[e-book v.

e Sound of Mmuock
olume : rthography

TM

rst edition
series

Tano Fotang

The Sound of Mmuock Volume 1: Orthography is pioneer piece of work is not only original but unputdownable! It reminds me of Tony Blairs A Journey. A er reading the rst dra s of this book two years ago, my mindset was completely reformed. I became aware of how foreign cultures had penetrated deep into our societies and overshadowed our identity. A language encapsulates a peoples cultural values. Nkwattes outstanding piece is a vivid wake up call to those who can still do something about identifying themselves with their roots. It is also a very helpful book for those who want to sharpen their skills, and for students who are interested in taking this initiative further. Ferdinand Zaumu Senior Banker is guide contributes not only to the formalisation of the Mmuock language, but takes us deeper into the understanding and preservation of our history and culture. Aside from projecting the image and identity of the Mmuock peoples, it will fetch Mmuock a place in the front line of Cameroon languages. Apabeloi Mbape N., (Yde ), M.Phil (Oslo) At last, a sigh of relief, as e Sound of Mmuock has come to preserve this rich tongue. Rita Zaumu, Ndems Communication . . . original and full of creativity. is demonstrates great zeal on the part of a son of the soil of Mmuock, employing a very simple approach and methodology, to e ectively articulate his mother tongue for a wider audience to grasp. It is wonderful. Ojuku Tiafack (Ph.D) Senior Lecturer, Yaounde University

TM

L Muk is an initiative of the Mmuock Language Society aimed at promoting the production of books, articles, and other works, in or on the Mmuock language. Authors seeking sponsorship should write to mls@mmuock.org. L Muk is also known as L M k. o

e Sound of Mmuock
olume : rthography

TM

rst edition
series

Tano Fotang

First published Magnolian PublishersBamenda, Republic of Cameroon

For J A in memoriam

Copyright

Tano Fotang

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder To contact the Author electronically, write to: nkwatte@fotang.me For updates to this book and further information to this series, visit the website: http://som.mmuock.org Typesetting and design by Tano Fotang is e-book might di er from the print version

ISBN

- - (paperback)

magnolianpublishers@yahoo.com

Foreword
Slavery, colonialism and modernism have deprived Africa of many of her cultural values which have been painstakingly preserved from antiquity. Decades of out-cry from the heart of Africa have not stopped this in ux of western lifestyles, fashions and tastes into the heart of the continent. is notwithstanding, Africa still safeguards one of her richest and most precious natural gi s her plethora of languages. What measures then do we take to immortalise these languages so that they should not wither in oblivion? e best measure is to learn how to write and read them. It is along the margin of the foregoing premise that Tano Fotang moves in this rst volume of his book, Volume : Orthography, of the procession e Sound of Mmuock. Although it is very di cult for a non-native speaker of a language to learn the language and speak it as uently as the native speakers, it is however, of primordial importance that he starts by learning the sound of that language. And this begins with the orthography. en, grammatical patterns like verbs and nouns can follow suit. With this publication (unprecedented of its kind within its environs), the author pays everlasting tribute to his land of birth, to his upbringing, to his elite and to the linguistic department. is is a very laudable e ort, and a commendable step towards immortalising our national languages. Man has a natural tendency of always returning to where he was born even in the western world as omas Hardy contends in his novel e Return of the Native. And his mother tongue best identi es him with his origin which extends to his o spring in later generations. vii

viii

. Foreword

is is an indispensable publication for all sons and daughters of Mmuock and every prospective researcher or learner of the Mmuock language. While hoping that it will meet the needs of the reader as underscored, the author, as he has personally pledged, owes us a heavy debt in the proceeding volumes. Nkwetatang Sampson rd Class Honours Penfellow of the Magnolian Academy

Preface
is is the rst in a series of short introductory notes on Mmuock. Written alternatively as Mmock, Mmuock is the language of the Mmuock (Mmock) peoples of Cameroon. While there is a vibrant and growing community of speakers, the biggest issue facing the language, has been the lack of a writing systemand the absence of any means of literary expression. is instalment attempts to address one facet of Mmuock: the orthography. ere are at least two di erent dialects of Mmuock, and those dialects di er only in certain words and pronunciation; the orthography is the same. is paper introduces a writing system for all dialects. Examples given in the present edition might be disproportionately drawn from the dialect spoken in the very upper region of the Mmuock tribe. is partiality is but temporal, and is due to my non-familiarity with other variations of the Mmuock language. I hope that readers who are more versed with other dialects, will submit examples and corrections for inclusion in further revisions of this document. is text is targeted at speakers of Mmuock: those who already can speak the language and now want to be able to write it. It should also be of some help to those who want to learn to read the language. is primer will not teach you to speak Mmuock; it can only assist you to write or to read it. If you can speak the language, you already know much of what is contained herein. But you may not be aware of that. My objective is to bring to your consciousness that which you already know. In this volume the orthography is introduced, starting with the alphabet which de nes the basic symbols that represent the sounds and tones of Mmuock. ix

. Preface

(We will be looking at the orthography under several di erent headings: vowels, consonants, tones, etc. ese purely arbitrary divisions are solely meant to make discussions easy to follow; do not attach any signi cance to them.) Section . then looks at the di erent vowels in the language, while in sections . and . we discuss the numerous tones and consonant sounds, respectively. is article ends with a list of over common Mmuock words, the study of which should enable the reader to spell similar words. Each discussion is accompanied by examples. Many examples will contain elements that have at that point not yet been covered. For example, the section on vowels will have examples containing various tones which will be covered only in a later section. Where an example is a single word, it is important to note that the example represents the word in only the basic, stand-alone form of the word; that is, when the word occurs in isolation or is followed by a pause in speech. Caveat lector! As a labour of love, this manuscript is a work in progress; it claims neither accuracy nor completeness. Some examples and explanations are rather elliptic; some sections, excessively austere. Furthermore, this is not an academic treatise, and no scienti c or linguistic value is implied. Absent are such esoteric terms as phonemes, minimal triplets, tone registers and so forth. Not being a linguist of any kind, nor a particularly good speaker of the language, I intend this paper to be simply an impetus for initiatives in, and re ection on, the development of the Mmuock language. More speci cally, I hope that the imperfections of this publication will spur improvement or contribution by those more resourceful. is monograph is dedicated to all those who have kept Mmuock a living language, and who continue to do so. Special encouragement to those families who continue to pass invaluable knowledge to the children of today. Much encouragement goes out to those associations and groups who mandate that Mmuock be the language of business. I hope you get as much pleasure reading this as I did composing it. Tano Fotang Abuja September

Contents
Foreword Preface List of tables Abbreviations and conventions Orthography . Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . e Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quotation marks . . . . . . Rare symbols . . . . . . . Vowel sounds . . . . . . . . . . . . Special case: <> . . . . . . . . . Glottal stops . . . . . . . . . . . . Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Notation and de nition . . Instances of use . . . . . . . Postscript . . . . . . . . . Consonant sounds . . . . . . . . . Orthographic exceptions . . . . . . y . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi vii ix xiv xv

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CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . Short vowels . Alternative notation . . . Letters . . . . . . Tones . . . . . Outlook . . . . . . . .

A Word in ection A. Introduction . . . . . . A. How to in ect a word . A. . Pre-in ection . A. . Post-in ection B Word list

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C Names C. Common rst names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Days of the week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. Places . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D Numerals D. Cardinal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . D. Ordinal numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Example Index Index

List of Tables
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A. A. A. e Mmuock alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . in use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Summary of glottal stops . . . . . . . . . . . Tones in Mmuock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tone in nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparative sample of common tones . . . Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e elided [a] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Examples of the pre xed e . . . . . . . . . . Examples of the pre xed i . . . . . . . . . . Examples of the leading syllabic consonant Alternative notation of letters . . . . . . . . Alternative notation of tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Pre-in ection: altering last consonant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-in ection: adding an e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pre-in ection: Doubling the last vowel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

xiii

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Abbreviations and conventions

e following abbreviations and symbols are used in this article: adj adjective sb somebody adv adverb esp especially pl plural usu usually prep preposition refer to, see also pers personal = synonym vt transitive verb speci c to Mmuock-Fossimondi pron pronoun speci c to Mmuock-Leteh vi intransitive verb speci c to Mmockmbin sth something disappr expressing disapproval Mmuock words, when not quoted, are written in teletype. English translations are italicized. Context is set (like this), while comments within translations are in (sans-serif ). Finally, the word class is indicated like so: adj.

xv

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Chapter

Orthography
This chapter introduces a Mmuock writing system. It presents the alphabet and discusses the dierent sounds and tones of the language. Examples are given for each feature that is covered. For the most part the examples refer to how words are written when they occur in isolation. At the end of the chapter a speaker of Mmuock should be able to read and write the language.

Introduction

e rst thing to note about the Mmuock writing system is the fact that there are generally no ambiguities in the orthography: Each letter or symbol has a unique pronunciation; conversely, each sound has a unique way of representation as a letter or combination of letters and tones. ere are a few exceptions to the rule; we will look at them in section . on page . Secondly, there are no syllable breaks between vowel sounds. When two vowels follow each other in a word, there can be no break between them in spoken speech. irdly, and most importantly, the meanings of words are distinguished not only by vowels and consonants, but also by the tone or pitch: e pitch of a sound is just as important as the sounds of the consonants and vowels that

. Orthography

make up the word. is contrasts starkly with languages such as English and French, where the tone does not really a ect the de nition of a word. Changing the tone of a sound in Mmuock has the same consequences as changing a letter in an English word: the word either changes meaning, or becomes meaningless. It is important to bear these points in mind as we investigate how to write the language. To make our discussion easy to follow, we will structure it into di erent sections: vowels, tones, consonants, glottal stops, and others. is division has nothing to do with the Mmuock language itself, and it is not imperative that we understand such fanciful terms. However, such partitioning enables us to group together elements that share common features and discuss them in one place. A er brie y presenting the alphabet, we shall look at the di erent vowel sounds that are present in Mmuock, followed by two special sections: a description of the special symbol <>, and a short discussion of the glottal stop in the Mmuock language. Section . will provide an extended examination of the di erent tones. We close with a study of consonants.

e Alphabet

e Mmuock alphabet has notations for thirteen tones and forty letters. ree of the letters are optional. (As shall be seen later, an optional symbol can be represented by a combination of two, non-optional letters.) ree others ( , r and ) occur in just a few, albeit popular, words. Table . on the next page displays the letters and tones of the alphabet. For visual convenience, the table is divided into ve blocks of symbols, the blocks separated from each other by a horizontal line. e rst four blocks show the letters ai, jr, , and z, respectively. In each of these blocks, the rst row contains the small letter, while the second row displays the corresponding capital letter. e third and last row indicates the speech sound which the letter represents, from [a] to [z]. It should be noted that some of the sounds shown are just best approximations; the actual sounds must be learned by pronouncing the examples that will be provided when we look at each letter in later sections

e Alphabet
Table . :

Tano Fotang
e Mmuock alphabet

a A [a] j J [] [9]

b B [b] k K [k] [W] s S [s]

c C [] l L [l] [S] t T [t]

d D [d] m M [m] o O [O] ts T s [ ]

dz Dz [dz] n N [n] [1] u U [u]

e E [@] [] p P [p] v V [v]

f F [f] [N] p f Pf > [pf] w W [w]

g G [g] [E] [o] x X [Z]

h H [h]

i I [i] r R [5] [3] z Z [z]

[I] q Q [G] y Y [j]

[e]

of this article. ( e letter is a special case for which the sound given in the table might sometimes not be used. We will look at it in section . .) Each letter can be written as either a small (lowercase) or a capital (uppercase) letter. In table . the uppercase character (e.g. A) is displayed below the small letter (such as a). ere is no di erence in meaning between small and capital letters. However, there is a di erence in usage: e capital letters are used for beginning sentences, and for the rst letter of nouns (names of people, places, and things). e last block of table . shows the symbols used to indicate tones. Each tone is represented by a diacritic ( etc.) placed over the letter a as example. Note that only twelve of the thirteen tones are given in the table; there is one that does not need to be particularly marked. From table . we see that the sounds in Mmuock are, with few exceptions,
L Muk

. Orthography

also found in the English language, although in English some of the sounds (such as [] and [O]) might be represented by di erent symbols (such as <ch> for []). is composition being in English, it is naturally assumed that you can read and write English or French, at least to a greater extent than your knowledge of the Mmuock orthography. e main di erence between the orthographies of the two languages, is the tremendous signi cance of tones in Mmuock. We will, on account of that, be dwelling longer on the study of the various tones of the Mmuock language.

. .

Quotation marks

Before we progress, it is well to say something about punctuation. With the exception of quotation marks, there are no special punctuation requirements or punctuation marks other than what is found in the English language. In Mmuock, the single quotation marks are (opening) and (closing). e double opening and closing quotation marks are and , respectively.

. .

Rare symbols

Of the forty letters of the Mmuock alphabet, three occur in just a handful of Mmuock words. e three are: , which occurs in a handful of monosyllabic words such as F (adv yes), (polite term of address for an elderly woman), and - (bye-bye);

r, which is found in the word lq (to go); and r

, found in the common adverb p` or (that way; like that). .

We will split our discussion into three broad sections, viz.: vowels sounds, tones, and consonant sounds. Given the greater signi cance of tones in Mmuock, there is the temptation to start with a discussion of the tones of the language. However, tones are almost always indicated on vowel letters. We will, therefore, look at the vowel sounds right away, and then talk about the various tones immediately a er that in section . .

. Vowel sounds

Tano Fotang

Vowel sounds
Table . : Vowels

Letter a e i o u

Variations , a, , , a, , , a, , , , a a e e, e, , , , e, , e, e, , , e , , , , , , , , , , , , o, , , o, o, , , o, , , , `, u, , , u, , , , u, , u, u ` , , , , , , , , , , , , , ` , , , `, , , , , , , r r r r r r r r r r r , , , , , , , , , , ` ` , , , , , , , , , , ` , , , , , , , , , ,

Example Mb (residence) a Mbm ((unit of measure) grain) e Ki (namesake) . Nd (cup) F (adv(reply) yes) u (disease) Q ls ( to come) . p` (adv that way; like that) . P (people) lq (to go) r ll (to hide) (drum) T (foot) P f

` , , , , , , , , , ,

ere are thirteen vowel sounds in the Mmuock language. ey are represented by the symbols a, e, i, o, , u, , , , r, , , and . (Due to typographical issues, the letter is herein sometimes inaccurately displayed as .) Table . is a summary of the vowels. e rst column shows the letter which represents the vowel sound, while the column Variations gives various other notations of the vowel letter. ese other notations represent di erent tones that can be on the vowel. (Tones will be studied in section . .) Nine of the vowels (a, e, i, o, , u, , , and ) can be described by comparing them to similar sounds in the English language: a sounds like the <a> in the word palm. e sounds like the <a> in the English about. i is the sound of <y> in the English word happy.
L Muk

. Orthography

is like the sound of the <ir> in the British sir.

is the same sound as the <a> in date.

o is a similar vowel to that represented by <aw> in the English saw. represents the same sound as the <o> of the English word open. u sounds like the <u> in the English word actual. has as closest equivalent the <ai> of the word fair. e remaining vowels represented by r, , , and are best described using common Mmuock words in which they occur. We de ne them as follows:
Table . : examples Table . : examples

t (insult) e lt (to burn) F` (lice) Lef (fat) Nd (curse; bad luck) F (king)

(head) T s Lep (sky) f n (adj true) lf (to spray) (matter, issue) N Nq (sun)

Letter represents the vowel that comes a er the T in the word (drum). T Other examples are given in table . . s T s Letter denotes the vowel found a er T in the word (head). Other words which contain the vowel, are given in table . . Letter represents the vowel that comes a er the t in the word lt (to stand). e following words also contain the vowel: Lez Let ll Finally, gerund seeing palm tree to hide.

. Special case: <>

Tano Fotang

Letter r represents the vowel that comes a er q in the word lq (to go). r e letters which we have seen in this section actually represent unique sounds of the Mmuock language. In the examples that we have met so far, there is a symbol <> which does not stand for any particular sound. However, it allows us to, in a straightforward way, represent some two sound sequences that are otherwise tricky to do elegantly. As will become evident as we progress, <> is very important to the Mmuock orthography. We will now discuss it as a special case in a dedicated section.

Special case: <>

Table . : in use

Consonant k, q

Sound [x]

Example Mk Mak . lk . lk Leqa . lq e a L L T lxk a Be Nj C [mNkxO] infant Irish potato to cut with cutlass or axe (light) to shine [l@GxaP] jaw to do [aljh aN] chair < ants tree jh [l@Z ak] to sweep < sides (banana) bunch time jh [a @ ] rainy season <

all others

[jh ]

in occurrence is di erent from other letters of the alphabet. Firstly, it never appears at the beginning of a word, and follows only consonants. In
L Muk

. Orthography

fact, although any word canat least in theorybe created which contains a consonant followed by and a vowel, in practice it should be noted that: only follows the consonants represented by the letters c, d, j, k, l, n, , , p, q, , t, and x; precedes only the vowels a, e, o, r, and . Secondly, is, strictly speaking, neither a vowel nor a consonant. When it follows k or q, may be pronounced as [x], such as in Mka [mNkxaP] (cock). . However, when it follows any other consonant, represents [jh ] and indicates a steady transition from the consonant to a succeeding vowel, as in the word jh Nda [nd<aN] (bamboo). Generally, therefore, occurs between two other letters, the rst of which must represent a consonant. With the aid of very common words, table . on the previous page summarises typical occurrences of in a word. e column Sound shows the approximate meaning of when directly follows the corresponding consonant given under the column Consonant. Note that, for the sake of simplicity, phonetic spellings are not given for all examples. Moreover, the given phonetic spellings are just close approximations, and the examples must actually be pronounced in order to learn the actual sound.

Indicating glottal stops

To aid our understanding of further examples that will follow in our study of the orthography, it is necessary to now look at glottal stops and learn how to notate them. Glottal stops are very common in Mmuock, and many examples will contain them. e glottal stop is an essential feature of Mmuock. Although it can be discussed under the section on consonantal sound, it is, unlike the other sounds of the language, not represented by a letter of the alphabet. We do not need a dedicated symbol: If a word (or syllable) begins with a vowel, the vowel is always preceeded by a glottal stop. ( is is not special to the Mmuock language;

. Glottal stops

Tano Fotang
Table . : Summary of glottal stops

Letter a i o u

Glottal stop a . i . o . u . . .

Sound [aP] [iP] [OP] [uP] [EP] [3P]

Example Mba (grass) . Ki (namesake) . Po (mushroom) . u (remainder) P . F (measurement) . ls ( to come) .

the same could be true of English.) As there are no exceptions, the glottal stop need not be specially indicated when writing the word. Elsewhere in a word (or syllable), the glottal stop, if present, always immediately follows a vowelthus ending the syllableand must be indicated. It is indicated by placing a dot below the vowel letter. For example: If the letter sequence nda had a glottal stop right a er <a>, the word would be written correctly as nda; nda would mean something completely di erent. . Table . exhibits the notation of glottal stops that occur a er vowels. e rst column gives a letter which may preceed the glottal stop; the second column shows how the glottal stop is indicated on the letter. In the table examples are provided for only six vowels; glottal stops very rarely occur at the others. e glottal stop as di erentiator Quite o en, the di erence between two words lies in the presence of the glottal stop in one of them. For example, the following pairs of words are di erentiated that way: lf (to err) and lf (to seek), a a .

L Muk

T lp (to cover) Nt (branch) gu (patient) lf (to collapse) lt ((song) to tune) and and and and and

. Orthography

lp (to weave), . Nt (pocket), . gu (gap between rocks, bricks etc.), . lf (to unearth), and . lt (to give away in marriage). .

Tones
Table . : Tones in Mmuock

Notation a a a a a a

Tone / / / /

Name Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone

Example pa (adj red) nda (adj (situation, well-being) ne) pap (adj red) ndand (adv slowly) leku ((number) four) a Mb (home, compound) a Mb (hands) Let (trap) T! (Guess [it]!) et (courtyard) T T (father) a t ((quantity) ve) nd t (twenty- ve francs) [A] t. ([She] has guessed.) a T. (Do not return.) T T ([the] fathers father) a [A] le t. ([She] stayed.) a pa Mb (red compound) a

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

in nitive: lt (to guess) in nitive: lt (to not return) a

. Tones

Tano Fotang

As has already been noted, in Mmuock the meanings of words may be distinguished not only by the letters of the word, but also by the tone or pitch of the sounds in the word. For example, the word Mu may mean either mother or child, depending on the tone on the /u/. Likewise, Lo may mean a number of di erent things, depending on the pitch of the /o/. In fact: to understand the Mmuock language, intonation plays a more vital role than both the vowel sounds that we have seen in the preceeding section, and the consonants that we shall study in the next. ere are a total of thirteen common tones with varying frequencies of use. e rst vethe primary tonesare level tones which we shall, to facilitate discussion, number , , , , and , respectively. e remaining tones (starting from tone ) are made up of a combination of two primary tones. We shall, for ease of explanation, describe all tones as a string of the digits that represent the level tones. us, the thirteen tones, numbered respectively to , are: / / (tone ), / / (tone ), / /, / /, / /, / /, / /, / /, / /, / / (tone ), / / (tone ), / / (tone ), and / / (tone ). Table . on the preceding page summarises all the tones and shows how each is indicated when it occurs on <a>. e last column of the table shows examples. Note that tone is not marked, as it is the default tone. In the next section we will expand on this summary and discuss in a little more detail how to de ne each tone uniquely. A er studying table . one may not really need to read the next sub-section to be able to write and read the tones. e sub-section is nevertheless useful for at least two reasons: (a) many examples are presented, involving other sounds than just /a/; and (b) it exposes some interesting features of which you, as a speaker, might not have been conscious.

. .

Notation and de nition

Just as we have been writing sounds using the letters a, e, i and others, so have we to also indicate the tone of the sound. With the exception of tone , each tone is notated with an accent mark (diacritic) placed over the letter that represents the sound in the alphabet. Tone is the default tone and is not
L Muk

. Orthography

specially marked. Tones are indicated on vowels and, to a lesser extent, on the consonants l, m, , , and n. is is better illustrated by considering how the words Ndm (God), Mb (hands), and mbuo ((prep) in the possession of ) may be combined to form di erent phrases: . mbuo Ndm (adv to God; in Gods hands), . Mb dm (Gods hands), and . Mb Ndm (hands are God)which, by the way, might be nonsensical. As a speaker of Mmuock you already know the tones, albeit maybe unconsciously. We will now try to formally de ne each of them in terms of the tone of various known sounds. We will use common words and identify the tone of interest, one per word, starting with the default tone, . / / (tone ) As previously noted, tone is the default tone and is not marked. It is de ned as the tone on the following letters: / the a in the word ka (basket); the e in the word e (pond); T the o in the word Leko (spear); the u in the word gu (patient); the in the word Let (Leteh); and . the in the word (leaf ). F

/ (tone )

Tone is indicated by a tilde ( ) above the vowel letter. It is de ned as the tone found on the following vowels: the second a in the word pap (adj red), and the second e in the word ndend (adv equally). e

. Tones

Tano Fotang

Tone is very similar to tone . Where tone immediately follows tone on neighbouring syllables, as in the preceeding examples, it is easy to spot the di erence between the two tones. In words such as pa (red) and nde (equal), tone could in spoken speech be replaced by tone and the di erence would not be easily evident.

/ / (tone ) Tone is closer to tone and is indicated by the macron ( ). Practically, this tone occurs only on the last vowel of a word, and only when the word ends an utterance, is followed by a pause, or stands alone. In every other situation, tone is replaced by tone . More on that in section . . on page . Tone is de ned as the tone indicated on the following letters: a in the word a (bag); P e in the word t (insult); e i in the word lp (to peel); o in the word g (world); o in P (people); in the word F (leader; ruler); u in the word Le (sack); u in the word ll (to hide); and nally, in the word (foot). P f

Tone is more noticeable when it immediately follows tone . Although it might not immediately be evident, tone is the tone on the following vowels: a in the word leku ((number) four); a e in the word Nji (older sibling); e i in the word a (fence); K o in the word ok (soap); and u in the word lpi (to carry). .
L Muk

T / / (tone )

. Orthography

Tone is indicated by an acute accent (). It is de ned as the tone on several vowels and the letter m: / a in the word kp (money); e in the word Nj (smoke); i in the word lp (to get mad); o in the word g (agriculture); u in the word lc (to descend); in the word (blood); L in the word Lez (gerund seeing); in the word (drum); T in the word (ash); and P f M in ki (wifes mother). M .

/ (tone )

Tone number is higher than tone and is represented by a grave accent (`). It is de ned as the tone on the following vowel letters: a in et (courtyard); T e in Nji (clothing); i in K (Take it!); o in F ( rat); in Z` (See it!); u in M (child); and in T` (stone).

/ / (tone ) Tone is indicated by the caron ( ). following letters: a in k (monkey); a is tone is de ned as the tone on the

. Tones

Tano Fotang

e in Ndm (God); i in Lep (tiny piece); o in Nd (lazy person); o in M (palace); u in M (female parent); and u (saw). in S

/ / (tone ) Tone is indicated with a ring ( ) above the letter at which it occurs. It is de ned as follows, using the tone on the letters a and o as follows: a in the word L (garlic) o in the word L (pair of trousers). o / / (tone ) Tone is indicated with an umlaut (). It is de ned as the tone on the <a> in nd ( francs), and on the <> of Zl (a common name). / / (tone ) Tone is indicated by a double acute accent ( ), and is de ned as the tone on the letter a in the sentence [A] l. ([She] has cried.) a / / (tone ) Tone is indicated by a breve ( ). It is de ned as the tone on the <a> of the directive L (Cry!) / / (tone )

Tone is indicated with a circum ex accent (). It is de ned as the tone on the last <a> of the phrase T T ([ e] fathers father). a
L Muk

T / / (tone )

. Orthography

Tone is represented by a double grave accent. It is de ned as the tone on the <la> in the statement A le l (She cried). a / / (tone )

Tone results from tone following tone on the same sound. To illustrate, remove <p> from the word pap (red) and pronounce the resulting word, pa. As there are no syllable breaks between vowel sounds, a is tone , giving the word pa. Indicated with an inverted breve ( ), tone is de ned as the tone on the rst a in pa Mb (red compound). a

. .

Instances of use

Although the number of tones appears to be quite intimidating, some tones occur, or are used, only in certain situations. e low number tones ( to ) di erentiate one word from the other when words occur in their basic forms, such as in the word list in appendix B and in the examples that we have met so far. In sentences and phrases, the same tones may be replaced by others including high numbered tones (tone and above). e change in tone might convey the grammatical function of each word and, hence, lend meaning to the sentence or phrase. is section takes another look at the tones by using practical examples from typical use cases. We will not dwell on tones , and , as they are straight forward and relatively easy to understand. Tone will be le out because of a lack of examples at this time. Examples will not only be for words in their basic form, but will be taken from sentences and phrases. However, explaining the meaning of each phrase means putting the words in a grammatical context. Since this essay is not about Mmuock grammar, the discussion is only valid to the extent that it shows the tones that are used in in a particular circumstance. Most tones appear particularly in verb tenses, aspects, and moods. Even so, the exact tone that is used, depends on the in nitive verb. For convenience of

. Tones

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discussion, therefore, we will rst o divide verbs into two groups as follows: I: ose verbs with either tone or tone on the last vowel of the in nitive, such as lkq (to accuse) and ll (to cry); and e a

II: Verbs which have tone on the last vowel of the in nitive, such as lkq (to enter) and ll (to cook). Tones , , and . Use in in nitive verbs. Only the tones , , and occur in the root of the in nitive verb, a er the common pre x l. (Verbs in the in nitive form are pre xed with l: lqql (to hurry), lp (to peel), lt (to guess), etc.) Only those three tones distinguish in nitive verbs from each other. . When tone occurs at the end of a word, it is most likely replacing tone . Q To this there are a few exceptions such as u (disease) and ka (basket), where tone is not replacing tone . Tone verbs. (For compari. Tone occurs primarily in the following son, verbs are shown alongside those of .) (a) e in nitive with an adverb or an adverbial phrase: : lt lt ley (to haggle too much), versus: a : lt lta ley (to be too tough); and a a : lp lp tpk (to hate without fear), versus: : lp lpa tpk (to cover without fear). a e near future conditional: : lp [A] p... (if [she] covers . . . ), versus: : lp [A] pa... (if [she] hates . . . ); and a : lp [A] p... (if [she] gets mad . . . ), versus: : lp [A] pi... (if [she] peels . . . ).
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(b)

. Orthography

. Tone is also used in the last vowel of adverbs and adjectives which are derived (by doubling) from adjectives and nouns that have tone on the last vowel. Notable examples are: ndand (gently), formed from nda (well); ndend (equally), derived from nde (equal); and e xex (place by place), formed from e (location). X . . e . It is worth noting, though, that not all such adjectives and adverbs behave as just described. Some use tone instead of tone , as seen in the following examples: beebe (adv from all sides), derived from Be (sides); ndindi (house by house), derived from Ndi (house); and xkxk (before the a ernoon is over), derived from Xk (a ernoon). Tone Tone only occurs on the last vowel of a word. However, when the word is in the presence of other words, or when the word is not at the end of a sentence or clause, or the word is not followed by a pause, tone may be replaced by tone : Bel (lies) Bela ma ... (lies which . . . ) a Lekt ( ght) Lekot f (new ght) o lp (to peel) lpi end (to peel plantain) K o Lepe (liver) Lepei tsa ... (the liver that . . . ) Pu (knife) Puo wa ... (the knife which . . . ). o . .

To further illustrate the foregoing, let us assemble words which all have tone on the last vowel, and then see how tone is replaced by tone as words are added a er it. Using as example the words a (parcel of farming land), h N a (prep here), and nd (adv only), we get the following four sentences: a . . N. On the plot. (cf. NIt is on the plot.) a . Na h. On this plot. a . Na ha nd. On this plot only. a . . Na ha nda l? On this plot only? .

. Tones Tone

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Tone , apart from occurring in nouns (as exempli ed in table . on the next page), is most used in verb tenses. Lets look at some instances. . e present perfect of all verbs, provided that the verb does not end the clause or sentence. (If the verb does end the clause, tone is used instead, as described on page .) Examples: ll (to cook)/ll (to cry) [A] l p... [She] has cooked/cried a a . [it] as. . . lt (to guess) [A] t lt. [She] has guessed it at night. a . lf (to borrow) B f P. e rest has been borrowed. u . s lzq (to buy) B zq nt em. All have been bought.

Note that the present perfect described above is actually marked by the tone sequence / / in the verb. When the tone sequence is on the same vowel, as in the preceding examples, it results in tone (i.e., / /). In some verbs, however, the tones are on two consecutive vowels. Tone is then seen to fall on the rst vowel, while tone is on the second. is is illustrated by the following examples where the tone numbers have been indicated on the vowel letters: lfm (to su ocate)/lfm (to get mouldy) fe m pa. It e has su ocated/gotten mouldy outside. lze (to start) A ze lt. She has started to guess. lp (to accept) A pe lt. She has accepted to guess. . Negation in the present perfect of adverbs l (never) or k ([has/have] not): a a verbs, using the negative

ll (to cry) [A] l l. [She] has never cried. a a a ll (to cry) [A] k l. [She] has not cried. a a a a ll (to hide) [A] l l. [She] has never hidden it. a ll (to hide) [A] k l. [She] has not hidden it.
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T .

. Orthography verbs. For

e non-negative habitual aspect in the past tense of example:

a a a lp (to hate) [A] l mb. [She] used to hate it. (cf. [A] l a te mb m[She] used not to hate it.) ll (to cry) [A] l d. [She] used to cry. (cf. [A] l te a a a a nd m[She] used not to cry.) verbs. (Note how, in the non-negative, . Remote future tenses of the subject is modi ed with tone , as shall be seen on page .) Examples: a (she) + ll (to cry) l l. She will cry. (cf. l l.It a . a . a will cry.) ll (to cry) A te l l m. She will not cry. a . a M (mother) + ll (to hide) M l l. [ e] mother will hide u u . it. (cf. M (child) M l l. [ e] child will hide it.) . ll (to hide) Mu te l l m. [ e] mother will not hide it. .
Table . : Tone in nouns

Bel (shoes) a T (dad) a Nd a (xylophone) z Mb (abscess) a Ndm (God) Sq (friend) Let (palm tree) Lef ((door, wall etc.) crack) a

k (monkey) a Lek (whistle) a Tl (day of the week) a (cutlass) F (wound) Lep (tiny piece) M (mother) u

Tone e simple present of verbs, when it describes a habit, is indicated by the tone sequence / /, resulting in tone . is is true except when (i) the verb ends the sentence or clause, and (ii) the verb is followed by a conjunction

. Tones

Tano Fotang

that begins with tone or , such as t before, ga that, d so, etc. In such z situations, tone is used instead. Here are few examples for illustration:

ll (to hide) A nd... She hides . . . (cf. A nd.She hides [it]. and A nd ga...She hides [it] so that. . . ) ll (to cry) A nd lt. She cries at night. (cf. A nd t b a . l.She cries before it is hidden.) lf (to borrow) A f lt. She borrows [it] at night. (cf. A f. . She borrows [it].) lq (to say) [B] g pp. [It is] said so. (cf. B g.It is said.) a
Tone Tone is found in all present perfect, and in the past tense of verbs.

. Non-negative present perfect of and verbs: e verb must end the sentence or clause. If it does not, tone is used instead. Examples: ll (to cry)/ll (to cook) A l,... She has cried/cooked a a [it]. . . (cf. A l ly.She has cooked/cried [it] too much.) a lkq (to accuse)/lkq (to enter) A kq. She has accused/entered e e [it]. (cf. A kq Nd.She has entered/accused the house.) e verb groups, however, each use di erent tones to express negativity in the present perfect tense. uses tone , while , as seen on page , goes with tone : : : : : ll (to cry) A k l. She has not cried [it.] a a a ll (to cook) A k l. She has not cooked [it]. a lkq (to accuse) A k kq. She has not accused [it]. e a lkq (to enter) A k kq. She has not entered [it]. a verbs:

. Past tense of

ll (to cook) A le l. She cooked [it]. a lkq (to enter) A le kq. She entered [it]. e
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. Orthography

is contrasts with how the past tense of verbs is constructed, as seen on page . It is interesting to note that, in the negative, the past tense has tone instead of : ll (to cook) A la te l. She did not cook [it]. lkq (to enter) A la te kq. She did not enter [it]. (cf. : ll (to cry) A la te lShe did not cry and lkq a a e (to accuse) A la te kqShe did not accuse.) e Tone Tone is found in verbs and in the subject of phrases. It is used in at least the following occasions: . Imperative mood of instead.) Examples: verbs. ( e prohibitive mood uses tone

ll (to cry) L! Cry! (cf. Te lDont cry.) a a ll (to hide) L! Hide it! (cf. Te lDont hide it.) lf (to borrow) F! Borrow! (cf. Te fDont borrow.) lkq (to accuse) Kq! Accuse! (cf. Te kqDont accuse.) e e e verbs. Examples:

. Simple present tense of

ll (to hide) A l. She hides. ll (to cry) A l. She cries. a Digressing, we recall that in Mmuock there is another simple present for verbs that indicates a habitual action. Having a slightly di erent nuance of meaning, this other simple present is marked by either tone or tone , as seen on page . Analogous to the preceeding examples, then, we have the following: ll (to hide) A nd. She hides. ll (to cry) A nd. She cries. a

. Tones

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. Moods which express general rules, and to state something that is generally true of something or somebody. For example: lq (to state) [Lepq] q... [ e law] says. . . a a ll (to refuse) [B] l [ga]... [It is] forbidden [to]. . . . . . e present tense of to be for certain nouns. ( expressing negativity.) Examples: is use does not include

z Mb (home) Mb d em. e compound is behind. (cf. Mba te a nd em m e compound is not behind, Mba nd em e comz z pound behind, Mb Nd em e compound is the rear, and Mba z Nd em e home of those who will follow. ) z z gq (guest) gq d em. e guest is behind. e e a (pers pron, subjective she) d em. She is behind. z a (pers pron, subjective she) h? Where is she? a (pers pron, subjective she) ha? Is she here? a a (pers pron, subjective she) h. She is here. Lez (gerund seeing) Lez Lp. Seeing is believing. (cf. Lez te Lp m. Seeing is not believing.) . In the future tense of verbs to modify certain subjects of the sentence. is does not include futurity in the negative. Examples: A (she) l. She will cook [it]. (cf. A te l mShe will not cook [it].) A (she) kq. She will enter. (cf. A te kq mShe will not enter.) Tone Tone is used in the following situations:

. To indicate the possessor of certain objects: T (father) T T. a a e fathers father.

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. Orthography

Ndm (God) Ndm T. e fathers God. (Tfather) a k (monkey) k M. e mothers monkey. (Mfemale para a u ent) As an aside, it is worth mentioning, that not all possessives are marked by tone on the possessor, and that those so indicated are exceptions. For comparison, compare the preceeding examples with the following: Tone One notable occurrence of tone as in the following examples: is in the past simple tense of verbs, k (monkey) ka k. e monkeys monkey. a a ka (basket) ka k. e monkeys basket. Ndm (God) Ndem k. e monkeys God. a ka (basket) ka T. e fathers basket. a keq (message) keq T. e fathers message. a verbs: ll (to cry) A l. She will cry. a ll (to cry) A te l m. She will not cry. a ll (to hide) A l. She will hide it. ll (to hide) A te l m. She will not hide it.

. To indicate the future tense of

ll (to cry) A le lShe cried, and a a lkq (to accuse) A le kqShe accused. e e As seen previously on page , verbs use tone instead: ll (to cook) A le l. She cooked [it]. a Note that the past simple is actually indicated by the tone sequence / / at the end of the verb. is sometimes results in tone when there is only one terminating vowel. Examples: lze (to start) A le z. She started [it]. lka (to lock up) A le k. She locked [it] up.

. Tones Tone In verbs, a typical use of tone

Tano Fotang

is in the simple past of lp (to be). Examples:

A la mb; a la gu. She was good; she was pregnant. o la T o. It was deceit. s la leku. ere were four. a
Table . : Comparative sample of common tones

Nd (lazy person) o M (mother) u Mb (abscess) a k (monkey) a ll ((object) to hide) L (laziness) o Nji (older sibling) e Leyie (good sense) lp (to peel) lf (to err) a Nt (neck) Nt (lie) gq (gun) g (world) o F (ruler) (drum) T (saw) S (head) T s (blood) L

Nd (cup) M (child) Mb (scabbard) ka (basket) ll ((injury) to sustain) L (pair of trousers) o Nj (smoke) Ley (noise) lp (to go crazy) lf (to spray) nto ((tree) top) Nta (private storeroom) gq (guest) e g (agriculture) F` (lice) T (stone; rock) S (spitefulness) T (antelope) s L` (horse)

Mb (residence) a k (nest) a L (vexation) Nji (clothing, dress) ly ((lies) to tell) Lep (a tiny piece) lef ((number) eight) a nd lef ( francs) a Zl (a given name) nt ( ve) L (garlic) Ndz (sth amazing) a

Table . presents, as a summary, a comparative sample of the simplest tones. In the interest of simplicity, we attempt to use only examples which exhibit just one other tone in addition to tone .
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. Orthography

. .

Postscript: Tones in Mmuock

e preceeding discussion of the tones in the Mmuock language might appear arcane and pedantic. e underlining fact, though, is that in order to understand a word or a sentence, one must di erentiate between the various tones. Normally that is done automatically and unconsciously when speaking or listening. When writing, on the other hand, we need to di erentiate the tones by using the symbols discussed in the last sections. Is that practical? Is that always easy? e problem most speakers likely face with writing, is that they concentrate too much on the fact that they are writing. It is easier, I submit, to instead imagine that you are speaking. Forget about what a word might look like in the dictionary or in the word list; just write it the way it sounds when you say it in the sentence. Suppose you wanted to put down in writing the translation of the lm title e Gods Must Be Crazy. One is tempted to consider the individual words, starting with Belm (Gods), followed by the verb lp (to get mad). en one would probably think of t e (maybe), a er which one would get sa lost guring out which tone should or should not go where. If, on the other hand, you were to simply speak out the translation without much consideration to the individual words, it would just be something like T sae Belem p, which is quite correct and requires less gymnastics. e same view applies to reading: If you try to analyse individual words, you will not have much success, at least not initially. Case in point: Which of these two sentences refers to the mother (M), and not the child (M), reaching an u unfortunate mental state: Mu p or M p? All of the foregoing may serve to emphasise a fundamental fact: Unlike the languages that we rst learned to write, such as English, in Mmuock the spelling of a word varies depending on the surrounding words. As an exercise, try to complete the examples below by lling in the blanks with words or phrases that contain the indicated basic tone sequences: . tone sequence: lll
You may want to look at appendix A to discover why we are appending all the es.

. Tones

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(a) Z ln (Welcome.) (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . llal (a) la k? (how do you do?) (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lalal (a) u la g. . . (if you say it. . . ) (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lalal (a) u la g. . . (if you say [that]. . . ) (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . llal a (a) Tut h. ([O]n this farm.) a (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lll a (a) T t h. (It is on this farm.) u a (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lall (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lalla (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (b) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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. Orthography

Consonant sounds

Consonant sounds in Mmuock are represented by the following twenty-six symbols: b, c, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, , , , ts, dz, p p, q, s, t, v, w, x, y, and z. f, Table . summarises them and gives an example for each. (In some examples the leading character has a dot placed above it, as in e (pond). at will be T explained in the next section.)
Table . : Consonants

Letter b c d f g h j k l m n

Example Mb (residence) a Nc (coward) a . nda (adj only) . F (cow) o gi (voice) e h (here) a Nji (elder sibling) e K (ladder) . Bel (lies) a M (female parent) u N (soup) . i (animal) a q (person) e

Letter p q s t v w x y z ts dz p f

Example ok (soap) u

pa ((colour) red) Qeml ( g tree) e S (broom) e (pond) T Vl (obfuscation) Lew (short visit) Lexu (joint) Mbiy (groundnut) lz (to pain) Nt (mouth) s Nd zm (darkness) Lep (sky) f

As was noted in the introduction, there are no syllable breaks between sounds in Mmuock. erefore, the letters ts, p and dz represent sounds that are f produced when /z/ follows /d/, /p/ precedes /f/, and /t/ is followed by /s/, respectively. With the exception of c, , , , q, and x, all letters represent the same consonant sounds as in the English language. e sounds denoted by the exceptions, however, can be compared to some other sounds in either French or English:

. Consonant sounds

Tano Fotang

c sounds like <ch> in the English word church. sounds like the <gn> in the French word igname. sounds like <ng> in the word song. sounds like <sh> in the word shall. x sounds like the <j> in the French jardin. Finally, q lies between [g] and [x]. e next section is provided largely for information; it details some interesting things that happen with consonants, but the more useful part is at the beginning where we discover why we have to write some words with a dot over the leading letter.

Cosmetic pre xing

When a word begins with a consonant and the consonant is directly followed by a vowel, the word is pronounced di erently when it (the word) occurs (a) in isolation(alone), (b) at the start of a sentence or clause, and (c) following a word that ends in a consonant. In such situations, the word in spoken speech is in ected (modi ed) in one of the following four ways: Pre xed with /a/. is causes the word to be pronounced with [a] as rst syllable. In writing the word, however, the initial <a> is le out. Words which exhibit this behaviour are predominantly nouns, although a small group of other words, such as interrogative pronouns, are in ected in a similar manner. All such words are written with a dot over the leading consonant, as in F, K, and x. Examples: a (bag), x (possessive P pronoun mine), and w (interrogatory who). a A summary of commonly a ected consonants is given in table . on the following page. e second column of the table, Notation, shows how the leading consonant is written in the manner just described. e column
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M
e elided [a]

. Orthography

Table . :

letter C F K L M N P P f Q S T T s W X Y Z

Notation C F K L M N P f P Q S T s T W X Y

Sound [a.] [a.f] [a.k] [a.l] [a.m] [a.n] [a.p] > [a.pf] [a.N] [a.G] [a.s] [a.S] [a.t] [a. ] [a.w] [a.Z] [a.j] [a.z]

Example (pestle) C. a (work) F . a (fence) K (country) L. al (male gown) M e a (farming plot) N u (rest) P . (ash) P f ak (contention, quarrel) k (throat) Q aq ((structure) wall, side) S ok (soap) u k (disorder, confusion) T (head) T s (epilepsy) W. (yam) X . k (smell) Y q (thing)

Sound gives the pronunciation of the in ected letter; this pronunciation is the same as that of the rst letter, preceeded by the syllable [a]. Pre xed with e. Here a glottal stop precedes the leading consonant. However, the glottal stop need not be indicated in the spelling of the word. Words which manifest this behaviour, begin with the letters c, s, v, f, , k, , l (unless followed by tone ), p, t, and x. Examples are listed in table . on the next page. Pre xed with i. Instead of pre xing with e i.e. [P@] as described above,

. Consonant sounds

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Table . : Examples of the pre xed e

Letter s f k l p

Example S [P@.sW ] or [sW ] spitefulness F [P@.fW ] or [fW ] king Kq [P@.k@ G] or [k@ G] bed L [P@.lO N] or [lO N] laziness o P [P@.pu N] or [pu N] poverty [P@.Sjh e ] or [Sjh e ] face < <

the word is pre xed with [i]. is is less common and the resulting word may sound strange to some listeners, but both methods are identical and may be used interchangeably. e examples which are shown in table . are thus identical to those shown in table . .
Table . : Examples of the pre xed i

Letter s f k l p

Example S [i.sW ] or [sW ] spitefulness F [i.fW ] or [fW ] king Kq [i.k@ G] or [k@ G] bed L [i.lO N] or [lO N] laziness o P [i.pu N] or [pu N] poverty [i.Sjh e ] or [Sjh e ] face < <

e leading consonant becomes syllabic. is applies to words which begin with l, m, , and n. Also included in this group, are words which begin with two consecutive consonants. Excepted are words that have tone on the vowel following the leading consonant, such as M (mother). u Past convention was to generally double the leading consonant when writing the word, thus creating a double consonant at the start of the
L Muk

. Orthography

Table . : Examples of the leading syllabic consonant

Consonant m n l

Example Mb Muk N . L o O [mmbu< ], [mbu< ] hands O " [mmuO k], [muO k] re < " < [nna P], [na P] soup " [nnu ], [nu ] snake [l"lO N], [lO N] trousers "

word. usually an apostrophe () then separates the consonants, as in the word Mmuock. Such practice, however, is quite confusing and unnecessary: It does not make clear whether the word always has a leading double consonant, or whether that depends on the words position in the company of other words. Table . shows examples for leading consonants that become syllabic. e phonetic representation of the in ected form is shown, followed a er the comma by the basic form.

e in ections described above are purely cosmetic or dummy. at is, they do not change anything in the meaning or context of the word. However, without the in ectionsespecially the rst, pre xing with a the word in spoken speech sounds not only weird, but is sometimes unrecognisable. Moreover, some words, which are otherwise orthographically identical, are di erentiated from each other by the way each is in ected. An example is the combination F: Pre xed with a it becomes (period, time); pre xed with e F . . . it is F (measurement). .

. Orthographic exceptions

Tano Fotang

Orthographic exceptions

In the introduction to this chapter it was indicated that in Mmuock, each letter or symbol has a unique pronunciation; conversely, each sound was said to have a unique notation as letter or symbol. ere are, however, some important exceptions. e rst exception is the word y; the second is the indication of short vowels.

. .

e Mmuock word for yes, perhaps the most frequently used word, is phonetically very di erent from any other word of the language. Although pronounced as [], it is written as y. ee

. .

Short vowels

Vowels by default are long. To indicate the occasional short vowel that occurs before a consonant in the same word, the consonant letter is doubled (written twice). To illustrate, consider the two words lpt (to be next) and lptt (to paste). In the former, /p/ is followed by [a:]; in the latter, by [a].

Alternative notation

Sometimes a symbol may be represented alternatively by combinations of other symbols. is is o en the case when it is not possible to realise the symbol using mechanical or electronic means. We now look at how certain letters and tones may then alternatively be written.

. .

Letters

Table . on the next page shows the combination of characters that may be used to represent other characters or character sequences. Use of these alternative notation is, however, discouraged, especially as it reduces legibility.
L Muk

. Orthography

e glottal stop a er a vowel, normally indicated by either a dot below the vowel letter, may alternatively be represented by an apostrophe placed a er the vowel letter. For example, instead of writing t (one), one may write t. a a . Dotted letters (C, K, x, etc.) may also be represented by placing an a before the base letter, without the dot. e a must always be the small letter a. For example, a and can be written as aKa and aL, respectively. K L. .
Table . : Alternative notation of letters Table . : Alternative notation of tone

Symbol p f t s d z g k

Alternate nh pf ts dz ng (at the end of a syllable) ng (at the start of a syllable) nk (at the start of a syllable) sh

Tone . .a . . .a . . .a . . . a .a

Alternate(s) a a a a a a a a a

a a a a a a a a

a a a a a a

. .

Tones

Composite tones (these are tones starting from tone ) are made up of two level tones; that is, tones and above are composed of two tones between tone and tone . Whenever it is not possible to represent a composite tone on a letter using the respective accent mark, the tone may be notated by using the level tones that comprise it. e are two ways of doing this: . e letter is repeated and the level tones are noted on each letter, consecutively following the order in which the level tone occurs in the composite

Outlook

Tano Fotang

tone. is is shown in the last column of table . on the facing page, where (i.e. a ) is written as a. To emphasise this point, L (Cry!) may also be written as La. . e tone is indicated by placing the tone number, or a string of numbers (for tones to ), a er the letter. is is shown on table . on the preceding page using the letter a as example. For instance, one may write F (strength) as either Fe or as Fe .

Outlook

We have come to the end of this rst chapter. Our goal was to introduce the writing system and learn how to write and read Mmuock; learning to speak was outside the realm of discussion. As was noted in the preface, a large number of examples have for now been drawn from the language as is spoken in the upper regions of the Mmuock tribe. We saw in section . that the Mmuock alphabet consists of forty letters, three of which are optional. e optional letters are d t and p which alternaz, s, f, tively may be represented by dz, ts, and pf, respectively (section . ). In addition to vowels and consonants, tone is essential in determining the meaning of a word in Mmuock. For example, the word Mu can mean either mother or child, depending on the tone on letter u. ere are ve basic level tones (numbered to ). e last four of them can be combined to yield eight other tones, numbered to . In a word, the tone is indicated by placing a diacritic over the sound. It was noted that, tone occurs only on the last syllable of a word and only if the word in speech precedes a pausefor example, when the word stands alone or is at the end of a phrase; otherwise tone is replaced by tone . e high number tones ( to ) are found predominantly in verb tenses and moods. We also looked at glottal stops, which are denoted by a dot placed below the letter that represents the preceeding sound. It was seen that the meaning of a word may be changed by the presence of a glottal stop at a sound of the
L Muk

. Orthography

word. For example, Nt, which means pocket, has a di erent meaning from . Nt (which translates to branch). Some words which start with a consonant sound are in spoken speech pronounced as if the consonant were preceded by [a]. We saw that such words are written with a dot over the leading consonant. An example of such a word is Xe: e means place, whereas Xe, which has no dot over the leading X, . X . . has completely di erent meanings ranging from the plural of e, to the times, X . circumstances, conditions. e rst impression of Mmuock might be that Mmuock is a challenging language to write. at feeling is particularly on account of the numerous tones which, to a reader with a background in just the English or French languages, seem di cult to understand. at impression, though, is misleading; writing Mmuock is no more di cult than, say, French or German. e best approach to learning how to write, is to study the accompanying examples. A list of some words is provided in appendix B. e list contains as many orthographically di erent words as possible. Other words may be spelt by simply checking the table to see how similar words are written. is article has tried to look at all elements of the Mmuock orthography. It is not certain that we have succeeded. Particularly, it is possible that some obscure vowel sounds and tones have been unwittingly le out. Indeed, a study of grammar would probably uncover a few more tones. Nevertheless, it will not be necessary to devise new symbols to denote new sounds and tones. Any new vowel might be handled as an exception and be represented using existing symbols. A new tone will likely be made up of the tones that have already been covered here and can, as described in section . . on page , be represented by a combination of the level tones to .

Appendix A

Word in ection
In chapter 1 we saw that some words in spoken speech are tacitly altered when they occur in isolation, begin a phrase (or sentence), or come after a pause. Under such circumstances, it was seen, the word is changed at the rst syllable. We also saw that such inection, while necessary, was purely cosmetic since it does not aect the meaning of the word or the context of a phrase. This section examines another type of inection which aects grammar and lends context and meaning to a word in a sentence or phrase. Although this is not a book on grammar, this discussion is to some extent still within the stated objective of this monographnamely, how speakers of Mmuock can write and read the language. Especially, it will enable the reader to recognise words when they have been altered in a sentence or phrase.

A.

Introduction

When words combine to form a phrase or a sentence, the grammatical function of each word is determined by the way the word or the preceeding word is in ected. Conversely, in order to determine the grammatical role of a word in

A. Word in ection

a phrase, or make sense of the phrase, one must look at how the word has, or has not, been in ected away from its basic form. is section looks at how to generally in ect words. e following points should be borne in mind: (i) is chapter does not discuss the meaning or signi cance of any of the in ection possibilities discussed herein; that is a matter of grammar and is outside the scope of this article.

(ii) Examples in this chapter show only the state of a word a er pre-in ection (we shall in a while explain what pre-in ection means). Since pre-in ection does not consider context, possible tone changes cannot be shown in the examples. To that extent, therefore, examples in this section are incompletely written.

A.

How to in ect a word

To in ect a word in the limited context discussed here, is to add a special ending to basic form of the word, by doing one or more of the following at the nal syllable: . su xing a vowel, . altering a letter and su xing a vowel, or . changing the tone of a sound. ( ) and ( ), which, for the purpose of discussion we are going to call preinfection, are the same for every grammatical context. On the other hand, ( ), which we will designate as post-infection, ne-tunes the pre-in ected word to specify a particular grammatical function for the word. In other words (no pun intended), whenever a word must be in ected, letters must be appended or altered in a pre-de ned way. erea er tone may change according to the speci c grammatical context.

A. How to in ect a word

Tano Fotang

A. .

Pre-in ection

A word can be pre-in ected in one of the following ways: Altering the last consonant and then a xing e. is a ects words which end in any of the consonants p, g, k, and t. Such words are in ected by changing the last letter to some other consonant, and then appending an e to the new letter, as summarised in table A. .
Table A. : Pre-in ection: altering last consonant

Example Consonant p g k t In ection be qe qe le Before in ection Ndp (thread) a a Pk (piece) Lefk (gerund forking) a gwt (specie) a Lelt (gerund writing) Lekt (mountain) A er Ndabe Paqe Lefaqe gwale Lelle Lekle

Appending an e. With the exception of q, w, y and the consonants mentioned above, any other consonant, when it ends a word, remains unchanged as e is appended to the word. For example, gw (salt) becomes Ngwe. Words which end in e, . , and u are in ected in a similar manner: an e is . i . simply appended to the word. Examples are given in table A. on the next page. Doubling the last vowel. If a word ends with a glottal stop following a vowel, and the vowel is not one of those (e, u, i) already covered above, the word is pre-in ected by repeating the vowel. For example, ta (one) becomes . taa. A summary is presented in table A. on the following page. .
Please note that, examples under this section ( A. on the facing page) have no grammatical context; therefore, we cannot indicate the tone or tones on the a ected vowels.

L Muk

A. Word in ection

Table A. : Pre-in ection: adding an e

Example Consonant u . i . e . In ection e ue . ie . ee . Before in ection Pa (the red one) u P (the rest) . Ki (namesake) . In ected Pae . Pue Kie .

Table A. : Pre-in ection: Doubling the last vowel

Example Consonant a . o . . . r. . . In ection aa . oo . . . r. r . . Before in ection a F (work) . Pu (knife) o . F (period) . Les ( gerund Coming) . no examples available no examples available no examples available In ected . Faa Puo . . F Les .

Word is le unchanged. Words which end with any letter not covered in the previous rules, remain unchanged by pre-in ection. ese include the following: Words which end with w and y Words which end with q, e.g. Faq (lock) Words which end with a vowel, but without a glottal stop. For example, Nt (lap; branch) remains Nt a er pre-in ection, whereas Nt . (pocket), which has a glottal stop on a, becomes Nta. .
is is stated only for the sake of completeness. No word ends with the letter w or y.

A. How to in ect a word

Tano Fotang

A. .

Post-in ection

A change in the last letter (as seen in section A. . on page ) may be accompanied by a change in the tone of the vowel that precedes said letter. at tone, together with the tone on the nal vowel, is actually what determines the grammatical function of a word in a combination of words. erefore, a look at the various rules for post-in ection has to accompany a study of the di erent aspects of grammar.

L Muk

Appendix B

Word list
is appendix presents a short list of selected Mmuock words. e purpose is to show how some familiar words are spelt, so that the reader can more easily spell similar words. e sample is necessarily short, even though an attempt has been made to include as many di erent word patterns as possible. Each word (the head-word) is followed by an English translation. It should be noted that: e head-word is written in its most basic form; i.e., when the word occurs alone and not in a sentence or clause. ( is includes situations where the word is followed by a pause in speech.) . is section is not intended as a dictionary, and is not meant to give the most accurate explanations of the words. . Translations are not exhaustive: Where a word has multiple meanings, only as many translations are given as may be required for the word to be uniquely identi ed. Moreover, translations are not guaranteed to be accurate: At this time some are even bound to be outright wrong. . Head-words are not ordered in any particular way. Some head-words are followed by a raised small digit in parenthesis, thus: T(3) . e number, in this case , is the class or gender of the noun. More on a that in Volume . .

T Bekq beans

B. Word list

Bel . brawl; altercation . con ict a . Bel falsehood a Bel shoes a Be ways and means Be (plural) sh Bet =F a . . Ca (of a ruler or king) servant; disciple . . Ca (head wear) cap, hat, helmet Cat expenditure e

a F . work . employment . . e Fat cold; u Fa (vegetable) type of wild huckleberry Fa palm kernel a Fq lock Fq shin a Fm wind Feml slovenliness e F wound F season; period; time . F measurement .

Cc . (disappr) the young and in- F e rat experienced . childishness Fmb white sticky earth Mb cce adj (disappr) childish F cow o C . rainy season . (house) founda- Fk (formal) nancial or material a tion hard times e C . substance, foundation . sex Fk . cold . air organ . cause, reason . deciding factor, key . (family) roots . F strength lower part F Bafou ce prep under . C pestle . e Cut association, union F . medicine . leaf

F` louse; lice F chief, king; leader

Tano Fotang . o Fu luck or sth favourable, esp by hap- K =La . penstance

K ladder .

Fuk co-wife Fuok weavel . Kaa(6) key Ka fence kak whatever thing e Kal (cattle etc.) herd Kmnd crab Kpt royal canopy e Kapt(2) umbrella kk J lp kk adj(formal) to be o
tough; to be di cult to deal with or to understand

Kot thanks, appreciation J l Kot e e adv with thanks K (informal, approving) friendly term of ad. dress for a younger female ( ) Kot latrine, toilet, e Kp box Kwa bone Kw ring; bangle Kwat thought e . Kwt knee . L country L garlic . La day . e Lal pledge; promise Lq tongue Laq trace; very small amount l (also l) . conj with . by means of . prep in the direction of lc to feel pity for lcial to be dull and lackadaisical e Leci liquid obtained by ltering water through wood ash, used as ingredient for cooking L Muk

kk adv . unsuccessfully . with failure because of lack of ability ` Kelt chin . K chameleon Kp jigger f e Kq . =Nko . (meat) portion . Kq bed Ki namesake . k whether

T
lc . to not attend . to push

B. Word list

lc . to beat (up) . =lx( ) lcut . to repair, to x . (dispute) to e settle

lct . to nudge . to push bit by bit lc to carry .

lcuk (snake) to bite; (insect) to sting lct . (tool) to be, or to get, blunt . (dis lcuot to wash the inside by swishing . e appr) to be clumsy at dancing; to lack the ability to dance . gauche; lct . to gather; to assemble; to put . e clumsily lacking in the ability to do or bring together Cut . (re) to or perform make lct to close lc t . to sever . (amount) to deduct o lc to fear a . Lef (door etc.) crack, opening a lef eight a lf to err a

lf to spray lck . =lkk ( ) . to be expensive . a to scold angrily lf . to look for sth . lfaa lqe Zq: a . . to want to do sth soon lc . to spoil . (resources) to spend; a to waste lfat to nd out, to investigate . e lcat . vi to go bad . =lc e a Lefk twin a lc . (dress) to iron . (road) to tar . lfk to split o ; to fork e (hole, esp on container) to mend Lef thunder a lc . to shake . to lter by shaking e . lf . to grow . (size) to be big

Lec . (tree, plant, pole etc.) area below lfq (door) to bolt or lock e a or at the foot . (plant) seedling Lefaq junction, fork lc to tether e lfe . to sell . to betray lc . to become . to be remaining . lc to pound . lc . =l . to travel down . lf . to cool o . (pain etc.) to subside

lfm to get mouldy e lfm to su ocate

Tano Fotang
lfeml to be sloven e lfmt . to act ineptly . =lpl Le ak Indian bamboo Lek whistle a lk . to be tired; to get tired . (disappr) to become weak, or to be dull in attitude . to squeeze

l e . to be sel sh J gae e sel sh lk to be acerbic or sour person . (disappr) to turn down a Lekk joy; merriness J l Lekk adv plea, esp a request for help with joy lf to resemble, look alike lf to un-earth . lfk to cover with earth lf . to measure . to compare . lft (animal) to be, or to become, sterile e lft (balloon) to in ate r lf to spray lf Lef chie aincy, king-hood Lef fat lf to borrow or lend lz . lkk . to call to order; to chide; to bea rate . to have the desire or inclination to want to do sth lkk . to be merry or joyful . to celebrate . to rejoice lkakl to struggle, to trash about, esp in e de ance or against all odds Lek . witchcra a . wizardry

lk (property) to stake a claim; to stake a out lk to fry lkp (fruit, vegetable etc.) to pick

lkpt to cover e lf to dispose of by pouring or dumping u . lkt . (package, knot etc.) to undo; to un. away tie; to unbind . to explain clearly J lkte T to enlighten . s lfu to boil o . lkt to hold sth in the closed hand J lfk . to take out . to remove, subtract lkte P to close the hand lf to ask a er; to send regards to lfu to boil; to seethe o . Lg the English language lktt to roll together Lekm width e lkm . =lkmt . to catch in the act e e e L Muk

B. Word list

lkemt to cover lightly with earth, esp e by sprinkling

lkt to remove a so mass from a surface

o a lk . (door) to leave half open . to over- Lek t =Bel; ght e . shadow Lekt hill (5) pot Leke Leko(5) hill . lkq to accuse e lk =lc a . lkq . to enter . (group) to join lk . (tree) to fell; to cut with a cutlass . . to be rst lk to make a line lkk (size, quantity) to be small lk to take, accept, or take back sth from sb lk . (light) to shine . (re) to be on lk to grow lkipt to provoke e lkt to assist lkl to puzzle, bewilder . e lkp (nut etc.) to shuck lk . to run . to escape J lko Ke o (of a woman) to abandon a marriage, esp by leaving secretly Lek mortar u .

u lk . to go up . (ladder, tree etc.) to climb lk to snore . . to return, to be back (home) . lk . (wooden artwork) to carve . (potato to swell etc.) to peel lkk . vt (re) to light . (light, device, etc.) leku (number) four a to turn on lku to scrape o a Leko . spear . (umbrella etc.) stem lkuat to scratch e lk . to like . to love kol o e lk k . (corn etc.) to pluck . (branches) to u lk to creep trim lkol to love each other e lkot to thank Kot e e lkukl =lk k e u lkkt to gather

Tano Fotang
lk to boo; to strongly condemn by vo- lll . to be clean . to be clear u cal disapproval lyk a Lela pineapple lku . to be enough . to measure up o . llt . vi to keep quiet . vt to soothe to . to be able a crying person . (person) to look lkt to hold well, healthy . lkwat to think; e Kwat e lkwt | a lkwt | to mull over Lelq majority; greater part ndand a . a . llq vi to be sweet a llt to write llat . to narrate, recount . to direct, . e instruct llatt . vt to be a relative of . vi to be e related lle to recognise ll to sleep llm vi to stink e llm (informal) to speed

lkwt| to get out lkwt| . to tie . to belay

lkwt (door) to knock . lkwt . to catch up with . to be frozen lkw to die lkw . to mention . (tool) to sharpen . lkwt to kneel Kwt . ll to cry a ll to cook

ll to fall out; to no longer be on speak- lleml vt to smell; to snu e a e . ing terms llet . to compare . to imitate . to e ll to spend the night . take aim llail (disappr) . to be slow, not smart llq . to be full . to bite e . to fool about; to fool, or waste, away time lliakl to forget e llkl (disappr) to degenerate, sink, dete- lligl to mark; to brand Likl e riorate ll (tyre etc.) to puncture . llal . to postpone . to promise to do .e . e sth later . to say good bye Lal lliq . to end; to nish . to complete e L Muk

T
llql to complete, to ll up ll . to refuse lt . to trap o . . lll to stutter . ll to hide sth ll (injury) to sustain lll to hide oneself e Lelk sleep

B. Word list

lmk . =lliq( ) . vi =lme a e lmq to do very early at daybreak lme to be nished; to get nished lm to greet lmi to swallow e lmt to hesitate because of unwilling . ness or uncertainty lm to sulk .

ll k . to take along . to utilise to do lm (formal) to have a tte-a-tte; to diso u sth cuss Lelo bullet lll to laze; to be lazy L , Nd o o llt to scrape together Lela (pl Bela) sweet, yellow yam . . ll to dodge, avoid . ln (arm etc.) to stretch towards sb/sth; to a pro er ln to persistently go a er sth/sb ln . to sit . to stay ln to plant o .

ln . vt to place horizontally . vi to o lie (down) . (medicine) to operate lll to bear or carry a person or upon heavy object using the arms, esp by more than one person ln to suck ll to ght e ll to rot llt to coax, lure, cajole e ll to beg lm . to throw . (dress) to wear a . ln to drink lnu (soup etc.) to prepare o . lal (disappr) to nd repugnant e lat to tickle e

lt . to leave alone . to not do sth . to desist from sth, to stop doing lm to consider or ponder with wonder a sth

Tano Fotang
la =lt . . lk to argue a ll to be haughty, uppity . Lea (plant) root lt (eyes, book) to open . lp . to pick [up] . to choose lpk . to knock over; to knock aside . a to break o a piece lpk | lpk| to get stale

lpkl to knock together J lpkle T s

Lepap (bird/insect) wing ltt to be dishonestly evasive; to not be forthright lpp to wait for Lepq law, regulation a Lepq breast lpq to ascend a lpt to mind; to care about; to give a thought to (usu used in the negative: lat tpt (disappr) to not care about sb/sth; lale lpt to stop caring about) lpt . to get closer, approach . to be near . to be next J Pt the next lpatt to carry on the back e lptt (poster etc.) to paste, stick, a x

lm to beat up; to trash Leo fold; bend . l . to fold or bend Leo . vi (road . . etc.) to bend . to dribble lt to fold or bend multiple times . e Let comparison; imitation lt (material) to shrink . lwa . to be cold . (disappr) to nd sth repulsive or distasteful lp . to blame . to hate a lp . to cover . to beware of sb/sth

Lepe liver Lep mass of sth so that is used as cush. ioning for the head when bearing lpe (stick) to sharpen loads lp . to accept, admit . (singular subject) to be lost . person to disappear, lp to weave . lose contact . (screen etc.) to go o lpat . to herd . to brush aside . e lpeit . to examine carefully, inspect . e Lep waterfall =lpe L Muk

B. Word list

lpt . (plural subject) to be lost lpt to explode lp( ) . to frequently disaplp =lts( ) . . pear or lose contact lp ( ) Lepm stomach; belly e Lepeq egg lpq vi . to add up . to t e lpeqt to meet on the way e lp | ft lp t| to eat f lp to raise . lpt to straighten . lp to be lpk to fear lpl . (behaviour) to be gentle . to tame lp . (appearance) to be beautiful . to o be good

lp e (touch) to tap f

Lep e . colanut . (formal) token of appre- lpt to be so ciation Lep hole; pit lp (food) to be done f lp to cause to have a runny stomach f Lep (5) sky f Lep tiny piece lp (foodstuff) to peel lp to get mad lpk | lpk| . (light, re, etc.) to put out; to turn o . to eradicate . to go bad . (device) to fail Lepi . wasp . ringworm .` lp (good tidings) to make known to sb, to inform, to annunciate lpt to reply, comment e Lepu bundle . lepu (number) nine . lp k to pull down, to demolish, to colu lapse lpl . (disappr) to lose ones wits; to be senile . to be confused, to lose the ability to think clearly . to act clumsily lp le T Mbul u s lp . (musical instrument) to play . to . circumcise

lpi to bear, esp on the head J Pi . . load lpkt to gather together lpt to turn inside-out e Lq dry season

Tano Fotang
Leqa . story . riddle . character, dispo- lq . to go . to depart r sition lq . to catch . to be ill u lq to say a lqp . to bark . (disappr) =lck ( ) lql . to be dizzy; to be muzzy . to Leqw death cause to be dizzy . to roam about with no apparent sense of purpose lqw to fall e Leqp (book etc.) page; fold; section a lqp to share; to divide a lqpl to surround; to go round lqql to hurry, to hurry up lqat to cry out loud . e lqe to walk leqm (number) ten Leq edge lqq to invite lqeql . to trouble . (of a person) to be e e stupid, foolish Qeqq lq to grind o . Leqob loop Leqa jaw . lqat to economise . e lq to do e ll =ll Lei small piece, esp broken o a larger whole l to break Lei needle .` lei to scrape, scratch . lit to shi away .e l to get charred; to be burnt down lk to be unmoved or una ected, esp e in response to pain, etc.; to be stoic l . to tell . (darkness) to fall ll to speak (also ll) let to stretch e Le sack u l (farm, grass) to weed l . (vehicle) to drive . to pull . to get u pregnant lu . =luot . to warn, to threaten o . . e

Leq (pl g) instance, time, occa- luot to esteem, to praise; to tout; to r r .e sion; leg appreciate uot . e L Muk

T
lu k to wash o ls to snatch from sbs grasp a .

B. Word list

lt to not return, contrary to expectaa tion lt to guess ltai to heal lt to twist ltk . to attack . to chase o etc.) to disrupt ltll to obstruct lt . (meat etc.) to be tough; to be a springy . to be tenacious lt . (price) to bargain; to haggle . to plan to do sth letq . to sever; to cut o . to reduce, to deduct . to enumerate ltq . to be di cult . to be strong a Ntq . (from illness) to recover a . (meeting

ls . vi (plant) to grow . (law) to judge . ls vi to melt lsk (length) to be long a ls to count lsat to hang (or spread) out to dry e Lese grave lse to cut into pieces lsm to bind, fasten, tie tightly e Leso tooth ls (straw etc.) to draw o

ls p to impale; (soil) to so en using im- ltt to overtake o . plement such as pickaxe lt to be lacking lsq to yearn Let(5) (pl Bet) spittle ls to come, to arrive . ltm . to sew . to shoot ls l . to slip . (surface) to be slippery . lt . to call . to read e (escape) to slip away ltq to send ls to sigh lt (sun) to shine Let trap lti to try; to attempt . lt to rummage a . ltt . to sort . to select several lt to embrace . lt . (grass) to clear . to stand

Tano Fotang
lt to forbid (sb from doing sth); to ban, lt . t to greet; to send greetings, complio sa e . sa e prohibit sth ments T . t se ltk . (exam) to pass . (event) to come to lt . to show pass . (measure) to surpass . (place) lt . . to retaliate . (tree, plant etc.) to ups to pass; to pass by root . to open . (attachment, roof, etc.) to take o Leto navel lt to scream Leto feather ltq to cut lt . t . to postpone . =lt . ( ) s s lt . to give a name to sth/sb . (usu s only in imperative mood) to go ahead; to take the lead . to be separate, di erent

ltk vt . to stand or place in an uplt . to leak . to launch bad-tempered s right position . to decide, to reverbal insults (at sb) solve lt to tilt lt to pay lt vt to burn l lt t to support lt l to engage in an ill-tempered war s of words lt (personality) to be sluggish and awks ward, esp moving in a lazy way lt (song) to tune

lt to give in marriage . lts . (fruits etc.) to search for and collect a . from where they grow . to search lt adv by night . meticulously lt k to spit out J lt k Bet to spit u u lts . to chew . (formal) to mull sth over . Let ear u ltsab (laundry, grain etc.) to soak e ltt to ask ltsal to be physically weak e ltsl . to lead a weaker person, esp e by holding the hand . (formal) to advise lt (water) to fetch . ltu (growth) to be stunted o . lvll to obstruct; to distract

L Muk

B. Word list

lvml (question etc.) to stall, evade, skirt lv . =lp . (plan) to hatch . lw to throw away . lwa to have

lxt . to listen . to wait . to pause . lx to belch a . lx vt . to lock up . to lean against . lxk to sweep a

lxl vi to lean . lwk . (dress etc.) to wear . to belittle . (capability) to underestimate . to lx to steal e make light of lx . to win . to defeat lwt . to slaughter . to injure by cuta ting with a sharp edge . (drink) to Lexk eye dilute with a second lxk to feed lwe to laugh lwk (length) to be short . e lwuot to hold in high esteem Wuot . e lxaql to breath e lx to be much or many Lex . nose . corner lxk (stick, pole etc.) to plant e lxut . to follow . to extend by ape pending lx . to hear . to perceive . lxk to spend the day lxu k to itch o

lxt to be satiated lxi (guests) to entertain, esp by serving e ley adv too J lf ley to be too big a a food and drink lx to y lxip . to shuck . to peel o e lxt . to ask . to require . e lxil to sweat Xil .e lx to taste . lxl . to learn . to teach . ly . =ley . to give a lyk to shout down lk a u Leyie . intelligence, acumen . good sense Ley noise ly lyie Bel to tell lies a lz . to buy on credit . =lc t o .

Tano Fotang
lz to pain lz . to know . to give birth lze to start lzml to go round lzmt to wrap L vexation J lze L L pair of trousers o La chair L ants Lt frog

L cloud lz to still do: lze ndzq: to still buy, e u . e L =Cut to buy again lzq to buy lz to see L wild kind of yam-like vegetable e Lul grinding stone

. Lu waist lz . to ght over; to scramble for . o (medicine) to treat Makiez rebel; terrorist lezq adj (non-humans) pregnant gu lz to kill Mandq husbands mother Mand a =Ndz z a

lz to solemnly deny an accusation and Mantiat seed capital state the consequences of guilt Mak Irish potato . Z J lte Z Mqq hawk lzt to insult t e e Mba . grass . bush . Likl (indication) mark, sign, brand Mb home; compound a L blood Mbkl assorted things of little or no value; junk L horse ` o u o L fault, weak point J lt L to criti- Mba seed . . cise, esp unjustly Mba nail e Lo (corn) cob L laziness Nd o o Mb pl of eqmb e e Mbap meat L Muk

B. Word list

mbaq prep (non-horizontal surface) against; on; M palace along Mgp(7) | Mgp| fowl Mbq body a Mgw (pl Pagwa) female person; a Mbe magic potion woman eqmb e Mb(1) forest; bush Mbeq enmity mb two Mb clay Mb . dog . pl of Lep Mbul nonsense Mbmbk miscellaneous items Mb poor person Mb pl of P Mbu innocent person . . Mki wifes mother Mk (pl Pak) . infant . child . minor M k o Mk =Muk =Mk

Mpf (3) . diseased person . (disappr) weak person Mpf (3) woman who has recently given birth; nursing mother M . mother . a respectful term of adu dress for a woman T( ) a

M (pl P) child mbvi . prep in front . those that have e Mu- (pl P-) prex . (used with children or stucome before Nd em z dents, to show belonging to a group) of; from . (diminutive) small: Mugp Mbv goat chicken . unimportant; trivial: Mbv J ln Mbv u Mun matter of small importance M- (also M-) prex Mu- . big, large . Mulet rst-born s principal, major: Mn matter of e Mumb (pl Pumb) . male child . e great importance young man; boy Mq head, boss, director e Mumgw (pl Pupagw) . female a a Mnts orphan child . young woman; girl Mnu (pl only) hair Mk Qemk

Tano Fotang
Muk . language of the Mmuock people ndmdm adj, adv . free of charge . in . re . electric lighting vain; for nothing Mvie forehead a N farming plot N soup . Ndq top e Ndq husband Nd stripe

Nd house Ncie(4) . water . stream, river . song, Nd lazy person o record Nci(4) . height . reputation, position, Nd cup standing, level Nda bamboo Nc(4) (body part) behind, bottom nda adj (situation, well-being) ne nda adj only, lone . nd adv only a . Ndakq =Kq ndand adv slowly; gently; carefully ndand few, not much, not many . a . dand (used as welcome greeting) Nd curse; bad luck Nd . price, cost . quantity u Nd a . road, way . means, possibility z Nd a xylophone z Nd zap (vegetable) huckleberry Nd hunger ze Nd zm darkness nd em . adv behind . adj backward z

Nd em . rear; back . those to come z Mbvi e Nd small metal container with lid, esp for oil etc. nd zemnd em adv backwards z Ndq witch; wizard a Ndz sth amazing or unusual: =Lema a Ndg a white person Ndm (pl Belm) God Nd o (used in phrase) Nd z zo lwale q: e (to be befallen by) a great calamity Nd z . pen . (formal) academic prowess . (tree) thorn Nd . marriage zo L Muk

T
Ngm (collective) locust Njia axe Nji(1) clothing, dress Nji(3) older sibling e Nj(4) smoke

M
Ntq interior; heart tq adj, adv alive a tq prep inside

B. Word list

Nte(1) . specie, kind, type . style or manner Ntq(4) bridge ntentq adj (health) well Nt neck Nto =Mak .

Nj . time . epoch, age, period Nj the other side across Nje (bottle etc.) crown; lid e Njel =Nje e e Nj egusi . Nju debt n adj true N (6) matter, issue N lnq(6) the truth N q sun; sunshine Nt pocket .

Nt (1) mount; (replace) any of the three supports for the cooking pot Nt sa . dispute . (law) case Nt daughters husband Tki s . Nt sem secret nt em adv all s Nt o thief s Nt mouth; entrance s

Nt small container, usu a jug, for car. rying wine etc. Nt . (tree etc.) branch . (animal) limb . (person) lap N group; clique u Nta storeroom Nt lie; lies J gant liar Ntap hut Ntq the strong a N snake N(3) porcupine . Nugm rainbow cutlass

Tano Fotang
. human body . fever a vein gob hook e g (collective) termite o .

o q(3) (pl P) person; individual J g world e eqmbe (pl Mbe) male pera son, man Mgw eqn (pl g agriculture, farming a u Pmn ) human being u g su ering . g adv (reply) no gu adj pregnant g . the person concerned . pre- gu patient a x person who does, or who has, sth: gabel person who tells lies guo . (how old) age . year . era, age, a . (liar) Nxgakp rich person epoch gabel someone with a ghting a . guo adv days of old; long ago . disposition gp | gp| pl of Mgp gw salt gwag gentlewoman gwasq u e gp(1) | gp| . skin . coming a week . past week gwasq gentleman e get thickness gm mother of daughters husband gm landslide gegq misery e gq gun gq guest e g adv, adj (direction, location) upper g distance gie the intelligent person gi voice e gwt . =Nte . seed . (tool) handle a ka . basket . (tree, plant) sap k monkey a k light a . k nest a ka . row . generation e kp | a kp| toe- or ngernail

kp money kat mortar kat (body part) back . e L Muk

T
ke widower km notable of high rank ke rapid slope; cli keka fork tree keq(4) message

M
P a kind of food

B. Word list

p prep like J lla p . . . to cry like . . . . . p adv like that; that way p` . . pa adv like this; this way . Pa . =Xe ( ) . outside . Pa pro t pa adj red pap adj red a Pp | Pp| . dust . (land etc.) patch

kol love J l kol adv with love e e ko side J koolq greater part . . a ke hundred ke rope k k widow u kwa strong headedness

Pe roo ng straw P misfortune; loss

f P . leg; foot . clique, gang . =Leq r kwe elderly man or woman who f has never been married J ltsap P . wood ash . corpse kwe (of a woman) to become an P madman old maid kw rewood Pigl (inquiry etc.) reply

e o adv (reply) (used for indicating uncertainty: have P camwood . no idea, do not know) y g p` adv like that; that way . F adv (reply) a variation of yes y u P the rest . . a friendly way of addressing a girl P imbecile, simpleton K . a respectful term of ad. dress for an elderly woman T, P . pl of M . descendants; (pl) o a M u spring ` -F Good-bye a P bag a P =Fk P . (body part) hand . (direction) side

Tano Fotang
. Pu slave Pu knife o . Qk throat e Qal chest Qeml e g tree Sa . month . monthly wage S broom Sa(2) tail Sq(4) shame s S the ground T a .

Sq friend Qemk (pl Mk) person of Mmuock origin S elephant e Qeqq . fool, imbecile . foolery Qu(6) disease; sickness k ra a i market S pipe S (pl Bes) pipe Sq S saw =Sq

S spitefulness (4) . face . mask . side, aspect . way, means t one a . bird e el =el e e el language (also el) e (1) (singular) sh hoe a T(2) (potato, cocoyam etc.) one unit T(3) . male parent . a term of address a for a man M u Tk =Vl a Tq . metal . prison

o u k soap

a t . adv without, sans: t T without a father . prex (showing negation) un-: tl without crying . prep (a) (sea uot praise, accolade J l uot adv quence in time) before (b) expected . e . e with appreciation but not yet passed: t l still to cry a Tki wifes father . Te pond, pool L Muk

S sorcery J gas witch, wizard a a Sal writing tablet; slate

T
Tq foreign land T` . garden egg . berry Tet . yard . playing eld T tobacco

B. Word list

T(3) juju . . T container, esp with a lid Tuk big intestine tut adv at dawn, before break of day . .

T container for fetching a liquid, esp u pers pron, subjective you water Vl obfuscation; confusion t adv very J lf t to be very big . . . W epilepsy T tree Wm bottle T Bangang . e Wuot acclaim, praise T drum Xiakl breath e T` stone; rock e Xial kindling adj, pron (sometimes t a) some J ts s t szq . e something tsq somebody a e Xil sweat s . T a ground, earth Xe place . sa Dschang T sa e sa e T . t greetings; compliments J l T . t . adv with greetings X yam T setse . belongings, things . compo- y adv (reply) yes nents; ingredients Yk odour, smell Ts . the . deceptive action o Zln (welcome greeting) Zls . sp ne, penalty T Zls welcome . s T (2) (pl Ts ) . head . upper part e C ( ) . one end of a thing Z lungs
(2) s T (6) (pl Bets ) intelligence, head, sense, q thing common sense . adv thus . pron the one Ts (3) antelope t insult e t adv by night, at night .

. Xe . pl of Xe . times; circum. stances, conditions

Appendix C

Names
is addendum lists the spellings of some common proper names, as well as the names of days of the Mmuock week.

C.

Common rst names

. Zl . T . m sa . kafk . . Taafk . umb a . um . Ciaf . Cim . Ciagq e . Tm . Z`m . Z`fk . Tfk . Tam . . Tndom . Yimna . Filefk . Fz . Njnt . sp

T . Njef . Nkemf . Mnm . gui . e . Zaqm . Mom . . geqgm . Mbuq e . Zagq e . Ndmez . Njka . . kwatet . Nduel . Bet . Z` t

M . N tet a . . N lm e . Lont s . Zlfk . eqnd z . . Xuoos . Bela . guonju . . keqmb . . keqndm . Yut . . Ndmen . Ndmfk . Wandm . Zka

C. Names

C.

Days of the week

. ga . Mbeq . Mbeqlq . Njego . Mbeqk . Njelek r . Fa . . Tl a

C. Places

Tano Fotang

C.

Places
. Mbamuk . Njego . . Tacia . K . Ntemnd em z . Mbv` . Bela . Tendlemb e

L Muk

Appendix D

Numerals
D. Cardinal numbers
ntsopp ntsoptt ntsopleku a ntsopt ntsopntuq ntsopiamb ntuq ntsoplef a iamb lef a lepu . leqm nt sopmo . ntsoplepu . beqmmb ntsopmobeqmmb . ntsoppibeqmmb ntsopttbeqmmb

mo, ta . . mb ntt leku a nt

T nt soplekuabeqmmb nt soptbeqmmb nt sopntuqobeqmmb nt sopiambibeqmmb nt soplefabeqmmb nt soplepuubeqmmb . beqmtt beqemleku a beqmt beqemntuq beqemiamb

M beqemlef a beqemlepu . ke kep kett keleku a ket a kentq keiamb kelf kelepu .

D. Numerals

D.

Ordinal numbers
mbvi rst e

Example Index
q, e gq, gu, . gq, , e g , , o g, , gi, e gu, , gw, k, , , a k, a kp, ka, , , , keq, k, a , `- , T , s ., C F , F, . a F, . Faq, Ka, , . L, L, , e Mal, N , a N, , a k, u, , P . a P, , f` P , f P , f P , f P , Qk, Qu, , , , S Saq, o u k, , , T , , , , Tk, Te, , Tet, , s` T , s T , , . W,

T . Xe, . X, k, Y t, , e q, x, , . Mki, mbuo, mbuo Ndm, t e, sa F, , , i, a Be, beebe, Bel, a Belm, Bel, , a Bela ma . . . , F, F` , , F, F, , . F , , , F , o h, a k, a K, K, . ,

M Ki, , . l, a L , o ll, , a lp, ` L, lc, lf, a . lf, . lf , lf , , , lf, , a lfm, e lf, lf, lfm, lkq, , e lkq, , lka, ll, . ll, , , ll, , a ll, ll, , , lp, . lp, a lp, , , lp, lp, lpt, lptt, lp, , ,

EXAMPLE INDEX

EXAMPLE INDEX lpi Kend , o lpi, . lq, , , r lq, , a lqql, ls, , . lt, . lt , lt, a lt, lt, , lt, lt, ly, lz, lzq, lze, , L, L, , L , , o Lep , , f Le , u Lef, a lef, a Lef , Lek, a Lek t, o Leko, Lekot f, leku, , a Lep, , , Lepe, Lepei tsa . . . ,

Tano Fotang Let, Let, . Let, Lew, Lexu, Ley, Leyie, Lez, M, M , , , , u M, , Mb, , a Mba, . Mb, , , , a Mbm, e Mb, Mb Ndm, Mb, , Mb dm, Mbiy, Ndz, a Ndzm, N, . n , N q, Nts , Nc, a . Ndm, Ndz, a Ndm, , , Nd , , o nd, a .
L Muk

T nda, . Nd , nd lef, a nd t, Nd, , nda, , ndand, , nde, , ndend, , e ndindi, Ndi, Nj, , Nji, , Nji, , , e Nt, , . nt, Nt, , Nt, Nt, Nta, nto, p`, . Po, . P, , pa, , , pap, , Pu , o . Puo wa . . . , . Qeml, e Sq, S ,

M S, T, a T, , a T` , T, ta, . t, a . T., t, T , Tl, a Vl, Xk, xkxk, xex, . e . Z`, Zl, ,

EXAMPLE INDEX

Index
, alphabet, consonants, , , , c, q, x, glottal stop, in ection, tones, notation, occurance, Tone , , Tone , Tone , , Tone , , Tone , , Tone , Tone , Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone Tone , , , , , ,

, , , ,

verb groups, vowels, , , , , r, , , , a, e, i, o, u, y,