Bagirmi Lexicon Bagirmi French French

Bagirmi with Grammatical Introduction

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 Bagirmi Lexicon

Bagirmi-French
French-Bagirmi

with Grammatical
Introduction in English

John M. Keegan

Mahamat Idriss Djibrine

The Sara-Bagirmi Languages Project

Morkeg Books
Cuenca
 Second Edition

March, 2016

Updated versions and information on

the Sara-Bagirmi Language Project
are available at

http://morkegbooks.com/Services/World/Languages/SaraBagirmi

Recordings of the words and sentences

in this work are available from
the Bagirmi Sound Dictionary at:

http://morkegbooks.com/Services/World/Languages/SaraBagirmi/SoundDictionary/Bagirmi/BagStart.htm
 Acknowledgements

The initial foundation for this lexicon has been the data in Gaden (1907),
Stevenson (1956), and the SIL Bagirmi Lexicon (Goodman et al: 2014). We wish to
thank Nathanael Szobody, Diane Goodman and Grace Kim for sharing their
knowledge of Bagirmi, and helping us avoid a number of pitfalls. All three reviewed
the grammatical introduction to this work, providing helpful feedback to previous
versions of the work, and most of their comments and corrections have been
incorporated into the work. Nathanael also sat for many hours with me examining
each of the lexicons examples for postposition jó.

This work was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the
Humanities (FN50134-14).

i
 Introduction

Bagirmi is a Sara-Bagirmi language of the Central-Sudanic branch of Nilo-

Saharan which according to Lewis, Simons, and Fennig (2015) is used by some
35,000 speakers principally in the Chari-Bagirmi region of Chad. There are also a
large number of speakers found in the Chadian capital, N’djamena. This lexicon
contains over 2,430 words, 2,650 sample sentences and 290 expressions and idioms.
In addition, a 90 page introduction to the grammar of Bagirmi is included.
Initial portions of the work were based on the words found in Gaden (1907).
An attempt was then made to use sample sentences from Stevenson (1957), but in the
end most were dropped, either because they were not correct, or because it was
deemed they were of little value. Words were then added from the control list for the
Sara-Bagirmi Language Project, and later from the Bagirmi lexicon produced at SIL
(Goodman et al: 2014). Sample sentences have been provided for over 80% of the
words, and the vast majority of words and sentences were recorded for use in the
Bagirmi sound dictionary.
The quality of the data contained is relatively high. A check has been run to
ensure that sentences only contain valid Bagirmi words, and a manual review was
made comparing recordings with transcriptions. Many of the issues noted in the
preliminary version of this work have been addressed, and a number of transcription
errors and lexical gaps are resolved in this work. There nonetheless remains much to
be done, and it is our hope to continue this work and to build a more complete
dictionary of Bagirmi over the coming years.

Transcription
The charts below show the vowels and consonants used to describe the
language. It should be emphasized that this transcription is intended to adequately
capture the phonological distinctions found in the language, but it is not intended as a
proposal for a writing system.
Vowels
a like the ‘a’ in Spanish ‘gato’. o can be pronounced like the ‘o’ in
e can be pronounced like the ‘é’ in Spanish ‘gota’, similar to first ‘o’ in
French ‘arrivé’, or like the ‘e’ in English English ‘coconut’, or [ɔ], similar to the
‘set’ [ε]. ‘aw’ in English ‘law’ as spoken in most
ə a central mid vowel pronounced of the Northeast Corridor or the Great
between ‘e’ and ‘o’, but not rounded. Lakes area, but shorter and with no final
i like the ‘i’ in Spanish ‘si’. glide.
ɨ central high vowel. Somewhat u similar to the ‘u’ in Spanish ‘cuna’
similar to the unaccented ‘e’ in English
‘tenacious’.

iii
 Consonants
b like ‘b’ in English ‘bad’ or in French
‘beau’.
ɓ implosive bilabial, extreme lowering
of the larynx which produces the
distinctive sound of the sharp intake of air
as it rushes in to equalize the pressure
when the stop is released.
c [č] similar to the ‘ch’ in English
‘cheese’ or ‘chalk’
d similar to the ‘d’ in English ‘die’ or
French ‘des’.
f similar to the ‘f’ in English ‘fork’ or
the ‘f’ in French ‘faux’
g similar to the ‘g’ in English ‘go’ or
‘give’.
h similar to the ‘h’ in English ‘have’.
j like the ‘j’ in English ‘joke’.
k similar to the ‘c’ in English ‘scoot’;
relatively unaspirated.
l like the ‘l’ in English ‘lake’ or in
French ‘les’.
m like the ‘m’ in English ‘miss’ or in
French ‘mes’.
mb a combination of ‘m’ and ‘b’,
where the ‘m’ is lightly pronounced, and
does not constitute a separate syllable.
n like the ‘n’ in English ‘never’ or
Spanish ‘nunca’
nd a combination of ‘n’ and ‘d’, where
the ‘n’ is lightly pronounced, and does
not constitute a separate syllable.
ng a combination of ‘ŋ’ and ‘g’, similar
to ‘ng’ in English ‘single’. Does not occur
in final position.
nj a combination of ‘n’ and ‘j’, where
the ‘n’ is lightly pronounced, and does
not constitute a separate syllable.
iv
ŋ like the ‘ng’ in English ‘king’.
Occurs initially, between vowels and at
end of word.
ɲ palatal nasal, similar to the ‘gn’ in
French ‘oignon’, or ‘ñ’ in Spanish ‘caña’.
p my impression is that ‘p’ is not very
aspirated, closer to the ‘p’ in English
‘spit’ than it is to the ‘p’ in ‘pit’.
r shortly trilled ‘r’, similar to the ‘rr’ in
Spanish ‘burro’, but shorter; for speakers
of some languages, the ‘r’ acquires a
distinct lateral sound, sounding as they
are starting to say ‘l’ but ending with an
‘r’.
ɗ implosive alveolar, extreme lowering
of the larynx which produces the
distinctive sound of the sharp intake of air
as it rushes in to equalize the pressure
when the stop is released.
s like the ‘s’ in English ‘soup’.
š like the ‘sh’ in English ‘shoe’.
t like the ‘t’ in English ‘stoop’; less
aspirated then the ‘t’ in English ‘top’.
v like the ‘v’ in English ‘vain’
w like the ‘w’ in English ‘wet’. See
also diphthongs.
y when beginning a syllable, like the
‘y’ in English ‘yes’. See also diphthongs.
ƴ implosive palatal glide, like the ‘y’ in
English ‘yes’, but produced with lowering
of the larynx which produces the
distinctive sound of the sharp intake of
air.
z ‘like the ‘z’ in English ‘zone’.
 Abbreviations

Aux - Auxiliary Verb NIn - Inalienable Noun

Av - Adverb NP - Proper Noun
Cmp - Complementizer Pr - Pronoun
Cnj - Conjunction PrA - Pronominal Affix
EP - End of Phrase marker Spec - Specifier (article
Expr - Expression or demonstrative)
Id - Ideophone NPl - Noun plural marker
Inf - Infinitive Num - Number
Inj - Interjection V - Verb
Int - Interrogative VN - Verbal Noun
Loc - Locative VPl - Verb plural marker
N - Noun VT - Transitive Verb

Preliminary Grammatical Notes

This introduction to the grammar of Bagirmi has been built principally from a
study of the words and sentences in the lexicon in order to uncover grammatical
generalizations. Its primary goal is to provide a preliminary description of the features
of the phonology, morphology and syntax in order to help the lexicon user understand
the sample sentences. There is, however, an inherent weakness with this approach. It
gives us a basic understanding of structures that are grammatical, but not of those that
are not grammatical. Variations of the speech forms shown here no doubt exist, but a
systematic study needs to be undertaken to determine which variations are possible and
which are not. For example, in our discussion of word order, we know that the order we
describe here is valid, but are not certain what other orders are or are not possible. In
short, we continue to consider this discussion of Bagirmi grammar preliminary. It is our
hope that in the future we will be able to undertake the research needed to create a more
complete grammar of this fascinating language.

1. Phonology
1.1 Vowels
All the vowels that occur in Bagirmi also occur in the Sara languages, and their
pronunciation is similar. Like the Sara Kaba languages, but unlike the Sara languages,
there are no nasalized vowels in the phonemic inventory. Vowels are pronounced
nasalized when adjacent to a nasal consonant, but this is not noted in the transcription.
1.1.1 The vowel ‘e’. Stevenson (1957) implies that a phonological distinction exists
between the vowels ‘e’ and ‘ε’, and I originally assumed this to be true based on a few
suspect minimal pairs (e.g. èé’ē ‘no’ vs. é’ēh [έ’ɛ̄ h] ‘ah!’). However after discussion
with Mahamat Idriss Djibrine I have concluded that Bagirmi speakers do not distinguish
between these two vowels. My impression is that the vowel ‘e’ tends to be pronounced
more like [ε] when in a bi-syllabic word except in those few cases where it is a long
vowel.
1.1.2 The barred-i. At the start of our work I suspected that it might be possible
to transcribe Bagirmi words without the barred-i. Bagirmi speakers, including Mahamat

v
Idriss Djibrine, generally do not consider that there is a vowel in the slot barred-i
occupies. For example, Mahamat initially would have preferred us to write kᵼlā ‘string’
as klā and kᵼlà ‘to send’ as klà.
The problem, however, is that there is a vowel present that bears tone. Further,
there are cases where contrasts exist based entirely upon the tone borne by the barred-i
(e.g. kᵼlā ‘coq’ vs. kᵼlā ‘string’). On the basis of such contrasts we have concluded that
the barred-i is necessary in the transcription of the language.
1.1.3 The vowel ‘o’. Unlike the Sara and the Sara Kaba languages, there is no
phonological distinction between ‘o’ and ‘ɔ’. We have not yet undertaken an analysis to
determine if the phonetic pronunciation is triggered by phonological conditions.
The pronunciation of ‘o’ changes prior to the palatal consonants ‘c’, ‘j’, and ‘ɲ’,
and sounds almost like the diphthong ‘oy’. Thus, kòckó ‘ruse’ is pronounced [kòyčkó].
This change is especially pronounced when the palatal consonant closes the syllable in
which ‘o’ is contained, and less pronounced when the palatal begins a new syllable (e.g.
òcò ‘a lot, very’, where the glide ‘y’ is barely audible).
1.2 Consonants
While the majority of the Bagirmi consonants are similar to those found in the
Sara, Bagirmi has a number of additional consonants. Like the Sara Kaba language
Kulfa, there is an ‘f’ and a ‘v’ in Bagirmi, but unlike Kulfa, there is no ‘mv’. The
consonant ‘c’ [č] is common in Bagirmi, while it is a rare phoneme in the few Sara and
Sara Kaba languages where it is found. Unlike the Sara and Sara Kaba languages,
Bagirmi also uses the consonant ‘z’ and ‘š’, although they are both relatively rare, and
most commonly found in Arabic loan words. They are found, nonetheless, in a few
words that do not appear to be loans (e.g. ìzìn ‘permission’). The implosive palatal ‘ƴ’
corresponds to the Kulfa post-alveolar implosive ‘ɗy’:
Kulfa Bagirmi English
kīɗyō kí/ƴò ‘to weave’
nàɗyà nàƴà ‘to spread’
kòɗyò kóƴò ‘to give birth’
áɗyà áƴà ‘to save, cure’
kùɗyà kíƴà ‘to cut’
tɔ́ ɗyɔ̀ ndóƴò ‘to raise, straighten’
1.4 Tone
Like the Sara and Sara Kaba languages, the tone-bearing phonemes in Bagirmi
morphemes can have one of three even tones. High tone is marked with an acute accent,
Low tone with a grave accent, and Mid tone with a bar. In addition, there exists a fourth
contour tone in Bagirmi, High-Low, which has an important grammatical role in verb
conjugations. This tone is indicated by a circumflex accent. Examples are given below
with the letter ‘a’:
High Tone: á
Mid Tone: ā
Low Tone: à
HighLow: â

vi
The HighLow tone appears almost exclusively in conjugated verbs, and will be
discussed in Section 2.1.3.5 below. It is pronounced shorter than a combination of High-
Low tone. To avoid confusion between them, High-Low tone on a single vowel will be
written HighLow (without a hyphen).
1.4.1 Distribution of Tone
Words with a single tone make up less than 8% of native mono-morphemic words
(152 of 1954). 1 The tone distribution among words with a single tone is fairly even (63
High tone, 44 Mid tone, 45 Low tone). The majority of morphemes, approximately 70%
(1373 of 1954), are bi-tonal. Of these, approximately 59% (815 of 1373), have either the
tone pattern Low-Low or High-Low, and another 20% (272 of 1373) have Mid-Mid tone.
Hence, of 9 possible tonal patterns for bi-tonal morphemes, approximately 80% have
one these three common tonal patterns. Morphemes with 3 tones make up around 17%
(337 of 1954) of native morphemes. Of these, over 62% (210 of 337) bear Low-Low-
Low, Low-High-Low, High-Low-Low, or High-High-Low, and over 10% (36 of 337)
have the tone Mid-Mid-Mid. Hence, of 27 possible tonal combinations for tri-tonal
morphemes, 72% fall into 5 sequences.
Overall, then, we find that, for polysyllabic morphemes, there is a remarkable
preponderance of sequences of either Low tones or High-Low tones. A second important
tone pattern is where all the tones are Mid. Other tonal patterns are far less common,
and many are extremely rare or non-existent. 2
1.4.2 Tone Marking for Verbs
Perhaps the largest verb class in Bagirmi is one in which the third person form
with a specified object bears the tone Low-Low, but the 1st person singular, 2nd person
singular and 3rd person singular with a pronominal object bears the tone High-Low.
These verbs are listed in the lexicon with High-Low tone.
The second largest class of verbs is one in which the third person form with a
specified object also bears the tone Low-Low, but where the 1st person singular, 2nd
person singular and 3rd person singular with a pronominal object bears the tone Mid-
Mid. These verbs have been listed in the lexicon with the tone Mid-Mid. Hence, it is the
2nd person singular form of a verb in simple aspect which will appear as the lexicon
entry.

1
In analyzing tone within morphemes we have looked only at native Bagirmi words which are
mono-morphemic. These make up 1954 words out of the approximately 2438 currently in the
lexicon.
2
An analysis of 1373 bi-tonal morphemes gives us the following breakdown:
High-High Tone: 57 of 1373 - 4,151%
High-Mid Tone: 80 of 1373 - 5,83%
High-Low Tone: 353 of 1373 - 25,71%
Mid-High Tone: 46 of 1373 - 3,35%
Mid-Mid Tone: 272 of 1373 - 19,81%
Mid-Low Tone: 0 of 1373 - 0%
Low-High Tone: 56 of 1373 - 4,079%
Low-Mid Tone: 47 of 1373 - 3,42%
Low-Low Tone: 462 of 1373 - 33,65%

vii
1.4.3 Optional Variation in Tone
A large number of morphemes which bear Low-Low tone permit the final Low
tone to become High when in final position. Final position can be sentence final
position, clause final position when there is a pause, and the word spoken in isolation.3
The change is completely optional, and Bagirmi speakers are normally unaware they are
doing it.4 However, not all words permit this change. We have made an attempt to
identify those that do, and they will be labeled in the lexicon with a slash followed by
the final high-tone vowel (e.g. dᵼbà (/á) ‘dipper for water’).
1.4.4 Word-final tone rising
Another important process affects the word-final tone when the word is in non-
final position in a clause. This change affects words bearing a High tone in the
penultimate syllable causing the tone of the final syllable to become high in quick
speech:
pᵼɗǝ ‘to pour’
Gəɗ ná kùn ná tōkkó-ɲ èlí, pᵼɗə kōŕ ná njélè.
Leper Spec. taking Spec. ability-his not, pouring off Spec. he.knows.
A leper cannot pick things up but he’s good at pouring things out.
cídà ‘work’
Cídá-í ná nòkó gà ná, mbōy dèɓ kéɗē kᵼmá-ī.
Work-your Spec. is.much already Spec, look.for person one to.help-you.
If you have a lot of work, look for somebody to help you.
sᵼwǝ ‘to remove, take off’
Jᵼ-gè sᵼwə ndārá bàt ná ān tāɗ sè gàngá.
We-want to.remove skin sheep the to make with.it drum.
We want to remove the sheepskin in order to make a drum with it.
A thorough examination of this process has not yet been undertaken and there
are inconsistencies in this lexicon as to whether the tone change is marked in the sample
sentences.
1.4.5 Emphasis and Tonal Change
Unlike the Sara or Sara Kaba Languages, in Bagirmi change in tone can also be
used to indicate surprise, emphasis, etc. Consider the variation of tone with the verb
njélè ‘to know’ in the following three sentences:
Mᵼ-dᵼgá-ī ŋōn-íɲ ná njèlè. ‘I told you that his child knows.’
ɗī gé! ŋōn-íɲ njèlé? ‘What! His child knows?’
áwà, njélē. ‘Yes, he knows.’

3
Mahamat Idriss Djibrine has suggested that we indicate pauses at the end of a clause by means
of a comma.
4
This caused great confusion in the tone-marking of earlier version of this work, as a word like
bᵼɗà ‘pool, puddle’ might be pronounced bᵼɗà or bᵼɗá when spoken in isolation.

viii
In the first sentence, the tone of njèlè is Low-Low, which is normal for the 3rd person
singular. But in the second it changes to Low-High to indicate surprise in a question, and
in the third High-Mid is found to indicate reassurance. More research is needed to
determine the rules for these changes.

1.5. Structure of Morphemes

Two types of constraints operate on Bagirmi morphemes that serve to greatly limit
the phonological content of a “possible word” in the language.
1.5.1 Syllable Structure
Within a morpheme, there are three common syllabic shapes: CV, CVV and
CVC:5
tā ‘now bā ‘river’
gàá ‘crow’ nēé ‘woman’
ān ‘for, to’ bàl ‘billygoat’
dís ‘with’ cìk ‘for a long time’
There are only a handful of exceptions where the shape CVVC occurs (e.g. bàrúùd
‘gunpowder’). Unlike the Sara and Sara Kaba languages, syllables can be closed by an
obstruent consonant (e.g. dís ‘with’).6 Also unlike the Sara and Sara Kaba languages,
syllables with long vowels (e.g. gàá ‘crow’) are extremely rare, but there are two
classes of exceptions. The largest of these involves the verb class noted in section 3.2
above where High-Low tone is used to indicate the 1st, 2nd and 3rd person singular. This
verb class is frequently found with morphemes of the shape CV (V), such as “ī móò”
‘you found’ but “ŋōn mò” ‘the child found’. The second class of exceptions is with
pronouns which bear High-Low tone in the emphatic form: jéè ‘they’, néè ‘to him/her’,
and -séè ‘your (pl.). These cases, aside, CVV is very rare, and our lexicon currently has
perhaps only a dozen examples. We will consider here morphemes of the shape CV light
syllables, and those of the shape CVC or CVV heavy syllables.
Consonant clusters are also relatively rare. When they occur, they typically
involve an obstruent stop followed by an ‘r’ or an ‘l’ (e.g. dràpò ‘to be a good shot’,
glàɗó ‘neck cyst’, drò ‘type of tree’, grèmè ‘type of fruit’, grúmfàlà ‘type of spice’,
etc.) Geminate clusters also occur occasionally, both in final position (e.g. ènn ‘this,
that’), and in intervocalic position (e.g. múllà ‘disease of the milk of a mother’).
Over 72% of native Bagirmi morphemes (1410 of 1954) are bi-syllabic, and over
55% have the shape (C) VCV (e.g. dòlò ‘to be wet’, dūbú ‘a thousand’). However,
unlike the Sara Languages, closed syllables are permitted as the first syllable in a bi-
syllabic morpheme, and there are 225 cases of morphemes with the shape (C)VCCV
(e.g. dùrwà ‘type of large pot’ and gàrgà ‘type of fish’). A much small number of
morphemes have the shape CVVCV (e.g. báaɲì ‘a cold’, dōosō ‘nine’, and híilà ‘clever
trick’).
Mono-syllabic morphemes are relatively uncommon, making up less than 10% of
native morphemes. However, they include many very common words (e.g. jī ‘hand’, jò

5
We consider a prenasalized stop a single consonant.
6
In the Sara languages, obstruents can only end a syllable when the word is an ideophone, and
even then it is possible for a barred-i to appear at the end of the word.

ix
‘head’, etc.). Over 67% of native mono-syllabic morphemes have the shape (C)V, while
over a quarter have the shape (C)VC.
Tri-syllabic morphemes make up approximately 18% of all native morphemes
(355 of 1954). The majority of these, over 73%, have the shape (C)VCVCV (e.g.
kángáyà ‘fever’, kàràsà ‘curious person’, etc.).
1.5.2 Harmonic Constraints within Morphemes
Like the Sara and Sara Kaba languages, there are fairly strict harmonic constraints
on the co-occurrence of vowels within a morpheme. In the majority of native bi-syllabic
morphemes, approximately 63.6% of 1362, the vowel in both syllables is the same.7 Of
the seven vowels, only the barred-i does not permit this pattern: the sequence “ɨ ... ɨ”
does not occur.
Of the possible remaining patterns, only five are common (that is, occurring in
more than forty words in the current version of the lexicon). These include:
1. ɨ...a8 (76 words)
bᵼrà ‘until’ kᵼ̄ ɗā ‘debt’
bᵼ̄ rā ‘net’ dᵼbà ‘water scooper’
2. i...a (58 words)
dìsà ‘to shave’ cìlà ‘to exceed’
mìká ‘six’ cìnà ‘to raise animals’
3. ǝ...u (57 words)
əlù ‘mosquito’ əmù ‘nose’
kənù ‘to plunge’ əsù ‘odor’
4. a...o (52 words)
njàmò ‘squirrel’ pàpò ‘type of snake’
kàskó ‘market’ àpò ‘hippopotamus’
5. u...o (44 words)
cūŋō ‘bone’ gùgò ‘to repay’
kūbō ‘seeds’ kūŋō ‘axe’
We find, then, that of the dozens of possible combination of vowels, the vast
majority, nearly 85%, of bi-syllabic morphemes contain either the same vowels or one
of the five patterns shown above.
Other less common patterns include:
6. a...e (31 words)
kàɓē ‘to go’ àcè ‘to be red’
ánjē ‘clay’ kānjē ‘fish’
7. i...e (30 words)
jírē ‘truth’ kìjè ‘insect’
kìndē ‘guitar’ kìrē ‘free of charge’

7
Of approximately 1362 native bi-syllabic moprhemes in the lexicon, 271 contain “a...a”, 99
contain “e...e”, 62 contain “ə...ə”, 108 contain “i...i”, 189 contain “o...o” and 139 contain “u...u”.
8
u...a is found when the intervening consonant is ‘w’, e.g. lūwā ‘year’, sūwā ‘type of straw mat’,
and ƴūwá ‘porcupine’.

x
 8. ɨ ... ǝ (27 words)
gᵼrə ‘to burp’ bᵼ̄ lə̄ ‘to roll on ground’
gᵼsə ‘to be blocked’ kᵼɓə̂ ‘to gather together’
9. a...i (20 words)
tāgrī ‘evening’ sàbì ‘two’
pàkì ‘type of dance’ dàalì ‘no more’
10. u...a (18 words)
búbà ‘pat. aunt’ cúrà ‘eldest son of sultan’
lūkā ‘year’ kúkā ‘type of tree’
11. o...e (17 words)
jòrè ‘to be sweet’ kōrē ‘type of pot’
kósé ‘bean cracker’ ōmē ‘hare’
Several additional observations are worth making. While the vowel ‘a’ can occur in the
first syllable of morphemes whose second vowel ‘a’, ‘e’, ‘i’, ‘o’ or ‘u’, it does not occur
when the second vowel is schwa or barred-i. The mid vowel ‘e’ is almost non-existent in
the first syllable except when the second syllable also contains ‘e’. The same is true with
the mid vowel ‘o’, except that it also occurs when the second syllable contains ‘e’ (e.g.
examples 11).
Barred-i is an unusual vowel in several ways. First, unlike the other vowels, it
is never occurs in final position, and is extremely rare in the second syllable of a bi-
syllabic word (we currently only have example). There are no examples of it occurring
in final position. Even in the first syllable, it is found in limited environments. It is
common in the first syllable of a morphemes whose second syllable contains ‘a’ (e.g.
example 2), uncommon when it is ‘ǝ’ (e.g. examples 8), but otherwise almost non-
existent.
The patterns noted here are important because serve to greatly limit the range
of possible sounds that a speaker needs to recognize when listening to Bagirmi speech.
1.6. Final Vowel Dropping
In Bagirmi, a large percentage of multi-syllabic words are candidates for
vowel-dropping, a process were the vowel is dropped in non-final position. In the
following sentence, for example, the final ‘o’ of the verb kòlò ‘to cut’ is dropped:
M-ét kòl jā.
I-am cutting meat.
‘I am cutting meat.’
The final vowel is not dropped in sentence-final position, in clause-final position when
there is a pause, and often when the word is spoken in isolation. In this work, the lexical
entry for words of this type will be listed with a slash before the final vowel (e.g. kòl/ò
‘to cut’, kàr/à ‘toad’).
There are also a fairly large number of candidates for vowel-dropping which do
not permit the final vowel to be dropped. In the following sentence, for example, the
final ‘a’ of the verb ācā ‘to cut, chop’ cannot dropped.
m-ācā kāk ná.
I-cut wood the.
‘I cut the wood.’

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In general, words which are candidates for vowel-dropping but where the vowel is not
dropped will be marked with an asterisk in the lexicon (e.g. kìndē * ‘traditional guitar’).
Mono-syllabic words and multi-morphemic words will not be marked.
A number of phonological factors are involved in determining whether a
morpheme is candidate for vowel-dropping. We have already noted that morphemes
with the shape CV and CVV are excluded. Multi-syllabic morphemes ending in CCV
are also not candidates for vowel-dropping. A final “a” is not normally dropped when in
a bisyllabic morpheme where the vowel in first syllable is not “a”. Thus, the patterns
“i...a”, “ɨ...a” or “u...a” do not undergo vowel dropping. Even tri-syllabic morphemes
ending in “a” do not normally drop the final vowel if the penultimate syllable contains
“i”, “u”, or “ɨ”.
Likely candidates for final vowel dropping include bi-syllabic words where
both the vowels are the same, words ending in any vowel other than “a” where the
vowel in the first syllable is “a”, as well as several other patterns, including “ǝ...u”:
ànà/àn ‘to bear fruit’ bəbù/bəb ‘father’
āɓē/āɓ ‘to go’ àpò/àp ‘hippopotamus’
Occasionally the meaning of a word in a sentence is determined by whether the
final vowel can be dropped:
ŋōn ná òyò gà. ‘The child is heavy.’
ngàɓ ná òy gà. ‘The man is dead.’
In final position, òyò means both ‘to be heavy’ and ‘to die’. But the fact that the final ‘o’
cannot be dropped with ‘to be heavy’ disambiguates their meanings.

1.7 Changes in Voicing

Bagirmi words undergo two conflicting processes which at times makes the
determination of their transcription difficult. First, whenever a voiced consonant is in
final position or when it is immediately followed by a voiceless consonant, then it is
pronounced voiceless:
. Kᵼ̄ lā jùm ná gòt sàb.
Divide “boule” the parts two.
‘Divide the “boule” in two parts.’
. M-ét ámàr búndùk-úm sè bàrúùd.
I-am loading rifle-my with gun.powder.
‘I am loading my musket with gunpowder.’
. Mā ná m-kámbē ān kúɲ kū ān bəb kū.
Me Spec. I-am.pure of mother and of father and.
‘I am pure-blooded, both from my mother and my father.’
Thus, in the first two examples, the sentence-final voiced consonant is pronounced
voiceless (sàb [sàp] ‘two’ and bàrúùd [bàrúùt] ‘gunpowder’), and in the third
example, bəb kū ‘and father’ is pronounced [bəp kū]. This change is general, occurring
both in quick speech and careful speech.
Voiced consonants, on the other hand, can be pronounced voiceless in intervocalic
position:

xii
 . Ngā gē ná èt ɓē-í kī lè?
guests Pl. the are your-house Loc. Qu?
‘Are the guests at your house?’
. Ngàɓ gà-nú-ǹ né ná kàpā-mà.
man that he Spec. friend-my.
‘That man is my friend.’
Thus, in the recording for the first sentence kī is pronounced [gī], and in the second
sentence kàpā is pronounced [kàbā].9 However, in careful speech, this change does not
occur.
Hence, when selecting the valid entry for the lexicon, we have chosen the form
spoken in careful speech. Thus, kàpā ‘friend’ is transcribed with a ‘p’ because it is
spoken with a ‘p’ in careful speech. But sàbì ‘two’ is transcribed with ‘b’, despite the
fact that it becomes [sàp] in final position, because it can never be pronounced as ‘p’ in
intervocalic position (e.g. [sàpì] is not possible).

9
Because of this alteration I initially had transcribed a number of words incorrectly (e.g.kākā
‘tree’ was transcribed as kāgā). Thanks to Nathanael Szobody for pointing many of these out.

xiii
2 Syntactic Notes

2.1 Word Order

2.1.1. Sentence Order
Bagirmi is clearly a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language:
. Kúɲ-úm àɓ tàr bā.
Mother-my went by river.
‘My mother went to the riverside.’
. né n-áɓ bàŋrí.
he he.went west.
‘He went west.’
Even with interrogative sentences, there is a tendency to place the interrogative marker
in its normal position in the sentence:
ī ét nō ná ān-ɗī à?
you are crying Spec. why Qu?
‘Why are you crying?’
We will also see in section 2.1.3.3.2 below that verbless sentences are possible in
Bagirmi, in which case the subject is in initial position, followed by the predicate
complement:
ŋōn ènná cèkdè.
child that cripple
‘That child is a cripple.’
2.1.2 Word Order in the Noun Phrase
The noun itself is the first member of the noun phrase. In the simplest cases it is
followed by a specifier, which can be the definite article ná, the indefinite article kéɗē
‘a’ (literally ‘one’), or a demonstrative such as gètènnà:
. gáw ná sámā gètènnà
hunter the broom that
‘the hunter’ ‘that broom’
. N-ák tòbyò kéɗē.
he-saw lion a
‘He saw a lion.’
If the noun is indefinite there is a tendency to use kéɗē ‘one, a’, but it is not required.
Possessives also follow the noun. It is possible for the specifier ná to follow, but it
does not seem to be required:
. rī-í ná làw-í
name-your Spec. words-your
your name ‘your words’
. mbākūwā-ḿ ná kúɲ-úm
neighbor-my Spec. mother-my
my neighbor ‘my mother’

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 Nominal complements also follow the noun; a specifier can then follow the
complement:
kəw dèɓ ná kúɲ màràp
soul person the mother crocodile
‘the person’s soul’ ‘a crocodile mother’
The relative clause, introduced by gà ‘that, who, whom, which’, follows the noun,
and can then be followed by a Specifier.
. Súkàr gà ndūgō njōó ná
sugar that you-bought last.night the
‘the sugar you bought last night’
. béylē gà dìsà Ásàn ná
rasor that shaved Hassan the
‘the rasor that shaved Hassan’
. ārdī gà ān ɓày-úm ná
soil that of field-my the
‘the soil in my field’
If a nominal or pronominal possessive is also present, it precedes the relative
clause:
. gàl-úm gà gèl ná
side-my that left the
‘my left side’
. jī ŋōn gà dù èt ngālá ná
hand child that sore is in.it the
‘the child’s hand that has a sore’
Numbers and Quantifiers (e.g. pét ‘all’) also follow the noun:
. mòt só
times four
‘four times’
. dèɓ gē pét
people Pl. all
‘everyone’
. šúngū dūbú dùk-mᵼtá
money thousand thirty
‘thirty-thousand “reals” (=150,000 CFA)’
The quantifier pét ‘all’ normally follows the possessive and the specifier:
. dèɓ gē ná pét
person Pl. the all
‘all the people’
. kìyā-íɲ pét
knife-his all
‘all his knives’

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The plural marker gē follows the possessive:
. ngòl á-jè gē ná
ancestor our Pl. the
‘our ancestors’
. àŋ-úm gē
goat-my Pl.
‘my goats’
All other elements of the nouns phrase follow the plural marker, including
numbers, quantifiers, specifiers and relative clauses:
. Nēé gē mᵼtá
woman Pl. three
‘three women’
. dèɓ gē pét
person Pl. all
‘all the people, everyone’
. cílâŋ gē gà èt ènn ná
stick Pl. that are there Spec.
‘those sticks there’
In summary, a likely ordering of the elements found in a noun phrase is as follows:
Optional Optional Optional Optional Optional
NOUN + + + + +
Possessive Plural gē Rel. Clause Spec. Quantifier
This outline is tentative, and a more complete investigation of possible variant orders
needs to be undertaken.
When a prepositional phrase is found in a noun phrase, it is normally within a
relative clause:10
šáyà gà ngāl pìnjāl ná
tea that in teapot the
‘the tea in the teapot’
2.1.3 Word Order in the Prepositional Phrase
The prepositional phrase consists of a preposition followed by a noun phrase.
. sè ánjè . dᵼbàn-í.
‘with clay’ ‘without you’
It is very common for a prepositional phrase to be closed with a type of
postposition which we will call a Locative. In Bagirmi the locative is kī. It is used with
most prepositions. Szobody(ND2) has noted that it is only used when the noun phrase is
definite:

10
An apparent exception to this is when the prepositions dís and sè are used as conjunctions
meaning ‘and’, as in ŋōn ènn dís bəb-íɲ ná, ‘that boy and his father’.

xvi
 . mālā-ɓòk ànjà ngāl kúj ná kī.
thief entered in house the Loc.
‘The thief entered the house.’
. mālā-ɓòk ànjà ngāl kúj kéɗē.
thief entered in house a.
‘The thief entered a house.’
The Locative will be discussed with prepositions in section 2.2.5.13 below.
2.1.4 Word Order in the Verb Phrase
The word order of the verb phrase is fairly straightforward. The verb is in initial
position, followed immediately by verbal complements (direct object or the location for
verbs of motion), followed by any prepositional phrases:
. N-ús àlàɲgàwà jò-ɲ́ kī.
He put straw-hat head-his Loc.
‘He put a straw hat on his head.’
. Nēé gē ná èt pát wā sè ālgápā.
Woman Pl the are winnowing millet with straw.plate.
‘The women are winnowing the millet with straw plates.’
. ŋōn ná àl jò kāk ná kī gòt kùk kàn kākā.
child Spec climbed up tree the Loc. for picking fruit tree.
‘The child climbed up the tree to pick fruit.’
. Kúɲ-úm àɓ tàr bā ān njùgò kàlkō gē.
mother-my went by river for washing clothes Pl.
‘My mother went to the river to wash clothes.’
If the indirect object is a specified noun, it is normally contained within a
prepositional phrase headed by the preposition ān ‘for, to’, which follows the direct
object. If the indirect object is a pronoun, then it is attached to the verb and precedes the
direct object.
N-ád-ūm jā m -̀ sáà.
he-gave-me meat I-ate.it.
‘He gave me some meat and I ate it.’
The pronominal direct object for inanimate objects need not be specified:
nǝ́ -kàd mùj-íɲ gà mbàs ná kī.
he-gave.it brother-his that is.small Spec. Loc.
‘He gave it to his little brother.’
The negative èlí ‘not’ is normally placed at the end of the verb phrase. The
position of other adverbs will be discussed in section 2.2.6 below.
2.1.5 Topicalization
Topicalization is the process of moving a word, phrase or clause to the front of a
sentence in order to give it greater emphasis. An interesting characteristic of Bagirmi
speech is the strong tendency to topicalize one or more of the noun phrases in a sentence
before making a statement about them. This fronted noun phrase at times is taken from
within the verb phrase, in which case it is normally replaced by a pronoun:

xvii
 . Bís gà èt tòɗ ɓī gàl pəɗ ná kī ná, njūw-íɲ èlí.
dog that is lying sleep by fire the Loc. the, wake-it not.
‘Don’t wake the dog that is asleep next to the fire.’
. Làw-í gà ét dᵼgà ná, mā m-ák-íɲ làw pú.
words-you that you-are saying the, I I-see-them words no.sense.
‘I find what you are saying to have no sense.’
In the first case, the fronted noun phrase is the direct object of the verb, and we find the
pronoun -íɲ ‘it’ replacing it in the verb phrase, after the verb njūw ‘to wake’. In the
second example, -íɲ ‘it’ is used to replace ‘the words that you are saying’, which has
been fronted.
The fronted noun phrase can also be the object of a preposition within the verb
phrase:
Nēé dís nì ná, āmānā gòtó dàn-jé kī.
woman with co-wife the confidence exists.not between-them Loc.
‘There is no confidence between a woman and a co-wife.’
In this case the extracted noun phrase ha been replaced in the main clause by the
pronoun -jé, ‘them’.
In other cases the fronted noun phrase pertains to the Subject, typically the
“possessive” complement to the main noun:
. Mālā kàcà tòk gē ná, kūŋō-jé gē ná ngòlò ngòlò.
master cutting pirogue Pl. the, axe-their Pl. Spec. be.big be.big.
‘The axes of pirogue makers are very big.’
. ɓúlī gètènná, gàl kéɗē á-ī kī, gàl kéɗē á-ɲíɲ kī.
peants those, part one for-you Loc, part one for-him Loc.
‘Those peanuts, one part is for you and one part is for him.’
Thus, in the first example, the full noun phrase for the “pirogue cutters” has been
fronted, and a pronoun -jé has been left after the noun kūŋō ‘axe’ to indicate the
owners. In the second example, however, the fronted “peanuts” are the logical
complement to “part”, but no pronoun is left with gàl.
It is even possible for the fronted noun phrase to be extracted from a relative
clause:
ɗəb ɓày á-mā ná jūrū gà ngālá ná ān ɓōló.
road field my Spec. forest that in.it the enter danger.
‘The forest that the road to my field passes through is dangerous.’
Here “the road to my field” has been extracted from subject position of the relative
clause “gà ɗəb ɓày á-mā ná ngālá ná”, ‘which the road to my field is within’, and
moved to the front of the sentence.
A weaker form of topicalization is one where the subject itself is a noun, but then
the pronoun né is added for emphasis:
Gúm ná né ƴèl mālā gádàr nə-tèk njōó ɗé.
Owl Spec. he bird master bad.intentions he.will-go.out night only.
‘The owl is a bird of bad intentions, it only goes out at night.’

xviii
 One sometimes gets the impression that the Bagirmi speaker tends use
topicalization to set up all the players before getting on to stating the activity they are
involved in. The following example is by no means atypical:
ƴìb kòrlò ná zàmàn-cáa ná gáw ná jò mò-ɲ́
tail.hair giraffe Spec. time-long.ago Spec. hunter Spec. if he-found-it
‘The hair of the tail of a giraffe, in the past, a hunter, if he obtained it
jó ɗā-káw nə-kìɗè sè-ɲ́ ān mbàŋ kī ɗé.
Post. anywhere, he.will-come with-it to sultan Loc. only.
anywhere he would just bring it to the sultan.’

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2.2 Parts of Speech
2.2.1 Nouns
Nouns in Bagirmi are not marked for case or gender. The plural marker is gē:
àŋ ‘goat’ àŋ gē ‘goats’
dèɓè ‘person’ dèɓ gē ‘people’
The plural of ŋōn ‘child’ is irregular, ŋán gē.
Possessive nouns directly follow the noun “possessed” without morphological
marking:
kúɲ màrà ‘the crocodile’s mother [litt: mother crocodile]’
hál màn ‘the water’s characteristics [litt: characteristic water]’
Unlike the Sara languages, but like the Sara Kaba Languages, Bagirmi does not
clearly distinguish between inalienable and alienable nouns, that is, nouns which are
intrinsically linked to a complement, and those which are not. In the Sara languages
inalienable nouns (parts of the human body, family and social relationships, etc.) must
be followed directly by their “possessor”, while other nouns require a preposition (e.g.
lò ‘of’ in Mbay and Sar) if a “possessor” is used. In Bagirmi, the “possessor” can either
follow a noun directly, or it can be connected by means of the preposition ān ‘of, for’.
For example, the word ɓē ‘village, compound, home’, which is not an inalienable noun
in Sara languages, appears both with the preposition ān (e.g. ɓē ān nēé-má ‘the village
of my wife’) and without (e.g. ɓē mbàŋ ‘ the compound of the sultan’). The same is true
when possessive pronouns are found: thus the word mùj ‘brother’ can be used with the
prepositions ān (e.g. mùj ān á-mā ‘my brother’) or without (mùj-úmà ‘my brother’).
Nonetheless, it appears at times that some remnants of the alienable/inalienable
distinction remain, particularly with parts of the human body. These words are much
more commonly found without the preposition ān. For example, ngāl-úm òɲ mā ‘my
stomach is hurting me’ is common, but ngāl ān á-mā ‘my stomach’ sounds strange. But
the preposition ān can be used with parts of the human body for emphasis:
Háy, mā m-tūm jī ān náŋà wà? Jī ān á-mā.
Oh.no, me I-stepped.on hand of who Qu? Hand of me.
Oh no, whose hand did I step on. It was my hand.
With personal relationships such as kinship terms, on the other hand, there
appears to be no constraint upon the use of the preposition.
2.2.2. Pronouns
Pronouns in Bagirmi can be either independent words or affixes (suffixes or
prefixes) attached to nouns, verbs and prepositions. Pronouns are not marked for gender.
2.2.2.1 Independent Pronouns. The independent forms are used to add a degree of
emphasis to a pronoun:
mā ‘me, as for me, etc.’
ī ‘you, as for you, etc.’
néè ‘him/her, as for him/her’
jè ‘us, as for us’

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 sè ‘you (pl.), as for you, etc.’
jéè ‘them, as for them, etc.’
The form néè ‘him/her’ and jéè ‘them’ often becomes né and jé, as they are most
commonly found in non-final position. The independent forms are not tied to any
grammatical role, and can refer to the subject, the object or the possessive. They are
commonly used together with other pronoun affixes:
Mā m-ét ɓōl-íɲ èlí. ‘As for me, I fear him not.’
Né tāɗjò-ḿ mā. ‘He did it for me.’
ī gà mālā òj-kō ná… ‘you who are so clever…’
ī āɓ tā. ‘you are leaving?’
dís-íɲ néè ‘with him’
búbá-ɲ néè ‘his father’
jè j-àcà kākā ‘we are chopping wood’
Jò ī āɓ dís-jé jè gàná … ‘if you had gone with us then …’
2.2.2.2 Pronominal Subject. The subject pronouns for verbs are:
1st person singular, ‘I’
mᵼ- (simple aspect, with verb root beginning with a consonant)
m- (simple aspect, with verb root beginning with a vowel or when
m- follows a vowel)
2nd person singular, ‘you’
ī- (simple aspect, with verb root beginning with a consonant)
3rd person singular, ‘he, she’
n- (with verb root beginning with a vowel).
1st person plural, ‘we’
jᵼ- (verb root beginning with a consonant)
j- (verb root beginning with a vowel)
1st and 2nd person plural suffix
-kī (invariable)
3rd person plural, ‘they’
jᵼ- (verb root beginning with a consonant)
j- (simple aspect, verb root beginning with a vowel)
The 1st and 2nd person plural subject is indicated by the suffix -kī rather than by a prefix.
In the case of the 2nd person plural, it is required, in the case of the 1st person plural it is
optional; its presence does not appear to entail a semantic change (e.g.
inclusive/exclusive). The verb stem also undergoes tonal changes which will be
discussed in 2.7 below. A sample conjugation with a verb beginning with a vowel and
with a consonant follows:
a. m-ācā kākā ‘I chopped wood’
ī ācā kākā ‘you chopped wood’
né n-ácá kākā ‘he/she chopped wood’
ngàɓ àcà kākā ‘the man chopped wood’
jè j-àcà kākā ‘we chopped wood’
sè ācā-kī kākā ‘you (pl.) chopped wood’
jé j-ácá kākā ‘they chopped wood’

xxi
 b. m̀-mā ŋōn ná ‘I helped the child’
ī mā ŋōn ná ‘you helped the child’
né máà ŋōn ná ‘he/she helped the child’
ngàɓ mà ŋōn ná ‘the man helped the child’
jè jᵼ-mà ŋōn ná ‘we helped the child’
sè mā-kī ŋōn ná ‘you (pl.) helped the child’
jé jᵼ-mà ŋōn ná ‘they helped the child’
2.2.2.3 Pronominal Object of Verb. The verbal object pronouns are used both with
direct and indirect objects:
1st person singular, ‘me, to me’
-úmà (final position, after a consonant)
-ḿà (final position, after a vowel)
-ḿ (non-final position, after a vowel)
-úm (non-final position, after a consonant)
2nd person singular, ‘you, to you’
-ī (invariable)
3rd person singular, ‘him, her’
-íɲà (final position, after a consonant)
-ɲ́ à (final position, after a vowel)
-ɲ́ (non-final position, after a vowel)
-íɲ (non-final position, after a consonant)
1st person plural, ‘us’
-jè (invariable)
2nd person plural, ‘you’
-sè (invariable)
3rd person plural, ‘they’
-jé (invariable)
2.2.2.4 Oblique Pronouns. The oblique pronominal affixes are used both as
possessives of nouns and as objects of prepositions. The singular forms are identical to
the object forms:
1st person singular, ‘my, me (obj. of preposition)’
-úmà (final position, after a consonant)
-ḿà (final position, after a vowel)
-ḿ (non-final position, after a vowel)
-úm (non-final position, after a consonant)
2nd person singular, ‘your, you (obj. of preposition)’
-í (all positions, after both vowels and consonants)
3rd person singular, ‘his, her; him, her (obj. of preposition)’
-íɲà (final position, after a consonant)
-ɲ́ à (final position, after a vowel)
-ɲ́ (non-final position, after a vowel)
-íɲ (non-final position, after a consonant)
1st person plural, ‘us’
-jé (invariable)

xxii
 2nd person plural, ‘you’
-sé (invariable)
3rd person plural, ‘they’
-jé (invariable)
The initial High tone of the 1st person singular -ḿà and 3rd person singular -ɲ́ à is
moved to a preceding vowel: thus njùlò-ḿà ‘my tongue’ becomes njùló-mà, and
njùlò–ɲ́ à ‘his tongue’ becomes njùló-ɲà. We used the forms -ḿà and –ɲ́ à (rather than
–mà and –ɲà) as the dictionary entries for these suffixes because it is the only way of
capturing the fact that the morphemes begin with high tone. In sentences, however, they
always appears as –mà and –ɲà, with the high tone borne by the preceding vowel.
The 1st person plural form is identical to the 3rd person plural form. There is an
alternative emphatic possessive form, similar in meaning to the oblique forms listed
above, but perhaps indicating a slightly greater degree of emphasis:
á-mā ‘my’ á-jè ‘our’
á-ī ‘your’ á-sè ‘your (pl.)
á-ɲíɲà ‘his, her’ á-jé ‘their’
The use of these emphatic forms eliminates the ambiguity between ‘our’ and ‘their’. The
3rd person form á-ɲíɲà is commonly abbreviated as á-ɲà.
The emphatic possessives can be preceded by the preposition ān:
mùj ān á-mā ‘my brother’
mùj ān á-ī ‘your brother’
mùj ān á-ɲà ‘his/her brother’
mùj ān á-jè ‘our brother’
mùj ān á-sè ‘your (pl.) brother’
mùj ān á-jé ‘their brother’
2.2.2.5 Possessive Pronouns
The emphatic emphasizers can also be used as possessive pronouns:
á-mā ‘mine’ á-jè ‘ours’
á-ī ‘yours’ á-sè ‘yours (pl.)’
á-ɲà ‘his, hers’ á-jé ‘theirs’
Some examples:
. gàl ná á-ī kī.
half the yours Loc.
‘half is yours.’
. gàl kéɗē á-ɲ kī.
part one his Loc.
‘one part is his.’
. á-mā gòtó.
Mine exists.not.
‘mine doesn’t exist, I don’t have any.’
. á-jè gē gòtó.
ours Pl. exists.not.
‘ours doesn’t exist, we don’t have any.’

xxiii
More commonly, these forms are preceded by the preposition ān ‘for’, to’:
. cílâŋ gà èt ènn ná ān á-mā.
stick that of me.
‘this stick is mine/for me.’
. ènná ān á-jé gē.
this of them pl.
‘these are theirs/for them.’
. Né làw búndùk gètènn ān á-ɲ mālā.
He says rifle that of him his.own
‘he says that that rifle is truly his.’
. ān á-ī èlí.
of you not.
‘it is not yours.’
2.2.2.5 The Reciprocal Pronoun
The reciprocal pronoun in Bagirmi is nàpó, ‘one another, each other’:
. Jè j-èt kàɓ sè nàp díndín.
We we-are going with one.another often.
‘We visit one another often.’
. ngàɓ gē sàb tōl nàpó.
man Pl. two killed each.other.
‘The two men killed each other.’
The reciprocal pronoun can be used both as the object of a verb and as the object of a
preposition (e.g. sè nàp ná ‘with one another’).
2.2.2.4 Specifiers as Pronouns
Most specifiers (see section 2.2.3 below) can also be used as pronouns. The
indefinite plural specifier kéɗē-gē ‘some’ can be used as a pronoun meaning ‘some,
some of them’:
Kéɗē-gē ɗé, kéɗē-gē gòlēe ɗè èlí.
Some came, some on.the.contrary came not.
Some came, others, on the contrary, did not.

The demonstrative specifiers ènn, ènná, etc. ‘this, that, these’ (see section 2.2.3.3
below) can be used as pronouns to indicate ‘this one, that one, these ones, those ones’:
. ènná ān á-jé gē.
this.one of them Pl.
These belong to them.
. ènn lōktē gà dèɓ gē pét ùn àšāmō.
This moment that person Pl. all take fasting.
‘This is the moment when all the people fast.’
. ī-gé bàl-úm gètènná làbà gà èt ènn ná?
you.want goat-my that or that.one?
‘Do you want this billygoat or that one?’

xxiv
 The pronoun nén is used to indicate a single object:
ád-ūm jó nén kūyú.
give-me to one other.
Give me another one.
2.2.3 Specifiers:
Specifiers are words that delimit nouns, and include demonstratives, articles,
quantifiers and numerals.
2.2.3.1 The Specifier ná:
The specifier ná has a such a wide range of uses that at times it seems difficult to
find a sentence that does not contain it. One of its important uses is as the definite
article, where it can be translated into English as ‘the’:
. Nāl ná òcò ngāl mù tùt ná kī.
coals the fell on grass dry the Loc.
‘The coals fell on the dry grass.’
. ŋōn ná òcò nàŋ ārdī.
child the fell down ground.
‘The child fell to the ground.’
When used as the article it is often found far from the noun it is delimiting:
. šúngū-ɲ́ gà ndúgō sè ɓē-ɲ́ ná kōró tébré ná.
money-his that he.sell with house-his Spec. off yesterday the
the money that he got for selling his house yesterday
. njā gà ɗáŋ j-àɓ sè kàskó dís-í ná
day that very we-went on.it to.market with-you the
the very day I went with you to the market.
In each of these noun phrases, the specifier ná at the end of the phrase is used to delimit
the noun at the start.
As noted in Section 2.1.2 ná is used to add an element of emphasis to phrases
where no definite article would be allowed in most European languages. It can be used
after possessive suffixes:
. ŋōnō-ḿ ná mbàs òcò.
child-my the is.small very.
‘My child is very small.’
. Kīnjá-ḿ ná òm kàɓ kòcó.
chicken-my the laid eggs a.lot.
‘My chicken layed a lot of eggs.’
It can also be used after a prossessive pronoun:
. ān á-ī gē ná èt ɗā?
Of your Pl. the is where?
‘Where are yours?’

xxv
 . Jī ān á-mā ná jàmó.
Hand of me the is.long.
‘My hand is long.’
It can be used to accentuate preceding adverbs and adverbial clauses:
Tébré ná mᵼ-tāɗ cídà nòkó.
Yesterday Spec I-did work a.lot.
Yesterday I worked a lot.
As we have also seen in section 2.1.2 above, the specifier ná follows most other
elements within the noun phrase, including the relative clause:
. Súkàr gà ndūgō njōó ná às-ūm èlí.
sugar that you.bought last.night the suffices-me not.
‘The sugar you bought last night is not enough for me.’
. àŋ ān mùj-úm ná òƴ gà.
goat of brother-my the gave.birth already.
‘My brother’s goat gave birth.’
. ārdī gà ān ɓày-úm ná
soil that of field-my Spec.
‘the soil in my field’
. bís gà èt tòɗ ɓī gàl pəɗ ná kī ná
dog that is lying sleep by fire the Loc. the
‘the dog that is sleeping next to the fire’
In the last example, there are two definite articles: gàl pəɗ ná is best translated as
‘by the fire’, while the phrase-final ná ‘the’ is the determiner for ‘dog’.
The specifier ná is used to indicate a noun as a generalization, where the
indefinite article ‘a’ would be found in English:
. Nēé dùsù ná ngàɓ kùy-íɲ kèské èlí.
woman dirty Spec. man marry-her quickly not.
‘A dirty woman, no man will quickly marry her.’
. ɓəj ná, ɓəj kīnjá káw ná, àɲ-íɲ àwò.
fool the, fool chicken even the, flee-him far.
‘A fool, even if he is the fool offspring of a chicken, stay away from him.’
. Njā kūl ná nēé gē ná àm pét pét.
Day cold the woman Pl. the get.pregnant all all.
‘On a cold day all the women get pregnant.’
. Nēé dís nì ná, āmānā gòtó dàn-jé kī.
woman with rival the, understanding exists.not between-them Loc.
‘There is no understanding between a woman and her co-wife.’
No distinction is made for number with the definite article:
. àsàmà ná njāníkī àk yár.
sky the today is.clear perfectly.
‘The sky is perfectly clear today.’

xxvi
 . Nēé gē ná èt pát wā sè ālgápā.
woman Pl. the are winnowing millet with straw.plate.
‘The women are winnowing the millet with a straw plate.’
As noted in section 2.1.5 above, the article ná is also used to mark the end of a
phrase that has been topicalized. In these cases it usually requires no translation:
. Kàɓ-íɲ gà Màsìɲā ná, né n-áɓ gòt kàk bəb-íɲà.
Go-his that Massenya Spec. he he-went for seeing father-his.
‘On going to Massenya he went to see his father.’
. Tébré ná mā mᵼ-njí góɗ-ī bᵼráa ɗáŋ ī ɗéè èlí ná jò-ɗī wà?
yesterday Spec. me I-sat waiting-you long but you came not Spec. why Qu?
‘Yesterday I waited a long time for you but you didn’t come – why not?’
The noun phrases specified with ná, then, need not be definite, and ná is often
used to translate ‘a’:
. Mᵼlà ná ngòl lè?
cat the is.big Qu?
Is the cat big?
. Mᵼlà ná né ngòl lè?
cat Spec. it is.big Qu?
Is a cat big?
2.2.3.2 The Indefinite Article
When the noun is indefinite, no article is required:
. kèj èt ngāl jūrū ná kī.
elephant is in forest the Loc.
‘An elephant is in the forest.’
. Nēé gē ná èt pát wā sè ālgápā.
woman Pl. the are winnowing millet with straw.plate.
‘The women are winnowing the millet with a straw plate.’
Thus, the noun phrases ‘an elephant’ and ‘a straw mat’ use no indefinite article.
However, it is very common for the indefinite article kéɗē, literally ‘one’, be used to
accentuate the indefiniteness of a noun:
. ād-ūm kāɗ-mbī kéɗē.
give-me spoon one.
‘Give me a spoon.’
. né kíɗè sè-ḿ jó ràgà kéɗē.
he will.come with-me here mat one.
‘He will bring me a mat.’
The indefinite article kéɗē-gē is used to indicate an indefinite plural, where it is
translated as ‘certain, some’:
Ngàɓ kéɗē-gē ná èt-jó jó ŋán gē sàbì.
Man certain Spec. is-them of child Pl. two.
‘Certain men have/had two sons.’

xxvii
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 Romamti-ezer, his sons and his brethren,
twelve.
22. Jeremoth] Called Jerimoth, verse 4.

Chapter XXVI.
1‒12 (compare ix. 17‒27).
The Courses of the Doorkeepers.

¹For the courses of the doorkeepers: of the

Korahites; Meshelemiah ¹ the son of Kore, of
the sons of Asaph ². ²And Meshelemiah had
sons; Zechariah the firstborn, Jediael the
second, Zebadiah the third, Jathniel the fourth;
¹ In verse 14, Shelemiah. ² In chapter ix. 19, Ebiasaph.

1. Meshelemiah, etc.] For the names of the doorkeepers see

notes on ix. 17 ff.

of the sons of Asaph] For Asaph read Ebiasaph, as in ix. 19.

³Elam the fifth, Jehohanan the sixth,

Eliehoenai the seventh.
3. Eliehoenai] The form differs from that in iii. 23, but has the
same meaning, viz., “Mine eyes are towards Jehovah.”
 ⁴And Obed-edom had sons; Shemaiah the
firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the
third, and Sacar the fourth, and Nethanel the
fifth;
4. Obed-edom] For Obed-edom see xiii. 13, note.

⁵Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh,

Peullethai the eighth: for God blessed him.
⁶Also unto Shemaiah his son were sons born,
that ruled over the house of their father: for
they were mighty men of valour.
5. for God blessed him] “him” refers to “Obed-edom” (verse 4),
who was blessed with eight sons. It seems likely that the phrase
“God blessed him” is intended to be a reminiscence of xiii. 14 and
indicates that the Levitical Obed-edom was strangely identified by
tradition with Obed-edom the Gittite in whose house the Ark was
temporarily left by David (xiii. 13). For other references to Obed-
edom as one of the doorkeepers, see xv. 18, 24, xvi. 38. On the
other hand he is classed as a singer in xv. 21, xvi. 5, passages which
are probably additions to the original text of Chronicles, or at any
rate represent later or divergent tradition.

⁷The sons of Shemaiah; Othni, and Rephael,

and Obed, Elzabad, whose brethren were
valiant men, Elihu, and Semachiah. ⁸All these
were of the sons of Obed-edom: they and their
sons and their brethren, able men in strength
for the service; threescore and two of Obed-
edom.
 7. whose brethren] The pronoun refers to Elzabad.

⁹And Meshelemiah had sons and brethren,

valiant men, eighteen.
9. Meshelemiah] Compare verses 1‒3 to which verse 9 is a
supplement.

¹⁰Also Hosah, of the children of Merari, had

sons; Shimri the chief, (for though he was not
the firstborn, yet his father made him chief;)
¹¹Hilkiah the second, Tebaliah the third,
Zechariah the fourth: all the sons and brethren
of Hosah were thirteen.
10. Hosah] He is mentioned as a doorkeeper along with Obed-
edom in xvi. 38.

¹²Of these were the courses of the

doorkeepers, even of the chief men, having
charges ¹ like as their brethren, to minister in
the house of the Lord.
¹ Or, wards over against their brethren.

12. Of these ... even of the chief men] In verses 8, 9, 11 taken

together ninety-three doorkeepers are enumerated, who are
presumably the heads of the four thousand mentioned in xxiii. 5. In
ix. 22 again the total number (as it seems) of doorkeepers is given
as two hundred and twelve. The discrepancy may be due to the
Chronicler having used different documents belonging to different
dates: for other possibilities see note on ix. 22.
 13‒19 (compare ix. 23‒26).
The Stations of the Doorkeepers.

Remark how naïvely the Chronicler names various parts of the

Temple as if it had been already in existence at this time.

¹³And they cast lots, as well the small as the

great, according to their fathers’ houses, for
every gate. ¹⁴And the lot eastward fell to
Shelemiah ¹. Then for Zechariah his son, a
discreet counsellor, they cast lots; and his lot
came out northward. ¹⁵To Obed-edom
southward; and to his sons the storehouse.
¹ In verse 1, Meshelemiah.

14. Shelemiah] i.e. Meshelemiah, verses 1, 2.

¹⁶To Shuppim and Hosah westward, by the

gate of Shallecheth ¹, at the causeway that
goeth up, ward against ward. ¹⁷Eastward were
six Levites, northward four a day, southward
four a day, and for the storehouse two and
two.
¹ That is, Casting forth.

16. To Shuppim and Hosah] Read, To Hosah. The word

“Shuppim” should be omitted from the text. It is merely an accidental
repetition (in a corrupt form) of the last word in verse 15, namely
“Asuppim,” rendered storehouse.
 by the gate of Shallecheth] There is no other mention in the Bible
of a gate “Shallecheth,” but it is perhaps to be identified with “the
entering in of the house of the Lord ... which was in the precincts”
(“Parvārim” Hebrew) mentioned 2 Kings xxiii. 11; compare note on
verse 18. Possibly the text should be corrected and we should read,
following the LXX., “by the gate of the chamber.”

at the causeway that goeth up] “The causeway” led up to the

Temple either from Ophel (on the south) or from the Western City
(across the Tyropœon Valley). Traces of two causeways have been
discovered by excavation, viz., “Wilson’s Arch” (Bädeker, Palestine⁵,
p. 65) and “Robinson’s Arch” (Palestine⁵ p. 66). The second of these
arches probably marks the site of a causeway belonging to the
period of the Kings.

¹⁸For Parbar ¹ westward, four at the causeway,

and two at Parbar ¹. ¹⁹These were the courses
of the doorkeepers; of the sons of the
Korahites, and of the sons of Merari.
¹ Or, the Precinct.

18. Parbar] This word, apparently the same as parvarim, 2 Kings

xxiii. 11 (Revised Version “precincts”; compare margin here), seems
to denote some building built on the Temple area on the west side. It
may have been a colonnade. The word is Persian and means
“lighted [by the sun].”

20‒32.
Various Officers.

²⁰And of the Levites ¹, Ahijah was over the

treasuries of the house of God, and over the
treasuries of the dedicated ² things.
 ¹ According to the Septuagint, And the Levites their brethren
were over &c.

² Hebrew holy things.

20. And of the Levites, Ahijah was over] Read (with LXX.;
compare margin), And the Levites their brethren were over. The
confusion of readings is easy in Hebrew; compare ii. 25 for a similar
case.

the dedicated things] Compare verses 26‒28.

²¹The sons of Ladan ¹; the sons of the

Gershonites belonging to Ladan, the heads of
the fathers’ houses belonging to Ladan the
Gershonite; Jehieli ².
¹ In chapter vi. 17, Libni. ² In chapter xxiii. 8, Jehiel.

21. Ladan] compare xxiii. 7; called Libni in vi. 17 [2, Hebrew].

Jehieli] Read Jehiel as in xxiii. 8, xxix. 8; and probably delete the

following “The sons of Jehieli,” compare xxiii. 8.

²²The sons of Jehieli; Zetham, and Joel his

brother, over the treasuries of the house of the
Lord.
22. Zetham, and Joel] These appear as brethren of Jehiel in xxiii.
8; but since families, not individuals, are spoken of, the discrepancy
is not important.
 ²³Of the Amramites, of the Izharites, of the
Hebronites, of the Uzzielites:
23. the Amramites, etc.] Compare xxiii. 12.

²⁴and Shebuel the son of Gershom, the son of

Moses, was ruler over the treasuries.
24. Shebuel] rather Shubael, as in xxiv. 20; compare xxiii. 16.

²⁵And his brethren; of Eliezer came Rehabiah

his son, and Jeshaiah his son, and Joram his
son, and Zichri his son, and Shelomoth his
son.
25. of Eliezer came Rehabiah] Compare xxiii. 15‒17, xxiv. 21.

Shelomoth] (so Kethīb); Authorized Version Shelomith follows

Ḳerī; compare verse 28 (margin).

²⁶This Shelomoth and his brethren were over

all the treasuries of the dedicated things,
which David the king, and the heads of the
fathers’ houses, the captains over thousands
and hundreds, and the captains of the host,
had dedicated. ²⁷Out of the spoil ¹ won in
battles did they dedicate to repair the house of
the Lord. ²⁸And all that Samuel the seer, and
Saul the son of Kish, and Abner the son of
Ner, and Joab the son of Zeruiah, had
dedicated; whosoever had dedicated any
 thing, it was under the hand of Shelomoth ²,
and of his brethren.
¹ Hebrew Out of the battles and the spoil.

² Hebrew Shelomith.

26. David the king] Compare xviii. 11.

²⁹Of the Izharites, Chenaniah and his sons

were for the outward business over Israel, for
officers and judges.
29. Izharites] Compare xxiii. 12.

the outward business] This business is here expressly defined as

work “for officers and judges,” as compared with the duties of
maintaining the worship of the Temple and the construction or repair
of the fabric (compare xxiii. 4; 2 Chronicles xix. 11; Nehemiah xi. 16).

³⁰Of the Hebronites, Hashabiah and his

brethren, men of valour, a thousand and
seven hundred, had the oversight of Israel
beyond Jordan westward; for all the business
of the Lord, and for the service of the king.
30. the Hebronites] Compare xxiii. 12.

had the oversight of Israel] How their duties were related to those
of Chenaniah and his sons (verse 29) is not made clear.

beyond Jordan westward] Compare Joshua xxii. 7, Revised

Version Western Palestine is meant.
 ³¹Of the Hebronites was Jerijah the chief, even
of the Hebronites, according to their
generations by fathers’ houses. In the fortieth
year of the reign of David they were sought
for, and there were found among them mighty
men of valour at Jazer of Gilead.
31. Jerijah] called Jeriah (Hebrew Jerijahu) in xxiii. 19.

at Jazer] compare vi. 81 (vi. 66, Hebrew); Numbers xxi. 32,

Revised Version The Eastern Hebronites were given office east of
Jordan; compare verse 32.

³²And his brethren, men of valour, were two

thousand and seven hundred, heads of
fathers’ houses, whom king David made
overseers over the Reubenites, and the
Gadites, and the half tribe of the Manassites,
for every matter pertaining to God, and for the
affairs of the king.
32. his brethren] i.e. the brethren of Jerijah. It is remarkable that
their number should be given as 2700 for the two and a half tribes,
whereas the overseers for the nine and a half tribes west of Jordan
are said to number only 1700. Curtis sees in this a hint of the
importance of Gilead in the Chronicler’s period (compare 1
Maccabees v. 45).
 Chapter XXVII.
The Organisation of the Military and
Civil Officials.
1‒15.
The divisions of the Army by Courses.

It is in keeping with the plan and spirit of the Chronicler that he

should not fail to ascribe to David, who for all his piety was
preeminently the warrior-king, the organisation on an immense scale
of the military and civil forces of the land. In monthly “courses” the
king is here said to be attended by officers and soldiers totalling
288,000 men! The enumeration of David’s “mighty men” in chapter
xi. 10 ff. is an utterly insufficient reason for supposing that the
present chapter cannot also come from the Chronicler. It is suitable
to his narrative, characteristic of his style, and, if further evidence be
needed, it may be found in the tone of the references to the civil and
military authorities in xxii. 17; xxiii. 2; xxviii. 1 ff., 21; xxix. 6 ff.

¹Now the children of Israel after their

number, to wit, the heads of fathers’ houses
and the captains of thousands and of
hundreds, and their officers that served the
king, in any matter of the courses which came
in and went out month by month throughout all
the months of the year, of every course were
twenty and four thousand.
 1. came in and went out] Came on duty and went off duty;
compare 2 Chronicles xxiii. 8.

²Over the first course for the first month was

Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his
course were twenty and four thousand.
2. Jashobeam] Compare xi. 11, note.

³He was of the children of Perez, the chief of

all the captains of the host for the first month.
3. Perez] For Perez, see ii. 4, 5.

⁴And over the course of the second month

was Dodai the Ahohite, and his course; and
Mikloth the ruler: and in his course were
twenty and four thousand.
4. Dodai the Ahohite] Read probably (compare xi. 12), “Eleazar
the son of Dodo, the Ahohite.”

and his course; and Mikloth the ruler] The words are corrupt and
are omitted in the LXX. The original text is quite uncertain. A
Benjamite called Mikloth is mentioned in viii. 32.

⁵The third captain of the host for the third

month was Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada the
priest ¹, chief: and in his course were twenty
and four thousand.
¹ Or, chief minister See 2 Samuel viii. 18.
 5. Benaiah] Compare xi. 22 ff., xviii. 17.

Jehoiada the priest, chief] “chief” refers to Benaiah.

⁶This is that Benaiah, who was the mighty

man of the thirty, and over the thirty: and of his
course was Ammizabad his son.
6. the mighty man of the thirty, and over the thirty] Compare xi.
25.

⁷The fourth captain for the fourth month was

Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zebadiah his
son after him: and in his course were twenty
and four thousand.
7. Asahel] compare xi. 26, note.

⁸The fifth captain for the fifth month was

Shamhuth the Izrahite: and in his course were
twenty and four thousand.
8. Shamhuth the Izrahite] Perhaps to be identified with
“Shammoth the Harorite” of xi. 27; see note there.

⁹The sixth captain for the sixth month was Ira

the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite: and in his
course were twenty and four thousand.
9. Ira] compare xi. 28.

¹⁰The seventh captain for the seventh month

was Helez the Pelonite, of the children of
 Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and
four thousand.
10. Helez the Pelonite] Compare xi. 27, note.

¹¹The eighth captain for the eighth month was

Sibbecai the Hushathite, of the Zerahites: and
in his course were twenty and four thousand.
11. Sibbecai the Hushathite] Compare xi. 29, notes.

Zerahites] (also verse 13). Descendants of Zerah, son of Judah;

ii. 4.

¹²The ninth captain for the ninth month was

Abiezer the Anathothite, of the Benjamites:
and in his course were twenty and four
thousand.
12. Abiezer the Anathothite] Compare xi. 28.

¹³The tenth captain for the tenth month was

Maharai the Netophathite, of the Zerahites:
and in his course were twenty and four
thousand.
13. Maharai the Netophathite] Compare xi. 30.

¹⁴The eleventh captain for the eleventh month

was Benaiah the Pirathonite, of the children of
Ephraim: and in his course were twenty and
four thousand.
 14. Benaiah the Pirathonite] Compare xi. 31.

¹⁵The twelfth captain for the twelfth month was

Heldai ¹ the Netophathite, of Othniel: and in his
course were twenty and four thousand.
¹ In chapter xi. 30, Heled.

15. Heldai] Called Heled in xi. 30.

of Othniel] compare Judges i. 13, iii. 9. Thus Heldai was not of

pure Israelite descent, but belonged to the Kenizzites (Kenaz), a
younger branch of the Calebites, an independent tribe which settled
primarily in southern Judah and was later incorporated in the tribe of
Judah. Genealogically this fact was expressed by calling Caleb a
son of Hezron, the son of Judah. See the article Caleb in
Encyclopedia Britannica¹¹.

16‒24.
The Princes of the Tribes of Israel.

Six tribes which were accounted “sons” of Leah are given first,
then six “sons,” actual or legal, of Rachel; whilst Zadok as chief of
the priestly caste may be reckoned as standing in a category by
himself, representative of the nation as a whole. Gad and Asher are
omitted, for some reason not easy to discern, perhaps accidentally
or because the traditional number of “twelve” tribes was complete in
this list without them.

¹⁶Furthermore over the tribes of Israel: of

the Reubenites was Eliezer the son of Zichri
the ruler: of the Simeonites, Shephatiah the
son of Maacah: ¹⁷of Levi, Hashabiah the son
of Kemuel: of Aaron, Zadok:
 17. Hashabiah] Perhaps the person mentioned in xxvi. 30. The
name is common among Levites.

of Aaron, Zadok] compare xii. 27, 28.

¹⁸of Judah, Elihu ¹, one of the brethren of

David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael:
¹⁹of Zebulun, Ishmaiah the son of Obadiah: of
Naphtali, Jeremoth the son of Azriel: ²⁰of the
children of Ephraim, Hoshea the son of
Azaziah: of the half tribe of Manasseh, Joel
the son of Pedaiah:
¹ In 1 Samuel xvi. 6, Eliab.

18. Elihu] Perhaps the “Eliab” of 1 Samuel xvi. 6; compare

margin.

²¹of the half tribe of Manasseh in Gilead, Iddo

the son of Zechariah: of Benjamin, Jaasiel the
son of Abner: ²²of Dan, Azarel the son of
Jeroham. These were the captains of the
tribes of Israel.
21. Gilead] “Gilead” is strictly speaking the name of the district
between the Jabbok and Moab, in which the tribes of Gad and
Reuben dwelt. Here it is used less precisely to include Bashan, the
district north-east of Jordan in which the half tribe of Manasseh lived:
compare ii. 22, note.

Iddo] Spelt quite differently in Hebrew from the name of the father
of the prophet Zechariah (Zechariah i. 1).
 Abner] 1 Samuel xiv. 50, 51.

²³But David took not the number of them from

twenty years old and under: because the
Lord had said he would increase Israel like to
the stars of heaven.
23. took not the number] In Numbers i. 3 ff. it is said that in the
census which God commanded Moses to take in the wilderness only
those above twenty years old were to be numbered, and a chief from
each tribe was appointed to assist Moses in the task of numeration.
The Chronicler in this section wishes to say that, though David erred
in taking the census unbidden by Jehovah, he at least conformed to
the principles of the Law in carrying out his project: those under 20
years of age were not counted, and the princes just enumerated may
be supposed to correspond to the chiefs who assisted Moses.

²⁴Joab the son of Zeruiah began to number,

but finished not; and there came wrath for this
upon Israel; neither was the number put into
the account in the chronicles of king David.
24. but finished not] Compare xxi. 6.

into the account in] A summary of the numbers of David’s census

is given in xxi. 5 and also (with divergences) in 2 Samuel xxiv. 9. The
Chronicler probably means in the present passage that the details of
the census were not entered in the official records.

the chronicles] Literally the acts of the days; compare

Introduction, § 5.

25‒31.
Various Officers of the King.
 Twelve different officers are named here who acted as stewards
of king David’s property.

²⁵And over the king’s treasuries was

Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the
treasuries in the fields, in the cities, and in the
villages, and in the castles, was Jonathan the
son of Uzziah: ²⁶and over them that did the
work of the field for tillage of the ground was
Ezri the son of Chelub:
25. castles] Literally towers; compare 2 Chronicles xxvi. 10, xxvii.
4.

²⁷and over the vineyards was Shimei the

Ramathite: and over the increase of the
vineyards for the wine cellars was Zabdi the
Shiphmite:
27. the Ramathite] The well-known Ramah was in Benjamin, but
there was also a Ramah (or Ramoth) of the South (Joshua xix. 8; 1
Samuel xxx. 27) from which the epithet “Ramathite” might be
derived.

the Shiphmite] The adjective is probably derived from “Siphmoth”

(1 Samuel xxx. 28), the name of a place in the south of Judah. If so,
we should read either “Siphmite” here, or “Shiphmoth” in 1 Samuel.

²⁸and over the olive trees and the sycomore

trees that were in the lowland was Baal-hanan
the Gederite: and over the cellars of oil was
Joash:
 28. sycomore] The fig-mulberry, a tree having leaves like
mulberry-leaves, and bearing a fruit resembling figs. Compare 2
Chronicles i. 15; Amos, vii. 14.

in the lowland] Hebrew Shephelah. See note on 2 Chronicles i.

15 (“vale”).

Gederite] i.e. inhabitant of “Geder” (Joshua xii. 13), perhaps

another form of “Gederah” (Joshua xv. 36). A place in the south of
Judah is intended in any case. See note on xii. 4.

²⁹and over the herds that fed in Sharon was

Shitrai the Sharonite: and over the herds that
were in the valleys was Shaphat the son of
Adlai:
29. Sharon] The great maritime plain bounded on the east by the
“lowland” (Shephelah). “The valleys” would probably be the
depressions among the hills of the Shephelah which open out into
Sharon; compare Canticles ii. 1.

³⁰and over the camels was Obil the Ishmaelite:

and over the asses was Jehdeiah the
Meronothite:
30. Obil] The name is a form of the Arabic word ābil, “one who
feeds camels.”

the Meronothite] Meronoth was perhaps near Gibeon and

Mizpah; compare Nehemiah iii. 7.

³¹and over the flocks was Jaziz the Hagrite. All

these were the rulers of the substance which
was king David’s.
 31. Hagrite] Compare v. 10.

32‒34 (compare xviii. 15‒17 = 2 Samuel viii. 16‒18; compare 2

Samuel xx. 23‒26).
David’s Officers at Court.

³²Also Jonathan David’s uncle ¹ was a

counsellor, a man of understanding, and a
scribe: and Jehiel the son of Hachmoni was
with the king’s sons:
¹ Or, brother’s son.

32. Jonathan David’s uncle] The name Jonathan is common in

Hebrew, but no uncle of David is elsewhere mentioned. A “Jonathan,
son of Shimea,” David’s brother, is referred to in xx. 7 (= 2 Samuel
xxi. 21), and many scholars in consequence prefer to follow the
margin and render Jonathan, David’s brother’s son. Curtis renders
David’s lover, taking the reference to be to Jonathan, Saul’s son,
who as the friend of David’s youth might be spoken of as his first
“counsellor.” This view seems improbable but is not impossible,
despite the phrase “and a scribe” which could not possibly be said of
Saul’s warrior son. There is some evidence that those words are a
gloss, and it is true that the list is not one of living men only
(compare Ahithophel), whilst finally the Chronicler might well be
tempted to drag in an allusion to a relationship so well-known and so
creditable to David.

a scribe] Not the chief scribe; compare xviii. 16, note.

with the king’s sons] As tutor; compare 2 Kings x. 6.

³³and Ahithophel was the king’s counsellor:

and Hushai the Archite was the king’s friend:
 33. Ahithophel] See 2 Samuel xv. 31; xvi. 20‒xvii. 23.

Hushai] See 2 Samuel xv. 32‒37, xvi. 16‒19, xvii. 5‒16.

Archite] The “border of the Archites” was near Bethel (Joshua xvi.
2). The word has no connection with the “Arkite” of i. 15.

king’s friend] compare 2 Samuel xvi. 16. “Special titles served to

signify the degree of rank the great men held with respect to the king
[of Egypt]. In old times the most important were the friend and the
well-beloved friend of the king” (Erman, Ancient Egypt, English
translation p. 72). The Greek kings of Syria granted similar titles to
their chief dependents; compare 1 Maccabees ii. 18 (Revised
Version with margin), “thou and thy house shall be in the number of
the king’s Friends.”

³⁴and after Ahithophel was Jehoiada the son

of Benaiah, and Abiathar: and the captain of
the king’s host was Joab.
34. after Ahithophel] Compare verse 33.

Jehoiada the son of Benaiah] Either we must read, “Benaiah the

son of Jehoiada” (compare xviii. 17), or we must assume that a
person known only from this passage is meant.

and Abiathar] Possibly such a phrase as “And Zadok and

Abiathar were priests” (compare 2 Samuel xx. 25) originally stood
here.

Chapters XXVIII, XXIX.

David’s farewell Speech.