Ndun wordlist - Roger Blench

Roger Blench: Ndun Wordlist
Gloss sg. pl.
Mother nnâ bená
Doctor nàtáni bénátání
Ndun has phonemic labialisation and palatalisation of velars and glottals arising from incorporation of u-
and i- prefixes. The relative rarity of these may be attributed to the fact that they are not underlying p-art of
the morphophonology (and are not cognate across the other related Ndunic languages). It is likely that this
process is due to contact with neighbouring languages. Contrastive palatalisation as a number marking
strategy is more common than labialisation. Some examples;
Body ilyak ilak
Broom gwes ígyès
Shoe huhwεl íhyuhwέl
Canoe kúgo makóri ikyugo makóri
Contrastive palatalisation also occurs in nouns that mark number with alternating affixes; examples are
scattered throughout the tables.
Tone plurals are very common in Ndun, contrast to the other two languages in the group. Some examples are
given below, but many others occur in the wordlist.
Ndun has one exceptional plural formation;
Root ìdyààr idyáár
Water-lily kpàkàrà kpákàrà
Compound ikyǎm ikyam
Name erés eres
Woman nyaan nyaar
The related Shakara language shows an analogous plural form for ‘woman’, demonstrating that this is not an
error in data recording.
Shakara Woman áŋan áŋar
Ndun also has a variety of unpredictable plurals, including some suppletives, that have so far no analogies in
the lexicon. These are listed below with no further analysis.
Child asise ánkábì
Thing amín ebuk
Wife nyampar nyǎr
Grandparents ìnìnkyer íníkyer
King/chief/ruler ètùm entûm
Eye kyεlεzɔ ítyεlεzɔ
Basket (generic) nkásén menkásén
Rope wurik irik
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