Lesson 13

Lesson 13

This lesson will explain the interrogative pronouns [ŋa] and [ŋu̲].

Someone comes into the house and you call out:

You:	Ɛ ŋa? Ɛ jï̲n ŋa? Who is it? Who are you?
Person:	Ɛ ɤä̲n raan. I am I a person.
You:	Kä̲ ɛ jï̲n raan ŋa? But you are a person of whom?
Person:	Ɛ ɤä̲n raan Rëët. I am a person of Reet.
You:	Go̲o̲ri̲ ni̲ ŋu̲? What do you want?
Person:	Ɣä̲n göörä̲ bi̲i̲y. I want a cloth.
You:	Ɛ bi̲i̲y ŋu̲kä̲? It is a cloth of what.
Person:	Ɛ bi̲i̲y duëël wal. It is a cloth of the clinic (house of medicine)
You:	Kä̲ bi̲i̲y ɛmɔ ɛ du̲ŋ ŋu̲kä̲? And what is that cloth for?
Person:	Bi̲i̲y ɛmɔ ɛ du̲ŋ la̲t duëël wal. That cloth is for the work of the clinic.
You:	Ɛ jɛn. Bä̲ jɛ ka̲m ji̲. Cu̲ŋŋi̲ lɛɛr. Bä̲ bɛ̲n. It is so. I will give it to you. Stop a little bit. i.e. Hold on a minute. I will come.

PHONETICS

Pratice reading the previous dialogues with the informant.
Practice the drills.

SYNTAX

There are 2 true interrogative pronouns in Nuer. They are [ŋu̲] -- what, why and [ŋa] -- who, whose, whom. These words may occur in the following grammatical positions: subject, predicate nominative, apposition direct and indirect object and genitive. They have plural forms. They may be suffixed by the possession adjective endings.

THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS

	ŋu̲	ŋa
Subjective-objective	Sing. : ŋu̲ Pl. : ŋu̲u̲ni̲	Sing. : ŋa Pl. : ŋaani̲
Genitive	Sing.: ŋu̲kä̲ Pl. : ŋu̲u̲ni̲	Sing. : ŋa Pl. : ŋaani̲

EXAMPLES

Nominative:	Subject	[Ci̲ ŋa bɛ̲n?] -- Who came? [Tɛ̲ ŋaani̲ thï̲n? ] -- Who is there? Who is involved?
	Appositive	[Ɛ jï̲n ŋa?] -- Who are you? Literally are you who?
	Pred. Nom.	[Ɛ ŋu̲? ] -- What? literally, It is what? [Dho̲o̲li̲ ti̲ti̲ kɛ ŋa̲a̲ni̲? ] -- Who are these boys? literally, These boys are who?
Objective:	Direct Obj.	[Cɛ ŋu̲ lä̲t? ] -- What did he do? [Ci̲ ŋa luä̲k? ] -- Whom did you help? [Ta̲a̲ ŋu̲ thï̲n?] -- What business do I have in it? literally, I have what involved? [Thï̲lɛ ji̲ ŋu̲ thï̲n? ] -- It's none of your business. literally There-is-no what (something) to you involved.
	Ind. Obj.	[Ci̲ jï̲n ɛ ka̲m ŋa? ] -- To whom did you give it? [Bi̲ jɛ la̲r ŋa? ] -- To whom will you tell it?
	Obj. of Prep.	[Cɛ wä̲ kɛ ŋa? ] -- With whom did he go? [Bëë kɛ ŋu̲? ] -- With what has he come? [Bä̲ wä̲ kä̲ ŋa? ] -- I will go to whom? [Kɛ ŋu̲? ] -- Why? literally, for/with what?
Genitive:	Possession	[Nɛmɛ ɛ gat ŋa? ] -- Whose child is this? literally, this is child of whom? [Ti̲ti̲ kɛɛ nyï̲n ŋaani̲?] -- Whose are These? [Yaŋ ɛmɔ ɛɛ du̲ŋ ŋu̲kä̲?] -- Whose cow is that? literally, that cow is the belonging of whom? [Nɛmɛ ɛɛ du̲ŋ ŋu̲kä̲? ] -- What is this for? literally, This is the belonging of what?
	Note: Possessive Adjective Suffixes	[Ɛ ŋadiɛn bi̲ jiɛɛn ɔ? ] -- Who-of-them will leave? Literally, It is their-who who will leave. [Ta̲a̲ ŋu̲dä̲ thï̲n? ] -- What have I to do with it? Literally, I have what-of-mine involved?

Note: Certain nouns cause the verb [ɛ-kɛ] to be lengthened.

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