scholarly journals From preposition to plural marker and more grammaticalization of Kuche bānà

2002 ◽  
pp. 155-175
Author(s):  
Janet Wilson
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Unusual Feature ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
Extensive System ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Class

While most Benue-Congo languages of West Africa retain only vestiges of a noun class system, Kuche, a language of Central Nigeria, has an extensive system similar in many ways to Bantu systems. One unusual feature of the system is the form ban( a), used to pluralize, for example, kin terms such as 'mother' and 'father' . Although it has been analyzed elsewhere as a noun class prefix, detailed analysis demonstrates that it is not a class prefix but rather a grammaticalized compound consisting of the class 2 pronoun ba plus the preposition na 'with'. Not only has this grammatic ali zed form come to be used as a pluralizer, it also functions as a type of comitative marker. The author shows that na has also combined with agreement prefixes a- and ba- (classes 1 and 2), and has grammaticalized with multiple functions: associative marker, directional marker, focus and topic marker.

scholarly journals A microtypological survey of noun classes in Kwa

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-114
Author(s):  
Maria Konoshenko ◽  
Dasha Shavarina
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Class System ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
World Languages ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Oxford University Press

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of noun class systems in a sample of 20 Kwa languages. It focuses on the synchronic productivity of noun classification in Kwa as opposed to the full-fledged class system assumed for Proto-Kwa and for the general “Niger-Congo prototype” (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335; Creissels, Denis. Forthcoming. Noun class systems in Atlantic languages. To appear. In Friederike Lüpke (ed.),The Oxford guide to the Atlantic languages of West Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press). The productivity of class morphology on nouns is studied by exploring class marker alternations as exponents of other grammatical phenomena: the formation of the plural, diminutive derivation and nominalization. We also discuss class indexation on nominal modifiers (adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and indefinite markers) as well as subject and object pronominals. We demonstrate that Kwa languages tend to follow the typological tendencies pertaining to class marking on nouns and class indexation, e.g. the Agreement hierarchy (Corbett, Greville G. 1979. The agreement hierarchy.Journal of Linguistics15. 203–224), as established for world languages in general and Niger-Congo family in particular (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335). However, some intriguing discrepancies, e.g. different patterning of indexation on adjectives vs. on numerals in Kwa as opposed to some other Niger-Congo branches, were also attested. In diachronic perspective, our findings suggest that noun class systems are flexible as they show high intragenetic variation and are easily degradable, but they almost never disappear completely.

scholarly journals The gender system of Longuda

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-346
Author(s):  
Julius-Maximilian Elstermann ◽  
Ines Fiedler ◽  
Tom Güldemann
Keyword(s):  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Classifier System ◽  
Class System ◽  
Nominal Form ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Nominal Classification ◽  
Gender System

Abstract This article describes the gender system of Longuda. Longuda class marking is alliterative and does not distinguish between nominal form and agreement marking. While it thus appears to be a prototypical example of a traditional Niger-Congo “noun-class” system, this identity of gender encoding makes it look morpho-syntactic rather than lexical. This points to a formerly independent status of the exponents of nominal classification, which is similar to a classifier system and thus less canonical. Both types of class marking hosts involve two formally and functionally differing allomorphs, which inform the historical reconstruction of Longuda noun classification in various ways.

Creating versatility in Thai demonstratives

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shoichi Iwasaki ◽  
Parada Dechapratumwan
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Joint Attention ◽  
Basic Function ◽  
Multiple Functions ◽  
Position Analysis ◽  
Discourse Organization

Abstract Beyond their basic function to index exophoric and endophoric referents, Thai demonstratives have a host of pragmatic functions to encode concerns regarding discourse organization, subjectivity, and intersubjectivity. Based on a detailed analysis of demonstratives used in conversation, we attempt to uncover the pattern of grammaticalization for this class of words in Thai, and to propose a mechanism that allows them to develop multiple functions. Since demonstratives are indexical signs and are qualitatively distinct from content words, we must view the grammaticalization process of demonstratives differently from that of content words. In this paper, we use the model of the joint attention triangle based on Diessel’s earlier work and the functional utterance frame based on the “attractor position” analysis for grammaticalization of nouns and verbs advanced by Bisang (1996) to analyze how exactly demonstratives come to acquire pragmatic functions.

Word Order and Agreement in Tagoi

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-174
Author(s):  
Suzan Alamin
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Class System ◽  
Order Types ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Constituent Order ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
South Kordofan

Abstract This study provides a detailed description of word order types, agreement patterns and alternations found in Tagoi, a Kordofanian language traditionally spoken in South Kordofan. After a brief presentation of the language (section 1), the noun class system is introduced (section 2) and the word order and agreement patterns are examined at the noun phrase level (section 3). Section 4 gives information about the constituent order at clause and sentence level, while Section 5 summarizes the findings and conclusion of the paper. All in all, the paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the grammar, structure and typological features of Tagoi.

Neuter gender in a sexless language

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 41-54
Author(s):  
Merijn de Dreu ◽  
Leston Buell
Keyword(s):  
Romance Languages ◽  
Class System ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Grammatical Functions ◽  
The Way

In some Germanic languages, neuter gender is used both as a lexical gender and for certain grammatical functions, while in Romance languages, neuter gender is only employed for grammatical functions. Zulu, a Bantu language, has a much more elaborate noun class system than those languages, but one not rooted in sex or animacy as in Germanic or Romance. However, it is shown that Zulu noun class 17 is used for the same range of grammatical functions as neuter gender in Indo-European. Specifically, Indo-European neuter gender and Zulu class 17 are used when the referent has no specific noun class properties, for expletive subjects, and as the subject of nominal predication, even when the referent is human. Aside from its use in some languages as a gender for nouns, then, neuter gender can be understood as a cluster of grammatical functions, independently of the way the lexicon is organized.

Cara

2020 ◽  
pp. 653-669
Author(s):  
Rainer Vossen
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Class System ◽  
Central District ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Gender Based

Cara is a highly endangered, little-documented Central Khoisan (Khoe) language of the East Kalahari branch, spoken by a small number of persons in Botswana’s Central District. The chapter begins with a brief description of phonological inventories on the segmental (consonant and vowel phonemes) as well as suprasegmental level (tones). Derivational and inflectional aspects are discussed, separately for nominals and verbals, under morphological headings such as gender-based noun class system, pronominal paradigms (personal, demonstrative, possessive, and interrogative), structure of finite verbs, verbal extensions, tense and aspect, modality, and negation. The syntactic characteristics dealt with are word order, coordination, subordination, declarative sentences, questions, and relative clauses.

Biali

2020 ◽  
pp. 462-476
Author(s):  
Coffi Sambiéni
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Verbal Description ◽  
Grammatical Structure ◽  
Class System ◽  
The North ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Republic Of Benin ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Tonal System

This chapter gives a brief description of the grammatical structure of Biali, an Eastern Gur language spoken in the north of the Republic of Benin. It examines major aspects of phonology (five vocalic phonemes; fifteen distinctive consonants; a tonal system contrasting high, mid, and low; syllable structure) and morphosyntax. The description of nominals highlights the noun class system consisting of fifteen classes and deverbal and denominal suffix-based derivation. Nominal compounding is characterized by the use of two or more lexemes expanded with class markers. Noun phrases, adjectives, pronouns, and numerals are also dealt with. Verbal description includes derivational processes, the TAM system, negation, focus, and adverbs.

scholarly journals Issues in noun classification and noun class assignment in Gujjolay Eegimaa (Banjal) and other Joola languages

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Serge Sagna
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Criteria ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Similar System ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Class Assignment

In his book on gender Corbett observes that establishing the number of genders or noun classes in a given language ‘can be the subject of interminable dispute’ (1991: 145). Jóola like Gújjolaay Eegimaa (bqj, Atlantic, Niger-Congo) have noun class systems exhibiting irregular singular-plural matchings and complex agreement correspondences between controller nouns and their targets, resulting in endless disagreements among authors in Jóola linguistics. This paper addresses the issues surrounding noun class assignment in Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Eegimaa henceforth) and other Jóola languages. It provides a critical evaluation of the noun class assignment criteria used for those languages and proposes cross-linguistic and language-specific diagnostic criteria to account for the noun class system of Eegimaa and other related languages that exhibit a similar system.

scholarly journals Noun Class System in Ikhin, an Edoid Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 777-785
Author(s):  
Olaide Oladimeji ◽  
Opoola Bolanle T.
Keyword(s):  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
The Way

This paper examines the noun class system in Ikhin, an Edoid language in South-South, Nigeria. Unlike other related Edoid languages examined and investigated by various scholars, nothing has been said on the noun class system in Ikhin. The paper establishes noun prefixes and concord prefixes in modifiers such as demonstrative and possessive pronouns. Although inherited, this paper confirms that majority of the nouns are inflected for number by means of prefix vowel alternation. The study also confirms that the language maintains most of the noun class distinctions in Edoid languages. The paper examines morphological alternations and their implications for phonology. It is argued that vestiges of vowel harmony appear in the patterning of vowels in nouns and in the way vowels alternate in prefixes. Vestigial evidence of concord which is normally the hallmark of a noun class system in Edoid languages was discovered in modifiers such as demonstrative and possessive pronouns.

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