Current Approaches to African Linguistics: Vol 7 [Reprint 2013 ed.] 9783110884906, 9783110130461

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Current Approaches to African Linguistics (vol.7)

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 way, it is hoped that important work can be brought to the attention of a wider linguistic audience including scholars who are not primarily concerned with African linguistics but who wish to keep abreast of recent advances in the fields of historical linguistics, theoretical phonology and linguistic typology, all of which, incidentally, tend to rely rather heavily on African language data. At the same time, the editors intend to include occasional volumes which 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 who specialize in other areas. Throughout the series an attempt will be made to strike a healthy balance between theory oriented and data oriented research. Editors:

Advisory

George N. Clements Didier L. Goyvaerts

John Goldsmith (Bloomington, Indiana) Claire Grégoire (Tervuren) Frank Heny (Middlebury, Vermont) Larry M. Hyman (Los Angeles, California) William R. Leben (Stanford, California) Thilo C. Schadeberg (Leiden)

Other books in this

board:

series:

1. Ivan R. Dihoff (ed.) Current

Approaches

to African

Linguistics

(vol. 1)

2. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal The Turkana

Language

3. G.N. Clements and J. Goldsmith (eds.) A utosegmentai

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)

to African

Linguistics

(vol. 3)

to African

Linguistics

(vol. 4)

6. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (ed.) Current

Approaches

7. David Odden (ed.) Current

Approaches

8. Paul Newman and Robert D. Botne Current

Approaches

to African

Linguistics

(vol. 5J

9. Isabelle Haïk and Laurice Tuller Current

Approaches

to African

10. Mary M.Clark The Tonal System

of Igbo

Linguistics

(vol. 6)

John P. Hutchison and Victor Manfredi (eds)

ν 1990

FORIS PUBLICATIONS Dordrecht - Holland/Providence RI - U.S.A.

Published by: Foris Publications Holland P.O. Box 509 3300 AM 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

ISBN 90 6765 498 1 © 1990 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 from the copyright owner. Printed in the Netherlands by ICG Printing, Dordrecht.

Introduction This volume contains a selection of papers from the 19th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Boston University, April 15-17, 1988. Seven of the papers are by speaker-linguists. There were more than 100 presentations at the conference (for which nearly 200 abstracts were submitted). Unfortunately, many invited participants were unable to finance their travel from Africa to Boston. Papers from the April 14 workshop on literature, literacy and applied linguistics, which opened the 1988 conference, appear in a volume edited by Jennifer Yanco and published by Boston University African Studies Center. Although many of the papers in this volume cross the boundaries of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics, we have divided them into these categories. Mainly in the interest of space, we undertook major editorial revisions; we are grateful for the authors' cooperation in this effort. On the first page of each article appears the author's institutional affiliation at the time of the conference. The author's current contact address can be found at the end of the article, immediately before the references. The text has been set on the Macintosh SE and Apple LaserWriter in Palatino 10 and JOLAN PanNigerian 12, the latter being a preliminary font developed in cooperation with the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Education. Thanks to Rose-Marie Déchaîne and Yared Amare for their help. The editors

Table of Contents Phonology 1. The role of accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula Moussa Bamba 1 2. Palatalization of labials in Tswana Alicja Gorecka 15 3. Geminate clusters, morphological levels, and syllable structure in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic John Keegan 19 4. Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns Ngessimo Mutaka 29 5. Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale Emmanuel Nikiema 41 6. "Focus" in Gere configurational constraints Carole Paradis 53 Morphology 7. On the morphology of Akan serial constructions Barn. Forson 8. Adressatif et causatif en fulfulde Boureima Gnalibouly 9. A propos d'un dictionnaire shingazidja-français Michel Lafon 10. Morpheme-based lexicon: further evidence from Arabic Mahmud Huseini Salih 11. A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation Koichi Tateishi Syntax 12. Elements of a typology of applicatives in Bantu Mark C. Baker On resumptive pronouns in creole languages 13. Alexander F. Caskey 14. Locative inversion in Chishona Carolyn Harford 15. Clitic climbing and barrierhood of VP Marco Haverkort 16. Sesotho causative formation and S-bar complements 'Malillo Machobane 17. The internal structure of PPs in Amharic Mireille Tremblay and Ouadia Kabbaj

63 67 73 89 99

Ill 125 137 145 159 , ,,167

Semantics 18. Discourse strategems in a Maasai story Keith Allan 179 19. The Chaga consecutive construction Michelle Emanatian 193 20. Verb serialization in Yorubá and Givón's binding hierarchy Adenikç S. Lawal 209 21. On the Haitian predicate cleft construction John Lumsden and Claire Lefebvre 219 22. Metaphor and derivational morphology in Emai Ronald P. Schaefer 227

Chapter 1

The role of accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula Moussa Bamba, Université du Québec à Montréal

This paper offers a metrical analysis of tone in Odyene Dyula (le dioula d'Odiénné), a Manding language spoken in Côte d'Ivoire. My analysis explains tonal alternations which a non-accentual approach cannot. First, I present the facts in terms of Braconnier's (1982-83) tonal analysis. Second, I show that some of his rules are arbitrary. Finally, I give a metrical analysis in which tonal behavior, including downdrift, is predictable.1 1. The tones of Odyene Dyula The underlying tones are L (low) and H (high). At the surface level, the following tonal alternations are found: 1.

L

lowered L in final position

H lowered H in final position; weakened initial H before LH M L raised to mid after H H

L raised to H before H

H

superhigh (not clearly defined by Braconnier)

The surface tone marking used in this paper is as follows: 2.

[χ ]

low (L)

[χ]

mid

[χ]

high (H)

[χ]

lowered low (L)

[χ]

lowered and weakened high (H)

[ χ]

superhigh (H)

The underlying tone of nouns appears before tè 'it is not'; the underlying tone of verbs appears after mà 'has not, did not': 3a. b.

JÌ tè

'It is not water'

CE tè

'It is not a man'

ì mà bo

'You did not leave'

Á mà tá

'It has not been taken'

Note that a trisyllabic high-tone noun with a "weak" consonant in medial position will be HHL or HLL: 4. a

[ mÉlékè ]

'angel'

[ misiVÌ ]

'mosque'

This study was supported by grants C S R H 411-85-0012, FCAR 87-EQ-2681. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 1-14 (Dordrecht: Foris)

2

Bamba

1.1 S u m m a r y of B r a c o n n i e r ' s a n a l y s i s Late rules. R1

optional: [RI, R2}

obligatory: {R3, R4}

Lowering of final L: / . . . L L L / -» [ . . . L L L ]

[...__.]

/Ì mà tùrù yè b à / - > [ ì mà tùrù yè bà ] R2

Lowering of final H: / . . . H H H / -» [ , , . Η Η Η ] / Ì ná kórodó/

R3

-» ->

[ Ì ná kórodó ]

->

/Dëë mà ná s à / - »

[Àmâjèbè]

-

_]

( Hi * weakened H) Ά child didn't come'

J [H] /

'The child didn't come' L Ί #

J

_ H 'You didn't shout'

[ Ì mà kùlè ]

'You didn't run'

[ Ì má bòri ]

R6

]

[ Dèe mà ná sà ]

Raising of L before H: / L /

[..."

'We haven't been insulted'

[Dé má ná ]

Feature-changing rules: R5-10

- ]

'You will snore'

Downdrift: / . . . H i L H 2 L.../ - » [ . . . " _ - _ /De mà n á /

R5

[...

Raising of L to M after H: / . . . H L L . . . / -> / . . . H M L . . . / /ÀmàjÈbè/

R4

'You haven't seen oil yet'

[ î mà tùrù yè ]

'You didn't see oil'

[ Ì mà túrú tá ]

'You didn't take oil'

[ Ci mà kùlè ]

Ά man didn't shout'

[ Ce mà bórí ]

Ά man didn't run'

Tone docking: Τι Τ 2

T1T 2

/ e ν+ / Τι τ 2

[c ν ν] τιτ | 2

(condition: Ti * T 2 )

[C ν ν ]

(condition: Ti * T 2 )

I

Κ

/ C V V+ Τι τ 2

I

/

—»

Τι (condition: Ti = T 2 )

- >

[C ν ]

/mélékè + ' /

->

[ mÉlÉkèÉ ]

/Á t¿ á y è r à /

—>

L A taa yera J

/I na na +

-»

[ Ì ná nàà ]

'Will you come?'

—>

[ Jeé yènì ]

The squash has been seen' 'You did not pray'

/ c ν+

/Je

/

/

'yènì/

Γ

/ ì mà ì sèi/ /Á ná á míná/

/

%

Ν -ι

[ Î mi sèi ] - >

[ Á ná míná ]

'the angel' 'He does not see him'

'He will catch him'

Accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula

R7

R8

Λ9

Weakening of initial H: / H / -> [H] / #. L H /bésé + ' / -> [ bése ] /mélÉkÈ + ' / -> [ mélékÈÉ: ] /sámara + ' / -> [ samará ] Tone detachment: Ti T 2

Ti -»

[C V V]

/Je" + tání/

->

[ Je +táni ]

Lowering of initial H: L H H

L

->

/Á mà á gbísí/ ->

'the machete' 'the angel' 'the shoe'

T2

/CV(CV)/

/V +V C V /

RIO

3

L

(Tl*T2) Ά squash has been taken'

H

[V + V C V ] [ Á mà gbísí ]

'He did not beat him'

Raising of an expressive adverb in final position: /Á bàrà bâ p è w ù /

[ Á bàrà bä p é w ú ]

'It's completely finished'

Lexical rules: Rll-14 Rll

Initial tone association: H L H L [* · . . gb5.be rε

H

H

ί·..

Γ'·,

I V . .

be.se

mu r u

CV(CV(CV))

i

R12

ηιε 1ε. ke

Selection of allomorph: / H L / before H; / H / elsewhere. Ά knife hasn't been seen' [ múrú mà yè ] Ά knife was taken'

[ múrú tànì ] R13

L

Associative construction rule: /Ti#T2/ -»

[Ti L]

(Ti = the first tone on the first member) /mósó # k ü /

[ mósókü ]

'woman's head'

/wàrà # kü/

[ wàràku ]

'panther's head'

/gb5b£rè # k ü /

[ gb5b£r£kü ]

/ b á # mósó/

->

'she-goat'

[ bàmòsò ]

/m£l¿k¿ # mósó/ —> [ mÉlékÉmòsò ] R14

'red-haired person's head' 'angel-woman'

Rule of assignment of L to expressive adverbs: / Expressive adverb / - > [ L ] / _ + (where "+" indicates nonfinal)

The blocks of rules apply in this order: lexical, feature-changing, late.

4

Bamba

2. Problems with Braconnier's analysis This rule system poses problems which are difficult to solve at the tonal level. R4 says that H preceded by L cannot be weakened, while R5 says that L shares with # the property that a following LH becomes HH. R7 says that initial H is weakened after #, contradicting either R4 or R5. In order to prevent R7 from bleeding R4, two types of # must be distinguished: "real" # which has no weakening effect, and "boundary" # which acts like L. If the set of underlying tones is / H / and / L / , how can / H / and / H L / be allomorphs, as claimed by R12? R12 cannot be lexical: the selection of / H / or / H L / is conditioned by the following tone and therefore cannot be a property of the morpheme itself. Some initial Hs are preceded by "boundary" L. In order to produce the correct tone associations in Rll, Goldsmith's (1976) Well Formedness Condition needs to be supplemented by a diacritic "star". R6 requires the operation of Leben's (1973) Obligatory Contour Principle, but R12 bleeds the OCP by breaking up HH sequences. In isolation, a morpheme bearing / L H / and one bearing / H L / both surface as [H] (by R5 and R12 respectively). Some notion of "tone association domain" is necessary to account for the failure of these Ls to surface. In this system, L is conspicuously absent from surface forms, cf. also R3. This is not predicted if the inventory of underlying tones is simply [H, L). Underlying H acts as a trigger for all sorts of tonological processes, whereas underlying L triggers nothing at the tonal level. Braconnier's analysis doesn't explain this asymmetry. These problems can be solved in terms of accent. I propose that a lexical H tone is a binary [s w] constituent, whereas L tone is the absence of accent. 3. The accentual hypothesis 3.1 H behaves like an accent I claim that H in this language is an underlying accent which, at the lexical level, is realized as a H tone in a domain strictly limited to two syllables. Words like bá 'goat', múrú 'knife', bésé 'machete', mÉlIkè 'angel', fitina 'oil lamp' etc. are all [s w] at the accentual level. The first question that arises is why the [w] position is realized only on words of more than two syllables. Braconnier says that liquids, nasals and γ are "neutral" consonants (= Co). For him, CVCoV words behave tonally like monosyllables. On the contrary, I consider CVCoV sequences to be composed of two-syllables, but propose that Co cannot constitute the boundary of a prosodie domain, so that a CVCoV sequence can bear just a single tone. This is illustrated below. H L 5a.

b.

tu r u L

re H

t túrúré]

ka r a . k a

re

[ kàràkàré ]

'It's oil'

'It's a bed'

Accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula L

5

H

JV Hf\ 1 Î ha.ki rl

re

->

n . v - 1 LhaklrireJ

me lc.k£ H L

re H

->

[métékÈré]

b.

f i . t i na Η

re Η

->

[fítináré]

'It's an oil lamp'

e.

muru Η

->

[murùré]

'It's a knife'

-»

[béseré]

-»

[túrú]

->

[basa]

—>

[mùru]

->

[bése]

c.

6a.

d.

7a.

b.

c.

d.

e. f.

1

IΚ Κ

Ir e

'It's an angel'

Η

Κ

Ir e

be.se L

•

Κ

•

H

[\

-

H

Κ *

H

ba.sa H muru H

L

Kl· wo ro.to H Ll\ + I sa.fi na

'It's a machete'

H

Κ

tu r u L

be.se H

'It's intelligence'

'the oil'

'the lizard'

'the knife'

'the machete'

H 'the cobra' H

->

[wóróto]

->

[safîna]

'the soap'

(5) shows that the H tone of the "focus" morpheme ré spreads onto the preceding word, affecting sometimes one syllable (5b), and sometimes two (5a, c), depending on whether or not the last consonant of the noun is a Co· The Η-spreading seen in (5) is involved in (6b). (6c-d) are more complicated: an L tone is apparently inserted between the two Hs (or, as Braconnier says, the /HL/ allomorph is chosen).

6

Bamba

In (7), the definite morpheme, a H tone suffix, has to share the same association domain with the tone(s) of the noun. (7c-d) show clearly that the OCP doesn't intervene in the derivation. One can also see that only one H is phonetically possible on a CV(CoV) domain. Braconnier calls this the L-tone raising domain (LTRD); I call it the minimal accentual domain (MAD). A syllable with an empty onset (OV) also counts as a MAD. 3.2

The m i n i m a l a c c e n t u a l d o m a i n

At the segmental level, CV and CVCoV differ: CV is one syllable while CVCoV is two. But these structures reveal the same prosodie behaviour. If they bear L tone, they are raised to H when followed by H. If they bear H tone, they are realized as entirely H in isolation. Bearing H, and followed by H, they surface as LH. For these reasons, the term domain coherently identifies them. The term minimal is justified because larger structures can bear H (e.g. the verbs kirïdi 'to burp', kor5do 'to snore', yogo 'to move'). The domain is accentual because of the behaviour of tone, as I will now show. Lexically, a morpheme is either unaccented (it bears underlying L) or accented (it bears H = a [s w] foot). I will say the foot is immediately constructed if there is a H tone. The [s] node dominates the whole domain of the H and the [w] node dominates the rest of the morpheme: 8· prosodie level:

1

[accentual level: tonal I level:

segmental level:

w I H

w H

/CVCV/

/CVCoVCV/

/CVCVC 0 V/

/CV/

The segmental units are morphemes which bear H or L. The accentual level automatically analyzes any H as the [s] node of a foot: any morpheme with H is accented. In isolation, the domain associated with the H tone is realized [H]. In a non-derived lexical item, H associates to at most two syllables (= one MAD). In verbs, as mentioned above, H associates to more than two syllables; this also happens in compounds (associative constructions): 9a.

/kólá # kálá/

—>

[ kólogàlà ]

'pestle' 'pestle price'

b.

/kólò # kálá # s5gp/

c.

/námásá # tígí/

d.

/námásá # tígí # kò/ - »

[ námásátÍTÍkó ]

e.

/bá#kó/

[bákó]

'goat problem'

f.

/bá#kü/

[bákü]

'goat head'

g-

/jì # kò/

—»

[jìkò]

h.

/JÌ # dágá/

—>

[jidàìà]

[ kólogálázSgo ] —>

->

[ námásáti-yl ]

'banana owner' 'problem of banana owner'

'water problem' 'water jar'

7

Accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula

The associative construction yields a lexical unit which, as a noun, bears one of the tone patterns (H, L, HL}. Depending on the tone pattern of the first member, the result is either [HL] or [L]. / H H / , / H L H / , / H H H / and / H H L / all result in [HL]. If the first tone of the first member is H, the tone pattern of the compound is [HL], where the L dominates the right hand member. L as the first tone of the first member makes the compound bear L throughout. Most Manding languages exploit the associative construction to create new words. In Mahou, morphemes bear lexical H, L, H(L) or LH(L), and a compound bears one of these four patterns (Bamba 1984). Abidjan Jula, Kankan Maninka and Bamako Bambara have lexical H or L; 2 compounds bear a H or L pattern, depending on the first tone of the first member. Note these differences: 10a. Lexical items which bear H in Odyene Dyula bear L in Abidjan Jula, Kankan Maninka and Bamako Bambara; those with L in Odyene Dyula bear H in the other languages (Braconnier 1982). b.

The semantically indefinite form of a Odyene Dyula item with lexial H is [HL], if this item has more than one MAD (CVCoV or CV). In Abidjan Jula, Kankan Maninka and Bamako Bambara, an item with L is realized [LH] if it has more than one syllable.

Given (10a), the behaviour in (10b) is logical. It is necessary to contrast / L / and / H L / patterns in Odyene Dyula, / H / and / L H / in the others. Some linguists analyze the second constituent of the contour tone as a floating element, cf. Rialland and Sangaré 1985.^ Others consider the contour tone to be an underlying allomorph of H in Odyene Dyula, or of L in the other systems, cf. Braconnier 1988. Still others analyse it in relation to a phrasal tone, cf. Inkelas et al. 1986.4 The last hypothesis allows a logical prosodie derivation. If there existed a phrasal ("intonational") tier capable of providing morphemes with tones, contours would be derived as in (11): 11. Odyene Dyula other three languages phrasal tone tier: L H lexical tone tier: segmental tier:

H '·. CV.CV

L \ CV.CV

If tone association takes place first from the lexical tone tier, one can explain why phrasal tones appear on the final syllable. But no one has yet The HL pattern onsisà 'now', kúnu 'yesterday' marks an underlying [s w] foot. •'These authors consider the H of the specific form of Bambara nouns as a floating, phonological liaison independent of the tone pattern of the noun, which marks the category 'morpheme' ("marque de la catégorie lexème") in this language. In the approach adopted in this paper, it is contradictory for the liaison-Η to be independent and also to mark the noun. 4 The phrasal tier (a phrase is an intonational unit) is identified as a superordinate tonal tier. The interaction of lexical and phrasal tones in Hausa results in prosodie effects including the phenomenon of downdrift. 2

8

Bamba

explained the nature of so-called phrasal tones. The regularity in the behaviour of tones in Manding languages requires a phonological account which tonology fails to offer. I adopt the position that any prosodie variation is either related to something present at lexical level, or else brought about by the morphology. Let me elaborate on some relevant notions in Manding. 3 . 3 G e n e r i c vs. s p e c i f i c , i n d e f i n i t e vs. d e f i n i t e In Mahou (a Mandekan language), a generic noun is phonetically identical to an indefinite noun. There is a [+definite] suffix -γο. Consider these nouns: Η 12a.

ba.sa

[ b á s á ] '(a) lizard'

+ -γο-» [ básáó ] 'the lizard

[ g b ú s ú ] '(a) gizzard'

+ - 7 0 - » [gbúsúó ] 'the gizzard'

[ l à w à ] '(a) hoe'

+ - y o [ làwàó ] 'the hoe'

H (L) b.

gbu.su L

c.

la.wa L

d.

H (L)

so.so

[ sòsó ]'(a)mosquito'

+^0—> [sòsóò ] 'themosquito'

The -γο suffix triggers superhigh tone [ χ ], either on the suffix (12a, c) or on the root (12b, d), depending on the root töne pattern.^ In Odyene Dyula, a noun like 'mosquito' has three surface realizations: H L

[\

13a.

so.so H

te L

-»

[sósótÈ]

'It's not mosquitos (generic)'

b.

so.so Η

te H L

-»

[sósòtÈ]

'It's not a mosquito (indefinite)'

c.

so.so

t£

—>

[sósotÈ]

'It's not the mosquito (definite)'

Κ κ I

In (13b-c), the L on the second syllable of the output is not due to the L of / t è / . The definite form (c) clearly contains its an additional L tone morpheme, and I would like to say that this occurs in the indefinite form (b) as well. 5

The last syllable bearing the H of a contour tone H(L) becomes superhigh. The phonetic form [gbúsúó] in (12b) corresponds to [gbúsúó] proposed in Bamba 1984. Subsequent research, including instrumental study by W. Leben at the Stanford University phonology laboratory, has shown that only the last syllable is accented, in the definite form of nouns bearing / H L / .

Accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula

9

In Manding languages, citation forms may be indefinite or definite, but even if there is no tonal difference, they are always specific. Any^ tonal alternation on the citation form marks specificity: [soso] is generic, [soso] is specific. 6 In both Odyene Dyula and Kankan Maninka, you can refer positively only to a specific noun (i.e. it must be either indefinite or definite). In Kankan Maninka, the paradigm for 'mosquito' in the negative is as follows: L H

Κ l\ κ I

14a.

so.so L

te Η

—>

[ sòsòté ]

'It's not mosquitos (generic)'

b.

so.so L

t£ L H

-»

[ sòsoté ]

'It's not a mosquito (indefinite)'

c.

so.so

te

—>

[sòsote]

'It's not the mosquito (definite)'

The specific form is marked by a tonal morpheme, which forms a tone contour if the lexical tone differs. Odyene Dyula nouns with two or more syllables have a / H L / pattern on the specific form. If the tone of the noun is identical to the specific morpheme, the OCP intervenes: in Kankan Maninka, básá t£ —> [básate] 'it is not a lizard'; in Odyene Dyula, basa te —» [basate]. The specific tone has no relationship with the following morpheme at the tonal level. Why doesn't the specific morpheme show up on monosyllables? Monosyllabic * / H L / is excluded in Odyene Dyula, and monosyllabic * / L H / is excluded in Kankan Maninka; a context where these patterns appear on one syllable implies something at the accentual level. In Manding languages, the definite form is systematically related to a superhigh tone which sharply distinguishes the specific and definite forms (cf. 12-14). Recall that downdrift fails to affect te in (14b), whereas te is downdrifted in (14c). Because the relation between the noun and the definite morpheme is accentual, we observe the accentual effect only on definite nouns. Trisyllabic nouns show that the accent is limited to the final syllable of the noun in (15) and (16).

6

In English, which uses articles to distinguish indefinite and definite nouns (a man vs. the man), the generic form appears without an article (men). I don't know why the generic form of an English count noun coincides with the plural form, but there is no doubt that the article is excluded in a generic interpretation (apart from species, e.g. The lion is a fierce animal).

10

Bamba

15.

Odyene Dyula

generic!specific

definite

a.

'handcart'

wó. tòro

wó.tòró

b.

'cobra'

wóró.tò

wóró.tò

c.

'banana'

námá. sà

námá. sa

d.

'shoe'

sámara

sámárá

e.

'cataclysm'

fî.tînà

fî.tînà

16.

Kankan Maninka

generic

specific

definite

a.

'handcart'

wò.tòrò

wò.tóró

wò.tóró

b.

'cobra'

wòrò.tò

wòrò.tó

wòrò.tó

c.

'banana'

nàmà.sà

nàmà.sà

nàmà.sà

d.

'shoe'

sàmara

sámárá

sàmàra

e.

'cataclysm'

fí.tíná

fí.tíná

fí.tíná

If / C V / is prosodically identical to /CVCQV/, /woro.to/ has two tone association domains CVC()V and CV, while /samara/ divides into CV and CVCoV. The output of the specific form thus respects the WFC. The specific form of the noun is identical to the generic form in Odyene Dyula because H in that language is automatically interpreted as a [s w] foot. In Kankan Maninka, a specific H tone morpheme is present, and it covers two syllables in (27a, d, e). The definite forms of these nouns have a final accent preceded by a H. Thus, in Kankan Maninka, the formation of the specific form is tonal, while the definite is accentual. But even Manding languages like Mahou which do not oppose a generic form to a specific one have an accent either on the noun or on the definite morpheme/ So an accentual analysis of the definite form is to be preferred over a tonal one in Mandekan. Yet, the tonal level in Mandekan cannot be ignored. In Odyene Dyula, it permits us to distinguish tone-spreading in morphemes of more than one syllable and those where the OCP is involved, from tonal processes which apparently violate the WFC and OCP. In (17-18), α and β are the minimal association domains of Η in verbs and compound nouns.

7

The domain created by the suffixation of the definite morpheme (with or without a segmental constituent) contains an accented position. At this stage of the research, the site of this accent seems to be either the last syllable of the noun or the definite morpheme itself.

11

Accent in the tonal system of Od yene Dyula

17a. b. c.

/ία /[α /[α

d.

/[«

e.

da

s

w

w

s

s

w

w

s

w

s

s

w

]/ ]/

]

[β

]

[β

]

[β [β

f.

/[α

]

18a.

/[α

]/

b.

/[α

]

c.

/[α

]

d.

/[«

e.

/[α

s

w

w

s

] ]

s

w

w

s

s

w

w

s

]

—>

[a '

]

—»

[a

'

]

—»

ta

' *

]

[ß

ta

'

]

[β

—>

[a

'

]

[ß

—>

ta

' *

]

[β

] ]

]

[a *

]

]

—>

ta *

]

[β

]

—>

ta *

]

[β

[β

]

—>

[a *

]

[β

[β

]

—>

fa

]

[β

[β

w

[β s

s w

'

]

—> ] [β [a ' Ία ] [β An item with the pattern / L H / in Odyene Dyula, if not the de inite form of a noun, belongs to a closed class of nine items (Braconnier 1982:155):®

f.

19a.

b.

/ban!/

'because, but'

/bara/

'home'

/kama/

'against'

/kòso/

'because of

/kùnù/

'yesterday'

/sani/

'before'

/sèrú/

'last year'

/mìni/

'where'

/jogo/

'[reciprocal pronoun]'

In the approach adopted here, all [LH], [HH], [HL] and [LHL] realizations of CVCoV bearing / L H / (= w s w) can be explained by the accentual context. Before an H, these items will have a final L, which is the phonetic realization of the [w] node of the foot (cf. ex. 194 in Braconnier 1982: 153f.). Most of the items with an underlying contour tone also have a contour tone in the other Manding languages and are tonally specific with this pattern. In (17a; 18a, b, e), the underlying forms correspond to the surface realizations. The accentual structure in (17a) represents a CV or CVCoV with a [s w] foot realized at the lexical level as a H tone (e.^. só 'horse', bá 'goat', múrú 'knife'). (18a-b) represent unaccented items (ku 'yam', tà 'fire', tùrù 'oil'). (18f) is an item of type (17a) followed by an item of type (18a) »The items in (19a) bear / H L / tone in the other three Manding languages.

12

( s ò m a . . . 'ahorse hasn't', m ú r ú mà... 'aknife hasn't'). have a tonal realization, not an accented one.

Bamba These structures

The structures trigger a tonal alternation in (18d). If [ s w ] is the accentual structure of H, the realization [H] of the first domain in (18d) results from the / H / of the final item spreading onto the preceding domain. Spreading is presumably a tonal process, but if it is tonal, an explanation is needed for the behaviour of the L in this context. Until one finds a convincing explanation for the absence of L at the surface level in (18d), Braconnier's L-Raising-Rule will be maintained, / t ù r ù r é / 'it's oil', / b à ré/'it's a river', / s o r e / 'it's a village' are realized: [turu re], [ba r e ] , [so re]. The remaining structures in (17-18) reveal that a lexical or derived accentual position (LH = w s w) is realized as an accent (superhigh tone) on one domain. In Odyene Dyula, it is not easy to distinguish H tone from accent. The only non-problematic identification of an accented position is the definite form of monosyllabic nouns with underlying L. Braconnier (1982: 78, 81, exx. 71, 77) has notes a lengthening and accentuation of the definite form of monosyllabic nouns JÌ 'water' and bà 'river'. At this stage, I recall Hayes' important observation about the phonetic properties of accent: It significant that the phonetic means of realizing stress vary from language to language: some but not all languages lengthen vowels under stress, raise the pitch of stressed syllables, and so on. The point is that an abstract, mentalistic representation for stress is the only type that is workable. (Hayes 1980: 33) Apart from this clear case, another way to differentiate H tone from accent in Odyene Dyula is the stability of an accented position. While you lose an underlying H before a following H on a MAD (e.g. / b a + / 'the goat' - » [ba], / m ú r u + ' / 'the knife' —> [murú]), the H of underlying LH is generally maintained: the definite items in (19) don't lose their H before H. The last characteristic of an accent is its property of triggering the downdrift of following accented positions. 3.4 D o w n d r i f t i n O d y e n e D y u l a In Odyene Dyula, the [s] of every [w s] constituent in the same sentence is downdrifted. This predicts that more than one accentual unit is needed for the phonetic perception of an accented position (a superhigh tone), [w s] (which is in fact w s w) is derived when an unaccented domain is adjoined to the left of a foot. The downdrift in Braconnier's examples (78, 80) (1982: 84f.), and its absence in his example (84), are derived as in (20a-b) vs. (20 c).

Accent in the tonal system of Odyene Dyula w L 20a.

s w s w H L H

I.--·' maIIda

de

w L b.

c.

—> [dëmàda]

'The child hasn't been surpassed'

s w s w H L H L

l / lmal ηla sa -» [demanása] ....

dë

s H

13

w s L H

w

IN

so ma na s w s H H

'The child didn't come at last'

w s L H

-» [ sômàna ] w

Ά thief didn't come'

χ.·'' maI tal

20a.

b e se

[bésemàta] 'The machete hasn't been taken' s w s w s w s w H H L H H L

b.

moso

Ν-·'' maI bΚ,'·' Iy e ese

—> [ mósomabéseyè ] 'The woman didn't see the machete'

Only when the noun is definite (i.e. followed by the tonal morpheme H), can one identify a [w s w] sequence on the same MAD (20a-b, 21). Once you get such a sequence on a MAD, the following foot (H = s w) is automatically downdrifted. If the noun is accented underlyingly and composed of two MADs, the first domain will be dependent on the second one which has a [w s w]. In (20c) there is no such structure and thus no downdrift affecting the last accented position. The L tone of ma 'did not' in (20c) is not interpretable in relation to the final accentual structure: só and mà therefore constitute a prosodie domain excluding ná (as shown by Bamba 1984 for Mahou). The derivation of downdrift is more natural at the accentuili level them at the tonal level. It needs just a [w s] structure where the phonetic manifestation of a recessive [w] node is only obligatory at the accentual level. There is no need to postulate an underlying HLH tonal sequence, in cases likethose in (20) where there is no evidence for the intervening L tone.

14

Bamba

Conclusion I have attempted here a metrical analysis of a tone language. This approach allows us to derive the tonal alternations and pitch effects which characterize a great number of languages with two phonological tones. The analysis presented in this paper accounts for the facts of Odyene Dyoula and Mahou (cf. Bamba 1984), and solves many phonological problems in the Manding languages, as well as other languages with two underlying tones but more than three surface realizations.

References

Groupe de recherche en linguistique africaniste Pavillion Ste. Catherine V-5375 Université du Québec à Montréal C.P. 8888, Succ. "A" Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada

Bamba, M. 1984 Etudes phonologiques du mahou, Université du Québec à Montréal master's thesis. 1987 Tons syntagmatiques ou accent en Hausa, paper presented at the 18th Conference on African Linguistics, Université du Québec à Montréal. 1988 Review of Braconnier 1982; Braconnier and Diaby 1982, to appear in Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Braconnier, C. 1982 Système tonal du dioula d'Odiénné (vol. 1). Abidjan: Publications ACCT-ILA. 1983 Système tonal du dioula d'Odiénné (vol. 2). Abidjan: Publications ACCT-ILA. Braconnier, C. and S. Diaby 1982 Dioula d'Odiénné (parler de Samatiguila): matériel lexical. Abidjan: Publications ACCT-ILA. Goldsmith, J. 1976 Autosegmental phonology, M. I. T. dissertation. Hayes, B. P. 1980 A metrical theory of stress rules, M. I. T. dissertation Inkelas, S., M. Cobler and W. Leben 1986 Phrases and phrase tones in Hausa, Stanford University ms. Rialland, A. and M.-B. Sangaré 1985 Tons lexicaux et tons flottants dans les noms en Bambara: principes d'association, Actes du Congrès de Phonologie Plurilinéaire, Lyon.

Chapter 2

Palatalization of labials in Tswana Alicja Gorecka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The goal of this paper is to provide a phonological explanation for the palatalization of labials in Tswana, a southern Bantu language spoken in Botswana. Palatalization occurs regularly in Tswana before two suffixes: the passive suffix -wa/-iwa and the diminutive suffix -ana/-ane. Before -wa, only labials are palatalized: —> + -wa -boc w a la. -bop 'be moulded' mould pass —> + -wa -bûs w a -bo "be bound' bind pass + -wa —> 'be seen b. -ban -bon w a see pass + -wa —> -rat -rat w a 'be loved' love pass Before -ana/-ane, all consonants are palatalized, just in case they are followed by a stem-final front vowel: —» 2. kolobt + -ane kolodz w ane 'piglet' dim Pig gaui + -ane —> gauc^ane 'fairly near' dim nearby —> + -ana lobati lobatsana 'small plank' plank dim (lobacana) + -ana —> letlole letlodzana 'small box' box dim —» + -ana nare nac^ana 'buffalo calf buffalo dim —» mosimane + -ana mosimanyana 'little boy' boy dim In addition, labials are palatalized before -ana I-ane, by a stem-final front vowel: + -ana -» 3a. kobo kodz w ana dim blanket + -ana —> p*b lekoto lekot w ana leg dim In this environment, m becomes a rounded velar: 4. + -ana —» mob mo mobng w ana dim mouth

Current

if they are followed 'small blanket' 'small eland' 'little anthill' 'little leg'

'small mouth'

J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (ods.) 1990 Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 15-18 (Dordrecht: Foris)

16

Gorecka

Stahlke 1976 analyzes the data in (1) in terms of segmental fusion. His analysis relies on the fact that the passive suffix has two surface variants, -wa and -iwa. The second alternant is shown below: 5. bop + -iwa bopiwa 'small mouth' mould pass Stahlke takes -iwa to be the underlying form of the passive suffix. In (la), an optional process of fusion merges the stem final consonant with the i of -iwa. Herbert 1977 argues against Stahlke's analysis on the basis of the data involving diminutives, cf. (2-4) above. He points out that, in order for the fusion analysis to work, both labials and nonlabials ought to be palatalized before the passive suffix, just as they are palatalized in the diminutive. Herbert's counterproposal is to treat the palatalization of labels as a process defined partly phonologically and partly morphologically. Herbert quotes further examples in related languages which, he argues, demonstrate progressive morphologization of labial palatalization in southern Bantu. While one must agree with Herbert that there exist phonological processes whose domain is defined morphological terms, a phonological analysis — if it captures otherwise unexplained generalizations — ought to be preferred. I will now derive the palatalization effects from conditions on representations in Tswana which must be independently stated. Two distinct phonological processes are responsible for the palatalization effects: a process of dissmilation, which explains the behavior of labials in (la) and (3a) as an OCP effect; and a process of segmental fusion, which attributes the facts in (2) to Tswana conditions on syllable structure and possible segments. I will assume the framework of feature geometry of Clements 1985 and Sagey 1986, in particular Sagey's view that labials and rounded segments involve a labial articulation. The facts in (la) and (3a) can only be explained under this assumption. The first thing to be noticed about the data is that they can be divided into two groups, depending on the environment and target of palatalization. In (2), all consonants are palatalized, just in case the consonant is adjacent to a stem-final front vowel followed by a vowel-initial morpheme. This environment is crucial for palatalization to take place: vowel clusters are not permitted in the lexical phonology of Tswana. The first vowel is deleted if it is low; a mid or high vowel loses its nuclear status in the syllable, but apparently does not disappear altogether. Since leftward spreading of palatalization does not occur in Tswana (cf. lobati 'plank' not *lobaci in data (2) above), we must conclude that the palatalization effect is due to the fusion of the de-syllabified front vowel with the preceding consonant. Now consider the environment in which only labial consonants are palatalized. This happens if the consonant is adjacent to the round glide of the passive suffix (la) or to a stem final round vowel before the diminutive suffix (3a). What these two cases have in common is the presence of a round segment after the labial consonant. Obviously this in itself is not sufficient to palatalize a labial, since labials do occur before round vowels, cf. bonwa 'be seen' in (lb). However, there is something that the two palatalization cases share to the exclusion of bonwa, namely the round segment after the labial which does not surface as syllabic. This fact will motivates our analysis of the data in (la) and (3a).

Palatalization of labials in Tswana

17

We have seen that the conditions for Tswana palatalization can be described in phonological terms, and that it occurs independently of morphology: labial palatalization occurs in both the passive and in the diminutive. We can now proceed with the analysis. Take labial palatalization first. Since it takes place before round segments only, it is not likely to be an example of palatalization, given what we know about this process. There are two plausible explanations for the facts in (la) and (3a). We know from previous discussion that the initial vowel in a derived vowel cluster in Tswana must delink from the nuclear position and (if it isn't a low vowel) merge with the preceding syllable onset. This would make a labial consonant acquire the round articulation of u and o. However, rounded labials are not allowed in Tswana, as illustrated by the fact that labials are the only consonants which remain unrounded when followed by a round vowel. Our first hypothesis is therefore that the merger of a labial consonant and a round vowel results in an impermissible feature combination, which is resolved in Tswana by replacing the labial node with a palatal node. Although this hypothesis is adequate for the facts of Tswana, I hesitate to adopt it because of what happens in a related language, Zulu. In Zulu, labials undergo the same change in the passive as they do in Tswana: 6.

-ba:b + -wa —> -ba:dz w a 'be trapped' trap pass Two other Zulu affixes, applicative -el and causative -is, interact with passive in an interesting way: 7. a. b. c. -bop h a -top h e/a -basera tie tie for be tied for -buba -bubisa -budz»swa kill kill for be killed for What we see in (7c) is that -el and -is intervene between the stem and the passive suffix, yet the "palatalizing" effect of the passive suffix is reflected on the final labial of the stem. We know from the forms in (7b) that neither -el nor -is has a palatalizing effect. The phenomenon in (7c) can best be explained if we assume that the applicative and causative morphemes are in fact infixes, which attach to the edge of the root. 1 On this assumption, (7c) becomes a goldmine of information. First, it shows that the palatalization of labials cannot be explained by the complex segment hypothesis advanced for Tswana. In Zulu, it cannot be that an impermissible segment complex is readjusted by replacing the labial node with a coronal node, because articulations in a complex segment are simultaneous. The infixation of -el and -is must take place while the labial consonant and the round glide are separate segments, because the glide follows these infixes, but the consonant precedes them. Since the ^The idea that infixes are affixes which attach to particular targets is due to McCarthy and Prince 1987, who propose that infixes which appear inside a stem do so either because they attach to a prosodically defined unit, or because a prosodically defined unit must be skipped due to extrametricality. This idea has been fruitfully expanded to include morphologically-defined affixation targets.

18

Gorecka

palatalization of labials must occur prior to infixation, it cannot be the result of complex segment formation. Labial palatalization facts in Zulu are exactly the same as in Tswana, apart from the lexical properties of the affixes involved. Setting aside this difference, we can assume that the same phonological mechanism is involved in both languages. As to the nature of the mechanism, we know that it is sensitive to environments in which a labial consonant is adjacent to a round vowel, and that it effects the deletion of the labial node and the insertion of a coronal node in the first segment. This process, while not easy to understand in terms of features, shows itself in a completely different light when analyzed in terms of feature geometry. Sagey 1986 proposes that both round segments and labial consonants are produced with the labial articulator. Adopting her view, we can analyze labial assimilation as dissimilation on the Place tier, triggered by the OCP. Still, there remains the question why dissimilation applies just in case both of the segments are [ - syllabic]. I would like to suggest that at an intermediate stage of the derivation, languages like Zulu and Tswana do allow complex onsets, and that the onset is the domain to which the OCP applies in these languages. This approach is tentative insofar as the constituency of the onset has not yet been established. Next, let us turn to palatalization proper, illustrated in (2). I proposed above that this process is best viewed as segmental fusion. Consider why such a process should take place. We have seen that derived vowel sequences are not tolerated in Tswana. The first vowel of the cluster is deleted if it is low, and glided otherwise. At the same time, consonant clusters do not appear in the surface phonology of Tswana, a strictly CV language. In these circumstances, the fusion analysis appears natural. Finally, there remains the question: why the products of segmental fusion are rounded palatals, rather than palatalized labials as one would expect. However, this is not too surprising in view of the fact that Tswana has no complex segments in which labial is the major articulator. Moreover, we have seen that the rounding process affects all consonants in the language except for labials. This suggests that the reason a palatalized labial surfaces as a rounded palatal is that the primary and secondary articulations are switched around in a segment which is not permitted in the surface inventory of the language: the labial articulation becomes secondary, and the coronal articulation becomes primary. 20D-219, M. I. T. Cambridge MA 02139

References Clements, G. N. 1985 The geometry of phonological features, Phonology Yearbook 2: 223-50. Herbert, R. K. 1977 Morphophonological palatalization in southern Bantu: a reply to segmental fusion, Studies in African Linguistics 8: 142-71. McCarthy, J. J. and A. Prince 1987 Quantitative transfer in reduplicative and templatic morphology, ms., University of Massachusetts (Amherst) and Brandéis University. Sagey, E. C. 1986 The representation of features and relations in non- linear phonology, M. I. T. dissertation. Stahlke, H. F. W. 1976 Segment sequences and segmental fusion, Studies in African Linguistics 7: 41-63.

Chapter

3

Geminate clusters, morphological levels, and syllable structure in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic John Keegan, University of Maryland This paper is concerned with the apparently exceptional behavior of geminates in Western dialects of Arabic such as Moroccan and Tunisian. I propose a solution utilizing morphological levels as in Lexical Phonology, and syllabic constituent structure as in Metrical Phonology. Section 1 describes the Moroccan and Tunisian data. Section 2 summarizes two solutions from the literature, outlining some objections. Section 3 presents an alternative account, based on the assumption that word formation processes, which apply to roots, freely split geminate clusters; but that inflectional processes, which apply to words, split only those geminates which cannot otherwise be syllabified.1 1.

G e m i n a t e s i n M o r o c c a n and T u n i s i a n

Previous studies have focused on the resistance of geminate clusters to being split. In fact, they are freely split by many word formation processes; the following examples are from Moroccan: la. root adjective kbr kbiir 'big' smn smiin •fat' Id ldiid 'delicious' rqiiq 'thin' rq b. root verbal noun ktaab 'book' ktb 'addition' hsb hsaab 'dressing style' lbs lbaas fk fkaak 'deliverance' root past participle/noun c. qtl meqtuul 'killed' qlb meqluub 'turned over' hi mehluul 'opened' * V sm mesmuum 'bouquet' d. pi. sgbiit byuut 'room/rooms' syuuf siif 'sword/swords' xedd xduud 'cheek/cheeks' xett xtiit 'line/lines' 2. root verb a. qtl qtel 'to kill' ktb kteb 'to write' b. hi hell 'to open' kubb 'to pour' kb ÌMy thanks to Beshir Rassas who provided me with Tunisian data, and to Fouad Choukri and Lehscn Haddad of Dar-lWad, Morocco, who provided Northern Moroccan forms during 1981-82. Southern forms are drawn from Harrcll et al. (1965,1966). Also thanks to Frank Wright for useful comments. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 19-27 (Dordrecht: Foris)

20

Keegan

Geminates freely split in the formation of adjectives, verbal nouns, past participles and broken plurals (la-d). The exception appears to be verb formation, but I will argue that (2a) and (2b) are distinct word classes. With inflectional processes, on the other hand, geminates sometimes resist splitting by vowel epenthesis. If the definite article attaches to nouns, splitting is avoided: Tunisian N. Moroccan S. Moroccan (when different) (when different) 3a. book ktaab door baab market suuq bucket §tel b. the door elbaab lbaab the book elktaab elktaab lektaab lektaab lktaab elktaab the town elmdiina elmdiina lemdiina lemdiina lmdiina elmdiina to the town lelmdiina lelmdiina lelmdiina c. the color elluun lluun lluun the market essuuq ssuuq ssuuq the bucket eççtel §çt.el ççtel the house eddaar ddaar ddaar the ground ellarS llerd llerd In (3a), the stems are identical for all three dialects. If the definite article precedes a noun whose first segment does not trigger assimilation, two forms are possible: el and I. The latter appears as le in Tunisian and Southern Moroccan if the noun stem begins with two consonants. The definite article assimilates to an alveolar consonant, and no epenthesis occurs:2 4. 1 Q -> Q Q Det +alv. Kenstowicz and Pyle 1973 have taken these facts as additional support for the view that geminates resist splitting by epenthesis, e.g.: 5a. elktaab lektaab 'the book' b. e§stel "sestel 'the bucket' The epenthesis in (5a) can be accounted for by the following rule: 6.

0—>e / # C _ C C

However, splitting does occur if the morphology would three identical consonants: Tunisian N. Moroccan 7. of my house ddaari of the house deddaar to my brother-in-law lluuzi lluusi to the ground lellard lellard he carried edda dda you (s.) carry teddi teddi 2

leave a sequence of S. Moroccan ddaari deddaar lluusi lellard dda teddi

The one exception is / z / , which assimilates in some morphemes only.

Geminate clusters in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic

21

When morphology leaves a CCC sequence, the first two of which constitute a geminate, they split in Tunisian but not in Moroccan: 8. you (s.) write tekteb tekteb tekteb you (s.) bury tedfen ddfen ddfen I scratchmy face nendeb nndeb nndeb in France fiifransa ffransa ffransa fiifransa fiifransa All three dialects permit three identical consonants intervocalically: 9. they made it light xefffu xefffu xefffu they poisoned semmmu semmmu semmmu her poison semmha semmha semmha he poisoned her semmemha semmemha semmemha semmmha While most discussion has focused on the problem in (3), an adequate theory will account for all of these facts. 2. P r e v i o u s p r o p o s a l s 2.1 G u e r s s e l ' s A d j a c e n c y - I d e n t i t y C o n s t r a i n t Guerssel (1977,1978) proposes to account for geminates' resistance to splitting by an Adjacency/Identity Constraint (AIC): 10a. Given 2 segments SI and S2, where S1=S2, a phonological rule can alter the adjacency of SI and S2 if and only if it also alters the identity of S1/S2. (The rule referred to in this case is the epenthesis of a short vowel, as occurs often in [2b] and [3]). b. Word boundaries and morpheme boundaries break up adjacency. c. However, morpheme boundaries are deleted when assimilation occurs (as in 3c), and hence (10a) is still applicable. The contrast in (5) is explained if assimilation (4) deletes the morpheme boundary, so that the resulting geminate cannot be split by epenthesis, cf. (6). However, in cases such as deddaar 'of the house', epenthesis does apply because the preposition d- 'of does not assimilate. In cases such as Tunisian elluun 'the color', assimilation vacuously deletes the morpheme boundary. By assuming that the behavior of geminates is tied to assimilation, Guerssel's theory makes incorrect predictions. In some cases, an expected epenthesis does not occur 11. f+fransa -> ffransa 'in France' (*fefransa) (Moroccan) Since no assimilation of / f / 'in' can be claimed, this rule has not applied. Hence, the morpheme boundary would be left in place, and the theory incorrectly predicts that epenthesis will apply. In other cases, the theory predicts that epenthesis will not occur, but it does: 12. t+ddi -> teddi 'you carry' (*dddi) (all dialects) In Moroccan, the morpheme / 1 + / assimilates to the d of the stem, and we therefore expect the morpheme boundary to be deleted, blocking epenthesis. That epenthesis occurs is counterevidence to this theory, and more generally to the view that the behavior of geminate clusters depends on whether they have been created by assimilation.

22

2.2

Keegan

Autosegmental theory

Autosegmental theory has also been employed in accounting for the problem of geminates. This theory can be outlined as follows: • segments are associated left-to-right to CV autosegments; • geminates are single segments associated with two C's: C C χ Hudson 1986 shows convincingly that the autosegmental account of Arabic word classes is both inexplicit and excessively powerful. Keegan ms. argues that these problems result from the failure of the unidirectional mapping hypothesis to capture the regularity of Arabic word classes without the addition of powerful ad hoc devices (rules of erasure, metathesis, special association, etc.). In an autosegmental account of the geminate behavior noted in section 1, unidirectional mapping faces the following problems: • Epenthesis does not depend on whether a particular geminate belongs to one morpheme or to many, e.g.: dda 'he carried' vs. ddaar 'the house' and ffransa 'in France' • Left-to right-association makes incorrect predictions for sequences of three identical consonants, e.g.: deddaar 'of the house' vs. ddaari 'of my house • The autosegmental account says nothing about definite articles or phonotactic constraints. While these facts can be formalized in additional autosegmental mechanisms, the necessity of doing so suggests the inadequacy of unidirectional mapping for an essentially metrical phenomenon. 3. P h o n o l o g i c a l l e v e l s and m e t r i c a l t h e o r y 3.1 R o o t - b a s e d p r o c e s s e s The fact that geminate clusters are freely split in (1) can be explained by appealing to the notion of levels of morphology (Kiparsky 1982). Keegan (1986,1987) has argued that the processes in (1) apply to roots, not to words; they may thus be viewed as level 1 processes, intrinsically ordered prior to word-based processes such as those in (3, 5, 7-9). Processes which apply to roots create word stems which serve as the input for word based processes. In 3.2 I show that the inflectional behavior of geminates is explained by their syllable structure. There is no justification for assigning underlying syllable structure to an Arabic root, which appears in numerous word classes with distinct metrical structures; cf. Broselow 1979, Keegan (1986: 171). Hence, geminates may be freely split by level 1 (root-based) processes. The cases in (2) appear to pose a problem: stems containing geminates (e.g. Hell 'to open') resist degemination (compare with kteb 'to write'). However, this would be true only if these verbs belong to the same inflectional class. In fact, they do not: 13. ktebt Ί wrote' helliit Ί opened' ktebna 'we wrote' helliina 'we wrote'

23

Geminate clusters in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic

Any analysis which treats the cases in (13) as a single word class must explain why they are conjugated differently. 3 In my analysis, the rules which create the word classes are at times sensitive to the shape of the root. Thus, quadriliteral roots never appear as Measure I verbs (i.e. kteb or Hell). Hence, the assumption that the word classes exhibited in (1) are formed by root-based word formation processes independently accounts for these cases. 3.2

Word-based processes

The processes in (3),(5) and (7-9) apply to word stems, not to roots. Compare these alternative derivations (Moroccan data): 14. affix + root tffix+ stem output noun 1 + nql 1 + neql nneql 'the copy' verb η + nql η + nqel nnqel Ί copy' Only if nouns and verbs have distinct stem structures can we account for contrasts such as nneql vs. nnqel. This geminate behavior is not as predictable as the behavior with root-based processes. Some cases resist degemination (*sestel 'the bucket'), while others acquiesce (deddaar 'of the house'). This can be explained with three assumptions: • syllables have labeled internal constituents (Selkirk 1982); • the Onset is itself composed of the constituents Margin and Adjunct (Caims and Feinstein 1982); • derivations respect a Syllabification Condition (Noske 1982). 3.2.1

Syllabic c o n s t i t u e n t s i n N . M o r o c c a n

The view of syllable structure in (15) is well justified in the literature: 15. Syllable On si Peak

Coda

Cairns and Feinstein 1982 propose the Onset has two constituents, Margin and Adjunct. This permits a simple statement of universal constraints on the structure of Onsets, and of certain phonological processes which would otherwise be problematic. Keegan (1985, 1986) states the syllabic template for Moroccan Arabic as follows: 16. i. Syllable 11. Syllable Onset Margin Q

3

Q

Rhyme

(Adj.)

Nuc.

Cj

V

Coda

Onset Margin

C

This is true in Modern Standard Arabic as well.

(Adj.)

Rhyme Nuc. (Coda)

24

Keegan

The two subtemplates can be collapsed if we assume some mechanism to rule out extra heavy syllables: /(C)CVVCC/. 4 This template and the Syllabification Condition (which rules out any derivation which cannot be assigned to a well-formed syllable structure) are required independently to account for a broad range of phonological facts in Moroccan Arabic (as discussed in Keegan 1985 and 1986). These include: • the complex vowel insertion/deletion process in Moroccan Arabic; • the vocalization process; • normal phonotactic constraints; • apparent metathesis in contrasts between noun forms such as weqt 'time' vs. qmel 'louse'. With the addition of the categories Margin and Adjunct, the Northern Moroccan geminates also fall into place. Epenthesis applies in nekteb Ί write' because nkteb cannot be syllabified, while in nnqel, epenthesis is not required, since the sequence nnq can be assigned to a well-formed Onset. Unusual cases such as semmmha 'he poisoned her' (an variant of semmemha in some Southern dialects, cf. Harrell 1961) can also be accounted for by assuming that the final syllable is the well-formed [mmha]. The syllabification to be [semm.mha] would not be possible, since heavy syllables (CVVC or CVCC) are found only word finally. Contrasts such as ddaar 'the house' vs. teddi 'you carry' are also predicted, since there is no way for an initial sequence of three identical consonants to be assigned to a well-formed Onset. Northern Moroccan contrasts such as lemdiina 'to a market' vs. Imdiina 'the market' show that the definite article I- is irregular in Moroccan; this fact must be built into the syllabic template: 18.

Onset Margin

(Northern Moroccan) (Adjunct)

Det. Contrasts such as Ibaab vs. elbaab 'the door' require an additional rule: 19. Classicization: 1 -» el Det Accordingly, el- is viewed as a classicized alternant of Moroccan /-. Note that there is no phonological justification for this change. Further, (19) explains why initial short vowels occur nowhere else in the language. 4

Cairns and Feinstein 1982 present a promising approach to this problem based on syllable markedness.

25

Geminate clusters in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic

The Moroccan syllable template (17), together with the special Onset (18) and the classicization rule (19) account for all the Moroccan facts noted in section 1. The only difference between Southern and Northern dialects is that Southern dialects do not permit the definite article in structures such as (18). Hence, forms such as /1+ktaab/ become /lektaab/ in Southern dialects rather than /lktaab/, which is found in the North. This theoretical apparatus has a number of additional benefits. It clearly relates Moroccan geminate clusters to a more general theory of syllable structure demonstrated to be required on independent grounds. A fully formulated version of this theory will also encode the fact that Moroccan syllable structure is highly marked. Further, as noted in Cairns and Feinstein 1982, it will permit a formalization of permissible syllables, syllable markedness, and universal syllabic contraints. Finally, the syllable templates can be formed by binary branching phrase structure rules. 3.3

T u n i s i a n syllable s t r u c t u r e

The Tunisian geminate data are problematic in several ways, and the statement of phonotactic constraints is necessarily complex. Geminates do not occur in word initial position when forming a noun phrase or a verb phrase, but they do occur when forming a prepositional phrase: 20a.

b.

Non-prepositions

1+luun n+nuum dda

—» —>

elluun ennuum edda

'the color' Ί sleep' 'he carried'

Prepositions

b+Basir -> 1+luuzi —> b+baabu ->

bbasir lluuzi bbaabu

'by Bashir' 'to my brother-in-law' 'with his door'

Degemination by epenthesis seems to apply in some cases, and fail to apply in others with identical phonological structures: 21a. b.

l+§tel -> eçstel *§e§tel 1+lwaan-» ellwaan "lelwaan n+ndeb -> nendeb t+dfen —» tedfen

"enndeb "eddfen

'the bucket' 'the colors' Ί scratch my face [in mourning]' 'you (s.) bury'

The facts in (21) suggest that in Tunisian, as in Moroccan, the definite article has special status within the syllable. All of these facts can be accounted for by assigning Tunisian an Onset structure slightly different from (18): 22a. Onset b. Onset (Tunisian) Margin

(Q)

Det.

Q

(Adjunct)

Q '

Margin

(Q)

Q

(Adjunct)

0

26

Keegan

Template (22) permits: • a sequence of 1 or 2 non-identical consonants; • a sequence of 2 identical consonants just in case they are not followed by a third consonant; • a sequence of 2 identical consonants followed by a third consonant just in case the first member of the geminate cluster is the definite article. The subtemplates (22a) and (22b) can be collapsed if we assume some mechanism which will rule out Onsets containing / C C C / unless the first is a geminate cluster that contains the definite article. In addition, a special short vowel epenthesis rule is required to explain the presence of / e / in all cases where geminate clusters begin a word: 23.

#C C —>

#eCC

(does not apply to prepositions)

I believe the complex template (22) and the irregular rule of epenthesis (23) accurately reflect the complex Tunisian system of phonotactic constraints shown in (20-21). The classicization rule (19) applies in Tunisian, as in all of these dialects, accounting for alternations such as /lbaab/ vs. /elbaab/ 'the door'. Derivations containing definite articles in all dialects are as follows: 24.

N. Moroccan N. and S. Moroccan

Tunisian & S. Moroccan Tunisian

article lbaab lktaab ssuuq sçtel lbaab lektaab (by rule 6) essuuq (by rule 23) e§$t.el (by rule 23)

rule Ί9 elbaab elktaab (NA) (NA) elbaab elktaab (N A ) (NA)

Templates (20) and (22) correctly predict that geminate clusters will begin a syllable in non-initial position, cf. (9). It further predicts that geminates are split if they would otherwise violate the Syllabification Principle. Conclusion The system proposed here accounts for all of the geminate clusters in these dialects, not just those which fit nicely into the theory. The relative complexity of syllable templates and phonological rules parallels the complexity of the data in these dialects: marked rules are found exactly in those cases where the data is exceptional. Finally, the proposal relates the behavior of geminates to a more general theory of syllable structure. c / o Morris, 30 Lambrey Lane Durham, NH 03824

Geminate clusters in Moroccan and Tunisian Arabic

27

References Broselow, E. 1979 Cairene Arabic syllable structure, Linguistic Analysis 5: 345-82. Cairns, C. 1983 Prosodie categories in the lexicon, ms. C. U. N. Y. Cairns, C. and M. Feinstein 1982 Markedness and the theory of syllable structure, Linguistic Inquiry 13: 193-225. Guerssel, M. 1977 Constraints on phonological rules, Linguistic Analysis 3: 267-305. 1978 A condition on assimilation rules, Linguistic Analysis 4: 225-54. Harrell, R. S. 1961 Consonant, vowel and syllable in Moroccan Arabic. Proceedings of the Fourth International Congress of Phonetic Sciences: 643-47. Harrell, R. S., M. Abdu-Talib and W. Carroll 1965 A Basic Course in Moroccan Arabic. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. 1966 A Dictionary of Moroccan Arabic: Arabic-English. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. Hudson, G. 1986 Arabic root and pattern morphology without tiers, Journal of Linguistics 22: 85-122. Hulst, H. v. d. and N. Smith (eds.) 1982 The Structure of Phonological Representations. Dordrecht: Foris. Keegan, J. M. 1985 The role of syllabic structure in the phonology of Moroccan Arabic, Current Approaches to African Linguistics 3. Dordrecht: Foris. 1986 The phonology and morphology of Moroccan Arabic. C. U. Ν. Y dissertation. 1987 Morpheme-based morphology, Penn Review of Linguistics [= Proceedings of the 11th Penn Linguistics Colloquium]: 61-75. ms. Root-based morphology vs. canonical shape theory in the treatment of Arabic word classes. Kenstowicz, M. and C. Pyle 1973 The phonological integrity of geminate clusters, in M. Kenstowicz and C. Kisseberth (eas.) Issues in Phonological Theory. The Hague: Mouton. Kiparsky, P. 1982 Lexical phonology, in van der Hulst and Smith (eds.) 1982, 1:131-75. Noske, R. 1982 Syllabification in French, in van der Hulst and Smith (eds.) 1982, II: 257-311. Selkirk, E. O. 1982 The syllable, in van der Hulst and Smith (eds.) 1982, II: 337-83.

Chapter 4

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns Ngessimo Mutaka, University of Southern California

In the search for more explanatory phonological analyses, certain assumptions are being abandoned. In Bantu tonology, it was claimed that both high and low tones can appear underlyingly (Goldsmith 1976, Hyman 1983). In order to express certain processes, such studies employed diacritic asterisks, or copying rules which have subsequently proved explanatorily inadequate. In more recent works, all surface tonal values need not be underlyingly present; linking is not automatic (Pulleyblank 1986); and tones spread without necessarily being copied. Phonological processes are subject to parametrized constraints like the OCP (McCarthy 1986) and Structure Preservation (Kiparsky 1985). Such constraints may be active in certain levels of the phonology and their effects may be wiped out in other levels. In evaluating these newer analyses, a fundamental question is the exact form of underlying tonal representation. It is fairly easy to establish certain underlying forms from surface tone; in other cases, it is more difficult. Kinande, a Bantu language spoken in Eastern Zaïre, offers a challenging problem of tonal representation in that verbal forms do not undergo the phonological rules in exactly the same way as nouns. It is fairly clear that one set of verb roots has underlying H, while another set is toneless (Hyman and Valinande 1985). As argued in Mutaka 1988, some tones belonging to specific tenses are assigned in the course of the derivation. Most tones, especially those that surface in the expanded stem, are underlyingly floating. One would assume that the phonological processes linking these tones in verbal stems would carry over to other categories like the Infi morphemes and the nouns. However, this is not the case: as observed by Hyman and Valinande 1985, it is difficult to establish the underlying tones in Kinande nouns. The present work argues that some nouns are toneless, others are underlyingly H or underlyingly L. Not all underlying tones are prelinked. Crucial evidence comes from reduplicated forms (cf. Mutaka and Hyman 1990). The paper is divided between non-derived and deverbal nouns.1 1. N o n - d e r i v e d n o u n s The structure of the Kinande noun is exemplified in (1). 1. IV-Cl-stem o-mu-lume 'man' A noun consists of an initial vowel (IV, also called the augment in Bantu linguistics), a class prefix (here CI), and a stem. The IV in most classes is {e, o, a}; its quality depends upon the quality of the prefix vowel: 2. e-Ci e-mí-ríkl 'ropes' o-Cu o-kú-bóko 'arm' a-Ca a-ka-handa 'small calabash' 1

I would like to thank Larry Hyman and Doug Pulleyblank for discussion of the material in this paper. My thanks are also due to the phonology audience of the 19th Conference on African Linguistics, whose questions helped clarify some points in this paper. Any remaining inconsistencies are of course mine. H tone is marked [ ' ], falling tone is marked [ ~ ], and L tone is unmarked. All forms are cited in declarative intonation. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 29-40 (Dordrecht: Foris)

30

Mutaka

The vowel e- is also the augment of what is called Class 9 prefix: 3. é-rj-goko 'chicken' e - 0 - s á h á 'watch' e-yí-súky 'antelope' IV-C9-stem IV-0-stem IV-C9-stem Bantu nouns fall in to a number of agreement classes. Class 9 contains most nouns for animals and loan words; its prefix may be the homorganic nasal Nor 0- or yi-. (4) shows the prefixes with their corresponding augments. 4. class W prefix la 0muwoman o-mújkalj [name] lb 0Vallnánde 'women' 2 baa-bá-kal} a'tree' muo-mú-ti 3 o'trees' mie-mí-tl 4 ee-r}-yaya ri5 e'egg' a-ma-yaya 6 ama'eggs' e-kí-tl 7 kie'leaf e-bí-tl 8 bie'leaves' 9a eNé-N-hene [émbene] 'goat' e-0-sóko 9b e0'market' e-yí^súkj yie9c 'fly' syoN10 ee-syÓN-hene [esyómbene] 'goats' 11 oluo-lu-kóma 'banana leaf' 12 a-ká-kóma aka'small banana leaf o-tú-hene tu13 0'small goats' o-bú-lúmj 14 0bu'pain' o-kú-bóko ku15 0'arm' a-há-ndu ^ aha16 'somewhere' o-kó-kú-bóko 17 0ko'on the arm' o-mó-kú-bóko mo18 o'with the arm' e-BÚtembo 20 e'at Butembo' Most stems are disyllabic. Deverbal nouns usually have a final vowel (FV) as in (5a), and in some cases an extension as in (5b): 5a. o-mu-téng-} 'divider' b. e-kl-nab-ír-o 'bathroom' IV-Cl-divide-FV IV-C7-wash-ext-FV Dissyllabic and monosyllabic stems are the only ones that participate in reduplication (cf. Mutaka and Hyman 1990). 1.1 D i s y l l a b i c s t e m s Most of the examples to be given here consist of an initial vowel, a CV prefix and a disyllabic stem. In (6), I present different words as they appear in isolation and preceding the adjective -lito 'heavy' (which does not contribute any tone to the preceding noun, cf. Hyman and Valinande 1985): 6. o-ku-gúlu 'leg' o-ku-gulu ku-líto 'heavy leg' o-kú-bóko 'arm' o-kú-boko ku-líto 'heavy arm' o-mu-góngo 'back' o-mu-góngo mu-líto 'heavy back' a-ká-huka 'insect' a-ká-huka ka-líto 'heavy insect' o-mú-kall 'woman' o-mú-kali mu-líto 'heavy woman' o-mu-sika 'girl' o-mu-sika mu-ljto 'heavy girl' o-mu-longo 'village' o-mu-longo mu-l|to 'heavy village'

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns

31

A stem H disappears if the word is followed by -lito. This is the phrasal H proposed by Hyman and Valinande 1985, which I formulate as follows: 7. Phrasal H assignment (PHA) 0 H/ ] V V (7) assigns H tone to a penultimate, toneless vowel. It does not apply to a noun if an adjective follows. We conclude that the prefix and initial vowel in o-ku-gúlu are toneless. But the class prefix in o-ku-boko, surfaces with H. Assuming that all prefixes start out toneless, any surface H on a prefix must result from a rule: 8. High tone anticipation (HTA) V V H HTA copies a H tone onto the preceding vowel. Because the H on the penultimate vowel of o-ku-boko is phrasal, we must conclude that HTA is followed by a rule delinking the rightmost branch: otherwise we would expect to find *o-kú-bóko ku-ljto. Delinking is formulated as in (9): 9. Delinking (DLK) V V H The nouns in (6) have the following tone patterns: 10a. o-ku-gúlu o-ku-gulu*gúlu o-ku-gulu*gulu ku-ljto 'leg' 'real leg' 'real heavy leg' b. o-kú-bóko o-kú-bokó*bóko o-kú-bokó*boko ku-líto 'arm' 'real arm' 'real heavy arm' We obtain the correct result if the reduplicated string is copied with its underlying tone(s). This is illustrated in (11) for the words in (10). IIa. HTA, DLK o-ku-gulu*gulu o-ku-boko*boko

b.

PHA

o-ku-gulu*gulu

••••t ' · · + H H o-ku-boko*boko

H H H H The next noun in (6) is reduplicated as follows: 12. o-mu-góngo o -m u -gongo · góngo o-mu-góngo*góngo mu-ljto 'back' 'real back' 'real heavy back' As the penultimate H does not disappear in o-mu-góngo mu-lfto, it is not the result of the PHA, but of HTA. Support for this analysis comes from reduplication, as illustrated in (13): 13.

HTA, DLK

o-mu-gongo

[PHA n.a.]

H

o-mu-gongo*gongo H

H

32

14.

Mutaka The next noun in (6) has the reduplicated form in (14): a-ká-húka a-ká-húká*húka a-ká-húká»húka ka-I}to 'insect' 'real insect' 'real heavy insect'

We already know that the prefix is toneless, soothe H on ká- results from HTA. As the H on -hú does not disappear in a-ká-húka ka-ljto, we conclude that it also results from HTA. This gives the representation in (15): 15. HTA, DLK a-ka-huka a-k a-h u ka*h u k a

\f-.t

w-t-.t

[PHA n.a.] H H H H H H But (15) is a blatant OCP violation, with adjacent HH on the root. To respect the OCP, the derivation must begin with a doubly linked H tone: 15'. HTA, DLK a-ka-huka a-k a-h u ka«h u k a H H H DLK affects the rightmost branch of a multiply linked H. Now consider the forms in (16): 16. o-mú-kalj o-mú-kalj*kal| o-mú-kall*kal¡ mu-ljto 'woman' 'real woman' 'real heavy woman' The H on the prefix must result from HTA. What is unusual is that the phrasal H tone does not surface; I propose that it is blocked by an underlying L. The question is whether the L anticipates. First, assume that it does not:~ 17a. HTA, DLK o-mu-kal I o-mu-kal »kail

••••t I

b.

[PHA n.a.]

H L o-mu-kal}

\t

I I

H L H L o-mu-kali*kal}

H L H L H L The output of the reduplicated form is incorrect. Given (17a), we would expect the penultimate syllable to bear H; as it does not, we need a rule that spreads L leftward and delinks the preceding H, cf. (18). The derivation then works as in (17'λ 18. Low spreading (LS) V V

17'.

HTA, DLK, LS

H L o-mu-kal)

o-mu-kal )· kal 1

[PHA n.a.] H L H L H L Notice that, if LS precedes HTA, it will bleed it and render the preceding Η floating. In this case, we would expect the floating Η to dock onto the initial vowel by edge-in- association rules (Yip 1987). In case LS 2

I suppress transcription of length on the penultimate vowel. I mark [+ATR] on only the trigger vowel which is usually the rightmost Η vowel in a word.

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns

33

precedes HTA, we must posit that the initial vowel is extrametrical: the floating H will then dock onto the prefix vowel: (o)-mu-kal · k a 1 1 17"a. LS (o)-mu k a l i

b.

relinking

+•••1 H L (o)- m u k a l l

\J

+··.] H L H L (o)-mu-kal 1 · kal I

! Ν

M

[HTA,DLK,PHA n.a.] H L H L L (A floating tone that cannot relink will disappear.) The data of nominal reduplication do not provide a way to choose between these two analyses. Mutaka 1988 argues that the analysis in (17") predicts the tonal behaviour of a suffixal H in verbal forms. Hyman and Valinande 1985 have argued that only H appears underlyingly. To preserve this hypothesis, one might propose that the underlying representation of o-mú-kalf is as in (21), and that the rightmost H undegoes Meeussen's Rule (20): 20.

Meeussen 's Rule (MR) H -> L / H

21.

MR, HTA, DLK

(o)- m u - k a 1

(o)- m u - k a 1 i

kal

••••t H H H H H U il· U il· L L L L But the analysis in (21) poses two problems. First, why would PHA not apply to the penultimate TBU, which is toneless? One way around this would be to say that a H deleted by MR is replaced by L. Such a rule has for example been proposed by Hyman and Pulleyblank 1987, but this would pose a problem for the derivation of a-ka-huka*huka: 22a. MR a-ka-huka a -k a -h u k a*h u k a

\ JH b.

HTA, DLK

a -k a-h u k a H

\l

H

\J

H il L

a -k a -h u k a*h u k a

H To derive a-ka-húka, we have to say that MR does not apply because the H is branching. If it was not branching, we would have an underlying representation similar to (21) and predict that the last two TBU's would surface with L. But, as shown by the incorrect result *a-ká-húka *huka in (22b), MR cannot apply in the reduplicated form unless we appeal to some kind of geminate integrity (Hayes 1986); but, to my knowledge, geminate integrity has never been reported as applying to tones. The second problem is why the OCP holds in (22) but not in (21). Until these issues are resolved, we are left with the underlying L tone as in (17).

34

Mutaka

The only reason to propose the representation in (21) is to maintain that only H can appear underlyingly, and that L is assigned exclusively by default. The following form warrants the underlying L: 23.

o-mu-Iongo o-mu-longo»longo o-mu-Iongo»longo mu-ljto 'village' 'real village' 'real heavy village' Both nonreduplicated and reduplicated forms surface with all L tone. If PHA is postlexical, we cannot say that this word is marked for its non-application. A solution is to posit an underlying L on the FV: 24. LS o-mu-longo o-mu-longo*Iongo

%

Ν

tHT A,OLK,PHA

n.a.]

L

'

L

1.2 M o n o s y l l a b i c s t e m s Monosyllabic nouns do not offer a wide range of tonal patterns. They divide into 25a. Hé-N-búa and toneless émbwâ] stems, 'dog' as illustratedémbwa in (25).nyl-rjto 'heavy dog' é-N-púj émbw}] 'white hair' émbwjnyi-rjto 'heavy white hair' b. e-N-tée [endê] 'cow' endenyi-rjto 'heavy cow' e-N-túa [endwâ] 'wedding' endwa nyl-rjto 'heavy wedding' In (25a), a H appears on the initial vowel. Since, as we have already seen, this vowel has no underlying tone, its surface H tone must come from the stem. Another observation is that the falling tone which appears word-finally in isolation disappears if the word is followed by the adjective -ljto. We know that PHA applies to the penultimate vowel: the falling tone consists of the Phrasal H followed by a L which comes to be realized on the same vowel. A penultimate vowel which devocalizes gets the Phrasal H before devocalization (or Vowel Shortening, VS). This pattern holds if the nouns bear diminutive (Class 12) prefix ka-: 26.

a t ó - b ú a [akábwa]'small dog' a-ka-tee [akatê]'small cow' Now consider some reduplicated forms: 27. e-n-de*nde*ndée a-ka-te«katée e-n-dwa*ndwa*ndwáa 'real cow' 'real small cow' 'real wedding' In (27), nothing special happens with respect to tone. The question is whether the double FV is copied in the reduplicated string, and whether this vowel interact with such rules as HTA. Consider the following forms: 28. e-rí-sée 'mouse dung' e-rí-sé*rí-sée 'real mouse dung' e-kí-sáa 'share' e-kí-sá*kí-sáa 'real share' In (28), the prefix has a H which results from HTA. If we copy the double FV in the reduplicated string, we obtain the wrong result. Before deciding how the H tone winds up on the FV of the base, consider (29): 29. émbwá*mbwá*mbwá 'real dog' akábwá ·kábwâ 'real small dog' The H on the augment of e-m-bua, derived by HTA from the stem, is the same H that docks onto the prefix vowel in a-ka-bua. If this H begins on -u- before it devocalizes, we obtain the reduplications in (30).

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns

30a.

HTA, DLK

e-m-bua«mbua»mbua

a-ka-bua«kabua

••··+ "··+ •··+ b.

PHA,VS

35

'··+

H H H e-m-bwa»mbwa*mbwaa

"··+

H H a-ka-bwa «kabwaa

H H H H H H H We obtain the correct result for 'real dog' with the nasal class prefix, but the wrong result for 'real small dog' with a CV prefix. So far, we have said that the prefix is toneless and that if it surfaces with a H, this can only be the result of HTA from a stem vowel. But, with respect to the reduplication of monosyllabic stems where the prefix is copied, the question is: does the reduplicated string retain its internal structure, or not? 31. a-ká-búa *kábúa a-ká-búa *ká-búa IV-pfx-stem IV-pfx-stem pfx-stem The failed derivation for 'real small dog' in (30) suggests that the -ká- of the reduplicated string is not analyzed as if we had a concatenation of two words: [ [prefix + stem] + [prefix + stem] ]. Instead, when a monosyllabic stem copies an unanalyzed prefix to fill the two syllable template of the reduplication, a derived H tone is copied along with it. The rule spreading this H tone before reduplication can be formulated as in (32): 32. Monosyllable H branching (MHB) ·V V

''•JH

The dot in this rule stands for the boundary of a reduplicated string and the rule says: a H branches when it is preceded by a toneless vowel of a reduplicated string. This rule can be viewed as a subroutine type rule (Schlindwein 1988) in that it is solely triggered by a reduplicative^affix. Given (32), we can account for the tone of reduplications like e r í s é r í s é and akábwákábwá: 33a.

MHB

e - r 1 - se · r 1 s e e

a-ka-b ua*kabua

b.

HTA, DLK

H H e - r i - s e »r i s e e

H H a-ka-bua*kabua

c.

PHA

e-r l-se*r lsee

I ''·.]

H

I '··.]

H

I M !

H

H

a-ka-bua*kabua

I

\l

i

H H H H H H In sum, monosyllabic stems can be underlyingly H or toneless. In the reduplicated form, the prefix which is copicd acquires the tone of the stem as it loses its status of prefix. Before discussing polysyllabic stems, let us look at the words with a H on the augment. 34. ó-mw-ána/o-mw-ána ó-mw-aná«mw-ána ó-mw-ana mu-Jjto 'child' 'real child' 'heavy child'

36

Mutaka

It is fairly surprising that the augment is optionally H if the word is uttered in isolation, but obligatorily H if the word is reduplicated or followed by something else. One could argue that the H on the initial vowel is the result of HTA, or H that originates from the prefix. This word would be exceptional if its prefix is underlyingly H. Alternatively, this H is floating and the initial vowel is extrametrical. It would then link to the prefix vowel by edge-in association and be copied in the reduplicated string before the other tonal rules apply. This hypothesis is illustrated in (35). 35a.

b.

HTA, DLK

(o)-mu-ana

(o)-mu-ana »mu-ana

PHA,VS

••••t H (o)-mw-ana

''-ι \ t H H (o)-mw-ana »mw-ana

H H H H H The optionality of H on the initial vowel can be accounted for by saying that once the H links to the prefix, it may or may not undergo HTA, DLK. If not, the H is not realized because the vowel devocalizes. In the reduplicated string suffixed to the word, the floating H is also copied and it links to the left edge TBU which, in this case, is the -«-. The linking of this floating H in the reduplicated string supports Mutaka and Hyman's (1990) claim that reduplication is a word level phenomenon, mu-ana is suffixed to the word. 1.2

Polysyllabic

stems

As observed in Mutaka and Hyman 1990, nouns with stems of more than two syllables do not reduplicate. The tonal analysis follows straightforwardly from that of disyllabic and monosyllabic nouns. Consider (36): 36a. o-mu-galímy 'teacher' o-mu-galímy mu-Jjto 'heavy teacher' b. ó-mu4úngúli,i 'black fly' ó-mu-lúngúly mu4jto 'heavy black fly' c. e-kí-nyurúgúnzu 'butterfly' e-kí-nyurúgúnzu kl-r}to heavy butterfly' In (36a), as the H on the penultimate vowel does not disappear before the adjective -ljto, we conclude that it results from HTA of an H which begins on the FV. In (36b), the H surfacing on the penultimate and antepenultimate vowels must be analysed as in a-ká-húka with a branching H on the last two syllables. In (36c), the first vowel of the stem must be prelinked to a H which anticipates onto the prefix to allow this H to surface on it: 37a. HTA, DLK e-ki-nyurugunzu '·•+ H b.

IPHA n.a.]

-

:

-4 H

e-ki-nyurugunzu H

""^H

The form in (36b) is more puzzling since the H surfaces on the IV and not the prefix. As in (35), this can be accounted for with a floating H:

37

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns

38a.

b.

H linking

(o)-mu-l u η g u 1 μ

ΗΤΑ, DLK

Η Η (o)fflu-i u n g u l y

[PHA n.a.] H H Consider also the forms in (39): 39a. o-mú-herúkj 'bride' o-mú-herukj mu-lito 'heavy bride' b. o-mú-siríbábá 'lizard' o-mú-slríbába mu-líto 'heavy lizard' c. e-kl-témbekal} 'kind of tree' e-kl-témbekalj klrfto 'heavy tree' The forms in (39a) and (39b) have a H resulting from the PHA as in o-kugúlu. ΗΤΑ applies in them because of the prelinked H on the first vowel of the stem in (39a), or the branching Η in (39b): 40a. ΗΤΑ, DLK o-mu-herukl o-mu-slribabaa

b.

PHA

Η o-mu-herukl

Η Η o-m u - s 1 r 1 b a b a a

V

H H H H The word in (39c) patterns like o-mú-kalf, with a L tone on the last vowel that blocks PHA: 41. HTA, DLK, LS e-k 1 - tembek a l j \ f ·'·•] [PHA n.a.] H L In sum, the same tonal rules operate in polysyllabic disyllabic and monosyllabic nouns. 2. D e v e r b a l nouns As pointed out in (5), nouns derived from verbs have the following structure: 42. IV-pfx-verbroot-(ext-)FV The FV can be agentive -i- or locative -o-; the extension is also found in verbs. Deverbal nouns divide into Η-tone and toneless. Consider these forms: 43.

o-mú-kám-J 'brewer' o-mú-kám-j mu-ljto 'heavy brewer' o-mu-hól-j 'deceased' o-mu-hol-jmu-lito 'heavy deceased' ο-mú-ték-j 'giver' o-mu-ték-J mu-líto 'heavy giver' o-lú-téh-j 'cup' o4ú-téh-j lu-l{to 'heavy cup' These words pattern just like o-kú-boko; we can safely assume they have a prelinked H on the first vowel of the stem. These forms all derive from H tone verbs whose H is argued by Mutaka 1988 to be floating, and to link at the stem cycle. If the H was floating in nouns, we would expect the (incorrect) derivation on the left of (44) rather than the correct one on the right:

38

Mutaka

44a.

b.

H linking,HTA, DLK

(o)-mu-kami

o-mu-kami

PHA

••••t H (o)-mu-kamj

\ t H o-mu-kamj

H H Further evidence for (44b) comes from reduplication.

H

H

45.

o-mú-kam-í'kám-j e-rí-kam-a»kám-a 'to brew repeatedly' o-mú-hol-í'hól-} e-rí-hol-a»hól-e 'to die repeatedly' o-mú-tek-|«ték-j e-rí-tek-a«ték-a 'to give repeatedly' o4Ú-teh-)*téh-j e-rí-teh-e«téh-a 'to pour repeatedly' Mutaka and Hyman 1990 observe two differences in the reduplication of nouns and verb: noun reduplication suffixes two syllables whereas verb reduplication prefixes two syllables; underlying tones are copied in the reduplication of nouns but not in verbs. A third difference: H is prelinked to the initial stem vowel in derived nouns but not in verbs. A reduplicated deverbal noun contrasts with a reduplicated H tone verb, as follows: 44a. H linking,HTA,DLK o-mu-kam-4 «kam-i e-rl-kam-a«kam-a

b.

PHA

H H o-mu-kam-i«kam-|

H e-rl-kam-e*kam-a

H H H H H On reduplicated H tone verbs, cf. Mutaka 1988. Consider also these forms: 45.

e-kí-kam-ir-o 'brewing place' e-kí-kam-lr-o kl-r|to e-kí-kam-ul-ír-o 'brewing vase' e-ki-kam-ul-ir-okl-r}to e-kí-tek-ér-o 'sitting place' e-kí-tek-er-o kl-rjto e-kí-teh-ér-o 'spring' e-kí-teh-er-okl-r|to These nouns differ from those in (43) in the presence of verbal extensions. Since an extension is toneless, the analysis is no different. Consider also these derivatives of a monosyllabic H tone verb -ri 'eat':

46.

o-mú-lí-1 [omulî] 'eater, cannibal' o-mu4i-lmu-ijto e-mí-rl-ír-o [emíríro] 'ways of eating' e-ml-rl-lr-oml-r{to As expected, the prefix H results from HTA. The falling tone in the isolation forms result from PHA, they disappear before the adjective -l}to. The reduplicated form of 'eater' is derived in (47):

Reduplication and the tonal representation of Kinande nouns

47a.

MHB

b.

HTA, DLK

c.

PHA

39

I Ν

o - m u - 1 1 - j»mu -11 -} Η Η o-mu-ll-l«mu-ll-l Η Η o-mu-ll-j*mu-ll-|

\l

Η Η Η (47) shows that, if the prefix is copied, it gets a Η through the application of the MHB rule (32) above. Consider also the forms deriving from toneless verbs. carrier' o-mu-hék-j o-mu-hek-j mu-ljto o-mu-lóg-j 'sorcerer' o-mu-log-j mu-ljto 'dancer' o-mu-sat-jmu-ljto o-mu-sát-j 'carrying object' e-kl-hek-ero kl-rjto e-kl-hek-ér-o 'burden' o-mu-hek-o mu-ljto o-mu-héko 'dancing place' e-kl-sat-lr-o kl-rjto e-kl-sat-ír-o a-ma-sat-a ma-Jjto 'dance' a-ma-sát-a e-kl-es-er-o kl-rjto 'playing place' e-kl-es4r-o o-bu-jkal-obu-ljtQ 'sitting place' o-bu-^kál-o These forms derive from the verbs e r l - h é k a 'to carry', e r l - l ó g a 'to bewitch', erl-sáta 'to dance', erl-esâ 'to play', erl-jkála 'to sit'. The only H that surfaces is derived from PHA. This shows that the FV in these derived nouns is toneless. However, there are some exceptional cases: 48.

49.

e-ki-es-e 'game' e-kl-es-a kl-rjto e-kl-hek-a 'truck' e -ki-hek-a kl-rjto The forms in (49) pattern like o-mu-longo in that they surface with all L tones. Probably they are nonderived words with underlying L on the FV. Conclusion I have shown that the tone of Kinande nouns can be accounted for, in the majority of cases, by a restricted number of rules if we posit prelinked underlying H tones in the noun stem, and in some cases, a prelinked L tone on the final vowel which blocks Phrasal H. I have argued that there are cases where a H tone surfacing on the initial vowel originates as a floating H of the stem. I have p r o p o s e d that a H tone in a reduplicated stem automatically spreads to the prefix reduplicated along with the stem. Deverbal nouns pattern exactly like verbs: some have an underlying H, while others are toneless. The difference is that their H tones are prelinked, while the H tones of verb stems are underlyingly floating. Department of Linguistics University of Southern California Los Angeles, CA 90089

40

Mutaka

References Crowhurst, M. (ed.) 1988 Arizona Phonology Conference 1. Coyote Papers 9. University of Arizona, Tucson. Goldsmith, J. 1986 Prosodie trends in the Bantu languages, ms., University of Chicago. Goyvaerts, D. ed. 1985 African Linguistics ; Essays in Memory of M. W. K. Semikenke. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Hayes, Β 1986 Inalterability in CV phonology, Language 62: 321-51. Hyman, L. 1983 Globality and the accentual analysis of Luganda tone, Journal of Linguistic Research 4: 1-40. in preparation The phrasal tonology of Kinande Hyman, L. and D. Pulleyblank 1987 On feature copying: parameters of tone rules, in L. Hyman and C. Li (eds.): Language, Speech and Mind: Studies in Honor of Victoria Fromkin. London: Croom Helm. Hyman, L. and N. Valinande 1985 Globality in the Kinande tone system, in D. Goyvaerts, ed. 1985: 239-60. Kiparsky, P. 1985 Some consequences of lexical phonology, Phonology Yearbook 2: 85-138. McCarthy, J. J. 1986 OCP effects: gemination and antigemination, Linguistic Inquiry 17: 207-63. Mutaka, N. and L. Hyman 1990 Syllables and morpheme integrity in Kinande reduplication, to appear Phonology 7.1 Mutaka, N. 1988 Tonal evidence for an INFL cycle in the Kinande verb, in Crowhurst (ed.) 1988: 75-78. Pulleyblank, D. 1986 Tone in Lexical Phonology. Dordrecht: Reidel. Schlindwein, D. 1988 The phonological geometry of morpheme concatenation, University of Southern California dissertation. Yip, M. 1987 Edge-in association, ms., Brandeis University.

Chapter

5

Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale E m m a n u e l Nikiema, Université du Québec à M o n t r é a l

In the phonological literature, vocalic epenthesis is viewed essentially as segmental insertion with the goal of breaking up forbidden consonant clusters. I will demonstrate that this long-held assumption is wrong. Rule-based approaches to vocalic epenthesis face both empirical and theoretical problems. I will propose a principled analysis framed in terms of the theory of government and charm (Kaye, Lowenstamm and Vergnaud 1985, 1987) which provides a radically different and more explanatory view. Data from Tangale, a Chadic language spoken in northern Nigeria, are given in section 1 (cf. Kidda 1985). Section 2 presents the syllable inventory of the language. In section 3, previous analyses of vocalic epenthesis are reviewed with respect to their predictions and consequences, as well as theoretical and empirical problems. Section 4 gives an alternative approach within a government-based analysis, and evaluates both proposals. 1 1.

Data

Tangale displays a systematic vowel deletion process when a suffix is added to nominal or verbal forms. The phenomenon is observed in morphological (stem plus suffix) as well as syntactic (subject plus verb) contexts. (1) shows vowel deletion on a nominal or verbal stem that ends in a short vowel.^ 1.

stem

suffixation

realisation

tana tan0+go [tango] *[tar)go] 'her cow' sumo s u m 0 + zi [sumzi] 'your name' taga t a g 0 + no [tagno] 'my shoe' dobe cfob0 + go [cfobgo] 'called' pone pon0 + go [pongo] "[porjgo] 'knew' Vowel deletion "creates" a sequence of two consonants in the derived form. An informal, rule-based characterization of this process is given below: 2. V->0/_CV3 Vowel deletion is closely related to vocalic epenthesis in Tangale: the deletion sometimes results in sequences of three or more consonants whose syllabification is problematic. In such cases, an epenthetic vowel appears. 3a. targo targ0 + no [tarwgno] 'my trap' lipra l i p r 0 + zi [lipwrzi] 'your needle' wuigo wurg0 + mu [wurMgmu] 'our in-law' soglo sogl0 + no [soguLno] 'my fish' have benefited from comments and suggestions from the following persons: Jonathan Kaye, Jean Lowenstamm, Laurie Tuller, Geoges Hérault and all the members of the Groupe de recherche en linguistique africaniste, Université du Québec à Montréal. Thanks also to Michael Kenstowicz, Mairo Kidda, Sylvie Robidoux, Rose-Marie Déchaîne and Victor Manfredi for their support and encouragement. This study, begun in Montréal and continued in Kano and Maiduguri (Nigeria), has been made possible by grants CRSH #411-85-0012 and FCAR #87-EQ-2681. 2 For syntactic cases see Kenstowicz 1988. Adding a suffix to a form ending in a long vowel does not trigger deletion of that vowel. This asymmetrical behaviour of long and short vowels is accounted for in section 4. ^Vowel deletion does not occur if the suffix is just V or C. See (12) below. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1989 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 41-51 (Dordrecht: Foris)

42

Nikiema

b.

dbbe sugde monde dbbe sugde monde The appearance of 4.

d b b 0 + n0go [dobKngo] 'called me' sugd0 + z0go [sugdwzgo] 'pierced you' mond0 + d0go [mandwdgo] 'forgot her' cfob0 + go 'called' [cfobgo] sugd0 + go 'pierced' [sugdo] mond0 + go [mongo]4 'forgot' the epenthetic vowel is represented by an insertion rule:

0 - > u / C _ CC

Vowel deletion is cyclic, cf. (3b). (3a-b) show that epenthesis is fed by deletion, which is triggered by the suffix. Since the two phenomena are related, it is desirable to express this formally; rules (2) and (4) do not. If vocalic epenthesis functions to break up forbidden consonant clusters, it can be said to fail in (1) and (3c) because the same consonant clusters are allowed. By forbidden consonant clusters, one should understand a sequence of consonants whose syllabification violates the structure of the maximal syllabic constituent in the language. Consider the syllabic inventory of Tangale. 2. T a n g a l e s y l l a b l e s t r u c t u r e Kidda 1985 mentions that Tangale allows only long vowels and closed syllables. The syllabic inventory of Tangale is therefore limited to branching nuclei and rimes. Branching onsets and branching codas are not attested. 5a.

O

R Ν

b.

R Ν

Λ

c.

O

R

Κ I\

N \

C V C V V c The data suggest that vocalic epenthesis is related to syllable structure. Since we know the syllable structures allowed in Tangale, we can identify the principle that governs the presence or absence of the epenthetic vowel. There are two ways of doing this. The first has been proposed in previous autosegmental analyses; Kidda 1985 is representative. The second — our proposal — constitutes a new approach.^ Let us consider them in turn. 3. P r e v i o u s a n a l y s e s Analyses of vocalic epenthesis in the literature are characterized by three major assumptions, listed in (6). First, the assumed function of epenthetic vowels is to break up derived consonant clusters which violate the syllabic The degemination effect one can observe here is due to the impossibility of inserting an epenthetic vowel between homorganic consonants and geminates. This problem is discussed in more detail in Nikiema (to appear). 5 Similar approaches are presented in Kaye 1987 for vowel alternations ( 0 - V ) in Moroccan Arabic and Angoujard 1984 for other Arabic dialects. 4

43

Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale

inventory. Second, segmental deletion/insertion is assumed to entail deletion/insertion of the corresponding skeletal point. In forms like (3a-b), for instance, the created but forbidden sequence of three consonants is possible only with the deletion of the skeletal point corresponding to the erased vowel. Finally both deletion and epenthesis operations entail resyllabification. 6a. b. c.

Vocalic epenthesis functions to break up forbidden consonant clusters. Deletion (or insertion) of a segment entails the deletion (or insertion) of the corresponding skeletal point. Syllable structures can be rebuilt in the course of a derivation.

3.1 A d e r i v a t i o n As expressed in (4), vocalic epenthesis inserts a vowel between the first and the second of a sequence of three consonants. (7a) is the underlying representation of / l i p r a / 'trap' plus the suffix / - n o / 'my'; deletion of the vowel and its skeletal point takes place in (7b), creating a sequence of three consonants. Such clusters cannot fit in the syllabic inventory in (5). An epenthetic vowel [u] is then inserted by (4), causing reorganization of the syllable structure, cf. (7c): 7a. b. c. l i p r a + n o l i p r 0 n o l i p u r n o C V C C V C V

C V C C

CV

OR

OR

OR

O R O R

C V C V C C V O R O R

OR

No reason is given for the vowel deletion, which sometimes paradoxally creates forbidden consonant clusters, which must then be split up. Some syllabic labels differ in (7a) and (7c): [p] begins in a rime position, but is reassigned to an onset, [r] begins in an onset, and ends up in a rime. If syllabic constituents change category in the course of a derivation, the relatedness of derived forms is obscured. To assume that deletion of a segment entails deletion of the corresponding skeletal point violates the stability of autonomous autosegmental tiers (here, the skeletal and segmental levels). To avoid this consequence, some scholars have proposed deleting the skeletal point instead of the segment. (This proposal is discussed in the next section.) Other rule-based frameworks account for deletion and epenthesis in a similar way. In underspecification theory, one would say that epenthetic vowels should not be underlyingly specified since their appearance is predictible at the surface. Epenthetic vowel features would be filled by default and/or redundancy rules. But this is possible only if one assumes the underlying presence of a skeletal point to which redundant phonetic features eventually link. And the presence of an underlying skeletal point destroys the argument appealing to forbidden consonant clusters. The only alternative would be to postulate a skeletal point insertion rule which applied before filling in the redundant features.

44

Nikiema

3.2 A d i f f e r e n t d e r i v a t i o n It has been proposed that deletion affects the skeletal tier (see Levin 1985). Instead of deleting the vowel, one deletes the skeletal point to which it is linked; a segment is not phonetically realized if it is not attached to a timing unit. In this way, one can avoid some of the problems mentioned above (stability violation and velar-nasal adjacency): 8a. 1 i ρ r a+n

b. l i p r a n o

l i p u r n o

x x x x

X X

x

C V C C V C V

C V C C

CV

I M O RI O IR I

O R

X X X X X

o

c.

X X

11/

O R

II

OR

x

x

x

x

x

x

C V C V C C V

I I I I MO RI

O R O R

In (8b), the vowel / a / is not linked to a skeletal point, so it is not phonetically realized. Vowel deletion and insertion would be represented as in (9): 9a.

Ν χ —> 0 /

C

V

χ

χ

b.

Ν 0->x

/C_CC

Recall that deletion takes place only with CV suffixes, but not with C or V suffixes. In fact, nothing in the formalism of (9a) prevents deletion before a C or V suffix. Futhermore, the deletion and insertion rules are formulated in different terms. The context for (9a) is defined syllabically, but the consonants in (9b) are not syllabified. We know that vowel deletion and insertion are phonologically related in Tangale, but such a relationship is missing in (9). But if deletes a skeletal point instead of a segment in Tangale, there are undesirable consequences for other languages. For example, what would be the resulting syllable structure of the French form [pati] when realized as [pti] after deletion of the shwa? It is not problematic to consider the resulting initial consonant cluster [pt] as a branching onset, since such onsets are generally impossible in French. One would like to know why deletion applies to the skeleton in Tangale, but only to segments in French. Another problem is the asymmetry of short and long vowels with respect to vowel deletion. One can see in (10) that long vowels preceding CV suffixes undergo neither deletion nor shortening. In other words, branching nuclei do not delete, or shorten, in suffixation contexts. 10. targii targii + no [targiino] 'my cap' rubee rubee + no [rubeeno] 'my brain' loo loo + no [loono] 'my meat' πιεε πτεε + go [rrxègo] 'met' To account for this difference, one might invoke the Linking Constraint (Hayes 1986), which has been used to express restrictions on coda positions in some languages. In Italian, for instance, a [- sonorant] segment cannot be in

Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale

45

coda position unless it is part of a geminate cluster. This restriction is expressed by Ito 1986 via the Linking Constraint, used as a coda condition: 11.

Italian coda condition:

*C]

[-son] A [- sonorant] segment linked to two skeletal points is well-formed, because the association lines in (11) are assumed to be exhaustively specified. The Linking Constraint could also be invoked to protect long vowels from deletion. But this constraint complicates the machinery of phonological theory by adding the ability of a rule to refer both to the internal structure of segments and to association lines. In fact, the need to refer to single versus double linking is just a device to express a syntagmatic relation between timing units. Another problem is that short stem-final vowels do not undergo deletion if the following suffix is composed of just V or C: tana tana + i [tanei]6 'the cow' siano + i [sumei] 'the name' sumo ara ara + i [arei] 'the soup' [tanam] 'not the cow' teina + m tana sumo+m [suman] 'not the name' sumo [aram] ara + m 'not the soup' ara In the analyses presented so far, it is impossible to say why suffixes made of single consonants or single vowels fail to trigger deletion. One needs to stipulate that deletion is triggered just by suffies of CV type. These considerations show that existing autosegmental analyses of vocalic epenthesis and vowel deletion are inadequate. In the next section, I present further unfortunate consequences and wrong predictions of these approaches. 3.3 C o n s e q u e n c e s , p r e d i c t i o n s and p r o b l e m s Rule-based approaches make certain predictions with respect to vocalic epenthesis. For example, sequences of three or more consonants are said to be forbidden in Tangale because of the syllable inventory. This implies that sequences of three consonants are impossible in all languages having the same syllabic inventory as Tangale. But Moroccan Arabic (like other Semitic languages) distinguishes forms like [kitbu:] 'they have written' from [kittbu:] 'they have caused to be written'. Why is the latter form not anomalous? If vowel deletion entails the deletion of the corresponding skeletal point, the skeleton and the segments are not on different autosegmental tiers, otherwise one would expect the material of these tiers to exhibit stability effects. But stability is a basic principle of autosegmental representations, so such an analysis violates the theoretical framework.

6

Kidda 1985 transcribes these forms as [taney], [sumey] and [arey]. She assumes that both fronting and diphtongisation take place in these forms. I do not discuss the latter phenomenon in this analysis.

46

Nikiema

The derivation in (7) requires that, after segmental deletion, syllable structure can be reorganized (as much as needed). A segment assigned to an onset can be reassigned to a rime, or vice-versa. Can a syllabic constituent be relabeled during the course of a derivation? For syntactic constituents, the answer is probably negative: NPs cannot change to VPs after undergoing movement. If vowel deletion creates an adjacency between the preceeding and the following consonants, one might expect an assimilation process between the velar and preceding nasal consonant in (1); but assimilation does not occur. A government-based analysis solves these problems, as I will now show. 4. A g o v e r n m e n t - b a s e d a n a l y s i s KLV (1985, 1987) formulate a syntax of phonological expressions in a principled and explanatory way. The charm and government framework is composed of modular subtheories, including the theories of syllable structure, phonological representations and charm. Phonological units are related to each other by government. Government is defined as an asymmetric, binary relation between two skeletal positions, constrained by: 13a. strict adjacency (limited to two positions) and b. strict directionality (head-final or head-initial) Just three syllabic constituents are recognized: onset, nucleus and rime (the coda is not a syllabic constituent). Branching constituents are government domains, e.g. if [pr] is a well-formed onset in a given language, the reverse [rp] sequence cannot be an onset in the same language, because of directionality. 4 . 1 V o c a l i c e p e n t h e s i s and t h e t h e o r y of syllable s t r u c t u r e One may distinguish syllabic government from interconstituent government. Syllabic government holds between two segments of the same constituent, i.e. within a branching onset, nucleus or rime. Interconstituent government holds between segments that belong to different contituents (onset-to-rime, nucleusto-nucleus, nucleus-to-onset). This type of government holds at the projection level so that intervening consonants are ignored. Syllabic government is head initial (governor preceding governee) whereas interconstituent government is head final (governor following governee). The three interconstituent governing domains are illustrated in (14); governors — heads — are underlined: 14a.

O

*χ

R

R

Ν

Ν \

χ

X

)

Ο

Κ \

X t

X

Τ

c.

Ν

t

X

Ο

X

Ν

X

)

It is (14c) that interests us in the analysis of vocalic epenthesis. As in syntax, we assume a projection principle which ensures that governing domains remain stable at all level of representation. Therefore, a

Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale

47

constituent does not change category in the course of a derivation (e.g. a consonant assigned to onset position must not end up in rime position). Each syllabic constituent may be null (not linked to any segment), singly linked or binary branching. Null syllabic positions are possible even in underlying representation. In underlying or surface representations, empty positions are subject to government. A government relation that involves an empty position is called proper government. The basic assumptions of the government-based analysis, in (15), can be compared with those in (6): 15a.

Empty positions are possible in underlying as well as surface representation (segmental deletion creates an empty skeletal point). b. The projection principle holds for syllabic constituents (onsets and nuclei remain stable during derivations). c. Every empty position must be properly governed 7 A sample derivation is given in (16). (16a) represents the underlying form of the noun, with an empty nuclear position which is properly governed by the fined vowel. In (16b), with the suffix, the final short vowel of the noun gets deleted, generating a second empty nuclear position. Because government requires strict adjacency, the vowel of the suffix cannot govern both the created empty position and the underlying one. The former is properly governed but the latter is not, violating our (15c). To avoid such a violation, the ungoverned empty nucleus is phonetically realized as an epenthetic vowel. 16a. O R O R O R Ν

Ν

b.

Ν

O R O R O R O R Ν

Ν

Ν

Ν

c. O R O R Ο R Ο R I ι Ν Ν Ν Ν

χ χ χ χ χ χ

χ χ χ χ χ χ χ χ

χ χ χ χ χ χ χ χ

1

1

1

ρ

0 r a J

ρ

0

η o i

r 0 η o ï I We saw in (3a-b) that vowel deletion induces the appearance of a second empty nuclear position. (16b) shows an intermediate stage of the derivation in which two empty positions can be observed. The empty position closer to the vocalic suffix is properly governed, but the other one is not, because of the requirement of strict adjacency (13b). (15c) requires the appearance of an epenthetic vowel in the site of an ungoverned empty position. One might wonder whether empty position should be posited in underlying representation. The hypothesis of empty positions in phonological representations is not new. Anderson 1982 proposed that the French form [pti] has the underlying representation /pati/ 'small'. A remaining question concerns how and when the empty position is phonetically realized. One can see in (16) that a properly governed nucleus 7 This

formulation is slightly different from those in Kaye 1987 or KLV 1987. Empty position is preferred to empty category because there is no evidence for empty categories in phonology, even after deletion processes. Each empty position (be it nuclear or consonantal) is subject to proper government.

48

Nikiema

is not phonetically realized, whereas an ungoverned one is. Following Kaye 1987, let us formulate this as a principle of phonological theory: 17. A properly governed nucleus need not be phonetically realized. It is now possible to account for the fact that suffixation does not trigger vocalic epenthesis in (1). The created empty position is properly governed by the following suffixal nucleus. The consonants in the apparent consonant clusters are not adjacent because of the existence of that empty position: this explains why there is no assimilation between the velar consonant and the preceding nasal consonant: they are not adjacent. (1) and (3) show that addition of a suffix to a stem ending in a short vowel triggers the deletion of that short vowel. (10) shows that deletion does not occur if the vowel preceding the suffix is long. This asymmetry is predicted in the government-based approach because long vowels constitute governing domains that are opaque to other governors. I must still provide an account for why suffixes of C and V type do not trigger deletion of the preceding short vowel, and why no deletion is observed within stems in isolation. 4.2 Proper g o v e r n m e n t i n Tangale We make the following hypothesis: suffixation in Tangale creates proper government domains within which suffix vowels, if any, are governors (heads). That is, addition of a suffix to a nominal or verbal stem creates an interconstituent government relation between the nucleus of the suffix and the final nucleus of the stem. This relation holds at the projection level, and is not blocked by the intervening onset. As we will see, the situation is slightly different when the intervening onset position is empty. Interconstituent government being head final, the suffix vowel is the governor, and it properly governs the preceding nucleus, which, following (17), need not be phonetically realized. It follows that the vowel deletes. Given this hypothesis, we must explain why there is no deletion of the preceding vowel when the suffix is just a consonant (/-m/) or vowel (/-i/). Consider the definite morpheme / - i / (repeating data (12a) from above): 12a.

tana tana + i [tanei] 'the cow' sumo sumo + i tsumei] 'the name' ara ara + i [arei] 'the soup' No deletion occurs; instead, the stem-final short vowel is fronted. Let us propose that the underlying representation of the suffix contains two skeletal points: one linked to the vowel and a preceding one in an empty onset position. The underlying representation of the suffix / - i / would be as follows: 18. χ χ

/ - i / differs from the suffixes in (1) and (3), which lack an empty onset position. Since the nucleus of /-i/ is a potential governor for the preceding nucleus, one would expect the creation of an interconstituent governing domain

49

Vocalic epenthesis reanalyzed: the case of Tangale

between them, causing the governee to delete. However, no deletion occurs across the intervening empty onset: 19a. O R O R O RR b. O R O R O R Ν

Ν

χ χ χ χ

χ χ

Ν

t a n a

Ν

Ν

Ν

χ χ χ χ χ χ t a n a

= [tanei]

The empty onset of the suffix is subject to the requirement of proper government (15c). I assume the empty onset position is properly governed by die following nucleus. Properly governing its onset position, the suffix vowel cannot also properly govern the preceding nucleus. Therefore, no new governing domain is created by suffixation and no deletion takes place. In other words, a head cannot properly govern twice in Tangale. However, it governs once and this is why one observes spreading of / i / to the preceding vowel, yielding [tanei]. Now consider suffixation of the negative morpheme, seen in (12b): 12b. tana tana + m [tanam] 'not the cow' sumo sumo+m [sumcm] 'not the name' ara ara + m [aram] 'not the soup' The result of suffixation is a simple concatenation of suffix and stem. As in (12a), no deletion occurs. Let us propose that the negative suffix is composed of a single consonant / - m / linked to a skeletal point? Since the suffix has no vowel (i.e. no potentiell governor) in its underlying representation, deletion cannot take place because no governing relation is created. To summarize, deletion of a short vowel before a CV suffix is due to the creation of a proper government domain between the nucleus of the suffix and the final short vowel of the stem. We have explained why deletion does not occur in some environments. As far as forms in isolation are concerned, one can notice that nouns like /tana/ 'cow' or verbs like / d o b e / 'call' do not undergo deletion, yielding *[tna], *[zru3, ζτυε, zru, zrui (*ΖΓοε, *zr5u...) Sonority within vowels is determined by the feature [ high ]. Since (7) and (15b) focus on a feature, "Delete" must apply to that feature, which lies at the lowest and most inexpensive level within the phonological hierarchy, in order to decrease sonority at the beginning of ill-formed d i p h t h o n g s . 5 Recall that repair strategies, the purpose of which is to preserve constraints, apply minimally according to constraint focuses (cf. 10e) 5

In the case of two high vowels, I maintain that the first one becomes a glide to avoid having two peak positions. Following from this, one would be tempted to analyze vocalic raising in Gere as the deletion of [-consonantal] instead of [-high], i.e. as glide formation. However, vocalic raising does not always result in glide formation. In causative forms, for example, /ζπ>ο-ε/ becomes [ζι-υε] (for reasons given in fn. 2): when each vowel is attached to its own timing unit, the vowel of the stem is raised without becoming a glide.

58

Paradis

and the phonological hierarchy (6). An illicit diphthong ensuing from pronoun suffixation (cf. 10a) triggers the application of "Delete", and the subsequent default rule, giving the correct output: 17. a.

Derivation of / z i o - ε / - » [ζΓυε] 'beg it' suffixation χ χ χ

I

ζ

b.

"Delete"

c.

default rule

I

κ

r

D - ε [-high] [-high] i

0

[+high] Feature deletion results in vocalic raising because [+high] is the default value for this feature in Gere, cf. (12c). The alternative of spreading the suffix [-high] feature to the stem vowel would continue to violate the Sonority Condition, and phonological processes cannot violate phonological constraints unless they are involved in a constraint conflict, cf. (10b-c). "Insert" is also rejected, since it could not apply to anything (a feature or a node) that would fix up the violations. For instance, [+high] could not be inserted in a matrix which already contains the contradictory feature [high]. And the insertion of a skeletal slot is ruled out by the fact that the Sonority Constraint does not have a skeletal or a syllabic focus. The suffixes -ο, -ε, -υ, -ι are object pronouns which, like several other suffixes in Gere, do not have skeletal slots of their own. They attach directly to the final slot of a stem, forming a diphthong with the preceding vowel. At first sight, one might ask whether the vowel sequences here are really diphthongs. The forms in (18) strongly support this analysis: non-causative forms contrast minimally with causative ones on the basis of vocalic length (18a); two identical vowels regularly coalesce into a short vowel (18b), cf. (16): 18. a

Evidence for slotless suffixes: minimal pairs

b.

mono-vocalic short nuclei

zrue 'beg it' vs. ζη/ε 'make it beg' Bli mbibo, cajoutier: I m-bibo I, préf. cl. 3 - thème 9. Th: l-ndrul I notion d'existant I —» wandru, gens, personnes: I wa-ndru I, préf. cl. 2 - thème —» hindru, chose: I hi-ndru I, préf. cl. 7 - thème 10. Th: l-wadel I notion de maladie I mwade, malade: I mu-wade I, préf. cl. 1 - thème —» uwade, maladie: I u-wade I, préf. cl. 11 - thème Dans ces exemples, la reconnaissance de la base lexématique commune ne fait pas problème; dans ce cas, l'existence d'une relation entre ces mots est très généralement ressentie et acceptée par les locuteurs, ce qui justifie leur regroupement dans un même article du dictionnaire. Mais ces exemples ne représentent pas l'éventail complet des possibilités lexicologiques de la langue: il convient de prendre en compte des cas où le 10

Le -1- qui apparaît à la frontière morphologique est nécessaire car un glide apparaît entre toute succession vocalique ( / u a / est réalisé [uwa]); -1- peut donc être interprétée comme une consonne épenthétique ou comme appartenant étymologiquement au réversif, donné comme *-ud- en bantu commun (c'est un reflet normal de *d en intervocalique).

A propos d'un dictionnaire de shingazidja-français

79

lexème ne se donne pas sous une forme rigoureusement identique dans les différents mots qui l'actualisent - ce qui oblige à fonder le regroupement sur une reflexion morphologique. 3.1.3 " A l t e r n a n c e c o n s o n a n t i q u e " Une alternance se produit entre continue et occlusive, le plus souvent à l'initiale du constituant syntaxique, ce qui peut alors s'expliquer par un amalgame entre préfixe et initiale lexématique. La règle de distribution est que les continues apparaissent après préfixe syllabique (CV-, V-, m-), les occlusives après préf. I0°-I deci. 5 et IN-I deci. 9/10. On trouve souvent en relation un verbe (initiale continue après préfixe syllabique) et un nominal en cl. 5 ou 9, ou encore, un nominal en classe 5 et le même en classe 6 (préf. I ma-1 ), ces deux classes étant en opposition de nombre. Dans cette analyse, la continue est la forme de base: 11. pv / ρ / mpb upvea, balayer I u-pve-a I, préf. cl. 15 - rac. - suf.v. :

[racine arabe]

ar. ('i)ddaeä, réclamer > -dai, exiger,

sources et termes | shingazidja J

ar. du£ä', supplique > dua, bénédiction De même pour halafu et hitlafi, de la racine KLF: 37.

ar. XLF: ar. kalf, derrière > halafu, ensuite, ar. iktiläf, désaccord > hitlafi, divergence

[racine arabe]

[

sources et termes! shingazidja J

Ainsi que pour ada et udi (ε WD), dari et diwara (DWR): 38.

ar. t W D : ar. cada, habitude > ada, grand mariage ar. £Ûd, luth > udi, luth

39.

[racine arabe]

[

sources et termes] shingazidja J

ar. DWR: ar. dar, maison > dari, étage ar. dawwär, en rotation > diwara, roue

[racine arabe]

[

sources et termes I shingazidja J

86

La fon

On pourrait certes envisager dans de tels cas de ne pas suivre strictement le principe de regroupement étymologique et de dissocier les termes shingazidja issus de la même racine arabe dont il est clair que la parenté, sur les plans formel et sémantique, n'est jamais ressentie. Cette idée, évidente en apparence, se révèle d'une application difficile: comment distinguer les rapprochements ressentis de ceux qui ne le sont pas? 5.2 T e r m e s bantu Il semblerait que le regroupement lexématique des termes bantu, s'appuyant sur des processus morphologiques identifiés et opératoires en shingazidja, ne devrait guère poser de problème; or, dans un nombre non négligeable de cas, ces critères ne sont pas suffisants. La discussion est ici d'ordre sémantique: à côté en effet des cas simples et peu discutables, même lorsqu'est impliquée une alternance consonantique ou la reconstruction d'une forme primaire, il en existe d'autres où la relation sémantique éventuelle entre les formes considérées n'est pas évidente. Rappelons que la profondeur historique, dans les langues à "tradition orale", fait défaut et que l'on ne peut donc se référer à un état antérieur de la langue qui expliquerait des évolutions sémantiques... Le comparatisme peut fournir des éléments mais, en l'état de la documentation, ils sont rarement suffisants. On est donc amené finalement à faire reposer la décision sur l'arbitraire ou l'intuition du lexicographe. Nous donnons quelques exemples de rapprochements sémantiquement discutables (certains ont été opérés dans le lexique, d'autres, non): 40.

-umba nyumba (-)

'créer' 'maison'

-baya -bua

'fermer' 'ouvrir' (en supposant un réversif -u-)

-hoha djosi (cl. 5)

'griller' 'fumée' (en supposant la chute du h initial,ce qui est fréquent)

-katra mkatre (mi-)

'couper' 'galette', tranche de pain (ce qui est coupé)

Ces difficultés toutefois ne nous paraissent pas devoir mettre en cause la validité du principe d'organisation par article lexématique: elles ne concernent qu'un nombre limité d'articles; par ailleurs, l'intégration dans le corps de l'ouvrage de renvois pour tous les termes n'apparaissant pas à leur place alphabétique — même lorsqu'il s'agit de formations régulières — permet de retrouver tout terme, quelle que soit la place où il a été assigné. Conclusion On voit que la tâche du lexicographe est ici loin de se réduire à la simple compilation des données relevées; le lexique procède en fait d'une analyse morphologique de la langue, sur laquelle il se fonde et qu'il fonde en même temps. On rejoint là la définition que le professeur Houis (1983: 9) donnait de la lexicologie systématique, qui

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87

...retient comme objet la systématique de la langue dans la mesure où il s'agit d'identifier des unités comme le mot. Elle fournit par là même un fondement rigoureux à l'organisation lexicographique. Et c'est cela qui fait selon nous l'intérêt du travail lexicographique, tout en le rendant d'autant plus vulnérable au passage du temps: le découpage lexicographique proposé ne saurait être fixé d'une manière définitive, il suit les avancées dans la connaissance de la langue. La découverte d'un chaînon lexicographique manquant, qui peut provenir d'un affinement d'une définition ou de la comparaison avec les langues voisines, est en effet susceptible d'aboutir soit au regroupement de termes jusqu'alors dissociés, soit au contraire à l'éclatement d'articles... Centre d'Etudes sur l'Océan Indien Occidental (CEROI) INALCO 2, rue de Lille, Paris VII, France Références Ahmed-Chamanga M. et N.-J. Gueunier 1977, Recherches sur l'instrumentalisation du comorien, Cahiers d'Etudes Africaines, 66-67xvii: 213-39). 1979 Le dictionnaire Comorien-français et Français-comorien du R.P. Sacleux, Paris: Selaf. Ahmed-Chamanga M., M. Lafon et J.-L. Sibertin-Blanc 1988 Projet d'orthographe pratique du comorien. Etudes Océan Indien 9: 7-35. Alexandre, P. 1981 Les langues bantu, dans Les langues dans le monde ancien et moderne (Paris: CNRS) p. 353-75. Benson 1964 A century of Bantu lexicography, African Language Studies Blanchy, S. 1987 L'interprète mahorais-français et français-mahorais. Mayotte. Chanudet, Cl. 1988 Contribution à l'étude de l'origine du peuplement de l'île de Mohéli, thèse de 3è cycle, Paris-INALCO. Fisher, F. 1949 Grammaire-dictionnaire comorien. Strasbourg: éditions de la Basse-Alsace. Guthrie, M. 1967 Comparative Bantu. London. Hill, T. 1973 The primary dialects of Swahili: an approach to a linguistic geographical survey, Swahili (Dar-es-Salam) 43.2: 7-14. Houis, M. 1983 Des unités significatives, préalable à la lexicographie, Afrique et Langage 19: 5-31. Lafon, M. 1985 Régularité et irrégularité dans le système verbal du shingazidja — la voyelle finale des thèmes verbaux, Afrique et Langage 22: 5-33. 1987 Le shingazidja, une langue bantu sous influence arabe, ParisINALCO. 1989 Situation linguistique à la Grande-Comore, essai de définition du statut de l'arabe, Matériaux Arabes et Sud-arabiques. Lafon, M. et J.-L. Sibertin-Blanc circa 1976 Propositions pour une graphie du comorien (n.d.). Sibertin-Blanc, J.-L. 1980 Sur quelques aspects des dialectes comoriens en contraste avec le kiswahili, Etudes et documents (Zanzibar) 1: 33-68. Sacleux, Ch. 1939 Dictionnaire Swahili-Français. Paris: Institut d'Ethnologie. Wehr 1976 Arabic-English Dictionary. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

Chapter

10

Morpheme-based lexicon: further evidence from Arabic Mahmud Huseini Salih, Y a r m o u k University

The structure of the lexicon has given rise to much controversy. Chomsky and Halle 1968 and Bybee 1985 claim that the lexicon is a list of morphemes; Vennemann 1974 argues that its basic unit is the word. In this paper, both positions, which draw upon data from Indo-European languages, are critically examined. Also, McCarthy's (1979, 1981) framework of non-concatenative morphology is evaluated. I supply evidence from both Standard and Syrian Arabic that the lexicon is morpheme-based. In section 1, the morpheme-based lexicon is dealt with from the viewpoint of both transformational-generative and natural generative theory; the question of productivity is discussed. The word-based lexicon is examined in section 2. In section 3, the lexical representation of alternations is given. McCarthy's non-concatenative lexical model is discussed in section 4. 1. T h e m o r p h e m e 1.1 T r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l - g e n e r a t i v e t h e o r y Transformational-generative linguists claim that the morpheme is the unit of lexical representation. Chomsky and Halle 1968 include both lexical and grammatical formatives in lexical representations. In (1), cat is the lexical formative and plural the grammatical formative. 1. cat + pi. A rule such as (2) derives cats from the underlying form cat: 2. cat —» cats / pi. Similarly, a verbal paradigm is based on one morphemes taken as the underlying form. In Assamese, the present indicative paradigm of xhuna 'to hear', given in (3), can be represented in the lexicon by the root /xhun/ from which all other forms are derived (cf. Salih 1983): 3. lsg./pl. xhuno 2sg./pl. xhuno 3sg./pl. xhune For Chomsky and Halle, words are not listed in the lexicon, except for suppletive forms. They assume that productive derivational and inflectional rules derive words, as in (1-3) above, as well as (4) where sang and men enter into the lexicon as morphemes rather than words: 4. sing + past man + pi. They derive sang and men from /sir) / and / m a e n / by readjustment rules that delete past and plural and change I —» ae in sang and se -* ε in men. T h e motivaton for this treatment of irregular words is that rules should be used "to account for a fairly extensive array of data." Chomsky and Halle's conception is in sharp contrast to that o f Bloomfield 1933, whose lexicon is a "list of basic irregularities" i.e. that which cannot be predicted. For instance, while the regular plural formation of English nouns is indicated by the suffixation of -(e)s as in pupils, books and churches, plurals like oxen and children are not formed by suffixation, so for Bloomfield the latter must be listed. Similarly, in a study of English verb inflections, Bloch 1974 lists 200 irregular forms which are assigned a lexical entry on the basis of their irregularity. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 89-98 (Dordrecht: Foris)

90

Salih

For Chomsky and Halle: lexical representations, like phonological rules, are chosen so as to maximize the "value" of the grammar in terms of simplicity, economy and generality. While it is true that a morpheme-based lexicon is "simple" in that it contains a small set of morphemes (in addition to syntactic, semantic and phonological information) from which all other forms can be derived, this is achieved at the expense of other components of the grammar. A number of rules may be required to derive surface forms from abstract underlying forms, making the grammar as a whole more complex. Consider the paradigm of the verb kataba 'he wrote' in Standard Arabic: 5.

perfect(ive)

Is katab-tu lp katab-nä 2sm katab-ta 2pm katab-tum 2sf katab-ti 2pf katab-tunna 3sf katab-at 3pf katab-na 3sm katab-a 3pm katab-ü The paradigm can be represented in the lexicon either by the morpheme kataba or by the root / k t b / . Thus, the lexicon of Standard Arabic is simple since it contains one morpheme representing a whole paradigm. However, to get the passive form, we need at least two rules: one changing the first vowel in each member of the paradigm into u, and the other changing the second vowel into 1 as illustrated in (6): 6. kutlb-a '(it) was written' It might be argued that two rules for passive formation do not result in increased complexity. A more convincing example comes from such verbs as nâma 'to sleep', tara 'to fly' and $ära 'to become'. Based on the claim that Standard Arabic does not have verbs consisting of two consonants (Mahadin 1982), their underlying forms are nawama, layara and gayara. The passive form of the verb ñama is η Ima 'was slept'. Several rules are needed to derive nima from nawama as shown in (7): 1 7. underlying form nawama first vowel deletion nwama second vowel deletion nwma w deletion nma vowel insertion nlma vowel lengthening nllma surface form nlma Representational simplicity in the lexicon may increase derivational complexity, if several rules are required to reach the surface form. C h o m s k y and Halle also claim that abstract m o r p h e m e s capturegeneralizations which would otherwise be lost. The English plural, for instance, has three phonetic realizations [s, z , Iz]. Instead of three lexical entries, if we allow for an abstract morpheme, we can have just one. Another example: all regular English verbs form their past tense with -(e)d which has three phonetic realizations [d, t, Id]. Again, with an abstract past tense morpheme, only one entry is needed. Such morpheme-based generalizations account for "an extensive array of data", adding to the simplicity and economy of the grammar. But these generalizations, based on a linguist's knowledge, are arbitrary and formal,

^For a different derivation of passive verbal forms, see Mahadin 1982.

Morpheme based lexicon: further evidence from Arabic

91

and, at times, controversial. Take for instance the case of Syrian Arabic in which [k] and [c] freely alternate: 8. Ijaka haca 'to say' kltif ~ cltlf 'a shoulder' 'a match' kibrltih ~ clbrîtih A linguist armed with the knowledge that Standard Arabic has only / k / may assign Syrian Arabic [c] the status of an allophone. But there is no language-internal evidence in Syrian Arabic for this generalization: the [k c] alternation is neither phonologically nor morphologically conditioned. Moreover, other than formal elegance, what is the basis of this generalization without access to comprehensive data on the history of the nonstandard form of Arabic? The choice of the morpheme as the underlying form of actual linguistic data raises other difficulties. To illustrate, I give two pieces of evidence: one anecdotal, based on native speakers' intuitions; the other based on the distribution of the English plural morpheme. I once discussed the Standard Arabic verbs r a ?ä 'to see' and ?ari 'to show' with four native speakers (two of them have taught Arabic; the other two are specialists in Arabic linguistics). Two speakers stated that each verb has its own underlying form: ra?,s has the underlying form / r a ? a y a / while ?arâ is derived from / ? a r a y a / . The other two maintained that both forms are derived from / r a ? a y a / . This shows how the choice of an underlying form is arbitrary, in the sense that different people may have different opinions. The second piece of evidence draws upon the debate regarding the plural morpheme in English. Hudson 1974a argues that an analysis with ζ is preferred since in this analysis the alternates S a n d 1Z are products of automatic alternation. However, Minor 1972 (cited by Hudson 1974a) argues for 1Z. So, even among linguists, there is substantial disagreement about the critieria relevant for the choice of an underlying form. A related issue is that every morpheme does not always have a phonological realization. In such cases a "zero allomorph" is posited in order to remedy the lack of correspondence. A frequently cited example is the past tense of English verbs like cut and shut. In summary, while the morpheme-based lexicon of Chomsky and Halle is simple and economical, it nevertheless suffers from problems of derivational complexity and selection of an underlying form.^ 1.2 N a t u r a l g e n e r a t i v e t h e o r y As in the tranformational-generative model, within natural generative theory, the morpheme is the unit of lexical representation. However, unsatisfied with the abstractness of the lexicon proposed by Chomsky and Halle, Bybee 1985 proposes that the lexicon should be based upon the surface forms of words which are established on the basis of "lexical strength and ^More evidence against the SPE lexicon is provided in Bybee 1985, Bybee and Slobin 1982, Bybee and Pardo 1981, Bybee and Brewer 1980, Vincent 1980, Hooper 1975, Vennemann 1974, and Hudson 1974b.

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lexical connections". This is related to the concept of "autonomy" (first proposed by Zager 1980): The degree of autonomy of a word determines the likelihood that the word has a separate lexical representation. (Bybee 1985) Autonomy involves factors of "frequency / semantic basicness and morphophonemic irregularity." These are the criteria for determining the selection of an underlying form and the possibility that a word has a separate (i.e. autonomous) lexical representation. A semantically basic or unmarked word is likely to have a separate lexical entry, while a word that is semantically derived or restricted in function is less likely to have a lexical entry of its own. (Bybee 1985) Bybee concludes that the 3sg form of the Spanish present indicative, which satisfies the criteria of basicness and frequency, is the basis for deriving other forms, and is thus a lexical entry. Regarding frequency, Bybee maintains that a word which is highly frequent is rote-learned. By virtue of this it is "basic" and gets its own lexical representation. For instance, the 3ms form of a Standard Arabic verb like ¿cataba is the most frequent, so it is represented separately. Finally, an irregular word that cannot be derived from other words, even if it is semantically marked, is likely to have a lexical entry of its own for it is autonomous in the strictest sense. The example comes from the suppletive forms used in Syrian Arabic given in (9): 9. mara 'a woman' Since nlswän cannot be derived from must be autonomous.

nlswän

'women'

mara by morphophomenic rules, mara

With respect to lexical strength and lexical connections, Bybee claims that the more autonomous and frequent the word is, the more it is processed and thus strengthened, and the more likely it is to have a separate lexical representation. For instance, all the words in (10),when heard and produced, strengthen the word kill: 10. {killed, kills, killing, killer, kill] Thus, kill would be taken as the morpheme with its own lexical entry. Bybee's model, unlike Chomsky and Halle's, accounts for the speaker's actual use of the language, i.e. performance not competence. As discussed above, it provides operational criteria for the selection of the underlying form. However, it may result in redundancy in the lexicon. For example, in Syrian Arabic, the consonant /q/ appears as [?] and [g] regardless of the environment as illustrated in (11): lia.

qäl b. gâl c. ?äl 'to say (3ms)' läqa liga lä?a 'to find (3ms)' ïariq Ylrig Viri? 'to sink, to drown (3ms)' All the forms in (11) are frequent. Each verb is third person masculine singular and is thus basic. The forms in (lla-b) are heard in the countryside, and those in (11c) in the city.3 Under Bybee's proposal each form in (11) would have its own lexical entry since the criteria of basicness and frequency ^These variants have nothing to do with the speaker's attitude, education or social standing; or with the subject matter of discourse.

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are met. Consequently, the lexicon will contain several distinct entries for a single word. To recapitulate, lexical representation according to Bybee is based upon surface forms of words. That is, the form to be entered into the lexicon should be selected from concrete linguistic data. The selection of the form is determined by autonomy and frequency that affect lexical processing and lexical strength. However, the model does not account for the "free alternation" found in Syrian Arabic. Before discussing the issue of productivity, I wish to compare Bybee's proposal with that of Chomsky and Halle. Under both proposals, the morpheme is taken as the unit of lexical representation. All other forms, except for suppletives, are derived from that morpheme. For Chomsky and Halle the underlying form is chosen on the basis of simplicity and generality, whereas in Bybee's model it is chosen on the basis of autonomy and frequency. Further, the two models agree on the claim that the lexicon does not list words which are derived by productive rules. In addition, Bybee claims that a derived form can be listed if it is frequent and autonomous, and that irregular words that cannot be derived from other words, like the suppletives go/went, are likely to have their own lexical representation. 1.3 P r o d u c t i v i t y Productive morphemes, from which other words can be derived by rules, are listed in the lexicon (Chomsky and Halle 1968; Hooper 1975). Standard Arabic instrumental nouns are derived from verbs, as in (12): 12. verb instrumental noun fa taha 'to open' ml-ftah 'a key' $acada 'to go up, to climb' ma-ç'àd 'an elevator' nafaxa 'to inflate' ml-nfax 'an inflator' The morpheme ml-/metis productive in that it combines with verbs to produce instrumental nouns. In a morpheme-based lexiconof Standard Arabic, it would be entered separately. However, the representation of words formed by "marginally productive processes" is problematic. Chomsky 1965 claims that words such as implementation, destruction, refusal and removal are not entered into the lexicon since their derivation involves the morphemes -ation, -ion and -al which are productive. However, Hooper 1975 maintains that these words are listed in the lexicon rather than generated: The notion of morphemes needs to be considered along the lines of Bolinger 1948, who suggests that there are various types of morphemes: some are freely combinable units which are real to the native speakers, and some are not. (Hooper 1975) Listing productive morphemes in the lexicon adds to the simplicity and economy of the grammar in the sense that a lexicon will not contain words that are predictable by rules. Nevertheless, with respect to marginally productive morphemes, it seems that it is not easy to state whether a given morpheme is productive or non-productive. English -able appears in words like those in (13a), but it is only marginally acceptable in other formations line those in (13b): 13a. readable loveable portable likeable b. ?fetchable ??gettable ??studiable

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Given a morphemes such as -able, how could we tell if it is productive or not? Because of this indeterminacy, I agree with Bybee that words formed from marginally productive morphemes should be listed. To sum up, while productive morphemes get their own lexical entries under both Hooper's and Chomsky's proposals, only Hooper lists words derived from marginally or semi-productive morphemes. 2. The word Vennemann 1974 adopts the word rather than the morpheme as the unit for lexical representation. ...I am proposing...that we consider giving up the views that the lexicon contains roots or stems (and perhaps affixes) rather than words, and adopting the hypothesis that the lexicon contains words (and of course, items larger than words, such as idiomatic phrases and sentences), but no items t)elow the complexity of words, in particular, no roots, stems or affixes. The word is tne minimal pronounced unit. It may thus be pronounced in isolation, and this occurs with special frequency during language acquisition. ...The 'pronunciation in isolation' form of a word is its lexical representation. He cites English and Hebrew to illustrate his point: American English has no lexical representation with / x / or / c e / (despite Chomsky and Halle 1968), which are 'unpronounceable in English' though not universally; and Hebrew does not have lexical representations containing three consonants (/C-C-C/) and nothing else, three consonants (at least three oral stops) being unpronounceable universally without vocalic support. Rather, the lexicons of English and Hebrew contain the words of English and Hebrew, respectively, and it therefore follows from a reasonable definition of the word that English and Hebrew lexical representations are language-specifically 'pronounceable'. Vennemann gives another argument based on sandhi phenomena. Sanskrit has an assimilation rule that operates at word boundaries, but not inside the word. He cites the following examples: 14a. väcam b. väk 'voice' bhl^ajam bhlsak 'physician' samrajam samrât 'universal ruler' marutäm marut 'wind' pâdam pât 'foot' -vrdham -vrt 'increasing' -stubham -stup 'praising' Before tatra 'there', vac- 'voice', päd- 'foot' and -stubh 'praise' appear as in (15a). However, before words beginning with a voiced onset, the final oral stop is voiced as is seen in (15b): 15a. väktatra b. vagasti pättatra pädasti stuptatra -stubastl Inside the words, oral stops do not assimilate (15a). Vennemann argues that final voiceless stops are weakly articulated, which makes them subject to assimilation when the word is placed in connected speech. He suggests that the words characterized by the weakness of word-final stops be entered into the lexicon on the grounds that the "pronounciation in isolation form of a word is its lexical representation".

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95

Vennemann's view runs into problems in Syrian Arabic where the consonants /q, β, 8/ are frequently replaced by [g/?], [d/z], [t/s], respectively, in isolation as well as in connected speech as in (16-17):^ b. gal Tâl 'to say' 16a. qäl lâga lâTa 'to find' laqa — 'stupid' ?ahmaq Tahipag haza 'this' hä Sa hâda hadâk 'that' ha&ak haçlâk zâllka 'that' Sällka tilmlz 'a pupil' tllmlft ta^b sa'Tab 'a fox' ea^b matai masal 'an example, a proverb' maeal liadas 'to happen' hada θ 17a. b.

Tâllb lâqa/lâga/lâTa talblh. Ά student [m.] met a student [f.]' student-m. found student-/. ΛΙ-walad hattl l-bl8rlh/l-bizrih bl t-tanaka. the-boy put the-seed in the-tank 'The boy put the seed in the tank'

c.

Hâdelh/hâdsih hadeat/hadsat. 'An accident happened' accident happened Under Vennemann's pronounceability diagnostic, all the words in (16) should be listed in the lexicon since each word is pronounceable not only in isolation, but also in connected speech. The lexicon would thus be highly redundant. Vennemann, acknowledging that his approach commits him to redundancy, sees this as a virtue: [A] grammar based on my proposal would contain a lot of redundancy. ...The inherent claim is that such redundancy is in the language users' grammars (and that it plays its role in the communicative process by facilitating acquisition retention, perception, and production). Nevertheless, I wonder what status the activities he alludes to, but doesn't exemplify, have in the lexicon. His word-based lexicon does not account for the situation in Syrian Arabic, and this criticism extends to any case which involves a free alternation in formst Finally, I would like to briefly compare the morpheme-based and the word-based approaches. In a morpheme-based model, words per se are not entered into the lexicon — rather the lexicon is made up of morphemes. In a word-based model, the lexicon includes words and possibly units larger than words. Consequently, the word-based lexicon is more redundant and more complex than its morpheme-based counterpart. Since words enter into the lexicon under the word-based model, linguists do not have to worry about the selection of an underlying form as is the case in the morpheme-based lexicon. A word-based lexicon is concrete since actual words are represented. Chomsky and Halle's is "abstract" in the sense that actual words are represented in terms of morphemes; Bybee's morpheme-based lexicon is "concrete" since it is determined by surface forms. "*See Footnote 3 above. 5 For more evidence against Vennemann's model, see Bybee and Brewer 1980, Bybee 1985 and Keegan 1987.

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3. L e x i c a l r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a l t e r n a t i o n s . In this section, I discuss how morphologically conditioned alternations are represented in the lexicon. Under the morpheme-based model, alternations like drive / drove /driven are not entered into the lexicon since they can be derived from underlying forms by means of rules. However, suppletives like good/better may be either listed in the lexicon, or may be derived by rules. In the word-based model, such alternations are all listed in the lexicon. Unlike either of these models, Hudson 1974b suggests that: ...the lexical representation of a nonproductive alternation means that the segments in alternation ...are both entered as parts of the lexical or underlying phonological form of an alternating item. One of several examples which he cites concerns the indefinite article a/an in English. The alternation between η and 0 , being non-productive according to Hudson, is expressed by making the lexical entry for the indefinite article a. By the same token, suppletive alternations are represented as in (18): 18.

went

Hudson argues that such a proposal eliminates the use of diacritic features such as [± conjugation], [±1], [±2], or [±3] in Spanish verbs. The loss of features is based on .. .a complete lack of conscious knowledge on the part of the speakers of a language of the existence of alternations. This statement is too strong. It is not true that speakers are not conscious of the existence of alternations. Arab speakers are aware of such suppletives as ?lmra7a 'a woman' and nlsâ? 'women' (Std. Arabic), and the morpheme kawana underlying the defective verb kâna 'to be' (Std. Arabic), to mention only a few examples. The second claim is that his proposal avoids the decision ...of when a non-productive alternation reaches the point of suppletion, and of when the affected roots become too few in number and the alternations too divergent phonologicqally to be related by a rule of derivation. (Hudson 1974b) He gives the English pair lie /lay as an example of an alternation which started out as productive and became non-productive. To sum up, under Hudson's proposal non-productive alternations are listed in the lexicon. Further, the alternations are represented on the basis of their surface forms as seen in go/went. 4. Non-concatenative framework McCarthy, following Halle's (1973) lexical model, maintains that: ...the lexicon is fully specified with all forms including inflections. (McCarthy 1979: 216) That is, the lexicon is full of forms which could be roots, stems or even words from which other forms are derived. Lexical relationships are defined by means of "domination and immediate domination" which entails that the root node of a lexical entry dominates the nodes of the inflected forms:

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97

The conclusion must be that the relationship 'derived-from' is represented directly in the lexicon. ...Since the lexical entry is structured as a directed graph, we can say that χ is derived from y if and only if y dominates χ in the lexical entry. (McCarthy 1979: 223) There is no need to represent all the details of the relationship 'derivedfrom' in a lexical entry: by so doing, it would become complicated and full of redundancies. A morpheme can simply be listed, and all other forms can be derived from it by means of morphological rules, making the lexicon much simpler. Moreover, if a lexical entry contains the root node and the derived forms, this means that the lexicon will be higly redundant since it contains not only roots/stems but also words. In addition, if we have to have all the details given in the lexical entry, there will be no need for both morphological rules and the notion of domination which is only needed to show the 'derived-from' lexical relationship. At most, the lexicon, following Vennemann 1974, has words only. As a matter of fact, McCarthy (1981: 375), briefly assessing other approaches "take[s] it for granted that the lexicon is composed of words rather that morphemes". But if this if the case, then arguments similar to the ones provided against Venneman's wordbased approach could be invoked. Finally, McCarthy posits a formal distinction between concatenati ve and non-concatenative morphological processes, making Semitic languages typologically different from Indo-European languages. On the assumption that morphological processes share formal properties, if we can find some other approach that bridges the typological gap between various languages, then we will opt for it. Such an approach is proposed by Keegan 1987 who argues for morpheme-based word formation rules which obviate the need for the concatenative/nonconcatenative distinction and make the similarity between various morphological processes clearer. This similarity, according to Keegan, is not captured within the autosegmental mechanism proposed by McCarthy, given the fact that the morphology of Arabic is both concatenative and non-concatenative. Conclusion The morpheme-based and the word-based models of lexical representation are empirically equivalent since they can cover the same range of data in a given language. However, I conclude that the unit for lexical representation should be the morpheme rather than the word. Since the morpheme covers a small set of data and resorts to generalizations about the language, it is simpler and more economical than the word which covers a wider range of data. For instance, a whole set of linguistic forms like the members of the paradigms given in (3) and (5) above could be represented by one morpheme. In a word-based lexicon, all the forms or paradigm members are entered into the lexicon, resulting in both complexity and redundancy. Another piece of evidence for the morpheme comes from such a situation as that of Syrian Arabic discussed in the preceding sections. Alternations of consonants create a problem for the word-based model in the sense that it is not plausible for each of such forms as qil, gil, fai, 'to say' to be listed in the lexicon which would therefore contain redundancy. Choosing one morpheme from which all others are derived would be favored by simplicity, economy and generality —though we still have to account for which morpheme is chosen since all such forms, in Bybee's model, are both basic and frequent.

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Finally, McCarthy's autosegmental approach to Arabic should not be preferred over other approaches. As I have maintained earlier , it is much simpler to have a lexicon based on morphemes than a lexicon structured on the basis of roots, stems and even words. Further, a morpheme-based lexicon captures the fact that Arabic has both concatentative and non-concatenative morphological processes. McCarthy's framework, on the other hand, obscures the similarity between concatena tive and non-concatenative languages. English Department Yarmouk University,Irbid, Jordan References Bloch, Β. 1947 English verb inflection, Language 23: 399-418. Bloomfield, L. 1933 Language. New York:Holt. Bolinger, D. G. 1948 On defining the morpheme, Word 4:18-23. Bybee, J. 1985 Morphology. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Bybee, J. and M. A. Brewer 1980 Explanations in morphophonemes: changes in Provencal and Spanish preterite forms, Lingua 52: 271-312. Bybee, J. and E. Pardo 1981 Morphological and lexical conditioning of rules: experimental evidence from Spanish, Linguistics 19: 937-68. Bybee, J. and D. I. Slobin 1982 Rules and schemes in the development and use of the English past tense, Language 58: 265-89. Chomsky, N. 1965 Aspects of the Theory of Syntax. Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press. Chomsky, N. and M. Halle 1968 The Sound Pattern of English. New York : Harper and Row. Halle, M. 1973 Prolegomena to a theory of word formation, Linguistic Inquiry 4: 3-16. Hooper, J. 1976 An Introduction to Natural Generative Phonology. New York: Academic Press. 1975 An archi-segment in natural generative phonology, Language 51: 536-60. Hudson, G. 1974a The role of SPCs in natural generative phonology, Papers from the Parasession on Natural Phonology. Chicago Linguistic Society. 1974b The representation of non-productive alternations, in J. M. Anderson and C. Jones (eds.) Historical Linguistics II: 203-29. New York: Elsevier. Keegan, J. M. 1987 Morpheme-based morphology, Penn Review of Linguistics. Mahadin, Radwan. 1982 The morphophonemics of standard Arabic tri-consonontal verbs, University of Pennslyvania dissertation. McCarthy, J. 1979 Formal problems in Semitic phonology and morphology. M.I. T. dissertation. 1981 A prosodie theory of nonconcatenative morphology, Linguistic inquiry 12: 373-418. Salih, Μ. H. 1983 An introduction to the morphology of Assamese, S. U. Ν. Y. Buffalo M. A. thesis. Vennemann, T. 1974 Words and syllables in natural generative grammar, Papers from the Parasession on Natural Phonology. Chicago Linguistic Society. Vincent, N. 1980 Words versus morphemes in morphological change: the case of Italian iamo, in J. Fisiak (ed.) Historical Morphology. The Hague: Mouton. Zager, D. 1980 A real time process model of morphological change. S. U. N. Y. Buffalo dissertation.

Chapter

11

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation Koichi Tateishi, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Aside from its tonal phenomena, Mende has figured prominently in phonological and morphological theory because of its Consonant Mutation (CM) patterns. 1 There are some open questions related to this phenomenon. In what context does CM occur? What is the nature of its trigger? In this paper, I will argue that CM is triggered by a morpheme which occurs in a specific morphosyntactic context.2 This goes contrary to the claim of Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985 and Cowper and Rice 1986, 1987 that it is triggered by an element of the preceding word in a certain syntactic or prosodie domain. Specifically, I will argue that the source of Mende CM is a prefix which indicates that the word it attaches to takes a nominal element inside its own maximal projection. Therefore, the Mende case cannot be taken to show anything about the general way in which syntax impinges on phonology. In particular, Cowper and Rice's 1987 claim that syntactic branchingness is one parameter in the mapping of surface syntactic structure into a prosodie constituent structure (cf. Chen 1985, Nespor and Vogel 1986, Selkirk 1986, Hale and Selkirk 1987 among others) is not upheld by Mende. 1. C o n s o n a n t m u t a t i o n (la) is a list of Mende consonants; (lb) lists the changes involved in CM. k t k la. g g d 3 ) fngb) n n nd mb J g f s V w 1 y ny m η

g

b.

f

—»

V

s

—>

j

Ρ

—»

w

t

—»

1

k

—>

g

kp

—>

gb

mb

->

b

fà gb£ và sélÉÍ nyá Jelèi póma ndòpóì wómà tέί

nyá lèi kùló bí gùló ^ kpèkÉÌ nya g b è k d mbètèi nya bètèl

•for' 'what for' 'the banana' 'my banana' 'behind' 'behind the child' 'the chicken' 'my chicken' 'in front of 'in front of you (sg.)' 'the razor' 'my razor' 'the platform' 'my platform'

M am very grateful to Patrick Conteh, David J. Dwver, Yoshihisa Kitagawa, John McCarthy, Keren Rice and Elisabeth O. Selkirk for comments and suggestions. Remaining errors are of course all mine. 2 See also Lieber (1986, 1987) for a morphological treatment of Mende CM. However, the 'morpheme' which Lieber proposes has a slightly different morphophonological effect on segments. 3 therefore, it n e v e r u n d e r g o e s CM. [ngb1 occurs only word-medially;: therefo: J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 99-110 (Dordrecht: Foris)

100

Tateishi nd

-»

1

ny

->

y

ng

-> Γ y "1 I w J

ndèndèl nyá lèndÈÌ njéí nyá yeí ngÎlÈÎ nyá yìlei

'the boat' 'my boat' 'the goat' 'my goat' 'the dog' 'my dog'

ngólíí 'the ear, tail' nyá wòlìl 'my ear, tail' (Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985:107, ex. 1) c. All other consonants do not change in the mutation context. As Cowper and Rice 1986 point out, a structure preservation restriction appears to be at work here. CM occurs in the contexts in (2): 2a. the initial C of the verb: __ [NPob/ + V] Ì nyá wókóè lo. 'He imitated me', cf. p ó k à à 'imitate' he me imitate b. the initial C of the noun: [NP + N] ndòpóìbòwèi 'the child's knife' cf. m b ó w é í 'the knife' child knife c. the initial C of the adjective: [N + Adj] ngilà jèmbÈÎ ná 'that big dog' cf. sémbÉ 'big' dog big that d. the initial C of the postposition: [NP + P] ndèndéi bù 'in the shade' cf. mbù 'under' shade under e. the initial C of some intransitive verbs: + V] Ndólàà wòtéà. 'The baby turned' cf. póte 'turn' baby tum f. in compounds, the initial C of the second noun: [N + N] ί ε ί ε lÉndeí 'sailboat' cf. ndèndèi 'boat' wind boat (Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985:107, ex.3) Except for (2e), which I will come back to later, CM applies to an initial consonant of a lexical item only if it has a sister element which precedes it inside the minimal maximal projection which contains it. The structures in (2') correspond to the examples in (2). 2'a.

VP NP

d.

b. V

PP NP

NP NP

e. Ρ

c. Ν

S NP

NP Ν

f. VP

Adj NP

...

Ν

V N N However, CM does not apply if the sister element is empty or there is no sister element to the left of an element, as we can see in (3). CM fails to occur under the following conditions:

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation

3a.

b.

c.

101

The object of a ^transitive verb is phonologically null: [e + V] Ndòpói _ f£mbéngà 'The child swung [it]' child swing cf. Ndopoi mbom£l vembcnga. 'The child swung the hammock' The object of a postposition is phonologically null: ^ [e + P] _ mbù 'under [it]' cf. ndendèi bù 'under the boat' under The object of a transitive verb is extracted: [t + V] Gbémìa ndòpóì _ kpàndìà? 'What has the child heated?' what child heated Ngúléí mìa ndòpóì _ kpàndìà. 'It's oil that the child heated' oil EMPH child ^ heated cf. Ndòpóì ngúléí gbàndìà. 'The child heated the oil'

d.

The verb is intransitive: [NP + V ...] TÍ kàkpàngà ngì má. 'They surrounded him' they surrounded him on (Conteh, Cowper and Rice Ti gàkpàngà ngì má. 1985:109, ex. 4) The structures in (3') correspond to the examples in (3): 3'a. VP b. PP c. VP d. S V

e

Ρ

t

V

NP

VP

/

V

2. C o n s o n a n t m u t a t i o n as an a g r e e m e n t p r e f i x I propose that the trigger of Mende CM is actually an agreement morpheme. From the stage where the preceding element was the trigger of CM (as proposed by Dwyer 1973,1974, Hyman 1973 and Weimers 1971), Mende has developed a lexicalized CM system. What is the function of this morpheme? I take it to be the marker of agreement with a nominal element prefixed to the head whose maximal projection contains a nominal element. Let us look again at some of the relevant structures: 2'a. NP

VP

2'd. V

2'b.

NP NP

PP

2'f. Ρ

...

NP

3'd. Ν

/\

Ν

NP Ν

S

/

VP

V

NP Ν In (2'a,b,d,f), all of which are complement-head constructions, the righthand element (the head) takes a nominal element in its own maximal projection, so that CM applies. In (3'd), which instantiates the subjectpredicate relation, V does not take a nominal element in its own VP, so that CM is blocked. How about the rest of the examples? Before explaining them, I discuss previous accounts of Mende CM.

Tateishi

102

3. Previous accounts Based on the data in (2) and (3), Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985 conclude that lexical items-verb, noun, adjective and postposition mutate if they ccommand and are immediately to the right of any phonological material. CM in the cases in (3) is blocked either because the c-commanded element is without any phonological content or because the lexical item cannot ccommand anything to the left, due to an intervening branching maximal projection. Cowper and Rice (1987:198f.) report the contrast in (4): 4a. mÈht πτε à lòkó 'eat with fingers'cf. tòkó'hand, forearm' food eat with hand b. hÉlé à ngúlí Í 'hang from the tree' hang with tree Det The structures corresponding to (4) are given in (4')· Under their account, in prepositional phrases, the initial C of a non-branching object NP (4'a) mutates, whereas when the object of the preposition branches (4'b), the initial C of the noun fails to mutate. 4'a. PP b. PP NP

I

Ρ

NP

/\

Ν Ν Det This data is consistent with the theory of Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985. In (4a) the first branching element dominating lòko 'hand' is a PP node, so that lòkó c-commands the preposition, and therefore mutates. In (4b), on the other hand, the NP node is branching, so that ngúli 'tree' cannot c-command anything to the left and hence does not mutate. Cowper and Rice 1987 put forth a different account of this phenomenon. Instead of direct syntactic conditioning of CM, they attributed its conditioning to the prosodie domains, as proposed by Chen 1985, Nespor and Vogel 1986, Selkirk 1986 among others. In fact, CM does not apply to the initial element of a maximal projection which branches, as can be seen in (2') and (3')· (2') are cases of CM. In (2'a-d, f), there is no branching maximal projection intervening between the two elements which blocks application of CM. In (2'e), the maximal projection VP does not branch, so that CM is possible on the verb. In (3'a-c), elements to the left are empty. The assumption is that empty nodes do not count in the mapping of syntax into prosodie constituents. In (3'd), a verb initiates a branching maximal projection, VP, so that it never mutates. (5) is Cowper and Rice's (1987) proposal about the choice of parameter for phonological phrase assignment in Mende: 5. Mende Phonological Phrase (PPh): txmax-b · · · (where X max ~ b is a branching maximal projection) This says that phonological phrases in Mende always begin where the beginning of a branching maximal projection is located. And CM is said to

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation

103

apply to the initial consonant of a word which follows another word in a single phonological phrase. (4") shows how the phrasing parameter works: 4"a.

méhtmé

[ à

lòkó

]pp

[xmax-b • · · b.

hélé

Cpph [ à [xmax-b · · ·

J [ ngúlí í

]pp

[xmax-b · · ·

[pph ] [pph ] In (4'a), the NP loko is not branching, so it cannot initiate a phonological phrase. Mutation applies to the noun because it is the second element of a phonological phrase. On the other hand, the NP is branching in (4'b), so the initial element of this NP ngúñ cannot undergo CM. As far as we can see from the data I have introduced from Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985 and Cowper and Rice 1987, the two theories do not make different empirical claims at all. I will argue that both theories make wrong predictions about some further data, however. I will point out problems with their accounts in the next section, and show how my theory solves the problems in the following sections. 4. P r o b l e m s of p r e v i o u s a c c o u n t s First, intransitive verbs, which Conteh, Cowper and Rice 1985 and Cowper and Rice 1987 assume undergo CM only after an overt subject, undergo it everywhere whether or not they follow any phonologically overt element. For example, the imperative form of these verbs, which does not follow any overt subject, undergoes CM as in (6): 6a.

Wa!

'Come!'cf. pá'coming'

b

Li Kpàna gàma! 'Go to Kpana!' cf. ndí 'going' go to (Innes 1971:118) This is problematic because the previous theories do not expect CM in the absence of any preceding element. This type of intransitive verb undergoes CM anyway. Secondly, Cowper and Rice (1987) do not correctly analyze the cases in (4) which I repeat here. 4a.

méhÊ ιηέ à lòkó 'eat with fingers' cf. tòkó 'hand, forearm' food eat with hand b. hélé à ngúlí Í 'hang from the tree' hang with tree Det I will argue that the branchingness effect that they claim is illustrated in this context is only apparent. Consider (7): 7a. ndúvvá 'fear' b. ándúwá 'with fear' c. ngì lùwà hìndéi 'his cowardice' his fear affair (P. Conteh p.c.)

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Tateishi

Ndúwá 'fear' is not an exception to CM, as we can see from the fact that it undergoes it in (7c). However, it does not undergo CM after the preposition in (7b). Note that an NP object of the preposition is not branching in (7b). We must conclude from this that the object of a preposition, branching or not, is not a proper locus for CM. What then is happening in (4a)? The fact is that body part terms such as loko 'hand' always undergo CM if they are used as an object of inalienable possession. Therefore, if inalienably possessed, they may undergo CM anywhere, for example, at the beginning of verb phrase or postpositional phrase, where the previous theories do not expect it to occur. We can see this in (8): 8a.

[yp lòkólò númúmá] hand set person on b.

'point someone out'cf. tòkó'hand'

li à [j^jp [pp gpó má ] wèè ] go with foot on way

'go on foot'cf. kó ó'foot' (Innes 1971:46)

This is also a problem for previous accounts, because CM in these cases seem to require no preceding element. The third problem is an inverse of previous problems: instances where we don't have CM where a preceding element is available. Adverbs in Mende, which in general occur in postverbal position, do not undergo CM at all. 9a.

Nyáálimá síná. I going tomorrow

(*jíná)

Ί am going tomorrow.' (Innes 1971:100)

b.

Tom wàmà sàngé. (*Jangé) 'Tom will come soon' coming soon (P. Conteh p.c.) Nonbranching adverbs should be able to c-command elements to the left, and they should not begin a phonological phrase. Therefore, we expect CM to apply to them. However, this is not the case. Adverbs would have to be stipulated as exceptions to the general pattern. In the next section, I show how my theory solves these problems. 5. S o l u t i o n First, we can ask what kind of intransitive verbs always undergo CM. (10) is a list of some of these verbs from Innes (1971:93-94): 10a.

b.

1Í wa lápí lúwá wie gútú bé Ιεΐί^ wuá gula Ιέ lá yèngé lápí

go 'come' 'swim' 'be afraid' 'happen' 'be short' 'dry' vi 'be black' 'enter' 'fall down' 'climb, rise' 'lie down' 'work vi 'fight' vi

cf. ndl cf. pá cf. ndápí cf. nduwa cf. píe cf. kútú cf. mbé cf. teli ^ cf. nçùâ cf. kulá cf. té cf. ndá 'cf. ngen^é 'cf. ndàpl

a going 'a coming' 'a swim' 'fear' 'do it' 'shorten it' 'dry it' 'blacken it' 'insert it' 'knock it down' 'lift it, raise it' 'lay it down' 'work' η 'a fight'

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation

105

Except for (10c), we can generalize in the following way. (10a) is a list of motion verbs and experiencer verbs. All the intransitive verbs in (10b) have corresponding transitive forms, where the subject of the intransitive corresponds to the object argument of the transitive. Roughly speaking, these are unaccusative predicates (cf. Burzio 1986, Keyser and Roeper 1984). I assume that the subject of these verbs is in a VP-internal position at least in underlying form, as in (11). 11. IP Spec

I' \

/

VP NP (Subj.)

I V

This subject is later raised to (Spec, IP), the surface subject position, because it precedes a VP-adverb like y e on the surface: 12a.

BÍ y é [γρngèyèl ná léénì ]? you how rope that cut

'How did you cut that rope?' (Innes 1971:143)

b.

BÍ/ yé [γρ t/límá ]? 'Where are you going?' you how going (Innes 1971:142) We can license this NP-trace as a nominal element inside the verb's own maximal projection. In imperatives, there is an empty subject which moves to (Spec, IP), leaving an NP-trace, so imperative verbs can undergo CM. 13. Imperative of mutating intransitive verb F ° i [yp w a I 4 There is one independent piece of evidence for this classification of verbs. A verbal inflectional suffix -ma , which has a meaning close to the English progressive aspect, bears a low tone if it attaches to transitive verbs and to non-mutating intransitive verbs. However, if it attaches to mutating intransitive verbs, unaccusatives, it has no lexical tone and bears the last lexical tone of the stem. You can see this in the contrast between verbs meaning 'do' and 'happen', both of which have a high stem tone. 14a. transitive píé 'do' Taà pié-mà 'He is doing it' Taàna wié-mà 'He is doing that' b. mutating intransitive wíé 'happen' Taà wíé-má 'It is happening' (Innes 1971: 87f.)

% is not crucial that an empty subject here is pro. The crucial point is that there is an empty subject in imperative sentences.

106

Tateishi

In (14a), the suffix bears a low tone, because it is transitive. In (14b), the final tone of the stem spreads to the suffix. The tone pattern of a verbal suffix independently reflects the classification verb types.^ How about the inalienably possessed body part terms which also undergo CM everywhere? 6 One possibility is that inalienably possessed terms cannot exist independent of their possessor, so that they always require an NP which is a sister to it, empty or not. Although I will not speculate on its exact mechanism, I assume that it always appears with some possessor element, so that it always agrees with it. This matter must be elaborated further. Now, why doesn't an adverb, the object of a postpositional phrase, or a preposition undergo CM? This is because they initiate their own phrase, as (15) illustrates. 15. S S S

AdvP NP

VP

yf NP

PP VP

/ \ NP /

/ N ^ NP

s

Ρ

PP

VP Ρ

I

NP

a 'with' The initial element of AdvP or the object of postposition does not take a nominal element to the left in its own maximal projection, so it does not undergo CM. The preposition a 'with' in Mende begins with a vowel, so that it is outside of the Mutation system. An element at the beginning of object NP of preposition does not undergo CM, because it is in the initial position of its own maximal projection. Finally, let me add a note about reduplication, which derives either an emphatic form of the adjective or a continuous form of the verb and is presumably a lexical rule: 16. reduplication (Innes 1971:108) kútú 'shorten' kútukútu 'shorten much' Interestingly, when the reduplicated element occurs in a Mutation context, CM applies to both of the copies as in (17). 17. númú gùtùgùtùi 'the very short person' (Innes 1971:108)

Unaccusativity is independently supported by Rude 1983 for Loma, another Southwestern Mande language. The argument is also based on the pattern of CM in this language, which occurs in almost the same environment as in Mende. Rude concludes that the Loma CM is a phonetic realization of absolutive case. Although there are some important differences between the patterns of CM in Mende and Loma (cf. Manessy 1964, Tateishi 1987), I take his basic generalization to be correct. 6 Terms for relatives, also inalienably possessed, do not undergo CM. 5

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation

107

This fact shows that CM must precede the lexical rule of Reduplication, so that Reduplication copies the mutated root. This also supports the lexical status of CM.7 We have seen that my hypothesis can account for problems with the previous accounts. In the next section, I will point out two apparent problems for my approach, and show that they can be accounted for without changing my basic assumptions. 6. A p p a r e n t p r o b l e m s First, consider the branching APs in (18): 18a.

ngllà [AP jànbè wàà] 'a very big dog' cf. sÉmbc 'largeness' dog big very (P. Conteh, p.c.) b. númú [APgùtùwàisìà] 'the very small person'cf.kútu'shorten i t ' person small very (Def.) (Innes 1971:107) An adjective mutates even if it is inside a branching AP. Note that adjectives are one class of unaccusative predicates I listed in (10b), which take an underlying VP or AP-internal subject. 8 If there is a VP-internal subject, an empty subject can trigger CM, as an NP-trace did in the case of intransitive construction. We can account for the problem of branching APs with no problem. The second apparent problem is related to empty NPs. So far, we have seen three cases of CM agreeing with empty NPs — NP-trace in the case of intransitive verbs; empty possessor in the case of body-part terms; and the case of adjectives I have just shown. The basic assumption with these arguments was that NP is NP, overt or empty, and it can be licensed as an element triggering agreement. However, there is one apparent problem with this account. Wh-trace, a gap in a cleft construction and empty object pronoun 7

This position is independently taken by Hayes 1988; the only difference is that Hayes treats mutated forms as lexically precompiled allomorphemic variants. There are two other accounts. Marantz 1987 argues that morphological structure in Mende is mapped onto a slightly different phonological structure as shown in (i), and that the overapplication of CM is a result of this mapping. i-a. Morphological Structure: [Mutation [Root + Reduplication] ] b. Phonological Structure: [ [Mutation + Root] Reduplication] Since a word is mapped onto (i-b) in the phonology, total reduplication copies a Mutated form. The other possibility is to say that the reduplicated morpheme is on a different plane from the stem in the phonological representation as shown in (ii). ii. [Stem Melody]

[Mutation] [ xxxxxxxxxxx ] [ xxxxxxxxxx ] (Core Skeleton) ] I [Reduplicated Melody] Cowper and Rice 1985 propose that because the stem and reduplicated melodies are on different planes and invisible to each other, both can be adjacent to the Mutation trigger. If we take the third possibility, there are no empirical differences among the three theories. I adopt my hypothesis Mutation is ordered before Reduplication, since this involves no category mismatch between morphology and phonology. 8 The verb/adjective distinction is not so clear in Mende (cf. Innes 1971).

Tateishi

108

which means 'it' block CM as I have shown earlier. examples: 3a.

b.

c.

I will repeat these

The object of a transitive verb is phonologically null: [e+V] Ndòpól _ fèmbÉngà 'The child swung [it]' child swing cf. Ndòpoì mbòmèi vèmbéngà. 'The child swung the hammock' The object of a postposition is phonologically null: te + Ρ] _ mbù 'under [it]' cf. ndendèi bù 'under the boat' under The object of a transitive verb is extracted: [t + V] Gbémìà ndòpóì _ kpàndìà? 'What has the child heated?' what child heated Ngúléí mìa ndòpóì _ kpàndìà. 'It's oil that the child heated' oil EMPH child ^ heated ^ cf. Ndòpóì ngúléí gbàndìà. 'The child heated the oil'

d.

The verb is intransitive: [NP + V ...] TÍ kàkpàngà ngì má. 'They surrounded him' they surrounded him on "TÍ gàkpanga ngì ma. Why is CM blocked in these cases? I suggest that this is due to a difference in the properties of the empty category involved. Note that all the examples in (18) involve an object NP which is empty. Presumably they are all in a Case-marked position governed by a lexical category, in this case V or P. On the other hand, empty categories I have discussed are either nonCase-marked, as in the case of intransitives and adjectives, or Case-marked but not under lexical government, as in the case of inalienable possession. Based on this, I will assume the hypothesis in (19): An empty category in a Case-marked position under lexical government is incorporated into a lexical item that governs it. (19) means that an empty category in object position is incorporated into the governing head as in (20): 19.

20.

Incorporation of empty object: VP

VP

Because the object is incorporated, it does not count as a nominal element which triggers CM. Even though this incorporation is not phonologically visible in the case of verbs and postpositions, it is independently attested and even visible if an empty object incorporates into a preposition a 'with': the preposition becomes la 'with it'. In the other cases, empty nomináis are either non-Case-marked

A morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation

or bear genitive Case, so that they are never incorporated. incorporated empty nomináis can trigger agreement, of course.®

109

These non-

C onclusion In this paper, I have argued for a morphological analysis of Mende consonant mutation. I claim that the Mutation trigger in Mende is an agreement prefix which indicates that the head takes a nominal element in its own maximal projection. What does this imply for phonological theory? Cowper and Rice 1987 have proposed that branchingness should be one parameter for the assignment of prosodie categories. However, one of their pieces of evidence, Mende consonant mutation, turns out to be the matter of morphology. I do not say that this shows that the branchingness effect is a fake effect in general and that all such cases should be attributed to morphology. However, we should ask ourselves whether branchingness is a part of a parameter system for assignment of prosodie categories, by a careful investigation of all such cases. Department of Linguistics South College UMass, Amherst MA 01003 References Burzio, L. 1986 Italian Syntax: A Government-Binding Approach. Dordrecht: Rei del. Chen, M. Y. 1985 The syntax of phonology: Xiamen Tone sandhi, ms., U. C. S. D. (La Jolla). Conteh, P., E. Cowper and K. Rice 1985 The environment for consonant mutation in Mende, in G. J. Dimmendaal (ed.) 1985:107-16. Cowper, E. and K. Rice 1985 Phonology and reduplication, paper presented at the Canadian Linguistic Association, June. 1986 The phonological nature of Mende consonant mutation, ms.. University of Toronto. 1987 Are phonosyntactic rules necessary?. Phonology Yearbook 4: 185-94. Dimmendaal, G. J. (ed.) 1985 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 3. Dordrecht: Foris. Dwyer, D. J. 1973 The comparative tonology of Southwestern Mande nomináis, Michigan State University (Lansing) dissertation. 1974 The historical development of Southwestern Mande consonants, Studies in African Linguistics 5: 59-94. 1985 Evolutionary morphology of definite articles in Southwestern Mande, in G. J. Dimmendaal 1985:149-70. Hale, K. and E. O. Selkirk 1987 Government and tonal phrasing in Papago, PhonologyYearbook 4: 151-83. 9There is an alternative possibility: underlying phonemes for consonants are neither Mutated nor non-Mutated forms, ana both forms are derived by prefixation of a Mutation/non-Mutation morpheme. This position is taken by Lieber (1986, 1987). The diachronic works I cited earlier in this paper (and recently Dwyer 1985) are close to this, although they derive nonMutated forms from Mutated forms. The choice between the two alternatives depends on what synchronic phonological mechanism derives the Mutation process (which is far from clear right now), and on the synchronic characterization of non-Mutation morphemes (if there is one).

110

Ta tei sh i

Hayes, Β. 1988 Precompiled phrasal phonology, paper presented at the Phonology-Syntax Connection Workshop, Stanford University, May. Hyman, L. M. 1973 Notes on the history of Southwestern Mande, Studies in African Linguistics 4:183-96. Innés, G. 1971 A Practical Introduction to Mende. London: S. O. A. S. Keyser, S. J. and T. Roeper 1984 On the middle and ergative constructions in English, Linguistic Inquiry 15: 381-416. Lieber, R. 1986 Quirky mutations in an autosegmental framework, NELS 16: 293-304. 1987 An Integrated Theory of Autosegmental Processes. Albany: State University of New York Press. Manessy, G. 1964 L'Alternance consonan tique initiale en Manya, Kpelle, Loma, Bandi et Mende, Journal of African Languages 3: 162-78. Marantz, A. 1987 Phonologically induced bracketing paradoxes in full morpheme reduplication, WCCFL 6: 203-11. Nespor, M. and I. Vogel 1986 Prosodie Phonology. Dordrecht: Foris. Rude, N. 1983 Ergativity and the active-stative typology in Loma, Studies in African Linguistics 14: 265-83. Selkirk, E. O. 1986 On derived domains in sentence phonology, Phonology Yearbook 7: 371-405. Tateishi, K. 1987 Consonant mutation in Mende, Loma and Bandi and its implications, ms., University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Weimers, Wm. E. 1971 Niger-Congo: Mande, in T. A. Sebeok (ed.) Current Trends in Linguistics 7:113-40. The Hague: Mouton.

Chapter

12

Elements of a typology of applicatives in Bantu Mark C. Baker, McGill University

A striking aspect of the Bantu languages is their use of applied constructions, in which an affix added to a verb in some sense increases the verb's valency. Such constructions have had a significant impact on theoretical discussions of what it means to be a direct object, beginning with Gary and Keenan 1977 in Relational Grammar and Marantz 1981 in Government-Binding theory. It has become clear that the properties of applicative constructions vary somewhat from language to language, and even within a single language. In this paper, I will consider the major typological differences that comparison within the Bantu family brings to light, showing how concepts of Chomsky's Government-Binding theory can be brought to bear on these constructions. The primary languages of study will be Chichewa and Kinyarwanda.1 1. The d o u b l e - o b j e c t p a r a m e t e r The most famous type of variation in Bantu applicatives involves whether or not the two unmarked NPs after a dative or benefactive applied verb both behave like direct objects. Standard paradigms are contrasted in (1) and (2). In Chichewa, the two NPs do not behave the same. The NP bearing the benefactive role appears immediately after the verb (la), can be expressed as a pronominal object prefix (OP, lb-i), and can become the subject if the verb appears in the passive voice (lc-i). The NP bearing the patient or theme role, on the other hand, appears after the benefactive, cannot be expressed by the OP (lb-ii), and cannot become the subject in a passive (lc-ii): 1.

a.

b-i. b-ii.

CHICHEWA (Baker 1988a) Mavutoa-na-umb-ir-a mfumu mtsuko. SP-past-mold-app/-Asp chief waterpot 'Mavuto molded the waterpot for the chief Mavuto a-na-aw-umb-ir-a mtsuko (ana}. SP-past-OP-mold-app/-Asp waterpot children 'Mavuto molded the waterpot for them (the children)' "Mavuto a-na-M-umb-ir-a ana (mtsukol. SP-past-OP-mold-appZ-Asp children waterpot ['Mavuto molded it (the waterpot) for the children']

*Data are drawn from the following sources: Kinyarwanda - Kimenyi 1980 (author's judgments); Chichewa - Baker 1988, to appear (based on work with Sam Mchombo); Sesotho - Machobane in preparation (author's judgments together with responses to questionaires by speakers in Lesotho). I would also like to thank Sam Mchombo and Malillo Machobane for taking the time to answer my questions and explain things to me. Since this paper was originally prepared for the 19th Conference on African Linguistics, some new data ana issues have been raised concerning Chichewa by Bresnan and Kanerva 1988 and Alsina and Mchombo 1988, challenging some of the points made here. These issues cannot be discussed fully within the bounds of this paper, and I have only made passing reference to the most important ones in revising it, since I bellieve that the essential aspects of the analysis remain intact. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (cds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 111-124 (Dordrecht: Foris)

112

Baker

c-i.

Ana a-na-phik-ir-idw-a nsima. children SP-past-cook-app/-pass-Asp cornmush 'The children were cooked cornmush' c-ii. *Nsima i-na-phik-ir-idw-a ana. cornmush SP-past-cook-app/-pass-Asp children ['Cornmush was cooked for the children'] Like Chichewa in these respects are Kiswahili (Vitale 1981), Chimwiini (Kisseberth and Abasheikh 1977), and perhaps Kikongo (Bentley 1887). In contrast, the corresponding construction in Kinyarwanda (2a) allows either NP to appear as an OP (2b) or as subject of a passive (2c): 2.

a.

b-i. b-ii.

c-i. c-ii.

KINYARWANDA (Kimenyi 1980) Umuhuunga a-ra-andik-ir-a umukoobwa ibaruwa. boy SP-pres-write-appZ-Asp girl letter 'The boy is writing the letter for the girl.' Yohani y-a-mw-oher-er-eje ibaruwa. John SP-past-OP-send-appZ-Asp letter 'John sent her a letter.' Yohani y-a-y-oher-er-eje Maria. John SP-past-OP-send-appZ-Asp Mary 'John sent it to Mary.' Ibaruwa i-ra-andik-ir-w-a umukoobwa n-umuhuungu. letter SP-pres-write-appZ-pass-Asp girl by-boy 'The letter is being written for the girl by the boy.' Umukoobwa a-ra-andik-ir-w-a ibaruwa n-umuhuungu. girl SP-pres-write-appZ-pass-Asp letter by-boy 'The girl is having a letter written for her by the boy.'

Like Kinyarwanda in these respects are Sesotho (Machobane in preparation), Xhosa (Satyo 1987), Mashi (Gary 1977), Luyia (Gary 1977), and Kimeru (Hodges 1977), as well as another dialect of Chichewa (Trithart 1977). Both patterns are found outside the Bantu family as well. Most theoreticians have responded to the contrasts between (1) and (2) by assuming that there is a major typological feature that distinguishes one group of languages from the other; in the terminology of GB theory, the two appear to differ in the value of a parameter. Keenan and Gary 1977 and Kimenyi 1980 argue that Kinyarwanda allows a single clause to have more than one direct object, whereas languages like Chichewa permit only one. This formulation has immediate intuitive appeal inasmuch as appearing immediately after the verb, triggering object prefixes, and becoming the subject of a passive are traditional diagnostics for direct objecthood in Bantu. Marantz 1984 and Baker 1988a give slightly different theoretical interpretations of the same basic idea: Marantz says that verbs in Kinyarwanda can exceptionally assign a syntactic role to two NPs; Baker says that they can assign structural Case to two NPs. Dryer 1983 and Perlmutter and Postal 1983, on the other hand, argue that one of the postverbal NPs in (2a) is a direct object and the other is an indirect object; Kinyarwanda then differs from Chichewa in having a set of syntactic rules that do not distinguish between the two. In spite of their differences, all these approaches share the idea that Kinyarwanda has the inherent property

Elements of a typology of applicatives in Bantu

113

of allowing more NPs to act like a direct object than Chichewa does. I will call this basic idea the "double-object parameter" hypothesis. I would like to show this hypothesis is incorrect, and that there is no major parametric difference between the Bantu languages in this regard. Rather, once the various factors underlying paradigms (1) and (2) are understood, the need for such a distinction disappears. 2. P r o b l e m s w i t h a d o u b l e - o b j e c t p a r a m e t e r Before introducing the elements of a GB account of applicatives, it will be helpful to present some additional data that cast immediate doubt on the double-object parameter. First, there is a further difference between Chichewa and Kinyarwanda that seems to correlate with the differences illustrated above. In Chichewa, it is usually impossible to form a benefactive applicative out of a verb that does not take a direct object of its own: 3. a.

b.

CHICHEWA (Baker 1988b) *Kalulu a-na-sek-er-a atsikana. hare SP-past-laugh-appi-Asp girls ['The hare laughed for the girls'] *Mlimi a-ku-sem-er-a mbidzi. farmer SP-pres-carve-app/-Asp zebras [The farmer is carving for the zebras']

This type of transitivity restriction on applicatives is familiar from other languages (e.g. Indonesian, Chung 1976), although it has not generally been noticed in Bantu. This is due to a number of interfering factors, to which I will return (see section 5.1 ). 2 4.

The same restriction does not hold in Kinyarwanda, however: Umugore a-ra-kor-er-a umugabo. woman SP-pres-work-appZ-Asp man 'The woman is working for the man'

In this respect too, Sesotho 3 , Kimeru, and the other dialect of Chichewa pattern with Kinyarwanda. Thus, we have a third difference between the two sets of languages. This difference, however, cannot be not directly related to a Double-Object Parameter, since the sentences in (3) are ungrammatical even though they have only one potential direct object.

2 The

data in Vitale 1981 and Bentley 1887 suggest that this restriction holds in Kiswahili and Kongo as well; all their examples of applied affixes on intransitive verbs are instrumental or locative, rather than benefactive . 3 The following Sesotho data are truly minimal contrasts with (3) from Chichewa; Machobane p. c. finds them acceptable in the proper context: i. Motsoantsisi o-tseh-el-a babohi actor SP-laugh-appl-ind spectators 'The actor laughed for the spectators' ii. Me o-bop-el-a mofumahali mother SP-mold-appl-ind chieftainess 'My mother molds (pots) for the chieftainess'

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The second fact that calls the double-object parameter into question is the existence of locative applicatives in Kinyarwanda. These have the same properties as benefactive applicatives in Chichewa: 5a. Umwaalimu y-oohere-je-ho ishuuri igitabo. teacher SP-send-Asp-to school book 'The teacher sent the book to the school' b-i. Umwaalimu y-a-ry-oohere-je-ho igitabo. teacher SP-past-OP-send-Asp-to book "The teacher sent the book to it' b-ii. "Umwaalimu y-a-cy-oohere-je-ho ishuuri. teacher SP-past-OP-send-Asp-to school [The teacher sent it to the school'] c-i. Ishuuri ry-oohere-j-w-e-ho igitabo n'uumwaalimu. school SP-send-Asp-pass-to book by-teacher 'The school was sent the book by the teacher' c-ii. "Igitabo cy-oohere-j-w-e-ho ishuuri n'uumwaalimu. book SP-send-pass-Asp-to school by-teacher ['The book was sent to the school by the teacher'] Notice in particular that the NP with the theme role cannot be expressed as an OP (5bii) and cannot become the subject of a passive verb (5c-ii); only the locative NP has the full behavior characteristic of direct objects is Bantu. The question is why? Apparently the special property of Kinyarwanda that allows it to have two objects in a clause does not function in locative applicatives, for some reason. Thus, there must be more behind paradigms like (1) and (5) than a simple inability to have two objects in the language. Interestingly, Kimenyi (1980: 91f.) says that locative applicatives based on intransitively-used verbs are impossible, citing (6): 6. *Umuhuungu a-r-iig-ir-a-ho ishuuri. boy SP-pres-study-app/-Asp-at school ['The boy is studying at school'] In this way too, these locative applicatives are more like Chichewa's benefactive applicatives than Kinyarwanda's. Thus, the langauge-internal variation is identical to the cross-language variation in these respects. 3. T h e o r e t i c a l apparatus Now that we know what needs to be accounted for, we are ready to introduce the relevant principles of GB theory. Here, I focus only on the main ideas; for discussion of technical issues, see Baker (1988a). The first important principle is the Case Filter: 7. All NPs with a thematic role need to have Case features assigned to them by a governing lexical item. In other words, NPs need to be in a local structural configuration with a word — usually a verb or preposition — that has appropriate properties. Current theory distinguishes between two types of Case (cf. Chomsky 1986, Belletti 1988); the properties of the two as they apply to the Bantu languages are contrasted in the following table (based on Baker 1988b):

Elements of a typology of applicatives in Bantu 8.

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Structural Case Inherent Case assignable if X governs Y assignable if X governs at S-structure ana θ-marks Y at D-structure ii. can show up as an OP cannot show up as an OP iii. can be eliminated (absorbed) is not affected by by passive morphology passive morphology i ν. can only be assigned to the NP receiving it an adjacent NP need not be adjacent ν. comes from inherent lexical can optionally be assigned properties of specific items by any verb (in Bantu) (e.g. transitive Vs) (8-i) states the core difference: structural Case can be assigned to any NP as long as it is in a correct local configuration with the Case-assigner, whereas inherent Case can only be assigned to a semantic argument of the Caseassigner. Because structural Case is not linked to a particular argument and is not assigned until S-structure, it can in the course of the derivation be "absorbed", either by the object prefix morpheme or by the passive morpheme; inherent Case cannot be. When structural Case is absorbed by an OP, that OP stands for the NP which might otherwise have been assigned the Case in question (8-ii); when structural Case is absorbed by passive morphology (8-iii), the same NP must move into the subject position or it will not receive Case — violating (7)A In contrast, (8-iv) shows a way in which structural Case is less free than inherent Case: an NP with structural Case must be next to the verb that it get its Case from in Bantu, as in English (cf. Chomsky 1986). (One might suppose that the semantic argument relationship that holds between a verb and an inherent Case-marked NP makes the visible relationship of adjacency less crucial.) Finally, (8-v) defines when an element has Case features to assign in Bantu. Generally speaking, only transitive verbs with both subject and object arguments will be able to assign a structural Case, whereas any verb can assign an inherent Case. The properties of an NP assigned structured Case are those of an object in a simple transitive sentence. Examples of NPs with inherent Case might be the postverbal NPs in Locative Inversion constructions of the type discussed in Bresnan and Kanerva 1988. They show that in this construction nonagentive intransitive verbs (9a) and passive verbs (10) can have an object NP inside the VP, even though such verbs do not normally assign structural Case: 9a. Ku-mudzi ku-na-bwer-a alendo-wo. 17-village 17sp-past-come-ind visitor-those 'To the village came those visitors' b. 'Ku-mudzi ku-na-wa-bwer-a 17-village 17sp-past-2op-come-ind [To the village came them'] 10. Ku-dambo ku-na-pez-edw-a mwana. 17-swamp 17sp-past-find-pess-ind child 'In the swamp was found the child' 4

i.

Thus, in RG terminology, NPs assigned structural Case correspond roughly to "final 2s"; NPs assigned inherent Case correspond to "2-chômeurs".

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These postverbal NPs must get inherent Case from the verb, or the Case filter would be violated (cf. Belletti 1988). This accounts for the fact that these structural objects cannot be expressed as object prefixes (9b), consistent with property (8-ii) of inherent Case.5 The other principle relevant to the syntax of applicatives is the Uniformity of Theta Assignment Hypothesis (UTAH, Baker 1988a): 11. Similar thematic relationships are assigned at D-Structure in similar structural configurations within (and across) languages. This defines a particular view of what relationships fall within the realm of syntax to express. One obvious way of applying it to applicatives is: 12. Applied affixes are (sometimes) prepositions incorporated in syntax. This would assign the following S-structure representation to a standard applicative sentence such as (la):

NP Mavuto

VP NP waterpot

mold -IR chief In English, benefactive NPs get their thematic roles from prepositions; in Bantu, they get their thematic roles from the applied affix in the same structural configuration, following the UTAH. The only difference is that in Bantu the benefactive element moves onto the verb, showing up as a verbal suffix rather than as an independent lexical head. In fact, this is a direct formal development of the analogy implicit in the terminology of some Bantuists when they call the applied affix "the prepositional affix." Possible independent evidence for aspects of this system comes from the fact, described by Bresnan and Kanerva 1988, that^benefactive NPs cannot appear in locative inversion constructions in Chichewa: 14. *Mu-mpikisano mw-a-thamang-iV-idw-a [ppt mfumu]. 16-race 16sp-perf-run-app/-pass-Asp chief ['In the race has been run for the chief] This is as we expect: The passive verb cannot assign structural, but only inherent Case (8-iii, v). The postverbal NP, however, is not an argument of the verb, but rather of the prepositional element, in accordance with (11). Therefore the verb cannot assign inherent Case to the NP either (8-i). Since the trace of a moved word also cannot assign Case (Baker 1988), the

^Bresnan and Kanerva 1988 give a different account of the ungrammaticality of (9b), relating it to the discourse functions of the postverbal NP. Compare Belletti's 1988 notion of "partitive Case".

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postverbal NP must be Caseless in (14). This violates the Case Filter (7), and the ungrammatically in (14) is explained. 6 Next, we shall show that the same concepts can explain the different patterns found in applicative constructions as well. 4. Analysis Given the theoretical devices of the last section, it is clear what must be said about the difference between (1) and (2): applied verbs in Chichewa assign one structural Case and one inherent Case, while their Kinyarwanda counterparts assign two structural Cases. It then follows from the properties of structural and inherent Case (particularly (8-ii) and (8-iii)) that the Kinyarwanda constructions will have two NPs which can be replaced by object prefixes or which can become subjects in passives, while the Chichewa constructions only have one. Moreover, it follows that in Chichewa it will always be the benefactive NP which has these 'direct object' properties. The verb cannot assign inherent Case to the benefactive NP in a structure like (13) because this NP is not its argument at D-structure (cf. 8-i); therefore, the verb's only structural Case must go to the benefactive NP. This means that the theme/patient NP can only get inherent Case from the verb. Thus, it cannot govern the object prefix or become the subject of the passive. This explains the deviance of (lb-ii) and (lc-ii). Next, we must show how the Kinyarwanda applied verb comes to have two structural Case features to assign. The root verb andika 'to write' in (2a) is an ordinary (mono-)transitive verb, so it is plausible to associate it with one structural Case assigning feature, but not two. The obvious suggestion is that the applied verb andik-ir-a inherente its second structural Case feature from the applied affix. Thus, we assume that Kinyarwanda -ir, like transitive verb roots, is lexically associated with a structural Case assigning feature, which it passes on to the complex verb of which it is a part. This assumption accounts for the fact that benefactive -ir in Kinyarwanda can also attach to intransitive verb roots, as seen in (4), repeated here: 4. Umugore a-ra-kor-er-a [pp t umugabo]. woman SP-pres-work-app/-Asp man 'The woman is working for the man' Presumably, intransitive verbs do not have structural Case assignment features of their own (cf. (14) in Chichewa). They can, however, inherit the necessary Case features from the applied affix. Thus, (4) is perfectly acceptable. Now compare locative -ho with benefactive -ir in Kinyarwanda. (5) — particularly (5bii) and (5cii) — shows that transitive verbs with -ho, like Chichewa applied verbs, assign one structural and one inherent Case, rather than two structural Cases. Moreover, (6) shows that an intransitive verb 6

This account does not extend to explain the ungrammatically of instruments in locative inversion sentences, however, assuming tne analysis of instrumental applicatives given in section 5 below. See Bresnan and Kanerva 1988.

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with -ho cannot assign even one structural Case, since the sentence is ungrammatical, in contrast with (4). 6. "Umuhuungu a-r-iig-ir-a-ho [pp t ishuuri]. boy SP-pres-study-appZ-Asp-af school ["Hie boy is studying at school'] Presumably, this verb could still assign inherent Case, but the postverbal NP does not qualify to receive such Case, since at D-structure it is the argument of the prepositional affix and not of the verb. In this respect, (6) is parallel to the locative inversion structure (14). Thus, -ho does not give additional structural Case assigning features to verbs that it attaches to. These considerations lead us to the following as a basic lexical difference between -ho and -ir in Kinyarwanda, allowed by (8-v). 15. Kinyarwanda -ir has structural Case features. Kinyarwanda -ho has no structural Case features. Intuitively, -ir but not -ho increases the number of 'true direct objects' the verb can take in addition to increasing the number of NPs in the structure. In this way we acheive a unified account of the two apparent differences between the applicatives. Like -ir in Kinyarwanda is the instrumental affix -iish; like -ho is the locative -mo 7 Finally, we return to Chichewa, to ask why benefactive applied verbs cannot assign two structural Cases. The answer offered by the "Double-Object Parameter" hypothesis is that this is a basic difference between the Chichewa system and the Kinyarwanda system: languages may or may not allow their verbs to assign two structural Cases; Kinyarwanda does and Chichewa does not. This idea by itself is not sufficient to rule out example (3b), however, where an applicative is bad with only one potential object. 3b. "Mlimi a-ku-sem-er-a mbidzi. farmer SP-pres-carve-app/-Asp zebras [The farmer is carving for the zebras'] To account for this gap, parallel to (6) in Kinyarwanda, we must assume: 16. Chichewa -ir has no structural Case features But given (16), we do not need the Double-Object Parameter after all. Chichewa applicative verbs have only one structural Case because the applied affix happens to lack Case features. Thus, in order to Case mark a second NP, a transitive verb must fall back on its inherent Case marking abilities, the consequences of which have already been reviewed. In this way, we capture straightforwardly the fact that Chichewa benefactive applicatives have properties similar to Kinyarwanda locative applicatives rather than Kinyarwanda benefactive applicatives. The Double-Object Parameter is redundant, and can be eliminated from the system. Any theory must allow for some difference between Chichewa and Kinyarwanda, given (1) and (2). The real question is whether it is a localized difference in the features of a particular cognate affix, as argued 7

See Kimenyi 1980 for relevant data. It is possible that there is a deeper reason why all and only the locative affixes lack Case assigning features in Kinyarwanda. This is left to further research.

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here, or a global difference in the kinds of structures that the languages allow in principle, as the Double-Object Parameter would have it. We have two reasons to favor the former view. First, the feature difference is necessary even if one assumes the parametric difference, in order to capture the full range of applicative behavior. Second, the same differences that are found between Chichewa and Kinyarwanda can be observed internal to Kinyarwanda itself. Thus, they cannot be purely due to properties of languages as a whole. This analysis thus supports Borer's (1984) hypothesis that parametric differences between languages can be traced back to differences in the specific lexical items found in each language. 5. A c l o s e r l o o k at C h i c h e w a -ir Of course, it has not yet been proved that the Bantu languages do not set a limit on the number of Cases that a (morphologically complex) verb can assign. This assumption is not needed to account for the patterns that originally motivated it, but it may still be necessary in other circumstances. A language-wide restriction on the number of Cases a verb can assign will be useful if one finds affixes which transitivize intransitive verbs but do not create full double object behavior when they attach to transitive verb roots. The fact that such an affix has a transitivizing effect would show that it has structural Case assigning features. Then, the fact that two structural Cases are not assigned with transitive verb roots could not be attributed to lack of necessary lexical features. Rather, it would have to be due to some language-specific limit on the total number of struturai Cases allowed. The question is, are there such affixes? 8 In fact, Chichewa -ir is itself a candidate for such an affix, since it is not unusual to find it with an intransitive verb root forming what seems to be a transitive construction. One way in which this happens is when the NP associated with the applied affix is an instrument rather than a benefactive. Thus, (17) is a minimal contrast with (3b): 17. Mlimi a-ku-sem-er-a sompho. farmer SP-pres-carve-app/-Asp adze 'The farmer is carving with an adze' The system allows another way of approaching (17), however. The UTAH forces similar thematic relationships to be represented in similar structural relationships. (17) however is NOT thematically similar to (3b), so the two could have different underlying syntactic structures. We have assumed that the benefactive NPs are always arguments of a preposition element; suppose that instrumental NPs are actually arguments of the verb itself. Then they would have a D-structure like (18):

8

Causative affixes have this descriptive behavior in some Bantu languages including Sesotho (Machobane in preparation), Kiswahili (Vitale 1981), and the Chichewa dialect in Trithart 1977. The thematic role assignments and underlying syntactic structures of causati ves are quite different from those of applicatives, however; this permits an independently motivated explanation of these effects, as discussed in Baker (1988a: 178-80).

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14. NP Mavuto

VP V

/ \

NP

NP

mold -IR knife waterpot In fact, there is independent evidence that benefactives and instruments do differ in this way: crosslinguistically, instruments but not benefactives can appear in compounds, can be incorporated into the verb, can undergo whmovement, and can allow their possessors to be raised (see Baker 1988b). 9 In all of these ways, instruments behave like ordinary patient objects, as (18) causes us to expect. Now, since the instrument is an argument of the verb, it is qualified to receive the verb's inherent Case in (17). For this reason, (17) does not show that (instrumental) -ir has structural Case features. In fact, (19) confirms that the instrument gets inherent and not structural Case: 19.

*Mlimi a-ku-i-sem-er-a (sompho). farmer SP-pres-OP-carve-app/-Asp adze [The farmer is carving with it (the adze)']

Recall that structural but not inherent Case can be manifest as an OP. Moreover, if a transitively-used verb appears in a structure like (18), it ought not matter which NP is assigned the verb's structural Case and which its inherent Case. One sign of this freedom would be that in instrumental constructions, unlike benefactives, either postverbal NP should be able to determine an object prefix, in relatively free variation. This too is correct: 20.

Mavuto a-na-w/i-umb-ir-a mitsuko mpeni. Mavuto SP-past-OP/OP-mold-eppJ-Asp waterpots knife 'Mavuto molded the waterpots with the knife'

Thus, this use of -ir in Chichewa does not motivate a limit on the structural Case assigning capacities of the language. Other, more idiosyncratic factors also cloud the fact that Chichewa -ir does not have structural Case assigning features. For example, (21) is perfectly fine with a standard benefactive interpretation, while (22) is not: 21. Atsikana a-na-vin-ir-a mfumu. girls SP-past-dance-flpp/-Asp chief 'The girls danced for the chief (to please or benefit him)'

' S e e also Marantz 1984 for a similar approach, with relevant semantic motivations. This view entails that -ir in instrumental constructions is not an incorporated preposition in the same sense as it is in benefactives, and some other account must be found for its appearance. Baker 1988b suggests that it is an overt representation of the fact that the verb assigns inherent Case, but the account would have to be changed if inherent Case is indeed assigned in locative inversion structures like (9) and (10), as suggested in the text.

Elements of a typology of applicatives in Bantu 22.

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Ndi-na-yend-er-a kalulu. IsS-past-walk-appZ-Asp hare Ί walked for the hare (to please or benefit him)']

So far I have assumed that verb roots that do not take an object argument do not have structural Case assigning features. Thus, we can assume that vina 'dance' does have structural Case assigning properties, while yenda 'walk' and seka 'laugh' do not. Possible support for this is the fact that vina can optionally have a (Case-marked) 'cognate object' (e.g. vina chiwoda 'dance the chiwoda-dance'), but yenda and seka normally cannot. The result is that the complex verb in (21) but not in (22) has structural Case to assign to the NP it governs, by virtue of the properties of the root. Finally, it should be pointed out that (22) does have two possible interpretations. It can mean Ί inspected the hare', where yend-er-a has the lexicalized meaning 'inspect'. Here, -ir is a transitivizing, derivational affix. Such examples are reasonably common in Chichewa, but irrelevant to the productive applicative constructions under consideration here. (22) can also mean Ί walked on behalf of the hare, in the hare's stead' (and likewise (3a)). This interpretation seems to fall within the normal range of a benefactive, but I conjecture that it is in fact a distinct thematic role from the goal/recipient/benefactive role focussed on so far. If so, then the UTAH would allow it to be given a somewhat different analysis. 10 The moral of this discussion is that several factors can cloud the predictions of the theory, and one needs to attend carefully to both differences in thematic structure and differences in lexical-semantic verb classes. Once these factors are sorted out, however, we find no evidence for the claim that Chichewa -ir sanctions structural Case in the syntax. 1 1 On the contrary, we have found subtle but strong evidence against it, such as the ungrammatically of (19) and the restricted interpretation of (22). 6. Are t h e r e u p p e r l i m i t s for C a s e f e a t u r e s i n B a n t u ? In closing, we can broaden the question slightly. So far I have argued that Bantu languages do not stipulate that verbs never assign more than one structural Case. We might still ask, however, if there is a higher limit — i.e. if there is a stipulated maximum of two structural Cases. At first glance, there is some motivation for such a condition in Sesotho. The Sesotho benefactive applied affix -el forms full double-object constructions like those of Kinyarwanda when it attaches to an ordinary For example, these sentences might be related to yet another use of -ir, which introduces cause/reason adjuncts, e.g.: (i) Yesu a-na-f-er-a machimo athu. 'Jesus died-for [= because of] our sins' This cause/reason construction has quite different syntactic properties from other applicatives. While I have no analysis of it, it is not surprising that its distribution does not depend on Case theory, since adjunct NPs ao not need to receive Case in the same way as NP arguments (cf. 7). 1 1 -ir also can appear in a particular type of locative construction: (i) Mlenie a-na-gon-er-a kalulu. 'The nunter lay on [= sleep-appl] the hare' I have not investigated this type; see Alsina and Mchombo 1988. 10

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transitive verb; thus, it must have structural Case assigning features (see also note 3). In addition, the language has simple verbs like -fa 'give' that take two NPs, both of which show full direct object behavior with respect to object prefixes and passivization. Thus, when -el attaches to these verbs, one expects the resulting verb to be able to assign three structural Cases. However, sentences with three postverbal NPs are unacceptable: 23. ?/*'Me o-f-el-a ntate bana lengolo. mother SP-give-appZ-ind father children letter ['My mother gives the children a letter for my father'] This could suggest that Sesotho forbids its verbs to assign more than two structural Cases, perhaps as a language specific property. Again, such a limit does not seem to be the right answer. First, even with the limit, (23) could still be generated. We know that verbs can assign two structural Cases in Sesotho, and any verb can assign an inherent Case as well. This makes a total of three Cases available, which should be enough to allow (23). Second, the structure does not improve if one of the NPs is replaced by an infinitival clause: 24.

*Matichere a-tlamell-el-a sistere bana ho bua Sekhooa. teachers SP-force-appZ-Asp nuns children to speak English [The teachers force the children to speak English for the nuns']

Since infinitivals do not need to be assigned Case, and verbs can certainly assign Case to two NPs, this example would not ruled out by the Case Filter. Third, and most tellingly, sentences like (23) become fully acceptable when the benefactive NP is cliticized as an object prefix or left-dislocated: 25. (Ntate) Me o-mo-f-el-a bana lengolo. father mother SP-OP-give-eppZ-ind children letter '(My father,) my mother gives the children a letter for him' In a G-B analysis, there must still be three Case assignments in (25): two to the post-verbal NPs and one to the OP. Thus, the deviance of (23) is not due to a limit on how many Cases the verb can assign. Rather, it must reflect some other kind of constraint — perhaps a perceptual one on how many postverbal categories can be interpreted, as often suggested (Hodges 1977, Vitale 1981). 12 This suggests that there is no theoretical limit on the number of Cases a verb can assign in the Bantu languages, although there are practical limits. Conclusion In this paper, I have illustrated the theoretical devices that GovernmentBinding theory makes available for developing an adequate typology of applicative constructions. These are summarized in (26): 26. Sources of differences in applicatives A. Structural/thematic differences: Chichewa benefactives (1, 3) vs. Chichewa instruments (17, 20) Β. Lexical/Case property differences: Kinyarwanda -ir (2, 4) vs. Chichewa -ir (1, 3) Chichewa vina 'dance' (21) vs. Chichewa yenda 'walk' (22) 12

Machobane in preparation makes an alternative suggestion, based on argument structure restrictions.

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These two sources of variation have rather different character: the structural-thematic differences are expected to be constant to a significant degree across languages (assuming the UTAH), whereas the lexical differences in Case properties can be at least partially idiosyncratic and therefore variable across languages. An intermediate case might be the difference between Kinyarwanda benefactive -ir (2), (4) and Kinyarwanda locative -ho (5), (6); I have treated this as a lexical difference in Case assigning features, but leave open the possibility that it can be traced back to a difference in thematic structure in some way. Finally, we have seen that a third potential source of variation made available by the theory — the effects of a general parameter of the language as a whole — in fact plays no role, and can be eliminated as redundant, at least for the constructions investigated here. Department of Linguistics, McGill University 1001 Sherbrooke Ouest Montréal, Québec H3A1G5, Canada References Alsina, A. and S. Mchombo 1988 Lexical mapping in the Chichewa applicative construction, Stanford University ms. Baker, M. C. 1988a Incorporation: A Theory of Grammatical Function Changing. University of Chicago Press. 19886 Theta theory and the syntax of applicatives in Chichewa, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 6: 353-89. Belletti, A. 1988 The Case of unaccusatives, Linguistic Inquiry 19: 1-34. Bentley, W. H. 1887/1967 Dictionary and Grammar of the Kongo Language. Farnborough: Gregg. Borer, H. 1984 Parametric Syntax. Dordrecht: Foris. Bresnan, J. and J. Kanerva 1988 Locative inversion in Chichewa: a case study of factorization in grammar', Linguistic Inquiry 20: 1-50. Chomsky, Ν. 1986 Knowledge of Language. New York: Praeger. Cole, P. and J. M. Sadock (eds.) 1977 Syntax and Semantics 8: Grammatical Relations. New York: Academic Press. Chung, S. 1976 An object-creating rule in Bahasa Indonesian, Linguistic Inquiry 7: 1-37. Dryer, Matthew 1983 Indirect objects in Kinyarwanda revisited, in D. Perlmutter (ed.) 1983: 129-40. Gary, J. 1977 Implications for Universal Grammar of object-creating rules in Luyia and Mashi, Studies in African Linguistics, supplement 7, 85-95. Gary, J. O. and E. L. Keenan 1977 On collapsing grammatical relations in Universal Grammar, in P. Cole and J. M. Sadock (eds.) 1977: 83-120. Hodges, K. 1977 Causatives, transitivity, and objecthood in Kimeru, Studies in African Linguistics, supplement 7: 113-26. Kimenyi, A. 1980 A Relational Grammar of Kinyarwanda. Berkeley: University of California Press. Kisseberth, C. and M. Abasheikh 1977 The object relationship in ChiMwi:ni, a Bantu language, in P. Cole and J. M. Sadock (eds.) 1977: 179-218. Machobane, M. in preparation McGill University dissertation.

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Marantz, A. 1981/1984 On the Nature of Grammatical Relations, M. I. T. dissertation/Cambridge, Mass.: M. I. T. Press. Perlmutter, D. (ed.) 1983 Studies in Relational Grammar I. University of Chicago Press. Perlmutter, D. and P. Postal 1983 Some proposed laws of basic clause structure, in D. Perlmutter (ed.) 1983: 81-128 Satyo, S. 1987 Beyond morphological concatenations: issues in the syntax and semantics of multiply-extended verbs in Xhosa, paper presented at the 18th Conference on African Linguistics, Montréal, April 1987. Trithart, M. 1977 Relational grammar and Chichewa subjectivization, U. C. L. A. dissertation. Vitale, A. 1981 Swahili Syntax. Dordrecht: Foris.

Chapter

13

On resumptive pronouns in creole languages Alexander F . Caskey, University of Chicago

For reasons that are not always apparent, certain pronominal forms sound redundant, even if the same sentence is ungrammatical without them. Consider these examples (from Kroch 1981) of so-called island constructions: la. the guy who [they don't know whether or not he wants to come] b. the guy who [I hate almost everything he does] 2a. b.

*the guy who [they don't know whether or not 0 wants to come] 'the guy who [I hate almost everything 0 does]

In this paper, coreferent expressions like the guy and he in (1) are italicized. Pronouns like he in (1) are called 'resumptive' because they point back to (resume) a previously established referent within the sentence. 1 What is particularly intriguing about these forms is that, however much they sound extra or redundant, they have the same morphological properties as other pronouns, and the same basic grammatical function of (co)reference. What distinguishes them is not form or meaning, but rather the fact that — from a perhaps overly idealized standpoint — they are in principle unnecessary. The notion of necessity by itself, however, contributes little to a formal definition. In Section 2,1 discuss some recent theoretical approaches to this problem in which more precise definitions are advanced; in the balance of the paper, I expand the definitional range of the term resumptive pronoun (at times in ways that many linguists may disagree with), the better to determine what factors delimit or constrain the phenomenon. Resumptive pronouns are prominent in creole languages. Although there is variation from one creole to another in terms of frequency, privileges of occurrence, and grammatical function, resumptives share a fairly consistent set of properties cross-linguistically. This paper surveys the roles played by resumptive pronouns in creole grammars. In this way, creole languages may illuminate a problem in syntactic theory; and conversely, a proper understanding of the syntax, semantics and pragmatics of resumptives may bear on the question of the uniqueness of creole languages (cf. Muysken 1988). Sells (1984, 1987) notes that most linguists understand resumptive pronouns to be confined to relative clauses or, along the lines of Ross 1967, to be non-extractable elements in syntactic islands, as in (1) above. But the range of constructions which permit (or require) redundant pronominale is considerably wider. Questions, clefts, topicalized expressions, and This is a revised version of the paper originally presented at the 19th Conference on African Linguistics, special thanks go to Jan Terje Faarlund for his judicious criticism of previous versions. I am indebted for similar favors to Francis Byrne. I would also like to express my gratitude to Francisco Fernandes, John P. Hutchison, Victor Manfredi, Salikoko Mufwene, and James Yoon for their advice and help. ^The term resumptive pronoun is found in Chomsky 1981, Kroch 1981, Sankoff 1985 and Romaine 1988. Other terms in the literature include recapitulating pronoun (Koops and Bendor-Samuel 1974), returning pronoun (Goldsmith 1981) and reprise pronoun (Corne 1977). In a slightly different context, Perlmutter 1972 coined the expression shadow pronoun. J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 125-136 (Dordrecht: Foris)

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presentationals are among the more prominent environments in which resumptive pronouns are commonly found. In some grammatical frameworks, most of these additional contexts form a natural class with relative clauses, e.g. in Government binding theory they are all domains of u>/i-movement. However, creole resumptives are not restricted to these domains; under certain conditions, they also appear in purpose clauses, which fall outside the limits of a movement analysis. My discussion will rejoin the question of whether resumptive pronouns can be considered purely syntactic phenomena. For creole languages, this issue is perhaps clearest in the case of (usually 3rd person) subject pronominale in main clause constructions which echo (or appear to echo) a coreferent lexical subject. Further evidence of non-syntactic conditioning comes from Cape Verdean Kriolu, a language in which clefting and topicalization strategies diverge in permitting or disallowing resumptive pronouns just when the antecedent NP is propositional in nature. 1. What i s a r e s u m p t i v e p r o n o u n ? We have stated that resumptive pronouns occur in a fairly wide range of constructions in creóles. The question is whether all instances of resumptives can be characterized in a single way. In the Kriolu purpose construction in (3), /-(< el), the 3sg pronoun subject of the lower clause, seems redundant, since Zeca is the only possible controller of bai 'to go'. 3.

Majuja fra Zeca [pa7 bai]. say Comp-he go

'Majuja told Zeca to go'

In some languages, including English, a null (PRO) subject occurs in purpose clauses, as required by theoretical assumptions such as the Avoid Pronoun Principle (Chomsky 1981: 65). Since purpose clauses in many languages involve infinitives, and non-finite verbs by themselves do not license overt subjects, the non-finiteness of purpose clauses has been invoked to explain this obligatory null subject pattern. But in Kriolu and other creóles, the situation is quite different: purpose clauses require a for complementizer, whose complement is ungrammatical without an explicit subject, as shown in the following Haitian example: 4. "Josiane ramase jwét la [pu 0 jwe ak //]. pick-up toy Det Comp play with it ['Josiane picked up the toy to play with'] From (3-4) it would appear that gaps and pronominals are in complementary distribution, so that there is nothing redundant about the embedded subject pronoun in Kriolu. But in other constructions, this complementarity does not hold: 1 5. Entritantu, si lingua èra miior dipositariu di kultura, mijor kanal di transmison di kultura, el e'ka éra úniku dipositariu, úniku kanal. 'Nevertheless, if language was the most effective repository of culture, the most effective channel for the transmission of culture, it was not the only repository, the only channel' Here, the 3sg pronominal e appears cliticized to the negative particle ka, in what I will call a parasitic relationship to the adjacent, co-referent, 1

Example (5) is transcribed from a 1983 speech by Manuel Veiga, a Cape Verdean education official who comes from the island of Santiago.

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independent subject pronoun el. There is no syntactic gap in (5); the sentence would also be grammatical without the parasitic e. In creole relative clauses, discussed in Caskey 1983, there is considerable variation in the occurrence of pronominal forms at the extraction site. Consider this Papiamentu example from Muysken 1977: e sen [ku m'a skirbikuné] 'the pen that I write with' Detpen Comp lsg-Asp write with.3sg (6) has a resumptive prepositional object, and this does not seem unusual. Papiamentu resembles most other creóles in requiring gaps in subject and object relatives, but not allowing preposition stranding (permissible in very few creóles, among them Sierra Leonean Krio and Jamaican). 6.

Note, however, that in the following examples (from Valdman 1978) the plural resumptive zòt occurs in subject position of the relative clause (7a), and the singular resumptive li occurs direct object position (7b). 7a. ban lisien [ki zòt in alé] 'the dogs that are gone' Det-pl dog Comp 3pl Asp go (Indian Ocean Creole) b. Li gét kkaz [ (ki) ou fin van h']. 'S/he sees the house you sold' 3sg see house Comp 2sg Tns sell 3sg (Haitian) The data in (7), though not representative of all creóles, leave a mixed situation: some creóles require subject/object resumptives while others forbid them. On the other hand, it is generally true that resumptives fail to appear in relative clauses formed from prepositional objects and that it is impossible to relativize genitive NPs or objects of comparison, with or without resumptives. This range of facts suggests degrees on a decreolization continuum: more decreolized languages have a lower cutoff point, below which resumptive pronouns are permitted, on Keenan and Comrie's (1977) accessibility hierarchy. But this would still not account for resumptives where no extraction occurs, as in (5) and the following example from Guiñé Bissau Kryol (Kihm 1979): 8. Kabra i amigu kacur. 'The goat is a friend of the dog' goat3sg friend dog If non-relative subject resumptives are permitted, there must be a principled explanation. The traditional idea, of a kind of subject+echo or topic+comment construction, cannot easily be unified with a formal relativization constraint. The binding conditions of Government and Binding theory do not apply in any obvious way to the non-complementarity of pronoun and gap, as seen in (5). This implies that an account of resumptive pronouns in creole languages requires an extension of current formulations., in particular to account for redundant pronominals in main clause constructions. 1 This leads to a central concern of this paper: the establishment of a criterion (of set of criteria) by which a pronoun can truly be designated resumptive. If a redundant form has the morphology of a pronominal, does it follow that it has the full set of properties of an 'ordinary' pronoun? Are •'This is the view of Singler 1988, examining substrate influence on relative clauses in pidginized Liberian English, and of Sankoff 1985. Both have observed that the pattern of relative clauses does not necessarily carry over to main clauses or non-relative subordinate clauses (e.g. purpose clauses).

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there clear criteria for redundancy? Empirically, what is the status of a language like Brazilian Portuguese which has resumptive pronouns but also allows null subjects and objects (as discussed in Caskey 1986)? Not all of these questions can be answered with currently available data, and several are beyond the scope of present linguistic theory at (not to mention this paper). Here I will attempt to show that any effective definition of resumptive pronoun necessarily involves a broadening of perspective beyond the syntactic dimensions of the problem. 2. R e c e n t a p p r o a c h e s The literature on resumptive pronouns includes several major statements. Most frequently cited is Sells (1984, 1987) who, following Chao and Sells 1983, develops a distinction between "true resumptives" as in (9) and "intrusive pronouns" as in (10) — the former being operator-bound variables, the latter being anaphoric expressions. 9a.

b.

10.

kol gever se [Dina xosevet se /lu.ohev et Rina] (Hebrew) every man that thinks that he loves her 'every man who Dina thinks loves Rina' an scríbhneoir aL [mholann na mie léinn (e) ] (Irish) the writer ptc praise the students him 'the writer [that] the students praise' Every man thinks that [Mary likes him].

In Sells' terms, some of the creole examples discussed above contain intrusive pronouns. Although, as Davison 1988 points out, markedness may explain the limited distribution of true resumptives among the world's langauges, we still need to account for the (putatively) unmarked case which intrusi ves would represent. Although Sells 1984 is partly devoted to the semantic classification of intrusives, we are left with the somewhat restricted view that notions such as discourse binding and other forms of A ' binding to account for this more common pronominal type. Do intrusives constitute a natural class, with cross-linguistically uniform syntactic behavior? Part of my answer to this question will appeal to the diachronic evidence of syntactic reanalysis. Above, I invoked a criterion of 'extra-ness'as a first approximation, but not all pronominals which are 'extra' and 'intrusive' show the same behavior. For example, a language like Spanish has many intrusive object pronouns while, in comparable environments, its close cousin Portuguese allows them only under exceptional circumstances (linked to stylistic usage). Such difficulties also persist in the classification of languages that have 'true' resumptives; in his examination of Welsh, Irish, Swedish, and Hebrew, Sells (1984: 67) concludes that a GB type-parameter for resumptives may be impossible to formulate. Before examining intrusives, consider Sells' claim that true resumptives are operator-bound. Safir 1986 suggests that this claim may be necessary but it is not sufficient: restrictive relative clauses exhibit what he calls Rbinding, in which the clause-internal argument position is directly bound not by the relative (A') head, but by an operator in Comp. The additional presence of R-binding is supposed to explain the (weak) grammaticality contrast between wh-clefts like (11a) and simplex w/ï-questions like (lib).

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11a. IWho was it [that [you were wondering whether he left early] ]? b. *?Who [were you wondering whether he left early]? If this distinction holds, then a parametric account of resumptives is possible: in some languages (English, Hebrew), both A' binding and Rbinding may be required to license Sells' 'true' resumptive pronouns, while elsewhere (Irish, Swedish) only A' binding is required. In her response to Sells' typology, Davison 1985 suggests that in situ »/»-constructions (as in Chinese and Hindi-Urdu) may be licensed by anaphora rather than by A' binding. This view is modified in Davison 1988 to suggest that in-situ ιυ/ι-elements may be licensed from an A ' position in Logical Form, thus preserving Sells' basic analysis. Her 1988 treatment, however, contains several generalizations which are important for the data under consideration here. The first of these is that languages with true resumptive pronouns characteristically lack overt morphological case on NPs; the second is that elements which introduce resumptive relative clauses, like Swedish som and Irish aL, will tend not to carry agreement information. 1 In other words, a morphologically rich w/i-element or relative Comp potentially provides information about the syntactic role of the extracted NP, but if this information is absent, a resumptive pronoun may fill it in at the site of the iü/i-trace. 12. kes kuza ki nu ta pensa na es Det-pl thing Comp lpl Asp think about 3pl 'the things we think about' Davison also notes that the parameter of ΐίΛ-movement is relevant for resumptive pronouns. Languages with in situ w / î - c o n s t r u c t i o n s cannot have opera tors in Comp; all co-indexing must be achieved by antecedent binding, whether the antecedent is syntactically local or found in preceding discourse. Here again, the creole evidence is mixed: pied piping is ruled out, with the possible exception of Jamaican Creole and Krio (see Muysken 1988), but standard varieties of wft-movement are allowed. Thus, in just those cases where aA-movement is not allowed, a 'true' resumptive may occur, otherwise it may not. These facts show that, following Sells' criteria, creole languages present a mixture of resumptive and intrusive strategies. If it is true that the two can be effectively and structurally distinguished, we may wish to inquire further into the nature of a grammatical system which would permit both. I will postpone further discussion of this issue until the conclusion. 3. E c h o s u b j e c t s as r e s u m p t i v e s If the term 'resumptive pronoun' has suffered in the past from imprecision, it has also acquired a kind a consensual meaning. By this I mean that not all 'extra' pronominale can qualify as resumptives, e.g. pronominal subjects of purpose clauses. As another case, consider the phenomenon of echo subjects, seen in (5) and (8) above. A priori, there is no reason to assume that 'echo' subject pronouns require the same formal explanation as the resumptives found in relative clauses. But this is an interesting hypothesis, if only because creóles have so many 1

However Standard Norwegian, with the same complementizer as Swedish, does not allow resumptive pronouns as in Swedish (J. T . Faarlund, p.c.).

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'extra' pronominal forms. If creole languages are a privileged window on Universal Grammar, then their massive redundancy may be significant. The alternative hypothesis, that the two sets are unrelated, requires a separate explanation for the 'echo' forms, perhaps along the lines of Bresnan and Mchombo's (1988) claim that subjects in these languages are inherently "topic-oriented". But this account has its own difficulties, so I willproceed with the first idea. A significant number of creole languages have 'reprise' subjects (following the terminology of Corne 1977) in sentences like the following: 13. Sô buldu i âkor pe dormi. (Seychellois) Poss.3sg sweetheart 3sg still Asp sleep 'Her/his sweetheart is still sleeping' To all appearances, the particle i is coreferent with the lexical subject sô-buldu. Although this may seem at first to be an instance of topicalization, there is no pause after the subject, which is normally the case for discourse effects like topicalization. What, then, would be the syntactic function of i? Most i-type phenomena in creóles result from the diachronic reduction a third person singular pronoun (French il, Portugeseg ele, English he). Given their pronominal origin, perhaps they still exercise a pronominal function in the creole grammars. This is the presumed origin of Corne's term, reprise pronoun. Corne's data on Seychellois reprise-»' are quite complex, but they essentially reduce to the following three possibilities:* 14a. obligatory Ketsoz i η tôbe. 'Something has fallen' Li, i η ale. 'S/he has gone' Mâze i η pare. 'The food is ready' Sa lakaz i pur van. 'That house is for sale' b. optional Sa (i) ê sûgula. 'That is a soungala' c. ungrammatical "7 i η ale. ['S/he has gone'] This interplay led Papen 1975 to claim that reprise-i has been reanalyzed as a "present tense marker" — a claim adopted by Bickerton (to appear). Corne 1977 considers i to be a reduced form of the complementizer ki, in an underlying cleft sentence. 2 Given the representation in (15), Corne puts reprise-i under C, while Papen would put it under I: 15. CP .c

Spec C

IP

/V

Spec

^/N^

I

VP

Spec V NP ìFor more details, see Corne (1974-75; 1977: 35-43). 2 All three authors agree that i is not a copula; the copula in Seychellois has the forms le (present) and lete (past).

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A successful analysis must also account for variation within Seychellois. If in the range between basilect and acrolect, optional uses of i are linked to present tense interpretations, Papen's claim is given foundation. If Bickerton 1981 is correct that basilectal creóles tend to lack tense morphemes, then an acrolectal innovation of reprise-j as a tense marker would be motivated. On the other hand, since Infi is usually considered to contain both Tense and Agreement, reprise-i might be an Agr element. This hypothesis faces difficulties in the neighboring creole of Reunion (historically linked to Seychellois), where reprise-i appears after both 1st and 2nd person subjects — contradicting 3sg agreement features.1 A more plausible variant of the Agr hypothesis is suggested by (15): that reprise-« appears in the Spec of VP (an A-position) as a kind of predicate-internal subject marker (as in Guiñé Bissau Kryol and New Guinea Tok Pisin). Muysken 1983 derives a similar representation from a process of Subject NP Postposing. A historical innovation from independent pronoun to subject marker would be less drastic than a reanalysis to a tense marker, and would be favored by the morphological type of the substrate language. For Seychellois and the other Indian Ocean creóles, substrates all belong to Bantu; for Kryol, to West Atlantic; for Tok Pisin, to Melanesian. It is striking that similar subject echo phenomena appear in these three widely separated creóles, with independent substrata. Under the hypothesis of reanalysis from pronoun to subject marker, the repris e-i element in the Kriolu of Santiagu (Cape Verde) is interesting, because it appears to have retained more pronominal properties than in the other cases. This kind of variation is easily understood in local, historical terms (cf. Muysken 1988), but cannot be easily reconciled with a universalist account of creolization (Bickerton's "bioprogram"). Bickerton (1981: 21f., 3337) gives an analysis of echo subjects as "subject copying", largely based on a single case study: the transition from Hawaiian Pidgin English to Hawaiian Creole. He draws theoretical support from the A/A principle of classical transformational grammar: if a major constituent dominates a node of the same category, any syntactic rule potentially affecting the lower node must instead apply to the higher one. But it is difficult to see how Bickerton's idea translates into current generative theory. In fact, within a more recent generative perspective, his echo-subjects would have to be base-generated under a node distinct from the one occupied by the i-pronoun, for example the TOP node proposed by Goldsmith 1981 for Igbo. But this leads to the licensing question all over again: the presence of the TOP node entails topicalization or some similar discourse property, but why would speakers attribute this property vacuously to every subject pronoun? 4. P u r p o s e c l a u s e s : an acid t e s t ? Consider the following English facts: 16a. Enzo brought home the Ferrari [to test-drive if]. b. Enzo brought home the Ferrari [to test-drive 0]. (16a) demands co-reference between the Ferrari and it, and the verb test-drive is clearly transitive. Most linguists I have consulted feel that it is not a 1

This may also occur in certain varieties of Kryol (A. Kihm, p.c.). The same has been attested for (early) Melanesian Pidgin English.

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resumptive pronoun but are hard put to suggest a different term. The gap following the verb in (16b) leads to one of two conclusions: either there is a lexical null complement which de-transitivizes the verb, or else there is a syntactically active empty category, co-referent with Ferrari. Insofar as the two sentences are synonymous, the latter view is required, supporting the analysis of it in (16a) as a resumptive. Much of the literature on purpose clauses has concentrated on verb-preposition constructions like (17), modified from Green to appear. 17a.

*Kim keeps a pet boa on hand [to distract visitors with it].

b.

Kim keeps a pet boa on hand [to distract visitors with 0 ] ,

c.

Kim keeps a pet boa on hand [to distract visitors 0 0 ] .

Interestingly, the pronoun is not grammatical as a prepositional object. I would like to suggest that these forms, while clearly not 'resumptive' in Sells' definition, are evidently 'extra' in the sense which I have suggested earlier. The examples in (16-17) cannot be interpreted as infinitival relatives, so that they do not fall within the standard view of resumptives. 18.

Consider now the following sentence from Kriolu: Banzij paña kes brinkeduj p'el¡ brinka kw'esj. picked up Det-pl toy Comp 3sg play with 3pl 'Banzi picked up the toys to play with'

In (18), the 3pl form es, coreferent with kes brinkedu 'the/those toys', is obligatory, due to the constraints on extraction from PPs discussed above. At the same time, it fulfills Sells' criterion of a 'true' resumptive. Given the contrast with (16-17), it is difficult to decide which account is more applicable. In both of the following non-obligatory control sentences, with differing control, a resumptive is required (Kriolu, adapted from Faraci 1974): 19a.

b.

Eli sta jobe [arguti argen]i pa proj pinta7j. 3sg Asp seek someone Comp paint 3sg 'He's looking for someone to paint him' Eli s t a jobe [arguti argen]; ρ 'eli pin ta'/y. 3sg Asp seek someone Comp 3sg paint 3sg 'He's looking for someone to paint'

In creóles, explicit subjects are permitted in most embedded environments. What appears to operate here is a disambiguating strategy that depends on the alternation between null and overt forms. If this is correct, the pronominale in these examples are not resumptive (in the sense of 'extraness'); rather they are required by the grammar. In support of this last observation, consider the recasting of (18) minus its overt pronominal subject: ^ 1(20) may grammatically receive a PRO a r b interpretation: the toys were to be played with by anybody. The complex referential properties of zero forms in creole purpose clauses are discussed in Caskey 1989b, which shows that control phenomena in creóles demonstrate considerable variation with respect to resumptive pronouns. Following Byrne (to appear), this can be linked to an variable of "creole depth" which states that the "deeper" the creole, the greater the number of filled argument positions it has.

On resumptive pronouns in creole languages

20.

133

*Banzi{ paña kes brinkeduj pa pro{ brinka kw'esj. picked up Det-pl toy Comp 3sg play with 3pl

What makes (20) unacceptable on the intended reading is the absence of a lexical subject inside the purpose clause; the only sanctioned solution for a subject-control reading is the overt form el, as in (18). 1 While the status of brinka with regard to finiteness is not easily determined (as with similar constructions in most creole languages), an overt subject would be 'extra' in English. 5. S y n t a x and d i s c o u r s e : c l e f t i n g and t o p i c a l i z a t i o n The final type of redundant pronominal to be treated here is linked directly to the in situ characteristic of prepositional phrase in creole languages, discussed above. This concerns Kriolu agreement alternations which contrast in the two major types of constructions discourse-based: clefting and topicalization. Consider first the cleft sentences in (21): 21a.

E kes midida inzustu di goberno k'es ta protesta kontr'e/. Cop Det.pl measure unjust of govt Comp.3pl Asp protest against 3sg 'It's the unfair measures of the government that they're protesting against' b. *E kes midida inzustu di goberno k'es ta protesta kontr'es. Cop Det.pl measure unjust of govt Comp.3pl Asp protest against 3sg (21a) shows a surprising agreement phenomenon: the antecedent of el '3sg' is clearly the plural topicalized object of kontra 'against': kes midida inzustu. The (b) version shows that the (expected) plural form es is ungrammatical. We can compare this structure with its topicalized equivalent in which the fronted element has no link to a preposition: 22a.

*Kes laranzai, diretor manda pa nu ka kume[ ]¿. Det.pl orange director order Comp lpl Neg eat b. Kes laranza, diretor manda pa nu ka kume's. Det.pl orange director order Comp lpl Neg eat 3pl. 'Those oranges, the director ordered us not to eat' c. l*Kes laranza, diretor manda pa nu ka kume'/. Det.pl orange director order Comp lpl Neg eat 3sg The (a) version with a gap is ungrammatical: (22b) shows that a pronominal object is required after kume 'eat'. B u t , as shown by (22c), number agreement must hold with a topicalized antecedent. If we recast this same sentence in the form of a cleft, an entirely different set of circumstances results: 23a. E kes laranzai li, ki diretor manda pa nu ka kume [ ]¿. Cop Det.pl orange there Comp director order Comp lpl Neg eat 'It's those oranges there that the director ordered us not to eat' b. *E kes laranza li, ki diretor manda pa nu ka kume 's Cop Det.pl orange there Comp director order Comp lpl Neg eat 3pl c. *E kes laranza li, ki diretor manda pa nu ka kume'/. Cop Det.pl orange there Comp director order Comp lpl Neg eat 3sg l i m i t a t i o n s of space prevent me from discussing Dijkhoff's (1983) analysis of resumptive pronouns in purpose clauses and free relatives in Papiamentu. Although the position she takes is later modified in Mufwene and Dijkhoff 1989, her basic insights are pertinent to the analysis suggested here.

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Note that, in contrast with the topicalized version in (22), the clefted version of the sentence permits no resumptive form at all, singular or plural. The gapping strategy is the only acceptable one for clefts. If we alter (23) slightly, adding an adjective (podri 'rotten') and embedding a relative clause inside the cleft, a resumptive pronoun is required; again, this form cannot be plural (es in 24b), although its antecedent kes laranza 'the oranges' is plural: 24a.

E

kes

laranza podri, ki

n o s sta ta d a d u ,

Cop Det.pl orange rotten Comp lpl Cop Asp given ki nos ta protesta kontra el. Comp lpl Asp protest against 3sg 'It's those rotten oranges we were given that we're protesting against' b. *E kes laranza podri, ki nos sta ta dadu , ki nos ta protesta kontra es. These data show that if an antecedent can be construed as prepositional, as in (21a) and (24a), the returning pronominal is obligatorily singular, despite the grammatical plurality of its antecedent. This suggests semantic agreement, which has been attested for numerous other (non-creole) languages. What is more striking about this case, however, is not only the distinction between clefting and topicalization in terms of how the propositional notion is determined, but also the fact that this distinction is neutralized if the focused element(s) are non-propositional. In such cases gapping is the only solution, and no pronominal, singular or plural, is tolerated. This scenario strongly suggests that the licensing of resumptive pronouns is due to the interplay of several grammatical components, not the syntax alone. From the evidence presented here, it is difficult to conceive of an account which excludes semantic and pragmatic factors, along with the syntactic dimension. This issue is taken up in greater detail in Caskey 1989a. 6. C o n c l u s i o n In expanding the notion 'resumptive pronoun' I have appealed to an intuitive notion of redundancy. In surveying redundant pronominals in creóles, it has been implicit that resumptive pronouns in widely differing syntactic constructions are somehow related. The syntactic differences are clearly important, but not necessarily relevant to an analysis based on interpretive principles. A definitive statement about resumptives is further complicated by the ambiguities which surround certain cases like purpose clauses. As described above, native speaker judgments vary and linguists doubt whether returning pronominals in these constructions are resumptive or not (sensu lato). This same problem affects non-creole languages as well. If we consider languages which allow null objects (in one sense, the polar opposite of resumptives) from current theoretical perspectives, the natural conclusion is that, at some point, the free distribution of null objects is licensed by a prodrop parameter. Portuguese and Spanish are both morphologically complex (Portuguese slightly moreso) but the former allows null objects, while the latter does not. On other hand, Spanish often requires clitic-doubling for objects, but Portuguese permits this only under special conditions. These differences point to the need for further study of the interaction of the syntax with other grammatical components, on the understanding that a broader perspective of this kind will be necessary to account for such typological

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'irregularities'. This can be seen as one result of extending and amplifying the notion 'resumptive pronoun' beyond its current, rather narrow definition. I have stressed the importance of diachronic evidence to the analyses proposed here. Consider the different fates which ¿-types have met: today's obligatory pronoun may become tomorrow's resumptive with the possiblity of further transformation into subject-marker or null form. This conception imposes a relative understanding of the term 'extra-ness' which entails a rather different understanding of markedness (cf. Caskey 1989a). In non-creóles, it is possible to find examples of every kind of resumptive cited here, although perhaps not with the same distribution. But it may be that Creoles have more to tell us than previously suspected about redundancy in natural language. I hope to have demonstrated here that the narrow, synchronic definiton of 'resumptive' pronoun is not sufficient. While a more complete definition necessarily depends on further investigation, it is clear that any statement concerning 'extra-ness' will need to take into account the interaction of grammatical components. This will involve a more precise formulation of the ways which linguistic structures are pragmatically determined, an area of research whose borders have yet to be firmly established. Whatever conclusion is finally reached will depend on a definition encompassing more than syntax. Department of Romance Languages and Literatures University of Chicago 1050 East 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

References Bickerton, D. 1981 Roots of Language. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Karoma. (to appear) Seselwa serialization and its significance, Journal of Pidgin and Creole Linguistics. Bresnan, J. and S. Mchombo 1987 Topic, pronoun, and agreement in Chichewa. Language 63: 741-82. Byrne, F. to appear Towards a theory of 0-marking and creole depth, in Ferrara, et al., Language Change and Contact. Austin: Texas Linguistic Forum. Caskey, A. F. 1983 Relative clauses in the typology of creóles: the case of Cape Verdean Kriolu, paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association. 1986 Shadow boxing in the land of the null pronominals, University of Chicago Working Papers in Linguistics 2: 195-208. 1989a Universal and particular in creole grammar: the syntax of Cape Verdean Kriolu, ms., University of Chicago. 1989b Controlling into purpose clauses the creole way. University of Chicago, ms.. University of Chicago. Chao, W. and P. Sells 1983 On the interpretation of resumptive pronouns, NELS 13: 17-49. Amherst, Mass.: G.L.S.A. Chomsky, N. 1981 Lectures on Government and Binding. Dordrecht: Foris. Corne, C. 1974/75 Tense, aspect and the mysterious i in Seychelles and Reunion Creole, Te Reo 17/18: 53-93. 1977 Seychelles Creole Grammar: Elements for Indian Ocean ProtoCreole Reconstruction. Tubingen: Narr. Davison, A. 1985 When is a pronoun not resumptive?, paper presented at the LSA Winter meeting. 1988 Operator binding, gaps, and pronouns, Linguistics 26:181-214.

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Dijkhoff, Μ. Β. 1983 Movement rules and the resumptive pronoun strategy. University of Groningen M. A. thesis. Farad, R. 1974 Aspects of the grammar of infinitives and ίοτ-phrases, M. I. T. dissertation. Goldsmith, J. 1981 The structure of zü/j-questions in Igbo, Linguistic Analysis 7: 367-93. Green, G. M. to appear Purpose infinitives and their relatives. Keenan, E. L. and B. Comrie 1977 Noun accessibility and Universal Grammar, Linguistic Inquiry 8: 63-99. Kihm, A. 1979 Aspects d'une syntaxe historique; études sur le créole portugais de Guiné-Bissau, Université de Paris III thesis. Koops, R. and J. T. Bendor-Samuel 1974 Recapitulating ρ, ronouns in Kuteb, Journal of West African Languages 9: 17-48 Kroch, A. S. 1981 On the role of resumptive pronouns in amnestying island constraint violations, CLS 17: 125-35.. Muysken, P. 1977 Movement rules in Papiamentu, Amsterdam Creole Studies 1: 8 0 - 1 0 2 .

1983 Review of Bickerton 1981, Language 59: 884-92. 1988 Are creóles a special type of language? in Linguistics: the Cambridge Survey II. Cambridge University Press. Papen, R. A. 1978 The French-based creóles of the Indian Ocean, University of California, San Diego, dissertation. Perlmutter, D. M. 1972 Evidence for shadow pronouns in French relativization. The Chicago Which Hunt, Chicago Linguistic Society. Romaine, S. 1988 Pidgin and Creole Languages. London: Longman. Ross, J. R. 1967 Constraints on variables in syntax, M. I. T. dissertation. Safir, K. 1986 Relative clauses in a theory of binding and levels, Linguistic Inquiry 17: 663-89. Sankoff, G. 1985 Anaphoric processes in Tok Pisin relatives, paper presented at the Chicago Linguistic Society. Sells, P. 1984 Syntax and semantics of resumptive pronouns, UMass Amherst dissertation. 1987 Binding resumptive pronouns, Linguistics and Philosphy 10: 261-98. Singler, J. V. 1988 The homogeneity of the substrate as a factor in pidgin/creole genesis, Language 64: 27-51. Valdman, A. 1978 Créole: statut et origine. Paris: Klincksieck.

Chapter

14

Locative inversion of Chishona Carolyn Harford, Michigan State University

This paper will develop an analysis of locative inversion in the Karanga dialect of Chishona, a Bantu language spoken in Zimbabwe, based on an analysis of a parallel construction in Chichewa, a related Bantu language spoken in Malawi, developed within the framework of Lexical Functional Grammar by Bresnan and Kanerva 1989 and Alsina and Mchombo 1988.1 1. C h i s h o n a and C h i c h e w a The term locative inversion is used by Bresnan and Kanerva to refer to a relationship between sentences in Chichewa which is also exemplified by the Chishona examples in (1):^ la. Mi-chero í-no-téngés-éw-amu-maríkete. 'Fruit is sold in the market' 4 -fruit 4 -pres-sell-pass-in 18-market b. Mu-marikete mú-no-téngés-éw-a mi-chero. 'In the market is sold fruit' 18-market 18-pres-sell-pass-in 4-fruit In (lb), the postverbal locative NP has moved to pre verbal position, and the subject of the sentence has moved to postverbal position. In (la), verbal agreement is with the subject; in (lb) it is with the locative. The occurrence of locative inversion depends on the argument structure of the verb which undergoes it. Bresnan and Kanerva distinguish three types of argument structure which have become familiar in a number of frameworks. An unaccusative verb (Perlmutter 1978) has a Theme role in its argument structure, but no Agent; an unergative verb (Burzio 1981) has an Agent, but no Theme; a transitive verb has both. All three types may have additional roles. Whether or not a sentence can undergo locative inversion also depends on whether the verb is active or passive. In the active, Chichewa and Chishona pattern alike for the three verb types: unaccusative verbs undergo inversion; unergative and transitive verbs do not, cf. the following Chishona examples: 2a. b. c.

Ku-mu-shá kw-á-f-a mu-kádzí. 17-3-home 17-past-die-in 1-woman *Mu-tsime m-a-tundir-a mbudzi. 18-well 18-past-fall-in 9.goat *Mu-mu-nda m-aka-dy-a ma-kudo. 18-3-field 18-past-eat-in 6-baboons

'At home died a woman' unaccusative ['In the well fell a goat') unergative ['In the field ate baboons'] transitive

Parallel examples in Chichewa are found in Bresnan and Kanerva (1989). I am indebted to Vincent Chiuswa, a first-language speaker of the Karanga dialect of Chishona, for grammaticality judgements, and to Dr. Mandivamba Rukuni, on whose speech the tonal transcription is based. All the data reported here accord with his intuitions, including those cited from other sources. I am also grateful to Joan Bresnan for assistance on theoretical aspects, and to Hazel Carter for assistance with tone marking. 2 cf. Perez [Harford] (1983:135). High tone is marked. Abbreviations: in indicative pass passive app applied extension inf infinitive près present Numbers represent noun agreement classes; 16,17,18 are locative. 1

J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 137-144 (Dordrecht: Foris)

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In the passive, the^ three verb classes show different patterns in the two languages. In Chichewa, only transitives undergo locative inversion in the passive (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989). In Chishona, the passives of all three verb types undergo locative inversion: 3a. Ku-mu-shá kw-á-f-iw-a nó-mu-kádzí. 17-3-home 17-past-die-pass-in by-l-woman umccusative (Hannan 1959:159) 'At home was died by a woman' b. Mu-tsíme m-á-túndir-w-a né-mbudzi. 18-well 18-past-fall.in-pass-in by-9.goat unergative 'In the well was urinated by the goat' c. Mu-mbá m-á-tand-w-a va-nhu. 18-house 18-past chase.out-pass-in 2 people transitive (Fortune 1977:35) 'In the house were chased out people' [= People were chased out of the house] The above generalizations may be expressed in another way. With three verb types and two moods, there are six potential domains for locative inversion. Chichewa permits locative inversion in only two of these: active unaccusatives and passive transitives without agent phrases. Chishona permits locative inversion in all but two: active unergatives and active transitives, and also permits adjunct phrases in passive inversions. 4a.

unaccusative

b. unergative c. transitive

active passive active passive active passive

Chichewa OK * * * * OK

Chishona OK OK * OK * OK

2. L e x i c a l mapping in C h i c h e w a As already mentioned, Bresnan and Kanerva's analysis of Chichewa locative inversion relies on the distinction between verb types such as unaccusative, unergative and transitive, each of which has certain thematic roles as subcategorized arguments. The mechanism of their analysis involves assigning these thematic roles to grammatical functions such as Subject and Object. Insofar as this assignment (or lexical mapping) assigns thematic roles uniquely to grammatical functions, and vice versa, with one thematic role mapped onto the Subject function, the analysis predicts that a sentence reflecting this assignment is grammatical (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989). Grammatical functions decompose into two binary features: [± thematically restricted] and [± objective], (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989). There are four possible combinations of values for these features; the corresponding grammatical functions are as follows: 5.

SUBJ OBJ

[-r, -o] [-r,+o]

OBJtheta OBLtheta

[+r,+o] t+r,-o]

It is the assignment of feature values to thematic roles which maps them onto these grammatical functions. There are three ways in which this happens: intrinsically, by rule, and by default. Each role has an intrinsic feature value, e.g. Agent is [-o], Theme is [-r] and Locative is [-o] (cf. Bresnan

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and Kanerva 1989). Morpholexical rules such as passive and locative inversion assign feature values. Locative inversion, for example in (6), has two components: 6. loc-inv: (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989: 27) [-r] First, (6) assigns [-r] to the locative argument of a verb, which permits it to be mapped onto the Subject function. Second, the contextual restriction, marked with angle brackets, confines the operation of the rule to the lexical forms of verbs whose highest expressed thematic role is Theme. An expressed thematic role is one which is eligible to be mapped onto a grammatical function. I know of two cases where a thematic role is not expressed: first, when the subject of an active verb is removed (or suppressed) by passivization and does not appear in an adjunct phrase, and second, when the object of a transitive verb is dropped. The highest thematic role for a particular verb is determined by a universal thematic hierarchy: 3 7. Agent>Benefactive>Goal/Experiencer>Instrumental>Theme/Patient>Locative The order of thematic roles in a contextual restriction reflects this hierarchy. The concept of highest thematic role is also crucial to the formulation of the Passive rule. Passive suppresses the highest thematic role of a verb, which may then receive no lexical mapping at all or be optionally realized as an adjunct phrase through default feature assignment, in which case it is no longer treated as the highest node. Default assignments fill in blanks left by intrinsic and morpholexical encodings, provided that they do not contradict features which have already been assigned (Alsina and Mchombo 1988): 8a. The highest thematic role in a lexical form is assigned [-r]. b. All other thematic roles are assigned [+r]. The assignment of feature morpholexically may be seen Kanerva (1989: 30): 9. -peza 'find' intrinsic passive -edw locative-inversion

values to thematic roles intrinsically and in the following lexical form from Bresnan and

[-o]

S/O O

l-rl SUBT SUBJ

(9) illustrates an unextended transitive verb which undergoes both Passive and Locative Inversion. The thematic roles are represented in their hierarchical order. Locative Inversion may apply because Passive suppresses the Agent role, which is not expressed in an adjunct phrase, leaving Theme as the highest expressed role. The locative is mapped onto the Subject function which accounts for its sentence-initial position and 3

This version of the hierarchy is based on Jackendoff 1972 and other sources cited in Bresnan and Kanerva (1989: 23).

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control of verbal subject agreement (Bresnan and Kanerva 1988: 33-36). The feature assignment to the Theme is consistent with a mapping onto either the Subject or the Object function (symbolized as S/O). As mentioned earlier, a lexical form is not well formed unless its thematic roles are mapped uniquely onto grammatical functions, so the lexical form in (9) is well formed onl^ if Theme is mapped onto the Object function. A corresponding Chichewa example is given in (10): 10.

Ku-dâmbo ku-na-péz-édw-á mw-ána (??ndí mâyi). 17-5.swamp 17-past-find-pass-in 1-child by lA.mother. (Bresnan and Kanerva: 22) 'In the swamp was found the child (??by the mother)'

The marginality of agent phrases in this construction is discussed below. 3. L e x i c a l m a p p i n g i n C h i s h o n a I will propose two changes in Bresnan and Kanerva's theory for Chishona, which I regard not as changes in the theory, but as parametric differences between the two languages. These changes involve the morpholexical rule of Locative Inversion and the intrinsic feature encoding of Theme. The differences between Chichewa and Chishona, schematized in (4), may be recast as different contextual restrictions on the morpholexical rule of Locative Inversion. Locative Inversion can apply in Chichewa only if the highest expressed role in a lexical form is a Theme (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989). In Chishona, the generalization is that the highest non-suppressed role cannot be an Agent, although the Agent may still be expressed as an adjunct phrase. In other words, if there is an Agent in the lexical form, it must be suppressed by passivization. As (4) indicates, the two verb types in Chishona to which Locative Inversion may not apply are both active with Agent subjects; i.e., active unergatives and transitives. This observation is the basis for the first difference I will propose for Chishona, in the formulation of the rule of Locative Inversion. For Chishona, the only requirement for Locative Inversion is that any Agent role in the lexical form must be suppressed. Since there is no other restriction on its application, Locative Inversion may be formulated without any contextual restriction at all: 11.

loc t-r]

It is unnecessary to have a contextual restriction which refers to the Agent role, since, if the Agent role is not suppressed, both the Agent and the Locative roles will ultimately be mapped onto the Subject function, and the lexical form will be ruled out by the principle requiring unique mappings between thematic roles and grammatical functions. 4 4

I originally tried to formulate a contextual restriction on Locative Inversion in Chishona in such a way as to indicate that the Agent could be expressed, although not as the highest role. Joan Bresnan has suggested to me that the formulation of the rule given in the text, without any contextual restriction, is simpler and does just as well.

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There is independence evidence for (11). First, the Agent may be expressed in Chishona locative inversion, but only in an optional adjunct phrase. The generalization is broader than this, since locative inversions of passives permit optional adjunct phrases containing the subject of the active counterpart (regardless of whether it is thematically an Agent), marked with the preposition na 'by, with, and' cf. (3a,b), (12a), (16b-20b). Corresponding adjunct phrases are ungrammatical or highly questionable in Chichewa (Bresnan and Kanerva 1989:17). These observations suggest that, in Chishona, no single thematic role need be the highest role. Second, other roles higher than Theme may be expressed, such as the benefactive or anti-benefactive: 12a. Ku-mu-shá kw-á-f-ir-w-a u-mwe mu-kádzí nó-mu-rúme w-áké. 17-3-home 17-past-die-app-pass-in 1-one 1-woman by-l-man 1-her 'At home was died on one woman by her husband' ['At home one woman had her husband die on her'] b. Ku-mu-shá kw-á-uray-ir-w-a babà n'ómbe. 17-3-home 17-past-kill-app-pass-in la.father 9.cow 'At home was killed for father a cow' Third, it is possible to have no expressed Theme, or any Theme at all, in the lexical form. Unergative verbs, which are intransitive with agentive subjects and no theme arguments, have passives which undergo locative inversion, as seen in (3b) above. Fourth, transitive passives with unexpressed objects (Themes) undergo locative inversion: 13. Mu-mu-nda m-áka-dy-íw-á. 'In the field was eaten (something)' 18-3-field 18-past-eat-pass-in The second change I will propose corrects an incompatibility in the Theme encoding principle as it applies to Chishona. As noted above, Bresnan and Kanerva propose that the Theme role in Chichewa is intrinsically [-r]. This Theme encoding principle will not work for Chishona, nor will any other, because of the pattern shown by unaccusative verbs. Recall that a Theme may be the subject of either an active unaccusative verb or a passive transitive verb, as in (14) and (la): 14. Mu-kádzí á-f-a ku-mu-shá. Ά woman died at home' 1-woman 1 .past-die-in 17-3-home It may also be an oblique adjunct phrase (OBLtheta) a s (3a). Intrinsically encoding Theme as [+r] entails that it may not surface as a subject, and encoding it as [-r] entails that it may not surface as an adjunct phrase, t+r] rules out Object, and a Theme may be the object of an active transitive verb: 15. Mu-kómaná á-no-d-á mu-síkaná. 'The boy loves the girl' 1-boy 1-pres-love-in 1-girl Bresnan and Kanerva (1989: 26) suggest that Theme may be encoded as [+o] in languages like Chishona that permit unaccusative verbs to be passivized. However, [+o] would rule out subject and oblique adjunct, whereas [-o] would rule out object. Note in general that, within this framework, no thematic role which may surface as either an object or an oblique adjunct in a given language may

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have any intrinsic encoding, and the same observation holds for a thematic role which may surface as either a subject or a thematically restricted object. The latter alternative may not be attested in any language, but in Chishona, as just seen, a Theme may be an object or an oblique adjunct. Since the behavior of unaccusative verbs in Chishona with respect to Locative Inversion is the crucial observation for this conclusion, additional examples are presented in (16)-(20). Recall that unaccusative is the one verb type in Chishona which inverts in both the active and passive form. 16a. Mu-chi-dzingí mú-rí kú-fema gudo. 18-7-trap 18-be inf-breathe.heavily 5.baboon 'In the trap is breathing heavily a baboon' b. Mu-chi-dzingí mú-rí kú-fem-w-a ne-gúdo 18-7-trap 18-be inf-breathe.heavily-pass-in by-5.baboon 'In the trap is being breathed heavily by a baboon' 17a. Mu-mu-nda m-áka-fámb-á má-kudo. 'In the field walked baboons' 18-3-field 18-past-walk-in 6-baboons b. Mu-mu-nda m-áka-fámb-w-á ne-má-kudo. 18-3-field 18-past-walk-pass-in by-6-baboons 'In the field was walked by baboons'^ 18a. Ku-mu-shá kú-no-chém-á vá-nhu. 'At home are grieving people' 17-3-home 17-pres-grieve-in 2-people b. Ku-mu-shá kú-no-chém-w-á na-vá-nhu. 17-3-home 17-pres-grieve -pass-in by-2-people 'At home is being grieved by people' 19a. Mu-dziva m-á-gádzan-a mvúrá. 18-pool 18-past-settle.down-in 9.water (Fortune 1977: 68) 'In the pool the water settled down' b. ?Mu-dziva m-á-gádzan-w-a né-mvúrá. 18-pool 18-past-settle.down-pass-in by-9.water 'In the pool was settled by the water' 20a. Mu-tsíme m-á-w-ír-a mbúdzí. 18-well 18-past-fall-app-in 9.goat 'In the well fell a goat' b. Mu-tsíme m-á-w-ír-w-a né-mbúdzí. 18-well 18-past-fall-app-pass-in by-9.goat 'In the well fell a goat' The solution I will adopt here is not to intrinsically encode Theme at all. This predicts the (un)acceptability of the relevant Chishona examples, and correctly maps thematic roles onto grammatical functions for unaccusative 5 i. ii.

Ku-mu-shá u-ko kú-no-támb-á v-aná. 17 3 home that 17 17 près play in 2 children (Perez 1983:140) 'At home are playing children' Ku-mu-shá u-ko kú-no-támb-w-a ná-v-aná. 17-3-home that-17 17-pres-play-pass-in by-2-children 'At home is being played by children'

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and transitive verbs (cf. Appendix). This proposal has no effect on the analysis of unergative verbs, since they have no Theme argument. Conclusion This paper has compared Locative Inversion in Chichewa and Chishona. In Locative Inversion, a postverbal locative argument appears in preverbal position, controlling verbal agreement, while the subject appears postverbally. In Chichewa, Locative Inversion applies only to active unaccusative and passive transitive verbs. In the theory of lexical mapping proposed by Bresnan and Kanerva 1989 and Alsina and Mchombo 1988, this is formulated as a condition which restricts Locative Inversion to cases in which Theme is the highest expressed thematic role. In Chishona, Locative Inversion applies to all verbs except active unergatives and active transitives: this may be captured by removing the reference to Theme from the contextual restriction on the rule, and the intrinsic encoding of Theme. In addition to capturing these variations in the range of Locative Inversion, this difference in formulation predicts a number of further differences between the two languages, and I have presented evidence that bears out these predictions. In Chishona, but not Chichewa: inverted passives may have adjunct phrases containing non-agentive arguments; Locative Inversion may apply to lexical forms in which thematic roles roles higher than Theme are expressed; passive unergatives and transitive passives with unexpressed object undergo Locative Inversion. The widely different range of this rule in the two languages can be described by two adjustments to the theoretical mechanism, providing support for the theory of lexical mapping. Dept. of Linguistics, Germanic, Slavic, Asian and African Languages Wells Hall A-626, Michigan State University East Lansing, MI 48824 References Alsina, A. and S. Mchombo 1988 Lexical mapping in the Chichewa applicative construction, paper presented at the 19th Conference on African Linguistics , Boston University. Bresnan, J. and J. Kanerva 1989 Locative inversion in Chichewa: a case study of factorization in grammar, Linguistic Inquiry 20: 1-50. Burzio, L. 1981 Intransitive verbs and Italian auxiliaries, M. I. T. dissertation. Fortune, G. 1977 Shona Grammatical Constructions, Part 2. Harare: Department of African Languages, University of Zimbabwe. Hannan, M. 1959 Standard Shona Dictionary. Harare: Rhodesia Literature Bureau. Jackendoff, R. 1972 Semantic Interpretation in Generative Grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: M. I. T. Press. Perez [Harford], C. 1983 Locative pseudo-subjects in Shona. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 5.2. Perlmutter, D. 1978 Impersonal passives and the unaccusative hypothesis, in J.Jaeger et al. (eds.) Proceedings of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 4.

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Appendix L e x i c a l forms for a c t i v e and p a s s i v e u n a c c u s a t i v e and t r a n s i t i v e v e r b s , w i t h and w i t h o u t l o c a t i v e i n v e r s i o n An asterisk on the last line indicates that the lexical form violates the requirements on lexical forms proposed by Bresnan and Kanerva 1989. 21a.

active unaccusative intrinsic default

[-o] f+rl OBLth

active unaccusative intrinsic locative-inversion default

[-0] [-r] SUBJ

[-r] SUBJ

active transitive intrinsic default

[-0] i-r] SUBJ

Chapter 15

Clitic climbing and barrierhood of VP M a r c o H a v e r k o r t , University o f Tilburg

In a recent paper, Kayne has argued for a uni-directional generalization in the Romance languages: if a language exhibits clitic climbing phenomena, it has the null subject option. Kayne 1987 analyzes clitic climbing as head movement (in terms of Baker 1985) and explains the correlation in terms of the strength of Infi: a sufficiently strong Infi can both license a null subject and also void VP of barrierhood. I will discuss a number of problems for Kayne's proposal that arise in languages of the Kru family, and argue that these phenomena can be explained by an independent parameter, viz. VP-movement. In this analysis, Kayne's generalization can be retained in a slightly modified form. 1. K a y n e ' s g e n e r a l i z a t i o n In a survey of the Romance languages, Kayne (1987 and class lectures 1987) has observed a uni-directional correlation between the existence of clitic climbing on the one hand and the option of null subjects on the other, as seen in the following sentences from Italian and French: la. Gianni li vuole vedere f. 'Gianni wants to see them' Gianni 3pl wants to.see b. pro vede i ragazzi. 'S/he sees the boys' sees Dot boys 2a. "Jean les veut voir. Jean 3pl wants to.see b. *pro voit les garçons, sees Det boys Italian allows clitic climbing (the movement of li from the position of logical object of vedere) and null subjects, while French lacks both (2a,b).^ In the literature on clitics, it is usually assumed that clitics are X^ categories: they cannot take complements or specifiers, and at s-structure they attach to some (lexical) head (especially V or Infi) to form a phonological unit. They can move around with these heads, cannot be coordinated like normal pronouns, and show doubling effects in some languages (cf. Borer 1986). The observed contrast between French and Italian, which essentially restates some earlier observations of Kayne, also seems to indicate that clitics are heads. If clitics were XPs, the contrast would not be expected, since XPs can adjoin to VP in order to void barrierhood in both languages, as with wft-movement of object NPs. If clitics are on the other

The research reported in this paper was supported by NWO grant #L30-275. I would like to thank the Groupe de recherche en linguistique africaniste of the Université du Québec à Montréal, especially its co-director Jean Lowenstamm, for hospitality during my stays in Montreal. The GRLA is supported by CRSH grant #411-85-0012 and FCAR grant#87-EQ-2612. Furthermore, I am indebted to the following people for comments and discussion: Mark Baker, Maggie Browning, Noam Cnomsky, Denis Delfitto, Ken Hale, Norbert Hornstein, Richard Kayne, Hilda Koopman, Victor Manfredi, Pierre Pica, Tim Stowell, Esther Torrego, Amy Weinberg and the Kru-speaking consultants of the GRLA. The usual disclaimers apply. ^The same correlation seems to hold diachronically in Romance, e.g. Old French exhibited both clitic climbing and the null subjectoption (Adams 1986). J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (cds.) 1990 Current Approaches

to African

Linguistics

7: 145-158 (Dordrecht: Foris)

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hand, they cannot adjoin to VP to void barrierhood, assuming that X-bar theory holds at both d- and s-structure (Chomsky, class lectures 1987). Kayne explains the contrast and the observed correlation in a straightforward and unified manner: in Italian and other null subject languages Infi is strong enough to formally license a null subject (Rizzi 1986) and to void VP of barrierhood (Kayne 1987) via L-marking (in some abstract sense) 2 ; in French, Infi is too weak to perform either of these tasks. Hence, in the former language VP is not a barrier for head movement, whereas in the latter it is.^ Kayne adopts an analysis in which the clitic (CL below) climbs to the matrix clause via intermediate head positions. Schematically: 3.

...CL...[cp[cf [ipNPtl'ftvpVf ] ] ] ] ] . . . This analysis elegantly unifies the phenomena of clitic climbing and null subjects and makes some interesting predictions for clitic behavior. 4 Clitic movement, being head movement, respects the Head Movement Constraint (Travis 1984), later reduced to the ECP (Baker 1988). 4. Head Movement Constraint (HMC) Movement of a zero-level category β is restricted to the position of a head a that governs the maximal projection γ οί β where α 0-govems or L-marks yif a * C (Chomsky 1986: 71). Consequently, a clitic can climb to the matrix clause only if there are no intervening lexical heads to block antecedent government. Once a lexical head is adjoined, it cannot move further on its own, only the whole adjunction structure can be moved (zero-level categories cannot dominate a trace, cf. Baker 1988). Hence, no heads can be skipped during the derivation. This prediction is borne out in Italian: 5a. "Gianni li vuole [cp [ c che [lP (Maria) veda Í] ] ] Gianni 3pl wants Comp Maria see (subjunctive) b. Non ti saprei [cp che [ c C tip PRO dire t ] ] ] neg2sglsg-would-know what to.say Ί wouldn't know what to tell you' An overt complementizer blocks further movement of the clitic, whereas a lexically filled specifier of CP does not. A clitic cannot use the specifier of CP on its way up: this would violate structure preservation (Chomsky 1986). A similar contrast can be observed in the following examples: Gianni vuole non vederli. 'Gianni wants not to see them' Gianni wants neg to.see-3pl b. "Gianni li vuole non vedere.

6a.

2 This

property might be related to the feature content of Infi: Zagona 1982 argues that differences in the behavior of Infi in Romance null subject languages and Germanic languages can be explained assuming that Infi is marked respectively [+N] ana [+V] (see-however note 20 below). 3As noted in the literature, French causatives do allow clitic climbing: i. Jean les fait [ voir t à Paul ]. 'Jean makes Paul see them' 3pl makes see to Kayne, following Burzio and Zagona, assumes that French causative verbs can select a VP which, consequently, is straight-forwardly L-marked, so that nothing blocks head movement. This option is not available in Kru, due to the presence of an overt complementizer (see discussion below). 4 This is only a necessary, not a sufficient condition; for the clitic to climb, the host, matrix verb has to be appropriately marked in the lexicon.

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c. Gianni non li vuole vedere. 'Gianni doesn't want to see them' As soon as a negation element, which has been argued by Kitagawa 1986 among others to be a head in terms of X-bar theory, intervenes between the clitic and its closest trace, the result becomes illicit. That this is indeed the relevant factor is especially clear from the contrast between (b) and (c).^ Kayne suggests that this analysis has an additional advantage, in that it explains why it is only subject control verbs that allow clitic climbing: the Infls of the matrix and embedded clause get coindexed as a result of the incorporation process; this would yield an illicit result if the subjects of both clauses were not the same. Therefore, subject control is required. 7. NPi CL+Infli V t C om P i PRO¡ fi n f l ¡ V t But this reasoning is arguably incorrect, since movement of a clitic does not involve substitution, but adjunction. In cases of adjunction, the host category determines the index of the resulting complex category (Baker 1988; Chomsky, class lectures 1988). Therefore, the resulting structure will not look like (7), but more like (7') below, where the reference of the indices of both Infls may accidentally be the same (j=m). 7'.

NPj CL+Inflj V f C om P k PROi íinfl m V t

Moreover, even if both Infls were coindexed in Kayne's sense, it remains to be lexically specified exactly which subset of subject control verbs allows clitic climbing. So nothing seems to hinge on this coindexing mechanism.*· In sum, Kayne's analysis of clitic climbing in the Romance languages unifies some apparently independent phenomena and it constrains clitic movement, utilizing independently motivated principles and constraints7 5 Pollock

1989 has argued that in French even infinitival verbs have to raise to Infi at s-structure. This does not cause problems for the analysis proposed here, since the Infl+V combination will block movement of the clitic by HMC/ECP, even though VP has lost its barrierhood by the lexicalization of Infi, parallel to the English cases of V-raising discussed by Chomsky 1986. 6 Cf. fn 4. The proposed adjunction structure for clitics is not problematic for the binding theory: the foot of the chain is licensed, all links obey strict bounding conditions and the chain as a whole obeys the binding principles. In a sense, the structure is parallel to these topicalization examples: i. Himself John always liked t best, ii. *Him he always liked t best. 'Independent of the Kru data, a potential problem for Kayne's approach involves the interaction of clitic climbing with verb raising to Infi in ftanian infinitives. Based on contrasts like the following, Rizzi 1987 and Belletti (p.c.) argue that, as in French, this process applies obligatorily in Italian: i. Gianni non mangia più. 'Gianni doesn't eat any more' neg eats more i i. Gianni non ha più mangiato. 'Gianni hasn't eaten any more' neg has more eaten iii. per PRO non mangiare più 'so as not to eat any more' in order neg to.eat more Kayne (p.c.) has suggested that, in Italian, the verb might end up adjoined to I', under a relaxed·version of structure preservation, hence not inducing a HMC/ECP violation for the climbing clitic. Another option, to be adopted here, is to let the clitic adjoin to Infi, subsequently adjoining the clitic-Infl complex to Comp, leaving behind a trace in the Infi position; as soon as this position is vacated, the V can raise

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2. C l i t i c s i n t h e Kru l a n g u a g e s The Kru languages have SOV basic word order and are fairly consistently head final.® Only Infi is on a left branch, due to a Case adjacency requirement (Stowell 1981). The canonical direction of goverment is from right to left and no lexical material may intervene between the subject NP and its Case assigning Infi; these restrictions explain the deviant behavior of IP in terms of headedness. A simple CP in Kru has the following structure: 8. CP

NP V As discussed in Koopman 1984, Kru languages systematically exhibit verb raising to Infi in both embedded and matrix clauses. In infinitival clauses, however, the verb remains in VP-final position. The verb also fails to move if Infi is filled by an auxiliary. Consider the following examples from Vata: 9a. À lì saká. 'We ate rice' lpl ate rice b. À Ε sáká IT. 'We have eaten rice' lpl perf rice eat c. ik ni'-ká [cpyó-i sáká ny¿ kä ] mli. Ί will go give rice lsg fut-COND child-Det rice give Comp leave to the child' Since a clitic moves over the main verb to a finite Aux in the matrix sentence, some elaboration on the HMC/ECP is in order here. It can be conjectured that the Aux selects a VP (cf. Kayne, class lectures 1988; Schölten 1988) and that the Aux is coindexed with the verb heading its selected VP; these categories form a unit, and the lower verb depends upon the auxiliary for its specific morphological realization. 10. ...[vp[vpCPVi]Aux¡]... This coindexation renders V and Aux indistinguishable. The lower segment of VP is no longer opaque, neither by L-marking, nor by the HMC/ECP.

to the trace, which arguably contains all relevant features (as in V-2nd languages). This solution violates strict cyclicity, but it has the advantage that no extra stipulations are needed to accoiunt for the French/Italian contrast: in Italian the clitic can move independently of the verb raising to Infi first; in French, this sort of derivation is impossible due to weak Infi. °On the Kru languages, cf. Kaye 1980; Kaye, Koopman and Sportiche 1982; Koopman 1979, 1984; Marchese 1978,1979,1982,1988 and Sportiche 1983. In this paper, Kru examples are cited in the standard orthography.

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Although the lower segment will not constitute a barrier, the higher segment remains a barrier in terms of L-marking." Examples of cliticization in Bete (Eastern Kru) are given below: 11a. b. 12a. b.

'They have called the child'

Wa yá yü là. 3pl perf child call W Ì yó t la. 3pl perf+CL call Ò ylsíkáll. 3sg fut rice eat Ò yí f 1Î.

'They have called him/her' 'S/he will eat the rice'

' S / h e will eat it' 3sg fut+CL eat The clitic phonologically incorporates into the Infl-V complex, itself created by application of verb raising to Infi. This incorporation entails changes in vowel quality (a + o d in (11), a phonologically regular process) or tone ( y l - > y i as in (12), cf. also Sportiche 1983). Bete also exhibits clitic climbing with some subject control verbs: 1 ^ 13a. Wa k£-Bo zlßla pî kà mx. T h e y will go prepare the fish' 3pl fut-Q fish prepare Comp leave 'Will they go b. w i kuá-6ó f pi kà mi. prepare it?' 3pl fut.CL-Q prepare Comp leave 14a. b. 15a. b. 16a. b.

W ¿ ηΓ zißlaρΐ lò Βίε. 3pl neg fish prepare Comp finish Wa nuá-Bi ί pï kò Βίε. 3pl neg+CL-Q prepare Comp finish À ni'glìmò

IT

ko

Βίε.

lpl neg agouti eat Comp finish À nú Í lî kà Βίε. lpl neg+CL eat Comp finish 6 kâ ziká yú là kà mi. 3sg fut tomorrow child call Comp leave

'They haven't finished preparing the fish' 'Haven't they finished preparing it?' 'We haven't finished eating the agouti' 'We haven't finished eating it' 'S/he will leave tomorrow to call the child'

Ó kS ziká t là kà m\. 'S/he will leave tomorrow 3sg fut+CL tomorrow call Comp leave to call him/her'

"The same mechanism is assumed to be at work in instances where a postposition is stranded by a clitic, as in this Bete example: i. Wa yé-BÒ 111ε f klú j i l « ? 'They have called him/her' 3pl perf+CL+Q food on put-Q ^ T h e fact that a number of Kru languages, with the notable exception of Vata (cf. Koopman) exhibit clitic phenomena and more particularly clitic climbing, argues against Joseph's (T988) claim that "endoclitics are not found in natural languages." Since Kru clitics are morphologically incorporated in the verb of a higher clause, it is not conceivable that affixation is involved; this would involve non-boundedness of a lexical process, a highly undesirable result.

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The class of verbs that allows clitic climbing in Kru is more restricted than in Romance: it includes motion verbs and inchoatives, but not epistemic verbs 11 (cf. Koopman 1984, Sportiche 1983), e.g.: 17. mi 'go, leave' ci 'start' Báá 'come from, arrive' y l 'come' Βιε 'finish' Contrary to Kayne's generalization, however, Bete is rigidly a non-null subject language; subjects must be phonologically realized in tensed clauses, with the exception of imperatives (Hilda Koopman, p.c.): 18a.

*(5)kâzikà yù la kà mi. ['S/he will leave tomorrow 3sg fut tomorrow child call Comp leave to call the child'] b. *(Wa)yI du lú mïT ['They will leave 3pl fut village towards leave towards the village'] The unexpected lack of null subjects is not the only problem that arises for Kayne's analysis. As is evident from the above examples, Kru complementizers apparently do not induce a HMC/ECP violation in the sense that movement of a clitic is not blocked by a lexically filled complementizer ( k ò , k à ) , contrary to their Italian and Spanish counterparts. This is problematic for Kayne's analysis and it also provides an argument against some simple concept of restructuring, involving adjacent verbs (Rizzi 1982); in Bete an overt complementizer generally intervenes between the two verbs.^ Notice that these two problems are logically independent: an explanation of the transparency of VP can still leave the apparent violation of the HMC unaccounted for, and vice versa. In the next section, an analysis will be proposed, which explains both aspects of the deviant behavior of clitics in the Kru languages in terms of a single, independently motivated mechanism. 3. An i n d e p e n d e n t p a r a m e t e r To avoid the problems outlined above, it might be assumed that clitics in the Kru languages are XP categories. A similar proposal has been made by Kayne (class lectures 1988) for pronominal clitics in the Germanic languages. But there is no independent evidence for this in the Kru languages; Kru clitics have the same properties as their Romance counterparts. In particular, their morphological incorporation in the upstairs Infi argues against such a move. Since the Kru languages are fairly consistently right-headed, overt leftward movement is often hard to detect. In some cases movement is overtly marked by the insertion of a resumptive pronoun, as in the case of whmovement of a subject NP (for an object NP no resumptive is needed; see Koopman 1984). The following examples are from Vata: 11

Syntactic or semantic explanations for systematicity in the class of verbs that allow clitic climbing (e g. Lujan 1978) have not succeeded crosslinguistically. ^Restructuring is problematic in view of the (Extended) Projection Principle; moreover, under a simple restructuring approach, Kayne's generalization and many of its predictions would be lost. Empirical problems might arise for this type of explanation in instances of verb raising to Infi, e.g.: i. Wa muá gadùgodù pia kà f. 'They always go to buy them' 3pl go+CL always buy Comp (Bete)

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19a.

Àio *(ò) li sàkà la? 'Who is eating rice?' who 3sg-RES eat rice WH b. Alá KÒflys t yé la? 'Who did Kofi see?' who Kofi saw part WH Suppose now that a non-argument (like VP) moves to a position that is open to XPs; in infinitival clauses, this type of movement would be vacuous, since the PRO subject of an infinitive is not phonologically realized. The following tree illustrates how clitic climbing can be accounted for under this perspective: 20. I' I

VP

I /\

[V+CL k ] m

CP

VP; tk

/

tm

c h IP \

NP

c I'

PRO I+Vi The Maasai are divided into two moieties. This is elaborated in (6-7) and (10-19) = subtheme [moieties]. (5) has thematic links with (6-10). Elaboration 6. e-atai O-do-mong'i 3-exist R:m:s-be:red:as:to-oxen

'called Of-the-red-oxen'

(6) -> There is the Red Oxen moiety, the Odomong'i. This elaborates (5), and is elaborated further in (11-14) = topic [first wife]. (6) has thematic links with (5, 11, 13, 19, 21, 28). 7. n-e-atai O-rok-kiteng'. 'and Of-the-black-cow' C-3-exist R:m:s-be:black:as:to-cow 2 In (7) we encounter the n- prefix, which indicates that the clause in the scope of the stem predicate denotes a continuation of the action developing the main theme. 3 Its use and nonuse in Ilgilat le Maasai has temporal effects because the main theme is the origin of the Maasai moieties and clans; consequently all clauses pertinent to this have n- prefixed verbs, whereas comments on present day matters arising from this theme are not n-marked. The n- prefix is not used on the initial predicate eoro in (5) because at the outset of a story there is no thematic action to continue. Nor is it used on eatai in (6), because this clause is appositive to the previous one; it does not express a continuation of the narrative action, but reiterates or expands the previous bit of narrative action, n- first appears in (7) because the predicate neatai denotes a continuation of the thematic action in that the two existential clauses (6-7) are together in apposition to and explicative of are in (5). Oshi in (5) affirms the time honoured normality and habitual applicability of whatever is denoted by the clause in its scope, in this case eoro ïlmaasai are. Moreover the verb in its scope always occurs without the nprefix, consequently indicating a narrative viewpoint outside the main theme. In this story the combined effect of oshi and the lack of the n- prefix is to indicate the present day relevance of whatever is denoted in the clause; the consequences of this will be more clearly seen in (8), (28) and (33).

GER gerund PRO pronoun INF infinitive R relative AND andative NEUT neuter SBJ subjunctive C continuative PAS passive SwT topic switch DAT dative POS possessive VEN venitive 3 A similar prefix in Turkana is termed 'subsecutive' by Dimmendaal 1983. 2

Abbreviations include:

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(7) —> There is the Black Cow moiety, the Orokiteng'. This elaborates (5), and is elaborated further in (15-18) = topic [second wife]. (7) has thematic links with (5,15,16,19, 29,34). 8. N-e-isho kuna kishomin n-e-itoki aa-oro imiet. C-3-allow these:f moieties C-3-do:again INF:p-divide five N-aa kuna orot imiet oshi e-imutua il-gilat le Maasai. C-3:bethese:f divisions five by:custom3-derive:from m:p-clansofMaasai:p 'These moieties further subdivided into five. And it is these five divisions from which the Maasai clans are said to have derived' The first clause of the second sentence in (8), Naa kuna orot imiet, picks up the new information from the preceding clause and, as explicitly as is stylistically acceptable, repeats it as given information: 4 the aaoro of the preceding clause is nominalized to kuna orot where the demonstrative establishes the cohesive link between the two, and imiet is simply repeated. To use such a full repetition instead of pronominalizing as in, say, naa nince 'and it is [from] them' or naa ine 'and it is [from] there' spotlights the NP in much the same way as the it cleft does in the free English translation. Thus, although naa kuna orot imiet is given, it is also focused. Focus directs attention to the denotation of the focused expression. In the spirit of cooperation, a speaker/writer normally focuses on new information in order to help the audience to construct the world spoken of. For the same reason, changes in thematic direction are often focused — even though the focused item might be informationally given, as it is in (8); this draws audience attention to what is narratively new. (8) —> The two moieties are divided up into five clans (not yet named). This is elaborated in (20-35) = subtheme [clans]. (8) has thematic links with (5-7, 20, 36). Conclusion 9. N-aa inji e-ikun-u-nye ena oro. C-3:be thus 3-do-VEN-NEUT this:f division 'And it was thus that this division comes to be' Here the pattern breaks from given\new to newlgiven, drawing attention to the topic switch from the introductory description of Maasai clan structure (the elaboration of the introductory episode), to the story of its origin (the main theme and elaboration of the story as a whole). The conclusion to this introductory episode is also indicated by the shift in narrative viewpoint indicated by the lack of the n- prefix on eikununye. The clause containing 4

The terms given and new have been used in various ways (cf. Prince 1981). I will define their meaning for this essay: information is given if (and only if) it is copied or inferable from prior text such that the audience has already identified an appropriate denotation in the world spoken of. Information is new if it requires the audience to establish a new denotatum in world spoken of or causes unpredictable modification to some given denotatum in the light of new information about it. Throughout the text, what is new in utterance i is invoked as given in subsequent utterance / which introduces further new information to be invoked as given in utterance k, and so forth. The one exceptional new\given sequence instead of the usual given\new sequence draws attention to a topic switch in (9), as we shall see.

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this verb, eikunurtye ena oro, restates what obtains today, and does not continue the action of describing how that came about. (9) -> The rest of the story will explain the origin of the Maasai moieties and clans. This effectively summarizes the story. (9) has thematic links with (4-36). Theme elaboration; subtheme: [moieties] — introduction 10. Ore apa t-enk-iteru-noto n-e-atai Na-iteru-kop. SwT long:ago in-f:s-begin-GER C-3-exist R:f:s-begin-earth N-e-yam Naiterukop in-kituaak are. C-3-marry f:p-wives two 'Long ago at the beginning of time, lived a demigod called Naiterukop, [Beginner-of-the-Earth]. Naiterukop married two wives' In llgilat le Maasai, ore marks a topic change and is best translated by English well (cf. Owen 1983) or now. The phrase [ore NP] — ore followed by a NP denoting a participant in the main clause — has the sense 'now as for NP' and marks a switch to the new topic labelled by NP, cf. (11) below. Further, [ore temporal adverbial] as in (10) or in ore nabo olong 'well, one day' marks the onset of a new subtheme or episode; similarly when ore occurs with subordinators e.g. ore amu 'now because', ore pee 'now when', ore peyie 'now in order that'. In (10), ore introduces a temporal frame for the account of the origin of the Maasai moieties and clans. One expects to find spatio-temporal frames for themes, subthemes, and episodes at the outset to stories, sections or paragraphs (cf. van Dijk and Kintsch 1983: 204); in this story the onset of each of the major episodes constituting the two subthemes is marked by a temporal adverbial establishing a temporal location for the subtheme, cf. (10, 20). In (10), once the temporal frame has established the new subtheme, there is an existential verb neatai. Although there is a thematic switch between the first and second paragraphs, the n- prefix indicates the continuation of the action of the main theme of the story; without the nprefix it would appear that Naiterukop had no part in the founding of the Maasai moieties and clans. (10)—> Onset to subtheme marked by temporal frame, cf. (20). The introductory topic is Naiterukop, who had two wives. Here is a thematic link with (5). It is the consequences of Naiterukop's marriages that constitute this subtheme in (11-19). (10) has thematic links with (5, 11-35). E l a b o r a t i o n : Topic [first wife] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 11. Ore en-kitok e-dukuya n-e-isho n-kishu naa-nyokioo. SwT f:s-wife of-first C-3-gave f:p-cattle R:f:p-be:red 'Now, as for the first wife, he gave her red cattle' In (11) we have a topic switch from Naiterukop (and his marriages) to his first wife. Focus on a new topic is achieved by utterance-initial [ore NP], Focus is effected by having the NP precede the verb, resulting in a marked structure in this VSO language. In (11), the new topic, enkitok edukuya, is fronted, preceding the p r e d i c a t e neisho in the sequence recipient\subject:verb\object... The same rhetorical strategy is used to introduce the topic [second wife] in (15).

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(11)-» There is focus on a new topic: Naiterukop's first wife who was given red cattle, cf. (15). (11) has thematic links with (6, 10, 12-15,19). Elaboration 12. n-e-dung'-oki-ni enk-arna oo 1-payiani aa-jo Na-do-mong'i. C-3-give-PAS-DAT f:s-name of m:p-elders INF:p-call R:f:s-be:red-oxen 'and she was given the bridal name Nadomong'i [She-of-the-redoxen]' (12)-» She was named Nadomong'i after these red cattle: this shows one basis for bridal naming is something apposite to the occasion of marriage, cf. (18). (12) has thematic links with (11, 13, 18,19). (13)-»

A Maasai woman does not really have ownership rights over cattle: she holds them in trust for her sons, in order that when they come of age they will each have the beginnings of a herd. Thus these red cattle are intended ultimately for Nadomong'i's sons, who would have been known as Il-oo-domong'i [m:p-who:m:p-are:red:as:to:oxen] 'They-of-the-red-oxen', and anyone descended from her line O-domotig'i [who:m:s-is:red:as:to:oxen] Of-the-red-oxen', which is the moiety name. The Odomong'i are therefore those Maasai descended from Naiterukop and Nadomong'i, and named after the red cattle he gave her as her wedding portion. Although this could intuitively be the conclusion to this topic it is not presented as such, cf. (16). (13) has thematic links with (6, 9 , 1 1 , 1 6 , 1 9 , 28).

The linking of moiety names to cattle is no accident. The importance of cattle (nkishu) to the Maa people has no parallel among urbanized peoples. Cattle are the principal source of food; they used to be a principal source for clothing. Cattle represent wealth and social standing; they are exchanged to establish social bonds, and have significant ceremonial uses. Even urban Maa people usually own cattle, looked after by a rural relative. Their significance is indicated by the proverb erisiore enkiteng' nabo o elukunya o lee [they:are:the:same cow one and head of man] 'a cow is as good as a man'. In a similar vein, a colloquial affectionate name for Maa people is nkishu, and a number of the Maasai sections are named after the colour of cattle: Ilwuasinkishu 'The-patchy-cattle', Iloodokishu 'They-of-the-red-cattle', Ilkerinkishu 'The-spotted-cattle'; needless to say these section names are not taken too literally nowadays — though it is conceivable they could have been at the time they were coined. 14.

N-e-isho-ri m-e-te-sheta enk-aji enye t-en-taloishi C-3-PAS:AND SBJ-3-SBJ-build f:s-house f:3:POS:s by-f:s-gatepost e tatene e kishomi. of right of gate 'It was allowed that she build her house by the gatepost on the righthand side of the gate'

(14)—> Nadomong'i built her hut on the righthand side of the gateway: this shows the origin of the custom that the first wife builds her hut in this location, cf. (17). (14) has thematic links with (11, 17, 19, 28). Topic [second wife] — introduction 15. Oreen-kitok e are n-e-isho-ri ninye n-kishu naa-rook; SwTfs-wife of two:fC-3-givei , AS:AND3:PROsf p o t t l e Rfp^betolack 'As for the second wife, she was given black cattle'

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Ore marks the topic change from Naiterukop's first wife, and the onset of the topic of his second wife. The NP enkitok e are which follows ore not only names the topic but places focus on it. In English, a common construction for resuming a given topic in focus and contrasting it with some intervening topic is the clause initial As for NP with a resumptive pronoun in the main clause; notice the resumptive pronoun ninye in (15). The n- prefix on neishori links the giving of black cows to the main theme; because, of course, (15) has the same significance as the giving of red cattle to Nadomong'i in (11). (15)—> There is focus on a new topic Naiterukop's second wife who was given black cattle, cf. (11). (15) has thematic links with (7, 10, 11, 16-19). Elaboration (16)-+

The Orokiteng' moiety is that half of the Maasai descended from Naiterukop and Narokiteng', and named after the black cattle he gave her as a wedding portion. This could be a conclusion to this topic, but it is not presented as such, cf. (13). (16) has thematic links with (7,9,13, 15,19, 34). 17. n-e-shet sii ninye enk-aji enye t-en-taloishi e kedianye e kishomi. C-3-buildalso3:PRO:sf:s-housef:3:POS:s by-f:s-gatepostofleft ofgate 'and she, on her part, built her house on the left side of the gateway' The construction of interest here is sii ninye. The phrase [sii pronoun] is used in Maa to contrast something predicated of the referent of the pronoun with something predicated of a similar aforementioned referent to which a deliberate parallel is drawn. Its meaning and function is adequately captured by the English phrase for his/her part, but the English phrase is not used so widely as its Maa counterpart. The effect of sii ninye in (17) is to place contrastive focus on the second wife, and pointedly mark out her distinctness from the first wife of whom a similar event was predicated. (17)-»

18.

There is contrastive focus on the fact that she built her hut on the lefthand side of the gateway: this shows the origin of the custom that the second wife builds her hut in this location. The contrastive focus (indicated by sit ninye) draws a deliberate parallel with (14) above. (17) has thematic links with (14,15, 19, 34). N-e-ding'-oki-ni sii ninye enk-ama aa-jo Na-rok-kiteng'. C-3-give-PAS-DAT also 3 P R O s fs-name IN Fp-call R f s-beblack-oow 'And she too was given a bridal name; she was called Narokiteng' [She-of-the-Black-Cow]'

(18)—> There is contrastive focus on the fact that she was named Narokiteng' after her black cattle, drawing a deliberate parallel with (12) above. (18) has thematic links with (12, 15, 16, 19). C o n c l u s i o n of s u b t h e m e [ m o i e t i e s ] (19)—» The parallels in what has been said about each of Naiterukop's wives (15 = 11,16 =13,17 = 14,18 s 12) suggest that this subtheme is concluded. As promised in (9), the storyteller has recounted the origin of the Odomong'i and Orokiteng' moieties. Naiterukop 'Beginner-ofthe-earth' was progenitor of the moieties and ultimately responsible for their names because of the gifts of cattle he gave to each of his two wives on marrying them, cf. (10,11,13,15,16). Not only were the

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Allan wives named after these cattle (12,18) but because a wife's cattle are an inheritance for her sons, indeed for all her male descendants through the male line, these are also their cattle. So Nadomong'i's male descendants through the male line are the people Of-the-redoxen'; Narokiteng"s descendants are the people Of-the-black-cow', cf. (13). In addition, we learned the origin of two Maasai customs: the basis for bridal naming (12,18) and the location of the huts of the first and second wives (14,17). (19) has thematic links with (6, 7, 9-18).

Subtheme [clans] — introduction 20. N-e-bik apa ake o m-e-to-isho kuna kituaak. C-3-pass time just till SBJ-3-SBJ-give:birth these:f wives Time enough passed for these wives to give birth' Recall that spatial or temporal adverbials, particularly the latter, are standard devices for introducing new episodes in presentations in the oral and written literatures of many different cultural groups. Instead of (20), the episode could have begun as follows: 20'.

N-e-isho kuna kituaak. 'These wives gave birth' C-3-give:birth these:f wives Which leaves the audience to infer the necessary passing of time between marriage and parturition. The rhetorical difference between (20) and (20') is that (20') indicates a continuation of the former subtheme whereas the initial nebik apa ake in (20) marks a switch in episode while at the same time the «- prefix links it to the main theme. The temporal frame in (20) parallels the temporal frame in (10) which marked the beginning of the subtheme 'the origin of the Maasai moieties'. This one initiates the second subtheme concerning the founding of the Maasai clans by the sons of Nadomong'i and Narokiteng'; sons presupposed (i.e. implicitly given) in the subtheme dealing with the origins of the Maasai moitiés. This theme elaborates utterance (8): Neisho kuna kishomin neitoki aaoro imiet 'These moieties further subdivide into five.' (20)-»

Onset to subtheme marked by adverbial of temporal succession, cf. (7). Naiterukop's wives have children (= sons). These (and their acts) constitute the theme of this subtheme. (20) has thematic links with (8, 10-19, 21, 29).

Elaboration: E p i s i o d e [1st wife's sons] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 21. N-e-iu en-e-dukuya il-ayiok ok-uni.'The first had three sons' C-3-bear f:s-of-first m:p-boys m-three (21)-»

The first wife had three sons. These constitute the theme of this episodici. (29). (21) has thematic links with (11,20,22,24,26,29,35).

E l a b o r a t i o n : T o p i c [ 1 s t w i f e ' s s o n 1] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 22. Ore ol-ayioni le dukuya n-e-ji Lelian; SwT m:s-boy of first C-3-be:called 'Now, as to the eldest boy, he was called Lelian' (22)-»

Focus on the new topic of Lelian. (22) has thematic links with (21, 23, 24, 27, 30, 32).

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Elaboration 23. aa ninye o-iterua Π-molelian. 3:be 3:PRO:s R:m:s-founded m:p-Molelian 'it is he who founded the Ilmolelian clan' (23)-» Lelian founded the Ilmolelian clan. (23) has thematic links with (8,9,22, 25, 27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 36). T o p i c [1st w i f e ' s s o n 2] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 24. N-e-ji o-likai Lokesen; 'The next son's name was Lokesen' C-3-be:called m:s-other There is no ore here to mark the topic shift from first to the second son; ore is used in (22) and (26), but omitted here for stylistic reasons. (24)-» The second son's name was Lokesen. (24) has thematic links with (21,22, 25, 26, 30, 32). Elaboration 25. n-e-iterua sii ninye Il-makesen. C-3-founded also 3:PRO:s m:p-Makesen 'and for his part, he founded the Ilmakesen' Sii ninye contrasts what Lokesen did with what Lelian did in (23) by placing contrastive focus on Lelian; thus compensating for the other lack of marking for topic switch. As in 20, ninye takes up the new information '(the son named) Lokesen' from the previous clause and reiterates it as given to serve as ein anchor for new information. (25)-» There is contrastive focus on the fact that he founded the Ilmakesen clan. The contrastive focus draws a deliberate parallel with (23) above. (25) has thematic links with (8, 9, 23, 24, 27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 36). T o p i c l i s t w i f e ' s s o n 3] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 26. Ore oli-ok-uni n-e-ji Losero; SwT of-m-three C-3-be:called 'As for the third one, his name was Losero' In (26) we revert to the ore NP construction last seen in (22). (26)—» Focus on the new topic of Losero. (26) has thematic links with (21, 22, 24, 27, 30, 32). Elaboration 27. n-aa ninye apa o-iterua Il-taarrosero. C-3:be 3:PRO:s long:ago R:m:s-founded m:p-Taarrosero 'he it is who, long ago, founded the Dtaarrosero.' Here we have naa ninye instead of the aa ninye commented upon in (23). Apa 'long ago' marks the end of the elaboration of this episode about the founders of the three Odomong'i clans. (27)-» Losero founded the Dtaarrosero clan. The temporal adverbial marks the end of the elaboration of episode [1st wife's sons]. (27) has thematic links with (8, 9, 23, 25, 26, 28, 31, 33, 35, 36).

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C o n c l u s i o n of e p i s o d e [ 1 s t w i f e ' s s o n s ] 28. Kulo gilat oshi e-ji ile-nk-aina e tatene t-enk-araki thesein clans customarily 3-beralled of-f s-hand of right by-f s-reason n-e-tii enk-aji enye en-taloishi e tatene e kishomi. C-3-be:at f:s-house f:3:POS:s f:s-gatepost of right of gate 'These clans are customarily called clans of the righthand because their house was situated on the righthand side of the gateway' (28)-»

New topic: these clans, the Odomong'i clans, are known as clans of the righthand. Shift in narrative viewpoint (indicated by the lack of n- prefix to eji in the first clause) marks conclusion of episode [1st wife's sons], which has also been indicated by the accretion of information in the elaboration of the episode. (28) has thematic links with (8, 13,14, 23, 25, 27, 34-36).

E p i s o d e [2nd wife's sons] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 29. N-e-isho sii ninye Narok-kiteng' n-e-iu il-ayiok a-are; C-3-bear also 3:PRO:s C-3-bear m:p-boys m-two 'For her part, Narok-kiteng' also had children; she had two boys' The conclusory nature of (28) makes the marking of a topic change redundant here; nevertheless sii ninye places contrastive focus on Narokiteng' which has a similar effect by drawing a deliberate parallel with the events of the previous episode. (29)—> There is contrastive focus on the second wife, who had two sons. These constitute the theme of this episode. The contrastive focus draws a deliberate parallel with (21) above. (29) has thematic links with (15, 20, 21, 30, 32, 35). Elaboration T o p i c [ 2 n d w i f e ' s s o n 1] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 30. ol-o-ji Laiser 'the one was called Laiser' m:s-R:m:s-be:called (30)-»

The first son's name was Laiser. (30) has thematic links with (22,24,27, 29, 31, 32).

Elaboration 31. 1-aa ninye o-iterua Π-aiser. R:m:s-3:be 3:PRO:s R:m:s-founded m:p-Aiser 'and he was the one who founded the Ilaiser clan' (31)-»

Laiser founded the Ilaiser clan. (31) has thematic links with (8, 9,23, 25, 29, 30, 33-36).

T o p i c [ 2 n d w i f e ' s s o n 2] — i n t r o d u c t i o n 32. Ol-o-ji Lukum 'The one who was called Lukum' m:s-R:m:s-be:called (32)-» The second son's name was Lukum. (32) has thematic links with (22,24, 26, 29, 30, 33). Elaboration 33. 1-aa ninye oshi e-ipot-ie-ki I-lukumai. R:m:s-3:be 3:PRO: traditionally 3-call-CAUS-PAS m:p-Lukumai 'is the one traditionally said to have given his name to the Ilukumai'

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Note that eipotieki lacks the continuative prefix n- because it does not denote part of the historic action that led to the founding of the clans, but what is said nowadays about the origin of the Ilukumai. The consequent temporal shift is supported by oshi. This temporal shift marks the closing of the elaboration of this episode. (33)-» Lukum founded the Ilukumai clan. A shift in narrative viewpoint marks the end of the elaboration of episode [2nd wife's sons], confirmed by the accretion of information at this point. (33) has thematic links with (8, 9, 23, 25, 31, 32, 34-36). There is no specific rhetorical marking of the switch from one son to the other in (30) and (32), though we note the continuing use of the -aa ninye construction in (31) and (33), which picks up the new name introduced in the previous clause and repeats it as a given anchor to introduce the clan that the name-bearer founded. C o n c l u s i o n to e p i s o d e [2nd w i f e ' s s o n s ] 34. N-e-aku sii nince kulo il-gilat le kedianye. C-3-become also 3:PRO:p these:m m:p-clans of left 'And these, for their part, became known as the lefthand clans' (34)—> There is contrastive focus on the fact that these clans, the Orokiteng' clans, were known as clans of the lefthand. The contrastive focus (indicated by sii nince) draws a deliberate parallel with (28) above. (34) has thematic links with (8, 16,17, 28, 31, 33, 35, 36). C o n c l u s i o n to s u b t h e m e [ c l a n s ] and r e c a p i t u l a t i o n (35)-» Since the information in episode [2nd wife's sons] parallels that given for episode [1st wife's sons], cf. (21 = 29,22-27 = 30-33,28 s 34), we presume that subtheme [clans] accounting for division of the two moieties into five clans, cf. (8), is now completed. Consequently we have reached the end of the elaboration of the main theme in this story. (35) has thematic links with (8, 9, 19-34). C o n c l u s i o n to t h e m e ( C o d a ) — i n t r o d u c t i o n A coda (cf. Labov and Waletzky 1967) is characterized by a certain autonomy from the discourse theme; it often links past events to the present, by reflecting on some current situation deriving from events or participants in the discourse theme; and it will often have a refrain - or in the least some internal repetition. This coda to Ilgilat le Maasai has all those characteristics. 36. N-e-itayu ol-gilata pooki ol-ponoto 1-enye C-3-invent m:s-clan each:s m:s-earmark m-3:POS:s 'Each clan invented its own earmark' (36)-»

Each clan invented its own earmark for cattle. This topic relates the theme of the legend so far (5-35) to cattle, which for the Maasai is the other matter of overwhelming importance in the universe. (36) has thematic links with (8, 23, 25, 27, 28, 31, 34-40).

Elaboration 37. peyie e-tum aa-to-or n-kishu. so:that 3-succeed INF:p-INF/SBJ-distinguish f:p-cattle 'so as to be able to identify the ownership of cattle'

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Allan

(37)-» The function of earmarking is to identify the ownership of cattle. (37) has thematic links with (36-40). 38. N-e-aku ina oshi peyie e-pik-i n-kishu C-3-happen that:f usually so:that 3-put:on-PAS f:p-cattle ol-ponoto 1-en-kishomi olo-l-gilata m:s-earmark of-f:s-family of-m:s-clan. 'It became the custom that cattle have the earmark of the family and of the clan put on them' (38)-» It became the custom have the earmark of the family and of the clan put on cattle. (38) has thematic links with (36-40). C o n c l u s i o n to coda 39. E-baiki taata. 3-remain now

'This is still done to this day'

(39)-» The earmarking custom is still practised today. (39) has thematic links with (36-40). C o n c l u s i o n to t h e m e (40)-» The degree of repetition in the coda, the relating of the story theme to a wider domain, and the relating of the legendary past to present day states of affairs within the coda is typical of conclusions to histories and legends. (40) has thematic links with (4, 36-39). Summary of analysis The title presents a synopsis of the theme. The story is composed from recursive tripartite structures consisting of an introduction to the topic or theme of the component, followed by its elaboration, then a conclusion. The onset of the major episodes is marked by temporal adverbials. Topics or episodes within a component are presented either serially according to the universal sequencing conventions (Allan 1987a) or else in parallel for purpose of comparison or contrast. As an instance of serial presentation alone: subtheme [moieties] precedes subtheme [clans]; the former including Naiterukop's marriages, the latter the sons who issue from those marriages. As an instance of parallel presentation, there is in subtheme [moieties] the topic of the first wife and then that of the second; and in subtheme [clans] there are the parallel episodes of their respective sons. A topic or episode in parallel with another ends either when the parallels are complete (as in topic [2nd wife]) or when content has fulfilled some prior expectation (as in episode [2nd wife's sons]). Focus on a new topic is achieved by utterance initial ore NP: the ore marks a topic switch and focus is effected by having the NP precede the verb, creating a marked structure in this VSO language. Contrastive focus is achieved by using the phrase [sii pronoun], and on one occasion by [ore NP, ...resumptive pronoun]. Throughout the text, what is new in utterance i is invoked as given in subsequent utterance j which introduces further new information to be invoked as given in utterance k, and so forth. A new\given sequence instead of the usual given\new sequence draws attention to a topic switch. The omission of the continuative η- prefix shifts the narrative viewpoint to indicate the present relevance of what happened long ago. This is one device for marking a conclusion. Others are:

Discourse stratagems in a Maasai story

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41a.

generalization over the significant new information from the elaboration of the episode; b. repetition, which once involves the use of a full NP when pronominal reference would have been grammatically possible; c. links with an earlier episode; d. a final conclusion which relates the main theme to a wider domain. That completes this essay on the discourse structure of Ilgilat le Maasai. In it I have shown how the storyteller has exploited a panoply of conventions and formal devices to structure the presentation of the story in such a way as to achieve a nicely balanced, coherent and cohesive text. The typical hearer/reader is not conscious of these authorial devices, and very probably the storyteller is equally unaware of them — or most of them. If you find that assertion incredible, remember that the vast majority of people are also unconscious of the grammar of their native language, and unconscious of the conventions of language usage they employ in everyday linguistic interaction, yet they and their interlocutors manipulate and respond to these with awesome mastery. I have no doubt this mastery extends to storytelling and story understanding, and in this essay I have sought to throw light onto the latter skill. It is notable that there are close similarities between the stratagems used in this story and those used in a spoken anecdote in the Australian Aboriginal language Gooniyandi (cf. Allan 1990, forthcoming). Linguistics Department Monash University Clayton, Vic 3168, Australia

References Allan, K. 1987a Hierarchies and the choice of left conjuncts (with particular attention to English), Journal of Linguistics 23: 51-77. 1987b Discourse structure in a Maa text, ms. 1990 Another analysis of the 'Thirsty Bull' story in Gooniyandi, to appear in Journal of Literary Semantics. forthcoming Understanding Discourse. Amsterdam: Benjamins, van Dijk, T. A. and W. Kintsch 1983 Strategies of Discourse Comprehension. New York: Academic Press. Dimmendaal, G. 1983 The Turkana Language. Dordrecht: Foris. Kipury, N. 1983 Oral Literature of the Maasai. Nairobi: Heinemann. Labov, W. and J. Waletzky 1967 Narrative analysis: oral versions of personal experience, in J. Helm (ed.) Essays on the Verbal and Visual Arts: 12-44. Seattle: American Ethnological Society. Owen, M. 1983 Apologies and Remedial Interchanges: A Study of Language Use in Social Interaction. Berlin: Mouton/de Gruyter. Prince, E. 1981 Toward a taxonomy of given-new information, in P. Cole (ed.) Radical Pragmatics: 223-56. New York: Academic Press.

Chapter

19

The Chaga consecutive construction Michelle E m a n a t i a n , University o f California at Berkeley

T h e literature on Bantu languages shows a variety of views as to the functions of consécutives and their grammatical category. 1 (Ί) samples this proliferation of opinion. principal category

primary

function

aspect (subcategory of "tense") e.g. Ashton 1944 (Swahili)

Expresses time consecutive to time of preceding verb; depending on mood, expresses result/consequence of preceding event or purpose of that event.

aspect e.g. Hinnebusch 1979 (Swahili)

Orients event in time relative to a preceding event, conjoining a sequence of events.

marker of consecutive construction e.g. Wald 1976 (Swahili)

Marks consecutivity when it exists in both event referred to and speech about that event.

marker of consecutive construction Bennett et al. 1985 (Kikuyu)

Marks event as consecutive within tense range of preceding verb; presence/absence demarcates segments of narrative.

marker of consecutive construction W e i m e r s 1973 (Swahili)

Marks verb in a sequence as dependent for tense, aspect, and mode interpretation on the first verb of sequence.

marker of clause-linkage Bennett 1975 (Swahili, Kikuyu)

Found primarily in "descriptions of serial action' ; plays stylistic role, quickening pace, especially in oral narrative.

marker of clause-linkage van Valin 1984, based on Hinnebusch 1979 (Swahili)

Marks coordinate dependent construction ("cosubordination").

It is not immediately obvious whether this variety of opinion reflects crossl i n g u i s t i c v a r i a t i o n , r e c o u r s e to d i f f e r e n t b o d i e s of data, d i f f e r e n t theoretical orientations, and/or s o m e property of the c o n s e c u t i v e itself. W o r k on the K i V u n j o dialect of C h a g a (Central Kilimanjaro, T a n z a n i a ) suggests that the consecutive construction itself is partly responsible. T h e Chaga consecutive performs all the functions listed in (1). In this paper I will argue that this multiplicity of functions coheres. That is, the consecutive is here claimed to have notional unity. Each of its properties is a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of contingency within a particular d o m a i n of linguistic patterning: the event referred to by the consecutive clause is being marked as dependent on or conditioned by some other event or situation. T h e inflectional prefix ka-, the linguistic m a r k e r of consecutivity in Chaga, may be assigned to the formal category of tense. But the consecutive construction as a whole is not functionally a simple temporal anchoring of a JThis

research was funded b y a U.C. Berkeley Humanties Graduate Research Grant, the U.C. Berkeley Institute of Cognitive Studies, and the S t a n f o r d Berkeley African Studies Center. I am grateful for valuable discussion with the participants of the 19th C o n f e r e n c e on African Linguistics, Kiki Nikiforidou, Eve Svveetser, Larry Hyman, George Lakoff, David Delaney, and especially Claudia B r u g m a n . Extra thanks to J o n a s Ngallo and M a k u n a i for all their time, insight, and good humor. Current

J. H u t c h i s o n a n d V . M a n f r e d i (eds.) 1990 Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 1 9 3 - 2 0 7 ( D o r d r e c h t : Foris)

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Emanatian

verb to the speech event or some other reference point. Once we abandon the expectation of a 1:1 correspondence between form and function, and take care to distinguish the properties of a morpheme from those of the construction it identifies, a coherent functional characterization of the Chaga consecutive construction becomes possible.2 In what follows, I will describe the properties of the typical Chaga consecutive, and then explore some of its less typical uses. I will end by discussing the interrelated issues of categorization, multi-functionality, and constructional vs morphemic meaning which this study raises.3 1. Typical u s e s A typical Chaga consecutive is given in (2). 2. Naléúká núká SM.3sg-Y.PST-leave-IND lowlands 'He left the fields ká'chá na kan!. SM.3sg.KA-come-IND to home and came home' The construction is familiar from Swahili and other Bantu languages, which have a cognate morpheme with a similar function. On the verb -cha 'come', there is no tense prefix locating the moment of coming with respect to the moment of speaking. Instead ka- situates the coming relative to the earlier act of leaving the fields, which is itself temporally anchored by the Yesterday Past tense le- on the verb -uka 'leave'. The second verb, with ka-, is dependent on the first verb for its temporal situatedness. Before I proceed to describe the properties of the consecutive, it should be noted that the verbal prefix ka- is also the marker of the conditional construction in KiVunjo. Conditional ka- occurs in the same morphological slot as the consecutive, in a clause which serves as condition for the consequent clause. This use of ka- may be innovative relative to the other dialects of Chaga (Nurse 1979). In the description that follows, attributes of ka- should be taken to refer only to the consecutive (though many do pertain as well to the conditional). 1.1 Formal r e q u i r e m e n t s The ka- marked consecutive verb follows a fully tensed verb which provides its temporal reference point. I will call the fully tensed verb the "reference 2

"Function" is used here to include not only the meanings of the construction, but also how the construction works within the Chaga grammatical system. For instance, to say the consecutive marks a clause as Bearing a cosubordinate relationship to its reference clause is to refer to its syntactic function, but not its meaning, narrowly speaking. For a useful review of how the term "function" is used in linguistics, see Nichols 1984. 3 The label "consecutive" reflects speakers' intuitions. Data consists of several informal narrative and conversational texts and a large body of examples elicited from young KiVunjo speakers who also speak Swahili and English. High tone ['], falling tone Π and downstep ['] are marked; low tone is left unmarked. The following orthographic conventions are adopted: sh [/] y []] J slightly fncated alveolar approximant ch [tj] J [d5] r retroflex flap r alveolar trill Abbreviations include: IND indicative; EXPR "expressive"; Y.PST yesterday past tense; INTR intransitive.

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195

verb" and the event it refers to the "reference event", ka- clauses may depend for their tense interpretation on reference verbs in the Yesterday Past, as in (2); the a - Perfect, as in (3); the we- Imperfective Past, as in (7); and the Present (progressive or not), providing there is a generic or iterative interpretation, as in (6). ka- clauses are not possible after a reference verb in the Future, as in (4).4 3.

Noó'jóka /congí'ámbúya. SM,2sg-PERF-stand.up-IND SM.2sg.KA-OM. 1 sg-look.at-IND 'You stood up and looked at me'

4.

LÓ'chímláwá ká'cbá ná kánl. SM.lpl-FUT-OM.3sg-call-IND SM.3se.Ky4-come-IND to home ['We'll call him and ne'll come home' (prediction)] The ka- marked verb in (3) -am buya 'look at' is interpreted as having occurred subsequent to the reference event of 'standing up' which took place earlier today. 5 The incompatibility of a consecutive with a Future reference verb, as in (4), is striking and remains unexplained.^ The consecutive marker, ka-, is a dependent morpheme, a prefix bound to the verbal stem. It occurs in the verbal slot for tense, preceded by the subject marker. For noun classes 1 and 2, there has been assimilation and coalescence of subject marker and ka-, as summarized in (5). 5. noun class SM + kaactual form lsg kangangl1 < 2sg ko- 7 ukaakaka3sg lpl lukalu-ko2pl mukam-kowakawa-ka3pl all others SM-kaA striking distributional property of the consecutive is its tendency to occur after another consecutive. An extended example is the conversational excerpt in (6). In (6a) the verb -enda 'go to' is in the Yesterday Past, (b) and (c) provide background information, temporally situated by the Imperfective Past, w e - In (d) we begin to see ka- marked verbs; (d) shows that one kamarked verb can follow another. After evaluative statements (g-j), the main speaker resumes the storyline in (k) with a series of ka- clauses.

({

4

Morphological labels are approximate and tentative. ^Bennett et al. note that in KiKuyu the event of a consecutive clause "falls into the same tense range as the preceding verb, but is later in time" (1985: 206f.). In the Chaga example in (3), the looking cannot be at the moment of speech — it must be past. Chaga has no cases of future or nonfeneric present interpretations of a ka- clause where the reference clause as a past interpretation. ^Hinneousch 19/9 reports such cases as acceptable in Swahili. To express sequential events in the future, Chaga speakers use either a future tense for the temporally prior event, with tne later event marked Irrealis; or the conditional for tne earlier event, with the later event in the Future. 'With subject markers having a vowel u, ka- assimilates to ko-.

196

Speaker

6a.

b.

c.

d.

e. f. g. h.

Emanatian

A

Tena ngí'léénda keerl kllya in .fact SM. 1 sg-Y .PST-go. to-IND period that kú'wéwojé njáa r)ú SM.17-P.IMPF-have/IND hunger EXPR ndao kany heeee. younger.one home EXPR 'In fact, I went in that period when there was hunger, brother' Wandú wá'wélunga Qu m sta [i people SM.3pl-P.IMPF-join-IND EXPR lines 'People were forming lines,' ni' í'lúngá rjú mstatf ná daftári. COP INF-join-IND EXPR Unes with notebooks 'forming lines with notebooks' Koendá 'wáAáambuya hó SM .2 sg .ΚΑ-go. to-IND SM.3pl-iG4-look.at-IND there ni Indi ú'lépátá súkári COP when SM.2sg-Y.PST-get-IND sugar 'You go and they look there at when you got sugar,' ni Ìndi ulepatá mchele 'at when you got rice,' COP when SM.2sg-Y.PST-get-IND rice ni Ìndi ulepatá mso. 'at when you got flour' COP when SM.2sg-Y.PST-get-IND flour Á mso chó níwé msó rju? 'But was the flour flour?' but flour that COP-P.IMPF flour EXPR NÍ mso. 'It's flour' COP flour

Speaker Β

i. Speaker

j.

k.

1.

Comfeed.

'Comfeed'

A

NI chá ngakuwesa COP neg.eval SM.lsg.PERF-OM.2sg-ask-IND wú'ójé mchánga. SM. 3-PRES-have/IND sand 'That's bosh. I'm telling you, there's sand in it' Mchanga mchanga Aoshltsá mso kání le. sand sand SM.2sg.KA-deliver-IND flour home EXPR 'Sand, sand. And you take the flour home' Koshítsá mchángá 'chó lpfó 'kání le SM.2sg.KA-deliver-IND sand that there home EXPR 'And you get this sand home,' (If you get the sand home,')

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197

m.

kóndéchékéchá e SM.2sg.JCA-go.to-IND-INF-sift-IND EXPR 'you go to sift it,' ('and then you go to sift it,')® n. Koenda kówlká se SM.2sg.KA-go.to-IND SM.2sg.JCA-put-IND again mflngeny 'Aórúwíká e. water-LOC SM.2sg.KA-soak-IND EXPR 'You go and put it in water and you soak it' o. Alafú mchángá chó úAójamla lhó wánda. and.then sand that SM.3-K/4-sit-IND there down 'And then the sand settles down' p. Kopusúo gu m[ingacho e SM.2sg.KA-pour/IND EXPR water that EXPR 'And then you pour off the water,' q. Aooká η mso chó ihó úye. SM .2sg .KA-skim-IND EXPR flour that there above 'and you skim the flour from the top' r. Alafú íchó wó wánda ká'pisa Aowlítsa. and.then that ASSOC below really SM.2sg.KA-throw-IND 'Then what's at the very bottom you throw away' The lengthy string of ka- verbs (which continues beyond r) is reminiscent of the way perfectives are used in many languages to advance the storyline in narratives. A link between ka- marking and perfectivity is also suggested by the break, (g-j), in which the verbs are not ka- marked, and give the kind of background information found for imperfectives (Hopper 1982). Notice that the events referred to by the ka- verbs are interpreted sequentially (consecutively) even when the string of verbs is interrupted by non-ka- verbs. The reference verb for kowütsa 'you throw away' in (r), is eight clauses back, in (j), wuoje in the Historical Present.

®The preferred inteipretation for (1) is conditional and for (m) is consecutive; (n) onwards are taken to be consécutives. For (1) the preference may arise from the perception of topic discontinuity between (g-j) and (k-r). One factor influencing listeners' decisions about topic discontinuity is the presence of clause-final discourse particles le and e in (k-n, p), indicating that these lines are a sub-section of the larger narrative. Such a division is consistent with the thematic contours of the story. If (1) and (m) are conditional, there is no consequent in matrix (tensed) form, unless (o) is interpreted as the outcome of the conditions in (1-n). A lone dependent conditional clause is ungrammatical, as is a conditional construction whose consequent and condition are both ka- marked. For the time being, I take (1) and (m) to be consécutives. The fact that both consecutive and conditional interpretations are available for (1) supports an analysis which unites the consecutive and the conditional under a basic meaning of dependency in a narrative context (contingency).

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Emanatian

1.2 T e n s e and a s p e c t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n As we have seen, the reference verb for a Chaga consecutive may be in any tense but future. The temporal interpretation assigned to a consecutive itself is past or generic present. With a past tense reference verb, the ka- verb is typically intepreted as past. Future interpretation of a ka- verb is not possible with a past or present reference verb!9 It is possible for a ka- clause to have a non-past interpretation, as in (6) where the ka- verbs are interpreted generically: first you do this, then this, then this. 1 0 Each ka- clause has no specific temporal reference, yet each activity is subsequent to the preceding, which must transpire first. The Chaga ka- verb, then, need not receive past time reference (despite what is implied for consécutives in general in the Swahili literature). Ka- clauses are dependent not only for their temporal anchoring, or tense interpretation, but also for their aspectual interpetation. Consider (7). 7.

Na'wékelúláwa so SM.3sg-P.IMPF-CONT-OM.lpl-call-IND us wá'chúkú wáké Aálu[ámí'[á wanda grandchildren his SM.3sg.K.A-OM.lpl-seat-IND down ká lúwía adíísí tsífóógui. SM.3sg.lG4-OM.lpl-tell-IND stories lots

'He used to call us, his grandchildren, sit us down, and tell us lots of stories' In (7) all the activities — calling, sitting us down, telling us stories — are things grandfather used to do. The ka- verbs, ~[aml[a 'seat' and - w i a 'tell', inherit from the we-ke- tense-aspect combination on nawekelulawa the meaning 'past continous/repetitive'. In other words we-ke- has scope over the entire complex of clauses, not just over the clause it is part of. Ka- verbs do not carry their own aspect marking, nor do they have a default aspectual interpretation of their own. 11

This constrasts with Swahili, where a ka- marked verb can take the Subjunctive mood (for the expression of purpose) alongside a present tense reference verb (Ashton 1944, Weimers 1973, Wald 1976, Hinnebusch 1979). If Chaga, like Kikuyu, requires the ka- clause event to fall in the same tense range as the reference verb (Bennett et al. 1985), a future reading would be ruled out (see fn. 5). Note that although present tense clauses can have future meaning in Chaga, ka- clauses do not follow such clauses. 1 0 Cf. Aston (1944: 38,134) on Swahili ka- and the habitual hu- "tense". 1 1 The aspectual dependency is qualified, since ka- does co-occur with certain 'directionals', motion verbs apparently on their way to becoming tense/aspect markers, e.g. -che from 'come' plus the "Infinitive" Í-. As for mood dependence, the picture is unclear. It appears that: a ka- verb cannot occur with final Irrealis - e , and cannot have Imperative or other 'subjunctive' meanings; a ka- verb with final - a (IND) does not inherit an Irrealis mood from a reference verb in - e because it does not co-occur with such verbs. Thus it may tentatively be asserted that the ka- verb carries its own mood, is confined to the Indicative, and is not mood-dependent. 9

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199

1.3 C r o s s - c l a u s e s e m a n t i c s The tense and aspect dependence that a ka- clause exhibits is echoed in its semantic relationship with either a preceding reference clause or another ka- clause. Ka- clauses refer to events which are contingent on other events. This is manifested in the requirement that the reference event (or the event referred to by a preceding ka- clause) be a precondition for the event of the consecutive clause, as in (7). Or, contingency can be truly causal: the kaclause may refer to an event that is the result of the reference event. This is the most frequent interpretation offered by speakers for an out-of-context sentence consisting of a reference clause and a ka- clause, such as (8). 8.

Ná'lémjeiá AaJicha. SM.3sg-Y.PST-OM.3sg-shout-IND SM.3sg.KA-run-IND 'He shouted at her and she ran' In (8), in the absence of a specific context, her running is understood to result from his shouting at her. Disjoint reference of subjects is assumed; even though a coreferent interpretation can be forced, it is dispreferred. The availability of a result reading for a ka- clause seems to depend on the hearer's knowledge of the discourse context and of what causes what. In (7), grandfather seating us is not the result of his calling us, rather he could not seat us unless he first called us in. The resultative meaning is not a separate sense of ka-, but a pragmatic inference commonly available in context.12^ Ka- clauses are most commonly found in narrative contexts. Since their temporal grounding is provided by a reference verb, their occurrence is dependent on the existence of a discourse. A verb marked with consecutive ka- cannot be first in a series of clauses, for example, at the beginning of a story (cf. Ashton 1944), nor can a complete utterance consist of a single kaclause (but see section 2.3). 1.4 S y n t a c t i c d e p e n d e n c y The usual notion of syntactic dependency involves a relationship between a non-matrix clause and the matrix clause, within a single complex sentence. This will not suffice to describe the syntax of series of ka- verbs, as in (6). Such indefinitely long strings of ka- marked clauses may even be separated from their reference verb by background statements and parenthetical comments (reminiscent of clause-chains in Papuan languages). Whatever definition of "sentence" is relevant to natural spoken discourse, it is clear that the unit which contains the ka- verb and the reference verb is larger than a sentence. Ka- clauses tend to be used throughout the maintenence of a single topic, while a break in a series of ka- verbs corresponds to a topic shift.1-' This in turn correlates with the occurrence of ka- on action predicates and its absence on background (often stative) predicates.

^ T h e result readings cannot be cancelled, at least for the out-of-context examples. Notall aecontextualized examples allow a result reading, cf. (3). "Bennett 1975 finds Kikuyu consécutives to be the ««marked clause type in narratives, non-consecutives being used stylistically to signal or effect a change of pace. In Kikuyu oral texts, as well as written works, internal structural subdivisions are often (but not necessarily) marked by a shift to a non-consecutive.

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Bennett 1975 and van Valin 1984 have noted that a Swahili consecutive clause is not subordinate in the narrow sense of being dependent on a matrix clause and embedded within it. Likewise, Chaga consécutives are dependent but not embedded. A ka- clause is not an argument of (or any part of) its reference clause. It is not possible to use a consecutive in a series of clauses that form the complement of a matrix predicate. In addition, a negative clause, expressing an event in a series, takes main rather than subordinate clause negation. The topography of strings such as those in (6) is flat, and the dependence is manifest: distributionally — a ka- clause may not occur alone or initially in the discourse unit; and syntactically — a ka- clause receives its tense and aspect from another clause. In many languages "coordinate but dependent", or "co-subordinate", clauses stand in a relationship of sequentiality to the matrix clause (van Valin 1984). To highlight the distinctiveness of the relationship a ka - clause bears to its matrix clause, it is useful to compare the consecutive construction with other complex constructions in Chaga (as Hinnebusch 1979, Leonard 1980, and Contini-Morava 1987 have done for Swahili). Examples of four types of clause-combining are given in (9-12), ranging from the tightest syntactic and semantic link between clauses, that of simultaneity (9), to a looser link, between unrelated activities (12). In (9), subject-subject coreference is necessary; the subject is marked only once, on the matrix verb. The Infinitive, of course, is tense- dependent: a relation of simultaneity holds between the clauses. The dancing and singing are conceived of as parts of a single activity. 9.

simultaneity LÚ'léshíná

néelmba. 'We danced and sang' na iimba SM.lpl-Y.PST-dance-IND and INF-sing-IND

In (10), subject-subject coreference is again necessary (though here the subect is marked on each verb separately) and there is tense dependence. Again there is a relation of simultaneity, but partial overlap between the events is possible: two separate activitities are conceived, with singing the background against which dancing is foregrounded. 10.

partial simultaneity LÚ'léshíná lochl'lmbâ. 'We danced while we sang' SM. 1 pl-FUT/ SIM-sing-IND

In (11), the consecutive, coreference of subjects is unnecessary (cf. also 8); there is of course tense dependence. The second clause is typically consecutive to the first (often with a result interpretation). Dancing and singing are conceived of as connected activities, the singing contingent on the dancing. 11.

consecutivity LÚ'léshíná lú'Aólmba. SM.lpl-KA-sing-IND

'We danced and (then) sang'

In (12), an example of coordination, subject-subject coreference is unnecessary, and there is no temporal or aspectual dependence. Singing and dancing are conceived as entirely separate activities.

The Chaga consecutive construction

12.

no relation Lu'leshináná lulelmba. and SM.lpl-Y.PST-sing-IND

201

'We danced and we sang'

The detailed differences between and conditions on the use of these constructions have yet to be unraveled, but the basic contrasts are plain. To summarize then, the typical consecutive has the following properties: its morphological marker, ka-, occurs in the tense position on the verb; the construction expresses the consecutivity of an event with respect to a preceding clause (i.e., the consecutive clause is tense-dependent); it expresses the contingency of one event upon another; the consecutive clause is dependent for its aspect interpretation; it occurs in narrative strings of action predicates; it does not open a discourse, or stand alone (i.e., it is distributionally dependent); it effects cosubordinate clause-linkage; and it absence in contexts where it could otherwise occur correlates with a shift in topic. This multiplicity of properties and functions makes the consecutive difficult to readily categorize. 2. A t y p i c a l u s e s All of the properties discussed in the previous section need not hold of every consecutive ka- clause. Deviant usages are not anomalous however, but may be seen to follow from general principles. 2.1 P a r t i a l o v e r l a p The typical consecutive ka- clause refers to an event which occurs subsequent to an event previously referred to. This interpretation of consecutivity is consistent with the frequent occurrence of temporal adverbs such as alafu 'and then' or badae / baadaye 'later, afterwards', which reinforce the consecutive reading. But a strict relationship of consecutivity need not obtain. With "pseudo-stative" reference verbs, there is temporal overlap between the kaverb and its reference verb, as in (13). 13.

Na'lékú[iká kalya máwirl. SM.3sg-Y.PST-hide-IND SM.3sg.fC4-eat-IND bananas 'He hid and ate bananas' ('He hid himself and [then] ate bananas'/'He was hiding, eating bananas') In (13) the result of the actor placing himself in hiding — his being hidden — is still in effect during his banana-eating. The event referred to by the kaclause (eating) is partly simultaneous with and partly consecutive to the event of the reference clause (hiding). The reference verb, -kuflka 'hide', may refer to the act of placing oneself in hiding and/or to the state resulting from that act. The latter sense allows an inference of simultaneity to arise: the contingency meaning of the ka- construction combines with a reference situation which endures beyond the inception of the event expressed by the 14

There is considerable functional overlap between the Infinitive in (9) and the consecutive in (11). Bennett 1975 notes that in Swahili, Infinitives and consécutives are often found in analogous contexts. The Infinitive is preferred if the two actions are simultaneous, but it cannot occur in an extended series, nor can it be used "outside the same sentence", and is disallowed for subjects of disjoint reference. (Cf. also Contini-Morava 1987). Chaga may pattern in a similar fashion.

Emanatian

202

ka- verb. Such interaction between verbal aspect or Aktionsart and the semantics of a morpheme like ka- is not unexpected. 2.2 S p e e c h act u s e s of kaSome instances of the consecutive refer to events which are not contingent on or consecutive to the reference clause event (or a preceding ka- clause event). A ka- clause may instead express contingency (and consecutivity) of the utterance on the preceding utterance. This speech act contingency is best seen with an example. 14a. b.

Na'léfúnjá númbayááko SM.3sg-Y.PST-break-IND house my

'He broke into my house'

kdngiiwía eieri' 'tsóóse... SM.3sg.KA-OM.lsg-steal-APPL-IND money all 'and took all the money...'

c.

/ca'chá

kíngótó kérl

kyó

SM.3sg.íCA-come-IND daytime period that 'lulawe SM .1 pl-SUB .NEG-be

lpfó, there

'and he came in the daytime when we were not there,' d.

alákooye pfó mndú, SM .3sg-SUB .NEG-find-IRR there person 'and he didn't find anybody (home),'

e.

kalwá elérl 'tsóóse... SM .3sg .KA -steal-IND money all

f.

/cafunja SM.3sgJCA-break-IND

moongô. door

'and he stole all the money...' 'and he broke the door down'

(14c) and (f) are of interest here. The ka- clause in (14c) refers to an event previous to (a-b), and is no way contingent on them. Likewise with clause (f): the speaker resumes after (c) with consecutive events, pauses (as before (c)), and perhaps as an afterthought adds (f), which refers to an action which necessarily occurred before his not finding anyone home and stealing the money (d-e). The presence of the ka- construction in (14c) and (f) is an instance of the atypical application of the semantics of contingency to the domain of the speech act itself, (c) and (f), as utterances, are contingent on the prior existence of the utterances they follow. The speaker of (14c) noticed its abnormality and asserted that what was consecutive was his expressed ideas: "As information from me, it [(c)] is next to what I told you first". Examples like (14) seem to indicate that contingency and consecutivity of events referred to are not strictly necessary for ka- to be used.^

^ T h i s is apparently true for Swahili as well (Contini-Morava 1987). For discussion of the speech act use of English conjunctions and of the general issue of meanings applied to the speech act and epistemic domains, see Sweetser in press.

The Chaga consecutive construction

203

2 . 3 I n d e p e n d e n t kaclauses Seemingly atypical is the occurrence of consecutive clauses in isolation: 15.

Rina lyaké lÍAámanlka ko wándú woóse. nenne his SM.5-KA-know-INTR-IND to people all 'His name got known to all people'

(15) had no preceding context, no reference clause. However (as the translation provided by the speaker suggests), the situation referred to was being thought of as the result of some previous occurrence. That is, this sentence was offered with a context in mind. The frequent presence of an initial kolkyo 'because; therefore', kip fa 'because', ala fu 'and then', or basi 'therefore' in decontextualized examples testifies to the imagined discourse the ka- clause is part o f . 1 6 In such cases there is no real atypicality as long as the putatively syntactic condition on ka- clauses is seen rather as a reflex of this discourse condition. 2.4 D i a l o g u e (16) is an example of a consecutive occurring outside what can strictly be called narration. In this conversational excerpt, one speaker describes events using a fully tensed verb which then becomes the reference verb for another speaker's ka- verb. speaker A 16a. ...wándú wá'léúyá na kaní people SM.3pl-Y.PST-return-IND to home walawoJB máa rédío. SM.3pl-SUB.NEG-have/IND even radio '...People go back home without having even a radio' speaker Β b. Oh sure. Waka'ndéupá .. waAa'ndeú[a redio 'independence. SM.3pl-KA-go.to-IND-INF-buy-IND radio Indep. 'Oh sure. And they go to buy a radio on Independence Avenue' Examples like this show that consécutives can be used outside the usual narrative contexts. Of course it could be argued that these two speakers are together weaving a narrative. Yet part of what lets us think of it as narrative is the presence of ka-. We have seen that a given instance of the Chaga consecutive need not exhibit all the typical properties of consécutives in this language. Nevertheless, it is normally the case that: a ka- clause is morphosyntactically dependent, both in distribution in discourse (non-initially, in narrative), and in the interpretaion of certain grammatical categories (tense and aspect); it is cosubordinate to the clause it depends on; the event it refers to depends on the existence of another event, and is often understood to be the result of that event; the ka- event is understood to happen after the event it is contingent on; and it is more likely to occur in chains of clauses about the same topic than where there is a change of topic. In the deviant cases, the ^ K a - clauses do not follow lakini 'but', suggesting once again that consécutives are favored in contexts of topic continuity. Contini-Morava 1987 reaches similar conclusions for a written Swahili corpus.

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formal properties of typical ka- clauses are not strictly criterial. Rather kamay be used whenever a clause bears a semantic relationship of contingency to another clause. 1 '' 3. The g r a m m a t i c a l s t a t u s of the c o n s t r u c t i o n The central idea in this paper is that the properties of the Chaga consecutive cohere: its properties are not a random set, but rather, a motivated one. In fact, they seem to form a naturally co-occurring cluster. Here we find narration about events in the world, events participated in by actors and undergoers, consisting of clauses marked to indicate causal and/or logical relationships between and temporal arrangement of those events. Non-embedded but dependent clause-linkage is well-suited to the expression of a string of events, each contingent on the one preceding; nor is it surprising that unity/disunity of topic is indicated by this same linguistic means. Of course one could claim that any set of properties was coherent. But similar correlations are known to exist in other languages. For example, the inference of result that arises from the use of the consecutive is but an instance of the general iconic link between the temporal and the causal. That link also gives rise to the use of English time adverbials in the domain of epistemic causality (e.g. since; whüe, as in While she has not proven the claim, she has made a good case for it, cf. Traugott 1982, 1986). In the view of language which informs this paper, such resonance among constructional properties is expected. The existence of a different set of properties — one which correlated, say, sequentiality and conditionality, or sequentiality and subordinate nexus — would need explaining. So for example, that the same morpheme marks consecutivity and conditionality in Chaga is at first glance a semantic anomaly: the dependent clause is different in each case. Likewise, subordination is a possible syntactic means of expressing consecutivity, but we would expect to find it in a given language only if no tighter type of clause-linkage is employed in that language to express a weaker semantic relation between clauses (see Interclausal Relations Hierarchy, Foley and van Valin 1984). Another proposal made here is that the most perspicuous analysis of the Chaga consecutive attributes to it the basic meaning of contingency. The construction identified by ka- has the primary function of expressing the contingent status of the event referred to with respect to another event.1® Contingency is highly abstract; it has various specific manifestations. To say that the expression of contingency is the construction's basic function is not to say that Chaga speakers will agree (cf. Brugman 1988): indeed, consecutivity is felt to be the meaning of (particular instances of) this construction.

There are infrequent uses of ka - in oral narrative which are unexpected on the basis of my analysis. It is my impression that ka - is sometimes used to impose continuity (connection, contingency) where there would otherwise be none (cf. "metaphorical" code-switching, Gumperz 1982). Contini-Morava 1987 discusses subjective factors influencing the unexpected non-occurrence of ka- in written Swahili narrative; there the past tense li- may occur instead, to emphasize conceptual distinctness. ^ T h i s approach, while arrived at independently, is quite similar to proposals by Leonard 1980 and Contini-Morava 1987 for Swahili ka-. 17

The Chaga consecutive construction

205

The ka- construction is characterized by a set of regularly occurring properties, formal as well as semantic/pragmatic. The properties themselves manifest contingency in each of various functional domains. Formally, ¿ a - is a tense marker: it fills the tense position in the verb when tense distinctions are neutralized (as in Fula, cf. Comrie 1985). The consecutive construction indicates tense/aspect dependency, distributional dependency, topic continuity, and semantic contingency of events. Both the marker and the construction then, are pairings of form and meaning. More generalizations are available if we look at the construction ka - participates in, in context, than if we look at ka- alone. This perspective is inspired by Weimers, who points out the frequent absence of strict one-to-one correspondence of form to function within Niger-Congo (1973: 343-4), and by recent work on grammatical constructions (for example, Fillmore 1986; Brugman 1988). In this way, the conventional, temporally consecutive interpretation of a ka- clause in narrative results from two facts: that event A must precede event Β if Β is contingent on A, and that the order of narrative clauses is normally taken to be iconic of the order of events (that is, unless morphosyntactically marked otherwise — cf. Haiman 1985). 19 In this way, the consecutivity of the "consecutive" is an epiphenomenon of its contingency. This is not to say that it is non-essential: consecutivity is a conventional inference arising from the contingency ka- expresses in a narrative context. 20 Another possible analysis for the consecutive is to treat ka- as a marker of relative tense, in particular, relative future: the event of a ka- verb is understood as occurring after the reference point of the preceding tensed verb. Indeed, ka- is mutually exclusive with other tense markers. In this view, kawould be both formally (categorially) and functionally a tense. 2 1 The relative tense account takes tense as basic, and the other properties of the consecutive as derived. But it is difficult to see how aspectual dependency, or cosubordinate nexus, for example, are extensions of relative tense. Thus this account sacrifices functional coherence for the unity of form and function in one category, tense. The strength of the contingency analysis, which proposes a single, abstract meaning for the consecutive, lies in its functional coherence:

'Apparent counterexamples to the first observation amount to (métonymie) reference to events in other domains, e.g. If she calls, she decided not to be mad, where the consequent event is temporally prior. But the conditional here is in the epistemic domain, and the consequent is really [we may conclude that she decided not to be mad], which temporally follows the conditioning event (cf. Sweetser in press). 20 Fleischman 1983 proposes broadening the definition of aspect to include the non-internal constituency of a situation, e.g. to include logical or causal relations to a reference point. Such relations often have temporal presuppositions. By this definition, ka- is an aspect marker. 2 1 The occurrence of kaoutside a strictly narrative context, e.g. in dialogue (16), could be crucial evidence for this analysis. In true narrative contexts, the sequencing effect could be explained as iconic (cf. Comrie 1985). 1

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it unifies the properties of the construction, and leaves open the inclusion of the conditional function of Aa-.^ I set aside the question of empirical difference between the relative tense and the contingency accounts, until the conditional use of ka- can be treated in detail. On theoretical grounds, however, an "Abstractionist" treatment — the contingency analysis — seems well-motivated for a grammatical morpheme like ka- : contingency is an inherently abstract concept, and as such may easily give rise to multiple manifestations of that abstract meaning (cf. Sweetser 1986). Note further that the manifestations of contingency hold simultaneously, each within its own domain — quite unlike the senses of a truly polysemous morpheme. Besides separating formal traits from functional ones, I have tried to distinguish the morphological categorization of a morpheme from the properties (functional and otherwise) of the construction it identifies. The Chaga consecutive has specifiable formal properties aside from the presence of ka- (for instance, its non-occurrence discourse-initially or in isolation). Generalizations about the construction may have little to do with the best choice of category for the morpheme. Confusion over this may partly account for the variety of descriptive labels for Bantu consécutives. Linguistics Department University of California Berkeley, CA 94720 References Aston, E. O. 1944 Swahili Grammar. London: Longman. Bennett, P. R. 1975 Narrative style and the consecutive, African Languages ¡Langues africaines I: 58-80. Bennett, P. R., A. Biersteker, W. Gikonyo, S. Hershberg, J. Kamande, C. Perez and M. Swearingen 1985 Gikuyu Ni Kioigire: A First Course in Kikuyu. Madison: African Studies Program. Brugman, C. 1988 The syntax and semantics of HAVE and its complements, U. C. Berkeley dissertation. Bybee, J. L. 1985 Morphology; A Study of the Relation Between Meaning and Form. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Chung, S. and A. Timberlake 1985 Tense, aspect and mood, in T. Shopen (ed.) 1985: 202-57. Comrie, B. 1985 Tense. Cambridge University Press. Contini-Morava, E. 1987 Text cohesion and the sign: connectedness between events in Swahili narrative, in D. Odden (ed.) 1987: 107-22. Fillmore, C. 1986 On grammatical constructions, ms, U. C. Berkeley. A third analysis would treat ka- as a marker of perfective aspect. Perfectives, like ka-, typically lead to past time interpretation and to inferences of result (Hopper 1982). But, like the relative tense account, a perfectivity analysis leaves conditional ka- unrelated to the consecutive. Also, it is not clear how to distinguish a 'perfective' ka- from other Chaga tense markers with perfective interpretations, e.g. le- 'yest.past'. And note that ka- occurs in ine tense position of the verb, not the aspect position. Finally, it is not clear what a perfective analysis of ka- would say about the aspectual dependency of ka- clauses. It is less felicitous still to categorize ka- both formally and functionally as a contingency marker. Languages do not appear to use inflection to mark general syntactic/semantic dependency (Bybee 1985).

The Chaga consecutive construction

207

Fleischman, S. 1983 From pragmatics to grammar; diachronic reflections on complex pasts and futures in Romance, Lingua 60:183-214. Foley, W. A. and R. D. van Valin 1984 Functional Syntax and Universal Grammar. Cambridge University Press. Gumperz, J. J. 1982 Discourse Strategies; Studies in Interactional Sociolinguistics 1. Cambridge University Press. Haiman, J. 1985 Natural Syntax. Cambridge University Press. Hinnebusch, T. J. 1979 Swahili, in T. Shopen (ed.) 1979. Hinnebusch, T. J. and S. M. Mirza 1979 Swahili. A Foundation for Speaking, Reading and Writing. Lanham MD: University Press of America. Hopper, P. J. 1982 Aspect between discourse and grammar, in P. J. Hopper (ed.) 1982: 3-18. Hopper, P. J. (ed.) 1982 Tense-Aspect; Between Semantics and Pragmatics. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Hyman, L. M. 1971 Consecutivization in F e ? F e ? , Journal of African Languages 10.2: 29-43. Lehman, W. P. and Y. Malkiel (eds.) 1982 Perspectives on Historical Linguistics. Amsterdam: Benjamins. Leonard, R. A. 1980 Swahili e, ka, and nge as signals of meanings, Studies in African Linguistics II.2: 209-26. Loogman, A. 1965 Swahili Grammar and Syntax. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press. Nichols, J. 1984 Functional Theories of Grammar, Annual Review of Anthropology 13. Nurse, D. 1979 Classification of the Chaga Dialects. Hamburg: Buske. Odden, D. (ed.) 1987 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 4. Dordrecht: Foris. Shopen, T. (ed.) 1979 Languages and Their Speakers. Cambridge, Mass.: Winthrop Pubi. 1985 Language Typology and Syntactic Description III: Grammatical categories and the lexicon. Cambridge University Press. Sweetser, E. E. 1986 Polysemy vs. abstraction: mutually exclusive or complementary?, Berkeley Linguistics Society 12. in press From Etymology to Pragmatics: the Mind-as-Body Metaphor in Semantic Structure and Semantic Change. Cambridge University Press. Traugott, E. C. 1982 From propositional to textual and expressive meanings: some semantic-pragmatic aspects of gramma tical-ization, in W. P. Lehman and Y. Malkiel (eds.) 1982. 1986 On the origins of and and but connectives in English, Studies in Language 10.1: 137-50. van Valin, R. D. 1984 A typology of syntactic relations in clause linkage, Berkeley Linguistics Society 10: 542-58. Wald, B. 1976 Comparative notes on past tenses in Kenyan Northeast Bantu Languages, Studies in African Linguistics Suppl. 6: 267-81. Weimers, W. E. 1973 African Language Structures. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Chapter 20

Verb serialization in Yorùbà and Givón's binding hierarchy Adenike S. L a w a l , Ohio State University/University o f Ilorin

This paper discusses the types of verbs that occur in serial verb constructions (SVCs) in Yorùbà. Most of the SVCs described in the literature contain verbs that take NP objects. The serialization of verbs which take sentential complements has not been examined in detail. A second aim is to discover whether there is an existing theoretical framework within which the data would fit. We analyze the Yorubá data in terms of Givón's (1980) semantic typology of clausal complements. Our observations confirm Givón's hypothesis that languages tend to co-lexicalize verbs whose subject/agent exercises control over another subject or agent. Complements of such verbs become structurally integrated with their main clauses, i.e. to serialize. 1.

The serial verb c o n s t r u c t i o n

A SVC is found in a sentence which contains more than one verb but no overt marker of conjunction or embedding; in other words, there is no coordinative or subordinative marker signalling the end of a first clause and the beginning of a second one. Other features of a SVC are the lack of variation in tense/aspect or total absence of tense/aspect on following verbs, and argument-sharing between verbs. Some Yoruba examples are given below. la.

Ó wá Bçla Ις> sí ìbàdàn. 3sg look go to O sin Bola de lié. 3sg accompany reach house

'S/he went to Ibadan to look for Bçla'

c.

Ó ra mçtô fun ìyàwó rç. 3sg buy vehicle give wife 3sg

'He bought a car for his wife'

d.

Ayç> wçml gba ògo. swim get glory

e.

Ayçtan Bçlàjçun. deceive eat.thing

b.

'S/he accompanied Bçla home'

'Ayç> swam to glory' 'Ayç> tricked Bçla into eating'

Most studies of SVCs focus on motion verbs, or verbs which take NP objects, which are of high frequency. In this study, we are concerned with verbs which take sentential complements. 2.

The sentential complement

construction

Yorùbà examples of sentential complement constructions are as follows: 2a.

Ayòrò pé òunó bori. think Comp 3sgFUTwin

b.

Ayò pinnu lati se isé náá. decide Comp do work Det

c.

Ayò so pékí Bola jáde. say Comp go.out

'Ayo thought that he would win' 'Ayo decided to do the work' 'Ayo said that Bola should go out'

The relevant verbs here are rò 'think', p i n n u 'decide', and so 'say'. T h e complements of these verbs are sentences, as illustrated. Sentential complement constructions are often classified according to the semantic type of the main verb, which may belong to one of the following groups: J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Current Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 209-218 (Dordrecht: Foris)

210

Lawal

3.

cognition

mç> 'know', rí 'see/realize', gbàgbé 'forget', rántí 'remember' utterance

sç 'say', ièri 'promise', kéde 'announce', bèèrè 'ask' prepositional

attitude

g b à g b ç 'believe', rò 'think', dájú 'be certain', gbà 'agree' comment

dùn 'regret', $e pàtàkì 'be important", dára 'be good',yç 'be necessary' desire/emotion

ίφ 'want/like, retí 'expect, hope', bçru 'be afraid', dunmç 'be happy' manipulation

mú 'make', jç 'let', palaçç 'order', rò 'persuade', bç 'request' aspect/modality

bçrçsi 'begin', £$e) tán 'finish', dá dúró 'stop/cease', parí 'leave/stop' immediate

perception

ri 'see', gbç> 'hear', w ò 'watch' Some of these verbs participate in SVCs, cf. (4); others do not, cf. (5): 4a.

Bçla rántí ti Ùçkùn. remember lock door

'Bçla remembered to lock the door'

b.

Bçlàçèçl ti Ûçkùn. happen lock door

'Bçla happened to lock the door'

c.

Bçlàri îlçkùnnâàtî. see door Det lock

'Bçla was able to lock the door'

d.

Bçla mú Ayç ti îlçkùn. cause lock door

'Bçla made Ayç lock the door'

e.

Bçlàbçrçsi ka ìwé nâà. began read book the Bçlà rójú ?e nâà. manage do work Det

'Bçla began to read the book'

f. g·

Bçla ti çe lçç nâà tán. Perf do work Det finish

h.

Wçn parí îjà nâà tì. 3pl end fight Det fail

5a.

^Bçlà pinnu tl llçkùn. decide lock door

b.

*Ó bç Ayç tl îlçkùn. 3sg request lock door

c.

"Ó lérí ti liçkùn. 3sg promise lock door

d.

*Ó sç Ayç tl Îlçkùn. 3sgsay lock door

e.

*Ó gbèrò Ayç tl ilçkùn. 3sg think lock door

f.

"Ó retí Ayç ti ilçkùn. 3sgexpect lock door

'Bçla managed to do the work' 'Bçla has finished doing the work' 'They failed to end the quarrel'

Verb serialization in Yorùbâ and Givón's binding hierarchy g. h.

211

"Ó rántí Ayp ti ]çun. 3sg remember Perf eat.thing *Bplá gba Qlprun ή bç. agree Gad Prog exist

The sentences in (4) are grammatical, while those in (5) are not. This shows that the main verbs in (5) do not permit serialization; grammatical, sentential complement constructions with these verbs are given below: 5 'a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. 2.1

Bplá plnnu lati ti iiçkùn. 'Bpla decided to lock the door' 3sg decided Comp lock door Ó bp Ayp pékí ó ti Ûçkùn. 'S/he asked that Ayp lock the door' 3sgask Comp3sglock door Ó ièri lati ti Ûçkùn. 'S/he promised to lock the door' 3sg promise Comp lock door Ó sp pékí Ayp ti Îlçkùn. 'S/he said that Ayp locked the door' 3sg say Comp 3sg lock door Ó gbèròlàtl ti îlçkùn. 'S/he planned to lock the door' 3sg think Comp lock door Ó retí pékí Ayp ti Ûçkùn. 'S/he expected Ayp to lock the door' 3sg expect Comp lock door Ó rántí pé Ayp ti Jçun. 'S/he remembered that Ayp has eaten' 3sgretretrberComp Perf eat.thing Bplá gba pé Qlprun ή bp. 'Bpla agrees that God exists' agree Comp God Prog exist Implicativity

How can we account for the difference between (4) and (5)? Several observations can be made from (3). Verbs of propositional attitude, comment, utterance and perception do not to permit serialization, but aspectual/modality verbs do. For the remaining verb classes in (3), some members participate in serialization while others do not. For instance, among manipulation verbs, only the causative verbs m u 'make' and Jç 'cause/let', serialize. Among verbs of cognition, rantí 'remember' serialize, while the rest do not. What distinguishes the verbs which serialize is the notion of implicativity. Almost all the verbs that can be serialized are implicative, while those that cannot are non-implicative. An implicative verb may be defined in as a verb whose main clause implies the truth of the complement or embedded clause, as in (4a); non-implicative verbs as in (5a) carry no such presupposition: 4a.

Bplá rántí

5a.

remember lock door Bplá pinnu *(látl) ti îlçkùn. 3sg decided Comp lock door

ti ìlpkùn.

'Bpla remembered to lock the door' 'Bpla decided to lock the door'

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The difference is that (4a) asserts that Bçla locked the door, i.e., that (6) is true. (5a), on the other hand, does not make such an assertion. One cannot assert (4a) and deny (6), whereas one can assert (5) and deny (6). 6.

Bçla ti llçkùn. lock door

'Bçla locked the door'

In (4a), what is stated is that Bçla locked the door; this interpretation also obtains in (4c). In (4b) the verb çèçl 'happen' implies that the event of locking the door actually took place; it has been actualized. Likewise (4f), with the verb rójú 'manage/try', asserts that (7) is true: the event actually took place, Bçla actually did the work. 7.

Bçla çe içç nàà. do work Det

'Bçla did the work'

The main verbs in (5/50 are not implicative. Pinnu 'decide', bç 'request', lérí 'promise', sç 'say', gbèrò 'think', retí 'expect', rántí 'remember', and gbà 'take/agree' do not imply that the embedded proposition is true. Thus, (5 'a-f) do not imply that Ayç locked the door. Although (5g) presupposes that Ayç has eaten, rántí 'remember' is not implicative, but factive.1 Now the question is why implicative verbs serialize while non-implicative verbs do not. An answer may be found in Givón 1980. 3. G i v ó n ' s b i n d i n g t y p o l o g y Givón 1980 observes a systematic correlation between the semantics of complement-taking verbs and their syntax. He ranks verbs along the semantic dimension of binding. The syntactic structure of a complement depends on the rank of the main clause verb on the binding scale. The higher a verb, the less its complements tend to resemble an independent/main clause, i.e. complements of verbs which are high on the scale tend to be structurally and syntactically integrated with the main clause. What determines the binding strength of a verb? Complement-taking verbs are grouped into three categories: manipulation, modality, and cognition/utterance. For verbs of manipulation, binding reflects the degree of influence which the main clause agent exerts over the agent of the embedded clause. Binding strength is determined by the degree of success the former has in manipulating/influencing the latter. For modality verbs, where the agent necessarily acts upon himself/herself, Givón suggests that binding may not be related to any influence exerted, but rather to the strength of the agent's purpose to affect the accomplishment of the proposition in the embedded clause. With cognition/utterance verbs, binding strength reflects the degree of emotional commitment exhibited by the subject of the main clause. Givón's study showed that the more the matrix subject is emotionally committed to the outcome encoded in the complement clause, the higher the verb will be on 1

Kart tunen 1971 proposed that factives and implicatives differ with respect to negation. With implicatives but not with factives, negation in the main clause has scope over the presupposition expressed in the complement.

213

Verb serialization in Yorubá and Givón's binding hierarchy

the binding scale and the less likely it is that the complement will be coded as an independent/main clause. He points out, however, that for manipulative verbs, the more emotionally involved the agent is with the outcome, the lower the verb will be on the binding scale. The explanation for this apparent anomaly is that the more successful an agent is in manipulating another agent, the less emotion s / h e has to exert since compliance is guaranteed. Givón (1980:337) defines the semantic dimension of binding thus: binding The stronger the influence exerted over the agent of the complement clause by the agent of the main clause verb, the higher is the main clause verb on the binding scale. independence The higher a verb is on the binding scale, the less is the agent of its complement clause capable of acting independently. success The less independence possessed by the embedded clause agent, and the higher the main clause verb is on the binding scale, the more is the intended manipulation likely to succeed. This predicts that implicative verbs would show up at the top of the scale. Givón states the syntactic coding of binding as follows: The higher a verb is on the binding scale the less would its complement tend to be syntactically coded as an independent or main clause. The binding strength of a verb thus correlates with the degree to which its complement appears syntactically less like an independent or main clause. Givón (1980: 338) makes the following predictions: The higher a verb is on the binding scale, the less is the agent m its complement clause likely to exhibit the case marking characteristic of main clause subjects/agents. The higher a verb is on the binding scale, the less is the verb of its complement clause likely to exhibit the tense-aspect modality markings characteristic of main clauses. The higher a verb is on the binding scale, the more is the verb in its complement clause likely to be predicate raised or lexicalized as one word with the main verb. In all eight languages examined by Givón, implicative verbs, both positive and negative, are found to occupy the very top position; nonimplicative and increasingly emotion-encoding verbs occupy the middle; emotion-encoding verbs occupy a lower position, while non-emotive cognition verbs occupy the very bottom. Among non-manipulative verbs, those of stronger emotional commitment rank higher. This semantic scale is summarized as follows: 8.

success in action

>

emotional commitment

>

epistemic commitment

>

epistemic quantification

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4. The b i n d i n g p r i n c i p l e and v e r b s e r i a l i z a t i o n First, consider the structure of the SVC. The SVC shows the structural characteristics of clauses which occupy the top portion of the binding scale. Three properties of such clauses are: 9a. b. c.

Raising of the embedded agent onto an object-case of the main verb; Lack of independent tense-aspect modality in the complement clause; Predicate-raising with or without co-lexicalization of the verbs.

The fact that embedded clauses are structurally integrated with the main clause is shown in a number of ways. There is no complementizer separating the two clauses. The subject of the lower clause is case-marked as object of the main clause. The second verb cannot take an aspect/tense marker different from that of the first verb. Some of the verbs are predicate-raised while others undergo co-lexicalization. The second verb in a SVC is not syntactically independent; the two verbs together form a unit (Lawal 1987). Therefore, the term embedded clause may not be strictly appropriate for a SVC because the two predicates are fused together to the extent that separating them results in ungrammaticality. Consider the following SVCs: 10a. b.

Ôçelçç nàà ti. do work Det fail Órpjú çe lçç nàà. twist.eye do work Det

'S/he failed to do the work' 'S/he managed to do the work'

The verbs in these SVCs have become somewhat co-lexicalized. Neither the second verb in (10a), nor the first verb in (10b), preserves the intended meaning as an independent predicate: Ila. c.

*Ó tì. fail *Ó rçjù . twist.eye

['S/he failed'; OK as 'Never!'] [OK as 'S/he twisted her/his eye']

In other words, the meaning of the sentences in (10) is not a compositional function of the the meanings of the individual verbs. Also, a SVC behaves like a single proposition. Thus, one cannot assert the first verb without implying the assertion of subsequent verbs; this was illustrated in section 2 above. It is clear that SVCs occupy the top portion of the syntactic coding scale. Thus if Givón is correct, we expect to find that implicative verbs allow serialization, while non-implicative and emotion-encoding verbs do not. We have seen in (4-5) that is the case. 5. C o u n t e r e x a m p l e s Consider some data which appear to counterexemplify the above claims: 12a. b.

*Wçn dí Bçlà lçwç ]çun. 3pl block ní.hand eat.thing Wçn dí Bçlà lywó lati Jçun. 'They prevented Bçla from eating' 3pl block ni.hand Comp eat.thing

Verb serialization in Yorùbà and Givón's binding hierarchy

215

13a. *?Ó fç lati Jçun. 3sg want Comp eat.thing b. Ó fç ç jçun. 'S/he wants to eat' 3sg want Inf eat.thing The SVC in (12a) is ungrammatical, even though the verb d l l ç w ç 'prevent' is implicative, while with the non-implicative verb f ç , the complement clause in (13a) is also ungrammatical.2 How do we explain this? As stated earlier, verbs are ranked according to their binding strength. However, this ranking is not just across groups; it is also applicable within groups. The weaker position of a verb within a group is expressed in its syntactic coding. In conformity with the binding dimension, verbs such as dilç>wp3 whose embedded subject is capable of resistance or volition, occupy a lower position within the group of manipulation verbs than verbs whose embedded subjects are not capable of resistance. (For details see Givón 1980.) This explains why dilpwç cannot serialize. With regard to the non-implicative verb fç 'want', Givón points out that implicative verbs are not the only verbs affected by the binding scale. It was shown that, for modality verbs, binding is related to the strength or commitment of the agent towards the realization of the embedded proposition. Thus verb meaning 'want, if it develops a modality sense, expresses a high degree of commitment, in Yorùba as well as in other languages (e.g. Krio and to a lesser extent English), thus occupies the upper portion of the coding hierarchy. 5.1 Syntactic c o d i n g s t r a t e g i e s i n Y o r ù b à In conformity with the binding hierarchy, the top of the manipulative scale in Yorùbà is coded by the SVC. In terms of structural integration of the complement, this is the highest coding strategy in Yorùbà. For verbs of manipulation, this is illustrated with implicative verbs in (14-15) and with non-implicatives in (16-17): 14a. b. c.

Ó mú Bçla Jçun. 3sg make eat.thing Ó mû Bçla jçun nítipá. 3sg make eat.thing with.force Ó Jç Bçla Jçun. 3sg iet eat.thing

'S/he made Bçla eat' 'S/he forced Bçla to eat' 'S/he let Bçla eat'

2lt is not clear if fç ç Jçun in (13b) should be regarded as a SVC. Some Yorùba linguists would argue that it is not, because the extra vowel after the verb has an independent syntactic function (Ύ. Awóyalé and 'N Aklnnasç, p. c.). None of the established SVCs in the language exhibit the extra vowel. In this/egard, bçrçsl 'begin' may also not take a SVC. 3 DÎlçwç takes the infinitive complementizer lati which is the next higher coding strategy to the SVC. This shows its high, status among nonmanipulative verbs. The hierarchy of coding in Yorubá is: SVC > látl > pékí/kí > tí > pe

216 15a. e.

Lawal *Ó dí Bçla 3sg block Ó dí Bçla 3sg block

Içwç jçun. ní.hand eat.thing lçwç lati Jçun. 'S/he prevented Bçla from eating' ni.hand Comp eat.thing

In (15a), the implicative verb dilçwç 'prevent', whose subject is capable of volition or resistance, is lowest on the manipulative-verb scale, and therefore may not serialize. The use of a complementizer as in (15b) shows that the embedded agent has some degree of independence. 16a. b. c.

Ó sp fún Bçlapékîô Jçun. 3sg say give Comp 3sg eat.thing *Ó sρ fún Bçla lati Jçun. 3sg say give Comp eat.thing "Ó sp fún Bçla Jçun. 3sg say give eat.thing

'S/he told Bçla to eat'

17a.

Ó palaçç fún Bçla pékí ó Jçun. 'S/he ordered Bçla to eat' 3sg order give Comp 3sg eat.thing b. ?*Ó palaçç fún Bçla lati Jçun. 3sg order give Comp eat.thing c. "Ó palaçç fún Bçla Jçun. 3sg order give eat.thing The same pattern is observed for modality verbs: implicatives take SVCs as in (18), while non-implicatives take sentential complements as in (19): 18a. b. c. d. e. 19a. b. 20a. b.

Ó rántí çe lçç. 3sg remember do work Ó fç çe i?ç. 3sg want do work Ó bçrçslçe i?ç. 3sg begin do work Ó çe lçç tán. 3sg do work finish Ó pa I$ç ti. 3sg do work fail/close Ó gba ìyànjù lati çe i?ç. 3sg take exhorting Comp do work Ó gbà lati çe lsç. 3sg take Comp do work "Ó gbaiyànjù çe içç. 3sg take exhorting do work "Ó gbà çe içç. 3sg take do work

'S/he remembered to work' 'S/he wants to work' 'S/he began to work' 'S/he finished working' 'S/he stopped working' 'S/he tried to work' 'S/he agreed to work'

Cognition/utterance verbs occupy the bottom of the binding scale. As expected, they do not permit verb serialization. The upper portion of the cognition-utterance scale in Y o r ú b á is coded with either a p e k l or ki

Verb serialization in Yorùbâ and Givón's binding hierarchy

217

(subjunctive) complement, while the lower portion of the scale is coded as a pé (indicative) complement, as shown below: 'Ayp wants Bpla to come' Áyp fç pékí Bpláwá. 21a. want Comp come 'Ayp expected Bpla to come' Áyp retí pékí Bpláwá. b. expect Comp come 22a. "kyç fç Bpláwá. want come b. *Áyp retí Bpláwá. expect come 'Ayp knows that Bpla came' 23a. kyç mp pé ("kí ) Bplá wá. know Comp come 'Ayp said that Bpla came' kyç sç pé (*kí ) Bplá wá. b. say Comp come 'Ayp remembered that Bpla came' c. kyç rántí pé (*kí ) Bplá wá. remember Comp come 24a. *kyç> mp Bplá wá. know come b. *kyç sç Bpláwá. say come *Áyp rántí Bpláwá. c. remember come 6. Additional e v i d e n c e There are clear examples in Yorùbâ where the semantic difference between an implicative and non-implicative verb, otherwise semantically similar, is matched by the corresponding coding difference between a SVC and non-SVC form.4 Consider the following: 25a. Ó sá fún içç. 'S/he avoided work' (implicative) 3sg run give work b. "Ó sá lati fún lçç. 3sg run Comp give work 25a. Ó kp lati çe 'S/he refused to work' (non-implicative) 3sg refuse Comp do work b. *Ó kp çe lçç. 3sg refuse do work Conclusion Several explanations have been suggested for the occurrence of verb serialization. It is claimed that SVCs result from semantic 'bleaching' of verbs, but this does^ not explain why SVCs occur on such a wide scale in a language like Yorùbâ. Semantic bleaching may affect some verbs in a language but not such a large number. Moreover, semantic bleaching can only 4

Givón has observed a similar phenomenon with the verbs refuse and avoid.

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account for a small number of verbs, such as prepositional and locative constructions, but not for resultative/causative SVCs such as ti NP çubû 'push down', w ç m i gba ògo 'swim and attain glory', J ç u n y ô 'eat to satiation', etc., nor for modality verbs such as those examined above. These verbs maintain their full meanings in SVCs unlike the directional or prepositional cases. Sebba 1987 suggests that serialization compensates for a lack of three-place predicates: [T]he language compensates for this lack by allowing an extra VP within a VP, permitting three-place predicates to map onto a syntactic structure containing two verbs and three NP arguments, instead of one verb with three NP arguments. The first objection is that this does not explain why these languages lack verbs which are three-place predicates. The second objection is that, if there is such a constraint, we would expect it to apply only to verbs which take three arguments. Instead what we find is that the serialization phenomenon is more widespread. Thirdly, terms such as "compensate" and "lack of" suggest that these languages were not able to function successfully at a given time. But if the languages existed, they must have been functioning, so they did not have to change. It is clear from the above that a syntactic constraint may not be the real causal factor in SVC. Rather, serialization seems to arise from semantic and pragmatic factors of the type discussed by Givón 1980. We found that verbs which denote the control of one subject over another, or success of one agent in influencing the action of another (i.e., implicative verbs), or those which denote a high degree of emotional commitment by the subject to a proposition or event (modality verbs), are all able to serialize. Verbs which do not serialize are those which do not denote subject control/success in influencing another agent, or those which denote detachment or lack of emotional commitment towards the outcome of a proposition. Complements of these verbs tend to be sentential rather than serial. Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages University of Îlçrln P. M.B. 1515 Îlçrin, Kwara State, Nigeria References Givón, T. 1980 The binding hierarchy and the typology of complements, Studies in Language 4: 333-77. Karttunen, L. 1971 Implicative verbs, Language 47: 341-58 __ Lawal, S. 'N. 1987 On the syntactic status of the Y o r ù b a serial verbal construction, to appear in Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Sebba, M. 1987 The Syntax of Serial Verbs. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

Chapter 21

On the Haitian predicate cleft construction John Lumsden and Claire Lefebvre, Université du Québec à Montréal This paper will provide an account of a particular type of cleft construction which is found in Haitian creole. The following are examples: 1 la.

b.

Se temanjeli te di Jan t' ap manjepin. that Tns eat 3se Tns say John Tns Asp eat bread 'It was eating bread, that s/he said that John was doing' Se pati Jan di li pati, that leave John say 3sg leave It is really leave, that John said that s/he did'

In the literature, this type of construction is generally called predicate Its properties are the following: 2a. b. c. d. e. f. g.

cleft.

No complements can appear in the defted phrase; no determiner can appear with the clefted phrase; the relation between the clefted phrase and the lower clause obeys subjacency; there is a copy of the predicate in the lower clause; se is obligatory; a Tense marker can appear with the clefted phrase; both intransitive and transitive verbs can be clefted. 2

The predicate cleft should be distinguished from another cleft construction whose clefted element is derived from a verb but which has demonstrable nominal properties. The derived-nominal type can be clearly distinguished in Haitian from the construction described above (cf. Lumsden and Lefebvre 1989, Mufwene 1987): 3a. b. c. d. e.

There may be a complement in the clefted phrase (i.e. a possessor); the clefted phrase may appear with a determiner; the lower clause generally realizes a pronominal verb (i.e. fè 'make'); se is not obligatory; only intransitive verbs can appear in this construction.^

In this paper, we shall discuss only the predicate cleft construction, which has the properties in (2)3 'This paper is part of a larger project on the morphology and syntax of Haitian creole, financed by the CKSH (Canada), FACR (Québec), and the Université du Québec à Montréal. We thank J e a n - R o b e r t Placide, Serge-Antoine Jean-Louis, Marie-Denise Sterlin and Rollande Gilles. 2 In fact only "stage-level" predicates (in the sense of Diesing 1988, Kratzer 1988) can appear in these constructions (cf. Lefebvre 1989, for discussion). 3Filipovich 1987 shows that only intransitive verbs can u n d e r g o morphological conversion to nomináis. 3The predicate cleft constructions discussed in the text must also be carefully distinguished from verb-doubling constructions in Haitian (cf. Piou 1982b). These latter do not require se ana they are always embedded clauses with a temporal or purposive interpretation. The unwary investigator may be confused when verb-doubling clauses are themselves clefted, combining the two constructions. Thus a verb-doubling construction as in (i) may be put into a cleft construction as in (ii): 'The moment s/he arrived, I left' Current

J. Hutchison and V. Manfredi (eds.) 1990 Approaches to African Linguistics 7: 2 1 9 - 2 2 6 (Dordrecht: Foris)

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The Haitian construction has much in common with predicate cleft in Vata. Koopman analyzes the Vata predicate cleft construction as movement of a verb (V o ) to a position of focus, and suggests that the Haitian construction is similar (1984:182). The relevant structure for such an analysis (in the framework of Chomsky 1977) is presented below: 4. S"

Op,'

NP

Infi

VP

V¿ NP In Koopman's account, the verb in the clefted phrase is base-generated and related to the verb in the lower position through a V o operator. The verb in the lower clause is a copy of the original (moved) predicate which must be inserted to avoid a violation of the ECP (Chomsky 1981). The fact of movement explains the pertinence of subjacency, and the fact that it is V o which moves explains why no complements are permitted in the cleft. But such an account does not explain why the form se (analysed as a topic marker) should be obligatory in predicate clefts (but not in nominal clefts) and it allows no account of the possibility of marking the clefted phrase with tense. 4 Another problem with the V°-movement analysis arises from the fact that these constructions are subject to Island constraints (as demonstrated in Piou 1982). Since these constraints are typically described as the result of a maximal projection in a position which blocks the formation of a chain of maximal projections (cf. Ross 1967, Chomsky 1986), they cannot explain why the following predicate cleft is ill-formed if the relation between cleft and lower clause is movement of VÛ, not VP. 5.

*Se krazey y' ap rebâti kay¿ ki¿ te krazey nan tanpèt la. that destroy 3pl Asp rebuild house OP Tns destroy in storm Det

fit is destroy they are rebuilding the house which was destroyed in the storm'] If we say simply that the position which is necessary for the chain in V o movement is blocked by a maximal projection, we must abandon the Structure Preservation Constraint of Emonds 1976. This constraint (which restricts movement of projections to positions which have identical properties) will challenge any analysis which provides that predicate cleft has the same landing site as do other clefts and, at the same time, analyses predicate cleft ii.

Se vini li vini an m pati. 'It is the moment that that come 3sg come DET lsg leave s/he arrived that I left' Although the first part of this construction is superficially similar to a predicate cleft, the required embedding (within the clause m pati) and the particular interpretation make the distinction clear. See Lefebvre and Ritter 1989 on temporal verb-doubling constructions in Haitian. 4 Although Piou 1982a explicitly denies this possibility, our consultants accept such phrases (cf. la), especially if the cleft and the lower clause are not adjacent.

On the Haitian predicate cleft construction

221

as movement of V o . The following example shows that nominal clefts are full phrases, not just heads. The landing site is a maximal projection. 6. Se [kay Jan an],· yo ap rebatí [e];, it house John Det 3pl Asp rebuild 'It is John's house that they are rebuilding' There is a further strong argument against the analysis of these constructions as movement of V^. Long distance VO movement would contravene the Head Movement Constraint (Chomsky 1986: 71): Movement of a zero-level category β is restricted to the position of a head α that governs the maximal projection γ of β, where α 0-govems or L-marks γ if α does not equal C. It should be apparent that in long distance predicate clefts (cf. 1) this constraint cannot be satisfied so as to allow a head to move through the intervening clause(s). There are good reasons to reject an account of these predicate cleft constructions as simply head movement. Something more must be involved. We will argue that there are three relationships required to license the Haitian predicate cleft. These are: 7a. The clefted predicate is predicated of a sentential pronoun subject (se); b. the pronoun (se) is in a chain, co-indexed with the embedded clause; c. the predicate in the embedded clause is related to the chain by head movement to Infi (the head of that clause). This account is based on the idea that predicate clefts are bi-clausal structures (cf. Lumsden 1988, 1989). The clefted element is actually an independent predicate and is only indirectly related to the predicate in the embedded clause. In the next section, we will review an account of the distribution of se in simple clauses. It is this analysis which provides a crucial insight into the use of se in cleft constructions. 1. Se c o n s t r u c t i o n s in H a i t i a n Lumsden (1988, 1989) points to the fact that all clefts can appear with the form se, as evidence for the structure of cleft constructions. The same form se appears in simple clauses in Haitian, as well. Moreover, in simple clauses this form has a particular distribution. In nominal sentence constructions (constructions without a predicate), se is a pronominal form which appears as the head of the clause (Infi). Se is optional in these constructions, just as long as there is a marker of Tense or negation which can realize Infi. 8a. Jan se dòktè. b. Jan (se) te dòktè. John Infi doctor John Infi Tns doctor 'John is a doctor' 'John was a doctor' In contrast, se cannot appear in (most) constructions where there is a predicate: 9a. »Kay la se bèi. b. Kay la bèi. house Det Infi pretty house Det pretty 'The house is pretty' Lumsden argues that in constructions with a predicate, the predicate must move to Infi and se cannot be inserted if Infi is lexically realized.

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However, this pattern has an interesting exception. If the predicate is predicated of an event, se can appear. In these constructions, se is not optional: 10a. Yon moun renmen yon fiy, se nomai, a man like a girl that normal. 'For a man to like a girl, that is normal' b. Yon moun renmen yon fiy, *(se) te nomai, a man like a girl, that Tns normal 'For a man to like a girl, that was normal' Lumsden argues that se here is a sentential pronoun which is the subject of the predication, rather than the head of the matrix clause. The head of the matrix clause is realized (as usual) by the predicate adjective. Thus, in simple clauses, if se appears with a predicate, it is always the subject of predication. This analysis has considerable consequences if we make the natural assumption that there is only one se in Haitian. We would then expect a parallel between the structures of these simple clauses and the structures of cleft constructions. If this is so, it cannot be that se is merely a Topic marker in cleft constructions. Rather, it follows that cleft constructions are bi-clausal, with the predicate phrase as part of the matrix clause. Thus we have an immediate explanation as to why two Tense markers may appear in these constructions (cf. 1, 2f). Moreover, we may conclude that if se appears with a nominal cleft, we have a nominal sentence construction. This explains the optionality of se in these constructions (cf 3d). In contrast, if se appears with a predicate cleft, it is the subject of predication. Thus we can explain why se is not optional in these constructions (cf. 2e). Thus, the idea that there is only one form se in Haitian leads to an immediate explanation of certain aspects of the predicate cleft construction. But not all is so easily accounted for. Why do clefted predicates appear without complements? How is movement involved in these constructions, so as to invoke the island constraints? What is the relation between the clefted predicate and the predicate in the lower clause? We shall address these questions in the next section. 2. A n a l y s i s of p r e d i c a t e cleft The previous section concluded that the structure of the upper clause in predicate cleft constructions is the same as a simple clause with se and a predicate (cf. 7a). The following is an illustration of these structures (in the framework of Chomsky 1986): 11. IP IP' I. Γ' Infi' Pred

a . predication: b. predicate cleft:

I' I

. PredP1 Infi Pred''

Pred" Se nomai [e]. Se pati [e] (li pati).

'It is normal' 'It is leave (that s/he leaves)'

On the Haitian predicate cleft construction

223

Parallel to the simple clause (11a) where se is a sentential pronoun (referring to an event) and the adjective is predicated of the event, similarly the predicate of the predicate cleft construction (1 lb) is predicated of the event signalled by se. In both structures, the predicate has moved to Infi and the pronoun se is in subject position. There is evidence that the clefted phrase here is still a predicate. These phrases can appear with adverbs, as the following examples demonstrate: 12a. Se byen domi Mari te byendomi. that well sleep Marie Tns well sleep 'It is really sleep well that Marie slept well' b. Se mache vit 1' ap mache vit. that walk quickly 3sg Asp walk quickly 'It is really walk quickly that s/he is walking quickly' The idea that se is a sentential pronoun provides the basis of an account of the movement relation between the upper and lower clauses of predicate cleft constructions. We argue that it is se which is coindexed with the lower clause through the mediation of an operator. Thus these predicate cleft constructions are more appropriately named 'clausal clefts', since they focus on the event of the embedded clause. The long distance relation in predicate clefts is not a V o chain, but rather a chain of maximal projections which links an operator to an embedded clause. There is independent evidence to support this perspective. The event which is the subject of predication in the upper clause is exactly that which is described in the lower clause. This is clearly seen in the interpretation of these constructions. In the following examples, the minimal distinction between two possible interpretations of predicate cleft lies in the structure of the embedded clause, not merely the embedded VP. 13a. Se fè Jan (te)fè tab. that make John Tns make tables 'It is make (not paint) that John made tables' [*'It is make tables that John made tables (not paint chairs)] b. Se fè Jan ap fè tab. that make John Asp make tables 'It is making (not painting) that John is making tables' OR 'It is making tables that John is maKing tables (not painting chairs)' Lefebvre 1989 discusses the intimate relation between the interpretation of aspect and the interpretation of predicate cleft constructions. It is clear that the focus of these constructions can be the entire event of the lower clause, and not merely the verb or even just the VP. This perspective suggests a possible explanation for the lack of complements with the clefted predicate. We follow Higginbotham 1985 in supposing that the argument structure of verbs and other predicates includes an Event position. We suppose that it is this 0-role which is assigned to the external argument of the clefted predicate. We assume with others (Jackendoff 1972, Grimshaw 1986) that external θ-roles are assigned according to a thematic hierarchy, θ-roles in a particular argument structure which are higher on this hierarchy must be suppressed before 0-roles which are lower on the hierarchy can be assigned. We make a further and minimal assumption. If Event θ-roles are the lowest ones in this hierarchy, it follows that all other θ-roles must be suppressed before a predicate can assign the

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Event 0-role to se in the cleft construction. Thus we explain why the clefted predicate may not have a complement. What is the structure which relates the sentential pronoun se with the lower clause (cf. 7b)? Our proposal is given in (14): 14a. Se pati Jan di li pati. 'It is leave that John said s/he did' that leave John say 3sg leave b.

DP

IP 1 I'

IPif

Δ

Γ\ .

.

ι V I 1 . Infi*' se

Det

I / X \ Pred Infi patip Δ

/

PredP' 1 1 . Pred'1 1 Pred' (e p )

Op'jt

/I ι r\ IΛ I

NP

I'

N'

I

VP

Ν V Infi Jan diJ Δ

V'

(e,·)

DPjfc / I tk D'jt

/I /-ι I Γ\ IPfc

NP

Ν'

Djt

li

Ijt

Ν V Infi* li pati h Δ

VP V'

(e ft ) As discussed above, se is the subject of predication in the matrix clause. Its antecedent is the operator which appears in the specifier position of the COMP of the upper embedded clause. In Haitian, the sentential complementizer is a determiner, (cf. Lefebvre 1982, Lumsden 1988, 1989). It is this operator which was moved from the specifier of the complementizer of the lower clause and it is this movement which gives rise to the possibility of subjacency violations. It remains to explain the relationship between the predicate in the lower clause and the clefted predicate. We have argued that the clefted predicate is predicated of a pronoun which bears the index of the lower

On the Haitian predicate cleft construction

225

clause. We suggest that the predicate of the lower clause is related to the head of that clause by movement. Thus, the relationship between the two predicates is mediated by the clause. In his analysis of se constructions, Lumsden (1988, 1989) argues that adjectives, tense markers and negation markers may all move to Infi in Haitian. There is additional evidence that predicates move to Infi in data analyzed by Sterlin (1988). For example in (15b), we see that the form pou has moved to Infi (where it has scope over tense), to provide the epistemic reading of modality. 15a. Jan te pou wèMari. b. Jan pou te wè Mari. John Tns Mod see Mary John Mod Tns see Mary 'John had to see Mary' 'John might have seen Mary' Moreover, Lefebvre and Ritter 1989 argue that temporal verb doubling constructions also involve movement to Infi. Thus, it seems that in Haitian, as perhaps in all languages, there is evidence that predicates move to Infi. Since the upper and lower predicates in predicate cleft constructions are thus related through a common Event referent and since events are defined by their predicates, the two predicates in the construction must be identical. Conclusion We have argued above that the predicate cleft construction of Haitian creole cannot be explained as simply V