ne / ce

Identifying Someone or Something

Level 1

Basic order is subject + identifying expression + ne/ce.

How It Works

Basic feminine singular identification ends in ce; masculine singular and plural identification end in ne. These copulas do not take ordinary verbal subject-TAM paradigms. A pronoun subject uses an independent pronoun.

Compare Wannan jaka ce “This is a bag” with Jaka tana cikin ɗaki “The bag is in the room”. The first identifies; the second locates through a continuative frame. A noun or pronoun plus copula can also identify an understood referent.

When subject and predicate nouns have conflicting genders, either copula can be possible, with agreement reflecting the highlighted element. Focus can place the copula after that constituent rather than at the end.

Copulas can be omitted in some identification contexts. Giving a personal name follows a separate pattern: Sunana Maryam means “My name is Maryam”, without final ne/ce.

Examples (3)

  1. Maryam ɗaliba ce.

    Maryam is a student.

    Feminine singular identification.

  2. Musa malami ne.

    Musa is a teacher.

    Masculine singular identification.

  3. Waɗancan jakunkuna ne.

    Those are bags.

    Plural identification takes ne.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

ne / ceLevel 1Identifying Someone or Something

Learn This First

Identify a nominal classification and its referent’s gender before contrasting identifying ne/ce with a location frame.

Learn Next

Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

nece