| Katla | |
|---|---|
| Kaalak | |
| Native to | Sudan |
| Region | Nuba Hills |
| Ethnicity | Katla, Gulud |
Native speakers | 25,000 Julud (2009)1 Possibly 14,000 Katla (1984)2 |
Niger–Congo?
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | kcr |
| Glottolog | katl1237 Katlajulu1237 Julud |
| ELP | Katla |
Katla (also Kaalak or Kwaalak) is a Katla language, closely related to a neighbouring language called Tima. Katla is generally classified as Kordofanian, which is not a uniform branch, and is native to the Nuba Mountains.3 While Jalad is seen a dialect there is a clear distinction between the two groups. Similarly one can distinguish Katla into east and west Katla dialects,3 it is believed to be spoken in 11 villages around Jebel Katla and their ethnicity is kàlàk.3
The variety Julud is mutually intelligible with Katla-Kulharong but not with Katla-Cakom.
Phonology
Consonants
| Labial | Dental | Alveolar | Post- alveolar |
Velar | Labial- velar |
Glottal | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | t̪ | t | (c) | k | k͡p | (ʔ) | |
| voiced | b | d̪ | d | ɟ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | ||
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd̪ | ⁿd | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | |||
| Fricative | s | (ʃ) | h | |||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | ||||
| Rhotic | r | ɽ | ||||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | |||||
Sounds [c] and [ʃ] occur as realizations of /s/.4
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Retroflex | Palatal | Velar | Labial-velar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | voiceless | t̪ | ʈ | k | k͡p | ||
| voiced | b | d̪ | ɖ | ɟ | ɡ | ɡ͡b | |
| prenasal | ᵐb | ⁿd̪ | ᶯɖ | ᶮɟ | ᵑɡ | ||
| Fricative | f | s | ʃ | ||||
| Nasal | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | |||
| Rhotic | r | ɽ | |||||
| Approximant | w | l | j | ||||
Vowels
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open | a |
/i, u/ can also be realized as [ɪ, ʊ].4
| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i | u | |
| ɪ | ʊ | ||
| Mid | e | ə | o |
| ɛ | ɔ | ||
| Open | ɐ | ||
| a |
Nouns
Plural
Most of the time nouns in Katla do not have a plural, either numbers are put in front of the word or a quantifier is used. Often loanwords do not follow this rule and therefore change in their plural form.6
Genitive case
In some cases Katla places the genitive after the subject, as in other Sudanese languages: ‚u gbalana‘ " the dog’s owner ". Usually this is avoided and put in between both nouns: ‚gas i gu‘ „the dog’s head“.7
Subjective case
The subjective case is put infringement of the verb. In the case of multiple objects each one gets a case:
‘gu šekemole retet’ “The dog bit the gazelle”7
Pronouns
| 8 | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| 1st person | Ṇ- | Ni-, N-, Ń- |
| 2nd person | Dj- | Dj- |
| 3rd person | Y- | Y- |
Numbers
Source:8
- tẹták
- sẹk
- hātẹd
- agálam
- jẹgwūlẹn
- djọltẹn
- djolēk
- taṅgẹl
- djalbatẹn
- rākwẹs
Dialects and locations
Dialects and village locations:1
- Julud dialect: Kabog, Kabog North, Kabosh, Kambai, Karkando, Karkarya, Kary, Kimndang, Kitanngo, Kolbi, Koto Kork, Octiang, Rumber, Sabba, and Tolot
- Katla dialect: Bombori, Karoka, Kateik, Kiddu, Kirkpong, and Koldrong
References
References
- Katla at Ethnologue (25th ed., 2022)
- Katla language at Ethnologue (17th ed., 2013)
- Birgit Hellwig 2013, p. 238. sfn error: no target: CITEREFBirgit_Hellwig2013 (help)
- Tucker, Archibald N.; Bryan, Margaret A. (1966). The Katla Group. In Linguistic Analyses: The Non-Bantu Languages of North-Eastern Africa: London: Oxford University Press.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - Nüsslein, Ulrike (2020). A Grammar of Kordofanian Julut with Particular Consideration of the Verbal Morphology. Köln: Köppe. pp. 30–31.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link) - Meinhof 1917, p. 219.
- Meinhof 1917, p. 221.
- Meinhof 1917, p. 212-235.
Bibliography
Bibliography
- Meinhof, Carl (1917). Sprachstudien im egyptischen Sudan 14: Katla. Zeitschrift für Kolonialsprachen VII.