Post on 02-Dec-2014
description
transcript
[e-book v. 120101144229]
¿e Sound of MmuockVolume 1: Orthography
�rst edition
Tano Fotang
TM
series
The Sound of Mmuock
Volume 1: Orthography
“¿is pioneer piece of work is not only original but ‘unput-downable’! It reminds me of Tony Blair’s A Journey. A er readingthe �rst dra s of this book two years ago, my mindset was com-pletely reformed. I became aware of how foreign cultures hadpenetrated deep into our societies and overshadowed our identity.
A language encapsulates a people’s cultural values. Nkwatte’soutstanding piece is a vivid wake up call to those who can still dosomething about identifying themselves with their roots. It is alsoa very helpful book for those who want to sharpen their skills, andfor students who are interested in taking this initiative further.”
—Ferdinand ZaumuSenior Banker
“¿is guide contributes not only to the formalisation of theMmuocklanguage, but takes us deeper into the understanding and preser-vation of our history and culture. Aside from projecting the imageand identity of the Mmuock peoples, it will fetch Mmuock a placein the front line of Cameroon languages.”
—Apabeloi Mbape N., dipes ii (Y’de i), M.Phil (Oslo)
“At last, a sigh of relief, as ¿e Sound of Mmuock has come topreserve this rich tongue.”
—Rita Zaumu, Ndem’s Communication
“. . . original and full of creativity. ¿is demonstrates great zeal onthe part of a son of the soil of Mmuock, employing a very simpleapproach and methodology, to e�ectively articulate his mothertongue for a wider audience to grasp. It is wonderful.”
—Ojuku Tiafack (Ph.D)Senior Lecturer, Yaounde i University
TM
Lë Muòk is an initiative of the Mmuock Language Society aimed at promotingthe production of books, articles, and other works, in or on the Mmuock language.
Authors seeking sponsorship should write to mls@mmuock.org.
Lë Muòk is also known as Lë Mok.
¿e Sound of MmuockVolume 1: Orthography
�rst edition
Tano Fotang
TM
series
magnolian publishers
First published 2011Magnolian Publishers—Bamenda, Republic of Cameroon
ForNjuontsop Joseph Ateafack
in memoriam
Copyright © 2011 Tano Fotang
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed,or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrievalsystem, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder
To contact the Author electronically, write to: nkwatte@fotang.me
For updates to this book and further information to this series, visit the website:http://som.mmuock.org
Typesetting and design by Tano Fotang
¿is e-book might di�er from the print version
ISBN 978-9956-645-17-6 (paperback)
magnolian publishersmagnolianpublishers@yahoo.com
Foreword
Slavery, colonialism and modernism have deprived Africa of many of her cul-tural values which have been painstakingly preserved from antiquity. Decadesof out-cry from the heart of Africa have not stopped this in�ux of westernlifestyles, fashions and tastes into the heart of the continent. ¿is notwithstand-ing, Africa still safeguards one of her richest and most precious natural gi s— her plethora of languages. What measures then do we take to immortalisethese languages so that they should not wither in oblivion? ¿e best measure isto learn how to write and read them. It is along the margin of the foregoingpremise that Tano Fotang moves in this �rst volume of his book, Volume 1:Orthography, of the procession¿e Sound of Mmuock.
Although it is very di�cult for a non-native speaker of a language to learnthe language and speak it as �uently as the native speakers, it is however, ofprimordial importance that he starts by learning the sound of that language.And this begins with the orthography. ¿en, grammatical patterns like verbsand nouns can follow suit.
With this publication (unprecedented of its kind within its environs), theauthor pays everlasting tribute to his land of birth, to his upbringing, to hiselite and to the linguistic department. ¿is is a very laudable e�ort, and acommendable step towards immortalising our national languages. Man hasa natural tendency of always returning to where he was born — even in thewestern world as ¿omas Hardy contends in his novel¿e Return of the Native.
And his mother tongue best identi�es him with his origin which extends to hiso�spring in later generations.
vii
viii The Sound of Mmuock 0. Foreword
¿is is an indispensable publication for all sons and daughters of Mmuockand every prospective researcher or learner of the Mmuock language. Whilehoping that it will meet the needs of the reader as underscored, the author, ashe has personally pledged, owes us a heavy debt in the proceeding volumes.
Nkwetatang Sampson3rd Class Honours Penfellow
of the Magnolian Academy
Preface
¿is is the �rst in a series of short introductory notes on Mmuock. Writtenalternatively as Mmock, Mmuock is the language of the M’muock (M’mock)peoples of Cameroon. While there is a vibrant and growing community ofspeakers, the biggest issue facing the language, has been the lack of a writingsystem—and the absence of any means of literary expression. ¿is instalmentattempts to address one facet of Mmuock: the orthography.
¿ere are at least two di�erent dialects of Mmuock, and those dialects di�eronly in certain words and pronunciation; the orthography is the same. ¿ispaper introduces a writing system for all dialects. Examples given in the presentedition might be disproportionately drawn from the dialect spoken in the veryupper region of the Mmuock tribe. ¿is partiality is but temporal, and is dueto my non-familiarity with other variations of the Mmuock language. I hopethat readers who are more versed with other dialects, will submit examples andcorrections for inclusion in further revisions of this document.
¿is text is targeted at speakers of Mmuock: those who already can speakthe language and now want to be able to write it. It should also be of some helpto those who want to learn to read the language. ¿is primer will not teach youto speak Mmuock; it can only assist you to write or to read it. If you can speakthe language, you already know much of what is contained herein. But youmay not be aware of that. My objective is to bring to your consciousness thatwhich you already know.
In this volume the orthography is introduced, starting with the alphabetwhich de�nes the basic symbols that represent the sounds and tones ofMmuock.
ix
x The Sound of Mmuock 0. Preface
(We will be looking at the orthography under several di�erent headings: vowels,consonants, tones, etc. ¿ese purely arbitrary divisions are solelymeant tomakediscussions easy to follow; do not attach any signi�cance to them.) Section 1.3then looks at the di�erent vowels in the language, while in sections 1.6 and1.7 we discuss the numerous tones and consonant sounds, respectively. ¿isarticle ends with a list of over 750 commonMmuock words, the study of whichshould enable the reader to spell similar words.
Each discussion is accompanied by examples. Many examples will containelements that have at that point not yet been covered. For example, the sectionon vowels will have examples containing various tones which will be coveredonly in a later section. Where an example is a single word, it is important tonote that the example represents the word in only the basic, “stand-alone” formof the word; that is, when the word occurs in isolation or is followed by a pausein speech.
Caveat lector! As a labour of love, this manuscript is a work in progress; itclaims neither accuracy nor completeness. Some examples and explanationsare rather elliptic; some sections, excessively austere. Furthermore, this is notan academic treatise, and no scienti�c or linguistic value is implied. Absentare such esoteric terms as “phonemes”, “minimal triplets”, “tone registers” andso forth. Not being a linguist of any kind, nor a particularly good speaker ofthe language, I intend this paper to be simply an impetus for initiatives in, andre�ection on, the development of the Mmuock language. More speci�cally,I hope that the imperfections of this publication will spur improvement orcontribution by those more resourceful.
¿is monograph is dedicated to all those who have kept Mmuock a livinglanguage, and who continue to do so. Special encouragement to those familieswho continue to pass invaluable knowledge to the children of today. Muchencouragement goes out to those associations and groups who mandate thatMmuock be the language of business.
I hope you get as much pleasure reading this as I did composing it.
Tano FotangAbuja
September 2011
Contents
Foreword vii
Preface ix
List of tables xiv
Abbreviations and conventions xv
1 Orthography 11.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 ¿e Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2.1 Quotation marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.2.2 Rare symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Vowel sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.4 Special case: <œ> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.5 Glottal stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81.6 Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.6.1 Notation and de�nition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111.6.2 Instances of use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161.6.3 Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.7 Consonant sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281.8 Orthographic exceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.8.1 y . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
xi
xii The Sound of Mmuock CONTENTS
1.8.2 Short vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331.9 Alternative notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
1.9.1 Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331.9.2 Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
1.10 Outlook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
A Word in�ection 37A.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37A.2 How to in�ect a word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
A.2.1 Pre-in�ection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39A.2.2 Post-in�ection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
B Word list 43
C Names 65C.1 Common �rst names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65C.2 Days of the week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66C.3 Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
D Numerals 69D.1 Cardinal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69D.2 Ordinal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Example Index 71
Index 75
List of Tables
1.1 ¿e Mmuock alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31.2 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.3 ø examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.4 σ examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61.5 œ in use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71.6 Summary of glottal stops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91.7 Tones in Mmuock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101.8 Tone 5 in nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201.9 Comparative sample of common tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251.10 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281.11 ¿e elided [a] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301.12 Examples of the pre�xed e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.13 Examples of the pre�xed i . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311.14 Examples of the leading syllabic consonant . . . . . . . . . . . 321.15 Alternative notation of letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341.16 Alternative notation of tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
A.1 Pre-in�ection: altering last consonant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39A.2 Pre-in�ection: adding an e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40A.3 Pre-in�ection: Doubling the last vowel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
xiii
¿is page intentionally le blank
Abbreviations and conventions
¿e following abbreviations and symbols are used in this article:adj adjective sb somebodyadv adverb esp especiallypl plural usu usuallyprep preposition é refer to, see alsopers personal = synonymvt transitive verb s© speci�c to Mmuock-Fossimondipron pronoun l© speci�c to Mmuock-Letehvi intransitive verb m© speci�c to Mmockmbinsth somethingdisappr expressing disapproval
Mmuock words, when not «quoted», are written in teletype. English transla-tions are italicized. Context is set (like this), while comments within translationsare in (sans-serif ). Finally, the word class is indicated like so: adj.
xv
¿is page intentionally le blank
Chapter 1
Orthography
This chapter introduces a Mmuock writing system. It presents the al-
phabet and discusses the different sounds and tones of the language.
Examples are given for each feature that is covered. For the most
part the examples refer to how words are written when they occur in
isolation. At the end of the chapter a speaker of Mmuock should be able
to read and write the language.
1.1 Introduction
¿e�rst thing to note about theMmuockwriting system is the fact that there aregenerally no ambiguities in the orthography: Each letter or symbol has a uniquepronunciation; conversely, each sound has a unique way of representation asa letter or combination of letters and tones. ¿ere are a few exceptions to therule; we will look at them in section 1.8 on page 33.
Secondly, there are no syllable breaks between vowel sounds. When twovowels follow each other in a word, there can be no break between them inspoken speech.
¿irdly, and most importantly, the meanings of words are distinguishednot only by vowels and consonants, but also by the tone or pitch: ¿e pitch ofa sound is just as important as the sounds of the consonants and vowels that
1
2 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
make up the word. ¿is contrasts starkly with languages such as English andFrench, where the tone does not really a�ect the de�nition of a word. Changingthe tone of a sound in Mmuock has the same consequences as changing a letterin an English word: the word either changes meaning, or becomes meaningless.
It is important to bear these points in mind as we investigate how to writethe language. To make our discussion easy to follow, we will structure it intodi�erent sections: vowels, tones, consonants, glottal stops, and others. ¿isdivision has nothing to do with the Mmuock language itself, and it is notimperative that we understand such fanciful terms. However, such partitioningenables us to group together elements that share common features and discussthem in one place.
A er brie�y presenting the alphabet, we shall look at the di�erent vowelsounds that are present in Mmuock, followed by two special sections: a descrip-tion of the special symbol <œ>, and a short discussion of the glottal stop in theMmuock language. Section 1.6 will provide an extended examination of thedi�erent tones. We close with a study of consonants.
1.2 ¿e Alphabet
¿eMmuock alphabet has notations for thirteen tones and forty letters. ¿reeof the letters are optional. (As shall be seen later, an optional symbol can berepresented by a combination of two, non-optional letters.) ¿ree others (ϕ, rand ¢) occur in just a few, albeit popular, words.
Table 1.1 on the next page displays the letters and tones of the alphabet. Forvisual convenience, the table is divided into �ve blocks of symbols, the blocksseparated from each other by a horizontal line. ¿e �rst four blocks show theletters a–i, j–r, σ–ω, and £–z, respectively. In each of these blocks, the �rstrow contains the small letter, while the second row displays the correspondingcapital letter. ¿e third and last row indicates the speech sound which the letterrepresents, from [a] to [z]. It should be noted that some of the sounds shown arejust best approximations; the actual sounds must be learned by pronouncingthe examples that will be provided when we look at each letter in later sections
1.2 ¿e Alphabet Tano Fotang 3
Table 1.1:¿eMmuock alphabet
a b c d dz e f g h iA B C D Dz E F G H I[a] [b] [Ù] [d] [dz] [@] [f] [g] [h] [i]
j k l m n ñ π æ ¢ rJ K L M N Ñ Π Æ � R[] [k] [l] [m] [n] [ñ] [N] [E] [I] [5]
σ ø š o œ p pf ϕ q ωΣ Ø Š O Œ P Pf Φ Q Θ[9] [W] [S] [O] [1] [p] [
>pf] [o] [G] [3]
£ s t ts u v w x y z� S T Ts U V W X Y Z[e] [s] [t] [ţ] [u] [v] [w] [Z] [j] [z]
a ã á à a å ä a ă â ‚a a
of this article. (¿e letter œ is a special case for which the sound given in thetable might sometimes not be used. We will look at it in section 1.4.)
Each letter can be written as either a small (lowercase) or a capital (upper-case) letter. In table 1.1 the uppercase character (e.g. ‘A’) is displayed below thesmall letter (such as ‘a’). ¿ere is no di�erence in meaning between small andcapital letters. However, there is a di�erence in usage: ¿e capital letters areused for beginning sentences, and for the �rst letter of nouns (names of people,places, and things).
¿e last block of table 1.1 shows the symbols used to indicate tones. Eachtone is represented by a diacritic (¯ ´ etc.) placed over the letter a as example.Note that only twelve of the thirteen tones are given in the table; there is onethat does not need to be particularly marked.
From table 1.1 we see that the sounds in Mmuock are, with few exceptions,
Lë Muòk
4 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
also found in the English language, although in English some of the sounds(such as [Ù] and [O]) might be represented by di�erent symbols (such as <ch>for [Ù]). ¿is composition being in English, it is naturally assumed that youcan read and write English or French, at least to a greater extent than yourknowledge of the Mmuock orthography. ¿e main di�erence between theorthographies of the two languages, is the tremendous signi�cance of tones inMmuock. We will, on account of that, be dwelling longer on the study of thevarious tones of the Mmuock language.
1.2.1 Quotation marks
Before we progress, it is well to say something about punctuation. With theexception of quotation marks, there are no special punctuation requirementsor punctuation marks other than what is found in the English language. InMmuock, the single quotationmarks are ‹ (opening) and › (closing). ¿e doubleopening and closing quotation marks are « and », respectively.
1.2.2 Rare symbols
Of the forty letters of the Mmuock alphabet, three occur in just a handful ofMmuock words. ¿e three are:
• ϕ, which occurs in a handful of monosyllabic words such as F (adv yes),Φ (polite term of address for an elderly woman), and Φφ`-φ (bye-bye);
• r, which is found in the word lèqœr (to go); and
• £, found in the common adverb p£.£ or £ (that way; like that).
We will split our discussion into three broad sections, viz.: vowels sounds, tones,and consonant sounds. Given the greater signi�cance of tones in Mmuock,there is the temptation to start with a discussion of the tones of the language.However, tones are almost always indicated on vowel letters. We will, therefore,look at the vowel sounds right away, and then talk about the various tonesimmediately a er that in section 1.6.
1.3 Vowel sounds Tano Fotang 5
1.3 Vowel sounds
Table 1.2: Vowels
Letter Variations Example
a ã, a, á, à, a, å, ä, a, ă, â, ‚a, a Mba (residence)e e, e, é, è, ě, e, ë, e, e, ê, ‚e, e Mbem ((unit of measure) grain)i ı, ı, í, ì, ı, ı, ï, ı, ı, î,‚ı, ı Ki. (namesake)o õ, o, ó, ò, o, o, ö, ő, o, ô Ndóπ (cup)ϕ ϕ, ϕ, ϕ, ϕ, ϕ F (adv(reply) yes)u u, ú, ù, u, ů, ü, ű, u, û, ‚u, u Qu (disease)ω ω, ω, ω, ω, ω, ω, ω, ω, ω, ‚ω lèsω. (m© to come)£ £, £, £, £, £ p£.£ (adv that way; like that)æ æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, æ, ‚æ Pæ (people)r r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, r, ‚r lèqœr (to go)¢ ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ¢, ‚¢ lèl¢ (to hide)ø ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ø, ‚ø Tø (drum)σ σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, σ, ‚ς Pfσ (foot)
¿ere are thirteen vowel sounds in the Mmuock language. ¿ey are repre-sented by the symbols a, e, i, o, ϕ, u, ω, £, æ, r, ¢, ø, and ς. (Due to typographicalissues, the letter σ is herein sometimes inaccurately displayed as ’ς’.)
Table 1.2 is a summary of the vowels. ¿e �rst column shows the letterwhich represents the vowel sound, while the column Variations gives variousother notations of the vowel letter. ¿ese other notations represent di�erenttones that can be on the vowel. (Tones will be studied in section 1.6.)
Nine of the vowels (a, e, i, o,ϕ, u,ω, £, andæ) can be described by comparingthem to similar sounds in the English language:
a sounds like the <a> in the word ‘palm.’
e sounds like the <a> in the English ‘about.’
i is the sound of <y> in the English word ‘happy.’
Lë Muòk
6 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
ω is like the sound of the <ir> in the British ‘sir.’
£ is the same sound as the <a> in ‘date.’
o is a similar vowel to that represented by <aw> in the English ‘saw.’
ϕ represents the same sound as the <o> of the English word ‘open.’
u sounds like the <u> in the English word ‘actual.’
æ has as closest equivalent the <ai> of the word “fair.’
¿e remaining vowels represented by r, ¢, ø, and ς are best described usingcommon Mmuock words in which they occur. We de�ne them as follows:
Table 1.3: ø examples
Żøte (insult)lètø (to burn)Fø (lice)Lefø (fat)Ndø (curse; bad luck)Fø (king)
Table 1.4: σ examples
Tsσ (head)Lepfσ (sky)nσ (adj true)lèfσ (to spray)Nσ (matter, issue)Nσq (sun)
Letter ø represents the vowel that comes a er the T in the word Tø (drum).Other examples are given in table 1.3.
Letter σ denotes the vowel found a er Ts in the word Tsσ (head). Other wordswhich contain the vowel, are given in table 1.4.
Letter ¢ represents the vowel that comes a er the t in the word lèt¢ (to stand).¿e following words also contain the vowel:Lez¢ gerund seeingLet¢ palm tree
lèl¢ to hide.Finally,
1.4 Special case: <œ> Tano Fotang 7
Letter r represents the vowel that comes a er qœ in the word lèqœr (to go).
¿e letters which we have seen in this section actually represent uniquesounds of the Mmuock language. In the examples that we have met so far, thereis a symbol <œ> which does not stand for any particular sound. However, itallows us to, in a straightforward way, represent some two sound sequencesthat are otherwise tricky to do elegantly. As will become evident as we progress,<œ> is very important to the Mmuock orthography. We will now discuss it asa special case in a dedicated section.
1.4 Special case: <œ>
Table 1.5: œ in use
Consonant Sound Example
k, q [x] Mπkœó [mNkxO] infantMaπkœà. l© Irish potato
lèkœá. to cut with cutlass or axe
lèkœé (light) to shineLeqœa. [l@GxaP] jawlèqœe to do
all others [jh] Lœaπ [aljha< N] chair
Lώ ants
Tœě tree
lèxœak [l@Zjha<
k] to sweep
Bešœé sides
Šœá (banana) bunchNjœé time
Cœé [aÙjh@<
3] rainy season
œ in occurrence is di�erent from other letters of the alphabet. Firstly, itnever appears at the beginning of a word, and follows only consonants. In
Lë Muòk
8 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
fact, although any word can—at least in theory—be created which contains aconsonant followed by œ and a vowel, in practice it should be noted that:
– œ only follows the consonants represented by the letters c, d, j, k, l, n, π,ñ, p, q, š, t, and x;
– œ precedes only the vowels a, e, o, r, and ø.
Secondly, œ is, strictly speaking, neither a vowel nor a consonant. When itfollows k or q, œmay be pronounced as [x], such as in Mπkœa. [mNkxaP] (cock).However, when it follows any other consonant, œ represents [jh] and indicatesa steady transition from the consonant to a succeeding vowel, as in the wordNdœaπ [ndjha< N] (bamboo).
Generally, therefore, œ occurs between two other letters, the �rst of whichmust represent a consonant.
With the aid of very common words, table 1.5 on the previous page sum-marises typical occurrences of œ in a word. ¿e column Sound shows theapproximatemeaning of œ when œ directly follows the corresponding conso-nant given under the column Consonant. Note that, for the sake of simplicity,phonetic spellings are not given for all examples. Moreover, the given phoneticspellings are just close approximations, and the examples must actually bepronounced in order to learn the actual sound.
1.5 Indicating glottal stops
To aid our understanding of further examples that will follow in our study ofthe orthography, it is necessary to now look at glottal stops and learn how tonotate them. Glottal stops are very common in Mmuock, and many exampleswill contain them.
¿e glottal stop is an essential feature of Mmuock. Although it can bediscussed under the section on consonantal sound, it is, unlike the other soundsof the language, not represented by a letter of the alphabet. We do not needa dedicated symbol: If a word (or syllable) begins with a vowel, the vowel isalways preceeded by a glottal stop. (¿is is not special to the Mmuock language;
1.5 Glottal stops Tano Fotang 9
Table 1.6: Summary of glottal stops
GlottalLetter stop Sound Example
a a. [aP] Mba. (grass)i i. [iP] Ki. (namesake)o o. [OP] Po. (mushroom)u u. [uP] Pu. (remainder)æ æ. [EP] Fæ. (measurement)ω ω. [3P] lèsω. (m© to come)
the same could be true of English.) As there are no exceptions, the glottal stopneed not be specially indicated when writing the word.
Elsewhere in a word (or syllable), the glottal stop, if present, always imme-diately follows a vowel—thus ending the syllable—and must be indicated. Itis indicated by placing a dot below the vowel letter. For example: If the lettersequence «nda» had a glottal stop right a er <a>, the word would be writtencorrectly as «nda.»; «nda» would mean something completely di�erent.
Table 1.6 exhibits the notation of glottal stops that occur a er vowels. ¿e�rst column gives a letter whichmay preceed the glottal stop; the second columnshows how the glottal stop is indicated on the letter. In the table examples areprovided for only six vowels; glottal stops very rarely occur at the others.
¿e glottal stop as di�erentiator
Quite o en, the di�erence between two words lies in the presence of the glottalstop in one of them. For example, the following pairs of words are di�erentiatedthat way:lèfa (to err) and lèfa. (to seek),
Lë Muòk
10 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
lèpá (to cover) and lèpá. (to weave),Ntá (branch) and Ntá. (pocket),Πgu (patient) and Πgu. (gap between rocks, bricks etc.),lèfı (to collapse) and lèfı. (to unearth), andlètú ((song) to tune) and lètú. (to give away in marriage).
1.6 Tones
Table 1.7: Tones in Mmuock
Notation Tone Name Example
a /22/ Tone 2 paπ (adj red)nda (adj (situation, well-being) �ne)
ã /00/ Tone 0 paπpãπ (adj red)ndandã (adv slowly)
a /11/ Tone 1 lekua ((number) four)Mba (home, compound)
á /33/ Tone 3 Mbúó (hands)Letá (trap)
à /44/ Tone 4 Tà! (Guess [it]!)1
Tetà (courtyard)a /24/ Tone 5 Ta (father)å /41/ Tone 6 tå ((quantity) �ve)ä /32/ Tone 7 ndä tå (twenty-�ve francs)a /43/ Tone 8 [A] ta. ([She] has guessed.)1
ă /23/ Tone 9 Tă. (Do not return.)2
â /14/ Tone 10 Ta Tâ ([the] father’s father)‚a /34/ Tone 11 [A] le t‚a. ([She] stayed.)2
a /20/ Tone 12 «paπMba» (red compound)1 in�nitive: lètá (to guess)2 in�nitive: lèta (to not return)
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 11
As has already been noted, in Mmuock the meanings of words may bedistinguished not only by the letters of the word, but also by the tone or pitch ofthe sounds in the word. For example, the word ‹Mu› maymean eithermother orchild, depending on the tone on the /u/. Likewise, ‹Loπ› may mean a numberof di�erent things, depending on the pitch of the /o/. In fact: to understandthe Mmuock language, intonation plays a more vital role than both the vowelsounds that we have seen in the preceeding section, and the consonants thatwe shall study in the next.
¿ere are a total of thirteen common tones with varying frequencies of use.¿e �rst �ve—the primary tones—are level tones which we shall, to facilitatediscussion, number 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. ¿e remaining tones (startingfrom tone 5) are made up of a combination of two primary tones. We shall, forease of explanation, describe all tones as a string of the digits that represent thelevel tones. ¿us, the thirteen tones, numbered respectively 0 to 12, are: /00/(tone 0), /11/ (tone 1), /22/, /33/, /44/, /24/, /41/, /32/, /43/, /23/ (tone 9),/14/ (tone 10), /34/ (tone 11), and /20/ (tone 12).
Table 1.7 on the preceding page summarises all the tones and shows howeach is indicated when it occurs on <a>. ¿e last column of the table showsexamples. Note that tone 2 is not marked, as it is the default tone. In the nextsection we will expand on this summary and discuss in a little more detail howto de�ne each tone uniquely.
A er studying table 1.7 onemay not really need to read the next sub-sectionto be able to write and read the tones. ¿e sub-section is nevertheless useful forat least two reasons: (a) many examples are presented, involving other soundsthan just /a/; and (b) it exposes some interesting features of which you, as aspeaker, might not have been conscious.
1.6.1 Notation and de�nition
Just as we have been writing sounds using the letters a, e, i and others, sohave we to also indicate the tone of the sound. With the exception of tone 2,each tone is notated with an accent mark (diacritic) placed over the letter thatrepresents the sound in the alphabet. Tone 2 is the default tone and is not
Lë Muòk
12 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
specially marked.Tones are indicated on vowels and, to a lesser extent, on the consonants
l,m, π, ñ, and n. ¿is is better illustrated by considering how the words Nděm(God), Mbúó (hands), and mbuo ((prep) in the possession of ) may be combined toform di�erent phrases:
1. mbuo Nděm (adv to God; in God’s hands),2. Mbúó Ńdém (God’s hands), and3. Mbúö Nděm (hands are God)—which, by the way, might be nonsensical.
As a speaker of Mmuock you already know the tones, albeit maybe uncon-sciously. We will now try to formally de�ne each of them in terms of the toneof various known sounds. We will use common words and identify the tone ofinterest, one per word, starting with the default tone, 2.
/22/ (tone 2)
As previously noted, tone 2 is the default tone and is not marked. It is de�nedas the tone on the following letters:
– the a in the word Πka (basket);– the e in the word Teπ (pond);– the o in the word Lekoπ (spear);– the u in the word Πgu (patient);– the æ in the word Letæ. (Leteh); and– the ς in the word Fσ (leaf ).
/00/ (tone 0)
Tone 0 is indicated by a tilde (˜ ) above the vowel letter. It is de�ned as the tonefound on the following vowels:
– the second a in the word paπpãπ (adj red), and– the second e in the word ndeπndeπ (adv equally).
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 13
Tone 0 is very similar to tone 2. Where tone 0 immediately follows tone 2 onneighbouring syllables, as in the preceeding examples, it is easy to spot thedi�erence between the two tones. In words such as paπ (red) and ndeπ (equal),tone 2 could in spoken speech be replaced by tone 0 and the di�erence wouldnot be easily evident.
/11/ (tone 1)
Tone 1 is closer to tone 2 and is indicated by the macron (¯ ). Practically, thistone occurs only on the last vowel of a word, and only when the word endsan utterance, is followed by a pause, or stands alone. In every other situation,tone 1 is replaced by tone 2. More on that in section 1.6.2 on page 16.
Tone 1 is de�ned as the tone indicated on the following letters:
– a in the word Pa (bag);– e in the word Żøte (insult);– i in the word lèpı (to peel);– o in the word Πgoπ (world);– æ in Pæ (people);– ø in the word Fø (leader; ruler);– u in the word Lešu (sack);– ¢ in the word lèl¢ (to hide); and �nally,– ς in the word Pfσ (foot).
Tone 1 is more noticeable when it immediately follows tone 2. Although itmight not immediately be evident, tone 1 is the tone on the following vowels:
– a in the word lekua ((number) four);– e in the word Njie (older sibling);– i in the word Kaı (fence);– o in the word Šuok (soap); and– æ in the word lèpiæ. (to carry).
Lë Muòk
14 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
/33/ (tone 3)
Tone 3 is indicated by an acute accent (´). It is de�ned as the tone on severalvowels and the letterm:
– a in the word Πkáp (money);– e in the word Njíé (smoke);– i in the word lèpí (to get mad);– o in the word Πgóπ (agriculture);– u in the word lècú (to descend);– æ in the word Læ (blood);– ¢ in the word Lez¢ (gerund seeing);– ø in the word Tø (drum);– ς in the word Pfσ (ash); and– M in Mπki. (wife’s mother).
/44/ (tone 4)
Tone number 4 is higher than tone 3 and is represented by a grave accent (`). Itis de�ned as the tone on the following vowel letters:
– a in Tetà (courtyard);– e in Njiè (clothing);– i in Kì (Take it!);– o in Fò ( l© rat);– ¢ in Z¢ (See it!);– u in Mù (child); and– ø in Tø (stone).
/24/ (tone 5)
Tone 5 is indicated by the caron (ˇ ). ¿is tone is de�ned as the tone on thefollowing letters:
– a in Πka (monkey);
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 15
– e in Nděm (God);– i in Lepı (tiny piece);– o in Ndoπ (lazy person);– æ in Mæ (palace);– u in Mu (female parent); and– ø in Sø (saw).
/41/ (tone 6)
Tone 6 is indicated with a ring (˚ ) above the letter at which it occurs. It isde�ned as follows, using the tone on the letters a and o as follows:
– a in the word Lå (garlic)– o in the word Loπ (pair of trousers).
/32/ (tone 7)
Tone 7 is indicated with an umlaut (¨). It is de�ned as the tone on the <a> in«ndä 5» (25 francs), and on the <¢> of Z¢lœé (a common name).
/43/ (tone 8)
Tone 8 is indicated by a double acute accent (˝ ), and is de�ned as the tone onthe letter a in the sentence «[A] la.» ([She] has cried.)
/23/ (tone 9)
Tone 9 is indicated by a breve (˘ ). It is de�ned as the tone on the <a> of thedirective «Lă» (Cry!)
/14/ (tone 10)
Tone 10 is indicated with a circum�ex accent (ˆ). It is de�ned as the tone onthe last <a> of the phrase «Ta Tâ» ([¿e] father’s father).
Lë Muòk
16 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
/34/ (tone 11)
Tone 11 is represented by a double grave accent. It is de�ned as the tone on the<la> in the statement «A le l‚a» (She cried).
/20/ (tone 12)
Tone 12 results from tone 0 following tone 2 on the same sound. To illustrate,remove <πp> from the word paπpãπ (red) and pronounce the resulting word,«paãπ». As there are no syllable breaks between vowel sounds, ‹aã› is tone 12,giving the word p�aπ.
Indicated with an inverted breve (ˆ ), tone 12 is de�ned as the tone on the�rst a in «paπMba» (red compound).
1.6.2 Instances of use
Although the number of tones appears to be quite intimidating, some tonesoccur, or are used, only in certain situations. ¿e low number tones (0 to 5)di�erentiate one word from the other when words occur in their basic forms,such as in the word list in appendix B and in the examples that we have metso far. In sentences and phrases, the same tones may be replaced by others—including high numbered tones (tone 5 and above). ¿e change in tone mightconvey the grammatical function of each word and, hence, lend meaning tothe sentence or phrase.
¿is section takes another look at the tones by using “practical” examplesfrom typical use cases. We will not dwell on tones 2, 3 and 4, as they are straightforward and relatively easy to understand. Tone 6 will be le out because ofa lack of examples at this time. Examples will not only be for words in theirbasic form, but will be taken from sentences and phrases. However, explainingthe meaning of each phrase means putting the words in a grammatical context.Since this essay is not about Mmuock grammar, the discussion is only valid tothe extent that it shows the tones that are used in in a particular circumstance.
Most tones appear particularly in verb tenses, aspects, and moods. Even so,the exact tone that is used, depends on the in�nitive verb. For convenience of
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 17
discussion, therefore, we will �rst o� divide verbs into two groups as follows:
group I: ¿ose verbs with either tone 1 or tone 2 on the last vowel of thein�nitive, such as lèkeq (to accuse) and lèla (to cry); and
group II: Verbs which have tone 3 on the last vowel of the in�nitive, such aslèkéq (to enter) and lèlá (to cook).
Tones 1, 2, and 3
1. Use in in�nitive verbs. Only the tones 1, 2, and 3 occur in the root of thein�nitive verb, a er the common pre�x lè. (Verbs in the in�nitive formare pre�xed with lè: lèqáqlé (to hurry), lèpı (to peel), lètá (to guess),etc.) Only those three tones distinguish in�nitive verbs from each other.
2. When tone 2 occurs at the end of a word, it is most likely replacing tone 1.To this there are a few exceptions such as Qu (disease) and Πka (basket),where tone 2 is not replacing tone 1.
Tone 0
1. Tone 0 occurs primarily in the following group ii verbs. (For compari-son, group i verbs are shown alongside those of group ii.)
(a) ¿e in�nitive with an adverb or an adverbial phrase:group ii: lètáπ→ lètãπ leya (to haggle too much), versus:group i: lètaπ→ lètaπ leya (to be too tough); andgroup ii: lèpá→ lèpã tèpók (to hate without fear), versus:group i: lèpa→ lèpa tèpók (to cover without fear).
(b) ¿e near future conditional:group ii: lèpá→ [A] pã... (if [she] covers . . . ), versus:group i: lèpa→ [A] pa... (if [she] hates . . . ); andgroup ii: lèpí→ [A] pı... (if [she] gets mad . . . ), versus:group i: lèpı→ [A] pi... (if [she] peels . . . ).
Lë Muòk
18 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
2. Tone 0 is also used in the last vowel of adverbs and adjectives which arederived (by doubling) from adjectives and nouns that have tone 2 on thelast vowel. Notable examples are:
– ndandã (gently), formed from nda (well);– ndeπndeπ (equally), derived from ndeπ (equal); and– xœe.xœe. (place by place), formed from Xœe. (location).
It is worth noting, though, that not all such adjectives and adverbs behaveas just described. Some use tone 3 instead of tone 0, as seen in thefollowing examples:
– bešœebešœé (adv from all sides), derived from Bešœé (sides);– ndiændiæ (house by house), derived from Ndiæ (house); and– xěkxék (before the a ernoon is over), derived from Xěk (a ernoon).
Tone 1
Tone 1 only occurs on the last vowel of a word. However, when the word is inthe presence of other words, or when the word is not at the end of a sentence orclause, or the word is not followed by a pause, tone 1 may be replaced by tone 2:
– Bela (lies)→ Bela ma ... (lies which . . . )– Lekot (�ght)→ Lekot fíé (new �ght)– lèpı (to peel)→ lèpi Kendoπ (to peel plantain)– Lepeı (liver)→ Lepei tsa ... (the liver that . . . )– Puo. (knife)→ Puo. wa ... (the knife which . . . ).
To further illustrate the foregoing, let us assemble words which all havetone 1 on the last vowel, and then see how tone 1 is replaced by tone 2 as wordsare added a er it. Using as example the words Na (parcel of farming land), ha(prep here), and nda. (adv only), we get the following four sentences:
1. À Na. On the plot. (cf. À Nã—It is on the plot.)2. À Na ha. On this plot.3. À Na ha nda.. On this plot only.4. À Na ha nda. lò? On this plot only?
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 19
Tone 5
Tone 5, apart from occurring in nouns (as exempli�ed in table 1.8 on the nextpage), is most used in verb tenses. Lets look at some instances.
1. ¿e present perfect of all verbs, provided that the verb does not end theclause or sentence. (If the verb does end the clause, tone 8 is used instead,as described on page 21.) Examples:
– lèlá (to cook)/lèla (to cry)→[A] la pá.... [She] has cooked/cried[it] as. . .
– lètá (to guess)→ [A] ta lëtú.. [She] has guessed it at night.– lèfø (to borrow)→ Bé fø Pu..¿e rest has been borrowed.
– lèzéq (to buy)→ Bé zěq ntsem. All have been bought.
+ Note that the present perfect described above is actually markedby the tone sequence /24/ in the verb. When the tone sequence is on thesame vowel, as in the preceding examples, it results in tone 5 (i.e., /24/).In some verbs, however, the tones are on two consecutive vowels. Tone 2is then seen to fall on the �rst vowel, while tone 4 is on the second. ¿isis illustrated by the following examples where the tone numbers havebeen indicated on the vowel letters:
• lèfem (to su�ocate)/lèfém (to get mouldy)→ À fe2mè4 paì. Ithas su�ocated/gotten mouldy outside.
• lèzeı (to start)→ A ze2ì4 lètá. She has started to guess.• lèpéí (to accept)→ A pe2ì4 lètá. She has accepted to guess.
2. Negation in the present perfect of group i verbs, using the negativeadverbs la (never) or ka ([has/have] not):
– lèla (to cry)→ [A] la la. [She] has never cried.– lèla (to cry)→ [A] ka la. [She] has not cried.– lèl¢ (to hide)→ [A] la l¢. [She] has never hidden it.– lèl¢ (to hide)→ [A] ka l¢. [She] has not hidden it.
Lë Muòk
20 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
3. ¿e non-negative habitual aspect in the past tense of group i verbs. Forexample:
– lèpa (to hate)→ [A] la mba. [She] used to hate it. (cf. [A] late mbá má—[She] used not to hate it.)
– lèla (to cry)→ [A] la ńda. [She] used to cry. (cf. [A] la tendá má—[She] used not to cry.)
4. Remote future tenses of group i verbs. (Note how, in the non-negative,the subject ismodi�edwith tone 9, as shall be seen on page 23.) Examples:
– a (she)+ lèla (to cry)→ Ă lá. la. She will cry. (cf. À lá. la.—It
will cry.)– lèla (to cry)→ A te lá. la mà. She will not cry.– Mu (mother) + lèl¢ (to hide)→ Mu lá. l¢. [¿e] mother will hide
it. (cf. Mù (child)→ Mü lá. l¢. [¿e] child will hide it.)– lèl¢ (to hide)→ Mu te lá. l¢ mà. [¿e] mother will not hide it.
Table 1.8: Tone 5 in nouns
Belaπ (shoes) Πka (monkey)Ta (dad) Leka (whistle)Ndzaπ (xylophone) Télaπ (day of the week)Mba (abscess) Ñě (cutlass)Nděm (God) Fěπ (wound)Sěq (friend) Lepı (tiny piece)Let¢ (palm tree) Mu (mother)Lefa ((door, wall etc.) crack)
Tone 7
¿e simple present of group i verbs, when it describes a habit, is indicatedby the tone sequence /32/, resulting in tone 7. ¿is is true except when (i) theverb ends the sentence or clause, and (ii) the verb is followed by a conjunction
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 21
that begins with tone 3 or 4, such as té before, πga that, ńdzé so, etc. In suchsituations, tone 3 is used instead. Here are few examples for illustration:
– lèl¢ (to hide) → A nd¢... She hides . . . (cf. A nd¢.—She hides [it].
and A nd¢ πga...—She hides [it] so that. . . )– lèla (to cry) → A ndä lëtú.. She cries at night. (cf. A ndá té bél¢.—She cries before it is hidden.)
– lèfø (to borrow)→ A fø lëtú.. She borrows [it] at night. (cf. A fø.—She borrows [it].)
– lèqa (to say)→ [Bé] πgä pòp. [It is] said so. (cf. Bé πgá.—It is said.)
Tone 8
Tone 8 is found in all present perfect, and in the past tense of group ii verbs.
1. Non-negative present perfect of group i and group ii verbs: ¿e verbmust end the sentence or clause. If it does not, tone 5 is used instead.Examples:
– lèla (to cry)/lèlá (to cook) → A la,... She has cried/cooked
[it]. . . (cf. A la lèyá.—She has cooked/cried [it] too much.)– lèkeq (to accuse)/lèkéq (to enter)→A keq. She has accused/entered[it]. (cf. A kěq Ndíæ.—She has entered/accused the house.)
¿e verb groups, however, each use di�erent tones to express negativityin the present perfect tense. group i uses tone 4, while group ii, as seenon page 19, goes with tone 5:
group i: lèla (to cry)→ A ka la. She has not cried [it.]group ii: lèlá (to cook)→ A ka là. She has not cooked [it].group i: lèkeq (to accuse)→ A ka kěq. She has not accused [it].group ii: lèkéq (to enter)→ A ka kèq. She has not entered [it].
2. Past tense of group ii verbs:
– lèlá (to cook)→ A le la. She cooked [it].– lèkéq (to enter)→ A le keq. She entered [it].
Lë Muòk
22 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
¿is contrasts with how the past tense of group i verbs is constructed,as seen on page 24.It is interesting to note that, in the negative, the past tense has tone 4instead of 8:
– lèlá (to cook)→ A la te là. She did not cook [it].– lèkéq (to enter)→ A la te kèq. She did not enter [it].
(cf. group i: lèla (to cry)→ A la te la—She did not cry and lèkeq(to accuse)→ A la te keq—She did not accuse.)
Tone 9
Tone 9 is found in verbs and in the subject of phrases. It is used in at least thefollowing occasions:
1. Imperative mood of group i verbs. (¿e prohibitive mood uses tone 1instead.) Examples:
– lèla (to cry)→ Lă! Cry! (cf. Te la—Don’t cry.)– lèl¢ (to hide)→ L¢! Hide it! (cf. Te l¢—Don’t hide it.)– lèfø (to borrow)→ Fø! Borrow! (cf. Te fø—Don’t borrow.)– lèkeq (to accuse)→ Keq! Accuse! (cf. Te keq—Don’t accuse.)
2. Simple present tense of group i verbs. Examples:
– lèl¢ (to hide)→ A l¢. She hides.– lèla (to cry)→ A lă. She cries.
Digressing, we recall that in Mmuock there is another simple present forgroup i verbs that indicates a habitual action. Having a slightly di�erentnuance of meaning, this other simple present is marked by either tone 7or tone 3, as seen on page 20. Analogous to the preceeding examples,then, we have the following:
– lèl¢ (to hide)→ A nd¢. She hides.– lèla (to cry)→ A ndá. She cries.
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 23
3. Moods which express general rules, and to state something that is gener-ally true of something or somebody. For example:
– lèqa (to state)→ [Lepaq] qă... [¿e law] says. . .
– lèlæ. (to refuse)→ [Bé] læ. [πga]... [It is] forbidden [to]. . .
4. ¿e present tense of to be for certain nouns. (¿is use does not includeexpressing negativity.) Examples:
– Mba (home)→ Mbă ńdzem.¿e compound is behind. (cf. Mba tendzem mà—¿e compound is not behind, Mba ndzem—¿e com-
pound behind, Mbă Ndzem—¿e compound is the rear, and MbaNdzem—¿e home of “those who will follow.”)
– Πgeq (guest)→ Πgeq ńdzem.¿e guest is behind.
– a (pers pron, subjective she)→ Ă ńdzem. She is behind.– a (pers pron, subjective she)→ Ă hà?Where is she?
– a (pers pron, subjective she)→ Ă ha? Is she here?– a (pers pron, subjective she)→ Ă ha. She is here.– Lez¢ (gerund seeing)→ Lez¢ Lèpéí. Seeing is believing. (cf. Lez¢te Lèpéí má. Seeing is not believing.)
5. In the future tense of group ii verbs to modify certain subjects of thesentence. ¿is does not include futurity in the negative. Examples:
– A (she)→ Ă là. She will cook [it]. (cf. A te lá má—She will not
cook [it].)– A (she)→ Ă kèq. She will enter. (cf. A te kéq má—She will notenter.)
Tone 10
Tone 10 is used in the following situations:
1. To indicate the possessor of certain objects:
– Ta (father)→ Ta Tâ.¿e father’s father.
Lë Muòk
24 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
– Nděm (God)→ Nděm Tâ.¿e father’s God. (Ta—father)– Πka (monkey)→ Πka Mû.¿e mother’s monkey. (Mu—female par-
ent)
As an aside, it is worth mentioning, that not all possessives are markedby tone 10 on the possessor, and that those so indicated are exceptions.For comparison, compare the preceeding examples with the following:
– Πka (monkey)→ Πka Πka.¿e monkey’s monkey.
– Πka (basket)→ Πka Πká.¿e monkey’s basket.
– Nděm (God)→ Ndem Πka.¿e monkey’s God.
– Πka (basket)→ Πka Ta.¿e father’s basket.
– Πkeq (message)→ Πkeq Ta.¿e father’s message.
2. To indicate the future tense of group i verbs:
– lèla (to cry)→ A lâ. She will cry.– lèla (to cry)→ A te lâ mà. She will not cry.– lèl¢ (to hide)→ A l¢. She will hide it.– lèl¢ (to hide)→ A te l¢ mà. She will not hide it.
Tone 11
One notable occurrence of tone 11 is in the past simple tense of group i verbs,as in the following examples:
– lèla (to cry)→ A le l‚a—She cried, and– lèkeq (to accuse)→ A le k‚eq—She accused.
As seen previously on page 21, group ii verbs use tone 8 instead: lèlá (tocook)→ A le la. She cooked [it].
Note that the past simple is actually indicated by the tone sequence /34/ atthe end of the verb. ¿is sometimes results in tone 12 when there is only oneterminating vowel. Examples:
– lèzeı (to start)→ A le zéì. She started [it].– lèkaı (to lock up)→ A le káì. She locked [it] up.
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 25
Tone 12
In verbs, a typical use of tone 12 is in the simple past of lèpó (to be). Examples:
– A l�a mboπ; a l�a πgu. She was good; she was pregnant.– Ì l�a Tsoπ. It was deceit.– À l�a lekua.¿ere were four.
Table 1.9: Comparative sample of common tones
Ndoπ (lazy person) Ndóπ (cup)Mu (mother) Mù (child)Mba (abscess) Mbá (scabbard) Mba (residence)Πka (monkey) Πka (basket) Πka (nest)lèl¢ ((object) to hide) lèl¢ ((injury) to sustain)Loπ (laziness) Loπ (pair of trousers) Lòπ (vexation)Njie (older sibling) Njíé (smoke) Njiè (clothing, dress)Leyie (good sense) Leyíé (noise) lèyíé ((lies) to tell)lèpı (to peel) lèpí (to go crazy) Lepı (a tiny piece)lèfa (to err) lèfá (to spray) lefa ((number) eight)Ntóπ (neck) ntoπ ((tree) top) ndä lefa (40 francs)Ntáπ (lie) Ntaπ (private storeroom) Z¢lœé (a given name)Πgěq (gun) Πgeq (guest) ntå (�ve)Πgoπ (world) Πgóπ (agriculture) Lå (garlic)Fø (ruler) Fø (lice) Ndaz¢ (sth amazing)Tø (drum) Tø (stone; rock)Sø (saw) Sø (spitefulness)Tsσ (head) Tsσ (antelope)Læ (blood) Læ (horse)
Table 1.9 presents, as a summary, a comparative sample of the “simplest” tones.In the interest of simplicity, we attempt to use only examples which exhibit justone other tone in addition to tone 2.
Lë Muòk
26 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
1.6.3 Postscript: Tones in Mmuock
¿e preceeding discussion of the tones in the Mmuock language might ap-pear arcane and pedantic. ¿e underlining fact, though, is that in order tounderstand a word or a sentence, one must di�erentiate between the varioustones. Normally that is done automatically and unconsciously when speakingor listening. When writing, on the other hand, we need to di�erentiate thetones by using the symbols discussed in the last sections. Is that practical? Isthat always easy?
¿e problemmost speakers likely face with writing, is that they concentratetoo much on the fact that they are writing. It is easier, I submit, to insteadimagine that you are speaking. Forget about what a word might look like in thedictionary or in the word list; just write it the way it sounds when you say it inthe sentence. Suppose you wanted to put down in writing the translation of the�lm title¿e Gods Must Be Crazy. One is tempted to consider the individualwords, starting with Belěm (Gods), followed by the verb lèpí (to get mad).¿en one would probably think of tsaπe (maybe), a er which one would getlost �guring out which tone should or should not go where.
If, on the other hand, you were to simply “speak out” the translation withoutmuch consideration to the individual words, it would just be something like«Tsaπe Belemè pı»,1 which is quite correct and requires less gymnastics. ¿esame view applies to reading: If you try to analyse individual words, you willnot have much success, at least not initially. Case in point: Which of thesetwo sentences refers to the mother (Mu), and not the child (Mù), reaching anunfortunate mental state: Mu pı or Mü pı?
All of the foregoing may serve to emphasise a fundamental fact: Unlikethe languages that we �rst learned to write, such as English, in Mmuock thespelling of a word varies depending on the surrounding words.
As an exercise, try to complete the examples below by �lling in the blankswith words or phrases that contain the indicated basic tone sequences:
1. tone sequence: làlàlá
1You may want to look at appendix A to discover why we are appending all the e’s.
1.6 Tones Tano Fotang 27
(a) Zà lènáπ (Welcome.)(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2. làlalà
(a) à la ká? (how do you do?)(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. lalalá
(a) u la πgá. . . (if you say it. . . )(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. lalalã
(a) u la πgã. . . (if you say [that]. . . )(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. làlala
(a) À Tut ha. ([O]n this farm.)(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. làlãla
(a) À Tut ha. (It is on this farm.)(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. lalãlá
(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8. lalãla
(a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Lë Muòk
28 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
1.7 Consonant sounds
Consonant sounds in Mmuock are represented by the following twenty-sixsymbols: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, ñ, π, š, ts, dz, pf, p, q, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z.Table 1.10 summarises them and gives an example for each. (In some examplesthe leading character has a dot placed above it, as in Teπ (pond). ¿at will beexplained in the next section.)
Table 1.10: Consonants
Letter Example Letter Example
b Mba (residence) š Šuok (soap)c Ncœa. (coward) p paπ ((colour) red)d nda. (adj only) q Qemle (�g tree)f Foπ (cow) s Sáπ (broom)g Πgie (voice) t Teπ (pond)h ha (here) v Válé (obfuscation)j Njie (elder sibling) w Lewúá (short visit)k Kó. (ladder) x Lexuπè (joint)l Bela (lies) y Mbiyàπ (groundnut)m Mu (female parent) z lèzáπ (to pain)n Ná. (soup) ts Ntsσ (mouth)ñ Ñia (animal) dz Ndzěm (darkness)π Πeq (person) pf Lepfσ (sky)
As was noted in the introduction, there are no syllable breaks betweensounds in Mmuock. ¿erefore, the letters ts, pf and dz represent sounds that areproduced when /z/ follows /d/, /p/ precedes /f/, and /t/ is followed by /s/,respectively.
With the exception of c, ñ, π, š, q, and x, all letters represent the sameconsonant sounds as in the English language. ¿e sounds denoted by theexceptions, however, can be compared to some other sounds in either Frenchor English:
1.7 Consonant sounds Tano Fotang 29
c sounds like <ch> in the English word “church.”
ñ sounds like the <gn> in the French word “igname.”
π sounds like <ng> in the word “song.”
š sounds like <sh> in the word “shall.”
x sounds like the <j> in the French “jardin.” Finally,
q lies between [g] and [x].
¿e next section is provided largely for information; it details some inter-esting things that happen with consonants, but the more useful part is at thebeginning where we discover why we have to write some words with a dot overthe leading letter.
“Cosmetic” pre�xing
When a word begins with a consonant and the consonant is directly followedby a vowel, the word is pronounced di�erently when it (the word) occurs (a) inisolation(alone), (b) at the start of a sentence or clause, and (c) following aword that ends in a consonant. In such situations, the word in spoken speech isin�ected (modi�ed) in one of the following four ways:
Pre�xed with /a/. ¿is causes the word to be pronounced with [a] as �rstsyllable. In writing the word, however, the initial <a> is le out.
Words which exhibit this behaviour are predominantly nouns, although asmall group of other words, such as interrogative pronouns, are in�ectedin a similar manner. All such words are written with a dot over theleading consonant, as in F, K, and x. Examples: Pa (bag), xìà (possessivepronounmine), and wa (interrogatory who).
A summary of commonly a�ected consonants is given in table 1.11 on thefollowing page. ¿e second column of the table,Notation, shows how theleading consonant is written in the manner just described. ¿e column
Lë Muòk
30 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
Table 1.11:¿e elided [a]
letter Notation Sound Example
C C [a.Ù] Cú. (pestle)F F [a.f] Fa. (work)K K [a.k] Kaı (fence)L L [a.l] Lá. (country)M M [a.m] Male (male gown)N N [a.n] Na (farming plot)P P [a.p] Pu. (rest)Pf Pf [a.
>pf] Pfσ` (ash)
Π Π [a.N] Πak (contention, quarrel)Q Q [a.G] Qák (throat)S S [a.s] Saqè ((structure) wall, side)Š Š [a.S] Šuok (soap)T T [a.t] Ták (disorder, confusion)Ts Ts [a.ţ] Tsσ` (head)W W [a.w] Wá. (epilepsy)X X [a.Z] Xúó. (yam)Y Y [a.j] Yık (smell)Z Ż [a.z] Żéq (thing)
Sound gives the pronunciation of the in�ected letter; this pronunciationis the same as that of the �rst letter, preceeded by the syllable [a].
Pre�xed with e. Here a glottal stop precedes the leading consonant. However,the glottal stop need not be indicated in the spelling of the word.
Words which manifest this behaviour, begin with the letters c, s, v, f, š,k, π, l (unless followed by tone 6), p, t, and x. Examples are listed intable 1.12 on the next page.
Pre�xed with i. Instead of pre�xing with e—i.e. [P@]— as described above,
1.7 Consonant sounds Tano Fotang 31
Table 1.12: Examples of the pre�xed e
Letter Example
s Sø [P@.sW3] or [sW3] spitefulness
f Fø [P@.fW1] or [fW1] king
k Kěq [P@.k@24G] or [k@24G] bedl Loπ [P@.lO24N] or [lO24N] laziness
p Púπ [P@.pu3N] or [pu3N] poverty
š Šœé [P@.Sjhe<3] or [Sjhe<
3] face
the word is pre�xed with [i]. ¿is is less common and the resulting wordmay sound strange to some listeners, but both methods are identical andmay be used interchangeably. ¿e examples which are shown in table 1.13are thus identical to those shown in table 1.12.
Table 1.13: Examples of the pre�xed i
Letter Example
s Sø [i.sW3] or [sW3] spitefulness
f Fø [i.fW1] or [fW1] king
k Kěq [i.k@24G] or [k@24G] bedl Loπ [i.lO24N] or [lO24N] laziness
p Púπ [i.pu3N] or [pu3N] poverty
š Šœé [i.Sjhe<3] or [Sjhe<
3] face
¿e leading consonant becomes syllabic. ¿is applies to words which beginwith l,m, π, and n. Also included in this group, are words which beginwith two consecutive consonants. Excepted are words that have tone 5on the vowel following the leading consonant, such as Mu (mother).
Past convention was to generally double the leading consonant whenwriting the word, thus creating a double consonant at the start of the
Lë Muòk
32 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
Table 1.14: Examples of the leading syllabic consonant
Consonant Example
m Mbúó [m"mbu3O3< ], [mbu3O3< ] hands
Muòk [m"muO<
4k], [muO<4k] �re
n Ná. [n"na3P], [na3P] soup
[n"nu3], [nu3] snake
l Loπ [l"lO41N], [lO41N] trousers
word. usually an apostrophe (’) then separates the consonants, as in theword “M’muock.” Such practice, however, is quite confusing and unnec-essary: It does not make clear whether the word always has a leadingdouble consonant, or whether that depends on the word’s position in thecompany of other words.
Table 1.14 shows examples for leading consonants that become syllabic.¿e phonetic representation of the in�ected form is shown, followeda er the comma by the basic form.
+ ¿e in�ections described above are purely cosmetic or “dummy.” ¿atis, they do not change anything in the meaning or context of the word. How-ever, without the in�ections—especially the �rst, pre�xing with a— the wordin spoken speech sounds not only weird, but is sometimes unrecognisable.Moreover, some words, which are otherwise orthographically identical, aredi�erentiated from each other by the way each is in�ected. An example is thecombination Fæ.: Pre�xed with a it becomes Fæ. (period, time); pre�xed with e.it is Fæ. (measurement).
1.8 Orthographic exceptions Tano Fotang 33
1.8 Orthographic exceptions
In the introduction to this chapter it was indicated that in Mmuock, each letteror symbol has a unique pronunciation; conversely, each sound was said to havea unique notation as letter or symbol.
¿ere are, however, some important exceptions. ¿e �rst exception is theword y; the second is the indication of short vowels.
1.8.1 y
¿eMmuock word for ‘yes’, perhaps the most frequently used word, is phoneti-cally very di�erent from any other word of the language. Although pronouncedas [Üee], it is written as ‹y›.
1.8.2 Short vowels
Vowels by default are long. To indicate the occasional short vowel that occursbefore a consonant in the same word, the consonant letter is doubled (writtentwice). To illustrate, consider the two words lèpáté (to be next) and lèpátté(to paste). In the former, /p/ is followed by [a:]; in the latter, by [a].
1.9 Alternative notation
Sometimes a symbol may be represented alternatively by combinations of othersymbols. ¿is is o en the case when it is not possible to realise the symbolusing mechanical or electronic means. We now look at how certain letters andtones may then alternatively be written.
1.9.1 Letters
Table 1.15 on the next page shows the combination of characters thatmay be usedto represent other characters or character sequences. Use of these alternativenotation is, however, discouraged, especially as it reduces legibility.
Lë Muòk
34 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
¿e glottal stop a er a vowel, normally indicated by either a dot below thevowel letter, may alternatively be represented by an apostrophe placed a er thevowel letter. For example, instead of writing ta. (one), one may write ta’.
Dotted letters (C, K, x, etc.) may also be represented by placing an ‘a’ beforethe base letter, without the dot. ¿e ‘a’ must always be the small letter ‘a’. Forexample, Kaı and Lá. can be written as aKaı and aLá., respectively.
Table 1.15: Alternative notation of letters
Symbol Alternate
ñ nhpf pfts tsdz dzπ ng (at the end of a syllable)πg ng (at the start of a syllable)πk nk (at the start of a syllable)š sh
Table 1.16: Alternative notation of tone
Tone Alternate(s)
0. ã a0
1. a a1
3. á a3
4. à a4
5. a a5 a24 aà6. å a6 a41 àa7. ä a7 a32 áa8. a a8 a43 àá9. ă a9 a23 aá10. â a14 aá11. ‚a a34 áà12. a a20 aã
1.9.2 Tones
Composite tones (these are tones starting from tone 5) are made up of two leveltones; that is, tones 5 and above are composed of two tones between tone 1 andtone 4. Whenever it is not possible to represent a composite tone on a letterusing the respective accent mark, the tone may be notated by using the leveltones that comprise it. ¿e are two ways of doing this:
1. ¿e letter is repeated and the level tones are noted on each letter, consecu-tively following the order in which the level tone occurs in the composite
1.10 Outlook Tano Fotang 35
tone. ¿is is shown in the last column of table 1.16 on the facing page,where ă (i.e. a23) is written as aá. To emphasise this point, «Lă» (Cry!)may also be written as «Laá».
2. ¿e tone is indicated by placing the tone number, or a string of numbers(for tones 5 to 9), a er the letter. ¿is is shown on table 1.16 on thepreceding page using the letter a as example. For instance, one may writeFœě (strength) as either Fœe24 or as Fœe5.
1.10 Outlook
We have come to the end of this �rst chapter. Our goal was to introduce thewriting system and learn how to write and readMmuock; learning to speak wasoutside the realm of discussion. As was noted in the preface, a large numberof examples have for now been drawn from the language as is spoken in theupper regions of the Mmuock tribe.
We saw in section 1.2 that the Mmuock alphabet consists of forty letters,three of which are optional. ¿e optional letters are dz, ts, and pf, which alterna-tively may be represented by dz, ts, and pf, respectively (section 1.9).
In addition to vowels and consonants, tone is essential in determining themeaning of a word in Mmuock. For example, the word Mu can mean eithermother or child, depending on the tone on letter u. ¿ere are �ve basic leveltones (numbered 0 to 4). ¿e last four of them can be combined to yield eightother tones, numbered 5 to 12. In a word, the tone is indicated by placing adiacritic over the sound. It was noted that, tone 1 occurs only on the last syllableof a word and only if the word in speech precedes a pause—for example, whenthe word stands alone or is at the end of a phrase; otherwise tone 1 is replacedby tone 2. ¿e high number tones (6 to 12) are found predominantly in verbtenses and moods.
We also looked at glottal stops, which are denoted by a dot placed belowthe letter that represents the preceeding sound. It was seen that the meaningof a word may be changed by the presence of a glottal stop at a sound of the
Lë Muòk
36 The Sound of Mmuock 1. Orthography
word. For example, Ntá., which means pocket, has a di�erent meaning fromNtá (which translates to branch).
Some words which start with a consonant sound are in spoken speechpronounced as if the consonant were preceded by [a]. We saw that such wordsare written with a dot over the leading consonant. An example of such a wordis Xœe.: Xœe. means place, whereas Xœe., which has no dot over the leading X,has completely di�erent meanings ranging from the plural of Xœe., to the times,circumstances, conditions.
¿e �rst impression of Mmuock might be that Mmuock is a challenginglanguage to write. ¿at feeling is particularly on account of the numerous toneswhich, to a reader with a background in just the English or French languages,seem di�cult to understand. ¿at impression, though, is misleading; writingMmuock is no more di�cult than, say, French or German. ¿e best approachto learning how to write, is to study the accompanying examples. A list of some800words is provided in appendix B.¿e list contains asmany orthographicallydi�erent words as possible. Other words may be spelt by simply checking thetable to see how similar words are written.
¿is article has tried to look at all elements of the Mmuock orthography.It is not certain that we have succeeded. Particularly, it is possible that someobscure vowel sounds and tones have been unwittingly le out. Indeed, a studyof grammar would probably uncover a few more tones. Nevertheless, it willnot be necessary to devise new symbols to denote new sounds and tones. Anynew vowel might be handled as an exception and be represented using existingsymbols. A new tone will likely be made up of the tones that have already beencovered here and can, as described in section 1.9.2 on page 34, be representedby a combination of the level tones 0 to 4.
Appendix A
Word in�ection
In chapter 1 we saw that some words in spoken speech are tacitly altered
when they occur in isolation, begin a phrase (or sentence), or come after
a pause. Under such circumstances, it was seen, the word is changed
at the first syllable. We also saw that such inflection, while necessary,
was purely cosmetic since it does not affect the meaning of the word or
the context of a phrase.
This section examines another type of inflection which affects gram-
mar and lends context and meaning to a word in a sentence or phrase.
Although this is not a book on grammar, this discussion is to some ex-
tent still within the stated objective of this monograph—namely, how
speakers of Mmuock can write and read the language. Especially, it will
enable the reader to recognise words when they have been altered in a
sentence or phrase.
A.1 Introduction
When words combine to form a phrase or a sentence, the grammatical functionof each word is determined by the way the word or the preceeding word isin�ected. Conversely, in order to determine the grammatical role of a word in
37
38 The Sound of Mmuock A. Word in�ection
a phrase, or make sense of the phrase, one must look at how the word has, orhas not, been in�ected “away from its basic form.”
¿is section looks at how to generally in�ect words. ¿e following pointsshould be borne in mind:
(i) ¿is chapter does not discuss the meaning or signi�cance of any of thein�ection possibilities discussed herein; that is a matter of grammar andis outside the scope of this article.
(ii) Examples in this chapter show only the state of a word a er pre-in�ection(we shall in awhile explainwhat pre-in�ectionmeans). Since pre-in�ectiondoes not consider context, possible tone changes cannot be shown in theexamples. To that extent, therefore, examples in this section are incom-pletely written.
A.2 How to in�ect a word
To in�ect a word in the limited context discussed here, is to add a special endingto basic form of the word, by doing one or more of the following at the �nalsyllable:
1. su�xing a vowel,2. altering a letter and su�xing a vowel, or3. changing the tone of a sound.
(1) and (2), which, for the purpose of discussion we are going to call pre-infection, are the same for every grammatical context. On the other hand, (3),which we will designate as post-infection, �ne-tunes the pre-in�ected word tospecify a particular grammatical function for the word. In other words (nopun intended), whenever a word must be in�ected, letters must be appendedor altered in a pre-de�ned way. ¿erea er tone may change according to thespeci�c grammatical context.
A.2 How to in�ect a word Tano Fotang 39
A.2.1 Pre-in�ection
A word can be pre-in�ected in one of the following ways:
Altering the last consonant and then a�xing e. ¿is a�ects words which endin any of the consonants p, g, k, and t. Such words are in�ected bychanging the last letter to some other consonant, and then appending ane to the new letter, as summarised in table A.1.1
Table A.1: Pre-in�ection: altering last consonant
Example
Consonant In�ection Before in�ection A er
p be Ndap (thread) Ndabeg qe Pak (piece) Paqek qe Lefak (gerund forking) Lefaqet le Πgwat (specie) Πgwale
Lelát (gerund writing) LeláleLekót (mountain) Lekóle
Appending an e. With the exception of q, w, y and the consonants mentionedabove, any other consonant, when it ends a word, remains unchanged ase is appended to the word. For example, Πgwáπ (salt) becomes Ngwáπe.
Words which end in e. , i., and u. are in�ected in a similar manner: an e issimply appended to the word.
Examples are given in table A.2 on the next page.
Doubling the last vowel. If a word ends with a glottal stop following a vowel,and the vowel is not one of those (e, u, i) already covered above, the wordis pre-in�ected by repeating the vowel. For example, ta. (one) becomesta.a. A summary is presented in table A.3 on the following page.
1Please note that, examples under this section ( A.2 on the facing page) have no grammaticalcontext; therefore, we cannot indicate the tone or tones on the a�ected vowels.
Lë Muòk
40 The Sound of Mmuock A. Word in�ection
Table A.2: Pre-in�ection: adding an e
Example
Consonant In�ection Before in�ection In�ected
π πe Paπ (the red one) Paπeu. u. e Pu. (the rest) Pu. ei. i.e Ki. (namesake) Ki.ee. e.e
Table A.3: Pre-in�ection: Doubling the last vowel
Example
Consonant In�ection Before in�ection In�ected
a. a.a Fa. (work) Fa.ao. o. o Puo. (knife) Puó.oæ. æ. æ Fæ. (period) Fæ. æω. ω. ω Lesω. (m© gerund Coming) Lesω. ωr. r. r no examples available
σ. σ.σ no examples available
¢. ¢.¢ no examples available
Word is le unchanged. Words which end with any letter not covered in theprevious rules, remain unchanged by pre-in�ection. ¿ese include thefollowing:
– Words which end with w and y2
– Words which end with q, e.g. Faq (lock)
– Words which end with a vowel, but without a glottal stop. For exam-ple, Ntá (lap; branch) remains Ntá a er pre-in�ection, whereas Ntá.(pocket), which has a glottal stop on a, becomes Ntáa. .
2¿is is stated only for the sake of completeness. No word ends with the letter w or y.
A.2 How to in�ect a word Tano Fotang 41
A.2.2 Post-in�ection
A change in the last letter (as seen in section A.2.1 on page 39) may be accom-panied by a change in the tone of the vowel that precedes said letter. ¿attone, together with the tone on the �nal vowel, is actually what determines thegrammatical function of a word in a combination of words. ¿erefore, a look atthe various rules for post-in�ection has to accompany a study of the di�erentaspects of grammar.
Lë Muòk
Appendix B
Word list
¿is appendix presents a short list of selected Mmuock words. ¿e purpose isto show how some familiar words are spelt, so that the reader can more easilyspell similar words. ¿e sample is necessarily short, even though an attempthas been made to include as many di�erent word patterns as possible.
Each word (the “head-word”) is followed by an English translation. Itshould be noted that:
1. ¿e head-word is written in its most basic form; i.e., when the wordoccurs alone and not in a sentence or clause. (¿is includes situationswhere the word is followed by a pause in speech.)
2. ¿is section is not intended as a dictionary, and is not meant to give themost accurate explanations of the words.
3. Translations are not exhaustive: Where a word has multiple meanings,only as many translations are given as may be required for the word tobe uniquely identi�ed. Moreover, translations are not guaranteed to beaccurate: At this time some are even bound to be outright wrong.
4. Head-words are not ordered in any particular way.
Some head-words are followed by a raised small digit in parenthesis, thus:Ta(3). ¿e number, in this case “3”, is the class or gender of the noun. More onthat in Volume 2.
43
44 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
Bekéq beans
Bela. 1. brawl; altercation 2. con�ict
Bela falsehood
Belaπ shoes
Bešœé ways and means
Bešúé (plural) �sh
Betœ. =Fa.
Ca. (of a ruler or king) servant; disciple
Cœa. (head wear) cap, hat, helmet
Cœaπte expenditure
Cœcœeπ 1. (disappr) the young and in-experienced 2. childishness
cœcœeπ adj (disappr) childish
Cώ 1. rainy season 2. (house) founda-tion
Cœeπ 1. substance, foundation 2. sexorgan 3. cause, reason 4. decid-ing factor, key 5. (family) roots 6.lower part
cœeπ prep under
Cú. pestle
Cu. te association, union
Fa. 1. work 2. employment
Fa. te cold; �u
Faı (vegetable) type of wild huckleberry
Faπ palm kernel
Faq lock
Faq shin
Fém wind
Femle slovenliness
Fěπ wound
Fæ. season; period; time
Fæ. measurement
Fò l© rat
Fòmbæ white sticky earth éMbæ
Foπ cow
Fœak (formal) �nancial or materialhard times
Fχk 1. cold 2. air
Fœě strength
Fσ Bafou
Fς 1. medicine 2. leaf
Fø louse; lice
Fø chief, king; leader
Tano Fotang 45
Fu. é luck or sth favourable, esp by hap-penstance
Fuk co-wife
Fuok weavel
Ka. a(6) key
Kaı fence
kakú whatever thing
Kale (cattle etc.) herd
Kámndóπ crab
Kápté royal canopy
Kapte(2) umbrella
kèkàπ o lèpo kèkàπ adj(formal) to betough; to be di�cult to deal withor to understand
kékáπ adv 1. unsuccessfully 2. with failurebecause of lack of ability
Kelæ. té chin
Kéñáπ chameleon
Képfσ jigger
Keq 1. =Nko.ó 2. (meat) portion
Kěq bed
Ki. namesake
k¢ whether
Ko. =Lœaπ
Kó. ladder
Koπte thanks, appreciation o lë Koπteadv with thanks
Kó.ó (informal, approving) friendly termof ad-dress for a younger female éΦ(1)
Kot latrine, toilet,wc
Kœep box
Kwaì bone
Kwàπ ring; bangle
Kwaπte thought
Kwæ. tè knee
Lá. country
Lå garlic
La.à day
La. le pledge; promise
Láq tongue
Laqè trace; very small amount
lë (also lé) 1. conj with 2. by means of 3. prepin the direction of
lècíá to feel pity for
lèciale to be dull and lackadaisical
Leciè liquid obtained by �ltering waterthrough wood ash, used as ingredi-ent for cooking
Lë Muòk
46 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lècíé 1. to not attend 2. to push
lècíété 1. to nudge 2. to push bit by bit
lècíæ. to carry
lècıt 1. (tool) to be, or to get, blunt 2. (dis-appr) to be clumsy at dancing; tolack the ability to dance 3. gauche;clumsily lacking in the ability to door perform
lècít to close
lècot 1. to sever 2. (amount) to deduct
lècœa. to fear
lécœák 1. =lèkak (1) 2. to be expensive 3.to scold angrily
lècœaπ 1. to spoil 2. (resources) to spend;to waste
lècœaπte 1. vi to go bad 2. =lècœaπ
lècœe 1. (dress) to iron 2. (road) to tar 3.(hole, esp on container) to mend
lècœe. 1. to shake 2. to �lter by shaking
Lecœeπ 1. (tree, plant, pole etc.) area belowor at the foot 2. (plant) seedling
lècœeπ to tether
lècœ. 1. to become 2. to be remaining
lècú. to pound
lècú 1. =lèší. 2. to travel down
lècúá 1. to beat (up) 2. =lèxœé(2)
lècuπte 1. to repair, to �x 2. (dispute) tosettle
lècuók (snake) to bite; (insect) to sting
lècuo. te to wash the inside by swishing
lècú. té 1. to gather; to assemble; to putor bring together éCute 2. (fire) tomake
Lefa (door etc.) crack, opening
lefa eight
lèfa to err
lèfá to spray
lèfa. 1. to look for sth 2. lèfa.a lèqœe Zéq:to want to do sth soon
lèfa. te to �nd out, to investigate
Lefák twin
lèfak to split o�; to fork
Lefaπ thunder
lèfáπ 1. to grow 2. (size) to be big
lèfaq (door) to bolt or lock
Lefaqé junction, fork
lèfeı 1. to sell 2. to betray
lèféí 1. to cool o� 2. (pain etc.) to subside
lèfem to get mouldy
lèfém to su�ocate
Tano Fotang 47
lèfemle to be sloven
lèfémté 1. to act ineptly 2. =lèpúlé
Le�ak Indian bamboo
lè�e 1. to be sel�sh o Πgaπe�e sel�shperson 2. (disappr) to turn down aplea, esp a request for help
lèfíé to resemble, look alike
lèfı. to un-earth
lèfık to cover with earth
lèfæ. 1. to measure 2. to compare
lèfœet (animal) to be, or to become, sterile
lèfœrt (balloon) to in�ate
lèfσ to spray élèfá
Lefø chie aincy, king-hood
Lefø fat
lèfø to borrow or lend élézá.
lèfu. to dispose of by pouring or dumpingaway
lèfuo. to boil
lèfúk 1. to take out 2. to remove, subtract
lèfúπ to ask a er; to send regards to
lèfuo. to boil; to seethe
Lègè the English language
Leka whistle
lèká 1. to be tired; to get tired 2. (disappr)to become weak, or to be dull inattitude 3. to squeeze
lèkáí to be acerbic or sour
Lekák joy; merriness o lë Lekák advwith joy
lèkak 1. to call to order; to chide; to be-rate 2. to have the desire or inclina-tion to want to do sth
lèkák 1. to be merry or joyful 2. to cele-brate 3. to rejoice
lèkakle to struggle, to trash about, esp inde�ance or against all odds
Lekaπ 1. witchcra 2. wizardry
lèkaπ (property) to stake a claim; to stakeout
lèkáπ to fry
lèkáp (fruit, vegetable etc.) to pick
lèkápte to cover
lèká. té 1. (package, knot etc.) to undo; to un-tie; to unbind 2. to explain clearlyo lèkã. te Tsσ to enlighten
lèkáté to hold sth in the closed hand olèkãte Púó to close the hand
lèkátté to roll together
Lekem width
lèkem 1. =lèkemte 2. to catch in the act
Lë Muòk
48 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lèkemte to cover lightly with earth, espby sprinkling
lèkeπ 1. (door) to leave half open 2. to over-shadow
Lekeπ(5) pot
lèkeq to accuse
lèkéq 1. to enter 2. (group) to join
lèkı to make a line
lèkí to take, accept, or take back sth fromsb
lèkíé to grow
lèkipte to provoke
lèkíté to assist
lèkæ. le to puzzle, bewilder
lèkó. 1. to go up 2. (ladder, tree etc.) to climb2. to return, to be back (home) 3.to swell
lèkók 1. vt (fire) to light 2. (light, device, etc.)to turn on
Lekoπ 1. spear 2. (umbrella etc.) stem
lèkoπ 1. to like 2. to love éΠkoπle
lèkóπ to creep
lèkoπle to love each other
lèkoπte to thank éKoπte
lèkóπté to remove a so mass from a sur-face
Lekot =Bela. ; �ght
Lekót hill
Leko. ó(5) hill
lèkœa =lècíæ.
lèkœá. 1. (tree) to fell; to cut with a cutlass2. to be �rst
lèkœák (size, quantity) to be small
lèkœé 1. (light) to shine 2. (fire) to be on
lèkœép (nut etc.) to shuck
lèkœo 1. to run 2. to escapeo lèkœo Keı(of a woman) to abandon a marriage,esp by leaving secretly
Leku. mortar
lèku to snore
lèkú 1. (wooden artwork) to carve 2. (potatoetc.) to peel
lekua (number) four
lèkua to scrape o�
lèkuate to scratch
lèkuk 1. (corn etc.) to pluck 2. (branches) totrim
lèkukle =lèkuk
lèkúkté to gather
Tano Fotang 49
lèkuπ to boo; to strongly condemn by vo-cal disapproval élèyak
lèkuo. 1. to be enough 2. to measure upto 3. to be able
lèkúó. té to hold
lèkwaπte to think; to mull overéKwaπte
lèkwat | s© lèkwæt| to get out
lèkwát | s© lèkwæt| 1. to tie 2. to belay
lèkwá. té (door) to knock
lèkwáté 1. to catch upwith 2. to be frozen
lèkwé to die
lèkwéí 1. to mention 2. (tool) to sharpen
lèkwæ. té to kneel éKwæ. tè
lèla to cry
lèlá to cook
lèla. to fall out; to no longer be on speak-ing terms
lèlá. to spend the night
lèlaile (disappr) 1. to be slow, not smart2. to fool about; to fool, or waste,away time
lèláklé (disappr) to degenerate, sink, dete-riorate
lèla. le 1. to postpone 2. to promise to dosth later 3. to say good bye éLa. le
lèlálé 1. to be clean 2. to be clear
Lelaπ pineapple
lèláπté 1. vi to keep quiet 2. vt to soothea crying person 3. (person) to lookwell, healthy
Lelaq majority; greater part énda.nda.
lèlaq vi to be sweet
lèlát to write
lèla. te 1. to narrate, recount 2. to direct,instruct
lèlatte 1. vt to be a relative of 2. vi to berelated
lèleı to recognise
lèléí to sleep
lèlem vi to stink
lèlém (informal) to speed
lèlemle vt to smell; to snu�e
lèleπte 1. to compare 2. to imitate 3. totake aim
lèléq 1. to be full 2. to bite
lèliakle to forget
lèligle to mark; to brand éLiklé
lèlı. (tyre etc.) to puncture
lèliqe 1. to end; to �nish 2. to complete
Lë Muòk
50 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lèlíqlé to complete, to �ll up
lèlæ. 1. to refuse élèto. 2. to trap
lèlæ. lé to stutter
lèl¢ to hide sth
lèl¢ (injury) to sustain
lèl¢le to hide oneself
Lelók sleep
lèlok 1. to take along 2. to utilise to dosth
Leloπ bullet
lèlóπlé to laze; to be lazy éLoπ, Ndoπ
lèlóπté to scrape together
Lelœa. (pl Belœa. ) sweet, yellow yam
lèlœá. to dodge, avoid
lèlœáπlé to bear or carry a person orheavy object using the arms, espby more than one person
lèlœe to �ght
lèlœé to rot
lèlœte to coax, lure, cajole
lèlø to beg
lèma. 1. to throw 2. (dress) to wear
lèma to consider or ponder with wonder
lèmak 1. =lèliqe(2) 2. vi =lèmeı
lèmáq to do very early at daybreak
lèmeı to be �nished; to get �nished
lèméí to greet
lèmie to swallow
lèmæ. té to hesitate because of unwilling-ness or uncertainty
lèmú. to sulk
lèmu (formal) to have a tête-a-tête; to dis-cuss
lèna (arm etc.) to stretch towards sb/sth; topro�er
lèná to persistently go a er sth/sb
lènáπ 1. to sit 2. to stay
lèno. to plant
lènoπ 1. vt to place horizontally 2. vi tolie (down) 3. (medicine) to operateupon
lènóπ to suck
lènú to drink
lènuo. (soup etc.) to prepare
lèñaπle (disappr) to �nd repugnant
lèñaπte to tickle
lèñát 1. to leave alone 2. to not do sth3. to desist from sth, to stop doingsth
Tano Fotang 51
lèπá.a =lèπá. té
lèπak to argue
lèπá. lé to be haughty, uppity
Leπaπ (plant) root
lèπá. té (eyes, book) to open
lèπátté to be dishonestly evasive; to notbe forthright
lèπém to beat up; to trash
Leπo. ò fold; bend
lèπó. ó 1. to fold or bendéLeπo. ò 2. vi (roadetc.) to bend 3. to dribble
lèπó. té to fold or bend multiple times
Leπte comparison; imitation
lèπú. té (material) to shrink
lèπwaı 1. to be cold 2. (disappr) to �nd sthrepulsive or distasteful
lèpa 1. to blame 2. to hate
lèpá 1. to cover 2. to beware of sb/sth
Lepá. mass of sth so that is used as cush-ioning for the head when bearingloads
lèpá. to weave
lèpa. te 1. to herd 2. to brush aside
Lepáí waterfall
lèpáí 1. to pick [up] 2. to choose
lèpak 1. to knock over; to knock aside 2.to break o� a piece
lèpák | s© lèpæk| to get stale
lèpáklé to knock together o lèpãkle Tsσ
Lepap (bird/insect) wing
lèpáp to wait for
Lepaq law, regulation
Lepáq breast
lèpaq to ascend
lèpát to mind; to care about; to give athought to (usu used in the negative:lèñat tèpát (disappr) to not care aboutsb/sth; lèñale lèpát to stop caring about)
lèpáté 1. to get closer, approach 2. to benear 3. to be next o Páté the next
lèpatte to carry on the back
lèpátté (poster etc.) to paste, stick, a�x
Lepeı liver
lèpeı (stick) to sharpen
lèpéí 1. to accept, admit 2. (singular subject)to be lost 3. person to disappear,lose contact 4. (screen etc.) to go o�
lèpeite 1. to examine carefully, inspect 2.=lèpeı
Lë Muòk
52 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lèpéíté 1. (plural subject) to be lostélèpéí(2) 2. to frequently disap-pear or lose contact élèpéí (3)
Lepem stomach; belly
Lepeq egg
lèpeq vi 1. to add up 2. to �t
lèpeqte to meet on the way
lèpfát | s© lèpfæt| to eat
lèpfeπ (touch) to tap
Lep�e 1. colanut 2. (formal) token of appre-ciation
lèpfíé (food) to be done
lèpfσ to cause to have a runny stomach
Lepfσ(5) sky
Lepı tiny piece
lèpı (foodstuff) to peel
lèpí to get mad
lèpíák | s© lèpæk| 1. (light, fire, etc.) to putout; to turn o� 2. to eradicate 3. togo bad 4. (device) to fail
Lepi.æ 1. wasp 2. ringworm
lèpiæ. to bear, esp on the head o Piæ.load
lèpıt to turn inside-out
lèpít to explode
lèpæ. =lètsó. (1)
lèpæ. æ to raise
lèpæ. té to straighten
lèpó to be
lèpók to fear
lèpólé 1. (behaviour) to be gentle 2. to tame
lèpoπ 1. (appearance) to be beautiful 2. tobe good
lèpót to be so
Lepώ hole; pit
lèpœé (good tidings) to make known to sb,to inform, to annunciate
lèpœet to reply, comment
Lepu. è bundle
lepu. è (number) nine
lèpuk to pull down, to demolish, to col-lapse
lèpúlé 1. (disappr) to lose one’s wits; to besenile 2. to be confused, to losethe ability to think clearly 3. to actclumsily élèpule Tsσ • éMbulé
lèpúó. 1. (musical instrument) to play 2. tocircumcise
lèpúókté to gather together
Leq dry season
Tano Fotang 53
Leqa 1. story 2. riddle 3. character, dispo-sition
lèqa to say
lèqálé 1. to be dizzy; to be muzzy 2. tocause to be dizzy 3. to roam aboutwith no apparent sense of purpose
Leqap (book etc.) page; fold; section
lèqap to share; to divide
lèqáplé to surround; to go round
lèqáqlé to hurry, to hurry up
lèqa. te to cry out loud
lèqeı to walk
leqém (number) ten
Leqéπ edge
lèqéq to invite
lèqeqle 1. to trouble 2. (of a person) to bestupid, foolish éQeqeq
lèqo. to grind
Leqobè loop
Leqœa. jaw
lèqœa.te to economise
lèqœe to do
Leqœr (pl Πgœr) instance, time, occa-sion; leg
lèqœr 1. to go 2. to depart
lèqu 1. to catch 2. to be ill
lèqúp 1. to bark 2. (disappr) =lècœák (3)
Leqwé death
lèqwe to fall
lèšéπlé =lèšœéπlé
Lešià small piece, esp broken o� a largerwhole
lèšíá to break
Leši.æ needle
lešiæ. to scrape, scratch
lèši.te to shi away
lèšœé to get charred; to be burnt down
lèšœek to be unmoved or una�ected, espin response to pain, etc.; to be stoic
lèšœéπ 1. to tell 2. (darkness) to fall
lèšœéπlé to speak (also lèšéπlé)
lèšœeπte to stretch
Lešu sack
lèšú (farm, grass) to weed
lèšuπ 1. (vehicle) to drive 2. to pull 3. to getpregnant
lèšuo. 1. =lèšuo. te 2. to warn, to threaten
lèšuote. to esteem, to praise; to tout; toappreciate éŠuo. te
Lë Muòk
54 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lèšuok to wash
lèsa. to snatch from sb’s grasp
lèsá. 1. vi (plant) to grow 2. (law) to judge
lèsáí vi to melt
lèsak (length) to be long
lèsáπ to count
lèsaπte to hang (or spread) out to dry
Leseı grave
lèseı to cut into pieces
lèsem to bind, fasten, tie tightly
Lesoπ tooth
lèsoπ (straw etc.) to draw
lèsop to impale; (soil) to so en using im-plement such as pickaxe
lèsóq to yearn
lèsæ. to come, to arrive
lèsςle 1. to slip 2. (surface) to be slippery 3.(escape) to slip away
lèsø to sigh
Letá trap
lèta. to rummage
lètá. to embrace
lèta to not return, contrary to expecta-tion
lètá to guess
lètai to heal
lètáí to twist
lèták 1. to attack 2. to chase o� 3. (meetingetc.) to disrupt
lètállé to obstruct
lètaπ 1. (meat etc.) to be tough; to bespringy 2. to be tenacious
lètáπ 1. (price) to bargain; to haggle 2. toplan to do sth
letáq 1. to sever; to cut o� 2. to reduce,to deduct 3. to enumerate
lètaq 1. to be di�cult 2. to be strongéNtaq 3. (from illness) to recover
lètá. té to overtake
lètéí to be lacking
Letéí(5) (pl Betéí) spittle
lètém 1. to sew 2. to shoot
lètéπ 1. to call 2. to read
lètéq to send
lètí (sun) to shine
lètiæ. to try; to attempt
lètíæté 1. to sort 2. to select several
lèt¢ 1. (grass) to clear 2. to stand
Tano Fotang 55
lèto. to forbid (sb from doing sth); to ban,prohibit sth
lètók 1. (exam) to pass 2. (event) to come topass 3. (measure) to surpass 4. (place)to pass; to pass by
Letoπ navel
lètóπ to scream
Letoπé feather
lètóq to cut
lètœák vt 1. to stand or place in an up-right position 2. to decide, to re-solve
lètœáπé to tilt
lètœé to pay
lètø vt to burn élèšœé
lètøté to support
lètsa. 1. (fruits etc.) to search for and collectfrom where they grow 2. to searchmeticulously
lètsá. 1. to chew 2. (formal) to mull sth over
lètsabe (laundry, grain etc.) to soak
lètsaπle to be physically weak
lètsáπle 1. to lead a weaker person, espby holding the hand 2. (formal) toadvise
lètsa. te to greet; to send greetings, compli-ments éTsa. te
lètseı 1. to show
lètsó. 1. to retaliate 2. (tree, plant etc.) to up-root 3. to open 4. (attachment, roof,etc.) to take o�
lètsó. té 1. to postpone 2. =lètsó. (2)
lètsσ 1. to give a name to sth/sb 2. (usuonly in imperative mood) to go ahead;to take the lead 3. to be separate,di�erent
lètsσ 1. to leak 2. to launch bad-temperedverbal insults (at sb)
lètsσlé to engage in an ill-tempered warof words
lètsø (personality) to be sluggish and awk-ward, esp moving in a lazy way
lètú (song) to tune
lètú. to give in marriage
lëtú. adv by night
lètuk to spit out o lètuk Betéí to spit
Letuπ ear
lètúπté to ask
lètúó. (water) to fetch
lètuo. (growth) to be stunted
lèvállé to obstruct; to distract
Lë Muòk
56 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
lèvémlé (question etc.) to stall, evade, skirt
lèvσ 1. =lèpá. 2. (plan) to hatch
lèwá. to throw away
lèwaı to have
lèwák 1. (dress etc.) to wear 2. to belittle3. (capability) to underestimate 4. tomake light of
lèwat 1. to slaughter 2. to injure by cut-ting with a sharp edge 3. (drink) todilute with a second
lèweı to laugh
lèwúk (length) to be short
lèwuo. te to hold in high esteeméWuo. te
lèxaqle to breath
lèxíá to be much or many
Lexíé 1. nose 2. corner
lèxie (guests) to entertain, esp by servingfood and drink
lèxíé to �y
lèxiep 1. to shuck 2. to peel o�
lèxíété 1. to ask 2. to require
lèxi.le to sweat éXi.le
lèxíæ. to taste
lèxíæ. lé 1. to learn 2. to teach
lèxíæ. té 1. to listen 2. to wait 3. to pause
lèxœa. to belch
lèxœá.á vt 1. to lock up 2. to lean against
lèxœak to sweep
lèxœá. lé vi to lean
lèxœe to steal
lèxœé 1. to win 2. to defeat
Lexώk eye
lèxœék to feed
lèxœek (stick, pole etc.) to plant
lèxuπte 1. to follow 2. to extend by ap-pending
lèxúó. 1. to hear 2. to perceive
lèxúók to spend the day
lèxuok to itch
lèxút to be satiated
leya adv too o lèfãπ leya to be too big
lèyá 1. =leya 2. to give
lèyak to shout down élèkuπ
Leyie 1. intelligence, acumen 2. goodsense
Leyíé noise
lèyíé lèyie Bela to tell lies
lèzá. 1. to buy on credit 2. =lècot
Tano Fotang 57
lèzáπ to pain
lèzé 1. to know 2. to give birth
lèzeı to start
lèzémlé to go round
lèzémté to wrap
lèzeπ to still do: lèzeπ ndzèq: to still buy,to buy again
lèzéq to buy
lèz¢ to see
lèzoπ 1. to �ght over; to scramble for 2.(medicine) to treat
lezóq adj (non-humans) pregnant éπgu
lèzσ to kill
lèzø to solemnly deny an accusation andstate the consequences of guiltéZø o lètãπe Zø
lèzøte to insult éŻøte
Liklé (indication) mark, sign, brand
Læ blood
Læ horse
Lo. fault, weak point o lètu Lo. to criti-cise, esp unjustly
Loπ (corn) cob
Loπ laziness éNdoπ
Lòπ vexation o lèzãπe Lòπ
Loπ pair of trousers
Lœaπ chair
Lώ ants
LϘt frog
Lø cloud
Luπ =Cu. te
Lúπ wild kind of yam-like vegetable
Luπle grinding stone
Luó. waist
Makiezå rebel; terrorist
Manděq husband’s mother
Mandza =Ndza
Mantiat seed capital
Maπkœà. Irish potato
Màqéq hawk
Mba. 1. grass 2. bush
Mba home; compound
Mbàklè assorted things of little or novalue; junk
Mbaπ seed
Mbaπe nail
Mbãπe pl of Πeqmbãπe
Mbap meat
Lë Muòk
58 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
mbaq prep (non-horizontal surface) against; on;along
Mbaq body
Mbeí magic potion
Mbéí(1) forest; bush
Mbeq enmity
mbíæ two
Mbæ clay
Mbώ 1. dog 2. pl of Lepώ
Mbulè nonsense
Mbùmbùòk miscellaneous items
Mbúπ poor person
Mbúó pl of Púó
Mbuò. innocent person
mbvie 1. prep in front 2. those that havecome before éNdzem
Mbvíé goat
Mbvσ o lènu Mbvσ
Mí- (also Mï-) prefix éMu- 1. big, large 2.principal, major: Mïnσ matter ofgreat importance
Míπeq head, boss, director
Mntsě orphan
Mnuπ (pl only) hair
Mæ palace
Mπgáp(7) | s©Mπgæp| fowl
Mπgwa (pl Paπgwa) female person;woman éΠeqmbãπe
Mπki. wife’s mother
Mπkœó (pl Paππkœó) 1. infant 2. child3. minor
Mok m© =Muòk
Mók m© =Múók
Mpfσ(3) 1. diseased person 2. (disappr)weak person
Mpfσ(3) woman who has recently givenbirth; nursing mother
Mu 1. mother 2. a respectful term of ad-dress for a woman éTa(1)
Mù (pl Pú) child
Mu- (pl Pú-) prefix 1. (used with children or stu-dents, to show belonging to a group) of;from 2. (diminutive) small: Muπgápchicken 3. unimportant; trivial:Munσmatter of small importance
Muletsσ �rst-born
Mumbãπe (pl Pumbãπe) 1. male child 2.young man; boy
Mumπgwa (pl Pupaπgwa) 1. femalechild 2. young woman; girl
Múók éQemúók
Tano Fotang 59
Muòk 1. language of theMmuock people2. �re 3. electric lighting
Mviešœé forehead
Na farming plot
Ná. soup
Ncie(4) 1. water 2. stream, river 3. song,record
Nciè(4) 1. height 2. reputation, position,standing, level
Ncώ(4) (body part) behind, bottom
nda adj (situation, well-being) �ne
nda. adj only, lone
nda. adv only
Ndakěq =Kěq
ndandã adv slowly; gently; carefully
nda.nda. few, not much, not many
Ńdandã (used as welcome greeting)
Ndáπ small metal container with lid, espfor oil etc.
Ndaq witch; wizard
Ndaz¢ sth amazing or unusual: =Lemaπ
Ndègè a white person
Nděm (pl Belěm) God
nděmńdém adj, adv 1. free of charge 2. invain; for nothing
Ndeq top
Nděq husband
Ndı stripe
Ndíæ house
Ndoπ lazy person
Ndóπ cup
Ndœaπ bamboo
Ndø curse; bad luck
Nduπ 1. price, cost 2. quantity
Ndza 1. road, way 2. means, possibility
Ndzaπ xylophone
Ndzap (vegetable) huckleberry
Ndzeı hunger
Ndzěm darkness
ndzem 1. adv behind 2. adj backward
Ndzem 1. rear; back 2. those to comeéMbvie
ndzemndzem adv backwards
Ndzoπ (used in phrase) Ndzoπ lèwale Πeq:(to be befallen by) a great calamity
Ndzóπ 1. pen 2. (formal) academicprowess 3. (tree) thorn
Ndzo. ò marriage
Lë Muòk
60 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
Ngım (collective) locust
Njia axe
Njiè(1) clothing, dress
Njie(3) older sibling
Njíé(4) smoke
Njώ 1. time 2. epoch, age, period
Njœěπ the other side across
Njœeπe (bottle etc.) crown; lid
Njœeπle =Njœeπe
Njœ. egusi
Njuò debt
nς adj true
Nσ(6) matter, issue
Nςlènáq(6) the truth
Nσq sun; sunshine
Ntá. pocket
Ntá 1. (tree etc.) branch 2. (animal) limb 3.(person) lap
Ntaπ storeroom
Ntáπ lie; lies o Πgaπntáπ liar
Ntap hut
Ntaq the strong
Ntáq interior; heart
ńtaq adj, adv alive
ńtáq prep inside
Nteì(1) 1. specie, kind, type 2. style ormanner
Ntéq(4) bridge
ntentàq adj (health) well
Ntóπ neck
Ntoπò s© =Maπkœà.
Ntø(1) mount; (fireplace) any of the threesupports for the cooking pot
Ntsaπ 1. dispute 2. (law) case
Ntsě daughter’s husband éTéki.
Ntsem secret
ntsem adv all
Ntsoπ thief
Ntsσ mouth; entrance
Ntúó. small container, usu a jug, for car-rying wine etc.
Nu group; clique
Nú snake
Nù.(3) porcupine
Nuπgém rainbow
Ñě cutlass
Tano Fotang 61
Ñíæ 1. human body 2. fever
Πaπ vein
Πeq(3) (pl Pæ) person; individual oΠeqmbaπe (plMbãπe) male per-son, man éMπgwa • Πeqnuπ (plPæmnuπ) human being
πgàπ adv (reply) no
Πgaπ 1. the person concerned 2. pre-fix person who does, or who has,sth: Πgaπbela personwho tells lies(liar) • Nxgaπkáp rich person •Πgaπbela. someone with a �ghtingdisposition
Πgáp | s©Πgæp| pl of Mπgáp
Πgap(1) | s© Πgæp| 1. skin 2. comingweek 3. past week
Πgeπté thickness
Πgěm mother of daughter’s husband
Πgém landslide
Πgeπgeq misery
Πgěq gun
Πgeq guest
πgı adv, adj (direction, location) upper
Πgı distance
Πgie the intelligent person
Πgie voice
Πgobe hook
Πgo. (collective) termite
Πgoπ world
Πgóπ agriculture, farming
Πgœá. su�ering
πgu adj pregnant
Πgu patient
Πguo. 1. (how old) age 2. year 3. era, age,epoch
πguo. adv days of old; long ago
Πgwáπ salt
Πgwaπgu gentlewoman éΠgwaseq
Πgwaseq gentleman
Πgwat 1. =Nteí 2. seed 3. (tool) handle
Πka 1. basket 2. (tree, plant) sap
Πka monkey
Πka. light
Πka nest
Πkaπe 1. row 2. generation
Πkap | s©Πkæp| toe- or �ngernail
Πkáp money
Πkat mortar
Πka. te (body part) back
Lë Muòk
62 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
Πkeı widower
Πkěm notable of high rank
Πkeπé rapid slope; cli�
Πkeπkœaπ fork tree
Πkeq(4) message
Πkoπle love o lëΠkoπle adv with love
Πko. ó side o Πko. olaq greater part
πkœe hundred
Πkœe rope
Πkuk widow
Πkwaı strong headedness
Πkweı elderly man or woman whohas never been married o lètsapΠkweı (of a woman) to become anold maid
Πkwéí �rewood
o. adv (reply) (used for indicating uncertainty: “haveno idea”, “do not know”) éy éπgàπ
F adv (reply) a variation of yes éy
Φ 1. a friendly way of addressing a girléKó.ó 2. a respectful term of ad-dress for an elderly woman éTa,Mu
Φϕ-F Good-bye
Pa bag
Pá a kind of food
pá. prep like o lèla pá. . . . to cry like . . .
pà.á adv like that; that way ép£.£
pà.a adv like this; this way
Paì 1. =Xœe. (2) 2. outside
Paı pro�t
paπ adj red
paπpãπ adj red
Pap | s© Pæp| 1. dust 2. (land etc.) patch
Peì roo�ng straw
Péí misfortune; loss
Pfσ 1. leg; foot 2. clique, gang 3. =Leqœr
Pfσ 1. wood ash 2. corpse
Pı madman
Piglè (inquiry etc.) reply
Pœe camwood
p£.£ adv like that; that way
Pu. the rest
Pú imbecile, simpleton
Pú 1. pl of Mù 2. descendants; (pl) o�-spring
Púπ =Fœak
Púó 1. (body part) hand 2. (direction) side
Tano Fotang 63
Puó. slave
Puo. knife
Qák throat
Qaπle chest
Qemle �g tree
Qemúók (plMúók) person of Mmuockorigin
Qeqeq 1. fool, imbecile 2. foolery
Qu(6) disease; sickness
Šék ra�a
Šià market
Šœé(4) 1. face 2. mask 3. side, aspect 4.way, means
Šœèπ bird
Šeπle =Šœeπle
Šœeπle language (also Šeπle)
Šúé(1) (singular) �sh
Šúó hoe
Šuok soap
Šuo. te praise, accolade o lë Šuo. te advwith appreciation
Sa sorcery o Πgaπsa witch, wizard
Salè writing tablet; slate
Saπ 1. month 2. monthly wage
Sáπ broom
Saπé(2) tail
Sáq(4) shame
Séí the ground éTsa.
Sěq friend
Sæ elephant
Sóπ pipe
Sóπ (pl Besóπ) pipe
Sωq m© =Sěq
Sø saw
Sø spitefulness
ta. one
Ta(2) (potato, cocoyam etc.) one unit
Ta(3) 1. male parent 2. a term of addressfor a man éMu
Ták =Válé
Taq 1. metal 2. prison
tè 1. adv without, sans: tè Ta without afather 2. prefix (showing negation) un-:tèla without crying 3. prep (a) (se-quence in time) before (b) expectedbut not yet passed: tè la still to cry
Téki. wife’s father
Teπ pond, pool
Lë Muòk
64 The Sound of Mmuock B. Word list
Téq foreign land
Tèšœσ 1. garden egg 2. berry
Tetà 1. yard 2. playing �eld
Tíæ tobacco
Tæ container for fetching a liquid, espwater
tæ. adv very o lèfáπ tæ. to be very big
Tœě tree
Tø Bangang
Tø drum
Tø stone; rock
tsà adj, pron (sometimes tsa) some o tsàzéqsomething • tsaπeq somebody
Tsa. ground, earth
Tsaπ Dschang
Tsa. te greetings; compliments o lë Tsa. teadv with greetings
Tsetseı 1. belongings, things 2. compo-nents; ingredients
Tsoπ 1. the 2. deceptive action
Tsóp �ne, penalty
Tsσ(2) (pl Tsσ) 1. head 2. upper partéCœeπ (6) 3. one end of a thing
Tsσ(6) (pl Betsσ) intelligence, head, sense,common sense
Tsσ(3) antelope
tú. adv by night, at night
Tú.(3) juju
Túó. container, esp with a lid
Tuòk big intestine
tu. tú. adv at dawn, before break of day
u pers pron, subjective you
Válé obfuscation; confusion
Wá. epilepsy
Wúmé bottle
Wuo. te acclaim, praise
Xiakle breath
Xiale kindling
Xi.le sweat
Xœe. place
Xœe. 1. pl of Xœe. 2. times; circum-stances, conditions
Xúó. yam
y adv (reply) yes
Yık odour, smell
Zàlènáπ (welcome greeting) éZàlèsæ.
Zàlèsæ. welcome
Záπ lungs
Żéq(2) thing
żæ 1. adv thus 2. pron the one
Żøte insult
Appendix C
Names
¿is addendum lists the spellings of some common proper names, as well asthe names of days of the Mmuock week.
C.1 Common �rst names
1. Z¢lœé
2. Tsa.mú
3. Πkœaπáfák
4. Tœa.afák
5. Šuπmbaπ
6. Šuπmú
7. Ciafíæ
8. Ciámú
9. Ciaπgeq
10. Tàπmú
11. Z¢mú
12. Z¢fák
13. Tàπèfák
14. Tœa.mú
15. Téndoπmú
16. Yimnaì
17. Fiælefák
18. Føz¢
19. Njùò. ntsóp
65
66 The Sound of Mmuock C. Names
20. Njœefíæ
21. Nkemfíæ
22. Mnèìmú
23. Πguò.πie
24. Zaqmú
25. Mo.mú
26. Πgeqπgım
27. Mbuπeq
28. Zaπgeq
29. Ndémez¢
30. Njùò.πkœaπ
31. Πkwatetàπ
32. Nduπelá
33. Betà
34. Zσtáπ
35. Nςteta.
36. Nςlémeπ
37. Loπntsě
38. Z¢léfák
39. Πeqndz¢
40. Xuo. oséí
41. Belašœé
42. Πguo. njuó
43. Πkeqmbúó.
44. Πkeqndém
45. Yutá.
46. Ndémenσ
47. Ndéméfák
48. Wandém
49. Z¢πkœaπ
C.2 Days of the week
1. Πgaπé
2. Mbeqπúá
3. Mbeqlěq
4. Njœeπgoπ
5. Mbeqπkœó
6. Njœelekœr
7. Fa.à
8. Télaπ
C.3 Places Tano Fotang 67
C.3 Places
1. Mbamuòk
2. Njœeπgoπ
3. Tœa.cia
4. Kóπó
5. Ntemndzem
6. Mbvσ
7. Belaπ
8. Tendælembeπ
Lë Muòk
Appendix D
Numerals
D.1 Cardinal numbers
1 mo. , ta.
2 mbíæ
3 ntàt
4 lekua
5 ntå
6 ntuqó
7 šiambíæ
8 lefa
9 lepu. ú
10 leqém
11 ntsopmo.
12 ntsoppíæ
13 ntsoptàt
14 ntsoplekua
15 ntsoptå
16 ntsopntuqó
17 ntsopšiambíæ
18 ntsoplefa
19 ntsoplepu. ú
20 beqémmbíæ
21 ntsopmo. beqémmbíæ
22 ntsoppiæbeqémmbíæ
23 ntsoptàtbeqémmbíæ
69
70 The Sound of Mmuock D. Numerals
24 ntsoplekuabeqémmbíæ
25 ntsoptåbeqémmbíæ
26 ntsopntuqobeqémmbíæ
27 ntsopšiambiæbeqémmbíæ
28 ntsoplefabeqémmbíæ
29 ntsoplepu. ubeqémmbíæ
30 beqémńtàt
40 beqemlekua
50 beqémńtå
60 beqemntuqó
70 beqemšiambíæ
80 beqemlefa
90 beqemlepu. ú
100 πkœe
200 πkœepíæ
300 πkœetàt
400 πkœelekua
500 πkœeta
600 πkœentúqó
700 πkœešiambíæ
800 πkœeléfá
900 πkœelepu. ú
D.2 Ordinal numbers
mbvie �rst
Example Index
Πeq, 28Πgěq, 25Πgu. , 10Πgeq, 23, 25Πgoπ, 13, 25Πgóπ, 14, 25Πgie, 28Πgu, 10, 12Πgwáπ, 39Πka, 14, 24, 25Πka, 25Πkáp, 14Πka, 12, 17, 24, 25Πkeq, 24Πka, 20Φ, 4Φϕ-ϕ, 4Tsσ, 25Cú. , 30Fς, 12Fæ. , 32Fa. , 30Faq, 40Kaı, 13, 30
Lá. , 30Læ, 14, 25Male, 30Nσ, 6Na, 18, 30Πak, 30Pu. , 9, 30Pa, 13, 29Pfσ, 30Pfσ, 5Pfσ, 13Pfσ, 14Qák, 30Qu, 5, 17Sø, 15, 25Saqè, 30Šuok, 13, 28, 30Tø, 5, 6, 14, 25Ták, 30Teπ, 12, 28Tetà, 10, 14Tsσ, 30Tsσ, 6, 25Wá. , 30
71
72 The Sound of Mmuock EXAMPLE INDEX
Xœe. , 18Xúó. , 30Yık, 30Żøte, 6, 13Żéq, 30xìà, 29£, 4Mπki., 14mbuo, 12mbuo Nděm, 12tsaπe, 26F, 4, 5Ñě, 20Ñia, 28
Bešœé, 18bešœebešœé, 18Belaπ, 20Belěm, 26Bela, 18, 28Bela ma . . . , 18
Fěπ, 20Fø, 6, 25Fò, 14Fæ. , 9, 32Fø, 6, 13, 25Foπ, 28
ha, 18, 28
ka, 19Kì, 14Kó. , 28
Ki., 5, 9
la, 19Loπ, 25lèla, 20, 24lèpó, 25Læ, 25lècú, 14lèfa. , 9lèfı., 10lèfσ, 6lèfø, 19, 21, 22lèfa, 9, 25lèfem, 19lèfı, 10lèfá, 25lèfém, 19lèkeq, 21, 22, 24lèkéq, 21, 22lèkaı, 24lèlæ. , 23lèl¢, 5, 13, 19–22, 24, 25lèla, 19–22, 24lèl¢, 25lèlá, 19, 21, 22, 24lèpá. , 10lèpa, 20lèpı, 13, 17, 18, 25lèpéí, 19lèpá, 10lèpáté, 33lèpátté, 33lèpí, 14, 25, 26
EXAMPLE INDEX Tano Fotang 73
lèpi Kendoπ, 18lèpiæ. , 13lèqœr, 4, 5, 7lèqa, 21, 23lèqáqlé, 17lèsω. , 5, 9lètú. , 10lètø, 6lèta, 10lèt¢, 6lètá, 10, 19lètú, 10lètá, 17lèyíé, 25lèzáπ, 28lèzéq, 19lèzeı, 19, 24Lòπ, 25Lå, 15, 25Loπ, 15, 25Lepfσ, 6, 28Lešu, 13Lefa, 20lefa, 25Lefø, 6Leka, 20Lekot, 18Lekoπ, 12Lekot fíé, 18lekua, 10, 13Lepı, 15, 20, 25Lepeı, 18Lepei tsa . . . , 18
Let¢, 20Letæ. , 12Letá, 10Lewúá, 28Lexuπè, 28Leyíé, 25Leyie, 25Lez¢, 14
Mæ, 15Mu, 15, 20, 25, 28Mù, 14, 25Mba, 20, 25Mba. , 9Mba, 5, 10, 23, 25, 28Mbem, 5Mbá, 25Mbúö Nděm, 12Mbúó, 10, 12Mbúó Ńdém, 12Mbiyàπ, 28
Ndzaπ, 20Ndzěm, 28Ná. , 28nσ, 6Nσq, 6Ntsσ, 28Ncœa. , 28Nděm, 24Ndaz¢, 25Nděm, 12, 15, 20, 24Ndoπ, 15, 25nda. , 18
Lë Muòk
74 The Sound of Mmuock EXAMPLE INDEX
nda. , 28Ndø, 6ndä lefa, 25ndä tå, 10Ndóπ, 5, 25nda, 10, 18ndandã, 10, 18ndeπ, 13, 18ndeπndeπ, 12, 18ndiændiæ, 18Ndiæ, 18Njíé, 14, 25Njiè, 14, 25Njie, 13, 25, 28Ntá. , 10, 40ntå, 25Ntá, 10, 40Ntáπ, 25Ntóπ, 25Ntaπ, 25ntoπ, 25
p£.£, 5Po. , 9Pæ, 5, 13paπ, 10, 13, 28paπpãπ, 10, 12Puo. , 18Puo. wa . . . , 18
Qemle, 28
Sěq, 20Sø, 25
Sáπ, 28
Ta, 23Ta, 10, 20Tø, 14Tà, 10ta. , 39ta. , 34Tă., 10tå, 10Tø, 25Télaπ, 20
Válé, 28
Xěk, 18xěkxék, 18xœe.xœe. , 18
Z¢, 14Z¢lœé, 15, 25
Index
œ, 7
alphabet, 2
consonants, 28π, 29š, 29ñ, 29c, 28q, 29x, 29
glottal stop, 8
in�ection, 37
tones, 10notation, 11occurance, 16Tone 0, 12, 17Tone 1, 13Tone 10, 15, 23Tone 11, 16, 24Tone 12, 16, 25Tone 2, 12Tone 3, 14
Tone 4, 14Tone 5, 14, 19Tone 6, 15Tone 7, 15, 20Tone 8, 15, 21Tone 9, 15, 22
verb groups, 17vowels, 5
æ, 6ς, 6£, 6ø, 6r, 7ϕ, 6ω, 6¢, 6a, 5e, 5i, 5o, 6u, 6
y, 33
75