Lingua 60 (1983) 115-133

North-Holland

115

YORUBA SERIAL VERB STRING COMMUTABILITY

CONSTRAINTS*
S. A y o t u n d e

EKUNDAYO

a n d F. Niyi A K I N N A S O * *

Universitl' o[ lib, Dept. o/' Linguistics, Nigeria

Received August 1982
Up to now, much work on the serial verb construction has been devoted either to
the historical derivation of the construction or to its synchronic grammatical status.
By focusing on a hitherto neglected aspect of the serial verb construction, that of the
commutability constraints on verbs operating in concomitant serialization, this paper
uses examples from Yoruba to highlight both the relatedness of verb serialization to
other types of syntactic typology and the shortcomings of current research on the
derivation of the serial verb construction. We set up a positional semantic classification
of verbs which facilitates the prediction of permissible, doubtful, and non-permissible
serial verb strings, showing (i) the commutability restrictions arising from such a
functional-semantic classification and (ii) how various reductionist derivational explanations of the serial verb phenomenon can arise from undue concentration on one or
the other of the various verb semantic functions. The utility of the approach dopted
here is further illustrated by its capacity to handle an indefinitely long string of verbs,
thus releasing verb serialization research from overconcentration on only two verbs
in series.

* This is a revised and expanded version of a paper read at the Twelfth Annual Conference
on African Linguistics at Stanford University in April 1981. We would like to express our
gratitude to all those who discussed preliminary versions of the paper with us before and
after the conference, and especially to the late Gabriel Olufemi Ekundayo, brother of the
first author, who served as one of our regular informant-consultants while the paper was
being written but who, unfortunately, did not live to see its publication. We would like to
dedicate the paper to his memory while absolving him and our other benefactors of all
inadequacies that the paper may still contain.
** The second author is currently spending his study leave at the Language Behavior
Research Laboratory, University of California at Berkeley, U.S.A.

0024-3841/83/$3.00

1983 E l s e v i e r S c i e n c e P u b l i s h e r s B . V ,

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S . A . Ekundayo, F.N. Akinnaso / Constraints on Yoruba serial verbs

Introduction

The serial verb construction (also referred to as 'serial verbs', 'verbal

combinations', 'verb serialization', or, simply, 'serialization') is a juxtaposition of two or more verbs or verb phrases without any morphological
marker indicating either (i) the relationship between the verbs or verb
phrases or (ii) the relationship between the nouns or noun phrases and
the verbs or verb phrases. Thus in serializing languages, sentences often
take the form
NP V (NP) V (NP) V (NP) . . .

Constructions of this type are not a new discovery in the syntactic structure
of the Kwa subgroup of Niger-Congo, having been recognized by such
earlier students of language as Christaller (1875), Westermann (1930), and
Ward (1952); nor is verb serialization restricted to West Africa as it is
attested in Gur and Benue-Congo as well as in non-African languages,
notably Chinese .languages (see Li and Thompson 1973, 1975, 1978). If
language is classified in terms of Greenberg's (1966) syntactic typology
stressing verb positional structure (VSO, SVO, or SOV), we find that
serialization is fairly widely distributed as it occurs both in SOV languages
such as Ijo (Williamson 1965), Mandarin Chinese (Li and Thompson 1973,
1975), and Lahu (Matisoff 1973) and in SVO languages such as Yoruba
and most members of the Kwa subgroup of Niger-Congo languages. So
pervasive is the serialization phenomenon among Kwa languages that analysts have not hesitated in dubbing the Kwa zone "the serialization belt"
(Hyman 1975: 141).
But if we applied Sapir's (1921) morphologically-oriented typological
scheme, we would notice a similarity among all serializing languages which
perhaps explains why verb serialization was developed in the first place:
they are all isolating languages, lacking essentially in both lexical and
grammatical morphology vis-fi-vis inflective languages such as English or
polysynthetic languages such as Amerindian languages characterized by
complex morphology. Indeed, Sapir's comment on the analytic status of
isolating languages is particularly instructive, albeit indirectly, for research
on the derivational sources of verb serialization. Sapir (1949 : 55) contends :
"The older view, which regarded such languages as representing a peculiarly
primitive stage in the evolution of language, may now be dismissed as
antiquated. All evidence points to the contrary hypothesis that such lan-

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117

guages are the logically extreme analytic developments of more synthetic

languages which because of processes of phonetic disintegration have had
to reexpress by analytical means combinations of ideas originally expressed
within the framework of the single word".
There is, of course, no agreement as to the historical derivation of verb
serialization. Thus while some agree that verb serialization developed as
a response to the dearth of grammatical morphology (see, e.g., Li and
Thompson 1973, 1978; Giv6n 1975), others, for example, Hyman (1971,
1975), argue that verb serialization derives from a consecutive type of
coordination, citing as evidence the fact that certain West African languages
(e.g., Igbo) have verbs with overt consecutive markers in exactly those
constructions where others have serial verbs. There are also arguments as
to whether, diachronically, verb serialization arose from conjunction or
from subordination, or, as Lord (1977) suggests, whether verb serialization
merely represents a stage (perhaps the optimal one) in the syntactic development of certain languages.
Similarly, a protracted debate has been going on in the past decade in
African linguistics concerning the synchronic grammatical status and semantic
functions of verb serialization. Representative examples include Awobuluyi
(1967, 1972, 1973); Williams (1971); Stahlke (1973, 1974); Hyman (1971,
1975); Bamgbo.se (1973, 1974); Lord (1973); Elimelech (1973); Schachter
(1974); Leynseele (1975); George (1975, 1976); Giv6n (1975); and Oyelaran
(1981). The argument has generally ranged along five main dimensions:
(i) whether serial verbs are synchronically verbs or prepositions;
(ii) whether, if they are analyzed as verbs, they represent a coordinate or
subordinate structure ;.
(iii) whether, if we assume their coordinate or subordinate basis, serial
verbs can be entirely explained in terms of 'linkage' or 'modification';
(iv) whether there are rules governing the commutation of verbs in a serial
string; and
(v) whether such rules are syntactically or semantico-pragmatically motivated.
Of these questions, (i)-(iii) have received considerable attention, whereas
(iv) and (v) have been largely ignored (see Leynseele 1975 for an exception).
While the present paper will not be directly concerned with seeking
answers to all these questions, it will nevertheless have some bearing on
the manner in which the questions themselves are asked as well as on the
types of solutions that have been proposed. Drawing exclusively on Yoruba
data, the paper highlights commutability constraints on Yoruba serial verb
strings, focusing on verbs participating in concomitant serialization. It is

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argued that the verbal element in several sets o f serial verb constructions
are, in fact, commutable, but that not all combinations and permutations
are possible since the commutability potential o f Yoruba serial verb strings
is subject to semantic and pragmatic constraints. For purposes o f this
paper, discussion will be limited to constraints arising from the positional
semantic classification o f verbs as set out in sections 2 and 3 below.
Although the requirement o f simultaneity o f occurrence on actions taking
place in concomitant serialization usually disregards verb commutation,
such verbs have been found to be commutable. In particular, verbs in
concomitant sets containing any or both o f the motion verbs lo 'go' and
w6 'come' are commutable because o f the varying semantic functions o f
such motion verbs in different positions within the verb phrase. 1 The
commutability potential o f verbs operating in concomitant serialization is
examined with expressions like lo + gbk + w6 (go + carry + come) 'fetch'
(see George 1976: 67, 71), where only that order yields a concomitant
interpretation, whereas there are other permissible but non-concomitant
combinatio, ns o f the same set o f verbs such as w6 + gbk + lo (come +
carry + go) 'come and remove', w6 + lo + gbk (come + go + carry) 'come
for the purpose o f carrying or taking'; but there is none like *lo + w6 + gb~
(go + come + carry) or *gbe + wa + lo (carry + come + go) since such unattested realizations have no identifiable semantic or pragmatic function,
thereby violating the string commutability constraint (SCC).
The discussion will be extended to other serial verb combinations in'cluding those with long strings of verbs. Certain commutability restrictions
illustrated from such non-concomitant constructions are observable from
the combinatory possibilities o f the four verbs w6 'come', lo 'go', f,k 'want',
and ri 'see' when occurring consecutively and sometimes with intervening
nominals in a verb phrase. Where the subject and object o f the serial verb
construction respectively precedes and follows these four verbs, only combinations in which ri 'see' occurs finally, since it must take an object while
w6 and fk occur initially, can have semantic functions or satisfy the SCC.
In anticipation o f the semantic motivation for such observed restrictions,
the various types o f semantic functions relevant for the grammaticalness
o f distinct Yoruba serial verb combinations will be established in section 2.
A verb complex configuration indicating the relevant semantic functions
for the illustration of the string commutability constraint is set up in
1 V, V, and V are respectively high, low and mid tones in Yoruba while s, e, and o are
approximations of English [,~],[~:l, and [a] respectively.

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119

section 3. Sections 4 and 5 respectively treat language specific commutability

restrictions and some language universal questions raised by the verb complex
configuration in section 3. The theoretical discussion in section 5 points out
the relatedness of the serial verb phenomenon to other types of syntactic
typology and highlights the sources of current derivational explanations of
the serial verb construction.

2.

Verb semantic functions

Verbal elements in the Yoruba verb phrase, as in most languages, can

broadly be divided into three main functions: those initiating the main
actions, those performing them, and those concluding the verbal actions
of the sentence. These are broadly positionally divided into the initial,
central, and terminal verbs. Positional semantic classification of verbs is
not altogether a new strategy as it has been used by many linguists for
various purposes. For example, in discussions of verb serialization, George
(1976: 65) used it to distinguish "Modality, in which the modifying phtase...
precedes the main action.., from Restrictive, where the modifying phrase
follows the main verb...". Similarly, in his account of restrictions on serial
verbs in Anyi, Leynseele (1975) recognizes the analytical importance of
positional semantic classification of verbs : "the restrictions on verbs occurring in retational SVC's as well as the verb complex type.., can be stated
in general terms of restrictions on the semantic subclasses of verbs which
may appear in these constructions" (p. 216).
Central verbs can be divided into two: the dominant verbs which are
responsible for the main verbal functions in verb phrases that are subject
to selectional restrictions and, following Christophersen and Sandved (1969:
148), the 'catenatives'. The dominant verb is further subdivided into the
principal verbal element and its complement. The terminal verbs perform
either deictic functions where the relevant verbal elements reflect a centrifugal or centripetal sense or limiting functions where the limiting verb
governs a following nominal or intensifies the sense of the dominant verb.
Initial verbs perform either a temporal or a subordinative function. The
temporal deals with aspect and timing, ranging from past through present
to future (although not all three timing categories are lexically represented
in the verbal structures of several languages). The initial subordinative verbs
could perform supporting (modal or non-modal) functiorls as well as have
adverbial characteristics.

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Some initial verbs are illustrated in (1)-(4), the central in (5)-(8) and
the terminal in (9)-(12) below. The illustrative verbs are italicized with
their functions indicated:
(1) Dele )'i6 bfi mi s,er6 - Temporal, timing (future)
Dele shall accompany me play
"Dele shall play with me'
(2) Dele ti 16 b~ Titi ser6 - Temporal, aspectual (perfective (perfect))
Dele have can accompany Titi play
'Dele could have played with Titi'
(3) Dele ti nin padfi d6 - Subordinative, adverbial (non-negative)
Dele have again return arrive
~Dele has returned again'
(4) Dele ti
/~ 19 - Subordinative, supporting (modal)
Dele have can go
~Dele could/might have gone'

Initial verb elements are syntactically bound within the verb phrase in
that they do not normally constitute single element verb phrases. In some
languages, they are represented inflectionally.
Dominant central verbs functionally operate as principal or complement,
but the complement need not always be present. Dominant verbs also
evince three options: the consequential, where one verb is the cause or
result of another; the sequential, where there is no cause-effect relationship
between the two verbs; and the unitary, where the complement is absent.
Some illustrative examples are:
(5) ikan
je iw6 Adio run
Termite eat book Adio destroy
"Termites completely devoured Adio's books"
(6) S,ola b6
mi j6
Sola accompany me dance
'Sola danced with me'
(7) Adio ti
k,~
Adio have die
'Adio has died'

In (5), where there is a consequential function, we have je 'eat' as the

principal with run 'destroy' as its complement. (5) is consequential because
run 'destroy' is the result of je 'eat'. The complement may precede or
follow the principal in surface syntactic representation. Hence, in (6), the
order in (5) is reversed with the principal j 6 'dance' coming after the
complement b6 'accompany'.

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121

Catenative central verbs pre-modify the dominant ones and each catenative
verb can be pre-modified by a preceding one. Catenatives can be subdivided
into primary, secondary, tertiary, etc., depending on their relative distance
from the dominant verb(s). If principal is represented as 'pr', complement
by "cp', and Catenative by 'ct', we can recognize the relative structural
positions and semantic functions of these central verbal elements as indicated
in (8), where all verbal elements are italicized.
(8) W6n ti

t(m

lO

w6 ./E
ct
ct
they have again can come want
"They might have again decided

w6
ct
come
to go

Io gb~ erfi
nfifi wd
cp pr
go carry luggage the come
and bring the luggage"

In (8), there are five central verbs (three catenatives, one complement and
one principal, in that order), preceded by three initial verbs, and followed
by one terminal verb at the end of the sentence.
Verbs like lo and wd, in addition to having catenative and dominant
functions, also have terminal deictic functions with wd 'come' or 'to this
direction' as centripetal, while lo 'go' or 'to that direction' is centrifugal.
Where lo 'go' is incompatible with physical motion as in (9), since nobody
can be going away by him/herself while sleeping, it is performing its
centrifugal function :

(9) t3

ti son 19 - Terminal, deictic (centrifugal)

he have sleep go
'He has slept off"

Since (9) is not used for somnambulism, but for very deep sleep, Io 'go'
indicates the departure of the sleeper's soul from his body. This interpretation is supported by Yoruba epistemology which views sleep as a
symbolic journey from the physical to the spiritual world during which the
sleeper's soul leaves him/her while his/her physical body remains.
The centripetal function of wd 'come' (i.e., to this direction) is illustrated
in (10):
(10) o ./~ ,,d ,.d wa w~i
ct ct pr
he want come seek us come
'He intends to (come and) look for us here'

The limiting function of terminal verbs is noticeable in (l l) and (12)

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where the last verbal elements o f each sentence respectively illustrate the
intensifying and g o v e ~ i n g functions"
(11) O je
(12)

iyfi gb6 - Terminal, limiting, intensifying

he eat punishment (suffering) be-lost
"He suffered without remedy'
6 ra isu ffin mi - Terminal, limiting, governing
he buy y a m give me
'He bought yams for me'

Serial verb commutability is possible because a single verb can have

several semantic functions at different times. For instance, the limiting
terminal verb fun 'give' in (12) can function as principal, as in (13a), and
as complement, as in (13b):
(13a) 6 fun
(13b)

mi ni ow6
he give me P A R T I C L E money
"He gave me money'
Titi fun mi se

Titi give me do
'Titi allowed me to do it'
Similarly, w6 'come' is deictic (terminal) in (10), occurs twice as catenative
(primary and tertiary) in (8), functions as principal in (14a) and as complement o f s~ 'do' in (14b)'
(14a) wa si i16
(14b)

come to house
'Come home'
Titi wa se er6
Titi come do play
"Titi came to play'

A diagrammatic representation o f the semantic functions illustrated above

is given in section 3. Inability o f any sequence o f serial verbs to fit into
the established semantic pattern here and in section 3 will clearly illustrate
violations of the string commutability constraint. For instance, in section 1,
it was stated that whereas the serial verb string lo + gbd + w6 'fetch' is
commutable, not all possible combinations o f the three verbs is permissible.
For example, no sequence with gbk 'carry' before the t w o motion verbs
is permissible because after the principal gbd, both wdt and lo should
perform their two contradictory centripetal and centrifugal functions. But
this is not the case if gb~ stands between them since one must be central
(complement or atenative) while the other is terminal and deictic.

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/ Constraints on Yoruba serial verbs

123

The meaning of a verb is often affected by changes in its positional

semantic classification, the full lexical meaning of a verb being obtainable
only when the verb is dominant, especially if operating as principal. Hence,
f,~ means any of 'love', 'like', or 'want' only when it functions as principal.
When it is a catenative, it means 'want to' or 'like to'; however, in this
case, the central meaning of the verb is still retrievable. But if a verb is
polysemous like Wdl 'come' and w6 'seek' or 'look for', it is possible for
each polysemous member to specialize in different non-dominant semantic
functions. Evidence from attested usage of wa in Yoruba shows that w6
'to this direction' (deictic) and wa 'come to', the complement of (14b)
above, share the centripetal sense of wa 'come', whereas the catenative w6
can mean 'want to', 'decide to', 'intend to', or 'seek to' but not 'come to',
and perhaps the subordinative initial w6 'may' as in (24) derives from the
other w6 'seek'. For lo (go', unlike w6 'come'/'seek', the absence of a useful
polysemous counterpart probably restricts its ability to perform catenative
functions only to that of the primary catenative without the possibility of
performing any subordinative initial function. Thus, whenever lo 'go' immediately precedes a principal, it operates only as its complement implying
'going to'; and it is sometimes even odd as a primary catenative (see
example (18) below). The preceding observation probably explains why w6
would freely operate as primary and tertiary catenative in (8) or as initial
verb elsewhere, whereas Io is not so free.

3.

The verb complex

The diagram in (15) illustrates the semantic functions performed by verbal

elements discussed in section 2.
(15)

Verb ~
com- ~

/Temporal~_~
/
~Aspectual
- 2
Initial l
/
~
~Adverbial
- 3
/
--Subordinative~
A ~--Supportin~ - 4
~
_Catenative
B
~entral~
~Complement

plex ~ T e r m i n a l < ~

- 5
- 6

~Prlnclpal

- 87

- 9

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In addition to diagram (15), there exist options for most of the functions
recognized there, and these are stated in (16). Examples of at least one
option from each of the sets in (16) were given in section 2.
(16)

consequential
(16a) Dominant ~ s e q u e n t i a l
~unitary

~centrifugal
(16b) D e i c t i C c e n t r i p e t a l

(16c) S u p p o r t i n g ~

modal
non-modal

past
(16d) T i m i n g ~
present
~future

intensifying
(16e) L i m i t i n~g ~ g o v e r n i n g
negative
~
(16f) Adverbial--~_non_negativ
e
While (15) represents our nine semantic functions, (16) represents only
mutually exclusive options. 2 The surface order of the verbal elements covered
2 This statement must be qualified since the presence of the negative formative does not
preclude the choice o f another adverbial element in initial positions. It appears, however,
that this type o f problem is found only in initial positions, or it may be due to our
representation o f negation as adverbial.
Also, the aspectual function in initial positions is not expanded further in (15) and (16)
because such an expansion will complicate the diagram in (15); and, besides, our main
interest here is in the central and terminal rather than initial verb positions. Otherwise, we
would have had to expand aspectual into perfective and progressive in (15) while perfective
will have the options perfect or non-perfect, and progressive will have continuous or noncontinuous in (16).

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125

by (15) is indicated by the lettering where items in A precede those in B,

and in that order up to E. But the figures from 1 to 9 only represent
functional identification labels and not order, since any item in set A (i.e.
1 to 4, except items like k6 'not' which must always occur initially in the
verb phrase) could precede the others in the same set. Hence, 1 to 4 are
functional rather than positional indicators. For instance, the non-negative
adverbial representative could precede or follow the others since syntactically
different, but semantically similar, sentences like those in (17) are possible
in the language:

(17a) 6

w6n
tt'tn ti
I~
1~
adv. perf. modal principal
them
he again have can
beat
(17b) 6 1~ ti tfin 1/1 w6n
he can have again beat them
(17c) 6 ti tt3n 16 lfi w6n
he have again can beat them
( 1 7 d ) 6 I+ ton ti
1/~ worn
he can again have beat them
(17a)-(17d) = "He might have beaten them again'
Similarly, for the two functions in C, any one could precede the other
just as the complement preceded the principal in (6) but came after it
in (5). However, since 5 (the catenative) belongs to B, it must precede
either the principal or the complement (i.e., 6 or 7) in C when they are
separately modified, e.g., in (20), or both of them. Serial verb commutability
in Yoruba is dictated by conformity with the order indicated in A to E
subject to the exception on separate modification for principal and complement. Non-conformity leads to violations of the SCC and consequent
nonsensical strings. 3

3 Although the semantic motivation for the commutability constraints is emphasized in this
paper, it should be noted that some o f the manifestations o f the constraints are syntactic.
For example, the fact that all initial verb elements in A or 1 to 4 o f (15) are bound and
so could not constitute single element verb phrases is syntactic; so also is the ordering
principle for catenative and dominant verbs in central verb position. Thus, the syntactic
manifestations of the semantic constraints are not unimportant. We have, however, concentrated on the establishment o f the semantic functional classes in the verb complex in
order to release verb serialization research both from overconcentration on syntax to the
neglect of semantics and from the shackles of the two-verb model with which such research
heretofore has been plagued.

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For convenience, the numbers 1 to 9 o f the diagram in (15) will be used

to indicate the semantic functions o f verb representations henceforth. When
only one verb functions a's a catenative, it is represented as 5, but if more
than one catenative occurs, their relative distance to the dominant verb
will be indicated. For example, the closest catenative to the dominant is
the primary, and it is represented as 5/1, the secondary as 5/2, the tertiary
as 5/3, etc. In some cases, and especially when we have analogues o f verb
complementation, the principal and complement can each have a separate
catenative, and this will be represented as 5o7. Thus 5/lo7 = the primary
catenative o f the principal while 5/lo6 = the primary catenative o f complement, etc. The conventions just given will be used in the following
section where we examine restrictions on Yoruba serial verb string commutability.

4.

Commutable verb string representations

Yoruba serial verb string commutability constraints are now examined

with regard to three illustrative sets o f verbs. What obtains for any illustrative
set also holds for many others. First, consider the set of four verbs mentioned in section 1, viz., w6 + f,~ + l 9 + ri (come + want + go + see). Except
the starred forms, the following commutative sets are attested or possible:
(18a) A ti

(18b)

(18c)

(18d)
(18e)

wfi fe~
1o ri il~
nfih
2
5/2 5/1 6 7
we have come want go see house the
"We have now decided to go and see the house'
A ti f~, w/t 1o ri i16 nfi~
2 5/2 5/1 6 7
(same meaning as (18a) with slightly different pragmatic effect)
0 f~
wfi
ri ibi
kan
1o
5/2 5/1
6
7
he want come see place one (some) go
'He is about to find a place to go'
O wh fe~ ri ibi kan 1o
5/2 5/1 6
7
(same meaning as (18c) with slightly different pragmatic effect)
A ti
f6
wfi ile
n~.~ 19
ri
2
5
7
8
9
we have want seek house the deic. limit.
'We had intended to go and look for the bridge earlier'

S.A. Ekundayo, F. N. Akinnaso / Constraints on Yoruba serial verbs

(18t") .90 f Io ri i16 wfi

5/2 5/1 6
7
(18g) *o 1o fe~ ri il/: wfi
5/2 5/1 6
7
( 1 8 h ) *0 ri Io f6, w~i i16
5/2 5/1 6 7

127

(odd with Io as 5/1 before wa)

(ungrammatical with lo as 5/2)
(ungrammatical with ri as 5/2)

The examples in (18) show that commutability is good so long as lo and ri

do not perform catenative functions. Even though primary catenative function is permissible for lo in some contexts (see (20) below), it is odd in
any context where lo precedes wfi.
It may also be noted that the same sequence f,~ + wd + lo, + ri obtains
in (18b) and (18e), but the different semantic functions of the verbs show
that they are unrelated as their glosses, using two different wd formatives,
indicate. Hence, the strings of serial verbs in (18) show that the semantic
functions established for the verbal elements affect the commutability potential of Yoruba serial verb strings.
The second illustrative set of verbs relates to those used in arguments
on concomitant serialization whereby some non-serializing languages are
believed to have some advantage over serializing ones with regard to
lexicalization.4 Verbs in this set are often ambiguous in function and not
all their available senses lead to concomitant interpretation. Consider, for
example, the following:
( 1 9 a ) Adio mfi iw~ n~i~ wd
7
8
Adio take book the come
'Adio brought the book'
( 1 9 b ) Ik,', Adi6 hin~tfi
m~ Titi w,/ 16nil
6
7
death Adio yesterday take Titi come today
'Adio's death yesterday made Titi come today'
4 The point was made in George (1976: 70) that "the non-occurrence of composite verbs
for such concepts as 'bringing' and 'fetching' in serializing languages is a gap in their
lexical systems and that in concomitant serialization the verbal combinations stipulate what
lexical verbs are possible". It may be necessary to relate the semantic classification in George
(1976) to the one proposed here. While George concentrates on the meanings of verb pairs,
this analysis has itemized the functions of the individual verbal items participating in such
serialized structures. Hence, most of the verbs in his classification perform central verb
functions, operating between 5 and 8 of (15). His classification could be used in an expansion
of the dominant series where several verbs in his analysis would fit into the consequential
and sequential categories.

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While mt't + wd in (19b) can be given the interpretation 'bring' in translation, it is clear that Adio's death could not literally 'take' Titi and ' c o m e '
with her in the sense o f 'bring' in George (1976: 68). Also, the fact that
in most contexts, the object o f mt~ could be the animate subject o f wd ' c o m e '
restricts the concomitant interpretation o f m 6 + wd (take + come) 'bring'
to a minority o f cases, where mt't cannot be given a causative interpretation,
i.e., to only those in which the second verb has purely deictic functions.
It may be noted that the use in (19b) ofml~ wd as 6 + 7 is the predominant
one since mt~ can precede almost any verb taking animate subjects once
the object of mh is animate. It is doubtful if there are non-serializing
languages that can lexicalize as single complex verbs all the mt~ + Verb
sequences analyzable in Yoruba as 6 + 7.
In (19b) where mt~ and wd have different subjects, it is even possible to
analyze the expression as an example o f verb complementation. In such
an analysis, the principal and the complement could each have its own
modifying catenative as in (20):
(20)

Adio f6,
1o
mu Titi wfi j6,
~,ri
6kE
5/206 5/1o6 6
507 7
Adio want go make Titi come pledge evidence false
'Adio wants to go and make Titi come to give false evidence'

Cases like (20) will be very strong support for researchers trying to derive
serial verbs from more than one sentence. (But we shall return to this point
later.)
Our third illustrative set of verbs consists o f pairs of serialized verbs
that alternate semantic functions in commutative sets. We may start with
an analogue o f (9), paying particular attention to the effects o f the functional proposal on such c o m m u t a b l e pairs.
(21a) Titi ti
4

slan 1o,
7

Titi have slept deictic

'Titi has slept off'
(21b) Titi ti Io sfm
467
'Titi has gone to sleep'
(22a) Titi fi sis6, 1o
2 7
9
Titi -ing work limiting
'Titi carries on working'

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129

(22b)

Titi f~ 1o sis~
267
"Titi is going to work'
(23a) Titi rin 19 ni, k6 s~ir6 Io
6
7
6
7
Titi walk go is, not run go
"Titi left by walking, not by running'
( 2 3 b ) Titi k6 ni
1o s~r6
3 4
6 7
Titi not have go run
'Titi will not go to run'

In (21) and (22), it can be observed that if 1o 'go' appears with certain
verbs, the other verbs like s~n and sis,~ must be the principal. These are
cases where lo could perform its deictic functions. However, there are cases
where lo occurs as principal and in such cases, e.g. (23a), the complement
modifies the principal. 5 Both rin 'walk' and s6rt; 'run' describe modes of
going in (23a), hence advocates of modification-type serial verb constructions could use such examples to prove that some serial verbs modify others.
Having examined the three sets of verbs indicated earlier, we may now
conclude this section by showing the possibility of having Yoruba sentences
in which the nine functions indicated in (15) are found as in (24) where wd
'come' is also illustrated in initial, central, and terminal verbal positions,
although questions of intelligibility make it impossible to use it as 6 and 7
in addition to those represented:
( 2 4 ) Won yi6 ti
tt'm
wd If" mda w6
J~
1
2
3
4
4
4
5/306 5/206
they shall have again m a y can -ing come want
wd
si
il~e
wa
8
9
come to house-POSSESSIVE our
~They should have again been attempting to go and

wd
... Io si
~p6ti gb~
5/1o6
6 507
7
come ... go miss box carry

bring the wrong box to our house'

(24) has w6 operating once each as 4 and 8 and twice as 5. As 4 before

It; 'can' it has the meaning 'may', although it could have originated from
either wd 'come' or wd 'seek' or it could remotely be an entirely new lexical
The use o f lq in signalling various semantic functions within the verb
especially noted. Thus, as 9 in (22a), Io denotes continuing action; as 8 in
"to that (unspecified) direction' - performing a centrifugal function; as 7, it
in (23a); as 6 in (21b) and (22b), it also m e a n s 'go' while as 5/1 (primary
in (20), it means 'going to'.

phrase must be
(21a), it means
means 'go', e.g.
catenative), e.g.

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item. Also, the example has the concomitant sequence lo + gb~ + w6 (as in
George 1976: 71) operating as 6 + 7 + 8. But the sequence in (24), though
reflecting George's "appropriate combinations", cannot be logically lexicalized as 'fetch' since both the complement lo 'go' and the principal gbO
'carry' are separately pre-modified by different catenatives. It is clear from
this example that si 'miss' modifies only gb~ rather than lo for the mistake
is in carrying the box rather than in going. So, the possibility of separate
modification for the different items participating in concomitant serialization
indicates that those items are not always replaceable, without loss, with
their single complex lexical equivalents.

5.

Conclusions

The tripartite division of the verb phrase into initial, central and terminal
verbs makes it relatable to language universal phenomena like the types
of semantic functions performed by verbs in different locations within the
verb phrase. Universally, human languages tend to have formatives expressing
initial verb functions like tense, aspect, negation, and modality. It is insignificant now whether such functions are expressed by individual words or
inflectional affixes, but this seems to be a universal phenomenon rather than
a Yoruba language-specific demand.
Central verb functions are also universally applicable. The main difference
between serializing and non-serializing languages in this respect seems to
be the possible presence of a complement to the principal of the dominant
verb class in serializing languages. The complement may or may not, of
course, modify the principal.
Terminal verb semantic functions are rarely verbally expressed in the
syntax of non-serializing languages, and this appears to be a distinguishing
mark of serializing syntactic typology. The observations made here about
Yoruba appear valid also for other serializing languages such as Nupe which
was illustrated in George (1976). Hence, it is possible to distinguish serializing
from non-serializing languages through the way the two language types
express terminal verb semantic functions as well as the internal structure
and semantic functions of their central verbs.
Finally, research findings concerning the serial verb construction could
be vitiated by the types of data used or the interpretation given to the
data used for syntactic analyses. A careful examination of the verb semantic
functions established in sections 2 and 3 will show that almost any con-

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131

clusion regarding serial verb derivation is valid if verbs performing certain

semantic functions predominate in discussions while others are neglected
or totally ignored.
For example, arguments supporting the derivation of serial verbs from
adverbial and prepositional sources can be validly maintained if most of
the second verbs in the two verb series used for illustration perform terminal
functions. Adverbial source arguments could derive from data exclusively
performing centrifugal, centripetal, and intensifying functions while prepositional arguments could be made from those performing governing functions. Since two verb structures usually predominate in analyses of the
serial verb construction, a total neglect of verbs performing functions other
than those being considered is possible, but this will not give a true picture
of the situation.
While single sentence source arguments can be validly made by those
using data organized as suggested in the preceding paragraph, multiple
sentence source conclusions are favored by data allowing separate subjects
for the verbs in series as in (19b), (20), and (24) where each verb could
even be separately modified. Conclusions favoring modification as a possible
source for deriving serial verbs are possible with data exclusively based on
catenatives as first elements in the verb phrase or on modifying complements
as in (21) and (22). Several other conclusions are possible depending on
which of the other eight semantic functions is/are performed by the verbs
accompanying the obligatory principal verb.
In view of the reductionist tendency of current derivational explanations
of the serial verb construction, and in view of the dearth of written
historical evidence for the development of serial verbs in Niger-Congo
(cf. Lord 1977), it seems that synchronic analyses of the semantic functions
of verbs in different locations within the serial verb phrase in individual
Niger-Congo languages is a promising starting point for understanding the
behavior and possible derivation of serial verbs. The positional semantic
classification of verbs proposed here is intended as such a starting point
and could be used, as we have demonstrated, to evaluate the adequacy
of any grammatical proposal on. serial verb derivation.

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