Mutiple choice * Verbal nouns in Baïnounk Gubëeher
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Multiple choice – Verbal nouns in Baïnounk Gubëeher 1 Talk structure • The language • Verbal nouns at a glance – Classification of verbs with gender morphology – NC prefixes in Baïnounk • Theoretical questions – NV-distinction – Transitivity • Syntactic Properties and Distribution of VNs • Parameters of verb classification (Syntactic, Semantic) • Further research: areal aspects 2 The language 3 Detailed map, Bainouk 4 Dakar Genetic affiliation: Bainouk Gubëeher DJIBONKER/JIBËEHER (+Diaspora: Dakar Ziguinchor) Speakers: ca. 1500 homeland diaspora Niger Congo -Atlantic -Northern branch -East Senegal Guinea -Nyun Baïnounk languages 5 The Ñun & Baïnounk languages West Gutobor (Tobor) Guñaamolo (Niamone) Gubëeher (Djibonker) Baïnounk South Gufangor (Djifangor) Ñun Gubelor (Djibelor) Northeast ? (Gambia, Sedhiou,) East Gujaher (Kaasa,Jegui ) Kobiana (Kabuy [GB]) Guinea Branch Kasanga (sedenghal [GB]) 6 Verbal Nouns (VN) in Gubëeher at a glance 7 NC prefixes and VN formation Singular Plural u- in- bi- Collective Other can combine with all but 13/328 underived stems. fufa- bu- i- di- pi- gu- ha- ja- hu- si(n)- mu(n)- ba- ku- ra(n)- ña(n)- bi- ji- ka- Excluded: • Vocalic (a-,i-, u-) • Diminutive (ko-, ño-, ho- ) and Augmentative (da-, din-) • extremely rare (pi-, hu-) ta- a- bu- ko- ño- da din hɔa- attested as verbal noun formants (VNF) not attested as VNF 8 Distribution of VNF other than bu 40 35 30 25 20 214/328 underived verb stems have been recorded so far only with VNF bu-, 114/328 with any of the other VNFs. derived verbs, stative verbs and recognisable loans have not been taken into account! 15 10 5 0 gu ba ja bi si ka ha ku ji ta ñan fu fa mu ra 9 Overview VNs and research questions Different stems, different NC markers: Verbal noun inflected ha- rox NC-cry ‘cry’ i-rox-i 1Sg-cry-Asp ‘I have cried’ ja- naaf NC-cultivate ‘cultivate’ i-naaf-i 1Sg-cultivate-Asp ‘I have cultivated’ What triggers the choice of a specific VNF? Same stem, different markers: Verbal noun inflected gu- bëex NC-pull ‘pull’ jëm- bëex i-bëex-i NC-pull 1Sg-pull-Asp ‘pull (a boat)’ ‘I have pulled (it)’ bu- bëex NC-pull ‘pull’ 10 Previous Research VNs • VN derivation with multiple NC-markers is an areal feature observable in all Joola (Bayot, Fogny, Banjal, Jirer cf. Sagna 2008) all Bainounk (incl. Kobiana/Kasanga cf. Doneux 1990) and all Manjaku (incl. Mancagne, Pepel) languages • In many Casamance languages two NC marker are dominant, while many others can also occur: Language Dominant VNF Baïnounk bu-, gu- Kobiana bV-, gu- (action nouns) Joola Fogny Joola Bandial Joola Kwaatay Manjaku e-, kae-, gaka-, bVpë-, ka (action nouns) • no analysis so far • tendency to distinguish more verbal VNs (infinitives) and more nominal VNs (action nouns) • consensus that there is no neat distinction between variants/types of VNs 11 Problem • Variation inter and intra-speaker – Some speakers make more and subtler distinctions than others – No standardisation • VNs hard to elicit and low frequency in corpus – sophisticated methodology required because of context sensitive parameters – list-effect – ideas about “correctness” interfere • Limited data about argument structure, verb classes and syntax available For some verbs there seem to be no hard and fast rules that are valid for all speakers and all contexts, but clearly tendencies. 12 Syntactic Properties of VNs 13 Transitivity itr. (Subject) Spro-V tr. (Subject) Spro-Verb-Opro/anim (Object) Rich morphology to increase or decrease valency: jaax ‘eat’ 2-place underived jaax-um ‘eat with’ 3-place Applicative jaax-ëla ‘have a meal’ 1-place obect deletion inanimate object (Alex) a-ceem-i 3S-sleep-Asp ‘(Alex) slept’ animate object NP Alex a-wuul-i Asaña Alex 3S-see-Asp O ‘Alex saw Asaña’ Alex a-wuul-i koloŋ Alex 3S-see-Asp well ‘Alex saw the well.’ pronominal a-wuul-em 3S-see-3SOanim ‘S/he saw him/her a-wuul-i 3S-see-Asp ‘S/he saw it.’ Inanimate objects cannot be suffixed to the verb as pronouns. only nominally or it is not mentioned. 14 Nominal and verbal properties Nominal properties • NC marker, sg.pl. bu-saat NC-pass ‘to pass/passing’’ • modifiers bu-nobun bumbu NC-tie Dem:NC ‘This tieing up’ • S and O position bu-ruk ka ku-no bun-doŋ NC-drink Con NC-wine good-3SNeg ‘Drinking palmwine is not good.’ Verbal properties • derivation sin-wuul-ay NC-see-Rec ‘to see each other’ • head of predication min hë-dëek 1Plex NC-go ‘We are going.’ • keeps part of the argument structure (objects) • possessive Suffixes bu-lodin-kenem NC-greet-3SPoss ‘greeting her’ 15 Encoding of participants in Nominalisations finite nonfinite a-lodin-i Asaña 3S-greet-Asp Asaña ‘S/he greeted Asaña’ bu-lodin ka Asaña NC-greet Con Asaña ‘greeting Asaña’ a-lodin- em 3S-greet-3SO ‘He greeted her’ bu-lodin- kenem NC-greet-3SPoss ‘greeting her’ a-maŋ-i bu-lodin- kenem 3S-want-Asp NC-greet-3SPoss ‘He wants to greet her a-maŋ- em bu-lodin 3S-want-3SO NC-greet ‘He wants to greet her’ Obliques bu-ceem ka *a fuŋku NC-sleep Con Prep room ‘sleeping in a room’ a-ceem-i *(a) fuŋku 3S-sleep-Asp *Prep room ‘s/he slept in a room’ ku-waxa ha aŋga di-raax NC-play Con with NC-sand ‘playing with sand’ ha/ka not only encodes core participants but all kind of complements: locative, adverbial, comitative etc. 16 Use of verbal nouns in Gubëeher Predicative use of VN (me) bu-rux ka ba-rux 1S NC-drink Con NC-water ‘I am drinking water. (Answer to the question: What are you doing?)’ In raising constructions a-bun bu-noox 3S-good NC-sit ‘It is good for sitting’ Complement of verb haŋgu-ri sin-cem can-Neg1S NC-sleep ‘I cannot sleep’ Periphrastic contructions a-leer-i bu-dom 3S-difficult-Asp NC-swallow ‘It is difficult to swallow’ *haŋgu-ri bu-cem can-Neg1S NCsleep ‘I cannot sleep’ tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’ 17 Syntactic Parameters of VNF assignment 18 Verbal derivation and VNF I: Derived transitives with buVNF Derivative Suffix bu- Example a) bu-ro-lin ‘make cry’ -un/-lin/-um Causative/Transitive/Appl (< ha-rox ‘cry’) b) bu-sel-un ‘pee on’ icative (< mu-sel ‘pee’) c) bu-yaax-un ‘make eat’ (< bu-yaax ‘eat’) Some derivations increasing valency always take VNF bueven though the underived stem takes an other VNF! 19 Verbal derivation and VNF II: Derived intransitives with gu-, (bi-, ba-) Derivative Function Suffix Examples -a a) bi-ñooc-a ‘wash one’s body’ (< bu-ñooc ‘wash tr.’) b) gu-ñoop-a ‘hide refl.’ (< bu-ñoop ‘hide tr.’) c) gu-naax-ëla ‘spy on people’ (< bu-naax ‘tell’) d) bë-fës-ëla ‘eradicate weeds’ (< bu-fës-ul ‘eradicate tr.) e) gu-jaax-ëla ‘eat a meal’ (< bu-jaax ‘eat tr.’) -ëla Middle/Refle xive, Object deletion Distributive, Object deletion The majority of derivations in -a (middle, reflexive) –ula/ëla (Distributive) and other valency reducing derivations trigger the use of VNF gu-, some bi- or ba20 Verbal derivation and VNF III: Derived reciprokes with sinDerivative Suffix Function Examples -aj Reciproke, Comitative a) sin-wul-aj ‘meet’ (> bu-wul ‘see’) b) siŋ-kook-aj ‘accompany e.o.’ (>bu-hook ‘follow’) c) sin-raan-aj ‘meet’ There seems to be a semantic connection between reciproke derivation, reciproke relationships (be siblings, friends, cowifes etc.) and threadlike objects (thread, cotton thread, iron thread) which are allderived with sin21 Verbs which exclude bugu-dolia gu-mamaxun gu-mantant hë-dil gu-hosox gu-saw gu-rëej gu-ŋuñ gu-cigia gu-jëdda ku-waan ku-waxa ka-lim ‘fish with a rod’ ‘stutter’ ‘crosseyed’ ‘fart’ ‘cough’ ‘hunt’ ‘defecate’ ‘return’ ‘dream’ ‘lie’ ‘lie’ ‘play’ ‘rain’ For these verbs all four informants agree that they are not compatible with bu-. All of these are intransitive. 22 Transitivity variations I bë-ñëej gi-rad-i NC-do:laundry 1SFoc-Aux-Asp ‘I am doing laundry’ The common form is bëñëej. bu-ñëej is accepted by two of four speakers only. BUT: *bu-ñëej gi-rad-i NC-do:laundry 1SFoc-Aux-Asp The bu-form is only admitted when a complement attached with ka bu-ñëej ha hajah NC-do:laundry Con clothes ‘wash clothes’ 23 Transitivity variations II i-dë sin-cem 1S-go NC-sleep ‘I go to sleep’ *i-dë bu-cem BUT: 1S-go NC-sleep ‘I go to sleep’ The bu-form is only admitted when a complement attached with ka The common form is sincem. bu-cem is accepted by one of four speakers only bu-cɛn ka bu-dep gu-maŋ-i NC-sleep Con NC-bed FOC:2S-want-Asp ‘You want to sleep in a/the bed’ COMPARE: i-cem-i a bu-dep 1Sg-sleep-Asp Prep ‘I slept in a/the bed’ 24 bu- VNs Non-bu VN • • • • • • • • • • less productive less predictable derivation more nounlike less transitive more productive more predictable inflection? less nounlike more transitive ‘Non-bu-’ VN as full Noun as Nonfinite buVN VN Nonfinite VN sin-cem ‘sleep’ ‘to sleep’ bu-cem ‘to sleep’ bi-ciir ‘death’ ‘to die’ bu-ciir ‘to die’ ba-loob ‘words’ ‘to speak’ bu-loob ‘to speak’ ba-caam ‘money’ ‘to pay’ bu-caam ‘to pay’ bi-naax ‘tribunal’ ‘to tell’ bu-naax ‘to tell’ ba-ñaŋ ‘dance’ ‘to dance’ bu-ñaŋ ‘to dance’ If there is a choice between more than one VNF it is always the “non-bu- VN” which is ambiguous between full noun interpretation and a Nonfinite VN reading Semantic Parameters of VNF assignment 26 Changes in ontological domain VNF1 bu- gloss VNF2 gu- gloss bu-loot ‘to spit’ gu-loot ‘to vomit’ bu-bëex ‘to pull’ gu-bëex ‘to pull (e.g. cigarette)’ bu-faanin ‘sniff’ gu-faanin ‘smoke’ bu-kubëla ‘turn around’ gukubëla turn around’ ‘misbehave’ bu-liin ‘braid, weave’ bu-ŋan ‘enter’ gu-ŋan VNF3 other- gloss jëm-bëex ‘to pull (fishernet)’ si-kubëla ‘misbehave’ ra-liin ‘weave (cloth)’ ‘go to sleep’ 27 Semantic fields Gubëeher Gloss Gubëeher Gloss ba-farl-a ‘untangle peanuts’ ja-naaf ‘work in the field’ bë-fësël-a ‘weed’ ja-rifun repiquer ba- -a ‘re-harvest’ ja-mul ‘harvest’ ba-xac ‘clear land’ jë-gób cf. bu-gób ‘harvest palmwine’ ‘to scratch’ ba-mat ‘clear land’ jë-góbul ‘harvest palmwine’ Gubëeher Gloss ja-rug cf. bu-rug cf. si-rug-ula ‘plant rice’ ‘plant (a tree)’ plantation të-bir cf. bu-bir ‘fish with trap’ ‘close’ ja-ŋis ‘cut grass’ ta-jah cf. bu-jah ‘fish with arrows’ ‘hit’ ja-ŋaf ‘ascend’ (often connected to harvesting fruit or palmwine) ta-jin-a cf. bu-jin ‘grill fish’ ‘grill’ jam-bok ‘climb’ 9 out of 11 ja- VNs are directly related to agricultural activities. 28 Pluractionality: Multiplicity of Participants or Action. ja- and ba- , two collective plural NC prefixes on nouns seem to keep convey pluractionality wen used in VN formation. Both host many agricultural activities, which are often done collectively and involve plurality of actions, ba- also some other collectively performed activities: bë-yin ‘sing’ ba-ñaŋ ‘dance’ bë-dëeka ‘play (game)’ ba-toot ‘sort rice’ cf. bu-toot ‘pick up’ ba-doox ‘transport (goods, rice) cf. bu-doox ‘carry’ Speakers have commented on the ba- forms of some verbs, such as ‘to sing’ as “the plural” of the alternative formin bu- and claimed that it is used when many peope sing, as opposed to just one. 29 Qualities and Properties Qualities with VNF ba predicative use Qualities with VNF predicative use si ba-li ‘goodness/be good’ a-li 3S-good ‘It is good’ si-riin ‘laziness’ a-riin-a ‘he is lazy’ ji-riin ‘lazybone’ bë-jólo ‘largeness’ a-jólo-i 3S-large-Asp ‘it is large’ si-piim ‘blindness’ a-piim-i/a ‘he is blind’ ji-piim ‘blind person’ a-lum-em ba-jaax (bu-jaax ‘eat’) 3S-surpass-3SO NC-eat ‘SHe eats more than him/her.’ In the Comparative construction with the verb lum ‘surpass’ all verbs require the VNF ba-: a-lumi-em ba- jir (hë-jir ‘run’) 3S-surpass-3SO NC-run ‘SHe runs faster than him/her’ a-lum-i ba- li 3S-surpass-Asp NC-good ‘It is better’ 30 Hypothesis: object deletion vs suppresion 31 Further research • areal aspects of verb classification and VNs 32 Summary • Transitivity • Pluractionality • Cultural relevant semantic fields (fish, agriculture) • Future/present? • 1. vs. other ? 33 Doneux’ hypothesis • Action nouns have taken place of Infinitives in Kobiana 34 Nominalisation in Gubeeher Semantics NC marker Example related verb root 1. uHuman participant 2. ji- u-mbal ‘fisherman’ ji-def ‘old person’ -mbal ‘fish’ -def ‘be old’ Instrument gu- -um gu-ŋiis-um ‘sickle’ -ŋiis ‘cut grass’ Location 1. bu2. bu- -um 3. ka- 1. bu-noox ‘cabaret’ 2. bu-likina-um ‘kitchen’ 3. ka-noox ‘seat’ -noox ‘sit’ -likina ‘cook a meal’ Quality 1. ba2. si- 1. ba-sóog ‘ugliness/taboo’ 2. si-riin ‘laziness’ -sóog ‘be ugly’ -riin ‘be lazy’ VN (Action noun, Result, Nonfinite) various bu-ñoŋ ‘to take/taking’ sin-cem ‘the sleep/to sleep/sleeping’ -ñoŋ ‘take’ -cem ‘sleep’ 35 Loan verbs VNF bu- and ka- accomodate most loans from French and Wolof: – – – – ka-jang (< Wolof: jang) ‘read, learn’ ka-jaay (<Wolof: jaay) ‘sell’ bu-pentire/ka-pentire (< French peinturer ‘paint’) bu-komase (< French commencer ‘begin’) But: Verbs presumably loaned from Joola languages – or are at least cognates – can also be found in other noun classes: Class ka- is rather rare for nouns in Gubëeher, but one of the dominant VNF in some Joola languages Gubëeher is in contact with (Fogny, Jirer, Kaasa, Banjal). – ja-mbal ‘catch fish’ – ba-caam ‘pay’ 36 What is in a root? Roots are very flexible in terms of NC allocation and also in terms of word classes: [ex] It is unclear whether lexical category/gender is stored in the root or if the root has to be considered underspecified and that NC/syntactic category is assigned by insertion into a syntactic frame A direction of derivation is difficult to establish, because of the lack of historical data 37 Nominal and verbal properties Nominal properties • NC marker, sg.pl. bu-koor/i-koor NC-village/NC-village ‘village/villages’ • modifiers bu-koor bu-bun bumbu NC-village Agr-good Dem:NC ‘This nice village’ • S and O position • possessive Suffixes bu-koo’-kum NC-village-1SPoss ‘my village’ Verbal properties • derivation/Person,number i-wuul-ay-hurux-o 1Plinc-see-Rec-Fut-1Plinc ‘We will see eachother’ • head of predication • argument structure gëegën i-wuul-i u-ñaŋ-kum yesterday 1S-see-Asp NC-friend1Poss ‘Yesterday I saw my friend’ i-wuul-em gëegën 1S-see-3SO yesterday ‘I saw him yesterday’ gëegën a-wuul-a yesterday 3S-see-Pass ‘He was seen yesterday’ 38 Theoretical questions 39 Qualities I Qualities with VNF ba Qualities with VNF si ba-li ‘goodness/be good’ a-li 3S-good ‘It is good’ si-riin ‘laziness’ a-riin-a ‘he is lazy’ ji-riin ‘lazybone’ bë-jólo ‘largeness’ a-jólo-i 3S-large-Asp ‘it is large’ si-piim ‘blindness’ a-piim-i/a ‘he is blind’ ji-piim ‘blind person’ si-paab ‘gluttony’ a-paab-a ‘he is gluttonous’ ji-paab ‘glutton’ si-gaar ’stupidity’ a-gaar-a ‘he is stupid’ jan-gaar ‘idiot’ 40 Qualities II In the Comparative construction with the verb lum ‘surpass’ all verbs require the VNF ba-: a-lum-i ba-li 3S-surpass-Asp NC-good ‘It is better’ a-lumi-em ba-jir (hë-jir ‘run’) 3S-surpass-3SO NC-run ‘SHe runs faster than him/her’ a-lum-em ba-jaax (bu-jaax ‘eat’) 3S-surpass-3SO NC-eat ‘SHe eats more than him/her.’ 41 Subject Object status Subject: stands before the verb can be focused with inis deleted in passive phrase triggers agreement Non-Subject: focused with gka in nominalisations encoded with suffixes on the verb [animate objects] becomes subject of passiv phrase can be relativised 42 Periphrastic Aux rad: ba-dox ha ja-lihan gi-rad-i NC-carry Con NC-wood 1SFoc-Aux-Asp ‘I am carrying wood.’ Aux kan: tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’ LOC: innoŋ ja-naaf LOC:3S NC-work ‘He/she is doing agriculture.’ be: gu-roŋ u-dikaan-i iŋ-gu-t-i bu-ja ka gu-gu-in be-3SNeg NC-woman-Poss FocS-be-Dir-Asp Con NC-Red-song ‘It is not his wife who starts this song.’ 43 Predicative use of VN (me) bu-ruk ka ba-rux 1S NC-drink Con NC-water ‘I am drinking water. (Answer to the question: What are you doing?)’ min hë-dëek 1Plex NC-go ‘We are going.’ The VNs can be used with or without a personal pronoun (if the referent is clear) to express a present progressive or an action that is about to take place In raising constructions a-leer-i bu-dom 3S-difficult-Asp NC-swallow ‘It is difficult to swallow’ a-bun bu-noox 3S-good NC-sit ‘It is good for sitting’ Subject with Adj Periphrastic Aux rad: ba-dox ha ja-lihan gi-rad-i NC-carry Con NC-wood 1SFoc-Aux-Asp ‘I am carrying wood.’ Aux kan: tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’ LOC: innoŋ ja-naaf LOC:3S NC-work ‘He/she is doing agriculture.’ be: gu-roŋ u-dikaan-i iŋ-gu-t-i bu-ja ka gu-gu-in be-3SNeg NC-woman-Poss FocS-be-Dir-Asp Con NC-Red-song ‘It is not his wife who starts this song.’ Complement of verb min-di gu-way be.able-Neg:1Sg Cl-swim ‘I don’t know how to swim.’ haŋgu-ri sin-cem can-Neg1S NC-sleep ‘I cannot sleep’ i-haŋgul-i ja-ŋa’ ka mu-uc 1S-can-Asp NC-mount Con NCpalmtree ‘I can climb palm trees.’ *haŋgu-ri bu-cem can-Neg1S NC-sleep ‘I cannot sleep’ i-haŋgul-i i-cem 1S-can-Asp 1Ssleep ‘I can sleep’ i-haŋgul-i i-ŋaf ra-uc rara 1S-can-Asp 1S-mount NCpalmtree Dem:Agr ‘I can climb this palm tree Purposive Without conjunction: i-dëek bi-nig ka tele 1S-go NC-watch Con television ‘I go watch television.’ With conjunction: an-nig əbən-əŋ ə-gini a-la-tː-a-nɛ mata ha bu-hɔf 3Sg-look:at animal-Pl Agr-Rel 3S-take-Dir-ne Conj Con NC-kill ‘They are looking at the animals which have been brought, for the sake of killing them.’ Focusing? bu-nobun bumbooŋ, jëbën NC-tie Agr:Dem NC-pagne ‘This tieing up is done with pieces of cloth’ bʊ-hupp bumbooŋ, ni a-gob-ah, u-guni ë-gu-t-i bu-dëek, a-ñoŋ-ot ho-xuno hoho ‘Concerning this pouring [of palmwine], since everybody collected wine, tose who come bring a little bit of wine.’ Methodology • 1. trip: build a corpus, understand basic syntax and morphology, elicit verblists (in french) • 2. trip: expand corpus, transitivity database/verbal extensions, reformulate first hypotheses on VNF and their distribution, check verbs in lexicon for compatibility with VNF and elicit them in syntactic contexts with 3 speakers 51
