Nuer Field Project

Nouns Verbs Verb Book Expressions Pedagogical Grammar of Nuer Translation of Genesis in Nuer Others

Lesson 3

This lesson explains how to say "good-bye" in Nuer. The thought involved is centered around peace. The person who is leaving says to his host, " and now remain in peace", and the host says to him, "and now go in peace." The verb particle [ku̲] is used to indicate a cordial attitude. This particle is untranslatable literally, but has tremendous influence not to be overlooked.

Singular  
The host says to his guest: Jï̲̩n, ku̲ wä̲ kɛ mal
You, just go with peace.
The guest says: Ɣɔ̲ɔ̲n, kä̲ jï̲̩n ku̲ duɔ̩th kɛ mal.
Yes, and you just remain with peace.
Plural  
The host says to his guests: Ɣɛn, kua wä̲ kɛ mul.
You, just go with peace.
The guests say to their hosts: Kä̲ yɛn, kua duɔ̩th kɛ mal bä̲.
and you, just remain with peace also.

PHONETICS

  1. [ä̲]
    This is always a breathy vowel. It sounds somewhat like the English word "cut" only with breath. The words [kä̲], [wä̲] and [bä̲] are short and sound chopped off.
  2. [u̲]
    This is always a breathy vowel. It sounds somewhat like the English word "coo" only with breath. The word [ku̲] is short and sounds chopped off.
  3. [uɔ]
    This is difficult to pronounce. The tongue must move from the front of the mouth to the back to pronounce the [u] and [ɔ].
  4. [l]
    The [l] in the word [mal] is spoken to the front of the mouth, unlike the English [l]. Be careful not to say this word [mal] as in the English word "maul".

SYNTAX

The verbs in this lesson are [wä̲] and [duɔ̩th]. They are in the 2nd Aspect form and therefore are not conjugated. The verb form is an imperative, with the verb particles [ku̲] singular and [kua] plural. This will be explained later.

Nuer Field Project Nouns Verbs Verb Book Expressions Grammar Genesis Others