Phonology and Morphology of Bolgo

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Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects

January 2019

Phonology And Morphology Of Bolgo

Katie Ann Tikka

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Recommended Citation Tikka, Katie Ann, "Phonology And Morphology Of Bolgo" (2019). Theses and Dissertations. 2869. https://commons.und.edu/theses/2869

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, and Senior Projects at UND Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of UND Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY OF BOLGO

Katie Ann Tikka Bachelor of Arts, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2013

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty

of the

University of North Dakota

in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of

Master of Arts

Grand Forks, North Dakota December 2019

ii This thesis, submitted by Katie Ann Tikka in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts from the University of North Dakota, has been read by the Faculty Advisory Committee under whom the work has been done and is hereby approved.

______James S. Roberts, Chair

______J. Albert Bickford

______Mark E. Karan

This thesis is being submitted by the appointed advisory committee as having met all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of North Dakota and is hereby approved.

______Chris Nelson, Associate Dean School of Graduate Studies

______Date

iii PERMISSION

Title Phonology and Morphology of Bolgo

Department Linguistics

Degree Master of Arts

In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a graduate degree from the University of North Dakota, I agree that the library of this University shall make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for extensive copying for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor who supervised my thesis work or, in his absence, by the chairperson of the department or the dean of the School of Graduate Studies. It is understood that any copying or publication or other use of this thesis or part thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of North Dakota in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis.

Signature ___Katie Ann Tikka______

Date ___3 December, 2019______

iv TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES viii

LIST OF TABLES ix

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xi

ABBREVIATIONS xii

ABSTRACT xiii

CHAPTER

1 THE BOLGO PEOPLE AND THEIR LANGUAGE 1

1.1 Population, location, and culture 1

1.1.1 Population and dialects 1

1.1.2 Location 3

1.1.3 Language contact and education 6

1.1.4 Culture 8

1.2 Language classification 9

1.3 Previous Bolgo research 11

1.4 This current study 12

1.5 Overview of the thesis 15

2 OVERVIEW OF THE PHONOLOGY 16

2.1 Consonants 16

2.1.1 Stops 17

2.1.2 Fricatives 22

2.1.3 Nasals 23

2.1.4 Liquids 24

2.1.5 Glides 28

2.1.6 Geminate consonants 28

2.1.7 Palatalization and labialization 29

2.1.8 Consonants in loan words 30

v 2.2 Vowels 31

2.2.1 ATR vowel harmony 35

2.2.2 Vowel length 38

2.2.3 Nasal vowels 39

2.3 Syllable structure 43

2.4 Tone 44

3 NOUN AND ADJECTIVE PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY 46

3.1 Word shapes in nouns 47

3.2 Tone in nouns 49

3.3 Dominant and recessive suffixes 52

3.4 Plural formation 56

3.4.1 Plurals with floating [+ATR] suprafix 58

3.4.2 Plurals with /-ɡi/ 60

3.4.3 Plurals with /-ti/ 61

3.4.4 Plurals with /-dɪ/ 63

3.4.5 Plurals with /-i/ and /-ɪ/ 65

3.4.6 Plurals with /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/ 69

3.4.7 Plurals designating human beings 73

3.4.8 Nouns with no distinct plural form 75

3.4.9 Other methods of plural formation 76

3.4.10 Plural formation in loan words 78

3.4.11 Summary of plural suffixes 79

3.5 Nouns derived from verbs 81

3.6 Agentive suffix 82

3.7 Reduplicated elements in noun roots 85

3.8 Adjectives 86

4 VERB PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY 88

vi 4.1 Verb stem and finite form 88

4.2 Word shapes in verbs 89

4.3 Tone in verbs 92

4.4 Subject pronouns and pronominal suffixes 93

4.5 Reduplication in verbs 100

4.5.1 Partial reduplication 101

4.5.2 Full reduplication 104

4.6 Auxiliary verbs and verbal particles 106

4.6.1 Mood auxiliaries 106

4.6.2 Motion verb auxiliaries 108

4.6.3 Verbal particles 111

5 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS THESIS 113

APPENDICES

A NOUN DATA: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS 117

B ADJECTIVE DATA: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS 138

C VERB DATA: STEM AND REDUPLICATED FORMS 141

REFERENCES 153

vii LIST OF FIGURES

Figure Page

Figure 1. Language map of the Guera region……………………………………...... 4

Figure 2. −ATR root with recessive suffix………………………………………….. 55

Figure 3. +ATR root with recessive suffix………………………………………….. 55

Figure 4. +ATR root with dominant suffix………………………….…………....… 56

Figure 5. −ATR root with dominant suffix………………………………………….. 56

Figure 6. Autosegmental example of floating [+ATR] suprafix…………………... 59

Figure 7. Partial reduplication with CVCV verb……………………………..…….. 102

Figure 8. Partial reduplication with CVCCV verb……………………………..….... 102

Figure 9. Partial reduplication with glottal stop onset………………………..…… 103

viii LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

Table 1. Phonemic consonant inventory………………………..…………………..……… 16

Table 2. Distribution of stops…………………………………..…………………..………... 17

Table 3. Distribution of fricatives………………………………..………………..………… 22

Table 4. Distribution of nasals………………………………………..…………….……….. 23

Table 5. Distribution of liquids………………………………………..….…………….…… 24

Table 6. Distribution of rhotic variants………………………………..……………....…… 26

Table 7. Distribution of glides………………………………………………………...…….. 28

Table 8. Phonemic vowel inventory………………….…………..………………………… 31

Table 9. Distribution of vowels……………………………………………...…………….... 34

Table 10. CV shapes…….…………………………………………………………………….. 43

Table 11. Noun word shapes…………………………………………………...……………. 48

Table 12. Tone patterns in monosyllabic nouns…………………………...………..…….. 49

Table 13. Tone patterns in disyllabic nouns………………………………...………...…… 51

Table 14. Tone patterns in trisyllabic nouns……………………………………...……….. 52

Table 15. Plural suffix summary table……………………………………………...….…… 80

Table 16. Examples of finite verb forms……………………………………………………. 89

Table 17. Verb word shapes………………………………………………………...……….. 90

Table 18. Tone patterns in monosyllabic verbs……………………………………………. 92

Table 19. Tone patterns in disyllabic verbs……………………………………...………… 92

Table 20. Tone patterns in trisyllabic verbs…………………………………..…………… 93

Table 21. Subject pronouns…………………………………………………..……………… 94

ix Table 22. Pronominal suffixes…………………………………………………………..… 95

Table 23. Possessive forms…………………………………………………………….…. 115

x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research on the Bolgo language would not have been possible without Tom

Oumar, Alladjaba Abramane Adoum, Hassip Brahim, Abdoulaye Souleiman, Abakar

Mahamat, and Mahmad Haroune, who were willing to share their language with me. I would also like to thank my colleagues in the Fédération des Associations de Promotion des Langues Nationales and in SIL Chad. I would especially like to thank Rineke van

Rijn for her kindness and hospitality during my many stays in Melfi, my former housemates Stefanie Seibel, Emma Kuipers, and Caroline Tyler for welcoming me to

Chad, and Cindy Trotter for her collaboration in working on the Bolgo literacy materials. Thank you also to Emily Miller; I am so grateful we were able to encourage each other as we worked on our theses.

I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. James Roberts, for his patience and insight as I was working through the drafts of this thesis. The thesis is greatly improved because of his comments and advice. I would also like to thank my committee members,

Dr. Albert Bickford and Dr. Mark Karan, for their contributions in the final stages of the thesis.

I am very blessed to have family and friends in the U.S. and Finland who have been incredibly supportive of me throughout the process of writing this thesis. I am extremely appreciative of the encouragement from my parents, Ann and Mark, and also from my parents-in-law, Eeva and Kari. A huge thank you to Petri, my husband, who believed in me all along. Rakastan sinua aina.

Finally, I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to study the Bolgo language and for His love, presence, and guidance throughout my life.

xi ABBREVIATIONS

ATR advanced tongue root

COND conditional

DAT dative

DEO deontic

H high tone

INTR intransitive

IPFV imperfective

IRR irrealis

L low tone

M mid tone

OBJ object

PFV perfective

PL plural

POSS possessive

SBJ subject

SG singular

TR transitive

xii ABSTRACT

Bolgo [bvo] is a language spoken in central Chad. It is a Bua language within the

Adamawa branch of the Niger-Congo language family. This thesis provides an overview of the phonology and morphology of Bolgo, focusing on the underdocumented Bolgo Dugag dialect.

The data on which the thesis is based consist of original research; approximately 600 nouns,

350 verbs, and 50 adjectives were elicited, as well as a number of phrases and sentences.

A significant aspect of Bolgo phonology is its ATR harmony system, which contains nine phonemic vowels. In this harmony system, words contain either the +ATR vowels /i/, /e/,

/u/, and /o/ or the −ATR vowels /ɪ/, /ɛ/, /ʊ/, and /ɔ/. The major exception to this is the

−ATR vowel /a/, which may also occur in roots with +ATR vowels.

A topic of particular interest in Bolgo morphology is plural formation. Bolgo nouns form their plurals using a variety of suffixes that originated from former noun class suffixes in the language. In accordance with the ATR harmony, sometimes a shift of vowels from −ATR in the singular to +ATR in the plural is also involved. Bolgo contains both recessive suffixes that surface as −ATR or +ATR according to the ATR value of the stem, and also dominant suffixes that cause the −ATR vowels within the stem to shift to their +ATR counterparts.

Within the verb morphology chapter are discussions of how reduplication and auxiliaries are used in the tense/aspect/mood system. Bolgo verbs undergo two different reduplication patterns to indicate imperfective aspect: partial reduplication if the verb is intransitive, and full reduplication if the verb is transitive. There are motion verbs that double as auxiliaries, and also auxiliaries that indicate various moods.

xiii

CHAPTER 1 THE BOLGO PEOPLE AND THEIR LANGUAGE

This thesis provides an overview of the phonology and morphology of Bolgo, a Bua language of Chad, focusing on the Bolgo Dugag dialect, which to date has been underdocumented. The findings are based on original research carried out in the Guera region of Chad from 2015 to 2017. Although the thesis is based on the Bolgo Dugag dialect, various sections of the thesis also contain details concerning the Bolgo Kubar dialect and the Koke language, which is closely related to Bolgo. It is my hope that this thesis can serve as a resource for any future language development work in Bolgo, as well of being of interest to linguists studying Bolgo or other Bua languages.

1.1 Population, location, and culture

1.1.1 Population and dialects

Bolgo [bvo] is a Niger-Congo language spoken in the Guera region of Chad. There were approximately 1,800 Bolgo speakers at the time of the 1993 national census (Bureau Central du

Recensement 1993). It is difficult to ascertain exactly what the number of speakers is now. If the Bolgo have been experiencing population growth at the same rate as the rest of Chad, which is calculated at 3.23% (Central Intelligence Agency 2019), this would mean that in 2019 there should be around 4,100 Bolgo speakers. However, some areas where the ethnic Bolgo live are experiencing language shift to Chadian Arabic (see section 1.1.3), so this factor may limit the number of speakers there are among the overall Bolgo population.

1 There are two dialects of Bolgo, which are commonly referred to as “Bolgo Dugag” and

“Bolgo Kubar”. These names literally mean ‘Small1 Bolgo’ and ‘Big Bolgo’ in Chadian Arabic.

The Bolgo names for these dialect groups are “Tɛɾɛw” for the Bolgo Dugag and “Bormu” for the

Bolgo Kubar.2 In addition to the term “Bolgo”, the Bolgo also use the term “Mɪŋɡɪ” to refer to these two dialects collectively.3 My language consultants said that both of these are Bolgo terms, and that Bolgo speakers freely use either name to refer to themselves. The Bolgo call their language “Bolgo nii”, with /nīī/ being the word for ‘language’.

According to the 1993 census, there were approximately 953 Bolgo Dugag speakers and

853 Bolgo Kubar speakers living in the Guera region (Bureau Central du Recensement 1993).

The Bolgo language survey report found that Bolgo Dugag and Bolgo Kubar have 68% lexical similarity (Faris and Meundeung 1993a: 7). After having some contact with speakers of both dialects, my impression is that this figure is rather low.

In addition to these two dialects, the neighboring language Koke [kou] is sometimes grouped in as if it were a third dialect of Bolgo (Sauer 2008: 4). Koke was estimated to have

600 speakers in the 1993 census (Bureau Central du Recensement 1993). The estimations vary widely as to how similar Koke and Bolgo are. The Koke survey report found that Koke has 68% lexical similarity with Bolgo Dugag and 60% lexical similarity with Bolgo Kubar (Faris and

Meundeung 1993b: 7). However, according to a different lexicostatistic reckoning, Bolgo Kubar

1 I was not able to find an explanation for the ‘big’ and ‘small’ labels in the Chadian Arabic names from my language consultants or from other sources. 2 Kastenholz (2017) further subdivides Bolgo Kubar into two groups called “Bolgo” and “Bormo”; he states that his language consultant was from the former group. Boyeldieu et al. (2018) refer to this subdialect described by Kastenholz as “Bolgo proper” to distinguish it from Bolgo as a whole. My language consultants did not mention any such division within Bolgo Kubar. However, I had less time working with Bolgo Kubar speakers than I did with Bolgo Dugag speakers and Koke speakers. 3 My Bolgo and Koke language consultants said that, from their perspective, the terms “Bolgo” and “Mɪŋɡɪ” refer only to the Bolgo Kubar and Bolgo Dugag, and do not include the Koke. However, they also said that other people groups in the area sometimes use the term “Bolgo” to refer to the Koke as well.

2 and Koke were found to have 90.1% similarity4 (Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 60). In their discussion of the classification of the Bua languages, Boyeldieu et al. argue that Koke should be considered as part of a “Bolgo Complex” along with the Bolgo dialects (2018: 61).

This thesis is based on data from the Bolgo Dugag dialect. However, since I had the privilege to work to a limited extent with the two other varieties, it also includes some details related to Koke and Bolgo Kubar.

1.1.2 Location

Within the Guera région,5 Bolgo is spoken in the Barh Signaka département in the Daguéla6 and Sorki cantons. The two cantons correspond to where the two Bolgo dialects are spoken, with Bolgo Kubar speakers living in the Sorki canton to the north and Bolgo Dugag speakers living in the Daguéla canton to the south (Faris and Meundeung 1993a: 8). The Koke also live in the Daguéla canton just south of the Bolgo Dugag. Thus, Bolgo Dugag is geographically in the middle between Bolgo Kubar and Koke.

The Guera lies in the Sahel climatic zone, with a more arid northern region transitioning to a greener southern region. As the Bolgo live in the southern Guera, their home area supports more vegetation, and many Bolgo villages are located in forested areas. In contrast to much of the rest of Chad, the Guera region is also mountainous, and there are mountains located near many Bolgo villages. Travel around the area can be challenging, especially during rainy season

4 I have converted this to a percentage from the per mille figure of 901 calculated by Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 60). The computer program Boyeldieu et al. used was that of Schadeberg (1990). Bolgo Dugag was not included in this calculation. 5 These are names of French administrative divisions. A région is the largest unit of division within the country. Régions are subdivided into départements, départements are subdivided into sous-préfectures, and sous-préfectures are subdivided into cantons. 6 Sometimes spelled Daguila or Dagela. The local name for Daguéla is Wɛɾɛl (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

3 (approximately June through September) when many of the roads become muddy or washed out.

The area in which the Bolgo live is quite sparsely populated. The area does not yet have any cell phone coverage; the closest area of cell phone service is near the département capital

Melfi.

The map in figure 1 shows the languages of the Guera region. As seen on the map, Bolgo is bordered by other Niger-Congo languages and also by Afro-Asiatic languages, including

Chadian Arabic [shu] and Chadic languages. The map has been compiled by the Fédération des

Associations de Promotion des Langues du Guéra.

Figure 1. Language map of the Guera region

4 Within the Bolgo language area, the Bolgo Dugag dialect is spoken in the villages of Bassa

Boli, Biguine, Boulou, Dankoudj, Grenga I, Halata, Halouwa, Hori, Kouk, Koutoutou, Koya,

Niakara, Ougouma, and Tirgadoum. The Bolgo Kubar dialect is spoken in the villages of Am

Kharouma7, Amdjamoussa, Ararap, Barik, Bedi, Berbou, Daga, Direta, Djara, Gagna, Grenga II,

Godorbi, Hari, Iyédja, Kodbo, Kouram, Madaraba, Massan, Moulouk, Sahaba, and Sorki. Koke is spoken in the villages of Daguéla, Djourap, Mouré, Rim, Sengué, and Sobo (Tom and Alladjaba

2017; Adoum Edouard 2010).

Of these communities, the largest villages for each language group are: Niakara,

Tirgadoum, and Koutoutou for Bolgo Dugag; Am Kharouma, Massan, and Grenga II for Bolgo

Kubar; and Daguéla and Rim for Koke (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

Speakers report that in addition to the villages listed above, there used to be more Bolgo and Koke villages before the Chadian Civil War in the 1980s. During the war there was fighting in the Bolgo and Koke area, and some villages were destroyed. The people who fled often resettled in other villages in the area rather than returning to the sites of the burned villages

(Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

Two of the largest communities in the Bolgo and Koke home areas, Daguéla and Am

Kharouma, contain sizeable populations of non-Bolgo and non-Koke residents. Daguéla is the canton capital and has a local government and military presence; thus, in addition to Koke speakers, there are also speakers of other languages. However, according to 1993 estimates,

75% of the town of Daguéla’s population is Koke and about 55% of the total Koke population lives in Daguéla, so the Koke still make up the majority of the population of the community

(Faris and Meundeung 1993b: 5).

In addition to Bolgo Kubar speakers, Am Kharouma’s population also includes Arabic- speaking peoples such as sedentary Arabs and Yalnas. According to the people I spoke with,

7 Also spelled Am Karouma.

5 Am Kharouma is a more recently founded community, and it has become larger only in the past couple decades because the government wanted people living in more remote locations in the area to move there. This is why Am Kharouma is not mentioned as a major Bolgo Kubar community in older sources (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

The fact that Am Kharouma and Daguéla have higher percentages of non-Bolgo and non-

Koke residents means that use of Chadian Arabic as a language of wider communication is more prevalent in Am Kharouma and Daguéla than in communities with more homogenous populations (see also section 1.1.3). Daguéla and Am Kharouma are also the largest trade centers of the area, with the most frequent transportation connections to larger cities such as

Melfi and Sarh (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

Most Bolgo people choose to live in or near the Bolgo home area. Thus, while there is a

Bolgo population living in Melfi, there are not large numbers of Bolgo people living in the large

Guera cities of Mongo or Bitkine, nor in other major Chadian cities such as N’Djamena or

Abéché. Bolgo people tend to make trips to these cities when they need to, rather than permanently settling there (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

1.1.3 Language contact and education

As the Guera is very linguistically diverse, Chadian Arabic serves as the language of wider communication for different people groups throughout the region. It is the L1 of the Arab populations of the Guera, including nomadic Arabs who travel around the region with their camel herds and also Arabs who have permanently settled in different communities. Chadian

Arabic is also the L1 of some people who have grown up in larger towns or cities where people from various language groups are living together.

Most Bolgo speakers are also able to speak Chadian Arabic. In the 1993 language survey,

80% of Bolgo respondents said they were capable of communicating with confidence with ethnic Arabs using only Chadian Arabic (Faris and Meundeung 1993a: 11). Today, almost every

6 Bolgo person also knows how to speak Chadian Arabic, even in small villages (Tom and

Alladjaba 2017).

According to my language consultants, the Bolgo language is being passed down to children in most small villages, but language shift to Chadian Arabic may be occurring in larger communities. In villages made up of only Bolgo people, children grow up learning Bolgo first before they learn Chadian Arabic. However, in larger communities in the Bolgo area such as

Am Kharouma where Bolgo people are living together with other language groups, children grow up bilingual, and some of them may have a more passive understanding of Bolgo. A similar situation is reported for Koke, with children learning Koke before Chadian Arabic in smaller villages but growing up bilingual in Daguéla (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

In addition to marrying among themselves, Bolgo speakers regularly marry people from certain neighboring groups such as the Fania, Zan Gula, and Yalnas. It is unclear exactly what percentage of total marriages these exogamous marriages make up. However, the Bolgo do not usually marry ethnic Arabs, who typically prefer to marry among themselves. The Bolgo also do not usually marry members of the nomadic Fulani groups (locally called Mbororo) that sometimes pass through the area (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

In addition to Chadian Arabic, some Bolgo speakers have learned to speak and write

French in school. However, because there are not schools in all Bolgo communities, many

Bolgo speakers have not had this opportunity. Chadian Arabic is used for oral communication rather than written communication. However, certain Bolgo speakers who live in larger communities with a madrasa (Koranic school) have learned to read and write some classical

Arabic (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

Many Bolgo and Koke people are interested in having an orthography in order to begin literacy classes in their mother tongue. On February 6, 2010 in Niakara, Bolgo Language

Association representatives from Bolgo Kubar, Bolgo Dugag, and Koke speaking communities

7 met with representatives from the Fédération des Associations de Promotion des Langues du

Guéra, or FAPLG8. FAPLG is a Chadian non-profit organization that partners with local language groups and with SIL Chad in language development work. In the 2010 meeting, the representatives decided that all three of their language communities would work together in a single joint language development project. Their desire was to partner with FAPLG to start a mother tongue literacy project for Bolgo and Koke speakers (Adoum Edouard 2010). My research in Chad was intended to help them work toward the goal of a standardized orthography (see also section 1.4).

1.1.4 Culture

Most Bolgo people work as subsistence farmers. As with most people living in the Guera, the staple crop of the Bolgo is millet. A typical Bolgo meal consists of a millet dish known as saal (called boule in French and eech in Chadian Arabic), which is eaten with a sauce. Other foods grown by the Bolgo include peanuts, okra, and sesame, and people also gather edible foods such as certain leaves. Some people also raise animals such as goats or sheep.

Historically, many people groups in the Guera followed the practice of worshiping the

Margai spirits, which were believed to reside in and have power over natural locations such as the region’s mountains. However, many of these ethnic groups, including the Bolgo, have since converted and now practice Islam (Faris and Meundeung 1993a: 9).

When I asked what the Bolgo were well-known for in the region, a few people mentioned growing cotton and the production of cotton fabrics and garments using traditional looms.

There is a Bolgo tradition of using cotton to make everyday clothing as well as clothing for important occasions. This includes burial shrouds and certain fabrics to be given by a prospective groom as part of his bride price payment. However, the techniques of raising

8 This organization has since changed its name and is now known as the Fédération des Associations de Promotion des Langues Nationales, or FAPLN.

8 cotton and producing fabrics are not being regularly practiced by the younger generations, since imported fabrics and clothes have become more widely available in the region and are now used by most people. The Bolgo also engage in more fishing than many people in the

Guera. This is due to the fact that they have lakes that are present year-round, even during dry season when many bodies of water elsewhere in the Guera dry up (Tom and Alladjaba 2017).

1.2 Language classification

Bolgo is a Niger-Congo language that belongs to the sub-family that Joseph Greenberg

(1970: 9) classified as Adamawa 13. An important overview of the larger Adamawa-Ubangi language family is provided by Boyd (1989), who discusses the different sub-groups within

Adamawa and Ubangi. Boyd also discusses phonological, morphological, and syntactic characteristics of Adamawa-Ubangi languages.

Within Adamawa, Bolgo belongs to the Bua9 group. The Bua languages are spoken in the

Guera and Moyen-Chari regions of Chad (the Moyen-Chari being located just south of the

Guera). As seen in Figure 1 in section 1.1.2, Bolgo is the northernmost of the Bua languages. In addition to Bolgo and Koke, the other languages in the Bua group are Bon Gula [glc], Bua

[bub], Fania [fni], Gula Iro10 [glj], Niellim11 [nie], Tunia [tug], and Zan Gula12 [zna] (Eberhard et al. 2019). Another Bua language, Noy13 [noy], has become extinct in the past few decades as speakers have shifted to using Sar [mwm], a Nilo-Saharan language that is widely spoken in the area (Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 55). Most of the Bua languages range between having 1,000

9 The name of the group and the language (after which the group is named) are spelled Boua in French. They are sometimes also spelled Boa, Bwa, or ‘Ba. 10 Also referred to as Kulaal. 11 Also referred to as Lua. 12 Also referred to as More. 13 Also referred to as Loo or Lɔɔ.

9 and 5,000 speakers according to the 1993 census, with the largest language being Bua, which was estimated to have 7,710 speakers (Bureau Central du Recensement 1993).

Kastenholz has proposed (Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 60) that the Bua languages should be classified into two main groups based on lexicostatistics: the “Riverine” languages including

Tunia, Bua, and Niellim (the term “riverine” refers to their proximity to the Chari River) and the “Inland” languages including Bolgo, Koke, Bon Gula, Fania, Gula Iro, and Zan Gula. He further classifies the Inland Bua languages into two subgroups, with Bolgo and Koke in the

“Koke-Bolgo” group and the other four Inland languages in the “Gula” group (Boyeldieu et al.

2018: 60).

Many of the Bua languages remain underdocumented. An important work discussing the

Bua languages is Boyeldieu 1986, which provides a map of the area where the Bua languages are spoken and discusses some of their phonological and morphological characteristics, focusing on data from Bua, Niellim, Tunia, and Gula Iro. Boyeldieu 1983 discusses diachronic changes in the Bua languages related to what remains of former noun class suffixes14. Boyeldieu et al. 2018 is a more recent comparative study of the Bua languages that discusses the relationships between the Bua languages, phonological and morphological characteristics, and reconstructions and ideas about the historical evolution of the languages based on these comparisons. The findings of my own Bolgo research are compared to the characteristics described in these works, in the relevant sections within the thesis.

14 Many Niger-Congo languages contain noun class systems with different prefixes or suffixes corresponding to different noun classes. However, these noun class systems have largely fallen out of use in the Bua languages (and in Adamawa languages as a whole), with only certain vestiges remaining. The exception to this among the Bua languages is Gula Iro, which has retained more of its noun class system in the form of a set of different determiners that agree with nouns based on the final segment(s) of the noun root they modify (Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 74-79).

10 1.3 Previous Bolgo research

Some of the earliest notes on Bolgo come from de Rendinger (1949: 179-184), who presents brief descriptions of ten different languages spoken around the Melfi area. The ten languages are from all three major language families in the area: Chadic (Afro-Asiatic), Nilo-

Saharan, and Bua (Niger-Congo). The two Bua languages in his report are Bolgo and Zan Gula, with six pages of notes and examples for Bolgo. The data primarily concern morphology and syntax, with short sections on personal pronouns, possessives, adjectives, interrogatives, verbs, negation, etc. De Rendinger was working with speakers of what he calls the Bolgo Werel dialect and the Bolgo Mengo dialect. He says that Bolgo Werel is spoken around Daguéla and Bolgo

Mengo is spoken around Niakara, and this indicates that Bolgo Werel corresponds to Koke and

Bolgo Mengo corresponds to Bolgo Dugag. Certain details15 in the data also confirm this.

The SIL Chad Bolgo survey report (Faris and Meundeung 1993a) includes statistics about the Bolgo population and dialects, as well as wordlists of 160 words from both Bolgo Kubar and Bolgo Dugag. The survey report also includes responses to questions related to language use and vitality, multilingualism, and future language development. The Koke survey report

(Faris and Mundeung 1993b) contains similar information pertaining to Koke.

Silke Sauer, an SIL Chad linguist with experience working with Zan Gula (a Bua language spoken just southeast of Bolgo), also spent some time working with Bolgo speakers to produce

15 One such detail is the word for ‘many’ given in the data, which de Rendinger lists as /kūɾé/ for the Werel variety and /dāo/ for the Mengo variety (1949: 181). When working with different speakers I learned that the word for ‘many’ is different in all three varieties, and thus it is a good indicator for determining the varieties in de Rendinger’s work. Following my transcriptions, ‘many’ is /daw/ in Bolgo Dugag, /mʊj/ in Bolgo Kubar, and /kʊɾɪ/ in Koke. Another detail that indicates that one of de Rendinger’s language consultants was a Koke speaker is the use of /ta/ for negation (1949: 182). I learned while working with different speakers that the negation marker is /o/ in Bolgo Dugag and /ta/ in Koke. These negation markers come at the end of the sentence. I did not have the opportunity to elicit the negation marker from a Bolgo Kubar speaker myself, but according to examples given by Kastenholz (2017: 21), it is /ŋ́/ in Bolgo Kubar and also comes sentence-finally.

11 a phonology sketch (Sauer 2008). Sauer does not directly state which dialects she was working with, but as there are some details in the document about Koke, presumably one of her language consultants was a Koke speaker. Much of the sketch is focused on establishing the phonemic inventory of Bolgo; additionally, there is information on some other topics including syllable structure, plural formation, and pronominal forms.

In 2006, Raimund Kastenholz presented a paper on Bolgo based on data he gathered with a Bolgo Kubar language consultant during a brief research trip to Chad in 2005 (Kasthenholz

2006). Then in 2017, Kastenholz published a working paper about the data (Kastenholz 2017).

The paper consists of a 22-page grammar sketch as well as a French-Bolgo wordlist containing approximately 650 lexemes. The grammar sketch includes a section on phonology, discussing topics such as phonemic inventory, ATR harmony, and syllable structure. The morphosyntax portion includes discussions of plural formation, pronominal forms, adjectives, noun derivation, and verb morphosyntax.

1.4 This current study

My own Bolgo research took place primarily from late 2015 through early 2017, during which time I was working with SIL Chad and living in the Guera region of Chad. Since the

2010 Bolgo Language Association meeting mentioned above, our Chadian partner organization

FAPLG had been wanting an SIL linguist to work with the Bolgo to study the language and develop an orthography. It was initially difficult to find available Bolgo language consultants.

This was due to factors such as the lack of phone network coverage in most Bolgo communities, the fact that most Bolgo communities are in isolated areas with difficult road access, and the fact that there are not many Bolgo people living in cities outside their home area. However,

FAPLG then put me in touch with Tom Oumar, a member of the Bolgo Language Association, who served both as my principal Bolgo language consultant and also as a contact person to introduce me to other language consultants. Because the goal was for Bolgo Dugag, Bolgo

12 Kubar, and Koke to be served by the same orthography, I was hoping to have some time working with speakers from all of these groups.

With Tom’s help, at various points during my research I was able to work with speakers from all three language groups. For Bolgo Dugag, I worked with Tom, originally from Koya but living in Melfi, and Abdoulaye Souleiman from Niakara. For Bolgo Kubar, I worked with Hassip

Brahim, originally from Am Kharouma but living in Melfi, and Mahmad Haroune from Am

Kharouma (he later moved to N’Djamena a few months after I initially met with him). For

Koke, I worked with Alladjaba Abdramane Adoum and Abakar Mahamat, both from Daguéla.

All language consultants were male. Mahmad was in his late teens, Alladjaba was in his late twenties, and the other four consultants were in their forties and fifties. As mentioned above, my principal language consultant was Tom, a Bolgo Dugag speaker in his fifties to whom I was introduced via FAPLG. He was present during almost all of my elicitation sessions, sometimes as the only speaker and sometimes along with one of the other speakers. Therefore, the data is heavily based on his speech. I was also introduced to Hassip Brahim via FAPLG. The other four consultants were asked by Tom to work with me. The main factors in selecting them were their language ability and their availability to come work with Tom and me in Melfi or Mongo.

One limitation of my research was that I was able to spend very little time in Bolgo villages myself, due to their remote locations and the fact that I arrived in Chad as a young person who was new to fieldwork. Instead, Bolgo languages consultants and I travelled to meet each other, usually in Melfi (the capital of the département) and occasionally also in Mongo (the capital of the région, where I was living when I was not staying in Melfi). Therefore, I did not have day-to-day exposure to the language, and I also was not often able to interact with Bolgo speakers other than my language consultants.

The decision to focus my database on Bolgo Dugag was due to a few factors. One factor was Tom’s availability and willingness to work with me over a long period of time. Secondly, the survey report findings indicate that Bolgo Dugag is the middle dialect of the three in terms of lexical similarity, and the report also states that if a single language development project

13 were to serve all three groups, Bolgo Dugag would probably be the most suitable choice as a base dialect (Faris and Meundeung 1993b: 5). Thirdly, Bolgo Dugag has the largest number of speakers out of the three groups. While my database is based on Bolgo Dugag, I also tried to take Bolgo Kubar and Koke into consideration as much as possible. When a Bolgo Kubar or a

Koke speaker was present during an elicitation session, I attempted to note down different tendencies I noticed in their speech. Due to logistical reasons such as coordinating travel and work schedules, I was able to have more time working with Koke speakers than with Bolgo

Kubar speakers.

The data on which this thesis is based consist of a lexical database as well as phrases and sentences collected during elicitation sessions. The lexical database was primarily elicited using the SIL comparative African wordlist (SILCAWL) (Roberts and Snider 2006) and stored in

Fieldworks Language Explorer (FLEx). In addition, other entries were added if words came up in other contexts. The total number of entries including loan words is 1224 entries; excluding loans, it is about 1130 entries. Of these entries, there are about 600 nouns, 350 verbs, and 50 adjectives. When eliciting nouns, I tried to get both the singular and plural forms whenever possible. Once I realized that verb reduplication was very productive in the language, I also tried to elicit reduplicated forms for as many verbs as possible. Lists of nouns in singular and plural forms, and of verbs in stem and reduplicated forms, can be found in the appendices.

I also produced a preliminary orthography proposal based on my findings. According to my observations working with Bolgo Dugag, Bolgo Kubar, and Koke speakers, while there are differences in vocabulary between the three groups, the overall phonology and morphology are generally similar (various differences I found are discussed in the relevant sections of the thesis below). Thus, the hope was still that all three groups could use the same orthography system.

Along with several Bolgo and Koke speakers and another SIL colleague, I created a primer for the orthography. The plan was to run test classes in 2017 in a few Bolgo Kubar, Bolgo Dugag, and Koke communities to check for any errors or difficulties in the orthography or the primer, and also to see how suitable the orthography was for each of the three language groups.

14 However, after I left Chad there were unforeseen difficulties, and the test classes were never held. To my knowledge, there has not yet been any update to the situation, and thus there is not yet any feedback from the classes that might inform the analysis of certain aspects of the language.

1.5 Overview of the thesis

The following chapters provide an overview of Bolgo phonology and morphology. Chapter

2 is an overview of the phonology, with a presentation of the consonant and vowel inventories.

Of particular interest are the vowels, which follow a pattern of ATR harmony. The ATR vowel system of Bolgo is discussed in relation to other African languages with ATR vowel harmony.

Chapter 2 also discusses syllable structure and lexical tone. (The discussion of lexical tone carries over into chapters 3 and 4, with more specific discussions of tone patterns found in nouns and verbs.)

Chapter 3 discusses noun phonology and morphology. The most significant section of this chapter is the presentation of various plural suffixation patterns, which are linked to the ATR system of the language. Some suffixes adopt the ATR value of the stem, while other suffixes trigger a shift of vowels in the stem from −ATR to +ATR. Other topics discussed in the chapter include deriving nouns from verbs, the agentive suffix, and reduplicated elements in noun roots. A presentation of adjectives in the language is also included.

Chapter 4 discusses verb phonology and morphology. After a presentation of the pronominal system, the two most significant sections in this chapter discuss reduplication and constructions with auxiliary verbs. These sections include a discussion of their structures as well as details of how they work to express tense, aspect, and mood in the language.

The final chapter summarizes the principle contributions made by this thesis and provides ideas for future research.

15 CHAPTER 2 OVERVIEW OF THE PHONOLOGY

This chapter provides a general overview of Bolgo phonology, including consonants

(section 2.1), vowels (section 2.2), syllable structure (section 2.3), and tone (section 2.4).

Most transcriptions in the following chapters are phonemic, indicated in phonemic brackets //. When phonetic transcriptions are needed to explain or clarify certain points, these are given in phonetic brackets [ ]. Tone is indicated wherever I was able to ascertain it based on my study of tone (see section 2.4).

2.1 Consonants

Table 1 shows the contrastive consonantal units in Bolgo. There are four main places of articulation in Bolgo: labial, alveolar, palatal, and velar. In addition, there is the glottal fricative /h/. As seen in the table, the only voiced/voiceless contrasts in the language occur among the stops.

Table 1. Phonemic consonant inventory

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Stops, voiceless t k Stops, voiced b d ɟ ɡ Fricatives f s h Nasals m n ɲ ŋ Lateral l Rhotic ɾ ɽ Glides w j This table does not include consonants that are found only in loan words, which will be discussed in section 2.1.8.

16 2.1.1 Stops

Among the obstruents, there are voiced/voiceless phonemically contrastive pairings between the stops /t/ and /d/ and the stops /k/ and /ɡ/.16 In addition, there is also a glottal stop that occurs in certain specific environments.

Table 2 shows the distribution of voiceless and voiced stops in three different positions within words. Word-final stops do not occur except for in a few exceptional words, and thus are not included in the table.

Table 2. Distribution of stops

Phoneme Word- Gloss Word- Gloss Word- initial medial final Voiceless /t/ /tɔ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to love’ /māɾtɪ̄w/ ‘viper’ - /k/ /kōōɾùm/ ‘lion’ /dāká/ ‘cane (for - walking)’ Voiced /b/ /bīlé/ ‘to /túbúl/ ‘cotton’ - count’ /d/ /dūɾɡù/ ‘donkey’ /sʊ̀dʊ̄/ ‘to open’ - /ɟ/ /ɟà/ ‘to go’ /báɟá/ ‘pelican’ - /ɡ/ /ɡūmí/ ‘to be /bɛ́ɡɪ̄l/ ‘liver’ - stained’ Word-initially, both voiceless and voiced stops are extremely common, and thus the voicing contrast is well established in this position. The following examples in (1) and (2) show /t/ and

/d/ in word-initial positions.

(1) (a) /tɛ́bɛ̄ɾ/ ‘shea’

(b) /tò/ ‘ear’

(b) /dʊ̄bʊ́l/ ‘tail’

16 The sounds [p] and [c] are not phonemes, but occur as allophones of /b/ and /ɟ/ word-finally, as discussed below in this section.

17 The following examples in (3) and (4) show /k/ and /ɡ/ in word-initial positions.

(3) (a) /kīmbè/ ‘stalk’

(b) /kùm/ ‘flour’

(b) /ɡíl/ ‘eye’

(c) /ɡúsī/ ‘shoulder’ Intervocalically, however, voiceless stops are much less common than voiced stops. Excluding loan words, there was only a single instance of intervocalic /t/ in the data (5), while intervocalic /d/ is more common (6).

(5) /hètā/ ‘to whittle’ (6) (a) /wɪ̄dɪ́/ ‘to boil’

(b) /kòdī/ ‘to share’

(c) /ɾedi/ ‘two’ There are a few more instances of intervocalic /k/ in the data (7); however, it is still less common than intervocalic /ɡ/ (8).

(7) (a) /ɾōkí/ ‘to give medicine’

(b) /dōká/ ‘basket’

(b) /sāɡɪ̀l/ ‘dawn’

(c) /hèɡē/ ‘to blow, to whistle’ As C2 within consonant clusters, there are examples with both /t/ and /d/, although the latter is more common in this position. I did not find any instances of the clusters */nt/ or */lt/ in the data. Thus, all consonant cluster examples with /t/ as C2 contain /ɾ/ (or /j/ in one instance) as C1. Some examples of /t/ as C2 are given in (9) below.

18 (9) (a) /ɡàɾtʊ̄/ ‘javelin’

(b) /sɛ̄ɾtɪ́/ ‘to be slippery’

(c) /bájtē/ ‘fermented pancake (kisaar)’ As C2, /d/ commonly occurs after the nasal /n/; however, there are only a handful of examples of /d/ occurring after the liquids /ɾ/ or /l/. Some examples of /d/ as C2 are given in (10).

(10) (a) /ɲàndā/ ‘armpit’

(b) /fɛ̄ɾdɛ̀/ ‘flute’

(c) /kɔ̄ldɛ̀/ ‘sesame’ There are no instances of /d/ occurring after a glide in a consonant cluster; however, glides within consonant clusters are infrequent in the language overall.

As C2 of consonant clusters, there are only a few examples of /k/, which may occur after

/ɾ/ or /ŋ/, as seen in (11).

(11) (a) /bàɾkā/ ‘tree trunk’

(b) /káŋkā/ ‘dizziness’

(c) /sɔ̄ŋkɔ̀/ ‘money’ There are many examples of /ɡ/ occurring as C2; /ɡ/ may occur after /ɾ/, /l/, or /ŋ/, as seen in (12).

(12) (a) /ɲɛ̄ɾɡɛ́l/ ‘branch’

(b) /lʊ̄lɡá/ ‘to scream’

(c) /ɡɔ̄ŋɡɔ̀/ ‘pocket’ Thus, based on the infrequency of word-medial voiceless stops as compared to word-medial voiced stops, we may conclude that the voicing contrast has a lower functional load in the word-medial position than in the word-initial position.

On the subject of word-medial voiceless stops, by comparing certain Bolgo Dugag words with their Koke counterparts from my notes, it seems that word-medial voiceless stops may be more common in Koke than in Bolgo Dugag. Below in (13) are a few examples in which

19 cognates contain a word-medial voiced stop in Bolgo Dugag and a word-medial voiceless stop in Koke. Bolgo Koke Gloss (13) Dugag

(a) /handɪɾ/ /hanti/ ‘bride price’

(b) /kɔ̄ldɛ̀/ /kɔtɪ/ ‘sesame’

(c) /dūɾɡù/ /duɾku/ ‘donkey’ When Bolgo syllables end with a consonant, that consonant is in the vast majority of cases a sonorant. Thus, word-final stops are not very common in the data. Similarly, consonant clusters in which C1 is a stop are also rare.

There are only a few examples of word-final stops in the data. When word-final stops do occur, they are voiceless, and thus there is no voiced/voiceless contrast of stops in the word- final position at all. Overall in the language, the most frequently occurring word-final stop is the 3PL suffix /-b/, which surfaces as [-p]. Within roots, the exceptions containing a word-final stop often contain an onomatopoeic element as part of an ideophone or animal name. For example, there is the word [ɲac] ‘far’, underlyingly /ɲaɟ/, which may be an ideophone.

Syllable structure is further discussed in section 2.3, as well as in sections 3.1 and 4.2, which discuss nouns and verbs respectively in more detail.

In his discussion of Adamawa consonant inventories, Boyd (1989: 199) notes that it is common for the set of intervocalic and word-final consonants to be smaller than the set of word-initial consonants. Boyeldieu (1986: 22) notes the same tendency for Bua languages specifically, noting that word-final consonant inventories in particular are often limited to liquids, nasals, and glides (i.e., sonorants).

In addition to the stops listed above, Bolgo also has a glottal stop, which is present at the onset of words beginning with a vowel. Some examples are given in (14).

20 (14) (a) [ʔɔ̄lɔ́] ‘to grow’

(b) [ʔū] ‘to die’

(d) [ʔáá] ‘woman’

(e) [ʔūŋɡà] ‘splinter’

(f) [ʔɪ̀ɡɪ̄m] ‘waist’ The glottal stop does not occur word-medially in Bolgo words, except when a verb beginning with a vowel is in a reduplicated form (either partial or full reduplication; see section 4.5 for a more thorough presentation of reduplication). Some examples of reduplicated verbs are presented in (15).

(15) (a) [ʔɔ̄ʔɔ̄lɔ́] ‘to grow’

(b) [ʔūʔū] ‘to die’

(d) [ʔɛ̀mbɛʔɛ̀mbɪ̄] ‘to protect’

(e) [ʔēleʔēlé] ‘to hit’ On occasion, a speaker may pronounce a phonetic glottal stop after a word-final vowel; a few examples that have been noted are given in (16).

(16) (a) [hidaʔ] ‘yesterday’

(b) [dɔʔ] ‘in, to (postposition)’

(d) [nòmāʔ] ‘mosquito’ However, this phenomenon is not very common, and the inclusion of the word-final glottal stop is optional; even the same speaker may pronounce the same word sometimes with and sometimes without it. Because these patterns in the data do not indicate phonemic contrast, the glottal stop has not been included as a phoneme.

21 Within Kastenholz’ presentation of stops in Bolgo Kubar, there are two notable differences with my findings. The first is that Kastenholz (2017: 4) includes the implosives /ɓ/ and /ɗ/ among the stops in his consonant inventory, along with a few examples of minimal pairs showing contrast with /b/ and /d/. I did not observe any implosives in the pronunciations of the speakers I was working with, and have /b/ and /d/ in my transcriptions where Kastenholz has implosives. It would be interesting to further investigate the exact differences between the consonant inventories of Bolgo Kubar, Bolgo Dugag, and Koke. As noted above, I spent less time working with Bolgo Kubar speakers than with Bolgo Dugag and Koke speakers. Sauer

(2008: 7-8) does not report any implosive consonants in her Bolgo data, and thus her findings on the inventory of stops are the same as mine. In general, implosives are commonly found in the Bua languages (Boyeldieu 1986: 22). However, not all Bua languages necessarily have them; for example, Zan Gula, the Bua language that borders Bolgo to the southeast, does not

(Sauer 2004: 6).

The second notable difference regarding stops is that word-final stops in Kastenholz’s data are much more frequent than they are in mine, suggesting that they may freely occur in that position in Bolgo Kubar, unlike in Bolgo Dugag. More information about how this pertains to nouns and verbs respectively can be found in sections 3.1 and 4.2.

2.1.2 Fricatives

Within the category of obstruent consonants, Bolgo also has three fricatives, which are all voiceless. Table 3 shows the distribution of fricatives.

Table 3. Distribution of fricatives

Phoneme Word- Gloss Word- Gloss Word- initial medial final /f/ /fàŋɡʊ̄m/ ‘shoulder’ /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ/ ‘star’ - /s/ /sēēɾà/ ‘blood’ /ɲāsɛ́/ ‘to speak’ - /h/ /hɛ̄ɛ̄m/ ‘animal’ - - - Fricatives do not occur word-finally, and the phoneme /h/ occurs only word-initially. Similarly to the pattern found in the stops above (section 2.1.1), the fricatives follow the pattern

22 commonly attested in other related languages wherein the inventory of word-initial consonants is larger than the inventory of word-medial/word-final consonants (Boyd 1989: 199, Boyeldieu

1986: 22).

The phoneme /f/ is quite rare in Bolgo. While many instances of /f/ in the data are in loan words from Arabic, there are several examples which seem to be original Bolgo words not borrowed from any other language. These are listed in (17). Thus, /f/ has been included in the phonemic inventory.

(17) (a) /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ/ ‘star’

(b) /fàŋɡʊ̄m/ ‘shoulder’

(d) /fànà/ ‘machete’

(e) /feeɾa/ ‘type of fabric’

(f) /ɲ̄aɾfāfà/ ‘species of bird of prey’

(g) /ɡīndífā/ ‘African polecat’

(h) /falfal/ ‘good’

2.1.3 Nasals

Bolgo has four phonemic nasal consonants. A typical distribution of each nasal is shown in table 4.

Table 4. Distribution of nasals

Phoneme Word- Gloss Word- Gloss Word- Gloss initial medial final /m/ /mùù/ ‘mouth’ /dámʊ̄l/ ‘pavilion /kʊ̄lʊ̀m/ ‘lemon’ (ligdaabe)’ /n/ /níl/ ‘tooth’ /māná/ ‘to be /ɟán/ ‘traditional tired’ healer’ /ɲ/ /ɲāmɪ̄l/ ‘flower’ /ūɲèɾ/ ‘fast /lóɲ/ ‘sauce’ (noun)’ /ŋ/ - - /ɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́/ ‘to slice’ /ɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ/ ‘species of bird’

23 The three nasals /m/, /n/, and /ɲ/ can occur in any position in a word. However, there are not many instances of word-final /ɲ/ and of intervocalic /ɲ/, so it is more common in the word- initial position or as part of a consonant cluster. The phoneme /ɲ/ may also sometimes surface in a weakened form as [j̃]; this is discussed in section 2.2.3.

The phoneme /ŋ/ most often occurs word-finally. There is a single word-initial example of

/ŋ/ in the data, in the word /ŋànō/ ‘buttocks’; however, this does not represent a typical distribution of the phoneme. There is also only one intervocalic example of /ŋ/ in the word

/hēɾìŋì/, which is the plural of /hēɾìŋ/ ‘calf (of leg)’, and thus it is occurring at the morpheme boundary. The other examples of word-medial /ŋ/ are before the velar stops /k/ and /ɡ/. (As one might expect, in most cases when a nasal and a stop are together in a consonant cluster they have the same place of articulation.)

In my current data corpus, there are about fifty word-medial and ten word-final instances of /ŋ/. This makes /ŋ/ one of the least frequent consonants in the data (after the consonant

/f/).

2.1.4 Liquids

Bolgo has phonemic lateral and rhotic consonants, as shown in table 5.

Table 5. Distribution of liquids

Phoneme Word- Gloss Word- Gloss Word- Gloss initial medial final /l/ /lɪ̀msāl/ ‘point (of /tɛ́ɛ́lɛ́/ ‘side of the /bɛ́ɡɪ̄l/ ‘liver’ knife)’ body’ /ɾ/ /ɾōkí/ ‘to give /ɟùɾō/ ‘to pluck (a /kɛ̄msɪ́ɾ/ ‘fingernail, medicine’ bird)’ toenail’ /ɽ/ /ɽòl/ ‘jackal’ /hāāɽá/ ‘giraffe’ - - The liquids /l/ and /ɾ/ are distinct phonemes; examples of them occurring in similar environments can be found in (18).

24 (18) (a) /ɔ̄lɔ́/ ‘to grow’ /ɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ ‘to cough’

(b) /kēlé/ ‘to draw (water)’ /kèɾē/ ‘to crawl’

(d) /sɛ̀ɡɛ̄l/ ‘species of tree’ /sɛ̄ɡɛ́ɾ/ ‘species of fish’ Likewise, /l/ and /ɽ/ are distinct phonemes; examples of them occurring in similar environments can be found in (19).

(19) (a) /lòl/ ‘sun’ /ɽòl/ ‘jackal’

(b) /lū/ ‘village’ /ɽū/ ‘to sow’

(d) /hala/ ‘wet’ /hāāɽá/ ‘giraffe’ However, the relationship between [ɾ] and [ɽ] is not as straightforward. While the two rhotics do not fall into a neat pattern of complementary distribution, there are some tendencies as to where each is more likely to occur. The variant [ɾ] can occur in any environment, while [ɽ] is more restricted. The retroflex variant tends to occur in an environment where it is either word- initial or before a high vowel, especially /i/ or /ɪ/. When both of these conditions are met (i.e., word-initial and before a high vowel), [ɽ] is more common than [ɾ]. Both variants of the rhotic consonant can occur intervocalically. In the case of a consonant cluster in which the rhotic consonant is first, the [ɾ] variant is almost always preferred, although there are a couple exceptions. In the case of a consonant cluster in which the rhotic consonant is second, only [ɾ] is found. The retroflex variant does not occur word-finally in the data.

The distribution of which rhotic variant may appear in each environment is summarized in table 6.

25 Table 6. Distribution of rhotic variants

Environment Example Gloss Example Gloss More frequent with [ɾ] with [ɽ] variant in environment Word-initial [ɾɪ̀ɡɪ̄] ‘to trick’ [ɽìbē] ‘to be lost’ [ɽ] before high vowel Word-initial [ɾōkí] ‘to give [ɽòl] ‘jackal’ [ɾ] before non-high medicine’ vowel Intervocalic [bòɾī] ‘to prepare’ [bíɽīl] ‘thumb’ [ɾ] before high vowel Intervocalic [kāāɾá] ‘countryside [hāāɽá] ‘giraffe’ [ɾ] before non-high (en brousse)’ vowel C1 of consonant [díɾmī] ‘species of [èɽmēl] ‘guineafowl’ [ɾ] cluster plant’ C2 of consonant [ɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ] ‘species of - - [ɾ] only cluster bird’ Word -final [hɔ̄bɔ̀ɾ] ‘rhinoceros’ - - [ɾ] only Note that some examples in the table are near-minimal pairs, for example [kāāɾá] ‘countryside

(en brousse)’ vs. [hāāɽá] ‘giraffe’.

Sauer (2008) and Kastenholz (2017) analyze [ɾ] and [ɽ] as being in free variation, with /ɾ/

being the underlying form of the rhotic. Sauer cites a few pairs of words in her data in which

the rhotic is pronounced with both variants (2008: 11-12). However, it is not clear from these

data whether these variants are from the same speaker pronouncing the same word with a

different rhotic on different occasions, or whether the two variants come from two different

speakers. This is important because it is also not clear as to whether those particular pairs were

provided by a speaker of Bolgo Dugag, Bolgo Kubar, or Koke. (The situation in Koke is different

and will be discussed in a later paragraph in this section.)

Kastenholz states that the two rhotics fall into neither a clear pattern of contrast nor a

clear pattern of complementary distribution, and he also cites some variant pairs in his data

(2017: 5). Because he lists only one speaker as collaborating with him on his research (2017:

3), presumably these pairs involve that speaker (a Bolgo Kubar speaker) pronouncing the words

different ways on different occasions. For example, for the word for ‘countryside (en brousse)’

26 found in table 6 above, Kastenholz notes the two pronunciations [kà:ɾā]~[kà:ɽā] (Kastenholz

2017: 5).

In my experience, Bolgo speakers are quite consistent with which rhotic variant they pronounce at the beginning of the word. For example, speakers consistently say [ɽòl] ‘jackal’ and [ɽím] ‘water’ and do not use [ɾ] in this position. However, there are plural suffixes that surface as [-Ri] or [-Rɪ] in which speakers do alternate between which rhotic they pronounce, which is a pattern of free variation. (These suffixes are discussed in section 3.4.6.) There are also a few instances of word-medial [ɽ] becoming [ɾ] with the addition of a plural suffix (see section 3.4.3). In summary, while the two rhotics are in free variation at least in certain specific environments, simply stating that they are in free variation overall does not capture their distribution elsewhere in the data.

An interesting point of comparison regarding the rhotic consonants is that Koke does not have the retroflex [ɽ]. Thus, for example, where a Bolgo Dugag or Bolgo Kubar speaker will say

[ɽim] for ‘water’, a Koke speaker will say [ɾim]. Because of this lack of the retroflex pronunciation in their own speech, in my experience a Koke speaker will be more aware of the presence of the retroflex variant in a Bolgo Dugag or Bolgo Kubar speaker’s words than a Bolgo

Dugag or Bolgo Kubar speaker would be.

One possibility to consider is that Koke may have had both /ɾ/ and /ɽ/ in the past, but that the two rhotics have since merged to /ɾ/ in the language. If that is the case, it could be that diachronically the two Bolgo rhotics are in the process of undergoing a similar merger, which would explain why their distribution is not entirely straightforward. Alternatively, perhaps

Bolgo is in the process of developing /ɽ/ as a distinct phoneme in the word-initial position. In any case, it is not possible from the current data to determine whether such changes have occurred or not.

In conclusion, because it is not possible to clearly establish a pattern of complementary distribution between [ɾ] and [ɽ], and because there is not evidence to indicate that there is free variation between them in all environments, both /ɾ/ and /ɽ/ are included as separate

27 phonemes in my analysis. However, it is clear that the contrast between /ɾ/ and /ɽ/ bears very low functional load. Because of this, and also because Koke speakers do not use the retroflex variant, I proposed using one grapheme to write both /ɾ/ and /ɽ/ in the preliminary orthography proposal.

In comparison to other languages in the Adamawa family, a three-way phonemic contrast in the liquids between /l/, /ɾ/, and /ɽ/ is very rare, being attested in only two other languages,

Longuda [lnu] and Gbaya [gba] (Boyd 1989: 201). However, Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 89) reconstruct three liquids in initial position for proto-Bua: /l/, /ɾ/, and /ʎ/. Possibly the latter could correspond to the retroflex in Bolgo.

2.1.5 Glides

There are two glides in Bolgo that can occur in all positions, as shown in table 7.

Table 7. Distribution of glides

Phoneme Word- Gloss Word- Gloss Word- Gloss initial medial final /w/ /wāɾò/ ‘skin’ /āwā/ ‘okra’ /sàw/ ‘dog’ /j/ /jɛ̀ɾɪ̄/ ‘to run’ /ɡūjúl/ ‘tortoise’ /kōj/ ‘snake’

2.1.6 Geminate consonants

There are not many examples of geminate consonants in the data; however, the existing examples all involve a double liquid, /ll/ or /ɾɾ/ (there are no instances of the double retroflex).

(20) (a) /wɛllɛ/ ‘all’

(b) /mullu/ ‘soft’

(d) /bàɾɾā/ ‘to buy on credit’

28 2.1.7 Palatalization and labialization

Certain word-initial consonants may optionally be pronounced with palatalization before front vowels and labialization before round, back vowels. This palatalization and labialization is not phonemically contrastive. Certain speakers have a greater tendency to employ palatalization and labialization than other speakers.

Palatalization and labialization are most common before mid vowels in the data, though there are also examples before high vowels. They are also more common before −ATR vowels.

Stops, fricatives, and liquids may be palatalized or labialized; however, nasals and glides are not.

Examples of palatalization are shown in (21).

(21) (a) [lʲɛ̄w] /lɛ̄w/ ‘hole, well’

(b) [tʲɪ̀w] /tɪ̀w/ ‘tree, wood’

(d) [ɡʲēēlú] /ɡēēlú/ ‘horn’ Examples of labialization are shown in (22).

(22) (a) [kʷɔ̄ldɛ̀] /kɔ̄ldɛ̀/ ‘sesame’

(b) [hʷūlúl] /hūlúl/ ‘mold’

(d) [tʷʊ̄má] /tʊ̄má/ ‘to work’ In the case of words with −ATR vowels, the effect of palatalization or labialization may be quite prominent, sometimes making the vowel sound like a diphthong (23).

(23) (a) [bʊɔ̄] /bɔ̄/ ‘to attach’

(b) [sɪɛ́w] /sɛ́w/ ‘waterbuck’ There are no examples of palatalized or labialized consonants before the vowel /a/, as /a/ is a central vowel and not a front vowel or a round, back vowel. Bolgo vowels are discussed in more detail in section 2.2.

29 As transcriptions in the thesis are intended to be phonemic by default, palatalization and labialization are not transcribed in the balance of the thesis.

2.1.8 Consonants in loan words

The consonants /ʃ/, /z/, and /p/ are found only in loan words, which are usually borrowed from Chadian Arabic or French. Because many Bolgo speakers also have a high degree of fluency in Chadian Arabic, loans from Arabic are often pronounced according to the original pronunciation. Some speakers may also adapt sounds found only in foreign loans to their closest Bolgo phonemic counterparts, such the foreign /ʃ/ and /z/ to the Bolgo /s/, as seen in (24). Bolgo loan Original Gloss Source language (24)

(a) [sahi] ~ [ʃahi] /ʃahi/ ‘tea’ Arabic

(b) [ɾeso] ~ [ɾezo] /ɾezo/ ‘phone network’ French

(c) [biɾis] ~ [biɾiʃ] /biɾiʃ/ ‘mat’ Arabic Additionally, as seen in (24b-c) above, rhotics in loan words are pronounced as [ɾ].

The phoneme /p/ is typically pronounced as [p], as in example (25) below. This is an especially uncommon sound due to the fact that /p/ is not a phoneme in Arabic and that not as many loans are borrowed from French. Bolgo loan Original Gloss Source language (25)

(a) [palu] /paly/ ‘malaria’ French

(b) [mappa] /mappa/ ‘bread’ unclear, regional term for bread As expected, borrowings from Arabic that contain /f/ continue to have [f] in the Bolgo pronunciation, as in (26). Bolgo loan Original Gloss Source language (26)

(a) [fikiɾ] /fikiɾ/ ‘idea’ Arabic

(b) [safa] /saffa/ ‘to filter’ Arabic

30 2.2 Vowels

Table 8 displays the nine phonemic vowels of Bolgo. Bolgo vowels can be divided into groups based on features of height, backness, and ATR value.

Table 8. Phonemic vowel inventory

Front Central Back +ATR −ATR +ATR −ATR +ATR −ATR High i ɪ u ʊ Mid e ɛ o ɔ Low a

ATR is a feature that stands for “advanced tongue root.” From an articulatory standpoint, vowels characterized as +ATR are pronounced with the tongue root in a more advanced position, while vowels characterized as −ATR are pronounced without advancing the tongue root. The position of the tongue root, in addition to other possible movements such as raising the larynx or adjusting the height of the tongue body, results in an increase or decrease in the volume of the pharyngeal cavity (Casali 2008: 506-507). I have not pursued specific research to determine which mechanism, or combination of mechanisms, speakers employ when making distinctions between Bolgo vowels.

From an auditory standpoint, some languages with +ATR and −ATR vowels have also been described as having a distinctive difference in voice quality between the two categories of vowels, such as certain categories of vowels sounding breathy, muffled, choked, creaky, or other descriptive terms (Casali 2008: 510). I have not observed a remarkable difference in voice quality between +ATR vowels and −ATR vowels in Bolgo; instead, I perceived the differences more in terms of height.

In my experience during the process of working on the orthography, speakers are able to identify which vowel is being used in various words. However, those who are not native speakers can sometimes have trouble with this. Casali (2008: 509) notes that in fieldwork on languages with ATR harmony, many linguists find that it can be difficult to distinguish certain vowels auditorily. In particular, this commonly occurs with the high −ATR vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/,

31 which may sound very similar to the mid +ATR vowels /e/ and /o/, or to the high +ATR vowels /i/ and /u/. Particularly when I began working with the language, I also experienced that it was sometimes difficult to distinguish which vowel was being pronounced, especially with regard to the /ɪ/ vs. /e/ and the /ʊ/ vs. /o/ distinctions. However, my perception improved as I spent more time working with the language and gained a better understanding of how the ATR system functions.

As seen in table 8 above, within a given category of height and backness, most Bolgo vowels occur in a pair that includes both a +ATR and a −ATR vowel (for example, the two front mid vowels /e/ and /ɛ/). The exception is /a/, which is a −ATR vowel that does not have a +ATR phonemic counterpart.17 Incidentally, /a/ is also the most frequent vowel in

Bolgo.

In Bolgo, when /a/ must shift its ATR value to +ATR, /a/ changes to /e/. Note that this shift only occurs in morphologically complex words when certain affixes are added that require that the vowels of the root change their ATR value in order to achieve vowel harmony. For example, this shift of /a/ to /e/ is a common process in plural formation (see section 3.4). In comparison, in Zan Gula, another Bua language, Sauer (2004: 38) reports that /a/ changes to

/o/ when it must shift its ATR value; this also occurs in plural formation in Zan Gula.

According to Casali (2008: 530), for languages such as Bolgo and Zan Gula that have an inventory of nine phonemic vowels (meaning /a/ has no phonemic +ATR counterpart), −ATR

/a/ changing to the +ATR mid vowel /e/ or /o/ is a common pattern. Note that in these cases,

17 Kastenholz (2017: 6) reports a system with ten phonemic vowels, grouping /a/ with the +ATR vowels and citing another vowel /ʌ/ as the −ATR counterpart of /a/. It is unclear why he has chosen these vowel symbols, as normally /a/ is considered to be −ATR and /ʌ/ is considered to be +ATR. This ten vowel system differs from my own findings, as well as those of Sauer (2008: 31), who reports the same nine phonemic vowel system that I describe in this thesis (that is, with −ATR /a/ able to occur in both −ATR and +ATR roots and changing to /e/ when it must shift to +ATR).

32 the change is to another vowel that is already present as a phonemic vowel in the language; thus, this is considered a morphophonemic alternation rather than an allophonic variation.

Allophonic variation is attested in other languages with nine phonemic vowels, in which /a/ surfaces in a +ATR allophonic form such as [ə], [ʌ], or [æ] (not phonemes in those languages) when it must shift its ATR value; this does not occur in Bolgo. In other languages, /a/ simply continues to surface as [a] in both +ATR and −ATR words (Casali 2008: 529).

The vowel /a/ also has a special status in the Bolgo language with regard to ATR vowel harmony. Although /a/ is itself phonetically −ATR, it can occur both in words containing

+ATR vowels and in words containing −ATR vowels.18 ATR vowel harmony is discussed in more detail in section 2.2.1.

For the eight vowels other than /a/, examples (27) through (30) below show the +ATR and −ATR counterparts of each vowel occurring in similar segmental environments.

(27) (a) /bíl/ ‘feather’ /bɪ̄l/ ‘stone’

(b) /ìɾī/ ‘to want, look for’ /ɪ̀ɾɪ̄/ ‘to cook’

(b) /lèbē/ ‘to lick’ /lɛ̄bɛ́/ ‘to be bald’

(b) /hulɡu/ ‘pregnant’ /hʊ́lɡʊ̄/ ‘dove’

18 Another viable analysis for Bolgo would be to analyze /a/ as being underlyingly underspecified for ATR; a similar analysis could be proposed for other phonetically −ATR vowels as well. This is discussed in section 3.3.

33 (30) (a) /tò/ ‘ear’ /tɔ̄/ ‘to take’

(b) /lòl/ ‘sun’ /lɔ̀l/ ‘species of tree’

(d) /hóól/ ‘woven straw wall’ /hɔ̄ɔ̄l/ ‘mortar’ Because it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the high −ATR vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/ from the mid

+ATR vowels /e/ and /o/, I also present some examples of these vowels occurring in similar segmental environments in (31) and (32).

(31) (a) /hɪ̄ná/ ‘to see’ /hēná/ ‘to give condolences’

(b) /tɪ̀ɪ̀/ ‘tree (pl.)’ /tèè/ ‘to find’

(32) (a) /tʊ̄/ ‘to disturb’ /tò/ ‘ear’

(b) /hʊ̀ʊ̀/ ‘roan antelope’ /hòò/ ‘species of tree’

(c) /lʊr/ ‘flavored’ /lòòɾ/ ‘body’ All nine phonemic vowels can occur in both open and closed syllables within a word, and also word-finally. Examples are shown in table 9.

Table 9. Distribution of vowels

Phoneme Open Gloss Closed Gloss Word- Gloss syllable syllable final /i/ /tì.jā/ ‘to unload’ /díɾ.mī/ ‘species of /lì/ ‘to eat’ plant’ /ɪ/ /ɲɪ̀.lɛ̄/ ‘to have /sɪ̄n.wà/ ‘visitor’ /wɪ̀/ ‘to come’ diarrhea’ /e/ /lè.ɡā/ ‘to wash’ /jèɾ.ɡī/ ‘to flood’ /kè/ ‘to cry’ /ɛ/ /ɟɛ̄.mɛ́/ ‘to sneeze’ /mɛ̄n.dɪ̀ŋ/ ‘vine’ /nɛ̀/ ‘to do’ /u/ /ɡú.sī/ ‘shoulder’ /sūŋ.ɡí/ ‘to touch’ /ɡū/ ‘to scratch’ /ʊ/ /kʊ̄.ɾʊ́/ ‘to jump’ /lʊ̄l.ɡá/ ‘to scream’ /hʊ̄/ ‘marrow’ /o/ /dò.ɡū/ ‘fat’ /òɾ.mòl/ ‘harvest /tò/ ‘ear’ season’ /ɔ/ /ɲɔ̄.nɪ́/ ‘to /kɔ̄m.bɪ́l/ ‘cave’ /dɔ̀/ ‘god’ accompany’ /a/ /bā.jó/ ‘net’ /kāɾ.ɲál/ ‘aloe’ /nà/ ‘to give’

34 2.2.1 ATR vowel harmony

Bolgo words exhibit ATR vowel harmony, meaning that a given word may contain only

+ATR vowels or only −ATR vowels (although a notable exception is the vowel /a/, which will be discussed further). Boyd (1989: 198) states that this type of harmony is widespread among

Adamawa languages.

As mentioned above, eight of the nine phonemic vowels (/i/, /ɪ/, /e/, /ɛ/, /u/, /ʊ/, /o/, and /ɔ/) can occur only in −ATR or in +ATR words. Some examples of Bolgo words containing combinations of these −ATR vowels are shown in (33).

(33) (a) /ɡɔ̄ɲɟɪ́l/ ‘window’

(b) /ɛ̀ɾʊ̄/ ‘to avoid’

(d) /sɛ̀ɾɪ̄l/ ‘corn’

(e) /tɪ̄ɡdɔ́/ ‘center’

(f) /mɪ̀lɛ̄/ ‘to swallow, to drown’ Examples with combinations of +ATR vowels are shown in (34).

(34) (a) /kīmbè/ ‘stalk’

(b) /ɟūnó/ ‘to hoe’

(d) /kōōɾí/ ‘species of plant’

(e) /lūsí/ ‘to pull up (weeds)’

(f) /ébīl/ ‘armpit’ As mentioned above, an important exception to this general pattern in the ATR system involves the phonetically −ATR /a/, which can occur both in words with −ATR vowels and in words with +ATR vowels. When /a/ precedes a −ATR vowel in a root, it is most common that the

−ATR vowel is one of the high vowels /ɪ/ or /ʊ/, as in (35). (There are, however, some exceptions in the data with mid vowels.)

35 (35) (a) /hàɾɪ̄/ ‘to follow’

(b) /kāŋɡɪ́/ ‘to mix’

(d) /fàŋɡʊ̄m/ ‘shoulder’ Any −ATR vowel may precede /a/ in a root, as shown in (36).

(36) (a) /kɪ̄ŋɡá/ ‘type of drum’

(b) /sɔ̀ŋɡā/ ‘to grill’

(d) /kɛ̄ɾá/ ‘to return’ Examples (37) and (38) illustrate how /a/ may also occur in roots with +ATR vowels despite the fact that /a/ is itself phonetically −ATR. When /a/ precedes a +ATR vowel in a root, the

+ATR vowel is typically one of the mid vowels /e/ or /o/, though there are exceptions.

(37) (a) /ɲàmē/ ‘to laugh’

(b) /bájtē/ ‘fermented pancake (kisaar)’

(d) /wāɾò/ ‘skin’ Any +ATR vowel may precede /a/ in a root.

(38) (a) /síwál/ ‘sand, desert’

(b) /sēēɾà/ ‘blood’

(d) /ōbál/ ‘boy’ In the (37) and (38) above, it is important to remember that /a/ only shifts to /e/ in morphologically complex words when the addition of certain affixes requires that the vowels of a stem all shift from −ATR to +ATR to harmonize with the affix. This shift does not occur in monomorphemic words, and thus the presence of a +ATR vowel in the root does not trigger a shift from /a/ to /e/; instead, /a/ remains /a/ within the root. This is why in the examples

36 above, roots such as (37d) /wāɾò/ ‘skin’ and (38b) /sēēɾà/ ‘blood’ surface with vowels of two different ATR values rather than triggering the shift of /a/ to /e/, which would yield roots such as */wēɾò/ or */sēēɾè/.

The vowel /a/ may also occur in trisyllabic roots with either +ATR or −ATR vowels. The vowels besides /a/ in the trisyllabic root must be the same ATR value as each other, either both

+ATR or both −ATR. In fact, often both non-/a/ vowels are identical in these roots.

(39) (a) /lōɡōmà/ ‘camel’

(b) /ɡīndífā/ ‘African polecat’

(d) /ánɟɛ̄wɛ̄/ ‘species of hyena’

(e) /lʊ́wàɾɪ̄/ ‘species of bird’ Example (39e) above is the only instance in the data of /a/ as the middle vowel within a trisyllabic root surrounded by two other non-/a/ vowels. In all other instances in the data, if there is a single /a/ in a trisyllabic root, it will be either the final vowel as in (39a-b) or the first vowel as in (39c-d).

Thus, the data indicate that for the purposes of vowel harmony groupings, Bolgo vowels can be divided into two groups: a −ATR group (with /ɪ/, /ʊ/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, and /a/) and a +ATR group (with /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/). Although it is phonetically −ATR, the vowel /a/ may be present in roots containing vowels from either group. Although this asymmetric grouping may seem irregular, this type of nine phonemic vowel system with /a/ occurring in both −ATR and

+ATR roots is in fact the most common ATR vowel system among African languages (Casali

2008: 501).

According to Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 69), the presence or absence of an ATR harmony system is a feature that distinguishes the Inland group from the Riverine group of Bua languages. Bolgo, along with the other Inland languages (Bon Gula, Zan Gula, Gula Iro, and

37 possibly Fania), has a functioning ATR system, whereas the Riverine languages do not have an

ATR system.

2.2.2 Vowel length

Bolgo words may contain phonemically contrastive long vowels in certain environments.

One such environment is within monosyllabic roots; some examples are shown in (40). In the data, long vowels in monosyllabic roots are about equally common in open syllables and in closed syllables (i.e., in CVV and CVVC words).

(40) (a) /wìì/ ‘person’

(b) /bōō/ ‘goat’

(d) /hɛ̄ɛ̄m/ ‘animal’

(e) /lùùɾ/ ‘bracelet’

(f) /sààl/ ‘boule (millet dish)’ If a root has two syllables, a long vowel may occur only in the first syllable of the word, and that syllable must be open. Examples of this are shown in (41).

(41) (a) /bòòlā/ ‘elephant’

(b) /wāāɾɪ̄/ ‘porridge (bouille)’

(d) /íínā/ ‘spouse of brother or sister’

(e) /kōōɾùm/ ‘lion’ The data does not contain examples of long vowels in trisyllabic roots. In general, trisyllabic words are much less frequent in the data than disyllabic or monosyllabic words.

Some examples of long and short vowels occurring in similar segmental environments are shown in (42). Some of these are minimal pairs, while others are near-minimal pairs, as the tones are not the same or the words are not from the same lexical category.

38 (42) (a) /dū/ ‘to throw’ /dùù/ ‘to lay an egg’

(b) /kè/ ‘to cry’ /kèè/ ‘to climb’

(d) /hʊ̄/ ‘marrow’ /hʊ̀ʊ̀/ ‘roan antelope’

(e) /mál/ ‘earwax’ /máál/ ‘tamarind tree’

(f) /súl/ ‘head’ /súúl/ ‘straw’

(g) /bālà/ ‘devil’ /bāālá/ ‘arrow’

(h) /māná/ ‘to be tired /māānà/ ‘story’ Among Adamawa languages, Boyd (1989: 202) states that contrastive vowel length is relatively common, but notes that it is rare for there to be more than one long vowel within a single morpheme. Indeed, my data contain no examples of single morphemes that contain more than one long vowel. Boyeldieu (1986: 22) also states that contrastive vowel length is common among the Bua languages.

2.2.3 Nasal vowels

There are words in the data that contain nasal vowels. For some examples, the nasalization is explained as noncontrastive by assimilation from a nasal consonant immediately adjacent to the vowel. However, there are also some examples where the nasalization is not obviously due to the environment, and these may be phonemically nasal.

The following examples in (43) show regressive nasalization, in which the nasal vowel is followed by a nasal consonant. This type of nasalization is regular in the language.

(43) (a) [lṍɲ] ‘sauce’

(b) [kɔ̃n] ‘why’

(c) [ɟan]̃́ ‘traditional healer’ There are also cases in which a nasalized vowel precedes the nasalized glide [j̃], which I interpret as the nasal consonant /ɲ/ surfacing in a weakened form due to its word-final or intervocalic position. In these examples, nasalization spreads leftward from the nasal consonant

39 to the vowel, and /ɲ/ weakens to [j̃]. All words of this type in the data are listed in (44), with both the phonetic form and the proposed phonemic forms.

(44) (a) [ʔȭj̃] /ōɲ/ ‘leaf’

(b) [haj̃̃̄ ] /hāɲ/ ‘lion’

(d) [hȭj̃] /hōɲ/ ‘dream’

(e) [ʔũj̃] /uɲ/ ‘one hundred’

(f) [kɔj̃̃̄ à] /kɔ̄ɲà/ ‘squirrel’ There are also a few examples in the data of progressive nasalization, where the nasal consonant precedes the nasal vowel (45).

(45) (a) [ɲɔ]̃̀ ‘thing’

(b) [bõm̀ ȭ] ‘to be capable’

(c) [ɲãc] ‘far’ However, this is different from the regressive assimilation described above, because nasal consonants are followed by oral vowels in the vast majority of the data, such as in the examples in (46).

(46) (a) [nísī] ‘vein’

(b) [mùɾūl] ‘hedgehog’

(c) [ɲól] ‘honey’ The fact that there are also examples of oral vowels following nasal consonants as in (46) means that the vowels in the examples in (45) above may be interpreted as being phonemically nasal.

In addition to the preceding cases of nasalized vowels, there are also seven examples in the data that contain a nasalized vowel that is not adjacent to a nasal consonant or nasalized glide, as listed in (47).

40 (47) (a) [hɔ]̃̄ ‘nose’ (e) [hɛɛ̃̄ ɾ̃̄ ɛ̀] ‘red’

(b) [ʔɛ]̃̀ ‘to press’ (f) [hɛ]̃̄ ‘to rub’

̄ (d) [ʔʊ̃] ‘paper’ Following the interpretation of the nasalized glide as involving an underlying /ɲ/, one might ask whether there could be an underlying nasal consonant following the vowel, which has weakened in the surface form to the point that it has coalesced with the nasalized vowel. Under this analysis, the examples above would have underlying forms such as /hɔN/, /ɛN/, /haNwa/, etc., where N is an underlying nasal. However, as we saw in table 4 in section 2.1.3 on nasal consonants, there are also examples in the language of all nasal consonants occurring word- finally. Therefore, the explanation that these nasal vowels are a result of an underlying nasal consonant coalesced to a preceding vowel is not adequate to explain the data, since it does not predict why this coalescence should happen in some cases but not others.

Should we then conclude that there are some vowels which are underlyingly nasal? The number of examples with such vowels is rather small. However, since there is no clear way to predict that these vowels should be nasalized due to environmental factors, the resulting conclusion would be that these are phonemically nasal vowels.

There is an interesting observation that can be made about the data, although its relevance to this situation may be limited. The reader may have noticed that in the thirteen examples listed above in (44) and (47), eleven of the words begin with either /h/ or a glottal stop. A connection between nasality and glottal consonants has in fact been reported in various language families around the world. This phenomenon is known as “rhinoglottophilia”

(Matisoff 1975: 265). In situations of rhinoglottophilia, the glottal consonants themselves seem to provoke nasalization. In some languages this occurs with any vowel following a glottal consonant, while in other languages the effect is only observable with low vowels (Matisoff

1975: 266). This type of pattern has been observed in another Bua language; James Roberts

41 (p.c.) reports a rhinoglottophilic pattern in his Bua19 data, where /h/ is often followed by a nasal vowel.

However, the Bolgo data do not present a clear-cut case of rhinoglottophilia, as in the majority of cases vowels are not nasalized following /h/ or a glottal stop. Some examples with oral vowels are given in (48).

(48) (a) [hàɾɪ̄] ‘to follow’ (e) [ʔáá] ‘woman’

(b) [hèɡē] ‘to blow’ (f) [ʔɔ́ɡʊ̄m] ‘eyebrow’

(d) [hū] ‘to plant’ (h) [ʔūŋɡà] ‘shard’ Rhinoglottophilia also does not explain the nasal vowel in [dõwa] ‘black’, which does not begin with a glottal consonant.

Thus, in (44) and (47) we observe that nasal vowels frequently occur after a glottal consonant. However, the reverse of this pattern is not true, in that the majority of glottal consonants are not followed by a nasal vowel.

In conclusion, since neither the hypothesis of the coalescence of a nasal consonant with the vowel, nor the hypothesis of rhinoglottophilia provides a complete prediction of the distribution of nasal vowels, the data indicate that Bolgo may have a small number of words with phonemically nasal vowels. This type of nasality is attested in all vowels except the front high vowels /i/ and /ɪ/. However, based on the limited number of words with phonemically nasal vowels in the data, the contrast between oral and nasal vowels does not bear a great functional load. It would be interesting to see if a larger amount of data would reveal more words with nasal vowels, and especially to see if such words would continue to follow the tendency of the nasal vowels appearing after glottal consonants.

19 The Roberts data is for the Bua language specifically, not the Bua language group.

42 A nasal/oral phonemic contrast in vowels is attested in many of the other Bua languages, but not all. Boyeldieu et al. report that Tunia, Bua, Niellim, Fania, and Gula Iro have the nasal/oral contrast, but Bon Gula and Zan Gula do not (2018: 62).

2.3 Syllable structure

This section discusses which types of syllables are generally found in Bolgo. The sections

3.1 and 4.2 in the noun and verb chapters discuss more specifically which word shapes can be found among nouns and verbs, as well as which of these types are most common.

Bolgo syllables do not contain complex onsets or codas. Thus, the maximum syllable in

Bolgo is CVVC. The word shape CV is also of sufficient weight to be a lexeme in Bolgo; CV roots can be found among both nouns and verbs.

Table 10 lists the various CV shapes possible in a Bolgo syllable.

Table 10. CV shapes

CV shape Example Gloss CV /dɔ̀/ ‘god’ CVC /ɟʊ̄m/ ‘vulture’ CVV /tɛ̀ɛ̀/ ‘hand’ CVVC /lòòɾ/ ‘body’ In Bolgo Dugag, closed syllables typically contain a sonorant in the coda position. The consonants that most frequently occur word-finally are the liquids /l/ and /ɾ/. Also frequent word-finally is the nasal /m/, and the glides /j/ and /w/.

There are some exceptions to the sonorant tendency throughout the data, especially with the consonant /b/ (realized as [p] word-finally). A few examples of words with an obstruent consonant in the coda position are found in (49).

(49) (a) /ɛ̀b.ɾɛ̀ŋ/ ‘species of bird’

(b) /ɡàb.là/ ‘wing’

(d) /ba.ɾak/ ‘one’

43 Outside of roots, words with /b/ in the coda are not unusual because /-b/ is the 3PL pronominal suffix. (Pronominal suffixes are discussed further in section 4.4.)

Boyeldieu (1986: 22) states that closed syllables are very common in words in Bua languages, but that the codas are typically limited to sonorants; thus, Bolgo Dugag follows the expected pattern. However, according to the data provided by Kastenholz (2017), Bolgo Kubar words follow a different pattern in which word-final stops appear to be quite common. Some specific comparisons between word-final stops in Bolgo Dugag and Bolgo Kubar nouns and verbs are presented in sections 3.1 and 4.2 respectively.

2.4 Tone

When initially transcribing the data during word list elicitation sessions, I did not attempt to transcribe the tones of the words. In order to identify and analyze lexical tone in Bolgo, I later worked with Bolgo speakers to complete a tone sorting exercise. To prepare for the sorting exercise, first I organized roots that were monomorphemic (to my knowledge) into different groups based on syllable structure, separating the nouns and the verbs. Then working with two

Bolgo Dugag speakers, we further sorted the words into subgroups based on words that sounded alike in tone pattern. The purpose of the study was to get an overall sense of lexical tone in Bolgo, including to identify which tone patterns exist in nouns and in verbs.

In our data, we found high (H), mid (M), and low (L) register tones (or level tones).

Considering general tendencies in African languages, it is typical to have a system of contrasting register tones as opposed to contour tones, which are more common in other areas of the world such as Asia and the Americas (Yip 2002: 132-133). Pertaining specifically to lexical tone in Bua languages, Boyeldieu reports that a system of three tone heights is most common, being attested in Tunia, Niellim, and Bua. Gula Iro may have either two or three contrastive heights depending on the analysis (1986: 22). Thus, Bolgo also follows the most common tendency in Bua languages by having three tone heights. I also found certain examples

44 of falling or contour tones in the data, but these are not phonemically contrastive (see section

3.2).

For grammatical tone in Bua languages, Boyeldieu states that tone may also be used in the tense/aspect/mood system of the verbs. I have not carried out further studies to investigate grammatical tone in Bolgo.

Regardless whether a syllable is monomoraic or bimoraic, it may never bear more than a single (level) tone. Any surface contours in Bolgo are due to the phonetic realizations of one of the level tones, and are not underlying. This indicates that the tone-bearing unit in Bolgo is the syllable rather than the mora. According to Yip (2002: 133), the tone-bearing unit is attested as the mora in some African languages and the syllable in other African languages, so Bolgo would fall into the latter group.

We found many more combinations of tone patterns in nouns than in verbs. As tone patterns vary by lexical category, tone is discussed in more detail below in sections 3.2 (nouns) and 4.3 (verbs).

Since we were working on the orthography, Bolgo speakers and I also wanted to investigate what minimal pairs for tone exist so we could later determine if any of them might need to be individually marked to avoid ambiguity (the Bolgo orthography as a whole does not mark tone). The noun and verb tone sections below list examples of minimal pairs for lexical tone that we discovered. While there are minimal pairs for tone, they are not extremely numerous, and thus the functional load of lexical tone is not very high. For the orthography, we therefore judged that most of the minimal pairs we found could likely be distinguished by context in written Bolgo texts without the need to mark the less common word. As the Bolgo continue to use and the develop their orthography, this question could be revisited for specific minimal pairs if necessary.

CHAPTER 3 NOUN AND ADJECTIVE PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY

The present chapter discusses noun morphology, including the topics of word shapes in nouns (3.1), tone in nouns (3.2), dominant and recessive suffixes (3.3), plural formation (3.4), nouns derived from verbs (3.5), the agentive suffix (3.6), reduplicated elements in noun roots

(3.7), and adjectives (3.8).

Bolgo is a suffixing language, and does not use prefixes. Therefore, aside from cases of reduplication that are examined separately, the affixes discussed in chapters 3 and 4 are all suffixes.

Nouns in Bolgo are not subdivided according to a class system. They are not categorized in separate word classes such as masculine and feminine, nor are they categorized in a complex noun class system that triggers agreement on verbs and noun phrase modifiers, as found in most Niger-Congo languages. However, there is evidence that Bolgo did contain a system of noun class suffixes in the past, and that these continue to influence the language in terms of which plural suffix a noun takes. Section 3.4 discusses plural formation in Bolgo, and Boyeldieu

1983 and Boyeldieu et al. 2018 contain more extensive details about proto-Bua noun classes.20

Some concepts that are expressed with adjectives in languages such as English are expressed with verbs in Bolgo. Some examples are /lɛ̄bɛ́/ ‘to be bald’ and /sɛ̄ɾtɪ́/ ‘to be slippery’. However, Bolgo does contain some adjectives, which agree in number with the nouns

20 The only Bua language that has retained a functioning noun class system with agreement in the present day is Gula Iro (Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 74-79).

46 they modify, and they are often accompanied by a connective within the noun phrase. When adjectives become plural, they generally follow the same processes described below for nouns.

Thus, while the discussion on plural formation below will focus on examples of nouns, it applies to adjectives as well. Section 3.8 includes further discussion of adjectives and connectives and examples within noun phrases.

3.1 Word shapes in nouns

This section discusses noun root word shapes, including a table below with an example of each type of word shape.

Monomorphemic noun roots can have one, two, or three syllables. Among nouns of one syllable, the word shapes are CV, CVC, CVV, and CVVC. As discussed above in section 2.3, word-final consonants are usually sonorants (with a few individual exceptions involving stops; see section 2.1.1).

Among nouns of two syllables, the most common word types are CV.CV and CV.CVC, followed by CVC.CV, CVV.CV, CVC.CVC, and CVV.CVC. Thus, closed syllables may occur as the first or second syllable of the word, but long vowels may occur only in the first syllable.

Nouns with three syllables are not very common in the data. Many are names of animals.

Trisyllabic nouns occur in the word shapes CV.CV.CV, CVC.CV.CV, CV.CV.CVC, CV.CVC.CV, and CV.CVC.CVC. Thus, a closed syllable may occur anywhere in the word, but typically there is only one closed syllable per trisyllabic noun (with only one exception). There are no examples of long vowels in trisyllabic nouns. It is possible that some of these trisyllabic nouns may be compound words.

Table 11 provides an example of each noun word shape.

47 Table 11. Noun word shapes

Number of Word shape Word Gloss syllables 1 CV /tò/ ‘ear’ CVC /ɲām/ ‘meat’ CVV /màà/ ‘grandparent, ancestor’ CVVC /súúl/ ‘straw’ 2 CV.CV /hō.ɾō/ ‘knife’ CV.CVC /kɛ̄.fɪ́ɾ/ ‘star’ CVV.CV /sāā.bá/ ‘fish (general, any species)’ CVV.CVC /kēē.ɽìm/ ‘milk’ CVC.CV /díɾ.mī/ ‘species of plant’ CVC.CVC /ɡɔ̄ɲ.ɟɪ́l/ ‘window’ 3 CV.CV.CV /ɲɔ́.ɡɔ̀.lɔ̄/ ‘sack’ CV.CV.CVC /kā.ɡā.sáɾ/ ‘lizard’ CVC.CV.CV /ɡīn.dí.fā/ ‘African polecat’ CV.CVC.CV /tī.ɽīm.tù/ ‘hornbill (bird)’ CV.CVC.CVC /kī.ɽīm.bìl/ ‘anteater’ Looking through the Bolgo Kubar wordlist provided by Kastenholz (2017), a major difference in terms of syllable structure between Bolgo Kubar and Bolgo Dugag is that there are numerous word-final stops in the Bolgo Kubar data, to such a degree that word-final stops appear to be typical in that dialect rather than exceptional as they are in Bolgo Dugag. Concerning nouns, there are a number of Bolgo Kubar nouns ending in /d/ that end in /ɾ/ in my Bolgo Dugag data, as shown in (50). Bolgo Kubar are nouns from Kastenholz (2017). These transcriptions are phonemic; Kastenholz (2017: 8-9) notes elsewhere that word-final stops are phonetically devoiced and unreleased. Bolgo Bolgo Gloss (50) Kubar Dugag

(a) /hod/ /hòɾ/ ‘wound’

(b) /hád/ /hááɾ/ ‘back’

(d) /kɛ́msɛ́d/ /kɛ̄msɪ́ɾ/ ‘fingernail, toenail’ There are also a few examples in which the Bolgo Kubar word ends in a stop and the corresponding Bolgo Dugag word also contains a stop, but ends with a vowel (see (51a-c)

48 below). In another example, the Bolgo Dugag word contains no trace of the Bolgo Kubar word- final stop (see (51d) below). Again, Bolgo Kubar data are from Kastenholz (2017). I retain his transcriptions, which use for IPA /j/ and <ː> to indicate long vowels. Bolgo Bolgo Gloss (51) Kubar Dugag

(a) /ɽɛd/ /ɾedi/ ‘two’

(b) /dɪɡ/ /dɪ̄ɡɪ́/ ‘truth’

(d) /ɓàyóɡ/ /bājó/ ‘net’ When working with Koke speakers, I did not notice word-final stops in Koke words. Therefore,

Koke may be more similar to Bolgo Dugag in terms of disfavoring them.

3.2 Tone in nouns

Among monosyllabic nouns, the tone may be M, L, or H; however, the H tone is less common than the other two. Table 12 shows the patterns with the different monomorphemic noun word shapes.

Table 12. Tone patterns in monosyllabic nouns

Pattern CV CVC CVV CVVC M /ɲā/ /jāl/ /nīī/ /hɛ̄ɛ̄m/ ‘cow (of ‘millet (any ‘language’ ‘animal’ either sex)’ variety)’ L /tò/ /kùm/ /màà/ /lòòɾ/ ‘ear’ ‘flour’ ‘grandparent, ancestor’ ‘body’ H /ɽím/ /áá/ /súúl/ ‘water’ ‘woman’ ‘straw’

Words with the L tone were sometimes pronounced with a low falling tone (52). Rather than being a distinct tone itself, this is more likely an optional way of pronouncing the L tone, as sometimes the fall was more pronounced or less pronounced. Speakers consistently grouped these words into the same L group regardless of whether the low tone fell at the end or not.

49 (52) (a) [dɔ᷆] ‘god’

(b) [ho᷆ɾ] ‘wound’

(53) (a) /lā/ ‘ground’ /là/ ‘fire’

(b) /jáá/ ‘mother’ /jāā/ ‘maternal uncle’

(d) /ɡɛ́l/ ‘yam’ /ɡɛ̀l/ ‘net’

(e) /hòɾ/ ‘wound’ /hōɾ/ ‘large clay jar’ There is a “minimal triplet” in the data as well (54).

(54) /hál/ ‘egg’ /hāl/ ‘mouse’ /hàl/ ‘outside’ It is not entirely certain if the example meaning ‘outside’ is a noun or not; however, it can take the agentive suffix as other nouns do (see section 3.6).

Nouns with two syllables are the most common in Bolgo. Among them, the most common patterns are HM, ML, MH, and LM. The patterns MM and LL are also present, and as with the monosyllabic nouns, HH is the least common pattern. Table 13 shows examples of the tone patterns in disyllabic nouns of different word shapes. (Note that the word shape CVVCVC is quite rare, hence the lack of many examples in that column.)

50 Table 13. Tone patterns in disyllabic nouns

Pattern CVCV CVCVC CVVCV CVVCVC CVCCV CVCCVC HM /síjē/ /míɡīɾ/ /sóóbā/ /híndī/ /háŋɡāl/ ‘rainy ‘warthog’ ‘termite’ ‘species ‘local season’ of plant’ cucumber (fagguus)’ ML /sēlà/ /hɔ̄bʊ̀l/ /sɛ̄ɛ̄mɛ̀/ /kōōɾùm/ /fɛ̄ɾdɛ̀/ /lāŋɡʊ̀m/ ‘chicken’ ‘lake’ ‘monitor ‘lion’ ‘flute’ ‘species lizard’ of lizard’ MH /bājá/ /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ/ /hɔ̄ɔ̄ɾɔ́/ ‘girl’ ‘star’ ‘pumpkin’ LM /nòmā/ /sɛ̀ɾīl/ /sɔ̀ɔ̀mɔ̄/ /ɡàɾtʊ̄/ /bɔ̀ɾmɔ̄l/ ‘mosquito’ ‘corn’ ‘hare’ ‘javelin’ ‘open land’ MM /ʔīsō/ /hūɾūl/ /wāāɾɪ̄/ /dɔ̄ŋɡɔ̄/ /māɾtɪ̄w/ ‘porcupine’ ‘worm’ ‘porridge ‘neck’ ‘viper’ (bouille)’ LL /dɔ̀mɔ̀/ /lòbòl/ /ɡàmbà/ /ʔàɾɡàl/ ‘chin’ ‘mud’ ‘chin, ‘famine’ beard’ HH /báɟá/ /síwál/ /tɛ́ɛ́lɛ́/ ‘pelican’ ‘sand, ‘side of desert’ the body’ Among disyllabic nouns there are two examples that have a contour tone on a long vowel, which are exceptions to the syllable being the tone-bearing unit (55). In both cases it is a high falling tone.

(55) (a) [sáāló] ‘pipe’

(b) [hɛ́ɛ̄bɪ́l] ‘monkey’ As these are exceptions, they are not taken into account in the overall analysis of tone. In all other words, contour tones do not occur, even on long vowels. Perhaps these were originally loan words or compound words, or there is some other factor influencing the tone.

Minimal pairs found in disyllabic nouns are shown in (56).

(56) (a) /hèɽī/ ‘bed’ /héɽī/ ‘fly (insect)’

(b) /kúɾɡūl/ ‘species of root vegetable’ /kùɾɡùl/ ‘hyena’ Trisyllabic nouns are quite marginal in the data. Among them are the tone patterns MMH,

MML, HMM, HHH (only one example), HLM, and MHM. The first four of these have equivalents with patterns found in disyllabic nouns: MH, ML, HM, and HH. The second two

51 patterns, HLM and MHM, do not have obvious equivalents in disyllabic nouns. It is possible that these may be compound nouns. Examples of tone patterns in trisyllabic nouns are presented below in table 14 (because trisyllabic nouns are so few, there are many gaps in the table).

Table 14. Tone patterns in trisyllabic nouns

Pattern CVCVCV CVCVCVC CVCCVCV CVCVCCV CVCVCCVC MMH /sīɡīɾí/ /kāɡāsáɾ/ ‘white millet’ ‘lizard’ MML /mʊ̄ɡʊ̄lʊ̀/ /dāŋɡālò/ /tīɽīmtù/ /kīɽīmbìl/ ‘granary’ ‘drum’ ‘hornbill ‘anteater’ (bird)’ HMM /hóɾbōtī/ ‘bark (of tree)’ HHH /bóŋɡóló/ ‘necklace’ HLM /lʊ́wàɾɪ̄/ ‘species of bird’ MHM /mɔ̄ɡɔ́jā/ /ɡīndífā/ ‘fiancé(e)’ ‘African polecat’ There are no minimal pairs in the data for trisyllabic nouns.

3.3 Dominant and recessive suffixes

Before continuing to the discussion of Bolgo suffixes, it is necessary to consider the effects of ATR harmony in morphologically complex forms. As in many ATR harmony languages,

Bolgo ATR harmony also extends to suffixes. This harmonization occurs in two different ways with two different types of suffixes in Bolgo: “recessive” (or “harmonizing”) suffixes and

“dominant” suffixes (Casali 2008: 514-515). When a recessive suffix attaches to a root that has the opposite ATR value, the recessive suffix will change according to the ATR value of the root.

In contrast, when a dominant suffix attaches to a root that has the opposite ATR value, the suffix itself does not change, but rather the vowels of the root itself change to harmonize with the suffix.

52 The fact that Bolgo has dominant suffixes means that it falls into the category of what are termed “dominant harmony” languages. This is in contrast to “root-controlled harmony” languages, which lack dominant suffixes. Essentially, in root-controlled harmony languages, suffixes always harmonize to the ATR value of the root, while in dominant harmony languages, certain suffixes may cause a change in the ATR value of the root (Casali 2008: 514-516).

In descriptions of ATR harmony in various languages, dominance of the feature [+ATR] is by far the most widely attested (Casali 2008: 520). Bolgo displays clear evidence of this as well, as there are numerous examples of −ATR vowels shifting to their +ATR counterparts within roots when certain suffixes are added. This is especially common in plural formation, in which

/ɛ/ becomes /e/, /ɪ/ becomes /i/, /ɔ/ becomes /o/, and /ʊ/ becomes /u/ when the vowels must shift their ATR value. Because /a/ has no phonemic +ATR counterpart, the language elects to change /a/ to the +ATR mid vowel /e/ when it must shift its ATR value. There are no instances of a shift in the opposite direction, i.e., +ATR vowels changing to −ATR vowels.

These vowel shift patterns indicate that the feature [+ATR] is dominant in Bolgo.

In languages where the feature [+ATR] is dominant, different analyses21 have been proposed to describe the ATR harmony. In one common type of analysis, when a suffix and a root that have different ATR values combine, the feature [+ATR] always spreads from the vowels of the +ATR morpheme to the vowels of the −ATR morpheme; in other words, this spreading may happen from root to suffix or from suffix to root. In this analysis, which I use throughout the thesis, recessive suffixes are therefore considered to be underlyingly −ATR and dominant affixes are considered to be underlyingly +ATR (Anderson 1980; Aoki 1968; Baković

21 Another analysis uses a distinction between two privative features, [ATR] and [RTR] (retracted tongue root), in the discussion of ATR harmony (Pulleyblank 1995; Steriade 1995; Van der Hulst and Van de Weijer 1995). This type of analysis is not appropriate for Bolgo because Bolgo has only one active feature, [+ATR].

53 2000 and 2001; Krämer 2001). Another analysis uses only the feature [+ATR] and considers all −ATR vowels to be underlyingly unspecified for ATR (Ringen 1975).

Since I have been referring to +ATR vowels and −ATR vowels in my discussions thus far in the thesis, I will continue using the analysis with these terms in order to have consistent terminology throughout the thesis. Therefore, I continue to refer to vowels as being +ATR vowels or −ATR vowels. Also, when discussing the underlying forms of suffixes below, recessive suffixes are analyzed as being underlyingly −ATR, and dominant suffixes as being underlyingly +ATR. However, the reader may keep in mind that the underspecification analysis also fits the Bolgo data quite well.

The spreading of the feature [+ATR] can be illustrated using autosegmental representations, along the lines of those proposed by Goldsmith (1976). These examples demonstrate how spreading works using two plural suffixes which are discussed in more detail in section 3.4: the recessive suffix /-dɪ/ and the dominant suffix /-ɡi/.

In a few autosegmental examples below, the final /l/ of a singular root is lost when the plural suffix is added. I call this “final /l/ deletion”, and it occurs in many Bolgo nouns when they undergo plural formation. Final /l/ deletion is due to the noun class suffix pairings that historically existed in the language. In their reconstruction of the noun classes of proto-Bua,

Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 103-107) list /-l/ as a singular suffix that would historically pair with different plural suffixes. Although modern Bolgo no longer has a functioning noun class system in terms of agreement, the pattern of deleting the final /l/ during plural formation has persisted.22

22 Although singular and plural noun class suffixes existed in proto-Bua, it is important to remember that in modern Bolgo the final consonants in the singular are no longer considered to be distinct suffixes, but rather part of the root. Nonetheless, some patterns from the historical noun class suffixes have continued in the morphology.

54 Figure 2 below shows a −ATR root, /bɪ̄l/ ‘stone’, combining with the recessive plural suffix /-dɪ/. The first panel below shows the root associated with the [−ATR] feature and the suffix associated with the [−ATR] feature. In the second panel, final /l/ deletion occurs. The third panel shows the final result of the plural /bɪ̄dɪ̄/. In this case, no feature spreading has occurred, and thus the stem and the affix both surface in their original ATR values. The two

[−ATR] features originating from the two morphemes have also been merged into one by the

Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP).

Figure 2. −ATR root with recessive suffix Feature tier [−ATR] [−ATR] [−ATR] [−ATR] [−ATR]

Segmental tier b ɪ l - d ɪ b ɪ - - d ɪ b ɪ d ɪ In figure 3, the +ATR root /lél/ ‘tongue’ combines with /-dɪ/. In the final panel of this example, we see that the feature [+ATR] has spread from the root to the suffix, and the vowel of the suffix has been delinked from the [−ATR] feature. Thus, the suffix changes its ATR value, and both vowels surface as +ATR vowels.23

Figure 3. +ATR root with recessive suffix Feature tier [+ATR] [−ATR] [+ATR] [−ATR] [+ATR] [−ATR]

Segmental tier l e l - d ɪ l e - - d ɪ l e d i In figure 4, the +ATR root /tò/ ‘ear’ combines with the dominant suffix /-ɡi/. Because both the root and the suffix are already linked with [+ATR], no spreading needs to occur. Again,

23 In an underspecification analysis, if the vowel of the suffix in figure 3 were unspecified for ATR rather than being overtly [−ATR], then the feature [+ATR] would spread from the root to the unspecified suffix vowel, and the delinking of [−ATR] would not be necessary. A similar procedure would be invoked for figure 5, although in that case it would be the root vowel that is underlyingly unspecified.

55 the two [+ATR] features originating from the two morphemes have been merged into one between the first and second panels due to the OCP.

Figure 4. +ATR root with dominant suffix Feature tier [+ATR] [+ATR] [+ATR]

Segmental tier t o - ɡ i t o ɡ i In figure 5, the −ATR root /kɔ̄/ ‘small clay jar’ combines with /-ɡi/. In the final panel of this example, the [+ATR] feature of the suffix has spread from the suffix to the vowel of the root, which is delinked from its original [−ATR] feature. Thus, the ATR value of the root vowel changes, and both vowels surface as +ATR vowels.

Figure 5. −ATR root with dominant suffix Feature tier [−ATR] [+ATR] [−ATR] [+ATR]

Segmental tier k ɔ - ɡ i k o ɡ i The autosegmental representations illustrate how the feature [+ATR] is dominant within the language, and also how it may spread either rightwards from stem to suffix or leftwards from suffix to stem. Many examples of this spreading can be found in plural formation, which is discussed in the following section.

3.4 Plural formation

Plural formation is one of the most interesting aspects of Bolgo morphology, as there are many variations in how it occurs.

The subsections below describe the main suffixes used in plural formation, as well as changes that may occur to the singular root when the plural suffix is added. In appendix A, which contains the noun data, noun lexemes are sorted into different tables based on the plural suffix they take, with one table for each type of plural suffix. These appendix tables follow the

56 same order as the presentation of suffixes in this section so that the reader may easily locate the corresponding tables in the appendix while reading.

Within each suffix section, I present examples of the suffix attaching to singular roots that are −ATR and singular roots that are +ATR. For determining the underlying form of the suffix, it is important to note what occurs when the plural suffix attaches to roots that are

−ATR in the singular. If the vowels of the plural form are all +ATR, this indicates that the suffix is dominant (i.e., underlyingly +ATR) and that the feature [+ATR] has spread from the suffix to the root. This would be similar to what is shown in figure 5 above. However, if the vowels of the plural are −ATR, this indicates that the suffix is recessive (i.e., underlyingly

−ATR). This would be similar to what is shown in figure 2 above. For roots which are +ATR in the singular, the plural form will always contain +ATR vowels regardless of whether a dominant or recessive suffix is attached. This is because, if a −ATR plural suffix attaches to a

+ATR root, the feature [+ATR] will spread from the root to the suffix, as in figure 3 above; likewise, if the plural suffix is underlyingly +ATR, it will remain so when attaching to a +ATR root, as in figure 4 above.

There are tendencies as to which plural suffix a root will take based on the word shape and vowels of the root. The subsections below will discuss the general tendencies for each suffix.

However, there are also numerous exceptions to the tendencies, and for some roots the tendencies are more clear than for other roots. Thus, the plural form is not completely predictable based on the singular form, though it is often possible to make a reasonable guess.

This suggests that, although agreement for noun class does not occur in the language, the former noun class system is not yet completely gone, since the proto-Bua morphological subclasses of nouns still influence which plural suffix is used.

While in most cases a singular root’s plural affixation is selected based on phonological criteria rather than semantic criteria, a notable exception to this is the semantic category of words referring to human beings, which form their plurals differently. This is discussed in section 3.4.7.

57 Section 3.4.8 discusses nouns that have no distinct plural form. Section 3.4.9 discusses plural suffixation patterns taken by individual words or small groups of words that do not fall into the main plural suffixation categories of sections 3.4.1 through 3.4.8. Section 3.4.9 also discusses a plural suffix found only in Bolgo Kubar, but not Bolgo Dugag or Koke. Methods of plural formation for loan words are discussed in section 3.4.10.

In some cases, speakers provided me with more than one plural form for the same singular root. This happened either when the same Bolgo Dugag speaker provided me with a different plural form during two different elicitation sessions, or when I was working with the two Bolgo

Dugag speakers at once and each provided a different plural. In many of these situations, one plural form follows the suffixation pattern one would expect given the phonological shape of the root, while the other is a more exceptional form. The fact that it is common for different plurals for the same root to exist suggests that in some cases there may be flexibility in which plural formation pattern speakers choose. However, another cause could be if some of these plural forms are not in frequent use due to language decline (see section 1.1.3). In the tables in appendix A, such words are listed in both appropriate suffix groups, with a note in each entry as to what the other plural form is.

A table summarizing the analyses of these suffixes is provided in section 3.4.11 after the discussions of the individual suffixes.

3.4.1 Plurals with floating [+ATR] suprafix

While most plural suffixes involve the addition of one or two segments to the root, there is one plural affix that shifts all −ATR vowels in the root to +ATR vowels without the addition of any new segments. I refer to this affix as the “floating [+ATR] suprafix”. This suprafix bears a certain resemblance to suprasegmental morphemes found in other languages (Roberts 1994).

Figure 6 provides an autosegmental representation of the word /fànà/ ‘machete’ taking the floating [+ATR] suprafix to form the plural /fènè/.

58 Figure 6. Autosegmental example of floating [+ATR] suprafix Feature tier [−ATR] [+ATR] [−ATR] [+ATR]

= =

Segmental tier f a n a f e n e The floating [+ATR] suprafix is primarily used with roots that both 1) contain /a/ as the only vowel or vowels, and 2) end with a vowel. Thus, effectively, the suprafix usually manifests by changing all the /a/ vowels of a singular root to /e/ in the plural without the addition of any segments at the end. (As discussed above, the language uses /e/ as the +ATR counterpart of

/a/.) Several examples are shown in (57). Factors such as the number of syllables in the root, whether the /a/ is a short or a long vowel, and whether the /a/ is in an open or closed syllable do not affect the ability of the root to take this suprafix. Singular Plural Gloss (57)

(a) /ɲā/ /ɲē/ ‘cow (of either sex)’

(b) /ɡāā/ /ɡēē/ ‘pied crow’

(d) /kāānà/ /kēēnè/ ‘termite’

(e) /bàɾkā/ /bèɾkē/ ‘tree trunk’

(f) /ɡàmbà/ /ɡèmbè/ ‘chin, beard’

(g) /ɲāɾfāfà/ /ɲēɾfēfè/ ‘species of bird of prey’

(h) /kāŋɡālà/ /kēŋɡēlè/ ‘mat’ There are some examples in the data of −ATR roots containing vowels other than /a/ taking the [+ATR] suffix (58). Singular Plural Gloss (58)

(a) /tɪ́mbā/ /tímbē/ ‘holy man’

(b) /sɪ̄nwà/ /sīnwè/ ‘visitor’

(d) /ɡʊ̀mbā/ /ɡùmbē/ ‘monitor lizard’

59 However, most roots containing vowels other than /a/ take an overt suffix in addition to a possible change in ATR value, as the following sections will show.

Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 105) give examples of a similar floating suprafix occurring in other

Bua languages as well. (In their text, they refer to the suprafix as “bare umlaut”; they use the terms “umlaut” or “vowel raising” to refer to the vowel changes from singular to plural.)

3.4.2 Plurals with /-ɡi/

The dominant plural suffix /-ɡi/ most often attaches to CV or CVV roots. Examples of this suffix attaching to +ATR roots are shown in (59). Singular Plural Gloss (59)

(a) /lū/ /lūɡī/ ‘village’

(b) /tò/ /tòɡì/ ‘ear’

(c) /mùù/ /mùùɡì/ ‘mouth’ Examples of this suffix attaching to −ATR roots are shown in (60). Singular Plural Gloss (60)

(a) /kɔ̄/ /kōɡī/ ‘small clay jar’

(b) /tɔ̀ɔ̀/ /tòòɡì/ ‘house’

(c) /tɛ̀ɛ̀/ /tèèɡì/ ‘hand’ The examples in (60) in which the vowels of the roots are −ATR in the singular and +ATR in the plural indicate that this is a dominant suffix. In other words, the suffix is underlyingly in the +ATR form /-ɡi/, and when it attaches to a −ATR root, the feature [+ATR] is spread from the suffix to the root, causing the vowel(s) of the root to shift to +ATR vowels.

As shown above, this suffix always surfaces in the +ATR form [-ɡi] in my data. However,

Kastenholz (2017: 12) reports that this suffix also surfaces in the −ATR form [-ɡɪ] in his data.

If the suffix surfaces as both [-ɡi] and [-ɡɪ] in the Bolgo Kubar dialect without changing the

ATR value of the −ATR roots, this indicates that this suffix is a recessive suffix rather than a dominant suffix in that dialect (i.e., it is underlyingly /-ɡɪ/ instead of /-ɡi/).

60 Some instances of languages losing their historically [+ATR] dominant suffixes have been documented (Casali 2008: 517). Thus from a speculative standpoint, if this suffix were originally /-ɡi/, it is possible that it is transitioning to /-ɡɪ/ in Bolgo Kubar.

According to Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 116-117), it is also possible that this suffix may be a more recent addition to the Bua languages, and that it may have in fact been borrowed from the suffix /-ɡe/ in the Nilo-Saharan language Bagirmi [bmi] rather than being a vestige of a noun class marker from proto-Bua. However, this is still uncertain.

3.4.3 Plurals with /-ti/

Another dominant plural suffix found in Bolgo is /-ti/. This suffix tends to attach to roots with the shape CVbVl or CVRVl, where R is either one of the rhotics [ɾ] or [ɽ]. When forming the plural, singular roots undergo final /l/ deletion. In this case, the vowel before the final /l/ also deletes to form a stem of the shape CVb- or CVR- (the additional deletion of the vowel is discussed below). The suffix attaches to this stem, yielding plural forms of the shape CVbti or

CVɾti.

Some examples with CVbVl roots are shown in (61). Because the /t/ of the suffix is adjacent to a voiced stop in the plural form, it is sometimes voiced and pronounced as [d] by way of progressive assimilation from the final consonant of the root if the speaker is not carefully enunciating the syllables. Singular Plural Gloss (61)

(a) /dʊ̄bʊ́l/ [dūbtí] ~ [dūbdí] ‘tail’

(b) /hɔ̄bʊ̀l/ [hōbtì] ~ [hōbdì] ‘lake’

(d) /ɽībīl/ [ɽībtī] ~ [ɽībdī] ‘toad’ The shift of the vowels of −ATR roots to +ATR vowels in the plural in examples (61a-c) above demonstrate that this is a dominant suffix with the +ATR underlying form /-ti/.

Some examples with CVRVl roots are shown in (62).

61 Singular Plural Gloss (62)

(a) /hɛ̄ɾɪ̀l/ /hēɾtì/ ‘species of fish’

(b) /hūɾùl/ /hūɾtì/ ‘worm’

(d) /béɽīl/ /béɾtī/ ‘male (animal)’ In (62c) and (62d) above, note that the retroflex [ɽ] in the singular changes to [ɾ] in the plural.

As discussed in section 2.1.4 on liquids, [ɽ] commonly occurs before high vowels, but it is less likely to occur within a consonant cluster or in the coda of a syllable, in which positions [ɾ] is more common.

Let us now return to the question of why the second vowel of the root is deleted along with the final /l/ during plural formation. This could be explained by claiming that these

CVbCl and CVRCl roots taking the /-ti/ suffix do not, in fact, contain an underlying vowel in the singular form. This would mean that [dʊ̄bʊ́l] ‘tail’ is underlying /dʊ̄bl/, [hábīl] ‘leg’ is underlying /hábl/, etc., and that an epenthetic vowel is inserted between the two final consonants in the singular form. A fact that supports this analysis is that the second vowel in these singular roots is predictable: [u] or [ʊ] after a round vowel and [i] or [ɪ] after a non- round vowel. Under this analysis, the prohibition on word-final consonant clusters is a surface constraint, and the epenthesis of the final vowel is a repair strategy to produce a valid surface form. Since the final /l/ of these roots may have originated from a former noun class suffix, it is possible that originally these were CVC roots in proto-Bua that took the singular /-l/ suffix.

3.4.4 Plurals with /-dɪ/

The suffix /-dɪ/ typically attaches to monosyllabic roots that end with /-l/, i.e., roots of the shape CVl or CVVl. This is a recessive suffix, as we have seen in the examples in section 3.3 above, and therefore the suffix vowel is determined by the ATR value of the vowel in the root.

The root undergoes final /l/ deletion to form a stem of CV- or CVV-, to which the suffix attaches. This produces a plural of the shape CVdI or CVVdI (where I is either [ɪ] or [i]).

62 Examples of the /-dɪ/ suffix attaching to CVl roots are shown in (63). Singular Plural Gloss (63)

(a) /ɽòl/ /ɽòdì/ ‘jackal’

(b) /tél/ /tédí/ ‘mountain’

(d) /ɽíl/ /ɽídí/ ‘name’

(e) /lɔ̀l/ /lɔ̀dɪ̀/ ‘species of tree’

(f) /bɪ̄l/ /bɪ̄dɪ̄/ ‘stone’

(g) /wɪ̀l/ /wɪ̀dɪ̀/ ‘problem, question’

(h) /bɛ̄l/ /bɛ̄dɪ̄/ ‘uterus’ Examples of the /-dɪ/ suffix attaching to CVVl roots are shown in (64). Singular Plural Gloss (64)

(a) /hɔ̄ɔ̄l/ /hɔ̄ɔ̄dɪ̄/ ‘mortar’

(b) /máál/ /máádɪ́/ ‘tamarind tree’

(d) /mɛ̀ɛ̀l/ /mɛ̀ɛ̀dɪ̀/ ‘breast' As with the other suffixes, there are exceptions in which /-dɪ/ suffix attaches to roots that are not the typical CVl or CVVl shape. As per the general pattern, these roots remain −ATR in the plural. Of interest is one particular exception in which a −ATR root does shift to +ATR in the plural with this suffix (65). Singular Plural Gloss (65)

/hāl/ /hēdī/ ‘mouse’ In ATR harmony languages, it is not uncommon to have certain idiosyncratic exceptions to general harmony tendencies (Casali 2008: 501). Therefore, since the vast majority of the roots in the data with this suffix do not shift their ATR values in the plural, the most fitting analysis

63 remains that this suffix is typically a recessive suffix, and that this plural /hēdī/ is an exceptional form.

My discussion here focuses on plural formation in the Bolgo Dugag dialect specifically.

However, on occasions where I was working with a Bolgo Dugag and a Koke speaker together, I noticed that the Koke speaker would typically pronounce this suffix as [-ti]/[-tɪ], not [-di]/[-dɪ] as the Bolgo Dugag speaker did. A few examples are shown in (66) for comparison. Bolgo Dugag Bolgo Dugag Koke Koke Gloss (66) singular plural singular plural

(a) /súl/ /súdí/ /sul/ /suti/ ‘head’

(b) /ɽíl/ /ɽídí/ /ɾil/ /ɾiti/ ‘name’

(c) /kɔ̄mbɪ́l/ /kɔ̄mdɪ́/ /kɔmbɪl/ /kɔmtɪ/ ‘cave’ I do not have extensive Koke data on this, and thus cannot comment in great detail. However, it is possible that this is related to the general pattern of Koke tending to have more word- medial voiceless stops than Bolgo Dugag (see also section 2.1.1).

According to Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 107), the /-dɪ/ suffix in Bolgo likely came from the suffix /-n/ in proto-Bua. They also state that it may have merged with the class that they reconstruct as having the proto-Bua [-ɾI] plural suffix. In my data, there are other nouns that form their plurals in [-ɾi] and [-ɾɪ], and so it does not appear that the two suffixes have completely merged. However, if the classes have partially merged to some degree, this may explain why certain CVl and CVVl roots in my data appear with a form of the rhotic suffix rather than with the /-dɪ/ suffix (see also section 3.4.6)

3.4.5 Plurals with /-i/ and /-ɪ/

In the data there are many nouns that form their plurals ending with either [-i] or [-ɪ].

Because of the different patterns displayed in these plurals, in this case it is not so obvious whether these plurals are all taking the same suffix, or whether there are actually two suffixes: one dominant /-i/ and the other recessive /-ɪ/. I prefer the analysis of two suffixes, for reasons that will be discussed below.

64 There are two main types of roots that take these plurals: 1) some roots of the shape CVCV or CVVCV and 2) roots ending with a consonant, excluding root types that tend to take other suffixes. (For example, this does not include roots discussed in other subsections, such as CVl or

CVbVl roots that tend to take the /-dɪ/ and /-ti/ suffixes respectively.)

In the first case of the CVCV or CVVCV roots, the roots delete the final vowel to form the stem CVC- or CVVC-, to which the plural suffix attaches to produce a plural with the word shape CVCI or CVVCI (where I is either [ɪ] or [i]). There are two possible reasons for the deletion of the final vowel. One reason may be for historical morphological reasons related to the former noun class suffixes, similar to the reason for final /l/ deletion. Another possible reason is that in situations of vowel hiatus, it is common for the final vowel of the root to be elided if the suffix consists of a single vowel (Casali 1997: 506).

Examples of +ATR roots taking the suffix [-i] are shown in (67). There are no examples of

+ATR roots ending with a consonant taking this suffix, so all examples here are CVCV or

CVVCV roots. Singular Plural Gloss (67)

(a) /īsō/ /īsī/ ‘porcupine’

(b) /kòɡō/ /kòɡī/ ‘leopard’

(d) /tùùmā/ /tùùmī/ ‘species of plant’ Unlike with the other suffixes discussed in the previous subsections, there is not such a clear pattern as to what happens with −ATR roots. There are many examples in which −ATR roots shift their vowels to +ATR in the plural, as we would expect with a dominant suffix /-i/, as seen in (68).

65 Singular Plural Gloss (68)

(a) /sàw/ /sèwì/ ‘dog’

(b) /bɪ̄lɪ́m/ /bīlímí/ ‘species of tree’

(d) /sɔ̀ɔ̀mɔ̄/ /sòòmī/ ‘hare'

(e) /sāābá/ /sēēbí/ ‘fish’ However, there are also many examples in the data of −ATR roots which remain −ATR in the plural, as seen in (69). This suggests that they are taking a recessive suffix /-ɪ/. Singular Plural Gloss (69)

(a) /hɛ̄ɛ̄m/ /hɛ̄ɛ̄mɪ̄/ ‘animal’

(b) /māɾtɪ̄w/ /māɾtɪ̄wɪ̄/ ‘viper’

(d) /dɔ̄ŋɡɔ̄/ /dɔ̄ŋɡɪ̄/ ‘neck’

(e) /ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾá/ /ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘seed’ Since both dominant and recessive patterns are present, the question of how to analyze these cases from a synchronic perspective becomes more complex. For the [-di]/[-dɪ] suffix of section

3.4.4, the overwhelming pattern was recessive, with one exception, so it was easy to say that this suffix was underlyingly /-dɪ/. However, with the [-i]/[-ɪ] suffix, there is no such clearly pervasive pattern; in fact, the split is about 50/50, with around half of −ATR roots taking this suffix changing to +ATR in the plural as if the suffix were underlyingly a dominant suffix /-i/, and the other half remaining −ATR in the plural as if the suffix were underlyingly a recessive suffix /-ɪ/. One could claim that only one of these is the underlying suffix, and that there are a large number of exceptional forms that do not follow the ATR pattern. However, a more straightforward analysis is that there are in fact two distinct suffixes, a dominant one that is underlying /-i/ and a recessive one that is underlying /-ɪ/. I prefer the analysis of there being

66 two distinct suffixes because it eliminates the need to have large numbers of exceptions in the data.

There is likely a historical explanation for having two suffixes that resemble each other in the current form of the language. For example, the language may be in the process of transitioning a historically dominant suffix to a recessive suffix or vice versa. It is also possible that these suffixes have evolved from different suffixes present in older forms of the language, or diverged from the same suffix at some point. This involves diachronic speculation that is beyond the scope of this thesis; I refer the reader to Boyeldieu et al. (2018) and Boyeldieu

(1983) for more details about the evolution of former noun class suffixes in the Bua languages.24 For the purposes of synchronic analysis, I will proceed with the analysis that there are two suffixes, the recessive /-ɪ/ and the dominant /-i/.

Additionally, there are two other plural suffixes in the data that initially appear to be /-i/ or /-ɪ/, just as in the examples we have seen thus far in this section. However, these suffixes have origins from specific historical singular/plural noun class suffix pairings, and as such each attaches to a specific type of root. As these clearly correspond to specific suffix pairings described by Boyeldieu et al. (2018), I present them here.

Nouns of the word shape CVw sometimes form their plurals in /-ɪ/ or /-i/, as seen in (70).

The deletion of the final /w/ of the singular form has a historical morphological reason similar to the reason for final /l/ deletion. According to Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 105-106; 110-111), roots historically ending in /U/ or /wɛ/ paired with a form of the /-I/ plural suffix. This means that, although these plurals end in /-ɪ/ or /-i/, they may not in fact have the same /-ɪ/ or /-i/ suffixes discussed thus far in this section, as least from a historical perspective.

24 For the roots taking the /-i/ and /-ɪ/ suffixes, it is not immediately clear how they correspond to the roots taking the singular/plural noun class suffix pairings described in Boyeldieu et al. (2018). Some of the roots would likely fall into those described in the SG [-A]/ PL [-I] pairing, but is unclear if all of them would do so.

67 Singular Plural Gloss (70)

(a) /tɪ̀w/ /tɪ̀ɪ̀/ ‘tree, wood’

(b) /ɲɪ̀w/ /ɲìì/ ‘bird (any species)’

(d) /nàw/ /nàɪ/ ‘root’

(e) /ɲɛ̄w/ /ɲɛ̄ɪ/ ‘secret’ (When the suffix follows a vowel other than /i/ or /ɪ/ in the examples above, the result sounds as though the plurals end in the glide [j].)

Another pattern found in two words involves final /l/ deletion and the addition of either the suffix /-i/ or /-ɪ/ to produce a long vowel in the plural, as seen in (71). Boyeldieu et al.

(2018: 113-114) have also reconstructed this as being a distinct noun class suffix in proto-Bua that was used specifically for body parts. Singular Plural Gloss (71)

(a) /ɡíl/ /ɡíí/ ‘eye’

(b) /níl/ /níí/ ‘tooth’ Despite the fact that these suffixes in (70) and (71) have distinct historical origins, for the purposes of the synchronic categorization of plural suffixes, I group them in with the other plurals ending in [-i] or [-ɪ].

3.4.6 Plurals with /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/

There are a very large number of plurals in the language which end with [-ɾi], [-ɽi], [-ɾɪ], or [-ɽɪ]. Similar to the /-i/ and /-ɪ/ suffixes of section 3.4.5, I believe there to be both a dominant suffix /-Ri/ and a recessive suffix /-Rɪ/, and that the rhotics [ɾ] and [ɽ] are in free variation in both suffixes.

Regarding the vowel, as with the /-i/ and /-ɪ/ suffixes above, there are many examples of both −ATR roots which remain −ATR in the plural (as with the recessive /-Rɪ/) and also

−ATR roots which change to +ATR in the plural (as with the dominant /-Ri/). Therefore, the

68 discussion in the previous section about how there might be both a dominant and a recessive suffix also applies here. For the case of the /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/ suffixes, it appears that both of these suffixes originated from the same suffix in proto-Bua. In their reconstruction of proto-Bua noun class suffixes, Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 109) describe a [-ɾI] plural suffix that most likely corresponds to these /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/ suffixes in my data. In their discussion of this suffix in modern Bua languages, they state that “vowel raising may appear, although not systematically”

(Boyeldieu et al. 2018: 109). This would effectively mean that both a dominant and a recessive form of this suffix now exist.

Regarding the rhotic consonant, in section 2.1.4 I discussed how the relationship between

/ɾ/ and /ɽ/ is not entirely straightforward. Within these suffixes, speakers seem to treat the rhotics interchangeably, sometimes pronouncing the suffixes with [ɾ] and other times with [ɽ].

This suggests that /ɾ/ and /ɽ/ are in free variation within these suffixes.

The /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/ suffixes attach to a variety of roots, with the two main categories being

1) certain roots ending with /l/ that do not take one of the other plural suffixes previously discussed, and 2) roots ending with /ɾ/. Some other smaller categories of roots are also discussed below.

Examples of either the /-Ri/ or /-Rɪ/ suffix attaching to +ATR roots ending in /l/ are shown in (72). (Because the roots are +ATR, it is unclear whether it is the recessive or dominant suffix in these cases.) These roots include roots of more than one syllable that end with /l/, and also certain CVl and CVVl roots that do not take the /-dɪ/ suffix (see also section

3.4.4). As with other plurals we have seen earlier, these roots undergo final /l/ deletion before the addition of the suffix. Singular Plural Gloss (72)

(a) /hūnúl/ /hūnúɾí/ ‘threshing floor’

(b) /kīɽīmbìl/ /kīɽīmbìɽì/ ‘anteater’

69 The examples in (73) show −ATR roots ending in /l/ that take the dominant /-Ri/ suffix. Singular Plural Gloss (73)

(a) /bɛ́ɡɪ̄l/ /béɡīɽī/ ‘liver’

(b) /bɔ̀ɾmɔ̄l/ /bòɾmōɽī/ ‘open land’

(c) /ɲɛ̄ɾɡɛ́l/ /ɲēɾɡéɾí/ ‘branch’ The examples in (74) show −ATR roots ending in /l/ that take the recessive /-Rɪ/ suffix. Singular Plural Gloss (74)

(a) /hɛ́ɛ̄bɪ́l/ /hɛ́ɛ̄bɪ́ɽɪ́/ ‘monkey’

(b) /tɔ̀ɡɔ̄l/ /tɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄/ ‘muscle’

(c) /ɟāl/ /ɟāɾɪ̄/ ‘kitchen stone’ Likewise, roots ending in /ɾ/ may take the /-Ri/ suffix or the /-Rɪ/ suffix. For these words, there is more than one way to interpret how the root and the suffix are attaching; possible interpretations will be discussed after the examples.

The examples in (75) show +ATR roots taking one of these suffixes. Singular Plural Gloss (75)

(a) /míɡīɾ/ /míɡīɾī/ ‘warthog’

(b) /bēɾ/ /bēɽī/ ‘tomb’

(c) /bòɡòɾ/ /bòɡòɾì/ ‘species of small antelope’ The examples in (76) show roots ending in /ɾ/ taking the dominant /-Ri/ suffix: Singular Plural Gloss (76)

(a) /wááɾ/ /wééɾí/ ‘genette’

(b) /ɡɛ̀ɡɛ̀ɾ/ /ɡèɡèɽì/ ‘species of tree’

(c) /kɔ̄ɾ/ /kōɽī/ ‘greater blue-eared starling’ The examples in (77) show roots ending in /ɾ/ taking the recessive /-Rɪ/ suffix. (There are only a few instances of this combination in the data.)

70 Singular Plural Gloss (77)

(a) /bɔ̀ŋɡɔ̄ɾ/ /bɔ̀ŋɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄/ ‘machete’

(b) /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ/ /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾɪ́/ ‘star’

(c) /sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾ/ /sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄/ ‘species of plant’ For these roots ending in /ɾ/ that take the /-Ri/ or the /-Rɪ/ suffix, there is more than one possibility as to how the plurals are formed. For example, consider example (76a) /wááɾ/

‘genette’, pl. /wééɾí/. If the final /ɾ/ of the /wááɾ/ is a vestige of a noun class suffix, one possibility is that the /ɾ/ deletes when the plural suffix /-Ri/ is added, similar to the process of final /l/ deletion.

There could also be a possible phonological explanation for the deletion of one of the rhotics. As discussed in section 2.1.6, geminate consonants are not very common, and perhaps the language wishes to avoid two adjacent rhotics in this context. Thus, in a situation such as

/wááɾ/+/-Ri/, perhaps the language would delete the rhotic of the suffix, which would also yield the plural /wééɾí/. The remaining rhotic could then optionally be pronounced as a retroflex, as in (76c) /kɔ̄ɾ/ ‘greater blue-eared starling’, pl. /kōɽī/.

An alternative analysis would be to claim that roots ending in /ɾ/ are in fact forming their plurals with the /-i/ or /-ɪ/ suffixes of section 3.4.5 rather than with the /-Ri/ or /-Rɪ/ suffixes.

Under this analysis, the root /wááɾ/ would simply attach to the suffix /-i/ to form the plural

/wééɾí/. As with the geminate deletion hypothesis of the previous paragraph, one would again need to claim that the remaining rhotic could then optionally be pronounced as a retroflex, as in (76c) /kɔ̄ɾ/ ‘greater blue-eared starling’, pl. /kōɽī/. Alternatively, for words with the retroflex in the plural such as /kɔ̄ɾ/ pl. /kōɽī/, one could claim that the singular form actually contains an underlying retroflex word-finally, e.g., /kɔ̄ɽ/. In this analysis, since the retroflex does not surface word-finally, this would yield [kɔ̄ɾ] in the singular, and the underlying retroflex would only surface with the addition of the /-i/ suffix. In any case, regardless of the

71 analysis for roots ending in /ɾ/, it is clear that the two rhotics are at least in free variation in the suffixes for roots ending in /l/.

There is another type of free variation in some of these plural forms. If the shape of the singular root is CVCVl or CVCVɾ, in the plural speakers may optionally omit the vowel between the middle consonant of the root and the plural suffix, as shown in (78). Singular Plural Gloss (78)

(a) /sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾ/ [sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄] ~ [sɔ̀ɡɾɪ̄] ‘species of plant’

(b) /hɔ̄bɔ̀ɾ/ [hōbòɾì] ~ [hōbɾì] ‘rhinoceros’

(c) /òɡòl/ [òɡòɾì] ~ [òɡɾì] ‘bone’ There are also examples in the data of the /-Ri/ and /-Rɪ/ suffixes attaching to CVCCV roots, as in (79). The vowel directly before the suffix may or may not change to a high vowel. Singular Plural Gloss (79)

(a) /tɪ́mbā/ /tímbēɾī/ ‘holy man’

(b) /dūɾɡù/ /dūɾɡùɽì/ ‘donkey’

(d) /hʊ́lɡʊ̄/ /hʊ́lɡʊ̄ɾɪ̄/ ‘dove'

(e) /dūŋɡō/ /dūŋɡōɾī/ ‘pot’ The /-Ri and /-Rɪ/ suffixes sometimes also attach to CVCV roots, as in (80). Singular Plural Gloss (80)

(a) /ɡúsī/ /ɡúsīɽī/ ‘shoulder’

(b) /ɡūmí/ /ɡūmɾí/ ‘hill’

(c) /búsō/ /búsūɽī/ ‘horse’ Additionally, certain roots ending in the syllable /la/, /lo/, or /lɔ/ take the /-Ri/ or the /-Rɪ/ suffix, as shown in (81). In these cases, the entire final syllable of the root is deleted when the suffix is added. This may be due to the final syllable being a vestige of a former noun class suffix, as with final /l/ deletion.

72 Singular Plural Gloss (81)

(a) /bāālá/ /bēēɽí/ ‘arrow’

(b) /bōɡōlà/ /bōɡōɽì/ ‘carp’

(d) /bōŋɡōlō/ /bōŋɡōɾī/ ‘necklace’

3.4.7 Plurals designating human beings

Unlike all the suffixes discussed thus far, there is also a suffix that attaches to certain roots based on semantic criteria rather than the phonological shape of the root. This suffix is used for many nouns that designate human beings. However, some nouns designating human beings instead form their plurals with other suffixes discussed above.

In Bolgo, this suffix often surfaces in the form [-w], but there are many variants of this.

The fact that there are so many surface forms suggests that these plurals are reflexes of a historical suffix, but they cannot all be analyzed as being derived from a single underlying synchronic suffix. Boyeldieu et al. (2018: 114-115) state that evidence of a similar plural suffix denoting human beings and kinship terms is reported in other Bua languages as well. This suffix surfaces in various forms such as [-bV], [-ɓV], [-w(V)], [-u], and [-ʊ], depending on the particular Bua language.

In Bolgo, this suffix is most commonly found in the form [-w]. Some examples in the data remain −ATR in the plural, as in (82). Singular Plural Gloss (82)

(a) /bājá/ /bājáw/ ‘girl’

(b) /màà/ /màw/ ‘grandparent, ancestor’

73 Singular Plural Gloss (83)

(a) /kàɡā/ /kèɡēw/ ‘mother-in-law’

(b) /bāāɽá/ /bēēɽéw/ ‘orphan’ In a few cases the final vowel of the root changes to a back vowel when [-w] is added, as in

(84). Singular Plural Gloss (84)

(a) /íínā/ /íínūw/ ‘spouse of brother or sister’

(b) /kējà/ /kījòw/ ‘chief’ There are also examples in which the suffix surfaces as a +ATR back vowel without [w], as shown in (85). Singular Plural Gloss (85)

(a) /kóɾūm/ /kóɾūmō/ ‘nomad, Arab person’

(b) /mɛ̄nɪ́/ /mɛ̄nʊ́/ ‘slave’ There is one example of the suffix surfacing as [-wi], as in (86). Singular Plural Gloss (86)

/áá/ /ááwí/ ‘woman, wife’ A few words in the data take the +ATR back vowel form of the suffix despite not designating people, as shown in (87). It is unclear why these particular words should receive the suffix normally used for people. Singular Plural Gloss (87)

(a) /kōj/ /kōjō/ ‘snake’

(b) /hɛɛ̃̄ ɾ̃̄ ɛ̀/ /heẽ̄ ɾ̃̄ ù/ ‘red, red millet’

(d) /mīlē/ /mīlū/ ‘biting ant’

74 3.4.8 Nouns with no distinct plural form

Some examples in the data have no distinct plural form. For some of these words, this may be due to the fact that if a singular root already ending in /i/ took a plural suffix such as /-i/, this would yield a plural that is identical to the singular form even with the presence of the suffix. A few examples where this is possibly the case are shown in (88). Singular Plural Gloss (88)

(a) /kōōɾí/ /kōōɾí/ ‘species of plant’

(b) /sííɽī/ /sííɽī/ ‘eagle’

(c) /héɽī/ /héɽī/ ‘fly (insect)’ However, there are other examples in the data where clearly no plural suffix is involved. The most straightforward interpretation is that these words exist only in the singular or as a collective noun, and have no plural form at all. These words generally refer to animals. Several examples are given in (89). Singular Plural Gloss (89)

(a) /ɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ/ /ɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ/ ‘species of bird’

(b) /báɟá/ /báɟá/ ‘pelican’

(d) /lōɡōmà/ /lōɡōmà/ ‘camel’

(e) /sɔ̄ŋsɔ̄ŋ/ /sɔ̄ŋsɔ̄ŋ/ ‘wasp’

(f) /ɲʊ̄lɲʊ́l/ /ɲʊ̄lɲʊ́l/ ‘earthworm’ During elicitation, speakers sometimes distinguished the plural by adding the word /daw/

‘many’, for example, saying /lōɡōmà daw/ ‘many camels’. (The word for ‘many’ is /daw/ in

Bolgo Dugag, /mʊj/ in Bolgo Kubar, and /kʊɾɪ/ in Koke.) Some of these roots referring to animals may contain a reduplicated element; this is discussed in more detail in section 3.7.

75 3.4.9 Other methods of plural formation

Thus far, I have discussed patterns found in plural formation. However, there are also individual examples of words that do not follow one of these patterns, and also some examples of small groups of words following alternative patterns. This section will present several examples of non-standard plurals.

The word for ‘child’, /bāā/, has the plural /bēēnī/. The suffix /-ni/ is not in use elsewhere in Bolgo plural formation.

There are also examples of suppletion in plural formation. For example, the word for

‘person’ is /wìì/, and the plural is /bìì/. Similarly, the word for ‘man’ is /wìjē/, and the plural is /bìjōw/ (with the suffix for human beings described in section 3.4.7).

The word for ‘goat’ is /bōō/, and the plural is /bīī/. Fortunately, a difference in tone allows people to be distinguished from goats in the plural: /bìì/ ‘people’ vs. /bīī/ ‘goats’.

The word for ‘thing’, /ɲɔ̀/, is completely different in the plural: /wɪ̀/.

There are several words with a curious vowel change of a mid +ATR vowel /o/ or /e/ in the singular to a high +ATR vowel /u/ or /i/ in the plural.25 Examples are shown in (90).

25 In section 2.2, I mentioned that it was sometimes difficult to distinguish the +ATR mid vowels /e/ and /o/ from the −ATR high vowels /ɪ/ and /ʊ/. If these words in fact contained −ATR high vowels in the singular, then the shift to +ATR high vowels in the plural would be as expected. However, I checked the spellings of a few of these words with speakers when we were developing the orthography, and they wanted to spell the singulars with the +ATR mid vowels.

76 Singular Plural Gloss (90)

(a) /sóónō/ /súúnī/ ‘termite mound’

(b) /sōɾà/ /sūɾì/ ‘scorpion’

(d) /dōká/ /dūké/ ‘basket’

(e) /sēlà/ /sīlè/ ‘chicken’

(f) /kéébā/ /kííbē/ ‘crocodile’ Sometimes these plurals also end in /-e/ rather than /-i/ as one would expect (90d-f), this /e/ being the +ATR form of the vowel /a/.

An additional method of plural formation involves a suffix found only in Bolgo Kubar.

Plurals in Bolgo Kubar are sometimes formed using the suffix [-iɲ]26 when another suffix discussed above would be used in Bolgo Dugag or Koke. I observed this suffix when working with Bolgo Kubar speakers, and it is also described by Kastenholz (2017: 12). This suffix is not used by Bolgo Dugag or Koke speakers, but they say they are able to recognize it and that it indicates to them that the person using it is a Bolgo Kubar speaker.

Examples of Bolgo Kubar plurals taking the [-iɲ] suffix where Bolgo Dugag uses a variety of plural suffixes are shown in (91). (Both the Bolgo Dugag and the Bolgo Kubar data in these examples are my own.)

26 As discussed in section 2.2.3, vowels may become nasalized due to spreading from a nasal consonant. With my Bolgo Kubar language consultants, the nasalization on the vowel of this suffix was extremely prominent, so a more phonetic transcription of the suffix would be [-ĩɲ].

77 Bolgo Dugag Bolgo Dugag Bolgo Kubar Bolgo Kubar Gloss (91) singular plural(s) singular plural

(a) /ɡūmí/ /ɡūmɾí/ /ɡumi/ /ɡumiɲ/ ‘hill’

(b) /hōɾō/ /hōɾɡī/ /hooɾu/ /hooɾiɲ/ ‘knife’

(d) /hēɾìŋ/ /heɾìŋì/ /heɾa/ /heɾiɲ/ ‘calf (of leg)’

(e) /lōɡōmà/ /lōɡōmà/ /lomu/ /lomiɲ/ ‘camel’

(f) /tò/ /tòɡì/ /to/ /toiɲ/ ‘ear’ All the examples of this suffix in my data happen to be with Bolgo Kubar roots that are +ATR, and so therefore the suffix in all these cases is also +ATR, as it would be whether the suffix itself were underlying +ATR or −ATR. However, Kastenholz (2017: 12) has observed this suffix surfacing in the −ATR form [-ɪɲ] as well in his data, which would indicate that it is a recessive suffix with the underlying form /-ɪɲ/. According to Kastenholz, this suffix may have entered the language more recently rather than originating from a proto-Bua suffix.

Kastenholz (2017: 12) states that the /-ɪɲ/ suffix is quite frequent and seems to be in the process of becoming a generalized plural marker. This would indicate that the suffix is quite productive and possibly also in the process of replacing some of the other plural suffixes, at least for some individual words.

3.4.10 Plural formation in loan words

Loan words in Bolgo come primarily from Chadian Arabic, and also from French to a much lesser extent. Among the loan noun plurals in my data, by far the most common pattern is to have no distinct plural form, as shown in (92). This is the same as the pattern discussed in section 3.4.8.

78 Singular Plural Gloss Source language (92)

(a) /banan/ /banan/ ‘banana’ French

(b) /ɡada/ /ɡada/ ‘boule covering’ Arabic

(d) /sana/ /sana/ ‘year’ Arabic There are also some individual exceptions that do have a distinct plural form; these typically use plural affixes discussed in the previous sections. In a few cases, speakers instead stated the original Arabic plural form as the plural. Example (93) shows a few loan nouns with distinct plurals. Singular Plural Gloss Plural Source (93) affix language

(a) /faɾda/ /feɾde/ ‘pagne (large floating Arabic piece of fabric)’ [+ATR] suprafix

(b) /ɡufa/ /ɡufi/ ‘straw basket’ /-i/ or /-ɪ/ Arabic

(d) /taɟiɾ/ /tuɟaaɾ/ ‘merchant’ Arabic pl. Arabic

3.4.11 Summary of plural suffixes

Table 15 summarizes the main categories of Bolgo Dugag plural suffixes discussed above in sections 3.4.1 through 3.4.8. (Variants discussed above from Koke and Bolgo Kubar are not included.) The table lists the suffixes in their underlying forms, the types of roots each suffix typically attaches to if there is a clear pattern for that suffix, and examples in the singular and plural. The two suffixes which surface in both the [-i]/[-ɪ] forms and the [-Ri]/[-Rɪ] forms respectively are listed here with each variant separately so that both the dominant and recessive ATR patterns for each suffix are represented in the table.

79 Table 15. Plural suffix summary table

Plural suffix General tendencies of roots Example Example Example suffix attaches to singular plural gloss floating roots containing only the vowel /ɡàmbà/ /ɡèmbè/ ‘chin, [+ATR] /a/ and ending with a vowel beard’ suprafix /-ɡi/ certain CV roots /kɔ̄/ /kōɡī/ ‘small clay jar’ certain CVV roots /tɛ̀ɛ̀/ /tèèɡì/ ‘hand’ /-ti/ CVRVl /hɛ̄ɾɪ̀l/ /hēɾtì/ ‘species of fish’ CVbVl /dʊ̄bʊ́l/ /dūbtí/ ‘tail’ /-dɪ/ CVl /wɪ̀l/ /wɪ̀dɪ̀/ ‘problem, question’ CVVl /mɛ̀ɛ̀l/ /mɛ̀ɛ̀dɪ̀/ ‘breast’ /-i/ CVCV or CVVCV roots /sɔ̀ɔ̀mɔ̄/ /sòòmī/ ‘hare’ roots ending with a consonant /sàw/ /sèwì/ ‘dog’ (excluding root types that tend to take other suffixes) /-ɪ/ CVCV or CVVCV roots /ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾá/ /ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘seed’ roots ending with a consonant /hɛ̄ɛ̄m/ /hɛ̄ɛ̄mɪ̄/ ‘animal’ (excluding root types that tend to take other suffixes) /-Ri/ certain roots ending in /l/ /sɔ̄bɔ̀l/ /sōbòɾì/ ‘potter’

roots ending in /ɾ/ /kāɡāsáɾ/ /kēɡēséɽí/ ‘lizard’ /-Rɪ/ certain roots ending in /l/ /ɡɔ̄ɲɟɪ́l/ /ɡɔ̄ɲɟɪ́ɽɪ́/ ‘window’

roots ending in /ɾ/ /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ/ /kɛ̄fɪ́ɾɪ́/ ‘star’ [-w] or related certain roots designating human /bājá/ /bājáw/ ‘girl’ form beings no change certain roots designating animals /ɛ́wɛ̀wɛ̄/ /ɛ́wɛ̀wɛ̄/ ‘grey heron’ As seen in table 15 above, the tones of the singular forms remain the same in the plural forms.

If the plural form has an additional syllable, that syllable copies the tone from the adjacent syllable to the left. As far as I am aware, there are no exceptions. This indicates that none of the plural suffixes have a tone of their own, and their surface tone comes from the noun root.

80 3.5 Nouns derived from verbs

There are some examples in the data of nouns that have been derived from verbs.27 The most frequent way of doing this is to add /-l/ to the stem of the verb, as in (94). (See chapter 4 for more information about verbs.) Verb Gloss Derived Gloss (94) noun

(a) /tʊ̄má/ ‘to work’ /tʊmal/ ‘work’

(b) /ū/ ‘to die’ /ul/ ‘death, cadaver’

(d) /ɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ ‘to cough’ /ɔɾɔl/ ‘cough’

(e) /bɪ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to ask, to /bɪɾɪl/ ‘request, demand’ borrow’

(f) /ɟɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ ‘to dance to /ɟɔɾɔl/ ‘type of dance to drum music’ drum music’ Although /-l/ is the most represented nominalizing suffix in the data, it is probably not very productive. When I attempted to find more derived nouns by adding /-l/ to other verbs in the data, the new words were not acceptable to speakers. This is not very surprising, as cross- linguistically derivational processes are often idiosyncratic rather than regularly productive

(Matthews 1991: 69-70). This suffix may be more productive in the Bolgo Kubar dialect, however (Kastenholz 2017: 16-19).

There are also some examples in the data of derived nouns that are formed by adding /-m/ or /-ɾ/ to the verb, or by eliminating the final vowel of the verb and replacing it with a different syllable ending in /l/ or /ɾ/. Examples of these are shown in (95). However, since these nominalizing suffixes are not very common, the forms below are most likely lexicalized forms rather than being representative of any productive derivational suffixes.

27 I did not find any instances in the data of a noun being derived from a consonant-final verb, so all examples in this section are with vowel-final verbs.

81 Verb Gloss Derived Gloss (95) noun

(a) /lɛ̀/ ‘to sleep’ /lɛm/ ‘sleep’

(b) /lɔ̀ɡɔ̄/ ‘to beg’ /lɔɡɔm/ ‘begging’

(d) /hāná/ ‘to marry’ /handɪɾ/ ‘bride price’

(e) /jālá/ ‘to play, to dance, to /jaldɛɾ/ ‘music’ play an instrument’

(f) /jɪ̀ɾɪ̄/ ‘to ululate’ /jɪɾbal/ ‘ululation’ While many derived nouns are mass nouns that do not have distinct plurals, those that do have a distinct plural follow the patterns described in section 3.4. For example, the plural of (94b)

/ul/ ‘death, cadaver’ is /udi/ with the /-dɪ/ suffix, as with other CVl nouns. Similarly, the plural of (95c) /ɲasɛɾ/ ‘word, speech’ is /ɲasɛɾɪ/ with the /-Rɪ/ suffix, as with other nouns ending in /ɾ/.

3.6 Agentive suffix

In Bolgo, there is a recessive suffix /-nɪ/ that attaches to both verbs and nouns to form a noun meaning broadly ‘a person who regularly does [verb]’ or ‘a person associated with

[noun]’. I refer to this as the agentive suffix. The plural forms of words with the agentive suffix are identical to the singular forms.

An interesting difference between the agentive suffix and the plural suffixes is that the stems to which the agentive suffix attaches do not undergo final /l/ deletion. A possible explanation for this is that the reason for the final /l/ deletion is related to the vestiges of noun class suffixes that occur in pairs in the singular and plural forms, as discussed in section 3.3.

82 However, since the agentive suffix is not a noun class suffix, the language does not need to remove the final /l/; instead, the agentive suffix can be added directly after it.28

A few examples of the agentive suffix agentive attaching to verbs are given in (96). Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (96) form

(a) /hàɾɪ̄/ ‘to follow’ /hàɾɪ̄nɪ/ ‘follower’

(b) /sɛ̀l/ ‘to steal’ /sɛ̀lnɪ/ ‘thief’

(c) /dòɡō/ ‘to be old’ /dòɡōni/ ‘old person’ A few examples of the agentive suffix attaching to nouns are given in (97). Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (97) form

(a) /wɛ̀ɛ̀l/ ‘field’ /wɛ̀ɛ̀lnɪ/ ‘farmer’

(b) /dūɡūɾtì/ ‘leprosy’ /dūɡūɾtìni/ ‘leper’

(c) /ɟɔ̀ɔ̀l/ ‘village’ /ɟɔ̀ɔ̀lnɪ/ ‘villager’ There are also a few examples in the data of the agentive suffix attaching to nouns derived from verbs (98). It is interesting that when both a verb and its nominalized form exist, the suffix attaches to the latter. Verb Gloss Derived Gloss Agentive Gloss (98) noun form

(a) /lɔ̀ɡɔ̄/ ‘to beg’ /lɔɡɔm/ ‘begging’ /lɔɡɔmnɪ/ ‘beggar’

(b) /wɛ̀ɾɡɛ̄/ ‘to hunt’ /wɛɾɡɛl/ ‘hunting’ /wɛɾɡɛlnɪ/ ‘hunter’

28 Another possible explanation for the lack of final /l/ deletion is that the /-nɪ/ suffix is in fact a clitic; thus, it does not trigger final /l/ deletion, but is still within the phonological word so that it surfaces with the ATR value of the vowels of the stem. However, if /-nɪ/ were analyzed as a clitic, then it would no longer make sense to classify it as a derivational suffix.

83 Below I present a few semantic categories of words in which the agentive suffix is often used.

All of them share the common meaning of a person who is associated with the noun or the verb.

The agentive suffix is frequently used to refer to people’s occupations or professions, as in

(99). Some of these examples are quite transparent as to the semantic relationship between the root and the agentive form. In other examples the meaning of the agentive form is likely lexicalized, although it is still related to the meaning of the root. Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (99) form

(a) /wɛ̀ɛ̀l/ ‘field’ /wɛ̀ɛ̀lnɪ/ ‘farmer’

(b) /dàwàl/ ‘bow’ /dàwàlnɪ/ ‘hunter’

(d) /hāɾɪ́/ ‘to weave’ /hāɾɪ́nɪ/ ‘weaver’

(e) /bɪ̄ɾsɪ́/ ‘to weave a housing /bɪ̄ɾsɪ́nɪ/ ‘housing structure structure’ weaver’

(f) /tɔ̄/ ‘to take’ /tɔ̄nɪ/ ‘butcher’

(g) /ɡūū/ ‘power, force’ /ɡūūni/ ‘soldier’

(h) /jɛ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to attach, to sew’ /jɛ̄ɾɪ́nɪ/ ‘tailor’ The agentive suffix may also indicate where a person lives or where a person is from, as shown in (100). Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (100) form

(a) /ɟɔ̀ɔ̀l/ ‘village’ /ɟɔ̀ɔ̀lnɪ/ ‘villager’

(b) /kāāɾá/ ‘countryside’ /kāāɾánɪ/ ‘person who lives in the (en brousse) countryside (en brousse)’

(c) /hàl/ ‘outside’ /hàlnɪ/ ‘outsider, stranger’ The agentive suffix is commonly used to indicate the temperament or characteristics of a person, as in (101).

84 Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (101) form

(a) /dōɾɡól/ ‘stubbornness’ /dōɾɡólni/ ‘stubborn person’

(b) /dɛ̄ŋɡɛ́/ ‘to be jealous’ /dɛ̄ŋɡɛ́nɪ/ ‘jealous person’

(d) /bīɾɡíl/ ‘courage’ /bīɾɡílni/ ‘courageous person’

(e) /mùù/ ‘mouth’ /mùùni/ ‘someone who talks too much, someone who provokes people’

(f) /tàɾā/ ‘to forget’ /tàɾānɪ/ ‘imbecile’ The agentive suffix may also attach to loan words from Chadian Arabic, as in (102). Root Gloss Agentive Gloss (102) form

(a) /daŋɡa/ ‘room’ /daŋɡanɪ/ ‘prisoner’

(b) /saboɾ/ ‘patience’ /saboɾni/ ‘patient person’

3.7 Reduplicated elements in noun roots

There is no productive reduplication process serving a grammatical function in nouns as there is with verbs (see section 4.5). However, there are some individual nouns which may have a reduplicated element within the noun root itself. All of these nouns refer to animals, typically to names of particular species rather than to more general categories of animals.

The two repeated syllables do not always have identical tones in the examples below; however, all of the words follow tone patterns that are extant elsewhere in the language.

In terms of syllable structure, there are two categories of these words. The first is

CVC.CVC, consisting of a reduplicated CVC syllable. Examples of this are shown in (103).

(103) (a) /sɔ̄ŋ.sɔ̄ŋ/ ‘wasp’

(b) /kɔ̄d.kɔ̄d/ ‘species of bird’

(d) /kʊ̄ɾ.kʊ́ɾ/ ‘lungfish’

(e) /ɲʊ̄l.ɲʊ́l/ ‘earthworm’

85 These words do not have a distinct plural form, except for /kʊ̄ɾkʊ́ɾ/ ‘lungfish’, which has the plural /kūɾkúɽí/.

The other type of reduplicated noun consists of three syllable words; examples are shown in (104). In four of the examples, the final syllable of the base form has been reduplicated.

(104) (a) /kō.ɽō.ɽò/ ‘patas monkey’

(b) /ɛ́.wɛ̀.wɛ̄/ ‘grey heron’

(d) /ɲāɾ.fā.fà/ ‘species of bird of prey’ However, there are also two examples in which it is the first syllable that has been reduplicated, as shown in (105).

(105) (a) /kɔ̄.kɔ̄.ɾɔ̀m/ ‘serval’

(b) /lū.lū.ɡù/ ‘hoopoe’ These trisyllabic words in (104) and (105) form their plurals using the different plural suffixes described in section 3.4.

3.8 Adjectives

Bolgo adjectives follow the noun within the noun phrase and agree in number with the noun they modify. The plural form of an adjective does not vary, regardless of which plural suffix the noun it modifies takes. This shows that the noun class system agreement has disappeared. Typically, a connective comes between the noun and the adjective, although it may optionally be omitted. This connective is /ɡɪ/ in the singular and /sɪ/ in the plural.

There are only about fifty examples of adjectives in the data, as Bolgo also expresses many descriptive concepts with stative verbs or with the agentive form. Many adjectives refer to physical qualities such as color or size. A list of adjectives can be found in appendix B.

86 Adjectives form their plurals according to the same patterns as nouns. Several examples of adjectives within noun phrases in the singular and plural are shown in (106). (I do not have tone data for adjectives, and thus it is not indicated on adjectives in the examples.) Singular Plural Singular gloss (106)

(a) /ɲɪ̀w ɡɪ bul/ /ɲìì sɪ buɽi/ ‘white bird’

(b) /ɲìw ɡɪ lam/ /ɲìì sɪ lemi/ ‘blue/green bird’

(d) /wìjē ɡɪ baaɾa/ /bìjōw sɪ beeɾe/ ‘tall man’

(e) /wìjē ɡɪ nama/ /bìjōw sɪ neme/ ‘lazy man’

(f) /wìjē ɡɪ jaɾbal/ /bìjōw sɪ jeɾbeɾi/ ‘fast man (at running)’

(g) /hōɾō ɡɪ liina/ /hōɾɡī sɪ liine/ ‘sharp knife’ A handful of very common adjectives form their plural with a reduplicated form similar to the

CVC.CVC pattern described in section 3.7. These adjectives are shown in (107). (Example

(107c) /falfal/ does not have a distinct plural form.) Singular Plural Singular gloss (107)

(a) /tɔ̀ɔ̀ ɡɪ tʊɾ/ /tòòɡì sɪ tʊɾtʊɾ/ ‘big house’

(b) /tɔ̀ɔ̀ ɡɪ mɪmba/ /tòòɡì sɪ mɪlmɪl/ ‘small house’

CHAPTER 4 VERB PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOLOGY

This chapter discusses topics related to verb phonology and morphology, including the verb stem and finite form of the verb (4.1), word shapes in verbs (4.2.), tone in verbs (4.3.), and subject pronouns and pronominal suffixes (4.4.). In the tense/aspect/mood system of

Bolgo, aspect is marked directly on the verb through reduplication (4.5), while tense and mood are expressed using auxiliaries and verbal particles (4.6).

4.1 Verb stem and finite form

In Bolgo sentences, verbs do not vary throughout the conjugation. Rather, the same form that is devoid of affixation is used for each person. The imperative form of the verb is likewise devoid of affixation (see also section 4.6.1).

The finite, bare form of the verb expresses perfective aspect in Bolgo. This form is not specific to tense, so in the absence of other words or morphemes indicating time, context must be used to determine the setting of the action in time.

In table 16, the verb /kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ ‘to jump’ is presented with each subject pronoun to illustrate that the verb does not vary in form regardless of the number or person of the subject. (The personal pronouns are discussed in more detail in section 4.4.) As seen in table 16, the perfective form of the verb is identical to the stem form.

88 Table 16. Examples of finite verb forms

Singular Plural 1 /ɲɪ kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ /waj kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ 2 /maj kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ /jej kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ 3 /ɟoj kʊ̄ɾʊ́/ /boj kʊ̄ɾʊ́/

The same principle applies to all verbs, with specific exceptions discussed in section 4.6.1 and

4.6.2.

Because verbs are not marked to agree with their subjects, this means that initially it may be unclear whether a descriptive word following a noun should be classed as a verb or an adjective. In these cases, a simple test was used to determine whether a lexeme is a verb or an adjective. If a word can be reduplicated according to one of the patterns discussed in section

4.5, this indicates that it is a verb. However, if the word has a distinct plural form following the patterns discussed in chapter 3, this indicates that it is an adjective. A secondary criterion used to determine a lexeme’s grammatical category is its word shape, since a word ending with a consonant is less likely to be a verb (since most verbs end with a vowel, as noted in section

4.2).

4.2 Word shapes in verbs

Verbs display less variety than nouns in regard to different word shapes. One of the most prominent aspects of this is that the vast majority of verbs end with a vowel; of approximately

350 verbs in my data, less than thirty end with a consonant (always a sonorant) in their stem form. (All verbs listed here are in the stem form.)

Among monosyllabic verbs, the most common word shape is CV. There are also some examples of CVV and CVC. There are no CVVC examples in verbs.

Verbs of two syllables are the most numerous in the data, especially CV.CV verbs. CVC.CV and CVC.VC verbs are also present. Disyllabic verbs never contain long vowels.

89 There are only a few trisyllabic native verb stems in the data, which are of the shape

CV.CV.CV or CVC.CV.CV. (There are, however, more trisyllabic verbs if Arabic loans are taken into account.)

Table 17 provides an example of each verb word shape.

Table 17. Verb word shapes

Number of Word shape Word Gloss syllables 1 CV /nà/ ‘to give’ CVV /tèè/ ‘to find’ CVC /sōɲ/ ‘to swim’ 2 CV.CV /kà.nɪ̄/ ‘to direct an animal’ CVC.CV /hūl.ɡí/ ‘to mix’ CV.CVC /sɔ̀.ɡɔ̄l/ ‘to crouch’ 3 CV.CV.CV /mɛ̀.ɾɪ̀.ɲɛ̄/ ‘to deny’ CVC.CV.CV /tūŋ.ɡō.ló/ ‘to bend over’

Examining the Bolgo Kubar data provided by Kastenholz (2017), it is apparent that CVC verbs are much more common in that dialect. Some of these CVC Bolgo Kubar verb stems end in a stop, especially /b/ or /ɡ/, which is normally not possible for Bolgo Dugag verb stems. The corresponding Bolgo Dugag verbs in my data end in vowels; a few examples are shown in (108) for comparison. Bolgo Kubar words are taken from Kastenholz (2017).29

29 I retain Kastenholz’ (2017) transcriptions, which use for IPA /j/ that is used in my transcriptions.

90 Bolgo Bolgo Gloss (108) Kubar Dugag

(a) /ɽi᷅b/ /ɽìbē/ ‘to be lost’

(b) /léb/ /lèbē/ ‘to lick’

(d) /tɔb/ /tōbá/ ‘to spit’

(e) /teɡ/ /tɛ̀ɡɛ̄/ ‘to build’

(f) /yàɡ/ /jàɡā/ ‘to leave, to divorce’

(g) /ɾeɡ/ /ɾɪ̀ɡɪ̄/ ‘to trick’ However, there are also numerous examples in the data of CVC Bolgo Kubar verbs that end in sonorant consonants that are generally quite acceptable word-final consonants in Bolgo Dugag, but in which the corresponding Bolgo Dugag verb also has a final vowel. Many of these involve

Bolgo Kubar word-final liquids, but there are also a few pairs containing a word-final nasal or glide. Some examples are shown in (109). Again, Bolgo Kubar words are from Kastenholz

(2017). Bolgo Bolgo Gloss (109) Kubar Dugag

(a) /yēl/ /jēlé/ ‘to bury, to dig’

(b) /ōl/ /ōló/ ‘to see’

(d) /tɛ́ɾ/ /tɛ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to buy’ (also ‘to sell’ in B.K.)

(e) /mǎn/ /māná/ ‘to be tired’

(f) /tum/ /tùmō/ ‘to send’

(g) /sāy/ /kāya/ ‘to destroy’ Although these verbs have two syllables in Bolgo Dugag, there are a few ways in which Bolgo

Dugag does seem to place more importance on the first vowel in the verb and less importance on the second vowel; these will be discussed below in sections 4.3 and 4.4.

91 In terms of the historical development of the differences between Bolgo Kubar and Bolgo

Dugag verbs, the two possibilities are either that Bolgo Kubar has dropped the final vowels, or that Bolgo Dugag has added them. I find it more likely that Bolgo Kubar has dropped them, since the final vowel of the verbs in (108) and (109) is not always predictable based on the first vowel in the verb.

4.3 Tone in verbs

There is generally less variety in tone patterns in verbs than in nouns. In monosyllabic verbs there are two level tones, L and M. Examples are shown in table 18. (All examples in this section are in the stem form.)

Table 18. Tone patterns in monosyllabic verbs

Pattern CV CVC CVV M /ɲī/ /sōɲ/ ‘to drink’ ‘to swim’ L /ɟà/ /sɛ̀l/ /tèè/ ‘to go’ ‘to steal’ ‘to find’ There is one example in the data of a minimal pair for tone in monosyllabic verbs (110).

(110) /bɛ̄/ ‘to harvest’ /bɛ̀/ ‘to rest’ In verbs of two syllables, there are two tone patterns, both rising. These patterns, MH and LM, can be seen to correspond to the L and M patterns found in monosyllabic verbs if one notes that the rises begin with M and L, respectively. Table 19 shows examples of the MH and LM patterns.

Table 19. Tone patterns in disyllabic verbs

Pattern CVCV CVCVC CVCCV MH /tɛ̄ɾɪ́/ /dɪ̄ɾɪ́l/ /sɛ̄ɾtɪ́/ ‘to buy’ ‘to climb’ ‘to be slippery’ LM /nùmō/ /sɔ̀ɡɔ̄l/ /bùndō/ ‘to bite, to sting’ ‘to crouch’ ‘to be heavy’ In section 4.2, it was noted that there are sometimes vowels at the end of Bolgo Dugag CVCV verbs that are not present in the corresponding Bolgo Kubar CVC verbs. Looking at the verb

92 tone patterns in Bolgo Dugag, one might speculate that this is related to why the vowel in the initial syllable is selected to determine the tone pattern. Perhaps the language somehow considers the first vowel of the verb to be stronger or more prominent, and the second vowel to be weaker or less prominent.

There are several minimal pairs for tone among disyllabic verbs (111).

(111) (a) /tāɾá/ ‘to want’ /tàɾā/ ‘to forget’

(b) /jɛ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to sew, to attach’ /jɛ̀ɾɪ̄/ ‘to run’

(d) /bɪ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to ask, to borrow’ /bɪ̀ɾɪ̄/ ‘to insult’

(e) /hūɾí/ ‘to return’ /hùɾī/ ‘to cover’

(f0 /tōlá/ ‘to carry on head or /tòlā/ ‘to pray’ shoulders’ There are only a few trisyllabic verbs in the data that are possibly monomorphemic. Among them, there is a MMH pattern and a LLM pattern, which correspond to the M and L patterns in the monosyllabic verbs and the MH and LM patterns in disyllabic verbs.

Table 20. Tone patterns in trisyllabic verbs

Pattern CVCVCV CVCCVCV MMH /tūŋɡōló/ ‘to bend over’ LLM /mɛ̀ɾɪ̀ɲɛ̄/ /jɛ̀ŋɡɛ̀ɾɛ̄/ ‘to deny’ ‘to separate’ I did not find any minimal pairs for tone among trisyllabic verbs.

4.4 Subject pronouns and pronominal suffixes

Table 21 below lists the subject pronouns. No evidence was found for a distinction between first person plural exclusive and inclusive forms, a distinction that exists in many other Chadian languages. Additionally, in the 3SG form the same pronoun is used for ‘he’, ‘she’, and ‘it’. Thus, Bolgo has six personal pronouns in total.

93 For each pronoun there is a full form of the pronoun of the word shape CVC, which is pronounced in isolation. However, when the pronouns are said in a sentence, speakers often drop the final consonant of the pronoun (however, this is optional, as speakers state that the full form may also be used). Dropping the final consonant is especially common with the 1SG form, which is usually found in the short form /ɲɪ/ as the subject in sentences. Table 21 lists both the full and short forms of each pronoun.

Table 21. Subject pronouns

Singular Plural 1 /ɲɪŋ/ ~ /ɲɪ/ /waj/ ~ /wa/ 2 /maj/ ~ /ma/ /jej/ ~ /je/ 3 /ɟoj/ ~ /ɟo/ /boj/ ~ /bo/

The full forms30 also function as possessive pronouns when they are placed before the possessed noun within the noun phrase, for example /ɲɪŋ bāā/ ‘my child’, /maj bāā/ ‘your (SG) child’, etc.

Objects are expressed with verbal suffixes.31 The pronominal suffixes are related to the subject pronoun forms, with most of them consisting of a consonant found in the subject pronoun. The exception is the 3SG suffix, which is the vowel /-a/. In certain environments the

3SG suffix also surfaces as a mid vowel, or not at all (as explained below).

30 I asked if the short forms could also be used as possessive pronouns. My Bolgo Dugag and Koke language consultants said that the Bolgo Kubar use the short forms as possessive pronouns, but the Bolgo Dugag and Koke use the full forms for this. (I did not have the opportunity to discuss this topic directly with a Bolgo Kubar speaker.) It seems that some other variants of these possessives also exist, because my Bolgo Dugag speaker reported that the 1SG forms /ɪŋ/ and /aŋ/, the 2SG form /mam/, the 2PL form /aj/, and the 3PL form /bob/ are also acceptable variants of these possessive pronouns. These variants cannot be used as subject pronouns, however. 31 These suffixes are not used with the perfective form of the verb when a full noun phrase object is present. However, they are obligatory with the imperfective (i.e., reduplicated) form of the verb, even when a full noun phase object is present. They are therefore analyzed as suffixes rather than pronominal clitics. See also section 4.5.

94 Table 22. Pronominal suffixes

Singular Plural 1 /-ŋ/ /-w/ 2 /-m/ /-j/ 3 /-a/ /-b/

For the five suffixes consisting of a consonant, if the verb stem ends with a vowel, the suffix simply attaches at the end. Examples of each of these five suffixes attaching to a verb are shown in (112). If the verb ends with a consonant, the vowel of the stem is copied to be inserted epenthetically before the suffix, as in (112e) below. The following are examples of different verbs taking the consonant pronominal suffixes. Person Suffix Verb stem Stem + suffix Gloss of stem (112)

(a) 1SG /-ŋ/ /tèè/ [teeŋ] ‘to find’

(b) 2SG /-m/ /tɔ̄ɾɪ́/ [tɔɾɪm] ‘to love’

(d) 2PL /-j/ /ōló/ [olij] ‘to see’

(e) 3PL /-b/ /sɛ̀l/ [sɛlɛb] ‘to steal’ (For the 2PL suffix, if the vowel before the suffix is a back vowel, this vowel changes to [i] or

[ɪ] according to the ATR value of other vowels in the stem.)

For the 3SG suffix /-a/, the situation is a bit more complex. If the verb ends with a consonant, the suffix simply attaches to the end. If the verb stem ends with a vowel, the final vowel is deleted to form the stem to which the suffix attaches. Bolgo evidently wishes to avoid the final stem vowel and the suffix vowel together in hiatus, and elides the final stem vowel in these contexts (with specific exceptions, which are shown later in this section). Example (113) illustrates the elision of the final vowel of the stem, using the verb /tɪ̄ɡɪ́/ ‘to trap, to discover’ plus the 3SG suffix.

(113) /tɪ̄ɡɪ́/ + /-a/ → [tɪɡa] trap 3SG.OBJ

95 In (113), we see that the final /ɪ/ of the stem has been elided in the final form, so that the 3SG suffix vowel /a/ is the only vowel in the final syllable.

The elision of the second vowel of disyllabic verb stems may indicate that it is less prominent, as mentioned in sections 4.2 and 4.3. It could also be related to the more general principle of languages preserving material that is more phonetically salient (Casali 1997: 494).

Word-initial segments are more important for listener word recognition than segments later in the word, and thus the absence of the latter often does not impede recognition of the stem

(502). Also from the point of view of the listener, it is easier to recognize that the object suffix is there if it remains segmentally present (506-507). Thus, the elision of the final vowel of the stem, rather than elision of the suffix vowel, makes sense from this standpoint. Casali writes that in many cases where a stem vowel is elided before a suffix vowel, the suffix is /-V/, or made up of only a single vowel (506). This is exactly what we observe here with the 3SG suffix.

The default form of the 3SG suffix is /-a/. However, it regularly assimilates in frontness or roundness to the preceding vowel of the verb stem, thereby surfacing as a mid vowel. The examples in (114) show the most common pattern in which this occurs. Penultimate Stem Stem + Surface Gloss of stem (114) stem vowel 3SG suffix form

(a) /a/ /kāŋɡɪ́/ /kāŋɡɪ́-a/ [kaŋɡa] ‘to mix’

(b) /o/ or /ɔ/ /tɔ̄ɾɪ́/ /tɔ̄ɾɪ́-a/ [tɔɾɔ] ‘to love’

(d) /e/ or /ɛ/ /jɛ̄ɾɪ́/ /jɛ̄ɾɪ́-a/ [jɛɾɛ] ‘to sew, to attach’

(e) /i/ or /ɪ/ /dɪ̄lɡɪ́/ /dɪ̄lɡɪ́-a/ [dɪlɡa] ‘to tickle’ If the penultimate stem vowel is /a/, the 3SG suffix surfaces as [-a], as in example (114a). If the stem vowel is a mid or high back vowel /o/, /ɔ/, /u/, or /ʊ/, the suffix surfaces in the form

[-o] or [-ɔ] according to the ATR value of the stem vowel, as in (114b) and (114c) above. If the stem vowel is a mid front vowel /e/ or /ɛ/, the suffix surfaces as [-e] or as [-ɛ], as in (114d)

96 above. However, if the stem vowel is a high front vowel /i/ or /ɪ/, the suffix most commonly surfaces as [-a] rather than as a mid vowel, as in (114e) above.

While the examples above represent the most common patterns in which the 3SG suffix surfaces, it seems that the assimilated forms of the suffix are actually in free variation with the unassimilated [-a]. Examples of this free variation are shown in (115). In the variant forms, the more common form adhering to the pattern described above is given first, followed by the other acceptable form. Penultimate Stem Stem + Surface form Gloss of (115) stem vowel 3SG suffix stem

(a) /o/ or /ɔ/ /ɾōkí/ /ɾōkí-a/ [ɾoko] ~ [ɾoka] ‘to give medicine’

(b) /u/ or /ʊ/ /hūlɡí/ /hūlɡí-a/ [hulɡo] ~ [hulɡa] ‘to stir’

(d) /i/ or /ɪ/ /bɪ̀ɾɪ̄/ /bɪ̀ɾɪ̄-a/ [bɪɾa] ~ [bɪɾɛ] ‘to insult’ I noticed this variation with certain forms given by speakers that did not conform to the main

3SG surfacing pattern shown above in (114). When I asked them about this, they said that both pronunciations of the word were acceptable. I also tried eliciting both forms with other verbs, and in those cases they also said both pronunciations were acceptable. While I did not test both variants with every verb in the data, based on the frequency of the variants in my current data, one may conclude that either a mid vowel allophone or [-a] are acceptable after a mid vowel or a high vowel in the stem. However, the mid vowel allophone is typically preferred, except after /i/ or /ɪ/, where [-a] is preferred.

An exception to the common 3SG surfacing tendencies is if the stem ends with /a/. In this case, the 3SG suffix surfaces as [-a] instead of another mid vowel (as per the typical pattern).

Therefore, the suffixed form of the verb is segmentally identical to the stem. Some examples are shown in (116).

97 Stem Stem + Gloss of stem (116) 3SG suffix

(a) /hòbā/ [hoba] ‘to hide’

(b) /hēná/ [hena] ‘to give someone condolences’

(c) /sɔ̀ŋɡā/ [sɔŋɡa] ‘to grill’ I have not carried out a study of grammatical tone, and thus have not marked tone on the forms with the 3SG suffix.

Another exception is if the final vowel of a CVCV stem is /e/ or /ɛ/, as shown in (117). In this case, the 3SG suffix surfaces as [-e] or [-ɛ] rather than as [-a] after the stem vowels /a/,

/i/, and /ɪ/ (as per the typical pattern). Stem Stem + Gloss of stem (117) 3SG suffix

(a) /lālé/ [lale] ‘to hurt’

(b) /mɪ̀lɛ̄/ [mɪlɛ] ‘to swallow’

(c) /ɲìlē/ [ɲile] ‘to push’ When a verb is of the word shape CV or CVV, the 3SG suffix does not surface segmentally at all. Thus, the finite verb with the object suffix always surfaces in a form that is segmentally identical to the stem, as in (118).

(118) (a) /ɟoj tɔ̄-a/ → [ɟoj tɔ] 3SG.SBJ take-3SG.OBJ

‘He takes it.’

(b) /ɟoj dù-a/ → [ɟoj du] 3SG.SBJ throw-3SG.OBJ

‘He throws it.’

Note that in this vowel hiatus context, the opposite elision pattern occurs: it is the vowel of the suffix that is elided rather than the final vowel of the stem, as we observed in previous

98 examples. Because these CV and CVV verb stems are shorter, Casali (1997: 506-507) suggests that the loss of the stem vowel(s) would likely constitute the loss of too many word-initial segments, to the point that it would impede the listener’s ability to recognize the stem. Thus, the suffix vowel must be elided instead, despite the fact that its loss may place more of a burden on the listener to recognize that the verb has an object.

The same pronominal suffixes are used for direct objects, indirect objects, and benefactives. Some examples are shown in (119). For indirect objects or benefactives, the dative marker /dɪ/ often follows the suffix, though it is often omitted with common verbs such as /nà/ ‘to give’ and /tùmō/ ‘to send’.

(119) (a) ɟoj ōló-ŋ 3SG.SBJ see-1SG.OBJ ‘He sees me.’

(b) boj nà-ŋ ɲól 3PL.SBJ give-1SG.OBJ honey

‘They are giving me some honey.’

(d) sāw kājá-ŋ dɪ ɾa ɲíl dog destroy-1SG.OBJ DAT already broom ‘The dog destroyed my broom.’

Note that in example (119d) above, the 1SG suffix has a dative or indirect object role, here in combination with the dative marker. This sort of construction may help us make sense of another type of construction in the language related to auxiliary verbs, which will be discussed in sections 4.6.1 and 4.6.2 below.

99 4.5 Reduplication in verbs

A morphological operation that affects the Bolgo verb is the formation of the imperfective aspect by means of reduplication. This shows the basic dichotomy in finite verb forms between perfective aspect, which uses the bare or unmarked form of the verb, and imperfective aspect, which uses the reduplicated form. (More details about the types of reduplication and their formation will be discussed in sections 4.5.1 and 4.5.2.) Imperfective forms are not specific to tense; the action may be occurring before, at, or after the time of utterance.

For most verbs, the imperfective form, as marked by reduplication in Bolgo, signifies that an action continues over a period of time, or else is in progress. The sentences in (120) show how the presence or absence of reduplication changes the meaning of the verb. (Following the

Leipzig glossing rules, I separate reduplicate morphemes with the tilde symbol ~ in the examples.)

(120) (a) boj jālá 3PL.SBJ dance

‘They dance.’ or ‘They danced.’

(b) boj jā~jālá 3PL.SBJ IPFV.INTR~dance

‘They are dancing.’ or ‘They were dancing.’

For a verb that expresses a punctual action, the imperfective reduplicated form signifies that the action is repeated, as in example (121); thus we understand that the action is not a simple one, but rather is complex. (Example (121b) contains a direct object suffix in the reduplicated form; this structure will be explained in section 4.5.2.)

(121) (a) ɟoj ēlé-ŋ 3SG.SBJ hit-1SG.OBJ ‘He hit me once.’ (i.e., one blow)

(b) ɟoj ēlé-ŋ~ēlé 3SG.SBJ IPFV.TR-1SG.OBJ~hit ‘He hit me repeatedly.’ (i.e., multiple blows)

100 The verb itself does not specify the time at which the action takes place. Time adverbials can be added for clarification if the pragmatics of the situation is not enough, and there is also an auxiliary verb which combines with the reduplicated form to express irrealis and often indicates future time (see sections 4.6.1 and 4.6.2).

4.5.1 Partial reduplication

In Bolgo, there are two types of reduplication patterns depending on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive in the sentence. Intransitive verbs undergo partial reduplication, while transitive verbs undergo full reduplication. Thus, if it is uncertain whether a verb is transitive or intransitive, it is helpful to test how it reduplicates.

For intransitive verbs, the reduplicant comes before the base and is made up of the onset and nucleus of the first syllable of the base, regardless of the length or word shape of the base.

Several examples of this are shown in (122). Verb stem Form with partial Gloss of stem (122) reduplication

(a) /kè/ /kè~kè/ ‘to cry’

(b) /tʊ̄má/ /tʊ̄~tʊ̄má/ ‘to work’

(d) /hīɡí/ /hī~hīɡí/ ‘to bark (dog)’

(e) /sɔ̀ɡɔ̄l/ /sɔ̀~sɔ̀ɡɔ̄l/ ‘to crouch’

(f) /mɛ̀ɾɪ̀ɲɛ̄/ /mɛ̀~mɛ̀ɾɪ̀ɲɛ̄/ ‘to deny’ The template for the reduplicant is of the form CV, and always selects the first consonant and vowel of the base to fill these slots. Figures 7, 8, and 9 illustrate the process using an autosegmental representation. I follow the model proposed by Marantz (1982), which fits the

Bolgo data well, with the template CV for the reduplicant in partial reduplication.

Figure 7 shows the process for the verb /kèrē/ ‘to crawl’. In the first panel, the segments of the stem are associated with the slots of the skeletal tier, and the reduplicant template (as yet unfilled) is connected by a hyphen. In the second panel, the entire segmental tier of the base is

101 copied. In the third panel, the reduplicant CV skeletal slots map to as many segments in the copy as possible, with the C-slot mapping with one consonant and the V-slot mapping with one vowel. Any segments that have not been associated to a slot in the skeletal tier will be deleted by Stray Erasure. This is the fate of /ɾ/ and /e/ of the copied segments, as we see in the fourth panel. The final result is thus /kè~kèɾē/.

Figure 7. Partial reduplication with CVCV verb CV tier C V - C V C V C V - C V C V C V - C V C V C V - C V C V

Segmental tier k e ɾ e k e ɾ e k e ɾ e k e ɾ e k e ɾ e k e k e ɾ e Because the partial reduplication template is CV, this means that if the verb is of the word shape CVC, CVCCV, or CVCCVCV, the consonant in the coda of the first syllable of the base will not be included in the reduplicant. Several examples of this are shown in (123). Verb stem Form with partial Gloss of stem (123) reduplication

(a) /sùm/ /sù~sùm/ ‘to fast’

(b) /ɡɛ̄ɾɡɪ́/ /ɡɛ̄~ɡɛ̄ɾɡɪ́/ ‘to tremble’

(d) /bùndō/ /bù~bùndō/ ‘to be heavy’

(e) /tūŋɡōló/ /tū~tūŋɡōló/ ‘to bend over’ Figure 8 below shows the CVCCV verb /sɛ̄ɾtɪ́/ ‘to be slippery’ undergoing partial reduplication to yield the form /sɛ̄~sɛ̄ɾtɪ́/. Because the reduplication template is CV, only the onset and nucleus of the first syllable are present in the reduplicant.

Figure 8. Partial reduplication with CVCCV verb CV tier C V - C V C C V C V - C V C C V C V - C V C C V C V - C V C C V

Segmental tier s ɛ ɾ t ɪ s ɛ ɾ t ɪ s ɛ ɾ t ɪ s ɛ ɾ t ɪ s ɛ ɾ t ɪ s ɛ s ɛ ɾ t ɪ Because the CV template requires that the reduplicant have an onset, if the verb begins with a phonetic glottal stop, the glottal stop is copied over into the reduplicant. (In my analysis,

102 glottal stops do not have phonemic status; see also section 2.1.1.) The fact that the phonetic glottal stop onset is available for the CV template to copy indicates that the glottal stop is inserted earlier in the phonology before the reduplication process begins. The resulting reduplicated form has a glottal stop occurring between two vowels, which otherwise does not happen in Bolgo. Some examples of this are shown in (124), with both phonemic and phonetic transcriptions. Verb stem Verb stem Partial redup. Partial redup. Gloss of stem (124) phonemic phonetic phonemic phonetic

(a) /ɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ [ʔɔ̀ɾɔ̄] /ɔ̀~ɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ [ʔɔ̀~ʔɔ̀ɾɔ̄] ‘to cough’

(b) /ībí/ [ʔībí] /ī~ībí/ [ʔī~ʔībí] ‘to rise, to fly’

(c) /ʊ̄nɟɪ́/ [ʔʊ̄nɟɪ́] /ʊ̄~ʊ̄nɟɪ́/ [ʔʊ̄~ʔʊ̄nɟɪ́] ‘to descend’ Figure 9 illustrates the partial reduplication process with the verb /àɾɪ̄/, or [ʔàɾɪ̄], ‘to be poor’.

The first panel shows the phonemic VCV stem; in the second panel, the glottal stop onset is inserted. Thus, when the partial reduplication template is applied to the stem in the third panel, the glottal stop is copied with the rest of the segmental base in the fourth panel and is therefore available to map with the C-slot of the reduplicant CV skeletal slots in the fifth panel.

This yields the form [ʔà~ʔàɾɪ̄] in the final panel.

Figure 9. Partial reduplication with glottal stop onset CV V C V C V C V C V - C V C V C V - C V C V C V - C V C V C V - C V C V tier

Seg. tier a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ɾ ɪ ʔ a ʔ a ɾ ɪ

103 4.5.2 Full reduplication

Transitive verbs undergo full reduplication, meaning that the entire verb stem is copied

(including again a phonetic glottal stop onset if there is one).32 An object suffix is obligatorily included in the reduplicated form of transitive verbs, whether a full nominal object follows or not. The object suffix attaches to the end of the reduplicant, and is then followed by the base.

Some examples of fully reduplicated verbs are shown in (125), all with the 3PL object suffix /-b/. Stem Form with full Gloss of stem (125) reduplication

(a) /dù/ /dù-b~dù/ ‘to throw’

(b) /ɛ̄lɛ́/ /ɛ̄lɛ́-b~ɛ̄lɛ́/ ‘to wait for someone’

(d) /tɔ̄ɾɪ́/ /tɔ̄ɾɪ́-b~tɔ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to love’

(e) /sɔ̀ŋɡā/ /sɔ̀ŋɡā-b~sɔ̀ŋɡā/ ‘to grill’

(f) /ɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́/ /ɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́-b~ɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́/ ‘to slice’ If the object of the sentence is a noun phrase instead of a pronoun, the noun phrase follows the base; however the reduplicated form must also contain the object suffix in either singular or plural depending on the number of the object, as in (126).

(126) (a) bɪ̀w ās-a~āsɪ́ wìjē

āsɪ́-a~āsɪ́ soldier IPFV.TR-3SG.OBJ~guard man ‘The soldier is guarding the man.’

32 Since the entire verb is copied, it is not as clear with this type of reduplication as to whether the reduplicant or the base comes first. In the examples below, I treat the reduplicant as coming before the base, as it does with the partially reduplicated verbs.

104 (b) bɪ̀w āsɪ́-b~āsɪ́ bìjōw soldier IPFV.TR-3PL.OBJ~guard men ‘The soldier is guarding the men.’

Certain verbs can be reduplicated in both the partial and full patterns according to whether or not the verb is being used transitively in the sentence. Some examples of this can be seen in the pairs of sentences in (127) through (131) below. Sometimes the type of reduplication also indicates the contrast between a reflexive (128) or reciprocal (129) meaning in the partially reduplicated form and a transitive meaning in the fully reduplicated form.

(127) (a) sāw hà~hàɾī dog IPFV.INTR~follow

‘The dog is following.’

(b) sāw hàɾ-a~hàɾɪ̄ wìjē

hàɾɪ̄-a~hàɾɪ̄ dog IPFV.TR-3SG.OBJ~follow man ‘The dog is following the man.’

(128) (a) ɟoj bū~būɡó 3SG.SBJ IPFV.INTR~wash.face ‘He is washing his (own) face.’

(b) ɟoj būɡ-o~būɡó

būɡó-a~būɡó 3SG.SBJ IPFV.TR-3SG.OBJ~wash.face

‘He is washing his (someone else’s) face.’

(129) (a) boj nʊ̄~nʊ̄ŋɡá 3PL.SBJ IPFV.INTR~fight

‘They are fighting each other.’

(b) boj nʊ̄ŋɡá-b~nʊ̄ŋɡá 3PL.SBJ IPFV.TR-3PL.OBJ~fight ‘They are fighting them.’

105 (130) (a) ōbál hò~hòbā boy IPFV.INTR~hide ‘The boy is hiding.’

(b) ōbál hòb-a~hòbā bāālá

hòbā-a~hòbā boy IPFV.TR-3SG.OBJ~hide arrow

‘The boy is hiding the arrow.’

(131) (a) ɲɪ lā~lālé 1SG.SBJ IPFV.INTR~hurt ‘I am in pain.’ OR ‘I am sad.’

(b) súl lālé-ŋ~lālé head IPFV.TR-1SG.OBJ~hurt ‘My head hurts.’ (lit. ‘The head is hurting me.’)

4.6 Auxiliary verbs and verbal particles

Apart from reduplication, Bolgo has a number of auxiliary verbs and verbal particles that are closely associated with the verb. The auxiliary verbs precede the main verb of the sentence, and are of two types: 1) auxiliaries that indicate modal distinctions (4.6.1), and 2) verbs of motion that are also used as auxiliary verbs (4.6.2). The verbal particles (4.6.3) have an adverbial function.

An interesting feature of the auxiliaries is that they obligatorily take pronominal suffixes

(as presented in 4.4) that are co-referential with the subject. The structure of these sentences is discussed at the end of section 4.6.2 after the two types of auxiliaries are presented.

4.6.1 Mood auxiliaries

There are three auxiliaries that indicate different types of moods: irrealis /ka/, conditional

/na/, and deontic /di/. With both mood auxiliaries and motion verb auxiliaries, the independent subject pronoun is often omitted from the sentence. However, speakers state that

106 it may be optionally included as well. If there is a pronominal object in the sentence, it appears as a suffix on the main verb. This can be seen among the examples below.

The most frequently used mood auxiliary is the irrealis /ka/. A few examples are shown in

(132). Although the free translations use the English future, I label /ka/ as the irrealis mood rather than the future tense because other auxiliaries with a similar structure (as seen below in this section) are also used to indicate mood. Note the presence of the pronominal suffixes on the auxiliaries: the 1SG suffix /-ŋ/ in (132a) and the 3PL suffix /-b/ in (132b).

(132) (a) ɲɪ ka-ŋ ɟōɡó-b 1SG.SBJ IRR-1SG.OBJ call-3PL.OBJ ‘I will call them.’

(b) bìjōw ka-b ɟà wɛ̀ɛ̀l dɔ men IRR-3PL.OBJ go field to

‘The men will go to the field.’

The auxiliary /na/ functions as a conditional (133).

(133) (a) na-ŋ ɟà suk dɔ ka-ŋ tɛ̄ɾɪ́ ɲām COND-1SG.OBJ go market to IRR-1SG.OBJ buy meat ‘If I go to the market, I will buy meat.’

(b) áá na bòɾī sààl bēēnī ka-b li

na-a lì-a woman COND-3SG.OBJ prepare boule children IRR-3PL.OBJ eat-3SG.OBJ ‘If the woman prepares boule, the children will eat it.’

The auxiliary /di/ is used to instruct someone as to what they must or should do. I label this construction the deontic mood. Note that this is not the same construction as the regular imperative, in which the verb appears identical to the stem form (with the addition of an object suffix if necessary). Some examples of the imperative are shown in (134).

(134) (a) ɟà wɛ̀ɛ̀l dɔ go field to

‘Go to the field.’

107 (b) nà-ŋ ɽím give-1SG.OBJ water ‘Give me some water.’

The imperative is what is normally used when a speaker is giving a command or request.

However, if the speaker is giving instructions or advice, or discussing an obligation, he or she may use the deontic /di/ instead of the imperative. This is perhaps comparable to adding must or should to an English sentence, or to giving instructions in a non-imperative form (e.g., You go to the corner and turn left.). Some examples with /di/ are shown in (135).

(135) (a) di-ŋ ɟà wɛ̀ɛ̀l dɔ DEO-1SG.OBJ go field to

‘I must/should go to the field.’

(b) maj di-m tɛ̄ɾɪ́-b 2SG.SBJ DEO-2SG.OBJ buy-3PL.OBJ ‘You must/should buy them.’

Mood auxiliaries may also be used in combination with reduplication, which indicates imperfective aspect (136).

(136) (a) áá ka hɛ̀ŋɡ-ɛ~hɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄

ka-a hɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄-a~hɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄ woman IRR-3SG.OBJ IPFV.INTR-3SG.OBJ~look.for ‘The woman will look for it.’

(b) ɲɪ ka-ŋ ɛ̄lɛ́-j~ɛ̄lɛ́ 1SG.SBJ IRR-1SG.OBJ IPFV.TR-2PL.OBJ~wait

‘I will wait for you (PL).’

4.6.2 Motion verb auxiliaries

The motion verb auxiliaries include three verbs of motion: /ɟà/ ‘to go’, /wɪ̀/ ‘to come’, and

/ībí/ ‘to rise’. These verbs are used as auxiliaries when the motion itself is not the main notion of the sentence, but rather the motion is performed in order to accomplish the purpose of the main verb. It is important to note that when these motion verbs are used as the main verb in a

108 sentence, they do not take any suffixation and simply appear identical to the stem form as normal. However, when they are used as auxiliaries before another main verb, they must take a person suffix. Like the mood auxiliaries, they often occur without an overt subject pronoun; however, speakers state that the subject pronoun may also be included.

Some sentences with motion verb auxiliaries are shown in (137).

(137) (a) ɟà-w tɛ̄ɾɪ́-b go-1PL.OBJ buy-3PL.OBJ

‘We are going to buy them.’

(b) wɪ̀-b lì sààl come-3PL.OBJ eat boule

‘They are coming to eat boule.’

It is possible for both a mood auxiliary and a motion verb auxiliary to occur in the same sentence, as in (138). In this case, the mood auxiliary comes first, and both auxiliaries receive the pronominal suffix.

(138) (a) di-m ɟà-m bɪ̄ɾɪ́ maj bìnē DEO-2SG.OBJ go-2SG.OBJ ask 2SG.POSS brother ‘You (SG) must/should go ask your brother.’

(b) ka-ŋ ɟà-ŋ kēlé ɽím IRR-1SG.OBJ go-1SG.OBJ draw water

‘I will go draw some water.’

Motion verb auxiliaries may also occur in the same sentence with reduplicated verbs, which indicate imperfective aspect (139).

(139) (a) ɟà-w lèɡā-b~lèɡā go-1PL.OBJ IPFV.TR-3PL.OBJ~wash ‘We are going to wash them.’

109 (b) bìjōw wɪ̀-b nʊ̄ŋɡá-w~nʊ̄ŋɡá men come-3PL.OBJ IPFV.TR-1PL.OBJ~fight ‘The men came to fight us.’

The question of why the mood and motion verb auxiliaries should take pronominal suffixes that otherwise cross-reference the object is an interesting one. Without delving too extensively into syntactic issues beyond the scope of this thesis, I will briefly propose an explanation.

We have seen in section 4.4 that the pronominal suffixes can be used for functions other than direct objects. For example, let us examine this sentence again:

(140) sāw kājá-ŋ dɪ ɾa ɲíl dog destroy-1SG.OBJ DAT already broom

‘The dog destroyed my broom.’

In this sentence, the 1SG object suffix is serving as more of a dative or indirect object, and the direct object of the verb is /ɲíl/ ‘broom’, which comes later in the sentence. Here, the dative marker /dɪ/ is present after the 1SG suffix. However, we have also seen that speakers may omit the dative marker in certain situations where it would commonly occur, such as with the verbs

/nà/ ‘to give’ and /tùmō/ ‘to send’. In light of this, could it be possible that the suffixes on the auxiliary verbs are in fact serving a type of dative or indirect object function?

Let us re-examine a few sentences from above that contain motion verb auxiliaries. For each sentence in (141), under the free translation I have added a second speculative translation reflecting the possibility these are in fact dative or indirect object structures.

(141) (a) ɟà-w tɛ̄ɾɪ́-b go-1PL.OBJ buy-3PL.OBJ

‘We are going to buy them.’

? ‘There is a going affecting us, in order to buy them.’

(b) wɪ̀-b lì sààl come-3PL.OBJ eat boule ‘They are coming to eat boule.’

? ‘There is a coming affecting them, in order to eat boule.’

110 If these speculative translations are nearer to the underlying structure, this would mean that each sentence actually contains two clauses: one clause with the motion verb in which the agent is expressed as a suffix, and a second “purpose clause” with the main verb. It is difficult to create similar translations for the mood auxiliaries because they do not exist as verbs elsewhere in the language and are thus more abstract; presumably sentences containing them would have a similar structure.

If these types of sentences contain two clauses, it is perhaps not appropriate to use the term “auxiliary” for these verbs at all. For the sake of consistency, I continue to call them auxiliary verbs rather than adopting a different term. More research involving sentences of this type might provide more insight into their syntactic structure and clarify what the best label for these verbs might be.

4.6.3 Verbal particles

There are two verbal particles that follow the main verb. The most commonly used one is

/ɾa/, which indicates that the action has been completed in the past. It is quite likely that /ɾa/ is an adverb meaning something like ‘already’, ‘past’, or ‘formerly’.

Some sentences with /ɾa/ are shown in (143). If the verb has a noun or noun phrase as its object, /ɾa/ precedes the object (143b). If the verb has an object suffix, /ɾa/ follows the object suffix (143c). If there is the dative marker /dɪ/ following the object suffix, /ɾa/ follows the dative marker (143d).

(143) (a) ɲɪ kʊ̄ɾʊ́ ɾa 1SG.SBJ jump already

‘I jumped.’

(d) ɲɪ bòɾī ɾa sààl 1SG.SBJ prepare already boule

‘I already prepared boule.’

111 (c) ɲɪ ōló-b ɾa 1SG.SBJ see-3PL.OBJ already ‘I saw them.’

(d) sāw kājá-ŋ dɪ ɾa ɲíl dog destroy-1SG.OBJ DAT already broom

‘The dog destroyed my broom.’

The other verbal particle that follows the main verb is /dɔ/, which indicates a present action that is in the process of occurring at the time the speaker is making the utterance. This is most likely the same word as the postposition /dɔ/ ‘in’ or ‘to’, which is used to express location in phrases such as /suk dɔ/ ‘in/to the market’. The particle /dɔ/ occurs in the same word order patterns as /ɾa/. Some examples are shown in (144).

(144) (a) áá hīlé dɔ woman sing in ‘The woman is singing.’

(b) waj lì dɔ sààl 1PL.SBJ eat in boule

‘We are eating boule.’

‘We are waiting for them.’

Unlike auxiliaries that precede the main verb, the particles /ɾa/ and /dɔ/ are not used in combination with a verb in a reduplicated form, which indicates imperfective aspect.

112 CHAPTER 5 CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS THESIS

The purpose of this thesis was to present an overview of Bolgo phonology and morphology, focusing on the Bolgo Dugag dialect. In this section I summarize contributions made by this thesis and provide ideas for additional related research.

This thesis provides valuable sociolinguistic information related to the Bolgo people and the environment in which their language is spoken. The thesis also contains details about the

Bolgo Dugag and Bolgo Kubar dialects, and as well as the related Koke language. For further research related to sociolinguistics, it would be helpful to have an updated sociolinguistic survey focusing on Bolgo Kubar, Bolgo Dugag, and Koke, since the question of whether they should be considered a single language is still unclear. This could also involve research more specifically dedicated to gathering Koke data. It would also be helpful to have a more thorough understanding of phonological differences between Bolgo Dugag, Bolgo Kubar, and Koke.

Due to the relatively small number of speakers and the influence of Chadian Arabic in the region, Bolgo is an endangered language. Thus, the thesis also provides important documentation in this respect. Another useful topic for sociolinguistic research would be a detailed investigation into the degree to which language shift to Chadian Arabic is occurring, both in smaller villages and in larger communities.

The thesis provides an overview of Bolgo phonology, including details about the distribution patterns of different consonants and about ATR vowel harmony. In terms of the

Bolgo phonological system, there are still some phonological curiosities that could be further investigated, such as the phonemic status of the rhotics and the semi-rhinoglottophilic pattern of nasal vowel distribution.

113 The greatest part of my study of nominal morphology concerned the formation of the plural. Along with a variety of suffixes that are used for this purpose, a shift from −ATR vowels in the singular to +ATR vowels in the plural is very common. Bolgo shows a pattern of harmony based on [+ATR] dominance. If either the root or the suffix contains a +ATR vowel, the entire word will harmonize to have only +ATR vowels. If neither the root nor the suffix has a +ATR vowel, the entire word will harmonize containing only −ATR vowels. Within roots, the −ATR vowel /a/ may co-occur with either −ATR or +ATR vowels. In plural forms when /a/ must shift to a +ATR vowel, it becomes /e/.

The synchronic description of the various plural suffixes found in the data could also be helpful for those interested in historical linguistics. My findings about Bolgo plural formation could be further compared to the proposed historical reconstructions for the Bua language family as a whole. My notes about similarities and differences between Bolgo Dugag, Bolgo

Kubar, and Koke may also prove useful.

In the area of verb morphology, it was shown that the central aspectual distinction in

Bolgo is achieved by reduplication. The finite, unreduplicated form of the verb corresponds to a perfective aspect, and the marked imperfective aspect is achieved by either full or partial reduplication depending on if the verb is transitive or intransitive. Thus, the type of reduplication can be used as a test for transitivity. Tense and mood are expressed using verbal particles and auxiliaries.

An interesting area of study related to verbs would be further investigation of the syntactic structure of sentences containing mood auxiliaries and motion verb auxiliaries. Another structure that takes the pronominal suffixes is a possessive structure that may or may not be related to the auxiliary constructions. The forms of this structure can be found in table 23.

114 Table 23. Possessive forms

Singular Plural 1 /abuŋ/ /abuw/ 2 /abum/ /abij/ 3 /aba/ /abub/

These forms are followed by the noun that is possessed and may optionally be preceded by the subject pronoun; for example, /(ɲɪ) abuŋ búsō/ ‘I have a horse’, /(maj) abum búsō/ ‘You (SG) have a horse’, etc. It seems that the pronominal suffixes have a dative function in these sentences, but it is unclear at this point whether the word to which they are attaching is a verb, a preposition, or something else. This structure could also be investigated to see if it is related to the auxiliary constructions.

The thesis is a valuable addition to the initial research done on the Bolgo language by

Kastenholz (2017) and Sauer (2008), especially in terms of focusing on the underdocumented

Bolgo Dugag dialect. My hope is that the topics discussed in this thesis will provide a useful foundation for further linguistic study in Bolgo and the Bua languages. This thesis can also serve as a reference for future projects related to Bolgo language development so that the language community would be best served.

115 APPENDICES

APPENDIX A NOUN DATA: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS

The following pages contain tables of nouns in the data, including singular and plural forms, English and French glosses (the data was originally elicited using French), and any notes about particular lexemes. The lexemes are divided into tables according to their various plural suffixes, following the same order in which the plural suffixes are presented in section 3.4.

Transcriptions are organized alphabetically by lexeme within each table, with +ATR vowels

/e, i, o, u/ preceding their −ATR counterparts /ɛ, ɪ, ɔ, ʊ/ in the alphabetical order.

Additionally, /ɟ/ is found after /j/, /ɽ/ is found after /ɾ/, and /ɲ/ is found after /n/.

If a noun has more than one plural form, it appears in more than one table below, with a note as to what the other plural is.

Loan words can be found in a separate table at the end.

117 Plurals with floating [+ATR] suprafix

Singular Plural English French Notes bālà bēlè ‘devil’ ‘diable’ not clear exactly what spiritual entity this refers to bàɾkā bèɾkē ‘tree trunk’ ‘tronc d’arbre’ dāká dēké ‘cane (for ‘canne walking)’ (pour marcher)’ fànà fènè ‘machete’ ‘machette’ ɡāā ɡēē ‘pied crow’ ‘corbeau- pie’ ɡàblà ɡèblè ‘wing’ ‘aile’ ɡàmbà ɡèmbè ‘chin, ‘menton, beard’ barbe’ ɡʊ̀mbā ɡùmbē ‘monitor ‘varan’ lizard’ haã̄ w̃̄ à heẽ̄ w̃̄ è ‘twin’ ‘jumeau’ jàbā jèbē ‘father’ ‘père’ kāānà kēēnè ‘termite’ ‘termite’ kàllà kèllè ‘drinking ‘gobelet’ cup’ kāŋɡālà kēŋɡēlè ‘mat’ ‘natte’ ɲā ɲē ‘cow’ ‘boeuf’ refers to animal of either sex ɲāɾfāfà ɲēɾfēfè ‘species of ‘oiseau de bird of proie, esp.’ prey’ sīɡdà sīɡdè ‘ostrich’ ‘autruche’ sɪ̄nwà sīnwè ‘visitor’ ‘visiteur’ táálā téélē ‘rock’ ‘pierre’ tɛ́ɛ́lɛ́ téélé ‘side of the ‘côté du body’ corps’ tɪ́mbā tímbē ‘holy man’ ‘prêtre’ also plural /tímbēɾī/ with [-Ri] suffix

118 Plurals with [-ɡi]

Singular Plural English French Notes fàŋɡʊ̄m fèŋɡī ‘shoulder’ ‘épaule’ also plural /fàŋɡʊ̄mɪ̄/ with [-ɪ] suffix ho᷆ɾ hòɾɡì ‘wound’ ‘plaie’ hōɾō hōɾɡī ‘knife’ ‘couteau’ hɔ ̃̄ hȭɡī ‘nose’ ‘nez’ hūū hūūɡī ‘forehead’ ‘front’ kɔ̄ kōɡī ‘small clay ‘petite jar’ jarre en argile’ là lèɡì ‘fire’ ‘feu’ lā lēɡī ‘ground’ ‘terrain’ lū lūɡī ‘village’ ‘village’ mùù mùùɡì ‘mouth’ ‘bouche’ nán néɡí ‘foot’ ‘pied’ níl níɡí ‘tooth’ ‘dent’ also plural /níí/ with [-i] suffix tɛ᷆ɛ᷆ tèèɡì ‘hand’ ‘main’ tò tòɡì ‘ear’ ‘oreille’ tɔ᷆ɔ᷆ tòòɡì ‘house’ ‘maison’

Plurals with [-ti]

Singular Plural English French Notes béɽīl béɾtī ‘male’ ‘mâle’ refers to male animal bíɽīl bíɾtī ‘thumb’ ‘pouce’ dʊ̄bʊ́l dūbtí ‘tail’ ‘queue’ ɡēēlú ɡēētí ‘horn’ ‘corne’ hábɪ̄l hébtī ‘leg’ ‘jambe’ hɛ̄ɾɪ̀l hēɾtì ‘species of ‘poisson, fish’ esp.’ hɔ̄bʊ̀l hōbtì ‘lake’ ‘lac’ hūɾí hūɾtí ‘voice’ ‘voix’ hūɾùl hūɾtì ‘worm’ ‘ver’ ɟɔ̀ɔ̀l ɟòòtì ‘village’ ‘village’ lɛ́ɾɪ̄l léɾtī ‘side of ‘côté de waist’ taille’ māɾtɪ̄w mēɾtī ‘viper’ ‘vipère’ also plural /māɾtɪ̄wɪ̄/ with [-ɪ] suffix ɽībīl ɽībtī ‘toad’ ‘crapaud’ sɛ̀ɾɪ̄l sèɾtī ‘corn’ ‘maïs’

119 Plurals with [-di] and [-dɪ]

Singular Plural English French Notes ʔān ʔādɪ̄ ‘neck’ ‘cou’ bɛ̄l bɛ̄dɪ̄ ‘uterus’ ‘utérus’ bɪ̄l bɪ̄dɪ̄ ‘stone’ ‘pierre’ bōɡól bōɡdí ‘abdomen’ ‘abdomen’ bòòlā bòòdī ‘elephant’ ‘éléphant’ also plural /bùùlī/ in other plural suffixes ʔébīl ʔébdī ‘armpit’ ‘aisselle’ ʔèèl ʔèèdì ‘female’ ‘female’ refers to the female of an animal species hāl hēdī ‘mouse’ ‘souris’ exception plural +ATR hīl hīdī ‘song’ ‘chanson’ hòl hòdì ‘penis’ ‘pénis’ hóól hóódí ‘woven ‘mur en paille straw wall’ tressée’ hɔ̄ɔ̄l hɔ̄ɔ̄dɪ̄ ‘mortar’ ‘mortier’ kɔ̄mbɪ́l kɔ̄mdɪ́ ‘cave’ ‘grotte’ also plural /kɔ̄mbɪ́ɾɪ́/ with [-Rɪ] suffix lél lédí ‘tongue’ ‘langue’ tongue of the body lɔ̀l lɔ̀dɪ̀ ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ máál máádɪ́ ‘tamarind ‘tamarinier’ tree’ mɛ̀ɛ̀l mɛ̀ɛ̀dɪ̀ ‘breast’ ‘sein’ nēēɾī nēēdī ‘heart’ ‘coeur’ ɲāmɪ̄l ɲāmdɪ̄ ‘flower’ ‘fleur’ also plural /ɲāmɪ̄ɾɪ̄/ with [-Rɪ suffix] ɲíl ɲídí ‘broom’ ‘balai’ ʔōl ʔōdi ‘wadi’ ‘wadi’ means a dry riverbed ɽíl ɽídí ‘name’ ‘nom’ ɽòl ɽòdì ‘jackal’ ‘chacal’ ɽúl ɽúdí ‘knee’ ‘genou’ sɛ̄ɡɛ́ɾ sɛ̄ɡɛ́ɾdɪ́ ‘species of ‘poisson, esp.’ fish’ sɔ̄l sɔ̄dɪ̄ ‘vagina’ ‘vagin’ súl súdí ‘head’ ‘tête’ súúl súúdí ‘straw’ ‘paille’ in plural apparently means ‘weeds’ sʊ̀l sʊ̄dɪ̀ ‘rope’ ‘corde’ tél tédí ‘mountain’ ‘montagne’ tūūl tūūdī ‘African ‘petit-duc also plural /tūūɽi/ with [- scops owl’ africain’ Ri] suffix ʔùl ʔùdì ‘road, path’ ‘route, chemin’ ʔul ʔudi ‘death, ‘mort, cadavre’ cadaver’ wɛ̀ɛ̀l wɛ̀ɛ̀dɪ ‘field’ ‘champ’ wɪ᷆l wɪ̀dɪ̀ ‘problem’ ‘problème’

120 Plurals with [-i] and [-ɪ]

Singular Plural English French Notes bɪ̄lɪ́m bīlímí ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ bɪ᷆w bɪ̀wɪ̀ ‘soldier’ ‘soldat’ bōl bōlī ‘piece of ‘vêtement’ clothing’ búsō búsī ‘horse’ ‘cheval’ also plural /búsūɽī/ with [-Ri] suffix bʊ̀ɾnā bùɾnī ‘sorcerer’ ‘sorcier’ dɔ̀mɔ̀ dòmì ‘chin’ ‘menton’ dɔ̄ŋɡɔ̄ dɔ̄ŋɡɪ̄ ‘neck’ ‘nuque’ fàŋɡʊ̄m fàŋɡʊ̄mɪ̄ ‘shoulder’ ‘épaule’ also plural /fèŋɡī/ with [- ɡi] suffix fɛ̄ɾdɛ̀ fēɾdì ‘flute’ ‘flûte’ made out of horn ɡàɾtʊ̄ ɡèɾtī ‘javelin’ ‘javelot’ ɡíl ɡíí ‘eye’ ‘oeil’ ɡɔ̄ŋɡɔ̀ ɡōŋɡì ‘pocket’ ‘poche’ haj̃̃̄ hej̃̃̄ ‘lion’ ‘lion’ hēɾìŋ hēɾìŋì ‘calf’ ‘mollet’ hɛ̄ɛ̄m hɛ̄ɛ̄mɪ̄ ‘animal’ ‘animal’ generic word for any animal húúnō húúnī ‘region, ‘région, country’ pays’ hʊ́lɡʊ̄ hʊ́lɡɪ̄ ‘dove’ ‘colombe’ also plural /hʊ́lɡʊ̄ɾɪ̄/ ʔīsō ʔīsī ‘porc-épic’ ‘porcupine’ ʔɪ̀ɡɪ̄m ʔɪ̀ɡɪ̄mɪ̄ ‘waist’ ‘taille’ ɟán ɟánɪ́ ‘traditional ‘guérisseur healer’ trad.’ ɟʊ̄m ɟūmī ‘vulture’ ‘vautour’ kāmbúsū kēmbísī ‘pagne’ ‘pagne’ a large measure of fabric that can be wrapped around to cover the body or cut up and used to make clothing; possibly this and /ɡēlɡētù/ refer to different types of pagnes kòɡō kòɡī ‘leopard’ ‘panthère’ kōōɾùm kōōɾùmi ‘lion’ ‘lion’ kɔ̀ɔ̀ɡɔ̄ kɔ̀ɔ̀ɡɪ̄ ‘mat’ ‘natte’ kɔ̀ɾɡɔ̄ kɔ̀ɾɡɪ̄ ‘planting ‘outil pour tool’ semer’ kūɾúm kūɾúmí ‘type of ‘trois caisses’ type of drum that has drum’ three drums kūūbū kūūbī ‘piece of ‘vêtement’ clothing’ kʊ̄lʊ̀m kʊ̄lɪ̀ ‘lemon’ ‘citron’ unusual for loss of root material in plural

121 lāŋɡʊ̀m lēŋɡùmì ‘species of ‘lézard, esp.’ lizard’ lɛ̄w lēj ‘hole, well’ ‘trou, puits’ mááɡā mééɡī ‘snake’ ‘serpent’ māɾtɪ̄w māɾtɪ̄wɪ̄ ‘viper’ ‘vipère’ also plural /mēɾtī/ with [-ti] suffix mūɡúl mūɡúlí ‘sorghum’ ‘sorgho’ also plural /mūɡúɾí/ with [-Ri] suffix mūlɡùm mūlɡùmì ‘civet’ ‘civette’ nàw nàj ‘root’ ‘racine’ níl níí ‘tooth’ ‘dent’ also plural /níɡí/ with [-ɡi] suffix ɲāŋɡɔ̀ ɲēŋɡì ‘fabric’ ‘tissu’ ɲɛ̄w ɲɛ̄j ‘secret’ ‘secret’ ɲɪ̀w ɲìì ‘bird’ ‘oiseau’ generic word for bird of any species ʔóŋɡā ʔóŋɡī ‘spine’ ‘épine’ ʔɔ́ɡʊ̄m ʔɔ́ɡʊ̄mɪ̄ ‘eyebrow’ ‘sourcil’ sāābá sēēbí ‘fish’ ‘poisson’ sáāló séēlí ‘pipe’ ‘pipe’ sāāmà sēēmì ‘sheep’ ‘mouton’ sàw sèwi ‘dog’ ‘chien’ sēná sēní ‘grasshopper’ ‘sauterelle’ sɛ̄ɛ̄mɛ̀ sēēmì ‘monitor ‘varan’ lizard’ sɛ́w sɛ́wɪ́ ‘waterbuck’ ‘cobe this is a species of defassa’ antelope síwál síwálí ‘sand, desert’ ‘sable, désert’ sòjbōl sòjbōlī ‘river’ ‘rivière’ sɔ̀ɔ̀mɔ̄ sòòmī ‘hare’ ‘lièvre’ tāāɾò tēēɾì ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ tàw tàj ‘sandal’ ‘sandale’ táw táj ‘sugarcane’ ‘canne’ tìŋɡɔ̄ tìŋɡí ‘chameleon’ ‘caméléon’ tɪ̀w tɪ̀ɪ̀ ‘tree, wood’ ‘arbre, bois’ tùùmā tùùmī ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ plant’ ʔūŋɡà ʔūŋɡì ‘shard’ ‘écharde’ wāɾò wēɾì ‘skin’ ‘peau’

122 Plurals with [-Ri] and [-Rɪ]

Singular Plural English French Notes ʔāmbá ʔēmbíɾí ‘girl’ ‘fille’ ʔāsál ʔāsáɾɪ́ ‘type of spice’ ‘type d’épice’ not sure which spice this is bāālá bēēɽí ‘arrow’ ‘flèche’ báɡàɾō béɡìɾī ‘water buffalo’ ‘buffle’ bājó bājóɾí ‘net’ ‘nette’ also plural /bājó/ (no distinct plural) bēɾ bēɽī ‘tomb’ ‘tombeau’ bɛ́ɡɪ̄l béɡīɽī ‘liver’ ‘foie’ bíl bíɽí ‘feather’ ‘plume’ bōɡōlà bōɡōɽì ‘carp’ ‘carpe’ bòɡòɾ bòɡòɾì ‘species of ‘petite small antelope’ antilope, esp.’ bóŋɡóló bóŋɡóɾí ‘necklace’ ‘collier’ bòɾō bòɾī ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ plant’ bɔ̄ɡʊ̀l bɔ̄ɡʊ̀ɽɪ̀ ‘joint’ ‘articulation’ refers to joints such as wrist, ankle, etc. bɔ̀ŋɡɔ̄ɾ bɔ̀ŋɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘machete’ ‘machette’ bɔ̀ɾmɔ̄l bòɾmōɽī ‘open land’ ‘terraine vide’ būɾ būɽī ‘hair’ ‘cheveu’ búsō búsūɽī ‘horse’ ‘cheval’ also plural /búsī/ with [-i] suffix dàɡàl dèɡèɽì, ‘compound’ ‘concession’ refers to the enclosed dàɡàɽɪ̀ courtyard area in which homes and buildings are located; not sure what difference is between this and /dɪ̀ɽɪ̄l/ dámʊ̄l dámʊ̄ɽɪ̄, ‘pavilion, open ‘abri ouvert’ known as ‘ligdaabe’ in démɾī shelter’ Arabic dāŋɡālò dēŋɡēɾì ‘tom-tom’ ‘tam-tam’ specifically the one that has three drums dàwàl dàwàɾɪ̀ ‘bow’ ‘arc’ as in ‘bow and arrow’ dɪ̀ɽɪ̄l dɪ̀ɽɪ̄ɽɪ̄ ‘compound’ ‘concession’ refers to the enclosed courtyard area in which homes and buildings are located; not sure what difference is between this and /dàɡàl/ dōɡóɾ dōɡóɾí ‘deaf person’ ‘personne sourde’ dóɾɡōl dóɾɡōɽī ‘heel’ ‘talon’ dɔ̄ŋɡɔ́l dɔ̄ŋɡɪ́ɽɪ́ ‘wrist’ ‘poignée’ dùɡùl dùɡùɽì ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ dūŋɡō dūŋɡōɾī ‘pot’ ‘pot’ dūɾɡù dūɾɡùɽì ‘donkey’ ‘âne’

123 ʔɛ̀ɡɛ̀ɾ ʔèɡèɾì ‘kitchen’ ‘cuisine’ ɡɛ̀ɡɛ̀ɾ ɡèɡèɾì ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ ɡɛ̀l ɡɛ̀ɾɪ̀ ‘net’ ‘nette’ ɡɛ́l ɡɛ́ɾɪ́ ‘yam’ ‘igname’ ɡɔ̄ɲɟɪ́l ɡɔ̄ɲɟɪ́ɽɪ́ ‘window ‘fenêtre’ ɡūjúl ɡūjúɽí ‘tortoise’ ‘tortoise’ ɡūmí ɡūmɾí ‘hill’ ‘colline’ ɡúsī ɡúsīɽī ‘shoulder’ ‘épaule’ hāāɽá hēēɽí ‘giraffe’ ‘girafe’ hál háɽí ‘egg’ ‘oeuf’ háŋɡāl háŋɡāɾɪ̄ ‘species of ‘concombre, species of local cucumber cucumber’ esp.’ known in Chadian Arabic as ‘fagguus’ hɛ́ɛ̄bɪ́l hɛ́ɛ̄bɪ́ɽɪ́ ‘monkey’ ‘singe’ hōɾ hōɾī ‘large clay jar’ ‘grande jarre refers to what is called en argile’ ‘duwaane’ in Chadian Arabic, used to store and cool water hɔ̄bɔ̀ɾ hōbòɾì ‘rhinoceros’ ‘rhinocéros’ hɔ̄ɔ̄ɾɔ́ hōōɽí ‘pumpkin’ ‘courge’ húnɟūl húnɟūɾī ‘species of ‘fleur, esp.’ flower’ hūnúl hūnúɾí ‘threshing ‘aire de area’ battage’ ʔībíɾ ʔībíɾí ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ may be a type of tree leaf plant’ or fruit hʊ́lɡʊ̄ hʊ́lɡʊ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘dove’ ‘colombe’ also plural /hʊ́lɡɪ̄/ with [-ɪ] suffix ɟāl ɟāɾɪ̄ ‘kitchen stone’ ‘pierre de refers to the stones cuisine’ around the fire in a kitchen used to hold a cooking pot above the flames kāɡāsáɾ kēɡēséɽí ‘lizard’ ‘lézard’ kāmkóɾ kāmkóɾí ‘species of ‘reptile, esp.’ reptile’ kāmlà kēmɾì ‘water buffalo’ ‘buffle’ kāɾɲál kāɾɲáɾɪ́ ‘aloe plant’ ‘aloe’ kɛ̄fɪ́ɾ kɛ̄fɪ́ɾɪ́ ‘star’ ‘étoile’ kɛ̄msɪ́ɾ kɛ̄msɪ́ɾɪ́ ‘fingernail, ‘ongle’ toenail’ kɛ̄sɪ́ɾ kɛ̄sɪ́ɾɪ́ ‘ant’ ‘fourmi’ kīɽīmbìl kīɽīmbīɽì ‘anteater’ ‘pangolin’ kōɡól kōɡóɾí ‘cloud’ ‘nuage’ kɔ̄mbɪ́l kɔ̄mbɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘cave’ ‘grotte’ also plural /kɔ̄mdɪ́/ with [-dɪ] suffix kɔ̀ɔ̀ɾ kòòɾì ‘greater kudu’ ‘grand species of antelope koudou’ kɔ̄ɾ kōɽī ‘greater blue- ‘merle eared starling’ métallique’

124 kɔ̀ɾʊ̄l kɔ̀ɾʊ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘spoon’ ‘cuillère’ kùɾɡùl kùɾɡùɽì ‘hyena’ ‘hyène’ kʊ̄ɾkʊ́ɾ kūɾkúɽí ‘lungfish’ ‘protoptère’ lɛ̄ŋɡɪ́ɾ lɛ̄ŋɡɪ́ɾɪ́ ‘branch’ ‘branche’ lòòɾ lòòɾì ‘body’ ‘corps’ lūbùl lūbùɾì ‘histoire’ ‘story’ lùùɾ lùùɾì ‘bracelet’ ‘bracelet’ māāɾà mēēɾì ‘species of ‘grande large antelope’ antilope, esp.’ majaɾ majaɾɪ ‘hailstone’ ‘grêle’ almost only occurs in plural míɡīɾ míɡīɾī ‘warthog’ ‘phacochère’ mūɡúl mūɡúɾí ‘sorghum’ ‘sorgho’ also plural /mūɡúlí/ with [-i] suffix mùɾūl mùɽī ‘hedgehog’ ‘hérisson’ nááɾ nééɾí ‘small mat’ ‘petite natte’ náɾá néɾí ‘wrinkle’ ‘ride’ nísī nísīɽī ‘vein’ ‘veine’ ɲāmɪ̄l ɲāmɪ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘flower’ ‘fleur’ also plural /ɲāmdɪ̄/ with [-dɪ]] suffix ɲasɛɾ ɲasɛɾɪ ‘word, speech’ ‘mot, parole’ from /ɲāsɛ́/ ‘to speak’ ɲáwāl ɲéwēɾī ‘servant’ ‘domestique’ ɲɛ̄ɾɡɛ́l ɲēɾɡéɾí ‘branch’ ‘branche’ ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾá ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘seed’ ‘grain’ ɲɔ́ɡɔ̀lɔ̄ ɲɔ́ɡɔ̀ɾɪ̄ ‘sack’ ‘sac’ ʔōbál ʔōbéɾí ‘boy’ ‘garçon’ ʔòɡòl ʔòɡòɾì ‘bone’ ‘os’ sāāɾà sēēɾì ‘dorcas ‘gazelle gazelle’ dorcas’ sɛ̀ɡɛ̄l sɛ̀ɡɛ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ sōbòl sōbòɾì ‘potter’ ‘potier’ sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾ sɔ̀ɡɔ̄rɪ̄ ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ plant’ sʊ̄mál sʊ̄máɾɪ́ ‘spring’ ‘source’ tāŋɡāl tāŋɡāɾɪ̄, ‘side, ‘côté, voisin’ tēŋɡēɾī neighbor’ tìɾ tìɾì ‘forehead’ ‘front’ tɪ́mbā tímbēɾī ‘holy man’ ‘prêtre’ also plural /tímbē/ with floating [+ATR] suprafix tɔ̀ɡɔ̄l tɔ̀ɡɔ̄ɾɪ̄ ‘muscle’ ‘muscle’ tɔ̀l tòɽì ‘peanut’ ‘arachide’ túbúl túbúɾí ‘cotton’ ‘coton’ tūmbùl tūmbùɾì ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ tūūl tūūɽī ‘African scops ‘petit-duc also plural /tūūdī/ with owl’ africaine’ [-di] (/-dɪ/) suffix wááɾ wééɾí ‘genette’ ‘genette’

125 Plurals with [-w] or related form (usually designating people)

Singular Plural English French Notes ʔáá ʔááwí ‘woman’ ‘femme’ bāāɽá bēēɽéw ‘orphan’ ‘orphelin’ bājá bājáw ‘girl’ ‘fille’ bēɽí bēɾtú ‘husband’ ‘mari’ bìnē sāɾò ‘brother’ ‘frère’ plural means relatives of any gender, seems to be entirely different root hɛɛ̃̄ ɾ̃̄ ɛ̀ heẽ̄ ɾ̃̄ ù ‘red millet’ ‘mil rouge’ also adjective for ‘red’ híndī hínū ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ also plural /híndī/ (no plant’ distinct plural) ʔíínā ʔíínūw ‘spouse of ‘époux/se de brother or frère ou soeur’ sister’ jáá jáw ‘mother’ ‘mère’ jāā jāw ‘maternal ‘oncle uncle’ maternel’ kàɡā kèɡēw ‘mother-in- ‘belle-mère’ law’ kējà kījòw ‘chief’ ‘chef’ kōj kōjō ‘snake’ ‘serpent’ kóɾūm kóɾūmō ‘nomad, Arab ‘nomade, person’ personne arabe’ màà màw ‘grandparent, ‘grand-parent, ancestor’ ancêtre’ mɛ̄nɪ́ mɛ̄nʊ́ ‘slave’ ‘esclave’ mīlē mīlū ‘biting ant’ ‘fourmi piquant’ mɔ̄ɡɔ́jā mōɡójō ‘fiancé(e)’ ‘fiancé(e)’ tōɾò tūɾù ‘friend’ ‘ami’ also plural /tūɾì/ (other patterns of plural formation) wìjē bìjōw ‘man’ ‘homme’ see similar pattern for /wìì/ ‘person’

126 The following table presents words that have identical singular and plural forms, or that simply do not have a plural form. This includes a few types of words:

1) words for which the singular and plural forms happen to be identical, including for example some nouns referring to animals, some nouns with a reduplicated element, etc.;

2) words that speakers say do not have a plural form, for example mass nouns, abstract concepts, or things that do not naturally or logically occur in the plural;

3) words (usually ending in [i]) that on the surface level are identical in the singular and plural forms, but may in fact have a plural suffix (usually [-i]).

For each lexeme in this table I indicate which of these types it is by placing one of these numbers in the Notes column.

127 Plurals with no change to the root

Singular Plural English French Notes ʔánɟɛ̄wɛ̄ ʔánɟɛ̄wɛ̄ ‘species of ‘hyène, esp.’ 1 hyena’ ʔàɾɡàl ‘famine’ ‘famine’ 2 ʔāwā ‘okra’ ‘gombo’ 2 bājó bājó ‘net’ ‘filet’ 1, also plural /bājóɾí/ with [-Ri] suffix bájtē ‘kisaar’ ‘kisaar’ 2, this is a fermented pancake eaten with a sauce báɟá báɟá ‘pelican’ ‘pelican’ 1 bɛ̄ɛ̄dɪ́ ‘boundary’ ‘frontière’ 2 bīɾɡíl ‘courage’ ‘courage’ 2 bɪɾɪl ‘request, ‘requête, 2, from /bɪ̄ɾɪ́/ ‘to ask, to demand’ demande’ borrow’ boɾmu ‘Bolgo Kubar’ ‘Bolgo name for dialect group, may Kubar’ contain form of pl. suffix for people [-w] dɪ̄ɡɪ́ ‘truth’ ‘vérité’ 2 díɾmī díɾmī ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ 3 plant’ dòɡū ‘fat’ ‘graisse’ 2 dōɾɡól ‘stubbornness’ ‘obstination’ 2 dɔ᷆ ‘god’ ‘dieu’ 2 dūɡūɾtì ‘leprosy’ ‘lèpre’ 2 ʔēlá ‘holiday’ ‘fête’ 1 or 2 ʔēɾíl ‘coal’ ‘charbon’ 2 ʔéɽmēl ʔéɽmēl ‘guineafowl’ ‘pintade’ 1 ʔɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ ʔɛ̀bɾɛ̀ŋ ‘species of bird’ ‘oiseau, esp.’ 1 ʔɛ́wɛ̀wɛ̄ ʔɛ́wɛ̀wɛ̄ ‘grey heron’ ‘héron 1 cendré’ fáj fáj ‘sense’ ‘sens’ 2 ɡāāɽɪ̀ ɡāāɽɪ̀ ‘vulture’ ‘charognard’ 1 or 3 ɡēlɡētù ɡēlɡētù ‘pagne’ ‘pagne’ 1, a large measure of fabric that can be wrapped around to cover the body or cut up and used to make clothing; possibly this and /kāmbúsū/ refer to different types of pagnes ɡélī ‘left (direction)’ ‘gauche 2 (direction)’ ɡīndífā ɡīndífā ‘African ‘zorille’ 1 polecat’ ɡiɾi ɡiɾi ‘tear’ ‘larme’ 3, perhaps originally from /ɡíl/ ‘eye’ + /ɽím/ ‘water’ ɡóɽbōbō ɡóɽbōbō ‘bat’ ‘chauve- 1 souris’ ɡūū ‘power, force’ ‘pouvoir, 2 force’

128 hāādɪ̀ ‘intestines’ ‘intestins’ 2, possibly already a plural word, but could not elicit singular form handɪɾ ‘bride price’ ‘dot’ 2, from /hāná/ ‘to marry’ hánūn hánūn ‘species of tree’ ‘arbre, esp.’ 1 héɽī héɽī ‘fly (insect)’ ‘mouche’ 3 hèɽī hèɽī ‘bed’ ‘lit’ 3 hɛ̄ɾʊ̀ ‘coal’ ‘charbon’ 2 hɛ̀w ‘moon’ ‘lune’ 2 híndī híndī ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ 3, also plural /hínū/ plant’ (exception resembling plurals designating people) hóɾbōtī ‘bark’ ‘écorce’ 2, means bark of tree hūlɡúl ‘trash’ ‘poubelle’ 2 hūlúl ‘mold’ ‘moisissure’ 2 hūɾúl ‘dust, ‘poussière, 2 harmattan’ harmattan’ hʊ̄ ‘marrow’ ‘moëlle’ 2 hʊ̄ɾʊ̀m ‘marrow’ ‘moëlle’ 2, not sure what difference is with /hʊ̄/ above hʊ̀ʊ̀ hʊ̀ʊ̀ ‘roan antelope’ ‘antilope 1 rouanne’ jāl ‘millet’ ‘mil’ 2, generic word for any type of millet jaldɛɾ ‘music’ ‘musique’ 2, from /jālá/ ‘to play, to dance, to play an instrument’ jɪɾbal ‘ululation’ ‘ululation’ 2 ɟɛ̄wɟɛ̄w ɟɛ̄wɟɛ̄w ‘spider’ ‘araignée’ 1 ɟɔɾɔl ‘dance to drum ‘danse’ 2, from /ɟɔ̀ɾɔ̄/ ‘to dance to music’ drum music’ kāāɾá ‘countryside’ ‘brousse’ 2, ‘en brousse’ kāmbádɛ̄ ‘red millet’ ‘mil rouge’ 2 káŋkā káŋkā ‘dizziness’ ‘vertige’ 2 kēēɽìm ‘milk’ ‘lait’ 2 kīmbè kīmbè ‘stalk’ ‘tige’ 1 kīɾí kīɾí ‘scar’ ‘cicatrice’ 3 kɪ̄ŋɡá kɪ̄ŋɡá ‘type of drum’ ‘tam-tam, 1, type of tom-tom that has deux caisses’ two drums kōɾó kōɾó ‘mongoose’ ‘mangouste’ 1 koɾmol ‘Arabic ‘langue 2 language’ arabe’ koolo ‘Koke’ ‘Koke’ Bolgo Dugag word for Koke, may already contain form of pl. suffix [-w] referring to people kōōɾí kōōɾí ‘species of ‘plante, esp.’ 3 plant’ kōɽōɽò kōɽōɽò ‘patas monkey’ ‘patas’ 1 kɔ̄dkɔ̄t kɔdkɔ̄t ‘species of bird’ ‘petit calao’ 1, apparently a smaller species of hornbill

129 kɔ̀ɡɔ̄ ‘thatch’ ‘chaume’ 2 kɔj̃̃̄ à kɔj̃̃̄ à ‘squirrel’ ‘écureuil’ 1 kɔ̄kɔ̄ɾɔ̀m kɔ̄kɔ̄ɾɔ̀m ‘serval’ ‘serval’ 1 kɔ̄ldɛ̀ ‘sesame’ ‘sésame’ 2 kɔ̀ɔ̀ɾɔ̄ kɔ̀ɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ‘species of large ‘grand 1 lizard’ lézard, esp.’ kɔ̄ɾsɛ́l ‘selfishness’ ‘égoïsme’ 2 kùm ‘flour’ ‘farine’ 2 kúndī kúndī ‘dust cloud’ ‘nuage de 3 poussière’ kuɾak kuɾak ‘black crowned ‘grue 1 crane’ couronnée’ kúɾɡūl ‘species of root ‘patate, esp.’ unclear why this has no vegetable’ plural, possibly a mass noun? lāā ‘suffering’ ‘souffrance’ 2 lɛm ‘sleep’ ‘sommeil’ 2 lɪ̀msāl lɪ̀msāl ‘point’ ‘pointe’ 1, refers to point of a knife līɾāl ‘right’ ‘droite’ 2, refers to the direction lòbòl ‘mud’ ‘boue’ 2 lōɡōmà lōɡōmà ‘camel’ ‘chameau’ 1 lòl ‘sun’ ‘soleil’ 2 lòm ‘salt’ ‘sel’ 2 lóɲ lóɲ ‘sauce’ ‘sauce’ 1 or 2 lɔɡɔm ‘begging’ ‘mendicité’ 2, from /lɔ̀ɡɔ̄/ ‘to beg’ lūlūɡù lūlūɡù ‘hoopoe’ ‘huppe’ 1, this is a bird species lʊ́wàɾɪ̄ lʊ́wàɾɪ̄ ‘species of bird’ ‘oiseau, esp.’ 1, maybe ‘engoulevent’ species? mál ‘earwax’ ‘cérumen’ 2 mɛ̄lɛ̄ ‘dew’ ‘rosée’ 2 mɛ̄ndɪ́ŋ mɛ̄ndɪ́ŋ ‘vine’ ‘liane’ 1 mɪŋɡɪ Bolgo Kubar Bolgo Kubar name for Bolgo Kubar and and Dugag and Dugag Dugag dialects collectively mʊ̄ɡʊ̄lʊ̀ mʊ̄ɡʊ̄lʊ̀ ‘granary’ ‘grenier’ 1 mʊ̄lɡʊ́ ‘argument’ ‘bagarre’ 2 nīī nīī ‘language’ ‘langue’ 2 or 3 māānà māānà ‘story’ ‘histoire’ 1 or 2 nūm ‘oil’ ‘huile’ 2 ɲām ‘meat’ ‘viande’ 2 ɲàndā ɲàndā ‘armpit’ ‘aisselle’ 1 ɲáw ‘sugar’ ‘sucre’ 2 ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾɪ̀ ɲɪ̄ɪ̄ɾɪ̀ ‘species of tree’ ‘arbre, esp.’ 1 or 3 ɲól ‘honey’ ‘miel’ 2 ɲɔ̄kɔ́l ‘peanut flour’ ‘farine 2 d’arachides’ ɲʊ̄lɲʊ́l ɲʊ̄lɲʊ́l ‘earthworm’ ‘ver de terre’ 1 ŋànō ‘buttocks’ ‘fesses’ 2 ʔȭj̃ ʔȭj̃ ‘leaf’ ‘feuille’ 1 ʔōlɡà ‘fear’ ‘peur’ 2

130 ʔòɾmòl ‘harvest season’ ‘saison de 2 récolte’ ʔɔ́ɾɔ̄m ‘dry season’ ‘saison 2 sèche’ ɽím ‘water’ ‘eau’ 2 sààl ‘boule’ ‘boule’ 2, staple food of Guera region made of millet sààɾī ‘saliva’ ‘salive’ 2 sāɡɪ̀l ‘dawn’ ‘aube’ 2 sám ‘beer’ ‘bière’ 2, traditional millet beer sāmàk sāmàk ‘species of fish’ ‘poisson, 1 esp.’ sāɾ ‘wind’ ‘vent’ 2 sēēɾà ‘blood’ ‘sang’ 2 sēɡē sēɡē ‘abcess’ ‘abcès’ 1 sémī ‘shame’ ‘honte’ 2 sɛ̀m ‘smoke’ ‘fumée’ 2 sɛ́ɾɛ̄l sɛ́ɾɛ̄l ‘abcess’ ‘abcès’ 1 sɛ̀w ‘mourning’ ‘deuil’ 2 sīɡīɾí ‘white millet’ ‘mil blanc’ 2 sīīnū sīīnū ‘vulture’ ‘vautour’ 1 sííɽī sííɽī ‘eagle’ ‘aigle’ 3 síjē síjē ‘rainy season’ ‘saison 2 pleuvieuse’ sóɾɡōl ‘hiccups’ ‘hoquet’ 2 sɔ̄ŋkɔ̀ ‘money’ ‘argent’ 2, however more commonly use Arabic loan /ɡuɾus/ sɔ̄ŋsɔ̄ŋ sɔ̄ŋsɔ̄ŋ ‘wasp’ ‘guêpe’ 1 sūlūɡí ‘filth’ ‘saleté’ 2 tāādɪ̀ tāādɪ̀ ‘father’ ‘père’ 1 or 3 tááɾɪ̄ ‘ground, floor’ ‘sol, 2 or 3 plancher’ tēɾ ‘cold season’ ‘saison 2 froide’ tɛ́bɛ̄ɾ ‘shea’ ‘karité’ 2 tɛɾɛw ‘Bolgo Dugag’ ‘Bolgo possibly already contains Dugag’ plural marker for people [- w] tīɽīmtù tīɽīmtù ‘hornbill (bird)’ ‘grand calao’ 1 tɪ̄ɡdɔ́ ‘center’ ‘centre’ 2 tɪ̄ŋɡà ‘birdsong’ ‘bruit 2 d’oiseau’ tóm ‘ashes’ ‘cendres’ 2 tʊmal ‘work ‘travail’ 2, from /tʊ̄má/ ‘to work’ ʔúɡɾī ‘disease’ ‘maladie’ 2 or 3 ʔūɲèɾ ‘fast (from ‘jeûne’ 2 food)’ ʔuɾu ʔuɾu ‘widow’ ‘veuve’ 3, may contain a form of the [-w] suffix for people ʔʊ̃ ̄ ‘paper’ ‘papier’ 1 or 2

131 ʔʊ̀lbàŋ ‘vision’ ‘vision’ 2, refers to some type of spiritual vision wāāɾɪ̄ ‘porridge’ ‘bouillie’ 2 wɛɾɡɛl ‘hunting’ ‘chasse’ 2, from /wɛ̀ɾɡɛ̄/ ‘to hunt’

I include in the following table words with plural forms that do not fit into the above patterns. I also include words that are examples of +ATR mid vowels in the singular becoming

+ATR high vowels in the plural.

132 Other methods of plural formation

Singular Plural English French Notes bāā bēēnī ‘child’ ‘enfant’ bìnē sāɾò ‘brother’ ‘frère’ plural means relatives of any gender, seems to be entirely different root bōō bīī ‘goat’ ‘chèvre’ bòòlā bùùlī ‘elephant’ ‘éléphant’ also plural /bòòdī/ dōká dūké ‘basket’ ‘panier’ hááɾ hááɾɡé ‘back’ ‘dos’ hȭj̃ hũ̄j̃ ‘dream’ ‘rêve’ ho᷆o᷆ hùj ‘species of ‘arbre, esp.’ tree’ kéébā kííbē ‘crocodile’ ‘crocodile’ nòmā nùmī ‘mosquito’ ‘moustique’ ɲɔ᷆ wɪ̀ ‘thing’ ‘chose’ sēlà sīlè ‘chicken’ ‘poule’ sóóbā súúbī ‘termite’ ‘termite’ sóónō súúnī ‘termite ‘termitier’ mound’ sōɾà sūɾì ‘scorpion’ ‘scorpion’ tɛ̄ɲɛ̀n tɛ̄ɲɛ̀nɛ̀ ‘side of the ‘côté du not sure what difference body’ corps’ is between this and /tɛ́ɛ́lɛ́/ tōɾò tūɾì ‘friend’ ‘ami’ also plural /tūɾù/ wìì bìì ‘person’ ‘personne’ wìjē bìjōw ‘man’ ‘homme’ see similar pattern for /wìì/ ‘person’

There are some nouns for which the data does not contain a plural form. Some of them were added to the data outside normal elicitation sessions, and no plural form was later elicited.

133 Nouns for which there is no plural data

Singular Plural English French Notes ʔeɾal ‘drinking ‘gobelet’ cup’ feeɾa ‘type of ‘type de fabric’ tissu’ hooɾa ‘lake’ ‘lac’ seems to be alternative word kuɾtal ‘quiver’ ‘carquois’ sooɾo ‘swallow ‘hirondelle’ (bird)’ tɛdɛnɪ ‘ring’ ‘bague’

The label ‘Arabic’ in the notes of the following table refers to loans from Chadian Arabic specifically. Loans are organized in the table according to the type of plural suffix they take.

134 Loan nouns

Singular Plural English French Notes Plural formation with [+ATR] faɾda feɾde ‘pagne’ ‘pagne’ Arabic, refers to a large piece of fabric Plural formation with [-i] or [-ɪ] biɾiʃ biɾiʃi ‘mat’ ‘natte’ Arabic ɡeɡeɾ ɡeɡeɾi ‘city’ ‘ville’ Arabic ɡufa ɡufi ‘straw basket’ ‘panier en Arabic paille’ ʔid ʔidi ‘holiday’ ‘fête’ Arabic ɟamal ɟamali ‘camel’ ‘chameau’ Arabic Plural formation with [-Ri] or [-Rɪ] daŋɡa daŋɡaɾɪ ‘room’ ‘chambre, Arabic, refers to a pièce’ rectangular room or small building, rather than the traditional round building Identical plural or no distinct plural form ʔaɾɡi ‘alcohol’ ‘alcool’ Arabic ʔasijɛt ʔasijɛt ‘plate’ ‘assiette’ French banan banan ‘banana’ ‘banane’ French basal basal ‘onion’ ‘oignon’ Arabic bato bato ‘cat’ ‘chat’ unknown bik bik ‘pen’ ‘stylo’ brand name Bic, used in Chad generally to mean ‘pen’ daɾɡa daɾɡa ‘shield’ ‘bouclier’ Arabic dawa dawa ‘medicine’ ‘médicament’ Arabic doɾ ‘herds’ ‘troupeaux’ Arabic, collective noun duɲa ‘world, life’ ‘monde, vie’ Arabic fikiɾ ‘idea’ ‘idée’ Arabic ɡada ɡada ‘boule ‘couverture Arabic, this is a covering pour la boule rounded, carved (calabash)’ (calebasse)’ covering that is placed over boule before it is served to cover it and form it into a rounded shape ɡanun ‘law’ ‘loi’ Arabic ɡumaɟi ɡumaɟi ‘clothing’ ‘vêtements’ Arabic ɡuɾus ‘money’ ‘argent’ Arabic haɟaɟa haɟaɟa ‘fan’ ‘éventail’ Arabic haɾaka ‘noise’ ‘bruit’ Arabic hɪnɛ ‘henna’ ‘henné’ Arabic hukum ‘tax’ ‘taxe’ Arabic ʔitiɾ ‘perfume’ ‘parfum’ Arabic ɟɛb ɟɛb ‘pocket’ ‘poche’ Arabic kaatɪm ‘ring’ ‘bague’ Arabic

135 kaɾɪb ‘west’ ‘ouest’ Arabic katkat ‘paper’ ‘papier’ Arabic kijoɾ kijoɾ ‘ladle’ ‘louche’ Arabic koɾo ‘bowl’ ‘bol’ Arabic, used throughout the region as a unit of measurement in marketplaces; this is used for purchasing dry goods (millet, rice, beans, etc.) mappa ‘bread’ ‘pain’ unknown source language, used regionally as a term for bread; one theory is that it came from French ma part meaning ‘my portion’ maɾad maɾad ‘sickness’ ‘maladie’ Arabic masal masal ‘story’ ‘conte’ Arabic mɛtɾɛ ‘teacher’ ‘enseignant’ French munʃak ‘north’ ‘nord’ Arabic mus mus ‘razor’ ‘rasoir’ Arabic nafaɾ ‘type’ ‘type’ Arabic palu ‘malaria’ ‘paludisme’ French; this abbreviated form is commonly used in other spoken languages in Chad as well pɛɲɛ ‘comb’ ‘peigne’ French ɾezo ‘phone ‘réseau’ French network’ ɾis ‘rice’ ‘riz’ French saba ‘east’ ‘est’ Arabic sabaɾa sabaɾa ‘squirrel’ ‘écureuil’ Arabic saboɾ ‘patience’ ‘patience’ Arabic sam ‘poison’ ‘poison’ Arabic sana sana ‘year’ ‘année, an’ Arabic saʔap ‘clouds’ ‘nuages’ Arabic suk suk ‘market’ ‘marché’ Arabic ʃahi ‘tea’ ‘thé’ Arabic ʃaɾak ‘trap’ ‘piège’ Arabic ʃɛtɛ ‘hot pepper’ ‘piment’ Arabic taaba ‘tobacco’ ‘tabac’ French tahuɾa ‘circumcision’ ‘circoncision’ Arabic, can refer to male circumcision or female genital mutilation tifak ‘agreement’ ‘accord’ Arabic tum ‘garlic’ ‘ail’ Arabic waɾabet ‘bathroom’ ‘douche, Arabic toilette’ wasak ‘filth’ ‘saleté’ Arabic

136 wati ‘south’ ‘sud’ Arabic Original Arabic plural daɾ dijaɾ ‘country’ ‘pays’ Arabic ʔɪbɾɪ ʔɪbaɾ ‘needle’ ‘aiguille’ Arabic taɟiɾ tuɟaaɾ ‘merchant’ ‘commerçant’ Arabic

137

APPENDIX B ADJECTIVE DATA: SINGULAR AND PLURAL FORMS

The following pages contain a table listing Bolgo adjectives. Within the table, they are separated into sections according to the type of plural suffixation they take. Singular and plural forms are included, as well as glosses in English and French. Loan words are also included, and are indicated as such in the notes. I do not have tone data for adjectives.

138 Adjective data

Singular Plural English French Notes Plurals with floating [+ATR] suprafix baaɾa beeɾe ‘tall’ ‘grand’ ɡaaba ɡeebe ‘long, deep’ ‘long, profond’ hala hele ‘wet’ ‘mouillé’ liina liine ‘sharp’ ‘tranchant’ nama neme ‘lazy’ ‘paresseux’ ɲaŋɡa ɲeŋɡe ‘thin’ ‘mince’ samba sembe ‘stupid’ ‘bête’ taaɾa teeɾe ‘sterile’ ‘stérile’ can also be used for castrated animals Plurals with [-i]/[-ɪ] baw baj ‘new’ ‘nouveau’ jɛw jewi ‘light’ ‘léger’ lam lemi ‘blue, green’ ‘bleu, vert’ mɔɔɡɔ mɔɔɡɪ ‘good, clean’ ‘bon, propre’ ɲaw ɲej ‘sweet’ ‘sucré’ ɲɔɡɔ ɲɔɡɪ ‘bad, ugly’ ‘mauvais, laid’ sam semi ‘beautiful’ ‘beau’ saw saj ‘old’ ‘âgé’ Plurals with [-ɾi]/[-ɽi]/[-ɾɪ]/[-ɽɪ] beɾɡil beɾɡiɾi ‘hard’ ‘dur’ bul buɽi ‘white’ ‘blanc’ busuɾu busiɽi ‘unripe, raw’ ‘pas mûr, cru’ daɾwal deɾweɽi ‘sterile’ ‘stérile’ more general word for sterile dawal dawaɽɪ ‘flat’ ‘plat’ hɛŋɡɔɾɔ hɛŋɡɛɽɪ ‘yellow’ ‘jaune’ jaɾbal jeɾbeɾi ‘very fast’ ‘très vite’ kɛɾɡɪl kɛɾɡɪɾɪ ‘multi- ‘multicolore’ colored’ kɛɾɔ kɛɾɪ ‘perfect’ ‘parfait’ kʊndʊl kʊnduɾɪ ‘crooked’ ‘tordu’ lʊɾ luɾi ‘flavored’ ‘parfumé’ tɛɾɡal teɾɡeɾi ‘heavy, ‘lourd, cher’ expensive’ Plurals with a form of [-w] suffix (usually used for people) hɛ̃ɛ̃ɾɛ hẽẽɾu ‘red’ ‘rouge’ also means ‘red millet’, unclear why it has this plural Plurals with no change to the root ʔaafe ʔaafe ‘well’ ‘bien’ Arabic ʔaaɾi ʔaari ‘difficult’ ‘difficile’ dundi dundi ‘short’ ‘court’

139 buuti buuti ‘inexpensive’ ‘moins cher’ possibly Arabic? fahal fahal ‘brave’ ‘courageux’ Arabic falfal falfal ‘good’ ‘bon’ ɡaasi ɡaasi ‘difficult’ ‘difficile’ Arabic hulɡu hulɡu ‘pregnant’ ‘enceinte’ keja keja ‘big, old’ ‘grand, also means ‘chief’ as a vieux’ noun which has a differnt plural; means ‘big’ in more of a figurative sense mullu mullu ‘soft’ ‘moue’ mullu sahi sahi ‘true’ ‘vrai’ Arabic sila sila ‘hot’ ‘chaud’ taɾin taɾin ‘sharp’ ‘tranchant’ Arabic tʊɾʊ tʊɾʊ ‘blind’ ‘aveugle’ wasi wasi ‘wide’ ‘large’ Arabic wɔɔɾɔ wɔɔɾɔ ‘healthy’ ‘bien- portant’ Reduplicated plural mɪmba mɪlmɪl ‘small’ ‘petit’ tʊɾ tʊɾtʊɾ ‘big’ ‘grand’ Other methods of plural formation dõwa dije ‘black’ ‘noir’ odd word hoɾ huɾi ‘full’ ‘plein’ another example of /o/ to /u/ vowel change kalbat kalbanɪ ‘false’ ‘faux’ Original Arabic plural faɾhan faɾhanin ‘happy’ ‘content’ Arabic Plural form unknown libu ‘big’ ‘grand’ not clear what plural is ʔɔɾa ‘empty’ ‘vide’ not clear what plural is wɛɛɾɪl ‘coolness, ‘fraîcheur’ possibly a noun? cool air’

140

APPENDIX C VERB DATA: STEM AND REDUPLICATED FORMS

The following pages contain tables of the verb data, including stem and reduplicated forms, English and French glosses, and any notes about the lexemes. The verbs are separated into tables by whether they reduplicate with partial reduplication (for intransitive verbs) or with full reduplication (for transitive verbs). Since transitive verbs with full reduplication must always include an object pronoun within the form, all fully reduplicated forms are given with the third person singular object suffix. The default form of this suffix is /-a/, but it may also surface as a mid vowel (see section 4.4 for details).

If a verb can be reduplicated in both ways according to whether it is being used transitively or intransitively, it appears in both tables with a note that it may also reduplicate in the other pattern.

Transcriptions are listed alphabetically by lexeme within each table, with +ATR vowels

/e, i, o, u/ preceding their −ATR counterparts /ɛ, ɪ, ɔ, ʊ/ in the alphabetical order.

Additionally, /ɟ/ is found after /j/, /ɽ/ is found after /ɾ/, and /ɲ/ is found after /n/.

Loan words can be found in a separate table at the end.

141 Verbs with partial reduplication (intransitive)

Stem Redup. English French Notes ʔàɾɪ̄ ʔàʔàɾɪ̄ ‘to be poor’ ‘être pauvre’ bīlé bībīlé ‘to count’ ‘compter’ bɪ̄ɾsɪ́ bɪ̄bɪ̄ɾsɪ́ ‘to weave a ‘tisser partie possibly refers to housing d’une weaving specifically structure’ maison’ the roof bòmō bòbòmō ‘to be ‘être capable’ capable’ bòɾī bòbòɾī ‘to prepare’ ‘préparer’ also full redup. būɡó būbūɡó ‘to wash ‘laver le also full redup. the face’ visage’ bùndō bùbùndō ‘to be ‘être lourd’ heavy’ dāɡá dādāɡá ‘to sit in ‘s’asseoir, relaxed manière position’ relâchée’ dājɡa dādājɡá ‘to press’ ‘presser’ dɪ̄ɾɪ́l dɪ̄dɪ̄ɾɪ́l ‘to climb’ ‘monter’ dòɡō dòdòɡō ‘to be old’ ‘être vieux’ dūɡó dūdūɡó ‘to grow ‘pousser (plant)’ (plante)’ dūmí dūdūmí ‘to spoil’ ‘se gâter’ dùmūl dùdùmūl ‘to ‘s’assembler’ for example, a crowd assemble’ assembling somewhere dùù dùùdùù ‘to lay egg’ ‘pondre’ ʔèɾā ʔèʔèɾā ‘to be ‘être also full redup. finished’ terminé’ ʔɛ̀ɾʊ̄ ʔɛ̀ʔɛ̀ɾʊ̄ ‘to hesitate, ‘hésiter, to avoid’ éviter’ ɡɛ̄ɾɡɪ́ ɡɛ̄ɡɛ̄ɾɡɪ́ ‘to tremble’ ‘trembler’ ɡūmí ɡūɡūmí ‘to be ‘être tâché’ also full redup. stained’ hàŋɡā hàhàŋɡā ‘to serve, to ‘servir, also full redup. share’ partager’ hàɾɪ̄ hàhàɾɪ̄ ‘to follow’ ‘suivre’ also full redup. hàɾɪ̄l hàhàɾɪ̄l ‘to sweat’ ‘transpirer’ hèɡē hèhèɡē ‘to blow, to ‘souffler, whistle’ siffler’ hēlé hēhēlé ‘to burn’ ‘brûler’ hètā hèhètā ‘to whittle’ ‘tailler’ hɪ̄bɪ́ hɪ̄hɪ̄bɪ́ ‘to fan’ ‘éventer’ also full redup. hīɡí hīhīɡí ‘to bark ‘aboyer (dog)’ (chien)’ hīlé hīhīlé ‘to sing’ ‘chanter’ hīní hīhīní ‘to growl’ ‘grogner’ hòbā hòhòbā ‘to hide’ ‘se cacher’ also full redup. hɔ̄ɾá hɔ̄hɔ̄ɾá ‘to sneeze’ ‘éternuer’ hũ̄j hũ̄hũ̄j ‘to swell’ ‘gonfler’

142 hūlɡí hūhūlɡí ‘to stir in’ ‘remuer’ also full redup. hūlí hūhūlí ‘to move’ ‘bouger’ hùndā hùhùnda ‘to be ‘être ruiné’ ruined’ hūɾí hūhūɾí ‘to return’ ‘rentrer’ hùɾū hùhùɾū ‘to belch’ ‘roter’ hūlú hūhūlú ‘to live’ ‘vivre’ ʔībí ʔīʔībí ‘to rise, to ‘se lever, fly’ voler’ ʔìɾī ʔìʔìɾī ‘to want, ‘vouloir, also full redup. look for’ chercher’ ʔɪ̀ɾɪ̄ ʔɪ̀ʔɪ̀ɾɪ̄ ‘to cook’ ‘cuire’ jālá jājālá ‘to play, to ‘jouer, dance, to danser, play an jouer d’un instrument’ instrument’ jāwí jājāwí ‘to yawn’ ‘bâillir’ jēlé jējēlé ‘to dig’ ‘creuser’ also full redup. jèɾɡī jèjèɾɡī ‘to flood’ ‘inonder’ jɛ̀ɾɪ̄ jɛ̀jɛ̀ɾɪ̄ ‘to run, to ‘courir, escape’ échapper’ jɛ̄ɾɪ́ jɛ̄jɛ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to sew, to ‘coudre, also full redup. attach’ attacher’ jɪ̀ɾɪ̄ jɪ̀jɪ̀ɾɪ̄ ‘to ululate’ ‘faire les ululations’ ɟà ɟàɟà ‘to go’ ‘aller’ ɟàmbā ɟàɟàmbā ‘to chitchat’ ‘causer, bavarder’ ɟàŋɡɛ̀ɾɛ̄ ɟàɟàŋɡɛ̀ɾɛ̄ ‘to ‘se separer’ separate’ ɟāɾbá ɟāɟāɾbá ‘to try’ ‘essayer’ also full redup. ɟɛ̄mɛ́ ɟɛ̄ɟɛ̄mɛ́ ‘to sneeze’ ‘éternuer’ ɟɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄ ɟɛ̀ɟɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄ ‘to tell’ ‘raconter’ ɟɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ɟɔ̀ɟɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ‘to dance ‘danser avec dancing to a type of with tom- les tam- drum music toms’ tams’ ɟʊ̀jɾā ɟʊ̀ɟʊ̀jɾā ‘to wake ‘se réveiller’ up’ ɟʊ̀ɾā ɟʊ̀ɟʊ̀ɾā ‘to drain’ ‘égoutter’ kāŋɡɪ́ kākāŋɡɪ́ ‘to mix’ ‘mélanger’ also full redup. kè kèkè ‘to cry’ ‘pleurer’ kèɾē kèkèɾē ‘to crawl’ ‘ramper’ kɛ̄ɾá kɛ̄kɛ̄ɾá ‘to return’ ‘retourner’ kɪ̀mɪ̄ kɪ̀kɪ̀mɪ̄ ‘to tremble’ ‘trembler’ kōbá kōkōbá ‘to cross ‘croiser les not entirely clear what the arms’ bras’ this means kʊ̄ɾʊ́ kʊ̄kʊ̄ɾʊ́ ‘to jump’ ‘sauter’ lālé lālālé ‘to hurt, to ‘avoir mal, also full redup.; same be sad’ être triste’ word for physical or emotional pain lɛ̀ lɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘to sleep’ ‘dormir’

143 lɛ̄bɛ́ lɛ̄lɛ̄bɛ́ ‘to be bald’ ‘être chauve’ lɔ̀ɡɔ̄ lɔ̀lɔ̀ɡɔ̄ ‘to beg’ ‘mendier’ lʊ̄lɡá lʊ̄lʊ̄lɡá ‘to scream’ ‘hurler’ māná māmāná ‘to be tired’ ‘être fatigué’ mɛ̀ɾɪ̀ɲɛ̄ mɛ̀mɛ̀ɾɪ̀ɲɛ̄ ‘to deny’ ‘nier’ mɪ̀lɛ̄ mɪ̀mɪ̀lɛ̄ ‘to drown’ ‘se noyer’ also full redup. mōjó mōmōjó ‘to be ‘avoir des worried’ soucis’ mūló mūmūló ‘to braid’ ‘tresser’ nè nènè ‘to fall ‘tomber seems to be only in (rain)’ (pluie)’ phrase /ɽím nè/ ‘water is falling’, i.e. ‘it’s raining’ nɪ̄ɾɪ́ nɪ̄nɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to be ‘être plié, also full redup. folded, ridé’ wrinkled’ ɲà ɲàɲà ‘to vomit’ ‘vomir’ ɲàmē ɲàɲàmē ‘to laugh’ ‘rire’ ɲāsɛ́ ɲāɲāsɛ́ ‘to speak’ ‘parler’ ɲɛ̄bɪ́ ɲɛ̄ɲɛ̄bɪ́ ‘to shine’ ‘briller’ ɲɛ̀ɾɛ̄ ɲɛ̀ɲɛ̀ɾɛ̄ ‘to scratch’ ‘gratter’ this is, for example, a cat scratching itself; scratching a surface is /ɡū/ ɲɪ̀lɛ̄ ɲɪ̀ɲɪ̀lɛ̄ ‘to have ‘avoir la diarrhea’ diarrhée’ ɲɔ̄ɡɔ́l ɲɔ̄ɲɔ̄ɡɔ́l ‘to suck’ ‘sucer’ ɲɔ̀ɔ̀ ɲɔ̀ɔ̀ɲɔ̀ɔ̀ ‘to stink’ ‘avoir une mauvaise odeur’ ɲɔ̄ɾɔ́ ɲɔ̄ɲɔ̄ɾɔ́ ‘to snore’ ‘ronfler’ ɲʊ̄ŋɡá ɲʊ̄ɲʊ̄ŋɡá ‘to fight’ ‘se battre’ also full redup. ʔònō ʔòʔònō ‘to go bad’ ‘se gâter’ also full redup. ʔōɾá ʔōʔōɾá ‘to fall’ ‘tomber’ also full redup.; only for objects falling, a person falling is /tìì/ ʔɔ̄jɔ́ ʔɔ̄ʔɔ̄jɔ́ ‘to cut the ‘couper les also full redup. hair’ cheveux’ ʔɔ̄lɔ́ ʔɔ̄ʔɔ̄lɔ́ ‘to grow’ ‘grandir’ can be used for people or plants ʔɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ʔɔ̀ʔɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ‘to cough’ ‘tousser’ ɾàwā ɾàɾàwā ‘to shout’ ‘crier’ also full redup. ɾīsé ɾīɾīsé ‘to go out’ ‘s’éteindre’ refers to fire going out ɾɛ̄ɡɪ́ ɾɛ̄ɾɛ̄ɡɪ́ ‘to blink’ ‘cligner’ ɾōbó ɾōɾōbó ‘to be ‘avoir une bruised’ contusion’ ɾōkí ɾōɾōkí ‘to give ‘donner un also full redup. medicine’ médicament’ ɽìbē ɽìɽìbē ‘to be lost’ ‘être perdu’ also full redup. sàɡā sàsàɡā ‘to ‘se plaindre’ complain’

144 sàɟī sàsàɟī ‘to choose’ ‘choisir’ sàwɾɪ̄ sàsàwɾɪ̄ ‘to think, to ‘penser, choose’ choisir’ sɛ̄ɾtɪ́ sɛ̄sɛ̄ɾtɪ́ ‘to be ‘être slippery’ glissant’ sì sìsì ‘to rest’ ‘se reposer’ sɪ̀mɛ̄ sɪ̀sɪ̀mɛ̄ ‘to blow ‘souffler (wind)’ (vent)’ sòlī sòsòlī ‘to shine’ ‘briller’ sōɲ sōsōɲ ‘to swim’ ‘nager’ sɔ̀ɡɔ̄l sɔ̀sɔ̀ɡɔ̄l ‘to crouch’ ‘s’accroupir’ sɔ̀ɾɡā sɔ̀sɔ̀ɾɡā ‘to choke’ ‘s’étrangler’ also full redup. sɔ̀ɾɔ̄ sɔ̀sɔ̀ɾɔ̄ ‘to return’ ‘retourner’ sūbó sūsūbó ‘to bathe’ ‘se laver’ also full redup. sùlā sùsùlā ‘to lie’ ‘mentir’ sùm sùsùm ‘to fast’ ‘jeûner’ sùmō sùsùmō ‘to be shut, ‘être fermé, also full redup. covered’ couvert’ sʊ̀dʊ̄ sʊ̀sʊ̀dʊ̄ ‘to be open’ ‘être ouvert’ also full redup. tàɾā tàtàɾā ‘to forget’ ‘oublier’ also full redup. tāɾá tātāɾá ‘to want’ ‘vouloir’ also full redup. tàsɪ̄ tàtàsɪ̄ ‘to wash ‘laver les also full redup. hands’ mains’ tɛ̄ɾɪ́ tɛ̄tɛ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to buy’ ‘acheter’ also full redup. tìì tììtìì ‘to fall’ ‘tomber’ tōbá tōtōbá ‘to spit’ ‘cracher’ tōjó tōtōjó ‘to clean ‘nettoyer les also full redup. the teeth’ dents’ tòlā tòtòlā ‘to pray’ ‘prier’ tōlí tōtōlí ‘to ferment’ ‘fermenter’ refers to making traditional millet beer tòɾū tòtòɾū ‘to swell’ ‘gonfler’ tōtó tōtōtó ‘to growl’ ‘grogner’ tɔ̄ɾɪ́ tɔ̄tɔ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to love’ ‘aimer’ also full redup. tūŋɡōló tūtūŋɡōló ‘to bend ‘se courber’ over’ tʊ̀ tʊ̀tʊ̀j ‘to give ‘accoucher’ birth’ tʊ̄lʊ́ tʊ̄tʊ̄lʊ́ ‘to hit with ‘frapper also full redup. downward avec motion motion’ vers le bas’ tʊ̄má tʊ̄tʊ̄má ‘to work’ ‘travailler’ tʊ̄ɾʊ́l tʊ̄tʊ̄ɾʊ́l ‘to agree’ ‘être d’accord’ ʔū ʔūʔū ‘to die’ ‘mourir’ ʔùlō ʔùʔùlō ‘to dry’ ‘sécher’ also full redup. ʔùnī ʔùʔùnī ‘to undress’ ‘déshabiller’ also full redup. ʔūsí ʔūʔūsí ‘to shave’ ‘se raser’ also full redup. ʔʊ̄nɟɪ́ ʔʊ̄ʔʊ̄nɟɪ́ ‘to descend’ ‘descendre’ wɪ̀ wɪ̀wɪ̀ ‘to come’ ‘venir’

145 wɪ̄dɪ́ wɪ̄wɪ̄dɪ́ ‘to boil’ ‘bouillir’ also full redup. wʊ̄lʊ́ wʊ̄wʊ̄lʊ́ ‘to go’ ‘aller’

146 Verbs with full reduplication (transitive)

Stem Redup. English French Notes ʔàmā ʔàmaʔàmā ‘to taste’ ‘goûter’ ʔāsɪ́ ʔāsaʔāsɪ́ ‘to guard’ ‘garder’ bàɡɪ̄ bàɡabàɡɪ̄ ‘to close’ ‘fermer’ bàɾā bàɾabàɾā ‘to tell, ‘dire, announce’ annoncer’ bàɾɾā bàɾɾabàɾɾā ‘to buy on ‘demander des credit’ bons’ bɛ̄ bɛbɛ̄ ‘to harvest’ ‘récolter’ bɪ̀ɾɪ̄ bɪ̀ɾabɪ̀ɾɪ̄ ‘to insult’ ‘insulter’ bɪ̄ɾɪ́ bɪ̄ɾabɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to ask, to ‘demander, borrow’ emprunter’ bòɾī bòɾobòɾī ‘to prepare’ ‘préparer’ also partial redup. bɔ̄ bɔbɔ̄ ‘to attach’ ‘attacher’ būɡó būɡobūɡó ‘to wash the ‘laver le also partial redup. face’ visage’ dēɡá dēɡadēɡá ‘to sprinkle’ ‘asperger’ dɛ̄ŋɡɛ́ dɛ̄ŋɡɛdɛ̄ŋɡɛ́ ‘to be jealous ‘être jaloux de of someone’ qqn’ dɛ̄ɾɛ́ dɛ̄ɾɛdɛ̄ɾɛ́ ‘to gnaw on’ ‘ronger’ dɪ̄lɡá dɪ̄lɡadɪ̄lɡá ‘to tickle’ ‘chatouiller’ dōɡó dōɡodōɡó ‘to click ‘claquer (la not sure if this can (tongue)’ langue)’ also mean making a clicking sound with something besides the tongue dū dudū ‘to throw’ ‘jeter’ ʔēdá ʔēdaʔēdá ‘to show’ ‘montrer’ ʔēlé ʔēleʔēlé ‘to hit’ ‘frapper’ ʔèɾā ʔèɾaʔèɾā ‘to finish’ ‘terminer’ also partial redup. ʔɛ ̃̀ ʔɛ̃ʔɛ ̄̀ ‘to press’ ‘presser’ ʔɛ̀dɪ̄ ʔɛ̀dɛʔɛ̀dɪ̄ ‘to teach’ ‘enseigner’ ʔɛ̄lɛ́ ʔɛ̄lɛʔɛ̄lɛ́ ‘to wait for’ ‘attendre’ ʔɛ̀lɡɪ̄ ʔɛ̀lɡɛʔɛ̀lɡɪ̄ ‘to resemble’ ‘ressembler’ ʔɛ̀mbɪ̄ ʔɛ̀mbɛʔɛ̀mbɪ̄ ‘to protect’ ‘protéger’ ʔɛ̄ɾɛ́ ʔɛ̄ɾɛʔɛ̄ɾɛ́ ‘to milk’ ‘traire’ ɡeɾa ɡeɾaɡeɾa ‘to read’ ‘lire’ possibly a loan word ɡɛ̀ ɡɛɡɛ̀ ‘to vanquish’ ‘vaincre’ ɡī ɡiɡī ‘to know’ ‘connaître’ ɡile ɡileɡile ‘to see’ ‘voir’ probably derived from /ɡíl/ ‘eye’ ɡɪɾɛ ɡɪɾɛɡɪɾɛ ‘to surprise’ ‘surprendre’ ɡò ɡoɡò ‘to carry’ ‘porter’ ɡū ɡuɡū ‘to scratch’ ‘gratter’ ɡūmí ɡūmoɡūmí ‘to stain’ ‘tâcher’ also partial redup. hàlɡā hàlɡahàlɡā ‘to imitate’ ‘imiter’ hāná hānahāná ‘to marry’ ‘marier’

147 hàŋɡā hàŋɡahàŋɡā ‘to serve, to ‘servir, also partial redup. share’ partager’ hàɾɪ̄ hàɾahàɾɪ̄ ‘to follow’ ‘suivre’ also partial redup. hāɾɪ́ hāɾahāɾɪ́ ‘to weave’ ‘tisser’ hēná hēnahēná ‘to give ‘donner les someone condoléances’ condolences’ hɛ ̃̄ hɛ̃hɛ ̃̄ ‘to rub’ ‘frotter’ hɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄ hɛ̀ŋɡɛhɛ̀ŋɡɪ̄ ‘to look for’ ‘chercher’ hɪ̄bɪ́ hɪ̄bahɪ̄bɪ́ ‘to fan’ ‘éventer’ also partial redup. hɪ̄ná hīnahɪ̄ná ‘to see’ ‘voir’ less commonly used than /ʔōló/ ‘to see’ hɪ̄ɾɪ́ hɪ̄ɾahɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to peel’ ‘peler’ hòbā hòhòbā ‘to hide’ ‘cacher’ also partial redup. hòɾō hòɾohòɾō ‘to knead’ ‘pétrir’ hū huhū ‘to plant’ ‘planter’ hūlɡí hūlɡohūlɡí ‘to stir’ ‘remuer’ also partial redup. hùɾī hùɾohùɾī ‘to cover’ ‘couvrir’ hʊla hʊlahʊla ‘to invite ‘inviter qqn à someone to travailler’ work’ ʔìɾī ʔìɾaʔìɾī ‘to want, look ‘chercher, also partial redup. for’ vouloir’ ʔɪ̄ ʔɪʔɪ̄ ‘to refuse, to ‘refuser, abandon’ abandonner’ ʔɪ̄lɪ́ ʔɪ̄laʔɪ̄lɪ́ ‘to remember’ ‘se rappeler’ ʔɪ̀sā ʔɪ̀saʔɪ̀sā ‘to detach’ ‘détacher’ jàɡā jàɡajàɡā ‘to leave, to ‘laisser, divorce’ divorcer’ jàɾā jàɾājàɾā ‘to agitate’ ‘agiter’ jàɾɪ̄ jàɾajàɾɪ̄ ‘to complete’ ‘completer’ jèbī jèbejèbī ‘to bring’ ‘amener’ jēlé jēlejēlé ‘to bury’ ‘enterrer’ also partial redup. jɛ̄ɾɪ́ jɛ̄ɾɛjɛ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to sew, to ‘coudre, also partial redup. attach’ attacher’ ɟamɪ ɟamaɟamɪ ‘to sharpen’ ‘aiguiser’ ɟana ɟanaɟana ‘to take care ‘soigner’ from /ɟán/ of’ ‘traditional healer’ ɟàɾā ɟàɾaɟàɾā ‘to greet ‘saluer qqn’ someone’ ɟāɾbá ɟāɟāɾbá ‘to try’ ‘essayer’ also partial redup. ɟōɡó ɟōɡoɟōɡó ‘to call ‘appeler qqn’ someone’ ɟūnó ɟūnoɟūnó ‘to hoe’ ‘biner’ ɟùɾō ɟùɾoɟùɾō ‘to pluck ‘plumer (bird)’ (oiseau)’ ɟʊ̀ŋɡɔ̄ ɟʊ̀ŋɡɔɟʊ̀ŋɡɔ̄ ‘to argue with ‘se disputer someone’ avec qqn’ kājá kājakājá ‘to destroy’ ‘déchirer’ kālí kālakālí ‘to prevent’ ‘empêcher’

148 kànɪ̄ kànakànɪ ‘to direct an ‘diriger un animal’ animal’ kāŋɡɪ́ kāŋɡakāŋɡɪ́ ‘to mix’ ‘mélanger’ also parital redup. kàɾā kàɾakàɾā ‘to add’ ‘ajouter’ kèè keekèè ‘to climb’ ‘monter’ kēlé kēlekēlé ‘to draw ‘puiser’ (water)’ kēɾɡí kēɾɡekēɾɡí ‘to write, to ‘écrire, draw’ dessiner’ kò kokò ‘to hold, to ‘tenir, gather’ ramasser’ kòdī kòdokòdī ‘to share’ ‘partager’ kɔ̄ɾɔ́ kɔ̄ɾɔkɔ̄ɾɔ́ ‘to meet’ ‘rencontrer’ lālé lālelālé ‘to hurt’ ‘blesser’ also partial redup. lè lelè ‘to hear’ ‘entendre’ lèbē lèbelèbē ‘to lick’ ‘lécher’ lèɡā lèɡalèɡā ‘to wash’ ‘laver’ general word used for washing objects, e.g. dishes, food, clothing, etc.; for body, there is /sūbó/ ‘to bathe’ lɛ̀ɾɡā lɛ̀ɾɡalɛ̀ɾɡā ‘to measure’ ‘mesurer’ lì lilì ‘to eat’ ‘manger’ lūsí lūsolūsí ‘to pull up’ ‘arracher’ mɪ̀lɛ̄ mɪ̀lɛmɪ̀lɛ̄ ‘to swallow’ ‘avaler’ also partial redup. mɔ̀lɪ̄ mɔ̀lɔmɔ̀lɪ̄ ‘to light’ ‘allumer’ nà nanà ‘to give’ ‘donner’ nɛ̀ nɛnɛ̀ ‘to do, to ‘faire’ make’ nɪ̀ nɪnɪ̀ ‘to send back’ ‘renvoyer’ nɪ̄ɾɪ́ nɪ̄ɾanɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to fold, to ‘plier, plisser’ also partial redup. wrinkle’ nùmō nùmonùmō ‘to bite, to ‘mordre, sting’ piquer’ nʊ̄ŋɡá nʊ̄ŋɡanʊ̄ŋɡá ‘to fight ‘se battre also partial redup. someone’ contre qqn’ ɲī ɲiɲī ‘to drink’ ‘boire’ ɲìlē ɲìleɲìlē ‘to push’ ‘pousser’ ɲīmó ɲīmaɲīmó ‘to winnow’ ‘vanner’ ɲìsē ɲìseɲìsē ‘to sweep’ ‘balayer’ ɲɪ̄ɾɪ́ ɲɪ̄ɾɪɲɪ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to sow’ ‘semer’ ɲɔ̄nɪ́ ɲɔ̄nɪɲɔ̄nɪ́ ‘to ‘accompagner’ accompany’ ɲɔ̄ɾɡʊ́ ɲɔ̄ɲɔ̄ɾɡʊ́ ‘to snore’ ‘ronfler’ ɲumo ɲumoɲumo ‘to hate’ ‘détester’ ɲʊ̀dɪ̄ ɲʊ̀dɔɲʊ̀dɪ̄ ‘to push’ ‘pousser’ ɲʊ̄ɡʊ́ ɲʊ̄ɡʊɲʊ̄ɡʊ́ ‘to kiss’ ‘embrasser’ ʔōló ʔōloʔōló ‘to see’ ‘voir’ ʔònō ʔònoʔònō ‘to smell’ ‘sentir’ also partial redup.

149 ʔōɾá ʔōɾaʔōɾá ‘to throw’ ‘jeter’ also partial redup. ɾàmɡɪ̄ ɾàmɡaɾàmɡɪ̄ ‘to pile’ ‘entasser’ ɾàwā ɾàwaɾàwā ‘to shout’ ‘crier’ also partial redup. ɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́ ɾɛ̄ŋɡɛɾɛ̄ŋɡɪ́ ‘to slice’ ‘trancher’ ɾɪ̀ɡɪ̄ ɾɪ̀ɡɪɾɪ̀ɡɪ̄ ‘to trick’ ‘tricher’ ɾōkí ɾōkoɾōkí ‘to give ‘donner also partial redup. medicine’ médicament’ ɽìbē ɽìbeɽìbē ‘to lose’ ‘perdre’ also partial redup. ɽime ɽimeɽime ‘to slaughter’ ‘égorger’ probably derived from /ɽím/ ‘water’ ɽū ɽuɽū ‘to sow, to ‘semer, sprinkle’ asperger’ sāɡá sāɡasāɡá ‘to beat’ ‘battre’ sɛ̀l sɛ̀lɛsɛ̀l ‘to steal’ ‘voler’ sīná sīnasīná ‘to prepare’ ‘préparer’ sòmō sòmosòmō ‘to swallow’ ‘avaler’ sōɾá sōɾasōɾa ‘to thread’ ‘enfiler’ sɔ̀ɡɔ̄ sɔ̀ɡɔsɔ̀ɡɔ̄ ‘to crush’ ‘piler’ sɔ̀ŋɡā sɔ̀ŋɡasɔ̀ŋɡā ‘to grill’ ‘griller’ sɔ̀ɾɡā sɔ̀ɾɡasɔ̀ɾɡā ‘to strangle’ ‘étrangler’ also partial redup. sūbó sūbosūbó ‘to bathe’ ‘laver’ also partial redup. sùmō sùmosùmō ‘to close, ‘fermer, also partial redup. cover’ couvrir’ sūŋɡí sūŋɡasūŋɡí ‘to touch’ ‘toucher’ sʊ̀dʊ̄ sʊ̀dɔsʊ̀dʊ̄ ‘to open’ ‘ouvrir’ also partial redup. tāɡá tāɡatāɡá ‘to lift’ ‘soulever’ tàmā tàmatàmā ‘to push’ ‘pousser’ tàɾā tàɾatàɾā ‘to forget’ ‘oublier’ also partial redup. tāɾá tāɾatāɾá ‘to want’ ‘vouloir’ also partial redup. tàsɪ̄ tàsatàsɪ̄ ‘to wash ‘laver les also partial redup. hands’ mains’ tèè teetèè ‘to find’ ‘trouver’ tèmē tèmetèmē ‘to filter’ ‘filtrer’ tēsé tēsetēsé ‘to coil’ ‘enrouler’ tɛ̄bɪ́ tɛ̄bɛtɛ̄bɪ́ ‘to shorten’ ‘rendre qqch plus court’ tɛ̀ɡɛ̄ tɛ̀ɡɛtɛ̀ɡɛ̄ ‘to construct’ ‘construire’ tɛ̀ndɪ̄ tɛ̀ndɛtɛ̀ndɪ̄ ‘to cut’ ‘couper’ tɛ̄ɾɪ́ tɛ̄ɾɛtɛ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to buy’ ‘acheter’ also partial redup. tìjā tìjatìjā ‘to unload’ ‘décharger’ tìlī tìlatìlī ‘to gather’ ‘ceuillir’ tīmí tīmatīmí ‘to say ‘faire les goodbye to adieux à qqn’ someone’ tɪ̄ɡɪ́ tɪ̀ɡatɪ̄ɡɪ́ ‘to trap, to ‘attraper, discover’ découvrir’ tɪɾɪ tɪɾatɪɾɪ ‘to gather’ ‘ramasser’ reportedly only used for gathering small objects such as grains of millet

150 tōjó tōjotōjó ‘to clean the ‘nettoyer les also partial redup. teeth’ dents’ tōlá tòlatòlā ‘to carry on ‘porter sur tête head or ou épaules’ shoulders’ tɔ̄ tɔtɔ̄ ‘to take’ ‘prendre’ tɔ̄ɾɪ́ tɔ̄ɾɔtɔ̄ɾɪ́ ‘to love’ ‘aimer’ also partial redup. tū tutū ‘to eat’ ‘manger’ tùmō tùmotùmō ‘to send’ ‘envoyer’ tʊ̄ tʊtʊ̄ ‘to disturb’ ‘déranger’ tʊ̄lʊ́ tʊ̄lɔtʊ̄lʊ́ ‘to hit with ‘frapper avec also partial redup. downward motion vers le motion’ bas’ tʊ̀ɾmɔ̄ tʊ̀ɾmatʊ̀ɾmɔ̄ ‘to exchange’ ‘échanger’ ʔùlō ʔùloʔùlō ‘to dry’ ‘sécher’ also partial redup. ʔùnī ʔùnoʔùnī ‘to undress’ ‘déshabiller’ also partial redup. ʔūsí ʔūsoʔūsí ‘to shave’ ‘raser’ also partial redup. wà wawà ‘to put, to fill’ ‘mettre, remplir’ wɪ̄dɪ́ wɪ̄dawɪ̄dɪ́ ‘to boil’ ‘bouillir’ also partial redup. wɛ̀ɾɡɛ̄ wɛ̀ɾɡɛwɛ̀ɾɡɛ̄ ‘to hunt’ ‘chasser’

There are some verbs for which the data does not contain a reduplicated form. Presumably these could be reduplicated; however, some of them were added to the data outside normal elicitation sessions, and no reduplicated form was later elicited.

151 Verbs for which there is no reduplication data

Stem Redup. English French Notes damlɪ ‘to ‘fêter’ celebrate’ deɾa ‘to harvest, ‘récolter, to husk’ décortiquer’ ɡaɾa ‘to speak’ ‘parler’ The more usual word is /ɲāsɛ́/ ‘to speak’ ɡinu ‘to fish’ ‘pêcher’ muu ‘to ‘provoquer’ from /mùù/ ‘mouth’ provoke’ ɲʊdɪ ‘to grow’ ‘pousser’ taje ‘to take ‘prendre (food)’ (nourriture)’

Loan words

Stem Redup. English French Notes Partial reduplication ʔajda ʔaʔajda ‘to ‘fêter’ Arabic celebrate’ halɪfa hahalɪfa ‘to promettre Arabic promise’ hanana hahanana ‘to apply ‘teindre au Arabic henna’ henné’ Full reduplication ʔaɟaɾa ʔaɟaɾaʔaɟaɾ ‘to rent’ ‘louer’ Arabic a ʔasaɾa ʔasaɾaʔasaɾ ‘to be ‘être obligé’ Arabic a obligated’ bada badabada ‘to start’ ‘commencer’ Arabic dawa dawadawa ‘to heal’ ‘soigner’ Arabic kafa kafakafa ‘to pay, to ‘payer, se Arabic get venger’ revenge’ safa safasafa ‘to filter’ ‘filtrer’ Arabic; used for filtering tea sɪda sɪdasɪda ‘to load’ ‘charger’ Arabic tabaɡa tabaɡataba ‘to respect ‘respecter la Arabic ɡa the law’ loi’ Reduplication unknown fakaɾa ‘to ‘se rappeler’ Arabic remember’ sala ‘to pray’ ‘prier’ Arabic taban ‘to suffer’ ‘souffrir’ Arabic

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