
(T t)
[ t ]
ج
(J j)
[ ɟ ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
ڃ
(Nj nj)
[ ᶮɟ ]
چ
(C c)
[ c ]
ح
(H h)
[ h ]
خ
(Kh kh)
[ x ]
د
(D d)
[ d ]
ڊ
(Nd nd)
[ ⁿd ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
ذ
(S s)
[ s ]
ر
(R r)
[ ɾ ] ([ r ])
ڔ
(Dr dr)
[ ɖ ]
ز
(Z z)
[ z ]
ڗ
(Tr tr)
[ ʈ ]
ژ
(Ndr Ndr)
[ ᶯɖ ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
س
(S s)
[ s ]
ش
(Ch ch)
[ ʃ ]
ص
(S s)
[ s ]
ض
(D d)
[ d ]
ط
(T t)
[ t ]
ظ
(Z z)
[ z ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
ع
( - )
[ ʔ ]
غ
(Kh kh)
[ x ]
ݝ
(Ŋ ŋ)
[ ŋ ]
ڠ
(Ng ng)
[ ᵑɡ ]
ف
(F f)
[ f ]
ق
(G g)
[ g ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
ك
(K k)
[ k ]
ل
(L l)
[ l ]
م
(M m)
[ m ]
ݦ
(Mb mb)
[ ᵐb ]
ن
(N n)
[ n ]
ݧ
(N̰ n̰)
[ ɲ ]
Arabic
(Latin)
[ IPA ]
ه
(H h)
[ h ]
و
(W w)
[ w ]
ؤ
‌( - )
[ ʔ ]
ي
(Y y)
[ j ]
ئ
‌( - )
[ ʔ ]
Vowel at beginning of word
AE (Ɛ)IO (Ɔ)U
أَأٚإِأٛأُ
AaEe (Ɛɛ)IiOo (Ɔɔ)Uu
آأٚيـإِيـأٛوأُو
Vowel at middle and end of word
ae (ɛ)io (ɔ)u
◌َ◌ٚ◌ِ◌ٛ◌ُ◌ْ
aaee (ɛɛ)iioo (ɔɔ)uu
◌َا / ـَا◌ٚيـ / ـٚيـ
◌ٚي / ـٚي
◌ِيـ / ـِيـ
◌ِي / ـِي
ٛ◌و / ـٛو◌ُو / ـُو

Example

Sample text in Maba (Genesis 1)

Jul Kalaagu barnu kaa, samanu kan khalga torŋo. Barnu jaa, tiŋ lutok nambay bee tirr taka, luluyoonu enjii likkey bahar naanugu bik torŋoka, Kalaaginiŋ ruunu jaa enjiinun ner tal naŋ welet tire.

Aa suŋun ta Kalaagu «dey tiini» tirka, deynu tuyo. Deynu tuyoka, keree taanu tokoori. Aa suŋun ta deynugu luluyoonun ner tumbutuŋo. Deynugu dalka su kurin, luluyoonugu jaa iche su turiri. Barnu kondokur kin, wujaa subbo kaa tuyo. Waŋ jaa wonjoo owwoliinu ti. Wujaa kaa Kalaagu aa tirii: «Enjii naa n̰orogin wirii nokoy inda, enjiinugu tumbutoŋni», su ta Kalaagu wirii tindriyarka, wiriinu jaa enjiinugu tal kaa, lul kaa tumbutuŋo. Haddaa waŋ ta, lutoo waŋ tuyo. Aa suŋun ta Kalaagu wiriinugu sama su turiri. Barnu kondokur kin, wujaa subbo kaa tuyo. Waŋ jaa wonjoo mbuloonu ti.

Wujaa Kalaagu aa tirii: «Enjii yaak samanun ner lul nindaa waŋ, barik tek tay turŋoka, bar nojjir tujiini» tirka tuyo. Annaa taka ta, Kalaagu bar nojjirnugu bar su kurin, enjii tay nurŋoonugu jaa bahar su turiri. Waŋ jaa keree taanu tokoori.

Translation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Maba at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) Closed Access logo transparent.svg
  2. "Maba". Ethnologue. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  3. Weiss, Doris (2009). Phonologie et morphosyntaxe du Maba. Université Lumière - Lyon II.
  4. Maass, Antje; Mahamat, Abdoulaye Issaakha; Ali, Ousman Timsa; Adam, Duudeen Ali (2017) [2000]. Buraa mabaŋnu jiŋ ger mirni! (Kitab 1) (in Maba) (3 ed.). N’Djaména: SIL Tchad. (PDF Archived 2024-04-18 at the Wayback Machine dead link)
  5. Oumar, Alkassim; Hicham, Fathimat Al-Zahra; Dahab, Abdoulaye Ali; Ali, Ousman Timsa; Zürcher, Evodie; Weiss, Doris (2007) [2000]. بُرَا مَبَݝْنُ، جِݝ قٚر مِرْنِ! (كِتَب ١) (Buraa mabaŋnu jiŋ ger mirni! (Kitab 1)) (in Maba) (4 ed.). N’Djaména: SIL Tchad.

Further reading