A WORD-LIST OF ELOYI HUGH D,. MACKAY The Eloyi people? (called afo by the Hausa, and epe by the Idoma) are indigenous to the southern districts of Nasarawa Division of Benue Province. The Eloyi are divided into two main dialect areas known as Eloyi Mbambu (those along the Benue River who tend to live in larger villages) and the Eloyi Mbeci (lit. the Eloyi of the Rocks) around and to the north of Edeje (called Udegi on most maps). Both sections are strong animists and each compound has its own network of fetishes and idol houses. They form one of the many smaller tribes of the Niger-Benue Valley area, but it is very difficult to estimate their number (perhaps something in the region of 10,000-20,000) as their villages generally consist of various tribal sections. The area contains much fertile farming land which attracts people from surrounding areas — particularly the Idoma, Bassa, Igbirra and Hausa, Owing perhaps to the highly complicated structure of Bantu-type plural and concordial forms, few people from other tribes can speak their language, even after having lived in the district for many years, Many of the Eloyi along the Nasarawa-Loko road can speak Hausa through contact with Government departments, traders, etc., and most of the Eloyi Mbambu can under- stand the Agatu dialect of Northern Idoma by their contact with Agatu markets across the Benue and with the number of Agatu-speaking people who live in their area. As no data for this language has been previously published, the following word-list has been obtained through the author's knowledge of Idoma, and must be regarded as tentative. PHONEMICS? The phonemes of Eloyi seem to be as follows: CONSONANTAL Plosives labial labio-dental alveolar palatal. ~—velar__—_—labio-velar voiceless P t k kp voiced b d 9 gb Afiricates voiceless c voiced j Nasals voiced m n D 0 Fricatives voiceless f s I voiced v z 3 Lateral voiced 1 Vibrant voiced flap r Semivowels voiced w y 1 See endnote. The Editors have retranscribed the author's material in a broader notation, 5THE JOURNAL OF WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES Vocaric PROSODIC FEATURES Vowels occasionally occur long (marked 3) or overlong (marked VOL. 1NO.1 ‘There are three levels of tone, high ‘, mid ~ (but usually unmarked in this paper), and low *. Very occasionally falling or rising tones occur. PHONETIC NOTES Is 2. 14. a5) 16. 17. 18. 19. The voiceless plosives p, t, k are aspirated. k has a lightly rounded allophone before u, and a strongly rounded allophone before oand >. ‘The nasals m, n, 9, when tone-marked, are syllabic. risa single downward flap. All final low tones have an extra low glide. . all every — whole and (linking nouns) animal ashes at home . back — of body bad . bark ~ of tree, peel, husk, shell . because they were afraid . Belly . big = fat bird = bite black blood blow — wind ~mouth bone breathe burn WORD-LIST? dwunawund pl. pl. pl. & yi mogba (= he is home) Sst wird pl. kuku pl. kuwéngil bé riyi tba pl. dwaft pl. batsma okpaki pl. ka rukujl pl. ui pl. nj] tu fu koko pl. fép5 pamd rhbanamban’ kpérkpemba if rhbiré ek Ibs rhbeft akpake warukiji well éka 9 An asterisk before a number draws attention to an item in the list of Additional Words. 620. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. jo. ah: 42. 33- 345 35+ 36. 37 38. 39+ 400 4u. Az 8 4 canoe child young child cold come cook (verb) ~food count cut day debt die dig ~ahole dirty dog drink dry dust car earth, soil eat cee, elephant eye fall - stumble ~come down far fat — grease ~oil . father . fear (noun) (verb) . feather . few people . Fight (verb) . fire + fish . five (numeral) (adj.) » float . flow = river » fly (verb) . fog, mist foot . four (numeral) (adj.) A WORD-LIST OF ELOYI ksda, kbd dimé ime Jeri tumd bd wyé vyswe wayima kpélé onu (= sun) kSkpa kpémd va vikivd yépipi iza wS Jirima umbird boli &f ri kofi inji kayi kpeji tama Adama afya i add yi riyi kucere énzis dkpécée: kirewa oyi ami kolb ry pl. |. Ada L. Emé . émé fert akpa pl. tzu pl. pl. pl. pl.é pl. pl. pl. pl. mbada. icere eyi emi falémémbi (= to be on surface of water) rima eyimé (also = stand, run) kubi kddaba kondo endo pl. pl. ebt adabaTHE JOURNAL OF WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES 59. fowl Go. fruit 61. give—one item ~ several items 62. goat 63. good 64. grass 65. guts, intestines 66. hair — of head, body 67. hand ~ palm of 68. he (animate subjects) 69. head 7. hear #71. heart 72. heavy 73. here 74. hippopotamus 75. hit 76. hold ~ in hand 7. house 78. how? 79. hunt (verb) 80. husband 81. I 82, if he goes 83. ia the house 84. Tall 85, know #86. lake, pool 87. laugh 88. leaf 89. left side 90. leopard gr. lie-tella 92. Tie down 93. live, exist 94. liver 95. long — rope-like 96. louse 97. male 98. many people 99. monkey VOL. 1 NO.1 enw pl. enu kimam’ pl. {méma 6 ka emis pl. ma Jasi kést pl. 5s kk pl. ak kapi pl. ipi kiel pl. luct €or4 — emphatic uwué or uwud réfi pl. &fi pwa kidd ggwebji eyisli pl. oyidla mine injiwembi pl. injibembi ( = elephant of water) kpa rawd mowé ( rawd mews ( git wots tokotd Sn mi emphatic imimi a ku kiyé njiba kama i gd Aigbé or Mgbé yit kubé ny3ngoma. kapu old fist) old arms) pl. igi pl. 4nd pl. aba pl. épt kamba §gozt ( = side of toilet) ice sisérd noma fép5 (= to have breath) réyi (= to live, be awake) yi ( = to be, exist) yamd (= to be in a place) kutu oyiw33} kaya anzini énzii ribariba ekéd pl. ice pl. itu pl. iyiw33i . aaa pl. anzSnd A pl. 66x00. moon ror, mother *1o2. mountain, hill 103. mouth 104. name 105.’ narrow ~ of a path 106, near 107. neck 108. new 109, night 110, not good He vot ge 111, nose “112, old man 113, ‘one (numeral) 114. other thing vt. pee 116. play (noun) (verb) “117. pull 118, push “119. rat— grey — brown 120, rain ‘rar. right - true 122, right side 123. river 324, road 125. root 126, rope 327, rotten 128, rub 129. salt 130. sand 33, say 132. seratch oneself 133. sea 134. see — look at ~ be able to see 135. seed 136. sew 137. sharp - of knife 138. short of man 139. sing a song ing songs 140, sit down A WORD-LIST OF ELOYI évya pl. évya ené pl. rhbéné kocakti pl. acaki: kenzu pl, lonzu éni ayi féréré pl. oyi féréré kele kitd pl. lated tawopé pl. rhbepo ata pl. ita { JOfi mé ( = it good not) kit sd: mé ( = you go not) réju pl. anu conzi maké (also = elder) kenzé kiya Aijifo énzit pl. énzi ene néné yi bs ekdlu Sdict kpé (also = God) pl. &kpo agéca kamba figunji ( = side of eating hand) visi aguze pl. eguze kokpa driméci yuma zd otépwa ae 3B ve ma yésd mébe kay pl. éyi (of fruit) 93 rimd odangiri ( = dwarf) sokSmd Sima omaTHE JOURNAL OF WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES VOL. 1 NO. 141. 142. 143. 144. 145. 146. 147. 148. 149. "150. 4151. 152. rea 154. 155. 156. 157: 158. 159. 160. 16r. 162. 163. 164. 165. 166. 167. #168. 169. 170. 171, 72. 173+ 174. 175. 176. "77. sky sleep (noun) (verb) small ~tiny smell (noun) (verb) smoke (noun) smooth ~ of skin snake some people soup spit (verb) split — wood squeeze stab, pierce stand star steal stone straight stick sun swallow (verb) swell — of body swim that man ‘there they (animate subject) thick ~ of soup thin ~ of man think this man three (numeral) (adj.) throw tie — around waist -on head ~string, etc, tongue tooth tree turn — change —about, upside down ~return 6S! ( = above) ondd kpondd pl. rhberi: pl. imb3 plmb3 ( = to smell something) wimb3 ( = to stink) wa sé:sé (also = to shine, clean) oxku pl. aku Enzii rhbéfimd énzii Thbafo (= other people) 28d pl. es3 ( = gravy) fore za piri (also = to wring out, pinch) gu rima kaldvyd pl. lovyé weld kéci pl. éi kdweyi kuyi tototo woksmé pl. wamé (= drink breast(s) ) 7 nu biri pema témMbi énziwd mom © emphatic umba o és féréré (also = narrow) kamasa onzele kold ela t6 sémusi pireff ma Stlyt pl. ettye kapi pl. épi kaweyi pl. éweyi fulléw6 (= to turn hand) fulebirt gbama 10A WORD-LIST OF ELOYI 178. two (numeral) (adj.) 179. vomit 180. walk #181. warm, hot 182. wash ~ oneself ~ cloth 183. water 184. we 185. wet 186. what? 187. when? 188. white 189. who? 190. wide - of river 19t. wife 192. he will go 193. wind — 194. wing 195. with me 196. woman 197. woods, bush ~ forest 198. worm 199. you (singular) (plural) 200. year ADDITIONAL WORDS *3. cf. meat #8. cf, skin *r1, cf. fat, large #57. cf. log 67. cf. fist finger #71. cf, inside * = pl. embita ki emphatic kinza ki yembi ( = to have wet) walembi ( = to be wet) kiggbé anuné tru pl. iru kuru (when no noun precedes) uwé wows éko pl. éko & bE rimo kokp pl. ekpd kukows pl. 6k6wd mbula mi “okekpayi il ekékpayi or ékémbakpayi ké kata pl. Akdt& kik pl. ékaki lugbonbd pl. fgbdnbd 2 emphatic un> lu emphatic lpi tu kari pl. [srt kuvyé pl. Ivyé kukpo figwénd ( = skin of body) bulsma kSlé pl. alé owl pl. awd afi pl. af memi ( = on the inside) dba bi biwému kpigiginga ( = shoot gun) tokslé = throw leg) kpaksle Ski pl. ékt ukpéel pl. ékpécl IrTHE JOURNAL OF WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES VOL. 1 NO. 1 “x12, ef, feeble old man conyaksks 117. ef, stretch ada *119. ef. mouse ici pl. fet cutting-grass izSrici “rar. cf. that’s it exactly riyi tayl cd 135. cf. corn, yam (collective) dyiri “150. cf. saliva ate %153. cf. to pierce through, enter sa 168. of, tall and thin yi wlala “181 cf. tepid walewile Nore. ‘The Eloyi were first visited by Rohlf in 1867. See Gerhard Roblfs, ‘Dic Art der Begriissung bei verschiedenen Negerstzmmen’, Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, Gotha Justus Perthes, Pp. 333-336, (Afu). See also Reise durch Nord Afrika, 1865 bis 1867, Erginzungeheft No, 34 20 Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen, Gotha Justus Perthes, (Afu). For a more recent notice, with a map, see Peoples of the Niger-Berue Confluence, Part X, Western Africa’, of the Behnographic ‘Survey of Africa, London, International African Institute, 1935, pp. 136-9. In this last source, Afu is erroncously classified as a Kwa language. Greenberg classifies this language, ‘Afo’, as in the ‘Plateau’ sub-group of the Benue-Congo sub-family of the Niger-Congo family. See Joseph Greenberg, The Languages of Africa, Part 11, International Journal of American Linguistics, Vol. 29, No. 1, January, 1963, Bloomington, Indiana University, and Mouton and Co., the Hague, Netherlands. The name ‘Benue-Congo’ is approximately equivalent to ‘Central Branch’, of Greenberg's earlier work, and includes the languages called “Benue-Cross’, by Westermann, and ‘Semi-Bantu’ by Johnston.—Editors, 12