I

A GRAMMAR OF THE
I
j
KOLOKUMA DIALECT OF .
IJO .
c Soo-,,!
I 2
BY
X
KAY WI LLI AMSON
I CAMBRI DGE
AT T HE UNI VERSI TY PRESS
I N ASSOCI ATI ON WI TH
T HE WEST AFRI CAN LANGUAGES SURVEY AND T HE
I NS TI TUTE OF AFRI CAN STUDI ES, I BADAN
PUBLISHED BY
THE SYNDI CS OF THE CAMBRI DGE UNI VERSI TY PRESS
I N ASSOCI ATI ON WI TH THE WEST AFRICAN LANGUAGES SURVEY
AND THE INSTITUTE OF AFRI CAN STUDIES, IBADAN
Bentley House, zoo Euston Road, London, N.W.1
American Branch: 32 East 57th Street, New York 22, N.Y.
West African Office: P.O. Box 33, Ibadan, Nigeria
0
KAY WI LLI AMSON
1965
Printed in Great Britain by
Percy Lund, Humphries W Co. Ltd, London and Bradford
CONTENTS
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
0.1 General
0.2 Dialects
0.3 Classification and.literature
0.4 The speakers of Kolokuma
0.5 The present study .
CHAPTER I PHONOLOGY
1.0 Elements, junctures and distribution
1.1 Vowels
1.2 Vowel harmony
1.3 Nasalization
1.4 Consoi~ants
1.5 Ideophones
1.6 Tonemes
1.7 Tone patterns -
1.8 Note on the conventional orthography
CHAPTER 2 PHRASE-STRUCTURE RULES
2.0 Introductory
2.1 The sentence and the predicate
2.2 The noun phrase
2.3 Lexical rules
CHAPTER 3 VHRB PHRASE TRANSFORMATIONS
3 .o Introductory
3.1
Transformations involving verbs of motion
3.2 Some co-ordinating transformations
3.3 Introduction of akin 'use' and -njb 'linker'
3.4 Causatives
3.5 Passive and intransitive
3.6 Comparison
3.7 Transformations involving auxiliaries
CHAPTER 4 TRANSFORTMATIONS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
4.1 Co-ordination, apposition and deletion
4.2 Nominalizations
4.3 Modification of noun phrases
4.4 Transposed object
4.5 Numeral adjustment
4.6 Pronoun adjustment
vii
i
i
i
4
6
7
I I
I I
12
'4
16
18
23
25
26
3'
3'
32
33
4'
44
47
47
47
42
53
54
57
59
59
61
61
63
66
71
72
73
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 5 SENTENCE TRANSFORbIATIONS
5.1 Re-arrangements of single strings
5.2 Linking of sentences
CHAPTER 6 M~RPHOPHONEMICS I: NON-TONAL
6.1 Pronouns
6.2 Nouns and their suffixes
6.3 Numerals
6.4 Emphasis
6.5 Aspect markers
6.6 Verbs
6.7 Subordinators
CHAPTER 7
MORPHOPHONEMICS 11: TONE AND ELISION
7.0 Introductory
7.1 Tone groups
7.2 Tone phrases
7.3 Intonational changes
7.4 Elision and replacement
APPENDIX I : Uses of the aspect-tense morphemes
APPENDIX 11: Table of the various pronoun forms
PREFACE
This monograph is a revised version of my Ph.D, dissertation, accepted by Yale Univer-
sity in 1963. Its history is largely a record of those to whom I am indebted. It is im-
possible to name them all in a brief preface; equally impossible for the work to appear
without thanks to the few who are named below and the many who have also contributed.
I first begall work on the I<olokuma dialect of Ijo in 1957 under the guidance of the
late Mr. H. J. Uldall, Senior Lecturer in Phonetics at the University of Ibadan, while
I held a Leverhulme Research Scholarship, and have continued at intervals ever since.
My field work has constantly been made pleasant by the interest and co-operation of the
Ijo people; among many others, I would like to mention Chief G. D. Appah and Mr.
J. H. B. Appah for their hospitality in Kaiama; 1Ur. S. K. Owonaro for his encourage-
ment and comments on the phonology; Mr. Dagbo Alazigha for the use of his lists of
numerals. Those who have chiefly assisted me in the study of I<olokuma are named in
0.5.'; of them, Mr. A. A. Akene (now a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka),
Mr. 0. A. Egberipou, Mr. Pianto Egberipou (now at the University of Lagos Medical
School), and Mr. A. 0. Timitimi have borne the greatest part. Mr. J. C. Daworiye of
Odi, a student at the University of Ife, has helped in the revision for publication. The
willingness and interest of all my assistants have been a constant encouragemelit in the
work.
This grammar of Kolokuma began to take its PI-csent form when I was a student in
the Linguistics Department of Yale University. I am iudebted to Professor Bernard
Bloch and the whole Departme& for the atmosphere which allowed me to follow up my
own lines of interest. As regards my dissertation, I am particularly grateful to Professor
Samuel E. Martin, who supervised my wol-k and encouraged its progress, to Professor
Rulon S. Wells for his course on syntax, and to Professor I, Dyen for a better under-
standing of lexicostatistics.
My attempt to write a generative-transformational grammar stems from the interest
that I felt in the work of Noam Chomsky and others. I t seemed that certain features of
Ijg (such as the relation of the tone system to the syntax) might be interestingly described
by such methods. I have not, however, studied under transformationalists, and am well
aware that the grammar would be different if I had.
From the American Council for Learned Societies I received an Advanced Graduate
Fellowship in Linguistics, which enabled me to return to Nigeria for further fieldwork
and to write my dissertation there. To the Department of Linguistics and Nigerian
Languages, University of Ibadan, I am grateful for facilities for writing up the disserta-
tion.
In the revision which preceded publication, I have had the benefit of much help from
Professor PaulSchachter, as a result of which the syntactic and morphophonemic rules
have been almost completely recast. The infelicities which remain are entirely my own
responsibility.
IBADAN
vii
I NTRODUCTI ON
0.1 Jjy (1jaw)l is a language spoken over a wide area in southern Nigeria. The Ijy-
speaking peoples live mainly in Degema and Yenagoa Provinces in the Eastern Region
and in the Western Ijaw Division of Delta Province in the Midwest Region, with a few
outlying groups stretching as far west as Okitipupa Division in the Western Region. The
exact number of speakers is not known, but there are probably at lcast half a million.2
The area inhabited by Ijy-speakers forms part of the Niger Delta. The land is inter-
sected by rivers and creeks; transport is often easier by water than by land. Conscquently
lines of communication tend to run up and down stream, roughly from north to south,
rather than from east to west, except in the coastal creeks. The inland parts of the delta
are fertile, as the silt brought down by the Niger in the flood season (roughly, July to
Octoher) is deposited on the farmland; but the parts nearer the ocean and towards the
east are tidal, and little vegetation except mangroves flourishes in the salt water.
The economy of the salt-water area depends on fishing and on trading. From the
fifteenth to the late nineteenth century, the Eastern Jjy speakers developed city-states and
acted as middlemen between European traders on the coast and the peoples living in the
interior; contact with Europeans is, therefore, no novelty to Jjp peoples. 146th European
penetration of the interior, and particularly with direct access to the palm oil producing
areas, the Ijy monopoly of trade collapsed.3 The fresh-water areas were never so depen-
dent on trade, relying mainly, as they still do, on agriculture supplemented by fishing.
Nowadays, the whole area suffers from lack of roads and industry, and has been classified
by the Nigerian Government as a Special Development Area. The discovery of oil in
various parts of the delta offers at least limited opportunities for employment to the
inhabitants of the area.
0.2 DIALECTS
The Ijy language is considerably differentiated into dialects, which form what C. F.
Hockett calls an L-complex (A COURSE IN MODERN LINGUISTICS, 323-4; New York, 1958).
A preliminaly dialect survey has been made, but the results have not yet been fully
analysed; the classification which follows is therefore a tentative one.
Each dialect is at least partially intelligible with several others, but those from the
extreme east of the Ijy area are not mutually intelligible with those from the west. Two
main groups of dialects, Eastern and Central, are distinguished. Eastern dialects are
spoken in the eastern part of the salt-water area, where the development of trade drew
people into larger and more centralized political units; their dialects became more sharply
differentiated than those of the less-centralized fresh-water area. The two main groups
of dialects are subdivided as follows:
I. EASTERN
A. South-Eastern:
I . Ralabari, spoken in Abonnema, Buguma, Bakana, Tombia, and their villages.
'Other spellings in the literature are Ud~o, Idsp, Idzd, Idzo, Idjo, Djo, UJo, Ija, Ijoh, Ijg, Ijo.
a The 1952 census figures of 294,941 are almost certainly an underestimate.
See K. 0. Dike, TRADE AND POLITICS IN THE NIGERDELTA, 1830-1885 (Oxford, 1956); G. I. Jones,
THB TRADING STATES OP THE OIL RIVERS (London, 1963).
I
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF T J O
z. Okrika, spoken in Okrika town, the other seven towns of Okrika clan, and in their
dependent villages.
3. Bonny (!bani), now spoken in only one ward of Bonny town and in villagcs such as
Finnema; elsewhere it has been replaced by Igbo.
These three dialects are very closely related and mutually intelligible.
B. Brass-Nembe:
I. Brass-Nembe proper, spoken in Nembe, Brass, l'wgn, Olrpgma, and one or two
other towns.
z. Akassa, spoken in Akassa town, which d i e r s from Nembe mainly in the substitution
of h for most of Nembe s, f (H. Wolff, 'Subsystem typologies and area linguistics',
ANTHROPOLOGICAL LINGUISTICS I :7.1-88; October, 1959).
Brass-Nembe is not fully intelligible with other dialects, perhaps partly bccanse, as
suggested by E. C. Rowlands, the distribution of high and low tones is somewhat different
in Nembe from what it is in other dialects ('Tone and intonation systems in Brass-
Nemhe Ijaw', AFRICAN LANGUAGE STUDLFS I ,137-54; London, 1960). I n the hope that this
centrally located dialect would become the basis of a standard Ijg, the entire Bible was
translated into it (British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 1956), but the translation
is used only in the Brass-Nembe and South-Central areas. 13. TVolff discusses the curious
problcm of 'one way intelligibility' between South-Eastern and Nembe speakers; a
Nembe man claims to understand a Ralabari, but not vice versa ('Intelligibility and
inter-ethnic attitudes', ANTHR~POLOGICAL LINGUISTICS I :3.34-41; March, 1959). On the
Swadesh zoo-word list, Nembe seorcs 73.9% with Kalabari, a percentage almost signi-
ficantly different-rom the 65.2% it scores with Kolokuma and the 64.6% it scores with
Boma. Brass-Nembc speakers can, however, communicate with some Central speakers,
especially of South-Central dialects.
11. CENTRAL
As noted above, dialects here are less sharply differentiated than in the East. Each
clan, consisting of several small towns strung along a river or creek, speaks a slightly
different dialcct and understands those of its neighbonrs. Probably all Central dialects
are largely mutually intelligible; they are not mutually intelligible with South-Eastern
dialects.
The following classification of Central dialects into five groups is based on a few
simple isoglosses and may be modified. I t is not easy to find bundles of isoglosses in this
area, where dialect difference is closely correlated with geographical distance.
A. South-Central:
I. Bassan, spoken by the Bassan clan, who live in the most western coastal arcas of the
Eastern Region. The dialcct of their neighbours, the Apoi clan, is probably also in the
group.
z. Boma (B"mg), spoken by the large Boma clan to the east of Bassan.
3. Olodiama, spoken by the small Olodiama clan, sandwiched in between the northern
parts of Bassan and Boma.
4. Oporoma, spoken by the Oporoma clan to the north of Boma.
Following I. Dyen, 'The lexicostatistical classification of the Malayopolynesian languages',
LANGUAGE 38.38-46 (1962), B significant difference between two percentages is taken as roughly
10%.
I NTRODUCTI ON
These dialects are closely related and mutually intelligible. Boma scores 59.1% with
~(alabari and 64.6% with Nembe; these figures are not significantly different from the
66.8% it scores with Kabo (North-Western group), although the 70.8% it scores with
IColokuma is significantly different from the Kalabari-Boma figure. The percentages
suggest a transitional dialect, a result to be expected in view of the fact that this group
is situated geographically between the Nembe, North-Western, and South-Western
groups.
B. North-Eastern:
r . Okordia, spoken by the small Okordia clan on Taylor Creek.
z. Amegi (Biseni), spokcn by Amegi-Biseni clan, who live to the north of Okordia on
Taylor Creek.
These two dialects are very divergent from the other groups, no doubt because of their
isolated position and their intensive contact with dialects of the Edo and Igbo clusters.
Amegi has certain features reminiscent of Kalabari, with wbich it has bad contact;
Okordia is intermediate between the North-Central group and Amegi, but nearer to the
latter. No lexicostatistic comparisons with other groups have yet been made.
C. North-Central:
I . Gbanran, spoken by the Gbanran clan along Taylor Creek to the south of Okordia.
z. Elcpetiama, spoken by Ekpetiama clan along the Nun River. Ikibiri, although
politically part of this clan, is tcntativcly assigned to the North-Western group below.
3. Kolokuma, spoken by the large Kolokuma-Opokuma clan, who live mainly along
t heNun to the north of Ekpetiama.
These three dialects are fully mutually intelligible. On the Swadesh zoo-word list,
Kolokuma scores 79.1% with Kabo (North-Western), 70.8% with Boma, 65.2% with
Nembe, and 62.4% with Kalabari. These figures are not significantly different, but
would he so if the intermediate dialect of Boma were omitted. The existence of such
intermediate dialects is the reason for spealung of Ijg as one language and not as a group.
D. North-Western:
I . Ikibiri and Tarakiri East, spoken with little difference by Ikibiri town and the
towns of the Eastern Tarakil-i clan, who claim to have come from Taralciri clan in Western
Ijg division and now live on the Nun.
2. Ogboin, spoken by the town of Amassoma and other towns of the Ogboin clan.
Speakers of these two dialects live in the Eastern Region; those of the following dialects
live in Wcstern !jg division.
3. Tarakiri West, spoken by the large and scattered Westcrn Tarakiri clan.
4. Kabo, spoken by the Kabo clan whose largest town is Patani.
j. iiumbo, spoken by Kumbo clan to the south of Kabo.
6 . IVlein, spoken by the large Mein clan along thc Forcados River. The dialects of the
Tuomo, Seimbri, and Operemor clans appear to be very similar to and much influenced
by Mein.
All these dialects are mutually intelligible with each other and to a greater or lesser
degree with North-Central, South-Central, and South-Western dialects. Kabo scores
79.1% with Kolokuma and 66.8% with Boma. These figures are significantly different,
but they are probably reflecting the closer geographical position of Kabo to Kolokuma.
Kabo scores 60.0% with Nembe and 562% with Kalabari.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF 110
E. South-Eastern:
I. Eduwini, spoken by the large Eduwioi clan, who live along the coast from the
Midwest-East boundary to the mouth of the Forcados.
2. Ogula, spoken by Ogula clan around the mouth of the Forcados.
3. Oporws~, spoken by Oporoza (Gbaramatu) clan to the north of Ogula.
4. Arogbo, spoken in the town of Arogbo in Okitipupa division, Wcstern Region, where
it is surrounded by Yoruba-speaking towns.
Thesc dialects differ sharply from the North-Western ones and have certain features in
common with the South-Central and Nembe groups, suggesting ancient lines of com-
munication through the coastal creeks as well as up and down rivers. No lexicostatistic
calculations have yet been made for this group.
I t is likely that a good deal of dialect borrowing talces place, for Inany Ijg men travel
widely while trading or, in eastern areas, fishing, and intermarriage between members of
different clans is also common. Nowadays, educated men such as teachers, clergy, and
minor civil servants are frequently transferred from one area to another and are often
acquainted with several dialects. There is, too, considerable influence upon a number of
dialects from nearby languages. All Ijg groups trade with their neighbours. In addition,
because of certain peculiarities in the rjg marriage system, there has for some time heen
a tendency for rjg men to marry women from non-Ijp groups; consequently, a large
number of children grow up biimgual. An Igbo in Okrika can speilk his own language
and be understood. The effect of bilingualism on the Okriika dialect is seen in phonology
(e.g. three tonemes, like Igbo and unlike Kolokuma), morphology (e.g. the future-tense
morpheme -6ia, like Igbo and unlike ISolokuma), and lexicon (e.g. almost all names for
food-plants except 'yam' borrowed fi-om Igbo).
InRuence from non-Niger-Congo languages is confined to vocabulary. There are a few
indirect loans from Hausa, some from Portuguese into western dialects, and a recent
layer of loans from English.
It should be mentioned that Ijg as a linguistic term is not exactly '0-extensive with Ijp
as a political term. Opobo clan is at least sometimes considered politically Ijg, but speaks
Igbo, while Ogbja and Epie-Atissa clans consider themselves fully Ijg but speak an
Aboan and an Edo dialect respectively.
0.3 CLASSIFICATION AND LITERATURE
0.3.1 Ijg is a Niger-Congo language, but there are no languages closely related to it and
its exact position within the Niger-Congo family is not yet clear. Iu 1927 Westermann
placed it, tentatively, in the Kwa group (DIE WESTLICHEN SUDANSPRACHEN UND IHRE
REZIEHUNGEN ZUM BANTU, p.20). Greenberg in 1955 assigned it to s separate branch of
Niger-Congo (STUDIES IN AFRICAN LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION), but in 1963 considered it
a member of the Kwa branch (THE LANGUAGES OF AFRICA, IJAL 29:1). It is not at present
clear to what extent the 'ISwa branch' actually constitutes a unity, so that it is rather a
matter of re-examining the relationship of all the languages in the area, including fjg,
than of trying to assign Ijo to a well-established group. Preliminary lexicostatistic counts
do not indicate any significant difference between the relationship of Tjp to Kwa and to
Benue-Congo languages.
Ijg has been less studied than some other Nigerian languages (e.g. Yoruba or Hausa).
There are several reasons; the variety of dialects, the use of Pidgin Englishin the early trade
with Europeans, and the relatively small number of missionaries who have lived in the area.
4
I NTRODUCTI ON
The first European record of a possible Ijy word was made in 1500, in Duarte Pacheco
pereira's ESMERALDO DE SITU ORBIS, edited by Kimble, p.132 (1937). The problems it
raises are discussed by G. I. Jones in AFRICA 28.44 (1958) and by P. I3. I-I. Hair in 'The
early study and literature of some lower-Niger-Benue languages rgoo-1890' (MS.).5
The numerals 1-5 were collected in the early seventeenth century and published in
0. Dapper's NAURBURIGE BESSCHRIIVINGE DER AFRI KAENESCI ~ GEWESTEN 2.135 (2nd ed.
1676) Numerals were also published in E. Norris, OUTLINE OF A VOCABULARY OF A FEW
OF TIIE PRINCIPAL LANGUAGES OF WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA (London, 1840). J. Clarke's
SPECIMENS OF DIALECTS (Berwick-upon-Tweed and London, 1848) contains numerals in
four Eastern dialects (Okrika, Bonny, ISalabari, and Nembe) and ten other words in
Bonny, Kalabari, and Nembe.
The first substantial record of an Ijo dialect is a vocabulary and grammatical outline of
Bonny by Hermanu Koler in EINIGE NOTIZEN iiBER BONNY AN DER KiiSTE YON GUINEA,
SEINE SPRACHE UND SEINE BEWOHNER, MIT EINEM GLOSSARIUM (Gottingen, 1848). There
are two Ijg word lists in S. W. Koelle's POLYGLOTTA AFRICANA (London, 1854), one of
Bonny (Okuloma) and one of a western dialect (Ud~o). 1. C. Taylor's IJO OR IDHO PRIMER
(London, 1862) has faults, as its author was aware; like most later writings in Ijg it
distinguishes only seven of the nine vowels, and it sometimes mistranslates the English;
it is apparently based on the Nembe dialect. The first primer in Bonny is W. E. L.
Carew's PRIMER IN THE UBANI DIALECT OF THE IDSO LANGUAGE (London, 1870). F. E. G.
Johnson's VOCABULARY OF THB BONNY LANGUAGE (Lagos, 1903) and PRIMER IN THE IJO
LANGUAGE (London, 1911) have not been seen.
The first useful information on Nelnbe is given by Adebiyi Tepowa in 'Notes on the
(Nembe) Brass language', JOURNAL OF THE AERICAN SOCIETY 13.117-33 (1904). N. W.
Thomas gives vocabularies of 'Degema' (i.e. ISalabari), Nembe and Bonny in SPECIMENS
OF LANGUAGES WOM SOUTIIERN NIGERIA (London, 191 I).
Little but religious translation has been published in Ijg. The earliest are two short
translations into Bonny by W. E. I,. Carew: PORTIONS OF SCRIPTURE and A PORTION OF
SIMPSON'S PRIMER, both published in 1870. I n Nembe there is the Book of Common
Praycr (1923) and the complete Bible (1956). The Prayer Book has also been published
in Okrika, Kalabari and Kolokuma; thc Catholic Catechism and a Jehovah's Witnesses
booklet in Western Ijp. There are a few primers for schools, and Dinah D. S. ISalio has
published a collcction of Okrika proverbs: KABO NA GRUN EKWEIN NA KIRIKENI BIPI BU
(Port Harcourt, 1960). Two members of the Western Ijg Language Committee have
produced works on their language: M. L. Agbegha has writtcn EON MO BEKE MO TEN-EYE
FUN: IJAw-ENGLISH VOCABULARY (Warri, 1961), and T. 0. Ouduku RZQN XEBE GE BRR
ME: HOW TO WRITE THE IJAW LANGUAGE (TVarri, 1960).
In recent years several linguistic studies of Ijg have appeared. Hans Wolff has pub-
lished vocabularies of ISalabari, Nembe, Kolokuma and North-Western Ijg in 'Niger
Delta languages I: Classification', ~VTH~OPOLOGI CAL LINGUISTICS I :8.32-53 (1959). An
excellent tonal analysis of Nembe has appeared: E. C. Rowlands, 'Tone and intonation
systems in Brass-Nembe Ijaw', AFRICAN LANGUAGE STUDIES 1.137-54 (1960). There is
also a treatment of the ISolokuma tone system which is superseded by the present work:
K. Williamson, 'The units of an African tone language', PHONETICA 3 :2/3.145-66 (1959).
Most suggested classifications of Ijg have perforce been made with little material to
I am indebted to Dr. Hair for the use of his MS., from which I have taken several of the following
references.
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
hand. Westermann did not publish evidence supporting his tentative 1927 classification
of I j p as Kwa, and the idea was dropped until recently suggested again by Greenberg.
In the interval, Ijp has been classed so as to stress its isolation. M. Delafosse in Mcillet
et Cohen, LES LANGUES DU MONDE (Paris, 1952), classifies Ijp as the sole member of a
'groupe bas-nigtrien'. His cited material is from Nembe, and he misinterprets the
definite articles and other affixes as evidence of a noun-class system, an error carried over
into Westermann and Bryan's LANGUAGS OF WEST AFRICA (Oxford, 1952), where Ij? is
treated in the chapter on class languages.
0.3.2 Since no general description of any ijo dialect has yet been published, it was
decided that an outline of the wholc system of one dialect, Kolokuma, would he more
useful than a description of a single aspect of the language. Before dealing specifically
with Kolokuma, some of the more unusual features of Tjp as a whole, and a few general
comparisons of ijp with other Niger-Congo languages, will be briefly indicated.
Tjp stands sharply distinguished from neighbouring languages in its complex system of
tonal morphophonemics and intonational modifications of tone patterns, described in
detail for IColokuma in Chapter 7. It is suggested by Gleason that a system of this type,
where word-tones are subordinated to larger tone patterns, marks a language which is,
historically, changing from a tonal t o a pitch-accent or purely intonational system
(LANGUAGE 37.300,1961). Most Niger-Congo languages are tonal, but some have lost their
tones: e.g. several West Atlantic languages, and Swahili in the Bantu group. The imme-
diate neighbours of rj?, however, are all clearly tonal; some of them, such as Yoruba, have
a three-tone system, whcreas the original Ij? system seems to have had only two tones,
like Proto-Bantu.
Ijp has little morphology, but what there is contains several notcworthy features. I t has
lost the original Niger-Congo noun-class system, and few relics of it remain even as
meaningless vowel prefixes (as they do, for example, in Yoruba and Igbo). On the other
hand, it has a system of delinitc articles sutIixed to thc noun, apparently developed from
demonstratives. It is unusual, among Niger-Congo languages, in having a separatc
feminine pronoun, demonstrative and delinite article; some dialccts, though not Kolo-
kuma, also have a neuter.
I n word-order, modifiers consistently precede heads and the object precedes the verb.
The most interesting syntactic feature is the verb phrase, which may contain a scries of
verb roots. Many 'Kwa' languages have a similar feature; Westermann has described it
in his GRAMMATIK DER EWE-SPRACHE (Berlin, 1907), Ida Ward in her INTRODUCTION TO
THE YO~IUBA LANGUAGE (Cambridge, 1952), and W. E. Welmers in his DESCRIPTIVE
G R A ~ X A R OF FANTI (Baltimore, 1946). I n Kolol~uma there arc, in many cases, no con-
necting or subordinating grammatical morphemes to show the relationship of the different
verb roots to one another, so that a good deal of experimenting is necessary to discover
the permissible combinations. Chapter 3 contains the results of these investigations.
0.4 THE SPEAKERS OF KOLOKUMA
The present study is a descriptive analysis of a single ijp dialect, Kolokuma, particularly
as it is spoken in the town of Iiaiama. Speakers call their language jzQn bell 'Ijp language'
or k6lolchmi bell 'Kolokuma dialect'. Members of the Iiolokuma-Opokuma clan live in
ten towns along the River Nun, from Igbedi to Odi. The men trade, fish, cut palmfruit
and do some farming; many leave home to work in Lagos, Ghana and elsewhere, often
as cooks, stewards, sailors or policemen. Most men and many women, therefore, speak
I NTRODUCTI ON
some English or Pidgin, and often one or more other African languages - Igbo, Yoruba
Hausa; G5 or Fanti; even (in the case of an ex-serviceman) Swahili. The women do
of the farming and some fishing, as well as their household duties. Some Kolokuma
men marry Isoko or Aboh wives, and small communities of Isokos, forming their own
villages, live in the area to cut palmfluit. Most children attend the primary schools run
by the Church Missionary Society, where they learn English. For all education beyond
the primary level young people must go away from home, so that the area is constantly
being drained of its most intelligent and ambitious members. Geographical isolation
ensures that, while many Kolokumas leave their home town, not many outsiders come in;
there are usually more women than men in a town.
0,5 THE PRIISENT STUDY
0.5.1 Fieldwork in Kaiama was carried out in August-September, 1957, June-July,
1959, and October, 196z-Jannary, 1963. The chief informants were:
Mr. F. Agara, church clerk (1959, 1962)
Mr. A. A. Akene, teacher (1957, 1959)
Mr. 0. A. Egberipou, teacher (1957, 1959, 1962-3)
Mr. Pianto Egberipou, secondary school student (1957, 1959)
Miss F. Kai, teacher (1957)
Mr. J. Orumokinren, trader (1957)
Mr. A. 0. Timitimi, trader and church treasurer (1959, 1962-3).
In 1959 a number of texts were collected from two elderly monolingual informants,
Chief 2. Amaran and Chief Y. Soobai, with the help of the Rev. J. Buseri. A little work
was also done in the United States with Mr. L. Ekpebu, a graduate student of Princeton
University. All of these people helped willingly, patiently, and with great interest in the
work. The discovery of the passive, for example, is due to Mr. 0. A. Egberipou, who
took the trouble to refute a statement that Tj? had no constluction corresponding to the
English passive.
0.5.2 An attempt has been made to write a kind of generative transformational gram-
mar. Certain features of fjp appear to lend themselves well to such a treatment: for
example, the limits of the tone groups within which elaborate tonal morphophonemics
take place are determined by syntax, a fact which strongly suggests that the morpho-
phonemics are better treated after the syntax, as in transformational grammars, rather
than before it. The plus sign has been used throughout to unite syntactic elements which,
after the application of the morphophonemic tone rules, will occur in the same TONE
GROUP. When these elements have been joined into tone groups, some tone groups will be
linked up into TONE PHRASES, the conditions for such linking being no longer syntactic but
tonal. Tone patterns are, therefore, to be treated not in isolation, but as a systcrn partly
interlocking with the syntax. By the systematic use of the plus sign, the tonal relation-
ships demanded by the syntax are carried through to the morphophonemic rules, where
they are tinally realized.
I n some other respects, however, the transformational model has not been followed.
Transformational grammars which treat phonology as distinct from morphophonemics
usually do so in a distinctive feature analysis following the morphophonemic rules. This
is possible where the language is a familiar one with an accepted orthography, hut in the
case of a little-known language such as Ijp a transcription has to be provided before the
syntax can be studied. For practical reasons, therefore, chapter I is devoted to phonology,
A GRAMMAR OF THE ICOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF T J O
1
with the aim of setting out a transcription which is useful in later chapters. It. would, of 1
course, be possible to add another chapter after the morphophonemics continuing the j
analysis down to distinctive feature level, but i n view of the treatment in chapter I this
has not been thought necessary.
Keeping a phoneme level allows statistical statements of frequency to be made (e.g.
1.4.4-5). Such statements are important in that part of the vocabulary of Kolokuma, the
ideophones,6 can be shown to have a phonological structure which is statistically different
from that of the other parts (1.5).
0.5.3 As regards syntax, the model followed has been that developed in N. Chomsky's
SYNTACTIC STRUCTURFS (The Hague, 1957) and R. Lees's THE GRAMMAR OF ENGLISH
NOMINALIZATIONS (IJAL 26:3, Part z, 1960). It is not suggested that this grammar is either
a complete exemplification of generative transformational grammar or that the data might
not be susceptible of a description, from another theoretical viewpoint, of equal or grcater
validity. The approach was adopted because it was thought that the practical attempt to
apply some of the new methods to a little-known language might be of interest, particu-
larly since it bas been suggested that they can be applied only when the linguist has 'a
very deep and expert understanding of a language' (Lees, p.186). Two comments suggest
themselves on this statement. The first is that while certain deep underlying similarities
in a language rcquire expert knowledge, other parts of the grammar are open to quite
simple transformational statements (e.g. the active-passive relation). Secondly, i t is
possible that languages have sufficient in common for similar rules to be applied to parts
of their grammars. Lees himself points out the close similarities between English and
German nominalizations. I t is more surprising to find that, in describing Ijg, many of
at least the more general rules for sentence and noun-phrase transformations are strongly
reminiscent of rules which would be necessary for English, and that only the structure
of the verb phrase appears markedly alien. If transformational analysis were developed
with contrastive grammar in mind, i t might be possible for a relatively small number of
analyses made from deep knowledge to serve as reference points for a larger number of
grammars of languages for which more superficial information was available.
0.5.4 Some divergences from transformational practice in this grammar are due to the
fact that wo1.k on Kolokuma was done through informants, whereas in most transforma-
tional grammars so far published the linguist has been his own informant and the gram-
mar has thercfore been that of a single idiolect. A neat, consistent analysis is often possible
for one idiolect which hrealcs down when a number of different idiolects are studied. The
study of I<olol~uma is based largely on a corpus of texts (mostly folk tales and proverbs
with a few descriptive or historical texts) which were tape-recorded-and then transcribed,
with the help of informants, and also on a body of isolated sentences, many of which
were suggested by sentences in the texts and were elicited in the search for sentences
which bear a transformational relation to one another. There are thus a number of
idiolects and styles represented, and i t is therefore necessary, at certain points, either to
suggest alternative rules (e.g. 7.1,6), to note that variation exists (e.g. 3 . 7 . ~ ) ~ or to leave
the rule open for further study.
0.5.5 The problem of idiolectal variation is related to another one, which is also raised
by working with texts given by informants. Some transformations appear to he much
6 An ideonhone i s defined as: 'a vivid reoresentation of an idea in sound. A word often onornato- ~~ ~
,~~~ ~ ~
p8,* ir whi:h rlrscrrl,es n pr'~lic;lte, qu~1tlic;ittrc or n<l\.r.rl, i l l rerprrt t u ~a >i l ! ~r >c r , . % I . u ~ r , ..mn<l, sn>(111,
n r ~ i o n , s t ~ ~ t ~ . 111 illlcllsily.' (l.'. h1. Dokc, BANTU I.!Nl:l IS., I C~I . I <>I I NOI OI : Y, 111( (1.<lnd ,n, 1035).J
I NTRODUCTI ON
more basic than others: e.g. some expansions of the noun phrase, or the interrogative,
are basic enough to require description in any grammar, whereas certain ellipses occurring
in the texts would be described only where a requirement of comprehensive coverage of
the corpus had been made. Just as the kernel is in some sense more basic than the optional
transformations, so some of the transformations, and some transformed sentences, are
more basic than others.
hi^ conclusion is reinforced by observation of the editing carried on by informants
when they repeated slowly for transcription what had been recorded at a natural speed on
the tape; not only did they el i i nat e coughs and slips of the tongue, but they also left out
false starts, and even re-phrased something they felt ungrammatical when it was played
back. In particular, a bilingual informant translating a text recorded by an aged mono-
lingual speaker frequently objected to the repetitious style of the old man and re-phrased
parts of it despite pleas to repeat exactly what was on the tape. The recording and the
final transcription were clearly both utterances in the language, but in different styles.
~t is suggested that such a di i r ence in style can be correlated with the extent of trans-
formation the utterance has undergone, the more colloquial unstudied one being trans-
formed to a much greater degree.
If sentences can be repeatedly and indefinitely transformed in this way, it follows that
a grammar can produce all the sentences of a language only if a line is drawn at which a
sentence cannot be further transformed without ceasing to be a sentence. The exact line
might be arbitrary, but could be drawn somewhere near the point where informants
begin to re-phrase texts. (Presumably a linguist acting as his own informant normally
performs the same editing process for himself.) The degree of grammaticality, or alter-
natively the degree of colloquiality of style, of a particular recorded text could then be
described in terms of the proportion of sentences to non-sentences it contained.
0.5.6 The presence of informants has led to an attempt to formulate transformational
rules as realistic transformations of real sentences, intuition for extremely hypothetical
constructs not being available. Some difficulties arise in the course of this procedure, in
that realistic sources cannot be found for some strings, although these strings bear a
strong resemblance to others for which convincing sources are available. For example,
there is a fixed noun phrase t Qr y di ye 'spectacles, glasses', literally 'eye look-at thing'.
I t superficially resembles other noun-verb-noun phrases such as beni wen1 i gbi ka
'rainboot', literally 'water walk thing', which is regularly generated by T. 32 The source
sentences necessary to generate t+ry di ye by T.32 do not, however, occur, and no other
convincing source can be found. The following rather ad hoc solution is suggested. Not
all apparent transforms are real ones, i.e. developed directly from source strings. Once
a pattern has been established (in this case, noun-verb-noun), similar strings are formed
to it by analogy to the transforms. Analogy is generally recognized as a factor i n linguistic
change, and there seems no reason why it should not be active at the transformational
level as at others. The difficulty still remains of finding an adequate way of formulating
such analogical rules; if this can be done, the process involved is comparable to that
whereby a complex series of phonological rules is replaced by a simpler one (M. Halle,
WORD 18.65, 1962).
0.5.7 An effort has been made to give rules to account for as much as possible of the
text material. There has, therefore, been no attempt to present only rules which show
elegant transformational relationships. I n deciding what is to go into the phrase-structure
rules and what into the transformations, the guiding principle has, as far as possible, been
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT O F I J O
productivity; that is, the constructions which occur in the most varied combinations with
other constructions have been assigned to the phrase-structure rules, less flexible con-
structions mainly to the transformations. Compromise has been necessary in the case of
elements which cannot reasonably be introduced transformationally and have therefore
been assigned to the phrase-structure rules out of necessity. For example, very little can
be done with interjections, but since they cannot he derived from anything else they are
necessarily introduced in the phrase-structure rules.
0.5.8 Semantic criteria have been used i n a few cases where they seemed appropriate
and necessary, for example in the analysis of the aspect markers (2.1 .z and Appendix I).
It has been assumed that there are collocational as well as grammatical limitations on the
occurrence of morphemes, the collocational ones being those which can be predicted with
a high degree of probability from the English translation before the attempt is made to
elicit an Ijo equivalent, and which are, therefore, considered outside the scope of this
grammar.
PHONOLOGY
ELEMENTS, JUNCTURES AND DISTRIBUTION
I.o.o At the phonological level Kolokuma can be describedin terms of PIIONEMES and
p ~ o ~ ~ ~ ~ M E S , which are distributed in SYLLABLES, UNITS, WORDS, TONE GROUPS, TONE
PHRASES and BREATH GROUPS, of which all but syllables and tone groups are delimited
by JUNCTURES.
1.0.1 The terms PHONEME and PROSODEME are preferred to SEGMENTAL PHONEME and
SUPRASEGMENTAL PHONEME because the analysis of nasalization here given (1.3) requires
that it be sometimes a suprasegmental and sometimes a segmental feature. Thc definition
of PROSODEME is, however, different from that given by E. Haugen, 'Phoneme or Proso-
deme? (LANGUAGE 25.278-82, 1949): 'any significant sound feature whose overlap of
other features is temporally correlated to syllabic contour'. As used in the present study,
a prosodeme can be correlated with longer elements than a syllable (1.0.3); it includes
what, in the other terminology, would be suprasegmental MORPHEMES.
Thelimitation of the termPHoNEMErequires theuse of the wider term PHONOLOGY, rather
than phonemics, for the subject matter of this chapter. As used here, PHONOLOGY in-
cludes the description of both phonemes and prosodemes.
1.0.2 Phonemes consist of VOWELS (1.1) and CONSONANTS (1.4). They are distributed
in sillables and units.
I .o.3 Prosodemes consist of VOWEL HARMONY (I .2), distributed in units and words;
NASALIZATION (1.3), distrihuted in syllables and units; TONEMES (1.6) distributed in syl-
lables and breath groups; and TONE PATTERNS (1.7), distributed in units, tone groups
and tone phl.ases.
1.0.4 A SYLLABLE is a tone-bearing entity whose nucleus is either a single vowel or
nasalization realized as a nasal homorganic with a following plosive (1.3.1). No juncture
is postulated between syllables. Units are delimited by word space and/or hyphens;
words are delimited by word space; tone phrases are delimited by commas and/or any
other punctuation mark; breath groups are delimited by any punctuation mark except
commas.
Thus in the sentence
nbelei, wi ri -? bo-doy
lizard house to come has
Lizard has come home
there are ten syllables, five units, three words, two tone phrases, and one breath group.
Four junctures are set up: HYPHEN JUNCTURE, symbolized by a hyphen; WORD
JUNCTURE, symbolized by word space; COMMA JUNCTURE, symbolized by a comma; and
SENTENCE JUNCTURE, symbolized by any other punctuation mark. The first two junctures
are not marked by any pause phenomena, and comma juncture has only a slight optional
pause; they are set up as devices for simplifying the description of the distribution of the
phonemes and prosodemes. Sentence juncture is, however, phonetically marked by
pause, and vowel elision does not take place across it, as it does across other junctures.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
The various punctuation marks are used to indicate grammatical structure or intonation:
semicolon: end of subordinated or co-ordinated sentence
colon: beginning of reported speech
dash: beginning of recapitulatory phrase (5.2.7, 5.z.10); end of reported speech pre-
ceding main sentence (5.2.8)
full stop: end of main sentence, normal intonation
question mark: end of main sentence, question intonation (7.3.6)
exclamation mark: end of main sentence with emphatic intonation; end of vocative or
interjection. (Emphatic intonation has not been fully studied, but it appears to involve
length, raising of high tones, and sometimes raising of a series of low tones:
kenj idika, a rn+ eri-dQy
a hyena she it see has
i t is a hyena she has seen
Ikeni i di ka, a rnQ er i - dy!
it is a hyena she has seen!)
1.0.5 The term UNIT was suggested by Rowlands' TONAL UNIT; as used here, however,
it is a unit for phoneme distribution, vowel harmony and nasalization as well as for tone.
Units usually coincide with morphemes (k6roa 'fall'); the few exceptions consist of units
where two or more morphemes are recognizable but do not function individually in
respect of tone (k6rorn~z 'make fall, throw': k6ro2 'fall'+ =rn? 'causative'). Because of
these few cases, the term M O R P H E ~ has been kept as a grammatical one and is not used
on the phonological level. Since the grammar does not distinguish morphology and
syntax, the term WORD has not been required at the grammatical levcl and is therefore
used at the phonological level only.
1.0.6 The term TONE GROUP is equivalent to Rowlands' TONAL GROUP and is preferred
only as being slightly simpler. Tone groups are of crucial importance for the description
of tone patterns (1.7.1, 7.1). They are not, however, delimited by junctures, because in
certain circumstances they are linked into larger sequences, for which the tcrm TONE
PHRASE is reserved.
1.0.7 The various elements named and their distributions are summarized in Table I.
tone tone breath
syllable unit word group phrase group
phonemes x x
vowel harmony x x
nasalization x x
tonemes x
tone patterns x x x
1.1 VOWELS
1.1.1 There are nine vowel phonemes in Kolokuma. They contrast as to high, mid
and low tongue position; the high and mid vowels also contrast as to front and back
PHONOLOGY
tongue ~osition, and are divided into two sets by rules of vowel harmony, vowels in the
first set being CLOSE and those in the second set OPEN.
T ~ L E 2
Front Rack
- --
Close Open Close Open
High i [il i [L] u [u] V [a]
Mid [el ? [El 0 [o] ? [)I
LOW a [a1
Examples :
di2 net -bi the bljz pitcher bljz pond
d6z proud be1 say b62 come bQz door
biz kill
1.1.2 Sequences of two consecutive vowels in the same unit occur; each vowel bears a
tone and constitutes a syllable. Three types of sequence occur:
(a) The first vowel is high and the second non-high:
die1 fifteen
dial show
s@z enter
(h) The first vowel is non-high and the second high:
b6i3 this
~ 6 ~ 2 dig
bay1 daughter
(c) Both vowels are identical (phonetically, a long vowel):
kpiiz fly out together;
contrast gbiz sound of hand clapping back
sl/nz of high shrill sound;
contrast t i n z tree
dee4 dazzling;
contrast d6z proud
bee2 sound of bleating;
contrast be1 say
baaraal dry season;
contrast biras hand
kpQ?z sound of one person chopping firewood
contrast -kp? too, also
g b6oroa grind
contrast gborol to plant
dljoq rafter
contrast dljz tale
buuq crumbly
contrast bliz pitcher
Vowel length has been treated as a sequence of two identical vowels for the following
reasons :
A GRAMMAR OF TI-IE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
(a) Long vou~els frequently occur in speech, but they are usually morphophonemically
conditioned; either, within a unit, by tone (e.g. in isolation dil 'look at' is pronounced
[di:]), or, across junctures, by replacement of a unit-final vowel by the initial vowel of
the following unit (e.g. wo ere 'his name' becomes weere).
(b) Long vowels not so conditioned are comparatively uncommon. Six of the nine
examples given above occur in ideophones, which in other ways form a phonological
subsystem of the language (cf. 1.5). I t would therefore be attributing too much impor-
tance to long vowels in the total language system to set them up either as short vowels
with a prosodeme of length or as a series of long vowels corresponding to the short ones.
(c) There is an historical reason for supposing long vowels not very stable in Kolo-
kuma. An intervocalic g which occurs in other dialects has been lost in Kolokuma.
Forms from which g has been lost are written with a doubled vowel in the conventional
orthography: e.g. paa 'cornelgo out', corresponding to Nembe pagaz and contrasting
with ba 'kill' (=Nembe 6az). Presumably there was a constant contrast in length between
the two forms when the orthography was devised about fifty years ago. At present a
distinction is apparently made by only a minority of speakers; for most informants there
is no contrast in length between
pa-a 'did not come out' [pi1&]
and bi-a 'did not kill' [bi'i]
('=syllable onset).
I t therefore seems that length is not a stable feature of the Kolokuma system and is best
treated, where it occurs, as a special case of a two-vowel sequence.
r .I .3 A few sequences of three vowels occur in the same unit. Three types of sequence
occur:
(a) All threevowels are different; the middle one is non-high and the first and third are high:
st i ei ~ thirty
bj?vz board (a boat)
(b) Two contiguous vowels are identical; they are high and the remaining vowel is
non-high, or they are non-high and the remaining vowel is high:
g6iinz pointed (of nose)
i r i aan~ huge
(c) All three vowels are identical; only in interjections:
6ei4 that's it!
a6in4 oh indeed!
Long vowels are often prolonged for emphasis, but this is a non-discrete phenomenon
and is therefore not regarded as distinctive.
I .Z VOWEL HARMONY
1.2.1 The distribution of the vowels within the unit is severely limited by vowel
harmony. I n the great majority of units, close and open vowels do not co-occur, although
a occurs with both sets of vowels:
Briz drying rack eriz see
biouz interior (away b / y z hoard (a boat)
from river)
b610uz inside bQl?yz first
iriz trick irj4 you sg.
PHONOLOGY
the units in the second column it is only necessary to mark the first open vowel for it
to be understood that any subsequent vowels in the same unit are also open:
+ria see
bjouz board (a boat)
bQlouz first
ir!4 YOU sg.
ln a few cases, however, the vowel harmony is violated; all units in which this is so are
either recent loanwords or units which, historically or descriptively, consist of two
morphemes:
gomet14 Government
enii4
so (from *en[ iye 'that thing')
ktrrom?~ throw (from ktrroz 'fall'+=m? 'causative')
To accommodate these cases while marking only one open vowel in a unit i t would be
necessary to write junctures in these forms:
gQ-meti4 Government
e-nii4 so
k6ro-m? throw
Because in some cases vowel harmony extends across hyphen juncture (I. z. ~), such a
transcription would make the rules for the application of vowel harmony very complex.
For the sake of clarity, therefore, each open vowel has been written with the diacritic and
the hyphen juncture not used in the forms above. This transcription has the advantage
of being a less violent departure from the conventional orthography (1.8).
1.2.2 Vowel harmony extends over a whole word in two cases:
(a) When a short pronoun prefix (an object or a possessive) consists of a high vowel, it
harmonizes with the verb or noun following it:
i-yeqi my mother [-dav my father
u-dii look at him y- t / j n call him
A unit containing no vowel but a takes the open form of a high-vowel prefix:
i-ti your wife (I-bai kill him
Pronoun prefixes containing a non-high vowel do not harmonize with the following unit:
?-dii look at them q-tjjn call them
Short pronoun subjects frequently but not invariably harmonize with the following
morpheme if they contain a high vowel; this concord is a case of harmony extending
across word juncture:
i bo-mi, I came / bq-m[ I passed
i bo-mi
iyi oki-mi, I swam iyi andi-mi I wrestled
jyi oki-mi
(b) When a monosyllabic enclitic contains i (no monosyllabic enclitics containing
other high vowels occur), the enclitic harmonizes with the preceding unit:
timi-mi existed tern$-m j created
toru-bi the chalk tQry-bi the river
The harmony is somewhat less consistent in the case of -qi, the non-final allomorph of
the disyllabic enclitic -qjmi 'future tense':
b6-gi, ahout to come bQ-qi about to pass
b6-qi
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DIALECT OF I J O
A unit containing no vowel but a is followed by the open form of a monosyllabic enclitic
containing j :
bri-m j killed bira-bi the hand
An enclitic which is disyllabic or which contains vowels other than i does not harmonize
with the preceding unit:
b6-qjmj will go b+-qimi will pass
mlj-kym? don't go baqi-kymQ don't run
kiri-mq-se all the farms wiri-m?-se all the houses
I n respect of vowel harmony, therefore, hyphen juncture indicates that a monosyllabic
affix containing a high vowel harmonizes with the unit to which it is affixed.
I n exceptionally deliberate speech the enclitic does not harmonize; this fact is descrihed
phonologically as the substitution of word for hyphen juncture.
Occasionally a capital letter is used as a cover symbol for either the close or open
vowel; e.g. I=either i or j .
I .3 NASALIZATION
1. 3. 1 Nasalization operates within a unit and is symholized by -n at the end of a
syllable (i.e. preceding a consonant or juncturc). The nasal consonant n occurs only at the
beginning of a syllable (i.e. preceding a vowel), so that no ambiguity arises from this
double use of the symbol.
Nasaliiation occurs:
(a) Before a continuant or juncture. It is realized as nasalization of the preceding vowel.
[silk] sanlool gills
[ifif$] afinfanz type of tree
[t6] thnz sing
[!:I
,.
Yes
[t;:rn$] tQnmq2 l i e n
(In the last example, length is mal.ked; a phonemically nasalized vowel preceding a nasal
is longer than a non-phonemically nasalized vowel in the same position.) Any w r y or
vowel immediately preceding a nasalized vowel in the same unit is perceptibly nasalized.
Similarly, any w r y or vowel preceding a phoneme which has itself become nasalized by
contact with a nasalized phoneme is nasalized, except that it is not easy to perceive the
nasalization of an initial vowel. All this nasalization is predictable and is therefore not
marked in the transcription:
[b6i] beina be full
[+??it] wain1 prepare sugarcane
[6*&j owein2 bite
[sSiS] s+r?nz five
[ei.Qfl er6inz day
[yaii] yririnz shake
[jy%yz] oyayanl horse
(b) Before a plosive. It is realized as a nasal homorganic with the plosive, with nasaliza-
tion of the preceding vowel and of earlier vowels w r y as descrihed in (a). The plosive,
however, checks the nasalization; it is neither perceived nor registered on the lrymograph
later in the unit (tracings made by J. D. M. H. Laver):
16
[hm be:] wba l
['imbtlk] inbelel
[indi] andiz
[sBndie] s6ndiez
[SqgjI ongSQ2
[izBqg6] iz6ngb4
[inJ$+k6]1 ingbekel
[bt6q@I6] ot6ngboloz
[kSiEiqgbj:] k?r?ngbQQ4
[simp501 sanpqo
[fq ki] in ki4
PHONOLOGY
breath
sweet
wrestle
six
body, self
j ug
dead stick
mosquito
thin
name of a town2
(sam 'a bird'+ pQyz 'waterside')
ink
The treatment of a nasal before a plosive as nasalization involves partial intersection of
the prosodeme of nasalization with the three nasal phonemes m n q. No ambiguity arises,
however, and this analysis is considered simpler than either of the two main alternatives:
(a) [mb nd qg rgg^b mp qk] are single phonemes, prenasalized plosives. This adds six
relatively uncommon phonemes to the inventory, and has the further disadvantage that
syllable division falls in the middle of a phoneme (an-driz 'wrestle', not a-ndi2).
(b) [m b nd qg q$ mp q k] are clusters. This involves setting up a phoneme q with
extremely limited distribution: occurring only before the voiced labiovelar plosive g b.
There is a third alternative which avoids these difficulties. A distinctive feature analysis
which did not go through a phoneme level would specify lahiovelar nasality at this point
without assigning it to a phoneme. Thc phoneme level is, however, so useful (e.g. in
1.4.4) that it would create more difficulties than it solved to jettison it.
In favour of the equation of the nasalization of a vowel with the homorganic nasal
before a plosive is the free variation between ongo4 and ?got14 'lime'.
Some units begin with a syllable consisting only of nasalization+tone, preceding a
plosive: nbel$j4 'lizard', nda4 'but'. There is considerable variation in many units,
some idiolects having an initial vowel preceding the nasalization, others not: inbelel or
nbel e~ 'swect'. But all idiolects have some units which always begin with a vowel (andiz
'wrestle', ?ngQz 'body, self'), and some which always begin with nasalization (ndai4 'but',
ng$e4 'cry of child'). I t is therefore not possible to set up initial nasalization as a sequence
vowel-1-nasalization, with the vowel realized as zero and the nasalization hearing the tone;
it has to be set up as a special syllable type.
1. 3. 2 There is no contrast between nasalized and oral vowels after a nasal consonant;
all are somewhat nasalized. The kymograph does not show any consistent diffcrence,
in so far as any direct comparison of such data is possihle~ between this non-distinctive
nasalization and the distinctive one discussed above. The auditory impression is that
vowels following m are more nasalized than those following n q; back vowels are more
nasalized than front, and i i least of all. This impression gains a little support from the
admittedly inconsistent local orthography, but the kymograph record does not show any
significant difference between the nasalization of vowels in these various environments.
'The symbol n~ represents here and subsequently a labiovelar nasal and not, as in I.P.A. use, a
labiodental nasal.
a Being a compound, this form is not assigned a tone class.
A GRAMMAR OF THE IEOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
Vowels and w r y preceding the nasal are also nasalized accordiug to the rules given
1.3.1 above:
abamyl (spelt abamun) loft
bomgyz (spelt bumgun) sandbank
emCi4 (spelt emein) manatee
i n 4 (spelt inein) yours
yegh (spelt yengi) mother
t?niil (spelt tgni) light (a lamp)
I n the first two examples the nasalization is ~erceived as heavy, in thc next two as moder-
ate, and in the last two as light.
1.4 CONSONANTS
1.4.1 The consonants are summarized in Table 3
TABLE 3. Consonant phonemes
Back=palatal, velar or glottal, Vl.=voiceless, Vd.=voiced
PHONOLOGY
past tense am& town temez shadow
who, which a n i ~ that nanal possess
.qi future tense - -
yegil mother
la2 reach a[$ far belez pot
I,4.z The consonants are phonetically realized as follows:
p t k kp are voiceless, almost ~ompletely unaspirated plosives.
2. b d g gb are fully voiced throughout.
3. kp gb are voiceless and voiced plosives with simultaneous labial and velar release.
a series of kymograph measurements made by J. D. M. H. Laver, the stop portion of
tile doubly-articulated kp was not found, in intervocalic position, to be consistently
longer than the singly-articulated p, lk. Both labiovelars are produced wit11 rounded lips.
4. After hyphen juncture d is in free variation with t ; in some idiolects, only t occurs
in this position. t is favoured by older speakers and is therefore probably the older form,
but d was more comlnon among informants (mostly of the younger generation) and has
normally been written. I t occurs only in:
-d+y, -d+j immediate past tcnse
- di and (linking verbs)
-d+l@ (older form -tei!<j, from -t$j 'immediate past'+-kj 'emphatic') after
-d$s+ (older form -te/s+, from -tej 'immediate past'+-sq 'all') after
5. f v are labiodental fricatives.
6 . [s z] are, for bilingual speakers, in free variation with [J d31 in forms borrowed
from English:
[Iligi] or [sligi] ssdgi sugar
[ind3?ni] or [idni] inzini engine.
The question arises of the point at which new phones introduced through loanwords are
to be treated as phonemes. Two phonemes 1, j could he set up in forms where there is
alternation, s and z being restricted to forms which do not show the variation. But the
fact that speakers make such statements as: 'We don't have J in our language', and 'Our
language should not be spelt Jjo; it should be Tzqn' suggest that a phoneme j is not yet
recognized by Roloknma speakers. (Similar statements about [n have not been heard;
this probably rcflects two facts: (a) it is less common, and (b) it is not represented by a
single graph in English spelling.)
The use of [I], [d3] in sucb words is comparable to the use by educated English speakers
of [XI, varying with [k], in German names like Bach. For many English speakers, there
are styles of speech where [k] in these forms would be unacceptable, and where i t is
consequently hard to avoid phonemicizing x. It is, on the othcr hand, doubtful whether
there are styles of spcech in Kolokuma where [s], [z] are unacceptable in loanwords.
(The status situation is interesting; English has for long had prestige as the mark of
education, but there is now a nationalistic tendency, particularly among young men, to
condemn the use of English loanwords and to note, if not definitely to disparage, phones
like [d3] as 'English'.)
On the whole, therefore, it is preferable not to set up /J/, / j / at present, but a change in
the system could easily come about at this point.
7. h is required only to account for the interjection eh6& 'oho!' If a separate phono-
logical system or subsystem is set up to describe interjections, h is not necessary to the
main system.
I9
Labial
Alveolar
Back
Labio-velar
Examples:
C-
-
VC- (V) cvc- -
pi2 go out 06, big
apap4 groundnuts
tal wife -otu people epeti4 mud
kgnl neck akiz tooth ki l m tie
kpal tie on back akpal bag sikpaz wade
biz kill gbyl back kabyl proverb
d point odG4 cocoyam abadjl ocean
ggQn4 bright ggOz in-law igbegil money
gb62 say ag biz calabash igbegbel velvet
fa1 finish gf $y~ a fish f+fejz to weed
sogz enter usil a grass k6suz old
e h S4 oho! - -
(- - )
via the other covenant ovlinvu bn4 dragonfly
zygl save uzil a ceremony
azlizuz a fan
w62 we pwgy1 children dawajl learn
ratad yam frame gr gl their egberil story
yeqil mother ayiz new gyayanl horse
18
Plosive
Continuant
V1.
P
t
k
kp
Vd .
b
d
9
gb
Fricative Sonorant
VI .
--
f
s
(h)
Non-lateral
Oral Nasal
r
Vd .
z
Lateral
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF J J O
8. Some speakers in some stylcs have one more phoneme not included in Table 3: a
very weak voiced velar fricative gh. It occurs in only four forms, three of which are very
common: -gh? 'locative', -gha 'negative', -gh6m+e 'past tense before reported speech'.
If these were the only cases, [y] could be set up as the allophone of g or h that follows
hyphen juncture. But it also occurs in isaghik 'cottonwood', so that in intervocalic
position it contrasts with both g and h.
I n most contexts gh is segmentally zero for most spealcers; those who use [y] at all
apparently do so only when it is emphasized. The fact that gh is written in the ortho-
graphy no doubt encourages the use of [y] in reading aloud. I n this study the speech of
those who do not use gh has been followed. The three common forms given above are
thus written -?, -a, -am&. Each is preceded by a new syllable onset, which is phono-
logically interpreted as a featurc of hyphen juncture preceding a vowel.
9. w r y are treated as a set because they all become nasalized in the vicinity of a nasal
(1.3.').
10. r is usually a single flap, but is apparently fricative for at least some speakers. I t
occurs initially only in the rare word ri t i * 'frame on which yams are tied for storage'
(probably a loanword), and in free variation with an initial vowel in riril or iriril 'feeling
of sorrow'. English loanwords normally acquire an initial vowel: or@]., 'rice', or6dA4
'Rhoda'.
11. m n q have already been noted to nasalize vowels in their vicinity (I .3 .z).
12. q occurs initially in the unit only after hyphen juncture in the single form -9jmj or
-gj 'future tense'. Otherwise it occurs only as second consonant (i.e. when another
consonant has already occurred in the unit), and is often in free variation with nasaliza-
tion of the preceding and following vowels: bHq/ - b q n 'run'; but only yeqi 'mother'.
13. 1 is always a clear variety.
1.4.3 Consonants are distributed in syllables and units. The great majority of Kolo-
kuma syllables can be summarized in the formula
'I'
(C) V (N),
where C=consonant, V=vourel, T=tone, N=nasalization, and parentheses indicate
optional clcments. A few syllab!es do not fit this formula:
(a) As noted in 1.3.1, some unit-initial syllables consist of nasalization+tone.
(b) A few syllables end in a consonant; units containing such syllables are loanwords,
ideophones or interjections :
baptiizi4 baptize
dibdibdib4 freshly-cut and oozing
6s os cry to shoo fowls
(c) A few units beginning with voiceless plosive+high vowel+ r have variants without
the vou,cl: pjrjl or pril 'give'. Such forms are probably dialect borrowings from North-
Western Ij?, and the longer form is used throughout this study.
1.4.4 The distribution of consonants within the unit is not regulated as rigidly as that
of the vowels, but it is statistically though not absolutely limited. Table 4 shows what
combinations of first and second consonant (CI and Cz) were found in a tabulation of
559 units, each of which contained two consonants. (The first consonant may he either
initial or preceded by a vowel.)
PHONOLOGY
PHONOLOGY A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJQ
A combination of the total occurrences of each consonant in C1 and Cz position yields
the results that are shown in Table 5, which give a rough idea of the lexical frequency
of the various consonants. (The text frequency has not been studied.)
T ~ L B 5
P
&ble consonant combinations were quite regular and could be stated as rules and not
as fr~quencies. But there are two reasons why this is unlikely. Firstly, languages are
rarely, if ever, in a state of complete equilibrium; borrowing from other dialects and
languages is not likely to he a necessarily new feature of I<olokuma. Secondly, although
in the example above six out of twelve cases of fricative-plosive were stated to he of
recent origin, at least one of the others has to be assigned to Proto-Ijo. Further, other
show that the number of fricative-plosive combinations has actually been
reduced by conditioned sound-change. I t therefore seems improbable that there was ever
rigid a limitation on consonant combinations as there is on vowels.
1.4.5 A comparatively small number of Kolokuma units contain more than two
consonants. Of the polysyllables that do occur, the greater number belong to the syntactic
class of ideophones or descriptive verbs, which will he specially considered in 1.5 below.
For the present they will he treated like other polysyllables, except that in the case of
reduplicated forms only the first half of the unit is considered.
206 units, each containing three consonants, were examined. 27 combinations of
*losive, fricative and sonorant are possible, and the number of units taking each com-
bination is shown in Table 7.
TABLE 7
PPP 9
PPF 2
PPS 57
PFP -
PFF -
PFS 2
PSP 36
PSF 8
p s s 33
CI
-
k 105
b 60
t- 55
P 44
d 42
5 38
f 37
!3b 32
kp 28
g 26
FPP 3
FPF -
FPS IZ
FFP -
F F F -
FFS 4
ESP 5
FSF -
FSS 5
c1
1 2 0
Y I9
in '4
W I3
" 9
z 8
V 5
r z
I
SPP 2
SPF I
SPS 4
SFP z
SFF-
SFS I
SSP 7
SSF I
SSS I 2
cz
r 140
1 93
tn 54
n 49
b 36
k 33
5 3'
t 27
d 23
kp IZ
Table 4 is divided into plosives (P), fricatives (F), and sonorants (3). The possible
combinations of P, F and S, for a two-consonant sequence, are nine; the occurrences of
each combination are summarized in Table 6.
TABLE 6
Total
'4
3
73
2
-
7
48
9
50
cz
g 13
w 10
P 9
gb 7
'3 6
2 5
Y 5
f 4
V 3
Combmed
r 142
k 138
1 113
b 96
t 82
s 69
rn 68
d 65
n 58
P 53
c1
-
P F S
P '31 12 17
cz {
F 28 13 I
S 232 65 60
Total 391 go 78
Total 147 29 30 / 206
Combined
f 41
I ~ P 40
9 39
gb 39
Y 24
W 23
2 '3
v 8
7
Total
160
42
357
559
Table 7 shows that plosives are the most common first consonant (147 cases); that
sonorants are the most frequent last consonant (130 cases), although the combination
PSP comes quite high with 36 cases; and that fricatives, nowhere common, are particu-
larly scarce as the second consonant of three.
1.4.6 Some unreduplicated units contain more than three consonants, but insufficient
numbers of them have been collected for useful generalizations to be made.
Table 6 demonstrates that certain sequences are more common than others. I n par-
ticular:
(a) Plosives are most frequent as C1, sonorants as Cz.
(b) The most frequent combinations are
(i) Plosive-sonorant
(ii) Plosive-plosive
(iii) Fricative-sonorant, sonorant-sonorant
(iv) Plosive-fricative.
The remaining combinations are uncommon, and many of their occurrences can be shown
to be of fairly recent introduction into the language. For example, of the twelve cases of
fricative-plosive, three are loanwords from English and three dialect borrowings from
Nemhe. I t is therefore tempting to assume that at an earlier stage of the language the
22
i.5 IDEOPHONES
1.5.' Ideophones are set up as a syntactic class, but are found to constitute a phono-
logical subsystem as we11.3 They are distinguished from the main part of the system in
the following ways:
Many of the special phonological features noted for Ij? ideophones are similar to those described
in huo recent studies of Bantu ideophones:
G. Fortune, IDEOPHON~S IN SHONA (London, 196~)
D. Flvaz, Sam ASPECTS OF TEE IDEOPHONs IN ZULU (Hartford Studies in Linguistics 4, 1963).
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF I10
(a) A very large number of ideophones are reduplicated (e.g. geengeenz 'shrill') or
even triplicated (e.g. I&lalaz 'pure white'). I n a language where the distribution of vowels
is limited by vowel harmony and the distribution of consonants by statistical prohabili-
ties, some reduplication would be expected and occurs (e.g. in reduplicated nouns like
e16rnulernb4 'well'). I t is, however, much more marked among the ideophones than in
other parts of the vocabulary. Out of 392 ideophones examined, 190 (48.4%) were re-
duplicated, 19 (48%) were triplicated, and 183 (46.6%) were neither. By contrast, on
the Swadesh zoo-word list, only seven forms (3.5%) were reduplicated and none was
triplicated; of units other than ideophones beginning with k, 7.80/, were duplicated
and none was triplicated.
(b) A much greater proportion of ideophones than of other units contain the same
vowcl throughout; this fact is particularly striking because idcophones, on the whole,
contain more syllables (and therefore more vowels) than other units. Of 158 forms on the
Swadesh zoo-word list which contained more than one vowel, 40 (about 25%) had the
same vowel throughout; of 385 ideophones with more than one vowel, 187 (about 48%)
had the same vowcl throughout.
(c) A much greater proportion of ideophones than of other units contain phonetically
long vowcls. Of the 3gz ideophones studied, 107, or roughly z5%, had a long
vowel; of non-ideophones beginning with k, only three, or about z:/,, contained a
long vowel.
(d) The most interesting property of ideophones is their tendency to cluster in groups.
Each member of the group differs only slightly from the other members, both phono-
logically and semantically:
geen4
of an even, unblinking light; whence egengenl 'firefly'
geen4 of a steady light, brighter than geen4
goon4
of a light which is brighter than geen4, but does not bother one like
geen4
goon4 of a light which is brighter than geen4 or geen4.
With these should he compared gegenegpgene4 'of someone with wilful, flashing eyes'
and ganl 'be light', possibly the starting point for the whole series, which is not itsbf an
ideophone.
The above example is typical in showing the main phonological variation borne by the
vowels. Of the threc dimensions in which vowels contrast, one is regularly and two
sporadically associated with a regular semantic distinction. Pairs of ideophones which
differ only in that one has close and the other open vowels refer to larger and smaller
objects respectively. Somewhat less consistently, non-high vowels refer to larger objects
than high ones, and back vowels to larger objects than front ones. These distinctions will
be illustrated from one particularly complete series, referring to the size and shape of a
man. Although there was some variation among informants in such a set, in that some
speakers would not accept all the forms given by others, all of them accepted several of
the series.
(a) Non-high vowels associated with largeness, high vourels with smallness:
gbegbereel refer to taller gbigbiriil
gbag baraal people than gbjgbjrjjl
gbog borool gbygbyrvvl
PHONOLOGY
(b) Close vowels associated with largeness, open vowels with smallness:
gbegbereel refers to taller gbegbereel
people than
gbogborool refer to fatter gbygbyryyl
beg bereel people than gbjgbjrjjl
gbigbiriil
(c) Back vowels associated with largeness, front vowels with smallness:
gbog borool refers to fatter g beg bereel
people than
gbygbvrvyl refers to less thin gbjgbirjjl
people than
1.5.2 I n view of these special features of ideophones, it might be expected that they
would show a peculiar distribution of consonants. I t does in fact appear that the fre-
quency of certain individual consonants is different in ideophones: there are more ideo-
phones than other units with initial kp, although ideophones constitute only about a
fifth of the collected vocabulary. But in terms of the overall distribution of plosives,
fricatives and sonorants, ideophones do not differ markedly from the rest of the vocabu-
lary, and the figures for ideophones and other units have therefore not been distinguished
in 1.4.4-5.
1.6 TONEMES
I .6.1 There are two tonemes, ' high and ' low. Their allotones are described in relation
to syllables and breath groups; the tone patterns they form, however, are to he described
in terms of units, which in turn form tone groups and tone phrases (cf. 1.7 and 7.1-2).
Every vowel and unit-initial nasalization bears a tone. Tone marks are not written on
every syllable; instead, the following conventions are observed:
(a) Tones are marked in relation to tone phrases, which are separated by comma and
sentence juncture (i.e. by punctuation marks).
(b) Within a tone phrase, unmarked syllables at the beginning are low.
(c) The first high syllable in a tone phrase is marked high, the next low syllable is
marked low, etc.
(d) All unmarked syllables following a marked one hear the same tone as the marked
one.
(e) Units cited in isolation bear a subscript numeral assigning them to a morphopho-
nemic tone class (1.7) if they ever occur initially in a tone phrase. They are marked with
the tone pattern they hear in this initial position.
(f) Other units cited in isolation are preceded by hyphen juncture; the tone patterns
marked on them are those they most frequently bear (1.7).
1.6.2 The following are the allotones of the high and low tonemes:
(a) I n the breath group, the first sequence of high tones is higher than the second, the
second than the third, etc., unless a sequence later than the first is raised for emphasis:
eri, qng4, kyro-5
'he is not well';
each succeeding high tone is slightly lower than the preceding one.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOI<UMA DIALECT OF TI9
(b) A final low tone in a breath group is lowcr than the earlier low tones. If the breath
group ends in two low tones on adjacent vowels (i.e. with no intervening consonant), they
are phonetically realized as a low-falling tone:
-imp? simple past tense before reported speech
(c) A high+a low tone on adjacent vowels result in a phonetic high-falling tone:
om6b4 sweat
(d) A low+a high tone on adjacent vowels result in a phonetic low-rising tone:
sanjj melt (intransitive)
1.6.3 Stress is predictable. It falls:
(a) On the first of a series of high tones:
of6niz [3f6ni] bird
(b) On the first part of a phonetically falling tone:
om6b4 [6'm8ii] sweat
(c) On the first part of a phonetically rising tone, unless the vowcl of the first part is
high and the vowcl of the second non-high, in which case the second part is stressed:
ndai4 [h' dt ] but
anpa [inj'a] so, then
(d) On the first syllable of a unit of shape W:
-hab ['&I interrogative emphasizer
There is a distinct tendency towards a rhythm which is, in Pike's terms,4 neither
syllable-timed nor stress-timed. Tone groups tend to occupy roughly equal intervals of
time; a subject at the beginning of the sentence forming its own tone group is often
spoken slowly and followed by a slight pause, whereas the predicate which follows i t and
forms at least one new tone group is normally longer than the subject but, being spoken
faster, takes little more time to say. I n
jnqy-s+, gridugudu-k(i) 6mi 'the wound is very deep',
the four syllables of the subject (up to the comma) take roughly the same length of time
as the six syllables of the predicate (the i of -ki is elidcd).
I .7 TONE PATTERNS
1.7.1 Tone patterns extend over tone phrases, which are built up from tone groups,
which in turn are built up from units. The tone patterns borne by units in isolation are
frequently completely changed when the unit occurs in non-initial position in the tone
group, and sometimes partly changed even when the unit occurs in initial position. For
example, there are three nouns which in isolation have the following patterns:
bur6 yam biri ward, quarter war/ house.
Initially in a tone group the first of these has a different tone pattern while others do
not changc:
buru-bi biri-bi wiri-bi
the yam the quarter the house
I n non-initial position any of the nouns can have any of the four possible combinations
of high and low tone, depending on what precedes:
INTONATION OF AhIERICAN ENGLISH 35 (Ann Arbor, 1945).
PHONOLOGY
High-high:
in6 buru in6 biri
in6 warj
your yam your quarter your house
LOW-low:
kjmi-bi bbru kjmi-bi biri
Ikjmj-bi wir[
the man's yam the man's quarter the man's house
High-low:
b6i burb b6i biri b6i war/
this yam this quarter this house
LOW-high:
ine burri ine biri ine war!
my yam my quarter my house
It is clear from this example that the main factor determining the tone pattern of the
group is its initial unit. UNITS HAVE THEREFORF BEEN ASSIGNED TO MORPHOPIXONXMIC
TONE CLASSES ON THE BASIS OF HOW THEY AFFECT THE UNITS THAT FOLLOW THEM IN THE
TONE GROUP. The tone class of a unit is discovered only by noting the tone pattern of
the group when the unit is in initial position, for its isolation tones are often ambiguous.
In the example above, biri and w5ri have the same isolation tones, but they have a
different effect on following units and are therefore assigned to different morphophonemic
tone classes :
biri-otu wiri-otb
people of a quarter people of a house
Conversely, not all units assigned to the same morphophonemic tone class have the same
isolation tone: biri and ami 'town' differ in their isolation tone hut havc the same effect
on following units :
biri-otu ami-otu
people of a quarter people of a town.
When a unit is cited, therefore, it is marked both with the tone pattern i t bears when
initial in a tone group (this being taken as the base form) and with a subscript numeral
assigning i t to one of five morphophonemic tone classes: bur u~, biriz, am&, ~ i r / ~ .
The number of minimal pairs distinguished only by tone is relatively small. If this
were not so, there would be a great deal of ambiguity when these units occurred in non-
initial position and their tone patterns were determined by what preceded. There is,
however, one very important group of units, several of which are distinguished only by
tone. These are the pronouns; and it is interesting that they are limited to initial position
in the tone group. The short pronouns provide a particularly good example of the
peculiarities of the Kolokuma system. The first and second pcrsons singular differ only
by tone class; the tone of the pronouns themselves is low in both cases, but the syllable
following the pronoun is low after the first person and high after the second:
i-piri give me i-plri give you.
The same situation occurs with the second and third persons plural:
q-pjrj give them ?-pjri give you (pl).
Ambiguity would obviously be intolerable if pronouns occurred outside the position of
maximum distinction.
A GRAMMAR OF THE I<OLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF TJQ
Other units have the opposite syntactic limitation, that they never occur initially in the,
tone group. I t is therefore impossible to assign them to tone classes. Instead, they are
divided iuto two main groups; enclitics, which occur either medially or finally in the
tone group, and finals, which occur only finally or, at most, followed by another final.
Enclitics and finals are always preceded by hyphen juncture, and are subdivided into a
number of types according to their tonal behaviour.
There are thus four main types of units in regard to tone:
I . Free units: occur in any position in tone group; divided into tone classes
z. Pronouns (short, long and possessive) : occur only initially in tone group; divided into
tone classes
3. Enclitics: occur medially or finally in tone group; divided into types
4. Finals: occur only finally in tone group; divided iuto types.
The tone patterns into which units enter are described by morphophonemic rules, which
are not given until chapter 7 because the limits of tone groups are determined by the
syntactic rules applied in the intemening chapters. The various tone classes and types are,
however, noted in the next two sections.
I ,7,z TONE CLASSES
There are five tone classes, of which classes I and I1 have a very wide membership,
classes I11and IV a more restricted one, and class V an enumerable one.
Class I is low when in initial position but rising when in isolation:
abadil /ibidj/ ocean
t?b?yl /t$b+lj/ child
eteleel /PtPIPe/ plate
burul /bbrti/ Yam
ogbol /dgbd6/ society, club
indil /indii/ fish
bil /bii/ ask
The rules for the lengthening of the final vowel in the last three examples are given in
7.1.3. Three pronouns, first person singular, third person singular masculine, and third
person plural, are members of class I i n all their forms except in the long pronoun forms
and in the short object forms preceding a vowel, which belong to class V.
Class I1 is high throughout in initial or isolation position in units that begin with a
consonant. Most units that begin with a vowel have a low initial syllable, but a small
group (listed in full below) have the initial vowel high:
b62 come
biriz quarter
diwajz dream
amis town
er6z woman
ob6riz goat
iriz trick n.
iriaanz huge
6ryz canoe
6riz drying rack
ere2 name (also ere)
eriz see
28
! PHONOLOGY
6iz ten
6ruz deity
6uz masquerade
QVZ air
Three pronouns, the second person singular and plural, and the third person singular
feminine, belong to this class in all Eolms except the long pronoun and prevocalic short
forms. Another pronoun, the first person plural, belongs to this class i n its posses-
,ive and short subject forms.
Class I11 has the same tone patterns in isolation or initial position as class 11, except
that there are no units with initial high vowel:
li3 oil palm
wirjs house
biras hand
akQs be bitter
ali, be far
in6qi3 be deaf
There are no pronouns in class 111.
Class IV has a great variety of tone patterns in isolation or initial position; it is the class
that serves for all units that do not fit into one of the other classes, such as loans from
English in which the stressed syllable is interpreted as high tone:
m64 object replacer;5 cf. rnOz thus
abi4 Oba (of Benin); cf. abiz a fish
inki4 ink
igbone Hausa; Northerner
og6ri4 bushcow
aka104 moon
t6bulb4 table
bul6bblo4 blue
o16g bdsi4 cat
op6ri6pb4 pig
Four pronouns, the second person singular and plural, the third person feminine singular,
and the first person plural belong to this class in their long pronoun and prevocalic short
object forms, the first person plural also i n its preconsonantal short object form. No verbs
have been found in this class.
Class V, the low class, contains the following units, which are low-high in isolation
but low-low in initial position:
beke5 /bek6/ European
deqi5 /deqi/ which?
ingos ling61 crayfish trap
kenis /k+ni/ one
nda5 /hdi/ how much?
? ndv~ /$nd(~/ the other (over there)
TO these must be added the long pronoun and prevocalic object forms of three pronouns,
first person singular, third person masculine singular and third person plural; there are
no other known members of this class.
In some idiolects, however, this unit appears to be of class I1
29
A GRAMMAR O F T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
1.7.3 There are six main types of enclitics and finals. There are both enclitic and final
membcrs of the first three types; types 4 and 5 contain only finals and type 6 only en-
clitics. All types except I and 6 are cited with a base tone pattern; all modifications
to these base patterns are given in chapter 7. Types I and 6 are cited without a base tone
pattern, because type I is largely and type 6 wholly conditioned by what precedes. (Type
6, in fact, behaves exactly like a free unit except that it never occurs in init~al position in
a tone group and therefore cannot he assigned to a tone class.)
Lists of thc various types follow.
(a) Type I , subdivided into Ia, ~ b , IC:
Type l a: enclitic only:
-a negativc
Type i b: enclitics only:
-ma definite feminine singular
-m?, definite plural
Type IC: enclitics and finals:
enclitics :
-kp? also, even
-b/ definite non-feminine singular
-ki, indefinite noun emphasizcr
-k/b adverhializer
-mob adverbialiier
-se all, whole
-0 at, in, to (locative)
-mi definite past tense
finals :
-ni as (subordinator)
-ya when, if
-m?, and (linking nouns)
-rnqd with
(b) Type 2, subdivided into za, zb:
Type za: enclitic only:
-d&, -d+i immediate past tense
Type zb: enclitics and finals:
enclitics :
-yemi simple/continuous present
-kpm? negative optative
finals:
- di and (linking verbs)
-Qba when, if
(c) Type 3 : enclitics and final:
enclitics:
-nimi present state tense (with intransitives)
-w6niml present state tense (with transitives)
m i , - simple future tense
final :
-amp?
simple past tense (before reported speech)
PHONOLOGY
(d) Type 4: finals only:
-66 polite emphasizer of verb
-do stronger emphasizer of verb
-d6 strong and friendly emphasizer of verb
-i weaker and more indifferent emphasizer of verb
-Qa, vocative emphasizer
-iab interrogative emphasizer
-mjn[i(-rn?) while
-bjm&nj, -b/mejnj because
-bjm~jk$ because
- n Qi emphasizer of non-final verb
-n[, who, which, that (relative)
-nib linker (of non-final verb to vowel-initial following unit)
-mp as soon as, when
(e) Type 5 : finals only:
-d.$s+ when
-d+kj after
(f) Type 6: enclitics only:
-b? non-feminine agent
-aray feminine agent
-otu plural agent
-Ye inanimate modified pronoun
-arna indefinite plural
-kymo only
1.8 NOTE ON THE CONVENTIONAL ORTHOGRAPIIY
The present orthography is quite inadequate to represent the phonological system of
Kolokuma. Only seven vowels are distinguished: i e e a ? o u are marked as in the
present transcription, but i is represented by i , e, or q, and (1by 9, o, or u. Consequently,
the vowel-harmony system is not apparent in the orthography. No tones are marked; to
avoid some of the ambiguities this leads to, there are a certain number of arbitrary
spellings: e.g. the first and second person singular pronouns, which are distinguished
only by tone and both contain the same vowel, are written i 'I' (=/I) and e 'you' (=ia)
respectively. Consonants are marked as in the present work, except that I J is written ng,
gh is written as noted in 1.4.2, section 8, and the sequences nb, ngb are written rnb.
rngb. Word division is inconsistent and does not appear to follow any well-established
principles.
PHRASE-STRUCTURE RULES
2.0 This chapter contains the phrase-structure rules of the grammar. They have been
kept as simple as is consistent with a reasonably full coverage, and are to be applied in
order. The principle followed in ordering the rules has been to develop constituents
roughly in their order of importance rather than strictly from left to right. Lexical rules,
following Lees's example, are treated together at the end (2.3) Overlapping in member-
ship between lexical classes has been freely admitted.
I n the translation of examples, a morpheme by morpheme rendering has been provided
where the correspondence of xjp to English morphemes is not reasonably clear. Ahhrevia-
tions of very frequent function words have been used to prevent the translation from
becoming too bulky, and are explained the first time they are used. I n literal translations,
hyphens unite two-morpheme equivalents of asingle Ijp morpheme: e.g. deril 'laugh-at'.
I n writing rules, conventions which have become established in transformational
grammar are for the most part used. The symbols are listed below.
X+Y X is replaced by Y.
(X) y
X is optionally present, Y is obligatorily present.
<--.
Either X or Y occurs in this position.
I ' J
X.1, X.2 X of subclass I , X of subclass z.
(Subclasses are set up on the basis of grammatical behaviour, not
of meaning.)
x+y
When the mnrphophonemic rules have been applied, X and Y
will occur in the same tone group: cf. 1.7.1 and chapter 7.
{
X is crou-classified, both into either A or B and into either C
or D: the resulting classes will thus he A:C, A:D, B:C, and B:D.
X-tY IN ENV.-Z
X is redaced hv Y before Z (context-restricted rule).
- -
X;s replaced by Y after A (hut not after B), and by Z after B
(but not after A).
Where the symbol X is replaced by Y in a restricted context A, but by Z in all other
contexts, the restricted context is stated first.
Some symbols are introduced linked by punctuation marks denoting sentence juncture
(I .0.4). Grammatically, they mark different types of structures, as can be seen when they
are first introduced. Abbreviations of the type NP 'noun phrase', P 'predicate' have been
freely used, and are explained at their first introduction.
Two types of sutlixes are written; those preceded by a hyphen, which continue to he
written with a hyphen throughout and function as separate units in regard to tone, and
those preceded by a double hyphen (=), which are eventually written and act tonally as
part of the preceding unit (M.6&7).
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
Z . ~ THE SENTENCE AND THE PREDICATE
2.1.1 The initial symbol S (sentence) is usually rewritten as noun phrase (NP) followed
by ~redicate (P), but there are two minor sentence types consisting of a vocative (Voc)
and an interjection (Inj), both of which are accompanied by exclamatory intonation
I. S-t Voc!
{ I n }
?mini, keni bilk eri-mi.
they
an elephant see Spa (=simple past)
they saw an elephant
ami-bi, ogb66gb6.
town T Ogboogbo ( T=dehi t e article)
the town is Oghoogbo
iwiri-ia!
tortoise-o!
Tortoise!
ap6!
oh! (surprise or shock)
2.1.2 The predicate is developed first, and is rewritten as complementation (Cpl),
followed most often by a verb phrase (VP), but sometimes by a predicate noun phrase
(PNP) or an ideophone phrase (IdP).
Cw 1
an elephant see Spa
saw an elephant
kOk? bo-dqy
actually come IPa (=immediate past)
has actually come
ogb66g b6
(is) Oghoogho
t6kitbki-kp? mi?
gingerly-fashion too do
(is walking) in a gingerly fashion
2.1.3 The verb phrase is developed into a verb (V) followed by an auxiliary (Aux).
3. VP+ VAux
mti timi-mi
go CPa (=continuous past)
was going
na-d?Q
hear IPa
has heard
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT O F 110
2.1.4 The verb is dcveloped into a large number of types, with cross-classification.
Verbs are, in the first place, classified as transitive verbs (Vtr), locativc verbs (Vloc),
accompaniment verbs (Vacc), adjective verbs (Vadj), action verbs (Vact), or movement
verbs (Vmove), which are optionally followed by the directional suffix -mQ 'towards',and
which then take an object. A second classification crosscutting this one divides verbs into
thrce major groups according to the type of causative construction they function in
(Vcs.1, Vcs.2, Vcs.3). Finally, verbs are classified according to whether they form a
noun identical in shape with the verb (Vnom), or whether they form a nominalization
with baras 'way, -ness' (Vbara).
1
I+ I Vacc Vadj
2.1.5 The main group of transitive verbs (Vtr.1) is optionally followed by a limited
group of second transitive verbs ( Vt r . ~) , which introduce a second complementation.
y6 gba-nj,l y-pjrj
thing say him give
say something to him
Alternatively, a transitive verb is developed into the verb miel 'make' followed by a
causative phrase (CsP), which is not further developed in the phrase-structure rules, but
is replaced by a constituent sentence i n the transformational rules (T.14).
5. Vtr -t
Vtr.1 (Cp1Vtr.z)
mi el CsP
2.1.6 Transitive verbs of type I consist of the following: a group that can be followed
by yarjl 'send' as second verb (Vtr.11); gbQz 'say'; aQz 't2ke'; verbs of saying (Vsay);
sense verbs (Vseu); verbs of change of state (Vch); and other transitive verbs (Vo),
which do not fall into any of the other types.
Vtr.11
' -nib 'linker' occurs after a verb or rn5z 'then' when the next unit begins with a vowel: 3. 3. 2,
34
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
2.1.7 Second transitive verbs are divided according to the first verbs they follow.
p i r i l 'give', often equivaleut to English 'to' or 'for', occurs after any first verb:
dbma tun-ni, a-pjri
song sing her give
sing a song for her
yaril 'send (to)' follows Vtr.11:
bide firimQ-nj, a-yarj
cloth send her send
send her a cloth
(the object of the first verb, equivalent to the English direct object, is followed by fjrjmql
'send', yaril being used only to follow the second object and denote the person to whom
the sending was done). gb5z 'say' takes an inanimate object and is followed either by
piril or by dial 'show':
egberi gbi-ni, y-pjr/
story say him give
tell him a story
y6 gba-nj, y-djQ
thing say him show
tell him something.
A verb of saying takes an object (most often animate) and is preceded by akjz 'take'
with another object (most often inanimate):
y6 akj-nt, y-bee
thing take him say
say something to him
wo-Qkj, dlirna t u n
him take song sing
sing a song about him.
A transitive directional verb (Vtr.d), preceded by a (frequently animate) object, takes the
suffix -rnQ 'towards, in regard to', and follows akjz 'take' with anormally inanimate object:
indi akj-nj, 9-die-mQ
fish take them share D (=directional sutIix)
share fish among them
Qru-bj ikj, t j n kaka-rn?
canoe T take tree tie D
tie the canoe to a tree
wo warj-bj hki, t j n dsri-m$
its house T take stick weave D
-
weave its web round the stick
tari-am5 iki-ni, a-gbQna-rn?
blessing pl take her place D
bestow blessings upon her
pulou akj-nj, ine tibj dpsy-rnQ
oil take my head pour D
-
anoint my head with oil
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
6ru ak/-nj, y-karj-me
deity take him invoke D
invoke a deity against him.
Vtr.11
Vtr.d+-mQ
ivsay 1
2.1.8 Verbs of movement are divided into general (Vgen) and specific (Vsp). T. r
results in specific verbs becoming modifiers of general ones.
2.1.9 Both general and specific verbs are divided into three subclasses. By T.1,
specific verbs modify general verbs of the corresponding subclass.
vsp . I
IO. vsp - {; ; : ; }
2.1.10 Verbs were divided (2.1.4) into three groups according to the type of causative
construction they entered (3.4). The first and third of these groups are subdivided.
11. vcs.1 + I:::::)
2.1.11 The auxiliary consists of an optional auxiliary verb (AV) followed by an aspect
marker (Asp). There may be more than one auxiliary verb in a kernel verb phrase; those
which occur as the first of two auxiliary verbs form the first group (AV.I), and those
which occur as the second of two auxiliary verbs form the second group (AV.2). The
first group comprises two subgroups which do not co-occur.
13. AUX + (AV.1) (AV.2) Asp
. >
2.1.12 The aspect markers consist of a number of verb suffixes occurring either singly
or in combination with each other or with the verb roots timiz 'continuous action' or
weriz 'past state'. Rather than introduce these morphemes immediately, it is convenient
to analyse them into combinations of fonr aspects with three tenses (with the addition of
a fifth aspect to which tense is irrelevant). The aspect-tense combinations are then
mapped into morphemes in the morphophonemics (6.5.1). The aspects are simple (S),
immediate (I), continuous (C), stative (St), and habitual (Hab); the first fonr of these
combine with the three tenses, past (Pa), present (Pr), and future (F). Full examples
of the uses of the aspect-tense morphemes are given in Appendix I.
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
Hab J
Z , ~ .13 Complementation comprises all kernel modifiers of verbs. I t always includes an
optional adverbial phrase (AP). Before a transitive verb or a movement verb followed by
.mQ 'towards' (directional and transitivizing sub) i t also includes an object (NP),
optionally preceded by a phrase inclndmg a minor modifier of manner (Mn); before an
adjective, action, or movement verb, timi2 'be there', or mi el 'make, act' i t optionally
includes a modifier of manner (Man); before a locative verb a locative (Loc); and before
an accompaniment verb an accompaniment (Acc).
t o b q dii (NP+V*)
child look
look at a child
t o b y wenj-mQ (NP+Vmove+-mQ)
child walk D
walk towards a child
ay6 bara-ki akj, ddma tun (Mn+ak/z NP+Vtr)
new way em1 take song sing
sing a song in a new way
zjn/ bara-k] dki (Man+Vmove)
another way em swim
swim in another way
akasj-b/-Q, tit$ (LOC Vloc)
chair T on sit
sit on the chair
y-m?mQ, sy0 (Acc Vacc)
him with fight
fight with him
One rule introduces the more specialized complements in front of their appropriate
verbs; the next introduces adverbial phrases with all other verbs.
16. Cpl- (AP) (Man) IN ENV. -
LOC
LAcc
17. c pl + (m)
1
'em = one or more units which add emphasis to the preceding
-
Vadj
[gl
Vloc
- Vacc
element: 5.1.3, 6.4.0
A GRAMMAR O F T H E I <OLOI I UMA DI ALECT OF TJO PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
2.1.14 An adverbial phrase consists either of one of the small number of adverbs seri-moQ-s$, dljrna tun ( Tm NP+Vtr)
(Adv), or of one of the types of adverbials, or of both. Adverbials comprisc the following time Tpl all song sing
types: locatives, accompaniments, time adverbials (Tm), or cause adverbials (Cs). always sing songs
bgle-bi-4, nima tya (Loc NP+Vtr) bemi.,
pot T in meat put b6ingbij4
put meat in the pot z ~ . Tm -t bvbail
mini, y-rnorno, wiri-bi-$, timi (Adv Acc Loc Vloc) d6in bij
then him with house T in stay
then stay with him in the house
I NRm I
2.1.18 A cause adverbial consists of a noun phrase followed by -bjrnejnj (or its variant
d6in-bi-4, b6 ( Tm Vmove) .b/me+nj) or by -bjrnejk+, both meaning 'because of'.
night T in come osu6-b/megnj
come in the night
rain because-of
owe[-bimejki), baqj (Cs Vmove) because of rain
fear because-of run
ma kjrnj-bjrnejk4
run because of fear
two man because-of
LOC for the sake of two men
1 8 AP+(Adv) ([ : :
22. Cs + NP+ -birnejni
-birnejkp 1
2.1.19 Before an action or movement verb a modifier of manner consists either of an
2.1.15 A locative consists of an optional determiner (D), a minor noun phrase (Np),
ideophone (Id) or of a minor modifier of manner (Mn). I n other positions only the minor
and the locative suffix -?.
modifier of manner occurs; it consists either of an ideophone followed by one of the
?gono-bj-4
adverbializers -kib or -mob; or of baras 'way', preceded by a demonstrative (Dem), a
top T on
noun phrase, or a predicate, and optionally followed by -kjb 'adverbializer'.l
on the top
In a general way, -kjb occurs with ideophones and verbs of stative meaning and -mob
bei am&-bi-o
with those of active meaning, but this trend is not regular enough to be formalized i n a
this town T in
rule. The question of an activelstative dimension in verbs and ideophones requires
in this town
further investigation, and could also be considered in connection with aspect marlcers.
19. Loc + (D+) Np+-o gbii, baqj (Id Vmove)
rush run
2.1.16 An accompaniment consists of an optional determiner, a minor noun phrase,
rush out
and the suffix -mod (-morn? after pronoun prefixes consisting of a vowel: 6.2.5) 'with'.
gorozii-ki pa (Id+-kib+Vact)
v-mom$ tall adv come-out
him with (adv = adverbializer)
with him
appear tall
b6i kimj-mo fiafia-ki Pmi
(Id+-kib+tfmiz)
this man with
clean adv be
with this man
(emfz = irregular present of tfmiz)
20. Acc + (D+) Np+-mod
be clean
2.1.17 A time adverbial consists of one of a small set of forms historically traceable as
gbaigbai-rnQ titi (Id+-mob+Vact)
thump adv knock
phrases, or of a noun phrase whose head is a time noun (NPtm).
knock with a thump
d6in bii, b6 ( Tm Vmove)
tomorrow come 'This -kj might equally well be -ki, 'enlphasizer of preceding noun'. The two suffues are probably
come tomorrow
the same in origin, although their other uses are now distinct.
39
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT O F !.TO
dikjn-in? mu (Id+-m?b+Vm~ve)
get-up adv go
get up and go (to see someone)
ye nimi-a bara-ki mje ( P f bar%+-kib+mie~)
thiig know not way adv act
act in a foolish way
23. Man -t {gn} + IN ENV. -
{ E v e )
24. Man + Mn
2.1.20 An ideophone phrase contains an ideophone, optionally followed by the aspect
markers -mi 'stative present' or -yemi 'simple present', often follovred by the empbasizer
-60. Alternatively, the ideo~hone is optionally followed by the phrase -kpo mi* 'act in
such and such a manner'.
y r k ~ , wglewele-mi-60 (NP Id+St+Pr+-60)
sun bright StPr em
the sun is bright
pulou-bi, wasarawksara-yemi (NP Id+S+Pr)
oil T overflowing SPr
the oil is overflowing
okol6-se, kpararakpirara-kp? mje (Np+-s? I d f - kp?f m/?l)
voice all hoarse-and-broken so do
the voice is all hoarse and broken
am&-se, p?t?p?tO
town all muddy
the town is all muddy
~ . I . Z I Different subclasses of ideophones occur in the various environments that have
been specified for them.
Id.1
1d.z +-kib
27. Id + I:] IN ENV. - lkT+pr 1
Id.5 +-kp?+mlel
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
2 . 1 . ~ ~ The vocative consists of a masculine or feminine noun, optionally followed by
the emphasizer -a&.
iwiri-ia!
tortoise-o!
Tortoise!
in&timi!
Inetimi! (a person's name)
z.z THE NOUN PHRASE
2.2.1 Before certain ideophones, a noun phrase consists of a minor noun phrase
followed by -se 'all' or by -6, -66, which have a slightly emphatic meaning.
amBse, p?t?p?tQ
town all muddy
-
(underline = emphatic tone pattern)
the town is all muddy
erein-6, welewele
sky em bright
the sky is bright
2.2.2 Elsewhere, a noun phrase consists either of a noun group (NG), optionally pre
ceded by a determiner (D), or of a first or second person pronoun (Prn), which may be
followed by a noun suf i (ns).
b6i warj-mpse ( Df NG)
this house Tpl all
all these houses
ari-kom$ (Prn+ns)
I only
onlv I
30. NP + {(D+) NG )
Prn (fns)
2.2.3 The noun group consists of a minor noun phrase (Np), optionally followed by a
noun suffix. A minor noun phrase consists of a nominal (Nom), followed by either an
indefinite (i) or a definite (d) marker; these markers are rewritten as morphemes in the
morphophonemics (6.2.4). A nominal is rewritten as a noun (N) followed by number
( 4 .
31. NG + Np+(ns)
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF 110
2.2.4 Nouns are animate (Nan) or inanimate (Nin). An animate noun which is preceded
by the pronominalization element (P) will be rewritten as a pronoun in the morphopho.
nemic rules. A full listing of pronoun forms is given in Appendix 11.
2.2.5 There is a three-way cross-classification of animate nouns: into masculine (Nm)
or feminine (Nf), into relationship (Nrel) or personal (Nps), and into singular-only
(Nsg; a small group which have no plural form) or singular/plural (Nsp).
2.2.6 Inanimate nouns consist of time nouns (Ntm), place nouns (Npl), and others
(Nx). This last group can be pronominalized, although pronouns referring to inanimate
nouns are rather uncommon, deletion of the noun phrase (T.27) being usually preferred
when the reference to a preceding noun is clear.
6 . i n + { }
(P+) Nx
2.2.7 The pronoun is developed into first person ( Pr n. ~) and second person (Prn.2)
forms, followed by number (nm).
2.2.8 Number is rewritten as singular with Nsg and as singular or plural elsewhere.
38.nm -t sg IN ENV. Nsg -
* .
<. ,
z.z.9 A predicate noun phrase is a noun phrase with certain restrictions. I t never
contains a noun s u e ; if it consists of a pronoun, it is a long pronoun (p+L, Prn+L);
and after a definite noun phrase subject it does not contain a definite noun.
kjmi-bi, eri (definite subject,
man T he long pronoun)
the man is he
pjna kimj-bi, t6lumo ow&i (definite subject,
white man T teach man indefinite PNP)
the European is a teacher
pjna kimj-ki, t6lumo ow&i-bi (indefinite subject,
white man em teach man T definite PNP)
a European is the teacher
pjna kimj-ki, t6lump ow& (indefinite subject,
white man em teach man indefinite PNP)
a European is a teacher
(These examples are not kernel sentences, but are included to show the relation of
definite and indefinite in equational sentences.)
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
(D+) (p+L+) Nom+i
+L+nm
IN ENV. (D+) Nom+d (+ns) -
, . ~ . I O A determiner consists of a demonstrative (Dern) or numeral (Num) or both.
Certain demonstratives (Dem.2) occur only before indefinite nouns, others ( Dem. ~) before
both definite and indefinite nouns.
42. D + (Dem) (Num)
43. Dem + Dem.1 IN ENV. - +Norn+d
++. Dem- {Ez;::]
2.2.11 The next six rules generate sequences of numerals. The general principles of
the system are these: there are nine digits (Dig) and the higher numerals 6iz 'ten', siz
'twenty', ondez 'four hundred', and ondena onde 'four hundred times four hundred';
I
a higher numeral can be multiplied by a preceding number not higher than itself, and a
number lower than itself can be added after it, related by fjnjz 'be extra'. These rules,
with the addition of three obligatory transformations (T.42-q), which make some
' '
changes in order and delete more than one occurrence of fjnjz, generate numeral
: sequences up to 25,600,000,000; but the more complex possibilities are not normally
1 used, sequences containing more than four or five numeral morphemes being
! uncommon.
: The combination sia si 'twenty times twenty' occasionally occurs but is not allowed in
i c
these rules, which instead generate ondez 'four hundred'.
mesi ma onde, 6ia si f j ni (Num.2)
( ( (z x zo)+z) x 400) + (10 x 20)
17,000
tara ondp, 6i sonran si fjni (Nurn.2)
(3 X 400) + ( (10+5) X 20)
1,500
nia si, ken! fjni
(4x 20)+1
81
si oi, mamy fjni
20+10+2
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
6i sonoma fjnj
10+7
I7
s6ndie
6
Nnm.5
49. Nu m. 44 6iz (Num.g+ finis)
50. Num.5 + Dig
2.3 LEXICAL RULES
Where all known members of a class are listed, a full stop follows the last member. In
the case of a large or open class, only a few examples are given and are followed by three
dots.
51. Vtr.11 + akjz take, doroul shout, firjmol send, gb6inmoz throw, . . .
52. Vsay + be1 say, bil ask, doroul shout, t i n 1 call, t61umoz teach, tlinz sing, . . .
53. Vsen + dil look at, doyl look for, want, nal hear, niil smell, tjemoz make
stop.2
54. Vch + ben/moz gather together, djel divide, finlaz twist, icikaz tie, kat i ~
pluck, kpel gather, pack, kpiriz roll, t i r i z cover, close, toumol bend,
ub6umoz upset, wajmol turn, zigez shake, . . .
55. Vo
+ biz kill, b6uz drink, d e ~ j l surpass, gel write, go1 read, minil swallow,
owei1 fear, tyol cook, yoyl paddle, . . .
56. Vtr.d + angiz marry, d6riz weave, gbiz say, irorol ponder, kirjz worship,
sljoz enter, . . .
57. Vloc + bi rasi n~ leave, b62 come, mliz go, sooz enter, timiz be at, tjtel sit, . . .
58. Vacc -t and& wrestle, biajn meet,3 dy[ meet,3 dynjj quarrel,3 erel talk,
gbelei meet,% gbanaj agree,3 gbi pel? agree, syl fight, . . .
a tjemoz is the causative of tiez 'stand', and acts as a sense verb only in its derived form.
a These are intransitive forms of change-of-state verbs (which are transitive in their base form),
and are accompaniment verbs only in their intransitive form.
PHRASE- STRUCTURE RULES
59. ~ a d j + alia he distant, akQ3 be bitter, bhnz be blind, donl be sick, f h u z be
dirty, pisil be wet, . . .
60. Vact + diwajz dream, fjl die, kin wander, ranil slip down, . . .
61. Vgen.1 + b62 come, fa1 finish, mliz go.
6 ~ . Vgen.2 + bQz pass, piz comelgo out, tejz escape.
b3. Vgen.3 + fa1 finish.
64. Vsp.1 +- bagi ~ run, desil jump, fin1 fly, iy6riz desccnd, k6roz fall, okiz swim,
okiriz crawl, piz cornelgo out, wajj turu,4 wen12 walk, y?yl paddle,
uw6uz ascend, . . .
65. Vsp.2 + b q / l run, desil jump, fin1 fly, okiz swim, okiriz crawl, waij turn,&
wen12 walk, y o y l paddle, . . .
66. Vsp.3 + bile1 sink, dirjz boil, gogolo/ become stripped,4 gbodoi become
wa ~ t e d , ~ jyQynz burn up, k6roz fall, rn4jnz dissolve, t ej z escape, . . .
67. Vcs . ~r + b62 come, die1 divide, mliz go, . . .
68. Vcs.12 + bbuz drink, ?well fear, . . .
69. Vcs.2 -> bile1 sink, drown, be flooded, k6roz fall, okiz swim, wenjz walk, . . .
70. Vcs.31 + fdmuz be dirty, pi2 be clean, . . .
71. Vcs.32 -t bony2 sleep, pisil be wet, . . .
72. Vnom + a183 be distant, bin2 be blimd, binl be many, diwajz dream, fjl die, . . .
73. Vbara + ayiz be new, biz kill, fdmuz be dirty, . . .
74. Av.11 -t barjl repeat, jnbalil struggle to, k6roz begin to, kyrejl be able to,
l i z succeed in, seriz begin to.
75. AV.12 -t dil know how to, sinl finish, complete.
76. AV.2 + bQz be too much, bowell be too much, i ki z he very much.
77. Adv -t b6i gba-enbi meanwhile, b!Q4 herc, bjQbp4 here, k pj 4 indeed, at once,
ken1 tibj entirely, komo tjbj entirely, kQkoz actually, miz then, now,
(with negative) any more, men14 then, me-kj thus, so, nde+nj4 then,
pBk/ just, simply.
78. 1d.1 -t feerji4 quietly, gbiil rush out together, . . .
79. Id.2 -t fiafial clean, gorozia4 tall and well-shaped, . . .
80. Id.3 + djijn* get up (in order to see someone), gbaigbail thump, . . .
81. Id.+ -/- wasarawisaraz overflowing, w61eweiez bright, . . .
82. Id.5 i- kpararalkpiraraz hoarse and broken (of voice), zalazilaz uneven, . . .
83. Id.6 + beruuz dirty, pot opot p muddy, . . .
84. Nm -t day1 father, lkjmjz person, ol6ti14 champion, ow6iz man, toboql child,
yajl sou, yeil husband, . . .
85. Nf -t bay1 daughter, er6z woman, tal wife, toboy1 child, yeqil mother.
86. Nrel + day1 father, tal wife, yeil husband, yeqil mother.
87. Nps -t kjrniz person, 016th~ champion, toboyl child, . . .
'These are intransitive fonns of cbange-of-state verbs, and are specific verbs only in the intransi-
tive.
&The tone of this form is unusual; from its lexical pattern it should be dass I or class IV, but
when used as a modifier its behaviaur is not that of any class: potopQtQ ama 'muddy town'.
N ~ P
Ntm
N P ~
GRAMMAR O F THE KOLOKUIVIA DI ALECT OF T J O
-t bay1 daughter, ow6iz man, t al wife, yajl son. (The forms which
function as plurals to these units are: ere $woo female children, ki q.
3
ama people, erearnjnj women, ow6i +woo male children.) VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATIONS
+ day, father, lk/miz person, o16tG4 champion, t?b?yl child, . . .
+ d6inz night, er6inz day, koraiz year, seril time, . . .
-t akasil chair, amis town, angiz side, ?g?nol top, yw+yz road, war!,
This chapter and the next two deal with transformations of the verb phrase, the noun
house, yQz place, . . .
$rase, and the sentence respectively. Whatever part of the sentence they deal with,
transformations are, in Lees's terms, either SIMPLE or GENERALIZED. A simple transforma-
-t biras hand, bidel cloth, igonil hospitality, ikial friendship, t i nz tree
tion involves re-ordering of a single string by means of additions, deletions, and/or changes
stick, y6z thing, . . .
order. A generalized transformation combines two strings into a single one; i t is either
i- -kp? too, even, -Ikym? only, -59 all.
or co-ordinating. I n a subordinating transformation, a certain part of a
+ anjl that,"& this (very near), bid4 that, b6db4 this (nearer of two),
CONSTITUENT sentence (labelled b) is incorporated into a MATRIX sentence (labelled A),
ondys that (farther), vis that other (opposed to this), that (first of two).
and normally precedes the part of the matrix sentence it is modifying. Otherwise stated,
+ dyal some, zlnjz another. subordinated or modifying elements normally precede the head. I n a co-ordinating
Dig
+ kenis one, rnamyl two, t i rys three, n6ina four, sQr?n~ five, s6ndiez
six, sQn?maz seven, njqjnj4 eight, is& nine.
Inj
-+ a p 6 ~ oh! (surprise, shock), eh664 oho! (gloating), . . .
;
twosentences, labelled A and B, of roughly equal structure, are combined;
: of the second sentence is co-ordinate with and follows part of the first sentence.
: The following conventions and symbols are used in transformational rules i n addition
to those introduced in chapter z.
In the structural description (SD), the source strings upon which the transformation
operates are specified, the various relevant parts heing separated by commas. (Commas
in transformational or morphophonemic formulae are used only for convenience in a
particular rule, to separate the elements to be re-ordered, and therefore do not have the
same.reference as those in the examples, which are used to separate tone phrases.) The
I symhols W, X, Y, Z are used to denote parts of a sentence whose internal structure is
irrelevant to the transformation in question; the convention is observed that, within one
transformation, if X, etc., is used twice, it has the same internal structure each time.
Any conditions limitingthe application of the rule arestated after thestructural description.
The elements separated by commas are assigned numbers. I n the structural change
(SC), these numbers are re-arranged, some occurring in a different order, some heing
omitted (for deletions), and added elements heing inserted at the appropriate place.
The symbol =- means 'is transformed into'. Wherever square brackets are used, an element
in a particular position in the first set of square brackets corresponds only to the element
in the matching position in the second set.
I n examples, two source sentences are linked by a brace and the transformation arrow
follows directly to introduce the resulting transform.
Transformations are only partially ordered, in that they have been arranged in groups
dealimg with particular structures. Within the groups, each of which occupies one of the
major sections of a chapter, rules are ordered, but the groups are not ordered with respect
to one another.
Transformations are numbered consecutively T.1, T. z, etc.; morphophonemic rules
are numbered M.1, M.z, etc. Transformational rules are optional except when stated to
he obligatory, morphophonemic rules are obligatory except when stated to he optional.
3.1 ~ NS F ORMATI ONS INVOLVING VERBS OF MOTION
3.1.0 One of the most noticeable features of I j p is its tendency to combine several
ani has been written as a class I unit, hut in fact has unique tonal behaviour: when it is initial in
verbs in one verb phrase. Some of the most common combinations involve verbs of
B tone group, all syllables in the group are low until the last, which is high.
motion and are treated below.
46 47
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
3.1.' A very frequent combination is that of a specific verb with a general verb of the
corresponding class, the specific verb modifying the general one.
A. eri, b6-mi
he come Spa
he came
i
i> eri, wajj, b6-mi
b. eri, waii-mi
he returned, he came back
he turn Spa
he turned
A. pmjnj, tej-mi
they escape Spa
they escaped
1
* omjnj, ypy te/-mj
b. pmjnj, yoy-mi
they escaped by paddling
they paddle SPa
they paddled
A. Hmj-bj, fa-dp(i
1
man T be-lost IPa
@mi-bi, bile, fa-dp(i
the man has perished
the man has been lost
b. kjmj-bj, bile-do0 by drowning
man T drown IPa
the man has drowned
Vgen . I
T.I SD: A. X, Vgen.2 , Y
1Vgen. j
Vsp . I
b. X, Vsp.2 , Y
[VSP., I
SC: I . . . 6 3 1.523
3.1.2 When the same verb is both specific and general, it can in one sentence be a
modifier of another general verb and i n another be modified by another specific verh.
These two sentences can then be joined.
A. tpbpv-bj, pi bo-mi
child T cornelgo-out come Spa
the child came out
1
tpboy-bj, baqj pa b6-mi
3
b. toboy-bi, bagj pa-mi
the child came running out.
child T run come/go-out SPa
the child ran out
I n a similar way other sentences are derived:
pminj, desi te!, fa-do0
they jump escape be-lost IPa
they have escaped away by jumping.
48
VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATI ONS
T.Z SD: A. X,
. .
b. X, Vsp.2, Vgen.2, Y
Condition: z = 7
SC: I . . . 8 3 16734
3 . ~ , 3 The matrix sentence contains a verb of motion of class I or z; the constituent
contains the verb ddoz preceded by an object, ddoz being equivalent to English
~ ( ~ 0 ) through/from/along'.
Sentences containing dfioz as the only verb are rather unusual, the transform containing
a second verh being more common. I t is possible that dcoz is in the process of losing its
verbal status and becoming a particle (cf. the locative marker -9, which, like dtioz,
&ays follows a noun phrase), but the process has not gone so far that the constituent
sentences set up here are impossible.
A. eri, b6-mi
he come Spa
he came
-
I
eri, am6 dbo, b6-mi
*
b. eri, atni dbo-mi
he came through the town.
he town1 go-through Spa
he went through the town
Similarly:
eri, beni dbo, yoy-mj
he water go-through paddle Spa
he paddled through the water
eri, ywQy dbo, wenj-mi
he road go-along walk Spa
he walked along the road.
Vgen. I
T.3 S D : . X, {z;z/, Y
Vsp.2
b. X, NP+dfioz, Aux
SC: I . . . 6 * 1.523
Y can include other verbs of motion, so that T.3 will operate on strings which have
undergone T.I and T. z:
eri, ami dho, ypy bo-mi
he town go-through paddle come Spa
-
he came paddling from the town
eri, utud dbo, k6ro mu-mi
he roof go-from fall go Spa
-
he went down from the roof
eri, ami dho, yoy pa b6-mi
he town go-from paddle golcome-out come Spa
he came paddling out from the town.
'Underlining indicates that the unit bears an emphatic tone pattern.
A GRAMMAR OF THE ICOLOKUMA DIALECT OF 119
3.1.4 A transitive verb is modified by a verb of motion of class I or 2.
A. i r i o, indi fe-mj
she fish buy Spa
she bought fish
I
i r i o, mlj-ni,z indi fe-mj
*
h. i r i o, md-mi
she went and bought fish.
she go Spa
she went
Similarly:
eri, wenj-nj, am5 syp-mi
he walk town enter SPa
he walked into a town.
T. 4 SD: A. X, NP+Vtr, Y
( ~ ~ e n . 1 1
SC: I . . . 6 1523
The symbol Z allows for the modifier having undergone T.1:
eri, oki mu tory bein-mi
he swim go river cross SPa
he went and swam across a river
eri, wen! bo-ni, am5 la-mi
he walk come town reach SPa
he came walking and reached a town.
3.1.5 I t is also possible for the verb of motion to be the main verb, modified by a
preceding verb, transitive or intransitive:
A. eri, b6-mi
he come SPa
he came
I
eri. indi fe b6-mi
*
b. eri, indi fe-mi
he bought fish and brought it.
he fish buy Spa
he bought fish
Similarly:
o bjla-bj $we!, baqi-mi
they elephant fear rnn Spa
they ran away from the elephant i n fear
a d6ma tun wenj-mi
she song sing walk Spa
she walked singing a song
i r i o, derj wqni-mi
she smile walk Spa
she walked smiling.
Z-njb follows verbs and miz 'then' when the next unit begins with a vowel: T.n.
VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATIONS
[%;:I
vsp.2
b. X, (NP+) V, Y
SC: I . . . 5 * 142
3.1.6 A specific verb of motion, dass z, is introduced between an object and its transi-
tive verb. Superficially, it looks as if the verb of motion is transitive, since i t is imme-
diately preceded by an object; but there are no kernel sentences of the type:
"eri, wiri wen[-mi
he house walk Spa
he walked the house.
The derivation is:
A. eri, wirj ikana-mi
he house encircle Spa
he went round the house
eri, wiri wpni-ni, akana-mi
*
b. eri, wen(-mi
he wallted round the house.
he walk Spa
he walked
of6ni-bi, tQry fi n, bein-mi
b i d T - river fly cross SPa
the bird flew across the river
eri. iry-bj bki, y?r?-mj
I
he canoe T swim encircle Spa
he swam round the canoe
toboy-bj, kjmj biqi, bg-yemi
child T man run pass CPr
the child is running past the man.
T.6 SD: A. XNP+, Vt r Y
b. X, Vsp.2, Y
sc: I . . . 5 142
3.1.7 Two sentences with the same subject are combined to express purpose if
they have the same subject and if the matrix sentence contains b62 'come' or mdz 'go';
yQ-k$? 'in order to' is introduced.
I come Spa
I
art, u-di yg- b?, b6-mi
=.
b. ari, u-di-mi
I came in order to see him.
I him look-at Spa
I saw him
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLORUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
T.7 SD: A. NP,
b. NP, Cpl VP
Condition: I = 4
SC: I . . . 5 * 15+y@-k$p 23
3.2 SOME CO-ORDINATING TRANSFORMATIONS
3.2.1 Two sentences with the same object but different transitive verbs are
A. i r i o, ingo d6ri-mi
she trap weave Spa
she wove a trap
I
i ri (i , ingo deri, pit?-m/
B. i ri (i , ingo p/t$-mi
*
she wove and set a trap.
she trap set Spa
she set a trap
Similarly:
eri, p-gbein bi-d?y
he them throw bill IPa
he has thrown and killed them (in wrestling)
?mini, nima top, f/-mi
they meat cook eat Spa
-
they cooked and ate the meat
ta-mai, bele ssri-ni, ak/-mi
wife T pot take-up take Spa
the wifetook up the pot (i.e. off the fire).
T.8 SD: A. X NP+, Vtr, Y
B. X NP+, Vtr, Y
Conditions: I. I = 4
2 . 2 # 5
SC: I . . . 6 => 1253
3.2.2 Sentences with the same subject and auxiliary which have not been
one of the preceding transformations are united by -di 'and'.
A. Brio, beni biri-mi
she water wash SPa
she took a bath
I
i r i o, beni biri-di, tjbj sala-mi
*
b. Qri(i, tjbi sala-mi
she took a bath and combed her hair.
she head comb Spa
she combed her hair
Similarly:
eri, beni di-di, iroro-mi
he water look-at and ponder Spa
he looked at the water and pondered
pwpy-mpQ, wBr/ di o, pi bo-da, dorou-mi
children Tpl house from out come and shout Spa
the children came out of the house and shouted.
52
: linked.
joined b!
VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATI ONS
SD: A. NP, X (NP+) V, Y
B. NP, Z (NP+) V, Y
Condition: I = 4
SC: I . . . 6 * ~ z f - d i 53
3.2.3 I t is also possible to add - di to non-final verbs (except dboz) in order to empha-
,ize that the action of the second verb is subsequent to that of the first: 'did X and then
irap, ingo deri, pit$-mj * Brio, ingo d6ri-d5, pit$-mi
she trap weave set Spa she wove a trap and then set it.
she wove and set a trap
eri, weni-da, ami syp-mi
he walk and town enter Spa
he walked and then entered a town.
T.IO SD: X (NP+) V, (NP+) V Y
Condition: V in I + dtjoz
SC: I2 * I +- di 2
3.3 INTRODUCTION OF akjz 'USE' AND -nib 'LINKER'
3.3.1 The constituent sentence contains an object followed by akjz 'take, use'; the
general meaning of the transformation is 'use something to do something', 'do something
with something'.
A. eri, indi pei-mj
he fish cut-up Spa
he cut up a fish
I
eri, ogidi akj-nj, indi pei-mj
*
b. eri, ogidi akj-mj
he cut up a fish with a matchet.
he matchet take Spa
he took a matchet
Similarly:
Brio, zu ye ikj, buru teri-mi
she draw thing3 take yam cover Spa
she used a basket to cover a yam.
T.II SD: A. X, (NP+) V Y
b. X, NP+ak/z, Y
Sc : I . . . 5 " I42
3.3.2 The linker -nib (with no lexical meaning) is introduced after a verb or mi2 'then'
when the next unit begins with a vowel. As an initial vowel replaces the final i of a pre-
ceding enclitic ( M. I I ~) , the vowel of the linker is usually replaced but that of the pre-
ceding unit is preserved; ambiguity resulting from elision is thereby prevented. The tonal
behaviour of -nrb is described in 7.1.12, 7.1.22.
zul 'draw (water)' and y& 'thing' combine to farm zu y6 'type of basket',
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJQ
b6, akj b6-ni, akj
come take /b6naikj/
gbi,?tQk2, pjrj gbi-nj, qtQk2, pirj
say mud give /gbin$(@)tqk~pjrj/
say to Mud
mi, oki * mi-nj, oki
then swim /min6dkimi/
After akjz 'take, use', -nib is sometimes introduced even when the next unit begins
with a consonant. When followed by -nib, akjz is often deleted.
eri, opdru-m? ikj, tqb?Q pjrj-mi *
he crayfish Tpl take boy give Spa
he gave the crayfish to the boy
eri, op6ru-m?-nj, t?b?Q pjri-mi
he crayfish Tpl boy give Spa
-
he gave the boy the crayfish
b6-$6- arj mQ ikj, y-bpmj 3
come em I so take him say Spa
'Come!' I said to him
b6-$6 - ari mq-nj, y-bpm/
come em I so him say Spa
'Come!' I said to him
(This sentence results from T.63.)
The more limited rule applying to akjz only is given before the more general one.
T.IZ (Obligatory when Y begins with a vowel.)
SD: X, (+) al+, Y Asp
SC: I . . . 3 * 1(z)+-njjb 3
T.13 (Obligatoly.)
SD: x(+) { v , } , v ~ m az
SC: 12 3 ~+-njb z
("Y = a Y beginning with a vowel.)
3.4 CAUSATIVES
3.4.0 There are two elements which form causatives; the transitive verb miel 'make',
which precedes a causative phrase, and the causative s u f i =m?. Verbs are divided
according to the use they make of miel and =m?:
Vcs.1 cannot take both miel and =m(r
Vcs.11 take only mi el
Vcs.12 take either mjel or =my
Vcs.2 take either miel, or miel + =mp, or =mq alone
Vcs.3 take mj el and =m?
Vcs.31 take only mjel and =mo
Vcs.32 take either mjel and Em?, or =m? alone.
VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATI ONS
~ 4 . 1 The first transformation deals with the groups of verbs that take either miel
alone or miel with =m?. The symbol CsP (causative phrase) which was introduced in
the phrase structure rules as a place-holding device (rule 5) and not further developed, is
,,ow replaced by a constitutent sentence.
A. arj, y-mi$ CsP+-mi
I him make. . . Spa
1 .
I made him. . .
* arj, y-mi$ m&mi
b. eri, m6-mi I made him go.
he go Spa
he went
(m6Z 'go' = Vcs.11)
Similarly:
w6ni. y-mi+-nj, indi die-m! (die1 = Vcs.11)
we him make fish share Spa
we made him share out the fish
w6ni, y-mi$-nj, uru bou-mi (b6uz = Vcs.12)
we him make wine drink Spa
we made him drink wine
eri, 9-mie-nj, of6ni-bi t)we[-d+v (qwejl = Vcs.12)
he them make bird T fear IPa
h e has made them afraid of the bird
k6romo-mj
erf. v-mi? k6ro-mi
{ 1 (k6roz = Vcs.2)
he him make fall cs Spa
he made him fall
eri, bid$ mje, f6mumpmj (f6muz = Vcs.31)
he cloth - make he-dirty cs Spa
he made the cloth dirty
iriQ, t?b?Q mi?, bonymq-mi (bony, = Vcs.32)
she child - make sleep cs Spa
she soothed the child to sleep.
T.14 SD: A. X, NP, +miel, CsP, Aux
(NP+) Vcs.1
b. NP, ] , Aur
Condition: 2 = 6
SC: I . . . 8 * 1237 (+=m?) 5
[Lm? I
3.4.2 Sentences resulting from T.14 which contain Vcs.12 are combined with a
constituent sentence introducing akjz 'take, use'; the resulting string is of the form 'W
took/used X to make Y do Z'. This transformation is therefore very similar to T. II, but
55
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF T J Q
there are extra conditions: the last verb in the matrix sentence must be transitive, and it,
object must be identical with the object of akja in the constituent sentence.
A. eri, 9-mi$-nj, of6ni-bi Gwej-dQy
he them make bird T fear IPa
he has made them afraid of the bird
b. erj, of6ni-bi Bki-mi
he bird T take Spa
he took/used the bird
he has frightened them with the bird.
I*
eri, of6ni-bi iki-ni, ?-mi+-nj, ofhi -bi Qwei-dev
he bird T take them make bird T fear Spa
Similarly:
w6ni, uru a!+], y-mi+-nj, uru bou-mi
we wine take him make wine drink Spa
we made him drink by giving him wine.
T.15 SD: A. NP, NP +miel, NP, +Vcs.~z Aux
b. NP, NP, +akjz Aux
Conditions: I. I = j
z . 3 = 6
SC: I . . . 7 * 167234
3.4.3 The rather clumsy strings resulting from T.I j usually undergo the next trans-
formation, which deletes miel and the object of the last verb; this verb then takes the
originalobject of m jel and s uf i e s =in?. Thissame transformation alsogenerates alternative
causatives without miel for Vcs.z and Vcs.3~; for them also the object of the deleted
miel becomes the object of the second verb, which in their caseis already followed by =mo.
w6ni, uru aki-nj, y-mi$-ni, uru bou-mi -
we wine take him make wine drink Spa
we made him drink by giving him wine
w6ni, uru akj-n], u-bourne-mj (b6uz = Vcs.1~)
we wine take him drink cs Spa
we made him drink wine
eri, iry-b/ mje, bilemq-mi 3
he canoe T make sink Spa
he made the canoe sink
eri, hry-bi bilerno-mi (bile1 = Vcs.2)
he canoe T sink cs Spa
he sank the canoe
Similarly
&rig, toboo bpnvmo-mi
(bonvz = Vcs.32)
she child sleep cs Spa
-
she laid the child down to sleep
eri, bide pisirno-mi (pisil = Vcs.32)
he cloth he-wet cs Spa
-
he wet the cloth
56
VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATI ONS
NP+akjz NP, Vcs.12,
SD: x ] + i , , ] , X
+=my,
Vcs.32
- -
3,4.4 Adjective verbs have a special transformation in which another verb takes the
usually occupied by miel.
A. eri, bele sory-mi
he pot wash Spa
he washed the pot
I
eri, be19 sory, pimpmi
*
b. bele, pi-mi
he washed the pot clean.
pot be-clean StPr
the pot is clean
Similarly:
&rig, fjai-mo to?, binmo-mi
she food Tpl cook be-plenty cs Spa
she cooked plenty of food.
T.17 SD: A. X, NP, +Vtr, Aux
b. NP, Vadj, Aux
Condition: z = 5
SC: I . . . 7 - 1z36+=m? 4
3.4.5 There is a homophonous suf i =m? which, when added to a transitive verb,
alters its meaning. The force of the suffix is not clear; in the recorded examples it appears
to be either intensive or de-intensive. Nu ~ul es have been set up for i t because its meaning
is not yet clear.
eri, akpai bprimpmj
he bag open int Spa (int = intensive)
he forced open the bag
-
contrasting with
eri, akpai beri-mi
he bag open Spa
he p a d the bag open
i r i o, ingo bjbj-mo gbabympmi
she trap mouth Tpl close de Spa (de = de-intensive)
she narrowed the entrance to the traps
contrasting with
i r i q, ingo bib[-mo gbaby-mi
she trap mouth Tpl close Spa
she dosed up the entrance to the traps.
3.5 PASSIVE AND INTRANSITIVE
3.5.1 A passive is formed to transitive sentences with a definite object or to sentences
containing a locative (definite or indefinite), the subject in each case being indefinite.
Pronouns in this case act like definite nouns, since a sentence with a pronoun subject
has no passive. The passive is formed by change of word order and of tone pattern.
57
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DIALEC?' OF I J O VERB PHRASE TRANSFORMATI ONS
igere, ere-ma kQri-mi * 3,5,2 Intransitives are formed to transitive kernel sentences containing verbs of change
crocodile woman T catch Spa
of state. The object of the kernel sentence becomes the subject; the verb takes the
a crocodile caught the woman
s tone pattern. Verbs whose transitive form ends in =mo lose
er6-ma, iger6, kori-mi
woman T crocodile catch Spa arj , tjn-bj thumo-mi * tjn-bi, toi-mi
the woman was caught by a crocodile
I stick T bend Spa stick T bend st StPr
indii, wirj-bj-+, emi * I bent the stick the i i ck is bent.
fish house T in is
(st = state)
there is fish in the house
tjn bein ye, pui-doy
wiri-bi, indi emi
tree ripe thing split st IPa
house fish is
the pod has split
there is fish in the house.
I n this example of the passive of a sentence containing alocative it is impossible to show
nima-mo, kpei-doy
the difference between active and passive in the English translation. The construction is,
animal Tpl gather st IPa
however, quite parallel to that of the passive of a transitive sentence. I n each case the sub-
the animals have gathered.
ject of the active sentence immediately precedes the verb in the passive but forms a different T.19 SD: NP, NP, +, Vch, AUX
tone group from it; some tone groups l i d up (7.2) to form tone phrases (as in the second SC: I . . . 5 * z4+ =f 5
example), while others remain unlinked, separated by a comma (as in the first example).
Further cxarnples of passives of transitive sentences:
3, 6. ~ The matrix sentence is of the form 'X surpasses Y', the constituent sentence of
tykpa-bj, kjmi, ton[-mi
lamp T man light Spa
the form 'X is or does 2'.
the lamp was lighted by someone
A. arj, y-deqj-mi
am5-bi, beni, bilerno-mi
I him surpass StPr
town T water flood cs Spa
I
ari, diqaj-ni, y-deqi-mj
*
the town was flooded by water b. arj, diqai-mi
I am taller than he is.
eri, moon, Ikori-yemi I tall StPr
he hunger seize CPr
he is hungry (lit. he is being seized by hunger)
eri, ye, detj-do0
eri, dhma tun-ni, 1-deqi-mj
he thing tire IPa
he song sing me surpass Spa
he is tired (lit. he has been tired out by somcthing)
he sang songs more than I did
eri, b6lou, kqn-yemi
eri, kyrei, bag1 saramq, toboo deqi-mi
he heart hurt CPr
he can run fast child surpass SPa
he is angry (lit, he is being hurt by his heart).
hc could run faster than the child.
Further examples of passives of locative sentences: T.20 SD: A. NP, NP+degil Aux
kjmi toboy lkonu, or6r0, emi b. NP, Cpl VY, Aux
man child hack hollow is Condition: I = 3
there is a hollow down a human being's back SC: I . . . 5 - 143
eri, b6lou, inbele-mi
3.7 TRA~TSFORMATIONS INVOLVING AUXILIARIES
he heart be-sweet StPr
he is happy (lit. he is sweet as to his heart).
3.7.1 An obligatory transformation moves one subclass of auxiliary verbs to its correct
position preceding the main verb.
T.18 SD: Nom+i, (D+) [ : , I , *?mini, andi, bar!-mj * ?mini, barj-nj, andi-mi
Condition: I does not contain p
they wrestle repeat Spa they repeat wrestle Spa
sc: I . . . 4 * ZI 4
they wrestled again they wrestled again
58
59
A GRAMMAR O F THE I<OLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF T J Q
Similarly:
burufi, jnbalj-nj, eke fi-mj 4
yam struggle rat eat Spa
-
Yam struggled to eat Rat
TRANSFORMATIONS OF T HE NOUN PHRASE
erj, kyrej-nj, eke fi-6
he can rat eat not I Co-ORDINATION, APPOSITION AND DELETION
he could not eat Rat
+1.1 When noun phrases are co-ordinately linked, each phrase is followed by -m?,
eri, s6ri you-mi ,md', the last of the series being optionally followed by -kp? 'too'. Two rules are neces-
he begin cry Spa
sary, the first linking two noun phrases and the sccond, which can be repeatedly applied,
he began to cry adding additional noun phrases.
? koro f+y yy- r j j bira tqn-mi
they begin market paddle S F way think SPa
they began to think of a way to trade
Tortoise has come
1
iwiri-m?, nb~lej-mq-kp?, b6-dog
-
ar/, 16 bo-mi
B. nbelej, b6-dqy
Tortoise and Lizard have come
I succeed come SPa
lizard come IPA
I succeeded in coming.
Lizard has come
T.21 Obligatory
SD: X, (NP+) V, Av.11, Y
sc: 1 . . . 4 * 1324
ari-mQ, Qrj-m?, mfi-rjjmi
3.7.2 I t is possible to have more than one auxiliary of this subclass in a sentence. Their
you and I will go
relative ordcr appears to he immaterial. Limitations on combinations are collocational;
ome informants accept up to three in one sentence. The rule is therefore devised so th
i t can be applied more than once.
A. er6amjni-mo-m$, ?w?y-mQ-m$, emi
A. eri, kdro-ni, oki-mi
I
woman pl Tpl and children Tpl and are-there
he hegin swim Spa
the women and children are there
he began to swim
eri, inball, kdro-ni, oki-mi
=, B. bidpm+, emi
b. eri, inbaij-nf, old-mi
he struggled to begin to swim.
cloth Tpl are-there
he struggle swim Spa
the cloths are there
he struggled to swim
Similarly: er6amjnj-mq-mp, ?w?y-mQ-mp, bide-mQ-mp, emi
the women and the children and the cloths are there.
eri, lk6ro-ni, inbalj-nj, oki-mi
he begin struggle swim Spa
I=
he began to struggle to swim. ereamin/-mq-mQ, ?w?y-mQ-m$, bidpmQ-mQ, sjlj-mo-mq, emi
With three auxiliaries; some speakers only:
the women and the children and the cloths and the money are there.
eri, barj-nj, /nbal/, Ikdro-ni, oki-mi T.23 SD: A. X, NP, (+) Y
he repeat struggle begin swim Spa B. X, NP, (+) Y
he tried to begin to swim again.
Condition: z # 5
T. zzSD: A. X, AV. I I , Y
SC: I . . . 6 * rz+-m?, ~+- m?, (+-kpq) 3
b. X, AV.11, Z
Condition: z # 5
T.24 SD: A. X NP+-m?, NP+-m?,, (+-kp?) (+) Y
SC: I . . . 6 =, 1523
B. X, NP, (+) Y
Condition: 4 f any NP in I
SC: I . . . 5 =. 14+-m?= z
A GRAMMAR O F THE I<OLOKUNIA DI ALECT OF T J O
4.1.2 Appositional noun phrases are derived from equational sentences.
A. vi owsi, b6-dpv
other man come IPa
the othcr man has come
I
vi owei, ine bina 6wii, b6-d?y
=>
B. vi owei, ine bjna 6w6i
the other man, my relative, has come.
other man my relative man
the other man is my relative
Similauly :
b6i ere-ma, i-tai, i-m+m? mu-qjmi
this woman my wife you with go will
this woman, my wife, will go with you.
There are noun phrases of the typc ar i ebi er e 'a beautiful woman like her' (lit. 'her
beautiful woman') which can also be derived from equational sentences with pronoun
subjects: i r i o, ebi er6 'she (is) a beautiful woman', but i t is not clear whether this is
really the same construction as the appositional one, and sentences with pronoun sub-
jects are therefore provisionally omitted from the rule.
T.25 SD: A. X, (D+) NG, (+) Y
B. (D+) NG, Nom+i
Condition: 2 # 4
4.1.3 A noun is optionally deleted when preceded by certain demonstratives.
b6i war/-bi, inei * b6i-bi, inei
this house T my thing this 'I' my thing
this house is mine this is mine
Similarly:
pndy-bj, ebi-nimi
other T good StPr
the other side is good
arj, ani-b/ pri-mi
I that T see Spa
I saw that.
T.26
SD: X
4.1.4 A noun phrase can be deleted when it is understood from the context. Pro-
nominalized inanimate nouns usually undergo this transformation, pronouns referring to
inanimate nouns being uncommon. When the transformation is applied to subjects, the
result is oken equivalent to the English passive without agent.
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
eri, fjaj f[-yemi * eri, fj-yemi
he food eat CPr he eat CPr
he is eating food he is eating
ar/, baqj-ni i-deqi-mi * ar/, bag/, deqi-mj
I run you surpass SPa I run surpass Spa
I ran more than you I ran more
fhn kpri => kprj
book take
-
take
take the book take it
bide-b/, ayi-mj a ayi-mi
cloth T be-new StPr be-new StPr
the cloth is new it is new
Brio, nai bo-a * nai bo-a
she yet come not yet come not
she hasn't yet come (she) hasn't yet come
Similarly:
abibhr~j-ki aki-ni, qkponkpr? mi$-y6mi
cassava em take fufu make Hab
cassava is used to make fufu
d6in-I+, tykpa-mp+ ten/-y6mi
night em at lamp Tpl light Hab
lamps are lighted at night
b6-nii, ken[ bq la-yembi; . . .
come and a day reach when
when i t came to a certain day, . . .
T.27 SD: X, NP (t), Y
SC: 1 . . . 3 * 1 3
4.2 NOMINALIZATIONS
4.2.1 The object of a sense verb is replaced by a nominalization of a constit1
tence whose subject (if it is intransitive) or object (if it is transitive) is identical
original object of the sense verb.
A. arj, tQry di-mi
I river look-at SPa
I looked at the river
b. t ~ r y . tein-mi
river flow SPa
the river flowed
arj, t ~ r y tpjn di-mi
+ =-
I looked at the river flowing.
Similarly:
eri, wilii akanaj t i empmi
he wheel turn stand cs Spa
-
he stopped the wheel turning
lent sen-
with the
A GRAMMAR O F THE KOLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF 110
arj, in6 duma t u n na-mi
I your song sing hear Spa
I heard you singing a song
w6n1, ar i fjaj t yo nii-mi
we her food cook smell Spa
we smelt her cooking food
eri, wo war! kQrj day-mi
he his house build want Spa
he wanted to build his house.
T.28 SD: A. NP X, NP, +VsenFux
Condition: z = 5
(The symbol ++ is required because a pronoun subject subordinated in this way is
eventually rewritten as a possessive.)
4.2.2 A constituent sentence is nominalized by becoming a modifier of the noun tliz
'reason'.
A. td-bi, ebi-nimi
reason T he-good StPr
the reason is good
I
in6 fqy yqy-yemi tu-bi, ebi-nimi
b. i r i s f+y yoy-yemi
your reason for trading is good.
you market paddle Hab
you are trading
Similarly:
arj, in6 bo-yemi tu-bi nimi-w6nimi
I your come SPr reason T know StPr
I know your reason for coming.
T.zg SD: A. X, tdz+Y
b. NP, ZVP
SC: I . . . 4 3 13++ 4 t z
4.2.3 If the subject of a constituent sentence is identical with a subject or object of the
matrix sentence, it is deleted. The rest of the constituent sentence followed by biras
'way', replaces y6z 'thing' in the matrix.
A. arj, y4 dqy-mj
I thing seek Spa
I looked for something arj, burud sbu-qj bara dqy-mi
*
b. arj, burud du-qjmj
I looked for a way to dig up the yam.
I yam dig S F
I w m i g up the yam
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF T HE NOUN PHRASE
Similarly:
arj, fdn go bara akj, tobqy-bj tblumq-mi
I book read way take child T teach Spa
I taught the child how to read
eri, mli-ni, i r y ypy-qj bara gba, kjmj dja-d$y
he go - canoe paddle S F way say man show IPa
he has gone and told the man to paddle the canoe.
T.30 SD: A. NP, X, yGz, +Y, (NP, +V) Aux
b. NP, Cpl VP
Condition: I or 5 = 7
SC: I . . . 8 3 1z8+b6ra3 456
4.2.4 Where there is no common noun phrase between the two sentences, there are
three types of nominalization that replace y6z 'thing' in the matrix sentence. Verbs of
the group Vnom have two possibilities; they are nominalized either directly by taking
the dehi t e or indefinite marker, or by adding baras 'way'. The first type of nominaliza-
tion is often equivalent to an English abstract noun or an -ing form, the second to 'the
way X did Y'. Other verbs, of the group Vbara, can only addbaras, which for them acts
as a simple nominalizer. Finally, verbs are nominalized by the addition of yQ-bj 'the
fact that' (lit. 'the place'). There are limitations on the verbs that follow such nominaliza-
tions, but these have not been studied.
A. ye, j-disc-mi
thing me please Spa
something pleased me
1
bide-bj iya bara-bi, j-djse-mj (Vbara)
=>
b. bide-b/, ayi-mi the newness of the cloth pleased me.
cloth T be-new StPr
the cloth is new
Similarly:
sej-b/, jnbele, bQ-mi (Vnom)
dance T be-nice be-much StPr
the dance is very nice
ar/ , or? fj-m+ nimi-a (Vnom)
I their death Tpl know not
I did not know of their deaths
wo duma tlin-ysmi bara-bj, jnbele, b+-mi (Vnom)
his song sing Hah way T be-nice be-much StPr
the way he sings is very nice
ar/, wo nam6 bi-yemi bara-bi erj-d+y (Vbara)
I his animal kill SPr way T see IPa
I have seen his killing of the animal
sy are-mp bo-yemi yo-bj, y-mi+, tamamii, k6-mi
fight canoe Tpl come SPr fact T him make surprise be-much Spa
the coming of the war canoes surprised him very much
u bei mjp-dej yo-bj, u-seimq, ki-mi
he this do IPa fact T him be-bad cs be-much Spa
!
the way he behaved spoilt him.
A GRAMI!/IAR OF THE KOLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF TJO
SC: I . . . 5 * 14 ++ 5 + bira3 3
i,. I
4.3.1 I n the first typc of modification, the matrix sentence contains a noun identical
with that which occurs in the constituent sentence as the object of a@z 'take'. The
constituent sentence is of the type ' Xi s used to do Y', and has had its suhject deleted by
T.27. The resulting modified noun phrase is of the shape 'an X for doing Y'.
A. arj, ken/ 6g6u fe-dQy
I an axe buy IPa
I have bought an axe arj, ken/ fjnj pu ogou fe-dQy
b. ogou akj, fini pu-mi
I have bought an axe to chop firewood.
axe take firewood chop Spa
an axe is used to chop firewood
Similarly:
eri, beni wen/ igbika tya-d0y
he water walk shoe put-on IPa
he has put on rainhoots
b6i, ine beni b6u ye
this my water drink thing
this is my cup.
T.32 SD: A. X (D+), NG, (+) Y
h. NG, +ak/z, Np+VP
Condition: z = 4
SC: I . . . 6 * 16+23
4.3.2 Noun modifiers are formed from the predicates of constituent sentences whose
subjects are identical with the noun to he modified.
A. kjmi-bi, emi
man T is-there
the man is there
I
k6su lkjmi-bi, emi
b. kjmi-bi, k6su-mi
the old man is there.
man T be-old StPr
the man is old
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
Similarly:
yoy ow6i-bi, y?y bo-y6mi
paddle man T paddle come SPr
the ferryman is coming
of6ni-bi, kqrij timi angala gboly-mi
fowl T burn CPa charcoal pick Spa
the fowl pecked at some burning charcoal
eri, gbi ye p6i-a-dei toboy
he say thing listen not IPa child
he was a child who did not listen to what was said
bei, b6 tub0 lkiri fini owei-bi
this come trade land open man T
this is thc man who came to open a trading post
yQ-bi-i, emi kimj-m?, ine bjna-6tb
place T in be man Tpl my relative people
the men ip the place are my relatives
b6i, b6 furu kimi sypdei tpboy-bi
this come steal man enter IPa boy T
this is the boy who has become a thief.
This transformation can be applied when there is already a modifier of the noun (here
symholized M, equivalent to any modifier except a determiner). The modifier is the
result either of an earlier application of this rule or of another modification rule.
b6i, b6-yemi k6su ere-ma
this come CPr be-old woman
this is the old woman who is coming
eri, kyr? war/ bQi,, emi
he strong house door T there-is
he has a strong house-door
Conditions: I. 2 = 4
z. The noun in the NG of z is the head of a nominal construction.
(Since the predicate is modifying the whole nominal phrase and not
just one noun in it, the nominal phrase cannot extend into Y.)
SC: 1 . . . 5 * 15++23
4.3.3 Noun modifiers of nouns are in many cases derived from the passive of locative
sentences, in which the passive suhject becomes the modifier.
A. arj, bQ? t er i - d~y
I door shut IPa
-
I have shut the door
ar[, war! bop teri-dQy
=,
b. wiri, bQ?, emi I have shut the door of the house.
house door there-is
there is a door to a house
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT O F !J?
Similarly :
akpiljl owoy-rno, or? yerji-Q, barasin-doy
frog children Tpl their mother from leave IPa
the frog children have left their mother
arni-bi $re-bi. ogb66gb6
town T name T Ogboogbo
the name of the town was Ogboogbo.
Possessives as noun modifiers are also introduced by this rule:
A. b6i, wiri
this house
this is a house
I
b61, ine war/
*
b. ar[, wiri, erni
this is my house.
I house there-is
I have a house
This transformation can be applied in cases where either the modifier or the modifying
noun is already preceded by a modifier.
Ikjrni toboy konu, or6r0, erni
man child back hollow there-is
there is a hollow down a human being's back
(The modifier is kjmj toboy, itself resulting from T.34.)
opu are okyloy-bj-o, s(i?-kymo-&6
be-big canoe bows T in enter don'ti
don't enter into the bows of a big canoe
(The modifier is opu aro, resulting from T.33.)
er/, b6i narni-rno-sq arna nana owei
he this animal Tpl all town have man
he is the king of all these animals
(The modified nominal construction is am5 nana owei 'king', resulting from T.33.)
There are some noun+noun constructions, particularly those involving ethnic names
or metaphorical expressions, which cannot be arrived at through this rule; they are not
further studied here. Examples are:
k6lokbrnQ bwei
Kolokuma man
fi nini
death nose
mouth of death.
T.34 SD: A. X (D+). (M+) Nom, + fd} +Y
b. i(Dt) ("+) NO}, (M+) om, +i .mi2
Prn
Conditions: I. 2 = 5
z. The noun which is in the Nom of z is head of a nominal construc-
tion.
S c : 1 . . . 6 - 1 4 + + z 3
(If a demonstrative is introduced by both matrix and constituent sentence, one must be
deleted by T.36.)
68
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF TI l E NOUN PHRASE
4.3.4 Noun modifiers are also formed from sentences in which an object or noun head
of a locative phrase is identical with a noun group in the matrix sentence.
A. ebi-bi, Qrj, mQ na-doy
good T you i t hear IPa 1
i ou havk heard the good
t
=> jkiiarni rniy ebi-bi, Qrj, mQ na-doy
b. IkQjami, ebi-bi rnjy-rnj
the good Kaiama did, you have heard of it.
Kaiama good T do Spa
Kaiama &d the good )
(Matrix sentence has undergone transposed object transformation: T.40.)
Similarly:
ittili werj byra, 1 mQ weri-91-ia
Ituli keep by ra you it keep SF?
are you going to keep the byra-fish Ituli kept?
i b6i akj-qi-dyi jla-bi, inei
you this take IF bead T my thing
this head you want to take is mine
ma kimi-mQ &mi wari-bj, dyba-m/
two man Tpl live house T be-big StPr
the house the two men live in is big
w6ni, wo t i mi yQ-bj-o, rnb-mi
we his stay place T to go Spa
we went to the place he stayed
be%, kila pwqy-m?Q z6ru-yemi tornu-bi
this small children Tpl play Hab space T
this is the open space where small children play.
T.35 SD: A. X (D+), (M+) NG, (+) Y
b. NP, (Dt), (M+) NG, +,
Conditions: I. 2 = 6
{,)I VP
2. The noun in the NG of z is head of a nominal construction.
SC: I . . . 9 * 1 4 + f 579+23
(If a demonstrative is introduced by both matrix and constituent sentences, one must
be deleted by T.36.)
4.3.5 By both T.34 and T.35 it is possible for two demonstratives to beintroduced into
one of the resultant sentences. Either one of these is obligatorily deleted. If the demonstra-
tives did not occur in immediate succession, there are two alternative word orders, resulting
from deletion of one or the other demonstrative; if they occurred in immediate succession,
it is impossible to tell from the resultant sequence which has been deleted, and ambiguity
occurs. Usually the demonstrative is understood to refer to the nearest noun.
"b6i ikijama bei mi+ ebi-bi * either: jkilarni bei mi? ebi-bi
this Kaiama this do good T or: b6i jlkaiima mjq ebi-bi
this good Kaiama did
"b6i be? kirnj-rno-sq ama nana owei * b6i lkimi-mo-sy ama nana owei
this this man Tpl all town have man either: Iring of all these men
or possibly: this king of all the men
A GRAMMAR O F THE IIOLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF TJO
T.36 Obligatory
SD: X, Dem, (M+), Dem, (+) Y
sc: I . . . 5 * {;;;}
4.3.6 It is also obligatory for pronouns to recede and not follow demonstratives in
modifiers.
+bei j ikj-qj-dei jla-bi =. i b&i akj-qj-del jla-bi
this you take I F head T
this bead you want to take
'bei in6 bjna owei 3 ine bei bjni owei
this my relative man this relative of mine.
T.37 Obligatory
SD: X, D+, pCNj ++, Y
Prn
sc: I . . . 4 1324
4.3.7 There is another way of introducing a modifier from a constituent sentence
when the matrix contains a determiner. The modifier is not inserted between the deter-
miner and the nominal of the matrix, but precedes both, followed by the locative -?.
One result of this is that determiners are not separated from their noun heads; the
ambiguity resulting from T.36 is thus avoided.
A. b&i ere-bi, ogb6ogb6
this name T Ogboogbo
this name is Ogboogbo 1
i
ami-bj-+, b6i ere-bi, ogb6bgb6
b. ami-bj, ere, emi
this name of the town is Ogboogho.
town T name there-is
the town has a name
Similarly:
eri-ki, kjmj-mpse-o, bei ami nana owei
he em man Tpl all to this town have man
he is this king of all the men
ominj, kjmj-bi-+, vi warj-b/-o, emf
they
man T to other house T in bc-there
they are in the man's other house
contrasting with
?mi@, vi kjmi-bj war/-bi-o, emi
is somewhat ambiguous, but would ns~lally he understood as 'they are in thc other
man's house'.
ere-ma-+, ma kala Qw+y, sulclilb bo-dQy
woman T to two small children school pass IPa
two of the woman's small children have gone to school.
T.38 SD: A. X, D+, (M+) Nom, + {:}+Y
. -
, (M+) Nom, +i emiz
Condition: 3 = 6
SC: I . . . 7 3 IS+-? 234
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
4.3.8 I n all the preceding modifying constructions the modifier precedes the head.
There is also a relative construction formed with the help of a constituent sentence of
qat i onal type in which the first noun is either identical with or has the same referent
as the second, and in which the sccond noun has been modified by one of the earlier
modifying transformations.
A. ebi-bi, klmj m? nimi-a
good T man i t know not
the good is not known
' I
ebi-bi-ni, jlkijamimje ye-bi, k/mi mo nimi-a
*
b. ebi-bi, jkijami mje ye the good which Kaiama did is not known.
good T Kaiama do thing
the good is what Iiaiama did
Similarly :
be!, tobov-nj, gb6 ye pbi-a toboy-b/
this child who say thing listcn not child T
this is the child who did not listen to what was said
eri-ki, owei-bi-nl, b6 t ub0 kiri fini-bo-bj
he em man T who came trade land open one T
he is the one who came to open a trading post
omin/-nj, ami-? mb-yemi-otu-mo, ine ikia-6tu
they who town to go CPr people Tpl my friend people
they who arc going to town are my friends
-be?, per? kjmj bkoba-mo-nj, fliru-otu-m? firru ye-m?
this he-rich man money Tpl which steal people steal thing Tpl
this is the rich man's money which the thieves stole
bei, wirj-bj-nj, ma lkjmi-mQ timi wart-bj
this house T which two man Tpl stay house T
this is the house which the two men stayed in.
T.39 SD: A. X, (DC) (M+) Nom+d, (+) Y
b. (D+) (M+) Nom-1-d, Z (+) W+Nom +, i
Condition: z = 4
SC: I . . . 6 IZ+-nj 5 d 3
(The nouns of z and 4 must be definite; that of 5 is originally indefinite (necessarily,
in an equational sentence after a definite subject), but becomes definite in the transform.)
4.4 TRANSPOSED OBJECT
An object which is to be emphasized or which is unwieldy is transposed to precede the
subject, its original position being tahen by the replacer mQ4.
omtnj, ken[ 6b6ri toboy erj-mj * kenj 6bbri toboy, ? mo erj-mj
they a goat child see Spa i t was a young goat they saw
they saw a young goat
Similarly:
fjaj tyo-g/ indi, a m+ f+-d$y
food cook SF fish she i t buy IPa
1 fish to cook is what she's bought
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF IJQ
bjsi dwei-kp?, y in? k6rbmpd+y
that man too he him fall cs IPa
he threw that man too.
T.40 SD: NP, ( Df ) (M+) NG, +Vtr Aux
Condition: If the head noun of the object is pronominal, it must be preceded by
D and/or M. (1.e. the only pronoun forms which can undergo this
transformation are the modified pronouns (6.1.1).)
SC: I . . . 3 * 21 me4 3
4.5 NUMERAI. ADJ UST~NTS
4.5.0 The next four transformations make adjustments to the strings of numerals
generated by the phrase structure rnles 46-50.
4.5.1 There are forms diel 'fifteen' and slieiz 'thirty' which exist as alternatives to the
regular compounded forms.
SC: I . . . S " I [sd;;;r] 35
4.5.2 When a head consistillg of a noun, or of qndez 'four hundred' or of qndena ?ride
'four hundred times four hundred' is receded by a modifying numeral, there is in most
cases a change of order, the head being moved to precede the modifying numeral. The
cases under which the change of order does not take place or is optional are stated as
conditions in the rule.
We i dein d6in-a suei
*30 night thirty nights.
Similarly:
buru-? ?nd+
Y- 400
four hundred yams
ondena qnde-?, sQran si
400 x 400 x 5 x 20
16,ooo,ooo
T.42 Obligatory
I N 1
SD: X, NC, +,
qndena qnde
Conditions: I . NC # ((9;:)) Dig
Dig + siz
(opt) N~ + (sir 1, (fig)}
SC: I . . . 5 * '++-a zg
(NC = a complex of one or more numeral units. The -a here introduced becomes
-9 before a back vowel: 111.35).
72
TRANSFORMATI ONS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
4.5.3 fjniz 'add' occurs only at the end of a numeral phrase; it is therefore moved from
any other position by this transformation.
"6i, mafin[ briru 6i, ma burli fin!
10 z add yam twelve yams
T.41 Obligatory
SD: x NC, ffjnjz, {p) . Y
4.5.4 I t is possible for f/niz 'add' to be generated more than once in a colnplex numeral.
Surplus ones are now deleted.
*
++-a, t6si oi s p r y fin! fini + qnde-a, t6si oi s?r?n fini
400 X ((3 x zo)+(~o+l;)) thirty thousand
T.44 Obligatory
SD: X+fjniz, f finiz, Y
s c : I . . . 3 * 1 3
4.6 PRONOUN ADJUSTMENT
4.6.1 Certain suffixes are preceded only by long and not by short pronouns.
eri-ki, b6-d?v
he em come IPa
i t is he who has come
T . ~ ~ . Obligatory
SC: 12 * 1+L z
(L = length of pronoun: cf. M.2.)
4.6.2 I n certain other positions long pronouns are optional.
eri, b6-d?y beside u bo-dqy
he come IPa he come IPa
he has come he has come
eri-kgm$, b6-mi beside y-kymq, b6-mi
he only come Spa he only come Spa
only he came only he came
T.46 f P 1
SC: I2 * 1+L z
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
5.0 Sentence transformations fall into two large groups; those which involve re.
arrangements of or adjustments to single strings, and those concerned with or arising
out of the linking of sentences together.
5.1.1 Adverbs were introduced, in the phrase structure rules, at the beginning of the
predicate. When the predicate is complex, they also occur after a locative or an auxiliary
verb, provided a verb or complementation follows.
eri, bjpbq, kyrej, b6-a eri, kyrej, bjph?, b6-a
he here can come not he could not come here
Similarly:
eri, Gri , ndqent, y6u-mi
he begin then cry Spa
he then began to cry
eri, indi fe ye-+, ndqenj, mli-mi
he fish buy place to then go Spa
he then went to (the place to) buy fish.
5.1.2 Sentences are made negative by the introduction of the marker -a between the las
verb and the aspect marker; considerable re-ordering of the aspect markers takes placea!
a result (M.62). I n some cases a negative adverb na b 'yet' occurs; i t is introduced nov
by the symbol na and is restricted to its proper occurrences later (N1.6~-I). Example)
are for convenience given as they would occur after the morphophonemic rules.
Simple past:
a b6-mi - a b6-a
she came she did not come
Simple/continuous present:
a b6-yemi a b6-a
she is coming she is not coming
Simple future:
a b6-gimi * a b6-a, fa-qjmi
she will come she will not come
Immediate past:
a b6-dqy =. a nQi, b6-a
she has come she has not yet come
e SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
mediate future:
a b6-qi-dqy a a b6-a, fa-qjmi
she is just about to come she is not just about to come
Stative presentlpast :
a b6-nimi a naa, b6-a-nimi
she is here she is not yet here
Continuous past:
a b6 timi-mi a a b6-a timi-mi
she was coming she was not coming
The remaining aspect markers appear not to occur regularly in the negative, but to he
replaced by one of the more common aspect markers noted above.
T.48 SD: X, (NP+) V (AV.1) (AV.z), Asp
SC: I . . . 3 ' I na z+-a 3
5.1.3 Various parts of a sentence can be emphasized, either by a change of tone pattern
(M.107-1o)or by additionof an emphasizingunit (M.38-45). An emphatic markerisintro-
duced here and detailed changes are shown in the morphophonemics; for convenience, the
examples here are given as they would occur after the application of morphophonemic rules.
wo nama sQ-bj 3 wo nami si-bi
his meat debt T his meat debt
-
arj, b6-qim[ 3 arj, b6-qimi-$6
I come S F I'll come!
wo war/, iyeyn-mi wo war[-kj, /yQyn-mi
his house burn Spa i t was his house that burnt down
T.49
Dig +N (+-kvm?) ((+ y
P r n t L -
SC: I . . . z => em 2
5.1.4 Optative sentences, translated by 'let', 'may', 'should', etc., are formed by
deletion of the aspect markers and change of -a 'negative' to -kljmq; they normally have
predicates which are emphasized as a result of T.49.
eri, mli-qjmj-&6 - eri, mli-$6
he go S F ! he go!
he will go let him go
Qrj, mQ, kyrej, fin-Q-$6 => art, mi , ky re!, fin-ky me-$6
you again can fly not! you again can fly not!
you can/could fly any more you shall not be able to fly any more
T'50 SD: NP X (+) V,
optative taking its place.
w6, fiin-$6 + b6-da, w6, fiin-66
we fly! come and we fly!
we should fly let's fly
w6ni, mb => b6-da wo mu
we go come and we go
we should go let's go
w6 wen1 tei-&6 + mi$-da w6 wen; tei-66
we walk play! make and we walk play!
we should go for a walk let's go for a walk
T.51 SD: Prn.1, (+L), -1.~1 X V (+em)
5.1.6 The imperative is a special case of the optative where a second person singular
pronoun is deleted. (No plural imperative is set up, since there is no diffci-ence in form
to distinguish i t from the optative.)
i r j , mi bo-kymq-66 + mi bo-kymq-66
yon again come not! again come not!
you shouldn't come again! don't come again!
i r j , mC-l<ym?-60 * mb-l<ym?-bo
you go not! go not!
you shouldn't go! don't go!
/ d6ma tun-kym? * dbma tun-kym?
you song sing not song sing not
you shouldn't sing don't sing
T.52 SD: Pm. 2 (+L) + sg, X (+) V (+-kgm?) (+em)
SC: 12- z
5.1.7 There arc two types of interrogative. In yeslno questions the whole sentence is
queried, either by a change of tone pattern (described in M. III and here denoted by a
question mark), or (more emphatically) by the addition of the interrogative marker -&a,
I n other questions a particular constituent of a sentence is queried and is replaced by an
interrogative phrase, but in addition the sentence-interrogation must also take place.
Interrogation of the whole sentence is dealt with first.
a b6-nimi 5 a b6-nimii?
she came StPr she come St Pr?
she is here is she here?
eri, d6ma tun-a 3 eri, d6ma tun-a;
he song sing not he song sing not?
he didn't sing didn't he sing?
A GRAMMAR O F THE ICOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF !I0
5.1.5 The hortative is derived from optative sentences with first person plural pronoun
subjects. A hortative sentence is introduced by b6-da, lit. 'come and' or mi$-dai, lit,
'make and', both to be translated 'let's'. There is no negative form, the negative of the ;
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
kjmi, oki-d?y * k/mj, oki -dy-i a
man swim IPa man swim IPa?
someonc has swum has someone swum?
T.53 SD: NP X VP
5.1.8 Examples of the second type of interrogative are given with the constituent to he
queried and the phrase which replaces it underlined.
eri, am& so?-mi
-
* tvba-k/, ami so?-mi-aa
he town enter Spa who went to town?
-
he went to town
eri, wo bina 6wei-mp, b6-mi * eri, tyba-rn$-k/, b6-mi-ia
- -
he his relative man with come Spa who did he come with?
he came with his relative
?w?v-m?+, bjla-bj erj-rn! - owov-m?$, t e iy6-ki qr]-mi-aa
-
children Tpl elephant T see Spa what did the children see?
the children saw the elephant
eri, i-di yo-lqp, b6-mi * eri, t e tu-k++, b6-mi-ia
he you look in-order-to come Spa why did he come?
he came in order to see you
?.m/nj, wirj-bj-+, timi-mi * omin], t e yo-kQQ, timi-mii?
they house T in stay Spa where did they stay?
they stayed in the house
i</mi-bi, d6in-bi-+, b6-mi * kjmf-bi, deqi s6ri-k?, b6-mi-ia
man T night T in come Spa when did the man come?
the man came at night
eri, ebi bara-kj iki-nj, a-bi-mi * eri, tybara-kj iki-n], a-bi-mi-;a
he good way adv take her ask Spa how did he ask her?
he asked her in a good way
i r i o, osu6-bjm$jlc$, 16 bo-a - i r i q, t e iy6-Id-bjrn$jk+. Ii bo-a-Qa
-
she rain because-of succeed come not for what reason couldn't she come?
she couldn't come because of rain
i r i g, bei b[d$ fe-q/mi
-
* i r i o, t e bide-kj fe-qjmjj?
she this cloth buy SF whichcloth will she buy?
she will buy t Es clotb
i r i g, osu6-bjm$jh+, li bo-a i r i v, t e tu-kQ+, li bo-a-ia
she rain hccause-of succeed come not why couldn't she come?
she couldn't come because of rain
Here the whole cause adverbial is replaced, whereas in the earlier sentence only the
noun was replaced.
eri, sia kyrij bai-dQy => eri, nda korii-kj bai-dqy-ia
he year live IPa h o wx d is he?-
he is twenty years old
'tyba-k[-m~ * tyba-m+-ki
who with who with?
"nda-5 Ikora] * nda korij-kj
how-many year how many ycars?
"te-Id bide * t e bide-k/
hat cloth which cloth?
T. 55 Obligatory
tuba1 -mod
SD: [r2aJ], +-*Ia, t IN, ]
sc: 123 ' I32
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF T J O
5. 2 LINKING OF SENTENCES
5.2.1 One sentence is subordinated to another and, as modifiers usually do, precedes
i t followed by a subordinator (Sub). Sequences of aspect markers in such sentences have
not bcen studied, but in a fuller grammar there would no doubt be limitations on their
co-occurrence in a complex sentence.
A. ari, wail, b6-mi
I turn come Spa
I returned q duma ttin timi s6ri-bi; art, waij, b6-mi
*
b. q duma ton timi-mi
while they were singing, I returned
they song sing CPa
they were singing
T. 54
sD: x,
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
-Y+NGan
Y'+NGin
Dem1NENv.-Nom+i
-bimeen/
Y"+ -bjm?[k+ , z
y+-ko+
LOC
Yf"+Ntm
Man
similarly:
err, b6-dqy-aba; w6ni, mh-qjmj
he come IPa if we go S F
if he comes, we shall go
iri, b6 timi-bjmejk+; w6ni, wirj tplqmo-mi
you come CPa because we house prepare Spa
because you were coming, we prepared the house
i ton-w6nimi bara-bi; eri, b6-qjmi
I think StPr way T he come S F
I think (lit, as I think) he will come
-Num{ -tyba-kj 1 -
y war/-bj-+ timi ifie-bi; kenj Iktmj-kpq, ywy-grj-a
he house T in stay time T one man even him see not
when he stayed in the house, no one saw him
SC: I . . . 3 * 1
q mu-ni iy8 dpy fj timi yq-b]; keni 6ph ogboin, timi-mi
they go thing seek eat CPa place T a big mango he-there Spa
where th-ent to look for food, there was a big mango tree
t e iy6-ki
te-ki
t e tu-k++
tybara-k[
-nda-k[ -
i timi-mi-ebekpq; j mi?-qj ye, fa6
you stay Spa even-if you do SF thing is-not
even if you were there, there is nothing you could do
(Y', Y", and Y"' are different from one another and from Y.)
5.1.9 When an interrogative phrase ending in -k/, replaces a modifying element, th
-kj: will, as a result of the last rule, precede instead of following the noun head. Th
order is now adjusted.
eri, b6 timi-ni; w6ni, m6-ni, yw+y-?, y-la-mi
he come CPa as we go road on him reach Spa
as he was coming, we went and met him on the road
u bo-bi; krmj-mq-s$, wiri-9 mu-dqy
he come when man Tpl all house to go IPa
when he came, everyone had gone home.
Most frequently, -bJ follows the aspect marker -yemi i n its meaning 'continuous past'.
This combination will be written -yenbi and translated 'while, as'.
i ry bile-yembi; iwiri, oki tej-mi
canoe sink while tortoise swim escape Spa
while the canoe was sinking, 'rortoise swam away.
T. 56 SD: A. NP X VP
b. NPYVP
-b)me$nj
-b/m?ikq
bira-bi
ifie-bi
I
seri-bi
SC: 12 * 2+ tijn-bi
YQ-bi
-$bgkpq
-iba
-nj
-bj
because
because
as, the way . . .
when
when
; I when
where
even if
when, if
as
when
A GRAMMAR OF T HE I I OLOI I UMA DI ALECT OF TJO
5.2.2 Some suhordinators are used only with certain aspect markers: -m+ 'as soon as,
when' and -ya 'if, when' occur only after -m] (in its zero allomorph: M.63); -mini/(-mp)
'while' occurs only after timi-mi (with zero allomorph of -mi). There are also two forms
-deki 'after' and -des$ 'when', which are derived from -dej (non-final allomorph of -d$,,
'immediate past') followed by =k] 'emphatic', =se 'all'. (The forms -te]kj, -teis$ are heard
from older speakers who also use -tei. The d-forms, representing the speech of the younger
generation, are written here.)
A. qminj, w6-kimqy-mi
they us entertain Spa
they entertained us
w6 war1 12-mq; omin/, w6-kimqy-mi
a as soon as we reached the house, they
B. w6 war] la-rn]
entertained us
we house reach Spa
we reached the house
Similarly:
osuo pel?-yi; yriy pa-mi
rain stop when sun come-out Spa
whcn the rain stopped, the sun came out
or? andB timi-mjnjj-m?; ?-see, k6ro-mi
they wrestle CPa while they all fall Spa
as they were wrestling, they all fell down
?f/ rj j wen], sin-deekj; d6in koro-qimi
you-pl work do finish after night fall S F
after you have finished your work, night will fall
=you will finish your work before night
] mi$, sin-deese; i bo-~jmi
I do finish when I come S F
when I have finished, I will come.
T.57 SD: A. NP X VP
5.2.3 If the suhject of a main sentence and of a sentcncc subordinated with - ni 'when'
or -bjmeen/, -b/mejk$ 'because' are identical, the subject of the subordinate sentence
is deleted.
, , ,
ariy, bele syry-dei-n{; Brio, bele-bj-Q, nama tya-mi
she pot wash IPa when she pot T in meat put SP
when she had washed the pot, she put meat in it
a bele syry-dei-nj; &rig, bele-b/-$, nima tya-mi
having washed the pot, she put meat in it
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
similarly:
iy6 tyo-r)]-bjmeik$; Brio, igini fe-mi
thing cook S F because she pepper buy Spa
intending to cook, she bought pepper
qro bol6u jmbelemo-qi-b/meenj; qmjnj, ip6k tein-y6mi
their heart sweet cs S F because they draughts play CPa
to amuse themselves, they were playing draughts.
T.58 Obligatory
SD: NP, Cpl VP +
Condition: I = 3
5.2.4 Suhordinated sentences whose subject has been deleted
subject of the main sentencc.
bele syry-dei-nj; i r i o, bele-bj-$, nBma tya-mi =, -
pot wash IPa when she pot T in mcat put Spa
having washed the pot, she put meat in it
optionally follow
i r i o, bele syry-dei-n{, bele-bi-+, nima tya-mi
she, having washed the pot, put meat in it
Similarly:
b6-q/-nj, eri, iry-I</ d+y-y6mi
come S F when he canoe em seek CP
wanting to come, he is looking for a canoe
T.59 SD: Cpl VP+Sub, ; , NP, X
s c : 1 . . . 4 * 314
(Sub = suhordinator.)
5.2.5 Any of the sentences generated by T.56-8 is capable of being transformed so
that the subordinate sentence follows the main one. This transformation is an uncommon
one, used largely for afterthoughts, and constitutes an exception to the usual mle that
modifiers precede heads.
u bo-bi; kjmi-my-sp, wiri-q mu-dqy. a k/m/-mq-s$, war]-? mu-day; u bo-bi.
he come when man Tpl all house to go IPa evcryonc had gone home when he came
when he came, everyone had gone home
Similarly:
omin/, w6-kimoy-mi; w6 warj li-m?.
they us entertain Spa we house reach as-soon-as
they entertained us as soon as we reached the house
i r i q, ig]nBf$-mi; iy6 tyq-r)i-bjme/k+.
she pepper buy Spa thing cook S F because
she bought pepper, being about to cook.
T.60 SD: (NP) Cpl VP+Sub, ; , X, .
s c : 1 . . . 4 3 3214
A GRAMMAR O F T HE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF JJO
5.2.6 A sentence consisting of a vocative or an interjection is linked to one of subject.
predicate form.
A. i b6-yemii? 1
you come CPr
are you coming?
?tQI+, i b6-yemii?
Mud, are you coming?
b. otqk*!
mud!
Similarly:
J
uge6-ia! b6-da, w6, fiin-66
eagle! come and we fly!
Eagle! come and let's fly!
ap6! eri, iz@n na-d?y
oh! he Ijq understand IPr
goodness! he understands xjq!
T.61 SD: A. NP X VP
b. {Inj voc } ' ' I
SC: 1 . . . 3 * 2 ( 3 ) 1
5.2.7 A sentence containing a series of verbs is often combined with a short one of a
recapitulatory nature: ' . . . thus i t was done'.
A. buru-moQ, baqi timi; bee, yajn-mi
yam Tpl
run CPa some break Spa
the yams were running away and some of them broke
h. buru-mo+, rn@-!<i mi$-mj
yam Tpl thus do Spa
the yams did thus
* buru-moo, baqi timi; be$, yajn; mQ-ki mjvmi
the yams were running away and some of them broke -that's what they did
Similarly:
eri, mli-ni, anga-moQ ikj, b6lou-bi-+, lk6romo weri
it go egg Tpl take inside T in fall cs keep
it (the mosquito) goes and lays eggs inside and
b6, dyba-dqo-aba, men], uw6-m?, syQ; in@-ki mje-y6mi
come be-big IPa when then us with fight so do Hab
leaves them and they grow up and fight us - that's what i t does.
T.62 SD: A. NP, X (+) V Y (+) V, Aux
b. NP, m(i (+-*id +miel + cb]
Condition: I = 4
SC: I . . . 5 * 12; 5
(X or Y may contain additional verbs.)
5.2.8 There are two possibilities for reported speech. I n the first, the reported speech
replaces a transposed inanimate object.
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
A. y6, i -mo4 ikj-nj, y-be-mj
1
thing I i t take him say Spa
b6-66- i moQ ikj-nj, (I-bvmj
I said something to him
1 * 'Come!' I said to him
come! J
w6 yeqi-ia, w6, in6-erj yo-!<?, .b6-mi-$&- w6 m? gbi-e6
our mother! we you see to come Spa! we so say!
' 0 God, we came to see you' -let us say so.
T.63 akjz NP + Vsay
SD: * . Y ~ Z , -- NP+m@.{gba2 (NPI{pir~))} dial Au-
b. X
SC: I . . . 3 * 3 - 2
5.2.9 I n the second and more common alternative, the reported speech is also treated
as a replacement of y6z, but i t follows instead of preceding the main sentence, ak/z is
always deleted. Before reported speech, the simple past aspect marker -mi has the allo-
morph -am& (M. 46).
A. omjn!, y6 gba, yeqi dja-mj
they thing say mother show Spa
they told their mother something
b. w6ni, ken1 6pb ye erj-d@y-$6
we a big thing see IPa!
we have seen something big! I*
omjnj, gb6, yeqi di6-amPe: wbni, keni 6pi ye eri-dQy-$6
they told their mother: 'We have seen something big!'
Similarly:
ikjrikiri, ?t@ki) tin-dqy: ot@k$-aa, i b6-yemi-ia
cricket mud call IPa mud ! you come CPr?
Cricket called to Mud: 'Mud! are you coming!'
T.64 al<jz, NPan + Vsay
SD: A. NP X, Y ~ Z +
h. Y
5.2.10 A sentence ending in reported speech is occasionally followed by a phrase
containing ?be bari 'in that way'.
A. toboy-bi, dorou-am&: ? b6-bo
child T shout Spa you come
the child shouted: 'You come!'
b. toboy-bj, ?be bara dorou-mi
child T that way shout SPa
the child shouted in that way 1
toboy-bj, dorou-Am$$: o b6-60 - ?be bara dorou-mi
the child shouted: 'You come!' -that is how he shouted
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF !JO
T.65 SD: A. NP, x (+), [gbi2], Y: Z
Vsay
b. NP, ( b l + bira. +, [gbi2 1, Aux
Vsay
Conditions: I . I = 5
z . 3 = 7
SC: I . . . 8 * 1234 - 678
5.2.11 Two or more sentences containing a contrasted element are linked by a semi.
colon. There are various types of contrast; a rule is given here only for one of the simplest,
that whereby two noun phrascs are contrasted.
A. iwiri, emi
tortoise is-there
thcre was a Tortoise
i*
iwiri-kp?, em!; ili[rjkjrj-kpq, emf
B. ikirikirj, emf
there was a Tortoise and there was also a Cricket
. . . . .
cricket is-there
there was a Cricket
Similarly:
jlcjr/lc/rj me?: eri-lei, !k6su-$6; iwiri me?: eri-ki, k6su-66
cricket said he em elder! tortoise said he em elder!
Cricket said he was the elder; Tortoise said he was the elder.
- -
T. 66 SD: A. W (+), NP, (+) Y
B. X (+), NP, (+)
Condition: z # r
. d
SC: I . . . 6 3 I Z +
(W and X, Y and Z, may, as in these examples, hut need not, be identical. I n the
second examplc, the condition appears to he violated in that eri4 occurs in both sentences.
I t is, however, only in thc morphophonemics that nouns are replaced by their pronoun
forms; at this stage the noun phrases would still contain the two different nouns iwiriz
and jk/rjkjri4.)
5.2.12 Reported speech is linkcd to a following sentence by -pbenj, whose function is
to signal the end of the reported speech.
A. jYrj!cjri me?: eri-!ki, k6su-66; iwiri me?: eri-ki, k6su-66
cricket said hc ern eldcr! tortoisc said he em elder!
Cricket said he was the elder; Tortoise said he was the elder
-
b. ?mini, dynjj-doy
they quarrel IPa
they quarrelled
jkjrjkjri me?: eri-lki, !k6su-66; iwiri me?: eri-lki, k6su-66-pbeni;
Cricket said he was the elder; Tortoise said he was the elder;
- -
qmjnj, dynj/-d?y
so -they quarrelled
r -
!.
SENTENCE TRANSFORMATI ONS
Similarly:
ami-otu-m?, war/-nj, v-be-itnee: i b6i ami duo,
tourn people Tpl turn him say SPa you this town from
the townspeople turned and said to him: 'If you don't
weni tei-a-aba, w6, j-mqm?, sy-glmi-66-pbenj;
walk escape not if we you with fight SF! so
get out of this town, we will fight you!' -so
bls6 bij-bi, kyr? nami, pi-kj, b6-ni, wo nama-m$-sp korj, fj, sin-mi-%
that day T strong animal simply come his animal Tpl all catch eat finish!
that day a wild beast simply came and caught and atc up all his animals.
T.67 SD: A. W (+) Vsay (+) X: Y
B. Z
SC: 12 => I+-pbenj; z
5.2.13 TWO sentences are linked by one of a small group of connectives, which belong
tonally to the second sentence. This transformation is stepping outside the sentence and
is therefore a step towards discourse analysis. I t is included here because the conncctives
cannot well be introduced without a preceding sentence.
A. j na-d?O-66
I understand IPr!
I understand
1
j na-dog-$6. enla, w6 men], fiin-66
*
-B. w6 men!, fiin-66.
I understand. So now let's fly!
we now fly!
now let's fly!
Similarly:
eke6, oki mu-na, kiri !.%mi. en[-k@, ol6gbhsi-b1,
rat swim go and land reach Spa thercfore cat T
Rat swam and reached the land. Then Cat was angry
b6!ou, ken-dei-nj, menj, eke lkpotu-mi
heart hurt IPa sub then rat chase Spa
and so he chased Rat.
T.68 SD: A. X.
B. Y.
Condition: I # z
SC: 12 * I 2
85
?enii
.
~ n j i
en[ - nj
eni-ki
enj-kQi)
enj! dbo
b6i-ki
ndai
nda-iba
be! gba-y6nbi
so
so, then
SO
SO
therefore
' 2
so, then
now
but, then
and then
meanwhile
MORPHOPHONEMICS I: NON- TONAL
6.0 Morphophonemic iules are written with the single arrow, but are quite different in
form from phrase-structure rules. On the left, each string begins with X and ends with
Y; in between are the elements which are to be rewritten, marked off by commas, and
next to them the relevant environment. On the right-hand side only the central part,
corresponding to the portion which on the left is betwecn commas, is rewritten; the
environment, which does not change, is to be read as identical with its statement on the
left. Extra unspecified elements in the environment, when required, are noted as X', etc.
The rules in this chapter are those which deal with the adjustment of morphs in strings,
omitting tonal rules, which are dealt with in the last chapter.
Morphophonemic rules are obligatory unless stated optional.
6.1 PRONOUNS
6.1.1 When pronominalized nouns are preceded by modifiers, they are replaced by
MODIFIED PRONOUNS: -ye (inanimate), - bq (masculine), -aray (feminine). Two of these,
-ye and -aray, are related in form to iyez 'thing' and iri(i4 'she'; the third one, -b?,
does not occur elsewhere. Setting up the class of modified pronouns therefore accounts
for the limited distribution of -lq and, and, by allowing the occurrence of pronouns
after modifiers, removes a restriction on their distribution.
buru nana-bQ
yam own one
owner (m.) of yams
buru nana-ir8y
owner (f.) of yams
inei (=in& ye, M.23)
your thing
T,n,l"c
6.1 .z The long pronouns, which act as subject or predicate noun phrase, but never as
object, are now written wherever the string formerly contained L (length marker).
I
she
L
p + L - k N + p l + they
MORPHOPHONEMICS I : NON- TONAL
6.1.3 Before a demonstrative, a pronoun subject which is part of a subordinated
sentence serving as a noun modifier is either a short pronoun or a possessive. (When not
preceding a demonstrative, only a possessive is possible: M.6-7.)
{Ine}bei k+ri-gi-d.i wari-bi
I this build IF house T
this house I intend to build
6.1.4 I n all other cases where a pronoun precedes ++, only a possessive form is
possible. I n addition, possessives precede the locative marker -?. (All other noun suffures
are preceded by either long pronoun subjects or preconsonantal short pronoun forms.)
her
our
6.1.5 Short pronoun subjects, with the exception of the first person plural, have at
least two forms, one before vowels and one before consonants. I n addition, the first and
second person singular have other forms when they immediately precede a pronoun
object. The prevocalic and pre-object forms are treated here for all persons except the
first plural, whose forms are fewer and are given in M.15-16.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOIZUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
. * - .
6.1.6 Beforeaconsonant, short subjcctandobject pronounsare identicalin shape, except
that subjects are separated by word juncture (when they are not followed by a noun sub)
andobjects by hyphenjuncturefromthenextunit. Short subjects arein thesametonegroup
as the following unit only when the latter is a noun suffix, whereas short pronoun objects,
like all other objects, must be in the same tone group as their immediately following verb,
Relationship nouns, in the singular only, are preceded, not by the ordinary possessive
forms, but by short possessives identical with the short object pronouns: /-daQ 'mv
father', a-y6i 'her husband'.
The rules which follow inti-oducc all preconsonantal short pronoun forms, hyphen
juncture after short pronoun objects, and the first person plural forms, which unlike
those of other nersons do not diffcr before vowels and consonants.
1st sg.
M.14 me, my
you, your
V- 1 him, his
x,
her, her
02 YOU (pl)
01 them
M.15 X, Pm. 1 + pl, (+ ns) Y -t w62 we
M.16 X, Pm. 1 + pl, (+ ns) + Y + w6-4 US
6.1.7 Before a vowel, pronoun objects have forms which are segmentally like the
possessives, but which belong to tone classes 5 and 4 instead of I and z.
M.17
her
M.18 ~ m . 2 + pl 9'4-4 you (pl)
x' [ p + + p1 + (J] ' + ri- [pr?-6] them
6.1.8 A table listing all pronoun forms together is given in Appendix 11.
MORPHOPHONEMI CS I : NON- TONAL
6.2 NOUNS AND TIIEIR SUFFIXES
6.2.1 A few personal nouns, denoting kinship but not of thc group of relationship
(6.1.6), are irregularly combined with possessives.
ht.19
my daughter
+ bavl, (+) Y- t
your daughter
M.zo iniajn my son
+ yail, (+) Y ->
jniain your son
anlain
[ 1 her son
M.zr Ontional
inbirei my brother, my relative
X, [:i f:] + binal + owGiz, (+) Y + inbirsi
your brother, your relative
I I
M.22 Optional
+ blnal + -way, (+) Y +
6.2.2 After non-high vowels thc modified pronoun -ye normally becomes -i or -1
(harmonizing with the preceding unit):
*wo-yG -t wei his (thing)
Ate-ye-ki + tei-ki what?
M.23
{ +, - ye, ( +y) +- f
6.2.3 A few personal nouns have irregular plurals, as do the animate modified pronouns.
fathers
mothers
M.26 X, t?b?yl, + pl (+) Y -t ?w?Vi
children
M.27 X, erez, + pl (+) Y + ereaminiz women
6.2.4 The singular/plural and definitelindefinite marlters are now rewritten as the
definite and indefinite articles.
kjmj-bi
the person
M.29 X (+) Nf +, sg + d, (+) Y -t -ma
ere-ma
the woman
Ik/mi-m?
the people
children
A GRAMMAR OF THE ICOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF I JQ
M.32 X +, pl + i, (+) Y -t -ama bide-am6
cloths
M.33 X, + s g + i , ( + ) Y+ @ burb
a yam
6.2.5 When the s u e -mod 'with' occurs after a vocalic short pronoun (VSP), or when
-mqC 'and' occurs after a vocalic short pronoun which is itself preceded by another noun
phrase ending in -m?,, the reduplicated form -mom? is used.
arj, y-mom+, sy-mj
I him with fight Spa
I fought with him
i-m?+, i-mqm?, mlj-~imi
I and you and go S F
yon and I will go
6.3 NUMERALS
6.3.1 The s 6 -alintroduced when there is inversion in the numeral (T.42) becomes
-? before a back vowel.
buru-9 ?nd+
yam 400
400 yams
ondena qnde-?, sQran si
400 x 400 x 5 x 20
16,ooo,ooo
. , . ,
(C = consonant: 0 , U represent back vowels.)
I . MORPHOPHONEMI CS I : NON- TONAL
6.3.2 When numerals modify an immediately following element, they all, except
kqn/s 'one', take a suffix -a which combines irregularly with the numeral. Before fjnjz
'add' numerals do not take the su&.
Condition: Y does not begin withfjnjz.
6.3.3 Three of the multiples of siz 'twenty' have contracted forms. None is completely
,,bligatory, but the contracted form of 'forty' is normal, while the other two vary con-
siderably.
M.37 Optional
6.4 EMPHASIS
6.4.0 The emphasis marker em (introduced in T.49) is now rewritten appropriately
in its various contexts.
M.36
X'
6.4.1 Emphasis following a predicate is optionally rewritten as -B when there is a
preceding subordinated sentence ending in -ya 'if, when'; in other cases i t is -66 or -60,
the first being polite and encouraging, the second more abruptly emphatic.
a-djsq-ya; a fjai tyq-i
her please if she food cook!
if she likes, let her cook (implying: I don't mind if she does)
- -
ma1
t i ras
niaa
s+ran3
s6ndia3
sQnoma3
nil)inas
is6naa
6ia3
dial
siaa
- ondenas -
a-djse-ya; a fjai tyq-$6
if she likes, let her cook (implying: I want her to)
eri, b6-dog-60
he come IPa
Ke's come!
M.38
Optional X + -ya; X' P+, em, Y + -i
- -
mamsl
tiryz
n6inz
sQr?nz
s6ndiez
sQn?maz
njqjnk
is62
6iz
diel
siz
-9ndez -
two
three
four
five
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
fifteen
twenty
four hundred
6.4.2 An intransitive verb, provided it is not the last verb in the predicate, is emnpha-
sized by a following -nB6 or akj-nBi, a slightly more emphatic form. akjz is the verb
'take', but there is no trace of such a meaning in this purely emphatic use.
The only transitive verb which is regularly emphasized by a following -nA6 is a!& 'take'.
It does not take the more emphatic form akj-nii.
? kor6-nii, yay-mj
they begin em paddle Spa
they began to paddle
+ y - t
eri, mli-ni, akj-nii, am6 la-mi
he go em town reach Spa
he went and arrived at a town
gmjnj, buru-bi ikj-na6, 6ry kara-mi
they
yam T take em canoe carve Spa
they used Yam to make a canoe with
M.40 X akii +, em. {Kp) (+) Y + -nG
M.41 X Y +, em, {Ep} (+I Y + ( au +) -nA6
A GRAMMAR OF TI-IE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF J J O
6.4.3 An indefinite noun or long pronoun is emphasized by the suffix -k/,.
qmjnj, lkenj 6bbri toboy-ki eri-mi
they a goat child em see SPa
it was a young goat they saw
eri-ki, s+/-qj bwei-bi
he em dance SF man T
he is the man who is to dance
-
Nom + i
M.42 x (+) fPrn + L} +, em. (+) Y - -*i.
6.4.4 A numeral, especially when followed by -kym? 'only', is emphasized by a pre.
ceding lkp6kpe3 'only'; kenis 'one' is also preceded by a short form kp&.
kpekpe ma fbn-kym?
only two book only
only two books
-
kp6 ken] fun
only one book
M.43 X, Dig + em, + N (+ -Ikym?) (+) Y -t kp6kpes + Dig
M.44 X, kenis + em, + N (+ -kym?) (+) Y -t kpes + kenis
6.4.5 Verbs, nouns and demonstratives are also emphasized by a change of tone
pattern (M.107-10). By the ncxt rule, units which are to be so emphasized are under-
lined.
6.5.1 The aspect + tense markers are now mapped into units. Some of the units are
genzratcd more than once; e.g. -mi is simple past, stative present, and habitual. Examples
of the uses of the various units are given in Appendix I.
- . -
M.46 X (4-) { J ~ ~ ' } , S + Pa, : Y -t + -im&
Vsay
gbi-am+$:
said: " . . .
9,
b6-mi
came
b6-yemi
is coming
bbqimj
will come
M.50 X, I + {::I, I+) y + + -day b6dqy
has come
M.51 X, I + F, (+) Y -+ + -9iml + -d+v b6-91-dov
is about to come
M.52 X, C + Pa, + -mj n/ / (-m?) Y -+ timiz + -mi b6 timi-mjnij
while (he) was coming
md timi-mi
was going
mti timi-qjmj
will be going
b6-nimi
is here
(Vntr = non-transitive verb.)
w+riz
M.56 X. s t + Pa, (+) Y - { timiz + - m/
kjrjj weri-mi
was right
aka-mi
is bitter
M.58 X m+z (I-1%) + miel, Hah, (+) Y -t +
{ m i m&k/ mj v y h i
- so (they) do
M.59
X, Hab, (+) Y -t + -mi
(timiz) 4- -d+y
indi-iba; j fi-m/
if there is fish, I eat it
6.5.2 The negative adverb marker, hitherto written na 'yet', is now rewritten nai4
before -d+y and -nimi and deleted elsewhere. After the negative -a, the aspect markers
-mi, -yemi, and -d+y are deleted, while -qjm/ and -qj-d?y are replaced by fa-gjmi (lit.
'will not be there'). Examples are given in 5.1.2.
M.60 'x, na, X' + -a +
M.61 X, na, Y + 0
6.5.3 When aspect markers occur as part of a subordinated verb phrase, three of them
in many cases occur with special allomorphs.
M.63 -bim&ni
-bjmeiki, 1
1 ""
-b/ J
6.5.4 The sequence gbi-am& 'said (before direct speech)' is often shortened to meed
or me++4.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF [JO
6.6.1 The verb timia 'be there, stay, live' has an irregular present and negative form,
M.65 X, timi2 +
-a + Asp
6.6.2 Two verb suffixes which have up to this point been preceded by a double hyphen
(=) are now rewritten as part of the preceding unit.
k6roa 'fall' + =m? 'causative' -z k6romo 'throw'
binl 'be plenty' + =rn? 'causative' -t binrnql 'make plentiful'
diel 'share' + =f 'intransitive' + die/ 'be shared'
kinz 'tear' + =f 'intransitive' -t kajn 'tear (intransitive)'
(VR =verb root, except for final nasalization (n). When followed by =f, all verb roots
are low, whatever their original tone class. =rn? occurs with certain transitive verbs and is
lost before =I.)
In 5.2.2 the suffixes =ki, =se were introduced following -d$j, non-ha1 allomorph of
-d+y 'immediate past'. They are now combined with it to yield the two units of type 5,
- dee 'after', -d& 'when'.
7
MORPHOPHONEMICS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
7.0 It was explained in 1.7.1 that there are extensive morphotonemic changes that
geatly affect the tone patterns of individual units. These changes will now be described
in three ordered sets of rules. The first set deals with the tone pattern within the tone
group; that is, with the tone pattern within stretches whose units have until the present
been linked by plus signs (+). The second set unites certain of the tone groups into
longer tone phrases, the conditions for this linking being purely tonal. The third set
introduces intonational modifications into the tone phrases.
Finally, there is a set of rules dealing with vowel elision and tone elision resulting
therefrom.
7.1 TON^ GROUPS
7.1.0 The tone pattern of a tone group is very largely affected by the tone class of the
initial unit of the group. The rules of the first set are therefore grouped partly according
to the tone class of the first unit of the group. The tone pattern of the group is also
affected by a number of other factors, such as the occurrence in certain positions of the
various types of enclitics and finals, so that there is some complexity in the rules.
As in the preceding chapter, only the middle part of the left-hand side of the rule,
enclosed between commas, is rewritten on the right. Except in M.68, however, the
symbols X and Y are not used to show the wider environment, but have other uses. A
list of symbols used in these rules follows.
# Tone group boundary (in first set of rules); tone phrase boundary (in second set of
rules). This symbol could have been introduced much earlier, but was postponed i n
the interests of clarity. It occurs between any two units neither united by f nor
separated by sentence juncture (i.e. a punctuation mark). (Sentence juncture resembles
# i n ma&ng the end of a tone group for the first set of rules, but differs from it i n
that i t cannot be deleted to allow the linking of tone groups into tone phrases.)
I class I unit
I1 class I1 unit
I11 class 111unit
I V class IV unit
V class V unit
I type I enclitic or final
z type z enclitic or final, etc.
X any free unit or type 6 enclitic
Y any X or type I , 2, 3 unit
I- prefix of class I
11- prefix of class I1
SPl short pronoun subject of class I consisting of a vowel
SPzshort pronoun subject of class I1 consisting of a vowel
F any h a 1
CX consonant-initial X
"X vowel-initial X
A GRAMMAR OF THE I<OLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF I J O
3~ an X consistillg of three syllables
&
an X of more than one syllable
X X consists of one or more units
- -
M (miscellaneous): bearing the tone pattern of the isolated unit (on right-hand
side); sequence bearing any tone pattern permitted by earlier rules (on left-
hand side)
H high tone
L low tone
< >if the number of tones within the brackets is greater than the number of
syllables which occur, the final vowel is extended and the sequence applies as
usual
"
the example requires application of a later rule before taking its final form
+ unit boundary within a tone group (marked only where significant: e.g. zz L
denotes one or more units on a low tone. boundaries between the units not
being marked)
( )
(in examples) the parts of the examples in parentheses correspond to the part
of the formula after the second comma.
7.1 .I The only reason for the introduction of ++ was to ensnrc that pronoun subjects
of subordinatedsentences were correctly transformed, normally into possessives (6.1.3-4).
I t is now rewritten before the tone group rules apply: as zero after a short pronoun and
a single + elsewhere. (X, Y used as in chaptcr 6.)
7.1.2 The gencral tone pattern of a tone group beginning with a class I unit begins
low and must contain at least one high tone. If the tone group is sufficiently long, a
second series of low tones begins immediately after the high tone. The factors affecting
the placement of the high tone are varied and make tone groups with a class I initial the
most complex to describe.
A tone class I unit in initial position is always low if it is followed by another unit,
except one of type 4.
M.69
#, I ( - ) + (1 +L!
# buru (gbor6) (plant) a yam
1 (+ 1)
# u- (koromQ) (throw) him
I- (+ 11)
# baqi(-mi) ran
1 (+ 1)
7.1.3 Before a type 4 unit or tone-group boundary, the last syllable of a class I initial
unit is high. If the unit contains only one consonant, its h a 1 vowel is extended; thus a
vowel-initial unit is never shorter than three syllables and a consonant-initial unit is
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
never shorter than two syllables. (Short pronoun subjects consisting of a vowel only are
excluded from this rule; they are always followed by tone-group boundary and therefore
never join tone groups. They arc linked up into tone phrases in the second set of roles.)
# indii #
VI
ocean
fish
(because of) rain
a yam (which)
finished
7.1.4 After a class I initial unit, enclitics or finals of type Ia or za have their final (or
only) syllable high when they recede a type 4 unit or the end of a tone group.
# na-a(-bime+ni)
(because) . . . did
I +l a (f 4) not hear
# bqi-do0 # has run
I +za
7.1.5 I n all other circumstances type ra or za units are low.
# na-a (kimi)
1 + Ia (+ 11)
# poy-dei (bide)
1 + za (+ 1)
(man who) did not
hear
(cloth that) has been
washed
7.1.6 I n some idiolects, enclitics of types ~ b , zb are low-high after an initial class I
unit, and monosyllables extend their final vowel; whereas type IC enclitics remain mono-
syllabic and high.
# toboy-ma6 (bide)
the girlfs cloth)
1 + 1b (+ 1)
# baqi-yemi # is running
I + zb
A GRAMMAR OF T HE ICOLOKUMA DI ALECT O F TJO
# buru-bi (gb6ro)
1 + I C (+ I)
(plant) the yam
ran
For other idiolects, however, monosyllabic enclitics do not lengthen to two syllables;
there is therefore no need to set up r b and IC as separate subclasses, and M.73a, b are
replaced by a single rule M. 73~:
# t oby- mi (bide) the girl('s cloth)
I + I ~ ( +I )
# buru-bi (gbbro)
I f 1b (+ I)
(plant) the yam
is running
7.1.7 After a class I initial unit, the two type 5 units, -d+s+ 'after', -d$ki 'when', extend
their first vowel to two syllables, the first of which is low.
after . . . had grown
big
# sin-d&ki # when . . . had finished
I + 5
I n somc idiolects, -d$k/ behaves like a type 2b unit, so that M.74 applies only to -d@.
when . . . had finished
7.1.8 After a class I initial unit, a free unit begins with either a consomnt or a vowel.
If it begins with a vowel, its second syllable is high and any subsequent syllable is low.
# ine opd (wiri)
I + VI (+ 111)
# opu igbema #
I + "I1
my big (house)
see a child
big bell
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
7.1.9 If the second unit begins with a consonant and has three syllables, the third
syllable is high.
M.76 # 4, + C3X,
spread a cloth
'# ine butuC(-&ma) my cloth(es)
I + C3II (+ 6)
(M.105 must be applied to this example.)
7.1.10 If the second unit begins with a consonant, and precedes a type 4 unit or the
end of a tone group, it has a low-high tone pattern, the last vowel of a monosyllable being
extended.
# wo tai(-bjmeeni) (because of) his wife
I + ( f 4)
# u-kul6(-mp) (when) . . . greeted
I + CII (+ 4)
him
call me
two houses
7.1.11 If the second unit begins with a consonant and precedes anything else, i t is low
throughout.
M.78 # 4 + , C X , + + L
# wo war! (k6ri-mi) (built) his house
I + GI 1 1 (+ I + 1)
# bide gbein(-y&mi-otu-m?) the people who sew
I + C I I ( + z + 6 + 1 ) cloth
7.1.12 The rules applying only to units with class I initial units have now all been
given. Before the rules for class I1 initial units, one major rule for enclitics and finals
will be given. I t is inserted here so that units to which it applies are not included in
the Y of subsequent rules and major readjustments are not necessary. (Two rules for
readjustment, affecting a small number of units, are required and are given later:
M.89-go.)
All finals and enclitics to which an isolation tone pattern is assigned (that is, all hut
types I and 6), keep their isolation tone patterns in final position or when followed only
by a final or (in the case of -g!) by - d+y.
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOI<UMA DI ALECT O F T J Q
has (come!)
is about to (run)
is (bitter)
(ot$kp)-bimqeni # because of (mud)
I v + 4
after (going)
7.1.13 Tone groups with initial units of class I1 contain one or more high tones, which
may be preceded by a single low initial vowel. The initial class I1 unit keeps its isolation
tone (high throughout for consonant-initial units and a small group of vowel-initial units,
with first syllable low for all other vowel-initial units); following X-units are all high.
# ami #
I1
# ob6ri-ama #
11+ 6
# flin gq-otu
I I + I + 6
# w6 yeqi ogqn? uwou
I I +I +I +I I
a town
goats
people who write
books
ascend to God's sky
(w6 yeqi lit. 'our
mother' = 'God')
your house only
7.1.14 A class I1 short pronoun consisting of a vowel only occurring initially in a tone
group behaves like the initial vowel of a class I1 unit in being low and in being followed
by one or more high tones.
your father
greet her
call you pl
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
7.1.15 Tone groups with an initial class I11 unit differ from thosc with an initial
class I1 unit only in the tone pattern of following X-units; the first syllable of such a
sequence following a class I11 unit is high, subsequent syllables are low. (The class 111
unit itself keeps its isolation tone: consonant-initial units all high, vowcl-initial units one
low syllable and all others high.)
# aklj diri
I11 + I1
far
bitter medicine
deaf monitor lizard
# wiri-oti house people
I11 + 6
I n some groups where the second unit begins with a vowel, the first syllable of the sccond
unit is also low: ozlin pgon? 'surface of s ki ' . It is likely that this is to be interpreted as
the emphatic intonation variant (M.109), although it is used more freely than other such
variants.
7.1:16 Whcn an enclitic follows an initial class I1 or class I11 unit, a type I enclitic is
high, and others keep their isolation tones.
# dlirna-bi
I1 + I
the song
the houses
# bQ-dqj (koraj-bj)
(the) past (year)
I I f z ( + I + 1 )
# akq-nimi (diri) (medicine which) is
111+ 3 (+ 11)
bitter
Further study is required of the behaviour of enclitics after a class I1 unit followed by
one or more X-units. Type 3 units in this position behave like X-units:
in6 subo-wonimi ye-m? the things you are
I I + I + ~ + I I + I carrying
7.1.17 A unit of class I V in initial position keeps its isolation tone pattern, which can
be considerably varied; any Y-unit following it is low.
A GRAMMAR OF T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF IJO
# inki fe-a #
I V+ I I + 1
# igbon-bi #
IV + I
kitten (lit. 'cat
child')
the tables
billed a bushcow
did not buy ink
the Hausa (language)
7.1.18 An initial class V unit when immediately followed by a tone-group boundary
or a type 4 unit is low until its last syllable, which is high. (Cf. class I ; M.70.)
M.85 #, V, {+#I + LH
# eri-ni # he who
V + 4
# Iken/ # one
v
#?mini # they
v
7.1.19 A class V initial unit is low when followed by anything else.
M.86 #, V, + + L
# kenj (skri) once
V + I
# eri-ki # i t is he (who)
v + 1
7.1.20 Tone groups whose latter part has not yet been specified arc completed by the
next two rules. The first applies to all incomplete tone groups which do not so far contain a
high tone: that is, to groups resulting from M.72, M.78, and M.86. The tone pattern is
completed by a high tone followed, if there are more syllables, by one or more low tones.
M.87 #&+, x, {$}+H(&)
# na-a t+b$y #
I + I + I
# pov-dei bid+
1 + 2 + 1
# wo wari k+ri-mi
I + I I I + I + 1
# bide gbein-yemi-otu-mp
1 + I I + z + 6 + 1
# kenj s6ri
V + I
# pndy-b/ di
V + I + I
a child who did not
hear
a cloth that has
been washed
built his house
the people who sew
cloth
once
look at the other
(side)
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
7.1.21 All other tone groups so far left uncompleted (as a result of M.73, 75, 76, 82,
83) are now completed with low tones.
# tobpy-ma5 bide gbein-mi sewed the girl's cloth
I + I + I + I I + I
# buru-bi sbu kjmj-bj the man who dug up
I + I + I I + I I + I the yam
# ine op6 wirj
I + I + I11
my big house
# opu egb6ri-ama important stories
I + I + 6
# dlima-bi tin-a did not sing the song
I I + I + I I + I
# akq diri bou-a did not drink bitter
I11 + I1 + I1 + I medicine
7.1.22 A few adjustments are necessary to the preceding rules. After the two verbs
b62 'come' and mliz 'go', the finals - ni i 'emphatic' and - n j b 'linker' become -n5, - n/ ;
the latter form occurs also after the adverb maz 'then'.
After a non-initial low sequence, -Bm& 'simple past before reported speech' changes
its tone pattern.
M.go # (L) - H -- L 4-, -am+?, # + LHL
pt+k$ piri-am++: (said) to Mud:
7.1.23 Class I items, when they follow a small subgroup of class I11 initial units
(consisting of lkilaa 'small' and the qualifying forms of numerals (6.3.2)), behave as if
they were initial in a tone group.
t i r a indii three fish
for expected *tira indi
kila
for expected "kila tob+y
small child
(Na = qualifying form of numeral.)
7.1.24 A somewhat similar problem arises with certain forms of class 11. There is a
contrast between owei pwpy 'a man's children' and ow4 $woo 'male children'. The
first is the expected form after a class I1 unit; the second would result if there were a
tone-group boundary between the units. The second tone pattern occurs in a few other
forms consisting of class I1 + class I:
A GRAMMAR O F T HE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
ow% bog+ male monkey
ow& bhrti yam other than water yam (lit. 'male yam')
iyQrq birrd
water yam (lit. 'female yam')
There are also contrasts where the second unit is of class 11; in the following examples
the first is the cxpected and the second the unusual tone pattern:
t6lumq tibi owei best man at teaching
t6lumq tibj owei headmaster
teach head man
sei t / b/ owei president of dancing club
sei tibf owei chief dancer
dance head man
Some type of compounding tone is apparently involved, hut not enough examples are
known to permit the formulation of defmite rules.
7.1.25 Finally, there are a few rules for units which do not fit into any of the classes
or types of units set up. ' rhe first two are concerned with the intransitive forms of verbs
of change of state (symbolized VI), which have a particular tone pattern (low, wit11 high
sutIix d) and do not behavc like any other group of verbs.
M.92 # , V I + I , # + L + H
toi-i is not bent
VI + I
~ . 9 3 #, vI , +{;]#-LH
rani[(-yemi) (is) melting
VI + 2
7.1.26 The directional enclitic -mQ 'towards' is always high and is followed by a high
type I or z enclitic. If the group i t occurs in begins with a class I1 short pronoun vowcl
p r e k , the syllable preceding -mQ must be low.
M.94 M +, -mO +
tjn hala-mq-mi tied . . . to a tree
i-ge-mQ-mi wrote through me
I - + I + - mQf I
M.95 # L- +, B, + -mQ + < HL >
?-berj-mQ-mi expanded . . . towards
1 1 - +I +- ~Q+I You
i-g$$-mQ-dqv has written through
11-+ I + -mQ + z
YOU
7.1.27 The two forms -$b$ni 'so (after reported speech)' and -$bekp? 'even if' have
special tonal behaviour.
even if . . . will go
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
would plant (it), so . .
7.2.0 The tone groups, delimited by #, have now been described. Under certain
tonal conditions, some tone groups are linked into om PIIRASES. I n the set of rules
urhich are now to be given, # will be replaced by + where this linking takes place, so
that by the end of the set ol rules f will unite units of a tone phrase instead of a tone
group, and # will delimit tone phrases instead of tone groups.
The only units which have not been joincd into tone groups are the short pronoun
subjects consisting of a vowel only (SP1, SPz). They are now linked to the following
tone group, whatever its tone pattern, to form a tone phrase.
Apart from the special case of the pronoun sub~ects, linking takes place only when the
second tone group of the two to be linked begins with onc or more high tones, or with a
single low tone followed by at least one high tone; i.e. when the second tone group
begins with a unit of class 11, 111, or IV.
7.2.1 The most extensive tone changes take place when the first tone group consists
of a sequence of low toncs followed by a single h a 1 high tone. The final high tone of the
first tone group becomes low, as do either the first one or two (depending on the length
of the sequence) of the following series of high tones. (The parts of the examples in
parentheses correspond to the part of the formula after the second comma.)
M.98 #. {*:}# H (H (H)) (#I. - {E} + L (L (HI) +
# bag[ # pi # (b6-mi) -t # baqi pa (b6-mi)
run come-out (comc Spa) (came) running out
# # 1k6ro # (f+v yay-qi-ebenj) + # ? lkoro (f+v yqv-qi-ebeni)
they begin (market paddle S F so) they would begin (to trade - so)
# obiri # birasin(-dqy) + # obiri barasin(-dqy)
dog leave-off (IPa) Dog (has) left off
# bag! # mti-mi (-66) + # bag] mu-mi (-66)
run go SPa (!) went running (!)
# ?I # mi-ni # (baqi-mi) -> # q ma+/ # (baqi-mi)
they then (run Spa) they then (ran)
# tv+ # f[ # (sin-mi) # t v? f i j # (sin-mi)
cook eat (finish Spa) (finished) cooking and eating
7.2.2 When only a single high tone begins the second tone group, it normally remains,
and the only change which takes place is the lowering of the final high syllable of the
first group. But where the first tone group consists of a monosyllabic base form (in-
cluding a short pronoun subject), the first vowel of the second tone group is extended to
bear a low-high tone sequence. Where a vowel was extended to meet the requirements
of a short class I initial tone pattern (iVI.70), i t is now shortened again.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF JJO
# bur6 # gbi(-nii) + # buru gbi(-nii)
yam say (em) Yam said
# eke6 # gbi(-nib) + # eke gbi(-nii)
rat say (em) Rat said
# t ai # g bi(-nai) + # ta g bai(-nii)
wife say (em) the wife said
# ?I # lin(di korj-mi) + # o lain(d& kori-mi)
they Lan(der catch Spa) they (captured) Lan(der)
7.2.3 Before a second tone group with a single initial low vowel, a low sequence ending
in a high tone changes high to low. Extended vowelsIare shortened as above.
# ye6 # (ari-$ri) -z # ye (arC+ri-mi)
I (her see Spa) I (saw hcr)
# eke6 # (oki-doy) + # eke (oki-doy)
rat (swim IPa) Rat (has swum)
7.2.4 A group ending in one or more high tones, optionally preceded by a single
low-tone vowel, forms a tone phrase with a group beginning with one or more high tones;
there is no change of tone pattern.
M.102 # (L)E, - #, H - + +
# mi # (gbi-doy) + # ma (gba-doy)
then (say IPa) then (said)
# in6 wari-9 # (mli-dqy) + # in6 war& (mu-doy)
your house to (go IPa) (has gone) to your house
7.2.5 All short pronoun subjects consisting only of a vowel xvbich have not been linked
to their following tone group by one of the preceding rules are now joined by two special
rules. The short pronoun itself is always low; the syllable following a class I pronoun is
low and the syllable following a class I1 pronoun is high. Where the tone of the syllable
is different from the required one, i t is changed; this occurs only in the case of class I1
pronouns, since adjustments for class I pronouns have already been made in earlier rules.
# 11 # (finimo-mi) j- # i (finimpmi)
I (open cs Spa) I (opened i t out)
# iz # (mli-mi) + # i (md-mi)
you (go Spa) you (went)
# oz # (Iindi kori-mi) + # ? (Iindi kori-mi)
you pl (Lander catch Spa) you (captured Lander)
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
# oz # deri(-mi) + # o d+ri(-mi)
you pl laugh(ed) you laugh(ed)
# as # fi(-mi) + # a fii(-mi)
she die (Spa) shc die(d)
# az # t?(b?(i IPlern? mi)+ # a tQ(b$(i I$lem?-mi)
she ch(i1d soothe Spa)
--
she (soothed the) ch(i1d)
7.2.6 One adjustment rule is required at this point. If the first high syllable after an
initial low sequence in a tone phrase begins with a vowel, the vowel immediately pre-
ceding it becomes high as well.
M. r os#I , , - L , YH+ L + H
*# fini bolo(6-$) + #fin! bol6(u-$)
fire insi(de at) insi(de) the fire
*# ine butu(6-ima) + # ine but6(e-&ma)
my dre(ss pl) my dre(sses)
*# t a b&(+ s6ri-mi) + # ta bele(e ssri-mi)
wife - pot (take Spa) the wife (took up the) pot
(The last example bears lengthening (M.106) and emphatic tone pattern ( M. I o~) ,
which-suggests that the third set of rules, dealing with intonational variations, might be
better dealt with before the second set, concerned with tone phrases. Simplicity of
exposition has here taken precedence over a strict ordering of rules.)
7.3.0 The modifications of tone patterns which have been indicated in the syntax are
now developed. They are:
(a) Emphasis, hitherto shown by underlining the affected unit (6.4.5).
(b) Interrogation, shown by a question mark after the string affected (5.1.7).
(c) A recapitulatory phrase following reported speech (~. z. Io), introduced by a dash.
All these modifications are essentially intonational in character; i t is of interest that the
specific devices uscd are not dissimilar to those of English. Thus the change of tone
pattern to emphasize a particular unit often involves raising the tone of one syllable and
lowering that of others, a process markedly like that which Pike describes in English
when a 'special centre of selective attention' replaces a 'normal' one. (INTONATION OF
AMERICAN ENGLISH 44 (Ann Arbor, 1945).) Questions in English without a special inter-
rogative word are oftcn, as in Ij g, indicated by a change of intonation. Finally, the use of
an all-low tone pattern, which is otherwise very unusual in Kolokuma? in a recapitulatory
phrase following reported speech iinds its counterpart in what Pike calls a 'weak rhythm
unit', one of the principal types of which is 'an indication of the speaker' after reported
speech (op. cit. 39).
It occurs otherwise only when an all-low class IV unit is followed by another unit: igbon ikirai
'Hausa bamboo'.
'07
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF 119
7.3.1 When a unit is emphasized, i t is frequently lengthened. The length is normally
added to the final vowel.
kiri - kirii
farm farm, the farm
-
og6ri di-mi -t og6rii di-mi
-
looked at a bushcow looked at the bushcow
-
I n a few cases, however, for which the rule as at present formulated does not cater, a
vowel other than the final one is lengthened:
kenj 6pir ofoni -t ken! 6pb ofooni
-
one big bird one big bird
The incidence of emphatic length requires further study, and the following rule is only
a first approximation:
M.106 X( y) (CV), CV, Y + C W
7.3.2 Emphatic tone patterns will now be described. I n formulas the unit to he empha-
sized will, instead of being underlined, be enclosed in wedges (< >)to avoid confusion with
the underlining which indicates that more than one syllable is possible in that position. I t is
understood that the lastvowel of the emphasized unit has in many cases been lengthened by
M.106; the extra syllable is not indicated on the left-hand side, but on the right-hand side
its tone is given, enclosed in parentheses if emphatic length is optional in that formula.
A unit in an initial low sequence is emphasized by its last syllable becoming high, while
the original high syllahle of the group becomes low.
wo nama 56 + wo nami s i
his meat debt his meat debt
-
kaby tli -t kabQ t(l
-
meaning of a proverb meaning of thc proverb
zu ye ak/ + zu y6 i kj
takes basket take the basket
ma yeqi-6tb-mp -t ma yeqii-btu-m?
the =mothers the two mothers
-
7.3.3 If the emphasized unit ends in a single high syllable immediately preceding the
end of a tone group or a non-initial low sequence, it is lengthened and becomes high-low.
jgbQ fini ?- igbQQ fini
breadth of a castnet breadth of the castnet
wo nama s i i- wo nama di
his meat &bt his meat debt
-
b6i kpe kenj fun -t b6i kpee kenj fun
onlythis one book only this one book
-
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
7.3.4 An emphasized high unit before other high syllables is often but not invariably
lengthened and the following syllables become low.
kiri gbor6 + kirii gbbro
-
dig a farm dig the farm
ung~j kQrj i- unguu kQrj
-
hold a waterjar hold the waterjar
tQry di -+ tQry dl
-
look at a river look at the river
7.3.5 An emphasized high-low unit becomes high-high.
kenj nimi-kpp -t kenj nima-kpQ
(not) even one animal (not) even one animal
-
Units with tone patterns other than those specified above undergo only emphatic
lengthening and not a change of tone pattern.
7.3.6 The interrogative intonation pattern is formed by:
(a) A raising of all high tones and extra stress on stressed syllables (this is summarized
by the question mark and is not further dealt with).
(b) A final low tone. If the tone group ends in two high tones, the second one becomes
low. If it ends in one high tone, a vowel is lengthened and the tone pattern over the two
syllables becomes high-low. If it ends in a low tone, there is no tone change except the
phenomena described in (a).
*u dorou-g[mj? -t u dorou-tjjmj?
will he shout?
*i b6-yemii? i- i b6-yemii?
are you coming?
(This example has emphatic lengthening of the h a l vowel.)
"p d6r6u-d?(1? + p d6rbu-dpqjl?
have you (pl) shouted?
"u dorou-a? + u dorou-&A?
didn't he shout?
But in
u buru-hi ghbro-mi? did he plant the yam?
there is no change of tone pattern from the positive, the only difference being that the
high tone is higher in the question.
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOICUMA DI ALECT OF XJO
7.3.7 A recapitulatory phrase following reportcd speech (5.z.10) is all low.
M. IIZ M-, - TvI, - # +4
-
Condition: the second M begins with ?be bari 'in this way'.
"kvr? nami, ine qnlni-m? kyi-y6mj-60 - ?be bari, dorou-mi
strong beast my sheep Tpl catch SPr! this way shout Spa
+ kyrq nami, ine ?n/ni-mq k?rj-y6mi-60 - $be bara dorou-mi
'A wild animal is catching my sheep!' -so he shouted.
7.3.8 All the tone rules having now been given (except those which are connected with
elision and do not entail rewriting: 7.4.3), + is deleted and the tone phrase boundary
marker # is replaced by the comma, which has been seen i n examples.
M.113 X, [ $ ] , Y+[ , ]
Ikeni + s6ri # ken! + &mi # timi + -mi + keni seri, ken( i mi , timi-mi
one time a town exist Hab once there was a town
7.4.0 The transcription which has been used throughout is morphophonemic. The
final set of rules, concerned mainly with vowel and tone elision and with vowel replace-
ment, relates morphophonemes to phonemes, but the transcription will not be changed.
At each previous stagc rewriting has been necessary because the next set of rules depended
on the previous rewriting, hut since no further set of rules depends on the last one,
rewriting is unnecessary. 'rile examples illustrating each rule will thcrefore be enclosed
in slants to show that they are phonemic sequences and not the usual morphophonemic
transcription.
ELISION refers to the loss of one or more phonemes or prosodemes from a sequence;
REPLACEMENT to the partial or total assimilation of a final vowcl to the initial vowel of
the next unit. Consonants and tones are only elided; vowels are first replaced and then
sometimes elided.
Partly to avoid introdudngfurther conventions for symbols and partly because one of the
most important rules (M.117) admits variants, thcse last rules are not given as formulas.
7.4.1 Only one rule eliding a consonant is given
M.114 y is lost between non-front vowels between units.
buru gboro-yi + /bhrhgbhri/
yam plant when when (he) planted yams
(Vowel and tone elision have followed the loss of y .)
7.4.2 The question of vowel replacement and the alternative phenomenon, consonant
anaptyxis, is complicated and requires further study, especially where nasalized vowels
are concerned. The following rules are tentatively set up.
M.115 The vowel i at the end of enclitics is always replaced before a following vowel
over hyphen, word, or comma juncture.
wirj-bj-$ + lwirj b@/ i n the house
buru-biikj + /bardbik// take the yam
b6-ni, akj + /b6nik// come and take
(In the last two examples, elision has followed replacement.)
MORPHOPHONEMI CS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
M.116 Before units of the shape W (these are normally emphasizers) an a~aptyctic
semivowel develops after a high vowel: y after a front vowel and w after a back one.
w6 yeqi-ha + /w6y&qiyai/ 0 God, . . .
i na-do+&& -t /inid$Owee/ I understand
7.4.3 I n other cases vowel replacement tahes place over hyphen and word juncture
with certain vowels. I t is not possible to set up complete rules, as it seems likely that
there are differences depending on the tempo of speech, but the following general
principlcs apply.
(a) The first vowel is more likely to be replaced if it is non-high than if it is high, and,
among the high vowels, more likely to be replaced if it is back than if it is front.
in6 ere + /in++r+/ your name
hut
vi erp -t /vier$/ the other name
and
b6dh ere + /b6di1pr$/, this otber name
/b6dS+r+/
(b) The first vowel is less likely to be replaced if thc second vowel is high than if it is
non-high.
ar i igodo + /iriig6d6/ her lock and bey
but
ar i ?ng? -> /ir++ng+/ herself
(c) There is sometimes partial assimilation rather than complete replacement, usually
in the closc/open dimension, but occasionally in thc frontlback one.
vi jli -t /viili/ the other necklace
i n& uru + i n your wine
(d) If there is full replacement, the second vowel replaces the first.
wo arQ + /wiirq/ his canoe
in6 obiri -> Iin66biril your dog
The specific combinations normally found are set out i n Table 8, which is to be
regarded as a rule.
Second
vowel
i
i
e
e
a
0
0
Y
U
First vowel +
i i e e a
i i i i ei ei
i i i i ei ei ai
ie ie ee ee ee
ie ie ee ee ee
ia ia aa ?a aa
i? I ? ?? ?? ??
io io 00 $0 oo
iu i V VV, ou ey au, ay
iu, uu ju, iu ou, oo eu au
?
?i, ?i
?i
ee
ee
aa
??
OO,?O
?v
ou, ?U
0 'J U
oi yi,ii i i
oi, oi vi i i
oe, ee ye, ee ue
ee vet ee ue
aa ya,aa ua
?? Yo,?? U?
00 uo, 00 UO
OU Y v UU
OU uu, yu uu
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
7.4.4 Elision of tones differs from all previous tone rules i n that it takes place without
regard to tone phrase boundaries. I t occul-s only when two identical vowels occurring
in juxtaposition belong to different units: i.e. as a result of the vowel replacement rules,
Where a tone is elided the vowel is also, of course, automatically elided.
A UNIQUE tone is a tone that is immediatcly prcceded and followed by tones different frorn
itself: e.g. a high tone flanked on both sides by low tones. Other toncs are NON-UNIQUE.
M.118 If both tones are unique, both are retained.
q-te-mi-&& -t /Qt+m66&/ begged them!
M.119 Optional
If only the second tone is unique, it is retained and the first tone is elided.
b6-mi-&& -t- /b6m66/ came!
mlj-ni, oki -t /mljn&ki/ go and swim
M.120 If the second tone is non-unique, the first is retained and the second elided.
bila-bj +rj -t- /bilibCrl/ see the elephant
kila of6ni + /kii6f6ni/ little bird
I n the first example the first tone is unique and the second non-unique; in the second
neither is unique. I n both, the first tone is retained and the second elided.
A useful short formula for the vowel and tone elision is: ' Tone of first, vowel of second,
unless second is unique'. The follou~ing contrast is instructive:
buru-bi, akj -t /bhrhbiik// the Yam took . . .
buru-bi hkj + /birrCbiki/ took the yam
I n both, the first tone (that of -bi) is unique. I n the first example, the tone of the initial
syllable of akjz is also unique; both tones are therefore retained (M.118). I n the second
example, the tone of the initial syllable of ak/% is not unique, and therefore M.120 is
applied.
APPENDIX I: USES OF THE ASPECT-TENSE ~ ~ ORP HEMES
I. -mi:
(a) Simple past: 'did', 'was'.
i bo-mi I came
eri, b6lou, kqn-mi he was angry
(b) Stative present, with stative verbs only: 'is'.
kjrjj-mi it's right
(c) Habitual: 'do'.
indi-iba; i fi-rnj if there is fish, I eat it
2. -yemi:
(a) Simple/continuous present: 'is doing', 'is becoming'.
i b6-yemi? are you coming?
kjrjj-yemi it's getting right
(b) Continuous past: 'was doing' :
a to+-yemi ifie-bi; eri, pi-dqv while she was cooking, he went out
(c) Habitual, often with reduplication of the verb: 'do'.
d6in biri la-dpy-aba; q m j tern?, dorou dorou-yemi
whenever it comes to midnight, ghosts of men cry aloud
112
MORPHOPHONEMICS 11: TONE AND ELI SI ON
3. -dQv:
(a) Immediate past: 'has done', 'has become'.
i bo-dQy I have come
kirrj-dqv i t has become right
(b) Immediate present: 'is', 'has become'.
j na-dog
I have heard = I understand
Ikjr/i-dpy i t has become right = i t is right now
(c) Habitual: 'do'.
osuo koro-dQy-aba; eri, yya ikp6te-dqy
whenever rain falls, he is full of regret
4. -q/mj:
Simple future: 'will do', 'will be'.
i mu-gimj I will go
kjrjj-gjmi i t will be right
5 . -q/-dqy:
Immediate future: 'is just about to do', 'is just about to become'.
arj, m0-q/-dpy I'm just about to go
kjrji-qj-d?y it's on the point of being right
6. timi-mi:
(a) Continuous past: 'was doing'.
eri, oki timi-mi he was swimming
(b) Past state: 'was being', 'used to be'.
kjr/j t~mi-mi i t used to he right
7. werj-mi:
Past state: 'was being', 'used to be'.
kjr/j weri-mi
it used to be right
8. timi-qjmi:
Continuous future: 'will be doing'.
eri, tie timi-qjml he will be standing
9. -nimi, -w6nimi:
(a) Present state: 'is'.
u bo6-nimi he's here
(b) Past state: 'was'.
j-dao imaran mi$ ebi na-w6nimi-ni, . . .
having heard the good deeds of my father Amaran, . . .
(where the context is clearly past).
10, timi-dpy:
Habitual (only one example recorded): 'do':
w6ni, d6in-q, bony timi-dqv-aba; . . . when we are asleep at night, . . .
"3
A GRAMMAR O F T I l E KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF TJO
The following uses have also been noted but are not covered by the rules:
11. -d+y denotes not only the immediate past in relation to the present, but a past
immediately preceding another past, and a future immediately following another
future.
i bo-dej ssri-bi; eri, seri tie-mi
when I came, he stood up
b6i osho, pelpdqy-aba; w6ni, ken! b6u-ki sy?-d+y-66
as soon as this rain stops, we'll be i n the bush!
12. - r ~[ timi-mi denotes an unfulfilled condition:
ako-a tirni-aba; art, b6u-qi timi-mi
if it had not been bitter, I would have drunk it
APPENDIX 11: TABLE OF THE VARIOUS PRONOUN FORMS
TABLE 9
Short Short Short Short Short
Long Posses- object object subject subject subject
Person pronoun sive + cons. + vwl + cons. + vwl + object prn
I sg. arj:, inel i-1 ine-5 jl iyll Ye1
2 sg. irj4 in& 1-2 in&-4 / z !Y!Z Y&
3 sg.m. eri5 WO1 V-1 WO-5 V 1 WO1 WO1
3 sg.f. iri(14 ariz a-2 ari-4 a2 ari z ariz
I pl. w6ni4 w62 ~ 6 - ~ ~ 6 - ~ w62 w62 w62
z pl ?mini4 ?rQz 0-2 0'4-4 ?Z ?rOz or62
3 pl ominis or01 0-1 or?-5 01 or01 or01
INDEX
A. Technical terms
accompaniment (Acc)
37-8
accompaniment verb (Vacc)
341 37, 44
action verb (Vact)
34. 37, 39-40, 45
adjective verb (Vadi)
. ..
34, 37, 45. 57
adverb (Adv)
38, 45, 74
adverbial
38-9
adverbial phrase (AP)
37-8,76-8
ambiguity
69-70
animate
35, 4% 7 7 4 , 83. 89
animate noun (Nan)
42.77-8
aspect
36-7
aspect markers (Asp)
10; 36-7, 39-40,74-5, 78,92-3,112-14
auxiliarv IAux)
back vowels
12-13, 17. 14-5, go, i r r
breath group
11-12, 25-6
causative
34, 36, 45, 54-7, 94
causative phrase (CsP)
34,54-5
cause adverbial (Cs)
38-9.77-8
change of state verb (Vch)
34.44-5,593 104
close vowels
13. 24-5, 111
collocational limitations
10, 60
colon
12,83
comma
first consonant
2-3
second consonant
2-3
ConStltuent sentence
47,49, 53, 55-6, ~9~63- 4, 66, 68-71
context-restricted rule
"
continuant
16, 18
continuous (aspect) (C)
36-7, I 12-13
co-ardmatina transformations
-
47. 52-3. 61-2
cross-classification
3% 34, 42
dash
12, 83-4, 107, rro
dehnite
41-3. 57-8, 71.89
dehnitc article
6, 89
dehnitc maker (d)
41-3. 57-8, 65-689
deletion
of demonstrative
69-70
of noun phrase
42, 62-3, 66
of pronoun
,"
demonstrative (Dem)
39-40. 43,46. 6% 6870~75~77- 8, 87,9z
determiner (D)
38, 41. 43, 67. 70
dialect
1-4
dialect borrowing
20, 22-3
digit (Dig)
43-4.46.75
distinctive features
7-8, 17
double hyphen
32, 94
47,86
c o m a juncture elision
11, 25, 58, iro 11,53,95,110-1~
complementation (Cpl) emphasis
337, , 74 14, 75. 91-2. 107-9
comecuve emphasis marker (ern)
85 37.75
consonant emphatic intonation and tone pattern
I r , 16-23, 25, 28, 31, 9s-lor, 110-11
12, 107-9
A GRAMMAR O F T H E KOLOKUMA DI ALECT O F IJO
enclitic
15-6, 28, 3+I, 53, 95-101, 104, 112-14
exclamation mark
12, 33.41. 82
feminine noun (Nf)
42. 45. 86. 89
final (F)
28, 3 0 4 , 95-100
free unit
28. 95. 98
fricative
18, 20-3
front vowels
I P I 3 , 17, 24-5, 111
full stop
12, 33. 81
future (tense) (F)
3 6 7 , 113
.
6 , 42, 89
general verb (of movement) (Vgen)
36,45.47-52
grammaticality
habitual (aspect) (Hah)
36-7. 82, 112-13
high vowels
12-16, 24, 111
holnoganic nasal
11~16-17
hortative
76
hyphen j ~mchxe
11, 15-16, 19-zo, 28, ~ r r r r r
ideophonc (Id)
8, 14, 20, 23-5, 39-40, 4 ~ 4 5
ideophonc phrase (Id?)
33r40
idiolectal variation
8-9, 60, 97-8
immediate (aspect) (I)
3 6 7 , 113-14
im~erative
;6
inanimate
4 ~ ~ 7 7 - 8 , 82, 86
inanimate noun (Nin)
42. 86
indefinite
41-3. 57-8, 71.89-90, 92
indefinite marker (i )
41-3, 57-8,65-6,89-90
interjection (Inj)
10, 19- ~0, 33, 46, 82
interrogative
7 6 4 , 107, 109
intonation
12. 33.75-6. 95. 107-IO
juncture
11-12, 16
kernel
37, 42. 51s 59
lexical d e s
3 ~ ~ 4 4 - 6
loanwords
15, 19-20, 22-3
locative (Loc)
37-8: 57-8.69,74.77-8
locatwe verh (Vloc)
34. 37, 44
long pronoun
42-3,73,86.114
lollg vowel
13-14, 16, y, 108-rz
law vowel
12-3
nlasculine noun (Nm)
42: 45, 86, 89
matrlx sentence
47.49. 51, 56. 59. 64-6,!68-o
nlid vowel
12-13
modified pronoun
8 6 8 9
modifier
6, 81
modifier of manner (Man)
37. 39-40.77-8
modifier of noun (IM)
66-71
nladifier of sentence
78-81
minor modifier of manner (Mn)
37, 39-40
morpheme
12, 15, 32
morphophanetnic rule
6 7 , 28, 47, 86-IIZ
movement verh (verb of motion) (Vmove)
34.36-40~47-52
nasal consonant
16-18, 20
nasalization
I [- w16- 18, 20, zg, 1 1 0
negative
74-5, 93-4
nominal (Nom)
41, 43, 58,75> 92
nominalization
34.63-6
non-high vowels
13-14, 24, 111
non-unique tone
112
noun (N)
41-2, 62-72, 7 ~ ~ 7 8 , 86-90, 92
noun group (NG)
41.77-8
noun uhrase (NP)
. .
33, 37-40, 41-4,49-53, 55-7. 59-75.
79-84,87-8, 91
noun su& (ns)
41-3,46,73, 87-8
animate noun (Nan)
48, 77-8
feminine naun (Nf)
42, 45, 86, 89
inanimate noun (Nin)
42, 62, 77-8, 8 6 8 9
masculine noun (Nm)
42. 45, 86, 89
minor naun phrase (Np)
38, 41-3, 58
other noun (Nx)
42.46
personnl noun (Nps)
4% 45, 89
place noun (Npl)
42.46
relationship naun (Nrel)
42, 45.88
singular-only naun (Nsg)
42. 46 . .
singular/phwal noun (Nsp)
4 ~ ~ 4 6
time noun (Ntm)
42, 46, 77-8
number marker (nm)
41-2
numeral (Num)
43-4. 73-3, 77-8, 90-1, 103
objcct (NP)
34-5. 37,49-59, 63-5, 69, 71-2, 82-3
open vowels
13, 24-5, 1 1 1
optative
75-6
orthography
14, 17-18, 20, 3 1
other transitive verb (Vo)
34>44
passive
7 . 5 7 4 , 67-8
past (tense) (Pa)
3 6 7 , 82, rrz-13
phoneme
8, II-25, 110-12
phrase-struchre rules
' 0~32- 46, 5 s
plosive
16-23, 25
plural (pl)
4a, 86-90
I NDEX
possessive
15, 64, 68,87-9, 96, 114
predicate (P)
33-40, 6 6 7 , 74-5.82. 91
predicate noun phrase (PNP)
33, 42-3, 6z, 7 s 86
present (tense) (Pr)
3 6 7 , 4 o , 112-13
pronominalization clement (p)
42-3
pronoun (Pm or P)
15, a7-9, 41-3, 57-8, 6 4 6 4 , 70, 72-3, 75-6.
86-9, 90. 9 5 7 , loo, 104-7,114
prosodeme
11, 14-18
punctuation marks
11-1% 25, 32. 47
question mark
lz, 76-7, 109
reduplication
23-4, I 1 2
renlacement
11-11
reported speech
82-5
rhythm
sccond transitive verh (Vtr.2)
34-6
semicolon
1% 79-81, 84-5
sense verh (Vsen)
34. 44, 63-4
sentence (S)
9, 33, 74-8s
sentence juncture
11, 25, 3z, 95
simple (aspect) (S)
3 6 7 , 40, 82, 112-13
singular (sg)
42, 86-90
short pronoun
27. 73, 87-8, 90, 96, roo, 1047, 114
short pronoun prefix
15, 88, 95, 100, 104, 714
short pronoun subject
' 5 , 8 7 4 , 95, 97, I 057, 1' 4
SOnDIBnt
18. 21-2
, "
specific verh (of movement) (Vsp)
36, 45, 48-51
stative (aspect) (St)
36-7. 40, ""13
Stress
~ 6 ~ 2 9 , 109
style
9, 20
subject (NP)
33, 52, 57-9, 62-4, 66, 80-2, 86-8, 96
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF 1 1 0
subordinator (Sub)
78-81, 94
syllable
11-14, 167, zo, 25-6, 96-101, 106-9, i r z
symbols (for rules)
3 ~ ~ 4 7 , 95-6
tense
3 6 1 (see also aspect)
time adverbial (Tm)
38-9,77-8
tone (=toneme)
I r, zo, 25-6
tone class
2.5, 27-9, 95-105
tone group
7, xr- 12, 25-8, 32, 58, 95-106
tone pattern
6, 11-12, 25-31, 57-9,75-6, 92,95-Irz
tane phrase
7, 11-12, 25-6, 58, 95, 105-7, 112
non-unique tane
I12
unique tone
112
toneme
11-12, 25-6
transitive verb (Vtr)
341.44, 50-9, 63-4
transitive directional verb (Vtr.d)
35-6,44, 104
transitive verb of type I (Vtr. I)
34,44
transposed object
71-2, 82-3
type (of unit)
28, 30-1, 95-102
unique tane
I12
unit
11-17, ao-31, 32, 95-110
verb (V)
331. 39-40,47-60,75, 82, 91-2, 94
verb of change of state (Vcb)
34. 44-5. 59. 94,104
verb of motion (Vmove)
see movement verb
verb of saying (Vsay)
34-6,44.83-5
verb phrase (VP)
633-40,47-60, 93
transitive verb (Vtr)
see transitive
vocative (Vac)
33, 4' . 82
vowel
11-18. 20, 24-5, 28-9, 31, 53, 96-8, 10-1,
,05-9,IIO-IS
vowel elision
11, 53. 95. I I O- I Z
vowel harmony
11-16, 31
vowel length
13-14, 16, 24, 108-12
word
11-12
word junchlre
I,, 15, 110-11
word-ordcr
6
I NDEX
B. Units ci t ed in specific rules, etc.
Open (dotted) vowels follow their close counterparts; gb, kp, q follow g, k and n res-
pectively; low tone precedes high; affixes follow free units, and s u f i e s without a tone
mark follow those which have one.
az, ar62 she, her (poss.)
87-9, "4
a-2, ar6-4 her
87-8, "4
-2 weaker and more indifferent emphasizer of verb than -66
31391
-a negative
209 30>74-5, 93-4
-a, -? numeral s uf i
722 90
4% vocative emphasizer
3' >4'
-iab interrogative emphasizer
31~76-7
-6ba when, if
302 79
akjz take, use
34-7~53-7, 66, 83,91, 112
-ama indefinite plural
3 1, 89-90
-im& simple past tense (before reported speech)
20' 30,83,92-3,I03
anjl that
46, 62
i ri 04 she
86, 114
-aray feminine agent
3 1 ~8 6 , 89
ar/s I
86, 114
ark you (sg.)
86, 114
biraa way, -ness
34,39-40, 64-6
bira-bi as, the way . .
79
$be bar6 in that way
83-4
bay1 daughter
46989
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DI ALECT OF T J O
b6i3 this (very near)
46, 62
b6i g ba-ysnbi meanwhile
85
b6i-ki now
85
-bi definite non-feminine singular
15-16, 30, 89, 112
-bj (=when)
79, 93
-bjm&nj, -bjrnqjn/ because
31,39,78-81, 93
-bjrneikp because
31, 39, 77-81? 93
blnal relative
89
bjs& that
46
b62 come
51, '03
b6-da let's . . .
76
b6dh this (nearer of two)
46, 62
-b? non-fclninine agent
3 ~ 8 6 , 89
-da and (linking verbs)
19. 30, 52-3
day1 (pl. day-otli) father
89
de qi ~ which?
77-8
degi ifie-k? when?
78
deqi seri-I<? when?
78
degi yQ-k$ where?
78
-deQ after
19. 31,80, 94, 98
dqqjl surpass
59
-d+s+ when
19, 31~80, 94,98
die], dial fifteen
72, 90
I NDEX
dial show
35-6,83
-dQy, -d+j immediate past tense
19, 30,80,92-3,94, 99-100, 113-4
immediate present tense
92-3, 113
habitual
93, 113
ddoz go through, from, along
499 53
dyal some
46
4 6 polite emphasizer of verb
3'. 91
erniz (irregular present of timiz) be there
393 94
er6z (pl. er6amjnj) women
89
eris he
86, 114
-pbekp? even if
79,104-5
-+beni marker of end of reported speech
84-5,104-5
eni - occurs in:
enji so, then
enji so
enj[ dho so, then
enj-k/ so
eni-kQ$ therefore
all on 85
1
fa1 negative of tlrniz be there
94
fa-qjml future negative
753 93
fjniz be extra, add
gb6a say
34-6,83-4,9"3
I
ifiea time
ifie-bi when
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DIALECT OF J J Q
deqi ifie when?
78
inel my
87,89> "4
in62 your
87.89,114
is&z, isenas nine
90
iy&z see y6z
i i y e I
15.87-8, 114
1-1, ine-5 me, my
15,88, 114
iz, iyjz. y6z YOU (sg.)
874, 114
i-2, in&-4 you, your (sg.)
88, 114
=f intransitive s u f i
59,943 104
kilas small
103
kenis one
90.92
-ki, emphasizer, esp. of indefinite noun
30, 39,7749 80, 84992, 94
-kib adverbializer
30,39-40, 82s 93
-k@m? negative optative
16, 30, 756
-kymp only
3'9 73,759 92
kpes, kp6kpes only (emphatic)
92
-kp? also, even
30,619 73984
-kp? mi? (in ideophone phrase)
40-1
m$ then
34, 509 53-4, 103
-ma definite feminine singular
303 89
mamyl, ma1 two
90
I NDEX
mesil forty
9'
short form of gbi-am$?
93
-mi definite past tense
15-16, 30, 80, 83, 92-3, I12
stative present
40,93, 112
habitual
93, 112
mjel make, act
34, 379 4*1*5479 82, 93
mle-dai let's
76
-minil (-m?) while
3 1~80, 92-3
-m$ as soon as, when
31, 80, 93
mQz so, thus
82, 93
m+ki so, thus
82,93
mQ4 replacer of transposed object
71-3.83
-mQ towards; in regard to (directional suffix)
34-6, 104
-m?, definite plural
16, 30,89
- mob adverbializer
30,39-40
-mp, (also -mom?) and (linking nouns)
30,61, 73, 90
-mod (also -mom?) with
30. 38~90
=m? causative s u f i
5473 598 94
mfiz go
51, 103
nai4 (not) yet
74-5 3 93
-nAi emphasizer of non-final verb
3I 39I , 103
ndai but, then
85
nda-iba and then
85
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOI<UMA DI ALECT OF TJQ
nda-k! how many?
7 7 4
-nimi present state tense (with intransitives)
303 93, "3
-nj, who, which, that (relative)
3'3 7'
-nib linker (of non-ha1 verb to vowel-initial following unit)
31, 34, 50, 53-4,103
-ni as (subordinator)
309 79-81, 93
njqinja, njqina3 eight
90
n6in2, nia3 four
90
n6si3 forty
91
m i , - simple future tense
15-16, 20, 30,92-3,99, 113-14
6i2, 6ia3 ten
43-4,729 90
-60 strong emphasizer of verb
3' >91
-66 strong and friendly emphasizer of verb
3'
-otu plural agent
31.89
ow& man
46, 89, 103-4
01, they, their
87-8, "4
PI, ?r ?s them
15~88, "4
02, or42 you, your (PI)
87-8, 114
0-2. ?re-4 you (PI)
88, 114
-9 at, in, to (locative marker)
20, 30. 37-8, 49, 58. 709 87
?minis they
86, "4
?mini4 you (PI)
86, 114
?nd&, pndena3 four hundred
43-4, 7% 90
I NDEX
gnddy~ that (farther away)
46, 62
?w?yl children (pl. of t?b?yl)
89, 103
piril give
35- 683
seril time
seri-bi when
78-9
degi s6rl-kp when?
78
t e seri-kqi, when?
78
-se all, whole
16, 30, 40-1,46, 73, 80, 94
slz, sia3 twenty
43-4.7=,90
rnesil forty
9'
t e s i ~ sixty
9'
s6ndie2, s6ndiaa six
90
s0nqma2, sqnoma3 seven
90
s+r?nz, sQran3 five
90
slieiz thirty
72
tiin-bj when
79
t5ruz, t5ra3 three
90, 103
tCsi3 si xq
91
t el what. . . ? which . . . ?
77-8
t e ifie-ki, when?
78
t e iyg-ki what?
77-8
te-ki which?
77-8
A GRAMMAR OF THE KOLOKUMA DIALECT OF JJQ
te seri-k+$ when?
78
t e tu-kQ$ why?
77-8
te yyk+P where?
77-8
timi2 (irregular present emi2) be there
37.94
timiz continuous action
36, 80,92-3, "3-14
toboy1 (PI owpvi) child
89
t6z reason
64
tyba-ki who?
77-8
tybara-k/ how?
77-8
y,, wol he, his
87-8, "4
y- ~, wo-5 him, his
15.88, 114
vig that other (opposed to this), that (first of two)
46-52
weria past state
36,93, 113
w 6 ~ we, our
87-8, "4
w6-q US
88, 114
w6ni4 we
86, 114
-w6nimi present state tense (with transitives)
30. 93, 113
-ya when, if
30, 80, 81~93
yail son
46>89
yaril send (to)
35-6
yCz, iyCz thing
64-6,77-8, 82-3
INDEX
-ye inanimate modified pronoun
31,86,89
-yemi simple present
30, 40,92-3, 112
continuous present
92-3, I12
continuous past
799 933 "2
habitual
93.112
-yenbi while, as
79
yeqil (pl yegi-0th) mother
89
y 6 ~ place
y$-bi I. where
79
2. the fact that
65-6
te ypkQ$ where?
77-8
yQk$o in order to
51-2, 78
zjniz another
46.62