- 1 The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant 20-18-00250 “Tonal languages of th (...)
1San Maka is a Mande language spoken in Burkina Faso. It is a language of the San/Samo language cluster. Together with Bisa, Busa/Boko/Bokobaru and Kyanga/Shanga language clusters, San/Samo form the Eastern group of the Mande language family. The main varieties of San/Samo are Maka in the South, Makya and Maya in the North; for more information see (Perekhvalskaya 2017a).
2Most of the San Maka speakers, especially city residents, speak Moore (a language of the Gur family), which is the dominant language in this area and one of the languages of interethnic communication in Burkina Faso. It should be noted that for the northern dialects of San (San Maya and San Makya), the most pronounced is the influence of Jula, which began to displace the San languages in larger urban centers.
3The phonology of San Maka, its tonal system included, was studied by Suzanne Platiel as a part of her doctoral dissertation (Platiel 1974). Moise Paré who did not specifically deal with the tonal system of San Maka in his articles, made several valuable comments regarding the grammatical meanings conveyed by tone (Paré 1998; Paré 1999).
42. General information on the language
5Unlike the majority of Mande languages, San Maka does not display certain properties characteristic for isolating languages. The word order is strict: S Aux O V X; at the same time, the main word classes (noun, verb, pronoun) have a rich morphology. The level of fusion of morphemes is high in the verbal system and somewhat lower in pronouns and nouns. Nouns distinguish two morphophonological classes depending on the character of the final element (2.1.3.). Verbs can also be divided into several paradigmatic classes.
6The system of vowels in San Maka is represented in Table 1.
Table 1. Vowel system of San Maka
|
Front
|
Middle
|
Back
|
Closed
|
|
ŋ
|
|
High
|
i ĩ
|
|
u ũ
|
Mid-high
|
e ẽ
|
ə
|
o õ
|
Mid-low
|
ɛ ɛ̃
|
|
ɔ ɔ̃
|
Low
|
|
a ã
|
|
7Nasalization is a distinctive feature; the oral phoneme /ə/ has no nasal counterparts. Phonetically long vowels are interpreted as combinations of two identical vowels; since the morpheme boundary can cut across such a long vowel: e.g., māā ‘my’ < mā ā (1sg + poss). Thus, words of the type māā ‘my’ are considered disyllabic words, which is supported by the choice of the allomorph of the plural marker (see Table 4): only in disyllabic words does the plural marker –ŋ copy the tone of the last vowel (2.2.1.).
8The phoneme /ŋ/ is classified as a vowel on the following grounds: 1) it is a tone-bearing unit; 2) its distribution is atypical for a consonant.
Table 2. San Maka consonants
|
Labial
|
Dental
|
Palatal
|
Velar
|
Uvular
|
Voiceless stops (plosives)
|
p
|
t
|
c
|
k
|
|
Voiced stops
|
b
|
d
|
ɟ
|
g
|
|
Voiceless fricatives
|
f
|
s
|
|
|
h
|
Voiced fricatives
|
|
z
|
|
|
|
Sonorants
|
Approximants
|
w
|
l
|
y
|
|
|
Vibrant
|
|
r
|
|
|
|
Nazals
|
m
|
n
|
ɲ
|
|
|
- 2 The final ŋ designates the floating nasal element (see below).
9The consonants /с/ and /ɟ/ may be pronounced as affricates [ʧ] and [ʤ] or as palatal stops [с] and [ɟ] respectively. Following San orthography, in this paper these sounds are spelled as ki and gi, so, kioŋ 2 ‘house’ may be pronounced as [сo] or [ʧo].
- 3 Laura McPherson discussing latent nasals in Samogo writes: “Diachronically a nasal coda, these nas (...)
10Some words in San Maka have a stem-final floating (latent) nasal which is normally not pronounced and does not nasalize the preceding syllable, cf.: bàáŋ [bàá] ‘bird’ vs [bã̀ã́] ‘place’.3 The floating -ŋ is manifested through the choice of inflexion markers and postpositive auxiliaries (2.2.1.).
11Thus, there are three phenomena connected with nasals apart from the phoneme /n/: 1) nasalization of vowels; 2) nasal closed vowel ŋ which is a tone bearing unit; 3) the floating final nasal ŋ.
12In the practical writing, both the vowel /ŋ/ and the floating final -ŋ are coded by the letter “n” at the end of the word. This letter also denotes the consonant /n/, but the latter does not occur at the end of the word; so, there is no distinction between the vowel /ŋ/ and the floating final ŋ in orthography. Nasalization is marked by the tilde (in a sequence of two vowels, only the second vowel is marked): baan [bàá] ‘bird’ vs baã [bã̀ã́] ‘place’.
13The final -ŋ occurs with nouns, adjectives and adverbs, but not with verbs. The presence/absence of the final nasal -ŋ is the criterion for dividing nouns into two morphological classes. The form of some grammatical elements which follow an NP, such as the plural marker and some predicative markers, depends on the presence or absence of the final nasal element.
14There is vowel harmony based on the vowel height: within one phonetic word, vowels can be either all mid-open (ɔ, ɛ) or mid-closed (o, e). The rest of the vowels are neutral and can combine with the vowels of both harmonic rows: sèwò dà ‘borassus palm’; bòé ‘goat’; gɛ̄sɛ̄ ‘kapok tree’; kɔ̃̄ɔ̃̄nɛ̀ ‘good’.
Table 3. Distribution of harmonic variants of elements nA
|
Copula of identification
|
Postposition ‘in’
|
Plural marker
|
Left context
|
|
|
|
High
|
i, u
|
nī
|
ní
|
ní
|
Mid-high
|
e
|
nē
|
né
|
nə́
|
ə
|
o
|
Mid-low
|
ɛ, ɔ
|
nɛ̄
|
nɛ́
|
nɛ́
|
|
ɔ
|
nɔ́
|
Low
|
a
|
ná
|
15An important phonetic feature in San Maka is the existence of harmonic variants for two clitics and one bound morpheme. These are the copula of identification nɛ̄ / nē / nī, a postposition nɛ́ / né / ní ‘in, at’, and the allomorphs of the plural marker appearing after the (-ŋ) stems -ní / -nə / -nɛ́ / -nɔ́ / -ná. The distribution of the variants is shown in Table 3.
16Examples. The copula of identification |nV̄|:
(1a)
|
Mā-ā
|
tásá
|
nɛ̄.
|
|
1sg-poss
|
bowl
|
cop
|
17‘It is my bowl’.
(1b)
|
Mā-ā
|
kiōŋ
|
nē.
|
|
1sg-poss
|
house
|
cop
|
18‘It is my house’.
(1c)
|
Mā-ā
|
būūkūrù
|
nī.
|
|
1sg-poss
|
machete
|
cop
|
19‘It is my machete’.
- 4 Tô is a very common dish in Burkina Faso, consisting of cooked millet or sorghum flour. It is serv (...)
20The postposition |nV́| ‘in, at’: làŋdā nɛ́ ‘in tradition’, nɔ̀ nɛ́ ‘in the stomach’, kíwí gólé né ‘in the city (lit.: in big village)’, wù bósò né ‘in the preparation of tô4’; píí ní ‘in the market’, wù ní ‘in tô’.
21Plural marker [nV́]: sāŋ́-ná ‘the San people’, dɔ̃̄ɔ̃̀ŋ-nɔ́ ‘relatives’, mɛ̀ŋ-nɛ́ ‘certain (pl)’, kōōŋ-nə́ ‘chickens’, kə́ŋ-nə́ ‘calaos’, bāsã̄kóéŋ-nə́ ‘morenga fruits’, mīŋ-ní ‘people’.
22San Maka is a tonal language with three level tones, designated, according to the IPA, by diacritics: acute (high), macron (mid) and grave (low). Vowel sequences may bear the following combinations of tones:
23level cv́v́; cv̄v̄; cv̀v̀
24falling cv́v̀; cv́v̄; cv̄v̀
25rising cv̀v́; cv̄v́
26Susanne Platiel focused on distribution of tonal units according to the types of syllables and words. She showed that words of the CVCV structure cannot carry the mid tone in both syllables if they contain closed or semi-closed vowels: /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/ (Platiel 1974: 132).
27Platiel also pointed out the rarity of tonal minimal pairs and triplets: it is difficult to find three or four identical segment chains that would differ only by tone (Platiel 1974: 144). Here are some rare minimal pairs found in San Maka: pã̄ã̄ ‘gather’ ~ pã̀ã̀ ‘cheek ~ pã̀ã́ ‘force’; bálá ‘individual field’ ~ bàlà ‘stick’.
28Nouns in San Maka may belong to two morphonological classes: 1) ending with a vowel; 2) ending with the floating nasal (ŋ-nouns, see 2.1.3.). Consider the following pairs: dā ‘fetish’ vs. dāŋ ‘limit’; dɔ́ ‘which also’ vs dɔ́ŋ ‘pot’; bàáŋ ‘bird’ vs. bāā ‘run’ vs bã̀ã́ ‘place’, etc.
29In San Maka, nouns and some determinants have a grammatical category of number. Plurality is marked on NPs consistently. The number is coded by the suffix ŋ/ná, represented by several allomorphs. The choice of the allomorph depends on the paradigmatic class of the word. For ŋ-nouns, the quality of the last vowel also matters (see 2.1.4.): the vowel is chosen depending on the final vowel of the noun stem. Other words form plurals by adding the suffix –ŋ which carries a high tone if the stem has the structure CV; otherwise it acquires the tone of the previous syllable.
Table 4. The formation of nominal plural in San Maka
Type of stem
|
Singular
|
Form of plural marker
|
Plural
|
Translation
|
stems ending with vowel
|
one syllable words
|
sɔ́
|
ŋ́
|
sɔ́ŋ́
|
‘tooth’
|
tù
|
ŋ́
|
tùŋ́
|
‘well’ (for water)
|
lɔ̄
|
ŋ́
|
lɔ̄ŋ́
|
‘woman’
|
multisyllable words
|
sèré
|
ŋ́
|
sèréŋ́
|
‘ram’
|
dɔ̀mɔ̄
|
ŋ̄
|
dɔ̀mɔ̄ŋ̄
|
‘griot’
|
gōò
|
ŋ̀
|
gōòŋ̀
|
‘liver’
|
wòtòró
|
ŋ́
|
wòtòróŋ́
|
‘cart’
|
(ŋ) stems
|
final vowel
|
a
|
màŋ
|
ná
|
màná
|
‘thing’
|
ɔ
|
gɔ́ŋ
|
nɔ́
|
gɔ́nɔ́
|
‘forest’
|
ɛ
|
mɛ̀ŋ
|
nɛ́
|
mɛ̀nɛ́
|
‘certain’
|
o
|
kiōŋ
|
nə́
|
kiōnə́
|
‘house’
|
e
|
bāsã̄kóéŋ
|
nə́
|
bāsã̄kóénə́
|
‘morenga fruit’
|
ə
|
kə́ŋ
|
nə́
|
kə́nə́
|
‘calao’
|
i
|
mīŋ
|
ní
|
mīní
|
‘person’
|
- 5 When the possessor is in plural, the possessive marker is not used: kíí-ŋ kiōŋ ‘the chiefs’ hou (...)
30Nouns are subdivided into free and relational (inalienable) depending on their behavior in possessive nominal constructions. Free nouns require the possessive marker ā: kíí ā kiōŋ ‘chief’s house’.5 Relational nouns (terms for body parts, certain kinship terms) appear without this marker: kíí gólógĩ́ĩ́ ‘chief’s elder brother’. Personal pronouns 2sg, 3sg and 3pl have no distinction between these two types of the possessive construction (see Table 5).
Table 5. Possessive pronouns with free and relational nouns in San Maka
number
|
|
free nouns
|
relational nouns
|
person
|
|
translation
|
|
translation
|
singular
|
1
|
māā kiōŋ
|
‘my house’
|
mā dī
|
‘my father’
|
2
|
ŋ̄ kiōŋ
|
‘your house’
|
ŋ̄ dī
|
‘your father’
|
3
|
à kiōŋ
|
‘his/her house’
|
à dī
|
‘his/her father’
|
plural
|
1
|
wɔ̄ā kiōŋ
|
‘our house’
|
wɔ̄ dī
|
‘our father’
|
2
|
kāā kiōŋ
|
‘your (pl) house’
|
kā dī
|
‘your (pl) father’
|
3
|
ŋ̀ kiōŋ
|
‘their house’
|
ŋ̀ dī
|
‘their father’
|
31The bold characters point out forms which have no distinction in the possessive construction for free and relational nouns.
Table 6. Morphological types of verbs in San Maka
- 6 No verbal stem of the CV structure ends on -e and -o.
stem ending
|
Neutral
|
Perfective
|
Imperfective
|
Translation
|
-a
|
Ca
|
gā
|
gā
|
gíɛ́
|
‘to look for’
|
CVa
|
gȭã̄
|
gȭã̀
|
gȭɛ̃̄
|
‘to stay’
|
-ɛ
|
Cɛ
|
dɛ̄
|
dɛ̄
|
díí
|
‘to beat, to kill’
|
CVCɛ
|
kɔ̀rɛ́
|
kɔ̀rɛ̀
|
kɔ̀rɛ̀ɛ̀
|
‘to cook’
|
-ɔ
|
Cɔ
|
wɔ́
|
wɔ́
|
wóé
|
‘to enter’
|
CVCɔ
|
sɔ̀lɔ́
|
sɔ̀lɔ̄
|
sɔ̀lɔ̀ɛ̀, sɔ̀lɛ̀ɛ̀
|
‘to filter’
|
-e6
|
CvCe
|
kérē
|
kérē
|
kérèè
|
‘to faint’
|
-o
|
CVCo
|
dórō
|
dōrò
|
dōròè, dōréè
|
‘to teach’
|
-i
|
Ci
|
mī
|
mī
|
mɩ́í
|
‘to drink’
|
CVi
|
bīī
|
bīì
|
bīī
|
‘to eat’
|
-u
|
Cu
|
bũ̄
|
bũ̀
|
bũ̄ì
|
‘to open’
|
CVCu
|
dúrū
|
dūrù
|
dúrī
|
‘to hide’
|
- 7 The presented morphological classes cannot be boiled down just to phonological differences; the co (...)
32In San Maka, a verbal lexeme has three morphological forms: neutral, perfective and imperfective. Based on the formation of the imperfective forms, Paré singles out 7 types of verbs (Paré 1999: 38–41). However, if we take into account all characteristics, the actual number of paradigmatic classes of verbs in San Maka reaches at least 12 (see Table 6).7
33The neutral form is taken for basic in grammars and dictionaries (Platiel 1974; Paré 1999; Anonym 2003). It appears in non-indicative forms (imperative, hortative, jussive, conjunctive), as well as in the negative perfective (Kompaoré 2005). The perfective verb form is used with the affirmative predicative markers. The imperfective form appears in two affirmative and one negative imperfective construction; for details see (Perekhvalskaya 2017a; Perekhvalskaya 2017b).
34Synchronically, the perfective is formed by a tone change (see Table 7).
35Imperfective is formed through modification of both segmental and suprasegmental components; synchronically, it is fusional. Verbs of the CV structure get the CVV structure.
- 8 The cognate of this suffix is attested in San Maya, a closely related language situated to the nor (...)
36Apparently, the perfective and imperfective forms go back to non-finite forms (nominalizations, gerunds, etc.). This explains the fact that they cannot perform the predicative function on their own, and require the presence of a predicative marker. The perfective forms historically seem to have had a low tone suffix. The imperfective forms were formed by adding the suffix -e / -ɛ which has fused with the stem.8 The neutral form, apparently, is a true verb by origin: it can appear in the predicative function without any additional marker; for more details see (Perekhvalskaya 2017a).
37Tone in San Maka plays a role in both the lexicon and the grammar. There are minimal pairs which illustrate the function of tone in distinguishing lexical values.
bálá ‘individual field’
pã̀ã̀ ‘cheek
tóŋ̄ ‘ashes’
ŋ̄ ‘you (sg)’
|
bàlà ‘stick’;
pã̀ã́ ‘force’;
tóŋ́ ‘scorpion’;
ŋ̀ ‘they’
|
38Words belonging to different parts of speech:
gɔ̄ ‘to share’
kérē ‘to faint’
gɔ́rɔ́ ‘mortar’
gìàlā ‘stomach’
|
gɔ̀ ‘rubbish’;
kèrè ‘shin’;
gɔ̀rɔ̄ ‘already’;
gīālā ‘behind’
|
39It has to be noted that words which are homonyms in their basic forms may differ by their morphological behavior. Consider the following pair: the noun gĩ̄ã̄ ‘wooden holder’ which can add the plural suffix (gĩ̄ã̄ŋ̄ ‘wooden holders’), and the verb gĩ̄ã̄ ‘to live’ which has the perfective form gĩ̄ã̀ and the imperfective form gĩ̀ɛ̃̀.
40In San Maka, tone has a wide range of grammatical meanings. The detailed investigation of the grammatical tone in Mande languages has been started by Maria Konoshenko (Konoshenko 2017). For tone and derivation, see also (Palancar & Léonard 2016).
41Tone is often the only distinctive feature that opposes neutral and perfective verbal forms, e.g., ‘to come’: dāā, neutral form vs. dāà perfective (for more examples see Table 6).
42The neutral verbal forms can have the following tonal and segmental structures:
43cv: cv́, cv̄, cv̀
44cvv: cv́v̄, cv̄v̄
45cvcv: cv́cv̄, cv̀cv́
46cvcvv: cv̀cv̄v̄
47Synchronically, the perfective is formed by a tone change:
Table 7. Tones in the neutral and perfective verbal forms
Type
|
Neutral form
|
Perfective form
|
Example
|
CV
|
H
|
M
|
kɔ́ ‘to become’ > kɔ̄
|
M
|
M
|
dā ‘to put’ > dā
|
L
|
M
|
wò ‘to go away’ > wō
|
CVV
|
HM
|
ML
|
tóā ‘to leave’ > tōà
|
MM
|
ML
|
kĩ̄ɛ̃̄ ‘to write’ > kĩ̄ɛ̃̀
|
CVCV
|
HM
|
ML
|
párɛ̄ ‘to jump’ >pārɛ̀
|
LH
|
ML
|
sɔ̀lɔ́ ‘to filter’ > sɔ̄lɔ̀
|
CVCVV
|
LMM
|
MML
|
kùrə̄ə̄ ‘to hinder, impede’ > kūrə̄ə̀
|
- 9 This analysis was proposed by an anonymous reviewer, I take this opportunity to thank her or him.
48The table 7 shows that the perfective is formed by similar tonal patterns: monosyllabic verbs acquire the mid tone; disyllabic and trisyllabic verbs display the ML or MML patterns. In fact, in perfective, all the verbs have the same tone melody M(L), but on a CV stem, there is no room to dock the L, and so only the M is realized. 9
49In compound nouns, the tone of the second element rises: L > M, M > H.
50nɛ̄ ‘child’ + lɔ̄ ‘woman’ > nɛ̄ lɔ́ ‘daughter’;
51dīī ‘bull’ + nɛ̄ ‘child’ > dīī nɛ́ ‘calf’;
52bōŋbōōŋ ‘ant’ + gìí ‘egg’ > bōŋbōōŋ gīí ‘ant egg’;
53lóŋ̄ ‘sky’ + bàáŋ ‘bird’ > lóŋ̄ bāáŋ ‘avion’.
- 10 On the definition of what is a word in isolating languages, see, for example (Idiatov 2005; Julien (...)
54As it is not always possible to draw a line between compound words and genitive constructions of the type N+N, the exact status of some complex lexical items and the level of their grammaticalization is not always clear,10 see 3.4.1.
- 11 « Ce procédé de dérivation, très productif dans la langue, consiste à créer de nouvelles bases ver (...)
55San Maka displays verbal derivation by means of the tonal change. According to Paré, «This derivation process, which is very productive in the language, consists of creating new verbal bases from other verbal bases by a simple change of tone. It is generally applied on bases having the CV structure and involves high and medium tones”11 (Paré 1998: 45). This intransitivization of an initially transitive verb by tone raising is quite productive: V̄tr > V́intr:
- 12 The same semantic shift is also registered in languages of the South Mande group, where this root (...)
Transitive verb
pã̄ ‘to fill (smth)’
lɔ̄ ‘to crush’
fɔ̃̄ ‘to dig’
jɛ̄ ‘to find’
kũ̄ ‘to catch’
bɔ̄ ‘to remove’
|
Intransitive verb
pã́ ‘to be filled’
lɔ́ ‘to be crushed’
fɔ̃́ ‘to dig oneself’
jɛ́ ‘to be born’
kṹ ‘to be burned’12
bɔ́ ‘to sprout’
|
56The constructions of the type N+N display the same proprieties as nominal compounds, see 3.3.1. The tone of the second component of the construction rises: L > M; M > H.
(2)
|
Mɔ̀ɔ̀sɛ́ɛ́ŋ
|
lɛ̀ŋ
|
mànə́
|
sàŋ-ná
|
nɛ́-lɔ́
|
góòŋ
|
kũ̄.
|
|
Mossi-pl
|
art-pl
|
3pl.prf
|
Samo-pl
|
child-woman
|
one
|
catch.prf
|
57‘The Mossi caught a San girl’.
58The nouns nɛ̄ ‘child’ and lɔ̄ ‘woman’ in isolation both have mid tone. lɔ̄ acquires a high tone in the compound nɛ̄lɔ́ ‘girl’, and this compound word receives a high tone as the second member of the genitive construction: sàŋná nɛ́lɔ́ ‘a San girl’. The sequence sàŋná nɛ́lɔ́ cannot be considered as a compound, because sàŋná ‘the San’ is a plural form.
- 13 This is reminiscent of tonal alternations in Seenku (McPherson 2019).
59Perfective and imperfective forms have similar tonal behavior: their tone is stable in any syntactic context. As for the neutral form, its tone raises in the presence of a direct object expressed by a full-fledged noun phrase. Consider the neutral form of the verb bīī ‘to eat’ in the imperative (3a, 3b) and conjunctive (3c) constructions with different types of the direct object. The neutral form of the verb bīī ‘to eat’ carries a mid tone, but with the direct object expressed by a noun the tone of the verb becomes high. This tonal modification does not occur with the imperfective form of the same verb which retains its middle tone (3d)13.
60‘Eat them!’
(3b)
|
Kà
|
wù
|
bíí.
|
|
2pl.imp
|
tô
|
eat/h
|
61‘You (pl) eat tô’.
(3c)
|
Ŋ́
|
pɛ̀
|
mà
|
Kōōdɛ́
|
wù
|
bíí.
|
|
2sg
|
say
|
that
|
Koode
|
tô
|
eat/h
|
62‘You ordered that Koodé would eat tô’.
(3d)
|
Mā
|
ŋ̄
|
wù
|
bīī.
|
|
1sg
|
ipf
|
tô
|
eat.ipf
|
63‘I eat tô.’
64Examples (4a, 4b) demonstrate the tone raising L > M under the same conditions (the verb bũ̀ ‘open’):
(4a)
|
Cɛ́ŋlɛ́
|
bũ̀!
|
|
door
|
open
|
65‘Open the door!’
(4b)
|
Ŋ́
|
pɛ̀
|
mà
|
Kōōdɛ́
|
cɛ́ŋlɛ́
|
bũ̄.
|
|
2sg.pfv
|
say.pfv
|
that
|
Koode
|
door
|
open/m
|
66‘You ordered that Koodé would open the door’.
67Disyllabic transitive verbs with the low tone on the first syllable (type cv̀cv́, see 3.2) change their tone to middle in the presence of a full-fledged direct object: cv̀cv́ > cv̄cv́. Consider the verb sɔ̀lɔ́ ‘to filter’:
(5)
|
Mú
|
sɔ̄lɔ́
|
|
|
water
|
filter/m
|
|
68‘Filter the water!’
69In the perfective construction, the pronominal 3sg object usually when referring to an inanimate object is often omitted. In this case, the tone of the verb lowers.
(6a)
|
Wɔ́
|
lōē
|
lɔ̄.
|
|
1pl/h
|
song
|
sing.prf
|
70‘We sang a song’.
(6b)
|
Wɔ́
|
lɔ̀.
|
|
1pl/h
|
sing.prf/l
|
71‘We sang it’.
(7a)
|
Wɔ́
|
pāā
|
dūrù.
|
|
1pl/h
|
money
|
hide.prf
|
72‘We hid the money’.
(7b)
|
Wɔ́
|
dùrù.
|
‘
|
|
1pl/h
|
hide.prf/l
|
|
73‘We hid it’.
74This is explained by the fact that the 3sg pronoun à bears the low tone, consider examples where this pronoun is presented (8):
(8)
|
À
|
kɔ̀
|
mā
|
lā.
|
|
3sg
|
give
|
1sg
|
to
|
75‘Give it to me’.
- 14 I base this conclusion on the comparative dictionary of Mande languages (Vydrin ms.).
76This tonal morpheme can therefore be regarded as an allomorph of a segmental morpheme à (for other cases of this type, see 3.5.)14.
77This morpheme has three allomorphs:
78nə́ after /ŋ/, see 2.1.3 (9);
79mànə́ when preceded by the plural marker (10);
80high tone on the subject in other cases (11).
81Examples:
(9)
|
Ŋ̀
|
nə́
|
mā
|
jɛ̄.
|
|
3pl
|
prf
|
1sg
|
see.prf
|
82‘They saw (have seen) me’.
(10)
|
Gĩ̄ĩ̄
|
góōŋ
|
ā
|
dīī-ŋ̄
|
mànə́
|
wōò
|
kàà
|
mīā
|
|
man
|
one
|
poss
|
bull-pl
|
3pl.prf
|
go.prf
|
fall.down.prf
|
neighbour
|
ŋ̄
|
wùrú-n.
|
poss
|
field-in
|
83‘One man’s bulls got into their neighbour’s field’.
(11)
|
Lɔ̄
|
lɛ́
|
kōō
|
gìí
|
lɛ̀
|
sì.
|
|
woman
|
art\prf
|
hen
|
egg
|
art
|
take.prf
|
84‘The woman took the egg’.
85In example (11) the perfective predicative marker is represented by the high tone of the article which defines the subject NP (lɔ̄ lɛ̀ ‘the woman’); note that in the direct object NP kōō gìí lɛ̀ the article lɛ̀ keeps its original tone.
86In (12), the high tone as a perfective marker appears on the pronominal subject mā ‘I, me’:
(12)
|
Má
|
wōò
|
má
|
dã̀ã̀ŋ̀
|
ŋ̄
|
wùrú
|
kɔ́sɔ̄
|
ká
|
|
1sg.prf
|
go.prf
|
1sg.prf
|
in.law-pl
|
poss
|
field
|
cultivate/h
|
comit
|
87‘I cultivated the field of my in-laws with the help of the association’.
88A similar process manifests itself in postpositions: they acquire a low tone as an exponent of the 3 person singular pronoun à (animate or inanimate):
(13a)
|
Ŋ̀
|
tá
|
à
|
gìí
|
kōē
|
nɛ̄ɲāāŋ-nā
|
lā.
|
|
3pl
|
in
|
3sg
|
egg
|
give.ipf
|
child-pl
|
to
|
89‘They give these eggs to children’.
(13b)
|
Ŋ̀
|
nə́
|
bàsí
|
dā,
|
ŋ̀
|
nə́
|
kɔ̀
|
là.
|
|
3pl
|
prf
|
cuscus
|
cook.prf/m
|
3pl
|
prf
|
give.prf
|
to/l
|
90‘They prepared cuscus and gave him’.
91In the example (13a) the indirect object is expressed by the noun nɛ̄ɲāāŋ-nā ‘children’, the postposition lā ‘to’ has a mid tone; in the example (13b) the low tone of the postposition signals the presence of the 3 person pronoun ‘(to) him/her/it’.
92The 3sg pronoun à may be present as a segment unit, consider (14):
(14)
|
Bōyō
|
gõ̀ã́
|
ŋ̄
|
búsì
|
à gíálá
|
tóŋ́
|
nā
|
á
|
sɔ̄-ŋ̄
|
|
Boyo
|
foot
|
ipf
|
hurt.ipf
|
because
|
scorpion
|
top
|
3sg.prf
|
tooth-pl
|
dɔ̀
|
à
|
ā.
|
build.prf
|
3sg
|
on
|
93‘Boyo’s foot hurts as a scorpion has bitten him/it’.
94The choice between the segment pronoun à or its tonal allomorph depends, as it seems, on the pragmatic status of the participant; in (14) the bitten foot of Boyo is the focus of attention of the speaker.
95The presented material shows that, apart from the distinguishing lexical values of words, tone in San Maka expresses many grammatical meanings.
96This function is most clearly distinctive in the verbal paradigms; in San Maka, the verb exists in three morphological forms: neutral, perfective and imperfective. In many cases, the perfective form differs from the neutral one only by its tonal characteristics. At the same time, I would like to note that this function of tone is rather pronounced in verb systems of many Mande languages.
- 15 See (Vydrin 2016).
- 16 In a wider sense, the term “floating tone” may be applied to the tonal allomorph of a segmental mo (...)
97In certain cases, tonal allomorphs coexist with segmental ones. There are two such cases in San Maka. The first is the low-tone unit encoding the presence of a pronominal inanimate direct object (see 2.4.3.). In fact, in this case, the low-tone unit is an allomorph of the 3rd person pronoun. The second case it the perfective predicative marker, whose tonal allomorph is the most frequent exponent. However, in both cases, since tonal allomorphs have segmental counterparts, they should not be considered “floating tones” in strict sense. The canonical floating tone is expressed through downstep (or upstep?)15 and is singled out through interpretation; it does not alternate with segmental units.16
98The surface tonal representation consists of the combination of many factors: initial tonal characteristics of lexemes are modified under the influence of tonal morphemes and then combine with grammatical tones.
991, 2, 3 – 1, 2, 3 person
100art – article
101comit – comitative
102cop – copula
103h – high tone
104ipf – imperfective
105l – low tone
106pl – plural
107poss – possessive preposition
108prf – perfective
109sg – singular