Noun formation processes in Nda’nda’

This paper examines nouns formation processes in Nda’nda’, a littledocumented language spoken in Western Cameroon. My concern is to account for the various strategies used by the language to expand its vocabulary in the face of new realities. How are new words created? What are the linguistics transformations loanwords undergo when they enter the language? To answer these questions, data are collected with a wordlist, transcribed in IPA and analyzed in a structural approach. Four lexical enrichment processes are identified here, namely derivation, conversion, borrowing and compounding. Derivation mainly explores how suffixes function in Nda’nda’ in the creation of new words. Conversion from verbs to nouns, though not very productive, is also examined. An analysis of loanwords highlights the phonological, morphological and semantic behavior of the latter in the language. Compounding studies the rules that govern the association of lexical items that exists independently in the Nda’nda’ lexicon.

Acoustic correlates of the advanced vs. retracted tongue root feature in Igbo

Vowel harmony based on the advanced tongue root (±ATR) feature is a well-known attribute of the languages of the Macro-Sudan belt. Igbo (< Benue-Congo), one of these languages, on basis of which first instrumental studies of ±ATR articulation were conducted, has an asymmetric vowel system /i, ɪ, e, a, ɔ, o, ʊ, u/, so that root ±ATR harmony exists within three pairs and a single vowel /e/. This paper describes an acoustic realization of ±ATR in Igbo. According to the hypothesis that the value of the first formant in combination with the distribution of energy over the spectrum combine into a single perceptual cue that allows to distinguish vowels opposed by ±ATR we investigate (along with the description of the formant space) three spectral parameters that were shown to be acoustic correlates of ±ATR in other Macro-Sudan languages. The results of the instrumental analysis indicate that acoustic correlates of ±ATR harmony in Igbo are the value of the first formant, its bandwidth and normalized center of gravity. In addition, all parameters relevant for the ±ATR contrast in our data divided /ɔ/ utterances in different roots into two groups with contrasting values of the feature.

When Gur class markers are absent: suffix omission in Natioro

The paper deals with the morphology of class marking in Natioro, an underdescribed Gur language spoken in several villages of Burkina Faso. In Natioro, class markers (which are a typical feature of Gur languages) are frequently omitted in many contexts, such as genitive constructions, as well as NPs modified by adjectives, numerals, and quantifiers. In the paper, I will focus on the morphological (rather than semantic) properties of these constructions. I will show that noun stems occurring in constructions with omitted class markers can be regarded as instances of incorporation. Particular attention will be given to adjectival incorporation. In Natioro, there are two types of adjectival constructions, which can be distinguished by the nature of the stems involved. I will argue that some of the incorporated constructions are derived by merging a noun with a non-inflected adjective, whereas others can be regarded as full-fledged adjectives that incorporate noun stems. Some parallels between the constructions of the latter type and constructions with relational nouns are discussed as well.

Word or otherwise? The status of the copula no in Guinean Pular

The paper analyzes the morphosyntactic status of a copula no as part of complex verbal predicates of Guinean Pular. A locative copula no, combined with various forms of lexical verb, adds up to three verbal constructions. Morphological and semantic non-compositionality of no in such constructions questions its morphosyntactic status as a free word and suggests that it might be an affix or a clitic. Pular data has been subjected to a series of tests using a set of phonological, morphological, and semantic criteria. The results of the phonological tests show that no in complex verbal predicates cannot be a free word, whereas the morphological tests deny it the status of an affix. It is, therefore, concluded that this copula is a clitic, which is confirmed by the language data complying with general morphological and phonological criteria.

Female characters in Kenyan women’s short story: From submission to self-reliance

The article analyses the depiction of new types of female characters in the stories by Kenyan female writers published from 2003 to 2012 in literary almanacs Kwani? and Storymoja. The author traces the evolution of female characters from the “victim” type, which appeared in Kenyan women’s literature already in the 1960s, to its modern alternatives – women advocating their rights in all spheres of private and public life.

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

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.

Sexual taboos and euphemisms in Igbo: An anthropolinguistic appraisal

Due to face-threatening effect of taboo words, euphemisms are used to replace them for the sake of politeness. Several studies have been carried out on sexual taboos across cultures, including Igbo, but most have centrally focused on euphemisms for sex organs, with inadequate attention paid to the sex act itself. As a result, this study examines euphemisms about sex or copulation in Igbo with a view to delineating the categories and strategies employed by Igbo to express them. Through Participant and Non-participant Observation, data (11 conversations) were collected, from 22 participants comprising 16 men and 6 women across 6 different settings in Lagos State, Nigeria. The result showed that participants used two major strategies (idiomatic expressions and symbols) and coinage to euphemise the act of sex. Two broad categories of sex found were explicit euphemisms representing the common type, and opaque euphemisms representing the uncommon type. However, both categories are existing words in the language that are imbued with new meanings to achieve the censoring objective. The alternative forms adequately serve the intended purpose because they mask and obscure the tabooed subject and hence save the face of interlocutors.

A sketch of Ngen phonology

The paper provides a preliminary description of the phonology of Ngen, a South Mande language spoken in Ivory Coast. Ngen has a system of oral and nasal vowels. The consonant inventory is characterised by a complementary distribution between [b] and [m], [l] and [n], [y] and [ɲ]. There are 3 level tones. Tone melodies on disyllabic feet exhibit all possible combinations except LH. The majority of nonderived words have CV, CVCV, and CVŋ structures.

On the aspectual system of Wushi (Babessi), a Ring Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon

One of the characteristics of Bantu languages, including Grassfields Bantu languages, is their multiple time distinctions. Within the Ring Grassfields group, multiple tenses are also well attested. For example, Aghem has three past and two future tenses (Anderson 1979), Babanki has four past tenses and three future tenses (Akumbu & Fogwe 2012), as well as Lamnso’ (Yuka 2012). Oku has three past tenses and two future tenses (Nforbi 1993) and Babungo has four past and two future tenses (Schaub 1985). These tenses represent different degrees of remoteness in time such as hordienal, immediate, distant, etc. However, in spite of the indisputable lexical unity of Ring Grassfields Bantu languages (Stallcup 1980; Piron 1997), Wushi strikingly stands apart: it does not mark tense morphologically. As a matter of fact, the aspectual system of Wushi is based on five aspects: perfective, imperfective, retrospective or anterior, potential, and the distal or dissociative marker kə̀ that is analyzed in the light of Botne & Kershner (2008). This paper sets out to analyze these verb forms.