Masa (language)

The Masa , also known as Massa , Masana or Banana , a proper name for màsànà , is a language spoken around the city of Bongor in Chad and in neighboring areas of Cameroon . With around 200,000 speakers, it is one of the more important languages ​​of the Chadian family . It is controversial whether they should be assigned to the Biu-Mandara branch of this language family or should be viewed as a separate subgroup within the Chadic languages.

According to the system

Consonants

The Masa distinguishes the following consonants:

	Labials	Dental	Lateral	Palatal	Velare	Glottal
voiceless plosives	p	t		c	k	ʔ
voiced plosives	b	d		j	G
Implosive	ɓ	ɗ
voiceless fricatives	f	s	ɬ			H
voiced fricatives	v	z	ɮ			ɦ
Nasals	m	n			ŋ

Then there are l, r, w and y.

The Masa shares the existence of lateral fricatives and implosives with many other Chadian languages. Even more unusual is the sound ɦ, which is described in the documentation as the voiced equivalent of h.

All consonants mentioned can appear at the beginning of a word. At the beginning of the word there can also be groups of two consonants, the second of which is either r or l: glís "kidneys".

Between vowels within a morpheme there are no voiceless, but only voiced plosives and fricatives (e.g. only b, z, ɦ, but no p, s, h) (this does not apply at the morpheme boundary). Conversely, at the end of the word there are only the voiceless plosives and fricatives (e.g. only p, s, h, but no b, z, ɦ). Implosives are possible at the beginning of a word and between vowels, but not at the end of a word, where the underlying ɓ or ɗ is replaced by ʔ.

Similar to German, a vowel is always preceded by a glottal stop / ʔ / at the beginning of a word.

Vowels

The Masa distinguishes five vowels a, e, i, o, u. These can appear short and long (then written twice). Long vowels are not very common, however.

volume

The masa is a tonal language. In the practical orthography of the documentation, a distinction is made between two tones: high tone (notated with an acute accent: á) and low tone (notated with a grave accent: à), although in individual cases there can be three contrasts.

The low tone can be spoken at a low or a medium level. And it is deep:

• if the word begins with a voiced plosive or fricative ("tone-lowering consonant"),

and it is medium high:

• if the word begins with another consonant, or
• in a non-first syllable if the preceding syllable is high-pitched.

The treble is generally spoken at a high level. After a low-pitched syllable, the tweeter can optionally drop to a medium level.

So far one could assume two contrasting tones and predict the exact pronunciation using a few rules. However, a complication arises from the fact that the Masa originally had prenasalized plosives mb, nd and ,g, which had the same tone-lowering effect as the voiced plosives b, d and g, but coincided in the Masa with the simple nasals m, n and ŋ. Therefore the exact pronunciation after nasals is not always predictable today. The closely related Musey language has retained the prenasalized plosives. An example of a resulting contrast between low and mid-range:

	Musey	Masa
"Hunger"	may	mày (medium tone)
"Aunt"	mbày	mày (deep tone)

Another case where the low-pitched pronunciation occurs after nasal is màʔ "two" (Musey mbà).

Since the documentation mainly differentiates between two tones, the simplified two-tone notation is used in the following, although occasional contrasts are lost as a result.

Context form and pausal form

Most of the words of the Masa distinguish between two forms: a context form and a pausal form (at the end of a phrase; before a pause in speech). Compared to the context form, the pausal form has an additional vowel at the end. Details are discussed for the individual parts of speech. Some words do not know this distinction, for example prepositions (since these can naturally only be in the context form), but also certain other words such as the numeralia màʔ "2", ɦìdí "3" and fíɗì "4" as well as part of proper names immutable.

Personal pronouns

In contrast to German, the personal pronouns of Masa also make a gender difference in the 2nd person. so called and differentiate in the 1st pers. pl. an inclusive form (including addressee: "I and you / her") and an exclusive form ("I and others").

	Personal pronouns	suffix	Possessive pronouns (alienable)
1. sg. "I"	àn (ú)	-an (u)	vàn (ú)
2. so. mask. "you"	àŋ (ú)	-aŋ (u)	vàŋ (ú)
2. so. fem. "you"	àk (ú)	-ak (u)	vàk (ú)
3rd sg. mask. "he"	àm (ú) ~ àlàm (ú)	-am (u) ~ -alam (u)	vàm (ú) ~ vàlàm (ú)
3rd sg. fem. "she"	nàʔ (á)	-aʔ (a)	vàʔ (á)
1. pl. Incl.	áy (à)	-ey (a)	vày (á)
1. pl. excl.	úmáʔ (à)	-maʔ (a)	vùmàʔ (á)
2. pl. "her"	íkíy (à)	- (i) kiy (a)	vìkìy (á)
3rd pl. "she"	ísíy (à)	- (i) siy (a)	vìsìy (á)

The additional end vowels of the pausal form are in brackets.

The 3rd sg.mask. has a shorter and a longer variant, between which no difference in meaning can be identified.

The pronouns of the 3rd pl. can only be used with reference to people.

The suffixes are attached either to nouns - in possessive meaning - or to verbs - to denote the object. The tone of the suffixes is taken from the preceding syllable; the final vowel of the pausal form is mostly low-pitched, but after the low-pitch it is sometimes also documented as high-pitched. Accordingly, “my” means either -ánù or -ànù ~ -ànú. The vowel -a- of the suffixes can also match the vowel of the preceding syllable; this appears in the 3.sg.mask. (-am, -alam) almost mandatory, but to be much less common with the other suffixes.

noun

Context form and pausal form

All nouns distinguish between a pausal form and a context form. The pausal form adds an additional vowel at the end. One can discuss whether the pausal form is the underlying one and the final vowel is lost in the context, or whether the context form is the underlying one and a vowel is added before the pause. In the following, nouns are mostly quoted in the (shorter) context form, which is the more common in practice.

In the case of nouns, the final vowel of the pausal form can be predicted according to the following rules:

• He is always deep.
• It is usually a copy of the vowel of the preceding syllable.
• After -aʔ- or -ay- there is the final vowel -à, after -a- plus another consonant there is -ì.
• If the stem ends in a vowel, it and the final vowel of the pausal form are separated by a glottal stop (ʔ).

Examples:

	Contextual form	Pause form
"Fountain"	kár	kárì
"Boss"	múl	múlù
"Egg"	zè	zèʔè
"Women"	boy	bóyò
"Calabash"	dùt	dùtù
"Child"	brat	gòrò
"Body"	tùw	tùwù
"Human"	sà	sàʔà
"Beef"	pùt	pùtù

gender

The Masa distinguishes between the two grammatical genders masculine and feminine, with plural forms not distinguishing any gender. One can also assume a common category number + gender with the three expressions masculine - feminine - plural.

The gender can be identified mainly by the shape of the specific article. In the case of persons and names of larger animals, the grammatical coincides with the natural gender. In the case of things, gender is in principle lexically fixed; tìl “moon” and cèʔ “ax” are masculine, on the other hand fát “sun, day”, bùr “day”, hènjè “night”, ìr “eye”, gú “tree”, làw “word” and và “ Thing “as feminine. Quite a few nouns can be constructed as both masculine and feminine, which then creates a contrast between large vs. small expresses: fó (mask.) "(larger) road", fó (fem.) "(smaller) way".

Plural

Only some of the nouns in Masa form plural forms, especially names of living beings. The shapes are not entirely regular. Usual plural endings are -áy, -éy, -íy and -íyá:

• cèʔ "ax" - cèɗéy "axes"
• múl "Chef" - múlíyá "Chefs"
• bànà "friend" - bàníy "friends"
• vèt "hare" - vètéy "hare"
• dùt "calabash" - dùtéy "calabash"
• hùrùm "crocodile" - hùrùmáy "crocodiles"
• jùf "man" - jùfáy "men"

After a vowel, the plural ending -gáy can be:

• másá "Masa man" - máságáy "Masa people"
• dòmò "Muslim" - dòmògáy "Muslims"

A number of plural forms are quite irregular, including:

• cà "woman" - bóy "women"
• dìr "dog" - dùrnéy "dogs"
• gòr "child" - gùrò "children"
• sà "Mensch" - sùm "Menschen, Menschen"
• pùt "beef" - lúwéy "cattle"
• ɦù "sheep / goat" - fók "sheep / goats"

Designations for uncountable things like nìy “water”, mír “milk”, ɬìw “meat”, wá “millet”, súŋkù “money” are grammatically treated as plural.

Definite article

Suffixes can be added to nouns, which in their function approximately, if not exactly, correspond to the specific article of German. The form is:

• -n (à) for masculine and plural forms
• -t (à) for feminine

The noun usually comes before the article in the contextual form. An exception is sùm "people", which is sùmù-nà with the article.

The article distinguishes between a pausal form and a context form. The final vowel is omitted in the context form. In individual cases, however, the pause form is used instead of the expected context form, where otherwise unpronounceable consonant groups would arise: pùt-tà klànì "this cow" (instead of * pùt-t klànì).

Ending -nà for masculine and plural forms:

• cítá "work" - cítánà "the work"
• cèʔ "ax" - cèʔnà "the ax"
• ɬìw "meat" - ɬìwnà "the meat"
• bóy "women" - bóynà "the women"
• dùtéy "calabashes" - dùtéynà "the calabashes"

After many consonants -n- is assimilated:

• múl "boss" - múllà "the boss"
• ŋàf "fight" - ŋàfmà "the fight"
• tìl "moon" - tìllà "the moon"
• bàŋàl "place" - bàŋàllà "the place"
• fók "sheep / goats" - fókŋà "the sheep / goats"

The group -rn- can become a simple -r- with replacement stretching of the preceding vowel; But there are also notations where this phenomenon is omitted:

• kár "fountain" - káárà "the fountain"
• mír "milk" - míírà ~ mírrà "the milk"
• gòr "child" - gòrrà "the child / the boy"

Ending -tà in feminine:

• nàgà "earth" - nàgàtà "the earth"
• fát "sun" - fáttà "the sun"

Between vowels, -t- can become -d-. The notation here is inconsistent; -t- and -d- are practically not in opposition between vowels:

• cà "woman" - càtà ~ càdà "the woman"

After many consonants -t- is assimilated:

• bél "eye disease" - béldà "the eye disease"
• ɬèk "chicken" - ɬèkkà "the chicken"
• háráŋ "light" - háráŋgà "the light"
• hùm "ear" - hùmbà "the ear"

The group -rt- can become a simple -d- with replacement stretching of the preceding vowel, but the documentation is not uniform here either:

• pìr "dawn" - pììdà "the dawn"
• bùr "day" - bùrtà "the day"

The specific article can sometimes be used to differentiate a masculine and a feminine meaning:

• pùt "beef" - pùtnà "the bull" - pùttà "the cow"
• gòr "child" - gòrrà "the boy" - gòrtà "the girl"

Under certain circumstances, nouns that do not have a plural form can also make the difference between singular and plural clear by using the definite article:

• bùzà "year, years" - bùzàtà "the year" - bùzànà "the years"
• ìr "eye, eyes" - ìrtà "the eye" - ììrà "the eyes"

Proper names are not associated with articles.

Indefinite article

You can also put an indefinite article after the noun. This reads: márá (ʔà) (mask.) / Tárá (ʔà) (fem.) / Sárá (ʔà) (plural) (the endings of the pausal form in brackets). A noun as a subject must always be accompanied by either a definite or an indefinite article. In the case of nouns in other syntactic roles, however, the indefinite article is dispensable.

gùy márá càl-àʔ wà
snake ART.INDEF bite (perfect) -sie (fem.sg.) PERF
"a snake has bitten you"

sùm sárá màʔ yòwá
men ART.INDEF two stand up (perfect)
"two men / two of the men stood up"

Demonstratives

A distinction is made between anaphoric and deictic demonstratives. If the demonstrative is anaphoric, ie stands in the sense of "this named", then one uses the construction noun - personal pronoun - article. The plural form can only be used for people:

• sà àm-mà "this (mentioned) man"
• cà nàʔ-tà "this (mentioned) woman"
• ɦù nàʔ-tà "this (mentioned) goat"
• fát nàʔ-tà "this (mentioned) day"
• sùm ísí-nà "these (mentioned) people"
• lúwéy àm-mà "these (mentioned) cattle" (singular, as no personal name)

In contrast, the construction scheme noun - article - demonstrative applies to deictic demonstratives. There are a number of deictic demonstratives, each with specific local implications, such as kàynì "this one in my hand", klànì "this one who comes", zòwnì "this one in a standing position", tànì "this one in a lying position", dàmnì " this in a sitting position ”, làkŋì“ this (plural, without specifying the position) ”etc. As you can see, these are all compounded with the syllable -nì.

• dùt-t kàynì "this calabash (here in my hand)"
• cà-t dàmnì "that woman (who sits there)"
• gú-n zòwnì "that tree (that stands there)"
• pùt-tà klànì "this cow (that comes from)"
• lúwéy-n làkŋì "these cattle"

Time expressions can also be connected directly with the suffix -nì:

• hènjè-nì “this night; tonight"

adjective

The construction scheme is: noun - attribute marker má (mask.) / Tá (fem.) / Sá (plural) - adjective:

• sá má fíyókò "a long (meaning: tall) person"

The definite article comes after the whole group:

• sá má fíyók-ŋà "the long (meaning: tall) man"
• dùt má ŋól-nà "the great calabash"
• và má ŋáá-nà "the good thing"
• cà tá ŋól-tà "the 'great' woman", meaning: "the main wife / main wife"
• pùt má ɬáw-nà "the red bull"
• ɬèk-ká cá-tà "the chicken" (ɬèk "cock / chicken", tá here to ká assimilated, cá "female")

The adjective ŋòl (ò) "large" can appear in the plural variant ŋúló, especially in connection with plural personal names:

• sùm sà ŋúló-nà "the great men"

The somewhat differently constructed connection sùmù-n ŋòlò (the adjective follows the article) means "many men".

After the attribute marker má / tá / sá there can be various other types of attributes that are not adjectives in the narrower sense, as in the following examples:

nàgà tá Síyék-kà
village ATTR Siyeke-ART
"the village of Siyeke"

sà má réy-nà
man ATTR Magic ART
"the magician"

sà má sìy-àŋ fíyók-ŋà
man ATTR tooth-your long-ART
"you man with long teeth / you long- toothed man"

another, the other

“Another” is called héʔè (context form hé) and is placed immediately after the noun. "The other" is expressed by the construction noun - article - hé - article:

• cà héʔè "another woman"
• ɦù-t hé-tà "the other goat"
• lúwéy-n hé-nà "the other cattle"

The form séhégé is used with plural personal names:

• bóy-n séhégé-nà "the other women"

all

An expression for "all" is káf (variant háf; pausal form káfì, but káf is also possible). It is placed after the noun that must carry the definite article:

• fùt-t káfì “all flour; all the flour "

Compounds

Two nouns can be put together to form a compound. The article then follows the whole link:

• ìr "eye" + zìy "house" → ìr-zìy-tà "the house eye" = "the window"
• nìy "water" + lòw "sky" → nìy-lòw-nà "the sky water" = "the rain"
• mùl "oil" + yúm "bee" → mùl-yúm-mà "the bee oil" = "the honey"

Possession

There is always the sequence possessum - possessor. There are two constructions for inalienable possession and alienable possession.

inalienable

In the case of inalienable possession, both elements follow one another directly. If the possessor is pronominal, it is added as a suffix to the noun (forms above in the section "Personal Pronouns"). Examples:

• ìr "eye" - ìr-àn (ù) "my eye" - ìr-àk (ù) "your (fem.) eye" - ìr-ìm (ù) "his eye"
• jùf "husband" - jùf-àn (ù) "my husband" - jùf-àʔ (à) "her (fem.sg.) husband" - jùf-kìy (à) "your husband" - jùf-sìy (á) "Her (pl.) Husband"
• súmáy "parents" - súmíy-ón (ù) "my parents" - súmíy-áʔ (à) "their (fem.) parents" - súmíy-máʔ (à) "our parents"
• sè "foot" - sè-n (ù) "my foot" - sè-lèm (ù) "his foot"
• dèl "neck" - dèl-èn (ù) "my neck" - dèl-èʔ (è) "her (fem.) neck"
• yá "head" - yá-n (ù) "my head" - yá-m (ù) ~ yá-lám (ù) "his head" - y-ísíy (à) "her (pl.) head"
• tùw "body" - tùw-àn (ù) "my body" - tùw-àm (ù) ~ tùw-ùm (ù) "his body" - tùw-àʔ (à) "her (fem.) body" - tùw -èy (à) "our (incl.) body" - tùw-màʔ (à) "our (excl.) body" - tùw-sìy (à) "her (pl.) body"
• vùn “mouth” - vùn-àn (ù) “my mouth” - vùn-àŋ (ù) “your (mask.) mouth” - vùn-ùm (ù) “his mouth” - vùn-àʔ (à) “you (fem.) mouth "
• bú "father" - bú-n (ù) "my father" - bú-ŋ (ù) "your (mask.) father" - bú-m (ù) "his father" - bú-síy (à) "you (pl.) father "
• sú "mother" - sú-lúm (ù) "his mother"

If the conditions are not very clear, the definite article can be added to the possessive suffix. The article can then have the effect of disambiguating the gender:

• ɓàsú "brother / sister" + ànú "I" + nà (article) -> ɓàsú-n-nà "my brother"
• ɓàsú-n-tà "my sister"
• ɓàsú-lúm-nà "his brother"
• ɓùsíy-óʔ-nà "their (fem.) brothers / sisters"

If the possessessor is nominal, the possessum for certain words has an ending - (u) m, probably a shortened form of the possessive suffix of the 3.sg.mask. The specific article can only appear at the end of the whole group. The information is unclear as to whether this article then congruent with the possessor or the possessum; both situations are proven:

• sú-m múl-là "the boss's mother" (masculine article because of "boss")
• ɓàs-úm gàzìsù-tà "the sister of Gazisu (man's name)" (feminine article because of "sister")
• yá-m ɦù-tà "the head of the goat"
• yá-m zìy-tà "the head (= the roof) of the house"
• bú-m zìy-nà "the father of the house (= the family)"
• nàs-ún (ù) "my maternal uncle" - nàs-úm gàzìsù "the maternal uncle of Gazisu"

Certain other vocabulary can be used as a possessum without - (u) m:

• jùf-àn (ù) "my husband" - jùf bàgàwtà "the husband of Bagawta (name)"
• súmáy gàzìsù "the parents of Gazisu (name)"

alienabel

In alienable possession, there is an element vì between possessum and possessor. Possessum and Possessor can both independently accept the definite article. The article of the possessum has the full form and not the context form before vì:

• pùt-tà vì Gàzìsù "the cow of Gazisu (name)"
• nùk-ŋà vì kù-tà "the smoke of fire"
• dùt-nà vì cà-tà "the woman's calabash"

Vì can also be followed by a personal pronoun. The following special features occur:

• the -ì is not applicable
• the n- of nàʔ (á) "she (fem.)" is omitted
• the tone pattern of the pronouns is unified in this connection to low-high

The resulting connections are listed above in the section "Personal Pronouns". Examples:

• ɦù-tà v-ànú "my goat"
• ɦù-tà v-àmú "his goat"
• ɦù-tà v-ùmàʔá "our goat"
• lúwéy-nà v-ànú "my cattle"
• múl-là v-ùmàʔá "our boss"

In contrast to the relations "husband" and "parents", the relations "wife" and "children" are considered alienable:

• cá-tà v-ànù "my wife"
• gòr-rà v-ànú "my son"
• gùrò-nà v-àʔá "their (fem.) children"

The possessum can also be combined with the indefinite article:

• cà tàrà v-àŋú "one of your women"

An adjective follows the whole group, with the article then being set twice:

pùt-tà v-àn tá ŋáá-tà
Kuh-ART my ATTR gut-ART
"my good cow"

In certain cases there is an alternative between the inalienable and the alienable construction with a difference in meaning:

• bàk-ànù "my skin (= the skin of my body)"
• bàk-ŋà v-ànú "my skin (= the animal fur that belongs to me)"

verb

Context form and pausal form

Verbs also distinguish a context form and a pausal form. In principle, the pause form is extended by a vowel at the end. If the context form is based on a consonant, the pausal form receives an additional -a at the end. If the context form is based on a vowel, the pausal form receives an additional glottel stop (ʔ) plus a vowel, usually also -a, but also other vowels for short verbs, such as "essen" (context form ti, pausal form tiʔe).

The tone of verbs is largely predictable from the grammatical form, see the next section.

Perfect and imperfect stem

Verbs distinguish a perfect and a past tense stem, which only differ in their tone. A distinction must be made as to whether the first consonant of the verb is one of the tone-lowering consonants or not (see the section "Tone" above).

First of all, the case that the first consonant lowers the tone. These include voiced plosives or fricatives, but also (not fully predictable) some cases of nasals. Then the perfect stem is high-tone and the past tense stem is low-tone. The additional vowel in the pausal form (bracketed in the table) is always polar to the stem, i.e. it has the opposite tone:

	Perfect	Past tense
"heat"	zál (à)	zàl (á)
"give"	vúl (à)	vùl (á)
"come"	má (ʔà)	mà (ʔá)

Now the case that the first consonant does not lower the sound. This also includes (not fully predictable) some cases of nasals. Then, conversely, the perfect stem is low-tone (i.e. phonetically medium-tone) and the past-tense stem is high-tone:

	Perfect	Past tense
"eat"	tì (ʔé)	tí (ʔè)
"scream"	cìrì (ʔá)	círí (ʔà)
"to die"	mìt (á)	with (à)

Perfect particle wà

The particle wà at the end of the sentence gives the sentence perfect meaning. Naturally, it is usually found together with the perfect stem of the verb. The exact function of these particles still needs to be investigated; in any case it cannot be in negated sentences:

ɦù-t mùt wá-nà wà eat
goat ART (perfect) Sorghum ART PERF
"the goat has eaten the sorghum"

nàʔ vúl-sì ɦù-tà wà
she gave-them goat-ART PERF
"she gave them a / the goat"

àn kàlà wà
I went-away PERF
"I've already left" (a formula to say goodbye)

imperative

In the imperative the verbal stem has neither the tone of the perfect nor the past tense stem, but is always deep. After the verb a pronoun of the 2nd person or the 1st person pl. including follow:

• t-àŋ (ù) "eat! (Man) ”- t-àk (ù)“ eat! (Woman) "- t-ìgì (yà)" eat! "- t-èy (à)" let's eat! "
• n-àŋ (ù) “go! (Man) ”- n-àk (ù)“ go! (Woman) "- n-ìgì (yà)" go! "- n-èy (à)" let's go! "
• c-ìkìy (à) "drink!"

Optional

The same low-pitched stem as in the imperative can also be used in other contexts. It then has the meaning of a desired form:

àŋ d-ùm á-là àm vùl-àn wá-nà
you tell-him that he gives (opt.) - me millet-ART
"you tell him that he should give me the millet"

If the verb in the optative is only followed by a pronominal suffix of the 3rd person, then this is to be understood as an object, and an impersonal subject "man" is assumed as the subject:

• c-ùm (ù) "one should hit him"

Plural verbs

It has been proven that individual verbs use different stems, depending on whether the subject is singular or plural. This is where fòk (sg.) / Yòw (pl.) "Stand up" belongs:

• àm fòk kúlóʔò "he got up"
• ísí yòw kúlóʔò "they got up"

(kúlóʔò, pausal form kúló, means "up, up")

auxiliary verbs

There are a number of auxiliary verbs that can be placed in front of the verb to clarify the meaning. These include:

• mà, past tense of the verb for "to come", together with another verb in the past tense expresses a future tense:

àn mà d-ùmú
I come say (vacc.) - to him
"I will tell him"

àn mà vùl-àŋ-káʔ síwì
I'll give (vaccination) - you-it the day after tomorrow
"I'll give it to you the day after tomorrow"

• fòk ~ yòw, perfect of "stand up", before a verb in the past tense denotes the beginning of an action:

ísí yòw túɗà
they get up (vaccination)
"they went off"

• mùs, actually perfect of the verb for "sit, stay", before a verb in the past tense also denotes the beginning of an action and implies a seated subject:

àm mùs t-úmù
he eats sitting (vaccination) - it
"he began to eat it (while sitting)"

• hòt, perfect tense of "return", before a verb in the past tense stands for "do again":

àm hòt dà á-là
he return to say (vaccination) that
"he said again that ..."

• The element gé that can be combined with the past tense, but not before the verb but at the end of the sentence, expresses a request:

àŋ vùl-àn páá gé
you give (vaccination) - tobacco please
"please give me tobacco!"

Pronominal object

The pronominal object is expressed through the same personal suffixes that serve as possessive suffixes:

• ísí c-àʔ (à) "they killed her (fem.)"
• àn sél-éʔ (è) "I fill it (fem.)"
• áy mà w-áʔ (à) "we will see you (fem.)"
• àm céɗ-ém (ù) "he cuts him / it"
• ísí t-ùm (ù) "they ate it"
• àn kús-úm (ù) "I cut him"
• yá-n ɓás-án (ù) "my head stings me (= hurts me)"
• bóy-n lút-úm (ù) "the women grind it"

There is no formal distinction between the accusative and the dative:

• nàʔ vúl-úm "she gave him" = "she gave him"

In two situations a verb can have two suffixes, namely (1) when suffixes in dative and accusative meaning follow one another (they must be in that order), or (2) when an object suffix follows a subject suffix, which occurs in the imperative. In this case a -t- is inserted in front of the second suffix (at least in the third person), but this assimilates to a preceding consonant:

• c-ìkì "drink (you)!" + áʔà "she"> c-ìkì-táʔà "drink her (fem.sg.)!"
• làk-àk (ù) "put (you, woman)!" + -ùm (ù)> làk-àk-kùm "put him!" (-kt-> -kk-)
• ɮó hòt-òm-bàʔá "ɮó (name) gave it back (-àʔá) to him (-òm)" (-mt-> -mb-)

dative

The nominal dative is circumscribed by the preposition mì:

cà-t vúl fù-nà mì gòr-rà
woman ART give (perfect) porridge ART DAT boy ART
"the woman gave the boy the porridge"

prepositions

Other prepositions include:

• kày "on"
• kàt "at"
• kúʔ "in, under"
• kúɗ "with (predominantly comitative)"
• zìʔ (variant: ɦìʔ) "with (mainly instrumental)"
• bày "without"

Some prepositions are identical to body part names:

• ìr "eye" = "in front of"
• bògól "back" = "behind"

Prepositions can be placed before nouns and personal suffixes:

• kúɗ-án (ù) "with me" - kúɗ-áŋ (ù) "with you" - kúɗ-úm (ù) "with him" - kúɗ-áʔ (à) "with her"
• bògól-ón (ù) "behind me" - bògòl-sìy (à) "behind them"
• kàt-àʔ (à) "with her"
• k-àŋ (ù) "on you"

Indications of the place or the direction can dispense with a preposition entirely:

àm kàl fúlù
he go (Perf.) Bush
"he went into the bush"

Positional adverbs

Positional adverbs such as zòw “standing”, dàm “sitting”, wàŋ “lying”, làk “being in a group” and kày “in the hand” are characteristic of the Masa, which are at the end of the sentence and specify the position of the verbal action:

nàʔ tíy dàm
she cries (imperf.) sitting
"she sits there and cries"

àm bárá wà vùn pày-t zòw
he was lurking (Perf.) PERF mouth barrier-ART standing
"he lurked while standing at the entrance of the barrier"

àm fì zè júfúl làk
he found (perf.) egg duck to-several
"he found duck eggs (together in one place)"

ɮó cò wà ɦìʔ ɓíné-t k-àlàm kày
ɮó (name) came (perf.) PERF with net-ART on-him in-hand
"ɮó came with the net in hand"

syntax

Verbal sentence

The normal word order is subject - verb - object:

cà-t yì fù-nà
Frau-ART cook ( past tense ) porridge-ART
"the woman cooks the porridge"

The verb is preceded by the pronominal subject in the context form:

• nàʔá "she" + jàŋá "run (past tense)" -> nàʔ jàŋá "she runs"
• àlàmú "he" + kàlá "go (perfect)" + jìyà "outside / out" -> àlàm kàl jìyà "he went out"

The nominal subject is also in the context form, except in special cases where the pausal form is preferred to facilitate pronunciation:

• ɦù-tà "the goat" + jàŋá "run (past tense)" -> ɦù-t jàŋá "the goat runs"
• kúlúm-nà "the horse" + jàŋá "run (past tense)" -> kúlúm-n jàŋá "the horse runs"
• gòr-rà "the boy" + cì "hit (perfect)" + -ísìyà "she (pl.)" -> gòr-rà c-ísìyà "the boy hit her" (instead of * gòrr císìyà)

The verb also comes before the object in the context form:

• ànú "I" + tóʔà "break (past tense)" + dùt-tà "the calabash" -> àn tóʔ dùt-tà "I break the calabash"
• ànú "I" + gúsà "buy (perfect)" + kúlúm-nà "the horse" -> àn gús kúlúm-nà "I bought the horse"

Verb serialization

Two verbs can follow one another directly. This comes u. a. in connection with modal verbs before:

mú-l mín kálà
Chef-ART want to leave ( past tense ) ( past tense )
"the boss wants to leave"

Non-verbal sentence

In the noun predicate, the copula is mì (masc.) / Tì (fem.) / Sì (plural). The noun predicate is either without or with a definite article, but not with an indefinite article:

• àn mì múlù "I'm the boss"
• àm mì múlù "he is the boss"
• àm mì múl-là "he is the boss"
• kàyn tì bár-tà "that's a grasshopper" (the Masa uses the definite article here, where the indefinite article is attached in German)

With an adjectival predicate, no copula is necessary if a permanent state is indicated:

• ànú "I" + ŋòlò "big" -> àn ŋòlò "I am big"
• àmú "he" + ŋààʔà "good" -> àm ŋààʔà "he is (basically) good"

In the case of temporary adjectival or adverbial predication, on the other hand, the copula ká (pausal form ká )à) "to be, exist":

àm ká fúlù
er KOP Busch
"he is in the bush"

àm ká dàm
he KOP sitting there
"he is sitting there / he is sitting there"

àŋ ká ŋàà sù
du KOP good QUESTION
"are you (currently) good?", meant: "are you okay?"

kùlùf-n ká ŋòlò
Fish-ART KOP large
"there are many fish"

negation

The negation is denoted by ɗì "not" at the end of the sentence:

• nàʔ jàŋá "she runs" - nàʔ jàŋ ɗì "she does not run"
• àm ŋààʔà "he is good" - àm ŋààʔ ɗì "he is not good"
• àm ŋòlò "he is big" - àm ŋòl ɗì "he is not big"
• àm mì múlù "he is the boss" - àm mì múl ɗì "he is not the boss"

The imperative can also be negated by ɗì, but the negated imperative uses the suffixed personal pronoun only in the plural and not in the singular:

• n-àŋ (ù) “go! (Man) "- nà ɗì" don't go! "
• n-ìkì (yà) "works!" - n-ìkì ɗì "doesn't work!"
• t-àŋ (ù) "eat!" - tì ɗì "don't eat!"

There is also a verb máy (mask.) / Táy (fem.) / Sáy (pl.) “Not to be”, which also functions as a negative equivalent to the copula ká. Here is also ɗì:

• àm máy ɗì "he is not there"
• nàʔ táy ɗì "she is not there"
• ísí sáy ɗì "they are not there"
• sà máy ɗì "nobody is there" (sà "human")

question

The sentence question is characterized by an element sù at the end of the sentence:

• nàʔ káʔà "she is there" - nàʔ ká sù "is she there?"
• àm mì múl-là sù "is he the boss?"

àŋ búsá wà sù
you spend
the day PERF QUESTION "did you spend the day (well)?"

The element sù can also be missing, and the question can then only be identified by the intonation of the sentence.

All question words end in a syllable gé, e.g. B. gì-gé “who?”, Mì-gé “what?”, Rì-gé “where?”, Tì-gé “how?”, Gà-gé “how much?”. The question word must always be at the end of the sentence:

vúl-ák-kà gì-gé to
give (perf.) - dir-es who
"who gave it to you?"

àŋ ná rì-gé
you go ( past tense ) where
"where are you going?"

àŋ bùr bòŋòr gà-gé
you spend the night (imperfect tense ) Bongor (city) how much
"how long do you stay in Bongor?"

Focus

More often than in German, a part of the sentence is explicitly marked as focused in Masa. The focused part of the sentence is at the end of the sentence and is connected to the rest of the sentence by the copula mì (masc.) / Tì (fem.) / Sì (plural):

mùt-ùm sì sùm séhégé-nà
eat (perfect) -these are other people -KIND
“who ate it, these are the other people” / “THE OTHERS (emphasizes) ate it”

Question sentences with question word can either be formed as a focus construction or (see above) as a construction with the same word order but without a copula.

Relative clause

Relative clauses are constructed like adjectives, i.e. they are introduced by the attribute marker má (mask.) / Tá (fem.) / Sá (plural). If, according to German usage, the reference noun should have an article, this is in the Masa at the end of the entire phrase, i.e. after the relative clause:

cà tá àn d-áŋ k-àʔ-tà
woman ATTR I say (perfect) -you about-her-ART
"the woman I told you about"

vocabulary

Some elements from the basic vocabulary. End vowels of the pausal form are in brackets. Verbs are quoted in the perfect stem:

eye	ìr (ì)
three	ɦìdí
one	kép (è)
eat	tì (ʔé)
woman	cà (ʔà)
five	vàɬ (ì)
give	vúl (à)
go	ná (ʔà)
big	ŋòl (ò)
Well	ŋàà (ʔà)
hand	ɓá (ʔà)
Listen	hùm (á)
man	jùf (ù)
mouth	vùn (ù)
Surname	sèm (è)
say	dí (ʔì)
see, know	wì
four	fíɗì
water	nìy (ì)
two	màʔ

literature

• Claude Caitucoli, Lexique masa, Tchad et Cameroun , Paris - Yaoundé , ACCT CERDOTOLA, 1983.
• Claude Caitucoli, Douze contes masa, Avec une introduction grammaticale , 1986.
• Claude Caitucoli, Schèmes tonals et morphologie du verbe en Masa , in J.-P. Caprile & H. Jungraithmayr (eds.): Préalables à la reconstruction du proto-tchadique, 1978, pp. 67-88
• Antonio Melis, Description du Masa (Tchad): Phonologie, Syntaxe et Dictionnaire Encyclopédique , PhD Thesis, Université de Tours , 1999.
• Antonio Melis, Dictionnaire Masa-Français: dialectes Gumay et Haara (Tchad) , EDES, Sassari , 2006.
• Roberto Ajello, Mayore Karyo, Antonio Melis, Ousmanou Dobio, Lexique comparatif de six langues du tchadique central (Gizey, Ham, Lew, Marba, Masa, Musey) , Pisa , Edizioni Plus, 2001.

References

1. ^ H. Tourneux 1990: Place du masa dans la famille tchadique. Vienna: Afro-Pub
2. ↑ Shryock 1997: "The classification of the Masa group of languages", in Studies in African Linguistics 26: 29-62
3. ↑ Other cases are not documented.
4. ↑ Several people or things together without a precise distinction between standing, sitting or lying down.