A Grammar of Agolle Kusaal Revised Version David Eddyshaw i Contents Preface....................................................................................................................... x Preface to the Revised Version.................................................................................xii Introduction to the Grammar..................................................................................xiii Other Studies of Kusaal............................................................................................xv Abbreviations......................................................................................................... xvii Interlinear Glossing...............................................................................................xviii Transcription Conventions.......................................................................................xx Sources................................................................................................................... xxii References/Bibliography.......................................................................................xxiii 1 Introduction to Kusaal and the Kusaasi.....................................................................1 1.1 The Kusaasi People.............................................................................................2 1.2 The Kusaal Language..........................................................................................4 1.2.1 Language Status..........................................................................................4 1.2.2 Dialects........................................................................................................5 1.2.3 Related Languages......................................................................................6 1.2.4 External Infuences....................................................................................15 1.3 Outline of Kusaal Grammar..............................................................................17 Morphophonemics....................................................................................................... 32 2 Orthography............................................................................................................. 32 2.1 Orthography of Written Materials....................................................................36 2.1.1 Vowels and Consonants..............................................................................36 2.1.2 Other Issues...............................................................................................38 3 Words, Morae and Syllables.....................................................................................40 3.1 Word Classes.....................................................................................................40 3.2 Apocope............................................................................................................ 40 3.2.1 Superscript Notation.................................................................................44 3.2.2 Predictability of Long Forms......................................................................47 3.3 Word Division....................................................................................................51 3.3.1 Compound Noun Phrases...........................................................................51 3.3.2 Liaison........................................................................................................53 3.3.3 Words with Zero Segmental Representation.............................................56 3.4 Morae and Syllables..........................................................................................57 3.5 Ordering of Morphophonemic Rules.................................................................58 4 Consonants............................................................................................................... 59 4.1 Inventory and Symbols.....................................................................................59 4.2 Consonant Clusters...........................................................................................64 ii 5 Vowels...................................................................................................................... 67 5.1 Inventory and Symbols.....................................................................................67 5.1.1 Agolle Vowel Breaking...............................................................................68 5.2 Root Vowels.......................................................................................................70 5.2.1 Nasalisation...............................................................................................70 5.2.2 Glottalisation..............................................................................................73 5.2.3 Diphthongs.................................................................................................75 5.3 Epenthetic Vowels.............................................................................................78 5.4 Affix Vowels....................................................................................................... 79 6 Tones........................................................................................................................ 81 6.1 Tonemes............................................................................................................82 6.2 Realisation Rules...............................................................................................84 6.2.1 H Spreading...............................................................................................85 6.2.2 Downstepping before H.............................................................................88 6.2.3 LM Levelling..............................................................................................91 7 Word Segmental Structure......................................................................................93 7.1 Roots, Prefxes and Suffixes..............................................................................93 7.1.1 Root Alternations.......................................................................................96 7.1.1.1 CV:~CV...............................................................................................96 7.1.1.2 CV:C~CVC.........................................................................................100 7.1.1.3 CV:~CVC...........................................................................................101 7.1.1.4 Glottalisation before Derivational Suffixes.......................................102 7.2 Consonant Changes........................................................................................103 7.2.1 Assimilation versus Insertion of Epenthetic Vowels................................103 7.2.1.1 Cluster Simplifcation.......................................................................105 7.2.1.2 Consonant Assimilation in Derivation...............................................107 7.2.1.3 Unexpected Epenthetic Vowel Insertion...........................................108 7.2.1.3.1 After Nasals...............................................................................108 7.2.1.3.2 Between Alveolars.....................................................................112 7.2.2 Epenthetic Consonants............................................................................112 7.3 Vowel Changes................................................................................................116 7.3.1 Fusion...................................................................................................... 116 7.3.2 Fronting and Rounding............................................................................120 7.3.3 Length Constraints..................................................................................123 7.4 Apocope Blocking............................................................................................125 7.5 Clitic Pronouns and Particles..........................................................................126 iii 8 Word Tonal Structure.............................................................................................127 8.1 Tone Patterns..................................................................................................127 8.2 Nominals.........................................................................................................130 8.2.1 Pattern H..................................................................................................130 8.2.1.1 Forms with Deleted Morae...............................................................131 8.2.2 Pattern HL................................................................................................132 8.2.3 Pattern L..................................................................................................133 8.2.4 Pattern O..................................................................................................134 8.2.5 Nominals with Prefxes............................................................................136 8.3 Verbs............................................................................................................... 137 8.3.1 Pattern H..................................................................................................137 8.3.2 Pattern O..................................................................................................139