Juba Arabic
Pidgin, appeared in 19th century in southern Sudan, Equatoria province, among soldiers recruited from the area (then under Egypt rule)
Official languages in Sudan: English + Arabic, though tribal languages or colloquial Arabic most used
JA used as a lingua franca in south Sudan and in communities of S. Sudanese origin living outside the region – number of speakers unknown, as widespread research was never conducted, mostly because of numerous civil wars
Based on Sudanese Arabic, relies on it heavily for vocab; very simplified grammar; some influences from local languages (describing nature, local products + some colloquial words, eg. kau-kau - chocolate, golong-golong – round, nyirikuuk – child) and English (technical or scientific terms, foreign inventions, eg. maikrafoon – microphone/megaphone/loudspeaker, jugrafiya, stail – fashion, refyugii). Therefore it is easy to understand for most people speaking Standard Arabic or – even better – any Arabic dialect, with which JA shares many characteristics.
Consonants: reduced Arabic consonant system (no emphatics [marked here by capital letters], no glottals, no th’s, many assimilations): b, d, f, g (assimilated with Arabic q, gh and some j), h (H), j, k (kh and some q [katalu]), l, m, n, ng, r, s (th, S), sh, t (T and some th [katiir]) w, y, z (incl. dh, Dh, Z)
Consonant clusters often avoided: ashribu -> ashiribu, wajh -> waj/wosh, no consonant gemination
The above results in many words of Arabic origin becoming homophonic, eg. mara – time (Ar. marra) or woman (Ar. mar’a).
Vowels: extended Arabic vowel system: a e i o u, aa, ee, ii, (oo), uu [“long” vowels stressed]
Diphthongs: ai, au, oy, ow
Simplified morphology: no triliteral root system as in Arabic, only selected unchanging forms exist , eg: katibu (write), katiib (fiancee), maktab (office), maktaba (bookstore/library), maktuub (written) [a popular Arabic dictionary lists 32 items derived from the root K/T/B, without plural forms of nouns]
Prefixes for tense/aspect
Unchanging suffix –aat for plurals (but some irregular plurals survive: beyt – biyuut, jena – iyaal, rajil – rujaal), often omitted if context implies plurality (eg. shejara ketiir); to denote groups of people the prefix “nas” (people) is often used: nas-boliis (group of police or the police as a whole), nas-Juma (the group of people of which Juma is the best known member). Dual forms (-(t)een) surviving only for few items, such as – mara ->marateen (two times), sena ->senateen (two years).
Unlike Arabic, nouns never inflected for case. Prefix “(bi)ta” used for genitive and marking possession (this is also the only place where the Arabic suffixed pronouns survive in JA, eg. “tai” - mine, instead of “ta ana”, “taki” - your(s), instead of “ta ita”, etc.).
Semantics:
as context-dependent as possible, eg. futu: go (=ruwa, go), depart (=ruwa kalaas, go-finished), pass (=ruwa gidaam, go in front of), exceed (=amilu ziyaada, do more), surpass (=amilu ahsen, do better); kartuush: tube (ta blastiik, of plastic), hose (ta moya, of water), shotgun (silaa, weapon)
metaphorical/descriptive expressions: ras beyt (head house) = roof, ena sudur (eye breast) = nipple, moya ena (water eye) = tear, daar-riyaada (home-sports) = sports stadium, amuud nus (pole middle) = drive shaft, mutu-keli (die-leave [it]) = durable
words combined to create new meanings: dugu telifoon (hit telephone) = to phone, dugu boks = to box, juru sigaara (pull cigarette) = to smoke, kutu bala (put mind) = to concentrate; sawa-sawa (same-same) = equal/flat, nus-nus (half-half) = average, kulu-kulu (all-all) = ever/never
meaning differentiation in specific areas: lizard = sihliyya (brightly coloured), dab (thrusts its head forward); dance = liyb, lugaara (traditional lead by drums); termite = “arda”, but “ngongo” if flying
Sentences: subject -> (tense/negative particle) verb -> object -> adverbial phrase
noun phrase: number -> noun -> possessive -> adjective -> relative -> demonstrative
Eg. Aku tai sugeer el geni fi beled de ma der kelim le ana.
[brother my little which live in village this not want talk to me]
My little brother, who lives in this village, doesn’t want to talk to me.
Multi-functional particles, eg.:
“De”
ñ serves as a definite article: “rajil de” = “the man”, as opposed to “rajil” = “a/the man”;
ñ turns a clause into a sentence: “rajil de semiin” = “the man is fat”, as opposed to “rajil semiin” = “a/the fat man” or “rajil semiin de” = “this fat man”;
ñ marks the end of a complex noun phrase: “rajil semiin ana ainu-o umbaari de, mutu” [man fat I see-him yesterday de die] = “The fat man I saw yesterday | has died”;
ñ is a universal demonstrative: “de tai” = “this is mine”, “shejara hinaak de” = “that tree over there”, “nas de kweyisiin” = “these are good people”
“Ya-au”
ñ emphasises the subject of a phrase: ”zol de ya-au al dugu ana” [person this ya-au which hit I] = ”this (indeed) is the person who hit me”, as opposed to ”zol de dugu ana” = ”this person hit me”
ñ forms the superlative: ”ana ya-au tawiil” [I ya-au tall] = ”I am the tallest”, as opposed to “ana tawiil” = “I am tall”
ñ is used as a standard response to the greetings “Kef?” [how] = “how are you?”, “Ita kweys?” [you good] = “are you well?” and similar: “(Ana) ya-au de!” [(I) ya-au this] = “Here I am” (“... you can see for yourself”)
Tense and aspect – wide range of meanings expressed with limited means:
1) aorist (no prefix) – most commonly used, expresses all non-future meanings
“ana akulu” = “I eat/ ate/ was eating/ have eaten”
2) future (bi-) – this form also used for some temporally undetermined meanings
“uwa bi-ja bukra” = “he will come tomorrow”
“moya de bi-timu kasiil” [water this FUTURE ‘be enough’ wash] = “there is enough water for washing”
“uwa bi-akider saidu ita” = “he can help you”
3) progressive (gi-)
“ana gi-ashrabu meriisa” = “I am drinking alcohol”
4) perfect (no prefix, “kalaas” - “finished, done, that’s all” at the end of the phrase)
“mara ainu jena kalaas” [woman see child done] = “the woman has seen the child”
5) plusperfect (kan)
“huwa kan ja” = “he had come”
6) hypothetical (kan bi-)
“huwa kan bi-mata-o lakiin huwa gum sudfa le Kartuum” = “he would have signed it, but he left suddenly to Khartoum”
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