Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag GRAMMATICAL CONTACT IN THE SAHARA: Arabic, Berber, and Songhay in Tabelbala and Siwa A dissertation submitted to the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Mostafa Lameen Souag August 2010 1 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag Declaration for PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the School of Oriental and African Studies concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: 2 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag Abstract This thesis examines the effects of contact on the grammars of the languages of two oases in the Sahara, Siwa and Tabelbala. As relatively small centres of agriculture and long-distance trade, isolated for nearly a millennium from their nearest relatives and from any other sedentary groups by vast spans of desert mainly inhabited by sparse populations of nomads speaking a different language but sharing the same religion, and now integrated into an Arabic-speaking state, these share similar linguistic ecologies in many respects, and can be regarded as among the most extreme representatives of a language contact situation ongoing for centuries across the oases of the northern Sahara. No comprehensive study of the grammatical effects of contact in such a situation exists. This work identifies and argues for contact effects across a wide range of core morphology and syntax, using these both to shed new light on regional history and to test claims about the limits on, and expected outcomes of, contact. While reaffirming the ubiquity of pattern copying, the results encourage an expanded understanding of the role of material borrowing in grammatical contact, showing that the borrowing of functional morphemes and of paradigmatic sets of words or phrases containing them can lead to grammatical change. More generally, it confirms the uniformitarian principle that diachronic change arises through the long-term application of processes observable in synchronic language contact situations. The similarity of the sociolinguistic situations provides a close approximation to a natural controlled experiment, allowing us to pinpoint cases where differences in the original structure of the recipient language appear to have influenced its receptivity to external influence in those aspects of structure. 3 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag CONTENTS 4 Figures 10 Tables 11 Acknowledgements 13 Key to abbreviations 14 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Siwi 16 1.1.1 Location and origins 17 1.1.2 Contact with Arabic 19 1.1.3 Current sociolinguistic attitudes 21 1.1.4 Sources 22 1.1.5 Phonology 23 1.2 Kwarandzyey 23 1.2.1 Location and origins 23 1.2.2 Contact with Berber and Arabic 25 1.2.3 Current sociolinguistic attitudes 30 1.2.4 Sources 31 1.2.5 Phonology 32 1.3 Mechanisms of morphosyntactic influence 33 1.3.1 Direct 33 1.3.2 Indirect 36 2 NP features: person, gender, number, definiteness 40 2.1 Person 40 2.1.1 Siwi personal pronouns 41 2.1.2 Kwarandzyey personal pronouns 48 2.2 Gender 60 2.2.1 Background 60 2.2.2 Siwi 61 2.2.3 Kwarandzyey 67 2.3 Number 72 2.3.1 Siwi 74 2.3.1.1 Semantics 74 2.3.1.2 Morphology 77 2.3.2 Kwarandzyey 91 2.3.2.1 Semantics 92 2.3.2.2 Head-internal plural morphology 95 2.3.2.2.1 Berber-style plurals 95 2.3.2.2.1.1 In (ts)i-....aCən 97 2.3.2.2.1.2 In (ts)i-....<u>...-ən 102 2.3.2.2.1.3 In (ts)i-....-Can[ən] 104 2.3.2.2.1.4 In (ts)i-....-wan[ən] / (ts)i-....-yan[ən] 108 2.3.2.2.1.5 In (t)i-...-ən alone 110 2.3.2.2.1.6 Irregular cases 110 2.3.2.2.2 Arabic plurals 111 2.3.2.2.3 Borrowed nouns with no lexical plurals 112 2.3.2.3 Inherited -yu and its distribution 112 2.4 Definiteness 116 2.4.1 Siwi 116 4 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag 2.4.1.1 Reflexes of the Arabic article 117 2.4.1.2 Siwi definiteness marking 118 2.4.2 Kwarandzyey 121 2.4.2.1 Reflexes of the Arabic article 121 2.4.2.2 Kwarandzyey definiteness marking 122 2.5 Case marking 124 2.6 Conclusions 127 3 Adjectives 129 3.1 Background 131 3.1.1 Arabic 131 3.1.2 Berber 134 3.1.3 Songhay 137 3.2 Comparatives 138 3.2.1 Arabic 138 3.2.2 Berber 140 3.2.3 Songhay 143 3.3 Deadjectival abstract nouns 144 3.4 Siwi 145 3.4.1 Agreement morphology 147 3.4.2 Aspectual morphology 150 3.4.3 Attribution 151 3.4.4 Predication 154 3.4.5 Comparison 157 3.4.6 Deadjectival nouns 161 3.5 Kwarandzyey 162 3.5.1 Form of Arabic borrowings 164 3.5.1.1 Verbal 164 3.5.1.2 Nominal 168 3.5.1.3 Adjectival 170 3.5.2 Attribution 172 3.5.3 Predication 173 3.5.4 Comparison 176 3.5.5 Deadjectival nouns 177 3.6 Conclusions 178 4 Numerals and other quantifiers 180 4.1 Siwi 181 4.1.1 Numeral forms 181 4.1.1.1 Integers 181 4.1.1.2 Fractions 184 4.1.1.3 Interrogative 185 4.1.1.4 Cryptic numerals 186 4.1.1.5 Measures 186 4.1.1.5.1 Duals 186 4.1.1.5.2 Measures that behave like Arabic normal count nouns 186 4.1.1.5.3 Measures that behave like Arabic special count nouns 191 4.1.1.6 Absolute time specification 192 4.1.1.7 Non-numerical quantifiers 192 4.1.1.7.1 Fuzzy amount quantifiers 193 5 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag 4.1.1.7.2 Universal quantifiers 196 4.1.1.7.3 Existential quantifiers 199 4.1.2 Nominal morphology: mass vs. count nouns 200 4.1.2.1 Count nouns formed by the feminine 201 4.1.2.2 Count noun – generic mass noun syncretism 203 4.1.2.3 Suppletive count forms 203 4.1.3 Syntax 204 4.1.3.1 Quantifying count nouns 204 4.1.3.2 Quantifying mass nouns 210 4.2 Kwarandzyey 210 4.2.1 Forms 210 4.2.1.1 Cryptic numerals 212 4.2.1.2 Fractions 215 4.2.1.3 Interrogative 215 4.2.1.4 Measure words 215 4.2.1.4.1 Measures behaving like Arabic normal count nouns 215 4.2.1.4.2 Measures behaving like Arabic special count nouns 218 4.2.1.5 Absolute time specification 219 4.2.1.6 Currency 220 4.2.1.7 Non-numerical quantifiers 221 4.2.1.7.1 Fuzzy amount quantifiers 221 4.2.1.7.2 Universal quantifiers 224 4.2.1.7.2.1 Universal quantifier compounds 228 4.2.1.7.3 Existential quantifiers 229 4.2.2 The mass-count distinction 232 4.2.3 Syntax 233 4.2.3.1 Quantifying count nouns 233 4.2.3.1.1 Integers 233 4.2.3.1.1.1 Syntax of numbers across Songhay 239 4.3.3.1.1.2 Analysis 248 4.3.3.1.2 Fractions 248 4.3.3.2 Quantifying mass nouns 248 4.3.4 Distributive use 249 4.3.5 Predicative use 250 4.4 Conclusion 251 5 Demonstratives and relative clauses 253 5.1 Introduction 253 5.2 Siwi 255 5.2.1 Categories and forms 255 5.2.1.1 Origins 256 5.2.1.1.1 Distances and anaphoric forms 257 5.2.1.1.2 Addressee agreement 258 5.2.2 Adnominal demonstrative syntax 261 5.2.2 Syntax of relative clauses 267 5.3 Kwarandzyey 274 5.3.1 Categories and forms 275 5.3.1.1 Origins 281 5.3.2 Adnominal demonstrative syntax 286 6 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag 5.3.3 Relative clause syntax 287 5.4 Conclusions 297 6 Adpositions 299 6.1 Definitions 299 6.2 Background comparison 300 6.3 Predictions 302 6.4 Siwi 306 6.4.1 Siwi adnominal adpositions 307 6.4.2 Siwi locative and dative adpositions 308 6.4.2.1 Simple 308 6.4.2.2 Complex 311 6.4.3 Siwi delimiting adpositions 313 6.4.4 Siwi temporal adpositions 314 6.4.5 Siwi adpositions of manner 316 6.4.6 Siwi prepositions of cause, condition, and purpose 318 6.4.7 Pronominal object suffixes 320 6.5 Kwarandzyey 320 6.5.1 Kwarandzyey primary postpositions 320 6.5.1.1 Kwarandzyey adnominal postpositions 321 6.5.1.2 Kwarandzyey adverbial postpositions 328 6.5.1.3 Acquisition as an explanation 330 6.5.1.4 Motion and postpositions 331 6.5.2 Kwarandzyey secondary postpositions 335 6.5.3 Kwarandzyey prepositions 338 6.5.4 Adverbs of manner 347 6.5.5 Adpositions with heavy complements 347 6.6 Adpositions in long-distance relations 351 6.6.1 Siwi 351 6.6.2 Kwarandzyey 353 6.7 Theta role marking 355 6.8 Conclusions 355 7 Verbs and predication 358 7.1 Causatives and passives 358 7.1.1 Causatives and passives in Siwi 359 7.1.2 Causatives and passives in Kwarandzyey 363 7.2 Directional marking 366 7.2.1 Survivals of directional marking in Siwi 366 7.2.2 Directional marking in Kwarandzyey 367 7.3 Tense, mood and aspect 371 7.3.1 Siwi TAM 373 7.3.1.1 Stem changes 374 7.3.1.1.1 Functions of the Siwi “aorist” 381 7.3.1.1.2 Functions of the Siwi “perfect” 385 7.3.1.1.3 Functions of the Siwi “intensive” 386 7.3.1.2 The imperative in Siwi 387 7.3.1.2 Suffixed -a 389 7.3.2 Kwarandzyey TAM 392 7.3.2.1 Basic positive TAM markers 394 7 Grammatical Contact in the Sahara Lameen Souag 7.3.2.1.1 Perfective 396 7.3.2.1.2 Optative 398 7.3.2.1.3 Imperfective 399 7.3.2.1.4 Subjunctive/irrealis 401 7.3.2.1.5 Divine agency optative 403 7.3.2.1.6 Imperative 404 7.3.2.2 Pre-mood/aspect marker ba 406 7.3.2.2.1 Perfect 407 7.3.2.2.2 Progressive 409 7.3.2.3 Auxiliaries: baʕam, gʷab 410 7.3.2.3.1 Future/desiderative baʕam 410 7.3.2.3.2 Inceptive gʷab 412 7.4 Finiteness 414 7.4.1 Non-finite forms in Siwi 415 7.4.2 Non-finite forms in Kwarandzyey 423 7.5 Non-verbal predication 429 7.5.1 Siwi 430 7.5.2 Kwarandzyey 433 7.6 Negation 435 7.6.1 Siwi negation 435 7.6.1.1 Negators 435 7.6.1.2 Syntax 437 7.6.2 Kwarandzyey negation 441 7.7 Order of verb arguments 447 7.7.1 In Siwi 447 7.7.2 In Kwarandzyey 449 7.7 Conclusions 451 8 Information structure and conjunctions 452 8.1 Interrogation