Fur
bèle fòòr
Native to	Sudan, Chad
Region	Darfur, Sila
Ethnicity	1.1 million Fur (2017)[1]
Native speakers	750,000 (2004)[1]
Language family	Nilo-Saharan? Fur Fur
Writing system	Latin
Language codes
ISO 639-3	fvr
Glottolog	furr1244
Linguasphere	05-CAA-aa
Geographic distribution of Fur
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The Fur language (or For; Fur: bèle fòòr or fòòraŋ bèle; Arabic: فوراوي, Fûrâwî; sometimes called Konjara by linguists, after a former ruling clan) is a Nilo-Saharan language spoken by the Fur of Darfur in Western Sudan. It is part of a broader family of languages known as the Fur languages.

Phonology

The consonantal phonemes are:

All sounds are spelt with their IPA symbols except for the following: j = [ɟ~dʒ], ñ = [ɲ] and y = [j]. Arabic consonants are sometimes used in loanwords.

The vowels are: a e i o u. There is dispute as to whether the –ATR vowels [ɛ], [ɔ], [ɪ], [ʊ] are phonetic variants or separate phonemes.^{[2][citation needed]}

There are two underlying tonemes, L (low) and H (high); phonetically, L, H, mid, HL, and LH are all found.

Metathesis is an extremely common and regular grammatical phenomenon in Fur: when a consonant pronoun prefix is prefixed to a verb that begins with a consonant, either the verb's first consonant is deleted or it changes places with the following vowel; e.g.: lem- "lick" → -elm-; ba- "drink" → -ab-; tuum- "build" → -utum-. There are also various assimilation rules.

Morphology

Plurals

Noun, and optionally adjective, plurals can be formed with -a (-ŋa after vowels): aldí "story" → aldíŋá "stories", tóŋ "(a certain species of) antelope" → pira "antelopes"; piraŋa "old" → tooy'báiná "old (pl.)". This suffix also gives the inanimate 3rd person plural of the verb: liíŋ "he bathes" → liíŋá "they (inanimate) bathe", káliŋa "they (animate) bathe".

Vowel-final adjectives can take a plural in -lá, as well as -ŋa: lúllá "cold" → lúllála or lúlláŋa "cold (pl.)". A similar suffix (metathesized and assimilated to become -ól/-úl/-ál) is used for the plural of the verb in some tenses.

A few CVV nouns take the plural suffix H-ta; roo "river" → roota'wala gal rooŋa "rivers"; ra̱yi' wala gal ra̱y "field" → rǎ̱ytó'wala gal rǎ̱ytá "fields".

At least two nouns take the suffix -i: kóór "spear" → kóórí "spears", dʉ́tʉ "mouse" → kʉ́ʉ́tɨ́ "mice".

Nouns with the singular prefix d- (> n- before a nasal) take the plural k-; these are about 20% of all nouns. In some cases (mostly body parts) it is accompanied by L; e.g.: dɨ́ló "ear" → kɨ́ló "ears"; nʉ́ŋɨ́ "eye" → kʉ́ŋɨ́ "eyes"; dági "tooth" → kagi "teeth"; dormí "nose" → kormi "noses".

• In some cases the singular also has a suffix -ŋ, not found in the plural: daulaŋ "shoe" → kaula "shoes", dɨróŋ "egg" → kɨro "eggs".
• Sometimes a further plural suffix from those listed above is added: nʉ́nʉm "granary" → kʉ́nʉ́ma "granaries", nʉ́ʉ́m "snake" → kʉ́ʉ́mɨ́ "snakes", dɨwwô "new" → kɨwwóla'wala gal 'kɨwwóŋa "new (pl.)"
• Sometimes the suffix -(n)ta, is added: dewer "porcupine" → kewértá "porcupines"; da̱wi "tail" → ka̱wíntó'wala gal ka̱wíntá "tails".
• One noun, as well as the demonstratives and the interrogative "which", take a plural by simply prefixing k-L: úú "cow" → kuu "cows"; á̱yɨ "which (one)?" → ká̱yɨ "which (ones)?".
• Several syntactic plurals with no singulars, mostly denoting liquids, have k-L-a; kewa "blood", koro "water", kona "name, song" koonà.

Nouns

The locative case can be expressed by the suffix -le or by reversing the noun's final tone, e.g.: tòŋ "house" → toŋ "at the house"; loo "place", kàrrà "far" → loo kàrrà-le "at a far place".

The genitive (English possessive s) is expressed by the suffix -iŋ (the i is deleted after a vowel.) If the relationship is possessive, the possessor comes first; otherwise, it comes last; e.g.: nuum "snake" → nuumiŋ tàbù "snake's head"; jùtà "forest" → kàrabà jùtăŋ "animals of the forest".

Pronouns

Independent subject:

The object pronouns are identical apart from being low tone and having -ŋó added to the plural forms.

Prefixed subject pronouns:

Thus, for example, on the verb bʉo- "tire":

gi, described as the "participant object pronoun", represents first or second person objects in a dialogue, depending on context.

Possessives (singular; take k- with plural nouns):

Verbs

The Fur verbal system is quite complicated; verbs fall into a variety of conjugations. There are three tenses: present, perfect, and future. Subjunctive is also marked. Aspect is distinguished in the past tense.

Derivational suffixes include -iŋ (intransitive/reflexive; e.g. lii "he washes" → liiŋ "he washes himself) and gemination of the middle consonant plus -à/ò (intensive; e.g. jabi "drop" → jappiò/jabbiò "throw down".)

Negation is done with the marker a-...-bà surrounding the verb; a-bai-bà "he does not drink".

Adjectives

Most adjectives have two syllables, and a geminate middle consonant: e.g. àppa "big", fùkka "red", lecka "sweet". Some have three syllables: dàkkure "solid".

Adverbs can be derived from adjectives by addition of the suffix -ndì or L-n, e.g.: kùlle "fast" → kùllendì or kùllèn "quickly".

Abstract nouns can be derived from adjectives by adding -iŋ and lowering all tones, deleting any final vowel of the adjective, e.g.: dìrro "heavy" → dìrrìŋ "heaviness".

Media in Fur language

Radio Dabanga – broadcasts daily news in the Fur language and in other languages local to Darfur.