Yalunka language
Encyclopedia
Yalunka is the language of the Yalunka people
of Guinea
, Mali
, Senegal
, and Sierra Leone
in West
Africa
. It is in the Mande language family.
Yalunka is closely related to the Susu language
.
The Yalunka language in Guinea is more order sensitive than many other languages. There is very little affixing that marks grammatical function of a word or requirements of agreement between words in the sentence. There is comparatively little morphology and only minor inflectional affixing. There are not long conjugations of verb tenses. Instead, the language relies on clause order to define the grammatical function of each word. For this reason, the linguistic concept of slots in the clause and phrase structure is effective in the description of the Yalunka language.
The clause structure of the Yalunka language is basically a series of slots. There is the possibility of a Conjunction and Adverb of time at the beginning of the clause. There is necessarily a subject noun phrase except in the case of imperative constructions. There is then the possibility of an internal adverb thereafter followed by an optionally appearing aspect marker. For transitive verbs, a direct object may appear after the aspect marker which is followed by the verb. The verb, it may be noted is the minimal utterance of the Yalunka language. e.g. /siga/ Go. The verb may optionally be accompanied by a suffix which does not usually co-occur with the aspect marker (except with /yi/). After the verb there are two different kinds of obliques, one occurring before and one after the /nɛn/ which is a particle shrouded in a respectable degree of mystery. Those obliques occurring before the /nɛn/ tend to relate closely to the meaning of the verb and modify it, while those obliques to the right of /nɛn/ are post positions of location, post positions of time, and adverbs. They come in that order. After the obliques there is another rather limber particle /nun/ and finally a whole class of colorful emphatic markers that bear a much higher tone than the previous words in the sentence. All categories except the verb are optional.
e.g. Xoro, a yi sigama a ra nɛn xɛɛn ma nun, koni a mi sigaxi.
Yesterday, he had been going to take it to the field, but he didn't go.
Aspect Markers, Verb Suffixes, and Verbs
There are many aspect markers and verb suffixes that play the primary role in modifying and qualifying the meaning of the verb. In Yalunka, as in other northwestern mande languages, one does not talk about time-oriented "tenses" as much as "aspects" of the verb like whether the action is "accomplished" or "not accomplished." Other features associated with apect markers and verb suffixes are whether or not the action is in the immediate context and whether or not the action is real (if the aspect of the clause speaks of actions not happening in reality, that feature is described as "irrealis").
Aspect Markers
/bata/
One of the most common words in Yalunka is the aspect marker /bata/. This word is the same word that appears in Maninka and Susu as /bara/. The features of meaning associated with this word are those of "accomplished" and "immediate." When the word /bata/ appears in the aspect marker slot in the sentence, the action of the verb takes on the meaning of having been accomplished in the immediate context.
It should be noted that this aspect marker optionally undergoes a phonological interaction with the subject pronoun to form a contraction as follows:
First Person Singular N bata /Manta/ or /mata/
Second Person Singular I bata /Inta/
Third Person Singular A bata /Anta/
First Person Plural (inclusive) En bata /en manta/
First Person Plural (exclusive) Nxu bata /Nxunta/
Second Person Plural ɛ bata /ɛnta/
Third Person Plural E bata /Enta/
/xa/
This aspect marker indicates that the action of the verb is desired or permitted. It can be translated as "should".
/nama/
This aspect marker serves to form a negative imperative.
Yalunka people
The Yalunka are a Mande people who were one of the original inhabitants of the Futa Jallon , a mountainous region in Guinea, West Africa and they are a branch of the Mandinka people of West Africa. Today, the Yalunka are concentrated mostly in Guinea and Sierra Leone...
of Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
in West
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. It is in the Mande language family.
Yalunka is closely related to the Susu language
Susu language
Sosoxui is the language of the Soso people of Guinea, West Africa. It is in the Mande language family.It is one of the national languages of Guinea and spoken mainly in the coastal region of the country. The language was also used by people in present-day Guinea as a trade language.e.g...
.
External links
The Yalunka language in Guinea is more order sensitive than many other languages. There is very little affixing that marks grammatical function of a word or requirements of agreement between words in the sentence. There is comparatively little morphology and only minor inflectional affixing. There are not long conjugations of verb tenses. Instead, the language relies on clause order to define the grammatical function of each word. For this reason, the linguistic concept of slots in the clause and phrase structure is effective in the description of the Yalunka language.
The clause structure of the Yalunka language is basically a series of slots. There is the possibility of a Conjunction and Adverb of time at the beginning of the clause. There is necessarily a subject noun phrase except in the case of imperative constructions. There is then the possibility of an internal adverb thereafter followed by an optionally appearing aspect marker. For transitive verbs, a direct object may appear after the aspect marker which is followed by the verb. The verb, it may be noted is the minimal utterance of the Yalunka language. e.g. /siga/ Go. The verb may optionally be accompanied by a suffix which does not usually co-occur with the aspect marker (except with /yi/). After the verb there are two different kinds of obliques, one occurring before and one after the /nɛn/ which is a particle shrouded in a respectable degree of mystery. Those obliques occurring before the /nɛn/ tend to relate closely to the meaning of the verb and modify it, while those obliques to the right of /nɛn/ are post positions of location, post positions of time, and adverbs. They come in that order. After the obliques there is another rather limber particle /nun/ and finally a whole class of colorful emphatic markers that bear a much higher tone than the previous words in the sentence. All categories except the verb are optional.
e.g. Xoro, a yi sigama a ra nɛn xɛɛn ma nun, koni a mi sigaxi.
Yesterday, he had been going to take it to the field, but he didn't go.
Aspect Markers, Verb Suffixes, and Verbs
There are many aspect markers and verb suffixes that play the primary role in modifying and qualifying the meaning of the verb. In Yalunka, as in other northwestern mande languages, one does not talk about time-oriented "tenses" as much as "aspects" of the verb like whether the action is "accomplished" or "not accomplished." Other features associated with apect markers and verb suffixes are whether or not the action is in the immediate context and whether or not the action is real (if the aspect of the clause speaks of actions not happening in reality, that feature is described as "irrealis").
Aspect Markers
/bata/
One of the most common words in Yalunka is the aspect marker /bata/. This word is the same word that appears in Maninka and Susu as /bara/. The features of meaning associated with this word are those of "accomplished" and "immediate." When the word /bata/ appears in the aspect marker slot in the sentence, the action of the verb takes on the meaning of having been accomplished in the immediate context.
It should be noted that this aspect marker optionally undergoes a phonological interaction with the subject pronoun to form a contraction as follows:
First Person Singular N bata /Manta/ or /mata/
Second Person Singular I bata /Inta/
Third Person Singular A bata /Anta/
First Person Plural (inclusive) En bata /en manta/
First Person Plural (exclusive) Nxu bata /Nxunta/
Second Person Plural ɛ bata /ɛnta/
Third Person Plural E bata /Enta/
/xa/
This aspect marker indicates that the action of the verb is desired or permitted. It can be translated as "should".
/nama/
This aspect marker serves to form a negative imperative.