scholarly journals The evolution of the noun class system of Ngwi (West-Coastal Bantu, B861, DRC)

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-67
Author(s):  
Sara Pacchiarotti ◽  
Koen Bostoen
Keyword(s):  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Verb Second ◽  
Systematic Account ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Class System ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Diachronic Analysis

In this paper we offer a first systematic account of the noun class system of Ngwi, a West-Coastal Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. First, we describe the synchronic system of noun class prefixes and the agreement patterns they trigger on constituents of the noun phrase and the verb. Second, we provide a diachronic analysis of the innovations the synchronic Ngwi noun class system underwent with respect to the noun class system reconstructed for the most recent common ancestor of all Narrow Bantu languages. Finally, we compare the morphological innovations found in the Ngwi noun class system with those identified in the noun class systems of other West-Coastal Bantu varieties and assess whether some of these could be diagnostic for internal classification within this western Bantu branch.

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.

scholarly journals Progressive vowel height harmony in Proto-Kikongo and Proto-Bantu

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Goes ◽  
Koen Bostoen
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Systematic Comparison ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Focal Area ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Historical Comparative ◽  
Vowel Height

AbstractThe systematic comparison of the different types of progressive Vowel Height Harmony (pVHH) attested within the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC) leads to the conclusion that this common Bantu process of long-distance assimilation cannot be reconstructed to Proto-Kikongo. The ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ and ‘back-pVHH’ patterns, the two main and structurally different kinds of pVHH within the KLC, emerged independently and relatively late within two distinct subgroups, viz. South Kikongo and North Kikongo respectively. Moreover, the ‘(a)symmetric-pVHH’ pattern further spread from a South Kikongo focal area coinciding with the heartland of the Kongo kingdom to other parts of the KLC through contact-induced dialectal diffusion. Furthermore, the historical-comparative evidence from the KLC suggests that neither symmetric nor asymmetric pVHH should be reconstructed to Proto-Bantu, the most recent common ancestor of all Bantu languages.

Noun Classes and Plurality in Bantu Languages

2021 ◽  
pp. 538-557
Author(s):  
Lutz Marten
Keyword(s):  
Classification System ◽  
Grammatical Gender ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Class System ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Nominal Classification ◽  
Grammatical Number ◽  
Theoretical Analyses

Noun classes are a prominent grammatical feature of Bantu languages where typically each noun (or noun stem) is assigned to one of between fifteen and eighteen noun classes. Noun classes are often analysed as a form of nominal classification system and seen as belonging to the same domain as grammatical gender systems. Number in Bantu languages is mediated by the noun class system and the intricate interaction between noun class and number in Bantu has given rise to different theoretical analyses. The chapter focuses on three approaches to analysing grammatical number in Bantu languages—approaches based on an inflectional notion of number, those which analyse number as a derivational relation, and approaches adopting notions of polysemy and paradigms for analysing Bantu noun class systems.

scholarly journals Final Vowel Loss in Lower Kasai Bantu (drc) as a Contact-Induced Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 437-475
Author(s):  
Sara Pacchiarotti ◽  
Koen Bostoen
Keyword(s):  
Language Contact ◽  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Qualitative And Quantitative ◽  
Language History ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
Substrate Influence

Abstract In this article, we present a qualitative and quantitative comparative account of Final Vowel Loss (fvl) in the Bantu languages of the Lower Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We argue that this diachronic sound shift rose relatively late in Bantu language history as a contact-induced change and affected adjacent West-Coastal and Central-Western Bantu languages belonging to different phylogenetic clusters. We account for its emergence and spread by resorting to two successive processes of language contact: (1) substrate influence from extinct hunter-gatherer languages in the center of innovation consisting of Bantu B80 languages, and (2) dialectal diffusion towards certain peripheral Bantu B70, C80, H40 and L10 languages.

scholarly journals Allelic Genealogies in Sporophytic Self-Incompatibility Systems in Plants

Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 150 (3) ◽  
pp. 1187-1198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikkel H Schierup ◽  
Xavier Vekemans ◽  
Freddy B Christiansen
Keyword(s):  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Self Incompatibility ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Dominance Interactions ◽  
Turnover Process ◽  
Neutral Gene ◽  
Interspecific Comparisons ◽  
Coalescence Times

Abstract Expectations for the time scale and structure of allelic genealogies in finite populations are formed under three models of sporophytic self-incompatibility. The models differ in the dominance interactions among the alleles that determine the self-incompatibility phenotype: In the SSIcod model, alleles act codominantly in both pollen and style, in the SSIdom model, alleles form a dominance hierarchy, and in SSIdomcod, alleles are codominant in the style and show a dominance hierarchy in the pollen. Coalescence times of alleles rarely differ more than threefold from those under gametophytic self-incompatibility, and transspecific polymorphism is therefore expected to be equally common. The previously reported directional turnover process of alleles in the SSIdomcod model results in coalescence times lower and substitution rates higher than those in the other models. The SSIdom model assumes strong asymmetries in allelic action, and the most recessive extant allele is likely to be the most recent common ancestor. Despite these asymmetries, the expected shape of the allele genealogies does not deviate markedly from the shape of a neutral gene genealogy. The application of the results to sequence surveys of alleles, including interspecific comparisons, is discussed.

scholarly journals Molecular epidemiological characteristics of echovirus 6 in mainland China: extensive circulation of genotype F from 2007 to 2018

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenjun Cheng ◽  
Tianjiao Ji ◽  
Shuaifeng Zhou ◽  
Yong Shi ◽  
Lili Jiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Genetic Characteristics ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Echovirus 6 ◽  
Epidemiological Characteristics ◽  
Highest Posterior Density ◽  
Genotype F

AbstractEchovirus 6 (E6) is associated with various clinical diseases and is frequently detected in environmental sewage. Despite its high prevalence in humans and the environment, little is known about its molecular phylogeography in mainland China. In this study, 114 of 21,539 (0.53%) clinical specimens from hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases collected between 2007 and 2018 were positive for E6. The complete VP1 sequences of 87 representative E6 strains, including 24 strains from this study, were used to investigate the evolutionary genetic characteristics and geographical spread of E6 strains. Phylogenetic analysis based on VP1 nucleotide sequence divergence showed that, globally, E6 strains can be grouped into six genotypes, designated A to F. Chinese E6 strains collected between 1988 and 2018 were found to belong to genotypes C, E, and F, with genotype F being predominant from 2007 to 2018. There was no significant difference in the geographical distribution of each genotype. The evolutionary rate of E6 was estimated to be 3.631 × 10-3 substitutions site-1 year-1 (95% highest posterior density [HPD]: 3.2406 × 10-3-4.031 × 10-3 substitutions site-1 year-1) by Bayesian MCMC analysis. The most recent common ancestor of the E6 genotypes was traced back to 1863, whereas their common ancestor in China was traced back to around 1962. A small genetic shift was detected in the Chinese E6 population size in 2009 according to Bayesian skyline analysis, which indicated that there might have been an epidemic around that year.

scholarly journals Molecular epidemiology of coxsackievirus A16 circulating in children in Beijing, China from 2010 to 2019

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya-Fang Hu ◽  
Li-Ping Jia ◽  
Fang-Yuan Yu ◽  
Li-Ying Liu ◽  
Qin-Wei Song ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Epidemiology ◽  
Evolutionary Rate ◽  
Foot And Mouth Disease ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Rt Pcr ◽  
Coxsackievirus A16 ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Etiological Agents ◽  
High Level ◽  
And Control

Abstract Background Coxsackievirus A16 (CVA16) is one of the major etiological agents of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD). This study aimed to investigate the molecular epidemiology and evolutionary characteristics of CVA16. Methods Throat swabs were collected from children with HFMD and suspected HFMD during 2010–2019. Enteroviruses (EVs) were detected and typed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and RT-PCR. The genotype, evolutionary rate, the most recent common ancestor, population dynamics and selection pressure of CVA16 were analyzed based on viral protein gene (VP1) by bioinformatics software. Results A total of 4709 throat swabs were screened. EVs were detected in 3180 samples and 814 were CVA16 positive. More than 81% of CVA16-positive children were under 5 years old. The prevalence of CVA16 showed obvious periodic fluctuations with a high level during 2010–2012 followed by an apparent decline during 2013–2017. However, the activities of CVA16 increased gradually during 2018–2019. All the Beijing CVA16 strains belonged to sub-genotype B1, and B1b was the dominant strain. One B1c strain was detected in Beijing for the first time in 2016. The estimated mean evolutionary rate of VP1 gene was 4.49 × 10–3 substitution/site/year. Methionine gradually fixed at site-23 of VP1 since 2012. Two sites were detected under episodic positive selection, one of which (site-223) located in neutralizing linear epitope PEP71. Conclusions The dominant strains of CVA16 belonged to clade B1b and evolved in a fast evolutionary rate during 2010–2019 in Beijing. To provide more favorable data for HFMD prevention and control, it is necessary to keep attention on molecular epidemiological and evolutionary characteristics of CVA16.

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.

scholarly journals The Ancestry of a Sample of Sequences Subject to Recombination

Genetics ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 151 (3) ◽  
pp. 1217-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Wiuf ◽  
Jotun Hein
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Distance ◽  
Population Size ◽  
Upper Bound ◽  
Recombination Rate ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Sequence Length ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Mean Time

Abstract In this article we discuss the ancestry of sequences sampled from the coalescent with recombination with constant population size 2N. We have studied a number of variables based on simulations of sample histories, and some analytical results are derived. Consider the leftmost nucleotide in the sequences. We show that the number of nucleotides sharing a most recent common ancestor (MRCA) with the leftmost nucleotide is ≈log(1 + 4N Lr)/4Nr when two sequences are compared, where L denotes sequence length in nucleotides, and r the recombination rate between any two neighboring nucleotides per generation. For larger samples, the number of nucleotides sharing MRCA with the leftmost nucleotide decreases and becomes almost independent of 4N Lr. Further, we show that a segment of the sequences sharing a MRCA consists in mean of 3/8Nr nucleotides, when two sequences are compared, and that this decreases toward 1/4Nr nucleotides when the whole population is sampled. A measure of the correlation between the genealogies of two nucleotides on two sequences is introduced. We show analytically that even when the nucleotides are separated by a large genetic distance, but share MRCA, the genealogies will show only little correlation. This is surprising, because the time until the two nucleotides shared MRCA is reciprocal to the genetic distance. Using simulations, the mean time until all positions in the sample have found a MRCA increases logarithmically with increasing sequence length and is considerably lower than a theoretically predicted upper bound. On the basis of simulations, it turns out that important properties of the coalescent with recombinations of the whole population are reflected in the properties of a sample of low size.

scholarly journals Genome Sequence Analysis of First Ross River Virus Isolate from Papua New Guinea Indicates Long-Term, Local Evolution

Viruses ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 482
Author(s):  
Alice Michie ◽  
John S. Mackenzie ◽  
David W. Smith ◽  
Allison Imrie
Keyword(s):  
Papua New Guinea ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solomon Islands ◽  
Febrile Illness ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Ross River Virus ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Mean Time

Ross River virus (RRV) is the most medically significant mosquito-borne virus of Australia, in terms of human morbidity. RRV cases, characterised by febrile illness and potentially persistent arthralgia, have been reported from all Australian states and territories. RRV was the cause of a large-scale epidemic of multiple Pacific Island countries and territories (PICTs) from 1979 to 1980, involving at least 50,000 cases. Historical evidence of RRV seropositivity beyond Australia, in populations of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, has been documented. We describe the genomic characterisation and timescale analysis of the first isolate of RRV to be sampled from PNG to date. Our analysis indicates that RRV has evolved locally within PNG, independent of Australian lineages, over an approximate 40 year period. The mean time to most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of the unique PNG clade coincides with the initiation of the PICTs epidemic in mid-1979. This may indicate that an ancestral variant of the PNG clade was seeded into the region during the epidemic, a period of high RRV transmission. Further epidemiological and molecular-based surveillance is required in PNG to better understand the molecular epidemiology of RRV in the general Australasian region.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document