Auxiliary Verb Constructions
in Mankanya
Tim Gaved
576800
MA Linguistics
This dissertation is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MA
Linguistics of the School of Oriental and African Studies (University of London).
Date: 15 September 2014
Number of Words: 10,001
Declaration
I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental
and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all material presented for examination
is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part by any other person. I also
undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another
person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. I give permission
for a copy of my dissertation to be held for reference, at the School’s discretion.
Tim Gaved
15 September 2014
i
Acknowledgements
My thanks go to all those who have made my time at SOAS so fruitful and interesting; to all the
speakers Mankanya with whom I have worked over the years; and to my wife and family for the
their support, particularly as I completed this dissertation.
ii
Abstract
Mankanya is an under-described language spoken by about 75,000 people in Guinea-Bissau,
Senegal and the Gambia. Tense, aspect and mood are mostly expressed in Mankanya by means of
auxiliary verb constructions. This dissertation describes some of those structures, and looks at them
in within the context of grammaticalisation, the processes whereby over time lexical items become
functional items.
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iv
Table of Contents
1. Introduction......................................................................................................................................1
2. Sociolinguistic background..............................................................................................................2
3. Methodology.....................................................................................................................................5
4. Language Overview..........................................................................................................................7
4.1. Phonology.................................................................................................................................7
4.2. Orthographic conventions.........................................................................................................9
4.3. Morpho-Syntax.........................................................................................................................9
5. Theoretical orientation....................................................................................................................16
6. Auxiliaries Verb Constructions in Mankanya.................................................................................21
6.1. Overview.................................................................................................................................21
6.1.1. Tense constructions.........................................................................................................21
6.1.2. Aspectual constructions...................................................................................................22
6.1.3. Modal constructions........................................................................................................24
6.2. Individual constructions in more detail..................................................................................25
6.2.1. Past – bi...........................................................................................................................25
6.2.2. Future tense – luŋ, ya, bi.................................................................................................27
6.2.3. Habitual – ji.....................................................................................................................34
6.2.4. Ingressive – do................................................................................................................36
6.2.5. Progressive, Obligative and Epistemic – wo...................................................................39
7. Complex Auxiliary Verb Constructions..........................................................................................43
8. Conclusion......................................................................................................................................46
9. Bibliography...................................................................................................................................48
10. Appendix – Abbreviations used in glosses...................................................................................50
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
Tim Gaved 576800
1. Introduction
Mankanya is a language of Guinea-Bissau and the Casamance area of Senegal. Though there are
about 75,000 speakers (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2013), it is under-described with the only
published work being a study of the basic phonology and morphology (Trifkovic 1969). It is,
however, officially recognised as a national language in Senegal, and in recent years there been
active promotion of the language by both local and international organisations.
In this dissertation I aim to increase the amount of available description by concentrating on a small
part of the grammar – auxiliary verb constructions. Many tense, aspect and mode distinctions are
made in Mankanya by the use of such constructions, and they show a range of different structures.
They also reflect different stages of grammaticalisation, the observed process whereby a lexical
item changes over time to become a grammatical marker.
I hope that this work will be useful to those studying other Atlantic languages as well as those
studying auxiliaries and grammaticalisation more broadly. I hope also that it will be in some way
useful to the Mankanya themselves, and will be the first step in a more detailed description of the
language.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
2. Sociolinguistic background
According to the Ethnologue (Lewis, Simons, and Fennig 2013), Mankanya is a language spoken
by approximately 75,000 people across the countries of Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and the Gambia.
Mankanya is an exonym, and they call themselves bahula, the people of Hula, (the original name
for their chief town which is now called Bula), and the language is referred to as uhula. A small
number of Mankanya refer to themselves as bawuh, reflecting their origins in the town of Co1.
Bula and Co are towns in the Cacheu region of Guinea-Bissau. However, over the years there has
been a steady migration of Mankanya northwards. Trifkovic (1969:3) cites Carreira (1960) as
putting the start of this migration in the first quarter of the 19th century. The same sources indicate
that the migration was due to a number of causes: insufficient cultivable land, internal conflicts and
abuse of power by the colonial authorities. The Mankanya first moved into southern Senegal, (the
area known as the Casamance), particularly around Ziguinchor the regional capital, and eastwards
along the southern bank of the River Casamance. Later they also moved into the Gambia. Like
virtually all Senegalese languages, urban migration has additionally created Mankanya communities
in most major urban centres.
Mankanya has been in contact with Upper Guinea Creole, a Portuguese based creole, probably since
its origins around the beginning of the 17th century (Kihm 1994:4). For over 400 years this creole
has been the language of wider communication in what is now Guinea-Bissau and the Casamance
area of Senegal. In the past 30 years Wolof has begun to take over that role in the Casamance.
Mankanya had no widely accepted written form until recently. It is only in the last 20 years that an
orthography was developed, resulting in Mankanya's official recognition as a “National Language”
by the Senegalese government in 2005 (Republic of Senegal 2006). The Mankanya cultural
association, Pkumel, has been running literacy classes (mostly in the Casamance and Guinea1
Bula/hula and Co[ko]/wuh may indicate a historical system of consonant mutation which no longer exists.
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Bissau) since 2001 and a translation of the part of the Bible (Genesis and the New Testament) was
published in 2014.
Mankanya, along with Manjaku and Pepel, form a group of closely related languages, often referred
to as Manjaku, the largest of the three. This group is part of the Atlantic family of languages, which
in turn is part of the Niger-Congo phylum.
Recent work by Segerer (2010) (and Personal Communication 22 May 2014) structures the Atlantic
family as follows:
Central
Northern
Southern
In the Central group, all the languages apart from Bijogo were originally classified as part of the
BAK group in earlier work e.g. Sapir (1971). The BAK group has the common feature that some
version of the bak- morpheme appears as a marker of the third person plural.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
Variation within Mankanya has not been formally described. Trifcovic (1969) treats Mankanya as
one language without dialects. Anecdotally, Mankanya people say that there are only two dialects –
the main one uhula, and a second minor one uwuh, spoken by Mankanya living in the region of Co.
More significant differences are influences from the languages of wider communication. For
example, code switching with French for large numbers and dates is common in Senegal, but with
English in the Gambia. The lack of variation in Mankanya as compared to neighbouring languages
like the Joola languages is a question for further research. One factor maybe that Mankanya society
is hierarchical, with an overall king based in Bula. Another may be that the Mankanya put a high
value on education, which results in an increase in mobility between the various Mankanya
communities, both for schooling, and afterwards for work.
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3. Methodology
The structures in this study have been identified in data from a number of different sources.
Firstly I have a small corpus of 25 texts which were gathered over a number of years. Some of these
texts are originally oral, and then transcribed into the official orthography by one of a number
Mankanya consultants. Others are texts that were written by Mankanya authors, for inclusion in
new books in Mankanya – they have therefore undergone some editing.
Secondly I have a large body of elicited data, both from when I was doing some initial language
learning, and as a result of later research. Over this period I mainly worked with four different
language consultants, they were all men in the 30 – 40 age group, all with at least 5 years secondary
education, and one had been to university. One of them had been brought up in Dakar, one had been
brought up in a Mankanya neighbourhood in Sebikhotane a small town about 40km from Dakar.
The other two had been brought up in Ziguinchor, a town in the south of Senegal, with a large
Mankanya population. There was little variation amongst them, and the data I gathered also showed
little variation when compared to that gathered by my wife, who worked with a number of women,
of varying backgrounds.
As a secondary source to back these up, I also have access to the translation of the Bible in
Mankanya (the New Testament and some parts of the old Testament). The style of the translation
was aimed to be common everyday Mankanya, acceptable to the majority, and by its nature it
contains a number of different genres. Though as a translated text it must be treated with caution, as
a holy text it went through a rigorous procedure of checking and editing, involving multiple
speakers. Part of the checking was for it to be read to a panel of older men of different backgrounds
who would comment on where it sounded wrong to them. Other checks where done amongst mixed
groups of people and ages. In general there was little disagreement between groups.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
The structures that I am studying were mostly initially identified during elicitation. Their use was
then examined in the text sources to see whether there were differences in the way that they were
used. Further elicitation was used to investigate these differences. In some cases they were errors in
transcription, in others they opened up new lines of enquiry, some of which were outside the scope
of this dissertation.
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4. Language Overview
4.1. Phonology
There are 37 consonants in Mankanya (including 16 prenasals), and these are shown in Table 4.1.1
below. Graphemes from the official orthography (Republic of Senegal 2006) are given in brackets
where they are different from the IPA symbol.
Voiceless
Plosives
Prenasalised
Voiceless
Plosives
Voiced
Plosives
Prenasalised
Voiced
Plosives
Nasals
Vibrant
Prenasalised
Vibrant
Fricatives
Prenasalised
Fricatives
Glides
Prenasalised
Glides
Labial
Apical
p
t
Retroflexes
ʈ (ţ)
Palatal
Velar
c
k
ᵐp (mp)
ⁿt (nt)
ⁿʈ (nţ)
b
d
ɟ (j)
g
ᵐb (mb)
ⁿd (nd)
ᶮɟ (nj)
ᵑg (ng)
mm
n
ɾ (r)
ⁿɾ (nr)
ɲ (ñ)
ŋŋ
f
ᵐf (nf)
θ (ŧ)
ⁿθ (nŧ)
ᵑk (nk)
ʂ (ş)
ⁿʂ (nş)
ww
l
ᵐw (nw) ⁿl (nl)
h
ᵑh (nh)
j (y)
ᶮj (ny)
Table 4.1.1 – Consonant Phonemes in Mankanya
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Mankanya has 7 vowels, 6 of which can be either long or short. These are shown below in Table
4.1.2. The vowel [u] is rare. Graphemes from the official orthography (Republic of Senegal 2006)
are given in brackets.
Front
Close
Central
i iː (i ii)
u uː (ú úu)
Mid-close
Mid
ʊ ʊː (u uu)
e eː (e ee)
Open
Back
ə (ë)
o oː (o oo)
ɐ ɐː (a aa)
Table 4.1.2 – Vowel Phonemes in Mankanya
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4.2. Orthographic conventions
The examples in this dissertation follow the official orthography which uses the following
conventions:
- Long vowels are represented by a repeated vowel e.g. /i:/ is represented by ii
- /ə/ is only written when stressed
- prenasal consonants are represented by n followed by the consonant except in the case of the
labials b and p which are preceded by m. e.g. /ŋk/ is represented by nk and /mb/ by mb.
- certain consonants can be syllabic. Of particular note is the class prefix ŋ-, which can appear
before any consonant, including homorganic ones. However these cases are phonologically different
from prenasal consonants and so the grapheme ŋ is used in all cases.
- The letter s is used in certain borrowed words. It is either pronounced [s] or [θ] depending on the
speakers familiarity with a language with an [s].
4.3. Morpho-Syntax
Mankanya has a basic word order of Subject Verb Object. Noun modifiers follow the noun, and
there is agreement between a noun and its modifier, and between the subject and the verb.
1 upi
u- pi
C3S goat
uweek
u- week
C3S big
ude
maaj
u- de
maaj
C3S eats C9\millet
“The goat eats the millet”
Nouns are made up of a prefix and a stem, and most nouns have different prefixes for singular and
plural, and some nouns also have a differentiation between an unspecified, indefinite plural, and a
counted, definite one. Nouns can be divided into classes depending on which prefixes they take.
Unlike linguists working among Bantu languages, there is no widespread agreement amongst those
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working in Atlantic languages about how to number classes. For example Trifcovic (1969), Sagna
(2008) and Ndao (2011) number each individual prefix, Karlik (1972) and Soukka (2000) assign a
number to each singular/plural/count plural grouping, and others such as Segerer (2000) and
Cobbinah (2013) use the phonological form of each individual prefix.
In this dissertation I will label classes in the same way as as Karlik and Soukka, e.g. a noun which
takes the na- prefix in the singular and ba- prefix in the plural will be considered class 2, with
glosses C2S and C2P respectively. (The numbering is my own, and is arbitrary.) In this system what
is important is not the form of the prefix, but rather which nouns it attaches to. Homophonous
prefixes might therefore appear in different classes. For example p- prefix in pdunk “clay pot” is
considered class 5 singular because it groups with i- in idunk “clay pots” and k- in kdunk ktëb “two
clay pots”, whereas p- in plaak is considered class 7 singular as it groups with m- in mlaak “stones”
and ŋ- in ŋlaak ŋtëb “two stones”. This is similar to the way Bantuists use “genre” (where numbered
individual classes are grouped as singular/plural pairs), or to Cobbinah's (2013) “paradigm” (where
phonologically labelled individual classes are grouped as pairs or triads to create number
distinctions).
The primary reason for following this convention is that numbering individual classes like Sagna or
labelling them with the phonological form like Cobbinah fails to capture in the gloss the number
distinction inherent in the prefix, i.e. whether the prefix marks a singular noun and a plural one.
(Other information contained in the prefix which is available to a speaker of the language e.g. the
default semantics, is still lost, but glosses always have to be a simplification). Also, whereas
labelling classes with the phonological form can be useful in languages where vowel harmony
changes the shape of the prefix (e.g. in Bijogo, Segerer's KO class includes kɔ-, ko- and ku- (Segerer
2000)), Mankanya does not have vowel harmony, the prefixes generally retain their shape and so
this system gives little advantage.
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Table 4.3.1 below summarises the noun prefixes. The column “Semantics” gives an indication of
the main members of that class, and is not exclusive or exhaustive.
Class
Sg
Example
Ind
Pl
Example
English
Def
Pl
Example
(two ..)
Semantics
1
a-
ba-
3
u-
4
ka-
husband
child
child(ren)
tailor(s)
dog(s)
star(s)
hand(s)
house(s)
bajin batëb
babuk batëb
bapoţ batëb
balët batëb
ŋbuş ŋtëb
ŋjah ŋtëb
iñen itëb
itoh itëb
Family
na-
bajin
babuk
bapoţ
balët
ŋbuş
ŋjah
iñen
itoh
ba-
2
ayin
abuk
napoţ
nalët
ubuş
ujah
kañen
katoh
5
p(a)-
i-
b(a)-
7
p-
8
b-
idunk
iŧenda
ilaañ
itani
mmaŋa
mlaak
mmaŋa
mkem
9
m(a)-
mnlilan
meel
pot(s)
cloth(s)
wrap(s)
flock(s)
mango(s)
stone(s)
mango(s)
oil
palm(s)
joy
water
k-
6
pdunk
paŧenda
blaañ
batani
pmaŋa
plaak
bmaŋa
bkem
10
d-
dko
skoola
lieux
école(s)
k-
baŋi-
imm-
i-
iko
iskoola
baŋi-
kŋŋ-
kdunk ktëb
kŧenda ktëb
klaañ ktëb
ktani ktëb
ŋmaŋa ŋtëb
ŋlaak ŋtëb
ŋmaŋa ŋtëb
ŋkem ŋtëb
kskoola ktëb
Human
Animals
Body parts;
parts of
things
Plants and
fruits
Trees
Mass
nouns;
liquids
Places;
Borrowed
words
Table 4.3.1 Noun Classes
Certain stems can be used with prefixes from more than one class. For example ben can be class 8
bben “rhun palm”, class 7 pben “fruit of the rhun palm” or class 4 kben “ rhun palm branch”. The
extreme case of this is ko which has a broad meaning of “thing”, the type of thing being indicated
by the default semantics of the class prefix, for example ŋko “animals”, bko “tree”, dko “place”.
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Verbs normally agree with the subject in number, person, and for non-humans, class. Some simple
examples are:
2 bantohi
ba- ntohi
C2P elder
baţiini
ba- ţiini
3P speak
“The elders talk”
3 upi
u- pi
C3S goat
ufeer
u- feer
C3S graze
“The goat grazes”
4 bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
bajot
b- a- jot
C8S 3 fall
"The rhun palm falls over"
Note that class prefixes that start with a consonant also require the prefix a- before the verb stem,
and will be glossed as 3 to indicate 3rd person.
When this prefix a-stands alone it is either the third person singular human prefix, or the prefix used
in clause chaining (see below).
5 naniw
na- niw
C2S mason
aboman
a- boman
3S make
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
"The builder builds the house"
6 ayin
a- yin
C1S husband
naan
naan
1S.GEN
ade
a- de
3S eat
umaanan
u- maanan
C3S rice
"My husband eats rice"
Mankanya also allows the possibility of clause chaining. In these cases the first verb agrees with the
subject whereas the following verbs take only the prefix a- (or as will be seen later k- a-). Here the
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a- does not mean 3rd person singular, or even just 3rd person, and so in these situations it will be
glossed as SER for serial.
7 bantohi
ba- ntohi
C2P elder
babi
ba- bi
3P come
ade
a- de
SER eat
adaan
a- daan
SER drink
aţiş
a- ţiş
SER go_home
"The elders came, ate, drank and went home"
Apart from the verb agreement the other main inflectional feature marked on the verb is the
aspectual distinction between perfective and imperfective. With a main declarative verb,
imperfective aspect is unmarked and perfective aspect is marked by the suffix -i. This is normally
construed as a past event when used with verbs with an active meaning.
8 bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
bajoti
b- a- jot -i
C8S 3 fall PERF
"The rhun palm has fallen"
With change state verbs like dëm, glossed here as “get_bigger”, the perfective suffix -i usually
results in the state being construed as current, with speakers giving a translation of “x is big”
9 bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
badëm
b- a- dëm
C8S 3 get_bigger
"The rhun palm is getting bigger"
10 bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
badëmi
b- a- dëm
-i
C8S 3 get_bigger PERF
"The rhun palm is big"
In this example we can see that the perfective -i may in fact be reflecting a past change of state, i.e.
the translation should be “The rhun palm has got bigger”. Though this is the probable original
sense, this can't always be the correct interpretation. For example in 14 below (often spoken at
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funerals), it is highly unlikely that any speaker is thinking “God has got bigger”, rather than “God is
great”.
11 Naşibaţi adëmi
Naşibaţi a- dëm
-i
God
3S get_bigger PERF
"God is great!"
When used in a subordinate clause, it is now the imperfective aspect that is marked with the prefix
k-, and perfective aspect is unmarked.
12 Wi
wi
whilst
maakan
maakan
very
bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
bakjotuŋ
b- a- kjot -uŋ
C8S 3 IMPERF fall SUB
,
bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
bŧi
bŧi
all
bahuuran
ba- huuran
C2P cry_out
"When the rhun palm was falling everybody was screaming"
13 Wi
wi
whilst
ba
b- a
C8S 3.OBJ
bben
b- ben
C8S ronier
.
bajotuŋ
b- a- jot -uŋ
C8S 3 fall SUB
,
bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
bŧi
bŧi
all
babi
ba- bi
3P come
pwin
p- win
INF see
"When the rhun palm had fallen, everybody came to look at it"
As we shall see later, this imperfective prefix k- also occurs in other contexts.
All other tense and aspect distinctions are marked by auxiliary verb constructions, the topic of this
dissertation, and which I will explore in more detail later.
Example 13 also shows an example of the p- prefix, which forms a non-finite verb, and is glossed
INF
for infinitive. This prefix can be used with any verbal stem.
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In addition some stems can form action nominals with class prefixes. A common example is lemp
“work” which uses the class 3 prefixes u- and ŋ-.
14 Ulemp
u- lemp
C3S work
wi
w- i
C3S GEN
najaar
na- jaar
C2S farmer
,
waanyoji
w- a- an- yoj
-i
C3S 3S NEG to_be_easy PERF
"A farmer's work is not easy"
15 Nakakan
na- kak
-an
2P return IMP
du
d- u
EXT LOC.DIST
"Return to your work!"
ŋlemp
ŋ- lemp
C3P work
ŋi
ŋ- i
C3P GEN
nan
nan
2P.POSS
!
The infinitive form plemp “to work”, cannot replace the nominals in examples 14 and 15.
An example of a stem that forms an action nominal with the class 4 prefixes ka- and i-, is kit
“harvest”.
16 Baban
ţi
wal
wi
kakit
ba- ban
ţ- i
w- al
w- i
ka- kit
3P arrive INT LOC.PROX C3S moment C3S GEN C4S harvest-time
ŋdeey
ŋŧeek
kabaaŋ
ajun
jun
ŋ- deey ŋ- ŧeek ka- ba
-aŋ a- jun
jun
C3P grain C3P first
C4S CMPLTV SUB SER begin begin
ki
k- i
C4S GEN
"They arrived at the time that the harvest of the first grains had just begun"
17 .. woli udo
wo ţi
woli
u- do
wo ţ- i
when C3S INGR be INT LOC.PROX
, këme ikit
.
këme i- kit
or
C4P harvest-time
wal
w- al
C3S moment
wi
w- i
C3S GEN
ijaar
i- jaar
C4P agriculture
".. this will happen even during planting times and harvests"
Again, using the infinitive form pkit in these examples would produce ungrammatical sentences.
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5. Theoretical orientation
In this dissertation I will use the following definition of auxiliary verb: “an item on the lexical verb
– functional affix continuum, which tends to be at least somewhat semantically bleached, and
grammaticalised to express one or more of a range of salient verbal categories...” (Anderson
2006:4). Anderson admits that this definition is somewhat vague, but contends that there probably
cannot be a language independent formal criterion to determine whether a given element is a lexical
verb or an auxiliary verb.
This definition is based on work about the processes of grammaticalisation e.g. Heine (1993) and
Heine and Kuteva (2002). Grammaticalisation is the combination of linguistic changes whereby
over the course of time lexical items become grammatical items. In the context of auxiliaries, a
common pattern has been found to be that lexical verbal items often become markers of tense,
aspect and mode. Heine refers to this as the Verb-to-TAM chain, and which Anderson, in the
definition above, calls the lexical verb – functional affix continuum. As lexical verbs move along
this chain, they change semantically, morphosyntactically, morphonologically and phonetically,
though often each aspect changes at a different rate.
As a consequence of this, along with the fact that any synchronic description is merely a snapshot of
a language in flux, there are inevitably linguistic phenomena which cannot easily be categorised.
This is often the case with auxiliaries, and Heine describes them metaphorically as having an
amphibious nature. He illustrates this with three uses of the English is going to (Heine 1993:112)
18 a. He is going to town.
b. He is going to work.
c. He is going to come.
In 18a is going to clearly has its full lexical meaning of motion towards something. In 18c is going
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to equally clearly has no lexical meaning (apart from anything else the deictics of going are
incompatible with the deictics of coming). However it is example 18b, which shows the amphibious
nature of auxiliaries – here is going to could have either lexical or grammatical meaning as shown
by adding extra components to the sentences.
19 a. He is going to work by train.
b. He is going to work hard.
Heine therefore argues that it is impossible to apply classic categories with discrete boundaries to
natural language data, and an approach centred around family likeness (similar to the idea of
prototypes) works better.
There are many other different definitions for the term auxiliary. Heine (1993:3–26) gives an
overview of the different viewpoints which overlap in some cases. He notes for example that some
authors hold that auxiliaries must exhibit verb-like features whereas others apply it to a much wider
range of phenomena (he gives the example of (Capell 1976)). Chomsky introduced the abbreviation
“Aux” to account for auxiliaries in English like has+taken, will+take (Chomsky 1957). However
Heine points out that since then, there has been confusion about “Aux” : whether it is the same as
“AUX”, and whether everything that are called auxiliaries are in the category AUX or not, and vice
versa.
Linguists working within other frameworks have also treated auxiliaries. For example, Falk (1984)
analyses English auxiliaries within the framework of Lexical Functional Grammar. (LFG). His
analysis proposes that English verbal system can be broken down on the surface into Modals (e.g.
have, must) and Verbs. In additions there are so called Helping Verbs (e.g. do) which lexically are
specified as Verbs, but can appear in a Modal position. It is unclear from his analysis how he would
deal with the auxiliary constructions like “going to” noted below. It is also unclear how this analysis
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would be extended cross-linguistically as he includes a number of things that would seem to be
specific to English (for example the F-structure features INF and PART).
More recent general introductions to LFG e.g. Bresnan (2000) or Dalrymple (2001) do not treat
auxiliaries at all. Later work e.g. Frank and Zanean (2002) extends the LFG model to better cope
with auxiliaries, but a detailed description of this is beyond the scope of this dissertation.
The topic of this dissertation is auxiliary verb constructions (hereafter referred to as AVCs) and not
just auxiliary verbs. This is because very often an auxiliary verb is only partially responsible for the
tense or aspect distinction brought to a clause, and it must be accompanied by other morphosyntactic changes. This is illustrated in English by the progressive construction, be -ing. It is only
the combination of the auxiliary verb be with the verbal morpheme -ing that gives the progressive
meaning. Using one without the other results in an ungrammatical clause.
Anderson in his typological study on AVCs defines an auxiliary verb construction as a “monoclausal structure minimally consisting of a lexical verbal element that contributes lexical content to
the construction, and an auxiliary verb element that contributes some grammatical or functional
content to the construction” (Anderson 2006:6). This is the definition I will use as the basis for my
study.
At this point, it is important to discuss serial verb constructions (SVCs). SVCs are important in
many West African languages, as well as Oceanic and Asian ones. A significant amount of research
exists on them e.g. Foley and Olsen (1985), Aikhenvald (1999; 2006), Stewart (2001). However
Seiss (2009:504) states “In spite of this substantial body of research, still no agreed upon set of
defining features of serial verbs has been established”.
Probably the most common minimal set of features is that listed by Bowern (2008):
•
the clause contains two (or more) verbs under a single intonation contour
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
•
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the verbs must be full lexical verbs which can head simple predicates in their own
right
•
the verbs share at least one argument
•
the verbs behave as a single unit for tense aspect and polarity marking
An example of a prototypical SVC would be the one below from Èdó (Stewart 2001) cited in (Seiss
2009)
20 Òzó dé
Ozo buy
èvbàré rhié nè Ìfuèkò
food
givc to Ifueko
"Ozo bought the food and gave it to Ifueko"
However, Seiss goes on to conclude that “serial verbs cannot be compared as a whole class to
complex predicates or auxiliaries. Careful language-specific studies are needed to decide whether
certain kinds of serial verbs may be auxiliaries or complex predicates.” (Seiss 2009:506). From this
we can see that it is not a question of whether a structure is an AVC or a SVC – it could be both at
the same time.
Seiss makes an important note about the semantic differences between SVCs, auxiliaries and light
verbs. She says that for many SVCs, the verbs denote single events which constitute a complex
event together, while light verbs add information, and auxiliaries provide information about tense
aspect or mood. (Seiss 2009:506).
In this dissertation the key feature of the auxiliaries in the AVCs that I will be studying is exactly
this – that they provide information about tense, aspect or mood. Some of the structures are also
SVCs based on Bowern's criteria above.
A few examples will illustrate this point. Example 21 shows serial clause chaining in Mankanya,
which would be considered as a SVC by Bowern's criteria, (though not by everyone). However
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neither of the verbs provide information about tense, aspect or mood, hence are not considered
auxiliaries.
21 aya
a- ya
3S go
afëţ
a- fëţ
3S dwell
pmeş
p- meş
C5S royal_compund
"He went and lived in the palace"
Example 22 below shows the future using the verb luŋ as an auxiliary. By Bowern's criteria this
would not be considered a SVC, as luŋ is not a full lexical verb which could head a simple
predicates in its own right. It is an auxiliary construction, as luŋ provides information about tense.
22 aluŋ
a- luŋ
3S FUT
kaniw
kaIMPERF SER
‎"He will build the house"
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
Lastly example 23 below shows the future using the verb ya as an auxiliary. This structure is
identical to that in example 22, apart from a different verb. By Anderson's definition above it is an
auxiliary structure – ya provides future tense, and in this context is semantically bleached (it has
lost its motion component). But now it is also a SVC by Bowern's criteria, as ya is also a full lexical
verb in other contexts.
23 aya
a- ya
3S FUT
kaniw
kaIMPERF SER
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
‎"He will build the house"
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6. Auxiliaries Verb Constructions in Mankanya
As I stated in section 4.3 Morpho-Syntax, auxiliary verbs constructions are the main way in
Mankanya to express tense, aspect and mode distinctions. A detailed study of all of them is beyond
the scope of this dissertation, so I will first give examples of the more frequent ones, and then later
give a more detailed analysis of some of them. Lastly I will look at how some of these auxiliaries
combine.
6.1. Overview
6.1.1.
Tense constructions
To indicate that something will happen in the future, it is possible to use three different auxiliaries:
luŋ which cannot be used as a main verb, ya which as a main verb means “go, move away from the
speaker”, and bi which as a main verb has the sense of “come, move towards the speaker”. Though
there might have been differences in the past, current speakers do not consistently differentiate.
24 aluŋ
a- luŋ
3S FUT
kaniw
ka-
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
IMPERF SER
"He will build the house"
25 aya
a- ya
3S FUT
kaniw
ka-
26 abi
a- bi
3 FUT
kaniw
ka-
IMPERF SER
‎"He will build the house"
IMPERF SER
‎"He will build the house"
The important common feature is that the lexical verb in the construction is marked with the prefix
k- “imperfective”. This is especially important because using bi without the imperfective marker
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gives the sense of something in the past.
27 abi
niw katoh
a- bi
niw ka- toh
3S PAST build C4S house
"He built the house"
For an explanation of why I have analysed ka- as k- a- in here and elsewhere, see section 6.2.2
below.
6.1.2.
Aspectual constructions
Some auxiliary constructions primarily express aspectual distinctions.
The auxiliary ji is used to denote a habitual aspect - defined by Comrie (1976:27) as “describing a
situation which is characteristic of an extended period of time” It will be glossed as HAB.
28 aji
a- ji
3S HAB
alemp
a- lemp
3S work
di
di
C10S LOC.PROX
"He works (all the time) in Dakar"
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Events that are ongoing at the time of speaking and where the focus is on the fact that they have not
finished are expressed with the auxiliary jon. This is referred to in some grammars as continuative,
to distinguish it from the more general continuous aspect, which is often also called the progressive
and which indicates that an event is ongoing without any other special focus.
29 ajon
a- jon
3S CONT
kalemp
kaIMPERF SER
lemp
work
"He's still working"
The progressive is indicated by an AVC which uses the verb wo which is otherwise normally
translated as “to be”.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
30 awo
a- wo
3S be
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
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ulemp
u- lemp
C3S work
"He's working (lit. he is in work)"
When one event follows on from another, the verb şë is used. I have labelled this as sequential,
glossed as SEQ. The amount of time between the two events is not significant, and in certain
situations can in fact be simultaneous.
31 aya
a- ya
3S go
Dakar ,
Dakar
Dakar
aşë
a- şë
SER SEQ
nug ŋţëb
nug ŋ- ţëb
buy C3P fish
"He went to Dakar and then bought some fish"
Focus on the beginning of the event is known as ingressive aspect (glossed INGR), and this is
indicated in Mankanya by using the verb do. (which phonologically becomes doo in the example
below. See section 6.2.4 for more explanation)
32 aya
a- ya
3S go
adoo
a- do
-o
SER INGR
ban
ban
arrive
ubeeka
u- beeka
C3S town
"He went, until he arrived at the town"
An event that is happening for a second time or is being done in addition to a previous action can be
indicated by using the verb kak as an auxiliary. This will be glossed as REP for repetitive.
33 akak
a- kak
3S REP
abi
a- bi
SER come
“He's coming back again” or “He's also coming”
The completive structure, focussing on the completion of an event, is different from the others in
that the auxiliary ba, which as a full verb has the sense “to finish”, is placed after the verb it is
modifying.
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34 ade
a- de
3S eat
ba
ba
CMPLTV
Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
daan
daan
drink
"He drank after he had eaten (Lit. he finished eating and then drank)"
I will not investigate this in detail, but it should be noted that this construction appears to be an areal
feature. Ndao comments that this is a feature borrowed from Upper Guinea Creole (Ndao
2011:183). This is supported by the fact that a post-verbal morpheme ba indicating anteriority is
described in Kihm's grammar of Upper Guinea Creole (1994:99–108)
6.1.3.
Modal constructions
Auxiliary constructions are also used to make modal distinctions.
The verb hinan (which appears in free variation with hilan) has the sense of “to be able to”. It
appears in two constructions, either with the infinitive prefix p- or with the imperfective k- and
serial a-.
When used with the infinitive marker p- generally has the more lexical meaning “to have the ability
to do something”.
35 ahinan
a- hina
3S be_able_to
"He can sing"
pyeeh
p- yeeh
INF sing
With the k- a- combination it has a more modal meaning. The exact sense depends on context,
ranging from a permissive “Let him do something”, to a more conditional “he could do something”.
36 ahinan
a- hina
3S be_able_to
kayeeh
kaIMPERF SER
yeeh
sing
"Let him sing"
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
37 ahinan
a- hina
3S be_able_to
kaŧokun
kaIMPERF SER
ŧok -un
ruin 1s.OBJ
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ulemp
u- lemp
C3S work
"He could ruin our work"
The verb wo, seen above in the progressive construction is also used in two related modal
constructions. Like hinan, the difference is in the prefixes on the lexical verb, either the infinitive por with the imperfective k- and serial a-. Both structure uses the genitive marker i-.
With the infinitive marker the sense is more obligative.
38 awo
a- wo
3S be
i
i
GEN
"He must work"
plemp
p- lemp
INF work
The k- a- combination once again gives a more indefinite sense.
39 awo
a- wo
3 be
i
i
kabi
k-
GEN
IMPERF SER
a-
bi
come
“He should be coming (if nothing has stopped him)”.
6.2. Individual constructions in more detail
6.2.1.
Past – bi
The verb bi “come” can be used as an auxiliary to indicate past tense in the following construction.
40 abi
niw katoh
a- bi
niw ka- toh
3S PAST build C4S house
(Repeat of example 27)
"He built the house"
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41 Ñiinţ
ñ- iinţ
C2S man
abi
a- bi
3S PAST
Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
ya
ya
go
du
d- u
EXT LOC.DIST
uŧaak
u- ŧaak
C3S country
unlowuŋ
u- nlow
-uŋ
C3S COREF be_apart SUB
"The man went to a far country (lit: a country that was far)"
The lexical verb in this structure is just a bare stem, without prefixes, and this is invariable.
This verb which is being used as an auxiliary in this structure has a lexical meaning of “come,
motion towards”.
42 uñiiŋ
u- ñiiŋ
C3S hyene
na
na
and
umaalu
u- maalu
C3S hare
ŋabi
ŋ- a- bi
C3P 3 come
“Hyena and Hare came and stood in the middle.”
anaţ
a- naţ
SER stand
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
pŧoof
p- ŧoof
C5S half
Note that in example 42 the verb following bi is not a bare stem, but is instead prefixed with a-, the
serial prefix.
However, when bi is used as an auxiliary in a structure where the subordinate marker -uŋ is needed,
the stem is now also prefixed by the serial marker a-. This would seem to indicate that the auxiliary
structure has developed from the serial structure and that the serial a- has been elided after the i of
bi.
43 Ul
ul
3S.SUBJ
abiiŋ
a- bi
-iŋ
3s PAST SUB
aya
a- ya
SER go
du
d- u
EXT LOC.DIST
Yeŧu
Yeŧu
Jesus
na
na
and
uŧejan
u- ŧejan
C3S nuit
"It was he who went to Jesus at night"
Further research is need to determine whether this structure could be ambiguous. In the above
example bi must be an auxiliary with past meaning, because it is being used with ya “go”, and that
is incompatible with the semantic component of motion within bi.
If the sentence was adapted to use instead the verb de “eat”, it would seem that this sentence could
mean either “It was he who came and ate the mango”, or “It was he who ate the mango”. This may
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be an example of Heine's “amphibious nature” of auxiliaries.
44 Ul
ul
3S.SUBJ
abiiŋ
a- bi
-iŋ
3S PAST SUB
ade
a- de
SER eat
pmaŋa
p- maŋa
C7S mango
"It was he who ate the mango"
45 Ul
ul
3S.SUBJ
abiiŋ
a- bi
-iŋ
3S come SUB
ade
a- de
SER eat
pmaŋa
p- maŋa
C7S mango
"It was he who came and ate the mango"
In the negative, the negative prefix is applied to the auxiliary bi.
46 Naala aambi
Naala a- am- bi
Nala
3S NEG PAST
buk
buk
produce
"Nala hadn't borne any children"
The grammaticalisation chain of a verb meaning “come” to a past tense marker is not uncommon. It
occurs in French:
47 Je
1S.SUB
viens
come.PRES
de
from
manger
to_eat
"I just ate"
and in other languages e.g. Yoruba (Heine and Kuteva 2002:73)
48 O
he
ti
come:out
lɔ
go
"He has gone".
6.2.2.
Future tense – luŋ, ya, bi
As noted in section 6.1.1 above there are three different auxiliaries that can be used to indicate
future time: luŋ, ya, and bi. However, all three are used in the same structure.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
I will start with the structure that uses luŋ.
49 aluŋ
a- luŋ
3S FUT
kaniw
ka-
niw
build
IMPERF SER
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
(repeat of example 24)
"He will build the house"
Let us first look at the lexical verb, which in this structure has the form kaniw. This is the stem niw
“build” plus some prefixes. These prefixes are invariable. I have analysed these as k- “imperfective”
and a- “serial”, but an alternative might seem to be the class 4 singular prefix ka-. Firstly, it is not
unexpected to find an imperfective prefix used with the future as a future act is clearly not yet
complete. Secondly when luŋ is used with the word woli “when”, the k- is dropped, though the
future sense remains.
50 ... woli naluŋ
woli
na- luŋ
when 2p FUT
dakmbiiŋ
da- kmC10S 3S IMPERF COREF
aya
a- ya
SER go
ŋrisiya ţi
dmaas
ŋrisiya ţ- i
dmaas
church INT LOC.PROX Sunday
ŋya
na
baka
bi
-iŋ ŋ- ya na
baka
come SUB 1P go and C2P.OBJ
"..when you go to church this Sunday, we will go with you"
Why this should be needs further research, but it at least indicates that either there are two prefixes
k- and a- or that ka- has been replaced by a-. If ka- were the class 4 singular nominal prefix then awould also be expected to be a nominal prefix, the singular prefix of class 1. However that prefix is
only used elsewhere on a very small group of kinship terms, e.g. aşin “father”, so it seems unlikely.
A further argument against an analysis of ka- here is, though ka- is used to create nominals (see
section 4.3), it is only used with certain stems. For example, lemp “work” does not forms a nominal
with ka- but with the class 3 prefixes u- and ŋ-, e.g. ulemp. However, when is used in the future
construction with luŋ it still takes k- and a-.
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
51 aluŋ
a- luŋ
3S FUT
kalemp
kaIMPERF SER
lemp
work
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faan
faan
tomorrow
"He will work tomorrow"
Turning now to the auxiliary luŋ, it no longer exists as an independent lexical verb. It is therefore
furthest along the grammaticalisation chain from lexical verb to functional affix than the other
auxiliaries I investigate in this dissertation. In that sense it is the most like a prototypical auxiliary
verb, and is probably the oldest of the three future forms. What it might have developed from is not
clear. One possibility is that it might have originated from a verb terminated with the subordinating
suffix -uŋ. A candidate for this could be la “look for”, which inherently has a semantic component
of incompleteness. There is a similar notion of futurity in the English expression “looking to do
something” as in “I'm looking to work in the field of linguistics”. la and uŋ could have combined to
form luuŋ which then shortened to luŋ. Evidence in favour of this possibility is that when used in a
situation where the -uŋ suffix would normally be used, e.g. in a relative clause, luŋ does not take
this suffix.
52 Unuur
u- nuur
C3S day
wi
w- i
C3S GEN
akluŋ
a- kluŋ
3S IMPERF fut
kakeţ
kaIMPERF SER
"The day when he will die"
keţ
die
Compare this to another verb that ends with uŋ - juŋ “cook”
53 kapoom
ka- poom
C4S bread
ki
k- i
C4S GEN
ajuŋuŋ
a- juŋ -uŋ
3S cook SUB
"The bread that she had baked"
Another possibility is found in the fact that uŋ also exists as a distal demonstrative stem. Spatial
distance is sometimes a metaphor for temporal distance – compare, for example, the English
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
expression “in the far future”.
However, neither of these grammaticalisation chains are documented in Heine and Kuteva (2002).
The second future auxiliary structure that I will look at is that which is formed by using ya as an
auxiliary.
54 aya
a- ya
3S FUT
kaniw
kaIMPERF SER
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
(repeat of example 25)
‎"He will build the house"
The lexical meaning of ya is “go, move away from the speaker”
55 Bantohi
ba- ntohi
C2P elder
baya
ba- ya
3P go
untabanka
u- ntabanka
C3S village
“The elders are going to the village”
However it can also be used with a verbal complement, a stem with the infinitive p- prefix, with the
sense of going somewhere with the purpose of doing something.
56 Şompi
Şompi
Shompi
aya
a- ya
3S go
pyit
p- yit
INF meet
aşin
a- şin
C1S father
"Shompi is going to meet his father"
This is like some uses of the English “is going to do something” construction, e.g. the response to
“Where's Tim going?” “He's going to buy a newspaper”. This is part of the way along the path from
a lexical verb to a TAM marker. The idea of motion away is still present (the English example just
cited would not make sense if Tim was not just leaving), but the event of buying is clearly in the
future.
The grammaticalisation of verbs meaning “go” into future auxiliaries and other markers of the
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future is attested in many languages. Here are a couple of examples
57 Zulu (Heine and Kuteva 2002:163)
a baya
ba- ya
3:PL- go
eGoli
eGoli
LOC- Johannesburg
“They are going to Johannesburg”
b bayakufika
ba- ya- ku- fika
3:PL- go INF arrive
“They will arrive”
58 Igbo (Heine and Kuteva 2002:164)
a ó gà àbyá
he go come:NOMIN
“He's going to come”
The third way of indicating future is with the verb bi as an auxiliary.
59 abi
a- bi
3 FUT
kaniw
kaIMPERF SER
niw
build
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
(Repeat of example 26)
‎"He will build the house"
As seen in section 6.2.1, this verb has a lexical meaning of “come, motion towards”.
The grammaticalisation chain of a verb with the sense of “come” into a future tense marker is, like
go, not unusual. Here are some further examples from Heine and Kuteva:
60 Bambara (Heine and Kuteva 2002:76)
a ù
tɛ
nà
3:PL NEG:AUX come
“They didn't come”
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
b à
ná sà
3:SG FUT die
“He will die” (=everyone has to die someday)
61 Zulu (Heine and Kuteva 2002:77)
a ngiyeza
ngi- ye- za
1:SG- ?- come
“I'm coming”
b uzakufika
uzaku- fika
2:SG- come INF arrive
“He'll arrive”2
It is interesting that Zulu uses both come and go, za- and ya- for future markers like Mankanya.
According to information in Heine and Kuteva, za- refers to immediate future and ya- to remote
future. The Mankanya speakers I have asked do not seem to be able to make a similar distinction
between the three different auxiliaries used to form the future in their language. Some mention the
motion component in ya and bi. Others have the intuition that ya and bi refer to nearer future than
luŋ. However there seems to be no consistent distinction.
It would seem fairly unusual for bi to have grammaticalised both as a future auxiliary and as a past
auxiliary. The fact that bi as a past auxiliary seems to have developed along the chain abi ade >
(abii de ?) > abi de might indicate that the process of changing to the past marker has been going
on for some time. This would in turn suggest that bi as a future marker is a more recent innovation.
Further research is needed, including a comparison with related and neighbouring languages, to be
more certain.
When used in the negative, all the future structures have the negative prefix on the auxiliary.
2
This is the translation given in Heine and Kuteva, though if the gloss is correct it should be “You'll arrive”
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
62 pşih
p- şih
C7S kingdom/throne
kaba
ka- ba
IMPERF SER finish
pi
p- i
C7S GEN
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nul
nul
3S.POSS
paankluŋ
p- a- an- kluŋ
C7S 3 NEG IMPERF FUT
"His kingdom will not end"
63 baankya
b- a- an- kya
C6S 3 NEG IMPERF FUT
kaŧoka
kaIMPERF SER
ŧok
-a
break PSV
da
da
C10S 3.OBJ
"They will not be ruined there"
64 aankbi
a- an- kbi
3S NEG IMPERF FUT
kaţënk
kaIMPERF SER
"He is not going to help them"
ţënk
help
baka
baka
C2P.OBJ
Note also, that in the negative, these future structures require the imperfective k- on the auxiliary.
Compare this to the negative version of the past use of bi in example 46.
Another interesting thing is that example 63 is passive, and the passive suffix is attached to the
lexical verb.
When these structures are used in a situation that requires the -uŋ suffix, for example a relative
clause, it is the auxiliary ya or bi that takes the suffix (as noted above luŋ does not take this suffix)
and requires a k- prefix, but the lexical verb still takes the k- and a- prefixes. For example:
65 Baţi
ba- ţi
3P be_afraid_of
kado
ka- do
IMPERF SER do
uko
u- ko
C3S thing
wi
w- i
C3S GEN
bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
"They were afraid of what the people would do"
33
bakbiiŋ
ba- kbi -iŋ
3P IMPERF FUT SUB
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6.2.3.
Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
Habitual – ji
The habitual construction uses the verb ji, which when used lexically means “to say”.
66 woli baţij
pde
baji
woli
ba- ţij
p- de
ba- ji
when 3P bring c7s meal 3P say
”
pi
pi
p- i
p- i
C7S DEM.PROX C7S DEM.PROX
“ pde
p- de
C7S meal
pi
p- i
C7S GEN
bayaanţ
ba- yaanţ
C2P stranger
“When they brought the meal they said 'This is the strangers' meal' ”
It can also be used as a quotative marker with other speech verbs.
67 Kë bangooli
başë
ŧeema
kë ba- ngooli ba- şë
ŧeem -a
DS C2P soldier 3P SEQ reply 3.OBJ
ankuŋiiŋ
pdunk
a- nkuŋ
-i -iŋ p- dunk
3S COREF be_burdened PSV SUB C5S pot
abi
bi
pla
meel
a- bi
bi
p- la
meel
SER come come INF seek water
aji
nayaanţ
aloŋ
a- ji
na- yaanţ
a- loŋ
SER say C2S stranger C1S INDEF
akbiiŋ
aşë
yeeh ,
a- kbi
-iŋ a- şë
yeeh
3S IMPERF come SUB SER SEQ sing
“The soliders responded that a stranger carrying a pot was coming along singing, and he
was coming to look for water”
This grammaticalisation chain from the verb “to say” to an auxiliary giving the habitual meaning is
not documented in Heine and Kuteva (2002), and so may be unusual.
A feature of the habitual which is different from all the other AVCs in Mankanya is that the lexical
verb agrees with the subject. In addition the prefixes used are an unusual set. With any non-human
subject, and with 1st, 2nd and 3rd plural human subjects, the lexical verb takes the same subject
prefixes as the auxiliary, that is to say the normal verb prefixes. For example:
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
68 Bniim
b- niim
C6S marriage
baji
b- a- ji
C6S 3 HAB
Tim Gaved 576800
batan
b- a- tan
C6S 3 secure
na
na
and
uwit
u- wit
C3S cow
waaţ
w- aaţ
C3S female
"The marriage is normally secured with a cow."
However, for singular human subjects a different set is used. For 1st person singular human subjects
the lexical verb takes the prefix ka-. This seems to be different to the combination of k“imperfective” and a- “serial” found in other constructions, in that in those constructions the k- a- is
invariable as regards the person, number and class of the subject. Also apart from the invariable
serial a-, everywhere else a- is associated with the 3rd person subjects. It also unlikely to be the class
4 singular prefix ka-, which would also be very unusual if attached only to the 1st person singular.
A 2nd person singular human subject takes the prefix k-. For similar reasons to those stated above
this seems to be different from the imperfective k-.
For 3rd person singular subjects the lexical verb takes no prefix.
Using ka- for 1st person singular, and k- for 2nd person singular is also attested in a different
structure. That is in a clause following a clause introduced by woli, where the second cause depends
on the condition of the first clause.
69 Woli uunwo
woli u- un- wo
if
C3S NEG be
,
“If it is not so, I will know.”
kame
kame
1s_HAB know
70 Woli iwo
naşih
woli i- wo na- şih
if
2S be C2S chief
“If you are the king, tell us.”
,
kţupun
kţup
-un
2S_HAB announce 1P.OBJ
I can see no relationship between the two structures. I suggest that these are maybe traces of a
historical system of prefixes. It is interesting that Karlik notes that one of the prefix sets in Manjaku
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also has ka- and k- (Karlik 1972:266). This seems to parallel the Mankanya usage with woli, but not
that of the habitual.
In the negative, it is the auxiliary ji that takes the negative prefix. Note that unlike the future
negative structures, the imperfective prefix k- is not required.
71 Unuur
u- nuur
C3S day
ji
ji
like
wuŋ
w- uŋ
C3S DEM.DIST
waanji
w- a- an- ji
C3S 3 NEG HAB
uţilma
u- ţilma
C3S forget
"A day like that will not be forgotten"
If the habitual auxiliary ji is used with the -uŋ subordinate marker, they combine in an unusual way
to form jaaŋ. For example:
72 Ajaaŋ
a- ja -aŋ
3S HAB SUB
ajuŋ
a- juŋ
3S cook
“It is she who does the cooking.”
In no other place in Mankanya do /i/ and /ʊ/ combine to form /aa/. More usually the -uŋ added to
stem ending in i results in a long vowel. For example with the verb bi to come.
73 Naala awo
Naala a- wo
Nala
3S be
wo
wo
be
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
ŋwooni
ŋ- wooni
C3P tears
wi
wi
whilst
Dama abiiŋ
Dama a- bi
-iŋ
Dama 3S come SUB
“Naala was crying when Dama came”
This maybe an indication that the verb was originally ja.
The other thing to note in example 72 is that now the lexical verb has the prefix a-. This is similar
behaviour to the lexical verb used with the past auxiliary bi in example 43.
6.2.4.
Ingressive – do
The verb do is used in an AVC to give an ingressive aspect, an emphasis on the beginning of the
action or state described by the verb. It can be followed either by a bare verbal stem or by a stem
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prefixed by k- “imperfective” and a- “serial”.
The verb do has the lexical meaning of “to do, to make”.
74 ado
a- do
3S do
uko
u- ko
C3S thing
ji
ji
like
ŋşubal
ŋ- şubal
C3P year
ŋtëb
ŋ- tëb
C3P two
ŋwajënţ
ŋ- wajënţ
C3P three
“He does this thing for two or three years...”
75 Ddo
d- do
1S do
bane
bane
last_year
uniw
u- niw
C3S wall
afoyan
a- foy
-an
SER encircle CAUS
"Last year I built a wall around my house."
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
naan
naan
1S.GEN
Heine and Kuteva (2002) do not document this as a grammaticalisation chain.
When used with a bare stem, do becomes doo. This seems to indicate that the underlying form is in
fact do followed by the stem prefixed with the a- “serial” prefix, and that there has been an
assimilation of the a- to produce a long o.
76 kë
kë
DS
bantohi
ba- ntohi
C2P elder
badoo
ba- do -o
3P INGR
win kë
win kë
see DS
Nabanka Biyagi apel
Nabanka Biyagi a- pel
Nabanka Biyagi 3S be_more
baka
baka
C2P.OBJ
"The elders came to see that Nabanka Biyagi was stronger than them"
This analysis is confirmed when do is used in a subordinate clause and is therefore followed by -uŋ
(which phonologically becomes -oŋ). The a- prefix on the stem is now reveals itself.
77 Tenan
, Naala ,
ten
-an
Naala
look_at IMP
Nala
awo
naţaf
awo
a- wo na- ţaf
a- wo
3S be C2S elderly 3S be
i
i
nayiţuŋ
na- yiţ
-uŋ
GEN 2P be_related_to SUB
kak
na
kayiŋ
kak
na
ka- yiŋ
again and C4S stomach
,
andooŋ
a- ndo -oŋ
3S COREF INGR SUB
"Look, Naala, your relative, who has reached old age, is also pregnant"
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This construction can sometimes have the sense of “even” as in the following example:
78 Ŋko
ŋi
uţeeh
ŋabi
bŧi pmaar
ŋ- ko
ŋ- i
u- ţeeh ŋ- a- bi
bŧi p- maar
C3P animals C3P gen C3S field C3P 3s come all
INF be_present
wa
kë umaalu
umpokuŋ
ulemp
udoo
bi
w- a
kë u- maalu u- mpok
-uŋ u- lemp u- do -o bi
C3S 3.OBJ DS C3S hare
C3S COREF refuse SUB C3S work C3S INGR
came
.
"All the wild animals came to witness it, even Hare who had refused to work came"
When used with the imperfective k- on the stem, the meaning is generally “in order to”
79 apën
a- pën
3S go_out
bŧi
bŧi
all
ado
a- do
kadu
k-
SER INGR
IMPERF
a- du
3S call
kë
kë
DS
ŋko
ŋ- ko
c3p animals
ŋi
ŋ- i
c3p GEN
uţeeh
u- ţeeh
C3S field
"He went out, in order to call all the wild animals"
In some contexts it can indicate that an action or state is going start immediately.
80 Naţoon
,
ţi
na
un
na- ţo -on ţ- i
na
un
2P sit IMP INT LOC.PROX and 1P.SUBJ
, nafëţ
wi
nan
na
un
w- i
nan
na- fëţ
na
un
C3S GEN 2P.POSS
2P dwell and 1P.SUBJ
naŋali
na- ŋal -i
2P like PERF
uŧaak
wi
uwo
u- ŧaak
w- i
u- wo
C3S country C3S GEN C3S be
nado
kapoş
jibi
na- do
ka- poş
jibi
2P INGR IMPERF SER walk like
"Stay with us, this country is yours, live with us, walk where you want"
In the negative, it is the auxiliary do that takes the negative prefix. When the lexical verb is prefixed
with the imperfective k- then do also requires k-.
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81 Bakale
uko
udo
baankdo
ba- ka
-le
u- ko
u- do ba- an- kdo
3P have IRLS C3S thing C3S do 3P NEG IMPERF INGR
ŋţup
ŋi
ŋţilan
ŋuŋ
ŋ- ţup
ŋ- i
ŋ- ţilan ŋ- uŋ
C3P speech C3P GEN C3P lie
C3P DEM.DIST
kaŧiink
kaIMPERF SER
ŧiink
hear
"If they have this thing to do, then they will not listen to those lies"
82 Baluk
bi
kli
bakreŋ baandoo
ba- luk
b- i
kli
bakreŋ b- a- an- do -o
C6S payment C6S GEN C5P.DEF moon EIGHT
C6S 3 NEG INGR
këş
pa
ñaaŋ
andoli
ayeenk
bnduŋ
këş
pa
ñaaŋ
a- ndoli a- yeenk
b- nduŋ
be_enough in_order_to person C1S each 3S receive C6S bit
"Eight months wages would not be enough for each person to have a bit (of food)"
6.2.5.
Progressive, Obligative and Epistemic – wo
The verb wo is used in three AVCs, to express progressive aspect, and obligative and epistemic
modality.
The verb wo, when not used in an AVC is normally translated by “to be”, and is used in existential
and descriptive clauses.
83 katim
ka- tim
C4S name
naan
naan
1s.GEN
kawo
k- a- wo
C4S 3 be
Naala
Naala
Nala
"My name is Naala"
84 Naweek
awo
Dama aşë
wo aannuura
ţi
na- week
a- wo Dama a- şë
wo a- an- nuura
ţ- i
C2S elder_sibling 3S be
Dama SER SEQ be 3S NEG be_good INT LOC.PROX
, natëbënţën
bten
awooŋ
nanuura
maakan awo
Naala
b- ten
na- tëb -ënţën a- wo -oŋ na- nuura
maakan a- wo Naala
C6S looks
C2S two ORD
3S be SUB C2S beauty very
3S be Nala
"The eldest was Dama who was not beautiful to look at; it was the second who was a great
beauty, she was called Naala"
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The AVC used to describe the progressive aspect uses wo ţi and then usually the infinitive form of
the verb. The word ţi is a preposition meaning “inside something near”. So the literal sense of this
structure is to be “in the doing of something”.
85 Dwo
d- wo
1s be
wa
w- a
C3S 3.OBJ
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
pboman
p- boman
INF make
uniw
u- niw
C3S wall
kë
kë
DS
ukaaru
u- kaaru
C3S car
uşë
u- şë
C3S SEQ
jotna
jotna
dive
awat
a- wat
SER bring_down
"‎I‎ was building the wall when the car knocked it down."
86 Kë bantohi
bawo
ţi
kë ba- ntohi ba- wo ţ- i
DS C2P elder
3P be INT LOC.PROX
mënţan wuŋ
baŧum
mënţan w- uŋ
ba- ŧum
that
C3S DEM.DIST C2P many
plaţar
p- laţ
-ar
INF contradict RCP
wal
w- al
C3S moment
"And during that time many of the elders were in discussion"
Sometimes an action nominal is preferred instead of the infinitive, and the most frequent occurrence
of this is with lemp “work”, where the noun ulemp is preferred to the infinitive plemp.
87 Dama awo
Dama a- wo
Dama 3S be
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
ulemp
u- lemp
C3S work
"Dama is working"
This structure does not appear in the negative in my data.
Two other AVCs use wo in conjunction with the genitive marker i. They seem to express alethic and
epistemic modality. Alethic modality indicates that something must be done because it is required,
or because it is a logical necessity. It is illustrated in the English sentence “If you swim underwater
then you must take a big breath first”. Epistemic modality indicates more that the speaker believes
something should happen. This is illustrated in English by “He should be coming as he told me
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
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yesterday that he would come”. The two AVCs differ in that alethic modality is expressed using the
infinitive prefix p-, whereas epistemic modality is expressed with the stem prefixed by the k“imperfective” and a- “serial” prefixes.
88 Ddo
bane
uniw
d- do bane
u- niw
1s do last_year C3S wall
wo i
pwat
wa
wo i
p- wat
wbe GEN INF bring_down C3S
afoyan
katoh
a- foy
-an
ka- toh
3S encircle CAUS C4S house
hënkuŋ .
a
hënkuŋ
3.OBJ now
naan
naan
1s.GEN
aşë
a- şë
SER SEQ
"Last year I built a wall around my house, but this year I have to knock it down."
89 Kë woli iwo
i
pya
ţiki
kë woli i- wo i
p- ya ţiki
DS if
2s be GEN INF go because_(of)
...
şaaş
şaaş
your_father
"If you must go because you miss your father's house.."
90 Iko
i- ko
C4P thing
mënţ iwo
mënţ i- wo
that
2S be
yi
y- i
C4P gen
inuh
i- nuh
2s miss
kawo
kaIMPERF SER
katoh
ka- toh
C4S house
ki
k- i
C4S GEN
.
wo
be
"These things must happen"
However this distinction is not all that clear, and further research is needed to clarify the situation.
The i after the wo agrees with the subject of wo for non-human subjects (see example 90 above). I
have analysed it as the genitive marker even though this is an unusual place for it (it is usually
between two nominals).
However in some situations it does occur in that position:
91 Baji
ba- ji
3P say
meel
meel
water
muŋ
m- uŋ
C9 DEM.DIST
"They said that this water is theirs"
manwo
man- wo
C9
be
41
mi
m- i
C9 GEN
baka
baka
C2P.OBJ
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Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
There are two other possibilities analytical possibilities, either the demonstrative i and or a new
homophonous particle. I rule out the first as I have no evidence of the demonstrative in that
position. For the second, it seems to unnecessarily complicate the system when an existing particle
has already been identified as being used in that position.
In the negative, the auxiliary wo takes the negative prefix.
92 Ñaaŋ
aloŋ
aanwo
i
kame
ñaaŋ
a- loŋ
a- an- wo i
ka- me
person C1S INDEF 3S NEG be GEN IMPERF SER whether
ţi
dko
di
ţ- i
dko
di
INT LOC.PROX C10S place C10S DEM.PROX
kë
kë
DS
abi
a- bi
3S come
"No-one must know that someone has come to this place"
Similarly when used in a relative clause, it is the auxiliary wo that takes the subordinate suffix -uŋ
93 uko
u- ko
C3S thing
wi
w- i
C3S GEN
bawooŋ
ba- wo -oŋ
3P be SUB
i
i
kado
k-
GEN
IMPERF SER
"The thing they must do"
42
a-
do
do
Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
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7. Complex Auxiliary Verb Constructions
Auxiliaries can be combined to give create more complex AVCs.
A common combination is the ingressive do followed by the past bi. This gives a combined
meaning that is translated by the English adverb “already”. The emphasis is on the fact that the start
of the event has happened in the past. If the semantics of the verb describe an action, then the action
is understood to be complete.
94 Bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
mënţ ado
mënţ a- do
that
3S do
bi
bi
PAST
"These people he had already chosen."
95 Bado
ba- do
3P INGR
bi
bi
PAST
wo
wo
be
dat
dat
choose
baristoŋ
ba- ristoŋ
C2P Christian
ţi
ţ-
dat
dat
choose
i
INT LOC.PROX
baka
baka
C2P.OBJ
.
ŋrisiya evanjelik
ŋrisiya evanjelik
church Evangelical
"They were already Christians in the Evangelical church"
If the root is prefixed by the k- “imperfective” and a- “serial” prefixes, then, as expected, the event
is not complete and is still ongoing.
96 Ŋme
ŋ- me
1P know
na
na
and
manjoonan
ma- njoonan
C9 truth
kë
kë
DS
nado
na- do
2p INGR
"We really know that you are already doing this"
bi
bi
kado
k-
PAST
IMPERF SER
a-
do
do
haŋ
haŋ
DEM
The order of auxiliaries is fixed; the ingressive do must proceed the past bi. Inverting the order
gives an ungrammatical sentence, or sentence with a different meaning. For example:
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97 ţiki
abi
kado
ţiki
a- bi
ka- do
because_(of) 3S PAST IMPERF SER INGR
pa
pfiŋa
pa
p- fiŋ -a
in_order_to INF kill 3S.OBJ
karab
kaIMPERF SER
rab
search_out
napoţ
na- poţ
C2S child
"... because he was going to start looking for the child in order to kill him"
When the do bi combination is used in a subordinate clause, for example a relative clause, it is the
ingressive do which takes the subordinate marker -uŋ (which phonologically changes to -oŋ).
98 ... kë
kë
DS
bakak
ba- kak
3P REP
bandooŋ
ba- ndo
3P COREF INGR
awo
a- wo
SER be
abi
-oŋ a- bi
SUB
SER
bukal
batëb
bŧi
bukal
ba- tëb bŧi
3P.SUBJ C2P two all
ţaf
ţaf
ţaf
ţaf
PAST grow_old grow_old
bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
"They were also, both of them, already very old."
It is interesting that in this situation, the past bi is now preceded by the serial prefix a-. This would
seem to indicate again that the structure has developed from a serial verb structure. However in the
simple form do bi is not doo bi, as in example 76 where do is used on its own as an ingressive. This
suggests that do bi has undergone a further step of grammaticalisation towards becoming a single
word dobi. This process can be seen in English in the development of the Modern English word
“because” from the two words in Middle English “by cause”. Further evidence to strengthen this
proposition is that many newly literate Mankanya will write do bi as dobi.
In the negative it is the first auxiliary do that takes the negative marker.
99 Baando
ba- an- do
3P NEG INGR
bi
bi
PAST
wata
wat
-a
bring_down 3S.OBJ
wal
w- al
C3S moment
"They had not yet at that time put him in prison"
44
mënţ ukalabuş
mënţ u- kalabuş
that
C3S prison
Auxiliary Verb Constructions in Mankanya
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The sequential marker şë is always the first auxiliary when used in combination with other
auxiliaries.
100 kë
kë
DS
unŧaayi
u- nŧaayi
C3S spirit
uşë
u- şë
C3S SEQ
do
do
bi
bi
INGR
PAST
neej
neej
enter
ţi
ţ-
i
INT LOC.PROX
Şompi
Şompi
Shompi
".. but the spirit had already entered Shompi"
101 Kë
kë
DS
bañaaŋ
ba- ñaaŋ
C2P person
baŧum
ba- ŧum
C2P many
başë
ba- şë
3P SEQ
ji
ji
HAB
"And many people kept coming to where he was"
baya
ba- ya
3P go
du
d- u
EXT LOC.DIST
a
a
3.OBJ
The habitual ji proceeds do and bi.
102 aloŋ
a- loŋ
C1S INDEF
aji
a- ji
do
do
bi
bi
SER HAB
INGR
PAST
banën
ban
-ën
arrive CAUS
da
da
C10S 3.OBJ
uŧeek
u- ŧeek
C3S first
"Someone always gets there first"
However I have also found this example where the ingressive do precedes the habitual
103 ido
i- do
2S INGR
kaji
k-
a-
ji
IMPERF SER HAB
"You should come regularly"
kaluŋ
kabi
kaluŋ ka- bi
2S.HAB FUT IMPERF SER come
So it seems that the order of the auxiliaries is not completely fixed, and some can be moved to
create different nuances. Further research is needed in this area.
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8. Conclusion
In this dissertation, I have attempted to increase the amount of published description of the
Mankanya language by looking at one small part of the language, that of auxiliary verb
constructions. This is interesting for Mankanya, because it is the main way that tense, aspect and
mode distinctions are made.
Due to lack of space I was not able to cover all of the auxiliaries used in Mankanya, but those that I
did describe showed a range of structures, and a range of functions.
I have shown that the most common structure is for the auxiliary to be first, followed by a lexical
verb. It is the auxiliary that agrees with the subject, and takes negative and subordinate affixes when
appropriate. The lexical verb generally does not agree with the subject (apart from the case of the
habitual), but may, according to the semantics of the structure, take the imperfective prefix. There
have also been examples of the passive suffix on the lexical verb.
There are many avenues for further research, even within this fairly restricted part of the language.
Firstly, taking the three future auxiliaries, a closer look at their variation across speakers would be
interesting. Are older speakers more likely to use the apparently older future auxiliary luŋ? Is there
any regional variation about which auxiliary is used? Is there a tendency to use different auxiliaries
for different temporal distances? Such a study would ideally be based on a large language corpus,
but as it is unlikely that would be feasible, other methods would need to be considered. One
possibility might be some of sort of controlled story telling along the lines of the Pear Story (Chafe
1980).
Further investigation is needed on structures that use the word woli, which is usually translated “if”
or “when”. In this context, the future auxiliary structures seem not to need the imperfective k-, and
the unusual agreement prefixes found with the habitual ji are also found with woli.
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Another area of research would be to investigate the scope of auxiliaries. The examples in this
dissertation are all of structures where there is only one lexical verb. However, Mankanya allows
serial clause chaining – so how do auxiliaries work in that context? Is the scope of the auxiliary the
whole clause chain or something less?
Finally, more comparison with the closely related languages Manjaku and Pepel, and with other
neighbouring languages would be interesting. This might give clues to the diachronic development
of some of the auxiliaries, and also help to determine which things might be genetic features of the
group, and which might be areal features.
The Mankanya language lacks a full grammatical description. I hope this dissertation makes a small
contribution towards the goal of achieving that.
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9. Bibliography
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Problems. Cambridge University Press.
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10. Appendix – Abbreviations used in glosses
C
class
INT
internal
CAUS
causative
IRLS
irrealis
COMPLTV
completive
LOC
locative
CONT
continuative
NEG
negative
COREF
coreference
OBJ
object
DEM
demonstrative
ORD
ordinal
DIST
distal
P
plural
DS
different subject
PAST
past
EXT
external
PERF
perfective
FUT
future
POSS
possessive
GEN
genitive
PROX
proximal
HAB
habitual
PSV
passive
IMP
imperative
RCP
reciprocal
IMPERF
imperfective
S
singular
INDEF
indefinite
SEQ
sequential
INF
infinitive
SER
serial
INGR
ingressive
SUB
subordinate
50