A grammar of Iraqw

188 Pages·1992·28.265 MB·English

by  Maarten Mous

A GRAMMAR OF IRAQW
proefschrift
ter verkrijging van
de graad van Doctor
aan de Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden,
op gezag van de Rector Magnificus
Dr. L. Leertouwer,
hoogleraar in de faculteit der godgeleerdheid,
volgens besluit van het college van dekanen
te verdedigen op
woensdag 1 april1992 te klokke 16.15 uur
_door
Martinus Petrus Gerardus Maria Mous
geboren op Cura<_;ao in 1955
V
Contents
Promotiecommissie
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Promotor: prof. dr. F.H.H. Kortlandt
List of affixes xiii
Referent: prof. dr. B. Heine
Maps xv
Overige leden: dr. W.F.H. Adelaar
prof. dr. Th.C. Schadeberg 1. Introduction 1
prof. dr. W.A.L. Stokhof 1.1. The Iraqw people 1
1.2. The Iraqw language 3
1.2.1. Classification 3
1.2.2. The status of Iraqw today 4
1.2.3. Former studies on Iraqw 4
1.2.4. Publications in Iraqw 5
1.2.5. Collection of data 5
1.3. Bibliographies 5
1.3.1. Southern Cushitic linguistic bibliography 5
1.3.2. Publications in the Iraqw language 9
1.3.3. Iraqw cultural and historical bibliography 11
2. Phonology 15
2.1. Phoneme inventory 15
2.1.1. The consonants 15
2.1.2. The vowels 19
2.1.3. Tone 21
2.1.4. Stress 23
2.1.5. Intonation 24
2.2. Syllable types 24
2.3. Syllable sequence restrictions and related rules 26
2.4. Reduplication 31
2.5. Other phonological rules 33
2.5.1. Vowel coalescence and glide formation 33
2.5.2. Simplification of consonant clusters 35
2.5.3. Vowel assimilation 36
2.5.4. Word-final reduction 37
2.6. Order of rules 39
3. Nominal morphology 41
3.1. Gender of nouns 41
3.1.1. Predictability by form 41
3.1.2. Predictability by meaning 44
3.2. Number of nouns 44
3.2.1. The category of number 44
3.2.2. The derivational nature of number 44
3.2.3. Number and gender 46
3.2.4. Overview of suffixes 46
3.2.4.1. The collective suffixes 47
3.2.4.2. Plural suffixes 49
3.2.4.3. Singulative suffixes 63
Vll
Vl
4.2.7. Participles 165
3.2.5. Patterns of derivation 69 4.2.8. The infinitive suffixes 167
3.3. Derived nouns 74 4.3. Verbal derivation 170
3.4. Other noun suffixes 82 4.3.1. Introduction 170
3.4.1. The demonstrative suffixes 90 4.3.2. The causative suffix -s 17 4
3.4.2. The possessive suffixes 92 4.3.3. The middle voice suffix -t 175
3.4.3. The indefinite suffixes 93 4.3.4. The durative suffix -m 178
3.4.4. The construct case suffix 94 4.3.5. Reduplication for habitual 180
3.4.5. The adverbial case suffixes 102 4.3.6. Reduplication with long aa 183
3.4.5.1. The directive case suffix 103 4.3.7. The durative infix <ar> 185
3.4.5.2. The ablative case suffix 104 4.3.8. The inchoative suffix -uw 186
3.4.5.3. The instrumental case suffix 106 4 .. 3.9. The factitive verbalizer -ees 188
3.4.5.4. The reason case suffix 107 4.3.10. The factitive verbalizer -uus 189
3.4.6. The background case suffix 107 4.3.11. The verbalizer -uut 190
3.4. 7. The vocative case 111 4.3.12. Combinations of derivations and the relation between the different progressive
3.5. Pronouns 112 derivations 190
3.5.1. Personal pronouns 112 4.4. Compound verbs 195
3.5.2. Independent forms of noun suffixes 114 4.4.1. The Adverb-Verb compounds 196
3.5.3. The resumptive pronoun ale 117 4.4.2. The Case clitic-Verb compounds 198
3.6. Numerals 117 4.4.3. The Noun-Verb compounds 200
3.7. Proper nouns 119
3.8. Question words 120 5. Other word classes 203
5.1. Adjectives 203
5.2. Verbal adverbs 210
4. The verb 123
5.3. Sentential adverbs 216
4.1. The verbs 'to.,be' 123
5.4. Expressions of. time 223
4.1.1. The verbs 'to be' with a nominal complement 124
5.5. Prepositions 226
4.1.2. The verbs 'to be' with a verbal or an adjectival complement 125
5.6. Ideophones 227
4.1.3. The use of the dependend verb 'to be' 132
4.1.4. The hither 134 6. The noun phrase 229
4.1.5. The impersonal 'to be' 136 6.1. Word order within the noun phrase 229
4.1.6. The reflexive and reciprocal 139 6.2. Gender agreement within the noun phrase 233
4.1. 7. Additional affixes: Order and possible combinations 140 6.3. Gender agreement with the noun phrase 234
4.1.8. The tense and aspect markers: The perfect -(g)a 141
4.1.9. The expectational aspect -n 144 7. Basic sentence structure 235
4.1.10. The imperfective past -na 145 7.1. Non-verbal sentences 235
4.1.11. The consecutive -ri 146 7. 1.1. Copular sentences 236
4.1.12. The consecutive -ay 146 7.1.2. Locative 'to be' 237
4.1.13 The background aspect -wa 147 7.1.3. Temporal nominal sentences 237
4.1.14. The mood prefixes:The conditional bar and the concessive tarn 147 7.1.4. Impersonal subject 237
4.1.15. The prohibitive and questioning mood prefixes m- 150 7.2. Verbal sentences: The core of the sentence 238
4.1.16. The case clitics 152 7.2.1. Subject 240
4.2. Verbal inflection 155 7.2.2. Object 242
4.2.1. Introduction 155 7.2.3. Adverbial case 244
4.2.2. The paradigms 156 7.2.4. Adverbs 246
4.2.3. Person, gender and number marking 159 7.2.5. The linked noun 247
4.2.4. The tense and mood markers 161 7.3. Adjuncts 249
4.2.5. Irregular verbs 163 7.3.1. External subject 250
4.2.6. Imperatives 164
IX
Vlll
Acknowledgements
7.3.2. External object 250
I am indebted to WOTRO (the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Trop
7.3.3. Split object 256
ical Research) for a three year grant (W39-113) that enabled me to work on this thesis
7.3.4. Bare noun internal object 257
and do field work in Tanzania.
7.3.5. External adverbial case noun phrase and external verbal adverb: The resumptive
pronoun ale 259 I am grateful to the Baraza la Taifa la Utafiti wa Kisayansi (Tanzania National Sci
7.3.6. Sentential adverb 261 entific Research Council) for awarding me a research permit, and to Professor Mkude
7.3.7. Prepositional phrase 261 and Professor Batibo of the University of Dares Salaam for their support and encour
7 .4. The syntactic function of the background suffix 263 agement. To Martha and Patrick Qorro for the keen interest that they showed in my
7.5. Sentences with verbal nouns 265 work.
7.6. Imperative sentences 272
Special gratitude is due to my main informant Bless Hilu who was always willing to
7.7. Topic 273 1
make available to me his precious time, and whose reflective and conscientious answers
7.8. Sentence-final position 275
to my questions were the major factor in my understanding of the structure of Iraqw.
8. Relative clauses 277 I wish to thank John N. Qamlali for his work as a language informant and for the
8.1. Participles 277 stimulating enthusiasm that he showed. I am grateful to John Dafay for his help in
8.2. Relative clauses 280 transcribing Iraqw stories, and to Maria Sanka and Hhawu Tarmo for narrating these
8.3. The head noun 281 stories to me. To Jerry Kirway and Joan Mrutu I am obliged for their assistance in
checking some of my material at a later stage in the Netherlands and to Cosmos M.
9. Questions 283
Muryo for checking all the lexical material with me.
9.1. Question words as a complement of the copula 283
9.2. Question words as modifiers 286 I wish to thank the Neema family in K wermusl for making their house a home for me,
9.3. Question words as adjuncts 286 and in p·articular Ephraim B. Neema. Furthermore I wish to thank all the people of
9.4. Questions with the questioning prefix on 'to be' 287 K wermusl and of Mbulu district who made my stay there very pleasant: Basili Aweti,
9.5. Yes/no questions and leading questions 287 Father Paul D. Darma, Paul Murphy, Teun en Marijke van Dijk, Father Damasi, and
9.6. Echo questions 288 many others. - ·
10. Complex sentences 289 My thanks are due to Carla Butz for drawing the maps, to Frodis Nordbustad for allow
10.1. Complementizers and clause introducers 293 ing me to read the manuscript of her grammar; to Hans-Jiirgen Sasse for his valuable
comments' on various aspects of Iraqw grammar; to Peter Ladefoged for sharing with
11. Texts 299
me his perception of the Iraqw sounds; to Roland Kiessling for valuable discussion and
11.1. sareeca nee Gees6 Duqa The buffalo and Geso Duqa 299
for providing me with material collected by Berger; to Ole-Bjorn Rekdal for bringing
11.2. kwacangw nee hhooki The Hare and the Pigeon 324
to my attention the somewhat less accessible literature on Iraqw culture. I would like
11.3. deel6r wakee About one day 331
to thank all the other people who have helped me at various stages of my work on this
11.4. History and origin of the Iraqw 337
dissertation.
References 361
Samenvatting 363
Curriculum vitae 363
Xl
Abbreviations
first person, first deixis (for demonstratives)
1
second person, second deixis (for demonstratives)
2
1/2 first or second person
third person, third deixis (for demonstratives)
3
fourth deixis (for demonstratives)
4
ABL ablative
BACK background
c consonant
CAUS causative
CONCES concessive
COND conditional
CONSEC consecutive
CONSEC2 second consecutive
CON construct case
COP copula
DEM demonstrative
DEP dependent
DIR directive
DUR durative
EXPEC expectational
F feminine
Fl subgroup of feminine nouns
.. FACT factitive
FEM feminine
HAB habitual
HAB2 second habitual
HIT hither
IMP imperative
IMPS impersonal subject
INCHOA inchoative
INDEF indefinite
INDEP independent
INF infinitive
INSTR instrumental
INT interrogative
M masculine
Ml subgroup of masculine nouns
MASC masculine
MIDDLE middle voice
N neuter; homorganic nasal
NEG negative
NEUT neuter
0 object
OBJ object
PAST past
xm
Xll
List of grammatical morphemes.
PERF perfect
The noun number suffixes are not included. Between brackets is indicated in which
PL plural
POSS possessive paragraph the morpheme is introduced.
PRES present
8.1/2 (4.1.1.), O.F (3.5.1.), 0.2.F (3.5.1.), PERF (4.1.8.), INF (4.2.8.),
RDP reduplication a
N (3.4.)
REAS reason
PL (4.2.3.), N (4.2.7.)
REC reciprocal
RES PRO resumptive pronoun -aak IMP.O.PL (4.2.6.)
s subject ale RES PRO (3.5.3.)
SBJV subjunctive -aa n l.PL (4 .2.3.)
SG singular -ang IMP.HIT.SG (4 .2.6.)
INSTR (3.4.5.3.), INDEP.CON.F (3.5.2.)
TR transitive ar
V vowel -aar IMP(NEG) (4 .2.6.)
voc vocative <ar> DUR (4.3.7.)
<> infix boundary -ara> NEG.IMP.PL (4.2.6.)
affix boundary -are> IMP.HIT.PL (4.2.6.)
() optional as REAS (5.5.)
INDEP.CON.N (3.5.2.)
separates abbreviations that are part of a single morpheme awa
separates abbreviations of different morphemes fused -ay CONSEC2 (4 .1.12)
into one bar COND (4.1.14)
adj. adjective -d a> DEM4 (3.4.1.)
Da Datooga -ee BACK (3.4.6.)
-e,
PL:PAST (4.2.4.), IMP.PL (4.2.6.)
fern. feminine
id. idem ->ee> l.SG.POSS (3.4.2.)
intr. intransitive ->een 1.SG.POSS (3.4.2.)
lit. literally -eek IMP.O.SG (4 .2.6.)
m as c. masculine -ees FACT:l.SG, FACT:3.SG.M (4 .3.9.)
n.pr. nomen proprium (name) g 0.3 (4 .1.2.)
-(g)a PERF (4 .1.8.)
pers. personalis
sb. somebody -hee BACK (3.4.6.)
-hung 2.PL.POSS (3.4.2.)
sth. something
DIR (3.4.5.1. ), 8.3 (4 .1.1. ), O.N (3.5.1. ), O.l.SG (3.5.1. ),
Sw Swahili -1
INF:PAST (4.2.8.), S.3:INF (4.2.8.)
tr. transitive
-f DEMl (3.4.1.)
-iim DUR:l.SG (4 .3.4.)
-iin DUR:2.SG, DUR:3.SG.F (4.2.2.)
-In DUR:3.SG.M (4.2.2.)
->in 3.PL.POSS (3.4.2.)
-Ir 3.PL (4 .2.3.)
-iya> 3.PL (4 .2.3.)
-ka INDEF.F (3.4.3.), DEMl:N (3.4.1.)
-ka NEG (4.2.8.)
-kaariya' INDEF.N (3.4.3.)
-ko INDEF.M (3.4.3.), INDEP.M/N (3.5.2.)
-ku M1 (3.4.), INDEP.M/N (3.5.2.)
-m DUR (4 .3.4.)
m- PROH (4 .1.15), WHAT (4 .1.15)
XV
XIV
-n EXPEC (4.1.9.)
-na PAST (4.1.10.)
n(d)i PL ( 4.1.2. ), HIT ( 4.1.2. ), DEP.S.l.SG ( 4.1.2.)
n(d)u 0.2.PL (3.5.1.)
-o BACK (3.4.6.)
00 INDEP.CON.M (3.5.2.)
-6k 2.SG.POSS (3.4.2.)
-6s 3.SG.POSS (3.4.2.)
-qa> DEM3 (3.4.1.)
to Serengetl
-r F (3.4.)
MAASAI
-ren 1.PL.POSS (3.4.2.) ,.. , ...... -------... ,,,
-ri CONSEC (4.1.11.) \
___ ....., ;:' Mbulumtft.lu 1
-s CAUS (4.3.2.)
-sa REAS (3.4.5.4.)
-sing DEM2 (3.4.1.)
-t MIDDLE ( 4.3.3.), 2.SG ( 4.2.3.), 3.SG.F ( 4.2.3.)
-ta F1 (3.4.)
ta DEP.BE ( 4.1.1.), DEP.S.1/2 ( 4.1.2.), IMPS ( 4.1.5.)
tam CONCES ( 4.1.14.)
-ti O.l.PL (3.5.1.)
-u O.M (3.5.1.), 0.2.SG.M (3.5.1.), M (3.4.)
-uus VERBALIZER (4.3.10.)
-uut VERBALIZER (4.3.11.) NYIRAMBA
-uw INCHOA:l.SG ( 4.3.8.) MAASAI
-wa ABL (3.4.5.2.)
RDP HAB ( 4.3.5. ), HAB2 ( 4.3.6.)
high tone CON (3.4.4.), PAST (4.2.3.), 0 (4.2.6.), VOC (3.4.7.)
MAASAI
·------- border of lraqw area
to Slnglda
35' 36'
MAP OF /RAOW SPEAKING AREA
1
XVl
1. Introduction.
1.1. The Iraqw people.
The Iraqw live in Arusha region in Tanzania, on the high plateau between Lake Man
36"
yara and Lake Eyasi. This covers Mbulu district, and parts of Hanang and Babati
districts, that is, they are located between 3°25' and 4°30' south latitude, and 35° and
36° west longitude.
To the north, the limits of the Iraqw area approximately coincide with Mbulumbulu,
Kambi ya simba, and the Ng orongoro conservation area, to the east, with the Yaeda
Valley and the border of Iramba district (Singida region), to the west, with the escarp
ment of the Rift Valley. The southern border runs more or less along the Basotu -
IAAQW(SCJ Khatesh line. See the map of Iraqw speaking area.
The administrative and economic centre of the Iraqw area is the town of Mbulu (Im
boru in Iraqw). Indeed sometimes the Iraqw are referred to as Wambulu, a term which
can give rise to confusion since some German scholars used Wambulu to refer to the
Datooga who lived in the area close to Mbulu town in the early days of colonialisation.
MAASAI(EN}
I estimate the number of Iraqw people to be 517,000. I arrive at this estimation from
the following considerations. In 1967 one third of the population of Arusha region was
Iraqw. This was the last census that registered tribal affiliation. According to the
1988 census, the population of Arusha is 1,351,675. We cannot simply take one third
of this number and attribute it to the Iraqw because the population growth among
the Iraqw is higher than the region average. The average household in Mbuhi district
(predominantly Iraqw) is 6.2, as opposed to 5.4 for the region according to the 19S8
BUAUNGE~
census. Thus we have to multiply one-third of the Arusha population with the factor
/KWADZA (SC) ~
6.2/5.4, giving approximately 517,000.
toHandenl
(se)
According to their oral history, the Iraqw come from a place called Macangwatay,
which is said to be somewhere in the area around Kondoa. The Iraqw lost a battle
GOGOlB} against the Datooga and moved from Macangwatay to Irqwa dacaw (East Iraqw), .
Manyonl to Dodoma ? which is the area of the divisions Muray and Kainam, southeast of Mbulu. This area is
generally considered to be the homeland of all Iraqw people. From Irqwa dacaw the
MAP OF LANGUAGES RELATED Iraqw spread over their current area of distribution. Some older men relate that long
TO IRAQW ago, before Macangwatay, the Iraqw came from the north. At present there are two
languages related to Iraqw, namely Burunge and Alagwa, spoken in the area around
Kondoa. See the map of languages related to Iraqw.
The Iraqw are farmers. They grow maize ( cayto>o ), beans (loosi), wheat ( angano ),
sorghum (mangware), millet (bambare), finger millet (basoro), pumpkin (caami),
sweet potato (kasiis ), Irish potato (kasiir Ulaya), and banana ( arwi). With the
exception of sorghum, millet and finger millet, all these crops are innovations. In
addition to land cultivation, most Iraqw keep some cows, goats, sheep, and donkeys,
·and more recently also pigs and chickens. Livestock is kept inside the house at night,
and their manure is carefully collected to be used as a fertilizer. Cows are culturally
the most important stock and are generally given names. There are several systems of
cattle loans prevailing in the Iraqw society. See Fosbrooke 1955.
3
2
Iraqw clans, which apart from marriage negotiations are of no great importance, are
The neighbours of the Iraqw are the Datooga, the WaNyiramba, the Hadza, the Maas
patrilineal. Clan history and genealogy is common knowledge and the Iraqw know each
the WaMbugwe and the Gorowa. To the south, the Iraqw neighbour with the Datoog
other's clans. A clan is not settled in one area but rather is scattered. The clan never
a Southern Nilotic people. There is more contact between the Iraqw and the Dato
serves as a political unit, nor are there clan meetings.
than with any other of the neighbouring groups. The Datooga, who are cattle noma
are also known as the Barabaig, the name for their most important subtribe, or
Traditionally elders of a certain area, who may be of different clan affiliation, meet
Mang'ati, which is how they are referred to by the Maasai, and which is also the t
to discuss and solve problems that arise in the community, such as land issues, and
for them in Swahili. The Iraqw refer to the Datooga as Tara or Tara Oori.
punishment is dealt out according to a fixed system. A spokesman, kahamusmo,
is often appointed to deal with land issues, or to negotiate with the medicine man,
There is quite a lot of intermarriage and cultural assimilation between the Iraqw
qwahlarmo. Medicine men are from certain clans only, for example, the Manda clan,
the Datooga, since the Iraqw are still spreading southwards. In areas of immedia
and in the past, some have acquired great respect and power. All medicine men must
contact the Iraqw have some knowledge of the Datooga language, and the Datoo
prove their abilities. Besides being consulted about illnesses, or land problems, or for
know some Iraqw. The contact between the two groups is also based on the fact tha
general advice, some medicine men are also rainmakers and prophets.
the Iraqw sell maize to the Datooga, from whom they buy various iron instruments.
A central concept in traditional Iraqw society is the concept of purity. One can become
Contacts with their eastern neighbours, the WaMbugwe, a Bantu agriculturalist people
ritually unclean due to several factors, among others because of menstruation, an
or Manda dacaw 'East Manda' as they are referred to by the Iraqw, are confined
unusual birth, or a cut in the body. Unclean people are to be avoided, which is called
the Iraqw buying pots and baskets from them.
meeta (or metimani in local Swahili). Consequently there are several rituals to
cleanse people, houses, land or an area.
Further southeast, near the town of Babati, the Iraqw neighbour with the G
likewise a Southern Cushitic group, also called Gorowa or Gorwa by the Iraqw
The traditional Iraqw god is the sun god loo'a, who created all things and is om
Since these live around Mount Fiome, they are sometimes referred to as the WaFiome.
nipresent. No sacrifices are made to loo)a, but only prayers are addressed to the god,
The Gorowa language is mutually intelligible with Iraqw, although both the Gorow
whose force or power can be evoked by an oath or a curse, both referred to as cuuhla.
and the Iraqw consider themselves to be different peoples. Extensive contacts between
A variety of evil forces, termed netlangw, are said to reside in water and on mountain
these two groups is found in and around the town of Babati.
tops, and sacrifices are made to ,counteratt these forces. , Spirits of deceased family
members, gi>i, must be attended to, for example by leaving out meat which they can
To the southwest, the .Iraqw border with the WaNyiramba, a Bantu people, refeq-ed •
eat when they return to the living in the body of a hyena. .
to by the Iraqw as Manda cuuwa 'West Manda'. Relations with the Wanyiram
are friendly but not very intensive, perhaps also because this border area is sparsely There is both male and female circumcision in Iraqw society, and in former times there
populated. was, for girls, a period of seclusion called marmo. This is no longer the case.
To the west, the Iraqw border with the Hadza, a hunter-gatherer people who represent a 1.2. The Iraqw language.
fourth language family in the area. The Hadza are referred to by the Iraqw as Hagitee.
There is little contact between these two groups apart from the Iraqw obtaining honey 1.2.1. Classification.
from the Hadza in exchange for tobacco.
Iraqw is a Cushitic language, which is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family.
This classification was first claimed by Reinisch on the basis of material collected by
To the north, the neighbours of the Iraqw are the Maasai, Eastern Nilotic nomadic
Baumann (1894). Reinisch classified Gorowa, Iraqw, Alagwa and Burunge as belonging
people called Duwanqeed by the Iraqw. There is no direct contact with the Maasai
to the Hamitic group. Later, in 1906, Meinhof classified Burunge and Ma'a as Hamitic
nowadays, partly because traditionally the Maasai are considered enemies.
and among others on the basis of lexical correspondences, showed that these language
As was seen in their contacts with the Datooga, the Iraqw practice exogamy. Further were related to Somali. Tucker and Bryan (1957, 1966), on the other hand, ignoring
more, marriage has to be between people that are not related within four generations, the arguments for their inclusion in Afro-Asiatic by earlier authors, claimed that Iraqw,
hence they must marry outside the clan. There are specialists that can be consulted Gorowa, Burunge, and Alagwa were unclassified, and postulated an isolated language
~here is any doubt as to whether such conditions of marriage can be fulfilled. Marriage group, the Iraqw group. Whiteley also took this position. Greenberg (1963) classified
1s arranged by the father of the groom. The bride wealth is negotiable, although the the four languages as Southern Cushitic, one of the branches of Cushitic, of the Afro
accepted standard is a bull, a ram and a male goat. Another way to marry is for a man f\siatic family, and this classification is now no longer challenged.
to elope with a girl, after which the normal procedures are adhered to. A special kind
The Southern Cushitic languages consist of Iraqw, Gorowa (or Fiome), Alagwa (or
of marriage is one where its purpose is solely that of procreating a male descendent.
Asi), Burunge, Kw'adza (or Ng'omvia), Aasax (or Aramanik), Ma'a (or Mbugu) and
Although polygamy is possible, it is rare. After marriage, sons usually settle close to
.Dahalo (or Sanye). Ehret (1980) showed that these languages form a unit, and he
their father's house, though settlement elsewhere in Iraqw land is quite common.
5
4
in the marking of tone, vowel length, glottal stop and 'ayn. In 1988, Nordbustad
published the most comprehensive Iraqw grammar to date. There she presented her
arrived at the following subclassification:
material which was acurate, in a well-organized way, although it falls short on analysis.
Rift: West Rift: Gorowa and Iraqw Articles on various aspects of the Iraqw language have been published by Bradfield
Alagwa and Burunge (1977), Dalgish (1978), Maghway (1983, 1989), Elderkin (1988) and Kiessling (1989,
East Rift: Kw'adza and Aasax 1990). Qorro (1982), Kiessling (1988), and Pflug (1989) have written their M.A. theses
Ma'a on Iraqw.
Dahalo
1.2.4. Publications in Iraqw.
Of these, K w'adza and Aasax are extinct or nearly extinct. The classification of Ma'
There are a few publications in Iraqw itself, see the bibliography. Most of these pub
as a Cushitic language is disputed for theoretical reasons, namely because Ma'a is a
lications are religious works. Between 1920 and 1926, the Catholic mission published
mixed language with Bantu morphology and Cushitic roots. Likewise, the inclusion
several religious books, their main work being aymar slafing ar mungu nee xoororos
of Dahalo in Southern Cushitic is disputed, and some scholars believe that it may be
which contains parts of the Old and New Testament. From 1957 to date the Lutheran
Eastern Cushi tic.
mission has contributed to Iraqw literacy and in 1977 they published the New Testa
The position of Southern Cushitic within the Cushitic family is unclear. Greenberg ment, Yajabt6r hho ', in Iraqw. In the late colonial period, there was a local official
(1963) classifies it as one of the parallel groups of Cushitic, a classification which Ehret newspaper called IRGOBAWE also with contributions in Iraqw (see Maghway, 1989),
(1980) took at point value as being a valid one. However, Hetzron (1980) argues, on although I myself have never seen a copy of it. In 1978, Nordbustad published some
morphological grounds, for an inclusion of Southern Cushitic in Eastern Cushitic. Iraqw oral literature. In addition, Wada (1973) published a collection of Iraqw stories
in Iraqw and Swahili.
1.2.2. The status of Iraqw today.
1.2.5. Collection of data.
There is no dialect variation of any significance within the Iraqw area, which is probably
My fieldwork was carried out during three periods: June-October 1987, June and
due to the high mobility of the Iraqw within their own territory. Iraqw is used for verbal
July 1988, and January-August 1989. I conducted most of the research in Kwermusl,
communication only. Reading and writing, education and all administrative matters
in Irqwa dacaw, the central Iraqw area, where I stayed with the family of Efraim
are carried out in Swahili. Hence, for more modern concepts Swahili loans are used.
Neema. My main informants were Bless Hilu, the headmaster of K wermusl primary
The .Lutheran Church makes use of Iraqw, whereas the Catholic Church which formerly
school, and John Qamlali from Gehandu, near Mbulu. I elicited sentences from the
used Iraqw, now uses Swahili. Despite these factors, there is no indication that the
latter two using English and Swahili as intermediate languages. John Dafay from
language is threatened or will disappear.
Haylotto helped me to transcribe the stories that I collected from Hhawu Tarmo and
1.2.3. Former studies on Iraqw. Maria Sanka in Haylotto. In 1990, I worked with Jerry Kirway and Joan Mrutu, while
they were in The Hague for a course of study. In July 1991, I spent two weeks in Mbulu
Study on the Iraqw language began at the end of the last century with the publication
to clarify some problematic points in my data. Apart from some 1800 elicited sentences,
of a word list and first notes on the language by Baumann (1894), in an account
I have 21 stories, 3 poetic contests (girayda), 7 versions of a poetic prayer (hlufay),
of his expedition to the area. Six years later in 1900, Seidel published some notes,
34 songs (da>angw), riddles (sinik), and 6 non-literary texts such as histories of the
that is, a short text and some words, on Gorowa, based on material collected by two
Iraqw ( alqado ), as well as interviews.
German colonial officers, Kannenberg and Glauning. In 1911, Struck published a table
of phonemes using material collected by Jaeger. In 1913-14, Dempwolff produced a list 1.3. Bibliographies.
of 279 words. The first grammar of Iraqw was written by two Dutch White Fathers,
1.3.1. Southern Cushitic linguistic bibliography
Schregel and Verhoeven, (Verhoeven 1926), who had worked on the language for several
years. Unfortunately the 231 page manuscript was never published, and hence was
Anonymus. n.d. lraqw wordlist. Dar es Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages and
never used by others. I had access to a copy of the manuscript. Likewise, Berger, Linguistics.
a German linguist, worked on Iraqw, and although he collected a lot of material, he
Anonymus. n.d. Burunge wordlist. (ms.) Dares Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages
only published a very short article on it (Berger, 1938). At present, Berger's material
and Linguistics.
is being prepared for publication by Roland Kiessling in Hamburg. Leatherman and
Anonymus. n.d. Alagwa wordlist. (ms.) Dares Salaam: Dept. of Foreign Languages
Guthrie also had material on the language, that was used by Tucker and Bryan for a
and Linguistics.
synopsis (Tucker and Bryan, 1966). Whiteley published his first findings on Iraqw in
Berger, Paul. 1938. Die siidlichsten Hamitensprachen Ostafrikas: Uberblick iiber
1953, and later in a revised and enlarged version in 1958, which for years has remained
die vorlaufigen Ergebnisse meiner linguistischen Forschungsr~ise 1934-36 in das
the main source of _information on Iraqw. The anthropologist Wada published a more
abflusslose Gebiet Ostafrikas: II Die Iraku-Gruppe. Forschungen und Fort-
substantial word list of Iraqw in 1973, and followed this in 1976 with a huge collection
of stories, in Iraqw and Swahili. Unfortu.nately, however, his work is not very reliable