LD&C Special Publication No. 14: A Descriptive Grammar of Shilluk

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10125/56637

Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 8 of 8
  • Item
    Chapter 6: Nonverbal predication in Shilluk
    ( 2023) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    This chapter covers the morphosyntax of nonverbal predication in Shilluk, that is, the properties of predicates that are not headed by a verb. Shilluk presents an extensive range of nonverbal predicate constructions. With respect to the formal properties of nonverbal predications, we find three types: headless predicates; predicates headed by morphologically invariant copulas; and predicates headed by function morphemes that are verb-like in that a) they present a range of inflections and b) they require syntactic licensing. These inflecting function morphemes differ from verbs in that they invariably present fewer inflectional distinctions, and also in the extent of the syntactic licensing requirement.
  • Item
    Chapter 5: The noun phrase in Shilluk
    ( 2021-07-05) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    This chapter presents a descriptive analysis of the noun phrase in Shilluk, surveying the variety of modifiers that combine with a nominal head. For the sake of accountability, 270 sound clips are embedded, many of them drawn from spontaneous speech. The set of noun-phrase modifiers includes possessors, adjectives, verbs, non-possessor nouns, quantifiers (including numerals), determiners, and a diminuitive. Of all of these modifiers, the diminuitive is the only one that preceeds the head. This fits with the interpretation that the diminuitive represents an instance of grammaticalization, which developed out of a possessive noun phrase construction. Of particular interest in relation to the numeral system is the fact that, for numbers below 10, the cardinal is morphologically derived on the basis of the ordinal, rather than the way around. Also, in noun phrases modified by a verbal predicate, we find past tense marking on the modification marker. Noun phrases are conjoined in an asymmetric manner, with the non-initial noun phrase representing a prepositional phrase. We also describe vocatives and associative plurals, both of which involve morphological marking at the right edge of the noun phrase. As such, they stand out in the context of Shilluk morphology, which is primarily head-marking in nature.
  • Item
    Chapter 4: A descriptive analysis of adjectives in Shilluk
    ( 2020-12-05) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    We argue that Shilluk has adjectives as a lexical category distinct from both nouns and verbs, and present a descriptive analysis of their morphological and syntactic properties. Aside from the base form, the inflectional paradigms of adjectives present two other forms, neither of which are productive. One is the contingent form, which has not been postulated in earlier work. This inflection is used when the attribute is referenced non- permanently, to a limited degree, or subjectively. The other is the plural form, which is available for seven adjectives only. Derivational morphology includes an essence nominalization and an intransitive verb derivation. When adjectives are used as predicates, there is no copula, nor any morphological marking of the syntactic juncture. In contrast, when adjectives are used as modifiers, their status as such is signposted by three different morphosyntactic structures. The choice between these three structures is determined by definiteness and semantic specificity.
  • Item
    Chapter 3: Forms and functions of the associated-motion derivations of Shilluk transitive verbs
    ( 2020-01-13) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    The base paradigm of Shilluk transitive verbs includes inflectional marking for voice, subject, and tense-aspect-modality. This paradigm is described in Chapter 1. In addition to this base paradigm, however, transitive verbs present up to six derived paradigms: iterative, benefactive, ambitransitive, antipassive, and, depending on the ATR value of the root vowel, either one or two derivations that mark associated motion. Each of these six derivations presents its own set of forms marked for voice, subject, and tense-aspect-modality. The current chapter presents a descriptive analysis of the two derivations that mark associated motion. Apart from the patterns of morphological exponence, we also describe the morphosyntactic characteristics that are associated with these derivations. As in the earlier chapters, sound examples are embedded to make the phenomena accessible and the analysis accountable.
  • Item
    Chapter 2: Inflectional morphology and number marking in Shilluk nouns
    ( 2019-09-05) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    This chapter offers a descriptive analysis of two topics in the morphology of Shilluk nouns: the inflectional paradigm, and number marking. Aside from the base form, the inflectional paradigm includes the following four forms: a) pertensive with singular possessor; b) pertensive with plural possessor; c) construct state; and d) proximal demonstrative. All of these can be interpreted as instances of head marking, which is characteristic of Shilluk morphosyntax in general (cf. Chapter 1). Following a description of the morphosyntactic functions of the base form and the four inflections, we describe in detail the patterns of morphophonological exponence through which the inflections are expressed. This pattern of exponence includes vowel length, tone, nasalisation, floating quantity, and suffixation. Floating quantity is of particular note: this marker has not been postulated in earlier work. Overall, we find that the inflectional paradigm is largely productive and regular. In contrast, the morphological marking for number is neither regular nor productive, and this is why we do not consider it to be part of the inflectional paradigm. The newly discovered marker of floating quantity supports Gilley’s (1992) tripartite analysis of number marking for Shilluk. For the sake of clarity and accountability, sound examples are embedded in relation to each of the numbered illustrations.
  • Item
    Front matter
    ( 2018-10-03) Remijsen, Bert
  • Item
    Cover
    ( 2018-10-03) Remijsen, Bert
  • Item
    Chapter 1: Forms and functions of the base paradigm of Shilluk transitive verbs
    (University of Hawai'i Press, 2018-07-15) Remijsen, Bert ; Ayoker, Otto Gwado
    This chapter offers a descriptive analysis of the morphological forms that make up the base paradigm of Shilluk transitive verbs, and also of the functions that are expressed through them. With respect to morphological exponence, tone and vowel length play a central role, both in marking the functions and in distinguishing a total of seven different verb classes. As for the functions, they are syntactic voice, subject marking, and tense-aspect-modality (TAM). These functions interact with one another and with other aspects of the syntax of the clause. For example, Imperfective aspect is only available in Object voice, and certain TAM forms interact with focus marking. We pay special attention to syntactic alignment, a topic on with earlier analyses diverge. Older studies distinguish between active and passive voices (Westermann 1912, Tucker 1955). More recently, the passive has been reinterpreted as an ergative construction (Miller & Gilley 2001). We find that the construction at the center of the controversy has all the morphosyntactic properties of a passive, but not the information-structural characteristics. The scope of this chapter is restricted to the base inflectional paradigm. This means that it does not cover the many derivations which present inflectional paradigms that are largely parallel to the base paradigm. For the sake of clarity and accountability, sound examples are embedded in relation to each of the numbered illustrations.