25 Non-verbal predication in Mandinka and other Mande languages
-
Denis Creissels
Abstract
The first part of this chapter consists of a detailed description of the various aspects of non-verbal predication in Mandinka, a language belonging to the Manding dialect cluster included in the Central Mande branch of the Mande language family. Non-verbal predication in Mandinka relies almost entirely on non-verbal copulae or copular verbs. Non-verbal copulae cannot combine with the overt expression of TAM and are in complementary distribution with copular verbs expressing TAM distinctions. Mandinka has no construction analyzable as adjectival predication, and there is no uniformity in the predicative behavior of the lexemes that share the ability to act as qualifying modifiers of nouns. Nominal predication has two variants depending on whether the argument of the nominal predicate is expressed or not, and is characterized by the possibility of “argument-predicate reversal”, a typologically rare phenomenon involving a special behavior of a particle otherwise acting as a focus marker. By contrast, apart from the use of a non-verbal copula in clauses expressing the TAM value “present”, adverbial predication is formally similar to intransitive verbal predication. Adverbial predication has a wide variety of uses in addition to the expression of locational predication. Ostension is commonly expressed through the imperative of félè ‘look at’, but ostensive predication has uses analyzable as the incipient stage of the process by which an ostensive marker may grammaticalize into a copula. The second part of the chapter reviews the aspects of non-verbal predication for which the available literature on Mande languages mentions the existence of organization types different from those described for Mandinka in the first part.
Abstract
The first part of this chapter consists of a detailed description of the various aspects of non-verbal predication in Mandinka, a language belonging to the Manding dialect cluster included in the Central Mande branch of the Mande language family. Non-verbal predication in Mandinka relies almost entirely on non-verbal copulae or copular verbs. Non-verbal copulae cannot combine with the overt expression of TAM and are in complementary distribution with copular verbs expressing TAM distinctions. Mandinka has no construction analyzable as adjectival predication, and there is no uniformity in the predicative behavior of the lexemes that share the ability to act as qualifying modifiers of nouns. Nominal predication has two variants depending on whether the argument of the nominal predicate is expressed or not, and is characterized by the possibility of “argument-predicate reversal”, a typologically rare phenomenon involving a special behavior of a particle otherwise acting as a focus marker. By contrast, apart from the use of a non-verbal copula in clauses expressing the TAM value “present”, adverbial predication is formally similar to intransitive verbal predication. Adverbial predication has a wide variety of uses in addition to the expression of locational predication. Ostension is commonly expressed through the imperative of félè ‘look at’, but ostensive predication has uses analyzable as the incipient stage of the process by which an ostensive marker may grammaticalize into a copula. The second part of the chapter reviews the aspects of non-verbal predication for which the available literature on Mande languages mentions the existence of organization types different from those described for Mandinka in the first part.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of the Authors V
- Acknowledgments
- Contents IX
- Crucial issues in non-verbal predication: A questionnaire 785
-
Part II: Case studies
- 22 Non-verbal predication in Maltese 789
- 23 Non-verbal predication in Nilotic 829
- 24 Non-verbal predication in Cushitic 865
- 25 Non-verbal predication in Mandinka and other Mande languages 915
- 26 Non-verbal predication in Cuwabo (Bantu) 955
- 27 Non-verbal predication in Ju 993
-
Austronesia, Papunesia, Australia
- 28 Non-verbal predicates in Oceanic languages 1021
- 29 Non-verbal predication in Formosan languages 1067
- 30 Non-verbal predication in three families of Papunesia: Teiwa, Tidore and Mian 1103
- 31 Non-verbal predication in Nungon 1143
- 32 Non-verbal predication in Ngumpin-Yapa languages (Australia) 1169
-
Part III: Conclusion and prospects
- 33 Non-verbal predication: Results and perspectives 1213
- Subject index 1275
- Language index 1283
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- List of the Authors V
- Acknowledgments
- Contents IX
- Crucial issues in non-verbal predication: A questionnaire 785
-
Part II: Case studies
- 22 Non-verbal predication in Maltese 789
- 23 Non-verbal predication in Nilotic 829
- 24 Non-verbal predication in Cushitic 865
- 25 Non-verbal predication in Mandinka and other Mande languages 915
- 26 Non-verbal predication in Cuwabo (Bantu) 955
- 27 Non-verbal predication in Ju 993
-
Austronesia, Papunesia, Australia
- 28 Non-verbal predicates in Oceanic languages 1021
- 29 Non-verbal predication in Formosan languages 1067
- 30 Non-verbal predication in three families of Papunesia: Teiwa, Tidore and Mian 1103
- 31 Non-verbal predication in Nungon 1143
- 32 Non-verbal predication in Ngumpin-Yapa languages (Australia) 1169
-
Part III: Conclusion and prospects
- 33 Non-verbal predication: Results and perspectives 1213
- Subject index 1275
- Language index 1283
