Verbal Number in Tagom

Aldawi, Maha A.

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Verbal Number in Tagom – Rashad Group [1]

Maha A. Aldawi (University of Khartoum)

urn:nbn:de:0009-10-55080

Abstract

The current study is an attempt to shed light on verbal number in Tagom as one of the derivational processes in the verbal morphology of the language. Tagom is one of the four varieties of Tegali of the Rashad group which itself belongs to the Niger-Congo phylum (Greenberg 1963, Schadeberg 1981, Williamson & Blench 2000, Quint 2009, Blench 2013, Dimmendaal 2018).
The objective of this study is to investigate verbal number and specifically pluractional marking in Tagom. Verbal number is a grammatical device that indicates that the actions transmitted by a verb are repeated or that multiple participants performing certain actions are involved (cf. Creissels et al. 2007, Veselinova 2013). The notion of verbal pluractional marking is restricted to “plurality or multiplicity of the verb’s action” which was first introduced by Paul Newman (1990:53-54) in his survey of this phenomenon in Chadic languages. The study focuses on answering the following: When does verbal number, i.e., participant number and/or event number, surface in Tagom? What are the different strategies used in Tagom to indicate pluractionality? What is the correlation between transitivity and verbal number in Tagom? What are the semantic connotations of verbal number in Tagom?

1. Introduction

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The meaning of reduplicated verbs (as a representative of various forms of pluractional marking) may be summarized as “a derivational category widespread among Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic languages, though rather marginal in Niger-Congo. This category is variously known as the intensive, habitative, frequentative, repetitive, or plural verb. Morphologically, it is characterized by reduplication, and it has the general meaning of a repeated action, an action simultaneously performed by several agents, an action performed on more than one object, or various combinations of these ‘plural’ meanings” (Eulenberg 1971:73). As will be discussed in the following sections of this study, reduplication is only one of the devices that are used to mark verbal number in Tagom. Together with other morphological means it will be dealt with in this paper. As Dimmendaal (2014:58) observes: “Prototypically, verbal pluractional marking expresses “[…] plurality or multiplicity of the verb’s action”, as pointed out by Newman (1990:53-54) in his survey of this phenomenon in Chadic languages. In the case of intransitive verbs, pluractional marking typically affects the subject, whereas with transitive verbs it typically affects the object.” Kutsch Lojenga (1994:285) (also cited in Dimmendaal (2014:128-129), distinguishes between collective and distributive plurality in the Central-Sudanic, Nilo-Saharan language Ngiti. Example ‎(1) below shows distributive plural where a plural object accompanies a plural verb in a transitive clause in Ngiti. Note that ɨ̀ndrɨ̀ is not differentiated for number and thus refers to both ‘goat’ as well as ‘goats’. [2] That’s why both readings are possible.

(1)	ma	mɨ́	ɨ̀ndrɨ̀	nʉ́dha᷅
	ma	m-ɨ́	ɨ̀ndrɨ̀	nɨ́-ʉ̀dha᷅
	1sg	sc-aux	goat	rsm-pull:plur:nom1
	‘I am pulling several goats one by one (distributive plural), or one goat several times’ (Kutsch Lojenga 1994:285)

Collective plural, on the other hand, involves a singular verb stem – nádha – and the corresponding sentence would translate as ‘I’m pulling one goat, or a group of goats simultaneously’ (see Kutsch Lojenga 1994:285).

With intransitive verbs in Ngiti, the verb is not marked for pluractionality, if the action is performed once, as in examples ‎(2) and ‎(3a), independent from the number of the subject. By contrast, if the action is repeated, the verb is marked for pluractionality, as in example ‎(3b). In both cases, we may deal with a singular subject. That is, here, the number of the subject has no influence on pluractional marking, counter the general tendency.

(2)		ma	mákpe᷅
		ma	m-ɨ́-àkpe᷅
		1sg	sc-aux-whistle:nom1
		‘I am whistling (singular subject)’ (Kutsch Lojenga 1994:286)

(3)	a.	ma᷅	măkpe᷅
		ma᷅	m-ɨ́-àkpe᷅
		1pl	sc-aux-whistle:nom1
		‘We (as a group) are whistling (singular-action verb, plural subject: collective plural)’ (Kutsch Lojenga 1994:286)

(3)	b.	ma	múkpe᷅	(abhɔ)
		ma	m-ɨ́-ùkpe᷅	(abhɔ)
		1sg	sc-aux-whistle:plr:nom1	(much)
		‘I am whistling (a lot) (pluractional verb, singular subject)’ (Kutsch Lojenga 1994:286)

This is different in Karko (a Kordofan Nubian language), as shown by Jakobi (2017) for the intransitive verb ‘enter’ illustrating “that the singular and plural stems, tòr (example ‎4a) and twākár (example ‎4b), designate a single event associated with a distinct number of participants, i. e. a singular subject in the case of tòr and a plural subject in the case of twākár” (Jakobi 2017:131).

(4)	a.	kɔ̄ɔ̄l=ɔ́t	tòr
		house=loc	enter.sgl.imp
		‘Enter (sg) the house [once]’

(4)	b.	kɔ̄ɔ̄l=ɔ́t	twākár
		house= loc	enter.plr.imp
		‘Enter (pl) the house [once]’ (Jakobi 2017:132)

Only by using a different plural stem, i.e., tòkɲòr, Karko refers to multiple events (see Jakobi 2017:132), independent of the number of subject agents. In Karko, a threefold distinction is also practiced for transitive verbs, as described by Jakobi (2017:131). That is, e.g., the verb òg ‘call’ is used with a singular object, while ògór is used with a plural object but a singular event. The third form, òʃór, is used with plural objects and distributive events.

The following summarizing points can be made of what verbal number describes:

Verbal number may describe an action repeated many times and is in this case understood as pluractional (as in example 3b)
It also describes a single action with multiple subjects, to be differentiated from pluractional marking, depending on the language (as in ‎ examples 3a).
It may also describe an action with multiple objects, understood as pluractional only when simultaneously referring to repeated actions (as in 1)

From the literature mentioned above and further publications on the topic of verbal number/verbal pluractionality (such as Jakobi 2017, Schneider-Blum 2017, and Blench 2010), the essence of pluractionality marking is that the action of the verb is repeated or lasts for long. This may be because several agents perform an action, because an action is performed on several objects, or because it is performed several times or continuously.

The current study is an attempt to shed light on verbal number in Tagom as one of the derivational processes in the verbal morphology of the language. The investigation lets us strongly assume that verbal pluractional marking in Tagom is solely correlated to event number, not to participant number, as hopefully becomes clear with the data presented below.

The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. In Section 2, background information is given, mainly on language classification, previous publications on Tagom, and linguistic facts relevant to facilitate understanding of the examples given in the main body of the paper. Section 3 discusses pluractional marking. It is divided into several subsections based on the formal side of pluractional marking. The discussion is summarized in Section 4.

2. Background information

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Tagom is one of the varieties of Tegali, a language of the Rashad group which itself belongs to the Niger-Congo phylum (Greenberg 1963, Schadeberg 1981, Williamson & Blench 2000, Quint 2009, Blench 2013, Dimmendaal 2018). But whereas e.g., Greenberg (1963) assorts the Rashad languages and three other language groups into a cluster he labels Kordofanian, a supposed subbranch of the Niger-Congo phylum, Dimmendaal (2018) and Blench (2013) call for a reconstruction of what is classified as Kordofanian, claiming that the evidence for the four language groups Heiban (Greenberg’s Koalib), Katloid, Rashad (Greenberg’sTegali), and Talodi forming a subbranch is rather poor.

Tagom is spoken in Southern Kordofan in the Tegali and Rashad Hills as well as in the town of Rashad of the Nuba Mountains. Its speakers use the term ŋágóm to refer to their language; ŋá means ‘tongue’ or ‘language’ and ŋá-góm is the ‘language of Rashad’. The name of the language shares the same lexical root as kóm ‘Rashad person’ and Tógóm ‘Rashad town’ (Schadeberg 2013:328). Tagom is an under-described variety which also has no written tradition. Together with Lafofa, the Rashad group is the most understudied group of those groups which are in the Greenbergian tradition referred to as Kordofanian languages (Schadeberg 2013:327).

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The fieldwork was carried out with native speakers of Tagom living in Khartoum. The primary data of this work were collected during fieldwork sessions held by the author in Khartoum between January 2018 and February 2019 which include a mix of structured interviews, elicitation, and focus group discussions.

Two main informants were involved: Ibrahim Adam Yousif (born in 1973) and Adil Abdalla Ibrahim Mohamed (born in 1963).

[D]

Map (1): The Nuba Mountain languages (Source: Schneider-Blum et al. 2018)

As for the writing of my data, I use a practical orthography that closely follows the IPA system and that has been developed during a workshop on Tagom segmental phonology held in 2016 in Khartoum. [3]

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This study on verbal number of Tagom is a pioneering work and the data collected are quite limited. Some aspects of the phonology of Tagom are still fuzzy in particular concerning the vowel system, where the phonemic status of some of the units identified remains questionable. For a consonant inventory and categorization of the vowels of Tagom see Aldawi & Nashid (2018:130).

Previous publications on Tagom are few and comprise essentially the following references:

Stevenson (1956-1957), a pioneer in Kordofanian studies, lists a certain amount of Rashad data in his PhD thesis dealing with the languages of South Kordofan.
More recently, Schadeberg (2013) published a chapter devoted to comparative work between the phonological and morphological structures of Tagoi, Turjok and Tagom which all belong to the Rashad cluster (see Figure 1 above), based on data (essentially the Swadesh wordlists and sentences based on the French (CNRS) “Questionnaire d’inventaire linguistique”) he collected during his visits to the Nuba Mountains in 1974-1975. In his study, Schadeberg also provides brief information about the number marking in Tagom and the structure of personal pronouns.
Aldawi & Nashid (2017) presented a paper under the title “An Initial Sketch of the Tagom noun phrase” at the 3^rd Nuba Mountain Conference held in Cologne Sept. 27-29 which was later published in Nuba Mountain Languages Studies – New Insights (Schneider-Blum et al. 2018). It is a descriptive and analytic study discussing the structure of Tagom noun phrases. It basically covers the morphology of the Tagom noun, the nominal number marking system, and the noun-phrase constituents (personal and possessive pronouns, demonstratives, adjectives, quantifiers, numerals) as well as a summary of the morphosyntactic structure of Tagom NPs.
Bashir (2018) reclassified the Tagoi nouns which have already been investigated by Alamin (2015), Schadeberg (2013) and Stevenson (1956/57), the latter being the most comprehensive study of the three. Bashir reclassified nouns in the light of new data using an alternative recent approach as suggested by Corbett (1991:45) based on agreement evidence and follows both semantic and morphological assignment rules. “This method enables us to set out all nouns, including irregular nouns like zero prefix nouns and others, and to assign them to the appropriate classes.” (Bashir 2018ː153)
An ‘Initial Phonological Study of ŋágóm (Tagom)’ is now being prepared as a master’s degree research by Mona Ibrahim, a staff member of the linguistics department of the University of Khartoum.

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Tagom is a tonal language with two register tones H/L which play a major role in the marking of the tense system of the language, sometimes together with vowel alternation regarding the prefix vowel. Though vowel alternation is common in various contexts in Tagom, its conditions for the occurrence are at present still unknown. In the present tense, the root is marked with a low tone whereas the past is always marked with a high tone which extends to influence the tone of the attached affixes. Table 1 presents data with the verb frək ‘get out’, where we also find vowel alternation comparing the prefixes, while the verb ləm ‘see’, illustrated in Table 2, shows no such vowel alternation with the prefix.

*Table 1: The verb frək* ‘get out’ in the past/present tense**
	Person	Past Tense	Present Tense
	1sg	yʊ́-frə́k	yə̀-frə̀k
	2sg	wɔ́-frə́k	wə̀-frə̀k
	3sg	ʊ́-frə́k	Ø-frə̀k
	1pl (excl)	nʊ́-frə́k	nà-frə̀k
	1pl (incl)	tʊ́-frə́k	tə̀-frə̀k
	2pl	ŋʊ́-frə́k	ŋə̀-frə̀k
	3pl	kʊ́-frə́k	kə̀-frə̀k

*Table 2: The verb ləm* ‘see’ in the past/present tense**
	Person	Past Tense	Present Tense
	1sg	yɪ́-lə́m	yɪ̀-lə̀m
	2sg	wɪ́-lə́m	wɪ̀-lə̀m
	3sg	ɪ́-lə́m	ɪ̀-lə̀m
	1pl (excl)	nɪ́-lə́m	nɪ̀-lə̀m
	1pl (incl)	tɪ́-lə́m	tɪ̀-lə̀m
	2pl	ŋʊ́-lə́m	ŋʊ̀-lə̀m
	3pl	kɪ́-lə́m	kɪ̀-lə̀m

Since the focus of this study is the verb category, it is important to shed light on the verb root and the morphemes possibly attached to it, before beginning our discussion on verbal number. The verb roots in Tagom are bound roots, i.e., bound morphemes which are either monosyllabic or disyllabic. Additionally, few polysyllabic roots are attested. The canonical structure of the known verb roots falls into one of the syllable types as presented in Table 3.

Tagom is considered to have a “moderately complex syllable structure”, which permits a single consonant after the vowel and/or allows two consonants in the onset position of a syllable with the restriction on the type of combinations allowed. An example from Tagom which allows a combination of liquids and plosives as a second consonant in the onset position of the syllable is the verb ‘get_out’ frək and the noun ‘eye’ ŋgɨ́t. Schadeberg (2013:329) mentions that “[t]here are open and closed syllables [in Rashad] giving rise to consonant sequences.” Tagom allows consonant sequences in all positions (Aldawi, In preparation). Possible sequences witnessed in Tagom are those listed in Table 4. [4]

Table 3: Canonical structure of Tagom verb
	Syllable Structure	Root	Gloss
monosyllabic	CV	yɔ	drink
	CCV	ŋɡɔ́	3sg (independent pronoun)
	CVC	rɪŋ	slaughter
	CVCC	gork	tie
	CCVC	frək	get out
disyllabic	V.CV	ɛna	stab
	CV.CV	sɛrɛ	lie down
	V.CVC	asʊd	cut
	V.CVV	ɛgɛɪ	bite
	VC.CV	andɛ	go
	VC.CVC	ʊndɛn	sleep
	CV.CVC	təwək	grind
	CVC.CVC	gʊlmək	hide
polysyllabic	V.CV.CV	amada	shave
	VC.CV.CV	imridi	wash
	V.CV.CV.CV	udobidi	cultivate
	VC.CV.CV.CV	ʊŋfʊyanɪ	whistle

Table 4: Possible consonant sequences
Consonant Sequence		Example	Gloss
	nɉ	àrànɉ	brain
	rɲ	tábə́rɲá	name of village in Rashad
	ŋn	ɛ̀ŋnɛ̀	hands
	mn	ámn	goods
	ld	kòlɖókólɖò	calabash
	rd	tɔ̀rdà	chair
	ŋg	ŋgɨ́t	eye
	fr	frə̀k	get out!
	fɲ	ndʊ́fɲáŋ	kind of ants
	ft	kàftɛ̀	throw!
	ŋk	kɪ̀ŋkɛ̀	towards

Word-initial sequences with a homorganic nasal followed by a stop are, as current knowledge suggests, considered prenasalized stops which are common in Tagom, e.g., mbə́t ‘goat’, ŋɡə̀t ‘eye’, ndʊ ‘go’ (listed in Schadeberg 2013:329, confirmed by the present author).

The verb root attaches to several compulsory and optional inflectional and derivational affixes that adjust its meaning. As mentioned by Stevenson (1956-57:50), in verb conjugation person elements are prefixed to the verb. Tagom has pronominal indexes which are obligatorily attached to the verb. Two series of person prefixes, subject indexes and object indexes, are distinguished (see Table 5 below). Independent pronouns occur in verbless sentences. They may also co-occur with person indexes in the same verbal sentence, but they are not obligatory; a sentence remains grammatically correct even when the independent pronoun is absent. The conditions for their co-occurrence still need to be investigated.

Table 5: Subject and object person indexes and independent personal pronouns
	Person	Subject indexes	Object indexes	Independent Pronouns [5]
	1sg	y-/ y(V)-	t(V)-	ŋɪ̀
	2sg	w-/ w(V)-	n^w-	ŋɔ̀
	3sg	V-/Ø-	Ø-	ŋɡɔ́
	1pl (excl)	n-/ n(V)-	tɪŋɡ-	ɲɪ̀ndɛ́
	1pl (incl)	t(V)-	Ø-	ɲɪ̀ndɛ́
	2pl	ŋ(V)-	nʊŋɡ	ŋɔ̀ndá
	3pl	k-/k(V)-	Ø-	ŋèndá

Generally, with verb roots beginning with an initial vowel, the pronominal prefix is consonantic (see ‎example 5). When a vowel indicates 3sg it is possible that this vowel merges with the initial vowel of the root which may show a difference in vowel quality or length. With roots beginning with an initial consonant, the pronominal prefix has a CV-structure (see ‎ example 6). Vowels of the root trigger vowel alternation/assimilation of the vowels of the pronominal prefixes (compare ‎example 6 with examples 22a,b and example 11b with‎ example 12, e.g.). Root initial glides have the same assimilating effect (see17b and compare with ‎example 6).

(5)	ŋɪ̀	tà-sʊ́kʊ́	y-àndɛ̀
	s1sg	loc-market	s1sg-go
	‘I am going to the market’

(6)	ŋɪ̀	pʊ̀n	yɛ́-yɛ́k
	s1sg	porridge	s1sg-ate:plur
	‘I ate porridge’

In intransitive sentences, the subject index is always marked on the verb in Tagom, whereas in transitive sentences, the personal index on the verb follows a person hierarchy (summarized in the following and also in Table 6 where the respective examples are listed).

1^st and 2^nd persons take precedence over the 3^rd person (1, 2 > 3) independently of their argument role;
when a first and second person are object arguments of the verb, the object prefix takes precedence over the subject prefix (O > S);
when the subject and object are both 3^rd persons (whether singular or plural), it is the subject which is marked on the verb.

The basic word order is S O V in all cases.

Table 6: Person hierarchy for person indexes in transitive verbs
	Subject	Object	Person index on the verb	Hierarchy			Examples
	1 or 2	3	Subject	1, 2	>	3	‎6, 7
	3	1 or 2	Object	3	˂	1, 2	8
	1	2	Object	S	˂	O	‎9
	2	1	Object	S	˂	O	10
	3	3	Subject	S	>	O	‎ 11a, 11b

(7)	ŋɔ̀ndá	ŋɡɔ́	ŋʊ́-lə́m
	s2pl	o3sg	s2pl-saw
	‘You saw him’

(8)	ŋɡɔ́	ŋɪ̀	tɪ́-lə́m
	s3sg	o1sg	o1sg-saw
	‘He saw me’

(9)	ŋɪ̀	ŋɔ̀ndá	nʊ̀ŋɡʊ̀-lə̀m
	s1sg	o2pl	o2pl-saw
	‘I see you (pl)’

(10)	ŋɔ̀ndá	ɲɪ̀ndɛ́	tɪ́ŋɡ(í)-lə́m
	s2pl	o1pl	o1pl-saw
	‘You saw us’

(11)	a.	ès	yánɛ̀			kɪ́-lə́m
		men	woman			s3pl-saw
		‘The men saw the woman’

	b.	èd		yɪ̂n	ɪ́-lə́m
		man		women	s3sg-saw
		‘The man saw the women’

Also important for the understanding of examples is the internal order of verbal morphemes. Table (7) presents the linear order of the inflectional and derivational affixes of the Tagom verb (see example ‎(12) with a verb marked for middle). Some of the verbal derivation markers will be discussed in a separate study (Aldawi, In preparation). As indicated above, tam is suprasegmentally marked on the verb by tone.

Table 7: Linear order of verbal morphemes
1	2	3	4	5
NEG	PERSON	ROOT	DERIVATIONAL MARKERS	QUES

(12)	kɪ́à	tàrbìsà-dà	tʊ̀ʊ̀	ʊ́-ɡʊ́lmə́-k
	child	table-loc	under	s3sg-hid:mid
	‘The child hid under the table’

Schadeberg (2013:331) observed six suffixes, -ɛ, -ɛn, -ɛnɛ, -un, -n, -ndɛ, used to mark the nominal plural in Tagom, of which -ɛ, -ɛn and -ɛnɛ are attached to consonants, and -un, -n, -ndɛ are attached to vowels. Four of Schadeberg’s six suffixes have been supported by our data, i.e., ‑e/‑ɛ, -ene/-ɛnɛ, -n, -nde/-ndɛ (differentiated for height or possibly ATR). With two adjectives, -(y)ɔ is attested, the presence of y depending on the last root vowel being a consonant (as against a vowel). In addition, one further suffix is attested in our data: -ne/-nɛ. The first two suffixes, i.e. -e/-ɛ, -ɛnɛ, are attached to consonants, whereas -n, -ne/-ɛ and -nde/-ndɛ are attached to vowels, generally supporting Schadeberg’s (2013) analysis.

Table 8: Number marking devices
	Singular Form	Plural Form	Gloss
Suffixes	àrànɉ	àrànɉ-ɛ̀	brain
	màs	màs-é	stomach
	péér	péér-éné	big calabash
	lɛ́ɲ	lɛ́ɲ-ɛ́nɛ́	star
	mbɔ̀	mbɔ̀-n	knee
	kòlɖókólɖò	kòlɖókólɖò-nè	calabash pot
	rɔ́	rɔ́-nɛ̀	chest
	ràmá	ràmá-ndɛ́	fence
	ŋànì	ŋànì-ndé	elephant
Prefixes	rá	á-rà	cow
	tàŋ	à-dàŋ	leaf
Circumfix	màrì	á-mààrì-n	road
	fà	à-fá-n	wood
Replacement Pattern	ɪ́d-á	ɪ́d-ʊ̀ə̀n	door
	ɔ̀y-à	ɔ̀y-ʊ̀ə̀n	shoe
Irregular Plural	èd	ès	man
	yánɛ̀	yɪ̂n	woman / girl / female

Furthermore, plural prefixes are attested, as already mentioned by Stevenson (1957:47) for a-. Besides a-, Schadeberg lists ɛ-, e- and ɔ-, the latter two occurring only rarely. In our data, the prefix ɔ- is not attested. A combination of prefix and suffix, as mentioned by Stevenson, can be confirmed (see Aldawi & Nashid 2018:133). A few nouns have been attested displaying a replacement pattern or an irregular plural marking. The nouns listed in Table 8 exemplify each of the above-mentioned nominal plural markers.

3. Verbal number in Tagom

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Having given the necessary background information on verbal number in general and on some specific features of the Tagom language, we go now into the depth of considering verbal number in Tagom. Pluractional marking in Tagom is not productive, only a limited number of verbs are attested. Other verbs are either inherently plural verbs (i.e., have plurality in their semantics) or have the -k extension (see 3.3) in the singular form which is replaced by another pluractional marker. The semantics of plural verb stems in Tagom basically indicate event number and they cover the following meanings: Iterative/frequentative, habitual, and durative, as will be shown with the examples of this study.

Tagom uses the following strategies to encode the notion of verbal number: [6]

The extension ‑(V)nɪ (Section 3.1)
	i.	the extension ‑(V)nɪ with transitive verbs (Section 3.1.1)
	ii.	the extension ‑(V)nɪ reduplicated (Section 3.1.2)
The extension -dən (Section 3.2)
	i.	the extension -dən marking intransitive verbs (Section 3.2.1)
	ii.	the extension -dən marking transitive (Section 3.2.2)
The extension -k (Section 3.3)
	i.	the extension -k with transitive verbs (Section 3.3.1)
	ii.	the extension -k as petrified element (Section 3.3.2)

Each of these strategies will be discussed separately in the mentioned sub-sections.

With some verbs (see Table 9), morphological processes which are at present only partly explainable lead to a number of changes in the plural form as compared to the singular form.

Table 9: Irregular formation of plural forms
	Singular	Plural	Phonological Process	Gloss
	-ímrídí	-ímrídá-nɪ́	root vowel alternation	washed
	-údóbídí	-údóbídá-ní		cultivated
	-ɛ́táwɪ́	-ɛ́táwá-də́n		jumped
	-ɛ̀frə̀k	-ɛ̀frɪ̀-yà [7]-də̀n		is building
	-ɡʊ́lmə́k	-ɡʊ́lmɪ́-yá-də́n		hid
	-ɪ́ɡnɪ́	-ə́ɡnə́-k	general vowel alternation	bought
	-ámádá	-èmèdè-k		shaved
	-ɛ́r	-ír-íní		cooked
	-ásʊ́d	-ást-ánɪ́	internal vowel drop plus consonant alternation	cut
	-táɡá	-tká-k [8]	internal vowel drop plus consonant alternation	broke 1
	-ə́btə́l	-ə́bə́ldə́-k		broke 2

That is, internal or final vowel alternation, beside the drop of the mid or final vowel. The alternation of the vowels of the root triggers the alternation of the vowels of the attached affixes. Consonant alternations are also featured in Tagom; these concern basically t⁓d and k⁓g when they fall intervocalically. These changes could be combined in the same verb. It may well be that with these exceptionally formed pluractional verbs, a morpho-phonological opaque process took place leading to these special forms. However, by analogy with the majority of verbs, where root and suffix are readily analyzable, the suffixes as suggested above are identified as pluractional markers even in these irregular forms.

3.1. The extension ‑(V)nI

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The suffix ‑(V)nI (with I representing either i or ɪ) is the most common extension used to mark pluractionality in Tagom. When the verb stem ends with a vowel, the -nI suffix is attached, and in cases where the verb root ends with a consonant, the suffix extension ‑VnI occurs. The quality of the final vowel in the extension ‑VnI is observed to be a in a number of the examples, occasionally even other vowels were observed. The change from I to a cannot be explained. One may suspect, though, that the original morpheme was ‑anI since it is the vowel that occurs most often.

The extension ‑(V)nI marks both transitive and intransitive verb stems. The only difference is that when it marks intransitive verbs the suffix ‑(V)nI is reduplicated because it already exists as part of the lexical structure of the verb. Both verb groups are discussed below in Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2.

3.1.1. The extension -(V)nI with transitive verbs

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Pluractional marking with the extension -(V)nI on transitive verbs are exemplified with examples ‎(13b) – ‎(24b). See Table 10 for a list of basic verbs vs. pluractional verbs used in the examples. Vowel alternation occurs, e.g., in example ‎(14a) and ‎(20a), where the final vowel of the verb root in the underived form is ɪ. In example ‎(16b), vowel alternation of the pluractional marker from ɪ to ɔ seems to be triggered by the second person plural prefix index ŋʊ́- prefixing the verb stem. Example ‎(18b) exhibits a drop of the second vowel of the verb stem in the plural form and in the following the voiced consonant becomes voiceless: -ásʊ́d → -ást-ánɪ́.

In the examples ‎(13b), ‎(17b), ‎(18b), ‎(20b), ‎(21b), and ‎(22b), the suffix ‑(V)nI is attached to verb root, whereas in examples ‎(14b), ‎(15b), ‎(16b), ‎(19b), ‎(23b) and ‎(24b), the -nI counterpart is attached, with the choice of the allomorph depending on the last sound of the root, as explained above. Note that for ‘plait’ (examples 23a,b) the verb is further derived for the causative; more details are given below. Each verb is exemplified with the non-marked verb and its pluractional counterpart.

Table 10. Plural objects marked with the extension -(V)nI
	Unmarked Singular Event	Marked Plural Event	Gloss	Example
	-ɛ̀r	-ìr-ànì	cooking/cooks	‎(13)
	-ímrídí	-ímrídá-nɪ́	washed	‎ (14), ‎(24)
	-ʊ́fʊ́dá	-ʊ́fʊ́dá-nɪ́	woke up	‎(15)
	-fʊ́dá	-fʊ́dwá-nɔ́	opened	‎(16)
	-wə́n	-wə́n-ánɪ́ [9]	cooked	‎(17)
	-ásʊ́d	-ást-ánɪ́ [10]	cut	‎(18)
	-ɛ́ŋá	-ɛ́ŋá-nɪ́	stabbed	‎(19)
	-àdòbìdí	-àdòbìd-ànì	cultivate	‎(20)
	-ɪ́rɪ́ɲ	-ɪ́rɪ́ɲ-ánɪ́	hurt (with a knife)	‎(21)
	-rɪ́ŋ	-rɪ́ŋ-ánɪ́	slaughtered	‎(22)
	-ɛ̀r	-ɛ̀r-yà-nɪ̀	plait	‎(23)

(13)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	rə̀ŋə̀k	Ø-ɛ̀r
		s3sg	food	s3sg-cook
		‘She is cooking food’

	b.	ŋɡɔ́	rə̀ŋə̀k-ɛ̀	Ø-ìr-ànì
		s:3sg	food-pl	s3sg-cook-plur
		‘She is cooking the dishes’

(14)	a.	ŋɪ̀	kɪ́à	y-ímrídí
		s1sg	child	s1sg-washed
		‘I washed the child’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	á-ɡɪ̀à	y-ímrídá-nɪ́
		s1sg	pl-child	s1sg-washed
		‘I washed the children’

(15)	a.	ŋɛ̀ndá	kɪ́à	k-ʊ́fʊ́dá
		s3pl	child	s3pl-woke_up
		‘They woke up the child’

	b.	ŋɛ̀ndá	á-ɡɪ̀à	k-ʊ́fʊ́dá-nɪ́
		s3pl	pl-child	s3pl-woke_up-plur
		‘They woke up the children’

(16)	a.	ŋɔ̀ndá	ídí	ŋʊ́-fʊ́dá
		s2pl	door	s2pl-opened
		‘You (pl) opened the door’

	b.	ŋɔ̀ndá	íd-wə̀n	ŋʊ́-fʊ́dwá-nɔ́
		s2pl	door-pl	s2pl-opened-plur
		‘You (pl) opened the doors’

(17)	a.	ŋɪ̀	pʊ̀nn	yʊ́-wə́n
		s1sg	porridge	s1sg-cooked
		‘I cooked porridge’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	pʊ̀nn-ànɛ̀	yʊ́-wə́n-ánɪ́
		s1sg	porridge-pl	s1sg-cooked-plur
		‘I cooked several porridges’

(18)	a.	ŋɪ̀	làs	y-ásʊ́d
		s1sg	tree	s1sg-cut
		‘I cut the tree’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	làs-ɛ́	y-ást-ánɪ́
		s1sg	tree-pl	s1sg-cut-plur
		‘I cut the trees’

(19)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	èd	Ø-ɛ́ŋá
		s3sg	man	s3sg-stabbed
		‘He stabbed the man’

	b.	ŋɡɔ́	ès	Ø-ɛ́ŋá-nɪ́
		s3sg	men	s3sg-stabbed-plur
		‘He stabbed the men’

	c.	ŋɛ̀ndá	èd	k-ɛ́ŋá-nɪ́
		s3pl	man	s3pl-stabbed-plur
		‘They stabbed the man (each aggressor having his own weapon)’

(20)	a.	ŋɪ̀	tàbʊ̀n	yɛ̀rkɛ̀r	y-àdòbìdí
		s1sg	field	work	s1sg-cultivate
		‘I am cultivating the field’

	b.	ŋɛ̀ndá	tàbʊ̀n	yɛrkɛr	k-àdòbìd-ànì
		s3pl	field	work	s3pl-cultivate-plur
		‘They are cultivating the field (each of them has a part in the cultivation)’

(21)	a.	yánɛ̀	kɪ́à	Ø-ɪ́rɪ́ɲ
		woman	child	s3sg-hurt
		‘The woman hurt the child (with a knife)’

	b.	yánɛ̀	á-ɡɪ̀à	tàltàl	Ø-ɪ́rɪ́ɲ-ánɪ́
		woman	pl-child	one by one	s3sg-hurt-plur
		‘The woman hurt the children (with a knife one by one)’

(22)	a.	ŋɪ̀	rà	yɪ́-rɪ́ŋ
		s1sg	cow	s1sg-slaughtered
		‘I slaughtered the cow’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	á-rà	yɪ́-rɪ́ŋ-ánɪ́
		s1sg	pl-cow	s1sg-slaughtered-plur
		‘I slaughtered the cows (one by one)’

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Habitual and progressive meanings in Tagom are not differentiated. For example, the same verbform is used whether you want to say that the woman was doing continuous washing/plaiting or whether the washing/plaiting is her habit/work. Plaiting without a pluractional marker is ɛ̀r-, which is the same root used for cooking (cf. example ‎13a). It generally means ‘to do something’. A difference occurs with forming a pluractional, in that with the meaning of ‘plaiting’ the causative extension -ya precedes the pluractional -nɪ (see ‎example 23a). When overtly expressed that somebody else’s hair is plaited, the verb is derived for applicative with the extension -ndɪ instead of pluractionality (see ‎example 23b). Further research will show in detail the usage of the applicative. Compare also example ‎(13b) with regard to the pluractional form of the verb when referring to ‘cooking’.

(23)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	ànɛ̀kʊ̀l	ə̀m	Ø-ɛ̀r-yà-nɪ̀
		s3sg	always	hair	s3sg-plait-caus-plur
		‘She plaits hair (plaiting hair is her habit/work)’

	b.	ŋɡɔ́	wɪ́	ə̀m-ʊ̀ŋ	Ø-ɛ̀r-yà-ndɪ̀
		s3sg	daughter	hair-poss3sg	s3sg-plait-caus-appl
		‘She is plaiting her daughter’s hair’

(24)	a.	yánɛ̀	óɡàd	Ø-ə̀mìrìdì
		woman	cloth	s3sg-wash
		‘The woman is washing the cloth (now)’

	b.	yánɛ̀	kɛ̀llà	óɡàd-ɛ̀	Ø-ə̀mìrìdà-nɪ̀
		woman	now	cloth-pl	s3sg-wash-plur
		‘The woman is washing the clothes (now)’

	c.	yánɛ̀	óɡàd-ɛ̀	Ø-ə̀mìrìdà-nɪ̀
		woman	cloth-pl	s3sg-wash-plur
		‘The woman washes the clothes (habitually/as her job)’

3.1.2. The extension -(V)nI with intransitive verbs

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The verbs discussed in this section seem to consist of a root with -(V)nI being incorporated. Additionally, they may be suffixed by -(V)nI (again) with I of the preceding syllable mostly dropped. These verbs convey an iterative event or are associated with the duration of an action.

A possible explanation is that a pluractional form expressing the plurality of an action was reinterpreted as a simple verb form, while the former root *ɛ́ld ‘cough once’ sank into oblivion. Therefore, in today’s Tagom, the etymological pluractional ɛ́ldán ‘cough’ may be felt as the basic form which can be pluralized by -(V)nI. All lexicalized verbs containing -(V)nI have intransitive verb stems. Consider the verbs in Table 11:

Table 11: Lexicalized plural verbs
	Singular Event	Plural Event	Gloss
	-ɛ́ldánɪ́	-ɛ́ldán-ánɪ́	coughed
	-ʊ́ndɛ́nɪ́	-ʊ́ndɛ́n-ɛ́nɪ́	slept
	-ʊ́ŋfʊ́yánɪ́	-ʊ́ŋfʊ́yán-ánɪ́	whistled
	-ʊ́dwánɪ	-ʊ́dwán-ánɪ	shake hands
	-ŋʊ́mdɛ́nɪ́	-ŋʊ́mdɛ́n-ɪ́nɪ́	washed (oneself) [11]

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In the examples of ‎(25b, 26c, 27b, 28b, 29b,c), the extension -(V)nI is suffixed to these petrified forms, cf. the non-pluractional sentences (with the frozen morpheme) with the pluractional-marked forms (plus the frozen morpheme):

(25)	a.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ́ldánɪ́
		s1sg	s1sg-coughed
		‘I coughed (once)’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ́ldán-ánɪ́
		s1sg	s1sg-coughed-plur
		‘I coughed (repeatedly)’

(26)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	Ø-ʊ́ndɛ́nɪ́
		s3sg	s3sg-slept
		‘He slept’

	b.	ŋɡɔ́	ɪ́tɛ̀	Ø-ʊ́ndɛ́nɪ́
		s3sg	small/little	s3sg-slept
		‘He slept (for a moment)’

	c.	ŋɡɔ́	Ø-ʊ́ndɛ́n-ɛ́nɪ́
		s3sg	s3sg-slept-plur
		‘He slept (for a long time) / he is a sleepy head’

(27)	a.	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ́ŋfʊ́yánɪ́
		child	s3sg-whistled
		‘The child whistled (once)’

	b.	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ́ŋfʊ́yán-ánɪ́
		child	s3sg-whistled-plur
		‘The child whistled (repeatedly)’

(28)	a.	màhà-áʊ́	ìbràhìm-áʊ́	sàlàm	kʊ́-dwánɪ́
		maha-conj	ibrahim-conj	hello	s3pl-shook_hands
		‘Maha and Ibrahim shook hands (once)’

	b.	màhà-áʊ́	ìbràhìm-áʊ́	sàlàm	kʊ́-dwán-ánɪ́
		maha-conj	ibrahim-conj	hello	s3pl-shook_hands-plur
		‘Maha and Ibrahim shook hands (repeatedly)’

(29)	a.	kɛ̀ryà	ʊ́-ŋʊ́mdɛ́nɪ́
		kerya	s3sg-washed
		‘Kerya washed himself (once)’

	b.	kɛ̀ryà	ʊ́-ŋʊ́mdɛ́nɪ́-nɪ́
		kerya	s3sg-washed-plur
		‘Kerya washed herself (for a long time)’

	c.	kɛ̀ryà	ànɛ̀tɔ̀m	ʊ̀-ŋʊ̀mdɔ̀nɔ̀-nɪ̀ [12]
		kerya	the_whole_day	s3sg-wash-plur
		‘Kerya is washing herself for the whole day’

The discussion on the extension ‑(V)nI started with transitive verbs, since they are the morphologically simpler ones. In the next section, the extension ‑dən is under scrutiny. Here, the simpler form is with intransitive verbs, so the discussion will start with them before looking at ‑dən with transitive verbs.

3.2. The extension -dən

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The plural extension -dən attaches to intransitive and transitive verb stems indicating habitual action. Plural verbs formed with the extension -dən are accompanied with vowel alternation. In these verbs, vowel alternation is either

root internal, as in (32b) or the final vowel is altered, as in example (30b). The vowel alternations found are: ɪ ⁓ a/ə, a ⁓ ə, ɛ ⁓ a.

3.2.1. The extension -dən with intransitive Verbs

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First, we look at intransitive verbs for which pluractionality is marked by -dən (see Table 12). Consider the examples below, either accompanied with vowel alternation, as in ‎(30b), or without as in ‎(31b).

In the case of the verb ‘jump’, which is a punctual verb, the plural marking indicates repetition, whereas in ‘laugh’, which is inherently rather durational, the marking indicates duration. Admittedly, thorough investigation of language-internal evidence for lexical aspect is still in need, though.

Table 12. Intransitive verbs marked by -dən
	Singular Event	Plural Event	Gloss
	-ɛ́táwɪ́	-ɛ́táwá-də́n	jumped
	-ɛ̀lyà	-ɛ̀lyà-də̀n	laugh
	-tká	-tkáwá-də́n	broke

(30)	a.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ́táwɪ́
		s1sg	s1sg-jumped
		‘I jumped (once)’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ́táwá-də́n
		s1sg	s1sg-jumped-plur
		‘I jumped repeatedly/continuously’

(31)	a.	kɛ̀ryà [13]	Ø-ɛ́lyá
		kerya	s3sg-laughed
		‘Kerya laughed (once)’

	b.	kèryà	Ø-ɛ́lyá-də́n
		kerya	s3sg-laughed-plur
		‘Kerya laughed repeatedly/continuously’

When the verb ‘break -tká’, is used intransitively, the plural is marked by the extension -dən, see example ‎(32b) (compare also example ‎(37b, c, d), and d where it is used transitively).

(32)	a.	ìlìɡ	Ø-tágán
		pot	s3sg-broke
		‘The pot broke’

	b.	ìlìɡ-ɛ̀nɛ̀	kɛ́-tkáwá-də́n
		pot-pl	s3pl-broke-plur
		‘The pots broke’

3.2.2. The extension -dən with transitive Verbs

The extension -dən is also attested with transitive verbs, but the pluractional marker must then be preceded by the causative extension -ya (see Table 13). Examples ‎ (33b, c) and ‎ (34b) illustrate the situation. The causative and pluractional marked verbs refer to habitually repeated actions. The question which arises here is why the causative suffix -ya appears with the pluractional form of these verbs. This remains for now unsolved and needs further investigation.

Table 13. Transitive verbs marked by -dən
	Simple form	Plural	Gloss
	ʊ́də́f	-ʊ̀dfɪ̀-yà-də̀n	clean
	ɛ́frá	-ɛ̀frɪ̀-yà-də̀n	build

(33)	a.	yánɛ̀	fààr	Ø-ʊ́də́f
		woman	house	s3sg-cleaned
		‘The woman cleaned the house (once)’

	b.	yánɛ̀	à-fààr-nɛ̀	Ø-ʊ̀dfɪ̀-yà-də̀n
		woman	pl-house-pl	s3sg-cleans-caus-plur
		‘The woman cleans houses (habitually as her job)

	c.	yɪ̂n	à-fààr-nɛ̀	k-ʊ̀dfɪ̀-yà-də̀n
		women	pl-house-pl	s3pl-clean-caus-plur
		‘The women clean houses (habitually as their job)’

For the verb ɛ́frá- ‘build’ in example ‎(34), no simple form is attested, but one can reconstruct the root by comparing the applicative (as in ‎(34a), causative-pluractional (as in ‎(34b), and the middle voice (as in ‎(52) verb forms.

(34)	a.	èd	yánɛ̀-ʊ̀ŋ	fààr	Ø-ɛ́frá-ndɪ́
		man	woman-poss3sg	house	s3sg-built-appl
		‘The man built a house for his wife’

	b.	èd	à-fààr-nɛ̀	Ø-frɪ̀-yà-də̀n
		man	pl-house-pl	s3sg-build-caus-plur
		‘The man builds houses (habitually as a job)’

3.3. The extension -k

3.3.1. The extension -k with transitive verbs

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Another suffix indicating pluractionality is the extension -k. It only marks transitive verbs expressing event number. The plural marking is accompanied with or without internal vowel alternations.

Table 14: Transitive verbs with the pluractional extension -k
	Singular	Plural	Gloss
	-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́	-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́-k	bite
	-ɪ́ɡnɪ́	-ə́ɡnə́-k	buy
	-tká	-tká-k	break
	-émél	-émélə́-k	pull

Examples ‎(35) – ‎(39) illustrate the suffix -k in transitive sentences. As is shown with the additional information added in brackets, pluractional marking in Tagom refers to the number of the events/actions, not to the number of participants. For instance, in ‎(35b), agent as well as patient are singular, while the verb is marked for pluractional. By contrast, in ‎(38a) and ‎(39d), we have several agents, but the verb is not marked for pluractionality, since it is a joint action. Finally, consider ‎(39a) with several objects/patients, yet the verb is not marked for pluractionality, since the patients are affected by a single action.

(35)	a.	sʊ̀	yánɛ̀	Ø-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́
		dog	woman	s3sg-bit
		‘The dog bit the woman (once)’

	b.	sʊ̀	yánɛ̀	Ø-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́-k
		dog	woman	s3sg-bit-plur
		‘The dog bit the woman (repeatedly)’

	c.	ʊ̀-sʊ̀-wə̀n	yánɛ̀	k-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́-k
		pl-dog-pl	woman	s3pl-bit-plur
		‘The dogs bit the woman (repeatedly/or each)’

	d.	sʊ̀	yɪ̂n	Ø-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́-k
		dog	women	s3sg-bit-plur
		‘The dog bit the women (one by one)’

	e.	ʊ̀-sʊ̀-wə̀n	yɪ̂n	k-ɛ́gɛ́ɪ́-k
		pl-dog-pl	women	s3pl-bit-plur
		‘The dogs bit the women (repeatedly/or each one by one)’

(36)	a.	ŋɪ̀	fààr	y-ɪ́ɡnɪ́
		s1sg	house	s1sg-bought
		‘I bought the house’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	à-fààr-nɛ̀	y-ə́ɡnə́-k
		s1sg	pl-house-pl	s1sg-bought-plur
		‘I bought several houses’

(37)	a.	ŋɪ̀	ìlìɡ	yɛ́-tká
		s:1sg	pot	s1sg-broke
		‘I broke the pot’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	ìlìɡ	yɛ́-tká-k
		s:1sg	pot	s1sg-broke-plur
		‘I broke the pot (into pieces)’

	c.	ŋɪ̀	ìlìɡ-ɛ̀nɛ̀	yɛ́-tká-k
		s:1sg	pot-pl	s1sg-broke-plur
		‘I broke the pots (one by one)’

	d.	ŋɪ̀	ìlìɡ-ɛ̀nɛ̀	lɔ̀t	yɛ́-tká-k
		s:1sg	pot-pl	a lot	s1sg-broke-plur
		‘I broke a lot of pots (on different occasions)’

(38)	a.	ŋɛ̀ndá	wə̀n	k-émél
		s3pl	rope	s3pl-pulled
		‘They pulled the rope (one joint pulling action)’

	b.	ŋɛ̀ndá	wə̀n-ɛ́	k-émél-ə́k
		s3pl	rope-pl	s3pl-pulled-plur
		‘They pulled the ropes (each one)’

	c.	ŋɡɔ́	wə̀n	Ø-émél
		s3sg	rope	s3sg-pulled
		‘He pulled the rope’

	d.	ŋɡɔ́	wə̀n-ɛ́	Ø-émél-ə́k
		s3sg	rope-pl	s3sg-pulled-plur
		‘He pulled the ropes (one by one)’

	e.	ŋɡɔ́	wə̀n-ɛ́	ìndá ìndá	Ø-émél-ə́k
		s3sg	rope-pl	one by one	s3sg-pulled-plur
		‘He pulled the ropes one by one’

(39)	a.	ŋɪ̀	mbɛ̀r-ɛ̀	y-ə́btə́l [14]
		s1sg	stick-pl	s1sg-broke
		‘I broke the sticks (into two) all together at once’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	mbɛ̀r	y-ə́btə́l
		s1sg	stick	s1sg-broke
		‘I broke the stick (into two)’

	c.	ŋɪ̀	mbɛ̀r	y-ə́bə́ld-ə́k
		s1sg	stick	s1sg-broke-plur
		‘I broke the stick (into pieces)’

	d.	ès	mbɛ̀r	k-ə́btə́l
		men	stick	s3pl-broke
		‘The men broke the stick (into two)’

With the following verb, translated as ‘hit’, -k is present with the plural form of the verb, but the root is suppletive. It is the only such verb attested so far.

(40)	a.	èd	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ́ŋʊ́
		man	child	s3sg-hit
		‘The man hit the child (once)’

	b.	èd	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ́br-ə́k
		man	boy	s3sg-beat-plur
		‘The man hit the boy (several times)’

	c.	èd	á-ɡɪ̀à	Ø-ʊ́br-ə́k
		man	pl-boy	s3sg-beat-plur
		‘The man hit the boys (each one several times)’

	d.	ès	kɪ́à	k-ʊ́br-ə́k
		men	boy	s3pl-beat-plur
		‘The men hit the boy (each man several times)’

	e.	ès	á-ɡɪ̀à	k-ʊ́br-ə́k
		men	pl-child	s3pl-beat-plur
		‘The men hit the boys (several times)’

3.3.2. Inherently plural verbs marked by the extension -k

<15>

Tagom has a group of verbs which do not differentiate between a distinct singular and plural verb stem and always have -k regardless of the number of subjects or objects. They are presented in Table 15. Quite a number of Tagom verbs belong to this category. As mentioned by Jakobi (2017:126), with regard to certain intransitive verbs in Karko which also do not show signs of verbal number, “this may be due to the semantics of the verb […] denoting inherently multiple or repetitive movements and events”, which might also be true for certain verbs in Tagom. However, here, the verbs may be either transitive or intransitive and refer in addition to continuous/long-lasting actions.

Table 15. Verbs with petrified -k
	Verb	Gloss
	-tə̀wə̀k	grind
	-ɛ́fyɛ́k	run
	-ɔ́ɡɔ́k	cry
	-ɛ́rŋə́k	eat

Examples ‎(41) – ‎(44) illustrate the verbs. As expected, continuous and habitual readings are not differentiated grammatically.

(41)	a.	yánɛ̀	ndàɡə̀n	tà-ʊ̀ɲà	Ø-tə̀wə̀k
		woman	millet	loc-grinder	s3sg-grind:plur
		‘The woman is grinding millet on the grinder (now/continuously)’

	b.	yánɛ̀	ànɛ̀ kʊ̀l	ndàɡə̀n	Ø-tə̀wə̀k
		woman	everyday	millet	s3sg-grind:plur
		‘The woman grinds millet (every day)’

(42)	a.	èd	Ø-ɛ́fyɛ́k
		man	s3sg-ran:plur
		‘The man ran’

	b.	èd	Ø-ɛ̀fyɛ̀k
		man	s3sg-run:plur
		‘The man is running (continuously)’

	c.	ès	k-ɛ́fyɛ́k
		men	s3pl-ran:plur
		‘The men ran’

	d.	ès	k-ɛ̀fyɛ̀k
		men	s3pl-ran:plur
		‘The men are running (continuously)’

(43)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	kɪ́à	Ø-ɛ̀bàsnɪ̀	Ø-ɔ̀ɡɔ̀k
		s3sg	child	s3sg-make	s3sg-cry:plur
		‘She is making the baby cry’

	b.	kɪ́à	Ø-ɔ̀ɡɔ̀k
		child	s3sg-cry:plur
		‘The child is crying (continuously)’

(44)	a.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ́rŋə́k
		s1sg	s1sg-ate:plur
		‘I ate porridge’

	b.	ŋɛ̀ndá	k-ɛ́rŋə́k
		s3pl	s3pl-ate:plur
		‘They ate porridge’

	c.	ŋɪ̀	y-ɛ̀rŋə̀k
		s1sg	s1sg-eat:plur
		‘I am eating porridge (now)’

It seems that all these verbs are inherently durative verbs, but, as said above, lexical aspect in Tagom has to be studied yet.

3.3.3. More on the extension -k

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So far, the examples presented above all display a difference in event number. Consider now the two verbs presented in a variety of examples below. Although we are dealing with long-lasting or repeated actions, the verbs ‘breast-feed’ (examples 45a-d) and ‘kill’ are unmarked for plural (examples 46a-d).

(45)	a.	yánɛ̀	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ́bɪ́yá
		woman	baby	s3sg-breast_fed
		‘The woman breast-fed the baby (for a long time)’

	b.	yánɛ̀	á-ɡɪ̀à	Ø-ʊ́bɪ́yá
		woman	pl-child	s3sg-breast_fed
		‘The woman breast-fed the babies’

	c.	yánɛ̀	ànɛ̀kʊ́l	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ̀bɪ̀yà
		woman	everyday	baby	s3sg-breast_feeds
		‘The woman breast-feeds the baby every day’

	d.	yánɛ̀	kɪ́à	táb	lɔ́t	Ø-ʊ́bɪ́yá
		woman	baby	very	long	s3sg-breast_fed
		‘The woman breast-fed the baby for a very long time (years)’

(46)	a.	yánɛ̀	ʊ́nɪ̀	Ø-ɪ́nɪ́
		woman	snake	s3sg-killed
		‘The woman killed the snake’

	b.	yánɛ̀	ʊ́n-wə̀n	ìndá ìndá	Ø-ɪ́nɪ́
		woman	snake-pl	one_by_one	s3sg-killed
		‘The woman killed the snakes one after the other’

	c.	yɪ̂n	ʊ́nɪ̀	k-ɪ́nɪ́
		women	snake	s3pl-killed
		‘The women killed the snake’

	d.	yɪ̂n	ʊ́n-wə̀n	k-ɪ́nɪ́
		women	snake-pl	s3pl-killed
		‘The women killed the snakes’

<17>

The fact that those verbs are not morphologically marked when they refer to repeated/long-lasting actions is by itself not remarkable, since there are many verbs in Tagom which are not sensitive to verbal number, as indicated at in Section 3. However, the two verbs ‘breast-feed’ and ‘kill’ may be derived by -k, but in that case -k does not signal pluractionality, but mid-voice, i.e. it rather serves as a valence decreasing operator as presented in examples ‎(47, 48, 49b, ‎50a).

(47)	kɪ́à	Ø-ʊ̀bɪ̀yà-k
	baby	s3sg-breast_feeds-mid
	‘The baby breast feeds’

(48)	èd	Ø-ʊ́nə́-k
	man	s3sg-died-mid
	‘The man died’

Compare in this context also the underived verb and middle-marked verb in ‎(49).

(49)	a.	ŋɡɔ́	ŋɪ̀	ə̀m-ɪ̀ŋ	t-ámádá
		s3sg	o1sg	hair-poss1sg	o1sg-shaved
		‘He cut my hair’

	b.	ŋɪ̀	ə̀m-ɪ̀ŋ	y-ɪ̀mèdè-k
		s1sg	hair-poss:1sg	s1sg-shave-mid
		‘I am cutting my hair.’

<18>

By contrast to the verb in ‎(50a,b), the root for -gulmV- ‘hide’, does not exist without being suffixed by one of the derivational extensions, causative or middle voice, as shown in example ‎ below.

(50)	a.	kɪ́à	tàrbìsà-dà	tʊ̀grʊ̀m	ʊ́-ɡʊ́lmə́-k
		child	table-loc	under	s3sg-hid-mid
		‘The child hid itself under the table.’

b.	kɪ́à	kítàb	tàrbìsà-dà	tʊ̀grʊ̀m	ʊ́-ɡʊ́lmɪ́-yá
	child	book	table-loc	under	s3sg-hide-caus
	‘The child hid the book under the table.’

Even more proof that the -k extension marks middle voice are the examples ‎(51a,b) and ‎(52) which should be compared to examples ‎(33a,b), and ‎(34a,b), respectively, in Section 3.2.2. above.

(51)	a.	yánɛ̀	fààr	Ø-ʊ́dfə́-k
		woman	house	s3sg-cleaned-mid
		‘The woman cleaned the house (thoroughly) for herself.’

	b.	yɪ̂n	fààr	k-ʊ́dfə́-k
		women	house	s3pl-clean-mid
		‘The women cleaned the house (thoroughly) for themselves.’

(52)	èd	fààr-ʊ̀ŋ	Ø-ɛ̀frə̀-k
	man	house-poss:3sg	s3sg-build-mid
	‘The man is building a house for himself.’

Of course, the question arises whether the morpheme -k with its two functions – that of pluractionality and that of middle voice – originate in two different morphemes that converged (in which case we are dealing with syncretism) or whether there was historically a morpheme -k which diverged into two different directions. Since there are neither historic data available nor comparative data from related languages at our disposal, this question can at present not be answered. Nevertheless, since the functions of the marker can in all known cases be differentiated, the marker is either glossed as pluractional (plur) or as middle (mid) marker, depending on its function.

4. Conclusion

<19>

Tagom, like most – if not all – Nuba Mountain languages (and many other Niger-Congo languages), has a rich array of verb extensions, whose exact value and semantics should be clarified to allow fruitful reconstructions of such extensions for the Rashad grouping and of the related families.

As pointed out by Dimmendaal (2014:57): “Pluractional constructions prototypically express repetition of some action or event. In the case of intransitive predications, the subject tends to be affected by this, whereas in transitive constructions, pluractionality tends to affect the object”. In Tagom, as shown with the examples in Session 3 and unlike the examples Jakobi (2017) presents for Karko, verbal number is strongly correlated with these events. Of course, we may find plural subjects and/or objects being involved, but this does not have to be the case. We are thus dealing with pluractional marking in its original sense, as coined by Newman (1990).

As initially stated, pluractional marking in Tagom is rather rare, attested only with a limited number of verbs. Of the three extensions which are used to mark pluractionality in Tagom, the most common marker is the -(V)nI suffix. It is attested as an extension of some transitive verbs to reflect the plurality of the subject or object and of intransitive verbs to reflect a repeated or continuous, long-lasting action. With intransitive verbs, the extension is suffixed to a lexicalized stem containing already -(V)n, thus, the derivation morpheme seems to be reduplicated.

<20>

The second attested extension is -dən. It marks intransitive and transitive subjects indicating a frequentative, repeated and habitual actions. When suffixed to transitive verbs, -dən is preceded by the causative marker -ya.

The third attested pluractional-marking extension is -k which marks transitive verbs for durative or frequentative action. It is not attested with intransitive verbs. Obviously, as shown in Section 3.1.3, the morpheme -k has two different functions, that of a pluractional marker and that of a middle marker.

In this paper, pluractional marking in Tagom was subjected to critical scrutiny. It became clear that other derivation marking options interfere into the domain of pluractionality, such as causative marking (combined with pluractional marking) or middle marking. Further research on these other derivation markers and their interplay will hopefully shed more light on the whole system.

Abbreviations
	1	first person	mid	middle voice
	2	second person	nom	nominaliser
	3	third person	o	object
	Ø	zero morpheme	pl	plural
	appl	applicative	plr	verbal plural stem
	aux	auxiliary	plur	verbal plural marker
	C	consonant	poss	possessive
	caus	causative	rsm	resumptive marker
	conj	conjunction	s	subject
	excl	exclusive	sc	subject concord
	imp	imperative	sg	singular
	incl	inclusive	sgl	verbal singular marker
	loc	locative	V	vowel

Acknowledgements

This modest work is dedicated to Prof. Gerrit J. Dimmendaal who had a great role in training me on how to collect and analyze linguistic material at the beginning of my research journey.

My thanks go to Ibrahim Adam Yousif from the Rashad ethnic group for providing me with all the essential data for this work. The base for the study on the Rashad language was provided by Ibrahim and Adil Abdalla Ibrahim Mohamed, whom I would like to thank as well.

Special gratitude and warm thanks to Gertrud Schneider-Blum for her guidance, support and patience throughout this work.

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[1] This research is one of the outcomes of a Postdoc fellowship co-funded by the Foundation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH); the French Embassy in Sudan (AMB), and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific research of Sudan (MOHE) – Sept.- October 2018 at the CNRS (LLACAN - UMR 8135); Paris, /Villejuif, France. At this point I would like to express my gratitude and thanks to the three funders for their generous support.

[2] “Afroasiatic languages have a general number or transnumeral form, i.e. a form not marked for number, which nevertheless can have a singular or a plural interpretation.” (Dimmendaal 2014:61) “Whereas transnumeral forms for nouns were thought to be absent from Nilo-Saharan languages” (Dimmendaal 2014:62), at least for Maba (studied by Weiss 2009), a transnumeral form is also attested, as Dimmendaal (2014) states. Considering Ngiti (Central Sudanic), he continues “[…] pluractional marking on verbs also coerces a “general number” (transnumeral) reading of object nouns (or subject nouns, depending on whether a transitive or intransitive predication is involved). It may be this latter property which lies at the heart of transnumeral readings for object (or subject) nouns in corresponding constructions with pluractional verbs.” (Dimmendaal 2014:62)

[3] The workshop (August 10-15, 2016) was one of the activities of the Department of Linguistics within the scope of the Tagoi Orthography Development Project.

[4] This data is from my contribution in the 2^nd PICS workshop: “The languages of the Sudan: a typological and areal crossroad”, Paris-Villejuif 11^th of March 2020.

[5] The forms of subject and object independent pronouns are identical in Tagom.

[6] As Dimmendaal (2014:60), after having investigated a number of African languages, mentions: “What is striking, when looking at pluractional marking from a cross-linguistic point of view, is the fact that in several languages there tend to be a number of co-occurring formal strategies, often with different degrees of productivity.” This is, e.g., the case in Tima, a Niger Congo language spoken in the Nuba Mountains (see Schneider-Blum 2017), and also Tagom joins the ranks in that respect.

[7] -ya is a causative marker attached to some plural verbs in the language especially verbs referring to a habitual event or an event happening for a long time. The causative marker will be discussed in Aldawi (in preparation).

[8] When looking into the paragraph on syllable structure, it becomes obvious, that tk is not among the attested clusters, since here a phonotactic change took place due to a morpho-phonological process, i.e. tk is only attested when a preceding vowel allows for the omission of a; the two consonants are then spread on two syllables.

[9] Tagom has several verbs for ‘cooking’ the usage of which depends basically on what is being cooked and the way of cooking it. In the above example, ɛr- is the verb which refers to the general meaning of ‘cooking’, but its essential meaning is ‘doing something’ which in the context of preparing food can be translated as ‘cooking’.

[10] Again, different verbs are used by Tagom speakers for cutting trees or grass. The verb in the above example classifies the object as being hard.

[11] The verb used for washing oneself is different from washing someone else or other items like clothes.

[12] The difference of the form of the root between example (29b) and (29c). is due to different TAM.

[13] Kerya is a birthname in Tagom used to refer to the first-born male.

[14] The Tagom verb used for breaking a pot is different from that of breaking a stick.

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Aldawi MA (2022). Verbal Number in Tagom. Afrikanistik Aegyptologie Online, Vol. 2022. (urn:nbn:de:0009-10-55080)

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