On Reconstructing the Syntagm S-Aux-O-V-Other to Proto-Niger-Congo

Gensler, Orin D.

doi:10.3765/bls.v20i2.1486

Cited by 15 publications

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“…We are not concerned with the historical syntax issue directly in this discussion but we are sympathetic to Gensler's suggestion (see e.g. Givón 1979, Heine 1980, Williamson 1989, Claudi 1993, Gensler 1994 for different positions on the matter). Rather we will question some of the assumptions that have been made concerning the structure of the "quirky" syntagm, especially concerning Ewe in the course of some of this debate.…”

Section: The Progressive and Prospective Aspect Constructions In Ewementioning

confidence: 99%

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Imperfective constructions: Progressive and prospective in Ewe and Dangme

Ameka

Dakubu²

2008

Studies in Language Companion Series

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This paper investigates an important feature common to Ewe and Dangme, but not shared with such Kwa languages as Akan or Ga, namely a periphrastic construction commonly having "progressive" and/or "prospective" meaning, in which the finite verb is selected from a very small set and takes a complement consisting of the event-naming verb that is preceded by its Object and followed either by a construction-specific suffix (Dangme) or one of two characteristic morphemes (Ewe). The finite verb, the post-event-verb morpheme, or both, generally have spatial features. The paper begins with a basic comparative description of the simple verb in the two languages, before proceeding to a detailed description of the progressive and prospective constructions in Ewe, followed by a comparably detailed description of the imperfective construction in Dangme. It is concluded that in both languages we have to do with an elaboration of the construction type V + nominalized NP Complement, which exists throughout the lower Volta Basin in many forms, if not always this one. Despite surface similarities the two languages exhibit important differences in both the semantic range of the construction and its syntax, such that it is likely that in this respect each language has developed independently of the other.

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Section: The Progressive and Prospective Aspect Constructions In Ewementioning

confidence: 99%

“…e.g. Gensler 1994). If it were, one would have expected that in this context a floating high tone should be present to indicate the association between the pronoun and the following element.…”

Section: Evidence For Nominalization Of Vpmentioning

confidence: 99%

Imperfective constructions: Progressive and prospective in Ewe and Dangme

Ameka

Dakubu²

2008

Studies in Language Companion Series

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“…Though I have a lively interest in the typology of African languages, and notably in Niger-Congo word order change (see Gensler 1994), my background lies more in general typology, historical syntax, and Semitic. All of these will inform the coming discussion.…”

Section: Die Stellung Von Verb Und Objekt Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given this, it makes little sense to assign chronological priority to either partner in the symbiotic process, which are continually generating each other and are often found together in attested Niger-Congo languages. Claudi, drawing on grammaticalization theory, makes a strong case for the presence of SVO in early Niger-Congo; at least äs strong a case, drawing on a completely different (typological) methodology, has been made for S-Aux-O-V-Other (Gensler 1994; cf. section 5 above).…”

Section: Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Review article

1997

Journal of African Languages and Linguistics

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Ulrike Claudi: Die Stellung von Verb und Objekt in Niger-Kongo-Sprachen: Ein Beitrag zur Rekonstruktion historischer Syntax (Afrikanistische Monographien 1.) Cologne: Institut für Afrikanistik, Universität zu Köln, 1993. xii + 157 pp. DM36. AbstractThis book is a major contribution to the longstanding SVO/SOV debate regarding the word order of Proto-Niger-Congo. Claudi, approaching the mechanism of word order change in terms o/grammaticalization -not äs a linear exchange of elements but äs a change in word order which falls out automatically whenfull verbs grammaticalize to Aux elements -argues that Proto-Niger-Congo was necessarily SVO. The book articulates in detail the major role that grammaticalization has played in the evolution of word order in Niger-Congo. However, its reasoning relies on two unexamined (and unmentioned) presuppositions: that grammaticalization played not merely a major but the dominant role, and that copulas and complement-taking location/motion verbs count äs transitive. The book also perpetuates a tradition which frames the question äs a dichotomous yes/no choice: SVO or SOV? Drawing on typology and the comparative method, I argue instead that the syntagm which most reliably merits reconstruction to Proto-Niger-Congo is something that is neitherSVO norSOV: the verb-medial OV configuration "S-Aux-O-V-Other", afamily-specific quirk which is widespread in Niger-Congo but almost nonexistent elsewhere. This syntagm plays a pivotal role in the cyclic dynamic proposed by Claudi, too, and a plausible synthesis would reconstruct both SVO and S-Aux-O-V-Other concurrently.

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“…An additional argument against Claudi's hypothesis is that, if the emergence of the S-O-V-X constituent order could be the mere consequence of auxiliarization in S-V-O-X languages in which the genitival dependent precedes its head, the Mande pattern should be common elsewhere in the world, since S-V-O-X languages anteposing the genitival dependent are not rare, and auxiliarization processes are universal. 2 See Gensler 1994, Gensler 1997, Gensler & Güldemann 2003 argument of a transitive verb can be represented by a nominal term in postverbal position, the presence of a postposition indicates that this is an instance of a valency alternation of the antipassive type, whereby the object has been demoted to oblique -ex. (9c-d).…”

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confidence: 99%