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Revision as of 12:05, 26 April 2011

This page was created as an in-classroom exercise in LING 2208, NTNU

group of LING 2208 (Linguistics) spring 2011 missing Prof. Dorothee Beermann


Author: Franciane Rocha (Last one in the picture)

Author: Misah Natumanya (First one in the picture)


This page is about the analysis of the grammatical function of the word "ku" in Runyankore-Rukiga.

The data is the result of Typecraft's phrase search done on March 18, 2011.


The conjunction KU in Runyankore-Rukiga

Generalization: "KU as a word in Runyankore-Rukiga works as a conjunction".

We found 46 phrases in which Ku had the function of a conjunction. Some of them were glossed only as CONJ and others had more specific information and were glossed as subordinative conjunctions or as one of its subcategories namely complementizer, relativizer and adverbializer.


In this research we used the definitions about conjunction and its subcategories provided by the Glossary of Linguistic Terms of SIL - Summer Institute of Linguistics [1]. The relationship between conjunctions and its subcategories found in SIL's glossary can be summarized in the table below, where the bolded elements and their disposition across the table, show the elements and the relationships we observed in our data set. It is important to point out that no examples were found of the word KU working as a coordinative conjunction or its subcategory correlativizer. This observation allowed us to draw a more specific generalisation, namely, that the word KU works as a subordinative conjunction in Runyankore-Rukiga.


Conjunction
SUBORDINATIVE Coordinative
COMP REL ADVL Correlativizer


Ku as only CONJ

30 of our tokens are glossed only as conjunction (CONJ) As in:

Ku naahikire ahari Butunduuzi, emotoka ereemerera obwe ku baabarareebaga emotoka ereemerera baija kureeba omufu!
“When i arrived at Butunduuzi, and then whenever the car stopped, they would come to see the dead-person.”
Ku
ku
when
CONJ
naahikire
naahikire
1SGPASTrmreachPFV
V
ahari
ahari
IVatSPTL
ADJatt
Butunduuzi
butunduuzi
 
Np
emotoka
emotoka
IVcar
N
ereemerera
eraemerera
AGRPTCPstopFV
V
obwe
obwe
then
CONJ
ku
ku
when
CONJ
baabarareebaga
baabarareebaga
3PLPASTrm3PLPTCPseeFVEMPH
V
emotoka
emotoka
IVcar
N
ereemerera
ereemerera
AGRPTCPstopFV
V
baija
baija
3PLcomeFV
V
kureeba
kureeba
INFsee
V
omufu!
omufu!
IV1the-dead
 


KU as a CONJS

There were 8 tokens glossed more specifically as subordinative conjunction (CONJS):


The rest of the occurrences were glosses according to the subcategories of subordinative conjunction as follow:

KU as a COMP

5 annotations of KU being a complementizer (COMP):

Angira ati ku turaareebe yaarugamu, na boyoofiisi agyenzire nawe, nk'oku ashangwa amutwara obundi tuzemu twihemu obusente bw'okurya.
“He told me that when we see him getting out with the officeboy, like how he normally does, perhaps we should go in and get some little money to eat.”
Angira
angira
3SG1SGtellFV
V
ati
ati
that
CONJS
ku
ku
if
COMP
turaareebe
turaareebe
1PLPRESseeSBJV
V
yaarugamu
yaarugamu
 PREScomeFVLOC
V
na
na
with
PREP
boyoofiisi
boyoofiisi
officeboy
N
agyenzire
agyenzire
3SGgoPFV
V
nawe
nawe
withhim
PN
nka
nka
like
PRT
oku
oku
how
ADVm
ashangwa
ashangwa
3SGfindPASSFV
V
amutwara
amutwara
3SGSBJ3SGOBJtake 
V
obundi
obundi
perhaps
ADVm
tuzemu
tuzemu
1PLgoSBJVLOC
 
twihemu
twihemu
1PLgetSBJVLOC
V
obusente
obusente
IV14money
N
bwa
bwa
of
PREP
okurya
okurya
IVINFeatIND
 


KU as REL

1 case of KU working as a relativizer (REL):

Ku naaguzire hanu naahagura miriyoni emwe n’emitwaro makumi abiri, naashuba naareeba nti ku ntaamamarwa , naashuba naaguraho ekyemitwaro 50.
“I bought here one million two hundred thousand, I was not satisfied and bought another one at five hundred thousand shillings”
Ku
ku
CONJ
REL
naaguzire
naaguzire
1SGPASTimbuyPFV
V
hanu
hanu
16here
DEM
naahagura
naahagura
1SGPASTim16buyFV
V
miriyoni
miriyoni
million
NUM
emwe
emwe
IVone
ORD
n’emitwaro
n’emitwaro
CONJIV4ten-thousand
NUM
makumi-abiri
makumiabiri
 tentwenty
NUM
naashuba
naashuba
1SGPASTimrepeatFV
V
naareeba
naareeba
1SGPASTimseeFV
V
nti
nti
 
CONJ
ku
ku
REL
CONJ
ntaamarwa
ntaamarwa
1SGNEGIPFVfinishPASSFV
Vneg
naashuba
naashuba
1SGPASTimrepeatFV
V
naaguraho
naaguraho
1SGPASTimbuyFVLOC
V
ekyemitwaro
ekyemitwaro
IVofIV3ten-thousand
NUM
50
50
 
ORD


KU as an ADV

2 occurrences of KU glossed as an adverb (ADV)

We are convinced that the annotator meant adverbializer as it would be the subcategory of subordinative conjunctions according to SIL's GLossary of Linguistic Terms [2] addressed on the table above.

However, he/she could not find an appropriate gloss tag in Typecraft's POS list for the function of an adverbializer. This problem has been already reported to the platform and will soon be solved.


Function NUMBER OF TOKENS
CONJ 30
CONJS 08
COMP 05
REL 01
ADV 02

Position

In our data set,the word KU appears in both initial and medial positions of a sentence, that is, starting a subordinate clause or being preceded by the subject of the clause. This statement is supported by Taylor's [3] (1985) studies about Runyankore-Rukiga's grammar in the section about Subordination and Subordinative markers, where the author affirms that "a subordinative conjunctive particle is placed in second position in the clause where is a lexical subject or topic occupying the first position. Otherwise the particle is in first position."

KU- Initial position


KU- Medial position

Akangambira ku naija nyenkyakare
“He/she told me that he/she will come tomorrow”
Akangambira
akangambira
3SGIV1SGtellAPPLIND
V
ku
ku
that
COMP
naija
naija
3SGcomeIND
V
nyenkyakare
nyenkyakare
tomorrow
ADVm


Meaning

The word KU can have at least three meanings related to English language, they are:

WHEN

Omwana ku areeba abantu omu katare baatandika kwija, we nyina ayeyongyera kuba busy aramanya ngu baakasitoma baayeyongyera,
“When the child saw every one in market starting to come, meanwhile the mother was thinking that the customers were increasing”
Omwana
omuana
IV1child
N
ku
ku
when
CONJ
areeba
areeba
3SGseeFV
V
abantu
abantu
IV2people
N
omu
omu
in
PREP
katare
katare
market
N
baatandika
baatandika
2PASTimbeginFV
V
kwija
kwija
INFcomeFV
V
we
we
she
PN
nyina
nyina
mother
N
ayeyongyera
ayeyongyera
3SGcontinueFV
V
kuba
kuba
INFbe
COP
busy
busy
busy
V
aramanya
aramanya
3SG knowFV
V
ngu
ngu
that
CONJ
 
muena
1all
QUANT
baakasitoma
baakasitoma
2customer
N
baayeyongyera
baayeyongyera
2PASTimincreaseFV
V


THAT

Akangambira ku naija nyenkyakare
“He/she told me that he/she will come tomorrow”
Akangambira
akangambira
3SGIV1SGtellAPPLIND
V
ku
ku
that
COMP
naija
naija
3SGcomeIND
V
nyenkyakare
nyenkyakare
tomorrow
ADVm


IF

Angira ati ku turaareebe yaarugamu, na boyoofiisi agyenzire nawe, nk'oku ashangwa amutwara obundi tuzemu twihemu obusente bw'okurya.
“He told me that when we see him getting out with the officeboy, like how he normally does, perhaps we should go in and get some little money to eat.”
Angira
angira
3SG1SGtellFV
V
ati
ati
that
CONJS
ku
ku
if
COMP
turaareebe
turaareebe
1PLPRESseeSBJV
V
yaarugamu
yaarugamu
 PREScomeFVLOC
V
na
na
with
PREP
boyoofiisi
boyoofiisi
officeboy
N
agyenzire
agyenzire
3SGgoPFV
V
nawe
nawe
withhim
PN
nka
nka
like
PRT
oku
oku
how
ADVm
ashangwa
ashangwa
3SGfindPASSFV
V
amutwara
amutwara
3SGSBJ3SGOBJtake 
V
obundi
obundi
perhaps
ADVm
tuzemu
tuzemu
1PLgoSBJVLOC
 
twihemu
twihemu
1PLgetSBJVLOC
V
obusente
obusente
IV14money
N
bwa
bwa
of
PREP
okurya
okurya
IVINFeatIND
 


Tables

Number of tokens relative to their meaning
MEANING NUMBER OF TOKENS
When 36
That 06
If 01
Lack meaning 12
"KU meaning IF"
POS tag NUMBER OF TOKENS
COMP 01
"KU meaning WHEN"
POS tag NUMBER OF TOKENS
CONJ 30
COMP 03
REL 01
Lack 02
"KU meaning THAT"
POS tag NUMBER OF TOKENS
CONJ 04
COMP 01
ADV 01


Final comments

The generalizations drawn on this work help to understand the data got from Runyankore-Rukiga, shedding light on the structure that the word Ku belongs to in this language. The task demanded the systematization of the information that one must need to understand the function, behavior and position of this particular conjunction on Runiankore-Rukiga's linguistic structure.

References

  1. http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/
  2. http://www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/
  3. Taylor, Charles. (1985: 15). Nkore-Kiga Descriptive Grammars. Croom Helm: London, England.