Zande language

Zande is the largest of the Zande languages. It is spoken by the Azande, primarily in the northeast of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and western South Sudan, but also in the eastern part of the Central African Republic. It is called Pazande in the Zande language and Kizande in Lingala.

Estimates about the number of speakers vary; in 2001 Koen Impens cited studies that put the number between 700,000 and one million.^[3]

• Alveolar sounds /d, z, ⁿz, s, t, ⁿd/ have allophones as palato-alveolar sounds [d͡ʒ, ʒ, ⁿʒ, ʃ, t͡ʃ, ⁿd͡ʒ] when preceding /i/.
• The retroflex tap /ɽ/ can be heard as an alveolar trill [r] in free variation.^[4]

Zande spelling rules were established at the 1928 Rejaf Language Conference^[5] following the principles of the International African Institute.^[6]

Nasalized vowels are indicated using the tilde : ⟨ã ẽ ĩ õ ũ⟩. Consonants with double articulation are represented by digraphs: ⟨gb kp mv nv ny⟩.

In 1959, Archibald Norman Tucker published a Zande alphabet proposed during the Bangenzi Conference of 1941.^[8]

Nasalized vowels are indicated using the tilde : ã ẽ ĩ ĩ̧ õ ũ ũ̧ r̃. Consonants with double articulation are represented by digraphs or trigraphs : kp gb ny mb nv nd nz ng ngb mgb

SIL International published a Zande alphabet in 2014.^[9]

Avunguagudee, oni nangarasa rukutu awironi na gu sosono yo i mangi agu asunge dunduko na ngbarago i afuhe fuyo i mangihe, singia si tii Bambu Kindo yo, watadu ba bakere adunguratise yo?

Translation

Parents, do you encourage your children and teenagers to work cheerfully at any assignment that they are given to do, whether at the Kingdom Hall, at an assembly, or at a convention site?

The objective forms of these pronouns are regularly used as suffixes denoting the first or intimate form of the genitive. Those nouns which end in se drop this syllable before the suffixed pronoun.^[10] For instance,

• boro 'person' > borore 'my body'
• ngbaduse 'chest' > ngbadure 'my chest'
• kpu 'home' > kpuro 'thy home'

Possessive pronouns can be used as reflexive pronouns.^[11] For instance,

• Mi ye ti gimi. 'I have come myself.'
• A ndu ti gani. 'Let us go ourselves.'

For example, Mi a mangi e ni tire. 'I did it by myself.'

Pluralising a noun in Zande is typically done by adding the prefix a before the stem.^[12]

• boro 'person' > aboro 'people'
• nya 'beast' > anya 'beasts'
• e 'thing' > ae 'things'

Verbs often change tense by adding the corresponding tense marker.^[13] For instance:

• mi na manga 'I am doing' (tense marker, temple auxiliary)
• mi a manga 'I do' (tense marker, temple auxiliary)'

The verb does not change with their subject (pro)noun.^[14] For instance

• mi na manga 'I am doing'
• mo na manga 'thou art doing'
• ko na manga '(s)he is doing'
• ani na manga 'we are doing'
• oni na manga 'you are doing'
• i na manga 'they are doing'

Verbal negation is expressed by placing nga after the verb and then ending the negative statement with the particle te or ya at the end of the sentence.

Negative auxiliaries are separated to enclose subordinate clauses contained in the main negative statement, so affirmative verbs can usually be surrounded by them.

Verb + nga…te/ya (te/ya is placed at the end of the entire sentence)

The indicative 'nga… te'

The Imperative 'nga…ya'

For example,

• Mi a manga a. 'I do it.'
• Mi a manga nga a te. 'I do not do it.'
• Ka mo ni mangi nga a ya. 'Do not do it.'

The traditional Zande numerical system is based on finger and toe (i.e. digit) counting, which lacks a full set of discrete number words beyond 10 or 20 – such numbers are expressed descriptively, often with additive constructions.^[15]

• sa 'one'
• ue 'two'
• biata 'three'
• biama 'four'
• bisue 'five'
• bawe 'ten'
• ira 'fifteen'

When the number exceeds five, it is transferred to the other hand to continue counting, using additive operations that builds upon basic/core numerals, with the use of the verbial constructions bati (lit. 'to step over') for 6–9, bati/yari sende yo (lit. 'to step over from below') for 11–14, and yari ku bani (lit. 'to step over to the other side') for 16–19.

The standalone numeral 20 is expressed as boro ru e (lit. 'a person stands it'), since a person's hands and feet add up to 20 digits. 30 and 40 are expressed as 20+10 and 20+20, respectively. 20 is expressed as ue bawe ('two ten', 2*10) if it is part of a larger number.

6–9

• bisue bati sa 'six' (lit. 'five over one')
• bisue bati ue 'seven' (lit. 'five over two')
• bisue bati biata 'eight' (lit. 'five over three')
• bisue bati biama 'nine' (lit. 'five over four')

11–14

• bawe bati/yari sende yo sa 'eleven' (lit. 'ten over one')
• bawe bati/yari sende yo ue 'twelve' (lit. 'ten over two')
• bawe bati/yari sende yo biata 'twelve' (lit. 'ten over three')
• bawe bati/yari sende yo biama 'twelve' (lit. 'ten over four')

16–19

• ira yari ku bani sa 'sixteen' (lit. 'fifteen over one')
• ira yari ku bani ue 'seventeen' (lit. 'fifteen over two')
• ira yari ku bani biata 'eighteen' (lit. 'fifteen over three')
• ira yari ku bani biama 'nineteen' (lit. 'fifteen over four')

21–29

For numerals 21–29, the verbial constructions zi be (lit. 'taken by the arm') or yari ku bani are used.

For instance, boro ru e zi be sa and boro ru e yari ku bani sa both mean 'twenty-one'.

Larger numbers

• 100 – kama ('hundred')
• 120 – kama na ue bawe (lit. '[one] hundred and twenty')
• 200 – ue kama
• 1,000 – kuti ('thousand')
• 2,000 – ue kuti
• 1,000,000 – mirioni ('million', itself borrowed from French)

S + V + O

Mi nga gude -> 'I am a boy'

mi -> 'I', nga -> 'am', (to be), gude -> 'boy'

bami -> 'my father'

(ba -> 'father', mi -> 'my')

possessed noun needs to add a suffix (objective pronoun form) to express what it is belonged to whom.^[16]

kporo -> 'a village' (abbr. Kpu)

kpure -> 'my home', kpuro -> 'thy home' , kpuko -> 'his home'

before a noun is becomes KU

ku kuma ->'a man’s home' (kuma -> 'man', ku -> 'home')

ku Gangura -> 'Gangura’s home'

Demonstrative Adjectives

gere -> 'this', gi…re      agi…re -> 'these' (plural)

gure -> 'that', gu…re.     agu…re -> 'those' (plural)

Mo fu gere fe re -> 'give me this'

Mo di gure -> 'take this'

When they are used with noun pronouns, the syllables need to be separated so that they surround the noun pronoun and sometimes include the entire clause that modifies the noun pronoun.^[17]

gi boro re -> 'this person'

gi ko re -> 'this man'

agi aboro re -> 'these people'

agi yo re -> 'these people' (lit. these they)

agu bambu re -> 'those house' (bambu -> 'house')

the number add always behind the noun and the noun usually uses its singular form

For instance,

sape bisue -> 'five knives'

Eg1. Yesu ki bi yo i ni pe ko -> 'Jesus saw them following him.'

(bi -> 'saw', yo -> 'them', i ni pe -> 'following', ko -> 'him')

Eg2. Mi a ndu ki bo ko -> 'I went and saw him.'

Eg3. Ko a ndu ki mangi e ki yega -> 'He went and did it and came home.'

wa -> 'like' it is usually put before the adjective

• • eg. Ga ango ni kikii ru wa kina gimi ru -> 'Your dog is a big one just like mine.'

ti -> 'than' it is usually put after the adjective

• • eg. Ga gu kuma bambu re ngba ti gamo -> 'That man’s house is better that yours.'

susa (i) -> to surpass

• • Ga roko bakere susi gimi? -> 'Is your cloth bigger than mine?'

• Gore, Edward Clive (1931). A Zande Grammar. Sheldon Press.
• Tucker, Archibald Norman (1959). Le groupe linguistique zande (in French). Musée royal du Congo belge.
• "Awalaga Gɨda Pazande. Alphabet Zande, R. D. Congo [PDF]". vdoc.pub.

• PanAfrican L10n page on Zande