Fur language

The Fur language (or For; Fur: bèle fòòr or fòòraŋ bèle; فوراوي, Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Fur of Darfur in Western Sudan and Chad. It is part of a broader family of languages known as the Fur languages.

Phonology
The consonantal phonemes are:

All sounds are spelt with their IPA symbols except for the following: j =, ñ = and y =. Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords.

The vowels are: a e i o u. There is dispute as to whether the –ATR vowels are phonetic variants or separate phonemes.

There are two underlying tonemes, L (low) and H (high); phonetically, L, H, mid, HL, and LH are all found.

Metathesis is an extremely common and regular grammatical phenomenon in Fur: when a consonant pronoun prefix is prefixed to a verb that begins with a consonant, either the verb's first consonant is deleted or it changes places with the following vowel; e.g.: lem- → -elm-

"lick" {} {} ba- → -ab-

"drink" {} {} tuum- → -utum-

"build" {} {}

There are also various assimilation rules.

Plurals
Noun, and optionally adjective, plurals can be formed with -a (-ŋa after vowels): aldí → aldíŋá

"story" {} "stories" tóŋ → pira

{"(a certain species of) antelope"} {} "antelopes" piraŋa → tooy'báiná

"old" {} {"old (PL)"}

This suffix also gives the inanimate 3rd person plural of the verb: liíŋ → liíŋá, káliŋa

{"he bathes"} {} {"they (inanimate) bathe"} {"they (animate) bathe"}

Vowel-final adjectives can take a plural in -lá, as well as -ŋa: lúllá → {lúllála lúlláŋa}

"cold" {} {"cold (PL)"} A similar suffix (metathesized and assimilated to become -ól/-úl/-ál) is used for the plural of the verb in some tenses.

A few CVV nouns take the plural suffix H-ta; roo → {roota'wala gal rooŋa}

"river" {} "rivers" {ra̱yi' wala gal ra̱y} → {rǎ̱ytó'wala gal rǎ̱ytá}

"field" {} "fields"

At least two nouns take the suffix -i: kóór → kóórí

"spear" {} "spears" dʉ́tʉ → kʉ́ʉ́tɨ́

"mouse" {} "mice"

Nouns with the singular prefix d- (> n- before a nasal) take the plural k-; these are about 20% of all nouns. In some cases (mostly body parts) it is accompanied by L; e.g.: dɨ́ló → kɨ́ló

"ear" {} "ears" nʉ́ŋɨ́ → kʉ́ŋɨ́

"eye" {} "eyes" dági → kagi

"tooth" {} "teeth" dormí → kormi

"nose" {} "noses" daulaŋ → kaula
 * In some cases the singular also has a suffix -ŋ, not found in the plural:

"shoe" {} "shoes" dɨróŋ → kɨro

"egg" {} "eggs" nʉ́nʉm → kʉ́nʉ́ma
 * Sometimes a further plural suffix from those listed above is added:

"granary" {} "granaries" nʉ́ʉ́m → kʉ́ʉ́mɨ́

"snake" {} "snakes" dɨwwô → {kɨwwóla'wala gal 'kɨwwóŋa}

"new" {} {"new (PL)"} dewer → kewértá
 * Sometimes the suffix -(n)ta, is added:

"porcupine" {} "porcupines" da̱wi → {ka̱wíntó'wala gal ka̱wíntá}

"tail" {} "tails" úú → kuu
 * One noun, as well as the demonstratives and the interrogative "which", take a plural by simply prefixing k-L:

"cow" {} "cows" á̱yɨ → ká̱yɨ

{"which (one)?"} {} {"which (ones)?"}
 * Several syntactic plurals with no singulars, mostly denoting liquids, have k-L-a; kewa "blood", koro "water", kona "name, song" koonà.

Nouns
The locative case can be expressed by the suffix -le or by reversing the noun's final tone, e.g.: tòŋ → toŋ

"house" {} {"at the house"} loo + kàrrà → {loo kàrrà-le}

"place" {} "far" {} {"at a far place"}

The genitive (English possessive s) is expressed by the suffix -iŋ (the i is deleted after a vowel.) If the relationship is possessive, the possessor comes first; otherwise, it comes last; e.g.: nuum → {nuumiŋ tàbù}

"snake" {} {"snake's head"} jùtà → {kàrabà jùtăŋ}

"forest" {} {"animals of the forest"}

Pronouns
Independent subject:

The object pronouns are identical apart from being low tone and having -ŋó added to the plural forms.

Prefixed subject pronouns:

Thus, for example, on the verb bʉo- "tire":

gi, described as the "participant object pronoun", represents first or second person objects in a dialogue, depending on context.

Possessives (singular; take k- with plural nouns):

Verbs
The Fur verbal system is quite complicated; verbs fall into a variety of conjugations. There are three tenses: present, perfect, and future. Subjunctive is also marked. Aspect is distinguished in the past tense.

Derivational suffixes include -iŋ (intransitive/reflexive; e.g. lii → liiŋ

{"he washes"} {} {"he washes himself"}

and gemination of the middle consonant plus -à/ò (intensive; e.g. jabi → jappiò/jabbiò

"drop" {} {"throw down"}

Negation is done with the marker a-...-bà surrounding the verb; a-bai-bà "he does not drink".

Adjectives
Most adjectives have two syllables, and a geminate middle consonant: e.g. àppa "big", fùkka "red", lecka "sweet". Some have three syllables: dàkkure "solid".

Adverbs can be derived from adjectives by addition of the suffix -ndì or L-n, e.g.: kùlle → {kùllendì kùllèn}

"fast" {} "quickly"

Abstract nouns can be derived from adjectives by adding -iŋ and lowering all tones, deleting any final vowel of the adjective, e.g.: dìrro → dìrrìŋ

"heavy" {} "heaviness"

Media in Fur language
Radio Dabanga – broadcasts daily news in the Fur language and in other languages local to Darfur.