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Multiple choice – Verbal nouns in Baïnounk Gubëeher

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• The language• Verbal nouns at a glance– Classification of verbs with gender morphology– NC prefixes in Baïnounk

• Theoretical questions– NV-distinction– Transitivity

• Syntactic Properties and Distribution of VNs• Parameters of verb classification (Syntactic, Semantic)• Further research: areal aspects

Talk structure

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The language

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Detailed map, Bainouk

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Bainouk Gubëeher

DJIBONKER/JIBËEHER

(+Diaspora: Dakar

Ziguinchor)Speakers: ca. 1500

Genetic affiliation:

Niger Congo -Atlantic -Northern branch -East Senegal Guinea -Nyun Baïnounk languages

Dakar

homeland diaspora

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The Ñun & Baïnounk languagesÑ

un

Baïnounk

WestGutobor (Tobor)

Gunaamolo (Niamone)

SouthGubëeher (Djibonker)

Gufangor (Djifangor)

Gubelor (Djibelor)

Northeast ? (Gambia, Sedhiou,)

East Gujaher (Kaasa,Jegui )

Guinea BranchKobiana (Kabuy [GB])

Kasanga (sedenghal [GB])

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Verbal Nouns (VN) in Gubëeher at a glance

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NC prefixes and VN formation

Singular Plural Collective Other

u- in- fu-

bi- fa-bu- i- di- pi-gu- ha- ja- hu-si(n)- mu(n)- ba- ku-ra(n)- ña(n)- bi- ji-ka- ta-a-ko- ño- hɔ-da din

Excluded:

• Vocalic (a-,i-, u-)• Diminutive (ko-,

ño-, ho- ) and Augmentative (da-, din-)

• extremely rare (pi-, hu-)

bu-

a-

attested as verbal noun formants (VNF)

not attested as VNF

can combine with all but 13/328 underived stems.

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Distribution of VNF other than buderived verbs, stative verbs and recognisable loans have not been taken into account!

214/328 underived verb stems have been recorded so far only with VNF bu-, 114/328 with any of the other VNFs.

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Overview VNs and research questionsDifferent stems, different NC markers:

Same stem, different markers:

Verbal noun inflected

ha- roxNC-cry‘cry’

i-rox-i1Sg-cry-Asp‘I have cried’

ja- naafNC-cultivate‘cultivate’

i-naaf-i1Sg-cultivate-Asp‘I have cultivated’

Verbal noun inflected

gu- bëexNC-pull‘pull’

i-bëex-i1Sg-pull-Asp‘I have pulled (it)’

jëm- bëexNC-pull‘pull (a boat)’

bu- bëexNC-pull‘pull’

What triggers the choice of a specific VNF?

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Previous Research VNs• VN derivation with multiple NC-markers is an areal feature

observable in all Joola (Bayot, Fogny, Banjal, Jirer cf. Sagna 2008) all Bainounk (incl. Kobiana/Kasanga cf. Doneux 1990) and all Manjaku (incl. Mancagne, Pepel) languages

• In many Casamance languages two NC marker are dominant, while many others can also occur:

Language Dominant VNF

Baïnounk bu-, gu-

Kobiana bV-, gu- (action nouns)

Joola Fogny e-, ka-Joola Bandial e-, ga-Joola Kwaatay ka-, bV-Manjaku pë-, ka (action nouns)

• no analysis so far• tendency to distinguish

more verbal VNs (infinitives) and more nominal VNs (action nouns)

• consensus that there is no neat distinction between variants/types of VNs

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Problem • Variation inter and intra-speaker

– Some speakers make more and subtler distinctions than others– No standardisation

• VNs hard to elicit and low frequency in corpus– sophisticated methodology required because of context sensitive

parameters – list-effect– ideas about “correctness” interfere

• Limited data about argument structure, verb classes and syntax available

For some verbs there seem to be no hard and fast rules that are valid for all speakers and all contexts, but clearly tendencies.

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Syntactic Properties of VNs

Transitivity

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Inanimate objects cannot be suffixed to the verb as pronouns. only

nominally or it is not mentioned.

pronominal

itr. (Subject) Spro-V tr. (Subject) Spro-Verb-Opro/anim (Object)

(Alex) a-ceem-i3S-sleep-Asp‘(Alex) slept’

a-wuul-em3S-see-3SOanim

‘S/he saw him/her

Alex a-wuul-i koloŋAlex 3S-see-Asp well‘Alex saw the well.’

Alex a-wuul-i AsañaAlex 3S-see-Asp O‘Alex saw Asana’an

imat

e o

bjec

tin

anim

ate

obj

ect a-wuul-i

3S-see-Asp ‘S/he saw it.’

NP

Rich morphology to increase or decrease valency:

jaax ‘eat’ 2-place underived

jaax-um ‘eat with’ 3-place Applicative

jaax-ëla ‘have a meal’ 1-place obect deletion

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Nominal and verbal propertiesNominal properties• NC marker, sg.pl.

bu-saatNC-pass‘to pass/passing’’

• modifiersbu-nobun bumbuNC-tie Dem:NC‘This tieing up’

• S and O position bu-ruk ka ku-no bun-doŋ NC-drink Con NC-wine good-3SNeg ‘Drinking palmwine is not good.’• possessive Suffixes

bu-lodin-kenemNC-greet-3SPoss‘greeting her’

Verbal properties

• derivationsin-wuul-ayNC-see-Rec‘to see each other’

• head of predication

• keeps part of the argument structure (objects)

min hë-dëek1Plex NC-go‘We are going.’

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Encoding of participants in Nominalisations

finite nonfinite

a-lodin-i Asaña3S-greet-Asp Asana‘S/he greeted Asana’

bu-lodin ka AsañaNC-greet Con Asana‘greeting Asana’

a-lodin- em3S-greet-3SO‘He greeted her’

bu-lodin- kenemNC-greet-3SPoss‘greeting her’

a-maŋ-i bu-lodin- kenem3S-want-Asp NC-greet-3SPoss‘He wants to greet her

a-maŋ- em bu-lodin3S-want-3SO NC-greet‘He wants to greet her’

ku-waxa ha aŋga di-raaxNC-play Con with NC-sand‘playing with sand’

bu-ceem ka *a fuŋkuNC-sleep Con Prep room‘sleeping in a room’

a-ceem-i *(a) fuŋku3S-sleep-Asp *Prep room‘s/he slept in a room’

Obliques

ha/ka not only encodes core participants but all kind of complements: locative, adverbial, comitative etc.

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Predicative use of VN (me) bu-rux ka ba-rux1S NC-drink Con NC-water‘I am drinking water. (Answer to the question: What are you doing?)’

a-bun bu-noox3S-good NC-sit‘It is good for sitting’

a-leer-i bu-dom3S-difficult-Asp NC-swallow‘It is difficult to swallow’

In raising constructions

haŋgu-ri sin-cemcan-Neg1S NC-sleep‘I cannot sleep’

*haŋgu-ri bu-cem can-Neg1S NC-sleep ‘I cannot sleep’

Complement of verb

tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’

Periphrastic contructions

Use of verbal nouns in Gubëeher

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Syntactic Parameters of VNF assignment

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Verbal derivation and VNF I: Derived transitives with bu-

VNF DerivativeSuffix

Example

bu- -un/-lin/-umCausative/Transitive/Applicative

a) bu-ro-lin ‘make cry’ (< ha-rox ‘cry’)b) bu-sel-un ‘pee on’ (< mu-sel ‘pee’)c) bu-yaax-un ‘make eat’ (< bu-yaax ‘eat’)

Some derivations increasing valency always take VNF bu- even though the underived stem takes an other VNF!

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Verbal derivation and VNF II:Derived intransitives with gu-, (bi-, ba-)

DerivativeSuffix

Function Examples

-a

Middle/Reflexive,Object deletion

a) bi-ñooc-a ‘wash one’s body’ (< bu-nooc ‘wash tr.’)b) gu-ñoop-a ‘hide refl.’ (< bu-ñoop ‘hide tr.’)c) gu-naax-ëla ‘spy on people’ (< bu-naax ‘tell’)d) bë-fës-ëla ‘eradicate weeds’ (< bu-fës-ul ‘eradicate tr.)e) gu-jaax-ëla ‘eat a meal’ (< bu-jaax ‘eat tr.’)

-ëla Distributive, Object deletion

The majority of derivations in -a (middle, reflexive) –ula/ëla (Distributive) and other valency reducing derivations trigger the use of VNF gu-, some bi- or ba-

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Verbal derivation and VNF III: Derived reciprokes with sin-

DerivativeSuffix

Function Examples

-aj Reciproke, Comitative

a) sin-wul-aj ‘meet’ (> bu-wul ‘see’)b) siŋ-kook-aj ‘accompany e.o.’ (>bu-hook ‘follow’)c) sin-raan-aj ‘meet’

There seems to be a semantic connection between reciproke derivation, reciproke relationships (be siblings, friends, cowifes etc.) and threadlike objects (thread, cotton thread, iron thread) which are allderived with sin-

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Verbs which exclude bu-gu-dolia ‘fish with a

rod’gu-mamaxun ‘stutter’gu-mantant ‘crosseyed’hë-dil ‘fart’gu-hosox ‘cough’gu-saw ‘hunt’gu-rëej ‘defecate’gu-ŋuñ ‘return’gu-cigia ‘dream’gu-jëdda ‘lie’ku-waan ‘lie’ku-waxa ‘play’ka-lim ‘rain’

For these verbs all four informants agree that they are not compatible with bu-. All of these are intransitive.

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Transitivity variations I

The bu-form is only admitted when a complement attached with ka

bu-ñëej ha hajahNC-do:laundry Con clothes‘wash clothes’

*bu-ñëej gi-rad-iNC-do:laundry 1SFoc-Aux-Asp

bë-ñëej gi-rad-iNC-do:laundry 1SFoc-Aux-Asp‘I am doing laundry’

BUT:

The common form is bë-ñëej. bu-ñëej is accepted by two of four speakers only.

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Transitivity variations II

bu-cɛn ka bu-dep gu-maŋ-iNC-sleep Con NC-bed FOC:2S-want-Asp‘You want to sleep in a/the bed’

The common form is sin-cem. bu-cem is accepted by one of four speakers only

i-dë sin-cem1S-go NC-sleep‘I go to sleep’

i-cem-i a bu-dep1Sg-sleep-Asp Prep ‘I slept in a/the bed’

*i-dë bu-cem1S-go NC-sleep‘I go to sleep’

BUT:

COMPARE:

The bu-form is only admitted when a complement attached with ka

‘Non-bu-’VN

as full Noun

as NonfiniteVN

bu-VN

NonfiniteVN

sin-cem ‘sleep’ ‘to sleep’ bu-cem ‘to sleep’

bi-ciir ‘death’ ‘to die’ bu-ciir ‘to die’

ba-loob ‘words’ ‘to speak’ bu-loob ‘to speak’

ba-caam ‘money’ ‘to pay’ bu-caam ‘to pay’

bi-naax ‘tribunal’ ‘to tell’ bu-naax ‘to tell’

ba-ñaŋ ‘dance’ ‘to dance’ bu-ñaŋ ‘to dance’

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If there is a choice between more than one VNF it is always the “non-bu- VN” which is ambiguous between full noun interpretation and a Nonfinite VN reading

Non-bu VN

• less productive• less predictable• derivation• more nounlike• less transitive

bu- VNs• more productive• more predictable• inflection?• less nounlike• more transitive

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Semantic Parameters of VNF assignment

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Changes in ontological domain

VNF1bu-

gloss VNF2gu-

gloss VNF3other-

gloss

bu-loot ‘to spit’ gu-loot ‘to vomit’

bu-bëex ‘to pull’ gu-bëex ‘to pull (e.g. cigarette)’

jëm-bëex ‘to pull (fishernet)’

bu-faanin ‘sniff’ gu-faanin ‘smoke’

bu-kubëla ‘turn around’

gukubëla turn around’‘misbehave’

si-kubëla ‘misbehave’

bu-liin ‘braid, weave’

ra-liin ‘weave (cloth)’

bu-ŋan ‘enter’ gu-ŋan ‘go to sleep’

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Semantic fields Gubëeher Gloss

ja-naaf ‘work in the field’

ja-rifun repiquer

ja-mul ‘harvest’

jë-gób cf. bu-gób

‘harvest palmwine’‘to scratch’

jë-góbul ‘harvest palmwine’

ja-rug cf. bu-rug cf. si-rug-ula

‘plant rice’‘plant (a tree)’ plantation

ja-ŋis ‘cut grass’

ja-ŋaf ‘ascend’ (often connected to harvesting fruit or palmwine)

jam-bok ‘climb’9 out of 11 ja- VNs are directly related to agricultural activities.

Gubëeher Glossba-farl-a ‘untangle peanuts’

bë-fësël-a ‘weed’

ba- -a ‘re-harvest’

ba-xac ‘clear land’

ba-mat ‘clear land’

Gubëeher Glosstë-bir cf. bu-bir

‘fish with trap’ ‘close’

ta-jah cf. bu-jah

‘fish with arrows’ ‘hit’

ta-jin-a cf. bu-jin

‘grill fish’ ‘grill’

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Pluractionality: Multiplicity of Participants or Action.

ja- and ba- , two collective plural NC prefixes on nouns seem to keep convey pluractionality wen used in VN formation. Both host many agricultural activities, which are often done collectively and involve plurality of actions, ba- also some other collectively performed activities:

bë-yin ‘sing’ ba-ñaŋ ‘dance’ bë-dëeka ‘play (game)’ ba-toot ‘sort rice’ cf. bu-toot ‘pick up’ ba-doox ‘transport (goods, rice) cf. bu-doox ‘carry’

Speakers have commented on the ba- forms of some verbs, such as ‘to sing’ as “the plural” of the alternative formin bu- and claimed that it is used when many peope sing, as opposed to just one.

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Qualities and Properties Qualities with VNF ba predicative use Qualities with VNF

sipredicative use

ba-li ‘goodness/be good’ a-li3S-good‘It is good’

si-riin ‘laziness’ a-riin-a‘he is lazy’ji-riin ‘lazybone’

bë-jólo ‘largeness’ a-jólo-i3S-large-Asp‘it is large’

si-piim ‘blindness’ a-piim-i/a‘he is blind’ji-piim ‘blind person’

In the Comparative construction with the verb lum ‘surpass’ all verbs require the VNF ba-:

a-lum-em ba-jaax (bu-jaax ‘eat’)3S-surpass-3SO NC-eat‘SHe eats more than him/her.’

a-lumi-em ba- jir (hë-jir ‘run’)3S-surpass-3SO NC-run‘SHe runs faster than him/her’

a-lum-i ba- li3S-surpass-Asp NC-good‘It is better’

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Hypothesis: object deletion vs suppresion

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Further research

• areal aspects of verb classification and VNs

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Summary

• Transitivity• Pluractionality• Cultural relevant semantic fields (fish,

agriculture)• Future/present?• 1. vs. other ?

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Doneux’ hypothesis

• Action nouns have taken place of Infinitives in Kobiana

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Nominalisation in GubeeherSemantics NC marker Example related verb root

Human participant

1. u-2. ji-

u-mbal ‘fisherman’ji-def ‘old person’

-mbal ‘fish’-def ‘be old’

Instrument gu- -um gu-ŋiis-um ‘sickle’ -ŋiis ‘cut grass’

Location 1. bu-2. bu- -um3. ka-

1. bu-noox ‘cabaret’2. bu-likina-um

‘kitchen’3. ka-noox ‘seat’

-noox ‘sit’-likina ‘cook a meal’

Quality 1. ba-2. si-

1. ba-sóog ‘ugliness/taboo’

2. si-riin ‘laziness’

-sóog ‘be ugly’-riin ‘be lazy’

VN (Action noun, Result, Nonfinite)

various bu-ñoŋ ‘to take/taking’sin-cem ‘the sleep/to sleep/sleeping’

-ñoŋ ‘take’-cem ‘sleep’

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Loan verbsVNF bu- and ka- accomodatemost loans from French and Wolof:

– ka-jang (< Wolof: jang) ‘read, learn’– ka-jaay (<Wolof: jaay) ‘sell’– bu-pentire/ka-pentire (< French peinturer ‘paint’)– bu-komase (< French commencer ‘begin’)

But: Verbs presumably loaned from Joola languages – or are at least cognates – can also be found in other noun classes:

– ja-mbal ‘catch fish’– ba-caam ‘pay’

Class ka- is rather rare for nouns in Gubëeher, but one of the dominant VNF in some Joola languages Gubëeher is in contact with (Fogny, Jirer, Kaasa, Banjal).

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What is in a root?Roots are very flexible in terms of NC allocation and also in terms of word classes:[ex]

It is unclear whether lexical category/gender is stored in the root or if the root has to be considered underspecified and that NC/syntactic category is assigned by insertion into a syntactic frameA direction of derivation is difficult to establish, because of the lack of historical data

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Nominal and verbal propertiesNominal properties

• NC marker, sg.pl. bu-koor/i-koorNC-village/NC-village‘village/villages’

• modifiersbu-koor bu-bun bumbuNC-village Agr-good Dem:NC‘This nice village’

• S and O position• possessive Suffixes

bu-koo’-kumNC-village-1SPoss‘my village’

Verbal properties• derivation/Person,number

i-wuul-ay-hurux-o1Plinc-see-Rec-Fut-1Plinc‘We will see eachother’

• head of predication• argument structure

gëegën i-wuul-i u-ñaŋ-kumyesterday 1S-see-Asp NC-friend-1Poss‘Yesterday I saw my friend’i-wuul-em gëegën1S-see-3SO yesterday‘I saw him yesterday’gëegën a-wuul-ayesterday 3S-see-Pass‘He was seen yesterday’

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Theoretical questions

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Qualities IQualities with VNF ba Qualities with

VNF siba-li ‘goodness/be good’ a-li

3S-good‘It is good’

si-riin ‘laziness’ a-riin-a‘he is lazy’ji-riin ‘lazybone’

bë-jólo ‘largeness’ a-jólo-i3S-large-Asp‘it is large’

si-piim ‘blindness’ a-piim-i/a‘he is blind’ji-piim ‘blind person’

si-paab ‘gluttony’ a-paab-a‘he is gluttonous’ji-paab ‘glutton’

si-gaar ’stupidity’ a-gaar-a‘he is stupid’jan-gaar ‘idiot’

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Qualities II

In the Comparative construction with the verb lum ‘surpass’ all verbs require the VNF ba-:

a-lum-i ba-li3S-surpass-Asp NC-good‘It is better’

a-lumi-em ba-jir (hë-jir ‘run’)3S-surpass-3SO NC-run‘SHe runs faster than him/her’

a-lum-em ba-jaax (bu-jaax ‘eat’)3S-surpass-3SO NC-eat‘SHe eats more than him/her.’

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Subject Object statusSubject: stands before the verb

can be focused with in-is deleted in passive phrasetriggers agreement

Non-Subject: focused with g- ka in nominalisationsencoded with suffixes on the verb [animate objects] becomes subject of passiv phrase can be relativised

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PeriphrasticAux rad: ba-dox ha ja-lihan gi-rad-i NC-carry Con NC-wood 1SFoc-Aux-Asp ‘I am carrying wood.’

Aux kan: tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’

LOC: innoŋ ja-naaf LOC:3S NC-work ‘He/she is doing agriculture.’

be: gu-roŋ u-dikaan-i iŋ-gu-t-i bu-ja ka gu-gu-in be-3SNeg NC-woman-Poss FocS-be-Dir-Asp Con NC-Red-song ‘It is not his wife who starts this song.’

Predicative use of VN

(me) bu-ruk ka ba-rux1S NC-drink Con NC-water‘I am drinking water. (Answer to the question: What are you doing?)’

min hë-dëek1Plex NC-go‘We are going.’

The VNs can be used with or without a personal pronoun (if the referent is clear) to express a present progressive or an action that is about to take place

In raising constructions

a-bun bu-noox3S-good NC-sit‘It is good for sitting’

a-leer-i bu-dom3S-difficult-Asp NC-swallow‘It is difficult to swallow’

Subject with Adj

PeriphrasticAux rad: ba-dox ha ja-lihan gi-rad-i NC-carry Con NC-wood 1SFoc-Aux-Asp ‘I am carrying wood.’

Aux kan: tëpur tëpur, gaŋ-kan-t-i hë-dëek morning morning 3Pl:Foc-Aux-Dir-Asp NC-go ‘It’s early in the morning that they come.’

LOC: innoŋ ja-naaf LOC:3S NC-work ‘He/she is doing agriculture.’

be: gu-roŋ u-dikaan-i iŋ-gu-t-i bu-ja ka gu-gu-in be-3SNeg NC-woman-Poss FocS-be-Dir-Asp Con NC-Red-song ‘It is not his wife who starts this song.’

Complement of verb

min-di gu-waybe.able-Neg:1Sg Cl-swim‘I don’t know how to swim.’

haŋgu-ri sin-cemcan-Neg1S NC-sleep‘I cannot sleep’

*haŋgu-ri bu-cem can-Neg1S NC-sleep ‘I cannot sleep’

i-haŋgul-i ja-ŋa’ ka mu-uc1S-can-Asp NC-mount Con NC-palmtree‘I can climb palm trees.’

i-haŋgul-i i-cem1S-can-Asp 1S-sleep‘I can sleep’

i-haŋgul-i i-ŋaf ra-uc rara1S-can-Asp 1S-mount NC-palmtree Dem:Agr‘I can climb this palm tree

Purposive

Without conjunction: i-dëek bi-nig ka tele 1S-go NC-watch Con television ‘I go watch television.’

With conjunction: an-nig əbən-əŋ ə-gini a-la-tː-a-nɛ mata ha bu-hɔf 3Sg-look:at animal-Pl Agr-Rel 3S-take-Dir-ne Conj Con NC-kill ‘They are looking at the animals which have been brought, for the sake of killing them.’

Focusing?

bu-nobun bumbooŋ, jëbënNC-tie Agr:Dem NC-pagne‘This tieing up is done with pieces of cloth’

bʊ-hupp bumbooŋ, ni a-gob-ah, u-guni ë-gu-t-i bu-dëek, a-ñoŋ-ot ho-xuno hoho‘Concerning this pouring [of palmwine], since everybody collected wine, tose who come bring a little bit of wine.’

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Methodology

• 1. trip: build a corpus, understand basic syntax and morphology, elicit verblists (in french)

• 2. trip: expand corpus, transitivity database/verbal extensions, reformulate first hypotheses on VNF and their distribution, check verbs in lexicon for compatibility with VNF and elicit them in syntactic contexts with 3 speakers