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The Berta language is spoken by the group of the same name (Bertha or Berta people) in Sudan and Ethiopia, and is generally classified as a branch of Nilo-Saharan. It has the typical word order Subject Verb Object. It is a tonal language. It has significantly influenced some of the Eastern Jebel languages. The Arabic name "Beni-Shangul" (as in the Ethiopian province of Benishangul-Gumuz) derives from a Berta expression (with bele "mountain" misanalyzed as Arabic beni "sons".)
[edit] Pronouns
The pronouns of Berta are as follows:
|
Topic |
Postverbal subject |
Postverbal object |
| I |
àl(ì) |
-lɪ́ɪ̀ |
-ɟì |
| you (sg.) |
(à)ŋgó |
-ŋó |
-ŋgó |
| he, she, it |
ɲìnè |
-né |
ɲìnè, -né |
| we |
χàtâŋ |
-ŋàa |
χàtâŋ |
| you (pl.) |
χàtú |
χátú |
χàtú |
| they |
mèrée |
mérée |
mèrée |
[edit] Bibliography
- Torben Andersen. "Aspects of Berta phonology". Afrika und Übersee 76: pp. 41-80.
- Torben Andersen. "Absolutive and Nominative in Berta". ed. Nicolai & Rottland, Fifth Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium. Nice, 24-29 August 1992. Proceedings. (Nilo-Saharan 10). Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. 1995. pp.36-49.
- M. Lionel Bender. "Berta Lexicon". In Bender (ed.), Topics in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics (Nilo-Saharan 3), pp. 271-304. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag 1989.
- E. Cerulli. "Three Berta dialects in western Ethiopia", Africa, 1947.
- Susanne Neudorf & Andreas Neudorf: Bertha - English - Amharic Dictionary. Addis Ababa: Benishangul-Gumuz Language Development Project 2007.
- A. N. Tucker & M. A. Bryan. Linguistic Analyses: The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa. London: Oxford University Press 1966.
- A. Triulzi, A. A. Dafallah, and M. L. Bender. "Berta". In Bender (ed.), The Non-Semitic Languages of Ethiopia. East Lansing, Michigan: African Studies Center, Michigan State University 1976, pp. 513-532.
[edit] External links
