A Basic Sketch Grammar of Gĩkũyũ Edited by Robert Englebretson With Wambũi Mũringo Wa-Ngatho, Language Consultant A Special Issue of Rice Working Papers in Linguistics Volume VI July 2015 This volume serves as the capstone project of the 2014-2015 Field Methods course at Rice University (LING 407-408). Listed alphabetically, the course participants whose contributions appear in this publication are: Lisa Jeon Jessica Li Samantha Mauney Anaí Navarro Jonas Wittke Englebretson, Robert (Ed.), with Wambũi Mũringo Wa-Ngatho (Language Consultant). 2015. A Basic Sketch Grammar of Gĩkũyũ. Rice Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 6, Special Issue. Licensed under Creative Commons, Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/us/ Authors retain all copyrights, and are allowed to publish, present, and/or use any or all of the material in their contributions for their own purposes—prior or subsequent to the appearance of their work in Rice Working Papers in Linguistics (RWPL). Contributions by: Robert Englebretson Lisa Jeon Jessica Li Samantha Mauney Anaí Navarro Jonas Wittke Table of Contents List of Tables .................................................................................................................................................... ix List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... x Orthography .................................................................................................................................................... xi Glossing Abbreviations................................................................................................................................. xii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... xiii Preface Robert Englebretson .................................................................................................................... xv Chapter 1 Phonology Anaí Navarro ............................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Consonants .............................................................................................................................................. 2 1.1.1 Stops and Affricate ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.1.2 Nasals ................................................................................................................................................ 4 1.1.3 Tap ..................................................................................................................................................... 4 1.1.4 Fricatives .......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1.5 Approximants ................................................................................................................................. 5 1.2 Vowels ...................................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.1 Front Vowels ................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.2 Back Vowels .................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.3 Low Central Vowel ......................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.4 Diphthongs ...................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2.5 Triphthongs..................................................................................................................................... 7 1.2.6 Vowel Length .................................................................................................................................. 8 1.3 Syllable Structure .................................................................................................................................. 8 1.4 Tone .......................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.5 Morphophonology ................................................................................................................................ 9 1.5.1 Dahl’s Law: Velar Stop and Fricative Alternation .................................................................. 9 1.5.2 Combining Vowels Across Morpheme Boundaries .............................................................. 10 1.5.3 Syllable Initial Approximant Formation ................................................................................ 12 1.5.4 Avoiding Sequences of Three Vowels ..................................................................................... 12 1.5.4.1 Blocking Lengthening ......................................................................................................... 13 1.5.4.2 Using the Palatal Approximant to Split Up Syllables .................................................. 13 1.5.4.3 Postalveolar Fricative Epenthesis .................................................................................... 14 1.5.5 Attaching Nasal Prefix N- ........................................................................................................... 15 1.5.5.1 N + Fricatives ......................................................................................................................... 15 1.5.5.2 N + Voiceless Stops ............................................................................................................... 16 1.5.5.3 N + r .......................................................................................................................................... 16 iii 1.5.5.4 N + Nasals ................................................................................................................................ 16 1.5.5.5 N + Vowels .............................................................................................................................. 17 1.5.5.6 Exceptions in NC9, NC10 ....................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 2 Nouns and Noun Phrases Jessica Li ....................................................................................... 18 2.1 Nominal Morphology ......................................................................................................................... 18 2.1.1 Noun Classes.................................................................................................................................. 18 2.1.1.1 Classes 1/2 ............................................................................................................................. 19 2.1.1.2 Classes 3/4 ............................................................................................................................. 20 2.1.1.3 Classes 5/6 ............................................................................................................................. 21 2.1.1.4 Classes 7/8 ............................................................................................................................. 22 2.1.1.5 Classes 9/10 ........................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.1.6 Class 11 ................................................................................................................................... 24 2.1.1.7 Classes 12/13 ......................................................................................................................... 25 2.1.1.8 Class 14 ................................................................................................................................... 26 2.1.1.9 Class 15 ................................................................................................................................... 27 2.1.1.10 Classes 16/17 ....................................................................................................................... 28 2.1.2 Semantics Of Gĩkũyũ Noun Classes .......................................................................................... 29 2.1.3 Singular/Plural Pairings ............................................................................................................. 29 2.1.4 Noun-Noun Derivation ............................................................................................................... 31 2.1.4.1 Diminution ............................................................................................................................. 31 2.1.4.2 Augmentation ....................................................................................................................... 32 2.2 Components Of The Noun Phrase .................................................................................................... 32 2.2.1 Pronouns ........................................................................................................................................ 35 2.2.1.1 Personal Pronouns