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The two concurrent gender systems of Mba

  • Ines Fiedler EMAIL logo , Tom Güldemann and Benedikt Winkhart
Published/Copyright: July 8, 2021

Abstract

This paper describes the gender system of the Ubangi language Mba, which can be characterized by the co-existence of two different classification systems. The ‘formal agreement’ system is tightly bound with the nominal deriflection system, while the ‘semantic agreement’ system, by contrast, emanates from a tripartite distinction in the language made between masculine humans, other animates, and inanimates. Whereas formal agreement is manifested on different elements that modify the head noun, the semantic agreement system operates in the pronominal domain, mostly outside the noun phrase.


Corresponding author: Ines Fiedler, Department of Asian and African Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany, E-mail:

Acknowledgments

Our thanks go to Helma Pasch for helpful comments on previous drafts of this article.

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Published Online: 2021-07-08
Published in Print: 2021-07-27

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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