Mimi of Decorse

{{Short description|Extinct language of Chad}}

{{Infobox language

| name = Mimi of Decorse

| altname = Mimi-D
Mimi of Gaudefroy-Demombynes

| nativename =

| states = Chad

| ethnicity =

| era = attested {{circa}} 1900

| familycolor = Nilo-Saharan

| fam2 = Central Sudanic?

| iso3 = none

| glotto = mimi1240

| glottorefname = Mimi-Gaudefroy

}}

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 Maurice Gaudefroy-Demombynes.Gaudefroy-Demombynes, Maurice. 1907. Document sur les Langues de l'Oubangui-Chari. In Actes du XVIe Congrès International des Orientalistes, Alger, 1905, Part II, 172-330. Paris: Ernest Leroux. 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, arguing that similarities to Maban are due to contact with locally dominant Maba (the similarities are with that language specifically, not with the entire Maban family), and provisionally regards it as a language isolate, though it is suggestive of Central Sudanic.Starostin, George. [https://rggu.academia.edu/GeorgeStarostin/Papers/983014/On_Mimi On Mimi], Journal of Language Relationship, v. 6, 2011, pp. 115-140.

Basic vocabulary

The more stable of Mimi-D and Mimi-N's attested vocabulary is as follows:

class="wikitable"

!gloss

Mimi-DMimi-N
twomelsøn
eyedyokal
firesou
stonemuguru
handsilrai
whatɲeta
diedafaya
drinkandʒiab
dogɲuk
moon
claw/nailfer
bloodari
onedegul-un
toothɲainziːk
eatɲyam
hairsuf (Arabic?)fuːl
waterengisun (Fur?)
nosefirhur
mouthɲyomil
earfeɾkuyi
birdkabal-a
bonekadʒi
sunsey
treesu
killkuduma
footrepzaŋ
hornkamin
meatɲyuneŋ
eggdʒulut
blackliwuk
headbokidʒ-i
nightlem
fishgonas
seeyakoe

See also

References