Friederike Lüpke

A grammar of Jalonke argument structure

This thesis provides a systematic account of the patterns of morphosyntactic behaviour of ca. 400 Jalonke verbs. The thesis is based on fieldwork on Jalonke, a variety of Yalunka, a Western Mande language of Guinea. Based on an analysis of differentiating morphosyntactic properties, semantic components that distinguish verb classes in the language are proposed. Furthermore, a quantitative study explores the alignment between lexical argument structure and argument realisation in discourse. Chapter 1 introduces the theoretical framework used and gives background information on the language and its speakers. Chapter 2 sets out to summarise essential grammatical features of this previously undescribed language. Chapters 3 to 6 establish the parameters that underlie the basic argument structure configurations of Jalonke verbs, grouping them into the large classes of base-intransitive, reflexive-only, base-transitive verbs, and causative/inchoative alternating verbs.. Further verb classes according to syntactically relevant components of meaning are proposed. Chapter 7 introduces a number of processes that change the lexical meaning of a verb - the unexpressed object alternation and the distributive and iterative derivations - or alter the valence of a verb - the passive and the causative derivation. Chapter 8 examines a split among intransitive verbs that is manifest when nominalised verbs occur in possessive constructions, and discusses it in the context of unaccusativity. Chapter 9 is based on a quantitative study of natural discourse and investigates how often speakers realise all arguments of a given verb type in discourse and how often different types of alternations occur. It is then examined to what degree argument realisation varies according to genre, speaker, and verb type. It is shown that in Jalonke, the alignment between lexical argument structure and argument realisation in discourse is much closer than in English. Chapter 10 offers a summary, outlines the contributions of this thesis to theoretical and descriptive linguistics, and raises some questions for future research.

MULTILINGUALISM AND LANGUAGE CONTACT IN WEST AFRICA: TOWARDS A HOLISTIC PERSPECTIVE

Contemporary West Africa is characterized by extensive societal multilingualism going hand in hand with cultural hybridity. This situation type is characterized by a complex interaction between two or more languages in an individual’s brain as well as in an entire society. The historical causes of the multilingual profile of this region lie in the succession of empires emerging in the area from 300 BCE onward and culminating in the Mali empire around 1250-1450 CE (Davidson 1998; Levtzion 1973). The social, economic and religious impact of these empires on the societies in their realm was and is enormous: throughout the regions concerned, cross-cutting ethnic and linguistic borders, we find similar systems of social organization, as evidenced by identical caste systems (Tamari 1991, 1997), secret societies, and landlord-stranger relationships (Brooks 1980, 1993). Major trade routes traverse the area, also serving the spread of Islam as the dominant religion (Ajayi and Crowder 1985, Brooks 1980). Arabic and Jula as the languages of Islam and trade, and later French, English and Portuguese as the colonial languages have also left imprints on most of the languages and cultures in question. Urbanization due to massive rural exodus is the most recent factor motivating multilingualism and language contact, but is at the same time dramatically changing its dynamics (McLaughlin 2001; Vigouroux and Mufwene 2009). The resulting multilingualism makes notions like ‘mother tongue’ and ‘first’ and ‘second language’ problematic in many ways and is reflected in vague, multiple and easily changeable ethnic affiliations (Amselle 1990, 1996; Amselle and Royal 1998; Amselle and M’Bokolo 1999; Brooks 1993; Bruijn and Dijk 1997). The (ex-colonial) official languages play only a minor

‘Smash it again, Sam’: Verbs of cutting and breaking in Jalonke

Abstract This paper investigates the semantic and syntactic properties of cutting and breaking verbs in Jalonke. Semantic features relevant for these Jalonke verbs are control of the effector over the locus of impact, subcategorization for specific manners/instruments, and the theme being a whole vs. already detached from an entity. The latter distinction is unattested in other languages. Syntactically, the verbs fall into two classes: cut verbs with a transitive argument structure, and break verbs with causative and inchoative argument structure options. The existence of a class of exclusively transitive break verbs, despite the existence of the causative/inchoative alternation in Jalonke, is not expected in recent theories of argument structure.

On giving, receiving, affecting and benefitting in Jalonke

Abstract The present article investigates the syntactic and semantic properties of verbs with optionally three participants in Jalonke. Jalonke, a variety of Yalunka, belongs to the Mande group of the Niger-Congo language stock and is spoken in and around Guinea (West Africa). In contrast to languages with ditransitive verbs, Jalonke has no verbs with three arguments. Rather, the third participant of the verbs in question is realized in a postpositional phrase, just like an adjunct, and is not distinguishable from adjuncts on semantic and syntactic grounds. The article gives an overview of the postpositions involved in the marking of the third participant of verbs whose second or third participants are Recipients, Beneficiaries, and to a lesser extent, Experiencers, since these are the roles attested across languages for verbs encoding three-participant events. Jalonke verbs with optionally three participants are explored according to two parameters of variation: the thematic roles and linking properties of their second and third participants and the alternation attested for verbs and classes of verbs. The article further systematizes which of the crosslinguistically attested linking patterns occur in Jalonke, and which semantic parameters govern differences between semantically related verbs and constructions in the language.

Satellite- vs. Verb-Framing Underpredicts Nonverbal Motion Categorization: Insights from a Large Language Sample and Simulations

Is motion cognition influenced by the large-scale typological patterns proposed in Talmy’s (2000) two-way distinction between verb-framed (V) and satellite-framed (S) languages? Previous studies investigating this question have been limited to comparing two or three languages at a time and have come to conflicting results. We present the largest cross-linguistic study on this question to date, drawing on data from nineteen genealogically diverse languages, all investigated in the same behavioral paradigm and using the same stimuli. After controlling for the different dependencies in the data by means of multilevel regression models, we find no evidence that S- vs. V-framing affects nonverbal categorization of motion events. At the same time, statistical simulations suggest that our study and previous work within the same behavioral paradigm suffer from insufficient statistical power. We discuss these findings in the light of the great variability between participants, which suggests flexibility in motion representation. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of accounting for language variability, something which can only be achieved with large cross-linguistic samples

Guinea - language situation

This article summarizes the language situation in the West African country Guinea (Conakry). The article provides an overview of the language families, Mande and Atlantic, that are attested and introduces the major languages of the country as well as their sociolinguistic status. The article further gives information on individual Mande and Atlantic languages spoken in the country and mentions which of these languages are endangered and how well they are documented.