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The Wolof argument-focus constructions as copulaless clefts

  • Corentin Bourdeau EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: November 29, 2023

Abstract

In Wolof (Niger-Congo), focus is expressed morphosyntactically via specific focus constructions. This article deals with two of them, namely the subject-focus and the complement-focus constructions. I propose to analyse them as copulaless cleft constructions of the form focus | topic, that is, constructions in which the focus and the topic are juxtaposed. In such clefts, the topic of the sentence is expressed by means of a noun phrase which is headed by the definite article la when the focus corresponds to the syntactic object, and by the morpheme a when the focus corresponds to the syntactic subject of the sentence.

Abstract in Wolof

Tënk bi: Ci làkku wolof, dafa am ay waxin yu wuute yoo xam ni ñu mëna jëfandikoo ngir joxoñ baat bi gëna am solo ci li ñuy wax (rhème bi). Mooy baat bi di tontu laaj bi nit di laaj, walla bi muy junj. Li taxa jóg sama mbind mi mooy ni ñuy fente kàddu yi di tontu kan, lan ak kañ. Maanam, li ma fi soxal mooy waxin yi ëmb a walla la ci seen fent, ni ci ñëpp a ko xam walla loolu laa bëgga wax. Gëstukat yi faral nañu jàppe yiile waxin ay conjugaisons. Waaye man, dinaa fi wone ni waxin yii constructions clivées sans copule lañuy wuyoo yoo xam ni dañu am melo rhème | thème (thème mooy li ñu ciy wax). Kon, waxin yii amuñu copule, ñaari clauses nominales kase moo ci nekk. Copule di bi, ci waxinu weddi rekk lay feeñ, ni ci dul loolu laa bëgga wax.


Corresponding author: Corentin Bourdeau, Centre for Language Studies, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, E-mail:

Abbreviations

1

first person (singular subject if not specified otherwise)

2

second person (singular subject if not specified otherwise)

3

third person (singular subject if not specified otherwise)

ANT

anteriority marker

CFOC

complement-focus

COP

copula

DEF

definiteness marker

DEM

demonstrative marker

DIST

distal

FOC

focus

IPFV

imperfective

LOC

locative

NC

noun-class marker

NEG

negation marker

O

object

PL

plural

Q

question marker

REL

relative

SFOC

subject-focus

SG

singular

TOP

topic

VAL

valence change marker

XPL

expletive

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Published Online: 2023-11-29
Published in Print: 2023-10-26

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