Morokodo language

Last updated
Morokodo
Native to South Sudan
Ethnicity Morokodo people, Madi people
Native speakers
ca. 50,000 (3,400 native) (2011) [1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 Variously:
mgc  – Morokodo
nwm  – Nyamusa-Molo
gbn  – Mo’da (Gberi)
mwu  – Mittu (extinct)
Glottolog gber1234   Gberi-Morokodo-Mittu
nyam1279   Nyamusa-Molo
ELP Morokodo
  Nyamusa-Molo [2]
  Mo'da [3]
Lang Status 20-CR.svg
Mo'da is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
Coordinates: 6.0313,29.7949

Morokodo is a dialect continuum of Central Sudanic languages spoken in South Sudan.

Contents

Names

Kodo- Kodo is used as a short form for Morokodo, a slang used by the South Sudanese people

Ma’di- Ma’di people use this as the second representative for Morokodo. Often people say the term “Ma’di Mouth” Several of the related language groups still recognize themselves as Ma’di and class themselves Ma’di people.

Moru: Kodo- Third name commonly used.

Status

Although there are 50,000 speakers of Morokodo, there are only 3,400 native speakers worldwide. There is a scarce amount of printed material of the endangered language and the only published works are missionary publications, such as the translation of the New Testament and song/prayer booklets by the Catholic missionaries.There is no signs of revitalization of the Morokodo language, and other languages such as English and Arabic are becoming more dominant in Sudan due to the growing diversity of people and the expansion of property productions in the area.

Phonology

This language group has both advanced tongue root [+ATR] and retracted tongue root [-ATR] vowels. The most common number of phonemic vowels in the language family is nine. The retracted tongue root set is the basic set of vowels. Phonetically, in regards to vowel harmony, the advanced tongue root set is more dominant. The [+ATR] vowel changes the pronunciation of a neighbouring and the [-ATR] vowel is to correspond to the [+ATR] vowel.

There are three tones in the Morokodo language: mid, low and high tones. Ma'di has compounds and some poor deducing processes. Differentiation of the noun, verb, adjective, postposition, as well as recognizing the existence of words that's categories are not as easily found as any of these, and is possibly best called adverbs. Lexical word classes can show the different inflectional behaviour, and are differentiated by characteristic tonal patterns. Loanwords also have a distinctive tonal pattern. All language processes and factors of the language are commonly found.

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References

  1. ↑ Morokodo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Nyamusa-Molo at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mo’da (Gberi) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Mittu (extinct) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Endangered Languages Project data for Nyamusa-Molo.
  3. ↑ Endangered Languages Project data for Mo'da.


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