1887
Volume 40, Issue 1
  • ISSN 0176-4225
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9714
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Krongo, a member of the Kadu family (Nuba Mountains, Sudan), has four agreement classes: feminine, masculine, neuter and plural (Reh 1985). Nominal number-marking prefixes play a key role in class assignment: productive plural prefixes trigger plural agreement, and productive singular prefixes trigger neuter agreement. In most other Kadu languages, there is no distinction between plural and neuter classes. Comparative and typological evidence shows that Krongo’s system represents the older state of affairs. It is argued that the motivation for the merger of these two classes was a morphosyntactic abstraction over agreement rules. Two distinct rules, one for singular prefixes and one for plural prefixes, were replaced by a single rule that assigned the same agreement class to all productive number prefixes, regardless of whether they mark singular or plural. The result is the morphosyntactic mirror-image of an inverse number system, such as is found in, for example, Dagaare (Grimm 2012).

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/dia.20068.bae
2022-09-16
2025-04-23
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Baerman, Matthew & Greville G. Corbett
    2013 Person by other means. InDik Bakker & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), Languages across boundaries: Studies in memory of Anna Siewierska, 13–26. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110331127.1
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110331127.1 [Google Scholar]
  2. Baerman, Matthew
    2020 Gender flip in Benchnon (North Omotic). Glossa5(1). 76. 10.5334/gjgl.1191
    https://doi.org/10.5334/gjgl.1191 [Google Scholar]
  3. Blench, Roger
    2006 The Kadu languages and their affiliation: Between Nilo-Saharan, Niger-Congo and Afro-Asiatic. InAl-Amin Abu-Manga, Leoma Gilley & Anne Storch (eds.), Insights into Nilo-Saharan language, history and culture, 101–127. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bond, Oliver
    2019 Where are gender values and how do I get to them?InMatthew Baerman, Oliver Bond & Andrew Hippisley (eds.), Morphological perspectives, 327–369. Edinburgh University Press. 10.1515/9781474446020‑016
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781474446020-016 [Google Scholar]
  5. Byarushengo, Ernest Rugwa
    1977 Preliminaries. InErnest Rugwa Byarushengo, Alessandro Duranti, & Larry M. Hyman (eds), Haya grammatical structure (Southern California Occasional Papers in Linguistics 6), 1–15. Los Angeles: Department of Linguistics, University of Southern California.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Bruil, Martine
    2014 Clause-typing and evidentiality in Ecuadorian Siona. PhD dissertation, Leiden University.
  7. Chacon, Thiago C. & Lev Michael
    2018 The evolution of subject-verb agreement in Eastern Tukanoan. Journal of Historical Linguistics8(1). 59–94. 10.1075/jhl.16024.cha
    https://doi.org/10.1075/jhl.16024.cha [Google Scholar]
  8. Chumakina, Marina, Anne Kibort & Greville G. Corbett
    2007 Determining a language’s feature inventory: Person in Archi. InPeter K. Austin & Andrew Simpson (eds.), Endangered languages (Linguistische Berichte 14), 143–172. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Di Garbo, Francesca & Matti Miestamo
    2019 The evolving complexity of gender agreement systems. InFrancesca Di Garbo, Bruno Olsson & Bernhard Wälchli (eds.), Grammatical gender and linguistic complexity: Volume II: World-wide comparative studies, 15–60. Berlin: Language Science Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Dimmendaal, Gerrit J.
    2000 Number marking and noun categorization in Nilo-Saharan languages. Anthropological Linguistics42(2). 214–261.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Gilley, Leoma
    2013 Katcha noun morphology. InThilo C. Schadeberg & Roger Blench (eds.), Nuba Mountain language studies, 501–522. Cologne: Köppe.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Grimm, Scott
    2012 Individuation and inverse number marking in Dagaare. InDiane Massam (ed.), Count and mass across languages, 75–98. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654277.003.0005
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199654277.003.0005 [Google Scholar]
  13. Güldemann, Tom
    2018 Historical linguistics and genealogical language classification in Africa. InTom Güldemann (ed.), The languages and linguistics of Africa, 58–444. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110421668‑002
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110421668-002 [Google Scholar]
  14. Güldemann, Tom & Jan Junglas
    2018 Gender and number in Kadu with particular reference to Krongo. Paper given atworkshop ‘Gender across Niger-Congo’, Humboldt University, Berlin, 29–30 November.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Hyman, Larry M.
    2018 More reflections on the nasal classes in Bantu. InJohn R. Watters (ed.), East Benue-Congo: Nouns, pronouns, and verbs, 223–236. Berlin: Language Science Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Jones, Wendell H. & Paula S. Jones
    2019Bilingual dictionary: Eduria & Jãnerã – English, English – Eduria & Jãnerã. SIL International.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Kafi, Haroun, Nicholas Evans, Matthew Carroll, Rosey Billington, Zurab Baratashvili, Amelia Carter, Kira Davey, Shubo Li, Haoyi Li, Naijing Liu, Keira Mullan, & Harry Power
    . In prep. A grammar of Kufo. Ms, Australian National University.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Matsushita, Shuji
    1984 A preliminary sketch of Kadugli vocabulary. Sudan Sahel StudiesI1. 15–73.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. 1986 A preliminary sketch of Kadugli vocabulary. Part 2: Verb and verbal sentences. Sudan Sahel Studies21. 111–138.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Meakins, Felicity & Rob Pensalfini
    2016 Gender bender: Superclassing in Jingulu gender marking. InFelicity Meakins & Carmel O’Shannessy (eds.), Loss and renewal: Australian languages since colonisation, 425–452. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9781614518792‑020
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614518792-020 [Google Scholar]
  21. Meinhof, Carl
    1916–1917 Sprachstudien im egyptischen Sudan 6: Tumtum. Zeitschrift für KolonialsprachenVII1. 57–63.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Mohamed, Adam Mohamed Adam
    2013 The noun phrase in the Miri language, Nuba Mountains. M.A. Thesis, University of Khartoum.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Mullan, Keira
    . In prep. Number, person, and gender agreement in Kufa nouns and pronouns. Ms, The Australian National University. InHaroun Kafi, Nicholas Evans, Matthew Carroll, Rosey Billington, Zurab Baratashvili, Amelia Carter, Kira Davey, Shubo Li, Haoyi Li, Naijing Liu, Keira Mullan, & Harry Power. In prep. A grammar of Kufo. Ms, Australian National University.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Reh, Mechtild
    1985Die Krongo-Sprache (Nìinò Mó-Dì): Beschreibung, Texte, Wörterverzeichnis. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. 1994 A grammatical sketch of Deiga. Afrika und Übersee771. 197–261.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Schadeberg, Thilo C.
    1994 Comparative Kadu wordlists. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere401. 11–48.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Seligmann, Brenda Z.
    1910–1911 Note on language of the Nubas of Southern Kordofan. Zeitschrift für KolonialsprachenI1. 167–188.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Stevenson, Roland C.
    n.d.Dictionary of Katcha Edited by Roger Blench. www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/Kadu/Katcha%20Dictionary.pdf
  29. 1956–1957 A survey of the phonetics and grammatical structure of the Nuba mountain languages, with particular reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang. Afrika und Übersee401. 73–84, 93–115; 411. 27–65, 117–153, 171–196.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Suker, Nada
    2013 Verbal morphology of Miri language. MA thesis, University of Khartoum. [not consulted]
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Sutton, Logan
    2014 Kiowa-Tanoan: A synchronic and diachronic study. PhD dissertation, University of New Mexico.
  32. Thelwall, Robin & Thilo C. Schadeberg
    1983 The linguistic settlement of the Nuba mountains. Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika51. 219–231.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Trager, G. L.
    1946 An outline of Taos grammar. InCornelius Osgood (ed.), Linguistic structures of Native America, 184–221. New York: Viking Fund.
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Turner, Darryl J.
    2016 Morphosyntax of Katcha nominals: A Dynamic Syntax account. PhD dissertation, University of Edinburgh.
  35. Wheeler, A.
    1987Ganteya Bain: El pueblo Siona del río Putumayo. Bogotá: Instituto Verano de Lingüística. www.sil.org/resources/publications/entry/18858
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/dia.20068.bae
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/dia.20068.bae
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): agreement class; gender; inflection; Kadu family; Krongo; syncretism
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error