1This paper explores the syntactic and pragmatic conditions which determine the presence or absence of the noun phrase (NP) level enclitic class marker in Babanki, a Central Ring Grassfields Bantu language of North-West Cameroon. The Babanki enclitic is clearly related to a formally and functionally similar item found in other Ring languages such as Aghem (Hyman 1979a and 2010), Isu (Kießling 2010), and Lamnso’ (McGarrity & Botne 2001).
2Babanki has twelve noun classes which form nine genders based on distinct agreement patterns. The noun classes are indexed by prefixes or proclitics across a full range of syntactic targets such as modifiers within the NP, e.g. pronominal possessives (poss), nominal possessives (ass), demonstratives (dem), and attributive adjectives (adj), as shown in Table 1. Noun class membership is, to a large extent, overtly marked by nominal affixes in the noun itself. The large majority of these affixes are prefixes with the single exception of class 10, which is marked by a suffix.
Table 1 — Babanki noun class system and some agreement markers
- 1 Standard Bantu numbering has been used since the 12 noun classes that exist in Babanki correspond (...)
- 2 A merger of classes 3 and 5 in Babanki can be seen in their identical schwa prefixes as well as va (...)
- 3 The numbering of noun classes is not continuous, as 4, 11, 12, 14‑18 are missing because no Babank (...)
- 4 It is puzzling that ‑m is retained after n in class 6a. All consultants we checked with did this c (...)
| Class1 |
Affix |
Ex. |
poss ɔ́m ‘my’ |
dem ὲn ‘this’ |
adj fí ‘new’ |
am ‘of the…’ |
Gloss |
| 1 |
Ø‑ |
tsɔ̀ŋ |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ̄m |
y‑ὲn |
ə́‑fí |
ə̀= |
thief |
| 2 |
və̀‑ |
və̀‑tsɔ́ŋ |
ə̀vw‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
v‑ὲn=ə́ |
və̀‑fí=və́ |
və́= |
thieves |
| 32 |
ə̀‑ |
ə̀‑tó |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
ə́= |
hut |
| 53 |
ə̀‑ |
ə̀‑wúm |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
ə́= |
egg |
| 6 |
à‑ |
à‑wúm |
àɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
à‑fí=ɣə́ |
ə́= |
eggs |
| 6a |
mə̀‑ |
mə̀‑ɲín |
ə̀mw‑ɔ́m=ə̀ |
m‑ὲn(=mə́)4 |
mə́‑m‑fí=mə̀ |
mə̀= |
birds |
| 7 |
kə̀‑ |
kə̀‑mbò |
ə̀k‑ɔ́m(=kə́) |
k‑ὲn(=kə́) |
kə̀‑fí=kə́ |
kə́= |
bag |
| 8 |
ə̀‑ |
ə̀‑mbò |
ə̀vw‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
v‑ὲn=ə́ |
ə̀‑fí=və́ |
ə́= |
bags |
| 9 |
Ø‑ |
byí |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ̄m |
y‑ὲn |
ə́‑fí |
ə̀= |
goat |
| 10 |
‑sə́ |
byí‑ꜜsə́ |
ə̀ʃ‑ɔ́m(=sə́) |
s‑ὲn(=sə́) |
sə̀‑fí=sə́ |
sə́= |
goats |
| 13 |
tə̀‑ |
tə̀‑tó |
ə̀ty‑ɔ́m(=tə́) |
t‑ὲn(=tə́) |
tə̀‑fí=tə́ |
tə́= |
huts |
| 19 |
fə̀‑ |
fə̀‑ɲín |
ə̀fw‑ɔ́m(=fə́) |
f‑ὲn(=fə́) |
fə̀‑fí=fə́ |
fə́= |
bird |
3Surprisingly, under certain conditions, there is an additional NP-final enclitic, which also indexes the noun class of the head noun, as indicated for the possessive pronouns, the demonstrative, and the attributive adjective in Table 1. One of the crucial conditions to trigger the presence of the enclitic is the type of modifier that follows the head noun. Thus, attributive adjectives (1a) require the enclitic, whereas the interrogative determiner (1b) requires the enclitic to be absent.
| (1) Presence vs. absence of the enclitic |
| a. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
19‑bird |
19‑new=19.enc |
| ‘The child bought a new bird.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=fə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
19‑bird |
19‑which |
| ‘Which bird did the child buy? |
4But the situation is more complex. Beside the modifier type, two other factors determine the presence or absence of the enclitic: the syntactic position of the NP, i.e. whether it is the subject, direct object, or prepositional complement, and the presence or absence of a lexical head in the NP. Moreover, the distribution of the enclitic across these morphosyntactic contexts is not simply a matter of yes or no. Rather, three scenarios have to be taken into account: (a) obligatory presence (e.g. with attributive adjectives and participles), (b) optional presence (e.g. with demonstratives, genuine pronominal possessives, and the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’), and (c) obligatory absence (e.g. with derived pronominal possessives, the quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, numerals, and interrogative modifiers). We show in this paper that the enclitic is syntactically motivated, depending on the nominal modifier and on the syntactic role of the head noun. We proceed in §2 by outlining relevant facts about nominal modifiers and then examine the syntactic and pragmatic conditions of the enclitic in detail in §3. This is followed by a conclusion in §4.
- 5 Most of the data for this study has been provided by the first author and checked with five other (...)
5Previous work on the Babanki noun class system has centered around the morphosyntax and morphotonology of elements within the NP (Hyman 1979b and 1980; Mutaka & Chie 2006; Akumbu 2011, 2016 and 2019; Chie 2014) and the concordial prefixes and proclitics which index noun classes across the full range of syntactic targets, i.e. modifiers within the NP: demonstratives (§2.1), pronominal possessives (§2.2), nominal possessives (§2.3), adjectives and participles (§2.4), interrogatives (§2.5), numerals (§2.6), and other quantifiers (§2.7). These modifiers generally follow their head noun. Demonstratives and possessives may precede under special focus conditions (§3.6). In addition to the concordial prefixes and proclitics, a set of agreement markers in post-modifier position has also been identified and categorized as suffixes without providing any functional characterisation (Hyman 1980; Akumbu & Chibaka 2012). We reanalyze these “suffixes” as enclitics at the NP level, due to their morphosyntactic behaviour discussed in §3, and explore their function(s) in detail.5
6Three demonstrative categories exist in Babanki, i.e. proximal (near speaker), distal (away from speaker), and anaphoric (previous reference). The underlying forms for these demonstrative roots proposed in Hyman (1980: 246) are ὲn, ì, and ì…á, respectively. Agreement c– prefixes are found in all classes and a set of additional =(c)v class markers, i.e. the enclitics discussed in §3, follow the demonstrative. The full forms of the demonstratives are given in Table 2 with the meanings ‘this’, ‘that’, and ‘the one referred to’. The =cv enclitics, i.e. those of classes 6a, 7, 10, 13, and 19 are optional, as seen with the demonstratives here and genuine possessives in §2.2.
Table 2 — Demonstratives
- 6 When followed by a H tone, the L tone of the demonstrative root is raised to a M tone, as elaborat (...)
| Class |
‘this’ |
‘that’ |
‘the one referred to’ |
| 1 |
y‑ὲn |
y‑ì |
y‑ì‑á |
| 2 |
v‑ὲn=ə́6 |
v‑ì=í |
v‑ì‑á |
| 3 |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
y‑ì=í |
y‑ì‑á |
| 5 |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
y‑ì=í |
y‑ì‑á |
| 6 |
y‑ὲn=ə́ |
y‑ì=í |
y‑ì‑á |
| 6a |
m‑ὲn(=mə́) |
m‑ì(=mə́) |
m‑ì(=mə́)‑á |
| 7 |
k‑ὲn(=kə́) |
ky‑ì(=kə́) |
ky‑ì(=kə́)‑á |
| 8 |
v‑ὲn=ə́ |
v‑ì=í |
v‑ì‑á |
| 9 |
y‑ὲn |
y‑ì |
y‑ì‑á |
| 10 |
s‑ὲn(=sə́) |
ʃ‑ì(=sə́) |
ʃ‑ì(=sə́)‑á |
| 13 |
t‑ὲn(=tə́) |
ty‑ì(=tə́) |
ty‑ì(=tə́)‑á |
| 19 |
f‑ὲn(=fə́) |
fy‑ì(=fə́) |
fy‑ì(=fə́)‑á |
- 7 This suggests that the derived possessives originate from full-fledged nouns, retaining some nomin (...)
7Babanki pronominal possessives fall in two distinct groups which could be defined by morphosyntactic criteria. The first set of “genuine” possessives includes ɔ́m 1sg, yə̀ ~ wù 2sg, yέs 1pl.excl, and ə́ŋ 2pl (Table 3a), while the second set of “derived” possessives is made up of wέn 3sg, və́ɣə́ŋ 1pl.incl, and və̀wέ↓nə́ 3pl (Table 3b). While genuine possessives have (v)c– prefixes and require possessive concords, the derived ones have (c)v‑ prefixes and require associative concords (discussed in §2.3).7 The additional =(c)v class marking enclitics seen on demonstratives also occur with possessives. The concord consonants of classes 2, 6a, 7, 8, 13, and 19, i.e. v, m, k, t, and f, are either labialized or palatalized caused by the vowel that follows the consonants. Class 13 also shows palatalization before a rounded back vowel revealing a trace of the Proto-Bantu palatal vowel in the prefix, i.e. *ti‑ (de Wolf 1971). 2sg exhibits variation in classes 1, 3, 5, 6, and 9 based on the alternation of y ~ w.
Table 3a — Genuine possessives
- 8 The lowering of the H tone of 1sg, 1pl.excl, and 2pl in classes 1 and 9 reveals that these two cla (...)
| Class |
1sg ɔ́m |
2sg yə̀ ~ wù |
1pl.excl yέs |
2pl ə́ŋ |
| 1 |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ̄m8 |
ə̀‑yə̀/ə̀‑wù |
ə̀‑yɛ̄s |
ə̀ɣ‑ə̄ŋ |
| 2 |
ə̀vw‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
ə̀v‑yə̄=ə́ |
ə̀v‑yέs=ə́ |
ə̀vy‑ə́ŋ=ə́ |
| 3 |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
ə̀‑yə̄=ə́/ə̀‑wū=ú |
ə̀‑yέs=ə́ |
ə̀ɣ‑ə́ŋ=ə́ |
| 5 |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
ə̀‑yə̄=ə́/ə̀‑wū=ú |
ə̀‑yέs=ə́ |
ə̀ɣ‑ə́ŋ=ə́ |
| 6 |
àɣ‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
à‑yə̄=ə́/à‑wū=ú |
à‑yέs=ə́ |
àɣ‑ə́ŋ=ə́ |
| 6a |
ə̀mw‑ɔ́m=ə̀ |
ə̀m‑yə̀(=mə́) |
ə̀m‑yέs=ə̀ |
ə̀my‑ə́ŋ=ə̀ |
| 7 |
ə̀k‑ɔ́m(=kə́) |
ə̀k‑yə̀(=kə́) |
ə̀k‑yέs(=kə́) |
ə̀ky‑ə́ŋ(=kə́) |
| 8 |
ə̀vw‑ɔ́m=ə́ |
ə̀v‑yə̄=ə́ |
ə̀v‑yέs=ə́ |
ə̀vy‑ə́ŋ=ə́ |
| 9 |
ə̀ɣ‑ɔ̄m |
ə̀‑yə̀/ə̀‑wù |
ə̀‑yɛ̄s |
ə̀ɣ‑ə̄ŋ |
| 10 |
ə̀ʃ‑ɔ́m(=sə́) |
ə̀ʃ‑yə̀(=sə́) |
ə̀‑ʃέs(=sə́) |
ə̀ʃ‑ə́ŋ(=sə́) |
| 13 |
ə̀ty‑ɔ́m(=tə́) |
ə̀t‑yə̀(=tə́) |
ə̀t‑yέs(=tə́) |
ə̀ty‑ə́ŋ(=tə́) |
| 19 |
ə̀fw‑ɔ́m(=fə́) |
ə̀f‑yə̀(=fə́) |
ə̀f‑yέs(=fə́) |
ə̀fy‑ə́ŋ(=kə́) |
Table 3b — Derived possessives
| Class |
3sg ꜜwέn |
1pl.incl və́ɣə́ŋ |
3pl və̀wéꜜnə́ |
| 1 |
ə̀‑wέn |
ə̀‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə̀‑və̀wéꜜnə́ |
| 2 |
və́‑ꜜwέn |
və́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
və́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 3 |
ə́‑ꜜwέn |
ə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 5 |
ə́‑ꜜwέn |
ə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 6 |
ə́‑ꜜwέn |
ə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 6a |
mə̀‑wέn |
mə̀‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
mə̀‑və̀wéꜜnə́ |
| 7 |
kə́‑ꜜwέn=kə́ |
kə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
kə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 8 |
ə́‑ꜜwέn |
ə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 9 |
ə̀‑wέn |
ə̀‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
ə̀‑və̀wéꜜnə́ |
| 10 |
sə́‑ꜜwέn=sə́ |
sə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
sə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 13 |
tə́‑ꜜwέn=tə́ |
tə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
tə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
| 19 |
fə́‑ꜜwέn=fə́ |
fə́‑və́ɣə́ŋ |
fə́‑və́wéꜜnə́ |
8The behavior of the derived possessives is not uniform with respect to the enclitic, i.e. 3sg shows enclitics in 7, 10, 13, 19, but not in the rest, and deviates in this from the genuine possessives. 1pl.incl and 3pl do not show any enclitics throughout the entire paradigm.
9A possessive relationship between a possessed head noun and a following possessor noun is marked by associative morphemes (am), which index the noun class of the possessed noun, as listed in Table 4. Since morphophonological processes link the associative marker (am) with N2 rather than N1 (Hyman 1979a; Akumbu 2011), the associative markers are considered to be proclitics to N2. Associative markers reflect a tonal contrast of L tone for classes 1, 6a, and 9 vs. H tone for all other classes (Hyman 1980: 239), inherited from Proto-Grassfields (Watters 2003: 241).
Table 4 — Associative markers
| Class |
am |
|
Class |
am |
| 1 |
ə̀= |
|
7 |
kə́= |
| 2 |
və́= |
|
8 |
ə́= |
| 3 |
ə́= |
|
9 |
ə̀= |
| 5 |
ə́= |
|
10 |
sə́= |
| 6 |
ə́= |
|
13 |
tə́= |
| 6a |
mə̀= |
|
19 |
fə́= |
10The associative marker occurs between the two nouns and agrees with the modified head noun, which is in n1 position, e.g. kə̀mbò kə́=və̄tsɔ́ŋ ‘bag of thieves’.
11Genuine adjectives and deverbal adjectives, i.e. participles, have (c)v‑ concordial prefixes as well as a set of additional =cv class markers, i.e. the enclitics, e.g. fə̀ɲín fə̄‑fí=fə́ ‘new bird’, fə̀ɲín fə̄‑fɨ́fə́=fə́ ‘white bird’. The full paradigm of genuine and derived adjectives is given in Table 5.
Table 5 — Genuine and deverbal adjectives
| Class |
fí ‘new’ |
fɨ́f ‘be(come) white’ |
| 1 |
ə́‑fí |
ə́‑fɨ́fə́ |
| 2 |
və̀‑fí=və́ |
və̀‑fɨ́fə́=və́ |
| 3 |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
ə̀‑fɨ́fə́=ɣə́ |
| 5 |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
ə̀‑fɨ́fə́=ɣə́ |
| 6 |
à‑fí=ɣə́ |
à‑fɨ́fə́=ɣə́ |
| 6a |
mə́‑m‑fí=mə̀ |
mə́‑m‑fɨ́fə́=mə̀ |
| 7 |
kə̀‑fí=kə́ |
kə̀‑fɨ́fə́=kə́ |
| 8 |
ə̀‑fí=və́ |
ə̀‑fɨ́fə́=və́ |
| 9 |
ə́‑fí |
ə́‑fɨ́fə́ |
| 10 |
sə̀‑fí=sə́ |
sə̀‑fɨ́fə́=sə́ |
| 13 |
tə̀‑fí=tə́ |
tə̀‑fɨ́fə́=tə́ |
| 19 |
fə̀‑fí=fə́ |
fə̀‑fɨ́fə́=fə́ |
- 9 Class 6a has an additional homorganic nasal following the ordinary agreement prefix. This addition (...)
12Classes 1 and 9 lack additional class markers following the adjectives and participles, and there is no indication of the presence of a floating concordial L tone, as with the genuine possessives (see fn. 8). Unlike the other classes where the prefix tone is L, classes 1, 6a, and 9 prefixes have H tone, an exact mirror image of the tonal patterns found in associative concords. This phenomenon remains a puzzle that needs further exploration as we are unable to explain it so far. A similar pattern is found with the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’ (§2.7).9
13The interrogative modifiers kɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘which’ and ʃə̀ʔ ‘how many’ are indexed for noun class by means of prefixes only, as shown in Table 6.
Table 6 — Interrogative modifiers
| Class |
kɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘which’ |
Class |
kɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘which’ |
Class |
ʃə̀ʔ ‘how many’ |
| 1 |
kɔ̀ɔ̀/kɔ̄ɔ̄ |
7 |
kə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
2 |
və̀‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 2 |
və̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
8 |
ə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
6 |
à‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 3 |
ə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
9 |
kɔ̀ɔ̀/kɔ̄ɔ̄ |
6a |
mə̀‑n‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 5 |
ə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
10 |
sə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
8 |
ə̀‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 6 |
à‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
13 |
tə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
10 |
sə̀‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 6a |
mə̀‑ŋ‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
19 |
fə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ |
13 |
tə̀‑ʃə̀ʔ |
- 10 The raising of the L tone of kɔ̀ɔ to M in classes 1 and 9 is due to the presence of a floating H b (...)
14With the interrogative modifier kɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘which’, classes 1 and 9 also have a form with M tone, which occurs after L tone nouns (Hyman 1980: 241), e.g. class 9: byí kɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘which goat?’ vs. ɲàm kɔ̄ɔ̄ ‘which animal?’.10 A similar pattern is seen with the numeral ‘one’ in the following section.
15Only the numbers 1 through 5 exhibit noun class concord by a set of (c)v‑ prefixes identical to those on interrogative modifiers (except for class 6a), as shown in Table 7. The numerals 1, 2 and 4 come with a floating H tone, which prevents the L tone from downgliding.
Table 7 — Numerals
| Class |
mùʔ ′ ‘one’ |
bò ′ ‘two’ |
táʔ ‘three’ |
kàʔ ′ ‘four’ |
tàn ‘five’ |
| 1 |
mùʔ/mūʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
| 2 |
‑ |
və̀‑bò |
və̀‑táʔ |
və̀‑kàʔ |
və̀‑tàn |
| 3 |
ə̀‑mùʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
| 5 |
ə̀‑mùʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
| 6 |
‑ |
à‑bò |
à‑táʔ |
à‑kàʔ |
à‑tàn |
| 6a |
‑ |
ə̀‑m‑bò |
ə̀‑n‑táʔ |
ə̀‑ŋ‑kàʔ |
ə̀‑n‑tàn |
| 7 |
kə̀‑mùʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
| 8 |
‑ |
ə̀‑bò |
ə̀‑táʔ |
ə̀‑kàʔ |
ə̀‑tàn |
| 9 |
mùʔ/mūʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
| 10 |
‑ |
sə̀‑bò |
sə̀‑táʔ |
sə̀‑kàʔ |
sə̀‑tàn |
| 13 |
‑ |
tə̀‑bò |
tə̀‑táʔ |
tə̀‑kàʔ |
tə̀‑tàn |
| 19 |
fə̀‑mùʔ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
‑ |
- 11 Classes 2, 3, 5, 6, 6a, and 8 have an additional H schwa, seemingly an epenthetic vowel between tw (...)
16The quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’ requires (c)v‑ concordial prefixes and a set of additional =cv enclitics identical to those found on adjectives and participles, discussed in §2.4.11
Table 8 — Quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’
| Class |
tsέn ‘some, certain’ |
Class |
tsέn ‘some, certain’ |
| 1 |
ə́‑tsέn |
7 |
kə̀‑tsέn=kə́ |
| 2 |
və̀‑tsέnə́=və́ |
8 |
ə̀‑tsέnə́=və́ |
| 3 |
ə̀‑tsέnə́=ɣə́ |
9 |
ə́‑tsέn |
| 5 |
ə̀‑tsέnə́=ɣə́ |
10 |
sə̀‑tsέn=sə́ |
| 6 |
à‑tsέnə́=ɣə́ |
13 |
tə̀‑tsέn=tə́ |
| 6a |
mə́‑n‑tsέnə́=mə̀ |
19 |
fə̀‑tsέn=fə́ |
17Another quantifier tsὲm ‘whole’ (that occurs with singular nouns) and ‘all’ (which occurs with plural nouns) has only L tone (c)v‑ concordial prefixes, as in Table 9. The concordial prefixes are the same as with tsέn ‘some, certain’, except that the tone in classes 1, 6a, and 9 is also L.
Table 9 — Quantifier tsὲm ‘whole/all’
| Class |
tsὲm ‘whole, all’ |
Class |
tsὲm ‘whole, all’ |
| 1 |
ə̀‑tsὲm |
7 |
kə̀‑tsὲm |
| 2 |
və̀‑tsὲm |
8 |
ə̀‑tsὲm |
| 3 |
ə̀‑tsὲm |
9 |
ə̀‑tsὲm |
| 5 |
ə̀‑tsὲm |
10 |
sə̀‑tsὲm |
| 6 |
à‑tsὲm |
13 |
tə̀‑tsὲm |
| 6a |
mə̀‑n‑tsὲm |
19 |
fə̀‑tsὲm |
18Other quantifiers such as fə̀ndέʔ (19/6a) ‘few’ and kə̀dɨ̀ŋ (7/8) ‘much/many’ are actually quantity nouns, which are typically used as heads in associative constructions under dependency reversal for attributing quantities, e.g. kə̀dɨ̄ŋ kə́=víʔí ‘a multitude of people’. Their concordial behaviour thus follows the one of nominal possessives (§2.3).
19In many cases, modified NPs require a final enclitic element that agrees in noun class with the head noun. The full set of enclitic noun class indexes is given in Table 10 in contrast to both the associative marker (am) set, which procliticizes to a nominal modifier, and the subject marker (sm), which procliticizes to the verb.
Table 10 — NP-final enclitics in contrast to associative and subject proclitics
- 12 Bracketing indicates the deletion of the initial consonants of enclitics in classes 2, 3, 5, 6, 6a (...)
- 13 As suggested by one of the reviewers, Proto-Bantu agreement prefixes of classes 3 and 6 have been (...)
| Class |
enc12 |
am |
sm |
Class |
enc |
am |
sm |
| 1 |
= ̀ |
ə̀= |
Ø= |
7 |
=kə́ |
kə́= |
kə́= |
| 2 |
=(v)ə́ |
və́= |
ə́= |
8 |
=(v)ə́ |
ə́= |
ə́= |
| 3 |
=(ɣ)ə́13 |
ə́= |
ə́= |
9 |
= ̀ |
ə̀= |
Ø= |
| 5 |
=(ɣ)ə́ |
ə́= |
ə́= |
10 |
=sə́ |
sə́= |
sə́= |
| 6 |
=(ɣ)ə́ |
ə́= |
ə́= |
13 |
=tə́ |
tə́= |
tə́= |
| 6a |
=(m)ə̀ |
mə̀= |
Ø= |
19 |
=fə́ |
fə́= |
fə́= |
- 14 Outside the Babanki NP, agreement is seen on subject markers between the subject noun and the verb (...)
20While there is considerable formal overlap of the three concordial series, the following observations can be made: The =cv allormorph of the enclitic is identical in form with the associative markers of cv= structure, i.e. və́, mə̀, kə́, sə́, tə́, and fə́ of classes 2, 6a, 7, 10, 13, and 19, respectively. In all other classes, the enclitic is distinct from both the associative marker and the subject proclitic. Associative markers which consist of a single low-toned schwa vowel only, i.e. in classes 1 and 9, correspond to a floating L tone enclitic. In the remaining classes, i.e. 3~5, 6, and 8, the enclitic is distinct by the additional presence of an initial consonant, which is absent in the associative and subject proclitics, i.e. ɣ in classes 3~5 and 6 and v in class 8.14 In a historical perspective, the formal contrast for classes 3~5 and 6 vs. 8 has been retained only in the enclitic and is neutralized in the associative and subject markers. The full paradigm of the enclitic is illustrated by NPs modified by the adjective fí ‘new’ in (2).
- 15 The floating enclitic L tone of classes 1 and 9 docks leftwards to form a HL contour tone, which s (...)
- 16 When found between two H tones, the L tone on the agreement prefix is realized M following the gen (...)
- 17 The plural form byí‑ꜜsə́ ‘goats’ is realized as byí without its plural class 10 suffix. Unlike the (...)
| (2) The enclitic by noun class |
| a. |
wàyn |
ə́‑fí=̀15 |
|
b. |
və̀‑tsɔ́ŋ |
və̄‑fí=və́16 |
|
1.child |
1‑new=1.enc |
|
|
2‑thief |
2‑new=2.enc |
|
‘new child’ |
|
|
‘new thieves’ |
| c. |
ə̀‑lyə̀ŋ |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
|
d. |
ə̀‑wúm |
ə̄‑fí=ɣə́ |
|
3‑bamboo |
3‑new=3.enc |
|
|
5‑egg |
5‑new=5.enc |
|
‘new bamboo’ |
|
|
‘new egg’ |
| e. |
à‑wúm |
ā‑fí=ɣə́ |
|
f. |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə̄‑m‑fí=mə̀ |
|
6‑egg |
6‑new=6.enc |
|
|
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑new=6a.enc |
|
‘new eggs’ |
|
|
‘new birds’ |
| g. |
kə̀‑kɨ́ |
kə̄‑fí=kə́ |
|
h. |
ə̀‑kɨ́ |
ə̄‑fí=və́ |
|
7‑chair |
7‑new=7.enc |
|
|
8‑chair |
8‑new=8.enc |
|
‘new chair’ |
|
|
‘new chairs’ |
| i. |
byí |
ə́‑fí=̀ |
|
j. |
byí17 |
sə̄‑fí=sə́ |
|
9.goat |
9‑new=9.enc |
|
|
goat.10 |
10‑new=10.enc |
|
‘new goat’ |
|
|
‘new goats’ |
| k. |
tə̀‑lyə̀ŋ |
tə̀‑fí=tə́ |
|
l. |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
|
13.bamboo |
13‑new=13.enc |
|
|
19‑bird |
19‑new=19.enc |
|
‘new bamboos’ |
|
|
‘new bird’ |
21When an NP occurs in subject position as in (3a‑e), a situation arises in which it becomes difficult to decide whether the agreement marker following the subject NP is the NP-final enclitic or rather the subject marking proclitic to the verb. Both never co-occur. Their distribution can be captured by the following generalization: The occurrence of the subject marker is the default, as shown in (3a‑b). Depending on the internal composition of the NP, however, the enclitic is required as final bracket of the NP, blocking the subject marker. This happens, for example, in case the subject head noun is modified by an attributive adjective as in (3c‑e).
| (3) |
| a. |
və̀‑tʃí |
(*=və́) |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
(*=2.enc) |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘In-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
| b. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̀‑tsὲm |
(*=və́) |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑all |
(*=2.enc) |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘All in-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
| c. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí=və́ |
(*ə́=) |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑new=2.enc |
(*2.sm=) |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘New in-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
| d. |
ə̀‑lyə̀ŋ |
ə̀‑fí=ɣə́ |
(*ə́=) |
yì |
fə̀ŋ |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 3‑bamboo |
3‑new=3.enc |
(*3.sm=) |
p1 |
fall |
afternoon |
| ‘A new bamboo fell in the afternoon.’ |
| e. |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə́‑m‑fí=mə̀ |
(*Ø=) |
yì |
tàyn |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑new=6a.enc |
(*6a.sm=) |
p1 |
fly |
afternoon |
| ‘New birds flew in the afternoon.’ |
22As can be seen in (3), the head noun of the subject NP, və̀-tʃí ‘in-laws’, triggers concordial agreement for class 2 in all cases (3a‑c), just as ə̀-lyə̀ŋ ‘bamboo’ does for class 3 in (3d), and mə̀-ɲín ‘birds’ for class 6a in (3e). With the bare noun as subject in (3a) and with the quantifier tsὲm ‘all’ as final modifier in (3b), no NP-final enclitic =və́ is required and instead the subject marker ə́= serves as agreement target for the head noun. As soon as there is an attributive adjective such as fí ‘new’ as final modifier of the subject in (3c‑e), however, agreement is realized in the NP-final enclitic =və́ for class 2 in (3c), =ɣə́ for class 3 in (3d), and =mə̀ for class 6a in (3e), all of which block the subject marker. This clearly shows that only a single syntactic slot is available for one of the two, i.e. the NP-final enclitic to the subject or the subject proclitic to the verb, and combining both of them, as in (4), is ungrammatical.
| (4) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| a. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
ə́= |
=və́ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2.sm= |
=2.enc |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| b. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
=və́ |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
=2.enc |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| c. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí |
ə́= |
=və́ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑new |
2.sm= |
=2.enc |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| d. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí |
=və́ |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑new |
=2.enc |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| e. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
və̀‑tsὲm |
ə́= |
=və́ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑all |
2.sm= |
=2.enc |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| f. |
*və̀‑tʃí |
və̀‑tsὲm |
=və́ |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑all |
=2.enc |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
23In cases of ambiguity, i.e. where the contrast of enclitic and subject marker is neutralized, as in classes 1, 7, 9, 10, 13, and 19, the placement of a pause is the only way to distinguish the enclitic from the subject marker. If an intonational break or pause (ǀ) can occur before the element, it must be the subject marker as in (5a). If the break can be inserted after the element, it must be the enclitic, as in (5b).
| (5) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| a. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̀‑tsὲm |
ǀ |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑all |
|
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘All in-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
| b. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí=və́ |
ǀ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| 2‑in.law |
2‑new=2.enc |
|
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘New in-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
24In general, the distribution of the enclitic is determined by two parameters, i.e. NP-internal conditions pertaining to the type of modifier, as specified in the columns of Table 11a, and NP-external conditions pertaining to the wider syntactic environment, as specified in the lines of Table 11a. These conditions determine whether the enclitic is either obligatorily present (indicated by +), optionally present (indicated by (+)) or obligatorily absent (indicated by –). Patterns of identical parametrical values are conflated in the condensed Table 11b.
Table 11a — Overview of syntactic contexts of the enclitic according to NP-internal and NP-external conditions
- 18 Minus in this slot indicates the obligatory absence of the enclitic for all nouns except those of (...)
|
n18 |
adj/part |
dem |
poss |
quan |
n+n |
num |
int |
rel |
| gen |
der |
tsέn |
tsὲm |
| Subject |
| decl |
– |
+ |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| neg |
– |
+ |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| wh‑q |
– |
+ |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| Direct object |
| decl |
– |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| neg |
– |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| wh‑q |
– |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| imp |
– |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| Prepositional complement |
| decl |
+ |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| neg |
+ |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| wh‑q |
+ |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| imp |
+ |
+ |
(+) |
(+) |
– |
(+) |
– |
– |
– |
– |
– |
Table 11b — Condensed overview of syntactic contexts of the enclitic according to NP-internal and NP-external conditions
|
n |
|
adj/part |
|
dem, gen poss, quan tsέn |
|
der poss, quan tsὲm, n, num, int, rel |
| Subject |
– |
|
+ |
|
– |
|
– |
| Direct object |
– |
|
+ |
|
(+) |
|
– |
| Prepositional complement |
+ |
|
+ |
|
(+) |
|
– |
25The patterns that emerge from Table 11 will be discussed and exemplified in the following sections, i.e. the obligatory presence of the enclitic with attributive adjectives, participles, and bare nouns (§3.1), its optional presence with demonstratives, genuine pronominal possessives, and the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’ (§3.2), and its obligatory absence with derived pronominal possessives, the quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, numerals, interrogative modifiers, and relative clauses (§3.3). As for the NP-external syntactic conditions, the occurrence of the enclitic also depends on the syntactic role of the NP as subject, direct object or prepositional complement and its interaction with the clause type, i.e. whether it occurs in affirmative declarative (decl) or negative declarative clauses (neg), in wh-questions (wh‑q) or in imperatives (imp). In §3.4, we discuss the occurrence of the enclitic in complex NPs with combined modifiers, before proceeding to examine the relationship between the enclitic and the presence or absence of a nominal head in §3.5. Finally, an attempt is made in §3.6 to determine whether the distribution of the enclitic is influenced by focus conditions.
26The enclitic obligatorily follows an NP under two general conditions: (a) the NP terminates in an adjectival or participial modifier and (b) the non-modified noun occurs as prepositional complement. These conditions will be exemplified in the following.
- 19 The obligatory presence of the enclitic after adjectival modifiers is also reported in Aghem (Hyma (...)
27First, NPs concluded by an adjectival or participial modifier require the presence of the enclitic under all syntactic conditions, i.e. in the affirmative declarative (6a, 7a, 8a), under negation (6b, 7b, 8b), in wh-questions (6c, 7c, 8c), in imperatives (7d, 8d) irrespective of whether they are in subject (6), direct object (7), or prepositional complement position (8).19
28As discussed above, subject position presents a tricky case since the enclitic can easily be confused with the subject marker due to a high degree of syncretism, as shown in Table 10. As soon as the subject NP terminates in an adjectival or participial modifier, the enclitic blocks the surfacing of the subject marker. This is clearly visible with the nouns və̀tʃí ‘in-laws’ (6a), ə̀wúm ‘egg’ (6b), and àwúm ‘eggs’ (6c), which require the concordial enclitic forms =və́ of class 2 and =ɣə́ of classes 5 and 6, respectively, and not their subject marking counterparts, which would converge in the form ə́= for all three classes.
| (6) Noun class enclitics with subjects modified by adjectives |
| a. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí=və́ |
yì |
vì |
|
2‑in.law |
2‑new=2.enc |
p1 |
come |
|
‘New in-laws came.’ |
| b. |
ə̀‑wúm |
ə̄‑kú=ɣə́ |
kó |
yì |
fə́ŋ |
|
5‑egg |
5‑raw=5.enc |
neg |
p1 |
fall |
|
‘The raw egg didn’t fall.’ |
| c. |
à‑wúm |
ā‑kú=ɣə́ |
yì |
fə̀ŋ |
zέ |
|
6‑egg |
6‑raw=6.enc |
p1 |
fall |
when |
|
‘When did raw eggs fall?’ |
| (7) Noun class enclitics with direct objects modified by adjectives |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
kù |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
ə̄‑fɨ́fə́=ɣə́ |
à |
wù |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
give |
5‑corn |
5‑white=5.enc |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The slave gave white corn to you.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
kù |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
ə̄‑fɨ́fə́=ɣə́ |
à |
wù |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
give |
5‑corn |
5‑white=5.enc |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The slave didn’t give white corn to you.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́ |
yì |
yὲn |
ə̄‑káŋ |
ə̄‑fí=və́ |
fέ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm |
p1 |
see |
8‑dish |
8‑new=8.enc |
where |
|
‘Where did the slave see new dishes?’ |
| d. |
kú |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̄‑fέnə́=fə́ |
à |
wàyn |
|
give.imp |
19‑bird |
19‑black=19.enc |
to |
1.child |
|
‘Give the black bird to the child!’ |
| (8) Noun class enclitics with prepositional complements modified by adjectives |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
və̀‑tʃí |
və̄‑fí=və́ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
2‑in.law |
2‑new=2.enc |
|
‘The slave kept corn for new in-laws.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə̄‑m‑fέnə́=mə̀ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑black=6a.enc |
|
‘The slave didn’t keep corn for black birds.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə̄‑m‑fέnə́=mə̄ |
zέ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑black=6a.enc |
when |
|
‘When did the slave keep corn for black birds?’ |
| d. |
kú |
wāyn |
nə̀ |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
|
give.imp |
1.child |
with |
19‑bird |
19‑new=19.enc |
|
‘Give the child a new bird!’ |
29With non-modified, i.e. bare nouns, the enclitic is obligatorily present only when it is the prepositional complement in affirmative declaratives (9a), negative declaratives (9b), wh-questions (9c), and imperatives (9d).
| (9) Noun class enclitics with non-modified nouns as prepositional complements |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ |
kə̀‑mbò=kə́ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
come |
with |
7‑bag=7.enc |
|
‘The slave came with a bag.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
kù |
à |
tə̀‑fɔ̄yn=tə́ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
give |
to |
13‑chief=13.enc |
|
‘The slave didn’t give to chiefs.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ |
fə̀‑ɲín=fə́ |
zέ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
come |
with |
19‑bird=19.enc |
when |
|
‘When did the slave come with a bird?’ |
| d. |
ʃí |
wāyn |
fà |
fə̀‑ɲín=fə́ |
|
take.imp |
1.child |
from |
19‑bird=19.enc |
|
‘Take the child from a bird!’ |
30Class 10 nouns present a special case. In contrast to all other nouns, they never come with a noun class prefix, but instead with a final class marker =sə́, under various NP-internal and NP-external conditions, as shown in (10), where the NP (whether modified or not) is subject (10a‑b), direct object (10c‑d), or prepositional complement (10e‑f).
| (10) Noun class 10 enclitic |
| a. |
byí=ꜜsə́ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| goat=10.enc |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘Goats came in the afternoon.’ |
| b. |
byí |
sə́= |
wāyn=ꜜsə́ |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
| goat |
10.am= |
1.child=10.enc |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
| ‘The child’s goats came in the afternoon.’ |
| c. |
mà |
yì |
lyɨ̀ |
ndzàm=sə́ |
fá |
kə̀‑mbò |
| 1sg |
p1 |
take |
axe=10.enc |
from |
7‑bag |
| ‘I took axes from a bag.’ |
| d. |
mà |
yì |
lyɨ̀ |
ndzàm |
sə̄‑fí=sə́ |
fá |
kə̀‑mbò |
| 1sg |
p1 |
take |
axe |
10‑new=10.enc |
from |
7‑bag |
| ‘I took new axes from a bag.’ |
| e. |
wàyn |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ā‑gə́ŋ |
á |
ɲám=ꜜsə́ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
keep |
6‑grass |
for |
animal=10.enc |
| ‘The child kept grass for cattle.’ |
| f. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ā‑gə́ŋ |
á |
ɲám |
sə̄‑kwáʔá=ꜜsə́ |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
keep |
6‑grass |
for |
animal |
10‑sick=10.enc |
| ‘The slave kept grass for sick cattle.’ |
31Previous analyses (Hyman 1980; Akumbu & Chibaka 2012) have identified the adnominal marker of class 10 as a suffix. We argue that this “suffix” is in fact identical to the enclitic. As seen, for example in (10d), the item sə́ that follows ndzàm is not a noun “suffix”, i.e. it is not ndzàm-sə́ fí, but rather the concordial prefix for the adjective, i.e ndzàm sə̄-fí. Similarly, in (10b), the item sə́ after byí is the associative proclitic on N2, i.e. it is not byí-sə́ wāyn, but rather byí sə́=wāyn. Under a “suffix” analysis this would force us to assume that class 10 nouns regularly lose their adnominal noun class “suffix” under modification (through replacement by the dependent agreement marker, as pointed out in fn. 16, i.e. ndzàm-sə́ sə̄-fí → ndzàm sə̄-fí). Under the enclitic analysis, this would not be needed at all since the enclitic is actually retained, i.e. ndzàm sə̄-fí=sə́, and only separated from the noun by intervening modifiers. The only extravagance that sets class 10 apart from all other classes is the fact that the enclitic is obligatory present in unmodified class 10 nouns, i.e. in a context where it is obligatorily absent in all other classes.
32This is illustrated with the nouns byí=ꜜsə́ ‘goats (class 10)’ and tə̀-ɣàm ‘mats (class 13)’ when they occur in subject position, as direct objects, or as prepositional complements.
| (11) Presence vs. absence of enclitic on non-modified subjects of class 10 and class 13 |
| a. |
byí=ꜜsə́ |
yì |
fə̀ŋ |
á |
nsé |
| goat=10.enc |
p1 |
fall |
on |
9.ground |
| ‘Goats fell on the ground.’ |
| b. |
tə̀‑ɣām (*=tə́) |
tə́ |
yì |
fə̀ŋ |
á |
nsé |
| 13‑mat |
13.sm |
p1 |
fall |
on |
9.ground |
| ‘Mats fell on the ground.’ |
| (12) Presence vs. absence of enclitic on non-modified direct objects of class 10 and class 13 |
| a. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
byí=ꜜsə́ |
fà |
tsɔ̀ŋ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
goat=10.enc |
from |
1.thief |
| ‘The child bought goats from the thief.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
tə̄‑ɣàm (*=tə́) |
fà |
tsɔ̀ŋ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
13‑mat |
from |
1.thief |
| ‘The child bought mats from the thief.’ |
| (13) Presence vs. absence of enclitic on non-modified prepositional complements of class 10 and class 13 |
| a. |
wàyn |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ā‑gə́ŋ |
á |
ɲám=ꜜsə́ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
keep |
6‑grass |
for |
animal=10.ENC |
| ‘The child kept grass for cattle.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
kíʔí |
ə̄‑kó |
fá |
tə́‑ɣàm (*=tə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
have |
5‑money |
from |
13‑mat |
| ‘The child made money from (selling) mats.’ |
- 20 The reason for dropping the erstwhile prefix of class 10 as well as that of the singular class 9 i (...)
33The presence of the enclitic on non-modified class 10 nouns in contexts where the enclitic is obligatorily absent in other classes suggests that the enclitic originated as a device to explicitly mark the plurality of class 10 nouns.20 Hyman (1980: 229) notes that “the ‑sə́ noun suffix is actually introduced by rule just in case there is no overt mark distinguishing class 10 from its class 9 singular”. Bantoid languages with both prefixes and suffixes and the few Narrow Bantu languages with suffixes might have developed in similar ways like Babanki, but the issue requires further investigation.
34The enclitic is optionally present when the NP terminates in a demonstrative modifier, a genuine possessive (i.e. 1sg, 2sg, 1pl.excl, and 2pl) or the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’. This holds for all syntactic positions except for subject NPs, as demonstrated below for direct objects (14) and prepositional complements (15) in affirmative declaratives, negative declaratives, wh-questions, and imperatives. The optional presence of the enclitic refers to the fact that speakers freely use or leave out the enclitic without any functional difference, e.g. fə̀ɲín fὲn=fə́ ‘this bird’ alternates freely with fə̀ɲín fὲn. In the examples given here and elsewhere, the optional presence of the noun class enclitic is indicated by bracketing, e.g. fə̀ɲín fὲn(=fə́).
| (14) Optional presence of noun class enclitics with modified direct objects |
- 21 Unlike in Aghem, where the enclitic and the demonstrative are mutually exclusive, both can co-occu (...)
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
kù |
kə̄‑káŋ |
k‑ὲn=(kə́) |
à |
wù21 |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
give |
7‑dish |
7‑dem=(7.enc) |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The slave gave this dish to you.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
kù |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fy‑ì=(fə́) |
à |
wù |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
give |
19‑bird |
19‑dem=(19.enc) |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The slave didn’t give that bird to you.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
yὲn |
kə̄‑kɨ́ |
ə̄k‑yέs=(kə́) |
fέ |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
see |
7‑chair |
7‑1pl.excl=(7.enc) |
where |
|
‘Where did the slave see our chair?’ |
| d. |
kú |
kə̀‑mbò |
kə̄‑tsέn=(kə́) |
á |
ꜜwέn |
|
give.imp |
7‑bag |
7‑certain=(7.enc) |
to |
3sg |
|
‘Give a certain bag to him!’ |
| (15) Optional presence of noun class enclitics with modified prepositional complements |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
tə̀‑fɔ́yn |
ty‑ī=(tə́) |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
13‑chief |
13‑dem=(13.enc) |
|
‘The slave kept corn for those chiefs.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
tə̀‑fɔ́yn |
t‑ɛ̄n=(tə́) |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
13‑chief |
13‑dem=(13.enc) |
|
‘The slave didn’t keep corn for these chiefs.’ |
| c. |
wàyn |
yì |
kù |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
kə̄‑kɔ̀s |
ə̀k‑ɔ́m=(kə́) |
zέ |
|
1.child |
p1 |
give |
5‑corn |
to |
7‑slave |
7‑1sg=(7.enc) |
when |
|
‘When did the child give corn to my slave?’ |
| d. |
ɣáʔ |
mə̄‑ɲín |
mə̄‑n‑tsέnə́=(mə̀) |
á |
ꜜwέn |
| catch.imp |
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑some=(6a.enc) |
for |
3sg |
| ‘Catch some birds for him!’ |
35It should be noted that the relevant modifer has to occur in final position of the entire NP since the situation might change as modifiers are combined in complex NPs (§3.4).
- 22 It can be argued that the absence of the enclitic with the interrogative modifiers and numerals is (...)
36The enclitic is obligatorily absent when NPs terminate in derived possessive modifiers (i.e. 3sg, 1pl.incl, 3pl), nominal possessives, interrogative modifiers,22 the quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, numerals, and relative clauses. This holds for all syntactic contexts, irrespective of whether the NP is in subject position (16), in direct object position (17), or occurs as prepositional complement (18) in affirmative declaratives, negative declaratives, wh-questions, and imperatives. The obligatory absence of the enclitics terminating the NP is shown by marking them with an asterisk and placing them in parentheses after the final modifier.
| (16) Obligatory absence of noun class enclitics with modified subjects |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́=wέn (*=kə́) |
kə́= |
yì |
pfɨ́ |
|
7‑slave |
7.am=3sg |
7.sm= |
p1 |
die |
|
‘His slave died.’ |
| b. |
və̀‑tʃí |
və́=wùwì (*=və́) |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
nə̀ntʃwì |
|
2‑in.law |
2.am=1.woman |
2.sm= |
p1 |
come |
afternoon |
|
‘The woman’s in-laws came in the afternoon.’ |
| c. |
à |
fàŋ |
mə̄‑ɲín |
mə̀‑ŋ‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=mə̀) |
á |
kə̀‑mbò |
á |
|
it |
remain |
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑which |
in |
7‑bag |
q |
|
‘Which birds are left in the bag?’ |
| d. |
ə̀‑kɔ̀s |
ə̀‑tsὲm (*=ə́) |
ə́= |
yì |
vì |
zέ |
|
8‑slave |
8‑all |
8.sm= |
p1 |
come |
when |
|
‘When did all the slaves come?’ |
| e. |
kə̀‑kɔ̀s |
kə̀‑mùʔ (*=kə́) |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
ʒɨ́ |
|
7‑slave |
7‑one |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
eat |
|
‘One slave didn’t eat.’ |
| f. |
və̀‑tsɔ́ŋ (*=və́) |
á |
mà |
yì |
ʒís (*=və́) |
ə́= |
bʉ́nə́ |
ꜜlí |
|
2‑thief |
rel |
1sg |
p1 |
feed |
2.sm= |
sleep |
p0 |
|
‘The thieves that I fed have slept.’ |
| (17) Obligatory absence of noun class enclitics with modified direct objects |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
kù |
kə̄‑kɨ́ |
kə́=wέn (*=kə́) |
à |
wù |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
give |
7‑chair |
7.am=3sg |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The slave gave his chair to you.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kúm |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
kù |
kə̄‑kɨ́ |
kə́=kə̄‑kɔ̀s (*=kə́) |
à |
wù |
|
7‑juju |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
give |
7‑chair |
7.am=7‑slave |
to |
2sg |
|
‘The juju didn’t give the chair of a slave to you.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
ɣàʔ |
və̄‑tsɔ́ŋ |
və̀‑ʃə̀ʔ (*=və́) |
|
7‑slave |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
catch |
2‑thief |
2‑how.many |
|
‘How many thieves did the slave not catch?’ |
| d. |
wàyn |
yì |
kù |
mə̄‑ɲín |
mə̀‑n‑tsὲm (*=mə̀) |
à |
ndə̀ |
|
1.child |
p1 |
give |
6a‑bird |
6a‑n‑all |
to |
who |
|
‘Who did the child give all birds to?’ |
| e. |
kú |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̀‑mùʔ (*=fə́) |
à |
wàyn |
|
give.imp |
19‑bird |
19‑one |
to |
1.child |
|
‘Give one bird to the child!’ |
| f. |
wù |
bàʔlə́ |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s (*=kə́) |
á |
mà |
yì |
ʒís (*=kə́) |
|
2sg |
sell |
7‑slave |
rel |
1sg |
p1 |
feed |
|
‘You have sold the slave that I fed.’ |
| (18) Obligatory absence of noun class enclitics with modified prepositional complements |
| a. |
wàyn |
yì |
wyè |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
á |
kə̄‑káŋ |
kə́=və́ɣéŋ (*=kə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
put |
5‑corn |
in |
7‑dish |
7.am=1pl.incl |
| ‘The child put corn in our dish.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kúm |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
byí |
á |
kə̄‑kɨ́ |
kə́=kə̄‑kɔ̀s (*=kə́) |
| 7‑juju |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
keep |
9.goat |
on |
7‑chair |
7.am=7‑slave |
| ‘The juju didn’t keep a dog on the chair of a slave.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kúm |
kə́= |
kó |
yì |
tὲm |
ɲàm |
à |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=fə́) |
| 7‑juju |
7.sm= |
neg |
p1 |
shoot |
9.animal |
for |
19‑bird |
19‑which |
| ‘Which bird did the juju not shoot an animal for?’ |
| d. |
wàyn |
yì |
wʉ̀ |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
á |
víʔ |
və̀‑tsὲm (*=və́) |
fέ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
keep |
5‑corn |
for |
2.people |
2‑all |
where |
| ‘Where did the child keep corn for everyone?’ |
| e. |
kú |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̀‑mùʔ (*fə́) |
| give.imp |
5‑corn |
to |
19‑bird |
19‑one |
| ‘Give corn to one bird!’ |
| f. |
wù |
kù |
ɲàm |
à |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s (*=kə́) |
á |
mà |
yì |
ʒís (*=və́) |
| 2sg |
give |
9.meat |
to |
7‑slave |
rel |
1sg |
p1 |
feed |
| ‘You gave the meat to the slave that I fed.’ |
37Note that in contrast to the genuine possessive pronouns (14c, 15c) — which allow for the enclitic to be present — the derived possessive pronouns (17a, 18a) align with the nominal possessives (17b, 18b) in that they require the enclitic to be absent obligatorily. This actually points to the origin of the derived possessive pronouns in erstwhile nouns as argued in §2.2.
38The enclitic is also obligatorily absent when non-modified nouns occur as direct object in imperatives, as in (19).
| (19) Obligatory absence of noun class enclitics with non-modified direct objects in imperatives |
| a. |
kú |
kə̄-káŋ (*=kə́) |
| give.imp |
7-dish |
| ‘Give the dish!’ |
| b. |
ɣə̀ŋ |
ʒís |
fə̄‑ɲín (*=fə́) |
| 2pl |
feed |
19‑bird |
| ‘You (pl) feed the bird!’ |
| c. |
tɔ́ŋtə́ |
və̄‑tʃí (*=və́) |
| greet |
2‑in.law |
| ‘Greet the in-laws!’ |
- 23 The free order of a possessive pronoun and an adjective in a complex NP is also reported in Aghem (...)
39When several modifiers combine in an NP the possessive pronoun and adjective occur closest to the modified noun in either order, followed by the participle, quantifier, demonstrative, numeral, interrogative, and the relative clause, as schematized in the formula in (20a) and illustrated in (20b‑d).23
| (20) Order of modifiers in the NP |
| a. |
n {poss.pro adj / adj poss.pro} part quan dem num int rel |
| b. |
fə̀‑ɲín |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m |
fə̄‑fí |
fə̄‑fɨ́fə́ |
fə̄‑tsέn |
f‑ὲn |
fə̀‑mùʔ |
| 19‑bird |
19‑1sg |
19‑new |
19‑white |
19‑certain |
19‑dem |
19‑one |
| ‘This one other new white bird of mine.’ |
| c. |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə̄‑m‑fɨ́fə́ |
mə̀‑wέn |
mə̄‑m‑fí |
m‑yì |
mə̀‑n‑ʃə̀ʔ |
| 19‑bird |
6a‑n‑white |
6a‑3sg |
6a‑n‑new |
6a‑dem |
6a‑n‑which |
| ‘How many of those new white birds of his?’ |
| d. |
mə̀‑ɲín |
mə̄‑m‑fɨ́fə́ |
mə̀‑wέn |
mə̄‑m‑fí |
m‑yì |
mə̀‑m‑bò |
á |
wù |
yì |
yέn |
| 19‑bird |
6a‑n‑white |
6a‑3sg |
6a‑n‑new |
6a‑dem |
6a‑n‑two |
rel |
2sg |
p1 |
see |
| ‘Those two new white birds of his that you saw.’ |
40When modifiers are combined, the presence or absence of the enclitic is determined by the final modifier in the NP. The enclitic is present if the NP-final modifier is one that requires the presence of the enclitic (21), optionally present if the NP-final modifier is one that permits the presence of the enclitic (22), and obligatorily absent if the NP-final modifier is one that requires the absence of the enclitic (23), whether the NP is in subject, direct object, or prepositional complement position.
| (21) Obligatorily present when NP-final modifier requires the enclitic |
- 24 The class 5 enclitic =ɣə́ is formally different from the sm ə́. In addition, the intonational brea (...)
| a. |
ə̀‑wúm |
ə̄ɣ‑ɔ́mə́ |
ə̄‑dʒʉ́ŋə́=ɣə́ |
|24 |
yì |
pfɨ́ |
| 5‑egg |
5‑1sg |
5‑good=5.enc |
|
p1 |
die |
| ‘My nice egg got broken.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
fə̄‑ɲín |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
19‑bird |
19‑1sg |
19‑new=19.enc |
| ‘The child bought my new bird.’ |
| c. |
wàyn |
yì |
kù |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
fə̄‑ɲín |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m |
fə̄‑dʒʉ́ŋə́ |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
| 1.child |
p1 |
give |
5‑corn |
to |
19‑bird |
19‑1sg |
19‑good |
19‑new=19.enc |
| ‘The child gave corn to my nice new bird.’ |
| (22) Optionally present when NP-final modifier permits the enclitic |
- 25 For the enclitic, the brackets represent the status of optional presence, while for the sm, the br (...)
| a. |
fə̀‑ɲín |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m |
fə̄‑dʒʉ́ŋə́ |
fə̄‑fí |
f‑yì |
(=fə́) |
(fə́)25 |
yì |
pfɨ́ |
| 19‑bird |
19‑1sg |
19‑good |
19‑new |
19‑dem |
(=19.enc) |
(19.sm=) |
p1 |
die |
| ‘That nice new bird of mine died.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fə̄‑dʒʉ́ŋə́ |
fə̄‑fí |
fə̄‑tsέn |
(fə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
19‑bird |
19‑good |
19‑new |
19‑certain |
19.enc |
| ‘The child bought a certain nice new bird.’ |
| c. |
wàyn |
yì |
kù |
ə̄‑sáŋ |
à |
fə̄‑ɲín |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m |
fə̄‑fí |
f‑ὲn=(fə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
give |
5‑corn |
to |
19‑bird |
19‑1sg |
19‑new |
19‑dem=(19.enc) |
| ‘The child gave corn to this new bird of mine.’ |
| (23) Obligatorily absent when NP-final modifier does not permit the enclitic |
| a. |
fə̀‑ɲín |
fə̄‑dʒʉ́ŋə́ |
fə̄‑fí |
f‑yì |
fə̀‑mùʔ (*=fə́) |
fə́ |
yì |
pfɨ́ |
| 19‑bird |
19‑good |
19‑new |
19‑dem |
19‑one |
19.sm |
p1 |
die |
| ‘That one nice new bird died.’ |
| b. |
wàyn |
yì |
zὲn |
fə̄‑ɲín |
fə̄‑fέnə́ |
fə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=fə́) |
| 1.child |
p1 |
buy |
19‑bird |
19‑black |
19‑which |
| ‘Which black bird did the child buy?’ |
| c. |
wàyn |
yì |
kù |
ā‑sáŋ |
à |
mə̀‑ɲín |
ə̄m‑yə̀ |
m‑yì |
mə̀‑n‑tsὲm |
á |
| 1.child |
p1 |
give |
6‑corn |
to |
6a‑bird |
6a‑2sg |
6a‑dem |
6a‑n‑all |
rel |
| mà |
yì |
yέn (*=mə̀) |
| 1sg |
p1 |
see |
| ‘The child gave corn to all those your birds that I saw.’ |
41Another factor which determines the occurrence of the enclitic is the presence or absence of a lexical head in the NP. Its influence, however, is marginal since headless NPs differ only in one diagnostic environment from NPs with lexical heads with respect to the enclitic, i.e. modification by a derived possessive pronoun. This is shown in Table 12, which contrasts the distribution of the enclitic across all diagnostic modifier types of NPs in dependency from the presence of a lexical head.
Table 12 — Distribution of the enclitic across modifier types in dependency from the presence of a head
|
+ lexical head |
– lexical head |
| adj/part |
+ |
+ |
| dem |
(+) |
(+) |
| gen poss |
(+) |
(+) |
| der poss |
– |
+ |
| quan tsέn ‘some, certain’ |
(+) |
(+) |
| quan tsὲm ‘whole, all’ |
– |
– |
| num |
– |
– |
42In contrast to the obligatory absence of the enclitic in lexically headed NPs modified by derived possessive pronouns, as presented in §3.3 and exemplified in (17a), (18a), and (24a), the enclitic is obligatorily present in their headless counterparts, as shown in (24b).
| (24) Occurrence of enclitic in NPs modified by derived possessive pronouns |
| a. Obligatory absence of enclitic in lexically headed NPs |
| kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
kù |
kə̄‑kɨ́ |
kə́=wέn (*kə́) |
à |
wù |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
give |
7‑chair |
7.am=3sg |
to |
2sg |
| ‘The slave gave his chair to you.’ |
| b. Obligatory presence of enclitic in headless NPs |
| kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
kù |
kə́=wέn=kə́ |
à |
wù |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
give |
7.am=3sg=7.enc |
to |
2sg |
| ‘The slave gave his own to you.’ |
43Derived possessives provide a clue to understanding the relationship between headedness and the enclitic. It seems that the absence of a lexical head gives room for the enclitic to appear. We speculate that historically there was a significant distinction between headed NPs and headless ones by the presence of the enclitic on headless NPs. It seems that an NP needs to be headed by a full noun, otherwise the enclitic has to be present. It is as if the enclitic is present to make a well-formed NP when the nominal head is absent. Since this relationship between headedness and the enclitic is manifest only on derived possessives, where the enclitic is obligatorily present with headless NPs and obligatorily absent with headed ones, it is unclear whether the heterogeneity is archaic or rather an innovation.
44Otherwise, the distribution of the enclitic with headless NPs matches precisely the one in NPs with lexical heads. The enclitic is obligatorily present with adjectives and participles whether there is a lexical head or not.
| (25) Obligatory presence of enclitic with adjectives/participles in the presence or absence of a lexical head |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
yὲn |
(fə̄‑ɲín) |
fə̄‑fí=fə́ |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
see |
(19‑bird) |
19‑new=19.enc |
| ‘The slave saw a new bird/one.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
zὲn |
(kə̄‑káŋ) |
kə̄‑ɣɔ́ʔə́=kə́ |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
buy |
(7‑plate) |
7‑big=7.enc |
| ‘The slave bought a big plate/one.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
zὲn |
(kə̄‑káŋ) |
kə́ |
lì |
ə̀=wέn |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
buy |
(7‑plate) |
7.am |
1.mother |
1.am=3sg |
| kə̄‑ɣɔ́ʔə́=kə́ |
| 7‑big=7.enc |
| ‘The slave bought his mother’s big plate/one.’ |
45The enclitic is optionally present on demonstratives, genuine possessives, and the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’, irrespective of whether there is a lexical head.
| (26) Optional presence of enclitic with demonstratives and the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’ in the presence or absence of a lexical head |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
yὲn |
(fə̄‑ɲín) |
f‑ὲn=(fə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
see |
(19‑bird) |
19‑dem=(19.enc) |
| ‘The slave saw this bird/one.’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
yὲn |
(fə̄‑ɲín) |
ə̄fw‑ɔ́m=(fə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
see |
(19‑bird) |
19‑1sg=(19.enc) |
| ‘The slave saw my bird/mine.’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
zὲn |
(kə̄‑káŋ) |
kə̄‑tsέn=(kə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
buy |
(7‑plate) |
7‑certain=(7.enc) |
| ‘The slave bought a certain plate/one.’ |
46The obligatory absence of the enclitic is observed with numerals, the quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, interrogative modifiers, and nominal possessives whether there is a lexical head or not.
| (27) Obligatory absence of enclitic with numeral and quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’ in the presence or absence of a lexical head |
| a. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
yὲn |
(fə̄‑ɲín) |
fə̀‑mùʔ (*=fə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
see |
(19‑bird) |
19‑one |
| ‘The slave saw one (bird).’ |
| b. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
pfè |
(à-wúm) |
à‑tsὲm (*=ɣə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
cook |
(6‑egg) |
6‑all |
| ‘The slave cooked all (eggs).’ |
| c. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
pfè |
(à‑wúm) |
à‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=ɣə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
cook |
(6‑egg) |
6‑which |
| ‘Which (eggs) did the slave cook?’ |
| d. |
kə̀‑kɔ̄s |
kə́= |
yì |
pfè |
(kə̀‑tʉ́) |
kə́=fə́‑ɲìn (*=kə́) |
| 7‑slave |
7.sm= |
p1 |
cook |
(7‑head) |
7.am=19‑bird |
| ‘The slave cooked the bird’s (head).’ |
47Focalisation does not seem to have any influence on the distribution of the NP-final enclitic. Evidence presented in §§3.1‑3.5 shows that the presence vs. absence of the enclitic is determined synchronically by NP-internal and NP-external syntactic factors, particularly the type of modifiers involved. When focused for contrastive purposes by means of a pseudo-cleft construction with the copula dìʔ, the enclitic is obligatorily present in NPs modified by adjectives and participles (28a‑b), optionally present on demonstratives (28c), the quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’ (28d), and genuine possessives (28e), and obligatorily absent on derived possessives (28f), nominal possessives, the quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, interrogative modifiers, numerals (28g), and relative clauses (28h).
| (28) Pseudo-cleft constructions for contrastive focus |
| a. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
tə̄‑fí=tə́ |
á |
ə̄‑ŋgə̀ŋ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑new=13.enc |
in |
5‑house |
| ‘There are new spears in the house (correcting a presupposition that they are old).’ |
| b. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
tə̄‑fέnə́=tə́ |
á |
ə̄‑ŋgə̀ŋ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑black=13.enc |
in |
5‑house |
| ‘There are black spears in the house (correcting a presupposition that they are red).’ |
| c. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
t‑ὲn(=tə́) |
á |
wù |
yì |
zέn |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑dem(=13.enc) |
rel |
2sg |
p1 |
buy |
| ‘It is these spears that you bought (correcting a presupposition that they are some others).’ |
| d. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
tə̄‑tsέn(=tə́) |
á |
wàyn |
yì |
kwàʔ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑some (=13.enc) |
rel |
1.child |
p1 |
break |
| ‘The child broke some spears (correcting a presupposition that it did not break any).’ |
| e. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
ə̄ty‑ɔ́m(=tə́) |
á |
wàyn |
yì |
kwàʔ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑poss (=13.enc) |
rel |
1.child |
p1 |
break |
| ‘The child broke my spears (correcting a presupposition that it broke yours).’ |
| f. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
tə́=wέn (*=tə́) |
á |
wàyn |
yì |
kwàʔ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13.am=3sg |
rel |
1.child |
p1 |
break |
| ‘The child broke his spears (correcting a presupposition it broke mine).’ |
| g. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
tə̀‑bò (*=tə́) |
á |
wàyn |
yì |
kwàʔ |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
13‑two |
rel |
1.child |
p1 |
break |
| ‘It is two spears that the child broke (correcting a presupposition that it broke ten).’ |
| h. |
à |
dìʔ |
tə̄‑ɣɔ́ŋ |
á |
və̀‑tsɔ́ŋ |
ə́ |
yì |
tsɔ́ŋ (*=tə́) |
| ds |
cop |
13‑spear |
rel |
2‑thief |
2.sm |
p1 |
steal |
| ‘It is spears that the thieves stole (correcting a presupposition that they are spears that were bought).’ |
48Although the distribution indicates that the presence vs. absence of the enclitic in both focus and non-focus conditions matches, one difference is that demonstratives, genuine possessives and derived possessives can also be preposed under focus conditions. When demonstratives and genuine possessives are preposed in the presence of a lexical head, the enclitic is obligatorily absent (whereas it is optionally present in non-focus conditions), revealing a situation where focalization precludes the presence of the enclitic. Table 13 summarizes the distribution of the enclitic under focus conditions in dependency on the position of the modifier and the presence of a lexical head.
Table 13 — Distribution of the enclitic across modifier types under focus conditions
- 26 “n.a.” (not applicable) indicates that the modifier does not occur in that position.
|
Postposed modifier |
Preposed modifier |
|
|
+ lexical head |
– lexical head |
| adj/part |
+ |
n.a.26 |
n.a. |
| dem |
(+) |
– |
+ |
| gen poss |
(+) |
– |
+ |
| quan tsέn ‘some, certain’ |
(+) |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| der poss |
– |
– |
+ |
| nom poss |
– |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| quan tsὲm ‘whole, all’ |
– |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| int |
– |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| num |
– |
n.a. |
n.a. |
| rel |
– |
n.a. |
n.a. |
49The enclitic is obligatorily present when demonstratives (29a), genuine possessives (29b), and derived possessives (29c) occur without a lexical head.
| (29) Obligatory presence of enclitic with preposed demonstratives, genuine possessives, and derived possessives in the absence of a lexical head |
| a. |
kə̀‑kúm |
kə́ |
kó |
zì |
kə́ |
bέn. |
à |
bɨ̀ʔ |
ndə́ |
ə̀k‑ὲn=kə́ |
á |
| 7‑juju |
7.sm |
neg |
can |
7.sm |
dance |
ds |
play |
who |
7‑dem=7.enc |
q |
| ‘The juju cannot dance. Who has played this (kind of music)?’ |
| b. |
à |
dìʔ |
ə̄k‑ɔ́m=kə́ |
tá |
lə̀. |
kə́ |
ɣὲŋ |
bέ |
lù |
dzàŋ |
mò |
| ds |
cop |
7‑poss=7.enc |
only |
such |
neg |
2pl |
again |
f3 |
call |
1sg |
| á |
ə̄‑ɲʉ̀ |
ə́ |
kə̄‑ŋkɔ́yn |
| for |
8‑thing |
8.am |
7‑foolish |
| ‘Such is my (fate). You (pl) should never call me for such trivial things.’ |
| c. |
à |
sə́ |
n‑dìʔ |
kə́=wέn=kə́ |
və́ |
wyʉ́ |
tá |
ntéʔ |
| ds |
then |
n‑cop |
7.am=3sg=7.enc |
3pl |
put |
only |
little |
| ‘When it was his (plate) they served him very little (food).’ |
50On the other hand, the enclitic is obligatorily absent when demonstratives (30a), genuine possessives (30b), and derived possessives (30c) are preposed for contrastive focus in the presence of a lexical head.
| (30) Obligatory absence of enclitic with preposed demonstratives, genuine possessives, and derived possessives in the presence of a lexical head |
| a. |
kə̀‑kúm |
kə́ |
kó |
zì |
kə́ |
bέn. |
à |
bɨ́ʔ |
ndə́ |
ə̀k‑ὲn |
| 7‑juju |
7.sm |
neg |
can |
7.sm |
dance. |
ds |
play |
who |
7‑dem |
| kə̀‑bɔ́ʔ (*=kə́) |
á |
| 7‑music |
q |
| ‘The juju cannot dance. Who has played this kind of music?’ |
| b. |
à |
dìʔ |
ə̄k‑ɔ́m |
kə̀‑ɲʉ̀ (*=kə́) |
á |
lə̀. |
kə́ |
ɣὲŋ |
bέ |
lù |
dzàŋ |
| ds |
cop |
7‑poss |
7‑thing |
only |
such |
neg |
2pl |
again |
f3 |
call |
| mò |
á |
ə̄‑ɲʉ̀ |
ə́ |
kə̄‑ŋkɔ́yn |
| 1sg |
for |
8‑thing |
8.am |
7‑foolish |
| ‘Such is my fate. You (pl) should never call me for trivial things.’ |
| c. |
à |
sə́ |
n‑dìʔ |
kə́=wέn |
kə̀‑káŋ |
(*=kə́) |
və́ |
wyʉ́ |
tá |
ntéʔ |
| ds |
then |
n‑cop |
7.am=3sg |
7‑plate |
3pl |
put |
only |
little |
| ‘When it was his plate they served him very little (food).’ |
51Since the absence of the enclitic with preposed demonstratives, genuine possessives, and derived possessives appears to be triggered by focus, we can assume that focused NPs reject the enclitic in the presence of lexical heads.
52Support for this analysis comes from the fact that some quantifiers (tsὲm ‘whole, all’, numerals) and the interrogative modifers are inherently focused and so consistently reject the enclitic, as seen in §§3.3‑3.5 and further exemplified in (31).
| (31) |
| a. |
ɣə̀ |
yì |
dzàŋ |
mò |
fá |
dʒī |
lá |
mà |
bwín |
ə̀ |
vì |
ə̀ |
|
3sg |
p1 |
call |
1sg |
from |
road |
qt |
1sg |
return |
csc |
come |
csc |
|
byèʔè |
kə̀‑mbò |
kə́ |
ndɔ̀ŋ |
kə̀‑mùʔ (*=kə́) |
|
carry |
7‑bag |
7.am |
1.potato |
7‑one |
|
‘He called me to come back from the road and carry one bag of potatoes.’ |
| b. |
tɔ̀lɔ̀kyí |
gàʔ |
à |
wí |
ə́ |
wέn |
lá |
ɣə̀ |
tsέn‑tə́ |
ə̄‑fó |
| tortoise |
say |
to |
1.wife |
1.am |
3sg |
qt |
3sg |
gather‑rep |
8‑thing |
| ə̀‑tsὲm (*=ə́) |
ə̀ |
wyʉ̀ |
á |
nsé |
| 8‑all |
csc |
keep |
on |
9.ground |
| ‘Tortoise told his wife to gather everything and place it on the ground.’ |
| c. |
mbì |
wàyn |
tʃò |
ə̀ |
bὲm |
á |
wέn |
lá |
ɣə̀ |
byéʔé |
kə̀‑mbò |
| first |
1.child |
pass |
csc |
ask |
to |
3sg |
qt |
3sg |
carry |
7‑bag |
| kə̀‑kɔ̀ɔ̀ (*=kə́) |
ə̀ |
dʒʉ̀ |
á |
ə̄‑wɔ́ŋ |
lɔ́ |
| 7‑which |
csc |
keep |
on |
5‑market |
emph |
| ‘The first child moved forward and asked him which bag she should carry to the market.’ |
53In a historical Ring perspective, it makes sense to interpret these few instances of focus-driven absence of the enclitic as residual. The enclitic may have started out in Babanki as a pragmatically driven strategy to mark non-focalised NPs, possibly reflecting the contemporary situation of the West Ring languages Aghem (Hyman 1979b and 2010) and Isu (Kießling 2010), where the defocalising function of the enclitic is more prominent. In a pan-Ring trend that involves the progressive syntacticization of the enclitic and its concomittant depragmaticization, Babanki seems to have advanced considerably further than West Ring, allowing purely syntactic conditions for the appearance of the enclitic to almost completely replace erstwhile pragmatic ones.
54In the preceding sections various syntactic and pragmatic conditions of the NP-final enclitic have been presented. Specifically, we have shown that the type of nominal modifier almost completely determines the presence or absence of the enclitic. As seen, it is obligatorily present on attributive adjectives, participles, and bare nouns, optionally present on demonstratives, genuine pronominal possessives, quantifier tsέn ‘some, certain’, and obligatorily absent on derived pronominal possessives, quantifier tsὲm ‘whole, all’, numerals, and interrogative modifiers.
552Noun class enclitic markers also crop up in other branches of Ring, where they serve similar functions. Thus, evidence from Lamnso’ (East Ring) (McGarrity & Botne 2001) suggests that the presence vs. absence of an NP-final enclitic is conditioned by NP-internal and NP-external factors, similar as in Babanki. For example, the enclitic attaches to adjectives/participles (32a) and the quantifier ‘some’ (32b).
| (32) |
| a. |
ʃi‑nən |
ʃ‑e |
teri=ʃi |
| 19‑bird |
19‑rel |
small=enc |
| ‘small bird’ |
| b. |
mi‑ndzəv‑mi |
dzə |
laav |
mi‑moʔ=mi |
| 6‑water‑sm |
be.in |
house |
6‑some=enc |
| ‘Some water is in the house.’ |
56Nouns in prepositional phrases exhibit the enclitic (33a‑d) unless they are in locative phrases (33e), probably because locative phrases are not headed by prepositions but retain nominal properties, so that the construction may rather have to be analysed as a nominal possessive.
| (33) |
| a. |
Ntaŋ |
naa |
vi‑faveyi |
fo |
ʃi‑nən=ʃi |
| Ntang |
cook |
8‑food |
for |
19‑bird=19.enc |
| ‘Ntang is cooking food for the bird.’ |
| b. |
Ntaŋ |
fo |
vi‑faveyi |
i |
ʃi‑nən=ʃi |
| Ntang |
give |
8‑food |
to |
19‑bird=19.enc |
| ‘Ntang is giving food to the bird.’ |
| c. |
wu |
ki |
koʔ |
ki‑tʃi |
i |
ki‑raŋ=ki |
| 3sg |
pst |
climb |
7‑tree |
with |
7‑ladder=7.enc |
| ‘He climbed the tree with a ladder.’ |
| d. |
wu |
ki |
wiy |
i |
mi‑luʔ=mi |
| 3sg |
pst |
climb |
with |
6‑wine=6.enc |
| ‘He came up with wine.’ |
| e. |
a‑ŋwaʔ‑a |
dzə |
sar |
ki‑daŋ |
| 2‑book‑sm |
be |
under |
7‑desk |
| ‘The books are under the desk.’ |
57A comitative adjunct that modifies a direct object requires the enclitic, as in (34b‑c).
| (34) |
| a. |
m |
yen |
ʃi‑nən |
| 1sg |
see |
19‑bird |
| ‘I see a bird.’ |
| b. |
m |
yen |
ʃi‑nən |
wuna |
ki‑tam=ki |
| 1sg |
see |
19‑bird |
com |
7‑elephant=7.enc |
| ‘I see a bird and an elephant.’ |
| c. |
m |
ker |
ki‑soo |
ʃi‑nən |
wuna |
ki‑ɣin=ki |
| 1sg |
have |
7‑hoe |
19‑bird |
com |
7‑bowl=7.enc |
| ‘I have a hoe, a bird, and a bowl.’ |
58While the occurrence of the enclitic in Babanki (Central Ring) and Lamnso’ (East Ring) appears to be largely dependent on purely syntactic NP-internal and NP-external factors, it is largely driven by pragmatic conditions in West Ring in that the enclitic that characterizes the so-called “B-forms” is required for nouns in out-of-focus positions in Aghem (Hyman 1979a and 2010) and Isu (Kießling 2010). As illustration, consider the Aghem example in (35) taken from Hyman (1979a: 56), in which the direct object kɨ́-bέ ‘fufu’ forms part of the focus of the clause, i.e. the sentence could answer either questions such as ‘what did you eat?’ or ‘what did you do?’.
| (35) |
|
|
|
|
| m̀ |
mɔ̂ |
zɨ̀ |
kɨ́‑bέ |
nέ |
| 1sg |
p1 |
eat |
7‑fufu |
today |
| ‘I ate fufu today.’ |
59When focused, the noun kɨ́-bέ ‘fufu’ occurs in its “A-form”, i.e. the enclitic is obligatorily absent, while the noun retains its class 7 prefix kɨ́‑. If, however, the focus is placed on other elements of the clause, e.g. the verb (36a), an adverb (36b), or the subject (36c), the direct object kɨ́-bέ ‘fufu’ is required in its out-of-focus “B-form” bέ=ꜜkɔ́, i.e. it has to take the enclitic =kɔ́ of class 7 and drop its noun class prefix.
| (36) |
| a. |
m̀ |
mɔ̂ |
zɨ̀ |
nô |
bέ=ꜜkɔ́ |
nέ |
| 1sg |
p1 |
eat |
foc |
fufu=7.enc |
today |
| ‘I ate fufu today (not sell it).’ |
| b. |
m̀ |
mɔ̂ |
zɨ̀ |
nέ |
bέ=ꜜkɔ́ |
| 1sg |
p1 |
eat |
today |
fufu=7.enc |
| ‘I ate fufu today (not yesterday).’ |
| c. |
à |
mɔ̂ |
zɨ̀ |
mùɔ |
bέ=ꜜkɔ́ |
nέ |
| ds |
p1 |
eat |
1sg |
fufu=7.enc |
today |
| ‘I ate fufu today (not someone else).’ |
60This is also seen in negation (37a) and in imperatives (37b), which in Aghem are inherently focused independent of information structure.
| (37) |
| a. |
ŋ̀ |
kâ |
zɨ̀ |
bέ=ꜜkɔ́ |
nέ |
| 1sg |
neg |
eat |
fufu=7.enc |
today |
| ‘I didn’t eat fufu today.’ |
| b. |
zɨ́ |
bέ=ꜜkɔ́ |
| eat |
fufu=7.enc |
| ‘Eat fufu!’ |
61From a general Bantu perspective, the role of the Babanki NP-final enclitic appears to be reminiscent of that of the augment in Bantu languages (De Blois 1970; Grégoire & Janssens 1999; Van de Velde 2019). Even though the Bantu augments are (pre)prefixes while the Babanki enclitics are NP-final, their functions and distribution are similar in some ways. Although pervasive in Bantu, certain factors, e.g. propositional act function, and syntactic context determine “whether the use of the augment is prohibited, obligatory or syntactically optional” (Van de Velde 2019: 251). The obligatory absence of the Babanki enclitic under focus when demonstratives and pronominal possessives are preposed can be likened to the absence of the augment on an object noun when it is under focus, e.g. in Ganda JE15 (Hyman & Katamba 1993).
| (38) Ganda JE15 (ibid.: 228). |
| a. |
y‑à‑gúl‑ìr‑à |
à‑bá‑ànà |
è‑bí‑tábó |
| sp1‑pst‑buy‑appl‑fv |
aug‑2‑child |
aug‑8‑book |
| ‘He bought the children books.’ |
| b. |
y‑à‑gúl‑ìr‑à |
bá‑ànà |
è‑bí‑tábó |
| sp1‑pst‑buy‑appl‑fv |
2‑child |
aug‑8‑book |
| ‘He bought the children books.’ |
62Van de Velde (2019: 251) further points out that “on the level of the noun phrase, head nouns often lose their augment in the presence of (certain types of) preposed modifiers. The augment can then either function as a phrasal affix and appear on the prenominal modifier (39) or be left out (40)”.
| (39) Nande JD42 (ibid.) |
| a. |
ɔ̀‑mʊ̀‑tɩ́ |
‘the tree’ |
| b. |
ɔ̀‑ɣʊ̀‑ntɩ̀ mʊ̀‑tɩ́ |
‘the other tree’ |
| (40) Zulu S42 (ibid.) |
| a. |
i‑ndawo leyo |
‘that place’ |
| b. |
le ndawo |
‘this place’ |
63As seen in Babanki, numeral and interrogative modifiers are incompatible with the enclitic, just as in some Northwestern Bantu languages such as Zamba C322, where the interrogative ‘which’ (41) and numerals (42) are incompatible with the augment (Grégoire & Janssens 1999: 415).
| (41) Zamba C322 (ibid.) |
| a. |
ízíkèì |
‘an egg’ |
| b. |
zíkèì zídò |
‘which egg?’ |
| (42) Zamba C322 (ibid.) |
| a. |
bábâ:ná |
‘children’ |
| b. |
bâ:ná díbòà |
‘nine children’ |
| c. |
ínswě: |
‘fishes’ |
| d. |
ńswě: nsámbó |
‘seven fishes’ |
64A detailed discussion of the conditions on the presence vs. absence of the augment in Bantu is given in Van de Velde (2019: 249‑254).
65Regarding the role of headedness in Babanki, it has been shown that the enclitic is obligatorily absent on derived possessives if the NP is headed but obligatorily present if the NP is headless, making it the only NP-internal syntactic condition where the behaviour of headed NPs deviates with respect to the presence or absence of the enclitic. Since an NP needs to be headed by a full noun (keeping aside the quantifier ‘whole, all’ and numerals which do not require the enclitic even if the lexical head is missing), the enclitic is present to make a well-formed NP when the nominal head is absent but is not needed if the head noun is present.
66Concerning focus, it appears that the pragmatic influence on the enclitic has almost given way entirely to syntactic factors with the only indicator seen in the obligatory absence of the enclitic under focus when demonstratives and pronominal possessives move to the position immediately before the noun, as opposed to when it is optionally present on demonstratives and genuine possessives in non-focus conditions. In contrast to West Ring languages, the Babanki enclitic is overwhelmingly driven by syntactic conditions, while pragmatic conditions such as focalization only marginally interfere when the enclitic is required to be absent. This is seen with demonstrative and possessive modifiers under focus conditions, specifically when preposed to their nominal heads.
| ꜜ |
downstep |
| ǀ |
intonational break or pause |
| 1sg |
first person singular |
| 2sg |
second person singular |
| 3sg |
third person singular |
| 1pl |
first person plural |
| 2pl |
second person plural |
| 3pl |
third person plural |
| 1…19 |
noun classes |
| adj |
adjective |
| am |
associative marker |
| appl |
applicative |
| aug |
augment |
| com |
comitative |
| cop |
copula |
| csc |
consecutive |
| decl |
declarative |
| dem |
demonstrative |
| der |
derived |
| ds |
dummy subject |
| emph |
emphatic |
| enc |
enclitic |
| excl |
exclusive |
| f3 |
distant future tense |
| foc |
focus |
| fv |
final vowel |
| gen |
genuine |
| imp |
imperative |
| int |
interrogative |
| mod |
modifier |
| N |
noun |
| n |
nasal |
| neg |
negative |
| num |
numeral |
| p0 |
present/perfect tense |
| p1 |
immediate past tense |
| part |
participle |
| poss |
possessive |
| pro |
pronoun |
| pst |
past |
| q |
question |
| quan |
quantifier |
| qt |
quotative |
| rel |
relativizer/relative clause |
| rep |
repetitive |
| sm |
subject marker |
| sp |
subject prefix |
| wh-q |
wh-question |