Encoding path in Mauritian Creole and Bhojpuri - Laboratoire de ...

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Sibylle Kriegel, Ralph Ludwig & Fabiola HenriEncoding path in Mauritian Creole and Bhojpuri is the frequency of occurrence of depi ‘from’, which especially characterizes theBhojpuri-influenced variety, as has already been mentioned by Baker (1972: 112, 117).Different functions and uses of depi (< depuis) in Mauritian CreoleWe will now focus on the Mauritian Creole preposition depi, derived from Frenchdepuis. It is undoubtedly the most frequently used explicit path marker in MauritianCreole, serving a variety of functions which sometimes seem incomprehensibleif one is unaware of the contact situation between Mauritian Creole andMauritian Bhojpuri. We will first list the principal functions: Local point of departure (ablative)The examples in (18)–(21) illustrate the most basic local use of depi, the simpleablative (‘from’) use.(18) Mo papa sort depi Sesel, li ’nn vini pu travay dan Moris. father come.from Seychelles 3 come for work Mauritius‘My father comes from the Seychelles, he came to work in Mauritius (…)’.(Bord la Mer 82)(19) Kot to pou ale depi isi?where 2 go here‘Where will you go from here?’(Dev Virahsawmy Hamlet 2, http://pages.intnet.mu/develog/)(20) Pyer finn zet so bann vye soulye depi enn pon.Pyer throw .3 old shoe bridge‘Pyer threw his old shoes off a bridge.’(21) Mo kapav tir sa depi la?1 can remove here‘Can I (re)move this from there?’Depi ‘from’ and dan ‘in’ may also occur together, as illustrated in (22)–(24).(22) Mo ’nn tir mo lakle depi dan mo sak.1 take.out .1 key .1 bag‘I took the key out of my bag.’(23) Mo sorti depi dan lafore.1 come.from forest‘I am coming out of the forest.’(24) Li tir so linet depi dan so pos.3 take.out glasses pocket.‘He took his glasses out of his pocket.’ (Virahsawmy, Dev: Linconnsing Finalay,http://pages.intnet.mu/develog/teatmlfl.htm)These combinations of depi and dan match the conceptual structure of a local situationperfectly: The preposition dan refers to the local region of the reference objector Ground, and the preposition depi refers to the Path. But language contact may alsohave played a determining role in creating these patterns, as we will see in §4.2.2. Local point of departure and arrival (ablative + allative)As expected, the preposition depi may occur together with an allative expressionmarked by ziska ‘to’, to express the beginning and end of a path, as seen in(25)–(27). Again, both depi and ziska can combine with dan ‘in’ (see 25).(25) Depi dan kan lao li vini ziska dan kan anba. camp 3 come camp bottom‘He’s going from the higher camp right down to the one at the bottom.’(Bord La Mer 82)(26) Depi Vakwa ziska Maybour Pol inn dormi dan loto. Vacoas Mahébourg Paul sleep car‘Paul has been sleeping in the car from Vacoas to port Louis.’(27) Li nn get mwa depi lao ziska anba.3 look.at 1 top bottom‘He looked at me from head to toe.’ (He looked at me from top to bottom.)But it is less expected that depi should also be used to code the allative relation insuch patterns:(28) a. Depi lao depi anba, ena bokou pou marse. top bottom much to walk‘(To go) from top to bottom, there’s a lot of walking to do.’b. Depi sannmars depi lagar ena trafik. champs.de.mars gare traffic‘From Champs de Mars up to the station, the traffic is jammed.’This rather interesting use of depi instead of ziska to mark the allative, which isespecially characteristic of the Indo-Mauritian variety of the Creole, was alreadynoted by Baissac (1880):Depuis, dipis. Depuis ici jusque-là, Dipis ici zousqu’à-là; mais le créole disait avant qu’ilconnût zousqu’à ou zisquà, jusque, au lieu de: J’ai sauté depuis ici jusque là, Mo té sautédipis là, dipis là, ce qui était plus original. (Baissac 1880: 78) 26In Baissac’s old texts we find an attestation of this use, see example (42). “From, dipis. From here to there, Dipis ici zousquà-là; but the Creole would say before heknew zousqu’à or zisquà, ‘to’, instead of: I jumped from here to there, Mo té sauté dipis là, dipislà, which was in fact more original.”2nd proofs
Sibylle Kriegel, Ralph Ludwig & Fabiola HenriEncoding path in Mauritian Creole and Bhojpuri Temporal beginningLike its French source word depuis, depi may express a temporal beginning.(29) Depi katrer granmatin gardyen vinn tap laport ek four.o’clock morning watchman come knock door withso gro dibwa. big wood‘Since four o’clock this morning, the watchman came knocking at the doorwith his big stick.’ (Bord La Mer, 82)(30) Depi yer li ’nn al Porlwi. yesterday 3 go Port-Louis‘Since yesterday he left for Port-Louis.’ Temporal beginning and endpointThe combinations depi-ziska and depi-depi, which we saw in §3.4.2, can alsoexpress temporal beginning and endpoint:(31) depi sizer ziska witer six.o’clock eight.o’clock‘from six o’clock to eight o’clock’(32) depi sizer depi witer six.o’clock eight.o’clock‘from six o’clock to eight o’clock’ Temporal endpointDepi may also express a temporal endpoint in the absence of an expression for astarting point:(33) Sa trin la pou gouvernman sa, li ed depi ler. train to government 3 help hour‘This train belongs to the government, it has been useful up to today.’ Extended usesLike ablative markers of other languages, depi may be used in a range of more abstract(nonspatial, nontemporal) functions. One is a human source:(34) Me anmemtan nou pe truv osi bann priz de pozisyonbut same.time 1 find too statement of opinioneklere dan lapres ki kapav amenn inpe progre pu langazenlightened press can lead some progress for languageKreol – ki li depi Gilbert Ahnee, J.Claude de Lestrac, (…) e lezot.Creole 3 Gilbert Ahnee J. Claude de Lestrac and other‘But similarly/at the same time we are witnessing enlightened statements ofopinion in the press which could mean progress for the Creole language – be itfrom Gilbert Ahnee, J.Claude de Lestrac, Mme. Alfred, (…) and others.’ (Lalit17/02/2004 http://www.lalitmauritius.com/)(35) Nou ’nn gagn enn papye depi gouvernman.1 get papier from government‘We (have) received a document from the government.’Another use is the delimitation of an extension of patients (this is similar to“local function”):(36) Depi twa, depi to mama zot tou pou kone ar mwa.from 2 from .2 mother 2 all know with 1‘You and your mother, you’re going to get a good beating.’(lit. “From you to your mother…’)In (37), we see a more abstract point of departure, and in (38) depi denotes a partitiverelation or origin.(37) Mo byen satisfe pou truv li disparet depi mo lavi (…)1 very satisfied find 3 disappear from life‘I’m content to see him disappear from my life…’(38) Dimoun sorti depi diferan klas sosial, diferan group etnikpeople come.from from different class social different group ethnicek kars, diferan okipasion pe monte-desan.with caste different occupation go.up-go.down‘People from different social classes, different ethnic groups and castes, differentoccupations, go and come.’ (Virahsawmy Dev: Prezidan Otelo, http://pages.intnet.mu/develog/index2.htm) Depi in old textsExcept perhaps the extended uses, all the functions of depi, depi-ziska, and even depidepiare attested in older texts. We will only cite a few examples of the local function:(39) Lher la foul conne ça, zot sivré li a piéwhen crowd know this 3 follow 3. by footdipi tou zot la vil. all 3. town‘The people heard about it, and so they left their towns and followed him byland.’ (Matthew 14, 13, translation by Anderson 1885)2nd proofs
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