´Bëlï, or Jur Beli, is a Central Sudanic language spoken by the Beli and Sopi people of South Sudan. The Beli people are mainly found in South Sudan, a region southeast of Rumbek. The language is considered as endangered, and it is mostly spoken by the older generation.
However, it has three dialects and variations that are specific to different regions and communities. The language has a complex grammatical structure, with a rich system of prefixes that are used to indicate various grammatical features, such as, mood, and aspect.
Despite the lack of written material and limited use, Jur Beli is an important language for the Beli people, as it is an essential part of their cultural identity. The language serves as an important means of communication within the community, and it is used to transmit cultural knowledge and traditions from one generation to the next.
Brief description about the Jur Beli people The Jur (Beli & Modo) people, a group of over "100,000" (according to a source found online) individuals divided into two distinct geographic groups: Beli and Modo. The Beli live in the area extending from Bahr Gel to Wulu and Billing, while the Modo live in Mvolo, Bogri, Woko, and Bahr Girindi near Yirol. The area is characterized by flat plains with granitoid rocks and has a rich savannah in the east and tropical equatoria in the west, which allows for extensive agricultural activities. The Jur (Beli & Modo) are sedentary agriculturalists who practice shifting cultivation and raise crops such as sorghum, millet, beans, cassava, groundnuts, and simsim (Sesame). They also engage in hunting, fishing, and beekeeping. The main economic potential of the area is timber, honey, and shea oil. The Jur (Beli & Modo) believe they came from the Central African Republic and have a language that belongs to the central Sudanic group of languages but is linguistically similar to the Baka/Bongo group. Their society is organized into kinships, clans, and families and has elaborate customs and traditions. Marriage customs include respect for in-laws and paying a dowry, which is marked by the groom working in the in-laws' gardens and building a house for them.
Geographic distribution Jur Beli is a Nilo-Saharan language of western central Sudan in the Bongo-Baka group. In South Sudan, a region southeast of Rumbek is home to 65,000 Jur Beli speakers (Lewis et al. 2013).
Alphabets + Orthography symbolIPA symbolA aaÄ äaB bb´B ´bɓC ccD dd̪´D ´dɗE eɛË ëeGggGb gbɡ͡bH hhI iiÏ ïiJ jɟ´J ´jʄK kkKp kpk͡pL llM mmMb mbᵐbN nnNd ndⁿdNg ngᵑgNj njᶮɟNy nyɲŊ ŋŋŊb ŋbᵑ͡ᵐg͡bŊm ŋmŋ͡mO oʊϽ ɔɔP ppR rɾT tt̪U uuW wwY yy
Classification and dialects According to Persson, there are three dialects of the Jur Beli language: Wulu, Bahri Girinti, and Sopi (Persson 1997:31–32).
In the diagram shown below is the language group of Jur Beli
Numbers Listed below are the numbers from 1 to 10.
Numbers in Jur BeliTranslation in Englishkɔtɔ Oneyo TwoMotaThreehɔFourMuyïFiveMunötöSixMïnïuSevenMïnïmutäEightminiyɔNine kiiTen
Phonology Consonants In the Jur Beli language, 28 distinct consonant phonemes have been identified, which include voiceless and voiced stops, nasals, Prenasalised stops, Fricative implosives, and approximants. These phonemes can be found in various positions within words and play an important role in the syllable structure of the language. (Reference: Post, D. G. (2014). A Grammar of Jur Beli: A Western Nilotic Language of South Sudan. SIL International.)
+ Consonant phonemesStirtz, Timothy M. 2014. 'Bëlï Phonology, Tone and Orthography. (SIL Electronic Working Papers 2014-002.) SIL International. 34pp. Labial Dental Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal Nasal Plosive ͡ Approximant , Fricative
In the Jur Beli language, it is typical for consonant phonemes to occur at the beginning of syllables, while vowel phonemes occur at the end. This means that words in Jur Beli language are typically made up of a sequence of syllables, each beginning with a consonant and ending with a vowel.
It's worth noting that this is a general pattern in the Jur Beli language, but there may be exceptions to this rule.
Vowels According to Stirtz (2014), 'Bëlï has nine vowel phonemes that can be divided into [+/- ATR] sets. The vowel [ə] is an allophone that does not occur in roots without other [+ATR] vowels:
[-ATR][+ATR]()
Morphology Morphology refers to the study of how words are formed and structured in the language.
Noun In the Jur Beli language, nouns are words that refer to people, places, things, or ideas. Nouns can be singular or plural, they are the words that name the entities, the subjects, or the objects of the sentence.
One type of noun is singular. A noun can have multiple forms, or plural. Ya can be used to indicate the plural form. Example of noun in singular and plural form in a sentence.
Anji ̱ ha ni. They saw a cow. (Singular) Anji ̱ ha ya ni. They saw cows. (Plural)
Pronouns A pronoun is a word that is used in place of a noun or noun phrase. Subject completive, subject incompletive, object, and possessor pronouns are the four categories of pronouns in Jur Beli
Subject completive pronouns do actions that have finished. Subject incompletive pronouns do actions that have not finished.". Examples are shown in the table below.
Subject completive Subject incompletiveKidi a´jaa ´dɔ, ne ka mbeIf he or she finds something. He or she will fight.Kidi yï ´jaa ´dɔ, yï ka mbe |If you (sing.) find something, you will fight.Kidi mo ´jaa ´dɔ, ma ka mbe |If I find something, I will fight.Kidi a´jaa ´dɔ ni, mene ka mbe |If they find something, they will fightKidi je ´jaa ´dɔ, je ka mbeIf we find something, we will fight.Kidi ye ´jaa ´dɔ, ye ka mbeIf you (plural) find something, you will fight.
"In the third sentence on the left above, mo ꞌIꞌ does the completive or finished action ꞌjaa̱ ꞌfindꞌ and ma ꞌIꞌ does the incompletive or not finished action ka ̱ mbe ̱ ꞌwill fightꞌ"
Object pronouns receive the action. In the sentences on the left below, ma ꞌmeꞌ receives the action nji ̱ꞌsaw`
Object pronounsTranslationYikölu nji je.People saw usYikölu nji mene.People saw them.Yikölu nji ye (plural). People saw you (plural).Yikölu nji yï.People saw you (sing.).Yikölu nji ne.People saw him/her.Yikölu nji ma.People saw me.
Possessor pronouns mean to own or possess something. In the sentences below, gi ꞌyouꞌ are the owner of kɔ ꞌeyesꞌ."
Possessor PronounsTranslationsYikölu nji kɔ mee.People saw their eyes.Yikölu nji kɔ lee. People saw our eyes.Yikölu nji kɔ ge (plural).People saw your (plural) eyes.Yikölu nji kɔ gi (sing.).People saw your (sing.) eyes.Yikölu nji kɔ ma.People saw my eyes.Yikölu nji kɔ moo.People saw his/her eyes.
Demonstratives Demonstratives indicate or portray a noun. A demonstrative is usually used after the noun it refers to.
(1) The demonstrative na "this": "Yïkölu na ka ̱ yi. This person is coming".
The demonstrative na identifies the approaching yikölu "person". Singular DemonstrativesTranslations Yikölu ndaThat personYikölu ndölïyöThat far personYikölu teThat known person Yikölu naThis person
(2) The plural demonstrative word ndiya is put before the demonstrative na when pointing to multiple nouns.
"Anji ̱ yïkölu ndiya na ni. They saw these people".
The plural demonstrative ndiya in the table below indicates that the noun yikölu, "people," is plural. Plural DemonstrativesTranslationsYikölu ndiya ndaThose peopleYikölu ndiya ndölïyöThose far peopleYikölu ndiya teThose known peopleYikölu ndiya naThese people
Reflexives A reflexive pronoun is a type of pronoun that is used when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same. It "reflects" to the subject. The reflexives are listed below. ReflexivesTranslationsNgo meeThemselvesNgo leeOurselvesNgo geYourselvesNgo giYourselfNgo mooHimself/ herselfNgo maMyself To make a possessor pronoun reflexive, the word "body" (ngo) is used before it. When -ngo is reflexive, it is joined to the word before it. Both a preposition and a verb can be followed by the prefix "-ngo." The possessive pronoun after -ngo is usually distinct.
Tone e refers to the pitch of the voice used to produce a sound, and it is used to convey meaning. In languages like Jur Beli, tone is used to distinguish between words that would otherwise be identical in terms of their sound. Aa Ääŋba H [‾] then (con)mänyä L, L [ ̶ ˎ ] gazelleMa H [‾] I (pronmbä L [ ˎ ] wineMba H [‾] BreastŊbä L [ ˎ ] guest, visitorManya H, M [‾ ̶ ] dura mä L [ ˎ ] mother H demonstrate high tone, M demonstrate medium tone, and L demonstrate low tone.
Conjunctions (connectors) A conjunction is a word that joins two or more sentences, clauses, or words. It can be used to link similar words together, such as when "and" is used to link two nouns, or it can be used to link clauses or phrases.
Dependent clause conjunctions before main clauses: Subordinating conjunctions are nouns that link a dependent sentence to an independent clause, usually referred to as the main clause. The context of the dependent clause is provided by the main clause because it is not a complete sentence on its own. Example: Nate ha ndiya te teg̱̈ e ri mee ŋba, naka moŋa̱ŋi mondo̱ kpe niWhen those cows heard their names, then they began jumping a lot This "nate" sentence, which repeats information, slows down the narrative to demonstrate the relevance of what follows next.
Main clause conjunctions: The words that join main clauses or independent clauses together are known as main clause conjunctions. They serve as a joining device and signal that the clauses are of equal weight. For instance: Kidi ji nji kɔ ma, aneṉgo ge-je ni-yeIf anyone looks into my eyes, that will be the end of us with you. A dependent clause is introduced by the connector kidi "if" before the action of the subsequent main clause. Kidi begins a clause with fresh information rather than reiterating previously stated material. A condition or the first of two acts in a two-step sequence can constitute the new information.
Dependent clause conjunctions after main clauses: The word that tells a reason behind previous clause. For example: Ka gɔmo nda jɔ ̱ ga-lemi moo, ka ꞌdɔ, bonɔ ne maa̱ yi ̱ ni-mini, ka ne ye.̱That man told his sister and asked so that she went and brought water, and he drank The connector "bonɔ" is used to introduce a clause that explains the reason or purpose for the main clause that precedes it. It serves to indicate the motivation behind the action described in the previous clause. The clause introduced by "bonɔ" typically comes after the main clause and explains the why of the main clause action.
Relative clause connectors inside main clauses: Relative clauses are clauses that modify a noun or pronoun and are introduced by a relative pronoun. They provide additional information about the noun or pronoun and are usually set off by commas. They can be used within a main clause to give more information about the noun or pronoun that the main clause is talking about.
Bii, na dɔhayi na ka ̱ Rombeki, teṉ e ga-Joŋo no ne ndawa.The place, that this land be called Rumbek, remains to the Dinka. The connector "na" is used to introduce a clause that helps to specify or clarify a noun or pronoun that came before the clause. It limits the possible options of the noun or pronoun, making it more specific. It is often used to give more details about the noun or pronoun in the previous clause.