The Fur language (Fur bèle fòòr or fòòraŋ bèle, Arabic فوراوي Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is the language of the Fur of Darfur in western Sudan. It belongs to the Fur branch of the Nilo-Saharan phylum. It has about 900,000 speakers (500,000 in 1983.)

Phonology

The consonantal phonemes are:

• Bilabial: f b m w
• Dental/Alveolar: t d s n l r
• Palatal: j ñ y
• Velar: k g (h) ŋ

z occurs only as an allophone of y. Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords. /h/ is very rare.

The vowels are as in Latin: a e i o u. There is dispute as to whether the +ATR vowels ɛ, ɔ, ɪ, ʊ are phonetic variants or separate phonemes. /f/ varies along a range between [p] and [f]; thus some sources give the name of the language as pɔɔr.

There are two underlying tonemes, L (low) and H (high); phonetically, L, H, mid, HL and LH are all found.

Interestingly, metathesis is an extremely common, and regular, grammatical phenomenon in Fur; when a consonant pronoun prefix is prefixed to a verb that begins with a consonant, either the verb's first consonant is deleted or it changes places with the following vowel. Eg: lem- "lick" > -elm-; ba- "drink" > -ab-; tuum- "build" > -utum-. There are also a variety of assimilation rules.

Morphology

Plurals

Noun, and optionally adjective, plurals can be formed with -a (-ŋa after vowels): àldi "story" > àldiŋa "stories", tòŋ "(a certain species of) antelope"> tòŋà "antelopes"; bàin "old" > bàinà "old (pl.)". This suffix also gives the inanimate 3rd person plural of the verb: lìiŋ "he bathes" > lìiŋa "they (inanimate) bathe", kaliŋa "they (animate) bathe".

Vowel-final adjectives can take a plural in -là, as well as -ŋa: lulla "cold" > lullalà or lullaŋà "cold (pl.)". A similar suffix (metathesized and assimilated to become -òl/-ùl/-àl) is used for the plural of the verb in some tenses.

A few CVV nouns take the plural suffix H-ta; ròò "river" > ròota "rivers"; rèi "field" > rèito "fields".

At least two nouns take the suffix -i: koor "spear" > koori "spears", nuum "mouse" > kuumi "mice".

Nouns with the singular prefix d- (> n- before a nasal) take the plural k-; these are about 20% of all nouns. In some cases (mostly body parts) it is accompanied by L. Eg: dilo "ear" > kilo "ears"; nuŋi "eye" > kuŋi "eyes"; dagi "tooth" > kàgi "teeth"; dòrmi "nose" > kòrmì "noses".

• In some cases the singular also has a suffix -ŋ, not found in the plural: daulaŋ "shoe" > kaula "shoes", dìroŋ "egg" > kìrò "eggs".
• Sometimes a further plural suffix from those listed above is added: nunùm "granary" > kunùmà "granaries", nuum "snake" > kuumi "snakes", dìwwo "new" > kìwwolà "new (pl.)"
• Sometimes the suffix -(n)ta, is added: dèwèr "porcupine" > kèwèrtà "porcupines"; dàwì "tail" > kàwìntò "tails".
• One noun, as well as the demonstratives and the interrogative "which", take a plural by simply prefixing k-L: uu "cow" > kùù; ei "which (one)?" > kèì "which (ones)?".
• Several syntactic plurals with no singulars, mostly denoting liquids, have k-L-a; kèwà "blood", kòrò "water", kònà "name, song".

Nouns

The locative can be expressed by the suffix -le or by reversing the noun's final tone, eg: tòŋ "house" > toŋ "at the house"; loo "place", kàrrà "far" > loo kàrrà-le "at a far place".

The genitive (English 's) is expressed by the suffix -iŋ (the i is deleted after a vowel.) If the relationship is possessive, the possessor comes first; otherwise, it comes last. Eg: nuum "snake" > nuumiŋ tàbù "snake's head"; jùtà "forest" > kàrabà jùtăŋ "animals of the forest".

Pronouns

Independent subject:

The object pronouns are identical apart from being low tone and having -ŋò added to the plural forms.

Prefixed subject pronouns:

Thus, for example, on the verb bu- "tire":

gi, described as the "participant object pronoun", represents first or second person objects in a dialogue, depending on context.

Possessives (singular; take k- with plural nouns):

Verbs

The Fur verbal system is quite complicated; verbs fall into a variety of conjugations. There are three tenses: present, perfect, and future. Subjunctive is also marked. Aspect is distinguished in the past tense.

Derivational suffixes include -iŋ (intransitive/reflexive; eg lii "he washes" > liiŋ "he washes himself) and gemination of the middle consonant plus -à/ò (intensive; eg jabi "drop" > jappiò/jabbiò "throw down".)

Negation is done with the marker a-...-bà surrounding the verb; a-bai-bà "he does not drink".

Adjectives

Most adjectives have two syllables, and a geminate middle consonant: eg àppa "big", fùkka "red", làmme "sweet". Some have three syllables: dàkkure "solid".

Adverbs can be derived from adjectives by addition of the suffix -ndì or L-n, eg: kùlle "fast" > kùllendì or kùllèn "quickly".

Abstract nouns can be derived from adjectives by adding -iŋ and lowering all tones, deleting any final vowel of the adjective, eg: dìrro "heavy" > dìrrìŋ "heaviness".

Sources

• A. C. Beaton. A Grammar of the Fur Language. Linguistic Monograph Series, No. 1. Khartoum: Sudan Research Unit, Faculty of Arts, University of Khartoum 1968 (1937).
• Angelika Jacobi, A Fur Grammar. Buske Verlag: Hamburg 1989.
• Constance K. Lojenga & Christine Waag, "The Sounds and Tones of Fur", in Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages No. 9. Entebbe: SIL-Sudan 2004.

External links

• Ethnologue report for Fur