A Grammar of Mombo Songho Dialect

‘hyena’ tâ: tá:-gè/*‘grasshopper’ káwé káwé-gè/*‘baobab’ ɔŕɔ̀ ɔŕɔ́-gè/*‘Ceiba’ ánúmà ánúmá-gè/*‘stone’ kínnì kínní-gè/*‘hill’ pɛǵɔ̀ pɛǵɔ́-gè/*b. Humans – ethnic groups‘Dogon’ éjè éjé-ŋgè/*‘Fulbe’ púndɛ́ púndɛ́-ŋgè/*‘Dugulu’ dɔǵɔĺì dɔǵɔĺí-ŋgè/dɔǵɔĺí-gè‘Songhay’ kɔŕɔ́bɔŕɔ̀ kɔŕɔ́bɔŕɔ̀-gé/*c. Humans -professions‘blacksmith’ dɛḿbɛ́ dɛḿbɛ́-ŋgé/*‘leatherworker’ ká:lò ká:ló-ŋgè/*‘weather’ gɛ̀zì tí: gɛ̀zì tí:-gé/*‘marabout’ módíbò módíbò-gé/*When the PL marker has to be detached from the head noun and follow themodifier, only -ge is possible.(xxx) nɔ́bɛ́-ŋgè/ nɔ́bɛ́-gè‘younger brothers/sisters’(xxx) nɔ̀bɛ̀ yá:gá-gé /*yágá-ŋgèsibling.L pretty-PL‘pretty younger brothers/sisters’wê: (PL wé:-gè) ‘child’ also meaning ‘fruit’, is (not surprisingly) treated as nonhuman.Consider the wide range of semantically non-human compounds this word isinvolved in (see § 5xxx).ńdá ‘person’ has non-human PL ńdá-gé. In addition, there is a form nógè ‘people’,which is used only in possessive-like combinations with the first element denoting aplace, a clan name etc. where those people belong. Cf. Sɔńgɔ́ nógè ‘Songho people’,kálámí nógè ‘Karambé people’ (a clan name).nógè constitutes the most probable source of grammaticalization of -ŋge marker.A possible grammaticalization scenario is shown in (xx4). First regular plural ńdá-gé‘people’ lexicalizes to nógè, then nógè grammaticalizes to -ŋge.(xx4) ńdá-gé > nógè > -ŋge23