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Introduction to the dictionary |
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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This spelling is obsolete.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. |
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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)
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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)
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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.
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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)
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Other spelling
Spelling used by others and encountered in
documents is provided.
Points of attention when searching for words
are:
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use of single or doubled vowel, for example
in baba or baaba
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exchange of letter e and a in words, for
example, in ending ~taray / ~tarey
and ~andi with ~endi
- exchange of ending ~yan with ~yoŋ
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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 .
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Sandra Bornand (2006) Parlons Zarma. Une
langue du Niger. Paris, Editions L'Harmattan.
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Heath, J. (1998a) Dictionnaire Songay -
Anglais - Français. Tome I Koyra chiini.
Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
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Heath, J. (1998b) Dictionnaire Songay -
Anglais - Français. Tome II Djenné chiini.
Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
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Heath, J. (1998c) Dictionnaire Songay -
Anglais - Français. Tome III Koroboro senni.
Langues d'Afrique', Editions l'Harmattan.
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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
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Remark
There are three main types of remarks:
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Additional information to explain the meaning
of the Zarma word;
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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.
-
Source of translation in case not the main
source is used (see
above)
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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.
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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.
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Dictionary |
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Last updated:
16 januari 2012
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