- Bolgo language
language
name=Bolgo
states=Chad
speakers=1,800
familycolor=Niger-Congo
fam2=Atlantic-Congo
fam3=Volta-Congo
fam4=North
fam5=Adamawa-Ubangi
fam6=Adamawa
fam7=Mbum-Day
fam8=Bua
iso2=nic|iso3=bvoThe Bolgo language is a member of the
Bua languages spoken in south-centralChad , in the villages of Koya, Boli, Gagne, and Bedi southeast of Melfi, by about 1,800 people (SIL 1993.) According to de Rendinger, it has two principal dialects, Bolgo Werel aroundDaguela and Bolgo Mengo aroundAloa-Niagara , as well as a dialect called Bolgo Bormo; according to theEthnologue , its principal dialects are called Bolgo Dugag and Bolgo Kubar ("small" and "great" Bolgo.) Great Bolgo is spoken to the north, bordering Mogum and Saba; Little Bolgo is spoken to the south, bordering the closely related language Koke as well asChadian Arabic .Its typical word order is
Subject Verb Object , Noun Adjective, Aspect particle - Verb, Possessor Possessed. There is no true plural, but "-gi" serves as a collective marker. The verb is negated with "ta", placed at the end of the sentence.Example sentences:
* "in-nāṇ rīm nāṇ n'ini" (give-me water I drink), "give me water to drink"
* "ibéri koko ao léti" (man marry woman two), "the man married two women".Bibliography
* Gen. de Rendinger, "Contribution à l'étude des langues nègres du Centre Africain", "Journal de la Société des Africanistes", XIX-II, 1949, pp. 143-194.
* Peter Fuchs, 1970, "Die Religion der Hadjerai: Kult und Autorität." Berlin. (Contains an ethnolinguistic map of the region.)
* [http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bvo Ethnologue]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
