Dogon noncompositional constructional tonosyntax
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Jeffrey Heath
Abstract
Dogon DP tonosyntax can often be reduced to simple schemata of the type [TO C] or [C OT] where a reference-restricting C[ontroller] imposes a tonal O[verlay] on an adjacent T[arget] word or string. If two or more potential controllers are present in a DP, usually the outermost (highest) one controls the entire inner string, as when Poss-N-Adj-Num is realized as [Poss O[N Adj Num]], which is simply an instance of the formula [C OT]. But several Dogon languages also have tonal patterns for certain DP configurations that cannot be generated by binary [TO C] or [C OT] patterns or any combination thereof. These call for an explicitly noncompositional constructional tonosyntactic model. Numerals, which in simple N-Num or N-Adj-Num sequences are tonosyntactically inert, play an interesting catalysing role in constructional tonosyntax, activating latent control potential in definites and (originally appositional) postposed possessors.
Acknowledgements
Fieldwork on Dogon languages has been supported by the National Science Foundation, Documenting Endangered Languages program, grants BCS-0537435 (2006–2009), BCS-0853364 (2009–2013), and BCS-1263150 (2013–2016). I thank two anonymous referees for comments.
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©2015 by De Gruyter Mouton
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Waali plural formation: a preliminary study on variation in noun class realization
- Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages
- Dogon noncompositional constructional tonosyntax
- Wh- question formation in Krachi
- Book Reviews
- Georg Klute: Tuareg-Aufstand in der Wüste. Ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie der Gewalt und des Krieges
- Dominique Casajus: L’alphabet touareg
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Waali plural formation: a preliminary study on variation in noun class realization
- Prehistoric language contact in the Kavango-Zambezi transfrontier area: Khoisan influence on southwestern Bantu languages
- Dogon noncompositional constructional tonosyntax
- Wh- question formation in Krachi
- Book Reviews
- Georg Klute: Tuareg-Aufstand in der Wüste. Ein Beitrag zur Anthropologie der Gewalt und des Krieges
- Dominique Casajus: L’alphabet touareg
