Mursi (also Dama, Merdu, Meritu, Murzi, Murzu) is a Southeast Surmic language spoken by the Mursi people who live in the South Omo Zone on the eastern side of the lower Omo valley in southwest Ethiopia.[2] The language is similar to Suri, another Southeast Surmic language spoken to the west of the Mursi language area.[3] It is spoken by approximately 7,400 people.[1]: 91
The vowel and consonant inventory of Mursi is similar to those of other Southeast Surmic languages, except for the lack of ejectives, the labial fricative /f/ and the voiceless stop /p/.[6]
Except for the hesitant inclusion of the glottal stop /ʔ/ by Firew, both Mütze and Firew agree on the consonant inventory. The layout mostly follows Mütze. The characters in angled brackets are the ones used by Firew, where they differ from Mütze.
Mütze rejects the phonemic status of the glottal stop [ʔ], claiming that it is phonetically inserted to break up vowel sequences.[9] Firew discusses this and leaves the question undecided, but includes the sound in the phoneme chart.[10]
Firew classifies the alveolar implosive /ɗ/ as postalveolar, without giving reasons.[11]
Both Mütze and Firew agree on the vowel inventory and on the chosen transcription, as shown above.[13]
Even though vowel length appears phonetically in Mursi, it can be explained by the elision of weak consonants between identical vowels.[14]
Tone
Both Mütze[15] and Firew[16] agree that there are only two underlying tone levels in Mursi, as opposed to larger inventories proposed by Turton and Bender[17] and Moges.[18]
^Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. (1998). "Surmic Languages and Cultures: an Introduction". In Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.; Last, Marco (eds.). Surmic Languages and Cultures. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. pp. 35–81.
Firew Girma Worku (2021). A Grammar of Mursi: A Nilo-Saharan Language of Ethiopia (Thesis). Brill: Leiden. doi:10.1163/9789004449916.
Moges Yigezu; Turton, David (2005). "Latin Based Mursi Orthography". ELRC Working Papers. Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Languages Research Center. 1 (2): 242–57. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
Mütze, Bettina (2014). A Sketch of the Mursi Language (MA thesis). Gloucester: Redcliff College, University of Gloucestershire.
Turton, David; Bender, M. Lionel (1976). "Mursi". In Bender, M. Lionel (ed.). The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. East Lansing: African Studies Center, Michigan State University. pp. 533–561.
Turton, David; Moges Yigezu; Oliserali Olibui (2008). Mursi-English-Amharic Dictionary. Addis Ababa: Culture and Arts Society of Ethiopia.
mursi, language, mursi, also, dama, merdu, meritu, murzi, murzu, southeast, surmic, language, spoken, mursi, people, live, south, zone, eastern, side, lower, valley, southwest, ethiopia, language, similar, suri, another, southeast, surmic, language, spoken, we. Mursi also Dama Merdu Meritu Murzi Murzu is a Southeast Surmic language spoken by the Mursi people who live in the South Omo Zone on the eastern side of the lower Omo valley in southwest Ethiopia 2 The language is similar to Suri another Southeast Surmic language spoken to the west of the Mursi language area 3 It is spoken by approximately 7 400 people 1 91 MursiNative toEthiopiaRegionCentral OmoEthnicityMursiNative speakers7 400 2007 census 1 91 Language familyNilo Saharan Eastern SudanicSurmicSouthSoutheastSuri MursiMursiWriting systemEthiopicLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code muz class extiw title iso639 3 muz muz a Glottologmurs1242ELPMursi Contents 1 Classification 2 Phonology 2 1 Phoneme inventory 2 2 Tone 3 Grammar 3 1 Nouns 4 Notes 5 Bibliography 6 External linksClassification EditMursi is classified as belonging to the Southeast Surmic languages to which the following other languages also belong Suri Me en and Kwegu 4 5 As such Mursi is also part of the superordinate Eastern Sudanic family of the Nilo Saharan languages Phonology EditPhoneme inventory Edit The vowel and consonant inventory of Mursi is similar to those of other Southeast Surmic languages except for the lack of ejectives the labial fricative f and the voiceless stop p 6 Consonants of Mursi 7 8 Labial Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar GlottalStop voiceless t c c k ʔ voiced b d ɟ dʒ ɡImplosive ɓ ɗFricative voiceless s ʃ hvoiced zNasal m n ɲ ŋLiquids r lApproximant j wExcept for the hesitant inclusion of the glottal stop ʔ by Firew both Mutze and Firew agree on the consonant inventory The layout mostly follows Mutze The characters in angled brackets are the ones used by Firew where they differ from Mutze Mutze rejects the phonemic status of the glottal stop ʔ claiming that it is phonetically inserted to break up vowel sequences 9 Firew discusses this and leaves the question undecided but includes the sound in the phoneme chart 10 Firew classifies the alveolar implosive ɗ as postalveolar without giving reasons 11 Vowels of Mursi 12 Front unrounded Central BackClose i uClose mid e oOpen mid ɛ ɔOpen aBoth Mutze and Firew agree on the vowel inventory and on the chosen transcription as shown above 13 Even though vowel length appears phonetically in Mursi it can be explained by the elision of weak consonants between identical vowels 14 Tone Edit Both Mutze 15 and Firew 16 agree that there are only two underlying tone levels in Mursi as opposed to larger inventories proposed by Turton and Bender 17 and Moges 18 Grammar EditThe Mursi grammar makes use of the following parts of speech nouns 19 verbs 20 adjectives 21 pronouns 22 adverbs 23 adpositions 24 question words 25 quantifiers 24 connectors 26 discourse particles 27 interjections 28 ideophones 24 and expressives 24 Nouns Edit Nouns can be inflected for number and case 29 The number marking system is very complex using suffixation suppletion or tone to either mark plurals from singular bases or singulatives from plural bases 30 Mursi preverbal subjects and all objects are unmarked 31 whereas postverbal subjects are marked by a nominative case Further cases are the oblique case and the genitive case 31 Modified nouns receive a special morphological marking called construct form by Mutze 32 Notes Edit a b Ethiopian Census 2007 csa gov et Addis Ababa Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency 2007 Archived from the original on 2011 07 28 Retrieved 9 July 2021 Firew 2021 p 1 Firew 2021 pp 19 f Firew 2021 pp 36 f Dimmendaal Gerrit J 1998 Surmic Languages and Cultures an Introduction In Dimmendaal Gerrit J Last Marco eds Surmic Languages and Cultures Cologne Rudiger Koppe Verlag pp 35 81 Firew 2021 p 45 Mutze 2014 p 26 Firew 2021 p 46 Mutze 2014 pp 26 f Firew 2021 pp 46 f Firew 2021 p 46 on pp 49 f he even several times calls it velar Mutze 2014 p 37 Firew 2021 p 59 Mutze 2014 p 39 Mutze 2014 p 42 Firew 2021 p 86 Turton amp Bender 1976 p 559 Moges Yigezu 2001 A Comparative Study of the Phonetics and Phonology of Surmic Languages Brussels Universite Libre de Bruxelles Firew 2021 p 102 Firew 2021 p 128 Firew 2021 p 130 Firew 2021 p 132 Firew 2021 p 143 a b c d Firew 2021 p 151 Firew 2021 p 154 Firew 2021 p 161 Firew 2021 p 163 Firew 2021 p 168 Mutze 2014 p 47 Firew 2021 ch 6 2 a b Mutze 2014 p 53 Mutze 2014 p 62Bibliography EditFirew Girma Worku 2021 A Grammar of Mursi A Nilo Saharan Language of Ethiopia Thesis Brill Leiden doi 10 1163 9789004449916 Moges Yigezu Turton David 2005 Latin Based Mursi Orthography ELRC Working Papers Addis Ababa Ethiopian Languages Research Center 1 2 242 57 Retrieved 9 July 2021 Mutze Bettina 2014 A Sketch of the Mursi Language MA thesis Gloucester Redcliff College University of Gloucestershire Turton David Bender M Lionel 1976 Mursi In Bender M Lionel ed The Non Semitic Languages of Ethiopia East Lansing African Studies Center Michigan State University pp 533 561 Turton David Moges Yigezu Oliserali Olibui 2008 Mursi English Amharic Dictionary Addis Ababa Culture and Arts Society of Ethiopia External links EditMursi Online University of Oxford Mursi basic lexicon at the Global Lexicostatistical Database World Atlas of Language Structures information on Mursi Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mursi language amp oldid 1118777523, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
