In some words, a vowel without an adjacent semivowel alternates with a vowel and adjacent semivowel among the dialects. And which dialect has which vowel and semivowel, varies from word to
word. 53
Dorik Ngotira
Lomiaha Lohutok
Lolongo
y ɔ
hayy ɔhɔ-ni
hayy ɔhɔ-ni
hɛyyɔhɔ-ni hɛyyɔhɔ-ni
hɛyyɔhɔ-ni ‘shepherd’
wɔ mɔrwɔ
mɔrwɔ mɔrwɔ
mɔrwɔ mɔrwɔ
‘stone’ ay
cumay sɔ̀mây
sɔmay sɔmay
sɔmay ‘fat’
ɛ ~ yɔ dɛrɔ
dɛrɔ dy
ɔrɔ dy
ɔrɔ dy
ɔrɔti ‘rats’
ɛ ~ yɛ kɛr
ky ɛr
kɛr kɛr
kɛr ‘sheep’
irɛfit irɛfit
ily ɛfit
ily ɛfit
ɔlɛfit ‘container’
ɛ ~ ya imɛtak
imɛtak imyatak
imyatak imyatak
‘increase, become’
inɛfɔ inɛfa
inɛfu inyafa
inyafa ‘catch’
lɔrɛwa lɛrɛwa
lɔlyawa lɔlyawa
ɔlɛwa ‘husband’
ɔ ~ wɔ idɔŋɔ idɔŋɔ
idwɔŋɔ idwɔŋɔ
idwɔŋɔ ‘appear’
hɔmwɔŋ hɔ̀mwɔ̀ŋ
hɔmɔm hɔmɔm
hɔmɔm ‘face, forehead’
ɛ ~ ɛy lɛymɛ
lɛ́ymɛ̀ lɛmyɛ
lɛmyɛ lɛmɛ
‘lion’ lɛwa
lɛ́wá llɛywa
llɛywa llɛwa
‘gazelle type’ lɛyfɔri
lɛyfɔri lɛyfɔri
lɛyfɔri ɛfɔri
‘kitchen’ ɔ ~ ɔy
mɔytɛ mɔytɛ
mɔtyɛ mɔtyɛ
mɔtɛ ‘morning’
a ~ ay fayti
fày tî
fati fati
fati ‘ebony tree’
garay gàráy
garay garay
igara ‘dry grassland’
a ~ aw hawwɛ
hàwwɛ̀ hawwɛ
hawwɛ hawɔ
‘arrow’ In a few other words, there are vowel-consonant alternations among the dialects.
54 Dorik
Ngotira Lomiaha
Lohutok Lolongo
wa mɔrwari mɔrwari
mɔrwari mɔrwari mɔrwari
‘rocky place’ wa ~ wa
kwan kwàn
wan wan
hwan ‘body’
wa ~ usa ibwari
ibwari ibusari
ibusari oburusari
‘escape’ ca ~ tya
icaha icaha
ityaha ityaha
ityara ‘begin’
cɔw ~ sw hɔcɔwan haswani haswani
haswani haswani
‘buffalo’ llu ~ lyu
tɛ-lyu tɛ-lyu
tɔ-llu tɔ-llu
tɔ-llu ‘jumb down’
sːi ~ syɔ ma-
cɔhi may-sy
ɔk
a
ma- sːik
ma- sːik
ma- sːik
‘places’
a
In Ngotira, ‘places’ can be either may-sihi or may-sy ɔk.
2.4 Dialect comparison of syllable structure
Syllable types and structures are generally the same for the five dialects. However, CVSC syllable types are not found in Lomiaha or Lohutok. However, the semivowel w is found word-final in Lolongo faw
‘earth, ground’ in Lolongo. Semivowels precede and follow the same vowels in other dialects as in 17, except that in Lomiaha,
Lohutok and Lolongo, y does not precede u, but instead precedes ɔ as in dyɔrɔ ‘rats’. In addition,
w precedes ɛ in Lomiaha huh-wɛ ‘charcoal’ and Lolongo ilulwɛ ‘cry’.
The same consonants precede semivowels in other dialects, except that in Dorik —which has no s phoneme— c precedes y instead of s as in icy
ɔ ‘honey’. In Dorik, as in other dialects, c is not
found to precede w. In addition to the Ngotira consonants preceding adjacent vowels shown in 18, t precedes y in Dorik as in t
yaŋ ‘animal’, and ɟ precedes y in Lolongo as in ɟyani ‘broom’. Lastly, tone was only elicited for the Ngotira data in this analysis. However,
Turner 2001ː44 claims a two contrastive level tone system in Lolongo High and Low, and Moodie claims at least High
a nd Low tone in Dorik 2012ː15.
2.5 Noun plural formation alternation among the dialects
In other dialects, the same plural formation affixes are found except that Lomiaha, Lohutok and Lolongo do not have -sen, and these dialects use -ira instead of -ara. In Dorik, which has no phoneme s, the
suffixes -ci and -cen are used instead of -si and -sen. Most plural formation affixes are found in five dialects of the same word. However in some words,
there are alternations of the affixes among the dialects. And which dialect has which alternation, varies from word to word. Which suffix alternates also varies from word to word. In 55, the plural suffix -a is
shown to alternate with various suffixes and in various dialects. Singular forms of nouns are listed above plural forms in each of five dialects.
55 Dorik
Ngotira Lomiaha Lohutok Lolongo
tafar táfár
tafar tafar
tafar ‘lake, pond’
-a tafar-a
tàfàr-à tafar-a
tafar-a tafar-a
cɔfɛ sɔ̀fɛ̂
sɔfɛ sɔfɛ
hisɔfɛ ‘drill, hoe’
-a ~ -cin cɔfɛ-cin
sɔ̀fy-â sɔfy-a
sɔfy-a sɔfy-a
hɔrwɔŋ hɔ̀rwɔ̀ŋ
hɔrwɔŋ hɔrwɔŋ
hɔrwɔŋ ‘back’
-a ~ - itcɔk
hɔrwɔŋ-a hɔ́rwɔ̀ŋ-â hɔrwɔŋ-a hɔrwɔŋ-a hɔrwɔŋ-itɔk fɔtir
fɔ́tír fɔtir
fɔtir fɔtir
‘warthog’ -a ~ -ak
fɔtir-a fɔ̀tìr-à
fɔrtir-ak fɔrtir-ak
fɔrtir-ak cali
sàl ì
sali sali
sali ‘stove’
-a ~ - cɔ, -tɔ cali-cɔ
sàly- â
sali- tɔ
sali- tɔ
sali- tɔ
In 56, the plural suffix - ɔ alternates with various suffixes and in various dialects.
56 Dorik
Ngotira Lomiaha
Lohutok Lolongo
mɔlɔŋ mɔ̀lɔ̀ŋ mɔlɔŋ
mɔlɔŋ mɔlɔŋ
‘baboon’ -
ɔ mɔlɔŋ-ɔ
mɔ̀lɔ̀ŋ-ɔ̂ mɔlɔŋ-ɔ mɔlɔŋ-ɔ
mɔlɔŋ-ɔ tamu
tàmù tamu
tamu tamu
‘helmet’ -
ɔ ~ -cin tamu-cin
tamw- ɔ
tamw- ɔ
tamw- ɔ
tamw- ɔ
dɔrɔŋ dɔ̀rɔ̀ŋ
dɔrɔŋ dɔrɔŋ
dɔrɔŋ ‘high land’
- ɔ ~ -i
dɔrɔŋ-ɔ dɔ́rɔ́ŋ-ì
dɔrɔŋ-i dɔrɔŋ-i
dɔrɔŋ-i fuhɛr
fúhɛ́r fuhɛr
fuhɛr fuhɛr
‘farm’ -
ɔ ~ -a fuhɛr-ɔ
fùhɛ̀r-ɔ̀ fuhyar-a
fuhyar-a fuhyar-a
buni bùnî
buni buni
buni-t ‘pool’
- ɔ ~ -cɔ, ∅ buni-cɔ
bùnì buny-
ɔ buny-
ɔ buni
The alternations of the plural suffix - ɟin are similarly unpredictable.
57 Dorik
Ngotira Lomiaha
Lohutok Lolongo
hɔfwɔ hɔ́fwɔ́
hɔfwɔ hɔfwɔ
hɔfwɔ ‘flour’
- ɟin
hɔfwɔ-ɟin hɔ̀fwɔ̀-ɟìn
hɔfwɔ-ɟin hɔfwɔ-ɟin
hɔfwɔ-ɟin hɔtwa
hɔ̀twáy hɔtway
hɔtway hɔtw-ay
‘inside’ -
ɟin ~ -ɛ hɔtwa-yɟin hɔ̀twày-ɟín hɔtway-ɟin hɔtway-ɟin hɔtw-ɛ
57 Dorik
Ngotira Lomiaha
Lohutok Lolongo
hɔtɔ hɔ́tɔ́
hɔtɔ hɔtɔ
hɔtɔ ‘blood’
- ɟin ~ ∅
hɔtɔ hɔtɔ-ɟin
hɔtɔ-ɟin hɔtɔ-ɟin
hɔtɔ-ɟin gɔrɔ
gɔ̀rɔ̀ gɔrɔ
gɔrɔ gɔrɔ
‘jug’ -
ɟin ~ -na gɔrɔ-na
gɔ̀rɔ̀-nà gɔrɔ-ɟin
gɔrɔ-ɟin gɔrɔ-ɟin
bɛlɛ-lyɛ bɛ̀lyɛ̌
bɛlyɛ bɛlyɛ
bɛly-ɛ ‘skin’
- ɟin ~ -sin, -lɛ bɛly-ɛ
bɛ̀lyɛ̀-ɟìn bɛlyɛ-sin
bɛlyɛ-sin bɛlɛ-lɛ
The singular suffix -i also has unpredictable alternations. 58
Dorik Ngotira
Lomiaha Lohutok
Lolongo
-i cɛŋ-i
cɛ̀ŋ-î cɛŋ-i
cɛŋ-i cɛŋ-i
‘bird’ cɛŋ
cɛ̀ŋ cɛŋ
cɛŋ cɛŋ
-i ~ -ti iwa-y
ìwâ-y huwa-ti
huwa-ti iwa-ti
‘wing’ iwa
ìwâ huwa
huwa iwa
-i ~ -iti, -y ɔ
laky ɛ-ti lɛfɛr-iti
ɔfyɛr-i ɔfɛr-i
hafɛr-yɔ ‘louse, lice’
laky ɛ
lɛfɛr-ɔ ɔfyɛr
ɔfɛr hafɛr
The singular prefix hi- is most common in singular nouns of all dialects, such as in hì-yɛ̀nìyɛ́ní
‘rope’. However, hi- begins both singular and plural nouns in some dialects of the words of 59. 59
Dorik Ngotira
Lomiaha Lohutok
Lolongo
hi- hi-
yɛni hì-yɛ̀nì
hi- yɛni
hi- yɛni
hi- yɛni
‘rope’ yɛni
yɛ́ní yɛni
yɛni yɛni
hi- riŋɔ
hi- riŋɔ
hiri- ŋɔ
hiri- ŋɔ
hiri- ŋɔ
‘meat’ riŋɔ-y
riŋɔ-y hiri
hiri hiri
hiɲaŋ hi-
ɲaŋ hi-
ɲaŋ hi-
ɲaŋ hi-
ɲaŋ ‘crocodile’
hiɲaŋ-a ɲaŋ-i
ɲaŋ-i ɲaŋ-i
ɲaŋ-i hunɔm
húnɔ́m hi-
nɔm hi-
nɔm hi-
nɔm ‘cave’
hunɔm-ɔ hùnɔ̀m-ɔ̀
nɔm-i nɔm-i
nɔm-i Most nouns utilize the same mechanisms for forming singular and plural nouns in all dialects. That
is, in most nouns, all dialects attach a suffix or prefix to the singular form, or they all attach a suffix to the plural form, or they use a combination of the two. However in the nouns of 60, the dialects
alternate in the way they form the singular and plural of the noun.
60 Dorik Ngotira
Lomiaha Lohutok
Lolongo
mwarah-i mwárák
mwarah-ati mwarah-ati
mwarah-ati ‘horn’
mwarah-a mwàràh-
â mwarak mwarak
mwarak tɔgɔli
tɔgɔli tɔgɔl-i
tɔgɔl-i tɔgɔl-i
‘canoe’ tɔgɔli-cɛn
tɔgɔli-sɛn tɔgɔl-ɔ
tɔgɔl-ɔ tɔgɔl-ɔ
haŋɛr-i haŋɛr-i
haŋɛr-i haŋɛr-i
haŋɛri ‘fruit, seed’
haŋɛr ha
ŋɛr haŋɛr
haŋɛr haŋɛry-ɔ
huŋ-u huŋ-u
huŋu huŋu
huŋu ‘knee’
huŋ-a hùŋ
huŋu-ta huŋu-ta
huŋu-ta
2.6 Vowel morphophonology in other dialects