Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

mwa-sotok-el-a mu-chifunda
2pl.cmpl-jump-appl-fv cl18(loc)-cl7.circle
‘you jumped into the circle’ (ZT2009Elic77.CM, stimuli)
c. mwàsòtàwùkìlá mùchífùndà
mwa-sot-awu-k-el-a
mu-chifunda
2pl.cmpl-jump-iter-appl-fv cl18(loc)-cl7.circle
‘you jumped up and down inside the circle’ (ZT2009Elic77.CM, stimuli)
Causative: -is- and -i- (with consonant mutation) Totela has two causative extensions,
-is- (with no mid-height vowel harmony) and -i-, which triggers somewhat complex
processes of consonant mutation. These two patterns can be traced back to Proto-Bantu
*-ici- and *-i-, respectively. The lack of harmony may be attributed to the vowel’s origin as
high *-i- in PB; suffixes such as the applicative, which descended from *-IC- PB extensions
do harmonize (see also Bostoen 2008:313). The -is- causative is illustrated in (55). It appears
to be the more productive extension synchronically, and can be used with a variety of
roots.
(55) -is-: no vowel harmony
a. Following a
òkúswànìsà
òkú-swàn-ìs-à
inf-resemble-caus-fv
‘to draw’ (> to make resemble)
b. Following e
òkùsèkìsà
òkù-sèk-ìs-à
inf-laugh-caus-fv
‘to make laugh’
Table 2.24 shows the -i- causative and some examples of the complex consonant mutation
processes it triggers. This extension may still be productive, but appears to be losing ground
to the more regular -is- causative.
As can be seen in table 2.24 and the above examples, the causative has a variety of
meanings, some of which have been lexicalized (e.g. -wula ‘buy’ and -wuzya ‘sell’), although
the compositional semantics are still fairly transparent. In addition to meaning ‘to make or
cause (X) to do Y’, the causative can also be used as an instrumental (56), an intensive (57),
and with the meaning ‘to help (X) do Y’ (58). Causative extension meanings are dependent
on both context and the verb root to which they attach.
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