| Alagwa | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in | Tanzania |
| Region | Dodoma region |
| Ethnicity | Alagwa |
| Native speakers | 30,000 (2001) |
| Language family | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | wbj |
Alagwa is a Cushitic language spoken in Tanzania in the Dodoma region.[1] Some Alagwa have shifted to other languages such as Sandawe.
Contents |
Alagwa sentences have a generalized order [Subject X Auxiliary Y Verb Z], and elements of the sentence other than the subject appear in the positions labelled X, Y, and Z, depending on their information status in the clause. New material tends to appear in the post-verbal position, Z, while old information appears in the pre-auxiliary position, X.
The following example (Kiessling 2007:138) shows the noun yaawáa 'dowry' introduced as new information after the verb in the first sentence and repeated as old information before the auxiliary ningi in the second sentence.
| makimoo-w-ód, | ning-aa | xay-ee’ | ningi | bu’-i-yee’ | yaawáa | ||
| guy-M-D | SEQ:S3-ABL | come:3-PF.PL | SEQ:S3 | pay-3-PF.PL | dowry | ||
| 'that guy, they [i.e. the lions] came and paid the dowry.' | |||||||
| maa | dende’ee-w-ós | yaawáa | ningi | bu’-i-yee’ | |||
| so | folks-N-3SG.POSS | dowry | SEQ:O3PL | pay-3-PF.PL | |||
| 'His folks paid the dowry.' | |||||||