A Grammar of Miya - UCLA Department of Linguistics

304 A Grammar of Miya
mon kUwa zuw-aa aa magirbi
I-Pf harvest sorghum-pIn with hoe
man kUwa zUw aa njg
a dam aatSffi aa bazakway
Pf do singing with harp
ndilwul baa dO, diya sap;m aa fiy
pot that Pf cook tuwo with it
'I harvested sorghum with a hoe'
'I harvested sorghum with it'
'he sang with a harp'
'the pot that she cooked tuwo with (it)'
mgn aa-taa diy-ilws aa16 Nayra vaatla 'he owes me 1'15.00'
I Ipf follow-him with Naira five ('I am following him with 1'15.00')
dO, danga-tl(a) aa yaaree aa vana mfy 'they spoke to her in the Miya language'
Sjn speak-to her with language with mouth Miya
kwaa biy bay-tla haa-tlgn ka, dO, dama 'am-a aa nja
when Prt take-her place-their when Sjn 00 wife-pIn with her
'when they take her home, they make a wife out of her'
1.6. Comitatives: prepositions 'anda' or 'afda'
1.6.1. Simple comitatives. Comitative phrases use the prepositions ',nda' or ' ,fda',
which are completely interchangeable. They both have a final floating L, which replaces
the tone of the following domain (3:§4). These same prepositions conjoin noun phrasesl7
See 10:§6 for discussion of this function as well as examples of the effect of the floating L
and a note on the historical origin of the two fonns. Phrases with 'anaa' or 'ajda' can be
used as simple adjunct phrases meaning 'in the company of, with'. Pronominal objects use
the independent pronouns (8:§1.1).
a 'ar(a) ee-wutay 'gnaa nly azak-uwsa 'he will prepare (beer) with his uncles'
Ft prepare at-one with &Co uncle-his
a dam aacam 'gnaa tuly 'he did work with us'
Pf do work with us
jee dgnga-y(a) aa yaaree ';,iaa fiy
then speak-to him with language with him
'they spoke in (their native) language with him'
16The H on the preposition may be explained by LOW RAISING, which raises the first syllable of a L
domain after L if the L domain does not begin in a voiced obstruent-3:§3.4.
17Note that Miya uses different markers for the conjoining function ('and' and comitative 'with') and
instrumental 'with'. In a text from one speaker (a young man), I did find some examples of what appears to
be instrumental aa used in conjoining and comitative functions, e.g. aa Mamman aa Laoee da var-dy
aavuwdgwahfy 'both (aa) Mamman and (aa) Labe ran off to the town', I-da d'ama awree aa Laoee 'he will
marry Labe' (he wiU do marriage with (aa) Labe). This same speaker used 'fmda' in this function as well
(examples in §§1.6.1-2 which include the name Mdmman are from the same text). No speakers ever used
'?mda' or 'afda' in the instrumental function.
11. The Syntax of Simplex Clauses (§§1.4-J3)
jOe tl-uwsa ';,iaa'an tuwso 'Maa wiltlamfy niywasa J8 gan tiy
then arise-ICP with wne his and children his even him
'then he sets out with his wife and children and himself included'
nja d-aa-taa (a)tavi da gama 'anaa Manunan
she da-Ct traveling Sjn meet with Mamman
'she was traveling along and she met up with Manunan'
ganaa ZUW-YYITl a-kan 'gmm wun mrn
Hrt-me leave-you (fs) Lac-home with daughter your (fs)
'let me leave you (fs) at home with your daughter'
1.6.2. Asymmetric coordination. When two referents are engaged in a single
activity, Miya is like many other Chadic languages in preferring a construction referred to
in Schwartz (1989) as "asymmetric coordination". In this construction type, a plural
pronoun appears in the appropriate functional position (usually subject, direct object, or
indirect object), then the name of one of the referents or a singular pronoun referring to one
of the referents appears in a comitative phrase. This structure takes the following
interpretation, where X and Y are single individuals, not groups:
... Pronoun[plural = X + Yj ... ',naa Y
... XandY ...
Pronouns for the plural and comitative phrases are chosen as follows:
• The plural pronoun will be first person if the speaker is included, it will be second
person if the addressee but not the speaker is included, and it will be third person
otherwise.
• If either one of the referents is third person, the comitative phrase will have a third
person singular pronoun.
• If one of the referents is first person and the other one second, the second person is in
the comitative phrase.
• If both are second person or both are third person, the pragmatically "subordinate"
referent will be in the comitative phrase. For example, in Miya courting, it is the man
who initiates the pursuit of a spouse rather than the woman. In asymmetric
coordination involving a courter and a courtee, it is therefore the woman who will be in
the comitative phrase.
Asymmetric coordinate constructions are not obligatory even when the pragmatic
conditions are met for their use, i.e. a simple conjoined noun phrase may appear in
functional position in question (10:§6) or the first pronoun may be singular (see examples
inunediately above in §1.6.1). However, examples from texts show a preference for
asymmetric coordination when one of the referents is expressed pronominally. Although
sentences like the following are potentially ambiguous between two referents or more than
two, the first interpretation (with no context provided) is invariably that of two referents.
18Since 'fjfda' is both the comitative preposition and the conjoiner of nouns, this phrase is structuralIy
ambiguous between two comitatives and conjoined noun phrases within a comitative phrase.
305