Alagwa language


Alagwa is a Cushitic language spoken in Tanzania in the Dodoma region. Some Alagwa have shifted to other languages such as Sandawe.

Grammar

Phonology

Alagwa has five vowels and 29 consonants, including ejectives, pharyngeal fricatives, and labialized velars and uvulars.

Word order

Alagwa sentences have a generalized order , and elements of the sentence other than the subject appear in the positions labelled X, Y, and Z, depending on their information status in the clause. New material tends to appear in the post-verbal position, Z, while old information appears in the pre-auxiliary position, X.
The following example shows the noun yaawáa 'dowry' introduced as new information after the verb in the first sentence and repeated as old information before the auxiliary ningi in the second sentence.