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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).

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:

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. Aldawi & Nashid (2017) presented a paper under the title “An Initial Sketch of the Tagom noun phrase” at the 3rd 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.

  4. 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)

  5. 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

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

àrànɉ

brain

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!

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)-

nw-

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. 1st and 2nd persons take precedence over the 3rd person (1, 2 > 3) independently of their argument role;

  2. when a first and second person are object arguments of the verb, the object prefix takes precedence over the subject prefix (O > S);

  3. when the subject and object are both 3rd 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, , -ɛn, -ɛnɛ, -un, -n, -ndɛ, used to mark the nominal plural in Tagom, of which , -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

-ímríd

-ímríd-nɪ́

root vowel alternation

washed

-údóbíd

-údóbíd-ní

cultivated

-ɛ́táwɪ́

-ɛ́táw-də́n

jumped

-ɛ̀frə̀k

-ɛ̀frɪ̀-yà [7]-də̀n

is building

-ɡʊ́lmə́k

-ɡʊ́lmɪ́-yá-də́n

hid

-ɪ́ɡnɪ́

-ə́ɡnə́-k

general vowel alternation

bought

-md

-md-k

shaved

-ɛ́r

-ír-íní

cooked

-ásʊ́d

-ást-ánɪ́

internal vowel drop
plus consonant alternation

cut

-táɡ

-tká-k [8]

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

<8>

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)’

<9>

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

<10>

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]

<11>

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

<12>

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

<13>

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

<14>

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

<16>

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 2nd PICS workshop: “The languages of the Sudan: a typological and areal crossroad”, Paris-Villejuif 11th 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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