NGIZIM PAPERS

• Descriptive works on Ngizim
• Works on the Bade-Ngizim language group including significant discussion of Ngizim

Items on this page describe features of Ngizim linguistic structure. Some date back to my earliest work on Ngizim in 1969-1970 and other works from the 1970's and early 1980's, written in pre-computer days. Scanning technology has made it possible to make these works available as downloadable PDF files.

Descriptive papers on Ngizim

"Aspects of Ngizim syntax." PhD dissertation, UCLA, 1972.

A detailed study of Ngizim syntax. The description is, for the most part, given in what Joseph Greenberg called "the language of observation". Some of the formalisms are dated, but the description is not heavily formal nor is it organized around any particular formal theory, so it remains usable for anyone interested in this language.

"Ngizim phonology" Manuscript, UCLA. 1971.

A comprehensive description of Ngizim phonology in the SPE rule-based style. The paper was written as a qualifying paper for the PhD.

"Verb forms and verb aspects in Ngizim."  Journal of African Languages 10:47-60, 1971.

Description of the morphology of Ngizim verbs.

"Ngizimicae lingvae principia." Manuscript, UCLA. 1972.

A fairly comprehensive description of Ngizim morphology and syntax, originally prepared for a class in comparative Afroasiatic, organized by Thomas Penchoen. OCR text recognition was run on this file, but because the type in the original is somewhat fuzzy, the "recognized" text is unreliable and often just gibberish.

Papers with Significant Descriptive Portions
on Ngizim Together with Bade

"Bade/Ngizim determiner system." Afro-asiatic Linguistics 4(3):101-174, 1977.

A complete description of determiners in three dialects of Bade, Ngizim and Duwai. The description includes marking for definiteness/indefiniteness, demonstratives, presentatives, and genitive phrases.

"Bade/Ngizim vowels and syllable structure." Studies in African Linguistics 9:247-283, 1978.

A description of distribution of vowels, particular schwa, whose presence is determined by syllabic exigencies and whose quality is determined by consonantal environment. The paper shows how, historically, Bade (all dialects) has shifted from an earlier stage, represented by Ngizim, where word initial CC require schwa between the consonants, to the modern Bade stage, where consonants form sequences if they can and the schwa is prothetic.

Proseminar on Bade and Ngizim Phonology and Morphology

In Winter Quarter 2002, I gave a graduate proseminar at UCLA on the phonology and morphology of the Bade and Ngizim languages, base on data collected prior to the Yobe Languages Research Project. As part of this project I prepared extensive descriptive handouts that I posted on a course website as pdf files. In addition to descriptions of phonology and morphology, there is a bibliography and a couple of papers on historical phonology.

Click here to see the course website and links to handouts and papers.

Kanuri loanwords in Bade and Ngizim and adaptation of Kanuri loans

"The Linguistic Influence of Kanuri on Bade and Ngizim"--abstract

"The Linguistic Influence of Kanuri on Bade and Ngizim"

Kanuri has had considerable linguistic influence on Bade and Ngizim for several centuries. Kanuri loanwords in Bade and Ngizim preserve phonological properties that Kanuri itself has change in more recent times. On the other hand, Bade and Ngizim have altered Kanuri words phonologically and morphologically in order to integrate them into the native system.