Bakweri Verb Morphology By Ann Katherine Hawkinson A.B. (University of California, Santa Barbara) 1973 M.A. (University of California) 1975 DISSERTATION Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Linguistics in the GRADUATE DIVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Chairman Datre BBCIGBAl DEGREE COI0MD HU 18,1888 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. BAKWERi VERB MORPHOLOGY Copyright© 1985 by Ann Katherine Hawkinson Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Bakweri Verb Morphology Ann Katherine Hawkinson Abstract This thesis has two objectives. The first is informational. Bakweri, the language studied, is an unwritten Bantu language spoken in Cameroon in West Africa. It is hoped that the data described will contribute to our understanding of Bantu grammatical structure in general and provoke further research into the processes of semantic differentiation and diachronic development in these languages. The second goal of this dissertation is to demonstrate the value of certain theortical constructs in the analysis of language. The concepts of interest are those of meaning, as opposed to message, and system, substance, and value. Meaning is defined as "the information which a linguistic form conveys in any and all instances of its use". Message is that idea or notion which is in fe rre d from the use of a particular meaning in a given context. Meanings cannot be understood in isolation from one another: they acquire their value through semantic opposition to other meanings in a given semantic system. The grammar of a language consists of a number of different systems, each of which conveys information concerning a given semantic substance, such as time, focus, nersonr number, etc. Within each system there are different forms which signal different values of the substance classified. So, for example, plural in the system of number in a language which has no dual means more than one. In a language which does exihibit dual this is not necessarily the case; plural may mean only more than two. By analyzing Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 Bakweri verb morphology using these theoretical constructs, it becomes possible to explain instances of synchronic semantic differentiation which might otherwise appear unmotivated Bakweri exhibits characteristics found throughout Bantu languages: namely, an extensive system of noun classification and complex agglutinative verb morphology. !t is the latter which is the focus of interest in this dissertation. However, to provide the reader with the necessary linguistic background to interpret examples given throughout the text, the noun class system and the phonology of the language are briefly described (Chapters 3 and 4). Chapter 1 provides language classification information, while Chapter 2 describes the theoretical orientation, cf. above. Chapters 5-11 cover various aspects of the verb. They are described here briefly. Chapter 5 provides a description the basic structure of verb roots in the language, as well as dicussion.s of root types which constitute exceptions to the general patterns observed. Chapter 6 focuses upon the system of verbal concord prefixes which refer to different noun classes found in the language. It also contains a discussion of passive constructions. Chapters 7 and 8 contain descriptions of verbal derivational suffixes used to signal information about roles which entities involved in events play. Chapter 9 treats reflexive constructions. Chapter 10 describes tense and aspect affixes in affirmative verbs; Chapter 11 treats the same for negative verbs. In conclusion, Chapter 12 reviews the analytical questions raised by the phenomena described in preceding chapters and suggests avenues for further research. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. i Dedications This thesis is dedicated to three people, each of whom has special significance for me. First and foremost, it is dedicated to my mother, Jane, in recognition and deepest appreciation of her loving support for whatever I choose to do in my life. I t is also dedicated to my father, Don, who always wanted me to go to graduate school. I am sorry that he was not here to see it happen, and to share with me in the joy of completion. And finally, it is dedicated to one of my students, Carrie Hansen, whose recent meeting w ith death reminded me just how precious life is...at a time when I risked forgetting. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements The writing of this dissertation has been facilitated and supported by a number of different people throughout my graduate studies, and subsequent to them. Each has contributed in a different way, and I would like to acknowledge each and every one of them personally for their support and encouragement of my work. For anyone whom I do not mention specifically, I hope that they will forgive the omission. First and most importantly, I would like to convey great appreciation to my principal informant, Mr. Martin Musonge, for his patience and persistence during our work together. Clearly, without him, this thesis would not have been possible. Special thanks belong also to my secondary informant, Ms. Mary Eposi Westbrook, in particular for her willingness to work with me in the collection of texts and in providing me additional time to aather material on short notice. Of great importance in another way, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Larry Hyman. He encouraged my early interest in Santu linguistics and supported all my work in this area. It was he who made it possible for me to undertake the research project during which I gathered the data upon which this thesis is based, and encouraged me to develop it into my doctoral dissertation. ! suspect that it would never have come to be were it not for his support and direction when I needed it. His comments on earlier versions of the text also helped me achieve a greater clarity and cohesion in presentation. I would also like to convey my heartfelt thanks to Dr. Robert Kirsner for his support and encouragement of my interest in the Form-Content Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. approach to linguistic analysis from which my theoretical orientation derives. His comments on an earlier version of this thesis were invaluable in helping me refine my analyses of various grammatical structures. They also guided me in changing certain aspects of presentation to facilitate the accessability of the material covered to non-Bantuists. Another person to whom I would like to give special thanks is Dr. Erica Garcia, for her enthusiastic support of my work and my interest in Form-Content theory. She has spent many hours of her time working with and challenging me to go deeper into linguistic analysis. Whatever rigorousness of procedure I possess I owe to her careful guidance. Her clarity of thinking and purpose remains a continuing inspiration to me in my work. I would also like to express special appreciation to my co-researcher Dr. Ken Stallcup for his support both during the research project and subsequent to it. His enthusiastic offer of project material for use in writing this dissertation helped me to bring the project to completion. Special thanks are also expressed to colleagues of Afrikaannse Taalkur.de at the University of Leiden for their interest and encouragement of my work on Bakweri. In particular, I remember Jan Voornoeve most fondly for his enthusiasm and efforts to obtain funding for further research, Thilo Schadeberg for his efforts to continue Jan's application for funding following his death, and, more recently, the assistance which Julia Kuperus provided in obtaining regional maps of the area where Bakweri is spoken. My only regret is that we did not have more time to work together. Although not directly involved with the content of this dissertation, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. I would like to acknowledge my appreciation of Dr. Diane Larsen-Freeman’s support for my work and for my completion of this dissertation. !t has been a long time in the making and her continued interest helped me finally set enough time aside to see the project through. Lastly, but certainly not of least significance, I would like to express my gratitude to my dissertation committee, to Dr. James Matisoff for his support throughout the various versions of the text, and to Dr. Karl Zimmer and Dr. John Gumperz for their interest and support of my work and for their willingness to join my committee late in the process. I apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused them. Special thanks are due also to Ms. LaRue Seegmiller for her support and for all her efforts in helping me work through the administrative details of completing my degree. There are many other people who have contributed indirectly to this thesis through the influence of their instruction at various times during my graduate studies. 1 would like to acknowledge the significance of their guidance. They are Dr. William Diver and students working with him at Columbia University; members of my qualifying examination committee who have not already been specifically mentioned, Dr. Mary Haas for her support and interest in my desire to understand earlier theories and analytical approaches from the field of linguistics, Dr. Benji Wald for his encouragement and direction in my work in Bantu linguistics, in particular in the study of Swahili, Dr. Charles Fillmore, for his interest and direction in the original work on Bakweri in a field methods class; Mr. Orin Gensler, for detailed comments on an earlier verision of the text; my adopted Swahili family members in Mombasa, Kenya who supported me in Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner.