Tense and Aspect Systems

Data for TENSE AND ASPECT SYSTEMS IN BANTU Derek Nurse Online Series ‘Documents on Social Sciences and Humanities’ COLOPHON Cover: Mieke Dumortier (RMCA). Foto cover: Free picture 2671862 © Chrisharvey - Dreamstime.com ISBN: 978-9-4926-6957-5 Legal Deposit: D/2019/0254/09 © Royal Museum for Central Africa, 2019 13, Leuvensesteenweg 3080 Tervuren, Belgium www.africamuseum.be This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/) Information about this publication: Publications Service, Royal Museum for Central Africa, 13 Leuvensesteenweg, 3080 Tervuren (Belgium). [email protected] Introduction The information and analyses here were intended to provide the database for my book Tense and Aspect in Bantu (2008, OUP). To ensure reasonably systematic geographical and typological coverage, one language was selected from each of Guthrie’s 84 groups (A10, A20, etc.). To these were added another 16, giving a (more or less) round 100, to facilitate statistical statements and include languages typologically somewhat different from the chosen representatives for each group. These 100 are referred to in the text as the matrix languages and form Appendix 1. Most have one standard template, with tense along one axis and aspect along the other, and one page of accompanying notes, most following more or less the same format. Occasional languages have more than one template, and some sets of notes exceed one page. Aspects in some languages (e.g. D42, M14) are so numerous that the matrix perforce excludes some, which are taken up in the notes. Usually, tones indicated along the left and top of the matrix are what are known or assumed to be underlying values, while tones in the matrixes themselves are surface tones, which explains why they sometimes differ. A blank cell indicates the absence of the category or the absence of data. Appendix 2 contains templates for a further 45 Bantu (and two Grassfields) languages, with no accompanying notes. They were selected less systematically. The facts are only as good as the sources used, which range in quality and quantity from very good or good to inadequate. All sources are listed at the end of the book. Users should always refer to the sources in case of doubt. All this is discussed in more detail in the Introduction to the book, which also discusses its theoretical framework. More detailed – and diverse – discussion of this framework can be found in the online book: Nurse, D., Rose, S. & Hewson, J. Tense and Aspect in Niger-Congo. 2016. http://www.africamuseum.be/research/publications/rmca/online/index_html#humandoc A major purpose with these appendices was to assemble in one place as sizeable a collection of comparable data and analyses as possible. Most of the data was assembled during the decade 1995-2005, especially during a sabbatical year at Lyon 2 University, under the auspices of Prof. J-M. Hombert. With the increase in language coverage and the refinement of tools since then, I would hope a larger overview would emerge in the coming decade. Appendix 1 Matrices and Notes for Matrix Languages Introduction The matrices follow a standard format, in which tense and aspect intersect. The basis for this is discussed in Chapter 2. Tenses appear in rows, aspects are shown in columns. Occasionally, for reasons of space, this order is reversed. The number of tenses varies, as can be seen by comparing H10A or G42d with A44 or F21. This variability mostly reflects the linguistic facts. The number of aspects also varies, seen in A15c or A22 versus A93 or S30/40. Here the variation may reflect the language but mostly it reflects my ignorance, which in turn reflects the source(s), many of which do not treat aspect in detail. The aspects, seen along the top of most matrices, follow a conventional order: Perfective (PFV), Imperfective (IPFV), Anterior (ANT). Since most languages have more than one subdivision of Imperfective, these follow the general imperfective label (Progressive (PRG), Habitual (HAB), (or sometimes HAB, then PRG), Persistive (PER), etc). Aspects in some languages (e.g. D42, M14) are so numerous that the matrix perforce excludes some, which are taken up in the notes. Usually, tones indicated along the left and top of the matrix are what are known or assumed to be underlying values, while tones in the matrixes themselves are surface tones, which explains why they sometimes differ. A blank cell might indicate the absence of the category or the absence of data. These notes for each language are intended to expand the content of the matrices, explain certain parts of them, and add other data. Generally, they are written in truncated form, to include as much information as possible. Many abbreviations are used (see Abbreviations). Most also follow a standard format, to make the reader’s task easier. In most cases, they consist of seven or eight sections, now discussed. Section 2, 3, and 4 are considered as the centre of the notes, and the length of the other sections varies, depending on how much is said in these central sections. It cannot be emphasised enough that the matrices and these notes are only as good as the sources, which range in quality and quantity from very good or good to inadequate. Occasionally additional sections are added (e.g. on focus). 1 General (sometimes called ‘Source, community’) This always contains the source(s) on which the description is based, and basic information about the language community, such as location and size. Unless otherwise stated, the population figure comes from Gordon (2005). Readers should try to consult the source(s), as the details included here are never complete. An attempt is made to include the number of vowels and sometimes additional data. The number of vowels is expressed in the form, e.g. 5x2 (five vowels, with a length contrast), or 7x1 (seven vowels, all short, no contrastive length). Nearly all Bantu languages have 5 or 7 vowels, most exceptions being in Zone A, plus B85, D20-30, and S31. The data display in the notes and matrices usually fits with the number of vowels given but in some cases I have resorted to a simple five-vowel representation. 2 Structure This contains a one-line linear representation of the structure of the single verbal word, followed by a listing of the morphemes occurring in each position. Another analysis, a hierarchical structure, is discussed in Chapter 2. With a few exceptions, the structures are probably complete. However, the lists of morphemes may not always be complete, and I may sometimes have reduced to one slot what in fact should be a string of morphemes: Bennett (1969) and Mutaka (1994) contain statements about such strings. Tones, if given, tend to be underlying, where the source is felt to be reliable. 3 Tense This tends to reflect fairly closely the content of the matrix. It may comment on whether tense reference is relative, which is more common, or fixed, less common. Matrices and notes use the labels P3, P2, P1, F1, F2, etc, rather than Remote, Middle, Near, although these terms may also be used in the discussion. 4 Aspect As terminology for aspectual values varies considerably, I have consciously tried to use a standardised set of terms, to emphasise the similarity of the systems rather than their differences. My general categorial labels do not necessarily have exactly the same value for one language as for another. This sometimes involved modifying the labels used in the source(s). In other cases I have retained the terms used by the source, either because they seemed satisfactory or because I was unsure what they meant. This is especially true for French terms. As mentioned above, the list of aspects in some languages may not be complete, often because of an analytical tradition in some sources that only takes into account those categories expressed by morphological inflections, while ignoring those carried by compound verbs. Most Bantu languages express at least some aspectual distinctions by such compounds. 5 Negation (NEG) There is much variation on a few basic themes in Bantu negation. One common pattern involves contrasting a primary and a secondary negative: primary is the negative that occurs in positive, main clause, absolutives, whereas secondary is the negative found in many subordinate clauses, relatives, and subjunctives. This section sketches as much detail as possible. 6 Relatives (RELs) Most sections on relativisation merely sketch positive and, where the source allows, negative patterns. Where space allows, examples are given. Few matrices show relatives. 7 Subjunctive (SBJ) A few of the notes deal with subjunctive and imperative separately, most combine them. My original intent was to try to illustrate the range of use of the subjunctive but space and available information conspired against that. Most cases describe the structure of the subjunctive and give a few examples. The subjunctive is defined as that structure which has a high-toned SM and a high-toned final -é. 8 Imperative (IMP) This section attempts at a minimum to exemplify singular and plural, positive and negative. Many Bantu languages use the subjunctive as a second, polite, imperative. My original intention was that all matrices and notes be a single page long. Some exceptions emerged, for practical reasons. With five exceptions, all 100 matrices consist of a single page. The exceptions are: B52, G11, K42 (which all have divergent sources), F21 (data display too large for one page), and E51 (two analyses of the same data). Twelve of the 100 sets of notes exceed one page (A72a, B52, D28, D42, F32, G23, L32, M14, M54, P311, R41, S42). In some cases there was simply a lot of data (e.g.

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