A Grammar of Bangime - Dogon and Bangime Linguistics

DOGON AND BANGIME LINGUSITCSA Grammar of BangimeLanguage IsolateAbbie Hantgan6/23/2012Supported by National Science Foundation grant numbers PA 50643-04, BCS–0537435,DEL–0853364 “Dogon Languages of Mali”, Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant“The Essentials of Language Documentation: The Pen is a Hoe and the Notebook is aField”, the National Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant BCS-1024347 “Doctoral Dissertation Research: Documentation of Bangime, a LanguageIsolate”, and the Indiana University International Enhancement GrantNote: This draft is not definitive, use caution and contact author when citing.Author’s email: ahantgan@indiana.edu

2.72.8Comparison: Tense, Aspect, Mood ............................................................................... 49Comparison: Syntax ....................................................................................................... 511.1 Conditional constructions ............................................................................................. 2482.8.1Greetings ................................................................................................................. 592.9Hypotheses ..................................................................................................................... 592.102.9.12.9.2Nilo-Saharan substrate ............................................................................................ 60Anti-language .......................................................................................................... 64Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 683. Chapter 3: Phonology of Vowels .......................................................................................... 713.13.2Introduction .................................................................................................................... 71Vowel length .................................................................................................................. 733.2.13.2.23.2.33.2.43.2.5Overview ................................................................................................................. 73Data ......................................................................................................................... 74Description .............................................................................................................. 75Observations ........................................................................................................... 77Analysis: Phonemic vowel inventory .................................................................... 793.3Height distribution.......................................................................................................... 813.3.13.3.2Overview ................................................................................................................. 81Data ......................................................................................................................... 822

5.2.5Analysis................................................................................................................. 1135.3Minimal word ............................................................................................................... 1155.3.15.3.25.3.35.3.45.3.5Overview ............................................................................................................... 115Data ....................................................................................................................... 115Description ............................................................................................................ 115Observations ......................................................................................................... 115Analysis................................................................................................................. 1165.4 Syllable onsets.............................................................................................................. 1165.4.15.4.25.4.35.4.45.4.5Overview ............................................................................................................... 116Data ....................................................................................................................... 116Description ............................................................................................................ 118Observations ......................................................................................................... 120Analysis................................................................................................................. 1205.5Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 1206. Chapter 6: The Nasal ......................................................................................................... 1226.16.2Introduction .................................................................................................................. 122Phonological nasals ...................................................................................................... 1226.2.16.2.2Overview ............................................................................................................... 122Data ....................................................................................................................... 1225

6.2.36.2.4Description ............................................................................................................ 123Analysis................................................................................................................. 1236.3Grammatical nasals ...................................................................................................... 1236.3.16.3.26.3.36.3.4Overview ............................................................................................................... 123Data ....................................................................................................................... 123Description ............................................................................................................ 124Observations ......................................................................................................... 1296.4Unsolved uses of nasals................................................................................................ 1307. Chapter 7: Prosodic Timing ............................................................................................... 1327.17.2Introduction .................................................................................................................. 132Consonant-cluster simplification.................................................................................. 1327.2.17.2.27.2.37.2.47.2.5Overview ............................................................................................................... 132Data ....................................................................................................................... 133Description ............................................................................................................ 133Observations ......................................................................................................... 133Analysis................................................................................................................. 1347.3Stop deletion ................................................................................................................. 1347.3.17.3.2Overview ............................................................................................................... 134Description ............................................................................................................ 1346

8.18.2Introduction .................................................................................................................. 145Words with a contrast for tone ..................................................................................... 1458.2.18.2.28.2.3Overview ............................................................................................................... 145Description ............................................................................................................ 146Summary ............................................................................................................... 1488.3Tonal distribution based on syllable type ..................................................................... 1498.3.18.3.28.3.38.3.4Overview ............................................................................................................... 149Data ....................................................................................................................... 149Observations ......................................................................................................... 152Analysis................................................................................................................. 1528.4Tonal distribution based on vowel height .................................................................... 1528.4.18.4.28.4.38.4.4Overview ............................................................................................................... 152Data ....................................................................................................................... 153Description ............................................................................................................ 153Observations ......................................................................................................... 1578.5Tone correlations with syllable type ............................................................................ 1608.5.18.5.28.5.3Overview ............................................................................................................... 160Data ....................................................................................................................... 160Description ............................................................................................................ 1658

8.5.4Observations ......................................................................................................... 1678.6Syllables to tones correlation ....................................................................................... 1678.6.18.6.2Overview ............................................................................................................... 167Data ....................................................................................................................... 1678.7Syllables which are excluded from tones ..................................................................... 1748.7.18.7.28.7.3Overview ............................................................................................................... 174Observations ......................................................................................................... 179Analysis................................................................................................................. 1818.8Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 1819. Chapter 9: Tone on the Noun Phrase ................................................................................. 1829.19.2Introduction .................................................................................................................. 182Nouns with clitics ......................................................................................................... 1829.2.19.2.29.2.39.2.49.2.5Overview ............................................................................................................... 182Data ....................................................................................................................... 182Description ............................................................................................................ 183Observations ......................................................................................................... 188Analysis................................................................................................................. 1899.3Nouns with suffixes ...................................................................................................... 1899.3.1Data ....................................................................................................................... 1899

9.3.29.3.39.3.4Description ............................................................................................................ 190Observations ......................................................................................................... 194Analysis................................................................................................................. 1949.4Combinations of Clitics and Suffixes .......................................................................... 1949.4.19.4.29.4.3Overview ............................................................................................................... 195Data ....................................................................................................................... 195Description ............................................................................................................ 1959.5Tone melodies on nouns with (prefixes ?) ................................................................... 1979.5.19.5.29.5.39.5.4Data: Possessors ................................................................................................... 197Description ............................................................................................................ 198Observations ......................................................................................................... 202Analysis................................................................................................................. 2029.69.7Nouns with possessors ................................................................................................. 202Determiner .................................................................................................................... 2069.7.19.7.29.7.3Overview ............................................................................................................... 206Data ....................................................................................................................... 206Description ............................................................................................................ 2069.8Nouns and adjectives .................................................................................................... 2079.8.1Overview ............................................................................................................... 20710

9.8.2Data ....................................................................................................................... 207Examples of quantifiers are shown in (53). Note that examples with the asterisk indicateungrammatical phrases in the language. ................................................................................. 208(179) Quantifiers ................................................................................................................ 208Quantifier ................................................................................................................................ 208Gloss ....................................................................................................................................... 208Example .................................................................................................................................. 208Gloss ....................................................................................................................................... 208Example .................................................................................................................................. 208Gloss ....................................................................................................................................... 208a) ............................................................................................................................................. 208pɛ́:ɾɛ̂ ......................................................................................................................................... 208many ........................................................................................................................................ 208kí pɛ́:ɾɛ̂ ..................................................................................................................................... 208many things ............................................................................................................................. 208nɔ̀ɾɛ̀ pɛ́:ɾɛ́ ................................................................................................................................. 208many bones ............................................................................................................................. 208b) ............................................................................................................................................. 208pɛ̃ ́ ............................................................................................................................................. 20811

a lot.......................................................................................................................................... 208*kí pɛ̃ ́ ....................................................................................................................................... 208*a lot of things ........................................................................................................................ 208nɔ̀ɾɛ̀ pɛ̃ ́ ..................................................................................................................................... 208a lot of bones ........................................................................................................................... 208c) ............................................................................................................................................. 208pɛ̃ ̀ ............................................................................................................................................. 208a whole lot ............................................................................................................................... 208d) ............................................................................................................................................. 208dàɣá–mɛ́ .................................................................................................................................. 208little, few ................................................................................................................................. 208nɔ́ dáɣà–mɛ̀ ............................................................................................................................. 208little mouth .............................................................................................................................. 208e) ............................................................................................................................................. 208kìɾá–mɛ́.................................................................................................................................... 208very small, ............................................................................................................................... 208few........................................................................................................................................... 208dɔ̂ kìɾá–mɛ́ ............................................................................................................................... 208few (pieces of) paper ............................................................................................................... 20812

f) .............................................................................................................................................. 208tá:............................................................................................................................................. 208half .......................................................................................................................................... 208mǎ: táː...................................................................................................................................... 208my half .................................................................................................................................... 208g) ............................................................................................................................................. 208pã ́ ............................................................................................................................................. 208all............................................................................................................................................. 208kì pã ́ ......................................................................................................................................... 208thing which is full ................................................................................................................... 208ndɛ̀: pã ́ ..................................................................................................................................... 208everyone .................................................................................................................................. 208h) ............................................................................................................................................. 208dẽ ́ ............................................................................................................................................. 208full ........................................................................................................................................... 208tòpàà dẽ ́ ................................................................................................................................... 208full goat sack ........................................................................................................................... 208i) .............................................................................................................................................. 208bì: ............................................................................................................................................ 20813

full ........................................................................................................................................... 208m bì: ........................................................................................................................................ 208I am full ................................................................................................................................... 208(180) Numbers.................................................................................................................... 2081.1.2 Locative, allative, and ablative functions ............................................................. 2111.1.3 Locative with place names .................................................................................... 2121.1.4 Spatial ................................................................................................................... 2131.1.5 Temporal ............................................................................................................... 2141.1.6 Dative .................................................................................................................... 2141.1.7 Instrumental .......................................................................................................... 2159.9Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 21510.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 21710.2 Underlying tone of verbs .......................................................................................... 21710.2.1 Overview............................................................................................................... 21710.2.2 Data....................................................................................................................... 21710.2.3 Description............................................................................................................ 21810.2.4 Observations ......................................................................................................... 22610.2.5 Analysis................................................................................................................. 22710.3 Pronominal forms: Progressive aspect .................................................................... 22714

10.3.1 Overview............................................................................................................... 22710.3.2 Description............................................................................................................ 22810.3.3 Observations ......................................................................................................... 22910.3.4 Analysis................................................................................................................. 23010.4 Pronounced subjects: Progressive aspect ................................................................ 23010.4.1 Overview............................................................................................................... 23010.4.2 Data....................................................................................................................... 23110.4.3 Description............................................................................................................ 23210.4.4 Observations ......................................................................................................... 23310.4.5 Analysis................................................................................................................. 23310.5 Progressive with a Definite Object........................................................................... 23310.5.1 Data....................................................................................................................... 23310.5.2 Observations ......................................................................................................... 23410.5.3 Analysis................................................................................................................. 23410.6 Object nouns: Progressive aspect ............................................................................ 23410.6.1 Overview............................................................................................................... 23410.6.2 Data....................................................................................................................... 23510.6.3 Description............................................................................................................ 23510.6.4 Observations ......................................................................................................... 24215

10.7 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 24610.8 Reduplication............................................................................................................ 24610.8.1Verbal apsect ......................................................................................................... 24611. Chapter 11: Tense, Aspect, and Mood: Word Order ..................................................... 25111.1Introduction .............................................................................................................. 25116

1. Chapter 1: Overview1.1Introduction to the Study of BangimeThis grammatical description provides the first comprehensive depiction of Bangime, anendangered language which was, until recently, classified as one of the estimated 18 - 20 Dogonlanguages spoken in central-eastern Mali. Bangime was set apart from the Dogon mainlybecause of its analytic morphology, which differs drastically from the Dogon languages’agglutinative morphology.1.2Organization of the Grammatical DescriptionThe current chapter gives an overview of the relevant literature and description of the speakers ofBangime which leads in to the second chapter on the status of the language as an isolate. Thefollowing chapter is also introductory: the second chapter focuses on a discussion of evidence toshow that Bangime is an isolate and provides an overview of the language. The third and fourthchapters provide evidence for the proposed underlying vowel and consonant inventories of thelanguage respectively, giving alternations and phonological processes which affect the vowelsand consonants of the language. The fifth chapter provides a description of the syllable, assyllabification processes are essential to an understanding of segmental variations and tonalprocesses. Chapter Six gives a description of another important phonological process in thelanguage, the presence of homorganic nasals that are prevalent throughout the language andcontribute phonologically in weight of a word or even a phrase. Building on the presentation ofnasals in Bangime, Chapter Seven discusses a process whereby vowel-rhotic sequences aresyncopated to conform to the proposed timing of the language. Chapter Eight provides evidenceto suggest that lexical tone is predictable based on vocalic, timing, and syllabification processes.17

Chapter Nine details a study of nouns with suffixes, including an in depth description andanalysis of tone in noun stems which provides the backbone for an interpretation of the tonalalternations in the noun phrase. Following these chapters, the tenth chapter discusses anoverview and analysis of tone on verb roots and on affixed verb stems.1.3Organization of Chapter OneThe remainder of this chapter is organized as follows: An overview of previous documentationof the language is provided in §1.4, including an overview of the speakers. Next §1.5 coverscurrent research of the language and a brief, relevant, general literature review is provided. Adiscussion which leads into the following chapters concludes this chapter.1.4Previous Research on BangimePrior to this study, the most recent fieldwork on Bangime was done by Stefan Elders, who spentapproximately six months in Bounou from 2006 to 2007. Roger Blench (2005, 2007) gives anoverview of the language, and it is to him that the ‘discovery’ of the language is credited,although Plungian & Tembine (1994) and Calame-Griaule (1956) mention the language brieflyin their overviews of the Dogon languages. In addition, three word lists have been published:Bertho includes an 80 item word list under the language heading, Yɛni (1953: 433- 434),Durieux’s (1988) 100 item list is included in Hochstetler, et al. (2004: 99- 105), and Blenchincludes an extensive vocabulary list in his summary of the language.The language Bangerime, or Bangime, [bàŋɡímɛ̀], has been mentioned briefly in theliterature under various names, Dyɛni or Yɛni (a name of one of the Bangime-speaking villages)(Bertho 1953), Numadaw or Numa-daw (DNAFLA/DRLP 1981; Plungian & Tembine 1994), orNoumandan (Togo 1984) (a part of the greeting sequence, as is common to name Dogon18

languages by their introductory greeting interjection), Elebo (origin unsure, possibly referring toa name borrowed from Fulfulde meaning ‘beautiful’) (Plungian & Tembine 1994), and mostcommonly, Banger–me, Bangeri–me, Bangeri me, or Baŋgi me (Blench 2005, 2007; Calame-Griaule 1956; Hochstetler, Lee, & Durieux-Boon 2004; Plungian & Tembine 1994).The term the speakers use to refer to themselves, ‘banga’, means ‘hidden’, ‘furtive’, or‘secret’ in many Dogon languages, and the bound suffix [mɛ], among other things, refers tolanguages. The speakers of the language refer to their ethnicity as Bangande [bàŋɡà=ndɛ́]([baŋɡa] plus the plural suffix), within the larger Dogon ethnic group. I have chosen to use theendonym, Bangime [bàŋɡímɛ̀] 1 , written without a space between ‘Bangi’ and ‘me’, to referencethe language and Bangande for the speakers of the language.1.5Current Research on BangimeCurrent study of the language is being conducted by Jeffrey Heath, Roger Blench, and my ownfieldwork to date includes a fieldwork internship from June - August, 2008, collection andanalysis of data for the grammatical sketch and lexicon from May - August 2009, the dissertationresearch on the tonology of the language from July 2010 to January 2011, and research iscurrently underway on describing the recently discovered ‘secret’ aspects of the language,discussed below.Collaborations are also underway with geneticists who have recently publishedinformation concerning the genetic uniformity of the Dogon people (Tishkoff, Reed,Friedlaender, Ehret, Ranciaro, Froment et al. 2009). Floyd Reed is a colleague of mine from1 The reason for the realization of /bàŋɡérímɛ̀/ to [bàŋɡímɛ̀] is because the [er] sequence is deleted through aphonological process which occurs regularly in the language.19

college who made one exploratory trip to Mali while I was there in December, and is in theprocess of making contacts to secure permissions and funding for this potential collaboration tocontinue. Additionally, I consistently seek advice from Roger Blench on the historicalimplications of the Bangande.1.6AcknowledgementsFunding for an internship and language instruction was provided by the Indiana UniversityInternational Enhancement Grant and the data collected for the grammar and lexicon wasprovided by the National Science Foundation grant PA 50643-04, “Dogon languages of Mali” inthe summers of 2008 and in 2009 by the NSF BCS-0537435, DEL-853364 grant. And from Julyto January 2010 with support from the Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant “TheEssentials of Language Documentation: The Pen is a Hoe and the Notebook is a Field” and theNational Science Foundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant BCS-1024347 “DoctoralDissertation Research: Documentation of Bangime, a Language Isolate”. I am indebted to thepeople of the Bounou, including So Baanaande-Diko (chef de village), Tiga Baade, and AliKarambe. Many other villagers helped out the lexicographic work by bringing specimens of floraand fauna. Without the previous work, careful transcriptions, and insights of Stefan Elders, thisintricate grammatical sketch would not be able to be produced.Special thanks also are credited to Professor Jeffrey Heath for giving me the opportunityto fulfill a life-long goal and his untiring patience and confidence in my ability to document anunderstudied language. Thanks to Dr. Heath’s assistant, Minkailou Djiguiba, for his constantsupport and encouragement and his invaluable assistance in establishing fieldwork in the village.Thanks to Laura McPherson for her advice and assistance in transcription, analysis, and beingsuch a good friend. Appreciation is also owed to my advisory committee, Dr. Robert Botne, Dr.Stuart Davis, and Dr. Samuel Obeng, for their knowledgeable advice and sharing of relevantexperiences.20

2. Chapter 2: Comparison of Grammatical Features to Surrounding Languages2.1IntroductionSince research began on the Dogon languages and culture in the 1950’s, linguists andanthropologists have noted the distinctiveness of Bangime, although it was classified within theDogon language group. The speakers of Bangime, the Bangande, self-identify with the Dogonpeople and their languages. Because of the remoteness of the villages which speak Bangime, andthe speakers’ refusal in sharing their speech with outsiders, Bangime has been underdocumented.The name of the language literally translates to, ‘secret language’ and has up until now remainedas such. Bangime was reclassified in 2009 as one of the world’s fifty isolate languages; alanguage with no traceable connections to any other living language on earth (Lewis 2009). Thisdiscovery was due in large part to the work of Roger Blench (2005, 2007), Stefan Elders (2006),and Hantgan (2009). Recent studies, such as that of the HUGO Pan-Asian SNP Consortium(2009), show that linguistic classification can assist researchers in tracing ethnic lineage.The goal of this chapter is to provide an overview of the unique features of the language thatsupport the classification of the language as an isolate. Since the language was recentlyseparated from its classification among the Dogon languages, special attention is given to itsdisparity from that group. In addition, hypotheses as to how the language evolved are provided.In this chapter, a descriptive synopsis of the grammar of Bangime is provided. Furtherdiscussion and presentation of the relevant phonological phenomena described here are presentedin the following chapters. This chapter is organized as follows, 2.2 introduces the Bangande, thespeakers of Bangime, including their location and demographics. Section 2.3 discusses the21

language’s previous classification as a member of the Dogon language family. Section 2.4 givesa description of the ethnography of the speakers. Section 2.5 provides a description of thelanguage, a short grammatical overview, and compares the language’s behavior to surroundinglanguages. Section 2.6 outlines hypotheses as to how Bangime became a divergent language and§2.7 concludes the chapter. The information concerning the ethnography and history of theBangande is extract from texts, cited throughout the chapter, and included in the appendicies.2.2Background on the BangandeAlthough the Bangande self-identify with the Dogon ethnicity, their language is disparate, thustheir heritage is also relevant to the investigation of the language. The location of the villages inrelation to the Dogon and a description of the demographics of the Bangande are provided insubsections 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 below.2.2.1LocationAccording to the current chief of Bounou, the current name of the largest of the seven villages,The Bangande originated as one clan in a village with the same name, at a site atop the cliffs oftheir present location, known as Yege. It is estimated by the chief elders that the Bangandemoved from Yege at least five hundred years ago. 2From there, they split into seven villageswhich are now situated in the District of Goundaga, Commune of Kargue. These villages arelisted and specifically located at the following coordinates (North/West): Bounou, the largest(14:47:50/ 3:45:40), Baraa (14:48:20/3:45:30), Nyana (14:48:10 3:46:50), Digari (14:47:40/2 This estimate is based on oral histories of how and when colonialism and the slave trade in the respective villagesbegan. (extracts from texts: ‘Tiga story about People going to Tete’, ‘Chief 1 - 10’) There are also a number ofTellem houses and cave paintings which the Bangande claim to have found in the area upon settlement; this requiresthe expertise of an archeologist to identify the age of the paintings and houses to discern when they were created.22

3:46:50), Doro (14:49:20/ 3:47:20), Dieni (14:47:10/ 3:45:50), and Due (14:48:20/ 3:47:00)(Hochstetler, et al. 2004: 59). Access to the village is gained by travelling on the single pavedroad, approximately 25km south-east of Konna, that stretches north-east from the capitol of Mali,Bamako, to the city of Gao. The area in which these villages are situated in the north-west of theDogon plateau, and the villages are reached by an unpaved road, located on the main roadbetween Sevaré and Gao. Upon reaching Konna at approximately 660 kilometers north east ofBamako, one then travels on an unpaved path through the Jewol valley towards the Bandigaracliff range; during the rainy season, (June - September/October), however, this road can only beaccessed by a five-hour donkey cart ride, due to the flooding of the valley. The path ends at thecliff face where the journeyer then ascends to the village of Bounou, the largest of the Bangimespeakingvillages.The area in which Bangime is spoken relative to other Dogon languages is illustrated inthe following map. Bangime is abbreviated as ‘Bm’ and is circled below:Dogon Languages Map (Hochstetler, et al. 2004: 11)23

As noted in the map above, surrounding villages speak Duleri, a Dogon language, Niononkhe, adialect of Bozo, one of the Mande languages, and Fulfulde, a language of the Atlantic branch, allof which are in the Niger-Congo language phylum. The Bangande are familiar with each ofthese languages, although they mainly speak either Fulfulde or Bamana as the preferred methodof communication between ethnic groups, including the Dogon. In addition, according to oralhistories, 3 people of the Bobo ethnicity, of the Mande group, lived at one point in the valleywhere the Niononkhe, also known as Jenaama, speakers are found, although the Bangande arenot familiar with their language.2.2.2DemographicsAs in other African nations, numerous languages are spoken in Mali; Ethnologue, the most upto-datedatabase of the world’s languages, lists 57 (Lewis 2009). The pressure to communicateacross ethnic boundaries is forcing speakers of lesser-spoken languages like Bangime to simplifytheir speech by borrowing from major languages, such as Bamana, Fulfulde, and Arabic, and,due to increased migration, a rare minority language like Bangime is eroding and is threatenedwith eventual disappearance, along with linguistic and oral elements of their culture’s history andgroup identity, as language is an integral vehicle of a culture’s survival.The estimated total number of Bangime speakers ranges between 1,200 (Lewis 2009) and3000 (Blench 2007). Among the villages which were formerly situated atop the cliffs, but havenow moved down to the plains, are found some Bangande who practice Islam. Bounou,however, remains on top of an area of boulders due to the amount of water which inundates thesurrounding canyon during the rainy season, and thus, probably because of its geographic3 Extract from text: ‘Tiga 3’24

isolation, villagers who practice animism are found there. This is of interest linguistically assome lexical items associated with traditional practices required the permission of the villageelders or were either forbidden to be recorded in any manner, (written or oral) until full trust inthe researcher was gained this past year.The Bangande are mainly agriculturists, although many do perform some animalhusbandry and hunting activities. Blench (2007: 3) states, “their distinctive names for cropssuggest that they were farmers prior to the expansion of Dogon in their area”. This is of interesttypologically because it also implies that the Bangande may have lived among the Bandiagaracliffs before the Dogon occupied the area as very few borrowings for agriculture items are foundfrom Dogon into Bangime. Examples of crop names are found in the comparative word listattached in the appendix.2.3Previous classificationAlthough Bangime has been considered a Dogon language, within the Niger-Congo branch(Gordon 2005; Williamson & Blench 2000), it has recently been classified as a language isolate(Lewis 2009). Each of the researchers who have encountered Bangime has noted, even in theirbrief time investigating the language that it clearly lies outside the realm of what constitutesDogon. Bertho (1953: 413-414), one of the first to note a variations among the Dogonlanguages, placed Bangime apart from them due to the lack of shared core vocabulary items. 4Bertho also states that Bangime is markedly different from the Mande or Fula languages spokenin the area. He hypothesized that if Bangime is related to the Dogon languages, it split off at anearly stage in the language’s development. He thus writes,4 His comparative word list is included in the appendix.25

“Le dialecte Dyéni ou Yéni des Dogon du canton de Leol-Géou est le plusaberrant ; néanmoins, il se distingue nettement du Bozo-Mandé et du Peul. Ilpossède d’ailleurs autant de radicaux Voltaïnques que les autres dialectes Dogon ;mais ces radicaux ne sont pas les mêmes radicaux Voltaïques que ceux conservéspar les autres dialectes Dogon, comme si le dialect Dyéni s’était séparé d’ancêtreVoltaïque soit à une autre époque que les autres dialectes, soit en un autre pointdu groupe Voltaïque, lequel, comme on le sait, s'étend de Sikasso au Soudanjusqu’à la frontière de Nigéria.” 5Blench (2005: 16) concurs with the author’s opinion that Bertho’s word list is fairly accurate anddoes not show any evidence for cognates among the Gur languages. Dogon was previouslyconsidered to be related to the Gur, or Voltaique, group of languages. Blench (2005: 15 - 16,2007: 3) was the first to state that Bangime language is an isolate, based on his own andHochstetler’s (2004: 99- 105) comparative Dogon word lists, (included in appendix 2), whichshow that the percentage of cognates with other Dogon languages are below ten percent. 6Indeed, as Calame-Griaule (1956: viii) states,“D’un autre point de vue, l’étude du petit dialecte appelé /báŋeri mé/, parlé parune petite fraction de Dogon à l’extrême Nord-Ouest du pays, et qui, bien quereconnu comme «dogon» par les autres, semble présenter des caractèrestotalement aberrants, serait fort utile pour établir des critères d’appartenancelinguistique.” 75 “The Dyeni or Yeni dialect of the Dogon from the Leol-Géol canton shows the highest deviation from the norm,nonetheless, it is clearly distinct from Bozo-Mande and Fulani. It also possesses as much Voltaic [Gur] rootvocabulary as the other Dogon dialects; but these items are not from the same Voltaic roots as those conserved bythe other Dogon dialects, as if the Dyeni dialect had parted from its Voltaic ancestor either in a different period fromthe other dialects, or at a different location within the Voltaic group, a group which as is well-known extends fromSikasso in the Sudan up to the borders of Nigeria.” (author’s translation)6 The lowest percentage of lexical similarities among other Dogon languages is 40 percent (K. Prokhorov, p.c.).7 “From another point of view, the study of the little dialect called Bangerime, spoken by a small Dogon group in theutmost northwest of the Dogon-speaking area, which, although recognized by the others as ‘Dogon’, seems to havesome totally deviant features, would be very useful in establishing the criteria of the linguistic affiliation of Dogon.”(author’s translation)26

The researcher is in accordance with these views, since, as is shown in the following sections andappendices, not only are the lexical items different from the Dogon languages, 8 the grammaticalstructure is almost entirely lacking in Dogon features, and differs from other languages in theNiger-Congo language phylum. The estimated 20 Dogon languages and 60 dialects show clearlinguistic correlates and geneticists have recently published information concerning the geneticuniformity of the Dogon people (Tishkoff, Reed, Friedlaender, Ehret, Ranciaro, Froment et al.2009). In particular, one of the authors of this paper, Floyd Reed, states, “The Dogon (at leastthe samples from Bandiagara) have a very distinctive genetic signature compared to other WestAfricans, so I think there may be a lot of potential to learn more about the Bangande history fromgenetic studies” (p.c.).2.4EthnographyThe Bangande consider themselves to be ethnically Dogon and their language to be Dogon aswell, despite the fact that there is no mutual intelligibility between Bangime and surroundingDogon languages, and the Dogon people’s constant insistence that the Bangande are not Dogon.The Bangande claim that they originated among the Dogon as far back as Mande origins, 9 (theDogon claim a common ancestor with the Mande people). The Bangande dress similarly to theDogon, such as the distinctive women’s indigo-dyed, hand-woven cotton fabric, silver earringsworn on the side of their noses and along their ears. The men, particularly the elders, all carrythe leather hide and snake skin bag, unique to Dogon men’s accessories. Although Islam is8 Also note among the comparative list of core vocabulary items in the appendix that the few shared cognatesbetween Bangime and the Dogon languages do not come from one source Dogon language, suggesting that ifborrowings were shared, it took place at an early stage, possibly before the Dogon languages separated.9 Text: ‘Bangande migration story’27

eginning to become pervasive in the community, beer continues to be brewed, but not thecommonly found Dogon millet variety. Among the Bangande, only sorghum beer is found.Although masks are not part of the ritual performances of the Bangande, many Dogon in thenorth-western sections of the escarpment have no tradition of using masks. The cowry shell andleather uniforms worn by Bangande men on certain occasions are reminiscent of Dogonperformanceattire. Familiar from Dogon culture are carved locks, however, carved doors andstatues are absent, perhaps due to Islamic influence. The former Tellem caves surrounding thevillages are used, although less and less frequently, for the storage of grains and as burialgrounds. 10Otherwise, there is no evidence of additional traditional rites unique to the Dogon,and some of the Bangande customs seem particular to the Bangande themselves, such as ahunting ritual, [lɔ̀ɔ̀ŋɡá], 11 performed when the rain has lapsed during the rainy season.There are two classes among the Bangande, the royal and the slave classes. According tooral histories, 12 many of various ethnicities in Mali were kidnapped during the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade by Fulani enslavers. Children were often taken when they wandered fromthe village or went out seeking water and wood for cooking, by placing a sack over their headsand carrying them on horses to a faraway place so that they could not find their way back home.Some of these captives would escape, and the Bangande are said to have allowed slaves of otherethnicities to integrate into their culture, and learn their language. Interestingly, there is adifference in the level of proficiency in Bangime between the slave and royal classes. The ‘true’10 Photographs of these areas and the cave paintings found within them as well as other relevant sites will be madeavailable to the public via a separate publication.11 Though this word appears to be borrowed as word-initial liquids are not found in the phonology of the languageapart from borrowings.12 Tiga Story #128

Bangande, members of the culture who can trace their lineage back to the original settling of theclan in this area, claim that the reason is because they refuse to share the authentic Bangime withoutsiders. The difference in caste or class is of interest linguistically as there appear to be slightdifferences in the pronunciation of certain lexical items, as is noted throughout the description.2.5Overview of relevant Bangime grammatical features compared to other languagesThis section provides an overview of the features that distinguish Bangime from the Dogonlanguages and others within the Niger-Congo branch. The subsections include the main aspectsof the phonological, morphological, and syntactic system of the language compared with otherarea languages.2.5.1Comparison: Consonant and Vowel PhonologyHere, we examine the consonantal inventory and alternations relative to other Niger-Congolanguages before examining the vowel system, as there are more divergences found amongconsonants than among vowels. Bangime has an unusual consonant inventory compared to theNiger-Congo languages.First, it is proposed that the labial-palatal approximant, /ɥ/, and the alveolo-palatalfricative, /ɕ/, are phonemes in the language. Fricatives in general are rare if not absent amongDogon languages, 13and the labial-palatal approximant /ɥ/, as a documented phoneme, is listedas only occurring in six other languages in the world (Alladian, French, Ga, Lakkia, Mandarin,and Twi). The alveolo-palatal fricative is listed in just one language, Kabardian (Maddieson &Precoda 2009).13 Though one phonological feature which is shared with the Dogon is the lack of the voiceless labiodental fricative/f/, though this could be a socio-linguistic phenomenon since borrowed words are often pronounced with a [p], asthe Dogon substitute, or [b/β].29

The voiced labiodental approximant, [ʋ], is an allophone of a voiced bilabial stop /b/, thatmay also have an intermediate fricative allophone [β], (instrumental phonetic study is needed onthis point), and the voiced velar stop /ɡ/ alternates with the voiced velar fricative [ɣ]intervocalically if the vowels are both lax. This latter alternation is found among Mande andDogon languages although the former, /b/ ~ [ʋ], is not. Labialized and palatalized word-initialconsonants (CʷV and C j V) occur in free variation with syllabic CuwV and CijV sequences,respectively, as they do in some Dogon languages (e.g. Tomo Kan).The proposed consonant inventory for Bangime compared with the most widely foundsounds among the Dogon languages is shown in (2) with examples of usage of the unusualsounds found in Bangime in (4). 14Bangime /b p t d k ɡ m n ɲ ŋ r r̃ s ɕ j ȷ̃ ɥ w w̃ /[ʋ ʧ ɣ ʃ ʒ ʤ]Dogon /b p t d k ɡ m n ɲ ŋ r r̃ l s j ȷ̃ w w̃ /[ ɣ z ʧ ʤ]14 The Human Subjects approval number is #08–13242. All the data included in this study were recorded using aMarantz PMD660 Professional Portable Digital Recorder with a Shure SM48S-LC Microphone and were analyzedusing the program Praat. Microsoft Excel was used for plotting vowel formant values and storing lexical items. SILFieldworks was used to analyze texts and store lexical items. Transcriptions are either /phonemic/ or [phonetic] andare written in IPA format. Lexical items are listed in citation form unless otherwise noted. Long vowels arerepresented by the notation {vv}, with tone marked on both vowels of the sequence. Tones are marked with anacute accent for high {ˊ}, a grave accent for low { ̀}, and a combination for rising { ̌ }. Morpheme boundaries areindicated with a dash { – } in between morphemes for suffixes and a equals sign { = } for clitics. The terms rootand stem are defined by Aronoff (1994). A superscript {ⁿ} following a target vowel or approximant is used torepresent nasality. When available, two examples are shown, otherwise the sole example found is shown. TAMmarkers are abbreviated and translated except post postitions which have varying meanings which do not translatedirectly so PP is used in lieu of a gloss.30

The examples in (4) show examples with the alveolo-palatal fricative, /ɕ/, and the labial-palatalapproximant /ɥ/, occurring before various vowel heights and degrees of backness, not only thehigh front vowels, as would be expected if the segments were allophones of another phoneme.Examples of phonemic segmentsGloss Wordalveolo-palatal fricativea. stalk (n.) ɕúlìb. skull dèɡè ǹ ɕùɥílabial-palatal approximantc. red bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀d. water ɥɪ́ɛ̀e. buy ɥárààThe examples in (5) illustate the allophonic variation among stops described above. In examplealternations (5a - b), the underlined /b/ alternates with [ʋ] between two lax, mid vowels.Examples (5c - d) show that /t/ becomes the affricate [ʧ] before a high, front vowel. Theexamples in (5e - f) show the final consonant in the word, /ʒ/ with its allophone, the affricate[ʤ], when it is followed by a nasal. Examples (5g - h) show how the initial /s/ becomes [ʃ]before a high vowel, and the final examples in (5i - j) show that /ɡ/ becomes [ɣ], like in (5a - b),when the vowels on either side of the consonant are both the same and both lax. Of thesealternations, only the spirantization of velar stops to the velar fricative is found among Dogonand Mande languages.31

Examples of allophonesWord Gloss Word Glossa. Bilabial stop Labiodental approximanttè m bé clap aa. pɛ́ʋɛ́rɛ́ windb. Alveolar stopAlveolo-palatal affricate(voiceless)tɛ̀ndɛ̀ grandfather bb. tijɛ grandmotherAlveolo-palatalapproximantAlveolo-palatal affricate(voiced)c. kɔ́ɣɔ̀ʒɔ̀ scratch cc. dùnʤú bumpyAlveolarfricativeAlveolo-palatalfricatived. sáŋà play dd. ʃùmbí nosePerfective Gloss ImperfectiveVelarstopVelarfricativee. táɡú agreed ee. táɣá agreeAs shown in the phonemic inventory comparison in (6), nasalization appears on approximantsamong the Dogon languages as well as in Bangime. In Bangime, a nasal stop cluster becomes anasalized approximant via an aspectual change in verbs. The closest Dogon counterparts,according to Heath (p.c.), are cases of syncope of CVr̃V- to CVn- before a consonantal suffix,and, (in Toro Tegu only), of CVw̃V to CVm- in the same environment. These can be taken asconsonant-cluster adjustment processes and do not have the more abstract transformationalcharacter of the Bangime alternations. Examples from Bangime illustrating nasalization of [r̃]are shown in (6a - d) and the conversion of nasalized [w͂ ] to the cluster [mb] in (6e - g).32

Examples of allophones (cont.)Perfective Imperfective GlossAlveolar place alternationa. múr̃á múndá come inb. kɔ̀r̃ɔ́ kɔ̀ndɔ́ break (in half)c. púr̃á púndá grow (as in a plant)d. bɔ̀r̃ó bɔ̀ndó aliveBilabial place alternation (check vowel length)e. tàw͂ à tàmbà chew/bitef. káw̃à kámbà having lasted a long timeg. sàw̃á sàmbá sprayThe vocalic inventory of Bangime comprises the full nine vowels, with contrastive? features onvowels including tone, length, and nasalization. Although one would expect [±ATR] vowelharmony to be an active processe in the language, in Bangime it is not. This is also unusualbecause the Niger-Congo language family in particular is known for the widespread occurrenceof [±ATR] vowel harmony (Casali 2008). Examples such as [ɡèŋɡɛ̀] ‘metal’ and [kùwó=ndɛ̀]‘houses’ illustrate that neither tauto- nor heteromorphic sequences necessarily involve either[±ATR] or height/backness vowel harmonization. Further examples are shown in (7). Note inthe final example, (7f), that words may, and often do, contain disharmonic sequences tautosyllabically.33

Examples of disharmonya. Gloss Wordb. large rock tɛ̀mbéc. =AUGMENTATIVE bɔ́r̃òd. belly button bòŋɡɔ̀rɔ̀e. finger nail sɔ́ɣɔ́jèf. ajar sɛ̀ɡérég. cowry tɔ́mèɛ̀The one instance of the effects of tense/lax vowels on other vowels in a stem is found stativeverbs. As shown in (8), the vowel of stative clitic alternates between [wɛ] if the verb has at leastone lax vowel (8a - i) and [waji] if the verb has all tense vowels (8j - s). This is of interest sinceother clitics and suffixes do not display these alternations, even the similar animate suffix, whichtakes the allomorph [wɛ].Vowel harmony in stative clitic (wore)? check tonesa. say níŋá wɛ̀b. descend sáⁿ wɛ́c. die jáú wɛ̀d. lose téɛ́ wɛ̀e. dry kʷùndó wɛ́f. tear pɛrɛ wɛ/pɛrɛ ŋkɛ/pija wɛg. try wɔ(re) kija wɛh. stubborn ki wɛ (maa deɡe kiju)i. old sìjɛ̀ⁿ wɛ̀j. forget (lost smth) tè wàj ŋ kík. go out bìré wájtìjáá wáj(a nijere a n kɛ)l. greetm. jump píndó wájn. lie down túrú wájo. awaken teŋo(ro) wajp. ascend (said from atop) ɥiwé wáj

q. enter (said from outside) mííndè wájr. crouch súmmó wájs. fill dɛ́wⁿ wàj2.5.2Grammatical Significance of Tone in Bangime as compared with Dogon languagesForms for the word ‘I write’ in two Dogon languages are compared with Bangime in (9). Thenegative imperfective and negative perfective aspect are formed through a combination ofsuffixes in Dogon languages, in Bangime, among certain verbs, the only difference between thetwo sentences is the tone on the final vowel of the phrase. Note that the word for ‘write’ in eachof the languages is similar, suggesting a common, albeit distant, ancestor, or a borrowing.‘I write’Mombo nɔnɔɡɔ/nɔ́nɛ́ from (Newcomer 2000)writeJamsay from (Heath, 2008)tɔ̀ŋɔ̀–ɡó–mtɔ̀ŋɔ̀–lú–mwrite–NEG.IMPVV–1Swrite–NEG.PFV–1S‘I am not writing’ ‘I did not write’Bangime m bɪ́è ɲóɡɔ̀ n dó m bɪ́è ɲóɡɔ̀ n dò1S NEG write.IMPV 1S NEG write.PFV‘I am not writing’ ‘I did not write’Compare the forms for the word ‘write’ in Mombo and Jamsay, two Dogon languages, with theform in Bangime in (9). These examples show that although the root is similar, the morphologydiffers. The examples from Jamsay are representative of typical Dogon morphology. Althoughnegation and aspect are expressed through a portmanteau morpheme, the stem is composed ofthree different morphemes, two of which are suffixes. In the sentence from Bangime, there arefive separate morphemes, none of which have segmental affixal properties. The reason for the

interpretation of the morphemes in Bangime as being unbound is based on their tonal behaviorand the ability to change the position of the constituents within the phrase, or to allow othermorphemes to intervene.One phenomenon found in Bangime, which is also found among Gur languages, of whichDogon was once classified, is tone polarity. In Bangime, as in many Gur languages (Cahill2004; Kenstowicz, Nikiema, & Ourso 1988), tones of opposite values are exemplified in plurals,although the plural morpheme differs from that found among the Gur languages. Examples areshown in (10). The examples in (10a) illustrate noun roots with a low tone on the final mora.When the plural suffix is added in the second column, the suffix’s tone is high. The examples in(10b) show noun roots with final high tones. In these words, the suffix carries a high tone.

Examples of tone polaritySingular Plural Glossa. low tone ultimate mora singular/high tone ultimate mora plurali. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ b w ɛ̀=ndɛ́ mosquitoii. tèɛ̀ tèɛ̀=ndɛ́ forgeiii. tùw̃ɔ̀ tùw̃ɔ̀=ndɛ́ blacksmithiv. ɡíjɔ̀ⁿ ɡíjɔ̀ⁿ=ndɛ́ shadowv. tɔ̌ tɔ̀ tɔ̌ tɔ̀=ndɛ́ anvilvi. jìndò jìndò=ndɛ́ twob. high tone ultimate mora singular/low tone ultimate mora plurali. kɛ́ kɛ́=ndɛ̀ thingii. tɪ́ɪ́ tɪ́ɪ́=ndɛ̀ older siblingiii. sìíⁿ sìí=ndɛ̀ mongooseiv. dúúɡú dúúɡú=ndɛ̀ forestv. kùwó kùwó=ndɛ̀ housevi. bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́=ndɛ̀ cornIt is proposed that that the plural clitic in in these Bangime examples is underlyingly toneless,and that it surfaces with the tone opposite to that of the root's final mora. The presence ofcontour tones as in example (10.a.v.), [tɔ̌ tɔ̀] ‘anvil’, and the series of like-level tones at the leftedge of the word such as (10b.vi.), [bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ] ‘corn’, suggest that tone spreading takes place fromright to left. 15Since rising tones are not found on final syllables in Bangime, [tɔ̌ tɔ̀] appears as ifit has a {LHL} underlying tonal melody, linked R-to-L, with the extra tone forming a contourtone on the first syllable of the word. Since tones are analyzed in autosegmental phonology asbeing associated one per TBU with extra syllables on the left getting tone by spreading,[bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ] seems to be an example of a {LH} melody, where the L spreads to the remainingtoneless syllable. Right-to-left tonal association is extremely uncommon, as Hyman (2007: 14)15 A full analysis is provided in the next chapter on the tonal properties of the language. Only certain words spreadtone from right to left.37

notes, and this phenomenon is particularly rare in West-African languages. 16Both the directionof association and the presence of rising tones with the exclusion of falling tones are of interestas well since these are marked processes universally (Bao 1999).As shown in the appendix of nearly 300 core vocabulary items, most words in Bangimehave a {HL} contour. In most Dogon languages, all regular stems, (nouns, verbs, adjectives,numerals), must have at least one high tone element, but this constraint does not apply toBangime. Some stems in Bangime are all-low toned, others have {LH} or {LHL} contours,(according to the number of TBU’s in the word), and some are lexically all-high toned.2.5.3Comparison: MorphologyOne of the main aspects of the language which differentiates it from the Dogon languages inparticular is its synthetic, or analytic, morphology. Like many Niger-Congo languages, Dogonlanguages are agglutinating. Even though the Mande languages have isolating morphology, nonego to the extreme of Bangime. Although there are some semi-productive verbal suffixes andclitics, the only truly productive suffix found in the language is a diminutive, suffixed to nouns. 17In addition, a semi-frozen bound morpheme that has the same phonological shape andalternations as the diminutive suffix is used to mark some animates and some names oflanguages. The plural marker is a clitic instead of a suffix, 18 as is the augmentative. Examplesare shown in (11).16 Newman (1974) evaluated Kanakuru as being right to left association despite the Wellformedness Convention thatlanguages spread tones to empty TBU’s left to right.17 Verbs are grouped into classes based on phonological shape, and can be considered fusional morphologically.This is examined further in later chapters.18 Possible counterexamples involve compounds [kíì+bùjɛ́=nɛ̀], lit. ‘red things’, ‘banana’, and [kí+pɔ́ɔ́rɛ́=nɛ̀], lit.‘black things’ ‘Africans, Dogon’, and adjective/plural sequences such as [kii=ndɛ peɛre] ‘a lot of things’, althoughthese are exceptions to the general rule that the plural marker follows other constituents in a noun phrase (show).38

Augmentative and plural cliticsa. màà náá–jɛ̀ɛ́ mɛ́ pɛ̀ⁿ1S POSS cow.DIM COMP a lot‘my small cows which are many’b. nàà jìndò =bɔ́r̃òcow two AUG‘two big cows’ =bɔ́r̃ò jììndò(ok)c. m mīrō m páɣá =bōɡō =nɛ̀CONN bee container AUG PLbig beehivesbɔ́r̃ò =nɛ (tall)According to Greenberg’s (1954) criteria for classifying languages morphologically, analytic orisolating languages have between 1.00 and 1.99 morphemes per word. Morphologically, then,Bangime would be considered an isolating or analytic language; there are very few productivederivational or inflectional segmental affixes in the language. A suffix which is not productivein deriving new words, yet appears on the majority of nouns, is shown in (12). This suffix istermed the ‘animate’ suffix, as it usually appears with nouns that are considered animate. Theanimate suffix is homophonous with productive suffixes, the diminutive (13), the plural form ofthe suffix indicating inhabitant of (14), a suffix which derives the name of a language from itsspeakers (15), and a suffix which denotes an abstract quality to a noun (16). For the sake ofsimplicity, this morpheme is considered to be one suffix is refered to as the ‘animate’ suffixthroughout. maybe the underlying final consonant or vowel of the root is what determines thesuffix?39

Animate/nominal: frozen or obligatory suffixSFX Root Gloss Pluralɛ a. bʷéɛ̀ leg bʷéɛ̀=ndɛ́ legsb. dʷàà/dʷàɛ̀ tree dʷáɛ́=ndɛ̀ treesc. ʒáɡéɛ̀ onion ʒáɣá–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ onionsd. tɔ́mɛ̀ɛ̀ cowry tɔ́–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ cowriesmɛ/jɛ e. kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́/kʊ̀ rìjèɛ́ dog kʊ̀ rɪ̀–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ dogsjɛ f. bí ~ bíjɛ̀ baby bíjɛ̀–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ babies (little)Diminutive: productive suffixSfx Root Gloss Diminutive Glossɛ a. tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ little basket tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ little basketbɛ b. ɡòó+m–pá step ɡóò+m–bɛ̀ little stepkòróɡó–jɛ̀jɛ c. kòróɡò basket(koɡomɛ)little basketdúúɡú–wɛ̀wɛ d. dúúɡ ! ú forestduuɡu mɛlittle forestmɪ e. tɔ̌ tɔ̀ anvil tɔ̌ tɔ̀–mɪ́/ɛ little anvilmɛ f. déɛ̀rɛ̀/déɛ̀ cultivate déɛ́–mɛ̀ millet grainmɛ g. ŋàrà God ŋàrà–mɛ̀ little god(note that the downstep, or mid tone becomes high when another syllable is attached, i.e.downstep only occurs when downstepped syllable is in ultimate position)Inhabitant of village X (the seven villages which speak Bangime)Village Inhabitant of Plurala. bùùⁿ bù–má bù–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ Bounoub. bárá bárá–mà bárá–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Baraac. ʒɪ̀é ʒě–mà ʒě–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Dienid. díɡárú díɡárú–mà díɡá–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Digarie. dʷè dʷè–má dʷè–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Duef. ɲànà ɲànà–má ɲànà–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Nyanag. dòrò dòrò–má dòrò–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ DoroLanguageLanguage Speakers Plural Glossa. púúndà púúndɛ́–ɛ̀ pur̃à=nɛ́ Fulanib. tóò tóó–weɛ̀ tóó–wɛ̀=ndɛ́ Duleric. tómɛ̀ tó–mɛ́ɛ̀ tó–mɛ́=ndɛ̀ Tommo40

d. píjɛ̀ⁿ píjɛ́–ɛ̀ⁿ píjɛ́=ndɛ̀ Amparie. sáwⁿà sáw̃á–ɛ̀ sámɪ́=ndɛ̀ Kargue (maraga)f. kɔ́mɛ̀ púndɛ́–ɛ̀ kɔ́mɛ́=nɛ̀ Fulani (slave caste)g. bámbàrà bámbá–ɛ̀ bàmbàrá=nɛ̀ Bambarah. bɔ̌ wɔ́ɔ̀ bɔ̌ wɛ́–è/ bʷó–ɛ̀=ndɛ́/ Boboi. borundɛ bɔ̀wɔ̀ndíjè bɔ̀wɔ̀=ndí ?j. sóróɡò sáŋɛ́–ɛ̀ sóróɡò=ndɛ́ Bozok. bòndí bòndì–jɛ́ bòndì=nɛ́ Bondu (Dogon)l. kòrò bòrò sɔ̀ŋɛ́–ɛ̀ kòrò bòrò=nɛ́ Songhaim. báŋɡɛ́rì/ bàŋɡɛ̀rímɛ̀/ báŋɡí–jɛ̀ báŋɡá=ndɛ̀ Bangabàŋɡìmɛ̀Quality of Xa. pààⁿ friend pà–mɛ̀ friendshipb. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ man ɡʷòɔ̀–mɛ̀ masculinityMany Niger-Congo languages are classified as belonging to the phylum because of the presence ofnoun classes, although Bangime has no substantial evidence of noun class marking or anyremnants of it. For example, most Dogon languages, (except those that have undergone wordfinalphonetic attrition), use suffixes to distinguish human (or animate) from nonhuman (orinanimate) in singular nouns, and either make a similar distinction in the plural, or avoid pluralmarking of nonhuman/inanimate nouns. While Bangime does mark animacy with certainnouns, shown above, the suffix does not resemble affixes from any of the Dogon languages.One exception to the lack noun class markers in Bangime is the case of familial relations,where the suffix –ru (17) is shown. Among Dogon kin terms, an usual peculiarity arises in thatthese nouns do not receive the human/animate singular suffix. The Dogon human/animatesingular suffix *–nu (attested as –rṵ, –nu, –n) is generally (although not absolutely) avoided byDogon kin terms (Heath, p.c.). Since there may be reason to connect Dogon non-kin singular41

*–nu with Bangime kin plural –ru, since, as was shown above, nasalized liquids alternate withnasals in Bangime, this provides an intriguing example of the language’s tendency towards usingelements which oppose features in other languages, futher explored in the discussion below. 19Kin and directionality terms suffixNoun Glossa. bǒ–rú fathersb. ɲìjá–rú mothersc. ɡɔ́ɣɔ́–rú father’s wives (borrowing from Fulfulde)d. tɛ̀ndɛ̀–rú grandfatherse. ʧìjɛ́–rú grandmothersf. kàà–rú near (describing plural nouns)g. mééjé–rú far (describing plural nouns)Languages among the Mande group display what may be considered residual noun-class markers(Pozdnyakov 1991) in the form of word-initial homorganic nasals. Many nouns in Bangime dobegin with a homorganic nasal, although this is not althought to be a noun class marker. 20Also,one point worth making is that, in other Mande languages, nasals can be syllabic; allowing themto be tone-bearing units. In Bangime, it is shown that nasals are moraic, and although they maybear tone, they do not have tone independent of the preceding TBU. In examples (18a - c)monosyllabic words which begin with a palatal nasal or a nasal preceding a hight, front vowel,require an additional nasal preceding the word, thus in these words, the nasal is phonetic. The19 The Dogon language Yanda sporadically uses the kin plural suffix –jɛ̀ (Heath 2010), in examples dèdé–jɛ̀ ,‘fathers’ nìr̃á–jɛ̀ , 'father's sister', nìì–jɛ̀ , ‘mothers’, bàbá–jɛ̀ , ‘grandfathers’ and sèzú–jɛ̀ , ‘grandmothers’, but this isthe only other parallel that could be found.20 Homorganic nasals serve numerous functions in Bangime, as linking elements in compounds, as a transitivemarker for verbs, and as pronominals. In addition, the language is argued to be mora-timed; thus, some nasals servethe purpose of timing only and have no semantic content.42

examples in (18d - k) are considered compounds. Since only certain compounds contain thisnasal, there is not substantial evidence to show that it has semantic content among compounds.Words with initial nasals (note variation - check tones)StemGlossa. n nìè rainy seasonb. n nìé milkc. n níɛ̀ yesterdayd. n nàá bovinee. n nàá ɡʷɔ̀ⁿ bull lit. ‘male bovine’f. nàà n ɲìjérɛ́ cow lit. ‘female bovine’g. nàɛ́ m bìjɛ̀ calf lit. ‘small bovine’s baby’h. búò horsei. búò ŋ ɡʷɔ̌ ⁿ stallionj. búò n ɲìjérɛ́ marek. bújɛ̀ m bìjɛ̀ foalSemi-productive bound morphemes among verbs include the causative and reversive, althoughthese could be borrowed since the Bangime causative suffix in (19) is reminiscent of the samemorpheme found in some Dogon languages, and Fulfulde is well known for its initial-consonantmutation. However, as Heath (p.c.) points out, the most widespread causative among the Dogonlanguages is *–mv, although *–ndv and *–kv/–gv are also fairly widespread as secondary(archaic) causatives. 21Additionally, Songhay, of the Nilo-Saharan branch, also has –andicausatives.21 Najamba, Dogon causatives of this form include a limited set of verbs, including, ìl–ɛ́, ‘go up’, ìlá–ndí ‘cause toascend’, bɛ̀ lí–yɛ́ , get up, bèlá–ndí, ‘cause to get up’, tíŋɡ–ɛ́ , ‘pass by’, tíŋá–ndí, ‘cause to pass by’.43

Causative suffixBangime Causative or derivational suffix?Root Gloss Stem Glossa. mùwɛ wet mùwɔ́–ndá soakb. dìjá eat dìjà–ndá feedc. káráá learn, study, read káráá–ndá teachd. siɡa clean (adj) siɡa–nda clean (v)e. kùwó dry (adj) kʷù–ndó dry (v)f. sáⁿ go down (speaker is above) sá–ndā (sandara = flat?)g. sando (prog?)h. píjù, pínò pìnò blow píndù pìndù swelli. tíŋɡó wake uptíŋɡíndá,tiŋɡondo wake up (sme)Comparisons are shown in (20) of the few reversive examples that could be found in Bangime,with the same verbs in Fulfulde.BangimeReversive mutuation: ComparisonMutation Root Gloss Reversive Glossa. t ~ d tììndá start aa. dììndá stopb. m ~ b mùùndá dress bb. bùùndá undressc. n ~ ɲ nàw give cc. ɲàw taked. t ~ ʒ tíjé sit dd. ʒíjé risee. m ~ p múúnda knot, braid ee. pííndò untie, unravelf. w ~ ŋ ŋ wɔ́ⁿ go ff. n ŋɔ̌ comeFulfulde (Maasina dialect)a. fuɗɗude start aa. darnude stopb. ɓornude dress bb. ɓortude undressc. hokkude give cc. nanngude/ɓamude taked. jooɗaade sit dd. immaade get up/risee. mooraade braid ee. humtude untief. yahude go ff. warude come44

As shown in the Bangime examples, the initial consonant of the verb changes to form thereversive, although the process is not productive, and these are the only examples that could befound. Although Fulfulde is well known for its word-initial consonant mutation, the reversive isactually a word-internal nasal/stop alternation as noted in the words for ‘dress’, ‘undress’ above.Also note that among the Bangime alternations, the consonants [t] and [m] alternate with both[d, b] and [ʒ, p] respectively. It is proposed that the in the underlying forms (possibly a historicalremnant), the initial consonant of these words differ, as there is evidence for this word-internallyas well.Other words with similar meaning and phonological shapepɛ́pɛ́ɛ́valley, cavitycrevicepáŋˈɡárá – granary in cavesex. n dǎ wórè páŋˈɡárá ŋ kò – I go to a granaryˈpáŋ!ɡárà – grave in cavesex. n dǎ wóré ˈpáŋ!ɡárà ŋ kó – I go to a gravekí ʃíˈjɛ́ndɛ́ – old thingˈʃʷíjɛ́ndɛ̀ –sáɡòˈmɛ́ –ˈsáɡómɛ̀ –témbírè –tɛ́mbírè –tɛ́mbírɛ̀ –dé –ragtalismansecretrock (large)brickhammersweet45

dɛ́ –tasteVery few nouns could be found derived from verbs, a process which is productive in surroundingNiger-Congo languages, although all verbs can be given as nominal verbs or gerunds with theplural clitic. Note that in examples (21a - c), a discernable morpheme boundary can be drawn,though in the examples (21d - f), the change is autosegmental: 22 involving a shift of consonant,vowel, or a combination of both.Derived nominalPredicate Gloss Noun Glossa. bʊ̀ ɥ–é/buɥebi redden bʊ̀ ɥ–ɛ́ redb. pɔ́ɔ́r–é/pɔori blacken pɔ́ɔ́r–ɛ́ blackc. ɡìjɛ̀–ndí sweep ɡìjɛ́–nɛ̀ broomd. símá whiten ʃíjɔ́ⁿ whitee. bòɡó become big bɔ̀ɾ̃ó ~ bɔ́ɾ̃ò bigf. bɔ̀ɾ̃ɔ́ alive bɔ̀ndɔ́ livingFurther, in some Dogon languages, nouns agree in number and animacy with adjectives anddemonstratives, and pronouns agree with pronominal subjects. 23In Bangime, there is noagreement except in complementizer phrases (unless tonal marking is considered agreement).Agreement markinga. nìì síjɛ̀ mɛ̀=ndɛ́ sɔ̀ɣɔ̀3PL take COMP=PL lock‘they, those who were in jail (locked up)’22Thanks to Ian Maddieson for his comments on this issue, confirming that this is not a natural phonetic changeand is therefore most likely morphological.23 Nouns agree with modifying adjectives only in some Dogon languages including Najamba and Jamsay. Suffixeson nouns agree only in Toro Tegu, Tommo So, and Yorno-So. Adjectives agree only in Ben Tey and Yanda. Theremaining Dogon languages which agree in neither adjectives nor affixes such as Nanga, Togo Kan, etc., are likelydue to phonetic erosion of suffixes (Heath p.c.).46

. a diya=nɛ mɛ=nɛ da ŋ wi ɡoɡɔni ŋ koDET village=PL COMP=PL AUX CONN DIEXIS Gogoni CONN PP‘the villages which are in/at Gogoni’ (tones)One process which could be considered as a form of agreement is person marking. While personpronouns may be expressed segmentally, person marking is usually expressed tonally rather thanthrough segmental morphology. Examples are shown in (23).Tonal marking of subject in BangimeVerbGloss/dìjá/eata.i. n dìí ŋ kéɛ̀ I ate1S eat.1S.PERF T COMPLii. ∅ dìí ŋ kéɛ̀ he ate3S eat.3S.PERF T COMPLb. /kìjá (nò)/ answeriii. kíjà wájì I answeredanswer.1S.IMPERF STATiv. kíjá wájì he answeredanswer.3S.IMPERF STATc. /dàndá/ hidev. n dándè mí ŋ kéɛ̀ I hidCOMP1S hide.PERF REFL T Lvi. ∅ dándé mí ŋ kéɛ̀ he didCOMP3S hide.PERF REFL T Ld. /tʷáàrà/ (tʷáà) arrivevii. tʷàá ŋ kéɛ̀arrive.1S.PERF T COMPL I arrivedviii. tʷáà ŋ kéɛ̀47

arrive.3S.PERF T COMPL he arrivede. búndì undressix. m bùndí kéɛ̀ I undressed1S undress.1S.PERF COMPLx. m búndí kéɛ̀ he undressed1S undress.3S.PERF COMPLEach verb and object noun behaves differently with respect to where the tone which marksperson attaches. This is explored in depth in Chapter 10; a brief summary of the behavior ofexamples is provided here.The initial verb (23a) ‘eat’ is a transitive verb (as is marked by the nasal preceding thecompletive marker - compare 23x). As shown below in §2.7.1, verb roots are divided intocategories or verbal classes based on their behavior morphologically. The verb ‘eat’ changes itsfinal -a to -i in the perfective aspect. Since the glide is present to resolve vowel haitus, it isdeleted when the vowel is changed. The sole difference between the first and third persons is thepresence (23a.i.) or absence (23a.ii.) of the phrase-initial nasal, respectively. The tones do notchange on any of the constituents in these verb phrases.The verb ‘answer’ is a phrasal verb, consisting of the completive form of the verb plusthe dummy verb [no]. The phonological structure and tonal melody of the verb in (23b) is verysimilar to the verb ‘eat’. However, in (23b), there is no nasal before the subject or the stativemarker. The first and third persons are identical save for the tonal melodies of the verb stems.The first person shifts from the underlying rising melody to a falling one. The third personcarries a high melody.The verb ‘hide’ (23c) is a reflexive verb. The verb stem is followed by the reflexive orfirst person singular marker [mí]. In the perfective, the final vowel shifts from /a/ to [i]. The48

first person has a subject nasal; the third person does not. The other change is tonal: the firstperson shifts from rising to falling, and the third person is high.The verb ‘arrive’ (23d) is a truncated form of a verb which has undergone Vr-deletion.Neither the first nor the third person shows the initial subject nasal, and both have the nasalbefore the aspectual marker. Therefore, the sole distinction between a first and third personphrase is tone; the third person shows the underlying form of a falling contour while the first hasa rising one.The verb ‘undress’ (23e) is intransitive. Both verb phrases have an initial nasal, but nonebefore the aspectual marker. Nasals are shown to be markers of transitive verbs, usuallypreceding the verb, however, since neither this verb nor the verb in (23b) have nasals followingthe verb, it is proposed that these nasals indicate transitivity. The determing factor of person istone; the first person is a rising melody and the third person is high.2.6Comparison: Tense, Aspect, MoodBy examining the tense, aspect, and mood system of Bangime, we also see that the languagediffers from surrounding, agglutinating languages in that TAM markers are unboundmorphemes. Verbs are divided into different classes based on phonological shape and semanticcategory, summarized in (24) and discussed futher in Chapter X.Verb classes (fill in)Root STAT IMP COND IMPV FUT COMP PFVClass IVr-deletiona. buy ɥaa ɥaa ɥáárà ɥàáb. drink ɲìjɛ̀ (ŋ kɛ) n ɲìjɛ́rɛ̀ ɲìjɛ̀c.49

Class II-a/o ~ -i/-ɛd. stand dine dir̃ɛ díndá díndì dindie. set, put tíndɛ̀ tìndà tíndéf. tire barandi bárànda barandiClass II ṽ ~ NC ~ r̃/w̃ bándīʒiiwaji/ʒímbò‘à ɡándáʒiminjímbòjìmbòg. cold ʒímbò’ dẃɔ̀ⁿ ʒímbò daw‘off’h. break kɔⁿ kɔr̃o kɔr̃ɔ kɔr̃o kɔ́ndòtámbàté ŋkéɛ̀i. chew, bite tamaa táw̃ááj. take ɲa ɲàw ɲàr̃à ɲaw ɲak. finish bu wɛⁿ bur̃a búndìClass III -ul. haveduɡa (nduɡa n ke -i gave) dúɡà duɡum. agree taɡu taɡa táɡù táɡà táɡùn. ask siɡu siɡa síɡà sìɡúo. hit deɡu deɡɛ déɡɛ́ déɡɛ̀ déɡɛ̀ dèɡúClass IVClass Va ~ op. tie bɔ́ bàà bẃɛ̀ bɔ̌q. see jíjɛ̀ (neg) jàáGV ~ rVr. do jije/ béɛ̀ jò jeros. sit tije tijɛ tiri tiri tijeClass VIŋ kit. returnu. increasev. ablekɔ́rà ŋ kííwájìdìjà (obj) ŋkíìŋ kʷǎ (obj)ŋ kíìkɔ́rà kìídíjà ŋkíìkẃà (ŋ)kíkíì ŋkɔ́ròkíì n díjàkʷáà ŋ kìŋ kíìŋ kʷàkɔ́rò ŋkíìdìjà Xŋ kíìkwá Vŋ kàwClass VIn dow. write ɲɔ́ɡɔ́ n dòx. bring dòɡò n dó50

As viewed in the data in (24), there are (at least) six main verb classes in Bangime. The first(24a - c) is composed of roots with nasal-consonant clusters with a final [a]. The root-finalvowel changes from [a] in the Imperfective to [i] or [ɛ] in the Perfective. Class II (24d - h)consists of verbs which alternate between a nasalized vowel in the stative, a nasalized [r] or [w],many of which also end in a stem-final [a], in the Imperfective, and a nasal-consonant cluster, inthe Perfective. The verbs in Class III (24i - j) undergo rV or Vr-deletion in the Perfective. ClassIV (24k - l), similar to Class III, contains verbs which alternate between an intervocalic [j] and[r], which can also be viewed as [r] deletion with haitus resoltion. The fifth class (24m - n) has asuppletive stem in the negative. Class VI (24o - q) is composed of a root plus the morpheme[ki], and the order of the constituents is dependent on the TAM category of the phrase, discussedbelow in §2.5.5. The final class, Class VII (24r - u) is mostly composed of bisyllabic roots withan intervocalic [ɡ], many of which end with the vowel [a], which becomes [u]. To the author’sknowledge, there are no surrounding languages comparable to this type of morphological systemamong verb stems.2.7Comparison: SyntaxThe basic syntax of the language is overviewed so that the reader may note the ordering ofconstituents and their fluctuations, the latter of which is discussed in detail in Chapter 11. Toneson the noun phrase are very complex and are discussed in detail in Chapter 9. Examples ofconjunction and disjunction are shown in (25) and (26) respectively. Modifiers follow the nounand are shown in (26). The main constituents in the noun phrase which affect the tone of thenoun include a definite marker (24a) and possessive markers (24b), which precede (note that51

most morphemes which affect the tone of the noun precede it) the head noun. Modifiers (24c -d) and postpositions (24e), follow the head noun.Elements are linked in the noun phrase with the conjunction /daw/, as shown in theexamples in (24). The conjunction many be omitted as in (24c). It should be noted that theconjunction is homophonous with the auxiliary which marks progressive and future tense.ConjunctionConjunction Gloss Examplea. ná/náw and ɡírímɛ̀ɛ̀ náẁ tùùrɛ́rabbit CONN hyenna‘rabbit and hyenna’b. dà and tà ŋ kó dà búúsì dà lèèmùrù sííndùeggplant CONN cucumber CONN lemon‘eggplant and cucumber and lemon’c. Ø and déɡé bɔ̀r̃ó kóríɛ̀ bɔ̀r̃òhead big stomach big‘(the people with a) big head and (a) big stomach’Another example of Bangime seemingly purposely expressing the opposite of surroundinglangaugese is with the use of the negation marker [bɪe], which bears a strong resemblance to thepositive auxiliary marker in Bambara [be]. Examples of disjunction of clauses are illustrated in(26).Disjunctiona. ɲá bójé há ɡàbù bè míndámother see–NEG INF hippo NEG–PERF swallow‘Was his mother not swallowed by the hippo?’ (mother did not see hipposwallowed?)52

. à ɲá mì màà à ɲá bé á péDET mother 1 st SG 1 st SG POSS DET mother NEG 2 nd SG PP‘The mother (said), am I not the mother (who is) with you?’A rich system of adjectives and adverbials exists in the language, as is shown in the lexicon.Most adjectives must be preceded by either the noun that they modify, or by the word‘thing’(27a - c). Some adjectives may be formed with the auxiliary /daw/ (27c), and still otherswith the stative clitic (27e). Certain adjectives (27c) may modify either a noun or anotheradjective.Adjectival phrasea. búr̃ímɛ̀ kúríjɛ̀ short (as in length) stickb. kíì dérɛ́bíɛ̀ soft*dáà dérɛ́bíɛ̀c. kíì múɡú múɡù squishydáà múɡú múɡùd. kíì dáɣàɛ̀ little*dáà dáɣàɛ̀kíí ɡúní ɡár̃ì dáɣàɛ̀ a little bit roughe. ɥíɛ̀ kúrúbà wɛ̀ dirty waterOther constituents found in the noun phrase include the augmentative and diminutive (28a),adjectives (28b), and quantifiers (28c - d), all of which follow the noun.Noun phrasea. à ɲìjɛ̀rɛ́=bɔ̀r̃òDET woman =AUG‘the big woman’53

. màá kʷéɛ̀ bɛ́ɥí jìndó mɛ̀nɛ́1 st SG POSS calabash red two heavy‘my two red heavy calabashes’c. ʒǐbɛ́ɛ́ péɛ́! rɛ́person many‘many people’d. dùwàà m pùw̃ɛ́ ɡújé kàràtree GEN leaf green‘green tree leaf’ (lit. the tree’s green leaf)e. màá níí=bɔ̀r̃ó ŋ kò1 st SG POSS hand=AUG CONN PP‘in my big hand’bɔro maa nii ŋ ko - too heavy (lit. big) for my handAnother productive process of noun qualification in Bangime is compounding, however this isnot considered to be a derivational process as there is no evidence to show that the consituentsare conjoined to form one word as is found in surrounding languages. Examine the use of toneand morphological components to express subtle differences in meaning in the examples in (29).Word formation processes (check tones)a. ʒìbéɛ́ bɔ́ndɔ́ b. ʒìbéɛ́ bɔ́ndɔ̀person alive.H person alive.HLan alive persona person is alivec. ʒibeɛ pina d. ʒibeɛ daa pinaperson fear person COP fearan afraid persona person is afraide. bìréɛ̀ dáɣá f. bíréɛ̀ n dáɣáfire touch fire CONN touchflamelight a fire(or) daɣa m bireɛg. ʃʷíɛ̄ n dɛ̀ h. kíí ʃíjɛ̄ n dɛ́old/worn out thing old/worn outrag (n)old/worn out thing (adj phrase)i. sòɔ̀ⁿ ʃíjɛ́ n dɛ̀ j. sòɔ̀ⁿ n ʃʷɛ̀ n dɛ́54

shirt old/worn out shirt CONN old/worn outI have worn out a shirt (verb phrase?) worn out shirt (adj phrase)The phrases in (29) illustrate various ways to form an adjectival phrase which differ from thebasic noun, adjective formation above. The phrases in (29a - b, c - d) illustrate that an adjectivalphrase can be rendered stative by the use of tone on the adjective in the first pair, and theprogressive marker in the second. The pair in (29e - f) illustrates the use of the nasal connective(further explained in Chapter 6), which here differentiates a compound from a verb phrase. Thetone of the initial constituent also differs in this pair. (29i - j) is similar in that a nasal connectorchanges meaning, yet note the additional change in the form of the adjective in (29g - h).As with many area languages, emotions are expressed through constructions involvingthe heart.Emotions with ‘heart’màà bímɛ́ jíyɛ́ wɛ̀ m pě3S.POSS heart rise STAT CONN with‘his heart rose with it.’he got mad.Another similarity between Bangime and the Dogon and Mande languages is the extensive use ofpostpositions to indicate locative, instrumental, and dative roles. However, in Bangime, thesystem is more complex and the semantic distribution differs from that of other area languages.This system is discussed in detail in Chapter 9.Postpositions55

a. locative i. nɛ̀ kó ŋ wórè à ɡàrà húⁿ1 st PL PAST CONN go DET station PP‘We went to the station.’ii. nɛ̀ kó wórè à kó ŋ kó1 st PL PAST go DET house CONN PP‘We went to the house.’b. instrumental iii. n à rádàʒò táŋà n ʃí hùⁿ1 st SG DET radio ear CONN descend PP‘I am listening to the radio.’iv. n dá ɲòɡúndó bìkí ŋ kò1 st SG PROG write pen CONN PP‘I am writing with a pen.’c. dative v. n dá kɛ́ náw̃ à wájè1 st SG PROG thing give.IMPV 2 nd SG PP‘I am giving something to you.’vi. à tèr–ʊ̀ kɛ̌ ŋ wájè2 nd SG show–PFV thing 1 st SG PP‘You showed something to me.’By comparing the examples in (31a.i.) with those in (31a.ii.), we see that the postpositions inBangime do not have a single meaning that translates easily into Western concepts of containerand figure. While húⁿ may be translated through the language as “on” and ŋ ko as “in”, thesetranslations do not exactly fit all phrases. The dative in (31c.) is more regular; note the change inword order between the Imperfective in (31c.i.) and the Perfective in (31.c.ii.).Based on the fact that Bangime has postpositions and the main constituents in the nounphrase follow the head noun, except for the definite and possessive markers, it would appear thatthe basic word order of Bangime is SOV, like that of Dogon and the Mande languages, althoughunlike the languages of the Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo family. However, when oneexamines the verb phrase, there is no basic word order. The ordering of constituents in the verbphrase (32) seems to depend on the tense/aspect/mood of the phrase, and is not apparently a56

marker of focus. This is discussed in depth in Chapter 11. In fact, the very rare word order,OSV, is attested in the language. Although isolating morphology and S-AUX-O-V word orderare characteristic of the Mande languages, these sentences in Bangime show that this is not thedefault word order for this language.Verb phrasea. IMPERATIVE S V Oàɔ́ dèɡɛ̀ à jààmbɛ́2 nd PL hit.IMPV DET child‘You (PL) hit the child.’b. IMPERFECTIVE S AUX O Vàɔ́ dáà à jààmbɛ́ dèɡɛ̀2 nd PL COP/PROG DET child hit.IMPV‘You (PL) are hitting the child.’c. PERFECTIVE S V Oàɔ́ dèɡ–ú à jààmbɛ́2 nd PL hit.PFV DET child‘You (PL) hit the child.’The examples in (32) are only the most basic TAM distinctions in the language. The perfectiveis differentiated from the Imperfective by both tone and word order. The imperative mood (32a)and the perfective aspect (32c) illustrate that the corresponding word order is SVO. Theimperfective, as shown in (32b) has a word order of SOV.The examples in (33a. - b.) are more complex in that a sentence which is expressed in thefuture tense shifts its word order from V-S-AUX to O-AUX-S-V when the object is realized.57

Verb phrase (cont.)a. FUTURE 1 n V S AUXTrans déɡè n dáẁTransitive hit 1 st SG COP‘I will hit.’b. FUTURE 2 O AUX Và jààmbɛ́ ná n dèɡèDET child COP Trans hit‘I will hit the children.’The first nasal in (33a) is the transitive marker because it is impermissible to use a direct objectin this word order, and the subject is expressed before the copula, [daw]. The sentence in (27b)represents the word order when a direct object is pronounced, and the subject is representedtonally.If the future tense phrase contains an object, it resembles the passive; by examining otherverb forms (34a. - b.), it can be seen that the future tense and passive mood differ. 24Passive vs. Futurea. ŋǎ nà tàmbà b. ŋǎ nà n tàw̃ámeat PASS chew meat COP Trans chew‘the meat is chewed’‘I will chew meat’As in the examples above in (34), note the difference phonologically between the forms of theverbs in (34a) and (34b). The phrase in (34a) is in the imperfective aspect as the word order is24 Though it has been suggested that this is a form of focus, by a comprehensive description of focus in the language,that this is not the case.58

S-(O)-AUX-V and the NC-cluster form of the verb is used. In the sentence in (34b) the subjectis marked tonally. It appears that the very rare word order, OSV is attested in the language. 252.7.1GreetingsAnother curiosity concerning Bangime is the greeting sequence (29), or rather, lack thereof.African languages are well known for their lengthy call and response type of greeting sequences.Bangime has the normal question-type of greetings, but there are very few responses which arenot borrowings from Arabic or are intonational prolongations of the greeting itself.Greeting sequencesGreeting Gloss Response Glossa. dôó morning greeting dóòó morning greetingb. kʷɛ̌ hɛ̀rɛ́ n jɛ́w did you wake in peace? hámdùrùlájì Praise be to Godc. tíjà afternoon greeting tìjáàá afternoon greetingd. kʷɛ̌ hɛ̀rɛ́ tùrú did you spend the day in peace? hámdùrùlájì Praise be to Gode. kò n ʧɛ̌ =ndɛ́ your family (‘house owner’) kísè bíníjù no problemsf. à pʷɛ̀ɛ́ nà yàándé (male) wife and children kísè bíníjù no problemsg. à kàándɛ́ nǎ yàándé (female) husband and children kísè bíníjù no problemsh. à nà náá you and the field náà dà ŋ wíì field(s) are there(greeting for sme returning from the fields)Since many of the speakers of the language are not Muslim, the clearly Arabic response iscurious. Note that in addition to the relative simplicity of these greetings, there is no, common toevery Dogon language, introductory, [pòó] nor, final [tàárè]. As mentioned above, [nùmádáw]was proportedly a greeting, although it is no longer used.2.8Hypotheses25 Jeffrey Heath makes an interesting point that the AUX could be analyzed in this context as a verb. If so, instead ofa purely OSV construction we have OVSV.59

There are two main hypotheses concerning the origins of Bangime that are being considering atthis time: that Bangime may have a substrate outside of Niger-Congo, perhaps Nilo-Saharan, orthat the language is a constructed, or secret, language. These two hypotheses also may not bemutually exclusive. They are outlined below.2.8.1Nilo-Saharan substrateBased on preliminary findings (Blench and Hantgan, in progress), there is some evidence tosuggest that Bangime (and possibly the Dogon languages) had contact with a Nilo-Saharanlanguage, although not Songhay, the language of that family spoken in the area. Examples ofpossible cognates are shown in (36).60

Possible cognates with Nilo-Saharantree So Opo Shatt Sagato Bangimeattestation ad tʲa è(e)t da dʷàɛ̀/dʷààSource H&C Be83 Bo08 Pe87 AHhouse Dilling Opo Amdang Maba Mimi Kresh Ndoka Kanuri Bangimeattestation kɔl ku kuluk kuru kurule koyo kúzù kúrnuk kóòSource RB Be83 RB Ed91 LV39 RB Bo00 RB AHegg Kokona Gaam Liguri Dongolawi Amdang Ngambay Sagato Hombori Bangimeattest-ation ilit kɔlɔd ɔlɔɖəs kúmbu kʊrda kao akora ɡùŋɡùrì kúùⁿsource RCS RB RB RB Wo10 RB Pe87 He AHspear So Shabo Mayu Mursi Molo Pari Mufo Fer Manga Tadak-sahak Bangimeattest-ation bɛl ɓako ber ber wər abɛɛla ɓaala bànd béllám bə̀lleem búr̃àsource H&C F191 B-G07 TYO08 Be97 RMB Sch94 Bo87 Jarrett (n.d.) He AHwar Nyang’i Mursi Amdang MMG Sagato Manga Bangimeattest-ation kɛmon kaman kɔr: kʊmba ku kə̀ríwù kʊ́ rɛ̀61

source He75 TYO08 Wo10 B&W96 Pe87 Jarrett (n.d.) AHnose Kwama Shabo Amdang Aiki Baka Fer Sagato Bangimeattest-ation ʃu(n)ʃ sonna siŋ simbo sɔ̀mɔ̀ sùm sano sǔmbírísource Be83 Abnd Wo10 No89 Bo00 Bo87 Pe87 AHtooth PK Guba MMA Kresh Aiki Bangimeattestation *ʃeʔ kʷosa *sí sèsè sàdí n nɔ́ɔ̀ ŋɔ́ síìⁿsource Be84 Ah04 B&W96 Bo00 No08 AHfrog Anej Yaso Nara Fur Manga Tadaksahak Hombori Bangimeattest-ation ɡɔ eeɡuda ɡɔ̀ɔ ɡɔrɔŋ kókó aɡúru ʔàŋkòòr-ò búɡúrúùsource Be83 Ah04 Rixx ? Jarrett (n.d.) He He RBbite Tulishi Ngambay Kenga Bangimeattestation aɡídɔ́ɔ́nɔ tóⁿ dɔ̀ɔɲɔ̀ táw̃ásource Sch94 Bo00 Bo AHgive Shabo Didinga Talasa Aiki Fur Teda Tadaksahak Bangimeattestation hanno nya ná ɲ aní nin- na n ɲáẁsource Fl91 RCS Sch94 No89 RCS Le Coeur (1950) He AHdie Lotuxo Tama Krongo Bangimeattestation jɛ ejà ááyà jáá62

source RB RB Re AHstar Ik Temein Fur Lendu Bangimeattestation ɗɔɬɛát ɗúlɪ̀ʈ dʊ́ àl dyodyo tòrèmɛ́source He99 RCS Wa10 RCS AH63

Although a handful of similar vocabulary items is not enough to prove a genetic relationship, bycomparing these Bangime words to those from the Nilo-Saharan languages, and examining theappedices that show how much Bangime differs from the Dogon languages, it is a possibility.Another possibility is outlined below.2.8.2Anti-languageClearly, Bangime has resisted language-contact induced changes from surrounding Dogon andMande languages, so, if there was once a Nilo-Saharan language spoken among the Bangande,why is it reflected in the vocabulary but not the grammar? As is shown in the appendices, someBangime lexical items, even within the core vocabulary, are borrowed from surroundinglanguages. It does appear as although certain TAM markers such as the clitic, [ŋ kɛ́ɛ̀], have beenborrowed from Fulfulde to express the completed past/perfective. Upon closer inspectionthrough learning to speak the language and gathering texts, it has become clear that words givenin lexical elicitation form differ from those used in actual speech in that most true lexical itemsare periphrastic descriptions of an item or action. For example, the word given for ‘fence’ [sáàⁿ],suggests a loan word from Bamana, but in every day usage, the phrase, [bùr̃á míndɛ́ ɥùrúɡí dóò àɡòmè màá kɛ́rɛ́], translated as, ‘stick(s) put into the ground so that people may pass next to therice’, is employed to describe, in this instance, a fence surrounding the rice fields. In fact, ‘sáàⁿ’,is unacceptable for any type of fencing if one is speaking the ‘true’ language. Further examplesof so-called, ‘deep Bangime’ are shown in (37).64

“Deep Bangime”a. kónʤɛ́ hà máà ŋàrìkí à dóbeer until his althoughts/spirit CONJ pass‘drunk’b. sììbɛ́ɛ̀ n tàr̃àá ŋ kɛ́è póɔ́r ! ɛ́eye CONN hide CONN thing blackblack things (to) hide (the) eye(s)‘sun glasses’c. ɡɔ̀w̃ -nɛ́ kó ŋ kòmen house CONN PPmen inside a house‘prison’d. ʃíín síjɛ̀ⁿstrengthagentivestrong person‘policeman’e. bùⁿ mɛ́ ná mì dɛ̀r̃ɛ́ɛ́powder CONJ AUX PASS.PFV sweetpowder which has been sweetened‘cake’f.fkiŋɡɛ buwɛ maa na ŋ wɛskin red 3.SG meat oil“banana”The Bangande language consultants did not inform the researcher of this “deep Bangime”language until the last two months of fieldwork, after a span of three years on three separatetrips. They claim that the language is a means by which they can speak about others withoutthem understanding. When outsiders inquire about the language, they adamantly refuse to revealor discuss it.Halliday (1976) discusses the concept of “anti-languages”, languages which have beenconstructed by “anti-societies” based on the need for secrecy. As mentioned above, the name ofthe language and people, ‘Banga’, is literally translated as ‘secret’ by many (although curiously65

not neighboring) 26 Dogon peoples, meaning ‘secret language’. Halliday describes anti-languagesas involving either a partial or complete relexicalization of the established language, but thatthese languages usually adopt the same grammar with a substituted vocabulary. The substitutedvocabulary pertains to the activities of the anti-society. Kennings, or periphrastic terms likethose shown in (37) above, are very common among this type of language.Secret or anti-languages are common throughout Africa, even among the Dogon (Lala2000). “Langues spéciales” have been described for some time in Africa, (Van Gennep 1908) in(Moñino 1991). Hudson (1995) specifically notes how secret languages in Ethiopia eithersubstitute vocabulary or alter syllable structures in order to confuse listeners. The Mau Maufighters in Kenya also used metaphors to communicate in a secret language “Uma Uma”, whichin Kikuyu means “get out, get out” (William Kanyi Wamathai, p.c.). Childs (2003) gives furtherexamples from a secret language used in the Kisi-speaking area of Liberia, known as“kpélémɛ́íyé” and a possibly related language, “lóndùé”. 27The latter, in particular, is ofunknown origin although the former not only transposes syllables, 28 it also reverses meanings.The translation of “kpélémɛ́íyé” is ‘garden leavings’, ‘the few things that are left after the plantsare uprooted’. The meaning, ‘garden scraps tossed away’, is an ironic name as the language is ofhigh importance to its speakers. The use of opposite meanings is a common feature of varietiesof slang (Eble 1996) and languages spoken by elders in Burkina Faso (Showalter, p.c.). Both ofthese techniques are found in “deep Bangime”. For instance, the names for plants used inritualistic ceremonies are often based on the opposite of the color of the bark or flower, i.e. a26 Jamsay [báŋá], Togo Kan [báŋ], Yorno So [bàŋ-í: jéé], Tommo-So [bààŋí-jɛ́], Yanda Dom [bǎn-jɛ́\\bàn-jà-lí], BenTey [bàŋɡì-jí] (see map above for the locations of these languages).27 With a possible resemblance to the above-referenced ceremony, [lɔ̀ɔ̀ŋɡá].28 In Chapter 5 the possibility of syllable insertion is discussed.66

white barked tree is called, literally, ‘black-eyed’, while the black variety of the species is‘white-eyed’.The secret language hypothesis is based on a more complex social structure among theBangande. As discussed in the introduction, among the estimated 1500 - 3000 speakers ofBangime, only about a fourth can trace their lineage to the original clan who settled the area.The others were, (and are to this day), enslaved by the royal class within the Bangande and are ofmixed races, ranging from Dogon to Mande, to unknown, as their ancestors were captured byFulani and other ethnicities as young children and prevented from knowing from which villagethey came so as not to escape. 29How the slaves came into Bangande society remains a mystery. According to oralhistories, 30 the Fulani enslavers at one point in time attacked a group of the Fulani slave caste,seeking to capture them. The Fulani slave caste asked the Bangande, which were at that time,solely composed of the royal class, for help. The present-day Chief’s grandfather, GiyamoMaamani, was chief at the time. 31According to the story, the Bangande clan’s last name wasthen changed from Baanaande to Dicko as a result of their helping the Fulani slaves overcomethe Fulani enslavers. The researcher’s hypothesis is that the Fulani enslavers actually capturedthe Bangande at this time and renamed them Dicko because slaves took the last name of theirowners. To further this claim, note that there is no word in the language for last name, theBangande either borrow the word from Fulfulde, [jamoore], or say, literally, ‘second name’. 32Given the importance of last names and their significance to ethnic identity in Mali, this is highlyunusual.29 Text: Tiga story about People going to Tete30 Chief Story #531 The names of the Chiefs in the current chief’s lineage are given in the appendix.32 Even the word for ‘name’, [níì], is of interest as it is homophonous with the word for ‘say’.67

A likely story for the etymology of the name ‘Baanaande’ /bànáándɛ̀/ is that the namederives from ‘Bangande’ /bàŋɡá=ndɛ̀/, as has been shown in previous chapters that nasals andintervocalic velar stops commonly delete in the language. Thus, the people’s true last name isunknown. The only name that is exclusively used for the Bangande is found among the ‘royalclass’ people, ‘Baade’, which also likely comes from the same source. Certainly, enslavementwould give cause for the Bangande to create a separate language from their captors. A fullerunderstanding of 'deep Bangime' could reveal the true roots of Bangime among the languages ofAfrica.2.9ConclusionThe classification of Bangime and the Dogon languages as a whole has been unreliable forseveral reasons. Based on the lack of lexical and grammatical similarities with Dogon languagesor other languages within Mali or surrounding countries, the status of the language as an isolateremains as such. The task now is to discover from where the language's speakers came, andwhether the people have any genetic relation to the Dogon as they claim. In the meantime, thetonal description of Bangime set out in this dissertation will provide the only description of thelanguage thus far, and may help in solving a greater mystery of the origin of the Dogonlanguages as well.The Dogon language group had been misrepresented as one language (Bendor-Samuel,Olsen, & White 1989), even although current research estimates 18 to 20 separate Dogonlanguages and over 60 dialects (Heath 2008; Hochstetler et al. 2004). This diversity andcomplexity is due to the Dogon peoples’ geographic inaccessibility; they have until recently beenconfined to secluded, sometimes concealed villages within the rocky Bandiagara escarpment andvarious isolated nearby inselbergs. Although Marcel Griaule, his team members Germaine68

Dieterlen and Michel Leiris and his daughter, Geneviève Calame-Griaule, published studies on avariety of topics since the 1930s, including the Dogon languages, much of this work is widelycriticized by those who dispute Griaule’s methodology (van Beek 1991). Their generalizationsabout Dogon language and culture based on one language do not apply to the rest of the Dogonarea. Even Leiris (n.d.) found Griaule’s badgering of speakers inappropriate and unproductive,leading to incorrect data. Many of Griaule’s Dogon language consultants have now admitted toplaying games and misleading him. Publications on Dogon languages from Leiris and Calame-Griaule continue to be criticized for top-down elicitation techniques. Other publications aboutDogon include sparse, outdated grammars.The classification of languages is critical to tracing cultural history and lineage (Blench2006). The Dogon languages lack certain features, such as a full noun class system, that areprevalent among languages of the Niger-Congo family, to which the Dogon languages have beenassigned, causing some historical linguists to doubt their common ancestry (Williamson &Blench 2000). Further, the classification of the Dogon languages has fluctuated between the Guror “Voltaic” (Bertho 1953; Greenberg 1963) and Mande (Delafosse 1952) sub-branches, butsince significant links with either remain inconclusive, they are now not linked with anysubgroup (Gordon 2005), which makes determining their history problematic.A collaboration has been implemented with geneticists who have recently publishedinformation concerning the genetic uniformity of the Dogon people (Tishkoff, Reed,Friedlaender, Ehret, Ranciaro, Froment et al. 2009) to study the genetic composition of theBangande. In particular, one of the authors of this paper, Floyd Reed, is a colleague of theresearcher’s from college who has now visited Bounou for a preliminary trip and plans to return69

with the researcher in 2012. It is hoped that this collaboration coupled with further research willshed light into the biological and linguistic ancestry of the ‘secret people’.70

3. Chapter 3: Phonology of Vowels3.1IntroductionWithout autosegmental features, tone and nasalization, the basic (non-derived) vowel inventoryof Bangime is shown in (39). Unlike most West African languages, [ATR] is not considered anautosegmental feature in this language as vowels do not alternate to harmonize withaccompanying [±ATR] vowels. Rather, vowel height seems to be the target feature as tense/laxand height values of vowels shift based on tone and position in the word. To distinguish thisdifference, the terms tense and lax are used instead of [±ATR]. The diagram in (38) depicts thevowel space of the language.Vowel Chart (averages) (put vowels into chart)The chart above shows that the difference between tense and lax vowels is one of height andfronting. Further measurements are to be determined in a later field session. The phonetic71

inventory of the language without autosegmental features nasalization and tone is depicted in(39).Phonetic inventory[i ɪ e ɛ a o ɔ u ʊ]Words in Bangime may contrast for the following features, listed in (40) with some exampleslisted in (41).Processes affecting vowelsa. Lengthb. Heightc. Nasalizationd. Haitus Resolutione. ToneMinimal pairsa. nà PASSIVE aa. nàà cow n.b. tómèɛ̀ cowry shell bb. tómɛ́ɛ̀ Tommo So speakerc. kʊ́ rɛ̀ war cc. kǒrɛ̀é stomachd. búò horse dd. bùwó fielde. bɔ́ò father ee. bɔ̌ tie.NEG.PERFf. bìjɛ́ baby ff. bǐjɛ́ fecesg. bʷɪ̀ɛ́ leg gg. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ mosquitoh. bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ red hh.i. ɥíɛ̀ water ii. ɥìɛ̀ ascendj. ɥìɛ́ moon jj.72

k. n nìè rainy season kk. n nìé milkl. n ɲɛ̀ yesterday ll.Among underlyingly monosyllabic words, (some words insert a glide to resolve vowel haitus andmany nouns have a obligatory or frozen animate suffix), minimal pairs are found which contrastvowel length (41a - aa), vowel height (41b - bb, c - cc, d - dd), tone (f - ff, g - gg, h, i - ii, j), or acombination of features; compare (41d - dd and e - ee) or (41g - gg, h), (41k - kk, l). Low andback vowels show more contrasts for length, mid front vowels for height, and mid/high front fortone. Each of these properties is discussed in detail in the following sections. The goal of thischapter is to introduce the properties of the vocalic system of Bangime. First, the distribution ofvowels based on length is presented in §3.2.3.23.2.1Vowel lengthOverviewThe data in (36) illustrate examples of short (36a - x) and long (36aa - xx) vowels inmonosyllabic and the initial and final position of disyllabic words where each was available.However, not all vowels have phonemic length correspondences; certain vowels may not appeareither as long or as short in specific syllabic environments illustrated below. With very fewexceptions, only monosyllabic and bisyllabic words contain long vowels; trisyllabic words andlonger tend to not have long vowels. A bisyllabic word tends to have a long vowel in either thefirst or second syllable, but not in both. A monosyllabic root in isolation consists of a bimoraicsyllable. The examples (36d, m) are grammatical markers, and therefore are always found withother constiuents of a word or sentence. The verb, ‘gather’ (36v), is a conjugated form of alonger word, [kùr̃á], thus it takes the clitic, [ʃíìⁿ], ‘together’ in isolation.73

The two environments in which vowel length fails to contrast are in monosyllabic wordsin isolation (shown in depth in Chapter 5), and the second syllable of bisyllabic words.Monosyllabic roots in isolation must contain a long vowel, a vowel-glide sequence, or apreceding nasal. If coupled with another segment in a phrase or word, a monosyllabic word maysurface with a short vowel. The data in (36) show that certain vowels tend to lengthen (36a - e)or add a mora (36f - g) in the second syllable of a bisyllabic word after specific consonants.3.2.2DataVowel length distributionAlternation Stem Gloss Stem Glossi/ii a. *Ci aa. píí sauce n.b. m mìró bee n. bb. níírù breathe v.c. kʊ́ rí cc. *CV.Ciiɪ/ɪɪ d. –mɪ̀ diminutive (sfx) dd. n tɪ́ɪ́ older sibling n.e. kɪ́ɛ́ʋɛ̀ animal (sp) n. ee. *Cɪɪ.CVf. bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ red adj. ff. *CV.Cɪɪe/ee g. tɛ́è straight n. gg. *Ceeh. térò sit v. hh. kěèré six n.i. píjé set down v. ii. símèè rock n.ɛ/ɛɛ j. tèɛ̀ forge v. jj. *Cɛɛk. nɛ́rɛ́ uncle n. kk. nɛ̀ɛ̀rɛ̀ dry season n.l. mùùrɛ́ sugar cane n. ll. ɡírímɛ̀ɛ̀ rabbit n.a/aa m. nà PASSIVE mm. nàà cow n.n. *Ca.CV nn. wáárì money n.o. ɥùúrá kill v. oo. (kíì) káráá new (thing) adj.o/oo p. tó pò only adv. pp. kóò house n.q. ɡómpà pull v. qq. ɡòómpá step n.r. póòrò cloud n. rr. *CV.Coooɔ/ɔɔ s. dóɔ̀ paper, notebook ss. tw̃ɔ̀ɔ́ blacksmith n.t. dɔ́rɛ́ɛ̀ bird n. tt. dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀ adze n.u. mɔ̀ɣɔ́ rotten v. uu. *CV.Cɔɔu/uu v. kúⁿ (ʃíìⁿ) gather (together) vv. kúùⁿ egg n.74

w. búnú Bounou (village) ww. búrúù seed, kind n.x. púndà sprout v. xx. púúndà Fulani n.3.2.3DescriptionExamples (36a - c, aa - cc) show the extent of contrast for the vowel [i]. The high, front tensevowel [i] contrasts with long [ii] in the initial syllable of a bisyllabic word (36b, bb). Amongmonosyllabic words (36a, aa), only the long vowel is found. In the final syllable of a bisyllabicword (36c, cc), only the short vowel appears; a bisyllabic word may not end in a long [i].Although a long, high, front tense vowel is rare, it is found in at least one word, (36bb).The high, front lax vowel [ɪ] appears long only in monosyllabic words (36d, dd). If [ɪ]appears in a heavy initial or final syllable of a bisyllabic word (36e, f), it is always followed bywith a mid, front lax vowel (also see [bíŋɡírɪ́ɛ̀] ‘round (adj)’ and [kùɥɪ̀ɛ́] ‘shell/calabash’).The mid, front tense vowel [e] can appear long in either syllable of bisyllabic (36ff - gg),but not monosyllabic (36ee) word. In monosyllabic words, [e] is either short (36g - h), or ispreceded by its lax counterpart [ɛ], (similar to the behavior of the lax high vowel). There are nomonosyllabic words which consist solely of an onset and [e].The lax mid, front counterpart [ɛ] follows the same patterns of length (being defined astwo identical vowels) as the tense vowel, in that is restricted to either the initial or final syllableof a bisyllabic word (36k - l, kk - ll). Again, in monosyllabic words, two mid vowels of differingheight values may co-occur in sequence tautosyllabically (36g). [is it possible that /e/ is precededby [ɛ] and /ɛ/ by [ɪ] and vowels must be disharmonic for height and/or [ATR] value if adjacent toprevent haitus or to prevent long vowels?]The low, back vowel [a] does display a contrast for length in monosyllabic (36m, mm)words. The low, back vowel may appear as either short or long in the second syllable of75

isyllabic words (36o, oo). The low only appears long in the first syllable of a bisyllabic word(36n, nn). Words such as [ŋ/nàmbárá] ‘sheep’ and [páɣàrà] ‘container’, however, illustrate thatshort, low vowels are permitted in trisyllabic and longer words, although to the exclusion oflong, low vowels. Long [aa] (36mm - oo) is permitted in both mono and bisyllabic words,although only after [r] in bisyllabic words. This is shown in detail below.Both the mid, back, tense and lax vowels occur in the same environments; neither mayappear as long in the final syllable of a bisyllabic word (36rr, uu). In all other environments, themid, back vowels can appear as long or short, and length may act as the sole contrastive featureother than tone (36q, qq). As with the mid, front vowels, mid, back vowels may appear indisharmonic tense/lax sequences tautosyllabically in monosyllabic words (36s).The high, back vowel [u], appears in all environments (36v - x) and (36vv - xx), and, like[a], as a long, final vowel of a bisyllabic word after [r] (36ww). The high, back vowel iscontrastive for length in the initial syllable of bisyllabic words (36x, xx). Its lax counterpart isvery limited in usage, having been found only in a handful of words.Second syllable of bisyllabic wordsɛɛ/ee eɛ/ɛe aaStem Gloss Stem Gloss Stem Glossa. ɡírímɛ̀ɛ̀ rabbit f. ɡǐméɛ̀ watermelon o. báráá Baarab. símèè rock g. ɡòmèɛ́ rice p. báráà remainsc. tìɡàjɛ́ɛ́ peanut h. tómèɛ̀ cowry shell(s) q. kùráá birthd. sííbɛ́ɛ̀ eye i. pɛ́rèɛ̀ key r. màráà like/wante. (máá) kándèè husband j. ʒǐbéɛ́ person s. màràà buildk. bíréɛ̀ fire t. páràà gatherl. ɡɛ̀dɛ́è lizard u. síráá hornm. ʒáɣéɛ̀ onion v. súràà lookn. kíŋɡèɛ̀ skin w. túráà wash (body)76

In the final syllable of a bisyllabic word, the mid, front tense and lax vowels are usually eitherlong (37a - f), or appear in combination with one another (37f - n). These vowels commonlyfollow the consonants [m] (37a - b, f - h), [j] (37c), or [b] (37d, j). It was shown briefly inChapter 2, §2.5.3 that there is a productive suffix which shows an alternations [bEE ~ mEE ~jEE ~ EE] in which [E] represents either tense/lax value of the mid, front vowels. The low, backvowel [a] (37o - w), and the high, back vowel [u], for example [búrúù] ‘seed’, tend to lengthenword-finally in a bisyllabic word following [r]. The low and high back vowels tend to lengthenin disyllabic words following [r] (but not [r̃]).Are there different types of long vowels? Those that are underlying long and those that areadding a mora? low and mid? (it may be that length is predictable and not phonemic)3.2.4ObservationsThe following tables summarize where short (38) and long (39) vowels are permitted in eachsyllable of a word. Trisyllabic and longer words are not shown as these words tend to not havelong vowels.Observations of where short vowels appearvowel monosyllabic bisyllabic first syllable bisyllabic second syllablei – + +ɪ + + +e + + +ɛ + + +a + – +o + + +ɔ + + +u + + +77

This summary shows that all vowels may appear short and non-nasalized in any syllabicenvironment except the vowels [i] and [a]; the former being restricted from appearing in amonosyllabic word and the latter in the first syllable of a bisyllabic word.Observations of where long vowels appearvowel monosyllabic bisyllabic first syllable bisyllabic second syllableii + – –ɪɪ + – –ee – + +ɛɛ – + +aa + + +oo + + –ɔɔ + + –uu + + +Length is contrastive among back vowels, although not among front ones. High vowels areprimarily short except in monosyllabic words and mid vowels are typically long except inmonosyllabic words. The data in (34a - x) and summary in (38) show that all short, nonnasalizedvowels may appear in either syllable of a word except [ɪ], which is found only inmonosyllabic words, or in combination with another vowel height, and [a], which does notappear in the initial syllable of a bisyllabic word.The data in (36y - yy) and summary in (39) show that long, non-nasalized vowels aremore restricted than short, non-nasalized vowels. The low and high, back vowels may appearlong in any environment, although the mid back vowel is restricted to the first syllable of adisyllabic, or a monosyllabic word. Mid, front vowels are banned in monosyllabic words. Thehigh, front vowels are not allowed to surface in the second syllable of bisyllabic words.All monosyllabic roots have long vowels in isolation. A monosyllabic root which has anunderlying short vowel lengthens in isolation due to the minimal word constraint. The mid, front78

tense and lax vowels and the low and high back vowels tend to lengthen in the final syllable of abisyllabic word, particularly after [r], and the animate suffix which begins with either a nasal,stop, or glide. It is shown in Chapter 4, §4.3 that each of these consonants (glides, stops, nasalsand liquids) may be deleted in certain environments, thus, vowel length may be compensatory toadjust for the loss of a segment. Many of the words with a final, long back vowel of either a lowor high height value show identity harmony with other vowels in the stem.3.2.5Analysis: Phonemic vowel inventoryAs shown in the previous sections, there is a limited phonetic inventory of vowels in bimoraicsyllables. The table in (40) provides a summary of the distribution of long and short vowelsdiscussed thus far concerning in syllabic environments.Observations of vowel type with syllable type correspondences[+ATR, +HI, –Bk] Cii Ci.CV? Cii.CV CV.Ci *CV.Cii[–ATR, +HI, –Bk] Cɪɪ *Cɪ.CV *Cɪɪ.CV *CV.Cɪ *CV.Cɪɪ[+ATR, –HI, –Bk] *Cee Ce.CV Cee.CV CV.Ce CV.Cee[–ATR, –HI, –Bk] *Cɛɛ Cɛ.CV Cɛɛ.CV CV.Cɛ CV.Cɛɛ[–ATR, –HI, +Bk] Caa Ca.CV *Caa.CV CV.Ca CV.Caa[+ATR, –HI, +Bk] Coo Co.CV Coo.CV CV.Co *CV.Coo[–ATR, –HI, +Bk] Cɔɔ Cɔ.CV Cɔɔ.CV CV.Cɔ *CV.Cɔɔ[+ATR, +HI, +Bk] Cuu Cu.CV Cuu.CV CV.Cu CV.CuuHigh and mid, front, [±ATR] vowels are in complementary distribution with each other in twosyllable positions. In monosyllabic words, high vowels may appear (40a - b), while in thesecond syllable of bisyllabic words, mid vowels appear to the exclusion of high vowels (40c - d).Among the high front vowels, the lax variant may only appear in monosyllabic words(40a), unless it is paired with a mid vowel (shown above). Most of the clitics in the language arecomposed of monosyllabic words with lax vowels; the latter being the case for noun and verb79

oots. It is therefore hypothesized that for a morpheme to constitute a word, it almost alwaysmust contain at least one tense vowel.The long low (40e) is in complementary distribution with long back, mid vowels. Theformer is not found in the first syllable of a bisyllabic word while the latter is not found in thesecond syllable. High (40h) back vowels are permitted in any syllabic environment, while themid back vowel is impermissible as a long vowel in the second syllable of a bisyllabic word.The lax variant of the high, back vowel is rare, thus it is omitted from this summary for the timebeing.Based on the data above, the high front, tense and the front lax short vowels are incomplementary distribution among monosyllabic stems. Therefore, a lowering rule applies herewhereas the high front tense vowel becomes lax in monosyllabic, monomoraic stems, of whichmost consist of particles.Further, the high, front lax long vowel is not permitted in any environment, and the tenselong vowel is rare. Since neither a long, high vowel or a combination of [ɛɪ] is permissibletautosyllabically and the words which contain the [ɪɛ] sequence have similar intervocalicconsonantal structure, it is proposed that there is mora addition in bisyllabic words surroundingcertain consonants, although this is explored further in additional sections. 33The high, front long vowels are in complementary distribution with mid, front longvowels. Both sets of tense and lax mid, front, long vowels to raise in monosyllabic words, andlower in bisyllabic words.The low, back vowel is restricted in where it may appear as a short vowel. It lengthensword-finally in bisyllabic words, particularly after [r].33 Further, [CVV.Ci] is an uncommon word form – there is only one word [wáárì], a borrowing, that is [CaaCi], andother long vowels can precede [i] in verb conjugations, though it is uncommon.80

Interestingly, the mid, front and back vowels of both tense/lax values are incomplementary distribution. While mid, front vowels do not appear as long in monosyllabicwords, they often do surface long word-finally in bisyllabic stems. Mid, back vowels surface asopposite to this pattern; short word-finally in bisyllabic and long in monosyllabic words. It couldbe proposed that there is a merger of front, mid and high vowels to back in these environments.It is shown in Chapter 4, §4.3 that intervocalic consonants, the consonants [b m j w r]may be deleted. When [r] is deleted, a vowel which follows or proceeds is syncopated alongwith it. The vowels [a] and [u] are the most common vowels to be found long, word-finally,after an [r], although there does not seem to be a direct correspondence between a word whichpermits [r]-deletion with long or short final vowels. Further, an explanation for the gapexcluding short, low vowels in the initial syllable of a bisyllabic word would be to look to thehypothesis that the language originally consisted of only monosyllabic words. If [a] is viewed asan epenthetic segment after a non-deleted [r], thus only appearing as the final vowel of abisyllabic word, and words were originally monosyllabic, then it is possible that [a] was not partof the original phonemic vowel inventory.3.33.3.1Height distributionOverviewAs noted above, and shown further below, among monosyllabic (47) and polysyllabic (48)words, opposing height values often appear in combination tautosyllabically among front andback vowels. The high, back, tense or lax vowel is not found in combination with a vowel ofdifferent values tautosyllabically, nor is the low vowel (with few exceptions which involvesuffixation such as [dwà–ɛ̀] ‘tree–SFX’).81

Among derived trisyllabic stems, height values change in the penultimate syllable asshown in (49). The examples in (50) illustrate that all nouns which take the animate suffix,including the low vowel, shift to the high, front, lax vowel in the plural form. In the examples in(52), the word ‘thing’ is given in combination with bound and unbound morphemes in order toshow the variations in its vocalic forms which also demonstrate vowel raising to [i].3.3.2DataMonosyllabic words with height contrastsAlternation Stem Gloss Stem Glossɛeⁿ/eɛⁿ a. kɛ́èⁿ cheek aa. kéɛ̀ⁿ thereɛe/eɛ b. tɛ́è straight adj. bb. tèɛ̀ forge v.eɛ/iɛ c. n néɛ̀ four cc. n níɛ̀ beanɛɛ/ɪɛ d. n ŋʷɛ́ɛ̀ sing (v) dd. ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ oil n.ie/iɛ e. n nìè rainy season ee. n nìɛ̀ sunie/ɪɛ f. síè catch ff. ɕɪ́ɛ̀ termiteo/ɔ g. dòò pass gg. dóɔ̀ letter3.3.3DescriptionAmong monosyllabic words, front (47a - f), (47aa - ff) and back (47g, gg) mid vowels appearwith a counterpart of an opposing tense/lax value. The mid, front vowels may occur in bothdirections of tense or lax values; the lax variant may occur first, (47a - b), or second (47aa - ff).The ordering sequence of opposing tense/lax values in mid, front vowels may provide the solecontrast, (47a, aa), or tone may be an additional difference (47b, bb).Mid, front [±ATR] vowels may also co-occur with front tense (47e, f, cc), or lax(47dd, ff) high vowels. Among these words, tone is also a contrastive property in all wordsexcept the [eɛ] ~ [iɛ] combinations (47c, cc) where both of these words have a falling [HL] tonalcontour. The other falling tonal contour shown in (47f, ff) contrasts the vowels [ie] with [ɪɛ],although the initial consonant is also different.82

Polysyllabic words with height contrastsAlternation Stem Gloss Stem Glosse/ɛ a. déɡè head aa. dèɡɛ́ hit v.e/ɛ b. kííjè seven bb. kíjɛ̀ branch n.eɛ/ɛe c. péɛ́! rɛ́ a lot adj. cc. pɛ́rèɛ̀ key n.ɛɛ/eɛ d. tómɛ́ɛ̀ Tommo so speaker dd. tómèɛ̀ cowry shell n.PropNo/ɔ e. bóndɔ̀ again adv. ee. bòndò alive adj.steal (take smthwhich does notbelong to you) ff. kɔ́mɛ̀ slaveo/ɔ f. kómɛ̀o/ɔ g. tómɛ́ɛ̀ Tommo so speaker gg. tómèɛ̀ cowry shell n.PropNɔ/oɔ h. pɔ́rɛ̀ well n. hh. póɔ́rè black adj.eCe/eɛCɛ i. dérè sweet, sharp adj. ii. déɛ̀rɛ̀ cultivate v.eCɛ/ɛCe j. pèrɛ̀ lead (animal) v. jj. nɛ́rè uncle n.ɔNCo/oNCɔ k. pɔ́mbórò ditch n. kk. pómbɔ́ró line n.oCɔ/ɔCo l. ɲóɡɔ́w̃ɛ̀ fish (sp.) n. ll. ɲɔ̀ɡómɛ́ camelAlthough polysyllabic roots may be disharmonic for the feature tense/lax, the sole examplesfound which are contrasted on the basis of tense/lax alone are (48g, gg) and (48h, hh). Both thesepairs contrast mid, back vowels. The remaining examples differ in tense/lax value, tone, and, insome cases, length. Among polysyllabic words, mid vowels of both tense/lax values maycontrast adjacently in the initial (48d, jj, kk), or final (48ee, ff, ii) syllable. Although thecombination [ɛe] is not found among these disyllabic words, it is possible to find thiscombination in the final syllable of words such as [kǒrɛ̀é] ‘stomach’ [ɡɛ̀dɛ́è] ‘lizard sp’.Disharmonic vowels for the feature tense/lax may also appear non-adjacently, or across aconsonantal boundary, in the remaining examples.Combinations of high and mid, front lax vowels are found in the first, [ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀] ‘carry onhead (v.)’, or second [bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀] ‘red (adj)’, [ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀] ‘crocodile’, syllable of bisyllabic words. Thecombination of high and mid, front lax and tense vowels is found in one trisyllabic example,83

[bíŋɡíríɛ̀] ‘round (adj.)’, in the final syllable. Words with the combination of high and mid, fronttense vowels are only found in monosyllabic words (shown in §3.3). A combination of a high,front, lax vowel with a mid, front, tense vowel (*[ɪe], [eɪ]) is not found in the corpus.Derived trisyllabic stemsa. tòrè–mɛ́ star–ANIM tòrò–mɪ̀+n=dɛ́ star–ANIM=PLb. ʒáɡé–ɛ̀ onion n. ʒáɣá–mɪ̀+n=dɛ́ onionsc. kéérɛ̀ Kete (Nprop) kéérī–mì+n=dɛ́ Kete–INHAB=PLd. demaŋɡari Demangari demaŋɡari–mɪ+n=dɛ Demangari–INHAB=PLe. bárá–mà Baraa bárá–mɪ́+n=dɛ̀ Baraa–INHAB=PLf. naa–mbɛ wild animal naa–me+n=dɛ wild animal=PLDerived trisyllabic stems cont.Village Inhabitant of Plurala. bùùⁿ bù–má bù–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ Bounoub. dʷɛ̀è dʷè–má dʷè–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Duec. ʒɪ̀é ʒě–mà ʒě–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Dienid. báráá bárá–mà bárá–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Baraae. díɡárú díɡárú–mà díɡárú–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Digarif. ɲànà ɲànà–má ɲànà–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ Nyanag. dòrò dòrò–má dòrò–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ DoroThe stems in (49) all display a change in vowel height. The root-final vowel changes before theanimate suffix, accompanied by the plural clitic in (49a - c). Note that roots with final vowelchanges (49a - c), or a shift in nasalization (49a), are followed by a change of the tone on thesuffix [mɪ] from high to low. Root vowels in (49d - f) do not change their vocalic values nor thetone of the suffix. In derived polysyllabic stems, the penultimate vowel changes the root-finalvowel’s backness (49a) or height (49b - d) value. Tones on the root-final vowel do not changeamong the words in (49) except in a downstepped high (49c) which emerges as low. However,note in (49e - f), with expanded examples in (50), that a root-final low vowel does not change its84

value, although a suffixal low vowel does. A tonal change is witnessed in the words in which thelow vowel of the suffix shifts to high and front in (50). All animate suffixes in (50) shift to high,save for (50a).Variations of ‘thing’Glossthing + Numbera. one kě té ( ~ tǐjɛ́/tóré)b. five kě núndìc. two kéɛ̀ jìndòd. three kéɛ̀ táàrùe. four kéɛ̀ n níjɛ̀thing + Suffixf. Plural kɛ́=ndɛ̀g. Diminutive kírí–jɛ̀h. Diminutive–Plural kí–jɛ́=ndɛ̀i. Augmentative kíì=bɔ́r̃òthing + Adjectivej. all kíì páⁿk. red kíì búɥɛ́l. a lot kíì péé ! rɛ́m. new kíì káráán. wide kíì téŋɡòo. small kí dáɣàj/kírí dáɣàp. bad kíì jándàq. narrow kíì kámbàràr. black kíì póɔ́rès. long kíì béndɛ̀t. old kíì ʃíjéndɛ̀u. short kíì dúɡì–jɛ̀v. round kíì bíŋɡírí–ɛ̀w. white kíì símàx. heavy kíì mɛ̀nɛ̀thing as a compoundy. African kì póɔ́rɛ̀85

The word ‘thing’ and its alternations are shown in (51) to illustrate in which contexts anunderlying mid, front shifts to a high, front vowel. When paired with an underlyingly bisyllabicnumber, it can be seen that the word ‘thing’ is underlyingly a short vowel (51a - b), although itlengthens before other bisyllabic numbers (51c - d). A rising tone on a single vowel (51a - b)changes to a falling tone on a long vowel (51c - e).The tense/lax value of the short vowel shifts when the plural clitic is added (51f) as doesits height value before the diminutive suffix paired with the plural clitic (51h). When paired withthe diminutive suffix alone (51g), the word is bisyllabic with high vowels and an intervocalicliquid. When the augmentative is suffixed (51i), the word becomes monosyllabic with a long,high, front vowel. The suffix/clitic examples illustrate that the root retains a high tone in allexamples save for the augmentative.Preceding an adjective (51j - x), the root ‘thing’ consistently has a long, high, front vowelwith a falling tone, with the exception of (51y) in which the vowel is short. However, it is alsoshown that the long form of the noun ‘thing’ may appear with an adjective in (51o).3.3.4ObservationsThe examples in (47) and (48) demonstrate that tense and lax mid vowels contrast inmonosyllabic words (47a - g), and either the initial (48i, ii), (48j, jj) or final (48a, aa), (48b, bb),(48d, dd) syllable of a bisyllabic word. Therefore, both sets of short, mid tense and lax vowelsmay appear in the same environments and are contrastive in monosyllabic words.The examples in (47) and (48) also show that the lax high, front vowel surfaces, at leastphonetically. The tense high vowels may appear in the same environments as the mid vowels.The lax high, front vowel fails to contrast with its tense counterpart in the initial syllable of abisyllabic word.86

Although it is possible to find words which contrast for the feature tense/lax, or height,most words also show a tonal difference. Tense/lax/height contrasts mono-moraic roots,although tone may also be a factor in these some minimal pairs. The table in (52) illustrateswhich tonal contrasts are (+) or not found (–) among words whose sole difference is vocalicquality, although tonal implications are discussed in Chapter 8.Sole difference is vocalic qualitytone ɛeⁿ/eɛⁿ ɛe/eɛ eɛ/iɛ ɛɛ/ɪɛ ie/iɛ ie/ɪɛ o/ɔHL + +/– + +/– + –/+LH –/+LL –/+ + +/–The derived polysyllabic words illustrate that a root-final vowel (the vowel before the animatesuffix) changes when the plural is cliticized. Further, the animate suffix always appears as thenasal-vowel allomorph and the suffixal vowel raises to [ɪ] before the plural clitic.The variations of the word ‘thing’ show that numbers and the plural pattern similarly,using either a single or two mid vowels in a monosyllabic word, whereas the augmentative suffixand the adjectives pattern together, with a long, high vowel. The diminutive shows theunderlying form of the root with its intervocalic [r], and the diminutive-plural combination witha short [i] and deleted [r].Additionally, in the context of a phrase such as shown in (53), there may be vowelharmony across morpheme boundaries (compare ‘thing’ with (51x) above). Also note thechange in vowel length between the adjectival phrase (51r) and the compound (51y).87

Vowel harmony of ‘thing’ phrase-internallysé kó n tíndɛ̀ kɛ́ɛ̀ mɛ̀nɛ̀ súɥì máá tòmpáá ŋ kó,COND PST 1S put. PFV thing heavy descend 1S.POSS goat bag CONN PP‘if I put a heavy thing into my bag,màà bɔ́jéɛ̀ máà jàɣà1S.POSS rope IMPV.NEG breakit will not break’3.3.5AnalysisAmong the examples which contrast primarily on the basis of height, combinations of high withmid vowels in monosyllabic words are found to contrast, while among polysyllabic words,although combinations of high and mid vowels are found, they are not contrastive. Note thatthere is a difference, discussed further below in the section on hiatus resolution, between [IE]sequences which are separated by a consonant such as [bɪ́ɛ̀] ‘NEG’ from those which are, [bíjɛ̀]‘child’. This appears to be due to a difference in underlying form. If a word consists of morethan two syllables underlyingly, which as /n nijɛ(rɛ)/ ‘drink’, there is a glide inserted, whereas /nniɛ/ ‘bean’ does not.Among derived polysyllabic words, we see that the root-final vowel changes it valuewhen the animate suffix is followed by the plural clitic. A root-final [e] in the word ‘star’ [tòrè–mɛ́] becomes [o]. It is argued that the underlying form for ‘star’, and the other roots in which achange is witnessed, can be viewed in the plural form. As was shown in Chapter 2, Bangime hasborrowed some lexical items from Dogon languages. In many Dogon languages, the word ‘star’is pronounced [tóró]. In Bangime, it has also been shown that many nouns, some of which areclassified as animate, have a frozen suffix. The reason why the proposed underlying back vowelshifts front is one of identity harmony, as we see that a word which ends in [o], such as [dòrò]88

‘Doro (village)’, does not front the root-final vowel to [e] before suffix [–ma] with a back vowel,[dòrò–má], ‘inhabitant of Doro’, not [*dòrè–má].The word ‘onion’ [ʒáɡé–ɛ̀], plural [ʒáɣá–mɪ̀=ndɛ́] shows a similar pattern. Although notas clear, ‘onion’ may also be a borrowing as it is pronounced [jábà] in some Dogon languages,since the initial consonant of the Bangime word may also appear as the palatal glide, [jáɡé–ɛ̀].Here, as well, it appears that the final vowel is apparent in the plural form.It appears based on data presented thus far that Bangime has indications of binaryfooting. It is hypothesized, therefore, that the underlying value of the final vowel of certain rootscannot be viewed until the word is in a binary foot. The stem-final nasal is the coda of the stemfinalsyllable, therefore, a bisyllabic word with an animate suffix in the plural becomes a binaryfoot as such:Footing in Bangimeto ro mɪn dɛµ µ µµ µ(σ σ) (σ σ)footfootProsodic WordAn alternative analysis would be to leave the final syllable as a degenerate foot and to considerthe clitic [dɛ] is not considered a part of the prosodic word.Additionally, it was shown that the stem-final vowel of a word with the animate suffixshifts to to [ɪ] before the plural clitic. It is hypothesized that the reason for this raising andfronting is due to the closed syllable. We also witnessed that the animate suffix carries a high89

tone when it appears as the penultimate syllable, as it is shown in §3.3.5 that the tone of thissuffix varies when it is the ultimate syllable. Further, the high tone of the animate suffix shifts tolow after a vowel which has changed its value from front to back. These changes are outlined in(55). It was shown in §3.2 that [ɪ] cannot appear as a long vowel, although it is preferred inheavy syllables [ɪɛ]; here it preferred in a closed syllable, questioning what the status of thisvowel’s moraicity.Vowel raising in closed syllablesa. [BE] → [mɪ]/CVNb. [mɪ] → [mɪ́]/σ.σ́.σ (receives H on penultimate)c. [mɪ́] → [mɪ̀]/V(shift)_ (lowers tone after vowel shift)The affects of vowel raising can also be seen in variations for the word ‘thing’. The cause of thisis althought to be semantic; compare (51r) with (51y). Also, we see that in some cases, theredoes seem to be a harmonic effect in the choice of vowel which surfaces. There may be aconnection between vowel raising, tone, and syllable position as shown above in (55). Thisconnection is explored later in Chapter 8.There is also a timing effect, shown further in Chapter 7, that since [ki] appears with ashort vowel and the adjective with a final diphthong (51o) in the first variant, and the long formof the noun plus a short form of the adjective in the second variant, thus both phrases consist offour morae.90

3.43.4.1Nasalization distributionOverviewMany monosyllabic words have nasalized vowels. Since monosyllabic words in isolation consistof long vowels by necessity, it is assumed that both vowels are nasalized although phoneticmeasurements need to be performed to confirm this. Very few bisyllabic words with nasalizationcould be found, and since each of these has an intervocalic glide, 34 it is hypothesized that thesewords are also underlying monosyllabic. Monosyllabic nasalized words are shown in (56) withpossible bisyllabic examples in (57).3.4.2DataContrast for nasalization on vowels on monosyllabic wordsAlternation Stem Gloss Stem Glossnon-nasalizednasalizeda. ii/ĩĩ ʒíí cry (v) aa. ʒííⁿ blood (n)b. iɛ/ɪ̃ɛ̃ sɪ̀ɛ́ now (adv) bb. –sɪ̀ɛ́ⁿ AGENTc. eɛ/ẽɛ̃ kéɛ̀ thing (n) cc. kéɛ̀ⁿ there (DET)d. a/ãã ŋ ɡa emphatic marker dd. ɡààⁿ good (adj)e. aa/ãã dáà Imperfective marker ee. dáàⁿ there (DET)f. ɔ/ɔ̃ n ŋɔ̌ come.IMP ff. ŋ wɔ́ⁿ go.IMPg. ɔɔ/ɔ̃ɔ̃ kɔ̀ɔ̀ able (v) gg. kɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ plank (n)h. oɔ/õɔ̃ bóɔ̀ father (n) hh. ʒóɔ̀ⁿ rain (n)yoke (egg) (lit.i. u/ũ n tú hide (v) ii. (dùwɛ̀ m) búⁿ ‘yellow powder’)j. uu/ũũ kúù sweet potato (n) jj. kúùⁿ egg (n)3.4.3DescriptionNasalization of vowels is the sole contrastive feature on minimal pairs (56a, aa), (56b, bb), (56e,ee), (56k, kk). No high, lax vowels could be found with nasalization. The tense high, frontvowel is only nasalized as a long vowel. The tense mid, front vowel is not found withnasalization in either short or long form, and the tense mid, back vowel only appears as a short34 The fricative in (55e) alternates in free variation with a glide [j] due to the process of hardening.91

nasalized vowel. Note that all the nasalized vowels above are in monosyllabic words. As isshown in detail in Chapter 8, most nasalized words have the same tonal contour: rising.Nasalization on bisyllabic wordsRoot Gloss Root Glossa. díwɔ́ⁿ/díjɔ́ⁿ extinguish c. ɡíjɔ̀ⁿ shadowb. ʃìjɔ̀ⁿ white d. ɡàʒɛ́ⁿ worldSeemingly bisyllabic words with a nasalized final vowel are shown in (57). In bisyllabic words,nasalization only occurs on lax mid vowels following a high, front vowel and an intervocalicglide. The tonal contours on these words consist of high (57a), low (57b), falling (57c) andrising (57d).3.4.4Observationsfrontbackhigh mid lowtense lax tense lax tenseshort long short long short long short long short longĩ ĩĩ ɪ̃ ɪ̃ɪ̃ ẽ ẽẽ ɛ̃ ɛ̃ɛ̃ ã ãã– + – – – – + ? ? +backhighmidtense lax tense laxshort long short long short long short longũ ũũ ʊ̃ ʊ̃ʊ̃ õ õõ ɔ̃ ɔ̃ɔ̃+ + – – + – + +Discussed below, it is proposed that certain bisyllabic words are monosyllabic with glideinsertion as hiatus resolution.92

3.4.5AnalysisA preliminary hypothesis from examining the vocalic data is that the height and lengthdifferences on vowels are phonemic but the contrast is neutralized in certain environments.Nasalization on vowels is confined final vowels in monosyllabic words or final mid, lax vowelsin bisyllabic words. Although the phonetic correlates suggest nasalization, its phonologicalproperties indicate that this process may constitute something other than nasalization, such asvoice quality.3.53.5.1Haitus resolutionOverviewOnly certain vowel sequences are permitted tautosyllabically.3.5.2DataPermissible vowel sequencesVowelsequenceMonosyllabicGlossPolysyllabicGlossII a. píí sauce aa. sííbɛ́ɛ̀ eyeb. níì call, say bb. níírù breathename (v)EE c. kéɛ̀ COMPL cc. déɛ́mɛ̀ seed (millet)d. tɛ́è straight dd. kěèré six(adj)AA e. sááⁿ fall/descend (v.) ee. síráá hornf. káà shave (v.) ff. páráà sesame seedsOO g. bɔ́ò father gg. póɔ́rè blackh. tóò Tommo hh. póòrò cloudspeakerUU i. búùⁿ time (X# of times) ii. búrúù seed, kindj. kúùⁿ egg jj. ɥùúrá killIE k. ɕɪ́ɛ̀ termite kk. ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀ carry on headl. n nìɛ̀ ll. kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ shellEA m. jéà who mm. –AE n. dʷàɛ̀ tree nn. dáɣáɛ̀ small3.5.3Description93

The above vowel combinations are the only permissible sequences tautosyllabically in Bangime.High, back vowels (58i - j, ii - jj) may not combine tautosyllabically with any other vowel height,although long, high back vowels are permitted. The only vowels that may be combined withdiffering backness values are the [EA] (58m) and (58n - nn) [AE] sequences, these are rare andthe above examples are the only ones found. High front vowels (58k - l, kk - ll) may combinefreely with mid front vowels, but mid followed by high vowels are not allowed, even acrosssyllable boundaries, with one exception ‘brick’ [tɛ́mbírè]. A mid, back vowel may not befollowed by another back vowel of any height tauto or heterosyllabically, except its own heightvalue, with two exceptions, ‘step’ [ɡóòmpá], and ‘goat bag’ [tòpàà]. The other potentialsequences, IO, UA, AU, AI, IA, IU, UI, OE, EO, AO, OA are not permitted tautosyllabically,and only some combinations may appear in the same word, heterosyllabically.3.5.4ObservationsThere does not seem to be a correspondence between intervening consonant and vowel type forsequences which are banned tautosyllabically. Heterosyllabically, a high, back vowel may befollowed by a back mid, back low, front high, or front mid vowel. A high, back vowel may bepreceded by the low vowel, the high front, or mid front vowel. A high, back vowel may appearin either the first or the second syllable of a polysyllabic word, in combination with any othervowel. The vowels which may follow a mid, back vowel are the front high, and front midvowels, although only with intervening consonants. However, any vowel may precede a mid,back vowel heterosyllabically. A back, mid vowel may appear in the final syllable of a wordwith another vowel, but not in the first, unless the first vowel is front. The low back vowel maybe followed by any other vowel and preceded by the front vowels heterosyllabically.94

The front vowels may be in combination with one another tautosyllabically if the first ishigher than the other. Heterosyllabically, front vowels are permitted with other vowel heights,except for a mid vowel preceding a high vowel.Combinations of [OU], [EI], or [OA] are rare, if not impermissible. The first two suggestthat rising vocalic height is impermissible. The vowel sequences which are impermissible withthe fewest number of allowable intervening consonants are [UU], only by [r], [UO], only with[w], [EA], only with [m] and [OI] only with [nd]. [IO] may be split with [r] or [j], [AU] with [r]or [ɡ], and [AI] with [ŋɡ] and [j]. The remaining vocalic sequences seem to split by almost anyof the permitted, word-internal consonants.3.5.5AnalysisSome permissible vowel sequences can also be separated by a glide, suggesting that glideinsertionmay not be resolve haitus, but rather to lengthen a word to two syllables. This isviewed in compounds such as [bírɛ́+n+jìjɛ́] ‘smoke’, lit. ‘fire-smoke’, polysyllabic words whichmay undergo rV-deletion such as [díjɛ́rɛ̀] ‘carve (v)’, and words which alternate between one andtwo syllables such as [bìjɛ́] ‘baby’, [bì=ndɛ́] ‘babies’. The glide [w] usually appears after thehigh back vowel in vocalic sequences that would otherwise be impermissible such as [ɡúwɛ̀]‘separate, halve’, [kúwé+ŋ+kúwé] ‘tree species’, [kùwómbɛ̀] ‘aardvark’. It is shown in Chapter4 that glides may also be deleted. The purpose of the glide in Bangime is not yet wellunderstood.3.6ConclusionIn this chapter, it was shown that vowel length and nasalization are predictable in certainenviroments. Long, front vowels’ distribution are limited to either the first or second syllable of95

a word, and the low back vowel is exclusively short except in the second syllable of a bisyallbicword after [r].Only words which are underlyingly short may appear with nasalization. It is shown inChapter 8 that nasalization is also correlated with tonal contours, so it is proposed that the featurewhich appears as nasalization may actually be another phonetic phenomenon but this is to bedetermined.The vowels which may combine in a syllable are limited, but it is difficult to determinethe basis upon which a particular consonant is inserted to prevent vowel haitus as there does notappear to be any way to predict them based on the data.96

4. Chapter 4: Phonolgy of Consonants4.1IntroductionThe consonants in Bangime alternate word-initially and intervocallically in predictable waysoutlined below. The primary focus of the consonantal phonology is consonantal deletion.4.24.2.1Phonetic and phonemic consonant inventoryOverviewThe phonetic (surface) consonantal inventory of Bangime is represented in (59), followed byexamples of non-constrastive allophony in (60) - (63).97

4.2.2Data: Consonantal alternationsPhonetic inventory of consonantsBilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar Alveolo-palatal Palatal Velar Labial-Palatal Labio-velar GlottalPlosive p b t d k ɡpʷ bʷ tʷ dʷ kʷ ɡʷNasal m n ɲ ŋmʷŋʷFricative s ʃ ʒ ɕ ɣ hsʷAffricate ʧ ʤApproximant ʋ r j ɥ wr̃ w̃Lateral Approximant l98

Glide ~ fricative ~ affricate (tones)Stem Gloss Stem Glossa. kɔ́ɣɔ̀ʒɔ̀ scratch aa. dùnʤú bumpyb. ʒǐbɛ́ɛ́ person bb. sǐnʤɛ̀ sorghumc. n ŋʷímà swim (v) cc. ʤìndí swimming (gerund)d. ʒáŋà bad (adj) dd. ʤáŋà thin (adj)e. kíì jáŋà ruined thing ee. jáŋà ruin (v)f. ʒǎá die ff. n ʒa CONN dieg. jà wájí die STAT gg. ʒaa wɛ die STATh. bírɛ́ n jìjɛ́ smoke hh. n ʒíjɛ́ night4.2.3DescriptionExamples in (60) show the distribution of the voiced postalveolar fricative [ʒ], the voicedalveolo-palatal affricate [ʤ], and the voiced palatal glide [j]. The postalveolar fricative seems tobe in free variation with the palatal glide in syllable onset position. Predictably, however,specifically after a word-internal nasal, (60aa - bb) an affricate replaces the fricative (60a - b).The examples in (60c -e, cc - ee) illustrate that, similar to the initial consonant mutationeffects shown in (20) above, an initial consonant becomes the affricate to indicate a derivationalchange.The words in (60f - h, ff - hh) illustrate the variation among the glide and fricative. Itappears (60f, h, ff, hh) that both consonants may appear after a nasal. From viewing the examplepair in (60g, gg) it can be hypothesized that the hardening of the glide to the fricative may beinfluenced by the length of the vowel; long vowels tend to have the fricative as the onset.Additionally, although not shown here, the voiceless alveolar stop [t] alternates with theaffricate [ʧ] by a low-level phonetic rule before high vowels. The affricate appears wordinitiallybefore high vowels, and alternates between monosyllabic and bisyllabic with a following99

glide forms such as [ʧǐ] ~ [tìjɛ̀] ‘grandmother’ and [ʧìjɛ́] ~ [tǐjɛ́] ‘one’. Note there are tonalchanges between the forms as well.An additional low-level phonetic rule causes the voiced postalveolar fricative [ʃ] to occurin free variation with the alveolar fricative [s] before high, front vowels such as [síbɪ́ɛ̀] ~ [ʃííbɛ́ɛ̀]‘eye’, and before the mid, front vowels [sèmì ɲáŋà] ‘warthog’ ~ [ʃɛ́mbù] ‘chin’ The voicedpostalveolar fricative never occurs before back, non-high vowels.Stop ~ fricativeStem Gloss Stem GlossNo spirantizationSpirantizationa. táɡú agree.PFV aa. táɣá agree.IMPVVb. sóɡóndì slide (v.) bb. mɔ́ɣɔ́ɡì rubc. bòɡó big cc. ʒɔ̀ɣɔ́ outsided. kéɡéré mat dd. ʒáɣéɛ̀ onionA process which is found in many West African languages, the voiced velar stop [ɡ] (61a - d)alternates with the voiceless velar fricative between identical, lax vowels (61a - dd). The initialexample (61a, aa) shows that when a vowel which surrounds the velar consonant is lowered tomatch the value to of the vowel preceding the consonant, the intervocalic stop becomes africative. Examples (61b - c, bb - cc) provide near minimal pairs with back, mid vowels toillustrate that the process occurs between those vowels as well. Although no examples could befound with mid lax vowels surrounding a velar segment, the example pair in (61d, dd) illustratesthat the fricative can be found between mid vowels, although note that the phonemic form of‘onion’, as was shown above in (12), is /ʒaɣa/, suggesting that there may be a rule-ordering issuehere.100

Stop ~ approximant (check vowels)́Stem Gloss Stem GlossNo LentionLenitiona. jɪŕɪ̀bɛ́ lip aa. sɛ́ʋɛ́rɛ́ prickb. nɛ̀rɛ́ bʊ̀ wɛ́ rock used for starting a fire bb. pɛ́ʋɛ̀rɛ́ windc. sábɛ̀rɛ́ ɲíʧı̃ traditional doctor/healer cc. kéɛ̀ʋɛ̀ thereThe voiced bilabial stop [b] (62a - c) contrasts with the voiceless bilabial fricative [ʋ] in a similarmanner; between identical, mid, front, lax vowels (62aa - cc).Glottal fricativeStemGlossa. hùⁿ onb. háⁿ infinitival markerc. há untilThe glottal fricative /h/ (63) exists in the phonemic inventory of Bangime, although fewexamples are found which do not come solely from loan words from Fulfulde or Arabic.4.2.4Observationswhy are so many of the polysyllabic words the same shape? - perhaps [CVGV] /CVV/,[CEbErE] /CEb/, [CVNCV] /CVC/, [Caraa] /Ca/The only phonological alternations witnessed among stop consonants are the voiced [b ɡ] whichweaken to [ʋ ɣ] respectively, intervocalically, particularly between lax vowels. All the stopconsonants, the nasal stops [m n], and the fricative [s] may be labialized, although there does notseem to be a conditioning factor as labialized consonants appear before a variety of vowelheights and qualities.All the nasals appear before both vowels and consonants in an unpredicatable manner,save for the palatal nasal, which always appears in combination with an alveolar nasal.101

Nasalized approximants [r̃ w̃] were shown in Chapter 2, §2.5.3 to be morphologicallyconditioned. Except as a resolution for vowel haitus, the glides are unpredictable.Fricatives as phonemes, as noted in Chapter 2, §2.5.1, are uncommon among WestAfrican languages; however they are found in Bangime. With the exception of the velar [ɣ] andpostalveolar [ʃ] fricatives, none of the fricatives in Bangime are predictable. The affricates arepredictable, with the voiceless affricate being phonetically conditioned and the voicedcounterpart being both phonologically and morphologically determined.4.2.5AnalyisThe phonemic inventory is presented in (64) with allophones shown in red.102

Phonetic inventory of consonantsBilabial Alveolar Post-alveolar Alveolo-palatal Palatal Velar Labial-Palatal Labio-velar GlottalPlosive p b t d k ɡpʷ bʷ tʷ dʷ ɡʷNasal m n ɲ ŋmʷŋʷFricative s ʃ ʒ ɕ ɣ hsʷAffricate ʧ ʤApproximant ʋ r j ɥ wr̃ w̃Lateral Approximant l103

104

4.34.3.1Consonant deletionOverviewThe consonants which may be deleted are glides and nasals, and it was shown in Chapter 2,§2.5.1 that stops [b ɡ] are lenited to [ʋ ɣ] respectively. Additionally, combinations of vowels andliquid [r] are deleted. Nasals and the glides /j, w/ are often elided or interchanged for oneanother. An example of this process comes from the animate suffix (which is also a diminutivemarker). A glide [w] may delete in word-final position. In many cases, the glide deletes beforea consonant which begins the next word. However, the examples below illustrate opaque casesof this rule’s application.4.3.2DataGlide deletion irrespective of following segmenta. àà dà àá n túráà you (pl) are washing (yourselves)2 nd PL COP 2 nd PL T washb. múwí nà tìɡé àẁ today me and you (pl)today CONJ also 2 nd PLc. ɲǎ à tèé (bǎrà ŋ kò) take the tea (in the kettle)take/pick up DET tea (kettle PP)d. ɲàẃ à tóòpá pick up the goat bagtake/pick up DET goat bage. dà ŋá n dɛ́r̃ɛ́ he is grilling meat3S.COP meat T grillf. dà ŋàẃ dɛ̀r̃ɛ̀ ŋ w̃ɪ̀ɛ́ⁿ ŋ kó he is grilling meat with oil3S.COP meat grill oil PPg. dʷàà bóɡò dà kèbé there is a big tree theretree big COP PPh. sìmèè =bɔ́r̃ó dàẁ kèbé there is a big rock thererock =AUG COP PP105

i. à ɡɔ̀w̃ bòɡò the old manDET man oldj. à ɡǒⁿ m bòɡò the old manDET man CONN old4.3.3DescriptionThe glide, /w/, deletes before consonants, although there are exceptions. This is illustrated in theexamples below in (65). Note that glides may be tone-bearing and that the tones differ on thetarget word whether or not deletion occurs.The sentence in (65a) illustrates that the pronoun /aw/ [2 nd person plural] deletes the final/w/ before both consonants. The /w/ remains before a vowel in (65b). Also note in (65a) that thecopula /daw/ deletes its vowel unexpectedly before the following vowel. Examples (65c - d)show regular and apparent over-application of the glide-deletion process respectively. Thesentences (65e - f) are examples of under-application, since the /w/ in the second example isexpected to be deleted before the voiced stop. The final pair in (65g - h) shows another instanceof under-application before a voiceless stop. The final pair, in particular is of interest as the onlydifference between the two sentences is the adjective ‘big’ is used in the first while theaugmentative is used in the second. The tones on these two constituents also differ.4.3.4ObservationsIn many of the examples above in which the word-final glide is deleted, (65a, c, e), the phrasealso contains a moraic nasal.106

Glide substitution/elisionDiminutive –jɛ/–wɛ/–mɪ/–ɛ c. kòróɡó–jɛ̀ little basketd. dúúɡú–wɛ̀ little foreste. tɔ̌ tɔ̀–mɪ́ little anvilf. dɔ́réɛ̀ bird (frozen animate suffix)There is evidence to suggest that certain words which end in the sequence [bɛ] are also markedas being diminutive, such as the pairs, [ɡóòmpá] ‘step’, [ɡóòmbɛ̀] ‘little step’ and [bórómbɛ̄ ] ~[bórómɛ̄ ] ‘young man’, [bòró=ndɛ̀] ‘young men’. This would mean that the diminutive suffix hasat least five allomorphs, all of which consist of a consonant which we have seen is able to bedeleted or at least weakened, and the mid, front, lax vowel, except the allomorph which beginswith a nasal. Although the evidence is not conclusive, it appears that the underlying finalsegment of the noun is what determines the suffix allomorph, although note that not all wordswith final [u] take the allomorph which begins in [w] as in example (66d). The diminutiveallomorph (66c) is followed by the high, front lax vowel, as was shown in Chapter 3 that theplural always takes the allomorph [mɪ].Word-internal glide deletiona. w → ∅ kúwò kóò houseb. w → ∅ búwò bóɔ̀ fatherc. w → j búwɛ̀ bújɛ̀ see (neg)d. w → ʷ bùwò bʷɔ̀ó horseA glide may be deleted intervocalically (67a, b), although note that in both cases, the vowels arealtered in the shortened form. These two words have the same tonal contour, falling. In (67c),also with a falling contour, the bilabial and palatal glides are interchangeable. Example (67d)107

illustrates that /w/ may simplify to labialization on the first consonant, deleting the precedingvowel. Note that the tones also change in between these two forms from low to rising.4.3.5SummaryThe glide [w] tends to delete before consonants, but seems to depend on the number of syllablesin the word, for example (66e) ‘he is grilling meat’ has a nasal before ‘grill’, but (66f) ‘he isgrilling meet with oil’ has a glide but not a nasal. Also, the first sentence with ‘wash’ (66a)shows deletion of the glide in the copula with presence of a nasal. Tone is also deleted with thesegment and the tone on the vowels of the person marker is affected by the deletion in thisexample. It is of interest that each of the examples has a word-internal [w] in the full form, yetthe shortened form differs in vocalic quality in each case.4.3.6AnalysisThis may be related to change in vowels, haitus resolution, and tonal quality.108

5. Chapter 5: The Syllable5.1IntroductionWords in Bangime may consist of one syllable, with two morae, two syllables with either a lightheavyor heavy-light combination, or three syllables, all of which are light. Onsetless syllablesare highly disprefered and the only codas allowed are nasals and glides. The data provideevidence to suggest a minimal word constraint of two morae. Homorganic nasals are pervasivein the language both as morphological markers and as phonologically determined segments. Allnasals which appear in combination with a consonant in the language are moraic as syllablecodas, unless in the rare case that a nasal would create a super-heavy syllable, whereas vowelsand glides in the rime of the syllable nucleus are moraic. Syllable onsets word-initially tend toshow a preference for less sonorous segments whereas onsets word-internally are more sonorous.The liquid [r], explained thoroughly in Chapter 7, may serve as either a syllable onset or coda.This chapter is organized as follows: §5.2 gives a list of the type of syllables found inBangime, and where both heavy and light syllables may appear in a word. This discussion isfollowed by an explanation of the minimal word constraint in §5.3. Section 5.4 providesexamples to illustrate the consonantal quality of syllable onsets wird-initially as well as wordinternally.The final section, §5.5 concludes the chapter.5.2 Syllable types5.2.1OverviewThe data in (68) provide examples of syllable types found in Bangime.5.2.2Data109

Syllable typesCVCV.CV a. dí.jà villageb. pá.ré macheteCV.CV.CV c. kɔ̌ ɣójò scratchd. ɲɔ̀ɡómɛ́ camelNN.CV e. n.ɲɛ̀ yesterdayf. m.pé front (adj)N.CVⁿ g. m.múⁿ wet (adj)N.CVV h. n.náà wildernessi. n.nàà cowN.CV.CV j. m.mì.ró beek. n.ɲà.nà Niana (N prop)N.CVV.CV l. n.nɔ́ó.rɛ̀ boneCVV.N.CV m. jàá.m.bɛ̀ childCVNCVN.CV n. ʋìm.mɛ̀ hearto. mìn.ná doorp. tàŋ.kó garden eggCVN.CVV q. kán.dèè husbandr. kíŋ.ɡèɛ̀ skinCVRCVR.CVV s. kùr.áá give birth (v)t. búr.úù seedCV.CVR.V u. kór.ó.ŋò donkeyv. ʒɔ̀r.ò.ɡú chainCVN.CVR.V w. ɡúm.bár.à wasppɔ́m.bór.ò ditchCVGCVG x. déẁ lake110

y. nɔ́ẁ mouthCVGⁿ z. pɔ́ẁⁿ mealaa. pɛ̀ȷń ladderCGVCGV bb. dẁè Dwe villageCGVⁿ cc. kẃɔ̀ⁿ scythedd. tẃɔ̀ⁿ blacksmithCVVCVV ee. kéɛ̀ thingff. ɥìɛ́ moonCVVⁿ gg. bíìⁿ goathh. ʒóɔ̀ⁿ rain, skyC G VV ii. bʷéɛ̀ legjj. dʷàà treeC G VVⁿ kk. pʷéɛ̀ⁿ leafll. ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ⁿ oilCVV.CV mm. kɪ́ɛ́.ʋɛ̀ animal (sp.)nn. póò.rò cloudCV.CVV oo. tó.mèɛ̀ cowry shellpp. ɡǔ.ʒéɛ̀ grass, weedsVV qq. à DETrr. á CONJss. á 2 nd SGtt. áà 2 nd PLuu. ímà here5.2.3DescriptionThe minimal syllable shape in Bangime is a consonant followed by a single vowel. However,this minimal syllable only surfaces as such in examples which are bisyllabic stems like those in(68a - b), or those which are trisyllabic (68c - d). Nasals in combination with other consonants111

are syllabic word-initially (68e - l), and moraic word-internally (68m - t). Nasal or liquidconsonants are allowed to surface in coda position. Glides are moraic when part of the syllablenucleus (68u - x) and (68y - aa). Both monosyllabic (68bb - ii) and bisyllabic (68jj - mm) stemsmay contain bimoraic syllables.Save for the five words shown in (68nn - rr), the entire collected corpus of Bangimestems consists of syllables with onsets. Onsetless syllables, (i.e., those realized with word-initialvowels), are very uncommon in the language. The five words shown above are all clitics; eachmorpheme must precede a noun or verb, and each morpheme consists of the vowel [a].5.2.4ObservationsAmong disyllabic stems (68a - b, e - i, jj - mm), short vowels may appear in either syllable (68a -b). Long vowels may surface in the initial (68jj - kk) or final (68h - i, ll - mm) syllable, but twoheavy syllables, (syllables with long vowels), are not allowed in the same word. 35Heavy syllables are dispreferred in trisyllabic (68c - d, j - r) stems and stems of greaterlength (68s - t). There are two counterexamples (68r, l) which are examined below in §5.2.5.Monosyllabic stems with onsets (68uu - ii) are heavy; roots surface with at least two morae,which is discussed in detail below in §5.3. Combinations of consonant-glide-vowel are alwaysnasalized except in example (68y). Stems which consist of consonant-glide-vowel sequences(68y - aa) tend to consist of a mid, back vowel preceded by [w].Both vowels and glides may be nasalized (68g, w - x, z - aa, hh - ii). Nasalization ofvowels occurs word-finally, although intervocalic [w̃] and [r̃] are shown below. Initialconsonants may be labialized (68ff - ii). Labialization as a co-articulation differs in durationfrom an actual glide-segment (68u - aa) can be seen in spectrograms. Also, glides are tone-35 One exception may be [sííbɛ́ɛ̀] ‘eye’, although this is later analyzed as a compound or a root-suffix combinationand is also transcribed as [síbɪ́ɛ̀] in certain contexts.112

earing whereas labialization is not. The two types of co-articulation, nasalization andlabialization, may appear on a single word (68hh - ii). Most stems with labialization aremonosyllabic, although stems [tʷáàrà] ‘arrive’, [pʷɔ́ɔ́kɛ̄ ] ‘soap’, and [bʷójɛ̀] ‘rope’ areexceptions. Onsetless syllables are highly dispreferred.Nasals, as shown in Chapter 6, are syllabic word-initially when a nasal occurs withanother consonant. In word-internal consonant clusters, nasals are moraic, as syllable codas.Nasals which serve as syllable onsets are neither syllabic nor do they contribute to syllableweight. No nasals bear tones independent tones, i.e., if viewed on a spectrogram, it is clear that anasal merely carries the tone of the preceding segment’s tone, which in all cases is a tone-bearingunit as all syllables are open. Glides in the nucleus of a syllable are moraic, but not syllabic.Glides are tone-bearing in moraic position.5.2.5AnalysisNasals in consonant-clusters are hypothesized to be syllabic for various reasons. Chapter 6 isdevoted to an overview of the nasal in Bangime, its purposes, and an analysis of its uses. Forintroductory purposes, it is hypothesized here that all words were originally maximally onesyllable. This can be viewed in the limited morphology of the language, and the fact that nasalsserve to connect constituents in a compound word, clitics, or a phrase.Further, it is hypothesized that monosyllabic roots must surface with a bimoraic syllabledue to a minimal word constraint, discussed in §5.3. Word-initial consonant clusters maycontribute to a word meeting its minimal length. Nasals not in a syllable nucleus may not, bydefinition, contribute to the weight of the syllable, thus these nasals must be syllabic. Disyllabicfooting is binary, with words consisting of a heavy-light or light-heavy combination.113

Trisyllabic syllables are limited to one mora per syllable in the rime. Since it is shownthat words longer than two syllables may only carry light syllables, but they may contain nasalconsonantclusters, it is argued that the nasal of nasal-consonant clusters word-internally serve assyllable codas, which a vowel cannot. A counter-example is ‘child’ [jàámbɛ̀]. Because thisword has a suppletive plural, [jàà=ndɛ́], and due to evidence which is later presented that [–mbɛ]is a frozen suffix, it is suggested that the root of ‘child’ is /jaa/. Other stems in polysyllabicwords are proposed to have once been a series of words, connected by a nasal as is seenelsewhere in the language. Therefore, there is not only a minimal, but also a maximal word, twoand four morae respectively, suggesting binary footing among longer stems as well.There are proposed to be two different types of moraic glides. One difference betweenglides and nasals in the language is proposed to be due to a strategy for hiatus resolution, furtherdiscussed in Chapter 5. This entails that glides in the rime of a syllable are underlyingly vowelswhich may not appear in sequence with other vowels tautosyllabically, and thus surface as aglide in the nucleus. Labialization, discussed below, may only appear in the initial syllable of aword. The other type of glide, discussed in Chapter 5, is one which is added specifically tocontribute weight to a syllable. The first type of glide would appear directly after the consonantonset, whereas the second is the second mora of the nucleus. Word-internal nasalized glides(and approximants) are considered syllable onsets rather than codas. Since glides may appear assyllable codas word-finally, and nasalized glides are followed by a vowel, usually a default [a], anasalized glide may not appear as a coda and a vowel is epenthesized.114

5.35.3.1Minimal wordOverviewAs mentioned above, Bangime appears to show a minimal word constraint that prevents wordswith a single mora from surfacing in isolation.5.3.2DataExamples which illustrate the minimal word constraint are shown in (69).Minimal words with underlying monomoraic rootsEnvironment CVV CV GlossPlural a. ɡɪ̀ɪń ɡí=n.dɛ̀ back/back–PLb. kúùⁿ kù=n.dɛ́ egg/egg–PLInitial Nasal c. m.múⁿ *múⁿ wetd. m.pé *pé frontGlide e. dàẃ dá=ŋ.wì COPULA/it is theref. nɔ́ẁ nɔ́+n.jɛ́ mouth/spitg. pɛ̀ȷń pɛ̌ +n.=dɛ̀ ladder5.3.3DescriptionA morpheme which suffixes to a root (69a - aa, b - bb), an initial nasal (69c - cc, d - dd), or anasal which is cliticized or compounded with a monosyllabic word in which the final glide isdeleted (69e - ee, f - ff), all enable a root to surface with a short vowel (69aa - ff). Not all vowelsare underlyingly short in monosyllabic words, although, as vowels which are underlyingly longremain as such in any environment.5.3.4ObservationsWords with only one mora, CV, CVⁿ, C G V, C G V n , are not permitted in isolation. Allmonosyllabic words have long vowels in isolation. A monosyllabic word which has an115

underlying short vowel is compensated by lengthening or adding another segment in isolation.The underlying form of a monosyllabic word can be viewed in a stem, or when preceded orfollowed by a segment which contributes to the weight of the syllable or word.5.3.5AnalysisIt can be stated that there is a minimal word constraint in Bangime which consists of two morae,or one foot. A minimal word consists of two morae, or one foot. Nasals and glides in codaposition are moraic and contribute to the weight of a syllable. Disyllabic footing is binary, withwords consisting of a heavy-light or ligh-heavy combination. Trisyllabic syllables are limited toone mora per syllable with the exception of nasals.5.4 Syllable onsets5.4.1OverviewThe consonants which may appear as syllable onsets word-initially differ from those whichappear word-internally.5.4.2DataOnsets word-initially:[b bʷ p pʷ d dʷ t tʷ ɡ ɡʷ k kʷ m mʷ n ŋ ŋʷ ɲ s ʃ sʷ ʧ ʒ j w l ɥ ɕ]StemGlossb a. bɔ́ò fatherb. bímmɛ̀ heartbʷ c. bʷɪ̀ɛ́ legd. bʷójɛ̀ ropep e. píí saucef. páráà sesame seedspʷ g. pʷɪ́ɛ̀ young womanh. pʷéɛ̀ⁿ leafd i. dáɣáɛ̀ small (adj)116

j. dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀ adzedʷ k. dʷàà treet l. tɛ́è straightm. tàŋkó garden eggtʷ n. tʷáà arriveo. tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ basket (small)ɡ p. ɡɪ̀ɪń backq. ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀ crocodileɡʷ r. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ mank s. káà shave (v.)t. kùráá give birth (v.)kʷ u. kʷɛ́r̃ɛ̀ɛ̀ steal (v.)v. (nii) kʷéɛ̀ fingerm w. mi 1 st /3 rd SG SUBJx. maa 1 st /3 rd SG POSSmʷ y. mʷɔ́ɔ̀ like/want (NEG)n z. nè what? (QUES)aa. nóɔ́ mouthŋ bb. ŋàrà Godcc. ŋùwà repairŋʷ dd. n ŋʷɛ́ɛ̀ sing (v.)ee. ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ oilff. ŋ wɔ́ⁿ walk (from go v.)ɲ gg. ɲǎ(w) take/pick up (v.)hh. ɲɪ̀ɛ́ cow peas ii. símèè rockjj. sáŋà playʃ kk. ʃíìⁿ togetherll. ʃɛ́mbù chinsʷ mm. sʷɔ̀rɔ̀ mix (v.)117

ʧ nn. ʧìjɛ́ oneoo. ʧǐ grandmotherʒ pp. ʒǐbéɛ́ personqq. ʒáà die (v.)j rr. já who (QUEST)w ss. wáà hotl tt. leeni protect (borrowed)uu. lɔɔŋɡa festivalɥ vv. ɥíɛ̀ waterww. ɥàà buyɕ xx. ɕɛ́ɛ̀ termiteyy. ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀ carry on head5.4.3DescriptionThe stops [b p d t ɡ k], the nasals [m n ŋ ɲ], the fricatives (and affricate) [s ʒ ʃ ʧ] are frequent intheir distribution as word-initial onsets, shown in (70). Approximants [j w ɥ ʋ r l] are infrequentor impermissible. No nasalized segments are permitted word-initially, although labialization ispermitted on all stops and the voiceless alveolar fricative.Onsets word-internally:[r r̃ w w̃ n m ŋ nd mb ŋɡ nʤ ɡ ɣ j b ʋ ɥ ʒ]r a. (déẁ ɥíɛ̀) tíɡírí sea (‘running pond water’)b. ʃ/síráá hornr̃ c. dɛ̀r̃è cookd. kɔ̀r̃ɔ́ break (in half)w e. síìwà burn (v.)f. dùwɛ̀ m búⁿ yolk118

w̃ g. sàw̃á sprayh. kááw̃á older (adj.)n i. pínò pìnò blowj. dònɛ́ daym k. n ŋʷímà swiml. ɡǐméɛ̀ small round calabashŋ m. sɛ́ŋèɛ́ watermelon (ordinary type)n. tàŋà earnd o. kɛ́rɛ́ndì huntp. dòndó bring v.mb q. jàámbɛ̀ childr. (kíì) kàmbàrà narrowŋɡ s. ʤáŋɡà thint. kíŋɡèɛ̀ skinnʤ u. sǐnʤɛ̀ sweet sorghumv. ɡànʤà fonioɡ w. dìɡá sayx. túɡírì stabɣ y. ʒáɣéɛ̀ onionz. ʒàɣá cutj aa. màjí okrabb. dìjá eatb cc. jɪŕɪ́bɛ̀ animaldd. bírɛ̀bɛ́ thinʋ ee. péʋɛ̀rɛ̀ windff. ŋɔ̀ kúrúʋɛ̀/màá kúrúbɛ̀ gutsɥ gg. s/ʃúɥí foodhh. túɥɛ̀ ashesʒ ii. ɡǔʒéɛ̀ grass119

In word-internal position (71), the opposite of the word-initial position limitations holds true, thenasalized [r̃ w̃] and non-nasalized [j w ɥ ʋ r] approximants are found commonly as onsets. Allstops may appear as onsets word-internally if followed by a nasal in the nasal-consonant-clusters[n.d m.b ŋ.ɡ n.ʤ], and singleton nasals [m n ŋ ɲ], and stops [b ɡ] are also permitted. None of thefricatives [s ʃ ʒ ɕ] are allowed as word-internal onsets, except for [ɣ].5.4.4ObservationsWhile no correlations were found in the collected corpus between the vowel type and theconsonant onset which either preceded or followed it, the sonority of the onset differed in wordinitialversus word-internal position. Word-initially, more sonorous consonants, [r, r̃, w, w̃, ɣ, ʋ,j] are dispreferred, and less sonorous [ʃ, ɕ, ʧ, ɲ, p, s, ʒ, t, d, k] are dispreferred word-internally, orintervocalically. Note that the fricative which is permitted to surface word-internally, [ɣ], isfound intervocalically in many West African languages.5.4.5AnalysisThe difference in consonant type word-initially and word-internally can be viewed as apreference for more sonorous segments intervocalically. This conclusion is of interest as itimpacts the hypothesis that polysyllabic words in the language were once a series ofmonosyllabic words. Additionally, the word-initial consonant inventory is almost in completecomplimentary distribution with the word-internal consonant inventory.5.5ConclusionThis chapter provides a description of the syllable in Bangime. Syllabification processes provideinsights into many of the phonological alternations and tonal phenomena. The phonotactics ofthe language determine the available syllable types in Bangime, and many phonologicalprocesses occur at syllable boundaries rather than at morpheme boundaries as the language has120

so little morphology. It was shown that binary footing is an active process for the parsing ofsyllables.121

6. Chapter 6: The Nasal6.1IntroductionAs noted in the introductory Chapter 2, homorganic nasals are employed in Bangime for anumber of purposes; some are phonological, while others are grammatical. The subsectionsbelow give an overview of these uses.6.26.2.1Phonological nasalsOverviewWord internal combinations of a nasal followed by a consonant are common among verb stems.All consonant-nasal combinations are found among bisyllabic words except the palatal nasal. Asingleton nasal may begin a word (72b), although it is shown in (72a - b) that most word-initialnasals are geminates. While compounding is not a productive means of word formation inBangime, compounds and noun-adjective sequences are sometimes connected by a nasal whichis assumed to be /n/ underlyingly 36 and assimilates in place to the following consonant.Examples of its usage are shown in (72).6.2.2DataGeminate nasalsWord initialWord internalRoot Gloss Root Glossa. n nìjá mother aa. mìnná doorb. m mìró bee bb. bìmmɛ̀ heartc. n ɲànà Niana (village) cc. *CVɲ.ɲVd. *n ŋV.CV dd. *CVŋ.ŋV36 Due to the fact that when it surfaces before a vowel, the default [n] arises.122

6.2.3DescriptionThe only geminate nasal not found is the velar, either word initially (72a - c), or internally (72d -e). Additionally, although the alveolar nasal precedes the palatal nasal, a velar nasal does nothave a nasal preceding it (72d).6.2.4Analysis6.36.3.1Grammatical nasalsOverviewA homorganic nasal is often employed to connect two different constituents, lexical items orgrammatical morphemes, in a phrase. The nasal appears to bind the elements of a phrase incertain cases such as compound nouns. In other cases, the nasal serves to mark the transitivity ofa verb.6.3.2DataWith some exceptions, the nasal determines whether the word is a compound or an adjectivephrase.Adjectives with nasal connectora. ŋǎmbárà sheepb. ŋǎmbárá ŋ ɡʷɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ male sheepsheep CONN manc. ŋǎmbárá n ɲɛ̀ɛ́rɛ̀ female sheepsheep CONN womand. ŋǎmbárá-ɛ́ m bíjɛ́ baby sheepsheep-DIM CONN babye. ŋǎmbárà símá white sheepsheepwhite123

f. ŋǎmbàrá pɔ́ɔ̀rɛ̀ black sheepsheepblack6.3.3DescriptionThe examples in (73) show that compounds (73b - d) differ from adjectival phrases (73e - f) inthat the former is connected by a nasal in between the two constituents. This is further illustratedin the examples in (74).Compounds (nasal ‘connector’)a. m mìrò m páɣábee CONN containerbeehiveb. ɡèŋɡɛ́ m búwòmetal CONN horsebicyclec. símèè n ʃʷúɥɛ̀rock CONN chicken(unidentified species of non-domesticated bird)d. kàà ŋ kàà m báⁿshave CONN RED CONN knifeharvesting knifee. tàɣà m bɔ́ɣ ǃ ɔ́ear CONN bigelephantf. dʷàà m pʷéɛ̀ⁿtree CONN leaftree‘s leaf/leaf of a treeg. ʒàŋà ŋ ɡùrúhangar CONN PP = what?under a hangarh. nàà téɡù m pécow face CONN PP124

in front of a treei. dʷàà ɡɪ̀ɪń m pétree back CONN PPin back of a treej. kóò ŋ kɛ́rɛ́house CONN PPnext to a housek. kóò ŋ kéɛ̀ʋɛ́house CONN PPa house therel. bémbɛ́ ŋ kòvestibule CONN PPinside a vestibuleCompounds and noun-adjective sequences may be connected by a homorganic nasal, as in (74).Examples (74a - d) illustrate that endocentric compounds are head final and that a homorganicnasal may be used to connect the constituents in the compound. Example (74e) shows thatexocentric compounds may also employ the homorganic nasal. Example (74f) is translated in agenitive sense. Examples (74h - m) illustrate the use of postpositions with the connective nasalas well. The examples in (74a - d) illustrate that endocentric compounds are head final and that ahomorganic nasal may be used to connect the constituents in the compound.Compounds: Absence of nasal connectora. sòɔ̀ⁿ ʃíjɛ́ndɛ̀shirtworn outshirt that is worn outb. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ bòɡómanbiga man is oldc. nàà kíŋɡɛ́125

cowskin of a cowskind. dʷàà m pʷéɛ̀ⁿ ɡújé kàràtree CONN leaf greengreen tree leafe. dʷàà kíjɛ̀tree branchtree’s branch?f. ɥíɛ̀ kɔ̀ ŋɔ́ẁwater PP meatfishHowever, we see in (75) that there are also similar noun phrases which do not require the nasalconnector. In these examples, noun phrases such as adjectival (75a - b), genitive (75c) andgenitive with an adjective (75d), and a compound with a post-position (75e) do not have a nasalconnector in at least part of the phrase. From the examples above, we would expect these to alsohave a nasal connector.Nasal as transitive markerTransitive VerbsIntransitive Verbsa. n túráà wash (sme) aa. bírè leave, go outb. ŋ kɔ̀r̃ɔ̀ break bb. wòrè goc. n tʷáà arrive cc. bùr̃á leaved. m màà build dd. jàà diee. m bàà tie ee. bíjù ripenThe examples in (76a - e) are transtive verbs, while those in (76aa - ee) are intransitive. Theformer are always preceded by a nasal marker.126

Nasal as 1 st and 2 nd person markersa. mí n níjé bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀1S T drink.PFV cream CONN PFVI drank creamb. mì n nìjè bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀3S T drink.PFV cream CONN PFVS/he drank creamc. ŋ ɡújú à sìmèè wóré ŋ kéɛ̀1S throw.PFV DET rock go CONN PFVI threw a rockd. ɡúɥù símèè wóré ŋ kéɛ̀1S.throw.PFV rock go CONN PFVS/he threw a rocke. ɡùɥú tómèɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀1S.throw.PFV cowry shell CONN PFVI threw cowry shells. (PFVormed divination)f. ɡúɥù tómèɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀3S.throw.PFV cowry shell CONN PFVS/he threw cowry shells. (performed divination)As is further elaborated upon in Chapter 10, the first and third person markers have threeallomorphs, the morpheme [mi] (77a - b), a nasal (77c), or tone (77d - f). Note that the onlydifference between the phrase which marks the subject with a nasal (77c), only differs from thephrases without it (77d - f) in that the object noun is definite. The tones only change based onthe subject of the phrase. Person marking is further shown in the phrases in (78) and (79).Person marking in simple clausesa. mí n níjɛ́ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀1S drink cream CONN COMPLI drank cream.127

. á nìjɛ̀ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀2S drink cream CONN COMPLYou drank cream.c. mì nìjɛ̀ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀3S drink cream CONN COMPLS/He drank cream.d. n dɛ̀ nìjɛ̀ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀1 st PL drink cream CONN COMPLWe drank cream.e. áà nìjɛ̀ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀2 nd PL drink cream CONN COMPLYou (pl.) drank cream.f. n nì nìjɛ̀ bóɔ́ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀3 rd PL drink cream CONN COMPLThey drank cream.Here we see that, in sentences with one clause, the subject can be marked with an overt pronoun.(is it possible to have the repeated sbj in phrases other than motion? is this switch reference?)Person marking in complex clausesa. ∅ kó wòrè n ɥá à ŋámbá kùⁿPST go.1S +1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketI bought a sheep at the market. lit. ‘I went, I bought a sheep, at the market.’b. á kó wórè à ɥǎ á ŋámbà kúⁿ2S PST go.2S -1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketYou (sing) bought a sheep at the market.c. ∅ kó wórè à ɥǎ á ŋámbà kúⁿPST go.3S -1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketHe bought a sheep at the market.d. n dɛ̀ kó wórè n ɥǎ á ŋámbà kúⁿ1PL PST go.3PL +1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketWe bought a sheep at the market.e. àà kó wórè à ɥǎ á ŋámbà kúⁿ2PL PST go.2PL -1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketYou (pl) bought a sheep at the market.128

f. nìì kó wórè à ɥá ǎ ŋámbà kúⁿ3PL PST go.3PL -1 st buy.PFV DET sheep marketThey bought a sheep at the market.When a phrase contains two clauses, the first is optionally marked with an overt pronoun, and thesecond is obligatorily marked with a pronoun.6.3.4ObservationsAlthough there is a set of pronounced pronominals, they are not obligatorily used in everycircumstance. The examples in (77) illustrate the full set of subject personal pronouns (and theuse of the nasal connector before the completive marker), while the examples in (78) show morecomplex phrases that mark person through a homorganic nasal marker. In the first sentences(77a - b), the subject is marked with an unbound morpheme at the beginning of the phrase, andwith tonal differences on the subject and verb. In the second pair, (77c - d), the subject ismarked with a nasal for first person and but without a nasal for third person. The tonal patternalso changes between the two phrases on each constituent of the verb phrase, and of theperfective marker is lengthened. The final set shows that a person marker may lack segmentalfeatures and appear solely as tonal changes on the verb and object. Note that, although the firstverb ‘drink’ is transitive, and the second ‘throw’ is not, the placement of the object does notchange.Among clauses, such as the purposive clause illustrated, there is a binary opposition inperson marking: either first person or not first person, (i.e. ‘I am involved or I am not involved’).This opposition is marked by the subject of the second clause, underlined in the examples in (79)for clarity. Note also that the tone on the auxiliary verb [wore] is consistent with the subject129

marker: the melody is low in the first person and falling in all others (shouldn’t it match the 1 stPL too?).6.4Unsolved uses of nasalsAlthough the nasal does not mark a noun as being definite (see chapter X), is this use of the nasalfor determining special/distance relations or for focus?Demonstrativesthis/that?Deictic demonstrative nasal (get tones) - is it necessary to have determiner witha. à bùwó kǎwDET field this‘the nearby field’b. à bùwó ŋ kǎwDET field that‘the far away field’c. à bùwò–ndɛ́ ká:–rùDET fields these‘these nearby fields’d. à bùwò–ndɛ́ ŋ ká:–rùDET fields those‘those far away fields’The determiner a marks definiteness, while the indefinite is unmarked. The forms kaw, ŋ kaw,and ka:–ru, ŋ ka: –ru, mark the diexis forms ‘this’, ‘that’, ‘these’, and ‘those’ respectively.These may be used in combination to specify both definite and diexis as shown in the examplesin (52).a wuturo kawDET N DIEXISa wuturo ŋ kawa jaambɛ kawthe donkey cart herethe donkey cart therethe child here (this child)130

a jaambɛ ŋ kawa jaandɛ kaarua jaandɛ ŋ kaarua ɲijɛrɛ kawa ɲijɛrɛ ŋ kawa bʷɔ kawa bʷɔ ŋ kawa bʷɔndɛ kaarua bʷɔndɛ ŋ kaaruthe child there (that child)the children here (these children)the children there (those children)the woman herethe woman therethis fieldthat fieldthese fieldsthose fieldsthis X of mine…this X, not that XInsert examples of nasal as GENITIVE markerjííbɛ̀ n nííperson’s hand131

7. Chapter 7: Prosodic Timing7.1IntroductionAs noted in the introductory chapters, many segments in Bangime are prone to deletion. It isproposed in this chapter that the reason for consonant and vowel-consonant syncopation is due tothe language’s timing system. Although experiments to determine the language’s position alongthe timing spectrum (mora, syllable, or stress timed) have not yet been performed, a preliminaryhypothesis is proposed that the language has meter based on morae. Consonants or sequences ofconsonants and vowels are syncopated following the timing of the language. This chapter isorganized as follows: the initial section of this chapter, §7.2 gives a more thorough overview ofthe verbs presented briefly above in Chapter 2 §2.5.4, that which alternate a word-internal nasalconsonantcluster with a nasalized approximant or a nasalized final vowel. Sections 7.3 - 7.6show the various circumstances under which stops and vowel-liquid sequences may be deletedrespectively.7.27.2.1Consonant-cluster simplificationOverviewWord-internally, the voiced alveolar stop [d] the must be preceded by a nasal, although somewords permit the voiceless alveolar stop to appear without a nasal intervocalically. Sequences of[nd] are almost entirely found in the final syllable of a word. The same restrictions are not foundamong the stops; [p b ɡ] are found intervocalically as nasal-consonant clusters or as singletonstops. The voiceless velar [k] is restricted to word-internal position. As mentioned above inChapter 2, §2.6.2, verbs of a certain class, most of which have word-internal nasal-stop clustersin the perfective aspect, appear with a nasalized approximant or a nasalized vowel in theimperfective and conditional respectively.132

7.2.2DataNasalized approximant/nasal-consonant cluster alternation (check vowel length)Perfective Imperfective Conditionala. múndá múr̃á muⁿ come inb. búndà búr̃à bùⁿ finishc. bóndɔ̀ bór̃ɔ̀ ? alived. púndá púr̃á pǔⁿ grow (as in a plant)e. dɛ́ndè dɛ̀r̃è dɛ̀ⁿ cookf. kɔ́ndò kɔ̀r̃ɔ́ kɔ́ⁿ break (in half)g. samba sàw̃á sàẃⁿ sprayh. tá ! mbá táw̃à támà chewi. non-verbsj. sáá–w̃à sáá–mà person from Karaguek. à sǐw̃à à sǐmà nowl. kíì sìjɔ̀ⁿ (?) kíì símà whitem. ɲáw̃à ɲámà wildn. kàw̃à kàmà cheek7.2.3DescriptionWord-internal nasal-consonant clusters alternate with nasalized glides, through a morphologicalaspectual change (80a - h) and through a phonological alternation (80i - m). The NC clusters[nd] (80a - f) and [mb] (80g) alternate with nasalized [r] and [w] and a nasalized stem-finalvowel respectively. A singleton approximant exhibits this alternation with the nasal in the nonverbalwords (80i - m). Note that this process can occur both word-internally and acrossmorpheme boundaries (80i). Many, although not all, of the non-verbs which display thenasalized [w̃] ~ [m] alternation end in the vowel [a] ((80k) is excluded).7.2.4ObservationsAlthough the word-internal [nd] or [r̃] deletes in examples (80a - f) and [mb], [w̃] (80g), thenasalization remains on the preceding vowel. This does not occur in (80h), and the non-verbs,(80i - m) are unable to be truncated to one syllable.133

7.2.5AnalysisThis verb class includes a root or base, which is nasalized. In the perfective, the nasalized baseadds [r] and epenthesizes a final vowel, usually [a], or the final vowel may be a copy of the rootvowel. The imperfective consists of the nasalized base, plus stopping of the liquid [r] to [d] andthe epethenesized vowel.7.37.3.1Stop deletionOverviewIn some environments, a consonant following a nasal may also be deleted. The plural morphemeis the most commonly occurring example of this change. 37Stop deletion: Plural cliticSingular Plural Gloss Singular Plural Glossa. nɔ́ẁ nɔ̀=nɛ́ mouth aa. kúùⁿ kù=ndɛ́ eggb. símèè símèè=nɛ́ rock bb. děɡè děɡè=ndɛ́ cottonc. tómèɛ̀ tɔ́mèɛ̀=nɛ́ cowry shell cc. tómèɛ̀ tɔ́=mɪ̀=ndɛ́ cowry shelld. dwàà dwàà=nɛ́ tree dd. bóɔ̀ bò=ndɛ́ fathere. *Cv́ *Cv̀=nɛ́ ee. nìíⁿ nì=ndɛ́ armf. ff. ɡòómpá ɡòómpà=ndɛ́ stepg. gg. bùwó bùwò=ndɛ́ fieldh. póòrò póró=nɛ̀ cloud hh. jɪŕɪ́bɛ̀ jɪŕɪ́bɛ́=ndɛ̀ animali. kóróŋò kóróŋó=nɛ̀ donkey ii. kòróɡò kóɡó=ndɛ̀ basketj. tɪ́ɪ́ tɪ́ɪ́=nɛ̀ older sibling jj. ʒìíⁿ ʒìí=ndɛ̀ cryk. dúú ǃ ɡú dúɡú=nɛ̀ forest kk. déɡè déɡé=ndɛ̀ headl. ɡúmbá ! rá ɡúmbárá=nɛ̀ cave in ll. bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́=ndɛ̀ corn7.3.2DescriptionIn addition to the tonal alternations found on the plural morpheme, high (81a - d, k - q) and low(81f - j, r - v), it also has two segmental allomorphs, [–nɛ] (81a - j) and (81l - w) [–ndɛ]. The37 The nasal ~ nasal/consonant cluster also occurs with the person [1 st plural] marker, [ndɛ] ~ [nɛ].134

final mora of the singular roots also alternates between the tones low (81a - d, k - n, f - g, r - s, u)and high (81h - j, p - r, u, w). The lack of examples in (81e) show that a root which alternatesbetween high and low, with a high plural morpheme of the [–nɛ] allomorph is impermissible.7.3.3ObservationsIn each example above, the roots with nasalized vowels (81a, e, j) all take a nasal in the plural(are nasalized words actually CVVN? *superheavy syllable?). There is one gap among the data,(81e) illustrates that an underlyingly monomoraic, monosyllabic root with a high tone does notappear with a high toned clitic in the short form. (does this tonal pattern exist in general? /H ~LH/) This consonant-cluster simplification also occurs with the copula, which alternates amongthe allomorphs [n da] ~ [na] [naw] ~ [na], shown above, and [daw] ~ [da], shown below.7.47.4.1Liquid deletionOverviewOnsetless syllables and liquid onsets are marked in Bangime. In Bangime, liquid-vowel,specifically [rV], sequences may be deleted among some bisyllabic nouns (82). Examples suchas the name of the language, [bàŋɡɛ̀rímɛ̀] ~ [bàŋɡímɛ̀], show that it is the vowel which precedesthe [r] that is deleted. Permissible deletion is shown in (82a - d) and impermissible (82a - d).The examples in (84) further show the effects of the Vr-deletion in the plurals of nouns inBangime. Examples of nouns which alternate in permissible deletion sequences in plural stemsare shown in (84). The final columns list the tonal patterns.7.4.2Data135

Permissible Vr-deletion in nounsNon-Synocopated Syncopated Gloss Tonea. kòróɡò kóɡò basket (large) /LHL/b. tàɣàrà tàɣà Fulani hut /L/c. tùɡírì tùɡì spit /LHL/d. nàmbárá nàmbá sheep /LH/what if all words had either a one or two tone melody and other tones were added for stress,because words are actually mono or disyllabic!? /HL/ becomes [L-HL] instead of [LH-L] –check truncated forms7.4.3DescriptionThe examples above all have identical vowels surrounding [r] in the non-syncopated forms. Inthe syncopated forms, the vowels which remain are determinable due to the fact that their tonesremain unaltered.Impermissible Vr-deletion in nounsNon-Synocopated *Syncopated Glossa. kóróŋò *kóŋò donkey /HL/b. táɣàrà *táɣà window frame /HL/c. ʒɔ̀ròɡú *ʒòɡú chain /LH/d. námbàrà *námbà trickery /HL/These nouns, minimal or near minimal pairs with the first set, do not permit the [r] or thepreceding vowel from being deleted.Vr-deletion in plural nounsa. impermissible long stemi. *màráá=ndɛ̀ máà máá=ndɛ̀ like /LH/ii. *kìrí=jɛ́=ndɛ̀ kéɛ̀ kí=jɛ́=ndɛ̀ thing (tiny) /LH/iii. *kòróɡó=ndɛ̀ kóɡò kóɡó=ndɛ̀ basket (large) /LH/iv. *tùɥúrí=ndɛ̀ tùɡì tùɥú=ndɛ̀ spit /LH/136

. impermissible truncated rooti. kóróŋó=ndɛ̀ *kóŋò kóŋó=ndɛ̀ donkey /H/ii. jíríŋɡí=ndɛ̀ *jíŋɡí jíŋɡí=ndɛ̀ fan /H/iii. pàɣàrà=ndɛ́ *pàɣà pàɣà=ndɛ́ container /L/iv. taɣara?c. impermissible truncated stemi. tɛ́mbíré=ndɛ̀ tɛ́mbè *tɛ́mbé=ndɛ̀ brick /H/ii. ɡìwàrà=ndɛ́ ɡìwà *ɡìwà=ndɛ́ hat /L/iii. túɡírí=ndɛ̀ túɡì *túɡí=ndɛ̀ pierce /H/iv. pómbɔ́rò=ndɛ́ pómbó *pómbò=ndɛ́ line /HL/(most of these roots are trisyllabic. why is the tone deleted? how do these correlate with theabove data sets?)The first set of nouns (84a) surface without the Vr sequence in the root and plural forms, but maynot surface with Vr in the plural stem. Of the roots in (84a), (84.a.i - ii) may also not bepronounced in non-truncated form unless paired with the diminutive suffix. (maximal word?)In the second set of words, a short root is impermissible in surface form, yet it is with theplural clitic (and what about with the diminutive?). The final set shows roots which may betruncated only in isolation, not with the plural. All the words in (84b - c) may be pronounced intheir non-truncated forms without the plural clitic as well.7.4.4ObservationsNouns which are able to be truncated (82) have a tone on the vowel which is not received viaspreading. The roots which are unable to be truncated (83) all have the same melody, falling,save for (82c) which is rising. All the impermissible truncated stems (83a) have the same tonalmelody on the roots: rising. The roots and stems which are unable to be truncated (82b - c) areall level tones with the exception of the final word (82c.iv), with a falling tone.137

It appears from the remaining tonal melody and vocalic qualities that the vowel precedingthe deleted [r] is deleted among the nouns above, although in these verbs, it appears as althoughit is the following vowel.7.4.5AnalysisDoes /r/ either re-syllabify as onset or delete? Are the Vr-sequences deleted or inserted?7.4.6(possible) AnalysisNominal melodiesa. ‘donkey’ kor o ŋo *kor o ŋo kor o ŋo n(d)ɛ *kor o ŋo nɛUR (assoc 1 st TBU) HL HL HL HL*r-onset, *heavy σ kor o ŋo *k o ŋo ko ŋo n(d)ɛ *kor o ŋo nɛAlign R HL ∅ HL ∅kor o ŋo *k o ŋo ko ŋo n(d)ɛ *kor o ŋo nɛAssign T H L H LPR kór ó ŋò *k o ŋo kó ŋó n(d)ɛ̀ *kor o ŋo nɛ/HL/ is able to link to one TBU (*more than 2 tones per TBU?) so it is underlyingly associatedwith word-initial tone. This TBU may not be deleted because it carries the entire tone of theword.b. ‘basket’ kor o ɡo kor o ɡo kor o ɡo n(d)ɛ *kor o ɡo nɛ138

UR (assoc 1 st TBU) L HL L HL L HL L HL*r-onset, *heavy σ kor o ŋo k o ɡo k o ɡo n(d)ɛ *kor o ɡo nɛAlign R LHL HL HL LHLAssign T kor o ŋo k o ɡo k o ɡo n(d)ɛ *kor o ɡo nɛL H L H L H LPR kòr ó ɡò k ó ɡò k ó ɡó n(d)ɛ̀ *k ò ɡó n ɛ̀In this word, /HL-H/ must be associated to two TBU’s. One may be deleted.Vowels are tense/[+ATR] in unchecked/open syllables! CV.rV7.57.5.1Liquid deletion in verbsOverviewAmong some verb stems, we see it is the second vowel of a word with an [r] that is deleted (in aphrase, never in isolation).rV-deletion in verbsNon-Synocopated Syncopated Gloss Tonea. jérò jé rise /HL/b. jèrò jè do /L/c. wòrè wò go /L/d. nórè nó hear /HL/e. pérò pé set /HL/f. térò té sit /HL/g. túráà mí tú mì wash (oneself) /HL/7.5.2DescriptionAmong the verbs above, all but two have a falling tone, the others have a low tone. Additionally,all the words contain a combination of mid front and back tense vowels save for the final word.139

Impermissible rV-deletion in verbsNon-Synocopated *Syncopated Gloss Tonea. sɛ́rɛ̀ *sɛ̀ harvest /HL/b. bírè *bí leave, go out /HL/c. súràà *sú look /HL/d. búráá *bú be enough /H/e. kǒrɛ̀é *kó stomach /L͡ HLH/f. túrùù *tù lie down /HL/All of the verbs which do not permit truncation have long, final vowels, save for the first twoexamples. None of the verbs which do not permit syncopation have the same [oe] or [eo]combinations found above.7.5.3AnalysisMid vowels may be deleted, others cannot, long vowels cannot7.67.6.1Liquid deletion in verb phrasesOverviewAnother instance of deletion of Vr-sequences is found among verb phrases. Homorganic nasalsare employed in Bangime for a number of purposes, one of which being to mark transitivity,noted above in Chapter 6. This can be clearly viewed by examining the difference betweenperfective negative and imperfective negative phrases as displayed in (88). Note again that averb phrase in the perfective follows the word order S-AUX-V-O, whilst in the imperfective it isS-AUX-O-V.PERF n ɲije (buuⁿ keɛ)I drank it allAUX OBJ VERBn daa ɥiɛ n ɲijɛMay I drink your water140

SUBJ n daa ɲijɛ n miPROG n daa mi n ɲijɛ ɥiɛn daa ɲijɛ n ɥiɛFUT n naw mi n ɲijɛ ɥiɛVr-deletion in verb phrasesa. ɲijɛre drink S A O Vi. m bɪ́è ɲìjɛ̀rè ii. m bɪ́è n ɲìjè1 st SG NEG drink 1 st SG NEG T drink‘I did not drink’ ‘I do not drink’m bɪ́è ɲì jɛ̀ rɛ̀ m bɪ́è n ɲì jɛ̀µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ5 morae, 5 syllables 5 morae, 5 syllablesb. tʷaara arrivei. m bɪ́è tʷáàrà ii. m bɪ́è n tʷáà1 st SG NEG arrive 1 st SG NEG T arrive‘I do not arrive’ ‘I did not arrive’m bɪ́è tʷá à rà m bɪ́è n tʷá ൠµ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ5 morae, 4 syllables 5 morae, 4 syllablesc. maara buildi. m bɪ́è mààrá kò ii. m bɪ́è kó m màà1 st SG NEG build house 1 st SG NEG house T build‘I do not build a house’ ‘I did not build a house’m bɪ́è mà à rá kò m bɪ́è kó m mà ൠµ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ6 morae, 5 syllables 6 morae, 5 syllablesd. sʷɔrɔ mixi. m bɪ́è sʷɔ̀rɔ̀ ii. m bɪ́è n sʷɔ̀1 st SG NEG mix 1 st SG NEG T mix‘I do not mix’ ‘I did not mix’m bɪ́è sʷɔ̀ rɔ̀ m bɪ́è n sʷɔ̀µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ141

4 morae, 4 syllables 4 morae, 4 syllables7.6.2DescriptionThe difference between the imperfective, shown in the lefthand columns and the perfective onthe right is the ordering of constituents in the sentence. The imperfective places the object, ortransitive marker when there is no object, before the verb, while the perfective places it after theverb. If there is no object, the verb does not carry the transitive marker (in positive phrasestoo?). As illustrated, both the perfective and imperfective negative phrases contain the exactsame number of syllables and morae (independent of the discussion above that the high, front,lax vowel may not constitute a mora). Where the perfective lacks the nasal, it employs the fullform of the verb, and where the imperfective surfaces with the nasal, the verb is truncated.rV-alternation with NC-clusters in verb phrasesa. kɔndo break, cutiii. m bɪ́è kɔ́ndò iv m bɪ́è ŋ kɔ̀r̃ɔ̀1 st SG NEG break 1 st SG NEG T break‘I do not break’ ‘I did not break’m bɪ́è kɔ́ n dò m bɪ́è ŋ kɔ̀ r̃ɔ̀µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ5 morae, 4 syllables 5 morae, 5 syllablesb. dɛnde cookv. m bɪ́è dɛ́ndè vi m bɪ́è n dɛ̀r̃è1 st SG NEG cook 1 st SG NEG T cook‘I do not cook’ ‘I did not cook’m bɪ́è dɛ́ n dè m bɪ́è n dɛ̀ r̃èµ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ5 morae, 4 syllables 5 morae, 5 syllables142

We saw above in Chapter 2 that some verb stems form the imperfective by simplifying a nasalconsonantcluster to a nasalized approximant. The verbs in (89) are of this class. We continue tosee that the same pattern emerges, yet here we see that while the number of syllables does notmatch, the number of morae does.Impermissible rV-deletion in verb phrasesa. bire leave, go outi. m bé bíré ii. m bé bírè1 st SG NEG go out 1 st SG NEG go out‘I do not go out’ ‘I did not go out’m bé bí ré m bé bí rèµ µ µ µ µ µ µ µσ σ σ σ σ σ σ σ4 morae, 4 syllables 4 morae, 4 syllablesThe examples in (90) show that with an intransitive verb, Vr deletion in the phrase does notoccur as intransitive verbs do not follow the pattern of Vr deletion and nasal insertion.tonal difference?7.6.3ObservationsThe data above show that all nasals in the language are moraic, and that, at least in verb phrasesin the negative, the language follows a mora-timing pattern whereas the number of syllables inthe corresponding perfective-imperfective phrase must contain the same number of syllables.Since the object marker, the homorganic nasal, must precede the verb in the Imperfective formsto follow the correct word order, this takes the place of one syllable and thus, the verb deletes asyllable to compensate. The data show that an intransitive verb may not delete its rV-sequencebecause its corresponding TAM phrase has no nasal to compensate. Further, the data illustrate143

that even if the phrases contain a pronounced object, the nasal marker remains, showing that it isa true marker of transitivity and not a pronominal form.(if the nasals were syllabic)7.6.47.7AnalysisConclusionIn this chapter, an overiew was provided of the consonants which may delete, and theenvironments in which each may be deleted. It was shown that word-internal nasals, glides, andapproximants are susceptible to deletion. Recall from Chapter 5 that these more sonorousconsonants are preferable as syllable onsets word-internally, but not word-initially. It has alsobeen noted that the language may have consisted of monosyllabic words at some point in itsevolution. Although the predictability of the quality of word-internal consonants was notdetermined, the data in this chapter present the possibility that, since the presence of certainconsonants seems to be based on meter, it is possible that these segments are inserted rather thandeleted and that there is predictability to which consonant is inserted. This also leads to thequestion as to whether these sonorous consonants serve as onsets or codas to the syllables withwhich they are associated.144

8. Chapter 8: Contrastive Tone, Overview8.1IntroductionBangime has two privative tones, high and low. On monosyllabic words with two morae leveltones may combine to form rising or falling contours on one heavy syllable. Rising tones mayappear on monomoraic syllables in word-initial position. Rising tones on monomoraic wordsusually appear after a velar consonant. A mid tone also appears predictably on the final syllableof a bisyllabic word when the initial syllable is heavy and carries a high tone. As has beenshown, vocalic height, length, and quality are restricted to syllable type. We now examine howtone fits into these parameters. First, §8.2 provides examples which contrast solely on the basisof tone, separated along vowel height and backness parameters. Next, §8.3 gives correlations oftone based on syllable types. Section 8.4 correlates tone with vowel quality and §8.5 withsyllable type. Section Error! Reference source not found. then shows which syllable typesmay appear with which tones and in §8.7 which gaps there are among syllable types and tonalcorrelations.8.28.2.1Words with a contrast for toneOverviewThe words in (91) - (95) contrast solely on the basis of tone on at least one syllable of the word.Low vowel [a]Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Contrasta. m màà build v. aa. m máà like/want v.LL HL L HLb. n ɲànà Niana bb. ɲánà take v.L.L Nprop H.L L HL145

c. ʒàɣà bark n. cc. ʒàɣá cut v.L.L L.H L LHd. màràà build v. dd. màráà like/want v.L.L.L L.H.L L LHLe. kàràà find v. ee. káráá new adj.L.L.L H.H.H L Hf. dìjá eat v. ff. díjà village n.L.H H.L LH HLg. bùr̃á leave, go gg. búr̃à finish v.L.H out v. H.L LH HLh. jǎɡú dry v. hh. jàɡú cut v.LH.H L.H LHH LHi. ɡúmbár ! á cave in v. ii. ɡúmbárà wasp n.H.H.H H.H.L H HLj. báráá Baara jj. báráà remains n.H.H.H Nprop H.H.L H HLk. páráà sesame seed kk. páràà gather v.H.H.L n. H.L.L HL HL8.2.2DescriptionThe low vowel has been shown to occur long and short except as a long vowel in the firstsyllable of a bisyllabic word. All tonal contrasts are seen on words with at least one low vowelexcept rise/fall and high/fall. Many of these words appear to have identity harmony, i.e. areprobably not underlying all low vowels.Mid front vowels [e, ɛ]Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Contrasta. ɥìɛ̀ ascend n. c. ɥìɛ́ moon n. e. ɥíɛ̀ waterLL LH HL n. L LH HLb. n ɲìjɛ́rɛ́ woman n. d. n ɲìjɛ̀rɛ́ drink v.L.H.H L.L.H LHH LLH146

c. kéérɛ̀HH.LKetePropN n. e. kèèrɛ́ six n. HHL LLHLL.HThe mid front vowels [e ɛ] show all contrasts except low/high, rise/fall, and high/fall. The lowand the mid, front vowels have the same contrasts, except where the low vowel has a contrast forthe simple low/high and the mid vowels do not. The mid, front vowels do not have a contrast forrise/fall or high/rise, whereas the high, front vowels have both.Mid back vowels [o, ɔ]Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Contrasta. bòrò tomorrow n. c. bóró–mɛ́ young L HL.L H.H–H man–DIMb. jèrò do v. d. jérò rise v.L.L H.L L HLThe mid back vowels [o ɔ] and high back vowels [u ʊ] have the fewest contrasts (although thesevowels are fewer in frequency): only low/rise and low/high, and low/fall, fall/rise respectively.All vowels except the high, back vowels have the low/rise contrast.High front vowels [i, ɪ]Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Contrasta. nììⁿ arm, hand n. e. nìíⁿ mouse n.LL LH L LHb. sìíⁿ mongoose f. síìⁿ shade n.LH n. HL LH HLc. dìjá eat v. g. díjà village n.L.H H.L LH HL147

d. tííⁿ tail n. h. tíìⁿ tree speciesHH HL n. H HLThe high front vowels [i ɪ] contrasts for the tones low/rise and fall/rise. No vowels have ahigh/fall contrast except the high, front vowels.High back vowels [u, ʊ]Stem Gloss Stem Gloss Contrasta. bùùⁿ powder f. búùⁿ time n. L HLLL HL (number of)b. tùrùù neighborhood g. túrùù lie down L HLL.LL n. H.LL v.c. kùúⁿ waist n. h. kúùⁿ egg n.LH HL LH HLd. bùr̃á leave, i. búr̃à finish v.L.H go out v. H.L LH HLe. kùwó dry j. kǔwò wing n.L.H adj. LH.L LH LHLAll vowels contrast low with high-low except back high vowels, low and rising do not contraston high back vowels, and none contrast high with high-low except high front vowels.Therefore, if high and front, then high and falling, (high and falling only contrast on high frontvowels).8.2.3SummaryThe table below gives an overview of which vowels contrast solely on the basis of tone.Summary of contrasts for minimal pairsL LH L HL L LHL L H LH HL H HL[a] + + + + – –[e ɛ] + + + – – –[o ɔ] + – – + – –148

[i ɪ] + – – – + +[u ʊ] – + – – + –From this summary, we can see that all tonal heights and possible combinations are contrastiveexcept for HLH. Words which contrast high and falling are only found among the high, front,tense and lax vowels. The next section illustrates the predictability of tone based onphonotactics.8.38.3.1Tonal distribution based on syllable typeOverviewIn this section, correlations with vowel height, backness, and tone are shown.8.3.2DataH on monosyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. níí hand /H/b. píí sauce /H/c. kíì thing /HL/d. ʒíì blood /HL/e. kíɛ̀ luggage, belongings /HL/f. ɥíɛ̀ water /HL/g. síè/ɛ̀ take, catch /HL/h. ɕɪ́ɛ̀ termite /HL/i. tɛ́è straight /HL/j. kéɛ̀ COMPLETIVE /HL/k. ɥéɛ̀ kɔ̀ ŋɔ́ẁ fish /HL/l. jéà who /HL/m. ʒáà die /HL/n. bɔ́ò father /HL/o. dóɔ̀ notebook, paper /HL/p. tóò Tommo /HL/q. nóɔ́/nɔ́ẁ mouth /HL/r. kúù sweet potato /HL/Among monosyllabic words, there is a strong preference for a falling melody.149

Nasalized monosyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. sɔ́óⁿ shirt /H/b. tííⁿ tail /H/c. bíìⁿ goat /HL/d. tíìⁿ tree species /HL/e. ʒíìⁿ root /HL/f. síìⁿ shade /HL/g. kéɛ̀ⁿ there /HL/h. kɛ́èⁿ cheek /HL/i. ʒóɔ̀ⁿ rain, sky /HL/time, as in this is done Xj. búùⁿnumber of times /HL/k. kúùⁿ egg /HL/Although monosyllabic nasalized words may surface with a high, level tone, the preferenceremains for a falling melody.Bisyllabic words with long initial vowelStem Gloss Tonea. níírù breathe /HL/b. kíndù dig /HL/c. sííbɛ́ɛ̀ eye /HL/d. kɪ́ɛ́ʋɛ̀ animal (sp) /HL/e. ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀ carry on head /HL/f. déɛ́mɛ̀ seed (millet) /HL/g. péɛ́rɛ̄ a lot /HM/h. kááw̃á older /H/i. máárá build /H/j. wáárì work /HL/k. ŋɔ́mbɛ̀ river /HL/l. póɔ́rè black /HL/m. kɔ́ɔ́bá buffalo /H/n. dúúɡū forest /HM/o. túúmɛ̀ garlic /HL/p. púúndà Nprop Fulani /HL/q. síìwà burn /HL/r. déɛ̀rɛ̀ cultivate /HL/150

s. ɡóò-mpá step /HLH/t. póòrò cloud /HL/Here we see that, among initial heavy syllables in bisyllabic words, there is a preference for hightones, followed by a fall on the final tone. There is an overall dispreference for low tones onheavy (CVV and CVV.CV) syllables, only two of which contain all low tones on CVV, and bothof which are [Caa] (shown below). There is a very limited distribution of low tone tones onCVV.CV words, mostly consisting of [aa] and [uu] vowels.Heavy initial syllables with initial low tonesStem Gloss Tonea. tààrù three /L/b. mùùrɛ́ sugar cane /LH/c. kàárà shave /LHL/d. dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀ adze /LHL/e. pùúpá bellows /LHL/f. ɥùúrá kill /LHL/g. kěèré six /L͡ HLH/Here we see that the majority of words with an initial heavy syllable that do permit a low toneare back vowels, with the exception of (100a). In addition to the fact that low tones aredispreffered on heavy initial syllables, contour tones are not as common as level tones on theinitial vowels of CVV.CV stems.Bisyllabic words with a final low toneStem Gloss Tonea. kàárà shave /LHL/b. dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀ adze /LHL/c. pùúpá bellows /LHL/d. kěèré six /L͡ HLH/e. déɛ̀rɛ̀ cultivate /HL/f. póòrò cloud /HL/g. síìwà burn /HL/151

Many bisyllabic words with heavy initial syllables which have an initial low tone are followedby a high tone.Stems with [r] or animate suffixa. Stem Gloss Toneb. báráà remains /HL/c. páráà sesame seed /HL/d. túráà wash (body) /HL/e. ʒáɣéɛ̀ onion ʒáɣɛ́ɛ̀ onion /HL/f. bíréɛ̀ fire /HL/g. màráà like /LHL/h. ɡɛ̀dɛ́è lizard (sp) /LHL/i. ɡǐméɛ̀ watermelon /L͡ HLH/j. ɡǔʒéɛ̀ grass, weeds /L͡ HLH/all fall on second syllable of bisyllabic word are in suffixes or long [a] after [r] (true?)8.3.3ObservationsTo summarize thus far, all possible tonal combinations are found on front vowels [ɪɛ], [ie], [iɛ] inmonosyllabic words. Combinations [ɪɛ] and [ɛɪ] in the second syllable of bisyllabic words arelow, where as [ɪɛ] in first syllable of a bisyllabic word is high. The combination [iɛ] is onlyfound in the second syllable of one bisyllabic word and has a falling melody. The vowelcombiantions [ɪe] and [eɪ] are not found (even across consonant boundaries).8.3.4AnalysisHL is default, everything else is predictable? Since high and mid vowels are in complimentarydistribution based on syllable position, are they also in CD based on tone?8.48.4.1Tonal distribution based on vowel heightOverviewThis section provides data to examine if tone is predicable based on vowel height.152

8.4.2DataHigh front vowelStem Gloss Tonea. (màá) níì 1) call (name) 2) say /HL/b. ʒíì blood /HL/c. kíì thing /HL/d. kìí á nò respond /LH/e. níí hand /H/f. píí sauce /H/g. n nìì kʷéɛ̀ finger /L/High front nasalized vowelStem Gloss Tonea. bíìⁿ goat /HL/b. n nɔ́ɔ̀ ŋɔ́ síìⁿ teeth /HL/c. síìⁿ shade /HL/d. tíìⁿ tree species /HL/e. tʷíìⁿ flower /HL/f. ʒíìⁿ root /HL/g. ʒìíⁿ cry /LH/h. bìíⁿ year /LH/i. nìíⁿ 1) arm 2) hand /LH/j. nìíⁿ mouse /LH/k. sìíⁿ mongoose /LH/l. tííⁿ tail /H/m. sììⁿ 1) each other 2) together /L/8.4.3DescriptionFrom these two data sets, we see that most monosyllabic roots with high vowels are nasalized,and that most nasalized roots have a falling tonal contour. High is very productive on initialsyllable. (Also high is productive on initial syllable of bisyllabic word with light syllables)Polysyllabic roots with final /i/Stem Gloss Tonea. núndì five /HL/b. n ɲɛ́ndì vomit /HL/c. pɔ́mbì lift, raise /HL/153

d. ʃúɡìdirty water scooped out of beermakingwater given to animals /HL/e. wáárì work /HL/f. súɥì food /HL/g. bòndí Bondu /LH/h. bɔ̌ wɔ́ɔ̀/bɔ̀wɔ̀=ndí Bobo person /LH/i. màjí okra /LH/j. kɔ́rɔ́+ndī unable /H/k. dúɡí short /H/l. kʊ́ rí dust /H/Recall that no bisyllabic words may end in a long, high, front vowel. Many bisyllabic wordswhich end in a high, short vowel have NC clusters, suggesting that word-final NC clusters areepenthesized with a high, front, short vowel. There are no bisyllabic words which end in a high,front, short vowel with a low tone.Bisyllabic words with initial high vowel in light syllablesa. dìjá eat LHb. ɡìjɛ́ false LHc. kíjù difficult, expensive HLd. mírò smooth HLHigh is productive on initial syllable of bisyllabic word with light syllables, as is low, and mostlycontour tonal melodies are found.High front lax vowelStem Gloss Tonea. bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ red /HL/b. kɪ́ɛ́ʋɛ̀ animal (sp?) /HL/c. kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ calabash, shell /HL/d. ɕɪ́ɛ̀ termite /HL/e. ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀ carry on head /HL/f. pʷɪ́ɛ̀ wife /HL/g. bʷɪ̀ɛ́ leg /LH/h. dɥɪ̀ɛ́ clay /LH/i. ɡɪ̀ɪń back /LH/154

j. kíjɪ̀ seven /LH/k. ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ oil /LH/l. ɲɪ̀ɛ́ cow pea /LH/m. mɪ́ DIMINUTIVE /H/n. n tɪ́ɪ́ sibling (older) /H/o. ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀ crocodile /L/Among words which contain the high, front, lax vowel, we see there is a tendency towards [ɪ]tends to cause palatalization and labialization of consonants; [ɕ] and [ɥ] are common with thisvowel. We also see that there is only one instance of a low tone on this vowel, suggesting adispreference for high, front vowels and low tones from the data presented thus far. Recall that[ɪ] appears as long only in monosyllabic words or in combination with another front vowel inbisyllabic words.Mid front lax and tense vowels in monosyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. tɛ́è straight /HL/b. kéɛ̀ COMPLETIVE /HL/c. kéɛ̀ⁿ there /HL/d. kɛ́èⁿ cheek /HL/e. n néɛ̀ four /HL/f. n nìì kʷéɛ̀ finger /HL/g. (màá) kʷéɛ̀ bark (see shell) /LH/h. tèɛ̀ forge /L/Among monosyllabic words with the front, mid vowels, (recall that a long [e] is impermissible ina monosyllabic word), only two instances are word-final, (not followed by [ɛ]). It appears that[+HI]/[MID] combinations are preferred to vocalic combinations of decreasing vowel height,(combinations of [OU], [EI], or [OA] are also rare, if not impermissible). Again, we see adipreference for low tones among front vowels.155

Mid front tense and lax vowels in bisyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. símèè rock HLb. kěèré six L͡ HL.Hc. kándēē husband HLd. ʒáɣéɛ̀ onion HL (HHL)e. bíréɛ̀ fire HL (HHL)f. déɛ̀rɛ̀ cultivate HL (HLL)g. déɛ́mɛ̀ seed (millet) HL (HHL)h. kíŋɡèɛ̀ skin HL (HLL)i. pɛ́rèɛ̀ key HL (HLL)j. péɛ́rɛ̄ a lot HHMk. ɡǔʒéɛ̀ grass, weeds LH.HLl. ɡɛ̀dɛ́è lizard (sp) LHLm. kǒrɛ̀é stomach L͡ H.LHRising vocalic height, again is shown to be rare (only two words) among front vowels as arewords which begin with a low tone. The only two words that begin with a low tone are thewords with rising vocalic height.Low back vowels in monosyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. bàà tie Lb. dʷàà tree Lc. n nàà cow Ld. pàà cave LAmong low, back vowels, we see a preference for low tones.Long low vowel in initial syllableStem Gloss Tonea. wáárì money /HL/b. jàá-mbɛ̀ child /LHL/c. ɡááná thank (you) /H/d. kááw̃á older adj /H/e. tààrù three /L/156

We see that long low vowels are uncommon in the first syllable, only occurring before [r] or anasal. It was shown above that [a] also tends to lengthen after these same segments. Low, backvowels may have privative, or level tones.Long, back vowels in final syllable of bisyllabic worda. ɥáràà buy HLb. súràà look HLc. páràà gather HLd. báráà remains HLe. páráà sesame seed HLf. túráà wash (body) HLg. búrúù seed, kind HLWhile long low vowels in the first syllable tend to have level tones, those in the second haveeither low or falling tones.Mid back vowels in monosyllabic wordsStem Gloss Tonea. bɔ́ò father /HL/b. dóɔ̀ notebook, paper /HL/c. ʒóɔ̀ⁿ sky, rain /HL/d. sɔ́óⁿ shirt /H/e. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ man /L/Among back, mid vowels we see that either sequence of heights may occur tautosyllabically andthat monosyllabic words with mid, back vowels may have any tonal contour except rising.8.4.4ObservationsIn summary, we see that there are restrictions on which tones may appear where in the word, andon which vowels. The following tables summarize the observations.157

CVVvowel examples tonesi níí hand kíì canoe H HLpíí sauce ʒíì blood H HLe tèɛ̀ forge kéɛ̀ COM L HLtɛ́è straight HLa nàà cow máà build L HLpàà cave ʒáà die L HLo kóó leave kóò inside H HLnóɔ́ mouth dóɔ̀ paper H HLu kúù sweet potatoAll four types of tone combinations are attested on monosyllabic words, which by default arealso bimoraic: high, low, rising, falling. All plain, monosyllabic, bimoraic words with high,front vowels also have (at least) one high tone, (the word-initial tone), although counterexamples are nasalized:nììⁿ arm, hand nìíⁿ mouse LL LHCV.CVvowel examplestonesi bìjɛ́ baby díjà village LH HLe jèrò do jérò rise LL HLa ɡànʤà fonio sáŋà play LL HLo bòrò tomorrow n nórè hear LL HLu bùr̃á stick súɥì food LH HLAmong bisyllabic words with two light syllables, high tones on short [a] or [o] in initial positionof is rare and is dispreferred.CV.CVvowel examplestonesi dúɡí short súɥì food HH HLe bìjɛ́ baby n nórè hear LH HLa ɡànʤà fonio bùr̃á stick LL LHo bòrò tomorrow jérò rise LL HLu kíjù difficult, expensive HL158

Although a bisyllabic word with two light syllables with a final [e] and a high tone could not befound, words which end in a high tone on [ɛ] are available. No bisyllabic word with two lightsyllables with a word-final [u] with a high tone could be found.CVV.CVi sííbɛ́ɛ̀ eye síìwà burn HHHL HLLe déɛ́mɛ̀ seed (millet) déɛ̀rɛ̀ seed (millet) HHL HLLa kááw̃á older tààrù three kàárà shave HHH LLL LHLo póɔ́rè black póòrò cloud HHL HLLu túúmɛ̀ garlic pùúpá bellows mùùrɛ́ sugar cane HHL LHH LLHThere are no long [oo] or [ee] with low tones in the initial position of a bisyllabic word with aninitial heavy syllable. No words with [aa] or [uu] with falling tones in initial position of a heavyword-initial bisyllabic word could be found. The sequence [ii] is rare in initial position ofbisyllabic word, but no low tones could be found on the initial heavy syllable of a bisyllabicword with this vowel. The sequence [uu] could be found with high, rising, or low tones in thispositon. The only vowels which allow low tones on the heavy initial syllable of bisyllabic wordare [aa] and [uu].CV.CVVie kǒrɛ̀é stomach ɡɛ̀dɛ́è lizard (sp) L͡ HLH LHLa màráà like, want báráá Baraa ɥáràà buy LHL HHHou búrúù seed HHLRecall that neither high, front, nor low, back long vowels are not permitted in final position of abisyllabic word. Here it is shown that level tones are not allowed on mid front vowels in finalposition of a bisyllabic word. Level tones are allowed on [aa] sequences in final position of a159

isyllabic word, but rise is not and a falling melody is allowed on [aa] and [uu] in in finalposition of a bisyllabic word. Recall from Chapter 3, §3.2 that final [aa] and [uu] seem to bepredictable after [r].There are tonal gaps based on the number of syllables in a word. Monosyllabic words aremore likely to have a falling contour, bisyllabic words with initial heavy syllables are morecommon to have a high on the initial syllable, while those with a final heavy syllable are morelikely to have a final falling melody. Bisyllabic words with a final heavy syllable do not havethe tones [L.LH], yet an initial heavy syllable does. Both bisyllabic words with heavy initial andfinal syllables may carry the tones [HHL]. Among trisyllabic words, which only have shortvowels, all but one word [tàɣàrà] ‘window frame’, have contour tones. However, the tonalmelody [HLH] is not found among trisyllabic words. In general, high is common on longvowels, heavy syllables, and fall is common word-finally on long vowels.8.58.5.1Tone correlations with syllable typeOverviewThis section seeks to answer the question, where does tone contrast in relation to syllable type?The following examples show syllable type to tone; which tonal contours may appear uponwhich types of syllables. The syllable shapes found among Bangime roots are CVV, CVVⁿ, NCVV, CV.CV, CV.CVⁿ, CVN.CV, N CV.CV, CV.CVV, N CVV.CV, and CV.CV.CV.8.5.2DataCVVa. kéɛ̀ thingHLb. ɲɪ̀ɛ́ cow pea160

LHc. tɪ́ɪ́ older siblingHHd. dʷàà treeLL*CV̌ V̀LHLCVVⁿa. bíìⁿ goatHLb. bìíⁿ yearLHc. tííⁿ tailHHd. bùùⁿ Bounou (village)LL*CV̌ V̀ ⁿLHLCV.CVRootGlossa. téró showH.Hb. déɡè headH.Lc. *Cv̌ Cv́LH.Hd. *Cv̂ Cv́HL.He. *Cv̂ Cv̀161

HL.Lf. ŋàrà GodL.Lg. bùr̃á stick, medicineL.Hh. tɔ̌ tɔ̀ anvilLH.LCV.CVⁿa. ɡàʒɛ́ⁿ worldL.Hb. tórɔ̀ⁿ carry (water)H.Lc. *Cv̀Cv̀ⁿL.Ld. *Cv́Cv́ⁿH.He. *Cv̌ Cv̀ⁿLH.LCVN.CVa. ɡànʤà fonioL.Lb. tùmbá calabash (for liquids)L.Hc. pómbɔ́ lineH.Hd. kʊ́ ndʊ̀ logH.L*Cv̌ NCv̀LH.L162

N CV.CVe. m mìró beeL.H*N Cv̀.Cv̀*N Cv́.Cv́*N Cv́.Cv̀*N Cv̌ .Cv̀CV.CVVf. kùráá give birth (v)L.HHg. màràà build (v)L.LLh. síráá hornH.HHi. màráà like (v)L.HLj. páráà sesame seedH.HLk. pɛ́rèɛ̀ keyH.LLN CVV.CVl. n nɔ́órɛ̀ boneHH.L*N Cv̀v̀.Cv̀*N Cv́v́.Cv́*N Cv̀v́Cv́163

CV.CV.CVm. díjɛ́rɛ̀ carveH.H.Ln. ʒɔ̀ròɡú chainL.L.H*Cv́.Cv́.Cv́H.H.Ho. tàɣàrà window frameL.L.L*CV̀ .CV́ .CV̀L.H.L164

8.5.3DescriptionThe table below gives a summary of the above data with representative examples.Summary of syllable types to tonesToneSyllableStructure CVV CV.CV CV.CV.CV 1 CVV.CV 1 CV.CV.CV 2CV.CVVCVV.CV 2L Word pàà tèɛ̀ ʒàŋà ŋàrà tàɣàràGloss cave forge hangar God window frame ----------PR LL L.L L.L.L LL.L L.LLLH Word ʒɛ̀ɛ́ ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ dàmá bùwó bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ n ɲìjɛ̀rɛ́ mùùrɛ́ n ɲìjɛ́rɛ́ kùráá kùɥɪ̀ɛ́Gloss smoke oil hoe field corn drink sugar cane woman birth shellPR LH L.H L.L.H LL.H L.H.H L.HH L.LHLHLWordtɔ̌ tɔ̀ kòróɡò jàámbɛ̀Gloss -----anvil basket child ----- ----- ɡɛ̀dɛ́èPR LH.L LH.L L.H.L LH.L LH.L.L L.HLH Word nɔ́ẁ nííⁿ kórí párédúú ǃ ɡú pʷɔ́ɔ́ ǃ kɛ́Gloss mouth arm dust machete ----- forest soapPR HH H.H H.H.H HH.HnHL Word ʒíìⁿ bíìⁿ ɡíjɔ̀ⁿ bùr̃á kóróŋò jɪŕɪ́bɛ̀ nɔ́ɔ́rɛ̀ ŋɔ́ɔ́mbɛ̀ péʋɛ̀rɛ̀ póòrò párààGloss root goat shadow stick donkey animal bone river ----- wind cloud gatherPR H.L H.L H.H.L HH.L H.L.L HL.L H.LL165

166

8.5.4ObservationsHere, we see that there are gaps in terms of which tones are found on which syllables.Table representing syllable types to tonesHL LH H L LHLCVV + + + + –CVVⁿ + + + + –CV.CV + + + + +CVN.CV + + + + –CV.CVⁿ + + + + +N CV.CV – + – – –CVV.CV – – + + –CVV.CV + + + + –CV.CVV + + + + +CV.CVV + + + + –N CVV.CV + – – – –CV.CV.CV + + – + –8.68.6.1Syllables to tones correlationOverviewFor another view, we now examine which tonal contours may appear on which types of syllable.The tonal contours found among Bangime roots are as follows: HL and LH are very productive,while L, H, LHL are less productive and HLH does not exist.8.6.2DataHLN CV a. n ɲɛ̀ yesterdayHLCVG b. déẁ lakeHLCVGⁿ c. pɔ́ẁⁿ mealHLCVV d. kéɛ̀ thing167

HLe. kíì canoe, airplaneHLf. kóò houseHLg. kúù sweet potatoHLh. bóɔ̀ fatherHLi. dóɔ̀ paperHLj. ɥíɛ̀ waterHLk. ɕɛ́ɛ̀ termiteHLl. ʒáà die (v.)HLm. ʒíì bloodHLn. (máá) pʷéɛ̀ (his) wife, youngHLwomanCᵍVV o. bʷéɛ̀ legHLCᵍVVⁿ p. (màá) tʷíìⁿ flowerHLq. pʷéɛ̀ⁿ leafHLCGVⁿ r. kẃɔ̀ⁿ scytheHLCVVⁿ s. bíìⁿ goatHL168

t. ʒóɔ̀ⁿ rain, skyHLu. kúùⁿ eggHLv. síìⁿ shadeHLw. tíìⁿ tree speciesHLx. ʒíìⁿ rootHLN CVV y. n náà wildernessHLCV.CV z. díjà villageH.Laa. kʊ́ rɛ̀ war, tie (v)H.LCV.NCV bb. kʊ́ ndʊ̀ logH.LCVV.CV cc. kɪ́ɛ́ʋɛ̀ animal (sp.)HH.Ldd. póòrò cloudHL.Lee. déɛ́mɛ̀ seed (millet)HH.Lff. túúmɛ̀ garlicHH.Lgg. ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀ carry on headHH.L(v.)hh. wáárì work (v.)HH.L169

N CVV.CV ii. n nɔ́órɛ̀ boneHH.LCVV.NCV jj. ŋɔ́ɔ́mbɛ̀ riverHH.Lkk. púúndà FulaniHH.LCV.CVV ll. ʒáɡéɛ̀ onionH.HLmm. báráà remainsH.HLnn. bíréɛ̀ fireH.HLoo. páráà sesame seedH.HLpp. pɛ́rèɛ̀ keyH.LLqq. símèè rockH.LLrr. tómèɛ̀ cowry shellH.LLss. búrúù seed, kindH.HLCV.CV.CV tt. díjɛ́rɛ carveH.H.Luu. kéjórò openH.H.Lvv. kóróŋò donkeyH.H.Lww. táɣárà Fulani houseH.H.L170

CV.CV.CV xx. páɣàrà containerH.L.Lyy. péʋɛ̀rɛ̀ windH.L.Lzz. tíɡɛ̀rɛ̀ run (v.)H.L.LCV.CV.CVⁿ aaa. ɲóɡɔ́wɛ̀ⁿ fish (sp)H.H.LCVN.CV.CV bbb. ɡúmbárà waspH.H.Lccc. pɔ́mbórò ditchH.H.Lddd. tɛ́mbírè brickH.H.Leee. jíŋɡírì break up a fightH.H.L(v.)CVN.CVV fff. (máá) kándèè husbandH.LLCVN.CV.CV ggg. bámbàrà BambaraH.L.Lhhh. púndárà weed (v.)H.L.LLHCVV e. ɲɪ̀ɛ́ cow peaLHf. ʒɪ̀é Dieni (village)LHg. ɥìɛ́ moonLHCVVⁿ h. bìíⁿ yearLHi. ɡɪ̀ɪń back171

LHj. ʒìíⁿ cry (v)LHk. kɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ plankLHl. kùúⁿ waistLHm. nìíⁿ mouseLHn. sìíⁿ mongooseLHo. bʷɔ̀ó fieldLHN CVV p. n nìé milkLHCVGⁿ q. pɛ̀ȷń ladderLHC G VVⁿ r. ŋʷɪ̀ɛ́ⁿ oilLHCGV.V s. tw̃ɔ̀ɔ́ blacksmithL.HCV.CV t. bùr̃á stick/medicineL.Hu. bìjɛ́ babyL.Hv. bùwó horseL.Hw. dàmá pick axeL.Hx. dònɛ́ dayL.H172

y. màjí okraL.HCV.CVⁿ z. ɡàʒɛ́ⁿ worldL.HCGV.V aa. dɥɛ̀ɛ́ clayL.Hbb. tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ basket (small)L.HCV.NCV cc. tàŋkó garden eggL.Hdd. tùmbá calabash (for liquids)L.Hee. ɡèŋɡɛ́ metalL.Hff. jɛ̀mbé roadL.Hgg. mìnná doorL.HN CV.CV hh. m mìró beeL.HCVV.CV ii. mùùrɛ́ sugar caneLL.HCV.CVV jj. kùráá give birth (v)L.HHkk. kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ shell, hollowedL.LHcalabash1. ɡòmèɛ́ riceL.LHCV.CV.CV ll. ʒɔ̀ròɡú chainL.L.H173

mm. tòrèmɛ́ starL.L.HN CV.CV.CV nn. n ɲìjɛ́rɛ́ womanL.H.HCV.CV.NCVⁿ oo. bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ cornL.L.H8.78.7.1Syllables which are excluded from tonesOverviewAs is shown in the following chapter, the tone on nouns in the language is based on tonalmelodies. Here, we examine which words are unable to bear certain tonal melodies based on thenumber of syllables in them.LSyllable Structure Root GlossCGV a. dẁè Dwe villageLCVV b. pàà caveLLc. tèɛ̀ forge (v)LLd. nììⁿ handLLCVVⁿ e. bùùⁿ Bounou (village)LLC G VV f. dʷàà treeLLg. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ mosquitoLLh. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ man174

N CVV i. n nàà cowLLLLj. n nɪ̀ɛ̀ sunLLk. n nìè rainy seasonLLCV.CV l. bòrò tomorrowL.Lm. dòrò Doro (village)L.Ln. ʒàŋà hangarL.Lo. ŋàrà GodL.Lp. ʒàɣà bark (n.)L.LN CV.CV q. n ɲànà NianaL.L*CV.CVVCV.NCV r. ɡànʤà fonioL.Ls. ŋàmbà plant (resembles Sorghum)L.Lt. ʋìmmɛ̀ heartL.LCVN.CVV u. ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀ crocodileL.LL*CVV.CVCV.CV.CV v. tàɣàrà window frameL.L.L175

CV.NCV.CV w. nàmbàrà trick (v)L.L.LHCVV a. píí sauceHHCVVⁿ b. tííⁿ tailHHc. sɔ́óⁿ shirtHHd. bóɔ́ⁿ creamHHN CVV e. n tɪ́ɪ́ sibling (older)HHf. kʊ́ rí dustH.HCV.CV g. páré macheteH.Hh. táŋá earH.Hi. pómbɔ́ lineH.HCV.NCV j. báráá BaaraH.HHCV.CVV k. síráá hornH.HHl. dúú ǃ ɡú forestHH.Hm. pʷɔ́ɔ́ ǃ kɛ́ soapHH.H176

*C G VV.CV*CV.CV.CVpómbɔ́róH.H.HlineCV.NCV.CV n. súmbírí noseH.H.HLHL*CVV*LHLCV.CV a. dɛ̌ mɛ̀ milletLH.Lb. tɔ̌ tɔ̀ anvilLH–Lc. dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀ adzeLH.LCVV.CV d. jàámbɛ̀ childLH.LCVV.NCV e. sǐnʤɛ̀ sorghumLH.Lf. ɡɛ̀dɛ́è lizardL.HLCV.CVV g. màráà like/want (v.)L.HLh. ɡǐméɛ̀ watermelonLH.HL*CV.CV.CVi. bɔ̌ wɔ́ɔ̀ Bobo (person)LH.HL*CVN.CV.CV*HLH177

178

8.7.2ObservationsFall is (almost) twice as common as rise. The Most common syllable shape for fall is CVV. The most common syllable shape for riseis CVVⁿ, but there is no rise on CV.CVⁿ. Low is more common than H. Both are common on CV.CVV words (words with heavyultimate syllable). LHL is permitted to the exclusion of HLH. This is represented in the table below.Summary of tones to syllablesCV CGV CGVⁿ CVV CVG C G VV CVGⁿ CVVⁿ NCV.V CGV.V CV.CV CV.NCV CV.CVⁿ CGV.V NCV.CV CV.CVNHL(60) 1 0 1 10 0 2 1 6 1 0 2 1 0 0 1 8LH(36) 0 0 0 3 0 1 0 8 0 0 6 5 1 1 1 3L(23) 0 1 0 3 0 3 0 1 3 0 5 3 0 0 1 0H(16) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 0 3 1 0 0 0 4LHL(9) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 3HLH(0) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0NCV.CVVCVV.NCVCVV.CVCV.CV.CVCV.CV.CVⁿCVN.CVVCVV.NCVCVN.CV.CVCV.CV.CVVCV.CVN.CVⁿHL 1 2 6 7 1 1 0 2 0 0LH 0 1 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1L 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0179

H 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0LHL 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0*HLH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0180

8.7.3Analysis8.8ConclusionAs with vowel height and quality, there appears to be a correlation between tone and syllabletype and number of syllables in a word. It is anticipated that further data collection will help toreveal the tendency of these patterns.181

9. Chapter 9: The Noun Phrase9.1IntroductionNoun roots carry a lexical tone which is not fully determinable in citation form. The tonalpatterns found among nouns are also different than those found among the other lexicalcategories. Therefore, the first half of this chapter focuses solely on the tonal behavior nounswithin the noun phrase. The corpus used for the tonal analysis of nouns in Bangime consists of85 total noun roots, 56 of which nouns were included with completed sets of three clitics, onesuffix, three prefixes, five adjectives (three colors, two quantifiers), three numbers, thedeterminer and deixis markers, and their use in a perfective and imperfective sentence.This chapter is organized as follows: §9.2 provides a description of tone on nouns withclitics, as these noun stems illustrate how tonal melodies are spread across words. Next, §9.3introduces the tone on noun with suffixes, specifically the animate/diminutive suffix and itspatterns. Section 9.5 shows how tone affects morphemes that precede nouns, while §9.6 gives anoverview of the tonal behavior of nouns with adjectives.9.29.2.1Nouns with (post) cliticsOverviewHere it is shown that nouns can be divided into four classes based on proposed underlying tonalmelodies. Interestingly, the effects of the underlying tonal melodies are seen, not amongsuffixed morphemes, but among clitics.9.2.2DataLH Set ASyllableStructure Root Plural Augmentative GlossCV bʷ(ɔ̀)ó bʷò=ndɛ́ bʷò=bɔ̀r̃ó fieldLH L–H L–L.H182

n(ì)íⁿ nì=ndɛ́ nì=bɔ̀r̃ó armLH L–H L–L.Hʒ(ó)ɔ̀ⁿ ʒɔ̀=ndɛ́ ʒòɔ́ⁿ=bɔ́r̃ó rain/sky/L/ H L–H LH–H.HCVV bìíⁿ bìì=ndɛ́ bìì=bɔ̀r̃ó yearLH LL–H LL–L.HCVVⁿ nìíⁿ nìì=ndɛ́ mouseLHLL–HCGV.V tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ tw̃ɛ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ tw̃ɛ̀ɛ̀=bɔ̀r̃ó basketLH LL–H LL–L.H (small)CV.CV mìnná mìnnà–nɛ́ mìnnà=bɔ̀r̃ó doorL.H L.L–H L.L–L.Hdàmá dàmà=ndɛ́ dàmà=bɔ̀r̃ó pick axeL.H L.L–H L.L–L.Hbùwó bùwò=ndɛ́ bùwò=bɔ̀r̃ó horseL.H L.L–H L.L–L.HCVN.CV bòndí bòndì=nɛ́ bòndí=bɔ̀r̃ó BonduL.H L.L–H L.L–L.H personCV.CV.CV kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́/kʊ̀ rìjèɛ́ kʊ̀ rɪ̀–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ kʊ̀ rìjèɛ́=bɔ́r̃ó dogL.L.H/L.L.L.H L.L–L–H L.L.LH–H.H9.2.3DescriptionThis first data set shows examples of the first rising tonal melody. In this set, we see that a nounroot which surfaces with a [LH], rising melody also surfaces with the same rising melody, nomatter how many syllables there are in the ‘stem’, the noun with the clitic. Note that the pluralclitic always adopts a tone opposite to the final mora of the root, while the augmentative cliticamong these examples has its own rising melody, except in two examples where it appears high.183

LH Set BSyllableStructure Root Plural Augmentative GlossCVG pɛ̀ȷń pɛ̀ȷ́=ndɛ̀ pɛ̀ȷ́=bɔ́r̃ò ladderLH LH–L LH–HLCVVⁿ sìíⁿ sìí=ndɛ̀ sìí=bɔ́r̃ò mongoosekɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ kɔ̀ɔ́=ndɛ̀ kɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ=bɔ́r̃ò plankLH LH–L LH–H.Lstick/CV.CV bùr̃á bùr̃á=ndɛ̀ bùr̃á=bɔ́r̃ò medicineL.H L.H–L L.H–H.LCV.CVV kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ kùɥɪ̀ɛ́=ndɛ̀ kùɥɪ̀ɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò calabashL.LH L.LH–L L.LH–H.LN CV.CVm mìró–nɛ̀, mǐró–bɔ́r̃ò,m mìró mìrò–né m mìró=bɔ́r̃òL.H L.H–L, LH.H–H.L,L.L–H L.H–H.Lnìjá=bɔ́r̃òn nìjá nìjá=ndɛ̀ n nìjá=bɔ́r̃òL.H L.H L.H–L.HL.H–H.LbeemotherCVN.CV ɡèŋɡɛ́ ɡèŋɡɛ́=nɛ̀ ɡèŋɡé=bɔ́r̃ò metalL.H L.H–L L.H–H.LNCV.CV.CV n ɲìjɛ́rɛ́ n ɲìjɛ́rɛ́=nɛ̀ ɲìjɛ̀rɛ́–bɔ́r̃ò womanL.H.H L.H.H–L L.H.H–H.LCV.CV.CVkòróɡòL.H.Lkóɡó=ndɛ̀,*kòróɡó=ndɛ̀ kóróɡò–bɔ́r̃ò basketH.H–L,*L.H.H–L H.H.L–H.Lnàmbárá=ndɛ̀,CVN.CV.CV nàmbárá nàmbá=ndɛ̀ nàmbárá–bɔ́r̃ò sheepL.H.H L.H.H–L, L.H.H–H.LL.H–LCV.CV.CVⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́=ndɛ̀ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ–bɔ́r̃ò corn184

L.L.H L.L.H–L L.H.H–H.LThis data set of rising melodies is more complex. Here, we see that in addition to the risingmelody which is present on both root and stems, an additional low tone is added to the end of theword, on the word-final mora. More simply, however, is the emergence of a low tone on eachplural clitic and a falling tone on each augmentative clitic.HL Set ASyllableStructure Root Plural Augmentative GlossCV k(é)ɛ̀ kɛ́=ndɛ̀ kéɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò thingHL H–L HH–H.LCGV kẃɔ̀ⁿ kẃɔ́=ndɛ̀ kẃɔ́ⁿ=bɔ́r̃ò scytheHL HH–L HH–H.LCVV síìⁿ síí=ndɛ̀ sííⁿ=bɔ́r̃ò shadeHL HH–L HH–H.Lbíìⁿ bíí=ndɛ̀ bííⁿ=bɔ́r̃ò goatHL HH–L HH–H.Lkóò=ndɛ̀,kóò kó=ndɛ̀ kóó–bɔ́r̃ò houseHL HL–L HH–H.LCVN.CV kʊ́ ndʊ̀ kʊ́ ndʊ́ –nɛ̀ kʊ́ ndʊ́ =bɔ́r̃ò logH.L H.H–L H.H–H.LCV.CV sɛ́rɛ̀ sɛ́rɛ́=ndɛ̀ sɛ́rɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò harvestH.L H.H–L H.H–H.LCV.CV.CV kóróŋò kóróŋó=ndɛ̀ kóróŋó=bɔ́r̃ò donkeyH.H.L H.H.H–L H.H.H–H.LHere, we see that, as with the first data set, rising melodies, a falling melody on a noun spreadsto all the syllables of both the root and the stem. Also, if we compare this data set, falling withthe second data set of rising melodies, we see that the plural clitic continues to surface with a lowtone and the augmentative with a falling tone.185

HL Set BSyllableStructure Root Plural Augmentative Glosskíì kíì=ndɛ́ canoe,HL HL–H airplaneCVV dɔ́ɔ̀ dɔ́ɔ̀=ndɛ́ dɔ́ɔ̀–bɔ̀r̃ó paperHL HL–H HL–L.HC G VV bʷéɛ̀ bʷéɛ̀=ndɛ́ bʷéɛ́–bɔ̀r̃ó legHL HL–H HH–L.HCVGⁿ pɔ́ẁⁿ pɔ́ẁ=ndɛ́ pɔ́ẁ=bɔ́r̃ó mealHL HL–H HL–HHCV.CVV símèè símèè–nɛ́ símèè–bɔ̀r̃ó rockH.LL H.LL–H H.LL–L.Htómèɛ̀ tɔ́mɛ̀–nɛ́ tómèɛ̀–bɔ̀r̃ó cowry shellH.LL H.L–H H.LL–L.Hbíréɛ̀ bíréɛ́=ndɛ̀ bìrɛ́é–bɔ́r̃ò fireH.HL H.HH–L L.HH–H.Lʒáɡéɛ̀H.HLʒáɣá–mɪ̀=ndɛ́H.H–L–Hʒáɣɛ́ɛ̀–bɔ̀r̃ó,ʒáɣáɛ̀–bɔ̀r̃óH.HL–L.H,H.HL–LHonionAs with the falling melody, which in the second data set, adopts a final opposing tone, the risingmelody also has a class which takes a high tone on the final mora of the stems, but does notappear on the root. Compare this set with the first data set, where the plural clitic takes a hightone and most of the augmentative have rising tones.LSyllableStructure Root Plural Augmentative GlossCV k(ú)ùⁿ kù=ndɛ́ kùⁿ=bɔ̀r̃ó egg186

L (H) L–H L–L.HCVVdʷàà,dʷàɛ̀ dʷàà=ndɛ́ dwàà=bɔ̀r̃ó treeLL LL–H LL–L.Hnàà nàà=ndɛ́ nàà=bɔ̀r̃ó cowLL LL–H LH–H.HCVVⁿ bùùⁿ bùùⁿ–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ BounouLL LL–L–HC G VV bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ bʷɪ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ bʷɪ̀ɛ̀–bɔ́r̃ó mosquitoLL LL–H LL–H.HC G VV ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ ɡɔ̀ẁ–nɛ́ ɡɔ̀w̃ –bɔ́r̃ó manLL LL–H L?–HHN CVV n nìè n nìè=ndɛ́ nìè–bɔ́r̃ó rainyLL LL–H LL–H.H seasonn nɪ̀ɛ̀ n nɪ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ n nɪ̀ɛ̀–bɔ̀r̃ó sunLL LL–H LL–L.HCV.CV bòrò bòrò=ndɛ́ bòrò=bɔ̀r̃ó tomorrowL.L L.L–H L.L–L.HCV.CVV kʷɔ̀kéɛ̀ɛ̀ kʷɔ̀kéɛ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ kùwɔ̀kɛ́–bɔ́r̃ó shoeL.L L.L–H L.L.H–H.Hɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀ ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀=nɛ́ ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀–bɔ́r̃ó crocodileCV.NCVV L.LL L.LL–H L.LL–H.HThe privative tonal melodies, low above and high below, only surface in one manner each. Alow-toned root is given an additional high tone in the stems, and the high-toned roots are givenan additional low tone in the stems. Most of the augmentative clitics are rising among low-tonedroots and falling among high-toned roots.187

HRoot Plural Augmentative GlossCV ɡ(ɪ̀)ɪń ɡí=ndɛ̀ ɡííⁿ=bɔ́r̃ò backH (L) H–L HH–H.LCNV n nìɛ́ n nɪ́ɛ́=ndɛ̀ n nɪ́ɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò milkHH HH–L HH–H.LCNV.V n tɪ́ɪ́ n tɪ́ɪ́=ndɛ̀ n tɪ́ɪ́=bɔ́r̃ò older siblingHH HH–L HH–H.LCV.CV páré páré=ndɛ̀ páré–bɔ́rò macheteH.H H.H–L H.H–H.Lʃúɥí ʃʷí=ndɛ̀ ʃúɥí–bɔ́r̃ò foodH.H H–L H.H–H.LCVV.CV dúú ! ɡú dúúɡú=ndɛ̀ dúúɡú=bɔ́r̃ò forestHH.H HH.H–L HH.H–Lpʷɔ́ɔ́ ǃ kɛ́ pʷɔ́ɔ́kɛ́=ndɛ̀ pʷɔ́ɔ́kɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò soapHH.H HH.H–L HH.H–L9.2.4Observations188

We saw in Chapter 2, §2.5.2, that plural stems always surface with opposing, or polar tones onthe root-final mora and the plural clitic. How these tones surface, however, occur in one of fourways: the root tone remains unchanged from low and the plural clitic surfaces with high, or theroot-final tone does not shift from high while the plural clitic takes a low tone, the root shifts itsfinal tone from low to high, and the plural marker takes a low tone, or the roots shifts its finaltone from high to low, and the plural marker takes a high tone. Here, we see that among the lowand high toned roots, there are no roots which change their root-final mora. LH Set A changesits root-final mora to become the opposite of the plural clitic tone. LH Set B does not change theroot-final mora, the clitic changes.9.2.5Analysis9.3Nouns with suffixesAs outlined above in Chapter 2, §2.5.3, the most productive suffix is the marker for animacy,which is homophonous with the diminutive marker. Although many nouns have a final long,mid, front vowel, resembling the diminutive marker, true animate nouns surface with thediminutive/animate suffix allomorph [–mɪ] in the plural as outlined below (also see Chapter 3,§3.3).9.3.1DataFrozen suffixRoot Animate Diminutive=Plural Glossa. ʒáɡéɛ̀ ʒáɡéɛ̀ ʒáɣá–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ onionH.HL H.HL H.H–L–Hb. bí ~ bíjɛ̀ bíjɛ̀ bíjɛ̀–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ babyH ~ H.L H.L H.L–H–Lc. tɔ́mɛ̀ɛ̀ tɔ́mɛ̀ɛ̀ tɔ́–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ cowry189

H.LL H.LL H–L–Hd. kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́ ~ kʊ̀ rìjèɛ́ kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́ ~ kʊ̀ rìjèɛ́ kʊ̀ rɪ̀–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ dogL.L.H ~ L.L.L.H L.L.H ~ L.L.L.H L.L–L–He. kʷɔ̀kéɛ̀ɛ̀ kùwɔ́kéɛ̀–ɛ̀ kùwɔ́kɛ́–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ shoeL.HLL L.HLL L.H.H–H–Lf. k(é)ɛ̀ kéɛ́–mɛ̀ ~ kírí–jɛ̀ ~ kírɪ́–mɪ́=ndɛ̀? thingHL kírɪ́–mɛ̀ HH–L9.3.2DescriptionThe data shown thus far illustrate nouns with long mid front vowels, or in the case of (143b), aglide followed by a mid, front vowel. These nouns are formed with the suffix [mɪ] in the plural.However, as shown below, we see that certain nouns that also end in a mid, front vowel do nottake the [mɪ] allomorph of the animate suffix, and are therefore not considered animate nouns.Non-animate nounsRoot Animate Diminutive=Plural Glossa. tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ tʷɛ́ɛ́ⁿ tʷɛ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ basketHH HH LL–H (small)b. kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ kúɥɪ̀ɛ́=ndɛ̀ calabashL.LH L.L–H H.LH–Lc. bíréɛ̀ bíréɛ̀ bíréɛ̀=ndɛ́ fireH.HL H.H–L H.H–L–Hd. símèè símèè símèè=ndɛ́ rockH.LL H.L–L H.L–L–HAmong nouns which end in a mid, front vowel, some end in a high tone (144a - b), others with alow tone (144c - d).190

Diminutive Suffix [–ɛ̀]Root Diminutive Glossa. k(ú)ùⁿ kúⁿ–ɛ̀ eggHLH–Lb. pɔ́ẁⁿ pɔ́w–ɛ̀ mealL(H)H–Lc. bùr̃á bùr̃á–ɛ̀ medicineL.HL.H–Ld. n nìjá nìjá–ɛ̀ motherL.HL.H–LAmong nouns that are suffixed with the diminutive, that is, not the frozen suffix, most end in alow tone. There are some exceptions to this generalization, shown among the examples below.Diminutive suffix –mɛ̀Root Diminutive Glossa. mìnná mìnná–mɛ̀ doorL.HL.H–Lb. kóò kóò–mɛ̀ houseHLHL–Lc. ɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ ɡʷóɔ́ⁿ–mɛ̀ manLLHH–Ld. bùùⁿ bùùⁿ–mì BounouLLLL–Le. dʷàà, dʷàɛ̀ dʷáá–ɛ̀, dʷàà–mɛ̀ treeLL, LLHH–L, LL–Lf. kʊ́ ndʊ̀ kʊ́ ndʊ̀ –mɪ̀ logH.LH.L–L191

As illustrated above in Chapter 2, §2.5.3, the animate/diminutive suffix displays the allomorphs[ɛ ~ mɛ ~ mɪ ~ jɛ], some of which can occur with the same word (146e). The nasal-vowelallomorph carries with it a low tone, and does not affect the noun root except in the case of(146e) where the root becomes high before the [ɛ] allomorph yet remains low before the [mɛ]variant. Whether there is a semantic difference between the root [dʷàɛ̀] and the suffixed variant[dʷáá–ɛ̀] is to be determined.Diminutive suffix –jɛ́Root Diminutive Glossa. bòndí bòndì–jɛ́ Bondu personL.HL.L–Hb. kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́ kʊ̀ rì–jèɛ́ dogL.L.HL.L.L.Hc. dúúɡū dùùɡù–jɛ́ forestHH.HLL.L–HNouns which are suffixed with the [jɛ] variant of the diminutive suffix carry a final high tone.The example in (147b) illustrates again that a single word may adopt two variants of the suffix.The final example (147c) shows that the tones of a noun root may be affected by the glide-vowelallomorph of the diminutive suffix; a word with initial high tones and a final mid tone surfaces aslow in the diminutive.Diminutive Suffix [–ɛ̀] and Plural clitica. bʷ(ɔ̀)ó bʷǒ–ɛ̀ bʷǒ–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ fieldLH LH–L LH–H–Lb. bùwó bʷǒ–ɛ̀ bʷǒ–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ horse192

L.H LH–L LH–H–Lc. n(ì)íⁿ nìíⁿ–ɛ̀ nìí–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ mouseLH LH–L LH–H–Ld. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ bʷɪ̀–ɛ̀ bʷɛ̀–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ mosquitoLL L–L L–H–Le. kòróɡò kóróɡò–ɛ̀ kóróɡò–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ basketL.H.L H.H.L–L H.H.L–H–Lf. kíì kíì–ɛ́ kíì–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ canoe,HL HL–H HL–H–L airplaneg. nàà nàà–ɛ́ nàà–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ cowLL LL–H LL–H–Lh. bʷéɛ̀ bʷé–ɛ̀ bʷɛ̀é–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ legHL H–L L–H–Hi. kóróŋò kóróŋò–ɛ̀ kóróŋò–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ donkeyH.H.L H.H.L–L H.H.L–L–Hj. bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ–ɛ̀ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ cornL.L.H L.L.H–L L.L.H–L–HAmong diminutive=plural stems, we see that tones are altered from root and root–diminutiveforms. The noun roots and root–diminutive stems in (148a - e) all end in a low tone whichbecomes high in the diminutive=plural stems. Examples (148f - g) have high tones whichremain high in the plural, while words (148h - j) end in a low tone and remain low in thediminutive=plural stem.Truncated forma. nàmbárá nàmbàrá–ɛ́ nàmbá–ɛ́ sheepL.H.H L.L.H–H L.H–H193

. k(é)ɛ̀ kéɛ́–mɛ̀ kírí–jɛ̀, kírɪ́–mɛ̀ thingHL kírɪ́–mɪ́=ndɛ̀? HH–LNasalizedbíìⁿ bíì–ɛ̀ bíìⁿ–ɛ̀ goatHL HL–L bíìⁿ–ɛ́=ndɛ̀Truncated forms (Vr-deletion, see Chapter 7 §7.4) and nasalized nouns (shown in Chapter 8 tohave particular tonal patterns) appear to show tonal alternations with the diminutive suffixalthough further evidence is needed.9.3.3ObservationsThe diminutive suffix carries, with few exceptions, a low tone. When suffixed to a root, it doesnot cause the root tone to change. However, in the plural, not only does the suffix changesegmentally, it also changes tonally. As has been shown, the plural suffix has a polar tone, atone which is opposite to the stem to which it is cliticized. If we compare noun=plural stemswith noun–diminutive=plural stems, we see that, although the paradigm is incomplete, it appearsthat the plural clitic takes a tone which is opposite to the underlying melody of the root.Alternatively, it could be stated that the noun root’s melody is spread onto the diminutive, andthat the plural clitic adopts a tone which is opposite to the stem’s final tone.9.3.4AnalysisIt is proposed that the reason the tonal melody of a noun root may spread to a clitic but not asuffix is that the suffix is already specified with a tone that may not be delinked. However, thereason for which the tone of the suffix does not affect a root in the manner that the clitic does isunknown at this time.9.4Combinations of Clitics and Suffixes194

9.4.1OverviewAs shown above, the plural and augmentative clitics surface in one of four ways, depending onthe underlying tonal melody of the root. A noun root has an underlying rising melody butsurfaces with only the initial, low tone of the melody. The full underlying rising melody spreadsfrom the root to clitics. The diminutive is low and does not affect root in the singular, yetbecomes high in the plural and the plural appears with a low tone.9.4.2DataDiminutive=plurala. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ bʷɪ̀ɛ̀=ndɛ́ bʷɪ̀–ɛ̀ bʷɛ̀–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ mosquito/L H/ LL–H L–L L–H–Lb. nàà nàà=ndɛ́ nàà–ɛ̀ nàà–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ cow/L H/ LL–H LL–H LL–H–L9.4.3DescriptionAn underlying low plus high melody spreads from the root to clitics. The diminutive is high anddoes not affect root in the singular, yet becomes high in the plural and the plural appears with alow tone.c. kóróɡò kóɡó=ndɛ̀ kóróɡò–ɛ̀ kóróɡò–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ basket/HL/ H.H–L H.H.L–L H.H.L–H–Ld. kíì kɛ́=ndɛ̀ kíì–ɛ̀ kíì–mɪ́=ndɛ̀ canoe,/HL/ H–L HL–L HL–H–L airplaneAn underlying falling melody spreads from the root to clitics. The diminutive is low and doesnot affect root in the singular, yet becomes high in the plural and the plural appears with a lowtone.195

e. bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́=ndɛ̀ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ–ɛ̀ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ corn/LH L/ L.L.H–L L.L.H–L L.L.H–L–HA noun root has an underlying rising-fall melody but surfaces with only the initial, rising tone ofthe melody. The full underlying rising-fall melody spreads from the root to clitics. Thediminutive is low and does not affect root in the singular, and remains low in the plural, yet theplural appears with a high tone.f. bʷéɛ̀ bʷéɛ̀=ndɛ́ bʷé–ɛ̀ bʷéɛ̀–mɪ̀=ndɛ́ leg/HL H/ HL–H H–L HL–L–HA noun root has an underlying falling-rise melody but surfaces with only the initial, falling toneof the melody. The full underlying rising-fall melody spreads from the root to clitics. Thediminutive is low and does not affect the root in the singular, and remains low in the plural, yetthe plural appears with a high tone.Note that among the diminutive=plural data above, the diminutive marker has a differentsurface form from its singular counterpart; the augmentative, shown in (152), also surfaces witha marker that differs from the singular marker.Augmentative and plural cliticsRoot Plural Augmentative Plural=Augmentative Glossɡʷòɔ̀ⁿ ɡɔ̀ẁ–nɛ́ ɡɔ̀ẁⁿ–bɔ́r̃ó ɡɔ̀ẁⁿ=bòɡó=nɛ̀ mana. /L H/ LL–H LL–H.H L–L.H–Lb. dʷàà dʷàà=ndɛ́ dwàà=bɔ̀r̃ó dʷàà=bòɡó–nɛ̀ tree/L H/ LL–H LL–L.H LL–L.H–Lc. kùɥɪ̀ɛ́ kùɥɪ̀ɛ́=ndɛ̀ kùɥɪ̀ɛ́=bɔ́r̃ò kùɥɪ̀ɛ́=bóɡó–nɛ̀ calabash/LH L/ L.LH–L L.LH–H.L L.LH H.H–L196

d. ʃúɥí ʃʷí=ndɛ̀ ʃúɥí–bɔ́r̃ò ʃúɥí=bóɡó–nɛ̀ food/H L/ H–L H.H–H.L H.H H.H–Le. kóò kóò=ndɛ̀ kóó–bɔ́r̃ò kó=m=bóɡó–nɛ̀ house/H L/ HL–L HH–H.L H H.H–Lf. pɔ́ẁⁿ pɔ́ẁ=ndɛ́ pɔ́ẁ=bɔ́r̃ó pɔ̀ⁿ=m=bóɡó–nɛ̀ meal/HL H/ HL–H HL–HH L HH–L9.5Tone melodies on nouns with (prefixes ?)We saw above that nouns have an underlying tonal melody which is spread to clitics, but not tosuffixes. Suffixes carry tones, independent of the noun root. In this subsection we examinecases of noun roots with constituents which precede the noun, possessors and the determiner.The data below provide examples of the noun roots presented above with the 1 st , segmentally[maa], 2 nd [a], and 3 rd person [maa] possessive markers as it is with these markers that tonalchanges are witnessed. The data are organized according to the patterns witnessed.9.5.1Data: PossessorsPossessives are formed in two ways, by a proclitic or prefix which precedes the possessed noun,or one which follows the noun. First, we explore those which preced the noun. Examples of thepossessive pronouns in isolation are shown in (61), however as is shown below, the tone on thepossessive marker changes depending on the tone of the noun.1 st SG POSS màá 1 st PL POSS ndɛ̀ màá2 nd SG POSS à 2 nd PL POSS àà màá3 rd SG POSS màà 3 rd PL POSS nìì mààThese possessive pronouns precede the noun they modify as shown in (62).197

POSS NOUN Gloss POSS NOUN Glossmǎ: nǹì my name ndɛ̀ mǎ: nǹì our namesǎ: nǹì your (SG) name à: mǎ: nǹì your (PL) namesmà: nǹì his/her name nì mǎ: nǹì their namesIn the following tables, nouns are separated by their underlying tones, which were determined bytheir tonal behavior with the above mentioned clitics, and the tonal variation of the 1 st , 2 nd , and3 rd person possessors./L H/ roots with high possessorsRoot 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS Glossa. bʷɪ̀ɛ̀ bʷɪ́ɛ́ bʷɪ́ɛ́ bʷɪ́ɛ́ mosquitoL H H Hb. dʷàà, dʷàɛ̀ dʷáá dʷáá dʷáá treeL H H Hc. nàà náá náá náá cowL H H Hd. n nɪ̀ɛ̀ n nɪ́ɛ̀ sunLHLe. kʷɔ̀kéɛ̀ɛ̀ kʷɔ́kɛ́ɛ́ shoeLHf. ɡèŋɡɪ̀ɛ̀ ɡéŋɡɪ́! ɛ́ crocodileLH ǃ H9.5.2DescriptionThese data represent nouns which have been determined to have an underlying /L H/ tonalmelody. The tone of the possessor is listed below each noun. Most nouns with an underlying /LH/ melody, take198

Rise possessors with high rootsRoot 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS Glossɡ(ɪ̀)ɪń ɡɪ̀ɪń ɡɪ̀ɪń backH (L) LH LHmàáàáLHLHn nìɛ́ n nɪ̀ɛ́ n nɪ̀ɛ́ milkLH LH LHmàáàáLHLHdúú ! ɡú dùùɡú dùùɡú dùùɡú forestH LH LH LHmǎà àá màáLHL LH LHpʷɔ́ɔ́ ǃ kɛ́ pʷɔ̀ɔ̀kɛ́ pʷɔ̀ɔ̀kɛ́ pʷɔ̀ɔ̀kɛ́ soapHH.H LH LH LHmǎà àá màáLHL LH LHHere, we see that if the possessor has a rising tone, the root also takes a rising tone, (with two,bisyllabic exceptions).Rise roots with all possessorsRoot 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS Glossʒ(ó)ɔ̀ⁿ màà àà màá rain/sky/L/ H L L LHn(ì)íⁿ máá àà màà armL /H/ H L Lbʷ(ɔ̀)ó mǎà àà màà fieldL /H/ LHL L Lnìíⁿ máá àà màà mouseLH H L L199

tw̃ɛ̀ɛ́ mǎà àá màá basketLH LHL LH LH (small)bùwó màá àà màà horseLH LH L LRoots with an underlying rising melody do not change their tone after any possessor; thepossessors undergo tonal changes (with bisyllabic exceptions).Rise fall roots with all possessorsSyllableStructure Root 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS GlossCVVⁿ sìíⁿ sííⁿ sííⁿ sííⁿ mongooseLH H H Hmáá àà màáH L LHkɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ kɔ́ɔ̀ⁿ kɔ́ɔ̀ⁿ kɔ́ɔ̀ⁿ plankLH HL HL HLmáá àà mààH L LCVN.CV.CV nàmbárá námbárà námbárà námbárà sheepLH HL HL HLmàá àá mààLH LH LCV.CV.CVⁿ bìrɔ̀ndɔ́ⁿ bírɔ́ndɔ̀ⁿ bírɔ́ndɔ̀ⁿ bírɔ́ndɔ̀ⁿ cornLH HL HL HLmàá àà máàLH L HLRise-fall roots tend to become fall after these possessors, (with some bisyllabic exceptions).Fall roots with all possessorsRoot 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS Glossk(é)ɛ̀ kèɛ́ kèɛ́ kèɛ́ thingHL LH LH LHmàá àá màáLH LH LH200

kẃɔ̀ⁿ kẁɔ́ⁿ kẁɔ́ⁿ kẁɔ́ⁿ scytheHL LH LH LHmàá àà mààLH L Lsíìⁿ sííⁿ sííⁿ sííⁿ shadeHL H H Hmǎá àá màáLH LH LHbíìⁿ bííⁿ bííⁿ bííⁿ goatHL H H Hmáà àá màáHL LH LHkʊ́ ndʊ̀ kʊ̀ ndʊ́ kʊ̀ ndʊ́ kʊ̀ ndʊ́ logHL LH LH LHmǎà àà mààLHL L Lsɛ́rɛ̀ sɛ́rɛ́ sɛ́rɛ́ sɛ́rɛ́ harvestHL H H Hmǎà àá mààLHL LH Lkóróŋò kòròŋó kòròŋó kòròŋó donkeyHL LH LH LHmǎà àá mààLHL LH LRoots with falling melodies tend to become rise after all possessors, (with some monosyllabicexceptions).Fall-rise roots with all possessorsRoot 1 st SG POSS 2 nd SG POSS 3 rd SG POSS Glossbʷéɛ̀ mǎà àà màà legHL LHL L Lsímèè màá àá màà rock201

HL LH LH Ltómèɛ̀ mǎà àá màá cowry shellHL LHL LH LHʒáɡéɛ̀ mǎà àá màá onionHL LHL LH LHFall rise roots tend not to change (with some monosyllabic exceptions).9.5.3ObservationsIn general, for the possessors show, the singular persons, possessive morphemes with low tonestend to add a high tone after a low tone to roots. The 3 rd SG possessive marker, as is shown in thenext chapter for the person subject marker, tends to carry a low tone.9.5.4Analysis9.6Nouns with possessorsIf a noun is the possessor, rather than the object being possessed, it continues to be affected bythe possessor tonal morpheme. In the phrases (1.1 - 1.4), the subject noun is preceded by thedeterminer and carries a rising tone. (what is the tone of this word?) The phrases in (1.4 - 1.5)show that the contour of the subject noun changes to a falling melody.(text - ŋ kii pan ŋaraa waari)1.1 áɡàʤɛ́ⁿnnú mì n náẁ.DETERMINERworldTRANSITIVEhow is it?Detnqwhat was the world like?1.2 áDETERMINERɡàʤɛ́ⁿworldŋCONNECTIVEkíìthingpááⁿAdjáDETERMINERɡúɥɪ̀ɛ̀earthhúⁿontɛ́rèsit.DetnConnnDetnAdpthe whole world sat upon the earth202

1.3 áDETERMINERɡàʤɛ́ⁿworldŋCONNECTIVEkíìthingpááⁿAdjbòmbòrɔ̀hattórèone.DetnConnnnnthe world has one hat (the sky)1.4 áɡàʤɛ́ⁿŋkíìpááⁿáwòréhánúúDETERMINERworldCONNECTIVEthingAdjtogoinfinitive markercomeDetnConnnptcpGerAdpvɲíjérɛ́womannàandɡwɔ̀ⁿman.nConnnthe whole world came from a man and a woman1.5 à ɡáʤɛ̀ⁿ máà nó mùndà mìndà àà síbɛ̀èthe world limit, border 2nd PL eyeDet n nPers nmìnnà máà nɔ̀ò mùndà mìnnà á bíɛ̀place, location limit, border you NEGnnpro Preverbyour eyes cannot see the end of the world1.6 à ɡádʒɛ̀ⁿ máà nɔ́ó mùnda mìnnà .the worldDet nhisprolimit, bordernthe world his limit, border.ŋdáà bárààCONNECTIVE am remainsConn TAM vnʒíjɛ̀ .TRANSITIVE becomevmɛ́whichA set of genitive pronouns can be formed by a combination of the nominal pronoun and thegenitive marker mɛ, examples are shown in (63).nù á ɲáw múwɛ̀ ŋ kɛ̀. – he came and took his.nú ɲáw múwɛ́ ŋ kɛ̀. – I came to take mine.nù ɲàẃ à mámɛ̀ ~ máwɛ̀ – come and get yours (IMPER).à ɲàw à múwɛ́ à kɛ́ – you got yours.203

n dɛ̀ ɲáw n dɛ́ múwⁿɛ́ ŋ kɛ – we got ours.áá ɲàw áá mámɛ́ á kɛ̀ – you (pl) got yours.níí ɲà níí mámɛ́ ŋ kɛ̀ – they got theirs.níí nù ɲáẁ múwⁿɛ̀ ŋ kɛ̀ – they got mine.̂̂̂a) á bı̃ : mɛ̌ à bı̃ ́: ndɛ̀ mɛ̌DET goat 1 st SING POSS DET goat 1 st PL POSSb)‘The goat of mine.’‘The goat of ours.’á bı̃ : à mɛ̌ à bı̃ ́: à: mɛ̀DET goat 2 nd SING POSS DET goat 2 nd PL POSSc)‘The goat of yours (SG).’‘The goat of yours (PL).’á bı̃ : mɛ̀ à bı̃ ́: nì mɛ̌DET goat 2 nd SING POSS DET goat 3 rd PL POSS‘The goat of his/hers.’‘The goat of theirs.’9.7Negation on nouns/LH L/tòpáábɪ́è tópàà/LH/ɡʷɔ̀óⁿbɪ́è ɡʷɔ́òⁿ/LHL/ɲìjɛ́rɛ̀bɪ́è ɲìjɛ̀rɛ̀204

L H/jǎmbɛ̀ɛ̀bɪ́è jǎmbɛ̀ɛ̀/H L/kááw̃ábɪ́è kááw̃àno change on compoundsjàá pùwɛ̀bɪ́è jàá pùwɛ̀ɲìjé bóɡó wɛ̀bɪ́è ɲìjé bóɡó wɛ̀jáá bórómbɛ̀bɪ́è jáá bórómbɛ̀205

9.89.8.1DeterminerOverviewA noun may be marked as being definite with the morpheme [a]. In these examples, thedeterminer is marked with a high tone.9.8.2Dataa) jɛ̌ mbɛ́ à jɛ̀mbɛ̀ b) ŋwɔ̌ :mbɛ̀ à ŋwɔ̀:mbɛ̀road DET NOUNriver DET NOUN9.8.3DescriptionThe definite marker à lowers the tone of a determiner phrase as shown in examples in (28).à bʷɛ̌ káẁa) DET leg DEMlit. ‘the leg here’, ‘this leg’b) à kóré káẁDET stomach DEMlit. ‘the stomach there’ ‘this stomach’c) à déɡè káẁDET stomach DEMlit. ‘the head there’ ‘this head’However, if a noun phrase contains a noun is preceded by the definite marker and is followed bythe demonstrative káẁ, the tone(s) of the noun do not lower; it remains in its surface form asshown in the examples in (29).206

Determiner and plurala person ʒìbɛ̀ a donkey kóróɡò mother níjàL.L H.H.L H.Lpeople ʒìbɛ̀n(d)ɛ́ donkeys kóróɡóndɛ̀ mothers níjándɛ̀L.L=H H.H.H=L H.H=Lthe person á ʒìbɛ̀ the donkey á kóróɡò the mother á nìjáH L.L H H.H.L H L.Hthe people á ʒìbɛ̀ndɛ́ the donkeys á kóróɡònɛ́ the mothers á nìjàndɛ́H L.L=H H H.H.L=H H L.L=HAmong all the examples except the first word, the presence of the determiner reverses thecombination of tones on the plural stem.9.99.9.1Nouns and adjectivesOverviewAmong constituents which follow the noun that do not cause a change to the noun root, nor dothey undergo a change, the complementizer (mɛ), number, deixis (kaw), and adjectives areincluded. Examples of noun adjectives are shown below.9.9.2DataNoun + adjectivenoun white black red a lot heavya. ʒǐbéɛ́ símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀b. ɡúmbárà símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀c. kóróŋò símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀d. ŋàmb(ár)à símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀e. n nìjá símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀f. m mìró símà póɔ́rè bʊ́ ɥɪ̀ɛ̀ péɛ́r ! ɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ̀Organization of NP constituents207

̀́́́The examples provided in (64) indicate the grammatical and ungrammatical organization ofconstituents in the noun phrase (are tones on adj’s affected by possessor?).a) mǎ: kʊ́ ɥɛ́ ɥɛ́ɥí jìndó mɛ̀nɛ́1 st SG POSS calabash red two heavy‘my red two heavy calabashes’b) mǎ: kʊ́ ɥɛ́ jìndó ɥɛ́ɥí mɛ̀nɛ́1 st SG POSS calabash two red heavy‘my two red heavy calabashes’c) *mǎ: kʊ́ ɥɛ́ jìndó mɛ̀nɛ́ ɥɛ́ɥí1 st SG POSS calabash two heavy red‘My two heavy red calabashes’d) *mǎ: kʊ́ ɥɛ́ ɥɛ́ɥí mɛ̀nɛ́ jìndó1 st SG POSS calabash red heavy two‘My red heavy two calabashes’e) *mǎ: kʊ́ ɥɛ́ mɛ̀nɛ́ jìndó ɥɛ́ɥí1 st SG POSS calabash heavy two red‘My heavy two red calabashes’Examples of quantifiers are shown in (53). Note that examples with the asterisk indicateungrammatical phrases in the language.QuantifiersQuantifier Gloss Example Gloss Example Glossa) pɛ́:ɾɛ̂ many kí pɛ́:ɾɛ̂ many things nɔ̀ɾɛ̀ pɛ́:ɾɛ́ many bonesb pɛ̃ ́ a lot *kí pɛ̃ ́ *a lot of things nɔ̀ɾɛ̀ pɛ̃ a lot of bonesc) pɛ̃ a whole lotd dàɣá–mɛ́ little, few nɔ́ dáɣà–mɛ̀ little mouthvery small,e) kìɾá–mɛ́ few dɔ̂ kìɾá–mɛ́ few (pieces of) paperf) tá: half mǎ: táː my halfg pã ́ all kì pã ́ thing which is full ndɛ̀: pã everyoneh dẽ ́ full tòpàà dẽ full goat sacki) bì: full m bì: I am fullNumbers208

Numbers also follow the noun they modify. Ordinal numbers one through ten are listed in (54)and twenty through one thousand are listed in (55). Numbers above ten are formed with acombination of numbers one through ten plus [kɔ̀ndɔ̀ɡɔ́], for example, [kɔ̀ndɔ̀ɡɔ́ tòɾé] for‘eleven’.pà ná pà – firstjííndòndɛ́ – secondtààrùndɛ́ – thirdnìjɛ̀ndɛ́ – fourthnúndíndɛ̀ – fifthkèjɛ́ndɛ̀ – sixthkíjɛ́ndɛ̀ – seventhn sááɡìndɛ́ – eighthn téɡòndɛ́ – ninthn kùrɛ̀ndɛ́ – tenth1. tòré (in counting ) / tíǰɛ́ɛ̀ 21. tààw̃á ná tómèɛ̀ tórè2. jíndò 22. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ jíndò3. táárù 23. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ táárù4. nɛ́ɛ̀ 24. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ nɛ́ɛ̀5. núndí 25. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ núndí6. kéérè 26. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ kéérè7. kííjè 27. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ kííjè8. sááɡí 28. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ sááɡí9. tɛ̀éɡò 29. tááw̃à ná tómèɛ̀ tɛ̀éɡò10. kúrɛ́ 30. tááw̃à nà bíjìɛ̀ kúrɛ́ ( 20 + 10 )11. kɔ̀nórɔ́ tórè 40. tááw̃á tááw̃á / tááw̃à jíndò12. kɔ̀nórɔ́ jíndò 50. tááw̃à jíndò nà bíjìɛ̀ kúrɛ́ ( 40 + 10 )13. kɔ̀nórɔ́ táárù 60. táámà síɡò14. kɔ̀nórɔ́ nɛ́ɛ̀ 70. táámà síɡò nà bíjìɛ̀ kúrɛ́ ( 60 + 10 )15. kɔ̀nórɔ́ núndí 80. jòórò209

́16. kɔ̀nórɔ́ kéérè 90. jòórò nà bíjìɛ̀ kùrɛ́ ( 80 + 10 )17. kɔ̀nórɔ́ kííjè 100. tááw̃à núndí ( 20 x 5 )18. kɔ̀nórɔ́ sááɡí 200. tááw̃à tááw̃à há déɛ̀ⁿ kíì kúrɛ́19. kɔ̀nórɔ́ tɛ̀éɡò 1000. ɡʷóɔ̀ⁿ tórè (litː ''one man'')20. tááw̃à 2000. ɡʷóɔ̀ⁿ jíndò (litː ''two men'')1.1.1.1 CurrencyNumerals for currency are formed with the Fulfulde borrowing, [mbù:dú], meaning ‘coin’ or‘money’, and the numeral following it. When currency is discussed in languages other thanFrench, such as Bangime, the numeral must be multiplied by five to derive the correspondingCFA amount. Examples are shown in (56).̌Currency Gloss Translationmbù:dú one franc CFA five francs CFAmbù:dú jǐndó two francs CFA ten francs CFAmbù:dú nǔndì five francs CFA twenty-five francs CFAmbù:dú kʊ̀ ɾɛ́ ten francs CFA fifty francs CFAmbù:dú ǹ tã :wá twenty francs CFA one hundred francs CFAmbù:dú tɛ̀:mɛ̀dɛ́ɾɛ́ jǐndó two hundred francs CFA one thousand francs CFA1.1.1.2 ‘First’ and ‘last’The table in (57) shows examples of ‘first’ and ‘last’.Number Gloss Example Translationpã̀ pã́ tìjɛ̃ ́ first bì nɔ́ pã̀ pã́ tìjɛ̃ ‘first child’ɡí m pé n dáẁ last bì nɔ́ ɡí m pé n dáẁ ‘last child’A careful study of Bangime adpositions shows that though some adpositions can be translatedinto simple meanings that seem to match senses found in Indo-European languages such as210

English, when these same adpositions are actually used in every-day constructions, the situationis much more complex. Therefore, the following examples show common usages and §5 onsemantics explores the lexicalization patterns and figure and ground relations in Bangimeadpositional phrases in an effort to clarify what meanings are actually encoded in the language.The following locatives are found in Bangime, shown in (67).LocativesAdverb Gloss Examplea) ŋ́ wǐ: there nà dá ŋ́ wǐ:wilderness IMPERF there‘wilderness is there/exists.’b) kéʋé there (far)c) ìmá here1.1.2 Locative, allative, and ablative functionsIn the various locational postpositions described below, there is no distinction between staticlocative (‘in’, ‘at’, etc.), allative (‘to’), and ablative (‘from’). Directionality is indicated by verbslike ‘go in’ and ‘go out’, which are commonly chained with other verbs. The postpositionsmeaning ‘in’ and ‘on’ are shown in examples in (68) as both being translated as ‘to’, while in(69) these same postpositions are translated as ‘on’.a) nɛ̀ kó ŋ wórè à ɡàrà hṹ1 st PL CONJ ? go DET station on‘We went to the gare.’b) nɛ̀ kó wórè à kóǃ ŋkó1 st PL CONJ go DET house in‘We went to the house.’211

̀̀̀̀Figure and ground and surface and container relationships in Bangime are expressed differentlythan they are in English. Examples of the uses of ‘in’ and ‘on’ are shown in (69).a) ǹ dá wʊ̀ rɛ́ ŋ ɥɛ̌ ŋ ɡìjá mǎ: mɔ̌ :1 st SG3 rd SGhũNOM COP karite ? anoint ? clean POSS wound on‘I anoint the karite butter on his wound.’wǒɾé ǃ –b) tǔmbé à ɥɛ̀ ŋkɛ́ à ɡʊ̀ ɥɛ́ ŋkóspill DET water go–PERF DET ground inside‘He spilled the water on the ground.’c) ǹ à rádàʒò táŋà ɲ ʃí hũ1 st SG DET radio listen on‘I am listening to the radio.’d) mǎ: bʊ̀ jɛ́ m pǔɾú à sìmé hũ1 st SG POSS foot ? stub DET rock on‘I stubbed my foot on the rock.’e) kó ɥɛ̌ à dʷá hũhouse ascend DET tree on‘I am climbing the tree.’1.1.3 Locative with place namesA locative postposition is not used with place names as shown in the examples in (70).a) n t w à Sámbɛ́ɾɛ̀ ŋkɛ́1 st SING arrive Sambere PERF‘I arrived at Sambere.’b) n t w à kṹ ŋkò ŋkɛ́1 st SING arrive market inside PERF‘I arrived at (the) market.’212

1.1.4 SpatialOther examples of positional indicators among postpositions are shown in (71).POSTPOSITION Gloss Examplea) kɛ́ɾɛ̀ next to mǎ: kɛ́ɾɛ̀1 st SING POSS next to‘next to me’b) míná near/side há ʃúɥɛ́ à pàŋɡùndà má: mínáINF descend DET Neem 3 rd SING POSS near‘Descend near the Neem tree.’c) má by sà: dô má káɾɛ́fʊ̀ r kí: pã ̀d) tɛ́ɡʊ̀ m pɛ̌ in fronte) ɡǐ m pɛ̌ back/behindf) dɛ́ɡɛ̂ on top/overg) ɡùɾú down/underf) tùmbárí betweenif pass by junction thing all‘When you pass by the junction…’213

1.1.5 TemporalThe examples in (72) illustrates temporal references such as until, (72a), while, (72b), and during(72c). Though there is a separate word for ‘until’, ‘while’ and ‘during’ are both marked with aspecific verb 38 which encodes motion as well as temporal reference.a)nɛ̀ kó tú:rú hà ɥɛ̀ bìyɛ́ hũ ̀1 st PL PST lie until descend morning on‘We lay down until late morning.’b)n dá à mòbílí n dɛ́ŋɡɔ̀ màá pã́ kóndò1 st SG IMPERF DET car ? wait 1 st SG POSS friend come–while‘While waiting for the bus, my friend came.’c)n dá pɔ̃ ̀ dìjá bɔ̀ kóndò1 st SG IMPERF meal eat father come–during‘Father visited me during the meal.’1.1.6 DativeAs mentioned in section 4.3.1, the dative construction may be formed as a combination of a nounphrase and the postposition wɛ, meaning ‘for/to’. Further examples are shown in (73).a) n dá kɛ́ nã ́w à wɛ̀1 st SG NOM PERF COP thing give–PERF 2 nd SG for‘I give you something to you.’38Many verbs appear with the ending ndo, therefore an alternative explanation is provided in the section on verbs.214

) à tɛ̀r–ʊ̀ kɛ̌ ŋ wájɛ̀2 nd SING show–PERF thing ?1 st SG for‘You something showed to me.’1.1.7 InstrumentalThe following examples in (74) illustrate that the applicative instrumental postposition, ŋko canbe translated as either ‘inside’ or ‘with’, while a separate post-position, wɛ, also specificallyindicates an comitative meaning.a) n dá ɲòɡúndó bìkí ŋkò1 st SG NOM COP write pen inside/with‘I am writing with a pen.’b) n dá wòré Kárúɡè móbìlì ŋkò1 st SG NOM COP write Kargue car inside‘I am going to Kargué inside a car.’c) n dá dɛ́ndɛ̀ à pé1 st SG NOM COP cultivate 2 nd SG with‘I am cultivating with you’d) n dá dɛ́ndɛ̀ dàmá ŋkò1 st SG NOM COP cultivate hoe inside/with‘I cultivating with a hoe.’9.10Conclusion215

Although a full analysis of these phrases is pending, a hypothesis arises to suggest the possibilitythat all words had either a one or two tone melody, corresponding to the hypothesis that words inBangime were all originally monosyllabic. In other words, /HL/ would arise as [HL H] amonglonger words.216

10. Chapter 10: Verb Phrase10.1 IntroductionAs with the noun phrase, the tone on verbs is altered in specific contexts, namely, by the subjectperson marker. Therefore, the verb phrase is first examined for its tonal aspects, and then by itsother grammatical features.10.2 Underlying tone of verbs10.2.1 OverviewWith an understanding of the tone of nouns and the noun phrase, it is now possible to beginexamining the tonal patterns found on verbs and the verb phrase. Nouns as objects and subjectsare shown below with their proposed underlying tonal melodies. As noted in Chapter 2, §2.5.5,and is examined in detail in Chapter 11, the word order of the verb phrase fluctates. Theperfective aspect tends to surface with SVO word order. The underlying form of verbs can beviewed in the 3 rd person singular completive aspect, with a pronominal subject marker, as theverb appears phrase-initially. Certain verbs shift the final vowel from /a/ to [i] in the completiveaspect. If the verb root is monosyllabic, a glide is inserted to resolve the haitus. The tones onthe verb do not change from their underlying forms. The subject nasal appears in the first, butnot the third person, and both phrases tend to have a nasal before the aspectual marker.10.2.2 DataCompletive 1 st and 3 rd singular personsa. /ɡúɥù/ /HL/ throwSBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. ŋ ɡùɥú ŋ kéɛ̀ I threwL.H217

ii. ŋ ɡúɥù ŋ kéɛ̀ he threwH.L/dàmbá/ /LH/ pick axeiii. ŋ ɡùɥú dàmbà kéɛ̀ I threw a pick axeL.H L.Liv. ŋ ɡúɥù dàmbà kéɛ̀ he threw a pick axeH.L L.L/tómèɛ̀/ /HL H/ cowryv. ŋ ɡúɥù tómèè ŋ kéɛ̀ I threw cowry shellsH.L H.LLvi. ɡúɥù tómɛ́é ŋ kéɛ̀ he threw cowry shellsH.L H.HH10.2.3 DescriptionThe initial verb (160a), is shown without (160a.i - ii) and with (160a.iii - vi) an object. Withoutan object, the sole difference between the first and third person markers is the tone on the verb, arising melody in the first person and a falling melody for the third person. Both persons aremarked with an initial nasal and a nasal preceding the aspect marker.The tone on the verbs in the phrases in (160a.iii - iv) are the same as the tones found onthe corresponding verbs without an object. These phrases illustrate that an object noun with aword-internal nasal-consonant cluster is not followed by the nasal which precedes the aspectualmarker, although both phrases continue to display the nasal markers for both persons as subjects.The tones on the object in both phrases shift to low from an underlying rising melody.The verb phrases in (160a.v - vi) show that the initial nasal, the subject marker, onlyappears in the first person with this verb-object combination. The verbs both retain their218

underlying falling tonal melody but the object noun shifts from an underlying falling melody tohigh in the third person phrase. The nasal before the aspect marker appears in both phrases.b. /ɥáràà/ /HL/ [ɥàà] [L] buySBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. n ɥáá ŋ kéɛ̀ I boughtHHii. ɥàà ŋ kéɛ̀ he boughtLL/párí/ /H L/ macheteiii. n ɥáá párì ŋ kéɛ̀ I bought a macheteHH H.Liv. ɥàà pàrí ŋ kéɛ̀ he bought a macheteLL L.H/nàmbárá/ /LH L/ sheepv. n ɥáà ŋámbárà kéɛ̀ I bought a sheepHL H.H.Lvi. ɥàà ŋàmbárá kéɛ̀L.H.HThe verb ‘buy’ is one which undergoes Vr-deletion. The first person phrase without an object(160b.i) shows a shift on the verb from a falling melody on the verb to a high one, although notethat the truncated form of the verb buy is low. The 3 rd person phrase does match the tone of theunderlying form for the truncated form of the verb; the melody is low. Only the first persontakes a subject nasal marker and both phrases’ aspect marker are preceded by a nasal.The tonal melodies of the verbs do not shift from their forms in the objectless phrases,although the object nouns do. In the first person, (160b.iii), the noun takes its underlying tonal219

melody with the additional tone; high becomes falling as was shown in the suffixal forms. The3 rd person object shows the opposite tone, a rising contour. With a disyllabic high object markerwithout a nasal-consonant sequence (160b.iii- iv), a nasal marker appears as subject for the 1 stbut not 3 rd person and before the aspect marker.When the object marker does contain a nasal-consonant sequence (160b.v- vi), the nasalwhich precedes the aspect marker is absent. The tone on the verb in the first person (160b.v)changes from low to falling. The tone on the verb in the third person (160b.vi) remains low.The tone of the object noun also does not change from its underlying form in the third personphrase. In the first person, a nasal is present as a subject marker and the noun changes from arising melody to a falling one.c. /n ɲìjɛ̀rɛ́/ /LH/ [n ɲìɛ́] [LH] drinkSBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. n níɛ́ ŋ kéɛ̀ I drankHHii. n nìɛ́ ŋ kéɛ̀ he drankLH/n nìé/ /LH L/ milkiii. n níɛ́ n níé kéɛ̀ I drank milkHH HHiv. n nìɛ́ n nìé kéɛ̀ he drank milkLH LH/bóɔ́ⁿ//H?/bɔ̀=ndɛ́creamv. n níɛ́ bɔ́òⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ I drank creamHH HLvi. n nìɛ̀ bɔ́óⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ he drank cream220

LLHHThe truncated form of the verb ‘drink’ appears with its underlying tonal contour in the thirdperson phrase without an object (160c.ii). The verb changes its tonal melody from rise to high inthe first person (160c.i). Both phrases show the nasal subject.When the verb ‘drink’ carries an object noun, neither the first (160c.iii) nor the third(160c.iv) verb changes its tonal contour. The underlying tonal melody of the object noun isfound in the third person, but changes from rising to high in the first person. Neither phrase hasthe nasal which precedes the aspect marker.A high toned object noun keeps its tonal melody in the third person (160c.vi) but changesto falling in the first person (160c.v). The verb continues to show a high tone in the first person,but a shift to low in the third person. Both the phrases show a nasal in the subject position andbefore the aspect marker.d. /ɕɪ́ɛ́rɛ̀/ /HL/ [ɕɪ́ɛ̀] [HL] carry (on head)SBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. ɕɪ̀ɛ́ ŋ kéɛ̀ I carriedLHii. ɕɪ́ɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀ she carriedHL/bɔ̀ròŋkɔ́/ /LH L/ millet (tied)iii. n ɕɪ́ɛ́ bɔ̀ròŋkɔ̀ kéɛ̀ I carried tied milletHH L.L.Liv. ɕɪ̀ɛ́ bɔ̀ròŋkɔ̀ kéɛ̀ she carried tied milletLH L.L.L/kɔ̀róɡò/ /LH L/ [kóɡò] [HL] basket221

v. n ɕɪ́ɛ́ kɔ́ròɡò ŋ kéɛ̀ I carried a basketHH H.L.Lvi. ɕɪ̀ɛ́ kɔ́róŋò ŋ kéɛ̀ he carried a basketLH H.H.LThe verb ‘carry on one’s head’ (160d) is one which is truncated. Neither the first (160d.i) northe third person (160d.ii) without an object carries the subject nasal marker, although the preaspectualnasal remains. The underlying tonal form of the verb is represented in the third person,but the first person shifts from falling to rising.The first person phrase with an object marker (160d.iii) changes the verb tone to high,and the nasal subject marker is present. The third person with an object (160.d.iv) marker has afalling contour and no nasal subject marker. The object noun has the same tonal contour in bothphrases; it is changed from the underlying form from rising to low. With an object noun whichhas a nasal-consonant cluster, the nasal which precedes the aspect marker is absent.Although the object noun in the third example (160d.v - vi) may be truncated, it is not inthese phrases. The nasal marker precedes the verb in the subject position in the first but not thirdperson. The tonal melodies on the verb are identical to the previous example with an objectnoun. The object noun changes from rise-fall to a simple rise (160d.v) in the first person and to asimple fall in the third (160.d.vi).e. /pɔ́mbì/ /HL/ lift (for animates)SBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. m pɔ́mbí kéɛ̀ I liftedH.Hii. pɔ́mbì ŋ kéɛ̀ he liftedH.L/símèè/ /HL H/ rock222

iii. pɔ́mbí símèè ŋ kéɛ̀ I lifted a rockH.H H.LLiv. pɔ̀mbí síméé ŋ kéɛ̀ she lifted a rockL.H H.HH/kùɥɪ̀ɛ́/ /LH L/ calabashv. pɔ́mbí kuɥɪ̀ɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀ I lifted a calabashH.Hvi. pɔ́mbì kúɥɪɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀ she lifted a calabashL.HThe verb ‘lift (for animates)’, 39 seems to alternate between the presence of the subject nasal(160e.i) and the pre-aspectual nasal (160e.ii - vi), but no phrase has both. The only phrase withthe subject nasal is example with the first person without an object.The tonal melody of the verb is represented in the third person without an object phrase(160e.ii). The falling melody shifts to high in the corresponding first person (160e.i).The high tone melody remains on the first person with an object in (160e.iii) but changesto rising in the third person (160e.iv). The underlying falling tonal melody of the noun also doesnot change in the first person, but does alter in the third person to become high.The verb continues to maintain a high tonal melody in the final example, first person(160e.v), yet returns to its underlying melody in the third person (160e.vi).f. /kóndɔ̀/ /HL/ [ŋ kɔ́òⁿ] [HL] break (in half)SBJ VERB POSS OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. kɔ́óⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ I brokeHHii. kɔ̀óⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ he broke39 Verbs differ based on whether or not the subject is animate, or whether or not the action is volitional.223

LH/kùúⁿ/ /LH/ kù-ndɛ́ waistiii. kɔ́óⁿ màá kúùⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ I broke my waistHH LH HLiv. kɔ̀ɔ́ⁿ màà kúúⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ he broke his waistLH LL HH/bʷéɛ̀/ /HL H/ legv. ŋ kɔ́óⁿ máá bʷéɛ́ kéɛ̀ I broke my legvi. kɔ̀óⁿ màà bʷéɛ́ ŋ kéɛ̀ he broke his legThe verb ‘break (in half)’ has a full and truncated form via deletion of the word-internal nasalconsonantcluster of the verb root to a nasalized, long vowel. It is the truncated form whichappears in the completive forms. The underlying tone of the verb, falling, is changed to high inthe singular (160f.i) and rising in the third person (160f.ii) phrases without an object. Bothphrases do not show the subject nasal marker but do include the nasal which precedes the aspectmarker.The tonal melodies on the verb with an object are the same as those without in phrases(160f.iii - iv). The noun is altered from its underlying rising melody to falling in the first personand to high in the third. Again, both phrases show the nasal preceding the aspectual marker butnot the subject one.The final example also shows that the verb tonal changes remain constant. The firstperson (160f.v), although, shows only the subject marker nasal, and the third person (160f.vi) hasonly the pre-aspectual nasal. The noun changes from falling to high in both examples.224

g. /pùɡá/ /LH/ [pùɡú] /LH/ wash (smth)SBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. m púɡù ŋ kéɛ̀ I washed (smth)H.Lii. pùɡú ŋ kéɛ̀ he washedL.H/sɔ́óⁿ/ ? sɔ̀=ndɛ́ clothesiii. m púɡù sɔ̀ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ I washed clothesH.Liv.púɡà/pùɡà sɔ̌ ⁿ ŋ kéɛ̀ she washed clothes/kíɛ̀/ /HL/ belongings/stuffv. m púɡú kíɛ́–nɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀ I washed stuffH.H HH–Lvi. pùɡù kíɛ́–nɛ̀ ŋ kéɛ̀ he washed stuffL.L HH–LThe verb for ‘wash (something)’ changes its final vowel in the completive aspect. This verbchanges its tonal melody from underlying rising to falling in the first person without an object(160g.i) and keeps the rising melody in the third person (160g.ii). The subject nasal marker ispresent only in the first person and the nasal marker preceding the aspectual marker is present inboth phrases.With an object noun, the verb tonal melody remains falling in the first person (160g.i).The nasal markers are consistent with the phrases without object. When the object is a pluralnoun, the noun remains consistent with its underlying form. The verb, however, shifts fromrising to high in the first person (160g.v) and low in the third person (160g.vi).h. /jén ! dó/ /H ! H/225

SBJ VERB OBJ CONN TAM GLOSSi. jén ! do ŋ kéɛ̀ I calledH ! Hii. jéndó ŋ kéɛ̀ he calledH.HThe verb ‘call’ is of interest as it is an intransitive verb. The change in between the first (160h.i)and third (160h.ii) persons is solely an accentual one. Neither phrase has the subject nasal, andboth have the pre-aspectual one. The first person phrase is marked with a downstep (or upstepon the first syllable), while the third person is simply a high toned melody.10.2.4 ObservationsIn the perfective, verbs are always truncated if possible. Compare [Márìám mótò ɥáárà]‘mariam buys a motorcycle’ with [márìám ɥàá mótò] ‘Mariam bought a motorcycle’.The first examples (160a) illustrates that the verb has a tonal contour /HL/ underlyingly, as seenin the 3 rd person singular (160a.ii.). The 1 st person singular (160a.i) shows a change on the verbstem to a [LH] contour.The aspect marker does not change its tonal or vocalic form. Both the 1 st and 3 rd personphrases are marked with a nasal at the beginning of the phrase and a connective marker followsthe verb in the examples in (160a). Therefore, the sole indication of change in person in theexamples (160a.i, ii) is a difference in tone, from rising to falling.In the completive aspect, the word order is SVOA, the object follows the verb, which isfollowed by the completive marker. In examples (160a.iii, iv) with an object which has a nasalconsonantcluster, no additional nasal precedes the completive marker, although the subject nasalcontinues to precede it. The tonal melodies on the verb in these examples do not change fromthe examples without an object. The object noun does alter its tonal contour from rising to low226

in the 1 st and 3 rd person phrases. Therefore, the tone of the verb continues to be the soleindication of change of person from 1 st (rising) to 3 rd (falling) person singular.This sole change is not the case with every object noun. The object noun in (160a.v, vi)does not contain a nasal-consonant cluster. A nasal precedes the completive marker. The 1 stperson singular (160a.v) has a nasal to indicate the subject while the 3 rd person singular (160a.vi)does not. The tonal contour of the verb remains falling in the 3 rd person, but changes from risingto falling in the first person. The object noun does not alter its tonal melody in the first person,but does change from [HLL] to [HHH] in the 3 rd person.10.2.5 Analysis10.3 Pronominal forms: Progressive aspect10.3.1 OverviewThe phrases in (162) represent the progressive aspect with transitive verbs with and withoutobjects. The progressive marker alternates segmentally among the forms [daa] ~ [da] ~ [daw] ~[na].Progressive /daa/ with pronoun subjectPhrase Gloss Phrase Glossa. /dèɡɛ́/ hit (trans v.)n dáà n dèɡɛ́ I hit n dɛ̀ dà n dèɡɛ́ We hitá dà n dèɡɛ́ You hit áà dà n dèɡɛ́ You (pl) hitdáà n dèɡɛ́ S/he hits níì nà n dèɡɛ́ They hitb. /jàámbɛ̀/ child (n.)nà jàámbɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ I hit a child n dɛ̀ dà jàámɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ We hit a childá dà jàámbɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ You hit a child áà dà jàámɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ You (pl) hit a childdáà jàámɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ S/he hits a child níì nà jàámɛ̀ n dèɡɛ́ They hit a childc. /dìjá/ eat (trans v.)n dáà n dìjá I eat n dɛ̀ nà n dìjá We eat227

á dà/nà n dìjá You eat áà dà n dìjá You (pl) eatdáà n dìjá S/he eats níì dà n dìjá They eatd. /pɔ́ẁ/ meal (n.)n dá pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá I eat a meal n dɛ̀ nà pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá We eat a mealá dà pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá You eat a meal áà dà pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá You (pl) eat a mealdáà pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá S/he eats a meal níì nà pɔ́ⁿ n dìjá They eat a meale. /ɥáràà/ buy (trans v.)n dáà n ɥàà I buy n dɛ̀ nà n ɥàà We buyá dà n ɥàà You buy áà dà n ɥàà You (pl) buydáà n ɥàà S/he buys nìì nà n ɥàà They buyf. /ŋ/nàmbárá/ sheep (n.)n dáà nàmbárá n ɥàà I buy a sheep n dɛ̀ nà nàmbárá n ɥàà We buy a sheepá nà nàmbárá n ɥàà You buy a sheep áà dà nàmbárá n ɥàà You (pl) buy a sheepdà nàmbárá n ɥàà S/he buys a sheep níì nà nàmbárá n ɥàà They buy a sheepg. /wòrè/ go (intrans v.)n dáà wòré I go n dɛ̀ nà wòré We goá dà wòré You go àà dà wòré You (pl) godà wòré S/he goes níì dà wòré They go10.3.2 DescriptionA disyllabic verb which has a rising contour (162a - d) is phrase-final and does not undergo atonal change without an object (162a, d) or with one (162b, c).The progressive aspect marker appears with a nasal-consonant onset and a long vowel [ndáà] in the first person singular with the exception of (162b, d). A simple nasal onset and atruncated vowel is represented in (162b) with an object noun which has a nasal-consonant clusteritself. The object noun undergoes consonant-cluster simplification in all persons save for thefirst and second from [mb] to [m]. The phrase in (162d) has an object noun which undergoesdeletion of the final mora, a glide. The sole difference between the first person singular and thethird person is a nasal which precedes the aspect marker in the first person; the tonal contour isidentical.228

The second person singular shows a vowel subject marker, then the aspect marker, [á dà]with no preceding nasal and a truncated vowel in all examples except (162f) where it appears as[á nà] before an object which begins with a nasal. The tone remains consistent in all thetransitive verbs. In the intransitive example, the tone of the subject marker becomes all low.The difference between the second persons singular and plural is the addition of a mora in thelatter whereas high-toned [á] becomes falling-tone [áà], with the exception of the intransitivephrase in (162g). Additionally, the aspect marker truncatedens, or loses a mora, from [dáà] to[dà].The first person plural consists of a nasal plus [dɛ̀]. Although not represented, here, [n dɛ̀]can be simplified to [nɛ̀]. All the phrases use an allomorph of the aspect marker [dà], where theinitial stop becomes a nasal [nà] with the exception of the initial verb, /dèɡɛ́/ in (162a, b).The third person plural [níì] is consistently a nasal plus a long, high vowel with a fallingtonal contour except in example (162e) /ɥaraa/, without an object. The nasal-vowel allomorph ofthe the aspect marker follows the third person plural marker in examples (162a, b, d, e) and thestop vowel allomorph appears in (162c, g). The examples which use [na] are all capable ofmora-deletion save for the phrase in (162a), although only (162b, d, e) actually illustrate deletionof at least one mora.10.3.3 ObservationsNote that the verb in (162e) is truncated, although there is no deletion in the intransitive verb in(162d). The intransitive verb is the only one to show a tonal change the verb from low to rising.There is no nasal preceding the verb.The table in (163) summarizes transitive progressive phrases, with or withoutobjects, do not alternate tone, although they do show segmental alternations and mora deletion.229

Observations of progressive formsTransitiveIntransitiven (obj) dáà N V n dɛ̀ (obj) nà N V n dáà V-H n dɛ̀ nà V-Há (obj) n/dà N V áà (obj) dà N V á n/dà V-H áà dà V-H(obj) d(á)à N V níì (obj) dà N V d(á)à V-H níì dà V-H(tonal changes?)10.3.4 Analysis10.4 Pronounced subjects: Progressive aspect10.4.1 OverviewHere, nouns whose tonal melodies have been established in previous sections are used in subjectposition of verb phrases to illustrate the tonal effects of the noun on the progressive phrase.230

10.4.2 DataProgressive /daa/ with indefinite pronounced subjectVerb Noun Gloss Noun Gloss Noun Gloss Noun Gloss Noun Gloss Noun GlossSING ʒǐbéɛ́ person ɡúmbárà wasp kóróŋò donkey nàmb(ár)á sheep n nìjá mother m mìró beeUR /LH/ /HLH/ /HL/ /LH/ /LHL/ /LHL/PL ʒìbéɛ̀–nɛ́ ɡúmbárà–nɛ́ kóróŋó=ndɛ̀ ŋàmbá–nɛ̀ nìjá=ndɛ̀ m mìró–nɛ̀go ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà wóré ɡúmbárà dáà wóré kóróŋò dáà wórè nàmbárá dáà wórè nìjá dáà wórè m mìró dáà wórè/wòrè/run ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà tíɡírì ɡúmbárà dáà tíɡírì kóróŋò dáà tíɡírí nàmbárá dáà tíɡírí nìjá dáà tíɡírí m mìró dáà tíɡírí/tíɡírì/drink ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà n nìjè ɡúmbárà dáà n nìjè kóróŋò dáà n nìjè nàmbárá dáà n nìjè nìjá dáà n nìjè m mìró dáà n nìjɛ́/ɲìj(ɛ́r)è/eat ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà n dìjá ɡúmbárà dáà n dìjá kóróŋò dáà n dìjá nàmbárá dáà dìjá nìjá dáà n dìjá m mìró dáà n dìjá/dìjá/231

10.4.3 DescriptionThe phrases in (164) continue to illustrate the progressive aspect with a pronounced (nonpronoun)subject. The aspect marker is the bimoraic, falling, stop-onset allomorph [dáà] in allthe phrases listed. The first two phrases (164a - b) represent intransitive verbs while the secondtwo (164c - d) are transitive. The tone of the verb is affected in the intransitive verbs. No nasalprecedes intransitive verbs.The verb /wòrè/ ‘go’ in first example with subject [LH.H] [ʒǐbéɛ́] ~ [LHL-H] [ʒìbéɛ̀–nɛ́]‘person’changes from underlying low tone to high. This verb changed from low to rise with apronominal subject. With the object noun /LHL/ /ɡúmbárà/ ‘wasp’, the verb also changes tocarry a high tonal melody. A /HL/ subject /kóróŋò/ ‘donkey’ is followed by the verb with a tonalchange to falling [HL]. A noun which may be truncated /nàmbárá/ with a /LH/ contour is shownin its full form and the verb changes to falling [HL]. The final two nouns, both with underlying/LHL/ contours also show the falling allomorph of the verb. The only phrase with a high ratherthan a falling tonal contour is the first.The second verb ‘run’ is represented in its underlying form /tíɡírì/ /HL/ with the first twosubjects, but as high in the remaining phrases. Although this verb is able to be truncated to[tiɡe], it is always represented in its full form.A nasal precedes all transitive verbs in the progressive aspect. As with pronominalsubjects, the object nouns’ tone and segmental forms do not alternate with pronounced subjects.The third verb, the first of the transitive verbs, /ɲìj(ɛ́r)è/ ‘drink’, truncates to [ɲìjè] and keeps itsunderlying tone with all the different subject nouns. The final verb, /dìjá/ ‘eat’ does not changein tonal or segmental form from its underlying content.232

10.4.4 ObservationsIn summary, it has been show that intransitive verbs in the progressive take the [dáà] allomorphwith a tonal change on the verb. Transitive verbs also take [dáà], and there is no change on anobject noun.10.4.5 Analysis(because of nasal syllabification/lack thereof?)10.5 Progressive with a Definite ObjectThe examples in (165) illustrate the progressive with a pronounced, definite object, since thedeterminer has been shown in §9.6 to cause tonal alternations on nouns. Using the same phrasesas above, with the addition of the determiner, which begins the phrase, it is shown that thechange now occurs on the intransitive verb ‘go’ from low to fall, and the transitive verb ‘eat’,with a rising melody now becomes high. The other verbs remain the same, as do the subjectnouns.10.5.1 DataProgressive with definite (a) and pronounced subjectperson donkey motherRoot ʒǐbéɛ́ kóróŋò n nìjágo á ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà wórè á kóróŋò dáà wórè á nìjá dáà wórè/wòrè/run á ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà tíɡírí á kóróŋò dáà tíɡírí á nìjá dáà tíɡírí/tíɡírì/drink á ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà n nìjè á kóróŋò dáà n nìjè á nìjá dáà n nìjè/ɲìj(ɛ́r)è/eat á ʒǐbéɛ́ dáà n díjá á kóróŋò dáà n díjá á nìjá dáà n díjá/dìjá/233

10.5.2 ObservationsAmong verb phrases with definite subjects, we see that the verb is affected. This is of interestbecause of the long distance effects of the definite marker on certain verb forms.10.5.3 Analysis10.6 Object nouns: Progressive aspect10.6.1 OverviewFurther object nouns are shown in (166) to show that certain verbs with object nouns do alternatetheir tones in the progressive aspect. The verb hit is one word which does induce tonal changes,and the verb itself changes from rise to low. The focus is on the difference between first andthird persons singular as the affects are mainly tonal. Forms are shown from full to truncated.The segmental personal pronoun for the first and third persons is [mi] (166a - u). The full formof the aspect marker is [dama] (166a - e) /daa maa/?. A nasal may precede the full form of theaspect marker (166a.i), particularly in the first person, although the other forms of [dama] omitthe nasal. All transitive verbs in the progressive aspect are preceded by an obligatory nasal.A truncated form of the aspect marker is [da], preceded by the subject marker [mi] and afirst-person nasal (166f - o). The first person nasal may be omitted before the aspect marker(166p) (because this is underlyingly a NC-cluster word?), or the initial stop of the aspect markermay be deleted, leaving the first person nasal as its onset (166q - u).The truncated form of the subject deletes the [mi] morpheme and consists of a nasalpreceding both the persons’ aspect markers (166v - w), or simply the first person (166x).234

Nouns of different syllable shapes and tonal contours are given with the above describedvariations of the progressive phrase in the examples below.An underlying rising monosyllabic noun (166a) follows the full form of the pronoun [mi],the first person nasal, and the full progressive form [dama]. The noun carries a high tone in boththe first person (166o.xxix) and third (166.o.xx) persons.10.6.2 DataProgressive with object – verb ‘hit’ [dèɡɛ́](is hit different because it is inherently transitive/animate/intentional?)a. /nìíⁿ/ /LH/ armi. mí n dámá níí n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting an armii. mì dàmà níí n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting an arm10.6.3 DescriptionIn this example, a monosyllabic word with a rising melody, the aspect marker follows the tone ofthe subject marker, while the object marker only follows the same tone in the first person. Thetone on the verb follows the subject and aspect marker only in the third person.b. /k(ù)úⁿ/ /LH/ waistiii. mí dámá kú n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a waistiv. mì dàmà kú n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a waistA monosyllabic word with one underlying mora and a rising melody (166b) is shown with thefull form of both the pronoun and aspect marker. The first person (166b.iii) is high and the thirdis low (166b.iv), as are the progressive markers. The noun appears in its underlying form,235

monomoraic with a high tone. The nasal is absent in between the progressive and subjectmarkers.c. /kǒrɛ̀é/ /-Lv. mí dámá kórè n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a stomachvi. mǐ dàmà kóré n dèɡɛ̀ he his hitting a stomach(check tones on this example)d. /ʃìíⁿ/ /LH-L/ mongoosevii. mí dámá ʃíì n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a mongooseviii. mì dàmà/dà ʃíì n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a mongooseA monosyllabic word with a rising tone on two underlying morae (166d) take a similar sequenceof morphemes to a bisyllabic word with an underlying falling melody. As with the abovemonosyllabic monosyllabic, nasalized nouns, the first person is high (166d.vii) and the third islow (166d.viii), as are the accompanying progressive markers. The noun, however, changes itsmelody from rising to falling, instead of from rising to high, in both persons. The nasal is absentin between the progressive and subject markers.e. /déɡè/ /HL-H/ headix. mí dámá n déɡè n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a headx. mì dámá n déɡè n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a headA bisyllabic /HL-H/ word (166e) keeps its tone (fall), with the longer form of the aspect markerappears as [dámá]. The sole change between persons is the tone of the subject marker; high [mí]in the first person (166e.ix) and low [mì] in the third person (166e.x). The tone on the aspectmarker [dama] is high in the first and third persons, which is unlike the preceding monosyllabic236

words. The nasal is absent in between the progressive and subject markers, though one precedesthe object noun.f. /píí/ /HL-H/ saucexi. mí n dá píí n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a saucexii. mì dà pìì n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a sauceAn underlying high toned noun (166f) follows the tone of the subject [mí] and the truncated formof the progressive marker [n dá] as all high in the first person (166f.xi) and low in the thirdperson [mì dà] (166f.xii).g. /dóɔ̀/ /HL-H/xiii. mí n dá dóɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a paperxiv. mì dà dóɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a paperHowever, another /HL-H/ noun (166g) behaves differently in that it appears with a falling tone inboth persons.h. /póòrò/ /HL/xv. mǐ n dá pórò n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a cloudxvi. mì dà pórò n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a cloudi. /kʊ́ ndʊ̀ / /HL/ logxvii. mí n dá kʊ́ ndʊ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a logxviii. mì dà kʊ́ ndʊ̀ n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting a log237

As with the example above, bisyllabic nouns (166h, i) with a initial bimoraic syllables in theformer and a nasal-consonant cluster in the latter, follow a similar pattern to (166g).j. /kíì/ /HL-H/ canoe, airplanexix. mí n dá kíì n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a canoexx. mì dà kìì n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a canoeAnother /HL-H/ monosyllabic noun (166j) becomes falling in the first person (166j.xix) and lowin the third (166j.xx). Otherwise, this noun follow the same pattern as the above rising,monosyllabic nouns.k. /kẃɔ̀ⁿ/ /HL/ scythexxi. mí n dá kẃɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a scythexxii. mì dà kẁɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a scytheA /HL/ monosyllabic noun (166k) remains falling in the first person (166k.xxi) and becomes lowin the third (166k.xxii). Unlike the all high tones found in the bisyllabic word, though abisyllabic word with a final bimoraic syllable (166k) is also similar segmentally and tonally. Thenasal is absent in between the progressive and subject markers.l. /pùúpà/ /LH-L/ bellowsxxiii. mí n dá pùúpà n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting bellowsxxiv. mì dà pùúpà n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting bellowsThe /LHL/ noun in (166l) does not change.238

m. /dàmbá/ /LH/ pick axexxv. mí n dá dàmbà n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a pick axexxvi. mì dà dàmbà n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting a pick axeA bisyllabic word with a word-internal nasal-consonant cluster with a rising tone actuallyfollows the same pattern as has been illustrated, whereby the subject marker [mí] and progressivemarker [n dá] are both high in the first person (166m.xxv) and low in the third (166m.xxvi),though the noun is low in both first and third persons. In the above examples /LH/, only the thirdperson would arise with a low tone on the noun.n. /sííbɛ́ɛ̀/ /HL/xxvii. mǐ n dá sìbɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀xxviii. mì dà sìbɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting an eyeI am hitting an eyeThe noun in (166n) follows the same pattern and is bisyllabic with a two bimoraic syllables.o. /bùr̃á/ /LH-L/ stick/medicinexxix. mí dá bùr̃à n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting a stickxxx. mì dà bùr̃à n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a stickA bisyllabic /LH-L/ word (166o) also becomes all low following the [mi] pronoun and precedingthe [da] allomorph of the aspect marker. The first person singular subject and aspect markercarry a high tone (166l.xxiii) and the third person markers are low (166l.xxiv).p. /kʊ̀ rɛ̀mɛ́/ /LH/ dogxxxi. mí n dá kʊ̀ rèɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting a dogxxxii. mì dà kʊ́ rèɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting a dog239

However, a rising tone, bisyllabic word with a bimoraic final syllable shows the opposite formfrom above, the first person (166p.xxxi) is high on both the pronoun and aspect markers, but lowon the noun, while the third person (166p.xxxii) is low on the morphemes preceding the noun,and then becomes falling on the noun.q. /tɔ̌ tɔ̀/ /-H/ anvilxxxiii. mí ná tɔ̌ tɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting an anvilxxxiv. mì n dá tɔ̌ tɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting an anvilThe first and third subject may also be marked by the morpheme /mi/. The first person is markedwith a high tone (166q.xxxiii) and the third person with a low tone (166q.xxxiv). The objectnoun is preceded by [ná] in the first and [n dá] in the third.r. /bìíⁿ/ /LH/ yearxxxv. mí ná bìì n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting a yearxxxvi. mì dà bìì n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting a yearA /LH/ monosyllabic word (166r), (like the preceding words (166m - o)) arises as all low, thoughnow is preceded by the aspect marker changing to the [na] allomorph in the first person(166r.xxxv).s. /dɔ̀ɔ́bɛ̀/ /LH-L?/ adzexxxvii mí ná dɔ́ɔ́bɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting an adzexxxvii mì dà dɔ̀ɔ̀bɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting an adze240

A bisyllabic word with an initial bimoraic syllable (166x) also has the same subject and aspectmarkers as the trisyllabic words. The noun changes tone from /LHL/ to [HL] (166s.xxxvii) and[L] (119s.xxxvii).t. /sɔ̀rɔ̀ɣɔ̀/ /L-H/ Bozo (person)xxxix. mí ná sɔ́rɔ̀ɣɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting a Bozoxl. mì dá sɔ̀rɔ̀ɣɔ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a BozoA trisyllabic /L-H/ noun, (166t) also becomes fall /HL/ following a high-toned subject [mí] andthe truncated, high form of the aspect marker [ná] in the first person (166t.xxxix). In the thirdperson (166f.xl) the noun remains low following [dá].u. /páɣàrà/ /HL/ containerxli. mí ná páɣá n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a containerxlii. mì dà páɣá n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a containerThe trisyllabic word in (166u.xli) has the same pattern of tones and form on the subject andaspect markers. The verb is truncated and its tone is changed from /HL/ to [H] in both first(166u.xli) and third (166u.xlii) persons.v. /n nìɛ̀/ /L-H/ sunxliii. n dá n nìɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a sunxliv. n dá n níɛ́ n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a sunA bimoraic low-toned noun object which contains a word-initial geminate nasal (166v) remainslow in the first person (166v.xliii) but changes to high in the third (166v.xliv). This is the only241

difference between the two persons. The noun takes the as a nasal as subject in both persons andthe aspect marker is [dá] high. The tone of the verb is low.w. /tèɛ̀/ /L-H/ forgexlv. n dá tèɛ̀ n dèɡɛ̀ I am hitting a forgexlvi. n dá téɛ́ n dèɡɛ̀ he is hitting a forgeA bimoraic low-toned noun object without an initial geminate is low in the first person(166w.xlv) and high in the third (166w.xlv). The nasal marker appears in both subject positionsand the aspect marker is high.x. /kúùⁿ/ /L-H/ eggxlvii. n dà kú n dèɡɛ̀I am hitting a eggxlviii. dà kú n dèɡɛ̀he is hitting a eggAn underlying monomoraic, monosyllabic low-toned noun object (166x) becomes high and thenoun changes from rising to high in both forms. The aspectual marker is [dà] and the subject ismarked with a nasal in the first person, but not in the third.10.6.4 Observations(reorganization needed)It appears that the surface tones of noun roots are what determine the tonal alternations foundamong progressive verb phrases, that is, not the ‘extra’ tone that is found among nouns withclitics. The first person tends to carry a high tone, while the third person takes a low tone. Bothhigh and low tones from the subject markers carry through a phrase until the verb in the firstperson; a high tone remains on the noun in the third person. The absence of the nasal does not242

disturb the spreading of high across a phrase in the first person; low continues to spread until anoun which remains high in the third person.243

Focus? progressive (màá) with pronounced indefinite subjectperson wasp donkey sheep mother beego ʒǐbéɛ̀ màá wórè ɡúmbárà màá wórè kóróŋò màá wórè ŋàmbárà màá wórè n nìjà màá wórè m mìrò màá wórèrun ʒǐbéɛ̀ màá tíɡírì ɡúmbárà màá tíɡírì kóróŋò màá tíɡírì ŋàmbárà màá tíɡírì n nìjà màá tíɡírí m mìrò màá tíɡíríplayʒǐbéɛ̀ màá sáŋàsàŋàɡúmbárà màá sáŋàsáŋàkóróŋò màá sáɡàsáɡàŋàmbárà màá sáŋàsáŋàn nìjà màá sáŋàsáŋàm mìrò màá sáŋàsáŋàdrink ʒǐbéɛ̀ màá n nìjè ɡúmbárà màá n nìjè kóróŋò màá n nìjè ŋàmbárà màá n nìjè n nìjà màá n nìjè m mìrò màá n nìjèeat ʒǐbéɛ̀ màá n dìjá ɡúmbárà màá n dìjá kóróŋò màá n dìjá ŋàmbárà màá n dìjá n nìjà màá n dìjá m mìrò màá n dìjáObservation: low tone on all nounsprogressive (màá) with pronounced definite subjectperson wasp donkey sheep mother beerun á ʒǐbéɛ́ màá tíɡírì à ɡúmbárà màá tíɡírì á kóróɡò màá tíɡírì á nàmbárá màá tíɡírì á n nìjá màá tíɡírì á m mírò màá tíɡírìplayá ʒǐbéɛ́ màá sáŋàsàŋàà ɡúmbárà màá sáŋàsàŋàá kóróɡò màá sáɡàsàɡàá nàmbárá màá sáŋàsàŋàá n nìjá màá sáŋàsàŋàá m mírò màá sáŋàsàŋàgo á ʒǐbéɛ́ màá á ɡúmbárà màá wórè á kóróɡò màá wórè á nàmbárá màá wórè á n nìjá màá wórè á m mírò màá wórèdrinkà ʒǐbéɛ́ màá nnìjèà ɡúmbárà màá nnìjèà kóróɡò màá nnìjèà nàmbárá màá nnìjèà n nìjá màá nnìjèà m mírò màá n nìjèeatà ʒǐbéɛ́ màá ndíjàà ɡúmbárà màá ndíjàvariation of tone on DET and on nounsà kóróɡò màá ndíjàà nàmbárá màá ndíjà à nnìjá màá n díjà à m mírò màá n díjà244

245

10.7 ConclusionWe have seen that nouns in verb phrases do not affect the tones of the phrase based on theirunderlying melodies as nouns do with clitics. Instead, it appears that the first and third personsubject markers alter the tone on nouns based on their syllable structure and melody.10.8 Reduplication10.8.1Verbal apsectReduplication of a verb stem changes the tone shown in examples in (40d – e). Usually verb is Hin phrase-initial and HL in phrase final position.a. *n dǎ ɡùndúb. n dǎ ɡùndú ŋ ɡùndù1 st SG COP whisper‘I am whispering.’c. n dǎ ŋ kàɾà1 st SG COP ? receive‘I am receiving.’d. n dá káɾá kàɾà1 st SG COP learn‘I am learning.’10.9 Interclausal syntaxThe relative pronoun, unlike the personal pronouns, does not induce tonal changes on theconstituents in the phrase. Relative clauses are introduced with the conjunction mɛ́ ‘which’ asshown in (33)a - b.Relative clauses246

́a) à dúwá hũ ̀ mà: kóré kó pɛ́ndɛ̀DET tree on 3 rd SG POSS stomach PAST explode‘The (person with the big) stomach that fell on the tree, explodes.’b) à bɔ́rɛ̀ n dò mɛ́ bàràDET Baobab sauce ? set–IMP CONJ remain‘Set down the Baobab sauce which remains.’The infinitival marker, hã ́, is used in chaining verbs as is the coordinating conjunction á, shownin the examples in (34).Chaining verbsa) hã ́ ɡɛ̀mbì hã pú:ndìINF sift INF pound‘to sift and to pound’ɡírí wórè á dáɡ kò níŋ ŋ kó m bè n twá–mɛ̀–ù–ɛ̀rabbit– go COOR touch– PST speak– ? CONJ ? NEG ? arrive–ANIMPERF PERFPERF‘Rabbit goes to open (the granary) but he said that he can’t reach (the door).’10.10 Question wordsQuestion words are listed with examples in (93).Gloss Question Examplea) who? já ŋ káẁ jǎ?b) what? nɛ́ sı̃ ̀nɛ́ sı̃ ̀ jìɾí mı̃ ̀?c) why? n nɛ́ sáẁ nɛ́ jìɾó káw à jìɾó káw?d) where? (location) kóté kóté à wòɾè?e) when? nɛ̀nɛ̀ nɛ̀nɛ́ à wòɾè?f) how? nǐ:jíbɛ̀ n nǐ: ímà?Translationwho is that?what happened?why did you do that work?where are you going?when are you going?how many people are there?247

10.11Conditional constructionsConditional constructions are prolific in texts. They are formed with a morpheme translated as‘if’ plus the word for ‘all’, thus translated as meaning, ‘if all is VERB…’ Examples are shownin (94).nè màà tùrù tùrù táárù sɛ́nɛ́ twà à ɡàrà hùⁿ páⁿ1 st PL POSS neighborhoods three if arrive DET station PP allnà n síɡù síɡùFUT ? ask–PERF’If you arrive at the station, ask about our three neighborhoods.’10.12Semantics of verbs1.2 Motion + Manner/CauseBy an examination of the dictionary, the majority of the verbs involving motion in Bangimeseem to conflate the characteristics Motion with Manner and/or Cause. Examples are shown in(95).GlossExampleNon-agentivea) hang tɔ̀ɔ̀ndɔ́ɾɔ́b) roll.PASS (something is rolled) kǔɾúmà =wɛ́ (mat)c) stand, stop díndád) cultivate (second time) kɔ́ɣɔ́e) explode pɛ̀ɛ̀ndɛ́f) jump pǐndòAgentiveg) roll (something) kǔɾúmàh) carry (something) on head túɥɛ́ɾɛ́i) jiggle, shake gently back and forth (e.g. sb's hand) màɣáj) throw (e.g. stone) ɡújú248

́̀k) kick mɛ́nɛ́l) gather máŋɡásı̃m) amass pà:n) dump (as in mud off the head) tùw̃àNotice how the majority of these verbs are specify the type of action to be preformed, as in‘carry on the head’; a prototypical verb meaning ‘carry’ does not exist in the language.Reduplication and morphology can further encode Manner onto satellites as in the examples in(96).a) ‘run’ tìɡɛ̀ rɛ́ > Manner: ‘(water) flow hard’ tǐɡìrì >Causation: ‘drive’ tíɡí–ndáb) ‘be swollen’ pìín ǃ dú > Causation: ‘inflate’ pììndù m̀ pììndúc) ‘push’ tǐŋɡárá > Manner: ‘squash’ tíŋɡàrà tíŋɡàráThe homorganic nasal in (96b) indicates that the verb for ‘inflate’ is a compound i , thus, it usesthe composition of conflation for Compound verbs: V manner + V causation , whereas the example in c)seems to employ Subordination: V manner V causation -part[=ger.] as an uninflected verb in Bangimeessentially represents a gerund.1.3 Motion + PathWhen used in a sentence, however, a motion verb which is translated in all the examples in (97)below as ‘fall’, is actually being expressed with three verbs which, in isolation, are translated asa) ‘unfold’, b) ‘fall’ and ‘fall one by one’, and c) ‘depart’, ‘fall’, and ‘descend’.a) à žíbɛ́ sand–ìDET person unfold.PST‘The person fell.’b) kó tíjó sɔ̀w à kíCONN fall fall one by one DET thing‘They fell out of the plane.”c) wùrɛ̀ kó: tìjò à sán=wɛ́ à kɛ̀tɛ́ mà: ní: hũkarite tree depart fall DET descend.PASS DET other 3rd SG POSS hand PP‘The fruit of the karite tree fell down into his hand.’249

Thus, the expression in a) illustrates that the Manner lexicalized in the verb for ‘unfold’ can, inaddition to the action required to spread out a cloth can also incorporate Path as movement awayfrom something. The verb translated literally as ‘fall’, however, seems only to encode Motionand must be used with at least one satellite as in the Serial verb composition: V manner V path toexpress Manner and Path/Figure in b) and in fact two other verbs and the Complementationcomposition: V manner PP/DP path in c) for Path, ‘depart’ and Ground ‘descend (to a place)’. Itwould appear from these examples that Bangime is an equipollently-framed language sinceManner and Path are encoded simultaneously as main verbs in these clauses.1.4 Motion + Figure/GroundExamples of verbs in Bangime which encode other elements are found among the extensivesubsystem of verbs for ‘take’ and ‘put’ shown in (98) and (99).a) nɛ́ ʒíjɛ́ hùⁿ nà ʒíjé m búndá1 st PL night PP AUX honey ? take out‘During the night, we take out the honey.”b) à bè kʷá síjɛ̀ mà: ŋáẁ2 nd SG NEG able take 3 rd SG POSS meat‘You can’t take his meat.’c) à ɲí:já kó ɲàrⁿá ɡàwó dá pàndìjá dápàríDET child CONJ take spear IMP small spear machete‘The child takes the spear, the small spear, and the machete.’a) ná jàɡù tíndé ʃìɥɛ́ kʷíwɛ̀ ŋkòwith cut.PERF put descend calabash PP‘We put down and cut the calabash.’b) há ɲɛ́ndì à bɔ̀rɛ̀ m páɣà–jɛ̀INF put (on a fire in order to cook) DET baobab leaves CONN container.DIM‘To put the small pot with the baobab leaves into the fire to cook.’c) nìì kó já ʒà:rá m bìjɛ́ bànɡá250

3 rd PL CONJ FUT gazelle CONN baby put sack on shoulder‘They put the sack with the baby gazelle on their shoulders.’The examples in (98a) and (99a) lexicalize Motion and Path, while that of (99b) incorporatesMotion and Ground. (98b) is a prototypical verb meaning ‘take’, though (98c) could belexicalizing figure, this is the only example available of its usage so it is unclear. The usage of(99c) is also limited to this example though it could also be seen as lexicalizing figure.11. Chapter 11: Tense, Aspect, and Mood: Word Order11.1Introduction251

Through focus marking questionaires provided by Dogon and Bangime Linguistics projectcolleage, Kirill Prokhorov, this chapter shows that tense, aspect, and mood are marked through acombination of auxiliaries and word order. Tones are affected by person marker rather than bythe TAM of the phrase. The noun roots are also not affected nor do their tones affect the tones ofthe constituents in the phrase. The variation in the auxiliary or TAM marker in the initialconsonant, vowel length and tone that is discussed in Ch. 10.The sentence in (1) is in the progressive aspect as is marked by the auxiliary marker [da](~ na). The object appears before the verb. The verb ‘write’ is composed of three elements: theverb root, a connective nasal, and the particle [do]. The final vowel of the verb stem indicates itsaspect as being in the imperfective or perfective. The first phrase shows the progressive aspect.1. nnáɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.nná−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−óCONNECTIVEAUXHwriteIMPERFECTIVEConnCopv: (Person)VIIVII: Imperfective oI amwritingI am writing.2 dóɔ̀nnáàɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ dó.dóɔ̀nnáà−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ d−ónotebook, paperCONNECTIVEAUXHwriteIMPERFECTIVEnConnCopv: (Person)VIIVII: Imperfective oletterI amwritingI am writing a letter.252

3. ndá(~ ná) dóɔ̀ɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ dóndá−Hnádóɔ̀ɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ d−óCONNECTIVEAUX3SAUXnotebook, paperwriteIMPERFECTIVEConnCopn: AnyCopnVIIVII: Imperfective ohe isisletterwritingHe is writing a letter.4 nnáádóɔńdɛ̀nnnáá−Hdóɔ́−ndɛ̀nCONNECTIVEAUXHnotebook, paperPLURALCONNECTIVEConnCopv: (Person)nn: AnyConnI amlettersɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.ɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−ówriteIMPERFECTIVEVIIVII: Imperfective owritingI am writing letters.Further, when asked to specify of which tasks the subject is performing, reading or writing, fourdistinct answers are possible, given in the order listed below. The initial answer, as above in (2),is to state the object first, although the question posed referred to the action and not theundergoer of that action. The phrase which follows it, as above, exchanges the location of theTAM marker and the object. Both phrases above in (8) and (9) appear with the verb phrasefinally,however below in (10), the verb and object are reversed from their positions in (9). Thephrase in (11) is like that of the initial phrase in (8), with a different noun. All phrases above in(2) - (5) appear with the verb phrase-finally, however below in (10), the verb and object arereversed from their positions in (11). The phrase in (10) is like that of the initial phrase in (11),with a different noun with a similar meaning.253

7 dóɔ̀ánɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dóndóɔ̀ánɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−ónnotebook, paper2nd SINGCONNECTIVEwriteIMPERFECTIVECONNECTIVEnproConnVIIVII: Imperfective oConnletteryouwritingnákáráá n káràà?ná−Hkáráá n kárààAUXHreadCopv: (Person)vI amreadAre you writing a letter or reading?8 dóɔ̀nnáàɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.dóɔ̀nnáà−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−ónotebook, paperCONNECTIVEAUX1SGwriteIMPERFECTIVEnConnCopPreverb: AnyVIIVII: Imperfective oletterI amwritingI am writing a letter.9 nnáàsàɡòmɛ́ɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.nnáà−Hsàɡòmɛ́ɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−óCONNECTIVEAUXHletterwriteIMPERFECTIVEConnCopv: (Person)nVIIVII: Imperfective oI amletterwritingI am writing a letter.10 nnáàɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ dósàɡòmɛ́.nnáà−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ d−ósàɡòmɛ́CONNECTIVEAUX1SGwriteIMPERFECTIVEletterConnCopPreverb: AnyVIIVII: Imperfective onI amwritingletterI am writing a letter.254

11 sàɡòmɛ́nnáɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.sàɡòmɛ́nná−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−óletterCONNECTIVEAUXHwriteIMPERFECTIVEnConnCopv: (Person)VIIVII: Imperfective oletterI amwritingI am writing a letter.When asked to respond in order to differentiate the object instead of the action, as in (12), theresponse in (13) is again the preferred answer, that of the subject phrase-initially, followed by theaspect marker, which is in turn followed by the verb.12 dóɔ̀ánɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dóndóɔ̀ánɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−ónnotebook, paper2nd SINGCONNECTIVEwriteIMPERFECTIVECONNECTIVEnproConnVIIVII: Imperfective oConnnotebook, paperyouwritingnásàɡòmɛ́?násàɡòmɛ́AUXletterTAMnareletterAre you writing a book or a letter?13 sàɡòmɛ́nnáɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.sàɡòmɛ́nná−Hɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d−óletterCONNECTIVEAUXHwriteIMPERFECTIVEnConnCopv: (Person)VIIVII: Imperfective oletterI amwritingI am writing a letter.255

The second phrase in (14) employs the verb ‘go’ as an evidentially marker with the transitiveverb ‘find’ to indicate that the indirect object of the verb, ‘him’ was found in the describedactivity. The second clause of the phrase, after the bracket, indicates COP aspect in the mannerindicated in (2) and (9) above, with the difference being that the direct object ‘letter’ is nowmarked with the plural clitic.14 nnCONNECTIVEConndóɔńdɛ̀dóɔ́notebook, papernletterwórèwòréŋŋkáráàkaraanndàdàEvidentiality TRANSITIVE find, possess CONNECTIVE AUXverbprt v > vt vConn COPEvidentiality TRANSITIVE findhe isnɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n dó.−ndɛ̀ n − ɲɔ̀ ɡɔ̀n d −óPLURAL TRANSITIVE write IMPERFECTIVEn: Any v > vt VII VII: Imperfective owriting−L3Sn: AnyI found him writing letters. (visual evidentiality + progressive)I went-found, he is writing letters.The phrase in (15) is an example of reported speech. Although there is not a specific morphemeto indicate reported speech, the verb ‘hear’ is employed for this purpose. The serial verbprecedes the second clause of the phrase. There is no auxiliary marker in this sentence. Thesecond verb is in the perfective aspect, indicating that the action occurred in the past. The finalvowel of the particle which is associated with the verb ‘write’ changes from [o] to [i].256

15 nnnórénórénn −ɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ díɲɔ̀ ɡɔǹ dCONNECTIVE Reported Speech TRANSITIVE writeConn verbprtheardv > vt VIIwrotedóndɛ̀( nnijɛ ).dó −ndɛ̀ −L nnijɛpass PLURAL 3S CONNECTIVE yesterdayv n: Any n: Any Conn nletters. 3rdSGyesterday−íPERFECTIVEVII: Perfective iI hear, he wrote letters (yesterday)I hear/REPORTED SPEECH/auditory evidentiality, he wrote letters (yesterday)The question in (14) asks about the state of the water, as in a lake. Again, the initial defaultresponse is that with the object phrase-initially as shown in (15).14 jáálàɥíɛ̀dàdʒímbì?jáálàɥíɛ̀dà−Ldʒí −mb −ìwhetherwaterAUX3Scold PERFECTIVE PERFECTIVEqunCopn: AnyVVIII v: MB VII: Perfective iwhetherwateriscoldIs the water cold?15 áɥíɛ̀dʒímbō.áɥíɛ̀dʒí −mb −ōDETERMINERwatercold PERFECTIVE PERFECTIVEDetnVVIII v: MB VI: Anythewatercoldthe water is cold.Here, in the phrase in (16), we see the use of the verb ‘go’ as the evidentially marker with theCOP aspect marker [da]. Compare the ordering of these constituents to the phrase in (14), where257

the evidentially marker directly preceded the verb ‘find’, which was followed by the auxiliary.In this usage, the combination of elements, the evidentially marker, followed by the auxiliary,which is in turn followed by the verb, indicates the event is going to take place, but has not yet.16 ( bórɔ̀òbórɔ̀ònɛ́nɛ́bíèbíèkʷáá ŋ kì súɥíkʷáá ŋ kì súɥíɥíɛ̀ɥíɛ̀ŋŋtomorrow 1st PL NEG able descend water CONNECTIVEn pro Preverb v VI n Conntomorrow we not able descend waternnwòrè ŋwòré ŋkáráákárááaaɥíɛ̀ɥíɛ̀CONNECTIVE go CONNECTIVE find, possess DETERMINER waterConn v Conn vDetngofind, possess thewaterjímbō.jímb −ocold PERFECTIVEVVIII VI: AnycoldkòkòinsideAdpinside) nɛ́nɛ́1st PLprowetomorrow, we will not be able to descend into the water, we will find the water to be cold.The second clause of the phrase in (17) is the same structure of the first phrase in (14) in that theevidentially marker ‘go’ precedes the verb ‘find’. In this sentence, we find the evidentiallymarker is preceded by the morpheme [ko]. Since this sentence can be also stated without theparticle [ko], translated as the same meaning, shown in (18), at this time, the researcher does notknow what differentiates a sentence with [ko] from one without it as both phrases indicate eventswhich occurred sometime in the past (whether that be recent or far away past). Further, asshown in (19) - (20), the same sentences can be used to express the imperfective aspect when theevidentially marker is absent. The sentence in (21) further shows that when the verb ‘go’ is used258

in combination with the TAM marker [daa] and the stative form of the verb, it carries the senseof ‘go’ rather than the evidential sense.17 ( a biiⁿa biiⁿnot this yearnnot this yearko ) koko koinside PASTAdp Preverbinside PAST.nn −TRANSITIVEv > vtTRANSITIVEworeworeEvidentialityverbprtEvidentialityʃuɥiʃuɥiaaŋombɛ ɥɛŋombɛ whìɛ̀ŋŋdescend DETERMINER pond water CONNECTIVEVI Detn n Conndescend thepond water CONNECTIVEŋkaraa aɥɛ jimboŋkaraa awhìɛ̀ jimboCONNECTIVE find, possess DETERMINER water coldConn vDetn VVIIICONNECTIVE find thewater cold(in the past, i.e. not this year, I went into the pond water), I found it was cold.The second phrase in (4) employs the verb ‘go’ as an evidentially marker with the transitive verb‘find’ to indicate that the indirect object of the verb, ‘him’ was found in the described activity.The second clause of the phrase, after the bracket, indicates COP aspect in the manner indicatedin (1) above, with the difference being that the direct object ‘letter’ is now marked with the pluralclitic.18 nwórèŋkáráááɥíɛ̀nwòréŋkáráááɥíɛ̀CONNECTIVEEvidentialityCONNECTIVEfind, possessDETERMINERwaterConnverbprtConnvDetnEvidentialityfindthewaterjímbō.jímb−ocoldPERFECTIVEVVIIIVI: Anycold259

I went and found the water was cold.19 ŋkáráááɥíɛ̀jímbōŋkáráá−Háɥíɛ̀jímb−oCONNECTIVEfind, possessHDETERMINERwatercoldPERFECTIVEConnvv: (Person)DetnVVIIIVI: Anyfindthewatercold.I find the water is cold.20 kɔ́òŋkáráááɥíɛ̀kɔ́òŋkáráá−Háɥíɛ̀3rd SING INANIMATECONNECTIVEfind, possessHDETERMINERwaterproConnvv: (Person)Detn3rd SING INANIMATEfindDETERMINERwaterjímbō.jímb−ocoldPERFECTIVEVVIIIVI: AnycoldI find the water is cold.21 nndádá/ nnnánáwórèwòré −HCONNECTIVE IMPERFECT CONNECTIVE IMPERFECT go HConn TAMConn TAM v v: (Person)I amI am gonnsùrà jellasùrà jellaááɥíɛ̀ɥíɛ̀jííⁿjííⁿwàjìwàjìCONNECTIVE look whether DETERMINER water cold STATIVEConn VII < Not Sure > Detn VVIII TAMsee whether thewater coldI am going to see whether the water is cold.260

The structure of a question is subject-initial, followed by the verb. The question particles arephrase-initial, listed in the following question phrases in (22).22.1 nɛ̀ ʃíìⁿàjíró( múwì)?/nɛ̀ ʃíìⁿàwjírómúwìwhat2nd SINGdotodayqprovnwhatyoudotodaywhat do you do today?22.2 nɛ̀(~ nà) nájíró( múwì)?nɛ̀nànájírómúwìwhatAUXCONNECTIVE2nd SINGdotodayqCopConnprovnwhatPROGRESSIVECONNECTIVEyoudotodaywhat are you doing today?22.3 kò tɛ́éànɛ́wò( múwì)?/kò tɛ́éàwnɛ́wòmúwìwhere2nd SINGwhatgotodayqproqvnwhereyouwhatgotodaywhere are you to do what today?22.4 kò tɛ́èàwórèmúwì?kò tɛ́èàwwòrémúwìwhere2nd SINGgotodayqprovnwhereyougotodaywhere do you go today?261

A conditional sentence, shown in (23), is always expressed in the past tense. The verb is phraseinitial and the object is clause final, with the modifier ‘heavy’ following the object noun. Theverb is expressed serially, but the two verbs ‘put’ and descend’ are separated by the object noun.The indirect object, the bag into which the ‘thing’ is put, follows the object and it is alsofollowed by the postposition. The final clause completes the conditional phrase, and is in thefuture tense. The subject of the final clause, the noun and its possessor, precede the auxiliarywhich is then followed by the verb. The verb is marked as being in the imperfect aspect by thefinal vowel.23 séséifPrtifsúɥìsúɥìkókóònn −tíndètínd −è −Hkɛ́ɛ̀kɛ́ɛ̀inside TRANSITIVE put PERFECTIVE HCOMPLETIVEAdp v > vt v VII: Perfective i v: (Person) ninsideputmáátòmpáá ŋkó ,máà −tòmpáá ŋkóòdescend 1ST SING POSS goat bag CONNECTIVE insideVI Poss: First Person POSS n Conn Adpdescend mygoat baginsidemààbɔ́jéɛ̀ máàmàà −bɔ́jéɛ̀ máà3rd SING POSSrope COPULAn: Possessed Noun Infectional Template n Copitsrope willjàɣà.jàɣ −à −Lcut non − completed 3Sv VII: Imperfective a v: (Person)cutmɛ̀nɛ̀mɛ̀nɛ̀heavyAdjheavyif I put something heavy into my goat bag, it will break.262

24 ábójèɛ̀nántíndèábójèɛ̀ná−Hntínd−èDETERMINERropeAUXHCONNECTIVEputPERFECTIVEDetnCopv: (Person)ConnvVII: Perfective itheropeI amputmàátópààŋkòmàátópààŋkò1ST SING POSSgoat bagCONNECTIVEinsidePoss: First Person POSSnConnAdpmygoat baginsideI am putting the rope in my goat bag.25 ábójèɛ̀ʃúɥíɛ̀máàtópààábójèɛ̀ʃúɥíɛ̀−Lmáà −tópààDETERMINERropedescend3S1ST SING POSSgoat bagDetnVIv: (Person)Poss: First Person POSSntheropeit descendsmygoat bagŋkò.ŋkòCONNECTIVEinsideConnAdpinsidethe rope descends in my goat bag.26 nntíndètínd −è −HCONNECTIVE put PERFECTIVE HConn v VII: Perfective i v: (Person)I puttópààtópààŋŋkòkò.goat bag CONNECTIVE insidengoat bagConn Adpinsideʃúɥíɛ̀ʃúɥíɛ̀descendVIdescendmàámàá1ST SING POSSPoss: First Person POSSmy263

I put (something) in my goat bag.27 ábójèɛ̀tíndèʃúɥíɛ̀màátópààábójèɛ̀tínd−èʃúɥíɛ̀màátópààDETERMINERropeputPERFECTIVEdescend1ST SING POSSgoat bagDetnvVII: Perfective iVIPoss: First Person POSSntheropeputdescendmygoat bagŋkò.ŋkòCONNECTIVEinsideConnAdpinsideI put the rope in my bag.*kóɔ̀28 ŋŋkóɔ̀kóɔ̀tíndétínd −é −HaaCONNECTIVE PAST put PERFECTIVE HDETERMINERConn Preverb v VII: Perfective i v: (Person) DetI puttheʃúɥíɛ̀ʃúɥíɛ̀máàmáà −tópààtópààŋŋkòkò.descend mygoat bag CONNECTIVE insideVI Poss: First Person POSS n Conn Adpdescend mygoat baginsidebójèɛ̀bójèɛ̀ropenropeI put the rope in my bag.The evidential marker may also be expressed with the word ‘come’, marked in the perfectiveaspect as shown by the shift in vowel of the verb (compare the first clause with the second). Adifference is shown, however, in the presence of the chaining element [a] between the verbs‘come’ and ‘find’ which was not present between the verbs ‘go’ and ‘find’ above. The finalverb, ‘lie down’ is a stative verb.264

29 nnníjɛ̀níjɛ̀, kàdìjàkàdìjàdádáwò nwò nnóònóò, núnúCONNECTIVE yesterday Kadija AUX go CONNECTIVE come comeConn nNprop Cop v Conn VV VVCONNECTIVE yesterday Kadija was gocome cameàkáráán túrú wɛ̀ .àkáráá −H n túrú wɛ́Chaining element find, possess H1S lie down STATIVEPrtvv: (Person) pro vTAMtoI findI lie down. PST STATIVEyesterday, before Kadija came, she came to find that I was lying down.30 nníjɛ̀nníjɛ̀CONNECTIVE yesterdayConn nCONNECTIVE yesterdayàɡúʒɛ́àɡúʒɛ́DETERMINER grass, weedsDetnthegrass, weeds, nn1SproIŋŋdá kúmbò ŋ kùmbòdá kúmbò −RED ŋ kùmbòAUX stroll REDUPLICANT PAST 1S strollCop v v: Any pro vis I strolledCONNECTIVEConnCONNECTIVEkò .kòinsideAdpinsideYesterday, I was wandering in the grass.31 nnìjè ( náẁ / dáẁnnìjè náẁ dáẁCONNECTIVE yesterday give giveConn nyesterdayVVgiveVVgiveyesterday I was strolling.) kúmbó kúmbòkúmbó kúmbòstrollvstroll.265

32 nníjéwòrèkúmbó kúmbò.nníjéwòrékúmbó kúmbòCONNECTIVEyesterdaygostrollConnnvvyesterdaygostrollyesterday I was strolling.33 mùwìn/ dáẁkúmbó kúmbò.mùwìndáẁkúmbó kúmbòtodayCONNECTIVEgivestrollnConnVVvtodaygivestrolltoday I am strolling.34 nnàẁkúmbó kúmbò.nnàẁkúmbó kúmbòCONNECTIVEAUXstrollConnCopvAUXstrollI will wander.35 ndáàwòrèkúmbó kúmbò.ndáàwòrékúmbó kúmbòCONNECTIVEAUXgostrollConnCopvvI amgostrollI am going to wander.Although the default word order for the perfective aspect is SOV, if the past particle is used, theobject and verb may be reversed in the past tense as shown in the phrase in (36). However, if thepast tense marker is not present, the word order may not be reversed as shown by the differentialmeaning.266

36 kóɔ̀mpɔ́ ɣɔ́kéréndɛ̄kɛ̀.kóɔ̀mpɔ́ ɣɔ́−Hkéréndɛ̄kɛ̀PASTTRANSITIVEstep onHslitherthingPreverbv > vtvv: (Person)vvI stepped onslitherthingI stepped on a snake.37 kɔ́ómpóɣɔ̀kɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́è.kɔ́ómpóɣɔ̀kɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èPASTTRANSITIVEstep onslitherthingPreverbv > vtvvvI stepped onslitherthingI stepped on a snake.38 kɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èmpóɣɔ̀.kɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èmpóɣɔ̀−HslitherthingTRANSITIVEstep onHvnv > vtvv: (Person)slitherthingI stepped onI stepped on a snake.*kɔ́ó39 mpóɣɔ̀kɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́è( ŋkéɛ́).mpóɣɔ̀−Hkɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èŋkéɛ́TRANSITIVEstep onHslitherthingCONNECTIVECOMPLETIVEv > vtvv: (Person)vnConnnI stepped onslitherthingI stepped on a snake (and it is finished, but my foot has still not left its head).267

40 mmpóɣɔ̀póɣɔ̀ −Hkérɛ́ndɛ̀ kɛ́èkérɛ́ndɛ̀ kɛ́èmmTRANSITIVE step on Hslither thing TRANSITIVEv > vt v v: (Person) v n v > vtI stepped on slither thingbúndíbúnd−ímààmàà =unpeel, undress, take out PERFECTIVE 1ST SING POSS =vVII: Perfective i Poss: First Person POSStake outmykéɛ̀.kéɛ̀COMPLETIVEnCOMPLETIVEbúwɪ̀ɛ̀ ŋbúwɪ̀ɛ̀ ŋfootn ConnfootCONNECTIVEI stepped on a snake and took off my foot.41 ndáákɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èmpóɣɔ̀.ndáákɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èmpóɣɔ̀CONNECTIVEAUXslitherthingTRANSITIVEstep onConnCopvnv > vtvI amslitherthingstepping onI am stepping on a snake.*n dáá póɣɔ̀ kɛ́ndɛ̀ kɛ́è.42 ndáàmpóɣɔ̀.ndáàmpóɣɔ̀−LCONNECTIVEIMPERFECTTRANSITIVEstep on1SGConnTAMv > vtvPreverb: Anyamstep onI am stepping on.268

43 kóɔ́ntámbàmàábúwɛ́é.kóɔ́n −támbà−Lmàábúwɛ́éPASTTRANSITIVEbite3S1ST SING POSSfootPreverbv > vtvv: (Person)Poss: First Person POSSnit bitmyfootIt bit my foot.this can be used to put the focus on someone else (it bit HIS foot)44 nkɔ́òtámbàmààbúwɛ́é.nkɔ́òtámbà−Lmàà =búwɛ́éCONNECTIVEPASTchew3S1ST SING POSS =footConnPreverbvv: (Person)Poss: First Person POSSnit bitmyfootIt bit my foot.45 ( kɔ́ò) mààbúwɛ́éntámbà.kɔ́òmàà =búwɛ́éntámbà−LPAST1ST SING POSS =footCONNECTIVEbite3SPreverbPoss: First Person POSSnConnvv: (Person)myfootit bitIt bit my foot.this can be used to put the focus on the agent (me)46 ∗ ntambamaabuwɛ.ntambmaabwɪ̀ɛ́CONNECTIVEbite3rd SING POSSlegConnvn: Possessed Noun Infectional Templatenbite3rd SING POSSleg(ungrammatical because this would imply that one bit one's own foot)Not all verbs can appear with fluctuating word order in the past tense. The verb ‘take’ in (47)may only appear with SVO word order with the past tense marker, but without it, the oppositeword order, SOV, is obligatory.269

47 kámánɲàr̃ááàsímè.kámánɲàr̃á−LààsímèPASTCONNECTIVEtake3SDETERMINERrock, cliffPreverbConnvv: (Person)Detnhe tooktherockhe took the rock.48 kɔ́ònɲár̃àásímèè.kɔ́ònɲár̃à−HásímèèPASTCONNECTIVEtake1SGDETERMINERrockPreverbConnvPreverb: AnyDetnI tooktherockI took the rock.49 ∗ kɔosimenɲana.kɔosimenɲanaPASTrock, cliffCONNECTIVEtakePreverbnConnvrock, clifftakecannot be used with PAST marker50 símèènɲár̃à.símèènɲár̃àrockCONNECTIVEtakenConnvrocktakeI took a rock51 ∗ ɲana aɲana atake DETERMINERv Dettake thesime .simerock, cliffnrock, cliff270

(ungrammatical in past tense - imperative form)The phrase in (52) uses a serial verb construction to express the throwing of the rock which inturn kills the snake. Both verbs are in the perfective aspect as indicated by the final vowels ofeach verb.52 kámáŋɡúɥúnɥúùrù.kámá−HŋɡúɥúnɥúùrùPAST1SGTRANSITIVEthrowCONNECTIVEkillPreverbPreverb: Anyv > vtvConnVIIIPAST. 1SGTRANSITIVEthrow. PSTCONNECTIVEkill. PSTI threw (it) (and) killed (it).53 náàkérɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èŋɡúɥínáàkérɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́èŋɡúɥ−íAUXDETERMINERslitherthingCONNECTIVEthrowImperfectiveCopDetvnConnvVIII: Imperfective ɛI amtheslitherthingI am throwingɥúùrù.ɥúùr−ùkillPerfectiveVIII VIII: (Perfective u)I killedI am throwing (rocks) at the snake until I kill it.*ŋ kéɛ̀271

54 ŋɡúɥúàkérɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́ènŋɡúɥ−úàkérɛ́ndɛ̀kɛ́ènCONNECTIVEthrowPerfectiveDETERMINERslitherthingCONNECTIVEConnv VIII: (Perfective u)DetvnConnthrow. PSTtheslitherthingɥúùrùŋkéɛ̀ɥúùrùŋkéɛ̀killCONNECTIVECOMPLETIVEVIIIConnnkill. PSTCOMPLETIVEI threw (rocks) at the snake until it was dead.55 máámáàjáámbɛ̀ ŋjáámbɛ̀ ŋCOPULA child 1SCopwasnchildproIkúmbò ŋ kúmbókókóò −Hinside 1SGAdp Preverb: AnyPAST. 1sgkúmbò −RED ŋ kúmbóstroll REDUPLICANT PAST 1S strollv v: Any pro vI strolledŋkò .ŋkòCONNECTIVE insideConn AdpCONNECTIVE inside(when) I was a child, I was strolling in the grass., ndáàndáàCONNECTIVE AUXConn CopCONNECTIVE wasáàɡúʒɛ̀ààɡúʒɛ̀DETERMINER grass, weedsDetnthegrass, weeds56 kóɔ̀mpɔ́ ɣɔ̀kérèndɛ́ŋkɛ̀.kóɔ̀−Lmpɔ́ ɣɔ̀kérèndɛ́ŋkɛ̀PAST1SGTRANSITIVEstep onslitherCONNECTIVEthingPreverbPreverb: Anyv > vtvvConnvPAST. 1SGTRANSITIVEstep onslitherCONNECTIVEthing272

I stepped on a snake.57 kóɔ́ntámbàmáàbúwɛ́.kóɔ́n −támbàmáà −búwɛ́PASTTRANSITIVEbite1ST SING POSSfootPreverbv > vtvPoss: First Person POSSnTRANSITIVEbite. PSTmyfootIt bit my foot58 kónɲánàsímè.kóò−Hn −ɲanasímèinside1SGTRANSITIVEtakerock, cliffAdpPreverb: Anyv > vtvnPAST. 1SGTRANSITIVEtake. PSTrockI took a rock59 kóŋɡúɥùnɥùùru.kóò−Hŋɡúɥùnninside1SGTRANSITIVEthrowCONNECTIVECONNECTIVEAdpPreverb: Anyv > vtvConnConnPAST. 1SGTRANSITIVEthrow. PSTCONNECTIVECONNECTIVEI threw (it) (and) killed (it).Word OrderThe following phrases have been extracted from the EUROTYP WORD ORDERQUESTIONNAIRE by Anna Siewiersk.We see in these first two sentences that the simple past may be expressed using SVO word order,with the tense or aspect and the person tonal marking on the verb.1.1 jáà pùwɛ̀ndéɡɛ̀jáá bórómbɛ̀ .jáà pùwɛ̀ndéɡ−ɛ̀jáá bórómbɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀N 1dèɡɛ́−ɛjáá bórómbɛ̀young womanTRANSITIVEhitImperfectiveyoung mannConnvVIII: Imperfective ɛnyoung womanhityoung man273

a young woman hit a young man.1.2 jáá bórómbɛ̀ndéɡɛ̀jáá pùwɛ̀.jáá bórómbɛ̀ndéɡ−ɛ̀jáá pùwɛ̀jáá bórómbɛ̀N 1dèɡɛ́−ɛjáà pùwɛ̀young manTRANSITIVE hitImperfectiveyoung womannConnvVIII: Imperfective ɛnyoung manhityoung womana young man hit a young woman.The phrase in 1.3 marks both the subject and object as definite. The word order remains SVO.1.3 ààjáá bórómbɛ̀ njáá bórómbɛ̀ ndèɡɛ̀dèɡ −ɛ̀ààà 1jáá bórómbɛ̀ N 1dèɡɛ́ −ɛà 1DETERMINER young man TRANSITIVE hit Imperfective DETERMINERDetnConn v VIII: Imperfective ɛ Dettheyoung manhitthejáá púwɛ̀ .jáá púwɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀young womannyoung womanthe young man hits the young woman.However, in the progressive aspect, marked by the auxiliary [daa] ~ [naa], and the front vowelsuffix on the verb, shown in 1.4, the word order is SOV.274

1.4 jáà pùwɛ̀náà/ dáànjáà bórómbɛ̀njáà pùwɛ̀náàdáànjáà bórómbɛ̀njáà pùwɛ̀daa =daa =N 1jáá bórómbɛ̀N 1young womanAUXAUXTRANSITIVEyoung manTRANSITIVEnCopCopConnnConnyoung womanisisyoung mandéɡɛ̀.déɡ−ɛ̀dèɡɛ́−ɛhitImperfectivevVIII: Imperfective ɛhita young woman is hitting a young man.In a verb chaining phrase in the imperfective aspect, such as is shown in 1.5, using the auxiliary[daa], the verb ‘go’ and the verb marked as imperfective by the front vowel suffix, the wordorder is S-AUX-V-O-V.1.5 jáá bórómbɛ̀dáàwòrèàjáá púwɛ̀ndéɡɛ̀.jáá bórómbɛ̀dáàwòréàjáá púwɛ̀ndéɡɛ̀jáá bórómbɛ̀dà 1wore 1 à 1jáà pùwɛ̀N 1dèɡɛ́young manAUXgoDETERMINERyoung womanTRANSITIVEhitnCOPvDetnConnvyoung manisgotheyoung womanhita young man is going to hit the young woman.When the verb is in its infinitival form as with the verb ‘want’, shown in 1.6, the word order is S-V-V-O.275

1.6 jáà bórómbɛ̀mààhándéɡɛ̀àjáà bórómbɛ̀màà −hándéɡɛ̀àjáá bórómbɛ̀màráà 1 há 2N 1dèɡɛ́à 1young manwantinfinitive markerTRANSITIVEhitDETERMINERnv? ? ?ConnvDetyoung manwanttohitthejáá púwɛ̀.jáá púwɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀young womannyoung womana young man wants to hit the young woman.The particle [kɔo], here translated as ‘past’ when used with the imperfective marking on theverb, displays the SVO word order seen in the simple present tense phrases above.1.7 jáà bórómbɛ̀kɔ́òndéɡɛ̀àjáà bórómbɛ̀kɔ́òndéɡ−ɛ̀àjáá bórómbɛ̀kɔ́ 2N 1dèɡɛ́−ɛà 1young manPASTTRANSITIVEhitImperfectiveDETERMINERnPreverbConnvVIII: Imperfective ɛDetyoung manhitthejáà pùwɛ̀.jáà pùwɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀young womannyoung womana young man was hitting the young woman.276

In the perfective aspect, which is expressed by the back vowel suffix on the verb, and either achaining verb ‘go’ or the completive particle [ŋ keɛ], the word order shown here is SVO.1.8 jáá bórómbɛ̀woreadéɡùàjáá bórómbɛ̀worea =déɡ−ùàjáá bórómbɛ̀wore 1 a = 1dèɡɛ́−uà 1young mangoChaining element =hitPerfectiveDETERMINERnvPrtv VIII: (Perfective u)Detyoung mangotohitthejáá púwɛ̀.jáá púwɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀young womannyoung womana young man went to hit the young woman.1.9 jáá bórómbɛ̀ njáá bórómbɛ̀ ndéɡùdéɡ −ùjáá bórómbɛ̀ N 1dèɡɛ́ −uyoung man TRANSITIVE hit PerfectivenConn v VIII: (Perfective u)young manhitŋkéɛ̀.ŋN 1= kéɛ̀= kéɛ̀ 1CONNECTIVE = COMPLETIVEConn nCOMPLETIVEa young man hit the young woman.ààà 1DETERMINERDetthejáá púwɛ̀jáá púwɛ̀jáà pùwɛ̀young womannyoung woman277

1.10 àjáá bórómbɛ̀ndèɡùtèlèphó.àjáá bórómbɛ̀ndèɡ−ùtèlèphóà 1jáá bórómbɛ̀N 1dèɡɛ́−utèlèphóDETERMINERyoung manTRANSITIVEhitPerfectivetelephoneDetnConnv VIII: (Perfective u)ntheyoung manhittelephonethe young man hit a telephone (called sme).Animacy does not seem to be a factor in word order change as shown by the only inanimate nounin the language as the subject.1.11 àdíŋɡìdáàkádídʒándèɡɛ̀àdínɡìdáàkádídʒándèɡ−ɛ̀à 1dínɡìdà 1kàdìjàN 1dèɡɛ́−ɛDETERMINERtrashIMPERFECTKadijaTRANSITIVEhitImperfectiveDetnTAMNpropConnvVIII: Imperfective ɛthetrashisKadijahit.the trash hit Kadija (trash is the only inanimate noun in the language).278

279

hypothesis for today:maybe there must be a high tone (accent!) somewhere on the word?kúú-ndɛ̀Is the initial nasal really 1S if it appears with a subject too (b, c)?a. n dáẃ wòrè kúúⁿ I am going to the market1S PROG go marketb. àdàmá n dáẁ wòrè kúúⁿ Adama is going to the marketAdama CONN PROG go marketc. àdàmá n náẁ wòrè ʃììⁿ kúúⁿ Adama, let’s go to the market togetherAdama CONN PROG go APP marketd. ∅ ∅ dáá wòrè kúúⁿ (subjunctive) let’s go to the marketPROG go markete. m máá hààⁿ wòrè kúúⁿ1S want INF go market I want to go to the marketf. bòróó wòrè n náẃ kúúⁿtomorrow go CONN PROG market tomorrow, we will go to the marketg. wòrè n náẁ kúúⁿ bòróógo CONN PROG market tomorrow I will go to the market tomorrowh. nìjèɛ̀ n wòrè kúúⁿyesterday CONN go market Yesterday, I went to the marketi. wòrè kúúⁿ nìjèɛ̀go market yesterday I went to the market yesterdayFrom these sentences, it appears that the tone on the constituents in the verb phrase are notaltered by the tense, nor their position within the phrase. Additionally, tone is not spread acrossword boundaries. Throughout the examples, the tone on the word for ‘market’, remains the280

same, high, no matter whether it appears phrase finally (a - f, h), or phrase internally (g, i). Thetone on the copula [naw] (c, f - g) ~ [daw] (a - b) is falling. Among nouns, it was shown thattone may spread from right to left. However, the final low tone of the copula is not receivedfrom verb which follows it as is shown when the following constituent is high as in (g). The toneon the verb ‘go’ remains low in all examples except (i). Although one could hypothesize thatthe low tone on the verb is spread from the preceding copula which is low, the example in whichthe verb is phrase-initial (g), or not following a low-toned stem (e) contradict this. Therefore, itis shown the tone on the verb ‘go’ is low.a. n dáà wóré kúúⁿ n náẁ ɥáá ŋámbárà let’s go to the market, let’s1S PROG go market CONN PROG buy sheep buy a sheepS V Ob. n dáà wóré ɥáà ŋámbárà S V O let’s go buy a sheepc. n dáà wò kúúⁿ, n dáà ŋámbà ɥàà S O VI am going to the market, Iam buying a sheepd. n dáà ɥàà ŋàmbárà S V O (imperf)I am buying a sheep (faraway?)e. n dáẁ ŋámbárà n ɥàà (imperf) I am buying a sheep (close?)f. n náà ŋàmbá n ɥàà “”g. wòrè ŋàmbá ɥàà n nòògo buy a sheep and comebackh. ɥàà ŋámbà n nòò kɛ́è (S V O)I bought a sheep and camebacki. ɥáà ŋámbárà n nòòI bought a sheep and camebackj. ɥáà ŋámbàrà buy a sheepk. n ŋàmbárá ɥàràà I bought a sheepl. ŋàmbárá n ɥàà “”m. ŋamba na ɥaa I will by a sheepn. ŋamba n daa ɥaa “”o. ŋàmbá n dáẁ ɥàá I am buying a sheepp. ŋàmbárà n dáẁ ɥàà “”n daa *ɥaara ŋambaran daa ɥaa *ŋambaŋamba n daa *ɥaraa281

*n ŋambara naa ɥaraaThe verb ‘buy’ always appears with a low tone if it surfaces phrase-finally. Additionally, theverb ‘buy’ is truncated phrase-finally except in the example (k). When the verb appears phraseinitally,it carries a falling tone in all examples except (h). The copula also appears with a fallingtone when it surfaces phrase-initally or phrase-internally (n - o). The object noun, ‘sheep’, haseither a falling or a rising melody and appears in both its truncated and non-truncated forms.a. kaja koroɡo naa ɥaa I will buy a basket (SOAV)b. kóɡò náà ɥàà “”c. koɡo n dáẁ ɥàá “”ɥaa koɡo buy a basketkoɡo ɥaraa I bought a basket (SOV)d. n ɥàá koróɡò ŋ kɛe I bought a basket (SVO)n koroɡo ɥaraa ŋ kɛe I bought a basket (SOV)e. koroɡo ɥaraa “”f. ɡirimɛ koroɡo ɥaraa rabbit bought a basket (SOV)g. ɡirimɛ koroɡo naa ɥaa rabbit will buy a basketh. n daa wore n ɥaa I am going to buyi. Kadija koroɡo naa wo n ɥaa I am going to buy a basketj. Kadija naa koɡo ɥaaKadija is buying a basket(SAOV)k. ɥaa koɡo ŋ kɛe Kadija bought a basket (SVO)l.koɡo naa *ɥaraakoroɡo naa *ɥaraan *ɥaraa koɡo ŋ kɛe282

koroɡo n ɕiɥiɛI am carrying (stative) a basketkoɡo n ɕiɥirɛ “”koroɡo n ɕiɥirɛ “”koroɡondɛ n ɕiɥirɛI am carrying basketsn ɕiɥiɛ ŋ koɡo ŋ keɛI carried a basketn ɕiɥiɛ a koroɡo ŋ keɛI carried the basket*koɡo n ɕiɥiɛ*ɕiɥiɛndɛPST S V Oɡúmbàrà n támbā m mí ɡumba n tamba n dɛɡúmbàɡumba n tamba aw ɡumba n tamba awɡumba n tamba mi ɡumba n tamba niiPERF ɡúmbà mí támbàCOMPL S V Oɡumba teⁿ nii ŋ keɛɡumbaraIMPERF S O Vɡumba daa no mi tawⁿaAUX V 1 OBJ V 2ɡumbara daa mi tawⁿamaybe TAM plus word order can be past-progressive?big (important) woman - ɲìj(èr)ɛ̀ bóɡò (slightly lower and shorter)tall woman - ɲìjèrɛ̀ bóɡòa. n dáá wòrè - 1S HH L.L [54-2.2] first high is very highb. n dàá wòrè - 1PL LH L.L [33-4.2] high on second mora is pulled down byfollowing low283

c. dà wórè - 3S LL H.L [11-3.2] high on initial syllable of verb is pulled down bylow on final mora of copulaThere must be (at most) one high tone on the phrase. In (c), the high of the second mora of thecopula is deleted. The accent of the word may not surface on the lost mora, thus, it surfaces onthe following verb’s initial mora. The mora of the copula is deleted because the nasal is deleted.bàà dèɡɛ̀ kúɥìn màá mɛ̀tie your hair(whatever) you like284

AcknowledgmentsData were collected by the author primarily from two native speakers of Bangime, Tiga Badeand Ali Karambe in the village of Bounou from June through August, 2008, May throughAugust, 2009, and July through December, 2010. The language of elicitation was principallyeither Bangime or Fulfude, although French and Bamana were also used. The entirety of thisresearch is supported by National Endownment for the Humanities (NEH) PA 50643-04,National Science Foundation (NSF) grant numbers BCS-0537435, DEL-0853364 “DogonLanguages of Mali”, Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Grant “The Essentials of LanguageDocumentation: The Pen is a Hoe and the Notebook is a Field”, the National ScienceFoundation Doctoral Dissertation Improvement grant BCS-1024347 “Doctoral DissertationResearch: Documentation of Bangime, a Language Isolate”, and the Indiana UniversityInternational Enhancement Grant. I have been and will continue to be collaborating with thelarger initiative, Dogon Languages of Mali (http://dogonlanguages.org), funded by the NationalScience Foundation’s DEL program (#0853364), and headed by Professor Jeffrey Heath fromthe University of Michigan. In conjunction with this project, I am affliated with the Institut desLangues Abdoulaye Barry (ILAB), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique etTechnologique (CNRST), Université de Bamako, and Centre National des Ressources del’Education non Formelle. ()285

i Though this nasal usually indicates a compound, it does not always, see ex. 4a.286