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Annotating Konkomba

Revision as of 11:52, 11 January 2010 by Mary Steele (Talk | contribs) (Expressing time with a pronominal subject)

'by Mary Steele


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Negative Marking

Kaa is made up of two morphemes, a fusion of the clause conjunction ki and the negative particle aa, resulting in the word kaa, meaning 'and did not'. It is both a clause conjunction, joining two clauses, and a negative particle. conjunction'.

There are other similar lexical items, consisting of a personal pronoun, or a class pronoun, fused with the negative particle aa as follows:

  • baa consisting of two morphemes/parts of speech
  • bi 'they' 3rd person pl. pronoun, fused with the negative particle aa to form the word baa meaning 'they not'.

There are other examples like the above, as any class pronoun may fuse with a following negative particle, as follows:

  • laa formed from the fusion of li 'class 8 pronoun' and aa 'negative particle' meaning 'it cl.8 not'
  • waa from the fusion of u 'class pronoun 1, 2, or 3 with aa 'negative particle' meaning 'it cl. 1, 2, or 3, not'

just to give a few examples.

TypeCraft contains at present these examples illustrating annotation of negation in Konkomba:

Kijuk ki bi lijal paab na aa ŋan.
“The knife which is on the chair is no good”
Kijuk
kijuk
7knife7
N
ki
ki
 
 
bi
bi
 
 
lijal
lijal
 chair 
 
paab
paab
 
 
na
na
 
 
aa
aa
 
 
ŋan
ŋan
 
 
Kijuk ki bi lijal paab na aa ŋan.
“the knife which is on top of the chair is not good”
Kijuk
kijuk
7knife7
N
ki
ki
 
PNrel
bi
bi
 
V
lijal
lijal
8chair8
N
paab
paab
on-top-ofLOC
PRT
na
na
REL
PRT
aa
aa
notNEG
 
ŋan
ŋan
good
V
Saan tii mi ii?
S
s
SBJ
PN
aa
aa
notNEG
 
n
n
FUT
 
tii
tii
give
V
 
 
 
 
mi
mi
meOBJ
PN
ii?
ii?
INTR
PRT



Adverbial conjunctions

There is an Adverbial Conjunction aah which immediately precedes the verb and takes an obligatory clause final particle na. This may express Time, Reason (because), (or Manner with an additional particle pu immediately preceding the final particle na).

Temporal

Expressing time with a Nominal Subject

Uja ngbaan aah cha kisaak na u kan upeeman.
“‘When the man was going to the farm he saw an antelope.’”
Uja
uja
1man
N
ngbaan
ngbaan
theDEF
 
aah
aah
while
PRT
cha
cha
go
V
kisaak
kisaak
4farm4
N
na
na
 
PRT
u
u
he3SG
PN
kan
kan
saw
V
upeeman
upeeman
1animalred
N

‘When the man was going to the farm he saw an antelope.’

Uja ngbaan aah cha kisaak na u kan upeeman.
“‘When the man was going to the farm he saw an antelope.’”
Uja
uja
1man
N
ngbaan
ngbaan
theDEF
 
aah
aah
while
PRT
cha
cha
go
V
kisaak
kisaak
4farm4
N
na
na
 
PRT
u
u
he3SG
PN
kan
kan
saw
V
upeeman
upeeman
1animalred
N


Ute aah chuun nsan ni na, uwaa juu u

Ute aah chuun nsan ni na, uwaa juu u.
“‘When his/her father was walking along the path a snake bit him.’”
Ute
ute
3SGfather
PNposs
aah
aah
while
PRT
chuun
chuun
walk
V
nsan
nsan
8road
N
ni
ni
onLOC
PPOST
na
na
 
PRT
uwaa
uwaa
1snake
N
juu
juu
bit
V
u
u
him3SG
PN


‘When his/her father was walking along the path a snake bit him.’


Uja ngbaan aah bi kisaak na, u ku uwaa.

Uja ngbaan aah bi kisaak na, u ku uwaa.
“‘When the man was on the farm he killed a snake.’”
Uja
uja
1man
N
ngbaan
ngbaan
theDEF
 
aah
aah
while
PRT
bi
bi
exist
V
kisaak
kisaak
4farm4
N
na
na
 
PRT
u
u
he3SG
PN
ku
ku
killed
V
uwaa
uwaa
1snake
N


‘When the man was on the farm he killed a snake.’

Uja ngbaan aah bi kisaak na, u ku uwaa.
“‘When the man was on the farm he killed a snake.’”
Uja
uja
1man
N
ngbaan
ngbaan
theDEF
 
aah
aah
while
PRT
bi
bi
exist
V
kisaak
kisaak
4farm4
N
na
na
 
PRT
u
u
he3SG
PN
ku
ku
killed
V
uwaa
uwaa
1snake
N


Expressing time with a pronominal subject

If this Adverbial Conjunction is immediately preceded by a pronoun, the pronoun is assimilated to the Conjunction, with the following possibilities: maah, saah, waah, taah baah, naah, yaah, kaah, laah, ŋaah. The clause final particle na occurs, as with the nominal subject.

Maah cha kisaak na m kan upeeman. ‘When I was going to the farm I saw an antelope.’

Maah cha kisaak na m kan upeeman.
“‘When I was going to the farm I saw an antelope.’”
Maah
maah
I1SGwhile
PN
cha
cha
go
V
kisaak
kisaak
4farm4
N
na
na
 
PRT
m
m
I1SG
PN
kan
kan
saw
V
upeeman
upeeman
1animalred
N


Saah bi kisaak na, aa kan upeeman. ‘When you (sg.) were at the farm, you saw an antelope.

Waah cha kisaak na u kan upeeman. ‘‘When he/she was going to the farm he/she saw an antelope.’

Taah bi kisaak na, ti kan upeeman. ‘When we were at the farm, we saw an antelope.

Taah ŋeer na, ti ga ŋa tikpin la. ‘When they (noun class 5 plural, the soup leaves tifar) are ready, we will make soup.’

Baah cha kisaak na bi kan upeeman. ‘When they were going to the farm they saw an antelope.’

Naah ŋeer na, ti ga buen. ‘When it (neuter) is opportune we will go.’

Yaah ŋeer na, i ga dan. ‘When they (class 3 pl. animate) are ready they will come.’

Yaah ŋeer na, ti ga kan. ‘Whey they (class 4 pl., 6 pl. inanimate) are ready we will get/see (them).’

Kaah ŋeer na, ti ga buu ŋinu. ‘When it (the farm, class 7 sg.) is ready, we will plant yams.’ Laah ŋeer na, ti ga kan. ‘When it (the chair, class 8 sg.) is ready we will see/get (it).’

Ŋaah ŋeer na, ti ga kan. ‘Whey they (the chairs, class 8 pl.) are ready we will see/get (them).’

Reason

Expressing reason with a Nominal subject

Ute aah chuun nsan ni na, u bak a. ‘Because his father walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) he is tired.’

Kijuk ngbaan aah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because the knife (class 7 sg.) got lost on the way I no longer have (it).’

With pronominal subject

Maah chuun nsan ni na, m bak a. ‘Because I walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) I am tired.’

Saah chuun nsan ni na, aa bak a. ‘Because you (sg.) walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) you are tired.’

Waah chuun nsan ni na, u bak a. ‘Because he/she walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) he/she is tired.’

Taah chuun nsan ni na, ti bak a. ‘Because we walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) we are tired.’

Baah chuun nsan ni na, bi bak a. ‘Because they walked on the path, (i.e. came on foot) they are tired.’

Naah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because it got lost on the way I no longer have (it).’

Yaah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because they (class 3 pl., 4 pl., or 6 pl.) got lost on the way I no longer have (them).’

Kaah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because it (class 7 sg.) got lost on the way I no longer have (it).’

Laah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because it (class 8 sg.) got lost on the way I no longer have (it).’

Ŋaah waŋ nsan ni na, maa ki kpa. ‘Because they (class 8 pl.) got lost on the way I no longer have (them).’


Manner

When Manner is indicated there is also a particle pu immediately preceding the final particle na (…aah … pun a).

When expressing Manner with a Nominal subject:

Ute aah bi pu na, u mu bi kina la. ‘He/she is the same as his/her father’

Kisaak ngbaan aah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way the farm is.’

When expressing Manner with a Pronominal Subject:

Maah bi pu na, u mu bi kina la. ‘He/she is the same as me/I am’

Saah bi pu na, u mu bi kina la. ‘He/she is the same as you (sg.).’

Waah bi pu na, ti mu bi kina la. ‘We are the same as he/she is.’

Taah bi pu na, u mu bi kina la. ‘He/she is the same as we are.’

Baah bi pu na, u mu bi kina la. ‘He/she is the same as they are.’

Naah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way it (neuter) is.’

Yaah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way they (Pron. class 3 pl., 4 pl. or 6 pl.) are.’

Kaah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way it (Pron. class 5 sg. or 7 sg.) is.’

Laah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way it (Pron. class 8 sg.) is.’

Ŋaah bi pu na, ti gee kina la. ‘We like the way they (Pron. class 8 pl.) are.’