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| Burji | |
|---|---|
| ቡርጂ (Burji) | |
| Native to | Ethiopia,Kenya |
| Region | South ofLake Chamo |
| Ethnicity | Burji people |
Native speakers | 83,000 (2007 & 2019 censuses)[1] |
| Geʽez Latin | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | bji |
| Glottolog | burj1242 |
| ELP | Burji |
Burji language (alternate names:Bembala, Bambala, Daashi) is anAfro-Asiatic language spoken by theBurji people who reside inEthiopia south ofLake Chamo. There are over 49,000 speakers in Ethiopia, and a further 36,900 speakers inKenya. Burji belongs to theHighland East Cushitic group of theCushitic branch of theAfro-Asiatic family.[1]
The language has the SOV (subject–object–verb) word order common to the Cushitic family. The verb morphology distinguishes passive and middlegrammatical voice, as well as causative. Verbal suffixes mark the person, number, and gender of the subject.
The New Testament was published in the Burji language in 1993. A collection of Burji proverbs, translated into English, French, and Swahili, is available on the Web.[2]
| base numeral | +10 | × 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | micha | 11 | tannaya micha | 10 | tanna | ||
| 2 | lama | 12 | tannaya lama | 20 | lamattann | ||
| 3 | fadiya | 13 | tannaya fadiya | 30 | fadiitann | ||
| 4 | foola | 14 | tannaya foola | 40 | foolattan | ||
| 5 | umutta | 15 | tannaya umutta | 50 | umuttan | ||
| 6 | liya | 16 | tannaya liya | 60 | liittan | ||
| 7 | lamala | 17 | tannaya lamala | 70 | lamalattan | ||
| 8 | hiditta | 18 | tannaya hiditta | 80 | hidittan | ||
| 9 | wonfa | 19 | tannaya wonfa | 90 | wonfattan | ||
| 10 | tanna | 20 | lamattann | 100 | ch'ibba | ||
Dhaashatee is a head-final language, which means that modifiers come before the main noun in the noun phrase. Dependent clauses come before independent clauses, while relative clauses come before the nouns they modify. The basic word order at the sentence-level is SOV, as in other HEC languages.[3]
Relative clauses in Burji (Dhaashatee) are not formally marked but they can be recognized from main clauses by having more than one completely inflected verb in a non-final position. In contrast, in a "regular" main clause with multiple verbs, all but the last one takes aconverb suffix. Other types of subordinate clauses are marked by complementizers or subordinate conjunctions.
An examples of a relative clause is given below.Dhogoli functions as the subject of both the relative clause and the main clause.
Lama
two
lasa
day
eegadh-i
wait-CVB
akkarraga
evening
Lama lasa eegadh-i dhab-ann-oo dhogol-i aaree-shini gal-i=k'aa akkarraga isheek-koo mar-ann-oo.
two day wait-CVB loose-PST-CON leopard-SNOM.M/ABS anger-INS.F return-CVB=FOC evening POSS.3SG.F-ADE go-PST-CON
'Having lost two days waiting, the leopard returned furiously, and in the evening, he went to her house.'
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