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A Dictionary and Grammar Outline of Mada, a Plateau Language of Central Nigeria

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A DICTIONARY AND GRAMMAR OUTLINE OF MADA, A PLATEAU LANGUAGE OF CENTRAL NIGERIA 2019 version BASED ON THE RIJA DIALECT Mada-English-Mada Roger Blench Barau Kato (†) McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research University of Cambridge Correspondence to: 8, Guest Road Cambridge CB1 2AL United Kingdom Voice/ Ans (00-44)-(0)1223-560687 Mobile worldwide (00-44)-(0)7847-495590 E-mail [email protected] http://www.rogerblench.info/RBOP.htm (Cambridge, 27 December 2018) Roger Blench and Barau Kato (†) Mada Dictionary Front matter Preface This dictionary is a preliminary attempt to record the richness of the Mada language. It was prepared in its first form by Roger Blench and Barau Kato. However, Barau died prematurely in 2016, and subsequently, Roger Blench, with assistance from Robert Hedinger, converted the Word file to Flex, which enabled both the preparation of an English-Mada dictionary and more elaborate internal cross- referencing. The dictionary is intended to help standardise the spelling of Mada words and to define words which are no longer in current use, especially cultural terms. The primary goal is to assist Mada speakers to use and spell words correctly. We hope also that the dictionary will be useful to students of the languages of Nigeria and of African languages in general. An introduction has been provided to facilitate the effective use of the dictionary. It covers Mada phonology; current orthography; an outline of Mada grammar; Mada language use; abbreviations; and illustrates the structure of individual entries. The appendices provide information of both cultural interest, such as Mada personal names, towns and villages; and words developed for Mada Bible Translation. The authors are aware that there are still many Mada words which have eluded us and that some words here defined may have secondary meanings that are not included. This is a draft circulated to interested individuals and therefore I would be grateful if any suggestions for amendment, correction and addition could be forwarded to the first author at the address given below. Roger Blench Barau Kato (†) Cambridge, 27 December 2018 i Roger Blench and Barau Kato (†) Mada Dictionary Front matter TABLE OF C O N T E N T S PREFACE.............................................................................................................................................. I ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................................................................IV 1. THE MADA PEOPLE: LOCATION, ORIGIN AND CLASSIFICATION................................1 1.1 Location and Name ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Classification................................................................................................................................................ 1 1.3 Scholarly publication ................................................................................................................................... 1 1.4 Dialects......................................................................................................................................................... 2 1.5 Sources of material....................................................................................................................................... 2 2. THE SOUND SYSTEM OF MADA AND ITS ORTHOGRAPHY..............................................3 2.1 Sound system ............................................................................................................................................... 3 2.1.1 Consonants............................................................................................................................................ 3 2.1.2 Vowels .................................................................................................................................................. 5 2.1.3 Tones .................................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Letters of the Mada alphabet........................................................................................................................ 6 3. GRAMMAR SKETCH.....................................................................................................................6 3.1 Nouns ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.1 Morphology............................................................................................................................................... 6 3.1.2 Synchronic number marking strategies ..................................................................................................... 7 Type I nouns: tone-alternation.................................................................................................................... 7 Type II nouns: initial syllable reduplication ............................................................................................. 13 Type III nouns: prefix addition................................................................................................................. 15 Type IV nouns: person nouns acting as pseudo-prefixes ............................................................................ 16 Type V nouns: diminutives acting as pseudo class-prefixes........................................................................ 16 Suppletives................................................................................................................................................... 17 Nouns without number marking ............................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Verbs .......................................................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.1 Verb morphology................................................................................................................................ 18 3.2.2 Valency change................................................................................................................................... 18 3.2.3 Verb extensions .................................................................................................................................. 18 3.2.4 Plural verbs ......................................................................................................................................... 19 3.2.5 Nominalisation of verbs: gerunds....................................................................................................... 19 3.3 Pronouns .................................................................................................................................................... 20 3.3.1 Independent pronouns......................................................................................................................... 20 3.3.3 Reflexive Pronouns............................................................................................................................. 24 3.3.4 Relative pronouns ............................................................................................................................... 26 3.3.5 Possessive pronouns ........................................................................................................................... 26 3.3.6 Indefinite pronouns............................................................................................................................. 26 3.4 Demonstratives........................................................................................................................................... 27 3.5 Adjectives and qualifiers............................................................................................................................ 29 3.5.1 Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 29 3.5.2 Adjectives ........................................................................................................................................... 29 3.5.2.1 Adjective morphology .................................................................................................................. 29 3.5.2.2 Adjectival ideophones .................................................................................................................. 32 3.5.2.3 Adjectival intensifiers................................................................................................................... 32 3.5.2.4 Colour intensifiers ........................................................................................................................ 33 3.5.2.5 Adjectives following the copula sē............................................................................................... 33 3.5.3 Stative verbs........................................................................................................................................ 34 3.6 Numerals .................................................................................................................................................... 35 3.7 Adverbs .....................................................................................................................................................
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