Korandje language

language
name=Korandje
states=Algeria
region=Tabelbala, "wilaya" of Bechar
speakers=a few thousand
familycolor=Nilo-Saharan
fam2=Songhay
fam3=Northern
iso2=ssa|iso3=kcy

Korandje is by far the most northerly of the Songhay languages. It is spoken around the oasis of Tabelbala by no more than a few thousand people; its name, Kora-n-dje, means "village's language". While retaining a basically Songhay structure, it is extremely heavily influenced by Berber and Arabic; Lacroix estimates that only 40% of its vocabulary is Songhay, with another 30% each from Arabic and Berber.

ounds

Little study of Korandje has been done, so the phonology of the language is necessarily somewhat tentative. According to Robert Nicolai, it has the following consonants:

Nicolai also reports pharyngealized consonants "ṭ ḍ ṣ ẓ ṇ ḥ" as well as "x q", but mainly in loanwords. Tilmatine reports additionally a pharyngealized "ṛ" and a palatal affricate "dž".

Korandje appears to have a six-vowel system: "a, i, u, e, o", and "ə" (schwa). It is unclear whether vowel length is phonemic or not.

Grammar

Pronouns

The pronouns are: "aγi", I; "ni", you; "ana", he/she/it; "yayu", we; "n'd'yu", you (plural); "ini", they. Possessive pronouns are "an", my; "nen", your; "an", his/her/its; "yan", our; "n'd'en", your (pl.); "in", their.

Verbs

The infinitive and singular imperative are both the stem (eg "xani" "sleep"); the plural imperative takes a prefix "u-" ("uxani" "sleep! (pl.)). Cancel describes the conjugations as follows (also for "xani"):

Verbs are negated by surrounding them with "`as ... hé/hi", eg "ni `as ba enγa hé" > "n`esbanγa hé" "do not eat!". "No" is "hoho" or "ho": "n'd'xani bînu, willa ho?" "did you sleep yesterday, or not?".

Nouns

The plural is formed by adding "-yu", eg "bîri" "horse" > "bîriyu" "horses". Some Berber loans take their original plurals in "i-...-en", eg "thaserdent" "mule" > "thiserdanen" "mule"; this type is even extended to Arabic loanwords, eg "dra`" "arm" > "dra`n" "arms". Some take both plurals: "adra" "mountain" > "adrayu" or "idranen" "mountains".

The possessive is expressed by the particle "n", with the possessor preceding the possessed: "wi n âtaffa" "woman 's knife".

Numbers

The numbers include "fu" "one", "inka" "two".

External links

*See [http://www.berberemultimedia.com/etudes_docum/edb_14.pdf Information on Korandje] . (in PDF format; go to p. 163)
* [http://lughat.blogspot.com/ Jabal al-Lughat] - a linguistic blog by Lameen Souag, a specialist on Korandje (note that the blog calls it Kwarandjie or Kwarandzie)

Bibliography

* Cancel, «Etude sur le dialecte de Tabelbala», in Revue Africaine, 1908, Nº 270-271, 302-347.
* Dominique Champault. "Une oasis du Sahara nord-occidental, Tabelbala", Paris: CNRS 1969.