Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 2013, 226 pp.

The Chadian branch of the Semitic-Hamitic (Afrasian) macro-family consists of about 170 languages of Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon. With the exception of Hausa, all Chadian languages are non-written. The study of Chadian languages began in the middle of the 19th century, and the most intensive field work was carried out in the last 50 years. Currently, field research in Nigeria and Chad has completely stopped, while in Niger and Cameroon it is reduced to a minimum.

One of the most prominent representatives of the German school of African studies is the author of the peer-reviewed monograph, Professor G. Jungreitmayr. The latest bibliography of works on Chadian languages includes more than 100 articles, monographs and collections of texts written by him (some of them co-authored with informants) [Newman, 2013]. A modern classification of the Chadian language family, based on the results of lexicostatistics, was also carried out with the participation of the author of the peer-reviewed monograph [Barreteau and Jungraithmayr, 1993].

Especially important is the contribution of G. Jungritmayr to the study of Eastern Chadian languages (Dangla, Mokilko, and Mubi groups). There is every reason to believe that they were the first to separate from the Chadian family, so the material collected by the author is indispensable for research of a comparative historical nature. Monographs on the Bidia languages [Jungraithmayr, 1989], migama [Jungraithmayr, 1992], Mokilko [Jungraithmayr, 1990], as well as small dictionaries of the Jegu languages [Jungraithmayr, 1961] and Birgit [Jungraithmayr, 2004] are of the greatest interest among the already published works. In all cases, the author relied mainly on his own field materials, which allowed him to avoid inconsistencies between the phonological description and the dictionary when determining the status of phonological units of the language (phoneme - allophone).

The peer-reviewed monograph continues the series of works by G. Jungritmayr on Eastern Chadian languages. While previous monographs included sections on phonetics, phonology, morphology, and vocabulary, this one also contains a small corpus of short texts. This first description of the Mubi language in the world of African studies is the result of many years of research conducted in the field of African studies.-

STOLBOVA Olga Valeryevna-Doctor of Philology, Chief Researcher and Consultant of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Jungraitmayr G. The Mubi language (Republic of Chad). Berlin: Dietrich Rymer Publishing House, 2013, 226 p.

page 218
Since 1971, the author has written several articles, mainly on the verb system of the language being studied (see, for example, [Jungraithmayr, 1978; Jungraithmayr, 2004]). Mubi is spoken in 136 villages in the Gera region of central Chad (see list on pages 19-21). According to 1993 data, there are about 35,500 native speakers of the Mubi language. The first mention of the Mubi language dates back to 1889 [Nachtigal, 1889, p. 197].

As follows from the reviewed monograph, the Mubi phonological system is typical for the Eastern Chadian languages of Group B (it includes the subgroups Dangla, Mubi and Mokilko). In these languages, deaf emphatic and lateral consonants are lost (they are reconstructed at the Prachadi level) and labialized velars (which are an innovation in Western and Central Chadian languages) are not represented. This group of Chadian languages is characterized by a stable reflex of intervocalic Prachadian fluxes (*-l - and *-r -) and the absence of positional variants in noisy consonants. The only exception, as G. Jungraitmayr found, is the deafening of voiced bowed and sibilant affricates at the absolute end of the word. Numerous examples have shown that this stun is completely regular.

The mubi tonal system has been studied very carefully. The main tonal opposition in this language, as in most Chadian languages, is represented by high and low tones. The middle tone marks only the subject suffix pronouns of the 3rd pl. singular and 1st pl. pl. ch., and is also observed on the last syllable of several polysyllabic names (they are listed on pages 29-20).

At the very beginning of the book, it is noted that the verbal and nominal morphology of the Mubi language is permeated with apophony. In addition, unlike most Western and Central Chadian languages, Mubi lacks universal models for the formation of plural nouns. The author identifies 1b models ("schèmes vocaliques") of the formation of plural forms in nouns, depending on the vocalization in plural forms. The simplest models (- A, -E, -O) work on the names of the CV, CVC structure, for example: lì 'thing', pl. ch. là (model -A); lùk 'woman', plural lòk (model-O). Polysyllabic names change not only their vocalism, but also their tonal scheme and initial syllabic structure. See, for example: lìísí 'language', plural làásàs (model-AA-A -); kíréení 'frog', plural kèrèn (model-E-E -); čùllùm 'beard', plural čóllómè (model-O-O -); bòdòl 'road', plural ch. bùdòolúl (model-U-OO - (U) -), cìrkí 'type of gazelle', plural ch. cìràayàk (model-I/U-AA-A -), etc. (pp. 34-35).

The monograph contains an exhaustive description of the system of personal pronouns, which is also very peculiar. In addition to the personal independent, subject and object (direct and indirect) pronouns typical of Chadian languages, Mubi also presents four paradigms of suffixed subject pronouns. They are used when the normal word order (SVO) changes to OSV or OVS. As the author notes, a changed word order is observed in propositions with a topic or focus. Cf. examples on page 42:

1a. SVO word order

à

hèrít

Sèerí

il

nouait

corde

he

I'm done here

a rope

sub. places. 3 l. unit hours

tie up (perf.)

rope

1b. Word order SVO (contrastive selection of a straight object)

sèerí

hèrít-

Ku

corde

nouait-

il

(namely) a rope

I'm done here

he

Rope

tie up (perf.)

sub. places. Series I, 3 hp units.

2a. SVO word order

ni

Hírát

sèerí

je

noue

corde

I

I'm quitting

a rope

sub. places. 1st l. unit hours

tie up-(imperf.)

rope

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2b. Word order SVO (contrastive selection of a straight object)

Sèerí

híráad-

ánà

corde

nouait-

je

(namely) a rope

I'm quitting

I

rope

tie up-(imperf.)

sub. places. Series I, 1st hp unit.

The section "pronouns" also includes a full description of constructions with possessive pronouns (p. 53-64). The summary table (p.55) shows all 11 paradigms of personal pronouns in the Mubi language (subject in preposition and postposition, object and possessive).

The description of the verb system of the Mubi language occupies a central place in the monograph of G. Jungraitmayr. It is constructed within the framework of the main opposition: perfective ~ imperfective. The database included about 350 verbs, which allowed us to identify the main models of formation of aspect forms, depending on the initial one ('baseverbal'). For mubi, this form is the infinitive (verbal name). The author managed to establish a correspondence between the structure and vocalization of the verbal name ('nomverbal'), on the one hand, and the form of the corresponding verb in the perfective and imperfective, on the other. For example, rùubí ~ róp ~ rúffà 'receive', wàjàgé ~ wéjík ~ íjáak 'get up', nyám ~ nyám ~ nyínyáàm 'send', sádé ~sác ~ sídcyác 'swallow', hàwwá ~ háwwà ~ hùwwáà 'approaching'.

Even with such a complex system of correspondences, divided into classes and subclasses, the author nevertheless found several irregular verbs that are given in a list (p. 76).

It is interesting that Arabic loanwords (which make up about 20% of all verbs), on the contrary, are well integrated into the scheme proposed by the author. On pages 87-97, complete paradigms of prefix and suffix conjugations of verbs of different classes in the perfective and imperfective are given, as well as numerous examples from texts.

G. Jungritmayr also found some reflexes of the general Japanese verb morphology in the Mubi language: the causative suffix-it, the intensive breed-o -, and the infix-a- (which displaces the vowel of the first syllable in the plural form). Interestingly, the plural form (or frequentative) is regular only in two-syllable verbs (for example, ríibí ~ ràbé 'to cook, prepare food', túgi ~ tágé 'to drive, hunt' , etc.). Three-syllable verbs show various deviations from the regular model (singular CVCVC ~ plural SaSSaS).

The Verb section completes an exhaustive description of the imperative category, which is characterized by a relative uniformity of forms. Almost all verbs of the CVCVC(V) structure form the imperative form according to a single model. In most verbs CV(V) C, the imperative form depends on the vowel that is marked in the original form (infinitive).

The next section of the monograph is a dictionary of the Mubi language (direct and reverse). This is the first time that Mubi's vocabulary has been published in this volume. The dictionary includes both basic and cultural vocabulary. Not only the original, but also derived forms are given (plural for nouns, feminine and plural for adjectives, perfective and imperfective for verbs). All derived forms are independent units of the dictionary (they are provided with a reference to the original form). Such an increase in the dictionary size can be considered justified. The presence of derived forms in the dictionary helps when reading texts in the Mubi language.

It is obvious that despite numerous Arabic loanwords (which is typical for all Eastern Chadian languages), a significant part of the vocabulary of the Mubi language is still archaic and is an important component of the general Chadian lexical fund. In addition, the dictionary includes at least 9 common African roots from Svodesh's 100-word list: sàmè 'name', lìísí 'language', àamé 'water', tírí 'moon', súmáamō 'ear', tìyá 'eat', màadé 'to die', personal pronouns - 1st and 2nd l. units (nì, ká). It is also interesting that, unlike the Western and Central Chadian languages, Mubi does not have borrowings from genetically unrelated African languages.

The final section of the monograph is a small body of texts, riddles and songs in the Mubi language with a pomorfemny and literary translation. This is the first publication of texts in the Mubi language and in Eastern Chadian languages in general.

Some comments, mostly of a technical nature, do not affect the high rating of the peer-reviewed work.

It seems somewhat illogical to include the palatal sibilant sh and the velar spirant kh in the list of consonant phonemes of the Mubi language (see Table). on page 25). As follows from the dictionary (p. 186,

page 220
198), these phonemes are represented exclusively in Arabic loanwords (for example, khàshá (ar.) "approach", sháràk (ar.) " cage (for birds)", shàddàgà (ar.) " beat (hand)", etc.). The author of the monograph indicates the borrowing (ar.).

It would be desirable to state more clearly in which constructions suffix pronouns of the 2nd series are used (the few examples given on page 45 do not allow us to draw an unambiguous conclusion).

I will also note an annoying typo in the list of references (p. 13). The multi-volume work of the remarkable 19th-century Africanist Gustav Nachtigall "Sahara und Sudan" dates back to 1989. The actual year of publication (1889) is shown on page 22.

G. Jungreitmayr's monograph is written in the best traditions of the German School of African Studies. The book includes a huge lexical material, which is classified and placed within the framework of strict inflectional models developed by the author. The monograph gives a complete picture of the peculiarities of phonetics, morphology and grammar of the Mubi language.

The grammatical part is called by the author "Précis de grammaire", but it is obvious that the work done by him goes beyond the"short essay". The absence of the "Syntax" section in the monograph is partially compensated by the description of attribute, relative, and some other constructions. In addition, the source of information about the syntax of the Mubi language is a corpus of texts.

The Mubi dictionary, which includes a significant amount of archaic vocabulary, is of particular importance for specialists in the field of comparative historical research of Chadian and Afrasian languages. I would also like to note that based on a comprehensive study of a whole group of Eastern Chadian languages performed by G. Jungritmayr, changes can be made to the classification of the entire Chadian branch of the Afrasian macro-family.

The monograph by G. Jungritmayr will undoubtedly be in demand by specialists in Chadian and Afrasian languages, as well as typologists and ethnographers.

REFERENCES

Barreteau D., Jungraithmayr H. Calculs lexicostatistiques et glottochronologiqucs sur les langues tchadiques // Datation et chronologie dans le bassin du lac Tchad: Séminaire du Réseau Méga-Tchad I Ed. D. Barretrau, Ch. von Graffenried. Paris : Orstom, 1993. Pp. 103-140.

Jungraithmayr H. Beobachtungen zur Sprache der Jegu (and Jonkor) von Abu Telfan // Afrika und Übersee. 1961. N 45. S. 95-123.

Jungraithmayr H. Gebrochenes Plurale im Mubi // Struktur und Wandel afrikanischer Sprachen: Vorträge vom XX Deutschen Orientalistentag / Ed. H. Jungraithmayr. Berlin: Reimer, 1978. Pp. 121-131.

Jungraithmayr H., Khali A. Lexiquebidiya. Frankfurt: Klostermann, 1989.

Jungraithmayr H. Lexiquemokilko. Berlin: Reimer, 1990.

Jungraithmayr H., Adams A. Lexique migama. Berlin: Reimer, 1992.

Jungraithmayr H. Das Birgit, eine osttschadichc Sprache // Egyptian and Semito-Hamitic (Afro-Asiatic) Studies in Memoriam W. Vycichl / Ed. G. Takács. Leiden: Brill, 2004. Pp. 342-361.

Jungraithmayr H. Mubi and Semitic: Striking parallels // Proceedings of the 13th Italian Meeting of Afro-Asiatic Linguistics / Ed. Frederick M. Fales and Giulia F. Grassi. Padua: Sargon, 2010. Pp. 133-138.

Nachtigal G. Sahara und Sudan. Vol. 3. Leipzig: Groddck, 1889.

Newman P. The Chadic Languages Family: Classification and Name Index. - Electronic Publication. Available at: http://lah.soas.ac.uk/projccts/mcgachad/misc.html (2013).

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