Sinyar language
Central Sudanic language spoken in Chad
Shemya (tàar ʃàmɲà) is the language of the Sinyar people. It is traditionally viewed as Central Sudanic language spoken in Chad and formerly in Darfur, Sudan. It is variously spelled Shamya, Shamyan, Shemya, Sinya, and known as Symiarta, Taar Shamyan, Zimirra.
The language is spoken in Goz Beïda, Chad and Foro Boranga, Sudan. There are two level tones and downstepped low tones. Word order is SVO.
Dimmendaal classifies it as a language isolate, whereas Blench groups it with Formona.
Doornbos records 18 Sinyar clans. The Kijaar clan, located close to the Kujargé, likely intermarried with the Kujargé.
01Lexicon
Sinyar numerals from Boyeldieu (2013):
- Numerals
| 1 | kàllà |
| 2 | róò |
| 3 | mùʈʈà |
| 4 | ùssà |
| 5 | mòy |
| 6 | mìccà |
| 7 | mòorsò |
| 8 | màartà |
| 9 | mànɖéy |
| 10 | ʈìyà |
Sinyar appears to have a Bongo-Bagirmi superstratum and a non-Bongo-Bagirmi substratum. Some lexical items in Sinyar have cognates in Bongo-Bagirmi languages (particularly the neighboring Yulu-Gula group), while others do not.
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02Pronouns
Sinyar pronouns:
- Sinyar pronouns
| Gloss | Sinyar |
|---|---|
| 1S | màalé, (màá) |
| 2S | ìllé |
| 3S | nàalé, (nàá) |
| 1P.du | cìngé |
| 1P.ex? | cìyé |
| 1P.in | cèesá |
| 2P? | sìngé; sèesá |
| 3P | nìngé |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Sinyar language”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Darfur Linguistic Map.svg by Ermanarich, CC0
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