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Burji language (alternate names: Bembala, Bambala, Daashi) is an Afro-Asiatic language spoken by the Burji people who reside in Ethiopia south of Lake Chamo. There are over 49,000 speakers in Ethiopia, and a further 36,900 speakers in Kenya. Burji belongs to the Highland East Cushitic group of the Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family.[1]
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The language has the SOV (subject–object–verb) word order common to the Cushitic family. The verb morphology distinguishes passive and middle grammatical voice, as well as causative. Verbal suffixes mark the person, number, and gender of the subject.
The New Testament was published in the Burji language in 1993. A collection of Burji proverbs, translated into English, French, and Swahili, is available on the Web.[2]
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| base numeral | +10 | × 10 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | micha | 11 | tannaya micha | 10 | tanna | ||
| 2 | lama | 12 | tannaya lama | 20 | lamattann | ||
| 3 | fadiya | 13 | tannaya fadiya | 30 | fadiitann | ||
| 4 | foola | 14 | tannaya foola | 40 | foolattan | ||
| 5 | umutta | 15 | tannaya umutta | 50 | umuttan | ||
| 6 | liya | 16 | tannaya liya | 60 | liittan | ||
| 7 | lamala | 17 | tannaya lamala | 70 | lamalattan | ||
| 8 | hiditta | 18 | tannaya hiditta | 80 | hidittan | ||
| 9 | wonfa | 19 | tannaya wonfa | 90 | wonfattan | ||
| 10 | tanna | 20 | lamattann | 100 | ch'ibba | ||
- 1,000. kuma
Word order
Dhaashatee is a head-final language, which means that modifiers come before the main noun in the noun phrase. Dependent clauses come before independent clauses, while relative clauses come before the nouns they modify. The basic word order at the sentence-level is SOV, as in other HEC languages.[3]
Relative clauses
Relative clauses in Burji (Dhaashatee) are not formally marked but they can be recognized from main clauses by having more than one completely inflected verb in a non-final position. In contrast, in a "regular" main clause with multiple verbs, all but the last one takes a converb suffix. Other types of subordinate clauses are marked by complementizers or subordinate conjunctions.
An examples of a relative clause is given below. Dhogoli functions as the subject of both the relative clause and the main clause.
Lama
two
lasa
day
eegadh-i
wait-CVB
dhab-ann-oo
loose-PST-CON
dhogol-i
leopard-SNOM.M/ABS
aaree-shini
anger-INS.F
gal-i=k'aa
return-CVB=FOC
akkarraga
evening
isheek-koo
POSS.3SG.F-ADE
mar-ann-oo.
go-PST-CON
'Having lost two days waiting, the leopard returned furiously, and in the evening, he went to her house.'
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