UNIVERSITY OF YAOUNDE

!! , " PA, FACULTY OF LETTERS DEPARTMENT OF 'AFRICIAN AND SOCIAL SCIENCES LANGUAGES AND

THE CLASS SYSTEM OF

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of a Post-Graduate Diploma (Maitrise) in Linguistics

BY

Irene Swiri ASOBO 8. A. Modern Lefters

Supervised by

Dr. CarL EBOBISSE (Char@ de cours)

September 1989 i

Dedicated to my parents, bro-them

and sisters, with all my love.

C. ACKIIOKLEGEMENT

I must acknowledge special indebtedness to my supervisor Dr. Cor1 EBOBISSE for his invaluable contribu- tion ot the realisation of this dissertation. His inde- fatigable patience criticisms and unswerving dcvotion were encouraging especially when I was doubting and discouraged. Llithout his potient guidance this work would not have been acheived. My heortfelt'gratitu8e to fioffessor B.S. Chumbow who assisted and advised me during the writing of this work. My special thanks also goes to Dr. Chia Emmanuel otic? 011 my lecturers who were a source of unwmering support to me. Great thankfulness to my parents Prince snii Mrs V.T. ASOBO for the moral and financial ai& they showered on me. I will like to gratefully 3cknowledge Evclyne Monikang for the wonderful and ucfziling encouragomcnt

she gnvc me. She was always a pillar to 1em on. Sincere thanks to 311 my classmates whose camoroderie wc?s a11 T neef-ed to spur me on. All. my friends especially Walters Abie who was always ready to help, Po-po who never stopped to say go on and Dora Mbola for being there when I needed her. Finally td Metuge Roggy who spent sleepless nights for the typing of this work. Thank the Lord

... Irene S. Asobo Lisi 1 of Abbreviations and Symbols

CL Class NP NPc Numeral prefix fip Adjective prefix DP Demonstrative prefix PP PossessivL prefix

DS Associative prefix DPe Determinative prefix VP Verbal prcfix Morpheme boundary + 1 // Phonological representation ri =onetic representation P1 Plura 1 sg Singu Y.&e - -0 realised as r V vowel C Consonant N Noun B p! ( bilabial fricative) B @ (voiceless bilabial fricatiee) -1-

TABLE OF CONTENTS

.. Page Dedication ......

Acknowledgements. .... , ...... , . ., _...... List of symbols and abbreviations ...... CIX'Tj ::1 1 TNTRO UU CT I ON 1.1 Geographical Situation ...... 3 1.2 Xistory .... ~...... ~.,, 3 1.3 .Socio-economic background ...... 5 1.4 'I'be Language ...... 6 1.4.1 Linguistic Situation ...... 6 1,4.2 Classification ...... 9 1.4.3 Literature review ...... ! ...... 10

1.5 Goal and Methodology ...... ,# .... 11

1.6 Gate Sources ...... , ...... 14 IILP SUPPLEPENT

CXAPTE2 2 GENEElSIIAL PHONOLOGY OF DIJ~ 1 2.1 Fhonetic vowels .In...... 16 2.2 Phonetic conconants ...... IC 2.3 Syllable and Morpheme structure of noun ..,...- 21 2.4 Tones ...... 23 C%FLWI;R 7 NOUN CLASS SYSTEM 3.1 Noun Class ...... 25 3.2 Noun ...... 29 3.3 Concord system ...... 55 3.3.1 Numerals ...... 56 ~.. 3.3.2 Adjectives ...... 63

3.7.3 Demonstratives ...... =~ .... 59 7.3.4 Possessives ...... 75 3.3.5 Associatives ...... 82 3 3.6 Determinatives ...... 85 '3.3-7 Verbal concord . . .. '.> .. 38 3.3.8 Analysis of concord system ...... 92 .?- 3.9 Some Noun-phrase Phonological Processes .... 3.b and Semantic Content ...... CHKPTEX 4 CCWCLUSION 4.1 GenEral Conclusion ...... 4.2 Suggestions for further reading ...... TEXT ......

BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... ,...... -3-

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Geographical Situation

I The kslE language is a language spc en in tho South West Province of . The speakers of the language occupy six villages along the creeks of the coasf namely, Betika, Njangasa, Bekanje, Ubenikang or Rekumu, Yenda and Barnusso. Barnusso has the native population and is also a sub-divisioual headquarters. According to Brdener (1956:13) these villages are surrounded by Efik fishing &cations and are "bounded on the east by Lundu, by an enclave of the Lsmbi and by the Mboko villages". In addition to the six native villages: there are also a nu%er of fishing settlements,scattered along the coast of Rio del Rey on the Gulf of Guinea in an area now known officially as Ida-Bat0 Sub-district.

The surface area is flat and only broken by lagoons. It should be noted that the only means of transport between these villages is by use of a cenoe since each village is surrounded by water and impenetratable swampy mangrove forest.

1.2 History

According to informed sources, the people believe they have the same origin as the Dualas. As the story -4- goes, the clan came from Piti. The Chief of Piti had two * sons, Ngasse Mbongo end Mbedi Mbongo. Mbedi Mbongo had the following sons, Kolle Mbedi, Duala Mbedi and Bojongo

Mbedi who in turn had their own sons and daughters. Duala Mbedi decided to merry ene of his relatives but the other brothers disagreed. This led to fighting amongst themselves, especially as their father and grand- father had died, Rojongo begged for peace but to no avail, so he gathered his own clansmen an2 they took off in the night. They went their own way and the result today is the village of Bojongo in Fako Division. After their brother deserted them, Duala and Kolle stopped fighting and left Piti. Thcy then decided to separate as their brother was no longer on their side,

Mbedi Kolle to& his clan and move3 along the mast stopping first at Poka, then travelled further to Eyenge (a place near peesent-day Idenau). He decided to settle there hecease of its accessibility to the Eea, for fishing was his main occupation. But due to very strong waves, he left Eyenge for Bekanje, another fishing settlement along the coast of Idenau, where he had the same problems. So he left again, leaving behind some of his follow&rs. He reached Mbowa 'e ndene but food was lacking since they were basically a fishing tribe. Zolle eventually abandoned the open sea and moved up the creeks where he built on a large island,which is present-day -5- BamUSSO, known then as Dibanpe (bald head), because it was seen as trees surrounded by water. It is also held that Mr. Clause, a white, visited the area and asked to know its name. The chief said it was called "bato ba mosso" meaning "people of the creeks." The chief then sailed around the creegs, discovering and staking ownership on the smaller islands, until he reached the sea again. Such is the reason why the speakers of the Kslc language am not united under one big village but are scattered amongst the creeks in < la5 2..21 1 fishi-rig settlements. kr

1.3 Socio-economic Background -- I_._1--c Socially, the Ksl~peQple are of a heterogenous nature, living in their various settlements with their chief at Bamusso. They interact mainly with the liigerians,such as the Efiks, the Ibibios, the Ibos and the Ijaws, *The natives themselves are outnumbered in their own villages. They number about four hundred, meanwhile immigrants from other tribes (both from Cameroon and Nigeria) number above five thousands, thus putting the overall population between five thousand and ten thousand, according to Alcam. They share cultural aspects with their hinterland neighbours, namely the Balundus, the Barombis, the Bsmbokos and the

c -6-

Bakweris with whom they share the elephant cisnce and wrestling. At the economic level, the Kale people are basically fishing orientated. All their efforts are bent on fishing which they barter on the Ekondo Titi beach at specific dates for foodstuffs such as plantain, coco- yams 2tc. Bishing here is dona by men, women and children alike. Since the bulk of trade in this area is with Xigeria, the currency much used is the Naira, rat;hm than the fiancs. They buy clothes household utensils, tinned food, bathing materials etc. directly from Nigeria.

1.4 The Language

1.4.1 LinguistiySituatinn

Since the Ka1.c language is of the same origin as the Duala language, there is a degree of intelligibility between them. There is also a degree of intelligibility between the Kal~people and the Barombis, Bimbias, Bakweris, Balundus and the Botas.

It is a common occurence to find 8 k31.c speaker expressing a great degree of multilingualism by speakXns efik, ibibio, balundu and the duala languages. The Kale people, eventhough they understand the other afore listed languages, speak to them in their I ovm respective languages. -7- Below is a chart comparing kslc to the duala and the bakweri languages, which proves the point thet there is gcnetc qpmtr) between them.

" " dls6 . dlsj : llhzd : eye

gb$mG bw6m : gb&mt : goodness

r The kslr language has various I?ames ran by various tribes. The Efiks call it -usem irambi 'language of ir:,mbe", the Lundus call it motako qwa bosama "language of bosama", the kweris call it nbssi ja banako "language of banaks" end the kolr themselves . call it mbasi ja ban:, "lenguage of banal'. The appela- tion kalr is derived from the leader or founder of the clan whose name was T'olle. The kalr longuoge is spoken in all the six fishing settlements (Bekanje, Ubenikang, Betika, Njangasa, Eekumu, Yenda and Barnusso), but it is not the lingua franca. The reason for this is because the imigrants -8- who make up more than half of the population tend to speak their own respective languages such as efik, ibo; ibibio and balundu. The whole community is a melsiige of all these languages and the people, both indigenes and immigrants speak them interchangeably. The lingua franca is pidgin English. Both the indigenes and the lmruigrantv use it for wider communication, thus it is a bridjic aC23ss ethnic groups. As already mentioned, of all the various languages used in this zone, the k2lc language does not as the most widely used language. Actual native speakers are few and might conkinue to decrease due to pessure from other languages in the community. The mother tongue has become'contaminated' with frequent loan wori?s from various languages and even the , It was a common experience, while in field to have native speakers debate whether a particular word was in tl,eFr own language or the other languages in the zone. 'Phis situation is 4 can5,ecn especially .o the native speakers, because there might be ;just a possibility that, the four hundred remaining speakers

will eventually d IS~P~P,The absence of secondary schools in the vicinity send awar yout'ns in quest knowledge to towns like and Limbe. These youths after their education do not come back to settle but remain in the towxis where their ~PUWL~~e 9 -9- will he put to use. This accounts for the gradual dying out of the n4w sp~,afterall,after studying who will want to come back to start acquiring fishing skills they had long lost, not only acquire skills hut face the tough competition mounted by the Nigerians ie fishing and in trade.

1.4.2 Classification

Because of their similarities African languages are divided into language families, namely; Mizec Kordofanian, Nilo Soharian, Afro Asiatic and Khoiqan. dccording to qrdener, kale is a coastal bantu language. Coastal Bantu constitutes a minor division of Benue Congo, a sub classification of the Niger Kordofanian fam5Ip. He goes further to classify !t under the duala- limbe-group which consists of duala, mongo, pongo, oli, Bodirnan, kale and liaba. However, the Alcam presents e most clear classification. It places the coastal undcr zone 6. These are languages spoken from Limbe to Campo and inland. They are clas- sified into groups A10, A20, A30 which are "Lundu- belong, duala" and "bube benga" respectively by Guthrie. Unc!er zone 6 kale appears as bakale an nuinber 625. - 10 -

1.4.3 Literature ReTJiew

It is most regretable to note that the k3le language so far has not been an - linguistic analysis. This might be because its sister language duala has been the main attraction riTht from when the

Missionaries arrived in Cameroon and used it as J means of disseminating religion in the Coast of the Country. Duala has attracted lingu-ists' attention and the:- kerp&& to devote adequate analysis to it before breakin[.; into new fields. So far the little war? on kale has been carried out by Ewota rJemea, a lecturer in the Yecinde Universify. In this work The Ph~~n~~of Kole-- (D.E.S 1973) he analyses the phonological structure of the kcan9""9" , making an inventory of sounds and placing it in a chart, thus establishing a kind of alphabet for the language. In 195G Edwin Ardener published a boeu,Coastal -Bantu of the , which was more of a historical and sociological work than a Linguistic exploration. In it, kale together with other coastal language- were studied from the point of view of their history, economy, geography, the degree of intelligibility between them and finally some sort of classification. In short, it was a general survey of all or most of the languages at the coas+ of Cemeroon. - 11 - 1.5 Goal and Methodology of Wnrk

At a time when traditional societies are becoming rare and speakers are disappearing either through death or through assimilation into urban life, the continued existence of our diverse folk languages can no longer be *, .I*~ ensured through their present oral mode of transmission. After all if we cannot save a people from extinction we can at least save their culture. And what better way than to codify language especially if we consider it as a very significant mesns of expressing culture. The noun class system, which is the object of our d study is a contribution and progress in linguistic science. The phonology of kole had been studled and Aces this work constitutes another dimension to the language. h This research project, modest as it might be, is a contribution to the description of our national Languages. It lays the foundation for more exciting and detailed studies which , it is hoped, will further bring out the grammar of the language. This will eventually throw more light on the structure and rules that govern the language and finally to the establisbment of the writing system of the language. Hopefully, this will be of benefit to the native speakers who will then be able to boast of knowing not only the structure and the rules but also how to write their own language, - 12 -

As a matter of fact-, it. l.s hoped that a study of this language will make it possible to compare it Mth other languages, and this might bring about significant generalisations that will hold true for all the coastal Bantu languages of the Country.

Methodology

The study focuses on the noun class system, and to get an apt description of this system, it will be necessary to use two Linguistic theories; the structural and the generative approaches. The key notion in structurali&m is that lengtdge is a system that can be broken down into smaller units, described scientifically and empkrically, contrasted, compared and added up to form a whole Given the akove view, this theory seeas apt in describing the noun class system because it mems breaking down a noun, studying it empirically and scientifically and then adding it up to form a whole.

But there is a catch. In snalysing , irregularities are noticed in the where as theory claims that a language is systematic and regular. The solution to this problem is to postulate a deeper level. where rnorphoy3onological regularities exist and a surface level where irregularities are found, but are linked to the former level by phonological rules. We are now in - 13 - the realm of the generative approach. Consequently, in this work pure structuralism is not used but knotrledge is borrowed from the generative theory to fill in gaps otherwise left out. The method herein thus consists of an analysis of nouns in terms of their respective prefixes in order to come out with the possible noun classes and correspondix prefixes that exist in the language. The concord system wFll then be considered to establish that chosen classes are correct and then texts to show their occurcnce in context . This stu&$ required a step by step analysis of a corpus of about 3,000 words, Those that begm with the same prefixes wliere classified together, OD+ OLkl !lb,nL, bw-k other criteria wepe used to establish differences. The prefixes were then seperated from their seems and placed in their various classes. Tha classes were paired into clsss qenders be it single or double class, one class singular the other . To analyse the concord system, adjectives, numerals, >roho- minal forms were studied in t-he form of phrases from which the concordial prefix was then picked out. Texts [.ere recorded, transcribed and their word for word and free translation obtained. - 14 -

All the above required a journey into the field. travelled ko Kumba, from there to Ekondo Titi beach where Qctook an engine boat or flying boat as it is called,to Bamusso, the stronghold of the language.

1.6 The Data Sources I

This work was realised with a corpus of about 1000 words, a substantial number of phrases, a few texts collected through the help of six principal informalits narn3l.y:

HtNES : AGE :I (IOP'ESSION: IIESESTDENCE --- v---. -- Johnson Ewea Etieline: 49 :Secretary : :General : : council : - . :Isangcle : Bamusso Harry E. Mokongo i 64 :Municipd ' :Administrator - :Barnusso : Bamusso &manuel PI. Mbullah 64 :Nightwatch: - : NIDEPFCAM : Bamusso fTCatije Njoh Thomas . 50 :Nursing : superinten; :dent : Limbe - Etcngo Gabriel I 52 :Member of i -: .Parliament: Bamusso Chief Hbola : 60 ;Retired : : civil servant Kumba - 15 -

The informants were asked to translate orally from English to k31.z. i?our of the informants were at Barnusso, end during working sessions before B translation was given, they often argued amongst themselves and, I am c nvinced, often came out with the accepted version. The data collected was partly verified through the kind assistance of : . Ewota Jemee who is a native speaker of the Language. .B written text of the history was got from Barnusso from the chief.

- 16 -

CHAPTER I1

GENERAL PHONOIDGY OF KFd$9

Introduction

Although this work is based on the analysis of the various noun classes in KD~E, , a brief sketch of the phonology will be neccessary. This is because it provides the material used for the phonetic transcrip- tion of the data for the purposes of this study. 7 Consequently, I will, - : refer to Jemea Ewota's

Phonology of K* (1977) Yhe vowel system will be looked at, followed by the consonant system. Next will be the syflable and morpheme structure of the nouns and then a resumt! of the tonal system. The phonetic ,- transcription used in this work has been adopted from the General-- alphabet--I_ af Cameroon languages (M. Tadadjeu and E. Sadembouo 1984).

2.3..I Phonetic Vow*

The following are the phonetic vowels found in ka1~: i, e, E, u 0, 3, and a. It is possible to have the above vowels lengthened, JQmucjh & ba not phorurmLc Below are examples:

dii "hair It miid "ghost " rc& 8 "palm" rJg35 "wind" I - 17 -

Vowels in the morphology of a word might become semi- vowels. This is noticeable in closed and mid vowels

where re1 and Cu, 01 become semi vowels Cy1 and +w3 ' respectively. Thus the vowels have two allophones which are semi-vewels.

auhC, /mii/ --% rmw~/ - v /b6/ ---3 ibwl / - v /me/ ---$ rmy~/ - v /b&/ --3 Cbyl / - V

There are times, when 2 continious sequence of two 7 vowels sccur, one vowel is dropped and the other kept.

Examples /mii + 6rf/ ---;S rmdrll

/mii + Bs'/ ---$% ~mdsC;~ ~-

At other times when there is a con+inous sequence of two vewels, a glide is introduced or inserted For

a sequence of back rounded vowels u, a; 0, a; a /w/ glide is interposed. k'or a sequence of front/fronb ox front/back vowel e.g. e, ai e, i; a 4/ glide is inter- posed.

Examples w&S --aWH6 I' f ire" r)ga ---> rJgB% "road"

mb36 ---) mbiY6 "groundnuts "

mbG6 ---3 mbGw6 Itr a in" r)gd6 ---9 r)gd"B "Pig" - 18 -

It 5 important to stress here that for the sake of keeping transcription uniform with that of other Bantu languages e.g. duala the intervening glides have been omitted. Any reader who comes '8x0s~such words should remember the implications. T3e chart below illustrates these vowels.

POSITION OF "2 TONGUE FRONT : BACK HEIGHT \ANI) LIPS i UNROUNDED : CENTPilAL : ROUXDED -OF TPCKGUE - - HIGII 7: (CLrjSLD) i ii- : : u uu HIGII (MID) e ee : 0 -50 Xl'l (MID) E €E : 3 33 MU (CLOSED) :am: - 19 - It should'however be noted that /p/ a bilabial plosive is becorning quite rare in k31E. It is either replacecBbby the voiceless labio dental /f/ or it is 8 cross between /p/ and /f/ becoming a voiceless bilabial fricative Col Examples -fdnd6 pdndcl "time" -QfdfZ, &pap6 "rainy season" ---m6&mb6 m6p6mb6 "nos e''

Also segments like .IJ, ~d],[r] occur in free variation in all enviroments except in the sequence /nd/ where dl is a distinctiphoneme.

Examples nddw6 I' hous e 'I nd6tii "sorrow"

The c13 segment is fast disappearing from the language. jo that- a native speaker would S8y "korc" instead of

"k31Ell. Simflarly, /d/ becomes /r/ as in

wa t er"

&la& &rere "duck"

In some cases /b/ and /w/ occur in free variation

adrib8 m$riw6 "water" nd6b6 ndswd "house"

The accompanying chart illustrates the manner and place of articulation of these consonants. I

- 20 -

I

Y - 21 -

2.3 Syllable and Morpheme Structure of Nouns ~

1Ca1~nouns have a basic syllable of a nucleus 7 and an optional C element which can either be at the onset or coda position. Thus the canonical form is (C) V (C) and the most dominant of these syllable patterns is CV. Below are the possible patterns with examples.

Syllable Pattern : Example : Gloss :Noun Pattern L V t$k$ . market i vcv - L: .. C?r : k5 i snail *: GV -- - CVV mb6& : village i CVV

C'I cv i mdt6 : person i CIICV

I_

The kDlE noun permits initial and medial complex consonants such as ggb, nd, nj mw, bw etc. The complex consonants usually belong to the same syllsble, thus no successful articulatory attempt can be made, to separate them before their syllabic peak.

Zxamples ggb5 "dog" cv mw&it& "woman" W'N

w6r)gS "forest" CVCV njc5 "tiger" CVC - 22 - The above structures are all of the open type. There are also closed syllabled nouns existing in the language but because they are so few, one can say that kalE has an open syllable structure. Not more than three CVC structures have been registered in the kalt: transcription in the text.

-.bxamples wen "bell CVC qgbh "wealth" cvc

mb6g "good/f ine" CVC L As already mentioned, the basic syllable stru?i,ure 5s CV but there are cases wLme CVV is observed and in this c6se the boundary is CVV. This might be as a result of rapid speech whye the intervening C in a CVCV structure is dropped through contraction.

Examp 1e dmb66ri "he looks at you" v v.CV v cv In ragid speech the above is rendered as a single word. Mean while it is

2 w6 mbdr6ri v CV cv cv CV he you look

Another process, affixation, can lead to a CV V structure. This is realised when 8 noun prefix t'iat- ends with a vowel is brought infront of a stem thak - 23 - bcgins with e vowel. The following nouns in their plural forms illustrates the process.

m-6rJg6 --3 m6-dggd "friends" cl 3/4

Q-orL8 _- ---> m&-&r< "ropes It cl 3/4 m-6s5 ---3 m6-6~5 "rivers cl 3/11.

Most nominal prefixes which are morphemes have a Cv structure such as classes 1, 2, 7, 4, 5, 6, 8, 13 and 14. There are V structures in classes 7 and 9. As for the concordial morphemes, classes 7 and 19 are basically c V structured together with classes 9 and 10. The rest Of the thc classes have a CV scructure. This can be seen

I in the table containing the nominal and the concor-lial morphemes at tha end of the section treating the cancord system.

2.1.4 Tones

The kale language makes use of four leveltorLes. These tones are H (high), L (low), LH (low-high rising tone), HL (high-low falling tone). - 24 - The foll wing tonal systems are found in kale

8) monosyl1abi.c k5 It sna i 1" mbd "hone y'l

b) disyllabic

dib6 'I brea s t 'I

mdli "belt'I mbd& "village" np;irS "lion" c c) trisyllabic k5r5rij corn" mdt6td "smoke" mdk&y6 "egg" mdkdkd "sugercsne ir6ndg "knife" - 25 -

CHAPTER I11

NOUM CLASS SYSTEM

This section deals with the bulk of 'this work As the title suggests, it treats the noun classes, ixeei'ixes, the concord system and finally the gender and semantic contents of the classes

3.1 Noun Classes

A noun clase is a group of words thet distinguish themselves in a language by common which can be a prefix, suffix, or both. The effix is added to a isten! sild each will belong to a particular clsr,s listing 10-25, according to Guthrie (1967) i In a noun class there is an almagamation of bokli the g-rammatical category and the number.

Examp 1e s @-td "person" cl 1 bA-t6 "persons" cl 2 mo- signifies both the class which is cl 1 and the number which is singular ba- signifies class two and plurality. There is no affixe to mark number separately Prom class. In languages that have the noun claso system especially Bantu, distinction in sex is not pertinent - 26 - i.e. &here is no difference between masculine and feminine as in Xnglish "he1' or "she". In "Noun classes in the GrassfieldsBantu Borderland" edited by Hymon (1980) Hedinger, in his paper, "The Noun cl.ass system of Akmse" discusses possible criteria used to establish individual noun classes as contrastive. Below are the criteria.

1) The occurence of nouns with a specific set of noun prefixes. A particular class will have a specific nominal prefixe.r plus a root.

Xxemple :

cl 7 6- f rim6 'I fruit 6-bBr6 It scar" 6-r6r.G "duck"

cl 8. b&-fiimd fruits'I

b6-bSrd " s cars

b&-r$r.G "ducks"

So words beginning with the prefix /e-/ will be coansidered as belonging to a particular class (cl 7) and the prefix /be-/ belongs to class 8.

2) The occurence of nouns with a particular set of concording elements. This is seen in the light t'iat a particular class of nouns will haw a specific set of - 27 1

concordial prefix to mark the class. This aspect is discussed at length in Chapter 111.

3) The pairing of a certain class with another class as singular/plural In the above example class 7 can only pair with class 8. This criterion can of course not be applied when the singular/plural dichotomy is krre- levant i.e. for mass and abstract nouns.

It is wohhwhile to add here that certain noms distinguish themselves in a particular class by being semantically correlated. It has been known that the semantic correlation of class 1 nouns is that they are human beings and it is common to find animals belonging in class 9. Generally,!.the k31& noun is composed of a prefix and a stem. But in some cases, especially in class 1, there is a prefix, a stem and a 54 (Y This occures ff - when the noun is derived from a werb. That is, to .get

a word like "a traveller", the k3lE language will construct it as "somebody who goes". Below are examples. - 28 - - mli - prefix (~1.1) !:Qis&- stem (verb) "to judge" ri -

mGkQis&ri 'I judge"

- mC - prefix (~1.1)

r6B - stem (verb) I't o teach"

ri - G.LI~\.-

rnCr86di 'It ea cher" c - mii - prefix (c1.1.) bene - stem (verb) I1to own" ri - 5u +-f\y rnGb6n6ri 11 owner"

It should be noted that the classification of nouns into classes is not inherent in the noun stems but rather, it is associated with the prefix. Thus a stem is unchangeable while the prefix changes according to class The stem accepts the prefixes, which are on it, because on it's om, it is not a noun, They have to be always attached to the stem. These gramrnaticaIL morphemes (prefixes) which is our in the next section, will be treated by means of analysis and commentaries thus bringing out basic forms and stating their distribution. - 29 - 3.2 Noun Prefixes- In this section the identified noun prefixes of 1~31~ will be treated systematically. It should however be noted that all the corresponding proto-Bantu prefixes were collected before stems with initial consonants. These Drefixes are therefore bound to change, thus resulting in allomorphy, when they occur before a stem with an initial vowel. The basis then, on which a particular prqix is chosen as basic allomorph is gotten firstly from the distribution taking into c<-nsi- deration the enviroments in whioh they occur. Secondly the frequency of occurence of 8 particular prefix in class will also be considered. Below are the various classes and their prefixes with examples.

This class has three allomorphs from the morpheme of the nominal prefix. The allomorphs are Lm&I,bh4,irnw- 3 B lot of problems arise here due to the fact that it is difficult to pose one of the allomorphs as . basic.

The main difficulty is between meb-3 andimh-3. If bo3 is chosen as the basic ailomorph, how can we explain tY.e process of roi becoming CUI? One can say it is a highesing process where the high-mid io7 becomes a complete high vowel Cuj, This cannot be the case ., - 30 - because the process does not occur in ell contexts where rul is concerned, as seen from the corpus. Now if /mh-/ is taken as the basic allomorph, it will be more natural to see a lowering process occuring where

tu. becomes to3 because one deduces that /mh/ becomes [mo-3 when the preceeding segment resembles it. This can further be e@lained by the fact that the voirel of the prefixe becomes lowered in relation to that of

the stem. Thus the prefix CV has V as to1 each tine the root CV also has f as zo3, As foz cmw-3 one can easily see that it is the realisation of /m;-/ infront of a vowel. A prose statem;nt of the above is that /m6-/ Is realised Lm6-2 infront of a consonant fol1o:red by a vowel Col, and tmw-1 infront of a vowel, Cmiil elsetihere. The following are examples:

- /mh/ ---> mw-l/ - v ---.

/mii t 6nB/ - - -; cmw- 6nB 1 "child"

/m; 4- $it&/ ---> cmw-8itd3 "woman"

/mC t Bnd6ri -- -> nnw-Bnd6ri3 "travel er I'

- /m6-/ --9 cmd?/ - CV~V 3 to]

/mh + td/ ---? .m6-t6i 11 person''

It should not be that almost half of the nouns of this class are constructed from the word "mdtd" which can rouchly be translated as "person or"... thw \ m&t? 2 '3g&rjg$ "medecine man" - 3i-

- /mb-/ --3 Cndl / %ewhere

/md + tfnd/ ---> cmA-tfn81 I' e Id er"

/mii ik$n&ri/ --4 irnd-kSn8ri1 " chief "

/mil + rBmba/ ---2 ~mii-r6mb63 "witch"

Class l(a)

This class is related eo class 1. It treats * perental relationships. No known prefix belongs to . . this ciass. Beiorr are examples.

t6td " f o t her It fYB c "mother" ggdnd6ri "girl" nyliw6 "orphan" s&ngw8mB "father"

Thos:: that have plural formation do so with class 2 which will next be examined.

Class 2 /b$-/

There are two allomorphs of the nominal prefix which are ~ba-Iand -bg . Here it will not be so difficult to postulate a basic allomorph for one can clearly see that :b-3 is a realisation from /b'a-/ when it occurs before stems with an initial vowel. Tl-,us /b&/ is realised cb-I infront of a vowel, and tb$-~ elsewhere. The following are examples of this class. - 32 - - /b$-/ ---> Cb-I / - V /b$ + Gnd6ri/ ---> cb-8nd6ril "travellers"

/b$ f 6ns/ --4 cb-Bn$l " children'I

/b$ + $it6 ---> Cb-$ital "worn en "

/be + 6tB/ --3 Cb-Bt81 b e gg a r s 'I

- /b&/ ---9 cba-1 / elsewhere /b$ + wdr&di/ --a cb$-w&r&diI "neighbours"

/b$ f kBrB/ --a cb$-kBrBl "Europeans" /b$ + tin$/ --$ Cb$-tin$l "elders" /b$ + s$ngwsm& ---3, Gb&s$ng&m& "fathers"

/b$ f t&/ --T Tb$ tB "perso ns I' r Class 7 /m3-/

At first glance this class looks just like class 1 in terms of nominal prefix. Even the allomorphs of the morpheme are almost the same and these are rm&- mii- mw-I. Thus, it will be necmssary to first pos'-ulate reasons why they are considered different classes. There are two main differences. The first is that the Bantu noun class double gender 1/2 contains personal nouns, and this is evident in knl~while 3/4 contains objictn (non-personal). The second difference is that nouns of these two classes 1 and 3 take their plural from two different classes 2 and 4 respectively. Thus the semantic content and plural formation make it possible - 33 - to postulate a difference between class 1 and class 3 eventhough they have the same prefixes. tJow we look on to which of the allomorphs can'be postulated as a basic allomorph. Kkthink and as can clearly be seen, that the same process for class 1 holds true for this class. /mu-/ is realised .mwl infront of a voiiel, cmeJ infront of the vowel EO-] and [mu-I ekaihere.

"root"

,I song" "fo0.t"

"news I'

"river" "rope" "friend"

- /mh-/ --->

/mii t kdri/ "hill"

/mil t rdggi 'I shee p "

I' frog "

- /mb-/ --9 Cmb-I / - elsewhere

/mil t nyer6 ---> tmiiny6rk1 "earth" - 34 -

Class 4 /me-/

This class is normally the plural for class 7. It has two allomorphs realised as me-I and Lmy-I.

The first allomorph is realised infront of stems with an initial consonant and the second one is infront of stems of an initial vowel. Which can we now choose as tihe basic%llomorph? A complication arises bscause

[me-I which can be said l& occurr before consonants also has vowels occuring. If Cmy-I is chosen as basic allomorph the problem will be to decide 'now KyJ b, *comes

;e 1. One cannot szy it is a lowering process, there /y/ ---> Cel because it will have to pass throl-igh'Si1, thus a chain /y/ -- 7 /i/ --3 [el is formed but this has not been attested in the language. As a result

Emy-3 cannot be chosen as basic allomorph. If cm&-I is considered as basic allomorph one would take into consideration the fact that in this language high closed or mid vowels, can easily be transformed into glides, when they are followed by another vowel. The front vowels become ~yland the back vowels cwI. The prose statement of this will be that /me-/ becomes [my-1 - 35 - in.rront of vowels and /me-/ infront of consonants. Eelow are examples:

- /me/ ---> -m&~ / - c

/m& + kLmbk/ ----, Cm&k&nbkJ It guns"

/me + rcjrjgi/ --+ CmZ.rdrjgi3 I, sheep"

/in& -I- kdri/ ---;Emekcril hi11 s "

/a& i-nyBr&/ --a LmchyBrB3 I' earth"

The analysis of this class is not finished. From the corpus it is noticed that the prefix Lmk-1 does also occur: infront of stems with an initial vowel. eclt 3 but if we look closely it vill be realised thzt m6- only occurs if the following vowel is toll It seems as if we come back to class 7, its singular counterpart, where /m-/ is realised, if the follouing vowel of the root is Fol. Examples are as follows:

"ropes" - 36 -

/mG + 6s6/ --- cm66s&1 "rivers"

/ig& + 'OTJ~~--- cm86gg6 3 "friends" /mi. + 6n6/ --- rm86n2 1 "doors"

Class 5 /&-/

The prefix formation of this class is very complex.

There are as many as six allomorphs, id;-, d-, l:, 1,iJ

j -I including a zero prefix. The choice of any of these

as a basic allomorph is a monumental task. In reality

we iiill be considerins, the five first allomorphs, since

it will not be logical to say a @ prefix is the basic a1.l.omorph. Most researchers often emounter this problem and they end up by choosing one or the other for various reasons, For practical and logical reasons, xhich will become clear as we progress, the a1io;norph rdil has been chosen as the basic allnmorph. How, how

does d'i- move to then to [il, Clkl and -rj-l, The

L1r-l allomorph does not need any justification for its presence for ill and ;dl ?re .in .free variation when they

occur as prefixes rdi] becomes Td infrcn-k of ~icr~1.::.

*,,I .,...., -.- ..--.A 1 -This wiThXmWieF b(3-ifiscksked whsn treating class I3 .. rdj.-.> bccurs. infront 6f the aiveelar sounds L.t,, s, r;. 2:e are now left with LjI~"E6w does a' simple consonant

:di- 7 pass to 8 complex one jl. Cansidering tile o-kher classes we notice that it is not -dy-I infront of vov[els i - 37 - but rd-I One can conclude that, because language is a s-isten, instead of rdy-1, kale language uses cj1 infront of vowels, when it is not Ed-] i.e. id1 pal-aka- liscd becomes C jl. Therefore, as always been the case, if a vowel of a prefix does not drop, a glide is fGrmed. In this case, each time a vowel occurs at the initl~al stem position, we have I:d-I and when it is to becoiiie a Tlicie idy-! we have -j-I as [dy-I is non-existent in the language. Below are examples: ,i"

- /&-/ ---5 tj-I / - v [a~

/di + &/ --+ ~j&61 I' hand" /di + SrBb8 --- cj&rBb&l "reply"

- /di-/ ---y ilil / - C (free variants with tendency towards Cdi 2)

/d: + bSt6/ ---> rdibetdi "cloth" /d; + boggoboggo/ --4 rdiboggoboggb I "Imee" - 30 -

- /a?-/ ---) rdi-1 / elsewhere

/di 1- k6k8/ ---.'- [dilr6k&1 '' crab" /dt + @hi$/--a [dj&hd$I cup" /ai + kpsmb6/ --+ ydikp6mb61 "cassava"

/di f wdni/ ---'", rtliwdnl, '' okra "

/di + bd/ . -+. rdib6, "marriage 'I

It is nolv neccessary to say something about the zero arefix. \,le noticed thst the nouns considered as ilavi.ng a zero prefix always had one of the allomorphs (pri?.:ixe) as an jnitial &?1Li(jmii:%. Thus the allomorphs [d- ,, 1.- ,i-J all occured as the initial c,>nsonant of the stem. Eelow are examples,

The above are considered as not having a prefix on the basis that, in their plural formation, the preiix is added to what we have above thus it then becomes a stem Lxamples will be given when treating class 6.

Class 6 /m&-/

This class is not as complex as its singular counter- part. It has two allomorphs from the prefixal morphen CmB-1, [m-I. The problo? of chosing a basic allomoi.i,:i - 39 - is the same as that of class 2 [ba-1 and [b-1, 1.f ~m-1is chosen, there will be an insertion rule where [ai is inserted when the prefix occurs befooi: stems with an initial vowel. Let us consider the other allomorph pa-1. It will be said that cm-7 occurs before conso- nants and [m-1 infront of vowels where the tal is ?.elided infront of other votiels. This is a more natural rale than the first one for as already seen, vowels are dropped or changed to Glides when they occur infront of other vowels. It is !)?oreconvincini; than the first rule because thek.2 -is no need for inserting a vowel and then introduce a low tone Moreso ma- is the proto Bantu form for class 6 and most languages hav-e i.t too, The following are examples:

- /mA-/ --q ~n-1/ - v

/m$ + tiw6/ --:z rmtiw.51 " s t 0" 1( s ) 1' /n$ + id/ ---> Lmisti] "eyes" /nS i- indi/ ---> ~mindi] I1 anuses"

Class 6 (a') /rn&,'

The main difference between this class and cl 6 - 40 - lies in their semantic contents. Class 6 which is the plural counterpart of cl. 5 ond 9, lias parts of tll~,body utensils etc as semantic content while class 6 (a) has non-countable nouns, I \n particular liquids.' In terms of allomorphs, it has only [mal thus, it is the basic allomorph. Below are examples:

Class /&/

This class is very rich. in terms of nouns, in kale language In terms of prefix, it is one of the least complex of classes. This is because it has t..ro phonetic realisationsor the prefix and this is r6-j and Ckg-1. If thy1 is taken as the basic allomorph, we have to account for the passage of /&y-/ to Le-'?. Cine c?n easily see that a delition process occurs ?&en rhy-j occurs before stems with an initial consonant. l3ow let us consider /&-/as the basic allomorph. '.!e find that it is more natural (because it is a process that has been occuring in the previous classes). Thus, Cg-I becomes z'ey-? infront of vowels. The followin;; are examples of this class Cl.ass D /b&-/

This class is the plural counterpart of clazs 7 It has the sane realisation in terms of prefix formation. There are two phonetic realisations cbe-1 and Cby- aS Because it is the same phenomena in the preceedin?; class 4 we will just go straightaway and say ib4-1 is th,n basic alloiiiorph aiid ?by-3 is reelised only when the skem has an initial vowel. Examples of this class are:

- /b&/ ---> [by3 / - v

/bA f ;ndi/ ---> :by6ndi? I' islands " /b6 + bngbtc&i/ ---> cbybngdk6ri] "chameleons"

/b& f &?I/---> cby6rl3 "leaves" - 42 -

Tilis class is greatly represented, in terms of

'\ novns in kale language. At first gl.ance one might be tempted. to soy the scquence cmb-I CndJ FrJg] Enj-3 are composed of one unit. It holds quite true that 11i~~s.tof i the above sequences are sepa:ate photiemes. It is also quite true that they occur in initial position onl,y in this class and class ten. It is granted that the nasal sounds can not be separated from the oral ones, or i-t might result .in a strange sound that is artificial to the lanpage. Thus the prefix for these group of sequences is zero since the NC structure is considered as initial of the stem Yo take the above stand will be assuming a morpho- logy that is not adequate to describe the k31c noun.

Consider it this way.. The morphem /PI-/ a nonesyllabic - 43 -

class. It is homorganic when found infront of voiced segmonts This is tlicn realised as a zero allomori,h infront of voiceless segments.,. and has the r.nY.JrczalLi- satj.on infront of vowels. The above is based on tlie fact that cd-I cb-1 -j-] can be found in initial position on stems. This is true because the sounds do exis: without being prenasalised in the language consequently the language has .b] rd] cjl at an initial stem position rendering /N-/ as a prefix of this class It shovld be noted that . though -these souns are separated tLc nasal is non-syllabic and is pronounced as homorganic with the stem consonant. Thus it will be better to cboose. this analysis than the previous because it ir!akes a significant generalisation about the facts of the language. It should also be noted that it is only at word initial that ;ab-:! and the other homorganic nasals are seperated. In ward medial position they are regerded as one segment. Below are examples of this class-

"country"

'I go at"

'I dress'I 'Ira in" - 44 -

- /I!-/ --+ -g-1 / - Lgl /IT b g6nd3/ ---... rrJg6ndsi "groundnut-s"

/I3 + gb&/ ---\ cggbw81 "dog"

/I: t gb&r6/ ---2 rr)gb&r61 "bush"

/I: + g6mb6/ ---*. rgg6mb81 I1porcupine"

- /h-/ ---a [n-1 / - id]

/I: t dilmblll ---> tndfirnbd] "nest"

/€ t d6d/ -- -; ind8w61 " hous e :'

- /&/ ---;rni / - C~I

/ii -t jL.kti/ ; cnj8litii "elephant" /?7 + j6h/ -_-2. rnjdl "tiger"

/hi + jdnji/ --~:> rnj6njil " wha 1e "

/II t j;;w6/ cnj&w8i "bee" - 45 -

C1 ss 10 /N-/

The structure of the prefix of class 10 is identical to that of' class 9. It is thus difficiilt to soy one set of nouns are class 3 and the other class

10, since the prefixes are the same. But this task is made easier if we consider the fact that class 9 is tha plural of class 10. The same basic allomoroh /IT-/ is chosen. Below are examples.

ctii /H-/ ---S rml /-- I /I: ib6mb&/ --a cmb6mb&2 "snakes" /n + b8/ --9 cmbd] "honey"

/N + bunja/ - -3 cmbdnja? "netsI'

"lions"

r o a ds 'I

"pigs I'

/N-/ --> cni / - cd7 /ni id8w8/ ---) cnd6wdi "houses"

/N + ddmbli/ ---> rndlimbdi I' n e s t s 'I

chins" "navel"

II rings" - /N-/ --9 pyi / - V /N + Igd/ ---? cny&z~5] throat s 'I /PI + 6nj5/ ---', cny6nj51 "mushrooms"

/E i- efAf&/ ---;) inyQf8f8i "armpits"

- /Ti-/ --a C~I/ - C voiceless

/i' t k6m$/ ---> ck6m6i "monkeys"

/r: + f66/ ---; cfd61 "ratsIt /Ti + tbk6/ ---) Ktdk63 "calabashes"

/I$ t kArArt3 --->. yk8r8r6-1 "corn"

The moin difference between class 9 and 10 can only be brought out by the concord system. More details !:ill be got from the chapter on concord.

Class 13 /db/' or /lQb

"his is B plural class even if it differs froni the usual even to an odd number. This class has very ,.

I few ni3uns The allomorphs me -16-1and cas]. One could be wondering what is happening. This languace permits the occurence of free variation between the cdi and the ~13sounds. Infact the only situation where this is not possible, is when cd] occurs in a /nd/ sequence, A11 this had already been discussed at i;he

beginning of this chap.l;er. Because cl] is fast disapgcoring from ka1.c language and for convinience - 47 - sake, rdd] will be henceforth, 'used in this work, since difference between :d6- i and clo- 1 causes no meaning difference. Back to the problem of chosing a basic allomoi-ph. If we choose either cdo-1 or Ed-1 we i.iil.1 be faced either with a delition or an insertion rule. of vowel to derive either of the forms. It should be very losical to follow whet had been B'noden, where the cases are the same, in the previous classes. Moreso the canonical form of a Bantu prefix is CV so why not choos [do-1 ana say cdl is reallsed infront of a voiiel. Thus the rule and following examples will ,illustrate the point.

- /cia-/ ---2 yd-1 / - v

/do + dngd/ ---? rddngd I e a g 1e s " /do + 6ng6/ ---3 cd613g61 11 cooking pc. ;st'

- /do-/ ---3 cdo-1 / - C ,- /d6 f kdr&/ ---; cddkdr6i 'I torto i s e s "

/dd t n5n?/ ---V cddn-lni] "birds"

/d6 + @~893gB/ --J [d6~wBl)g61 11 crayfishes"

/d6 + dist$/ ----a rdddiski "sa crif i c t s '

Contrary to other classes where singular is an odd number class 14 is a singular class. It seemed to ha-re - 48 -

reversed order with the prececding class, only tliey do not pair with each other. It has three phonetic reali-

sstions of the nominal prefix. 'I'hey. are ybd- 1, cbv- 1, cb-1. If cbw-i is .taken as basic allomorph the problem

will be to derive cbo-7 from cbw-i and then delete either /o-/ or /w/ fpDm the /b/ sound This is difficult if

OIIC considers that zwi is the corresponding glid? for

both cos and iui. Sow can one be obtained leaviri;; out e the other? That is the question. The next allo!r1oi-ph is $ cb-1 as basic allorncy2h. An inswl-ion rule is needed

hare to sxple-in the fact that the form /b-/ is realised

cb-7 infront of fill. vowels except when the first two voirels of the root resemble each other., then it is realised rbw-] with insertion of cwi. Infront of stess with an initial consonant :61 is inserted with a low toile: If cbo-i is considered., it occurs before conso- nants, infront of stems that can& said to harmonize in

terms of vowels, the COT of cbb-i becomes a glide cbw-) or coifipletely drops off when it occurs elsewhere (vowels). The following are examples:

- /b;-/ ---? cb6-1 / - C /ixj + sdbdjz/ ---> cbbsdb6jZl "bone '' /bd + rj/ ---., c bdr3 7 I1 conoe"

,I /bd + jg/ ----'. cbdjg] gattic ring"

/hi, + k$/ :.' rbdk$i "loft'I - 49 -

This is a sinsular class that forms a pair with class 17. This class has four allomorphs for thz prefix ri- 7, ;k- 1, ;%y- 7 or' cey- 1 which form is dcrived from which is the essential question. 1.t should be noted tha-t c'ey-3 and ciy-3 are grouped tocether This is because they occur infront of vowels and the form we choose between zi-1 and tB-1 as basic all.ol;~orphWi.11 have its associated pair c'ey-1 or ciy-1 realiszd infront of a vowel. So we will be concerned here with four allomorphs [i-7, '8-3, by-, and r?y]-

L If cey-1 or ziy-3 is chosen as basic sllomorph the problem will be on how we eventually arrive at ei.ther ck-? or ci-I even if cy] is their glide correspondent, - 50 -

Will it not be more natural to say that either ci-i or cb-i is the basic allomorph, then their glide counter- part, is introduced, in the occurence of two vowels in a continuous sequence? We hope so.. Now the problem is to choose between [&-I and ci-i looking at their stems we see no reason why one could be considered as basic. 41so looking whether it was semantically deter- mined cave a blind end Then on the basis of majority occurence between the two, and the fact that the proto form is /('le/ made one decide to postulate it as the basic form Thus it is c?i-i with rIy3 infront of vowel as the basic allomorph.

k, nypothesis that can be adopted is that the occurence of te-i as prefix might be, some sort of movement of the nouns of this class to class 7 where the prefix is 81SO :&7. why this hypothesis has been set up, is because in the collection of data the informants tended to debate on whether it was cd-1 ar ti-] for a noun 'in class 19. One fact remained cl-ear, IT0 mstt?r their arguments it olways turned out that, the plural prefix was cdb-i class 13. We know this is the regular counterpart of class 19. Consequently, the noun on which =&-i were used, were nouns that had already had the class 7 prefixal form but had not get changed its plural form to cbk-1 class 8. If this - 51 - hypothesis is agreeable then the following are examples:

Overleaf is a recapitulative table of the k31& noun classes and their prefixes not forgetins the distribu- tion of the various allomorphs. -52- -53-

r >Y 0 ; II I I I I I ! I . 3 . n J ! 2 . . i a I I I ii I n I -I i 4

I .I I 1 6' I I 1 1 k I > c0 . I B I 4 ! .. ! 2 i . I j e I i k I 1 I -

L ! > 1 I I . ,I - . . 1 .I k I -7 , 1 I d - .A .I I 1) . .1 .:

J I

I I

I -s4-

!! 3 L. n VI B v) i 0 n .J il Q D c) u a

3 n 7 I 3 w - 0 ba J m a C x z 0 4 3 I I $. E al

5 > 1 I -. -. 'a* 2 2 d 0 H €4 3rn H T T z \ €4 I -. v) 0 I n U '+I n \ -.

0 ba '0 2 U

I 02 @€4 02 IJ z4 a am

il m 0 r( - 55 -

3.3 concord System

1-n t r o d. u c t ion

In the previous ~ir;tion, noiin prefixes were discussed This section will be a presentation and discussion of the concord system, which is, the agree-

ment between nouns and noun determiners. This is i.i1 the

light that the concord phenomena is determined by the noun that it precedes. It is the noun, in relatioil to its class which determines the concord or the conordial

affix.2. If the form of the concordial affix' is \ related to the cl.ass of the noun concerned, it therefore holds .that, there exists msny concmdial prefixes as there exist .many classes. As a result, the number of nominal classes that exist in a Language will reflect

the saae number of concordial affixes that exists. The importance of the concord system in a mun class sgstem analyses is very great for itjs one of the criteria used to establish the individual noun classes as contrastive i.e. the occurence of the noun with a specific set of concording elements. The followinc cuncordi.al elements will be presented

Humerals: Cardinal numerals 1, 2, 7, 4, 5 !io\%/iL!sny - 56 -

Possessives: my, your, his, your (pl), our and their Demonstratives. this (near), that (far off) Determinatives: another hssociatives: Verbal concord

It is very obvi.ous that the number "I" is singular. It will therefore concord only with the siagular classes of tl..is language, The singular classes are 1, 7, 5, 7;~ 9, 14 and 19. In all there are seven. The class of the cmconl is determined by that of the noun concerricd Below are examples of nuuns from these cl.asses used wit-h the numeral 1. cl. 1 /mii/

KO& kBrB m- jk5 "one European" european one

inM - 6 it 6 rn-ik5 "one woman" woman one cl. 3 /m&/ IXke the abovc ttie morpheme /mA-/ is realised as rm-2 when it preced2s a stem with an initial voirel. - 97 -

Below ore some examples.

mti- kbri in- 3k5 "one hill" hill one

mii- r6m6 m- jk5 "one heart" heart one cl. 5. /dk/ As already mentioned the kal& speakers tend to use [dl and Crl c11 interchangeably. 60 in this case the morpheme /di-/ becomes -rl which is then realised Cr-3 in front of a stem with an initial vowel.

Examples: i- t6m6 r- 3k5 "one cheek" cheek one

d ikdh 2, r- ?ikS I1 one dry se8son" dry season one cl. 7. /&/ The morpheme /&/ is semi-vowelised when it occurs before a stem with an initial vawel especial13 a back one. 'Phus /e/ --- Lyl / - LO1

Examples: &-kdrdr)gw6 y- jk5 "one lizard" lizard one cl. 5. /%-I It is difficult; to precise the change here from a nesal to a fricative. For a temporal measure, we 1,ill say a ilasal sound becomes oral, Below are exarnpl~,5:

n- dswo f- 5k5 "one house" house one

n- g&n f- 3k5 "one bell" bell one cl. 14. /M-/ The morpheme /bo-/ is realised Cb-I infront of a stem with an initial vowel l?::ernples: b- 6r5 b- .ikS "one boat" boat one

b6- k5 b- 3k5 "one loft" loft one cl. 19. /i-/ The norpheme /i-/ like in class 7 becomes zeLxi vowel infront of stems with an initial back vo,rel.

Xxamp 1e s i- n3ni y- 5k5 "one bird" bird one - 59 -

k- kdr& y- 3k5 I1one t oitoisc toitoise one ble have come to the end of the singular classes dealing wjth Vie numeral 1. Piow we are going to look at the plural classes in relation to the numeral 2, 3, I and 5. cl. 2. /ba-/ The concordial prefix in this case is same r>>iu!i the class prefix except for the change in tone. l

k- Siti b5- r6r6 "three women" women thre?

b- Bn$ b5- n6 II four children children four

'&-re Bcii b6- t6nA 'I five teachcs '' teachers five \. cl. 4. /me-/ mA-kGri m6- bS "one hill" hills two

rn&kbmb& m6-rSr21 I1 three alli,..itors" alligators three - 60 -

m$-s8ng5 m6-nS "four beads" beads four

m$slng; rn6-tSnil I,five rop:s" ropes five cl. 6 /ma-/ m.3-tsmd m8-ba' I, two cheeks" cheeks two

m6- b.3 t 6 rnd-rsrd "thres cloths" cloths three

rni-Bhd8 rns-ns "four cup;;:' cups foul.

mi-mb6w5 md-tsnii "five coun:yies" countries five cl. 8 /b&/

b&k6rdr]gwd b6-ba' 11 two lizar,is" lizards two

b$-kp$ bB-rBrE, "three bags" bags three

b& t&dS b&n$ "four ants" ants four

bs-tdmbi b6-tSnC "five shoes'! shoes five - 61 -

c1. 10 /N-/ ngbw6 i-ba' "two dogs" dogs two

ny-8k8 i-rSr6 "three cows" cows three

rn-bGri I-nc? "four goats" goats four

n; j6h i-t8nii "five tigers" g tigers five 1' F: F: i C1, 17 /d6-/ + k d2,-kdr& dd-bg 'I two tortoises" $ tortoises two f

dd-nsni db-rSr2, "three birds" birds three

d 2, - s 6r6 r6 dd-n6 " four crickets'' cricket four

dA-diS6 dd-tsnfi "five sacrifices" sacrifices five

Iiumeral Prefixes-

cl. 1 m- cl. 2 b6 el. '5 n- cl 4 m6- el 5 r- cl. 6 m6- cl. y- cl. 8 b6- cl. 9 f- c1.10 i- ~1.17 d6- C1.14 '36- cl.19 y- - 62 -

EOil !,.iMY This is some sort of a qualification to show number, thus it will be appropriate to treat it under numc?ral. It should be noted that it is used only with the ijlural class since it is obvious that one can not be ask<.ng the number seeing it is only one.

cl. 2 b-qn; b6-tlog6 "how many ciiildren? ' children how many

b-Ait6 bB-tltJg6 "how many cionen?" women how many cl. 4 m6-kGri m6-tlr)gg "how many iiills?" hills how many

m&-rfimbh mb-tfqg6 "how many nauihs?" mouths how many cl. 6 m 3 - t Sin5 mB- t lgg$ "how many ciieelrs?" cheeks how many el.. 3 bB- kdrdggvd b6-t iggB "how many lizards?" lizards how many

b&-kp5 be- tlrjgQ "how maiiy ii ISS?" bags how many

cl. 10 n-g66 i-tirJgs I, how many pigs?" Pigs how many

m-b6ri i-tflJg6 "how many goa-t;?" goats how many - 63 - cl. 1.5 d6-n ii d6- tirjgS "how man? bivds?" birds how many

d& kdr 6 dd- t IQgB "how many tortioses?" tortoises how many

Y" e f i xes el. 2 bB- cl. 8 bQ- cl. 4 m6- c1.10 1- cl. G mQ- ~1.17 d6-

3.7.2 Adjectives

The adjectival. prefix is o cancordial prefix because its form wi1.l depend on the type of nouri that it qualifies. In kol~there are very few adjectives. This does not mean there are no qualifications done in the ianguage, but a-ljcctives in terms of adjcctives i.n the Xnglish or are few. Most often thaii not the language makes use of verb forms to express qualification. An expression like "black shoes" in a v;ord for word translation will come cut as

'I s ho e s that b 1a ck ing 'I Since adjectives depend on nouns for their form and .since nouns arc organiscd in classes, adjectives ars also oraanised in classes according to their various prefixes. The adjectives to be used as illustration are: big nddn6 small seri - 64 - c1. 1 mwEjit6 nd-nd6n2 "big wom3n" woman big

' m6-t6 nd-nd6n8 "big person" nerson big

mw- QnEj nri-ssri "small child" child small

inw- 3 it 6 nri-ssri "small woman" woman small cl 2 b'jfk6 bd-nd6n2 "blg women" wamen big

b6-t6 b5-nd6n& "big persons" persons big

C-dd b6-ssri "small children" children small

b6-r B&di bd-ssri "small teachers" 1; eachers small cl. 3 in~-rfimbG md-nd6n8 "big mouth" mouth big

mfi- sibs md-nd6n8 "big horn"

horn big ' - 65 -

m6-r6mbG md-s6ri "small mouth'' mouth small

m6- sib6 md-s6ri "small llprn" horn small cl. !+

my- 6nd& mk-nd6na "big feet" feet big

mf2- nd Bn 6 "big eggs" big

my- 6nd& m6-st5ri "small feet" feet small

m6-si5r.i "small eggs" small cl. 5

di-bSt6 df -nd6nd "big cloth" cloth big

i-h& df-nd6n8 "big breast" breast big

i- s6gg.5 dl-sdri I' sma 11 tooth " tooth small

di-kskg di-sgri "small crab" crab small cl. 6

md-sdggA m&-nd6n& 'I big t e eth " teeth big - 66 -

mB-rh6 m&nd6n& "big stones" stones big

ms-rendk m6-s6ri "small knive;" knives small

mB- s&ri "small breasks" small el. 7 &-b8rd 6-nd6n; "big scar" scar big I

I i.y-dndf 6-nd6nS " ir, i g. is1 and 'I \ island big

&-k$ 6-sAri "small market" market small

8-fhmB 6-ssx-i I' sma 11 f r uj:k " fruit small cl. a b8-thds b6-ndd.n; "big ants" ants big

b8-kpB b6-nd6nS "big bags" bags big

b8-fiims b6-sdri ','small fruits" fruits small

b&lG b6-sdri I1 small mai-kct-s" markets small - 67 - cl. 9 m-bAw8 2-nd6n8 "big village" village big

n-dswd \i-ndEn6 "big house" house big

i-s6ri "small dog" small

m-bdri l-ssri "small goat" goat small cl. 10 q-ghdd Q-ndBn& "big caimans" caiman big

re j6ikd Q-ndt?n& "big cockroaches" cochroach big

n .- $kii e'-s8ri "small elephants" elephsnt small

ny- CjkG 6-sdri "small CO.$JS" cows small cl. 13 d.6- ndni dg-ndkni "big birds" birds big

d6-nd6nk "big pots" big

db-s$r? I1 small eagles" small - 60 -

(16-s6r6r6 db-ssri small crickets" crickets small cl. 14. b6-kZ b&nd6n& "big loft" loft big

b6-r6 bd- ndQnk "big boat" boat big

b6-kZ bo-sari "small loft" loft small

b&r6 h-sgri "small boat '' boat small el. 19 &-kdr& i-nddn8 "Sig torto i a e" tortoise bib

i-n5ni i-nd6nk "big bird" bird big

i-serQr6 i-sdri "small cricket" cricket small

i-n5ni i-ssri "small bird" bird small

Bdject ival prefix cl 1 n6 cl 2 cl. 4 m6 cl '5 df cl :J 6 cl 8 b6 cl 10 i! cl 13 d6 cl 19 i - 69 -

Looking at the above, it is noticed ;he* tlic clilfarence from the noun prefixes and the adjectival prefi-xes come in iiie change of tones i.e. from high to low 311~1chan[;e in the prefixes of classes 1, 9. 10.

3.3,7 Demonstratives

Demonstratives are also known to be deterziined b;r nouns. It serves as indicbtives . In k31& there are two main types of demonstratives. This and that and its plural counterparts. If a speaker wanted to indicate something 'over there' he uses the nomial construction of 'khat' but 'that'is repeated . . : after the noun ap:ai.n, Below is an illustration.

That mman 3nt mwsit6 That woman ovor there 5nt mwAit6 3nC

17:or. the above reason only the following will kc trcated: this, that, these and those. el 1 The demonstratives 'this' and'that' differ in this class in relation to the other classes. This cannot be easily explained. One can only assume that i.t- is sone sort of a change that has taken place in the language. We are sure further work on it will reveal the process which cennot be done here becatise of lirni ted time. - 70 -

3-nf mw- $it 6 "this woman" 5-ne mw-8n5 "this child"

5 - Fjg6 mw- $ It6 I' t h a t woman I' &gg6 mw- 6f t 6 "that woman"

For convinience Jnd as B temporary measure tile prefix for 'this' will be chosen as concordial prcfjx

but much work still has to be done.

cl 2 b8-d b- Sn; these children

.- b&n6 b;-t6 these men

b6-6 t4n& those children

bB-d bs-td those men

cl 7 ab-nd md-kGri this hill

m6-nd mli-nyArA this earth

md-d md-klri that hill

m6- 6 ma- nyAr A that earth - 71 - cl 4 m6-n& mk-sBbS these horns

m6-nk these

m6-6 m&-s6b8 those horns

me-2, those cl 5 di-n; di-sj this eye

dl-nh this

dd-6 that

dd-b that cl 6 rnd-nd m5- wini these okras m8-n6 m8-bSt6 these cloths

m6-6 ma -win: those okras

m8-6 m?i-bGtd those 'cloths cl 7 6-n& this - 72 -

4-n& A-k$ this market

Yd k-k8 that market

It is worth noting that beGause two vowels can not occur on their own in a W structure, one of the V becomes a seni-vobe1. Thus we have /e/ ---) Cy1 / V - V.

cl 8 b6-n& b&-kp8 these bags

be-n8 b6-k; these markets

b6-6 b&r$r; those ducks

b6-6 by-6ndi those islands

cl 3 8-ne m-bdri this goat

&-ne g- g& this road

Yb 9-gt% that road - 77 -

~6 m-bgr? that goat

cl 10 i-n& ny- 61G those cows

i-n& n- jdkii those elephants

~6 rj-girs those lions

~6 n- j:g .. those tigers

cl 13 d6-n6 dd-nhi these birds

d6-~6 these

dd-6 d6-kdr8 those tortoises

d6- 6 dij-njni those birds

cl 14 b6-n6 bd-rs this boat

b6-nG b6- ja' this gathering

, bb-6 bd-rj that boat

i i - 74 -

bb-d bd- ,jZ that gathering cl 19 6-n5 i-nhb this bird

6-ni. Q-kdrB this tortoise

~6 is6rtSr6 that cricket

Yd A-dlSB that sacrifice

One might have noticed Lhe constant chsnge in the stem where at times it is -n& and at times -n6. A tentative reason for this alternative might be that k31E has aspects of it& sister language duala where the stem is -ne

Prefixes

cl 1 3- cl 2 b6- cl 7 m.d-

cl 4 m6- cl 5 di- cl G 1115- cl 7 8- cl 8 b6 cl 9 8- cl 10 i- cl 13 db- cl 14 b6 - cl 19 8- - 75 - 3.7.4 Possessives

Here too possessives are determined b-r nouns, !ic trill be treating the following possessives.

our your (PI) their

cl 1 mw- Bn BmC "my child" child my

mw- Qn ;gat "your child" child your

mw- 6n 5% "his child" child his

mw- an ds~ "our child" child our

mw- Qn Any6 "your cLild" child your

mw-8n 5 Wl.5 "their child" child their

ITotice that because there is a VV structure, one V is dropped, in favor of, another. This will further be discussed in the section where some phonological processes are treated.

el 2 b-&\\& bQm6 "my women" women *lY -76 - b- &ita b6r)g6 "your women" women your

bBI "his women'' his

b-a5td b6sd "our women" women our

b-ai'c; b6nyd "your women" women your

b-aito b6w6 "their women" wamen their cl 3 mh-kdri m~nt "my hill" hilZ my

m6-kdri m69& "your hill" hill your

md-kdri m6l "his hill" hill his

m6-kfiri mds: 'I our hi11" hill our

md- kfiri mdnyd "your hill" hill your

m6-ldri m6wd "their hi11" hill their cl 4 rn8-rbi~gi m6mE "my sheep" sheep

m8-rdggi ms$gd "your sheep" sheep your - 77 - mk-rd& m61 "his sheep" sheep his mk-rdggi m6sd "our sheep" sheep our mk-rdggi m6nyd "your sheep" sheep your m6 - r dqgi m6wd "their sheep" sheep their i- sdg& "my tooth" tooth i-sdg@ rdugd "your tooth" tooth your i- sdgg6 r6i .. his tooth" tooth his i-sdgg$ r6sd "our tooth" tooth our i-sdgg; r6nyd "your tooth" both your i-SdlJgd r6wd "their tooth" tooth their mS-rkndk "my knives" knives m&r6ndk I' your knives " knives - 7e -' m.3-rGnde . m6l "his knives" knives his m5-rkndi: m$su "our knives" knives our mA-ri.nd8 ma'n yd "your knives" knives your mS-r&nde m a'w u 'I their knives " knives their

"my bag

" your bag "

"his bag;"

"our bag"

"your bag "

"their bag"

ba-k.3 b6mC "my markets" markets my bk-k$ b6r3gd "our markets'' markets your - 79 -

b61 "his markets" his

b6s& "our markets" our

b6n yi I1your markets'' your

b6w6 "their market L: " their

Arne "my dog" my

Br)d "your dog" your

6f "his dog" his

$SLl "our dog" our

Snyd "your dog" your

B Wd "their dog" our

am& "my goats"

8l)gd "your goats" your - 80 -

m-bdri 81 "his gO8tS" goat his

m-bbri ti Sd "our goats" goat our

m-bdrl and "your goats" goat YQUX

m-bdri 5WLi "their goats" goat their cl 13 d6-y6r~g6 ddmk "my pots" pots

dd- y69g6 d4l)gd "your pots" pots your

dd-y6g)~~d d 61 "his pots" p0t;s his

dd-ydqg6 am "our pots" pots our

dd-ybr~gd d6nyu "your Gats" pots your

dd - yd qg6 d6wu "their pots" pots their cl 14 bd-r3 b8m8 "my boat" boat my

bd-& b61ggd " your bo atI' boat your - 81 -

bd-rj bdi: "his boat" boat his

b6-ra bbsd "0ur bo atI' boat our

b6-r3 bdnyd "your boat" boat your

b&r3 bdwd 'I their" boat their

i-nsni Im6 "my bird" bird

i-nsni ir)@ "your bird" bird your

i-nsni $6 "his bird" bird his

i-nsni is6 "our bird" bird our

i-n5ni inyd "your bird" bird your

i-nsni iWd "their bird" bird their

.. ,. . :. : -., ..;. . ..c: . ..,.. I, ..:: In fluent speech the .native soeakers elide a V in ... : , , ~...... :...... I. . . ,. . -. se@,uence. That i.s, in cases where on of the vowe ..- ...... -. not become a semi.-vowel. (..

- a2 -

.' Possessive prefixes

cl 1 B cl 2 bA cl 3 mLl cl 4 m6 cl 5 rA cl 6 mi5 ! cl 7 8.' cl 8 b6 cl 9 B $ cl 10 4 cl 13 dd cl 14 bd

6 ci 19 1-

3.3.5 Associatives

Associatives are connected to construction. That is noun in association with another (Ni N;). what :rill be treated here is an equivelent of the English apostrophy s (Is). It's form varies in relation with the first noun (N1). Below is an illustration.

cl 1 mci- 6nB B mw-Bit6 "the woman's child" I child S woman

mw-sftd '3 m6-td "the man's wife" woman 'S man

cl 2 b-6n$ b6 mw-8itd "the woman's children" chil.dren 'S women

b-Sitd b6 m6-td "the man's wives" wonen 'S men - 83 -

mw- 6nd6 md mw- 3ft6 "the woman's ioot" foot '9 woman

mi%-i%m$ md mw- $it6 "the woman ' s lieart heart 'S woman

my- Bnd6 m B mw-$it6 "the woman's feet" feet 'S woman

m&-r6m$ m6 mw-dit6 "the woman I s hearts'' hearts 'S woman

i-siiqg.4 r.4 mw-dIt6 "the woman's tooth'' tooth 'S woman

i-t6i r.4 1uw-&it6 "the woman's ear" ear '9 woman

C m$-sfirjg miS mw-Sit6 "the woman's teeth" teeth 'S woman

ms-tdi m6 mw- 5 It 6 "tke woman ' s ears" ears 'S woman

S-lrpS Yd mw-$it6 "the woman's bag'' bag 'S woman

k-tdmbi YS mw-8it6 ''the woman ' s shoe" shoe 'S woman

b&-kp$ be mw- ;it6 "the wonan's bags" bags 'S woman

b k- t6mbi b6 mw- sit6 "the woman's shoes" shoes 'S woman - 84 - cl 9 m-b6r? YA mw-Bit6 "the woman's soat" goat 'S woman

r)-gb& YA mw-aitd "the woman's dog'' goat 'S woman cl 10 m-b6r? Yd mw-dit6 "the woman's goats" goat 's woman

g-gb8 Yd mw6it6 "the woman's do:;s" dog 'S woman cl 13 do-y6y)g6 d5 mw-$it6 "t'he woman's pots" Pot 'S woman

d fig@ d6 mw .Sit6 "the woman's eagles" eagles 'S woman cl 14 b6-r3 bd mw-8itd "the woman's boat" boat 'S woman

bd-kZ b6 mw-ift6 "the woman's lof-t" loft 's woman

cl 19 I-njni YB mw-Bit6 "the woman's bird" bird 'S woman

&-kdr& YS mw-8itd "he woman's tortoise" tortoise 's woman

Associative prefixes

cl 1 A cl 2 b4 cl 3 md cl 4 m-5 cl 5 rd cl 6 ma - 85 -

cl 7 Yd cl 8 b6 cl 9 y2 cl 10 yB cl 17, d6 cl 14 b6 cl 19 y6

Tne prefixes of the associative Is in this language are the same as that of 'of'. For example: cl 9 1)-g6& y6 mw-sltd "the road of the wonm" road of woman cl -5 di-fondi ra mA-kdmb& "the hole of the gun" hole of gun

3.7.6 Determinatives

As the name goes determinatives in this case are is to determine whether one noun different from another not in the sense of prefixes and classes but in the light of '"6ther" add "which". But after looking at the data we noticed that the form "which" in k31c is not affected by class. That is it does not have a psrticular prefix marking a class, consequently it is prefixless. Let us illustrate this point. cl 1 njdkh mw-$itA "which woman?" which woman cl 4 njdkii m&k6kd "which sugarcanes?" which sugarcanes - 86 -

cl 9 njfikfi n.-)&kfi Itwhi ch elephant? which elephant

As a result we will be looking only at the determinative ''other". It is determined by the noun wwith-iwhich it is.used. . Thus it has prefixes to mark it's classes same as the nouns too cl 1 mw-sitd nd-f6f8 "another woman" woman another

m&rkgdi nd-f6f8 "another teacher" teacher another cl 2 b&-td hd-fefk "other persons" persons other

bS-rdCai bd-f6f8 "other tea chers " teachers other cl 3 md-kbkd m6-fBfG "anotner .sugarcane" sugarcane another

mG-rGmbA md-f6f$ "another mouth" mouth another cl 4 mk-kdkd md- fer& "other sugarcanes" sugarcenes other

m&-rfirnbd m&f6f& "other mouths" mouths other cl 5 di-kAk6 di-f6f& "another crab" crab another - 87 -

d5.-b6y)g6 df- f6fd "a nother stoma cli" stomach another cl 6 mrj-ksk6 m6-f Bf6 "other crabs" crabs other

in&- b6i~g6 m6- fkfe "other stomachs" stomachs other

8-wGkk i-fef B "another chimpanzee" hhimpailzee another

$-k& i-f6r"B "another market 'I mazket ancther cl 8 b$- &ktE b6-f Af6 "other chimpanzees" chimpanzees other

b 8- kB b4-€6€8 other markets I' markets other cl 9 I: -j Bk3 8-€6€k "another elephant " elephant enother

n-dsd 6- fef B "another house" house another

Cl' 10 ny- &kB i-f Bid "other cows" cows other

rpgir& i-f6fd "other lions" lions other cl 13 dd-nsni d6-€6f& "other birds birds other d& serer6 d6-fef8 "other crickets" crickets other -_ cl 14 b6-d I b6-f6f& "another boat" boat another

b6-kg b6- f &f6 "another loft" loft another cl 19 i-f6f8 "another pot" another

I- s6r6re X-f6f8 "another cricke.t cricket another

Looking at the above it is noticed that two forms are used 'another', 'other'. But it should be noted that both mean the same thing only that 'another' is for singular and 'other' is for plural. The prefisas for this determinatives are like that of adjectives.

cl 1 nd- cl 2 b6- cl 3 md cl 4 me- cl 5 di- cl 6 m6 cl 7 i- cl 8 b6- cl 9 6-

61 10 i- cl 17 d6- ~l 14 bo- cl 19 i-

3.3.7 Verbal Concord

One might get very suprised when meseeosva&Bs appearing when the topic of concern is Nouns. One I

- 89 -

should have been suprised too when adjectives were treated The explanation is that whenever a noun is the of a onjugated verb, the noun resppeares in a pronominal form before the verb. This pronoun is a personal pronoun which we call the verbal prefix because it helps in the conjuga..ion. This interests us because it depends on the .form of the noun class and thus varies from class to class.

cl 1 m&t6 & d& ' "the man eats" man he eats

mw-QnA & mild6 "the child ate" child he ate

cl 2 b&-t6 b6 d6 ""the men eat" nen they eat

b-8n6 b6 m8dA "the children ate" children they ate

cl 3 mll- r6ggi mri d6 "the sheep eats" sheep it eats

rnfi-rdggi md mSd.4 "the sheep ate" sheep it ate

cl 4 m&-r?g$2 m4 d6 "the sheep eat" sheep they eat I.[-..; '7 - 90 -

m&-$Aggi m6 m6d& "the sheep ate" shefpt they ate cl 5 dl- ~3 di dib6 "the eye closes" eye it closes

dl-ss di msdlb8 "the eye closed" eye it closed cl 6' rn2-tAi m6 dib8 "the ears close" ears they close

ma-toi m6 mo'd;b$ "ehe ears closed" ears they closed cl 7 k-k6rbggwS 6 sQkQ "the lizard dances" lizard it dances

$-kdr6rJgw& 6 m6s6k6 "the lizard danced" lizard it danced cl 8 b&k6rdggwA bQ s6k6 "the lizards dance" lizards they dance

bk-k6rdggw& b6 mBs6k6 "the lizards danced" lizards they danced cl 9 9- gbw& Ei nArJgG "the dog sleeps" dog it sleeps - 91 -

13'gbA B mdndgg8 "the dog slept" dog it slept

10 n- j&il & ndqgd "the elephants sleep" elephants they sleep

n- j8kil .3 m8ntjrJgd "the elephant slept" elephants they slept

13 d6-n5ni dd d6 "the birds eat'' birds they e3t

db-nSni dB ndd6 "the birds ate" birds they ate

14 b&r3 bd timbd "the boat returns" boat it returns

bd-rs b6 m4tfrnb8 "the boat returned" boat it returned

19 i-nhi 8 k6n5 "the bird sings" bird it sings

2-nhf 6 mBkdn3 "the bird sang" bird it sang - 92 -

.. .. Prefixes cl 1 6 cl 2 b6 cl 3 md cl 4 n6 cl 5 di cl 6 m6

-cl 7 d cl Lc be ' cl 9 3 cl 10 6 cl 13 d6 cl 14 b6 cl 19 Q .. ;. . :..

3.3.8 Aialysis of Cbncord System

Looking at the concord system the mumeral, possessive adjective and verbal concord prefixesare pod nominal except,:.for the denonsftrative. For example, we have,

Adj. mw-2it6 nd--nden$ "big woman" woman big

poss. b-SIt6 bd-rnc I1 my women" women my

dem b&nk bG-kp6 'Ithb bag 3 t11lPse bags

Most of the concordial forms agree with the nominal class of the noun that is used. The most constant of the cilassbs Bre!-.2,4, 6, 8, 13 and 14. Class 1 s'i01;~

8 lot of irregularity in prefixes ranging from m- (~TTJC). no- (xp> 6- (UP> 6- (PPI. In some cases as in the associative the prefix has even died out leaving a - 93 - i P I ! construction with no prefix. Example: i 3 I mw- 6n2 mw-dit6 "the woman's child" i i i. child woman [ hrtunately, the nouns of class one, are distinguisha-

ble b37 the nature of their semantic content. It is the only class, that has human beings, as its. seroantic I content, otherwise the concord system would not have been able to further establish the fact, that, a i particular noun belons t3 class one. Tor the classes with a V struct-uue as the noun class prefix, the concord prefixes have tended to be ehe sane. This is examplified in class 7 and 19.

cl 19 -6-n& i-n5ni this bird

Poss cl 7 Q-at' ' P-kirdggwS c lizard mY

ci 19 .6-kbr6 .. I L torto ise r: uy

The classes with a nasal 8s prefix (noun cl) have the tendency of adopting the concordial prefixes oi - 94 - class 7 and 19. In some cases as in the Associative concord classes 7, 9, 10 and 19 have similar prefixes. cl 7 8-kpB y6 mw-8it6 "the woman's bag" bag '9 woman cl 9 m-bbri y.3 mw-6ft6 "the woman's goat" goat 's woman cl 10 m-b6ri yB mw-8it6 "the woman's goats"

goats IS woman cl 19 i-nsni yd mw-8it6 "the woman's bird"

bird IS woman khat will distinguish the classes in the case of 9 and 10 is the fact that the tones are different, low and high respectively. A,s €or '7 and 19 the difference will come if we consider their plural counterparts. The former is class 8 and the$&teris class 13.

3 -4 -Some roun-phrase Phonological Processes-

When sound changes occur, because of a contigLiity of morphemes, the result is a phonological process. What will interest us is the syllable structure phonological processess in general, and in @apt:LLular. the vowel deletion process, and major class change processes. syllable structure processes are processes that the relative distribution of voweis and - 95 - consonants.

When there is 8 collocation of noun-'possessive vowel deletion takes place. In this case there is D contiguous occurence of two vowels a3ross word bouiidary, and such a case one vowel drops off. It should be noted that, when the word& are in isolation, they are not deleted. This can be illuscrated as follows: mwBn6 Am6 --$ miv6nBm6 "my child" child mY child my mwiin; 5Sd - - -3 rndnrlsd "our child" child our child our nwsn2 Anyd ---3 mw6nAnyd ''your child" child your(p1) child jour mwAn3 si --4 mwsn61. "his child" child his child his

A formal statement to account for the above proces:> is V --3 o / v -- V

Major class change process is a process where a vowel can become a semi vowel. In knl& this occuis in noun .demonstrative collocation i.e. when there are two vovels in a word one vowel becomes a semi- vowel. This mostly occurs in classes where the preFix has a V structure a& the concordial stem also has - 96 -

a V structure. Below an example from a class with EO CV prefix and that of V prefix are compared.

cl 6 m6-n$ mri-win2 these okras

\ ’. ma-; m$-wini those okras

The prose statement is that a high front vowel becomes

iia corresponding glide when followed by another vowel To put it in formal statement it is: /e/ ----> cy1 / - v

Overleaf is a recapitulative table for the con- cordial prefixes though not all are filled in the box.

column i Nominal prefixes column ii Numeral prefixes column iii Adjective prefixes column iv Damonstrative prefixes column v Possessive prefixes column vi 4ssociative prefixes column vii Determinative prefixes column viii Verbal prefixes - 97 -

3.5 and their---- Semantic Content

Introduction Nouns of the classes described in the previous section frequently pair as to singular and plural. This pairing is commonay refered to as gender. ThSs singular and plural pairing of nouns is brought out - 98 - by their prefixes. When this is the case we talk of double class genders. But certain nouns for which

enumeration is irrelevant, such as liquid and uass nouns, are members of one or single class gender as

opposedto the double class gender. Apart from tne;e liquid nouns we also have abstract nouns that cannot be counted These nouns cannot be considered as malcin,

a class on their own, it is very unlikely that, the7 nay be grouped with nouns that make up a double cLr:;s gender. hs concerns semantic content, in the past, the Bantu noun classes may hove been based on a semantic classification of the nouns. But now, it appears a purely arbitrary system., where in no one class can nouns of only one semantic content be found. PTost permanent of classes are cl 1/2, cl 6a and cl 9/10 in ka1c

It; shauld be noted thwt reconstruction of semantic content of the Bentu iioun class is got from Welmers (1973-1. Below 8re elaborate discussion of the two different genders in kale and their semantic content, beginning with the double class genders. - 99 -

Double class genders

From studies of the data, it has been discovered that k31c has nine double class genders. These have been displayed as follows in the accompanying ta3le: the table class genders are indicated by lines joining two class numbers. The numbers on the left refer to si-ngular nouns, those on the right to plural nouns.

Table for Double- Class Genders

Sin&ar class IPlural class I_ --.--- 1 2

3 I -.. /4.

5

I I 14. :... ., .. .. - 100 -

As the table shows, there are G\ne double class genders in kalE and they. are as follows:

Double class gender 1/2 Double class gender 7/4 Double class gender 5/6 Double class gender ?/a Double class gender 9/10 Double class gender 9/6 Double class gender 14/6 Double class gender 14/4 Double class gender 19/13

Gender 1/2 mk-/b&-

This gender is made up of nouns designating people. Below are nouns thet make up this gender.

chief (s)

farrner(s 1

teacher(s)

witch( es) - 101 -

elder(s)

traveller(s)

Gender 3/4 m;-/m&

This gender is markcd by a mixed classification of certain objects. Divisions are possible thus rnember- ship in this class could be characterised in the

~ follouing way.

INatural objects m;-k?mi hill(s) mk-kAri

m-6sS river( s) my-ds3 rnw- tigg6 root(s1 my-tiggs

Animals. Insects m6-rdggl sheep m&rdggi m6- kdmbk alligator(s) ink - k&mb& - 102 - m k6yikd yi frods) mk-k6yik6yi

cat(s)

Body parts mh- r 6mS heart (s) nb-r6m'e m6-&6mb6 noses me- m6nb6 mw- Snd6 foot (feet) my- hnd6 m6- r 6 fil head(s) I& - r6 f ti -foodstuff mb-rdk6 cocoayam(s) m6-r;kd mb-kbkd sugar cene(s> m8-lrdkd

widow(s)

parent (8)

friend(s ) - 103 - j Birds and related object mw- Bm6 bat(s) rn&&

Miscellaneous rn-&-f

This gender is made up of nouns of various origins but the main content is parts of the body. Below are examples i-siingd tooth (teeth) m&- sing6 d-lsd rn-lsc

breest(s) - 104 -

tongue( s

Natural obdects

hole(s) / cave(s>

dry season(s)

stone(s)

Household objects and related objects

knife (knives)

broom (s

cloth(s)

Plant life

d?-kp&mb& cassava m6 - kp8 mb& 1- inde cocoayen( s) 1- ind6 dl-b&kB pumpkin(s) rn$-b;k& - 105 -

Miscellaneous d2-M marriage(s) m8-b6 -d8kz gam&) rnG-r&ko+ - lknd& journey(s) m$-rknd& li- sG13g6 inheritance m$-s&ggd di-kSk6 crab( s ) I rnG-kAk6 ! Gender 7/8 k-/b&-

liouns found in this gender are:

Animals, birds, insects &-w8kk chimpanzee(s) b&w$k? By-bngdk6ri chemeleen(s) by-bng6kdrS &kdr6ggw$ lizard(s) bk-kdrdggwd

duck(s)

6-thd8 antts) b&-t Gnd8 Natural ob,jects 8 y- And5 jsland ( by-6ndi

C. o untry

B-SBSB mat (s1 b&-SBSB - 107 - Clothing and adornment ’, 8-tBmbi shoe (s ) bC-tdmbP

&-s?kdn pipe(s) b 8- sik6.n Body Part and related items , b-td1jg6 shoulder(s) b6- t 61jg6

6-bSri intestine(s) b8-bkr:

$-b8rS scar(s> bB-bBr6

&-tGs& rat,(s) b 8 -VI& s 8 Miscellaneous -I I 6 - 1i$ maJket b&-!r>

&-ton& debt (s) b&-tam8

Gender 9/10 N-/N-

This gender appears to ba the largest of all genders containins a wide variety of nouns. The most dominant are animals. It is notable that the gender 9/10 is represented in the same way i.e no particular preii-x differentiates them. hlow are examples:

-I<&& antelope (s) -k$l,$

n- jdkii elephant(s) n- j&kd 9-gird lion(s) g-g?r& ny-8kd cow(s) ny- dkd -fd& rat(s) -f66 m-b&bd snake(s) m-b$mb&

-kdd monkey(s) -kSm&

Poodstuff m-bg m-bz m-bh groundnut(s) m-bi8

11 -dbng6 pepper( s j il-ddngb n- d6k6 potatoe(s) n-d6k6

I--Piatural ObJects - m-b& villsge(s) m-bG rn-bGkf cloud(s) m-b$ki Insects n- jjwd bee(s) n- jSw5 -f;jdkd coakrooch(es) -fdj6kfi Birds -kdmbi6 kite(s) - k3mb $6 Parts of the bod2 - f ik3 kidney( s ) - f ik3 -ny-drd body (bodies) -ny-drd Household items

9- g6r5 spoon(s) g-gdr5 -tdkd calobosh (es) -tdkd

g-@n bell(s) 5-&n

k6ndS chair(s) kdnd6 \ One notices that nost burrowed words are found in this [ class. Exc,rop i-sa: ore:

shirt(s )

towel(s)

window(s)

Gender 9/6 N-/m5-

This gender has the following nouns --Anima Is g-g6mbQ ma-ngbmbs

I - 1x0 - . e Man-made objects TJ-gBB road(s) . ma-rJgB6

n-dQwd house(s) m&nd6w6

nouns in this gender are relatively few since nouns 1 s 14 itself are rere in the kale language. Beloii ! ".I examp 1es : i

b6- jz ga*hering(s) m2- j5 b6-shdnS door stcp(s) m8-shndnS bd-rj canoe( s)

loft(s)

i/ bb-/ma'- :Ii i

tree(s) >(type) i ?

circumcision(s)

Gender 12,'13~ i-/dd

This gender has very few nouns. The following arc Animals and birds

l-BwBng$ crayfish d6-Bw8ngs

i- s Br&e cricket(s) do- s &6r6

&-yLirJgfi eagle (s) do- ybr)gd

i-nSni bird( s) do-n5ni

&-kdr& tortoise(s) d6- ddr& Household utensils

6-76r;)gd cooking pot (s) d6 - y.dr~g6

6 - Bb I)g6 box( es) d6-BdrJg6 Miscellaneous

i-k$na6iw&nd& ankle (s ) do- khng6iw&nd$

6-d.is6 sacrifice(s) dd-diS6

Single class gender In the k3lE language there are very few nouns that fall under the single class gender. Consequently vory few classes are regarded as single class genders. ‘i%e following are the analysis oftheseclasses and their semantic content. The single class genders are:

Gender 8 Gender 9 Gender 14 -fi2 - Gender 3 mh-

nfi-ny6r8v6 sky md-rfs8 poverty

Gender 4 mi?-

my- Brlm urine

Gender 5 d’i- L

Natural phenomena s di-bd ashes di-tit? darkness i-sCw8 fa mine i-tsns ripe

d- 6b8 God

Related to human beings d-5ki deaf

d-ciwS cry 2- y6 laughter

Gender 6(a) ma -

n5-riwd water mii&drd oil m6-nySqgEi 0gQlb kerosine m3-nyGggS palm-nut oil md- yd blood

Gender 7 1- b. Illnesses O-k5r5k3tb meoslcs &k5sBri cough -213 - Natural objects &w&i sun 6-nyingj earthquake

Gender 8 b&

Examples of nouns from this gender are: b 6- b6t Bri beginning b 6- w6k2 prison

Gender 9 N-

It is this gender that: has most of the abstract nouns. The following are examples:

Natuaral phenemena I-

krds f ire wsse world

13- bGQ rain 9-gdS8kd draught t dndi f bod n- gij wind lcpdrr death

Foodstuff

m-bz gams n-g3ndd groundnuts m-bis palm-nut ksrsr2 corn ldndi rice yhg& salt Wiscelleneous ny-is8 thirst n j- Bm6 sperm ygts request findi gundpowder tg: kd tobwcco mimb6 wine

Gender 14 b6-

bd-r? money

bd-qg6 age -&LrEI - CHAPTER IV

4.1 Genral Conclusion

This piece of work has bem an attempt to deacribe the noun class system of kJ1E. In this Study we noticed many interesting f.?cts. On phonology, the language is known to have twenty-aitht ccnsonants - simple and complex - and seven vowels tk3t cm all bc lengthened There is one central vowel, thrcc bock ones 2nd threL front ones. The vowels hod the tendency of forming their semi vowel consonants when they were found in a contiguous sequence. The tone for the noun prefixes are always low. Tone chan-e in stems is also notice&. Tho most frequent ones

are 3s follows. - V%cn two vowels with low toncs occur, it r&ults in one tone being dropped and the other adopted.

examp Xes b6616 ---# bw6l6 'I tree" b66l)gB --$ bdgg6 "chest" - '\ken two vowels with two different tones occur, one

high, one low, the high tone is retained and thG low one dropped. exa mple s diis6 --9 dis5 "eye" diinB ---a din6 "name" - When two vowels meet 8nd form one, the two tones of the vowels combine

cxample s dii --$ ai 'I hair I' 368 ---a j& "hand" - u.6 The tonal system for the concordial prefixes are more complicated. Generally, the concordial prefixes have low tones in cl 1 and cl 9 while all the other clasfses have high tones. It is not a common practice to find tone change because of collocation. This is becauw there

is alriays an intervening prefix which helps to distinguish the two words. example Noun - Adjective collocation

md-td "person"

nd6n& ulbi@t mo-to nd nd&& "big person"

Noun - numeral collocation

mG-kdrQrcl "European I'

D- 3k5 "one" rnfi-kdrdrs m3k5 "one European"

As concerns the noun class system, the nouns have

been grouped in their classes according totheir nominal

presixcs. Kal.~has fifteen classes (1, la, 2, 3,, 4, 5, 6, 6a, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 14, 19) which can further be

grouped into s\i ' : +LU~G\ classes (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 13) and a single mass or liquid class (60). Eoch class bears a suffix. Attempt6 have been made to give each class.its basic form except for class 19. In bringing this work to a conclusion, we do not claim to have exhausted everything under the title, Much would have 'seen done on the unresolved problems but there was time constraints They are suggested here for further reading. ,/ - 117 -

4.2 --Suggestions for Purther Research-.-

In this study, well formed rules could not be written dovni for the tones due to their fluctuating tendeucios. . I study should be undertaken based on the kolc ton;: system. The language hes been a difficult one to work rx because of the various influences from other languay;i;s, startinq from it:: sister langwge duale. Thus, i-i- :!as not been really easy to determine the kal& lansusge es!?::ciallg when tryin3 to establish its own sphere without iuterfzronce Consequently, much still has tob done an the langu.s:;e, including a revision of its phonology and a detailed. morphological description not "sly of nouns but of verbs. The syntax is not left out. As can he forseen, it will be a long journey for kalE to finallrreach a func-tional levol.; however, it ifi hoped that the journey will come to its logical end. - 118 -

ILLUSTRATIVE TEXT

Mb4 Harry Ehete Mokoggo nji n6 wt?tz I Harry Ekwete Mokongo what I talk w6nli isaggb6 my6y)gb ntC& Bkdmk yBsd wBn66 here tell story of village our bring BnB &&r66 jBggfi n& b8sdggb. Bd16 yB w&bdtbri the juju jeggu and basoggo Since from be;,inning b6sd b6 bak31E di si wt nt &drB MlimBna noBS our of bakalc we not have any juju. Man one s5 6 m2v6 6nd 6 mb66 bB m6 v6rE I!-ag ther he was here in village that they called Jkag din& rin6 b6 mA vfrE IgbSt50. A me@ nd6 other name that they called Igbdtag He was only m6t6 6 m6sbmbd. kin6 @rk6 nt? b3r3 n6 t&.? man of fish. He make this work until bdnys w5kj we nQ nd6 mw6nj6 am@$ d5bir6i day one he go only sea throw net

A mB wBkd ny$m$ 6 y3bi 6gg3ti n6 m6 n&b55 He felt fish in net draw and he catch &kBr6gghjQ, 6 m4 w6 A m6 Bsimi i 068 15 basket he suprise- He draw again it vC ad6 BkBr6ggdnjB n6 m6 B bat66 BV&B was only basket and he start hear gg3m5 6 m6riv6 A mB Bbist bSr6 n6 nwB drum in water. he turn back canoe and he p6mbir&n? W2t na p6mblrdn2 6 en8 nd6 6 confused When he confused he saw only wLlSl.3 mbd6 Eft? mb62 y6mS imgbdtjg 5 came out village different village say Imgbatag he - 119 - knd& B mw6nj6 is8 timbS b6 s$k6 fmgb$t?jy) went to sea not come back they search In$ba-t3y) bS sB mar&+. BB ma imgb$tjy) Sm$ wb. b$n they didnot find. They said Imgbat3y) he dead. Da:jr two im2kdk6 t6tk n6 biird, mbd6 6j& e nB 113 reached inside night, village stay b6 bfki nd.4 r6k6 dfw6r2 6 riw5 rS 5gba. they heard only game coming from water and ell-inb. B6 B6ri nd6 im&r& nd6 imgb&tdrj. si fmgbhlrj They were only show only Imgbatuy). Then Iin.jbatdy) Sqtr6 mb&, 4mS b6ny5m6!i n6y6ni &y&r&Bni called village. my people' I brought thing thts ken6 d mbd$ 6 m$t?mb& ydk6 rnhgtggi- E;'d then so vill-age remain play jos Ba mj Imgb$tdrJ 5 m6 wQ, mb6 n$ si w$.~ they said Imgbaturj has died I didnot die n&m6 &e nd6 6 m6riw6 6t6nh nd6 n$m$ I was but in water inside there I y6nS pdni bkyAr6 BSG b6mi mEr8 b6m6 a@? brought -these things. Devils they show they I should n&y6 nd mer6 BnyStS. mbd& Ss6rhi j5 come and show you too . Village not find stay is? BEni m6r6k6 mQ mbd&. Si Q w

6vi d m6sdy)g& 06 like in mos69g6 also N3ggZ12 mb$ msrJg6ni wan nj6 n$ sfilrhn6rE I think I have here that I end w6 nB mysqgd this my story

Origin- of Juju In Bakalc

From the beginning, the k31& people had no secret societies One day a man called Ikay) or ImgbatUg wmt as he usually did, in his canoe One this fateful clay he threw in his net but came out with a ),oven cege. lle threw this back in water, and threw his net again. >ut the same cage reappeared He got very suprised and decided to go home. To his astonishmmt he started hearing the souid of drums inside the water. He felt very confused and was in some sort of a daze. When he came back to himself he was in a strange place He was reassured that he was in water, and had no cause for fear They told him that they wanted him to take back to his people the idea of societies. They indicated they wanted to teach hili all there was to it. He was told that there were to be two shrines built for two jujus, the mosotjgo and the Jeggu. The mosorJgo was for men and the jeggu was for women. .-

- 122 -

The men, chosen to belong to this'society havo to So t!iere for six months while the women where'to stay in theirs Por two or three years. They kept Imqbatui] for two d.??s and sent hi.m b3c1: in the middle of the,nisht. ++,-nwhile, the people in the village had searched. and sesrched for him., and had given him up as dead.. T3ey tiad even preoered for his death cnlebration. !l!'he night they were all asleep. Imgbatur) came with soimds of $rums accompanying hiin When the people saw hiin they could not belief their eyes. He then told tkem where he was and his message to "the people. '!.%e people then Zollowed his instructions snr! vi?ien tbe 2eople intended hav? been enshrined they were Siveii pepper After eatinp; and sneezing they started sy?al:iiq <;be juju dialect. 2rom thet clay, the ka1E people h;?d secret societies, tbe rnosor)go en8 the jeggu societies. - 123 -

BIBLIOGRAPHY -

ARDENER Edwin. 1956 Coeatal Bantu of the Cameroons, London, International Africsn institutes . -Atlas Liastique de l’bfrique Centrale Situation---

Linguistique en Afrique, hventsirePre1im>aire -f le Cameroun, YaoundB, ACCT C’ZRDOTOLA, DGR.:”, 1983. EIQTA Jemea. 1973. The Phonology of kale, Disertation D.E.S. Uiiiversity of Yaound6, FLSB. Colloques internationaux du CNRS, La Classification nominale dJS-3 les LanRues n6aro-africaines, 1967, IIIe GUTHRIE, Malcom, 1967. The Classificati on of the Bantu languarez, London, IAI EiX,l-L3?, Larry (ed) 1980 Noun classes in Grassfield Bantu BordecJ2F$s Los Angeles University of Carlifornia, T.C.O.P.1.L No. 8. F14ItTINE:iP Andre. 1980. Element de Linguistique aBn6rale, Paris, Armarid Go1 in, “U”

@V,C .Ah,<. 7 T A.E. 1967. Bantu grammatical Reconstruction Annales no. 61 81-121, Tervuren: Musee Royal de l’lfrique Centrale. RLDFORD, Andrew. 1901. Transformational syntax, A students Guide to Chomsky ’ s Extended Standard Theory, Cambriflee University Press. .. 3. >. UDADJXU, Maurice et S4.DEMBOUO Etienne . 1984. - Alphabet cvSn&al& des lanffues Cemerounaioe Propelca no. 1 YaoundB, F.L.S.H. .PLIWRS, Cim. E. 1973. African Language Structures Berkeley,. Los Angelss, London, University of Carlifornia .<'ress.