The Berta language is spoken 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 name "Beni-Shangul " (as in the Ethiopian province of Benishangul-Gumaz) derives from a Berta expression.
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
|
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). Koeln: Koeppe 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.
- 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.
