Engenni language
Engenni (Ẹgẹnẹ) is an Edoid language of Nigeria.
| Engenni | |
|---|---|
| Ẹgẹnẹ | |
| Native to | Nigeria |
| Region | Bayelsa State, Rivers State |
| Ethnicity | Engenni people |
Native speakers | (20,000 cited 1980)[1] |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | enn |
| Glottolog | enge1239 |
Grammar edit
Engenni is a fairly isolating language, having little affixation.[2] There is no plural form for words. It has definite articles, but no indefinite articles. There is a two-contrast with regards to demonstratives, while pronominal and adnominal demonstratives are identical (as in English). Verbs are marked for perfective/imperfective aspect, but there is no past tense.[3]
Engenni is an SVO language that uses prepositions. Adjectives, demonstratives, and numerals follow the noun they describe. Yes–no questions are marked with a special particle, which goes at the end of the question. Negation is indicated by a change in tone.
Writing System edit
Engenni has been written since the 1930s, initially in leaflets, posters and religious hymns, or a translation of the Bible. It took several decades before non-religious literary works were published in English. In the 1970s, several literacy works were published by Joycelyn Clevenger or Mosaic Urugba with the Rivers Readers Project. A translation of the New Testament, Baibulu Eba Fai was published in 1977 by World Home Bible League. An alphabet with 9 vowels and 25 consonants is used in epoch.
In 2011, a new alphabet with 10 vowels and 30 consonants was adopted and published.
| a | ạ | b | ḅ | ch | d | ḍ | e | ẹ | f | g | gb | gw | i | ị | j | k | kp | kw | l | m | n | ny | nw | o | ọ | p | r | s | sh | sw | t | u | ụ | v | w | y | z | ẓ |
References edit
- ^ Engenni at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- ^ Thomas, Elaine. 1978. A Grammatical Description of the Engenni Language. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics, 60. 60. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
- ^ "WALS Online - Language Engenni".
- ^ Ngulube 2011.
Works cited edit
- Ngulube, Isaac (2011). "The Engene Orthography". In Ozo-Mekuri Ndimele (ed.). Orthographies Of Nigerian Languages Manual X. Nigerian Education Research and Development Council.