{"title":"Newman, Paul: Syllable Weight in African Languages","authors":"Abbie Hantgan-Sonko","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0011","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0011","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"2020 23","pages":"293 - 298"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0011","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41331436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In some Bantu languages of western Uganda, we find an interesting construction in which typical transitive verbs such as “to cut (a tree),” “to bend (a wire),” “to smoke (meat),” “to tear (paper),” “to open (a door),” etc., are used intransitively, without any additional suffixes such as passive and neuter. I call this construction the syntactically intransitive construction of transitive verbs, and illustrate it with examples from Tooro, a Bantu language of western Uganda. However, two important restrictions apply regarding the use of this construction. One is that among transitive verbs, only those causing a change of state that take human agents and inanimate objects may be used intransitively, with inanimate objects being promoted to the subject position. The second restriction is that this construction may only be used with the perfective ending -ire/-ere. This last point indicates that this construction is distinct from typical labile verb constructions that, in principle, occur in all tenses, aspects and moods. The analysis of the intransitive construction of transitive verbs inevitably raises the issue of the stative nature of perfective actions.
{"title":"On the intransitive usage of transitive verbs in Tooro, a Bantu language of Western Uganda","authors":"S. Kaji","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0008","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In some Bantu languages of western Uganda, we find an interesting construction in which typical transitive verbs such as “to cut (a tree),” “to bend (a wire),” “to smoke (meat),” “to tear (paper),” “to open (a door),” etc., are used intransitively, without any additional suffixes such as passive and neuter. I call this construction the syntactically intransitive construction of transitive verbs, and illustrate it with examples from Tooro, a Bantu language of western Uganda. However, two important restrictions apply regarding the use of this construction. One is that among transitive verbs, only those causing a change of state that take human agents and inanimate objects may be used intransitively, with inanimate objects being promoted to the subject position. The second restriction is that this construction may only be used with the perfective ending -ire/-ere. This last point indicates that this construction is distinct from typical labile verb constructions that, in principle, occur in all tenses, aspects and moods. The analysis of the intransitive construction of transitive verbs inevitably raises the issue of the stative nature of perfective actions.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"187 - 222"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0008","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42964377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Robert Botne Adrien Pouille: A Saafi-Saafi (Sébikotane variety) English // French Dictionary","authors":"H. Dijkstra","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"289 - 292"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0010","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44115402","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Event number is an important grammatical category in Konso in addition to nominal number. Event number has two main values, singular and plural, which can be expressed by two distinct verbal morphological processes, punctual and pluractional. The interpretation of a sentence in terms of event number is arrived at through an intricate interplay of lexical meaning, the core meaning of the number marking morphology and the separate system of aspect. Each verb has its intrinsic values for event number associated with its systematic lexical distinctions in terms of event number. Event number includes both event internal and event external situations. The meaning of the markers of singular and plural event number has a primary and a secondary value. There are several situations in which the primary meaning is excluded and the secondary meaning is the only possible interpretation. The pluractional is fully productive while the punctual is not productive and has interesting structural morphological restrictions.
{"title":"The semantics of pluractionals and punctuals in Konso (Cushitic, Ethiopia)","authors":"Ongaye Oda Orkaydo, M. Mous","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0009","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Event number is an important grammatical category in Konso in addition to nominal number. Event number has two main values, singular and plural, which can be expressed by two distinct verbal morphological processes, punctual and pluractional. The interpretation of a sentence in terms of event number is arrived at through an intricate interplay of lexical meaning, the core meaning of the number marking morphology and the separate system of aspect. Each verb has its intrinsic values for event number associated with its systematic lexical distinctions in terms of event number. Event number includes both event internal and event external situations. The meaning of the markers of singular and plural event number has a primary and a secondary value. There are several situations in which the primary meaning is excluded and the secondary meaning is the only possible interpretation. The pluractional is fully productive while the punctual is not productive and has interesting structural morphological restrictions.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"223 - 263"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0009","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46983755","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract This paper re-evaluates hypotheses about the agreement behaviour of nouns using plural suffixes in the Baïnounk languages (Niger Congo/ Atlantic/ North Atlantic). Although these languages dispose of a large and complex prefixing noun class systems which are involved in expressing number distinctions, a subgroup of nouns uses a suffix for pluralisation. It is shown here that plural-suffixing nouns do not engage in the typologically rare process of phonological agreement copying as has been claimed previously. Instead, they are prefixed nouns, triggering alliterative agreement. Several scenarios about the origin and further development of the plural suffixes are presented. Synchronic data suggest that plural suffixes are older than the split of Nyun-Buy languages from a common ancestor. It is highly unlikely that it is borrowed from Mandinka, a regionally influential lingua franca which does not have noun classes. Instead, it seems plausible that plural suffixes have arisen through internal processes in which animacy and collective semantics have played a role. Potential candidates for a source morpheme for the plural suffix include a plural morpheme from the verbal domain or alternatively an associative plural. The role and impact of language contact and large scale borrowing on the extent of plural suffixation in the various Baïnounk languages is discussed.
{"title":"Suffixed plurals in Baïnonk languages: Agreement patterns and diachronic development","authors":"A. Cobbinah","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0007","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper re-evaluates hypotheses about the agreement behaviour of nouns using plural suffixes in the Baïnounk languages (Niger Congo/ Atlantic/ North Atlantic). Although these languages dispose of a large and complex prefixing noun class systems which are involved in expressing number distinctions, a subgroup of nouns uses a suffix for pluralisation. It is shown here that plural-suffixing nouns do not engage in the typologically rare process of phonological agreement copying as has been claimed previously. Instead, they are prefixed nouns, triggering alliterative agreement. Several scenarios about the origin and further development of the plural suffixes are presented. Synchronic data suggest that plural suffixes are older than the split of Nyun-Buy languages from a common ancestor. It is highly unlikely that it is borrowed from Mandinka, a regionally influential lingua franca which does not have noun classes. Instead, it seems plausible that plural suffixes have arisen through internal processes in which animacy and collective semantics have played a role. Potential candidates for a source morpheme for the plural suffix include a plural morpheme from the verbal domain or alternatively an associative plural. The role and impact of language contact and large scale borrowing on the extent of plural suffixation in the various Baïnounk languages is discussed.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"145 - 185"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0007","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47498521","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The goal of this paper is to present newly collected data of Djibouti Somali and show how it offers insight into the architecture of nouns. Djibouti Somali, like Standard Somali, is characterized by the presence of inflectional classes. Building on my own fieldwork material, I discuss both the empirical statements and the theoretical implications that emerge from the observation of three aspects of noun inflection: (1) pluralization strategies, (2) the position of pitch accent with respect to gender and (3) the opposition between Absolutive and Nominative case. In particular, the fact that Djibouti Somali uses mainly two suffixes to pluralize nouns, leads us to the hypothesis that the inflectional system of this variety consists of only two inflectional types. Basic non-derived nouns belong to what I call type A, whereas suffixed nouns belong to type B. This dichotomy is confirmed by the behavior of pitch accent with respect to both gender and syntactic case. Finally, I propose that the distinction between type A and type B can be accounted for, in the context of a formal analysis, by postulating the existence of a contrast between null vs. overt nominalizer.
{"title":"Pluralization, feminization and pitch accent in Djibouti Somali nouns","authors":"Nicola Lampitelli","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0004","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The goal of this paper is to present newly collected data of Djibouti Somali and show how it offers insight into the architecture of nouns. Djibouti Somali, like Standard Somali, is characterized by the presence of inflectional classes. Building on my own fieldwork material, I discuss both the empirical statements and the theoretical implications that emerge from the observation of three aspects of noun inflection: (1) pluralization strategies, (2) the position of pitch accent with respect to gender and (3) the opposition between Absolutive and Nominative case. In particular, the fact that Djibouti Somali uses mainly two suffixes to pluralize nouns, leads us to the hypothesis that the inflectional system of this variety consists of only two inflectional types. Basic non-derived nouns belong to what I call type A, whereas suffixed nouns belong to type B. This dichotomy is confirmed by the behavior of pitch accent with respect to both gender and syntactic case. Finally, I propose that the distinction between type A and type B can be accounted for, in the context of a formal analysis, by postulating the existence of a contrast between null vs. overt nominalizer.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"132 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-05-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0004","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42895201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Cécile, Lux: Le tetserret, langue berbère du Niger. Description phonétique, phonologique et morphologique, dans une perspective comparative","authors":"Hannah S. Sarvasy","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0005","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"133 - 137"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0005","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45324543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In Nuer, a Western Nilotic language, a productive process of vowel mutation lowers certain vowels in the plural forms of reduplicated adjectives, while others remain unaltered. Sometimes, lowering is accompanied by diphthongization. This short paper asks what determines which vowels should lower, which should also undergo diphthongization and which should remain unaltered. The phenomenon is analyzed within Element Theory in which vocalic expressions are decomposed into a head element and a dependent element. A pre-specified, Semitic-type template is proposed alongside a constraint on Head Preservation. These two tools derive the entire set of attested and unattested mutations. It is then shown that the analysis can pave the way for a better understanding of other, similar vowel mutation processes in Nuer.
{"title":"How low can you go? A note on vowel mutation in Nuer","authors":"N. Faust","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0002","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Nuer, a Western Nilotic language, a productive process of vowel mutation lowers certain vowels in the plural forms of reduplicated adjectives, while others remain unaltered. Sometimes, lowering is accompanied by diphthongization. This short paper asks what determines which vowels should lower, which should also undergo diphthongization and which should remain unaltered. The phenomenon is analyzed within Element Theory in which vocalic expressions are decomposed into a head element and a dependent element. A pre-specified, Semitic-type template is proposed alongside a constraint on Head Preservation. These two tools derive the entire set of attested and unattested mutations. It is then shown that the analysis can pave the way for a better understanding of other, similar vowel mutation processes in Nuer.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"51 - 64"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0002","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43727716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In Dinka, a predominantly monosyllabic and highly fusional Western Nilotic language, vowel quality alternation in the root plays a major and systematic role in the morphology of verbs, together with alternations in vowel length, voice quality, and tone. Earlier work has shown that in the inflection of simple, i.e., underived, transitive verbs, the vowel quality alternation conforms to a vowel height gradation system with three vowel grades. The present article shows that this vowel gradation system is also operative in the morphology of derived verbs with a transitive root, but with certain modifications. These include a different distribution of the vowel grades and interaction with a shift in voice quality, to breathy voice.
{"title":"Vowel quality alternation in Dinka verb derivation: The Agar variety","authors":"Torben Andersen","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0001","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Dinka, a predominantly monosyllabic and highly fusional Western Nilotic language, vowel quality alternation in the root plays a major and systematic role in the morphology of verbs, together with alternations in vowel length, voice quality, and tone. Earlier work has shown that in the inflection of simple, i.e., underived, transitive verbs, the vowel quality alternation conforms to a vowel height gradation system with three vowel grades. The present article shows that this vowel gradation system is also operative in the morphology of derived verbs with a transitive root, but with certain modifications. These include a different distribution of the vowel grades and interaction with a shift in voice quality, to breathy voice.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"1 - 50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0001","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45170447","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Over the past several decades there has been recurrent skeptism concerning cyclic derivations in phonology, one of the most central tenets of traditional generative and lexical phonology and morphology. In this paper I draw on original data from Lulamogi, a previously almost unstudied Bantu language of Uganda, to show that the most insightful analysis of some rather unusual vowel length alternations requires either cyclicity or global reference to internal morphological structure, specifically the difference between stem vs. prefix V+V sequences. After documenting the vowel length properties in some detail I consider several analyses, opting for a stratal account which neatly mirrors the traditional Bantu stem, word, and phrasal domains.
{"title":"Prefixal vowel length in Lulamogi: A stratal account","authors":"Larry M. Hyman","doi":"10.1515/jall-2017-0003","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-0003","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Over the past several decades there has been recurrent skeptism concerning cyclic derivations in phonology, one of the most central tenets of traditional generative and lexical phonology and morphology. In this paper I draw on original data from Lulamogi, a previously almost unstudied Bantu language of Uganda, to show that the most insightful analysis of some rather unusual vowel length alternations requires either cyclicity or global reference to internal morphological structure, specifically the difference between stem vs. prefix V+V sequences. After documenting the vowel length properties in some detail I consider several analyses, opting for a stratal account which neatly mirrors the traditional Bantu stem, word, and phrasal domains.","PeriodicalId":43215,"journal":{"name":"Journal of African Languages and Linguistics","volume":"38 1","pages":"65 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":0.5,"publicationDate":"2017-01-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1515/jall-2017-0003","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49618590","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"文学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：