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A Grammar of Kusaal Agolle Dialect

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A Grammar of Kusaal Agolle Dialect A Grammar of Kusaal Agolle Dialect David Eddyshaw 2019 i Contents Preface...................................................................................................................... iv Abbreviations............................................................................................................. v Transcriptions........................................................................................................... vi Sources..................................................................................................................... vii References.............................................................................................................. viii 1 Introduction............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Kusaasi people.............................................................................................1 1.2 The Kusaal language...........................................................................................3 1.2.1 Related languages........................................................................................4 1.2.2 Grammatical sketch.....................................................................................7 2 Sound system...........................................................................................................15 2.1 Consonants........................................................................................................15 2.2 Vowels............................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Syllables and tonemes......................................................................................19 2.4 Standard orthography.......................................................................................23 3 Word structure......................................................................................................... 24 3.1 Word boundaries...............................................................................................24 3.2 Apocope............................................................................................................ 26 3.3 Roots, stems and flexions..................................................................................31 3.4 Root allomorphy................................................................................................32 3.5 Consonant clusters............................................................................................35 3.6 Vowels before y and labialised velars...............................................................38 3.7 Consonant deletion and vowel fusion...............................................................39 3.8 Tone Patterns....................................................................................................41 3.8.1 Nouns and adjectives.................................................................................41 3.8.2 Verbs.......................................................................................................... 45 3.8.3 Derivation..................................................................................................47 3.9 Closed word classes..........................................................................................48 4 External sandhi........................................................................................................ 49 4.1 Prosodic clitics..................................................................................................49 4.2 Liaison............................................................................................................... 51 4.3 M spreading...................................................................................................... 58 4.4 M dropping.......................................................................................................60 4.5 Segmental contact............................................................................................62 5 Noun flexion............................................................................................................. 64 5.1 Noun classes.....................................................................................................64 5.2 Stem levelling...................................................................................................66 5.3 Paradigms......................................................................................................... 67 6 Adjective flexion....................................................................................................... 77 7 Verb flexion.............................................................................................................. 81 7.1 Dual-aspect.......................................................................................................81 7.2 Single-aspect.....................................................................................................83 ii 8 Stem conversion....................................................................................................... 86 8.1 Nominals from verbs.........................................................................................86 8.1.1 Gerunds......................................................................................................86 8.1.2 Concrete nouns..........................................................................................88 8.2 Nominals from nominals...................................................................................89 9 Derivation by suffixes...............................................................................................91 9.1 Verbs from verbs...............................................................................................91 9.2 Verbs from nominals.........................................................................................94 9.2.1 Single aspect..............................................................................................94 9.2.2 Dual aspect................................................................................................95 9.3 Nominals from verbs.........................................................................................97 9.3.1 Agent nouns...............................................................................................97 9.3.2 Adjectives.................................................................................................100 9.3.3 Instrument nouns.....................................................................................102 9.3.4 Class mm gerunds....................................................................................103 9.3.5 Other derivatives.....................................................................................105 9.4 Nominals from nominals.................................................................................105 10 Noun prefixes....................................................................................................... 107 11 Loanwords............................................................................................................110 12 Noun phrases.......................................................................................................113 12.1 Number......................................................................................................... 116 12.2 Gender..........................................................................................................118 12.3 Pronouns.......................................................................................................119 12.3.1 Personal.................................................................................................119 12.3.2 Demonstrative........................................................................................121 12.3.3 Indefinite................................................................................................122 12.3.4 Interrogative..........................................................................................123 12.3.5 Reciprocal..............................................................................................124 12.3.6 Reflexive.................................................................................................124 12.3.7 Dummy head..........................................................................................125 12.4 Personal names.............................................................................................126 12.5 Kinship terms................................................................................................127 12.6 Quantifiers....................................................................................................128 12.6.1 Numbers................................................................................................130 12.7 Predependents..............................................................................................133 12.7.1 Personifier..............................................................................................133 12.7.2 Noun phrases.........................................................................................135 12.7.3 Adverb phrases......................................................................................138 12.7.4 Combining forms....................................................................................138
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