Ila language

For the ISO 639 language code "ila", see Ile Ape language. Not to be confused with the Papuan Iha language.
Ila
chiIla
Native toZambia
EthnicityIla
Native speakers
106,000 (2010 census)
Dialects
Language codes
ISO 639-3Either:
ilb – Ila
shq – Sala
Glottologilaa1246  Ila
sala1266  Sala
M.63,631–633

Ila (Chiila) is a language of Zambia. Maho (2009) lists Lundwe (Shukulumbwe) and Sala as distinct languages most closely related to Ila. Ila is one of the languages of the Earth included on the Voyager Golden Record.

Phonology

The following phonology data follows a 1927 report by Clement Martyn Doke.

Vowels

Ila / Kafwe Twa / Lundwe vowels: 129 / 148 / 150 
Front Back
Near-close i u
Mid e o
Open a

Vowels may be nasalized before voiceless fricatives, and length is freely variable.: 129  There are no diphthongs.: 131 

In Ila proper, /a/ is between front and central positions [a̠], noticeably further forward than in Kafwe Twa and Lundwe, where it is more standard central [ä]. All other vowels are phonetically lower (more open) than their cardinal values: [i̞, u̞, e̞, o̞]. Before laterals /l, ɺ/, mid /e/ lowers even further to approach an open-mid quality [ɛ].: 130 

Consonants

Letters shown in ⟨angle brackets⟩ are Doke's orthography where it differs from typical IPA transcriptions.

Ila / Kafwe Twa / Lundwe consonants: 132 / 148 / 150 
Bilabial Alveolar (Alveolo-)
Palatal		 Velar Glottal
lab. pal.
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ (ɦ̃ʷ) ⟨ɦ̰⟩ (ʑ̤̃) ⟨ɲ⟩
Plosive voiceless pʰ tʰ c k
voiced b d ɟ ɡ
Fricative voiceless s ɕ ⟨ʃ⟩ hʷ ⟨h⟩
voiced β ⟨ʋ⟩ z ʑ ⟨ʒ⟩ ɦʷ ⟨ɦ⟩ ʑ̤ ⟨⟩
Approximant l j w
Flap ɺ ⟨𝼑⟩
  1. ↑ The nasal allophone [ʑ̤̃] is typically only used in Kafwe Twa and Lundwe, though it is adopted by some Ila proper speakers.
  2. 1 2 Of the voiceless plosives, ⫽p⫽ and ⫽t⫽ are aspirated in all three dialects, while ⫽c⫽ and ⫽k⫽ differ in each. In Ila proper, ⫽c⫽ is aspirated /cʰ/ and ⫽k⫽ is tenuis /k/; in Kafwe Twa, both are tenuis /c, k/; in Lundwe, ⫽c⫽ is tenuis /c/ and ⫽k⫽ is aspirated /kʰ/.
  3. 1 2 For the voiced fricative ⫽ʒ⫽, Ila proper speakers use /ʑ/, while Kafwe Twa and Lundwe speakers replace it with /ʑ̤/.

Uncommon fricatives

The set that Doke wrote as ⟨h, ɦ, ɦ̰⟩ are described as "labio-glottal" fricatives. ⟨h⟩ is voiceless, ⟨ɦ⟩ is voiced, and ⟨ɦ̰⟩ is a nasalized form of ⟨ɦ⟩. Doke noted that the voiceless fricative had previously been written as ⟨f⟩ or ⟨h⟩, and the voiced fricative as ⟨vh⟩. He described them as "modified glottal fricatives" with concurrent lip friction and the tongue kept in a velar position, thus giving them a [w]-like glide. He also provided an alternate description of them as velarized variants of typical glottal fricatives with lip friction similar to that of a bilabial fricative [β].: 142  They might thus be transcribed as [hʷ, ɦʷ, ɦ̃ʷ], or more precisely as [hˠᶲ, ɦˠᵝ, ɦ̃ˠᵝ].

Lundwe and Kafwe Twa are described as having a "palato-glottal" fricative in place of /ʑ/, which he wrote as ⟨⟩, a combination of ⟨ɦ⟩ and ⟨ʒ⟩.: 141–142  It has a nasalized form in nasal environments. The tongue position is approximately the same as [ʑ] but with strong glottal friction.: 149  The variants might thus be transcribed as [ʑ̤, ʑ̤̃] (with the diacritic for breathy voice).

Tonality and stress

Doke noted that there are high, mid, and low tones, which he transcribed as ⟨◌̍⟩ for high, unmarked for mid, and ⟨◌̩⟩ for low. There are many instances in which tone is used to distinguish terms. For example, ⟨cita̩⟩ [cʰi̞tà̠] 'do' versus ⟨cita̍⟩ [cʰi̞tá̠] 'I don't know', ⟨ʋala̩⟩ [βa̠là̠] 'carry' versus ⟨ʋala̍⟩ [βa̠lá̠] 'read'.: 144 

Orthography

According to Smith & Dale (1919):

Doke provides the following recommended orthography:

Letterabcdeghɦiklmnɲŋopsʃtuwyzʒ
IPA äb, βc(ʰ)de̞ɡhʷɦʷ, ɦ̃ʷi̞k(ʰ)l, ɺmnɲŋo̞pʰsɕtʰu̞wjzʑ

Example terms

Ideophones or imitation words

Words in English such as "Splash!", "Gurgle", "Ker-putt" express ideas without the use of sentences. Smith and Dale point out that this kind of expression is very common in the Ila language:

You may say Ndamuchina anshi ("I throw him down"), but it is much easier and more trenchant to say simply Ti!, and it means the same.

Some examples:

Grammar

Class prefixes

As in many other languages, Ila uses a system of noun classes. Either the system as presented by Smith and Dale is simpler than that for Nyanja, ChiChewa, Tonga, or Bemba, or the authors have skated over the complexities by the use of the category "significant letter":

The locatives form a special category:

Thus:

The Ila verb system

The root is the part of the verb giving the primary meaning. To this can be added prefixes and suffixes: many elements can be united in this way, sometimes producing long and complex polysyllabic verb words. For example, from the root anga, "to tie", we can derive such a form as Tamuna kubaangulwila anzhyi? meaning, "Why have you still not untied them?"

Prefixes can show:

Suffixes can show:

Here are some of the forms of the verb kubona, "to see". (Note that there are also negative forms, e.g. ta-tu-boni, "we do not see", that there is also a subjunctive mood, a conditional mood, a jussive mood and the imperative. Many subjunctive forms end in -e.

The root of the verb is in two forms:

The above English renderings are approximate.

Certain suffixes add new dimensions of meaning to the root. Although these follow some logic, we again have to feel a way towards an adequate translation into English or any other language:

These can be used in composites: e.g. langilizhya - to cause to look on behalf of.

Oral literature

In 1920, Edwin W. Smith and Andrew Murray Dale [de] published The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia in two volumes; the second volume features a large number of Ila texts with English translations. The texts come from Ila people living along the Kafue River in what was then Northern Rhodesia. There are 60 folktales, including a long cycle of stories about the trickster hare, along with proverbs, riddles, and dilemma tales. Here are some of the proverbs:

Here are some of the riddles:

The Ila stories of the trickster hare have many affinities with the Br'er Rabbit stories collected by Joel Chandler Harris from African American storytellers in Georgia in the 19th century. Some of the enslaved people of the southern United States were captured and purchased in this area of Zambia. In addition, African American storytellers, including those consulted by Harris, made use of ideophones in English that resemble the ideophones of African languages such as Ila.

Bibliography

Smith, Edwin William & Dale, Andrew Murray, The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia. Macmillan and Company, London, 1920.

References

  1. ↑ Ila at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Sala at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ Jouni Filip Maho, 2009. New Updated Guthrie List Online
  3. ↑ "Languages". re-lab.net. Archived from the original on 1999-11-22.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Doke, Clement Martyn (1927). "An outline of Ila phonetics". Bantu Studies. 3 (1): 127–153.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Edwin Smith & Andrew Murray Dale, The Ila-Speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, 1919, reprinted by University Books Inc., New York, 1968.
  6. ↑ e.g. D.V.Perrott, Teach Yourself Swahili, English Universities Press, London, 1969.
  7. ↑ Smith & Dale, volume 2, page 293.
  8. ↑ Thomas Price, The Elements of Nyanja for English-Speaking Students, Church of Scotland Mission, Blantyre (Malawi), 1959.
  9. ↑ ChiChewa Intensive Language Course, Language Centre, Lilongwe, 1969
  10. ↑ C.R.Hopwood, A Practical Introduction to ChiTonga, Zambia Educational Publishing House, Lusaka, 1940, 1992.
  11. ↑ Grammar notes in Rev. E. Hoch, Hippocrene Concise Dictionary: Bemba: Bemba - English, English - Bemba, Hippocrene Books, Inc., New York, 1998.
  12. ↑ Mukanda wa Leza (The Bible in KiSanga/Sanga, southern Congo D.R.), Trintarian Bible Society, London SW19, 1991.
  13. ↑ Lyndon Harries, A Grammar of Mwera Witwatersrand University Press, Johannesburg, 1950.
  14. ↑ Smith, Edwin; Dale, Andrew, M. (1920). The Ila-speaking Peoples of Northern Rhodesia, volume II.
  15. ↑ Smith and Dale (1920), vol. 2, pp. 334-333.
  16. ↑ Smith and Dale (1920), vol. 2, pp. 311-417.
  17. ↑ Smith and Dale (1920), vol. 2, pp. 324-331.
  18. ↑ Smith and Dale (1920), vol. 2, pp. 331-333.
  19. ↑ For a detailed account of the African origins of the majority of Joel Chandler Harris's stories, see Baer, Florence E. (1980). Sources and Analogues of the Uncle Remus Tales.
  20. ↑ Smith and Dale (1920), volume 1, page 39.
  21. ↑ Hugh Thomas, The Slave Trade: The History of the Atlantic Slave trade 1440-1870, Picador, London, 1997. page 706: "From...Ambriz and Benguela...500,000 slaves were probably shipped during the...era 1800-1830;...and...over 600,000 may have been shipped after 1830..."
  22. ↑ Noss, Philip A. (1972). "Description in Gbaya Literary Art" in African Folklore, ed. Richard M. Dorson, pp. 73-101.