Numeral Systems in Various Fula Lects

The paper presents the analysis of Fula numeral system. Fula is an Atlantic language, dispersed throughout a vast territory in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has over 20 differently-sized lects subdivided into three zones - Western, Central and Eastern. The research included collecting the language data on six major lects, two from each zone. Then this data was analyzed from the point of view of internal and external syntax of ordinal, cardinal, distributive and fraction numerals. The comparative analysis of Fula numeral system on inter-lect scale has never been reflected in earlier Fula studies. Apart from a unique collection of numeral data from all language zones of Fula, the paper presents comparative analysis of such data, including, but not limited to, phonetic and contact-induced variabilities. The sources of structural and lexical loans in the system are listed wherever possible, because the disperse nature of Fula lects means that the contact languages and the ensuing changes can be different for each lect. Special attention is paid to the numeral bases, which can be somatic, commercial of a combination of the two. The Fula numeral system has never been analyzed from this point of view, and the contact changes to it are of great linguistic interest. Also cardinal numerals in Fula can change their form depending on the personality parameter of head noun. This system is unique for Fula and, more specifically, to its numeral system, and is properly described for the first time. Some parts of the Fula numeral system, like distributive and fraction numerals for some lects, have been found underrepresented and poorly described, which leaves room for further research, both field one and typological.

DES CONSTRUCTIONS IMPERSONNELLES EN KABIYE, LANGUE DU GURUNSI ORIENTAL DU TOGO / ABOUT IMPERSONAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN KABIYE, EASTERN GURUNSI LANGUAGE OF TOGO

La théorisation des constructions impersonnelles (CI) n’est pas nouvelle en linguistique. Thématique assez vaste pour la diversité des problèmes fondamentaux de linguistique générale auxquels elle rapporte (Berrendonner & Sériot, 2000 : 1-ss), la problématique des CI semble mal délimitée, recouvrant des phénomènes hétérogènes (Béguélin (2000), Gaatone (1991)). En linguistique africaine, cette question a jusqu’à présent peu préoccupé la description, surtout celle des langues ouest-africaines. Exceptionnellement, l’on devra reconnaître à Bassene & Creissels (2011), la primauté d’un intérêt aux CI dans une langue atlantique, le joola-banjal notamment. La présente étude part des données de terrain pour analyser, dans une démarche descriptive, les CI en kabiyè, langue du gurunsi oriental du Togo. Il en résulte que l’impersonnalité est rendue en kabiyè par les pronoms pɩ- et pa-. Exophoriques, ces pronoms se caractérisent par leur faible degré d’agentivité et d’animéité. Sur le plan syntaxique, ils n’apparaissent que comme arguments sujets et peuvent en cas d’une double occurrence faire preuve de coréférence ou de disjonction dépendamment du contexte discursif. The theorization of impersonal constructions (CI) is not new in linguistics. A rather vast theme for the diversity of the fundamental problems of general linguistics to which it relates (Berrendonner & Sériot, 2000: 1-ss), the problematic of CIs seems poorly delimited, covering heterogeneous phenomena (Béguelin (2000), Gaatone (1991). In African linguistics, this question has so far been of little concern to description, especially that of West African languages. Exceptionally, Bassene & Creissels (2011) recognize the primacy of an interest in IC in an Atlantic language, the Joola-banjal in particular. The present study uses field data to analyze, in a descriptive approach, the ICs in Kabiyè, a language of the eastern gurunsi of Togo. The result is that impersonality is rendered in Kabiyè by the pronouns pɩ- and pa-. Exophoric, these pronouns are characterized by their low degree of agentivity and liveliness. Syntactically, they appear only as subject arguments and may in case of a double occurrence show co-referencing or disjunction depending on the discourse context. <p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0760/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Moraic preservation and equivalence in Gújjolaay Eegimaa perfective reduplication

The role of syllable weight in Gújjolaay Eegimaa, an Atlantic language spoken in south-western Senegal, is evidenced by reduplicative patterns in the perfective stem, where we witness a difference in the surface representation of verb roots with underlying voiced obstruents from those with underlying voiceless obstruents. We argue that voiced plosives are weight bearing and therefore considered as moraic when in coda position in this language. We attribute the triggering of the gemination in the reduplicative perfective with roots having final voiced plosives to compensatory lengthening in order to make up for the loss of a mora as motivated by Hayes (1989). Gemination, rather than vowel lengthening, occurs because, as stated by de Chene and Anderson (1979) compensatory lengthening of vowels only occurs in a language where vowel length is contrastive. In this paper, we show evidence to support the proposition that there are no long vowels in this variety of Eegimaa, and therefore gemination (which is a contrastive feature in the language) is the repair strategy employed to compensate for the loss of a mora. Through a description of the weight-related processes observed in perfective reduplication in Eegimaa, we will detail the moraic analysis of the various patterns and discuss general phonological implications.

Mande-Atlantic Contacts

The Atlantic family includes 40 to 50 languages spoken in the coastal countries of West Africa, from southern Mauritania to Liberia; the Fula language of the Fulbe people is dispersed over Sahelian Africa up to Sudan and Eritrea. The Proto-Mande (second half of the 3rd millennium bc) homeland can be hypothetically localized in the Southern Sahara; following the progressive drying up, speakers of Mande languages gradually migrated to the south, southwest, and southeast, and they created two medieval empires, Ghana and Mali, whose respective languages, Soninke and Manding, exerted considerable influence on their neighbors. Fula (Pulaar/Fulfulde) and Wolof, being languages of large polities, influenced Mande languages in the areas of their dominance. Smaller languages served as sources of substrata for the dominant languages. In the study of Mande and Atlantic language contacts, the major interest is represented by lexical borrowings that can be subdivided into recent (2nd millennium ad) and ancient ones. Among the recent borrowings, those from Mande to Atlantic languages are more numerous. The most visible layers are the following: – from Soninke to Fula; these loans are quite numerous and date back mostly to the period of the mighty Wagadu/Ghana medieval polity (before the 12th to 13th centuries); the dispersion of Fulbe over West Africa took place afterward; – from Soninke to Sereer. These loans are much scarcer; they go back to the period of coexistence of the ancestors of Soninke and Sereer in the Southern Mauritania or the lower Senegal, before the Sereers moved further to the south; – from Mandinka to numerous Atlantic languages of the Southern Senegambia, since the end of the 1st millennium ad; – from Maninka to Atlantic languages of Guinea (especially those of the Tenda and Jaad groups, but also to the Futa-Jallon Fula); – from Kakabe to Pular, since the 18th century, when Kakabe (and probably other varieties of the Mokole group) served as substrata for the dominant Pular language; – from Susu (and probably Jalonke) to Atlantic languages of the Maritime Guinea: Baga Fore, Baga Pukur (Mboteni and Binari), Nalu, Basari, but also to the Futa-Jallon Fula. The main groups of Atlantic loans into Mande are the following: – Fula loans in Kakabe constitute up to 30% of the vocabulary of the language (with the exception of the southeastern dialects, much less influenced by Fula); – there are numerous Fula loans in Soninke dating back to the same period of coexistence of the ancestors of Fulbe and Soninke in Takrūr and Futa-Toro; – much less numerous Sereer loans in Soninke, most probably dating back to the same period as Sereer > Soninke borrowings; – borrowings from Wolof to Soninke, but also to Bambara and Mandinka, dating back mainly to the colonial or postcolonial periods; – Mandinka words from the substrata of minor Atlantic languages of Senegambia. Cases of chain borrowing (e.g., Soninke > Fula > Kakabe) are attested. Ancient borrowings are often difficult to distinguish from the common Niger-Congo stock, and it is not evident, in many cases, in what direction the borrowing occurred. In the phonology and morphosyntax, several important features of Soninke may be due to the Fula or Fula-Sereer influence: the 5-vowel (instead of 7-vowel) system, initial consonant alternation, presence of geminated consonants. There are instances of borrowing of derivational suffixes from Fula to Soninke and from Soninke to Fula. In Kakabe, massive Fula loans have resulted in borrowing of implosive consonants ɓ, ɗ, ƴ and in the emergence of geminated consonants. In the northwestern dialect of Kakabe, a suffix of passive voice has been borrowed from Fula.

How a Lingua Franca Spreads

This chapter considers how Wolof, an Atlantic language spoken in Senegal, has become an important lingua franca, and how French has contributed to the ascent of Wolof. The nature of social relations between Africans and French in cities along the Atlantic coast in the 18th and 19th centuries were such that a prestigious urban way of speaking Wolof that made liberal use of French borrowings became the language of the city. As an index of urban belonging, opportunity, and modernity, Wolof was viewed as a useful language, a trend that has continued up to the present. Four case studies illustrate how the use of Wolof facilitates mobility for speakers of other languages in Senegal. By drawing a distinction between the formal and informal language sectors, this chapter offers a more realistic view of everyday language practices in Senegal, where Wolof is the dominant language.

Physical properties and culture-specific factors as principles of semantic categorisation of the Gújjolaay Eegimaa noun class system

This paper investigates the semantic bases of class membership in the noun class system of Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Eegimaa henceforth), a Niger-Congo and Atlantic language of the BAK group spoken in Southern Senegal. The question of whether semantic principles underlie the overt classification of nouns in Niger-Congo languages is a controversial one. There is a common perception of Niger-Congo noun class systems as being mainly semantically arbitrary. The goal of the present paper is to show that physical properties and culture-specific factors are central principles of semantic categorisation in the Eegimaa noun class system. I argue that the Eegimaa overt grammatical classification of nouns into classes is a semantic categorisation system whereby categories are structured according to prototypicality, family resemblance, metaphorical and metonymic extensions and chaining processes, as argued within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. I show that the categorisation of entities in the Eegimaa nominal classification system productively makes use of physical properties such as shape as well as using culture-specific, less productive parameters for the semantic categorisation of entities denoted by nouns. The analysis proposed here also shows that the cases of multiple morphosyntactic classifications of nouns reflect multiple conceptual categorisation strategies. A detailed examination of the formal and semantic instances of multiple classification reveals the existence of conceptual correlations between the physical properties and the culture-specific semantic parameters of categorisation used in the Eegimaa noun class system.

Some Hypotheses About Possible Isolates within the Atlantic Branch of the Niger-Congo Phylum

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:This paper deals with the status of some potential isolates, i.e. languages that have no more than 20% of common basic vocabulary with any other so-called Atlantic language (from the figures in Sapir 1971). Four candidates may be proposed: Bijogo, Nalu, Sua and Limba. To these we may Bayot, which we will examine in more detail (data from Diagne 2009).

Voiceless implosives in Seereer-Siin

This paper provides articulatory and acoustic data on voiceless implosive stops in Seereer-Siin, an Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo family spoken in Senegal. Seereer is characterized by pairs of voiced and voiceless implosive stops in three places of articulation. These pairs are phonemically contrastive in lexical items. Oral air pressure measurements from Seereer stops uphold Clements & Osu's (2002) proposal that implosives and other non-explosive stops are characterized by the absence of positive oral air pressure rather than the presence of negative oral air pressure during occlusion. Acoustic data show that voiceless implosives are characterized by a short period of silence ranging from approximately twenty to fifty milliseconds before the onset of prevoicing prior to release. These findings replicate to a certain extent those of Faye & Dijkstra (1997).