Argument indexing in Yawó
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This public article was written by [Deactivated User], and last updated on 4 Dec 2020, 11:11.
[comments] kyoargument-indexingpersonverbpredicate
The
Yawó predicate is the locus of marking in the clause, bearing a complex array of argument indices and TAME information. In many situations this can obviate the need for free pronouns or even referents, however it introduces significant complexity to the construction of the predicate. This article discusses argument indexing on the Yawó predicate – that is, the relative order, patterns of occurrence, and form of person markers.At a gross level, the Yawó predicate marks person, noun class, and number features of the subject and object and occasionally external possessors of those arguments. However, number is not distinguished in object markers, different noun classes are merged for markers of different arguments, number is marked independently of other features in up to two locations, and the presence and form of some morphs are dependent on the presence and form of others in non-trivial ways. These relationships and complexities are discussed below.
| A few consonants and their mutated forms in major mutation series. | ||||
| Plain | Mutated | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hard | Soft | Palatal | Aspirate | |
| b /ᵐb/ | p | h | ||
| d /ⁿd̪/ | y /j/ | rd /ⁿd̠/ | ||
| g /ᵑg/ | k | gy /ɰ/ | ||
| h | k | |||
| j /d͡ʒ/ | y /j/ | |||
| n /n̪/ | rn /n̠/ | |||
| ng /ŋ/ | w | rd /ⁿd̠/ | ||
| p | w | h | ||
| rd /ⁿd̠/ | h | |||
| s | w | h | ||
| w | h | |||
The Yawó predicate can be structurally decomposed into a series of elements prepended onto the root. These elements are presented in the table below.
S= O- Num1- CL- Num2- Root Subject proclitic Object prefix First number prefix Classifier consonant Second number prefix
The subject proclitic is a simple procliticised element that marks number and noun class features of the subject.
The object prefix is a prefixed element that marks noun class features of the object or an external possessor which, if it occurs as a free nominal, is coded as an object. Several object prefixes are single consonants, requiring the epenthesis of a vowel – the first number vowel. This vowel occurs only if the object prefix occurs and does not bear its own vowel.
The classifier consonant is a single consonant prefix that marks noun class features of the highest argument on the hierarchy plural > object > subject. That is, if a plural argument is present, the classifier consonant agrees in noun class with that argument. Otherwise it agrees with the object, if present, or otherwise the subject. The classifier consonant occurs not obligatorily, but rather in concert with the second number vowel, which occurs if either the subject or object is plural.
The form of the first and second number vowels are identical, but lexically specified. Some analyses consider them to be two separate surface occurrences of the same underlying element. However, either number vowel can occur without the other. For example, a plural subject and no object would lead to only the second number vowel being present, while a singular subject and singular object will lead to only the first number vowel being present.
Additionally, a range of morphophonological processes operate within Yawó words. Most commonly are initial-consonant mutations of the root. Several series of mutations exist, notably lenition, fortition, and palatalisation. These mutations may be triggered my inflection, with different forms triggering different mutations. For the most part, the associations between different inflectional forms and the mutations they trigger must be simply learned. In addition, some roots do not mutate in a predictable way, and these irregular mutations must also be learned.
The subject proclitic indexes the noun class and number of the subject argument. These forms are transparently derived from the independent personal pronouns, however they do not bear any tone of their own, demonstrating their phonological dependence and thus distinguishing them from the independent pronouns. These proclitics exclude the use of independent pronouns in a sentence but permit full nominals, thus being able to act both pronominally and non-pronominally.
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | G1, G3a | G4 | G6 | G8a | G7 | G2 | G10a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SGSingular (number) one countable entity | hi= | ngoe= | ya= | sa= | rda= | ra= | yi= | ngé= | jì= |
| PLPlural (number) more than one/few | hoe= | yi= | si= | rdi= | li= | ngi= | dé= | ||
Note that the G2Gender 2 (gender/class) and G10Unknown code/G12Unknown code proclitics carry tone. This tone only surfaces where it would not create an illicit melody; otherwise, these proclitics carry a neutral tone, as the others do.
The subject proclitics exhibit no allomorphic variation and trigger no alternations of the predicate.
The object prefix indexes the noun class of the object argument, if present, or an external possessor, which is coded as the object if it occurs as a free nominal. These markers originate as construct state markers on nominals, hence the external possessor association, and are formally identical with modern construct state marking.
| 1First person (person) speaker, signer, etc; I | 2Second person (person) addressee (you) | G1 | G3a | G4 | G6 | G7 | G2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| d- | h- | hoe-, ho- | n-, l- | l- | s- | lì- | Ø- |
Note that, as the G1Gender 1 (gender/class)
for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes and G7Gender 7 (gender/class) prefixes have an inherent vowel, they suppress the occurrence of the first number prefix.
The classifier consonant is an element that marks noun class features of a variable argument. Which argument determines the form of the classifier consonant depends on the full constellation of arguments and the referential hierarchy: plural > object > subject. If a plural argument is present, then the classifier consonant agrees in noun class with it. If there are no plural arguments and an object is present, the classifier consonant agrees in noun class with the object. Otherwise, it will agree in noun class with the subject. If both the object and subject are plural, then the classifier consonant agrees with the object, as it is higher on the hierarchy than the subject when equal in number.
| G1, G3a | G4 | G8a | G7 | G2 | G10a |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n-, l- | d- | r- | g- | r-, d- | s- |
The classifier consonant occurs primarily to act as a buffer between the first and second number vowels. It occurs obligatorily if the second number vowel occurs, and on vowel-initial verbs. Otherwise it is optional and its occurrence is in apparent free variation with its absence.
Several of these prefixes trigger mutations.
| A few allomorphs of the number vowel and example predicates. | ||||
| Allomorph | Notes | Example predicates | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -à- | The most common or default allomorph. | se "spirit" (G1Gender 1 (gender/class) for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes) si "next (in a series)" (G2Gender 2 (gender/class)) ge "family (older)" (G2Gender 2 (gender/class)) woegy "wisdom" (G7Gender 7 (gender/class)) | ||
| -àu- | yè "benevolent ghost, spirit" (G1Gender 1 (gender/class) for nonsemantic, very language-specific, or not-yet-added word classes) yilì "pinnacle, summit" (G2Gender 2 (gender/class)) | |||
| -ì- | Occurs on G10Unknown code nouns | pè "knife, blade" (G10Unknown code) | ||
The number vowel does not occur on vowel-initial stems due to phonotactic constraints. This is the only situation in which a plural argument may not be signalled by the second number vowel. A number of allomorphs for the number vowel exist, and these are selected for by the predicate stem. The most common allomorph is -à-. This morph is the 'default' in the sense that it is used for loanwords, for historically non-predicates that do not have an etymological reason for their number vowel form, for the first number vowel position on vowel-initial stems, and other such situations where the number vowel has no natural specification.
This section gives a breakdown of an example sentence in Yawó, explaining the argument indexing on the predicates present. The example sentence in question is the following.
hoe hàsàliyèliyè sìrdigè li lu kǎu dàya ha sagyè si jo dàya
hoe=h-à-s-à-liyè-li-yè
2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)=2Second person (person)
addressee (you)-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-CLClassifier
quantifies and/or replaces nouns:construct-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-NEGNegative (polarity)
not-set.down-IRRIrrealis
mood s-ì-rdigè
CLClassifier
quantifies and/or replaces nouns:construct-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-boat li
under lu
sky kǎu
west d-à-ya
CNSConstruct state
noun being possessed.CLClassifier
quantifies and/or replaces nouns:large.animal-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-giant ha
to sagyè
why si=jo
3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them:large.animal=steal d-à-ya
CLClassifier
quantifies and/or replaces nouns:large.animal-PLPlural (number)
more than one/few-giant
Don't leave your boats outside at night otherwise giants will steal them.
The first predicate in this example, hoe hàsàliyèliyè exhibits all of the core elements of predicate structure.
- The subject proclitic, hoe= 2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural) indexes the second person plural subject of this verb: you, the audience that the speaker addresses with this warning and who would be leaving (li set.down) their boats outside.
- The object prefix, h- 2Second person (person)
addressee (you) again indexes the second person argument, this time as an external possessor of the object rather than indexing the object itself. This marks the possessor of the boats without requiring an explicit reference as a free pronoun in the sentence.
- The first number vowel here has the form -à- and occurs obligatorily due to the object prefix.
- The classifier consonant, s- CLClassifier
quantifies and/or replaces nouns:construct agrees in noun class with the boats (rdigè G10Unknown code), being the plural object. Considering the hierarchy, both subject (2PSecond person plural (person)
addressee (plural)) and object (boats) are plural, so we fall back on the object-before-subject ranking, which selects the object as the source of the classifier consonant's agreement.
- The second number vowel has the same form as the first, -à-, and appears due to the presence of a plural argument: both the subject and object.
The second predicate, si jo exhibits almost none of the predicate elements, showing how the structure changes for different numbers and features of arguments. The subject proclitic, si= 3PThird person plural (person)
neither speaker nor addressee, they/them:large.animal indexes the third person plural subject of this verb: the giants (da G10Unknown code) who would seek to steal the boats. No other elements are present.
This handy flowchart encodes all of the above rules and decision-making points in a fun and readable way to allow you to easily inflect Yawó predicates at home!
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