Tutrugbu (Nyangbo) language and culture 9789004396982

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Tutrugbu (Nyangbo) Language and Culture

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Grammars and Sketches of the World’s Languages

Africa Editor Gerrit J. Dimmendaal (University of Cologne)

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/gswl

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Tutrugbu (Nyangbo) Language and Culture By

James Essegbey

LEIDEN | BOSTON

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The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2019015094

Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill‑typeface. ISSN 2352-9342 ISBN 978-90-04-39698-2 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-39699-9 (e-book) Copyright 2019 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.

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Contents Acknowledgments xi List of Figures and Tables 1

2

xiii

Introduction 1 1.0 The People 1 1.1 Classification 6 1.2 History 8 1.3 The Multilingual Nyangbo Community 1.4 The Roadmap for This Grammar 11 1.4.1 Data 11 1.4.2 Organization of Book 13 Phonology 15 2.0 Introduction 15 2.1 Segmental Inventory 15 2.1.1 Consonant Inventory 15 2.1.2 Vowels 22 2.2 Syllable Structure 25 2.2.1 CV Structure 25 2.2.2 V Structure 26 2.2.3 N-Structure 27 2.2.4 VC-Structure 27 2.2.5 CVC-Structure 28 2.2.6 CCV 28 2.2.7 CwV /CjV-Structure 29 2.2.8 CV.V 30 2.3 Phonological Processes 31 2.3.1 Vowel Harmony 31 2.3.2 Vowel Deletion 44 2.3.3 Consonant Deletion 45 2.3.4 CV-Prefix Deletion 46 2.3.5 Deletion + Epenthesis 46 2.3.6 Raising ɔ to u 48 2.3.7 Homorganic Nasal Assimilation

9

48

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2.4 Tone 49 2.4.1 Lexical Tone 49 2.4.2 Grammatical Tone 62 2.4.3 Tone-Changing Processes 2.5 Conclusion 64 3

4

64

Morphology 65 3.0 Introduction 65 3.1 Reduplication 66 3.2 Inflection 67 3.2.1 The Verb 67 3.2.2 Nominal Dependents 68 3.3 Noun Classes 69 3.3.1 The a-class 73 3.3.2 The ɔ-class 75 3.3.3 The kɛ-class 77 3.3.4 The ka-class 80 3.3.5 The ba-class 82 3.3.6 The ɛ-class 84 3.3.7 The a2-class 86 3.3.8 The bɔ-class 88 3.3.9 The tɛ-class 92 3.3.10 Summary 93 3.4 Derivation 95 3.4.1 Nominal Derivation via Reduplication 3.4.2 Deriving Adjectives from Verbs 95 3.4.3 Derivation via Suffixation 96 3.4.4 Verbal Derivation 97 3.5 Compounding 98 3.5.1 Eleté vs elẽ 99 3.5.2 Eyi 101 3.5.3 Kinship 101 3.5.4 Synthetic Compounds 103

95

The Noun Phrase 105 4.0 Introduction 105 4.1 The Simple Noun Phrase 105 4.1.1 The Nucleus 106 4.1.2 Qualifiers 118 4.1.3 Quantifiers 120

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4.1.4 Determiners 129 4.1.5 Demonstratives 137 4.1.6 Intensifiers 139 4.1.7 Relative Clause 139 4.2 Complex Noun Phrase 143 4.2.1 Possessive Phrase 143 4.2.2 Compound Phrase 145 5

6

The Verb Phrase 147 5.0 Introduction 147 5.1 Lexical Aspect 147 5.2 Tense Aspect Mood 149 5.2.1 Tense 149 5.2.2 Aspect 153 5.2.3 Mood 170 5.2.4 Operator Verbs 175 5.2.5 Middle-Field Adverbials 5.2.6 Directionals 178 5.2.7 Modals 179 5.3 Argument Structure 183 5.3.1 One-Place Verbs 183 5.3.2 Two-Place Verbs 184 5.3.3 Three-Place Verbs 187

176

Adpositional Phrases and Locative Constructions 6.0 Introduction 189 6.1 The Basic Locative Construction (BLC) 189 6.2 The Verbs 190 6.2.1 Kpasɛ 191 6.2.2 Tsiɖi 194 6.2.3 Kana 196 6.2.4 Sɔmɛ 197 6.2.5 Dzi 197 6.2.6 Lɛ 198 6.3 Postpositions 198 6.3.1 Morphology 200 6.3.2 Syntax and Semantics 201 6.4 Prepositions 216

189

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7

Constructions 218 7.0 Introduction 218 7.1 Copula Construction 218 7.1.1 Types of Identity Relation 220 7.1.2 Non-identity Relation 223 7.2 Descriptive Constructions 224 7.2.1 Lɛ 225 7.2.2 Bhɛ́tɛ 226 7.2.3 Dzi 227 7.2.4 Yi 228 7.2.5 Other Descriptive Constructions 229 7.3 Serial Verb Constructions (SVC) 231 7.3.1 Event Sequence 236 7.3.2 Instrumental/Material-SVC 236 7.3.3 Manner and Directional Motion 238 7.3.4 Directional Motion 238 7.3.5 Caused Motion 241 7.3.6 Dative SVC 242 7.3.7 Comparative SVC 242 7.3.8 Aspectual SVC 244 7.3.9 Summary 244 7.4 Coordinate Clausal Constructions 244 7.4.1 Conjunction 244 7.4.2 Adversative 248 7.4.3 Disjunction 249 7.5 Subordinate Clauses 250 7.5.1 The Complement Clause 250 7.5.2 Adverbial Clauses 255

8

Sentence Types 268 8.0 Introduction 268 8.1 Declaratives 268 8.2 Interrogatives 270 8.2.1 Polar Questions 270 8.2.2 Content Questions 277 8.3 Imperatives 291 8.3.1 Positive Imperatives 291 8.3.2 Prohibitive 292 8.3.3 Cultural Contexts of Use 293

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9

Information Structure 296 9.0 Introduction 296 9.1 Topic 296 9.2 Focus 298 9.2.1 Focusing Pronominal Arguments 300 9.2.2 Focusing Lexical Arguments 302 9.3 Contrastive Topic 311 9.4 Cleft Construction 314 9.4.1 Argument Cleft Construction 314 9.4.2 Predicate Cleft Constructions 315 9.5 Conclusion 317

10

Routine Activities 319 10.0 Introduction 319 10.1 Greetings 319 10.1.1 Informal Greeting 320 10.1.2 Formal Greeting 321 10.2 Spinning Yarn 326 10.3 Female Initiation Rite 336 10.4 Funeral Rites 344 10.4.1 Funeral Libation 345 10.4.2 Chief Meets with Bereaved Family

358

References 367 Index of Names 378 Index of Subjects 380

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Acknowledgments This book has taken over fifteen years to write, and has only succeeded due to the efforts of many people. First and foremost is Felix Ameka who has been with the book project from the beginning, and breathed life into it when it almost died. In 2003, he got me started on the documentation of Tutrugbu in his Southern Ghana-Togo Mountains Languages (GTM) Project. Although I left Leiden University the following year to work at the University of Florida, I was able to continue work on the project with his support. Later, a conflict arose among the community because of the project, and Felix took me to see some chiefs to defuse the situation. Once I began to write the chapters, he became my reviewer and critic, and made sure that I defended every point I made on the pages. I am also deeply indebted to the Nyangbo community for their assistance during the documentation of the language. Togbe Osunu VI, the late chief of Nyangbo Odumase, was among the first people to welcome me to Nyangbo. He took me to meet the rest of the chiefs and regents who all welcomed me warmly. The late Mr. Victor Amedegbor, then Regent of Gagbeƒe, played a role in the choice of the elders with whom I worked. He also facilitated my access to other members of the community. The elders are Madam Christina Glover, Mr. Ben Ahundjo and Mr. Walter Agameti. I had several recording sessions with them on cultural and language information. Unfortunately, they have all passed away. The Regent of Sroe, Mr. George Akorsihu, and his spokesperson, Tsyiami Agoro, discussed chieftaincy among the Sroe people. The Regent of Odumase, Mr. Godwin Krakadi, and the regent of the spokesperson, Mr. Dickson Haka Agameti, also talked to me about the culture and occupations of the Nyangbo people. Prof. Kofi Glover at University of South Florida in Tampa helped me transcribe my first recordings on my return from the field. I would also like to acknowledge the hospitality of the late Mr. Anku Tusah, the Regent of Emli, and his brothers Mr. Kodzo Tusah and Mr. Godwin Tusah who provided accommodation for me in Emli, and made my stay comfortable. Although they also provided me with data, I was not able to use them in the grammar because of the conflict that I alluded to above. Outside of the chiefs, their spokespersons, and regents, several members of the Nyangbo community played important roles in teaching me Tutrugbu. First is Judith Glover who took over as my principal language consultant following the passing of Togbe Osunu VI, and worked with me to the very end. She was superbly assisted by Mr. John Ayawli who often traveled with me to the other Nyangbo towns. Next is Cynthia Morkporkpor Eddeh who came by to

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xii

acknowledgments

help with Esinam and Mawuena when the other two were not available, and whose phone number I have called on several occasions for one clarification or the other. Other members of the community whom I recorded are Mr. Vincent Tumfuor, Mr. Paul Glover, Mr Traughod Ametefe, Mr. Richard Adenu, Mr. Alexander Adenu, and Bonny Kofi, who have all passed away, Miss Dora Adenu, Miss Sitsofe Agameti, Mrs. Dora Addeh Agameti, Miss Evelyn Agbate, Mr. Alfred Ankrah, Mr. Richmond Odenku, Mr. Richard Sraha, Mr. Lawrence Akyem, Miss Bernice Atiedu, Miss Grace Odani and Mr. Kofi Ntem. Some students whom I also recorded are Kafui Boadzra, Seyram Agameti, Ruth Atiedu, Junior Wilson Akator and Beatrice Aboni. Rev. Fr. Adjoe and I discussed data at the early stages of the project. Outside of the language community, the teachers of the Odumase Primary and Junior Secondary School, notable among whom are the late Mr. Vincent Osei, Mr. Collins Kpo, Mr. Dogbe and Miss Mary Egbadewoe, helped with appointments. I am also highly indebted to Adam McCollum who contributed tremendously to the analysis in the Phonology chapter, including working on the spectrographs and the map of the Nyangbo towns. I also had discussions with Mercy Bobuafor and Kofi Dorvlo, who were also part of the Southern GTM Project. Mercy Klugah and Dodzi Kpoglu drew the initial GTM map. Dorothy Agyepong read and commented on the chapters, and George Akanlig-Pare discussed the phonology chapter. Towards the end, my most delightful friend, Jean DCosta, polished the language in Chapter 1. My family has been particularly supportive. Joscelyn has not only read and commented on some of the chapters but she has also helped with the formatting. Sika and Senanu endured the several times I was away doing fieldwork. I received the following funding support over the years to do the work: The Southern Ghana-Togo Mountain Languages Project, funded by the Netherlands Science Foundation (NWO) (2003), the Documentation of Nyangbo Project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF #0651800) (2007–2009), and the Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Fund (2007 & 2009). Finally, I would like to thank Gerrit Dimmendaal, the editor for the Grammars and Sketches of the World’s Languages series, for his infinite patience, and to his team for making this book a reality. This includes a big thank you to Jan Knipping and Gertrud Schneider-Blum for help with proof-reading, and to Monica Feinen for drawing the final version of the GTM map (Fig. 1 in Chapter 1). To everyone and every organization, I say wɔnɔ bhit’ ibui oo!

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Figures and Tables Figures 1 2 3 4 5a 5b 6a 6b 7a 7b 8a 8b 9a 9b 10a 10b 11a 11b 12a 12b 13a 13b 14a 14b 15a 15b 16a 16b 17 18a 18b 19a 19b 20a

Location of Nyangbo towns in Ghana (Map by Monika Feinen) 2 The Nyangbo towns 3 The trilingual configuration in Ghana, n indicates that the number of possible languages in a category is indefinite 10 Representation of Tutrugbu vowels 24 ɔbha ‘side’ 50 kabha ‘top’ 50 tɔ ‘become tired’ 51 ba ‘cheat’ 51 kɛbwɛ ‘a little’ 52 kabwɛ́ ‘bile’ 52 tsi ‘crawl’ 53 tsí ‘die’ 53 nɛ ‘become wide’ 54 nɛ́ ‘PREP’ 54 ɔnyɔ ‘bow’ 55 ɔnyɔ́ ‘smoke’ 55 ɔkɔ ‘custom’ 56 ɔkɔ́ ‘place’ 56 tɔ ‘become tired’ 57 tɔ ‘cook’ 57 wulu ‘blow’ 58 wulu ‘bath’ 58 butsi ‘broth’ 59 butsí ‘death’ 59 kivũ ‘day removed’ 60 kivǔ ‘drum’ 60 ozĩ ‘hole’ 61 ezĩ ‘thief’ 61 kpâ ‘become dry’ 62 Statement intonation 271 Question intonation 271 Statement intonation 272 Question intonation 272 Statement intonation 273

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xiv 20b 21a 21b 22

figures and tables Question intonation 273 Statement intonation 274 Question intonation 274 Question intonation 276

Tables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27a 27b 28

Population of people in Tutrugbu-speaking townships Gender classification 4 Trade classification 5 Age classification 6 Words for meat in GTM languages 7 Consonants in Tutrugbu 16 Labialized and labial-palatalized consonants 21 Tutrugbu vowels with examples 23 Nasalized vowels with examples 25 Pronominal prefixes 32 Noun-class prefixes in Tutrugbu 33 Some a-class words 74 Some ɔ-class words 77 Some kɛ-class words 79 Some ka-class words 83 Some ba-class words 84 Some ɛ-class words 87 Some a2-class words 89 Some bɔ-class words 91 Some tɛ-class words 94 Properties of noun classes 94 Noun phrase structure 106 Personal pronouns 109 Concordial pronouns 116 Cardinal numbers in Tutrugbu 123 BLC verbs in Tutrugbu 191 Most grammaticalized postpositions 201 Less grammaticalized postpositions 201 Pre-core constituents 297

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chapter 1

Introduction 1.0

The People

Spoken by a people who name themselves Batrugbu, the Tutrugbu language occurs in nine townships located in the Volta Region of Ghana: Gagbeƒe (Kedadame), Esroe/Sroe (Banya), Fiaƒe, Konda (Begbe), Odumase, Agordome, Nyigbe, Kume, and Emli (Bazɛ). The map of Ghana (Fig. 1) shows the towns lying between 6.5781°N and 0.4785°E. Both the language and its speakers are known officially, however, as Nyangbo (or Nyagbo). Lying on a major route linking the capital, Accra, to northern Ghana, the towns are bordered to the south by an Ewe-speaking township, Have. To the northeast lie Konda, Fiaƒe and Sroe in the Ghana-Togo mountains; the other townships lie in the valley along the highway (see Fig. 2). To the northeast lies the Avatime community, and to the northwest lie the Tafi communities. In 2003 the number of speakers was estimated at 6,400 (see Ethnologue, Simons and Fening, 2018). In contrast, my own survey conducted in 2007 yielded a significantly smaller number. This survey (broken down by age, gender, and occupation) presents data regarding the numbers of Nyangbo people living and working outside of the area, as well as those of non-Nyangbo residents (see Table 1 for classification, and Tables 2–4 for subsets by age, gender, and occupation). Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E

Nyangbo people who live in their hometown Nyangbo people who have moved to other (non-Nyangbo) towns Nyangbo people from this town who live in other Nyangbo towns Nyangbo people from other towns who live in this town Non-Nyangbo people who live in the town

Table 1 shows that the total number of people connected to Tutrugbu, including foreigners who reside in the area, is 4680. Of these, 275 (5.88 %) are foreigners while 2176 (46.50%) are native Nyangbo people who live outside the area. Some townships have a larger percentage of the population living outside the Nyangbo area. Konda, with 54.43%, has the highest percentage of natives living outside the town followed by Sroe with 53.75%, although the latter has the highest actual number of speakers outside. Odumasi and Konda also have more natives living and working outside than residing in the towns. The table also

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_002

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figure 1

chapter 1

Location of Nyangbo towns in Ghana Map by Monika Feinen

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introduction

figure 2

3

The Nyangbo towns Map by Adam McCollum

shows that Konda and Fiaƒe, which are located in remote mountain areas, do not have foreigners in their midst. Table 2 shows that Fiaƒe has the largest gender imbalance with 55.60 % female followed by Odumase with 53%. Sroe has the closest gender balance with 50.21% male population and 49.79% female population. This is followed by Gagbeƒe which has 50.96% female population and 49.04% male population. The questionnaire on profession was rather rudimentary. It simply sought to establish whether the people were farmers (a major occupation of the area), traders, or were engaged in another trade. The results are provided in Table 3. Table 4 shows that the majority of the Nyangbo people are below forty years. In fact, many of the people with whom I worked to document the language have passed away, notable among whom is the late Togbe Osunu VI, who was my first language consultant and field assitant. Togbe Osunu VI was the chief of Odumasi and the headteacher of the town’s elementary school when first I arrived there. Interested for many years in the documentation of the language, he had kept a diary in Nyangbo while a student at the teacher training college (cf. Essegbey 2015). Tragically, he passed away in 2004 (see acknowledgments).

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4 table 1

chapter 1 Population of people in Tutrugbu-speaking townships

Towns

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Total

Agordome

204 43.97% 42 42.86% 144 62.07% 274 44.05% 391 45.57% 151 65.37% 362 48.20% 114 48.10% 500 42.12% 2182 46.62%

184 39.66% 31 31.63% 88 37.93% 235 37.78% 467 54.43% 61 26.41% 388 51.66% 84 35.44% 638 53.75% 2176 46.50%

1 0.22% 2 2.04% 0 0.00% 4 0.64% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 0 0.00% 1 0.42% 5 0.42% 13 0.28%

12 2.59 % 0 0.00 % 0 0.00 % 5 0.80 % 0 0.00 % 7 3.03 % 0 0.00 % 10 4.22 % 0 0.00 % 34 0.73 %

63 13.58 % 23 23.47 % 0 0.00 % 104 16.72 % 0 0.00 % 12 5.19 % 1 0.13 % 28 11.81 % 44 3.71 % 275 5.88 %

464 9.91 % 98 2.09 % 232 4.96 % 622 13.29 % 858 18.63 % 231 4.94 % 751 16.05 % 237 5.06 % 1187 25.36 % 4680 100 %

Emli Fiaƒe Gagbeƒe Konda Nyigbe Odumasi Kume Sroe Total

table 2

Gender classification

Towns

Female

Male

Total

Agordome

248 53.45 48 48.98 129 55.60 305 49.04 438 51.05

216 46.55 50 51.02 103 44.40 317 50.96 420 48.95

464

Emli Fiaƒe Gagbeƒe Konda

98 232 622 858

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introduction Table 2

Gender classification (cont.)

Towns

Female

Male

Total

Nyigbe

123 53.25 398 53.00 124 52.32 591 49.79 2404

108 46.75 353 47.00 113 47.68 596 50.21 2276

231

Odumase Okume Sroe Total

table 3

751 237 1187 4680

Trade classification

Towns

Farmer

Student

Teacher

Trader

Other

Total

Agordome

67 17.22 19 26.03 39 16.39 110 21.07 132 15.07 60 28.17 109 14.48 48 24.24 193 16.89 777

154 39.59 15 20.55 91 38.24 177 33.91 302 34.47 87 40.85 276 36.65 56 28.28 75 6.56 1505

22 5.66 0 0.00 4 1.68 18 3.45 4 0.46 2 0.94 4 0.53 8 4.08 75 6.56 137

29 7.46 18 24.66 33 13.87 57 10.92 127 14.40 21 9.86 4 0.53 24 12.12 138 12.07 451

117 30.08 21 28.77 71 29.83 160 30.65 311 35.50 43 20.19 360 47.81 62 31.31 390 34.12 1535

389

Emli Fiaƒe Gagbeƒe Konda Nyigbe Odumase Okume Sroe Total

73 238 522 876 213 753 198 1143 4405

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chapter 1

table 4

Age classification

Towns

0–10

11–20

21–30

31–40

41–50

51+

Total

Agordome

86 22.11 10 13.70 50 21.01 94 18.01 160 18.26 36 16.90 158 20.98 41 20.71 215 18.81 850

87 22.37 8 10.96 50 21.01 110 21.07 190 21.69 52 24.41 161 21.38 35 17.68 181 15.84 874

71 18.25 14 19.18 60 25.21 88 16.86 173 19.75 42 19.72 147 19.52 44 22.22 179 15.66 818

50 12.85 21 28.77 44 18.49 84 16.09 147 16.78 43 20.19 123 16.33 27 13.64 216 18.90 755

48 12.34 11 15.07 18 7.56 61 11.69 82 9.36 32 15.02 85 11.29 26 13.13 159 13.91 522

47 12.08 9 12.33 16 6.72 85 16.28 124 14.16 8 3.76 79 10.49 25 12.63 193 16.89 586

389

Emli Fiaƒe Gagbeƒe Konda Nyigbe Odumase Okume Sroe Total

1.1

73 238 522 876 213 753 198 1143 4405

Classification

Tutrugbu is one of “a group of fifteen languages spoken by groups or polities that inhabit the Akuapem-Togo-Atakora hills … [The] hills begin in southeastern Ghana ranging in a southwest-northeast line across the Ghana-Togo border and continuing eastward across the Togo-Benin border into the Niger Delta” (Ameka 2017: 239). Struck (1912) first called the languages Togorestsprachen, which was translated in English as Togo Remnant languages by Westermann and Bryan (1952). According to Dakubu and Ford (1988: 119), this name “reflects the opinion of early writers that the people who speak these languages […] represent populations that existed in the area before the arrival of the peoples who now occupy the plains around them.” Ameka (2017: 241) thinks the name rather reflects the “distinct features [of the languages] with respect to their neighbors.” Dakubu and Ford (1988) called the languages Central-

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introduction table 5

Words for meat in GTM languages

Language

S.

Adele Upper Adele Lower Anii Gilembulnya Giseme Logba Lefana Siwu Sɛkpɛle Sɛlɛɛ Avatime Nyangbo Tafi Ikpɔsɔ Ikpɔsɔ Uwi Wuli Igo Kebu Animere

gɪnà gɪ̀ -nàn ǹtáŋkɔ̀ gì-nã ́mà ǹtànkpà ìnɔ lɛ́ -ná si-na sínə̀ sinà kīdzɛ̀ kɛjǎ kɪ̀ -jà ɛ́ ɣa ɪ́ ɣa sɛ̀ -kɛ́ náʔ ìkà gà-kə̂ kɪkâʔ

Pl.

bɪ̀ -nàn atáŋkɔ̀ ì-nã ́mà àtànkpà

mi-na bínə̀ bīdzāwɛ̀ bɔjǎ àjà

àkà ʊ-kà-kpə̂

Togo languages which they characterize as “strictly geographical […] and without debatable historical implications.” Since Ring (1995), the languages have been referred to as Ghana-Togo Mountain (GTM) languages, a designation which Heine (2017) considers more appropriate, and which is used in this book. Heine (1968) proposed that the GTM languages form a genetic unit which is subclassified into NA and Togo branches based on the word for meat. The following update of Heine’s dataset is provided by Blench (2009: Table 3). Challenges to this classification have, however, arisen: Heine (2017: 275) offers the following succinct review: Leaving aside attempts by Rongier (1997) to link some GTM languages mainly on typological grounds with Gur languages such as Cala and Dilo, a major challenge was that by Bennet and Sterk (1997). These authors main-

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chapter 1

tained that NA and KA should be separated, being more closely related to other groups of Kwa (‘Western South Central Niger-Congo’) than to each other. That the two branches should be assigned to different sub-branches of Niger-Congo was also claimed by Stewart (1989: 221), who included the NA branch within his Potou-Tano group (which also contains e.g. Akan) and the KA branch within the Left Bank group (which has Gbe as one of its members). Heine points out that a more recent reconstruction by Blench (2009) is a partial confirmation of his earlier classification while noting some problems such as the internal diversity of the group. Dakubu (2017) argues that there is evidence to make the notion of GTM as a genetic group plausible. Heine (2017: 280) concludes: “historical linguistics has not made much headway in the study of GTM languages, and future work in this area is well advised to focus on reconstructions based on the comparative method in language groups where this is possible rather than engaging in large-scale comparisons which are beyond the scope of this method.” This detailed study of Tutrugbu provides the basis of such comparison in the future. Just like the classification, the number of GTM languages has also changed over time. Thus while Avatime, Tafi and Tutrugbu (Nyangbo) were once considered close to be a possible unit, Tutrugbu and Tafi have for the most part been treated as two dialects of a single language. Funke (1910) for instance writes “Nyangbo-Tafi is so closely related with Avatime that both [ethnic groups] are able to communicate well,” and “[there are close relations between Nyangbo and Tafi] which are promoted by the fact that both speak very close dialects of one language.” Blench (2009: 3) writes that although the number of GTM languages is usually given as fourteen, “it now seems that dialect differences are so significant that more should be recognized.” Some of these differences, as well as similarities, particularly between Tutrugbu, Tafi and Avatime, which support differentiating between them are explored at different places in the grammar.

1.2

History

Nugent (2005: 32–33) writes that the GTM area: has historically been a place of refuge for peoples escaping the threat of warfare and/or enslavement. […] Although the mountains attracted waves of outsiders, they also provided a home for peoples who used their

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terrain to protect their independence and who came to think of themselves as the autochthons, that is as people who have always been there. Of course, this identity would have been strengthened by the arrival and departure of successive groups of refugees and would-be settlers, including the various Ewe sub-groups and other members of the central Togo minorities. This distinction between autochthons and migrants is woven in the oral traditions of the people of the area. Brydon (1981, 2008), for instance, reports that the oral tradition of the Avatime people recount migration from southwestern Ghana to their present location where they met and subdued the Baya. Nugent (2000) also reports that Likpe oral tradition contains an account of a migrant group meeting the Todome and Bakwa people at the current location (see Ameka 2009 for linguistic reflexes that support this account). Harley (2005) also reports that his research suggests that the Bowiri migrated from Mowiri (also referred to as Moree) in southwestern Ghana. The Nyangbo people also have oral traditions that involve migration. Funke (1910) for instance reports that the Nyangbo first settled in the Anum landscape of the Volta Lake although Heine (1968) argues that the settlement was fifteen kilometers further south. Heine, who interviewed the Paramount Chief of Nyangbo mentions Efutu “a small village to the north-west of Cape Coast.” The narration includes a settlement in the Agu mountains of Togo before the Nyangbo finally moved to their current location. My attempt to incorporate the oral traditions of the Nyangbo and the Emli (who claim to be the true autochthons) led to serious conflict. Consequently, no such discussion has been pursued here (see Adjoe 2011; Essegbey 2011), and the grammar includes no material from the Emli people.

1.3

The Multilingual Nyangbo Community

In African communities, multilingualism forms the wellspring of all linguistic activity (see Bamgboṣe 1991; Djité 2008; McLaughlin 2009; Lüpke and Storch 2013; Lüpke 2017, etc.). Dakubu (1997: 33) writes: It is true that in many places in Africa today, observable language practice may be described by a three-term system of languages, among which choices are made on a scale that balances group solidarity against economic efficiency in a rather complex way, for example, English-SwahiliLuganda in Kampala, French-Jula-Ebrie in Abidjan, or English-Akan-Ga in Accra. The most obvious common feature of these systems is geograph-

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figure 3

The trilingual configuration in Ghana, n indicates that the number of possible languages in a category is indefinite

ical: with respect to the town involved, the languages are used in progressively less location-specific domains and have arrived from increasingly more distant places of origin. Guided by this model of language behavior, Dakubu (1997: 33) proposes the model in Figure 3 for Ghana’s trilingual situation. The interrelationship of the languages follows clear functional paths: “[the] second language (L2) is filled by languages of wider communication including the officially recognized languages for use in education and in local and district administration, and other vehicular languages which lack official recognition” (Ameka 2016: 74–75). In the Nyangbo context, the L1 is Tutrugbu while the L2 is Ewe. Every Nyangbo adult in our survey spoke at least Ewe in addition to Tutrugbu. This is not surprising. The role of Ewe as a second language used for wider communication arises from the geographical and institutional mapping of the area. To the north and south lie centers of official authority dominated by Ewe: Hohoe, the district capital in the north, and to the south, the regional capital, Ho. In the Ewe-speaking towns of Kpeve (to the south) and Logba Alakpeti (to the north), the Nyangbo people regularly attend markets where locals and visiting traders communicate in Ewe. Most medical treatment also requires Ewe, given that major clinics and hospitals are located in Ho, or Anfoega and Kpando to the east. It is only in recent time that a health center has been established in Gagbeƒe, the seat of the paramountcy: the medical staff comprising a midwife and nurses are, however, Ewe speakers who lack Tutrugbu. Consequently, all of the discourse at the center occurs in Ewe. The domain of L2 languages also includes those languages officially recognized for use in education (Ameka, ibid.). Among the Nyangbo, Ewe is used from kindergarten to the third year of primary school. Ewe is used in churches

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also: the local Evangelical Presbyterian Church uses a Bible and hymnal in Ewe, as I discovered when I attended a naming ceremony for a child. The sermon and prayers were also said in Ewe. As we have already seen, all Nyangbo reported that they speak Ewe, but very few foreigners over the age of twenty speak Tutrugbu. In Agordome, for instance, fifteen out of nineteen adult foreigners did not speak Tutrugbu. Only four adults, three of whom were from an area where Sɛlɛɛ, another GTM language is spoken, said they spoke Tutrugbu. By contrast, there were ten children from outside the area (ranging in age from four to sixteen) who spoke Tutrugbu. The situation differs little in other towns where non-native Nyangbo people live. Akorfafame, however, provides an outlier. Here, a survey of 122 people reveals that although eleven non-native adults said they did not speak Tutrugbu, nine said that they did: these speakers make up almost half of the town’s non-native population who have acquired the language. The issue, then, is how do Nyangbo people fare with regard to the trilingual configuration given above? In Fiaƒe (which had no foreigners), 83 people spoke three or more languages. Those who spoke Ewe and English in addition to Tutrugbu numbered 82, while only one person spoke Akan in place of English. Twenty-four people said they spoke four or more languages and, for these people, the fourth language was always Akan. In Sroe, 313 people who spoke three or more languages said they spoke Ewe and Akan in addition to Tutrugbu. Twenty-two spoke Akan instead of English while three spoke Ga instead. One person spoke Avatime while another spoke Hausa. The situation is no different from that of Konda, where 104 people (who said they spoke three or more languages) spoke Ewe and English. Thirteen respondents said that their third language was Akan rather than English. While one of these people was 45 years old and another 50 years old, the rest were 60 years and above. They no doubt lacked formal education, by which one acquires English (Dakubu 1997). Interestingly, one parent reported that their five-year old twin girls spoke Tutrugbu and Akan only, while a sixteen year old boy reported that he spoke Tutrugbu and English, but no Ewe. The linguistic situation therefore overwhelmingly supports Dakubu’s trilingual model.

1.4

The Roadmap for This Grammar

1.4.1 Data As stated in the acknowledgments, materials for this grammar were collected from 2003 through 2018 during three immersive fieldtrips to Nyangbo, undertaken by me, and two trips to Gainesville, Florida, undertaken by my princi-

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pal research consultant, Madam Judith Glover. The materials comprise video and audio recordings of spontaneous spoken texts of various genres, as well as elicited texts. The spontaneous discourse include conversations involving speakers of both genders, several age groups and statuses. For example, two adult males and one woman discuss the customary practices of the Nyangbo from Odumasi (Odumasi Customs), and the same people discuss the clans in Odumasi and who has access to the throne as well as other positions in the town (Odumasi clans). I also have a recording of the Regent of the Paramount Chief and his Spokesperson addressing a bereaved family (chief-and-bereavedfamily), the Chief of Sroe and his Spokesperson welcoming my research consultants and me, and telling us about chieftaincy in the area (Esroe-July-20-2008). There are also recordings of customary practices such as the funeral rites of the spokesperson of a Queenmother (Funeral_QML) and the pouring of libation (Libation-HK). Some Nyangbo people were recorded discussing their trade. This includes a demonstration of how to tap palm wine (palm wine), herbs around the Nyangbo area, and the ailments they are used to treat (Odumasi Herbs), and the spinning of yarn among Nyangbo women, which is a practice that has almost disappeared (Spin-cotton). I supplemented the spontaneous data with elicited data which I collected using standardized stimuli mostly developed by the Language and Cognition Group of the Max Planck Institute of Psycholinguistics (MPI), Nijmegen, the Netherlands, for the investigation of semantics and cognition. These include “cut and break” videoclips developed by Bohnemeyer et al. (2000) which are a set of videoclips developed for the elicitation of the syntax and semantics of verbs which express separation in the material integrity of objects; the Topological Relation Picture Series (TRPS), developed by Melissa Bowerman and Eric Pederson (Bowerman and Pederson 1992); Pictures Series for Positional Verbs (PSPV), developed by Ameka et al. (1999); and stimuli developed by Skopeteas et al. (2006) for eliciting focus constructions (Focus). Also used for elicitation is Frog Where Are You? (Mayer 1969), (Frog Story), a wordless picture story book about a boy who loses his pet frog and sets out to look for it. Finally, I elicited direct information based on questionnaires for linguistic and cultural fieldwork of Bouquiaux and Thomas (1992) and Comrie and Smith (1977). Many of the recordings are archived at the The Language Archive (TLA), and the rest is being prepared for archiving at the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR). The data in this grammar is presented on three or four tiers. Just like most spontaneous speech, Tutrugbu speech contains a lot of deletions and contractions. This does not happen when the sentences are elicited. When an example involves a lot of deletions or contractions, a tier will be given to

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this speech. This is followed by another tier on which all the morphemes are fleshed out. The morpheme tier is followed by the gloss tier which is in turn followed by the free translation tier. Where a sentence is elicited and does not have much contraction, then the speech tier is left out in order to reduce redundancies. Examples will therefore be presented either as (a) or (b): (a) any’ álɛ́ m’ɔpã ́m a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ mɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM1-man AM-be_at 1SG:IND CM8-house inside ‘The man is in my house.’ (b) a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ ke-plukpá nɔ́ CM-man=DEF 3SG:IND AM-take CM4-book DEF ‘The man took the book.’ 1.4.2 Organization of Book Tutrugbu, like most GTM languages is an SVO language whose grammatical relations are, for the most part, determined by constituent order. Morphemes are mostly agglutinating, and simple sentences are “coextensive with words” (Kenesei 2007:2). The book is organized as follows: Chapter 2 is about Tutrugbu phonology. In this chapter, I discuss, among others, segmental inventory, syllable structure, phonological processes, including vowel harmony and syllable deletions, and tone. Chapter 3 covers the morphology of Tutrugbu. The key issues discussed include noun classes, derivational processes, including reduplication, and different types of compounding. Chapter 4 covers the noun phrase. Topics covered in this chapter include constituents of the noun phrase such as qualifiers, quantifiers and determiners. Also discussed are pronouns, and complex NPs which involve coordination. Chapter 5 is about the verb phrase. Here, tense, aspect, mood and modal markers are discussed together with the different argument structures in Tutrugbu. Chapter 6 discusses adpositional phrases and the basic locative construction (BLC). This chapter asserts that Tutrugbu possesses both prepositions and postpositions in the sense of Ameka (2003a). It also explores the semantics of verbs that occur in the BLC and the semantics of postnominal items that function as postpositions. Chapter 7 is about the major constructions in Tutrugbu. These include copula and descriptive constructions, and serial verb constructions (SVCs), coordinate clausal construction, subordinate clauses and adverbial clauses. Chapter 8 is about sentence types and covers mainly declarative and interrogative types. Chapter 9 covers information packaging in Tutrugbu. The topics discussed

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here are Topic, Focus, Contrastive Topic, and cleft constructions. The book concludes with chapter 10, which presents some communicative and selected culturally-recognized activity types in the sense of Levinson (1979).

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chapter 2

Phonology 2.0

Introduction

This chapter discusses Tutrugbu phonology. Section 2.1 looks at the segmental inventory, 2.2 discusses the syllable structure, 2.3 discusses phonological processes while in section 2.4 discusses tone.

2.1

Segmental Inventory

I begin with a discussion of consonants and their properties in section 2.1.1, and then vowels and their properties in 2.1.2. 2.1.1 Consonant Inventory Tutrugbu has a total of 49 phonetic consonant segments which are shown in Table 6. As we shall soon see, not all the consonants are indigenous to the language. Also, a number of them are allophonic variants. The following convention, which is mostly based on the Standard Ewe orthography, is used to represent the special symbols: /ɸ/ /ʃ/ /ʒ/ /tʃ/ /dʒ/ /ɦ/ /ɲ/

→ → → → → → →

⟨ƒ⟩ ⟨sh⟩ ⟨zh⟩ ⟨tsy⟩ ⟨dzy⟩ ⟨h⟩ ⟨ny⟩

Labialized consonants are written as a sequence of the consonant and u, except the labialized voiceless velar stop and fricative which are written [kw] and [xw] respectively. Also, nasalization is not represented for liquids and continuants (except where necessary for illustrative purposes) because, as I discuss below, nasalization is not phonemic where these sound segments are concerned. Let us now take a detailed look at the consonants. Although the discussion is organized according to the place of articulation, I leave labialization for the end.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_003

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table 6

Consonants in Tutrugbu

Bilabial

Stops Aspirated Labialized Fricatives Labialpalatalized Labialized Affricates Labialized Nasals Labialized Liquids labialized Approximant

p pw ɸ

Labio- Dental Alveolar dental

b bh bw

t d tw f

v

PostAlveolar

Palatal

ɖ

s

z

ʃ

ʒ

ʃw

ʒw

Velar

Labial- Glottal velar

k

kp

kw x

g

gb

kpw ɦ

fɥ

m mw

ts dz tsw dzw n

xw tʃ dʒ tʃw dʒw ɲ

ɦw

ŋ

l/l̃/r lw y/ỹ

w/w̃

2.1.1.1 Bilabials Tutrugbu has bilabial plosives and a nasal. Unlike the Gbe languages in which words with the voiceless bilabial stop /p/ are borrowed, there are many words in Tutrugbu with a /p/ which do not show evidence of being borrowed. Examples are tɛpɛ̃ ‘feces’, plǔ ‘wash’, and kɛpláwí ‘vagina’. The voiced counterpart /b/ occurs in words like bu ‘remove’, banɔ ‘people’ and kibe ‘time’. A striking property of Tutrugbu, and the related Tafi is that they have an aspirated voiced bilabial consonant, represented by Funke (1910) as ⟨bh⟩. Bh is realized as a breathy voice quality on the following vowel, with minimal distinction in actual VOT between regular and aspirated b. Examples of the contrast between b and bh are provided in (1) below:1 (1) a. Aba ‘s/he comes’ b. abha ‘top’ (2) a. bo ‘class prefix’ b. bho ‘knock’

1 There are no minimal pairs with /b/ and /bh/ which have the same part of speech.

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(3) a. bɔ ‘class prefix’ b. bhɔ ‘build’ This consonant is all the more intriguing since it does not occur in the closely related Avatime (cf. Schuh 1995a). Although I have included the voiceless bilabial fricative in Table 6, it is not native to Tutrugbu. It occurs in toponyms like Gagbeƒe and Fiaƒe, both of which are names for towns in the Nyagbo area. These names appear to be of Ewe origin because -ƒe derives from aƒe ‘house’ and ‘hometown’ in Ewe. Tutrugbu, like some other GTM languages such as Avatime, appears to have borrowed this formative with which to form place names. This is all the more so since Gagbeƒe is also called Gbahu, an obvious Tutrugbu name which speakers use when speaking the language. Further, when speaking Tutrugbu, speakers refer to Fiaƒe as Fiaxóé /fiaxwé/, thereby displaying a tendency in Tutrugbu to replace the bilabial fricative with a labialized velar fricative in words borrowed from Ewe. An example is kɔ́xóé ‘village’, which is the Tutrugbu version of the Ewe word kɔ́ ƒé ‘village’.2 2.1.1.2 Labio-Dental There are only two labio-dental consonants, i.e., the voiceless and voiced fricatives /f/ and /v/. /f/ occurs in words like kif u ‘fear’, f lá ‘pass’ and f ɔ̃ ‘defecate’, while /v/ occurs in kivu ‘one day removed’, vɛ ‘go’ and vlɛ ‘start to’. 2.1.1.3 Dental Funke (1910) and Heine (1968) observe that /t/ and /d/ are produced with the tip of the tongue between the teeth. In addition, Funke notes that they are slightly aspirated as well. Synchronically, speakers produce /t/ with the tip of the tongue between the teeth but not /d/. Examples of words with /t/ are tá ‘throw’, tɔ ‘cook’, and kitelṹ ‘chest’, while examples with /d/ are kɛdɔ̃ ‘thing’, dɛmɛ́ ‘agree’, and dalɛ̃ ‘open’. The place of articulation for the equivalent stop in Tafi appears to be different as Bobuafor (2013) describes them as alveolar stops. Heine (1968) reports that /n/ and /l/ are also produced with the tip of the tongue. However, I did not observe this. This suggests that the place of articulation for these sounds has changed over time. Their present place of articulation is alveolar. The sounds are discussed in the next subsection.

2 There is a /xw/—/ƒ/ correspondence in the Gbe languages, with the former occurring in Eastern Gbe and the latter in Western Gbe.

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2.1.1.4 Alveolar and Post-Alveolar The alveolars in Tutrugbu have 4 different manners of articulation, i.e., fricatives, affricates, nasals and liquids. The fricatives /s/ and /z/ occur in the words asɛnɛ́ ‘a lie’, samɛ ‘happiness’, sɔkɛ́ ‘to pluck’, and zrǔ ‘steal’, zã ‘remain’, kɛzɔ̃ ̌ ‘housefly’ for voiceless and voiced respectively. Harley (2005) reports that, with the exception of Tuwuli, the presence versus absence of /z/ in a GTM language corresponds to Heine’s classification of the language as a KA or NA language. Like Tutrugbu, Tafi and Avatime also possess /z/ (see Bobuafor 2013 and Schuh 1995a respectively). Just like Ewe (Duthie 1996; Ameka 2012) and almost all GTM languages (see for example Bobuafor 2013; Dorvlo 2008; Harley 2005), the liquids /l/ and /r/ in Tutrugbu are allophones which mostly, but not always, complement each other in their distribution: /r/ occurs after coronals while /l/ occurs elsewhere. Examples are drɔga ‘flea’, shrɛdɛ ‘slippery’, and dɔ tra ‘to sleep’ for /r/, and kekplǐ ‘palm’, plɛnɔ ‘help’, kɛklagbu ‘stone’ for /l/. The only instances in which /r/ occurs after a labial sound are the borrowed word pampró ‘bamboo’, and the ideophones purudu ‘fly’, which is sometimes pronounced prudu, and prɔ̃ ś ɛ ‘it looks as if’. Note that /l/ is the phoneme that mostly occurs in word-initial position, as in the pronominal prefix lo-, while both consonants occur in intervocalic position. An example of /l/ in intervocalic position is béle ‘finish’ while that of /r/ is tsuru ‘scrub’. The only instances where /r/ occurs in word-initial position are the ideophone riɖiɖi ‘continuously’ and some English loanwords such as rɔ́ ba ‘plastic bag’, and rédio ‘radio’ (see Harley 2005 who reports similar loanwords in Tuwuli). Another kind of complementarity obtains between the oral [l] and its nasalized allophone [l̃], with the former occurring before oral vowels while the latter occurs before nasalized vowels. An example is ol̃ĩ ‘soup’ which contrasts with olí ‘neck’, and l̃ṹ ‘to hear’ which contrasts with lú ‘to set down’. This is a common phenomenon in Kwa. Stewart (1971: 239) describes it thus: [It] has long been evident that in certain Kwa languages, all nasal consonants which occur before vowels are in complementary distribution with corresponding voiced oral consonants. Clements and Rialland (2008: 46) report that this is a “typologically unusual phenomenon of languages lacking contrastive nasal consonants” in most languages in the Sudanic belt. They write: Such languages typically have an oral vs. nasal contrast in vowels, and two sets of consonants. Members of set 1 are usually all obstruents and

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are realized as oral regardless of whether the following vowel is oral or nasal. Members of set 2 are usually non-obstruents, and are realized as oral sounds before oral vowels and nasalized sounds before nasal vowels (Clements and Rialland 2008: 46–47). /l/ and, as we shall see presently, semi-vowels belong to the class of nonobstruents that have oral and nasalized pairs. Tutrugbu also has the voiced and voiceless alveolar affricates /ts/ and /dz/. These contrast with the palatal affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ which, as I noted above, are orthographically represented as ⟨tsy⟩ and ⟨dzy⟩ respectively. Some minimal pairs which illustrate the contrast are: (4) a. tsɛ́ ‘take from elevated location’ b. tsyɛ́ ‘also’ (5) a. dzǔ ‘be deep’ b. dzyu ‘plant’ Tsyɛ́ is borrowed Ewe. /ts/ occurs in minimal pairs with other phonemes, therefore guaranteeing its phonemic status. Examples are tsú ‘dig’ versus bú ‘remove’, tsí ‘die’ versus ɖí ‘look’, and tsẽ ‘strike a match’ versus tẽ ‘cut’. Schuh (1995a) reports that the contrast between alveolar and palatal affricates has disappeared among speakers of Avatime who are below the age of 50, an observation also made by Defina (2016) who refers to the latter as post-alveolar affricates. Clearly, this is not the case for Tutrugbu. Bobuafor (2013: 24) also shows that the distinction exists in Tafi as well. The palatal affricate is discussed in the next section. The only post-alveolar stop in Tutrugbu is /ɖ/. Harley (2005: 43) reports that while ⟨ɖ⟩ “usually represents a voiced retroflex stop of the kind often found in Indian languages”, it is generally used to represent an apical post-alveolar stop in African languages. A good number of the words containing this consonant are borrowed from Ewe. Examples are ɖɔ ‘say’, aɖɔɖi ‘oyster’, and ɖóko ‘namesake’. There are, however, words containing this consonant that are native to Tutrugbu. Examples are ɖɔmɛ ‘palm leaf’, ɖǐ ‘look at’ and ɔɖá ‘iron’. Like the Anlo dialect of Ewe, /ɖ/ and /r/, although separate phonemes, get neutralized in certain contexts in Tutrugbu. Words with the syllabic structure CVɖV can be pronounced C(V)rV. Examples are tɔɖɔ ‘put on’, which becomes t(ɔ)rɔ, and tsuɖu ‘wipe’ which become ts(u)ru. This issue is revisited in section 2.2 where I discuss syllable structure.

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2.1.1.5 Palatal The voiceless and voiced palatal fricatives occur in the words shogu ‘gather’, ashagabuí ‘sorrow’, and kazhwɛ ‘bird’ respectively. The voiceless affricate occurs in words such as tsyɔ ‘quickly’, tsyu ‘dig’ while the voiced occurs in words like dzyidzyi ‘be anxious’ and epidzyǎ ‘goat’. The nasal counterpart occurs in such words as nyá ‘to tie’, kinyé ‘name’, and anyɛ́ ‘man’ while the continuant occurs in words like bɔya ‘farm’, yɛ̌ ‘break’, and yúku ‘vomit’. Like /l/ discussed above, the palatal glide displays the kind of complementarity discussed by Clements and Rialland (2008) and Stewart (1971) in that [y] occurs before oral vowels while the nasalized counterpart [ỹ] occurs before nasalized vowels. Examples of the latter are aỹĩsɔ̃ ‘young man’ and aỹĩsɛ̃‘ ‘sand’. Considering that the contrast between [y] and [ỹ] is not phonemic, the latter form is not represented in the orthography. 2.1.1.6 Velar Tutrugbu has velar stops, fricatives and nasals. The voiceless stop /k/ occurs in words like aka ‘father’, kɔ́ ‘give’, and klǔ ‘call’, while the voiced stop occurs in words like agã ‘animal’, gɛ ‘RELATIVIZER’ and aglɔ ‘companion, lover’. The voiceless fricative /x/ occurs in words like kexole ‘horn’, xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ ‘as for’, and xlɔ̃ nɔ ‘cast a spell’. As noted in the discussion of bilabials, when words containing /ɸ/ are borrowed from Ewe, the consonant is often replaced with the labialized velar fricative. An example is ƒlɔ́ ‘scrape’ from Ewe which is /xwlɔ̃́ / in Tutrugbu. The final velar consonant is the nasal /ŋ/. This occurs in a word like ŋa ‘eat’ and kɛŋa ‘food’. Most words with /ŋ/ are borrowed from Ewe. Examples are ŋlɔmɛ ‘write’, from Ewe ŋlɔ, ŋútɔ́ ‘very much’ and téŋú ‘be able’. 2.1.1.7 Labial-Velars There are two types of labial-velars in Tutrugbu, i.e., plosives and glides. The voiceless labial-velar plosive /kp/ occurs in such words as ɛkpã ́ ‘life’, kpɛ́ ‘put in’, and kɛkplɔtɔ ‘animal foot’ while the voiced counterpart /gb/ occurs in words like gbã ‘fry’, ogbilí ‘garden egg’, and kagbɔ ‘squirrel’. A number of /kp/ words are either borrowed from Ewe or have cognates in the language. Examples are kpó ‘bump’ and kpóó ‘quietly’. While kpe ‘be many’ occurs as a verb in Tutrugbu, its equivalent kpi ‘many’, which occurs in Inland Ewe, is an adverb which modifies verbs. Examples of /gb/ words which are borrowed from Ewe, or are cognate with Ewe words, are gbɔxé ‘asthma’ and gbě ‘refuse’ (which is gbɛ́ in the Inland dialects). The labial-velar glide /w/ occurs in words like kɛtɔwi ‘shadow’ and wɔ ‘you’. Like the liquid /l/ and the glide /y/, /w/ has a nasalized allophone [w̃ ] which precedes nasalized vowels. Examples are w̃ ɛ̃ ‘drink’ and w̃ ṹsɔ̃ ‘to lie down’. Bobuafor (2013) reports that some Tafi speakers use [w̃ ] and a labialized

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phonology table 7

Labialized and labial-palatalized consonants

Words with labialized consonants

Words with non-labialized consonants

Consonant

Word

Transcribe

Gloss

Word

Transcribe

Gloss

bw pw ʃw ʒw xw tʃw dʒw hw mw

kibúí puɛ ashui kazhuɛ kɔ́xwé tsywĩ ɔdwɛ̃ ohui mui

/kibwi/ /pwɛ/ /aʃwi/ /kaʝwɛ/ /kɔ́xwé /tʃwĩ/ /ɔdʒwɛ̃/ /oɦwi/ /mwí/

‘thing’ ‘see through’ ‘grandfather’ ‘bird’ ‘village’ ‘blow nose’ ‘tsetsefly’ ‘rope’ ‘laugh’

kibí pɛ kishi zhi xɛ́ɛ́ tsyɛ́ ɔdzɛ̃ ɔhágbo mini

/kibí/ /pɛ/ /kiʃi/ /ʝi/ /xɛ́ɛ/́ /tʃɛ́/ /ɔdʒɛ̃/ /ɔɦágbo/ /mini/

‘it is cooked’ ‘want’ ‘stick’ ‘descend’ ‘quietly’ ‘also’ ‘song’ ‘companion’ ‘taste’

[ŋw] in free variation. Unlike Tafi, Tutrugbu has kɛw̃ ɔ̃ hũ ‘eye’, which has [w̃ ɔ̃ ], and a plural that is pronounced ãŋhũ. This means that the whole syllable [w̃ ɔ̃ ] is replaced with [ŋ].3 As I discuss in section 2.2, this is one of the rare instances where the Tutrugbu syllable is a VC. 2.1.1.8 Glottal In Tutrugbu, the voiced glottal fricative occurs as the voiced alternates with the voiceless velar fricative. That is to say where the consonant is voiceless, it is more likely to be /x/ but when it is voiced, it is /ɦ/. This is different from Tafi where, according to Bobuafor (2013), /ɦ/ occurs in free variation with [h]. Schuh (1995a: 33) also reports that while the Avatime counterparts of the fricatives have only a light local noise at the velum, perceptually, they are more often than not realized as glottal. Recall that orthographically, we represent /ɦ/ as ⟨h⟩. /ɦ/ occurs in words like kɛhalú ‘throat’, hɔ̌ ‘grind’, and holo ‘six’. 2.1.1.9 Labialized and Labial-Palatalized Consonants Kwa languages are known for their labialized consonants (cf. Casali 2000; Kreidler 2001) and, while labialization is phonemic for some, it is not for others. The same is the case for Tutrugbu. Table 7 above shows some words, contrasting the

3 Bobuafor (2013) reports that Tafi speakers also elide w̃ ɔ̃ but do not insert any nasal. Thus the word for ‘eyes’ is often pronounced ãhũ.

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ones that have labialized sounds with the ones that do not. While some are minimal pairs, others are not. As Rose (1994) writes, labialized consonants often succumb to palatalization. In Table 6, the labio-dental fricative is labial-palatalized and not only labialized. It occurs in the following two related words, f uya /fɥ̃ ã/ ‘breathe’ and ɔf ɔf ũỹã /ɔfɔfɥ̃ ã/ ‘breath’. The equivalent in Tafi and Avatime are f wɛ̌ (Bobuafor 2013) and f wɛ̃ (Schuh 1995a) respectively where the labial-dental fricative is merely labialized. This suggests that the labial palatalization following the fricative in this word is an innovation in Tutrugbu. 2.1.1.10 Summary The foregoing discussion shows that Tutrugbu is closer to Tafi than Avatime. First of all, the two are the only GTM languages which possess the aspirated voiced bilabial plosive ⟨bh⟩. Secondly, both languages have post-alveolar affricates (Bobuafor 2013) or palatal stops while Avatime lacks them. Furthermore, Avatime appears to be the one most influenced by Ewe because it possesses the voiced bilabial fricative as well as its voiceless counterpart (van Putten 2014). Both Tutrugbu and Tafi have only the voiceless fricative, and Bobuafor (2013: 20) reports finding only two words in her Tafi lexical database. These are aƒu ‘sea’ and Abuiƒe ‘the name of one of the Tafi communities’ (exs 11a). Abuiƒe, like most of the words with / ƒ/ in Tutrugbu is a place name. In Tutrugbu, many of the words with / ƒ/ that are borrowed into the language are realized instead as a voiceless labialized velar fricative. It is possible that a similar situation occurred in Tafi because Bobuafor lists /xw/ among the consonant segments. Although all three languages possess the voiced glottal fricative, in Tutrugbu it contrasts with the voiceless velar fricative /x/ and in Tafi it also occurs in free variation with the voiceless glottal fricative. Schuh (1995a) mentions for Avatime that the voiced velar fricative is produced with a light local noise at the velum and that it is more often than not a glottal fricative. Finally, while Tutrugbu innovates with labial-palatalization of consonants like /f/ in a word like ɔf ɔf w̃ ỹã /ɔfɔfɥa/ ‘breathe’, Tafi and Avatime do not. 2.1.2 Vowels On the surface, Tutrugbu appears to have a seven-vowel system. These are /i, e, ɛ, a ɔ, o, u/. As I discuss presently, Tutrugbu displays ATR harmony in several instances using these 7 vowels. This is different from Tafi and Avatime which have 9 vowels, with the high [-ATR] vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ constituting the remaining two, and serving as the respective harmonic counterparts of the high vowels /i/ and /u/. Interestingly, van Putten (2014: 28) reports that the distinction between +ATR and -ATR is disappearing in Avatime such that “-ATR high

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phonology table 8

Tutrugbu vowels with examples

Vowel Example 1 Gloss

Example 2 Gloss

/i/ /u/ /e/ /o/ /ɛ/ /ɔ/ /a/

/tsiɖí/ /bú/ /ʃe/ /wo/ /yɛ/ /tsɔ́ mɔ̄ / /yaká/

/dzǐ/ /wu/ /kpe/ /do/ /mɛ/ /yɔ́ / /tā/

‘be located on base’ ‘climb’ ‘be many’ ‘become thick’ ‘inside’ ‘become wet’ ‘throw’

‘be supported’ ‘remove’ ‘become old’ ‘you’ ‘break’ ‘become rotten’ ‘yawn’

vowels are often pronounced as +ATR, especially by younger speakers.”4 Departing from a scenario where these languages used to have a 9-vowel system, one could say that Tutrugbu has taken the lead in completely shedding the two high -ATR vowels although, as will soon become evident, there are traces of the vowels in some phonological processes. Tafi remains the only language among the three in which the vowels remain stable (Bobuafor 2013) while Avatime is somewhere in between (Schuh 1995a). Table 8 shows examples containing the 7 vowels. Figure 4 below is the surface representation of the 7 vowel phonemes which we established by plotting 8 tokens of each vowel phoneme from the Tutrugbu lexical database (cf. McCollum and Essegbey 2018b). 2.1.2.1 Long Vowels Like other Kwa languages, vowel length is not phonemic in Tutrugbu (see also Harley 2005). A few words in Tutrugbu with the CVV structure are actually consonants followed by long vowels. Bobuafor (2013) points out that most CV: words in Tafi are borrowed. She discusses the following examples which also occur in Tutrugbu: pétéé ‘all’, f ãã ‘by all means’ and nyɔ̃ ɔ̃ ‘several’. In addition to these words, there are a few non-borrowed ones in both languages like tsɔ̃ ɔ̃ ‘right away’ (used to modify otsíɛ́ ‘now’) and xɛ́ɛ́ ‘quietly’.

4 Actually, earlier reports suggest a fluctuation in the case of Avatime. This is because Funke (1909) reports a 9 vowel system while later analysts like Kropp (1967) and Heine (1968) list 7. Schuh (1995a) notes that Ford (1971a) does recognize that while there are 7 surface vowels, they have 10 “underlying qualities.”

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figure 4

chapter 2

Representation of Tutrugbu vowels

2.1.2.2 Nasalization 5 of the 7 vowels have nasalized counterparts with which they contrast phonemically. These are /ĩ, ũ, ɛ̃, ɔ̃, ã/. Examples of such contrasts are provided in Table 9. The near absence of the nasalized mid vowels /ẽ/ and /õ/ from West African languages has been extensively discussed (cf. Ansre 1961, Hyman 1972, Williamson 1973, Rolle 2013, Ameka and Essegbey 2017, etc.). The gap in Tutrugbu is therefore not surprising. Still, nasalized /ẽ/ appears to occur in the language although, thus far, the only word that I have found containing it is tẽ ́ ‘to cut’. It is rather /õ/ that does not occur. Bobuafor (2013) also reports that tẽ ́ is the only word that has the vowel in Tafi. 2.1.2.2 Summary Vowels in Tutrugbu, Tafi and Avatime show an interesting picture: Tafi has 9 vowels which include the two retracted high vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ while Tutrugbu lacks these two vowels and, as a result, has 7. Avatime lies between the two languages in that although it appears to still possess these two vowels, it is clearly

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phonology table 9

Nasalized vowels with examples

Vowel Example 1 Gloss

Example 2 Gloss

/ĩ/ /ũ/ /ɛ̃/ /ɔ̃ / /ã/

/lí/ /lu/ /pɛ/ /ʃɔ/ /ta/

/lĩ/ /lũ/ /pɛ̃/ /ʃɔ̃ / /tã/

‘go out (of fire)’ ‘listen’ ‘become good’ ‘become equal’ ‘chew’

‘be standing’ ‘set down’ ‘want’ ‘stab’ ‘throw’

losing them. In section 2.3 where I discuss vowel harmony in Tutrugbu, I show traces of the high vowels which have disappeared.

2.2

Syllable Structure

Just like Ewe (Duthie 1996), Tuwuli (Harley 2005), and other Kwa languages, the syllable in Tutrugbu is defined by its tone-bearing capacity. Harley reports that in Tuwuli the syllable carries only a single tone and that contour tone occurs only at word final position. This is the case for Tutrugbu, also. I leave this discussion for section 2.4 where I discuss tone in Tutrugbu. 2.2.1 CV-Structure The most common syllable structure is the CV-structure consisting of an onset and a nucleus. Most of the nominal prefixes and the plural of dependent personal pronouns have a CV structure. This is illustrated below (the hyphen separates the prefixes and the roots): Class prefixes (6) a. ki-wi ‘day’

Pronominal prefixes (6) b. nɔ-zã ‘you all stay’

(7) a. bɔ-pã ́ ‘house’ (7) b. bu-dě ‘we come from’ (8) a. tɛ-wá ‘herb’

(8) b. ba-vɛ ‘they go’

These examples also illustrate one fact which is that most noun and verb stems are monosyllabic and have an open-syllable structure. They also show that this syllable structure occurs in word-initial and word-final position. Examples like ekusi ‘chief’ and anuvɔ ‘child’ show that the CV-structure occurs in word-medial position as well. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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2.2.2 V-Structure The next common syllable structure in Tutrugbu is an onsetless and codaless V. All the singular of the dependent personal pronoun prefixes have this structure. The progressive morpheme also has this structure which, in effect, is a lengthening of the preceding V. Since each V in the progressive construction bears its tone, such sequences are treated as two V syllables. Examples of V syllables are provided below: Dependent pronominal prefix (9) a. ɛ-lɛ́ ‘I am there’ b. o-nyí ‘you know’ c. a-bá ‘he came’ Progressive (10) a. a-á-ba 3SG-PROG-come ‘S/he is coming.’ b. ɔ-ɔ́ -vɛ 2SG-PROG-go ‘You are going.’ Note that although the progressive is the same vowel as the preceding V, its tone is different. The third person singular dependent object pronoun and the definite article also have a V syllable structure but the former is suffixed to the verb while the latter is cliticized to the noun, as illustrated below: 3rd person singular pronoun (11) a. ɛ-mɔ-ɛ ‘I see him/her/it.’

Dependent definite article (11) b. kɛtakpú=ɔ́ ‘the head’

(12) a. i-hu-i ‘I beat him/her.’

(12) b. takó=ɔ́ ‘the head gear’

(13) a. i-po-e ‘I waited for him/her.’ (13) b. osí=ɛ́ ‘the tree’ The independent form of the definite article is nɔ́ but in examples (11b, 12b and 13b) it is realized as a vowel whose lip posture is dependent on the final vowel of the root. In Tafi, it is rather the nasal that is kept while the vowel is elided. The following examples are from Bobuafor (2013, ex 5a):

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(14) a. b. c. d. e.

a.nyɩ.́ń ‘the man’ (V.CV.N) a.dzɩ.ń ‘the woman’ (V.CV.N) o.si.ń ‘the tree’ (V.CV.N) ki.kū.ń ‘the yam’ (CV.CV.N) kɩ.kpa.̃ń̌ ‘the fish’ (CV.CV.N)

The choice between a vowel and syllabic nasal for the determiner marks an important difference between Tutrugbu and Tafi. 2.2.3 N-Structure Tutrugbu differs from languages like Akan (cf. Dolphyne 1988) and Logba (Dorvlo 2008) in that it does not have syllabic nasals which have a labial or coronal places of articulation, especially when they occur in word initial position. Cognates or borrowed words with such sounds take an epenthetic vowel. Thus mpá ‘bed’ from Akan is pronounced /ɛmpa/. However, just like some speakers of the Anlo dialect of Ewe do, in rapid speech speakers usually drop the vowel of CV syllables containing the velar nasal /ŋ/, leaving a syllabic /ŋ/. Thus ŋútɔ́ ‘very much’, which is borrowed from Ewe, is often pronounced ŋ́ tɔ́ . Also, the vowel of the postpositional element mɛ is deleted in quick speech thereby yielding a syllabic -m. This is shown in the phonological part of the text below (relevant segment underlined): (15) ɔtɛ́bɔdɛ́ ekus’ ɔ́ pã ́m̀ ɔ- tɛ́-bɔ-dɛ́ e-kusí bɔ-pã ́ mɛ̀ 2SG-NEG:PRES- FUT-go_to CM1-chief CM8-house inside ‘You cannot go to the chief’s house’ (6/26/07_Odumasi_Customs.087) Note that -m in this case occurs in word final position and it has a different tone from that of the preceding syllable. Tafi appears to have the same restriction as Tutrugbu because, although she does not say so explicitly, Bobuafor’s (2013) examples do not include any with syllabic nasals in word-initial position. 2.2.4 VC-Structure A less common onsetless syllable structure is the VC-structure. This structure also results from the deletion of an underlying vowel, often in numerals. For example, af ɛ tabha nɛ tolí ‘twenty-one’ is pronounced af .ta.bha nɛ tolí. Simiarly af ɛ talɛ̃ ́ ‘thirty’ is pronounced af .ta.lɛ̃.́ Bobuafor also notes that numerals (together with pronouns) are the few classes of words that have closed syllables in Tafi.

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There are a few VC structures in which the coda is a nasal. As I noted in section 2.1.1.7, the plural of ‘eye’ is aŋhu /aŋɦu/, which has a velar nasal in coda position of the first syllable. Another example with the same consonant is oŋti ‘hawk’. There is also the word ansɛ ‘as’ which has an alveolar nasal coda in the first syllable but some speakers prefer to nasalize the initial vowel and rather pronounce it as /ãsɛ/. 2.2.5 CVC-Structure In words with a CVC syllable structure, the coda is inevitably a nasal. If followed by another syllable in the word, the onset often has the same place of articulation as the coda. Examples are: (16) a. b. c. d.

kam.pe ‘scissors’ kan.tse ‘calabash’ man.ka.ni (pronounced [maŋkani]) ‘cocoyam’ a.man.kra.do (pronounced [amáŋ́ kráɖo]) ‘court official’

Interestingly, all the words with the CVC syllable-structure are borrowed. It should be pointed out here that contrary to the situation in Tutrugbu, Bobuafor (2013: 16) analyzes the nasal as a separate syllable in Tafi. She gives the following examples: (17) /m/ ka.m̀ .pe ‘a pair of scissors’ (CV.N.CV) ka.m̀ .pi.e.si ‘armpit’ (CV.N.CV.V.CV) /n/ bʊ́ .w̃ ʊ̃ .ǹ.dɔ ‘shoulder’ (CV.CV.N.CV) /ŋ/ tu.ŋ.́gba ‘a type of antelope’ (CV.N.CV) ko.ŋ´ ‘very much’ (CV.N) 2.2.6 CCV-Structure In Tutrugbu just like Ewe, Tafi, and Tuwuli, the second C in a CCV structure is a liquid. As mentioned in section 2.1.1.4, the liquids, which are /l/ and /r/ occur in complementary distribution. /r/ occurs after coronals while /l/ occurs elsewhere. This is shown below: (18) a. tɛ.trɛɛ ‘shallow’ b. shrɛdɛ́ ‘slippery’ c. kɛ.tsrɛ.tá ‘hip’

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(19) a. plɛ.nɔ ‘help’ b. klu ‘call’ c. kɛ.kplɔ.tɔ́ ‘animal foot’ A few exceptions are borrowed words, e.g. abrónimé ‘pigeon’, which is from abrɔnomá in Akan, and pampró ‘bamboo’, which is also borrowed from Akan.5 A good number of CCV words are underlying CVCV words in which the first vowel has been elided. Examples are: (20) a. kɛlɛ ‘there’ → klɛ b. bɔlɔ ‘we’ → blɔ c. zuru ‘streal’ → zru As noted earlier, intervocalic [r] sometimes occurs as a free variant of /ɖ/. This is similar to the situation in the Anlo dialect of Ewe (Clements 1978). Thus tɔɖɔ ‘put on top’ can be pronounced tɔrɔ which in turn becomes [trɔ], just as tsiɖi ‘be on top’ is also pronounced sometimes as [tsiri] or [tsri]. For obvious articulatory reasons when the initial vowel is deleted, only /r/ occurs as the second C. In most cases, a transition or, in Hall’s (2003, 2006, 2011) terminology, an intrusive vowel is inserted between the initial C and the liquid. Thus trɔ becomes /tǝrɔ/ ‘wash’, klɛ becomes /kǝlɛ/, tsru becomes /tsǝru/ and anɔdzrame ‘human being’ becomes /anɔdʒǝramɛ/. This yields the following evolution of the structure: CVCV → CCV → Cǝ.CV 2.2.7 CwV /CjV-Structure Funke writes that following /n/, /u/ sounds like w, and suggests that kɛnuɔe ‘star’ is pronounced kɛnwɔe. Presently, star is kɛw̃ ɛ̃, thus ensuring a CVCV structure for the word. In section 2.1.1.9, I analyzed words with the sound sequence Cw as involving labialized consonants. There are three words in the language, which have the palatal glide in a CjV cluster. They are given below: (21) a. ɔbhíá ‘palm wine tree’ b. ɔbhià ‘friend’ c. ɔhĩã ‘poverty’

5 This word has been borrowed into Ewe so it is possible that Tutrugbu borrowed the borrowed word from Ewe.

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The words in (21a) and (21b) are minimal pairs which are distinguished by tone. Ɔhĩã ‘poverty’ in (21c) is a borrowed word from Ewe to which the prefix ɔis added to conform to the noun class system of Tutrugbu. 2.2.8 CV.V-Structure Like other Kwa languages, Tutrugbu does not have diphthongs. It does have CV.V sequences such as the following: o.e (22) a. aklolo.é ‘hernia’ b. kɛhalukó.é ‘adams apple’ c. hoho.e ‘big’ Akloloé in (22a) is borrowed from Ewe. Note that the tone of the final vowel is higher than that of the preceding vowel. The final -e in (22b) is a diminutive borrowed from Ewe. In Ewe, kɔ́ means ‘a bump’ or ‘fist’ and, when the diminutive -i is added, assimilatory processes give rise to kóé, which means a small-sized bump or fist. Hohoe in (22c) involves a reduplication, which is a process in which the initial syllable of the word (in this case ho) is copied. Reduplication in Tutrugbu is discussed in chapter 3. In sentence (23) the sequence of vowels in the verb is composed of the root vowel and a pronominal complement: (23) eépoe e-é-po-í 1SG-PROG-wait_for-3SG:OBJ ‘I am waiting for him/her’ Verbs like dzyoró ‘desire’, toró ‘spin’, etc have the same sequence when they take a third person singular pronoun complement. ɔ.ɛ6 (24) a. gɔgɔ.ɛ ‘last’ b. kɛlɔ̃ lɔ̃.ɛ̃ ‘ant’ These words also have the reduplication pattern discussed for example (22c).

6 The first vowel in words with this pattern is often reduced giving rise to a glide. Thus, gɔgɔɛ is pronounced /gɔgwɛ/.

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u.e (25) ɖú.e ‘which’ The tone of the two vowels of ɖúe are different thereby guaranteeing that they belong to different syllables.

2.3

Phonological Processes

Phonological processes in Tutrugbu comprise vowel harmony, vowel deletion, consonant deletion, consonant-and-vowel deletion, epenthetic i insertion, and, finally, back vowel raising. 2.3.1 Vowel Harmony Casali (2008: 496) describes vowel harmony as “the requirement that vowels in some domain, typically the word, […] share the same value of some vowel feature, termed the ‘harmonic feature’.” In Tutrugbu, this feature is either ATR or rounding. The former is stem controlled while the latter is affix controlled. I discuss ATR harmony in section 2.3.1.1 and rounding harmony in section 2.3.1.2. 2.3.1.1 ATR Harmony As the quote below from Casali shows, ATR harmony is a common phenomenon in some African language families. A widespread phonological pattern in African languages of the NigerCongo and Nilo-Saharan families is a type of vowel harmony or assimilation based on a phonological feature [ATR], or advanced tongue root. Casali 2008: 496

ATR harmony in Tutrugbu involves the assimilation of an affix to the first vowel of a stem. It is regressive, which means that only those affixes which precede the root undergo assimilation. In the case of the noun, it is the class prefix that assumes the ATR feature of the vowel of the first syllable of the noun stem while, in the case of single-word clauses, pronominal and TAM prefixes assimilate to the first vowel of the verb stem. As a result, monosyllabic roots always surface with affixes which have vowels with the same [ATR] feature.7 Polysyllabic roots are another matter. Where the component roots or derivational affixes possess

7 Exceptions are TAM prefixes with Ca- syllable structure. These are discussed below.

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chapter 2 Pronominal prefixes

Person/number Singular Plural [+ATR] [-ATR] [+ATR] [-ATR] 1ST 2ND 3RD

i o e

ɛ ɔ a

bu no be

bɔ nɔ ba

different [ATR] values, the resultant word is often disharmonic. Still in all such cases, the first vowel of the stem harmonizes with the prefixes. The 7 vowels in Tutrugbu divide into the following groups based on their [ATR] value: /i, u, e, o/ for [+ATR/ and /ɛ, a, ɔ/ for [-ATR]. Tutrugbu therefore belongs to 7-vowel type languages like Yoruba that lack high [-ATR] vowels (cf. Awobuluyi 1967; Bamgboṣe 1967; Archangeli and Pulleyblank 1989). Later I discuss evidence that Nyagbo lost these two vowels. Considering that there is one [+ATR] vowel more than the [-ATR] ones, the question that arises is how do they pair? Akan, which has a 9-vowel system, uses a tenth vowel [ə], which occurs as the allophone of /a/. Thus, while the name asɔ ‘hoe’ is pronounced [asɔ], ani ‘eye’ is pronounced [əni]. Only nonnative speakers of Akan say [ani]. Unlike Akan, Tutrugbu does not have an eighth vowel which serves as a phonetic variant for /a/. Instead, it pairs /a/ with /e/, /i/ with /ɛ/, /u/ with /ɔ/, and /o/ with /ɔ/. Tutrugbu therefore pairs both /u/ and /o/ with /ɔ/. In McCollum and Essegbey (2018b), we argue that the /ɔ/ which pairs with /u/ was originally the retracted high vowel. Evidence for this is that it behaves like a high vowel. In like manner, prefixal /ɛ/ behaves like a high vowel when paired with prefixal /i/. These therefore represent traces of retracted high vowels which have disappeared from Tutrugbu. The evidence is discussed below. The vowel pairing works in both nouns and verbs. A consequence of the harmony system is that all pronouns have two allomorphs. These are provided in Table 10. Table 10 shows that vowel harmony involving pronominal affixes cannot be stated in purely phonetic terms. Instead choice between o and u as the counterpart of ɔ is dependent on the pronoun. In other words the first person plural allomorph of bɔ (with ɔ) is bu but the second person plural allomorph of nɔ (also with ɔ) is no. This lack of consistency is an effect of the reduction of vowel number from 9 to 7. In Tafi which still has 9 vowels, the -ATR variant of the first person singular pronoun is ɪ while that of the plural is bʊ.

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phonology table 11

Noun-class prefixes in Tutrugbu

Class

+ ATR

-ATR

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

abaoikiekabuti-

ebeɔɛkɛakebɔtɛ-

Noun-class and TAM prefixes also have the same pairs. Thus, even though different authors identify different numbers of noun classes in Tutrugbu (cf. Heine 1968; Ford 1971b; Essegbey 2009), they all arrive at noun class prefixes whose vowels display the following contrasts: i/ɛ, u/ɔ, o/ɔ and e/a. Table 11 shows the noun-class prefixes. The vowel pairs are considered in turn. I will show that with the exception of u/ɔ which does not apply to TAM prefixes, pronominal and TAM prefixes also have similar contrasts.

2.3.1.1.1 i/ɛ The nominal prefixes which exhibit this contrast are /i/ vs /ɛ/, /ki/ vs /kɛ/ and /ti/ vs /tɛ/. Instances of the /i/ vs /ɛ/ contrast are izĩ ‘holes’ and ikpo ‘clubs,’ where roots with a [+ATR] prefix take /i/, and ɛdzɛ́dzɛ́ ‘stories’ and ɛɖɔ ‘nets,’ where roots with [-ATR] vowel take /ɛ/. The /ki/ vs /kɛ/ contrast is illustrated by kitsikpi ‘pot’ and kiteɖé ‘anthill’ vs kɛpɔtɛ́ ‘cloth’ and kɛtakpú ‘head.’ The final example shows the point made earlier that disharmony sometimes occurs in polysyllabic words. Thus, while the initial vowel of the stem is [-ATR], that of the second syllable is [+ATR]. Note that it is not possible presently to decompose *takpu. In other words, while it is possible that a word composition process gave rise to kɛtakpú, this is not decipherable synchronically. The /ti/ vs /tɛ/ contrast is illustrated by pairs tisi ‘sand’ and tibobo ‘tapping palm wine’ vs tɛwá ‘medicine’ and tɛkã ‘thread, rope.’ Table 10 above shows that the first person singular pronoun also adopts the i/ɛ pairing. In the following examples, I show the two variants of the pronoun combining with some TAM affixes: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(26) a. i-gi-tseɖe wɔ́ 1SG-NEG:PST-tell 2SG ‘I did not tell you.’ b. gɛ ɛ-gɛ-zã so=ɔ REL 1SG-NEG:PST-stay so=TP ‘Since I was not there,’ (Kume) The examples here show assimilation not only of the pronominal affixes but also the non-present negation morpheme gi-/gɛ-. 2.3.1.1.2 u/ɔ The only noun class prefixes that display this contrast are /bu/ vs /bɔ/. The former is illustrated by examples like buhehe ‘sweat’ and buzĩ ‘theft’ where roots with a [+ATR] vowel, irrespective of whether they are front or back, take the bu-prefix with the /u/ vowel. Examples in which roots with a [-ATR] vowel take a prefix with /ɔ/ are bɔwá ‘medicine’ and bɔbhɛ ‘hunger’. The pronominal prefixes that belong to this pairing are the first person plural pair [bu-] and [bɔ-]. This is illustrated by the portion of the examples in bold below: (27) a. bú-klu-i sɛ ɔbhia 1PL-call-3SG that ɔbhia ‘We call it ɔbhia.’ (Tapping wine) b. kana gɛ bɔ́-zɛ-dɛ bɔ-ya nɛ́ Ba-trugbu How REL 1SG-REP-attend CM8-farm PREP CM5-Nyagbo ‘How we make farm in Nyagbo(land).’ (Ɛkla Tutrugbu) As I noted at the beginning of this section, TAM affixes do not display the u/ɔ contrast. It should be pointed out here that /u/ does not occur by itself either as a noun-class or pronominal prefix but /ɔ/ does. Thus, in Tutrugbu, where one expects an onsetless /u/ vs /ɔ/ contrast (based on bu/bɔ), we rather get /o/ vs /ɔ/. This pair is discussed in the next section. Harley (2005) reports a similar situation in Tuwuli where the choice between /o/ or /u/ as a variant of /ɔ/ is dependent on whether the syllable in which it occurs has an onset or not. 2.3.1.1.3 o/ɔ The o/ɔ contrast in nouns occurs in the class 3 prefixes which are /o/ vs /ɔ/. Examples are opupú ‘door’ and otsé ‘tail’ vs ɔgla ‘jaw’ (borrowed from Ewe and

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integrated into Tutrugbu with a noun-class prefix) and ɔtɔmɛ́ ‘beard’. It also occurs in the second person singular prefixes /o-/ vs /ɔ-/ as shown in the examples below (relevant parts in bold): (28) a. ó-tẽ ́ be-sí=ɛ́ béke=ɛ 2SG-cut CM5-tree=DEF finish=TP ‘When you’ve finished cutting trees …’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 21) b. ɔ́-yálɛ́ bɔ-dɔ̃ béke=ɛ́ … 2SG-collect CM8-thing finish=TP ‘When you’ve finished collecting things …’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 21) Some TAM prefixes also display o/ɔ contrast in labial harmony which is discussed in section 2.3.1.2. For now, I provide examples showing the future morpheme ba- being realized as [bɔ-] and [bo-]: (29) a. ɔ-bɔ-bá 3SG-FUT-come ‘You will come.’ b. o-bo-nyí 2SG-FUT-know ‘You will know.’ The second person plural pronoun prefixes, [no-] and [nɔ-], as well as pronominal prefixes for class 3 nominals, [lo-] vs [lɔ-], also belong to this pairing. 2.3.1.1.4 e/a In the final pair, nouns that have a [+ATR] vowel as the first vowel of their stem take a prefix with the vowel /e/ while the ones that are [-ATR] take one with /a/. There are 3 realizations of this contrast: /e/ vs /a/, /be/ vs /ba/, and /ke/ vs /ka/. Examples of the first contrast are ef u ‘guest’ and ezĩ ‘thief’ for [e], and agã ‘animal’ and abhɛbhɛ ‘hunter’ for /a/. The plural of the words, i.e. bef u ‘guests’ and bezĩ ‘thieves’ vs bagã ‘animals’ and babhɛbhɛ ‘hunters’, show the /be/ vs /ba/ contrast. The third pair is exemplified by kesi ‘down’ and kesugba ‘earthenware plate’ vs kazhwɛ ‘bird’ and kahɔ̃ litsa ‘chameleon’. Note that in the last example, the choice of the /ka/ option is determined by the fact that the first vowel of the root noun is [-ATR]. The third person singular pronoun prefixes /e/ and /a/, and their plural counterparts, /be/ and /ba/ are the pronominal affixes which use the e/a pairing. They are all illustrated below: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(30) a. e-tí-nyí 3SG-NEG-know ‘S/he does not know.’ b. a-ba-dɛmɔ-ɛ nɛ́ ɛklɛ́ 3SG-FUT-EGR-see-3SG PREP there ‘He will go and see him there.’ (31) a. be-pú o-kotokú nɔ́ 3PL-puncture CM2-sack DEF ‘They’ve made a hole in the sack.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) b. batɛbadɛmɛ́ ásɛ ɔgbánaɛ́ ba-tɛ-ba-dɛmɛ́ á-sɛ ɔ-gbána-í 3PL-NEG-FUT-agree SCONN-that 2SG-marry-3SG:OBJ ‘They will not agree that you marry her.’ (Odumasi_Customs.401) The e/a pairing occurs in Avatime and Tafi as well. Schuh (1995a) asserts, however, that the pairing in Avatime is not based on a [±ATR] differentiation, and suggests that Avatime may have had a ɜ/a pairing some time ago. Bobuafor (2013) also does not include /a/ in the grouping of [-ATR] vowels (she has /i, u, e, o/ for [+ATR] and /ɪ, ʊ, ɛ, ɔ/ for [+ATR]). She does note that when /a/ occurs in roots, it triggers -ATR harmony. However as a prefix, it can precede +ATR vowels in roots. This occurs in Tutrugbu also and forms part of exceptions to the harmony system laid out here. 2.3.1.1.5 Exceptions to ATR Harmony There are a number of exceptions to the harmony system discussed above. One type of exception, which I mentioned in the final paragraph of the preceding section, involves the ability of /a/ to occur as a prefix before words in which the initial vowel of the stem is [+ATR]. This is actually quite common in West African languages with ATR harmony; it occurs in lexical as well as single-word clauses. The two most common lexical-word examples are anidze ‘mother in law’ and anuvɔ ‘child’. Clausal words which behave thus have affixes with the syllable structure Ca, such as the future morpheme ba- and the aspectual morpheme ka- ‘not yet’. These morphemes do not undergo ATR harmony when they follow the first person singular and plural affixes, even when the root is +ATR. This is shown by the contrasts in the examples below:

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(32) a. ɛ-ba-ti 1SG-FUT-know ‘I will get to know.’ b. ɛ-ba-di-tseɖé Kof i 1SG-FUT-ITIVE-tell NAME ‘I will go and tell Kofi.’ (33) a. be-be-ti 3SG-FUT-know ‘S/he will get to know.’ b. e-be-di-tseɖé Kof i 3SG-FUT-ITIVE-tell NAME ‘She will go and tell Kofi.’ (34) a. bu-ka-ti 1PL-not_yet-know ‘We do not know yet.’ b. bu-ka-di-tseɖé Kof i 1PL-not_yet-ITIVE-tell NAME ‘We have not gone to tell Kofi yet.’ (35) a. be-ke-ti 3PL-not_yet-know ‘They do not know yet.’ b. be-ke-di-tseɖé Kof i 3PL-not_yet-ITIVE-tell NAME ‘They have not gone to tell Kofi yet.’ One would expect the future, aspectual and pronominal affixes to undergo ATR harmony in all the above examples. However, examples (32a) and (32b) show that the first singular pronoun and the Ca- affix do not change at all. In examples (33a) and (33b) we see that the first person plural pronoun undergoes ATR harmony when it occurs before a Ca affix even though the a-vowel itself remains unchanged. Examples (33) and (35) show that all the prefixes undergo assimilation when the pronoun is the third person singular and plural respectively. Before attempting to answer why some affixes do not assimilate,

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consider example (26a), repeated below, which shows that the first person pronoun does undergo ATR harmony: (36)

i-gi-tseɖé wɔ́ 1SG-NEG:PST-tell 2SG ‘I did not tell you.’

Going back to examples (34a) and (34b), we see that the vowel of the subject pronoun is [+high]. In McCollum and Essegbey (2018a), we demonstrate that high vowels do not allow for assimilation of the a-vowel. We hypothesize that the reason why a-vowel is not assimilated when it follows the first person singular pronoun is because the pronoun used to be a high vowel [i.e., ı]. This means that in spite of the fact that it is realized as ɛ phonetically, the first person singular pronoun still behaves phonologically like a high vowel. Because of that, it is unable to permit assimilation of the following Ca. Although she does not actually discuss this particular restriction in her discussion of harmony, Bobuafor (2013: 89) has examples which suggest that it applies in Tafi as well. Compare her examples (71b) and (70b) which I give below as (37a) and (37b) respectively: (37) a. Ɩ́badzu ’uvū. ɩ-́ ba-dzu bu-vū 1SG-FUT-build CM8-house ‘I shall build a house.’ b. e-be-tũ mankani 3SG-FUT-pound cocoyam ‘S/he will pound cocoyam.’ Example (37b) shows that the future morpheme changes from /ba-/ to [be-] when the vowel of the verb stem is +ATR. Yet this does not occur in (32a). The future morpheme remains [ba-]. Note that in this instance, the high vowel of the pronoun remains [–ATR] even though the vowel of the root is [+ATR]. Interestingly, some speakers of Tutrugbu use [bɔ-] instead of [bu] in examples like (34a). In such cases, the vowel behaves like the ɛ in (32) in that it not only prevents assimilation of the ‘a’ vowel in the following Ca- syllable but it also fails to undergo a change itself. Bobuafor (2013) also discusses the lexical disharmonies involving the /a/ vowel in Tafi. She notes however that nouns in which such vowels occur are few and include loanwords. The examples she gives include the following

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cognates in Trutrugbu: kampiesí ‘armpit’, agudu ‘bear’ and kaỹĩtse ‘calabash’. Although Ewe has the word kantse, it refers to a container which is made from metal. It is likely that the Tutrugbu word is derived from kantse but with a shift in meaning. Kampiesí is composed of kampɛ ‘side’ and kesí ‘down’. Tutrugbu often inserts an epenthetic vowel /i/ before nouns beginning with a kV- prefix while deleting the consonant. This is what gives rise to kampiesí. The phonological process that gives rise to such words is discussed in section 2.3.1.6. How do we account for the disharmony in anuvɔ ‘child’? Anuvɔ appears to be a frozen compound consisting of the words anɔ ‘person’ and vɔvɔ ‘new’. Although speakers do not make this connection anymore, the expression for baby is eyi vɔvɔ which literally means ‘new child.’ As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, disharmony occurs mostly in compounds. There is evidence that when two morphemes with the form /Cɔ-Cɔ/ come together, the first /ɔ/ is raised. We get what one might describe as dissimilation by raising. For instance, anɔ nɔ ‘the person’ has become [anu nɔ]. While the prefix of anuvɔ does not harmonize with the initial vowel of the root, the word for ‘children’, which is bunuvɔɛ, does. There are disharmonic words which are neither borrowed nor involve any known phonological process. One such word is ɔ-bhia ‘friend’. In Tafi, this word is ɔbhɪa, with a retracted high /ɪ/. This is further support for the position that Tutrugbu used to have a 9-vowel system just like Tafi but this got reduced to 7. As noted by Clements (2000: 137) “reduced systems often result from the historical mergers of [the] relatively rare [ɪ and ʋ] vowels with more widely occurring counterparts, for example […] /ɪ/ with /i/, /e/, or /ɛ/, and /ʊ/ with /u/, /o/, or /ɔ/.” Further support comes from the fact that Funke (1910) writes the word for ‘head’ as kɛtakpo although it is now pronounced kɛtakpú. It is most likely that Funke was referring here to /ʊ/. Funke goes on to write that “o is quite close at word initial position, almost towards u, for example osi ‘tree’ often sounds like usi.” He then adds that “the sounds lying between e and i are not specially noted, but transcribed as e, i. The same applies to degrees going from ɛ to e.” Further evidence is that many /ɛ/ words in Tutrugbu are ɪ words in Tafi. I showed this in examples involving the first person singular pronominal pair, which is i/ɛ in Tutrugbu but i/ɪ in Tafi. Similarly, the pairing of the first person plural pronominal pair which is bu-/bɔ- in Tutrugbu is bu-/bʊ- in Tafi. 2.3.1.2 Labial Harmony There is another type of assimilation that involves lip rounding. Lip rounding plays a secondary role in the assimilation of the vowels. Unlike ATR harmony this process is not determined by the root but, instead, by subject prefixes. Fur-

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thermore, the assimilation affects TAM affixes, including the future affix ba- and the repetitive zɛ-, as illustrated by the examples below: (38) a. a-ba-bá 3SG-FUT-come ‘He/she will come.’ b. o-bo- tseɖé a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ 2SG-FUT-see CM1-man=DEF ‘You will tell the man.’ c. no-zo-bo- ɖi mɛ 2PL-REP-VEN-look_at 1SG ‘You all came and looked at me again.’ The future affix, which is ba- in (38a), becomes bo- under the influence of the subject pronoun o- in (37b). Examples (37b) and (38c), show that while all intervening affixes are progressively rounded, this does not affect the vowel of the verb stem. Thus, tseɖé and ɖí maintain unrounded vowels even though the vowels of the preceding affixes have become rounded. While they remain unchanged, the vowels of the verb roots regressively assimilate the ATR of the affixes. This has implications for the analysis of sentences (39a) and (39b): (39) a. e-be-téŋú á-plɛ́nɔ mɛ 3SG-FUT-be_able SCONN-help 1SG ‘S/he will be able to help me.’ b. o-bo-tóŋú á-plɛ́nɔ mɛ́ 2SG-FUT-be_able SCONN-help 1SG ‘You will be able to help me.’ Téŋú ‘be able’ is borrowed from Ewe. In (39a), it follows the third person singular pronoun and a future affix with an unrounded vowel. As such, it remains unchanged. In (39b), however, where it follows affixes with rounded vowels, the té of téŋú changes to tó. The change suggests that téŋú has lost some lexical properties or has become partially grammaticalized. It still possesses verbal properties though since it is able to change the ATR of the prefixes to [+ATR]. Recall that only lexical roots change the ATR of affixes. The phenomenon of lexical items grammaticalizing either partially or completely has been extensively documented in Kwa languages (see Essegbey 2004 for references).

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As I mentioned at the beginning of this section, the vowels of nouns belonging to the o-class and its pronouns also trigger rounding. Consider the example below: (40) agálɛ álɛ tsyɛ́ pɛ ábhɛ́tɛ wɔ́, ɔhɔɛ boyéké, loboyéké agálɛ á-lɛ tsyɛ́ pɛ á-bhɛ́tɛ wɔ́ ɔ-hɔɛ bo-yéké whitlow AM-DEM also just 3S-do 2SG CM2-hand FUT-swell lo-bo-yéké CL3-FUT-swell ‘This whitlow too, when it happens to you, the hand will swell. It will swell.’ (Odumase_Herbs_July_6_2008.339–341) The second sentence of example (40) suggests that the class prefix ɔ- is able to trigger rounding in a following TAM affix even though it is not prefixed to the future affix in which it triggers a change. The most likely explanation for examples like this is that nouns used to always have agreement markers on the verb although this is less frequent now. Thus, in the past, boyeke would definitely have been preceded by lo- which is the agreement marker for class 3. The third sentence shows that it is also lo that occurs as the pronominal form for this class. Interestingly, not all affixes with rounded vowels are able to trigger rounding. Consider the example below: (41) bɔ-ba-twá 1PL-FUT-meet ‘We shall meet.’ Although the vowel of the first person plural pronoun is rounded, it does not trigger rounding. This raises the question: why are some affixes able to trigger labial harmony while others cannot? To answer the above question, we need to consider the fact that although most TAM affixes undergo labial harmony, there are a few polarity affixes that do not. These are ti-/tɛ- NEG, gi-/gɛ- NEG:PST, and the itive affix di-/dɛ-: (42) a. ɔtɛ́bɔd’ ekusupã ́m ɔ-tɛ́- bɔ-dɛ e-kusí bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 2SG-NEG- FUT- go_to CM1-chief CM8-house inside ‘You cannot go to the chief’s house.’ (6/26/07_Odumasi_Customs.087)

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b. ógimúnɔ́ yá ó-gi-múnɔ ɛ-yá … 2SG-NEG:PST-find CM6-stomach ‘If you were not pregnant …’ (Odumasi_Customs.064) c. obodiwu Eɖiɛwónɔ y’ ɛklagbǔ ɔ́ o-bo-di-wu Eɖiewónɔ yɛ kɛ-klagbu=ɔ 2SG-FUT-ITIVE- climb Ediewonɔ 3SG:IND CM3-stone=DEF ‘You would go and climb Ediewonɔ’s rock.’ In McCollum and Essegbey (2018b), we argue that the reason why these affixes do not participate in labial harmony is because all the vowels used to be high. In other words, although the pairs synchronically are ti-/tɛ-, gi-/gɛ- and di-/dɛ-, they used to be ti-/tɪ-, gi-/gɪ- and di-/dɪ- respectively in the past when Tutrugbu had a 9-vowel system (recall the discussion in the previous section). Drawing on Kaun’s (1995) observation that non-high vowels are better triggers of harmony than high vowels, we argue that although Tutrugbu has lost the -ATR high vowels and replaced them with mid vowels, the restriction has persisted. In the previous section we saw that the /a/ of a Ca affix fails to harmonize when it is preceded by a high vowel. In this case, it is the high vowels that are resisting harmonization. Once again, this position is supported by the fact that Tafi still maintains the ti-/tɪ-, gi-/gɪ- and di-/dɪ- pairs, and, in Tafi, these forms fail to undergo harmony when they occur to the right of the pronominal forms. I conclude this section by noting that rounding assimilation also plays a role in the realization of the definite article which has a free form nɔ́ , and bound forms -ɛ́ and -ɔ́ . The choice of the cliticized form is dependent on the tongue backness of the final vowel of the noun. Thus, a noun ending in a vowel which has a fronted tongue will take -ɛ while one with the tongue in the back will take -ɔ. Examples are osíɛ́ ‘the tree’ and ebúɔ́ ‘the dog’. In the case of lip rounding involving the definite article, ATR does not play a role. 2.3.1.3 Assimilation Involving the Verb The discussion in the preceding two sections involve vowel assimilation of prefixes. The vowel /ɛ/ of verb roots, and the vowels /ɔ/ and /a/ of the suffixes -nɔ and -na respectively also undergo harmony when followed by a complement that has /i/. The classic instance of this is the Tutrugbu expression for ‘thank you’. This is bhɛtɛ kibúí, which literally means ‘do thing’. As will be shown below, the /k/ of prefixes or, in this case, the whole prefix ki- often gets deleted in sentences. When /k/ is deleted, an epenthetic i is inserted. This i spreads leftwards giving rise to the expression bhiti bui. Most cases of assimilation involving the

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verb are cases where the said verbs are followed by the third person singular complement. This is shown by the examples below: (43) wɛ̃ ‘drink’+ i

→ wĩí ‘drink it’

(44) a. b. c. d.

→ → → →

mɛnɔ ‘swallow’ + i shɛ̃nɔ ‘leave’ + i plɛnɔ ‘help’ + i dɛmɛnɔ ‘love’ + I

(45) a. kpasɛ ‘learn’ + i b. kamɛ ‘sew’ + I

minii ‘swallow it’ shĩnii ‘leave it’ plɛnií ‘help him/her’ diminií ‘love him/her’

→ kpasií ‘learn it’ → kamií ‘sew it’

(46) a. mana ‘bring’ + i → manií ‘bring it’ b. gbana ‘take away’ + i → gbánií ‘take him/her/it away’ Sentence (43) is the only example I have encountered in which the /ɛ/ of a monosyllabic verb gets assimilated. When pɛ ‘want’, for example, is followed by the third person complement, the result is pɛɛ́. This assimilation process is discussed in the next section. Examples (44a–44d) show that the assimilation of the /ɛ/ vowels mostly occurs when the verb has a comitative suffix. The contrast between sentences (45a and 45b), on the one hand, and (46a) and (46b), on the other, shows that /a/ only undergoes assimilation when it is a suffix. The /a/ in kpasɛ ‘learn’ and kamɛ ‘sew’ are part of the root while that of na in mana ‘bring’ and gbana ‘take away’ belong to the comitative suffix. 2.3.1.4 Assimilation Involving the Complement The examples in the preceding section show that the third person pronoun object -í can assimilate vowels in the verb. This is not the common assimilation process where the pronoun occurs as a complement. Instead, the pronoun progressively assimilates to the tongue height position of the verb. Consider the examples below: (47) a. i-husi-í 1SG-beat-3SG ‘I beat him/her.’ b. i-klú-í 1SG-call-3SG ‘I called him/her.’

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(48) a. i-tseɖe-é 1SG-tell-3SG ‘I told her/him.’ b. i-shogo-é 1SG-shake-3SG ‘I shook it.’ (49) a. ɛ-tã-ɛ 1SG-chew-3SG ‘I chewed it.’ b. ɛ-mɔ-ɛ 1SG-see-3SG ‘I saw it.’ In (47), the vowel pronoun is high because the vowel of the verb is high. Similarly, in examples (48a) and (48b), they are half-close just like the verb while, in (49a) and (49b), they are half-open. 2.3.2 Vowel Deletion Words ending in a vowel tend to drop the vowel when they precede a word beginning with a vowel. This is illustrated by the examples below. In (50a) the deleted vowel (i.e., ɛ) precedes a [+ATR] vowel while in (50b) and (50c) it precedes a [–ATR] vowel: (50) a. kɛ g’inyíɛ́ … kɛ gɛ i-nyí=ɛ́ CL3 REL 1SG-know=TP ‘What I know …’ (Esroe-July_20–2008.175) b. pɛ y’ alɔkɔ lú kesiakpá pɛ yɛ a-lɔkɔ lú ke-siakpá then 3SG:IND AM-take set_down CM4-ground ‘Then she put it on the ground.’ (Focus1-July-20-2007.010) c. kinyéɛ́ gɛ l’ ɔlɔ́ shú ɔ́ ki-nyé=ɛ́ gɛ lɛ bɔlɔ́ shú=ɔ́ CM3-name=DEF REL be_at 1PL:IND skin=TP ‘The name that we have…’

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Vowels of monosyllabic verbs are usually not deleted. This is shown by (51a) with (51b): (51) a. kɛlɛ sɛ bɔkɔ́ ál’ ɔgã kɛ -lɛ sɛ bɔ-kɔ́ alɛ ɔ-gã CL3 -be_at that 1PL-give 3PL:OBJ 2SG-walk ‘We need to welcome them.’ (literally ‘it is that we give them you walked’) (Esroe-July_20–2008.009) b. ɛ-mɔ alɛ́ pétéé/ *ɛm’alɛ pétéé 1SG-see 3PL:OBJ all ‘I saw them all.’ Sentence (51a) is taken from a spontaneous discourse while (51b) is elicited. The monosyllabic kɔ́ in (51a) has a high tone while mɔ in (51b) has a low tone. This suggests that tone does not play a role in determining whether a vowel is deleted or not. The next sentence shows that the ATR of the verb does not determine whether a vowel will be deleted either: (52) ko kɛlɛ beɖi aglɔ amɛ ko kɛlɛ be-ɖi ba-glɔ bamɛ just then 3PL-look_at AM-each_other face ‘Then they looked into each other’s faces.’ (Focus1-July-20-2007.043) Unlike the verbs in (51a) and (51b), the vowel of ɖi is [+ATR]. 2.3.3 Consonant Deletion In many cases, the consonant of a noun prefix is elided when it occurs in a noninitial position. In sentence (52) above, the reciprocal ‘each other’ is baglɔ while the word for face is bamɛ. The initial b is elided from both words. In the next two examples, not only are the initial consonants of the complements elided but so are the vowels of the immediately preceding words: (53) a. kɛlɛ adál’ úvũɔ kɛlɛ a-dalɛ̃ bu-vũ=ɔ then 3SG-open CM8-room=DEF ‘Then she opened the door.’ (Focus1-July-20-2007.077)

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b. etsyín éde kpɛ́ adzɛ̃ɛ́ e-tsyina ke-dě kpɛ́ a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ 3SG-turn_round CM4-back put_in CM1-woman=DEF ‘He turned his back to the woman.’ (Focus1-July-20-2007.085) In (53a) the final vowel of the verb dalɛ̃ ‘open’ and the /b/ of the complement buvũ are elided and, similarly, in (53b), the /a/ of tsyina ‘turn’ and /k/ of kedé ‘back’ are deleted. This is the most common process that occurs among contiguous words. 2.3.4 CV-Prefix Deletion There are also instances where the whole prefix comprising both the consonant and vowel are deleted. This is mostly when the noun occurs in complement position. For example in (54) below the prefix bu- is deleted from the complement bukusi ‘chieftaincy’. (54) so kɛŋa gɛ bɔ́ ŋa kusí n’ányá bɔɔ́ ɖɔ́ so kɛ-ŋa gɛ bɔ-ŋa bu-kusi nɛ́ Banyá bɔ-ɔ́ -ɖɔ so CM3-eat REL 1PL-eat CM8-chief PREP Sroe 1PL-PROG-say ‘The way chieftaincy is practiced in Esroe is what we are saying.’ (EsroeJuly_20-2008.049) CV prefix deletion is most prevalent in instances where verbs take an obligatory generic complement. The most common generic complement is bɔdɔ̃ ‘things’, as in the example below: (55) pɛ babaŋa dɔ̃ pɛ ba-ba-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ then 3PL-FUT-eat CM8-thing ‘then they will eat.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) I refer to bɔdɔ̃ as obligatory generic complement because it does not refer to any specific thing that is eaten. It occurs because verbs like ŋa have to take a complement (see chapter 5 for a discussion of obligatory complements). 2.3.5 Deletion + Epenthesis An epenthetic vowel [i] is inserted when the consonant /k/ of a nominal prefix is deleted together with the final vowel of a preceding word. In most cases, the said noun is kesí ‘down’, as in examples (56a) and (56b) below:

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(56) a. ɛ̃ɛ̃ kana bɔkpi esí ɛ̃ɛ̃ kana bɔ-kpɛ́ ke-sí yes thus 1PL-put_in CM4-down ‘Yes that is how we begin.’ (Sroe.001) b. kã otsí bɔkpɛ́ lí ésí ɛ kã otsí bɔ-kpɛ́ kɛ-lɛ ke-sí=ɛ then now 1PL-put_in CL3:IND CM3-down=TP ‘Then we begin’ (Sroe.014) In (56a), kpɛ́ + kesí yields kpíésí while in (56b), it is the final vowel of kɛlɛ that is deleted (together with the k of the following noun prefix) giving rise to liesí. When kesí occurs as the complement of zã ‘stay’, the result is zĩesí ‘sit down’. The next two examples show that epenthetic [i] is not restricted to kesí: (57) a. kliso err nɛ́ ekusi ni ampɛ mɛ … kliso err nɛ́ e-kusi nɔ́ ka-mpɛ mɛ therefore um PREP CM1-chief DEF CM4-side inside ‘So on the chief’s side …’ (Sroe) b. kɛlɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛgɛɖi aɖɔ vɛnɔ klɛ shú kɛlɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛ-gɛ-ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ vɛ-nɔ kɛlɛ ki-shú this give that 1SG-NEG:PST-say CM4-speech go-COM here CM3-skin ‘That is why I did not talk about that.’ (Sroe.173) In (57a) the vowel of the determiner nɔ́ is deleted together with the /k/ of the following word kampɛ. Similarly, in (57b) the vowel of the verb ɖɔ is deleted in addition to the /k/ of the prefix kaɖɔ ‘speech’. The contrast in the next two sentences shows that this deletion and insertion only occurs where the word begins with /k/: (58) a. soɔ asaf o tsyíámi nɔ́ edé Akumawú, so=ɔ a-saf o tsyíámi nɔ́ e-dé Akumawú, so=TP CM1-youth spokesperson DEF AM-come_from NAME, ‘Therefore the spokesperson comes from the Akumawu clan.’ (Sroe.112) b. ebekpũ nɛ́ osi ni éde e-be-kpũ nɛ́ o-sí nɔ́ ke-dě 3SG-FUT-hide PREP CM2-tree DEF CM4-back ‘She will hide behind a tree.’ (Focus2.298)

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In (58a) where the determiner nɔ́ is followed by edé ‘he comes from’, there is no insertion of [i] hence no change in the vowel of the determiner. However, in (58b) where the edé is actually kedé with an elided /k/, the vowel of the determiner is elided and the epenthetic [i] inserted, thereby giving rise to the sequence ní éde. In section 2.3.1.3, I proposed that the insertion of an epenthetic [i] with the assimilation of /ɛ/ explains why ‘thank you’ in Tutrugbu is bhíti búí. To recap, the ki-prefix of kibúí ‘thing’ is deleted and an epenthetic [i] is inserted. The [i] assimilates the /ɛ/ of bhɛtɛ, changing it to bhiti. This account of bhíti búí suggests that the domain for the insertion of epenthetic [i] is broader in Tutrugbu than it is for Tafi. Bobuafor (2013) explains that in Tafi epenthetic [i]-insertion occurs when the /k/ of nouns belonging to the ka-class is elided. Note however that at least for Tutrugbu, kibui belongs to the ki-class and not the ka-class (noun classes are discussed in chapter 4). Thus, the generalization for Tutrugbu is that it is inserted when k(V) is deleted following the deletion of the final vowel of the preceding word. 2.3.6 Raising ɔ to u As I explained in section 2.3.1.1, words that have the syllable structure CɔCɔ tend to raise the first ɔ to u. I mentioned that anuvɔ appears to be a frozen compound that derives from anɔ vɔvɔ ‘new person’. This is because a baby is eyi vɔvɔ ‘new child’. In section 2.3.1.1.5 I mentioned that instead of *anɔ nɔ ‘the person’ or *banɔ nɔ ‘the people’, Tutrugbu people say anu nɔ and banu nɔ, as the example below shows. This is synchronic evidence in support of the dissimilation-byraising proposal: (59) Pɛ anɔ tenikpó eputɔ nɛ́ banunɔ nu lũ ansɛ convenor pɛ a-nɔ te-nikpó e- putɔ nɛ́ ba-nɔ nɔ́ then CM1-person AM-one AM- go_ahead_of PREP CM5-person DEF lũ ansɛ convenor mouth like convenor ‘Then one person remains at their head as the convenor.’ (Sroe.135) 2.3.7 Homorganic Nasal Assimilation Nasals that follow consonants take the place of articulation of the latter. This is illustrated by examples (16a) to (16d) which are repeated below as (60a) to (60d):

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(60) a. b. c. d.

kam.pe ‘scissors’ kan.tse ‘calabash’ man.ka.ni (pronounced /maŋkani/) ‘cocoyam’ a.man.kra.do (pronounced /amáŋ́ kráɖo/) ‘court official’

2.4

Tone

I begin this section with a discussion of lexical tones (2.4.1). I then discuss grammatical tones (2.4.2) and then tone-changing process (2.4.3). 2.4.1 Lexical Tone Schuh (1995a: 127) writes the following about tone in Avatime: Most sources on Avatime (Funke 1909; Kropp 1968; Heine 1968) propose a system of three level tones. Ford (1971a), by contrast, describes Avatime as having four tone levels, which he calls tones 1–4 with tone 1 being the lowest. My work on Avatime supports Ford’s contention that one must recognize up to four tones. According to Schuh, although one of these tones (which he calls tone 2, following Ford’s numbering) is derived in several contexts, “there are enough apparently underived instances of tone 2 that it seems necessary to recognize it as a phonologically distinctive entity.” In earlier works (Essegbey 2009, 2010), I suggested that Tutrugbu has three level tones, namely a low, high and mid. I have since encountered a couple of underived words with an extra-high tone, suggesting that Tutrugbu has four level tones. In addition to these level tones, Tutrugbu has two non-derived contour tones. These are Low-High rising and High-Low falling. Considering that nouns mostly have noun class prefixes and, therefore, are, at the very least bi-syllabic, the monosyllabic examples are verbs. Tutrugbu does not have minimal triplets or quadruplets which are distinguished on the basis of the four level tones. Thus in the following, I illustrate the differences in tone with minimal or near-minimal pairs. I take syllables that range from 200 Hz and below to represent the low tone while the ones that range from above 200 to 250 Hz represent Mid tone. Syllables pronounced at 300Hz or below are High while those above 300 Hz are Extra High. For illustration with a noun, consider the near minimal pairs ɔbha ‘side’ and kabha ‘top’ in Figures 5a and 5b below.

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Low versus Mid Tones

figure 5a ɔbha ‘side’

figure 5b kabha ‘top’

For the discussion here, the focus is on the root -bha. As the spectrograms show, that of ɔbha ‘side’ is below 200Hz while that of kabha ‘top’ is above 200Hz. Some verbs which were elicited with the low tone (i.e., they are produced either at or below 200Hz) are given below:

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figure 6a tɔ ‘become tired’

figure 6b ba ‘cheat’

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2.4.1.2 Mid versus High Tones The contrast between Mid tone and High tone is illustrated by the near-minimal pair below:

figure 7a kɛbwɛ ‘a little’

figure 7b kabwɛ́ ‘bile’

Not only are these words near-mininal pairs segmentally but they are tonally as well. For our purposes, the contrast is in the root bɔɛ which is Mid for ‘a little’ and High for ‘bile’. A minimal pair which illustrates a contrast between Mid and High in verbs is given below:

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figure 8a tsi ‘crawl’

figure 8b tsí ‘die’

The minimal pair below involves a verb which has a Mid tone and the general locative preposition:

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figure 9a nɛ ‘become wide’

figure 9b nɛ́ ‘PREP’

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2.4.1.3 Low versus High Tone A minimal pair that illustrates the contrast between the Low tone and the High tone, is ɔnyɔ, as shown below:

figure 10a ɔnyɔ ‘bow’

figure 10b ɔnyɔ́ ‘smoke’

While the prefix ɔ- of both words is at 200Hx, the root nyɔ of ‘bow’ is also at 200Hz while that of ‘smoke’ is above 250. Although the next pair involves the same segments, they constitute a nearminimal pair because the tone of the prefixes differ:

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figure 11a ɔkɔ ‘custom’

figure 11b ɔkɔ́ ‘place’

Unlike the tone of the prefixes of the previous examples, the prefix of ɔkɔ ‘custom’ has a Low tone that that of ɔkɔ́ ‘place’ has a Mid tone. The tone of the root of kɔ is Low for ‘custom’ and High for ‘place’. A minimal pair that illustrate a difference Low and High in verbs is given below:

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figure 12a tɔ ‘become tired’

figure 12b tɔ ‘cook’

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2.4.1.4 High versus Extra High The contrast between the High tone and the Extra High tone is illustrated by wulu below:

figure 13a wulu ‘blow’

figure 13b wulu ‘bath’

The first syllable (i.e. wu) for both words is above 250Hz while the second syllable (i.e. lu) is also above 250Hz for ‘blow’ and above 300Hz for ‘bath’. A similar difference is illustrated by butsi below:

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figure 14a butsi ‘broth’

figure 14b butsí ‘death’

This word is a near-minimal pair because while the segments are the same, the tone on the nominal prefixes are not. The tone on bu is High for ‘broth’ and Mid for ‘death’. The tone on tsi is also High for ‘broth’ but Extra High for ‘death’.

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2.4.1.5 Rising I stated that Tutrugbu also has Rising and Falling contour tones. In the next pairs, the root vu, which is a near-minimal pair because the one for ‘day removed’ has a nasalized vowel and the one for ‘drum’ does not, the former has a Mid tone while the latter has a Rising tone.

figure 15a kivũ ‘day removed’

figure 15b kivǔ ‘drum’

In the next pair, in addition to the difference in vowel prefix, the roots differ in that ‘hole’ has a Mid tone while ‘thief’ has a rising tone.

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figure 16a ozĩ ‘hole’

figure 16b ezĩ ‘thief’

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2.4.1.6 Falling The only word that I have encountered with a falling contour tone is kpâ, the spectrogram of which is given below:

figure 17 kpâ ‘become dry’

The /â/ of the verb begins from above 300Hz and falls to 250Hz. 2.4.2 Grammatical Tone In addition to its lexical function, tone also plays a grammatical role in Tutrugbu. Harley (2005: 78) describes grammatical tone as tone sequences that are “abstracted from the syllables that bear them phonetically.” The first element is the progressive. The progressive is expressed with an initial high tone which is followed by a stem with a mid tone, if the said stem is monosyllabic. The initial high tone copies a vowel of a pronominal or agreement affix, whichever one occurs before the verb. Thus, one gets: (61) a. a-á-bā ‘I am coming’ b. ɛ-ɛ́-mɔ̄ ‘I am seeing’ c. bɔ-ɔ́ -shɛ̃ ‘We are leaving’ The tone of ba ‘come’ is High, that of mɔ ‘see’ is Low and that of shɛ̃ ‘leave’ is Mid. Yet in the sentences above, they are all realized as Mid. The tone of the non-past negation affix /tɛ́-/ is high. When this affix precedes the progressive affix, we get a long vowel with a high tone. The following examples illustrate it:

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(62) a. nɔtɛ́:shɛ̃ ‘You all are not leaving.’ b. butí:tī ‘We are not getting to know.’ In these examples while the tone of the pronominal prefix is low, that of the negative and the combined progressive affix are long, giving rise to the long high vowels ɛ: and í: in (62a) and (62b) respectively. The vowel of the root remains mid in both cases. 2.4.2.1 Bisyllabic Verbs When the verb is bisyllabic, the tone of the both syllables in the progressive is Mid. (63) a. husí i-í-hūsī-í 1SG-PROG-beat-3SG:OBJ ‘I am beating him/her.’ b. doboe e-é-dōbōē 3SG-PROG-fall ‘He is falling down.’ c. dzɛ́kɛ̄ nɔ-ɔ́ -dzɛ̄kɛ̄ 2PL-PROG-forget ‘You all are forgetting.’ Husí ‘beat’ in (a) has a Low-High tone in its citation form. Doboe has a LowLow-Mid while dzɛ́kɛ has a High-Low tone. The progressive is discussed further in chapter 5 together with other TAM morphemes. The second grammatical tone is a High tone that expresses Time. It behaves like the temporal adverb ‘when’ in English. The high tone is realized on the subject pronoun or agreement marker, whichever occurs in the sentence. Consider the examples below: (64) a. á-bá=á, bɔbashɛ̃ 3SG-come=TP 1PL-FUT-leave ‘When s/he comes we will leave.’

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b. a-nyɛ́ éklú mɛ́=ɛ́, ɛ-ba-tseɖe wɔ́ CM1-man AM-call 1SG=TP 1SG-FUT-tell 2SG ‘When the man calls me I will tell you’ Not only do the pronominal affix in (64a) and the agreement marker in (64b) take a High tone but the clauses in which they both occur end with a terminal particle which also has a High tone. This grammatical tone is discussed further in chapter 8 together with other clause-types. 2.4.3 Tone-Changing Processes As occurs in tone languages Tutrugbu also has lexical as well as post-lexical tonal changes. Let us begin by looking at the former. The contour tone of a syllable preceding another syllable which begins a different stem is leveled. As a result, it is impossible to find compounds words with internal contour tone. Consider the example below where kedě ‘back’ combines with kɛxwá ‘bone’ to give kedexwá ‘backbone’: Most tone-changing processes are postlexical, occurring within phrases or sentences. The most notable process is high tone spreading in which the high tone at the end of a word spreads rightwards till it encounters another high tone in the following word. In the example below the high tone of the head noun spreads to the next high tone which occurs on the final syllable: (65) anyɛ́ tenukpó → anyɛ́ ténúkpó man one ‘one man’ It just so happens that some speakers delink the original high tone. For example such speakers pronounce (65) as (66): (66) anyɛ́ tenukpó → anyɛ ténúkpó man one ‘one man’ This High tone spread is reminiscent of tonal plateauing in Bantu (cf. Nurse and Philippson 2003; Hyman and Katamba 2010).

2.5

Conclusion

This chapter has discussed the segments and suprasegments in Tutrugbu as well as phonological processes such as vowel harmony, vowel and consonant deletion, epenthesis and tone.

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Morphology While few deny the necessity of a list of items whose forms and/or meanings are unpredictable, i.e., the lexicon, or the necessity of a system of principles, rules, conditions, or templates that determine how items from the lexicon can be put together, i.e., syntax, the last word has not been said about whether morphology is necessary as an independent component of grammar. Even if the territory of what has been regarded as morphology is carved up between the three ‘safe’ chapters of lexicon, phonology, and syntax, the problems it has addressed will remain with us. Kenesei 2007: 1

∵ 3.0

Introduction

GTM languages have been compared to Bantu languages because most of them have an active noun class system. Another property is their comparatively highly agglutinative nature. These are languages with phrasal and clausal words. In other words, some fairly simple sentences in the language are “coextensive with words” (Kenesei 2007: 2; Comrie 1981). In Tutrugbu, for instance, the clause can constitute a word, with the constituent given in (1a). Sentence (1b) provides an example: (1) a. [SUBJ:PRON/AGR]-[NEG]-[TENSE/ASPECT] [DIRECTIONAL] [PREVERB-ADV/VERB-ROOT]=[OBJ CLITIC] b. a-tɛ́-ba-dɛ-mɔ-ɛ́ ‘s/he will not go and see her/him’ Sentence (1b) is composed of the pronominal affix a- ‘3SG:SUBJ’, the negation affix tɛ́- ‘NEG:NPST’, the tense affix ba- ‘FUT’, the directional dɛ- ‘ITIVE’, the verb mɔ ‘see’ and, finally, the object pronoun -í ‘3SG:OBJ’ which, due to assimilation, is realized as -ɛ́. In this chapter, I discuss the composition of the word in Tutrugbu, looking at inflectional and derivational morphology, and compounding. I adopt the traditional distinction between derivation and compounding as stated by Booij (2005: 109) below:

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_004

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[Compounding] consists of the combination of two or more lexemes, whereas derivation is characterized by the addition of an affix, that is, a bound morpheme, to a lexeme. The issues discussed in this chapter are reduplication (3.1), inflection (3.2), derivation (3.3), and compounding (3.4).

3.1

Reduplication

Reduplication is a derivational process which occurs in almost all classes. Marantz (1982: 436) defines reduplication as “a morphological process relating a base form of a morpheme or stem to a derived form that may be analyzed as being constructed from the base form via affixation (or infixation) of phonemic material which is necessarily identical in whole or in part to the phonemic content of the base form”. The portion that provides the source material for copying is referred to as the “base” while the copied part is referred to as the “reduplicant” (Urbanczyk 2011). In Tutrugbu, as in all Kwa languages, words with the syllable structure CV undergo total reduplication while those with a CCV undergo partial reduplication. That is to say only the initial consonant and the vowel of words with a CCV structure are copied. This is illustrated below: (2) a. bu → bubu ‘removal’ b trɛ́ → ɔtɛtrɛ́ ‘blow pipe’ Example (2b) shows that tone is not necessarily copied either. Where the word is bisyllabic, the initial syllable is copied giving rise to a trisyllabic word. This is illustrated by the examples (3a and 3b) below: (3) a. ɖama → tɛɖaɖama ‘becoming tall’ b. tsyina → titsyitsyina ‘turning’ The tV- which occurs as the initial syllable of both derivations is a noun-class prefix. In (3a) only the initial syllable ɖa of ɖama ‘become tall’ is copied while in (3b) only tsyi of tsyina ‘turn’ is copied. In subsequent discussions the role of reduplication in derivation is addressed.

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3.2

Inflection

3.2.1 The Verb Minimally, a verb can surface without any overt affix. This can signify the imperative form of the verb. However, as I discuss presently, it can also indicate the dropping of agreement markers. Dependent pronouns, where present, are always affixed to the verb. Example (1) shows that the verb can occur also with affixes which express tense, aspect and polarity. A few examples are given below: (4) a. a-á-ba-ŋa asɛ̃ ́ 3SG-PROG-VEN-eat rice ‘He is coming to eat rice.’ b. a-gɛ-bá SG-NEG-come ‘He did not come.’ c. e-be-téŋú vɛ 3SG-FUT-can go ‘He can go.’ The progressive, shown in (4a), takes the same vowel as the subject pronoun agreement marker. There are two negation affixes, gɛ- and tɛ́. The former, as shown in (4b), negates sentences in the past while the latter negates them elsewhere. Sentence (4c) shows that where there is a modal verb, it takes the tense, aspect and polarity affixes. The full range of tense, aspect and polarity markers is discussed in chapter 5. The verb can occur with an agreement marker which agrees with the subject noun. Consider the examples below: (5) a. anyɛ́ɛ́ étsiɖi ɛmpá n’ ábha a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ e-tsiɖi ɛmpá nɔ́ ka-bha CM1-man=DEF AM-be_supported bed DEF CM4-top ‘The man is on the bed.’ b. banyɛ́ nɔ́ betsiɖi ɛmpá n’ ábha ba-nyɛ́ nɔ́ be-tsiɖi ɛmpá nɔ́ ka-bha CM5-man DEF AM-be_supported bed DEF CM4-top ‘The men are on the bed.’

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c. kiplukpá kitsiɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’ ábha ki-plukpá ki-tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha CM3-book AM-be_supported CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘The book is on the table.’ The verb tsiɖi ‘be supported’ takes the agreement markers e-, be- and ki- in examples (5a, 5b and 5c) respectively which agree with the subject noun. Although the agreement markers in the three examples are the same as the class markers on the nouns (the difference between the noun class ba- and the agreement marker be- is due to vowel harmony), this is not always the case as the next examples show: (6) oboshi nɔ́ o-tsiɖi kagba n’ábha o-boshi nɔ́ o-tsiɖi ka-gba nɔ́ ka-bha CM2-sheep DEF AM-be_supported CM4-hut DEF CM4-top ‘The sheep is on the hut.’ I show in section 3.3 where I discuss noun classes that while the agreement markers are not always like the class markers as shown here, they are the same as pronominal forms. I also point out that speakers are beginning to generalize these agreement markers. This means that verbs can be used without an agreement marker at all or, if one is used, it is the generalized one. To the extent that they occur on verbs and mark agreement with the subject, agreement markers, in addition to tense, aspect and modal markers are taken to be inflectional affixes. 3.2.2 Nominal Dependents Nominal dependents like the specificity determiner and demonstratives also occur with affixes that agree with the head noun. Consider the examples below: (7) a. b. c. d.

anyɛ́ télí ‘a certain man’ oboshi tolí ‘a certain sheep’ kitukú tílí ‘a certain luggage’ kagba tielí ‘a certain hut’

(8) a. anyɛ́ álɛ ‘this man’ b. oboshi ɔlɛ ‘this man’ c. kitukú ilɛ ‘this luggage’

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In examples (7a, 7b, 7c and 7d), the specificity marker -li takes four different affixes which agree with the class of the noun. Similarly in (8a, 8b and 8c), the demonstrative -lɛ takes three different affixes, which agree with the head noun. I take these to be the inflectional affixes that occur in the language.

3.3

Noun Classes

One distinguishing property of the GTM languages that has been extensively reported is the noun class system, which has led to comparison with Bantu languages (cf. Westermann and Bryan 1952; Heine 1968, 2013; Ameka and Essegbey 2017). Noun classes straddle the border between inflection and derivation. While some of the distinctions the classes make in Tutrugbu, such as number, could be considered inflectional, others, like distinguishing size and animacy might be considered derivational. Heine (2013) reconstructs 14 classes for Proto-GTM although some languages have more and others less. Following discussions in Essegbey (2009) from which this section draws extensively, the noun classes in Tutrugbu are treated as a single set of concords (see Schuh 1995b). This means that Tutrugbu has 9 noun classes out of the proto 14 established by Heine. These are the aclass, ba-class, ɔ-class, ɛ-class, kɛ-class, a2-class, ka-class, bɔ-class and tɛ-class. Nouns which belong to these classes are identified based on their class prefixes, subject-verb agreement markers (which also occur on some nominal dependents), which was illustrated in section 3.2, and an independent pronoun. For the purposes of illustration, the independent pronouns are used in a presentative construction. In Essegbey (2009), I draw attention to the fact that the noun class system in Tutrugbu is undergoing some decay. As a result of this the noun class prefixes are either dropped or truncated in some contexts, and the subject-verb agreement marker is either dropped or generalized. Examples of nouns with the prefixes are given below: (9) a-nyɛ́ ‘man’ ɔ-bhia ‘friend’ kɛ-vɔbɔ ‘frog’ ka-gba ‘hut’ tɛ-zɛ̃ ‘vein’

ba-nyɛ́ ‘men’ ɛbhia ‘friends’ a-vɔbɔ ‘frogs’ bɔ-gba ‘huts’

Let’s begin by looking at the way in which speakers of Tutrugbu are generalizing agreement markers. This is illustrated by the following elicited sentences:

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(10) a. a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ a-lɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM1-man=DEF AM-be_at CM8-house inside ‘The man is at home.’ b. o-kutú=ɔ́ a-kpasɛ a-gbɛ nɔ́ mɛ CM2-orange=DEF AM-be_contained CM1-bowl DEF inside ‘The orange is in the bowl.’ c. ke-he a-má CM4-struggle AM-NEG:be_at ‘There is no problem.’ d. ba-nɔ ba-lɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM5-person AM-be_at CM8-house inside ‘The people are in the house.’ e. bɔ-dza be-kpe nɛ́ a-gbɛ nɔ́ mɛ CM8-food AM-become_plenty PREP CM1-bowl DEF inside ‘Foods abound in the bowl.’ Anyɛ́ ‘man’, okutú ‘orange’ and kehe ‘struggle’ in examples (10a), (10b) and (10c) respectively have three different class prefixes, suggesting that they belong to different classes. Yet all the verbs have the subject agreement marker a-. Similarly while banɔ ‘people’ and bɔdza ‘foods’ in (10d) and (10e) respectively belong to different classes, they use the same subject agreement marker (i.e. ba-). Since the examples in (10a–10c) involve singular nouns while the ones in (9d–9e) involve plural nouns, the distinction in agreement appears to be based on number instead of class. Adults in the community often complain that the children are “spoiling the language”, and support that with, among others, the fact that they use the “wrong” agreement markers. Evidence shows however, that both the adults and young people generalize these markers. One source of this evidence is the narration of Frog Where Are You? (Mayer 1969). A review of the narratives shows that both young and adult speakers are more likely to drop the agreement marker rather than use it. Secondly, if they use an agreement marker, it is more likely to be the generalized a- and ba- prefixes exemplified in (10a–e). As I show presently, this a-prefix is appropriate for anyɛ́núvɔ̃ ɛ̃ ‘boy’ and ebú ‘dog’ only among the examples. The third, and most striking thing about the recordings, is that not a single child used the appropriate agreement marker for verbs occurring with kɛvɔbɔ́ ‘frog’ and kazhwɛ ‘bird’. Sentences (11a and 11b) from an 11-year old boy illustrate the strategy that the children adopted: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(11) a. kɛlɛ e-bú-ɔ́ á-kpɛ́ takpú nɔ́ tumpá nɔ́ mɛ kɛlɛ e-bú=ɔ́ á-kpɛ́ kɛ-takpú nɛ́ tumpá nɔ́ mɛ then CM1-dog=DEF AM-put CM3-head PREP bottle DEF inside ‘Then the dog put its head inside the bottle.’ (Frog_Story_C.012) b. klɛ kɛvɔbɔ́ wũsɔ̃ tumpá nɔ́ m klɛ kɛ-vɔbɔ́ w̃ ṹsɔ̃ ́ tumpá nɔ́ mɛ and_then CM3-frog lie bottle DEF inside ‘Frog lay in the bottle.’ (Frog_Story_Celestine.008) Ebú ‘dog’ triggers the a-marker on kpɛ́ ‘put in’ in (11a) but kɛvɔbɔ́ ‘frog’ fails to trigger any such agreement on wṹsɔ̃ ́ ‘lie’ in (11b). Adults, on the other hand, occasionally adopted the appropriate agreement markers. For example, a 79 year old male said the following: (12) a. ko kɛ-vɔbɔ́ kɛ-ka-lí ke-siakpá just CM3-frog AM-REP-be_at CM4-ground ‘And the frog was still on the ground.’ (Frog_Story_PW.079) b. ka-zhwɛ nɔ́ ka-bhɛtɛ́ prɛdɛdɛ́ CM4-bird DEF AM-do IDEO ‘The bird flew.’ (Frog_Story_PW.097) In (12a) and (12b), kɛvɔbɔ́ ‘frog’ and kazhwɛ ‘bird’ take the appropriate agreement markers kɛ- and ka- respectively. It should be pointed out, however, that the adult who used the appropriate markers above dropped it in other instances, such as the example below from one of his Spider tales: (13) ko ki-tsikpi nɔ́ tɔ bɔ-dɔ̃ just CM3-pot DEF cook CM8-thing ‘Just then the pot cooked (food).’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) Tɔ ‘cook’ does not take any agreement marker in (13). This suggests that both young and adult Tutrugbu speakers tend to leave out agreement markers altogether or, when they do use one, use a generalized marker instead. It is true though that younger speakers do this more than adults. In addition to the omission or generalization of agreement markers, as discussed in Chapter 2, Tutrugbu speakers drop either the whole class prefix or the consonantal segment of the prefix of the noun in complement position. This is illustrated by the examples below:

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(14) a. anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ asɛ ee wɔnɔ ɖi tití a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ a-sɛ ee wɔnɔ ɖi ki-tití CM1-boy DEF AM-say ee 2PL:IND look CM3-sky ‘The boy exclaimed ee look up.’ (Frog_Story_PapaW_2008.031) b. anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ ezĩ [……] éz’ ĩésí a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ e-zã ke-sí CM1-boy DEF AM-stay CM4-down ‘The boy sat down.’ (Frog_Story_PapaW_2008.031) In (14b) the whole nominal prefix ki- of kititi ‘sky’ is deleted. The process that gives rise to (13b) was discussed in chapter 2 where it was shown that /k/ is usually deleted and, in its place /i/ inserted. It was also noted that the final vowel of verbs are often deleted before a complement beginning with a vowel. One can see that the generalization of agreement markers and the dropping of class prefixes erodes the class system. For one thing, it has the potential to make the identification of the classes difficult. Four criteria can be used for this though. These are the noun class prefixes, agreement markers that occur on the verb and nominal dependents, dependent and independent pronouns. The independent pronoun can occur in a presentative focus construction where it refers to a noun in the left periphery. Examples (15a and 15b) illustrate the construction: (15) a. any’ álɛ y’enú m’aka a-nyɛ́ a-lɛ yɛ e-nú mɛ a-ka CM-man AM-this 3SG:IND AM-be 1SG:IND CM1-father ‘This man is my father.’ (lit. this man he is my father) b. o-kutú ɔlɛ ɔl’onú m’ɔyɛ́ o-kutu ɔ-lɛ ɔlɛ o-nu mɛ ɔ-yɛ́ CM2-orange AM-this CL2:IND AM-be 1SG-POSS AM-own ‘This orange is mine.’ In Essegbey (2009), I glossed forms like (y)ɛ́ and ɔl’o as a combination of a resumptive pronoun and a morpheme which I could not determine. Further research has established that they are the independent pronominal forms of the classes. The classes are discussed in turn.

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3.3.1 The a-class Most nouns in the a-class take an a-prefix when the initial vowel of the stem has a [-ATR] vowel while those with a [+ATR] vowel have an e-prefix. Some nouns, the majority of which are borrowed, also have a zero prefix. All borrowed nouns occur in this class. A few borrowed words which have an ɛ-prefix maintain the prefix. An example is ɛsɔ́ ‘horse’, which is borrowed from Ewe. Nouns in the aclass take a- subject agreement marker on the verb when the verb has [-ATR] root and e- prefix when it has a [+ATR] root. This is illustrated by the examples below: (16) a. klɛ ɔ́ mɔ sɛ anuvɔ alɛ piapíí, klɛ ɔ-mɔ sɛ a-nuvɔ á-lɛ́ piapíí then 2SG-see that CM1-child AM-be_at well ‘Then you see that the child will be fine.’ (Odumase_Herbs.130) b. ɛrr anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ ef éké err ebúɔ́ ewunɔ titi ɛrr a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ e-f éké err e-bú=ɔ́ e-wunɔ ki-titi um CM1-boy DEF AM-lift um CM1-dog=DEF AM-raise CM3-sky ‘The boy raised the dog in the sky.’ (Frog_Story_PW.022) The markers on the verbs lɛ ‘be at’ in (16a), and f éké ‘lift’ and wunɔ ‘raise’ in (16b) are agreement markers for anuvɔ ‘child’ and anyɛ́núvɔɛ ‘boy’. Realization as aor e-, just like the class markers, is determined by the ATR of the initial vowels of the verbs with which they occur. Dependent pronominal forms for the a-class are the same as the subject agreement markers. This is illustrated by examples (17a and 17b): Dependent pronominal form (17) a. axáxá nɛ́ kitsikpi nɔ́ mɛ, a-xáxá nɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ 3SG-be_stuck PREP CM3-pot DEF inside ‘It got stuck in the container.’ (Frog_Story-PW.026) b. g’ebekú bɔpã ́ tú-lí ɛklɛ́ ko gɛ e-be-kú bɔ-pã ́ tú-lí ɛ-klɛ́ ko REL 3SG-VEN-reach CM-house AM-SPECI CM6-there just ‘when he got to a certain house there,’ (Frog_Story-PW.028) The pronoun a- in (17a) refers to the dog in the frog story while the e- in (17b) refers to the boy who is with the dog.

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table 12

Some a-class words

a-

e-

ø

ashũĩ ‘ancestor, grandparent’ awaleté ‘landlord’ ashagabúí ‘sorrow’ anidze ‘mother-in-law’ akɔ́ lɔ ‘bark’ atiglinyi ‘elephant’ amáńkráɖo ‘fetish priest’ anɔ ‘person’ adzɛ̃ ‘woman’ awu ‘clothing’

ekusí ‘chief’

séƒoƒo ‘flower’

ehoeleté ‘rich person’ ef u ‘guest’ ebú ‘dog’ ekpú ‘corpse’ epidzyá ‘goat’ etsí ‘bee’ elí ‘palm tree’ elẽ ‘mother’ enyine ‘husband’

kesinɔ ‘rich person’ pampró ‘bamboo’ blaf óé ‘pawpaw’ tumpá ‘bottle’ kpákpáxe ‘duck’ bladzyó ‘plantain’ yof óé ‘white person’ gazɛ́ ‘metal pot’ dawadawa ‘locust bean’

The independent pronominal form in the identification construction also helps in distinguishing nouns which belong to this class, as shown below: (18) a. anyɛ́ álɛ y’enú m’áka a-nyɛ́ a-lɛ yɛ e-nú mɛ á-ka CM1-man AM-this 3SG:IND AM-be 1SG:IND CM1-father ‘This man is my father.’ b. ɛsɔ́ álɛ y’enu m’ayɛ́ ɛ-sɔ́ a-lɛ yɛ e-nu mɛ a-yɛ́ CM1-horse AM-this 3SG:IND AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This horse is mine.’ c. seƒoƒo alɛ y’enú m’ayɛ́ seƒoƒo a-lɛ yɛ e-nu mɛ a-yɛ́ flower AM-this 3SG:IND AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This flower is mine.’ Ɛsɔ́ ‘horse’ and seƒoƒo ‘flower’ are borrowed from Ewe. While ɛsɔ́ takes an uncharacteristic prefix for the class, seƒoƒo does not have an overt prefix. Examples (18b and 18c) show that like anyɛ́ in (18a) which has the a-class marker, both words take the independent pronoun yɛ. Table 12 above provides some words that belong to the a-class.

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Agbetsoamedo (2014) observes that the semantics of the a-class in GTMlanguages comprise mainly human referents, some animals, and borrowed items. This is exactly the case in Tutrugbu as evidenced by examples like anɔ ‘person’, adzɛ̃ ‘woman’ and anyɛ́ ‘man’ in Table 12. All kinship nouns also belong to this class. Some examples are aka ‘father’ and adzyá ‘brother’, which were discussed in chapter 2, and elẽ ‘mother’ which is in Table 12. Animals belonging to the class which do not have borrowed names are epidzyá ‘goat’ and ebú ‘dog.’ However, many animal names in the class are borrowed. An example is atiglinyi ‘elephant’, which is given in Table 12, and ɛsɔ́ ‘horse’ which was discussed on the preceding page. 3.3.2 The ɔ-class Words that belong to the ɔ-class have an ɔ-prefix for nouns with a -ATR initial vowel and o-prefix for a [+ATR] vowel. Its agreement marker is o- before a +ATR vowel and ɔ- before a -ATR vowel. This is illustrated by the examples below: (19) a. gɛ okotokú nɔ́ oyí soɔ, gɛ a-á-ba bɔŋaŋa túlí bɔ-wɔ́ lɛ gɛ o-kotokú nɔ́ o-yí so=ɔ, gɛ a-á-ba bɔ-ŋaŋa as CM2-sack DEF AGR-full so=TP, as 3SG-PROG-come CM8-food tú-lí bɔ-wɔ́ lɛ AM-SPECI AM-fall ‘Because the sack was full, as he went some of the food fell out.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34) b. yɛ ɔtɔm’ óshe yɛ ɔ-tɔmɛ́ o-she 3SG:IND CM2-beard AM-grow ‘His beard is grown’ c. gɛ ozĩ’ ɔnɛ sóɔ́ gɛ o-zi=ɛ́ ɔ-nɛ so=ɔ́ REL CM2-hole=DEF AM-be_wide so=TP ‘Since the hole is narrow …’ (Making_Palm_Wine.094) Okotokú ‘sack’ and ɔtɔmɛ́ ‘beard’ in (19a) and (19b) respectively take o- as their agreement marker because the vowel of their verbs is +ATR. In contrast, ozĩ ‘hole’ in (19c) takes ɔ- because the vowel of the verb is -ATR. The dependent pronominal forms for the ɔ-class are different from the agreement markers. A noun with a [+ATR] vowel takes lo- while one with a [-ATR] vowel takes lɔ-. This is illustrated below:

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(20) a. ahĩá tɛ mɛ́kpɛ́ɛ́ nɛ́ oziɛ mɛ, kɛlɛ ɛkɛlɛ gɛ bunuɔ gã pɛ butsokú kɛyɔ mɛ, tɛ ɛkɛlɛ lotixé a-hĩá tɛ mɛ-kpɛ́-í nɛ́ o-zi=ɛ́ mɛ 3SG-need COMP 1SG-put_in-3SG:OBJ PREP CM2-hole=DEF inside kɛlɛ ɛ-kɛlɛ gɛ bu-nu=ɔ gã pɛ bu-tsokú then CL6-here REL CM8-beverage=DEF walk and_then CL8-enter kɛ-yɔ mɛ tɛ ɛ-kɛlɛ lo-tí-xé CM3-small_pot inside COMP CL6-here CL2-NEG-block ‘I need to push it into the hole where the wine passes and enters the tapping pot so that it does not get clogged (Making_Palm_Wine.091– 092) b. ko otsíɛ́ ɛlɔkɔ ɔbhíá nɔ́, ɛbat’ ɔlɛ. ɛ́t’ ɔ́ lɛ́ ko, lɔsɔlɛ ko ko otsíɛ́ ɛ-lɔkɔ ɔ-bhíá nɔ́ ɛ-ba-tɔ ɔ-lɛ just now 1SG-take CM2-torch DEF 1SG-FUT-set_fire CL2:OBJ ɛ́-tɔ́ ɔ́ -lɛ́ ko lɔ-sɔlɛ ko 1SG-set_fire CL2:OBJ just CL2-catch_fire just ‘Now I take the torch. I’ll set fire to it. When I have set fire to it and it burns.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.033–036) The lo- of lotíxé ‘it does not clog’ in (20a) is a pronominal that refers to ozi ‘hole’. In (20b) the lɔ- of lɔsɔlɛ ‘it catches fire’ refers to ɔbhia, a torch made of burning brush which is used in tapping palm wine. After first introducing the lexical item, the speaker uses ɔlɛ to refer to it in object position in the next two sentences. In the fourth sentence, the dependent pronoun lɔ- is used, with the vowel determined by the ATR of the /ɔ/ in sɔlɛ ‘catch fire’. We saw in sentence (20b) that the independent pronoun is ɔlɛ. In the next section, it is used in the presentative construction: (21) ohui ɔlɛ ɔl’ onú m’ɔyɛ́ o-hui ɔ-lɛ ɔlɛ o-nú mɛ ɔ-yɛ́ CM2-rope AM-this CL2:IND AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This rope is mine.’ (Essegbey 2009 ex. 18b) Examples of the words that occur in this class are given in Table 13. Nouns which occur in the ɔ-class are in the singular. As Table 13 shows, trees, plants, their parts, and products which are made with these entities belong to this class. Also stick-like body-parts such as the hand, leg and foot belong to it.

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Some ɔ-class words

o-

ɔ-

ohui ‘rope’ osí ‘tree’ oputso ‘mat’ opupú ‘door’ olũgbũ ̌ ‘mouth’ olí ‘neck’ ogũ ‘root’ odzínidzíni ‘earthworm’ ogbli ‘garden egg’ oɖotí ‘cotton’

ɔtsrɛ ‘foot’ ɔtɔmɛ́ ‘beard’ ɔtɛtrɛ̌ ‘blowpipe’ ɔnyɔ́ ‘smoke’ ɔmlɔ́ ‘cloud’ ɔkɔ ‘custom’ ɔglã ‘jaw’ ɔhɔɛ ‘hand’ ɔpɔɛ ‘quiver’ ɔbhia ‘friend’

3.3.3 The kɛ-class Nouns belonging to the kɛ- class have a kɛ- prefix when the root has a -ATR vowel and a ki- prefix when the vowel is +ATR. Their agreement markers are just like the class markers. However, kɛ- and ki- are among the agreement markers which are rarely used by speakers presently. The only spontaneous use is kɛ- as given in (22a) below. Sentence (22b) is the elicited version of (15), which is repeated below as (22c) with the agreement marker specified: (22) a. kif úɔ́ kɛbakɔ́ sɛ bɔgɛ aló bɔdɔ̃ tɛ́batéŋú zĩi nɛ́ agbã n’abha ki-f ú=ɔ́ kɛ-ba-kɔ́ sɛ bɔ-gɛ aló bɔ-dɔ̃ CM3-fire=DEF AM-FUT-give that CM8-weevil or CM8-thing tɛ́-ba-téŋú zĩ-i nɛ́ a-gbã nɔ́ ka-bha NEG-FUT-be_able spoil-3SG:OBJ PREP CM1-shed DEF CM4-top ‘The fire will prevent weevils or things from destroying it in the shed.’ (Bɔya dɛdɛ) b. kɛ-vɔbɔ ki-wṹsɔ́ tumpá nɔ́ mɛ CM3-frog AM-lie bottle DEF inside ‘Frog lay in the bottle.’ c. kɛ-vɔbɔ wṹsɔ́ tumpa nɔ́ mɛ CM3-frog lie bottle DEF inside ‘Frog lay in the bottle.’

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The ATR of the verbs in (22a) and (22c) determine the choice of the agreement markers kɛ- and ki- respectively. The dependent pronominal forms of words that belong to this class are also kɛ- and ki-. This is shown below: (23) a. batebabɔ ɛblɔmi nɛ́ ɔma mɛ, g’ inu ɔkɔ n’ ɔma shú ba-té-ba-bɔ kɛ-blɔ́ mí nɛ́ ɔ-ma mɛ gɛ 3PL-NEG-FUT-crow CM3-whistle PREP CM2-state inside REL ki-nú ɔ-kɔ nɛ́ ɔ-ma shú CL3-be CM2-custom PREP CM2-state skin ‘It is not permitted to whistle in the town, which is a taboo in the town.’ (Odumasi_Customs.027–028) b. aló koóko ákpɛ́ wɔ́ luhuú, kɛmá sɛ tɛ anɔ́ dzyrámɛ azã avɛ bɔdɔmɛ aĺo koóko á-kpɛ́ wɔ bu-luhuú kɛ-má sɛ or hemorrhoid AM-put 2SG CM8-trouble CL3-NEG:be_at that tɛ a-nɔ́ dzyrámɛ a-zã a-vɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ mɛ COMP CM1-human AM-stay SCONN-go CM8-thing inside ‘Or if you are suffering from hemorrhoids[…] it prevents people from having free bowels.’ (Odumase_Herbs.072) The specific noun to which the agreement marker ki- of kinu refers in (23a) is not completely certain. When speakers were asked what (k)inu refers to, some said it referred to kɛblɔmi ‘whistle’ while others said it referred to kibui ‘issue’. Since whistling is not forbidden in the town but, rather, it is whistling at night that is forbidden, I am inclined to go with the latter explanation. Note however that whether the antecedent is kɛblɔmi or kibui, the pronominal form would be ki- since both belong to the kɛ- class. The same uncertainty occurred in (23b) where some said the pronoun kɛ- refers to kooko ‘hemorrhoids’ while others said it refers to kibui the issue that is causing the illness. A less controversial example is (24) below: (24) ko kitsikpi nɔ́ tɔ dɔ̃ ; kɛtɔ kekupe, kɛdɔnyɛ́dɔ̃ g’ ɔpɛ sɛ tɛ ɔŋa ko ki-tsikpi nɔ́ tɔ bɔ-dɔ̃. kɛ-tɔ ke-kupe, then CM3-pot DEF cook CM8-thing. CL3-cook CM3-slice, kɛ-dɔ-nyɛ́-dɔ̃ gɛ ɔ-pɛ sɛ tɛ ɔ-ŋa CM3-thing-every-thing REL 2SG-want that COMP 2SG-eat ‘Then the pot cooked food. It cooked yam slices, everything that you’d like to eat’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32)

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Some kɛ-class words

ki-

kɛ-

kitsikpi ‘pot’ kifutu ‘forest’ kikutú ‘hat’ kikluisí ‘knee’ kitukú ‘load’ kifuflu ‘lung’ kinyé ‘name’ kité ‘liver’ kiné ‘tooth’ kivukpoli ‘navel’

kɛvɔbɔ́ ‘frog’ kɛklagbu ‘stone’ kɛŋaŋa ‘food’ kɛtakpú ‘head’ kɛblɛkpɛ́ ‘left’ kɛdzyá ‘meat’ kɛvlɔ ‘Monday’ kɛxwa ‘bone’ kɛwɛ ‘finger’ kɛw̃ ɔ̃ hũ ‘eye’

The pronoun kɛ- in the second sentence, before the root tɔ ‘cook’, refers to kitsikpi ‘pot’ in the preceding sentence. The independent pronoun for the kɛ-class is kɛlɛ, as shown below: (25) a. kɛwɛ lɛ kɛl’inu m’ɛyɛ́ kɛ-wɛ kɛ-lɛ kɛlɛ ki-nu mɛ ɛ-yɛ́ CM3-finger AM-this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This finger is mine.’ b. kitsikpi ɛlɛ kɛli-nú m’ɛyɛ́ ki-tsikpi kɛ-lɛ kɛlɛ ki-nu mɛ ɛ-yɛ́ CM3-pot AM-this CL3:IND AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This pot is mine.’ The /k/ of the agreement marker on the demonstrative is never pronounced. Neither is that on the copula. Some example of words that occur in this class are given in Table 14. As the words in Table 14 indicate, most body part referents, including internal organs, belong to the kɛ-class. I stated earlier that stick-like body parts belong to the ɔ-class. The only one that belongs to the kɛ-class is kɛwɛ ‘finger’. The celestial sphere entities kititi ‘sky’ and kiwi ‘sun’ also belong to this class. From the latter are derived two cardinal landmarks kiwiyikɔ ‘east’ (literally sun appear place) and kiwɔdɔ́ kɔ́ ‘west’ (literally ‘sun lie place’). Both left and right

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which are kɛblɛkpɛ́ and kɛŋa respectively, and locations such as kif utu ‘forest’ and kidzo ‘path,’ as well as the grammaticalized locative nominals kɛmɛ ‘inside’ and kɛtɔ̃ ‘edge’ (from kɛnyɔtɔ̃ ́ ‘nose’) also belong to the class. In addition to words referring to tiny things such as kiyi ‘seed’, and kitsyini ‘louse’, the kɛ-class is used to derive diminutives. Thus, while osí refers to a tree, kishi refers to a cane, and while ketsukpú (from the ka-class) refers to a big pot, kitsikpi refers to a small pot. Times of the day such as kɛvlɔ ‘morning’ and kemuze ‘afternoon’ also belong to the kɛ-class. Finally, kɛ is used to derive clefted nominals from verbs. These nominals often occur in sentence-initial position: (26) ko ɛ-mɔ sɛ kɛ-lɔ́ gɛ a-lɔ́ álɛ́ just 1SG-see that CM3-rise REL 3SG-rise thus ‘Then I saw that, getting up.’ (literally, the get up that he got up) (Focus1 .140) Lɔ́ is a verb which has been nominalized by prefixation with kɛ-. In some instances, kɛ is not included in the derivation. Instead, the verb alone occurs in the noun slot, as in the example below: (27) so e-tí-nyí bhɛ́tɛ gɛ a-ba-bhɛtɛ́ pɛ e-be-bú so 3SG-NEG-know do REL 3SG-FUT-do and_then 3SG-FUT-remove e-bú=ɔ́ nɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ CM1-dog=DEF PREP CM3-container DEF inside ‘Then he did not know what to do in order to remove the dog from the container.’ (Frog_Story_PB.048) The presence of the relativizer gɛ, which comes after bhɛtɛ, is evidence that the word is a nominal. This sentence was repeated in line 52, which is evidence that the speaker did not accidentally leave out the kɛ-prefix. 3.3.4 The ka-class Heine (1968) distinguishes between two different types of ka-classes. This is because some nouns have a ba-prefix for the plural while others have a bɔprefix. When the classes are treated as singular-plural pairs, such a solution is inevitable. However, when the classes are treated as “a single set of morphological concords” instead of a paired set, then it is possible to group the ka-classes that share class and agreement markers even when their plurals belong to different classes. In Essegbey (2009) I put some words which belong to this class into the kɛ-class discussed above. These were mostly words with a ke- class marker. It is clear from the criteria applied here that all words which have a

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ke-prefix belong to the ka- class. The agreement marker for the class, just like the class marker, is ka- when the root vowel is -ATR and ke- when it is +ATR. This is illustrated below: (28) a. kazhwɛ nɔ́ kabhɛ́tɛ prɛdɛdɛ nɛ́ busíɛ́ mɛ nɛ́ klɛ́ ka-zhwɛ nɔ́ ka-bhɛtɛ prɛdɛdɛ́ nɛ́ bu-sí=ɛ́ mɛ nɛ́ CM4-bird DEF AM-do IDEO PREP CM8-tree=DEF inside PREP klɛ́ there ‘The bird flew threateningly in the tree.’ (Frog_Story-PW.097) b. kazhwɛ nɔ́ tsyɛ́ elí ali y’edé ka-zhwɛ nɔ́ tsyɛ́ ke-lí ka-lɛ yɛ ke-dé CM4-bird DEF also AM-be_at AM-DEM 3SG:POSS CM4-back ‘The bird was also behind him.’ (Frog_Story_PB.150) Sentence (28b) has been slightly modified. The original involves the use of the generic agreement marker a- instead of ke-. My consultants stated during transcription that it “should have been” ke-. Sentence (29) shows that the dependent pronoun is the same as the class marker: (29) ka-salã mɔ samɛ; ka-lɔkɔ ka-hɔ vɛ-nɔ CM4-tortoise see happiness; CL4-take CM4-squirrel go-COM bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM8-house inside ‘Tortoise was happy. It carried squirrel to the house.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 28) Mɔ ‘see’ does not take agreement marker that agrees with kasala ‘tortoise’ in the first sentence. The pronominal ka- in the following sentence, which refers back to kasala, has the same form as the class marker. The independent pronoun in the presentative construction is kalɛ, as shown below: (30) a. kel’ alɛ kal’enú m’iayɛ ke-li ka-lɛ kalɛ e-nú mɛ ka-yɛ́ CM4-day AM-this CL4:IND AM-be 1SG-IND AM-own ‘This day is mine.’

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b. kagba alɛ kal’enú m’iayɛ ka-gba ka-lɛ kalɛ e-nú mɛ ka-yɛ́ CM4-hut AM-this CL4:IND AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This hut is mine.’ The /k/ of the agreement marker ka-, which occurs on the possession word ɛ is never pronounced. Instead, it is deleted together with the vowel /ɛ/ of the possessor morpheme. An /i/ is then inserted. It was shown in Chapter 2 that Tutrugbu speakers often delete the /k/ of a kɛ- or ka- prefix and, when they do, insert an /i/. The table below contains some words from the ka-class. Table 15 shows that a few body-part items belong to the ka-class. However, the biggest class of entities that occur in the class are insects, arachnida, and animals that move on their belly such as rodents and some reptiles. Tools, particularly those fashioned out of metal for working on the farm, also belong to this class. Finally, the ka-class contains some locative nominals that have grammaticalized into postpositions. 3.3.5 The ba-class Nouns in this class take the prefix ba- or be- depending on the ATR of the preceding vowel stem. The subject-verb agreement marker is also ba- for verbs with a [-ATR] root vowel and be- for verbs with a [+ATR] root vowel. This is illustrated below: (31) a. banɔ sheshe télí bekedé bekusí ní ámpɛ mɛ ba- nɔ sheshe te-lí be-ke-dé be-kusí nɔ́ CM5-person old AM-SPECI AM-still-come_from CM5-chief DEF ka-mpɛ mɛ CM4-side inside ‘Some old people are still on the side of the chief.’ (Sroe.103) b. beyíɛ́ babaŋa dɔ̃ nɛ́ bɔpã ́ mɛ be-yí=ɛ́ ba-ba-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM5-child_of=DEF AM-FUT-eat CM8-thing PREP CM8-house inside ‘The children will eat in the house.’ In (31a) the class marker of the noun banɔ is ba- because the monosyllabic root has a -ATR vowel. The agreement marker on the verb is be- because the initial vowel of the verb stem is +ATR. In (31b), the class marker is be- because the vowel of the root yi is +ATR. In contrast, the agreement marker is ba- because the vowel of the verb is -ATR.

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Some ka-class words

ke

ka

kedulũ ‘entrance’ ketú ‘forehead’ kedzi ‘bush rat’ kedu ‘animal like cat’ kelĩ ‘river’ kesugba ‘earthware bowl’ ketsukpú ‘pot’ kexole ‘horn’ kedě ‘back’ kesí ‘down’

kahɔkpɔ ‘wrist’ kakɔsɛ́ ‘chin’ kabɔ́ ɛ́ ‘bile’ kaplatɔ ‘buttock’ kagɛ ‘insect’ kapami ‘machete’ kapã ‘hoe’ kawɛ ‘axe’ kabha ‘top’ kampɛ ‘side’

Just as we saw with the preceding classes, the dependent pronominal forms of the ba- class, which occur in unmarked subject position, are the same as subject-verb agreement forms. The following examples illustrate it: (32) a. bagɛmɔ ɛdɔnyɛ́dɔ̃ kɛtɛ́ɛw ́ ɛ̃ ba-gɛ-mɔ kɛ-dɔnyɛ́dɔ̃ kɛ-tɛ́-ɛ́-wɛ̃ 3PL-NEG:PST-see CM3-everything AM-NEG-PROG-appear ‘They couldn’t see anything.’ (Frog_Story_PW.055) b. bekú ayɛ télí mɛ, be-kú a-yɛ te-lí mɛ 3PL-reach CM1-forest AM-SPECI inside ‘They arrived in a certain forest.’ (Frog_Story_PW.053) The pronouns ba- and be- in both sentences refer to the boy and his dog in the frog story. The choice of ba- is determined by the ATR of the vowel in mɔ ‘see’ while that of be- is determined by the vowel of kú ‘reach’. In the identification construction, the independent pronoun balɛ is used, as illustrated below: (33) a. banɔbɔɛ álɛ bal’ enú m’ayɛ́ ba-nɔbɔɛ a-lɛ balɛ e-nú mɛ a-yɛ́ CM5-cat AM-DEM IND:PRON AM-be 1SG-IND AM-own ‘These cats are mine.’

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table 16

Some ba-class words

ba-

be-

banɔ ‘people’ bayamunɔ ‘pregnant women’ babhɛbhɛ ‘hunters’ badzɛ̃ ‘women’ batɔ̃ ́ ‘ears’ banyɛ ‘men’ badzɛ̃ ‘women’ bagã ‘animals’ baha ‘pigs’ badzya ‘brothers’

bebúdí ‘fetishes’ belishi ‘nights’ bekusí ‘chiefs’ benuvɔ̃ ɛ̃ ‘children’ benu ‘drinks’ betumpá ‘bottles’ bebú ‘dogs’ besí ‘trees’ beyi ‘children’ belí ‘palm trees’

b. besí álɛ bal’ enú m’ayɛ́ be-sí a-lɛ balɛ e-nú mɛ a-yɛ́ CM5-tree AM-DEM IND:PRON AM-be 1SG-IND AM-own ‘These trees are mine.’ Examples of words that occur in the ba- class are provided in Table 16. The ba-class comprises the plural of nouns that belong to the a-class. In addition it serves as the plural of some nouns in the bɔ-class which I discuss below. An example is belí ‘palm trees’, the singular of which is bulí. Also, the class of the singular of words like bebúdí ‘fetishes’ and besí ‘trees’ belong to the o-class. Finally, a word like batɔ̃ ́ ‘ears’ belongs to this class whether reference is to one ear or more. This shows that there is no one-to-one mapping between classes in which nouns have singular interpretation and those in which they have a plural interpretation. 3.3.6 The ɛ-class Most nouns in the ɛ-class take the prefix ɛ- when the initial root vowel is [-ATR] and i- when it is [+ATR]. The agreement markers are lɛ- for -ATR vowels and lifor +ATR vowels. This is illustrated by the examples below: (34) a. klɛ y’ ɛyámɛ lɛ́zakpí yɛ́ lúhũ klɛ yɛ ɛ-yá-mɛ lɛ́-za-kpɛ́ yɛ then 3SG:IND CM6-stomach-inside AM:NEG-REP-put_in 3SG:IND

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bu-luhũ CM8-trouble ‘Then his stomach won’t bother him again.’ (Odumase_Herbs.089) b. i-hui=ɛ li-ti nɛ́ bu-seyuyu=ɔ CM6-rope=DEF AM-be_tied PREP CM8-flower=DEF ‘The ropes are tied to the flower.’ The word for ‘stomach’ is a combination of ɛyá, which appears to be ‘belly’, and the locative morpheme mɛ ‘inside’. The derivation belongs to the ɛ-class and, therefore, the agreement marker is lɛ-. It should be pointed out that the ɛ-class is one of those for which speakers rarely use the appropriate agreement marker, if at all. Sentence (34a) is the only one in which the marker is used in spontaneous discourse. As I noted at the beginning of this section, speakers drop the marker or use the generalized one. A sentence like (35) below is the more common one: (35) i-wui=ɛ a-ná CM6-day=DET AM-suffice ‘The days arrived.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 26) Dependent pronouns in the ɛ-class are like the agreement marker. That is to say they are lɛ- before -ATR stem vowel and li- before +ATR stem vowel. This is illustrated below: (36) a. f akɔ́ ɛga n’álɛ? f akɔ́ ɛ-ga nɔ́ a-lɛ́? Where CM6-bell DEF AM-be_at ‘Where are the bells?’ lɛkpasɛ ɔkplɔ̃ n’í ésí lɛ-kpasɛ ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ke-sí CL6-be_contained CM2-table DEF CM4-down ‘It is under the table.’ b. ɔmɔ ɛkɔkɔ́ ɛlɛ gɛ liízī m’ ɔdɔ̃ ? ɔ-mɔ ɛ-kɔkɔ́ ɛ-lɛ gɛ li-í-zī mɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ ? 2SG-see CM6-fowl AM-this REL CL6-PROG-spoil 1SG:IND CM8-thing ‘Do you see the fowls that are destroying my things?’

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In (36a), the answer to the question about the bells requires the use of the pronoun. Lɛ- is used here because of the /a/ in kpasɛ. Further, the /k/ of the class prefix of the locative kesi ‘under’ is deleted and, in its place, the epenthetic /i/ is inserted. Also deleted is the vowel of the definite determiner nɔ. The result is /niesi/. In (36b), the resumptive pronoun, which is li- because of the /i/ in the verb zi ‘to spoil’, refers back to ɛkɔkɔ́ ‘fowls’. The independent pronoun which occurs in the identification construction is ɛlɛ, as shown below: (37) a. i-hui lɛ ɛl’i-nú m’ɛyɛ́ i-hui lɛ ɛlɛ li-nu mɛ ɛ-yɛ́ CM6-rope this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:POSS AM-own ‘These ropes are mine.’ b. ɛkɔkɔ́ lɛ ɛl’i-nú m’ɛyɛ́ ɛ-kɔkɔ́ lɛ ɛlɛ li-nú mɛ ɛ-yɛ́ CM6-rope this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:POSS AM-own ‘These fowls are mine.’ The /l/ of the agreement marker li- which follows the independent pronoun is deleted at the same time as the final vowel of the pronoun. The result is that one gets ɛlinu. Examples of words that occur in the e-class are given in Table 17. The examples show that words that belong to the ɔ-class mostly have their plural in the ɛ-class. As such the plural of body parts as well as trees and products made from trees are mostly found in this class. An interesting thing to note here is how borrowed words with prefixes are integrated nicely into the class system so that the class markers conform. For instance, ɔma ‘state’ from the ɔclass is most likely borrowed from Akan which has ɔman. Not surprisingly, that word is kept in the ɔ-class where, like its Akan counterpart, it refers to a singular entity. The plural is ɛma ‘states’. By contrast, ɛgla ‘jaws’ which is borrowed from Ewe is used to refer to a plural entity instead. The singular form is then placed in the ɔ-class where it becomes ɔgla. 3.3.7 The a2-class I began the discussion of noun classes with an a-class that comprises mostly animate entities. There is a second a-class which is distinguished from the other by the type of agreement marker and pronominal form it takes. The agreement marker is la- before a -ATR vowel and le- before a +ATR vowel. This is illustrated below:

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morphology table 17

Some ɛ-class words

i-

ɛ-

ihui ‘ropes’ isí ‘trees’ iputso ‘mats’ ipupú ‘doors’ ilũgbũ ‘mouths’ ilí ‘necks’ igũ ‘root’ itú ‘guns’ ifú ‘palm wine tapping brush’ igbli ‘garden eggs’

ɛtsrɛ̌ ‘feet’ ɛma ‘states’ ɛtɛtrɛ ‘blowpipe’ ɛhɔɛ ‘hands’ ɛkɔkɔ́ ‘fowls’ ɛkɔ ‘customs’ ɛglã ‘jaws’ ɛgã ‘bells’ ɛgbadzeɖé ‘huge pan for roasting gari’ ɛdzɛdzɛ̌ ‘stories’

(38) a. eklú kɛlɛ́ gɛ ebuiɛ lalɛ́ nɛ́ Banyá mɛ e-klú kɛ-lɛ́ gɛ e-búí=ɛ́ la-lɛ́ nɛ́ Banyá 3SG-call CL3-that REL CM7-word=DEF AM-be_at PREP Sroe mɛ inside ‘He mentioned how things are in Esroe.’ (Sroe.149) b. beseɖi ko avɔbɔ tabha leli osi teli esi be-se-ɖí ko a-vɔbɔ́ ta-bha le-lí o-sí te-lí 3PL-say-look just CM7- frog AM-two AM-be_at CM2-tree AM-SPECI ke-sí CM3-down ‘Just as they looked, there were two frogs under a certain tree.’ (Frog_ Story_PW.166) The dependent pronoun, like the agreement marker, is le- before a [+ATR] root vowel and la- before a [-ATR] root vowel. Example (39) shows the use of le both as an agreement marker and as a pronoun: (39) ɛrr avɔbɔ́ lewu etsiɖi osí n’abha, lewu etsiɖi, balɛ tabha pɛ leéɖi aglɔ ɛrr a-vɔbɔ́ le-wu e-tsiɖi o-sí nɔ́ ka-bha um CM7-frog AM-climb SCONN-be_supported CM2-tree DEF CM4-top le-wu e-tsiɖi balɛ ta-bha pɛ CL7-climb SCONN-be_supported 3PL:IND AM-two and_then

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le-é-ɖī a-glɔ CL7-PROG-look CM1-each_other ‘The frogs had climbed and were on the tree, they had climbed up and were on it, the two and they were looking at each other.’ (Frog_Story_PW .193–195) Le- in lewu is an agreement marker that agrees with the subject, avɔbɔ́ ‘frogs’. By contrast the le, which precedes the progressive in leéɖī ‘they are looking’, is the dependent pronoun. The a2-class has the independent pronoun alɛ- which is used in the presentative construction. Example (40) illustrates this: (40) a. apɔtɛ́ álɛ al’enú m’ayɛ a-pɔtɛ a-lɛ alɛ e-nú mɛ a-yɛ CM7-cloth AM-this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘These clothes are mine.’ b. ekutú álɛ alɛ enú mɛ ayɛ e-kutú a-lɛ alɛ e-nu mɛ a-yɛ CM7-hat AM-this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘These hats are mine.’ Examples of nouns belonging to the a2-class are given in Table 18. The examples show that nouns in the a2-class are plural counterparts of the ones in the kɛ-class. These include (mostly internal) body-part referents and tools. 3.3.8 The bɔ-class Nouns in the bɔ-class take a bɔ- prefix when they have a [–ATR] root vowel and a bu- prefix when they take a [+ATR] prefix. As the examples below show, their agreement markers behave similarly: (41) a. y’abakɔ́ sɛ bunuɔ bɔbagagãlĩ yɛ a-ba-kɔ́ sɛ bu-nu=ɔ bɔ-ba-gagãlĩ 3SG:IND AM-FUT-give that CM8-drink=DEF AM-FUT-become_hard ‘That is what will make the drink strong.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.006) b. ɔnyɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ l’ɔvɛ, kliso pɛ bunuɔ bubuku anɔ ɔ-nyɔ́ =ɔ́ ɔlɛ ɔ-vɛ kliso pɛ CM2-smoke=DEF CL2:IND AM-go therefore and_then

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morphology table 18

Some a2-class words

e-

a-

etsikpi ‘pots’ (butsikpi) efutu ‘forests’ ekutú ‘hats’ ekwinsí ‘knees’ etukú ‘loads’ ef uf lu ‘lungs’ enyé ‘names’ etsukpú ‘pots’? exole ‘horns’ eniké ‘tongues’

avɔbɔ́ ‘frogs’ aklagbu ‘stones’ apɔtɛ́ ‘cloths’ apami ‘machetes’ axɔ̃ ɛ̃ ‘works’ aw̃ ɔ̃f ɔnɔ ‘nails, claws’ ahalukóé ‘adam’s apples’ axwa ‘bones’ aw̃ ɔ̃xwa ‘ribs’ akana ‘hairy crabs’

bu-nu=ɔ bu-bukú a-nɔ CM8-drink=DEF AM-get_drunk CM1-person ‘As the smokes goes (into it) then the wine becomes potent.’ (lit. makes people drunk) (Making_Palm_Wine.100–101) Sentence (41a) has bɔ- because the vowel of the future marker ba- that precedes it in bɔbagagãlĩ is [–ATR] while (41b) has bu- because it precedes a [+ATR] stem. Examples (42a and 42b) below also show that the pronouns are exactly like agreement markers: (42) a. bunuɔ bade kɛlɛ, bɔbatsyokú kɛyɔ mɛ nɛ́ kesíɛ́ nɛ́ kɛlɛ bu-nu=ɔ ba-de kɛlɛ bɔ-ba-tsokú CM8-beverage=DEF FUT-come_from here CL8-FUT-enter kɛ-yɔ mɛ nɛ́ ke-sí=ɛ́ nɛ́ kɛlɛ CM3-small_pot inside PREP CM3-down=DEF PREP here ‘The drink will come from here, it will flow into the small pot in the ground here.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.074–025) b. kɛlɛ ɛkɛlɛ gɛ bunuɔ gã pɛ butsokú kɛyɔ mɛ kɛlɛ ɛ-kɛlɛ gɛ bu-nu=ɔ gã pɛ bu-tsokú then CM6-here REL CM8-beverage=DEF walk then CL8-enter kɛ-yɔ mɛ CM3-small_pot inside ‘Where the wine passes and enters the tapping pot.’ (Making_Palm_ Wine.091–092) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Sentence (42b) shows a common practice in spontaneous spoken Tutrugbu which I have referred to several times in this section, which is the dropping of agreement markers. Thus, gã ‘walk’ does not take any agreement marker. Instead, the pronoun bu- is used in the following clause because the /o/ of tsokú ‘enter’ is [+ATR]. The independent pronoun for the bɔ-class is bɔlɛ. It occurs in the examples below: (43) a. bunu ɔlɛ bɔl’inu m’ɔyɛ bu-nu ɔ-lɛ bɔ-lɛ i-nu mɛ ɔ-yɛ CM8-drink AM-this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This drink is mine.’ b. bɔŋaŋa ɔlɛ bɔl’inu m’ɔyɛ bɔŋaŋa ɔ-lɛ bɔ-lɛ i-nu mɛ ɔ-yɛ CM8-food AM-this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND AM-own ‘This food is mine.’ Due to changes that the class system is undergoing, some speakers treat the independent pronoun as though it were dependent on the following verb root. As a result, instead of the bɔl’inu which comes about as a result of the dropping of the final vowel of bɔlɛ, these speakers rather say bulinú, which means that the verb regressively assimilates the vowels of the pronoun (see Essegbey 2009). Table 19 shows examples of words that occur in the bɔ-class. The bɔ-class comprises plural of words which belong to the ka-class such as words referring to books, pots and hoes. In addition, it contains liquid entities, including the generic word bunu ‘drink’. It should be noted that bunu refers to alcoholic beverages only. Bu- is also used to derive states nouns from verbs. Thus, butsí ‘death’ is derived from tsí ‘die’ while bɔtɔ ‘tiredness’ is derived from tɔ ‘be tired.’ The /b/ of some bɔ-class nouns, which are derived from verbs is never pronounced leaving some speakers to suggest that the words belong to the ɔ-class. An example is given below: (44) akpá y’ ɔpɛ́ a-kpa yɛ bɔ-pɛ́ 3SG-begin 3SG:IND CM8-look_for ‘He began to look for it’ (literally he began its search) (Focus1.366)

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morphology table 19

Some bɔ-class words

bu-

bɔ-

butsikpi ‘pots’ buplukpá ‘books’ butsẽ ́ ‘monkeys’ bupí ‘flesh’ buluhũ ‘trouble’ bunu ‘drink’ buhehe ‘sweat’ buzĩ ‘theft’ butsí ‘death’ buwí ‘sun, fever’

bɔɖɔ ‘speeches’ bɔtsɛnɛ ‘sickle’ bɔshɔshɔ ‘urine’ bɔsɛsɛkɛ ‘porcupines’ bɔpã ́ ‘house/home’ bɔwá ‘medicine’ bɔnya ‘disease’ bɔtɔ ‘tiredness’ bɔlalá ‘dream’ bɔtɔ̃ ‘ash’

This is a specific aspectual construction in which the phrasal verb kpa functions as the main verb while the predicate pɛ is nominalized and functions as its complement. While it is not easy to find contexts in which speakers would pronounce the /b/ in the aspectual construction, the noun phrase in (45b), which is a nominalization of the verb phrase in (45a), is an indication that it is so: (45) a. adzɛ̃núvɔɛ nɔ́ y’ubhité a-dzɛ̃ň úvɔɛ nɔ́ yi bu-bhíté CM1-girl DEF resemble CM8-beauty ‘The girl is beautiful.’ b. bu-bhíté yi-yi CM8-beauty RED-resemble ‘Being beautiful’ (45b) shows that when the noun occurs at the beginning of a phrase or sentence, then the /b/ is pronounced. The construction in (45a) is discussed further in chapter 4 while the nominalization in (45b) is discussed in section 3.3.2 below. The bɔ-class also contains abstract nouns such buzi ‘theft’, buỹĩsɔ ‘youth’ and, as we have just seen, bubhite ‘beauty’.

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3.3.9 The tɛ-class The class markers for words belonging to this class are tɛ- for nouns with an initial -ATR root vowel and ti- for those with an initial +ATR root vowel. The agreement markers are just like the class markers, as shown below: (46) a. tɛ-hɔɛ́ tɛ-balɛ lí kesugba ní ésí tɛ-hɔɛ́ tɛ-balɛ lí ke-sugba nɔ́ ke-sí CM9-chaff AM-pour be_at CM4-plate DEF CM4-down ‘The chaff is poured under the bowl.’ b. tisí g’ɔlɔkɔ mana bɔpã ́m tikpe f anɔ ti-sí gɛ ɔ-lɔkɔ mana bɔ-pã ́ mɛ ti-kpe CM9-clay REL 2SG-take bring CM8-house inside AM-be_plenty f ánɔ too_much ‘The clay that you brought to the house is too much.’ In (46a) the tɛ- of tɛbalɛ agrees with tɛhɔɛ ‘chaff’ while in (46b) the ti- of tikpe agrees with tisí ‘clay’. The dependent pronouns of the tɛ-class have the same form as the class markers. To elicit sentences containing pronominal forms, questions were used, as shown below: (47) a. f akɔ́ tɛ-hɔɛ a-lɛ? where CM9-chaff AM-be_at ‘Where is the chaff?’ tɛ-kpasɛ́ ke-sugbá mɛ CL9-be_contained CM4-bowl inside ‘It is in a bowl.’ b. f akɔ́ ti-sí á-lɛ? Where CM9-clay AM-be_at ‘Where is the clay?’ ti-tsidi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha CL9-be_supported CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘It is on the table.’ The independent pronoun for the tɛ-class is tɛlɛ. Consider the examples below:

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(48) a. tɛlɔ̃ alɛ til’inú mɛɛ́ tɛ-lɔ̃ lɛ tɛlɛ i-nú mɛ yɛ́ CM9-chaff this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND own ‘This palm chaff is mine.’ b. tisí lɛ til’inú mɛɛ́ ti-sí lɛ tɛlɛ i-nú mɛ yɛ́ CM9-clay this IND:PRON AM-be 1SG:IND own ‘This clay is mine.’ Some words in the tɛ-class are provided in Table 20. The tɛ-class comprises mass nouns which, by their semantics, do not have plural counterparts. Also included in the class are language names which, though not mass, are unique and, therefore, do not have plural counterparts either. Finally, gerunds are formed in Tutrugbu by reduplicating verbs and prefixing the tɛ- affix. Thus titsyitsyina ‘turning’ given in Table 20 is derived from tsyina ‘turn’ while tɛgãgã ‘walking’ is derived from gã ‘walk.’ 3.3.10 Summary The properties of the 9 classes are summarized in Table 21 below. The table shows that most of the classes, namely the a-class, kɛ-class, ka-class, bɔ-class and tɛ-class have the same class marker, agreement marker and dependent pronoun forms. By contrast, the ɛ-class and a2-class have the same agreement marker and dependent pronoun forms but different markers represent the class marker. All the classes have an independent pronoun form that is different from the other three forms. Some independent pronouns appear to be losing their independence as the ATR of the verb affects the vowels for some speakers. The discussion shows that for the most part, the ba-class comprises plural of nouns belonging to the a-class, ɛ-class comprises plural of nouns belonging to the ɔ-class, a2-class comprise plural of kɛ-class, and the bɔ-class contains plural counterparts of ka-class. Notable exceptions were also encountered. Bobuafor (2013) writes that in Tafi a number of words in the a-class, which do not have a prefix, do not have plural counterparts. The Tutrugbu equivalent of her examples are subha ‘rain’, wole ‘moon’, dzyosu ‘blood’ and nikpe ‘corn’. These are all mass nouns which did not make it into the tɛ-class. Further, the ba-class does not only contain the plural of words in the a-class. There are, for instance, a few words in the bɔ-class that refer to singular entities, and have their plural counterparts occur in this class. Examples are bunu ‘drink’, buvũ ‘room’ and bɔŋaŋa which have benu ‘drinks’, bevũ ‘rooms’ and baŋaŋa ‘foods’ respectively.

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chapter 3 Some tɛ-class words

ti-

tɛ-

tisí ‘clay’ tingbe ‘Ewe language’ timũĩ ‘Akan language’ tinugba ‘Logba language’ tihu ‘Avatime language’ tibibísi ‘question’ titsyitsyína ‘turning’ tikuklú ‘calling’

tɛkã ‘hair’ tɛlɔ̃ ‘palm chaff’ tɛhɔɛ ‘chaff’ tɛxɔɛ tɛwá ‘grass’ tɛwɔlɛ ‘bladder’ tɛwɔ̃ nɔ ‘rubbish’ tɛzɛ̃ ‘vein’ tɛgãgã ‘walking’ tɛzɛ̃ ‘The Emli dialect of Tutrugbu’

table 21

Properties of noun classes

Class

Class marker

Agreement marker

Dependent pronoun

Independent pronoun

a-class ɔ-class kɛ-class ka-class ba-class ɛ-class a2-class bɔ-class tɛ-class

a-/eɔ-/okɛ-/kikabaɛ-/ia-/e/ bɔ-/botɛ-/ti-

a-/eɔ-/okɛ-/kika-/keba-/belɛ-/lila-/lebɔ-/botɛ-/ti-

a-/elɔ-/lokɛ-/kika-/keba-/belɛ-/lila-/lebɔ-/botɛ-/ti-

yɛ ɔlɛ kɛlɛ kalɛ balɛ ɛlɛ alɛ lɛ tɛlɛ

In Essegbey (2009) I distinguish two bɔ-classes, one for singular nouns and one plural nouns. However, in the present analysis, the semantics of the nouns that belong to the classes do not play any role in determining classification. Instead, the distinctions are based solely on the class markers, agreement markers and independent pronouns. Using these criteria ensures that there is only one bɔclass.

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3.4

Derivation

3.4.1 Nominal Derivation via Reduplication Reduplication is discussed generally in section 3.1 where it is shown that words with a CV structure undergo complete reduplication while words with a CCV structure and bisyllabic words undergo partial reduplication. Reduplication is the second most productive derivation after the noun class system. Nouns are derived from verbs through the reduplication of the latter and the prefixation of ti- for stems that have a +ATR vowel and tɛ- for those that have -ATR vowels. (49) a. b. c. d.

zã ‘stay’ ŋlɔmɛ ‘write’ bo ‘tap’ tsyina ‘turn’

→ → → →

tɛzãzã ‘stay’ tɛŋɔŋlɔmɛ ‘writing’ tibobo ‘tapping’ titsyitsina ‘change’

The translation of (49b and c) shows that nouns derived through reduplication can yield gerundives. In some cases, the reduplicated gerundive nominal is contrasted with a nominalized non-reduplicated counterpart which expresses a property. The classic example is provided below: (50) tsí ‘die’ → butsí ‘death’ vs titsitsí ‘dying’ In rare cases, the bɔ- is prefixed to the reduplicated word to derive a thing or concept. The two well-known examples are: (51) a. tú → bututú ‘spittle’ b. ŋa → bɔŋaŋa ‘food’ The process of reduplicating verbs to derive nouns is revisited below when I discuss synthetic compounds. 3.4.2 Deriving Adjectives from Verbs Adjectives are also derived from verbs through reduplication. For instance, kpâ ‘to dry’ occurs as an adjective in the next sentence: (52) a-lɔ́ kɔ kɛ-wulakpá kpá-kpá 3SG-take CM3-leaf RED-become_dry ‘He took a dry leaf.’

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Examples of adjectives which are derived from reduplicating verbs are sheshe ‘old’ (from she ‘become old’, dzadza ‘ripe, red’ from dza ‘to ripen’ and zuzru ‘stolen’ from zru ‘steal’). In a few cases, the verb counterpart of the reduplicated segment does not exist anymore. For example, although kpɛkpɛ́ is an adjective which means hot, there is no verb *kpɛ́ in Tutrugbu that means ‘to become hot’. Other reduplicated adjectives which do not have verbal counterpart are hohlo ‘big’, gbagbla ‘large’, and gagali. In chapter 4, it is shown that gagali can also function as a verb. 3.4.3 Derivation via Suffixation The process that I have discussed thus far involves prefixation either in the form of noun classes prefixes or reduplicative prefixes. While Tutrugbu does not have a lot of derivational processes that involve suffixation, two process qualify to be described thus. First of all, some kinship nouns in the language occur with the suffix -alɛ́ at the same time as the ba-class prefix. This ensures that the said words express plurality. Examples are provided below: (53) a. aka → bakaalɛ́ ‘fathers, ancestors’ b. elẽ ́ → belẽá lɛ́ ‘mothers’ c. eyi → eyialɛ́ ‘children’ The other two formatives straddle the border between derivational affixes and compounds. They are dze ‘FEMALE’ (from adzɛ̃ ̌ ‘woman’) and nye ‘MALE’ (from anyɛ́ ‘man’). When they occur with animals, the words specify the gender of the animals, as shown below: (54) a. oboshidzẽ ‘ewe’ vs oboshinye ‘ram’ b. ɔkɔkɔ́ dzẽ ‘cockerel’ vs ɔkɔkɔ́ nye ‘hen’ c. epidzyadzẽ ‘female goat’ vs epidzyanye ‘billy goat’ There are two reasons why I analyze -dzẽ and -nye as derivational suffixes rather than nouns in compound construction. The first is that the meanings are generalized to gender, and not do not refer specifically to adult female or male. The second, and most important factor though is that the forms have undergone a phonological change. Thus, not only are the class markers dropped but also, the final vowels have changed. What this means is that form plays a more important role in determining the analysis of a formative either as noun in a compound or a derivational affix. -dzẽ and -nye are also used with words that are borrowed from Ewe. The next examples illustrate this:

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(55) a. kpákpádzẽ ‘female duck’ vs kpákpánye ‘male duck’ b. dɔkudzẽ ‘female turkey’ vs dɔkunye ‘male turkey’ Kpakpa ‘duck’ and dɔku ‘turkey’ are borrowed from Ewe. Another derivational suffix is -nɛ which is used to derive a type of person. It is likely that this word is from anɔ ‘person’. If that is indeed the case, it would mean that not only has the affix lost the class prefix but it’s also undergone a phonological change. Two examples are given: (56) a. kaɖɔnɛ ‘spokesperson’ (from kaɖɔ ‘speech’) b. ef uf lunɛ ‘timid person’ (from f lu ‘confuse’) While -nɛ refers to just one person, there is also -anɛ which has basically the same meaning, with the difference that it refers to plural entities. Examples are provided below: (57) a. yof óánɛ́ ‘white people’ b. ɔdadamanɛ ‘people from the valley’ (from kɛdadamɛ ‘valley’) 3.4.4 Verbal Derivation Verbs in Tutrugbu have got only two derivations, with the affixes -nɔ and -na, which appear to be related and to be derived from the comitative preposition. As will be shown in Chapter 6, the comitative preposition, as the name suggests, expresses accompaniment and instrument. This is shown in the examples below: (58) a. Kof i vɛ Oho nɛ Ami NAME go Ho with NAME ‘Kofi went to Ho with Ami.’ b. Kof i bhũĩ o-sí=ɛ́ nɛ kráńte NAME cut CM2-tree=DEF with cutlass ‘Kofi cut the tree with a cutlass.’ The comitative meaning is present in some form in all the nominal derivations involving this morpheme. Examples are denɔ ‘from’, vɛnɔ ‘take away’, shɛ̃nɔ ‘leave with’, dzyenɔ ‘look good on’, munɔ and plɛnɔ ‘help’. Vɛnɔ comes from the verb vɛ ‘go’. When it takes the -nɔ affix, it expresses causing an entity to move from the deictic center. Thus vɛnɔ keplukpa means take book away from the speaker or hearer. I proposed in chapter 2 that munɔ is actually a combination

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of the verb mɔ ‘see’ and the affix -nɔ. Munɔ takes the complement ɛya ‘stomach’ and means ‘to become pregnant’. In other words, the expression literally means to see with the stomach. As with all such derivations, the meaning of some of the formative verbs have been lost. Thus, nobody knows what the plɛ of plɛnɔ ‘help’ means. The second affix is -na, as shown in the examples below (there are not many words with this affix) (59) a. gbana ‘marry’ b. mana ‘bring’ Gba means to sweep or, in this context, to spread over. It is used to refer to the act of the man marrying the woman, not the other way round. When people were asked how to say a woman has married a man, they rather said za nɛ which literally means to live with. This means that when it comes to the woman, the unchanged form of the comitative is used in an expression which has clearly not yet become lexicalized. Mana is another verb, whose verbal component ma cannot be determined synchronically. Mana can occur as a three-place verb as well as the second verb in serial verb constructions, and expresses bringing an entity to a deictic center. For example, lɔkɔ X mana mɛ́ ‘bring me X’ literally means take X bring me.

3.5

Compounding

As I wrote at the beginning of this chapter, I take Booij’s (2005) definition of compounding, which is that it consists of the combination of two or more lexemes. In Tutrugbu, one can identify four types of compounds depending on the head: there is the left-headed compound (60a and 60b), right-headed compounds (61a and 61b), double-headed compounds (62a and 62b), and compounds with a class-prefix that belongs to neither constituent (63a and 63b): (60) a. ekusí ‘chief’ + bɔpã ́ ‘house’ b. kedě ‘back’ + kɛxwá ‘bone’

→ ekusipã ́ ‘palace’ → kedexwá ‘backbone’

(61) a. ɔw̃ ã ‘side’ + kɛxwá ‘bone’ b. ɔkɔkɔ́ ‘fowl’ + kidzě ‘egg’

→ kɛw̃ ãxwá ‘rib’ → kɛkɔkɔ́ dze ‘chicken egg’

(62) a. Agbɔ ‘Tafi’ + eyí ‘child of’ → Agbɔeyí ‘native of Tafi’ b. kesiakpá ‘ground’ + eleté ‘owner’ → kesiakpáélété ‘owner of a land’

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(63) a. ɛta ‘three’ + kɛmɛ ‘inside’ b. ɔkɔkɔ́ ‘fowl’ + eyí ‘child of’

→ bɔtramɛ ‘three times’ → kɛkɔkɔ́ éyí ‘chick’

Many of the above compounds are discussed in detail below. For now, it suffices to note that the class markers in (60a and 60b) are determined by ekusí ‘chief’ and kedě ‘back’, the lefthand constituents, the ones in (61a and 61b) are determined by kɛxwá ‘bone’ and kidzě ‘egg’, the righthand constituents, the words in (62a and 62b) all maintain their class markers, and the class markers of (63a and 63b) are not determined by either individual constituent. According to Bouqiaux and Thomas (1992: 240), the following words are often used as the basis of compounds: Mouth / head / eye / leg / arm / stomach / neck Father / mother / chief / master / uncle / Male / female / child, little one, Hut / forest / child / earth / water / tree / etc. The Tutrugbu equivalent of these words and others which occur in a lot of compounds, some of which occur in examples (60–63), are discussed below: 3.5.1 Eleté vs elẽ The equivalents for father and mother, or master and mistress, are commonly used in word formation in Kwa languages. For example in Akan, owura ‘mister’ is used to form such words as f iewura ‘landlord, house owner’, kaa wura ‘car owner’, ankaa wura ‘orange seller’, etc. Ameka (1991: 190), discussing lexical formatives in Ewe, writes: “-tɔ́ - and to a limited extent -nɔ are used to mark ‘ownership’. That is structures of the form Y-tɔ́ and Y-nɔ can be roughly and broadly paraphrased as ‘owner of Y’.” Ameka’s examples (88a and 88b) are given below: (64) a. aƒé- tɔ́ house FATHER ‘master’ b. aƒé- nɔ house MOTHER ‘mistress/madam’ As the glosses show, -tɔ́ means ‘father’ while -nɔ means ‘mother’. Although Ameka does not state it, aƒétɔ́ and aƒénɔ also refer to landlord and landlady

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respectively. Although Bouqiaux and Thomas (1992) state that these formatives occur in compounds, the ones in Kwa language are often analyzed as derivational affixes (cf. Ameka 1991). There is reason to argue that the Tutrugbu equivalent, which I now discuss, is a noun in a compound. Eleté is a relational noun which means ‘family member’. Thus, m’eleté means ‘a member of my family’ while Kof i y’eleté means ‘a member of Kofi’s family’. Like Ewe and Akan, eleté is used with entities to express the possession of such entities. For instance, it occurs in a word like apãeleté ‘host, lord, landlord’, which is derived from a combination of bɔpã ́ ‘house’ and eleté. From a purely phonological perspective, this form is an indication that there is no ATR assimilation between the two words. Other compounds formed with eleté are given below: (65) a. ke-siakpá-eleté CM4-ground-owner ‘land owner’ b. e-ho-eleté CM1-rich-owner ‘rich person’ c. e-kutu-tutu-eleté CM1-hat-black-LORD ‘policeman (lit. black hat owner)’ Like–tɔ́ in Ewe when eleté follows a commodity, it gives rise to the interpretation ‘vendor of N’ (cf. Ameka 1991). Examples are: (66) a. kɛkpaeleté ‘fish seller’ (from kɛkpa ‘fish’) b. kɛkpaeleté ‘fish seller’ (from kɛkpa ‘fish’) c. bɔmɔɛeleté ‘salt seller’ (from bɔmɔɛ ‘salt’) Ameka observes that these formatives have a human constraint such that a word like fanta-eleté would not be used to refer to a vending machine from which one can buy the soft drink, fanta. Instead, it can only refer to a human being who sells fanta. Finally, like its counterpart -tɔ́ , a compound form with eleté can be used to ascribe an attribute to a person. Commenting on attributive use of -tɔ́ in Ewe, Ameka (1991: 194) writes: In the attributive usage, the suffixes are attached to nominals that are either abstract concepts or denote states or qualities. The

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attribute so represented is ascribed to the referent of the derived item. An example is given below: (67) aŋhũpupú élété ‘blind person’ (literally, pierced or burst eye owner) Like Ewe, Tutrugbu uses -lɛ̃ (from elĩ ‘mother’), to derive apalɛ̃ ‘mistress, landlady’. Unlike eleté, this is the only compound in which -lɛ̃ is used. 3.5.2 Eyi Eyi means ‘child of’. It can occur as the complement of mɔ ‘to see’, and the resultant expression mɔ eyi means ‘to give birth’. Like eleté, the prefix of the eyi remains on the root when it is used to form compounds with other nouns. Such compounds express either a member of a community or the child of a breed. An example is (62a) above. Other examples are: (68) a. Batugbueyí ‘Nyangbo person’ b. Enyigbeyí ‘Ewe person’ (69) a. ebúéyí ‘puppy’ b. ɛsɔ́ éyí ‘foal’ 3.5.3 Kinship In Kwa languages like Ewe and Akan, the sister of a person’s mother is also the one’s mother. In Ewe, that person is dadá or nɔ, and in Akan it is maamé or ɛná. In these languages, an elder sister of one’s mother is said to be one’s older mother (dadágã ́ or nɔgã in Ewe and maame pányíń in Akan), and the younger sister is a younger mother (i.e. dadáɖia or nɔɖe in Ewe and maamé kúmáá in Akan). The words that are translated as ‘aunt’ in Ewe (eté or tási̋) and Akan (sewáá) rather express the sister of a person’s father, while uncle in Ewe (i.e. nyrui) and Akan (wɔf a) refer to the brother of the mother. Tutrugbu also has expressions for older mother (elẽ sheshe), younger mother (elĩ nuvɔ) as well as older father (adzyá sheshe) and younger father (adzyá núvɔ). Yet, in addition to these words, Tutrugbu uses an extended and mostly productive system of compounding to map out the kinship domain with expressions that include mother’s sister and father’s brother. These are given below: ada ‘sister’ (70) a. elẽ + ada → elãda ‘mother’s sister’ (elĩ ‘mother’) b. aka + ada → akada ‘aunt/father’s sister’ (aka ‘father’) c. enyine + ada → enyinada ‘sister-in-law’ (on husband’s side)

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adzya ‘brother’ (71) a. aka + adzya → akadzya ‘uncle/father’s brother’ b. elẽ + adzya → elãdzya ‘mother’s brother’ c. enyine + adzya → enyinadzya ‘brother-in-law’ eyí ‘child of’ (72) a. ada + eyí = adaeyí ‘nephew/niece’ (child of sister) b. adzya + eyí = adzyaeyí ‘nephew/niece’ (child of brother) 3.5.3.1 Nuvɔɛ The equivalent of child is another noun that is commonly used to form derivations or compounds in the Kwa languages. In Tutrugbu the root of child is nuvɔ(ɛ). This word is particularly intriguing because the singular is anuvɔ (without the word-final ɛ) while the plural is bunuvɔɛ (with the final ɛ). It can be observed that while the singular belongs to the a-class, the plural belongs to the bu-class. It is the latter that is used to form compounds that express the younger or small versions. It occurs with only two words adzɛ̃ ̌ ‘woman’ and anyɛ́ ‘man’ to express the younger form of those entities, namely adzɛ̃núvɔɛ ‘girl’ and anyɛ́núvɔɛ ‘boy’ respectively. 3.5.3.2 Kidzě One word commonly used in Tutrugbu compounds is kidzě ‘egg’. It goes with different types of birds to express the egg of that particular bird. Examples are kɛkɔkɔ́ dze ‘egg from a hen’, kɛkpákpádze ‘egg from a duck’ and kɛdɔkudze ‘egg from a turkey’. 3.5.3.3 Ɔkɔ́ Ɔkɔ́ ‘place’ forms compounds in which it expresses the location where events occur. The events are usually expressed with verbs. Consider the examples below: (73) a. zã ‘stay’ + ɔkɔ́ → ɔzãkɔ́ ‘place where one stays’ and b. duku ‘blow smoke’ + ɔkɔ́ → odukukɔ́ ‘the place where one blows smoke into palm wine in order to get it to mature’ c. tsɛ́ ‘pluck’ + ɔkɔ́ → ɔtsɛkɔ́ ‘a place where one plucks fruits’ The examples show that compounds formed with ɔkɔ́ are right headed since, in addition to the fact that the head is a noun, just like ɔkɔ́ , it is also the word that assigns class marker to the compound. In the next section, I discuss the use of ɔkɔ́ in some syntactic compounds. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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3.5.4 Synthetic Compounds Mayo (2006) defines synthetic compounds as those where two compounded elements share a head-complement relationship and where the head is typically deverbal (see also Adams 2001 and Liever 2005 on the fact that synthetic compounds involve a relationship between the verb and the object). Kwa languages overwhelmingly form synthetic compounds by preposing the complement. In addition, for languages like the Gbe languages (see Ameka 1991 for Ewe and Aboh 2005 for Gungbe) and GTM languages like Tafi (Bobuafor 2013) and Tutrugbu, the verb is reduplicated. The example below from Ewe illustrated the preposing and reduplication: (74) no atíke → atíke no-no ‘drink medicine’ → medicine RED-drink Some examples from Tutrugbu are: (75) a. ŋa ekusi ‘be chief’ → bukusi ŋaŋa ‘chieftaincy’ b. bo belí ‘tap palmwine’ → belí tibobo ‘tapping palmwine’ c. yu osi ‘bloom’ → buseyuyu ‘fruit’ Note that the compound nouns in (75a and 75c) take a different class prefix from that of ekusi ‘chief’ and osí ‘tree’ respectively. The plural form is bekusí, and not bukusí, while that of osí is isi. In addition to combining with verbs to form compounds of place, (ɔ)kɔ́ also combines with synthetic compounds to form compounds that indicate places where some activities are performed. The structure of such words are [N[N+V]+[kɔ́ ]]. Examples are given below: (76) a. w̃ ɛ̃ + bunu → bunɔw̃ ɛ̃kɔ́ drink CM8-drink → ‘drinking place’ (bar) b. wa +a-xɔɛ → axɔɛwakɔ́ do + CM7-work → ‘workplace’ There is reason to believe that some synthetic compounds in Tutrugbu are calques of Ewe. For instance, during lexical elicitation, some consultants gave the following words for gift and question:

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(77) a. kɛ-dɔ̃ kɔ-kɔ́ CM3-thing RED-give ‘gift’ b. ki-bui bi-bisi CM3-issue RED-ask ‘question’ In both examples, the “object” is preposed while the verb is reduplicated. This is exactly what occurs in Ewe, where the word for gift is nú-ná-ná (thing-REDgive) and the word for question is nya-bá-bíá (matter-RED-ask). Yet when a consultant described the scene in the New Testament where wise men present gifts to Jesus, she said: (78) ba-kɔ Yesu bɔ-dɔ̃ 3PL-give Jesus CM8-thing ‘They gave Jesus gifts.’ Bɔdɔ̃ is used here instead of kɛdɔ̃ because the gifts are more than one. Most importantly, the reduplicated verb is not included. The speaker explained that it is understood from the context that the things given are gifts. Similarly, when someone wanted to ask whether I had any questions she said: (79) tibibísi alɛ w’ahɔɛ? ti-bibísi a-lɛ wɔ ahɔɛ? CM9-RED-ask AM-be_at 2SG:IND CM7-hand ‘Do you have any question?’ In this case only the gerundive form of the verb, with the gerundive class marker is used.

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chapter 4

The Noun Phrase 4.0

Introduction

In this chapter, I discuss the simple noun phrase, looking at the nucleus of the phrase and modifiers with which it occurs. Also discussed is the possessive noun phrase. The next section looks at the complex NP which involves the possessive construction and coordinate NPs.

4.1

The Simple Noun Phrase

The simple noun phrase in Tutrugbu is composed of the constituents in the order provided in Table 22. The structure shows that from a distributional perspective, the noun is head initial. This is similar to many Kwa languages. The nucleus position can be occupied by a noun or a pronoun. As I show presently, the position of the nucleus can also be empty. The nucleus is followed by the qualifier position, which can be occupied by one or more adjectives. This position is followed by a numeral, which in turn, is followed by a determiner. The last two constituents are the intensifier and the relative clause. Below are some examples with the noun and its modifiers in incremental order of occurrence: (1) a. ebú ‘a dog’ b. ba-nyɛ tabha CM5-man two ‘two man’ c. i-si hohoe tɛ-bha CM6-tree big AM-two ‘two big trees’ d. o-sí hohoe te-nukpó=ɔ́ CM2-tree big AM-one=DEF ‘the one big tree’

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_005

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table 22

Noun phrase structure

Head

Modifiers

Nucleus Noun Pronoun

Qualifier Adjective(s)

Quantifer

Determiner DEF/SPEC DEM

Intensifier pétéé tsyɛ́

Relative Clause gɛ […]

e. o-sí hohoe te-nupkó nɔ ko CM2-tree big AM-one DEF just ‘only the one big tree’ f. ke-plukpá bú lí te-nukpó kɛ-lɛ ko CM4-book small AM-one AM-this just ‘Just this one small book’ Thus far, the spontaneous utterance in my database that contains the most constituents from the different slots in the table is (2) below: (2) ɔtɛ́bɔdɛ́ banɔ sheshe tet’álɛ pétéé balɔpãmɛ genu ɛzãkɔ eletéɛ́ ɔ-tɛ́-bɔ-dɛ́ ba-nɔ sheshe te-tí á-lɛ pétéé 2SG-NEG-FUT-go_to CM5-person old AM-five AM-this all balɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ gɛ e- nu ɛ-zã-kɔ́ 3PL:IND CM8-house inside REL 3SG-be CM6-stay-place e-leté=ɛ́ CM1-owner=DEF ‘You cannot go to the house of these five elders who are the rulers.’ (Odumase_Customs.088) The NP banɔ sheshe tet’álɛ pétéé is composed of a head noun, an adjective, a numeral, a demonstrative determiner and an intensifier which has quantifier semantics. The various constituents are discussed in the subsequent subsections. 4.1.1 The Nucleus The nucleus slot can be a noun or the pronoun or an ordinal numeral.

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4.1.1.1 The Noun The lexical noun is composed of the class marker and the stem. However, as shown in chapters 2 and 3, either part or the whole of the class prefix can be elided. The examples below illustrate different types of bare nouns: (3) a. eblidzya édzũī gã nɛ́ ɔ́ kɔ́ tonukpó e-blidzya é-dzũī kɛ-gã nɛ́ ɔ́ -kɔ́ to-nukpó CM1-snake AM-coil CM3-headgear PREP CM2-place CM-one ‘A snake is coiled in one place.’ (Men_&_Tree.042) b. ɛɛŋa dɔ̃ ɛ-ɛ́-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ 1SG-PROG-eat CL8-thing ‘I am eating.’ Like many Kwa languages, the bare noun expresses a non-definite entity. In (3a), the noun eblidzyá ‘snake,’ which is the subject of the sentence, expresses an entity that is being introduced for the first time in the discourse. Nonspecific bare nouns also occur in complement position to express that one is engaged in an activity. Thus, the presence of bɔdɔ̃ ‘things’ in (3b) is not to express that the speaker is eating specific things but that he or she is engaged in an eating activity. Verbs that require obligatory complements to express nonspecified activity are discussed in chapter 5. 4.1.1.2 Pronouns The next constituent that occurs in the nucleus slot is the pronoun. In (4) below, the pronoun is modified by a numeral: (4) balɛ tábha elí baglɔ ɔbha balɛ ta-bha be-lí ba-glɔ ɔ-bha 3PL:IND AM-two AM-be_at AM-each_other CL2-side ‘The two are next to each other.’ Following Harley (2005), a distinction is made between personal pronouns and concordial pronouns. As we observed in the discussion of noun classes, we also need to distinguish between dependent pronouns and independent pronouns. I begin with a discussion of personal pronouns. 4.1.1.2.1 Personal Pronouns Some African languages such as Akan and Tuwuli distinguish between animate entities and non-animate entities in the personal pronoun system (cf. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Saah 1992, 1994; Osam 1994b; Harley 2005). For example, in Akan the third person singular pronoun ɔ refers to all animate entities, including humans and animals, while ɛ refers to non-animate entities. In other languages such as Ewe and Tutrugbu, the distinction in the pronoun system is between human and non-human entities. Harley (2005) notes, rightly, that in the appropriate contexts, pronouns can be used to refer to entities that do not ordinarily belong to the group. The classic example is folktales in which animals receive humanpronominal reference. For example, in the story about the spider, an old woman and an orphan, the following exchange transpired between the spider and the orphan, after the latter follows the former to the old woman’s house: (5) klɛ abrɛwá n’ adã ́lɛ buvũɔ; klɛ y’ asɛ “kibúí ɖúé g’ ɛbá pɛ ɔzɔbá ɛklɛ dza? Igitseɖé wɔ́ sɛ tɔɔ́ ba”? Kɛlɛ sahũɛ asɛ “f akɔ́ mɛ bavɛ? wɔ ko wobotóŋú ɔplɛ́nɔ mɛ́.” klɛ a-brɛwá nɔ́ a-dã ́lɛ bu-vũ=ɔ́ ; klɛ yɛ then CM1-old_woman DEF AM-open CM8-door=DEF then 3SG:IND a-sɛ “ki-búí ɖúé gɛ kɛ-bá pɛ ɔ-zɔ-bá ɛ-klɛ AM-say CL3-thing WH REL CL3-come then 2SG-REP-come CM6-here dza? i-gi-tseɖé wɔ́ sɛ tɔɔ́ -ba”? kɛlɛ sahũɛ a-sɛ Q 1SG-NEG-tell 2SG COMP NEG:IMP-come then spider AM-say “f akɔ́ mɛ ba-vɛ? wɔ ko wo-bo-tóŋú ɔ-plɛ́nɔ mɛ́” where 1SG:IND FUT-go 2SG:IND INT 2SG-FUT-be_able 2SG-help 1SG ‘Then the old woman opened the door. Then she said, what reason brings you here? Didn’t I tell you not to come? The spider said: “Where should I go? Only you can help me.”’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) The use of personal pronouns such as mɛ ‘I’, ɔ ‘you’ and wɔ ‘you’ to refer to spider in this story is because spider is personified, as it is in most folktales from West Africa and the Caribbean. As noted earlier, pronouns are divided into dependent and independent forms. Within the dependent pronouns a further distinction is made between the ones that occur in subject position and those that occur in object position. The different pronouns are given in Table 23. The object of the first and second person dependent pronouns are the same as their independent counterparts, while the first and third person plural independent pronouns appear to be a combination of the subject and object forms. 4.1.1.2.1.1

Subject Pronouns

The dependent subject forms are prefixed to verbs. As discussed in chapter 2 under the vowel harmony system in Tutrugbu, there are two forms of subject prefixes, with each agreeing to the ATR of the verb root. In the examples below,

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Personal pronouns

Dependent

Independent

Subject Object 1st singular 2nd singular 3rd singular 1st plural 2nd plural 3rd plural

ɛ-/iɔ-/oa-/ebɔ-/bunɔ-/no ba-/be-

m(ɛ) wɔ ɛ/i lɔ nɔ alɛ

mɛ wɔ yɛ bɔlɔ wɔnɔ balɛ

I concentrate on person and number, and leave out the harmony since this was discussed extensively in chapter 2: (6) a. m’adzya, ɛzɛlɔkɔ ábhlatɔ lo! mɛ a-dzya, ɛ-zɛ-lɔkɔ ábhlatɔ lo 1SG:IND CM1-brother 1SG-REP-take another PRT ‘My brother, I’ve taken the next one again.’ (Men_&_Tree.049) b. wɔ ayɛ́ gɛ wɔ tsyɛ́ óvūnɔ wɔ a-yɛ́ gɛ wɔ tsyɛ́ o-vūnɔ 2SG:IND AM-own REL 2SG:IND also 2SG-hold ‘Yours which you are also holding.’ (Men & Tree) c. ebedzi ɔkɔ̃ ɛ̃ nɔ e-be-dzǐ ɔ-kɔ̃ ɛ̃ nɛ+i 3SG-FUT-buy CM2-soap with+3SG:OBJ ‘She will buy soap with it.’ (Odumasi_Customs.120) d. ɔlɛ bɔbalɔkɔ yǔ kɛpɔtɛ́ nɔ́ ɔlɛ bɔ-ba-lɔkɔ yǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɔ́ IT 1PL-FUT-take weave CM3-cloth DEF ‘IT is what we shall use to weave the cloth.’ (Spin_yarn.036) e. nɔbá t’ noboɖǐ kɛtoró gɛ betoró ɖotí nɔ́, nɔ-bá tɛ no-bo-ɖǐ kɛ-toró gɛ be-toró 2PL-come COMP 1PL-VEN-look_at CM3-spin REL 3PL- spin

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o-ɖotí nɔ́ CM2-cotton DEF ‘come over and see the way the cotton is spun.’ (Spin_yarn.017). f. batebabɔ ɛblɔmi nɛ́ ɔma mɛ ba-té-ba-bɔ kɛ-blɔ́ mí nɛ́ ɔ-ma mɛ 3PL-NEG-VEN-crow CM3-whistle PREP CM2-state inside ‘it is not permitted to whistle in the town.’ (Odumasi_Customs.027) In (6a) the subject is ɛ- while in (6b) it is o- and in (6c) it is e-. The subject pronouns in (6e), (6f) and (6g) are bɔ-, no- and ba- respectively. 4.1.1.2.1.2

Object Pronouns

The vowel of the first person object pronoun can be dropped and the nasal consonant affixed to the verbs although this happens with specific verbs. Neither the syllable nor vowel type helps determine which verbs take this pronominal complement. This is because words with the same syllable structure and vowel type do not behave in the same way. Consider the examples below: (7) a. m’eyiɛ y’ayikɛ kɔm mɛ e-yí-ɛ́ yɛ a-yɛ́kɛ́ kɔ́ mɛ 1SG:IND CM1-child 3SG:IND AM-receive give 1SG ‘My child saved me.’ (lit. My child received it for me) (Beatrice Story) b. so ótsíɛ́ tsɔ̃ ɔ̃ gɛ ɔwlago ɔlɛ kɛbɔ búlíí dzyorom tsyɛ́ soɔ so otsíɛ́ tsɔ̃ ɔ̃ gɛ ɔ-wlago ɔ-lɛ kɛ-bwɛ therefore now right_away REL CM2-evening AM-this CM3-little búlíí dzyoró mɛ tsyɛ́ so=ɔ small desire 1SG:IND also therefore=TP ‘Right now this evening, I feel like drinking a little bit.’ (Palm_Wine.137) In (7a), the monosyllabic verb with the vowel /ɔ/ takes the affixed pronoun -m. However, speakers do not do likewise with verb mɔ ‘see’ even though this verb is also monosyllabic and has the same vowel as kɔ. Similarly, while the bisyllabic verb dzyóró ‘desire’ takes the pronominal affix, speakers do not accept it with toro ‘spin’, which has the same syllable structure and vowels. In most cases it is the full form of the first person singular pronoun that is used in which case it is just like the independent form. An example also from natural discourse is provided below:

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(8)

y’akasɛ́ mɛ yɛ a-kasɛ́ mɛ 3SG:IND AM-teach 1SG ‘She taught me.’ (Spin_yarn.050)

The third person object pronoun is suffixed to the verb and assimilates to its tongue height position. Consider the examples below: (9) a. e-be-husi-i 3SG-FUT-beat-3SG ‘She will beat him.’ b. kɛ g’ɛmɔ sɛ abhɛtɛ bulĩ kpɛkpɛ́ kɔ́ ɛ ́ kɛ gɛ ɛ-mɔ sɛ a-bhɛtɛ bu-lĩ kpɛkpɛ́ kɔ́ -ɛ CL3 REL 1SG-see that 3SG-do CM8-water hot give-3SG ‘What I saw is that she made hot water for her.’ (Focus1.023) c. e-f éké-é ansɛ e-yí 3SG-lift-3SG as CM1-child_of ‘He held it like a child.’ (Frog_Story_PW.044) The examples show that the choice between [i], [e] and [ɛ] is dependent on the height of the vowel of the word to which the pronoun is cliticized. While words with closed vowels take [i] and words with half-close vowels take [e], those with half-open and open vowels take [ɛ]. The rest of the object pronouns are realized independently and, therefore, have only one realization; they all have -ATR vowels: (10) a. kɛlɛ bɔ-wɛ nɔ́ bɔ-zaa-pɔ́ ɛ wɔ́ then CM8-finger DEF AM-not_again-to_pain 2SG ‘Then your fingers will not hurt you again.’ (Spin_yarn.80)’ b. kliso pɛ be-klu lɔ ásɛ Nyagbo bu-tu ka-bha therefore then 3PL-call 1PL that Nyagbo CM8-mountain CM4-top ‘That is why they call us Nyagbo mountain top.’ (Sroe.212–213) c. klisoɔ buɖe kúkú kɔ́ nɔ, kliso=ɔ bu-ɖe kú-kú kɔ́ wɔnɔ therefore=DEF 1SG-remove hat give 2PL:IND ‘Therefore we would beg you.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.039)

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d. bɔkɔ́ al’ ɔgã bɔ-kɔ́ alɛ́ ɔ-gã 1PL-give 3PL 2SG-walk ‘When we welcome them.’ (literally we give them welcome) (Sroe.010). 4.1.1.2.1.3

Independent Forms

Many Kwa languages like Ewe, Akan and Tutrugbu distinguish between dependent and independent pronouns (cf. Agbedor 1996; Duthie 1996; Aboh 2004a, among others). Independent pronouns function like true nouns in that they can occur in positions where the latter occurs. In addition, independent pronouns in Tutrugbu co-occur with agreement markers or what one might call resumptive pronouns. Examples are (11a) and (11b): (11) a. y’ etsyín edé, yɛ e-tsyina ke-dě 3SG:IND 3SG-turn_round CM4-back ‘He turned his back.’ (Focus1.085) b. bal’abaza balɛ ba-bá-zã 3PL:IND AM-VEN-stay ‘They lived.’ (lit. They come stay) In (11a), the independent pronoun co-occurs with the agreement marker ewhich is so because of the +ATR vowel of the verb. Example (11b) shows that the agreement marker of the third person plural pronoun is also ba- (it is bewhen the vowel of the verb is +ATR) although the /b/ is often dropped. This example shows that the agreement markers of the third person singular and plural pronouns are the same as that of the a-class and ba-class respectively. This is not surprising since human entities to which personal pronouns refer belong to these two classes. It is tempting to think that the personal independent pronoun is variable and changes its vowel under influence from the verb. In other words, one might want to argue that the pronoun is just like dependent subject pronouns which assimilate to verb in ATR. The next two examples show why this is not the case: (12) a. minu atugbueyí mɛ i-nu atugbueyí 1SG:IND AM-be Nyagbo_person ‘I am a Nyagbo person.’

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b. yenu atugbueyí yɛ e-nu atugbueyí 3SG:IND AM-be Nyagbo_person ‘HE is a Nyagbo person.’ If the change in vowel form were simply due to assimilation, the vowel for both pronouns would be the same. The reason why it is i- in (12a) is because the dependent first person singular pronoun is i- while the e- in (12b) is the third person singular pronoun. It was shown in chapter 3 that the independent pronominal forms of some concordial pronouns do appear to be undergoing a change under the influence of verbs like the copula. These forms are revisited when I discuss the concordial pronouns. Rather than exemplify all the six personal pronoun forms, I will rather focus in discussing the contexts in which independent pronouns occur. First, although they do not take adjectives directly, the pronouns occur with other modifiers such as appositional nouns. Secondly, independent pronouns can be quantified. These are shown below: (13) a. a-gudǔ a-sɛ “mɛ e-kplemú gɛ i-ɖe gbe” CM1:tiger AM-say 1SG:IND CM1-canon REL 1SG-remove voice ‘Tiger said, I the canon who when I roar …’(Essegbey et al. 2011: 30) b. balɛ́ tábha pétéé betsokú buvũɔm balɛ ta-bha pétéé be-tsokú bu-vũ=ɔ mɛ 3PL:IND AM-two all all AM-enter CM-room=DEF inside ‘All the two of them entered the room.’ (Focus2.055) c. so wɔnɔ g’odzi ɛ so wɔnɔ gɛ no-dzi=ɛ therefore 2PL:IND REL 2PL-become=TP ‘So those of you who are standing there …’ (Spin_yarn.016) In (13a), ekplemú is an appositional noun which modifies the pronoun and is then followed by a relative clause. In (13b), the pronoun is followed by a numeral and an intensifier quantifier. Example (13c) shows that the relative clause can also come directly after the independent pronoun. Like nouns, the independent pronoun also functions as the possessor in possessive NPs, as shown below:

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(14) a. kã ́ w’elẽ akasɛ́ wɔ é. kã ́ wɔ e-lẽ a-kasɛ́ wɔ é then 2SG:IND CM1-mother AM-teach 2SG PART ‘Then your mother will teach you.’ (Spin_yarn.015) b. ɔtɛ́bɔdɛ́ banɔ sheshe tet’álɛ pétéé bal’ɔpãmɛ genu ɛzãkɔ eletéɛ́, ɔ-tɛ́-bɔ-dɛ́ ba-nɔ sheshe te-tí á-lɛ pétéé 2SG-NEG-FUT-go_to CM5-person old AM-five AM-this all balɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ gɛ e-nu ɛ-zã-kɔ́ 3PL:IND CM8-house inside REL 3SG-be CM6-stay-place e-leté=ɛ́ CM1-owner=DEF ‘You cannot go to the house of these five elders who are the rulers.’ (Odumasi_Customs.088) In chapter 2, it was shown that some vowels in word-final position are dropped when the following word begins with a vowel. Chapter 3 showed that the consonantal segment of noun prefixes are often dropped leaving the vowel. This explains why the /ɔ/ of wɔ ‘2SG:IND’ and /ɛ/ of balɛ ‘3PL:IND’ in (14a and 14b) respectively are dropped in spoken speech. In the possessive construction, the independent pronoun is not followed by a dependent pronoun. The independent pronoun also occurs in the left periphery of the sentence where it can be followed by contrastive focus markers, or to express topic. The focus construction is discussed in detail together with topicalization in chapter 8. It suffices to note here that the independent pronoun in subject position marks argument focus, as in (15): (15) err anyɛ́ɛ́ ténúkpó g’ alɛ kɛblɛkpɛ́ mɛ nɔ́, y’ etsyín edé, etsyín’ ede kpɛ́ adzɛ̃ɛ́ err a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ te-nukpó gɛ a-lɛ kɛ-blɛkpɛ́ nɔ́ mɛ yɛ um CM1-man=DEF AM-one REL CL1-be_at CM3-left DEF inside 3SG e-tsyina ke-dě e-tsyina ke-dě kpɛ́ AM-turn_round CM4-back 3SG-turn_round CM4-back put_in a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ CM1-woman=DEF ‘The one man who is on the right, HE turned his back, he turned his back to the woman.’ (Focus1.083–085) The second and third clauses in (15a) are essentially the same. Yet in the first second, the speaker uses the independent pronoun yɛ, which is captured in the translation with the pronoun written in caps. By contrast, the following clause uses a dependent subject pronoun. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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The independent pronoun also occurs before some focus markers such as tsyɛ́ ‘also’ and xɔ̃ nɔ ‘as for’: (16) a. yoo mɛ tsyɛ́ ɛ-ba-lɔkɔ m(ɛ) áyɛ́ lú okay, 1SG also 1S-FUT-take 1SG:IND own set_down ‘Alright me too I will put mine down.’ b. klɛ blɔ́ g’enú banyáá blɔ xɔ̃ ń ɔ wɔ́ Banyá nɛ́ ɛklɛ klɛ blɔ gɛ e-nu Ba-nyá=á blɔ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ then 1PL:IND REL 3SG-be CM5-Nyagbo_Sroe=TP 1PL:IND as_for wɔ́ Ba-nyá nɛ́ ɛ-klɛ remain CL5-Nyagbo_Sroe at CM-here ‘Then we who are the Banya (i.e. Nyagbo people from Esroe), as for us we stayed here.’ (Esroe.090) In (16b), unlike the other examples encountered thus far where they occur in a clause, the independent pronoun does not have a dependent equivalent. Instead, the third person singular pronoun occurs as a generic resumptive pronoun in the relative clause while the verb wɔ ‘remain’ in the main clause does not occur with any dependent pronoun at all. This is not an accident. The first person plural independent pronoun is the only one that does not require a corresponding dependent form. This is shown below: (17) bɔlɔ nú Ba-tugbueyí 1PL:IND be CM5-Nyagbo_person ‘We are Nyagbo people.’ 4.1.1.2.2 Concordial Pronouns The noun class system was discussed in chapter 3 where it was established that Tutrugbu has 9 classes. The pronominal system based on the classes is provided in Table 24. A look at the system shows that the pronominal system for classes 1 and 5 are the same as that for the third person singular and plural personal pronouns respectively. This was pointed out in the preceding section where it was observed that nouns which refer to humans belong to these classes. Although animals in the two classes also have this pronominal reference, those belonging to a different class would receive a different referent. For example in the following except from a Frog story narrative, the kɛ-class of the frog kɛvɔbɔ, which is evident in the subject:

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table 24

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Concordial pronouns

Classes

Subject Object Independent pronoun

a-class ɔ-class kɛ-class ka-class ba-class ɛ-class a2-class bɔ-class tɛ-class

a-/elɔ-/lokɛ-/kika-/keba-/belɛ-/lila-/lebɔ-/botɛ-/ti-

ɛ ɔlɛ ɛlɛ́ alɛ́ alɛ́ ɛlɛ́ alɛ́ ɔlɛ́ ɛlɛ́

yɛ ɔlɛ kɛlɛ kalɛ balɛ lɛlɛ lalɛ bɔlɛ tɛlɛ

(18) pikóéyi nɛ́ kitsikpi nɔ́ mɛ pɛ ki-kóéyi nɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ then CL3-exit PREP CM3-pot DEF inside ‘Then it exited the container (Frog_Story_PW.012) The phonological process whereby the /k/ of a kɛ- or ka- class is deleted has occurred here. In addition the /ɛ/ of the adverb which precedes it is also deleted giving rise to /pikoeyi/. The subject and independent pronouns are discussed in chapter 3. In this section, I concentrate on exemplifying the object pronouns, which were not discussed in chapter 3, and revisiting some of the independent pronouns. Since, as we saw in the preceding section, the third person singular and plural nouns are like the personal pronouns, they will not be discussed either. The elicited examples below illustrate the rest: (19) a. ɖ’ ɔlɛ́ ɖi ɔlɛ look CL2:OBJ ‘Look at it.’ (e.g. oboshi ‘sheep’) b. ɛ-m’ ɔlɛ́ ɛ-mɔ ɔlɛ́ 1SG-see CL2:OBJ ‘I saw it.’

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With the ɔ-class, the final vowel of the verb is dropped while the prefix is maintained. This contrasts with the bɔ-class, which has the same object pronoun: (20) a. idz’ ulɛ́ i-dzi ɔlɛ́ 1SG-buy CL8:OBJ ‘I bought it.’ (as in buplukpá ‘books’) b. ɛm’ ɔlɛ́ ɛ-mɔ ɔlɛ 1SG-see CL8:OBJ ‘I saw it.’ While the bɔ-class also has the object pronoun ɔlɛ́ after mɔ ‘see’, the vowel raises to /u/ when it follows a verb with a high vowel like dzi ‘buy’ in (20a). An explanation for this may be found in the fact that the class prefixes are bɔ- for -ATR and bu- for +ATR. I have already provided evidence to support the change from a 9-vowel system to a 7 vowel system, and the fact that the allomorph of bɔused to be bʊ-. One possible reason for the form in (20a) then could be that /ʊ/ was raised to /u/. For the remaining classes, the kɛ- and ɛ-classes take the same pronominal complement ɛlɛ́, as in (21a) while nominals belonging to ka-, ba- and a2-classes take alɛ́ as their pronominal complement (21b): (21) a. bhui ɛlɛ́ cut CL3:OBJ/CL6:OBJ ‘Cut it.’ (e.g. kɛwɛ ‘finger’) or ‘Cut them.’ (e.g. ɛkɔkɔ ‘fowls’) b. ɛ-mɔ alɛ́ 1SG-see CL4:OBJ/CL5:OBJ/CL7:OBJ ‘I saw it.’ (e.g. keplukpá ‘book’) or ‘I saw them.’ (e.g. basɔ́ ‘horses’ and avɔbɔ́ ‘frogs’)

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4.1.2 Qualifiers The qualifier slot comes immediately after the nucleus, and is filled by an adjective which can be more than one, as shown below: (22) abrɛwa, kɛ-takpu f uli f rɛɖɛɖɛ e-dzi bu-vũ=ɔ mɛ old-woman CM3-head white frizzled AM-be CM8-room=DEF inside ‘An old lady, the hair white and frizzled was in the room.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) There are very few true adjectives in Tutrugbu and they distinguish themselves by the fact that they do not take agreement markers. In chapter 7 where I discuss constructions, I discuss some of the ways in which descriptive meaning is expressed in the language. The discussion in this section is limited to that of lexical adjectives. 4.1.2.1 Non-derived Adjectives There are only four non-derived adjectives in Tutrugbu. Of these only one is not an ideophone. This adjective, kpá ‘bad’, is given in the sentence below: (23) a-lɔkɔ́ wɔ bɔ-wɔf u wɔ-wɔ ní ki-dzǒ kpá abha 3SG-take 2SG:POSS CM8-play RED-do PREP CM3-road bad top ‘He took your joke the wrong way.’ In example (23) kpá ‘bad’, which modifies kidzo ‘road’, does not take any agreement marker. The other three adjectives in this category are ideophones, which means their sound can be modified in one way or the other to achieve an effect. Furthermore, many of them also function as verbs and adverbs. Examples involving two ideophonic adjectives are given in (26a and 26b): (24) a. tɛ-tsa-tsrakɛ́ búlíí ko gɛ kɛ-kpasɛ ɛlɛ́ mɛ CM9-RED-change small just REL CL3-be_contained CL3:OBJ inside ‘There’s just a small change that is in it.’ (Sroe.262) b. akpɛ́ mɔpɔɛ gagãl̃ĩ a-kpɛ́ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ gagãl̃ĩ 3SG-put_in CM2-anger hard ‘He was very angry.’ (lit. he put on big anger) (Focus1.556) I mentioned at the beginning of this section that adjectives do not take agreement markers in Tutrugbu. Yet there are instances where it appears on the surface as if búlíí is able to take an agreement marker. This is shown below: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(25) a. bɔ́ ba kã bɔzɛbakpasɛ dɔ bɔbulíí bɔ́ -bá kã bɔ-zɛ-ba-kpasɛ bɔ-dɔ bɔ-búlíí 1PL-come then 1PL-REP-VEN-learn CM8-thing CM8-little ‘When we come, then we come and study a little.’ (Children_Stories .065) b. pɛ kã buditá bɔl bɔ-bulíí pɛ kã bu-di-tá bɔl bɔ-búlíí Just then 1PL-DIS-hit ball CM8-little ‘Then we go and play football for a while.’ (Children_Stories.131) In the two sentences búlíí takes the prefix bɔ- irrespective of the class to which the preceding noun belongs; in (25a), the noun belongs to the bɔ-class, in (25b) it is a borrowed word and should belong to the a-class. A look at the discussion of agreement markers in section 4.1.1.2.2 shows that bɔ- is a class marker, not an agreement marker. The translation of the sentences is also important: in all the cases, bɔ- appears to modify the time in which an action is performed. Thus, in (25b), the children play football for a little while. The sentence does not mean that they play a little ball. This means that bɔbúlíí does not pose a counter-example to the claim that adjectives do not take agreement markers. The third ideophone belonging in this category is tsrɔlɔlɔ ‘slender’. With the exception of these words, other (ideophonic) adjectives are derived. 4.1.2.2 Derived Adjectives Most adjectives in Tutrugbu are derived from verbs through reduplication. An interesting example is piapí ‘good’ which, according to Funke (1910), is derived from the verb pɛ̃ ‘be nice/good’. Piapí has undergone phonological changes during the derivation, the notable one being palatalisation. Derived adjectives are able to function as attributive adjectives (Funke 1910: 179). Consider the sentences below in which the (26a, 27a, and 28a) contain the verbal forms while (26.b, 27.b, and 28.b) contain the respective derived adjectives: (26) a. kɛ-wulakpa kɛ-kpâ CM3-leaf AM-become_dry ‘The leaf is dry.’ b. a-lɔkɔ́ kɛ-wulakpá kpá-kpâ 3SG-take CM3-leaf RED-become_dry ‘He took the dry leaf.’

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(27) a. o-sí=ɔ́ ɖama CM2-tree=DEF become_tall ‘The tree is tall.’ b. e-tẽ ́ o-sí ɖa-ɖama nɔ́ 3SG-cut CM2-tree RED-become_tall DEF ‘He cut the tall tree.’ (28) a. a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ dǒ CM1-man=DEF become_thick ‘The man is thick.’ b. a-nɔ do-dǒ e-nú CM1-person RED-become_thick AM-be ‘He is a thick person.’ Some reduplicated adjectives do not have verbal components in the language any longer. An example is vɔvɔ ‘new’ in (29): (29) e-dzi awu vɔ-vɔ nɔ́ 3SG-buy garment RED-become_new DEF ‘He/she bought the new garment.’ While this word is a reduplication of vɔ, there is no verb *vɔ meaning ‘become new’. Most reduplicated or triplicated forms which do not have non-reduplicated or non-triplicated forms are ideophones. They include gbagbla ‘big’, hohoe ‘big’ and kpɛkpɛ́ ‘hot’, kpɔkpɔbɔ ‘short’, and tsyiŋtsyiŋ ‘shiny’. 4.1.3 Quantifiers Quantification is expressed by verbs, adverbs, adjectives, determiners, intensifiers, and a set of words that belong to the quantifier paradigm. In the NP structure provided in Table 22, that slot comes after the adjective slot and before the determiner slot. Words that occur in this slot are called quantifiers in this book. The following examples illustrate the expression of quantification with non-quantifier words: (30) a. Verbal quantification ba-nɔ a-bá be-kpe CM1-person AM-come 3PL-be_plenty ‘Many people came.’

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b. Adverbial quantification ba-nɔ a-bá kpi CM1-person AM-come plenty ‘Many people came.’ c. Adjectival quantification bu-nuvɔɛ bulíí ba-bá CM8-child little AM-come ‘A few children came.’ d. Determiner quantification bu-nuvɔɛ té-lí ba-bá CM8-child AM-SPECI AM-come ‘Some children came.’ e. Intensifier quantification bu-plukpá pétéé yrá CM8-book all be-lost ‘All the books are missing.’ f. Intensifier quantification ba-ŋa kɛ-ŋaŋa pétéé 3PL-eat CM3-food all ‘They ate all the food.’ Example (30a) involves a juxtaposition of clauses in which the second clause contains a verb which quantifies the people who came. In (30b), an adverbial derivation of the verb is used. These two forms are the only way in which the generalized existential quantifier ‘many’ and ‘several’ can be expressed in Tutrugbu. Example (30c) also shows that an adjective is required to express the proportional quantifiers ‘few’ while the specificity determiner expresses the generalized existential quantifier ‘some’. The intensifier pétéé in (30e and 30f) is used in the Inland Ewe dialects and appears to be the source for Tutrugbu. As the examples show, it can quantify both singular (30f) and plural entities (30e). Words that occur in the quantifier slot are numerals and generalized universal quantifiers. They are discussed in turn.

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4.1.3.1 Numerals Tutrugbu has a decimal-based system, just like Ewe, Akan, Dangme and Tuwuli (Harley 2005: 155). The citation forms for single digits together with the word for ten are given below: (31) Single digits 1 olí 6 holo 2 ɛbha 7 gěné 3 ɛtá 8 ansɛ̃ 4 ɛlɛ̃ ́ 9 zhitá 5 ití 10 kɛf ɔ When they occur attributively, the single digits take a tV-prefix yielding the following: (32) Attributive numerals 1 tenukpó 6 2 ɛbha → tɛbha 7 3 ɛtá → tɛta 8 ́ 4 ɛlɛ̃ → talɛ̃ 9 5 ití → tetí

holo → teholo gěné → tegegene ansɛ̃ → tansɛ zhitá → tezhitá

The examples show that unlike the words for two to nine, the attributive form for one (tenukpó) is completely different from the citation form (olí). Bobuafor (2013) shows that in Tafi the V of the tV-prefix represents an agreement marker which agrees with the noun that it modifies. The same can be said for Tutrugbu although, from a purely analytical perspective, I include the consonantal part of the prefix, i.e., the t. This is shown in Table 25. It should be pointed out that speakers do not always use the appropriate agreement prefixes. Consider the examples below: (33) a. ebúɔ ɔtsɛrɛ́ tenukpó yinɔ, tonukpó nɔ́ xáxá kpasɛ tumpa nɔ́ mɛ e-bú=ɔ ɔ-tsɛrɛ́ te-nukpó yi-nɔ to-nukpó nɔ́ CM1-dog=DEF CM2-leg AM-one go-CAUS AM-one DEF xáxá kpasɛ tumpá nɔ́ mɛ become_stuck be_contained bottle DEF inside ‘One of the dog’s leg was out, one was stuck in the bottle’ (Frog_StoryPB.018)

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Cardinal numbers in Tutrugbu

Class prefix Numeral prefix Examples a-class ɔ-class kɛ-class ka-class ba-class ɛ-class a2-class bɔ-class tɛ-class

tetotitietɛtɛtatɔ-

anyɛ́núvɔɛ ténúkpó ‘one boy’ oboshi tonukpó ‘one sheep’ kitukú tíníkpó ‘one load’ kagbɔ tíénúkpó ‘one squirrel’ banyɛ́núvɔɛ tɛbha ‘two boys’ iboshi tɛbha ‘two sheep’ etukú táˈbha ‘two loads’ bɔgbɔ tɔbha ‘two squirrels’

b. pɛ alɔk’ ɔhɔɛ tɔɖɔ y’olugbúɔ́ kpóó, pɛ alɔkɔ tenukpó dzǔ kesíɛ́ pɛ a-lɔkɔ ɔ-hɔɛ tɔɖɔ yɛ o-lugbú=ɔ́ kpóó then 3SG-take CM2-hand put_on 3SG:IND CM2-mouth=DEF quietly pɛ a-lɔkɔ te-nukpó dzu ke-sí=ɛ́ then 3SG-take AM-one set_down CM-ground=DEF ‘Then he put his hand to his lip quietly, then he put one on the ground.’ (Frog_Story-PW.060–061) In the first clause of (33a), PB uses tenukpó to modify ɔtserɛ́ ‘leg’. In the second clause, he switches to tonukpó. Although tonukpó has the agreement prefix for the ɔ-class, so to speak, it occurs in the clause that does not have the noun overtly realized in the nucleus. In (33b) PW also uses tenukpó for ɔhɔɛ ‘hand’, which belongs to the same class. Both PB and PW were in their seventies when the recordings were made, showing that the lack of consistency in the use of prefixes for numerals is not something that only the young ones do. Table 25 shows that for the number two, tabha is supposed to be used to modify nouns belonging to a2- and ba-classes while tɔbha is used for words belonging to bɔ-class and tɛbha is used for those belonging to the ɛ-class. While this is true of examples (34a, b and c) below, it is not for (34d): (34) a. ɔbɔzã ansɛ ɛgɔnɛ́ tɛbha ɔ-bɔ-zã ansɛ ɛ-gɔnɛ tɛ-bha 2SG-FUT-stay as CM6-week AM-two ‘You will wait for about two weeks.’ (Palm-Wine.052)

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b. yoo err bu-nuvɔɛ tɔ́ -bha a-lɛ okay um CL8-child CM-two AM-be_at ‘Okay, there are two children.’ (Focus1.755) c. ɛ-mɔ yof óánɛ́ ba-dzɛ̃ ta-bha 1SG-see white_people CM5-woman CM-two ‘I saw white people, two women.’ (Focus1.006) d. err Akumáwu Akumáwu tsyɛ́ ba-má kpɛ́ e-gbogbó uhm A A also 3PL-divide put_in CM6-clan ta-bha mɛ AM-two inside ‘The Akumawu are divided into two clans.’ (Esroe.166) The speaker in (34a) rather uses tɛbha “correctly” to modify a noun in the ɛclass. Similarly, the narrator in (34b) “correctly” uses tɔbha for a bɔ-class and tabha for a ba-class in (34c). The speaker in (34d) however, uses tabha rather than tɛbha for a noun belonging to the ɛ-class. Numerals from eleven to nineteen are composed of kɛf ɔ ‘ten’, the linker nɛ which speakers pronounce as n in spoken discourse, and the units. The single digits are represented with tV as though they are being used attributively, with one taking the to-prefix while three to four take the ta-prefix, and the rest take the tɛ-prefix. (35) From 11–20 11 kɛf ɔ nɛ toli 12 kɛf ɔ nɛ tɛbha 13 kɛf ɔ nɛ tata 14 kɛf ɔ nɛ talɛ̃ 15 kɛf ɔ nɛ tetí

16 17 18 19 20

kɛf ɔ nɛ tehlo kɛf ɔ nɛ tegegéné kɛf ɔ nɛ tiansɛ kɛf ɔ nɛ tezhitá af (ɛ) tabha

The above shows that ten is treated as a singular decimal unit hence the class marker kɛ- on kɛf ɔ ‘ten’. Twenty is a plural unit and therefore takes the plural aclass prefix. The root f ɔ also changes to f ɛ, thereby giving rise to af ɛ. Speakers often elide the final vowel, giving rise to an unusual consonant cluster: (36) From 30 onward 30 af aatá 70 40 af (e)talɛ̃ 80 50 af eetí 90

af (ɛ)tegegéné af (ɛ)tansɛ af (ɛ)tezhitá

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60 af (e)tehlǒ 100 alaf á zɛzɛ̃/̌ ohotú/ihotú 101 alaf á zɛzɛ̃ ̌ nɛ tenikpó/ ohotú tonukpó nɛ tonukpó The ordinal numerals from first to fifth are not directly derived from cardinal numerals in Tutrugbu although, with the exception of the word for ‘first’, the traces of the cardinal numbers, can be seen in the ordinals. The words for sixth to tenth by contrast involve suffixing of -mi to the cardinal numerals. The first ten ordinal numerals are given below: (37) Ordinals 1st atɔtɔpo 2nd abhla 3rd atramɛ 4th alɛ̃lɛ̃mɛ 5th etrimi

6th 7th 8th 9th 10th

ehlomi egegénémi ansɛmi ezhítámi kɛfɔmi

Younger speakers are not very conversant with the ordinal numeral system. Some of them rather use the Ewe morpheme -líá, which is used to derive ordinal numbers, and rather suffix to Tutrugbu cardinal numbers. For example rather than say ansɛmi ‘eigth’, a thirteen year old girl said tansɛlíá. Table 25 shows that the numeral occurs in slot 4 where it modifies the nucleus and the adjective. It was shown in examples (33a and b) that numerals can also occur alone and refer back to a noun that occurred in a previous clause. Example (38a) further illustrates a numeral modifying a noun with which it occurs while (38b) shows it occurring alone: (38) a. aló be-wole te-hóló ɔ-lɔkɔ vɛ-nɔ or CL5-month AM-six AM-take go-COMITATIVE ‘or from six months onwards’ (Odumase_Herbs.128) b. tenukpó nɔ́ yɛ bhoso gã vɛ osíɛ́ osí ní ésí te-nukpó nɔ́ yɛ bhoso gã vɛ o-sí=ɛ́ o-sí nɔ́ CL1 TP 3SG:IND first walk go CM2-tree=DEF CM2-tree DEF ke-sí CM4-under ‘One (of them), it was the first to walk under the tree.’ (Focus2.288) Teholo ‘six’ modifies bewole ‘months’ in (38a). In (38b), tenukpó ‘one’ occurs in Topic position in the left periphery where it is followed by the terminal particle nɔ́ . When the numeral occurs alone and modifies a noun that is mentioned in previous discourse, it cannot be modified by an adjective. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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The ordinal can also occur with, and modify, a noun in the nucleus position. Unlike cardinal numbers, ordinals that modify nouns do not take any prefix (as in 39). (39) a-nuvɔ bhla a-bá CM1-child second AM-come ‘The second child has come.’ Ordinals can take a bɔ-class prefix in which case they refer to the number of times an event occurs. This is shown below: (40) a. agoo agoo agoo bɔtramɛ, agoo agoo agoo bɔ-tramɛ attention attention attention CM8-third ‘Attention, attention, attention for the third time’ (Pre-Burial_Libations _July_29_2007.025) b. bɔbhla gɛ bezetsódz abá bɔ-bhla gɛ be-ze-tsodzi a-bá CM8-second REL 3PL-REP-return SCONN-come ‘Secondly when they came again.’ It will be recalled that the adjective bulíí is also able to occur with the bɔ-class prefix in which it refers to time. 4.1.3.2 The Generalized Universal Quantifier In Tutrugbu just like Tafi (Bobuafor 2013) and Tuwuli (Harley 2005), there is a construction that is used to derive pronouns which contain the generalized universal quantifier ‘every’ is expressed. This is of the form N-nyí-N, and it works with words such as anɔ ‘person’, kɛdɔ̃ ‘thing’, ɔkɔ́ ‘place’. Ameka (1991) refers to a similar construction in Ewe as the “distributive nominal duplicative construction”. In the examples below, anɔnyíánɔ ‘everybody’ and ɔkɔnyíɔ́ kɔ ‘everywhere’ are used in sentences: (41) a. bu-kũ vɔvɔ e-be-téŋú bá ɔ-ma mɛ gɛ CM8-yam new AM-FUT-be_able come CM2-state inside REL a-nɔ-nyí-a-nɔ e-be-téŋú á-ŋa CM1-person-every-CM1-person AM-be_able SC-eat ‘Fresh yam will be able to come (i.e. can be brought) into the town for everybody to eat.’ (Odumasi_Customs.391–392)

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b. ɔkɔnyɔ́ kɔ bɔvɛ ɔzã ɔlɛ shí ɔ-kɔ-nyí-ɔ́ -kɔ bɔ-vɛ ɔ-zã bɔlɛ ki-shí CM2-place-every-CM2-place 2PL-go 2SG-stay 2PL:IND CM3-middle ‘Everywhere we go, you are in our midst’ (Funeral_QML.294) In (41a and b) the prefixes of anɔ ‘person’ and ɔkɔ́ ‘place’, which are vowels, occur on both N derivatives. Where the prefix has a CV structure, the /i/ of nyi and the whole CV of the noun is dropped after nyí, and /e/ or /ɛ/ is inserted depending on the ATR of the root vowel. Examples are provided below: (42) a. kibui ‘issue’ → kibuinyébui ‘every issue’ b. kiwi ‘day’ → kiwinyɛ́wi ‘everyday’ c. kɛdɔ̃ ‘thing’ → kɛdɔ̃ nyɛ́dɔ ‘everything’ The nyi-construction derives the word kányíáka ‘every’ which serves as the generalized universal quantifier. Thus, although speakers agree that it is possible to say (43a), everybody prefers (43b) (43) a. anuvɔ-nyí-anuvɔ ‘every child’ b. anuvɔ kányíáka ‘every child’ The class markers a- and kɛ- are used to derived pronouns in combination with kányíáka, yielding akányíáka ‘everybody’ and kɛkányíáka ‘everything’ respectively. Speakers insist that there is no difference between anɔnyíanɔ and akányíáka, on the one hand, and kɛdɔ̃ nyɛ́dɔ̃ and kɛkányíáka, on the other. Depending on the context, kanyíáka can express ‘every’, ‘each’, and ‘any’. We will see below that in other instances of the distributive nominal duplicative construction, the first N includes the class markers while the second includes only the vowel portions of the markers. Kányáka is different in that when it occurs in quantifier position in the noun slot and quantifies a noun, it does not take any affix. This is illustrated by the examples below: (44) a. a-nuvɔ kányíáka a-lɛ klɛ́ CM1-child every AM-be-at there ‘Every child is there’ b. Máwú a-kɔ́ o-ŋúsɛ̃ bɔ-dɔ̃ ɔ-lɛ God AM-give CM-strength CM8-thing AM-this bɔ-lɔkɔ nyɛmɛ err be-sí a-kɔ́ lɔ́ nɛ 1PL-take wake_up um CM5-tree CM6-bark with

sɛ tɛ that COMP tɛ-wa CM9-herb

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kanyíáka every ‘God has given potency to all things that we use to make potent tree barks and any herbs.’ (Odumase_Herbs.152–153) c. e-be-téŋú á-yɛ-ɛ nɛ́ gaƒoƒo kanyíáka mɛ 3S-FUT-be_able SC-break-3SG PREP time every inside ‘He can break it at any time.’ (Focus2.163) In (44a), kanyíáka quantifies anuvɔ ‘child’ and expresses ‘every’ but could equally well translate as each. In (44b and c), it quantifies tɛwá ‘herb’, and gaƒoƒo ‘time’, a word which is borrowed from Ewe, respectively, and expresses ‘any’. 4.1.3.3 Negative Quantifier nána Negation quantification is expressed by nána in combination with a negated predicate. This is exemplified by (45) below: (45) kibe nána ma m’ahɔɛ ki-be nana ma mɛ a-hɔɛ CM3-time any NEG:be_at 1SG:IND CM7-hand ‘I don’t have any time.’ The distributive nominal duplicative construction is also combined with a negated predicate in a few instances, as (46) below illustrates: (46) soɔ kibuinyébui bhama bɔl’ ahɔɛ so-ɔ ki-bui-nyɛ́-bui bhama bɔlɔ a-hɔɛ therefore-TP CM3-issue-every-issue NEG:be_at IPL:IND CM-hand ‘Therefore there is nothing left for us (to do).’ (Chief-and-bereaved-family .015) The class marker a- is used to derive the pronoun ‘nobody’ in combination with nána. Speakers told us (47a), which is formed with the duplicative nominal construction, and (47b), which uses anána, have the same meaning: (47) a. a-nɔ-nyí-á-nɔ a-ma klɛ́ CM-person-every-CM-person AM- NEG:be_at there ‘Nobody is there.’

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b. a-nána a-ma klɛ́ CM1-any AM-NEG:be_at there ‘Nobody is there.’ 4.1.4 Determiners In the noun phrase structure provided in Table 22, determiners are the fourth elements after the nucleus, adjectives and quantifiers. Tutrugbu nouns have three realizations when it comes to determiners: there are those that occur without determiners, those that occur with the specificity determiner, and those that take the definiteness determiner. While there is still some controversy on what these categories entail, there is general consensus that the interpretation that nouns receive in combination with these determiners differ in the Kwa languages from those in languages like English (cf. Aboh 2004a). 4.1.4.1 Bare Nouns In Tutrugbu, entities which are expressed by nouns are first introduced with a bare nominal. This is exemplified in the frog story narration below: (48) kɛkpɔkplɔ n’ebú n’ anɔ babadɔ̌ al’abha kɛ-kpɔkplɔ nɛ e-bú nɛ a-nɔ ba-ba-dɔ̌ CM3-frog with CM1-dog with CM1-person AM-VEN-to_land_at balɛ ka-bha 3PL:IND CM4-top ‘A frog and a dog and a man lived together.’ (literally fell on their top) (Frog_Story-Cel.003) This is the beginning of the story about the boy and his pet frog and dog. As such, kɛkpɔkplɔ ‘frog’, ebú ‘dog’, and anɔ ‘person’ do not take any determiner. Nouns referring to cosmic entities such as the sun and the moon are also expressed with bare nouns even though they are unique entities. This is illustrated below the example below: (49) y’aklɔ bɔ́ dzya alɛ́, búlú álúwí yɛ a-kɔlɔ bɔ-dzya alɛ́ bu-lú alɛ́ bu-wí 3SG:IND CM7-bark 1PL-slash CL7:OBJ 1PL-set_down CL7:OBJ CL8-sun ‘the bark we cut it, we put it in the sun.’ In explaining the use of the definite determiner in ‘the moon was very bright last night’, Lyons (1999: 4) writes: “[it] can be regarded as a situational use in which the situation is the whole world, or as a use in which familiarity stems

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from general knowledge. Thus, the moon is taken to refer to the particular moon associated with this planet, or to a unique entity forming part of the hearer’s knowledge.” Clearly, such a factor does not require the use of a determiner for buwi ‘sun’ in Tutrugbu, or other Kwa languages like Ewe and Akan, for that matter. The examples discussed so far involve the use of the bare singular noun to express singular entities. In English, only plural nouns are able to occur without a determiner. According to Kester and Schmitt (2007: 110) bare singular nouns in Papiamento and Brazilian Portuguese display the same behavior as bare plurals in English with respect to the following three principles (cf. Carlson 1977): (i) plural nouns can appear as subject of predicates that can only apply to kinds; (ii) plural noun interpretations can vary depending on the context; (iii) plural nouns cannot take wide scope over negation, intensional verbs and aspectual adverbs. Bare singular nouns in Tutrugbu differ with regard to the first two principles. Regarding the first property, bare singular nouns can occur in subject position of all kinds of predicates. This is shown by the examples below: (50) a. e-bú kpe nɛ́ Odumasi CM1-dog be_plenty PREP Odumase ‘Dogs are common in Odumasi’ b. kɔ́ pu tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ nɔ́ ábha cup be_on CM2-table DEF top ‘There is a cup is on the table’ Although ebú ‘dog’ in (50a) is singular, it is translated in the plural in English. This is because it refers to the type of animals that are dogs. By contrast, kɔ́ pu, which occurs in the subject position of the locative construction in (50b), does not have a kind interpretation. This is because it expresses a generic entity. That is to say it expresses a non-definite entity that is located at a place. The choice between generic and kind reading of the bare noun is often dependent on the aspectual nature of the predicate rather than the predicate itself, as shown below: (51) a. o-hu e-é-yi e-bú nɛ́ ki-dzo ɛ-lɛ CM2-vehicle AM-PROG-kill CM1-dog PREP CM3-road AM-this ka-bha f anɔ CM4-top too_much ‘Vehicles kill dogs too often on this road.’

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b. o-hu e-yi e-bú nɛ́ ki-dzo ɛlɛ CM2-vehicle AM-kill:PST CM1-dog PREP CM3-road CM4-this ka-bha (*f anɔ) CM4-top too_much ‘A vehicle killed a dog on this road.’ In (51a) the progressive aspectual, which has a habitual interpretation, gives rise to a generic interpretation of the bare noun. Thus, in this example, it is not only the noun in the subject position that has a generic interpretation but the one in object position as well. In contrast, (51b) refers to a specific incident in which a vehicle killed a dog. Bare singular nouns in Tutrugbu behave like bare plurals in English in scope interpretation. Sentence (52) below is a modified translation of a sentence from Kester and Schmitt (2007: 103): (52) Maria yi ki-lé kákáká e-wi ta-bha Mary kill CM3-lizard continuously CM7-day AM-two ‘Mary killed lizards continuously for a two days.’ According to Kester and Schmitt (2007), the English equivalent of this sentence with a singular indefinite noun complement is odd. Crucially, the acceptable interpretation is one in which the temporal adverb has scope over the object; the reverse interpretation where the object has scope over the adverb (i.e., it is the case that there are lizards which Mary killed for two days) is not. The fact that the English equivalent of sentence (52) is not particularly acceptable with an indefinite noun complement points to a difference between bare singular nouns in Tutrugbu and indefinite nouns in English. Another evidence of that difference is the fact that the English sentence ‘John didn’t kill a fly’, where the complement takes an indefinite article rather than a bare noun, has two interpretations (cf. Kester and Schmitt 2007). These are given below: (53) a. There is a fly and John didn’t kill it. b. It is not the case that John killed a fly. The complement is said to have a wide scope in (53a), because it is outside the scope of the negation, and narrow scope in (53b). In contrast, the equivalent sentence with a bare noun in Tutrugbu can only have a narrow-scope interpretation:

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(54) Kof i a-gɛ-yi e-pidzya Kofi AM-NEG:PST-kill CM1-goat ‘It is not the case that Kofi killed a goat.’ Example (54) shows that the bare singular noun in Tutrugbu is not like the indefinite noun in a language like English. Bare plural nouns in Tutrugbu can refer to a kind or pre-specified set of entities. This is shown below: (55) a. err ɔmɔpɔɛ ɔbɔbá. Gaké aa onyí badzɛ̃, aáwɔɛ yálɛ olũ sɛ álɔ́ kɔe tsyé e err ɔ-mɔpɔɛ lɔ-bɔ-bá gake aa o-nyí ba-dzɛ̃, um CM2-anger AM-VEN-come but well 2SG-know CL5-woman a-á-wɔɛ yálɛ o-lũ sɛ á-lɔ́ kɔ-e 3SG-PROG-deceive this_one CM2-mouth that 3SG-take-3SG tsyé-e give_gift-3SG ‘Anger will come but, well, you know women. She cajoled him to forgive her.’ (Focus1.222-224) b. be-tẽ ́ be-sí gbagbla nɛ́ bɔ-ya mɛ 3PL-cut CM3-tree big PREP CM8-farm inside ‘They’ve cut large trees in the farm.’ The use of the bare noun badzɛ̃ in (55a) refers to kind and not a pre-specified set. In contrast, the bare plural noun besí in (55b) refers to a specific type of trees (i.e. the large ones in the farm). The above examples show that bare nouns can yield generic as well as specific interpretation. However, there is the need to distinguish between the kind of specificity expressed with bare nouns and the type expressed with the specific determiner which is discussed in the next subsection. 4.1.4.2 The Specific Determiner There is a specificity determiner lí which takes the same prefixes as the numeral nukpó ‘one’. These are shown below: (56) a. b. c. d. e.

anyɛ́núvɔɛ télí ‘a certain boy’ oboshi tolí ‘a certain boy’ kitukú tílí ‘a certain boy’ kagbɔ tíélí ‘a certain boy’ banyɛ́núvɔɛ télí ‘a certain boy’

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f. g. h. i.

iboshi tilí ‘a certain boy’ etukú télí ‘a certain boy’ bɔgbɔ túlí ‘a certain boy’ tisí tílí ‘a certain boy’

The examples show that the a-class, ba-class and a2-class take te-, the o-class takes to-, the kɛ-class, ɛ-class and tɛ-class use ti-, the bɔ-class uses tu- while the ka-class uses tie-. The following examples show some nouns occurring with some of the determiners in spontaneous discourse: (57) a. gɛ adzɛnúvɔɛ télí ámɔɛ nɛ err keplukpá tíéli ésí. gɛ a-dzɛnúvɔɛ te-lí á-mɔ-ɛ nɛ́ err ke-plukpá REL CM1-boy AM-SPECI AM-see-3SG PREP um CM4-book tíé-li ke-sí AM-SPECI CM3-under ‘When a certain woman saw it under a certain book.’ (Focus1.389) b. bádáŋ ɛlɛ n’ ɔ́ ma tólí mɛ bá-dá-ŋa ɛ-lɛ́ nɛ́ ɔ-ma tólí mɛ 3PL-IT-eat CL6:OBJ PREP CM2-state SPECI inside ‘They go and celebrate it [i.e. yam festival] in a certain town.’ (Odumasi_Customs.376) c. Bɔdɔ̃ túlí zɛplɛ́nɔ f lógo pɛ bababhɛ́t’ ɔkɔ bɔ-dɔ̃ tú-lí zɛ-plɛ́nɔ f lógo pɛ ba-ba-bhɛ́tɛ ɔ-kɔ CL8-thing AM-SPECI REP-add before then 3PL-FUT-do CM-custom ‘there are a few things that will be added before they perform rites.’ (Odumase_Customs.022) It should be pointed out here that like the numeral prefix, speakers do not always use the required agreement prefix. Some speakers, mostly the one young ones, use only the prefix te- in all contexts while some alternate it with to- for nouns that have rounded class markers. Let’s now turn to the semantics of the specific determiner. It is used when the speaker is aware of the entity but the hearer is not. For instance, the narrator of sentence (57a) above has seen the woman he describes as adzɛnúvɔɛ télí ‘a certain woman’ in the Focus elicitation video, and is aware that the addressee has not seen it. However, a speaker does not need to know the entity that is expressed with télí. Consider the exchange below:

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(58) a. a-nyɛ́ té-lí a-á-pɛ wɔ́ CM1-man AM-SPECI AM-PROG-look_for 2SG ‘A man is looking for you.’ b. af ána? kéɖé béklu-i Who? What 3PL-call-3SG ‘Who? What is his name?’ c. i-tí-nyi; ɛ-tɛ́-mɔ-ɛ ɖí 1SG-NEG-know 1SG-NEG-see-3SG look ‘I don’t know. I haven’t seen him before.’ In describing the specific determiner, Himmelman (2001: 834) writes: “it is not necessary that the speaker assumes that the intended referent is identifiable for the hearer.” Unlike bare nouns which do not need to be referential, nouns that take the specificity determiner must be referential. Consider the examples below: (59) a. ??o-hu=ɔ e-yi e-bú té-lí gake ɛ-tɛ́-ɛ́mɔ CM2-vehicle=DEF AM-kill CM1-dog AM-SPECI but 1SG-NEG-see e-bú nána CM1-dog any ‘The car killed a dog but I can’t see any dog.’ b. o-hu=ɔ e-yi e-bú té-lí gaké CM2-vehicle=DEF AM-kill CM1-dog AM-SPECI but ɛtɛ́-ɛ́-mɔ -ɛ 1SG-NEG-PROG-see-3SG ‘The car killed a dog but I can’t see it.’ The examples show that nouns with télí are always referential in addition to being specific. Duthie (1996) translated the Ewe equivalent of télí, which is áɖé, as ‘a certain’. This translation captures the meaning of télí also. This suggests that the specific determiner is not the same as the indefinite article in English, even though the latter can yield a specific interpretation. 4.1.4.3 The Definite Determiner The definite determiner in Tutrugbu is nɔ́. Nɔ́ has the cliticized variants ɛ and ɔ, the choice of which as we discussed in chapter 2, depends on the vowel of the word to which it is cliticized. They are illustrated in the sentences below:

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(60) a. klɛ anyɛ́ tenukpó nɔ edzi ésí, klɛ a-nyɛ́ te-nukpó nɔ́ e-dzi ke-sí then CM1-man AM-one DEF AM-sit CM4-ground ‘Then the one man sat down’ (Focus1.144) b. yabakɔ́ sɛ bunuɔ bɔbagagãlĩ yɛ a-ba-kɔ́ sɛ bu-nu=ɔ bɔ-ba-gagãlĩ 3SG:IND AM-FUT-give that CM8-beverage=DEF AM-FUT-be_hard ‘That is what will make the drink strong’ (Making_Palm_Wine.006) c. alɔkɔ adakpɛ́ yɛ bageɛ́ mɛ. a-lɔkɔ a-da-kpɛ́ yɛ bage=ɛ́ mɛ 3SG-take SCONN-ITIVE-put 3SG:IND bag=DEF inside ‘She went and put it in her bag.’ (Focus1.011) In (60a) the full form nɔ́ is used. In (60b) the clitic ɔ follows bunu ‘drink’, which ends in a rounded vowel, and in (60c), ɛ follows bage ‘bag’, which ends in an unrounded vowel. The difference between the definite determiner in Kwa languages and its counterpart is SAE languages has been widely discussed. As I discussed in section 4.1.4.1, unique entities are not necessarily expressed with a definite determiner. Instead they can be expressed with the bare singular nominal. The primary function of the definite determiner is rather anaphoric, or tracking, which is to say it refers back to an entity that has been introduced in the discourse (Himmelmann 2001). Consider the following example which is taken from a narration of the frog story: (61) kɛvɔbɔ́, alɔkɔ ɛ́vɔbɔ akpɛ́ kitsikpi ńɔ mɛ aló kipulí mɛ; alɔ́ kɔ ɛl’akp’ iplui nɔ́ mɛ; klɛ ebúɔ eéɖi kɛvɔbɔ́ n’ ípuli nɔ́ mɛ kɛ-vɔbɔ́ a-lɔkɔ kɛ-vɔbɔ a-kpɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ aló CM3-frog 3SG-take CM3-frog SCONN-put CM3-pot DEF inside or ki-puli mɛ a-lɔkɔ ɛlɛ a-kpɛ́ ki-puli CM3-container inside 3SG-take CL6:OBJ SCONN-put CM3-container nɔ́ mɛ klɛ e-bú=ɔ́ e-é-ɖi kɛ-vɔbɔ́ nɛ́ DEF inside then CM1-dog=DEF AM-PROG-look_at CM3-frog PREP ki-pulí nɔ́ mɛ CM3-container DEF inside ‘Frog, he put the frog in the pot or a container. When he put it in the container, then the dog was looking at the frog.’ (Frog_Story_PB.004–006)

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When kipuli ‘container’ is first mentioned, it occurs as a bare noun. When the narrator refers to it again twice in the following sentences, he uses the definite determiner. The definite determiner is also used in associative-anaphoric functions. This is when the entity, although mentioned for the first time is related to a previously mentioned referent (Hawkins 1978, Himmelmann 2001). This use is reflected in the use of the definiteness article with kitsikpi ‘pot’ in (60) above. Although it is used when the referent is first mentioned, that is because it is intricately linked to the frog in the story. The very first picture of the elicitation book has the frog in the jar while the boy and dog watch. Consider the example below: (62) gɛ blɔ batrugbuɔ pétéé bɔshɛ̃ nɛ́ Agu pɛ bɔbázã kɛlɛ nɛ́ Banyá aló Nyagbo Sróé nɔ́, kinyéɛ́ gɛ l’ ɔlɔ́ shú ɔ́ kilinú sɛ Nyagbo Sróé gɛ blɔ Ba-trugbu=ɔ pétéé bɔ-shɛ̃ nɛ́ Agu REL 1PL:IND CM5-Tutrugbu_person=DEF all 1PL-leave PREP Agu pɛ bɔ-bá-zã kɛlɛ nɛ́ Banyá aló Nyagbo-Sróé nɔ́ then 1PL-VEN-remain here PREP NAME or NAME TP ki-nyé=ɛ́ gɛ lɛ ɔlɔ́ shú=ɔ́ kɛlɛ nú sɛ Nyagbo Sróé CM3-name=DEF REL be_at 1PL skin=TP PRON be that NAME ‘When all of us the Batrugbu left Agu and then we came here to Banya or Nyagbo Sroe, the name that we all had (lit. the name that was located on our skin) was Nyagbo Sroe’ (Sroe.078–080) Although kinyé ‘name’ is mentioned for the first time, it takes the definite determiner because of its connection to the previously mentioned Batrugbu ‘Nyagbo people.’ The definite determiner also has situational uses, which is when the referent is present in the utterance situation. For instance, when a chief’s spokesperson pours libation during a funeral with a drink in his hand, he says: (63) oo o o owũsosó kesiakpá baka pétéé eklú nɔ́ nɛ́ klɛ. Batrugbu esheshe pétéé wɔnɔ nu nɛɛ́lɛ, tsyiami nɔ́ gɛ abayikɛ bunu ɔ, pɛ abávɛnɔ pɛ kɛgbãgbã baba, yɛ meklu nɛ́ klɛ oo o o owũsosó ke-siakpá ba-ka pétéé e-klú wɔnɔ́ oo o o heaven CM4-ground CM5-father all 1SG-call 2PL:IND nɛ́ ́ klɛ ba-trugbu be-sheshe pétéé wɔnɔ PREP here CM5-Tutrugbu_person CM5-old_person all 2PL:IND bu-nu tsyíámi nɔ́ gɛ a-ba-yɛkɛ bu-nu=ɔ CM8-drink spokesperson DEF REL AM-FUT-receive CM8-drink=DEF

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pɛ a-bá-vɛ-nɔ pɛ kɛ-gbãgbã ba-bá yɛ then 3SG-FUT-go-COMITATIVE then CM3-real FUT-come 3SG:IND me-klu nɛ́ klɛ ISG-call at here ‘O all our heavenly and earthly fathers I call you here; all Batrugbu ancestors here is your drink; the spokesperson who will collect the drink; and take it away (to the ancestors) so that goodness will come; him I call here.’ (Funeral_QML.003–007) In the prayers tsyíámi ‘spokesperson’, although mentioned for the first time, takes the definite determiner. This is because the person reciting the libation and the people gathered at the place are aware that such an entity would be present at such a gathering to take the drink offering to the ancestors. 4.1.5 Demonstratives Demonstratives in Tutrugbu occur in paradigmatic relation with the specificity and definiteness determiners. The examples below show that the demonstratives agree with nouns based on their class: (64) a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i.

anyɛ́ álɛ ‘this man’ ɔkɔkɔ́ ɔ́ lɛ ‘this fowl’ kiwi ilɛ ‘this day’ keplukpá kalɛ /keplukpí álɛ/ ‘this book’ banyɛ́ álɛ ‘these men’ ɛkɔkɔ ɛ́lɛ ‘these fowls’ ewi alɛ ‘these days’ buplukpá álɛ ‘these books’ tisí ílɛ ‘this clay’

Although the /k/ of the ka-class is never pronounced (64d), its presence can be seen from the fact that while the final vowel of kiplukpá ‘book’ is elided, there is an insertion of /i/ before the alɛ. We have already established that the deletion of /k/ is often followed by the insertion of an epenthetic /i/. The demonstrative system in Tutrugbu is primarily a two-way speaker based system. Its forms V́ -lɛ (V represents a vowel that, as shown in examples 64a–64i above, is dependent on the class of the noun that the demonstrative modifies) and V-lɛ́ encode deictic information from the perspective of the speaker. The proximate demonstrative V́ -lɛ refers to an entity that is close to the speaker. This means that, unlike English, but like other Kwa languages, it can refer to two things that are either next to the speaker or are part of the body of the speaker. Consider the example below: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(65) m’ine ilɛ nɛ yálɛ mɛ ki-né i-lɛ nɛ yálɛ 1SG:IND CM-tooth AM-this and this ‘This tooth and that one.’ Although the English translation of the expression uses the distal demonstrative ‘that’ for the second tooth, Tutrugbu still uses the proximate. The distal demonstrative V-lɛ́ refers to an entity that is away from the speaker. It can refer to an entity close to the hearer in which case the expression nɛ́ wɔ ɔbha ‘beside you’ is used to make it specific. This is shown by the phrase below: (66) keplukpí álɛ nɛ́ w’ ɔ́ bha ke-plukpá ká-lɛ nɛ́ wɔ ɔ́ -bha CL4-book AM-that PREP 2SG:IND CL2-side ‘That book beside you.’ (lit. at your side) Without the specification that an entity described is near to the hearer, the distal demonstrative is taken to refer to an entity that is away from both speaker and hearer. Tutrugbu speakers add lɛɛ to the distal demonstrative when they want to indicate that an entity is further away from speaker and hearer. This is shown below: (67) keplukpí álɛ lɛ́ɛ́ ke-plukpá ká-lɛ lɛ́ɛ́ CL4-book AM-that INT ‘That book yonder’ Lɛ́ɛ́ is an intensifier that enhances the distance although the object so described can still be visible to both interlocutors. Visibility or otherwise does not, therefore, play any role in the semantics of Tutrugbu demonstratives. In addition to marking spatial deixis, the demonstrative can be used to mark temporal as well as discourse deictic information, as shown below: (68) a. kɛvlɔ ɛlɛ ɔkɔɔ bɔbhɛ́t’ ɔlɛ́ kɛ-vlɔ̌ ɛ́-lɛ ɔ-kɔ=ɔ́ bɔ-bhɛtɛ ɔlɛ́ CM3-morning AM-this CM-custom=DEF 1PL-do CL2:OBJ ‘This morning we have performed the customs’ (Chief-Bereaved_ family.011–014)

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b. so nɛ́ err ki-búí i-lɛ mɛ, mɛ xɔ̃ nɔ́ mɔ therefore PREP um CL3-matter AM-this inside, 1SG:IND as_for see dzesi, sɛ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ nɔ́ a-nyɛ=ɛ́ a-gbla-kpɛ́ sign that CL2-anger DEF CM-man=DEF 3SG-too_much-put_in ɔ́ -mɔpɔɛ nɔ́ f ánɔ. CM2-anger DEF too_much ‘In this case, as for me I see that the man was too angry’ (Focus1.300– 302) In (68a), the proximate adverb modifies kɛvlɔ ‘morning’ while in (68b), it modifies kibui ‘matter’, which is a summary of the description of a clip which the speaker has just given. 4.1.6 Intensifiers The intensifier slot, which comes before the relative clause in Table 22, is occupied by words which are mostly borrowed from Ewe but which also consist of a few Tutrugbu words. The Ewe words are pétéé ‘all’ and nyɔ̃ ɔ̃ ‘completely’, and ko ‘only’, which have quantifier semantics, and tsyɛ́ ‘also’. The Tutrugbu intensifers are xɔ̃ nɔ ‘as for’. Examples are provided below: 69

a. séƒoƒo nɔ́ nɛ glass=ɛ pétéé a-yɛ flower DEF LNK glass=DEF all AM-break ‘All the flowers and glass broke.’ b. mɛ xɔ̃ nɔ́ mɔ dzesi 1SG:IND as_for see sign ‘As for me, I saw that.’ (Focus1.301) c. yɛ te-nukpó ko mɛ mɔ 3SG:IND AM-one just 1SG:IND see ‘I saw just her alone.’

Xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ and other markers of Topic are discussed in chapter 9. 4.1.7 Relative Clause Table 22 shows that the relative clause is the final constituent of the noun phrase. The relative clause in Tutrugbu comprises an antecedent, relativiser, and clause-final particle. This is shown below:

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(70) a. bɔnya lɛ́ gɛ kpɛ́ yɛ luhũ pɛ edzi kɔshɔkɔ́ lá bɔ-nya a-lɛ́ gɛ kpɛ́ yɛ bu-luhũ pɛ e-dzi CM8-sickness AM-that REL put 3SG:IND CM8-trouble then AM-be kɔshɔkɔ́ lá kwashiorkor TP ‘the sickness that bothered him and then it became kwashiorkor …’ (Odumase_Herbs.187) b. err egbogbo tátá álɛ g’ eklú nɛ́ badeshúí ɛ ámpɛ mɛɛ err e-gbogbó tatá álɛ́ gɛ e-klú nɛ́ Badeshúí=ɛ ka-mpɛ um CM6-clan three 3PL REL 3SG-call at NAME=DEF CM4-side mɛ=ɛ inside=TP ‘The three clans that he mentioned on the Badeshui side.’ Sentence (70a) is an example of a subject argument that is relativized. The antecedent is kinyé ‘name’ and the definite determiner ɛ́, and it occurs as the subject of the copula verb nú ‘be’. The relative clause has the relativiser gɛ and the clause-final particle ɔ. As occurs in almost all Kwa languages, this clause final particle takes the form of the definite determiner. Like the clitic variant of the determiner, this one is rounded because it follows a rounded vowel. The antecedent in (70b) is a preposed object, and is composed of a Noun-NumeralDemonstrative string. The clause final particle in this case is ɛ because the preceding vowel is unrounded. The antecedent in (70a and b) occur with the proximal demonstrative because they refer to entities that occurred in the discourse. In (71a) below, it occurs without a determiner while in (71b) it occurs with the definite determiner: (71) a. kɛxwɛ̃ gɛ bakpɛ́ m’ ahɔɛ kɛ-xwɛ̃ gɛ ba-kpɛ́ mɛ a-hɔɛ CM3-work REL 3PL-put_in 1SG:IND CM7-hand ‘The work that was entrusted to me …’ b. bɔlɔ bhɛtɛkɔ́ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɔ ɔlɛ klɛ́ bɔlɔ bhɛtɛ-kɔ́ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ɔ-lɛ klɛ́ 1PL:IND do-place EXIS:INDEF REL AM-be_at there ‘The things we have to do there …’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.019)

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The relativized positions in (70a and b) and (71a) do not have a resumptive pronoun. However, the relativized subject in (71b) does. Sentences (72a and b) also have resumptive pronouns but (72c) does not: (72) a. anyɛ́ g’ alɛ kɛblɛkpɛ́ nɔ́ mɛ=ɛ́ a-nyɛ́ gɛ a-lɛ kɛ-blɛkpɛ́ nɔ́ mɛ=ɛ́ CM1-man REL 3SG-be_at CM3-left DEF inside=TP ‘The man who is on the left …’ (Focus1.028) b. mahoganiɛ́ enú busí gɛ Máwú akɔ́ lɛ́ yayrá mahogany=ɛ́ e-nú bu-sí gɛ Máwú a-kɔ́ ɔlɛ́ mahogany=TOP AM-be CM8-tree REL God AM- give CL2:OBJ yayrá blessing ‘Mahogany is a tree that God has blessed.’ (Odumase_Herbs.040) c. ki-be nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ bu-vɛ sɔlɛmɛ=ɛ CM3-time EXIST:INDEF REL 1PL-go church=TP ‘The times that we go to the church …’ (chief-and-bereaved-family.035) Anyɛ́ in (72a) is the subject of the relative clause and is therefore structurally like (70a, 71a and b). This suggests that relativization of subject position involves the use of a resumptive pronoun for many people. Sentence (72b) is the primary object of a double object construction. Relativising this object position almost always involves the use of the relative pronoun. Example (72c), by contrast, involves a nominal adjunct. These do not usually take resumptive pronouns. The examples we have looked at so far have lexical antecedents. As the next two examples show, the head of the relative clause can also be a pronoun: (73) a. klɛ blɔ gɛ bu-nú Banyá=á then 1PL:IND REL 1PL-be Nyagbo:Sroe=TP ‘Then we who are Nyagbo Sroe people …’ (Sroe.221) b. balɛ g’ al’ɔpá mɛ balɛ alɔkɔ sikã ́ ba-lɛ gɛ ba-lɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ balɛ a-lɔkɔ sikã ́ 3PL:IND REL 3PL-be_at CM8-house inside 3PL:IND AM-take money ‘Those who are in the house, THEY took the money.’

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c. klɛ blɔ́ genú banyáá klɛ bɔlɔ gɛ e-nu Banyá=á then 1PL:IND REL 3SG-be Nyagbo_Sroe=TP ‘Then those of us who are Sroe people …’ (Sroe.090) The examples show that pronoun antecedents must be the independent form and they always require a resumptive pronoun. Example (73c), which is a restatement of (73a), shows that this resumptive pronoun can be an invariant pronoun. When the pronouns refer to lexical nouns, however, then their dependent pronominal forms get prefixed onto the relativiser, as shown below: (74) a. agɛ y’alɔ́ kɔ watchiɛ yenu adzɛ̃ń úvɔɛ nɔ́ a-gɛ yɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ watchi-ɛ yɛ e-nú a-dzɛ́núvɔɛ CL1-REL 3SG:IND 3SG-take watch-TP 3SG:IND AM-be CM1-girl nɔ́ DEF ‘The one who took the watch is the woman.’ (Focus1.405) b. kɛ g’inyíɛ, pɛ m’ákaalɛ́ tseɖe méɛ́ kɛ gɛ i-nyí-ɛ pɛ mɛ a-ka-alɛ́ tseɖé mɛ=ɛ́ 3SG REL 1SG-know-TP then 1SG:IND CM1-father-PL tell 1PL=TP ‘What I know that my fathers told me.’ (Sroe.176) c. agɛbaáw’ ulĩ nɔ a-gɛ ba- á-wɛ̃ bu- lĩ nɛ+i 3SG-REL 3PL-PROG-drink CM8-water with+3SG:OBJ ‘The thing that is used to drink water.’ (Focus1.022) The a- in (74a) refers to the anɔ ‘person’ which kɛ in (74b) refers to kibúí ‘matter’ and a- in (74c) refers to salí ‘thing’. Example (74c) shows that extracting the complement of a preposition leads to the phonological process. This is similar to the process in Ewe where the preposition ɖé changes to ɖó following an extraction, as shown below (cf. Ameka 1992): (75) a. me-lɔ-e ɖé nú má ta 1SG-love-3SG ALL thing that reason ‘I love her for that reason.’ b. nú ḿa ta-é me-lɔ-e ɖó thing that reason-FOC 1SG-love-3SG ALL ‘That is why I love her.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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In (75a) where the reason phrase occurs in complement position, the allative preposition is ɖé but when it is fronted for focus in (75b), the preposition is ɖó.

4.2

Complex Noun Phrase

This section discusses noun phrases that are composed of more than one noun phrase. This includes the possessive noun phrase and coordinate phrases. 4.2.1 Possessive Phrase The possessive phrase in which the possessor is a pronoun involves the independent pronoun which is followed by the possessed item: (76) a. m’eyíɛ́ mɛ e-yí=ɛ́ 1SG:IND CM1-child=DEF ‘My child’ b. y’ɔtsrɛ́ yɛ ɔ-tsrɛ́ 3SG:IND CM2-foot ‘His foot’ c. bɔlɔ plukpa gɛ tsiɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’abha bɔlɔ bu-plukpá gɛ tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha 1SG:IND CM8-book REL be_on CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘Our books that are on the table.’ Example (76a) shows that the head of the possessive NP can take a definite determiner. When the possessed entity is also pronominal in that it refers to an entity in preceding discourse, then ayɛ ‘own’, which is discussed in chapter 3, is used. This gives rise to such constructions as (77a and b) below: (77) a. wɔn’ayɛ́ wɔnɔ ayɛ́ 2PL:IND own ‘Yours’

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b. bal’ ayɛ balɛ ayɛ́ 3PL:IND own ‘Theirs’ For possession involving kinship relation between two animate entities, the third person independent pronoun serves as a coreference marker, as shown in (78a and b): (78) a. John y’aká John yɛ a-ká NAME 3SG:IND CM1-father ‘John’s father’ b. banyɛ́núvɔɛ bal’aká ba-nyɛ́núvɔɛ balɛ a-ká CM5-child 3PL:IND CM1-father ‘The children’s father’ However, speakers explain that when the possessed entity is inanimate, the presence or absence of the independent pronoun brings about a difference in meeting: the pronoun is used when one hearer does not know the owner. The difference is shown in (79 a and b):1 (79) a. John ɔ-tsrɛ́ NAME CM2-foot ‘John’s foot’ b. anyɛ́nú vɔɛ y’ɔtsrɛ́ anyɛ́nú vɔɛ yɛ ɔ-tsrɛ́ boy 3SG:IND CM2:foot ‘A boy’s foot’

1 This distinction appears to be disappearing because I got sentences like the one below: John y’ɔtsrɛ́ John yɛ ɔ-tsrɛ́ NAME 3SG:IND CM2:foot ‘John’s foot’

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(80) a. bunuvɔɛ n’úplukpá bunuvɔɛ nɔ́ bu-plukpá CM8-child DEF CM8-footwear ‘Children’s footwear’ b. bunuvɔɛ nɔ́ balɛ plukpá bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ balɛ bu-plukpá CM8-child DEF 3PL:IND CM8-book ‘The children’s books’ When the possessor and possessed entities are inanimate, some speakers use the third person independent pronoun, such as (81a) but most speakers rather leave it out as (81b): (81) a. ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ y’ o-lugbu=ɔ́ CM2-table DEF 3SG:IND CM2-mouth=DEF ‘The edge of the table’ (Men & Tree) b. ke-sugba=a dada CM4-saucepan=DEF cover ‘The saucepan’s lid’ (Men & Tree) In sum, pronominal yɛ is used obligatorily as coreference marker for the possessor when the possessive construction expresses a kinship relation or ownership. When it expresses part-whole relation in which an animate entity is the possessor, speakers are clear about the difference in meaning that yɛ brings about. Some spatial nominals have grammaticalized to the point where they do not accept yɛ at all and are best analyzed as postpositions (Ameka 2003a). (82)

kɛshwɛ n’ ɛ́wã kɛ-shwɛ nɔ́ kɛ-wã CM3-basket DEF CM3-side ‘At the side of the basket’ (Men_&_Tree.196)

Postpositions are discussed in chapter 6. 4.2.2 Compound Phrase I use the term “compound” noun phrase, following Duthie 1996, to describe coordination and disjunction.

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4.2.2.1 Coordination Like most Kwa languages, Tutrugbu uses the comitative preposition nɛ to link two or more nouns. Where the link involves the speaker and the addressee, then the first person plural pronoun, rather than the singular pronoun, is used. This is shown below: (83) a. blɔ nɛ be-f ualɛ 1PL:IND LNK CM5-guest ‘We and guests’ (Kume.034) b. blɔ nɛ wɔ bɔbavɛ epiɛ kivũ blɔ nɛ wɔ bɔ-ba-vɛ ke-pí=ɛ́ ki-vũ 1PL:IND LNK 2SG 1PL-FUT-go CM4-home=DEF CM3-day_removed ‘You and I will go to the hometown tomorrow’ (84) a. balɛ nií balɛ nɛ-í 3PL:IND LNK-3SG:OBJ ‘They and her/him’ b. anyɛ́núvɔɛ télí nɛ y’ebú a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ té-lí nɛ yɛ e-bú CM1-boy CM-SPECI LNK 3SG:IND CM1-dog ‘A boy and his dog’ (Frog-Story-PW) In (83a) blɔ refers to not only the speaker but all the Nyagbo people who live in Kume. However, in (83b), it refers to the speaker only. The examples show that the first pronoun of a conjoined clause must be an independent pronoun, and (84a) shows that the complement of the linker can be a dependent pronoun. 4.2.2.2 Disjunction Disjunction is expressed with either pónɔ (as in 85a) or aló (as in 85b), which is borrowed from Ewe: (85) a. e-bú pónɔ nɛŋtwɛ̃ CM1-dog or cow ‘A dog or a cow’ (Men_&_Tree.292) b. o-sí bhlatɔ aló a-yɛ bhlatɔ CM2-tree other or CM1-forest other ‘The other tree or in the other forest.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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The Verb Phrase [Most] Kwa languages, (with the notable exception of the Gbe dialect cluster), [incorporate] much syntactic information into the verbal word, using a combination of affixation and tonal modification to encode distinctions in person/number, tense-aspect-mood, negation, deictic motion, purpose. Harley (2005: 177)

∵ 5.0

Introduction

In Chapter 3, it was shown that the sentence, as a word, could be composed of the following: [SUBJ:PRON/AGR]-[NEG]-[TENSE/ASPECT] [DIRECTIONAL] [PREVERBADV/VERB-ROOT]=[OBJ CLITIC] In terms of the order of constituents, the agreement marker or pronominal affix is followed by the negation morpheme, if there is one, then tense, aspect, and directional morphemes. Next is the adverbial preverb, which is characteristic of a number of Kwa languages. The preverb is the closest to the verb root. This Chapter discusses these forms, the class of verbs that they occur with, and the interpretation they give rise to when they occur with the verbs. In addition to distinguishing verbs based on their inherent semantics, verbs are also distinguished based on their argument structure.

5.1

Lexical Aspect

Vendler’s (1957) seminal work on lexical aspect distinguishes four inherent aspects of lexical items. These are State, which is non-dynamic and nontemporally bounded, Activity, which, like State, is temporally unbounded but, unlike it, is dynamic. The other two are Achievement, which expresses an

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_006

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instantaneous change of state or location, and Accomplishment which, like Achievement, has an end of state but is temporally extended (see also Van Valin and LaPolla 1997). With the exception of State, the other three aktionsarten are dynamic, a property which is important for Tutrugbu. State and Activity verbs can, because of their unbounded nature, occur with the adverb riɖiɖi ‘continuously’. This is shown by the examples below: (1) a. bulíɛ́ kpasɛ ketsukpúɔ́ mɛ riɖiɖi bu-lí=ɛ́ kpasɛ ke-tsukpú=ɔ́ mɛ riɖiɖi CM8-water=DEF be_contained CM4-pot=DEF inside continuously ‘The water stayed in the pots for a long time.’ b. ebúɔ́ s’ ódu riɖiɖi e-bú=ɔ́ sí o-du riɖiɖi CM1-dog=DEF flee CM2-race continuously ‘The dog run for a long time.’ The inherent aspect of kpasɛ ‘be_contained’ in (1a) is State and, therefore, the use of riɖiɖi implies that the water is located in the pot for a very long time, say a week to a month, or longer. By contrast, in (1b), the inherent aspect of sí in sí o-du ‘run’ is Activity (obligatory complement predicates to which sí belongs are discussed in section 5.3 below), and, therefore, the length of time expressed by riɖiɖi can be minutes. The important thing, for the two examples, is that riɖiɖi captures the crucial property that States and Activity predicates share, which is that they are non-temporally bounded. Achievement predicates, by virtue of the fact that they express instantaneous changes, cannot occur with riɖiɖi. This is shown by the example below: (2) a-nyɛ́ a-yɛ tumpá nɔ́ (*riɖiɖi) CM1-man AM-break bottle DEF continuously ‘The man broke the bottle (*for a long time).’ The change of state expressed by yɛ cannot be extended over a period. As the example shows, it is not acceptable to modify it with riɖiɖi. Accomplishment predicates, as stated have endpoints that are reached over time. For instance, the verb lóló ‘melt’ expresses a change that takes place over time. For that reason, it is possible for it to take riɖiɖi, as shown below:

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(3) a. bɔ-dzyɔ̃ lóló nɛ́ míníti tetí mɛ CM8-oil melt PREP minute five inside ‘The palm oil melted in 5 minutes.’ b. bɔ-bɔ́ lóló riɖiɖi CM8-oil melt continuously ‘The oil melted for a long time.’ Sentence (3a) shows that the melting process took five minutes. Sentence (3b) shows that such verbs do occur with riɖiɖi. According to a consultant, one can imagine the situation where a container containing the oil is put out in the sun and the oil melts over a certain period of time. Although State and Activity verbs can be qualified by riɖiɖi, they differ in that State predicates are non-dynamic. One way this is manifested is that they cannot occur in the progressive. This is discussed in section 5.2.2.1. The behavior of State verbs with regard to the “still”-morpheme, which I discuss in section 5.2.2.2, also sets them apart. In Tutrugbu, the grammatical restrictions that apply to Activity predicates also apply to Accomplishment predicates. As such, one can talk about rules that apply to State verbs, one that applies to Activity and Accomplishment verbs, and one that applies to Achievement verbs.

5.2

Tense Aspect Mood

Tutrugbu marks tense-aspect-mood, negation with both segments and suprasegments. 5.2.1 Tense There is a debate as to whether Kwa languages have tense. Harley (2005: 184– 185) summarizes the discussion succinctly thus: In the literature on tense-aspect distinctions in Kwa languages, the question as to whether Kwa languages are tenseless has been much discussed (e.g. Aboh 1998; Manfredi 1991; Osam 1994a). In particular, morphemes originally analysed as being markers of future tense have sometimes later been reanalyzed as markers of potentiality or probability (e.g. Essegbey [2000] for Ewe, Kropp-Dakubu (1987) for Dangme). Harley goes on to note that while the future morpheme in Tuwuli has some non-tense uses, its primary use is tense. Agbetsoamedo (2014) also notes that

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Sɛlɛɛ has an elaborate tense system encompassing present, hodiernal, prehodiernal and future tenses. These two languages are GTM, and suggest that some languages belonging to this branch of Kwa do have tense. The discussion in the next section shows that Tutrugbu is not one of the GTM languages that have tense as a primary category. 5.2.1.1 Future Future applies to events that occur after the time of speech. Tutrugbu uses the morpheme ba- to express states of affairs that will take place in a time posterior to the moment of speech, as the example below illustrates: (4)

yoo, klɛ otsíɛ́ kibeɛ gɛ bɔbavɛ sɔlɛmɛ ɛ, ɣeɣiyi nɔ́ ko nɔkɔ́ lɔ́, ga asíéke nɛ af á yoo klɛ otsíɛ́ ki-be=ɛ́ gɛ bɔ-ba-vɛ sɔlɛmɛ=ɛ ɣeɣiyi nɔ́ ok then now CM3-time=DEF REL 1PL-FUT-go church=TP time DEF ko nɔ-kɔ́ lɔ ga asíéke nɛ af á just 1PL-give 1PL:OBJ bell nine LNK half ‘Ok so now the time that we will go to the church, it’s just the time that you’ve given us, nine thirty’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.046–047)

In this sentence, the chief’s spokesperson describes an event that will occur after the time of speech. Ba- also describes events that occurred in the past but after the moment of speech. Consider (5) below: (5) a. igitseɖe wɔ sɛ abazã pám dza? i-gi-tseɖe wɔ sɛ a-ba-zã bɔ-pá mɛ dza? 1SG-NEG-tell 2SG that 3SG-FUT-remain CM8-house inside INTER ‘Didn’t I tell you that he would be at home?’ b. i-súsú sɛ abazã pã ́m i-susu sɛ a-ba-zã bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 1SG-think that 3SG-FUT-remain CM8-house inside ‘I thought he would be at home’ Sentence (5a) is said by someone who made a prediction in the past, and it is borne out. At the time it is uttered, however, the state of affairs has occurred because the person referred to is at home. As such, (5a) expresses the future in the past. Similarly (5b) describes a thought that occurred in the past. Unlike (5a), the state of affairs expressed with ba- may not even occur in the sense that the person may end up not being at home. The two sentences suggest that badoes not always refer to events that occur after the moment of speech. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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According to Comrie (1985: 46), in order to establish that a grammatical form is the future form, one has not only to establish that it is used for future time reference but also that it cannot be treated as a special use of a grammatical category with basically non-tense meaning. Fleischman (1982) also notes that the primary function of the future should be to locate events at a time posterior to the moment of speech. In Essegbey (2012), I argued that ba- does not primarily express future. The reasons given include the uses represented in sentences (5a and 5b) which are not marginal uses. Examples (6a and 6b) are further illustrations from the paper: (6) a. a-ba-zã ke-pí ki-vũ gɛ 3SG-FUT-stay CM4-hometown CM3-one_day_removed REL ba-f Iá come-pass ‘He would have been at home yesterday.’ (Essegbey 2012: ex. 21a) b. a-ba-zã bɔ-pã ́ mɛ ótsíɛ́ 3SG-FUT-stay CM8-house inside now ‘He will be at home.’ (Essegbey 2012: ex. 21b) Sentence (6a) is part of a conversation that transpired between two women following a trip by one of them to their hometown and back the previous day. One person (let’s call her “Lady B.”) asked the one who had gone to the village (“Lady A.”) whether she saw her ex-boyfriend there. Lady A. responds that she did not even ask of him because she assumed he was in the city. Sentence (6a) is Lady B’s report that he would have been in the town that day. Clearly, ba- simply expresses probability in this sentence, not a state of affairs that is posterior to the moment of speech. Sentence (6b), like (5b), is a sentence that would be used if one thought the person is at home at the time of speech. The difference is that it happens in the present. Dorvlo (2008) and Bobuafor (2013) discuss the fact that the future is used in procedural discourse. The examples below show that the same applies in Tutrugbu: (7) kana gɛ bɔ́ dɛ bɔya nɛ́ Batugbu keli be lɛ gɛ ayɛ sheshe azã. ónúpɛ baŋa blúnya béke kɛlɛ ɔbɔkp’ ayɛ tsatsã ́ ésí. ɔbɔtsã ayɛ nɔ́. ɔ́ tsã ́ ayɛ béke nɔ́, kɛlɛ obotẽ besí gbagbla gɛ tsiɖi bɔya n’ ábha kana gɛ bɔ-dɛ bɔ-ya nɛ́ Batugbu kɛlɛ ki-be thus REL 1PL-attend CM8-farm PREP Nyangbo CL:IND CM3-time

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kɛ-lɛ gɛ a-yɛ she-she a-zã ónúpɛ ba-ŋa blúnya AM-this REL CM1-forest RED-old AM-stay when 3PL-eat christmas béke kɛlɛ ɔ-bɔ-kpɛ a-yɛ tsa-tsã ́ ke-sí. finish then 2SG-FUT-put_in CM1-forest RED-clear CM4-under ɔ-bɔ-tsã a-yɛ nɔ́. ɔ́ -tsã ́ a-yɛ béke nɔ́, kɛlɛ 2SG-FUT-clear CM1-forest DEF 2SG-clear CM1-forest finish TP then o-bo-tẽ ́ be-sí gbagbla gɛ tsiɖi bɔ-ya nɔ́ 2SG-FUT-cut CM5-tree big REL h_support CM8-farm DEF ka-bha CM4-top ‘The way we farmed among the Batrugbu people during the time when there were big forests. When we finished celebrating Christmas, then you (will) begin clearing the forest. You will clear the forest. When you finish clearing the forest, then you cut the big trees that are on the farm’ (Farming.001–005) The discussion shows that in addition to expressing states of affairs that occur in a time posterior to the moment of speech, ba- also expresses probabilities and procedures. 5.2.1.1.1 Negative The future is negated by placing the non-past negation affix tɛ́- before ba-. This is illustrated below: (8) a. ónúpɛ gɔvmɛnt=ɛ y’akpɛ́ ɔnɔ́ pɛ nɔbá pɛ nobobu lɔ́ piapíí nɔ́, pɛ kibuinyɛ́bui tɛ́baba ivũɔ́ ónúpɛ gɔvmɛnt=ɛ́ yɛ a-kpɛ́ wɔnɔ pɛ if government=DEF 3SG:IND AM-put_in 2PL:IND and_then nɔ-bá pɛ no-bo-bú lɔ́ piapíí nɔ́ pɛ 2PL-come and_then 2PL-VEN-remove 1PL:OBJ well TP and_then ki-búí-nyɛ́-búí tɛ́-ba-bá ki-vũ=ɔ́ CM3-word-every-word NEG-FUT-come CM3-day_removed=DEF ‘If it is the government that has sent you to take these pictures take them well so that nothing (bad) happens tomorrow.’ (Kume.089–090) b. be-tí-be-ti 3PL-NEG-FUT-get-to-know ‘They will not know.’ (Kume.184)

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In sentence (8a), the negated ba-morpheme occurs in the main clause of a sentence that is preceded by an if-dependent clause. So one might argue that it is not a proper example of future. However, sentence (8b) clearly expresses an event that will (not) happen after the moment of speech. This sentence also shows the allomorphic variants of the future and negation morphemes used when vowel of the verb root is +ATR. The negative future can also be used to express prohibitions, as the examples below in which the future is used to discuss things that cannot be done: (9) a. bɔdɔ̃ túlí tɛ́babá ɔma mɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ tu-lí tɛ́-ba-bá ɔ-ma mɛ CM8-thing AM-SPECI NEG-FUT-come CM2-state inside ‘Some things cannot come into the town.’ (Odumasi_Customs.009) b. batɛ́babɔ ɛblɔmi nɛ́ ɔma mɛ ba-tɛ́-ba-bɔ kɛ-blɔ́ mí nɛ́ ɔ-ma mɛ 3PL-NEG-FUT-crow CM3-whistle PREP CM2-state inside ‘It is not permitted to whistle in the town’ (Odumasi_Customs.027) Both sentences (9a and 9b) refer to injunctions on the Odumasi community. 5.2.2 Aspect This section discusses the progressive, persistive, repetitive and habitual aspect. 5.2.2.1 Progressive Tutrugbu has a present progressive and past progressive. They are discussed in turn. 5.2.2.1.1 Present Progressive The affirmative present progressive is formed with a preverbal high tone which is followed by a floating mid tone. The preverbal high tone is preceded by a low tone of either the pronominal prefix or, if there is a lexical noun, the agreement marker. The floating mid tone then lands on the first syllable of the verb. The two examples below illustrate this: (10) a. ɛ-ɛ́-bā 1SG-PROG-come ‘I am coming.’

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b. a-nyɛ́ e-é-tī CM1-man AM-PROG-get_to_know ‘The man is understanding (it).’ As was discussed in Chapter 2, the citation tone of bá ‘come’ is High while that of ti ‘get to know’ is Low. Yet both verbs have a Mid tone in the progressive. This tone displaces the citation tone so that there is no contour tone created in the progressive. The segment that bears the progressive high tone immediately precedes that of the verb. The progressive primarily expresses a state of affairs that is ongoing. In the sentence below, the narrator talks about what the dog in Frog Where Are You does when its owner grabs it: (11) ebúɔ́ tsyɛ́ wunɔ etakpú nɛ́ tití, eéɖ’ ɔdɔ̃ e-bú=ɔ tsyɛ́ wunɔ kɛ-takpú nɛ́ ki-tití e-é-ɖī CM-dog=DEF also raise CM3-head PREP CM3-sky 3SG-PROG-look_at bɔ-dɔ̃ CM8-thing ‘The dog too raised its head, it is looking.’ (Frog_Story_PW.050–051) The narrator flips the pages as he narrates the story and, therefore, does so as if the event is going on as he speaks. The progressive is also used to express habitual states of affairs in Tutrugbu. In the sentence below, the elders of Kume are talking about their day-to-day activities, and how they collaborate with foreigners who live among them to manage the affairs of the town: (12) blɔ nɛ bef ualɛ blɔ kpi ɛhɔɛ tsu pɛ bɔɔ́w’ ɛlɛ́ blɔ nɛ be-f u-alɛ́ blɔ kpɛ́ ɛ-hɔɛ ki-tsu 1PL:IND LNK CM5-guest-PL 1PL:IND put_in CM6-hand CM3-pile pɛ bɔ-ɔ́ -wā kɛlɛ́ and_then 1PL-PROG-do that ‘We and the guests join hands and do that.’ (Kume.034) Commenting on a similar phenomenon in Supyire, Carlson (1994: 720) writes in a footnote: If the sample of Dahl (1985) is representative, this is a rather unusual extension of the function of the progressive. Dahl notes PROG is quite infrequently extended to habitual meaning. With the intermediate

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step of repetitive found in Supyire, the extension does not seem unnatural, however. What Carlson means by “repetitive” use of the progressive is an example like the one below: (13) ɔɔ́ ŋā dɔ̃ ɔ-ɔ́ -ŋā bɔ-dɔ̃ 2SG-PROG-eat CM8-thing ‘You are eating.’ This sentence, just like the equivalent in Supyire discussed by Carlson, can refer to an eating event that is ongoing at the moment of speech or one that refers to the repetitive act of eating. For instance, a person who complains of not feeling well could be asked, using the progressive, whether he or she eats. Unlike Carlson, I do not consider the repetitive use of the progressive to be the intermediate step that normalizes its habitual use. Such uses are a common phenomenon in Kwa languages. In fact, in the recording of Kume elders, they used the progressive construction 16 times. Of those, only 6 referred to an event that was ongoing at the moment that they spoke. The remaining 10 referred to habitual events. Sentence (14) is one such use from the conversation: (14) bɔɔ́ ŋā dɔ̃ nɛ bal’ ishí bɔ-ɔ́ -ŋā bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ balɛ ki-shi 1PL-PROG-eat CM8-thing PREP 3PL:IND CM3-between ‘We inherit things among them (lit. we are eating in their midst)’ (Kume .054) Sentence (14) refers to a habitual occurrence among the people of Kume. While the occurrence of accomplishment verbs in the progressive construction can express iterative or habitual state of affairs, they also express motion towards a state. For example, the progressive in the sentence below does not mean that the river is full but that it is rising to the level where it would be considered full: (15) akasɛ bulĩɛ́́ buúku buúkū, ́ a-kasɛ́ bu-lĩ=ɛ́ bu-ú-kū 3SG-show CM8-river=DEF AM-PROG-be_high ‘It means that the river is getting full.’ (Kume.122)

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In Tutrugbu as in most Kwa languages, the volition verb which expresses ‘to want’ is the same verb that expresses ‘look for’. This means that it can occur in the progressive and express to be looking for, as shown below: (16) ebú aápɛ̄ anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ e-bú a-á-pɛ̄ a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ CM1-dog AM-PROG-look_for CM1-boy DEF ‘The dog is looking for the boy.’ (Frog_Story_PW.163) The progressive is also used to refer to events in the immediate future. Consider the sentence below which was said by the chief of Sroe when we went to visit him and his spokesperson. Just before he uttered the sentence, we greeted them and he asked us what had brought us to their place. I told him that we wanted to learn about the Sroe people. After rephrasing my stated purpose, the chief used the progressive to talk about the conversation that we were about to have. The sentence therefore refers to an action in the immediate future: (17) so kɛŋa gɛ bɔ́ ŋa kusí n’ányá bɔɔ́ ɖɔ̄ so kɛ-ŋa gɛ bɔ-ŋa bu-kusí nɛ́ Banyá bɔ-ɔ́ -ɖɔ̄ so CM3-eat REL 1PL-eat CM8-chief PREP Sroe 1PL-PROG-say ‘The way chieftaincy is practiced in Sroe is what we will talk about.’ (lit. we are saying) 5.2.2.1.2 Negative The negative present progressive is formed by prefixing the non-past negation affix tɛ́- to the vowel which carries a high tone and represents the present progressive morpheme. This is then followed by the floating mid tone. Sentence (11) which is repeated below as (18a) is negated in (18b): (18) a. ɔ-ɔ́ -ŋā dɔ̃ ɔ-ɔ́ -ŋā bɔ-dɔ̃ 2SG-PROG-eat CM8-thing ‘You are eating.’ b. ɔtɛ́ɔ́ŋā dɔ̃ ɔ-tɛ́-ɔ́ -ŋā bɔ-dɔ̃ 2SG-NEG-PROG-eat CM8-thing ‘You are eating.’

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Example (18b) shows that the tone of the negation affix and that of the present progressive affix are high. Segmentally, the vowel of the subject pronoun or the agreement marker gets copied as the progressive affix that takes the high tone. When compared to (18a), the negative morpheme looks as if it has been inserted between the two morphemes. The next two examples further illustrate this: (19) a. ɛ-tɛ́-ɛ́-bā 1SG-NEG-PROG-come ‘I am not coming.’ b. a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ a-tɛ́-á-shɛ̃ CM1-man=DEF AM-NEG-PROG-leave ‘The man is not leaving.’ As discussed in Chapter 2, when the vowel of the verb root is +ATR, then the negation affix is tí-. The is illustrated by the next examples: (20) a. itíítseɖeé i-tí-í-tseɖe-í 1SG-NEG-PROG-tell-3SG:OBJ ‘I am not telling him/her.’ b. otíótī o-tí-ó-tī 2SG-NEG-PROG-get-to-know ‘You are not getting it.’ In sum, the tone of the negation and the progressive is high, while the vowel segment of the subject or agreement marker is the same as that of the progressive. 5.2.2.1.2 Past Progressive The past progressive has two variants, one of which appears to be a reduced form of the other. The first involves the use of zVV where the specific vowel is determined by the pronominal prefix or agreement marker. The reduced form is a copy of the pronominal or agreement marker (in other words the VV without the z). In the examples below the reduced form are given in (b):

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(21) a. ɛ-zɛɛ-ŋa bɔdɔ̃ 1SG-PROG:PST-eat CM8-thing ‘I was eating.’ b. ɛ-ɛ-ŋa bɔdɔ̃ 1SG-PROG:PST-eat CM8-thing ‘I was eating.’ (22) a. a-zaa-bá 3SG-PROG:PST-come ‘He was coming.’ b. a-a-bá 3SG-PROG:PST-come ‘He was coming.’ Although segmentally, the reduced form appears to be similar to the present progressive, there is a difference in that the tone on the former is low. Consultants say that Tutrugbu speakers from Nyigbe are the ones who often use the zVV form. However, everybody uses it, and the examples I collected were all from non-Nyigbe people. 5.2.2.1.3 Negative The negative past progressive is formed by prefixing the past negation affix gɛto zVV, as shown below: (23) a. ɛ-gɛ-zɛɛ-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ 1SG-NEG:PST-PROG:PST-eat CM8-thing ‘I was not eating.’ b. a-gɛ-zaa-bá 3SG-NEG:PST-PROG:PST-come ‘He was not coming.’ 5.2.2.1.4 Future Progressive The future progressive is formed by adding the vowel segment to the future morpheme. Since progressive always involves a lengthening of the preceding vowel, this yields the morpheme baa-. Examples are:

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(24) a. ɛ-ba-á-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ 1SG-FUT-PROG-eat CM8-thing ‘I will be eating.’ b. a-ba-á-vɛ 3SG-FUT-PROG-go ‘He/she will be going.’ To negate the future progressive, the non-past negative affix tɛ- is affixed to baaas shown below: (25) a-tɛ́-ba-a-vɛ 3SG-FUT-PROG-go ‘He/she will not be going.’ 5.2.2.2 The ka-morpheme Rather than call this morpheme by its function, I use the form because of changes in interpretation that it receives in context. Part of the behavior of the ka-morpheme falls under what Comrie (1985: 54) refers to as the “still tense”. Comrie characterizes the tense thus: “it is presupposed that a situation held in the past, and asserted that it holds in the present.” In Tutrugbu, this function is expressed with ka- for verbs that have -ATR root, and ke- for those that have a +ATR root. As discussed in Chapter 2, this morpheme undergoes labial harmony. This means that when it occurs with the second person singular and plural pronominal affixes, or when it follows an agreement marker of the o-class, it changes to kɔ- or ko- depending on the ATR of the verb root’s vowel. Bobuafor (2013) refers to the ka-morpheme in Tafi as the persistive morpheme. In Tutrugbu the morpheme receives the persistive interpretation only when it occurs with stative verbs, as illustrated by the examples below: (26) a. a-ka-lɛ́ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3SG-still-be_at CM8-house inside ‘He is still at home.’ (Essegbey 2012, ex 16a) b. y’ enú sɛ ɔmɔpɔɛ nɔ́ lɔkɔkpasɛ y’ ishú mɛ kokoko sɛ ebepoe yɛ e-nú sɛ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ nɔ́ ɔ-kɔ-kpasɛ 3SG:IND AM-be that CM2-anger DEF AM-still-be_contained yɛ ki-shú mɛ kokoko sɛ 3SG:IND CM3-skin inside by_all_means that

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e-be-po-í 3SG-VEN-wait_for-3SG:OBJ ‘That is to say he was still very angry that he had come and waited for her.’ (Focus1.246) Sentence (26a) was said by one friend to another after they had waited for a long time for a third friend to show up so they go to a neighboring village to attend a funeral. When the third friend did not show up for a while, one called him on the phone. He found out that the friend was still at home and said (26a) in exasperation. In (26b), which is taken from a description of the focus elicitation-video, a man was angry because his girlfriend was late for an appointment at a bar. When his girlfriend arrived, she saw that the man was still angry and tried to mollify him. In both sentences the morpheme expresses states of affairs that persist from before the time of speech to the time after. When ka- occurs with a dynamic verb, it rather expresses events that have not yet occurred. This is illustrated below: (27) a. ɛ-ka-ŋa bɔ-dɔ 1SG-eat CM8-thing ‘I have not yet eaten.’ b. ɛkaklú kinyé w’ olũ ɖî? ɛ-ka-klǔ ki-nye wɔ o-lũ ɖî? 1SG-still-call CM3-name 2SG AM-hear look_at ‘Haven’t you heard me mention the name before?’ (Odumase_Herbs .302) In order to express a persistive state of affairs with dynamic verbs, the vowel of ka- is lengthened, giving rise to ka-V. It was shown in section 5.2.2.1 that lengthening the vowel before the verb root expresses a progressive state of affairs. This suggests that the progressive morpheme is required to reinforce the persistence of dynamic situations in Tutrugbu. This is illustrated below: (28) a. Kof i a-ka-á-tsɛ̄ biskwit NAME AM-still-PROG-pick biscuit ‘Kofi is still taking biscuit.’ b. Kof i e-ke-é-tsuru a-hɔɛ NAME AM-still-PROG-wash CM7-hand ‘Kofi is still washing his hands.’

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In Essegbey (2012), I propose that since ka- enables speakers to view the internal temporal constituency of an event, the progressive is required to make this happen with dynamic verbs. 5.2.2.3 The Habitual In section 5.2.2.1, it was stated that the progressive is used to express habitual states of affairs. Tutrugbu does have a dedicated habitual morpheme for this function. This morpheme is realised as a mid tone which spreads across the verb word, including the pronominal subject or agreement marker. This is shown below: (29) a. bā-f ɔ̄ nɛ́ klɛ́ 3PL-defecate:HAB PREP there ‘They defecate over there.’ (Essegbey 2012: ex. 11a) b. ī-mōlē 1SG-rest:HAB ‘I rest (habitually).’ (Essegbey 2012: ex. 11b) Sentence (29a) is a complaint by a man that students defecated habitually on a part of his property. Next, a woman who was being admonished for working too hard and not getting any rest said (29b) to indicate that she rested regularly. The habitual is used to express customary practices, such as the one below: (30) agbeɖi sheshe bālɔ̄ kɔ̄ gbã ̄ galí nɔ agbeɖi she-she bā-lɔ̄ kɔ̄ gbã ̄ galí nɛ+í cassava RED-become_grown 3PL-take:HAB fry:HAB gari with+3SG:OBJ ‘(It is) matured cassava (that is) used to prepare gali.’ (Essegbey 2012: ex. 12) The habitual morpheme occurs with dynamic verbs only. It cannot occur with State verbs like nyí ‘to know’ and kpasɛ ‘to be contained’. Example (30) shows that all the verbs in an SVC need to take the morpheme. 5.2.2.3.1 Negative The negative of the habitual is formed by affixing tɛ́- to roots which have -ATR vowel and tí- to the ones which have +ATR vowels. This is shown below: (31) a. subha a-tɛ́-dɔ nɛ́ wole á-lɛ mɛ rain AM-NEG-fall PREP month AM-this inside ‘It doesn’t rain this month.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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b. otíso du o-tí-si o-du 2SG-NEG-flee CM2-race ‘You don’t run.’ 5.2.2.3 Repetitive While the progressive is also used to express a repetitive state of affairs sometimes, there is a dedicated morpheme for this purpose as well. Tutrugbu has two affirmative repetitive morphemes, each of which has phonologically conditioned allormorphs. The first of these is zV-, the vowel of which is dependent on the subject pronoun or agreement marker. Some examples are provided below: (32) a. ɛzɛmɔ sɛ banɔ tatá ɛ-zɛ-mɔ sɛ ba-nɔ ta-tá 1SG-REP-see that CM5-person AM-three ‘I saw again that three people.’ (Focus1.018) b. sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko e-zekóéyi bá sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko e-ze-kóéyi bá shortly just 3SG-REP-exit come ‘shortly after she returned again.’ (Focus1.036) c. banyɛ́ tatá álɛ azaba ba-nyɛ ta-tá a-lɛ ba-za-bá CM5-man AM-three AM-this AM-REP-come ‘These three men came again.’ d. so ibúí álɛ nɔ́ err ɔkɔ g’ɔzɔplɛ́nɔ so i-búí á-lɛ nɔ́ err ɔ-kɔ gɛ lɔ-zɔ-plɛ́nɔ so CM6-matter AM-this TOP um CM2-custom REL AM-REP-add_to ‘So this issue, the custom (taboo) that is added again …’ The vowels of zɛ-, ze-, za- and zɔ- are copies of the preceding vowels of the subject prefixes When the vowel of the verb is +ATR, the zɛ becomes zi while the labialized zɔ- becomes zo-. The morpheme zV- has the allomorph dzV- which is illustrated by the sentences below:

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(33) a. klɛ dzyosu edzebéle nɛ́ wɔ shú mɛ klɛ dzyosu e-dze-béle nɛ́ wɔ ki-shú mɛ then blood AM-REP-finish PREP 2SG:IND CM3-body inside ‘Then the blood will be finished from your body again.’ (Odumase_ Herbs.252) b. sɛ err [kpɔ wogasi ɖam] otsiɛ́ tsɔ̃ ɔ̃ nɔ́ odzotísí, sɛ err [kpɔ wogasi ɖam] otsiɛ́ tsɔ̃ ɔ̃ nɔ́ o-dzo-tí-sí that um [Ewe sentence] now INT TP 2SG-REP-PERF-flee ‘That um, [see you’ve escaped me again] right now you’ve disappeared again.’ (Odumase_Herbs.310) The part of (33b) that is in square brackets is, as shown in the gloss, Ewe. The speaker was trying very hard to recollect the name of a plant. Just when he thought he had got it, the name disappeared again. In his frustration, he utters (33b) as if his memory was an animate entity that had escaped again. It is not clear what determines the choice between zV- and dzV- as consultants explained that either of them is fine and everybody uses both. One thing that is clear though is that the dzV- form is disappearing as I rarely found it in the discourse of the younger speakers. The one who said the two sentences is over 80 years old. The primary function of the repetitive, as shown by the examples provided above, is to express a state of affairs that is repeated. It can also express a sequence of events in which different participants undertake different events. This is illustrated by the following segment of a frog story narrative: (34) a. bezedekú busí bhlatɔ esí be-ze-de-kú bu-sí bhlatɔ ke-sí 3PL-REP-ITIVE-reach CM8-tree other CM4-down ‘They arrived again under another tree.’ (Frog_Story_PW.064) b. busí bhlatɔ esí gɛ bekú ko bu-sí bhlatɔ ke-sí gɛ be-kú ko CM8-tree other CM4-underneath REL 3PL-reach just ‘just when they had got under the other tree.’ (Frog_Story_PW.065) c. ebúɔ́ ázanyána busíɛ́ ásɛ éwu e-bú=ɔ a-za-nyána bu-sí=ɛ́ a-sɛ CM1-dog=DEF AM-REP-hold CM8-tree=DEF 3SG-say

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e-é-wu 3SG-PROG-climb ‘The dog grabbed the tree again as if to climb.’ (Frog_Story_PW.066) d. tɛ adasɔ́ kɛ sǎ nɔ́ tɛ a-da-sɔkɛ́ salí nɔ́ COMP 3SG-ITIVE-pluck thing DEF ‘In order to pluck the thing.’ (Frog_Story_PW.067) e. kɛvɔbɔ tílí tsí ko kɛlɛ zɛbá kɛ-vɔbɔ́ te-lí tsyɛ́ ko kɛlɛ zɛ-bá CM3-frog AM-SPECI also just 3SG:IND REP-come ‘then another frog also appeared.’ (Frog_Story_PW.068) In the preceding section of the narrative, the narrator recounts how the boy and his dog fled into the woods. Since they move from place to place, their arrival in the woods is reported with a repetitive in (34a). The narrator had already referred to their arrival at different places hence the use of the repetitive to describe the arrival at the new place. The sequence of events which involves the dog grabbing hold of a branch (34c) and a frog appearing on the scene (34e), on the other hand, are not recurrrent events. However, they are all expressed with the repetitive morpheme. Note that instances like that in (34e), where the speaker is expressing that the entity in subject position is repeating what others have done, are best translated with ‘also’ (cf. Essegbey 2010; van Putten 2014). The repetitive also expresses the restitution of a state of affairs, not necessarily by the entity in the subject position. Consider the sentence below: (35) a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ a-za-dã ́lɛ bu-vũ=ɔ CM1-woman=DEF AM-REP-open CM8-room=DEF ‘The woman opened the door (to the room) again.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 7a) This sentence simply expresses that the woman has restored the door to its open state. It does not entail that she is the one who opened it first. It is most likely that someone opened it and she closed it before re-opening it. Note, however, that she does not need to be the one who closed it first either. As a rule, the repetitive does not occur with such statives as lɛ ‘be at’ and nyí ‘to know’. However, some occasional occurrences appear to be influenced by Ewe in which the repetitive ga is used with such verbs. This is illustrated by (36b) below also from the same frog story narrative:

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(36) a. *i-zi-nyí 1SG-REP-know b. ebúɔ́ ezedeli y’amɛ e-bú=ɔ́ e-ze-de-lɛ́ yɛ bamɛ CM1-dog=DEF AM-REP-ITIVE-be_at 3SG:IND face ‘The dog was still in his face.’ (Frog_Story_PW.170) Sentence (36a) shows the inability of zɛ- to occur with the State verb nyí ‘to know’, while (36b) shows it occurring with the locative verb lɛ́ ‘be located’. As indicated, this is similar to what occurs in Ewe. Just like Ewe, the repetitive in this sentence does not yield a repeated event but rather a persistive one. 5.2.2.3.1 Negative The negative repetitive affix is expressed by gaa-, where the vowel of the pronominal prefix or agreement marker is unrounded, and gɔɔ- where it is rounded. This is illustrated by the two examples below: (37) a. ɛ-gaa-bhɛtɛ́ salí nɔ 1SG-NEG:REP-do thing DEF ‘I don’t do the thing again.’ b. ɔ-gɔɔ-mɔ a-nyɛ́ nɔ dza? 2SG-NEG:REP-see CM1-man DEF Q ‘Do you not see the man again.’ As the translations suggest, gaa-/gɔɔ- expresses a state of affairs that used to happen habitually but has stopped. 5.2.2.4 Factative I begin this section with the discussion of a common phenomenon in West African languages whereby unmarked forms of a verb express past and present states of affairs, depending on their inherent aspect. Welmers (1974) refers to it as the factative. He writes: “in the case of active verbs [it means] that the action took place, but for stative verbs [it means] that the situation obtains at present” (Welmers 1974: 346). In Tutrugbu, the factative uses the tone of the citation form of the verbs. When State and Activity verbs occur with their citation tones, the former express present events in the default while the latter express past events. This is shown below:

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(38) a. bunyí kɛzã g’ ɔzã nɛ́ blɔ Batrugbu nɔ́ shi bu-nyí kɛ-zã gɛ ɔ-zã nɛ́ blɔ 1PL-know CM3-remain REL 2SG-remain PREP 1PL:IND ba-trugbu nɔ́ ki-shi CM5-Nyangbo DEF CM3-middle ‘We know the way you lived among us the Nyangbo people.’ (Funeral_ QML.071) b. ekusíɛ́ ɖi aɖɔ e-kusí=ɛ́ ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ CM1-chief=DEF speak CM4-speak ‘The chief spoke.’ c. ebúɔ́ s’ódu e-bú=ɔ́ sí o-du CM1-dog=DEF flee CM2-race ‘The dog ran.’ The citation tone for the stative verb nyí is high. As sentence (38a) shows the default interpretation is a present state of affairs. In (38b), the citation tone for the activity verb ɖɔ ‘to say’ is low. When it takes a cognate complement, it yields a ‘speak’ interpretation. Sentence (38c) where sí ‘flee’ has a high tone shows that it is not the tone that expresses the past tense but rather the inherent aspect of the verb with its default tone. While the default interpretation of stative verbs is present, they can, depending on the context, also express past tense. Consider the sentences below: (39) kivũ=ɔ, i-nyí sɛ wɔ́ day_removed=TP 1SG-know that 2SG:IND ‘Yesterday, I knew that it was you.’ The temporal adverbial kivũ changes the interpretation of know from present to past. Achievements and Accomplishments express either the entry into a state or the post-state when they occur in the factative. This is shown below: (40) a. ã-ŋhũ a-dzã CM7-eye AM-become_red ‘Eyes have become red/eyes are red.’

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b. ɔkɔkɔ n’étsí ɔ-kɔkɔ nɔ́ e-tsí CM2-fowl DEF AM-die ‘The fowl died.’/‘The fowl is dead.’ c. bɔ-dzyɔ=ɔ lóló CM8-palm_oil=DEF melt ‘The palm oil melted.’/‘The palm oil is in a melted state.’ Dza ‘become red’, which has a rising tone in its citation form, and tsí ‘die’, which has a high tone, are both Achievement verbs while lóló ‘melt’ is an Accomplishment verb. As the translations show, these verbs can express the change, in which case they have a past tense, or the result state, in which case the default interpretation is in the present. I mention “default” because, just like nyí, the context can give rise to a past interpretation. The factative is also used for performative verbs, as shown below: (41) o-wũsosó ke-siakpá ba-ka pétéé e-klǔ wɔnɔ́ nɛ́ CM2-heaven CM4-ground CM5-father all 1SG-call 2PL:IND PREP klɛ here ‘O ancestors of heaven and earth, I call you all here.’ (Libation-HK.003) Klú ‘call’ is used in this case as if it were in the present. 5.2.2.4.1 Negative The factative is negated with gɛ-gi- when it expresses a past state of affair and tɛ-/ti- when the state of affairs it expresses is present. Consider the examples below: (42) a. bu-lĩ gɛ-zã ke-tsukpú=ɔ́ mɛ CM8-water NEG:PST-stay CM4-pot=DEF inside ‘There was no water in the pot.’ b. kɛlɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛgɛɖi aɖɔ vɛnɔ klɛ shú kɛ-lɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛ-gɛ-ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ vɛ-nɔ kɛlɛ CL3-this give that 1SG-NEG:PST-say CM4-say go-COM CL3:IND ki-shú CM3-skin ‘This is why I did not say anything about it.’ (Sroe.173)

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Zã ‘stay’ is a stative verb while ɖɔ ‘say’ is an activity verb. In the above sentences, both negate states of affairs in the past. In the next sentences, the verbs are negated with tɛ́-/tí-: (43) a. anɛ f óto telí gɛ bebévũ lɔ avɛnɔ ɔkɔ́ toli hee butínyí a-nɛ f óto te-lí gɛ be-be-vũ lɔ 3SG-NEG:be photograph AM-SPECI REL 3PL-FUT-catch 1PL:OBJ a-vɛ-nɔ ɔ-kɔ́ to-li bu-tí-nyí SCONN-go-COM CM2-place AM-SPECI 1PL-NEG-know ‘If it’s not a picture that will be made of us and sent somewhere we don’t know’ (Kume.086) b. ɛrr kɛdɔnyɛ́dɔ tɛ́wɛ̃ nɛ́ ayɛ nɔ́ m ɛrr kɛ-dɔ̃ -nyɛ́-dɔ̃ tɛ́-wɛ nɛ́ a-yɛ nɔ́ mɛ um CM3-thing-every-thing NEG-show PREP CM1-forest DEF inside ‘Nothing could be seen in the forest.’ (i.e. shows/appears) (Frog_Story_ PW.132) We saw in (43a) that nyí in the factative expresses present tense. Sentence (43a) shows that tí is required to get a present negation. Wɛ̃, although glossed here as ‘show’, actually means ‘to become visible’ and can occur with the progressive morpheme. It also requires tɛ́- to express a present state of affairs. 5.2.2.5 Perfect 5.2.2.5.1 Affirmative The perfect expresses a state of affairs that has already taken place at the moment of speech. Because of this, the best translation for it is ‘already.’ It is expressed by tí for verbs with +ATR vowels and tɛ́- for those with -ATR vowels. Consider the examples below: (44) a. ɔ-tɛ́-shɛ̃? 2SG-PERF-leave ‘Have you left already?’ b. a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ e-tí-bisi mɛ́ CM1-woman=DEF AM-PERF-ask 1SG ‘The woman has asked me already.’ Sentence (44a) shows that the vowel of tɛ- does not change to conform to the lip rounding of the subject pronoun or agreement marker. The tone of shɛ̃ is

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low. When changed to mid, tɛ́- is treated as the negative morpheme. This is shown below: (45) ɔ-tɛ́-shɛ̃? 2SG-PERF-leave ‘Have you not left?’ Let us now take a look at the semantics of tɛ́-. The first example I elicited when I tried to get the meaning is (42a) below: (46) a. ɛ-tɛ́-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ 1SG-PERF-eat CM8-thing ‘I have already eaten.’ ́ b. gaké ɔ-mɔ bu-lĩ=ɛ́ pétéé ba-tɛ́-bá But 2SG-see CM8-water=DEF all AM-already-come ‘But you see that all the water has already come.’ (Kume.152) The explanation given for (46a) is that it is what one would say when, say, one is invited to eat again after having eaten and would like to explain why he or she cannot eat again. This means that like the perfect morpheme in English, tɛ́- expresses an event which occurred prior to the moment of speech but has relevance at the time the one is speaking. A similar meaning is present in (46b) where the water river was present at the time the speaker was referring to. Like speakers of all Ghanaian languages, Tutrugbu speakers code-mix with English. The example below shows the use of the tɛ- morpheme with an English verb: (47) aló o-tí-f ix salí nɔ́ or 2SG-already-fix thing DEF ‘Or have you fixed the thing?’ (Sroe.006) The chief of Sroe was waiting for us to set up our recording equipment for an interview with him. When he saw me straighten up, he asked the above question. 5.2.2.5.2 Negative The negative perfect is expressed by ka- for subject pronouns and agreement markers that are unrounded and kɔ- for the ones that are rounded.

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(48) a. kliso otsíɛ́ subha a-ka-bhɛtɛ therefore now rain AM-NEG:PERF-do ‘Therefore now the water has not yet crested.’ (lit. not yet done) (Kume. 151) b. okolṹ Dr Ɛssegbey n’inyé oɖí o-ko-lũ Dr Ɛssegbey nɔ́ ki-nyé o-ɖǐ 2SG-NEG:PERF-hear NAME DEF CM3-name 2SG-look_at ‘Haven’t you heard of Dr. Essegbey’s name before?’ (Kume.094) Sentence (48a) was said by a man who telling a story about why the new Nyagbo town is named after the river by the town called Kume. He uses a do-verb to indicate that the river had not yet crested. In (48b), ɖi ‘look’ is added to the negative perfect with ‘hear Dr Essegbey’s name’ to one of not having heard it before. This is similar to Ewe in which the verb kpɔ ‘see’ has grammaticalized into a particle that expresses a state of affairs that has happened before (Ameka 1991). The next example shows that the happened-before interpretation is not restricted to negative states of affairs in Tutrugbu either: (49) gaké ónúpɛ omunɔ yá, aló ótíbú yá ɖí ɛ́ gaké ónúpɛ o-múnɔ ɛ-yá aló o-tí-bú but if 2SG-find CM6-stomach or 2SG-PERF-remove ɛ-yá ɖǐ=ɛ CM6-stomach look_at=TP ‘But if you’re pregnant or you have committed an abortion before’ (Odumasi_Customs.068–069) The elders of Nyagbo Odumasi were discussing the taboos of the clan when this issue came up. The interpretation here shifts from having already committed abortion (literally having already removed a stomach) to having done it before. 5.2.3 Mood 5.2.3.1 Imperative Chung-hye (2000: 3) writes: Imperative sentences across languages are formally distinguishable from other sentence types of the language in which they appear: they have distinctive morphology on the main verb and/or distinctive syntax. Canonically, they express the directive illocutionary force associated with com-

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mands and requests. Consequently, the term IMPERATIVE has often been used to refer to a sentence’s function rather than its form. In this section, I limit myself to the morphosyntactic form for expressing commands and requests. In Tutrugbu, as in other Kwa languages, commands and requests involve the reduced expression of 2SG subject for singular imperatives while commands to more than one person require the expression of the second person plural pronoun. These are below: (50) a. ba ‘Come’ b. kɔ mɛ́ sikã give 1SG money ‘Give me money.’ c. wɔnɔ ŋútɔ́ nɔkpi esí otsí álɛ wɔnɔ ŋútɔ́ nɔ-kpɛ́ ke-sí otsí a-lɛ 2PL:IND INT 2PL-put_in CM4-down now AM-this ‘You yourself you start now’ (Sroe.003) As Dingemanse (in press: 11) points out, “[some] basic imperatives feature just the verb while others add a beneficiary […] or a more elaborate specification of the desired action.” Sentence (50a) is the type that involves a verb alone while (50b) involves a beneficiary and the theme. In (50c) the chief of Sroe, asks me and the people who accompanied me to go and visit him to begin the greeting ritual. The use of the second person plural is therefore due to the fact that he was addressing more than one person. 5.2.3.2 Jussive The jussive expresses orders, commands, exhortations, but particularly to a third person who is not present. The jussive is expressed with tone in addition to the subject pronoun. A monosyllabic verb with a high tone for instance maintains its tone but the tone of the third person subject pronoun is low. By contrast, the factative maintains the high tone of the verb while the tone of the pronoun affix is high. This is shown below: (51) a. Kof í à-bá NAME AM:JUSS-come ‘Kofi should come.’

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b. Kof i á-bá NAME AM-come ‘Kofi came.’ (52) a. bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ bà-bá CM8-child DEF AM:JUSS-come ‘The children should come.’ b. bunuvɔɛ n’ábá bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ á-bá CM8-child DEF AM-come ‘The children came.’ (53) kɛlɛ sahũɛ é-tséɖe lɛ́ sɛ kɛ̀-yɔ́ lɔ́ bɔdɔ̃ nɔ́ tɔ́ kɛlɛ sahũɛ é-tséɖe ɛlɛ́ sɛ kɛ̀-yɔ́ lɔ́ bɔ-dɔ̃ nɔ́ tɔ́ then spider AM-tell CL3:OBJ that CL3-stop CM8-thing DEF cook ‘Then spider told it (the pot) that it should stop cooking’ (Spider-andorphan.133) In (51a and 52a), the agreement marker has a low tone while in (51b and 52b) it has a high tone. In (53), the agreement marker kɛ- carries a low tone to express the jussive. Interestingly, the tone of the first person plural is high for the jussive while that of the factative is low. This is shown below: (54) a. bɔ́ -shɛ̃ 1PL:JUSS-leave ‘We should go.’ b. bɔ-shɛ̃ 1PL-leave ‘We left.’ The tone of bisyllabic verbs like baka, which have a Mid-Mid tonal pattern becomes low like the pronominal prefix in the jussive. The factative, on the other hand, takes a High-Mid pattern while the pronoun is mid. (55) a. à-bàkà mɛ́ 3SG:JUSS-remember 1SG ‘He should remind me.’

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b. ā-báka mɛ 3SG-remember 1SG ‘He reminded me.’ For the negative jussive, the pronominal affix as well as the negation affix tɛboth carry low tones. Consider the contrast between the jussive and the negative indicative: (56) a. à-tɛ̀-bà-mɔ̀ mɛ́ 3SG-NEG-VEN-see 1SG ‘He should not come to see me.’ b. a-tɛ́-bá-mɔ mɛ́ 3SG-NEG-VEN-see 1SG ‘He did not come to see me.’ (57) bɔ-tɛ́-shɛ̃ 1PL-NEG-leave ‘We should not go.’ Low tone on tɛ- and the directional ba- indicates jussive in (56a) while the default high tones indicate the factative and, because of the inherent aspect of the verb, yield the past tense interpretation. By contrast, when it comes to the first person plural, the tone on the negative affix is high. This shows a complex interplay between the tones of the pronouns or agreement markers, the verbs and, where present, the negative affixes, to express the jussive. 5.2.3.3 Subjunctive The subjunctive complementizer tɛ- is used to describe hypothetical events, as well as opinions or emotions. It is also used to make polite requests. This is shown below: (58) so kibui tilí lɛ́, tɛ alɔkɔ mana mɛ kɔ́ ésí ɔzãkɔ́ so ki-bui ti-lí lɛ́ tɛ a-lɔkɔ mana mɛ kɔ́ so CM3-matter AM-SPECI be_at COMP 3SG-take come_with 1SG give ke-si ɔ-zã-kɔ́ CM4-down CM2-stay-place ‘So if there is something, then bring it so that he gives it the gathering.’ (chief-and-bereaved-family.007–008)

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Tɛ can occur by itself to express a wish or it may occur in a clause that is the complement of a desire verb, as shown below: (59) a. tɛ Máwú a-yra wɔ́ COMP God AM-bless 2SG ‘May God bless you.’ b. kɛlɛso a-pɛ sɛ tɛ e-tsódzi a-vɛ tɛ therefore 3SG-want that COMP 3SG-return SCONN-go COMP a-da-yɛ́kɛ bɔ-ŋaŋa 3SG-ITIVE-receive CM8-food ‘Therefore he wanted to go back, to go and collect food.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34) Máwú yrá wo ‘God bless you’ in (59a) is borrowed from Ewe, and the only Tutrugbu that is added to it is the subjunctive complementizer and the agreement marker. In (59b), two clauses with the subjunctive complementizer follow each other and express the desire of spider, the protagonist in the story. Like (58), the second clause could be translated with ‘so that’ (see the purposive tɛ construction in chapter 7). This sentence shows that the tɛ-clause can follow the subordinating complementizer sɛ. The next sentence illustrates the same thing: (60) mabo y’aglɔ atrɔ́ ɣeyíyi kɔ́ ɛ́ sɛ tɛ aba tɛ ba … bawɛ̃ ɔdɔ̃ mabo yɛ a-glɔ a-trɔ́ ɣeyíyi kɔ́ -ɛ́ not_knowing 3SG:IND CM1-companion AM-put_on time give-3SG sɛ tɛ a-bá tɛ ba-wɛ̃ bɔ-dɔ̃ that COMP 3SG-come COMP 3PL-drink CM8-thing ‘Not knowing her lover invited her to come so that … so that they get a drink.’ (Focus1.219) Just as the subjunctive complementizer can occur in an independent clause and express a desire or wish, it can also occur as the complement of any verb, including the speech verb, as shown below: (61) kɛlɛso abrɛwá e-tseɖé ki-tsikpi nɔ́ tɛ ki-wlí tɔ therefore old_woman AM-tell CM3-pot DEF COMP CL3-again cook bɔ-dɔ̃ CM8-thing ‘Then the old woman told the pot to cook again.’ (Essegbey 2011: 32)

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5.2.4 Operator Verbs Bobuafor (2013: 221) describes a class of verbs in Tafi as “operator verbs with adverbial function”. These verbs, which also occur in Tutrugbu, are tsodzi ‘repeat’ and bhoso ‘first’. Operator verbs are like serial verbs when they occur with other verbs. They also determine the ATR of preceding tense and aspect markers. This is shown below: (62) a. i-bhoso bá 1SG-first come ‘I came first.’ b. e-be-bhoso a-bá 3SG-first SCONN-come ‘He will come first.’ c. i-ba-bhoso wɔ bá 1SG-FUT-first 2SG:IND come ‘I will come before you.’ (63) a. i-ba-tsodzi 1SG-FUT-return ‘I will return.’ b. i-ba-tsodzi bá 1SG-FUT-return come ‘I will come back again.’ c. e-be-tsodzi a-bá 3SG-FUT-return SCONN-come ‘I will come back again.’ Sentences (62b and 63b) show that bhoso and tsodzi can determine the ATR of preverbal markers while the presence of the serial connector shows their full verbal status. Sentence (62c) shows that bhoso can be followed by a complement which precedes V2, and express that the entity in subject position accomplished the event expressed by V2 before the entity in complement position did. Sentence (63a) shows that tsodzi can occur by itself as the main verb of the sentence. Bhoso cannot do that.

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5.2.5 Middle-Field adverbials Aboh and Essegbey (2010: 47) describe as “middle-field adverbial elements” forms which are a closed class of words that occur in the pre-TAM position. In Tutrugbu, the two words are vlɛ́ ‘CONTINUATIVE’ and wulí (or wlí) ‘again’. These two words are grammaticalized from verbs and, as a result, rather occur after TAM and before the main verb. While vlɛ́ has grammaticalized completely, wulí retains some verbal characteristics. This is shown in the examples below: (64) a. a-vlɛ́-bā 3SG-CONT-come ‘He is coming.’ b. i-vlí-wulú 1SG-CONT-bath ‘I am bathing.’ (65) a. i-wúlí bá? 1SG-REP come ‘Should I come again?’ b. e-wúlí á-bá? 3SG-REP AM-come ‘Should he come again?’ Sentences (64a) and (64b) show that it is the ATR of the verb root that determines the ATR of the vowel of vlɛ́ and other preceding affixes. Vlɛ́- is therefore fully grammaticalized. By contrast, wulí determines the ATR of the preceding affixes. Furthermore, the fact that it requires a serial connector when the subject is the third person singular shows that it retains some verbal properties. In terms of semantics, vlɛ́ expresses a state of affairs that is ongoing, hence the gloss as continuative. The difference between vlɛ́ and the progressive is that the latter expresses a state of affairs that has been going on for a while. Wulí expresses an event that is repeated. In this, it is similar to zɛ- which also refers to repeated events. The difference is that wulí refers to intense repetition. When someone uses it, the one wants to stress that the action has been repeated, possibly, too many times. Most likely due to pre-emption from zɛ-, sentences (65a) and (65b) only refer to questions and have a modal interpretation. That does not mean, however, that wulí is modal because of the next two sentences:

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(66) a. ɛ-ka-wúlí bá 1SG-still-REP come ‘I have not come again in a while.’ b. ɛ-gaa-wúlí bá 1SG-NEG:REP-REP come ‘I was not able to come again (as expected).’ In section 5.2.2.2 it was shown that the ka- morpheme can express not yet. In combination with wúlí it expresses that an event which used to happen in the past has not happened again in a while. Similarly, gaa- which is the nonrepetitive morpheme (NEG:REP), in combination with wulí expresses an event that, contrary to expectations, has not occurred again. In terms of its position in the VP paradigm, wulí comes just before the tense morpheme, as shown below: (67) i-wulí ba-bá 1SG-REP FUT-come ‘I will come again.’ The final morpheme that occurs in this position is gbla which Bobuafor (2013) glosses rightly as ‘excessive’. Examples are given below: (68) a. agblá w’ unu f anɔ a-gblá-wɛ̃ bu-nu f ánɔ 3SG-EXCES-drink CM8-drink too_much ‘He drinks too much.’ b. ɔgblɔ́ ɖi aɖɔ ɔ-gblɔ́ -ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ 2SG-EXCES-say CM5-say ‘You talk too much.’ c. egblési if u e-gblé-si ki-f u 3SG-EXCES-flee CM3-fear ‘He/she fears things too much.’ Sentence (68b) shows that gblá- can undergo labial harmony while (68c) shows that, like vlɛ́- (but unlike wulí), the ATR of its vowel is determined by that of the verb root. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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In Tafi, gblá- can be used to describe physical attribute as in the example below given by Bobuafor: (69) égbléyi ’ubhíté. é-gblé-yi bu-bhíté 3SG-EXC-resemble CM-maiden ‘She is extremely beautiful.’ (Bobuafor 2013: ex 169a) Nyagbo speakers do not use gbla- in such contexts. 5.2.6 Directionals Tutrugbu has two directional morphemes that express motion towards or away from a deictic center. The morpheme which expresses motion towards a deictic center is grammaticalized from the deictic verb bá ‘come’ while the one that expresses motion away from the deictic center is grammaticalized from dɛ́ ‘come from’. Because they are grammaticalized, the vowels of these morphemes are assimilated to the ATR of the verb. This is shown below: (70) a. a-bá-mɔ mɛ́ 3SG-VEN-see 1SG ‘He/she came and saw me.’ b. ebe s’ódu e-be-sí o-du 3SG-VEN-flee CM2-race ‘He came and ran.’ (71) a. ɛdɛ́w’ ɛxɔ̃ ɛ ɛ-dɛ́-wa kɛ-xɔ̃ ɛ̃ 1SG-ITIVE-do CM3-work ‘I went and worked.’ b. idiplu dɔ̃ i-di-plú bɔ-dɔ̃ 1SG-ITIVE-wash CM8-thing ‘I went and washed things.’

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5.2.7 Modals This section discusses modality in Tutrugbu. 5.2.7.1 Possibility Some Kwa languages, particularly the Gbe languages, express two kinds of possibility modality which in Essegbey et al (2013) we referred to as “inherent and acquired physical ability”. The term “inherent physical ability” comes from the fact that it is the natural developmental process. Below is what we write in Essegbey et al. (2013: 70): By inherent physical ability we refer to ability that is part of the natural development of an entity. This includes the ability to walk, see and speak. When these are conceptualized as inherent abilities of an entity, they are expressed in the progressive. Below are examples from Tutrugbu: (72) a. e-yí-ɛ́ a-á-gã CM1-child AM-PROG-walk ‘The child is walking/ is able to walk.’ b. ótsíɛ́ a-á-mɔ now AM-PROG-see ‘Now she is able to see.’ Sentence (72a) describes the process between 12 and 15 months when a baby starts to walk. It therefore describes the ability of the child to walk. It can also describe a walking activity that is in progress but that is not the relevant interpretation we seek here. Sentence (72b) was used to describe a woman’s experience. She lost her sight due to cataract and a bungled surgery to remove it. Then a more competent doctor operated on one eye and her sight was restored. In reporting it, the progressive was used. Unlike (72a), this one does not refer to an activity that is going on at the moment of speech. Tutrugbu uses téŋú ‘be able’, which is borrowed from Ewe, to express different types of possibility. In combination with the future marker ba-, it expresses different types of possibility, as shown by the two examples below:

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(73) a. Kof i e-be-téŋú áŋlɔmɛ ɔ́ dɔ̃ Kof i e-be-téŋú á-ŋlɔmɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ NAME AM-FUT-be_able SCONN-write CM8-thing ‘Kofi can write.’ b. idzí pɛn kɔ́ ɛ́ kliso otsíɛ́ é-be-téŋú áŋlɔmɛ ɔ́ dɔ̃ i-dzí pɛn kɔ́ -ɛ́ kliso ótsíɛ́ e-be-téŋú 1SG-buy pen give-3SG therefore now 3SG-FUT-be_able á-ŋlɔmɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ SCONN-write CM8-thing ‘I bought a pen for him/her so now he/she can write.’ Sentence (73a) expresses ability while (73b) expresses dynamic possibility. In section 5.2.1, it was shown that although glossed ‘FUT’ ba- primarily expresses potentiality. Ba- in the above sentences further supports this position. Just as in Ewe, the combination of ba- ‘FUT’ and téŋú ‘be able’ also gives rise to permission, as shown below: (74) Kof i ebetéŋú álɔ́ kɔ sikã ́ Kof i e-be-teŋú á-lɔ́ kɔ sikã ́ NAME AM-FUT-be_able SCONN-take money ‘Kofi may take the money.’ Without the future marker, téŋú refers to a demonstrated ability: (75) idzí pɛn kɔ́ ɛ́ kliso otsíɛ́ é-téŋú áŋlɔmɛ ɔ́ dɔ̃ i-dzí pɛn kɔ́ -ɛ́ kliso ótsíɛ́ e-téŋú á-ŋlɔmɛ 1SG-buy pen give-3SG therefore now 3SG-be_able SCONN-write bɔ-dɔ̃ CM8-thing ‘I bought a pen for him/her so now he/she can write.’ Coates (1995: 55) writes: “Epistemic modality is concerned with the speaker’s assumptions or assessment of possibilities, and in most cases it indicates the speaker’s confidence or lack of confidence in the truth of the proposition expressed”. Tutrugbu uses the sentence-initial abhɛ́tɛ asɛ ‘it appears as if’ to express a speaker’s lack of confidence. Abhɛ́tɛ involves a pleonastic subject and the do verb bhɛ́tɛ while asɛ is the complementizer preceded by a serial connector. This suggests that the complementizer is treated as a second verb in an SVC. Consider the sentence below:

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(76) so abhɛ́tɛ masɛ anyɛ́ alɛ́ g’abáw’ ũnuɔ y’ayɛ kitsikpi nɔ́ so a-bhɛtɛ mɛ a-sɛ a-nyɛ́ alɛ́ gɛ a-bá-wɛ̃ so 3SG-do 1SG SCONN-that CM1-man AM-this REL AM-come-drink bu-nu=ɔ yɛ a-yɛ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ CM-drink=DEF 3PL:IND AM-break CM3-pot DEF ‘So it looks to me as if the man who came to drink is the one who broke the pot.’ (Focus1.609) The speaker here is describing the focus elicitation video in which someone breaks a glass vase but it is not exactly clear who did it. Prior to this sentence, he had talked about the fact that a man who went to the pub to wait for his girlfriend got upset because she was late. In (76) he attributes the breaking of the vase to the angry man. Where there is certainty, Trutrugbu speakers use hĩá́ sɛ literally ‘needs that’ or yɛkɛ ŋa ‘believe’: (77) a. ahĩá́ sɛ azã pã ́m a-hĩá́ sɛ a-zã bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3SG-need that 3SG-stay CM8-house inside ‘He must be home.’ b. ɛ-yɛ́kɛ ŋa sɛ a-shɛ̃ 1SG-receive eat COMP 3SG-leave ‘I believe that she is gone.’ Hĩá sɛ takes a pleonastic subject in (77a). The explanation given for this sentence is that it would apply to a situation in which someone assured the speaker that he or she would be home at the time the speaker is talking about. However, there is, less commitment to the truth of the proposition than in (77b). Among the Batrugbu, when someone says something and another wants to determine the person’s level of commitment to the truth of the proposition, yɛkɛ ŋa is used. In the following exchange between Ju and Jo during a Men&Tree Picture Matching Games, Jo describes a picture that he has chosen (78a) and Ju uses the yɛkɛ ŋa expression in (78b) to determine whether he is sure about that: (78) a. Jo babɔ́ luɔ agalɛ m’ɔbha [ɛ̃ɛ̃ ]̃ ba-bɔ́ lu=ɔ a-gɛ a-lɛ mɛ ɔ-bha [ɛ̃ɛ̃ ]̃ CM5-ball=DEF AM-REL AM-be_at 1SG:IND CM-side yes ‘The ball that is on my side [yes].’

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ba-dzadza tabha CM5-red two ‘Two red ones.’ b. Ju ɔyíkɛ ɔ́ ŋa sɛ yi mɛ lɔ́ kɔ? ɔ-yɛ́kɛ ɔ-ŋa sɛ yɛ mɛ lɔ́ kɔ? 2SG-receive 2SG-eat that 3SG:IND 1SG:IND take ‘Are you sure that it is the one I took?’ Sentence (78b) shows the SVC origin of yɛkɛ ŋa because the second verb also takes a copy of the second person pronominal subject marker. 5.2.7.2 Necessity Coates (1995) notes that the same modal is used for expressing root necessity and epistemic necessity. The role of ahĩá́ sɛ in expressing epistemic necessity was illustrated in the preceding section. Ahĩá́ sɛ also expresses obligation, in addition to lɛ sɛ. Examples (79a) and (79b) illustrate the use of both phrases to express direct obligation: (79) a. kɛ-hĩá́ sɛ ɔ́ -shɛ̃ CL3-need that 2SG-leave ‘You have to go.’ b. kɛ-lɛ sɛ ɔ-shɛ̃ CL3-be_at that 2SG-leave ‘You have to go.’ Ahĩá́ sɛ and alɛ sɛ are also used to express the (weaker) meaning of root necessity: (80) a. ahĩá́ sɛ ódobísi adzɛ̃ɛ̌ tɔ́ nɛ́ lĩ n’ aka kɔ a-hĩá́ sɛ o-do-bisi adzɛ̃=̌ ɛ́ kɛ-tɔ́ nɛ́ 3SG-need that 2SG-ITIVE-ask CM1-woman=DEF CM3-ear PREP e-lẽ nɛ a-ka kɔ́ CM1-mother LNK CM1-father place ‘You need to go and ask after the woman from her mother and father.’ (Odumasi_Customs.034)

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b. aa ibúíɛ́ gɛ lɛ sɛ bɔ́ ɖɔɔ́ alɛ ko nɔɖɔ álɛ́ aa i-búí=ɛ́ gɛ lɛ sɛ bɔ́ -ɖɔ=ɔ a-lɛ ko well CM6-word=DEF REL be_at that 1PL-say=TP AM-that just nɔ-ɖɔ á-lɛ́ 2PL-say CL6-PRON ‘Well, it’s just the issue that we need to discuss is what you are discussing.’ (Kume.082)

5.3

Argument Structure

This section discusses the different argument structure patterns in Tutrugbu and the type of verbs that occur in them. 5.3.1 One-Place verbs One-place verbs are those that occur without a direct complement. Examples are tsi ‘to die’, gã ‘walk’, and yɔ́ ‘become cold’. As the examples below show, gã and yɔ́ are used in greetings: (81) a. yoo wɔnɔ gã ok 2PL:IND walk ‘ok you are welcome.’ (literally you have walked) (Sroe.021) b. pɛ ɔ-ɔ́ -ba ki-dzo mɛ yɔ́ pɔtɔpɔtɔ so 2SG-PROG-come CM3-road inside become_cold cool ‘So when you are coming, may the road be very peaceful.’ (Funeral_ QML.069) In (81a), gã is said by the chief of Sroe as he and his spokesperson welcome us to his place. The use of a literal you-have-walked expression to express welcome occurs in Ewe as well although not in Akan. Sentence (81b) is said during libation as the main spokesperson for Tutrugbu chiefs prays for the safe transportation of the remains of one of them from Accra to the village for burial. Yɔ́ ‘become cool’ is used here to mean that the road should be peaceful. In Chapter 7, it is shown that Tutrugbu, like other GTM and Kwa languages, mostly uses verbs to describe properties which are described with adjectives in Standard Average European languages. Thus, the non-derived form of the three color terms that occur in the language are also one-place verbs, as shown below:

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(82) a. yɛ ã-ŋhũ a-dza 3SG:IND CM7-eye AM-become_red ‘His eyes are red.’ b. a-brewá yɛ kɛ-takpú kɛ-ba-f úli CM1-old_lady 3SG:IND CM3-head AM-FUT-become_white ‘The old lady her hair will become white.’ (lit. her head will become white) Sentence (82a) illustrates a general tendency in Kwa languages, which is that the way to express that one is confronted with a serious situation is to say literally that the person’s eyes have become red (Ameka 2002). 5.3.2 Two-Place verbs Kwa languages possess a class of obligatory complement verbs (OCVs) which are verbs that cannot occur without a complement. These verbs form a cline from the fully meaningful, and hence easily translatable, to the less determinate. The obligatory complements with which the verbs occur also form a cline from more specified semantically to ones with more generic meaning (cf. Essegbey 1999). Verbs with the least specified semantics whose meanings are determined by the complement have been referred to as inherent complement verbs (ICVs) (Nwachukwu 1987, Ihionu 1992, etc). The closest Tutrugbu has to an ICV is s’ódu which it has borrowed from Ewe. Sentence (78) shows the verb and complement in a sentence: (83) ebúɔ́ tsyɛ́ es’ ódu rrrr ko e-bú=ɔ́ tsyɛ́ e-sí o-du rrrr ko CM1-dog=DET also AM- flee CM2-race continuously just ‘The dog also is running continuously.’ (Frog_Story_PB.125) Sí du means ‘to run’ in Inland Ewe. It is a variant of ƒú du, which is mostly used by the Anlo and other southern dialects like Tɔŋu. By itself sí means ‘to flee’ in Ewe and Tutrugbu. However, when it occurs with du, as it does in (83), they compositionally give rise to the ‘run’ interpretation. Next to ICVs are verbs with somewhat specified meanings that take obligatory complements with specified meaning. One such verb is ta. Speakers translate this verb as ‘to throw’ as well as ‘to shoot’. When ta takes otú ‘gun’ and kpli fist as complements, it does translate as ‘to fire (a gun)’ and ‘to throw (a stone)’ respectively. However, the meaning of the verb is less specified than the translations suggest. For instance in the next three sentences which were provided

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by children of ages between 8 and 13 when they sat down to talk about games which they play, one might be tempted to add ‘to play’ to the translation: (84) a. bɔ-ba-ta bɔ́ ɔl 1P-FUT-V ball ‘We shall play ball.’ (Children_Story.059) b. ba-dzɛ̃núvɔɛ ba-á-ta hítahíta híprom, CM5-girl AM-PROG-V NAME ‘Girls play (the game called) “hitahita hiprom.” ’ (Children_Story.270) c. ba-á-ta ampe tsyɛ́ 3PL-PROG-V ampe also ‘They play ampe.’ (Children_Stories.271) All the games described in the examples involve throwing out either an object or the limbs of the people predicated of the verb. Thus, although ta ball could mean literally ‘throw a ball’, its default interpretation is kicking the ball. i.e., playing the ball with the feet. Ampe is a game played by children (mostly girls) all over Ghana. Two players jump in the air while simultaneously clapping and moving one foot out. Below is a description of ampe: There is a leader and another player who jump at the same time, clap their hands, and put one foot forward before landing. If the leader and the other player have the same foot forward, the leader wins the point. If they put different feet forward then the other player becomes the leader and plays against the remaining players. If the girls are in a circle, the leader moves along the inside of the circle and takes turns playing against the other girls. If they are in a line the leader will simply move down the line, and if there are only two girls playing they will keep score until they reach a certain number of points to determine a winner. https://internationalneeds.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/what‑is‑ampe/

Obligatory complement verbs also include those that take cognate objects. One such verb in Tutrugbu is ɖɔ ‘say’. Đɔ takes a cognate complement to express the activity of speaking, as illustrated by the sentence below: (85) ɔmɔ gɛ nɔkɔ́ bɔɔ́ ɖi aɖɔ gagãlĩ ɔ́ -mɔ gɛ nɔ-kɔ́ bɔ-ɔ́ -ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ gagãlĩ 2SG-see REL 2PL-give 1PL-PROG-speak CM4-say hard ‘You see that you are making us speak loudly.’ (Kume.182) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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In this example, ɖɔ takes the morphological cognate kaɖɔ, which takes a kaclass prefix. As discussed in Chapter 2, vowels before /k/ often get elided while an epenthetic /i/ is inserted. In the place of the cognate complement, ɖɔ can occur with other kinds of complements. Some are provided below: (86) a. kana blɔ akaalɛ́ aɖɔ sɛ blɔ klɛ evu if ú, kana blɔ a-ka-alɛ́ a-ɖɔ sɛ blɔ klɛ e-vũ thus 1PL:IND CM1-father-PL AM-say that 1PL:IND here AM-catch ki-f ú CM3-fire ‘Thus says our fathers, that our place here is on fire.’ (Funeral_QML. 188) b. bɔɖɔ íbúíɛ tɛ babakɔ ɔlɔ ésíákpá bɔ́ -ɖɔ ki-búí=ɛ́ tɛ ba-ba-kɔ́ ɔ́ lɔ́ ke-siakpá 1PL-say CM3-matter=DEF COMP 3PL-FUT-give 1PL CM4-ground ‘Let’s discuss the issue and they will give us land.’ (Kume.065) c. kɛ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ nɔ́ ɖɔ pɛ kɛbapɛ̃ kɔ blɔ́ pétéé kɛ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ nɔ́ -ɖɔ pɛ kɛ-ba-pɛ̃ kɔ́ CL3 EXIST.INDEF REL 2PL-say then CL3-FUT-be_good give blɔ pétéé 1PL:IND all ‘Whatever you say that will be good for us all.’ (Kume.008–009) In (86a), ɖɔ is followed by a clausal complement. The chief’s spokesperson likens the death of an important person in the comunity to a fire outbreak. The complement clause therefore reports what the elders or ancestors have said. In (86b), ɖɔ takes as complement kibui ‘matter’, ‘issue’, or ‘palaver’, another common word with which it collocates. To discuss an issue is to say the word, as it were. In (86c) ɖɔ occurs in a relative clause. Some obligatory complement verbs take a generic complement. In Tutrugbu the generic complement is bɔdɔ̃ ‘things’. Consider the following sentences: (87) a. err anɔ́ dzyrámeɛ bɔkpasɛ y’akpasɛ bɔdɔ̃ err a-nɔ́ dzyráme=ɛ bɔ-kpasɛ yɛ a-kpasɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ um CM1-human=DEF CM8-learn 3SG:IND AM-study CM8-thing ‘The human being, what he does is to learn.’ (Sroe.196)

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b. So blɔ tsyɛ́ bɔ́ d’ al’ ishí, bɔɔ́ ŋa dɔ̃ nɛ bal’ ishí so blɔ tsyɛ́ bɔ-dě balɛ ki-shi bɔ-ɔ́ -ŋa so 1PL also 1PL-come_from 3PL:IND CM3-between 1PL-PROG-eat bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ balɛ ki-shi CM8-thing PREP 3PL:IND CM3-between ‘Therefore we too we are part of them, we inherit things among them.’ (Kume.053–054) In (87a), kpasɛ ‘to learn’ or ‘to study’ is followed by bɔdɔ̃ . This is the only way one can express generic learning activity in Tutrugbu. In other words, kpasɛ cannot occur intransitively the way ‘study’ can in English. The translation equivalent of kpasɛ in Ewe and Akan also require a generic complement, that is, srɔ̃ ́ nú and sua adéɛ́ respectively. The difference between these languages and Tutrugbu is that the obligatory complement is singular in Ewe and Akan but plural in Tutrugbu. The expression ŋa bɔdɔ̃ in (87b) literally means ‘eat things’, and also describes the simple activity of eating. More verbs that require an obligatory generic complement in are: (88) a. b. c. d.

plu bɔdɔ̃ ‘wash’ tɔ bɔdɔ̃ ‘cook’ kala bɔdɔ̃ ‘read’ ŋlɔmɛ bɔdɔ̃ ‘write’

5.3.3 Three-Place verbs Some verbs take two complements with the Benefactive or Goal argument preceding the Theme argument. The most common ones are kɔ́ ‘give’ and kasɛ ‘teach’ (89) a. a-kɔ́ mɛ sikã ́ 3SG-give 1SG money ‘He/she gave me money.’ b. a-dzɛ̃=ɛ a-ba-kasɛ a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ Tutrugbu CM1-woman=DEF AM-FUT-teach CM1-man=DEF NAME ‘The woman will teach the man Tutrugbu.’ Kɔ́ and a few other verbs take specific complements in three-place argument structure that yield abstract interpretation:

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(90) a. mahoganiɛ́ enu busí gɛ Máwú ákɔ́ ɔ́ lɛ yayrá mahogani=ɛ́ e-nú bu-sí gɛ Máwú a-kɔ́ ɔlɛ́ mahogany=DEF AM-be CM8-tree REL God AM-give CL8:OBJ yayrá blessing ‘Mahogany is a tree that God has blessed.’ (Odumase_Herbs.040) b. i-hú Máwú a-hɔɛ 1SG-hit God CM7-hand ‘I thank God.’ (Odumase_Herbs.036) Yayrá and ahɔɛ are specific complements that combine with kɔ́ to yield ‘bless’ and ‘thank’ respectively. The benefactive or goal argument occurs in the primary object position.

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chapter 6

Adpositional Phrases and Locative Constructions 6.0

Introduction

This chapter is a bridge between the preceding chapters and the following one in that it tackles a particular clausal construction within which are phrasal elements. The phrasal elements are similar to the ones discussed in the two preceding chapters while the basic locative construction (BLC) is similar to the constructions that I discuss in the next chapter. I situate Tutrugbu in the typology of locative predication (cf. Levinson 2003; Levinson and Wilkins 2006; Ameka and Levinson 2007).

6.1

The Basic Locative Construction (BLC)

The components of a spatial description are the Figure (i.e. the entity that is located), the Ground (i.e. the entity with respect to which the Figure is located) (cf. Talmy 1985, 2000), the Search Domain (i.e. the space anchored to the Ground where the Figure is located), and the (spatial topological) Relation between the Figure and the Ground (Ameka 1995, Levinson 1992). Levinson (1992: 29) writes: In English relative location information is almost entirely packaged in the prepositional phrase with a vacuous locative verb be fulfilling the need for a (tense-bearing) predicate. But many languages have a set of contrasting locative verbs. Thus whereas in English we indiscriminately use locative be in The book/cup is on the table or The key is in the lock, or The picture is on the wall, in German we must say Das Buch liegt auf dem Tisch, Die Tasse steht auf dem Tisch, Das Bild hängt an der Wand and Der Schlüssel steckt in dem Schloss, the distinctions encoding geometric properties of the Figure (whether the object is flat or has a canonical base etc.) or the Ground (whether it is a container, a vertical surface, etc.) or of the relation between them. Some languages carry such distinctions to the extreme: thus Tzeltal forces a choice between over one hundred commonly used locative predicates, each of which encodes especially properties of the Figure object (shape, disposition, angle etc.) or occasionally of the Ground or the relation between Figure and Ground. This then takes

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_007

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the burden of locative description off the adpositional phrase—in Tzeltal there is a vacuous preposition corresponding to the English vacuous locative verb. It should be stressed here that the basic locative function represents a neutral answer to a where-question. Thus while English speakers do say “it is standing in front of the church” when asked “where is the tree?”, this answer is a marked one. The neutral answer is “it is in front of the church”, involving what Levinson refers to as a vacuous locative verb. Ameka and Levinson (2007: 863–864) provide the typology of the verbal component of the BLC below, which is a modification of one by Levinson and Wilkins (2006): Type 0:

No verb in basic locative construction (Saliba, Austronesian, Papua New Guinea) Type I: Single locative verb (or suppletion under grammatical conditioning) Type 1a: copula (i.e. dummy verb used in many other constructions; English, Tamil, Chukchi, Tiriyó) Type 1b: locative (+Existential) verb (Japanese, Ewe, Yukatek, …) Type II: A small contrastive set of locative verbs (3–7 verbs) Type IIa: Postural verbs (Arrente, Dutch, Goemai) Type IIb: Ground space indicating verbs (Tidore) Type III: Multiverb Positional verbs (a large set of dispositional verbs, 9–100) (Tzeltal, Zapotek, Laz, Likpe) Tutrugbu belongs to Type IIb because, as will be shown here, it uses just a few verbs which express Figure-Ground relation in the BLC. The BLC in the language comprises a noun phrase which expresses the Figure, a verb which expresses the Relation, a postpositional phrase comprising a noun phrase which expresses the Ground and a postposition which expresses the Search Domain. It is ordered as follows: NP [Figure] V [Relation] NP [Ground] Postposition [Search Domain]

6.2

The Verbs

There are six verbs which occur in the Verb slot of the BLC. They are provided in the table below:

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adpositional phrases and locative constructions table 26

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BLC verbs in Tutrugbu

Number

Verb

Gloss

1 2 3 4 5 6

kpasɛ tsiɖi kana sɔmɛ́ dzi lɛ

‘be contained’ ‘be supported’ ‘surround’ ‘be suspended in air’ ‘be located on base’ ‘be at’

6.2.1 Kpasɛ Kpasɛ describes situations in which a figure is in containment relation to a ground. A picture of a fruit in a bowl is described with the sentence below: (1) a-kutú nɔ́ á-kpasɛ a-gbɛ nɔ́ mɛ CM1-orange DEF AM-be.contained CM1-bowl DEF inside ‘The orange is inside the bowl.’ (Essegbey 2010, ex. 10) Similarly, pictures of a bottle in a basket elicited (2): (2) tumpá nɔ́ á-kpasɛ kɛ-shwɛ nɔ́ mɛ bottle DEF AM-be.contained CM3-basket DEF inside ‘The bottle is inside the basket.’ (Essegbey 2010, ex. 12) This sentence is particularly illuminating because it was used to describe pictures with the bottle in different postures.1 There was one in which the bottle was in an upright position, one in which it is lying in the basket and one in which it is turned upside down in the basket. The use of the same verb for the three different pictures shows that posture is irrelevant to the meaning of kpasɛ. What is important is that the Figure is contained. The next two sentences show that mass and non-concrete entities can occur as subject of kpasɛ if they are contained:

1 The pictures are from The Picture Series for Positional Verbs (PSPV) designed by Ameka et al. (1999).

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(3) a. e-gi-ti sɛ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ tsyɛ́ kpasɛ o-kotokú nɔ́ 3SG-NEG:PST that CM8-ash also be_contained CM2-sack DEF mɛ inside ‘He did not know that there was ash in the sack.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34) b. y’enú sɛ ɔmɔpɔɛ nɔ́ kɔkpasɛ y’ ishú mɛ kokoko yɛ e-nú sɛ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ nɔ́ kɔ-kpasɛ yɛ 3SG:IND AM-be that CM2-anger DEF still-be_contained 3SG:IND ki-shú mɛ by_all_means CM3-body inside kokoko ‘It’s that he was still angry (lit. anger was still inside him)’ (Focus1-July20-2007.246) In (3a), the mass entity bɔtɔ̃ ́ ‘ash’ is contained in a sack, while in (3b), the nonconcrete entity anger is conceptualized as being contained inside a human being. Animate entities in containers, such as a dog sitting in a bowl, an owl in a hole inside a tree, and a rabbit in a cage are all described with kpasɛ. In all the examples given so far, the Figure is contained inside the container. Thus, the Search Domain is expressed by mɛ ‘inside’, which is discussed in section 6.3.2.3. In the example below, the Figure is rather located between entities, instead of inside them: (4) bakpasɛ Banyá besheshe ní shí ba-kpasɛ Banyá be-sheshe nɔ́ ki-shí 3PL-be_contained Nyangbo_Sroe CM5-old_person DEF CM3-between ‘And they are among the Nyangbo Sroe elders.’ (Sroe.104) While there is complete agreement with the use of kpasɛ to describe things located inside a container or in between entities, there is a lack of consensus on its use to describe things that are located under an object. When describing objects in places such as under a table or a napkin some people use kpasɛ while reject it completely when it is proposed to them. Kpasɛ most often occurs with the Search Domain. However, when it describes an adornment on the body, then the Search Domain is not expressed. Consider the example below: (5) tógɛ nɔ́ a-kpasɛ yɛ a-tɔ̃ ́ earring DEF AM-be.contained 3SG:IND CM1-ear ‘The earring is in her ear.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 14) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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It has been established that constructions that contain information about the reference object but say nothing about the Search Domain express stereotypical relations (cf. Levinson and Wilkins 2006; Essegbey 2005, 2010). Thus, example (5) only describes the situation where the person is wearing the earring, not one in which the ring is in one way or the other stuck inside the ear. Another instance in which the Search Domain is not mentioned at all is the following from spontaneous discourse during the demonstration of how to tap palm wine: (6) ɛ̃ɛ̃ yálɛ a-kpasɛ ke-litú=ɔ́ yes this.one AM-be_contained CM4-tapping_hole=DEF ‘Yes this thing is inside the mouth of the tapping hole.’ (Essegbey 2010, ex. 18) The speaker said this sentence while pointing to some residue that prevents the wine from passing through the tapping hole (kelitú) in order to enter a container. He therefore had to use his tapping knife to clear the mouth of the hole for the free flow of the wine. It is worth noting that when the speaker mentioned the reference object, which is kelitú, he did not mention the postposition mɛ ‘inside’. It is fair to say that when it comes to a hole, the stereotypical containment will be the inside of the hole, hence the possibility for the speaker to leave out the search domain denoting element. In this sense, the reason for the omission of the postposition in sentence (6) is not very different from that in (5). I have suggested in Essegbey (2010) that this is most likely the way that Tutrugbu speakers described the location of objects in the past. In other words, because the verbs encoded relation information such as containment, speakers did not need postpositions to express the space anchored to the Ground where the entity can be found (i.e. the Search Domain). In sum, kpasɛ describes prototypical Figure-Ground configurations in which the Figure is contained inside, in the middle of, or, for some people, under the Ground. In Essegbey (2010) I note that scenarios outside of prototype containment that speakers disagree about whether to describe with kpasɛ are an indication of a change in progress. This is because where there is a disagreement, the alternative verb that speakers choose is lɛ which is the locative verb that Ewe uses in its BLC. One particularly telling illustration involves the description of a cigarette stuck between the lips of a man with curling smoke to show that the man is smoking. Although three speakers describe the scenario with kpasɛ and the postposition mɛ, when the third speaker was asked to show how one would distinguish between this scenario and one

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in which the cigarette is wholly located inside the mouth of the man, he stated that kpasɛ was not a good choice after all and offered the sentence below: (7) a-lɛ yɛ o-lugbǔ 3SG-be.at 3SGOBJ CM2-mouth ‘It is at his mouth.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 15) Not only does the verb change in this example but the postposition is also dropped. The next sentence shows that Ewe adopts a similar strategy: (8) sigaréti=á le nu nɛ̂ Ewe cigarette=DEF be.at mouth give:3SG ‘(The butt of the) the cigarette is in his mouth.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 16b) The fact that speakers hesitate between the choice of kpasɛ and lɛ, which occurs in the dominant regional language, suggests some lack of stability in the semantics of kpasɛ. 6.2.2 Tsiɖi Tsiɖi expresses support relation between the Figure and the Ground. In prototypical situations, the Figure is on the horizontal upper surface of the Ground. An example is a containter on a table, which is described below: (9) biskwit container ɛ́ yɛ tsyɛ́ tsiɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’abha biskwit container ɛ́ yɛ tsyɛ́ tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ biscuit c. DEF 3SG:IND also be_supported CM2-table DEF ka-bha CM4-top ‘The biscuit container was also on the table.’ (Focus2.056) The orientation of the figure does not affect the choice of tsiɖi as long as there is a support relation. This is illustrated by the next two examples: (10) a. anyɛ́ nɔ́ tsiɖi bɔpã ́ n’ábhā a-nyɛ́ nɔ́ tsiɖi bɔ-pã ́ nɔ́ ka-bhā CM1-man DEF be_supported CM8-house DEF CM4-top ‘The man is on the roof.’

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b. anyɛ́nuvɔ́ ɛ nɔ́ g’etsiɖi asha n’abha ko klɛ atɛ́ɛ akpɛ́ nɛ́ kizĩɛ mɛ a-nyɛ́nuvɔ́ ɛ nɔ́ gɛ e-tsiɖi a-sha nɔ́ ka-bha CM1-boy DEF REL 3SG-be_supported CM7-horn DEF CM4-top ko klɛ a-tá-í a-kpɛ́ nɛ́ ki-zĩ=ɛ just then 3SG-throw-3SG:OBJ SCONN-put PREP CM3-hole=DEF mɛ inside ‘The boy who was on the horns, and then it threw him into the valley.’ (Frog_Story_PB.164) Sentence (10) is the description of a picture of man standing on the roof of a building in the TRPS booklet while (10b) is that of a boy being carried spreadeagle on the horns of an animal in Frog where are you? The orientation of the Figure is therefore different in the two scenarios. Tsiɖi is not used to describe objects that are on the floor. This is shown by (11) below: (11) tumpa ‘álɛ́ síákpá tumpá nɔ́ a-lɛ́ ke-siakpá bottle DEF AM- be_at CM4-ground ‘The bottle is on the ground.’ Ameka (2007) has noted that the same restriction applies to the equivalent verb in Likpe, which is təkə, suggesting that speakers of these languages do not conceive of the floor to be a supporter. Example (12) shows that the farm is different from the floor: (12) kɛlɛ obotẽ besí gbagbla gɛ tsiɖi bɔyá n’ábha kɛlɛ o-bo-tẽ ́ be-sí gbagbla gɛ tsiɖi bɔ-yá then 2SG-FUT-cut CM5-tree big REL be_supported CM8-farm nɔ́ ka-bha DEF CM4-top ‘Then you cut big trees that are on the farm.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 20) Another requirement for the use of tsiɖi is that the Figure needs to be in contact with the Ground. Thus a lamp that is hanging on a ceiling, above a table cannot be described with tsiɖi. The functional parts of featured objects are conceived as the supporters and spatial configurations involving them are described with tsiɖi. For example the surface of a blackboard and the screen of a TV, though not horizontal surfaces are described as kabha when one is referring to writing and viewing images on them respectively, and the verb used in that case is tsiɖi. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Tsiɖi is also used for non-concrete entities. This includes its use in metaphorical expressions. For example, to be located on a certain activity means to be engaged in that activity. Thus, in describing the construction of a cemetery, a Kume speaker says the following: (13) so alɛ́ n’abha bɔkatsiɖí so a-lɛ́ nɔ́ ka-bha bɔ-ka-tsiɖí So CL7-that DEF CM4-top 1PL-still-be_supported ‘So that is what we are still working on.’ (Kume.062) In sum, tsiɖi refers to the horizontal support relation between a Figure and the upper surface of a Ground or, where the latter is a featured object, then tsiɖi describes the appearance of an entity on its featured surface. It was mentioned in section 6.2.1 that where a relation expressed with kpasɛ is stereotypical, Search Domain information is not expressed. One intriguing thing about tsiɖi is that it almost always requires the postposition kabha. One of the rare instances where the postposition was left out is in a narration of the Frog Story which I give below: (14) gakí yɛ kɛtsrɛ ɔkɔ́ lɔ́wɛ̃, betsiɖi agã hohoe ɛ gaké yɛ kɛ-tsrɛ ɔ-kɔ́ lɔ-wɛ̃ be-tsiɖi a-gã but 3SG:IND CM3-leg CM2-place CL2-show 3PL-be_on CM1-animal hohoe big ‘But his foot could be seen, they were on the big animal.’ (Frog_Story_ PW.138–139) The background of this story is that the boy is being carried on the horns of an animal. Yet, although the narrator had mentioned earlier that the animal has horns, he did not indicate that the boy was carried on the horns. Being carried on the horns is certainly not a stereotypical way of carrying. This is further support that there may have been a time when speakers simply used these two relational verbs without adding postpositions (see Essegbey 2010 for the argumentation). 6.2.3 Kana When the Figure surrounds the Ground, kana is used to describe the Relation. For instance, the picture of fence surrounding a house is described with the sentence below:

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(15) bɔ-kã ́ nɔ́ kana bɔ-pá=a (ki-shú) CM8-fence DEF surround CM8-house=DEF CM3-skin ‘The fence surrounds the house.’ Some speakers use the postposition with kana while others do not. However, even those who use it say that it is not obligatory. Explanations that such people give for its use suggest that they are influenced by Ewe where the equivalent postposition is sometimes used with the equivalent of the surround verb. 6.2.4 Sɔmɛ Sɔmɛ́ describes what Ameka (2007:1091) refers to as “[the attachment of a Figure by] a point suspension where the Figure is not supported on any other side”. For example, a coat on a hook and clothes drying on a line are described with sentences (16a and 16b) respectively: (16) a. a-wu a-sɔmɛ́ “nail”= ɛ ki-shú CM1-garment AM-suspend nail=DEF CM3-skin ‘A garment is hanging on the nail.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 21b) b. a-wu a-sɔmɛ́ kɛ-lɛ́ nɔ́ kɛ-mɛ CM1-garment AM-suspend CM3-sky DEF CM3-inside ‘A garment is hanging in the sky.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 21b) Lamps which are suspended on the ceiling are also described with sɔmɛ́. By contrast, a picture which, in addition to being suspended on a nail, is supported by a wall cannot be described with the verb. This supports Ameka’s definition above that it involves a one-point suspension. 6.2.5 Dzi Unlike the preceding verbs which express a relation, dzi appears to encode posture. It refers to a Figure located on its base. For humans, this involves being seated while for trees, it refers to one in an upright position. This is illustrated by the examples below: (17) a. a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ e-dzǐ ki-f ú=ɔ́ ɔ-bha CM1-boy DEF AM-be_on_base CM3-fire=DEF CM2-side ‘The boy is at the side of the fire.’

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b. o-sí=ɔ́ o-dzǐ sɔlɛmɛ nɔ́ o-tugbǎ CM2-tree=DEF AM-be_on_base church DEF CM2-front ‘The tree is (standing) in front of the church.’ The boy in the picture which elicited sentence (17a) was seated (TRPS 38) while the tree in the picture that elicited (17b) was firmly rooted in front of the church. Dzi is different from specific posture verbs that express postures like da ‘be in a lying posture’ and te ‘be in a seated posture’, both in Akan, and zitten ‘to sit’ in Dutch. 6.2.6 Lɛ The final verb lɛ is a general locative verb. It expresses what Ameka (2007: 1085) calls the “topological relation of coincidence”. Where there is the least doubt as to whether a relation is one of containment (and hence would attract kpasɛ) or one of support (and hence would attract tsiɖi), or the other verbs described in the preceding sections, lɛ is used instead. For instance, in describing a hole in a towel, speakers would say the sentence below: (18) o-zĩ ɔ-lɛ ka-vlɔ́ nɔ́ mɛ CM2-hole AM-be_at CM4-towel DEF inside ‘There is a hole in the towel.’ Other tricky relations which are described with lɛ include those in which the Figure is glued unto the Ground, such as a poster on a wall or a stamp on an envelope, a crack in a cup, butter on a knife and raindrops on a glass pane.

6.3

Postpositions

In the preceding sections, I referred to the complements of the relational verbs in the BLC as postpositional phrases. This section takes a detailed look at postpositions, beginning with why they are called thus in Kwa languages. Westermann (1930) is among the first Kwa linguists to propose that elements used to describe spatial regions in Ewe could be called postpositions. He writes: “[these] substantives of place may be called postpositions because they always follow a substantive or pronoun.” Calling them postpositions has proved to be controversial, as Ameka (2003a) points out in the quote below: Functional typological linguists, worried about correlations between head and complement uniformities in a language, find it hard to accept

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that a verb-medial language, for example, can have adpositions […] By contrast, some generative grammarians assume that a member of the category P should have a case-assigning function and, since, typically, it is only members of one of the adposition classes in the languages that have a case-assigning function [i.e. the preposition], the other class is not accepted as an adpositional class. Postpositions in Tutrugbu also follow “substantive[s] or pronoun[s]” (to borrow Westermann’s expression). Furthermore, like their counterpart in other Kwa languages, they can head phrases that occur as direct arguments. This is illustrated by the two examples below: (19) a. eɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’abha e-ɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha 3SG-look CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘He looked on the table.’ b. ɔkplɔ̃ n’abha tutúrú ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha tutúrú CM2-table DEF CM4-top become_dirty ‘The top of the table is dirty.’ Đi ‘look (at)’ in (19a) is a transitive verb that takes two direct arguments. As such, its complement is not introduced by any preposition. In (19b) the postpositional phrase is the subject of an intransitive verb. The next example shows that postpositional phrases cannot occur in adjunct position unless they are introduced by a preposition: (20) a-dzɛ̃ nɔ́ a-á-kɔlɛ *(nɛ́) bu-vũ=ɔ mɛ CM1-woman DEF AM-PROG-cough PREP CM8-room=DEF inside ‘The woman is coughing in the room.’ Kɔlɛ ‘to cough’ is an intransitive verb. As such, it cannot take an internal (locative) argument. The phrase buvũɔ mɛ is, therefore, not able to occur after this verb without the preposition nɛ́. Postpositions in Tutrugbu therefore belong to the type that are not able to assign case. The use of the term ‘postposition’ to describe these forms is first to conform with the practice used for the Kwa language family but, more importantly, to capture a commonality which is that (most) members of the class derive from body-part nouns that have undergone (various degrees of) grammaticalization.

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Thus, as argued by Ameka (1995: 146) for Ewe, one could also say that the ones in Tutrugbu constitute a closed class of grammatical items. 6.3.1 Morphology In all, there are fourteen postpositions in Tutrugbu. One could describe the morphology of the forms from two perspectives. The first involves looking at the ones that have a class prefix and the ones that do not. From this perspective, the postpositions would be grouped into two classes with bamɛ as the only one that does not have a class marker. This is because ba-, although a class marker, expresses count as well as plurality. This suggests that the ba- in Table 27b below is not a class marker. The second perspective separates the postpositions based on the ones that consist of simple root forms (with their class markers) and complex ones that, on the surface, appear to comprise more than one root. Bamɛ and adamɛ in Table 27b are intriguing because they appear to be morphologically complex. That is because they appear on the surface to be composed of different morphemes with one being mɛ ‘inside’. Ameka (1995) refers to similar words in Ewe (e.g. ŋku-me ‘eye-in’, abɔ-ta ‘arm-upper end’, etc.) as lexical compounds. The difference between the Ewe words and the ones in Tutrugbu is that while ŋku and abɔ are body-part nouns themselves, neither ba nor ada is a body-part or spatial noun in Tutrugbu.2 Bamɛ does not have an overt class marker. I have already explained that ba- cannot be a class marker because nouns in that class express plural entities. As shown in Table 27b and, as discussed in the section below, the source word bamɛ ‘face’ does not have a class marker either. Given this reason, we cannot give the absence of an overt class marker as evidence of grammaticalization for bamɛ. Adamɛ, on the other hand, has a class marker. In the next subsection I discuss the syntax and semantics of the nouns. It can be observed that seven of the nouns are derived from body-part nouns while three are derived from landscape terms. This is a property that is common to postpositions in Kwa languages (Aboh 2004a; Ameka 1995, 2003a etc). It explains why Westermann (1930) refers to them as “substantives of place” (emphasis mine), and several linguists working on these languages call them N-adpositions (cf Ameka 1995 and references cited there). One hallmark of grammaticalization is the reduction of form. Viewed from the perspective of their synchronic form and putative source, we could say that kesí ‘down, under’

2 Adá means ‘sister’ in Tutrugbu but this cannot be the source of the word.

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adpositional phrases and locative constructions table 27a Most grammaticalized postpositions

Postposition Gloss ke-si olũ

Putative source Gloss

‘under’ kesiakpá ‘entrance, tip’ olṹgbũ

‘ground’ ‘mouth’

table 27b Less grammaticalized postpositions

Postposition Gloss

Putative source Gloss

adamɛ bamɛ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ ka-bha ke-dě kɛ-mɛ ki-be ki-shí (k)i-shú ɔ-bha ɔ-kɔ́ a-hɔɛ

adamɛ bamɛ batɔ̃ piabha kedeshí ? ? ? (k)ishúa ? ɔkɔ́ ɔ-hɔɛ

‘top’ ‘front’ ‘edge’ ‘top’ ‘behind’ ‘containing region of’ ‘in the region/direction of’ ‘between’ ‘outer surface’ ‘beside, adjacent to’ ‘place’ ‘abstract space for possession’

‘crown of head’ ‘face’ ‘ear(s)’ ‘east’ ‘back’

‘body’ ‘place’ ‘hand’

a Unlike kishí which sometimes occurs with k, I have not yet heard of (k)ishú being produced with the k.

and olũ ‘tip, entrance’ in Table 27a are the most grammaticalized in Tutrugbu. It should be kept in mind though that we are not able to establish the source of four words. It is therefore not possible to determine whether those have also been reduced in form or not. The putative source for ‘behind’ also appears to be a combination of the words for ‘behind’ and ‘between’ (i.e., kedě and (ki)shí respectively). 6.3.2 Syntax and Semantics Ameka (1995) shows that body part nouns in Ewe have a different syntax when they are used to mark spatial region. His examples (8 and 9) are provided below as (21 and 22):

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(21) a. Áma tútú Kof í fé ŋkúme. Ama wipe Kofi POSS face ‘Ama wiped Kofi’s face.’ b. Áma tútú ŋkúme ná Kof í. Ama wipe face to Kofi ‘Ama wiped the face for Kofi.’ (22) a. Áma tútu kplɔ̃ =a dzí. Ama wipe table=DEF top ‘Ama wiped the table top.’ b. *Áma tútú dzi ná kplɔ̃ =a. Ama wipe top to table=DEF lit: ‘Ama wiped the top for the table.’ The possessive phrase with the noun ŋkume in (21a) is distinguished from the postpositional counterpart by the presence of the possessive marker ƒ e in the former. Sentence (22a) shows that possessed nouns undergo possessor raising while (22b) shows that postpositions do not. There is therefore a clear difference in Ewe between the syntax of body-part items that are real nouns and that of postpositions. A similar difference exists between nouns and postpositions in Tutrugbu also. In regular possessive constructions, the possessor and possessed are linked with the possessive morpheme. The exact form depends on the class to which the noun belongs. As was shown in chapter 5, the independent form of the pronoun of class nouns also functions as the possessive marker. Let us establish this by looking at possessive constructions involving putative sources that are nouns: (23) a. anuvɔ y’adamɛ tuturú f ánɔ a-nuvɔ yɛ a-damɛ tuturú f ánɔ CM1-child 3SG:IND CM1-crown_of_head become_dirty too_much ‘The top of a child’s head gets dirty too much.’ b. anuvɔ y’amɛ tuturú f ánɔ a-nuvɔ yɛ bamɛ tuturú f ánɔ CM1-child 3SG:IND face become_dirty too_much ‘A child’s face gets dirty too much.’

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c. anuvɔ y’atɔ̃ ayɛk’ ɛpɔ̃ a-nuvɔ yɛ ba-tɔ̃ a-yɛkɛ kɛ-pɔ̃ CM1-child 3SG:IND CM5-ear AM-receive CM3-wound ‘A child’s ear gets wounded.’ (lit. receives wound) d. anuvɔ y’edeshi kayɛk’ ɛpɔ̃ f ánɔ a-nuvɔ yɛ ke-deshi ka-yɛkɛ kɛ-pɔ̃ f ánɔ CM1-child 3SG:IND CM4-back AM-receive CM3-wound too_much ‘A child’s back gets wounded (lit. receives wound) too much.’ e. m’aka yɛ kesiakpa ketiri mɛ a-ka yɛ ke-siakpa ke-tiri 1SG:IND CM1-father 3SG:IND CM4-ground AM-become_big ‘My father’s land is big.’ f. anuvɔ y’ ishu yɛk’ɛ́pɔ̃ f ánɔ a-nuvɔ yɛ ki-shú yɛkɛ kɛ-pɔ̃ f ánɔ CM1-child 3SG:IND CM3-body receive CM3-wound too_much ‘A child’s body gets wounded (lit. receives wound) too much.’ g. anuvɔ y’olugbu-ɔ dza a-nuvɔ yɛ o-lũgbu=ɔ dzã CM1-child 3SG:IND CM2-mouth=DEF become_red ‘A child’s mouth is red.’ h. ɔma ɔlɛ piabha otiri ɔ-ma ɔlɛ piabha o-tiri CM2-country CL2:IND east AM-become_big ‘The country’s east is big.’ Examples (23a–23g) take yɛ in the possessive construction because the possessor is either anuvɔ ‘child’ or aka ‘father’ both of which belong to the a1-class. In (23h) where the noun belongs to the ɔ-class, the marker of possession is expressed with the independent pronoun ɔlɛ. The discussion in the subsequent sections show that postpositions do not require overt expression of possession. 6.3.2.1 Kabha Table 27 shows that the putative source for kabha is piabha ‘east’. This raises the question how could the word for ‘east’ be the source for upper surface. The

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answer comes from the fact that the mountain ranges from which the Ghana Togo Mountain languages derive their name lie to the east of the Nyangbo people. Kabha refers to the upper surface of entities with which it occurs although, for the sake of convenience, it is glossed ‘top’. Kabha occurs with the noun that expresses Ground information without the possessive marker. This is shown by examples (24a and 24b) below: (24) a. ɔkplɔ̃ n’abha o-tutúru f ánɔ ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha lo-tutúru f ánɔ CM2-table DEF CM4-top AM-become_dirty too_much ‘The top of the table is too dirty.’ b. Lɔkɔ tɔɖɔ ɔkplɔ̃ n’ábha lɔkɔ tɔɖɔ ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha Take put CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘Put it on the table.’ Sentence (24a) extends the high point that kabha represents to objects such as tables. One curious thing we discovered is that speakers prefer to have the definite determiner with the reference objects with which these postpositions occur. All the postpositional phrases therefore involve the determiner. In terms of its meaning, the next sentence shows that the gloss ‘top’ is not meant to suggest the topmost part of an entity. (25) bagi n’alɛ taxi n’abha bagi nɔ́ á-lɛ taxi nɔ́ ka-bha bag DEF AM-be_at taxi DEF CM4-top ‘The bag is on the taxi.’ Sentence (25) can be used to describe situations in which the bag is located either on the bonnet or the boot/trunk of the taxi. This suggests that the nature of the reference object involved in the situation being described is crucial to identifying what constitutes the top. The next two sentences show an important property of kabha that I alluded to when I discussed tsiɖi in Section 6.2.2, which is that the upper surface of featured objects delimited by kabha is the functional surface or, in other words, the part with which one interacts. Thus, the surface of the blackboard on which one writes and the screen of the TV are the “upper surfaces” of the blackboard and TV respectively:

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(26) a. a-ŋlɔmɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ blackboard n’ ábha a-ŋlɔ́ mɛ bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ blackboard nɔ́ ka-abha 3SG-write CM8-thing PREP backboard DEF CM4-top ‘S/he wrote on the blackboard.’ b. iíɖu dɔ̃ nɛ́ TV ‘n’abha i-í-ɖi bɔ-dɔ̃ nɛ́ TV nɔ ka-bha 1SG-PROG-look CM8-thing PREP TV DEF CM4-top ‘I am watching a movie on the TV.’ In all the examples considered thus far, kabha is realized in the pronunciation without the initial consonant. One might wonder then why it is always written with an initial k-. This is because, /k/ is present when the word is preposed, as shown in the example below: (27) ka-bha mɛ mɔ CM4-top 1SG:IND see ‘I saw the top.’ Here kabha simply functions as a nominal. 6.3.2.2 Kedě As I pointed out in section 6.3.1, the putative source of kedě appears to be a compound expression comprising the word for back which is kede and that for between which is (ki)shi. Considering that nouns expressing location usually come from body-part items rather than the other way round, I assume that this is what happened in Tutrugbu as well. Example (23d) shows that when kedeshi occurs in the possessive construction, it takes a possessive marker. Examples (28a and 28b) show that this restriction does not apply to kedě: (28) a. bɔpã ́ ní éde she f anɔ bɔ-pã ́ nɔ́ ke-dě she f anɔ CM8-house DEF CM4-back become_grown too_much ‘The back of houses is too weedy.’ b. baglɔ ede tútútú belí ba-glɔ ke-dě tútútú be-lí 3PL-RECIP CM4-back exactly AM-be_located ‘They are directly behind each other.’ (Men_&_Tree.516)

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Kedě is also used to express time, especially in the expression kivũ éde ‘the day after tomorrow’ (literally ‘tomorrow back’). This is part of a strategy in some Kwa languages such as Ga and Akan where the back of tomorrow is taken to be the day after tomorrow. Thus, Ga and Akan have wɔ sɛ and ɔkyena akyi respectively, which both literally mean ‘tomorrow back’. The interesting thing is that Tutrugbu adopts an Ewe strategy in which the same expression is used for the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday. In Ewe, that word is nyitsɔ while in Tutrugbu it is kivũ éde. 6.3.2.3 Kɛmɛ Kɛmɛ in Table 27b does not have a body-part noun as its source word. It is therefore not possible to compare its behavior to a nominal counterpart. What is clear, as the example below shows, is that it behaves like the postpositions discussed thus far in not being able to take the possessive marker: (29) kesugbá mɛ aápɔ m’oɖi ke-sugbá mɛ a-á-pɔ mɛ o-ɖi CM4-bowl inside AM-PROG-become_nice 1SG:IND CM2-look ‘I like looking inside bowls.’ Interestingly, the counterpart of kɛmɛ in Ewe is also mɛ (cf. Ameka 1995, 2003; Essegbey 1999; Ameka and Essegbey 2006). Like mɛ, kɛmɛ describes the inside of container-like entities from plates to bowls to rooms to farms. In sentence (2), which is repeated below as (30) for instance, kɛmɛ describes the inside of a basket: (30) tumpá nɔ́ a-kpasɛ kɛ-shwɛ nɔ́ mɛ bottle DEF AM-be.contained CM3-basket DEF inside ‘The bottle is in the basket.’ (Essegbey 2010: ex. 12) The next example shows that kɛmɛ is different from the preposition ‘in’ in English: (31) buzii pétéé pɛ starch alɛ pétéé pɛ ekóéyi ní mɛ bu-zi-i pétéé pɛ starch alɛ pétéé pɛ e-kóéyi 1PL-press-3SG:OBJ all then starch AM-this all then AM-exit nɛ́ yɛ mɛ PREP 3SG:IND inside ‘We press it and then all the starch comes out of it.’

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This sentence literally means the starch comes out of the inside of the container. Kɛmɛ also refers to non-concrete entities, as the next two sentences illustrate: (32) a. kliso err nɛ́ ekusi ni ampɛ mɛ … kliso err nɛ́ e-kusi nɔ́ ka-mpɛ kɛ-mɛ therefore um PREP CM1-chief DEF CM4-side CM3-inside ‘Therefore on the chief’s side …’ (Sroe.102) b. egbogbó gbagbla tátá lɛ mɛ e-gbogbó gbagba tatá a-lɛ kɛ-mɛ CM7-clan overflow three AM-this CM3-inside ‘Among these three clans’ (Esroe.093) The chief’s side and clan in (32a and 32b) respectively are conceptualized as having content. Kɛmɛ is also used to express time, with a strategy that is borrowed from Ewe. Thus, where Ewe speakers would say (33a) Tutrugbu speakers say (34b) ‘at two o’clock’. In this expression, ga is borrowed from Ewe and means metal as well as bell. (33) a. le ga eve mɛ PREP bell two Inside ‘at two o’clock’ b. nɛ́ ga tabha mɛ PREP bell two inside ‘at two o’clock’

Ewe

Tutrugbu

Some speakers replaced the Ewe word ga with eɖa ‘metal’ in order to get a “pure” Tutrugbu telling of time. In Essegbey (2010), I propose that kɛmɛ was borrowed from Ewe, as Trutrugbu adapted its locative construction to that of Ewe. Like mɛ in Ewe, the Tutrugbu counterpart also combines with other roots to derive new words. Some of the words involve locations such as kedzimɛ ‘market’ (cf. asime in Ewe), ayakpamɛ ‘forest’ (aveme), kɛdadamɛ ‘valley’ (agame). There are non-locative derivatives that are not based on Ewe. An example is atramɛ ‘third’. Like kabha, the full form of kɛmɛ with the prefix is only used when it occurs in sentence-initial position or when it is pronounced slowly. The former type is illustrated in (34) below: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(34) kɛ-mɛ mɛ mɔ CM3-inside 1SG:IND see ‘I saw inside.’ Kɛmɛ in this example is a nominal.3 6.3.2.4 Kesí The putative source for kesí ‘down’ in Table 27b is kesiakpá ‘land’. Sentences (35a and 35b) show the two forms: (35) a. i-dzi ke-siakpá 1SG-buy CM4-ground ‘I bought land.’ b. ɛzĩ esí ɛ-zã ke-sí 1SG-stay CM4-down ‘I sat down.’ Kesi functions like a postposition that yields an ‘under’ interpretation by virtue of expressing the down part of the ground object. The two examples show that when kesí functions as a postposition, it does not take overt possession: (36) a. kɛlɛ obobu kɛyɔ ní ésí kɛlɛ o-bo-bú kɛ-yɔ nɛ́ ke-sí then 2SG-FUT-remove CM3-small_pot PREP CM4-down ‘Then you will remove the tapping pot from underneath it.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.081) b. gakɛ kɛl’ idé mɛ babámɔ sɛ adzɛ̃ télí ádámɔ watchɛ nɛ́ bɔ-dɔ̃ ní esí gakɛ kɛlɛ ke-dě mɛ ba-bá-mɔ sɛ a-dzɛ̃ but CL3:IND CM-back inside 3PL-VEN-see that CM1-woman té-lí á-dá-mɔ watch=ɛ nɛ́ bɔ-dɔ̃ nɔ́ AM-SPECI AM-ITIVE-see watch=DEF PREP CM8-thing DEF ke-sí CM4-down ‘But later, they found out that a certain woman has found the watch under the thing.’ (Focus1.317) 3 In subsequent examples, kɛmɛ is written simply as mɛ since this is what speakers use.

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Ameka (1995: 151) observes that postpositions in Kwa languages either express a part of the figure or they “indicate regions anchored to parts of objects.” In (36a and 36b), kesí refers to the region that is under but is not part of, the pot and tree respectively. Like all postpositions, kesí refers to non-concrete entities as well. Thus, as happens in all Kwa languages, to understand is expressed literally as ‘to hear under’: (37) kibuiɛ bebísi wɔnɔ no lũ ɛlɛ́ sí ki-bui=ɛ be-bísi wɔnɔ no-lũ ɛlɛ́ ke-sí CM3-matter=DEF 3PL-ask 2PL:IND 2PL-hear CL3:OBJ CM4-down ‘The thing they will ask you all, you understand.’ Similarly, to begin is expressed as kpe kesí, which literally means to make contact with the bottom. 6.3.2.5 Kibé Kibé is another one of the postpositions whose putative source has not been established. It refers to the whole area surrounding and including the Ground. Like the other postpositions, it does not take yɛ when it occurs with the noun expressing the Ground information. This is illustrated below: (38) Oho ibé y’aavɛ Oho ki-bé yɛ a-á-vɛ NAME CM3-area 3SG:IND 3SG-PROG-go ‘He is going to the Ho area’. This sentence refers not only to the Ho town itself but any place in the vicinity, including the small satellite towns. 6.3.2.6 Kishí Kishí also does not have an established putative source. The postposition itself refers to the space within a multitude. Sentence (39) below shows that kishi does not take yɛ: (39) badzɛ̃ shi pɔ y’ɔzã ba-dzɛ̃ ki-shí kɛ-pɔ yɛ bɔ-zã CM5-woman CM3-midst AM-be-good 3SG:IND CM8-remain ‘He likes to stay among women.’

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The next two sentences are spontaneous sentences and have kishí occur with definite nouns. Yɛ is not used in either: (40) a. bakpasɛ bany’ ésheshe ní shí ba-kpasɛ Banyá be-sheshe nɔ́ ki-shi 3PL-be_contained Nyangbo_Sroe CM5-old_person DEF CM3-midst ‘They are among the elders of Sroe.’ (Sroe.104) b. kɛlɛ sɛ tɛ nyimɔ́ yɛ gũ ɔ lɔzã bawá ní shí kɛ-lɛ sɛ tɛ nyimɔ́ yɛ o-gũ=ɔ CL3-be_at that COMP shrub_name 3SG:IND CM2-root=TP lɔ-zã ba-wá nɔ́ ki-shí AM-remain CM5-medicine DEF CM3-between ‘The nyimɔ root has to be part of the medicine.’ (Odumase_Herbs.275) In sentence (40a) the speaker was talking about some elders who decide on who should be a chief among the Sroe people. He says these people are among Sroe elders (literally in the midst of Sroe elders). In (40b) the medicine man who was talking about herbal medicine said that the root of the nyimɔ tree is very important and should therefore be part of medicines (literally in the midst of medicines). When tɛbha is added to kishi, it means in the middle of or between (two entities), as the next example shows: (41) yoo err bunuvɔɛ tɔ́ bha alɛ, balɛ … osi tóli ódzii ɛklɛ ni shi tɛbha yoo err bu-nuvɔɛ tɔ́ -bha a-lɛ, ba-lɛ … o-si tó-li okay um CM8-child AM-two AM-be_at AM-be_at CM2-tree AM_SPECI ó-dzi ɛ-klɛ nɛ́ ki-shi tɛ-bha, AM-be_on_base CM6-there PREP CM3-midst AM-two ‘Ok, there are two children. They […] There is a tree in the middle.’ (Focus1.755–757) 6.3.2.7 (Ki)shú Like kɛmɛ which is mostly pronounced mɛ, kishu is also almost always pronounced shú. Kishu refers to the outer part of an object or the region that is very close to the Ground object. It derives from the same word which means ‘body’. This means that unlike the other words for which we have established putative sources, that of kishú is exactly the same as the postposition. It was shown in (23f) that when it is a noun that refers to the body, kishu occurs with the possessive marker. However, as shown below, the postposition does not:

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(42) a. f oto n’álɛ́ kigliɛ shú f oto nɔ́ a-lɛ ki-gli=ɛ ki-shú photo DEF AM-be_at CM3-wall=DEF CM3-outer_surface ‘The poster is on the wall.’ b. ekú ko ebú itéme awuɔ, genu kóoti-ɛ klɛ alɔkɔ lú, kegbuɔ shú e-kú ko e-bú ki-téme a-wu=ɔ gɛ 3SG-arrive just 3SG-remove CM3-chest CM1-garment=DEF REL e-nu kooti=ɛ klɛ a-lɔkɔ lú ke-gbu=ɔ AM-be coat=DEF then 3SG-take put_down CM4-chair=DEF ki-shú, CM3-outer_surface ‘When he arrived, he removed his topcoat. That is the coat and then he placed it on the back of the chair.’ (Focus1.345–346) c. babá bebedzi kplɔ̃ nɔ́ shú ba-bá be-be-dzi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ki--shú 3PL-come 3PL-VEN-be_on_base CM2-table DEF CM3-outer_surface ‘They came and sat by the table.’ (Focus1.051) In (42a), kishú follows kigliɛ ‘the wall’ without a possessive morpheme and, similarly in (42b and c) it follows kegbuɔ ‘the chair’ and ɔkplɔ̃ nɔ́ ‘the table’ respectively. The important thing for these words, just like the ones exemplified earlier, is that the nominal with which they occur requires the determiner. The interpretation of kishú depends on the entities with which it occurs. Sentence (42a) describes a poster that is on a wall. In such a case, the outer surface of the wall is actually a part of the wall on which the poster is posted. In (42b) the person removes her topcoat and places it on the back of a chair such that it is partly suspended. The narrator uses ishu here rather than kabha because reference is not to the seat of the chair. Finally (42c) describes people seated at a table. Here, ishú describes a region beside the Ground, which is the chair. One draws on world knowledge to construct these interpretations. For example, it is clear that humans can only be located in a region beside the table and not physically attached to the outer part like a poster. Like other Kwa languages, Tutrugbu also uses ishu´ to express topical ‘about’. In Ewe and Akan, when one uses ŋútí ‘skin’ and hõ ‘body’ respectively, the one could be said to be talking about that entity. Some examples from Tutrugbu are provided below:

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(43) a. adzɛ̃ɛ́ akpɛ samɛ n’ishú a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ a-kpɛ samɛ nɛ́ yɛ CM1-woman=DEF AM-put_in happiness PREP 3SG:IND ki-shú CM3-outer_surface ‘The woman showed happiness towards him.’ (Focus1.260) b. ɛwa l’ ishú ixwɛ̃ békē ɛ-wa kɛlɛ ki-shú kɛ-xwɛ̃ béke 1SG-do CL3-IND CM3-outer_surface CM3-work finish ‘I have finished doing the work related to it.’ In (43a), happiness is seen as a garment that can be put around the body of a person while in (43b), the one speaks about doing things that have to do with a job (as if the job is surrounded by the issues). 6.3.2.8 Ɔbha Ɔbha is another postposition that does not have a putative source. Unlike kishú in the previous section, ɔbha cannot express a part of an entity. Instead it refers to a region that is anchored to the entity. More specifically it designates the location in the vicinity of the object. When it occurs with a human entity, then it either refers to the person’s place or a location beside the person. Sentence (44a) refers to the former while (44b) refers to the latter: (44) a. anɔ bha tɛ́pɔ y’ɔ́zã a-nɔ ɔ-bha tɛ́-pɔ yɛ bɔ-zã CM1-person CM2-side NEG-be_good 3SG:IND CM8-stay ‘S/he doesn’t like staying with people.’ (lit. at the side of people) b. tenikpo tsyína ága vɛ y’ɔhágbo n’ɔbha ko te-nikpo tsyína a-ga vɛ yɛ ɔ-hágbo nɔ́ CM9-one turn AM-walk go 3SG:IND CM2-companion DEF ɔ-bha ko CM2-side just ‘One walked to the side of his colleague.’ (Focus1.643–644) 6.3.2.9 Olũ I proposed in Table 27a that the putative source for olũ is olũgbũ ‘mouth’. I noted therefore that this is one of the few Tutrugbu postpositions that has a reduced form when compared to the source. The two sentences below, the first of which is elicited, show that olũ also does not occur with the possessive marker: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(45) a. Amɛrikanɛ balɛ buvũ lũ nɛ Amɛrikanɛ balɛ bu-vũ o-lũ nɛ Americans 3PL:IND CM8-room CM2-entrance become_wide ‘Americans’ door entrance is wide.’ b. mɛ Atakuma Kɔdzo mɛlɛ bɔpã ́ nú lṹ ótsíɛ́ ansɛ balɛ apã ka ána, mɛ A.K. mɛ lɛ bɔ-pã ́ nɔ́ o-lṹ ótsíɛ́ 1SG:IND A.K. 1SG:IND be_at CM8-house DEF CM2-entrance now ansɛ balɛ bɔ-pã a-ka ána like 3PL:IND CM8-house CM1-father thus ‘I A.K. I am at the head of the house (i.e. family) as their head of family.’ (Odumasi clan.177) Olũ delimits the tip of objects that have a tip and the sharp edge of objects like knives. Thus pen nɔ́ lũ means ‘the tip of the pen’ while ɛhɛ̃ nɔ́ lũ means ‘the edge of the kinfe’. When it collocates with animate entities, olũ expresses on behalf of the entity. This is illustrated by the example below: (46) sɛ ɔŋa tsyíámi nɛ́ balɛ baka nɔ́ lũ sɛ ɔ-ŋa tsyíámi nɛ́ balɛ ba-ka nɔ́ that 2SG-eat spokesperson PREP 3PL:IND CM-father DEF o-lũ CM2-entrance ‘That you be a spokesperson on their father’s behalf.’ 6.3.2.10 Bamɛ Bamɛ is derived from the word for face in Tutrugbu. Since the source word does not have a prefix, we assume that it simply remained unchanged. Bamɛ describes either the front part of featured objects or the region that is anchored to that part, as shown below: (47) a. kegbu álɛ́ bɔpã ́ n’ámɛ ke-gbǔ á-lɛ́ bɔ-pã ́ nɛ́ bamɛ CM4-chair AM-be_at CM8-house DEF face ‘There is a chair in front of the house.’ b. adzɛ̃ɛ́ elí títí nɛ́ anyɛ n’amɛ a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ e-lí ki-títí nɛ́ a-nyɛ́ nɔ́ bamɛ CM1-woman=DEF AM-be_at CM3-sky PREP CM1-man DEF face ‘The woman is standing in front of the man.’

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c. salí n’álɛ́ anyɛ́ɛ́ y’ámɛ salí nɔ́ a-lɛ́ a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ bamɛ thing DEF AM-be_at CM1-man=DEF 3SG:IND face ‘The thing is on the face of the man.’ Sentences (47a and 47b) where bamɛ functions as a postposition, it refers to a region. In (47c) where it is a full noun and, hence, takes the possessive marker, it refers to a body part. 6.3.2.11 Bɔtɔ̃́ ́ Bɔtɔ̃ refers to the edge of an object. It is therefore about the lined parts of an object, as the sentences below show: (48) a. anyɛ́núvɔɛ n’ázã ɔkplɔ̃ n’ɔ́ tɔ̃ ́ a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ a-zã ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ CM1-man DEF AM-stay CM2-table DEF CM8-edge ‘The boy is seated on the edge of the table.’ b. lɔkɔ kavlɔ nɔ́ tɔɖɔ bokiti nɔ tɔ̃ lɔkɔ ka-vlɔ nɔ́ tɔɖɔ bokiti nɔ́ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ take CM4-towel DEF put_on bucket DEF CM8-edge ‘Put the towel at the edge of the bucket.’ The translations of the sentences show that bɔtɔ̃ ́ describes intrinsic parts of objects. While kishú describes the whole outer region of the entity, bɔtɔ̃ describes the lined edge. 6.3.2.12 Adámɛ Adámɛ can refer to either a region or part of an entity. As a region, it refers to the part that is immediately above an object. However, it can also refer to the upper surface of an object, especially if this object is at an elevation that is higher than the speaker. Consider the sentences below: (49) a. kitsikpi nɔ́ tsiɖi TV n’ádámɛ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ tsiɖi TV nɔ́ a-dámɛ CM3-pot DEF be_supported TV DEF CM1-top ‘The pot is on the TV.’

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b. kif ú nɔ́ tsiɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’ádamɛ ki-f ú nɔ́ tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ a-dámɛ CM3-fire DEF be_supported CM2-table DEF CM1-top ‘The lamp is above the table.’ Sentence (49a) in which adámɛ is used instead of kabha describe the image in which there is something on the TV and the pot is placed on that object, or one in which the TV is at an elevation above the eye of the speaker. In the latter case, the person may need to raise the head to see the flower pot. Sentence (49b) describe a TRPS picture in which a lamp is hanging on the ceiling above a table. 6.3.2.13 Ɔkɔ́ Ɔkɔ́ refers to place. Table 27b shows that the postposition is the same as the place noun from which it is derived. Unlike the postpositions discussed so far, the noun version of ɔkɔ́ does not take the independent pronoun as a possessive marker. Another way to distinguish between it and the postposition is that the former can be pluralized, as (50b) shows: (50) a. ɛkɔ tɛbha alɛ m‘ahɔɛ ɛ-kɔ tɛ-bha a-lɛ mɛ a-hɔɛ CM6-place AM-two AM-be_located 1SG:IND CM7-hand ‘I have two places.’ b. ɛmɔ ɔkɔ tólí ɛ-mɔ ɔ-kɔ tó-lí 1SG-see CM2-place AM-SPECI ‘I saw a certain place.’ In (50a) the plural of ɔkɔ is used. Sentence (51b) shows that this is not the case with the postposition: (51) a. anyɛ́nú vɔɛ n’alɛ y’aka kɔ́ an-yɛ́nú vɔɛ nɔ́ a-lɛ yɛ a-ka ɔ-kɔ́ CM1-boy DEF AM-be_located 3SG:IND CM1-father CM2-place ‘The boy is with his father.’ (at his father’s place) b. abavɛ y’adzyá nɛ y’ɔbhia kɔ́ nɛ́ Agordome nɛ Konda a-ba-vɛ yɛ a-dzyá nɛ yɛ ɔ-bhia 3SG-FUT-go 3SG:IND CM1-brother LNK 3SG:IND CM2-friend

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ɔ-kɔ́ nɛ́ Agordome nɛ Konda CM2-place PREP NAME LNK NAME ‘He will go to his brother and his friend’s places in Agordome and Konda.’ Although (51b) refers to two places, the singular of ɔkɔ́ is used. 6.3.2.14 Ahɔɛ In Tutrugbu, like the Gbe languages, the way to say someone has something is to say that the thing is located in the person’s hand. Sentence (52) is an example from Ewe: (52) ga le ŋútsu=á sí money be_at man=DEF hand ‘The man has money.’ (lit. money is located in the man’s hand) Hand in Ewe is así. Yet when it occurs in a postnominal position and expresses possession, then the prefix is dropped. Tutrugbu uses a similar construction to express possession. The difference is that while the word for the body part is ɔhɔɛ ‘hand’, belonging to the ɔ-class, the one that expresses ownership is ahɔɛ. Sentences (53a and 53b) show the difference between the two: (53) a. Kof i y’ɔhɔɛ yɛ́k’ ɛpɔ̃ Kof i yɛ ɔ-hɔɛ yɛ́kɛ kɛ-pɔ̃ NAME 3SG:IND CM2-hand receive CM3-wound ‘Kofi’s hand is wounded.’ b. kɔmpúta lɛ Kof ’ áhɔɛ kɔmpúta lɛ Kof í a-hɔɛ computer be_at NAME CM7-hand ‘Kofi has a computer.’

6.4

Prepositions

Ameka and Levinson (2007) have suggested that with regards to the Basic Locative Construction (BLC), Tutrugbu “probably belongs to a configurational verb subtype of the small-type languages (a Type IIc).” This is because verbs like kpasɛ ‘be contained’ and tsiɖi ‘be supported’ express relational rather than posture semantics. In spite of this, Tutrugbu behaves like a multi-verb language

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with regards to adpositions. Such languages have a very limited number of adpositions because much of the spatial meaning is encoded in the verbs. For example, Ameka and Levinson (2007) observe that Tzeltal, a multiverb Mayan language spoken in Mexico, has only one preposition. In Essegbey (2010), I wrote that Tutrugbu also behaves like a multi-verb language in that it has only one preposition. Actually, the prepositions are two, which does not change the similarity. These are nɛ́, a general locative preposition discussed in Essegbey (2010), and nɛ, the linker and comitative preposition. The locative preposition is illustrated in (54a and 54b): (54) a. as’ edekpũ nɛ́ osi tulí nɛ́ kiteɖe tílí ábha nɛ́ klɛ́ a-sɛ e-de-kpũ nɛ́ bu-si tu-lí nɛ́ 3SG-say 3SG-ITIVE-hide PREP CM8-tree AM-SPECI PREP ki-teɖé ti-lí ka-bha nɛ́ klɛ́, CM3-anthill AM-SPECI CM4-top PREP there ‘he wanted to hide in the bush on a hill there.’ (Frog_Story_PW.010) b. ki-kóéyi nɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ, CM3-exit PREP CM3-pot DEF inside ‘It came out of the container.’ (Frog_Story_PW.013) Nɛ́ has such a general semantics that the first occurrence in (54a) heads a goal argument because of the verb kpũ ‘hide’ while in (54b) it heads a source argument because of the verb kóéyi ‘exit’. Although segmentally similar to the general preposition, the comitative preposition differs in having a low tone. It occurs in an example like (55) below: (55) a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ bhũi osí=ɛ́ nɛ krańtɛ CM1-man=DEF cut CM2-tree=DEF with cutlass ‘The man cut the tree with a cutlass.’ As discussed in chapter 5, Tutrugbu is like the Gbe languages in that the comitative preposition is the same as the one used in linking nouns. Consider example (56): (56) Kof i nɛ Amí ba-bá NAME LNK NAME FUT-come ‘Kofi and Ami will come.’

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Constructions 7.0

Introduction

This chapter discusses different types of constructions in the sense of Bloomfield (1933). I use the term construction broadly to include argument structure.

7.1

Copula Construction

According to Dixon (2010: 158), the copula clause “has as predicate a copula verb, taking two core arguments, copula subject (CS) and Copula Complement (CC).” He later reiterates that the two core arguments are the defining properties of the construction. In terms of their function, Dixon (2010: 159) writes: A copula will always cover relations A1, Identity, and/or A2, Attribution; often also A3, Possession, and A4, Benefaction. (In a number of languages these last two merge as a single relation.) In some languages the copula construction also covers A5, Location, but in others a stance verb must be employed (literally ‘The apple tree stands in the garden/outside/over there’). The locative construction was discussed in the preceding chapter and will therefore not be discussed here. Tutrugbu has one copula, i.e., nu. The following sentences provide the first indication of the relations that nu covers: (1) a. a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ e-nú dɔkita CM1-man AM-this AM-be doctor ‘This man is a doctor.’ b. a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ e-nú e-pupuélélé CM1-man AM-this AM-be CM1-blind_person ‘This man is blind.’ (i.e. a blind person) c. ke-plukpá ka-lɛ e-nú John a-yɛ́ CM4-book AM-this AM-be NAME AM-own ‘This book is John’s.’

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d. bagi a-lɛ e-nú Morkporkpor yɛ Krismas bɔ-dɔ̃ bag AM-this AM-be NAME 3SG:IND Christmas CM8-thing ‘This bag is Morkporkpor’s Christmas present.’ (literally ‘Christmas things’) In all the examples, a generalized agreement marker e- occurs before nú . Identity relation is formed with simple nouns in complement position, as shown in (1a). Sentence (1b) shows that a predicative nominal formed with eleté is required to construct an Attributive relation. This is because, as discussed in chapter 4, Tutrugbu does not have many predicative adjectives. Although (1b) is similar to (1a) in that the complement is a nominal rather than an adjective, it differs in that the nominal is predicative. For the expression of possession, ayɛ ‘own’ heads a possessive NP in complement position, literally giving the interpretation that the thing that is predicated of an entity “is the entity’s own”. Sentence (1d) is structurally similar to (1c) in that the complement is also a possessive NP albeit a complex one. Here, the benefaction relation is inferred from the semantics of the complement. This confirms the point made by Dixon in the quote above that some languages merge possession and benefaction as a single relation. Complements of nu which have Identity relation can be focused in which case they are moved to sentence-initial position. When this is combined with the topicalization of the copula subject, it results in the insertion of a resumptive pronoun which then serves as a focus marker. Consider the contrast between the sentences below: (2) a. dɔkita a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ e-nú doctor CM1-man AM-this AM-be ‘This man is a doctor.’ b. anyɛ́ álɛ, dɔkita y’enú a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ, dɔkita yɛ e-nú CM1-man AM-this doctor 3SG:IND AM-be ‘This man, he is a doctor.’ In (2a), the complement dɔkita ‘doctor’ is placed in sentence initial position. In chapter 9, it is shown that focusing the complement involves preposing it while focusing an entity in subject position requires inserting a resumptive pronoun. Ameka (2010) proposes that the position of the focused constituent is in pre-core position of the clause. The resumptive pronoun, which is yɛ, therefore serves two functions, first as the default subject position and,

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second, as the focus marker. In the next two sentences, the copula clause occurs in a relative clause: (3) a. ekú ko ebú itéme awuɔ, genu kóotiɛ e-kú ko e-bú ki-teme a-wu=ɔ́, gɛ 3SG-arrive just 3SG-remove CM3-torso CM1-clothing=DEF REL e-nú kóoti=ɛ, AM-be coat=DEF ‘As soon as he arrived, he removed his overcoat, which is the coat.’ (Focus1.345) b. kɛl’ ibe lɛ bazabhɔ ɔlɛ genu kitsikpi kɛlɛ ki-be ɛ-lɛ ba-za-bhɔ ɔlɛ́ gɛ e-nú CL3:IND CM3-time AM-this 3Pl-REP-mold CL3:OBJ REL AM-be ki-tsikpi CM3-pot ‘These days (literally times), they don’t make them again, that is pots.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.147) In (3a) the relative clause, which contains the copula clause, comes after the head of the relative clause and its determiner. The literal translation will be along the lines ‘he removed his “torso-clothing”, which is the coat …’ Identity here is therefore established between his torso-clothing (overcoat) and coat. In (3b) the speaker is talking about a container that is used to collect palm wine. 7.1.1 Types of Identity Relation Dixon (2010: 170) identifies subtypes of the identity relation based on what he calls recognizing the following the referential possibilities: R Specific referent, shown by a proper name, demonstrative, or pronoun D Specific description; that is, a description which specifies a particular person or thing. For example ‘the doctor at the hospital’ (when there is only one), ‘my father’ G General description, which does not have a unique reference. For example ‘a doctor at the hospital’ (when there is more than one), ‘a member of the golf club’ Dixon shows that the role of the arguments of the copula can be reversed in all cases in English, with the exception of R and G. In other words, while it is possible to have R in subject position and G in object position (‘John Smith is a

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doctor at the hospital’), it is not possible to reverse the roles and have the G in subject position and R in object complement (#a doctor at the hospital is John Smith). To a great extent, the facts in Tutrugbu are similar to that in English. However there are a few important differences. The similarities and differences are discussed below. 7.1.1.1 Specific Referent → Specific Referent When the two arguments of the copula are Specific referents, then either can occur in subject position. This is illustrated by the examples below: (4) a. dáví Aku e-nú Mrs Kudolo Miss NAME AM-be Mrs NAME ‘Miss Aku is Mrs Kudolo.’ b. mrs Kudolo e-nú davi Aku Mrs NAME AM-be Miss NAME ‘Mrs Kudolo is Miss Aku.’ c. a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ e-nú Togbe Afede IV CM1-man AM-this AM-be Chief NAME ‘This man is Togbe Afede IV.’ d. Togbe Afede IV e-nú a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ Chief NAME AM-be CM1-man AM-this ‘Togbe Afede IV is this man.’ Examples (4c and 4d) particularly show that even if one of the nominals is a proper noun while the other has a demonstrative article, their roles can be reversed. This is similar to the situation in English. 7.1.1.2 Specific Description → Specific Description The situation is different when both nouns are specific description. In this case the type of noun phrase that expresses specific description is important, as the examples below illustrate: (5) a. a-nyɛɛ enu ezĩɛ g’alɔ́ kɔ watch ɛ a-nyɛ=ɛ e-nú e-zĩ=ɛ gɛ a-lɔkɔ watch=ɛ CM1-father=DEF AM-be CM1-thief=DEF REL AM-take watch=DEF ‘The man is the thief who stole the watch.’

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b. ??ezĩɛ g’alɔkɔ watch ɛ enu anyɛɛ́ e-zĩ=ɛ gɛ a-lɔkɔ watch=ɛ e-nú a-nyɛ=ɛ́ CM1-thief=DEF REL AM-take watch=DEF AM-be CM1-man=DEF ‘The thief who took the watch is the man.’ While consultants find it acceptable to have noun phrase with a definite determiner that expresses a specific description occur in subject position, and one modified by a relative clause in complement position, as in (5a), they do not like the sentence in which the roles are reversed. As (6b) below shows, Tutrugbu speakers generally appear to have a problem with placing a nominal that has a definite determiner in complement position of the copula nu if it expresses specific description: (6) a. ekusíɛ́ enú m’áka e-kusí=ɛ e=nú mɛ a-ka CM1-chief=DEF AM-be 1SG:IND CM1-father ‘The chief is my father.’ b. ?? m’aka enu ekusíɛ́ mɛ a-ka e-nú e-kusí=ɛ́ 1SG:IND CM1-father AM-be CM1-chief=DEF ‘My father is the chief.’ In (6a) where the nominal with a specific description in complement position is a possessive noun phrase, the sentence is acceptable. Sentence (6b) where this phrase occurs in subject position while the noun phrase with the definite determiner occurs in complement position is less acceptable. When the noun phrase in subject position is focused, then the sentence becomes acceptable: (7) m’aka y’enu ekusíɛ́ mɛ a-ka yɛ e-nú e-kusí=ɛ́ 1SG:IND CM1-father 3SG:IND-be AM-be CM1-chief=DEF ‘My father is the chief.’ This then points to a difference between Tutrugbu and English, where the roles of two nouns with specific description can be reversed without any modification. In Tutrugbu nouns with a definite determiner do not fit well in the complement position of the copula unless the subject of the clause is focused.

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7.1.1.3 Specific Description → General Description The position of nouns expressing specific description and general description can be reversed: (8) a. m’eyí enu Mawuko girls sukúeyí mɛ e-yí e-nú Mawuko Girls sukúeyí 1SG:IND CM1-child AM-be NAME student ‘My child is a Mawuko Girls student.’ b. Mawuko Girls sukúeyí enú m’eyí mawuko Girls sukúeyí e-nú mɛ e-yí NAME student AM-be 1SG:IND CM1-child ‘A Mawuko Girls student is my child.’ 7.1.1.4 Specific Referent → General Description Nouns which express specific referent and general description behave the same way as in English. That is to say their position is not reversible, as shown below: (9) a. Togbe Kof i e-nú e-kusí Chief NAME AM-be CM1-chief ‘Togbe Kofi is a chief.’ b. ??ekusi enu Togbe Kof i e-kusí e-nú Togbe Kof i CM1-child AM-be NAME ‘A chief is Togbe Kofi.’ These sentences show that although an argument that has specific reference can occur in subject position while one that is a general description occurs in complement position, the reverse is not possible. Dixon notes that the role in (9b) is not possible in English either. 7.1.2 Non-identity Relation While some nominals with Identity relation have reversible roles, the same cannot be said for those with the other relations. Sentence (1b) is repeated below as (10a), and (10b) shows that the noun with attribution relation cannot occur in subject position:

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(10) a. a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ e-nu e-pupuélélé CM1-man AM-this AM-be CM1-blind_person ‘This man is blind.’ (i.e. blind person) b. *epupuélété enú anyɛ́ álɛ e-pupuélété e-nú a-nyɛ́ á-lɛ CM1-blind_person AM-be CM1-man AM-this ‘The blind (person) is the man.’ Borrowed words also instantiate Attribution relation, as the next sentence shows: (11) klɛ bashɛ̃ yenu err gbã ́tɔ nɔ́ . klɛ ba-shɛ̃ yɛ e-nú err gbãtɔ nɔ́ then 3PL-leave 3SG:IND AM-be um first DEF ‘Then they left, that is the first one’ (Focus1.140) Gbã ́tɔ is the Ewe word for first. Although referring to an ordinal number, Ewe generally uses -tɔ to derive attributive nominals where Tutrugbu uses the equivalent eleté, as discussed in chapter 3. The narrator here is describing a series of events that occurred in a number of focus elicitation videos. The last event that occurs in the first video is that people leave. It is after saying that the people left that the speaker says (11).

7.2

Descriptive Constructions

One debate that has engaged linguists is whether all languages have adjectives (cf. Bollinger 1967; Welmers 1974). For instance, Westermann (1930: 96) writes: “Many English adjectives are expressed in Ewe by verbs”, and Bot Ba Njock (1977), questions whether African languages have a class of adjectives. Dixon (1977) did a more extensive cross-linguistic study and provided a framework for discussing the issue. His proposal informed discussions of adjectives in Kwa languages in works such as Ameka (1991, 2003b), Dorvlo (2008), and Bobuafor (2013). In a later paper, Dixon (2004) cautions against applying his proposals over-zealously, noting that a number of languages which were analyzed previously as lacking adjectives have, on closer scrutiny, turned out to possess them. However Chafe (2012) demonstrates that no matter how one looks at it, it is impossible to justify the existence of adjectives in Iroquian. In Essegbey (2010), I show that like other Kwa languages, most of the terms that Tutrugbu uses to

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express descriptive meanings, to borrow the expression from Naden (2007), are not adjectives. This does not mean that the language does not have adjectives. I showed in chapter 4 that although it has only four non-derived adjectives, there is a productive process for deriving adjectives. The purpose of this section is to discuss the various ways in which descriptive meanings are expressed other than through the adjectival words in the language. 7.2.1 Lɛ In chapter 6, it was shown that lɛ occurs in the locative construction and expresses being located at a place. Lɛ also takes a nominal complement, an adverb, and, in a few cases, borrowed adjectives all with predicative properties. The two sentences below exemplify the nominal complement: (12) a. súklui al’ ɔdzɛ̃ súklui a-lɛ bɔ-dzɛ̃ sugar AM-be_at CM8-sweet ‘Sugar is sweet.’ b. krántɛ nɔ́ al’ɔŋá krántɛ nɔ́ a-lɛ bɔ-ŋá cutlass DEF AM-be_at CM8-sharp ‘The cutlass is sharp.’ These predicative nominals do not have verbal or adjectival counterparts. As a result, the only way to describe the properties of sweetness and sharpness, among others, is to use the verb lɛ. One way of explaining this is that Tutrugbu speakers construe being located at a property as possessing that property. Tutrugbu also places borrowed adjectives from English in complement position of the locative verb, as shown in (13): (13) a-lɛ yellow 3SG-be_at yellow ‘It is yellow.’ (Odumase_Herbs.394) Ewe makes extensive use of the locative verb in combination with adjectives that are borrowed from English (Amuzu 2005). It is highly likely that this strategy is copied from Ewe. Lɛ also occurs with the ideophone piapíí, as shown below:

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(14) klɛ ɔ-mɔ sɛ a-nuvɔ a-lɛ piapíí, Then 2SG-see that CM1-child AM-be_at well ‘Then you will see that the child will be fine.’ (Odumase_Herbs.130) Piapíí does not occur in the attributive slot discussed in chapter 4. Sentence (14) shows that it has predicative uses. This structure is therefore similar to that in (13), with the exception that the adjective is borrowed in (13). 7.2.2 Bhɛ́tɛ Kwa languages use their DO-verb to express some descriptive properties of the subject. Consider the following examples below from Ewe and Akan: (15) a. awu=a wɔ sue ákpá clothing=DEF do small INT ‘The garment is too small.’ b. atadéɛ́ nó á-yɛ kɔkɔɔ́ clothing DEF PERF-do red ‘The garment is red.’ Ameka (2012) argues that Ewe does not have predicative adjectives. Sue in (16a) is therefore an adverb. In Akan, which has predicative adjectives by contrast, kɔkɔɔ́ is an adjective. Like Akan, Tutrugbu has some predicative adjectives even if they are not many. The example below shows that it also uses a DO-verb in a manner similar to Akan: (16) a. ohuiɛ ohui ɔ-s’ ɔbhɛ́tɛ tũtũtũ o-hui=ɛ o-hui ɔ-sɛ ɔ-bhɛtɛ tũtũtũ CM2-rope=DEF CM2-rope AM-say AM-do black ‘The rope appears to be (very) black.’ b. ɔlɛ mɛ ɔbhɛ́tɛ err yellow ansɛ omumwɛ́ dzadza ɔlɛ mɛ ɔ-bhɛtɛ err yellow ansɛ o-mumwɛ́ CL2:IND inside AM-do um yellow as CM2-lemon dzã-dzã RED-become_ripe ‘The inside is yellow like a ripe lemon.’ (Odumase_Herbs.260)

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This triplication tũtũtũ in (16a) marks the intensity of the blackness. Sentences (13) and (16b) were said by the same person, suggesting that when it comes to the use of borrowed color words, speakers use lɛ and bhɛ́tɛ interchangeably. In some cases, the choice of bhɛtɛ or another verb depends on the argument to which it is predicated. For instance this is the case with búlí ‘small’. This is shown below: (17) a. kɛ-ŋaŋa nɔ́ bhɛ́tɛ búlí CM3-food DEF do small ‘The food is small.’ b. a-nyɛ nɔ́ dzi/*bhɛ́tɛ búlí CM1-man DEF be_at_base/do small ‘The man is small.’ When it comes to búlí, the choice of verb depends on whether the attribute is individual-level or stage level. Dzi is discussed in the next subsection. 7.2.3 Dzi I stated in the preceding section that dzi expresses to be situated at the base. For humans, this means to be seated. Dzi can also mean ‘to become.’ Thus when used with a profession, it means the person has taken that profession. This is shown below: (18) e-dzi osɔ́f o 3SG-become pastor ‘He became a pastor.’ Sentence (17b) shows that dzi can also occur with adjectives in predicative function. The following ideophones further illustrate this point: (19) a. okay ɛ-ba-ɖɔ sɛ e-tí-dzí hwahwalaa f ánɔ̄ okay 1SG-FUT-say that 3SG-NEG-become rough too_much e-tí-dzí kplɔkplɔ fánɔ̄ tsyɛ́ 3SG-NEG-become smooth too_much also ‘Well, I will say that it is not too rough, it is not smooth either.’ (Essegbey 2013: ex. 4)

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b. e-dzí ekpeɖekpeɖé 3SG-become IDEO ‘It is round.’ (Essegbey 2013: ex. 7) The one who said (19a) was trying to describe a felt material to an interlocutor after feeling it with the fingers without actually seeing it. Ekpeɖekpeɖé in (19b) was formerly the word for ‘head’, and old people still use it for the same referent when they do not want foreigners to know what they are talking about. Dzi can therefore be followed by either a noun or an ideophone which functions as a predicative adjective and describes a property of the subject. 7.2.4 Yi Yi primarily means ‘to resemble’ but it is also used to ascribe descriptive properties to an entity. The two most common roots used in this regard are ebhité ‘young woman’ and aỹĩnsɔ̃ ‘young man’. These roots occur with the class 8 prefix bɔ- giving rise to bubhité ‘beauty’ and buỹĩnsɔ̃ ‘handsomeness’. To say that someone is beautiful or handsome, one has to say the person resembles a beauty or handsomeness respectively, as shown below: (20) a. adzɛ̃ nɔ́ y’ubhíté a-dzɛ̃ nɔ́ yi bu-bhíté CM1-woman DEF resemble CM8-maiden ‘The woman is beautiful.’ b. anyɛ́ nɔ́ y’ĩnsɔ̃ anyɛ́ nɔ́ yi bu-ỹĩnsɔ̃ CM1-man DEF resemble CM8-handsome ‘The man is handsome.’ There is a neutral word bɔnɔ ‘good looking’, which is formed from anɔ ‘person’. This also occurs with yi, as shown below: (21) bey’ɔnɔ be-yi bɔ-nɔ 3PL-resemble CM8-person ‘They are good looking.’ Thus while nouns which express properties such as sweetness and sharpness can only occur as complements of the locative verb lɛ, as discussed in section 7.2.1, those which express beauty and handsomeness can only come after the verb which means ‘to resemble’. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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7.2.5 Other Descriptive Constructions In this section, I discuss the medio-passive construction and a second construction in which verbs are used to express the descriptive properties of entities to which they are predicated. 7.2.5.1 Medio-passives The medio-passive, which is a term Harley (2005) uses to describe a similar phenomenon in Tuwuli (see also Essegbey 2009 for Tutrugbu and Bobuafor 2013 for Tafi), is somewhat structurally similar to the passive in that what appears to be the underlying object is promoted to subject position. However, that is as far as the similarity with the passive goes. Rather than use a modal, the medio-passive construction uses pɔ ‘become nice/good to do’ as the main verb. The underlying main verb is nominalised by being placed in the bɔ-class and occurs as a complement of pɔ. The interpretation of the construction is one of the undergoer entity being “V-able”. Consider (22):1 (22) awuɔ ap’oóɖi awu=ɔ a-pɔ bo-ɖí clothing=DEF AM-become_good CM8-look_at(N) ‘The garment is beautiful.’ (lit. good to look at) In fast speech, the /b/ of the complement is deleted while the /ɔ/ is assimilated to /o/. The vowel therefore appears to be lengthened, yielding /apoó di/. Unlike the passive construction, the underlying subject in the medio-pasive construction does not occur as an adjunct. Instead, if it is included, it occurs as an object in a double object construction. It was shown in chapter 5 that the benefactive argument is realized as the primary object. The benefactive (or, in this case, experiencer of the medio-passive) also occurs in primary object position while the nominalised verbal object is shifted to second object position. Sentence (23a) expresses that the food is delicious while (23b) includes the experiencer which, in this case, is treated structurally as the benefactive:2

1 It is important to point out here that pɔ only occurs in this construction. Thus it is not possible to use it simply to predicate an entity, as in *X apɔ for ‘X is nice/good.’ The verb that means be nice is pɛ̃ (see the next footnote). 2 In Essegbey (2009) I analyze the verb as pɛ̃. Pɛ̃ is the intransitive verb that means to be nice, good or interesting. I still think there is a connection between the two verbs. However, they are distinct now to warrant a distinct representation.

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(23) a. kuráte nɔ́ ap’ɔŋa kuráte nɔ́ a-pɔ bɔ-ŋa Banana DEF AM-become_good CM8-eat(N) ‘The banana is delicious (i.e. good to eat).’ b. kuráte nɔ́ á-pɔ mɛ bɔ-ŋa banana DEF AM-become_good 1SG CM-eat(N) ‘The banana is delicious for me (i.e. good for me to eat).’ I have placed N after the nominalized verbs to indicate their function in the sentences. 7.2.5.2 Ascribing Properties Using Verbs Like all Kwa languages, Tutrugbu uses verbs mostly to express descriptive meanings. Due to the translation of these verbs, some are tempted to analyze them as stative verbs. However, these verbs occur with TAM morphemes, as examples (24a–c) with gagãlĩ ‘become strong’ illustrate: (24) a. ya-ba-kɔ́ sɛ bu-nu=ɔ bɔ-ba-gagãlĩ 3SG-FUT-give that CM8-drink=DEF AM-FUT-become_strong ‘It will make the drink strong.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.006) b. a-nuvɔ nɔ́ a-ba-gagãlĩ CM1-child DEF AM-FUT-become_stong ‘The child will be strong.’ c. bu-nu=ɔ bɔ-tɛ́-gagãlĩ CM8-drink=DEF AM-PFV-become_strong ‘The drink has become strong already.’ Gagãlĩ ‘become strong’ takes a marker that agrees with bunu ‘drink’ in (24a and 24c), and one that agrees with anuvɔ ‘child’ in (24b). In addition, it takes the future marker in (24a and 24b). It also takes an aspectual marker in (24c). The fact that gagãlĩ occurs with the perfective in (24c) is evidence that it is not even a stative verb. Other words that behave like gagãlĩ are shown in the sentences below: (25) a. balɛ ki-búí=ɛ́ kɛ-gɛ-dzyɔ 3PL:IND CM3-palaver=DEF AM-NEG-become_straight ‘They were wrong.’ (lit. their case was not right) (Libation-HK.062)

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b. o-zi=ɛ lɔ-nɛ CM2-hole=DEF AM-become_narrow ‘The hole is narrow.’ (Making-Palm-Wine.094) c. pɛ ɔ́ ba kidzó mɛ yɔ́ pɔtɔpɔtɔ pɛ ɔ́ -ba ki-dzo mɛ kɛ-yɔ́ pɔtɔpɔtɔ Then 2SG-come CM3-road inside AM-become_cool IDEO ‘When you come, may your journey be very peaceful.’ (Libation-HK .076) In addition to taking an agreement marker, dzyɔ ‘become straight’ in (25a) also takes the negation morpheme. Although yɔ ‘become cool’ in (25c) was uttered without the agreement marker, speakers accept it when it is placed there, with some even saying that that is the right way to say it. The relative clause is used to background property-ascribing verbs with the nouns they are predicated of, as shown in (26): (26) a-nyɛ́ gɛ e-búkú bu-nu a-gã basabasa CM1-man REL AM-become_drunk CM8-drink 3SG-walk IDEO ‘The man who is drunk is walking in a crazy manner.’ Tutrugbu therefore uses ‘the man who is drunk’ as a way of saying ‘the drunk man’.

7.3

Serial Verb Constructions (SVC)

Lefebvre and Brousseau (2011: 7) describe the SVC as a “concatenation of two or more verbs forming a complex predicate.” Ameka (2005: 20–21) provides the following definition of the SVC which is an extensive description of properties of the construction: Serial verb constructions in the West African littoral languages can be defined as a sequence of two or more VPs (including any complements and adjuncts); a) without any marker of syntactic dependency, b) the VPs in the sequence are construed as occurring within the same temporal frame, c) the VPs share the same mood (e.g. imperative), d) the VPs can be formally marked for different aspect and modality categories, James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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e) f) g) h) i)

the individual verbs can function as independent verbs in simple clauses (in the same form), all VPs in the series share the same syntactic subject with variation on its expression across the languages, VPs cannot be formally independently negated, the verbs can be individually focused or questioned, the VPs in the series together with their arguments and adjuncts constitute a monoclausal construction

Ameka goes on to add: The verbs in the construction form distinct grammatical and phonological words. There is no limit on the number of VPs that can constitute a SVC, except for restrictions on production and comprehension. The Tutrugbu constructions that display the properties outlined in the above definition can be divided into two main sub-groups. These are distinguished by whether the non-initial verbs take an agreement marker or not. Consider the two examples below: (27) a. a-lɔ́ kɔ a-f ɔkpa nɔ́ e-vu-nɔ 3SG-take CM1-shoe DEF SCONN-hold-COMITATIVE ‘He picked the shoes and held it.’ (Frog_Story_PB.040) b. ɔlɛ bɔ-ba-lɔkɔ yǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɛ+i PRON 1PL-FUT-take weave CM3-cloth PREP+3SG:OBJ ‘It is what we shall use to weave the cloth.’ (Spin_yarn.036) In (27a), the first verb lɔ́ kɔ ‘take’ occurs with the subject pronoun a- while the second verb vunɔ ‘hold’ takes the +ATR variant of the generalized agreement marker e-. In describing the different types of marking on the verbs, Ameka (2005) mentions languages “in which the subject argument is fully expressed with the first VP in the series (either nominally or pronominally) and the noninitial verbs have a concordial marker-, a subject pronominal prefix that refers back to the shared subject argument.” I refer to “concordial marker” as the “serial connector” to distinguish it from the one that occurs on verbs generally where there is a lexical subject. In contrast to (27a), (27b) has no marking on the second verb, which is yǔ ‘weave’. Instead, only the first verb, which is also lɔ́ kɔ ‘take’, occurs with the first person plural pronoun subject. Dakubu (1970) discusses this bifurcation of SVCs in Ga where she notes that the construction

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that does not have a marking on the second verb is more integrated semantically than the one which has. This does not appear to be the case in (27b) as opposed to (27a) though. Both sentences have lɔ́ kɔ ‘take’ as the V1. There is no objective way to explain how taking and holding an object is less semantically integrated than taking a material and using it to weave. In fact, the role of the material that is expressed with V1 in (27b) would be expressed with a preposition in languages like English. I discuss the preposition nɔ́ presently. In subsequent discussion I refer to SVCs of the type in (27a) as concordial SVCs and those of the type in (27b) as non-concordial SVCs. Some analyses of SVCs restrict them to the ones that share an internal argument (Baker 1989). Simply put, object sharing means that where the verbs have the same referential argument in complement position, it is realized as the object of one verb only. For instance, the footwear that is taken (as expressed by V1) is the same footwear that is raised up (as expressed by V2). This means that Tutrugbu has the type of SVCs that obey the object sharing constraint. It has been shown, however, that SVCs in languages like Akan do not display this type of object sharing (Saah 1994; Bodomo 1997, 2018; Ameka 2005). Like Ameka, I do not restrict SVCs to the ones that share objects. Thus, (28) below is considered to be a proper SVC: (28) bes’ ódu avɛ be-sí o-du a-vɛ 3PL-flee CM2-race SCONN-go ‘They run away.’ Unlike (27a), the complement of V1 i.e. odu ‘race’ is not shared by V2. It might be tempting to analyze V1 and V2 as unaccusatives and, therefore, possessing an underlying object. According to this position, both verbs would actually be said to share an (underlying) object. The gloss of si in (28) is ‘to flee’. The discussion of sí in chapter 5 shows that it is the combination of the verb and complement that yields a manner of movement interpretation. While sí itself has directional semantics, there are verbs like tsi ‘crawl’ and mli ‘roll’ which express manner of movement by themselves and can occur in V1 position in (28). This construction has all the properties of SVC discussed by Ameka in the definition provided above. An important thing about (28) is that even though the subject pronoun on the first verb is the third person plural pronoun, the serial connector on the second verb is the generalized agreement marker. There are constructions in which the plural marker is repeated, as in (29a and b) below:

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(29) a. otsiɛ tsɔɔ nɔ [ẽẽ] be-tsyina be-wu piabha now INT TP [yes] 3PL-turn 3PL-ascend upward ‘Right now they are turned facing upwards.’ (Men_&_Tree.916) b. ko bɔzɛbáwulú buzev’ uvu mɛ ko bɔ-zɛ-bá-wulú bɔ-zɛ-vɛ bu-vu mɛ then 1PL-REP-VEN-bathe 1PL-REP-go CM8-room inside ‘Then we come and bath again and we go into the room again.’ (Children’s_Stories.075) Sentence (29a) is the description of a photograph in which two similar figures face the same direction looking upwards. Both V1 and V2 occur with the third person plural pronoun. Similarly (28b) in which a child reports on what they do after school also has both V1 and V2 occurring with the first person plural pronoun. Sentence (30) below shows that the subject pronoun that is repeated can be singular: (30) ɔ-yɛ́kɛ ɔ-ŋa 2SG-receive 2SG-eat ‘Are you sure?’ (Men_&_Tree.162) It was shown in chapter 5 that one way to express certainty in Tutrugbu is to say yɛkɛ ŋa ‘to believe’, which, itself, literally means to receive (and) eat. This expression points to another property of SVCs observed by Ameka (2005) which is that they “can serve as vehicles for lexicalisation where verbs or VPs involved develop into fixed collocations or verb plus satellite constructions.”3 There is another construction in which objects that are referentially identical are overtly realized instead of shared. Consider the exchange below: (31) a. so ɔmɔɛ ɔlɔ́ kɔé so ɔ-mɔ-í ɔ-lɔ́ kɔ-é so 2SG-see-3SG:OBJ 2SG-take-3SG ‘So have you seen it and taken it?’ (Men_&_Tree.437) b. ẽẽ ɛmɔɛ lɔ́ kɔ ẽẽ ɛ-mɔ-í lɔ́ kɔ Yes, 1SG-see-3SG:OBJ take ‘Yes, I have seen it and taken it.’ (Men_&_Tree.438) 3 Actually Ameka makes this observation about multi-verb constructions of which SVCs form a subset.

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In (31a and b), two interlocutors Ju and Jo are discussing a picture in the Men and Tree Matching Game. After establishing that Jo has got the description right, Ju asks him in (31a) if he has picked it up. In her sentence, each of the two verbs takes a pronominal object even though they both refer to the same entity. In contrast, Jo’s answer in (31b) simply realizes the object on the first verb. Research suggests that constructions in which referentially identical objects are overtly realized involve events which are perceived differently (cf. Bohnemeyer et al 2007). One of the properties of SVCs that Ameka mentions in his definition is the occurrence of all the verbs in the same temporal frame. Where the tense is segmentally represented in Tutrugbu, it occurs on V1. This is illustrated by (27b) where the future marker be- occurs on V1 only. Another property is polarity: all verbs share the same polarity (see also Bodomo 1997, 2019). In Tutrugbu, negation in SVCs is represented with an affix on the V1. This is illustrated by all the sentences below: (32) a. etíbes ódu avɛ bɔpã ́ mɛ e-ti-be-si o-du a-vɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3SG-NEG-FUT -run CM2-race SCONN-go CM8-house inside ‘He will not run home.’ b. *ebes’ ódu atɛ́vɛ bɔpã ́ mɛ e-be-sí ó-du a-tɛ́-vɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3SG-FUT-run CM2-race SCONN-NEG-go CM8-house inside ‘He will not run home.’ c. *Etíbesó du atɛ́vɛ pã mɛ e-tí-be-só o-du a-tɛ́-vɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3SG-NEG-FUT-run CM2-race SCONN-NEG-go CM8-house inside ‘He will not run home.’ When negation occurs on the V2 only (as in 32b) or both verbs (as in 32c), instead of V1 alone (as in 32a), the sentence is not acceptable. This is different from a language like Akan where the negation morpheme is copied on all the verbs (cf. Osam 1994b). For the rest of this section, I discuss the most common functions of the SVC in Tutrugbu. These functions are due to the semantics of the verbs that occur in the SVC.

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7.3.1 Event Sequence One very common type of SVC, particularly in the Kwa languages, is the one that expresses a sequence of events, which are integrated in the manner described below. Sentence (33) below is an example of an SVC that expresses a sequence of events: (33) anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ tɔ dɔ̃ ŋa a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ tɔ bɔ-dɔ̃ ŋa CM1-boy DEF cook CM8-thing eat ‘The boy cooked and ate.’ In (33) the food that the boy cooked is the same as the food that he ate. In terms of the sequencing of events, the state of affairs expressed by V1 necessarily precedes that of V2. Expressing the events as SVCs means that they are conceptualized as so tightly knit as to be analyzed as a “single event” or macroevent (Bodomo 1997, Osam 1994b; Bohnemeyer et al. 2007; Defina 2016). It is important to point out here that the sequential interpretation of the events is due to the semantics of the verbs and the real world knowledge of the way these things happen. It is natural for food to be cooked before being eaten (that is, if it is the type that needs to be cooked). It is not possible to eat food before cooking it. It is also not usual for cooking and eating of the food to occur simultaneously. The situation is different when it comes to singing and drumming, as (34) below illustrates: (34) bɔ-zhĩa ɔ-dzɛ husi ki-vu 1PL-sing CM2-song beat CM3-drum ‘We sang and beat drums.’ In this example, the default interpretation is that the singing and drumming occurred simultaneously. However, depending on the context, it can also refer to a sequence of events. 7.3.2 Instrumental/Material-SVC Another common type of SVC that has been extensively discussed in the literature is the instrumental or material SVC (cf. Lovestrand 2017). This SVC has a take-verb as the V1, which takes a nominal complement that fulfils instrumental or material role, while the V2 expresses what is done or made with it. The construction is usually referred to as the Take-SVC (cf. Seuren 1990; Campbell 1992; Aboh and Essegbey 2010; Yee 2010). The next three sentences illustrate the phenomenon:

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(35) a. krántɛ hohoe ɔbɔlɔkɔ plu bulíɛ́ nɔ krántɛ hohoe ɔ-bɔ-lɔkɔ plu bu-lí=ɛ́ cutlass big 2SG-FUT take wash CM8-palmtree=DEF nɛ+í with+3SG:OBJ ‘a big cutlass is what you will use to clear the branches.’ (Making_Palm_ Wine.058) b. sɛ bawa isí isigũ tɛwá, err abhɛtɛ lɛ sɛ tɛ bɔlɔkɔ bhɛtɛ bɔwá nɔ sɛ ba-wa i-sí i-sí-gũ tɛ-wá err a-bhɛtɛ that 3PL-do CM6-tree CM6-tree-root CM9-leaf uhm SCONN-do ɛlɛ sɛ tɛ bɔ-lɔkɔ bhɛtɛ bɔ-wá nɛ+i CL6:OBJ that COMP 1PL-take do CM8-medicine with+3SG:OBJ ‘that we do … um … trees, roots, leaves, that we use them to make medicines.’ (Odummasi_Herbs.005) c. mahoganiɛ́ enú busí gɛ Máwú akɔ́ ɔlɛ́ yayrá sɛ tɛ bɔlɔkɔ tɔ bawá mahogany=ɛ́ e-nú bu-sí gɛ Máwú a-kɔ́ ɔlɛ́ mahogany=DEF 3SG-be CM8-tree REL God AM-give CL2:OBJ yayrá sɛ tɛ bɔ-lɔkɔ tɔ ba-wá blessing that COMP 1PL-take cook CM5-medicine ‘Mahogany is a tree that God has blessed that we use to make medicines.’ (Odumase_Herbs.045–046) In (35a), the complement of V1, kránte hohoe ‘big cutlass’, which is the instrument, is preposed. The sentence asserts the use of krante hohoe to clear palm fronds from the tree. Sentences (35b and c) assert the use of materials rather than instruments. The materials in (35b) are isí ‘trees’, isígũ ‘roots’, and tɛwá ‘leaves’, while that of (35c), is the mahogany tree. In both cases, the complements occur in the preceding clause and are ellipted in the SVC. Sentences (35a and b) illustrate a feature of some take-SVCs in Tutrugbu: they can occur with nɔ, which is analyzed as a variant of the comitative nɛ (cf. Bobuafor 2013). I analyze it as nɛ and í in order to distinguish it from the derivational comitative morpheme which is used in lexical derivations (see discussion in chapter 3). Commenting on a similar phenomenon in Tafi, Bobuafor (2013: 308 fn 64) writes: “a tendency that is observed in the Tafi case is that if the internal argument of the ‘take’ verb is in focus, and therefore, extracted from the object position, the nɔ comitative appears at the end”. The following example shows that the use of nɔ in Tutrugbu is not determined by fronting of the complement:

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(36) kɛlɛ ɔbɔlɔkɔ sɛkã bhɛtɛ kibui tílí nɔ kɛlɛ ɔ-bɔ-lɔkɔ sɛkã bhɛtɛ ki-búí ti-lí nɛ+í then 2SG-FUT-take money do CM3-thing AM-SPECI with+3SG:OBJ ‘Then you use the knife to make the small purchases.’ (literally small things) (Making_Palm_Wine.169) In this example, the complement has not been moved but nɔ still appears at the end. This example and the preceding ones suggest instead that when there is a shared argument and that argument occurs after V1, nɔ is used. In other words, the use of nɔ indicates that the state of affairs expressed by the sentence is carried out with a material or instrument. That instrument or material, which happens to be realized as as the complement of V1, is referentially the same as that expressed by the complement of nɔ. 7.3.3 Manner and Directional Motion SVCs are also used to express directional manner of motion where a language like English would use a manner verb plus a satellite, à la Talmy (1985, 2000), while languages like French and Spanish use a directional verb followed by a gerund. Examples (37a and b) illustrate this: (37) a. a-nuvɔ e-é-tsi kóéyi nɛ́ bu-vũ=ɔ́ mɛ CM1-child AM-PROG-crawl exit PREP CM8-room=DEF inside ‘The child is crawling out of the room.’ b. kɛ-klagbu=ɔ́ mli tsokú o-zĩ=ɛ́ mɛ CM3-stone=DEF roll enter CM2-hole=DEF inside ‘The stone rolled into the hole.’ V1 expresses the manner of motion tsi ‘crawl’ and mli ‘roll’ in (37a and b) respectively, while V2 expresses the directions kóéyi ‘exit’ and tsokú ‘enter’. As we argue in Ameka and Essegbey (2013), this is the only order for verbs that express directional manner of motion in SVCs in Kwa languages. The reverse order is not possible. 7.3.4 Directional Motion The sequence of verbs could be composed of directional verbs alone. Consider the example below:

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(38) e-bú á-ba-pɔ̃ ́ nɛ́ f ɛ́srɛ nɔ́ tɔ̃ ́ wɔ́ lɛ hu ke-siakpá CM1-dog AM-VEN-drop PREP window DEF edge fall hit CM4-ground ‘The dog fell from the edge of the window and hit the ground.’ Of the three verbs in this sentence, V1 and V2 are directional verbs while V3 is a contact verb. Although Tutrugbu speakers accept directional manner of motion SVC in which the V1 is manner while V2 is directional, and they occasionally use it, as example (38) shows, they are less likely to use such sequences in narrative discourse, preferring instead to use the SVC with directional verbs only. For instance, there is an Owl Scene in the Frog Story which Slobin (2004: 222) describes thus: – The boy is in a tree, straddling a branch, looking into a hole – An owl with extended wings is located in the hole; the boy is lying on his back on the ground, with arms and legs extended upwards. According to Slobin, building on 10 pictures that precede the owl scene and accessing world knowledge, one could infer the following complex event: a. Boy climbs tree b. Boy looks into hole c. Owl emerges from hole d. Boy falls from tree to ground Slobin (2004: 222) provides the following narrative of the owl scene by an American English speaker: After that he continues and climbs up on this tree and looks in this hole for the frog. The boy tumbles down from the branch because of an owl who’s popped up from the hole. There are three manner of motion verbs in the above narrative followed by a satellite which expresses the direction of movement. These are the scenarios one would expect Tutrugbu speakers to describe with a directional manner of motion SVC. However, the sentences that were elicited rarely included manner verbs. For instance, the part where a bird flew out is described by a child in (39a) and an adult in (39b): (39) a. ɔ́ -mɔ kɛlɛ pɛ ka-zhɔɛ té-lí á-wɔ́ e-kóéyi nɛ́ 2SG-see then so CM4-bird AM-SPECI AM-remain AM-exit PREP o-sí=ɛ́ mɛ. CM2-tree=DEF inside ‘You see then a bird which was there came out from inside the tree.’

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b. ka-zhɔɛ nɔ ka-bhɛ́tɛ prɛdɛdɛ́ nɛ́ bu-sí=ɛ́ mɛ nɛ́ CM4-bird DEF AM-do IDEO PREP CM8-bush=DEF inside PREP klɛ́ klɛ ke-kóéyi there. then CL4-exit ‘The bird flew threateningly, then it exited.’ The child’s sentence (39a) does not contain any manner verb while the adult’s sentence (39b) contains a ‘do’-verb and an ideophone that expresses manner. In fact, six children and three adults who narrated the Frog Story, used the following motion verbs to describe the owl scene: Six children ba ‘come’ (1) wɔ ‘remain’ (1) kpasɛ ‘be contained’ (4)

wu ‘ascend’ (4) kóéyi ‘exit’ (6) pɔ̃ ́ ‘drop’ (4) hǔ (kesiakpa) ‘hit ground’ (1) lɛ́ ‘be_at’ (2)

Three adults wokú ‘ascend_into’ (2) kpasɛ ‘be contained’ (1) dɔ̌ ‘to land’ (1)

kú ‘arrive’ (1) lɛ́ ‘be_at’ (1) wɔlɛ ‘fall’ (2) kóéyi ‘exit’ (2) bú dɛglɛmef ú ‘somersault’ (1) bhɛ́tɛ prɛdɛdɛ́ (1)

Notable in these words is the paucity of manner of motion verbs. Only bú dɛglɛmef ú ‘somersault’ and bhɛ́tɛ prɛdɛdɛ́ ‘move threateningly’ in the adult narrative could be described as manner of motion expressions and, as (39b) above shows, they were not used in an SVC. This raises the question why Tutrugbu does not use manner verbs in an SVC to describe the owl scene. The answer is most likely due to the rhetorical strategies in the language. As Slobin (2004: 223) puts it: Languages differ systematically in rhetorical style—that of the ways in which events are analyzed and described in discourse […]. These differences are grounded in typological characteristics of morphosyntax and lexicon, often allied with cultural narrative practices. In sum, although Tutrugbu has manner of motion + directional SVC, this construction is not commonly used in narratives. This underlines the difference between having a grammatical resource and using that resource in discourse.

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7.3.5 Caused Motion Tutrugbu SVCs also describe motion of an entity that is caused by an agent or effector. This can be expressed with the take-SVC, in which case, there is no comitative preposition. This is illustrated below: (40) a. a-lɔkɔ yɛ kɛ-takpú=ɔ a-shɔ kpɛ́ 3SG-take 3SG:IND CM3-head=DEF SCONN-pierce put ‘It stuck its head into [a container].’ b. a-za-lɔ́ kɔ pépa, bu-blukpá tó-lí á-mána 3SG-REP-take paper, CM8-paper AM-SPEC SCONN-bring ‘She brought a certain paper again.’ (Frog_Story_PB.035) Sentence (40a) describes the dog pushing its head into a container and getting it stuck there. Although the speaker uses lɔkɔ, we know from real-world experience that the dog did not literally carry its head. Sentence (40b) illustrates a common property of Kwa languages, which is that they do not possess a single lexical item with which to describe the act of bringing something to a place or taking it away. English, for instance, has the word ‘bring’ for the former but has to use the two words ‘take’ and ‘away’ to express the latter. By contrast, French has apporter ‘bring’ and emporter ‘take away’. Kwa languages use an SVC in which the first verb is a take-verb and the second a motion verb. While in Akan and Ewe, the second verb is a deictic verb, Tutrugbu uses mana, which I gloss as ‘bring’. I have already discussed the fact that some SVCs take a serial connector while others do not. The examples in this section show that all the take-SVCs which express caused motion occur with the serial connector. There are SVCs which express caused motion without a take-verb, as shown by the next two examples: (41) a. ɛrr anyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ ef éké ɛrr ebúɔ́ ewunɔ kitití ɛrr a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ nɔ́ e-f éké ɛrr e-bú=ɔ́ e-wu-nɔ um CM1-boy DEF AM-lift um CM1-dog=DEF SCONN-climb-COM ki-tití CM3-sky ‘The boy lifted the dog into the sky.’ (Frog_Story_PW.020) b. notsyína amɛ zhinɔ no-tsyína bamɛ zhi-nɔ 2PL-turn face descend-COM ‘You have turned your face (to look downwards).’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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In (41a) both V1 and V2 are caused directional verbs, and both indicate that the boy caused the dog to move in the upward direction. Likewise both verbs in (41b) are directional verbs. In this case, the V2 has the comitative affix nɔ and indicates caused downward motion. The difference between (41b) and (41a) is that the subject entities are moving their own body parts (i.e. their faces) in (41b), and not a different entity. Also, unlike (41a), the V2 in (41b) does not take a serial connector. This suggests that the semantics of an SVC does not always determine whether the V2 would occur with a connector or not. It also shows that while the second person singular is often copied onto the V2, the plural is not. 7.3.6 Dative SVC Another function of the SVC is assigning a benefactive or malefactive role to an animate entity (cf. Bruyn 1999). This is due to the occurrence of kɔ́ ‘give’ as the last verb in the sequence. Consider the examples below: (42) a. abhɛ́tɛ bulĩ kpɛkpɛ́ kɔ́ ɛ́ a-bhɛ́tɛ bu-lĩ kpɛkpɛ́ kɔ́ -í 3SG-make CM8-water hot give-3SG:OBJ ‘She prepared hot water for him.’ b. asɛ ah ebúɔ́ ebetsí kɔɛ́ a-sɛ ah e-bú=ɔ́ e-be-tsí kɔ-í 3SG-say INTERJ CM1-dog=DEF AM-FUT-die give-3SG:OBJ ‘He said the dog will die on him.’ (Frog_Story_PB.054) In sentence (42a), the complement of kɔ́ is a benefactive while in (42b) it is a malefactive. This shows that the verbs that precede kɔ́ are critical to the interpretation that the SVC receives. 7.3.7 Comparative SVC Tutrugbu also uses the SVC to express comparison in which one entity exceeds or is equal to another in a property. These are expressed with dɛ ‘exceed’ and shɔ̃ nɔ ‘equal’, as shown below: (43) a. yɛ kɛŋaŋa dɛ́ m’ayɛ yɛ kɛ-ŋaŋa dɛ́ mɛ a-yɛ́ 3SG:IND CM3-food exceed 1SG:IND AM-own ‘His/her food is more than mine.’

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b. yɛ kɛŋaŋa shɔnɔ m’ayɛ yɛ kɛ-ŋaŋa shɔ̃ nɔ mɛ ayɛ́ 3SG:IND CM3-food equal 1SG:IND AM-own ‘His/her food is equal to mine.’ When they occur in the SVC, dɛ́ and shɔ̃ nɔ occur as V2 and assert that the property expressed by V1, which is predicated of the argument in subject position, exceeds or is equal to that of the argument in complement position. Consider the examples below: (44) a. anyɛ́núvɔɛ no tri dɛ́ y’aka a-nyɛ́núvɔɛ no tri dɛ́ yɛ a-ka CM1-boy DEF be_big exceed 3SG:IND CM1-father ‘The boy is bigger than his father.’ b. a-gagãli shɔ̃ nɔ ki-lihǔ 3SG-be_strong equal CM3-palm_nut ‘s/he is as strong/hard as palm nut.’ Where the verb expresses an activity instead of a property, the SVC asserts that the subject either exceeds the complement of V2 in the performance of the said activity, if V2 is dɛ, or equal to, if it is shɔ̃ nɔ. This is illustrated by the examples below: (45) a. a-dzɛ̃ń úvɔɛ nɔ́ e-sí o-du dɛ́ a-nyɛnuvɔɛ nɔ CM1-girl DEF AM-flee CM2-race exceed CM1-boy DEF ‘The girl ran more/faster than the boy.’ b. a-dzɛ̃ń úvɔɛ nɔ́ e-sí o-du shɔ̃ nɔ a-nyɛnuvɔɛ nɔ CM1-girl DEF AM-flee CM2-race equal CM1-boy DEF ‘The girl ran as much/fast as the boy.’ As the sentences show, the interpretation could, depending on the context, refer to speed or amount of races ran. What we see then is that it is the semantics of the verbs that determine the interpretation that an SVC receives. The following example from Bobuafor (2017) shows that the same situation applies in Tafi: (46) Kof í á-ɖama a-dɪ́ Kodzo NAME AM-become.tall SCONN-surpass NAME ‘Kofi is taller than Kodzo.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Bobuafor (2017) writes: “Unlike European languages, Tafi and many West African languages do not have a distinct structure for coding the highest degree. It is inferred.” 7.3.8 Aspectual SVC The final function of the SVC is one in which it contributes to the aspectual interpretation of the sentence. As the two sentences below show, such interpretations are also due to the initial verb in the construction. (47) a. sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko ebedzini y’ alɔkɔ ko sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko e-be-dzini yɛ a-lɔkɔ ko shortly just 3SG-VEN-repeat 3SG:IND SCONN-take just ‘Shortly after she took it again.’ b. kɛlɛ o-tsyina lɔkɔ kpɛ́ then 2SG-turn_round take put_in ‘Then you put it in again.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.136) 7.3.9 Summary The discussion in this section has shown that the interpretation of SVCs in Tutrugbu, as in other Kwa languages, is a function of the meaning of the individual verbs that occur in the construction.

7.4

Coordinate Clausal Constructions

Haspelmath (2004: 34) defines coordination as “syntactic constructions in which two or more units of the same type are combined into a larger unit and still have the same semantic relation with other surrounding elements.” He mentions that there are three different types of coordination, namely conjunction, adversation, and disjunction. 7.4.1 Conjunction Haspelmath (2004:12) writes: “In English and other European languages, there is a single conjunctive coordinator ‘and’ whose use is independent of the meaning of the conjuncts or any semantic nuances of conjunction that might be conveyed. But many languages have different conjunctive constructions depending on semantic factors.”

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7.4.1.1 Asyndetic Tutrugbu is one of the languages that use different conjunctive constructions. It will be recalled that in chapter 5, it was shown that noun phrases are conjoined with a linker nɛ. Nɛ is different from the overt clausal coordinator that occurs in Tutrugbu. Before discussing the overt clausal coordinator, let’s first consider the canonical symmetric conjunctive coordination, which is expressed asyndetically. That is to say it is expressed with a simple juxtaposition of the coordinated coordinands (cf. Haspelmath 2004). The examples below illustrate this: (48) a. ki-vũ Kof i a-vɛ sukuu Kwame a-zã CM3-day_removed NAME AM-go school NAME AM-remain bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM8-house inside ‘Yesterday Kofi went to school and Kwame stayed home.’ b. m’inu apalete onu m’edzini mɛ i-nu a-pãleté o-nu mɛ e-dzini 1SG:IND AM-be CM1-landlord 2SG-be 1SG:IND CM1-wife ‘I am your husband and you are my wife.’ There is a single piece of non-canonical symmetric coordination which is also expressed with an asyndetic construction: (49) no-lũ ɔ-zã-kɔ́ o-lũ 2PL-hear CM2-stay-place AM-hear ‘You hear and (let) the gathering hear.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.011) The coordinants in this sentence cannot be reversed because it is a ritual expression according to which the spokesperson hears the message and then his or her people hear it. In actual practice, all the participants hear the message at the same time. The important thing is that the spokesperson is seen as channeling the message; he or she has to hand it over before anybody can act on it. The spokesperson’s role in communication is discussed in chapter 10. 7.4.1.2 Overlapping Ameka (2003b) defines the overlapping clause as one in which “the subject of the second clause is coreferential with the object of the first clause.” Strictly speaking, the overlapping clause also involves asyndetic coordination because there is no overt conjuct. This is illustrated by the following examples:

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(50) a. i-klú Kof i a-bá 1SG-call NAME 3SG-come ‘I called Kofi and he came.’ b. i-tɔ ki-kũ ki-bí 1SG-boil CM3-yam CL3-be_cooked ‘I boiled yam and it became cooked.’ In (49a), the subject pronoun of the second coordinand refers back to Kofi, which is the object of the first, while in (49b) it refers to ‘yam’. Unlike the symmetric coordination discussed above, events expressed in the first coordinand can precede the second in time. In other words, I must call Kofi before he responds and, similarly, I must boil the yams before it becomes cooked. However, the lack of simultaneity is not always clear. Consider the example below: (51) i-bho ki-vũ=ɔ ki-yi 1SG-beat CM3-drum=DEF PRON-sound ‘I beat the drums and it sounded (loudly).’ In this case, one may argue that the sounding of the drums is simultaneous with the beating. And yet, we do not have a symmetric situation because the sounding of the drums cannot precede the beating. 7.4.1.3 K(ɛ)lɛ The next type of conjunctive coordination involves the overt coordinator kɛlɛ, which, as discussed in chapter 2, is also pronounced klɛ. Kɛlɛ asserts events that occur in a sequence. It is therefore glossed as (and) ‘then’. (52) a. a-shɛ̃-nɔ bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ kɛlɛ a-shɛ̃ 3SG-leave-COM CM8-child DEF then 3SG-leave ‘She abandoned the children and left.’ b. kɛ-zã sɛ bɔ-bhɛ ba-dɔ, kɛlɛ be-tí-nyí ɛklɛ CM3-stay that CM8-hunger VEN-cover then 3PL-NEG-know there gɛ ba-ba-gã REL 3PL-FUT-walk ‘It happened that there was famine and they didn’t know where to go to get food to eat,’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 30)

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c. kɛlɛ yalɔ pɛ adanyɔ riɖiɖi ko kɛlɛ edekú ayɛ télí mɛ kɛlɛ yɛ a-lɔ́ pɛ a-da-nyɔ riɖiɖi ko kɛlɛ then 3SG:IND AM-rise just 3SG-ITIVE-roam continuously just then e-de-kú a-yɛ té-lí mɛ 3SG-ITIVE-arrive CM1-forest AM-SPECI inside ‘Then he got up and wondered for a long time and then he arrived in a forest.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 30–32) In all the examples, events in the clause preceding kɛlɛ precede the ones that follow it. Sentences (52b and c) show that kɛlɛ can begin a sentence or clause and connect an event to one in the preceding clause or sentence. This occurs mainly in narratives. Commenting on the translation of the conjunction in other languages as ‘and’, ‘and then’, ‘then’, Haspelmath (2004: 13) writes: It is difficult to judge to what extent this sequential meaning is part of the coordinators’ meaning and to what extent it simply derives from contexts in which sequences of events are reported. Lefebvre (§ 1) notes that Fongbe bɔ and bó are translated as ‘and then’ when they occur in perfective clauses, and as ‘and’ when they occur in imperfective clauses. She concludes that the sequential sense is a contextual, not an inherent, property of these coordinators. This quote about Fongbe does not apply to kɛlɛ because it expresses sequential events in all its occurrences. By contrast, the conjunction pɛ, which is discussed in the next section, can, depending on the context, express sequential or simultaneous events. 7.4.1.4 Pɛ Pɛ also occurs as a clausal conjunction. The sentences below, the first of which is elicited, show that it can conjoin simultaneous events: (53) a. Kof i hu ki-hu pɛ Ami yu ki-hu NAME hit CM3-drum CONJ NAME weave CM3-drum ‘Kofi beats the drum while Ami dances.’ b. otsí err ɔɖa lɛ́ gɛ lɔ́ ŋã pɛ bɔlɔ́ kɔ dzu dɔ́ nɔ otsí err ɔ-ɖa lɛ́ gɛ lɔ́ -ŋã pɛ bɔ-lɔ́ kɔ dzi now um CM2-metal be_at REL 1PL-eat then 1PL-take buy

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bɔ-dɔ́ nɔ CM8-thing TP ‘Now, there is a money (metal) which we spend and we use to buy things.’ (Sroe.244) c. pɛ a-á-ɖi aɖɔ pɛ eébu hɔɛ koɔ, klɛ alɔ́ kɔ ɔhɔɛ hú séƒoƒo etsipi nɔ, pɛ a-á-ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ pɛ e-é-bu a-hɔɛ then 3SG-PROG-say CM4-speech then 3SG-PROG-remove CM7-hand ko=ɔ, klɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ ɔ-hɔɛ hú séƒoƒo ke-tsipi nɔ, just=TP then 3SG-take CM2-hand hit flower CM4-pot DEF ‘As he is talking and moving his hands, then he used his hands to hit the flower pot.’ (Focus1.297) The next sentence shows, however, that depending on the context, pɛ can also be interpreted as ‘and then’: (54) Bɔkɔ́ al’ ɔgã pɛ sin’ alɛ méke pétéé nɔ bɔ-kɔ́ alɛ ɔ-gã pɛ senɔ alɛ méke pétéé nɔ 1PL-give 3PL 2SG-walk then greet 3PL finish INT TP ‘When we welcome them, and then finish greeting them all.’ (Sroe .011) Pɛ is therefore the Tutrugbu equivalent of the conjunction in Fongbe that Lefebvre (2004), according to Haspelmath (2004), describes. 7.4.2 Adversative Tutrugbu has two adversative conjuncts, namely pɔ and gaké; the latter is borrowed from Ewe. The sentences below illustrate the use of pɔ: (55) a. ba-gbã bɔ-pã ́ mɛ piapí, pɔ anɛanɔ a-má 3PL-sweep CM8-house inside well but nobody AM-NEG:be_at bɔ-pã ́ mɛ CM8-house inside ‘The house had been swept clean but there was nobody in the house.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) b. Ju alasɛ ansɛ Gbahu=ɔ ba-ká-vɛ nɛ́ Nyagasi ɔ-kɔ́ seems like Gbahu=DEF 3PL-still-go PREP NAME CM2-place

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he INTERJ ‘It looks like they are going to Gagbeƒe, in the direction of Chief Nyagasi’s place.’ c. Jo pɔ be-ti-lí ɔ-kɔ́ te-nukpó lo But 3SG-still-be_at CM2-place AM-one INTERJ ‘But they are still in one place.’ (Men & Tree.1153) Sentence (55b) shows two people co-constructing disjunctive clauses. The first speaker (Ju) gives a description of a Men & Tree picture that could suggest that the men in the picture are in motion. The second speaker (Jo) wants to make sure that that is not the case and, therefore, uses the disjunctive marker pɔ to begin his sentence. This sentence shows that pɔ can be used to begin a sentence. The next set of sentences illustrate the use of gaké which, as noted, is borrowed from Ewe: (56) a. bunu aka tenukpó éy’úmɔ́, gaké bɔbamá kpɛ́ egbogbǒ tetí mɛ bu-nu a-ka te-nukpó e-yi bɔ-mɔ́ gaké 1PL-be CM1-father AM-one CM1-child CM8-give_birth but bɔ-ba-má kpɛ́ e-gbogbǒ te-tí mɛ 1PL-VEN-divide put_in CM1-clan AM-four inside ‘We are born of one father but we have been divided into four clans.’ (Odumasi clan.008–009). b. balɛ tsyɛ́ be-nu e-yi e-lẽ-yí á-ka-eyí, 3PL:IND also AM-be CM1-child CM1-mother-child CM1-father-child gaké balɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ á-pɔ̃ ́ nɛ́ blɔ́ shú vɛ Gbahǔ but 3PL:IND as_for AM-drop PREP 1PL:IND skin go NAME ‘They are also children, (same) mother and father’s children but as for them, they separated from us and went to Gbahu.’ (Odumasi clan.194– 195) 7.4.3 Disjunction Harley (2005: 499) writes: “Disjunction is a logical relationship between propositions, such that if the whole conjoined structure is true, then at least one of the individual conjuncts is true. In other words, disjunction presents a choice between alternatives.” In general, disjunction markers are fairly easily borrowed. The disjunctive conjunct in Tutrugbu, which is aló ‘or’, is borrowed from Ewe. It is used in the sentences below: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(57) a. o-bo-téŋú dɛ́ kɔ́ a-nɔnɔ tsyɛ́, alo be-teli 2SG-FUT-be_able sell give CM1-EXIST:INDEF also or CM5-SPECI tsyɛ́ ba-lɔkɔ tɔ akpɛtɛshi also AM-take cook akpeteshi ‘You can sell it to people also, or some people also use it to distill the local gin akpeteshi.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.176–177) b. tɛ ãw̃ ɔ̃ hũ dza-dzã ̌ tɛ́-ba-zã, aló tɛ-wa-wlakɛ́ that CM-eye RED-be_red NEG-FUT-stay or CM9-RED-struggle tɛ-ba-kú balɛ (k)i-shí NEG-FUT-arrive 3PL:IND CM3-middle ‘So that there will be no jealousy or strife will not come between them.’ (Odumasi clan.160–161)

7.5

Subordinate Clauses

The category “subordinate clause” has been found to be problematic, and Haiman and Thompson (1984: 510) write: “[the] Subordinate Clause does not seem to be a grammatical category at all. That is, there does not seem to be a single function or even a group of functions that we can think of this category as having been designed, as it were, to serve.” Harley (2005) observes though that functionalists distinguish three types, namely the relative clause, complement clause and adverbial clause. The relative clause was discussed in chapter 5. Complement and adverbial clauses are discussed in this section. 7.5.1 The Complement Clause Like most Kwa languages, Tutrugbu uses a grammaticalized version of the sayverb as the complementizer to introduce complement clauses (cf. Heine and Reh 1984; Lord 1993). The verb, which is sɛ, means to say when it occurs as a main verb. Consider the two examples below: (58) a. err yenú basɛ ga asíéke err yɛ e-nú ba-sɛ ga asíéke Um 3SG:IND AM-be 3PL-say bell nine ‘that is … they say it’s nine o’clock.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.036) b. bukusíɛ́ dé kigbogbó tinikpó mɛ gɛ beklú asɛ Badeshúí. bu-kusí=ɛ́ dé ki-gbogbó ti-nikpó mɛ gɛ be-klú CM8-chief=DEF come_from CM3-clan AM-one inside REL 3PL-call

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a-sɛ Badeshúí SCONN-say NAME ‘The chief comes from one clan that is called Badeshui.’ (Sroe.094) In (58a), sɛ is the only verb and it takes the complement ga asíéke ‘9 o’clock’, which is borrowed from Ewe. Sentence (58b) is a borderline case between an SVC, with sɛ as V2, and a complement clause in which sɛ is the complementizer. This is because sɛ takes a serial connector. The situation is similar to Ewe where the complementizer bé also occurs with the habitual morpheme in some contexts (Clements 1972; Essegbey 1994). In an extensive discussion of the clause combining strategies in Tafi in which sɛ functions as a complementizer, Bobuafor (2013: 276) classifies the matrixclause verbs that take the complement clause as utterance verbs, perceptioncognitive verbs, manipulative verbs, desiderative verbs and modality verbs. Since the clause in Tutrugbu behaves, for the most part, like that in Tafi, I adopt Bobuafor’s classification. However, I replace utterance verbs with verbs of communication (for reasons which I give in section 7.5.1.1 below) and, instead of manipulative verbs, I use the term causative verbs. 7.5.1.1 Verbs of Communication I use verbs of communication following Levin (1993) to include tell-verbs (e.g. tseɖé ‘tell’), manner of speaking verbs (e.g., kpé ozi ‘shout’), say-verbs (e.g. ɖɔ ‘say’), and advise. Below are some examples: (59) a. so n’íbui nɔ́ lṹ ɛbaɖɔ sɛ err anyɛ́ɛ́ y’ayɛ kitsikpi nɔ́ so nɛ́ kí-bui nɔ́ lṹ ɛ-ba-ɖɔ sɛ err so PREP CM3-thing DEF mouth 1SG-FUT-say that um a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ a-yɛ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ CM1-man=DEF 3SG:IND AM-break CM3-pot DEF ‘Therefore based on the thing, I would say that the man broke the pot.’ (Focus1.244) b. pɛ e-é-klu e-bú=ɔ́ sɛ á-ba ko then 3SG-PROG-call CM1-dog=DEF that 3SG-come just e-bu=ɔ́ tsyɛ́ kóéyi CM1-dog=DEF also exit ‘Then he is calling the dog to come and the dog also comes out.’ (Frog_ Story_PB.205)

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In (59a) the verb of the main clause is ɖɔ ‘say’ and it is immediately followed by the complementizer sɛ. This shows that a say verb can take a say-word as its complementizer. However, as examples (58a and b) show, when sɛ itself occurs as the main verb, it does not take the complementizer. In (59b) the complementizer follows the direct object of klu ‘call’ because the verb can take two complements. The complement clause is therefore the second complement of the verb. 7.5.1.2 Speech Act Speech act verbs express acts that are performed wholly or partly by saying something (Malmkjaer, 2004). Performatives usually take the first person subject pronoun. Consider the examples below: (60) a. klisoɔ buɖe kúkú kɔ́ nɔ, sɛ kibe abha bhɛbhɛ́tɛ nɔ́ kliso= ɔ bu-ɖe kúkú kɔ́ wɔnɔ sɛ ki-be Therefore=TP 1SG-remove hat give 2PL:IND that CM3-time ka-bha bhɛ-bhɛ́tɛ nɔ́ CM4-top RED-do TP ‘Therefore we would beg you that being on time.’ (Chief-Bereaved_ family.039–040) b. ee ɛ-ba-krá wɔ sɛ ɛ-ba-shɛ̃ aló ɛ́-shɛ̃ yes 1SG-FUT-give_notice 2SG that 1SG-FUT-leave or 1SG-leave oo ADDR ‘Yes, I will inform you that I will leave or I leave.’ Nyagbo people appear to have lost the expression for apologizing and therefore use the Ewe expression ɖe kúkú ‘beg’ in (60a) which, as the gloss shows, literally means to remove hat. Sentence (60b) shows a common tradition in West Africa which is that visitors have to verbally take leave of their hosts before departing. To do that, the pan-Kwa expression kra (or, for some speakers, kla), which means to give notice is used. 7.5.1.3 Perception & Cognition Perception verbs include verbs of seeing, hearing and knowing. They occur in the examples below: (61) a. ɔ-mɔ sɛ ga té-lí mɛ bɔ-ɖɔ sɛ dzyalélé. 2SG-see that bell AM-SPECI inside 1PL-say that dzalele ‘You see that at a certain time we say dzalele.’ (Sroe.316) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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b. mɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ mɔ dzesi, sɛ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ nɔ́ a-nyɛ=ɛ́ 1SG:IND as_for see sign that CM2-anger DEF CM1-man=DEF a-gbla-kpɛ́ ɔ́ -mɔpɔɛ nɔ f ánɔ AM-too_much-put_in CM2-anger DEF too_much ‘As for me, I realized that the man was still too angry.’ (Focus1.301–302) c. nolũ ɔzãkɔ́ olũ tɛ baka elũ sɛ kana tɔ́ gbé aáɖɔ no-lũ ɔ-zã-kɔ́ o-lũ tɛ ba-ka e-lũ sɛ 2PL-hear CM2-stay-place AM-hear COMP CM5-father AM-hear that kana tɔ́ gbé a-á-ɖɔ thus chief AM-PROG-say ‘you hear and the gathering will hear, that the ancestors hear, that this is what the chief is saying.’ (Chief-Bereaved-family.011–012) d. ó-nyí sɛ wɔnɔ nɔ-ɖɔ ki-búí ti-lí mána 2SG-know that 2PL:IND 2PL-say CM3-matter AM-SPECI bring ɔlɔ́ kɔ́ ótsíɛ lo 1PL:OBJ give now ADDR ‘You know that you all you said something to us now.’ Both (61a and b) have mɔ ‘see’ as the matrix verb. However, in (61b), mɔ takes the Ewe complement dzesi ‘sign’ and, thereby, yields the Ewe calque for ‘to realize’. Sentence (61a) has two sɛ-complement clauses, one of which is embedded in the other. The initial complement clause has a temporal adverbial phrase in clause-initial position. In (61b) the object of the main verb ɔmɔpɔɛ ‘anger’ is topicalized and a copy placed in clause-initial position. In (61c), the complement clause of the sɛ-complementizer comes after the second lũ ‘hear’. This sentence also has an adverb in the initial position of the complement clause. 7.5.1.4 Verbs of Desire The verbs of desire that take the complementizer sɛ are pɛ ‘want’ and dzyó ró ‘desire’. They are shown in the examples below: (62) a. nɔpɛ ɔsɛ bɔɖɔ Banyá bukusí ŋa ŋa nɔ-pɛ́ ɔ-sɛ bɔ-ɖɔ Banyá bu-kusí ŋa-ŋa 2PL-want AM-that 1PL-say Sroe CM8-chief RED-eat ‘You want us to talk about chieftaincy in Sroe.’ (Sroe.046)

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b. ɛrr ɛrr ɛgɛ pɛ s’ ɛɖɔ ɛklɛ́ ɛrr ɛrr ɛ-gɛ-pɛ sɛ ɛ-ɖɔ ɛ-klɛ́ um um 1SG-NEG:PST-want that 1SG-say CM6-that ‘I didn’t want to say that.’ (Sroe.159) c. kɛlɛ kibe nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ɔpɛ sɛ tɛ ɔɖaɛ aló tɛ ɔŋa, obotsoe kɔ́ tɛŋaŋa aló tɛɖaɖa kɛlɛ ki-be nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ɔ-pɛ sɛ tɛ then CM3-time EXIST:INDEF REL 2SG-want that that ɔ-ɖa-í alo tɛ ɔ-ŋa, o-bo-tso-í kɔ́ 2SG-cook-3SG:OBJ or COMP 2-eat 2SG-FUT-dig-3SG:OBJ give tɛ-ŋa-ŋa alo tɛ-ɖa-ɖa CM9-RED-eat or CM9-RED-cook ‘The time that you want to plant it or eat it, you cut it for eating or planting.’ (Farming.035–036) d. e-dzyó ró mɛ sɛ tɛ mɛ́ wɛ̃ bu-nu 3SG-desire 1SG that that 1SG:IND drink CM8-drink ‘I feel like drinking alcohol.’ Sentences (62a–c) all involve pɛ ‘want’. In (62a) pɛ occurs in the positive while in (62b) it occurs in the negative. Sɛ takes a marker in (62a) that shows verbal traces similar to example (58b). The difference is that in this case, the first person plural pronominal subject is copied on the sɛ making it look like a variant of an SVC. Unlike English, but as occurs in all Kwa languages, the complement clause in (62b) has an overt subject even though it is coreferential with that of the matrix clause. In (62c), sɛ occurs with the irrealis complementizer tɛ. This is the same in (62d) where the verb dzyó ró ‘desire’ is borrowed from Ewe dzró. 7.5.1.5 Purposive Purposive clauses are usually introduced by the irrealis complementizer tɛ alone, as briefly mentioned in chapter 5 and discussed in section 7.5.2.6 below. However, the examples below show that they are sometimes preceded by sɛ: (63) a. kɛlɛ nɔba sɛ t’ obisi lɔ́ . kɛlɛ nɔ-bá sɛ tɛ no-bisi ɔlɔ́ then 2PL-come that COMP 2SG-ask 1PL:OBJ ‘Then you came to ask us.’ (Sroe.057)

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b. ɛyɛ́kɛ ŋa bulĩ kpɛkpɛ́ ké adatɔɖɔ kɔ́ má […] sɛ tɛ awɛ̃ ɛ-yɛkɛ ŋa bu-lĩ kpɛkpɛ́ ké a-da-tɔɖɔ kɔ́ 1SG-receive eat CM8-water hot INT 3SG-ITIVE-put_on give má […] sɛ tɛ a-wɛ̃ separate […] that that 3SG-drink ‘I believe it is just hot water that she poured for […] that he drinks.’ (Focus1.080–081) Sentence (63a) is said by the chief who is reiterating the purpose for which we went to visit him. A literal translation of the sentence would be ‘you came that that you ask us’. Once again, we see that the subject is obligatorily expressed in the embedded clause. In (63b) there is a complement clause after yɛkɛ ŋa ‘believe’ (literally ‘receive eat’) but this is not introduced by a complementizer. There is a purpose clause embedded inside this clause that is introduced by sɛ and the irrealise complementizer tɛ. 7.5.1.6 Causative Like all Kwa languages, the give-verb also functions as a causative predicate, as shown in the example below: (64) kɛlɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛgɛɖi aɖɔ vɛnɔ klɛ shú kɛlɛ kɔ́ sɛ ɛ-gɛ-ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ vɛ-nɔ kɛlɛ shú this give that 1SG-NEG:PST-say CM4-speech go-COM CL3:IND skin ‘That has made me not to talk about it.’ (literally that has made that I did not talk about it) (Sroe.173) Whenever kɔ́ ‘give’ is followed by a complement clause introduced by sɛ, as in 64, it expresses that the entity, or event expressed in subject position causes the event expressed in the complement position to happen. 7.5.2 Adverbial Clauses In this section, I discuss adverbial clauses that modify clauses and, thereby, function as subordinate to the latter. I use the forms that introduce the various clauses to discuss them since some of them serve more than one function. 7.5.2.1 Ónúpɛ Every Kwa language has a morpheme that introduces what is usually characterized as the conditional clause and a temporal clause. The examples below illustrate this duality of function in Ewe and Akan:

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(65) a. né wò-vá ko lá mí-á-dzó NE 3SG-come just TP 1PL-SUBJ-leave ‘When s/he comes then we leave.’

Ewe

b. né wò-vá lá mí-a-dzó NE 3SG-come TP 1PL-POT-leave ‘If s/he comes, then we leave.’

Ewe

(66) a. sɛ ɔ-bá áa ná yɛ-a-kɔ́ Sɛ 3SG-come TP then 1PL-PERF-leave ‘When s/he comes, then we go.’

Akan

b. sɛ ɔ-bá áa yɛ-bɛ́-kɔ́ Sɛ 3SG-come TP 1PL-FUT-leave ‘If s/he comes we will go.’

Akan

Né in Ewe and sɛ in Akan introduce temporal and conditional clauses in the (a and b) sentences respectively. In Ewe, the functions are distinguished by the fact that the conditional takes a Terminal Particle but the temporal clause does not. In Akan, the main clause of the temporal construction has the perfective while the conditional has a future. The form that behaves like né and sɛ in Tutrugbu is ónúpɛ. Bobuafor (2013) proposes that the equivalent of the form in Tafi, which is ónúpı, is a combination of ónú and the conjunction pı. She writes: “The meaning of the form ónú is not yet clear however it seems that the form consists of the 2SG impersonal subject pronoun ó and the copula verb nú ‘COP’ ” (Bobuafor 2013: 284). In addition to onupı, Tafi has ónúgı, which Bobuafor analyzes as a combination of ónú and the relative morpheme. Unlike Tafi, Tutrugbu does not have onugɛ. Instead, it has only ónúpɛ. The examples below involve temporal uses: (67) a. ónúpɛ bukú sɔlɛmɛ ɛ, bɔlɔ bhɛtɛkɔ́ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɔ ɔlɛ klɛ́, kã ́ bɔvɛ abha é ónúpɛ bu-kú sɔlɛmɛ-ɛ bɔlɔ bhɛtɛ-kɔ́ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ónúpɛ 1PL-reach church-TP 1PL:IND do-place EXIS:INDEF REL ɔ-lɛ klɛ́ kã ́ bɔ-vɛ ka-bha é CL2-be_at there then 1PL-go CM4-top PRT ‘when we get to the church, the things we have to do there, then we continue.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.018–020)

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b. ónúpɛ baŋa blunya beke kɛlɛ ɔbɔkpɛ ayɛ tsatsã esi ónúpɛ ba-ŋa blunya beke kɛlɛ ɔ-bɔ-kpɛ a-yɛ ónúpɛ 3PL-eat christmas finish then 2SG-FUT-put_in CM1-forest tsa-tsã ke-si RED-clear CM4-under ‘When Christmas celebration is ended, then you start clearing the forest.’ (Farming.002) c. ónúpɛ obóɔ́, pɛ ɔmɔ sɛ bukpe f ánɔ kɔ́ wɔ tɛ-wɔ-wɔ̃ ɛ, ɔbɔdɛɛ, ónúpɛ o-bó=ɔ́, pɛ ɔ-mɔ sɛ bukpe f ánɔ onupɛ 2SG-tap=TP then 2SG-see that PRON-be_plenty too_much kɔ́ wɔ tɛ-wɔ-wɔ̃ ɛ, ɔ-bɔ-dɛ-í, give 2SG:IND CM9-RED-drink, 2SG-FUT-sell-3SG:OBJ ‘When you tap palm wine and it is more than you can drink, then you sell it.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.166–168) Sentence (67a) is part of a message from the spokesperson of the paramount chief of the Nyagbo to a bereaved family. They had just completed performing the customs for the day and were preparing to retire and prepare for the burial the following day. It is therefore clear that they will go to the church the following day. The ónúpɛ-clause is therefore not a conditional clause. It ends in the terminal particle. Immediately following this clause is the topicalized complement of the main clause, which is placed in clause-initial position (see chapter 10 for the complete text). Sentence (67b) also describes an activity that the Nyagbo people often carry out as part of their preparation of the land for farming. After Christmas celebration (during which time vegetation is dried up because of the parched harmattan winds), the forest is cleared. The interesting thing about this example is that even though the ónúpɛ-clause is not a conditional clause, the verb in the following main clause takes the future tense. This suggests that the tense on the verb in the main clause is not an indication of whether or not ónúpɛ gets a conditional or temporal interpretation. The speaker is free to choose either depending on what he or she wants to communicate. Sentence (67c) is a bridge between a temporal and a conditional interpretation. This sentence is part of the discussion of tapping palmwine, which is also one of the occupational practices of the Nyagbo people. Here, the clause pɛ ɔmɔ sɛ bukpe f á nɔ kɔ́ wɔ tɛwɔwɔ̃ ɛ ‘and you see that it is too much for you to drink’ could be interpreted as either a temporal or a conditional. The following examples, unlike the preceding ones uncontroversially express the conditional:

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(68) a. onupɛ wɔ te-nikpo wɔ lɔ pɛ ɔ-ba ɛ-kɛlɛ, onupɛ 2SG:IND AM-one 2SG:IND rise then 2SG-come CM3-here o-bo-tsi 2SG-FUT-die ‘If you get up and come here alone, you will die.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34) b. kliso ónúpɛ kibui nána abhama wɔnɔ baka tsyɛ́ ahɔɛ ɛ, klɛ nɔkɔ́ ɔli dzo kliso ónúpɛ ki-bui nána a-ba-ma wɔnɔ therefore ónúpɛ CM3-matter not_any AM-VEN-NEG:be_at 2PL:IND ba-ka tsyɛ́ a-hɔɛ-ɛ klɛ nɔ-kɔ́ ɔlɔ ki-dzǒ CM5-father also CM7-hand-TP then 2PL-give 1PL:OBJ CM3-path ‘Therefore if there is nothing left for you the fathers too, then give us the permission (to leave).’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.023) The examples of conditional clauses suggest that there is no structural distinction between the clauses that yield a temporal interpretation and the ones that yield a conditional interpretation. For instance, while the temporal clause in (67a) ends with a terminal particle, that in (67b) does not. Similarly while the conditional clause in (68b) has the Terminal Particle, that of (68a) does not. Furthermore, the main clause could take any tense or mood. In this, the construction is different from that in Ewe where only the conditional takes a terminal particle, and Akan where na only applies to the temporal clause. For Tutrugbu therefore, it appears best to analyze ónúpɛ as an irrealis morpheme which, depending on the context, yields a temporal or conditional interpretation. Bobuafor (2013) reports that although the conditional often occurs before the main clause in Tafi, it can, in rare cases, occur after the main clause. Her example is provided below: (69) Kof i asɩ´ abashɩ˜ onugɩ sʊ́ bha adɩdɔʔ Kof i a-sɩ´ a-ba-shɩ˜ onu.gɩ sʊb́ ha a-dɩ-dɔ Kofi AM-say 3SG.DEP-FUT-leave COND rain SM-NEG2-land ‘Kofi said he will leave if it did not rain.’ (Bobuafor 2013: p. 282, ex 77) Tutrugbu does not allow the ónúpɛ-clause to come after the main clause. 7.5.2.2 Suprasegment—High Tone on Subject Pronoun Tutrugbu also forms a temporal clause in which the subject pronoun takes a high tone. Consider the examples below:

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(70) a. bɔ́ kɔ́ ál’ ɔ́ gã, pɛ sɛn’ alɛ́ méke pétéé nɔ́, kã ́ bubísi alɛ amanéɛ́ bɔ́ -kɔ́ alɛ́ ɔ́ -gã pɛ sɛnɔ alɛ méke pétéé nɔ́ 1PL-give 3PL:OBJ 2SG-walk then greet 3PL:OBJ finish all TP kã ́ bu-bisí alɛ́ amanéɛ́ then 1PL-ask 3PL:OBJ what_is_it ‘When we welcome them, and finish greeting them all, then we ask them what brings them here.’ (Sroe.010–012) b. ɔ́ bhɛ́tɛ y’ anáá, ónúpɛ ot’ ɔ́ lɛ́ mɛ anáá, kɛlɛ kif úɔ́ kɛbatsyɔ́ sɔ́ lɛ ɔ́ -bhɛ́tɛ yɛ aná=á ónúpɛ o-tẽ ɔlɛ́ mɛ aná=á 2SG-do 3SG:IND thus=TP ónúpɛ 2SG-cut CL2:IND inside thus=TP kɛlɛ ki-f ú=ɔ́ kɛ-ba-tsyɔ sɔ́ lɛ then CM3-fire=DEF AM-FUT-quickly catch_fire ‘When you do it like that, if you cut into it like that, then the fire will catch quickly.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.008–010) c. Kof í ábáá ɛbaklú wɔ́ Kof í á-bá=á ɛ-ba-klǔ wɔ́ NAME AM-come=TP 1SG-FUT-call 2SG ‘When Kofi comes, I will call you.’ The tone of subject pronouns and agreement marker in the temporal clauses in (70a, 70b) and (70c) respectively is high. Sentence (70b) shows that this strategy is an alternative way to express a when-clause in Tutrugbu. In this case, the speaker begins with a temporal clause in which the subject pronoun is a high tone. This is followed by a restatement using the ónúpɛ-clause. When the ó nú pɛ-clause is used, the subject does not take a high tone. Another property of this temporal clause is that it always takes a terminal particle. In (70a), it is nɔ́ while in (70b), it is a lengthening of the a of ana ‘thus’. Finally, the following clause is always introduced by kɛlɛ or kã both of which, in this context, means ‘then’. 7.5.2.3 Ko The suprasegment-type clause sometimes ends with ko, an intensifier which I gloss as ‘just’. In most cases (although not all), ko can translate as ‘as soon as’. (71) a. err áwɛ̃ méke pétéé ko, kɛlɛ adzɛ̃ nɔ́ ezekóéyi err á-wɛ̃ méke pétéé ko kɛlɛ a-dzɛ̃ nɔ́ Um 3SG-drink finish all just then CM1-woman DEF

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e-ze-kóéyi AM-REP-exit ‘When she finished drinking then the woman went out again.’ (Focus1 .031–032) b. bunyi dɛ elĩ mɛ búnyabá ko, buŋa dɔ̃ bu-nyi dɛ ke-lĩ mɛ bɔ-nya bá ko, bɔ-ŋa 1PL-MOD go CM4-water inside 1PL-MOD come just 1PL-eat bɔ-dɔ̃ CM8-thing ‘As soon as we go to fetch water and return, (then) we eat.’ (Children_ Stories.146–147) In (71a and b), the subject pronoun takes a high tone and, in addition, the adverbial clauses end with ko.instead of the Terminal Particle. 7.5.2.3.1 The gɛ-clause In chapter 5, I showed that gɛ is the relativizer that introduces relative clauses in Tutrugbu. There is a cross-linguistic tendency to use this morpheme to introduce temporal clauses as well. When it does, the gɛ-clause, like the ónúpɛclause, precedes the main clause. Yet while the ónúpɛ-clause describes events that have not yet occurred, gɛ introduces temporal clauses that express events that have occurred. Consider the examples below: (72) a. gaké gɛ aŋhũ kpakpa bábaá, batɛ́kaábhɛtɛ gaké gɛ a-wɔ̃ hũ ̌ kpa-kpa ba-bá=á but REL CM7-eye RED-force_open VEN-come=TP ba-tɛ́-ka-á-bhɛtɛ 3PL-NEG-not_yet-PROG-do ‘But since civilization has come, that is no longer being done.’ (Odumasi_Customs.078–079) b. gɛ o-kotokú nɔ́ lo-yí so=ɔ gɛ a-á-ba=a REL CM2-sack DEF AM-be_full so=TP REL 3SG-PROG-come=TP bɔ-ŋaŋa te-lí a-wɔ́ lɛ CM8-food AM-SPECI AM-drop ‘Because the sack was full, as he was going, some dropped on the ground.’ (Essegbey et al 2011: 34)

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Sentence (72a) is part of the narration of the customs of the Nyagbo people in Odumase. The narrator points out here that some of the practices have been discontinued due to modernity. Civilization (or, literally, the opening of the eye) is a reality, not something that is expected to happen. A similar situation occurs in (72b). The background of the story is that due to famine, Spider went into the forest in search of food and found an old woman who could order a pot to cook for him him. There was one restriction which is that the food was not supposed to touch the gound. Tsambhi followed Spider to the place once and got the food and was told of the taboo. He went there on his own another time and overfilled his sack. According to (72b), because the sack was overfilled with food, some of it fell on his way back home. One crucial thing to note about gɛ-clauses is that the aspect of the verb determines whether the event is interpreted as completed (as in 72a) or ongoing (as in 72b). Bobuafor (2013: 292) refers to gɛ clause as a simultaneous clause because “it marks two events as having occurred simultaneously”. Yet while the event expressed by gɛ-clause provides the backdrop against which the event specified in the main clause happens, the two do not need to be simultaneous. This is illustrated by the example below: (73) g’oklu mɛ́ɛ,́ ɛba gɛ o-klú mɛ=ɛ́, ɛ-bá REL 2SG-call 1SG=TP, 1SG-come ‘When you called me, I came.’ In this example, the calling necessarily precedes the coming. The events are therefore not simultaneous. 7.5.2.3.2 Flógo pɛ Flógo means ‘before’. It occurs with pɛ to introduce an adverbial clause which is referred to here as the before-clause. (74) a. klɛ́ ezhi ávɛ ni kiziɛ mɛ, f logo pɛ obúɔ́ tsyɛ́ yi tsyɛ́ zhi kú kizĩɛ mɛ nɛ ɛklɛ́ klɛ́ e-zhi á-vɛ nɛ́ ki-zi=ɛ mɛ, f logo then 3SG-descend SCONN-go PREP CM3-valley=DEF inside before pɛ e-bú=ɔ́ tsyɛ́ yɛ tsyɛ́ zhi kú then CM1=dog=DEF also 3SG:IND also descend reach ki-zĩ=ɛ mɛ nɛ́ ɛklɛ́ CM3-valley=DEF inside PREP there ‘Then he descended into the valley before the dog also fell into the valley there.’ (Frog_Story_PB.175–176)

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b. bábhɛ́tɛ ɛlɛ lɛ béke ɛ, f logo p’ótsíi babatɔ kikũɔ bá-bhɛ́tɛ ɛlɛ lɛ béke=ɛ, f logo pɛ otsi=ɛ́ 3PL-do CL3:OBJ this finish=TP before then now=TP ba-ba-tɔ ki-kũ=ɔ 3PL-FUT-cook CM3-yam=DEF ‘When they finish this before they now cooked the yams.’ (Odumasi_ Customs.244–245) c. f lógo p’ ɔgbana adzɛ̃ɛ, ahĩa sɛ tɛ odobisi y’ɔtɔ nɛ y’elẽ nɛ y’aka kɔ́ f lógo pɛ ɔ-gbana a-dzɛ̃=ɛ, a-hĩa sɛ before then 2SG-marry CM1-woman=TP 3SG-need that o-do-bisi yɛ ɔ-tɔ̃ nɛ́ yɛ e-lẽ nɛ 2SG-ITIVE-ask 3SG:IND CM2-ear PREP 3SG:IND CM1-mother LNK yɛ a-ka ɔ-kɔ́ 3SG:IND CM1-father CM2-place ‘Before you marry a woman, you have to go and ask of her hand from her mother and father.’ (Odumasi_Customs.033–034) In (74a and b), the f lógo-clause follows the main clause while in (74c), it precedes the main clause. While most occurrences of f lógo are followed by pɛ, there is one instance in which it is followed by tɛ. This is given below: (75) ki-bui tí-lí lɛ́ tɛ kɛ-lɛ́ tɛ ɔ-bhɛ́tɛ kɔ́ CM3-matter AM-SPECI be_at COMP PRON-be_at COMP 2SG-do give mɛ f lógo tɛ ɛ-shɛ̃ 1SG before that 1SG-leave ‘There is something you need to do for me before I leave.’ In this instance, the adverbial clause expresses that the event has not yet occurred. This is in line with the analysis of tɛ as an irrealis complementizer. As I mentioned earlier, Bobuafor (2013) notes that in addition to occurring with pɛ and tɛ, f lógo can also occur with gɛ in Tafi. Her example is given below: (76) f logo g’ǒbotsyinā ’lɩ´ nɩ´ obotsodzī nɩ tɩnɔ´ ɛĺ ɩĺ ɩń ɩ´ ɔḱ a petee f logo gɩ o-bo-tsyinā bʊlɩ nɩ´] o-bo-tsodzī-nɩ before REL 2SG.DEP-FUT-turn water TOP 2SG-FUT-return-COM tɩ-nɔ´ ɩ́-lɩ́lɩ́nɩ́ ɔ-́ka pétéé CM-chaff AM-DIST SM-squeeze all ‘Before you will pour it (the water) out, you will have to completely squeeze that chaff again.’ (Palm oil) (Bobuafor 2013: p. 286, ex. 90) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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7.5.2.4 Kɛlɛ so/kliso In section 7.4.1.3, I discussed the use of kɛlɛ as a coordinating conjunction. Kɛlɛ also occurs with so to express result. The example below shows the form straddling the border between coordination and subordination: (77) e-gi-ti sɛ bɔ-tɔ̃ tsyɛ́ kpasɛ o-kotoku nɔ́ 3SG-NEG:PST-know that CM8-ash also be_contained CM2-sack DEF mɛ; kɛlɛ so kɔyatsɔ kɔyatsɔ e-di-ku ɛkɛlɛ béke kúráá inside then so hurry hurry 3SG-ITIVE-arrive there finish even tsyɛ́ ko, e-tsyína ɖi ke-dé=ɛ́ ko a-mɔ sɛ bɔ-tɔ̃ also just 3SG-turn look CM4-back=DEF just 3SG-see that CM8-ask bɔ-lɛ́ yɛ ke-dě. AM-be_at 3SG:IND CM3-back ‘He didn’t know that there was ash in the sack. So he left in a hurry and before you would realize, he was there. Then he turned and looked back and then saw the ash behind him.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) In the story from which (77) is taken, Tsambhi had put some ash in Spider’s sack so that he would be able to follow him surreptitiously. The first line talks about the fact that Spider did not know that there was ash in the sack. Kɛlɛ so in the following sentence connects this lack of knowledge with Spider’s hurry to get to his destination. It also anticipates the next sentence which talks about the fact that when Spider got there and turned round, he saw the ash behind him. The next sentences show a clearer use of kɛlɛ so to express result: (78) kɛ-ŋaŋa nána kɛ-tɛ́-á-pɛ kɛlɛ so ɔ-kɔ́ nyɔ́ kɔ CM3-food none AM-NEG-PROG-want then so CM2-place-every-place má gɛ ɛ-ba-vɛ, kɛlɛ so wɔ ko o-bo-téŋú NEG:be_at REL 1SG-FUT-go then so 2SG:IND just 2SG-FUT-be_able ɔ-plɛ́nɔ mɛ. 2SG-help 1SG ‘There is no food to be found. Therefore only you can can help me. Therefore the old woman told to pot to cook again.’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 32) Sentence (78) has two kɛlɛ so clauses coming after the main clause and, yet, semantically, they cannot be said to all represent the result of the main clause. Instead, the main clause expresses the cause of the immediately following clause; there is no food and, therefore, there is no place to go. This sentence

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then serves as the reason for the next one. Since there is no place to go, Spider has no option but to turn to the old woman. While kɛlɛ so occurs as the introducer of the subordinate clause and occurs in complex sentences in which it follows the main clause, there is kliso which is derived from kɛlɛ so, and which functions as an adverb. Unlike kɛlɛ so, kliso usually follows a sentence pause, thereby indicating that it begins a sentence. However, like kɛlɛ so, it connects the discourse to that in the preceding sentence by providing a reason. Consider the examples below: (79) (PB)

o-bo-yeke 2SG-FUT-swell ‘You will swell.’

(PW)

ó-yéke=ɛ kéɖé gɛ (kɛlɛ) ba-bhɛ́tɛ wɔ́ ? 2SG-swell=TP WH REL (CL3:IND) FUT-do 2SG ‘When you swell, what will happen to you?’

(PB)

bu-tsí o-bo-tsí CM8-die 2SG-FUT-die ‘You will die.’ (lit. it is dying you will die) kliso ba-tɛ́-pɛ̂ á-dzɛ̃ n(ɛ́) a-yakpá mɛ therefore 3PL-NEG-seek CM1-woman PREP CM1-forest inside ‘Therefore it is not good to have sex with a woman in the forest.’ (Odumasi_Customs.321–325)

7.5.2.5 So So alone occurs as a conjunctive adverb where it either occurs at the end of the main clause or begins the adverbial clause. The former agrees with Diessel and Hetterle (2011: 31) who note that causal clauses typically occur at the end of a sentence but in the study of languages in which they precede the main clause, the subordinator occurs at the end of the adverbial clause. So is always followed by a terminal particle. Consider the sentences below: (80) a. ebú ápɛ kɛvɔbɔ́ soɔ, alɔ́ kɔ kɛ … alɔ́ kɔ ɛ́ kɛtakpúɔ ashɔ kpɛ́ɛ ɛkɛ́lɛ́ gɛ kɛvɔbɔ́ zã nɛ́ kitsikpi nɔ́ mɛ e-bú a-pɛ kɛ-vɔbɔ́ so=ɔ a-lɔ́ kɔ kɛ... CM1-dog AM-look_for CM3-frog therefore=TP 3SG-take CM3 … a-lɔkɔ yɛ kɛ-takpú=ɔ a-shɔ kpɛ́ ɛkɛ́lɛ́ gɛ 3SG-take 3SG:IND CM3-head=DEF SCONN-pierce put_in there REL

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kɛ-vɔbɔ́ zã nɛ́ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ mɛ CM3-frog stay PREP CM3-pot DEF inside ‘Since the dog was looking for the frog, it stuck its head in the container in which the frog was located.’ (Frog_Story_PB.033–035) b. gɛ oziɛ́ lɔnɛ́ soɔ, kɛlɛ ɛbhɛtɛ nɛ́ kɛlɛ kɛlɛ...err …ɔyaya nɔ́, ɛbakɔ́ sɛ bulíɛ́ babí kábá gɛ o-zi=ɛ́ lɔ-nɛ́ so=ɔ kɛlɛ ɛ-bhɛtɛ nɛ́ REL CM2-hole=DEF AM-be_wide therefore=TP then 1SG-do PREP kɛlɛ kɛlɛ err ɔ-yaya nɔ́ ɛ-ba-kɔ́ sɛ here here um CM2-dust DEF 1SG-FUT-give that bu-lí=ɛ́ ba-bí kábá CM8-palm_tree=DEF FUT- be_cooked quickly ‘Since the hole is wide, then if I do it here uhm the dust (i.e. smoke), it will make the wine ready quickly.’ (Making_Palm_Wine.094– 096) (81) a. sɛ kɛvlɔ ɛlɛ ɔkɔɔ bɔbhɛ́tɛ ɔlɛ́, soɔ kibuinyébui bhama bɔl’ ahɔɛ sɛ kɛ-vlɔ̌ ɛ-lɛ ɔ-kɔ=ɔ bɔ-bhɛtɛ ɔ-lɛ́ that CM3-morning AM-this CM2-custom=DEF 1PL-do AM-that so=ɔ ki-bui-nye-bui bha-ma bɔlɔ a-hɔɛ so=TP CM3-matter-every-word VEN-NEG:be_at 1PL:IND CM7-hand ‘This morning we have performed the customs, so there is nothing left for us to do.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.014–015) b. anyɛ́ɛ́ agɛdɛmɛ́, akp’ ɔ́ mɔpɔɛ. soɔ agɛ yɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ agɛkpɛ́ samɛ nɛ́ adzɛ̃ɛ́ shú a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ a-gɛ-dɛmɛ́, a-kpɛ́ ɔ-mɔpɔɛ. so=ɔ CM1-man=DEF AM-NEG:PST-agree, 3SG-put_in CM2-anger so=TP a-gɛ … yɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ a-gɛ-kpɛ́ samɛ 3SG:NEG:PST… 3SG:IND as_for 3SG-NEG:PST-put_in happiness nɛ́ a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ shú. PREP CM1-woman=DEF skin ‘The man did not mind her. He was angry. Therefore, as for him, he did not show any happiness towards the woman.’ (Focus1.263– 265) In (79a and 79b), so occurs in the clause that precedes the main clause. I have intentionally used the sentence-initial adverb ‘since’ to translate these sentences even though so occurs at the end of the clause, in order to capture the fact that these are cases in which the subordinate clause precedes the main

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clause. It will be observed that while the so-clause in (79b) is introduced by the relativizer, it is so that gives it the causal semantics. In (80a and b), the so clause occurs after the main clause. In this case, so precedes the sentence and is, therefore, translated as ‘so’ and ‘therefore’. 7.5.2.6 tɛ It was shown in section 7.5.1.4 that tɛ occurs after the verbs of desire pɛ ‘want’ and dzyóró ‘desire’ where it comes after the complementizer sɛ as a second complementizer. Tɛ also occurs as the sole complementizer and expresses purpose. (82) a. blɔ pétéé bɔbhɛtɛ kibe abha é lo, tɛ ibúíɛ́ atsɔ kɔ́ ɔlɔ́ err blɔ pétéé bɔ-bhɛtɛ ki-be ka-bha é lo, tɛ um 1PL:IND all 1PL-do CM3-time CM4-top PRT ADDR that i-búí=ɛ́ a-tsɔ kɔ́ ɔlɔ́ CM6-matter=DEF AM-be_quick give 1PL:OBJ ‘We should all be on time, so that the things go quickly for us.’ (ChiefBereaved_family.041–042) b. dzin’ ibúí gɛ ɔɖɔ ɔ ɖɔ tɛ mélṹ dzini i-búí gɛ ɔ-ɖɔ-ɔ ɖɔ tɛ mɛ é-lṹ repeat CM6-matter REL 2SG-say-TP say that 1PL:IND AGR-hear ‘Repeat what you said so that I hear.’ The examples show that purposive tɛ-clause comes after matrix clauses that contain any type of verb. In (81a), the verb is bhɛtɛ ‘make’ and the message there is about making time (i.e., being on time). In (81b), it is a say-verb. When the verbs are motion verbs, however, then the tendency is to have tɛ preceded by the complementizer sɛ. An example is (82) below: (83) a-bá sɛ tɛ a-ba-mɔ́ mɛ́ 3SG-come that that 3SG-VEN-see 1SG ‘He came in order to see me’ The one known exception is: (84) ɛ-vɛ tɛ ba 1SG-go that come ‘I am going to come.’

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This is a common expression in all Ghanaian languages and has found a calque in Ghanaian English. It is said when someone has to go away but expects to return.

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Sentence Types [The] sentence types of a language form a system, in at least two senses: there are sets of corresponding sentences, the members of which differ only in belonging to different types, and second, the types are mutually exclusive, no sentence being simultaneously of two different types. Thus, in English we can construct endless examples of corresponding declaratives, yes-no questions, and imperatives […] and there is no sentence that is simultaneously of the declarative type and of the imperative type, or of the yes-no type and of the imperative type. Saddock and Zwicky 1985: 158–159

∵ 8.0

Introduction

In this chapter, I discuss declaratives (8.1) and interrogatives (8.2). Imperatives are discussed extensively in Chapter 5. Section (8.3) therefore discusses the structure of imperatives and prohibitives only briefly, and then looks at the cultural contexts in which the imperative is used in Tutrugbu.

8.1

Declaratives

According to König and Siemund (2007), declarative sentences are conventionally and typically used to perform representative (descriptive) speech acts such as assertions, reports, acts of complaining and bragging, but also acts of predicting and promising. They are the unmarked sentence type in a language. In Tutrugbu, the declarative sentence exhibits the basic word order pattern in the language, which is SVO. Sentence (1), which is an assertion, illustrates the word order: (1) Kof i a-á-pɛ yɛ ke-plukpá NAME AM-PROG-look_for 3SG:IND CM4-book S V O ‘Kofi is looking for his book.’ © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_009

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König and Siemund (2007) also note that declaratives may be used to express most of the speech acts distinguished in Searle’s speech act typology. The following are translations into Tutrugbu of sentences by König and Siemund (2007), based on Searle’s typology, all of which involve the declarative: (2) a. subha a-á-dɔ̌ rain AM-PROG-fall ‘It is raining.’

representative speech act

b. ɛtɛ́badzɛ́kɛ w’ ɛmɔ́wí ɖí ɛ-tɛ́-ba-dzɛ́kɛ wɔ kɛ-mɔ́wí ɖí 1SG-NEG-FUT-forget 2SG:IND CM3-birthday look ‘I will never forget your birthday.’

Commissive

c. onyí kɛ gɛ ahĩá́ t’ ɔ́ bhɛ́tɛ O-nyí kɛ-gɛ ahĩá́ tɛ ɔ́ -bhɛ́tɛ 2SG-know CL3-REL 3SG-need COMP 2SG-do ‘You know what you have to do.’

Directive

d. m’ɛyɛ́ gɛdzyɔ mɛ́ ɛ-yɛ́ gɛ-dzyɔ̌ 1SG:IND AM-own NEG:PST-become_straight ‘I am sorry.’ (lit. My own is not right)

Expressive

e. ɛgɛnǎbhɛ́tɛ ɛ-gɛ-na-bhɛ́tɛ 1SG-NEG:PST-well-do ‘I am sorry.’ (lit. ‘I didn’t act well’) f. y’ɛyɛ́ gɛdzyɔ yɛ ɛ-yɛ́ gɛ-dzyɔ̌ 3SG:IND AM-own NEG:PST-become_straight ‘He is guilty.’ (lit. ‘His own is not right’)

Declaration

The example of the representative speech act in (2a) is a weather expression. In English and other Standard Average European languages, such expressions involve weather verbs, e.g. ‘to rain’, ‘to snow’, ‘to hail’, etc. These verbs go with empty subjects (i.e. it in English). Tutrugbu and other Kwa languages do not have the equivalent of weather verbs like ‘to rain’ or ‘to know’. Instead, in place of an empty subject predicated of weather verbs, these languages have lexical

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subjects which occur with verbs that express ‘falling’ or ‘dropping’ and ‘shining,’ among others. In languages like Ewe and Akan, the word for water occurs in the subject position of a verb that expresses falling in drops. However, in Tutrugbu, the subject subha actually means rain while the verb dɔ̌ means to drop to the ground. The expressive ‘I am sorry’ also does not find direct translation in Tutrugbu and Kwa languages like Ewe and Akan. It can be observed that one expression for ‘I am sorry’ (2d) is the same way to say one is guilty (2f). The second way is to say literally that one didn’t act well.

8.2

Interrogatives

According to Koenig and Siemund (2007) interrogative sentences are “conventionally associated with the speech act of requesting information.” They identify two major classes of interrogative sentences, based on their structure and semantics. These are polar and content questions. Koenig and Siemund also note that semantically one also needs to distinguish “alternative questions” which, according to them “are used to ask the addressee to decide which of two or more alternatives holds, i.e. is true or not.” The three are discussed in this section. 8.2.1 Polar Questions Polar questions are also referred to as yes/no questions because they primarily aim at eliciting a yes or no answer to a question. One major way of asking polar questions across languages is via intonation. Koenig and Siemund (2007: 12) write: “While it is typical of declaratives to show falling intonation, the great majority of languages use rising intonation in conjunction with interrogatives. Exceptions to this generalization are very rare indeed.” They propose that the reason why this is so is because high pitch signals “uncertainty, indecision, hesitation and also insecurity” (p. 12) while low pitch conveys “confidence, assurance and certainty” (p. 13). They do note that there are some exceptions, and give two examples all from Niger-Congo languages. Dakubu (2011: 49) actually writes that high pitch “seems less characteristic of question intonation” in African languages. She cites Rialland (2007: 32) who proposes “a low pitched, ‘lax’ African question intonation marker, which lies at the various forms of low and lax question prosodies which are widespread in the Sudanic region.” Tutrugbu differs from other Kwa languages in not possessing a lax question intonation. Interestingly, it does not have a rising intonation either. Consider the declarative-question pairs below:

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figure 18a Statement intonation

figure 18b Question intonation

(3) iɖeeku nolũ gbe=ɛ i-ɖe kúkú no-lṹ gbe=ɛ 1SG-remove hat 2PL-hear voice=DEF ‘Please you have heard what was said’/ ‘Please have you heard (what was said)?’ Figure 18a is the spectrogram for the statement while Figure 18b is that for the question. The intonation in both the statement and question shows a steady descend from lṹ ‘hear’, which has a high tone, to a plateaux that begins from gbe ‘voice’. In the case of the statement, there is a drop from 225–150 Hz while for the question, after a drop below 150 Hz, there is a slight climb above 150 Hz that signals a rising intonation before it falls again. A similar situation occurs in the next sentence: (4) o-dzi a-wu vɔvɔ? 2SG-buy CM1-garment new ‘You have bought a new dress’/ ‘Have you bought a new item of clothing?’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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figure 19a Statement intonation

figure 19b Question intonation

The spectrogram for the statement in Figure 19a shows a fall to 149.5 Hz on the final vɔ syllable. Interestingly, vɔvɔ in the question is also at 150 Hz. However, unlike the statement, there is no fall on the final syllable. (5) ɔ-bɔ-bá 2SG-FUT-come ‘You will come.’ The verb bá ‘come’ in utterance (5) has a high tone. Figure 20a shows it produced at an almost level pitch of 225 Hz with a tapering off at the end for the statement. Figure 20b shows a near level at the higher pitch 245 Hz, this time, with a tiny rise at the end. (6) tsyíámi a-lɛ́ spokesperson AM-be_at ‘Spokesperson is there’ / ‘Is spokesperson there?’

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figure 20a Statement intonation

figure 20b Question intonation

Lɛ ‘be located’ is pronounced with what starts as a rising tone in both the statement and the question. However, in addition to the fact that the pitch for lɛ climbs from a much lower position (about 155 Hz), it also levels at 180 Hz. By contrast, lɛ for the question rises from around 170 Hz to above 200 Hz before dropping. The pairs demonstrate that Tutrugbu is different from the African languages which are said to have a lax question intonation. It does not have the rising intonation either. Instead, speakers appear to use a slightly raised tonal register to express polar questions. In a way, this is similar to what has been noted for Siya (cf. Ford 1971a). However, it is not exactly the same because Tutrugbu speakers do not always pick the cues presented by the raised register. To test this, I played back the statement-question pairs in Figures 18 to 21 to Judith, the consultant whose production I recorded. She misidentified two out of the four pairs, saying that Figures 19a and 20a are questions while 19b and 20b are statements. The way that speakers make a clear distinction between statements and yes/no questions is, among others, to use a sentence-final question particle -à

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figure 21a Statement intonation

figure 21b Question intonation

which is borrowed from Ewe. In Ewe, this utterance-final interrogative particle -à carries a Low tone, as shown in the sentence below (cf. Ameka 2005; Duthie 1996): (7) e-kpɔ Amí=à 2SG-see Ami=Q ‘Have you seen Ami?’

Ewe

In (7) Ami, which has a High tone on the final syllable, is followed by the question particle, giving rise to a High-Low falling tone in sentence-final position. Unlike Ewe speakers, Tutrugbu speakers place a High tone on the utterancefinal -a. An example is (8) below which is taken from a recording exchange of greeting (see chapter 10 for further discussion of greetings): (8) ɔ-lɛ́=á? 2SG-be_at=Q ‘Are you well (literally are you located)?’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Another question particle is lò which, unlike the borrowed -a, has a low tone. Thus, another way of saying (8) is (9): (9) ɔ-lɛ́ lo? 2SG-be_at PRT ‘Are you well (literally are you located)?’ The response for polar questions is ee for ‘yes’ and óho for ‘no’. An exchange involving the question and an answer is provided below: (10) a. tsyiámi, ɔ-lɛ́ Spokesperson 2SG-be_at ‘Spokesperson are you there?’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.009) b. ee tsyiámi a-lɛ́ yes spokesperson AM-be_at ‘Yes spokesperson is there.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family.010) When people get together, as part of the greetings, one person asks the question in (10a). In this particular case, the meeting is between a bereaved family and the chief and his spokesperson. In such a situation, before anyone addresses the chief, the one has to get permission from the spokesperson by asking whether he or she is present. According to Koenig and Siemund (2007), the second most common strategy for polar questions after intonation is the use of question particles. It was shown above that Tutrugbu has borrowed an utterance particle from Ewe in addition to lo, which is indigenous. Another indigenous particle is é. Thus, an alternative way of saying (5) is (11) below: (11) ɔ-bɔ-bá é 2SG-FUT-come PRT ‘You will come.’ Figure 22 shows that bá ‘come’ is pronounced above 250 Hz with a very slight drop for the particle which is also rather high. It is clear here that bá and the particle are produced at a higher pitch than that for the statement shown in Figure 21a. Thus, even without the particle, speakers are not likely to mistake the question for a statement. Speakers say that é is not used for yes/no questions only. Although rarely used, it can occur in content questions, as shown below:

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figure 22 Question intonation

(12) áf á g’alɔ́ kɔ siká e áf á gɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ siká e Who RED AM-take money PRT ‘Who took the money?’ Sentence (12) will be uttered by someone who is exasperated. We can therefore say that it is an emphatic question particle. Interestingly, the tone on e is low. One could therefore say that it is a different morpheme although speakers insist that it is the same. An example of an emphatic particle from Ewe is provided below: (13) Kof i le aƒe=a me máhã? Kofi be_at house=DEF inside EMPH ‘Is Kofi at home?’ Westermann (1930: 164) refers to máhã as an “interrogative particle” that is used in emphatic questions. The critical thing to note is that máhã is not only for yes/no questions. In other words, its use does not signal that an utterance is a polar question. Instead, as stated by Westermann, it serves to put emphasis on the question. Tutrugbu has the particle dza which behaves exactly like máhã. It can occur in all kinds of interrogative clauses including, but not limited to yes/no questions. Examples of yes/no questions with dza are given below: (14) a. aa ɛklɛ ɔ-mɔ bɔ-ŋaŋa dɛ́nɔ dza? PRT Here 2SG-see CM8-food from EMPH ‘So is this where you get food from?’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34)

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b. a-sɛ nɔ-ta ɔ-dzɛdzɛ́ nɛ́ sukúu dza 3SG-that 2PL-throw CM2-story PREP school EMPH ‘He asked do you tell ananse stories in school?’ (Children_Stories.025) I have already mentioned the particle lo. In rare instances lo can be used for emphasis, as shown by (15): (15) áf á g’amɔ mi’ eplukpá lo áf á gɛ a-mɔ mɛ ke-plukpá lo Who REL AM-see 1SG:IND CM4-book PRT ‘Who has seen my book?’ Sentence (15) would be said out of frustration after a long search for the book. 8.2.2 Content Questions According to Dryer (2006), content questions differ from polar questions in that they contain an interrogative phrase and they elicit a specific answer other than a yes or no. In Tutrugbu, this interrogative phrase occurs at the beginning of the question although it can also occur in-situ. Dryer notes that when an interrogative phrase occurs later in the sentence in languages like English where it usually occurs in sentence-initial position, it denotes surprise or incredulity at something that the speaker has just heard, or a teacher questioning a student. The same applies in Tutrugbu. One speaker actually remarks that such utterances are usually preceded by the interjection éé which is an expression of surprise. In this subsection, the following question words are discussed: áf á/áf ána ‘who’ (8.2.2.1), kéɖe ‘who’ (8.2.2.2), ɖúe ‘which’ (8.2.2.3), fakɔ́ ‘who’ (8.2.2.4), kɛ́lɛ́ ‘how’ (8.2.2.5), tashɛ̃ ‘how many’ (8.2.2.7) and xɔ̃ TOPIC question (8.2.2.7). 8.2.2.1 Áfá / áfána Áf á or áf ána is the Tutrugbu equivalent of ‘who’ and, like it, is used to question human entities that occur in direct argument positions or as complements of a preposition. According to speakers áf á is often used in isolation while áf ána is used elsewhere. For example, when one hears that someone has done something and simply wants to ask ‘who’, the one would say áf á. Rather than this explanation, it appears that áf ána is just less commonly used. In my whole database, there are three uses of the word, two of which are by me.

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8.2.2.1.1 When áfá Is Subject or Object When áf á refers to the argument that is in a subject relation of a sentence, then it is followed by the relativizer, as the sentences below show: (16) a. áf á g’ asɛ awɔ̃ hũ agɛ dzã obúɔ́ dza? áf á gɛ a-sɛ a-wɔ̃ hũ a-gɛ dzã o-búɔ́ who REL AM-say CM7-eye AM-NEG:PST become_red CM2-today dza at_all ‘Who says the eyes are not red?’ b. áf ána g’ akpɛ́ bɔtɔ̃ n’ okotoku nɔ́ mɛ pɛ epu okotokú nɔ́ dza? áf ána gɛ a-kpɛ́ bɔ-tɔ̃ nɛ́ o-kotokú nɔ́ mɛ pɛ who REL AM-put_in CM8-ash PREP CM2-sack DEF inside then e-pu o-kotokú nɔ́ dza? 3SG-pierce CM2-sack DEF EMPH ‘Who put ash in the sack and it pierced a hole in the sack?’ (Essegbey et al. 2011: 34) In the next chapter, it will be shown that the relativization strategy occurs when the argument that occurs in subject position is focused. This points to the parallel that has been drawn between the focus construction and content questions. When áf á refers to an object, then it is preposed without the introduction of the relativizer, as shown below: (17) a. áf á Kof ’ ámɔ? áf á Kof i a-mɔ who NAME AM-see ‘Who did Kofi see?’ b. áf á wɔ kɔ́ sikã ́ who 2SG:IND give money ‘Whom did you give the money?’ c. áf á Kof ’ álɔ́ kɔ sikã ́ akɔ́ ? áf á Kof i a-lɔ́ kɔ sikã ́ a-kɔ́ who NAME AM-take money SCONN-give ‘Whom did you give the money?’

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Sentence (17b) shows that questioning the beneficiary argument of a ditransitive construction is the same as questioning the complement of a monotransitive construction, and (17c) shows that the same applies to the complement of an SVC. In all the examples, the question-word occurs in sentence-initial position. The absence of the relativizer in the examples establishes a subject-object asymmetry that has been noted for Kwa languages (Ameka 1992). In will be shown in the next chapter that the same asymmetry occurs in argument focus constructions. I noted at the beginning of section 8.2.2 that the question word occurs in non-initial position when the speaker wishes to expresses surprise. One such situation is given below: (18) sɛ alɔ́ kɔɛ kp’ áf á sɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ-i kpɛ́ áf á that 3SG-take-3SG put_in who ‘In order to blame it on whom?’ (Focus1.486) The background to this question is a narration about a woman who stole a wristwatch while conversing with a friend. The narrator emphasized the fact that the person who stole the watch did so with guile. This included the following: (19) pɛ baáka asɛ́ḿ ɔ́ pétéé, yɛ xɔ̃ nɔ́ átɛ́lɔ́ kɔ kɛdrɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ápɛ nɔ́ pɛ ba-á-ka a-sɛ́ḿ=ɔ́ pétéé yɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ then 3PL-PROG-say CM1-matter=DEF all 3SG:IND as_for a-tɛ́-lɔ́ kɔ kɛ-dɔ̃ nɔ́ gɛ a-á-pɛ nɔ́ 3SG-already-take CM3-thing DEF REL 3SG-PROG-look_for TP ‘as they were talking, as for her she had already taken the thing she was looking for.’ (Focus1.483–484) The listener was incredulous because of what she considered to be duplicity and, therefore, uttered sentence (18). Like in all Kwa languages áf á can occur immediately after the complementizer sɛ ‘that’, as shown below: (20) ɔ́ -gɛ-bhɛtɛ ana be-be-bisi sɛ áf á wɔ o-yi 2SG-NEG:PST-do thus 3PL-FUT-ask that who 2SG:IND AM-resemble ‘If you don’t do that, they will ask whom you resemble.’ (Odumasi_clan .055–056)

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Áf á in this sentence occurs in the initial position of a complement clause. According to Tutrugbu custom, children are supposed to respect their elders. In the sentences preceding this one, the narrator explains that if a child is asked by the parent to do something, he or she must do it. Sentence (20) is a consequence of the child refusing to obey the parent. The inference is that the child is behaving as if he or she is not the offspring of the parents. The behavior of sɛ in this sentence suggests that what we call complementizers in Kwa languages behave differently from their counterparts in languages like English and French. 8.2.2.1.2 Possessive Phrase When the entity that is questioned is part of a possessive phrase, the whole phrase must be moved to sentence-initial position, as shown below: (21) a. áf á y’aka g’abá áf á yɛ a-ka gɛ a-bá who 3PL:IND CM1-father REL AM-come ‘Whose father came?’ b. áf á y’adzya y’amɔ? áf á yɛ a-dzya yɛ a-mɔ? who 3SG:IND CM1-brother 3SG:IND AM-see ‘Whose brother did he/she see?’ c. *áf á y’amɔ y’adzya? áf á yɛ a-mɔ yɛ a-dzya who 3SG:IND AM-see 3SG:IND CM1-brother ‘Who did he/she see his/her brother?’ Sentence (21a) has the relativizer gɛ following the questioned possessive phrase because it occurs in subject position. Sentence (21b) shows that this is not the case when the direct object is questioned. Sentence (21c) shows that extraction is not allowed out of the possessive NP. 8.2.2.1.3 Conjoined NP Like the possessive NP, extraction out of conjoined NPs is not possible. In this case also, when the questioned NP has the subject relation, then it is followed by the relativizer gɛ. This is shown below:

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(22) a. wɔ nɛ áf á g’ɔlɔ́ kɔ siká wɔ nɛ áf á gɛ nɔ-lɔ́ kɔ siká 2SG:IND LNK who REL 2SG-take money ‘You and who took the money?’ b. wɔ nɛ áf á y’etseɖé wɔ nɛ áf á yɛ e-tseɖé 2SG:IND LNK who 3SG:IND AM-tell ‘He told you and whom?’ Interestingly when the conjoined NP is subject of some motion verbs, the variant of the comitative preposition nɔ is stranded: (23) a. wɔ nɛ áf á g’ɔɔvɛ Oho nɔ wɔ nɛ áf á gɛ nɔ-ɔ́ -vɛ Oho nɔ 2SG:IND LNK who REL 2PL-PROG-go Ho COM ‘Whom are you going to Ho with?’ b. wɔ nɛ áf á g’ɔɔba Amɛ́rika nɔ wɔ nɛ áf á gɛ nɔ-ɔ́ -ba America nɔ 2SG:IND LNK who REL 2PL-PROG-come America COM ‘Whom are you coming to America with?’ In the two sentences, áf á occurs as complement of the preposition nɛ in sentence-initial position. In addition, there is the variant of comitative, i.e. nɔ. In chapter 7 we saw that this variant occurs when the complement of the comitative is referentially the same as an overtly expressed argument. We noted there that Bobuafor (2013) has indicated that this variant in Tafi is used when there is an extraction. It is possible to argue that there is extraction in (23a and b). However nɔ does not represent mere stranding of the preposition here because nɛ occurs with áf á in sentence-initial position. 8.2.2.1.4 Áfá in Postpositional Phrases Questioned postpositional phrases must also be moved together. (24) a. áf á kɔ́ g’ɔbɔpɔ wɔ́zã [áf á ɔ-kɔ́ ] gɛ ɔ-bɔ-pɔ wɔ ɔ-zã who CM2-place REL CL2-FUT-MOD 2SG:IND AM-stay ‘Whose place will you like to stay?’

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b. áf á bha salí n’álɛ́ [áf á ɔ-bha] salí nɔ́ a-lɛ́ Who CM2-side thing DEF AM-be_at ‘Whose side is the thing at?’ c. ??áf á salí n’álɛ́ y’ ɔbha ??áf á salí nɔ́ á-lɛ́ yɛ ɔ-bha who thing DEF AM-be_at 3SG:IND CM2-side ‘Whose side is the thing at?’ The questioned postpositional phrase in (24a) has a subject relation. This might appear strange at first because it looks on the surface as if the postposition phrase is the complement of zã ‘stay’. This construction is the medio-passive pɔ-construction discussed in chapter 7 in which underlying objects occur in subject position. Thus although the postpositional phrase is the underlying object, the construction allows it to occur in subject position. Sentence (24b) has an object relation. I was informed that kids sometimes say (24c). 8.2.2.1.5 Eliding the Locative Preposition When áf á occurs in a phrase that is complement of the general preposition nɛ́ and the question phrase is moved to sentence-initial position, the preposition is elided. (25) a. áf á ɔ́ pã ́ mɛ ɔmɔ keplukpá áf á bɔ́ -pã ́ mɛ ɔ-mɔ ke-plukpá who CM8-house inside 2SG-see CM4-book ‘In whose house did you see the book?’ b. ɛmɔialɛ́ nɛ́ Kof ’ ɔpã ́ mɛ ɛ-mɔ kalɛ́ nɛ́ Kof i bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 1SG-see CL4:OBJ PREP NAME CM8-house inside ‘I saw it in Kofi’s house.’ Sentence (25a) is unacceptable with the preposition nɛ́ at the end of the sentence. Sentence (25 b) shows that where the phrase is left in-situ, the preposition is obligatory. 8.2.2.2 Kéɖe Kéɖe is the Tutrugbu equivalent of ‘what’. As the unedited exchange below between two people playing the Men & Tree game shows, kéɖe can occur by itself: James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(26) a. anɔ—anyɛ́ɛ, anyɛɛ gɛ eévu osiɛ y’akpas ishíɛ́ a-nɔ— a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ a-nyɛ=ɛ gɛ e-é-vũ CM1-person CM1-man=DEF CM1-man=DEF REL AM-PROG-catch o-sí=ɛ́ yɛ a-kpasɛ ki-shí=ɛ́ CM2-tree=DEF 3SG:IND AM-be_contained CM3-middle-TP ‘The man who is holding the stick, he is in the middle.’ b. f lógo pɛ kéɖe o before and_then what PRT ‘Before what?’ c. klɛ e-tsyina bamɛ téɖé salí nɔ; kéɖe nɛɛ́lɛ́? then 3SG-turn face towards thing DEF. what be:that ‘Then he turned his face towards the thing. What is that?’ The director in the game provides what is clearly insufficient information in (26a) and the matcher prompts him for more information using (26b). Pɛ functions as a conjunction meaning ‘and then’, and kéɖe and the addressive particle are the only ones that occur in the conjoined clause. Nɛɛ́lɛ́ in (26c) is a fusion of the copula nú and the demonstrative pronoun kɛɛ́lɛ́ ‘that one’. The example shows that kéɖe and nɛɛ́lɛ́ can occur together as an interrogative sentence. When asking a person what he or she said, speakers leave kéɖe in complement position if it follows sɛ, the ‘say’-word which, as we have seen, mostly functions as a complementizer. However, in this instance, it functions as a verb (27a). To have kéɖe in sentence-initial position, ɖɔ ‘say’ is used instead (27b). Interestingly, it is not possible to have kéɖe occur in complement position of ɖɔ, as shown by the unacceptability of (27c): (27) a. a-sɛ ké-ɖe? 3SG-say what ‘He said what?’ b. keɖe a-ɖɔ? What 3SG-say ‘What did he say?’ c. *A-ɖɔ kéɖe? 3SG-say what ‘What did he say?’

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What the above shows is that sɛ is followed by the quotative. When someone says something and you do not hear it properly, you say (27a). A response could involve the verbatim repetition of what the person said. In contrast to sɛ, ɖɔ is used for reported speech. Such speech is preceded by sɛ which, in that instance, functions as a complementizer. The next sentence shows that questioning out of a clausal complement of sɛ is allowed: (28) kéɖe ásɛ Kof ’áyálá kéɖe á-sɛ Kof í á-yálá what 3SG-say NAME AM-become_lost ‘What did he say Kofi lost?’ Kéɖe in (28) is the complement of yálá ‘become lost’ in the embedded clause. Like áf á, kéɖe displays an asymmetry in subject and object relations, with the former occurring with the relativizer. Sentences (29a and b) illustrate the subject relation: (29) a. kéɖe gɛ kɛ-yálá? what REL CL3-become_lost ‘What is lost?’ b. kéɖe gɛ kpasɛ ka-shɔ́ mɛ dza? what REL be_contained CM4-basket inside PRT ‘What is inside the basket?’ (Men_&_Tree.1200) While (29a), which was carefully elicited, has a pronominal prefix from the kɛclass, (29b) which occurs in semi-spontaneous discourse does not. Felix Ameka (pc) suggests that positionals often drop agreement with inanimate subjects in some languages, and this could be the reason why there is no agreement marker in (29b). (30) a. kéɖe Kof ’ámɔ kéɖe Kof i ámɔ what Kofi AM-see ‘What did Kofi see?’ b. kā blɔ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ klu sɛ kéɖe? keɖe kóŋ́ blɔ xɔ̃ nɔ then 3PL:IND as_for call that what what INT 1PL:IND as_for

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klu-i call-3SG ‘And we call it what, what exactly do we call it?’ In (30a) kéɖe occurs as the sole element of the complement clause while (30b) shows that it can occur with the intensifier. Possessive NPs involving kéɖe need to be moved together, as in the examples below: (31) a. Kof i yɛ kéɖe gɛ kɛ-yálá? NAME 3SG:IND what REL AM-become_lost ‘Kofi’s what is missing?’ b. wɔ kéɖe a-nuvɔ a-lɔ́ kɔ? 2SG:IND what CM1-child AM-take ‘What of yours did the child take?’ c. kéɖe kóŋ́ kabha anyɛɛ́ tsiɖi nɛ́ klɛ́ dza? kéɖe kóŋ́ ka-bha a-nyɛ=ɛ́ tsiɖi nɛ́ klɛ́ dza? what INT CM4-top CM1-man=DEF be_support PREP there EMPH ‘On what exactly is the man (standing)?’ (Men_&_Tree.446) Sentence (31c) is not a possessive phrase but, instead, a postpositional phrase. The postposition heads a phrase which, like (30b), is composed of the question word and an intensifier. Here, the director of the Men & Tree games starts describing a picture of a man standing holding a stick but then stops midsentence and states that she would like to ask a question. 8.2.2.3 Đúe Đúe is the Tutrugbu equivalent of ‘which’. Like the preceding question words, there is an asymmetry between the subject and the object, as shown below: (32) a. keplukpá ɖúe g’etsiɖi ɔkplɔ̃ n’ábha? ke-plukpá ɖúe gɛ e-tsiɖi ɔ-kplɔ̃ nɔ́ ka-bha CM4-book which REL AM-be_support CM2-table DEF CM4-top ‘Which book is on the table?’ b. pɔ kibui ɖúe kóŋ́ y’amána dza? pɔ ki-búí ɖúe kóŋ́ yɛ a-mana dza but CM3-word which INT 3SG:IND AM-bring EMPH ‘But what exactly has he brought?’ (Kume.002) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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c. e-kusí-nyé ɖúe lú Edith a-ŋlɔmɛ? e-kusí-nyé ɖúe ki-lú Edith a-ŋlɔmɛ? CM1-chief-name which CM3-type Edith AM-write ‘What stool name does Edith write?’ (Odumasi_clan.233) In (32a), the subject is questioned and, therefore, the question word is followed by gɛ. In (32b) and (32c), the object is questioned and moved to sentence-initial position. When the subject of the sentence is the third person singular pronoun as in (32b) it must be the independent pronoun that is followed by an agreement marker. If it is a lexical subject, as in (32c), it simply takes an agreement marker. The independent forms of the first and second person pronouns have to be used as well but these do not require an agreement marker: (33) a. ɔ-ma ɖúe mɛ wɔ vɛ CM2-town which inside 2SG:IND go ‘Which town did you go to?’ b. ɔ-ma ɖúe mɛ mɛ ba-vɛ CM2-town which inside 1SG:IND FUT-go ‘Which town will I go to?’ Like (32c), many ɖúe questions have ɖue lu which, as the interlinear glossing shows, is a combination of ɖúe and kilú ‘type’. Sentences (34a) and (34b) are further examples: (34) a. anyɛ́ɛ,́ awu ɖúe lú yakpɛ́ n’ítíɛ́ a-nyɛ́=ɛ́, awu ɖúe ki-lú yɛ a-kpɛ́ nɛ́ CM1-man=DEF, garment which CM3-type 3SG:IND AM-put_in PREP ki-títí=ɛ́ CM3-sky=DEF ‘The man, what type of clothing is he wearing at the top?’ (Men_&_ Tree.622) b. kampɛ ɖúe lú oboti otsíɛ́ sɛ anunɔ́ elí kɔ́ osíɛ? kampɛ ɖúe ki-lú o-bo-ti otsí=ɛ́ sɛ a-nɔ side which CM3-type 2SG-FUT-know now=DEF that CM1-person nɔ́ e-lí kɔ́ o-sí=ɛ DEF AM-be_at give CM2-tree=DEF? ‘Which side of the tree would you now say the man is located?’ (Men_&_Tree.581)

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c. kɛlɛ osi vuvū=ɔ gɛ evũnɔ ɔ, f akɔ … kampɛ ɖúe lɔ kpasɛ́? kɛlɛ o-sí vu-vū=ɔ gɛ e-vũ-nɔ=ɔ, f akɔ́ … then CM2-tree RED-hold=DEF REL 3SG-hold-COM=TP where … ka-mpɛ ɖúe lɔ-kpasɛ́? CM4-side which AM-be_contained ‘And the stick that he is holding, which side is it?’ (Men_&_Tree.561) Example (34b) shows that ɖúe can combine with kampɛ to ask about a place. In (34c), the speaker begins with f akɔ́ but changes her mind and continues with kampɛ ɖúe ‘which side’. We saw in example (32b) that kibui ɖúe means ‘what matter’. Speakers can also simply say kiɖúe as an interrogative pronoun, using the class 3 prefix to show that the pronoun refers to ‘matter’. (35) a. ki-ɖúe/ki-ɖúe lú gɛ mána wɔ́ ki-ɖúe/ki-ɖúe ki-lú gɛ mána wɔ́ CL3-which/CL3-which CM3-type REL bring 2SG ‘What brings you (here)?’ b. kiɖúe/kiɖúe lú wɔ mána? kiɖúe/kiɖúe ki-lú wɔ mána CL3-which/CL3-which CM3-type 2SG:IND bring ‘What issue have you brought?’ When the interrogative pronoun is about ‘which one’ and ‘which ones’, then eɖúe or eɖúe lú is used for the singular while beɖúe or beɖúe lú is used for the plural. Sentence (36) illustrates the former: (36) ɛ̃ɛ̃ wɔtsyɛ́ ɖi sɛ kã eɖúelú dza? ɛ̃ɛ̃ wɔ tsyɛ́ ɖi sɛ kã e-ɖúe ki-lú dza? yes 2SG:IND also look that then CL1-which CM3-type EMPH Yes, you too look and tell me, which one is it? Dúe is also used to ask about time. When it occurs with kiwi ‘day’, it means ‘which day’, and when it occurs with kibe ‘time’ it means ‘when’ or ‘which time’. (37) a. ki-be ɖúe ɔ-bɔ-bá CM3-time which 2SG-FUT-come ‘When will you come?’

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b. ki-wi ɖúe a-shɛ̃ CM3-day which AM-leave ‘When did he/she leave?’ c. ki-wole a-nyɛ́ á-ba? CM3-month CM1-man AM-come ‘When did the man come?’ Sentence (37c) shows an interesting thing: when the word for month, wole takes the ki-prefix, it also becomes a question word which means ‘when’? 8.2.2.4 Fakɔ́ Fakɔ́ ‘where’ is used to question the location of an object. It has a truncated form f á that occurs most often in everyday expressions, which involve asking about the origin or destination of people, like the examples below: (38) a. f á ɔ-vɛ? Where 2SG-go ‘Where did you go.’ b. f á o-dě Where 2SG-come_from ‘Where are you from.’ Sentence (38b) can either mean ‘which is your hometown’ or ‘where are you returning from?’ (39) f akɔ m’ elẽ avɛ o? f akɔ mɛ e-lẽ a-vɛ o where 1SG:IND CM1-mother AM-go ADDR ‘Where is my mother gone to?’ Although f akɔ́ mostly occurs in sentence-initial position, it is sometimes left in-situ, as (40d) illustrates: (40) a. Jo: abhɛ́tɛ ansɛ gɛ ezetsyína … téɖé ósíɛ́ a-bhɛ́tɛ ansɛ gɛ e-ze-tsyína … téɖé o-sí=ɛ́ 3SG-do like REL 3SG-REP-turn … towards CM2-tree=DEF ‘It looks like he has turned towards the tree.’

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b. Ju: err nɛ́ ampɛ ɖúɛ o? err nɛ́ ka-mpɛ ɖúɛ o um PREP CM4-side which ADDR ‘On which side?’ c. Jo: nɛ́ bɔ pialɛ ampɛ m nɛ́ blɔ pialɛ ka-mpɛ mɛ PREP 1PL:IND south CM4-side inside ‘To the south of us.’ d. Ju: ee, klɛ yɛ ŋútɔ́ nɔ́ éɖi f akɔ́ Ee, klɛ yɛ ŋútɔ́ nɔ́ éɖi f akɔ́ Yes then 3SG:IND INT TOP 3SG-look where ‘Yes, and he himself, where is he facing?’ (Men_&_Tree.586–589) Sentences (40a) to (40d) were exchanged during the Men & Tree game in which Jo is the Director and Ju the matcher. By the time she asked (40d), Ju had got much of the information she needed. However, she had a couple of pictures that matched the description given by Jo. The only difference was the direction in which the person in the picture was facing. At this point, Ju did not see the need to move f akɔ́ to sentence-initial position. 8.2.2.5 Kɛ́lɛ́ Kɛ́lɛ́ ‘how’ is an interrogative adverb that occurs in sentence initial position. Some examples are given below: (41) a. kɛ́lɛ́ ɔmɔɛ́? kɛ́lɛ́ ɔ-mɔ-í how 2SG-see-3SG:OBJ ‘How do you see it?’ b. kɛ́lɛ́ nɔdɛ́ xɔ̃ ɛ?̃ kɛ́lɛ́ nɔ-dɛ́ kɛ-xɔ̃ ɛ̃ how 2PL-attend CM3-work ‘How did it go?’ c. kɛ́lɛ́ wɔ bhitií? kɛ́lɛ́ wɔ bhɛ́tɛ-í how 2SG:IND do-3SG:OBJ ‘How did you do it?’

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Question (41b) is usually asked after people have been sent on an errand. It literally means ‘how did you attend work?’ 8.2.2.6 Tashɛ̃ By itself, tashɛ̃ means ‘how much’. However, when it heads a phrase, then it questions the number of items. In such cases, tashɛ̃ must go with the plural, and its tV- is an agreement marker, just like numerals and the specificity determiner. This is illustrated below: (42) a. banɔ tashɛ̃ g’abá buf u ní ési? ba-nɔ ta-shɛ̃ gɛ ba-bá bu-f u nɔ́ CM5-person AM-how_much REL AM-come CM8-funeral DEF ke-si CM4-down ‘How many people came to the funeral?’ b. iboshi tɛshɛ̃ g’ɛlɛ y’ahɔɛ i-boshi tɛ-shɛ̃ gɛ lɛ-lɛ yɛ a-hɔɛ CM6-sheep AM-how_much REL CL6-be_at 3SG:IND CM1-hand ‘How many sheep has he/she got?’ c. buplukpá tɔ́ shɛ̃ w’odzi? bu-plukpá tɔ́ -shɛ̃ wɔ o-dzi CM8-book AM-how_much 2SG:IND AM-buy ‘How many books did you buy?’ The use of the relativizer in sentences (42a) and (42b), but not in (42c) is another evidence of the asymmetry in question formation between subject and object. This is another evidence of the parallel between questions and the focus construction, which I discuss in the next chapter. 8.2.2.7 Xɔ̃ The final question word is xɔ̃ which is best glossed as ‘what about’. It can occur alone as a question word with a constituent. Such questions translate as ‘what about X?’ or ‘where is X?’ Consider the examples below: (43) a. w’elẽ xɔ̃ wɔ e-lẽ xɔ̃ 2SG:IND CM1-mother what_about ‘Where is your mother?’

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b. wɔ xɔ̃ ? wɔ xɔ̃ 2SG:IND what_about ‘Where are you?’/What about you? Xɔ̃ also functions as an interrogative topic marker. In this function, it links a constituent to a common ground. Consider the examples below: (44) a. wɔ xɔ̃, ɔbɔbá? wɔ xɔ̃ ɔ-bɔ-bá 2SG:IND what_about 2SG-FUT-come ‘What about you, will you come?’ b. m’eplukpá xɔ̃, f á alɛ́? mɛ ke-plukpá xɔ̃ fá ka-lɛ́ 1SG:IND CM4-book what_about where AM-be_at ‘And my book, where is it?’ Example (44a) shows why xɔ̃ is an interrogative particle; because of it, the sentence cannot be treated as a declarative. Example (44b) shows that xɔ̃ can occur with other questions words. I stated that xɔ̃ is a topic marker because it links a constituent to a common ground. This common ground is determined through previous discourse or presupposition. Thus, (44a) will only be said if the interlocutors are discussing people coming to the speaker’s place. Similarly, (44b) will only be used in a situation where the speakers are discussing the location of things.

8.3

Imperatives

Imperatives are discussed extensively, in chapter 5. In this section, I briefly discuss positive imperatives (8.3.1) and prohibitives or negative imperatives (8.3.2), and then look at the contexts in which they are used (8.3.3). 8.3.1 Positive Imperatives The discussion in this subsection is restricted to showing the distinction between singular and plural imperatives, which was discussed in chapter 5. This is illustrated by the sentences below:

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(45) a. yoo lo, wlɔ lɔ́ kɔ abhlatɔ́ mána yoo lo wlɔ lɔ́ kɔ a-bhlatɔ mána okay ADDR repeat take CM1-second bring ‘Okay bring the second one also.’ (Men_&_Tree.124) b. nɔbá t’ nobóɖǐ kɛtoró gɛ betoró ɖotí nɔ́, nɔ-bá tɛ no-bó-ɖǐ kɛ-toró gɛ be-toró o-ɖotí 2PL-come COMP 2PL-VEN-look CM3-spin REL 3PL-spin CM2-cotton nɔ́ DEF ‘come over and see the way the cotton is spun.’ (Spin_yarn.017) Sentence (45a) shows that, as shown in Chapter 5, singular imperatives require the use of a reduced form of the 2SG subject. This sentence also shows that if the construction is a serial verb construction, all the verbs take the reduced form. Sentence (45b) shows that the plural second person pronoun is required for plural imperatives. 8.3.2 Prohibitive A prohibitive construction is a negative imperative construction (van der Auwera 2005: 25). Van der Auwera (2005) writes that most languages have prohibitive constructions that use a negative marker that is more or less dedicated to the expression of prohibitives rather than use the same negative morpheme used in declarative sentences. Tutrugbu belongs to the fewer languages that use the same strategy as they use for declarative sentences although, it must be said that many Kwa languages, such as Ewe and Akan, do the same. There are two ways to express the prohibitive in Tutrugbu, the first of which involves the use of the negation morpheme tɛ́- which was discussed in chapter 5. Consider the sentences below: (46) a. Kof i atɛ́-bá NAME AM-NEG-come ‘Kofi didn’t come.’ b. tɛ-bá NEG-come ‘Don’t come.’ (47) a. a-nyɛ́-ɛ́ a-tɛ́-ba-shɛ̃ CM1-man AM-NEG-FUT-leave ‘The man will not leave.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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b. tɛ-shɛ̃ NEG-leave ‘Don’t leave.’ While the tone of the morpheme is High in the declarative sentence, it is Low in the prohibitive. The second prohibitive construction involves the use of tɔɔ́ -. Speakers explain that the difference between the tɛ-prohibitive and tɔɔ́ - prohibitive is that the latter is more emphatic. Thus, when someone says (48) as opposed to (46b) above, the person is stressing the fact that they do not want the addressee to come: (48) tɔɔ́ -ba NEG:IMP-come ‘Don’t come (emphatic).’ Tɔɔ prohibitive occurs in sentence (49), which is part of example (5) that was also discussed in chapter 4: (49) i-gi-tseɖé wɔ́ sɛ tɔɔ́ -ba? Q 1SG-NEG-tell 2SG COMP NEG:IMP-come ‘Didn’t I tell you not to come?’ 8.3.3 Cultural Contexts of Use Wierzbicka (2003: 26) writes: “The cultural norms reflected in speech acts differ not only from one language to another but also from one regional and social variation to another.” She continues “[In] English, the imperative is mostly used in commands and orders. Other kinds of directives (i.e speech acts through which the speaker attempts to cause the addressee to do something), tend to avoid the imperative or to combine it with an interrogative and/or conditional form” (p. 30). Wierzbicka explains that for the English, imperatives are seen as an imposition on the addressee. Other strategies are therefore used to mitigate what is considered to be an imposition, such as the use of questions. Wierzbicka notes that one factor responsible for this is the Anglo-Saxon principle of ‘polite pessimisim’ (Brown and Levinson 1978). Tutrugbu speakers use the imperative for both commands and requests. In other words, the use of the imperative does not necessarily threaten the face as it does in English. There are however cultural reasons to show politeness in some interactions. This may be due to the fact that the communication is a formal one, or one participant is either older than the other or has a higher social

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status (e.g., an employer, professor, etc.). Where there is the need to indicate politeness during a request, the speaker has to preface the imperative with iɖe kúkú ‘please’, which is borrowed from Ewe (meɖe kúkú) and literally means ‘I remove my hat’. Consider the examples below: (50) a. iɖe kuku klu Davi Sena kɔ mɛ́ please call Miss NAME give 1SG ‘Please, call Miss Sena for me.’ b. iɖe kúkú zĩ esí iɖe kuku zã ke-sí please stay CM4-down ‘Please sit down.’ There is an alternative way to state (50b) which does not involve an imperative construction. This is given below: (51) ke-gbu a-lɛ́ CM4-chair AM-be_located ‘There is a chair.’ (lit. Chair is located) This sentence is also a calque from an equivalent in Ewe. Where there is no need for politeness, the bare imperative is used. Thus, one would be asked to eat with ŋa dɔ̃ (ŋa bɔdɔ̃ ) ‘eat thing’ and, for drinks w’unuɔ (wɛ̃ bunuɔ) ‘drink the drink’. Just like Polish (discussed by Wierzbicka), if a Tutrugbu speaker uses the interrogative rather than the imperative, as in the sentence below, the one would be asking a real question, not inviting the interlocutor to eat: (52) ɔbɔŋa dɔ̃ ? ɔ-bɔ-ŋa bɔ-dɔ̃ 2SG-FUT-eat CM8-thing ‘Will you eat?’ Directives and recipes are not given in the imperative though. Instead, they are typically framed in if-then declarative constructions with the then-part in the future. An example is a discussion about how to do of farming among the Nyangbo people, the introductory part of which is provided below:

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(53) kana gɛ bɔdɛ bɔya nɛ Batugbu keli bee lɛ́ gɛ ayɛ sheshe azã; ó núpɛ baŋa blúnya béke kɛlɛ ɔbɔkpɛ ayɛ tsatsa esí; ɔbɔtsã ayɛ nɔ́ ; ɔtsã ́ ayɛ béke nɔ́, kɛlɛ obotẽ besi gbagbla gɛ tsidi bɔya n’ abha. kana gɛ bɔ-dɛ bɔ-ya nɛ́ Ba-tugbu kɛlɛ ki-be thus REL 1PL-attend CM8-farm PREP CM5-Nyangbo this CM3-time ɛ-lɛ́ gɛ a-yɛ she-she a-zã; ónúpɛ ba-ŋa AM-that REL AM1-forest RED-be_old AM-stay; if 3PL-eat blúnya béke kɛlɛ ɔ-bɔ-kpɛ a-yɛ tsa-tsa ke-sí; christmas finish then 2-FUT-put_in CM1-forest RED-clear CM4-down ɔ-bɔ-tsã a-yɛ nɔ́ ; ɔ́ -tsã a-yɛ béke nɔ́, kɛlɛ 2SG-FUT-clear CM1-forest DEF 2SG-clear AM1-forest finish TOP then o-bo-tẽ ́ be-sí gba-gbla gɛ tsiɖi bɔ-ya nɔ́ 2SG-FUT-cut CM5-tree RED-big RED be_supported CM8-farm DEF ka-bha. CM4-top ‘This is how farming was done among the Batrugbu during the time when there were large forests. When they finished celebrating Christmas, you will begin clearing the forest. When you have finished clearing the forest, then you cut the big trees that are on the Farm.’ (Farming 001–005) Contexts of language uses are discussed in further detail in chapter 10.

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Information Structure 9.0

Introduction

Following Kiss (1995) characterization, Ameka (2010: 145) reports that Kwa languages are discourse configurational languages because they have “distinct structural positions for topic and focus.” Topic consists of frame topic (section 8.1), which precedes focus (Section 8.2), and contrastive topic which comes after it (section 8.3). These three constituents are optional and occur in precore position. Ameka’s representation of the pre-core constituents and their order is given in Table 28 on the following page. Also discussed in this chapter is the cleft construction (section 8.4) which is another information structure device.

9.1

Topic

According to Ameka (2010: 143) frame-topic or “background-information topic” is the “information that should be kept in mind for the interpretation of the rest of the utterance.” Ameka notes further that frame topic can express an entity, a time, a condition, and a location, among others. In almost all Kwa languages, frame topic is indicated by a particle that is in a heterosemic relationship with the definite article. As shown in Table 28, it is often the first in a sentence, as shown by the following examples: (1) a. sɛ blɔ anɔ́ dzyramɛ ɛ́ bɔzã gagãlĩ ibenyíbe sɛ blɔ a-nɔ́ dzyramɛ=ɛ́ bɔ-zã gagãlĩ that 1PL:IND CM1-human_being=TOP 1PL-remain be_hard ki-benyíbe CM3-everytime ‘that we human beings, we will remain strong always’ (Odumasi_ Herbs.006) b. nɛ́ blɔ tsyíámi ka-mpɛ mɛ=ɛ, bɔ-ɔ̃ -́ ŋa PREP 1PL:IND spokesperson CM4-side inside=TOP 1PL-PROG-eat

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_010

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Pre-core constituents

Left periphery (Frame Topic)

(Focus)

(Contrastive Topic)

Background Information

Most salient Not about anything information else

tsyíámi a-lɛ bɔ-ɔ́ -tsrakɛ́ spokesperson AM-this 1PL-PROG-change ‘On the spokesperson side, we (i.e. the different families) take turns to serve as the chief’s spokesperson’ (Odumasi clan.144–144) c. so=ɔ yɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́ a-gɛ-kpɛ samɛ nɛ́ so=TOP 3SG:IND as_for 3SG-NEG:PST-put happiness PREP a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ shú CM1-woman=DEF outer_region ‘Therefore, as for him, he did not show happiness towards the woman’ (Focus1.265) d. otsí ɛ́ ɛbavɛ besíɛ́ nɛ alɛ awulakpá, kɛbhɛtɛ gɛ babhɛtɛ alɛ́ al’abha otsí=ɛ́ ɛ-ba-vɛ be-sí=ɛ́ nɛ alɛ́ a-wulakpá now=TOP 1SG-FUT-go CM5-tree=DEF with CM7:IND CM7-leaf kɛ-bhɛtɛ gɛ ba-bhɛtɛ alɛ ka-bha CM3-do REL 3PL-do CM7:OBJ CM4-top ‘ok, now I will turn to the trees and their leaves, the use that is make of them.’ (i.e. the use they are put to) e. bu-nu=ɔ ba-wɛ̃ méke ko=ɔ … CM8-beverage=DEF 3PL-drink finish just=TOP ‘When they finished drinking …’ In (1a), the topicalized element is the entity bɔlɔ anɔdzyrámɛ ‘we humans’. The topic marker in this and the other examples is the reduced form of nɔ́ which, as discussed in chapter 4, is ɛ́ or ɔ́ depending on whether the preceding vowel is unrounded or rounded. In (1b), the topic constituent is a non-concrete location (i.e. the side of an issue). A linker is topicalized in (1c) while in (1d and e), different kinds of temporal setting are topicalized. Sentence (1d) shows that the

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topic constituent could consist of just a word and the topic marker, while (1e) shows that it could be a whole clause. The next sentence shows that the definite determiner marker could be contained inside a topicalized constituent: (2) kliso ashwĩ nɔ́ ŋ́ tɔ́ ŋ́tɔ́ nɔ́ ayikɛ ɔlɛ ansɛ blɔ nú Batrugbu ɔma ozhitámiɛ́ kliso a-shwĩ nɔ́ ŋútɔ́ -ŋútɔ́ nɔ́ a-yɛkɛ ɔlɛ a-sɛ blɔ therefore CM1-chief DEF INT-INT TOP AM-receive CM2:OBJ that 1PL nu Ba-trugbu ɔ-ma o-zhǐtá-mɛ=ɛ́ be CM5-Tutrugbu_person CM2-state CM2-nine-inside=DEF ‘Therefore the paramount chief himself has accepted us as the ninth Nyangbo state.’ (Kume.052) In sum, the marker of topic takes the same form as the definite determiner, and the two can occur in the same phrase. When the topicalized constituent is a core argument, a pronoun occurs in its position in the clause.

9.2

Focus

The term ‘focus’ has received different definitions in the linguistic literature (cf. Ameka 1992). Some of them are Lambrecht’s (1994) assertion that it is the part of the sentence that is not presupposed, Roberts’ (1996) assertion that it is the part of the sentence that answers the (implicit) question under discussion, Dik’s (1999: 19) assertion that it “represents what is relatively the most important or salient information in the given setting,” and Gundel and Fretheim’s (2004) assertion that it is the relationally new information in the sentence. Van Putten (2014: 79) argues, however, that these definitions reflect a basic intuition, which is the updating of common ground information. As she explains it, when speakers communicate, they try to increase the knowledge that they share and they do this by linking new information to old information. Different languages have different strategies for marking focus. This may be phonological, morphological, syntactic or morphosyntactic. One language that marks focus phonologically is English which uses pitch accent, as in the example below: (3)

John ate the rice

John is the focused element in this sentence and is therefore stressed. In the sense of van Putten (2014), both the speaker and interlocutor would know that

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someone has eaten the rice. However, the speaker assumes that the hearer does not know that it is John and, hence, updates his or her knowledge with a stress on John. Ameka (1992) observes that researchers working on Kwa languages tend to translate focus constructions with clefts but argues against this practice. One reason is that these languages most often have cleft constructions in addition to the focus constructions. Consider the examples below from Tutrugbu: (4) a. so anyɛ́ɛ́ yenú anɔ nɔ́ g’alɔ́ kɔ watch ɛ so a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ e-nú a-nɔ nɔ́ gɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ so CM1-man=DEF 3SG:IND AM-COP CM1-person DEF REL AM-take watch=ɛ watch=DEF ‘Therefore the man is the one who took the watch.’ (Focus2.70) b. so anyɛ́ɛ́ y’alɔ́ kɔ watch ɛ so a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ a-lɔ́ kɔ watch=ɛ so CM1-man=DEF 3SG:IND AM-take watch=DEF ‘Therefore the man took the watch.’ Considering that Tutrugbu has both (4a), which is a cleft construction, and (4b) which is not, it does not make sense to give the same translation to the two. In all the translations of focus constructions which are not cleft construction in this book, the focused element in the translation is italicized, as I have done in example (3) and (4b). Ameka (2010) distinguishes between in-situ and ex-situ focus constructions. In in-situ focus constructions, the focused constituent is not moved. In many languages, including Kwa languages, such constituents are not marked either. Duthie (1996) for instance writes that the in-situ focused constituent in Ewe occurs in sentence-final position as the object or an adjunct. The example below from a Men & Tree matching game shows that the situation is the same in Tutrugbu: (5) Men & Tree picture matching game Speaker A aa so f á e-tsyína amɛ akpɛ́ o aa so f á e-tsyína bamɛ a-kpɛ́ o well so where 3SG-turn face SCONN-put_in ADDR ‘So where is the face turned towards?’

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Speaker B e-tsyína bamɛ a-kpɛ́ pialɛ́ 3SG-turn face SCONN-put_in downward ‘He is facing downwards’ Speaker A would like to pick the same picture as Speaker B. She therefore asks about the direction in which the person in her picture is facing. The common information for both participants is therefore of a man facing a certain direction. Speaker B provides this information (pialɛ́) and leaves it in the complement position of the second verb. This type of focus is unmarked, and merely involves providing new information without invoking alternatives. It is the kind that the Prague school refers to as Rheme. It is also known as information focus (cf. Van Putten 2014). In contrast to unmarked focus, marked focus “both asserts the sentence and evokes alternatives” (Harbour 2008). Such structures have “distinct and dedicated morpho-syntactic mechanisms for indicating that a constituent is in focus” (Ameka 2010: 148). In Kwa languages the marked constituent also undergoes movement to the position immediately preceding the subject of the clause (i.e. the pre-core position). This is the position that is represented in Table 28. In the rest of the section, I focus on the marked focus constructions in Tutrugbu and which constituents can be marked for focus. For marked focus constructions in Tutrugbu, one needs to distinguish between the ones that involve pronominal arguments and the ones that involve lexical arguments. I begin with a discussion of focusing pronominal arguments. 9.2.1 Focusing Pronominal Arguments The crucial difference between constructions in which a pronoun is marked for focus and one in which it is not is that an independent pronoun is used in the former while a dependent pronoun is used in the latter. Consider the examples below: (6) a. mɛ mɔ wɔ́ 1SG:IND see 2SG ‘I see you.’ b. ɛ-mɔ wɔ́ 1SG-see 2SG ‘I see you.’

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(7) a. wɔ tseɖe mɛ́ 2SG:IND tell 1SG ‘You told me.’ (7) b. o-tseɖe mɛ́ 2SG-tell 1SG ‘You told me’ (8)

yabakɔ́ sɛ bunuɔ bɔbagagãlĩ yɛ a-ba-kɔ́ sɛ bu-nu=ɔ bɔ-ba-gagãlĩ 3SG AM-FUT-give that CM8-beverage=DEF AM-FUT-be_hard ‘That will make the drink strong’ (Making-Palm-Wine.006)

Sentences (6a) and (7a) show that subject pronominal arguments that are focused are realized as independent pronouns. (8) shows that when the argument is the third person singular pronoun, it is followed by an agreement marker. These sentences express that the focused entities, and not another one, carried out the state of affairs expressed by the predicate. Thus, in (6a), I am the entity who saw you and not, say, my brother. In (8), the speaker blows smoke down the hole of a palm tree which has been felled for the purpose of tapping palmwine. He explains as he does so that it is the smoke that would ensure that the drink would be strong. When the object pronoun is focused it is moved to sentence-initial position where it is invariably realized as an independent pronoun. Consider the examples below: (9) a. wɔ mɛ mɔ 2SG:IND 1SG see ‘I saw you’ b. yɛ mɛ tseɖé 3SG:IND 1SG:IND tell ‘I told him/her.’ The examples show that if the subject of a sentence containing a preposed (and focused) constituent is pronominal, it is also realized as an independent pronoun. When that subject pronoun is the third person pronoun, however, then the dependent pronoun is used. Consider (10) below:

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(10) salí nɔ́ g’anyá kahɔkpɔɔ g’ enú watch ɛ, y’ ápɛ salí nɔ́ gɛ a-nya ka-hɔkpɔ=ɔ gɛ e-nu watch=ɛ thing DEF REL 3SG-tie CM4-wrist=TP REL 3SG-be watch=TOP yɛ a-á-pɛ 3SG:IND 3SG-PROG-want ‘the thing that is around the wrist which is the watch, it she was looking for.’ (Focus1.039–040) Rather than yɛ yɛ in this example, we get yɛ for the preposed object and the dependent pronoun a- for the subject. Where the subject that follows a preposed pronominal object is a lexical argument, as the example below shows, then that lexical item is followed by a dependent pronoun that agrees with it: (11) mɛ̄ a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ e-husi 1SG:IND man=DEF AM-beat ‘I the man beat.’ To summarize, pronominal subjects that are focused are realized as independent pronouns. When it is the third person pronoun that is focused, it takes an agreeing dependent pronoun. When pronominal objects are focused, they are moved to sentence-initial position. If the following subject is also a pronoun it is also realized as an independent pronoun. If it is a lexical argument however, it takes an agreement marker, as normal subjects do. 9.2.2 Focusing Lexical Arguments The discussion of the focusing of lexical arguments needs to be divided into subject focus and object focus. 9.2.2.1 Subject Focus When a lexical argument with subject function is focused, the noun occurs in pre-core position while an independent pronoun that agrees with it in class occurs in subject position. This is often, though not always, followed by an agreement marker. Consider the examples below: (12) a. ɔnyɔ́ ɔ́ ɔl’ ɔ́vɛ ɔ-nyɔ́ =ɔ́ ɔlɛ́ ɔ-vɛ CM2-smoke=DEF CL2:IND AM-go ‘The smoke goes (in)’ (Making_Palm_Wine.100)

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b. Kof i y’ehusi Ami Kof i yɛ e-húsi Ami NAME 3SG:IND AM-beat NAME ‘Kof i beat Ami.’ c. so n’íbui núlũ ɛbaɖɔ sɛ err anyɛ́ɛ ́ y’ayɛ kitsikpi nɔ́ . so nɛ́ kí-bui nɔ́ lũ ɛ-ba-ɖɔ sɛ err so PREP CM3-matter DEF mouth 1SG:FUT-say that um a-nyɛ́=ɛ́ yɛ a-yɛ ki-tsikpi nɔ́ CM1-man=DEF 3SG:IND AM-break CM3-pot DEF ‘So considering the circumstance I will say that, um, the man broke the pot’ (Focus1.244) In sentence (12a), the focused element ɔnyɔ́ ‘smoke’, which belongs to the ɔclass, is followed by the independent pronoun ɔlɛ́ while the verb takes the agreement prefix. In (12b), the proper name Kofi, which refers to an animate entity, is followed by the independent pronoun for the a-class, yɛ, which, in turn, is followed by an agreement marker. Similarly in sentence (12c) where the focus-marked constituent also belongs to the a-class, it is followed by the independent pronoun yɛ. This time the agreement marker is a- because of the ATR of the verb. In Tafi and Avatime also, the independent pronoun can occur in subjectfocus constructions. Consider the examples below (glossing as provided in the original examples): (13) a. ekusi teɖikpo y’aaŋa bal’ɩá bhā e-kusi te-ɖikpo yɩ́ a-a-ŋa balɩ́ kabhā CM-chief AM-one 3SG.IND SM-PSTPROG-eat 3PL TOP ‘One chief rules over them’ (Bobuafor 2013 ex 69d, p. 173)

Tafi

b. agì sɔlɛmɛ̀ yɛ́ ɔ-lɛ xé ɔ̀ -ha-lɔ̀ because church c1s:foc c1s-be.at before c2s-group-def ɔ̀ -lɛ=ɛ Avatime c2s-be.at=cm ‘Because [the church]FOC is there before its members are there.’ (funeral_100531_MM-EM) (van Putten 2014: ex 27) In both (13a and b), the focused subject is followed by an independent pronoun which takes an agreement marker. Commenting on the Avatime situation, van Puten (2014: 92) writes: “the resumptive pronoun seems to function more like

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a focus marker in itself, without a pause between the left-dislocated element and the pronoun.” In the case of Tutrugbu, there is evidence that the pronoun is the subject of the clause. This is because while it is often followed by an agreement marker, this is not always the case, as the next sentence illustrates: (14) bu-tsí bɔlɛ dzyɔ f lógo pɛ ba-mɔ́ wɔ́ CM8-death CL8:IND happen before then 3PL-give_birth 2SG ‘Death was destined for us before you are born.’ (Pre-Burial_Libation.031) In (14), butsí ‘death,’ which is focus marked, occurs in pre-subject position while bɔlɛ, the independent pronoun for the bu-class occurs in subject position. Unlike the case for Avatime, there is no agreement marker or resumptive pronoun. To negate subject focus, anɛ, which is made up of a pleonastic pronoun and the negative copula, occurs before the positive equivalent of the sentence. The negative equivalent of (12a and b) are therefore (15a and b) below: (15) a. anɛ ɔnyɔ́ ɔ́ ɔl’ ɔvɛ a-nɛ ɔ-nyɔ́ =ɔ́ ɔlɛ ɔ-vɛ 3SG-not_be CM2-smoke=DEF CL2:IND AM-go ‘Smoke does not go (in).’ b. anɛ Kof i y’e-husi Ami a-nɛ Kof i yɛ e-húsi Ami 3SG-not_be NAME 3SG:IND AM-beat NAME ‘Kofi didn’t beat Ami.’ An incident occurred in Gainesville, that was used by Judith, my language consultant, to explain (15a). Judith had visited me as I was finishing the manuscript, and we went over the illustrative sentences for the final time. During her visit, the utility company in Gainesville conducted a steam test, which involved sending steam down the drains to determine if there were leaks. Residents of the areas where the test was conducted were advised to fill their sinks and tubs so that the steam does not emerge into their homes. On that day, as Judith and I drove along a road, billowy steam emerged like smoke from a huge drain, and appeared to enter a car that was parked by the road. Judith explained that it is in such a situation that one would use (15a). Sentence (15b) would be said where the speaker and hearer know that someone beat Ami, and the speaker wants to report that that person is not Kofi.

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9.2.2.2 Non-subject Focus The lexical object, just like its pronominal counterpart, is moved to pre-core position when it is focused, leaving a gap in its underlying position in the clause. Where the subject of the clause is pronominal, it is the independent form. Lexical subjects take an agreement marker. Consider the sentences below: (16) a. Kof i mɛ mɔ NAME 1SG:IND see ‘I saw Kofi.’ b. bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ Ami e-husi CM8-child DEF NAME AM-beat ‘Ami beat the children.’ (Focus elicitation) In (16a), the preposed object is followed by an independent pronoun, which occurs in subject position. In (16b) bunuvɔɛ nɔ́ ‘the children’ is followed by the lexical subject Ami which takes an agreement morpheme. The discussion of focusing pronominal and lexical arguments shows an asymmetry between focusing arguments which have a subject function and those which have an object function. The focused subject is followed by an obligatory independent pronoun but this is not the case for the object. Like subject focus, object focus is also negated by placing anɛ in front of the positive variant of the sentence. Thus, negating (16a and b) gives (17a and b) respectively: (17) a. a-nɛ Kof i mɛ mɔ 3SG-not_be NAME 1SG:IND see ‘I didn’t see Kofi.’ b. a-nɛ bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ Ami e-husi 3SG-not_be CM8-child DEF Ami AM-beat ‘Ami didn’t beat the children.’ The negative focus construction involving the object below was used in spontaneous speech: (18) anɛ bulĩɛ́́ shú yɛ bhoso bá a-nɛ bu-lĩ=ɛ́ i-shú yɛ bhoso 3SG-NEG:be CM8-water=DEF CM6-outer_surface 3SG:IND be_first_to

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bá come ‘It’s not by the water that he first came.’ In this sentence, the speaker asserts that although a person whom they were discussing went to a number of places, the water, which is focused, is not the first place he went to. 9.2.2.3

Focusing Possessive NP Complements and Postpositional Phrase Complements Only the whole possessive NP can be preposed for focusing. The possessor or possessed NP cannot be preposed alone. These examples were elicited: (19) a. Kof i y’aka y’eklu Kof i yɛ a-ka yɛ e-klu NAME 3SG:IND CM1-father 3SG:IND AM-call ‘He called Kofi’s father.’ b. y’aka y’eklú Kof i yɛ a-ka yɛ e-klú Kof i 3SG:IND CM1-father 3SG:IND AM-call NAME ‘His father called Kofi’ *‘He called Kofi’s father.’ In (19a), the complete possessive phrase comprising Kofi, the possessor, and y’aka ‘his father’, the possessed, have been preposed. In (19b), y’aka, which occurs in pre-core position, is treated as the complete possessive phrase. It is not treated as a part of Kofi, which is stranded in complement position. Postpositional phrases are like possessive phrases in that they have to be focused together. As the unacceptability of (20b and c) shows, no constituent can be stranded: (20) a. bɔ-pã ́ mɛ Kof i á-vɛ CM8-house inside NAME AM-go ‘Kofi went into the house.’ b. *bɔ-pã ́ Kof i á-vɛ mɛ CM8-house NAME AM-go inside

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c. *mɛ Kof i a-vɛ bɔ-pã ́ Inside NAME AM-go CM8-house In (20b), the postposition is stranded while in (20c), the possessor noun is stranded. Neither sentence is acceptable. 9.2.2.4 Focusing Complements in Double Object Constructions In Ewe, there is a difference between focusing a primary object and focusing a secondary object: the former may leave an invariable resumptive pronoun in the place of the moved constituent while the latter does not. The examples below are from Ameka (2010): (21) a. Kof i-e me-na ga-(e) NAME-FOC 1SG-give money-RP ‘I gave Kofi money.’ b. ga-é me-ná Kof i-(*i) money 1SG-give NAME-(*RP) ‘I gave Kofi money.’ Unlike Ewe, both primary and secondary objects have the same focusing strategy in Tutrugbu: they are moved to sentence-initial position without leaving a trace. This is shown below: (22) a. kɛpɔtɛ́ Kof i akɔ y’edzíni kɛ-pɔtɛ́ Kof i a-kɔ́ yɛ e-dzíni CM3-cloth NAME AM-give 3SG:IND AM1-wife ‘Kofi gave his wife (a piece of ) cloth.’ b. y’edzíni Kof i akɔ́ kɛpɔtɛ yɛ e-dzíni Kof i a-kɔ́ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ 3SG:IND CM1-wife NAME AM-give CM3-cloth ‘Kofi gave his wife (a piece of) cloth.’ (23) a. wɔ Máwú a-kɔ́ yayrá 2SG:IND God AM-give blessing ‘God gave you blessing.’ b. yayra Máwú a-kɔ́ wɔ́ Blessing God AM-give 2SG ‘God gave you blessing.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Examples (23a and 23b) show that the focusing of complements of a threeplace predicate that express non-conrete entities is the same as that for those that express concrete entities. 9.2.2.5 Focusing Indirect Objects Only the complement of a prepositional phrase, which is an indirect complement, can be preposed for focusing. The preposition is stranded but the gap is bound by the fronted complement, as shown by (24b) (24) a. i-tẽ ́ o-si=ɛ́ nɛ ka-wɛ́ nɔ́ 1SG-cut CM2-tree=DEF with CM4-axe DEF ‘I cut the tree with the axe.’ b. kawɛ́ n’ itẽ ́ osiɛ nɔ/*nɛ ka-wɛ́ nɔ́ i-tẽ ́ o-sí=ɛ́ nɛ+i CM4-axe DEF 1SG-cut CM2-tree=DEF with+3SG:OBJ ‘I cut the tree with the axe.’ The binding of the gap left after the preposed complement of the preposition is represented by the change of the preposition from nɛ to nɔ in (24b). Osíɛ́ ‘the tree’ has a definite article already and, therefore, the nɔ at the end of the phrase should not be mistaken for a determiner. 9.2.2.6 Adjunct Focus Temporal nominal, be they lexical or phrasal, are easily preposed for focus, as shown below: (25) a. sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko kɛlɛ ótsí yamɔ asɛ adzɛ̃ɛ̃ ababá sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ ko kɛlɛ ótsí yɛ a-mɔ asɛ a-dzɛ̃=ɛ́ shortly just then now 3SG:IND AM-see that CM1-woman=DEF a-ba-bá AM-VEN-come ‘Shortly after, now he saw that the woman has come’ (Focus1.258) b. ɛ-ɖa tɛ-bha mɛ mɛ shɛ̃ CM6-metal AM-two inside 1SG:IND leave ‘I came at two o’clock.’ In (25a), the adverb otsí ‘now’ is focused while in (25b) it is postpositional phrase that is focused.

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Locative adjuncts in Tutrugbu are prepositional phrases comprising the general preposition nɛ́ and the locative nominal. To focus this adjunct, the nominal is preposed while the preposition is deleted. This is shown below: (26) a. ɛ-mɔ-ɛ nɛ́ Oho 1SG-see-3SG PREP Ho ‘I saw him in Ho.’ b. oho mɛ mɔ-ɛ (*nɛ́/*nɔ) Ho 1SG:IND see-3SG PREP ‘I saw him in Ho.’ Sentence (26b), compared to (24b) shows that the adjunct preposition behaves differently from that of the instrument that is introduced by nɛ. 9.2.2.7 Predicate Focus Ameka (2010) distinguishes between the verb-focus strategy which he describes as “placing a copy of the verb in the clause initial focus position” (p. 158), and “nominalized verb strategy” which he describes as placing a nominalized form of the verb or VP in the pre-core clause focus position (p. 159). The process in Tutrugbu could be described as a nominalized verb strategy since the verbs which are fronted take the nominal class marker bu-. Consider the example below: (27) buzuru y’ezuru kegbuɔ́, anɛ budzi y’edzi bu-zuru yɛ e-zuru ke-gbu=ɔ́ a-nɛ bu-dzi CM8-steal 3SG:IND AM-steal CM4-stool=DEF AM-NEG:be CM8-buy yɛ e-dzi-í 3SG:IND AM-buy-3SG ‘He stole the stool, he didn’t buy it.’ Zuru ‘steal’ and dzi ‘buy’ take the bu- affix in (27). While buzuru occurs in sentence-initial position, budzi also occurs in pre-core position but after the negated copula. In both cases a copy of the verb is left in-situ. Where serial verb constructions are concerned, only the V1 can be fronted, the V2 cannot. This is also shown below: (28) a. bɔtɔ y’atɔ asɛ atã bɔ-tɔ yɛ a-tɔ a-sɛ̃ ́ a-tã CM8-cook 3SG:IND AM-cook AM1-rice SCONN-chew ‘He cooked the rice and ate.’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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b. *bɔta y’atɔ asɛ̃ ́ atã bɔ-tã yɛ a-tɔ a-sɛ̃ ́ a-tɔ CM-chew 3SG:IND AM-chew AM1-rice SCONN-cook ‘He cooked the rice and ate’ In (28a and 28b), tɔ is V1 while tã is V2. In (28a), tɔ is focused and the sentence is acceptable. In (28b) where tã is focused, the sentence is not acceptable. 9.2.2.8 Content Questions As we noted in the preceding chapter, content questions also involve the movement of constituents to sentence-initial position. Questioned phrases occur in the same position as focused phrases. When they are fronted, the noun phrase that occurs in subject position behaves like the ones in the focus construction discussed so far: (29) a. pɔ kibui ɖúe kóŋ́ y’amána dza? pɔ ki-búí ɖúe kóŋ́ yɛ a-mána dza but CM3-matter which INT 3SG:IND AM-bring Q ‘But what exactly has he brought?’ (Kume.002) b. af ana y’ehuisii? af ana yɛ e-húsi-i who 3SG:IND AM-beat-3SG ‘Who did he/she beat?’ In both sentences, the subject which is a pronoun takes the independent form. This illustrates the parallel that has been pointed out between content questions and the focus construction (cf. Aboh 2004b).1 It was also pointed out in chapter 8 that when the questioned constituent is the subject, then the cleft construction with the relativiser is used instead, as shown below: (30) af ana gɛ e-husi-i? who REL RP-beat-3SG ‘Who beat him/her’ As observed by Aboh (2007), clefting is, to some extent, related to focusing. 1 Aboh (2007) argues that there are non-focused content questions and these should be treated differently from focused ones.

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9.3

Contrastive Topic

Contrastive topics are encoded with scope particles that belong to a larger class of elements called intensifiers (Ameka 2010; Duthie 1996). Contrastive topic constituents also occur in pre-core position. One way to distinguish between them and focus constituents is that when they precede a pronoun, they do not require that the latter be realized as an independent pronoun. Consider the examples below: (31) a. ami tsyɛ́ a-ba-bá NAME also 3SG-FUT-come ‘Ami will also come.’ b. a-dzɛ̃nuvɔɛ nɔ́ xɔ̃ ń ɔ̃,́ i-nyí-í CM1-girl DEF as_for 1SG-know-3SG ‘As for the girl, I know her.’ Ami in (31a) belongs to the same referent as the subject while adzɛ̃nuvɔɛ is the same referent as the object. Just like the topic construction, the constituents that occur in contrastive topic position are preposed. That is why, like topicalized constituents, they have co-referential pronouns in the core clause. Ameka (2010) reports that in most Kwa languages the contrastive topic phrases can either occur between the focus-marked item and the subject or before the focus-marked item and the subject. The discussion of the focus construction in section 9.2 has shown that Tutrugbu does not have an overt focus marker. As such, the focused constituents that precede contrastive topics are not marked, as shown below: (32) a. bu-shenu mɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ̃ ́ ɛ-ɛ́-pɛ CM8-palmwine 1SG:IND as_for 1SG-PROG-like ‘As for me I like palmwine.’ b. mɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ̃ ́ bu-shenu mɛ ɛ́-pɛ 1SG:IND as_for CM8-palmwine 1SG:IND PROG-like ‘As for me I like palmwine.’ (33) a. ki-kũ bɔlɔ pétéé bɔ-ŋa CM3-yam 1PL:IND all 1PL-eat ‘We all eat yam slices.’

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b. bɔlɔ pétéé ki-kũ bɔ-ŋa 1PL:IND all CM3-slice 1PL-eat ‘We all eat yam slices.’ The important thing to note here is that the pronouns that are modified by the scope particles are realized as independent pronouns. However, the pronouns that occur in subject position are only realized as independent pronouns if they follow the focused constituent directly. If a contrastive topic phrase comes between the focused constituent and the subject pronoun, then the latter is realized as a dependent pronoun. The contrastive topic constituent can occur with a frame-topic constituent. (34) o-hu=ɔ́ nɔ́ mɛ xɔ̃ ń ɔ̃ ́ ɛ-gɛ-pɛ-ɛ CM2-vehicle=DEF TOP 1SG:IND as_for 1SG-NEG:PST-like-3SG ‘The vehicle, as for me I didn’t like it’ Other particles are kóŋ́ ‘that very one’ and ko ‘only’. Let us now take a close look at the semantics of the contrastive particle tsyɛ́ which van Putten (2014) describes in Avatime as the additive particle. As already noted, this particle is also borrowed from Ewe. Van Putten observes that in addition to occurring with nouns, tsyɛ́ can also occur with verbs. The examples below illustrate the two contexts in Tutrugbu: (35) a. bɔlɔkɔ mango tsyɛ́ ákɔ́ lɔ bɔkɔ tɔ wá nɔ bɔ-lɔkɔ mango tsyɛ́ a-kɔ́ lɔ bɔ-lɔkɔ tɔ bɔ-wá 1PL-take mango also CM7-bark 1PL-take cook CM8-medicine nɛ+i with+3SG:OBJ ‘We use the bark of mango also to prepare medicine.’ (Odumase_ Herbs.078) b. Kof i a-gã tsyɛ́ NAME AM-walk ADD ‘Kofi walked also.’ In (35a), tsyɛ́ modifies mango, which is the possessor in the possessive NP (the complement of the first verb in a Take SVC). The speaker is describing different types of herbal preparations and, in this sentence, mentions that the bark of the mango is also used to prepare medicine. Sentence (36b) would be said in a context where Kofi performed other activities besides walking. James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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Van Putten (2014: 17) notes that tsyɛ́ cannot be equated to German/English additive particles. This is because it “does not necessarily indicate that the presupposed proposition is identical to the expressed one (without the added constituent). Instead of this ‘identity requirement’, there seems to be a more general constraint requiring the presupposed proposition to be similar to or more compatible with the expressed one.” Consider example (36) below: (36) Aku a-á-vɛ Oho. mɛ tsyɛ́ ɛ-ɛ́-vɛ Hohoe NAME AM-PROG-go Ho. 1SG:IND ADD 1SG-PROG-go Hohoe ‘Aku is going to Ho. I am going to Hohoe’ The point here is that while it is acceptable in Tutrugbu (and other Kwa languages) to use (the equivalent of) tsyɛ́ in this context because both Aku and the speaker are going to a place, the equivalent in English is not acceptable. Some uses of tsyɛ́ cannot be explained as compatible proposition, as shown by the sentences below: (37) a. nɛ́ Máwú inyé mɛ, mɛ tsyɛ́ ɛɛ́ɖɔ ɛlɛ́ nɛ́ blɔ akaalɛ́ pétéé nɛ́ Máwú ki-nyé mɛ mɛ tsyɛ́ ɛ-ɛ́-ɖɔ ɛlɛ́ PREP God CM3-name inside 1SG ADD 1SG-PROG-say CL3:OBJ nɛ́ blɔ a-ka-alɛ́ pétéé PREP 1PL:IND CM1-father-PL all ‘in the name of God I am telling that on behalf of all our ancestors.’ (Odumase_Herbs.027) b. bábhui ɛbhɛ kɔ́ mɛ tsyɛ́ ko ɛbakɔ wɔ́ siká bá-bhui kɛ-bhɛ kɔ́ mɛ tsyɛ́ ko ɛ-ba-kɔ́ wɔ 3PL-cut CM3-debt give 1SG:IND ADD just 1SG-FUT-give 2SG:IND siká money ‘When they pay me too the money owed me, I will give you money.’ In (37a), tsyɛ́ comes after the subject noun. The speaker precedes this use by first noting that God has given powers to herbs to heal various kinds of diseases, and he has given people permission to use them to perform that function. Today he has been given the opportunity to talk about this power that herbs have to heal and, in the name of God, he is sharing the knowledge on behalf of all the ancestors. In this case, the speaker is not asserting that somebody first shared the knowledge and he is also doing the same. Similarly, in (37b), tsyɛ́ simply expresses concession.

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Cleft Construction

9.4.1 Argument Cleft Construction Argument cleft construction in Tutrugbu is expressed by the focused constiuent, which is represented by the preposed phrase, and independent pronoun, followed by the copula and then the relative clause construction. This yields the form X y’enu Y gɛ S (‘X is Y that S’). Consider the sentences below: (38) a. John y’enu anyɛ gɛ akɔ mɛ sika John yɛ e-nu a-nyɛ gɛ a-kɔ́ mɛ sika NAME 3SG:IND AM-be CM1-man REL AM-give 1SG money ‘John is the man who gave me money.’ b. Akú Siká y’enu adzɛ̃ ̌ gɛ mɛ-ɛ́-pɛ Akú Siká yɛ e-nú a-dzɛ̃ ̌ gɛ mɛ ɛ́-pɛ NAME 3SG:IND AM-be CM-woman REL 1SG:IND PROG-want ‘Aku Sika is the woman I want.’ John is the underlying subject of (38a). As such, he is in contrastive focus, in the sense that the speaker wishes to state that it is him, and not somebody else, who gave him or her the money. John is followed by the independent pronoun that agrees with the noun. In (39b), Aku Sika is the underlying object, literally the object of desire of the speaker. What this shows then is that to construct an argument cleft construction in Tutrugbu, the copula phrase with a focused constituent is placed before the relative clause with the argument as the head of the relative clause. The next example shows that the choice of independent pronoun in the copula clause is determined by the constituent in focus: (39) besheasɛ̃ ́ ɛlɛ enu asɛ̃ ́ gɛ bubenu nɛ Batugbu kesiakpa n’abha be-she-asɛ̃ ́ ɛlɛ e-nu asɛ̃ ́ gɛ bu-benu nɛ CM5-African-rice 7IND:PRON AM-be rice REL 1PL-cultivate PREP Batugbu ke-siakpa nɔ ka-bha Nyangbo CM4-ground DEF CM4-top ‘Glaberrima rice is the rice that we cultivate on Nyangbo soil.’ Besheasɛ̃ ́ is literally ancient rice. Although the prefix belongs to the be-class, the head of the noun is asɛ̃ ́ ‘rice’ which belongs to class 7. As such, the independent pronoun chosen is ɛlɛ ‘CL7:IND’. Just like the negation of the focused construction discussed in the preceding section, constituent cleft construction is negated by placing anɛ before it.

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(40) a. anɛ anyɛnuvɔɛ alɛ y’enu anɔ g’alɔ́ kɔ siká a-nɛ a-nyɛnuvɔɛ a-lɛ yɛ e-nú a-nɔ gɛ 3SG-not_be CM1boy AM-this CL1:IND AM-be CM1-person REL a-lɔ́ kɔ siká 3SG-take money ‘It’s not this boy who took the money’ b. anɛ osi ɔlɛ ɔl’onu osi gɛ bedzu nɛ́ m’ɔ́ya m a-nɛ o-sí ɔ-lɛ́ ɔlɔ o-nú osí gɛ 3SG-not_be CM3-tree AM-this CL2:IND AM-be CL3-tree REL be-dzǔ nɛ́ mɛ bɔ-ya mɛ 3PL-plant PREP 1SG:IND CM8-farm inside ‘This is not the tree that is planted in my farm’ Sentence (40a) refers to a situation where both speaker and hearer know that somebody has taken money. The speaker wishes to express that the boy does not belong to the set of potential people who took it. Similarly both speaker and hearer in (40b) know that there is a tree planted in the speaker’s farm. The sentence asserts that the tree that the speaker refers to is not the one in his or her farm. In both cases, therefore, the entities that occur in subject position are usually contrasted with others. 9.4.2 Predicate Cleft Constructions The predicate cleft construction involves the nominalization of the predicate which is then relativized. This means that the nominalized predicate, like all focused constituents, occurs in clause-initial position. However, unlike the constituent cleft discussed above, the predicate cleft construction does not have a copula component. Further, a copy of the predicate is left in-situ. Where the verb is transitive, only the verb is nominalized and placed in clause-initial position. There are three ways in which the verb that is placed in sentence-initial position is nominalized. The first involves the use of the kɛ-prefix. Consider the examples below: (42) a. so kɛŋa gɛ bɔŋa kusí n’ányá bɔɖɔ́ so kɛ-ŋa gɛ bɔ-ŋa bu-kusi nɛ́ Banyá bɔ-ɔ́ -ɖɔ so CM3-eat REL 1PL-eat CM8-chief PREP Esroe 1PL-PROG-say ‘The way chieftaincy is practiced in Esroe is what we are saying.’ (lit. the eating of chieftaincy …) (Sroe.049)

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b. so kɛɖɔ gɛ aáɖi aɖɔ pɛ aábhɛtɛ́ ɔhɔɛ nɔ́ pɛ aábhɛtɛ́, adzɛ̃ ̌ anyáni kpa y’aglɔ sɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ ́ koɔ so kɛ-ɖɔ gɛ a-á-ɖɔ ka-ɖɔ pɛ so CM3-speak REL 3SG:PROG-speak CM4-speak and_then a-á-bhɛtɛ́ ɔ-hɔɛ nɔ́ pɛ a-á-bhɛtɛ́ a-dzɛ̃ ̌ 3SG-PROG-do CM2-hand DEF and_then 3SG-PROG-do CM1-woman a-nyána-i kpa AM-hold-3SG:OBJ firmly ‘So the way that he was talking and gesticulating (making the hand), the woman grabbed him firmly’ (Focus1.241) c. kɛlɛ́ gɛ egbogbo álɛ nɛ́ Banyá kɛ-lɛ́ gɛ e-gbogbó a-lɛ́ nɛ́ Banyá CM3-be_at REL CM1-clan AM-be_at PREP Esroe ‘The way that clans are at Esroe’ (Sroe.054) To occupy a function such as that of a chief is to eat that position. This is a common collocational pattern in many of the languages in the region. In (42a) the chief explains that they are talking about chieftaincy in Esroe. The sentence is therefore a transitive clause in which the verb ŋa ‘eat’ first occurs in clause-initial position with the kɛ- affix, as well as in-situ within the relative clause. The copy in the relative clause takes the complement bukusí ‘chieftaincy’. In (42b), the speaker is describing the manner in which a man who got upset that his girlfriend showed up late at a pub kept gesticulating as he expressed his frustration until his girlfriend grabbed him and held him tenderly in an effort to appease him. This sentence also has a transitive clause in which the verb ɖɔ occurs in initial place with the kɛ- affix. In this case, the complement of the copy that occurs in the relative clause is a cognate object. This is clear evidence that the nominalized verb that occurs in sentence-initial position (i.e. kɛɖɔ) should be distinguished from cognate objects (i.e. kaɖɔ). The locative predicate in (42c) occurs intransitively and, therefore, the copy is rather followed by a prepositional phrase. In terms of their semantics, the examples suggest that nominalization of the predicate for focus when done with the kɛ-class affix gives the interpretation ‘the way in which the V is carried out’. A second predicate cleft construction involves the gerund, which is the reduplication of the fronted verb and the use of the tɛ- class prefix, as shown below:

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(43) tibibísiɛ gɛ obísi ótsíɛ́ ti-bibísi=ɛ́ gɛ o-bisi otsí=ɛ́ CM9-question=DEF REL 2SG-ask now=TOP ‘the question you’ve asked now’ Example (43) shows that a copy of the verb remains in the relative clause when the gerund is used. The use of ti- places emphasis on the result, in this case, a question that I had asked. I had asked the speaker why they call their town Kume. After saying (43), he goes on to explain that their elders have deliberated over the issue but not come up with a satisfactory answer. The final predicate construction involves the placement of bu- on the preposed verb instead of kɛ- or tɛ-. This is shown in the example below: (44) a. bu-toró gɛ driver nɔ́ e-toró steer nɔ́ kɔ sɛ ohúɔ́ doboé bu-toró gɛ driver nɔ́ e-toró steer nɔ́ kɔ sɛ CM8-turn REL driver DEF AM-turn steer DEF give that o-hú=ɔ́ doboé CM2-vehicle=DEF fall ‘The steering that he steered the wheel caused the vehicle to overturn.’ b. bu-tsyina gɛ e-tsyína err … klɛ ba-bhɛ́tɛ err … CM8-turn RED 3SG-turn um …. and_then 3PL-do um … ‘The turning that he turned …’ (Focus1.234) With the exception of the class markers, there is no structural difference between the three cleft constructions. Sentence (44a) describes the fact that the sudden turning of the steer caused the vehicle to overturn. It is therefore contrastive. In (44b), the speaker first states that the owner of the pub came by the place where the man was seated and talking agitatedly to his girlfriend. The man then turned and left. In the video it is not very clear whether it was as he turned to leave that he knocked over a flower vase and it broke. The speaker may have had this in mind when he started the sentence in that manner before abandoning it.

9.5

Conclusion

This chapter has explored the different ways in which information structure is packaged in Tutrugbu. Particularly I have discussed Frame Topic, Focus, and Contrastive Topic. All of these constituents occur in sentence-initial posi-

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tion, also referred to in the literature as pre-core position or left periphery. I have shown that argument focus is different from cleft constructions. In fact, Tutrugbu, like other Kwa languages, has both constructions. As such, it is not advisable to translate argument focus constructions as though they are cleft constructions.

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chapter 10

Routine Activities Many communicative practices found in a given speech community remain undocumented and unreconstructable. That is, provided with a grammar and a dictionary it is still impossible to know how the language is (or was) actually spoken. For example, it is impossible to derive from a grammar and a dictionary on how everyday conversational routines look like (how does one say “hello, good morning”?) or how one linguistically interacts when building a house or negotiating a marriage. Himmelmann 2006: 18

∵ 10.0

Introduction

The chapter discusses some communicative and selected culturally-recognised activity types (Levinson 1979). First discussed is the most basic communicative practice among the Nyangbo, i.e. greetings (section 10.1), followed by a staged event of how to spin a yarn while talking about it (section 10.2). Also included are a narration of female initiation rites (10.3), the performance of the pouring of libation—a form of prayer—and an interaction between the Regent of the chief’s spokesperson and a bereaved family (section 10.4). These are similar to Himmelmann’s call for the linguistic representation of the kind of interaction that takes place when people are greeting, building a house or negotiating a marriage.

10.1

Greetings

Greeting is an important cultural activity among the Nyangbo. Whenever people meet the first thing they do is greet. Depending on whether the occasion is informal or formal, there are slight variations in the greetings.

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/9789004396999_011

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10.1.1 Informal Greeting There are different types of informal greetings which are mostly based on the time of the day, the location and occasion. Adults say that children do not greet. When a child meets an adult, the latter simply asks otî or ɔlɛ piapí, both of which mean ‘are you well?’ The response is ɛ̃ɛ̃ ‘yes’. However, unlike the Anlo and Akans, there is no requirement that the younger person initiate greeting. Either party could do so. Greeting 1 is a typical morning greeting that people exchange:

Greeting 1 Greeter: Responder: Responder: Greeter:

Oyi é Yawɛ, Wɔ pã ́ mɛ é? Kpasí

Yi does not occur outside of the context of the morning greeting, thereby making it difficult to translate. It occurs with a pronoun. Thus, the o of oyi is the second person singular pronoun. When one is greeting more than one person, then the plural form of the pronoun is used instead, giving noyi. The response yawɛ is also solely used as response for greetings. As such it does not have a translation equivalent in English. The full form of wɔ pã ́ mɛ which, as the grammar has shown, nobody says, is wɔ bɔpã ́ mɛ é ‘your home?’ One could alternatively ask w’ɔkɔ́ é ‘your place?’ The response kpasí is also specific to greetings. Thus, although people say that kpasí means ‘fine’, it cannot be used outside of the greeting context to describe anything. Many times the greeter ends with wɔ bhɛtɛ kibui oo, pronounced /wɔ́ bhit íbwí oo/ ‘thank you’ (literally, you have done thing) to which the responder responds yoo ‘okay’ or wɔ tsyɛ́ oo ‘you too’. Greeting 1 can be exchanged between people from the same house when they wake up in the morning or people who meet each other outside the house. When greeting in the afternoon or evening is ayɛgbɔ́ is used for one person and ayɛmɔ́ for more than one person. When one of the parties involved in the greetings came from somewhere else, then greeting 2, which is more detailed is used:

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Greeting 2 Greeter: Responder: Responder: Greeter: Responder: Greeter: Responder: Greeter:

Ayɛgbɔ́ o Yawɛ W’epíɛ́ Kpasí W’adyalɛ́ Kpasí Wɔ gã o Yoo

Kepí in w’epíɛ́ means ‘hometown’ while adyalɛ́ means ‘siblings’. Like Ewe, the expression for welcome, i.e., wɔ gã o, is literally ‘you have walked’. 10.1.2 Formal Greeting When people gather for a formal occasion, there are spokespersons through whom they communicate. That is to say each party has to elect someone to be the spokesperson. Chiefs have their spokespersons called tsyíámi 1, a term borrowed from Akan (Yankah 1995). The spokesperson is then asked to hear the message so that it gets to the rest of the people gathered. The text below is an exerpt from our visit to the Sroe chief. I went with two research assistants to find out about Sroe history and chieftaincy practices. As is usual of such occasions, we discussed arrangements for the recording and the order (not included), until we had set up our recording equipment. One of the research assistants who went with me was then designated our tsyíámi. In some cases, the time before the greeting is used to give the people water to drink. Accepting the water means that the party does not have any ill intent. Visiting the chief’s regent (1) PARTICIPANT: Chief (Regent) kɛlɛ sɛ bɔkɔ́ ál’ ɔ́ gã kɛ-lɛ sɛ bɔ-kɔ́ a-lɛ ɔ-gã CL3-be_at that 1PL-give 3PL:OBJ 2SG-walk ‘we need to welcome them.’ (literally ‘it is that we give them you walked’) (Sroe.009) 1 Some also pronounce it tsyámi but in this book, I have chosen to represent it uniformly as tsyíámi.

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(2) bɔ́ kɔ́ álɛ́ ɔgã bɔ́ -kɔ́ alɛ́ ɔ-gã 1PL-give 3PL:OBJ 2SG-walk ‘When we welcome them,’ (Sroe.010) (3) pɛ sɛ́n’ alɛ́ méke pétéé nɔ́, pɛ sɛnɔ a-lɛ méke pétéé nɔ́ then greet 3PL:OBJ finish all TP ‘then finish greeting them all,’ (Sroe.011) (4) kã bubís’ alɛ́ amaneɛ́. kã bu-bísi a-lɛ́ amaneɛ́ then 1PL-ask 3PL:OBJ what_is_it ‘Then we ask them what brings them here.’ (Sroe.012) (5) kɛnɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ bamana, kɛ-nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ba-mana CL3-EXIST:INDEF REL 3PL-come_with ‘what they came with.’ (Sroe.013) (6) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s Spokesperson kã ́ otsí bɔkpɛ́ lí ésí é kã ́ otsí bɔ-kpɛ́ kɛlɛ ke-sí e then now 1PL-put_in CL3:IND 3SG:IND CL4-down PRT ‘Then we begin.’ (Sroe.014) (7) ɛ̃ɛ,̃ ɛ̃ɛ̃ yes ‘yes’ (Sroe.015) (8) PARTICIPANT: Our spokesperson f aa, f aa by_all_means ‘by all means’ (Sroe.016) (9) nobotóŋú sɛ́n’ ɔlɔ́ no-bo-tóŋú sɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ 1PL-FUT-be_able greet 1PL:OBJ ‘You can greet us.’ (Sroe.017) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(10) ɛhɛ́ɛ, ɛhɛ́ɛ that’s_right ‘that’s_right’ (Sroe.018) (11) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s Spokesperson kɛlɛ́ bɔbakpi esíe lo kɛlɛ́ bɔ-ba-kpɛ́ ke-sí e lo then 1PL-FUT-put_in CM4-down PRT ADDR ‘then we shall begin.’ (Sroe.019) (12) PARTICIPANT: Our spokesperson yoo, yoo ‘ok’ (Sroe.020) (13) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s Spokesperson yoo wɔnɔ gã yoo wɔnɔ gã ok 2PL:IND walk ‘Okay you are all welcome.’ (Sroe.021) (14) PARTICIPANT: Chief wɔnɔ gã wɔnɔ gã 2PL walk ‘You are welcome.’ (Sroe.022) (15) PARTICIPANT: Us yoo yoo okay ‘Okay.’ (Sroe.023) (16) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s spokesperson wɔnɔ epíɛ́ wɔnɔ ke-pí=ɛ́ 2PL:IND CM4-hometown=DEF ‘How is your hometown?’ (Sroe.024)

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(17) PARTICIPANT: us kpasí kpasí fine ‘Fine’ (Sroe.025) (18) PARTICIPANT: Chief & Spokesperson wɔnɔ adzyaalɛ́? wɔnɔ a-dzya-alɛ́ 2PL:IND CM1-brother-PL ‘Your siblings?’ (Sroe.026) (19) PARTICIPANT: us kpasí, kpasí fine ‘Fine’ (Sroe.027) (20) PARTICIPANT: Chief & Spokesperson wɔnɔ gã, wɔnɔ gã 2PL:IND walk ‘you are all welcome’ (Sroe.028) (21) PARTICIPANT: Us yoo, yoo okay ‘Okay.’ (Sroe.029) (22) PARTICIPANT: Our spokesperson wɔnɔ bhíti búí oo wɔnɔ bhɛtɛ́ ki-búí oo 2PL:IND do CM3-word ADDR ‘Thank you all (lit. you have done something).’ (Sroe.030) (23) PARTICIPANT: Chief & Spokesperson yoo wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ wɔnɔ bhíti búí yoo wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ wɔnɔ bhɛtɛ́ ki-búí Ok 2PL:IND also 2PL:IND do CM3-word ‘You all too, thank you.’ (Sroe.031) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(24) PARTICIPANT: Us yoo yoo okay ‘Okay.’ (Sroe.032) (25) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s Spokesperson yoo tsyiámi ɔlɛ́? yoo tsyiámi ɔ-lɛ́ Okay spokesperson 2SG-be_at ‘Okay, spokesperson are you there?’ (Sroe.033) (26) PARTICIPANT: Our Spokesperson tsyiámi álɛ́, tsyiámi á-lɛ́ Spokesperson AM-be_at ‘Spokesperson is there.’ (Sroe.034) (27) PARTICIPANT: Chief’s spokesperson obolṹ bɔbalṹ o-bolũ bɔ-ba-lũ 2SG-FUT-hear 1PL-FUT-hear ‘You will hear and we will receive it’ (lit. we will hear) (Sroe.035) (28) sɛ bɔlɔ kɔ́ bɔkɔɔ, sɛ bɔlɔ ɔ-kɔ́ bɔkɔɔ that 1PL:IND CM2-place peaceful ‘that our place is peaceful.’ (Sroe.036) (29) yoo, yoo okay ‘Okay.’ (Sroe.037) (30) aló blɔ kɔ́ blɛwuu aló bɔlɔ ɔ-kɔ́ blɛwuu or 1PL:IND CM2-place gently ‘Or our place is calm’ (Sroe.038)

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(31) PARTICIPANT: Our spokesperson yoo ɛ̃ɛ̃ olṹ? yoo ɛ̃ɛ̃ o-lũ Ok yes 2SG-hear ‘Okay, yes, do you hear?’ (Sroe.039) (32) aa bɔlɔ tsyɛ́ nɔ kɔ́ yɔ́ . aa bɔlɔ tsyɛ́ bɔlɔ ɔ-kɔ́ yɔ́ well 1PL:IND also 1PL:IND place become_cold ‘Well you too your place is peaceful.’ (Sroe.040)

10.2

Spinning Yarn

Oɖotí tótóró ‘spinning yarn’ used to be an important practice among the Nyangbo people, particularly among the women, although some males also engaged in the trade. This was during the time when the people cultivated cotton and used it to make the yarn which was then woven into various types of fabric. One such fabric, which was used for female initiation, is called kɛ́wálɔ ‘Monday’. To spin yarn, the Nyangbo people used a standing pole that they call kiké (or keké), around which the yarn that is spun is wound. They also used a stick (kishi), a small stool (kegbǔ) which looks like the stool used by chiefs, a metal rod (ɔɖaishi, from ɔdá ‘metal’ and kishi ‘stick’), and a bow-like instrument which they called ɔnyɔ́ ‘bow’. To prepare the cotton for spinning, it is spread on an overturned kegbǔ. Then the ɔɖaishi is run through it, loosening the seeds which are then removed. The cotton is then wrapped around the cord part of the ɔnyɔ́ . One then pulls at it, as if playing a harp, untangling it, and removing the remaining seeds and any knots that may be left in it. A piece of old yarn is wrapped around the kiké and connected to the new one which will be spun. In the current narrative, which was recorded when she was 76 years old, Dada Ellen describes the practice to some children who are seated around her. She explains the fact that it used to be an important economic activity for women, and the skill was passed on from mothers to their daughters, and from grandmothers to their granddaughters. Dada Ellen also noted the yarn that was spun was used to weave kɛ́wálɔ, which was then used to perform initiation rites. These rites are discussed in the next section. Some repeated lines and “bad Nyagbo sentences” which were said by me are deleted. In line 33, Dada Ellen uses the Ewe word ƒo ‘hit’ in the expression ƒo kpɛ́ to describe wrapping the yarn around the kiké, as it is being spun. In Ewe also, the word ƒo is needed

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to describe different types of wrapping around. Thus, ƒo xlã ́ is surround. The used of this word to describe a traditional practice that has practically disappeared suggests that Ewe words have been part of the Tutrugbu lexicon for a long time. (33) PARTICIPANT: Dada Ellen blɔ batrugbu kɔnú, bɔlɔ ba-trugbu kɔnú 1PL:IND CM2-Nyangbo custom ‘Our Nyangbo culture’ (Spin_yarn.001) (34) PARTICIPANT: Dada Ellen gɛ butoró, gɛ bu-toró REL 1PL-spin ‘As we spin (cotton),’ (Spin_yarn.002) (35) ótóró ɔ́ lɛ́ɛ,́ o-toró ɔ́ -lɛ́=ɛ́ 2SG-spin CL2:OBJ=TP ‘When you spin it,’ (Spin_yarn.003) (36) kɛlɛ ɔbɔlɔkɔ yu kɛpɔtɛ́ nɔ, kɛlɛ ɔ-bɔ-lɔkɔ yǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɛ+i then 2SG-FUT-take weave CM3-cloth with+3SG:OBJ ‘then you will use it to weave the cloth.’ (Spin_yarn.004) (37) búklu s’ ɛwalɔ, bu-klǔ sɛ kɛ-walɔ 1PL-call that CM3-Monday ‘We call (it) Kɛwalɔ’ (Monday) (Spin_yarn.005) (38) ohuiɛ́ bɔbalɔkɔ yǔ kɛpɔtɛ́ nɔ, o-hui=ɛ́ bɔ-ba-lɔkɔ yǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɛ+i CM2-rope=DEF 1PL-FUT-take weave CM3-cloth with+3SG:OBJ ‘The cotton that we use to weave the cloth’ (Spin_yarn.006) (39) kɛ́wálɔ ɛlɛ́ kɛlɛ bɔlɔkɔ kɔ́ anɔ ɛpɔtɛ́ nɔ́ kɛ-walɔ ɛ-lɛ́ kɛlɛ bɔ-lɔkɔ kɔ́ a-nɔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ CM3-Monday AM-that CL3:IND 1PL-take give CM1-person CM3-cloth

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nɛ+i, with+3SG:OBJ ‘The kɛwalɔ, that is what we use to perform initiation rites.’ (lit. give person cloth) (Spin_yarn.008) (40) bɔkpɛ nɛ́ kashɛ̃ kɔ́ ɛ bɔ-kpɛ́ nɛ́ ka-shɛ̃ kɔ́ -ɛ 1PL-put_in PREP CM4-waist give-3SG ‘We tie it around the waist for her.’ (Spin_yarn.009) (41) so oɖotí nɔ́ nɔɔ́ lɛ so o-ɖotí nɔ́ nú ɔ-lɛ so CM2-cotton DEF be AM-this ‘So this is the cotton.’ (Spin_yarn.010) (42) kliso kana butoró ɔlɛ́, kliso kana bu-toró ɔ-lɛ́ therefore thus 1PL-spin CL2-OBJ ‘Therefore this is how we spin it’ (Spin_yarn.012) (43) so kã ́ ɔbhítií so kã ́ ɔ-bhɛ́tɛ-í so then 2SG-do-3SG:OBJ ‘And then you make it’ (Spin_yarn.013) (44) PARTICIPANT: Dada Ellen so otínyí tóróɔ́, so o-tí-nyí tóró=ɔ́ so 2SG-NEG-know spin=TP ‘So if you don’t know how to spin it’ (Spin_yarn.014) (45) kã ́ wɔ el’ ãkasɛ́ wɔ é. kã ́ wɔ e-lẽ a-kasɛ́ wɔ é then 2SG:IND CM1-mother AM-teach 2SG PRT ‘then your mother will teach you.’ (Spin_yarn.015) (46) so wɔnɔ g’ odziɛ́ so wɔnɔ gɛ no-dzi=ɛ so 2PL:IND REL 2PL-become_seated=TP ‘So those of you seated,’ (Spin_yarn.016)

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(47) nɔbá t’ noboɖǐ kɛtoró gɛ betoró ɖotí nɔ́, nɔ-bá tɛ no-bo-ɖǐ kɛ-toró gɛ be-toró 2PL-come COMP 2PL-VEN-look_at CM3-spin REL 3PL-spin o-ɖotí nɔ́ CM2-cotton DEF ‘Come over and see the way the cotton is spun’ (Spin_yarn.017) (48) wɔnɔ beyíɛ́ tɛ noboóɖí oo. wɔnɔ be-yí=ɛ́ tɛ no-bo-ɖǐ 2PL:IND CM5-child_of=DEF COMP 2PL-VEN-look_at ‘You the children should come and see.’ (Spin_yarn.018) (49) ɔmɔ blɔ tsyɛ́ bɔkasɛ́ … ɔ-mɔ blɔ tsyɛ́ bɔ-kasɛ́ 2SG-see 1PL:IND also 1PL-teach ‘You see we also teach …’ (Spin_yarn.019) (50) blɔ elã ́lɛ́ akasɛ́ ɔlɔ́, bɔlɔ e-lẽ-alɛ́ a-kasɛ́ ɔlɔ́ 1PL:IND CM1-mother-PL AM-teach 1PL:OBJ ‘Our mothers taught us’ (Spin_yarn.020) (51) soɔ wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ nozoɖǐ lo, so=ɔ wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ no-zo-ɖǐ lo so-TP 2PL:IND also 2PL-REP-look_at ADDR ‘So you too should look (at how it is done)’ (Spin_yarn.021) (52) sɛ nɔɔ́ mɔ kitoró g’ iítoróɔ sɛ nɔ-ɔ́ -mɔ ki-toró gɛ i-í-toró=ɔ that 2PL-PROG-see CM3-spin REL 1SG-PROG-spin=TP ‘You all see the spinning that I am spinning (don’t you?)’ (Spin_yarn.022) (53) ɛ̃ɛ̃ ‘Yes’ (Spin_yarn.023) (54) aa, kana blɔ elãlɛ́ akasɛ́ ɔlɔ́ pɛ bútoró aa kana bɔlɔ e-lẽ-alɛ́ a-kasɛ́ ɔlɔ́ pɛ well thus 1PL:IND CM1-mother-PL AM-teach 1PL:OBJ and_then

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bú-toró 1PL-spin ‘Well, that is how our masters have taught us and we are spinning.’ (Spin_ yarn.024) (55) soɔ wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ nozoɖǐ lo ɛhɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ so=ɔ wɔnɔ tsyɛ́ no-zo-ɖǐ lo ɛhɛ̃ɛ́ ̃ so=TOP 2PL:IND also 1PL-REP-look_at ADDR that’s_right ‘So you too should be looking at it, right?’ (Spin_yarn.025) (56) ótóró ko kã ́ ɔbhítií ó-tóró ko kã ́ ɔ-bhɛ́tɛ-í 2SG-spin just then 2SG-do-3SG:OBJ ‘when you spin then you make it’ (Spin_yarn.026) (57) kliso kã ́ ɔshɔ kpɛ́, kliso kã ́ ɔ-shɔ kpɛ́ therefore then 2SG-pierce put_in ‘Then you join it together.’ (Spin_yarn.0270) (58) ɔmɔ kã ́ ohe ɔlɛ́ áníí, ɔ-mɔ kã ́ o-he ɔlɛ́ áníí 2SG-see then 2SG-pull CL-OBJ like_this ‘You see, then you pull it like this’ (Spin_yarn.028) (59) ko kã ́ ɔbhítií ko kã ́ ɔ-bhɛtɛ-í just then 2SG-do-3SG:OBJ ‘then you do it’ (Spin_yarn.029) (60) ko kã ́ ɔzɔkpa toró é, ko kã ́ ɔ-zɔ-kpa toró é just then 2SG-REP-begin spin ADDR ‘then you start spinning it again.’ (Spin_yarn.030) (61) nɔmɔ? nɔ-mɔ 2PL-see ‘Do you (all) see?’ (Spin_yarn.031)

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(62) PARTICIPANT: children ɛ̃ɛ,̃ ‘Yes’ (Spin_yarn.032) (63) PARTICIPANT: Dada Ellen kɛlɛ ohui ɔlɛ́ g’ odz’ álɛ́ kɛlɛ o-hui ɔ-lɛ́ gɛ o-dzí álɛ́ then CM2-rope AM-that REL AM-be thus ‘Then the rope that is long like this’ (Spin_yarn.033) (64) lotoró álɛ́, lo-toró álɛ́ CL3-spin thus ‘It spins like this.’ (Spin_yarn.034) (Consulant thinks she should have said itoro álɛ ‘I spin it’) (65) pitóró ƒo kpɛ́ kɛ́lɛ, pɛ itóró ƒo kpɛ́ kɛ́lɛ and_then 1SG-spin hit put_in CM3-this ‘And that I spin around this (stick)’ (Spin_yarn.035) ( ƒo is an Ewe word) (66) ɔlɛ bɔbalɔkɔ yu ɛpɔtɛ́ nɔ, ɔlɛ bɔ-ba-lɔkɔ yǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɛ+í CL3:IND 1PL-FUT-take weave CM3-cloth with+3SG:OBJ ‘It is what we shall use to weave the cloth’ (Spin_yarn.036) (67) buklǔ kɛpɔtɛ́ sɛ kɛwalɔ. bu-klǔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ sɛ kɛ-walɔ 1PL-call CM3-cloth that CM3-Monday ‘We call the cloth Monday’ (Spin_yarn.037) (68) kã ́ bɔ lɔkɔ kɔ́ adzɛ̃ ̌ pɔtɛ́ nɔ é. kã ́ bɔ-lɔkɔ kɔ́ a-dzɛ̃ ̌ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ nɛ+í é then 1PL-take give CM1-woman CM3-cloth with+1SG:OBJ ADDR ‘which we use to perform initiation rites for the woman’ (Spin_yarn.038) (69) bɔlɔkɔ yu adewu nɔ tsyɛ́, bɔ-lɔkɔ yǔ adewu nɛ+í tsyɛ́ 1PL-take weave hunting_garment with+3SG also ‘We use it to weave hunting garments too’ (Spin_yarn.039)

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(70) kliso oɖotí nɔ́ enu kɛdɔ̃ kɔ́ blɔ Batrugbu gɛ edzi salí, gɛ ee--- salí --- akɔ́ sikã ́ blíbo kɔ́ Batrugbudzi, veviétɔ blɔ adzɛ̃ ̌ kliso o-ɖotí nɔ́ e-nu kɛ-dɔ̃ kɔ́ bɔlɔ therefore CM2-cotton DEF AM-be CM3-thing give 1PL:IND Ba-trugbu gɛ e-dzi salí gɛ … salí a-kɔ́ CM5_Nyangbo REL AM_become_seated thing REL … thing CL1-give sikã ́ blibo kɔ́ ba-trugbudzi veviétɔ bɔlɔ money whole give CM5-Nyangbo_woman especially 1PL:IND a-dzɛ̃ ̌ CM1-woman ‘So the cotton is a thing for us which is something that brings real money to us the Nyagbo women, especially for us women’ (blibo ‘whole’ and veviétɔ ‘especially’ are Ewe) (Spin_yarn.040) (71) aa m’ edzě g’ amɔ́ aa mɛ e-dzě gɛ a-mɔ́ well 1SG:IND CM1-grandmother REL CL1-give_birth ‘My grandmother who gave birth to’ (Spin_yarn.047) (72) ag’ amɔ́ m’ áka=á, a-gɛ a-mɔ́ mɛ a-ka=á 3SG-REL CL1-give_birth 1SG:IND CM1-father=TP ‘the one who gave birth to my father’ (Spin_yarn.048) (73) y’ ɔkɔ́ mɛ kpásɛ yɛ ɔ-kɔ́ mɛ kpasɛ 3SG:IND CM2-place 1SG:IND learn ‘I learned it from her’ (lit. her place) (Spin_yarn.049) (74) y’ ɔkɔ́ mɛzã so yɛ akasɛ́ mɛ. yɛ ɔ-kɔ́ mɛ zã so yɛ a-kasɛ́ mɛ́ 3SG:IND CM2-place 1SG stay so 3SG:IND AM-teach 1SG ‘She is the one I stayed with so she taught me’ (Spin_yarn.050) (75) Spin_yarn.057 m’edze y’akasɛ mɛ sɛ kana y’etóro mɛ e-dzě yɛ a-kasɛ́ mɛ sɛ kana yɛ 1SG:IND CM1-grandmother 3SG:IND AM-teach 1SG that thus 3SG:IND e-toro AM-spin ‘My grandmother is the one who taught me that that is how she spun (it)’ James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(76) pɛ alɔkɔ edzeɖi y’eyialɛ́ ábha nɔ ní sukúu pɛ a-lɔkɔ e-dze-ɖǐ yɛ e-yí-álɛ́ and_then 3SG-take 3SG-REP-look_at 3SG:IND CM1-child_of-PL ka-bha nɛ+í nɛ́ sukúu CM4-top with+3SG:OBJ PREP school ‘and she used it to look after her children in school.’ (Spin_yarn.058) (77) kliso pɛ akasɛ mi ko kliso pɛ a-kasɛ́ mɛ ko therefore then 3SG-teach 1SG just ‘Therefore when she taught me’ (Spin_yarn.059) (78) mɛ tsyɛ́ lɔ́ kɔ toró mɛ tsyɛ́ lɔkɔ́ toró 1SG:IND also take spin ‘I too I spin it’ (Spin_yarn.060) (79) pɛ mɛ tsyɛ́ kasɛ́ bunuvɔɛ nɔ́, pɛ mɛ tsyɛ́ kasɛ́ bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ and_then 1SG:IND also teach CM8-child DEF ‘and I also teach it to the children’ (Spin_yarn.061) (80) PARTICIPANT: James ahã ́ã wɔ́ kasɛ́ bunuvɔɛ nɔ́ ahã ́ã wɔ kasɛ́ bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ that’s_right 2SG:IND teach CM8-child DEF ‘That’s right you teach the children.’ (Spin_yarn.062) (81) PARTICIPANT: Dada Ellen ɛ̃ɛ̃ ɛɛ́kasɛ́ núvɔɛ nɔ́ nyɔ̃ ɔ́ ̃ ́ g edziɛ́ ɛ̃ɛ̃ ɛ-ɛ́-kasɛ́ bu-nuvɔɛ nɔ́ nyɔ̃ ɔ́ ̃ ́ gɛ Yes 1SG-PROG-teach CM8-child DEF several REL e-dzi=ɛ CL1-become_seated=TP ‘I am teaching all the children who are around.’ (Spin_yarn.064) (82) mɛɛ́ kasɛ́ álɛ́ mɛ ɛ́-kasɛ́ álɛ́ 1SG:IND PROG-teach 3PL:OBJ ‘I am teaching them.’ (Spin_yarn.065)

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(83) ɛɛ́kasɛ nɛ m’eyiálɛ́ pétéé ɛ-ɛ́-kasɛ́ nɛ mɛ e-yí-álɛ́ pétéé 1SG-PROG-teach with 1SG:IND CM1-child_of-PL all ‘I am teaching (them) and all my children’ (Spin_yarn.067) (84) kana bɔl’ ibe lɛ mɛ … m’edzeal’ ibe lɛ́ kana betóró kana bɔlɔ ki-be ɛ-lɛ mɛ … mɛ e-dzě-álɛ́ thus 1PL:IND CM3-time AM-this inside ISG:IND grandmother-PL ki-be ɛ-lɛ́ kana be-toró CM3-time AM-that thus 3PL-spin ‘That is how it was done at the time my grandmother.’ (Spin_yarn.068) (she said kana letóró but I changed the le to the correct pronoun be-) (85) ɔ́ mɔ bɔbakp’ oɖoti nɔ títótóró esíɛ́ ɔ-mɔ bɔ-ba-kpɛ́ o-ɖotí nɔ́ ti-torótoró 2SG-see 1PL-FUT-put_in CM2-cotton DEF CM9-RED-spin kesí=ɛ́, CM3-down=DEF ‘You see when we are about to begin the spinning of the cotton.’ (Spin_ yarn.072) (86) bɔbabú eyíɛ́, bɔ-ba-bú e-yí=ɛ́ 1PL-FUT-remove CM7-seed=DEF ‘We will remove the seeds.’ (Spin_yarn.073) (87) ɔmɔ eyíɛ́, ɔ-mɔ e-yí-ɛ́ 2SG-see CM7-seed=DEF ‘You see the seeds.’ (Spin_yarn.074) (88) bɔbabu eyíɛ́ pétéé, bɔ-ba-bú e-yí=ɛ́ pétéé 1PL-FUT-remove CM7-seed=DEF all ‘We shall remove all the seed.’ (Spin_yarn.075) (89) kã ́ otsí lɔ tóróé kã ́ otsí bɔlɔ toró é then now 1PL:IND spin ADDR ‘then we now spin it’ (Spin_yarn.076)

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(90) bɔtɔ̃ ́ bɔli mɛ ɔbɔ kp’ ahɔɛ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ bɔ-lɛ mɛ ɔ-bɔ-kpɛ́ a-hɔɛ CM8-ash CL8:IND inside 2SG-FUT-put_in CM7-hand ‘You will put your hand in ashes.’ (Spin_yarn.077) (91) ɔ́ kp’ ahɔɛ ɔ́ -kpɛ́ a-hɔɛ 2SG-put_in CM7-hand ‘When you put your hand in it’ (Spin_yarn.078) (92) pɛ ɔ́ s’ otoróɔ́ pɛ ɔ́ -sɛ o-toró=ɔ and_then 2SG-say 2SG-spin=TP ‘and you want to spin’ (Spin_yarn.079) (93) kɛlɛ bɔwɛ nɔ bɔ́zaapɔ́ ɛ wɔ́ kɛlɛ bɔ-wɛ nɔ́ bɔ-zaa-pɔɛ wɔ then CM8-finger DEF AM-not_again-hurt 2SG ‘then your fingers will not hurt again’ (Spin_yarn.080) (94) aló buheheɛ bɔ́zaanyána bɔwɛ nɔ́ aló bu-hehe=ɛ́ bɔ́ -zaa-nyana bɔ-wɛ nɔ́ or CM8-sweat=DEF AM-not_again-hold CM8-finger DEF ‘or sweat will not stick on your finger’ (Spin_yarn.081) (95) ótóró ko ó-tóró ko 2SG-spin just ‘when you spin’ (Spin_yarn.082) (96) kã ́ kiké n’ éyu piapíí é kã ́ ki-ke nɔ́ e-yǔ piapíí é then CM3-weaving_stick DEF AM-weave well ADDR ‘Then the weaving stick weaves well.’

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chapter 10

Female Initiation Rite

The text in this section is a segment of a conversation between Dada Christina, Papa Walter, and Papa Ben about kɛpɔtɛ́ kɔ́ kɔ́. Kɛpɔtɛ́ kɔ́ kɔ́ , which literally means giving cloth, is a female initiation rite that used to be performed for maidens individually once they came of age before they got married. This was when the women were between fifteen and eighteen years old. As part of the discussion in this section shows, the initiate was required to visit the shrine of Eɖiewonɔ, the Nyangbo deity, for one whole week. Eɖiewonɔ is a river that runs from Sroe and flows down the valley through Nyangbo Nyigbe, the first township one passes through on the way to Hohoe (see map in chapter 1). Initiates therefore have to climb the mountain to go to the source in Sroe. The initiate is confined in the home for a whole week. However, during this period, she has to rise early in the morning to go to Eɖiewonɔ. Before she goes, a special type of chewing stick is placed in the mouth to prevent her from talking to anyone as she goes through towns. A young girl is adorned with beads and cloth and made to walk in front of her. While the initiate is away, people in her home continue with preparations for her initiation. Key ingredients are kɛ́wálɔ, that is the cloth that is woven specially for the initiation, cloths for adornment which will be loaned by members of the family, husked glaberrima rice, beads, and utencils that the initiate would need when she gets married. The discussion provided below suggests that kɛpɔtɛ́ kɔ́ kɔ́ is performed when the woman is about to get married. However, it used to be performed for every woman. According to Madam Judith Glover, my principal language consultant, the last time she witnessed the traditional rite being performed was in 1957 or 1958. Lately, because of Christianity, there have been drastic changes to the ceremony, the most important one being that initiates no longer have to go up the mountain to visit Eɖiewonɔ. This time they are simply kept at home for a week. A second change is that a virginity test, which is discussed in the conversation below, is no longer being practiced. A third change, which is due to the changes in economic circumstances, is that the rites are no longer performed for individuals. Instead, families come together to perform the rite in order to pool resources. The most recent one, which was performed in Gagbeƒe in 2017, was for about 21 girls. Also, the rites are being performed for much younger girls, with girls as young as 12 undergoing the rites. At the same time, some people who have traveled to the city or bigger towns procure materials for the rites and return to have it performed for them. These people are usually above the age of twenty. Finally, the church plays a big role in the initiation now; a female elder

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of the church that the person attends, known as Hamedada in a term borrowed from Ewe, is given a central role. Similar changes are occurring in other cultures (cf. Steegstra 2004). Present-day performance of kɛpɔtɛ́ kɔ́ kɔ́ mostly takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Once the family have got the necessary ingredients for the ceremony, they inform the community and a date is set which must be a Saturday. On that day, women assemble in the house of the initiate to pound and dehusk rice in the traditional manner. They then pound it and make dough for food. Some of the rice is also boiled like that. A woman who was born on the same day as the initiate, and who has already been initiated, is asked to prepare food which will be eaten by the initiate and other women who are considered “pure”. At the beginning of the ceremony, the Hamedada from the church which the woman attends, or an aunt, will spread out the kɛ́wálɔ cloth for her to see. She will ritually tie the cloth around the initiate’s waist three times while proclaiming that she is being intiated into Nyangbo womanhood. The initiate will then be dressed in very beautiful cloths and beads, and she will come out to meet people who have assembled for the ceremony. Those assembled will include communal elders who will be invited for the purpose. There will be eating, singing and dancing. Food that is prepared for the feast will target the following groups: the initiate’s father’s family, her mother’s family, communal elders, and church members. Members from these groups will be notified officially that the woman has been initiated into Nyangbo womanhood. On Sunday, the initiate is dressed again in the best clothes, and she attends church with her friends. Because the ceremony is prepared for groups of girls these days, she will attend the church with the other initiates. They will return home and continue with the feasting. The ceremony then concludes in the evening. (97) PARTICIPANT: PW otsí ónúpɛ f lógo wo anɔnyɛ́ oshe otsí ónúpɛ f lógo wɔ a-nɔ-nyɛ́ o-she now if before 2SG CM1-person-man 2SG-be_old ‘And now the male before you grow old’ (Odumasi_Customs.032) (98) pɛ ɔ́ bɔgbana ádzɛ̃ɛ́ pɛ ɔ-bɔ-gbana a-dzɛ̃=̌ ɛ́ then 2SG-FUT-marry CM1-woman=TP ‘and marry a woman,’ (Odumasi_Customs.033)

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(99) ahĩá sɛ ódobísi adzɛ̃ɛ̌ tɔ́ nɛ́ elẽ n’ aka kɔ́ a-hĩá sɛ o-do-bisi a-dzɛ̃=̌ ɛ́ kɛ-tɔ́ nɛ́ 3SG-need that 2SG-ITIVE-ask CM1-woman=DEF CM3-about PREP e-lẽ nɛ a-ka ɔ-kɔ́ CM1-mother with CM1-father CM2-place ‘you need to go and ask after the woman from her mother and father’ (Odumasi_Customs.034) (100) kɛlɛ mɛ badɛmɛ kɔ́ wɔ́ kɛ-lɛ mɛ bá-dɛmɛ́ kɔ́ wɔ́ CM3-that inside 3PL-agree give 2SG ‘If they accept you’ (Odumasi_Customs.035) (101) kɛlɛ bababhɛtɛ kɔnú kɔ́ wɔ́ kɛlɛ ba-ba-bhɛtɛ kɔnú kɔ́ wɔ́ then 3PL-FUT-do custom give 2SG ‘then they will perform the custom for you.’ (Odumasi_Customs.036) (102) PARTICIPANT: PB babakɔɛ pɔtɛ́ ba-ba-kɔ́ -í kɛ-pɔtɛ́ 3PL-FUT-give-3SG:OBJ CM3-cloth ‘they will perform female initiation rites.’ (Odumasi_Customs.037) (103) PARTICIPANT: PW kilinú sɛ babadɛ … kɛlɛ nu sɛ ba-ba-dɛ … CL3:IND be that 3PL-FUT-go_to ‘Which means that they will go to …’ (Odumasi_Customs.038) (104) bɔbakɔ wɔ ɛpɔtɛ́ bɔ-ba-kɔ́ wɔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́ 1PL-FUT-give 2SG CM3-cloth ‘We will perform the female initiation rites for you.’ (Odumasi_Customs.039) (105) bákú wɔ́ épɔtɛ́ɛ́ bá-kɔ́ wɔ kɛ-pɔtɛ́=ɛ́ 3PL-give 2SG CM3-cloth=DEF ‘When you have been given the cloth,’ (Odumasi_Customs.040)

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(106) obodiwu Eɖiɛwónɔ yɛ kɛklagbǔɔ́ o-bo-di-wu Eɖiɛwónɔ yɛ kɛ-klagbu=ɔ́ 2SG-FUT-ITIVE-climb Ediewonɔ 3SG:IND CM3-stone=DEF ‘you will go and climb Ediewono’s rock.’ (Odumasi_Customs.041) (107) otsí adzɛ̃ ̌ ókóéyi n’ɔ́ pã ́mɛɛ otsí a-dzɛ̃ ̌ ó-kóéyi nɛ́ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ=ɛ́ now CM1-woman 2SG-exit PREP CM8-house inside=TP ‘Now the woman, when you are menstruating’ (Odumasi_Customs. 042) (108) ɔgɛmɔ ídzo ɔdɛ́ ekusíɔpá mɛ, mankraɖo pã ́ mɛ err, ɔ-gɛ-mɔ ki-dzǒ ɔ-dɛ e-kusí bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 2SG-NEG:PST-see CM3-path 2SG-go_to CM1-chief CM8-house inside mánkraɖo bɔ-pã ́ mɛ err chief_priest CM8-house inside um ‘you are not allowed to go to the chief’s house, the chief priest’s house, um …’ (Odumasi_Customs.043) (109) PARTICIPANT: DC asaf oatsyɛ ɔpã ́mɛ asaf oatsyɛ ɔpã ́mɛ asaf oatsyɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ asaf oatsyɛ bɔ-pã ́ mɛ war_chief CM8-house inside war_chief CM8-house inside ‘The chief warrior’s house, the chief warrior’s house’ (Odumasi_Customs.044) (110) PARTICIPANT: PW bag’enú beshesheɛ pétéé pã ́mɛ ba-gɛ be-nu be-sheshe=ɛ́ pétéé bɔ-pã ́ mɛ 3PL-REL 3PL-be CM5-old_person=DEF all CM8-house inside ‘All the people who are (communal) elders’ house’ (Odumasi_Customs.045) (111) ɔgɛ mɔ ídzo t’ɔdɛ̌ ɔ-gɛ-mɔ ki-dzo tɛ ɔ-dɛ́ 2SG-NEG:PST-see CM3-road COMP 2SG-go_to ‘You are not allowed to go’ (Odumasi_Customs.046)

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(112) kiwi lɛ kóŋ́ gɛ bakp’ ihui ki-wi lɛ kóŋ́ gɛ ba-kpɛ́ i-hui CM3-day be_at especially REL 3PL-put_in CM6-rope ‘There is a special day for adorning the female with beads.’ (Odumasi_Customs.048) (113) babatɔ dɔ̃ ba-ba-tɔ bɔ-dɔ̃ 3PL-FUT-cook CM8-thing ‘They will cook’ (Odumasi_Customs.049) (114) babawɛ̃ nu ba-ba-wɛ̃ be-nu 3PL-FUT-drink CM5-drink ‘they will drink’ (Odumasi_Customs.050) (115) kɛlɛ lɛ́ bakpɛ́ wɔ́ n’uvũ mɛ ɔgɔnɛ́ zɛ́zɛ̃ ̌ kɛlɛ lɛ́ ba-kpɛ́ wɔ nɛ́ bu-vũ mɛ ɔ-gɔnɛ́ zɛ́zɛ̃ ̌ then that 3PL-put_in 2SG PREP CM8-room inside CM2-week one ‘then you will be kept in a room for one week’ (Odumasi_Customs. 051) (116) obotro ɖotí obotro ɖotí o-bo-tro o-ɖotí o-bo-tro o-ɖotí 2SG-FUT-spin CM2-cotton 2SG-FUT-spin CM2-cotton ‘You will spin the yarn, you will spin the yarn’ (Odumasi_Customs. 052) (117) ɔlɛ́ babazã ɔlɛ́ ba-ba-zã CL2:IND 3PL-FUT-stay ‘that is (how long) they will stay’ (There is some disagreement; one person thinks za is rather Ewe word for use) (Odumasi_Customs.053) (118) riɖiɖiɖi án’ éwi tegegénéɛ́ riɖiɖiɖi á-ná e-wi te-gegéné=ɛ́ continuously 3SG-suffice CM7-day AM-seven=DEF ‘It goes on for a long time and on the seventh day’ (Odumasi_Customs.054)

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(119) kɛ̌lɛ kiwli lɛ́ wɔ́ ɔv’ odiwu iklagbuɔ nɛ́ Eɖiɛwónɔ mɛ kɛlɛ ki-wi ɛ-lɛ́ wɔ ɔ-vɛ o-di-wu CL3:IND CM3-day AM-that 2SG:IND 2SG-go 2SG-ITIVE-climb kɛklagbu=ɔ́ nɛ́ Eɖiɛwónɔ mɛ CM3-rock=DEF PREP Ediewonɔ inside ‘on this day you will go and climb the rock at Ediewonɔ’ (Odumasi_Customs.055) (120) kiwli nɔ́ babazhĩã ɔdzɛ ɔ́ lɛ́ ki-wi ɛ-lɛ́ nɔ́ ba-ba-zhiã ɔ-dzɛ̃ ̌ ɔ-lɛ́ CM3-day AM-that TP 3PL-FUT-sing CM2-song AM-that ‘On that day they will sing that song’ (Odumasi_Customs.056) (121) sɛ err adzyramoa lɛ́ gbɔvi ɛ ɛ ɛ ɛgbɛ2 ‘that the cat has caught a baby goat today’ (Odumasi_Customs.057) (122) obúɔ́ o-búɔ́ CM2-today ‘today’ (Odumasi_Customs.058) (123) bázhĩa lɛ́ kó wɔ́ bá-zhĩã ɔlɛ́ kɔ́ wɔ 3PL-sing CL2:OBJ give 2SG ‘When they have sung it to you’ (Odumasi_Customs.059) (124) PARTICIPANT: PB obúɔ́ baágbana wɔ o-búɔ́ ba-á-gbana wɔ CM2-today 3PL-PROG-marry 2SG ‘Today they are marrying you’ (Odumasi_Customs.060) (125) PARTICIPANT: PW obúɔ́ baágbana wɔ́ o-búɔ́ ba-á-gbana wɔ CM2-today 3PL-PROG-marry 2SG ‘today they are marrying you’ (Odumasi_Customs.061)

2 The lyrics are a mixture of Ewe and Akan.

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(126) kɛlɛ́ lɛ́ buvũɔ mɛ batŕɔ kitsikpi f u olĩ,́ kɛlɛ́ ɛ-lɛ́ bu-vũ=ɔ mɛ ba-tɔɖɔ ki-tsikpi CL3:IND AM-that CM8-room=DEF inside 3PL-put_on CM3-pot ki-f ú CM3-fire ‘then they set a pot of soup on fire in the room there’ (Odumasi_Customs.062) (127) ónúpɛ wɔ adzɛ̃ɛ̌ ́ ɔlɛ piapíí, ónúpɛ wɔ a-dzɛ̃=̌ ɛ́ ɔ-lɛ́ piapíí if 2SG:IND CM1-woman=DEF 2SG-be_at well ‘If you the woman you are well’ (Odumasi_Customs.063) (128) ógimúnɔ́ yá o-gi-múnɔ ɛ-yá 2SG-NEG-find CM6-stomach ‘if you are not pregnant,’ (Odumasi_Customs.064) (129) kɛlɛ salí nɔ́ abagbagba kɛlɛ salí nɔ́ a-ba-gbagba then thing DEF AM-FUT-overflow ‘then the thing will overflow.’ (Odumasi_Customs.065) (130) ababá kitsikpi nɔ́ tɔ̃ ́ a-ba-bá ki-tsikpi nɔ́ bɔ-tɔ̃ ́ 3SG-FUT-come CM3-pot DEF CM8-edge ‘It will get to the edge of the pot.’ (Odumasi_Customs.066) (131) kɛlɛ k’ oz’oyi é kɛlɛ ko o-zĩ ̌ o-yi é then just CM2-noise AM-appear ADDR ‘Then the shout will resound’ (Odumasi_Customs.067) (132)

gaké ónúpɛ ómúnɔ yá, gaké ónúpɛ o-múnɔ ɛ-yá but if 2SG-find CM6-stomach ‘but if you’re pregnant’ (Odumasi_Customs.068)

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(133) aló ótíbú yá ɖí ɛ́ aló o-tí-bú ɛ-yá ɖǐ=ɛ or 2SG-PERF-remove CM6-stomach look_at=TP ‘or you have committed an abortion before’ (Odumasi_Customs.069) (134) ababalɛ ku kif úɔ́ mɛ pétéé a-ba-balɛ kú ki-f ú=ɔ́ mɛ pétéé 3SG-FUT-pour reach CM3-fire=DEF inside all ‘it will spill in the fire completely.’ (Odumasi_Customs.070) (135) ko bamɔ wɔ́ sɛ ɔgɛná ko ba-mɔ wɔ́ sɛ ɔ-gɛ-ná just 3PL-see 2SG that 2SG-NEG:PST-suffice ‘Then they see that you are not pure.’ (Odumasi_Customs.071) (136) klisoɔ klibe élɛ́ letéɛ́ beti ibúí kliso=ɔ kɛlɛ́ ki-be leté=ɛ́ be-ti therefore=TP that CM3-time owner=DEF AM-get_to_know ki-búí CM3-issue ‘Therefore the people of that time, they knew things.’ (Odumasi_Customs.072) (137) bagɛ banyá ɛsháalɛ lɛ ba-gɛ ba-nyá ɛ-sha-álɛ́ lɛ 3PL-REL 3PL-tie CM1-law-PL this ‘Those who made these laws,’ (Odumasi_Customs.073) (138) baákɔ ágbána ɔlɔ́ ba-lɔkɔ a-gbana ɔlɔ́ 3PL-take SCONN-lead 1PL:OBJ ‘they used them to rule us.’ (Odumasi_Customs.074) (139) ɛl’ábha butsiɖí pɛ bamɔ́ lɔ́ pétéé ótsiɛ́ ɛlɛ́ ka-bha bu-tsiɖí pɛ ba-mɔ́ ɔlɔ́ pétéé CL3:IND CM4-top 1PL-be_on and_then 3PL-give_birth 1PL:OBJ all otsí now ‘that is how it’s been and we were born.’ (Odumasi_Customs.075)

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(140) klisoɔ ahiã ́ sɛ err err blɔ péteé bɔnyana lɛ́ mɛ, kliso=ɔ a-hĩá sɛ err err bɔlɔ pétéé bɔnyana therefore=DEF 3SG-need that um um 1PL:IND all 1PL-hold ɛlɛ́ mɛ CL3:OBJ inside ‘Therefore it is important that we all hold on to them’ (Odumasi_Customs.076) (141) tɛ kɛpɛ̃ kɔ lɔ́ tɛ kɛ-pɛ̃ kɔ́ ɔlɔ́ COMP CL3-become_good give IPL:OBJ ‘so that it be good for us.’ (Odumasi_Customs.077)

10.4

Funeral Rites

Funeral rites are a communal affair and have many segments. In this section, I provide texts of two of the segments, namely the pouring of libation, and a meeting between the chief and a bereaved family. Chiefs play a very important role during the performance of funeral rites among the Nyangbo community. When someone dies and the family gets together to decide on the day on which they want to perform the rites, they have to send a delegation to the paramount chief to determine if the date they have chosen is acceptable to him. Once they get the permission to go ahead, they officially inform the chief of their township about the funeral preparations. Official announcements of funerals are made on Tuesdays and Fridays because these are supposed to be the days of ghosts. On the appointed day, the chief and his elders meet the representatives of the bereaved family and the township community at the communal gathering place called kɛtsalɛ mɛ. At the meeting, the bereaved family announce the passing of their family member, a process described as buútsi kú ‘we are announcing a death’. The expression tsi ku ‘announce death’ is borrowed from Ewe. The bereaved family is required to take along two bottles of gin or schnapps (cf. van den Berselaar 2007). While one of the bottles could be the home-brewed gin (called akpeteshie), one should be from a distillery. The two common ones are Kasapreko and Castlebridge, which are both produced in distilleries in Accra. Some also send imported gin. Because the bottle of imported gin is usually packaged in a box, they are identified by the box, which is described as bottle with kɛkɔ́ lɔ́ ‘shell’ (see libation below). After the drinks have been presented, the bereaved

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family will be asked, among others, what the deceased died of, and whether it occurred at home or in the hospital. If the deceased was married, the spouse is asked what his or her last words were. At the meeting, if the deceased was above 18 years and below 70 years, checks are made to determine whether he or she is current on all communal dues. If the person is found to owe monies, the family is required to settle them. If, on the other hand, the deceased played an active role in the society and it is determined that he or she was paying the dues until a grave illness prevented him or her from doing so, then the debt is forgiven. Once these issues have been resolved, the two bottles of drink are shared among the people assembled to drink. The chief then declares that the family is allowed to mourn the deceased. The women in the bereaved clan are prepared for this. Once they get the goahead, they move from kɛtsalɛ mɛ and head to the family house while singing dirges and weeping, signalling that the mourning has begun. They are usually assisted by other women from the community. Most times the deceased is kept at a mortuary until the day before the burial. On the day that the body is conveyed back to the town for the final funeral rites, the family of the deceased meets again with the chief and his elders and community members at the kɛtsalɛ mɛ. They inform them about the journey from the mortuary, and plans for the burial. The chief then delegates members from the paternal and maternal sides of the family to go and confirm that the deceased is indeed the one they brought. They then depart and prepare for the burial. 10.4.1 Funeral Libation The spokesperson of the queenmother of the Nyangbos passed away and the family met with the Regent of chief and elders to discuss the funeral arrangements. The text below is a transcript of a recording of libation that was poured. Because of the position of the deceased, the libation is poured by the Spokesperson of Sroe who was then the oldest Nyangbo spokesperson. In the prayer, he discusses the illness of the deceased as well as the deliberations that they had with the family. He points out that the family erred in the way they conducted themselves and this was pointed out to them. In recognition of their mistake, the family gave two bottles of imported gin (kɛkɔ́ lɔ́ m’ ayɛ́). (142)

yoo iɖeé kú ba-ka ɛklá nɔ o yoo i-ɖe kúku baka ɛ-kla wɔnɔ okay 1SG-beg CM5-father 1SG-inform 2PL:IND ‘okay, please fathers, I notify you.’ (I am about to pray) (LibationHK.001)

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yoo ‘Okay’. (Libation-HK.002)

(144) oo oo oo owũsosó esiakpá baka pétéé, iklǔ nɔ́ nɛ́ klɛ oo oo oo o-wũsosó ke-siakpá ba-ka pétéé ADDR ADDR ADDR CM2-heaven CM4-ground CM5-father all i-klǔ wɔnɔ́ nɛ́ klɛ 1SG-call 2PL:IND PREP here ‘Oo ancestors of heaven and earth, I call you all you here.’ (LibationHK.003) (145) Batrugbu esheshe pétéé wɔnɔ nu nɛɛ́lɛ Ba-trugbu be-sheshe pétéé wɔnɔ bu-nu nu CM5-Nyangbo CM5-old_person all 2PL:IND CM8-drink be ɔ-lɛ AM_this ‘All Nyangbo elders here is your drink.’ (Libation-HK.004) (146) tsyíámi nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ abayikɛ bunuɔ tsyíámi nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ a-ba-yɛkɛ spokesperson EXIST:INDEF REL AM-FUT-receive bu-nu=ɔ CM8-beverage=DEF ‘The spokesperson who will receive the drink’ (Libation-HK.005) (147)

pɛ abávɛnɔ pɛ a-ba-vɛ-nɔ and_then 3SG-FUT-go-COM ‘and will send it’ (Libation-HK.006)

(148)

pɛ kɛgbãgbã babá pɛ kɛ-gbãgbã ba-bá and_then CM3-real FUT-come ‘So that good things come (to us)’ (Libation-HK.007)

(149)

yɛ mɛ klu nɛ́ klɛ, yɛ mɛ klu nɛ́ klɛ 3SG ISG:IND call PREP here ‘I call him here’ (Libation-HK.008)

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(150) sɛ t’ elũ sɛ tɛ e-lũ that COMP 3SG-hear ‘that he should hear this’ (Libation-HK.009) (151) tɛ kɛná wɔnɔ pétéé, tɛ kɛ-na wɔnɔ pétéé COMP CM3-reach 2PL:IND: all ‘so that it gets to you all.’ (Libation-HK.010) (152) blɔ batrugbuɔ bɔbáshogo nɛ́ klɛ́ obúɔ́ blɔ ba-trugbu=ɔ bɔ-ba-shogo nɛ́ klɛ obúɔ́, 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=TOP 1PL-VEN-gather PREP here today ‘We the Batrugbu, we are gathered here today.’ (Libation-HK.011) (153) anɛ kizĩzĩ bhlatɔ nána a-nɛ ki-zĩzĩ bhlatɔ nána, 3SG-NEG:be CM-trouble other not_any ‘It is not because of any other confusion.’ (Libation-HK.012) (154) bɔlɔ elẽ A S, bɔlɔ e-lẽ A.S. 1PL:POSS CM1-mother NAME ‘Our mother A.S.’ (Libation-HK.013) (155) PARTICIPANT: Gathering yó RESPONSE (Libation-HK.014) (156) B. ɔzhĩãzhĩã bɔzhĩɛ, B. ɔzhĩã-zhĩã bɔzhĩ=ɛ, NAME CM2-RED-need VEN-need=DEF ‘An illness came, B., and you passed’ (Euphemism. Literally a need arose) (Libation-HK.015) (157) E.B.A. ɔzhĩãzhĩã bɔzhĩɛ gɛ ɔbɔ́ shɛ̃, E.B.A. ɔ-zhĩã-zhĩã bɔ-zhĩ=ɛ gɛ ɔ-bɔ́ -shɛ̃ NAME CM2-RED-need VEN-need=TP REL 2SG-VEN-leave ‘E.B.A, the illness that afflicted you and you departed’ (Libation-HK.016)

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gɛ ɔshɛ̃ alɛ gɛ ɔ-shɛ̃ alɛ, REL 2SG-leave thus ‘When you left’ (Libation-HK.017)

(159) babakɔ́ blɔ batrugbuɔ butí ba-ba-kɔ́ bɔlɔ batrugbu=ɔ bu-ti, 3PL-VEN-give 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=DEF 1PL-know ‘they came and informed us the Nyangbo people.’ (Libation-HK.018) (160)

gɛ bɔbá batswá, gɛ bɔ-bá ba-tswá REL 1PL-come VEN-meet ‘When we came and gathered.’ (Libation-HK.019)

(161) bɔkpɛ́ kɛɖaŋu kɔ́ w’ akaalɛ́ pétéé, bɔ-kpɛ́ kɛ-ɖaŋu kɔ wɔ a-ka-alɛ pétéé, 1PL-put CM-advice give 2SG:IND CM5-father-PL all ‘we gave all (the needed) advice to your fathers.’ (Libation-HK.020) (162) kɛgã gɛ ɔbɔgã pɛ oboku al’ íshí, kɛ-gã gɛ ɔ-bɔ-gã pɛ o-bo-kú alɛ́ CM3-walk REL 2SG-FUT-walk then 2SG-FUT-reach CL5:OBJ ki-shi CM3-between ‘The steps one needs to take for you to get to their midst’ (LibationHK.021) (163) kɛbhɛtɛ gɛ bɔbabhɛtɛ pɛ kɛkányáka kɛbavɛ abha kɛ-bhɛtɛ gɛ bɔ-ba-bhɛtɛ pɛ kɛ-kányáka kɛ-ba-vɛ CM-do REL 1PL-FUT-do and_then CM3-every AM-FUT-go ka-bha CM4-top ‘The things we need to do so that everything will go on well’ (LibationHK.022) (164)

pɛ kizĩzĩ kányáka kɛtɛ́babá pɛ ki-zĩzĩ kányáka kɛ-tɛ́-ba-ba and_then CM3-trouble every AM-NEG-FUT-come ‘so that there will be no trouble whatsoever’ (Libation-HK.023)

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(165) bɔbabhɛtɛ ɛlɛ́, bɔ-ba-bhɛtɛ ɛ-lɛ́ 1PL-FUT-do CL3:OBJ ‘we would do it.’ (Libation-HK.024) (166) bɔ́ bhɛ́tɛ ɛlɛ békeɛ́, bɔ-bhɛtɛ ɛ-lɛ́ beke=ɛ́ 1PL-do CL3:OBJ complete=TP ‘When we finished,’ (Libation-HK.025) (167) kɛhĩá́ sɛ tɛ blɔ Batrugbuɔ kɛ-hĩá́ sɛ tɛ blɔ Ba-trugbu=ɔ CL3-need that COMP 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=DEF ‘it became necessary for us all Nyangbo people’ (Libation-HK.026) (168) blɔ pétéé bɔbatɔɖɔ ɛlɛ́, blɔ pétéé bɔ-ba-tɔɖɔ ɛlɛ́ 1PL:IND all 1PL-FUT-put_on CL3:OBJ ‘that we decide’ (Libation-HK.027) (169) sɛ obo kishuɔ bɔbashɔ̃ nɛ́ klɛ sɛ o-búɔ́ ki-shu=ɔ́ bɔ-ba-shɔ̃ nɛ́ klɛ that CM-today CM-Friday=TP 1PL-FUT-gather PREP here ‘that we would gather here today Friday.’ (Libation-HK.028) (170) tɛ bɔyikɛ wɔ lɔkɔ mana, tɛ bɔ-yɛkɛ wɔ lɔkɔ mana COMP 1PL-receive 2SG take come_with ‘In order to collect you (from the mortuary) and bring you’ (LibationHK.029) (171) tɛ bɔbaɖi aló bɔbakpɛ́ kɛɖaŋu, tɛ bɔ-ba-ɖi aló bɔ-ba-kpɛ́ kɛ-ɖaŋu COMP 1PL-FUT-look_at or 1PL-FUT-put CM3-advice ‘so that we consider it or give advice.’ (Libation-HK.030) (172) bawá nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ azazhĩá ba-wá nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ a-za-zhĩá CM5-medicine EXIST:INDEF REL 3SG-REP-need ‘The medicines that were needed’ (Libation-HK.031)

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(173) budzyinií kɔ́ wɔ́ bu-zyini-í kɔ́ wɔ́ 1PL-break-3SG:OBJ give 2SG ‘we made it for you.’ (Libation-HK.032) (174)

gɛ bɔbá, gɛ bɔ-bá REL 1PL-come ‘When we came’ (Libation-HK.033)

(175) blɔ Batrugbuɔ akányáka aba nɛ́ ishu yɔyɔ́ mɛ blɔ Ba-trugbu=ɔ a-kányáka a-ba nɛ́ 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=TOP CM1-every AM-come PREP ki-shú-yɔ-yɔ mɛ CM3-skin-RED-become_cold inside ‘we the Batrugbu, everybody came in peace.’ (Libation-HK.034) (176) bɔ́ bakú béke bɔ́ -ba-kú béke 1PL-come-reach complete ‘When we arrived’ (Libation-HK.035) (177) ko wɔ akaálɛ́ kɛhĩá gɛ kɛhĩá sɛ babasɛ́nɔ́ ko wɔ a-ka-álɛ́ kɛ-hĩá gɛ kɛ-hĩá sɛ just 2SG:IND CM1-father-PL CM3-need REL CL3-need that ba-ba-sɛnɔ 3PL-VEN-greet ‘your fathers, all the things they needed to greet us’ (Libation-HK. 036) (178) bagã plɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ ba-gã plɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ 3PL-walk help 1PL:OBJ ‘they came to us.’ (Libation-HK.037) (179) baba babasɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ ba-ba ba-ba-sɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ 3PL-come 3PL-VEN-greet 1PL:OBJ ‘they came and greeted us’ (Libation-HK.038)

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(180) básɛ́nɔ ɔlɔ békeɛ ba-sɛnɔ ɔlɔ́ béke=ɛ 3PL-greet 1PL complete=TP ‘When they had finished greeting us’ (Libation-HK.039) (181) kɛlɛ kɛhĩá́ kɔ́ kɛɖaŋu é kɛlɛ kɛ-hĩa kɔ́ kɛ-ɖaŋu é then CL3-need give CM3-advice ADDR ‘and it was time for advice,’ (Libation-HK.040) (182) kɛ́lɛ́ bɔbagã pɛ bɔbalɔkɔ wɔ́ nɛ́ kɔ́xóé nɔ́ dza? kɛ́lɛ́ bɔ-ba-gã pɛ bɔ-ba-lɔkɔ wɔ nɛ́ kɔ́xóé nɔ́ dza how 1PL-FUT-walk then 1PL-FUT-take 2SG PREP village DEF EMPH ‘what steps were they to take in order to get you to the village?’ (Libation-HK.041) (183) tɛ bɔbalṹ ko tɛ bɔ-ba-lũ ko COMP 1PL-VEN-hear just ‘What do we hear?’ (Libation-HK.042) (184) wɔ akaalɛ́ sɛ batɛ́gã bɔl’i edé, wɔ a-ka-álɛ́ sɛ ba-tɛ́-gã bɔlɔ ke-dě 2SG:IND CM5-father-PL say 3PL-PERF-walk 1PL:IND CM4-back ‘Your fathers say that they have already gone without our knowledge.’ (lit. gone behind our back) (Libation-HK.043) (185) baba klɛ́ baba bagbana wɔ lɔkɔ mana kɔ́xóé nɔ ba-bá klɛ́ ba-ba ba-gbana wɔ lɔkɔ mana kɔ́xóé 3PL-come there 3PL-come 3PL-accompany 2SG take bring village nɛ+í with+3G:OBJ ‘They had already taken you to the village’ (Libation-HK.044) (186) ao blɔ batrugbu sɛ ao blɔ ba-trugbu sɛ no 1PL CM5-Nyangbo say ‘No, we the Nyangbo people said’ (Libation-HK.045)

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(187) kibui lɛ batɛ́bhɛ́tɛ lɛ́ ki-bui kɛ-lɛ ba-tɛ́-bhɛtɛ ɛ-lɛ́ CM3-matter AM-this 3PL-NEG-do AM-that ‘This issue, they can’t do that.’ (Libation-HK.046) (188) kéɖe so pɛ kɛhĩá sɛ bagã bal’ i dé? kéɖe so pɛ kɛ-hĩá sɛ ba-gã balɛ ke-dě why so and_then 3SG-need COMP 3PL-walk 3PL:IND CM4-back ‘Why did they have to go without their knowledge?’ (Libation-HK.047) (189) ɔmɔ sɛ balɛ Batrugbuɔ balɛ alɔkɔ ɔzãkɔ́ lɔ́ kɔ kɔ́ wɔ́, ɔ-mɔ sɛ balɛ Ba-trugbu=ɔ balɛ a-lɔkɔ 2SG-see that 3PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=DEF 3PL:IND AM-take ɔ-zã-kɔ lɔkɔ kɔ́ wɔ CM-stay-place take give 2SG ‘You know that the Nyangbo have given you a position (as a spokesperson)’ (Libation-HK.048) (190)

pɛ ɔɔ́ ŋa kɔ́ álɛ́, pɛ ɔ-ɔ-ŋa kɔ alɛ́ and_then 2SG-PROG-eat give 3PL:OBJ ‘which you are occupying for them’ (Libation-HK.049)

(191) f logo pɛ ɔzhazhĩá zhĩá wɔ pɛ ɔ́ shɛ̃ f lógo pɛ ɔ-zhĩá-zhĩá zhĩá wɔ pɛ ɔ-shɛ̃ before and_then CM2-RED-need need 2SG then 2SG-leave ‘before you succumbed to death.’ (Libation-HK.050) (192) kɛlɛ ahĩá sɛ kɛlɛ a-hĩá sɛ then 3SG-need that ‘Then it was necessary that’ (Libation-HK.051) (193) tɛ blɔ Batrugbuɔ blɔ ko blɔ ɛbaba, tɛ blɔ Ba-trugbu=ɔ bɔlɔ ko blɔ COMP 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo=TOP 1PL:IND just 1PL:IND ɛ-ba-ba AM-FUT-come ‘we the Nyangbo people, we would come’ (Libation-HK.051)

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(194)

pɛ otsi pɛ bɔbakpɛ́ ɖaŋu, pɛ otsi pɛ bɔ-ba-kpɛ́ ɖaŋu and_then now then 1PL-VEN-put advice ‘that we deliberate.’ (Libation-HK.052)

(195) err kɛgã nɔ́ nɔ́ mɛ gɛ ɔbɔzã pɛ ɔbɔbá, err kɛ-gã nɔ́ nɔ́ mɛ gɛ ɔ-bɔ-zã pɛ um CM3-walk EXIST:INDEF inside REL 2SG-FUT-stay then ɔ-bɔ-bá 2SG-FUT-come ‘The vehicle that you would be put in to come’ (Libation-HK.053) (196)

pɛ ishuyɔyɔ́ nɛ kɛkányáka babá pɛ ki-shu-yɔ́ -yɔ́ nɛ kɛ-kányáka ba-bá then CM3-body-RED-become_cold with CM3-every FUT-come ‘that peace and everything will come.’ (Libation-HK.054)

(197)

gaké ao baka bagã bɔl’ edě gaké ao ba-ka ba-gã bɔlɔ ke-dě but no CM5-father AM-walk 1PL:IND CM4-back ‘But no, your fathers went without consulting us’ (Libation-HK.055)

(198)

pɛ otsi bababɔ́ kibuiɛ́ kɔ́ baka pɛ otsi ba-ba-bɔ́ ki-bui=ɛ́ kɔ ba-ka and_then now 3PL-VEN-narrate CM3-word=DEF give CM5-father ‘and now we have informed your fathers (about what they did wrong)’ (Libation-HK.056)

(199) ko bakaalɛ́ bebelũ lɛ́ esí ko ba-ka-álɛ́ be-be-lṹ ɛlɛ́ ke-sí just CM5-father-PL AM-VEN-hear CL3:OBJ CM4-down ‘and your fathers have understood.’ (Libation-HK.057) (200) beyi dé be-yi ke-dě, 3PL-go CM4-back ‘They consulted among themselves (lit. they retreated)’ (Libation-HK. 058)

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(201) PARTICIPANT: Gathering yo RESPONSE (Libation-HK.059) (202) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson beyi déɛ́ ko bad’ alɔkɔ kɛlɛ abha benu be-yi ke-dé=ɛ́ ko ba-da-lɔkɔ kɛ-lɛ ka-bha 3PL-go CM4-back=TP just 3PL-ITIVE-take CL3:IND CM4-top be-nu CM5-drink ‘When they withdrew, they went and brought drinks’ (Libation-HK. 060) (203)

g’enu schnapps tumpá tabha kɛkɔlɔ m’ayɛ́ gɛ e-nu schnapps tumpá ta-bha kɛ-kɔlɔ mɛ ayɛ́ REL 3SG-be schnapps bottle AM-two CM3-cover inside own ‘which is two bottles of imported schnapps’ (Libation-HK.060)

(204) alɔkɔ mána a-lɔkɔ mana SCONN-take bring ‘they brought (it)’ (Libation-HK.061) (205) sɛ ao bal’ ibui kɛgɛdzyɔ nɛ́ blɔ Batrugbu ɔ shú sɛ ao balɛ ki-búí kɛ-gɛ-dzyɔ nɛ́ bɔlɔ that no 3PL:IND CM3-matter AM-NEG:PST-be_right PREP 1PL:IND Ba-trugbu=ɔ ki-shú CM5-Nyangbo=DEF CM3-skin ‘that no, their conduct towards us the Nyangbo people was wrong’ (Libation-HK.062) (206) ah Batrugbuɔ sɛ anɛ bukũ shɛ tã tɛ bɔŋa ah Ba-trugbu=ɔ sɛ a-nɛ bu-kũ shɛ tã well CM5-Nyangbo=DEF say 3SG-not_be CM8-yam seedling burn tɛ bɔ-ŋa COMP 1PL-eat ‘The Nyangbo people say it’s not that they want the yam seedlings to burn for them to eat (proverb)’ (Libation-HK.063)

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(207) alo kekugba tã tɛ baŋá kũ shɛ alo ke-kugba tã tɛ ba-ŋá ki-kũ shɛ or CM4-yam_shed burn COMP 3PL-eat CM3-yam seedling ‘or the the yam shed should burn so that they eat the seedling’ (they don’t want to take advantage of the family at a time when they have a tragedy) (Libation-HK.064) (208) kɛlɛ so gɛ kɛbá ána kɛlɛ so gɛ kɛ-bá ana CL3:IND so REL CL3-come thus ‘Therefore since it has happened that way’ (Libation-HK.065) (209) bunuɔ bamána bu-nu=ɔ ba-mána CM8-beverage=DEF 3PL-bring ‘The drinks that they (the fathers) brought,’ (Libation-HK.066) (210) bamɔ, bayɛ́kɛ ba-mɔ ba-yɛkɛ 3PL-see 3PL-receive ‘they (the Nyangbo people) have seen (and) accepted them.’ (LibationHK.067) (211)

pɛ beklú m’ ána Batrugb’ atsyíámi nɔ́ mɛayɛ́ ténúkpó pɛ be-klú mɛ ana Ba-trugbu ba-tsyíámi nɔ́ and_then 3PL-call 1SG thus CM5-Nyangbo CM5-spokesperson DEF mɛ a-yɛ́ te-nukpó inside AM-own AM-one ‘Then they called me as one of the Nyangbo spokespersons’ (LibationHK.068)

(212) sɛ ɛbabalɛ bunu esi kɔ́ wɔ́ sɛ ɛ-ba-balɛ bu-nu ke-sí kɔ́ wɔ́ that 1SG-VEN-pour CM8-drink CM4-down give 2SG ‘that I pour libation for you.’ (Libation-HK.069) (213) sɛ kidzo ɛlɛ gɛ ɔbɔtɔnɔ sɛ ki-dzo ɛ-lɛ gɛ ɔ-bɔ-tɔnɔ that CM3-road AM-this REL 2SG-FUT-follow ‘that the journey you are about to undertake’ (Libation-HK.070)

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(214)

pɛ ɔbɔbá álɛ pɛ ɔ-bɔ-bá alɛ then 2SG-VEN-come thus ‘as you come,’ (Libation-HK.071)

(215)

gɛ baka belũ ilɛ́ kesí gɛ ba-ka be-lũ kɛ-lɛ́ ke-sí REL CM5-father AM-hear CL3-that CM4-down ‘since he fathers of the deceased have understood,’ (Libation-HK. 072)

(216)

pɛ bakɔ bɔdɔ̃ koɔ, pɛ ba-kɔ́ bɔ-dɔ̃ ko=ɔ then 3PL-give CM8-thing just=TP ‘and given (us) (the drinks),’ (Libation-HK.073)

(217) balɛ olṹgbũɔ́ kpasɛ wɔ tɛbabá mɛ, balɛ o-lṹ-gbũ=ɔ kpasɛ wɔ tɛ-ba-bá their CM-mouth=DEF be_contained 2SG:IND CM9-RED-come mɛ inside ‘that they agree to your coming’ (Libation-HK.074) (218) kɛlɛso ɔlɔ́ tɔnɔ kidzoɔ́ kɛlɛ so ɔ-lɔ́ tɔnɔ ki-dzo=ɔ CL3:IND so 2SG-rise follow CM3-road=DEF ‘Therefore when you set off on your journey’ (Libation-HK.075) (219)

pɛ ɔ́ ba kidzo mɛ yɔ́ pɔtɔpɔtɔ pɛ ɔ-bá=a ki-dzǒ mɛ kɛ-yɔ́ pɔtɔpɔtɔ then 2SG-come=TP CM3-road inside be_peaceful very_well ‘May your journey be peaceful.’ (Libation-HK.076)

(220) ohu lotítũ kɛtsɛrɛ́, o-hu lo-tí-tũ kɛ-tsɛrɛ́ CM2-vehicle AM-NEG:-stamp CM3-leg ‘The vehicle should not hit anyone.’ (should not hit a leg) (LibationHK.077)

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(221) bunyí kɛzã gɛ ɔzã nɛ́ blɔ Batrugbu nɔ́ shi bu-nyí kɛ-zã gɛ ɔ-zã nɛ́ bɔlɔ Ba-trugbu nɔ́ 1PL-know CM3-stay REL 2SG-stay PREP 1PL:IND CM5-Nyangbo DEF ki-shi CM3-between ‘We know how you lived amongst us the Nyangbo people.’ (LibationHK.078) (222) kɛlɛ so ónúpɛ ɔ́vɛ kɛlɛ so ónúpɛ ɔ́ -vɛ CL3:IND so if 2SG-go ‘Therefore when you go,’ (Libation-HK.079) (223)

pɛ ɔɔ́ ba alɛ nɔ́ pɛ ɔ-ɔ́ -ba alɛ nɔ́ and_then 2SG-PROG-come CL1-this TP ‘and as you come,’ (Libation-HK.080)

(224)

gã bleoobleoo ana gã bleoo-bleoo ana walk gently-gently thus ‘go gently.’ (Libation-HK.081)

(225) Batrugbuɔ bedzí beépo wɔ Ba-trugbu=ɔ be-dzi be-é-po wɔ CM5-Nyangbo=DEF 3PL-be_seated 3PL-PROG-wait_for 2SG ‘The Nyangbo people are waiting for you.’ (Libation-HK.082) (226) so bunu lɛ bɔɔ́ kɔ nɛ́ klɛ, so bu-nu (ɔ-)lɛ bɔ-ɔ́ -kɔ nɛ́ klɛ so CM8-drink AM-this 1PL-PROG-give PREP here ‘Therefore the drink that we are offering here’ (Libation-HK.083) (227) bɔɔ́ kɔ nɛ́ ishú yɔ́ mɛ bɔ-ɔ́ -kɔ́ nɛ́ ki-shú yɔ́ mɛ, 1PL-PROG-give PREP CM3-skin be_cold inside ‘we are offering it in peace’ (Libation-HK.084)

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(228) sɛ tɛ ɔyikɛ sɛ tɛ ɔ-yɛkɛ that COMP 2SG-receive ‘so that when you receive it.’ (Libation-HK.085) (229) aka gɛ abayíkɛ a-ka gɛ a-ba-yɛkɛ CM1-father REL AM-FUT-receive ‘The ancestor who will receive it’ (Libation-HK.086) (230)

pɛ ababalɛ pɛ a-ba-balɛ then 3SG-FUT-pour ‘and pour libation’ (Libation-HK.087)

(231)

pɛ kɛgbã ́gbã babá, pɛ kɛ-gbã ́gbã ba-bá and_then CM3-real FUT-come ‘so that good things will come (to us),’ (Libation-HK.088)

(232) bl’ ɔtsɛ́rɛ́ blɔ ɔhɔɛ kpasɛ kibúíɛ́ mɛ, bɔlɔ ɔ-tsɛrɛ bɔlɔ ɔ-hɔɛ kpasɛ 1PL:IND CM2-foot 1PL:IND CM2-hand be_contained ki-búí=ɛ́ mɛ CM3-matter=DEF inside ‘we support it fully’ (lit our feet and hands are in the matter) (LibationHK.089) 10.4.2 Chief Meets with Bereaved Family This is an example triadic communication, which is a pervasive mode of communication in the region (cf. Yankah 1995). After the body was brought to the town for burial, the bereaved family met with the (Regent of) the Paramount Chief, the chiefs of the other towns, and elders, to discuss the burial arrangements. Some customary rites are performed. This transcript is about what transpires at the end of the rites. Because this was an assembly of chiefs, there were several spokespersons. First, there was a spokesperson for the Paramount Chief. Then there was a spokesperson for the chiefs. This person also oversaw the distribution of palm wine and other drinks to the people gathered. Finally, there was a spokesperson for the bereaved family. When the spokesperson for the chiefs finished distributing the palm wine, he informed the gathering that he

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has accomplished his task. There is some discussion between the spokesperson for the Paramount Chief and the family of the bereaved before the people depart to prepare for the burial the following day. (233) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs oo agoo lo ‘I am seeking your attention’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_001) (234) PARTICIPANT: Assembly (faintly) amɛɛ, ‘We grant you our attention’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_002) [LONG PAUSE. SONG IN THE BACKGROUND. DRINKS BEING SERVED. CONTAINER IS TAKEN AWAY] (235) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs agoo ‘I am seeking your attention’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_003) (236) PARTICIPANT: Assembly (imperceptibly as singing continues) amɛɛ, ‘We grant you our attention’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_004) (237) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs iɖe kuku bunuɔ gɛ nɔkpɛ́ m’ ahɔɛ i-ɖe+kuku bu-nu=ɔ gɛ nɔ-kpɛ́ mɛ a-hɔɛ 1SG-beg CM8-drink=DEF REL 3PL- put_in 1SG:IND CM7-hand ‘Please the drink that you gave to work’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_ 005) (238) ɛwa li shú xwɛ̃ békē, ɛ-wa kɛlɛ ki-shú kɛ-xwɛ̃ béke 1SG-do CL3:IND CM3-outer_surface CM3-work finish ‘I have finished distributing it.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_006) (239) so kibui tílí lɛ́, so ki-búí ti-lí lɛ́ so CM3-word AM-SPECI be_at ‘So if there is something’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_007)

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(240) tɛ alɔkɔ mana mɛ́ kɔ́ kesí ɔzãkɔ́ tɛ a-lɔkɔ mana mɛ kɔ́ ke-si ɔ-zã-kɔ́ COMP 3SG-take bring 1SG give CM3-down CM2-stay-place ‘bring it for me to give to the gathering.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_ 008) [PAUSE. SONG CONTINUES. REGENT OF PARAMOUNT CHIEF CONSULTS WITH HIS SPOKESERSON] (241) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for Paramount Chief tsyiámi ɔlɛ́? tsyiámi ɔ-lɛ́ Spokesperson 2SG-be_at ‘Spokesperson, are you there?’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_009) (242) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs ɛ̃ɛ̃ tsyiámi álɛ́. ɛ̃ɛ̃ tsyiámi á-lɛ́ Yes spokesperson AM-be_at ‘Yes, spokesperson is there’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_010) (243) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for Paramount Chief ɛ̃ɛ̃ nolṹ, ɔzãkɔ́ olṹ ɛɛ no-lṹ ɔ-zã-kɔ́ o-lũ yes 2PL-hear CM2-stay-place AM-hear ‘Yes, you all hear’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_011) (244) tɛ baka elṹ, tɛ ba-ka e-lṹ COMP CM5-father AM-hear ‘so that the fathers of the deceased hear’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_ 012) (245) sɛ kana Tɔ́ gbé aáɖɔ, sɛ kana Tɔ́ gbé a-á-ɖɔ that thus Chief 3SG-PROG-say ‘that that is what the chief is saying’ (Tɔ́ gbé is Ewe) (Chief-Bereaved_ family_013)

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(246) sɛ kɛvlɔ́ ɛ́lɛ ɔkɔ́ ɔ bɔbhɛ́tɛ ɔ́ lɛ́, sɛ kɛ-vlɔ́ ɛ-lɛ ɔ-kɔ=ɔ́ bɔ-bhɛ́tɛ ɔ́ lɛ́ that CM3-morning AM-this CM2-custom=TOP 1PL-do CL2:OBJ ‘That this morning’s custom, we have performed it’ (Chief-Bereaved_ family_014) (247) soɔ kibuinyébui bhamá bɔl’ ahwɛ so=ɔ ki-bui-nyɛ́-bui bhamá bɔlɔ a-hwɛ so=TP CM3-thing-every-thing NEG:be_at 1PL:IND CM7-hand ‘Therefore there is nothing left’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_015) (248) bɔlɔ kampɛ alɛ mɛ kɔ́ kesí zazã alɛ otsíɛ́, bɔlɔ ka-mpɛ a-lɛ mɛ kɔ́ ke-sí za-zã 1PL:IND CM4-side AM-this inside give CM4-down RED-stay a-lɛ otsíɛ́ AM-this now ‘On our side for this gathering now’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_016) (249) otsíɛ́ kɛhĩá́ sɛ bɔdɛbálɛ kɔ sɔlɛmɛ vɛvɛ otsí=ɛ́ kɛ-hĩá́ sɛ bɔ-dɛ-bálɛ kɔ́ sɔlɛmɛ vɛ-vɛ Now=DEF CL3-need that 1PL-ITIVE-get_ready give church RED-go ‘Now we need to go and get ready for church’ (Chief-Bereaved_family _017) (250) ónú búkú sɔlɛmɛ ɛ, ónú bú-kú sɔlɛmɛ=ɛ If 1PL-reach church=TP ‘When we get to the church’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_018) (251) bɔlɔ bhɛ́tɛkɔ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɔ ɔlɛ klɛ́ bɔlɔ bhɛ́tɛ-kɔ nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ ɔ-lɛ klɛ́ 1PL:IND do-place EXIS:INDEF REL CL2-be_at there ‘The things that we need to do there’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_019) (252) kã ́ bɔv’ iabha é kã ́ bɔ-vɛ ka-bha é then 1PL-go CM4-top ADDR ‘Then we continue’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_020)

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(253) kliso otsíɛ́ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́, kibui nána bhama blɔ xɔ̃ ń ɔ ahwɛ, kliso otsíɛ́ xɔ̃ ń ɔ́, ki-bui nána bhama blɔ xɔ̃ ń ɔ therefore now as_for CM3-thing not_any NEG:be_at 1PL:IND as_for a-hwɛ CL7-hand ‘Therefore as for now, there is nothing for us to do.’ (Chief-Bereaved_ family_021) (254) kliso ónúpɛ kibui nána bhama wɔnɔ baka tsyɛ ahwɛɛ, kliso ónúpɛ ki-bui nána bhama wɔnɔ ba-ka therefore if CM3-thing not_any NEG:be_at 2PL:IND CM5-father tsyɛ́ a-hwɛ=ɛ also CM7-hand=TP ‘Therefore if you the fathers also do not have anything for us’ (ChiefBereaved_family_022) (255) klɛ nɔkɔ́ ɔlí dzo, klɛ nɔ-kɔ́ ɔlɛ́ ki-dzǒ then 2PL-give 1PL:OBJ CM3-road ‘then you give us permission’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_023) (256) tɛ bɔvɛ dikú blɔ ɔzãkɔ́, tɛ bɔ-vɛ di-kú blɔ ɔ-zã-kɔ́ COMP 1PL-go ITIVE-reach 1PL:IND CM2-stay-place ‘so that we go to our homes’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_024) (257) tɛ bɔbalɛ kɔ́ sɔlɛmɛ vɛvɛ tɛ bɔ-balɛ kɔ́ sɔlɛmɛ vɛ-vɛ COMP 1PL-get_ready give church RED-go ‘so that we get ready for church.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_025) (258) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs yoo beyi aka tsyíámi olṹ gbe a? yoo be-yi a-ka tsyiámi o-lṹ gbe a okay CM5-child AM1-father spokesperson 2SG-hear voice Q ‘Okay, parents of the deceased, have you heard what he said?’ (ChiefBereaved_family_026)

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(259) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for bereaved family yoo bɔpã ́ nolṹ gbe a? yoo bɔ-pã ́ no-lṹ gbe a okay CM8-house 2PL-hear voice Q ‘People assembled, have you heard what he said?’ (Chief-Bereaved_ family_027) (260) ɛ̃ɛ̃ tsyiámi ɔlɛ klɛ́? ɛ̃ɛ̃ tsyiámi ɔ-lɛ klɛ́ yes spokesperson 2SG-be_at there ‘Yes, Spokesperson, are you there?’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_028) (261) PARTICIPANT: Chief-Bereaved_family_030 ɛ̃ɛ̃ Tɔ́ gbégã ́ ɔsɛ ɛ̃ɛ̃ Tɔ́ gbégã ́ ɔ-sɛ yes Paramount_Chief 2SG-say ‘Yes, inform Paramount Chief that’ (Tɔ́ gbégã ́ is Ewe) (Chief-Bereaved_ family_029) (262) búhu alɛ́ ahwɛ, bú-hu alɛ́ a-hwɛ 1PL-hit 3PL:OBJ CM7-hand ‘We thank them.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_030) (263) ansɛ kana gɛ baɖɔɔ, ansɛ kana gɛ ba-ɖɔ=ɔ like thus REL 3PL-say=TP ‘As was said,’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_031) (264) err blɔ xɔ́ nɔ́ kibuinyebui bha ma ɔlɔ ahwɛ err blɔ xɔ́ nɔ́ ki-bui-nyɛ-bui bhama bɔlɔ um 1PL:IND as_for CM3-thing-every-thing NEG:be_at 1PL:IND a-hwɛ CM7-hand ‘As far as we are concerned, we don’t have anything else to do’ (ChiefBereaved_family_032)

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(265) err soɔ kidzyo lɛ́, err so=ɔ ki-dzyo lɛ́ um so=TP CM3-road be_at ‘So you have permission to leave.’ (lit. the road is open for you) (ChiefBereaved_family_033) (266) kibe nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ bɔ́vɛ sɔlɛmɛɛ ki-be nɔ́ nɔ́ gɛ bɔ́ -vɛ sɔlɛmɛ=ɛ CM3-time EXIS-INDEF REF 1PL-go church=TP ‘The time that we will go to church,’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_034) (267) err yenu basɛ ga asíéke err yɛ e-nú ba-sɛ ga asíéke um 3SG:IND AM-be 3PL-say bell nine ‘That is nine o’clock.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_035) (ga asíéke ‘nine oclock’ is Ewe) (268) betísí yɔlɔ lɔ́ be-tí-sí yɔlɔ ɔlɔ́ 3PL-NEG-flee stop 1PL:OBJ ‘They should not leave us.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_036) (269) batɛ́shɔ̃ ɔlɔ́ ba-tɛ́-shɛ̃ ɔlɔ́ 3PL-NEG-leave 1PL:OBJ ‘They should not leave us.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_037) (270) klisoɔ buɖe kúkú kɔ́ nɔ, kliso=ɔ bu-ɖe+kúkú kɔ́ nɔ Therefore=TOP 1PL-beg give 2PL ‘Therefore we plead with you’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_038) (271) sɛ kibe abha bhɛbhɛ́tɛ nɔ sɛ ki-be ka-bha bhɛ-bhɛ́tɛ nɔ that CM3-time CM4-top RED-do TOP ‘That (we need to) keep to time’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_039) (272) err blɔ pétéé bɔbhɛtɛ kibe abhá e lo err blɔ pétéé bɔ-bhɛtɛ ki-be ka-bhá e lo um 1PL:IND all 1PL-do CM3-time CM4-top ADDR ADDR ‘We all should keep to time’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_040) James Essegbey - 978-90-04-39699-9 Downloaded from Brill.com11/09/2020 07:56:38PM via free access

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(273) tɛ ibúíɛ́ atsɔ kɔ́ ɔlɔ́ tɛ i-búí=ɛ́ a-tsɔ kɔ́ ɔlɔ́ COMP CM6-thing=DEF AM-be_quick give 1PL:OBJ ‘So that it goes quickly for us.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_041) (274) bɔ-kɔ́ nɔ kidzo bɔ-kɔ́ nɔ ki-dzo 1PL-give 2PL CM3-road ‘You have our permission (to leave).’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_042) (275) wɔnɔ bhitibui o, wɔnɔ bhɛtɛ ki-búí o, 2PL:IND do CM3-thing ADDR ‘Thank you.’ (Chief-Bereaved_family_043) (276) PARTICIPANT: Spokesperson for chiefs yoo tsyiámi olṹ gbea? yoo tsyiámi o-lṹ gbe a Okay spokesperson 2SG-hear voice PRT ‘Okay, spokesperson, have you heard what was said?’ (gbe is Ewe) (Chief-Bereaved_family_043)

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Index of Names Aboh, Enoch 103, 112, 129, 149, 176, 200, 236, 310 Adjoe, Casimir xii, 9 Agbedor, Paul 112 Agbetsoamedo, Yvonne 75, 149 Ameka Felix xi, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13, 18, 24, 69, 99, 100, 103, 126, 142, 145, 170, 184, 189–191, 195, 197, 198, 200, 201, 206, 209, 216, 217, 219, 224, 226, 231–235, 238, 245, 274, 279, 284, 296, 298–300, 307, 309, 311 Amuzu, Evershed 225 Ansre, Gilbert 24 Archangeli, Diana 32 Awobuluyi, Oyadele 32 Baker, Mark 233 Bamgbose, Ayọ 9, 32 Blench, Roger 7, 8 Bobuafor, Mercy xii, 17–24, 26–28, 36, 38, 48, 93, 103, 122, 126, 151, 159, 175, 177, 178, 224, 229, 237, 243, 244, 251, 256, 258, 261, 262, 281, 303 Bodomo, Adam B. 233, 235, 236 Bohnemeyer Jürgen 12, 235, 236 Bollinger, Dwight 224 Booij, Geert 65, 98 Bot Ba Njock, H.M. 224 Bouquiaux, Luc 12 Bowerman, Melissa 12 Brousseau, Anne-Marie 231 Brown, Penelope 293 Bruyn, Adrienne 242 Bryan, Margaret A. 6, 69 Brydon, Lynne 9 Campbell, Richard 236 Carlson, Gregory 130, 154, 155 Casali, Roderic 21, 31 Chafe, Wallace 224 Clements, George 18–20, 29, 39, 251 Comrie, Bernard 12, 65, 151 Dakubu, Mary Esther Kropp 6, 8–11, 149, 232, 270 Defina, Rebecca 19, 236 Diessel, Holger 264

Dik, Simon 298 Dixon, Robert 218–220 Djité, Paulin 9 Dolphyne, Florence 27 Dorvlo, Kofi xii, 18, 27, 151 Dryer, Mathew 277 Duthie, Alan 18, 25, 112, 134, 145, 274, 299, 311 Essegbey, James iii, 3, 9, 23, 24, 32, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46, 49, 69, 71, 72, 75, 76, 78, 80, 81, 85, 90, 94, 108, 113, 118, 149, 151, 159, 161, 164, 174, 176, 179, 184, 191–197, 206, 207, 217, 224, 227–229, 236, 238, 246, 247, 248, 251, 258, 260, 263, 276, 278 Ford, Kevin 6, 23, 33, 49, 273 Funke, Emil 8, 9, 16, 17, 23, 29, 39, 49, 119 Haiman, John 250 Harbour, Daniel 300 Harley, Matthew 9, 18, 19, 23, 25, 34, 62, 107, 108, 122, 126, 147, 149, 229, 249, 250 Haspelmath, Martin 244, 245, 247, 248 Hawkins, John 136 Heine, Bernd 7–9, 17, 18, 23, 33, 49, 69, 80, 250 Hetterle, Katja 264 Himmelmann, Nikolaus 135, 136, 319 Hyman, Larry 24, 64 Kaun, Abigail 42 Kenesei, István 13, 65 Kester, Ellen-Petra 130, 131 König, Ekkehard 268, 269 Kropp, Mary Esther 23, 49, 149 Lambrecht, Knud 298 Lefebvre, Claire 231, 247, 248 Levinson, Stephen 14, 189, 190, 193, 216, 217, 293, 319 Lord, Carol 250 Lovestrand, Joseph 236 Lüpke, Friederike 9 Lyons, John 129

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379

index of names Malmkjaer, Kirsten 252 Marantz, Alec 66 Mayer, Mercer 12, 70 Mayo, García 103 McCollum, Adam xii, 3, 23, 32, 38, 42 McLaughlin, Fiona 9

Slobin, Dan I. 239, 240 Smith, Norval 12 Steegstra, Marijke 337 Sterk, Jan 7 Stewart, John 8, 18, 20 Storch, Anne 9

Naden, Tony 225 Nugent, Paul 8, 9 Nurse, Derek 64

Talmy, Leonard 189, 238 Thomas, Jacqueline M.C. 12, 99, 100 Thompson, Sandra 250

Osam, Emmanuel 108, 149, 235, 236

Urbanczyk, Suzanne 66

Pederson, Erik 12 Pulleyblank 32

Van der Auwera, Johan 292 Van Putten, Saskia 22, 164, 298, 300, 303, 312, 313 Vendler, Zeno 147

Rialland, Annie 18–20, 270 Ring, Andrew 7 Roberts, Craige 298 Rolle, Nicholas 24 Rongier, Jacques 7 Rose, Sharon 22 Saah, Kofi 108, 233 Schmitt, Cristina 130, 131 Schuh, Russell 17–19, 21–23, 36, 49, 69 Seuren, Pieter A.M. 236

Welmers, William 165, 224 Westermann, Dietrich 6, 69, 198–200, 224, 276 Wierzbicka, Anna 293, 294 Wilkins, David 189, 190, 193 Williamson, Kay 24 Yankah, Kwesi 321, 358

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Index of Subjects Accomplishment 148, 149, 155, 167 Achievement 147, 148, 149, 167 Activity 9, 14, 107, 147–149, 165, 166, 168, 179, 185, 187, 196, 243, 257, 319, 326 Adjectives Derived adjectives 119 Non-derived 118, 225 Adverbial clause 13, 250, 255, 261–262, 264 Adpositional phrases 13, 189–191, 193, 195, 197, 199, 201, 203, 205, 207, 209, 211, 213, 215, 217 Affricates 16, 18, 19, 22 Agreement marker 41, 63–64, 67–71, 73, 75, 79, 81, 82, 85–88, 90, 93–94, 112, 118–119, 122, 147, 153, 157, 159, 161–162, 165, 168, 172, 174, 219, 231–233, 259, 284, 286, 290, 301–305 Akan 8, 9, 11, 27, 29, 32, 86, 94, 99–101, 107, 112, 183, 187, 198, 206, 211, 226, 233, 235, 241, 255–256, 258, 270, 292, 321, 341, 350 Aktionsarten 148 Alveolar 16–19, 28 Anlo 19, 27, 29, 184, 320 Argument structure 147, 183, 187, 218, 375 Aspect 13, 65, 67–68, 147–149, 153, 165–166, 173, 175, 231, 261 Assimilation 31, 34, 37–40, 42–43, 48, 65, 100, 113 Asyndetic 245 ATR harmony 22, 31, 36–39 Avatime 1, 7–9, 11, 17–19, 21–24, 36, 49, 94, 303, 304, 312 Basic locative construction 13, 189, 190, 216 Batrugbu 1, 136, 137, 152, 166, 181, 295, 298, 327, 332, 346–348, 350–351, 354, 357 Bilabials 16, 20 Causative 251, 255 Central togo 9, 371, 375 Chiefs 84, 183, 321, 326, 344, 358–360, 362, 365 Chieftaincy 12, 46, 103, 156, 253, 315, 316, 321 Cleft constructions 14, 299, 315, 317, 318 Closed syllables 27

Cognition 12, 252, 369 Comitative 43, 97–98, 125, 137, 146, 217, 232, 237, 241–242, 281 Commissive 269 Communicative practices 319 Complement 18, 30, 42–43, 46–47, 71– 72, 91, 98, 101, 103, 107, 110, 117, 131, 142–143, 146, 148, 166, 174–175, 183– 187, 198–199, 218–219, 221–223, 225, 229, 233, 236–238, 242–243, 250–255, 257, 279, 280–285, 300, 306, 308, 312, 316 Complement clause 186, 250–255, 280, 285 Complementizer 173–174, 180, 250–255, 262, 266, 279, 283, 284 Compound Double-headed 98 Left-headed 98 Right-headed 98 Conjunction 244, 247, 248, 256, 263, 270, 283 Conversational routines 319 Coordination 13, 145–146, 244–246, 263 Declarative 13, 268–270, 291–294 Deletion 27, 31, 44–48, 64, 137 Demonstratives 68, 137, 138 Distal demonstrative 138 Dental 16, 17, 22 Dependent pronominal 26, 73, 75, 78, 83, 142 Derivation 65, 66, 69, 80, 85, 95–97, 119, 121 Derivation via suffixation 96 Determiners Specificity determiner 68, 121, 129, 132, 134, 290 Definite determiner 86, 129, 134–137, 140, 143, 204, 222, 298 Directive 170, 269 Directionals 178 Disjunction 145, 146, 244, 249 Distal demonstrative 138 Distributive nominal duplicative construction 126–128 Double-headed compounds 98

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381

index of subjects Epenthesis 46, 64 Epenthetic vowel 27, 39, 46 Ewe 1, 9, 10–11, 15, 17–20, 22, 25, 27–30, 34, 39–40, 73–74, 86, 94, 96–107, 99–101, 103–104, 112, 121, 125–126, 128–129, 134, 139, 142, 146, 149, 163–165, 170, 174, 179–180, 183–184, 187, 190, 193–194, 197–198, 200–202, 206–207, 211, 216, 224–226, 241, 248–249, 251–256, 258, 270, 274–276, 292, 294, 299, 307, 312, 321, 326–327, 331–332, 337, 340–341, 344, 360, 363–365 Expressive 269, 270 Flógo 133, 261, 262 Focus Argument 114, 279, 318 Marked 300 Predicate 309 Unmarked 300 Factative 165–168, 171–173 Female initiation rite 336 Fricatives 16–21 Funeral 12, 136, 160, 290, 344–345 Future 35–38, 40–41, 89, 149–153, 156, 158– 159, 179–180, 230, 235, 256–257, 294 Gagbeƒe 1, 3–6, 10, 17, 249, 336 Gbahu 17, 248–249 Gbe 6, 16, 20, 103, 113, 148, 179, 216–217, 271, 362–363, 365 Generalized universal quantifier 126–127 Generic complement 46, 186–187 Gerundives 95 Glide 20, 29, 30 Glottal 16, 21, 22 Grammaticalized 40, 80, 82, 145, 170, 176, 178, 201, 250 Grammatical tone 62, 63, 64 Greeting 171, 248, 259, 274, 319–322, 351 Ideophone 18, 118, 119, 225, 228, 240 Imperative 66, 170, 171, 231, 268, 292–294 Independent pronominal 72, 74, 113 Inflection 66–67, 69 Intensifier 105–106, 113, 121, 138–139, 259, 285 Interrogative particle 274, 276, 291

Jussive 171–173 Kinship 75, 96, 101, 144, 145 Labial harmony 35, 39, 41–42, 159, 177 Labialization 15, 21 Labio-dental 17, 22 Labial-velars 20, 21 Lexical aspect 147 Libation 12, 136–137, 167, 183, 230, 319, 344– 345 Lip rounding 39, 42, 168 Locative 13, 53, 80, 82, 85–86, 130, 156, 189– 191, 193, 195, 197–199, 201, 203, 205, 207, 209, 211, 213, 215–218, 225, 228, 309, 316 Liquids 15–16, 18, 28 Middle-field adverbials 176 Modal markers 13, 68 Modals 179 Mode 358 Mood 13, 147, 149, 170, 231, 258 Multilingualism 9 Nasalization 15, 24 Nasals 16, 18, 20, 27, 48 Negation 34, 62, 65, 67, 128, 130–131, 147, 149, 152–153, 156–158, 168, 173, 231, 235, 292, 314 Negative 63, 128, 152–153, 156–159, 161, 165, 167, 169–173, 254, 291–292, 304– 305 Negative imperative 292 Numerals 27, 121–125, 290 Nyagbo 1, 17, 32, 34, 111–112, 115, 136, 141, 146, 178, 252, 257, 261, 326, 332 Obligatory complement verbs 184–186 Obligatory complements 46, 107, 184 One-place verbs 183 Operator verbs 175 Overlapping 245 Palatal 16, 19, 20, 22, 29 Perception 252 Perfect 168–170 Phonological processes 13, 15, 23, 31, 64 Plosives 16, 20 Positive imperatives 291

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382 Possessive phrase 142, 202, 280, 285, 306 Possibility 179–180, 193 Post-Alveolar 16–19, 22 Postpositions 13, 82, 145, 193, 196, 198–204, 206, 209, 212, 215 Prepositions 13, 216, 217 Presentative focus construction 72 Prohibitive (see Negative imperative) 292, 293 Pronouns Concordial 107, 113, 115 Dependent 67, 85, 92, 107, 108 Independent 69, 72, 93–94, 107–108, 112–113, 116, 301–302, 312 Object 26, 65, 110–111, 116, 117, 301 Personal 25, 107–109, 112, 115–116 Pleonastic 304 Resumptive 72, 86, 115, 141–142, 219, 303– 304, 307 Subject 108, 110, 112, 169, 259 Purposive 174, 254, 266 Qualifiers 13, 118 Quantifiers 13, 120–121, 129 Question 32, 41, 86, 94, 103–104, 149, 169, 190, 203, 240, 270–277, 279, 282, 285, 286, 288, 290, 294, 298, 317 Content 270, 275, 277, 278, 310 Polar 270, 273, 275–277 Reduplication 13, 30, 66, 95, 103, 119–120, 316, 365 Regressive 31 Relative clause 105–106, 113, 115, 139–141, 186, 220, 222, 231, 250, 314, 316– 317 Rheme 300 Repetitive 40, 153, 155, 162–165 Rounding 31, 39, 41, 42, 168

index of subjects Routine activities 319, 321, 323, 325, 327, 329, 331, 333, 335, 337, 339, 341, 343, 345, 347, 349, 351, 353, 355, 357, 359, 361, 363, 365 Serial verb construction 13, 98, 231, 309 Speech act 252, 269–270 Spinning yarn 326 Spokespersons 321, 355, 358 Sroe 1, 3–6, 11–12, 46–48, 82, 87, 111, 115–118, 136, 141–142, 156, 167, 169, 171, 183, 186, 192, 207, 210, 248, 251–255, 259, 315–316, 321–336, 345 State 78, 86, 99–100, 110, 126, 133, 147–151, 153–155, 160–168, 170, 176, 236, 238, 294, 298, 301, 314 Subjunctive 173, 174 Subordinate clauses 13, 250 Suffixation 96 Syllable structure 13, 15, 19, 25–28, 36, 48, 66, 110 Symmetric coordination 245, 246 Synthetic compounds 95, 103 Tense 13, 65, 67–68, 147, 149–151, 159, 166– 168, 173, 175, 177, 189, 235, 257–258 Togo remnant 6 Togorestsprachen 6 Tone-changing processes 64 Topic Frame 296–297, 312, 317 Contrastive 14, 296, 297, 311–312, 317 Two-place verbs 184 Velar 15–17, 20–22, 27–28 Verbal derivation 97 Verbs of communication 251 Vowel harmony 13, 25, 31–32, 64, 68, 108 Yoruba 32

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