8 Perception Verbs and Their Semantics in Dongolawi (Nile Nubian)

Abstract

The Dongolawi language is spoken in the Nile Valley of northern Sudan. This chapter shows that Arabic loan words are attested even in the semantic field of perception verbs. It focuses on five sensory modalities: sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. The chapter is concerned with the question how they are expressed by the corresponding physical perception verbs. It addresses the following questions: (i) how are the five sense-modalities lexically expressed in Dongolawi; (ii) how are the role of Experiencer and Source/Phenomenon grammatically encoded in Dongolawi; (iii) what are the lexicalization patterns of the perception verbs; and (iv) are there semantic extensions into other sense-modalities and into the semantic field of cognition. Physical perception verbs discussed in the chapter do not form a special subclass of verbs in the Dongolawi language. Dongolawi (a Nilo-Saharan language) shares a number of lexicalization patterns with Kambataa, a Cushitic language spoken in Ethiopia. Keywords:Dongolawi; lexical expression; Nile Nubian; perception verbs; semantics; sense-modalities