The dr / tr correspondence (and ndr / ntr)

You saw it back in Module 1.6: ndrovi (green banana, Ng) becomes ntrovi in shindzuani and shimaoré. The digraph dr becomes tr. The most emblematic correspondence of the divide between the western bloc (Ng/Mw) and the eastern bloc (Nz/Ma).

The rule also applies to pre-nasals: ndr (Ng/Mw) ↔ ntr (Nz/Ma).

The retroflex is voiced in the western bloc, voiceless in the eastern bloc. But it is not a mechanical rule: the correspondence affects part of the vocabulary (ndrovi / ntrovi, mndru / muntru), and both shindzuani and shimaoré keep dr and ndr in many everyday words (mundru "leg", ndrimu "lemon", shendra "nine"), according to the Nisusoma shimaore booklet (CASNAV, 2019, pp. 31-42) and Ahmed-Chamanga (1992, p. 16).

The correspondence gives a lead, not an automatic conversion:

• Ng → Nz/Ma: a shiNgazidja dr may answer to a tr (and ndr to ntr): ndrovi / ntrovi, mndru / muntru.
• Nz/Ma → Ng: a tr may answer to a dr (ntr to ndr).

Note: many words keep dr or ndr in the east. The Mahoran booklet writes mundru (leg), ndrimu (lemon), shendra (nine), uendra (to go), ushindra (to be able), trundra (orange) and mgodro (dance) (CASNAV, 2019, pp. 31-42 and 71); Ahmed-Chamanga lists dr and ndr among shindzuani consonants (1992, p. 16).

Each dialect's form must therefore be checked word by word, in the dictionary or with a speaker.

Second correspondence: in a few words, the dz of shiNgazidja and shiNdzuani answers to a z in shimaoré (mwidzi / mwizi). Like dr / tr, it is checked word by word.