Burji language

Burji
Burji
ቡረጊ‎ (Burji)
Native to	Ethiopia, Kenya
Region	South of Lake Chamo
Ethnicity	Burji people
Native speakers	83,000 (2007 & 2019 censuses)
Language family	Afro-Asiatic Cushitic Highland East Burji; ; ;
Writing system	Geʽez ; Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	bji
Glottolog	burj1242
ELP	Burji

Burji language (alternate names: Bembala, Bambala, Daashi) is an

Afro-Asiatic family.^[1]

The language has the SOV (subject–object–verb) word order common to the Cushitic family. The verb morphology distinguishes passive and middle

grammatical 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]

Numerals 1-1000

1. micha
2. lama
3. fadiya
4. foola
5. umutta
6. liya
7. lamala
8. hiditta
9. wonfa
10. tanna
11. Tannaya micha
12. Tannaya lama
13. Tannaya fadiya
14. Tannaya foola
15. Tannaya umutta
16. Tannaya liya
17. Tannaya lamala
18. Tannaya hiditta
19. Tannaya wonfa
20. Lamattann
30. Fadiitann
40. Foolattan
50. Umuttan
60. Liittan
70. Lamalattan
80. Hidittan
90. Wonfattan
100. Ch'ibba.
1,000. Kuma

Syntax

Word order

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

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 a converb 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 lasa eegadh-i dhab-ann-oo dhogol-i aaree-shini

two day wait -CVB loose-PST-CON leopard-SNOM.M/ABS anger-INS.F

gal-i=k'aa akkarraga isheek-koo mar-ann-oo.

return-CVB=FOC evening POSS.3SG.F-ADE go-PST-CON

Translation: ‘Having lost two days waiting, the leopard returned furiously, and in the evening, he went to her house.

Notes

^ ^a ^b Burji at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
^ Angelique Chelo. 2016. A COLLECTION OF 100 BURJI PROVERBS AND WISE SAYINGS. Web Access Archived 2021-10-30 at the Wayback Machine
^ Wedekind, Klaus. 1990. Generating Narratives – Interrelations of Knowledge, Text Variants, and Cushitic Focus Strategies. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter.