Safaliba

Language name and location: Safaliba, Northern region, Ghana [Refer to Ethnologue]

语言名称和分布地区: 萨法利巴语, 加纳北部大区

1. àyàʔ	21. tòkò nɪ́ k͡pàŋ
2. àyîʔ	22. tòkò nɪ́ àyîʔ
3. àtâʔ	23. tòkò nɪ́ àtâʔ
4. ànáásí	24. tòkò nɪ́ ànáásí
5. ànúú	25. tòkò nɪ́ ànúú
6. àyòòbí	26. tòkò nɪ́ àyòòbí
7. àyòpõ̀ĩ̂	27. tòkò nɪ́ àyòpõ̀ĩ̂
8. ànɪ́ɪ̀	28. tòkò nɪ́ ànɪ́ɪ̀
9. àwã̀ĩ̂	29. tòkò nɪ́ àwã̀ĩ̂
10. pẽ́ẽ́, pĩ́ẽ́	30. tòkò nɪ́ k͡pɔ̀rìɡɔ̀
11. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ k͡pàŋ	40. tòkò àyîʔ (20 x 2)
12. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ àyîʔ	50. tòkò àyîʔ nɪ́ k͡pɔ̀rìɡɔ̀
13. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ àtâʔ	60. tòkò àtâʔ (20 x 3)
14. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ ànáásí	70. tòkò àtâʔ nɪ́ k͡pɔ̀rìɡɔ̀
15. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ ànúú	80. tòkò ànáásí (20 x 4)
16. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ àyòòbí	90. tòkò ànáásí nɪ́ k͡pɔ̀rìɡɔ̀
17. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ àyòpõ̀ĩ̂	100. kàlìfá
18. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ ànɪ́ɪ̀	200. kàlìfá àyîʔ
19. pẽ́ẽ́ nɪ́ àwã̀ĩ̂	1000. káɡ͡bóŋ
20. tòkò	2000. káɡ͡bóŋ àyîʔ

Linguist providing data and dateː Mr. Paul Schaefer, GILLBT (The Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation), Ghana, December 19, 2008.

提供资料的语言学家: Mr. Paul Schaefer, 2008 年 12 月 19 日.

Other comments: Safaliba is spoken in Northern region: Gbenfu, Mandari, Manfuli, and Tanyire villages; Bote, Kalba, and Sawla town areas, Ghana. Safaliba is a small language (<7000 speakers) within the Gonja kingdom and as such some speakers use borrowed words (usually from Gonja) for some of the larger numbers (30, 50, and onwards: i.e. adisa, adunu, etc.).

The list above contains the number words which are still commonly considered to be “true Safaliba” and not borrowed, and are still in current use among speakers age 40+ and some of the younger generation depending on individual factors. Some younger speakers who do not use the Gonja words, use the above list but substitute /pee/ ‘ten’ for /kporigo/ (which is obviously an ‘older’ word for ‘ten’) when the words is used in combination with ‘toko’ for the numbers between 20 and 100. Finally, a few additional different words have been reported for some of the smaller numbers (<10), but these are only known by some of the very elderly (age 65+) and are not in current usage. Safaliba has two tones (High and Low), which have both lexical and grammatical functions. Automatic downstep causes high tones following low tones to have a lower pitch than the previous high tone. Sometimes a lowered high tone occurs following a high tone—this is marked by the down-step symbol (IPA [́] as in the word ànáásí 'four', above), but since its pitch is lowered to exactly the same degree as a ordinary high tone with automatic downstep, such tones are analyzed as “downstepped high tones” and not a third (“mid”) tone. There are additional reasons based on tonal processes in the phonology which also support this analysis, unfortunately they cannot be described in this short summary.

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