This talk concerns the copula system in Buli, a Ghanaian language which has also been attested in Bahia (Rodrigues 1935, Zwernemann 1968). Special focus will be put on the categorization of two copula-reminiscent elements for which I will propose a discoursepragmatic analysis

Schwarz, Anne

English

Hochschulschriftenserver - Universität Frankfurt am Main

Author (affiliation):    Anne Schwarz (Humboldt University of Berlin, SFB 632)   Address information: Dr. Anne Schwarz SFB 632 "Information Structure", Project B1 Humboldt University  Location: Mohrenstr. 40-41  Unter den Linden 6  D-10099 Berlin  Germany  Fon:  +49-30-2093 4727  Fax:  +49-30-2093 4733  E-mail: anne.schwarz@rz.hu-berlin.de   Title of presentation:    To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (Gur)   Preferred format:   oral  presentation     Keywords:    copula, focus, equation, specificational statement, information structure  To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (Gur)   This talk concerns the copula system in Buli, a Ghanaian language which has also been attested in Bahia (Rodrigues 1935, Zwernemann 1968). Special focus will be put on the categorization of two copula-reminiscent elements for which I will propose a discourse-pragmatic analysis.    First, it will be demonstrated that Buli follows a cross-linguistically well-established pattern (McWhorter 1999:134, Ellis and Boadi 1969) by providing a specialized verb for locative predication that cannot be used in equation. Corresponding to the SVO order, this verb occurs between the subject and the locative expression (here an interrogative).  (1)  leewa  bo  b.   girl:DEF loc.be where.INT     ‘Where is the girl?’      I will provide evidence that bo displays verbal inflectional features and represents a full verb ‘to be around, to exist’ when the extension -ro is suffixed. It serves the formation of the Progressive and gets substituted by a suppletive verb in negation, as common in related languages (cf. Bonvini 1990:15,21 regarding Kasim).    Second, it will be indicated that – fairly expectable for a Niger-Congo language – property ascription is often achieved by verbs. If an adjective is mobilized, it cannot be used predicatively itself, but has to appear in its attribute form (i.e., within a nominal compound). Such a predicative constituent is preceded by a copula-like element ka (in affirmation).  (2)  mkad    ka m   - w    .    (*mkad ka ∅ w.)   rope:DEF:DEM KA  rope-long     ‘This rope is long.’ (literally: ‘This rope is a long rope.’)   The central discussion will concern the elements ka or le found in equation. In the absence of any indications for their verbal nature, these elements are akin to particle copulas (Stassen 1997:85).  (3)    npooma  meena  ka w a  =leeba.      woman:PL:DEF   all  KA  3s.CL=daughter:PL       ‘All the women are his daughters.’  (4)    m  yue  le  Awenate.      1s name  LE  A.       ‘My name is Awenate.’   It will be demonstrated that both constructions (N1 ka  N2, N1 le N2) are structurally quite different. For example, in the ka-type equation, the initial constituent is often left unexpressed – impossible in the le-type equation. I will suggest that such structural peculiarities correspond with a fundamental semantic-pragmatic distinction (Stassen 1997:100ff.): The ka-type equation serves the addition of informational content provided by N2 to established information, comprising what has been labeled “predicational, classificational, characterizational” statement (Hengeveld 1992). The le-type equation is concerned with the mental files prerequisite for information storage. It comprises “presen-tational” and “identity, specificational, definitional” statements (Akmajian 1979, Langacker 1991). Assuming that the function of a copula is an abstract grammatical one and that a copula does not add semantic content to its predicate phrase (Pustet 2003:1-7), I will argue against a copula status of ka nor le. Both also occur regularly with verbal predicates, where they distinguish between categorical and thetic statements (Sasse 1987, 1995).  (5)    o=bo    ka   dla.      3s.CL=loc.be KA    here:DET       ‘He is here.’       (categorical  statement)  (6)    venta    le  bo  bka    po.      Lüge:PL LE  loc.be  speech:DEF  in       ‘There is a lie in the speech.’        (thetic statement: identifying a discourse-relevant entity) I will conclude with some suggestions for the etymology of ka and le and a discussion of their potential to develop into real copulas.    References: Akmajian, A. 1979. Aspects of the Grammar of Focus in English. New York: Garland. Bonvini, E. 1990. La négation en kasim; Les facettes d’une asymétrie. Linguistique Africaine 4:9-29. Ellis, J., and Boadi, L. 1969. 'To Be' in Twi. In The Verb 'Be' and Its Synonyms, Part 4, eds. D.  Reidel and J. W. M. D. Verhaar, 1-71. Dordrecht. Hengeveld, K. 1992. Non-Verbal Predication. Theory, Typology, Diachrony. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Langacker, R. W. 1991. Concept, Image, and Symbol: The Cognitive Basis of Grammar. Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter. McWhorter, J. 1999. Skeletons in the closet: anomalies in the behavior of the Saramaccan Copula. In Creole Genesis, Discourse and Attitudes: Studies celebrating Charlene Sato, eds. J. R. Rickford and S. Romaine, 121-142. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Pustet, R. 2003. Copulas. Universals in the Categorization of the Lexicon. Oxford: University Press. Rodrigues, N. 1935. Os Africanos no Brasil. 2a edição. São Paulo. Sasse, H.-J. 1987. The thetic/categorial distinction revisited. Linguistics 25:511-580. Sasse, H.-J. 1995. ‘Theticity’ and VS order: A case study. In Verb-subject order and theticity in European languages (Sprachtypologie und Universalienforschung, 48: 1/2), eds. Y. Matras and H.-J. Sasse, 3-31. Berlin. Stassen, L. 1997. Intransitive predication: Oxford studies in typology and linguistic theory. Oxford u.a.: Clarendon Press. Zwernemann, J. 1968. Ein „Gurunsi“-Vokabular aus Bahia. Ein Beitrag zur Afro-Amerikanistik. Tribus 17:147-156.    

Aspects of the Grammar of Focus in English.

Concept, Image, and Symbol: The Cognitive Basis of Grammar.

Ein „Gurunsi“-Vokabular aus Bahia. Ein Beitrag zur AfroAmerikanistik.

Intransitive predication: Oxford studies in typology and linguistic theory. Oxford u.a.:

Non-Verbal Predication. Theory, Typology,

Os Africanos no Brasil. 2a edição. São Paulo.

Skeletons in the closet: anomalies in the behavior of the Saramaccan Copula.

The thetic/categorial distinction revisited.

Theticity’ and VS order: A case study.

To Be' in Twi.

To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (Gur)

Outlining the copula system in the Gur language of Buli, semantic and pragmatic distinctions have to be recognized.  It is suggested that two copula-reminiscent particles should be analyzed as information structural devices with copula potential

ResearchOnline at James Cook University

To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (GUR)

ResearchOnline@JCU

To be or not to be? About the copula system in Buli (Gur)

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Hochschulschriftenserver - Universität Frankfurt am Main

ResearchOnline at James Cook University

ResearchOnline@JCU