Mimi of Decorse
Encyclopedia
Mimi of Decorse, also known as Mimi of Gaudefroy-Demombynes and Mimi-D, is a language of Chad
that is attested only in a word list labelled "Mimi
" that was collected ca. 1900 by G. J. Decorse and published by Gaudefroy-Demombynes. Joseph Greenberg (1960) classified it as a Maban language, like the rather remote Maban relative Mimi of Nachtigal
. However, George Starostin (2011) rejects this classification, feeling that similarities to Maban are due to contact with locally dominant Maba, and provisionally regards it as a language isolate, though it is suggestive of Central Sudanic.
The more stable of Mimi-D and Mimi-N's attested vocabulary is as follows:
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
that is attested only in a word list labelled "Mimi
Mimi language
Mimi is a name applied to several distinct and not particularly closely related Nilo-Saharan languages of the Wadai area of Chad, most commonly Amdang but also including two possibly Maban languages: Mimi of Nachtigal and Mimi of Decorse....
" that was collected ca. 1900 by G. J. Decorse and published by Gaudefroy-Demombynes. Joseph Greenberg (1960) classified it as a Maban language, like the rather remote Maban relative Mimi of Nachtigal
Mimi of Nachtigal
Mimi of Nachtigal, or Mimi-N, is a language of Chad that is attested only in a word list labelled "Mimi" that was collected ca. 1870 by Gustav Nachtigal. Greenberg classified it as a Maban language, though a distant one. Subsequent researchers have supported a remote relationship, though there is...
. However, George Starostin (2011) rejects this classification, feeling that similarities to Maban are due to contact with locally dominant Maba, and provisionally regards it as a language isolate, though it is suggestive of Central Sudanic.
The more stable of Mimi-D and Mimi-N's attested vocabulary is as follows:
gloss | Mimi-D | Mimi-N |
---|---|---|
two | mel | søn |
eye | dyo | kal |
fire | sou | |
stone | muguru | |
hand | sil | rai |
what | ɲeta | |
die | dafaya | |
drink | andʒi | ab |
dog | ɲuk | |
moon | aɾ | |
claw/nail | fer | |
blood | ari | |
one | deg | ul-un |
tooth | ɲain | ziːk |
eat | ɲyam | |
hair | suf (Arabic?) | fuːl |
water | engi | sun (Fur?) |
nose | fir | hur |
mouth | ɲyo | mil |
ear | feɾ | kuyi |
bird | kabal-a | |
bone | kadʒi | |
sun | sey | |
tree | su | |
kill | kuduma | |
foot | rep | zaŋ |
horn | kamin | |
meat | ɲyu | neŋ |
egg | dʒulut | |
black | liwuk | |
head | bo | kidʒ-i |
night | lem | |
fish | gonas | |
see | yakoe |