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Gorwaa: an archive of language and cultural material from the Gorwaa people of Babati (Manyara Region, Tanzania)

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Landing page image for the collection ‘Gorwaa: an archive of language and cultural material from the Gorwaa people of Babati (Manyara Region, Tanzania)’. Click on image to access collection.

 

Language Gorwaa (ISO639-3:gow)
Depositor Andrew Harvey
Affiliation SOAS University of London
Location Tanzania
Collection ID 0404, 0643
Grant ID IGS0285, IPF0285
Funding Body ELDP
Collection Status Collection online
Landing Page Handle http://hdl.handle.net/2196/fc785a31-6f0e-4286-9592-5af9c0949986

 

Blog post

A Day in the Field – Andrew Harvey 

 

Summary of the collection

English: This collection contains audiovisual material collected during Andrew Harvey’s work with the Gorwaa language. Beginning in 2012 and extending to present, this collection will be regularly expanded with new recordings, transcriptions/translations, and other content.

The focus of research has been to help create a description of the Gorwaa language. Materials therefore include lexical and grammatical elicitation. A second priority has been the collection of historical and cultural material deemed important to the Gorwaa people. As such, traditional songs, stories, and common history also form a significant part of the collection.

The photo above is of Aakó Lagweén Goti, a local elder, at Dó’ Gwaandú, a special site known for being the past home of a powerful doctor.

How to use this collection: For a brief talk providing an overview of the contents of this collection, giving examples of how the collection can be searched and interpreted, and suggesting some ‘threads’ running through the collection that might be fruitful for future exploration, please consult: Harvey, Andrew. 2019. The Gorwaa language and cultural material archive: an overview. Talk given at the Rift Valley Network Webinar Series. 29/05/2019. Available in the archived collection as [20200518b].

Kiswahili: Akiba hii ina data za sauti na video zilizokusanywa wakati wa utafiti wa Andrew Harvey kwa lugha ya Kigorowa. Kuanzia mwaka 2012 mpaka sasa, akiba hii huongezwa na data zipya, pamoja na tafsiri.

Lengo la utafiti huu ni kueleza lugha ya Kigorowa. Kwa hiyo, maswali kuhusu maneno na sarufi ya lugha yapo kwenye akiba. Vile vile, lengo lengine lilikuwa kukusanya mambo ya historia na kiasili muhimu kwa Wagorowa. Nyimbo za kiasili, hadithi, na historia ni sehemu muhimu ya akiba.

Picha ya juu ni ya Aakó Lagweén Goti, mzee Mgorowa, kwa Dó’ Gwaandú, mahali inayejulikana kwa kuwa nyumba ya mganga maarufu.
Namna ya kutumia akiba hii: Kuona mhadhara mdogo inayeoyesha maada yaliomo ndani ya akiba, inayetoa mifano ya namna za kutumia akiba hii, na inayeeleza mawazo kadhaa kuhusu vitu ambavyo huweza kutafutwa kwa kuitumia, tafhadhali tazama Harvey, Andrew. 2019. The Gorwaa language and cultural material archive: an overview. Talk given at the Rift Valley Network Webinar Series. 29/05/2019. Hupatikana kwenye akiba (kwenye Kiingereza) hapa [20200518b].

 

Group represented

English: The people in these recordings typically identify as Gorwaa, a small ethnic group of the eastern branch of the Eastern Tanzanian Rift. At the time of recording, the Gorwaa were mainly farmers, also keeping small flocks of sheep, goats, and zebu cattle. As in many communities across rural Tanzania, individuals and families often identify strongly with their faith, socializing most intimately with members of the same church or mosque. Various interpretations of Christianity exist alongside Islam – all of which are extensively coloured by a traditional belief system dating back to well before colonial times.

For more information about the context in which these recordings were made, please consult: Harvey, Andrew. 2019. Gorwaa (Tanzania) – Language Contexts. Available in the archived collection as [20200518a].

Kiswahili: Wagorowa: Watu waliochangia kwenye kazi hii hujitambua kama Wagorowa, kabila dogo la tawi la mashariki la Bonde la Ufa la Mashariki la Tanzania. Wakati wa utafiti huu uliyetekelezwa, Wagorowa kwa kiasi kubwa walikuwa wakulima, pamoja na wachungaji wa mifugo midogo kama kondoo, mbuzi, na ng’ombe wa kienyeji. Kama watu wengi nchini Tanzania, watu na familia hujitambua sana kwa dini, na hushirikiana sana na watu wa kanisa au msikiti yao. Dhehebu nyingi za Ukristo hupatikana, pamoja na Uislamu – zote huathiriwa na imani ya kiasili kutoka muda wa kabla ya kipindi cha ukoloni.

Kwa taarifa zingine kuhusu mazingira ya utafiti huu, tafadhali tazama: Harvey, Andrew. 2019. Gorwaa (Tanzania) – Language Contexts. Hupatikana kwenye akiba (kwenye Kiingereza) hapa [20200518a]

 

Language information

English: Gorwaa (gow) (South-Cushitic, Afro-Asiatic) is an undocumented language, spoken by approximately 133,000 individuals in Babati District, Manyara Region, Tanzania. Little documentation of the language has been carried out, with no published dictionary, grammar, texts, or standardized writing system. Furthermore, due to small speaker numbers, sudden, rapid urbanization, and a political environment hostile to languages that are not Swahili or English, Gorwaa will face considerable challenges to remain viable into the next century. Gorwaa is accorded no formal status in Tanzania, and is banned from use in important public domains.

Genetically, Gorwaa is most closely related to the other core South Cushitic languages Iraqw (irk), Alagwa (wbj), and Burunge (bds). The immediate area in which Gorwaa is spoken is highly linguistically diverse, and Gorwaa probably took part in linguistic contact with languages of other families including (Southern Nilotic) Datooga (tcc), (Bantu F-zone) Nyaturu (rim), Rangi (lag), Mbugwe (mgz), and (possibly) Nyilamba (nim), Ihanzu (isn), and Kimbu (kiv), (Khoisan) Sandawe (sad), and (isolate) Hadza (hts).

Kiswahili: Taarifa ya lugha

Kigorowa (gow) ni lugha ya Kikushi, kwenye familia ya Afro-Asiatic. Kigorowa huzungumzwa na takriban watu 133,000. Utafiti uchache sana ulitekelezwa kuhusu lugha hii, ambaye haina kitabu cha kamusi, kitabu cha sarufi, vitabu vya hadithi, au mfumo rasmi wa uandishaji. Kwa sababu ya idadi ndogo ya wazungumzaji, mabadiliko ya eneo wanapoishi, na mazingira ya kisiasa inayepinga lugha ndogo, Kigorowa huweza kuitwa lugha kwenye hatari ya kupotezwa.

Kigorowa ni karibu ya lugha zingine za Kikushi cha Kusini kama vile Kiiraqw (irk), Chasi (wbj), na Burunge (bds). Sehemu Kigorowa inapoongelewa ina lugha nyingi tofauti, na kuna sababu kubwa kuamini kwamba Kigorowa kiliathiriwa na lugha za familia tofauti, kama vile (Kinilotiki cha Kusini) Kidatooga (tcc), (Bantu, zone-F) Kinyaturu (rim), Kirangi (lag), Kimbugwe (mgz), na (labda) Kinyilamba (nim), Kinyihanzu (isn), na Kikimbu (kiv), (Kikhoisan) Kisandawe (sad), na lugha kisiwa Hadza (hts).

 

Special characteristics

English: In addition to elicitation and material related to the formal inquiry of Gorwaa morphosyntax, this collection also contains material which may be useful to other linguists or researchers:

  • Colour photos of all consenting language consultants, as well as of various artifacts, plants, and forms of adornment.
  • Over 250 Gorwaa songs, many featuring traditional instruments. Some songs have associated interviews in which the singer is asked about its words, when it may be sung, and how they came to learn it.
    Several recordings of games (hunting games, marbles, making a soccer ball, etc.)
    Several divining sessions, in which a specialist divines clients’ prospects using stones.
    Recordings of proceedings of a two-day Gorwaa language conference, in which individuals discussed the Gorwaa language, their attitudes toward it, as well as its future situation.
  • A sketch grammar of Gorwaa (see [20181227d] in the collection).
  • A provisional lexicon of Gorwaa (see [20190415] in the collection).
  • A FLEx database of Gorwaa material (see [20200629] in the collection). Note that this is a working database, and analyses may not align with the depositor’s most recent understandings of the phenomena. Those interested are encouraged to consult recent published material.

Kiswahili: Maada maalum

Pamoja na maada yanayehusika na kazi ya kueleza lugha hii, kuna maada inayoweza kutumika kwa wanaisimu wengine, pamoja na watafiti wengine.

  • Picha za watu waliochangia kwenye kazi hii, pamoja na vyombo, mimea, na nguo muhimu kwa Wagorowa.
  • Nyimbo za kiasili zaidi ya 250, nyingi huimbwa pamoja na ala za muziki. Nyimbo kadhaa zina mahojiano pamoja na wimbaji ambapo anahojiwa kuhusu maneno ya wimbo, wakati unaoimbwa, na namna walivyojifunza wimbo huu.
  • Rekodi kadhaa ya michezo (michezo ya kuwinda, michezo ya watoto, n.k.)
  • Rekodi za vikao ya kupiga ramli, mtaalam anaposoma nyota za mtu kwa kutumia mawe.
  • Rekodi za siku mbili za kongamano la lugha ya Kigorowa, wakati watu walijadiliana kuhusu lugha ya Kigorowa, maoni yao, na hali yake kwenye siku zinazokuja.
  • Sarufi fupi ya Kigorowa (tazama [20181227d] kwenye akiba).
  • Kamui fupi ya Kigorowa (tazama [20190415] kwenye akiba).
  • Rundiko la data (database) (tazama [20200629] kwenye akiba). Mambo haya hayajakamilika bado – kujifunza kuhusu sarufi ya lugha, soma machapisho ya Kigorowa badala ya kutegemea database hii.

 

Other Information

English: Thanks

Material from 2012-2013 was collected by Andrew Harvey during Masters-level research at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Material from 2015-2017 was collected by Andrew Harvey during PhD-level research at SOAS, University of London, and funded by the Endangered Langugaes Documentation Project Individual Graduate Scholarship titled: “The Gorwaa Noun Phrase: Toward a Description of the Gorwaa Language”. Material from 2018-2019 was collected by Paschal Bu’ú, Stephano Edward, Christina Gwa’i, Andrew Harvey, and Festo Massani, and funded by the Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research grant titled: “The Gorwaa Indigenous-Led Language Documentation Project”. Material from 2019-2021 was collected by Andrew Harvey during a postdoctoral fellowship at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and funded by the Endangered Languages Documentation Project Individual Postgraduate Fellowship titled: “Gorwaa, Hadza, and Ihanzu: Grammatical Inquiries in the Tanzanian Rift Valley Area”. Much audiovisual material has been transcribed into Gorwaa using a working writing system, and then translated into Swahili. Much of this work was conducted by Paschal Bu’ú, Stephano Edward, Christina Gwa’i, and Festo Massani. Translated work was then translated into English and linguistically annotated by Andrew Harvey.

Technical support and guidance during the archiving process was provided by staff at the Endangered Languages Archive, SOAS, University of London, especially Dr. Sophie Salffner, and Gema Zamora.

Deep gratitude is also due to the hundreds of Gorwaa community members who have participated in and contributed to this project. Na’aasé’ wa ló’.

Kiswahili: Ungamo

Data kutoka miaka 2012-2013 zilikusanywa na Andrew Harvey wakati wa masomo yake ya Masters kwenye Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Data kutoka miaka 2015-2017 zilikusanywa na Andrew Harvey wakati wa masomo yake ya Udaktari kwenye School of Oriental and African Studies, Chuo Kikuu cha London, Uingereza, na yaliyodhaminiwa na Endangered Languages Documentation Project Individual Graduate Scholarship yenye jina la: “The Gorwaa Noun Phrase: Toward a Description of the Gorwaa Language”. Data kutoka miaka 2018-2019 zilikusanywa na Paschal Bu’ú, Stephano Edward, Christina Gwa’i, Andrew Harvey, na Festo Massani, na iliyedhaminiwa na mfuko ya Firebird Foundation for Anthropological Research wenye jina la: The Gorwaa Indigenous-Led Language Documentation Project”. Data kutoka miaka 2019-2021 zilizokusanywa na Andrew Harvey wakati wa kazi kwenye Chuo Kikuu cha Leiden, Uholanzi, na iliyodhaminiwa na Endangered Languages Documentation Project Individual Postgraduate Fellowship yenye jina la: “Gorwaa, Hadza, and Ihanzu: Grammatical Inquiries in the Tanzanian Rift Valley Area”. Kazi nyingi huandikwa kwenye mfumo wa uandishaji wa Kigorowa, na hutafsiriwa kwenye Kiswahili. Kazi hii ilitekelezwa na Paschal Bu’ú, Stephano Edward, Christina Gwa’i, na Festo Massani. Halafu, kazi hii ilitafsiriwa na ilichambuliwa na Andrew Harvey.

Msaada wa akiba za data ilitolewa na fundi wa Endangered Languages Archive, SOAS, Chuo Kikuu cha London, hasa Dk. Sophie Salffner, na Gema Zamora.

Shukrani kubwa sana kwa Wagorowa mamia walioshirikiana na waliochangia kwenye kazi hii. Na’aasé’ wa ló’.

 

Acknowledgement and citation

Harvey, Andrew. 2017. Gorwaa: an archive of language and cultural material from the Gorwaa people of Babati (Manyara Region, Tanzania). Endangered Languages Archive. Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/2196/00-0000-0000-000F-79D0-1. Accessed on [insert date here].

 

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