Introduction to the dictionary

This dictionary contains the words used and explained in the lessons of the Zarma Course. For most words the reference to the specific lesson is given.

For each letter of the alphabet a separate page is available. You can go to the specific page using the left content site or by using the table below.

Word order: doubled vowels are not taken into account by placing the words in alphabetic order. Therefore you will find, for example, baani after bangu. The reason is that spelling of Zarma words is not yet fully uniform.

The spelling is based on the loose-leaf volume "Practical method for the study of the Zarma language", a very extensive work presented by Evangelical Baptist Mission of Niamey from 1970. This spelling is obsolete. Therefore, this year the spelling will be changed to the one used in books published after 2000. 


For each Zarma word the English equivalent is or equivalents are given and additional information is provided. The general lay-out is:

Zarma [symbol] [synonym] (origin) {other spelling}: English [remark]
(word type; number of lesson and indicator of availability of pronunciation indication) [Zarma word combination: English translation]

Not all topics are discussed for each word. The topics are explained below.

For Zarma nouns the indefinite and definite singular form are given in the dictionary (see below). For adjective three forms are provided (see below)
 


Symbols used in dictionary

# : Verb that take the direct object afterwards are indicated with a "#", see Lesson 2.C.1 & 3.D.5 or open the Grammar Help and select "irregular verbs".

* : Three forms of adjective; the predicate adjective, the indefinite singular attributive adjective, and the definite singular adjective also. The first two forms are frequently identical, see Lesson 5.D.2.

(~) indicates that spelling of a word and its pronunciation differ (see here)
 

Synonym of words

For some words synonyms are provided. There are several types of what is called synonym here.

real synonym: a Zarma word with same or similar denotation.

abbreviation: an abbreviation of a word, use of full word or abbreviation is sometimes depending on function in sentence.

dialect: a word used by Zarma, but originates from Dendi or other Songhay dialect.

language: a word used by Zarma, but originating from another language, usually Hausa or Arabic.
 


Origin of words

Some words in Zarma are adopted of another language, these are indicated with a letter between parentheses.
(
A) Arabic derived word
(H) Hausa derived word
(F) French derived word

Some words are mainly used in other Songhai dialects
(Kd) Songhai Kaado, Niger, east river bank (Ducroz and Charles, 1982)
(Ks) Koroboro senni, Mali, between Timbuktu and Niger border (Heath, 1998)

 

Other spelling

Spelling used by others and encountered in documents is provided.

Points of attention when searching for words are:

  1. use of single or doubled vowel, for example in baba or baaba
  2. exchange of letter e and a in words, for example, in ending ~taray / ~tarey and ~andi with ~endi
  3. exchange of ending ~yan with ~yoŋ
English

Main source for translation of Zarma words is the loose-leaf volume "Practical method for the study of the Zarma language" (see credits).

As far as possible words are checked using the Peace Corps  Dictionary.

Other sources used to find (additional) meanings of words are:

  • Ardant du Picq (1933) La langue Songhay, dialect Dyerma. Paris, la Rose Editeurs .
  • J.M. Ducroz & M.C. Charles (1978) Lexique Soŋey (Songay) - Français. Parler Kaado du Gorouol. Paris, Editions L'Harmattan .
  • Sandra Bornand (2006) Parlons Zarma. Une langue du Niger. Paris, Editions L'Harmattan.
  • Heath, J. (1998a) Dictionnaire Songay - Anglais - Français. Tome I Koyra chiini. Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
  • Heath, J. (1998b) Dictionnaire Songay - Anglais - Français. Tome II Djenné chiini. Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
  • Heath, J. (1998c) Dictionnaire Songay - Anglais - Français. Tome III Koroboro senni. Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
  • SIL Niger publications in Zarma language with translation to French.

The source is indicated in the dictionary by a two letter code, unless the main source is used.

dc = Ducroz & M.C. Charles
dp = Ardant du Picq
pc = Peace Corps Dictionary
sb = Sandra Bornand

 

Remark

There are three main types of remarks:

  1. Additional information to explain the meaning of the Zarma word;
  2. An indication of the pronunciation of the word in case that the word has two or more ways to be pronounced, and each has a different meaning.
  3. Source of translation in case not the main source is used (see above)
Word type

The different kind of words distinguished are: verb, noun, pronoun, adjective, adverb, preposition, and conjunction. In the list interjections of one or more words are included.

In some cases words may have more than one function, while in other cases the function is even more limited, for example, may only be used as predicative adjective. This will be indicated in the list.

In addition if a word functions as personal pronouns, reflexive pronoun, cardinal number or ordinal number this is specifically mentioned.

Verbs that take the direct object afterwards are indicated
with a [#], see symbols.

Nouns have two main singular forms, indefinite and definite. The idea of a definite article (the) is expressed by either the vowel "a" or "o" on the end of the noun in the singular (see Lesson 1.D.2. As there does not seem to be any rule for whether to add or change this definite indicator, the indefinite and the definite singular of all nouns are given in the vocabularies, as far as known.

Adjectives have three forms: the predicate adjective, the indefinite singular attributive adjective, and the definite singular adjective. As far as available these a given in the vocabularies and indicated by [*], see symbols.
 


Number of lesson and pronunciation

For most words the number of the lesson is given in which they occur for the first time. Sometime a reference to another lesson is provided as well, in case an additional meaning is explained. For  words in the vocabulary of the lesson for which a "p" is added to the number an indication of the pronunciation of words is provided.
 


Dictionary

A B C D E
F G H I J
K L M N Ŋ
Ny O P Q R
S T U V W
X Y Z


Last updated: 16 januari 2012