1887
Volume 43, Issue 3
  • ISSN 0378-4177
  • E-ISSN: 1569-9978
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

Typological research on agreement systems recognises syntactic and semantic agreement as the two main types of agreement, with the former considered to be more canonical. An examination of different manifestations of semantic agreement found in the Gújjolaay Eegimaa1 noun class (non sex based gender) system is proposed in this paper from the perspective of Canonical Typology, and the findings are related to the Agreement Hierarchy predictions. The results show that Eegimaa has hybrid nouns and constructional mismatches which trigger semantically based agreement mismatches, both in gender and number between controller nouns and certain targets. This paper shows that Eegimaa has two main subtypes of semantic agreement: human semantic agreement and locative semantic agreement. The data and the analysis proposed here reveal novel results according to which these two types of semantic agreement behave differently in relation to the Agreement Hierarchy.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/sl.14023.sag
2019-11-18
2025-04-18
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y.
    2000Classifiers : A typology of noun categorization devices. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Aronoff, Mark
    1994Morphology by itself: stems and inflectional classes. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bassène, Alain-Christian
    2015 Accords de classe et référence générique dans les parlers joola. InDenis Creissels & Konstantin Podzniakov (eds.), Typologie des systèmes de classes nominales dans les langues Atlantiques. Cologne: RüdigerKöppeVerlag.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bassène, Alain Chistian
    2012 Concurrence entre critères morphologiques et critères sémantiques dans les accords de classe: le cas du jóola banjal. Africana Linguistica18. 261–277. 10.3406/aflin.2012.1012
    https://doi.org/10.3406/aflin.2012.1012 [Google Scholar]
  5. Bickel, Balthasar & Johanna Nichols
    2007 Inflectional morphology. InTimothy Shopen (ed.), Language typology and syntactic description, 2nd ed., 169–240. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511618437.003
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618437.003 [Google Scholar]
  6. Cobbinah, Alexander Yao
    2013 Nominal classification and verbal nouns in Baïnounk Gubëeher. London: SOAS, University of London, Department of Linguistics PhD Dissertation.
  7. Corbett, Greville G.
    1979 The agreement hierarchy. Journal of Linguistics15(2). Cambridge University Press. 203–224.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. 1983Hierarchies, Targets and Controllers: Agreement Patterns in Slavic. Croom Helm.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. 1991Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139166119
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139166119 [Google Scholar]
  10. 2000Number. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9781139164344
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139164344 [Google Scholar]
  11. 2006Agreement. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. 2007 Gender and noun classes. InTimothy Shopen (ed.), Linguistic typology and syntactic description. Vol III: Grammatical categories and the lexicon, 2nd ed., 241–279. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511618437.004
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511618437.004 [Google Scholar]
  13. 2010a Canonical derivational morphology. Word Structure3(2). 141–155. 10.3366/word.2010.0002
    https://doi.org/10.3366/word.2010.0002 [Google Scholar]
  14. 2010b Features: essential notions. InA. Kibort & Greville G. Corbett (eds.), Features: perspectives on a key notion in linguistics, 141–155. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577743.003.0002
    https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199577743.003.0002 [Google Scholar]
  15. 2011 Sex-based and Non-sex-based Gender Systems. InMatthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds.), The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Munich: Max Planck Digital Library, chapter 31. wals.info/chapter/31. Accessed on2013-06-05.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. 2015 Hybrid nouns and their complexity. InJürg Fleischer, Elisabeth Rieken & Paul Widmer (eds.), Agreement from a diachronic perspective, 191–214. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110399967‑010
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110399967-010 [Google Scholar]
  17. Creissels, Denis
    1999 “Genres” indo-européens et “classes nominales” Niger-Congo. Faits de Langues14. Paris: OPHRYS. 177–184.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. 2013 Atlantic noun-class systems: a typological approach. Language Documentation & Linguistic Theory4. London.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Croft, William & D. Alan Cruse
    2004Cognitive Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. doi:  10.1002/wcs.1163
    https://doi.org/10.1002/wcs.1163 [Google Scholar]
  20. Garbo, Francesca Di
    2014 Gender and its interaction with number and evaluative morphology: An intra- and intergenealogical survey of Africa. Stockholm: University of Stockholm Department of Linguistics PhD Dissertation.
  21. Greenberg, Joseph H.
    1978 How do languages acquire gender markers?InJoseph H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson & A. Moravcsik Edith (eds.), Universals of human language, vol.3, 47–82. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Haspelmath, Martin
    2013 Argument indexing: a conceptual framework for the syntactic status of bound person forms. InMartin Haspelmath & Dik Bakker (eds.), Languages across boundaries, 197–226. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 10.1515/9783110331127.197
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110331127.197 [Google Scholar]
  23. Heine, Bernd
    1982 African noun class systems. InHansjakob Seiler & Christian Lehmann (eds.), Apprehension: Das sprachliche Erfassen von Gegenstanden, vol.1. Tubingen: Narr.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Hundt, M.
    2006 The committee has/have decided…: on concord patterns with collective nouns in inner- and outer-circle varieties of English. Journal of English Linguistics34(3). 206–232. 10.1177/0075424206293056
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0075424206293056 [Google Scholar]
  25. Levin, Magnus
    2001Agreement with collective nouns in English (Lund Studies in English). Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. 2006 Collective nouns and language change. English Language and Linguistics10(2). 321–343. 10.1017/S1360674306001948
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S1360674306001948 [Google Scholar]
  27. Lyons, John
    1977Semantics I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Pres.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Pozdniakov, Konstantin
    2010 La classification nominale : A la croisée des paradigmes. InFranck Floricic (ed.), Essais de typologie et de linguistique générale: mélanges offerts à Denis Creissels, 87–105. ENS Éditions.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Rosch, Eleonor
    1978 Principles of categorization. InEleonor Rosch & B. B. Lloyd (eds.), Cognition and Categorization, 27–48. Hillsdate, Mich: Laurence Erlbaum.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Sagna, Serge
    2008 Formal and semantic properties of the Gújjolaay Eegimaa (A.k.a Banjal) nominal classification system. London: SOAS, University of London Department of Linguistics PhD Dissertation.
  31. 2010 Issues in noun classification and noun class assignment in Gújjolaay Eegimaa (Banjal) and other Jóola languages. Studies in African Linguistics39(1). 1–33.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. 2011 Semantic categorisations in the Gújjolaay Eegimaa collectives and distributives. InPeter K. Austin, Oliver Richards-Bond, David Nathan & Lutz Marten (eds.), Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory3, 1–10. London: Department of Linguistics, SOAS.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. 2012 Physical properties and culture-specific factors as principles of semantic categorisation in the Gújjolaay Eegimaa noun class system. Cognitive Linguistics23 (1). 129–163. 10.1515/cog‑2012‑0005
    https://doi.org/10.1515/cog-2012-0005 [Google Scholar]
  34. Schadeberg, Thilo
    2001 Number in Swahili grammar. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere68(Swahili forum VIII). 7–16.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Seifart, Frank
    2010 Nominal Classification. Language and Linguistics Compass4(8). 719–736. 10.1111/j.1749‑818X.2010.00194.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-818X.2010.00194.x [Google Scholar]
  36. Steele, Susan
    1978 Word order variation: a typological study. InJ. H. Greenberg, Charles A. Ferguson & Edith A. Moravcsik (eds.), Universals of Human Language IV: Syntax, 585–623. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Taylor, John R.
    2003Linguistic categorization. Oxford textbooks in linguistics. 3rd ed.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Watson, Rachel
    2015 Kujireray: morphosyntax, noun classification and verbal nouns. London: SOAS, University of London Department of Linguistics PhD Dissertation.
  39. Welmers, W E.
    1973African language structures. Berkeley (USA); London: University of California Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Wolf, Paul Polydoor de
    1971The noun class system of Proto-Benue-Congo. The Hague & Paris: Mouton. 10.1515/9783110905311
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110905311 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.14023.sag
Loading
/content/journals/10.1075/sl.14023.sag
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): agreement mismatches; Atlantic; canonical typology; Jóola; Niger-Congo; noun class
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