223 49 14MB
English Pages 336 [348] Year 1989
Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol.6)
Publications in African Languages and Linguistics The aim of this series is to offer, at regular intervals, carefully worked out studies or collections of papers in African linguistics. In this w a y , it is hoped that important work can be brought to the attention of a w i d e r linguistic audience including scholars w h o are not primarily concerned w i t h African linguistics but w h o w i s h to keep abreast of recent advances in t h e fields of historical linguistics, theoretical phonology and linguistic typology, all of w h i c h , incidentally, tend to rely rather heavily on African language data. At the s a m e time, the editors intend to include occasional volumes w h i c h offer general accounts of major language groups, hoping that such surveys will be of assistance not only to linguists working on African languages but also to those w h o specialize in other areas. Throughout the series an attempt will be m a d e to strike a healthy balance b e t w e e n theory oriented and data oriented research. Editors: George N. Clements Didier L. Goyvaerts
Advisory board: John Goldsmith (Bloomington, Indiana) Claire Grégoire (Tervuren) Frank Heny (Middlebury, V e r m o n t ) Larry M . H y m a n (Los Angeles, California) W i l l i a m R. Leben (Stanford, California) Thilo C. Schadeberg (Leiden)
Other books in this series: 1. Ivan R. Dihoff (ed.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 7) 2. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal The Turkana Language 3. G.N. Clements and J. Goldsmith (eds.) Autosegmentai Studies in Bantu Tone 4. Koen Bogers, Harry van der Hulst and Maarten Mous (eds.) The Phonological Representation of Suprasegmentals 5. Jonathan Kaye, Hilda Koopman, Dominique Sportiche and André Dugas (eds.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 2) 6. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (ed.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 3) 7. David Odden (ed.) Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 4) 8. Paul Newman and Robert D. Botne Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol. 5)
Isabelle Haì'k and Laurice fuller (eds.)
1989 FORIS PUBLICATIONS Dordrecht - Holland/Providence RI - U.S.A.
Published by: Foris Publications Holland P.O. Box 509 3300 A M Dordrecht, The Netherlands Distributor for the U.S.A. and Canada: Foris Publications USA Inc. P.O. Box 5904 Providence R.I. 02903 U.S.A.
CIP-DATA Current Current Approaches to African Linguistics. - Dordrecht [etc.] : Foris Vol. 6 / Isabelle Hai'k and Laurice Tuller (eds.). - (Publications in African Languages and Linguistics ; 9). A selection of papers f r o m the 18th Conference on African Linguistics (including a parasession on Creole languages) held at the University of Quebec at Montreal ( U Q A M ) on April 23-26, 1987. - With index, ref. ISBN 90 6765 419 1 SISO afri 830 U D C 809.6(063) Subject heading: African linguistics
ISBN 90 6765 419 1 © 1989 Foris Publications - Dordrecht
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission f r o m the copyright owner. Printed in the Netherlands by I C G Printing, Dordrecht.
Table of Contents FTEFACE I.
P H J E T I C S AM> R-CNQJDGY 1.
(Dé)voisement en Somali Central J.P. Angoujard
2.
Tone in Kinyambo Lee S. Bickmore
19
3.
Three Creole Pitch Systems Hazel Carter
27
4.
Government and Metrical Harmony in Pulaar Christian IXmn
45
5.
Register Tone and the Phonological Representation of Downstep Sharon Inkelas
65
6.
The Status of Liquids in Kinande Ngessimo M. Mutaka
7.
Revernacularisation et septentrional et dendi R. Nicolai
8.
A Comparative Look at Nguni Verbal Tone Karen Peterson
115
9.
Prosodie Redistribution in Fula Jean-François Prunet
138
10.
II.
1
déterminismes
83
évolutifs:
Toward a Metrical Analysis of Hausa Verse Prosody: Mutadaarik Russell G. Schuh
Songhay 100
161
SYNTAX PTO SEMANTICS 11.
Discourse Functions of Independent Pronouns in Setswana ..176 Katherine Demuth
12.
Three Kinds of Anaphors Zygmunt Frajzyngier
194
13.
Complex Verbs in Mahou and Case Theory Isabelle Haik
217
14.
Double Object Constructions in Kinande and Case Theory ...239 José I. Hualde
15.
The Anaphoric System and Kinande Fusa Katada
16.
Change in Tense and Aspect: Evidence from Northeast Bantu Languages Derek Nurse
17.
Head-internal Relatives and Parasitic Baps in Moor£ C. Tellier
298
18.
AGR-drop and VP Focus-Fronting in Hausa Laurice Tuller
318
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
258
Coast 277
I. Phonetics and Phonology
Preface This volume contains a selection of papers presented a t the 18th Conference on African Linguistics (including a parasession on Creole languages coordinated by Claire Lefebvre) held a t the Uhiversity of Quebec a t Montreal (UQAM) on April 23-26 1987 and organized by the Research Group in African Linguistics (GRLA) of UQAM. W e believe that the articles in this volume reflect the diversity of interests and approaches found among the participants, a s well a s the growing contribution that work on African languages has made to t h e general field of linguistics. Articles a r e divided into two sections: I. Phonetics and Phonology, and II. Syntax and Semantics. W e are grateful to Suzanne Larouche for secretarial assistance, and to the Graduate Division of UQAM for financial support.
Isabelle Haik and Laurice Tuller
Chapter 1
(Dé)voisement en Somali Central J.P. Angoujard
Dans
sa
monographie
sur
un
dialecte
May
central) 1
(somali
John.I.Saeed (1982) examine brièvement plusieurs processus touchant au systeme des sons et à l'organisation prosodique (dévoisement, assimilation,
contraintes
sur
les
agglomérats
de
consonnes).
La
perspective
adoptée par l'auteur, essentiellement descriptive, conduit à l'établissement
de
règles
indépendantes,
à
l'occasion
contradictoires.
Je
voudrais montrer, dans cet article, que la théorie des systèmes de sons (Kaye, Lowenstamm et Vergnaud, 1985) et celle de la syllabe (Angoujard, 1985, 1988) permettent de rapporter cet ensemble disparate à une conspiration unique. L'analyse phonologique du somali central (désormais SC) suggère,
en
retour,
un
développement
naturel
des
représentations
formelles construites par ces théories. Le SC ne connait aucune suite CC en début ou en fin de mot. Toute suite de 3 consonnes est exclue. Les voyelles pouvant être longues ou
brèves,
la
syllabe
maximale
peut
donc
y
être
représentée
comme
[CVi(Vi)(C)]. A
la
série
des
occlusives
voisées
[b],
[d],
s'oppose une série non-voisée et aspirée: [t h ] et [k h ].
[D]
et
[g]2
2 L'opposition
entre
ces
deux
séries
n'est
effective
et
cômplète qu'en position initiale de mot. Dans toutes les autres positions, des processus de voisement/dévoisement en dissimulent la portée: a)
Une
occlusive
en
position
finale
de
syllabe
est
voisement
affecte
les
nécessairement voisée (pour tout CiCj, Ci est [+voix]). b)
Une
harmonie
progressive
de
suites d'occlusives homorganiques. Il
suit
de
a)
et
b)
ci-dessus
que
pour
toute
séquence
d'occlusives homorganiques CiCj, Ci et Cj sont [+voix]:
(1)
/bad/ "océan"
/bad+t h i/
/unug/ "fils"
/unug+k h i/ — >
--> [baddi]
'l'océan'
[unuggi] 'le fils'
mais, avec une occlusive non homorganique:
(2)
/roob/ "pluie"
/roob+k h i/ — >
Il existe une dissymétrie
[roobk h t] 'la pluie'
frappante entre
la position
"finale
de mot" et la position "finale de syllabe" (à l'intérieur du mot). Si, dans toutes
les représentations
sives en position
phonologiques
(lexicales),
finale de mot sont effectivement
voisées
les occlu(comme a)
ci-dessus le suppose et comme les processus de suffixation le montrent clairement), surface:
celles-ci
apparaissent
dévoisées,
mais
non
aspirées,
en
3 (3)
/bad/
—>
/unug/ — >
Si
le
SC
[bat] [unuk] etc.
n'est
pas
une
langue
monosyllabique
fourni par Saeed, op.cit., contient 158 monosyllabes, seulement
53
bien
aspects.
des
formes de plus de deux Non
seulement
syllabes).,
le
(le
lexique
259 disyllabes et
il s'en rapproche
pourcentage
de
monosyllabes
important, mais la plupart des formes de plus grande extension être caractérisées formes
affixées
ou
comme
des
constructions
redoublées)
ou
comme
spécifiques
des
par
(noms
emprunts.
Il
est
peuvent composés,
existe
par
ailleurs des contraintes portant sur la consonne finale des monosyllabes qui
rappellent
certaines
des
restrictions
observées
dans
les
langues
monosyllabiques: sur les 134 formes de type [CVi(Vi)C] citées par Saeed, les deux tiers occlusives
[b],
(89 exactement) [d] et
se terminent par une sonante.
Les
[g] se répartissent quasi exactement
trois
la clôture
des formes restantes. Nous savons que
s'il existe des
langues qui ne
font usage
que
de la seule syllabe [CV] et que si d'autres langues utilisent à la fois [CV]
et
prosodie
[CVC], à
il
partir
est de
exclu la
qu'une
seule
langue
syllabe
naturelle
[CVC]
construise si
(i.e.,
une
langue
contient des syllabes [CVC], elle contient également des syllabes Ce
type
de
contrainte
est
examiné
en détail
et
(1982). Une place
est
au
réservée,
respectifs
des
dans
ce
attaques
dernier et
des
article, rimes.
Je
ne
aspect de la typologie syllabique pour deux anecdotique,
tient au fait que
état d'aucune suite
le SC dont
rapport
raisons: il est
[CC- initiale de syllabe;
en
essentielle
entre
reviendrai
[CV]).
interprété
terme de "marque" dans Kaye et Lowenstamm
sa
les
pas
sur
poids cet
l'une, en un
sens
ici question ne
fait
l'autre raison,
fondamen-
4 taie, doit être rapportée à la théorie de la syllabe développée dans Angoujard(op.cit.) et qui n'accorde pas de statut à la notion d"'attaque branchante". La typologie des syllabes [CVC], en revanche, nous sera d'un grand secours. Je choisirai de représenter les contraintes à partir d'une hiérarchie regroupant
les syllabes de la moins "marquée"
(ai,
évidemment [CV]) à la plus "marquée":
ai < 02 < a3 < a4 . ...
(4)
Toute langue incluant une syllabe d'indice n inclut également l'ensemble des syllabes d'indice < n. De ce point de vue, si ai correspond à [CV], 02 représenter,
universellement,
[CVC].
Il
existe,
en
ne saurait
effet,
de
très
nombreuses langues qui n'acceptent, en dehors de la syllabe minimale, que les seules syllabes fermées par une sonante, soit [CVR] (où R = [+sonante]). Cette distinction est elle-même insuffisante dans la mesure où la contrainte peut porter sur la qualité même de la sonante. Ainsi, dans le dialecte chinois de Pékin, une syllabe ne peut être fermée que par une nasale, soit [CVN]. Lorsqu'une
langue
donnée
permet
à
une
non-sonante
d'appa-
raître en fin de syllabe, une restriction courante (c'est, par exemple, le cas en italien) impose que cette dernière soit l'initiale d'une géminée: [CVCi]Ci ... Nous
pouvons
partielle comme:
donc
matérialiser
une
hiérarchie
syllabique
5 (5)
CV < CVN < CVR < CVCi]Ci ... ai
02
03
04
La syllabe, enfin, qui correspondrait à 05 ne peut pas davantage être simplement décrite comme [CVC]. Dans les langues monosyllabiques qui acceptent une clôture occlusive (en Asie du Sud-Est notamment), celle-ci est nécessairement non-voisée et implosive. En SC, inversement, la consonne
finale de syllabe doit être voisée.
[+voix] est bien mis en valeur,
Si
le rôle du
trait
il semblerait donc que la hiérarchie
soit sujette, à ce stade, à une interprétation paramétrique. Je voudrais montrer, dans la suite de cet article, que nous n'avons pas affaire à une paramétrisation de la hiérarchie syllabique (sur le mode de la paramétrisation de la hiérarchie de sonorité proposée par Steriade, mais
que
cette
restriction
aux
seules
occlusives
voisées
1982),
trouve
son
origine dans une contrainte plus générale. J'ai
utilisé
jusqu'ici
les
termes
traditionnels
de
"syllabe"
et, surtout, de "position finale de syllabe" parce qu'ils permettaient une lecture aisée des distinctions hiérachiques oi < 02 etc. En réalité, le modèle présenté dans Angoujard
(op.cit.) ne se
réfère pas à un objet linguistique nommé "syllabe". Il met en correspondance
les
segments,
la grille
rythmique
et une
suite
discontinue
de
courbes de sonorité. La
grille
rythmique
sion de positions (... x x x
de base 3
est
constituée
par
une
succes-
...).
Ces positions sont interprétées comme une suite de creux (x) et de sommets (X) 4 .
6 L'alternance
creux/sommets
est
définie
par
un
patron
rythmique: (6)
[ x X (x) ].
Un tel patron impose que soit exclues: a) toute succession de sommets adjacents b) toute succession de plus de deux creux adjacents.
la grille
A
ainsi
construite
est associée
une
suite
discon-
tinue de courbes. Ces courbes sont constituées d'une position initiale (no) et d'une plage couvrant l'ensemble des indices de sonorité m...nk tel que tout n ( ni < n > nk ) corresponde à l'indice d'un segment [+sonant]:5
Le principe
initial d'association
entre
la grille rythmique
et
la suite discontinue de courbes est le suivant: (8)
A toute suite x X est associée une courbe.
(Le creux est naturellement associé à la position initiale et le sommet à la plage):
•
»
f
«
\
*
.
/
: *
(9) x X x X x X ... L'association
initiale
entre
les
segments
rythmiques est contrainte par le principe suivant:
et
les
positions
7 (10) Un segment ne peut être associé qu'à une position rythmique liée (i.e. une position rythmique associée à une position de courbe).
Il est tout de suite évident que les problèmes qui nous intéressent commencent avec la position 3 du patron rythmique. Cette position correspond à un creux qui n'est pas associé à une position no de la courbe
(i.e. dans
la terminologie
traditionnelle,
qui n'est pas une
"attaque de syllabe"). Cette
position,
non
initialement
être interprétée segmentalement
liée
par
(8),
doit,
pour
(cf.(10)), acquérir une liaison secon-
daire (ou, si une telle liaison est impossible, définir -d'une manière maximalement "marquée"- une position no isolée). Quelles solutions sont offertes par le modèle?La plus
simple
-et la plus drastique- consiste à exclure cette position 3 des représentations phonologiques. succession parfaite
Nous nous
trouvons alors devant une
(creux-sommet/creux-sommet/...),
langue à
devant une langue
de type [CV]6. La
plage
pouvant
inclure
une
portion
de
courbe
descendante,
il est possible de lui associer la position 3. Celle-ci correspond alors à un segment [+sonant]:
/P.
: i « x ' : C
L'extension
• • • X • : V
1
i i x ! • R
suivante,
celle
position 3 lorsqu'elles constituent
qui
autorise
les
occlusives
en
la première moitié d'une géminée,
8 correspond au rattachement de la position 3 sur sa droite:
(12)
x 1X i %,
¿ V
Au-delà,
le
c V
creux
non
associé
devra
nécessairement
définir
une position de courbe indépendante, au moins partiellement, des courbes initiales. Avant
de
proposer
une
interprétation
de
la
contrainte
de
voisement en SC, il est utile de revenir sur la classe des consonnes susceptibles d'être associées, dans cette langue, à une position no de la courbe (de constituer une attaque de syllabe). Les
occlusives
sont
soit
voisées,
soit
aspirées.
Dans
le
cadre de la théorie des sons proposées par Raye, Lowenstamm et Vergnaud (op.cit.), ces deux caractéristiques peuvent être représentées par la présence d'un élément spécifique. Il est notamment fait usage de ce mode de représentation dans Kaye et Lowenstamm (1985), où l'élément caractéristique du voisement est désigné par le symbole Z et l'élément correspondant à l'aspiration par le symbole H. L'interprétation
retenue
ici
même
s'écarte
de
leur
analyse
sous plusieurs aspects complémentaires: a) Le
rôle joué
par ces éléments
sera
expressément
relié à la notion de courbe de sonorité (plus spécifiquement à la notion de plage)7. b) Si l'élément H conserve sa dénomination,
il sera
marqué pour le trait [continu]. c)
Le
voisement,
enfin,
ne
bénéficiera
pas
d'un
9 symbole spécifique -il est, par définition,
la marque de la "voix"
(celle des sommets)- mais sera identifié à l'élément v . 8
Le voisement
introduit un lien entre la consonne initiale et la plage:9 (13)
i i• • x X i i » i C V v I Ni v
Il est important, à ce stade, de se rappeler qu'une courbe de sonorité est composée d'une position initiale (no) et d'une plage (éventuellement réduite à son sommet nk). no et nk sont associés formellement par la courbe montante, mais celle-ci ne fait que "représenter" la "montée sonore" caractéristique des successions CV. Elle ne présuppose pas, pour une suite
[ka], d'autres liens entre no et nk qu'il n'en
existe entre le creux et le sommet adjacent. Il n'en va pas de même, nous venons de le voir, lorsque la position no est associée à une occlusive voisée: l'élément v est alors commun à C et à V (au creux et au sommets adjacents, ou encore à no et nk ). Imaginons qu'une langue exige que toute succession positioninitiale/plage soit médiatisée, que cette langue rende obligatoire la présence d'un intermédiaire. Le voisement leur est commun).
de
la consonne
est
une
solution
(l'élément v
Si la consonne associée à no est non-voisée, il
devient nécessaire de faire appel à un intermédiaire d'un autre type: l'aspiration. Phonétiquement, le lien ainsi créé correspond à l'absence de fermeture
complète
de
la
glotte
pendant
l'entière
émission
[ChV].
10 Formellement, au creux initial sont associés deux segments distincts. Le creux se voit ainsi rattaché à deux positions de courbe: à no
(position
correspondant à l'indice de l'occlusive) et à une position ni appartenant à la plage: 1 0 (14)
i V C H
La
I V
position
3
du
modèle
rythmique,
non
associée
primitive-
ment, peut se voir rattachée sur sa gauche (à une position nk = voyelle longue ou ni = sonante) ou sur sa droite (à la position no = géminée). Lorsqu'aucune de ces solutions n'est offerte (lorsque, par exemple, à la position 3 est associée une occlusive distincte du segment associé à no sur sa droite), la position reste donc isolée: (15)
/I
• i < i < x X x I 4 I I I I C V Ci
Nous
pouvons
i i i i i i x X I I I * Cj V
maintenant
comprendre
pour
quelle
raison
le
voisement est obligatoire, pour cette posit ion, en SC. De meme que les contraintes portant sur le segment associé effective
l'unité
entre
les
deux
à no aboutissent à
premières
positions,
le
rendre
voisement
obligé de la position 3 contribue à l'unité de l'extension maximale du
11 modèle rythmique:
(16) < • x i • C
La
i i X x i < • i V c I/ * 1 v
conspiration
est
donc
claire:
il
s'agit
d'interpréter
comme une unité substantielle toute suite de positions correspondant au modèle rythmique. Cette par
stratégie parait contredite
le dévoisement
contradiction
des consonnes
n'est
qu'apparente,
(ou tout au moins
finales dans
la
de mot.
En
mesure
où
limitée)
réalité, il
cette
n'est
pas
possible d'identifier à tout point de vue un creux final de mot et une position 3 non-finale. Nous
savons,
(dites, souvent,
par
"syllabes
exemple,
que
les
suites
f...CVVCC...1
surlourdes") sont très rares en arabe, à
l'intérieur du mot. Par contre, cette même suite est fréquente à la pause. Ceci est dû au statut spécifique de la consonne finale de mot. Il
existe
également,
dans
les
langues
sémitiques,
une
contrainte très forte sur la nature des segments qui peuvent être associés à la position 3 d'une forme "quadrilitère" (de schème [x X x x X x]). Dans
la quasi
totalité
des cas,
le segment
associé
à
cette
position est une sonante (cf. Angoujard, 1988; Angoujard et Denais, à paraître). Inversement, n'importe quelle consonne peut être associée à la dernière position de ce schème (il en va de même pour la dernière position des "trilitères" (de schème [x X x X x]).
12 Si
cette
dernière
position
est
ouverte
à
toute
association,
c'est parce qu'elle est interprétée, non comme la position 3 du modèle rythmique,
mais
(17)
comme
la
première
position
d'une
courbe
dégénérée:
r\ s
^ î « ; : x X x
Qu'une
! •• X x
telle
interprétation
soit
bien
souvent
évitée
à
l'intérieur du mot est lié au fait que le sommet d'une telle courbe dégénérée risquerait de se voir associé au creux adjacent. Un creux suivi d'un autre creux est nécessairement compris, de par le modèle rythmique, comme une position 3 (toute suite ... x x ... est découpée comme ... x] [x ...). Un creux final de mot (au moins en contexte de pause), n'ayant rien à sa droite, est à priori interprétable comme ... x] ou ...[x . Cette
ambiguïté
est
à
l'origine
d'un
choix
paramétrique
important: (18)
a)
Le
... x X x ] ]«
choix
de
a)
vs
correspond
à
b)
... x X [ x ]„ .
la
minimisation
du
nombre
d'unités rythmiques (en terme traditionnel, du nombre de syllabes). Il est, en particulier, celui des langues monosyllabiques, pour lesquelles toute occlusive associée à la dernière position est "implosive". Le
choix
finale comme
de
b)
"explosive"
interprète,
au
(il en va ainsi
contraire,
toute
occlusive
en arabe ou en
français).
Formellement, l'explosion sera représentée comme en (19) (19)
/"I '
h • • C
!
X i i V
'
x • i c
!
X
13 et l'implosion comme en (20) (20)
/ , • • x i •
I1 i i X x i i i •
ó v e Le dernier sommet de (19) ci-dessus, auquel n'est associé aucun segment, peut ne pas apparaître en surface (cf. une forme comme (katab] en arabe). Son poids prosodique peut se faire sentir indirectement par la présence/absence en surface de l'occlusive finale (cf., en français, [sa] "chat" vs [sat] "chatte"). Il peut également être substantialisé par l'attribution d'une voyelle minimale ([i] ou [ ]), ou encore par l'adjonction d'un élément nasal /lek/ — >
(cf., en temiar, /?oop/ — >
[?oop®],
[lek"]).
Il reste à résoudre une apparente contradiction: si le SC ou si toute langue monosyllabique vise à l'unité des séquences d'extension comparable au modèle rythmique, pourquoi la stratégie du voisement des occlusives en position 3, retenue par le SC à l'intérieur du mot, estelle écartée en position finale (seule cas de figure, évidemment, pour les langues monosyllabiques)? La présence de l'élément v
(du voisement) en position
finale
conduirait à l'apparition d'un sommet de courbe (d'une position nk associée à v) et donc à l'interprétation explosive de l'occlusive
finale
(rappelons que cette interprétation est prévenue, à l'intérieur du mot, par la présence du creux adjacent): (21)
/ : x I ! C
I
S i ¡ ; / X x . l i ' : i' V C/ J/ i
v
14 Si
les
langues
monosyllabiques
excluent
occlusives
non-voisées
finales
occlusive
"monosyllabiques"... 11
voisée en finale, c'est, justement, pour demeurer Les
toute
de
l'anglais
présentent
une illustration particulièrement intéressante de cette analyse. Kahn
(1976:
79 et sq. ) note que certaines occlusives
(/t/ en
particulier) apparaissent implosive ("unreleased") en position finale de monosyllabe.
Ainsi
[mat"' ], tout à
fait distinct
de
la
prononciation
française [mat'*]. Il en va autrement lorsque l'occlusive finale est ellemême précédée d'une autre consonne, cf.
[apt1"] (et non *[apt n ]. Cette
opposition ne reçoit pas d'explication phonologique dans Kahn, qui
la
décrit à travers une règle (op. cit., p.83) où la présence/absence d'une consonne en avant-dernière position est expressément notée: (22) [-cons] t pause i [+CG]
L'analyse de
cette
distinction.
(23) peut
être
qui
(CG = "constricted glottis")
vient Autant
d'être
proposée
la dernière
rend
directement
position
d'une
compte
suite
comme
[x X x] interprétée
comme
incluse
dans
une
unité
rythmique
unique
(d'extension maximale), autant le dernier creux d'une suite comme (24) ne peut être
[x X x x] interprété que comme
unité rythmique.
la position
initiale d'une
seconde
15 Conclusion
Si
les occlusives du
SC sont voisées en position
3 à
l'inté-
rieur du mot et dévoisées à la pause, c'est parce que:
a) le SC est une langue x X (x) ] (et non x X t(x) ). b)
le SC
impose
une médiatisation
du
lien unissant
les
posi-
tions d'une même unité rythmique. c) conséquence
le du
traitement caractère
contradictoire propre
des
(i.e. non suivis d'un autre creux).
de
creux
ces deux en
positions
position
finale
est
la
de
mot
16 Notes 1. Sur la caractérisation
précise de ce dialecte, cf.
Lamberti(1984).
2. [D] représente la post-alvéolaire notée dh dans l'alphabet somali. D'occurrences plus restreintes sont la palatale [j] et l'uvulaire [G]. 3. La grille rythmique ne saurait être réduite à ses deux premiers "étages". A ceux-ci, qui correspondent à la suite de positions (premier étage) et à la suite de sommets (second étage), viennent s'ajouter, pour une représentation prosodique complète, l'étage des "pieds" et celui de l'accent de mot (pour une analyse de la structure prosodique, cf. Angoujard, sous presse). Ces deux derniers étages, qui n'ont pas de conséquence sur les faits discutés dans cet article, seront omis. 4. La succession creux-sommets correspond aux deux premiers étages de la grille rythmique. Les sommets seraient donc représentés plus justement par la superposition de deux (x). x x Soit, pour une suite [x X x X]: [x x x x]. Le fait qu'il ne sera jamais fait référence, dans cet article, aux étages supérieurs de la grille rythmique (pieds, accent de mot...) justifie la simplification retenue. 5. La position initiale (no) peut naturellement correspondre à l'indice d'un segment [+sonant] (pour des séquences [ra], [la], [ya] etc.). Les limites extrêmes de la courbe sont alors incluses dans la plage. 6. La présence de syllabe de type [CViVi] (= à voyelle longue), correspondrait au rattachement de la position 3 à la position nk sur sa gauche. 7. Le terme "segment" doit toujours être compris comme une simplification. Il recouvre une unité complexe composée d'éléments premiers. 8. Ce n'est pas un hasard si les sommets interprétés minimalement (i.e. sans association à un segment lexical) mais réalisés en surface sont, universellement, de type v (= [i]). 9. En droit, tout segment associé à une plage inclut donc l'élément v. C'est, encore une fois, par souci de simplifier les représentations que cet élément est, dans la plupart des cas, omis. 10. La représentation de l'aspirée dans Kaye et Lowenstamm (1985) est différente: l'élément H apparaît comme l'un des composants du segment unique que constituerait l'occlusive aspirée: ?
17 Dans l'interprétation qui est présentée ici, une telle représentation ne correspond pas à une aspirée mais à une continue. 11. Certaines descriptions opposent, en français, un [p] initial ([pa]) à un [p] final ([ap]) comme explosif vs implosif. S'il ne fait pas de doute qu'une distinction phonétique existe entre ces deux occurrences de /p/, l'opposition retenue dans cet article est d'un autre ordre. Il est fait référence à la distinction entre un [p] (ou [t] ou [k]) final dans une langue monosyllabique et ces mêmes sons, à cette même place, en français, arabe etc. De ce point de vue, toutes les occlusives finales (et réalisées en surface) du français (mais non, par exemple de l'anglais -cf. ci-dessous) sont "explosives", i.e. initiatrices d'une courbe (dégénérée).
18 Références Angoujard, J.P. 1985. La place de la syllabe dans une phonologie plurilinéaire. Communication au Colloque sur la phonologie plurilinéaire, Université de Lyon II. Angoujard, J.P. 1988. La place de la syllabe dans une phonologie plurilinéaire, Recherches Linguistiques de Vincennes, 17: 7-28. [version révisée de 1985]. Angoujard, J.P. Foris.
sous presse. Metrical Structure of Arabie,
Dordrecht:
Angoujard, J.P. et M.Denais à paraître. Le pluriel brisé en tigrigna, Langues Orientales Anciennes. Philologie et Linguistique, 2. Louvain: Peeters. Kahn, D. 1976. Syllable-based generalizations in English phonology, Ph. D., MIT. distribué par Indiana University Linguistic Club.. Kaye,
J. et J. Lowenstamm 1982. Syllable structure and markedness theory. In Theory of Markedness in Generative Grammar, eds. A. Belletti, L. Brandi et L. Rizzi, pp. 287-315. Pisa: Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa.
Kaye, J. et J. Lowenstamm 1985. A non-linear treatment of Grassmann's Law. In Proceedings of the 15th NELS, Berman, Choe, McDonough, eds., GLSA, University of Massachusetts. Kaye, J., Lowenstamm, J. et J.R. Vergnaud 1985. The internal structure of phonological elements: a theory of charm and government. Phonology Yearbook, 2. Lamberti, M. 1984. Revue de J.I. Saeed 1982. JAAL 6.1: 80-82. Saeed, J.I. 1982. Central Linguistics 8.2.
Somali.
A
grammatical
outline,
Steriade, D. 1982. Greek Prosodies and the Nature of Ph. D., MIT.
Afroasiatic
Syllabification,
Chapter 2
Tone in Kinyambo Lee S. Bickmore
1.
Introduction Kinyambo is a Bantu language (Guthrie E-21) spoken in the Karagwe district of
Northwestern Tanzania near Lake Victoria. It is closely related to Haya, Runyankore, Rukiga and Kikerewe. In this paper I hope to show that the probability of application of a certain High tone deletion rule in Kinyambo depends on the distance between the trigger and target tones. As the distance increases, the rule is less likely to apply. The data presented below have been compiled from elicitation sessions with Ruth Adewole, a native speaker of Kinyambo. Trigger-Target distance effects in rule application have been noted for the rhythm rule in English by Hayes (1984) and the rhythm rule in Polish by Hayes and Puppel (1985). It is the rhythm rule in English which shifts the stress leftward in a word when the stress in that word "clashes with" (i.e. is found in close proximity to) the stress in the following word as shown in (1). (1)
fourteen — f6urteen w6men seventy-s6ven ~ s6venty-seven s6als
As the distance between the target (the stressed syllable of Tennessee in the examples below) and the trigger (the underlined vowel in the word on the right) becomes greater, the rule is less likely to apply, as shown in (2) (2)
Applying Rhythm Rule Tennessee relatives (?) Tennessee legislation (??) Tdnnessee abbreviations
Not applying Rhythm Rule (??) Tennessee relatives Tennessfe legislation Tennessee abbreviations
20
I submit that in Kinyambo there is a tone rule which is sensitive to the trigger-target distance. In order to better understand how this rule operates, let us consider the structure of the morphology and phonology of nouns. 2 . Morphological and phonological characteristics of nouns There are three surface tones in Kinyambo which will henceforth be marked as follows: High (e.g. â), Low (e.g. a), Falling (e.g. âa). The noun has the following morphological structure: Preprefix - Prefix - Noun Root
(e.g. o-mu-sogoro
'bean
leaf). In the following table are examples of nouns in their isolation forms listed according to number of syllables and tone pattern. Hyphens indicate morphological boundaries. Syllables JJM in Stem syllables
All Low
One High
One falling
1
2
e-n-te 'cow'
6-m-bwa
1
3
o-mu-ti 'tree'
o-mu-nya 'lizard'
2
3
e-n-goma 'drum' e-n-j6ki 'bee'
o-mw-iana 'child'
2
4
e-ki-tabo 'book' o-mu-k6no 'arm'
o-bu-hiango 'bigness'
3
4
3
5
4
5
'dog*
(tiata 'my father')
e-n-k6kora 'cough' o-mu-sogoro
o-mu-rumuna
'bean leaf
'sibling' o-mw-ijukuru 'grandchild'
Table I Several surface generalizations of isolation forms can be noted. First, there is a maximum of one non-Low tone per noun. Second, the non-Low tone never appears on the final syllable. Third, the non-Low tone may only appear on the prefix or preprefix when root is monosyllabic (e.g. e-m-bwa 'dog', o-mu-twe 'head' in Table I). I propose the following underlying representations for the above forms. First, the roots of surface forms containing a non-Low tone have a floating H tone in their underlying representation which associates to leftmost mora of the root by a standard left-
21 to-right tone association convention.
Second, class prefixes and preprefixes are
underlyingly toneless, although they sometimes surface as High (e.g. embwa 'dog' and omutwe
'head') due to a leftward tone shift rule to be discussed below. Finally,
preprefixes, although underlyingly toneless, become High phrase-medially by a rule of High Insertion which will not be discussed here. Only High tones are present in the underlying representation. All surface Lows are the result of a late rule of default Low tone insertion. I propose a rule of Phrase-final Leftward Tone Shift to account for cases in which a surface High tone appears on the class prefix or preprefix which constitutes the mora to the left of a monosyllabic root If the root is underlyingly High and phrase-final, then the High tone will delink and reattach to the mora to the left. In the case where the word is not phrase-final, no shift occurs and the surface form is identical to the underlying form as shown in the examples below. (3)
6-m-bwa 'dog' (isolation)
embwii zirungi 'good dogs'
(4)
o-mu-nya 'lizard' (isolation)
omunyi gurungi 'good lizard'
This rtile is formalized as follows: (5)
666/
//
Phrase-final Left Shift
H The derivation of the isolation form of omunya 'lizard' is shown here. (6)
o-mu-nya I
U.R.
H o-mu-nya H
Phrase-final Left Shift (10)
22 3.
High Deletion The rule which will be the focus of the paper and which I claim shows trigger-target
distance effects is Phrasal High Deletion. Basically, the rule states that a High tone in one clitic group will cause the deletion of the right-most High tone in the clitic group to its left, if the two clitic groups are both part of the same phonological phrase. This is formalized below. (7)
High Deletion
H ~> 0 /
... [ C G -
- ] [-
H ...]
CG
••• 1 |
(CG = Clitic group, o = phonological phrase) To illustrate the effects of this rule, consider the derivation below in which High Deletion applies. (8)
[ [CG e-ki-tebe ] [
pal-bid
'pearl-bead'
drdy + bohl
>
dray-bfihl
'dry-ball, fufu made by dry method ...'
fish + maklt
>
fish-maklt
'fish-market'
trfedin + uman
>
tredin-uman 'female trader'
mfihnln + prea
>
mohnin-prea 'morning service'
See Carter (1987) for more Pidgin examples. n6ht/gron-not
'groundnut, peanut'.
Cf. also K. granat, P. grohng-
(It is likely that granat is no longer
analyzable into components to Krio speakers, while the Pidgin forms probably are.)
Almost always, the pattern of the second component resembles the English
stress-pattern more than the uncompounded, isolate pattern;
cf. (e) above.
The dominant compounding pattern extends to many reduplications which, as in Guyanese
(and as noted by Fyle and Jones 1980: xxxiii-xxxiv), tend to have
distributive
meaning,
and
are distinguished
from
Iteration,
which
simply
repeats the isolate pattern, and has intensive connotations: (24)a. K. Sla
'shout, holler'
(simplex)
b.
ala-ila 'holler all over the place'
c.
Sla ala 'holler mightily'
(reduplicated)
(Fyle and Jones 1980:xxxlv)
(iterated)
However, some reduplications of dissyllables, notably in Pidgin, show a pattern in which the second element has -HH. for
reduplications
derived
from
This is also the typical pattern in Krio the Yoruba
pattern
H-M-L-M
(Y.
unmarked
syllables have mid tone, L is marked ): (25) K. lagbfi.i&gba/ ISgbajfigba 'rough (appearance/manner)' < Y. lagbaidgba 'untidy' (26) K. rdderddfe 'rubbish, nonsense, stupidity' < Y. r6der6de 'untidy, unruly' (27) K. wtitflwutfi '[put into] utter confusion, disgrace' cf. Y. wuruwflru 'untidy' (28) P. wohriw6hrl 'be in haste' < wohri 'worry'
33 (g) There is a strong tendency for function words to have L tone, in contrast to lexical items of the same shape: (29)a.
go
future marker
vs.
b.
de
continuous aspect marker vs.
c.
foh relator particle
vs.
'go' d&
'be (location); day'
foh 'four'
and for unemphatlc and emphatic pronouns to differ in the same way: subject vs.
'we, as', emphatic.
wi_ 'we' as
WH words have H: w§ 'which(?)', us6y/Q!s&y
'where(?)\ tiskSyfn)? 'what kind of?', ohmfihs? 'how much?, wfetl(n) 'what?' (h)
There
is
generally
no
need
to
set
up
underlying
representations
and
realization rules (apart from the near-surface rules for deriving falling pitch and question features), but there is a sporadic tendency to progressive assimilation, over one syllable only: (30)a. K. na 6h»eh foh go 1 6m.
'it's Ose [who] has to go home.'
b. K. 6h»6h 1 (n) slsta wfi(n) foh p!6
I bohl.
'O's sister wants to play ball.'
(31 )a. b.
M. dl pfehn»ul.
'the pencil.'
W. bring dl pfehnsfil kfi(m) gl ml.
'bring the pencil to me.'
W also has a variant pehnsul. (32)a. P. b. P. Occurrences
hohspltal.
'hospital.'
hohsplt&l ! bil. are
so
rare
'hospital bill.'
in the data that
I have
(Todd 1982:recordings) been unable
to
establish
triggering conditions, apart from the two expected ones that the item is nonfinal In a sentence, and the L to be raised is in the same word.
In neither
language are there instances of H assimilation of more than one L syllable.
34 One view of the relationship between Krio and Pidgin is as follows: "...western Africans [from the 17th century onwards] ...in the American and West their
homelands
Indian plantations,
and
began
to
develop
... lost contact with forms
of
speech
that
resulted in the many Creoles now used in the Americas and the West
Indies, such as the Gullah dialect and Jamaican Creole.
Around the beginning of the nineteenth century the British . . . returned at least some of the new Creole speakers to Freetown in
Sierra
formed
Leone,
speech
languages. Africans'
thus
to
...
the
The
•ubaitting influence
native
their of
comparatively
soae
languages
of
of
their
these
newly-
original 'liberated
(moat notably the Yoruba of Nigeria),
impinged
heavily on the Creole which (as Krlo) was by now established in Freetown and its environs.
... the Krios themselves took their
cue
not
from
the
British,
only
by
establishing
their
comparatively new speech as the lingua franca of Sierra Leone but also by exporting it, so that they are largely responsible for «hat are no« the English-oriented Creoles of the Gaabla and Cameroon, and even for the pidgin of Nigeria." (Fyle and Jones 1980:xviii; my emphasis) On
this
hypothesis,
West
African
Pidgin
developed
from
Krio,
which
was
imported by the returning West Indians, and subsequently spread to other parts of West Africa.
This would adequately account for the similarity between them,
Pidgin having all the tonal characteristics of the parent Krio. prefer a different hypothesis, as I shall show later.
In fact, I
35 2. Guyanese Creole (Creolese) Guyanese shares with Krio-Pidgin the absence of vowel length distinctions; it also has syllabic /I/ and nasals, which I have not found in Krio-Pidgin, though they are recorded by some scholars. As Holder (p.c.) has pointed out, Guyanese is a pitch-accent language, but since I regard pitch-accent languages as a type of tone language, I shall use tonal terminology to describe it.
The chief characteristics are:
(a) Two underlying tones, H and L. (b) Doradrift, with special features for yes-no questions, and falling pitch (final cadence) for sentence- or phrase-final H. (c) Downstep when surface H's are adjacent at word-juncture:
n6w
! parts.
many I speakers. (d) All lexical items have one and only one underlying H. (e) While words of English origin often show correlation of H with English stress, many show H in a different position: money, hospital. (f) Compounds show H-deletion in the first component, and H on first syllable in the second, regardless of the tone-pattern of either component in isolation: blfick + jacket
>
black-ificket. sea + water
> sea-w&ter. The compounded
pattern of the second component is frequently closer to the English pattern than is the isolate, as in these cases. Reduplications show the same pattern and
are
thus
repeated.
distinguished
from
iteration, where
the
isolate
pattern
is
As in these examples, reduplication has distributive connotations,
and iteration intensive: crickety
'rickety, decrepit1
b.
cr1ckety-crlckety
'rather decrepit'
c.
crickety crickety
'very decrepit'
(33)a.
(simplex) (reduplicated) (iterated)
36 (g) Within the syntactic group there
is often H-deletlon
(Holder's stress-
effaceaent). Frequently a noun or noun phrase functioning as subject will show deletion:
his father died.
Even the verb may show this, leaving only the
object noun with H: and we boil coffée.
This phenomenon is not very clear as
yet. (h) A progressive assimilation rule raises all L's within a word to the pitch of preceding H; the condition for this is that the word be followed by another within
the
sane
syntactic
accéptable + altérnatlves >
group,
e.g.
univérséll^
components
accéptâblé
of NP:
univérsally
altérnatlves•
+
This leads
to a great deal of downstep, as in afiny I spéakers. The resemblance to the Krio-Pidgin system should by now be clear.
The
aajor differences between the two are (i) the requirement in Guyanese that all lexical itens have one and only one H, whereas Krio-Pidgin has no such restriction, all patterns occurring freely; (il) the progressive assimilation rule and (iii) the H-deletion rule, both restricted to Guyanese. are to soae extent foreshadowed in Krio-Pidgin. are, of course, the correspond
to
that
Even these
The most striking resemblances
'eccentric' patterns, where the position of H does not of
English
stress,
and
the
compounding
patterns,
dramatically different froa those of English. The words with eccentric pattern are very often indeed the same for Krio-Pidgin and Guyanese, as the following list will show; I have also included, in brackets, cases where the languages do not agree, in that one has the English pattern.
(a)
Krio
Pidgin
behléh
belé
bisklt
biskît
dohtl
dohti
Guyanese 'belly'
dirty
'dirty'
37 Krlo
Pidgin
foheéht
fóheét
Guyanese
iaklt
.jacket
(kichin)
kitchen
(kóhtin)
cotton
Krió
Creole
kokó
1
koko
(Látin) •ádám
mohní
nohnl
mohnkl
monfey monkey
«ohtó/mohtú/móhto
(pépa)
papfer
patí
part^
pehnsúl( péhnsul)
pencil
pehtróhl
péhtról
pikln
pikln
(shiling)
shilé/shíli
shimí
simí
(sóda) torl
turí
[pensl]
'child'
soda story /
(tébul)
table
tlklt tlckfet
trohkl (= turtle) turkey
watá
cocoa1
Latin
nadán
motó
[kotn]
watá water
38 (b)
baptism
baptízln kóhstóhma/
kóhstama/
kohstaméhnt
kohstamán
ohspitul
hohspltal
hospital
mánl/la
(máni.ia)
manager (but floor-mânager) officers
ohfísa paynápul
paynápul
(káblneht)
(c)
cablnét
kok(o)nât
kokonóht
coconút
ohganâyz
organize
ohlidé
hohlidé
ovaték
ovaték
overtake telephbne
tehllfón It
Is likely
that many words
from
the
(b) and
(c)
sets are
classed
as
compounds by speakers, e.g. paynfipul, coconut, overtake; further, in telephone, the possibility of reflection of French final stress cannot be discounted. Any verbs with -ate, -fy. -ise/-ize or similar formatives will show the H on that syllable
in all three languages.
Present Pidgin data is insufficient to
make a three-way comparison, but here are examples from Krio and Guyanese: Krlo: ehdyukfet
Gnyaneae: educate
kohmpllkét
complicate
kohmemorét
commemorate
kohmyunlkéshohn
communication
slmplifây
simplify
mohltiplây
multiply
ehntapráyzin
enterprising
39 To SUB up so far:
Guyanese, while still describable in terms of tone, can
also be classed as a pitch-accent language; and vocabulary derived from English does not always display exact correlation between placement of Guyanese high tone
and
English
suppression
strong
of high
stress.
tones,
and
Syntax
plays
an
important
consequent masking of lexical
part
in the
distinctions.
Krio-Pidgin is fully tonal, and while syntax does not produce suppression of high tones, the occurrence of downstep is so conditioned. reminiscent
of
the Guyanese
syntactic relationships. patterns
of
downstep, which
This in turn is
is Indirectly
an exponent
of
Strikingly similar to Guyanese are the Krio-Pidgin
English-derived
words where
high
tone does not
correspond
to
English stress; in many such words the three languages have identical pattern. They also share compounding and, to some extent, reduplication patterns. What historical hypothesis would account for such a set of similarities, in terms of a genetic relationship?
The Fyle and Jones hypothesis, that Krio
developed among the returning Sierra Leone people, and spread to become Pidgin elsewhere, has already been cited.
The implication for Guyanese is either that
it has developed from a Krio-type system to its present pitch-accent system during
the
last
hundred
and
fifty
years,
while Krio,
still
tonal
when
reimported, has stayed so—reinforced by the environment of tone-languages in which it is spoken; or, that Guyanese had already gone some distance on the way to its present pitch-accent system, and Krio-Pidgin has actually acquired—or re-acquired--a "immigration".
more
rigid,
less
syntax-influenced,
system
since
its
This seems a needlessly complex explanation.
Moreover, the hypothesis does not address the question of the development of the West Indian Creoles themselves.
Cassidy (1962 and 1971), and Hancock
(1977), among others, believe that the West Indian Creoles had their beginnings
40 in a West African Pidgin spoken along the coast from at least the sixteenth century.
(Hancock p.c. acknowledges the influence of Krio on Pidgin, but does
not ascribe the very existence of Pidgin to the introduction of Krio.) Ramseur (1981:10-11) notes: "During
Freetown's
early
years,
the
developing
language
was
influenced by the return of several different groups of West Africans. slaves
From 1787-1800, poor blacks from London, former US
from
settle.
Nova
Scotia,
Beginning
in
and Maroons 1806,
when
from
the
Jamaica
British
came
to
parliament
outlawed slave trade [sic], and until 1860, there was an influx of about 60,000 former slaves who had originally come from West Africa.
By 1850, it was estimated that there were as many as
200 African languages spoken in Freetown." If we set the date of Krio's Introduction as 1787, this is really too late to account
for,
slave-trader. language,
e.g.
the diary
Duke's
though
not
of Antera Duke, the eighteenth-century
diary
was
Identical
written with
between
modern
1785
Pidgin,
and shows
1788, many
Efik
and
his
of
its
characteristics. Living in Nigeria (Old Calabar) he is surely unlikely to have acquired Krio two years before the founding of Freetown. An alternative hypothesis therefore would have Pidgin, from which the West Indian
Creoles
developed,
still
flourishing,
fully
tonal,
in its
homeland,
while Creoles such as Guyanese developed away from the African type of tonal system.
Reintroduced,
characteristics
the
of the Pidgin.
speech
of
the
immigrant
speakers
took
on
I do not In the least wish to minimize the
prestige and influence of the Krio people, who, being literate and educated, were in great demand up and down the coast as clerks, book-keepers, agents and
41 managers; but it is very often the speech of the "lower classes" that comes to swamp that of the "higher"—simply because the speakers of the first are more numerous than those of the second. which
finally
won
out
against
One example is of course that of English, Norman
French.
Prestige
and
economic
or
political influence would not outweigh numerical superiority, especially since Krio was not enforced by schools or as a means of official communication during the relevant period. Derivation of Krio from Pidgin, rather than the other way round, would help explain the presence of words in Krio from Bantu languages adoptives from French
(kandfi. kata) and
(boku, kalb&s), which are far more likely to have gone
into Pidgin first, since it is spoken in Bantu and francophone areas. A further supporting
fact
is that the Creole speakers who came to Sierra
Leone were not all from Guyana; very many, especially in the early, formative, days,
were
exploitation
from
Jamaica,
system
from
and
Jamaican
that of Guyanese.
persisted, and not the Jamaican? fact
that
some
of
the
Creole
(now
has
a very
different
Why have the Guyanese
pitch
features
This is especially suprising, in view of the
archaic)
Jamaican
features
do
persist
in
the
segmental phonology of Krio, e.g. the replacement of English /oi/ by [we], and simplification of /sp/ to 1981:Introduction, immigrants were
for
[p], as in [pwel] from 'spoil' further
'recaptives', not
examples).
long out of Africa;
have been expected to speak Pidgin i f — a s
the
'Guyanese-like'
Guyanese happened to keep.
features
are
many
of
the
they might
earlier
reasonably
I hold to be most likely—this was
already well-established along the West Coast. that
Further,
(see Fyle and Jones
It is much easier to believe
in reality
the
Pidgin
features
which
42 It
may
be
objected
that development
from
tonal
to pitch-accent
and/or
intonational is the generally accepted path, not the other way round, i.e. from pitch-accent, or marginally tonal, to fully tonal.
However, we are not talking
here of development so much as of influence from one very widely-used language on the various speech-types of the Creole community, who could not present a common
front,
linguistically
speaking,
against
the
dominant
Pidgin.
The
process here involves the replacement of the several pitch-exploitation systems represented among the Creole speakers by another system, more typical of the environment. My
own
Guyanese
view
at present
and Pidgin-Krio
therefore
is that
suprasegmental
the
systems
resemblances
can be more
between
the
satisfactorily
explained by deriving Guyanese from Pidgin, with Krio as a re-acqnisltlon of Pidgin by the speakers of the various Caribbean Creoles, with some influence from Yoruba 2
lexis .
in the segmental
phonology, and a large
importation of Yoruba
43 Notes 1. Krio and Pidgin contain a number of words of French origin, which display final H, with or without preceding H, reflecting French final stress: Krio
Pidgin
bohku
boku
'a lot (adv.)' < beaucoup
kalbSs
kalSbas
'calabash' < calebasse
There are not so many of these in Krio as in Cameroons Pidgin, for obvious reasons, and in Krio the preflnal syllables tend to be L rather than H as in Pidgin. 2. The explanation of the words in which Krio has the British English pattern rather than the Guyanese could be interference from English; 1 would suspect they are later developments, and that the earlier patterns were as in Guyanese. This would also account for variants such as pehnsul 'pencil' and kohstaaent 'customer' in the Peace Corps Manual, by the side of Fyle and Jones' pfehnsul and kfihstoaa.
44 REFERENCES AND SOURCES Anyadike, Chima. 1984.
Pidgin texts (recordings).
Carter, Hazel. 1987. Suprasegmentals in Guyanese: some African comparisons. In Gilbert 1987, 213-261. Cassidy, Frederic G. 1962. Towards the recovery of early English-African Pidgin. Colloque sur le multi-linguisme, 267-77. Bureau des publications CCTA/CSA, London. . 1971. Tracing the Pidgin element in Jamaican Creole. In Hymes, Dell (ed.)., Pidginization and Creolization of Languages, 203-21. Cambridge University Press. Dwyer, David, n.d. [1967]. An Introduction to West African Pidgin English. Michigan State University for the Peace Corps, East Lansing. Fyle, Clifford N. & Jones, Eldred D. 1980. A Krio-English Dictionary. University Press & Sierra Leone University Press, Oxford etc.
Oxford
Gilbert, Glenn. 1987 (ed.). Pidgin and Creole Languages: Essays in Memory of John Reinecke. Hawaii University Press. Hancock, Ian F. 1970. A provisional comparison of the English-derived Atlantic Creoles. African Language Review 8:7-72. , 1977. Recovering Valdman 1977, 277-94.
pidgin
genesis:
Approaches
and
problems.
In
Holder, Maurice A., 1984. The compound stress rule in Guyanese English. Paper delivered at the Fifth Biennial Conference of the Society for Caribbean Linguistics, Mona, Jamaica. , in press. Accent shift in Guyanese: Linguistic Classified Word-lists. Karoma Press, Ann Arbor. Ramseur, Harvey R.(Country Director). 1981. Edition). Peace Corps, Sierra Leone. Rowlands, London.
E.C.
Todd, Loreto.
1969.
1982.
Teach Yourself
Cameroon.
Valdnan, Albert. 1977 (ed.). Press, Bloonington.
Krio
Yoruba.
Language
English
Introduction Manual
Universities
and
(Revised Press,
Julius Groos Verlag, Heidelberg.
Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. Indiana University
Wilson, J.L. 1964. Krio Language Course (recordings). Peace Corps.
Chapter 4
Government and Metrical Harmony in Pulaar Christian Dunn
0. INTRODUCTION Most
generative
phonologists
now
consider harmony processes as
suprasegmental phenomena.
Halle & Vergnaud
formal
respect
distinction
with
(1981) have
to harmony processes.
these authors, directional harmony (harmony in treated in
the framework
work in metrical directions) processes
in are
phonology, the
and
framework
usually
percolation) of
of foot
described,
a feature
According to
one direction)
must be
construction as developed in recent dominant
of
established a
harmony
autosegmental by
(harmony
in both
phonology.
Harmony
definition,
as
spreading (or
or set of features of a phoneme inside some
defined domain, in such a way that all relevant elements share the same value of that spread (or percolated) feature or set of features. In this
article, an
analysis of one of the two harmony processes
of Pulaar of Fuuta Toro from the Kaedi area» (a West-Atlantic language of the Niger-Congo family) will be proposed.
There exist, according to
me, two superimposed harmony processes, directionally ing
the
t+ATR]
feature
in
Pulaar.
opposed, involv-
The first one has already been
studied in some earlier works, among others, those of Prunet (1984),
Paradis
(1986)
illimited and leftward. article, is
and
Dunn
(1987).2
The second one, which
& Tellier
This harmony process is is the
subject of this
rightward. (An analysis of this process was first proposed
in Dunn 1987).
This second type of harmony is more restrained than the
first
that
one
in
its
domain
is limited.
In the remainder of the
46 paper, a metrical explanation for this process is given in the theoretical framework of charm and government as presented in Kaye, Lowenstamm and Vergnaud (1985; henceforth KLV). 1. Research program In accordance phonology must
with
KLV,
I
think
that
a
research
program in
be integrated within the perspective of recent research
in Universal Grammar (Chomksy 1980, 1981, 1986a and b), which presupposes that a limited number of principles and parameters regulate the set of components of Universal
Grammar,
including
thus
the phonological
component. As in
syntax, universal
principles correlated
values of parameters belonging to particular of each
grammars define
of the possible phonological grammars.
correlation between syntax and
phonology,
with the specific
In thus establishing a
phonological
eliminate a rule component, with rules of the type: A — > where nothing in principle prevents one rule (i.e.
D
to invert
theory should B / C
the context
D, of the
_ _ C) even if the latter is not empirically evidenced-
since, as in syntax, phonological processes result from action of
the form
the conjugated
universal principles and parameter values at work in univer-
sal grammars.
The overall aim of a research program in phonology, and,
among others,
that of
KLV, is to integrate the phonological component
into the theory of Universal Grammar. program is
The
basic
postulate
of this
that the syntactic component, the component of logical form
and the phonological component share certain very general properties of Universal Grammar.
Thus,
it would be strange (and somewhat undesira-
ble) , from a theoretical point of view as concerns acquisition, that
47 one of the components of Universal ionally (i.e.
the phonological
Grammar be
structured transformat-
component) in
the manner of Syntactic
Structures (Chomsky 1957), whereas structured
configurationally
the two
(i.e.
other components
syntax
and
would be
logical form) in the
manner of Lectures on Government and Binding (Chomsky 1981). 2. The nature of phonological representations Lately, in generative phonology, linguists
(among
others,
Clements 1985, Archangeli &
Poser
as
1982,
has van
Pulleyblank
1986,
been der
noted
by several
Hulst & Smith 1982,
Lowenstamm
1986), the
research program, which was centered on the specification of conditions on particular rules, has effected a complete change and has centered on the
specification
of
phonological representations themselves (though
this does not mean that phonologists do not appeal to This shift
in the
research program of generative phonology comes from
the problems that Chomsky & unsolved.
rules anymore!).
For, in
Halle
(1968)
(henceforth
SPE)
had left
the linear model of Chomsky & Halle (1968), phono-
logical representations merely consisted of bunches of features.
Such
representations raised at least two problems as to their nature: 1. An inexistent internal structure, with, as a corollary, a problem with intrinsic properties of features (i.e. no hierarchical organization in the matrices). 2. A lacunary external structure, that is to say only bidimensional (i.e. a sequence of matrices, without any explicit reference to the notion of constituent). Before long,
attempts to
early as the middle 70s and have multiplied.
solve the second problem were made.
the early
Autosegmental,
As
80s, (tri-dimensional) theories
metrical and
syllabic theories have
helped understand the structure of constituents and of the phonological
48 processes that
derive from
them, and which, up to then, had been left
out of phonological explanation. As for the first problem, to schematize, adherents of some schools of
thought
are
making
attempts
logical sequel of chapter 9 of theory.
One
thinks
of,
to
solve it: schools which are the
SPE wich
for
is concerned
example,
the
representation of Clements (1985), the theory Archangeli (1984)
and Archangeli
with markedness
theory of hierarchical of underspecification of
& Pulleyblank
(1986), the theory of
dependency phonology of Anderson & Jones (1974), the theory of particle phonology
of
Schane
elements of Kaye, follows,
we
will
(1984),
Lowenstamm
4
consider
that
framework allows, by its tions, a
the
theory
Vergnaud of
internal
(1985),
KLV,
simplicity and
of
structure of
etc
because
the elegance
In what
this theoretical of its explana-
better understanding of harmony processes (and phonology as a
whole). з. Vowel representation of Pulaar The vowel system of Pulaar comprises five phonological и, E,
0, a/,
harmony.
and two
phonetic vowels
So, the present claim
underlyingly.
is that
[e, o],
vowels /i,
which result from ATR
the vowels
[e, o]
are /E,0/
For the time being, we will not argue for the theoreti-
cal well-foundedness of this hypothesis, so let us take for granted the following descriptive
generalization: the vowels [e,o] are predictable
in that they result from the government relation by the ATR element of the vowels [i, u].
on the
vowels /E, 0/
These remarks being made, let
us consider the phonological representation of the Pulaar vowel system. In the
theory of
representations of KLV, each element occupies a line
which is labelled according to the hot feature
of the
element.
Thus,
49 for example,
the element
I stands
the High line, and so on. sal principles assigned to
on the Back line, the element A on
In this theory, as we
said earlier, univer-
correlated with the particular values of the parameters
particular
grammars
define
the
form
of
each possible
phonological grammar.3 The vowel system of Pulaar requires the following determination of the three parameters indicated: (1)
Parameters i. ii.
The Back/Round lines are fused. Each segment has at least one positive charm ition.4 iii. The cold vowel is not phonetically realized. From
this
parametrization,
we
in its compos-
derive the five-vowel system of
Pulaar, which is illustrated in (2). (2) Vocalic system ATR element Back/Round High
1* i i i i —1° —0° —1°
U° — v °
vo
-vo A+ i i i i i i i i i r X X X X X [i]* [u]+ [E]° [0]« [a]»
N. B. The head of the expression is underlined and the entire expression appears after the right angled bracket. (3) illustrates
the calculus
each of these expressions.
charm of the
and the computation of the charm of
50
(3)
Calculus and computation of charm 8 a. b. c. d. e.
(i+ (I+ (A+ (A+ (v°
• • • • •
(v° • I°)°)+ (v° • U°)°)+ I°)° U°)° A+)+
[i] + [u] + [E] 0 to]» [a]*
N. B. The head of the expression is underlined in the operation. The operator occurs to its left in the most embedded parenthesis. The ATR operator is an external operator and its role is to transmit the positive charm to the entire expression, as we can see in the expressions of (3a.) and (3b.).
4. Harmony Processes Following a suggestion by KLV, we as resulting
harmony processes
from a government relation, and, in this case, government
at the level of nuclei projections. governor in
will explain
Pulaar is
Concretely,
we propose
the ATR element, and that the governees are the
segments with neutral charm (we will come back to this). we
suppose,
as
in
Halle
&
In addition,
Vergnaud (1981), that one of the formal
mechanisms which accounts for harmony principles of
that the
processes
is
adapted
metrical phonology at work in stress systems.
ly, the domain of government, that is to say, the
from the Concrete-
domain where harmony
is attested (i.e. in which metrical feet for harmony are built), is, to simplify,* anything which is directly dominated by N (i.e. the root and the class
markers) for
marker]N.
And anything which is
verbal root,
the verbal
the nominal phonological word: [N directly
dominated
by
root + class V
(i.e. the
morphemes and the object and subject clitics)
for the verbal phonological word: [v
root + verbal morphemes + object/
subject clitics]v• The following sections are devoted to the explicit analysis.
details of our
51 4.1 Bounded harmony Let us consider the following contrasts; where "rt" = root, "inf" = infinitive, "cl." = class, "pro" = pronoun. (4)
[+ATR]
[-ATR]
a. hir de rt inf
"be jealous"
c. huur de rt inf
cover
b. sEk dE rt inf
"be angry"
d. sOOd dE rt inf
"buy"
e. fui be "peul people" rt cl. marker
f. wOr bE "men" rt cl. marker
g. mi do pro lsg
h. hOO rE "head" rt cl. marker
As right.
we
"I"
can
see,
this
In order to delimit
harmony its
process takes place from left to
domain
of
application,
observe the
following contrast: (5)
a. o doof 3sg rt
ii no tense preterite
"he had torn"
b. o
ii
"he had torn them"
doof
In light
nO bE 3pl
of these facts, one question arises, that of the harmon-
izing of the vowel [o] of the preterite morpheme in (5a.) and harmonizing
of
the
vowel
suggest that the cause of harmony is
bounded by
of this
the
asymmetry
binary feet,
the same foot as (in this case) the can be
harmonized.
Supposing that
left, we predict that,
if a
preterite is
morpheme in (5b.). that
borne
[uu]).
out,
as
is
shown
We
the left-to-right
so that only a vowel belonging to vowel [ii]
of the
tense morpheme
such feet are built from right to
syllable is
added to
a form
(5b.), the high vowel will harmonize the following syllable. is
the non-
similar to And this
in (6) (where the high vowel trigger is
52 (6)
a. suud otO nO rt imperf3 preterite middle 7
"was hiding"
b. suud etE nO rt imperf3 preterite passive
"was being hidden"
Moreover, the examples in
(7) show
that this
harmony process is
sensitive to syllabic weight. (7)
[+ATR]
[-ATR]
a. * n guron
n
gurOn
"small towns"
b. "liikon
liikOn
"small fish"
c. *pulon
pulOn
"little Peul"
d. *o bil ii on
On
"he had you in a hold (wrestling)"
e. *suud oo imperf2 middle
suud 00
f. *suud ee imperf2 passive
suud EG
In the
"hides"
'(let it) be hidden"
light of these data, we propose the following algorithm to
account for left-to-right harmony. 8 (8)
Algorithm for the construction of metrical feet i. ii. iii. iv. v.
Build the feet on the nuclear projections, Direction: from right to left, Left dominant (i.e. head initial: s w). Type of feet: bounded (binary), Quantity sensitive: yes. -The weak branch cannot dominate a branching rime (i.e. a rime which dominates two skeletal points) 9 .
The left-to-right
harmony will
be characterized according to the
following convention, specific to Pulaar: (9) Convention on government The domain of government of the ATR element is the foot.
53 In addition,
following Dell
& Vergnaud
{1984: 28), we adopt the
convention on percolation as formulated in (10). (10) Percolation convention Les éléments d'un constituant héritent de la spécification tête de ce constituant pour le trait harmonique.
de la
"The elements of a constituent inherit the specification of the head of the constituent for the harmonic feature." 10 Technically, this means that under the
head of
the charm
of the
ATR element (ï+),
position s, is copied onto the root,
the governing
the node F, and then percolates that positive value downwards
from the
root on the governed positions w. In (11),
we give
the formal representation of the trees as built
according to the algorithm in (8). (11) Formal representation F2 • • / \ / \
s I I I I X+ i i a* Here, we
right
w I I I I X° i i
/ s I I I I X* i i a+
have labelled
can see that, by from
Fi t i / \
to
(8ii.), foot left
(i.e.
root of the tree \
w I I I I
X° i i 3°
the trees
skeletal level 11 nuclear projection for clarity of exposition.
construction is Fi,
achieved consecutively
then F* etc.).
harmonic effects of government via the mechanism of hold for the representation in (11).
We
(12) illustrates the percolation, which
54 (12)
s
F2 I I ï+ / \ / \
[...X+ i i
s
w
Fi I I i+ / \ / \
X + ] [ X+ i i i i
a+
P+
root percolation w
X*] i i
domain of government nuclear projection
a*
Consider now how this analysis accounts for the various cases that illustrate left-to-right harmony in Pulaar. To
start
with,
binary foot is
we
examine
implicated
in
the
the
simplest cases, where a single
harmony
process.
This
case is
illustrated in (13). (13)
a. /hir dE/ Fi
s
/
ï+ • • — 1° I I —v° ! X* I i
ATR element Back/Round High
i+
"be jealous"
b. [hirde]
root
Fi
/ \ \
/
w
! I I 1°— t I A+ — ! X° ( I
\
percolation w i
—1°
10
—
—v°
A+
—
X+ ]
[ X* i+
E°
domain
of government
nuclear projection
e+
In (13a.), constituent structure is represented before percolation has applied, for purposes of clarity.
In (13b.), the ATR element (i.e.
ï + ) of the governing position (i.e. the strong node) is the root
of the
value of
its
tree, and, as stated by convention (10), the positive
charm
governed position.
copied beneath
percolates
downwards
onto
the
segment
of the
Concretely, this means that the vocalic segment /E/
55 gets harmonized as [e] by this government relation, induced by
the ATR
element of the /i/ vowel. When a
segment not
specified for the element ATR (i.e. a segment
which does not have the ATR element in its composition, eg. /E, is in
a position
governor
0, a/)
which is likely to govern, the fact that there is no
(nothing to percolate) means there is no
government relation.
Below in (14) is an illustration of this case. (14)
/sEk dE/
[sEkdE]
Fi i / \
Back/Round High
/ s I I — 1 ° j — A
+
"be angry" root
\ w I I jo |
i i X° !
A+ i i X® I
E°
E°
— —
nuclear projection
Consider next the cases where the mid vowels, in others words, the segments with a neutral charm, do not belong to the containing the
ATR element.
First,
universal constraint
According
to (8v.), which
specifying that a weak node may not branch,
the mid vowel will have to be dominated by a quently, the
as that
this can be due to the fact that
the mid vowel belongs to a heavy syllable. is a
same foot
degenerate foot.
Conse-
ATR element will belong to another foot and will thus not
govern the mid vowel.
This case is illustrated in (15) and (16).
56 /suud EE/
(15)
Fz I I I+ i i s I I+
ATR element Back/Round
___
High
___vo
u 0
i i
/ \ X+ X+ \ / u+ (16)
[suudEE] Fi i i i i i i s
root percolation
JO
i i
At
/ \ X o Xo \ / E°
nuclear projection
/liik On/ F2
"be hidden-
"small fish"
[liikOn] Fi
root percolation
ATR element jo
Back/Round
v® / \ X+ X+ \ / i+
High
/\
uo— \ A* ! X° I 0°
Consider finally the cases syllable and left. feet is
\
\ \ X° ! n°
where
nuclear the
mid
vowel
projection12
is
in
a weak
is thus likely to be harmonized by the ATR element on its
In this case, the algorithm of crucial.
the tree
construction as binary
We thus explain the contrasts shown in (5a.-b.) and
(6a.) by the means of feet,
as
relevant feet are represented).
in
(17),
(18)
and
(19).
(Only the
57 (17) /(O dOOf)ii nO/
[odoofiino] (cf. (5)a.) Fi I I I+ / \ / \
"he had torn" root percolation
ATR element Back/Round High
o
—I
U° — i i A+
i i —v°
/ \
[ X+
\ /+
!
X+
X+ ]
domain
of government
o
nuclear
projection
!+
i
(18) /(0 dOOf)ii nO bE/ [odoofiinObE] (cf. (5)b.) Fi 1 1
F2 1 1
/\ / \
Ì*
1 1 s 1 1
ATR element
| 1 Io 1 1 —v°
Back/Round High
X
/\
+
X*
\/ i+
s 1 1 1 1 1 1 U° 1 1 At t 1
/ \ / \
s 1 1
w 1 1
ATR element
High
w 1 1 1 1 1 1
Io 1 1
—
A+
1 1 Xo 1 1 E°
o
X 1 1 0°
F2 1 1 i+
Back/Round
percolation
nuclear projection
[suudotOnO] (cf. (6)a.)
(19) /suud OtO nO/
U° U° i it i v® A* / \ I [ X* X+ X+ ] \ / ! u+ o+
"he had torn them" root
Fi i i i i
root
/\ / \
s 1 1 1 1
U° +
A ! Xo ! 0°
"was hiding"
percolation
w 1 1 1 1
II
U° II A+ I Xo ! 0°
domain of government nuclear projection
58 Our
analysis
accounts
for
striking contrasts, such as those in
(20).
"Abou is hiding"
(20) a. Abou suud OtO rt imperf3 Middle b. kO Ali suud otOO imper£4 Middle
"It is Ali that is hiding"
c. Abou suud etE nO imperf3 Passive
"Abou was being hidden"
d. KO Abou suud EtE nOO imperf4 Passive
"It was Abou that was being hidden"
These facts
are expected,
final [0]'s are built domain of
the ATR
in our
under the
element of
analysis.
same foot,
In (20a.), the two
and are
thus outside the
root [uu], and thus are not harmonized.
Whereas in (20b.), the final [00] is long and thus must be construed in a degenerate
foot (cf.
imperfect forms example.
a
(8v.)).
foot
with
In that root
case, the
[uu],
contrary
first [o] of the to
the previous
The ATR element thus governs it and transmits it the value of
its charm.
We give the
tree representation
of (20c.-d.)
in (21) and
(22), to illustrate formally the harmony processes in question. (21) /suud EtE nO/
[suudetEnO]
(cf. (20)c.)
/
percolation / \
\
s
root
Fi
Fz I I Ì+ / \
"was being hidden"
/ w
s
jo i + A
jo
\ w
ATR element Back/Round High
UO i i ___ v o
i
/ \ [ X+ X +
\ / u+
A+
Ii
u° Ii A*
I X+ ]
! Xo
! Xo
!
!
!
E°
0°
e+
domain of government nuclear projection
59 "(that) hiding"
(22) /suud EtE nOO/ [suudEtEnOO] (cf. (20)d.)
Fs i i I• I I s I I
Fi
Fz I
root percolation
/\ \ / s
was
one
w
ATR element yo i i v°
JO i i A*
/ \ X+ X* \ / u+
¡ Xo I E°
Back/Round High
JO i i
A+
u° i i A+
! Xo ,' E°
/ \ Xo Xo \ / 0°
—
nuclear projection
5. CONCLUSION In this article, we have studied left-to-right harmony We have
suggested that
in Pulaar.
the government relation for this harmony takes
place inside a binary foot, and is thus bounded. In short, we have metrical
phonology,
seen in
that
terms
of
an
analysis
construction
slightly amended by the theory of charm and a formal simple
account of algorithm
explain a
set of
the data
in of
the
framework of
metrical
trees,
government, makes possible
of Pulaar with minimal stipulations.
(8) and two conventions ((9)
and (10)),
A
allow us to
complex data, where a complicated set of rules would
only have allowed us to describe them.
60 FOOTNOTES
* For their comments, I thank Monik Charette, Isabelle Haik, Jonathan Kaye, Juliette Levin, Jean Lowenstamm, Diane Massam, JeanFranpois Prunet and Laurice Tuller. I wish to thank also my informants Abou Ba and Saaw Aly Saidou. This research has been made possible with grants from SSHRCC #411-85-0012 of Canada, from FCAR #87-EQ-2681 of Quebec and a Doctoral Fellowship from SSHRCC #452-88-1683 of Canada. 1. From now on, when we mention Pulaar with no other precision, we refer to the dialect of Fuuta Toro of the Kaedi area (South-West Mauritania). 2. To be precise, Prunet & Tellier 1984 is concerned with the interaction of levels in phonology, discussed with respect to the phenomenon of vowel shortening in Pulaar. Eventually, they use the right-to-left harmony process to implement their hypotheses. As for Paradis 1986, discussion of this harmony process constitutes the section of a chapter in her doctoral dissertation. Interested readers are invited to consult the analyses of Paradis (1986) and Dunn (1987) for a comparison of points of view. 3. For a detailed presentation of the theory briefly introduced here, see Kaye, Lowenstamm & Vergnaud (1985). 4. For a characterization Lowenstamm & Vergnaud (1985).
of
the
notion of charm, see also Kaye,
5. The matricial operations of Kaye, Lowenstamm & Vergnaud (1985) are somewhat similar to that presented in Bach & Wheeler (1980) for Montague grammars. 6. See Dunn (1987) for arguments supporting the present claims concerning the syntactic domains of harmony processes in Pulaar. 7. See Sylla (1982) for a description of aspectual morphemes (i.e. imperfects 1, 2, 3, 4 and perfects 1, 2, etc.). See also Prunet (1986 and this volume) for a thorough study of the facts mentioned. 8. This analysis draws from recent research of Hayes (1981) on stress which has been initially used, with slight modifications, by Halle & Vergnaud (1981) for harmony processes. However, stress trees in Pulaar differ from those presented here for harmony processes. In any case, there is no correlation between the two phenomena. 9. See Charette (1987) for an explanation of the non-branching property of recessive nodes by means of a Mimimality condition in phonology, somewhat similar to that proposed by Chomsky (1986b) for syntax.
61 10. Importantly for our concern, the specification is not that of a feature but that of an element (cf. (2)), here, the ATR element. This is important, for a theory which has features as ultimate constituents can formally spread (or percolate) the positive or negative values of these features (those values have a logically equivalent status in the theory, such as in SPE 1968, for example). On the other hand, a theory which incorporates elements as primitives simply cannot spread (or percolate) the absence of an element (what is translated as the negative value in the former theory). Thus, Archangeli & Pulleyblank (1986) propose a [-ATR] harmony in Yoruba, which is formally impossible in a theory with elements. An alternative analysis has been proposed by Dunn & Nikiema (1987), where it is suggested that the harmony process in question implies the element ATR. On this subject, see Dunn & Nikiema, in preparation). 11. We adopt the characterization of Lowenstamm & Kaye (1986) concerning syllabic geometry. The fact that the units X (i.e. the terminal nodes) are used at the skeletal level rather than a sequence of symbols C and V is, in effect, a theoretical position taken by Lowenstamm and Kaye. According to these authors, syllabic geometry yields at that level all the necessary information for C or V specifications. In fact, vowels and consonants are effectively distinguished according to their position in the syllable template: consonants occupy a nonnuclear position and vowels occupy a nuclear position. Consequently, the use of the CV symbols is totally redundant lexically (granting that syllabification is lexical, as suggested by Lowenstamm 1979, and more recently by Kaye 1987 with his projection principle). 12. The algorithm in (8) refers uniquely to the nuclear projections and not to the rime projections. For us, this implies that the nasal of example (16) is syllabified under the nuclear position, hence forming a branching nucleus identical to that of long vowels: (i)
N
X I I
V V
/\
X I I
V C [sonorant]
This characterization is motivated by the fact that, in the relevant contexts where harmony involves a vowel followed by a consonant in the same syllable, this consonant is always a sonorant, which is a kind of consonant which may be syllabified in the nucleus. Sonorants share properties of both vowels and consonants. In a sense, they are hybrid segments, which may be syllabified either in a nuclear position or a non-nuclear position, according to the context. The fact that, in the same syllable, there is no harmonized vowel in Pulaar followed by a consonant other than a sonorant is an indication of their syllabification under the nuclear node. For the hybrid character of sonorants, see Kaye & Lowenstamm (1984).
62 References Anderson, J. M. & C. Jones. 1974. Three theses concerning phonological representations. London: Journal of Linguistics 10. 1-26. Archangeli, D. 1984. Underspecification in Yawelmani Phonology and Morphology. Doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, MA. Archangeli, D. and D. Pulleyblank. 1986. The Content and Structure of Phonological Representations. Ms., University of Arizona and University of Southern California. Bach, E. and D. Wheeler. 1980. Massachusetts, MA.
Montague Phonology. Ms., University of
Charette, M. 1987. The Minimality Condition in Phonology. at GLOW, Venice. Chomsky, N. 1957. Chomsky, N. Press.
1980.
Syntactic Structures.
The Hague: Mouton & Co.
Rules and Representations. Lectures
Chomsky, N. 1986a. NY: Praeger.
Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origin and Use. Barriers.
Chomsky, N. and M. Harper & Row.
Halle 1968.
Government
NY: Columbia University
Chomsky, N. 1981. Foris.
Chomsky, N. 1986b.
on
Talk given
and
Binding. Dordrecht:
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. The
Sound Pattern
of English.
Clements, G. N. 1985. The Geometry of Phonological Features. ogy Yearbook 2, pp. 225-252.
NY:
Phonol-
Dell, F. and J.-R. Vergnaud. 1984. Les développements récents en phonologie: quelques idées centrales. Forme sonore du langage, eds. F. Dell, D. Hirst & J.-R. Vergnaud, pp. 1-42. Paris: Hermann. Dunn, C. 1987. Gouvernement par projection nucléaire: les processus harmoniques en pulaar. M.A. Thesis, UQAM. Dunn, C. and E. Nikiema. 1987. La sous-spécification et la matrice de traits spécifiés: plus qu'une différence notationnelle. Talk given at the Canadian Linguistic Association (CLA), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.
63 Dunn, C. and E. Nikiema. In preparation. Case of Yoruba. Halle, M. and J.-R. Vergnaud. 1981. Boundaries in Linguistics, eds. Dordrecht: Reidel.
Against [-ATR] Harmony: the
Harmony Processes. Crossing the W. Klein and W. Levelt, pp. 1-22
Hayes, B. 1981. A Metrical Theory of Stress Rules. ation, MIT, Cambridge, MA. Kaye, J. 1987. Ms., UQAM.
Doctoral dissert-
Government in Phonology: the Case of Moroccan Arabic.
Kaye, J. and J. Lowenstamm. 1984. De la syllabicité. Forme Sonore du Langage, eds. F. Dell, D. Hirst & J.-R. Vergnaud, pp. 123-160. Paris: Hermann. Kaye, J., J. Lowenstamm and J.-R. Vergnaud. 1985. The Internai Structure of Phonological Elements: A Theory of Charm and Government. Phonology Yearbook 2, pp. 305-328. Lowenstamm, J. 1979. Topics in Syllabic Phonology. Doctoral dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA. Lowenstamm, J. 1986. A propos d'une hypothèse sur la forme primitive du type B en amharique. Revue québécoise de linguistique, 16.1., pp.157-180. Lowenstamm, J. and J. Kaye 1986. Compensatory Lengthening in Tiberian Hebrew. Studies in Compensatory Lengthening, eds. L. Wetzels and E. Sezer, pp. 97-132. Dordrecht: Foris. Paradis, C. 1986. nominales en Montréal.
Phonologie et morphologie lexicale: les classes pulaar (Fula). Doctoral dissertation, Université de
Poser, W. J. 1982. Phonological Representations and Action-at-aDistance. The Structure of Phonological Representations (Part II), eds. H. van der Hulst and N. Smith, pp. 121-158. Dordrecht: Foris. Prunet, J.-F. 1986. Spreading and Locality Domains in Phonology. Doctoral dissertation, McGill University. Prunet, J.-F. 1987.
Prosodie Redistribution in Fula.
This
volume.
Prunet, J.-F. and C. Tellier 1984. Interaction des niveaux en phonologie: l'abrègement vocalique en pulaar. McGill Working Papers in Linguistics 2, pp. 65-89. Schane, S. A. 1984. The Fundamentals of Particle Phonology. Yearbook I, pp. 129-155.
Phonology
64 Sylla, Y. 1982. Grammaire moderne Editions Africaines.
du pulaar.
Dakar: Les Nouvelles
Van der Hülst, H. and N. Smith. 1982. An Overview of Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology. The Structure of Phonological Representations (Part I), eds. H. van der Hülst and N. Smith, pp. 1-46. Dordrecht: Foris.
Chapter 5
Register Tone and the Phonological Representation of Downstep Sharon Inkelas A number of theoretical questions have arisen in work on the representation of tone in languages with complex tonal contrasts — those which go beyond the simple binary opposition between High and Low tone. For example, some languages (e.g. Chinese, Chaga) have complex tonal contrasts in the lexicon, yet others (e.g.
Hausa) seem to require such contrasts only in the intonation
component. Is it appropriate to use the same sorts of tonal features to capture intonational and lexical contrasts — in other words, is there a phonology of intonation which is comparable to the phonology of lexical tone? Second, where we do need complex tonal features, in which direction do we build the complexity? Proposals ranging from metrical tone trees to multiple tone features to multi-valued tone features have been advanced to account for multiple tonal oppositions in different languages. The third area of interest is closely related to the second, and involves the relationship of tone to other phonological features. Assuming the correctness of the Clements feature hierarchy (Clements 1985), the question becomes one of where in that hierarchy tone features ought to fit. In this paper 1 I will explore these questions in the context of some phonological and phonetic data from the Kirua dialect of Kivunjo Chaga, a Bantu language of Tanzania whose 5-Way tone contrast sheds light on many issues in the representation of tone. I will motivate an analysis for Chaga in the framework developed by Inkelas, Leben and Cobler 1986 (henceforth ILC) for Hausa, a rather different type of tone language. And drawing on some data from Tiv and Dschang, languages whose tonal complexity appears intermediate (in number of tone features) between that of Chaga and Hausa, I will show that this new approach to the representation of tone offers a way out of some intractable problems discussed in the tonal literature.
1. Framework My analysis is the natural extension of two recent proposals in the tonal literature. The first is that of Yip 1980, Clements 1981, Hyman 1985, and ILC 1986 who propose that the tonal 'space'
66 is divided by two binary-valued tone features: the standard High vs. Low contrast on one hand, and on top of that a second, 'register' tone feature. The values of this feature are also named High and Low, and their effect is to modify the realization of the other, more primary feature, which I follow Hyman 1986 in terming 'primary' tone. 2 Though their independence is uniformly acknowledged, the place of register and primary tone features in the phonological representation is still a source of considerable variation among the proposals mentioned above. Instead I will follow the lead of Archangeli and Pulleyblank 1986 (see also Hyman and Pulleyblank 1987). They place each tone feature on an independent autosegmental tier, and in doing so follow exactly the program of Clements 1985 for assigning each phonological feature to its own tier. Another aspect of Clements's framework is that features which form an identifiable class — e.g., the place of articulation features — are grouped hierarchically under a tier containing nodes which dominate all of the features in that class. In that same spirit Archangeli and Pulleyblank posit a separate tier containing tonal nodes. The tonal node tier dominates the two tone subtiers; each tonal node is linked to feature values on both of the tone tiers. That geometrical structure, filled in with the two tone features described above, yields the model shown below; (1) depicts a single tone, the combination of a tone T on the primary tier and a tone T on the register tier.
(1)
a ^ o Primary tone tier
T
Tonal node tier T
Register tone tier
Before filling in the theoretical proposal any further let us examine some of the data which motivate it.
2. Chaga Chaga is a Bantu language spoken in Tanzania. Among other noteworthy tonal facts is the number of surface tones in the language: Chaga has five.3
67 (2) Superhigh
S
Unreleased Low
L°
High
H
Low
L
Downstepped High
!H
A possible way to represent the five surface tones of Chaga would be to posit five different tones on the same autosegmental tone tier. But this would miss some significant phonological and phonetic generalizations. First, as McHugh 1985 argues, only a two-way tonal contrast is necessary underlyingly and in the lexical rules. 4 The other tones are all derived by post-lexical rules; crucially, these rules modify the register of primary High or Low tone.
Highs are raised (to Superhigh) or lowered
(to Downstepped High); Lows are raised (to Unreleased Low). Proposing autonomous, unrelated tonemes for each of the different surface tones does not capture the fact that only two appear to be phonemic. Some of the rules which derive S, !H and L° are given below. The versions in (3) differ somewhat from the rules proposed in McHugh 1985 and from those of Inkelas 1986; certain of them involve complicated processes whose details are not relevant here and so I have condensed them for ease of exposition. Brackets indicate phonological phrase boundaries. (3)
Low Raising:
... a t et k > q en songhay septentrional ; disparition de l'opposition 1 ~ r et amuïssement des consonnes nasales et liquides intervocaliques en dendi ) mais aussi au plan des inventaires. La comparaison
(1) entre l'inventaire
des
phonèmes consonantiques d u parler dendi de Kandi et du parler tadaksahak
du songhay
septentrional
(Nicolaï
1981)
montre
l'importance de la convergence qui oriente le songhay septentrional vers une structure de type berbère et le dendi vers une structure voisine de celle du bariba.
(1)
(D) Kandi b m
t
k
kp
d
g
gb qm
n
o
(SS) Tadaksahak b
t d
t d
m
n
n
1
1
r
r
s z
1 w f
y s z
h
c j
k g
s
Y J
x
h
z
^
y
ç
w f
q
h
103
2.3 Convergence et contamination Pratiquement, on est amené à distinguer entre deux types de convergence. . La convergence ""proprement dite'' qui résulte de la sélection d'une évolution potentielle de la structure d'une langue en harmonie avec les langues de contact. . La convergence par " "contamination'' où la langue évolue au contact d'une autre en rompant avec ses potentialités évolutives propres pour se conformer à celles de la langue de contact. Les évolutions phonologiques qui ont conduit aux formes actuelles du songhay septentrional et du dendi traduisent des convergences de ce dernier type. 2.4 Déterminants du nom Les morphèmes qui indiquent l'opposition du défini à l'indéfini (0~o/a au singulier et -yai], yoij-ay au pluriel) ont disparu. L'opposition, soit n'existe plus , comme c'est le cas en songhay septentrional et en dendi, soit s'est reconstituée en fonctionnalisant une particule démonstrative (din > di) pour indiquer le " "spécifique' ' , comme c'est le cas en songhay occidental (Nicolaï 1987: 475-76). (2) (SS) huggu yo huggu ( D) fuyôm di fuyom (SO) baridiyo bariyo
""( la ) maison là ' ' ""(la) maison'' "* ( les ) maisons là'' ""(les) maisons'' " " les chevaux' ' " "des chevaux' '
104
L'usure des morphèmes du spécifique et leur remplacement par des démonstratifs est une évolution bien connue, mais ce qu'il y a ici d'intéressant c'est qu'en songhay septentrional comme en dendi il ne s ' agit pas de ce phénomène. Les morphèmes qui matérialisaient la marque du défini ont disparu sans être remplacés et les formes de l'indéfini ont été généralisées à tous les emplois, d'où la perte de la distinction; cela constitue une simplification de la structure interne de la langue et demande à être expliqué. Corrélativement, la transformation que connaît le songhay occidental ne peut plus être interprétée sans réserves comme le simple résultat d'un fait d'''usure'' et le remplacement progressif d'un morphème par un autre pour conserver une opposition, car l'éventualité d'une réélaboration tardive de cette distinction à partir d'un état de langue qui ne la possédait plus, tel celui qu'attestent le songhay septentrional et le dendi , est également envisageable. Enfin, bien qu'elles ne soient pas nécessaires pour assurer le propos, on signalera l'existence d'autres données problématiques : . le lexique du songhay septentrional est touareg à plus de 50% (Lacroix 1969 ; Nicolaï 1987: 477) ; . au plan syntaxique, la structure SOV se transforme en SVO en songhay occidental et septentrional ; . au plan morphologique, la structure du syntagme de détermination se transforme en songhay septentrional, où la relation se marque par un connecteur, n, qu'on ne trouve nulle part
105
ailleurs en songhay mais qui existe en touareg (Lacroix 1969 ) .
(3)
SS SO
bora-n-amn s " " le chameau de 1 ' homme ' ' a gon tablai * * il a avalé le médicament ' akar ngu yodi * * i 1 a f rappé son chameau ' '
2.5 Conclusion Tout se passe comme si a) au contact du touareg, le songhay s'était berbérisé, en particulier sur les points suivants: systèmes prosodique et phonématique, syntagme de détermination, structure SOV et lexique . b) au contact du bariba, le dendi s'était structurellement rapproché des langues kwa : développement du système tonal, tendance à la disparition des consonnes liquides et nasales intervocaliques, simplification des groupes consonantiques, disparition de 1 ' opposition r ~1. c) au contact des dialectes arabes et peuls, le songhay occidental s'était aussi différencié: disparition du système tonal, transformation de la structure SOV en SVO. La question est la suivante: quels sont les facteurs et les concepts descriptifs qui apportent une aide à l'élaboration d'hypothèses explicatives pour rendre compte de ces phénomènes que les seuls déterminismes linguistiques n' expliquent pas?
106
3 . Les variables explicatives 3.1 La véhicularisation Les dialectes qui nous importent ici étaient parlés par des populations qui n'étaient pas originellement songhay et l'on sait que la langue avait dû avoir une importance effective dans le commerce
transsaharien
(Nicolaï,
1987:
71-75);
cela
soutient l'hypothèse largement admise de la fonction véhiculaire du songhay dans la région sahelo-soudanaise à date ancienne, mais cette hypothèse peut être affinée par l'analyse linguistique, en particulier en ce qui concerne les déterminants du nom. Les dialectes qui ont connu la transformation ou la disparition du système des déterminants du nom sont ceux qui sont parlés par ces populations qui n'étaient pas originellement songhay; cette évolution linguistique correspond à une simplification structurale et peut être décrite comme un effet de pidginisation de la langue introduit par des locuteurs dont ce n'était pas la langue maternelle. On avance ainsi l'hypothèse que les dialectes qui n'ont pas connu la simplification du défini sont des évolutions d'une forme vernaculaire du songhay: le songhay A (SA) , et que ceux qui ont connu cette simplification sont des évolutions d'une forme véhiculaire de la langue: le songhay B (SB) ; ce qui est justifié par les données externes . Les caractères formels du véhiculaire et du vernaculaire peuvent être mis en évidence par la comparaison interne à l'intérieur de chacun des deux groupes dialectaux; on admettra
107
ainsi que la forme du songhay véhiculaire n'était pas très éloignée de celle du vernaculaire tout en s'en distinguant sur quelques points concernant les modes de référencialisation (Nicolaï, 1987). Toutefois, cette distinction entre deux variétés fonctionnellement différenciées de la langue ne permet pas de se prononcer sur la façon dont le véhiculaire était utilisé; elle implique seulement que des groupes de locuteurs bilingues qui utilisaient le songhay véhiculaire à côté de leur propre langue, pour des raisons qu'on ignore, ont abandonné leur propre idiome au profit de celui-là . Les dialectes issus de ce véhiculaire ne sont pas dérivables par filiation directe de la même unité dialectale que celle qui permet de dériver les dialectes issus du vernaculaire; il faut supposer deux unités distinctes, contemporaines l'une de l'autre et sociolinguistiquement fonctionnalisées. Pratiquement, cela conduit à introduire dans la description des dialectes actuels un " "glissement latéral' ' dont le modèle est représenté par le schéma ( 4 ) .
(4)
*S
i
SA
(vernac.)
i i i
•
SB
(véhic.)
i ii
où les évolutions qui conduisent aux dialectes actuels ne résultent pas de la séparation d'un même état de langue selon le modèle arborescent bien connu.
108
Toutefois, on l'aura constaté, cette hypothèse de la véhicularisation qui explique la disparition des déterminants du nom ne rend pas directement compte de la contamination des systèmes phonologiques vers une typologie berbère ou bariba, bien que nous tenions qu'elle soit un élément nécessaire de l'explication, puisque les évolutions de ce type n'ont affecté que les formes issues du véhiculaire et pas celles du vernaculaire. 3.2 Le plan communicationnel Qu'est-ce qui peut être le vecteur de l'explication si ce n'est la différenciation due aux fonctions sociolinguistiques de la langue? C'est en s'intéressant aux fonctions du plan communicationnel qu'on trouvera des éléments explicatifs pour répondre à cette question importante. Les fonctions de ce plan mettent en jeu les représentations normatives que les locuteurs ont de leur langue et la façon dont ils se les approprient. On désignera par ce terme l'ensemble des attitudes et des comportements que les interlocuteurs
(et groupes) adoptent dans leurs échanges
discursifs par rapport aux normes de leur code et aux normes de son emploi; on classera les fonctions communicationnelles en deux sous-types: les fonctions de désignation et les fonctions de cohésion. - Les fonctions de désignation mettent l'accent sur la transmission des contenus au détriment de la sémantisation des variations
formelles
potentiellement
significatives
109
introduites par l'actualisation particulière du code; elles ne se définissent pas par rapport à une identité communautaire. De ce point de vue, la maîtrise du code ou de sa forme n'est pas un vecteur pour assurer l'identité du groupe utilisateur, il n'y a pas d'appropriation du code par ses locuteurs. De fait, la conservation et la fidélité à la norme est une donnée de nécessité pour faire passer au mieux l'information, et les emplois défectueux sont interprétés en termes de productions approchées d'une norme qu' il est légitimement possible de mal connaître. - Les fonctions de cohésion sont celles qui privilégient la sémantisation des variations formelles, c'est-à-dire la création de styles discursifs, le développement d'indicateurs d'appartenance et la constitution de stéréotypes. Cette sémantisation ne se fait pas sans renvoyer implicitement à l'existence d'une identité communautaire. De ce point de vue la forme du code et son emploi peuvent devenir un vecteur significatif pour traduire quelque chose au niveau de l'identité du groupe utilisateur, il y à une appropriation du code par ses locuteurs. De fait, la conservation et la fidélité à la norme va de soi lorsque le code est employé dans les échanges à l'intérieur du groupe et les productions divergentes sont potentiellement réappropriables (en tant que modèle ou en tant que stigmate) par la communauté ; elles traduisent un effet de sa propre identité. - Les niveaux normatifs: On posera aussi deux niveaux de référence normative (Nicolaï 1986: 43-44), le premier, d'ordre sociolinguistique, se donne pour référer ""objectivement'' à une représentation supposée connue et imposée comme une
110
prescription décontextualisée: c'est la norme 1. Le second est d'ordre communicationnel, c'est la norme qui s'établit dans l'interaction langagière et participe de sa régulation; elle concerne directement les interlocuteurs dans leur pratique: c ' est la norme 2 .
3.3 La revernacularisation Les faits de contamination vont se comprendre simplement si l'on fait appel aux fonctions communicationnelles et à la gestion des normes par la communauté dans la refonctionnalisation sociolinguistique de ses codes. Au plan communicationnel, le songhay véhiculaire était évidemment caractérisé par l'importance de la fonction de désignation dans son emploi et on peut admettre que les représentations normatives auxquelles il pouvait renvoyer n'étaient pas les mêmes que celles reconnues par les populations qui utilisaient la langue dans sa fonction vernaculaire. Autrement dit, les locuteurs qui utilisaient la variété véhiculaire (SB) de la langue n'étaient pas fonctionnellement concernés par les représentations normatives que connaissaient et actualisaient les locuteurs de la variété vernaculaire (SA); leur variété (SB) fonctionnait uniquement comme une approximation du code, approximation 1'neutre'' par rapport aux normes d'actualisation de la variété vernaculaire (SA) . Cette situation de rupture ou de faiblesse dans la transmission des représentations normatives est probablement un facteur déterminant de l'évolution;
111
de fait, le songhay véhiculaire a dû rester homogène tant qu'il a gardé cette fonction véhiculaire car une condition minimale d'homogénéité est nécessaire pour le bon fonctionnement d'une telle variété. Les phénomènes de contamination apparaissent alors comme un effet induit de la revernacularisation qu'a connue la langue. La revernacularisation avec contamination traduit ici une situation où les populations qui utilisent la langue ont perdu le contact avec les locuteurs du songhay vernaculaire et admis le remplacement de la norme 1 initiale du véhiculaire par une représentation de leur propre norme interactionnelle marquée à la fois par . l'approximation initiale des normes du vernaculaire: les simplifications sont conservées au départ; . l'accommodation par rapport aux conditions de leur utilisation de la langue en situation: la perméabilité qui détermine la contamination; . les identifications symboliques nouvelles corrélatives de la refonctionnalisation
sociolinguistique de la
langue: la fixation des formes contaminées. Le procès de revernacularisation ainsi présenté met en évidence, dans la population bilingue qui le subit, un changement de perspective à travers la réélaboration d'une norme 1 indépendante de celle de la langue véhiculaire, prise elle-même comme l'approximation de la norme 1 de la langue vernaculaire initiale.
112
Les potentialités d'évolution sont alors descriptibles par rapport aux nouveaux rNrepères' ' normatifs qui n'ont rien à voir avec les '"repères'' normatifs initiaux du vernaculaire. Etant donné le bilinguisme initial des locuteurs et le changement de référence normative, on explique des transformations du code sans commune mesure avec celles qu'une évolution sans rupture normative aurait pu induire. Cette même analyse permet aussi d'expliquer pourquoi le songhay occidental, issu lui aussi du véhiculaire, ne s'est pas transformé aussi drastiquement, car les populations qui l'utilisaient, à la différence de celles qui ont développé le dendi et le songhay septentrional, ne se sont jamais trouvées isolées de celles qui employaient le songhay vernaculaire.
4. Conclusions L'exemple du songhay montre l'importance des déterminismes langagiers dans la transformation des codes. Ces déterminismes sont dépendants des fonctions sociolinguistiques et communicationnelles attribuées à la langue; ils montrent comment les groupes constitués de locuteurs, par leurs attitudes envers leurs normes et leurs comportements en situation, sont les acteurs de la transformation de leur langue. Le cas songhay tendrait à conforter les hypothèses rv
normales' ' suivantes : - En situation d'emploi véhiculaire, la norme 1 de la
langue n'est jamais uniquement l'affaire de ceux qui inter-
113
agissent ensemble au niveau de la norme 2 . Autrement dit, une communauté qui utilise une langue véhiculaire qui n'est pas sa langue maternelle ne détient pas (ne se considère pas comme détenant) la légitimité de sa construction normative et ne la pose pas comme la clôture symbolique de son univers. - En situation d'emploi vernaculaire, l'établissement de la norme 1 est uniquement l'affaire de ceux qui interagissent entre eux au niveau de la norme 2 puisque tous les locuteurs sont censés avoir la légitimité de la langue. Le phénomène de contamination du songhay traduit donc une appropriation et une reconstruction normative de la langue dans des populations en état d'" "illégitimité normative' ' du fait de leur utilisation initiale de la langue en fonction du véhiculaire. Autre conclusion, plus technique, la description du changement linguistique a tout intérêt à prendre en compte, à côté des déterminismes induits de l'économie des systèmes, ceux induits de l'économie des fonctions sociolinguistiques et communicationnelles ; on aboutit ainsi à une analyse plus fine des données et on obtient parfois des éléments de réponses à quelques ''pourquoi''.
114 Références
Nicolai, R. 1981. Les dialectes du songhay (contribution à 1'étude des changements linguistiques). Paris: SELAF, 302 p. Nicolai, R. 1986. Catégorisation pratique et dynamique linguistico-langagière (application à la morphosémantisation et aux constructions normatives). Langage et Société, n° 35: Paris, pp. 33-66. Nicolai, R. 1987. Is Songay a Creole Language? In : Pidgin and Creole Languages, (ed. Glenn Gilbert), pp. 469-84. University of Hawaii Press. Lacroix, P.F. 1969. L'ensemble songhay-jerma: problèmes et thèmes de travail. In : Actes du 8e Congrès SLAO. Annales de l'Université d'Abidjan, Série H, pp. 87-99.
Chapter 8
A Comparative Look at Nguni Verbal Tone* Karen Peterson
1.
Introduction Recent work on Bantu languages has focused on the interaction of autono-
mous tonal and accentual systems (Clements and Goldsmith 1984).
Accent has no
phonetic realization of its own, but serves to organize the tone system.
In a
recent paper (Goldsmith, Peterson and Drogo 1987) , we examined tone and accent in the verbal system of Xhosa, an Nguni language spoken in South Africa.
In
this paper, we extend our analysis to include Zimbabwean Ndebele and Zulu, two other Nguni languages.
Section 2 presents an analysis of the tone and accent
systems of Ndebele, and draws comparisons with the analysis developed for Xhosa.
In Section 3, we discuss the tone and accent systems in Zulu.
Because
of space constraints, our analyses will be limited to the Present Indicative (PI). We will conclude in Section 4 with some comparative observations. 2.
Ndebele The structure of the Nguni verb is as in (1). The Subject Marker (SM)
and Object Marker (OM) vary in form depending on the noun class of the subject and object, respectively; the verb radical, derivational extensions (if present) , and Final Vowel (FV) constitute the verb stem. (1)
subject - tense - object - [radical + (extensions) + Fv] marker marker marker Ndebele forms in the PI are given in (2) and (3). The long form, with
the toneless Tense Marker -ya-, occurs phrase-finally; phrase-medially, the short form, without -ya-, occurs.
All OM's are High; Class 1/2 SM's are High,
while first and second person SM's are toneless.
(Second and third person
116 singular SM's both have the segmental shape u-; however, only third person SM's are High.)
Depressor consonants, which are spoken with breathy voicing
and have a lowering effect on the surrounding tones, are indicated with a diaeresis mark (,.) . The Ndebele data are from Rycroft (1983). (2)
Present Indicative, long form, toneless SM, no OM a.
toneless radicals
1. u-ya-khet-a
1
b.
High-toned radicals
you are choosing' 1. u-ya- leth-a
you are bringing'
2. u-ya-bon-a 2. u-ya-khethis-a 'you help choose' 3. u-ya-lethis-a
'you see' 'you help bring'
4. u-ya-bonis-a 'you plough 5. u-ya-hlolisis-a intensively'
3. u-ya-limisis-a 4. u-ya-valis-a
'you show' 'you examine intensively'
/S 'you help close' 6. u-ya-buzisis-a
'you ask intensively'
5. u-ya-landelis-a 'you help follow' (3)
Present Indicative, long form. High-toned SM, no OM a.
toneless radicals
1. u-ya-kheth-a
b.
High-toned radicals /
/
/
'he chooses' 1. u-ya-leth-a -, u-ya-bon-a ' ' v/ 2.
2. u-ya-khethis-a 'he helps choose' 3. u-ya-lethis-a 3. u-ya-limis 4. u-ya-valis-a
'he ploughs 4. u-ya-hlolisis-a intensively' 'he helps close' 5. u-ya-dlalis-a
/ / / A / / / A 5. u-ya-landelis-a 'he helps follow'6. u-ya-buzisis-a
'he brings' 'he sees' 'he helps bring' 'he examines intensively' 'he amuses' 'he asks intensively'
The forms in (2a) have no Highs underlyingly, and therefore no Highs on the surface.
In (2b), there is one High underlyingly associated with the
first syllable of the radical.
This High appears on the penult in bi- and
tri-syllabic stems (1-4) and on the antepenult in stems with four or more
117 syllables (5 and 6; in #6 there is a falling tone on the penult; this falling tone is the result of a High on the antepenult which has been pushed one syllable to the right by a Low from the depressor consonant z). tern is also found in (3b), where there is a High SM.
This same pat-
The rightmost High is
found on the penult in bi- and tri-syllabic stems (1, 2, 3 and 5) and on the antepenult in stems of four or more syllables (4 and 6).
In (3a) however,
there is no distinction between bi- and tri-syllabic stems on the one hand and stems with four or more syllables on the other.
The rightmost High in all
cases appears on the antepenult, having spread there from the SM vi- (again, in 4 and 5, the falling tone on the penult is actually a High on the antepenult at some intermediate stage which was pushed onto the penult by the Low from the depressor consonant). In the Xhosa verb, an underlying High spreads from the syllable it is originally associated with to a specific syllable, either the antepenult or the penult.
This can be accounted for by positing the presence of an accent
(indicated by an asterisk) on the syllable which attracts a High.
The place-
ment of accent is a property of the metrical structure of the language; cent is defined as a strong metrical position.
ac-
Accent on the antepenult is
the result of the last syllable being extrametrical (indicated by parentheses) , along with the construction of a left-headed binary foot over the next two syllables.
Accent on the penult is the result of the construction of a
left-headed binary foot over the last two syllables, without the final syllable being extrametrical. (4)
Extrametricality V ]
(V) ]
These rules are given in (4) and (5): (5)
Accent Placement:
Assign a left-headed binary
foot to the last two syllables of a word.
In Xhosa, whether or not the FV is extrametrical is a property of the particular tense.
All FVs are extrametrical in the Xhosa PI.
The environ-
118 ments in which Extrametricality applies in Ndebele are somewhat different; specifically, Extrametricality applies phrase-finally in the PI in Ndebele, whereas it applies to all verbs, regardless of their position, in the PI of Xhosa. When an accented syllable is not already associated with a High, the nearest High in the word becomes associated with it.
This rule. Attraction
to Accent, is given in (6): (6)
Attraction to Accent *
(Xhosa and Ndebele)
V I
6] We shall account for the surface placement of High tone in Ndebele by invoking the notion of accent.
In all of the forms in (2) and (3), the FV
becomes extrametrical and a left-headed binary foot is constructed over the next two syllables, placing accent on the antepenult.
We still need to ac-
count, though, for the fact that accent is ultimately found on the penult in bi- and tri-syllabic High verbs. In Xhosa, there is a distinction between verbs which are lexically marked to undergo Accent Hopping, which pushes an accent one syllable to the right, and those which aren't.
Accent Hopping verbs are found among both toneless
and High radicals; there is thus a four-way distinction between verbs.
Cer-
tain tenses (including the PI) may specify that an accent may not be moved onto the FV.
Thus, if accent is placed on the penultimate syllable (as is the
case with bi-syllabic High stems), it cannot be moved, even if the verb is lexically marked to undergo Accent Hopping.
In Ndebele, however, there is no
contrast between Accent Hopping and non-Accent Hopping radicals.
Rather, in
toneless radicals in the long form of the PI, accent always appears on the antepenult.
In High radicals, accent appears on the penult in bi- and tri-
119 syllabic stems and on the antepenult in longer stems.
In other words, accent
never hops in toneless radicals and longer High radicals, but always hops in bi- and tri-syllabic High radicals.
There is only a contrast between toneless
and High radicals in Ndebele, and the location of accent on High radicals is determined by the number of syllables in the stem. The Accent Placement rule of Xhosa and Ndebele is sensitive to the weight of syllables, with a heavy syllable being defined as one which is associated with a tone.
In High verbs, the High is preassociated with the first syllable
of the verb stem. with the penult.
In bi-syllabic stems, this means that a High is associated Accent Placement is sensitive to the presence of this High,
and, rather than constructing a Weak foot over this heavy syllable, it will construct a degenerate foot over it, resulting in accent on the penult, rather than the antepenult.
The quantity-sensitivity of the Accent Placement rule
will thus account for the fact that accent is found on the penult in bi-syllabic High stems in Ndebele.
In order to account for penultimate accent in tri-
syllabic High stems, we will need to formulate a rule of Accent Shift for Ndebele, which will apply only to tri-syllabic stems where the first syllable is associated with a High.
The Accent Hopping rules of Xhosa and Ndebele are
given in (7). (7) Accent Hopping (Xhosa) * V V
v
* V V
Accent Shift (Ndebele) r*^
1
[v V v]
stem | H
It could be argued that accent is simply placed on the penult in bi- and tri-syllabic High stems, rather than being placed on the antepenult and shifting to the penult.
However, there is some evidence in Rycroft (1983) which
indicates that Accent Shift occurs.
Rycroft notes that in the Infinitive, as
in the PI, accent appears on the antepenult in toneless and longer High radi-
120 cals, but on the penult in bi- and tri-syllabic radicals.
Some older speak-
ers, though, will put accent on the antepenult in some bi-syllabic High radicals, such as -bon-. use u-ku-bon-a).
(Younger speakers use u-ku-bon-a, while older speakers
It appears that this form does not undergo Accent Shift with
older speakers (the cognate form -bon- in Xhosa is lexically marked to undergo Accent Hopping).
Pending further evidence, we will continue to assume that
Accent Shift applies in Ndebele to bi- and tri-syllabic High radicals. One consequence of the Ndebele Accent Shift rule is that it moves accent off of a Strong syllable and onto a Weak one.
This may seem strange in light
of the importance of syllable strength in the construction of metrical feet and the placement of accent.
In shifting the accent to the right, however,
Ndebele maintains the distinction between toneless and High radicals.
In the
PI, there will be a High present with a toneless radical whenever it occurs with an OM or a Class 1/2 SM (in other words, the only forms without a High are those in (2a) - toneless radicals with a toneless SM and no OM) and this High will spread to the accented syllable via Attraction to Accent.
If accent
remained on the antepenult in High stems, the distinction between toneless and High radicals would in many cases be erased.
However, if all High radicals go
the way of Hopping radicals, shifting accent one syllable to the right, then the distinction between toneless and High radicals can be maintained.
Of
course, not all High stems do undergo Accent Shift; only bi- and tri-syllabic ones do.
We have no explanation to offer at this point as to why this is the
case, but note that, according to Rycroft, bi- and tri-syllabic stems together comprise the vast majority of verb stems in Nguni languages. Another striking fact about the forms in (2) and (3) is that in some cases, a High is spread across a number of syllables, while in other cases it is associated with only one syllable.
In (2b), the only High present in each
121 form is underlyingly associated with the first syllable of the radical, but on the surface the High is associated only with the accented syllable.
The forms
in (3al-3) also have one High each, but in these forms it is underlyingly associated with the SM, and has spread to the accented syllable and remained associated with the SM and any intervening syllables.
A High which spreads to
an accented syllable via Attraction to Accent in Xhosa usually does not disassociate from the syllable it was originally associated with, resulting in a doubly associated High.
If there are intervening syllables, they will become
associated with the High by general well-formedness conditions.
A later rule
then optionally disassociates the High from left to right up to, but not including, the accented syllable.
This rule applies iteratively in Xhosa.
Since each intermediate form is a potential surface form, this is appropriate. There is one exception to this rule:
if the High is originally associated
with the OM, it must disassociate from that OM.
Parallels to this rule will
be seen in Ndebele and Zulu, where the OM simply places its High on the following syllable. (8) Disassociation (Xhosa) (optional, iterative) V
V H
Disassociation from OM (Xhosa) (obligatory) OM
V
H
Attraction to Accent operates in Ndebele as in Xhosa.
However, the Dis-
association rule which is optional in Xhosa is obligatory in Ndebele, except when the High which spreads to the accented syllable was originally associated with the SM, i.e. the first syllable of the verb, in which case it may not disassociate.
This rule is given in (9).
122 (9) Disassociation (Ndebele) V
V
V H
Derivations for u-ya-lethis-a 'you help bring1 and u-ya-khethis-a 'he helps choose' are given in (10). u-ya-lethis-(a)
(10)
u-ya-khethis-(a)
u-ya-lethis-(a)
u-ya-lethis-(a)
Extrametricality and Accent Placement Accent Shift
u-ya-khethis-(a) v
L
Attraction to Accent and Disassociation
H
H
The forms in (3b) appear to be like those in (3a), with one High spread across many syllables.
However, there are two Highs present underlyingly and,
we will argue, two Highs present on the surface in these forms.
There is a
late rule in Ndebele which spreads a High.associated with the first syllable of a verb to the right until it reaches another associated tone, either High or Low.
This rule operates after Lows from depressor consonants have been
added to the tonal tier, so that the spread of the High will be stopped by either a depressor Low or any High existing at that point.
This rule appears
in (11) . (11)
High Tone Spread [v
(X) X
I'' H
I X
In the forms in (3b), it is the High from the radical which associates with the accented syllable, and the High from the SM then spreads up to the next associated tone (the High from the radical in the case of (1-4) and the Low from a depressor consonant in (5-6)).
The derivation of u-ya-hlolisis-a
123 'he examines intensively' is given in (12). (12)
u-ya-hlolisis-(a)
JJ
Extrametricality and Accent Placement
u-ya-hlol^sis-(a) | fy H H ¥r
Attraction to Accent and Disassociation
u-ya-hlplisis-(a)
High Tone Spread
H
H
(13) and (14) present verbs in the long form of the PI with an OM, and with toneless and High SM's, respectively. (13)
All OM's are High.
Present Indicative, long form, toneless SM, with OM
a.
toneless radicals
1. u-ya-yi-kheth-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'you choose it' 1. u-ya-yi-l"eth-a
'you bring it'
2. u-ya-ba-khethis-a 'you help them 2. u-ya-ba-bonis-a choose'
'you show them'
3. u-ya-yi-limisis-a 'you plough it 3. u-ya-ba-hlolisis-a 'you examine intensively' them intensively' A , 4. u-ya-ba-valis-a 'you help them' 4. u-ya-ba-dlalis-a 'you amuse them' A /s 5. u-ya-ba-landelis-a 'you send 5. u-ya-ba-buzisis-a 'you question after them' (14)
them intensively'
Present Indicative, long form, High-toned SM, with OM
a.
toneless radicals
1. u-ya-yi-kheth-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'he chooses it' 1. u-ya-yi-leth-a
2. u-ya-b^-khethis-a 'he helps them 2. u-ya-ba-bonis-a choose'
'he brings it' 'he shows them'
3. u-ya-yi-limisis-a 'he ploughs it 3. u-ya^ba^hloli'sis^a 'he examines intensively' them intensively' 4. ba-ya-ngi-kh^this-a 5. u-ya-ba-valis-a
'they help 4. ba^ya-ngir-bonjfs'-a me choose1
'they show me'
"he helps them 5, u^ya-ha^-d 1 a 1 is^a 'he amuses them' close'
124 / A / / 6. zi-ya-ngi-valis-a 'they help me 6. zi-ya-ngi-dlalis-a close'
'they amuse me'
7. u-ya-zi-limisis-a 'he ploughs 7. u-ya-nji-hlolisis-a 'he examines them intensively' me intensively' 8. u-ya-ba-landelis-a
'he sends
8. u-ya-ba-buzisis-a
after them'
'he questions
them intensively'
The forms in (13a2-5) can be accounted for by the rules outlined above. There is only one High underlyingly, from the OM, and it appears on the surface on the accented syllable.
In (13al), however, the H i g h from the OM ap-
pears o n the p e n u l t rather than the antepenult p e n u l t in (14al)).
(a H i g h also appears on the
If the O M is underlyingly associated with its High, w e
w o u l d expect accent to be p l a c e d on the antepenult, - y i - ; Attraction to A c c e n t w o u l d then apply vacuously, resulting in the incorrect form *u-ya-yi-kheth-a. Although we do n o t have enough d a t a to state this w i t h any certainty, we will tentatively conclude that a n OM puts a H i g h on the following syllable.
In
this case, the first syllable of the stem, - k h e - , w o u l d then count as a Strong syllable, since it is associated w i t h a High, and A c c e n t Placement w i l l c o n struct a degenerate foot over it, placing accent o n the p e n u l t rather than the antepenult. The notion that an OM places a High o n the following syllable in Ndebele has a parallel in Xhosa.
Recall the Disassociation from OM rule of Xhosa,
w h i c h obligatorily disassociates a multiply associated High from an OM if the OM is its leftmost association.
Thus, the tendency for an OM to p u s h its High
rightward is present in X h o s a as well as in Ndebele. The forms in (13b) have two Highs underlyingly, one from the O M and one from the radical, while only one H i g h appears o n the surface.
We propose that
w h e n an OM puts a High onto a syllable w h i c h is already associated w i t h a High, the two Highs simply merge.
Thus, for example, in
(13b3),
125 u-ya-ba-hlol^sis-a 'you examine them intensively', the OM puts a High on the first syllable of the stem, and the two Highs merge into one, which is subsequently attracted to the accented antepenult. (14) presents forms with High SM's and OM's separated by the toneless TM -ya-.
In both (al) and (bl), the rightmost High appears on the penult.
As
discussed above, the OM puts a High on the next syllable, i.e., the penult, and accent is placed there because it is then a Strong syllable. In all of these forms, there is evidence of High Tone Spread.
The High
from the SM has spread at least to the TM -ya-, and in many cases further, up to the next tone.
In (al-3 and bl-3), the High which is placed on the first
syllable of the stem by the OM is attracted to the accented syllable and the High from the SM spreads: (15)
u-ya-ba-khethis-a ja-khet
u-ya-ba-bonis-a
u
4 J=H
u-ya-ba-khMthis-(a)
I
I
u-ya-ba-bonis-(a)
i
I
H
H
u-ya-ba-bonis-(a) u-ya«-ba-bon^s- (a)
I H
H
*
u-ya-ba-khethis-(a)
u-y^-ba-bpnis-(a)
H
H
I
H
I
Extrametricality and Accent Placement Accent Shift
Attraction to Accent and Disassociation High Tone Spread
H
(14a4-8 and b4-8) have depressor consonants in their stems, their prefixes, or both.
Depressor consonants insert Lows onto the tonal tier at a
point in the derivation after Attraction to Accent and its accompanying Disassociation, but before the later High Tone Spread rule.
126 (16)
Depressor Low Insertion C
C
" I L A depressor Low is originally associated with the C-slot of the depressor consonant; however, any tone which is to appear on the surface must ultimately be associated with a V-slot, so adjustments must be made in the association lines after Depressor Low Insertion. V-slot to its right.
A depressor Low will associate with the next
For example, in (14a6) , the depressor consonant z_ in the
SM inserts a Low onto the tonal tier, which then becomes associated with the first V-slot to its right. -.j •» "j (17) zi-ya-ngi-valis-(a) »»I »i i»|
(after Accent Placement and Attraction to Accent)
zi-ya-ngi-valis-(a)
Depressor Low Insertion
p'TW
Adjustment
II LI LH II LH
M"'s-(a)
LH
L
LH
The optimal situation would be to have one tone associated with each Vslot.
When a Low becomes associated with a V-slot which is already associated
with a High, that High will move one V-slot further to the right.
The High
which was associated with the SM thus becomes associated with the TM -ya-. (We will see below that if the next V-slot is also associated with a tone, a High cannot be displaced, and a multiply associated V-slot will result). The High from the radical in (17) is pushed onto the penult by the depressor Low from the first syllable of the stem, but instead of surfacing as a High, it surfaces as a falling tone.
Throughout the Ndebele data given so
far, a depressor consonant in the radical often coincides with a falling tone on the penult.
In other cases, there is a simple High on the penult even when
127 depressor consonants are present.
Given what we have said so far, we would
expect a simple High on the penult in (17) , since the depressor Low will associate with the antepenult and the High which was associated with the antepenult should be able to move to the penult.
How does the example in (17)
differ from a form such as (14b6), zi-ya-ngi-dlalis-a 'they amuse me', with a simple High on the penult?
Accent is associated with the penult in this ex-
ample, because it has a tri-syllabic High stem.
The simple High on the pe-
nult, therefore, was not pushed there by the depressor consonant, but rather was attracted to the penult via Attraction to Accent.
The depressor Low from
the first syllable of the root can associate freely with the V-slot of that syllable, since no other tones are associated with it at that point in the derivation,
in (17), on the other hand, accent is placed on the antepenult,
i.e., the syllable with the depressor consonant, and must be pushed off of the accented syllable onto the penult.
In fact, in all of the examples involving
depressor consonants, a falling tone on the penult results from a High being pushed off of the accented syllable, while a simple High is the result of a High associated with the accented syllable. (19) and (19) present short (i.e., phrase-medial) forms in the PI without an OM, and with toneless and High SM's, respectively. (18)
Present Indicative, short form, toneless SM, no OM
a.
toneless radicals
1. si-lim-a 2. ncji-khethis-a 3. li-limisis-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'we plough' 1. si-leth-a 'I help choose' 2. ngi-bonis-a
'we bring' 'I show'
'you (pi.) plough 3. li-hlolisis-a 'you (pi.) examine intensively' intensively'
128 (19)
Present Indicative, short form, High-toned SM, no OM a.
b.
toneless radicals
'they plough'1'1. ba-leth-a
1. ba-lim-a
'he works'
s_/_ V 'they plough for 3. b a - b o m s a n - a each other 1
/ V 'he writes' 4. u-dlal-a
4. u-bhal-a •• 5. zi-limis-a •i
'they bring'
'he weeds' 2. i-seb^nz-a
2. u-hlakul-a / 3. ba-limelan-a
High-toned radicals
'he plays' 'they show'
'they help plough' 5. ¿i-bonis-a / Y 'they run' 6. zi-dlalis-a
V . V c 6. zi-^ijim-a v /• 7. zi-bhalelan-a
'they show each other'
V / 'they write to 7. zi-dlalisan-a each other'
'they amuse' 'they amuse each other'
In (18a), there are no Highs underlyingly and no Highs appear on the surface.
In (18bl and 2), the High from the first syllable of the radical ap-
pears on the antepenult, as we would expect, given that these are bi- and trisyllabic High radicals.
But the High from the radical appears on the penult
in (18b3), a quadri-syllabic radical.
Given our earlier rules, we would ex-
pect accent to be placed on the antepenult in quadri-syllabic radicals, and High to appear on the accented syllable. cality applies only to phrase-final verbs.
But in the Ndebele PI, ExtrametriThe forms in (18) and (19) are
phrase-medial, so Extrametricality does not apply.
A metrical foot will be
constructed over the last two syllables of the verb, placing accent on the penult rather than the antepenult.
In Ndebele, as in Xhosa, FV's can vary as
to whether they allow accent to be moved onto them. onto a FV in the Ndebele PI.
Accent may not be shifted
In (18bl) , then, accent is placed on the penult,
since the FV is not extrametrical, and Accent Shift cannot apply because of the stipulation that accent may not be moved onto the FV, so accent remains on the penult. The forms in (19) bear this out.
In (19a), accent is placed on the
129 penult because the FV is not extrametrical and Accent Placement constructs a left-headed binary foot over the last two syllables.
The High from the SM is
spread to the accented syllable by Attraction to Accent and does not undergo the Disassociation rule because the High originated with the SM, i.e., the first syllable of the verb.
In (19b), accent is also placed on the penult;
the bi- and tri-syllabic stems do not undergo Accent Shift, because accent cannot appear on the FV, so accent remains on the penult in all of these forms. In (19b), there are two Highs present underlyingly in each form, one associated with the SM and one associated with the first syllable of the radical.
Looking for the moment only at the first three examples, it is not clear
whether there are one or two Highs on the surface.
It could be that the High
from the radical associates with the accented syllable and the High from the SM then spreads via High Tone Spread (in (19b2-3); in (19bl) it cannot spread because the next syllable is already associated with a High).
Alternatively,
there may be only one High on the surface, the other having been deleted.
In
Xhosa, there is a rule, called Meeussen's Rule, which deletes all but the leftmost in a series of Highs associated with adjacent V-slots.
Meeussen's
Rule in these forms would delete the High associated with the radical, leaving the High from the SM to be attracted to the accented syllable. High originates with the SM, it will not undergo Disassociation.
Since this Given the
data presented here, we have little evidence to choose between these possibilities.
For the sake of consistency between Xhosa and Ndebele, we will adopt
the latter analysis. (20)
Meeussen's Rule V H
V
130 One final problem remains in our analysis of the Ndebele PI.
(19a4-7 and
b4-7) contain depressor consonants which affect the surface tone patterns.
We
will consider first the forms in (19b4-7), each of which has two Highs underlyingly.
In (b4, 6 and 7), it would appear that there are two surface Highs,
one on the SM and one on the accented syllable.
If this were the case, it
would constitute evidence against our earlier Meeussen's Rule analysis.
How-
ever, there also appear to be two Highs on the surface in the depressor consonant examples in (19a).
In these forms, there is only one High, underlying-
V ly associated with the SM. 'they run'.
V
Let us examine the derivation of (a6), zi-gijim-a
The SM zi- is underlyingly associated with a High.
This is a
phrase-medial form, so the FV is not Extrametrical, and Accent Placement constructs a left-headed binary foot over the last two syllables, placing accent on the penult.
Attraction to Accent then spreads the High from the SM to the
accented penult, and that High will not undergo Disassociation, since it was originally associated with the SM.
The derivation up to this point is given
in (21) . (21)
zi-gijim-a L/--" H
¥r
TSf
???zi-gijim-a
Accent Placement and Attraction to Accent Depressor Low Insertion
LH L L
The next step in the derivation, Depressor Low Insertion, causes a problem for our analysis.
When a Low is inserted onto the tonal tier in the midst
of a multiply associated High, what happens to that High?
Although there is
only one High underlyingly, we will assume that there are two on the surface, because if there were only one multiply associated High, its association lines would have to cross those of the Lows, as in the last step of the derivation in (21).
One possibility would be to say that when depressor Lows are
131 inserted i n the midst of a multiply associated High, the High clones i t s e l f
as
many times as there are a s s o c i a t i o n l i n e s , and the l i n e s would t h e r e f o r e not cross.
I f t h i s were the case, the next step i n the d e r i v a t i o n in (21) would
be (22) .
*
m-a z i --ggiij i u
(22)
il Tifi
High Tone Cloning
LH LHLH . ..* zi-ginim-a
Adjustment
LH LHLH t
v v.v
surface form
However, the Lows would associate with V - s l o t s , and the Highs, s p e c i f i c a l l y the second High, would not be pushed f u r t h e r t o the r i g h t , since they are blocked by the next Low, r e s u l t i n g i n c o r r e c t l y in r i s i n g tones on the three f i r s t s y l l a b l e s .
Another problem with t h i s solution can be seen in
(19a7), zY-bhalelan-a 'they w r i t e t o each o t h e r ' .
The only underlying High i s
associated with the SM, and has been a t t r a c t e d t o the accented s y l l a b l e ,
la.
C l e a r l y , with the i n s e r t i o n of the depressor Low from bh, that High has not cloned i t s e l f four times, since the s y l l a b l e s between the SM and the accented s y l l a b l e are low. (23)
zi-bhalelan-a
Accent Placement and A t t r a c t i o n to Accent
H zi-bhalelan-a
Depressor Low I n s e r t i o n
LH zi-bhalelan-a
II I I I I
High Tone Cloning
LH L H H H *zi-bh£ilelan-a
surface form
I f we suppose that the High clones i t s e l f once, and the r e s u l t i n g two Highs remain associated with the SM and the accented s y l l a b l e , then we can ac-
132 count for these forms. (24)
few-
zi-bhalelan-a
LH L L
LH L
it ill
ftt
zi-gijim-a LH L LH
-X-
zi-bhalelan-a
V
. V
zi-gijim-a
High Tone Cloning
LH L
f\v \ zi-bhalelan-a
LH L LH
after Depressor Low Insertion
LH L
Adjustment
H
zY-bhalelan-a
surface form
The result of this High Tone Cloning rule is that the origin of the High and the accented syllable remain High.
There is an obvious parallel here to
the Disassociation Rule of Ndebele, which will disassociate a High which has been attracted to an accented syllable except when that High was originally associated with a SM, in which ca6e it cannot apply. As a final case, let us look at (19a5 and b5). Rule applies, deleting the stem High. pressor consonant is in the SM, zi-.
In (19b5), Meeussen's
In both of these forms, the only deHowever, since the depressor consonant
Low is inserted to the left of the High, it does not cause that High to clone. Rather, the Low will push the High off the SM and onto the first syllable of the stem during Adjustment.
The High will then be doubly associated, with
the first syllable of the stem and with the accented penult.
Disassociation
then reapplies, deleting the left association line. (25)
zi-limis-a
zi-bonis-à
Accent Placement and Meeussen's Rule
zi-bonis-a
Attraction to Accent
"I H
'V
zi-limis-a H
H
*
it^
zi-limis-a
• v. * zi-bonis-a
LH
LH
It^
Depressor Low Insertion
133
*
* ^zj^pnis-a
LH zi-limis-a
LH zi-bonis
zi-limis-a L H
zi-bonis-a L H
fy
3.
Adjustment
IV
Disassociation
Zulu Although our analysis of Zulu is currently somewhat tentative, we feel
that the similarities of its tone and accent system to those of other Nguni languages, particularly Ndebele, are so striking that a brief discussion of Zulu would be useful for comparative purposes.
The data in this section are
from Cope (1970) and Khumalo (1981) . The tone and accent systems in the PI in Zulu are nearly identical to those of Ndebele.
The metrical system uses an
Extrametricality Rule, and, as in Ndebele, this rule is conditioned by the position of the verb in a phrase.
Phrase-medial verbs do not have an extra-
metrical FV, while phrase-final verbs do. identical to that of Ndebele. the last two syllables.
The Accent Placement rule is also
A left-headed binary foot is constructed over
In addition, bi- and tri-syllabic High radicals
undergo Accent Shift, moving accent one syllable to the right.
(26)-(33)
below show various forms of the PI in Zulu, both phrase-final and phrase-medial, with toneless (1st and 2nd person) and High (3rd person) SM's, and with and without OM's (all of which are High).
A single quotation mark indicates
downstep, which occurs between two adjacent Highs on the tonal tier. (26)
Phrase-final Present Indicative verbs with toneless SM
a.
toneless radicals
si-ya-lim-a si-ya-limis-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'we plow' si-ya-bon-a 'we make plow' si-ya-bonis-a si-ya-sebenz-a
'we see' 'we make see' 'we work'
134 (27)
Phrase-final Present Indicative verbs with High-toned SM
a.
toneless radicals
/ ba-ya-lim-a
b.
/
/
u-ya-hlek-a ba-ya-limis-a
'they see
/
'he laughs-' ba-ya-vuk-a
'they get up
'they make plow' bei-ya-borixs-a
'they make see
'they sing' u-y^-sebenz-a
'he works
ba-ya-hlab'elel-a (28)
High-toned radicals
•> / 'they plow' ba-ya-bon-a /
Phrase-medial Present Indicative verbs with toneless SM
a.
toneless radicals
si-lim-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'we plow' u-thand-a
si-limis-a
'you love
'we make plow' si-bon-a
'we see
si-bonis-a (29)
Phrase-medial Present Indicative verbs with High-toned SM
a.
toneless radicals
ba-lim-a ba-limis-a (30)
'we make see
b.
High-toned radicals
'they plow' ba-bon-a
'they see
'they make plow' ba-bon^s-a
'they make see
Phrase-final verbs with toneless SM and OM (High-toned)
a.
toneless radicals
si-ya-yi-lim-a si-ya-yi-limis-a (31)
b.
High-toned radicals
'we plow it' si-ya-yi-bon-a 'we make plow it1 si-ya-yi-bonis-a
'we see it 'we make see it
Phrase-final verbs with High-toned SM and OM (High-toned)
// A /
a. toneless radicals b. High-toned radicals / / /' / ba-ya-yi-lim-a 'they plow it1 ba-ya-yi-bon-a 'they see it ba-ya-yi-1imis-a
'they make
ba-ya-yi-bonis-a
'they make see it
plow it' (32)
Phrase-medial verbs with toneless SM and OM (High-toned)
a.
toneless radicals
si-yi-lim-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'we plow it' si-yi-bon-a
'we see it
135 si-yi-limis-a (33)
'we make plow it' si-yi-bonis-a
'we make see it'
Phrase-medial verbs with High-toned SM and OM (High-toned)
a.
toneless radicals
ba-yi-lm-a
b.
High-toned radicals
'they plow it' ba-yi-bon-a
ba-yi-limis-a
'they see it'
'they make plow it' ba-yi-bonis-a
'they make see it'
Examination of these forms reveals that the tone and accent rules motivated for Ndebele apply to Zulu as well.
The one possible exception is the
Spreading Rule, which, as formulated for Ndebele, will spread a High rightwards from the SM until it reaches a V-slot already associated with another tone.
In (27b), there are two bi-syllabic stems which we predict should ap-
pear with identical surface Highs.
If fact, it appears that the two are iden-
• /I /
tical, except that in ba-ya-bon-a, the first High has spread to the following syllable (and is then blocked from spreading further by the High associated /
/
with the first syllable of the stem), whereas in ba-ya-vuk-a, the first High has not spread.
In the same column, in the form ba-ya-bonis-a, the first High
has spread only one syllable, even though the first syllable of the stem is not associated with a tone at the point in the derivation when Spreading could apply.
This latter form could perhaps be accounted for by proposing that Zulu
does have a Spreading rule like Ndebele, but that the High will spread either up to an associated V-slot, or to a major morpheme boundary, i.e., the stem boundary.
We have no explanation for the difference between the two bi-sylla-
bic forms in (27b).
Perhaps it is the result of dialectal variation, which
Khumalo notes is quite widespread. 4.
Conclusion Although we have pointed out several differences between Xhosa, Ndebele
and Zulu, there are striking similarities between these languages.
All three
exhibit an accent system involving the parameter of extrametricality, although
136 it is conditioned by tense in Xhosa and syntactic position in Ndebele and Zulu.
All three employ an Accent Placement rule which constructs a left-
headed binary foot over the last two syllables of the verb.
These two fea-
tures of the phonology of Nguni result in the widely noted property of the spreading of a High to the antepenult.
In all three languages, certain forms
show a shift of accent one syllable to the right.
This, we claim, is the re-
sult of Accent Hopping, which is lexically determined in Xhosa and lexically and phonologically determined in Ndebele and Zulu, in that it only applies to High radicals which appear in bi- or tri-syllabic stems.
We hypothesized
(following Rycroft 1980) in an earlier paper that the split in Xhosa between Accent Hopping and non-Accent Hopping radicals might correspond to a split between Proto-Bantu radicals with short and long vowels.
In this scenario,
radicals that do trigger Accent Hopping are derived from radicals with short vowels in Proto-Bantu, whereas those that do not derive from radicals with long vowels. Finally, there is a general tendency of OM's in Nguni to divest themselves of Highs.
In Xhosa, if an OM High tone spreads to a syllable further
to the right, it obligatorily disassociates from the OM.
In Ndebele and Zulu,
we suggest that an OM cannot bear its own tone, but instead always puts it on the following syllable.
We hypothesize that Xhosa represents an intermediate
stage in this respect between an earlier Nguni pattern, in which an OM High remained associated with the OM, and the situation in Ndebele and Zulu, where an OM High may not remain associated with the OM.
The behavior of OM tones
can be contrasted with the tendency of SM's to hold onto their tones.
In both
Ndebele and Zulu, when a High spreads to an accented syllable, it must disassociate itself from its original syllable, and all intervening syllables, unless it was originally associated with the SM, in which case it must remain
137 associated. Notes *I wish to thank John Goldsmith for discussing the issues in this paper with me. Research for this paper was supported in part by NSF grant #BNS8421245. References Clements, G.N. and J. Goldsmith 1984. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. Cope, A.T. 1970. 111-152.
Autosegmental Studies in Bantu Tone.
Zulu Tonal Morphology.
Journal of African Languages 9.3:
Goldsmith, J., K. Peterson and J. Drogo 1987. Tone and Accent in the Xhosa Verbal System. In Current Approaches to African Linguistics, vol. 5, ed. R. Botne and P. Newman. Dordrecht: Foris Publications. Khumalo, J.S.M. 1981. Zulu Tonology. Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
M.A. Dissertation, University of the
Rycroft, D.K. 1980. Nguni Tonal Typology and Common Bantu. Studies 17:33-76.
African Language
Rycroft, D.K. 1983. Tone Patterns in Zimbabwean Ndebele. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies xlvi(1):77-135.
Chapter 9
Prosodie Redistribution in Fula Jean-François Prunet
1. Introduction and Aim
of this paper is twofold. First, I wish to put forth a
The purpose new analysis of the most
Fula
Voice/Aspect system
inflectional
suffixes
are
of Fula; actually
Second, Prosodic Redistribution, a cluster of in the
verbal morphology
the proposal
being that
combinations of suffixes.
length alternations pervasive
of Fula, will be shown to follow from the revised
verbal system. As a consequence of this analysis, Fula will be shown to make extensive use of non-concatenative morphology.1
2. A Non-Lin«» Analysis of the Verbal System 2.1
An Outline
In this paper, we will concern ourselves with the verbal morphology of Fula, a language of the Vest-Atlantic branch All studies
of Fula,
of the
Niger-Congo family.
to my knowledge, assume some variant of the following
analysis: Fula has three voices (active, middle and passive) and two aspects (perfect and
imperfect). The perfect comprises three sub-aspects, sometimes
called tenses, while the imperfect includes four sub-aspects. table, which
summarizes the
The following
system, is adopted from Sylla (1982:87-8). The
139 grammatical categories are named as in Arnott (1970);
the numerical indices
are used as in Sylla (1982).
(1)
Perfect:
Active
Middle
Passive
Emphatic Past Relative Past General Past
PI P2 P3
l ii
l ii iima
a aa aama
Subjunctive Continuous General Future Relative Future
II 12 13 14
a at ata
o oo oto otoo
e ee ete etee
Imperfect:
The twenty-one suffixes of (1), which we will reduce to twelve, are added to verbal roots.2 Thus, the root suuatari told Napus2 that hei saw their2 daughter'
In (15b). the addressee of the main clause is in the singular and it binds the anaphoric pronoun niwa, taken from the set of anaphorasreferringto addressees. Once again, while the antecedent is singular, the anaphora is plural. There is no possibility of split antecedents here; the anaphora refers to the same person to whom antecedent refers plus some other people. Compare also example (5),repeatedhere for ease of reference: (5) manaja manager
fun da
n-pyanya
wa ji
kat
an
1PL REL PREP-Panyan 3F come meet 1SG
'our manager who was in Panyan came and met me'
The word manaja is unmarked for gender. It is the discourse anaphora wa that specifies the gender of the antecedents. Thus, the anaphora and antecedent do not encode the same semantic features. The anaphoric element encodes more features, is therefore more specific, and provides information about the attributes of the antecedent, information that is not otherwise encoded in a sentence.
208
4. ON THE NEED FOR DIFFERENT CATEGORIZATION
The second problem with the binding conditions for anaphora is such that it requires the traditional distinction between deictic and anaphoric function, or the GB distinction between pronouns and anaphoras, to be replaced by some other distinction. There are sentences in which there occur anaphoric possessive pronouns that are supposed to be clause-bound, but in fact are not bound in the clause in which they occur. The following examples have all been culled from a conversation among three speakers of Mupun. The only possible antecedents following the principle A of the binding theory are in bold characters while the 'anaphoras' are underlined, but note that the anaphoras are not bound by these possible antecedents: (16)a. wu satn-an
no
mbi da
le
puun fin lfc sam
n-dyen
3M tell PREP-1SGCOMP thing REL make father 3M put name FREP-child nahan fin a katbak 6s na get soot mo ka ji pe tuci mother 3M. COP K.B. CONS COMP PAST devil PL HABIT come to kill-PL jep n-war children PREP-3f 'hei told me that the thing which made hisi father give the name K.B. to hisi brother (lit. child of his mother) was that in the past devils used to come to kill her (the mother's) children' b.
wur mba mak sat n-war na (fin pa dem CONS 3M FUT can tell PREP-3F COMP 3M.LOG PREP like kan paaden a mat siar fin cfi OPT 3F become COP woman friend 3M OPT 'then hei will be able to tell her that hei wants her2 to become hisi girl friend'
209 c. mo mba cin dam sat n-puun la rep na mo rep niwa n-tul fin. 3PL FUT repeat ? go tell PREP-parent young girl PL girl their PREP-home (his) 'theyi will again go to the parents2 of the girl and say that their2 daughter is at (his)l home'
In (16a) the subject accessible to fin is mbi 'thing'. Obviously fin does not have the same referent as mbi. In (16b) the subject accessible to fin is paa, a third person feminine, therefore also not coreferential with fin, which is third person masculine possessive pronoun. The sentence (16c) as it was recorded in conversation occurred without the final fin. While analyzing the text a participant in conversation added fin to this sentence. In (16a). and (b) fin is bound by the subject of the main clause; In (16c), if we were to accept the variant with fin, it would be bound by a non-individuated member of the group referred to by the third person plural pronoun mo. Since, as was shown, fin is not bound by the accessible subject, but rather by the subject of the main clause, it is necessary to determine the function of this morpheme that would incorporate both the clause-bound anaphoric functions illustrated in examples (10)(15) and the functions illustrated in examples (16). I would like to propose, that the anaphoric function of the third person /F/ series pronouns is an extension of a deictic function, more specifically of the deixis that indicates relative proximity to the speech situation. This somewhat vague definition will become more specific later in this section. Evidence for this explanation is provided by the fact that the possessive pronoun for the first and second person singular and plural, hence the deictic pronouns also have an initial lil, viz:
SG
PL
1
fen
fun
2M
fua
fu
2F
fi
(17)
210
The full paradigm for possessive pronouns is as follows:
(18)asfen
'my dog'
as fun
'our dog'
'your (F) dog'
as fu
'your (PL) dog'
as fin
'his dog'
as fur
'their dog'
as fer
'her dog'
as wur
'his dog'
as war
'her dog'
asmo
'their dog'
as fua as
'your (M) dog' fi
Based on phonological similarities it would appear that the third person anaphoric pronouns fin, fer, and fur, and first and second pronouns constitute one set, while third person pronouns, wur, war, and mo constitute a separate set. In order to explain presence of the F series anaphoras in ex. (16), I would like to postulate that phonological similarity between first and second person pronouns and "F-series' third person anaphoras is not accidental and that the similarity of form is connected with the similarity of function. I would like to postulate that the referent of "F-series' pronouns is deictically proximate and that proximity may involve both real world proximity, in the case of first and second person, as well as syntactic proximity in the case of third person pronouns. The fact that in examples (16) the possessive fin is coindexed with the subject of the main clause rather than with the subject of the embeded clause can be explained by postulating that in comparison to some possible third person subjects that have not been mentioned in the discourse the subject of the main clause is proximate. The situation described above is by no means unique. Ernout and Thomas (1972) describe similar phenomena in Latin. Latin has two sets of third person possessive
211
pronouns whose masculine singular forms are eius and suus. eius is used whenever there is no coindexed antecedent within the sentence, e.g. (19) et uita eius fuit secura 'and his life was untroubled1 (Nepos, Ernout and Thomas 1972:182)
Ernout and Thomas divide the reflexive pronouns into two series: 'direct', i.e. those that refer to the subject of the clause in which they occur and 'indirect' i.e. which 'dans une proposition subordonnee representant la pensee ou l'intention du sujet du verbe principal (emphasis by the authors), il [the reflexive pronoun] renvoit a ce dernier' (Ernout and Thomas 1972:182). Hence, similarly to examples (16) in Mupun, the anaphora is coindexed with the subject of the main clause rather than with the one NP of the clause in which it occurs. Here are a few examples, with accessible subject in bold and the 'anaphora' underlined: (20) a. Ariouistus respondit, si quid ille se uelit, ilium ad se uenire oportere 'Ariovistus responded: if he [Caesar] wants anything from me [Ariovistus], he ought to come to me', Caesar, The battle of Gaul, 1,34 (Ernout and Thomas 1972:182) b.
Paetus... omnes libros quos frater suus reliquisset, mihi donauit Paetus donated to me all the books which allegedly his brother left him' (Cicero, Ernout and Thomas 1972:183)
An explanation for the phenomenon illustrated by the Latin examples above and the Mupun sentences given in (16) should be sought in the semantic properties of the verbs involved. In both cases the verbs of the main clause are verbs of saying. I believe that a situational transfer has occurred in sentences such as (16) and (20) in which the sentence reports a speech event, in which the subject of the speech is the proximate referent and the pronouns
212
referring to it are chosen from the proximal rather than from a distal set
5. IN SEARCH OF A PATTERN S.l
General assumptions
We have seen that in Mupun the third person 'anaphoric' possessive pronouns appear to be part of the same set to which the possessive pronouns of the first and second person, i.e. deictic pronouns belong. I proposed that this is not an accident and that in fact the two types of pronouns together constitute a set of proximate reference, with their referent either in the domain of real world or in the domain of discourse. If this particular division in Mupun is purely accidental, the possibility of finding such a division in other languages should be minimal. But if a similar division were to be found in other languages, then we should consider that we are dealing with some principle of language structure. I would consider a pattern to be similar, if in a system, first and second person possessive pronouns constitute a set with third person anaphoric possessive pronouns, as opposed to non-anaphoric third person possessive pronouns. I will show existence of such systems in Latin and Polish.
213
S.2 Latin and Polish
As has been mentioned earlier, Latin has two forms of possessive pronouns. The 'reflexive' i.e. anaphoric pronouns that encodes the gender of the possessed object, suus, sua, suum. There is also a third person possessive pronoun eius. that encodes neither the gender of possessor nor the gender of possessed object. The first and second person possessive pronouns behave just like anaphoric pronouns, they do encode the gender of possessed object. Virtually the same system obtains in Polish. Thus, the clause-bound anaphoric pronouns, 'reflexive pronouns' in traditional terminology, do not encode the number, gender, and person of the possessor, but rather the gender, and number of the possessed object, e.g.
(21) Third person anaphoric possessive in Polish Possessed: Masculine 3m. rfapaf sw6j kapelusz hei grabbed hisi hat 3f. zfepafa sw6j kapelusz shei grabbed heri hat 3pl. z&pafy sw6j kapelusz
Feminine ztepal' swoj^ chustk^
z&paf swoje chustki
hei grabbed hisi kerchief
hei grabbed hisi kerchiefs
zlkpaik swoj^chustk^
z&pafa swoje chustki
shei grabbed heri kerchief
shei grabbed heri kerchiefs
ztepafy swoj^ chustk^
zlkpaty swoje kapelusze
theyl grabbed theiri hat theyi grabbed theiri kerchief lm. ziapaiem sw6j kapelusz z&paifem swoj^ chustk^ I grabbed my hat
Plural
I grabbed my kerchief
theyi grabbed theiri hats z&pa&m swoje kapelusze I grabbed my hats
The first and second person pronouns also encode the gender and number of the possessed object, e.g.
214
(22)
FIRST AND SECOND PERSON POSSESSIVES IN POLISH
Possessed: Masculine
Feminine
lm. zfcipaJfem m6j kapelusz
zi&patem moja chustke
I grabbed my hat
I grabbed my kerchief
If. zlapaiam m6j kapelusz zlapa&m moja chustke I grabbed my hat
I grabbed my kerchief
2f. ztapafes tw6j kapelusz zlapates twoja chustke
Plural zfepalfcm moje kapelusze I grabbed my hats z&palfcm moje kapelusze I grabbed my hats ztepaias twoje kapelusze
you grabbed your hat you grabbed your kerchief you grabbed your hats
The third person non clause anaphoric possessive pronouns encode the gender and number of the possessor but do not encode the gender and number of the possessed, e.g.
(23) THIRD PERSON NON-ANAPHORIC POSSESSIVES
Possessor: Masculine
Feminine
Plural
zfepaf jej kapelusz
zfopafjej chustk^
zfepafich chustk^
he grabbed her hat
he grabbed her kerchief
he grabbed their kerchief
zfapafe jego kapelusz
z&pa&jej kapelusz
z&pa& jego chustk^
she grabbed his hat
shei grabbed her2 hats
she grabbed his kerchief
ztepafy jego kapelusz
zfapafy jej kapelusze
z&pafy ich kapelusze
they(f) grabbed his hat
they grabbed her hats
theyi grabbed their2 hats
It is not completely clear why the division between the proximal set, i.e. first person, second person, and clause-bound anaphoric pronouns including the third person, and the distal set, and third person non-clause anaphoric, is realized in this particular way. We can explain the lack of the gender encoding in the proximal set by some version of the iconicity principle, by which, if something is obvious, there is little or no need to encode it in the
215
grammatical system (cf. Giv6n 1985). Encoding of gender of the third person non- clausebound anaphoric possessor will not be contradicted by the iconicity principle, because we are talking about somebody who is not present in conversation, and therefore maximum possible information is expected. What I cannot explain is why no feature of the possessed object is encoded in the third person non-anaphoric possessive pronouns.
6.
CONCLUSIONS
There are two main conclusions that can be drawn from the present paper. The division into three types of expressions, nominal, pronominal, and anaphoric does not capture the variety of referring expressions that may exist in languages. In particular, there exists a need to recognize at least three binding domains for anaphoras: discourse, sentence, and clause, because the difference between the three domains is encoded in grammatical systems of some languages. The traditional division into anaphoric and deictic pronouns may not capture the distinctions that have been encoded in the possessive constructions of a number of languages. For certain fragments of grammar, the deictic-anaphoric distinction should be replaced by a proximal-distal distinction, the former including participants in discourse as well as antecedents at the clause level, and the latter including non-participants and the antecedents at the discourse level.
Footnotes 1. The present work was supported by an NSF Grant Nr. BNS-84 18923. My main language assistants for Mupun were Wesley Kumtong Damar and Darap Dawurung. I am responsible for the Polish data.
216
2. nât means 'red' in Mupun. By a simple extension, it came to be used to designate white man. By a further extension, it came to designate a supervisor, boss, etc. 3. The discourse structure of Mupun seems to contradict the notion that, in normal discourse, there is seldom more than one full NP in a clause (cf. Du Bois 1985). In the normal discourse in Mupun two full NP phrases are the norm rather than exception. But that is a matter for another paper.
References Chomsky, Noam. 1981. Lectures on government and binding. Dordrecht:Foris. Chomsky, Noam. 1982. Some concepts and consequences of the theory of government and binding. Cambridge, Mass.: MTT Press. Du Bois, John. 1985. Competing motivations. In Haiman 1985, 343-365. Ernout, Alfred and François Thomas. 1972 (1953). Syntaxe latine. Paris: Klincksieck. Frajzyngier, Zygmunt. 1982. Indefinite agent, passive, and impersonal passive: A functional study. Lingua 58: 267-290. Frajzyngier, Zygmunt 1985. Logophoric systems in Chadic. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 7:23-37. Frajzyngier, Zygmunt. 1987. From verb to anaphora. Lingua 102:15-28. Givón, Talmy. 1985. Iconicity, isomorphism, and non-arbitrary coding in syntax. In Haiman 1985,187-220. Greenberg, Joseph. 1985. Some iconic relationships among place, time, and discourse deixis. in Haiman 1985,271-288. Haiman, John. 1985. Iconicity in syntax. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Lyons, John. 1977. Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 13
Complex Verbs in Mahou and Case Theory* Isabelle Ha'ik
1. Introduction Case theory, originated by Vergnaud, has seen a shift in interpretation in the last few years. property
of
individual
Whereas Case was conceived at first as a
nominal
elements
(cf. Rouveret and Vergnaud
1978; Chomsky 1981), it is now seen as a property article,
we
will
see
that
In this
certain facts of Mahou, a Mande language
spoken in the Ivory Coast, can be accounted Case is
of chains.
for in
a theory
in which
a property of individual elements, and not if it is a property
of chains.
The facts in question concern complex verbs in Mahou.
2. The facts 2.1
Word order Mahou is head final in NP and PP.
is: 0
V XP*.
As
for VP,
the surface order
According to Koopman (1984), this order derives from the
setting of the parameters assignment for
concerning
V: theta-role
theta-role
assignment of
assignment
V is
and Case
to the right (hence
complements follow the verb),
whereas Case
(hence direct
must receive Case, appear to the left of
objects, which
the verb on the surface). direct object
According
particularly speak
word order.
this
analysis,
to the left
the surface
position is similar to a clitic position, binding an NP-
trace to the right of the verb. do not
to
assignment is
The facts that we are going to discuss
for or
against such
What is important for us is that
an analysis of the VP
the surface
position of
218 the direct verb.
object is
the position
to which
Case is
assigned by the
We will thus basically adopt Koopman's analysis.
2.2 Complex Verbs The facts that we will consider all concern Nahou, which consist of (at least) two types.
complex predicates in
One is the causative, of
the form Vcaus-V, as in (1): (1)
la 'make'
sunOO lo taa
'sleep' 'come in' '90'
ex:
dyepo lasunOO child-the make sleep 'Make the child sleep'
lasunOO laltf lataa
'make sleep' 'make come in' 'make go'
The second is verb with particle, of the form Prt-V, where the particle always corresponds to a locative postposition, as in (2): (2)
fEE 'look'
cE ex:
kOO 10 ma
'clean1 ma fE
'under' 'in' 'on'
kOOfEE lOfEE mafEE
'on' 'around'
macE fEcE
'look under' (a table) 'look in' (a box) 'examine' 'clean the outside' 'clean around'
tabalio kOOfEE table-the under-look 'look under the table'
For convenience,
in the
forthcoming discussion,
object NP of the complex predicate,
like 'the
we will refer to the
child' in
table' in (2), 'NP*', whatever its surface position.
Moreover, we will
assume that the syntactic structure of a complex verb is ely dominating
all its constituent parts,
(1), or 'the
a V immediat-
and we will leave aside the
question of whether some of these constituents have moved there, Baker (1985),
or whether
as in
the predicates are formed in the lexicon, as
in Koster (1976) or Zubizarreta (1986)r1
219 (3)
V' NP
/ A
>
V
dygno
V V I I la sunOO make sleep 'make the child sleep' 2.3
ma gboosa the child scratch 'scratch the child'
Property 1 One characteristic property of these two types of complex predica-
tes, is that, in passive sentences, obligatory, for
a reflexive
it
to appear
is
possible,
the reflexive,
rejected.) Romance
The
(Note
that only
the weak
i, is acceptable, the strong form, ivEE. being
construction
languages
most often
in the direct object position,
which is forbidden with simple predicates. form of
and
(with
recalls
reflexive
the
se),
'middle'
construction of
but the two differ, because
middles do not admit of overt agents, whereas overt agents are possible in this construction in Mahou:2 (4)
fiaa-o o (*i) 100 (Tine Boo) rice-the AUX REFL eat Tene by 'Rice has been eaten (by Tene)'
(5)
tabali-o ye *(i) kOOfEE (TEne Boo) table-the AUX REFL look under Tene by 'The table was looked under (by Tene)'
(6)
dyerjo o *(i) magboosa (TEne Boo) child-the AUX REFL scratched Tene by 'The child was scratched (by Tene)'
(7)
sEwEo o *(i) lab2 (Tine Boo) book-the AUX REFL make fall Tene by 'The book was made fall (by Tene)'
(4)
is
an
example
of
reflexive i is impossible. is not
only possible
a
simple predicate in the passive, where the The other sentences show that the reflexive
in the
passive of a complex predicate, but also
220 obligatory, as indicated by the stars external to the parentheses. can now raise the following questions:
We
why is it that only passives of
complex predicates allow a reflexive in the object position, why is the reflexive obligatory
in such
a case, why is only the weak form of the
reflexive acceptable, and what is the reflexive?
In short,
role and
interpretation of this
our answers will be that, while in the ordinary
case, passive predicates can no longer assign Case, the passive form of complex predicates
still does so.
has Case, which we will take
But then, the trace of the moved NP
as impossible,
Case as an inherent property.
if NP-traces
cannot bear
Under such a circumstance, the trace has
to be spelled out, by a dummy element, and this
is what
the weak form
of the reflexive is: the spell-out of NP-trace, forming an A-chain with the subject.
We get these results from Case theory as presented below.
We assume a theory of Case where different principles apply to the different
types
of
NPs,
implying
that
we
do
properties of NP-types from conditions on A-chains.
not derive the Case The facts
that we
want to explain will be obtained by the S-structure conditions below, a slightly
modified
version
of
Rouveret
and
Vergnaud's
(1980)
and
Chomsky's (1981) Case filter: (8)a.
b.
Case is assigned only to positions whose content is i) overt or ii) referential. Overt [+N] must be assigned Case.
Let
us
now
consider
Mahou
passivization.
(1981), we suppose that passivization predicates: assignment. tion taken
no structural
consists
of
Following Chomsky two
properties of
Case assignment and no external theta-role
These properties
derive from
Burzio's (1980) Generaliza-
as a principle, which says that a predicate assigns Case if
221 and only
if it
sentence, the
assigns an object NP
external theta-role.
In
a usual passive
moves to subject position, leaving a non-Case
marked empty category, as in (4), which is well-formed with the Case conditions in (8). icates can, and must, this
has
to
do
inherent Case.
take a
with
the
Now, why is it that passive complex predreflexive object? distinction
According to Chomsky
is a two-fold process:
respect to
We
between
will assume that
structural Case and
(1986), inherent
Case assignment
it is assigned under theta-government (governm-
ent by a theta-assigner) at D-structure, and is realized at S-structure in a
position assigned
structural Case.
Typical examples of inherent
cases are those of the phenomenon of "quirky assigned
to
direct
objects
'visit', etc., in languages German or
Icelandic.
by
certain
which have
such as 'help',
rich morphological
are Case-marked
Case, like
for structural
nominative or accusative, such as the subject position of
tensed sentences, or the governed position example, in
predicates
oblique Case
There, the peculiar property of inherent Case is
that it may show up in positions which Case, namely
Case", i.e.
the passive
object of 'visit' bears
of
a
small
clause.
For
sentence of Icelandic in (9b), the passivized genitive Case,
which it
normally receives in
its direct object position, as in (9a), and not nominative Case: (9)a.
b.
Vi we
vitjuSum visited
Olafs(G) Olaf (Andrews 1982:466)
Olafs(G) var vitjafc Olaf was visited (Andrews 1982:467)
In Chomsky's
account, inherent
realized at S-structure.
Case is assigned at D-structure and is
A Case is realized if and only if it occupies
222 a position
assigned structural
Case.
Hence, the object of 'visit' is
assigned inherent genitive Case at D-structure, which is realized at Sstructure
in
the
position
of structural nominative Case-assignment.
Note that we do not want this to mean that one inherent
and one
structural.
structural Case is the feature [+Case] receives
INH], where INH is such as
To avoid
[+Case]
inherent Case,
then its
of the
Such a
view allows
receives Case,
and that
when this matrix contains interpreted as
to
inherent Case
If
an NP
that it receives,
us to consider that this Case two Cases,
this Case
only [+Case],
NP.
Case matrix will be [+Case,
matrix does not mean that the NP receives the NP
receives two Cases,
this, let us assume that
assigned
the value
GENITIVE.
the NP
but rather, that
is inherent Case.
this Case
Lastly,
is morphologically
Nominative when assigned by a tensed INFL, and accusat-
ive when assigned by V. So, now, one striking characteristics of the passive of predicates which
assign
inherent
Case
is
that the predicate does not lose its
capacity to assign Case at D-structure, since this this Case-assigning
capacity lost
and Icelandic show that Case
is,
in
fact,
the loss
at S-structure? of the
hence, if
assign inherent
is not lost at S-structure, with a passive
a non-referential empty
principle (8) is correct, where this position
Case at S-structure.
position of
Is
parameterized: in languages like Icelandic, where
is not assigned Case at S-structure, to assign
up.
The facts of Nahou
capacity to
passive displays an object position containing category, and
Case shows
the predicate
loses its capacity
In languages like Mahou, this capacity the
effect
that
the
direct object
complex verb is still assigned inherent Case at
223 S-structure. position.
By principle (8), an empty category Then, passive
is excluded
is rendered possible by the insertion of the
weak form of the reflexive in place of this trace. reflexive must
be the
weak form
for the plausible reason
in that
that the
(cannot be non-referential).3
We
assume that the
i and cannot be the strong form ivEE strong form
cannot act
as a dummy
And it is a reflexive because of binding
conditions, which require an anaphor there (we will see that
the dummy
element can in fact be a pronominal, as in (25)-(27)). To conclude this part, let us note that our analysis is incompatible with the idea idea that
that Case
principles apply
to chains
and with the
Case Visibility is a condition on chains (cf. Chomsky 1986),
as opposed to individual members of chains. an argument.
In our examples, i
is not
Thematically, it is identical to an NP-trace and forms an
A-chain with the subject. which receives
Since
we claim
that it
is in
a position
Case at S-structure, the chain in question contains two
Case-marked NPs, a possibility permitted in certain theories only.
3. A property of Prt-V forms: Particle detachment 3.1 Analysis of constituent structure The second cles, and
property concerns
not the causatives.
the complex
predicates with parti-
We observe that the particle may appear
separate from the verb, under the condition that it occurs NP*. (There
are some
exceptions, like mafEE 'examine', cf. (2), where
the particle cannot be apart from the verb): (10)
adjacent to
dyeqo ma ye gboosa (TEne fcoo) child-the Prt AUX scratch Tene by 'The child Prt was scratched'
224 (11) *TEne ma wEE dyggo gboosa Tene Prt AUX child-the scratch 'Tene Prt scratched the child' This contrast is mysterious, unless it shows, again, should be
adjacent to
eliminate the
MP*, or
forms a
second possibility
constituent with it.
below.
syntactic properties
of the particle.
Nahou, we may wonder
whether the
that the particle
First, let
We will
us examine some
If raising of NP is possible in
particle may
raise too.
Aspectual
verbs and modals allow raising of the subject of the embedded sentence: (12)
dy£go o se ka maa s3 child-the AUX can INF rice buy 'It is possible that the child is buying rice'
(13)
dylpo kaka ka kE maa sana child-the must INF do rice buy-ING 'The child aust be doing buying of rice'
In that
case, the
particle may
also show
up adjacent
to the raised
subject: (14)
dyejjo ma kaka ka kE gboosa la child-the Prt must INF do scratch ING 'The child Prt must be scratched'
However,
the
particle
may
not
sentence, if the subject has raised indicated
in
the
examples,
Extended Projection Principle
as
occur
in
an
intermediate embedded
(the subject
empty categories are
required by the extended part of the
(Chomsky
1982)
which
states
that all
clauses must have subjects): (15)a. dy&go •& ye se ka e.c. wEE e.c. gboosa la child-the Prt AUX may INF finish scratch-ING 'The child Prt may have finished to be scratched' b.*dyego ye se ka e.c. ma wEE e.c. gboosa la child-the AUX may INF Prt finish scratch-ING 'The child may Prt have finished to be scratched'
225 But
this
is
possible
realized (note that (16)
if
the
has the
intermediate
NP
position is overtly
epistemic reading,
hence this
is a
case of 'raising', using the strategy of a copy pronoun in the embedded position): (16)
dydgo ye se ka a ma a wEE e.c. gboosa la child-the AUX may INF pron Prt AUX finish scratch-ING 'Lit: The child may have finished for him Prt to be scratched'
The facts are the same with passive out of perception clauses: (17)a. n i dyejo ye i magboosa la I AUX child-the see REFL Prt-scratch-ING 'I saw the child be scratched' b. n i dyego ma ye gboosa la I AUX child-the Prt see scratch-ING 'I saw the child Prt be scratched' c. dyego o t ye i magboosa la child-the AUX trace see REFL Prt-scratch-ING 'The child was seen to be scratched' d. dyej)o ma a t ye gboosa la child-the Prt AUX trace see scratch-ING 'The child Prt was seen to be scratched' e.*dyejo o t ma ye gboosa la child-the trace Prt see scratch-ING 'The child was seen Prt to be scratched' The first question that arises from these examples particle forms
a constituent
with the moved NP, i.e. NP*.
this would straightforwadly account for particle: adjacent
to NP*.
is whether the
the
surface
If it did,
position
of the
However, for various reasons given below,
it probably does not. (i) is the strongest argument: i.
Wh movement cannot take the particle along with NP*.
evident with long movement, as in (18d): (18)a. dye mindEE le ye i magboosa? child which FOC AUX REFL scratch 'Which child has been scratched?'
This becomes
226 b. dye mindEE le m a ye gboosa? child which FOC Prt AUX V 'Which child Prt has been scratched?' c. dy£ mindEE le Sara ^wEE a fO ko a ma a gboosa? child which FOC Saran AUX it say COMP he Prt AUX scratch 'Which child did Saran say that he was scratched?' d. *dye mindEE le m a Sari o m a 'The child'
a bare
PP is
a possible answer when a PP is questioned, so
the impossibility of the answer dyeyo ma to (19) cannot be due
to some
failure to answer with bare PPs in Mahou: (20)
i i sEwEo la ml? you AUX book-the put where 'Where did you put the book?' ANSWER: tabalio ka 'On the table'
iii.
Only NPs may be coordinated in Mahou.
NP-Prt may not be coordin-
ated with another NP-Prt:5 (21) *dyego m a ni musoo m a ye gboosa child-the Prt and woman-the Prt AUX scratch 'The child Prt and the woman Prt were scratched' iv.
Intonationally, the particle belongs to what is on
its right, not
to the subject phrase. v.
Normally,
the focus marker may attach to NPs, and not to PPs, as
illustrated in (22): (22)
TEne /le Saao sii [[tabalio]NP le ka]pp \ *[tabalio ka]pp ne Tene AUX rice-the put table-the FOC on table-the on FOC 'It is on the table that Tene put the rice'
227 The focus marker may appear after which indicates
does
indicating
that
hence that the particle make the
NP* Prt.
as in (23b),
that NP* and the particle do not form a PP.
in (23)b, the emphasis sentence,
the sequence
not
bear
what
is
does not
on
NP*,
but
Moreover,
rather,
on the
focused is INFL and not NP*, and
form a
constituent with
NP*, if we
natural assumption that a focus marker may form a constituent
only with something that it focalizes:6 (23)a.
b.
dyemii ne ma ye gboosa child-this FOC Prt AUX scratch 'THIS CHILD Prt was scratched' dyemii ma le e gboosa 'It is that this child Prt was scratched'
From these arguments, we conclude that the particle a constituent
with NP*.
In
terms of
does not form
the structure, since it has to
attach somewhere, and given the phonological evidence mentioned we will
assume that
in v.,
it is cliticized to INFL, in the general case, or
to the perception verb, in (17b) (i.e. Chomsky-adjoined to INFL In
other
words,
it
cliticizes
onto
or V).
the surface Case marker of NP*
(Diane Massam p.c.). A
second
position
of
question the
concerns
particle
and
the that
particle move to its surface position? surface position,
relation of If
its
Then its
(cf.
does the
moved to its
its movement would be similar to clitic movement, or non-operator to
Koopman
an A'-
trace would be similar to clitic traces or traces
of verbs, which have anaphoric characteristics as concerns theory
the surface
D-structure:
the particle
movement of a verb to INFL, i.e. movement of a position.
between
1984).
the Binding
In this case, the particle trace, like
228 other anaphors, should be bound by the particle trace of
the particle
—
the
particle
not
or
an intermediate
in its clause, if the opacity domain for the
trace of the particle is the same as expect
—
to
that of
other anaphors.
occur outside the opacity domain of its
trace (or an intermediate trace), but this is not borne constructions shows.
The
So, we
out, as 'seem'
Mahou equivalent of the raising verb 'seem'
is the complex 'be like', which uses the strategy of a copy
pronoun in
the immediately embedded sentence: (24)
dyego ye oo a wEE i magboosa child-the be as he AUX REFL Prt-scratch 'The child looks as if he had been scratched'
Whether this
'raising' structure is derived by movement of the subject
NP, with subsequent insertion of a copy pronoun in place
of the trace,
or whether it is generated as such without NP-movement, as an exception to
the
requirement
that
Grammatical Functions
D-structure
assigned a
be
a
pronoun
appears
in
pure
theta-role (cf.
latter possibility), what is relevant for that
a
representation of
Massam 1985 for the
our purposes
is that, given
the embedded position, and given binding
principles, the embedded S is an opaque domain, and, in particular, for the particle.
Hence,
if the
particle is
moved by the equivalent of
clitic-movement, it should not able to move out of the embedded clause. However, the particle may indeed show up in the matrix clause, as shown in (25b) ((25a shows that it can also stay inside
the embedded clause,
next to the copy pronoun): (25)a.
dyejo ye oo a ma wEE gboosa child-the be as he Prt AUX scratch 'The child looks as if he Prt had been scratched'
229 b.
dyepo ma ye oo a wEE gboosa child-the Prt be as he AUX scratch 'The child Prt looks as if he had been scratched'
Also, the copy pronoun may marginally appear in object position: (26) ?dyeno ye oo TEne wEE a nagboosa child-the be as Tene AUX him scratch "The child looks as if Tene had scratched him' In such
a
case, the
particle may also show up in the matrix clause,
without any greater deviance than that found in (26), where it stays in situ: (27)
?dyego ma ye oo TEne jwEE a gboosa child-the PRt be as Tene AUX him scratch 'The child Prt looks as if Tene had scratched him'
If the
particle left
a trace, this trace would be anaphoric and would
fail to be properly bound.
Hence there
is no
particle trace
in such
structures.
3.2 The nature and role of the particle Following suggestions
by Diane
Case in Nahou, let us analyze
the
inherent Case assigned to NP* by V.
Massam on particle
properties of inherent
as
the
manifestation of
This is similar to the analysis of
the preposition of raising verbs in Irish proposed by Stowell (1986):T (28)
Is feidir le Ciaran Cop-pres able with C. 'Ciaran can buy a house'
[teach a cheannach] a house to buy
According to Stowell (1986), raising in Irish is PP, as
proposed by
NcCloskey (1984),
not raising
but rather,
inside a
raising to subject
position, thus conforming to the Projection principle.
The difference
between the two analyses resides in the different interpretation of the status of the preposition
next to
which the
NP moves.
As
shown by
230 McCloskey
(1984),
the
preposition
But, according to Stowell, this is preposition interpreted
may
be
not
a
a constituent with the NP. PP,
but
an
NP,
with the
as the morphological manifestation of inherent
Case assigned by the matrix verb. prepositions
forms
regarded
assigned by a predicate
at
He as
thus borrow
Stowell's idea that
the manifestation of inherent Case
D-structure.
Note
that
one difference
between Irish and Mahou is that, as we saw in section 3.1, the particle does not form a constituent with the NP. If the particule is inherent Case assigned to be allowed to bear that Case.
the
passive,
is
detached particle. particle can
correct, This
NP* must
If principle (8), which is independently
motivated to account for the presence of the in
NP*, then
reflexive versus NP-trace
then NP-trace is incompatible with the
explains
the
contrasts
in
(15)-(17): the
be stranded from the verb so long as it is adjacent to an
overt pronoun and it is illicit if adjacent to an NP-trace. Let us now examine the
compatibility
of
the
particle
other empty categories of Mahou, namely PRO and variable.
with the
On the basis
of adjectival agreement with PRO in predicative sentences in Icelandic, Thrainsson
(1979)
variables, they have
argues been
that
PRO
may
shown
to
be
bear inherent Case. phonologically
As for
visible, for
example, in preventing wanna contraction, which Jaeggli (1980) attributes to the fact
that they
bear Case.8
Granting
this conclusion, if
they may bear Case, they presumably may bear inherent Case. should be able to be Case-marked with the expect PRO
and variable
Consider PRO:
to be
able to
particle in bear inherent
Hence they
Mahou.
So, we
Case in Mahou.
231 (29)a.
dye^o o a fE ka PRO wEE i magboosa la child-the AUX pro want INF finish REFL scratch-ING 'Lit: The child wants that he finishes being scratched'
b. *dyepo
PRO ma wEE gboosa la PRO Prt verb 'Lit: The child wants that he Prt finishes being scratched'
(30)a.
o
a
fE
ka
dy&^o o (a) fE ka PRO se i magboosa la child-the AUX pro want IMF can REFL scratch-IMG 'The child wants (it) to be able to be scratched'
b. *dy£go
o (a)
fE
ka
PRO ma se gboosa la PRO Prt verb 'The child wants (it) Prt to be able to be sratched'
Contrary to expectation, (29b) and (30b) are excluded, PRO cannot
bear inherent
Case, which
recalls similar facts in Irish,
which Stowell (1986) also interprets as meaning that inherent Case.
We
with
the
mechanism
inherent Case-assignment
and theta-role
not hold for Stowell position
which
1986)
receives
and
Case realization.
Case-assignment is done
Case
structural
realization Case
at
is
effected
S-structure.
So, Case
assigned structural Case
even if
a non-Case-assigned it bears
position, cannot realize
it, as shown by Thrainsson.9
the ill-formedness of (29) and (30b). As for variables, consider (31) : 1 0 (31)
in a
This implies that an element like PRO, which occupies
a non-governed and hence inherent Case,
of
assignment (the latter condition does
cannot be realized in positions which are not at S-structure.
not bear
involves Case-assignment at D-
structure and Case realization at S-structure. under government
PRO may
will differ from his explanation, and propose that
this prohibition has to do Remember that
indicating that
dye mlndEE le TEne rjwEE t ma ye gboosa la child which FOC Tene AUX trace Prt see scratch ING 'Which child did Tene see Prt be scratched?'
Hence,
232 This example, where the particle has occurs next
to the
not surprising,
independently to bear Case. a variable
1987).
verb and
if variables
have been shown
Note that the possibility for an empty to manifest Case seems incompatible with the
idea that bound morphemes require Tuller
from the
wh trace, shows that variables are compatible with
inherent Case, which is
category like
been stranded
However,
recall
overt
material
to
attach
that the particle must occur to the
right of NP*, and cannot to its left, even if it is adjacent to both case.
to (cf.
NP* in
Let us assume that this is because the particle must adjoin
to the Case-assigner of NP*, as a special condition on Case-realization in
Mahou. 11
Since
this
material is overt, the condition mentioned
above is satisfied.
4.
Final considerations In the first part of the article, we have considered
passive with
complex verbs, which require a dummy reflexive, and in the second part, the possibility for the particle to be detached This part two.
ties the
from the
verbal root.
two sections by considering the combination of the
It also brings an argument supporting the inherent Case analysis,
as opposed
to other
possible accounts.
The
facts we have discussed
concerning the particle merely show that the particle seems to the equivalent
of NP
movement, along
with NP* (abstracting away from
some proviso brought by raising constructions and (27b)).
One
possible reason
for this
as exemplified could be
constituent with NP*, but we have rejected it in section possibility is
that the
move by
in (25b)
that it forms a 3.1.
Another
particle moves to subject position and NP* to
233 COMP, in a way Down the
reminiscent of
hill rolled
locative PP
the ball).
preposing in
The particles are all locatives, so
this is quite plausible, as also pointed out to me but we
English (cf.
by Victor Manfredi,
will not examine this analysis here, and will simply point to a
fact which falls under
our
analysis
without
stipulation,
but which
remains unaccounted for in that other analysis. It is
impossible for the reflexive to appear in the passive form,
when the particle and the verb are discontinuous: (32) *dy§r)o ma ye i gboosa child-the Prt AUX REFL scratch "The child Prt has been scratched' According to our assumptions about Case, (32) is ill-formed because the reflexive is
not in
a position assigned Case at S-structure.
For, if
the verb had assigned inherent Case, this Case would be realized as the particle
mar
adjacent to i
adjacent
to
in
shows
inherent Case.
(32)
the
reflexive. that
the
The fact that it is not
reflexive
does
not receive
Now, the reflexive could have received structural Case
from the verb, since it is governed by it.
However, this
is a passive
sentence, and we have assumed that, when the external theta-role is not assigned, stuctural Case is not either. theory lead
us to
So, our assumptions about Case
analyze (32) as a violation, by the reflexive i, of
the requirement in (8) that overt
NPs
must
be
assigned
Case
at S-
structure.12 Now, if
this account is correct, we expect a similar structure to
be acceptable if the verb assigns Case, for exemple, if the verb is not a passive.
This
show (cf. (27)):
is in fact borne out, as the constructions in 'seem'
234 (33) ?dyeno ma ye oo T^ne wEE a gboosa child-the Prt be as Tene AUX him scratch 'The child looks as if Tene had scratched him' Here, we simply note that the contrast between (32) and (33), or, rather, the
ungrammaticality of
(32), remains
to be accounted for in the
theory which explains the detachment of the particle in terms of movement
to
subject
position,
with
the
subject
contrast may be related to our overall analysis Mahou, in
in COMP.
Whereas this
of Case
assignment in
particular with respect to passivization of complex predica-
tes and inherent Case assignment.
3. Conclusion We have seen elements, then
that,
if
the
Case
filter
applies
to individual
we can account for the presence of the reflexive in the
passive form of complex redicates, by claiming that the predicate still assigns Case,
inherent Case,
forcing NP-trace to be overtly realized.
We have also seen that the particle may be analyzed of inherent
Case assigned by the verbal root.
as the realization
Descriptively speaking,
it must occur adjacent to the NP that is Case-assigned, without forming a constituent
with it.
This derives from the fact that it must attach
to the structural Case-assigner of NP*, and from ion on
Case assignment
Chomsky's (1986)
(cf. Stowell
analysis of
the adjacency condit-
1982, Chomsky
1981).
inherent-Case assignment
Moreover,
as involving a
condition on Case realization allows us to explain why the particle may not strand from the verb in structural Case
control structures:
PRO does
not receive
at S-structure, and hence cannot realize the particle.
235 Footnotes * Thanks to Diane Massam and Laurie Tuller for their extremely helpful comments, and to the audience of the talk at the 18th Conference on African Linguistics. Thanks to Moussa Bamba, for precious and insightful comments on his language. This research has been made possible by grants from CRSH #411-850012 and FCAR #87-EQ-2681. 1. The particle (or postposition) could be analyzed as an applied morpheme, or as an 'incorporated' postposition, in Baker's (1985) sense. 2. Cf. Massam (this volume) and references overview of the properties of middles.
cited there
for a good
3. Cf. Tremblay's (1987) analysis of strong form reflexives in A'position in French which act as focus elements. As for additional facts in Mahou, the full form is preferably, sometimes obligatorily, chosen in argument positions, the weak form being more acceptable as an NP determiner. 4. Alternatively, this could be because the particle, even if it forms a constituent with NP*, still needs a verbal root to be morphologically interpreted. 5. This might also show that NP-Prt forms a constituent, but not an NP, say a PP; or that, for morphological interpretation, the verbal root can be associated with one particle only. 6. A mysterious fact is that, in the general case (i.e. when the particle is not there), the focus element le may not occur in front of INFL, but rather, must occur after the verb. 7.
See also Guilfoyle (1985) for an analysis of raising in Irish.
8. Phonological presence of variables is evidenced, for example, because they block wanna contraction (Cf. *who do vou wanna run?) (however, see Carstens 1987, who argues against the view that variables are phonologically visible). Also, they have been assumed to block French liaison. (Actually, this is not always the case, as pointed out to me by Christian Dunn: cf. les enfants que ie crovais ensemble 'the children who I believed together', with a possible [z] liaison between crovais and ensemble. However, this could be due to the small clause structure of the relevant examples, where reanalysis of the two predicates would make the variable behave like an object trace, rather than a more deeply embedded NP). 9. The formal difference between Case-assignment at D-structure, whereby NPs bear Case, and Case-assignment at S-structure, whereby NPs manifest Case could be expressed if Case is a feature at D-structure
236 and a morphological element, hence structure.
with
phonetic
realization,
at S-
10. Thanks to Dominique Sportiche for pointing out to me the relevance of this example. 11. This was suggested to me by Diane Massam. The inherent-Case analysis of Mahou particles owes much to her suggestions. 12. In (32), the verb has not assigned inherent Case twice, which seems to be impossible in principle, as the ill-formedness of (i) suggests: (i) *dySno ma ye i magboosa child-the Prt AUX refl Part-scratch "The child was scratched'
237 References Andrews, A. 1982. The Representation of Case in Modern Icelandic. The Mental Representation of Grammatical Relations, ed. Bresnan. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In J.
Baker, M. 1985. A Theory of Grammatical Function Changing, doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Burzio, L. 1981. Intransitive Verbs and Italian Auxiliaries, doctoral dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Published by Reidel Dordrecht). Carstens, V. 1987. On Empty Categories and Phonological Rules. Talk given at the 18th Conference on African Linguistics, UQAM, Montreal. Chomsky, N. 1981. Dordrecht.
Lectures on Government and Binding. Foris:
Chomsky, N. 1982. Some Concepts and Consequences of the theory of Government and Binding. MIT Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chomsky, N 1986.
Knowledge of Language. Praeger: New York.
Guilfoyle, E. 1985. Modals, Prepositions, and Inherent Case Marking in Modern Irish. Ms. McGill University, Montreal. Jaeggli, 0. 1980. 239-245.
Remarks
on To Contraction. Linguistic Inquiry 11:
Koopman, H. 1984. The Syntax of Verbs: From Verb Movement in Languages to Universal Grammar. Foris: Dordrecht.
the Kru
Koster, J. 1976. Dutch as an SOV Language. Linguistic Analysis 1.2. Massam, D. 1985. Case Theory and the Projection Principle. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Massam, D. 1987. volume.
Transitivity
Doctoral
Alternations in Haitian Creole.
This
McCloskey, J. 1985. Raising, Subcategorization and Selection in Modern Irish. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 1: 441-485. Rouveret, A. and J-R. Vergnaud 1980. Specifying Reference to the Subject. Linguistic Inquiry 11.1. Stowell, T. 1981. Origins of Phrase Structure. MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Doctoral dissertation,
238 Stowell, T. UCLA.
1986. Raising
in Irish and the Projection Principle. Ms.,
Thrainsson, H. 1979. On Complementation in Icelandic. Doctoral dissertation. Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Tremblay, M. 1987. UQAM, Montreal.
Les
anaphores
lexicales en français. MA thesis,
Tuller, L. 1987. AGR-Drop and VP Focus-Fronting in Hausa. This volume. Zubizarreta, M-L. 1986. Levels of Representation in the Lexicon and in the Syntax. Ms., University of Tilburg. To be published by Foris: Dordrecht.
Chapter 14
Double Object Constructions in Kinande and Case Theory* José I. Hualde
1.Case
Theory
and
Double
Object
Constructions
Double Object Constructions, which are found in languages as different from each other as English and Bantu, present a serious challenge to Case Theory. In this paper, I will show that KiNande, a Bantu language of Eastern Zaire, offers some extraordinary clues for the analysis of these constructions; giving also interesting confirmation for the principles of Case Theory. Case Theory severely restricts the distribution of NPs in a sentence in any human language by postulating that NPs may only occur in positions where they can receive Case from a Case assigner (cf. Chomsky 1982). Case assigners are generally taken to be AGR(eement) in INFL(ection), which assigns Case (nominative) to the subject of the sentence in a language like English; transitive verbs, which assign Case to their object (accusative); and prepositions, which assign oblique Case (cf. Rouveret and Vergnaud 1980). English requires an additional mechanism for assignment of genitive Case in constructions such as John's father. But in other languages (e.g. Spanish) this extra device may not be made use of and a preposition may also be used in order to assign Case to the possessors, as also happens in the English phrase father of John.
240 For Case assignment to take place, assigner and assignee must be in a certain configuration (government), and perhaps they also need to be adjacent. Case Theory accounts in a simple and straightforward way for the difference in grammaticality between the English sentences in (1) and (2): (1) a. * John to play the piano was inappropriate b. * the destruction the city c. * we are proud Mary d. * was destroyed the city (2) a. for John to play the piano was inappropriate a'. John plays the piano b. the destruction of the city b". we destroyed the city c. we are proud of Mary d. the city was destroyed In (la) John is the subject of an uninflected verb and as such cannot receive Case (cf. (2a') where John is the subject of a clause containing AGR). The insertion of the Case assigner for as in (2a) is required for grammaticality. In (lb) the city is the complement of a noun (not a Case assigner, cf. (2b') where the city is the complement of a Case-assigning transitive verb). The insertion of the preposition of is required.The preposition of must also be inserted in (lc), where Mary is the complement of an adjective. In (Id) destroy has been detransitivized by the
241
addition of the passive morphology and can no longer assign Case to its object. In order for the latter to receive Case, it must be moved to subject position where it can receive nominative Case from AGR, as in (2d). If we make the further assumption that each Case assigner can only assign one Case (Chomsky 1982, Jaeggli 1982, Stowell 1981), it would seem that in a Double Object Construction (DOC) such as (3) one of the two postverbal NPs would necessarily fail to receive Case: (3) I gave Mary the book Chomsky (1982) considers two alternatives to account for sentences of this type. One alternative is to assume that the first NP after the verb receives Case from the verb and the second NP gets its Case in some other way: it has "inherent" Case. This inherent Case "presumably closely linked to 0role" (Chomsky 1982: 171), would be assigned in DOCs in some way that is still not well understood. A second alternative that Chomsky considers is that (3) has a structure as in (4): (4) I [yp [y* gave Mary] the book] In (4), Mary receives Case from the verb and the book gets its Case from the V'. Therefore, each Case assigner assigns only one Case and an adjacency constraint for Case assigning is also respected. This is also the explanation given for the assignment of Case to dative NPs in French in Jaeggli 1982. Jaeggli (1982:31) suggests that French
242
possesses DOCs with the structure in (5), which is in all important respects that of (4), where the dative NP receives its Case from the V': (5)
VP NPdat
A similar structure is also assumed by Stowell (1981) and Li (1985). Stowell actually assumes that V and the first postverbal NP form some sort of complex verb. I will show in the following sections that KiNande offers conclusive evidence for endowing DOCs with a structure like that in (4). 2.
KiNande
Double
Object
Constructions
DOCs are extremely common in Bantu languages. In all Bantu languages, there are a few verbs, including to give, that always take two object NPs without intervening prepositions, as illustrated in (6) with a KiRimi example (see Hualde 1986) : (6) mwalimu w-af-aa
afjinya
kitabu
teacher he-give-Pl children book 'the teacher gave the children a book' In addition, every Bantu transitive verb can take two object NPs when a certain suffix, known as the applied extension (Ap in the glosses), is attached to the verb. KiRimi examples are given in (7): (7)a. n-a-rugh-aa ughai I-cook-Pl
cornmeal
243
b. n-a-rugh-i-aa I-cook-Ap-Pl
aQinya
ughai
children cornmeal
'I cooked cornmeal for the children' DOCs are thus far more common in Bantu than in English, since in the latter language only some transitive verbs can take this construction (e.g.: to bring but not to transmit). Whether a given English verb can be used in a DOC is something that must be specified in its lexical entry. In Bantu, on the other hand, there are not any transitive verbs that cannot take the applied extension and thus take two object NPs. DOCs in Bantu have been the focus of considerable attention on the part of Bantuists, given their frequency and freedom of formation. A result of these investigations has been the finding that the two postverbal NPs in a DOC do not always have the same grammatical properties; there being wide divergence in the grammatical status each of the two NPs receives in different languages. Certain parameters along which Bantu languages are expected to vary have been identified, nevertheless (see Duranti 1979, Hyman and Duranti 1982). There are three tests that Bantu linguists have repeatedly used with the purpose of determining the grammatical nature of each of the two postverbal NPs in DOCs. These tests are the following: access to the first position immediately after the verb, pronominalization, and ability of the NP to be raised to subject of the sentence by passivization (see Hyman
244 and Duranti 1982, Kisseberth and Abasheikh 1977, and Morolong and Hyman 1977, among others). These tests are intended to identify the "true" object of the verb when surface clues would appear to be missing. When applied to English, these three tests clearly
identify
the NP with a benefactive or goal 0-role as object of the verb in DOCs. This NP is accessible in English to the three grammatical processes mentioned above; whereas the NP with the theme 0-role is systematically excluded from all three processes: a/ Access to first postverbal position in a DOC: (8) I gave Mary the book (9) * I gave the book Mary Only the benefactive can occupy this position, b/ Pronominalization: (10) I gave her the book (11) * I gave it Mary (12) * I gave Mary it Only the benefactive can be pronominalized. c/ Raising to subject: (13) Mary was given the book (14) * the book was given Mary Only the benefactive can be raised. Let us turn now to examine the KiNande facts. In KiNande, unlike English, the three mentioned tests fail to make any clear distinct ion in the grcuniticiticcil status of NPs with.
245 benefactive/goal and theme thematic roles in DOCs: a/ Access to first postverbal position: (15)a. twásóm-er-a ávaná Ap
v'ekitábu
children
1
book
b. twásóm-er-a ekitábú ky'avána 'we read the book to the children' As shown in
(15), both benefactive/goal and theme can
appear immediately after the verb. The order of NPs in DOCs is thus
irrelevant.
In both sentences in
(15), we observe that a particle,
which morphologically agrees
(in class) with the NP to its
left, appears between the two postverbal NPs. This particle does not appear in the KiRimi examples in (5-6), as it does not in the majority of Bantu languages. The only other reported Bantu language, to my knowledge, that has these particles is Hunde, a neighbor of KiNande
(see Mateene
1971).
We shall return below to the question of what the function and nature of these particles is. The correct answer to this question will turn out to be crucial for our analysis of DOCs. b/ Pronominalization: both benefactive/goal and theme can be pronominalized by means of object clitic pronouns. KiNande presents two series of clitic pronouns; one series appears immediately to the left of the verb root and the other series as rightmost element in the verbal complex. With the exception of first and second person and third person human singular, which can only take the pre-root position, the
246 choice of one or the other clitic position is in general quite free (for details and morpho-phonological constraints see Valinande 1984). Pronominalizing the benefactive in (15) we obtain either of the two sentences in (16): (16) a. twa-vd-s6mera ekitcibu them
book
b. twds6merd vo ekit&bu them "we read the book for them' The pronominalization of the theme in (15) gives us the sentences in (17) : (17)a. twa-ki-s6mera avdna it
children
b. tw&s6merei kyo avdna it 'we read it for the children' Both postverbal NPs can be pronominalized by means of clitics in (15). In that case, either argument can be represented by a clitic in either of the two clitic positions, producing grammatical results. There is, however, a preference for the benefactive to occupy the pre-root clitic position: (18) a. twa-v&-s6merci-ky6 (preferred) them
it
247 b. twa-kí-sómerá-vó it
them
'we read it for them' c/ Raising of subject: As shown in (19-20), both benefactive and theme can be raised to subject of the sentence by passivization: (19) ávaná
vá-sóm-er-áw-a
children they
Ap Pas
ekitábu book
'the children were read the book' (20) ekitábu ky-a-som-er-áw-a avána book
it
Ap Pas
children
'the book was read to the children' To conclude, the tests of position, cliticization and raising offer little evidence for distinguishing between the two postverbal NPs in KiNande DOCs in terms of their grammatical nature. Both NPs seem to share the grammatical relation of being objects of the verb. A similar conclusion is reached for KinyaRwanda in Gary and Keenan (1977). Now that this much has been established, let us turn to what I think is the most striking feature of DOCs in KiNande; namely, the appearance of an intervening particle between the two object NPs. The correct interpretation of the function of this particle will shed light in the structure of DOCs not only in KiNande, but in other languages as well. 3.
The
o-particle
As mentioned, DOCs in KiNande are unusual for Bantu in that
248
a particle agreeing in class with the NP to its left appears between the two postverbal NPs. This particle is distinct from the linker that is present in genitive
constructions.
The distinction is, however, often phonetically blurred due to the coalescence of the last vowel of the particle and the initial vowel that common nouns take in certain contexts. Thus, the two postverbal NPs in (21) = (15b) might seem to be in the same relation to each other as the two NPs in the genitive construction in
(22):
(21) twasom-er-a ekitábú ky'avána Ap
book
part children
'we read the book for the children' (22) twasoma ekitábú ky'avána 'we read the book of the children' However, if we replace the rightmost noun with a proper name in
(21-22), the fact that we are dealing with two
different particles becomes apparent. We obtain
(23) and
(24), respectively: (23) twasomera ekitábú kyo Kánbale 'we read the book for Kanbale' (24) twasoma ekitábú
kya Kánbale
'we read Kanbale's book' As shown in
(23-24), the genitive linker ends with -a,
whereas the particle in DOCs ends with an -o. In one noun class, class 1, the difference is even more radical, the two forms being totally different. I will call these two elements
249
a-particle and o-particle, respectively, in accordance with their endings. Bbemo (1982) uses the terms connectif-I and connectif-II. Mutaka (1986) considers the particle in DOCs as a Case marker which assigns Case to the NP to its right and refers to it as "linker". Since I do not want to be commited to the view that this element "links" NPs, I will use a more neutral terminology. In table I, I present the forms of the a-particle (genitive linker) and o-particle for the different classes for the purpose of comparison: TABLE I cl. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 19
o-particle yo vo gwo, wo yo ryo gwo, wo kyo vyo yo syo lo ko to vo ko hyo
a-particle wa va wa ya rya wa kya vya ya sya lwa ka twa vwa kwa hya
I will show now that the o-particle has some other functions in KiNande, besides appearing in DOCs. I will demonstrate that all the different functions of the oparicle, which might appear as unconnected at first sight, are susceptible to unitary treatment: when an NP, lexical or
250
empty, is moved from its base argument position to a nonargument position, an o-particle agreeing with it in class features is attached to its right. The generalization will automatically explain the appearance of o-particles in DOCs and will make transparent the structure of these constructions. Firstly, o-particles appear to be used as object clitic pronouns. KiNande possesses a class of independent pronouns. In addition, it presents two series of clitic pronominal elements, as indicated above, one pre-verbal stem and another one which is postverbal. Postverbal object clitics are morphologically identical to the particles that appear in DOCs. Examples are given in (25-26): (25) nahjJká-ryó
'I cooked it (cl 5)'
(26) nah\Jk-(r-á-ryo avána 'I cooked it (cl 5) for the Ap
5
children'
More interestingly, o-particles appear in cases where an NP has undoubtedly been moved to a non-argument (A-bar) position. In questions, the question word may remain in situ as in (27-29a) or be fronted as in (27-29b). If the question word is fronted, a particle homophonous with the DOC-particle (i.e. the o-particle) must appear after the question word. Also notice that in the sentences where the question word has moved, the verb shows a different morphology: it must appear in a non-main clause tense.
This provides evidence for the
assumption that in (29b), where the subject has been questioned, there is also movement:
251
me = main clause tense; ec = embedded clause tense (27)a.Yoséfu mwàt Qm^ré (e)kihi? sent-mc
b.ékihi kyó Yoséfu at ymà?
what
what
o-part
sent-ec
'what did Joseph send?' (28)a.Yoséfu mwàgéndiré hayi? went-me
b. hayi
where
hó Yoséfu agènda?
where o-part
went-ec
'where did Joseph go?' (29)a.iyóndi mwàwire? who
b. iyóndi yó
fell-mc
who
wawa?
o-part fell-ec
'who fell?' The distribution of o-particles in interrogative sentences is obligatorily as shown in the examples : they must appear if there is movement and cannot appear if the question word is not moved.
This also holds for long movement:
(30) a. wab(jgà
uti Yoséfu agènda hayi?
you-said that b. hayi
hó
where o-part
went-ec where wabQgà
uti Yoséfu agéndà?
you-said that
went-ec
'where did you say that Joseph went?' Another case of movement to a non-argument position that triggers the use of an o-particle is focalization.
In (31—
32), the (b) sentences are derived from the (a) sentences by focalization of one of the argument NPs: (31)a.nànz (re omwàna 'I like the child' b.ómwanà yó nànz(re 'THE CHILD, I like' (32)a.ómwanà mwàgénd(re 'the child went'
252 b.ömwanä yö wagendä * it is the child who left'('THE CHILD left') Finally, o-particles also appear in relative clauses. is shown in (33).
This
In this case, the particle takes an
initial vowel and is optional.
It is, however, the same
element as in the cases above.The optionality of the oparticle in this case is given by its presence in COMP, like the optionality of the complementizer that in English: (33) ekitäbu (e-kyö) nyirialangirä •the book (that) I saw' To sum up, we have shown that in addition to their function in DOCs, o-particles are also used as object clitics, with moved question words, in focalization and in relative clauses.
It is not hard to show that in all these cases
there is movement of an NP from an argument to a non-argument position.
In the cases of question-word movement and
focalization, movement is quite transparent: an NP is moved from its argument position to an A-bar position to the left of S.
This is shown in (34-35) where traces of movement are
included in the representation: (34) [ s . 6kihi ky6 [ s Yos6fu at^mä t ] ] 'what did Joseph send?' (35)[s> ekitäbu ky6 [ s nänz^re t ] ] 'THE BOOK, I like' In these two cases, the o-particle can be taken to be a surface indicator of the fact that movement to A-bar position has taken place, leaving a Case-marked trace behind.
253 Let us now turn back to the case of the postverbal object clitic pronouns.
We can assume that they are moved from the
A-position where a full object NP would appear to an A-bar position immediately after the verb.
That movement
really
takes place in this case is somewhat harder to show than in the two cases above, given the fact that both benefative and theme full object NPs can
appear immediately after the verb.
Even the fact that in a sentence like
(2 6) the pronominalized
NP must precede the full NP could conceivably be thought to reflect the order of arguments in D-structure, given the freedom of order in DOCs.
That is, it could be argued that
there is no movement to A-bar position here, but merely the obligatory choice of one of the possible orders that obtain with full NP objects.
There is, however, some evidence that
there is movement also in this case.
The evidence comes from
the pronominalization of locative complements. normally follow other arguments as in (36).
Locatives
When
pronominalized, however, they must occur immediately after the verb, preceding other arguments, as in (37) (L. Hyman, p.c.): (36)a.twásóma ekitábú we-read
book
(kyo) omo-nyumba
o-part in-house
b. *?twasómá omonyúmbá
(mo) ekitábu
'we read the book in the house' (37)a.twasómá-mo
ekitábu / b.*twásóma ekitábu m6
we-read-in-it book 'we read the book in it'
we-read book
in-it
254 Mo in
(37) is an o-particle.
Its place of occurrence
shows that movement does indeed take place in object pronominalization, when postverbal forms are used. In the case of object pronominalization, one could argue that the o-particles themselves are the pronouns; or one could take the stand that an empty object pronoun
(pro) is
moved from its argument position to an A-bar position attached to the verb,
the o-particle would then be a simple
surface indicator of the presence of a moved empty pronoun. I will adopt this latter view, which provides a unified account of the nature of o-particles in pronominalization and in the instances of movement of overt NPs seen above (question-word movement and focalization). hinges upon this decision, though. structure of a sentence like (38) Kdnbale ds6md-ky6 (39)
[g Kanbale
(38) is
Nothing crucial
Under this view, the (39):
'Kanbale read it'
[vp tv1 asoma pro^-kyo] t^ ] ]
A similar representation can reasonably be adopted for relative clauses: a pro is moved to COMP leaving a trace, and an o-particle appears as surface indicator of this process: (40)
[jjp ekitabu
[g< e-pro^-kyo
[g Kanbale
[yp asoma t-jj ] ] ]
"the book that Kanbale read' Virtually all instances of occurrence of the o-particle are now
unified
and
same phenomenon.
treated
as different
manifestations
The only case that we haven't yet
for is the occurrence of o-particles in DOCs.
of
the
accounted
But now why o-
255
particles show up in these constructions should be evident: the first NP in a DOC is actually in an A-bar position after the
verb
(as
in
pronominalization)
and
the
o-particle
therefore shows up here as it does in all the other instances of movement to A-bar positions seen above. inside a V-bar is forced here by Case theory.
Movement to Once the first
NP is moved to an A-bar position inside the V-bar, Case assignment takes place exactly in the way hypothesized in (4): The object-NP in the V-bar receives its Case from the verb; the second object is Case-marked by the V-bar. This is illustrated in (41) : (41) [g Kanbale [yp [asomera ekitabui kyo v'] avana t^ ] Case
Case
'Kanbale read the book to the children' We have shown that the distribution of the o-particle in questions, focalization, cliticization and relativization in KiNande can be easily captured once we realize that its appearance signals instances of movement to A-bar positions. The
distribution
of this particle
thus
provides
strong
support for a treatment of DOCs in which these are also instances of movement to an A-bar position.
This movement is
reflected in the appearance of the o-particle also in these constructions. An analysis of DOCs involving movement of one of the NPs from its base generated argument position to a non-argument position attached to the verb thus receives strong and crucial support from the KiNande data.
256
Notes * I am grateful to Marc Authier, Dominique Sportiche, Larry Hyman and a reviewer for comments and suggestions on this paper. Ngessimo Mutaka deserves double thanks, as linguistic informant for graciously providing all the KiNande data, and as fellow linguist for helpful discussion. I also want to thank all other participants in the KiNande project at USC. 1
represents a bilabial fricative
[|J] .
References Bbemo, M. 1982. Le Kinande, Langue Bantoue de L'Est du Zaire (D. 42): Phonologie et Morphologie. Thèse de doctorat de 3e cycle, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris III. Chomsky, N. 1982. Lectures Dordrecht : Foris.
on
Government
and
Binding.
Duranti, A. 1979. Object Clitic Pronouns in Bantu and the Topicality Hierarchy. Studies in African Lingusitics 10: 31-45. Gary, J. and E. Keenan. 1977. On Collapsing Grammatical Relations in Universal Grammar. In Syntax and Semantics, vol. 8: Grammatical Relations, eds. P. Cole and J. Sadock, pp., 83-120. New York: Academic Press. Hualde. J. I. 1986. Double Object Constructions in KiRimi. P a p e r p r e s e n t e d at the 17th C o n f e r e n c e on A f r i c a n Linguistics, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. To appear in Current Approaches to African Linguistics, vol. 5, ed. P. Newman and R. Botne. Dordrecht: Foris. Hyman, L. and A. Duranti. Bantu.
In
Syntax
and
1982.
On the Object Relation
Semantics,
vol.
15:
Studies
in in
257 Transitivity, eds. P. Hopper and S. Thompson. Academic Press. Jaeggli, 0. Foris.
1982.
Topics
in Romance
Syntax.
New
York:
Dordrecht:
Kisseberth, C. and M. A b a s h e i k h . 1977. The Object Relationship in Chi-Mwi:ni, A Bantu Language. In Syntax and Semantics, vol. 8: Grammatical Relations, eds. P. Cole and J. Sadock, pp. 179-218. New York: Academic Press. Li, A. Y. 1985. A Note on Double-Object Structures in English: Lexical Integrity. Southern California Occasional Papers in Linguistics 10, eds. G. Gilligan, M. MOhammad and I. Roberts, pp. 91-104. Los Angeles: USC.
Mateene, K. en Hunde.
1971. Les rôles syntaxiques du pronom de classe Studies in African Linguistics 2, 2: 154-81.
Morolong, M. and L. Hyman. 1977. Animacy, Objects and Clitics in Sesotho. Studies in African Linguistics 8: 199218. Mutaka, N.
1986.
of KiNande,
Preliminary Assumptions for a GB Analysis
a Bantu Languge: Base Rule, Case
Complementizers,
Assignment,
ms. USC, Los Angeles.
Rouveret, A. and J-R Vergnaud. 1980. Specifying Reference to the Subject: French Causatives and Conditions on Representations. Linguistic Inquiry, 11: 97-202. Stowell, T. 1981. dissertation: MIT.
Origins
Valinande, N. 1984. The dissertation: Georgetown.
of
Phrase
Structure
of
Structure.
PhD
KiNande.
PhD
Chapter 15
The Anaphoric System and Kinande* Fusa Katada
1. Introduction
There are two types of anaphoric expressions found in natural languages.
The first type strictly obeys Principle (A) of the
Binding Theory
(Chomsky 1981); e.g. himself in English.
The
distribution of this type is restricted so that it never appears in the position [NP,S] of tensed clauses. Expressions of this type require a local bound) binder.cf.: (1) [John^ said (clause that [Billj blamed himself*jyj.]] The second type does not fit into the anaphor-pronoun dichotomy; e.g. zibun in Japanese (Sportiche 1986). Expressions of appear more freely? i.e. in any argument position.
this type They allow
both local and long-distance binders.cf.: (2)
[John^-ga [Bill-i-ga zibun^/-t-o seme-ta to] it-ta.] J SB SB self DO blame-PST COMP say-PST *John^ said that Billj blamed selfjyj.' In this paper, I will demonstrate the existence of a third
type of anaphoric expression, whose distribution and binding properties are neither of the English type nor of the Japanese type.
I will show that the distribution of this type is
restricted so that it appears only in the position [NP,S], and consequently, furthermore
picks
propose
only that
a long-distance such
a
binder.
long-distance
I will binder
is
259 thematically selected by verbs. The
elements
that
I
will
be
discussing
are
reflexive
expressions found in KiNande, a Bantu language, spoken in Eastern Zaire. These expressions are emphatic, features [number, person, human].
and
specified
for
the
The following gives some of the
relevant expressions that belong to this set. (3)
[singular]
[plural]
ingyowenewene
'myself'
itwebenebene
'ourselves'
iwuwenewene
'yourself'
inywebenebene
'yourselves'
iyowenewene
'himself/herself'
ibobenebene
'themselves'
iyiyeneyene
'themselves'
ikyokyenekyene 'itself'
Throughout the analysis, I will use iyowenewene. specified as [3rd person, singular, +human], to refer to this set.
2. Syntactic Properties of iYowenewene As an
emphatic
expression,
iyowenewene modifies
overt
noun
1
phrases in both subject and non-subject positions : (4)a.
Yohani^ iyowenewene^
yo w-a-gend-a. FOC SM-TM-go-FV
'John-himself has gone.' b.
pro
na-kij-ha e; Yohani^ J SM(I)/TM-CL(it)-give
iyowenewene^.
'I gave it to John-himself.' It follows from the theta-criterion and the Projection
Principle
that iyowenewene in (4) lacks an independent theta-role; eri-aenda 'to go' is presumably a one-place predicate and eri-ha 'to give' a three-place
predicate,
thus there
is no theta-role
that
can
be
260 assigned to the position where iyowenewene appears.
Let us thus
assume that it appears in the following structure: (5)
NP NP
/
\ iyowenewene
I
Yohani Ivowenewene in
(5) is an NP-adjunct,
preceding
NP
head
under
terms of sisterhood.
an
which
appositive
is identified by
relationship
defined
the in
The identification process of ivowenewene is
described in (6). (6) Ivowenewene must be identified by an NP with which ivowenewene is in a sisterhood relation. The
only
position
in
which
iyowenewene
independent argument is subject position.
can
appear
as
an
Thus, the sentences in
(7) are grammatical, while the ones in (8) are not. Note that in (7), ivowenewene again offers an emphatic reading. (7)a.
Iyowenewene
yo a-gend-a. FOC SM/TM-go-FV
*He-himself has gone.' b.
Iyowenewene
yo mw-a-pon-ire Bill FOC SM-TM-blame-TM
*He-himself blamed Bill.' (8)a. *Yohani
mw-a-pon-ire SM-TM-blame-TM
iyowenewene.
*John blamed himself.' b. *Susana mw-a-kan-irye na Marya ku iyowenewene. SM-TM-talk-TM to about x
Susan talked to Mary about herself.'
261 The
intended
meaning
of
(8) must
be
achieved
by
cliticization,
where, in order to observe the Projection Principle, the clitic is associated with an empty category
in the corresponding
argument
position: (9)a.
Yohani^
mw-a-yi¿-pon-ire
e^.
SM-TM-CL(self)-blame-TM 'John blamed himself.' b.
Susana^ mw-a-kan-irye na Marya about-CL(self) ko-iye^ e^. SM-TM-talk-TM to * Susan talked to Mary about herself.' The limited distribution of iyowenewene observed in
(7) and
(8) follows from the appositive structure we proposed in
(5) and
the assumption
that
the head NP
is a non-overt
That
pro,
is,
whenever iyowenewene appears alone in a theta-position, it has the following structure: (10)
NP NP
/
\ iyowenewene
I
pro In
other
words,
expression through analysis from
that
the
stand
that
the
distribution can
not
an
process
of
the only
independent
its existence
head in
of
nominal
must
be
in
(6).
described
distribution
appear
iyowenewene NP,
a position
and
secured This follows
therefore
where
pro
is
Since KiNande is a "subject pro drop" language, such a
position would be [NP,S]. and (8).
is
alone;
identification
pro+ iyowenewene possible.
can
predicts
the
iyowenewene
This explains the contrast between
(7)
It also explains why iyowenewene cannot modify the empty
262 category
associated with a pronominal
object
clitic
in
(11) ,
assuming that such empty categories are not pro. (11)
* pro
na-muj-ha-kyo-s ej SM(I)/TM-CL(him)-gitfe-CL(itJ
[e^ iyowenewene .¡J
gave it to him-himself.' This restriction explains the contrast between which
iyowenewene
can
modify
an
overt
(11)
and
expression
(4b),
in
in
object
position. The
structure
given
in
(10)
makes
at
least
one
prediction
concerning binding properties of pro+iyowenewene;
that is,
pro+ ivowenewene
can
antecedent
never be
local
(clause bound) .
ready
address
to
appear
the
only
main
which
pro+ iyowenewene
is
distinct
from
as
[NP,S],
With this
concern
properties of pro+ iyowenewene. treating
in
of
this
its
in mind,
we
paper:
the
since can
are
now
binding
It should be noted that we will be an
independent
either
of
its
nominal
expression,
components,
pro
or
iyowenewene.
3. Binding Properties of pro+iyowenewene As we claimed in the previous section,
the distribution
pro+ iyowenewene follows from that of its preceding head NP, which is [-anaphoric, +pronominal]. other
properties
of
properties in general.
of
pro,
Thus, we may also expect that
pro+iyowenewene
follow
from
pronominal
This expectation seems to be borne out by
examples such as (7), in which pro+ iyowenewene does not require an antecedent,
at
least
repeated here in (12).
sentence
internally 2 .
These
examples
are
263 (12)a. pro+iyowenewene
yo
a-gend-a.
FOC SM/TM-go-FV 'He-himself has gone.' b. pro+iyowenewene FOC yo
mw-a-pon-ire SM-TM-blame-TM Bill.
»He-himself blamed Bill.' While
this
is
true
from
embedded
in a complement clause, obligatory,
pro+ iyowenewene in
in
simplex
differs
becomes
pronouns
in
other
while this
sentences,
respects.
First,
the binding
is not the
pro+ iy owenewene when
it
is
of pro+ ivowenewene
case
for pro.
Thus
(13) must corefer with Yohani; otherwise,
the
sentences are ungrammatical: (13)a. Yohani^ a-bug-a ati said
pro+iyowenewene^yo
that
w-a-ki-kola.
FOC
it did
'John said that he-himself did it.' b. Yohani^ abulaya ati p r o + i y o w e n e w e n e n g a asked that
yo
whether FOC
wagenda 3 . go
'John asked whether he-himself should go.' c. Yohani^ a-bug-a ati people abandu bakabuga bati said that claimed that p r o + i y o w e n e w e n e y o wa-tul-a ekiyo. FOC broke glass 'John said that people claimed that he-himself broke the window.' If there coindexed
are
R-expressions
with
in
the
pro+iyowenewene
sentence
due
to
disagreement, then the sentence is excluded.
but
number
none
can
or
person
pro is not
subject
to this restriction: (14) *Abandu mo-ba-bug-irye ati pro+iyowenewene yo a-ki-kola. people said that FOC it did * People said that he-himself did it.
be
264
When iyowenewene in (14) is replaced with its plural
counterpart,
ibobenebene. the sentence becomes grammatical with pro+ibobenebene bound by abandu 'people': (15)
Abandu^ mo-ba-bug-irye ati pro+ibobenebene^ bo a-ki-kola. people said that FOC it did * People said that they-themselves did it. Second, unlike a true pronoun, pro+ iyowenewene rejects a non
c-commanding NP
as antecedent.
The
contrast
between
(16a)
and
(16b) illustrates this point: (16)a. *[Yohani bana Bill] and pro+iyowenewene
mo-ba-bug-irye said
yo FOC
ati that
a-ki-kola. it did
'John and Bill said that he-himself did it.' b.
[Yohani bana Bill]^ and
mo-ba-bug-irye said
pro+ibobenebene^bo ' FOC
bati that
ba-ki-kola. it did
'John and Bill said that they-themselves did it.' In (16a), there is no c-commanding NP of an appropriate number and person,
thus
commanding
the
sentence
is
ungrammatical;
non
c-
NP Yohani or Bill cannot be an antecedent even though
the relevant features do agree. requirement;
totally
pro+ iyowenewene
(17) below confirms the c-command
must
refer
to
the
c-commanding
NP
muqala 'the son', not Yohani: (17) Hugala^ wa Yohani^ a-bug-a ati pro+iyowenewene^/itj. J son of said that ' J/ a-ki-kola. it did
yo FOC
'The son of John said that he-himself did it.'
265 Third, the antecedent of pro+ iyowenewene cannot be just any c-commanding NP.
As
(18) shows, the antecedent can only be
the
subject of the sentence: (18) Maryaj abwira Susana^ ati pro+ i y o w e n e w e n e ^ y o J / J told that FOC x
This
w-a-genda. left
Mary told Susan that she-herself has gone.'
property
generally
is
observed
known to
as
be
a
"subject-orientation", property
of
which
long-distance
is
anaphors
(e.g. zibun in Japanese; caki in Korean; ziii in Chinese; etc.). Fourth,
unlike
a pronoun,
pro+ ibobenebene
split-antecedent nor an overlap in reference. ungrammatical;
allows Thus,
(19c) is grammatical only when
neither
a
(19a, b) are
pro+ibobenebene
refers to Yohani and Bill taken together as a set. (19)a. *Maryaj abwira Susana-i J
told x
ati pro+ibobenebene^.-i bo bagenda. J
that
FOC
left
Mary told Susan that they-themselves left.'
b. *Marya^
a-ka-lengekan-aya ati think that
pro+ibobenebene^+-i
Susanaj a-buga ati said that
bo babya suspecte. FOC were-under suspicion
'Mary thinks that Susan said that they-themselves were under suspicion.' c.
[Yohani bana Bill]^ and pro+ibobenebene^
mo-ba-bug-irye said
'
bo FOC
bati that
ba-ki-kola. it did
*John and Bill said that they-themselves did it.' (20)
below
summarizes
the
binding
pro+ iyowenewene discussed in this section.
properties
of
266 (20)
The binding properties of pro+ivowenewene:
binding
i) is obligatory whenever there is a potential
antecedent,
ii) requires a c-commanding NP as an antecedent, iii) disallows a split-antecedent or an overlap in reference, iv) observes subject-orientation,
and
v) is non-local. The
set
of
binding
pr o+iyowenewene anaphors.
in
(20)
indicates
that
exhibits dual properties of b o t h pronominals
Like
governing
properties
a
pronoun,
category
(20v),
4
in
pro+ivowenewene .
and
pro+ iyowenewene which
this
is
is
free
the
minimal
it
obeys
sense,
and
within
S
its
containing
Principle
(B) .
Principle (B), however, cannot explain the binding properties that pro+ iyowenewene other words,
shares
it does not
expressed in the analysis
must
properties
with
of
pure
anaphors
ii,
iii).
fit into the anaphor-pronoun
Binding Theory in provide
(20i,
an
Chomsky
explanation
pro+iyowenewene
characterized as subject-orientation
and
(1981).
for
the
an
extra
In
dichotomy
A n adequate dual
binding
constraint
(20iv).
My explanation for these properties is t h a t pro+ivowenewene f as a whole, exhibits the status of the head NP pro, w h i c h is fact
[-anaphoric,
antecedent
is
+pronominal].
non-local.
The
This
would
anaphoric
explain
properties,
why
in its
including
subject-orientation, will be explained by appealing to the
notion
of "logophoricity", which will be discussed in the n e x t section.
4.
Logophoric Effects The notion
of
"logophoricity"
was
introduced
in
studies
of
267 African
languages
others),
in
pronominal properties
(Clements
which
appears of
a in
1975,
Hyman
and
morphologically complements
obligatory
of
binding.
Comrie
distinct
certain The
1981,
among
"logophoric"
verbs
and
antecedent
of
reveals such
a
pronominal is "the one whose speech, thoughts, feeling, or general state of consciousness are reported or reflected in the linguistic context
in
which
the
pronoun
occurs"
(Clements
1975).
The
selection of such an antecedent may be described as in (21). (21) Logophoric Binding:
The antecedent of a logophoric pronoun
is thematically selected. A thematically
selected
antecedent
of a logophoric
pronoun
that
would fit into the description of logophoric binding in Clements (1975) is either SOURCE or SELF.
The thematic
roles SOURCE and
SELF are defined in Sells (1987): (22) SOURCE: the one who makes the report. SELF:
the one whose 'mind' is being reported.
Since SOURCE NP and SELF NP are predictable by the existence of certain types of verbs, we may describe the role-assignment as in (23) : (23) SOURCE is assigned by verbs of saying; e.g. 'tell', 'claim', 'inform', 'report', etc. SELF is assigned by predicates of consciousness; e.g. psychological verbs and propositional attitude verbs such as 'think', 'believe', etc. Now,
consider
(24) .
We
can
see
that
what
binds
268 pro+iyowenewene
is SOURCE
or SELF,
whichever
happens
to
be
the
subject of the sentence: (24) a. Yohani.: | SOURCE
abwira told
Bill.; 3
ati that
pro+iyoweneweneJ /1t-i ' J
yo abya suspecte. FOC was-under suspicion
'John told Bill that he-himself was under suspicion.' b. Yohani^ | SOURCE
v
abulaya asked
Bill-i J
nga yo whether FOC
ati that
pro+iyowenewene^
/
J
wagenda. go
John asked Bill whether he-himself goes.'
c. Yohani^ | SELF
akalengekanaya think
ati that
pro+iyowenewene^
yo abya suspecte. FOC was-under suspicion
'John thinks that he-himself was under suspicion.' It
seems
then
correlation manifestation
that
subject-orientation
with
SOURCE-
of
"logophoric
that subject-orientation SOURCE nor SELF.
or
(20iv)
is
SELF-orientation,
effects".
This
an
accidental
which
analysis
breaks down when the subject
is
a
predicts
is neither
This prediction is in fact borne out by (25), in
which pro+ ivowenewene
cannot
refer to a derived
subject
(e.g. a
subject of a passive), which is neither SOURCE nor SELF: (25) *Yohani^ abwira-u ati pro+iyowenewene^ yo abya suspecte. told-PASS that FOC was-under suspicion 'John was told that he-himself was under suspicion.' pro+iyowenewene. however, may refer to by-agent The by-agent Bill in (26) is SOURCE:
if there is one.
269 (26) Yohani^
abwira-u-a told-PASS
na by
Bill.: ati | that SOURCE
abya suspecte. yo FOC was-under suspicion
pro+iyowenewene*j
' 'J
'John was told by Bill that he-himself was under suspicion.' Although the sentence is not totally natural, as indicated by the subscript
'?',
significant logophoric from
the
for
the
effects
sentences
contrast
that
between
'*i' and
interpretation
of
of
pro+ ivowenewene
involve
multiple
'?j'
seems
to
pro+ivowenewene.
receive
further
complements.
be The
support
Notice
that
when SOURCE and non-SOURCE NPs are juxtaposed in a single sentence as
in
(27) , the
SOURCE
NP
is
chosen
to
be
the
antecedent;
an
EXPERIENCER does not seem to be entitled to serve as an antecedent of pro+iyowenewene.cf.: (27)a. Yohani^ | EXPER
mo-alangire saw
pro+iyowenewene*^ ¡A
ati that yo FOC
Billj | SOURCE
a-bug-a said
bati that
watula ekiyo. broke window
'John saw that Bill said that he-himself broke the window.' b. Yohani^ | SOURCE
a-bug-a said
pro+iyowenewene^
bati that yo FOC
Bill.: | EXPER
mo-alangire saw
ati that
watula ekiyo. broke
window
'John said that Bill saw that he-himself broke the window.' SOURCE-orientation is also consistent with the sentences in (28): (28)a. Yohani^ mo-gwire ati Bill^ a-bug-a bati | heard that | said that EXPER SOURCE p r o + i y o w e n e w e n e * ^ y o watula ekiyo. FOC broke window 'John heard that Bill said that he-himself broke the window.'
270
b. Yohani^ | SOURCE
a-bug-a said
bati Billj that | EXPER
mo-qwire heard
ati that
p r o + i y o w e n e w e n e ^ y o watula ekiyo. FOC broke
window
'John said that Bill heard that he-himself broke the window.' We may thus assume that ivowenewene carries the feature [+log], which makes pro+ iyowenewene
subject to
the
logophoric
binding
described in (21) - (23)5. 5. A Theory of the Binding of pro+ivowenewene
We
may
formalize
pro+ivowenewene.
First,
the observe
context
for
(29), where
the
binding
of
SOURCE-orientation
does not hold: (29)a. *Yohani abuga ati Bill | said that SOURCE
atula ekiyo broke window
esaha pro+iyowenewene yo abana omwira wiwe. when FOC visited friends his x
John said that Bill broke the window when he-himself visited friends of his.'
b. *Yohani abwira omwana wiwe ati pro agende oko kalasi told child his that go on class | SOURCE kundi pro+iyowenewene yo because FOC
moatasoma. did-not-read
'John told the child of his to go to school because he-himself did not read.' (29) shows that
even
a c-commanding SOURCE
NP
cannot
bind
pro+ iyowenewene when it is embedded in adjunct clauses. The complement/adjunct asymmetry observed above suggests that the binding of pro+ iyowenewene must meet the following structural context (tentative):
271 (30)
NP ... V ... [ s pro+iyowenewene
]
where S is a complement. In
(30) , NP
determined e.g.,
binds
by
the
thematic
Jackendoff
structure).
It
pro+iyowenewene
1987 should
argument
for be
a
if
it
structure
suggestive
noted
is
that
SOURCE of
theory
the
a
or
SELF
verb
of
(see,
thematic
structural
relation
between V and S need not be local; that is, S may or may not be a complement of the V which determines the relevant SOURCE or SELF NP.
We have already seen this point in (27b) and
(28b), where an
intermediate clause dominates a complement S, and a verb V
that
selects the
verb
that
antecedent
subcategories
of pro+ivowenewene
for S in
(30) .
is not
The non-local
the
same
nature
of
the
relationship between V and S in (30) is further clarified by the sentence in
(31).
(31) shows that when more than one SOURCE or
SELF appears in a single sentence, the highest SOURCE or SELF is chosen to be the antecedent: (31)
Yohani^ | SELF abandu people
Nkalengekanaya think
ati that
Bill.: | J SOURCE
abuga ati said that
bakabuga bati i y o w e n e w e n e ^ y o watula ekiyo. claimed that FOC broke window
*John thinks that Bill said that people claimed that he-himself broke the window.' It seems here that the function of iyowenewene is to disambiguate among
possible
antecedents
for
pro.
This
function
makes
pr o+ iyowenewene subject to the following uniqueness requirement: (32)
Uniqueness Requirement: The antecedent of an anaphoric expression must be unique.
272 The manifestation of this requirement placed on pro+ ivowenewene is characterized by the following fact: (33) pro+ iyowenewene picks the highest possible SOURCE or SELF. However, (33) does not hold when the complement S in (30) is dominated by an adjunct clause. does not
pick the highest
In such a case, pro+ iyowenewene
SOURCE
or
SELF,
as
in
(34) , where
potential antecedents appear outside of the adjunct clause: (34)
[Yohani^ a-buga na Marya talked to | SOURCE
[omugulu Billj a-buga when | talked SOURCE
[ati that
p r o + i y o w e n e w e n e y o watula ekiyo.]]] FOC broke glass *John talked to Mary when Bill said that he-himself broke the window.' It seems then that
intermediate
clauses
that
can
dominate
the
complement S in (30) must also be complements.
In other words, a
search for the highest possible antecedent
is blocked by an
adjunct clause 6 . Combining all of these facts, we may now formulate the theory of the binding of pro+iyowenewene in (35). (35)
i)
... NP
[ s pro+iyowenewene
where S is a complement,
]
and all other S's dominating
this S, but not NP, are also complements, ii)
In (35i), NP is a binder of pro+ iyowenewene if it is the highest NP which bears SOURCE or SELF.
Given
the
theory
in
(35),
we
make
the
pro+iyowenewene is controlled by a SOURCE or SELF NP.
claim
that
(35) may be
taken as a preliminary step toward the formulation of the theory of "logophoric-binding" in general.
273
6. Conclusion The anaphoric system that underlies natural languages may be characterized by two sets of properties; one extreme is to allow only local binding, and the other is to allow only long-distance binding.
It is well known that English displays the
first
property; for example, himself can never appear in the nominative case position, such as obeys Principle (A).
[NP,S] of tensed
clauses, and
strictly
In this paper, I adduced the existence of an
expression, exemplified by the phrase, pro+ivowenewene. that has the second property; pro+iyowenewene appears only in [NP,S], and consequently
allows
Japanese, however, KiNande type.
only
a long-distance
binder.
Zibun
in
is neither of the English type, nor of the
It seems to conflate these two sets of properties:
it appears more freely in any argument position, and allows both local and long-distance binders.
An overall picture of the
anaphoric system is characterized in (36). (36) Elements
Status
1. himself
Distribution of Antecedents
subject object
non-local local
anaphor
2. pro+iyowenewene 3. zibun
Distribution of Elements
+
+
pronominal
+
archi-nominal
+
+ +
+
+
archi-nominals: refers to expressions that are not uniquely specified in the lexicon with respect to their binding properties (Katada 1987). Binding properties of these expressions may be captured by the features [bound, local] (see Sportiche 1986).
The first type
274 of expression, +local];
such as himself,
himself
must
be
bound
is characterized
and
its binding
as
must
[+bound, be
local.
Such an obligatoriness of local binding is explained solely by the fact that himself is subject to Principle (A). The second type of expression, characterized as
such
as pro+ivowenewene.
is
[+bound, -local]; pro+ iyowenewene must be bound
and its binding must be non-local. Such an obligatoriness of nonlocal binding is explained by appealing to the preliminary theory of
logophoric
(35).
binding,
formulated
as SOURCE
or
SELF
control
in
Note that as a consequence of observing the theory in (35),
Principle (B) is also observed.
Therefore, the [—local] effect of
pro+ivowenewene is consistent with its pronominal status. The third type of expression, such as zibun in Japanese, may be
characterized
as
a
conflation
+local] and [+bound, -local]. exhibiting
both
properties,
[+bound,
Zibun is thus sometimes
anaphoric,
[+bound, +local], and sometimes pronominal,
exhibiting
[+bound, -local]. Sells
of
1987)
Previous literature
provides
analyses
that
(Kameyama 1984, Kuno 1986,
seem
to
be
consistent
with
respect to the latter property; some cases of [+bound, -local] are in
fact
the
manifestation
of
logophoric
effects.
It
seems
convincing, then, that a preliminary theory of logophoric binding as formulated in (35) is relevant for expressions characterized as [+bound, -local].
275
* I wish to thank Joseph Aoun, Patricia Shneider-Zioga, Dominique Sportiche, Hiroaki Tada, and an anonymous reader for their comments and suggestions. I would also like to thank Ngessimo Mutaka, who provided the KiNande data in this paper. If a sentence contains a subject NP of appropriate number 1 and person, ivowenewene exhibits a "subject-orientation" preference; that is, it does not appear within a non-subject NP: (i)a.
[Yohani^ iyowenewene^] yo wa-la-kiwa Bill. FOC SM-TM-beat x John-himself beats Bill.'
b. *Yohani yo a-la-kiwa [Bill.; iyowenewenej]. J *John beats Bill-himself. J 2 The sentences in (12) are more acceptable in a situation where the speaker knows a person to whom pro+ ivowenewene refers. It seems that pro+iyowenewene requires an antecedent in the discourse if it is not available sentence-internally. In this sense, it lacks an intrinsic referent, which is more like a property of anaphors rather than pronominals. 3 I assume, in this paper, that nga, which achieves the meaning *whether', is in INFL, and that pro+ ivowenewene is in subject position (see also (24b)). (see Schneider-Zioga 1987 for an alternative analysis.) 4. Since KiNande has a rich agreement system, AGR creates an opaque domain in which an anaphor must be bound and a pronominal must be free. The governing category for subject position of an embedded tensed clause is therefore the embedded S, which contains pro+ivowenewene. 5. We must assume that the [+log] feature of ivowenewene is transmitted only to the non-overt element pro, and not to an overt lexical NP. Thus, Yohani+ivowenewene. for example, is not subject to logophoric binding. Presumably, this is related to the fact that only a non-overt element may receive the ^-features of its local licenser, and [+log] counts as a ^-feature. This may follow from some articulated version of pro-drop theory. 6 The complement/adjunct asymmetry with respect to the search for the highest SOURCE or SELF antecedent of pro+ iyowenewene reminds us of the notion of barriers in Chomsky (1986); especially the barriers that are defined in terms of L-marking: (ii) XP is L-marked iff it is sister to Y°, and Y° assigns a theta-role to XP. Complements, which are L-marked by V (and which are themselves not barriers with respect to subjacency), do not block SOURCE or SELF control, while adjuncts, which are not L-marked, are barriers, and block such control. This fact is suggestive of the relevance of the notion of barriers with respect to logophoric binding.
276 References
Chomsky, N. 1980. On Binding. Linguistic Inquiry 11:1-46. Chomsky, N. 1981. Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris. Chomsky, N. 1986. Barriers. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Clements, G.N. 1975. The Logophoric Pronouns in Ewe: Its Role in Discourse. Journal of Western African Languages 10:141-177. Hyman, L. and Comrie, B. 1981. Logophoric Reference in Gokana. Journal of African Language and Linguistics 3:19-37. Jackendoff, R. 1987. The Status of Thematic Relations in Linguistic Theory. Linguistic Inquiry 18:369-411. Kameyama, M. 1984. Subjective/Logophoric Bound Anaphor zibun. Papers from the 20th Regional Meeting, eds. J.Drogo, V. Mishra, and D. Testen, pp228-238. Chicago Linguistic Society. Katada, F. 1987. Archi-Nominal Expressions in Japanese: Toward a Grammar of Long-Distance Anaphors. Ms., University of Southern California. Kuno, S. 1986. Anaphora in Japanese. In Working Papers from the First SDF Workshop in Japanese Syntax, ed. S.-Y. Kuroda, pp 11-70. University of California, San Diego. Schneider-Zioga, P. 1987. Object/Subject Asymmetries in KiNande, a Bantu Language. Ms., University of Southern California. Sells, P. 1987. Aspects of Logophoricity. Linguistic Inquiry 18:445-479. Sportiche, D. 1986. Zibun. Linguistic Inquiry 17:369-374.
Chapter 16
Change in Tense and Aspect: Evidence from Northeast Coast Bantu Languages* Derek Nurse 1.
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Purpose It is widely acknowledged that Bantu languages are characterized by considerable variation in tense and aspect:
this variation affects the number of
tenses and aspects, their semantic content, and the actual morphology and morphemes involved.
It is not only 'languages' which so vary but also 'dialects' of the same
language.
Where discussion of 'dialect' in many European languages would most
commonly center on details of lexis and phonology, the same discussion for Bantu languages would also have to include tense and aspect. My purpose is to look at a number of closely related and mostly adjacent Bantu languages in Kenya and Tanzania from a diachronic stand point and specifically at the evolution of their tense/aspect systems, with a view to determining where their tense/aspect innovations come from, and thus to contributing to an explanation of the considerable variation in Bantu tense and aspect. an elaborate typology of tense and aspect.
My purpose is not to present
Nor is it to examine in detail
different classes of auxiliary/modality sources, such as can be found, for example, in Giv6n (1973).
Nor, finally, is it to look in detail at the morphological
processes involved.
It will become clear that the fact that the languages examined
are mostly adjacent will lead to a somewhat different emphasis in interpretation from that in other studies where the target languages were deliberately selected on the basis of geographical, and often genetic, discreteness (e.g. Bybee 1985).
278 1.2. Tense and aspect Though it is not my intention to present an elaborate typology of tense and aspect, I wish nevertheless to introduce the notion of a continuum of change.
This
is exemplified by Gikuyu, Ganda, and Standard Swahili, for which the basic data are presented in the three Appendices:
it should be here emphasised that the first two
of these are not part of the set of languages which are the object of this study, but are merely used to illustrate the idea of a continuum.
The following terms are
used in the Appendices. Where, as in Gikuyu, three past tenses are used, they are referred to as 'far', 'middle', and 'near' past.
Where, as in Ganda, only two past tenses are
recognized, they are referred to as 'far' and 'near' past.
Where only one past
form exists, as in Standard Swahili, it is simply referred to as 'past'. divisions of time are made for future reference:
The same
this may well be a simplification
of the facts of Gikuyu, at least as presented by Johnson (1980). All three languages, and many other Bantu languages, also have a 'tense' (or 'tenses') which is not obviously 'past' or 'future'.
That is, it tends to
translate by 'present' in English, and it tends to be unmarked for time reference. These are the middle rows in the Appendices and are labelled 'present' or zero (-0-).
I am aware that there is a considerable literature on such 'tenses' and
their analysis, but do not want to enter into debate here on this analysis as it is not germane to the present paper. Aspect is less easy to deal with, partly because there is so much crosscutting in aspectual reference in the sample languages, partly because there is less overall consensus on how to analyze aspect (see Comrie 1976). 'Perfect' is used much as defined or used by Comrie and Johnson.
I have taken
from Johnson the notions of 'long' and 'short' perfect (Johnson 1980:277, 299) and applied them to Ganda to refer to events or states which occurred a long or a short
279 time, respectively, before the time of speaking or the time referred to, but whose results continued to be felt up to the time of speaking/time referred to. 'Imperfect' is represented in Gikuyu by a single suffix (-aga) and covers a range of meanings.
By contrast, in Ganda and Swahili, its meanings are represented
by two discrete aspects for which I have used the labels 'progressive' and 'continuous/habitual'.
In Swahili at least, the first of these may refer to an
action which may be ongoing over a period of time but is certainly ongoing at a particular point in time, usually indicated by another verb or adverbial.
The
second tends to refer to an action happening over a longer, often unspecified, period of time, or to a habitual action.
The distinction between the two is often
blurred in many situations and by many speakers:
this is certainly true of
Swahili, but I am less sure of Ganda. In Gikuyu, 'perfective' (which I prefer to Johnson's 'completive') refers to actions completed in the past and not felt to be relevant to the present, and is clearly an aspect, aspects being suffixally marked in Gikuyu.
In Ganda and
Swahili, by contrast, such actions are referred to by 'tenses', being unmarked for 'aspect'. Finally, Johnson has a category 'imminent action' (last column in Appendix 1). These are forms having in common the 'neutral' suffix /-a/, referring to a range of episodes from just past to far future, and described by Johnson as referring to 'episodes partially realized in regard to the moment of speaking' (Johnson 1980:299).
This category is not obviously relevant to Ganda or Swahili.
1.3. A Tense/aspect continuum At this point, readers are advised to look at the material in the Appendices. It is so arranged as to suggest a continuum, with Gikuyu at one end, Ganda in the middle, and Standard Swahili at the other end. connected, parameters.
This continuum runs along three,
280 One h a s to do w i t h the number of discrete tenses (and, to a lesser extent, aspects). tense.
G i k u y u has three pasts, three futures, a n d a 'present' or zero (-0-)
It h a s b e e n n o t infrequently suggested that such a system represents
something a k i n to w h a t many B a n t u languages, p o s s i b l y Proto-Bantu, once h a d (Wald 1976, M o u l d 1981). futures.
G a n d a has a somewhat r e d u c e d system w i t h two pasts a n d two
A n d Standard Swahili has b u t one p a s t a n d one future, thus b e i n g a very
r e d u c e d system of contrasts. The second parameter of the continuum concerns the d i s t i n c t i o n synthetic versus analytic.
G i k u y u makes almost no use of auxiliaries, v i r t u a l l y all verbs
b e i n g o n e - w o r d forms, thus a synthetic system.
G a n d a indicates m o s t tenses
(not
m a r k e d for aspect) b y o n e - w o r d forms, b u t verbs m a r k e d for aspect are generally two-word forms:
the only obvious exception to this, the 'present'
(middle row in
Appendix 3) has a frequent choice b e t w e e n one- a n d t w o - w o r d forms.
Swahili
operates in a similar way, w i t h the 'present' forms (middle row in A p p e n d i x 2) b e i n g u n m a r k e d for tense, a n d thus b e i n g single-word forms. The third involves the role of suffix v e r s u s p r e - s t e m morpheme.
I n Gikuyu,
the p r e - s t e m morphemes indicate tense, whereas the suffixes represent aspect. G a n d a preserves remnants of the suffixal system, b u t one of them (/-anga/) is m u c h r e d u c e d in its role (see remarks u n d e r Appendix 3), a n d the other (/-e/) occurs b o t h in a n aspect ('long perfect') a n d in a tense ('near past').
A s p e c t is no
longer c a r r i e d b y suffixes b u t b y two-word forms and/or the p r e - s t e m morphemes: thus the p r e - s t e m p o s i t i o n includes some morphemes indicating tense a n d others indicating aspect.
I n Standard Swahili, this process h a s gone e v e n further,
in
that the suffix p o s i t i o n plays no role at all in aspects, leaving / - a / as a completely neutral morpheme.
I n other Swahili dialects there are still traces of
aspectual suffixes other than / - a / p l a y i n g a limited role. The continuum suggests, at one end, a n older stage such as that of Gikuyu,
in
281 w h i c h there are several discrete pasts a n d futures; predominantly o n e - w o r d verbs: a n d suffixes expressing aspects w i t h p r e - s t e m morphemes indicating tenses.
A t the
same time, a n u m b e r of auxiliary/modal v e r b s (followed b y infinitive or locative) m i g h t express a limited range of aspectual distinctions.
This w o u l d l e a d to the
n e x t stage involving incorporation of the auxiliaries/modals in the p r e - s t e m p o s i t i o n (for details, see section 4.1).
The result of A u x i l i a r y - i n c o r p o r a t i o n led
to a de-emphasising of the role of suffixes and a v e r y productive p r e - s t e m position.
A t the same time, b u t n o t necessarily connected, there w a s a progressive
loss of tense distinctions.
G i k u y u is clearly a t one e n d o f this continuum, w i t h
Standard Swahili near the other end, a n d G a n d a m o v i n g along the middle towards Swahili.
The different stages are obviously n o t discrete, m o s t B a n t u languages
showing some c o m b i n a t i o n of stages.
1.4. C o r p u s W e have u s e d these three languages to demonstrate the typological continuum, b e c a u s e the real target languages o f this study h a v e m o s t l y gone so far along the r o a d f o l l o w e d b y Swahili that they no longer provide convincing evidence of the earlier stages of the process of change.
The target languages are the Northeast
C o a s t B a n t u languages of e a s t e r n K e n y a a n d n o r t h e a s t e r n Tanzania.
Their p o s i t i o n
o n the B a n t u family tree c a n b e represented as below:^ Proto-Bantu ^ ^ ^ EBantu (EAfrican Bantu) (100 +
languages)
Proto-NEC B a n t u (15-20 10-12 lgs
languages)
Proto-Sabaki (6 languages) 5 lgs (10 + dialects)
Swahili (ca. 15 dialects)
I n total, I h a d access to the systems of some 30 languages or dialects, the data
282 varying from adequate to very good in quantity and quality.
2.
METHODOLOGY T. Hinnebusch and myself are currently working on a detailed linguistic
history of Swahili and Sabaki.
Part of my role in this project has involved
reconstructing the tense/aspect system of Proto-NEC (Northeast Coast) Bantu and of Proto-Sabaki, the two being very similar.
The reconstruction relied on a fairly
standard application of the comparative method.
That is, by comparing both the
systemic intersection of tense/aspect, and the morphemes involved, in the individual systems, it was possible to reconstruct a tentative system for ProtoNEC.
At first sight, this may seem somewhat audacious, given that Indo-
Europeanists have been working for some 150 years on a similar reconstruction for PIE, and have not yet arrived at a concensus.
While it is likely and even probable
that some of the details of our reconstruction are wrong, that is not too important for the current paper. about:
What we are interested in here is how change has come
having worked up the tree to a reconstructed Proto-NEC system and having
then followed developments down the tree again to the individual contemporary members of NEC allowed a good overview of the processes involved, since the processes are similar, and the number of languages involved is much smaller than for PIE.
We then compared our facts and findings to those for other East African
Bantu languages, for selected other eastern Bantu languages, and to the limited morphology presented in Guthrie (1971) for Common Bantu.
So it can be said with
some confidence that the processes described below are also widely found in other eastern Bantu languages. All NEC languages with a few exceptions have reduced tense/aspect systems of a type similar to that already set out for Swahili:
the few exceptional languages
(Gogo, Shambaa) have clearly innovated since Proto-NEC.
This reduction dates from
Proto-NEC already, for which the following can be assumed.
There was a three-way
283 tense contrast between 'far past' (marked by pre-stem -4-), 'near past' (pre-stem zero together with a vowel harmony suffix or -a), and a 'non-past' (pre-stem -S-) which covered reference to future and 'present'. contrast between /-He/
There was a three-way aspect
'perfect', /-aga/, representing at least 'habitual', and
the use of two-word forms involving auxiliaries and covering other imperfect meanings.
Two-word forms with auxiliaries may well have been present as
alternatives to synthetic forms in other functions also.
From this summary, it can
be seen that older synthetic forms, with tense expressed by pre-stem morphemes and aspect by suffixes, were still maintained but were starting to be supplemented by newer two-word forms involving auxiliaries.
That Proto-NEC had a reduced system,
at least of tense contrasts, is significant because it is our general impression from looking not only at the NEC languages but also at other, eastern Bantu languages that, while inflectional morphology itself may be replaced fairly quickly, the categories expressed and the system of contrasts itself are much more conservative.
So, although at present it is not clear how Proto-NEC had acquired
its system, it is important to see that the reduction itself was significant.
The
majority of NEC languages have kept the categories and system of Proto-NEC, while replacing the actual morphemes and morphology involved. This then is our general starting point and what follows is an overview of developments from that point down to the present.
3.
MINOR MECHANISMS FOR CHANGE It became apparent that four mechanisms for change could be identified.
Two
of these appear to have played a relatively minor role - they are discussed briefly in sections 3.1 and 3.2 - and two played a more major role - they are presented in section 4.
3.1. Phonological change
284 Where phonological loss has occurred since Proto-NEC, it has sometimes led to the neutralization of earlier contrasts.
Since this is widely acknowledged as a
process, I will not discuss it further but simply adduce two examples.
We have
already seen that Proto-NEC had two pre-stem tense markers that were segmentally identical but tonally distinct:
-&• 'far past' and -4- 'non-past'.
Since Proto-
NEC, there has been a widespread reduction of tonal contrasts in NEC languages, which in some cases has gone so far as replacement of tones by penultimate stress. Thus nearly all Swahili dialects and several NEC languages adjacent to Swahili along the Tanzanian coast have today such a penultimate stress system.
The general
outcome of loss of tonal distinctiveness and especially of replacement of tones by penultimate stress led to quite predictable results:
the 'far past' and the 'non-
past' were no longer distinct and it is not surprising that the majority of NEC languages have replaced one or the other by some other marker.
In the very few
languages which keep both, one of the two is typically reinforced by an additional marker.
Thus in northern Swahili we find:
(1) Amu dialect
tw-a-m-penda
'we like him'
tw-ali-nena
'we talked'
where the old 'non-past' is retained as -a- in the first example, but the old 'far past' is part of a composite pre-stem marker -ali-. Similarly, Proto-NEC had the neutral suffix /-a/ and the 'habitual/continuous' suffix /-aga/.
Several NEC languages have undergone loss of intervocalic, non-
prenasalized /g/ and shortening of long vowel, in which case older /-a/ and /-aga/ would no longer be distinct.
This would lead either to a merging of the two
aspectual functions or to replacement of one-word, by two-word, forms.
3.2. Semantic change Certain kinds of semantic change, involving widening or narrowing of reference, are very widespread in all natural languages, and they are also to be
285 found in the evolution of NEC languages.
We have seen that a 'non-past' can be
attributed to Proto-NEC, indicated by /-4-/. future.
'Non-past' refers to 'present' or
In some NEC languages today, derivatives of this /-S-/ still so refer,
whereas in others, it has become restricted to either future or 'present', some new device having been innovated to represent the other meaning:
both are fairly
common in NEC. Similarly, our evidence suggests that Proto-NEC had already innovated, or was already innovating, a pre-stem marker /-na-/ from the verb 'have', itself a composite of 'be + with'. have been 'imperfect'.
The most obvious reference of this /-na-/ would seem to
'Imperfect' when not marked for time tends to refer to
'present', but 'present', as we have seen, tends to oveilap with future, and 'present' and future are both 'non-past'.
Hence, in NEC languages today, we find
that from Proto-NEC 'imperfect', /-na-/ has extended its domain to all these other meanings, depending on language.
4.
MAJOR MECHANISMS FOR CHANGE While phonological and semantic factors have clearly played some part in the
changes affecting the development of contemporary tense/aspect systems out of Proto-NEC, far more common are the two mechanisms now discussed.
4.1. Auxiliary-incorporation Very widespread are forms of Auxiliary-incorporation such as can be seen in this schematic representation of the development of the Standard Swahlli 'past': (2)
tw-a-li# #ku-pika > we-past-be##inf-cook
tu-li# #ku-pika > we-past##inf-cook
tu-li-pika we-past-cook
'we cooked'
tw-a-li# #kw-enda we-past-be##inf-go
tu-li# #kw-enda we-past##inf-go
tu-li-kw-enda we-past-kw-go
'we went'
>
>
The forms on the left are two-word verbs (Auxiliary + infinitive) and appear widely written as such in older Swahili literature, as do the middle forms but less
286 frequently.
On the right are today's forms.
The claim that the left hand forms
are older is based not only on their higher frequency in older writing, but also on the fact that the past reference was originally carried by the /-a-/ (-li being merely the copula 'be'), then carried by the composite morpheme /-ali-/, and then finally by the /-li/ after phonological adjustment (see below).
That the forms
on the right derive from older two-word forms in which the second member was the infinitive (locative ?), can also be deduced from the now semantically empty /-ku-/, retained only before a small set of verb stems today.
In this role, /-ku-/
is retained in this frozen form not only in Swahili but throughout NEC languages. Many of today's pre-stem tense and aspect markers in NEC languages are still followed by this /-ku-/, suggesting that they were originally auxiliaries.
In
Standard Swahili, which has undergone this Aux-incorporation as widely or more widely than other NEC languages, virtually all of today's pre-stem markers are derived from older auxiliaries. Although forms of Aux-incorporation have occurred widely in many natural languages, the reason it has been so productive in Bantu languages has to do with the facts of their structure.
In, for example, English or German or French today,
inflectional morphemes are suffixal but auxiliaries are pre-verbal, so auxiliaries do not have immediate access to the (suffixal) inflectional position.
By contrast,
in Bantu languages as we see above, tense/aspect inflection is pre-stem and auxiliaries also occur before the verb, being separated from the productive prestem inflectional position only by /-ku-/, which is semantically empty in NEC languages:
this renders AUX-incorporation much easier.
Within the NEC languages, the set of auxiliaries from which the new tense/aspect markers derive is quite small:
'want/like, come, be, go,
finish/complete, have-be with'.^ Once established in the pre-stem position, the new tense/aspect markers are
287 subject to w h a t at first sight appears to be irregular phonological that is, adjustment n o t commonly found in the rest of the language.
adjustment, I n fact, this
'irregular' phonological adjustment is simply a p p r o x i m a t i o n to a canonical syllable shape -(N)CV-.
So, in Swahili, for example, we find:
(3)
-ali-taka- 'want' -ngali-mele- 'finish' stages) -isha- 'finish'
> > > >
-li-ta-nge-me-
(-e- in other dialects) (-taka- retained in certain environments) (both occur in Standard Swahili) (with various a t t e s t e d older intermediate
>
-sha-
(both occur in Standard Swahili)
One of the results of this A u x - i n c o r p o r a t i o n was that the p r e - s t e m p o s i t i o n became v e r y productive.
As one result, it s t a r t e d to incorporate m o r p h e m e s
b o t h aspect a n d tense.
expressing
A s another result, it then a t t r a c t e d m a t e r i a l from sources
a n d structures other than A u x i l i a r y + infinitive.
Thus, in n o r t h e r n Swahili, we
find: (4)
Amu
tw-ali-ku-wa
tu-ki-nena
we-past-ku-be
we-ing-talk
>
tw-ali-ki-nena^ we-past-ing-talk
'we were talking'
Older Swahili w r i t i n g suggests that this particular process w a s m o r e w i d e s p r e a d than it is today, as a number of two-word structures - b o t h inflected - were involved.
It e v e n spread into at least one adjacent language
(Pokomo).
Nevertheless, in the NEC languages as a whole, it is m u c h less c o m m o n a n d visibly more recent than the m a j o r process of A u x - i n c o r p o r a t i o n illustrated in (2). A n o t h e r r e l a t e d process c a n b e seen in Shambaa: (5)
anga##mu..dika as if ##you..cook
would
>
mw-anga-dika you-would-cook
288 where a non-verbal item (?) moves from separate word to clitic to prefix and is finally incorporated in the pre-stem position.
Again, this process is more
restricted geographically and later in general than the main process. All this raises a number of questions, such as: this incorporation process?
what is the chronology of
Does Aux-incorporation follow upon loss of the older
suffixes/prefixes, or do the older suffixes/prefixes become lost only after Auxincorporation has occurred?
To this there is no single answer, but one common
chronology may be illustrated by the perfect in northern Swahili.
This was
originally expressed exclusively by suffixal /-ie/ from older /-ile/, both common in older Swahili writing.
The -i- vowel had originally caused mutation of the
final preceding stem consonant, so that perfect was marked by the suffix and by a system of stem-final consonant alternation that had become increasingly unwieldy. A few centuries ago, there arose an alternative perfect deriving from incorporation of a form of the verb 'finish' (today /-me-/).
At this second stage, lasting from
several centuries ago till today, there was then a choice between the older suffix and the newer incorporated pre-stem morpheme.
Today the northern dialects have
entered the third and presumably final stage, where /-ie/ is in decline before the much-simpler-to-manipulate /-me-/.
General NEC evidence suggests that this three-
stage replacement process also operated in the decline and loss of older /-aga/ and of the older vowel harmony suffix, both of which are today retained only in limited parts of the NEC area and are widely replaced either by two-word forms or by prestem morphemes themselves deriving from two-word forms. The extent to which Aux-incorporation is involved in tense/aspect innovation can be illustrated by considering the Standard Swahili system, most of which is derived and innovated: (6)
Positive
Negative
Source
-li(ku)-
'past'
-ku-
'(past plus) be'
-ta(ku)-
'future'
as left
'want'
289 -me(ku)-
'perfect'
-sha(ku)-
'perfect'
'finish'
-na(ku)-
'progressive'
'have ( - be with)'
-nga-
'conditional'
'(-a- plus)
-ngali(ku)-
'conditional'
-nge(ku)-
'conditional'
Aux-incorporation,
-ja(ku)-
'finish' (-me-) : 'come' (-ja-)
as left
?
(-nga- - ?)
p r e c e d i n g plus -lipreceding with phonological
adjustment
followed b y the increasing p r o d u c t i v i t y of the p r e - s t e m
position, leading to the later incorporation of m a t e r i a l from sources other than auxiliary plus infinitive, is the systemic factor m o s t w i d e l y responsible for tense/aspect innovation in NEC languages.
But it w a s a i d e d b y the non-systemic
factor we n o w address.
4.2
The social/areal/typological
situation
Proto-NEC was p r o b a b l y spoken some 2000-2500 years ago.
A s the Proto-NEC
community s t a r t e d to b r e a k up, the emerging ancestors of today's NEC languages c a r r i e d w i t h them w h a t Proto-NEC h a d already d e v e l o p e d linguistically, plus, of course, a v e r y similar set o f verb-morphological structures:
this was
important,
as it m e a n t that material from one language c o u l d b e easily s l o t t e d into another w i t h o u t trouble.
A s these early communities evolved, m o s t of them d i d n o t move
far, w i t h the result that today, w i t h a few exceptions such as C o m o r i a n in the I n d i a n Ocean, M w a n i o n the Mozambique coast, a n d B a r a w a o n the s o u t h e r n Somali coast, all NEC languages are adjacent to at least one other N E C language, a n d many are adjacent to several others.
E v e n the three isolated communities
m a i n t a i n e d long standing contacts w i t h other N E C communities.
mentioned
Further, m o s t of
these communities are small -if we follow the c o m m o n a s s u m p t i o n that East A f r i c a n populations have increased b e t w e e n five- a n d t e n - f o l d since the early n i n e t e e n t h century, then they w o u l d have b e e n e v e n smaller during m u c h of their evolution. During m o s t of this period, few w o u l d have n u m b e r e d more t h a n ten thousand.
And
290 finally, if the contemporary situation can be taken as a model for earlier times, these communities would have contained numbers of individuals who were bi- or multi-dialectal or -lingual, individuals who thus knew the code necessary to transmute material from one dialect/language to another. In summary, over a period of some two thousand years, the post-Proto-NEC situation was as follows. heritage from Proto-NEC.
The NEC communities inherited a common linguistic They all had an identical or similar surface structure.
They were mostly small communities, which would have facilitated the transfer of linguistic material.
They were mostly adjacent, and they contained numbers of
people who were multi-lingual. This is all relevant because if each of the tense/aspect innovations in the NEC languages since Proto-NEC is put on a map, the observer cannot but be struck by the fact that many of them have a very limited areal distribution, usually occurring in a small number of adjacent NEC languages.
There is a close
correlation between the geographical distribution of innovations and the geographical adjacency of the language communities affected.
So, for example,
forms of the /-me-/ perfect that we have seen already occur only in Swahili and in one neighboring language (Pokomo):
forms of /-ta(ka)-/ 'future' occur only in
Swahili and in dialects of Comorian, between which there is a long documented history of contact:
forms of /-ngali-/ 'conditional' and of /-(a)li-/ referring to
past are only found in Swahili and a limited number of adjacent languages in coastal Kenya and northeastern Tanzania:
and forms of /-kala/ 'be, remain, stay,
live' have replaced forms of /-li/ 'be' as the main copula/auxiliary in two-word verbs only in a restricted set of the same languages, plus Comorian.
How can it
have come about that these - and many other similar examples - have this type of areal distribution that sometimes crosscuts older linguistic divisions?
The answer
would seem to be that once an innovation has started in a limited area within one
291 dialect or language, it t h e n spreads across the community a n d t h r o u g h the speech of n e i g h b o r i n g communities, regardless of whether these are 'dialects' or languages. This c o u l d take place either as direct b o r r o w i n g or as caique, v e r y easy to u n d e r s t a n d in the light of the circumstances d e s c r i b e d in the p r e c e d i n g paragraphs.^
How far it m i g h t then spread w o u l d d e p e n d o n a range o f factors n o t
easily a n a l y z e d from the present.
This is a process such as that w h i c h led to the
d i s s e m i n a t i o n of certain areal features across the languages o f w e s t e r n Europe in the late first m i l l e n n i u m A.D., including, incidentally, t w o - w o r d perfects.
5.
CONCLUSION It is s u g g e s t e d that a c o m b i n a t i o n of factors was responsible for the range of
tense/aspect innovation in a subset of e a s t e r n B a n t u languages, a n d that these factors c a n b e assumed to h a v e o p e r a t e d also in other languages. factor w a s the incorporation of auxiliaries stem position.
The principal
(plus infinitive) at the verbal pre-
This process w a s a i d e d b y a particular intersection of inflectional
m o r p h o l o g y a n d w o r d order.
Once innovation started in any area, it spread easily
into n e i g h b o r i n g dialects/languages w i t h a c o m m o n linguistic h e r i t a g e a n d similar surface structures, a n d s p o k e n b y communities w h i c h were small, adjacent, interacted regularly, a n d h a d a leavening of b i - l l n g u a l speakers.
This emphasis o n
h o w change owes as m u c h to sociolinguistic, as to p u r e l y systemic,
factors
distinguishes this study from others w h i c h have c o n c e n t r a t e d deliberately languages physically a n d genetically discrete.
on
292 NOTES *My thanks are due to a number of people who have read or heard earlier versions of this study and offered their comments, especially Friederike Hunnemeyer and other members of Bernd Heine's Grammaticalization Project in Cologne. 1.
The NEC languages are (Guthrie's numbers in parentheses, where available):
Sabaki:
Elwana, Pokomo (E71), Mijikenda (E72-73), Swahill (G40), Comorian (G40), Mwani, Mwiini.
Seuta:
Shambaa-Bondei (G23-4), Zigua-Nguu (G31, G34)
Ruvu:
Gogo-Kaguru (G10), Kwere-Zaramo (G32-33), Luguru-Kami-Kutu-Vidunda-Sagala (G35-39) , Doe.
? Pare:
Pare, Tuveta (G21-22)
Note that in the tree diagram the label EAfrican Bantu is a geographic, not a genetic label. 2.
There are also other auxiliaries, such as 'get, be-stay-remain, live', which
are less productive.
Givdn (1971) has a longer list and a discussion of the modal-
aspectual verbs from which tense/aspect markers are derived in other Bantu languages. 3.
The process illustrated in (4) is morphologically more complicated, involving
deletion of /-kuwa/ from the first verb and the subject marker of the second.
In
general, NEC languages (by contrast with e.g., Chaga) allow only one pre-stem morpheme, so that even the process illustrated in (2) involves deletion of the prestem marker of the incorporated auxiliary. 4.
The social/areal/typological situation outlined in section 4.2. might be
compared with the situation in western Europe over the last two thousand years, in which a small number of relatively large communities occupied relatively large geographical areas.
It is my feeling that the situation outlined in this section
is the more likely to have obtained during the development of most of the world's
293 languages during most of their history. this section has a wider validity.
That being so, what is being suggested in
294 APPENDIX 1:
Intersection of tense and aspect of Gikuyu (from Johnson 1980)
PERFECTIVE ASPECT /-ire/ FAR PAST /-a-/ MIDDLE
PERFECT ASPECT /-etc/
IMPERFECT ASPECT
IMMINENT ACTION
/-aga/
/-a/
a-a-hanyok-ire he-FP-run-pfctv 'he ran (before yesterday)'
a-a-hanyok-etc he-FP-run-pfct 'he had run (b. yesterday)'
a-a-hanyok-aga he - FP - run - imp f c t 'he was running (b. yesterday)'
a-ra-hanyok-irc he-MP-run-pfctv 'he ran (yesterday)'
a-ra-hanyok-etc he-MP-run-pfct 'he had run (yesterday)'
a-ra-hanyok-aga he-MP- run-impfc t 'he was running (yesterday)'
e-ko-hanyok-etc 'he had run (earlier today)'
e-ko-hanyok-aga 'he was running (e. today'
a-^-hanyok-ete 'he has run (some time ago)'
a-0-hanyok-aga 'he runs (habitually)'
NEAR PAST /-ko-/ a-0-hanyok-ire 'he ran (earlier today)'
a-a-hanyok-a 'he has just run' a-ra-hanyok-a 'he is running NEAR FUTURE /-ko-/
e-ko-hanyok-a 'he will run (later today)'
INDEFINITE (MIDDLE)
a-re-hanyok-a 'he will run (no definite time)'
FUTURE /-re-/ FAR FUTURE /-ka-/ later)'
a-ka-hanyok-a 'he will run (tomorrow or
295 APPENDIX 2:
Tense and aspect in Standard Swahili
PERFECT ASPECT
PROGRESSIVE ASPECT
CONTINUOUS/HABITUAL
/-tense-be, -me-main verb/
/-tense-be, -na-main verb/
a-li-ku-wa a-me-kimbi-a he-past-be he-pfct-run 'he had run'
a-li-ku-wa a-na-kimbi-a he-past-be he-prog-run 'he was running (at particular time)'
a-li-ku-wa a-ki-kimbi-a he-past-be he-cont-run 'he was running (continuously or habitually)'
a-me-kimbi-a 'he has run'
a-na-kimbi-a 'he is running (right now)'
a-ki-kimbi-a 'he running, if he runs'
ASPECT
PAST
a-li-kimbi-a he-past-run TENSE 'he ran' /-li-/
('Present')
/-tense-be, -ki-main verb/
(hu-kimbi-a 'he runs (habitually))' FUTURE a-ta-kimbi-a he-fut-run TENSE 'he will run' /-ta-/
a-ta-ku-wa a-me-kimbi-a 'he will have run'
a-ta-ku-wa a-na-kimbi-a 'he will be running (at particular time)'
a-ta-ku-wa a-ki-kimbi-a 'he will be running (habitually or continuously)'
In some situations, for some speakers, 'progressive' and continuous' may merge. Besides what is shown above, there are other combinatory possibilities.
296 APPENDIX 3.
Tense arid aspect in Ganda LONG PERFECT
SHORT PERFECT
/-e/
/-aka-/
PROGRESSIVE
CONTINUOUS (HABITUAL)
/-kya-/
/-anga/
tw-a-kol-a 'we worked (long ago)'
tw-a-li tu-^-koz-e we-FP-be we-work-LP 'we had worked'
tw-a-li tw-aka-kola we-FP-be we-SP-work 'we had just worked'
tw-a-li tu-kya-kola we-FP-be we-PR-work 'we were (still) working'
tw-a-li tu-^-kola we-FP-be we-CP-work 'we were working, used to work
tw-a-koz-e 'we worked (recently)'
tw-a-badd-e tu-0-koz-e 'we had worked'
tw-a-badd-e tw-aka-kola 'we had just worked'
tw-a-badd-e tu-kya-kola 'we were (still) working'
tw-a-badd-e tu-0-kola 'we were working'
'PRESENT'
tu-0-kola 'we work, are working'
tu-0-koz-e OR tubadde tukoze 'we have worked'
tw-aka-kola OR tubadde twakakola 'we have just worked'
tu-kya-kola OR tubadde tukyakola 'we are (still) working'
tubadde tukola 'we have just been working'
NEAR
tu-naa-kola 'we will work (soon)'
tu-naa-ba tukoze 'we will have worked'
tu-naa-ba twakakola 'we will just have worked'
tu-naa-ba tukyakola 'we will (still) be working'
tu-naa-ba tukola 'we will be working'
tu-li-kola 'we will work (later)'
tu-li-ba tukoze 'we will have worked'
tu-li-ba twakakola 'we will just have worked'
tu-li-ba tukyakola 'we will (still) be working'
tu-li-ba tukola 'we will be working'
FAR PAST /-a-
NEAR PAST /-a-.-e/
FUTURE /-naa-/ FAR FUTURE /-li-/
(HABITUAL)
tw-a-kol-anga we-FP-work-HA 'we used to work'
In the first (auxiliary) word of compounds, /-ba, badde, -li/ are forms of 'be'. is visibly changing:
1.
This syste
In the 'present', there is a choice between (older) one word, and
newer two word, structures.
2.
In the last column, related and neighboring languages have
complete set of /-anga/ suffixes, now lost in Ganda.
3.
In both futures, there is a choice
between the one word structures above (used by older speakers), and two word, Auxiliary + infinitive, structures (Auxiliaries 'come' -jja and 'go' -genda) used by younger speakers.
297 REFERENCES Bybee, J.L. 1985. Morphology. A Study of the Relation between Meaning and Form. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Comrie, B.
1976.
Aspect.
Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Givön, T. 1971. On the verbal origin of the Bantu verb suffixes. African Linguistics 2.2:145-163. 1973.
The time-axis phenomenon.
Guthrie, M. 1971. Comparative Bantu. Publishers Ltd.
Studies in
Language 49.4:890-925.
Vol. 2.
Farnborough:
Johnson, M.R. 1980. Temporal reference in the Kikuyu verb. Linguistics 11.3:269-320.
Gregg International Studies in African
Mould, M.J. 1982. Greater Luyia. In Studies in the Classification of Eastern Bantu Languages, eds. T.H. Hinnebusch, D. Nurse, M.J. Mould, pp. 181-230. Hamburg: Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika, Beiheft 3. Wald, B. 1976. languages.
Comparative notes on past tenses in Kenyan northeast Bantu Studies in African Languages Supplement 6:267-281.
Chapter 17
Head-Internal Relatives and Parasitic Gaps in Moore* C. Tellier
0. Introduction In this paper, I examine the distribution of parasitic gaps (PGs) in Moor6, a Gur language spoken in Burkina Faso. One interesting feature of PGs in Moor6 is that they apparently do not abide by the conditions which govern PGlicensing in other languages. In particular, PGs are sanctioned by gapless constructions, known as "internally-headed" relatives, where the nominal head remains internal to the clause. I propose an analysis whereby the apparently idiosyncratic distribution of PGs is ascribed to independent properties of Moor6 granfnar. This provides a simple explanation of the facts, where nothing special needs to be said about the licensing of PGs. Section 1 reviews the conditions under which PGs are generally assumed to be sanctioned. In Section 2, head-internal relatives are introduced. It is shown that while internal heads of relatives license PGs, resumptive pronouns (RPs) do not. A possible solution is outlined in Section 3: it is suggested that the S-structure A'-binding relation required for internal heads and precluded for RPs follows from a structural difference between externally and internally headed relatives. This solution, however, proves insufficient upon examination of a wider array of data. An alternative and more comprehensive analysis is proposed, which relates to two requirements holding of internal heads. These requirements - morphological marking and indefiniteness - are discussed in Section 4. In Section 5, it is argued that internal heads of rela-
299 tives are not in an argument position, but rather are moved to an A'-position in the syntax. Itie existence of this movement ("relative focus") finds support in the correlation between word order and 1) semantic interpretation, 2) the occurrence of PGs and 3) the distribution of floating quantifiers. Hie proposed analysis thus unifies in an appealing way two properties of head-internal relatives, viz. the constraints on internal heads and PG licensing.
1. PG Licensing Conditions
It has been observed that PGs are licensed at S-Structure by A'-bound gaps. This is illustrated by way of the well-known examples in (l)-(3). First, the licenser must be A'-bound: this distinguishes traces of movement to a nonargument position frcm NP-traces: only the former license PGs, as the contrast between (la-c) and (Id) shows:
(l)a. b.
Which booki did you file ti before reading ei He insulted ti by not recognizing ei , [his favorite uncle frcm Cleveland]!
c.
Not a single booki have I ever reviewed ti without reading ei
d. * The reporti was filed ti after Bill read ei
Next, PG-licensing pertains to the level of S-structure, as evidenced by the fact that Wh^words in situ are not possible licensers. On the standard assumption that Wh-^words in situ undergo LF-raising to GCMP, both
(la) and (2)
are structurally identical at the level of Logical Form, yet only the former is grammatical:
300 (2)* You filed which book before reading e
Finally, the licensing element is a gap, and not merely an A'-bound element. This stricter requirement is motivated by the behaviour of RPs. While RPs are ultimately A'-bound, they do not - at least in English - license PGs. This is shewn in (3):
(3)* This is the report that you knew the double agent who read it before filing e
I new turn to examine a construction in Moor6 where the nature of the licenser seems to pose problems for the above characterizations.
2. Head-Internal Relatives
Moor6 relativization takes one of two forms. Exemplified in (4) is a relative construction of the familiar type
(head-external), with a peripheral
head and a gap in the corresponding argument position.
\
/
/
/
\
/
/
/
\
/
(4) m ySa [biig ninga]i rawa sen seg ti w& lsg see child NDJ3A man REL meet DET "I saw the child that the man met'
The second type of relative clause is head-internal: there is no gap, and
301 the nominal head is within the clause, in what seems to be its D-structure position. An example is found in (5) - the head is underlined:
(5) m mil [raw& sen seg biiq ninaa w3] lsg know man REL meet child NINGA DET "I know the child that the man met'
My main concern will be with the latter type. Note first that in both types of relatives, the relative operator sen is obligatory, and always follows the subject; I assume, contra Haik, Koopman & Sportiche (1986), that sen is under the INFL node. Next, the marker ninaa must follow the internal head. It has been left untranslated in the examples since its status remains to be clarified (see section 4). For now, let us assume that ninaa in head-internal relatives functions as a head marker.
PGs are sanctioned in Moor6, as in other languages, by S-structure A'bound gaps. Head-external relatives (6a) and Wh-questions (6b) license PGs; and while Wh-phrases may remain in situ. (6c) is ill-formed:1 (6)a.
b.
/ / \ / • / * \ / / , \ m mil nebi [fo sen ta ti ] n yftol n ka yS ei ye lsg know people 2sg REL insult after NEG see NEG 'I know people that you insulted without having seen' \ / / • • / N \ / / koni bosi la [fo ta ti ] n ySol n ka y§ ei which children WH 2sg insult after NEG see 'Which children did you insult without having seen?' x
/
/
/
/
\
\
/ /
c. * fo t&> koot bosei n ySol n ka yfi ei 2sg insult which children after NEG see 'You insulted which children without having seen?'
302 Such a distribution is expected under the licensing conditions stated in Section 1. A puzzling fact, however, is that head-internal relatives license PGs, although they do not contain a gap. Consider (7):
\
/
/
/
/
/
N
S
\
\
S
/
\
(7) m mil [fo sen tA neb ninsbi n yaol n ka pogl ei wS] lsg know 2sg REL insult people NIN3A after NEG hurt DET 'I know the people that you insulted without having hurt'
Hie behaviour of internal heads with respect to PGs suggests that these NPs are A'-bound at S-structure. One way of effecting the desired binding relation involves parametrizing the indexing procedure of Chomsky
(1982). To
account for the fact that RFs, contrary to gaps, do not license PGs in English, Chomsky (1982) proposes that free indexing at S-structure is limited to elements in A-positions (and to moved elements originating in A-positions). In English, the resumptive pronoun strategy does not involve movement. Hence in relatives with RPs, the null operator must be base-generated in COMP (an A'position), and by the indexing procedure, it is not indexed at S-structure. The RP is thus not A'-bound at that level. If the presence of a S-structure A'chain is required for PG licensing, then it follows that RPs will not license PGs. In recent work, hcwever, evidence has been adduced that, in some languages, RPs behave like variables at S-structure. For instance in Palauan (Georgopoulos 1985), RPs, like Wh-traces, trigger morphological agreement. In other languages, e.g. Welsh (McCloskey 1983), Swedish
(Engdahl 1986), Hausa
(Tuller 1986), etc, RPs license PGs. It has been claimed that RPs in such cases are A'-bound at S-structure. If these RPs do not abide by Subjacency
(and some
have this property), then we must posit that the base-generated relative or Wh
303 operator bears an index at S-structure. That is, free S-structure indexing also affects elements in A'-positions in these languages. It would be tempting to extend this analysis to head-internal relatives in Moor6. But such a move encounters various difficulties. One of them is that the operator, being coindexed with a name, will quantify vacuously at LF, there being no variable for it to bind. This can be circumvented if it is assumed, following Williamson (1987), that internal heads of relatives raise to an A'-position at LF, thus creating a variable. A second difficulty has to do with parametrizing the level at which A'-positions are indexed. Apart from posing an obvious problem for learnability, this claim yields the wrong results. It predicts, for instance, that internal heads and RPs in Moor6 should pattern similarly with respect to PG licensing, since both are A'-bound. This is factually incorrect, as (8) shows:
>
/
*
/
X
•
/
s /
/
/
\
/
/
(8)* ad neb ninsi y3inb sen wan t'a Maari peib sbi la zaame n ySol n ka here people NINGA 2pl REL claim Corp Mary hit 3pl DECL yest. before NEG pogl ei hurt 'These are the people that you heard the claim that Mary hit them without hurting'
Hie underlined RP above is within a complex NP since RPs in Moor6, as in English, are most natural in positions where a gap would be impossible. Hie ungrammaticality of (8) establishes that RPs cannot license PGs. Given that PGs are sanctioned by internal heads but not RPs, the aim is to ensure that only the former Eire A*-bound at S-structure. That is, we need to force S-structure indexing of a base-generated operator just in case the relative is head-internal. I explore in the next section a plausible solution,
304 based on a structural difference between head-external and head-internal relatives: namely, in the latter case, the higher NP does not directly dominate the nominal head of the relative.
3. An Indexing Solution
Let us assume, for the sake of discussion, that head-internal relatives have one of the two structures of (9): they are either nominalized IPs followed by a determiner
(9a), or head-external relatives with an empty head (9b).
Whichever turns out to be the correct structure will not affect the final conclusions of this paper.2
NP11 / \ IP Det
(9) a.
I NP»i I sen
b. NP1! / \ N' Det / \ N IP I Z_A e I NP®i
In both cases, the indexing relations indicated in (9) must obtain: NP8 must be coindexed with NP1. Moreover, these relations must hold at S-structure since the phi-features of NP1 must be visible in PF for agreement; these phi-features can only be inherited from the head, N P 1 C o n s i d e r
(9a). Assuming that only
features of heads percolate, the index i must ultimately percolate via the head of IP, INFL. Hence at S-structure, INFL must be indexed, and its index must be the same as that of NP®. Then, NP® is coindexed at S-structure with INFL - and with the operator sen which I assume is in INFL. This operator then A'-binds
305 the internal head at S-structure. A similar story holds for
(9b): NP1 must
inherit phi-features at or before S-structure. But the external null head of NP1, I assume, bears no such features. It must then inherit these features from the semantic head, NP2. Such coindexing is again mediated through the head of IP. Hie coindexing between the head noun and IP, effected in head-external relatives at LF (or LF') by Predication, must crucially hold at S-structure in the case of head-internal relatives, again for reasons of agreement. The distinction between head-internal and head-external relatives, if both have structure (9b), lies in the fact that the external head has features in one case, but no features in the other. Hence, where the external head is overt, the whole NP has phi-features and no coindexing with IP (or CP) is required to hold at S-structure. Since in relatives with RPs the external head bears features, the distinction between internal heads and RPs is achieved: only the former are A'-bound at S-structure, as required. When we look at more data, though, we see that the occurrence of PGs is independent from any A'-binding relation holding between the operator sen and the internal head. Consider (10): \ / •/ / ' \ / // > > \ (10) ?* m yS5 a Maari sen tool kwasS rOms ninsbt zaame n ySol n lsg see Mary REL send vendor animals NINGA yest. before ka gOOlS ei NEG tame 'I saw the animals that Mary sent to the salesman yesterday without taming'
So far, I have examined head-internal relatives where the head was the only internal argument. (10) displays a double object construction: the direct object is relativized, as indicated by the presence of the marker ninaa. This
306 sentence is ungrammatical with a PG in the adjunct clause, although the underlined NP would be, by the precedent analysis. A'-bound by the relative operator. Note that the order of internal arguments in
(10) is perfectly
grammatical: the unmarked case in simple clauses is where indirect objects precede direct objects. Before proposing a solution to account for the data in
(10), we need to
look more closely at the properties of head-internal relatives, and more specifically at some restrictions which these constructions impose on their heads.
4. Restrictions on Internal Heads
Internal heads are subject to two requirements, which will be substantiated in turn in the following subsections:
(11)a. they must be immediately followed by ninqa; b. Hiey may not be definite.
4.1 Ninom
The marker ninaa is obligatory on the internal head of a relative: thus, (12) below without ninaa is impossible on the relative interpretation. Note however that it is, for seme speakers, well-formed on what I call the "clausal" or "nondnalized" interpretation, i.e. where the knowledge in (12) bears on the action, not the object of the action. That is, (12) without ninaa
307 could only mean, for those speakers, "I know
(the fact) that you insulted a
child yesterday". 7
\
/
/
/
'
'
s
/
s
'
(12) m mil fo sen ta biig «(ninga) zaame wS lsg know 2sg REL insult child NINGA yest. DET 'I know the child that you insulted yesterday* The marker ninga is only obligatory when the head is internal. Example (13), from Nikiema (1980), shows that external heads of relatives do not require - although they allow (cf. supra, example (4)) - the presence of the marker:
/
'
/
/
N
/
/
^
'
•
•
(13) dao w3 sen n wa a ka wa yaa mam zoa man DET REL came 3sg here DET is lsg friend 'Hie man who came here is my friend' The semantics of ninga differs according to whether it appears on the head of a relative, or on another NP. In simple clauses, ninga functions as an indefinite determiner: it is usually translated as "a certain" or "some". An example of this usage is found in (14):
\
/
\
/
\
/
/
/
(14) m karma sebr ninga zaame lsg read book NINGA yesterday 'I read a certain book yesterday' In head-internal relatives, however, ninga no longer has this interpretation; in (12) for instance, it simply indicates what is taken to be the head of the relative. It therefore has a syntactic, rather than a fully semantic, function. Nikiema (1980), who notes this double usage of ninga, refers to the marker in head-internal relatives as a "demonstrative". This terminology is mislead-
308 ing, as one would expect a demonstrative to modify any NP, not just heads of relatives. Given its function, it seems more appropriate to consider ninga a head marker when it occurs on heads of relative clauses.
4.2 Definiteness Effects
Internal heads of relatives may not be definite.4
In Moor6, the definite
determiner (w5. reduced toftin seme contexts) appears not only on nouns, but also on clauses and adjuncts: there, it denotes emphasis, presvgiposition, and perhaps specificity in the case of relatives. Hie main point here is that wS may not appear on an internal head - although it may modify the whole clause. Consider (15):
\
'
/
\
t
ti DO : PG D0> IO ti : PG DO IO : * PG
It is, then, only when the head of the relative appears in a position preceding the other complement that PGs are licensed; such licensing does not depend on a particular order of complements, but rather on the order of the head with respect to the other complement. This argues for a correlation between focus and object movement: in other words, the contrasts cannot be attributed to an independent property of double object constructions.
314 5.3
Q-Float
Hie
third
argument
I
internal relatives draws on follow an and
analysis of
Sportiche
(1986),
supporting evidence
will
the distribution
of floating
quantifiers. Here X
floating effects proposed by Kbopnan & Sportiche (1985) using
the
for movement.
rightward-floated quantifiers are which analyses
adduce in favour of focus-movement in head-
distribution
of
floating
quantifiers as
K&S observe that in a language like French, restricted
positing Q-movement
to the
to
specific
right cannot
positions,
a fact
easily explain. Ihey
propose that, instead, floating effects result from leftward movement of the NP away from the quantified NP. I have
argued elsewhere
(see Tellier 1986), that Moor6 has no Q-movement
to the right, and that the distribution of floating quantifiers subjects problem
falls of
entirely
focus-movement
under here
K&S's is
NP-movement the
behaviour
construed with
analysis. Relevant to the of
floating quantifiers
construed with objects. When
a
relativized
DO
precedes
floating quantifier construed with the DO the 10
- indeed,
this is
the only
the
10 in a head-internal relative, a
may appear
in a
possible position
position following
for the floating quan-
tifier. Riis is shown in (22):
(22) m na yaa a sen kos seb m n s a paga fa& zaame wS lsg FUT see 3sg REL ask bills NINGA 3sg wife all yest. DET 'I will see all the bills that he asked his wife yesterday'
315 If, as I have been assuming, the basic order of objects is IO-DO, then the floating quantifier Given, as I
have
provides direct
faS in
(22) occupies
mentioned,
that
evidence for
there
the D-structure position of the DO. is
leftward movement
tifier is simply left behind on the extraction in (22)
is intimately
rightward of the
Q-movement, this
DO in (22): the quan-
site. Note
again that movement
linked to focus interpretation in relatives. Indeed, if
the DO precedes the 10 without simple clauses
no
- then
being focused
- and
this is
what we
find in
the facts observed in (22) no longer obtain: a floating
quantifier associated with the DO can no longer appear in
a position following
the 10. Compare (23) to (22):
X
(23) *
/
\
'
X
/
,
/
/
v.
/
a kosa seba a paga faa zaame 3sg ask bills 3sg wife all yesterday "He asked his wife all the bills yesterday'
What (23)
shews is
that in
precede the indirect object,
it
simple clauses, though the direct object may has
not
undergone
syntactic
movement. For
otherwise, it would have left behind the quantifier in (23), paralleling the Qfloat facts of the relative in (22). While this contrast shows the alternate order of double object constructions in non-relative clauses to be an issue independent from movement, it argues for a direct relationship between
two
particularities
observed
in head-internal
relatives: the definiteness effect, which is linked to focus, and the licensing of PGs, which I attribute to the availability of focus-movement of the internal head.
316 Footnotes
*
This material was presented at McGill University and at the 18th Conference on African Linguistics, UQAM; I am endebted to the participants at these conferences. For ccmnents and discussion, I thank the following people, none of idiom should be held responsible for remaining errors: Mark Baker, Mohamed Guerssel, Isabelle Haik, Hilda Koopman, Jean-François Prunet, Dominique Sportiche, Lisa Travis, Laurie Tuller and Lydia White. Finally, my thanks go to two Mooré-speaking linguists whose help has been invaluable: Qimanuel Nikiema, who spent much time providing data and insights, and Henri Zongo, who checked the examples. Research for this paper was partly supported by a SHHRCC doctoral fellowship, #453-86-0617. Grants awarded to the African Linguistics Project, UQAM (SHHRC #411-85-0012, PCAR #87-EQ-2681) have also helped carry out the present research.
1. Moor6 is not an "object-drop" language, as the ill-formedness of (i) shows: (i) * m mil nebi n y5ol n ka yS ye lsg know people before NEC see NEG 'I know people without having seen (them)' Hence the gaps referred to in the text are truly parasitic, and cannot be interpreted as instances of the null pronominal object pro. 2. Cole (1987) argues against (9a) (and against (9b) with a non-coindexed empty head). His argument is based crucially on the claim that languages having head-internal relatives universally display certain properties: they are head-final (left-branching) across categories and in NPs in particular, and they allow null anaphora ("object/subject drop"). Cole argues that, given certain assumptions, only a structure like (9b), but with a coindexed empty head (a null anaphor), accounts for these cross-linguistic generalizations. However, since the generalizations in question do not extend to Moor6 (which displays none of these two properties), I find this particular argument inconclusive. 3. Verbs bear no overt number agreement in Moor£. Still, agreement is visible in, for instance, copular constructions. An attributive adjective must match in number and class marker with the subject, and if the subject is a relative, with the head of the relative. If agreement is a PF phenomenon, the features of the head must be visible at that level. 4. This requirement also holds in other languages with head-internal relatives, e.g. Lakhota (Williamson 1987) and Navajo (M. Guerssel, p.c.). 5. Multiply-embedded structures in Moori provide evidence that PGs must be ccomnanded by the A'-binder. Since in (17) the adjoined head does not cccranand outside the VP, we must assume that adjunct clauses are within that domain, i.e. they may be daughters of VP.
317 6. This is of course reminiscent of Bennis & Hoekstra's (1984) analysis of parasitic gaps in Dutch. They argue that the direct object in Dutch is leftadjoined to VP in the syntax, thereby accounting for the fact that, given a particular order of objects, gapless structures license PGs. Note however that in Dutch, such movement may occur in matrix clauses (where it licenses PGs) and does not correlate with a focus interpretation.
318 References
Bennis, H. & T. Hoekstra 1984. Gaps and Parasitic Gaps. The Linguistic Review 4:1, pp. 29-87. Chomsky, N. 1982. Concepts and Consequences of the Theory of Government and Binding. Linguistic Inquiry Monograph 6, MIT Press. Cole, P. 1987. The Structure of Internally Headed Relative Clauses. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 5:2, pp. 277-302. Engdahl, E. 1986. Constituent Questions. The Syntax and Semantics of Questions with Special Reference to Swedish. Dordrecht: Reidel. Georgopoulos, C. 1985. Variables in Palauan Syntax. NLLT 3:1, pp. 59-94. Haik, I. H. Koopman & D. Sportiche 1986. INFL en mooré et le liage dans le système A'. Second Rapport, Groupe de Recherche en linguistique africaniste, UQAM. Koopman, H. & D. Sportiche 1985. Theta-theory and Extraction. Paper presented at the CIA meeting, Université de Montréal. McCloskey, J. 1983. On the Binding of Resumptive Pronouns in Modern Irish. Paper presented at GLCW VII, York. Nikiema, N. 1980. Ed Gom Mooré: la grammaire du mooré en 50 leçons. Uhiversi té de Ouagadougou. Rochemont, M. 1986. Focus in Generative Graimtar. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Sportiche, D. 1986. A Theory of Floating Quantifiers. Paper presented at NELS 17, MIT. Tellier, C. 1986. Des quantificateurs flottants en français standard, en québécois et en mooré. Second Rapport, Groupe de Recherche en linguistique africaniste, UQAM. Tuller, L. 1986. Bijective Relations in Universal Grammar and the Syntax of Hausa. Ph.D. dissertation, UCLA. Williamson, J. 1987. An Indéfiniteness Restriction for Relative Clauses in Lakhota. In E. Reuland & A. ter Meulen (eds), The Representation of (In)definiteness. Cambridge, MIT Press, 168-190.
Chapter 18
AGR-drop and VP Focus-Fronting in Hausa* Laurice Tuller
1.
Introduction This paper is concerned with the conditions on the occurrence of
non-N3 empty categories.
Examples of empty AGR and empty VP in Hausa
provide fertile ground for exploration of the nature of these conditions and of the status of It^FL and its components in Hausa. We will look first, in section 2, at a phenomenon I call "AGRdrop", comparing it to other instances of empty nominals.
Then, in
section 3, we turn to VP Focus-Fronting, noting a minimal difference between empty VPs in Hausa and empty VPs in English and proposing that this follows by extending the conditions on empty nominals to empty VPs.
Finally, in section 3, constructions involving both AGR-drop and
VP Focus-Fronting will be examined and argued to be non-problematic for our analysis, when the affixai status of the components of INFL is taken into account.
2.
AGR-drop
2.1.
IhFL in Haisa INFL in Hausa, which is composed of subject agreement features and
tense/aspect features, does not behave like a morphological affix, contrary to its counterpart in languages like English or French.
Hausa
verbs display no inflectional morphology, except that a gerund form occurs in the continuous aspect.
That inflection is marked only on
INFL and not on V can be seen by examining the paradigms in (1), where II^FL, in the third person singular masculine in the left-hand column
320 and in the third person plural in the right-hand column, is written in all capitals: (1)
Paradigms for the verb tafi 'go' in the 3sm and the 3p
PERFECTIVE:
Ali Y W tafi Kanoo A 3sm go K 'Ali went to Kano'
SUN tafi Kanoo 3p go K 'They went to Kano'
REL PERF:
Waa YA tafi Kanoo? who Who went to Kano?'
Inaa SUKA tafi? where 'Where did they go?'
SUBJUNCTIVE:
Inaa soo Ali YA tafi Kano Is want A 'I want Ali to go to Kano'
FUTURE:
Ali ZAI tafi Kanoo
POTENTIAL:
Ali YAA tafi Kanoo
HABITUAL:
Ali YAKAN tafi Kanoo 'Ali goes to Kano'
CONTINUOUS:
Ali YANAA tafiyaa Kanoo 'Ali is going to Kano'
REL. CONT.:
Waa YAKEE tafiyaa Kanoo? 'Who is going to K.?'
\ ... SU tafi Kano 'I want them to go to K' ZAQ SU tafi Kanoo SAA tafi Kanoo SUKAN tafi Kanoo 'They go to Kano' / V SUNAA tafiyaa Kanoo 'They are going to K' / x Inaa SUKEE tafiyaa? 'Where are they going?'
Furthermore, the II\FL element displays none of the characteristics of clitic elements in Hausa. and the following V.
There is no tonal dependency between IlvFL
And, elements may intervene between INFL and a
preceding subject as well as between IIVFL and a following verb.
These
are the so-called adverbial or modal particles dai. fa, koo. kuwa. kuma. and ma. which, roughly speaking, add an emphatic interpretation. What is pertinent for our discussion here is the distribution of these particles (glossed PRT in the examples below). anywhere, except between a clitic and its host.
They may appear most So, for example, they
may appear between a verb and its noun direct object, as in (3a), but
321 not between a verb and a pronominal direct object, as in (3b), since these latter are clitics in Hausa. (3)
a.
Ali yaa san (dai) Muusa A 3sm know PRT M 'Ali knows liusa'
b.
Ali yaa san (*dai) shi A 3sm know PRT him (CI) 'Ali knows him'
The examples in (4) show that adverbial particles may appear both preceding and following INFL and thus that INFL has the behavior of any other independent word in Hausa. (4)
a.
Wani mutum (fa) YAA tafi Kanoo K some man PRT 3smPERF go 'A man went to Kano'
b.
Wadansu yaaraa (dai) SUN some children PRT 3pPERF 'Some children went to Kano'
c.
Ali YAA (dai) san shi A 3sfflPERF PRT know him 'Ali knows him'
d.
Ali YANAA (ma) tafiyaa Kanoo Ali 3smC0NT PRT going K 'Ali is going to Kano'
tafi Kanoo go K
2.2 flffi-drop The AGR morpheme may be omitted from the CONT, REL CONT, and HAB INFL forms in certain contexts in Hausa.-1 (5), where AGR is in parenthesis: (5)
a.
Abdu (YA)NAA tafiyaa Kanoo A INFL going K 'Abdu is going to Kano'
Some examples are given in
322 b.
A b d u (YA)KAN tafi Kanoo IIVFL go K A 'Abdu g o e s to Kano'
c.
N a a g a yaaroo [ wanda [ t (YA)KEE aikii a gidansu ]] Is s e e child who-that INFL work a t house-their 'I saw the boy w h o w o r k s a t their house'
d.
Waaj. [t t (YA)KEE son Abdu] who I NFL loving-of A 'Who loves Abdu?'
e.
AbdUi (nee) [t± (YA)KEE aikii a gidan sarkii] A FQC I N F L work a t house-of emir 'ABDU works a t the E m i r ' s house'
A summary of the distribution of AGR-drop is given in (6). 3
The
acceptability of AGR-drop when the adjacent subject or [SPEC, C P ] is overt is exemplified in (5a-b) and (5c-e), respectively.
(6)
Distribution of AGR-drop
Overt Lex. Subject OK
Overt Local [SPEC, C P ] OK
T r a c e in Local [SPEC, C P ] *
Overt TOPIC
Zero TOPIC
*
*
T h e impossibility of AGR-drop w h e r e the local [SPEC, C P ] contains only the (intermediate) trace of the subject, or w h e r e the subject position is null and linked to either an overt topic (in left o r right d i s l o cated structures) or a zero (or "discourse") topic is exemplified in (7).
(7)
a.
Su waa* [ Ali YA c e e [ t*. [ t* *(SU)NAA zuwaa]]]? they-who A 3sm say coming 'Mho (and all) did Ali say w a s coming?'
b.
Yaaron nan, pro #(YA)NAA aikii a gidan sarkii boy-the here work a t house-of emir 'As for this boy, (he) w o r k s a t the e m i r ' s house'
323 c.
pro *(YA)NAA taafiyaa Kanoo, Muusaa going K M '(He) is going to Kano, Musa'
d.
A:
e.
iikoo da yawaa Maalaamai SUNAA tsammaanii pro *(SU)NAA da teachers think with power a-lot 'The teachers think (they) have a lot of power'
Inaa Aabu? where A 'Where is Abu?'
B:
pro #(TA)NAA zuwaa coming '(She) is coming'
Study of the distribution of zero pronouns (pro) has led linguists to posit a recoverability condition on null pronouns that they must be identified by an element with minimal nominal features, which are taken to be the features of person, number, and gender (or phi-features). Languages seem to differ on the specific instantiation of this recoverability condition in that, while some languages require identification of empty pronominals to be local, other have no such restriction (cf. Tuller 1986).
We can propose the condition in (8), where the parenthe-
sized material represents the locality parameter on the identification of pro.
(8)
Phi-Feature Identification: pro must be identified (within the minimal clause that contains it) by the closest, possible identifier. In Hausa, for example, identification of pro may be nonlocal.
This can be seen by the fact that the identifier for pro may be outside of a WH-island containing pro.
Thus, both (9a), and (9b), where the
identifier is AGR, are grammatical in Hausa. (9)
a.
(Littaafin nan,) naa san [ waa [ ya rubuutaa pro]] book-the here Is know who 3sm write '(As for this book,) I know who wrote (it)'
324 b.
pro YAANAA shan taabaa 3sm drink tobacco '(He) smokes'
In a language like European Portuguese (Raposo 1986), on the other hand, identification of pro must be local.
(10a), a structure equiva-
lent to the grammatical (9a) of Hausa, is unacceptable in EP, even though a locally identified pro, as in (10b), equivalent to Hausa (9b), is possible.
(10)
a.
b.
*[o rapaz [que [trouxe pro mesmo agora da pastelaria]]] era o teu afilhado 'the boy that brought (it) right now from the pastry shop was your godson' 3 pro fuma '(He/she) smokes'
Suppose that Phi-feature Identification applies to all null nominal elements—including AGR, which also consists of phi-features, and that the locality of identification may be set differently-for I\Ps and for AGR.
Now, if we assume that identification of empty AGR in
Hausa must be local (the unmarked case, for learnability reasons), then the facts summarized in the table in (6) can be accounted for. (11)
Identification of empty AGR in Hausa is local Consider how (11) accounts for the array of facts in (6).
Assuming with den Besten (1978) and others that I NFL moves to COPF at LF so that TENSE will have scope over its clause, the structure in (12) is that which must meet the Phi-feature Identification requirement.
325 (12)
at LF
TOPIC' TOPIC
CP (= s-)
/\
SPEC
C'
C
IP (= S)
IIVFL AGR
I' TNS
e Empty AGR in (12) may be identified by either an overt subject that is in situ (i.e. in [NP,IP]) or a subject that has moved to the local [SPEC, CP].
A subject moved to a higher SPEC or an NP in TOPIC is too
far away to be an identifier of [AOR e 3.
A trace in subject position
or in the local [SPEC,CP] is not a potential identifier either, if we follow Bouchard (1984) in assuming that traces have no phi-features. Likewise, a subject pro is not an identifier since it, too, lacks phifeatures . Summarizing, the facts of AGR-drop follow naturally from an extension of the recoverability of null (VPs to include other types of empty categories—here, null AGR.
3. 3.1
V P Focus-Frcn ting V P Focus-Frcn ting as W f t t n e n m t of V P We turn now to examine another type of nan-M 3 empty category: VP.
Like other categories, VP may be focalized in Hausa.
Focalization
entails WH-movement to a pre-sentential position I have assumed to be [SPEC, CP] (cf. Chomsky 1996).
That VP Focus-Fronting is the result of
326 WH-movement is indicated morphologically by the fact that, as in other cases of Focus-Fronting, the form of the continuous and perfective INFL of the clause local to the fronted element must occur in the relative form, the form required in other WH-constructions such as question-word questions and relatives (see examples in (1) and (5) above).
Intermed-
iate INFLs optionally appear in the relative form, subject to dialectal variation (13) a.
b.
(cf. Tuller 1986:90-143). [Gyaara mootaataa] [ maataa SUKA yi ] repairing car—my women 3pREL PERF do 'Repairing my car the women did' [Karanta Gur'aanii] [ YA cee [ SUWA/SUKEE soo nu yi ]] reading Koran 3sm say 3p 3p wanting lp do REL CONT REL SUB 'Reading the Koran he said they want us to do'
I have argued in Tuller (1986) that VP Focus-Fronting is best analyzed as in (14), where a derivation of (13a) is given. (14) D-structure: [IF> maataa sun gyaara mootaataa ] 'Move-alpha': [c- [vi- gyaara mootaataa]!. [n- maataa suka t± ]] Trace Spell-out: [CT- [ W gyaara mootaataa]^ [XI- maataa suka yi ]] VP is moved to the front of S and the trace of VP is spelled out at Sstructure as vi. the verb 'do/make'.
It might be objected that the
fact that the V of the focussed VP is (necessarily) in the gerund form argues that this is not really ^
fronting, but rather fronting of an
M 3 object of ^i, as in (15): (15) * S—structure: [c^
gyaara mootaataa] j. [ maataa suka yi t* ]]
The analysis sketched in (15) is not tenable because gerund-headed VPs do ,not have the exact distribution of IVPS. In particular, they may not
327 appear as objects to certain verbs, among which is yi.
Compare (16a),
where the complement to yi is headed by a gerund, to (16b), where the it is headed by a derived nominal. 4 (16)
a. b.
#Sun yi [karanta tur'aanii] 3p do GERUND Koran Sun yi [karaatun tur'aanii] 3p do DERIVED N Koran 'They read the Koran'
The S-structure form of the focalized VI3 will therefore be taken to follow from other factors.
Here we will simply assume the descriptive
generalization in (17). (17)
V is finite where governed at S-structure by IfVFL with TENSE, where TENSE * CONT. Otherwise, V is nonfinite (i.e., a gerund). Yi here, in my analysis, is the spell-out of the trace of VP.
This spell-out can be shown to follow from the Head Government requirement of the Empty Category Principle (ECP).
In other words, VP Focus-
Fronting provides further support for the conclusion reached in work by Zagana (1982), Koopman (1984), and others, that verbal empty categories are subject to conditions such as the ECP and subjacency, originally proposed to account for the distribution of IVP empty categories. (18)
Head Government:
[e] must be governed by a lexical head*
By (18), we can conclude that yi is obligatory in the examples examined thus far because I NFL is not an appropriate proper governor for a trace in this position.
This analysis of yi in VP Focus-Fronting is support-
ed by the fact that NP traces may also be spelled-out as a way of
328 avoiding an ECP violation.
Thus, consider the example in (19):
(1?) Waaj. kuka zoo da »(shiij.) who 2p come with him 'Who did you come with?' Prepositions, like the IIVFL forms in the above examples, are not proper governors in Hausa. find, like ECP-required resumptive M-'s, resumptive VPs do not permit WH-island violations: (20) a. #[Karanta tur'aanii]j. Ali ya cee waa yakee 'Reading the Koran Ali said who does'
yii*. ]
b. #[ "Dan sarkii]i Ali ya san waa ya zoo da [r*- shiix ] 'The emir's son Ali knows who comes with him' There is one context in which VP Focus-Fronting does not entail an obligatory resumptive VP. This is where the governing INFL is in the continuous: (21) a.
b.
[Karanta kur'aanii] yaaraa sukee (yii) reading Koran children 3pC0NT doing 'Reading the Koran the children are doing' [Cin abinci da saurii] sukee (yii) eating food in haste 3pC0NT doing 'Eating food in a hurry they are doing'
From this, we may conclude that the continuous INFL (alone) is a proper governor in Hausa.
3.2 Empty VP in Hausa versus Empty VP in English There is an interesting difference between empty VPs in Hausa and empty VPs in English. English empty VPs may occur in constructions in which the VP has not been moved, but rather where it is base-generated
329 empty: (22)
a.
John has left and Bill has [ v i - e ] too
b.
A: B: B:
Are you writing a book? Yes, 1 am [vf- e ] No, but I know somebody who is [vt- e ]
These constructions, like those in Hausa containing NP pro (cf. (9) above), are not subject to the WH-island constraint, and the antecedent of the empty category may be in the previous discourse, as the above examples snow. In Hausa, however, empty VP complements to the continuous IMTcannot occur in these contexts, as (20a) and (23) illustrate. (23)
a.
b.
A:
A:
Kanaa rubuuta littaafii? 2smC0NT writing book 'Are you writing a book?' Kunaa son littaafiinaa? 'Do you like my book?'
B:
*Ii, inaa [vi- e ] yes IsCONT 'Yes, I am'
B: *Ii, inaa [vr- e 3 soosai 'Yes, I really do'
These observations lead us to conclude that sanctioning of empty VPs is in fact entirely parallel to the sanctioning of empty NPs. Empty categories which are the result of movement are identified by their coindexed antecedent, whereas base-generated empty categories (pro) must find an identifier. any element having phi-features. VP.
For a nominal pro, an identifier can be A VP pro is identified by a preceding
The difference between Hausa and English with regard to identifi-
cation of [vr- pro ] follows without additional machinery in the system outlined above to account for identification of empty IVP and empty AGR. Whereas in Hausa identification of [vr- pro ] must be local, in English, there is no such restriction:
330 (24)
English: Hausa:
4.
I may be a proper governor of VP Identification of VP may be non-local I may be a proper governor of VP Identification of VP must be local
AST-drop and V P Focus l~r u iting One last set of facts remains to be explained regarding AGR-drop
and VP Focus-Fronting.
Sentences like that in (25) are ungrammatical
in Hausa despite the fact that empty AGR has an identifier (the overt subject) and the fact that the trace of VP has a proper governor (the continuous INFL). (25)
»[Karanta tur'aanii] Ali e KEE] reading Koran A CONT 'Reading the Koran Ali is now'
t*. ] yanzu now
The ungrammatical sentence in (25) becomes acceptable when AGR is no longer empty or when the trace of VP is spelled-out, or, of course, when both AGR is present and the trace of VP is spelled out: (26)
a. b. c.
Karanta kur'aanii Ali e KEE yii yanzu Karanta fcur'aanii Ali YAKEE t x yanzu Karanta kur'aanii Ali YAKEE vii yanzu
In other words, AGR-drop and VP Focus-Fronting with an unspelled out trace are mutually exclusive.
Why should this be?
The facts in (25) are not incompatible with my analysis of AGRdrop and VP Focus-Fronting once the status of the TENSE component of I NFL is considered.
In section 2, it was argued that INFL is an
independent word in Hausa. not:
Suppose that TNS, on the other hand, is
331 (27)
T E N S E is an affix in Hausa
It seems reasonable to suppose that being an affix entails (28), w h i c h in turn entails (29):
(28)
A morphologically realized affix m u s t be realized a s a syntactic dependent a t surface structure (Lasnik 1981)
(29)
"syntactic dependent" = attached to a phonologically realized constituent
TENSE, a s an affix, m u s t be attached to s o m e phonologically constituent.
realized
Where A G R is overt, T N S m u s t attach to AGR, since AGR is
itself a syntactic dependent.
In AGR-drop structures, it would appear
that T N S m u s t cliticize to a following XP, since AGR is empty. However, when VP Focus-Fronting has taken place, s i n c e there i s therefore n o overt XP for T N S to a t t a c h to, AGR cannot be empty since T N S would remain unattached in violation of (28)-(29).
Hence the
ungrammaticality of (25), w h i c h has the structure (30).
(30)
*
I'
AG e
KEE
Now, if this explanation for (25) is correct, w e would e x p e c t that the adverbial particle test used in section 2 to establish the m o r p h o logical independence of INFL should also support the morphological dependence of TNS. borne out.
The examples in (31) show that this prediction is
(31a) shows that TNS cannot be separated from an overt AGR,
and (31b) shows that T N S in an AGR-drop structure c a n n o t be separated
332 from the following VP. (31)
a.
b.
5.
[, AGR (#PRT) 7NS] e.g.
[ x e TNS] (*PRT) VP e.g.
Ali YA (*kuma/dai) NAA tafiyaa Kanoo A 3sm PRT CCX>iT going K 'Ali is going to Kano' Ali e NAA (#ma) tafiyaa Kanoo A CONT PRT going K 'Ali is going to Kano'
9umnary To summarize briefly, I have argued here that non-NP empty
categories, as seems reasonable, are subject to the same recoverabi1ity conditions as empty NPs, and, in particular, that identification of pro (no matter what the category type) is governed by a locality parameter whose initial setting requires pro to be identified within the minimal clause containing it.
This setting may be "loosened", based on
category-by-category positive evidence.
Thus, for example, in Hausa,
Caot pro D and [ve pro ] must be identified locally, whereas
pro ]
may have a non-local identifier. This view of the sanctioning of empty categories has allowed for explanatory analyses of the particularities of the phenomena of AGRdrop and VP focalization in Hausa, and of a minimal difference between empty VPs in Hausa and empty VPs in English.
333 totes # Many thanks to Russ Schuh, Tim Stowell, Hagit Borer, and Isabelle Haik, and to the students of my Fall 1986 Chadic Structures seminar (UQAM) for discussions on various aspects of this work. This research was supported in part by a grant of the CRSH (#411-85-0012) of Canada and of the FCAR of Quebec (#87-EQ-2681). 1. The reason only these INFL forms display AGR-drop is presumably because, as the forms in (1) reveal, only in these INFLs can AGR be separated segmentally from the TENSE morpheme of IMT_. 2. The table in (6) and the accompanying examples represent one dialect/register of Hausa. Another, more liberal, set of judgements can be found, particularly in written Hausa. These, I argue in Tuller (1986), can be accounted for by assuming that the AGR node in INFL itself is optional in this register; thus, AGR-drop in this case involves no empty category at all. See Tuller (1986:390-396) for extensive discussion. 3. Null objects are possible in EP if not contained in a WH-island. This, plus related facts, leads Raposo (op. cit.), following Huang (1984), to analyze null objects as variables bound by an (empty) operator in [SPEC,CP]. This means, in terms of the analysis being developed here, that the empty category in question is identified within the minimal clause that contains i t — v i z . CP. 4. Gerunds, called primary verbal nouns in the Hausa literature, have all the properties of v e r b s — t h e y normally assign Case, etc• Derived nominals, or secondary verbal nouns, behave in all ways like n o u n s — e.g., they never assign Case (and thus an inserted preposition, the suffix - n on the nouns in (17b), is always required before an NP complement). For a summary of other differences between the two, see Tuller (1986). 5. I am assuming here a 'split' version of the ECP, whereby the ECP is derived from two separate conditions, (18) being one, and identification by a coindexed antecedent the other. See Stowell 1985, 1986, Travis 1984, Weinberg et al 1986, Koopman and Sportiche 1986 for various developments of this idea. Phi-feature Identification (8) can be viewed as being part of the identification-by-an-antecedent requirement (cf. Tuller 1986, and also Adams 1987 for discussion). My specific proposal here is that identification of base-generated empty categories (pro—whether nominal or verbal) has a locality parameter whose initial setting is "local".
334
References Adams, M. 1987. From Old French to the Theory of Pro-Drop. 5.1:1-32.
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Beeten, H. den. 1978. Auxiliary Deletions and the Interplay between Local Deletive Rules and Filters. Paper presented at the 1978 GLOW conference, Amsterdam. Ms., U. Amsterdam. Bouchard, D. Foris.
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Chomsky, N. 1986. Barriers. Linguistic Inquiry Monograph. Cam bridge: MIT Press. Huang, C.T.J. 1984. On the Distribution and Reference of Empty Pronouns. Linguistic Inquiry 15.4:531-574. Koopman, H. 1984. The Syntax of Verbs: From Verb Movement in the Kru Languages to Universal Grammar. Dordrecht: Foris. Koopman, H. and D. Sportiche. 1986. A Note on Long Extraction in Vata and the ECP. NLLT. 4.3:357-374. Lasnik, H. 1981. Restricting the Theory of Transformations: A Case Study. In Explanation in Linguistics: The Logical Problem of Language Acquisition, eds. N. Hornstein and D. Lightfoot. London and New York: Longman. Raposo, E. 1986. On the Null Object in European Portuguese. In Studies in Romance Linguistics, eds. 0. Jaeggli and C. SilvaCorvalan, pp.373-390. Dordrecht: Foris. Stowell, T. 1985. Null Operators and the Theory of Proper Government. Ms., UCLA. Stowell, T. 1986. Null Antecedents and Proper Government. Proceedings of l\ELS 16, Montreal.
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List of Contributors ftrgoujard, Jean-Pierre CW3S -LLAOR, 1 rue Albert Einstein, 06560 Valbonne - Sophia Antipolis FRANCE Bickmore, L e e S. 6235 Kester Ave. #22, Los Angeles, CA 91411
U.S.A.
Carter, Hazel Department of African Languages and Literature, 866 Van Hise University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 U.S.A. Demith, Katherine Department of Linguistics, Boston University, Boston, MA
0221 U.S.A.
D i m , Christian UQAM, Pavilion Ste. Catherine V-5755, 209 Est Ste-Catherine, C.P. 8888, Succ. "A", Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8 K M » Frajzyngier, Zygmunt Department of Linguistics, University of Colorado at Boulder, Campus Box 295, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0295 U.S.A. Haïk, Isabelle UQAM, Pavillon Ste. Catherine V-5375, 209 Est Ste. Catherine, C.P. 8888, Succ. "A", Montréal, P.Q. H3C 3P8 CANADA Hualde, José I. Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1693 U.S.A. Inkelas, Sharon Department of Linguistics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 U.S.A. Katada, Fusa Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1693 U.S.A. Mitaka, Ngessimo, li Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1693 U.S.A. Nicolai, Robert La Mamounia, Rue Neuve-Le Broc, 06510 Carros
Hall,
FRANCE
Nurse, Derek Department of Linguistics, Memorial Uhiversity of Newfoundland, St. Johns, Newfoundland A1C 3X9 CANADA
336 Ftetersm, Karen D e p a r t m e n t of L i n g u i s t i c s , U n i v e r s i t y of C h i c a g o , 1 0 1 0 E . 5 9 t h S t r e e t , Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A. Prunet, Jean-Francois D e p a r t m e n t of L i n g u i s t i c s , U h i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 369-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1W5 CANADA Schvih, R i s s e l l G . D e p a r t m e n t of L i n g u i s t i c s , U C L A , L o s A n g e l e s , C A 9 0 0 2 4
U.S.A.
Tellier, Christine D e p a r t m e n t of L i n g u i s t i c s , U h i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , 369-1866 Main Mall, Vancouver, B.C. V6T 1W5 CANADA Tuller, Laurice Afrikaanse Taalkunde, Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, Postbus 9515, 2 3 0 0 R A L e i d e n T h E f^ETVERLANDS