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Licensed Unlicensed Requires Authentication Published by De Gruyter Mouton December 2, 2017

Suffixed plurals in Baïnonk languages: Agreement patterns and diachronic development

  • Alexander Yao Cobbinah EMAIL logo
An erratum for this article can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2017-9007

Abstract

This paper re-evaluates hypotheses about the agreement behaviour of nouns using plural suffixes in the Baïnounk languages (Niger Congo/ Atlantic/ North Atlantic). Although these languages dispose of a large and complex prefixing noun class systems which are involved in expressing number distinctions, a subgroup of nouns uses a suffix for pluralisation. It is shown here that plural-suffixing nouns do not engage in the typologically rare process of phonological agreement copying as has been claimed previously. Instead, they are prefixed nouns, triggering alliterative agreement. Several scenarios about the origin and further development of the plural suffixes are presented. Synchronic data suggest that plural suffixes are older than the split of Nyun-Buy languages from a common ancestor. It is highly unlikely that it is borrowed from Mandinka, a regionally influential lingua franca which does not have noun classes. Instead, it seems plausible that plural suffixes have arisen through internal processes in which animacy and collective semantics have played a role. Potential candidates for a source morpheme for the plural suffix include a plural morpheme from the verbal domain or alternatively an associative plural. The role and impact of language contact and large scale borrowing on the extent of plural suffixation in the various Baïnounk languages is discussed.

Acknowledgments

I express my gratitude to the Volkswagen Stiftung for having funded research on the DoBeS project “Pots, plants and people” (2010–2013) led by Friederike Lüpke, within which I have conducted research on Baïnounk Gubëeher, pronounced, [gubə:her] as a PhD student and a postdoctoral researcher. I also thank the Leverhulme foundation for providing funding for the research project “Crossroads – investigating the unexplored side of multilingualism” hosted at SOAS and led by Friederike Lüpke. I was employed as postdoctoral researcher working on multilingualism involving Baïnounk Gubëeher and neighbouring Jóola languages in the Crossroads project from 2014 to 2016.

Abbreviations used

1/2/3

First/ second/ third person

Agr

Agreement prefix

Aug

Augmentative

C

Consonant

CV

Consonant-Vowel onset

Cl

(Noun) Class prefix

Dem

Demonstrative

Det

Determiner

Dim

Diminutive

Dist

Distal

excl.

Exclusive

Inac

Inactual

incl.

Inclusive

LAC

Literal alliterative concord

NC

Noun class

Poss

Possessive

Pro

Pronoun

Prep

Preposition

Rel

Relative

Sg

Singular

Sub

Subordinating

Pl

Plural

V

Vowel

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Published Online: 2017-12-2
Published in Print: 2017-12-20

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