Beja language

Beja (Bidhaawyeet) is an Afroasiatic language of the Cushitic branch spoken on the western coast of the Red Sea by the Beja people. Its speakers number around one to two million individuals, and inhabit parts of Egypt, Sudan and Eritrea.[2]

Beja
Bidhaawyeet, Tubdhaawi
Native toSudan, Eritrea, Egypt
EthnicityBeja
Native speakers
1–2.2 million
Afro-Asiatic
Latin alphabet (limited use)
Arabic alphabet (limited use)
Language codes
ISO 639-2bej
ISO 639-3bej
Glottologbeja1238[1]

Name

The name Beja, derived from Arabic: بجا‎, romanized: bijā, is most common in English-language literature. Native speakers use the term Bidhaawyeet (indefinite) or Tubdhaawi (definite).[3]

Classification

Beja is held by most linguists to be part of the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic family, constituting the only member of the Northern Cushitic subgroup. As such, Beja contains a number of linguistic innovations that are unique to it, as is also the situation with the other subgroups of Cushitic (e.g. idiosyncratic features in Agaw or Central Cushitic). The characteristics of Beja that differ from those of other Cushitic languages are likewise generally acknowledged as normal branch variation.[4]

Alternative Classification

The identification of Beja as an independent branch of Cushitic dates to the work of Enrico Cerulli between 1925 and 1951.[5] Due to Beja's linguistic innovations, Robert Hetzron argued that it constituted an independent branch of Afroasiatic.[6] Hetzron's proposal was generally rejected by other linguists, and Cerulli's identification of Beja as the sole member of a North Cushitic branch remains standard today across otherwise divergent proposals for the internal relations of the Cushitic language family.[7]

History
The ostracon which Francis Llewellyn Griffith believed bore writing in the Blemmye language. Gerald M. Browne and Klaus Wedekind believe this to be the ancestor of the modern Beja language.

Some linguists and paleographers believe that they have uncovered evidence of an earlier stage of Beja, referred to in different publications as "Old Bedauye" or "Old Beja." Helmut Satzinger has identified the names found on several third century CE ostraca (potsherds) from the Eastern Desert as likely Blemmye, and thus representing a form of Old Beja. He additionally identifies several epigraphic texts from the fifth and sixth centuries as representing a later form of the same language.[8] Nubiologist Gerald Browne, Egyptologist Helmut Satzinger, and Cushiticist Klaus Wedekind believe that an ostracon discovered in a monastery in Saqqarah also represents the Old Beja language. Browne and Wedekind have identified the text as a translation of Psalm 30.[9]

Phonology
Consonants[10]
  Bilabial Labiodental Dental/Alveolar Retroflex Palatal Velar Glottal
plain labialized
Nasal m   n (ɳ) (ɲ) (ŋ)  
Stop voiceless   t ʈ   k kʷ ʔ
voiced b   d ɖ ʤ ɡ ɡʷ  
Fricative voiceless   f s   ʃ (x) h
voiced (z) (ɣ)
Trill     r         
Approximant w   l   j     

Nasals other than /m/ and /n/ are positional variants of /n/. The consonants /χ/ and /ɣ/ only appear in Arabic loanwords in some speakers' speech; in others', they are replaced by /k/ or /h/ and /g/. Some speakers replace /z/ in Arabic loanwords with /d/.[11]

Beja has the five vowels /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/. /e/ and /o/ only appear long, while /a/, /i/, and /u/ have long and short variants.[12]

Front Central Back
Close i iː u uː
Mid eː oː
Open a aː

Beja has pitch accent.[13]

Orthography

Both Roman and Arabic script have been used to write Beja.[14] The Roman orthography below is that used by the Eritrean government and has been used in a literacy program by Red Sea University in Port Sudan. The Arabic orthography below was that used by the now defunct Website Sakanab. Multiple Arabic writing systems have been used to represent Beja, but none have gained wide support.[15]

Consonants[16]
IPA ʔ b d ɖ f g ɣ gʷ h ɟ k kʷ l m n r s ʃ t ʈ w x j
Roman ' b d dh f g gh gw h j k kw l m n r s sh t th w kh y
Arabic ء ب د ڈ ف ق غ قْو ه ج ك كْو ل و ن ر س ش ت ٹ و خ ي

In the Roman orthography, the vowels are written with the letters corresponding to the IPA symbols (i.e., 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u'). Long vowels are written with doubled signs. As /e/ and /o/ cannot be short vowels, they only appear as 'ee' and 'oo', respectively.

The single 'e' sign, however, does have a use: To distinguish between /ɖ/ and /dh/, 'dh' is used for the former and 'deh' for the latter. Similarly, 'keh' is /kh/, 'teh' is /th/, 'seh' is /sh/. Single 'o' is not used.

In the Arabic orthography, short vowels are written with the same diacritics used in Arabic: fatḥah for /a/ (ﹶ), kasrah for /i/ (ﹺ), ḍammah for /u/ ( ُ). Alif (ا) is used as the seat for these diacritics at the beginning of a word. Long /aː/ is written with alif (ا) preceded by fatḥah, or alif maddah (آ) when word-initial. Long /eː/ is written with a modified Kurdish yā' ێ. Long /iː/ is written with yā' ي preceded by kasrah. Long /oː/ is written with a modified Kurdish wāw ۆ. Long /uː/ is written with wāw و preceded by ḍammah.

Pitch accent is not marked in either orthography. In Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa (2006 and 2007), stressed syllables are indicated in boldface.[17]

In addition to these two systems and several academic systems of transcribing Beja texts, it is possible that Beja was at least occasionally written in the Greek alphabet-based Coptic script during the Middle Ages.[18]

Grammar

Nouns, Articles, and Adjectives

Beja nouns and adjectives have two genders: masculine and feminine, two numbers: singular and plural, two cases: nominative and oblique, and may be definite, indefinite, or in construct state.[19] Gender, case, and definiteness are not marked on the noun itself, but on clitics and affixes. Singular-plural pairs in Beja are unpredictable.

Plural Forms

Plurals may be formed by:

  • the addition of a suffix -a to the singular stem: gaw 'house', gawaab 'houses' (the final -b is an indefinite suffix)
  • the shortening of the final syllable of the singular stem (or Ablaut in this syllable[20]): kaam 'camel', kam 'camels'
  • shift of the accent from the ultimate to the penultimate syllable: haˈdhaab 'lion', ˈhadhaab 'lions'
  • a combination of these.

A small number of nouns do not distinguish between singular and plural forms. Some nouns are always plural. A few nouns have suppletive plurals.[21]

Case and Definiteness

A noun may be prefixed by a clitic definite article, or have an indefinite suffix. Definite articles indicate gender, number, and case. The indefinite suffix marks gender only, and does not appear in the nominative case.[22] For feminine common nouns, the indefinite suffix is -t; for masculine nouns and feminine proper nouns, -b. The indefinite suffixes only appear after vowels. The definite article is proclitic. It has the following forms with masculine monosyllabic nouns that do not begin with [h] or [']:

  Nominative Oblique
Singular uu- oo-
Plural aa- ee-

The feminine definite articles begin with [t] but are otherwise identical (tuu-, too-, taa-, tee-). With nouns longer than one syllable and with nouns that begin with [h] or ['], reduced forms of the definite article are used which do not distinguish between cases, but maintain gender distinctions. In some dialects (e.g. that described by Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa for Port Sudan) the reduced forms maintain number distinctions; in others (e.g. that described by Vanhove and Roper for Sinkat) they do not.

Possession

Possessive relationships are shown through a genitive suffix -ii (singular possessed) or -ee (plural possessed) which attaches to the possessing noun. If the possessing noun is feminine, the genitive marker will begin with [t]; if the possessed is feminine, the suffix will end with [t]. When the suffix does not end with the feminine marker [t], it reduces to -(t)i, whether singular or plural. Because this suffix adds a syllable to the noun, full forms of articles cannot be used; thus, the article on the noun itself does not indicate case. However, agreeing adjectives will be marked for oblique case. No article or indefinite suffix may be applied to the possessed noun. The possessed noun follows the possessor. Examples:

  • utaki raaw 'the man's friend (m)'
  • utakiit raaw 'the man's friend (f)'
  • tutakatti raaw 'the woman's friend (m)'
  • tutakattiit raaw 'the woman's friend (f)'
  • indaayeet raw 'the men's friends (f)'

(The noun tak 'man' has the suppletive plural da 'men'; raaw 'friend' has the shortened plural raw 'friends'.)

Postpositions follow nouns in the genitive. Examples:[23]

  • Whad'aayiida uutak eeya. 'The man came toward the chief/elder.' (-da: 'toward')
  • W'oor t'aritti geeb eefi 'The boy is with the girls.' (geeb: 'with')

Adjectives

Adjectives follow the nominal heads of noun phrases. They agree in gender, number, case, and definiteness, and carry case and definiteness markers of the same form as nouns.

Copula

Clauses may be composed of two noun phrases or a noun phrase and a predicative adjective followed by a copular clitic. The copula agrees in person, gender, and number with the copula complement (the second term), but the first- and third-person forms are identical. The copular subject will be in the nominative case, the copular complement in the oblique. Oblique -b become -w before -wa. Copular complements that end in a vowel will employ an epenthetic y between the final vowel and any vowel-initial copular clitic.

  Masculine Feminine
1s -u -tu
2s -wa -tuwi
3s -u -tu
1p -a -ta
2p -aana -taana
3p -a -ta

[24]

Examples:[25]

  • Ani akraabu. "I am strong."
  • Baruuk akraawwa. "You are strong."
  • Baruuh hadhaabu. "He is a lion."
  • Tuun ay-girshaytu. "This is a five-piastre piece."
  • Hinin Imeeraaba. "We are Amirab."
  • Baraah imaka. "They are the donkeys."
  • Baraah igwharaaya. "They are the thieves."

Verbs

Beja verbs have two different types, first noted by Almkvist: "strong verbs", which conjugate with both prefixes and suffixes and have several principal parts; and "weak verbs", which conjugate with suffixes only and which have a fixed root. Verbs conjugate for a number of tense, aspect, modality, and polarity variations, which have been given different names by different linguists:

RoperWedekind, Wedekind, and MusaVanhove
ConditionalPast ContinuousAorist
Past IndicativePastPerfective
Present IndicativePresentImperfective
Future IndicativeFutureFuture
—IntentionalDesiderative
ImperativeImperativeImperative
OptativeJussiveOptative
—Potential

(Roper analyzes additional subjunctive forms where Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa, and Vanhove see a conditional particle.)

Each of the above forms has a corresponding negative. (Vanhove refers to the imperative negative as the "prohibitive".) The past continuous and past share a past negative. Negative forms are not derived from corresponding positive forms, but are independent conjugations.

Every verb has a corresponding deverbal noun, which Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa refer to as a "noun of action", Vanhove calls an "action noun", and Roper a "nomen actionis". Numerous serial verb constructions exist which connote different aspectual and potential meanings.[26]

Imperative

The third person masculine singular positive imperative is the citation form of the verb. Weak verbs have a long final suffix -aa while strong verbs have a short final suffix -a. For both weak and strong verbs, the negative imperative is formed by an identical set of prefixes baa- (for masculine singular and common plural) and bii- (for feminine singular). Strong verbs use a negative imperative root which has a lengthened vowel.[27]

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
2sg.mgiig-aabaa-giig-aa
2sg.fgiig-iibii-giig-ii
2plgiig-aanabaa-giig-aana
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
2sg.mfidig-abaa-fidiig-a
2sg.ffidig-ibii-fidiig-i
2plfidig-nabaa-fidiig-na

Deverbal and Dependent Forms
Deverbal Noun

Every Beja verb has a corresponding deverbal noun (Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa: "noun of action"; Vanhove: "action noun"; Roper: "nomen actionis"). For weak verbs, the deverbal noun is formed by a suffix -ti attached to the imperative root (see above). For strong verbs, deverbal nouns are not entirely predictable.

Examples:

  • Weak verbs: diwaaa "to sleep" → diwtiib "sleeping"; afooyaa "to forgive" → afootiib "forgiving"
  • Strong verbs: adhidha "to hobble" → adhuudh "hobbling"; nikwiyi "to be pregnant" → nakwiit "being pregnant"

There are patterns in strong verb deverbal nouns related to the structure of the citation form of the verb. However, these are not consistent.[28]

Deverbal Adjective

A further derived form is a suffix -aa attached to the citation root, and then followed by -b for masculine nouns and -t for feminine. Examples:

Citation FormMasculineFeminineMeaning
diwaadiw-aabdiw-aatasleep
afooyaaafooy-aabafooy-aatforgiven
adhidhaadhidh-aabadhidh-aathobbled
nikwiyi—nikwiy-aatpregnant

This form may be used as an adjective, but it is also employed in the construction of multiple conjugated negative forms. Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa analyse this form as a participle.[29] Martine Vanhove analyses it as a manner converb -a.[30]

Tense-Conjugated Forms
Past Continuous/Aorist

The past continuous stem for strong verbs is not derivable from any other verb stem. The negative of the past continuous is identical to that of the past: There is only one past tense negative form. For both weak and strong verbs, the past negative is formed through a deverbal participial or converbal form (see above) followed by the present negative of the irregular verb aka "to be".[31]

Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa describe the past continuous as being used for "habitual, repeated actions of the (more distant) past."[32] It is the verb conjugation used for counterfactual conditionals, which leads to Roper's identifying this tense as the "conditional". It is also frequently used in narratives.[33]

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
1sggiig-igiig-aab kaaki
2sg.mgiig-tiyagiig-aab kittaa
2sg.fgiig-tiyigiig-aat kittaayi
3sg.mgiig-igiig-aab kiiki
3sg.fgiig-tigiig-aat kitti
1plgiig-nigiig-aab kinki
2plgiig-tiinagiig-aab kitteena
3plgiig-iingiig-aab kiikeen
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
1sgiifdigfidg-aab kaaki
2sg.mt-iifdig-afidg-aab kittaa
2sg.ft-iifdig-ifidg-aat kittaayi
3sg.miifdigfidg-aab kiiki
3sg.ft-iifdigfidg-aab kitti
1pln-iifdigfidg-aab kinki
2plt-iifdig-nafidg-aab kitteena
3pliifdig-nafidg-aab kiikeen
Past/Perfective

The past or perfective stem for strong verbs is identical to the citation form (imperative) stem, with predictable phonetic modifications.[34] The negative is identical to that of the past continuous/aorist (above).

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
1sggiig-angiig-aab kaaki
2sg.mgiig-taagiig-aab kittaa
2sg.fgiig-taayigiig-aat kittaayi
3sg.mgiig-iyagiig-aab kiiki
3sg.fgiig-tagiig-aat kitti
1plgiig-nagiig-aab kinki
2plgiig-taanagiig-aab kitteena
3plgiig-iyaangiig-aab kiikeen
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
1sga-fdigfidg-aab kaaki
2sg.mti-fdig-afidg-aab kittaa
2sg.fti-fdig-ifidg-aat kittaayi
3sg.mi-fdigfidg-aab kiiki
3sg.fti-fdigfidg-aab kitti
1plni-fdigfidg-aab kinki
2plti-fdig-nafidg-aab kitteena
3pli-fdig-nafidg-aab kiikeen
Present/Imperfective

The present or imperfective has two stems for positive strong verbs, while the negative strong stem is identical to that used for the imperative (and thus also for past/perfective verbs).[34] Weak negative verbs add the prefix ka- to positive past/perfective forms.

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
1sggiig-anika-giig-an
2sg.mgiig-tiniyaka-giig-taa
2sg.fgiig-tiniika-giig-taayi
3sg.mgiig-iniika-giig-iya
3sg.fgiig-tinika-giig-ta
1plgiig-nayka-giig-na
2plgiig-teenaka-giig-taana
3plgiig-eenka-giig-iyaan
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
1sga-fandiigkaa-fdig
2sg.mfandiig-akit-fidig-a
2sg.ffandiig-ikit-fidig-i
3sg.mfandiigkii-fdig
3sg.ffandiigkit-fidig
1plni-fadigkin-fdig
2plti-fadig-nakit-fidig-na
3pli-fadig-nakii-fdig-na
Future

The strong future stem is described differently by Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa and by Vanhove. Both agree that it is a fixed stem followed by a present/imperfective conjugated form of the verb diya "to say." Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa's strong stem is similar to the past continuous/aorist stem (next section), and identical for all numbers, genders, and persons, except the first person plural, which has a prefixed n-. For Vanhove, there are distinct singular and plural stems which are identical to the past continuous/aorist first person singular and plural, respectively.[35] Similarly, for weak verbs, Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa have a future stem ending in -i with a first person plural -ni, followed by a present tense/imperfective conjugation of diya. Vanhove sees the -i as a singular future, and the -ni as a general plural. For negative verbs, the negative present/imperfective of diya is used as the conjugated auxiliary.

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
1sggiig-i andigiig-i kaadi
2sg.mgiig-i tindiyagiig-i kiddiya
2sg.fgiig-i tindiigiig-i kiddiyi
3sg.mgiig-i indigiig-i kiidi
3sg.fgiig-i tindigiig-i kiddi
1plgiig-ni neeyadgiig-ni kindi
2plgiig-i teeyadna (Vanhove: giig-ni teeyadna)giig-i kiddiina (Vanhove: giig-ni kiddiina)
3plgiig-i eeyadna (Vanhove: giig-ni eeyadna)giig-i kiidiin (Vanhove: giig-ni kiidiin)
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
1sgiifdig andiiifdig kaadi
2sg.miifdig tindiyaiifdig kiddiya
2sg.fiifdig tindiiiifdig kiddiyi
3sg.miifdig indiiifdig kiidi
3sg.fiifdig tindiiifdig kiddi
1plniifdig neeyadniifdig kindi
2pliifdig teeyadna (Vanhove: niifdig teeyadna)iifdig kiddiina (Vanhove: niifdig kiddiina)
3pliifdig eeyadna (Vanhove: niifdig eeyadna)iifdig kiidiin (Vanhove: niifdig kiidiin)

(NB: Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa see verbs of the form CiCiC as having identical past continuous [aorist] and future stems. Some verbs of other forms have different stems, which would lead to a greater divergence between the forms described by them and those described by Vanhove.) E.M. Roper, describing the same dialect as Vanhove, identifies the stem employed as being identical to the past continuous/aorist (for him, "conditional"—see above), just as Vanhove does. However, he understands the form with n- as being used only with the first person plural, as Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa do.[36]

Intentional/Desiderative

In addition to the future, Bidhaawyeet has a similar form expressing desire to undertake an act or intention to do so. The citation root takes a suffix -a for all persons, genders, and numbers, and is followed by a present tense/imperfective conjugated form of the verb diya "to say", as the future is.[37]

Jussive, Optative, Potential

There is distinct disagreement between the major grammars of the past century on the modal conjugation or conjugations referred to as "jussive," "optative," and "potential."

Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa describe a "jussive" with the following paradigm. For strong verbs, the first person is based on the past/perfective stem, and the persons are based on the future stem; no negative jussive is given:

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 Positive
1sggiig-atay
2sg.mgiig-ata
2sg.fgiig-ati
3sg.mba-giig-iiyay
3sg.fba-giig-tiyay
1plgiig-niiyay
2plgiig-aana
3plba-giig-iinay
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 Positive
1sgfidg-atay
2sg.mfidg-ata
2sg.ffidg-ati
3sg.mba'-iifidig-ay
3sg.fbat-iifidig-ay
1plniifdig-ay
2pl—
3plba-'iifdig-naay

They give various examples of the jussive with translations into English, in order to give a sense of the meaning:

  • Araatatay! "Let me ask!"
  • Naan gw'ata? "What would you (m) like to drink?"
  • Hindeeh nihiriway! "Please let us look for it!" (Atmaan dialect)[38]

Vanhove identifies a complex "potential" form composed of a nominalizing suffix -at followed by a present/imperfective reduced conjugation of the verb m'a 'come' (eeya in the non-reduced present/imperfective).

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 Positive
1sggiig-at
2sg.mgiig-at-a
2sg.fgiig-at-i
3sg.mgiig-at eeyini
3sg.fgiig-at eetnii
1plgiig-at eenay
2plgiig-at-na
3plgiig-at een
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 Positive
1sgfidg-at
2sg.mfidg-at-a
2sg.ffidg-at-i
3sg.mfidg-at eeyini
3sg.ffidg-at eetnii
1plfidg-at eenay
2plfidg-at-na
3plfidg-at een

Vanhove describes the potential as expressing "epistemic modalities of inference or near-certainty."[39] Examples below, with the potential verbs in bold:

  • "Deeyaraneek kaakan dabal had fiinataay," indi een. "'I am really exhausted, so I should rest a while,' he says."

Additionally, she recognizes an optative with positive and negative polarity. The positive optative is formed from a prefix baa- to the past continuous/aorist. The negative construction is more complex. In some dialects, the final -aay of most forms of the weak negative is a short -ay:

Weak Verb: giigaa "go away"
 PositiveNegative
1sgbaa-giig-ibaa-giig-aay
2sg.mbaa-giig-tiyabit-giig-aay
2sg.fbaa-giig-tiyibit-giig-aay
3sg.mbaa-giig-ibii-giig-aay
3sg.fbaa-giig-tibit-giig-aay
1plbaa-giig-nibin-giig-aay
2plbaa-giig-tiinabit-giig-eena
3plbaa-giig-iinbii-giig-eena
Strong Verb: fidiga "open"
 PositiveNegative
1sgbaa-'iifdigbaa-fdig
2sg.mbaa-t-iifdig-abit-fdig-a
2sg.fbaa-t-iifdig-ibit-fdig-i
3sg.mbaa-'iifdigbii-fdig
3sg.fbaa-t-iifdigbit-fdig
1plbaa-n-iifdigbin-fdig
2plbaa-t-iifdig-nabit-fdig-na
3plbaa-'iifdig-nabii-fdig-na

Vanhove gives no explanation for the use of the optative positive. The optative negative is used in conditional clauses with meanings of incapacity and necessity:

  • "Har'iisii bity'aheebaay," ani. "'Don't let it come from behind me!' I told myself."
  • Naat bitkatiim mhiin uumeek ingad. "The donkey stopped in a place where nothing can arrive."
  • Dhaabi biidiiyeeb hiisan. "I thought he would not be able to run."
  • Yaa iraanaay, ooyhaam thab'a! Baakwinhaay akaabuuyit... "Oh, man, hit the leopard! I don't need to shout at you and…"[40]

Lexicon

Through lexicostatistical analysis, David Cohen (1988) observed that Beja shared a basic vocabulary of around 20% with the East Cushitic Afar and Somali languages and the Central Cushitic Agaw languages, which are among its most geographically near Afroasiatic languages. This was analogous to the percentage of common lexical terms that was calculated for certain other Cushitic languages, such as Afar and Oromo. Václav Blažek (1997) conducted a more comprehensive glottochronological examination of languages and data. He identified a markedly close ratio of 40% cognates between Beja and Proto-East Cushitic as well as a cognate percentage of approximately 20% between Beja and Central Cushitic, similar to that found by Cohen.[41]

A fairly large portion of Beja vocabulary is borrowed from Arabic. In Eritrea and Sudan, some terms are instead Tigre loanwords.[42] Andrzej Zaborski has noted close parallels between Beja and Egyptian vocabulary.[43]

The only independent Beja dictionary yet printed is Leo Reinisch's 1895 Wörterbuch der Beḍauye-Sprache. An extensive vocabulary forms an appendix to E.M. Roper's 1928 Tu Beḍawiɛ: An Elementary Handbook for the use of Sudan Government Officials, and this has formed the basis for much recent comparative Cushitic work. Klaus and Charlotte Wedekind and Abuzeinab Musa's 2007 A Learner's Grammar of Beja (East Sudan) comes with a CD which contains a roughly 7,000-word lexicon, composed mostly of one-word glosses. Klaus Wedekind, Abuzeinab Muhammed, Feki Mahamed, and Mohamed Talib were working on a Beja-Arabic-English dictionary, but publication appears to have been stalled by Wedekind's death.[44] Martine Vanhove announced a forthcoming Beja-Arabic-English-French dictionary in 2006. It has not yet been published.[45] The Beja scholar Muhammed Adarob Ohaj produced a Beja-Arabic dictionary as his masters thesis in 1972. It has not yet been published.[46]

Swadesh List

The following list is drawn from Wedekind, Wedekind, and Musa's 2007 grammar and Roper's 1928 handbook. Nouns are given in indefinite accusative forms (the citation form); unless marked otherwise, forms that end in "t" are feminine and all others are masculine. Verbs are given in the singular masculine imperative.

No. English Beja
Bidhaawyeet
1 I aneeb (acc), ani (nom)
2 you (singular) barook (m.acc), batook (f.acc), baruuk (m.nom), batuuk (f.nom)
3 we hinin
4 this oon- (m.acc), toon- (f.acc), uun- (m.nom), tuun- (f.nom)
5 that been
6 who aab (acc), aaw (nom)
7 what naa
8 not —
9 all kass-
10 many gwidaab
11 one gaal (m), gaat (f)
12 two maloob
13 big win
14 long saraaraab
15 small dibiloob
16 woman takat
17 man (adult male) tak
18 man (human being) m'aadamiib
19 bird kilaay (s), kilay (p)
20 dog yaas (s), yas (p)
21 louse taat (s), tat (p)
22 tree hindiib (s/p)
23 seed teeraab (s/p)
24 leaf raat (s), rat (p)
25 root gadam (s), gadamaab (p)
26 bark (of a tree) adhift (s), adhifaat (p); hindi shadhiidh
27 skin adeeb;
28 meat shaat
29 blood booy
30 bone miitaatt (s), miitatt (p)
31 fat (noun) l'aab; dhhaab
32 fire n'eet
33 egg kwhiib
34 horn d'aab
35 tail niiwaat
36 feather tambaat/timbaat
37 fish ashoob
38 hair hamoot
39 head girmaab
40 ear angwiil (s), angwil (p)
41 eye liiliit; gw'aj
42 fingernail n'af
43 nose ginuuf (s), ginif (p)
44 mouth yaf (s), yafaab (p)
45 tooth kwiriib
46 tongue (organ) miid(al)aab (s), miid(al)ab (p)
47 foot ragad (s), ragadaab (p)
48 knee gindhif/gindif (s), gindhifaab/gindifaab (p)
49 hand ayeeb
50 belly f'iib
51 neck alaat
52 breast nigw
53 heart (organ) gin'aab
54 liver seet
55 to drink gw'a
56 to eat tamaa
57 to bite finika
58 to see rhaa
59 to hear maasiwa
60 to know kana
61 to sleep diwaa; naayaa
62 to die yaya
63 to kill dira
64 to swim nidabaa
65 to fly firaa
66 to walk hiireeraa
67 to come m'aa
68 to lie (as in a bed) b'iya
69 to sit sa'a; thathaa
70 to stand gada
71 to give hiya
72 to say diya
73 sun yint
74 moon tirigt
75 star hayiikw
76 water yam
77 rain bireeb
78 stone aweeb
79 sand isseet
80 earth burt; haash
81 cloud baal (f.s), baalaat (p); sahaab
82 smoke eegaab
83 ashes n'eetehaash
84 to burn liwa (tr), lawa (intr)
85 road darab
86 mountain ribaab
87 red adaroob
88 green sootaay
89 yellow —
90 white eeraab
91 black hadal
92 night hawaad (s), hawad (p)
93 warm naba'
94 cold m'akwaraab; l'aab
95 full ataab
96 new gayiib
97 good daayiib
98 round kwadhaadh; kwalaal
99 dry balamaab
100 name sim
  1. ^ Beja handles negation through distinct negative polarity conjugation. There is no lexical "not."
  2. ^ In some dialects liiliit means "pupil."
  3. ^ Ragad refers to the foot and leg.
  4. ^ This is a rare suppletive imperative. Other forms of the verb have no /m/ and are constructed around a consonantal root /j/.
  5. ^ Sootaay covers the blue-green range.

Numbers
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
m gaal maloob mhay fadhig ay asagwir asaramaab asumhay ashshadhig tamin
f gaat maloot mhayt fadhigt ayt asagwitt asaramaat asumhayt ashshadhigt tamint

"Ten" has combining forms for the production of teens and products of ten. Numbers from 11–19 are formed by tamna- followed by the units. E.g., "fourteen" is tamna fadhig. Combining ones use the form -gwir; e.g., "eleven" is tamnagwir. "Twenty" is tagwuugw. "Twenty-one" is tagwgwagwir. "Thirty" is mhay tamun; "forty" is fadhig tamun; "fifty" is ay tamun; etc. "One hundred" is sheeb. For higher numbers, Beja-speakers use Arabic terms.

Ordinal numbers are formed by the addition of a suffix -a. "First" is awwal, borrowed from Arabic.

"Half" is tarab. Other fractions are borrowed from Arabic.[47]

Literature

Beja has an extensive oral tradition, including multiple poetic genres. A well-known epic is the story of the hero Mhamuud Oofaash, portions of which have appeared in various publications by Klaus Wedekind. An edition appears in Mahmud Mohammed Ahmed's Oomraay, published in Asmara.[48] In the 1960s and '70s, the Beja intellectual Muhammed Adarob Ohaj collected oral recordings of poetic and narrative material which are in the University of Khartoum Institute of African and Asian Studies Sound Archives. Didier Morin and Mohamed-Tahir Hamid Ahmed have used these, in addition to their own collections, for multiple academic publications in French on Beja poetics.[46] Red Sea University and the NGO Uhaashoon worked with oral story-tellers to produce a collection of 41 short readers and a longer collection of three short stories in Beja between 2010 and 2013.[49]

Notes
  1. Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2017). "Beja". Glottolog 3.0. Jena, Germany: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
  2. Vanhove 2020b, p. 420.
  3. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, p. 10; Vanhove 2017, p. 6.
  4. Zaborski 1988, p. 491.
  5. Lamberti 1991, p. 553.
  6. Hetzron 1980.
  7. Vanhove 2020a, p. 301; Tosco 2000.
  8. Satzinger 2014.
  9. Browne 2003; Wedekind 2010, Wedekind identifies this psalm as number 29, but makes it clear that he is referring to the Septuagint. Different traditions number the psalms differently and the psalm in question is more commonly numbered 30 today, as here.
  10. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §26; Vanhove 2014, §2.1.
  11. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §§31–32.
  12. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §§26, 30.
  13. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §27.
  14. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §25.
  15. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 11.
  16. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §26.
  17. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005; Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007.
  18. Browne 2003.
  19. Appleyard 2007.
  20. Vanhove 2014, §3.1.5.
  21. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 43.
  22. Roper 1928, §43.
  23. Roper 1928, §§56–57.
  24. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 45; Vanhove 2014, §3.1.1.
  25. Roper 1928, §63.
  26. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 150–158; Vanhove 2014, §3.2.6ff.
  27. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 97–100; Vanhove 2014, §3.2.2.2.1.
  28. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 159–161; Vanhove 2014, §§3.3.1–3.3.2.
  29. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 56–57.
  30. Vanhove 2014, §3.2.4.4.
  31. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 101.
  32. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 155.
  33. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 183; Vanhove 2014, §3.2.2.1.
  34. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 100.
  35. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 101; Vanhove 2014, §3.2.6.2.
  36. Roper 1928, §183.
  37. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 154–155; Vanhove 2014, §3.2.6.3.
  38. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, pp. 162–166.
  39. Vanhove 2014, §3.2.6.5.
  40. Vanhove 2014, §3.2.2.2.2; Vanhove 2011.
  41. Vanhove 2020a, p. 302.
  42. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2007, p. 17.
  43. Zaborski 1989.
  44. Wedekind et al. 2017.
  45. Vanhove 2006, p. 6.
  46. Hamid Ahmed 2010.
  47. Wedekind, Wedekind & Musa 2004–2005, §§250–257.
  48. Mohammed Ahmed 2004.
  49. Swackhamer 2013.

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