Dataset Viewer
rule_id
int64 | category
string | subcategory
string | description
string | examples
list | patterns
list | pattern
string |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Pronouns
|
Personal Pronouns
|
Personal pronouns in Zarma are invariable across nominative, objective, and possessive cases.
|
[
{
"zarma": "ay",
"english": "I, me, my"
},
{
"zarma": "ni",
"english": "you, your (singular)"
},
{
"zarma": "a (nga)",
"english": "he, she, it; his, her, its"
},
{
"zarma": "iri (ir)",
"english": "we, us, our"
},
{
"zarma": "araŋ",
"english": "you (plural), your"
},
{
"zarma": "i (ngey, ey)",
"english": "they, them, their"
}
] | null | null |
2 |
Pronouns
|
Demonstrative Pronouns
|
Demonstrative pronouns indicate specific items; 'din' suffix can be added to nouns for specificity.
|
[
{
"zarma": "wo",
"english": "this, that"
},
{
"zarma": "wey",
"english": "these, those"
}
] | null | null |
3 |
Pronouns
|
Indefinite Pronouns
|
Indefinite pronouns refer to non-specific entities.
|
[
{
"zarma": "boro",
"english": "someone, one (person)"
},
{
"zarma": "hay kulu",
"english": "everything"
},
{
"zarma": "hay fo",
"english": "something"
}
] | null | null |
4 |
Nouns
|
Definite Article
|
Definite articles are expressed by adding 'a' or 'o' to the noun based on its ending.
|
[
{
"zarma": "zanka → zankaa",
"english": "a child → the child"
},
{
"zarma": "wayboro → waybora",
"english": "a woman → the woman"
},
{
"zarma": "darbayko → darbaykwa",
"english": "a fisherman → the fisherman"
},
{
"zarma": "hansi → hanso",
"english": "a dog → the dog"
},
{
"zarma": "farkay → farka",
"english": "a donkey → the donkey"
}
] |
[
{
"ending": "a",
"rule": "add 'a' (e.g., zanka → zankaa)",
"exceptions": "Pre-1999 texts may not change"
},
{
"ending": "o",
"rule": "change to 'a' or add 'a' (e.g., wayboro → waybora)",
"exceptions": null
},
{
"ending": "ko",
"rule": "change to 'kwa' (e.g., darbayko → darbaykwa)",
"exceptions": null
},
{
"ending": "e, i, u, consonant",
"rule": "change to 'o' or add 'o' (e.g., wande → wando)",
"exceptions": null
},
{
"ending": "ay",
"rule": "change 'ay' to 'a' or add 'o' (e.g., farkay → farka or farkayo)",
"exceptions": null
}
] | null |
5 |
Nouns
|
Definite Plural
|
Definite plural is formed by replacing the definite singular vowel with 'ey'.
|
[
{
"zarma": "zankaa → zankey",
"english": "the child → the children"
},
{
"zarma": "hanso → hansey",
"english": "the dog → the dogs"
},
{
"zarma": "farka → farkey",
"english": "the donkey → the donkeys"
}
] | null |
Replace final vowel with 'ey' (e.g., zankaa → zankey)
|
6 |
Nouns
|
Indefinite Article
|
No explicit indefinite article; 'fo' (one) is used to specify 'a certain' or 'one'.
|
[
{
"zarma": "musu",
"english": "a cat"
},
{
"zarma": "musu fo",
"english": "a (certain) cat, one cat"
}
] | null |
Add 'fo' after noun for specificity (e.g., musu → musu fo)
|
7 |
Nouns
|
Gender
|
No grammatical gender; specific words indicate male/female for living beings.
|
[
{
"zarma": "alboro",
"english": "man"
},
{
"zarma": "wayboro",
"english": "woman"
}
] | null | null |
8 |
Verbs
|
Completed Action (Past Tense)
|
Verbs without auxiliaries indicate completed actions (past tense).
|
[
{
"zarma": "ay neera",
"english": "I sold"
},
{
"zarma": "a neera",
"english": "he/she sold"
},
{
"zarma": "zankaa kani",
"english": "the child went to bed"
}
] | null |
Subject + Verb (e.g., ay neera)
|
9 |
Verbs
|
Uncompleted Action (Future Tense)
|
Future tense uses auxiliary 'ga' before the verb.
|
[
{
"zarma": "ay ga neera",
"english": "I will sell"
},
{
"zarma": "i ga neera",
"english": "they will sell"
}
] | null |
Subject + ga + Verb (e.g., ay ga neera)
|
10 |
Verbs
|
Continuous Aspect
|
Continuous aspect uses 'go no ga' before the verb for ongoing actions.
|
[
{
"zarma": "ay go no ga neera",
"english": "I am selling"
},
{
"zarma": "a go no ga neera",
"english": "he/she is selling"
}
] | null |
Subject + go no ga + Verb (e.g., ay go no ga neera)
|
11 |
Verbs
|
Subjunctive
|
Subjunctive uses 'ma' to indicate possible actions.
|
[
{
"zarma": "ay ma neera",
"english": "I should sell"
},
{
"zarma": "ni ma neera",
"english": "you should sell"
}
] | null |
Subject + ma + Verb (e.g., ay ma neera)
|
12 |
Verbs
|
Imperative
|
Imperative uses 'ma' or 'wa' before the verb, or just the verb alone.
|
[
{
"zarma": "Haŋ!",
"english": "Drink!"
},
{
"zarma": "Ma haŋ!",
"english": "Drink!"
},
{
"zarma": "Araŋ ma di!",
"english": "You (plural) see!"
}
] | null |
[Ma/Wa] + Verb or Verb alone (e.g., Ma haŋ or Haŋ)
|
13 |
Verbs
|
To Be
|
The verb 'to be' varies by context: 'go', 'ya...no', or 'ga ti'.
|
[
{
"zarma": "A go fu",
"english": "He/she is at home"
},
{
"zarma": "Ay ya alfa no",
"english": "I am a teacher"
},
{
"zarma": "Nga ga ti wayboro",
"english": "She is a woman"
}
] | null | null |
14 |
Verbs
|
Irregular Verbs
|
Some verbs place objects unusually (e.g., direct object before verb without 'na').
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay di a",
"english": "I saw him/her"
},
{
"zarma": "A ne ay se",
"english": "He/she said to me"
}
] | null | null |
15 |
Adjectives
|
Qualifying Adjectives
|
Adjectives follow the noun they modify.
|
[
{
"zarma": "fu beeri",
"english": "a big house"
},
{
"zarma": "hansi kayna",
"english": "a small dog"
}
] | null |
Noun + Adjective (e.g., fu beeri)
|
16 |
Sentence Structure
|
Basic Order
|
Basic sentence order is Subject-Verb-Object (SVO).
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay neera bari",
"english": "I sold a horse"
}
] | null |
S + V + O (e.g., Ay neera bari)
|
17 |
Sentence Structure
|
Direct Object
|
Direct object before verb requires 'na' in past positive.
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay na bari neera",
"english": "I sold a horse"
}
] | null |
S + na + O + V (e.g., Ay na bari neera)
|
18 |
Sentence Structure
|
Indirect Object
|
Indirect object is marked with 'se' after the object.
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay no bari wayboro se",
"english": "I gave a horse to the woman"
}
] | null |
S + V + O + IO + se (e.g., Ay no bari wayboro se)
|
19 |
Negation
|
Past Negative
|
Past negative uses 'mana' after the subject.
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay mana neera",
"english": "I did not sell"
}
] | null |
S + mana + V (e.g., Ay mana neera)
|
20 |
Negation
|
Present/Future Negative
|
Present/future negative uses 'si' instead of 'ga'.
|
[
{
"zarma": "Ay si neera",
"english": "I do not/will not sell"
}
] | null |
S + si + V (e.g., Ay si neera)
|
Description
This repo contains 20 grammar rules for Zarma language. The rules were create as part of the R2T project which is a proof of concept of a paradigm: Principled Learning (PrL).
Citation
If you use this resource, please use this citation.
@article{r2t2025,
title={R2T: A Case Study in Principled Learning for Low-Resource POS Tagging},
author={Author1 and Author2 and Author3},
journal={TBD},
year={2025},
url={TBD}
}
Acknowledgments
We thank the Zarma language community for their contributions.
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