Bep Langhout 46th Colloquium on African Languages and Linguistics SIL Cameroon 29 August - 31 August 2016 bep_langhout@sil.org Sari locative noun classes Contents (1) Introduction (2) Noun classes and agreement (3) Locative noun classes - locative nouns vs. prepositions - modifying locative nouns (4) Conclusions 1. Introduction Language and speakers The Sari language is spoken in the North West Region of Cameroon by the Besaa people. There are approximately 7,600 (Lewis et al. 2015) speakers of the language, although the exact number is unknown as there are reportedly sizeable clusters of people living outside the area, particularly in the Southwest Region. The Ethnologue (Lewis et al. 2015) has Sari as language name, and lists the following as alternate language names: Akweto, Nsari, Pesaa, Saari, Sali (ISO 639-3 language code: asj). Sari has the following genetic affiliation: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Wide Bantu, Southern, Beboid, Eastern (Lewis et al. 2015). Transcription and tone Sari has lexical and grammatical tone. The tone bearing unit (TBU) is the mora. There are three tonal levels: low (L), mid (M) and high (). Up to two tones can be connected to one TBU, up to three to one syllable. In this paper tone will only be written when it is helpful for the argumentation. L means a low followed by a floating high, which prevents the low tone from falling at the end of an utterance.
In the orthography of the language, followed in this paper, the following graphemes are used that are different from IPA: IPA: ʃ tʃ dʒ ɲ j Transcription: sh ch j ny y 2. Noun classes and agreement Sari has 19 different noun classes, and the numbering of the classes is informed by ombert (1980:83-98), which closely follows the Bantu numbering established by bantuists (Welmers 1973:165). To explain the concept of noun classes, we will look at some Sari examples of noun phrases. These phrases start with the head noun, and the modifiers after it have the same prefix as the head noun: (5) bu-fii bu-ni bu-chuchu 14-wisdom 14-this 14-all all this wisdom (6) ki-mbe 7-wall ki-ni 7-this ki-chuchu 7-all this whole wall We say that the modifiers agree with the head noun, the agreement markers (in the examples prefixes) show the noun class of the head noun. So for any noun in noun class 14 the near demonstrative will be buni, and for any noun in noun class 7 it will be kini. It is not the prefix of the noun that defines the noun class of the noun: there are noun classes without a prefix (see example (4)), and there are noun classes that have nouns with different prefixes in them. For instance class 2, a plural class. (7) bɔɔŋ bo bɛ-tɛɛtu ba-ni 2.children 2.your 2-three.2 2-this these three children of yours
(8) so yɛɛ 6.cookingstone 6.that taa 6.three chichi 6.all all those three cooking stones In these classes the agreement of the modifiers will define the noun class of the noun. Singular noun classes pair up with plural noun classes, this is called a gender. For instance gender 7/8: (9) ki-mbe wall bi-mbe 7-wall walls 8-wall In a chart we can show this by drawing a line between the singular and the plural class: Noun class Noun class There are also single class genders, with words that are uncountable. For instance: (10) ki-foo poverty 7-lack (11) bi-shɛrɛ property 8-property In the gender pairing chart there is a box around the noun class number for single class genders. For most genders there are some characteristics for the words belonging to that gender. In the chart below there is a general description for the genders in the Sari language.
The dashed line between 19 and 8 means that this is an unusual gender, only two nouns are found that belong to it. 3. Locative classes The next table gives the four locative noun classes for Sari on the left, and on the right the corresponding locative noun classes in Nooni, another Beboid language (yman, 1981). The agreement marker is given in brackets when it is segmentally different from the prefix of the noun class. Class Sari word Gloss Class Nooni word Gloss 16 fɛ-keŋ wrist 16 fɔ-fa on the head 17 li-tiŋ ~ lu-tiŋ li-fa ~ lu-fa 18 lɛ-ŋkaŋka lɛ-wa at the waist on the head armpit in the mouth 18 cin (dvu) around the waist 17 ɛ-mu (jɔ) in the mouth 23 mfweeŋ (yɛ) place in front of doorway
The locative noun classes contain words (mainly locations) that are frequently used. Until now only about eight members have been found for each of these noun classes. For noun class 23 only four members have been found. Noun class 16 Class 16 Tone Gloss fɛ-ka L-L 'back of palm of hand' fɛ-bɔ fɛ-keŋ L-L 'at centre of palm of hand' 'wrist' fɛ-lii 'forehead (at the eyes)' fɛ-woo 'tailbone' fɛ-ŋgeŋge L-M ML 'shoulder' fɛ-shɔŋ fɛ-mfiaŋ M- 'spine, backbone' 'summit' Specific places, many bodyparts. Next words: class 16 in bold, related words in other noun classes in regular font: Noun fɛ-bɔ Tone L-L Gloss 'at centre of palm of hand' ki-bɔ M- 'palm of hand' fɛ-keŋ L-L 'wrist' fɛ-lii 'forehead (at the eyes)' keŋ lii 'arm mustles' 'eyes Prefix f - Noun class 17 Class 17 Tone Gloss li-boo 'in the sky' li-fa 'on the head, in the mind' li-mfwe 'the front (of something) ' li-tɔɔ L-ML 'in the bush' li-buka - M 'on higher ground (where there is no forest, just small sticks and li-tiŋ li-ŋgooŋ 'at the waist' M-ML 'shore, outside' General places grass) '
Next words: class 17 in bold, related words in other noun classes in regular font: Noun Tone Gloss li-boo L-L 'in the sky' ki-boo M-M 'sky' li-tɔɔ L-ML 'in the bush' ki-tɔɔ M-M 'a bush' e - ~ - (free variation) Noun class 18 Class 18 Tone Gloss lɛ-jiŋ L-L 'back of something' lɛ-nti L-L 'room' lɛ-ŋgwiŋ L-L 'shin' lɛ-wa L-L 'in mouth' lɛ-ŋkaŋka L-L 'armpit' lɛ-tatawa L-L 'space between fingers or toes' lɛ-ŋwori M- L 'dawn, sunrise' lɛ-ŋkente M-M M 'back of knee' Most members are refering to places inside or in between things. Next words: class 17 in bold, related words in other noun classes in regular font: Noun Tone Gloss ɛ-wa L-L 'in mouth' ki-wa M- 'mouth' Prefix l - Noun class 23 Class 23 Tone Gloss mfwe L 'front' mfweeŋ LL 'place before doorway' kwiiŋ ~ kwiŋ LL ~ L 'floor' bwiiŋ ~ bwiŋ LL ~ L 'body, skin' Less clear what prefix is. Next five words: class 23 in bold, related words in other noun classes in regular font: Tone Gloss mfwe L 'ahead, front' limfwe L-L 'ahead, front'
mfweeŋ LL 'place before doorway' fweeŋ 'doorway' feeŋ 'doorways' Prefix class 23: Low toned, labialization of first consonant. Concord chart locative classes Cl. Noun Pronoun Associative his this anothe new fou prefix marker 16 fɛ - fe fɛ - -lɛ f e fɛ -n fɛ -m fɛ fɛ ŋ fɛ-nɛ ɛ 17 l - ~ lu ~ l - -lɛ ~ l e l -n ~ l -m ~ l fɛ ŋ ~ l -nɛ ɛ ~ l - li l - -lɛ l -n l -m l fɛ ŋ l -nɛ ɛ 18 lɛ - le lɛ - -lɛ l e l -n l -m ~ lɛ -m 23 C w ye yɛ - -lɛ y e y -n y -m ~ yɛ -m lɛ fɛ ŋ yɛ fɛ ŋ lɛ-nɛ ɛ
Locative class vs. preposition fɛ- 16- specific place fɛ PREP 'to, on, at' l - 17- general area l PREP 'to, on, at' lɛ- 18- place inside or in between lɛ PREP 'in' The next examples compare a prepositional phrase with a locative noun. Prepositional phrases end in a Prepositional completer (PREPCP) l : (12) l k u l 'on a rope' on rope =PREPCP (13) l -f 'on the head' 17-head The prepositional completer has allomorphs, making the distinction less obvious. The next examples compare two clauses, the first line of each giving the realization after the rightward spreading of the high tone, the second line giving the underlying morphemes. The prepositional completer clitic lengthens a preceding short vowel. (14) k fɔ kɛɛ f 'the hat is on the head' k fɔ kɛɛ -f 7.hat 7.is 17-head (15) f nsɛ ŋɛ fiɛɛ kw ŋ 'the ring is on the finger' f nsɛ ŋɛ fiɛɛ kw ŋ 19.ring 19.is on 3.finger=PREPCP The researcher found two constructions that show that the short version (with the locative noun) has a slightly different meaning from the prepositional phrase: (16) ŋgikɔɔ l y 1S.put.IPF 17.in.house I am putting (it) into the house (17) ŋgikɔɔ l y 1S.put.IPF on 9.house=PREPCP I am putting (it) against the house
modifying locative nouns (18) lɛ-ŋgwiŋ la-ni 18-shin 18-this (19) fɛ-ŋgeŋge fɛ-ni 16-shoulder 16.this Yes: adjectives, associative phrases, demonstratives, possessives, quantifier, corresponding pronoun. No plural, modified by number? (differs per speaker) (20) Fɛŋgeŋge wuu mi My shoulder hurts. 16.shoulder pains me (21) Kikaa wuu mi My leg hurts. 7.leg pains me (22) * Fɛŋgeŋge fɛfɛɛ wuu mi. My two shoulders hurt. 16.shoulder 16.two pains me (23) Fɛŋgeŋge wuu mi fɛchu. My shoulders hurt. 16.shoulder pains me 16.all (24) Fɛŋgeŋge wuu mi bimbɛ bichu. Both my shoulders hurt. 16.shoulder pains me 8.side 8.all 4. Conclusions Four locative noun classes Three noun classes are similar to prepositional phrases Class Prefix 16 fɛ- specific area 17 l - l - general area 18 lɛ- inside or in between things 23 w -
5. Bibliography ombert, Jean-Marie. 1980. Noun classes of the Beboid languages. In Larry M. yman (ed.), Noun classes in the Grassfields Bantu borderland. SCOPIL No. 8. November, 1980:83-98. Los Angeles, CA: Dept. of Linguistics, University of Southern California. yman, Larry. 1981. Noni Grammatical Structure. SCOPIL No. 9. Los Angeles, CA: Dept. of Linguistics, University of Southern California. Langhout, Bep. 2012. Tone in the Saari Noun phrase exemplified with nouns from gender 7/8. Yaoundé, Cameroon: SIL. Langhout, Bep. 2015. Grammar Sketch of the Sari Language: Noun Classes. Yaoundé, Cameroon: SIL. Lewis, M. Paul, Gary F. Simons, and Charles D. Fennig (eds.). 2015. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. Online version: http://www.ethnologue.com. Mengnjo Belther Fufi. Spatial relations in Sari. Working paper. Welmers, William E. 1973. African Language Structures. University of California Press: Berkeley and Los Angeles, California.