The Phonological Description of the Daju Lagawa Language

Abstract

The present study is conducting in Lagawa area southern Kordofan state. In the academic year 2012-2014 it aims at investigating the descriptive study of the phonological segments and sound patterns of Daju Lagawa Language. The study objected to identify the phonemes of Daju language, possible arrangement that Daju phonology exhibits and the syllabic patterns of Daju morphemes. The study has followed the descriptive analytical approach and the data collection via collected from the primary resources recording words and speech of Daju from the native speakers. The population was the Daju natives from whom twenty five speakers were selected randomly as a sample of the study. Those include different ages and gender children, adults, boys and girls, so to examine the different idiolects. The recorded data has been verified and organized into tables and then analyzed from validity and reliability by special program called key-man that used for the International Phonetics Alphabet (IPA). The most important results are: Daju has twenty two consonants and ten vowels, described through the data, also there are nasal combine other sound to make clusters, it has own rules that governed it. In addition to Daju is a tonal language it has three tones high (H), low (L), and high-low (HL). Also it has five geminations in specific consonants, also it has rule that governed it.