West-African Words in Sudanese Arabic

Overview

Sudanese Colloquial Arabic is a distinct regional variety spoken predominantly across central and northern Sudan, extending into a dialect continuum that spans Sub-Saharan nations including Chad, Niger, Mali, and Nigeria. This variety exhibits a notable tendency to assimilate vocabulary from diverse African donor languages, such as Amazigh, Amharic, Fulah, Hausa, Tigrinya, and Wolof.

This specialized database focuses specifically on the West-African language family—specifically Fulfulde (Fulah), Hausa, and Wolof—to isolate, document, and analyze their considerable lexical share within the Sudanese Arabic vocabulary.

Related Datasets & Solutions
Technical Specifications
  • Database Target: Sub-Saharan Dialectology, Etymological Tracking, and Cross-Language Information Retrieval (CLIR)
  • Target Dialect: Sudanese Colloquial Arabic (Central/Northern variations and Sub-Saharan dialect continuum)
  • Donor Language Scope: West-African Language Family (Fulfulde/Fulah, Hausa, Wolof)
  • Data Schema: Relational mapping linking colloquial Sudanese lexical items to their West-African roots

Why Choose This Dataset?

  • Targeted Dialect Mapping: Isolates and traces West-African loanwords specifically within Sub-Saharan Arabic varieties.
  • Lexical Origin Documentation: Provides clear etymological tracking for vocabulary originating from Fulfulde, Hausa, and Wolof.
  • Socio-Linguistic Value: Preserves and documents the historic linguistic exchanges across the Sub-Saharan belt.
  • Advanced NLP Adaptability: Structured to enhance dialectal speech recognition, localized machine translation, and multi-dialectal search indexing.

Sample downloads:

Reference: DBWAFSDAR

Entries: 3,000+

Last updated: 11/6/2024

Field Definitions

Entry: Sudanese Arabic headword
SIPA: Sudanese Arabic entry phonetic transcription
WAF: West-African parallel
WIPA: West-African entry phonetic transcription
Arabic: Arabic parallel
English: Basic English meaning
Class: Grammatical class Class
Number: Grammatical number, S: singular, P: plural
Language: ful: Fulfulde, hau: Hausa, wol: Wolof
Region: Entry prevalent region, C: center, E: East, N: North, W: West

Sample
ID Entry SIPA WAF WIPA Arabic English Class Number Language Region
1 دَقَل /dɑgɑl/ adakal /ɑdɑkɑl/ جذع trunk N S ful W
2 الغالي /ɑlɣɑːli/ alkali /ɑlkɑlɪ/ قاضي المسلمين Muslim judge N S ful W
3 القُوني /ɑlgɔːni/ alkoni /ɑlkɔnɪ/ حافظ القرآن N S ful W
4 عَرْ /ʕɑr/ araa /ɑrɑː/ حمار donkey N S ful C
5 كَبَلُّو /kɑbɑl'luː/ cebalo /tʃebɑlɔ/ صياد سمك fisherman N S wol N
6 أوتام /ʔuːtɑm/ cuutam /tʃuːtɑm/ مديدة، عصيدة porridge N S ful E
7 داجي /dɑdʒi/ daj /dɑdʒ/ يلاقي encounter V wol N
8 دُقار /dugɑːr/ dëgar /dɑgɑːr/ شيء صلب be hard N S wol C
9 دَكْوة /dɑkwə/ dege /dɑg'ga/ عجينة الفول السوداني peanut butter V S wol C
10 دَقَّر /dɑggɑr/ dëgër /dɑgɑr/ يصير صلبًا be strong V wol C
11 داموت /dɑmɔːt/ demut /dɑmɔt/ لا شيء nil N S wol N
12 دَلِّي /dɑlli/ dillan /dɪllɑn/ يذهب go V ful N
13 جَرَبَنْدِي /dʒɑrɑbɑndi/ garbunde /gɑrbundɛ متسول request N S ful C
14 أبْقَوِّي /ʔbgɑw'wi/ go'o /go'o/ أحادي one N S ful W
15 قَنْقَر /gɑngɑr/ goonga /gɔːngɑ/ حقيقة truth N S ful W
16 قَرْقَرة /gɑrgɑrə/ gurgura /gurgurɑ/ حفر الشيء bite V hau C
17 هَبُّو /hɑbbu/ haaɓude /hɑːɓudɛ/ يستعجل hurry V ful C
18 حَنْدَكُو /ħɑndɑkɔ/ hunnduko /hunndukɔ/ فم mouth N S ful C
19 حَنْدَك /ħɑndɑk/ hunnduko /hunndukɔ/ يغري tease V ful C
20 إيال /iːjɑl/ Iyal /ijɑl/ عظم، بذور bone N S ful W
21 إيّا /iːjɑ/ Iyya /iːjɑ/ أمي، والدتي mom N S ful W
22 جَانْقَى /dʒɑnge/ jaange /dʒɑnge/ أيدي workers N P ful C
23 جَنْقُو /dʒɑngu/ junngo /dʒungɔ/ يد worker N S ful C
24 جُودِي /dʒuːdi/ juudi /dʒuːdɪ/ يجلس sitting V ful N
25 جُودِيّة /dʒuːdiːjə/ juudi /dʒuːdɪ/ مجلس صلح domestic council N N ful N
26 جَلابة /dʒɑllɑbə/ juulbe /dʒuːlbɛ/ المسلمون Muslim believers N P ful C
27 كَنْجال /kɑndʒɑl/ khanjar /χɑndʒɑr/ عملة برونزية coin N S wol C
28 خَنْجر /χɑndʒr/ khanjar /χɑndʒɑr/ البرونز bronze N S wol N
29 كُرْعَين /kurʕɑijn/ korre /kɔrre/ ساقين shin N S ful C
30 لَخّ /lɑχ/ laax /lɑχ/ عجينة porridge N wol C
31 مادِبُّو /mɑdib'bu/ moodibbo /mɔːdɪb'bɔ/ معلم القرآن Koranic teacher N S ful W
32 مَرْكوب /mɑrkuːb/ mukkuwo /mukkuwɔ/ حذاء shoe N S ful C
33 نَوْري /nɔːri/ nore /nɔre/ كف اليد، النخيل palm N S ful N
34 يجَخْنِن /jdʒɑχnin/ nyukkunu /ŋuk'kunu/ يخفي hide V S ful N
35 جَخْنون /dʒɑχnuːn/ nyukkunu /ŋuk'kunu/ مخبأ hide N S ful N
36 جَكْنُون /dʒɑknuːn/ nyukkunu /ŋuk'kunu/ محفوظ saved N S ful W
37 دَكِّن /dɑk'kin/ nyukkunu /ŋuk'kunu/ أخفى hided V ful W
38 دَكِين /dɑkiːn/ nyukkunu /ŋuk'kunu/ محفوظ saved V ful W
39 نْجَنْق /ŋɑnŋ/ ŋaañ /ŋɑːŋ/ يقضم bite V wol W
40 نْجَنْجا /ŋɑnŋɑ/ ŋaaŋ /ŋɑːŋ/ يأكل eat V wol W
41 نْجَنْج /ŋɑnŋ/ ŋaaŋ /ŋɑːŋ/ يفتح فمه open mouth V wol W
42 سَلْبَطة /sɑlbɑtˤə/ selbude /sɑlbudɛ/ مراوغة watery N S ful C
43 جَلْبَطة /dʒɑlbɑtˤə/ selbude /sɑlbudɛ/ تلطيخ smear N S ful C
44 سَلْبَط /sɑlbɑtˤ/ selbude /sɑlbudɛ/ راوغ be watery V ful C
45 جَلْبَط /dʒɑlbɑtˤ/ selbude /sɑlbudɛ/ لطخ smeared V ful C
46 شِينِي /ʃiːni/ siini /ʃiːni/ أزرق Indigo N S ful C
47 تاج /tɑːdʒ/ taaj /tɑːdʒ/ موضع place N S wol N
48 تَبَلْدي /tɑbɑldi/ tabalde /tɑbɑldɛ/ طبل drum N P ful C
49 تج /tɑdʒ/ tach /tɑtʃh/ يفرد، يسطح flatten V wol W
50 تَبِيدي /tɑbiːdi/ tappude /tɑp'pudɛ/ يطرق hammer V ful N
51 تاتاي /tɑtɑːj/ tati /tɑtɪ/ الثالث third N S ful N
52 طَقّ /tˤɑg/ tek /tɑg/ خاط sewed V wol N
53 طَق /tˤɑg/ tek /tɑg/ تمامًا exactly D wol N
54 تَنْدَه /tɑndɑh/ tiynde /tɪjndi/ الجبهة forehead N S ful W
55 تُر /tur/ turu /tur/ يدفع، يندفع push V ful W
56 واسُودى /wɑːsuːdə/ wasude /wɑsudɛ/ يحفر dig V ful N
57 واسُوق /wɑːsuːg/ wasude /wɑsudɛ/ حفر dig N S ful N
58 واي /wɑːj/ way /wɑj/ E wol C
59 جُقْدِي /dʒugdi/ yuwude /juwudɛ/ خنجر dagger N S ful N
60 جَقِّد /dʒɑggɑd/ yuwude /juwudɛ/ طعن stab V ful N