On the origin of some northern songhay mixed languages
Reflexive prefix (nomadic varieties only)
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- Bu səhifədəki naviqasiya:
- Verb root, Tadaksahak Verb root, Tagdal Reflexive verb
- Verb root of Songhay origin Reflexive form
- Passive (Nomadic varieties only)
- Verb root, Tadaksahak Verb root, Tagdal Passive form
- Verb root of Songhay origin Suppleted passive form
- Syntactic construction with same function as Passive voice
Reflexive prefix (nomadic varieties only) The prefix nǝ- or nǝm- in Tagdal and Tadaksahak form reflexives – indicates actions in which the actors are performing the action upon each other, as in the following examples in Table 16. [INSERT TABLE 16 HERE]
If the verb root is Songhay, an already-reflexive Berber form suppletes the Songhay verb root (see Table 17). [INSERT TABLE/ 17 HERE]
Sedentary Tasawaq does not have a reflexive affix, nor have we been able to find instances of it being used in natural speech, like cases of the Berber causative. Instead, it has a syntactic construction with a similar function, described in section 2.2.4 below.
Tagdal and Tasawaq have a syntactic construction using ʃarayen42 – ‘friends’ in Songhay – to indicate that the subject and the direct object are performing the action of the verb upon each other, similar in function to the reflexive affix in Tagdal and Tadaksahak.43 Some examples are in Table 18. It is worth noting that we only heard one instance of the tʃaːren construction in Tadaksahak, which a number of other Tadaksahak speakers found unacceptable. Instead, the default seems to be the reflexive affix. [INSERT TABLE 18 HERE]
Zarma has a construction using tʃaːre ‘friend’, while Təwəlləmmət uses the reflexive prefix nǝm- (see Table 19). [INSERT TABLE 19 HERE]
The prefix tǝw- or t- added onto Berber verb roots forms the passive voice in Tagdal and Tadaksahak. Some examples are given in Table 20. [INSERT TABLE 20 HERE]
If the verb root is Songhay, an already-passive Berber form suppletes the Songhay verb root as Table 21 shows. [INSERT TABLE 21 HERE]
[INSERT TABLE 22 HERE] Tasawaq has no passive voice. But it does have a syntactic construction with a similar function. Therefore, the nomadic varieties, Tagdal and Tadaksahak, both have a series of derivational morphemes affixed onto Berber verb roots: the causative s-, the reflexive nǝm- and the passive tǝw-. If the verb root is of Songhay origin, the default strategy is to supplete the root with one of Berber origin, with the derivational prefix lexicalised. Sedentary Tasawaq, on the other hand, only has the causative suffix –nda, which affixes only onto Songhay verb roots. Table 22 below demonstrates the default derivational strategies in the various languages in question.
Northern Songhay languages have a type of syntactic construction with a similar function, which places the direct object in the fronted position within the sentence, where the subject would normally go. Though technically not a passive construction – verb valence does not change – its function is similar: to downplay the importance of the AGENT and bring the UNDERGOER into prominence (see Table 23). [INSERT TABLE 23 HERE]
Therefore, Northern Songhay languages have two syntactic constructions of Songhay origin with similar functions to the derivational prefixes. The ʃarayen construction – siraːyenin Tasawaq – which possibly does not exist in Tadaksahak,46 has a similar function to the Berber reflexive nǝm-. Similarly, the construction which fronts the UNDERGOER, thus bringing it into prominence, has a similar function as the passive voice prefix tǝw- of Berber origin. These constructions often involve both transfer of fabric (Grant 2002), that is to say the copying of actual morphemes with their senses, and transfer of pattern, which is the copying from other languages of ways in which morphemes (of whatever origin) are deployed. The two kinds of transfer are of course not incompatible. Yüklə 0,56 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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