Engenni language

Engenni
Ẹgẹnẹ
Native to Nigeria
Region Bayelsa State, Rivers State
Ethnicity Engenni people
Native speakers
unknown (20,000 cited 1980)[1]
Language codes
ISO 639-3 enn
Glottolog enge1239[2]

Engenni (Ẹgẹnẹ) is an Edoid language of Nigeria.

Grammar

Engenni is a fairly isolating language, having little affixation.[3] There is no plural form for words. It has definite articles, but no indefinite articles. There is a two-contrast with regards to demonstratives, while pronominal and adnominal demonstratives are identical (as in English). Verbs are marked for perfective/imperfective aspect, but there is no past tense.[4]

Engenni is an SVO language that uses prepositions. Adjectives, demonstratives, and numerals follow the noun they describe. Yes–no questions are marked with a special particle, which goes at the end of the question. Negation is indicated by a change in tone.

References

  1. Engenni at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015)
  2. Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "Engenni". Glottolog. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
  3. Thomas, Elaine. 1978. A Grammatical Description of the Engenni Language. Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics, 60. 60. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
  4. http://wals.info/languoid/lect/wals_code_egn


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