LSAL 79: A Descriptive Analysis of Bura Verbs and Vocabulary

A Descriptive Analysis of Bura Verbs and Vocabulary

Mohammed Aminu Mu'azu & Fibi Balami
University of Bayreuth, University of Maiduguri

Bura is an endangered language spoken in the southern part of present-day Borno state, Nigeria. The language belongs to the Chadic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, whose other members are Semitic, Egyptian, Cushitic, Omotic and Berber. This book offers a descriptive analysis of Bura verbs and vocabulary and is the first book ever on this aspect of the language.

The book is divided into four chapters. The first discusses the geographical location of the language, the origin of the Bura people and the two dialects of the language: Bura and Paber. The second explores the Bura verbal system, identifying two types of suffixes: derivatives and inflectional suffixes. It as well examines verbal morphological processes and the tonal system of the language, identifying two level tones, high and low tones, and the verb syllable structure. The third chapter illustrates the numeral system of the language, discussing the conventional ordinal, cardinal, numerals adverb and distributive numerals, while the fourth chapter, which concludes the book, presents the vocabulary of the language. The authors Mohammed Aminu Mu’azu and Fibi Balami are both graduates of General Linguistics and lecturers in the Department of Languages and Linguistics, and General Studies (GST), University of Maiduguri-Nigeria. This book was written during Mohammed Aminu Mu’azu’s tenure as a lecturer in the Department of African Studies (Afrikanistik II) University of Bayreuth, Germany.

ISBN 9783895869068. LINCOM Studies in African Linguistics 79. 174pp. 2010.