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Journal articles on the topic 'Niger-Congo languages'
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1
Childs, G. Tucker. "The S-Aux-O-V-Other syntagm in Atlantic." Studies in African Linguistics 34, no. 1 (June 1, 2005): 1–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v34i1.107331.
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As the largest language phylum in the world and the most geographically widespread (Williamson & Blench 2000), Niger-Congo understandably exhibits some variation at all grammatical levels. Basic word order stands as no exception to this generalization, and there have been partisans for both an SOV and an SVO reconstructed word order. Gensler 1994 attempts to reconcile the two by claiming that neither proposal is correct; he suggests that both SOY and SVO are derived from Proto-Niger-Congo *S-AUX-O-V-Other. Because of the pattern's "quirkiness" (being found virtually nowhere else in the world) and because it is so widely attested in geographically widely separated Niger-Congo languages, the pattern should be reconstructed for all of Niger-Congo. One crucial piece of evidence for this claim comes from the Southern Atlantic language Kisi. This paper explores Kisi' s facts in further detail to show how central the structure is to the language. It then expands the investigation to other languages of Atlantic, finding that the pattern is much more widely attested than was previously realized, albeit in an attenuated form. The paper concludes by discussing the significance of the Atlantic facts to Niger-Congo in general.
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Abunya, Levina Nyameye, Edward Owusu, and Faustina Marius Naapane. "A Comparative Study of the Simple Clause in Akan, Dagaare and English." Education and Linguistics Research 7, no. 1 (May 15, 2021): 62. http://dx.doi.org/10.5296/elr.v7i1.18353.
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The paper compares how the simple clause is expressed in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo), Dagaare (Gur, Niger-Congo) and English. It examines the simple clause in relation to noun phrase, verbal phrases, adpositional phrases, basic word order in declarative and focus constructions, and the basic locative construction. Basically, the study reveals that despite the differences, Akan and Dagaare have a lot in common as compared to English. This of course shows how distant English is from the two African languages. Certain linguistic features such as serial verb construction and focus constructions were unique to Akan and Dagaare and this, is not surprising since languages within the same language family (Niger Congo) tend to share certain lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic features. The significant variation between these languages shows where Akan and Dagaare languages diverge into other sub-family groups: Kwa and Gur, respectively.
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Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. "Review article: messages from (not so distant) relatives in the Nuba Mountains: on how (not) to reconstruct Proto-Bantu." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 44, no. 2 (October 1, 2023): 241–81. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2023-2012.
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Abstract The rich morphological systems and discourse-based syntactic structures of a range of modern Bantu languages have attracted the attention of many linguists. The present contribution takes articles in a volume on the reconstruction of Proto-Bantu grammar edited by Bostoen et al. (2022. On Reconstructing Proto-Bantu Grammar, Niger-Congo Comparative Studies 4. Berlin: Language Science Press. 808 pp. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7560553) as a basis, in order to address the origin of these grammatical properties. More specifically, historical as well as synchronic features of Bantu languages are compared with Tima, a related language spoken in the Nuba Mountains, Sudan, and classified as a member of the Kordofanian family within Niger-Congo by Greenberg. Contrary to a popular view, it is claimed here that subject inversion and corresponding (extended) ergative alignment marking with transitive verbs is not only a property of Tima as a Niger-Congo language, but also of several Niger-Congo languages classified as Bantu. Tima consequently may perform a role similar to that of Tocharian in the history of Indo-European studies. The present contribution also raises methodological issues related to lexicon-based Bayesian phylogenetics as against Greenberg’s method of multilateral comparisons, and the historical-comparative method. In addition, it addresses the question of the extent to which the spread of typological features coincides with so-called “belts” postulated in the typological literature on African languages.
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Pozdniakov, Konstantin. "Notes on regular polysemy and homonymy (Mande languages)." Language in Africa 1, no. 4 (December 30, 2020): 69–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2020-1-4-69-84.
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Based on Mande languages as an example, the article examines the possibilities of using regular polysemy and regular homonymy for solving problems of comparative studies and semantic typology. Three cases are investigated. Regular polysemy noted only in Mande languages can be used for semantic reconstruction of Proto-Mande. Regular homonymy, noted only in the Mande languages, makes it possible to distinguish phonetically similar roots of Proto-Mande. Regular homonymy, noted not only in the Mande languages, but also in other branches of the Niger-Congo, makes it possible to discover regular phonetic correspondences between the languages of various branches of the Niger-Congo without any intermediate reconstructions.
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Hyman, Larry. "The Macro-Sudan Belt and Niger-Congo Reconstruction." Language Dynamics and Change 1, no. 1 (2011): 3–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/221058211x570330.
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AbstractBasing himself largely on areal and typological arguments, Güldemann (2010) claims that neither Proto-Niger-Congo nor Proto-Bantu had more than a "moderate" system of derivational verb suffixes ("extensions"), and that both proto-languages lacked inflectional verb prefixes. Although drawing largely on the same materials as Hyman (2004, 2007a, b), he arrives at the opposite conclusion that Niger-Congo languages which have such morphology, in particular Bantu and Atlantic, would have had to innovate multiple suffixation and prefixation. However, such hypotheses are weakened by two serious problems: (i) These proto-languages, which possibly reach back as far as 10,000–12,000 bp, have clearly had enough time for their morphosyntax to have cycled more than once. (ii) The areal properties of Güldemann's Macro-Sudan Belt most likely represent more recent innovations which have diffused after the Niger-Congo break-up. In this paper, I present further evidence that multiple suffixation and prefixation must have existed even in languages which have lost them. The general conclusion is that current areal distributions are largely irrelevant for long-range linguistic reconstruction.
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Segerer, Guillaume. "The presentation of noun class systems of Niger-Congo languages." Language in Africa 3, no. 2 (July 23, 2022): 8–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-2-8-36.
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The graphical presentation of Niger-Congo noun class systems shows considerable variation, which deserves a careful examination. The choices of presentation seem to depend on the mere fancy of authors: close languages may be presented in very different ways while different systems may be given very similar graphical choices. After consulting hundreds of descriptions of noun class languages of the Niger-Congo phylum, I could determine four major presentation types. This huge amount of information also allowed me to present new statistical data on the typology of the noun class systems of the phylum.
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Güldemann, Tom, and Ines Fiedler. "More diversity enGENDERed by African languages: an introduction." STUF - Language Typology and Universals 74, no. 2 (July 1, 2021): 221–40. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/stuf-2021-1030.
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Abstract We give an overview of current research questions pursued in connection with an ongoing project on nominal classification systems in Africa, with a particular focus on Niger-Congo. We first introduce our cross-linguistically applicable methodological approach which provides new insights into the design of a range of gender systems on the continent. We then apply these ideas to the “noun class” systems of Niger-Congo. We focus on non-canonical phenomena of poorly known languages, which attest to an unexpected systemic diversity beyond the well-known Bantu type and promise to change the synchronic and diachronic perspective on the gender systems of this family.
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Vigeland, Friederik. "The numeral system in Longuda." Language in Africa 1, no. 3 (December 25, 2020): 216–43. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2020-1-3-216-243.
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This article gives an overview of the cardinal and ordinal numerals in Longuda, a language cluster in north-eastern Nigeria, belonging to the Adamawa branch of the Niger-Congo languages. It focuses on three of its five varieties, namely Deele, Guyuk and Gwaanda, analysing the morphology of the numerals, their behaviour in a noun phrase and the derivation of ordinal numerals from cardinal numerals. It becomes clear that numerals in Longuda are neither adjectives nor nouns but should rather be analysed as being on a scale in-between those lexical categories. The tendency in the languages of the world that lower ordinal numerals are suppletive forms while higher ones are regularly derived from cardinal numerals applies to Longuda as well. At the end of the article, the findings of Longuda numerals are compared to other Adamawa languages and the Niger-Congo family as a whole as compiled by Boyd (1989) and Pozdniakov (2018).
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Sumbatova, Nina. "Landuma: a case of radical alliterative agreement." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 43, no. 1 (May 1, 2022): 83–118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2022-8893.
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Abstract The principal goal of this paper is to describe agreement in the Landuma language (Mel < Niger-Congo). Landuma shows agreement in animacy and, for inanimate nouns, radical alliterative agreement, a type of agreement conditioned by phonology: the first phoneme of the agreement prefix is conditioned by the first phoneme of the controlling noun. This type of agreement has much in common with agreement in noun class but is governed by essentially different mechanisms. Radical alliterative agreement is a challenge for linguistic theory, because it contradicts the generally adopted Principle of Phonology-Free Syntax and the understanding of phonological elements as unilateral entities. Radical alliterative agreement has been previously found in some other languages, first of all in the Kru languages (Niger-Congo) and in the Arapesh languages (New Guinea). The authors who have dealt with radical alliterative agreement have suggested a number of alternative descriptions in order to avoid theoretical problems. Some of the possible alternatives are also discussed in this paper.
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Quint, Nicolas. "Classes nominales dans deux langues Niger-Congo : le baïnouck djifanghorois (atlantique) et le koalib (kordofanien)." Faits de Langues 52, no. 2 (August 19, 2022): 177–202. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19589514-05202010.
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Abstract Koalib (Kordofanian, Central Sudan) and Djifanghor Nyun (Atlantic, Senegal) are two Niger-Congo languages, both of which exhibit rich noun class systems controlling various morphological concord patterns. In this paper, I will study in turn the main characteristics of each of these class systems by taking into account the following criteria: form of the class markers, agreement targets, interaction with number, semantics, class derivation, exceptions and integration of loanwords. I will then discuss the interest and significance of this comparison, bearing in mind the fact that the inclusion of both Nyun and Koalib into the Niger-Congo language family is largely due to the existence of these class systems.
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Kanu, Sullay M., and Benjamin V. Tucker. "Temne." Journal of the International Phonetic Association 40, no. 2 (July 8, 2010): 247–53. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s002510031000006x.
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Temne belongs to the South Atlantic Group of Niger-Congo (formerly the Southern Branch of the Atlantic Group of Niger-Congo; Blench 2006, Childs 2010) spoken in the northern part of Sierra Leone. According to Ethnologue (ISO 639–3: tem, Lewis 2009), Temne has a population of about 1.2 million native speakers. Like other South Atlantic languages, Temne is a tonal language with a noun class system, prefixed noun class markers and agreeing prefixes on dependent elements. Features determining class membership include number and animacy. Temne also features extension suffixes which alter the valency or the semantic structure of simple verb stems. The basic word order is Subject–Verb–Object.
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Storch, Anne. "Dynamics of interacting populations language contact in the Lwoo languages of Bahr el-Ghazal." Studies in African Linguistics 32, no. 1 (June 1, 2003): 66–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v32i1.107347.
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Number inflection systems in Western Nilotic languages appear highly complex and diverse. Comparative work on Nilotic and other Nilo-Saharan families has shown that these languages have a morphologically tripartite system with marked plurals and a bare root singular, marked singulatives constructed from unmarked collectives, and a replacement pattern with morphologically marked singulars and plurals. Historical comparison of the formatives used to construct the different number categories has proven difficult. A number of little-explored Western Nilotic languages of Bahr el-Ghazal have been in contact with Niger-Congo (predominantly Ubangi) languages and have undergone typological as well as specific grammatical changes. An investigation into the historical and present contact situations is needed in order to shed light on how the number inflection systems of these languages were created historically. Sprachbund phenomena include the diffusion of a ka- plural prefix into the Belanda languages, while a convergence phenomenon whose origin is probably more recent is the gradual loss of suffixing singulatives in the Lwoo languages that are in contact with Niger-Congo, which itself does not use singulatives. Retentions and innovations within the system of, number inflection of certain Lwoo languages of Bahr el-Ghazal are discussed and analysed in terms of the history of these languages. This paper argues that crucial changes and differences within Western Nilotic noun morphology cannot be understood without taking into account the long and complicated contact history of these languages.
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Konoshenko, Maria, and Dasha Shavarina. "A microtypological survey of noun classes in Kwa." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 40, no. 1 (July 26, 2019): 75–114. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2019-0004.
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AbstractThis paper provides an overview of noun class systems in a sample of 20 Kwa languages. It focuses on the synchronic productivity of noun classification in Kwa as opposed to the full-fledged class system assumed for Proto-Kwa and for the general “Niger-Congo prototype” (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335; Creissels, Denis. Forthcoming. Noun class systems in Atlantic languages. To appear. In Friederike Lüpke (ed.),The Oxford guide to the Atlantic languages of West Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press). The productivity of class morphology on nouns is studied by exploring class marker alternations as exponents of other grammatical phenomena: the formation of the plural, diminutive derivation and nominalization. We also discuss class indexation on nominal modifiers (adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and indefinite markers) as well as subject and object pronominals. We demonstrate that Kwa languages tend to follow the typological tendencies pertaining to class marking on nouns and class indexation, e.g. the Agreement hierarchy (Corbett, Greville G. 1979. The agreement hierarchy.Journal of Linguistics15. 203–224), as established for world languages in general and Niger-Congo family in particular (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335). However, some intriguing discrepancies, e.g. different patterning of indexation on adjectives vs. on numerals in Kwa as opposed to some other Niger-Congo branches, were also attested. In diachronic perspective, our findings suggest that noun class systems are flexible as they show high intragenetic variation and are easily degradable, but they almost never disappear completely.
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Hyman, Larry M., and John Bendor-Samuel. "The Niger-Congo Languages: A Classification and Description of Africa's Largest Language Family." Language 68, no. 3 (September 1992): 614. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/415798.
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Uwasomba, Blessing, and Andrew Okiemute. "A Contrastive Analysis of the Morphological and Syntactic Aspects of Urhobo and Ijaw Languages." International Journal of Language and Linguistics 12, no. 3 (May 10, 2024): 104–10. http://dx.doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20241203.11.
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The study undertakes a contrastive analysis of the morphological and syntactic aspects of Urhobo language and the Izon language, which are two indigenous languages spoken in the Niger Delta area in Nigeria. Contrastive analysis is used as the theory of preference to explore these languages, to show their similarity and points of divergence. The findings from the study attest to the similarity of these languages predictably as a result of their shared origin as they both are from the same Niger-Congo language family. There are cases of exact translations and linguistic interconnectedness between both languages in the morphological level. The study also confirms that there is noticeable difference in all levels of linguistics that makes both languages not mutually intelligible. The research’s implications include recommendations for language teaching and preservation as both languages are highly relevant for intercultural communication. The study also recommends that further research should be done in Nigeria’s indigenous languages as a way to respect and maintain unique linguistic identities. Scholars from different Nigerian languages should encourage the development and the growth of the indigenous languages to stop them from going into extinction. English language is the official language in Nigeria, it is the language of government, commerce, education, law, mass media and other areas of communication at the official level. The Nigerian language learner encounters so many problems in learning English. This paper reveals the importance of our indigenous languages.
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Güldemann, Tom, and Ines Fiedler. "Restructured Niger-Congo gender systems as another type of concurrent nominal classification." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 43, no. 2 (October 1, 2022): 139–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2022-8899.
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Abstract Recent research looks increasingly at languages with more than one system of nominal classification and first systematic typological assessments of so-called “concurrent noun classification” exist with a focus on cases involving classifiers and gender. We elaborate on this work by dealing with Niger-Congo languages that have restructured their inherited noun classification in a particular way. The inherited system entailing a strong parallelism between agreement-based gender and affix-based noun inflections shifted toward one where the gender system is reduced to an animacy-based opposition while nominal inflection maintains a considerable amount of original complexity with semantic criteria beyond those of the innovative gender distinction. While the phenomenon as such is not a new discovery, its typological relevance has gone unrecognized so far. We argue that such cases of restructured gender systems in Niger-Congo prima facie suggest themselves as candidates for a new type of concurrent noun classification, both from a synchronic and diachronic perspective. We present a detailed description of the phenomenon in the Guang language Gonja and determine whether or how it can be integrated in the available typology. We also survey its wider distribution and discuss some recurrent historical aspects of its emergence in the family.
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Sagna, Serge. "Issues in noun classification and noun class assignment in Gujjolay Eegimaa (Banjal) and other Joola languages." Studies in African Linguistics 39, no. 1 (June 1, 2010): 1–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v39i1.107286.
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In his book on gender Corbett observes that establishing the number of genders or noun classes in a given language ‘can be the subject of interminable dispute’ (1991: 145). Jóola like Gújjolaay Eegimaa (bqj, Atlantic, Niger-Congo) have noun class systems exhibiting irregular singular-plural matchings and complex agreement correspondences between controller nouns and their targets, resulting in endless disagreements among authors in Jóola linguistics. This paper addresses the issues surrounding noun class assignment in Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Eegimaa henceforth) and other Jóola languages. It provides a critical evaluation of the noun class assignment criteria used for those languages and proposes cross-linguistic and language-specific diagnostic criteria to account for the noun class system of Eegimaa and other related languages that exhibit a similar system.
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Sagna,, Serge. "Physical properties and culture-specific factors as principles of semantic categorisation of the Gújjolaay Eegimaa noun class system." Cognitive Linguistics 23, no. 1 (February 2012): 129–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cog-2012-0005.
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AbstractThis paper investigates the semantic bases of class membership in the noun class system of Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Eegimaa henceforth), a Niger-Congo and Atlantic language of the BAK group spoken in Southern Senegal. The question of whether semantic principles underlie the overt classification of nouns in Niger-Congo languages is a controversial one. There is a common perception of Niger-Congo noun class systems as being mainly semantically arbitrary. The goal of the present paper is to show that physical properties and culture-specific factors are central principles of semantic categorisation in the Eegimaa noun class system. I argue that the Eegimaa overt grammatical classification of nouns into classes is a semantic categorisation system whereby categories are structured according to prototypicality, family resemblance, metaphorical and metonymic extensions and chaining processes, as argued within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics. I show that the categorisation of entities in the Eegimaa nominal classification system productively makes use of physical properties such as shape as well as using culture-specific, less productive parameters for the semantic categorisation of entities denoted by nouns. The analysis proposed here also shows that the cases of multiple morphosyntactic classifications of nouns reflect multiple conceptual categorisation strategies. A detailed examination of the formal and semantic instances of multiple classification reveals the existence of conceptual correlations between the physical properties and the culture-specific semantic parameters of categorisation used in the Eegimaa noun class system.
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Allotey, Deborah, and Ileana Paul. "Overt PRO in Gã." Studies in African Linguistics 52, no. 1and2 (April 28, 2024): 103–24. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.52.1and2.131241.
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This paper presents data from Gã (Kwa, Niger-Congo language spoken in Ghana) that show that controlled subjects of non-finite predicates must be overt in this language. The presence of an overt pronominal subject in a non-finite embedded clause is surprising from the perspective of languages such as English and French, where such subjects must be covert (PRO). We provide evidence that the overt pronoun in Gã patterns with obligatorily controlled PRO (Hornstein 1999; Landau 2013) and argue for the minimal pronoun analysis of Kratzer (2009).
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Schadeberg, Thilo C. "The lexicostatistical base of Bennett & Sterks reclassification of Niger-Congo with particular reference to the cohesion of Bantu." Studies in African Linguistics 17, no. 1 (April 1, 1986): 70–83. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v17i1.107497.
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In 1977, Bennett and Sterk published a reclassification of the Niger-Congo languages which has been highly influential. In this paper I try to discover their lexicostatistic method (section 1), then use their published data to do a conventional lexicostatistic subgrouping (section 2), and finally look at their evidence for denying the genetic unity of Narrow Bantu (section 3).
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Segerer, Guillaume. "Some Hypotheses About Possible Isolates within the Atlantic Branch of the Niger-Congo Phylum." Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society 36, no. 1 (August 24, 2010): 368. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/bls.v36i1.3924.
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In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt:This paper deals with the status of some potential isolates, i.e. languages that have no more than 20% of common basic vocabulary with any other so-called Atlantic language (from the figures in Sapir 1971). Four candidates may be proposed: Bijogo, Nalu, Sua and Limba. To these we may Bayot, which we will examine in more detail (data from Diagne 2009).
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Ratliff, Martha. "Tone Language Type Change in Africa and Asia." Diachronica 9, no. 2 (January 1, 1992): 239–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/dia.9.2.05rat.
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SUMMARY Tone languages can be characterized by the degree to which they realize one of two tone language prototypes defined in terms of tone function. Type A tone languages (usually Asian) employ tone lexically and in minor morphological patterns. Type B tone languages (usually African and Mesoamerican) employ tone to make major morphological distinctions in addition to performing type A functions. For communicative reasons, these functions are necessarily linked to other structural properties of the languages of each type. This paper discusses three tone languages which have undergone different degrees of tone language type change and, as a result, are genetically or areally atypical: !Xũ (Khoisan), Gokana (Niger-Congo), and Mpi (Tibeto-Burman). It is the claim of the author that the driving force behind tone language type change, as exemplified by these three languages, is a change in the role of segmental morphology. RÉSUMÉ On peut caractériser les langues tonales par le degré par lequel elles réalisent un des deux prototypes de langues tonales définis en terme de fonction tonale. Les langues tonales de type A (généralement asiatiques) emploient le ton pour des fonctions lexicales et des fonctions morphologiques mineures. Outre les fonctions de type A, les langues tonales de type B (généralement africaines et mésoaméricaines) emploient le ton pour des fonctions morphologiques majeures. La communication ayant ses exigences, ces fonctions sont inévitablement liées aux autres propriétés structurales de chaque type. Dans cette étude il s'agit de trois langues tonales qui ont subi différents degrés de changement de type tonal et qui sont, par conséquent, atypiques du point de vue génétique et régional: !Xũ (Khoisan), Gokana (Niger-Congo), et Mpi (Tibeto-Birman). Se fondant sur ces trois langues, l'auteur émet l'hypothèse que la causalité de l'évolution du ton se trouve dans un changement du rôle de la morphologie segmentate. ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Tonsprachen kônnen nach dem Grade, nach dem sie einem der beiden Pro-totypen folgen, charakterisiert werden, und zwar im Sinne ihrer Funktion: Typ A Tonsprachen (meistens asiatische) verwenden Ton lexikalisch und in we-niger wichtigen morphologischen Strukturen; Typ B Tonsprachen (zumeist afrikanische und mittelamerikanische) hingegen verwenden Ton, um wichtige morphologische Unterscheidungen zu treffen, wâhrend sie gleichzeitig auch Funktionen des Typ A wahrnehmen. Aus kommunikativen Griinden sind die Funktionen notwendigerweise mit anderen Struktureigenschaften der Sprachen des jeweiligen Typs verbunden. Der Aufsatz analysiert drei Tonsprachen, die zu verschiedenen Graden Ànderungen in ihrem Tonsystemtyp erfahren haben und daher als entweder genetisch oder areal gesehen atypisch sind: !Xu (Khoi-san), Gokana (Niger-Kongo) und Mpi (Tibeto-Burmesisch). Die Autorin ist der Auffassung, daB die treibende Kraft hinter diesem Tonsprachentypwandel, wie er in diesen drei Sprachen aufgezeigt wird, in der Verânderung in der Rolle der segmentalen Morphologie in diesen Sprachen zu suchen sei.
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Marchese Zogbo, Lynell. "Ideophones in the Kru language family." Language in Africa 3, no. 1 (June 29, 2022): 84–143. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-1-84-143.
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In many grammatical descriptions, ideophones are often ignored. In this paper, I attempt to do a preliminary study of ideophones in the Kru language family (Niger Congo). Though data is limited, I give an overview of various phonological, morphophonological, syntactic and semantic features of this word class, as well as make some initial observations of ideophone use in discourse. Primarily a descriptive study, I try to interact with some major claims in the literature (Blench 2010a; 2010b; Bodomo 2006; Childs 1996; 2001; 2003; 2019; Dingemanse 2012; 2019; Welmers 1973), especially in regard to African languages.
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Gregová, Renáta, Lívia Körtvélyessy, and Július Zimmermann. "Phonetic iconicity in the evaluative morphology of a sample of Indo-European, Niger-Congo and Austronesian languages." Word Structure 3, no. 2 (October 2010): 156–80. http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/word.2010.0003.
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Universals Archive (Universal #1926) indicates a universal tendency for sound symbolism in reference to the expression of diminutives and augmentatives. The research ( Štekauer et al. 2009 ) carried out on European languages has not proved the tendency at all. Therefore, our research was extended to cover three language families – Indo-European, Niger-Congo and Austronesian. A three-step analysis examining different aspects of phonetic symbolism was carried out on a core vocabulary of 35 lexical items. A research sample was selected out of 60 languages. The evaluative markers were analyzed according to both phonetic classification of vowels and consonants and Ultan's and Niewenhuis' conclusions on the dominance of palatal and post-alveolar consonants in diminutive markers. Finally, the data obtained in our sample languages was evaluated by means of a three-dimensional model illustrating the place of articulation of the individual segments.
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Perekhvalskaya, Elena. "Caritive constructions in Mwan." Language in Africa 3, no. 2 (July 23, 2022): 181–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-2-181-195.
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The paper deals with strategies for expressing caritive meanings in Mwan (Niger-Congo < Mande < South Mande). The difference between the strategies used in Mwan and in some other languages of the same family (Gban, Looma, Bambara) is discussed. Conclusions are made about the grammaticalization of constructions with the suffix -kle and the postposition blaan into specialized caritive means.
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Boutin, Béatrice Akissi. "Décrire le français en relation aux langues en contact." Journal of Language Contact 7, no. 1 (March 31, 2014): 36–61. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19552629-00701003.
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It is not possible to explain what happens to French syntax in a situation of close contact with one or more languages, solely in terms of French. How then can we describe French in relation to the languages in contact? We first discuss the early research of Gabriel Manessy and their development by a number of linguists, and later show the importance of exploring several properties of the constructions under study in comparing languages, in order to place them within the context of general language processes. Furthermore, we will insist on the need to go beyond the forms at issue by focusing on their behavior. The examples will be taken from Ivory Coast French, which, ever since its establishment, has been in contact with the languages of the vast Niger-Congo family, in particular Jula and Baule (which have themselves been in contact for several centuries).
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Ordu, Stanley, and Better Odukwu. "Multiverb Constructions in Ogba Language: A Syntactic and Semantic Exploration." June-July 2024, no. 44 (June 28, 2024): 20–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.55529/jlls.44.20.28.
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This study investigates the nature of multiverb constructions in Ogba, a Niger-Congo language spoken in Nigeria. This study employs a descriptive and analytical approach, utilising primary data collected through fieldwork in Ogba-speaking communities. This study employs a generative grammar framework, particularly drawing on the principles of minimalist syntax (Chomsky, 1995). The result of the study shows that Ogba, like many other African languages, showcases a rich array of syntactic structures, particularly in its use of verbs. Multiverb constructions in Ogba present a fascinating area for linguistic analysis due to their complexity and the insights they provide into the language’s syntax and semantics. The study solely focuses on multiverb construction in the Ogba language. Finally, the exploration of multiverb constructions in the Ogba language has the potential to significantly enrich various fields within linguistics and beyond, offering new data, theoretical insights, and practical applications.
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Zheltov, Alexander. "Plurality marking in Leko and Yendang groups (Adamawa, Niger-Congo) with some reference to noun classification." Language in Africa 1, no. 3 (December 25, 2020): 125–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2020-1-3-125-154.
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The article presents the available data about plurality marking in two groups (Leko and Yendang) of a hypothetical genetic unit known as Adamawa languages. It shows various strategies that languages of these two groups use in marking plurality. The main focus is made on Nyong and Maya (Bali) languages with which the author worked during field research in Adamawa state (Nigeria). The data of some other languages of these groups (Samba Leko, Kpasham (Sam), Kugama (Wam), Yendang and Waka) are also taken into consideration. This study offers a comparison of plurality strategies in these languages that helps in distinguishing conservative and innovative elements in plurality marking. It also shows some cases of possible plurality/noun class interaction.
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Bochnak, M. Ryan, Vera Hohaus, and Anne Mucha. "Variation in Tense and Aspect, and the Temporal Interpretation of Complement Clauses." Journal of Semantics 36, no. 3 (April 23, 2019): 407–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jos/ffz008.
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Abstract In this paper, we investigate the temporal interpretation of propositional attitude complement clauses in four typologically unrelated languages: Washo (language isolate), Medumba (Niger-Congo), Hausa (Afro-Asiatic), and Samoan (Austronesian). Of these languages, Washo and Medumba are optional-tense languages, while Hausa and Samoan are tenseless. Just like in obligatory-tense languages, we observe variation among these languages when it comes to the availability of so-called simultaneous and backward-shifted readings of complement clauses. For our optional-tense languages, we argue that a Sequence of Tense parameter is active in these languages, just as in obligatory-tense languages. However, for completely tenseless clauses, we need something more. We argue that there is variation in the degree to which languages make recourse to res-movement, or a similar mechanism that manipulates LF structures to derive backward-shifted readings in tenseless complement clauses. We additionally appeal to cross-linguistic variation in the lexical semantics of perfective aspect to derive or block certain readings. The result is that the typological classification of a language as tensed, optionally tensed, or tenseless, does not alone determine the temporal interpretation possibilities for complement clauses. Rather, structural parameters of variation cross-cut these broad classes of languages to deliver the observed cross-linguistic picture.
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Pozdniakov, Konstantin. "Anomalies in the Noun Class Systems of Niger-Congo: Towards a Typology of the Atypical." Language in Africa 4, no. 1 (March 23, 2023): 86–99. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2023-4-1-3-85.
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The paper focuses on minor noun classes and minor genders in Niger-Congo languages, which are usually regarded as anomalies in class systems. It takes into consideration data from 243 languages, and shows that such anomalies are most characteristic for quite specific meanings, namely those traditionally regarded as prototypical meanings of noun classes: ‘person’, ‘thing’, ‘foot’, ‘tree’, ‘eye’, ‘place’, etc. Thus, the particular patterns of class agreement observed, or particular correlations between singular and plural noun classes, often do not represent accidental exceptions, but are better thought of as a kind of marker of noun class paradigmatic semantics.
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Abunya, Levina Nyameye, and E. Kweku Osam. "Relativization in Kaakye." Legon Journal of the Humanities 33, no. 1 (September 20, 2022): 1–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ljh.v33i1.1.
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This paper describes the relative clause (RC) in Kaakye, a Kwa (Niger-Congo) language. Evidence is provided to show that Kaakye RC is strictly postnominal and that both the head noun and its referent within the RC are obligatorily expressed. Unlike RCs in some Kwa languages that are close neighbours, the head noun in a Kaakye RC obligatorily takes a determiner. The language also uses the pronoun retention strategy to indicate the canonical positions the head noun occupies in the RC. Where the pronoun retention strategy is used, a resumptive pronoun co-references the head noun in person, number, and animacy to explicitly state the referent of the head noun within the RC. Based on the available synchronic data, we argue that Kaakye object resumptives in RCs are number sensitive unlike other Kwa languages. The paper further demonstrates that all NP positions on the Accessibility Hierarchy are relativizable.
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Musa, Mohamed Alsadig Hamid. "A Comparative Study of Nominal Pronoun Marking Systems in Kordofanian Languages of the Niger-Congo Language Family." International Journal of African Studies 3, no. 2 (December 5, 2023): 69–73. http://dx.doi.org/10.51483/ijafrs.3.2.2023.69-73.
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Merrill, John T. M. "Voiceless rhotic / retroflex consonants as an areal feature of the Atlantic languages." Language in Africa 3, no. 2 (July 23, 2022): 37–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.37892/2686-8946-2022-3-2-37-58.
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Voiceless rhotic or retroflex obstruents like [ʈʂ] or [tɹ̥] are rare in Africa, but the existence of a single such sound is relatively common among the Atlantic languages within Niger-Congo. The sound is not a shared retention across languages, but was repeatedly innovated through areal pressure. The sound can furthermore be reconstructed for multiple Atlantic protolanguages, and as such seems to have existed in the area for some time. This paper catalogues the occurrence of this rare sound in Atlantic languages as documented in existing sources, and suggests that due to its persistence in the area through time, it is relatively likely that the most recent common ancestor of the Atlantic languages contained a sound similar to [ʈ] or [ʈʂ], supporting existing proposals which reconstruct such a sound.
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Omoruyi, Thomas O. "Adjectives and adjectivialization processes in Edo." Studies in African Linguistics 17, no. 3 (December 1, 1986): 283–302. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v17i3.107486.
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Real adjectives are few in Niger-Congo languages. Welmers [1973] warns that we should be suspicious of what is traditionally called adjectives in these languages: In this article, an attempt is made to describe the processes of expressing adjectival concepts in Edo. Like many natural languages, Edo adjectives and verbs are hardly separable; areas of similarity are analyzed. Taking a critical look at some words which have been erroneously called adjectives, we discover that they are in fact relative clauses. An examination of their underlying structures reveals the sources of their singular and plural forms. Finally, we identify some real adjectives (some of which are derived from adjectival verbs) on the basis of their inability to occur alone without "qualifying" nouns.
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Jassem, Zaidan Ali. "THE ARABIC COGNATES OR ORIGINS OF PLURAL MARKERS IN WORLD LANGUAGES: A RADICAL LINGUISTIC THEORY APPROACH." Indonesian EFL Journal 1, no. 2 (September 12, 2017): 144. http://dx.doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v1i2.623.
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This paper traces the Arabic origins of "plural markers" in world languages from a radical linguistic (or lexical root) theory perspective. The data comprises the main plural markers like cats/oxen in 60 world languages from 14 major and minor families- viz., Indo-European, Sino-Tibetan, Afro-Asiatic, Austronesian, Dravidian, Turkic, Mayan, Altaic (Japonic), Niger-Congo, Bantu, Uto-Aztec, Tai-Kadai, Uralic, and Basque, which constitute 60% of world languages and whose speakers make up 96% of world population. The results clearly show that plural markers, which are limited to a few markers in all languages comprised of �s/-as/-at, -en, -im, -a/-e/-i/-o/-u, and �, have true Arabic cognates with the same or similar forms and meanings, whose differences are due to natural and plausible causes and different routes of linguistic change. Therefore, the results reject the traditional classification of the Comparative Method and/or Family Tree Model of such languages into separate, unrelated families, supporting instead the adequacy of the radical linguistic theory according to which all world languages are related to one another, which eventually stemmed from a radical or root language which has been preserved almost intact in Arabic as the most conservative and productive language. In fact, Arabic can be safely said to be the radical language itself for, besides other linguistic features, sharing the plural cognates in this case with all the other languages alone.Keywords: Plurality, language families and relationships, radical world language, radical linguistic theory
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Jones, Taylor. "An argument for ezafe constructions and construct state in Zulu." Proceedings of the Linguistic Society of America 3, no. 1 (March 6, 2018): 58. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/plsa.v3i1.4353.
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Zulu (Niger-Congo, South Africa) exhibits a complicated interplay between morphological and phonological processes that, combined with an inherited, traditionalist approach to syntactic categories in the Nguni languages, obscures an overt phoneme that is argued to be common to all complex DPs. Here it is claimed that the traditional categories of adjective, relative, compound noun, possessive, and demonstrative can all be unified under a DP approach that takes this overt phoneme to be a functional marker that is analogous to those appearing in Persian ezafe constructions and construct state constructions in Afro-Asiatic languages. This approach reduces a variety of seemingly different Zulu-specific phenomena to a single, cross-linguistically established phenomenon.
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Wolff, H. Ekkehard, and Doris Löhr. "Encoding focus in Kanuri verbal morphology: predication focus and the "Kanuri focus shift"." ZAS Papers in Linguistics 46 (January 1, 2006): 185–209. http://dx.doi.org/10.21248/zaspil.46.2006.342.
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Focus on verbal operators such as aspect or tense ("predication focus", lucidly described by Hyman & Watters (1984) under the label "auxiliary focus") has been noticed to exist in African languages of Afroasiatic and Niger-Congo affiliation, but not so far in Saharan. The Saharan language Kanuri is assumed to have substantially reorganized its TAM system, particularly in the perfective aspect domain (Cyffer [2006] dates major changes between the years 1820 and 1900). The paper discusses, for the first time in Kanuri scholarship, the existence of a neat subsystem of predication focus marking by suffix in the perfective aspect which is made up of a total of six conjugational paradigms that uniformly encode predication focus by suffix {-ò}. Kanuri dialects differ in strategies and scope of focus marking encoded in verb morphology. In the light of data from the Yerwa (Nigeria) and Manga (Niger) dialects the paper discusses some "anomalies" with regard to general focus theory which we account for by describing the "Kanuri Focus Shift" as a diachronic process which is responsible for leftward displacement of scope of focus.
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Abrefa, Kofi Busia, and Juliet Oppong-Asare Ansah. "Akan grammatical relations revisited." Drumspeak: International Journal of Research in the Humanities 5, no. 3 (December 1, 2021): 106–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.47963/drumspeak.v5i3.842.
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Morphological case languages do not necessarily depend on word order to determine their grammatical relations. However, structural case languages depend largely on word order to determine the various grammatical relations. For most configurational languages, the agent/experiencer usually precedes the patient/theme in a simple clause (in the active voice). In the passive voice, the patient/theme occupies the subject position while the agent becomes an object of a preposition (oblique) or omitted as evident in English. Akan, a Kwa language of the Niger-Congo family, being a nominative-accusative language, allows the agent/experiencer to precede the patient/theme in the active construction. In the passive- like construction, however, unlike a language like English, an impersonal pronounoccupies the subject position while the patient or theme remains at the object position. This implies that agents/experiencers do not occur at the oblique position in Akan; neither dopatients/ themes occur at the subject position. Certain verbs (symmetrical verbs), however, may allow the experiencer and the theme arguments to switch positions in the active construction without affecting the meaning of the sentence in the language. This paper seeks to highlight these marked grammatical relations in Akan within the framework of Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG).
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Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah. "Noun phrase conjunction in Akan." Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) 20, no. 1 (March 1, 2010): 27–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/prag.20.1.02amf.
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Noun phrase conjunction in Akan (Niger-Congo, Kwa) is performed by placing a connective between two noun phrases, but there is some variation in the forms used in the major dialects. In the Twi dialects the connective is ne, but Fante speakers may use nye or na depending on whether a comitative or a coordinative interpretation is intended. This paper focuses on the historical origins of the noun phrase connective n(y)e in Akan. It suggests that Akan patterns with other sub-saharan African languages such as Ewe, Ga, Yoruba and Hausa, which have noun phrase connectives originating from comitative verbs. This suggestion is based on the morpho-semantics of these connectives. In addition, the paper demonstrates that the origin of the connective n(y)e could be further traced to an equative copula in the language. This conclusion is based on syntactic and semantic evidence available in the language and strengthened by the cross-linguistic tendency for copula verbs to develop into noun phrase connectives in a number of unrelated languages.
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van Putten, Saskia. "Perception verbs and the conceptualization of the senses: The case of Avatime." Linguistics 58, no. 2 (April 26, 2020): 1–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/ling-2020-0039.
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AbstractLanguages differ in their number of basic verbs that describe perceptual experience. Some languages have only two such verbs: one for visual perception and another for non-visual perception. How do speakers of these languages conceptualize sensory perception? To shed light on this question, this paper investigates the perception verbs mɔ̀ ‘see’ and nu ‘hear/feel/taste/smell’ in Avatime (Kwa, Niger-Congo). These verbs are studied together with the constructions in which they occur, using both translated data and spontaneous discourse. Both perception meanings and meanings outside the domain of perception are taken into account. The detailed picture that emerges shows some previously undocumented patterns of perception encoding and enriches our understanding of the conceptualization of the senses more generally.
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Shay, Erin, and Zygmunt Frajzyngier. "Language-Internal versus Contact-Induced Change: The Split Coding of Person and Number: A Stefan Elders Question." Journal of Language Contact 2, no. 1 (2008): 274–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/000000008792525336.
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AbstractThe aim of this study is to contribute to the methodology for determining whether a given characteristic of a language is a product of language contact or of language-internal grammaticalization. We have taken as a test problem a formal structure that is relatively rare across languages but that occurs in a few geographically proximate languages belonging to different families. The presence of a typologically rare phenomenon in neighboring but unrelated languages raises the question of whether the structure may be a product of cross-linguistic contact.The structures that we examine involve the split coding of person and number of the subject, in which a pronoun preceding the verb codes person only. Plurality of the subject is coded by a suffix to the verb, usually the same suffix for all persons. In some languages the split coding of person and number operates for all persons, while in others the split coding is limited to some persons only. This structure has been observed in several languages spoken in a small area of Northern Cameroon. Three of these languages, Gidar, Giziga, and Mofu-Gudur, belong to the Central branch of the Chadic family, while two other languages, Mundang and Tupuri, belong to the Adamawa branch of the Niger-Congo family. Outside of this geographical area, this structure has been observed in Egyptian, some Cushitic languages, and in some languages of North America.Since every linguistic phenomenon must have been grammaticalized in some language at some point, we must consider first whether there are language-internal prerequisites for such grammaticalization. For each language of the study, we show that the split coding of person and number may represent a product of language-internal development. The presence of the phenomenon in a language that does not have language-internal prerequisites can then be safely considered to be a product of language contact.
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Holm, John, and Incanha Intumbo. "Quantifying superstrate and substrate influence." Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 24, no. 2 (August 21, 2009): 218–74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.24.2.02hol.
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To quantify the degree to which the structure of superstrate and substrate languages influence that of a creole, this paper compares the nearly 100 grammatical features of Guiné-Bissau Creole Portuguese surveyed in Baptista, Mello, & Suzuki (2007) with the corresponding structures in Balanta (one of the creole’s substrate/adstrate languages) and Portuguese (its superstrate), proceeding from one area of syntax to another. However, tables summarizing the presence or absence of features in each of the three languages are not organized by area of syntax but rather by the patterns of the features’ presence or absence in the three languages, allowing a quantification of the various patterns of influence, e.g. the percentage of cases in which a feature is found in the creole only, in the creole and its superstrate only, in the creole and its substrate only, or in all three. These percentages are then discussed regarding what support they might lend to the various hypotheses purporting to explain the sources of creole language structures: the influence of superstrate and substrate languages, universals, creole-internal innovations, and the convergence of all or some of these. The issue of Balanta being both a substrate and an adstrate language with many speakers bilingual in the creole is also discussed, as is the dated bias in the very grammatical categories chosen for the survey, which assumes an Atlantic creole prototype based on ‘Kwa’ rather than West Atlantic languages, the Niger-Congo subfamily to which Balanta belongs.
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Manfredi, Stefano. "An areal typology of kin terms in the Nuba Mountain languages." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 43, no. 2 (October 1, 2022): 199–247. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2022-8896.
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Abstract Despite the relatively large amount of linguistic and anthropological data on kinship terminologies in the languages of the Nuba Mountains, we still lack cross-linguistic studies attempting at reconstructing the areal history of this highly variable lexical field. This paper aims at comparing the formal and semantic features of kin terms across the languages of the Nuba Mountains in order to provide historical evidence for their transmission through inheritance or their possible diffusion via language contact. The comparative study surveys the kinship terminologies of 10 languages belonging to the three phyla attested in the Nuba Mountains (i.e. Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan and Kadu). In the first part of the paper, I analyze the morphosyntactic properties and functions of kin terms. By adopting a componential perspective of analysis, I then focus on the semantics of kin terms in the languages of the sample. The comparison eventually illustrates a high degree of typological variation whose origins can be traced back to the different genetic affiliations of the Nuba Mountain languages. It is also argued that matter and/or pattern borrowing can possibly occur in the domain of kin terms. However, language contact is less significant than shared sociocultural factors in triggering formal and semantic similarities across different kin terminologies. Above and beyond, the study intends to contribute to the ongoing debate on whether the Nuba Mountains constitute an ‘accretion’ zone and to point out some instances of micro-scale linguistic convergence between the languages of the region.
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Stolbova, Olga V. "ON THE ORIGIN OF THE VERB “TO WRITE” IN CHADIC LANGUAGES." Journal of the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, no. 3 (21) (2022): 77–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.31696/2618-7302-2022-3-077-084.
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Chadic, Semitic, Egyptian, Berber, Kushitic and Omotic languages comprise the Afroasiatic (Hamito-Semitic) macro-family. The paper is aimed to clarify the origin of the verb ‘to write’ in different Chadic languages. Two main sources: semantic shifts and borrowings will be in the focus of the study. The phonological diversity of corresponding lexical forms is also of special interest. Numerous examples allow us to trace a long chain of semantic shifts ending in the verb ‘to write’. In almost all cases verbs ‘to cut’ or ‘to scratch’ have been identified as the first units of these semantic transformations. A ‘one-step’ semantic shift: ‘to put’ > ‘to write’ was active only in a few Central Chadic languages. Loans from Arabic and Fulfulde (Niger-Congo family) into different Chadic languages are listed. Of special interest is the derived noun ‘writing’, borrowed form from Kanuri (Nilo-Saharan family) into Chadic. J. Greenberg’s arguments, indicating Kanuri as the donor-language [Greenberg 1960, p. 209–210] and supporting evidence are under discussion. Typological parallels to the above-mentioned semantic shifts can be traced outside the Afroasiatic family, namely, in Indo-European and Nilo-Saharan languages. The whole amount of Chadic data and external parallels prove the independent origin of the verb ‘to write’ in different Chadic languages. Only in a few cases the verb ‘to write’ can be identified on a sub-group level.
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Huttar, George L., James Essegbey, and Felix K. Ameka. "Gbe and other West African sources of Suriname creole semantic structures." Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 22, no. 1 (April 6, 2007): 57–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jpcl.22.1.05hut.
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This paper reports on ongoing research on the role of various kinds of potential substrate languages in the development of the semantic structures of Ndyuka (Eastern Suriname Creole). A set of 100 senses of noun, verb, and other lexemes in Ndyuka were compared with senses of corresponding lexemes in three kinds of languages of the former Slave Coast and Gold Coast areas, and immediately adjoining hinterland: (a) Gbe languages; (b) other Kwa languages, specifically Akan and Ga; (c) non-Kwa Niger-Congo languages. The results of this process provide some evidence for the importance of the Gbe languages in the formation of the Suriname creoles, but also for the importance of other languages, and for the areal nature of some of the collocations studied, rendering specific identification of a single substrate source impossible and inappropriate. These results not only provide information about the role of Gbe and other languages in the formation of Ndyuka, but also give evidence for effects of substrate languages spoken by late arrivals some time after the “founders” of a given creole-speaking society. The conclusions are extrapolated beyond Suriname to creole genesis generally.
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Guérin, Maximilien. "Système de numération en wolof : description et comparaison avec les autres langues atlantiques." Faits de Langues 51, no. 2 (April 7, 2021): 121–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/19589514-05102007.
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Abstract The Wolof (Atlantic, Niger-Congo) numeral system is decimal, with an additive pivot 5. This means that there are special words for the numbers 1 to 5, but that 6, 7, 8 and 9 are formed by 5 + one unit (1, 2, 3, 4 respectively). From 10 onwards, the count starts again. The system is very regular, as only 20 and 30 have unpredictable forms. In addition, despite the relative genetic proximity between the members of the Atlantic family, the numeral systems of these languages display many differences, in particular with regard to the structure of complex numbers. This article provides a detailed description of the Wolof numeral system (list and status of lexical units, morphosyntactic structure of complex numbers), as well as a comparison with the systems of other Atlantic languages.
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Ansah, Mercy Akrofi. "A Grammatical Description of Leteh Nominal Morphology." Studies in African Linguistics 50, no. 2 (September 18, 2021): 346–63. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v50i2.125661.
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Abstract: The paper describes Leteh nominal morphology within the framework of Basic Linguistic Theory (Dixon 2010; Dryer 2006). The nominal morphology is described in the context of two phenomena: number marking and noun classification. Leteh is a South-Guan language from the Niger-Congo family of languages. The morphology of Leteh is largely agglutinative. Güldemann and Fiedler (2019) argue that current analyses of gender systems are heavily influenced by those in Bantu languages and not cross-linguistically applicable. They propose an alternative analysis that includes the notions agreement class and nominal form class. In this paper I adopt the notion of nominal form class to classify nouns in Leteh. The nouns are grouped into four major classes based on the plural morphemes that they take. These classes are subdivided based on the singular forms with which they are paired. Key words: verbal prefixes, Kwa, tense/ aspect, negation, person, mood, motion Note: Changes were made to the title and abstract of this article after publication, on 9/20/2021.
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Konoshenko, Maria. "Tones and paradigms: a study of grammatical tones in Mande verbal inflection." Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 43, no. 2 (October 1, 2022): 165–97. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jall-2022-8900.
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Abstract This paper explores how grammatical tones (GTs) are organized into inflectional paradigms in a sample of 20 Mande languages (Niger-Congo), where tonal morphology plays a central role in the expression of TAMP meanings. Adopting the Canonical Typology approach, I assess the degree of canonicity in Mande GTs based on their formal and semantic properties. I show that verbal grammatical tones are mainly realized as replacive in Mande; they are independent from segmental morphemes and may be strongly influenced by surface phonology. Verbal GTs tend to be used in idiosyncratic sets of TAMP constructions and form phonologically determined inflectional classes in Mande, as in many other African languages. I argue that GTs attested in Perfective and Irrealis constructions in modern Mande languages are likely to be an old phenomenon already present in Proto Mande. The consistency of morphological tone assignment in Mande verbs suggests that GTs may be genetically quite stable morphological markers.
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Aziza, Rose O. "Neutralization of contrast in the vowel system of Urhobo." Studies in African Linguistics 37, no. 1 (June 1, 2008): 1–19. http://dx.doi.org/10.32473/sal.v37i1.107297.
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Urhobo, a South Western Edoid language of the Niger-Congo family, is spoken in Delta State, Nigeria. In the synchronic phonology of the language, there are seven surface vowels: [i, e, E, a, J, 0, u], but the behavior of some vowels, especially e, 0, G, is sometimes at variance with their expected vowel behavior, indicating that there may be abstract underlying vowels */r, v, ;)1 which have merged with Ie, 0, EI. The result, when compared with sister languages such as Degema and Isoko, is that the Urhobo system appears quite complex. The focus of this paper is showing that abstract underlying */r, v, ;)1, which are Proto Edoid vowels, still have an effect in the synchronic phonology: thus, Ir, el become [e], lv, 01 become [0], and I;), EI become [E] and possibly [ a]. When we account for the 'awkward' behavior of apparent Ie, 0, E/, the Urhobo vowel system is clear and straightforward.
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Obeng, Patience, and Yvonne A. A. Ollennu. "Rounding Harmony in Mfantse: Evidence and Differences." International Journal of Linguistics, Literature and Translation 3, no. 9 (September 30, 2020): 131–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.32996/ijllt.2020.3.9.14.
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This paper investigated rounding harmony in two subdialects of Mfantse spoken in the Central Region of Ghana. Bɔrbɔr and Edwumako dialects are part of the Akan language and belongs to Kwa on the Niger-Congo branch of languages. Data was from the Mfantseman and Edwumako districts from 45 participants aged 20 years and above. The Autosegmental framework was used for data analysis. We looked first at the sounds and brought out the differences between Bɔrbɔr sounds and that of Edwumako. The study established that Mfantse is not the same in all its phonological presentations in all its subdialects. In terms of sound distribution, the central unadvanced vowel is strictly word final in Bɔrbɔr while it is both word initial and final in Edwumako. Some aspects of rounding harmony occur in both Bɔrbɔr and Edwumako while other aspects occur in Bɔrbɔr and partially in Edwumako. Other aspects are present in Edwumako only.