To
Katiana Ines Clémentine
CONTENTS
FOREWORD ................................................................................................................. 1
PREFACE...................................................................................................................... 2
I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................5
1.
Location of Mokpe Speakers ............................................................................6
2.
Mokpe and the Surrounding Languages ........................................................... 7
II. PHONOLOGY .....................................................................................................8
1.
Consonants ........................................................................................................8
2.
Vowels ............................................................................................................ 10
3.
Tones ............................................................................................................... 11
1.
Lexical tones ................................................................................................ 11
2.
Grammatical tones ....................................................................................... 11
4.
Realization of Segments ................................................................................. 13
1.
Consonants ..................................................................................................13
2.
Vowels .........................................................................................................14
5.
6.
1.
2.
3.
7.
1.
2.
3.
4.
8.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Syllable Structure ............................................................................................ 14
Phonological Rules ......................................................................................... 15
Deletion rules ............................................................................................... 15
Epenthetic rules ........................................................................................... 17
Feature changing rules ................................................................................. 17
Tonal Rules .....................................................................................................18
Tone deletion ............................................................................................... 18
Tone copy ....................................................................................................19
Tone simplification ...................................................................................... 19
Meeussen’s Rule (H-tone lowering) ............................................................ 20
The Alphabet ...................................................................................................21
Consonantsː illustration ............................................................................... 22
Vowelsː illustration .................................................................................... 23
Tonesː illustration ........................................................................................ 23
Summary: the alphabet proper .....................................................................24
Rules of orthography ................................................................................... 25
The Mokpe alphabets................................................................................... 26
III. MORPHOLOGY: THE NOUN AND THE NOUN PHRASE .......................... 27
1.
Nouns .............................................................................................................. 27
1.
Nouns of class 1 and class 2 ........................................................................28
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Nouns of class 3 and class 4 ........................................................................28
Nouns of class 5 and class 6 ........................................................................29
Nouns of class 7 and class 8 ........................................................................30
Nouns of class 9 and class10 .......................................................................31
Nouns of class 14 ......................................................................................... 33
Nouns of class 19 ......................................................................................... 34
Summary of the morpho-phonological rules ............................................... 35
Summary of the paired classes ....................................................................36
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
Paired classes and meanings in Mokpe ....................................................... 37
Verbal nouns ................................................................................................ 38
Locative nouns ............................................................................................. 38
Abstract nouns ............................................................................................. 39
Mass concept ............................................................................................... 39
Nominal derivations .................................................................................... 39
Compound nouns ......................................................................................... 41
Nominal loans .............................................................................................. 42
18.
19.
Marking syntactic relationship: agreement.................................................. 43
The Nominal Prefixes of Mokpe, Urbantu and Protobantu ......................... 44
The Noun Phrase ............................................................................................. 44
Qualifying the noun: adjectives ...................................................................44
Connexive ....................................................................................................47
Apposition ...................................................................................................47
Nominal possession or associative constructions ........................................48
Numerals ......................................................................................................50
Pronouns ......................................................................................................55
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Prepositions and prepositional phrases ........................................................ 66
IV. THE VERB AND THE VERB PHRASE .......................................................... 68
1.
Verbal Inflection ............................................................................................. 68
1.
The isolated and infinitive forms .................................................................68
2.
The verbal root templates ............................................................................ 70
3.
The tonal groups of the verbs ......................................................................70
4.
Compound verbs .......................................................................................... 72
5.
The subject and object (independent) pronouns ..........................................72
6.
7.
8.
9.
The indicative mood .................................................................................... 75
The Imperative form .................................................................................... 84
The Hortative/Optative mood ......................................................................86
Subjunctive mood ........................................................................................ 87
10.
11.
12.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Conditional mood ........................................................................................ 90
Infinitive phrases ......................................................................................... 96
Gerund .........................................................................................................97
Verbal Derivation ........................................................................................... 97
Applicative/Benefactive .............................................................................. 97
Comitative / Associative.............................................................................. 98
Associative reciprocal.................................................................................. 99
Causative ...................................................................................................100
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
Reflexive verbs .......................................................................................... 101
Relationship ............................................................................................... 102
Process through predicate past participle .................................................. 103
Neutro-passive ........................................................................................... 104
Morpheme stacking ................................................................................... 105
Summary....................................................................................................106
3.
The Verb Phrase ............................................................................................ 107
1.
Marking of phase of action ........................................................................107
2.
Quantification of action ............................................................................. 112
3.
Manner of action ........................................................................................ 114
4.
Summary....................................................................................................116
5.
Time and locative adverbs ......................................................................... 116
V. SYNTAX.......................................................................................................... 118
1.
Simple Sencence Construction .....................................................................118
2.
Complexe Sentence Constructions ............................................................... 124
1.
Qualification of the noun in the NP ........................................................... 124
2.
Copula +predicate sentence .......................................................................124
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
3.
4.
5.
Juxtaposition of complements ...................................................................125
Consequence .............................................................................................. 125
Circumstantial clause ................................................................................. 125
Destination, location .................................................................................. 126
Embedded (relative) clause .......................................................................126
Conditional clause ..................................................................................... 126
Relative Clauses ............................................................................................ 127
Questions ......................................................................................................127
Copula and Existential Sentences .................................................................128
1.
ualit ː l n
e ................................................................................. 128
2.
o ationː l
e .................................................................................. 129
3.
ta ili ation wit
l n
it is ............................................................. 129
ta ili ation wit
l n
t ere is ...................................................... 131
Stabilization with -ŋɡ-: "that is" ................................................................ 131
Stabilization with nd
l "who is?" .................................................... 132
ri in - w l l (n ................................................................................ 133
Passive with agent ..................................................................................... 134
6.
Useful Expressions ....................................................................................... 135
VI. Word Lists ........................................................................................................136
1.
English - Mokpe............................................................................................ 136
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
1.
2.
3.
Nouns ......................................................................................................... 136
Adjectives ..................................................................................................141
Verbs.......................................................................................................... 142
2.
Mokpe - English............................................................................................ 147
1.
Nouns ......................................................................................................... 147
2.
Adjectives ..................................................................................................152
3.
Verbs.......................................................................................................... 153
NOTES......................................................................................................................159
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................160
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................161
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
1, 2, 3, …
1pl
1sg
2pl
2sg
Noun class numbers
First person plural
First person singular
Second person plural
Second person singular
3pl
3sg
AdjCd
Adv
APPL
CAUS
Cd
Cl
CLIT
Third person plural
Third person singular
Adjective Concord
Adverb
Applicative
Causative
Concord
Class
Clitic
COND
COORD
COP
DemPro
DemCd
DET
FV
GenCd
Conditional
Coordinator
Copula
Demonstrative Pronoun
Demonstrative Concord
Determiner
Final vowel
Genitive Concord
GprnCd
IM
InfxV
IntPro
LOC
Neg
NumCd
ObjP
OrdCd
General Proform Concord
Infinitive Marker
Infix Vowel
Interrogative Pronoun
Locative
Negative Marker
Numeral Concord
Object Pronoun
Ordinal Concord
PASS
PAST
PN
Passiv
Past
Person’s name
POS
PosPro
PosCd
Pref
PREP
PRES
PROC
PROG
Possessive Root
Posessive Pronoun
Posessive Concord
Prefix
Preposition
Present
Procedure
Progressive
RelPro
RELAT
SP
TAM
VerbP
VR
Relative Pronoun
Relationship
Subject Pronoun
Tense Aspect Mood
Verb Prefix
Verbal Root
1
FOREWORD
In Africa, many languages are spoken, but the size of most languages is relatively
small. Consequently, many of these languages have not been studied, although each
language is a facet in the long history of humankind and is an exhaustible cultural
resource.
Although there are several descriptions of Mopke, they are fragmentary. Dr.
Atin o e’s work is an attempt to fill this gap with his careful approach to the language.
I hope that this book, although small, will serve not only as research material for
linguistics scholars, but also as a grammar manual for those who would like to learn this
precious language, including those who have, or almost have, forgotten it.
Shigeki KAJI
2
PREFACE
There are a number of scientific publications on the Mokpe (Mokpwe, Bakweri)
language. From Rogozinsky (1903), Lorch (1908), Ardener (1968) to Atindogbé (2004;
2012), passing through Hombert (1973), Gensler (1980; 1981a; 1981b), Hawkinson
(1986), Kagaya (1992a; 1992b; 1992c), Connell (1997, with material collected in the
1950s by Edwin Ardener), etc. there have been several studies on the structure of
Mokpe in the various compartments of linguistics: phonology, tonology, morphology,
syntax and lexicon. However, none of these works is a coherent, homogenous bulk
regrouping all these aspects in one volume (even small) and addressing the Mokpe
language structure in a fluid way, with a discussion thread: grammar. So, the A
Grammatical Sketch of Mokpe is my modest contribution to the noble enterprise to see
t e Mokpe lan ua e o umente , es ri e an ‘mo erni e ’ for t e native speakers,
the scientific milieu and the general public. This is just the beginning of a more
voluminous work, “A Reference Grammar of Mokpe” an t is first attempt of a
linguistically coherent work was a nice and rewarding experience. A number of reasons
motivate this endeavor, but I will state just a few.
First, my primary goal is to provide a concise volume where the structure of the
Mokpe language could be seen at a glance without having to turn many pages and to
read savant terminology. This primary objective then set the pace for the methodology
to be adopted: descriptive, structural and typological. I believe and hope that the
absence of a sophisticated linguistic jargon will make this short version of the Mokpe
language structure also accessible to non-linguistic knowledge readers. I am thinking,
first and foremost, about the Bakweri children who are no longer speaking their
language due to the exclusive reign of Cameroon Pidgin English as an unavoidable
Lingua Franca of the Southwest Region, as well as English and French as the two
official languages of Cameroon. My concern goes to the Bakweri students reading
Linguistics who can now see how their language functions, how their language
accommodate phonological processes such as assimilation, deletion, tone copying, etc.
notions that look so unfamiliar and so abstract to them although they practice them in
their everyday use of their mother tongue. My concern goes to students of linguistics
interested in African languages and more precisely Narrow Bantu languages and who
would like to see how phonological processes they have been discussing in other
languages also operate in Mokpe. My concern goes to the authors who have attempted
to provide an alphabet and orthographic rules to read and write Mokpe. May this
contribution and my position regarding the alphabet be an inspiration to solve the
problem of harmonization of the alphabets, considering the fact that the many alphabets
3
will not ease the reading and learning process. It is necessary to adopt one writing
system once for good even if the latter will undergo adjustment as time passes. My
on ern finall oes to all t e Bakweri people w o are “stru lin ” to ave t eir
language and culture know by the children and the general public.
Second, my passion for descriptive linguistics as an essential component of
Do umentar
in uisti s, an t e assuran e to know more a out t e “m ster ” an
under-described language is hiding from general linguistic knowledge was a
determinant factor in this enterprise.
Third, the possibility of furnishing teaching material to university courses on the
structure of the African languages as a means to know more about the individual
languages of the world linguistic patrimony.
Fourth, the accomplishment of a duty as researcher and university lecturer whose
mission cannot be dissociated from the one of the University he is working for, that is
the provision of service to the community.
The book is divided in three main sections: phonology, morphology and syntax. In
the section on the phonology, I presented the sound system of the language, the various
current phonological processes, the tone system and an alphabet. The morphology is
divided into two parts, the noun morphology and the verb morphology. Then the book
ended with the simple and complex sentence structures, syntax. One particularity on this
book is that it provides extensive examples on each phenomenon described. The
examples are carefully selected to be representative of the phenomenon described on
various criteria including:
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
The shape/structure of the word (nouns and verbs)
The noun class of the word (nouns)
The tonal class of the word (verbs)
The tonal class/subclass and group/subgroup of the word (both nouns
and verbs)
The length of the utterance
The position of the word (nouns and verbs)
In short special care was put on the selection of the illustrations.
The A Grammatical Sketch of Mokpe started in 2005 with data collection, and this
exercise has continued till the final version of this work. By 2007, the bulk of the work
was done, and only the chapter on syntax was left. In the meantime, other duties and
academic commitments did not allow me to go back to the grammar, finish the last
chapter and do the final readings and adjustments. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to
be invited as a Research Fellow at Kyoto University in Japan, from February to May
2012. That was the time I was able to complete what I started many years ago.
4
Two people are at the center of this endeavor, that I will never stop thanking for their
qualit an e isive ontri ution. First, I am rateful to Mr non e Paul, m “man in-one” onsultant w o un erstoo at t e earl sta e of t is work m intention an ave
me all the linguistic support. His role did not only consist of kindly providing data for
the book but also to explain and research on the areas or questions he could not answer
immediately during our elicitation sessions. Paul, thanks for your restless collaboration,
thank you for your incredible patience in answering all my questions on your language,
even those for which you had no immediate answer. I will then express my profound
gratitude to Prof. Shigeki Kaji of the Graduate School of Asian and African Area
Studies (ASAFAS) of Kyoto University who made it possible for me to have the unique
opportunity to stay at ASAFAS to complete this work. His utmost support throughout
my stay in Kyoto and the indefectible assistance of his colleague Prof. Araki, of his
collaborators Numata-san and Inai-san were valuable assets that contributed
tremendously to the accomplishment of this task.
This work is a grammatical sketch and I am aware of its gaps and shortcomings. For
example, I am conscient that there is still some works to do on the alphabet, the
tonology and many other aspects, and these will be my next preocupations on the
language. However, in the meantime, may this contribution be seen as an important step
forward in our knowledge of Mokpe and may it prove to be not only a useful
continuation of works started by previous authors, but also a starting point for further
research on the grammatical structures of Mokpe.
African Study Monographs, Suppl. 45: 5-163, February 2013
5
A GRAMMATICAL SKETCH OF MÒKPÈ (BAKWERI) , BANTU A20
Gratien ATINDOGBE
Department of Linguistics, University of Buea
ABSTRACT This work,
(Bakweri), is a linguistic description that
emphasizes data showing the basic and relevant structures of the language. It covers four aspects:
phonology, orthography, morphology, and syntax. Phonology studies the sound and tone systems of
a language and revealed that Mokpe has seven vowels and 23 consonants, although Connell (1997)
states 21. The phonological rules noted include: deletion, epenthesis, affricate and glide formation,
and vowel assimilation. Tonally, Mokpe exhibits two lexical tones (low and high) and a grammatical
high tone. The two basic tones combine to form either a rising or falling tone. The most prominent
tonological processes are tone deletion, tone copy, tone simplification, an Meeussen’s Rule. Base
on the phonological study, 26 graphemes (unigraphs only) are proposed for writing the Mokpe
language. These include 18 consonants, seven vowels, and two tones. The morphological study of
the nominal and verbal systems of Mokpe revealed that the language retains many intrinsic traits of
Narrow Bantu. The structure of the noun is a noun class prefix followed by a root. There are 13 noun
classes numbered consecutively from 1 to 10, 13 to 14 and 19. They are grouped into nine genders
(singular/plural pairs), with the odd-numbered classes being singular and even-numbered classes
being plural: 1/2, 3/4, 5/6, 5/4, 7/8, 9/10, 14/6, 14/10, and 19/8. Regarding the verbal morphology,
the focus was on inflection and derivation. The verb denotes an action, process, or state and changes
according to person, time, mood, and class in agreement with the noun class of the subject.
Derivation is still very productive in Mokpe. Some verb meanings are obtained by combining the
verb root with a suffix. As far as syntax is concerned, the study revealed that Mokpe is a subjectverb-object (SVO) language.
Key Words: Mokpe; Bakweri; Gammar; Bantu; Cameroon.
I. INTRODUCTION
Mokpe (Mokpwe, Bakweri) is spoken in the Southwest Region of Cameroon, largely
in Fako Division, in the cities of Limbe, Muyuka and Tiko. A census of as far back as
1982 by SIL revealed that a population of 32,200 speak Mokpe (Lewis, 2009). This
number is not far from what Mutia (2005: 217–218) advanced:
With a total population of just over 35,000, the Bakweri occupy about 85
villa es in Fako ivision. T e Bakweri are […] ivi e into two main
groups, namely Vakpe va Lelu (Upper Bakweri) and Vakpe wa Mbenge
(Lower Bakweri). The Upper Bakweri are closer to the base of the
Cameroon Mountain stretching from Mafanja in the West and to Ekona in
the East. The Lower Bakweri inhabit the area along the Atlantic coast and
6
G.ATINDOGBE
include the villages of Ewota, Kie, Bimbia, Batoke, Bakingili, Bomboko,
and Sanje (in the West Coast), Bonjongo, and Mokunda.
However, considering the perfide influence exerted on the languages of the
Southwest Region by the linguafranca Cameroon Pidgin English (Akum, 2011), this
number might have dropped considerably. Indeed, the speakers also use Cameroon
Pidgin English and/or Duala. Although the exact relationship between Mokpe,
Wumboko, Bubia and Isubu, is not yet firmly established, it is alleged that literature
may serve the four speech forms.(1) Guthrie (1967/71) classified Mokpe as a Narrow
Bantu language of Zone A, precisely A22, under the Duala Group (A20).
The objective of the present work is to provide a simple descriptive grammar (a
sketch grammar) of the language for teaching and learning purposes. The work is
divided into three sections: phonology, morphology and syntax. The variety decribed
here is the one spoken by the Upper Bakweri people. My field research assistant is a
native of G assa/Bwassa (t e fat er’s villa e , an e rew up etween Bwasa, Bova
(t e mot er’s villa e an Buea, t e apital it of t e Southwest Region.
1. Location of Mokpe Speakers
Fig. 1. Map of Cameroon (Southwest Region).
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
2. Mokpe and the Surrounding Languages
Fig. 2. Map of the Southwest Region with the languages surrounding Mokpe.
7
8
G.ATINDOGBE
II. PHONOLOGY(2)
1. Consonants
Mokpe has the following consonant system:
Labial
Nasals
Alveolar
m
Plosives:
plain
Post-alv/
n
(p)
b
prenasalised
Velar
Palatal
Velar
ɲ
ŋm
t
k
mb
nd
Affricates
Labial-
ɡ
kp
ŋɡ
nd
ŋɡ
d
ŋw
j
w
ɸ
Fricatives
Approximants
l
Liquidified Fricative
zr
The system above differs from what Connell (1997) presented in the brief
grammatical introduction of his dictionary of the Mokpe language:
Nasals
Plosives:
plain
Labial
Alveolar
m
(p
n
t
prenasalised
ɸ
Fricatives
Approximants
b)
mb
s
l
d
nd
Post-alv/
Palatal
ɲ
nd
Velar
Labial-Velar
k
ŋɡ
kp
j
ɡ
ŋmɡ
w
It is obvious that I have six sounds (d , r, ŋm, ŋɡ , ŋw, ɡ t at o not exist in
Connell’s art. n t e ot er an , I la k t ree soun s (ŋmɡ ,
in Connell (1997).
an s , w i
T e six soun s missin in Connell’s i tionar are exemplifie
words:
[ŋm]
[d ]
[zr]
ŋm n
d l
l r
"sea"
"firewood"
"eye"
[ŋɡ ]
[ŋw]
[ɡ]
ŋɡ
l ŋw l
ɡ l
ere
are foun
t e followin
"dog"
"to show"
"gari, tapioca"
As far as the /ŋmɡ / is concerned, we have not identified a single word where this
sound appears in our corpus. Similarly, no word made up with this sound is found in
Connell’s i tionar . Note t at t is soun is split in two in m work /ŋm/ and /ɡ /,
illustrated by
“ il ” an
“snake” respe tivel .
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
9
The sound /p/ is found only in borrowed words like
“pear,” while /b/ on the other
hand is very uncommon. In our corpus, we found it in
“to steal” an b
“selfis ness” onl . An , even t en, it s oul e note t at b freely varies with w
while
“steal!” (1st pers. imp.) can equally be said
. Finally, /ɡ/ is as rare as /p/,
because it is only found in borrowed words:
“ ari, tapioca” (grinded and dry
cassava).
It is worth recalling that the consonantal system of Mokpe creates a lot of controversy
among researchers. In addition to sounds that may exist in one phonological description
but not others (e.g. the divergence between my work and Connell’s own , t ere is t e
question of phonological representation of certain sounds.
For example, /s/ in Connell (1997) is phonemicized as /r/ in Kagaya (1992a). The
phonetic reality that I represent in this work with the symbols /zr/ is equally found in
Muzang (1997), but with three variants: [rz], [ r], [r ]. Indeed, many speakers will use
[rz], [ r] or [r ]. I opted for /zr/, the liquidified alveolar fricative, because that is what
my informants use. Ngoisah (2002), contrary to Muzang (1997) and me, uses /rz/. This
sound is realised as /s/ in Bubia as shown in (4) below.
Mokpe
l r
r r
l r ŋɡ
r
r
m r
r r
Bubia
ls
s s
l s ŋɡ
s
s
m s
s s
Gloss
"eye"
"crab"
"tooth"
"chin"
"bone"
"back"
"mat"
ɲ r
r l
l rm
ɲs
s l
lsm
"thirst"
"small"
"cold"
On the other hand, Ngoisah (2002) and Connell (1997) consistently disagree on
which of the phonemes /ɸ/ or / / appears where. A look at their respective data reveals
that they contrast in all the words that they happen to have in common. There is no
single word in which the two authors agree on the sound to appear. Consequently, I
want to believe that the two authors may be investigating two separate varieties. The
examples below illustrate this controversy:
IPA
Ngoisah (2002)
Orthography
Connell (1997)
IPA
Gloss
Orthography
10
/ɸ/
G.ATINDOGBE
ɸ
ɸ
ɸ
ɸ
k
ɸ
ɸ
ɡ
hw
hwa
w
we
kahw
w n
wew
ɡ wa
ɸ
n
w
ɸ
ɸ n
lɸ t
n ɸ l
m lɸ
ɸ m
l
hveja
v al
m
l hvoa
l v v
m o v
v ma
l
l
m
"be"
"they"
"NCP, cl. 8"
"hear"
"antelope"
"carry"
"two"
"snake"
l t
n
l
m l
m
van
lv t
n vel
m l va
vam o
"cover"
"cloth"
"I am"
"water"
"plank"
ɸ
ɸ l
feja
f al
"sore"
"light a fire"
lɸ
lɸ ɸ
m ɸ
ɸ m
l foa
lf f
m of
f ma
"to open"
"broom"
"head"
"orange"
k
n
w
ɡ
wan
l w t
n wel
m l hwa
wam o
/ /
v
va
v
ve
kav
v n
vew
ɡ va
/ /
n
/ɸ/
It is difficult to say that this disparity originates from a dialectal variation. One of our
informants, although from the same region as Ngoisah, claimed to be surprised by the
forms produced by the researcher. She perceives just the opposite sound. My main
informant, for the same set of words, produced the soun s trans ri e
Connell’s.
2. Vowels
Mokpe has the following vowel system:
front
i
e
central
a
back
u
o
closed
half-closed
half-open
open
This system is identical to what is found in Connell (1997) and in Ngoisah (2002).
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
11
3. Tones
1. Lexical tones
Like most Bantu languages of the zone, Mokpe contrasts two lexical basic tones: the
low ( ) and the high ( ). However, a downstepped high tone ( ! ), the falling ( ) and
the rising ( ) are equally noted. The falling and the rising are the results of the
combination of the two basic tones. Example:
Low
ŋm
w kp
l kp m
"year"
"beard"
"cassava"
Falling
l
ɲ
"breast (female)"
"body"
High
k
ɲ ŋɡ
m n
"snail"
"sand"
"friends"
Rising
t
lm
m l ŋɡ
"room"
"to swallow"
"sheep"
2. Grammatical tones
The language equally exhibits grammatical tones. This is illustrated in the paired
phrases in (8), where the indefinite and definite articles are rendered by the low and the
high tone respectively.
m t / t
m t / t
m
/m
m !
/m !
l r ŋɡ / m r ŋɡ
l r ŋɡ / m r ŋɡ
l r /m r
l! r /m! r
l l / l l
l l / l l
w n / w n
w n /
w r
w r
cl. 1/2
cl. 3/4
cl. 5/6
cl. 5/6
cl. 7/8
cl. 19/13
w n
cl. 14
"a man / people"
"the man / the people"
"a head / heads"
"the head / the heads"
"a tooth / teeth"
"the tooth / the teeth"
"an eye / eyes"
"the eye / the eyes"
"a duck / ducks"
"the duck / the ducks"
"a cartridge / cartridges"
"the cartridge / the cartridges"
"a face"
"the face"
12
G.ATINDOGBE
Grammatical tones are also very productive in the verbal paradigm where it is used to
distinguish between the past simple and the present perfect tenses. That is:
l
“to lau ”
Past simple
n m
"I laughed"
m
"you laughed"
m
"s/he laughed"
m
m
m
"we laughed"
"you laughed"
"they laughed"
l
“to ome”
Past simple
n m
"I came"
m
"you came"
m
"s/he came"
m
m
m
"we came"
"you came"
"they came"
l m ( l
Past simple
n m m
m m
m m
m
m m
m m
m m
NB: m m
"we sang"
"you sang"
"they sang"
m m
l k "to cut"
Past simple
n m k
m k
m k
m k
m k
Present Perfect
n m
"I have laughed"
m
"you have laughed"
m
"s/he has laughed"
m
m
m
"we have laughed"
"you have laughed"
"they have laughed"
Present Perfect
n m
"I have come"
m d
"you have come"
m
"s/he has come"
m
m
m
"we have come"
"you have come"
"they have come"
“to sing”
"I sang"
"you sang"
"s/he sang"
"I cut"
"you cut"
"s/he cut"
"we cut"
"you cut"
Present Perfect
n m m
m m
m m
m m
m m
m m
NBː m m
"I have sung"
"you have sung"
"s/he has sung"
"we have sung"
"you have sung"
"they have sung"
( m
m
Present Perfect
n !m k
"I have cut"
!
m k
"you have cut"
!
m k
!
m k
!
m k
"s/he has cut"
"we have cut"
"you have cut"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
m k
13
!
"they cut"
m
k
"they have cut"
4. Realization of Segments
1. Consonants
Mokpe
/p/
p
/b/
mw
"pear"
"thief"
English
power
bottle
French
pas
bouton
"step"
"bud"
/t/
/k/
/ɡ/
/ /
/ɸ/
/l/
/j/
/w/
/m/
l t
lk
ɡ l
n
ɸ
ŋm l
m
w ŋɡ
m zr k
"rubbish heap"
"to cut"
"garri"
"charcoal"
"matchet"
"female"
"thing"
"farm"
"song"
tap
cake
get
—
—
late
yawl
worry
man
temps
képi
gagner
—
—
laver
yole
watt
mardi
"weather"
"cap"
"to gain"
—
—
"to wash"
"yawl"
"watt"
"Tuesday"
/n/
/ɲ/
/kp/
/ɡ /
/d /
/zr/
/mb/
/nd/
ln
ɲɲ
m kp
ɡ
d l
r
m m
lw n
"name"
"louse"
"bags"
"one hundred"
"firewood"
"wall"
"nose"
"knife"
nothing
new
—
—
jet
—
embryo
under
nonne
pagne
—
—
—
—
emballage
indolence
"nun"
"cloth"
—
—
—
—
"packing"
"sloth"
/nd /
/ŋɡ/
/ŋɡ /
/ŋm/
/ŋw/
nd ŋɡ
ŋɡ n
l ŋɡ
ŋm n
l ŋw
"navel"
"groundnut"
"to give"
"child"
"to pierce"
—
finger
—
—
—
—
ongle
—
—
—
—
"nail"
—
—
—
Labialisation and palatalisation create the possibility of coarticulative consonants.
Only biphonematic types are noted:

Labialisation
biphonematic
mw- mw- ŋɡ
"root"
>
m cl.1
+
- ŋɡ
Root
14
G.ATINDOGBE
mw-
mw-
"thief"
>
lw-
lw- t
"cloth"
>
"jaw"

+
>
l-
+
- m
>
cl.5
lcl.5
+
Root
Root
+
Root
- t
Root
Palatalisation
biphonematic
ljl- m
lj-
l-
2. Vowels
Mokpe
/i/
t m
/u/
l l w
/e/
/o/
/ /
/ /
/a/
m cl.1
lcl.5
t
m l l
ŋm m
nd l
m m
"door"
"shoe"
"market"
English
fit
pull
French
lit
cou
"bed"
"neck"
"rat"
"uncle"
"bat"
"lizard"
"jaws"
face [feɪs]
note [noʊt]
bet
boy
adult
thé
numéro
père
or
taper
"tea"
"number"
"father"
"gold"
"to tap"
5. Syllable Structure
Mokpe has two syllabic shapes: CV and V. The most common shape is CV. The CV
is sometimes realised, CglideV (i.e. CwV and CjV). In other words, the high vowels of
the prefix (i and u in l - and
- for example) desyllabify when followed by another
vowel.
CV
m
ŋɡ -n
m - r -ŋ
l -k -k -m -n
"arm"
"nail"
"teeth"
"to stick"
CglideV
l lj -ŋɡ -ŋɡ
mw -ŋɡ
V
"door"
"knee"
"root"
-t
"s/he, it"
"rat"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
15
6. Phonological Rules
1. Deletion rules
Deletion, i.e. instances where a sound gets eliminated from the string of set of words
appears to be the most salient segmental rule in Mokpe. This happens to both vowels
and consonants. The cases reported here are of two types: deletions that are triggered by
the environment, and deletions that are motivated by rapid flux of the speech. The
deleted item is bolded.

Deletions that are triggered by the environment
The first of two vowels following each other across morpheme or word boundary will
get deleted if this first vowel is preceded by a coda.
Example 1
Deletion of vowel /i/ of the infinitive marker (IM) and of vowel /a/ of the subject
pronoun 1st person (1sg):
a.
b.
IM
lllll-
+
+
+
+
+
Root
m
k
m
nd
ɡ
→
→
→
→
→
Infinitive
l m
l k
l m
l nd
l ɡ
"to sing"
"to play"
"to close"
"to go"
"to climb"
1sg
n
+
Root
m
→
Present
n m
"I sing"
n
n
n
n
+
+
+
+
k
m
nd
ɡ
→
→
→
→
n
n
n
n
"I play"
"I close"
"I go"
"to climb"
k
m
nd
ɡ
However, be careful! Do not be chocked to read or hear two distinct consecutive
vowels, the subject pronoun 3rd person (3sg) and the vowel of the verb root:
3sg
+
Root
m
+
+
+
k
m
nd
→
Present
m
"s/he sings"
→
→
→
k
m
nd
"s/he plays"
"s/he closes"
"s/he goes"
16
G.ATINDOGBE
ɡ
+
→
ɡ
"s/he climbs"
Indeed, there is no deletion in the instances above. Remember that deletion occurs if
and only if the vowel that gets deleted is preceded by a consonant.
Example 2.
In the following nouns, the vowel of the noun class prefix /m -/ (singular) or /w -/
(plural) will delete in front of another vowel.
NC
m m w 
Root
l n
ɲ n
ɲ n
+
+
+
→
→
→
Output
m l n
m ɲ n
w ɲ n
"woman"
"man"
"men"
Deletions that are motivated by the flux of the speech
a) The first of two vowels following each other across morpheme or word
boundary will get deleted in rapid speech.
Slow speech
kp
ɲ m
k m
w n
Rapid speech
m
l
m
t
→
→
→
→
kp m l
ɲ m
k m
w n m t
"he-goat"
"two animals"
"three monkeys"
"the mouth which is small"
b) Intervocalic / /, /l/ or /j/ will get deleted in rapid speech.
Slow speech
kp β m
n β m
l r l r l
l l j m
l
→
Rapid speech
kp m l
"he-goats"
→
→
→
n m
l r
r l
l l m
"my children"
"the small eye"
"my duck"
c) Whole syllables get deleted in rapid speech.
Slow speech
n ŋm n w m ɲ n
m r m m m n
ŋɡ
m l m
l n
m
m t w w
!
l n
t
Rapid speech
→ n ŋm n m ɲ n
→ m r m n
→ ŋɡ
l m
"this boy (near me)"
t e e es w i see”
"the dog which barks"
→
→
"he is a bad person"
"the fruit is strong"
l m t w
m l !t
w
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
17
2. Epenthetic rules
When certain suffixes of the verbal derivational morphology are added to the verb
root, an epenthetic consonant, the liquid /l/ or the nasal /n/ is inserted between the final
vowel and the suffix. That is that case of the relationship morpheme - l .
/l ŋm
l /
to come +RELAT
/l r n + l /
→
[l ŋm l l ]
"to come from (somewhere)"
→
[l r n l l ]
"sign (sth for sb)"
→
[l ɸ n l ]
"to mix sth with sth"
→
[l r ŋ n l ]
"to bring together (people)"
to sign +RELAT
/l ɸ
l /
to mix +RELAT
/l r ŋ + l /
to assemble +RELAT
In some other utterances, the glides /w/ and /j/ are inserted to break a sequence of two
vowels.
m ɲ n
ŋɡ n
m
"the man who will mary my daughter"
n m !ŋ w n m t
"I helped myself"
!
ŋw ( ɲ w t
"kill yourselves"
→
m ɲ n
ŋɡ n
w
m
→ n m w !ŋ w n m t
→
w !ŋw ( ɲ
wt
3. Feature changing rules

Affricate and Glide formation
The concord vowels /i/ and /e/, change respectively to [d ] and [j] before another
vowel.
 /i/ → [d ]
l
n
k
→
l
n d k
"one key"
!
n n k
→
n n d k
"one bird"
m ɲ n
→ d
m ɲ n
"we have a man"
r lk
→ d
r lk
"we wanted to cut"
w n m
ŋw
→
"the cartridge which kills"
w l w m w
ŋɡ w n
w n m
ŋw
→ w l w m w d ŋɡ w n
18
G.ATINDOGBE
"the canoe which helps us"
 /e/ → [j]
r
k
→
r k
m
k
→
m !j k
m lw
→
m lw
r lk
→ j r lk

"one wall"
"one animal"
"you (pl) have water"
"you (pl) wanted to cut"
Vowel assimilation
The vowel /a/ of the collective action suffix -na is realised / / if the final vowel of the
verb root is / / and as [ ] if the final vowel of the root is / /.
/l ŋw na/
→ [l ŋw n ]
"to die with ..."
/l ɡ
na/
→ [l ɡ n ]
"to climb with..."
/l n ŋ
na/
→ [l n ŋ n ]
"to sleep with..."
/l ɲ + na/
→ [l ɲ n ]
"to drink with..."
/l n + na/
→ [l n ]
"to laugh with..."
/l k l + na/
→ [l k l n ]
"to finish with..."
/l nd n + na/
→ [l nd n ]
"to go with..."
7. Tonal Rules
We have noted tone deletion, tone simplification and tone lowering, precisely,
Meeussen’s Rule.
1. Tone deletion
In some cases, when a vowel gets deleted, its tone does not survive but also get
deleted. For examples of such cases, please turn back to all the instances of vowel
deletion discussed above in (17, 18, 20). You will notice that each time a vowel is
deleted, it goes with its tone. Let us however recall the examples for sake of
convenience.
NC
m m w -
+
+
+
Root
l n
ɲ n
ɲ n
→
→
→
Output
m l n
m ɲ n
w ɲ n
"woman"
"man"
"men"
In these examples indeed, the vowel of the prefix erases with its tone and the noun
surfaces with the high tone of the first vowel of the root only. Note that we had a low
tone facing a high before deletion occurs.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
19
2. Tone copy
The vowel /a/ of the collective action suffix -na copies the tone the final vowel of the
root.
/l ŋw na/
/l ɡ
na/
/l ɲ + na/
/l n + na/
→
→
→
→
[l ŋw n ]
[l ɡ n ]
[l ɲ n ]
[l n ]
"to die with ..."
"to climb with ..."
"to drink with ..."
"to laugh with ..."
/l n ŋ
na/
/l k l + na/
/l nd n + na/
→
→
→
[l n ŋ n ]
[l k l n ]
[l nd n ]
"to sleep with ..."
"to finish with ..."
"to go with ..."
Similarly, the causative, applicative and the process are all marked by the toneless
suffixes -izr , -eja and - a respectively. These morphemes replace the last vowel of the
verb root and copy its tone.
/l k w i r /
to learn +CAUS
→ [l k w r ]
"to teach (cause sb to learn)"
/l n
i r /
to buy +CAUS
→ [l n
"to cause sb to buy"
/l ŋw e a/
to learn +APPL
/l ŋ + eja/
to grow +APPL
→ [l ŋw
/l nd + a/
→ [l nd ]
to go +PROC
/l ɸ ŋ
a/
to spoil +PROC
→ [l ɸ ŋ
r ]
→ [l ŋ
]
]
"die for ..."
"to look after" (a child)
"to go to"
]
"to become spoiled"
3. Tone simplification
In some other cases, more precisely when it is the vowel of a root which is deleted,
the tone will survive and re-associate with the vowel of the prefix. This creates a
contour tone which is simplified.
NC + Root
l n
Vowel del.
-+ l n
Tone reass.
l n
Tone Simpl.
l n
Output
l n
‘women’
20
G.ATINDOGBE
uss ’s Ru (H-tone lowering)
4.
In Bantu languages, there is a tonal process whereby the second of two successive
high tones is systematically deleted or lowered. We must have noticed when we were
briefly discussing the grammatical tones of the Mokpe language that two consecutive
high tones result in the lowering of the second in the present perfect tense. In the
example below, the tones on the subject pronoun are low except for the last subject
pronoun “t ey” w ose tone is i . The tone on the past marker (m ) equally surfaces
with a low tone. Then there is no tone lowering. In the present perfect, on the contrary,
the tense marker is high-toned (m ) and it is lowered because it immediately follows
high-toned subject pronouns.
l ŋɡ "to give"
Past simple
n m ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
"I gave"
"you gave"
"s/he gave"
"we gave"
Present Perfect
n !m ŋɡ
!
m ŋɡ
!
m ŋɡ
!
m ŋɡ
"you gave"
"they gave"
!
m ŋɡ
!
m ŋɡ
"I have given "
"you have given "
"s/he has given "
"we have given "
"you have given"
"they have given"
The phrases in column A below do not exhibit any lowering because the high tone of
the noun root is preceded by a low tone on the noun class prefix (m -, ŋm-) or by zero
noun class and then zero tone). Lowering happens when the tone of the prefix turn to be
high.
B (H lowering, Meeussen’s Rule)
A (no H lowering)
m
m n n
ŋm m m r l
ŋɡ r l n n
"a big head"
"a small heart"
"a big cartridge"
m !
m r
!
m m m n n
!
ŋɡ r l n n
"the whole head"
"the big hearts"
"big cartridges"
Furthermore, we have cases of word boundary. When the last vowel of the first
lexeme of the phrase is low-toned, there is no lowering of the following high-toned
vowel. But in B such lowering occurs because there are two successive high tones.
A (no H lowering)
k m
k
"one monkey"
B (H lowering, Meeussen’s Rule
!
nd
k
"one road (path)"
l r
ln
w
l
w l !l k
l r ŋɡ !l k
w ŋɡ !w k
n n !d k
l k
l k
r w k
n d k
"one eye"
"one name"
"one face"
"one key"
"one work"
"one tooth"
"one brain"
"one bird"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
t
t
t
t
t
t
r
m
m
m
m
m
m
k
21
"one wall"
"each thing"
"each head"
"each person"
"each mother"
"each duck"
"each year"
m
m
m t
ɲ ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋm
t
t
t
t
t
t
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
!
j k
d ŋɡ
!
m ɲ n
!
r ŋɡ
!
lt
!
ln
!
ŋm n
"one animal"
"each pot"
"each husband"
"each father"
"each ear"
"each name"
"each baby"
!
Finally in the examples below, the tonal structure of the wh-question is just the
stru tural es ription of Meeussen’s Rule.
H lowerin , Meeussen’s Rule
!
n w l l
"where are you from?"
!
n m r
"where is the boy?"
!
n l l
"where is the duck?"
!
n k m
"where is the monkey?"
!
m
n
"when do you come?"
!
m
n
"when do you come again?"
8. The Alphabet
Following the some of the principles outlined in the General Alphabet of
Cameroonian Languages (Tadadjeu et Sadembouo 1979), I propose 26 graphemes
(unigraphs) to write the Mokpe language. There are 18 consonants, 7 vowels and 2 tones.
Consonants
p,
b,
t,
Vowels
i, u, e,
Tones
(low)
ɡ,
k,
,
o,
(high)
ɸ,
,
,
a.
l,
w,
j,
,
m,
n,
ɲ,
ŋ,
d,
r,
z.
22
G.ATINDOGBE
1. Consonantsː illustration
Phoneme Grapheme Examples
Initial
position
/p/
p
p
/b/
b
b
/t/
t
t m
/k/
k
k
/ɡ/
/ɸ/
/ /
/l/
/j/
/w/
/m/
/n/
ɡ
ɸ
l
j
w
m
n
ɡ l
ɸ
t
lw n
j t t
w ɸ
m m
n
/ɲ/
ɲ
ɲɲ
"pear"
"selfishness"
"hat/cap"
"snail"
Mediane
position

l
lt
lk k
"to steal"
"ear"
"to pound"
"garri"
"wound"
"five"
"knife"
"smoke"
"day"
"male"
"and"

k ɸ
l l
w l
l
lw w
k m
m n n
"antelope"
"to call"
"grass"
"to know"
"to take"
"singe"
"fat"
"housefly"
m ɲ
"ground"
Some of the graphemes will be used to write some single sounds.
Phoneme
/d /
/kp/
/ɡ /
Grapheme
d
kp
ɡ
(d + )
(k + p)
(ɡ
Examples
Initial position
d ŋɡ
"eagle"
kp
"fall!"
ɡ
"snake"
Mediane position
"mothers"
w kp
"beard"
ɡ
"sun"
The single graphemes can also be utilized to write co-articulated sounds like [zr],
[mb], [nd], [nd ], [ŋɡ], [ŋɡ ], [ŋm], [ŋw].
Phoneme
Grapheme
/zr/
/mb/
/nd/
/nd /
/ŋɡ/
zr
mb
nd
nd
ŋɡ
z+r
m+b
n+d
n+d+
ŋ ɡ
Examples
Initial position
r l
"small"
m w
"village"
nd nd k
"needle"
nd w
"hunger"
ŋɡ t
"basket"
/ŋɡ /
/ŋm/
/ŋw/
ŋɡ
ŋm
ŋw
ŋ
ŋ
ŋ
ŋɡ r l
ŋm m

ɡ
m
w
"cartridges"
"bat"

Mediane position
r r
"crab"
r m
"star"
m n
"buttocks"
l nd
"fruit"
ŋɡ ŋɡ
"doctor"
l ŋɡ
l ŋw
l ŋw l
"to shoot"
"to kill"
"to show"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
23
In other words, the unigraphs will combine to form digraphs and trigraphs. That is the
reason why graphemes such as ŋ, , r, , , which do not exist as single sound/phoneme
in the language are included in the alphabet. I call them auxiliary symbols,(3) because
they help in the orthographic transcription of /n /, /ŋɡ/, /d / and /zr/. Although the
digraphs or trigraphs are made of 2 or 3 letters, they represent a unique phoneme, /mb/,
/nd/, /nd /, /ŋɡ /, /ŋw/ etc.
2. V
sː
Phoneme
us
Grapheme
/i/
i
/u/
u
/e/
e
/o/
o
/ /
Examples
Initial position
n k
"pepper"
ŋw l
"show!"
l w
"market"
Mediane position
d tt
"darkness"
w ŋɡ
"stomach"
l l
"duck"
Final position
mb n
"wind"
m l ŋɡ
"sheep"
"s/he"
m n
"tails"
d m
"tongue"
m ŋɡ
"spear"
ŋɡ n
"crocodile"
ŋm
"egg"
m n
"wave"
ŋɡ n
"groundnut"
l kp
"bag"
Examples
Initial position
k w
"skin"
zr l
"burn"
Mediane position
m k y
"bachelor"
m n an
"husband"
Final position
m r ŋɡ
"peace"
nd m
"paralysis"
ŋw
"kill!"
k
"metal"
/ /
"you (sg.) "
/a/
a
3. T sː
Phoneme
/
/
/
/
us
Grapheme
"tree"
Like the consonants, the tones will combine to write the two contour tones, rising and
falling.
24
G.ATINDOGBE
Phoneme
Grapheme
Examples
Initial position
r
"under"
l r ŋ
"to hunt"
Mediane position
———
n
"the children"
Final position
ŋ
"live, grow"
ŋm
"hoe"
4. Summary: the alphabet proper
The Mokpe alphabet is therefore made up of the following symbols:
Unigraphs
A
a
ß
D
D(4)
E
e
Ɛ
ф
ɸ
ß t
——
l w
Ɛk
ф
t
——
l w
k
ɸ
"he, she"
"five" d
——
"market"
"metal"
"wound"
G l
n k
——
K
w n
M m
N
Ɲɲ
ɡ l
n k
——
k
lw n
m m
n
ɲɲ
"garri"
"pepper"
——
"snail"
"knife"
"male"
"and"
"housefly"
ŋɡ t
ŋw
p
——
t m
ŋw l
w ɸ
j t t
"basket"
"kill!"
"you (sg.)"(7)
"pear"
——
"hat/cap"
"show!"
"day"
"smoke"
r l


"small"


G
I
ɡ(5)
i
K
L
M
N
Ɲ
k
l
m
n
ɲ
Ŋ
O
Ɔ
P
R
T
U
W
J
Ŋ(6) Ŋɡ t
o
ŋw
Ɔ
p
P
r
——
t
T m
u
ŋw l
w
ɸ
j
J t t
Z
z
r l


A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
25
5. Rules of orthography
The first orthographic rule states that some of the consonant graphemes above
combine to form digraphs. These are:
k
p
→ kp
ɡ
b
→ ɡ
z
r
→ zr
m
b
→ mb
n
d
→ nd
→ nd
n d
ŋ
ɡ
→ ŋɡ
ŋ
m → ŋm
ŋ
w
→ ŋw
ŋ ɡ b → ŋɡ
These combinations produce the following digraphs:
Digraphs
Zr
zr
Mb
mb
r l
M w
r l
m w
"small"
"village"
Nd
Nd
Ŋɡ
Ŋɡ
Ŋm
Ŋw
Nd nd k
Nd w
Ŋɡ t
Ŋɡ r l
Ŋm m
Ŋw
nd nd k
nd w
ŋɡ t
ŋɡ r l
ŋm m
ŋw
"needle"
"hunger"
"basket"
"cartridges"
"bat"
"die for something"
nd
nd
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋm
ŋw
Note that all tones are marked.
Nd nd k
nd nd k
"needle"
T m
w ɲ
t m
w ɲ
"hat/cap"
"day"
26
G.ATINDOGBE
w
l
lj ŋɡ ŋɡ
ŋw l
Lj ŋɡ ŋɡ
ŋw l
"chicken"
"marriage; wedding"
"knee"
"show!"
The marking of all tones allows t e visuali ations of Meeussen’s rule.
n !m
m !
ŋɡ
m
→ "I have given"
→ "the whole head"
r
t m !l n
m !j k
!
n m r
→ "each name"
→ "one animal"
→ "where is the boy?"
6. The Mokpe alphabets
For comparative reasons, I present below the five alphabets that have been proposed
for the Mokpe language. My alphabet, although the shortest, can equally be used to
write the language efficiently.
Table 1. The various alphabets designed for the Mokpe language
No.
Connell
(1997)
Blay
Ekobena
(2004)
Ngoisah
(2002)
Atindogbé
(the
present work)
a
b
d
e
a
(b)
c
e
ɡ
a
ch
e
a
(b)
ch
e
a
b
f
ɡ
ɡ
i
j
k
kp
l
hf
hw
hz
i
j (d )
k
kp
l
ɡ
i
j (d )
k
kp
l
m
mɡ
ɡ
hv ( )
hw (ɸ)
i
j (d )
k
kp
l
ɸ
ɡ
i
d
k
l
m
m
mb
n
nd
m
mb
n
nd
mb
n
nw
nd
m
mb
n
nd
n
ɲ
ŋ
o
f
d
e
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
nɡ
nj (nd )
ny (ɲ)
o
p
s (zr)
t
u
v
w
y
nj (nd )
ny (ɲ)
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
o
(p)
t
u
w
y
nj (nd )
ny (ɲ)
o
s (zr)
t
u
v
w
y
27
nj (nd )
ny (ɲ)
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋm
ŋw
o
p
r
t
u
w
j
z
rz
t
u
w
y
III. MORPHOLOGY: THE NOUN AND THE NOUN PHRASE
Genarally, most parts of speech in Mokpe, as in most Bantu languages, are generally
made up of a prefix and a root:
Prefix + Root
Some roots may lack a prefix. This may just be the result of some phonological
process whereby the prefix gets deleted. We therefore have:
Root
1. Nouns
The noun has the following structure:
Noun Class Prefix + Root
There are 12 prefixes, arranged in classes numbered from 1 to 19 (without 11, 12, 13,
15, 16, 17 and 18), and grouped in 9 pairs as we shall see below following the
singular/plural tandem. The prefixes bearing uneven numbers mark the singular,
whereas those with the even numbers express plurality. The passage from singular to
plural is done through the substitution of the singular prefix by the plural prefix.
28
G.ATINDOGBE
The examples below show all the 12 classes of nouns, organised in pairs (sg/pl). The
prefix is separated from the root by a hyphen. When there is no overt prefix, the root is
preceded by nothing. When the prefix exhibits a variant, it is clearly spelled out through
sub-classes labelled with letter b), c), etc.
1. Nouns of class 1 and class 2
class 1
a)
m -t
"person"
c)
e)
g)
m -m k
m -k m
ŋm- n
ŋm- n
mwmw- m
m- l n
m- zr ŋɡ r ŋɡ
"elder"
"slave"
"child"
"guest"
"thief"
"witch"
"woman"
"hunter"
m- ɲ n
"man"
class 2
-t
b)
"persons"
-m k
-k m
- n
- n
-m
- l n
-zr ŋɡ r ŋɡ
d)
f)
h)
w- ɲ n
"elders"
"slaves"
"children"
"guests"
"thieves"
"witches"
"women"
"hunters"
"men"
The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
m -  ŋm-  mw-  m-
-  -  w-
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
m - before consonants
ŋm- before vowels a and
mw- before vowel i
m- before vowels o, and u
- before consonants and vowels
and i
- before vowel a
w- before vowel u
Basic prefixes for classes 1 and 2
Singular prefix (Class 1):
Plural prefix (Class 2):
m -
-
2. Nouns of class 3 and class 4
a)
class 3
m - n
m - m
m - r w
"tail"
"male"
"horn"
b)
class 4
m - n
m - m
m - r w
"tails"
"males"
"horns"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
c)
e)
m -l l
m - r
m - l
m - ɲ
m -zr k
m - l ŋɡ
ŋmŋm-
mot er’s rot er
"river"
"rope"
"ground"
"song"
"sheep"
"year"
"hoe"
ŋm- m
ŋm- nd
"bat"
"sea"
29
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
d)
f)
-l l
- r
- l
- ɲ
-zr k
- l ŋɡ
-
m - m
m - nd
m- r
m-n
m -j
m -j
g)
mot er’s rot ers
"rivers"
"ropes"
"grounds"
"songs"
"sheep"
"years"
"hoes"
"bats"
"seas"
"eyes"
"names"
"palm trees"
"stoves"
Note: the singular forms of the words in (g) are found in class 5.
The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
m -  m -  ŋm-
m -m -m-
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
m - before consonants and any m - before consonants and any
root starting with vowel o
root starting with vowel o
m - before any root whose first m - before any root whose first
vowel is
ŋm- before vowels a and
vowel is , or a
m - before any root whose first
vowel is ı- and semivowel j
Basic prefixes for classes 3 and 4
Singular prefix (Class 3):
Plural prefix (Class 4):
m -
m -
3. Nouns of class 5 and class 6
a)
class 5
l -t
l -j
"ear"
"hand"
b)
class 6
m -t
m -
"ears"
"hands"
30
c)
e)
G.ATINDOGBE
l -w
l -w n
l - r ŋɡ
l- m
lj- m
lj- ŋɡ ŋɡ
ljl- ŋɡ
"neck"
"knife"
"tooth"
"hair"
"jaw"
"knee"
"door"
"belly"
l- w t
l- t
l- m
"cloth"
"rubbish heap"
"nest"
d)
f)
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
-w
-w n
- r ŋɡ
- m
- m
- ŋɡ ŋɡ
- ŋɡ
m - t
m -w t
m -w m
"necks"
"knives"
"teeth"
"hairs"
"jaws"
"knees"
"doors"
"bellies"
"cloths"
"rubbish heap"
"nests"
The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
l -  lj-  l-
m -
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
l - before consonants
lj- before vowel o, or a
l- before vowel u
Basic prefixes for classes 5 and 6
Singular prefix (Class 5):
Plural prefix (Class 6):
l-
m -
Let us point out here that some words of class 5 take their plural in class 4. This leads
to the pairing 5/4:
a)
class 5
l- r
l-n
l -j
l -j
l -k
"eye"
"name"
"palm tree"
"stove"
"plantain"
4. Nouns of class 7 and class 8
class 7
a)
"word"
b)
b)
class 4
m- r
m-n
m -j
m -j
m -k
class 8
-
"eyes"
"names"
"palm trees"
"stoves"
"plantains"
"words"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
c)
e)
- r
- l l
- r
-l l
-w k
- r r
- k
"tree"
"bone"
"dawn"
"wall"
"duck"
"compound"
"thigh"
"iron"
l
n
r
kp
n
"leaf"
"yam"
"chin"
"dry season"
"axe"
jjjjj-
31
d)
f)
- r
- l l
- r
-l l
-w k
- r r
- k
"trees"
"bones"
"dawns"
"walls"
"ducks"
"compounds"
"thighs"
"irons"
l
n
r
kp
n
ŋɡ
"leaves"
"yams"
"chins"
"dry seasons"
"axes"
"mosquitoes"
-
g)
Note: The singular of mosquitoes is d - ŋɡ (class19).
The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
-  -  j-
-
-
-
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
- before consonants and any root
whose first vowel is e
- before any root whose first
vowel is or
j- before all vowels except or
- elsewhere
- before any root whose first
vowel is or
- before any root whose first
vowel is u
Basic prefixes for classes 7 and 8
Singular prefix (Class 7):
Plural prefix (Class 8):
-
-
5. Nouns of class 9 and class10(8)
a)
class 9
m- r
m- w
"back"
"rain"
b)
class 10
m- r
m- w
"backs"
"rains"
32
c)
e)
g)
G.ATINDOGBE
m- n
m-b n
n-d ŋɡ
n-d m
ŋ-ɡ n
m- r
n-d nd
n-d k
"buttock"
"wind"
"navel"
"war"
"groundnut"
"maize"
"thorn"
"elephant"
ŋ-ɡ t
ŋ-ɡ n
ŋ-ɡ ɲ
ŋ-ɡ
-ɲ
-ɲ m
-ɲ w
-ɲ k
"basket"
"nail"
"soup, sauce"
"dog"
"body"
"meat"
"bee"
"cow"
-ɲ ɲ
-ɲiɲ
p r
t m
k
zr w
w ɲ
r m
k ŋɡ
"housefly"
"louse"
"cat"
"hat/cap"
"snail"
"dust"
"day"
"star"
"king"
k m
w r
"monkey"
"horse"
d)
f)
h)
m- n
m-b n
n-d ŋɡ
n-d m
ŋ-ɡ n
-m r
-nd nd
-nd k
"buttocks"
"winds"
"navels"
"wars"
"groundnuts"
"maize"
"thorns"
"elephants"
-ŋɡ t
-ŋɡ n
-ŋɡ ɲ
-ŋɡ or ŋ-ɡ
-ɲ or -ɲ
-ɲ m or -ɲ m
-ɲ w or -ɲ w
-ɲ k or -ɲ k
"baskets"
"nails"
"soups"
"dogs"
"bodies"
"meats"
"bees"
"cows"
-ɲ ɲ
-ɲ ɲ
p r
t m
k
zr w
w ɲ
- r m
-k ŋɡ
"houseflies"
"louses"
"cats"
"hat/cap"
"snails"
"dusts"
"day"
"stars"
"kings"
-k m
-w r
"monkeys"
"horses"
The 2 prefixes:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
NØ
N-  Ø
-
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
N- elsewhere
Ø- before nasals,
N- elsewhere
Ø- before nasals,
voiceless
voiceless
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
33
plosives (p, t, k), liquidified plosives (p, t, k), liquidified
fricatives (zr) and approximants fricatives (zr) and approximants
(w)
(w)
- no prediction possible, seems to
be optional
Basic prefixes for classes 9 and 10
Singular prefix (Class 9):
Plural prefix (Class 10):
N
N
6. Nouns of class 14
Class 14, a singular class, surprisingly, has generally no fix or precise class as plural
counterpart. These singular forms may take their plural prefix nowhere else than in that
same class 14. In other words the plural forms are identical to the singular forms.
class 14
class 14(9)
a)
w -nd
"freedom"
b)
c)
e)
w - r ŋɡ
w - r
w -t n
w -l
w - r
w -m
w- kp
w- m
w- l
"cleanliness"
"bad luck"
"brightness"
"meeting"
"parrot"
"type of tree"
"beard"
"kite"
"boat"
w- l l
ɡ - ŋɡ
ɡ - k
ɡ - ŋɡ
ɡ -n
"type of tree"
"care, caution"
"herd"
"tapping of palm wine"
"duration"
d)
w -l
w - r
w -m
w- kp
w- m
w- l
"meetings"
"parrots"
"type of tree"
"beards"
"kites"
"boats"
w- l l
"types of tree"
Some singular forms can take their plural prefix from class 6 or class 10. The cases of
singular nouns (class 14) taking their plural in class 10 also shows evidence of instances
of nouns with double prefix.
class 14
a)
w - r
w -k m
class 6
"face"
"beard"
b)
m - r
m -k m
"faces"
"beards"
34
c)
d)
G.ATINDOGBE
ww- ŋɡ
ɡ - ŋɡ
ɡ -t
ɡ ɡ w- m
w-
"night"
"brain"
"iron wood tree"
"story"
"snake"
"tree"
"kite"
"chicken"
e)
m -w
m - ŋɡ
m - ŋɡ
m - t
m m -w- m
-w-
"nights"
"brains"
"iron wood trees"
"stories"
"snakes"
"trees"
"kites"
"chickens"
d The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
w -  w-  ɡ -
w -  wm -
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix (w -  w-):
w - before consonants
w - before consonants
w- before any root whose first w- before any root whose first
sound is vowel u, o, or
sound is vowel u, o, or
ɡ - before any root whose first
sound is vowel ı, e, , or a
Basic prefixes for classes 14
Singular prefix (Class 14):
Plural prefixes:
w -
w - (class 14)
m - (class 6)
- (class 10)
7. Nouns of class 19
class 19
a)
-n n
"bird"
-t ŋɡ
"pot (water)"
c)
- r r
"mat"
-t m
- r r
-n k
"shoe"
"crab"
"pepper"
b)
d)
class 8
-n n
-t ŋɡ
"birds"
"pots (water)"
- r r
"mats"
-t m
- r r
-n k
"shoes"
"crabs"
"pepper"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
e)
-l k
d - ŋɡ
d - ŋɡ
"bottle"
"mosquito"
"eagle"
35
-l k
- ŋɡ
- ŋɡ
f)
"bottles"
"mosquitoes"
"eagles"
The 2 prefixes and their variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
-d -
-
-
-
Distribution of the variants:
Singular prefix:
Plural prefix:
- before consonants
- before any root whose first
vowel is or
- elsewhere
- before vowel u
d - before vowel
Basic prefixes for classes 19 and 8
Singular prefix (Class 19):
-
Plural prefix (Class 8):
-
8. Summary of the morpho-phonological rules
Class 1
ŋm- before vowels a and
m mw- before vowel i
mbefore vowels o, and u
Class 2
-
before vowel a
w-
before vowel u
m -
before any root whose first vowel is
ŋm-
before vowels a and
-
Class 3
m -
36
G.ATINDOGBE
Class 4
m -
before any root whose first vowel is , or a
m-
efore an root w ose first vowel is ı- and
semivowel y
m -
Class 5
lj-
before vowel o,
l-
before vowel u
or a
l-
Class 6 (no rule)
Class 7
-
before any root whose first vowel is
efore an root w ose first vowel is ı, a, u, o or
jClass 8
-
before any root whose first vowel is or
-
before any root whose first vowel is u
-
Class 9 (no rule)
Class 10 (no rule)
Class 14
w-
before any root whose first sound is vowel u, o, or
w ɡ Class 19
-
d -
efore an root w ose first soun is vowel ı, e, , or a
before vowels
9. Summary of the paired classes
The Mokpe prefixes are therefore paired as follows:
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
37
Table 2. The pairing of Mokpe noun prefixes
Class Pairing or Genders
Prefixes: Sg/Pl
1/2
3/4
5/6
5/4
7/8
9/10
14/6
14/10
19/8
m -/ m -/m l -/m l -/m -/ N-/N- or w -/m w -/ -/ -
10.
Paired classes and meanings in Mokpe
We have identified the following meanings for the Mopke noun class prefixes:
Table 3. Meaning of Mopke noun class prefixes
Scope of Meaning
Example
Class 1/2:
▪Active human beings
m -/ t
"person"
m -/ -
▪Member of ethnic group
m -/ kp
"Bakweri man"
▪Nationalities
m -/ k l
"European"
▪Human beings of verbal
m -/ zr ŋɡ r ŋɡ
"hunter"
derivation
Class 3/4:
▪Nature
ŋm-/m n
"sea"
m -/m -
▪Animals
m -/m l ŋɡ
"sheep"
▪Human related
m -/m m
"male"
Class 5/6:
▪Parts of body
l -/m w
"neck"
l -/m -
▪Household items
l -/m w n
"knife"
Class 7/8:
▪Nature
- l l
"dawn"
▪Domestic birds
-/ l l
"duck"
-/ -
▪Nature
m w
"rain"
▪Non wild animals
ŋɡ
"dog"
Class 14:
▪Abstract nouns
w -nd
"freedom"
w -
▪Parts of body
w - r
"face"
▪Reptiles
ɡ -
"snake"
▪Special birds
w - r
"parrot"
Class 19
▪Birds
-/ n n
"bird"
-
▪Nature
y-/
Class 9/10:
-/ -
kp
"dry season"
38
G.ATINDOGBE
11. Verbal nouns
Verbal nouns are formed by inserting a high tone on the first syllable of the infinitive
form.
"to kill"
l- ŋw
l-
kŋ
5-DET.kill
9.king
5-Cd
"The killing of the king."
"to cut"
l -k
l-
ɲ m
5-DET.cut
5-Cd
9.meat
"The cutting of the meat."
12.
Locative nouns
In Mokpe, there is no such thing like locatives or locative nouns, as it is the case in
most Bantu languages, with the classes 16, 17 and 18 expressing "at/on a place",
"towards a place" and "in a place". There is just one morpheme, / /, placed before a
noun to mark all the various nuances of location.
m w
w k l w
t ŋɡ ŋɡ
t n n w
w r w m
m
r n w
ŋm ɲ
t n
r
r
t l
m r
m r
m
w
( k "place")
(t ŋɡ ŋɡ "near")
( t n "in", lexicalised)
(w r "front")
(m
r "behind")
(ŋm ɲ "top")
( r "down")
"in/to the village "
"at the market"
"nearby"
"inside the house"
"in front of the village"
"outside the house"
"on / on top of"
"in / inside"
"under"
"under the table"
"behind"
"behind mine"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
13.
39
Abstract nouns
Those nouns dominantly take their class prefix from class 9/10, but they also use
prefixes from other classes. Although some of the prefixes they take are singular, they
on’t ave plural counterparts.
14.
m ɲ ŋɡ
m l k r n
l m
(cl. 3)
(cl. 4)
(cl. 5)
"joy, pleasure"
"forgiveness"
"agreement"
lk k n
m t
m kp r
zr l r l
m k
nd w
ŋɡ ɲ
n
k m
(cl. 5)
(cl. 6)
(cl. 6)
(cl. 7)
(cl. 9)
(cl. 9)
(cl. 9)
(cl. 9)
(cl. 9)
"promise"
"cultivation, planting "
"rapidity"
"sorrow"
"encouragement"
"hunger"
"force"
"permission"
"boastfulness"
l ŋ
w ŋɡ
w n
(cl. 9)
(cl. 14)
(cl. 14)
"life, growth"
"fear"
"agression"
Mass concept
Like abstract concepts, uncountable nouns take their prefixes from the plural classes
6, 8 and 10.
m lw
m w
m
w l
m r
ɲ ŋɡ
15.
(cl. 6)
(cl. 6)
(cl. 6)
(cl. 8)
(cl. 10)
(cl. 10)
"water"
"oil"
"blood"
"spit"
"maize"
"sand"
Nominal derivations
Some nouns derive from the roots of the verb, either by maintaining the class 5 prefix
or by taking a prefix from a different class.
40
G.ATINDOGBE
When they maintain the noun prefix of class 5, they are identical to the infinitival
form of the verb from every respect, or they use other strategies such as final vowel
change or tone change.
The noun class prefix li- is maintained:
Fully identical to the infinitive form of the verb
l m ( m
"to agree (agree)"
l m
l k k n (k k n )
lk k n
"agreement"
"to promise (promise)"
"promise"
(cl. 5)
(cl. 5)
Vowel and tonal change
l k ( k
l k
l ŋ
l ŋ
l
l
"to play (play)"
(cl. 5)
(cl. 5)
"game"
"to live, to grow"
"life, growth"
(cl. 5)
"to run (run)"
"race"
( ŋ
ŋ
ŋ
( ŋ
Tonal change
l t (t )
lt /m t
(cl. 5/6)
"to leak (leak)"
"drop"
The noun take a different class prefix:
l kp r ɸ (kp r ɸ
"to become lame
m kp r ɸ /
(cl. 1/2)
(become lame)"
"a lame (person)"
(cl. 1/2)
"to hunt (hunt)"
"hunter/s"
(cl. 4)
"to forgive (forgive)"
"forgiveness"
(cl. 5/6)
"to answer (answer)"
"answer"
(cl. 5/8)
"to inherit (inherit)"
"heritage, property"
kp r ɸ
l r ŋ ( r ŋ )
m zr ŋ zr ŋ /
l l k r (l k r )
m l k r n
l l ɸ ( l ɸ )
d l ɸ /m l ɸ
l r ŋ ɸ ( r ŋ ɸ
l r ŋ /
r ŋ
lt
n (t
n
r ŋ zr ŋ
"to hoe (hoe)"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
41
m t
l
t (
t l /
lk m
k m
16.
(cl. 6)
"cultivation, planting"
(cl. 7/8)
"to begin (begin)"
"beginning"
(cl. 9)
"to boast (boast)"
"boastfulness"
t
t l
ŋ ŋ
(k m
ŋ ŋ
Compound nouns
They are made up of other nouns, a noun and an adjective or they are done by
reduplication. In the first two cases, the first noun of the compound determines the
agreement system.
Noun + Cd + noun
ŋm n /
n
m ɲ n /w ɲ n
ŋm n w m ɲ n /
m l n / l n
ŋm n w m l n /
ɲ m
m lw
ɲ m m lw /ɲ m
d ŋɡ /
d ŋɡ
ŋɡ
m lw /
n
w ɲ n
(cl. 1/2)
n
l n
(cl. 1/2)
"daughter/s"
(cl. 9/10)
"meat"
"water"
"fish"
(cl. 5/8)
"pot/s"
"water pot"
m lw
ŋɡ
m lw
m l l /m l l
d ŋɡ
!
m l l /
"child/ren"
"male/s"
"son/s"
"female/s"
"food"
ŋɡ
m l l
"cooking pot/s"
Noun + Cd + Adjective
ŋ n
m t / t
m t ŋ n / t
ŋ n
"cripple"
"person"
"handicapped/s"
Reduplication (root + root)
m zr ŋ zr ŋ /
r ŋ zr ŋ
r zr
(cl. 1/2)
(cl. 5)
"hunter/s"
"June"
k l k l
l w l w
m ŋɡ m ŋɡ
(cl. 5)
(cl. 7)
(cl. 7)
"tortoise"
"moon"
"crowd
42
G.ATINDOGBE
zr l r l
nd n
/ n
ɲɲ /ɲɲ
tmtm /tmtm
17.
(cl. 7)
(cl. 9/10)
(cl. 9/10)
(cl. 9/10)
n
"sorrow"
"thorn"
"housefly"
"freeborn"
Nominal loans
Loan nouns are perfectly integrated in the noun class system. They have adapted and
follow all the principles that govern noun agreement in the language.
They can be in class 3/4 and take the agreement accordingly.
m - t w /m - t w
m - t w
ŋm- r
"car/s"
"the whole car"
3.DET-car
3-PRO
m - t w
m
m
ŋm zr
ŋm l
3.DET-car
3.Cd
PAST
knock
yesterday
"the car knocked him yesterday"
They can be in class 9/10.
t ks / t ks
n
m
w
t ks
1sg
take
9.taxi
PAST
"taxi/s"
"I took a taxi"
They can be in class 9/10, but take agreement in a different class, e.g. class
3 or 7 as native nouns do.
m n
w n
m n
"money"
m
m
today
9.money
3.Cd
ŋɡ
PAST
-
spoil
8-thing
"today money has spoiled things"
s kl /
- s kl
s kl
7.DET-bicycle
p r /p r
t
- r
"bicycle/s"
"the whole bicycle"
7-PRO
"cat"
m
l
n
n
n
-p r
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
7.DET-rat
Cd
PAST
43
eat
COP.PASS
CLIT
by
7-cat
"the rat was eaten by the cat"
They can take the locative marker as any native nouns.
wk /wk
wk
LOC
"week/s"
"in one week"
PAST
They can enter predicative / locative constructions as any native nouns.
r k l / r k l
n
l
1sg
COP
"school/s"
"I am in school "
r k l
LOC
9.school
An example like
"cat" is an evidence that loan words are equally phonologically
integrated in the language. Indeed, since the phoneme /s/ does not exist in Mokpe, the
/s/ from the English loan [pusy] is changed to the Mokpe /zr/. That is one of the reasons
why one cannot change or represent the Mokpe sound /zr/ to /s/ as many author did in
the Mokpe orthography, since the language does not compromise those two sounds.
18.
Marking syntactic relationship: agreement
Within a phrase or sentence, all constituants that are grammatically dependent on a
specific noun have to be constructed within the same class as this noun.
-n
7-DemCd
-l l
"this duck (near me)"
7-duck
-l l
-n
"these ducks (near me)"
8-DemCd
8-duck
l - r ŋɡ
l-
ŋw- n
5-tooth
5-CLIT
1-child
m - r ŋɡ
m-
6-tooth
6-CLIT
"the tooth of the child"
- n
"the teeth of the children"
2-child
!
l- w t
l- ŋɡ
l -t
n
n
l-
m
5-fabric
5-POS
5.COP-red
CLIT
ADV
5-PosPro
n
n
m -! m
"your fabric is red like mine"
m - t
m- ŋɡ
m -t
44
G.ATINDOGBE
6-fabric
6-POS
6.COP-red
CLIT
ADV
6-PosPro
"your fabrics are red like mines"
19.
The Nominal Prefixes of Mokpe, Urbantu and Protobantu
Table 4. Nominal Prefixes of Mokpe compared to Urbantu and Protobantu
Class Pairing
Mokpe
Urbantu
Proto-Bantu
1/2
m -/ -
*mu-/*va-
*mu-/*ba-
3/4
5/6
5/4
7/8
9/10
11
m -/m l -/m l -/m -/ ø-/ø- and -
*mu-/*mi*li-/*ma-
*mu-/*mi*di-/*ma-
*ki-/*v *ni-/*l -ni*lu-
*ki-/* į*ny-/*ny*du-
*ka-/*tu*vu-
*ka-/*tu*bu-
*ku*pa*ku*mu*p *ɣu*ɣ -
*ku*pa*ku*mu*pį20
21
12/13
14
w -
15
16
17
18
19/8
20
21
-/ -
2. The Noun Phrase
1. Qualifying the noun: adjectives
Although they are used as qualifiers of nouns and/or absolute pronouns, adjective can
also stand on their own as independents constituents of a sentence.
nd n
l t
l k k or kp ɲ kp ɲ
"big"
"strong"
"sour"
lt
l r ŋɡ
w w
ɡ w m
"sweet"
"deep"
"bad"
"good"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
l n
l r nd
l
lt n
45
"full"
"dry"
"sharp"
"blunt"
(1) Attributive use
In their attributive use, adjectives generally follow the nouns.

m 
m
3sg

PAST
dig
7-hole
m 
m
3sg
- n 
PAST
"s/he dug a big hole"
big
- n 
dig
nd n 
7-hole
-zr ŋ
"s/he dug a deep hole"
deep
Adjectives are in formal agreement with the noun they qualify.
Cl.
Prefix
AdjCd
Examples
1
m -
m -
m l n m r l
2
-
l n
-
"small woman"
r l
"small women"
3
m -
m -
ŋm m m r l
"small heart"
4
m -
m -
m m m r l
"small hearts"
5
l-
l-
l r ŋɡ l r l
"small tooth"
6
m -
m -
m r ŋɡ m r l
"small teeth"
7
-
-
l l nd n (>
l l
nd n )
-
9
N-
10
N-/ -
N-/ -
k m n n (>k m n n )
"big monkeys"
14
w -
w -
w ŋɡ w n n
"big brain"
19
-
n n n n (> n n n n )
"big bird"
k m n n (> k m
-
-
nd n
"big duck"
8
8
-
l l
n n
-
"big ducks"
nd n )
nd n
"big monkey"
"big birds"
Note that the noun classes 7, 9, 10 and 19 which are all only vocalic drop before the
adjective.
Cl.
Prefix
AdjCd
Examples
l l
r l
7
-
-
7
-
-
r n n
"small duck"
"big wall"
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
ɲ m n n
"big fish/es"
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
k m
"small monkey/s"
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
m
r l
w n n
"big (heavy) rain/s"
46
G.ATINDOGBE
ŋɡ
r l n n
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
k n n
9/10
N-/ N-/ -
-/ -
w n n n
"big mouth/s"
19
-
-
l
"small key"
n r l
"big cartridge/s"
"big mountain/s"
Despite the fact that adjectives are generally placed after the noun, we registered this
case (which should be seen as a kind of grammaticalisation?) whereby the adjective
is placed before the noun
. That is:
"big woman". Similarly,
the noun
"child" can be used as adjective and is placed before the nouns.
Cl.
Examples
7
ŋm n
7
ŋm n
"small tree"
9
ŋm n k m
"small monkey"
14
ŋm n w ŋɡ
"small brain"
14
ŋm n w r
"small face"
19
ŋm n n n
"small bird"
10
n ɲ m
l l
"small duck"
"small fishes"
!
10
n ŋɡ
r l
8
n
r
"small walls"
10
n
ɲ m
"small fishes"
"small cartridges"
(2) Predicative use
As a general rule, the predicative use of the adjective is done with the copula
followed by the clitic
.
ɲ
ɲ
l n
n m ɲ n
m ɲ n
m
kp ɲ kp ɲ
"the lemon is sour"
l n
"the man is bad"
l n
l n
w
ɡ w m
t ŋɡ l l
w
"the man is good"
"the fruit is round"
However, they can be omitted without obstructing the meaning and the relationship
of the adjective to the qualifying noun. In those instances, they are just like the
attributives. Also, when the subject of the predicate is the neutral pronoun, "it" the
concord precedes the adjective.
m !t
m w w
j- t (> - t )
m
t
"the fruit is strong"
"s/he took a strong fruit"
"it is strong"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
!
ŋɡ
n
l n lk r d
ŋɡ
d - n (> - n )
l
zr nd
n
l
zr nd
zr nd
l w n l
w
l w n l
d
47
n
l
(>l )
l w n lt n
w
l w n lt n
lt n
"the pot is full"
"s/he is lifting the full pot"
"it is full"
"the leaves are dry"
"s/he is carrying dry leaves"
"they are dry"
"the knife is sharp"
"s/he has a sharp knife"
"it is sharp"
"the knife is blunt"
"s/he has a blunt knife"
"it is blunt"
When the copula is in the past, the past tense marker is placed between the concord
and the adjective.
m
t
m l m
-m -t
nd zr ŋ
mm
n
-m -zr ŋ
"the banana is sweet"
"s/he ate a sweet banana"
t
"it was sweet"
"the whole is deep"
"s/he dug a deep hole"
"it was deep"
zr ŋ
2. Connexive
Coordination is done with the morpheme
coordination.
n ive n m ela
l n
ŋɡ n ŋɡ m
n n
n k l
The morpheme
k l
placed between the two elements of the
"Ndive and Mbella are players"
"the dog and the porcupine"
"the three birds and the tortoise"
is equally used to coordinate verbal nouns.
n
m
l k n n l l m l l ŋm w
"the time has come to taste and to eat their food"
3. Apposition
Many nouns can be juxtaposed using short breaks (symbolised here by a comma) in
the utterance without necessarily being coordinated by .
48
G.ATINDOGBE
-nd
7-tiger
7.CD
m
ŋw
n
m - n
l- n l
n
l-
PAST
die
PREP
4-trick
5-violence
COORD
5-teth
"the tiger died because of tricks, violence and theft"
-l l ,
-w ɸ ,
7-duck
9-fowl
-ŋɡ ,
7-dog
-nd
7-tiger
n
COORD
-ŋɡ m
7-porcupine
"the duck, the fowl, the dog, the tiger and the porcupine"
4. Nominal possession or associative constructions
In ‘possesse -possessor’ constructions (genitive constructions), the possessor noun is
marked by a possessive or genitive concord (GenCd) that is in agreement with the head
noun. The GenCd is generally followed by the low tone vowel /a/ which can be viewed
as clitic of such constructions, which may be deleted depending on the environment.
Indeed it deletes in classes 2, 3, 4, 8, and 14, but survives in classes 1, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and
19, and triggers the change of the vowel /e/ to [j] and the vowel /i/ to [d ].
Cl.
Prefix
GenCd
Examples
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
14
19
8
m m m lm Nw -
w
ŋm n w
r ŋɡ
n
m r ŋɡ
m
m ɲ m
m
m ɲ m
l r ŋɡ l ŋm n
m r ŋɡ m
n
l l
m k l
l l
k l
ɲ m
ŋw n
ɲ m
ŋw n
w ŋɡ w m t
l w n
n w
l w n
n w
m
m
l
m
w
"the guest of the father"
"the guests of the father"
"the head of the animal"
"the heads of the animal"
"the tooth of the child"
"the teeth of the children"
"the duck of the European"
"the ducks of the European"
"the fish of the child"
"the fishes of the child"
"the brain of the man"
"the key of the door"
"the keys of the door"
In some utterances, another morpheme,
, was noted in the constructions (e.g.
"the guests of the father"). The examples below are more instances of the
morpheme .
w l w m k ŋɡ
"the canoe of the chief"
w l w m k ŋɡ (w l w m k ŋɡ )
m l m m k ŋɡ
m l m m k ŋɡ (m l m m k ŋɡ )
"the canoe of the chiefs"
"the canoes of the chief"
"the canoes of the chiefs"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
-w m
7-eight
49
j-
w ɲ ɲ ŋɡ
j- m
k ŋɡ
7-CLIT
10.brothers
e-CLIT
9.chief
"all the eight brothers of the chief"
Without being certain, one can say that t e vowel / / note a ove mi t e a remnant
of a disyllabic morpheme *
, t e linkin element of t e two nouns in t e enitive
onstru tion. T is mi t e quite plausi le as we an noti e in t e utteran e a ove t at
t e so- alle liti vowel / / oes not delete after the PossCd. Consequently, one might
posit that the utterances in square brackets below (left side column) are derived from the
ones in slashes (right side) where the PossCd pre e es t e possi le morp eme m .
[w
[w
[m
[m
l
l
l
l
w
w
m
m
m k ŋɡ ]
m k ŋɡ ]
m k ŋɡ ]
m k ŋɡ ]
>
>
>
>
/w
/w
/m
/m
l
l
l
l
w
w
m
m
m k ŋɡ /
m k ŋɡ /
m k ŋɡ /
m k ŋɡ /
Then, the vowel of the PosCd gets deleted but its tone survives and replaces the tone
of the vowel /a/ of the disyllabic clitic. Indeed, one can see that where the morpheme
*
is not used the PosCd does not undergo any change as in w
, "the
brain of the man". Thus, *
is a morpheme whose usage is dropping maybe due to
extensive language contacts.
Furthermore, note that the Mokpe genitive can be rendered not only as "the guest of
t e fat er ut also as t e fat er’s uest . However, although we have a relationship
‘possesse -possessor’, Mokpe equall a epts onstru tions t at reverse t at or er.
Cl.
Prefix
GenCd
Examples
5
l-
l
l n l m l l or
"the name of the teacher"
m l l l n
6
m -
m
m n m m l l or
l l m n
"the names of the teacher"
6
m -
m
m r ŋɡ m
n or
n m r ŋɡ
"the teeth of the children"
7
-
-
8
l l
m k l or
m k l l l
l l
-
k l
w -
w
k l or
"the duck of the European"
"the duck of the European"
l l
w r w ŋw n or
ŋm n w r
"the face of the child"
50
G.ATINDOGBE
5. Numerals
(3) Cardinal Numbers
In Mokpe, numerals follow the noun they quantify. The numerals from one to five
require a class prefix that shows class agreement. There are two roots for the numeral
"two": - k (class 2) and - (all the others classes).
ŋm n m k
- k
- k (for class 2)
- (for all the other classes)
-n
-t
n
k
m m m
w l
k m n
w n t
"one child"
"two children"
"two cheeks"
"three works"
"four monkeys"
"five partridges"
More examples of numeral from one to five showing class agreement are presented
below. The noun comes first and the numeral follows.
Cl.
Prefix
NumCd
Examples
1
m -
m -
m t m k
2
-
-
t
n
l n
t
t
t
"one person"
k
k
k
n
t
"two persons"
"two children"
"two women"
"three persons"
"four persons"
"five persons"
3
m -
m -
ŋm m m k
"one heart"
4
m -
m -
m m m
m
m
m m m n
m
m t
"two hearts"
"three heads"
"four hearts"
"five heads"
5
l-
l-
l r l k
"one eye"
6
m -
m -
m r m
m m m
mn m n
m r m t
"two eyes"
"three cheeks"
"four names"
"five eyes"
7
-
-
8
-
r
-
r
l l
k
"one wall"
"two walls"
"three ducks"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
51
w l
n
r
t
9
10
N-
k m
nd
k ŋɡ
-
N-/ -
-
k
!
!
k
k
"four works"
"five walls"
"one monkey"
"one road"
"one time" or "once"
k m
nd
k m
"two animals"
"two roads"
"three animals"
ɲ m n
ɲ m t
"four fishes"
"five fishes"
14
w -
w -/w -
w l w k
w ŋɡ !w k
"one canoe"
19
-
-
n n !d k
"one bird"
8
-
-
n n
l
n
n n n
"two birds"
"three keys"
"four birds"
w n
"five partridges"
t
While the agreement of all the other classes seem perfect and in accordance to the
general tendency observes so far, class 9 shows a - consonant whose origin cannot be
explained.
After five, the other numerals are just placed after the noun they quantify without any
morpheme materialising the link.
m t w
l r m
l
n m t w
k ŋɡ l r m
"six keys"
"seven chiefs"
w m
l w
l m
m ŋɡ n
r
n
m nm n
m nw m
ɡ
m kp w m
r l w
m l ŋɡ l m
k m ŋɡ n k
r r
n
l m nm n
m w n m nw m
m zr k ɡ
"eight bags"
"nine bottles"
"ten buckets"
"twenty-one places"
"thirty-two bones"
"forty leaves"
"eighty knives"
"hundred songs"
k
When used in counting, i.e. when the numeral does not have an overt head noun that
it quantifies the first five numerals are prefixed with the pair of class 7/8. The singular
numeral (one) takes the prefix of class 7, -, while the plural numerals (4-5) take the
52
G.ATINDOGBE
prefix of class 8, -. From six to ten, the numerals are just independent nouns. From
eleven upwards, the numerals are composed of three morphemes except the multiples of
ten. The counting is done by the addition of ten to one (for 11), ten to two (for 13), ten
to three (for 13), etc. The addition is rendered by the coordinator
"and"/"with" placed
between the two numbers. After nine has been added to ten, there is a single noun to
express the multiple of ten, and the addition process starts again till the next multiple of
ten, etc. Note that from 11 to 15, the pair of prefix 7/8 is maintained no matter whether
it is ten or any of its multiples.
n
t
m t w
l r m
w m
"one"
"two"
"three"
"four"
"five"
"six"
"seven"
"eight"
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
"nine"
"ten"
"eleven"
"twelve"
"thirteen"
"fourteen"
"fifteen"
"sixteen"
m ŋɡ n l w
r
r
n k
r
n
r
n
r
n
n
r
n
t
r
n m t w
"twenty-nine"
"thirty"
"thirty-one"
"thirty-two"
"thirty-three"
"thirty-four"
"thirty-five"
"thirty-six"
"seventeen"
"eighteen"
"nineteen"
"twenty"
r
n l r m
r
n w m
r
n l w
m nm n
"thirty-seven"
"thirty-eight"
"thirty-nine"
"forty"
j k
w
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
n k
n
n
n
n
n
t
n m t w
l m n l r m
l m n w m
l m n l w
m ŋɡ
The base
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
n k
n
n
n
n
n
t
n m t w
n l r m
n w m
is found in the multiple of ten from 40 to 90.
m nm t
m nm t w
m nl r m
"fifty"
"sixty"
"seventy"
m nw m
m nl w
"eighty"
"ninety"
The numerals hundred, thousand and million are the nouns below.
"twenty-one"
"twenty-two"
"twenty-three"
"twenty-four"
"twenty-five"
"twenty-six"
"twenty-seven"
"twenty-eight"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
ɡb
k l
l n
53
"hundred"
"thousand"
"million"
The privative adjective t "no" functions as a quantifier used with either mass nouns
or plural countable nouns to indicate a lack or zero quantity of something.
Cl.2
Cl.4
t
n
t m r
"no children"
"no rivers"
Cl.6
Cl.8
Cl.10
Cl.6
Cl.8
t mn
t
w ŋɡ
t k m
t m w
t
l
"no names"
"no boxes"
"no monkeys"
"no oil"
"no spit"
The adjective t
singularity.
Cl.1
t m ŋm n
Cl.3
Cl.5
Cl.7
Cl.9
Cl.14
Cl.19
t
t
t
t
t
t
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
!
lt
r
m r
!
w r
n n
"each" is placed before the noun to mark individuality and
"each child"
"each head"
"each ear"
"each wall"
"each boy"
"each face"
"each bird"
(4) Ordinal Numbers
Ordinal numbers are built using a three-part construction including the 3sg, the verb
"to make sth up" and the cardinal number. The expression means literarily,
"which leads one", "which leads two", "which leads three", "which leads four", etc.
k zr j k
k zr
k zr
k zr
n
k zr
t
"first"
"second"
"third"
"fourth"
"fifth"
k zr
k zr
k zr
k zr
k zr
m t w
l r m
w m
l w
l m
"sixth"
"seventh"
"eight"
"nineth"
"tenth"
However, when a noun is added to the construction, the ordinal for "first" changes
completely into a genitive construction with the morpheme
"face?" preceded by a
concord and the head noun.
54
Cl.
1
3
5
7
9
14
19
G.ATINDOGBE
Prefix
m m lNw -
OrdCd
w
m
lw -
-ŋɡ n
7-month
Examples
m t w w r
m
m w r
l m l w r
r j w r
k m j w r
w l w w r
l
n d w r
"the first person"
"the first head"
"the first cheek"
"the first wall"
"the first monkey"
"the first canoe"
"the first key"
j-
w r
j-
ŋm
7-CLIT
14.first
7-CLIT
9.year
The first month of the year
T e “irre ularit ” starts an en s wit t e or inal numeral first . From se on t e
regular formula is used. But interestingly, the plural form of the nouns ordered is also
used. Then, the formula is: Numeral concord + k zr + plural form of noun + and
plural form of equivalent cardinal number.
Cl.
Prefix
1/2
m -
3/4
m -
5/6
l-
7/8
-
9/10
N-
OrdCd
Examples
m
m
m
m
m -
l-
t
t
t
t
k zr
k zr
k zr
k zr
t
t
t
t
"the second person"
"the third person"
"the fourth person"
"the fifth person"
n
t
m
m
m
m k zr m
m k zr m
m k zr m
m
m
m n
"the second head"
"the third head"
"the fourth head"
m
m k zr m
m t
"the fifth head"
l
l
l
l
m
m
m
m
l
l
l
l
k zr
k zr
k zr
k zr
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m
m n
m t
"the second cheek"
"the third cheek"
"the fourth cheek"
"the fifth cheek"
r j k zr
r j k zr
r j k zr
r
r
r
n
"the second wall"
"the third wall"
"the fourth wall"
r j k zr
r
t
"the fifth wall"
k m k zr k m
k m k zr k m
k m j k zr k m n ( n )
"the second monkey"
"the third monkey"
"the fourth monkey"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
55
k m j k zr k m t
l
l
l
l
k zr
k zr
k zr
k zr
14/5
w -
w -
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
19/8
-
-
n n d k zr
n n
k zr
n n d k zr
n n d k zr
"the fifth monkey"
m
m
m n
m t
"the second monkey"
"the third monkey"
"the fourth monkey"
"the fifth monkey"
n n
n n
n n
n
"the second monkey"
"the third monkey"
"the fourth monkey"
n n
t
"the fifth monkey"
m
m
m
m
l
l
l
l
6. Pronouns
Mokpe makes use of a variety of words that substitute for nouns, i.e. pronouns. These
include: absolute pronouns (or/and subject concords), demonstrative pronouns,
independent pronouns, interrogative pronouns and possessive pronouns.
Like in many Bantu languages, genuine absolute pronouns in Mokpe are for the 1st
and 2nd persons singular and plural, i.e. for the senders and the receivers.
Subject case
n
Object case
"I"
m
"me"
2sg
"you"
w
"you"
1pl
"we"
2pl
"you"
1sg
r
"us"
ɲ
"you"
The 3sg and 3pl, the substitutives, vary according to the noun they represent. We
have the subject case and the object case.

The subject cases prefixes or subject concord are as follows:
Cl.
Prefix
1
m -
2
SP
Examples
-
m l n
-
l
"the woman eats"
l
"the women eat"
l n
-
3
m -
m -
m
n
m
l
4
m -
m -
m n
m
m
5
l-
l-
l r ŋɡ l k ɲ m
"the tooth cuts meat"
6
m -
m -
m r ŋɡ m k ɲ m
"the teeth cut meat"
7
-
-
8
-
9
N-
l l
-
-
l l
ŋɡ
ɲ m l w
ɲ m l w
l m
m
m
"the tail has hair"
"the tails have hair"
"the duck drinks water"
"the ducks drink water"
"the dog barks"
56
G.ATINDOGBE
10
-
-
ŋɡ
14
w -
w -
w ŋɡ w l t
"the brain thinks"
19
-
-
n n k
"the bird flies"

l m
"the dogs bark"
w
As for the object case prefixes we have:
Cl.
Prefix
ObjP
Examples
1
m -
m -
n m ŋm n /m - n /
(n m n ŋm n w m
"I saw him/her"
("I saw my guest)
n m - n / - n /
(n m
n m
"I saw them"
("I saw my guests")
2
-
-
3
m -
m -
n m ŋm n /m - n /
(n m n m t
"I saw it"
("I saw the green snake")
4
m -
m -
n m m n /m - n /
"I saw them"
(n m n m t
("I saw the green snakes")
5
l-
l-
n m l n /l - n /
(n m n l r )
"I saw it"
("I saw the eye")
6
m -
m -
n m m n /m - n /
(n m n m r )
"I saw them"
("I saw the eyes")
7
-
-
n m j n / - n /
(n m n l l m
"I saw him/her"
("I saw my duck")
n m
n / - n /
(n m n
l l
m
"I saw them"
("I saw my ducks")
8
-
-
9
N-
-
n m n / - n /
(n m n ɲ m m )
"I saw it"
("I saw my animal")
10
-
-
n m
"I saw them"
n /- n /
(n m n ɲ m
14
19
w -
w -
m)
("I saw my animals")
n m w n /w - n /
"I saw it"
(n m n w l w n
("I saw his canoe")
n m
"I saw it"
n /w
- n /
(n m n n n
r
("I saw our bird")
(5) Dependent Possessive Pronouns
The dependent possessive pronouns are made up of a root preceded by a possessive
concord (PosCd) which is in agreement with the head noun.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
1sg
2sg
3sg
1pl
2pl
3pl
-
m
ŋɡ
n
r
ɲ
w
57
"my"
"your"
"his"
"our"
"your (pl)"
"their"
The possessive pronouns require the prefixes below.
Cl.
Prefix
PosCd
Examples
1
m -
w -
ŋm n m or ŋm n w m
/ŋm n w - m /
ŋm n ŋɡ or ŋm n w ŋɡ /ŋw n
w - ŋɡ /
ŋm n n or ŋm n w n
/ŋm n w - n /
ŋm n
r or ŋm n w r
/ŋm n
ŋm n
/ŋm n
ŋm n
/ŋm n
2
-
/
3
4
m -
m -
m -
m -
w - r /
ɲ or ŋm n w ɲ
w - ɲ /
w or ŋm n w w
w - w /
"my guest"
"your guest"
"his guest"
"our guest"
"your (pl) guest"
"their guest"
n m or
n m
n - m/
n ŋɡ / n - ŋɡ /
n n / n - n/
"my guests"
n
n
n
"our guests"
"your (pl) guests"
"their guests"
r /
ɲ /
w /
n
n
n
m
m
/m
m
m
ŋw
ŋw
m
ŋw
ŋw
/m
m
m
m - r /
ŋw ɲ /m
ŋw w /m
m n
m /m
ŋɡ
- ŋɡ /
n /m
r
m m
- r /
- ɲ /
- w /
"your guests"
"his wives"
m - m/
"my head"
"your head"
m - n/
"his head"
"our head"
m - ɲ /
m - w /
"your (pl) head"
"their head"
"my tails"
58
5
6
7
8
G.ATINDOGBE
l-
l-
m -
-
m -
-
-
-
m n m ŋɡ
m n m n
m
m r
m
m ɲ
m
m w
"your tails"
"his tails"
"our heads"
"your (pl) heads"
"their heads "
l r ŋɡ l m /l r ŋɡ l - m /
l r ŋɡ l ŋɡ /l r ŋɡ l - ŋɡ /
l r ŋɡ l n /l r ŋɡ l - n /
"my tooth"
"your tooth"
"his tooth"
l r ŋɡ l r /l r ŋɡ l - r /
l r ŋɡ l ɲ /l r ŋɡ l - ɲ /
l r ŋɡ l w /l r ŋɡ l - w /
"our tooth"
"your (pl) tooth"
"their tooth"
m
/m
m
/m
m
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
m m
m - m/
m ŋɡ
m - ŋɡ /
m n
"my teeth"
/m
m
/m
m
/m
m
/m
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
m - n/
m r
m - r /
m ɲ
m - ɲ /
m w
m - w /
l l
/ l l
m or l l
- m/
l l
/ l l
l l
l l
l l
/ l l
l l
/ l l
!
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
"your teeth"
"his teeth"
"our teeth"
"your (pl) teeth"
"their teeth"
m
"my duck"
!
ŋɡ or l l
ŋɡ
- ŋɡ /
n / l l - n/
r ( l l r /
ɲ or l l ɲ
- ɲ /
w or l l w
- w /
m
!
aŋɡ / l l
n
r
"your duck"
"his duck"
"our duck"
"your (pl) duck"
"their duck"
ŋɡ /
"my ducks"
"your ducks"
"his ducks"
"our ducks"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
l l
l l
9
N-
-
59
ɲ
w
"your (pl) ducks"
"their ducks"
ɲ m
/ɲ m
k m
k m
k m
k m
m or ɲ m m
- m/
ŋɡ /k m - ŋɡ /
n /k m - n /
r /k m - r /
ɲ /k m - ɲ /
"my animal"
k m
w /k m
"their monkey"
10
N-
-
ɲ
ɲ
ɲ
ɲ
ɲ
ɲ
14
w
w -
w l w m /w l w - m /
19
-
-
m
m
m
m
m
m
- w /
w
w
w
w
w
l
l
l
l
l
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n n
n n
m /ɲ m
ŋɡ / ɲ m
n /ɲ m
r /ɲ m
ɲ /ɲ m
w /ɲ m
w
w
w
w
w
- m/
- ŋɡ /
- n/
- r /
- ɲ /
- w /
"your monkey"
"his monkey"
"our monkey"
"your (pl) monkey"
"my animals"
"your animals"
"his animals"
"our animals"
"your (pl) animals"
"their animals"
"my canoe"
ŋɡ /w l w - ŋɡ /
n /w l w - n /
r /w l w - r /
ɲ /w l w - ɲ /
w /w l w - w /
"your canoe"
"his canoe"
"our boat"
"your (pl) canoe"
"their canoe"
m /n n - m/
ŋɡ / n n - ŋɡ /
n /n n - n/
r /n n - r /
"my bird"
"your bird"
"his bird"
"our bird"
ɲ /n n - ɲ /
w /n n - w /
"your (pl) bird"
"their bird"
(6) Demonstratives
The demonstratve is constructed with a consonantic root (-C-), a nasal or prenasal,
flanked with an affix on either side. I call this consonantic root the demonstrative
pronoun (DemPro).
Proximal
-n-
"this"
Distal
-ŋɡ-
"that"
60
G.ATINDOGBE
The affix of the left side, the prefix, is definitely that demonstrative concord
(DemCd) while the affix on the right side, the suffix, is the highly predictable vowels o,
u, a, e, i. The distribution is done as follows:
 If the DemCd ends with the vowel /o/, then the suffix is /o/ for both the
proximal and the distal;
 If the DemCd ends with the vowel /a/, then the suffix is /u/ for the proximal
and /a/ for the distal;
 If the DemCd ends with the vowel /e/, then the suffix is /e/ for both the
proximal and the distal;
 If the DemCd ends with the vowel /i/, then the suffix is /i/ for both the
proximal and the distal;
Tonally, while the melodie for both the proximal and distal is L-H in class 1, it is H-L
for the proximal and H-H for the distal for all the other classes. All this information is
summaried below:
Vowel of DemCd
Suffix
Proximal
distal
/o/
/o/
-nm -nw -n-
(cl.1)
(cl.3)
(cl.14)
/o/
-ŋɡm -ŋɡw -ŋɡ-
(cl.1)
(cl.3)
(cl.14)
/a/
/u/
-nm -n-
(cl.2)
(cl.6)
/a/
-ŋɡm -ŋɡ-
(cl.2)
(cl.6)
/e/
/e/
m -n-
(cl.4)
/e/
m -ŋɡ-
(cl.4)
-n-n-
(cl.7)
(cl.8)
-ŋɡ-ŋɡ-
(cl.7)
(cl.8)
/i/
/i/
l -n-n-n-
(cl.5)
(cl.10)
(cl.19)
/i/
l -ŋɡ-ŋɡ-ŋɡ-
(cl.5)
(cl.10)
(cl.19)
The demonstratives require the prefixes below.
Cl.
Prefix
1
m -
2
-
DemCd-Rt-suffix
Examples
-n-
n m t
"this person"
-ŋɡ-
ŋɡ m t
"that person"
-n-ŋɡ-
n
ŋɡ
t
t
"these people"
"those people"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
61
3
m -
m -nm -ŋɡ-
m n ŋm m
m ŋɡ ŋm m
"this heart"
"that heart"
4
m -
m -nm -ŋɡ-
m n m m
m ŋɡ m m
"these hearts"
"those hearts"
5
l-
l -nl -ŋɡ-
l n l r ŋɡ
l ŋɡ l r ŋɡ
"this tooth"
"that tooth"
6
m -
m -nm -ŋɡ-
m n m r ŋɡ
m ŋɡ m r ŋɡ
"these teeth"
"those teeth"
7
-
-n-ŋɡ-
8
-
-n-ŋɡ-
n
ŋɡ
r
r
"this wall"
"that wall"
n
ŋɡ
r
r
"these walls"
"those walls"
9
N-
-n- ( -n- )
-ŋɡ- ( -ŋɡ- )
n k m
ŋɡ k m
"this monkey"
"that monkey"
10
N-
-n-ŋɡ-
n k m
ŋɡ k m
"these monkeys"
"those monkeys"
14
w
w -nw -ŋɡ-
w n w l
w ŋɡ w l
"this canoe"
"that canoe"
19
-
-n-ŋɡ-
n n n
ŋɡ n n
"this bird"
"that bird"
Note the presence of a floating low in class 9,
"this monkey"
"that monkey". That low tone creates a dowstep of a high in utterances like
"that animal".
!
Also note that the DemCd for class 9 is the vowel /e-/of class 7. However, although in
the examples above the vowel / -/ of class 7 and 9 all bear a high tone, the true tone of
class 9 is low, / -/. The high tone of the vowel / -/ of class 9 is due to it position (initial)
and its function as determiner. The real tone of class 9 is illustrated in the paradigm
below where the demonstrative enters a presentative form. The vowel / -/ (
- )
of class 7 is high while the one of the class 9 / / (ɲ
- ) is low.
Class 7
r ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
w l ŋɡ
"that is a wall"
"that is a thing"
Class 9
ɲ m ŋɡ
m l ŋɡ
"that is a meat"
"that is a goat"
"that is a bottle"
"that is a fruit"
"that is a work"
m k ŋɡ
k ɸ ŋɡ
t ŋɡ
"that is a chair"
"that is a calabash"
"that is a "room"
62
r
G.ATINDOGBE
ŋɡ
n w
"that is a wall"
ŋɡ
"that is a house"
Interestin to also note is t e fa t t at tonall , t e morp eme for ‘t at’ en s wit a
low tone when placed at utterance-end position:
Cl.1
Cl.3
Cl.5
Cl.7
ŋm n ŋɡ
m
m ŋɡ
l r ŋɡ l ŋɡ
l l ŋɡ
"that is a child"
"that is a head"
"that is a tooth"
"that is a duck"
Cl.9
Cl.14
Cl.19
Cl.6
Cl.8
ɲ m ŋɡ
w l w ŋɡ
n n ŋɡ
m l w m ŋɡ
w l ŋɡ
"that is a animal"
"that is a canoe"
"that is a bird"
"that is water"
"that is spit"
(7) Summary
The table below gives a summary of the qualifiers, associative constructions and
pronouns concords.
Cl.
Prefix
AdjCd
GenCd
NumCd
OrdCd
PosCd
1
m -
m -
w
m -
w
w -
2
-
-
-
3
m -
m -
m
m -
4
m -
m -
m
m -
5
l-
l-
l
l-
6
m -
m -
m
m -
7
-
-
-
-
8
-
9
N-
10
N-/ -
14
19
8
-
m
l-
-
N-/ -
-
-
w -
w -
w
-
-
-C-u/-a
m -C-o
m -
m -C-e
l-
l -C-i
m -
m -C-u/-a
-
-C-e
-
-
-C-o
m -
-
-
-
-
DemCd
-C-e
-
-C-e
-
-C-i
w -
w -
w -
w -C-o
-
-
-
-C-i
-
-
-
-C-e
(8) Interrogative Pronouns
The interrogative pronouns in Mokpe are generally autonoumous words that function
independent of the noun which they may accompany. They are placed before the noun.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp

m "which?"
Cl.1
Cl.2
Cl.3
Cl.4
Cl.5
Cl.6
m
m
m
m
m
m
ŋm n
n
ŋm m
m m
l r ŋɡ
m r ŋɡ
"which child?"
"which children?"
"which heart?"
"which hearts?"
"which tooth?"
"which teeth? "
Cl.7
Cl.8
Cl.9
Cl.10
Cl.14
Cl.19
m
m
m
m
m
m
l l
l l
!
k m
!
k m
!
w r
n n
"which duck?"
"which ducks?"
"which monkey?"
"which monkeys?"
"which face?"
"which bird?"

63
nd
"who?"
Cl.1
nd
l ŋm n
"who is a child?"
Cl.3
Cl.5
Cl.7
Cl.9
Cl.14
Cl.19
Cl.5
Cl.8
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
nd
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
l
"who is a heart?"
"who is a tooth?"
"who is a duck?"
"who is an animal?"
"who is a canoe?"
"who is a cartridge?"
"who is water?"
"who is spit?"
ŋm m
l r ŋɡ
l l
ɲ m
w l
w n
m lw
w l
The interrogative pronoun is placed after the personal pronoun in an attributive
sentence.
ŋɡ (n
ŋɡ
nd
m
w
m
r
ɲ
n
n
nd
nd
nd
"who is it?"
"who am I?"
"who are you?"
"who is s/he?"
"who are we?"
"who are you?"
w
nd
"who are they?"
64
G.ATINDOGBE
!

n
w ere
The interrogative pronoun
and the root .
!
"where?" is bi-morphemic: the locative morpheme
Cl.1
Cl.3
Cl.5
Cl.7
!
n m t
n m
!
n l r ŋɡ
!
n l l
"where is the person?"
"where is the head?"
"where is the tooth?"
"where is the duck?"
Cl.9
Cl.4
Cl.9
!
"where is the monkey?"
"where is the face?"
"where is the bird?"
!
n k m
n w r
!
n n n
!

m m "what?"
m m l m zr ŋɡ /m m
l m zr ŋɡ /
!
m m m n /m m m n /
m m! m ɡ
/m m m ɡ
m m
/
"what is the price?"
"what did you see?"
"what did you do?"
"what is it?"

How many?
The pronoun -t "how many?" is the only one which take a concord in agreement with
the head noun.
n
(Cl.2
-n
t
-t
2.palm tree
2-IntPro
"how many children?"
(Cl. m m m t
m - m
m -t
4.palm tree
4-IntPro
"how many hearts?"
(Cl.
m-
m
m t
m -t
6.palm tree
6-IntPro
"how many palm trees?"
(Cl.
- ŋɡ
ŋɡ
t
-t
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
8.pot
65
6-IntPro
"how many pots?"
k l t
-t
(Cl.1
K l
10.kola
10-IntPro
"how many kola nuts?"
Thus, apart from -t t e ot er interro atives an stan on t eir on. In ot er to e
automous, -t "how many?" will take the default prefix
m
m m ?
nd ?
!
n
-t
-.
"which?"
"what?"
"who?"
"where?"
"how many?"
(9) General Proforms

- r "all, whole"
The general proform - r "all, whole" is a root that requires a concord that agrees
with the head noun. Although the language uses the root - r for "all" and "whole", the
distinction between "all" and "whole" is done through the selection of the appropriate
number concord: a plural prefix for "all" and a singular prefix for "whole".
Cl.
Prefix
GprnCd
1
m -
w -
2
Examples
m l n w r
n
-
"the whole woman"
r
"all the children"
3
m -
m
m l ŋɡ ŋm r
"the whole bucket"
4
m -
m
m l ŋɡ m
"all the buckets"
5
l-
l
l t ŋɡ l r
"the whole foot"
6
m -
m
m t ŋɡ m r
"all the foots"
7
-
-
r
r
r
r
"the whole wall"
r
8
-
9
N-
-
m
w
10
-
-
m
w
14
w -
w
w r w r
"the whole face"
n n
"the whole bird"
19
"all the walls"
r
"the whole village"
r
r
"all the villages"
66
G.ATINDOGBE
The plural subject pronouns take the concord
r
ɲ
w
r
r
r
- irrespective of the person:
"we all"
"you all"
"they all"
Once again, one must distinguish between the / -/ of class 7 and the one of class 9 / -/.
Class 7
r
k
r
r
r
l w
r
r
r

Class 9
t
r
"the whole tree"
"the whole place"
"the whole wall"
"the whole market"
"the whole bottle"
ŋɡ n
r
m w
r
k
r
n w
r
"the whole room"
"the whole month"
"the whole village"
"the whole mountain"
"the whole house"
- t and m n "alone, self"
The expression of ‘alone’ is one wit t e root - t pre e e
twi e t e
corresponding independent pronoun. While the first independent is unbound, the second
is attached - t . In t e sin ular forms, it is t e in epen ent pronouns m "me", w
"you" and m "him/her" which are repeated before the root - t , w ile in t e plural forms
it is the only concord -.
m m t
w wt
m ŋm t
r t
ɲ t
w
t
/m m - t /
/w w - t /
/m m - t /
/ r
-t/
/ɲ
-t/
/w
-t/
"I alone"
"you alone"
"s/he alone"
"we alone"
"you alone"
"they alone"
Note that the morpheme m n can also be used for the plural persons.
r !m n
ɲ !m n
w !m n
"we alone"
"you alone"
"they alone"
7. Prepositions and prepositional phrases
The preposition
n ŋɡ ɲ
n n w
"with" is used in abstract nouns to indicate manner of action.
"with force"
"with hunger"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
w ŋɡ
w n
l
m ɲ ŋɡ
ɡ ŋɡ
zr l r l
l w
j /n j /
67
"with fear"
"with agression"
"with sympathy"
"with pleasure"
"with care"
"with sorrow"
"with cry"
"with laugh"
When used with the personal independent pronouns, it is a function word expressing
agreement, sympathy or association (on the side of).
n m /n m /
n w /n w /
n m
"with me"
"with you"
"with him/her"
n r
n ɲ
"with us"
"with you"
n w
"with them"
The preposition
and resemblance.
Cl.1
Cl.3
Cl.5
Cl.7
Cl.9
n !ŋm n
n !m
n l r ŋɡ
n l l
n !k m
"like" is used to express t e i ea “in t e manner of”, similarit
"like a child"
"like a head"
"like a tooth"
"like a duck"
"like a monkey"
Cl.14 n !w r
Cl.19 n n n
"like a face"
"like a bird"
n m /n
n w /n
n m
n !zr /n
n !ɲ
n w
"like me"
"like you"
"like him/her"
"like us"
"like you"
"like them"
m /
w /
!
zr /
Some usual preposition phrases are worth noting. They refer to time, space or
position.
l w t l l /l w t
l l /
"from the morning"
68
G.ATINDOGBE
n w
n t
ŋɡ m
m w
m r
m
m r m w
m r m t
m r n w
r
t l
t n m w or m
t n n w
w r w m w
w r w n w
w k l w
w l w
wt t n
"among them"
"until the evening"
"to the village"
"behind mine"
"outside of the village"
"behind the man"
"outside the house"
"under the table"
w
"in the village"
"inside the house"
"in front of the village"
"in front of the house"
"at the market place"
"at the market"
"in the mid"
IV. THE VERB AND THE VERB PHRASE
1. Verbal Inflection
The verb, like in any other language of the world, denotes an action (
"to pass"),
a process (
"to grow") or a state (
l
"to be sick"). Grammatically, it
changes according to person, time, mood and class in concord with the noun class of the
subject. Syntactically, it forms the predicate which can be verbal or non-verbal. Except
for the first person of the imperative form, the verb stem must be preceded by a verbal
pronoun and a/several temporal or modal modifier(s).
1. The isolated and infinitive forms
The isolated form of the verb is its shape without the infinitive marker -. The
infinitive marker in Mokpe is the class prefix - which is attached to a root. This prefix
is realised [l-] before roots starting with vowels and remains [l -] before roots starting
with consonants. The examples below are selected according to the shape and length of
the syllable as well as the tonal patterns of the verb.
a.
Examples
Monosyllabic roots
l
"eat"
ll
"to eat"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
pk
ɲ
n
ŋw
ŋɡ
b.
c.
d.
l pk
lɲ
l nd
l ŋw
l ŋɡ
"to fall"
"to drink"
"to go"
"to die"
"to give"
Disyllabic roots
ɓ
"steal"
lɓ
"to steal"
ŋɡ
n
d
j
m
l
r m
k k
tm
l ŋɡ
l n
l
l
lm
l l
l r m
lk k
ltm
"to count"
"to see"
"to come"
"to laugh"
"to swallow"
"to call"
"to bow"
"to bite"
"to return"
"fall"
"drink"
"go"
"die"
"give"
"count"
"see"
"come"
"laugh"
"swallow"
"call"
"bow"
"bite"
"return"
Trisyllabic roots
k w
"learn"
n l
"carry"
kp
"enter"
k w
"divide"
l w
"open"
l t
"think"
l k w
l n l
l kp
lk w
ll w
ll t
"to learn"
"to carry"
"to enter"
"to divide"
"to open"
"to think"
lm r
k ŋɡ m
n ŋɡ r
k m w
zr ŋ r
llm r
l k ŋɡ m
l n ŋɡ r
lk m w
l r ŋ r
"to extinguish"
"to lie down"
"to lie down"
"to pour"
"to dry" (fish)
"extinguish"
"lie down"
"lie down"
"pour"
"dry" (fish)
Quadrisyllabic roots
k n
"taste"
l
r
"sit down"
ɲ l l
e.
69
"expose"
Compound verb forms
t l m
"slap"
l k n
l ! r
"to taste"
"to sit down"
l ɲ l l
"to expose"
lt l m
"to slap"
70
G.ATINDOGBE
k w ŋ
r ŋ or r ŋ ŋ l
r m m w ŋ ŋ
"fear"
"snore"
"kneel"
l k w ŋ
l rŋ ŋ l
l r m m w ŋ ŋ
"to fear"
"to snore"
"to kneel"
While the tone of the verb prefix is always low, the tonal pattern of the base varies.
However, this variation allows a classification of the verbs in tone groups (cf.
subsection IV.3).
Note that the monosyllabic and disyllabic verb roots largely prevail in the language.
2. The verbal root templates
In the unmarked case, the verbal roots have the following CV templates:
Table 5. Mokpe verb syllable templates
CV shapes
Examples
a.
b.
CV
V.CV
ɲ
ɓ
"drink"
"steal"
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
"give"
"count"
CV.V
CV.CV
V.CV.CV
CV.V.CV
CV.CV.CV
V.CV.CV.V
CV.V.V.CV
V.CV.CV.CV
j
"laugh"
"call"
"learn"
"enter"
"open"
"taste"
"sit down"
"expose"
m
r m
n l
k w
n ŋɡ r
"swallow"
"bow"
"carry"
"divide"
"lie down"
c.
d.
l
k w
kp
l w
k n
l
r
ɲ l l
3. The tonal groups of the verbs
The verbs in Mokpe can be divided into two tonal groups: low and high.
a. Low tone verbs
Infinitive
l ŋɡ
"to give"
l
"to laugh"
l k
"to play"
lk w
"to fly"
Isolated form
ŋɡ
"give"
j
"laugh"
k
"play"
k w
"fly"
lk m
k m
w
"to pour"
w
"pour"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
71
b. High tone verbs
Infinitive
lk
"to cut"
l ŋw
"to die"
l n
"to see"
l k
"to pass"
l ŋw l
"to show"
l ŋɡ l
"to remember"
Isolated form
k
"cut"
ŋw
"die"
n
"see"
k
"pass"
ŋw l
"show"
ŋɡ l
"remember"
l ŋɡ
l r m
ltn l
l r ŋ r
ŋɡ
r m
tn l
zr ŋ r
"to forget"
"to pull"
"to push"
"to dry" (fish)
"forget"
"pull"
"push"
"dry" (fish)
The identification of a low-toned verb vs. a high-toned verb is possible thanks to the
first tone of the verb root of the infinitive forms.
Low tone verbs
l
"to laugh"
High tone verbs
l pk
"to fall"
l
lm
l r
lk
"to come"
"to swallow"
"to dance"
"to cut"
In the isolated forms, the first tone of the verbs permits their classification into the
appropriate tone group even if the apparently monosyllabic low-toned verbs double
their vowels in order to carry the original low tone of the verb and the falling tone of the
imperative or isolated form.
Low tone verbs
High tone verbs
Infinitive
l
l
lm
Infinitive
l pk
l r
lk
Isolated form
j
"to laugh"
d
"come"
m
"swallow"
Isolated form
pk
"fall"
r
"dance"
k
"cut"
Disyllabic verbs are tonally unequivocal whether in the infinitive or isolated forms.
Low tone verbs
Infinitive
Isolated form
lk k
k k
"taste"
High tone verbs
Infinitive
Isolated form
lw t
w t
"dress"
l t mb
t mb
"leak"
lt m
l r m
r m
"bow"
l
ŋɡ
t m
ŋɡ
"stand up"
"run"
72
G.ATINDOGBE
In disyllabic vowel-initial roots, the rising coutour tone on the first vowel of the root
in high-toned verbs is in fact a combination of a low followed by a high. The low tone is
that stranded tone of the vowel of the verb prefix, and the high tone is the tone of the
verb root. One can see that this stranded low tone is no longer present in the isolated
form.
High tone verbs
Infinitive
llll-
n
k
ŋw l
ŋɡ l
→
→
→
→
l
l
l
l
n
k
ŋw l
ŋɡ l
Isolated form
"to see"
"to pass"
"to show"
"to remember"
n
k
ŋw l
ŋɡ l
"see"
"pass"
"show"
"remember"
As for the low-toned verbs, t e vowel / / of t e ver prefix l - gets deleted and its low
tone merges with the one of the first vowel of the root.
Low tone verbs
l-
Infinitive
→ l
"to cook"
l- k
l- ɡ
l - ŋɡ
→ l k
→ l ɡ
→ l ŋɡ
"to play"
"to climb"
"to shoot"
Isolated form
"cook"
k
ɡ
ŋɡ
"play"
"climb"
"shoot"
4. Compound verbs
Some verbs are made up of two morphemes, generally a verb and a noun.
m k
lŋ
m k
"encouragement"
"to encourage"
n
lŋ
n
r r
l ɸ
r r
d
l ɸ
"permission"
"to allow"
"whisper"
"to whisper"
"speech"
"make a speech"
(to give encouragement)
(give permission)
(to tell whisper)
(to tell speech)
5. The subject and object (independent) pronouns
When conjugated, the verb is preceded by a subject pronoun (SP). It appears in two
forms: a full or plain form before consonant-initial verbal roots and in a truncated or
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
73
modified form before vowel-initial roots. The verb root can also take an object or
substitute pronoun (ObjP), which is placed between the TAM and the verb root.
Table 6. Subject and object pronouns
Subject pronouns
Object pronouns
Full form
1sg
Modified form
All other tenses
Present perfect
n
n
2sg
3sg
1pl
2pl
3pl
n-
m
w
d j-
w
m
r
ɲ
w
Thus, the SPs [n ] an [ ] lose their vowel when they precede vowel-initial roots.
The vocalic SPs [ ], [ ] an [ ] an e to [w], [ ] and [j] respectively when occurring
before roots beginning with vowels. The 3rd person sin ular pronoun [ ] oes not
undergo any change.
As far as the tones are concerned, the SPs generally bear a low tone, except for the
3rd person plural which is high-toned. This is what is obtained in all tenses, except the
present perfect tense which commands that the SPs bear a high tone all through (cf.
table 6 above).
In the conjugated forms, after the deletion of the vowel of the subject pronoun, its
tone survives and docks onto the vowel of the root to create a contour tone.
Full form
1sg
n
2sg
3sg
1pl
2pl
3pl
k
k
k
k
k
k
w
w
w
w
w
w
"I fly"
"you fly"
"he flies"
"we fly"
"you fly"
"they fly"
The presentative is formed as follows:
m
w
m
"it is me"
"it is you"
"it is him"
Truncated/modified form
n m
"I sing"
w m
"you sing"
m
"he sings"
d m
"we sing"
m
"you sing"
m
"they sing"
74
G.ATINDOGBE
r
ɲ
w
"it is us"
"it is us"
"it is them"
It is negated with the negative marker zr k t placed before the substitute pronoun.
zr k t m
zr k t w
zr k t m
"it is not me"
"it is not you"
"it is not him"
zr k t r
zr k t ɲ
zr k t w
"it is not us"
"it is not you"
"it is not them"
In a verbal construction where the subject is a noun, the 3rd person singular and
plural pronouns always follow and agree in class with that noun:
N ive
Ndive
PN
l n
m
3sg.Cd
k l
l n
m - k l
Cop
1-player
"Ndive is a player"
N ive n o ro
Ndive n
l n
Jozro
PN
PN
COORD
k l
l n
3pl.Cd
Cop
- k l
2-player
"Ndive and Josso are players"
ŋɡ
-ŋɡ
m l
7-dog
w ɸ
m
7.Cd
l
PAST
-w ɸ
eat
7-fowl
"The dog ate the fowl"
ŋɡ
-ŋɡ
m l
w ɸ
-
10-dog
10.Cd
m
l
PAST
eat
-w ɸ
7-fowl
"The dogs ate the fowl"
M
t w m m ŋm zr ŋm l
m - t w
m
m
ŋm-
- zr
ŋm l
3-car
3.Cd
PAST
ObjP
knock
yesterday
"The car knocked him yesterday"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
75
M - t w m m ŋm zr ŋm l
m - t w
m
m
ŋm-
- zr
ŋm l
4-car
knock
yesterday
4.Cd
PAST
ObjP
"The cars knocked him yesterday"
6. The indicative mood
(1) The defective verb
Present
Positive
n
l n
l n
l n
l n
l n
l n
Past
Positive
n m
m
m
m
m
m
Future
Positive
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
"be"
"I am"
"you are"
"s/he is"
Negative
n r n
r n
r n
"I am not"
"you are not"
"s/he is not"
"we are"
"you are"
"they are"
r n
r n
r n
"we are not"
"you are not"
"they are not"
"I was"
"you were"
"s/he was"
"we were"
"you were"
"they were"
Negative
n r
r
r
r
r
r
"I was not"
"you were not"
"s/he was not"
"we were not"
"you were not"
"they were not"
"I shall be"
"you will be"
"s/he will be"
"we shall be"
"you will be"
Negative
n r !
r !
r !
r !
r !
"I shall not be"
"you will not be"
"s/he will not be"
"we shall not be"
"you will not be"
"they will be"
r
"they will not be"
76
G.ATINDOGBE
(2) The defective verb
Present / Present continous
Positive
n
"I have"
"you have"
"s/he has"
d
"we have"
" to have"
Negative
n r
r
r
r
r
"you have"
"they have"
Past / Past continous
Positive
n m
"I had"
m
m
m
"you had"
"s/he had"
"we had"
m
m
"you had"
"they had"
Future 1 (near)
Positive
n
"I will have
"you will have
"s/he will have"
d
"we will have"
"you will have"
"they will have"
Future 2 (far)
Positive
n
n
"I will have"
n
"you will have
n
"s/he will have"
n
n
n
"we will have"
"you will have"
"they will have"
" ou on’t ave / ou aven’t"
"t e on’t ave / t e aven’t"
r
Negative
n r
"I i n’t ave / I a n’t"
r
r
" ou i n’t ave / ou a n’t"
"s/ e i n’t ave / s/ e a n’t"
"we i n’t ave / we a n’t"
r
" ou i n’t ave / ou a n’t"
"t e i n’t ave / t e a n’t"
r
r
Negative
n ! r
!
r
!
r
!
r
!
"I on’t ave / I aven’t"
" ou on’t ave / ou aven’t"
"s/ e oesn’t ave / s/he asn’t"
"we on’t ave / we aven’t"
r
r
"you will not have"
"they will not have"
Negative
n r ! ! n
r ! n
r ! n
!
r
r
!
r
"I will not have"
"you will not have"
"s/he will not have"
"we will not have"
n
n
n
"I will not have"
"you w'll not have"
"s/he will not have"
"we will not have"
"you will not have"
"they will not have"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
(3) Constructions with -
77
"have" (possesion)
These constructions represent "have" in Mokpe. The infinitive form is
from the noun class prefix - and the root . Negation:
.
Positive
n
w n
"I have a mouth"
n
"you (sg) have guests"
l n
"he has women"
d
m ɲ n
"we have a man"
to “ ave”
Negative
n r
w n
I on’t ave a mouth"
r
n
ou on’t ave uests
r
l n
e oesn’t ave women
r
m ɲ n
we on’t ave a man"
m lw
"you (pl) have water"
w
w l
r
m l wa
" ou (pl on’t ave water"
r
w l
"they have work"
n
n
"I have time"
n
m l
"I have money"
amarun
l m l m m w
"Cameroon has ten villages"
k m
l m l m m w
"the country has ten villages"
t e on’t ave work
n r
n
I on’t ave time
n r
m l
I on’t ave mone
amarun r
l m l m m w
"Cameroon asn’t ten villa es"
k m
r
l m l m m w
"the country hasn’t ten villages"
l n ŋɡ
m ŋɡ m t w
"Linonge has 20 cars"
l n ŋɡ
r
m ŋɡ m t w
inon e asn’t 2 ars
(4) Obligation: to have + infinitive
Obligation is rendered through the morpheme form of the verb.
Present
Positive
n ŋɡ m n l ɲ
"I have to urinate"
w ŋɡ m n l k m
Negative
n r ! ŋɡ m n l
"I on’t ave to walk"
r ! ŋɡ m n l ɲ
followed by the infinitive
78
G.ATINDOGBE
"you have to beat (drum)"
ŋɡ m n l ŋɡ
"s/he has to run"
d ŋɡ m n l
"we have to walk"
ŋɡ m n l
"you (pl) have to laugh"
ŋɡ m n l t n l
" ou on’t ave to urinate
r ! ŋɡ m n l t n l
"s/he on’t ave to pus
r ! ŋɡ m n l ŋɡ
"we on’t ave to run"
r ! ŋɡ m n l
ou (pl on’t ave to lau
r ŋɡ m n l k w
"they have to push"
"they on’t ave to ivi e"
Past
Positive
n m ŋɡ m n l l
"I had to eat"
m ŋɡ m n l m
"you had to sing"
Negative
n r ŋɡ m n l l
"I did not have to eat"
r ŋɡ m n l k n
"you (sg) did not have to pray"
m ŋɡ m n l l
"he had to call"
m ŋɡ m n l r
"we had to dance"
m ŋɡ m n l k n
"you (pl) had to pray"
m ŋɡ m n l ŋɡ
"they had to run"
r ŋɡ m n l l
"s/he did not have to call"
r ŋɡ m n l l w
"we did not have to open"
r ŋɡ m n l l ŋɡ n
"you (pl) did not have to love"
r ŋɡ m n l ŋɡ
"they did not have to give"
(5) Verb ending
The verbal ending in the infinitive form in Mokpe is generally the vowel [a].
However, some verbs end with [ ] and [ ].
a.
Ending with /a/
ll
"to eat"
lɓ
"to still"
l
"to come"
l pk
l m
ll t
l k w
"to fall"
"to sing"
"to think"
"to learn"
b.
Ending with / / and / /
lm
"to swallow"
l n
"to see"
l ŋɡ l
"to remember"
lɓ l n
l ŋw l
l
l k
"to loose"
"to show"
"to laugh"
"to wash"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
ll w
l l ŋɡ n
lw n w
79
lk k
l zr
l n ŋɡ
"to open"
"to like"
"to untie"
"to pound"
"to choose"
"to follow"
However, note that when the verb is conjugated the final is still [a], [ ] or [ ], but also
the vowels [e] and [i] in certain moods or tenses for verbs whose final vowel is
originally [a]. In fact there is the phenomenon of vowel mutation in the language. This
is illustrated on the table below.
Table 7. The mutation of the vowel [a] to [e] and [i]
Infinitive
ll
"to eat"
Imperative
1sg
1pl
l
eat!
l
let us eat!
2pl
Indicative
Past Neg.
Present Perfect Neg.
l
you, eat!
n r l
I did not eat
r l l
you (sg) have not
l
d
"to come" come!
eaten
d
d
r
r
l
let us come! you, come! he did not come we have not come
l m
"to sing"
m
sing!
d
m
let us sing!
m
you, sing!
lk w
"to fly"
k w
fly!
k w
let us fly!
k w
you, fly!
r m
you (pl) did
not sing
n r k w
I did not fly
r m
they have not sung
r k w
you (pl) have not
flown
(6) The tenses
The conjugated verb is departed from the infinitive marker. For example, the verb
"to cut" will be conjugated in the present, the past and present perfect tenses of the
indicative mood as:
Present
n k
k
k
k
k
k
I cut
you cut
s/he cuts
we cut
you cut
they cut
Past (preterit)
n m k
I cut
m k
you cut
m k
s/he cut
m k
we cut
m k
m k
you cut
they cut
Present Perfect
n !m k
I have cut
!
m k
you have cut
!
m k
s/he has cut
!
m k
we have cut
!
m k
!
m k
you have cut
they have cut
The morphemes that enter the composition of conjugated verbs are the subject
pronoun (SP), the tense-aspect-mood (TAM), the infinitive marker (IM), the negative
80
G.ATINDOGBE
marker (Neg) and the verbal root (VR). The structure of a conjugated verb in the
indicative mood, as we shall see below when discussing tenses, aspect and mood is then
as follows:
Table 8. The structure of a conjugated verb in the indicative mood
Structure
Tense
1.
2.
SP + VR
SP + TAM + VR
Present, future
Past tense, Present perfect
3.
4.
SP + TAM + IM + VR
SP + Neg + VR
5.
SP + Neg + TM + IM + VR
Present continuous, past continuous
Present, future, Past tense, Present perfect
(Negation)
Present perfect continuous, past perfect
continuous (Negation)
Note that the present and future tenses have zero markers. However, the future tense
can be completed with a time adverb (underlined in the example below) in order to give
the exact meaning.
n nd ŋm l
n nd w r
n nd ŋɡ n
"I will go tomorrow"
"I will go in two days"
"I will go in one month"
For the imperative mood, the structure for the affirmative is: (SP) + VR whereas the
one for the negative form is: SP + NM + VR.
Table 9. The structure of a conjugated verb in the imperative mood
Structure
1.
SP + VR
Affimative
2.
SP + TM + VR
Negative
Example:
affirmative
l
"eat!"
l
"let us eat!"
l
"you (sg), eat!"
negation
r l
"do not eat!"
r l
"let us not eat!"
r l
"you (pl), do not eat! "
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp

81
Present simple
The affirmative form of the present tense is rendered with the zero morpheme. There
is only the subject pronoun and the verbal root. The negative form of the present tense is
done with the morphome
.
Positive
n
d
ŋɡ
l t l

"I laugh"
"you come"
Negative
n r !l
r
"I on’t eat"
" ou on’t laugh"
"s/he gives"
"we think"
r !l
r l t l
"s/ e oesn’t eat"
"we on’t think"
Present continuous
The positive form is done through the morpheme
followed by the verb at the
infinitive mood. As for the negative form, it is done with
+ the morpheme
ʒ ,
giving the contracted form
ʒ , or with
+ the morpheme
.
Positive
l ll
l l
l l

Negative
r n
r n
r
"we’re eating"
"you’re laughing"
"they’re coming"
"we’re not eating"
" ou’re not laughing"
"t e ’re not coming"
Past simple
While the affirmative form is done with
is a contracted form of
+
Positive
n m m
m k
m k w

ll
l
l l
, the negative form uses
Negative
"I sang"
"you cut"
"s/he flew"
n
r m
r k
r k w
"I did not sing"
"you did not cut"
"s/he did not fly"
Past continuous
The affirmative and negative forms are rendered by
morpheme marks continuity in the past.
m
m
m
. Thus, r m
Positive
l m
lk
lk
w
"we were singing"
"you were cutting"
"they were flying"
and
Negative
r
l m
r
r
lk
lk
respectively, and the
"we were not singing"
w
"you were not cutting"
"they were not flying"
82
G.ATINDOGBE

Future
The future tense is not different from the present tense. Zero morpheme for the
affirmative and
for the negative form.
Positive
n
m
"I will laugh"
"you will come"
"s/he will sing"
Negative
n r
r
r m
"I will not laugh"
"you will not come"
"s/he will not sing"
Note however that the phrase can be completed with time adverbs to mark a more or
less far future:
/
"you will come

w r t /
in five days
wk /
in a week
ŋɡ n /
in a month
ŋm
in a year"
Present Perfect
The present perfect is done with the morpheme maa whose tones vary according to
the tonal shape of the verbal root and the tone of the subject pronoun. The negative form
uses
.
Positive
n m
m m
!
m k
m k w
!
m l t

"I have laughed"
"you have sung"
"s/he has cut"
"we have flown"
"you have thought"
Negative
n r !j
r m
r k
r k w
r !l t l
"I have not laughed"
"you have not sung"
"s/he has not cut"
"we have not flown"
"you have not thought"
Want (present) + Infinitive
To construct a senten e wit “want” an a ver at t e affirmative form (present
tense), the verbal root
is used with the verb at the infinitive form. In the past tense,
it is either
or
. Note that
/
or
are from
“to want, to
esire”.
a. Present: want + verb
n
r l
"I want to laugh"
w
r l
"you want to come"
d
r l m
r lk
r lk w
r lk k
"s/he wants to sing"
"we want to cut"
"you want to fly"
"they want to think"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
n
r l l ŋɡ n
r ll w
83
"I want to like"
"you want to open"
. Pastː wanted+verb
n
r l
r l m
d
r lk
"I wanted to laugh"
"s/he wanted to sing"
"we wanted to cut"
m
r lk w
m
r lk k
n m
r l l ŋɡ
m
r ll w
m
r l
"you wanted to fly"
"they wanted to think"
"I wanted to like"
"you wanted to open"
"s/he wanted to come"

‘Impersonal’ Ver al Forms
In the sense of Indo-European languages, impersonal verbal forms can be in two
ways.
‘person’ or
1) Using the word
m t
t
t
t
l t l
"one t inks…"
"one sa s t at…"
"people sa t at…"
people t ink…
m
m
l t
2) Using
n
‘people’ː
. The structure is then:
Table 10. The structure of Impersonal verb form
Structure
1.
+ verbal root + n
r
2.
ver al root
affirmative
n
negative
Examples:
a. l l t "to think"
l t n
r l t n
r n
n
r l t n
"it is thinkable"
"it is unthinkable"
"it is not unthinkable"
84
G.ATINDOGBE
b. l m
to accept"
But:
ɡ
n
r ɡ
n
r n
n
r ɡ
"it is acceptable"
"it is unacceptable"
"it is not unacceptable"
n
c. l n "to see"
zr n
r n
n
"it is not visible"
zr n
"it is not invisible"
However, note the morphemic sequence is not always present:
a. l n "to see"
j n
zr n
b.
"it is visible"
"it is invisible"
t n
r t n
r t n
r n
n
Sometimes
"it is possible"
"it is not possible"
"it is impossible"
"it is not impossible"
r t n
and
ʒ are used:
Positive
l w lt
"it is important"
l
"it is expensive"
Negative
r n
w lt
r n
"it is not important"
"it is not expensive"
7. The Imperative form
The meaning of the imperative is not different from what obtains in other Bantu
languages. It expresses a strict order. In singular, it is identical to the infinitive form of
the verb without the verbal prefix -, and occurs without subject pronouns. The plural is
marked by a systematic high tone on the subject pronouns. The tonal shape of the root is
very unpredictable, depending on the structure of the verb.
"to sing"
"to laugh"
ll
w "to open"
l k "to cut"
l m
l
l l "to eat"
Infinitive
w
Open!
l
Cut!
w
l
w
you, cut!
k
you, sing!
m
Let us open! you, open!
l
Let us cut!
k
Let us sing!
Sing!
k
d
m
Let us laugh! you, laugh!
m
Laugh!
j
you, eat!
Let us eat!
Eat!
j
l
l
l
r
Let us not eat!
r l
1pl
r
you, do not eat!
r l
2pl
w
Do not open!
r l
Do not cut!
r k
Do not sing!
r m
w
Let us not open!
r l
Let us not cut!
r k
Let us not sing!
r m
w
you, do not open!
r l
you, do not cut!
r k
you, do not sing!
r m
Do not laugh! Let us not laugh! you, do not laugh!
r
Do not eat!
r l
1sg
2pl
1sg
1pl
negative
affirmative
Imperative
Table 11. The structure of the Imperative verb
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
85
86
G.ATINDOGBE
8. The Hortative/Optative mood
The meaning here is calling somebody to act. The structure is the following:
ɲ
su e t pronoun (SP) + root (with vowel mutation for roots
en in wit /a/ i.e. /a/ → [e] .
The examples comprise verbs of varied length and tone patterns. I also opposed the
verbs ending with the vowel /a/ to those ending with the vowel / /.
a. Roots ending with /a/
l m "to sing" [ m ]
ɲ n m
"let me sing"
ɲ
m
"let us sing"
ɲ
m
"let them sing"
l ŋɡ "to run" [ ŋɡ ]
ɲ n
ŋɡ
"let me run"
ɲ
ŋɡ
"let us run"
ɲ
ŋɡ
"let them run"
b. Roots ending with / /
l nd "to go" [n ]
ɲ n nd
"let me go"
ɲ
nd
"let us go"
ɲ
nd
"let them go"
l l "to call" [ l ]
ɲ n
l
"let me call"
ɲ
l
"let us call"
ɲ
l
"let them call"
l
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
ɲ n tn l
"let me push"
ɲ tn l
"let us push"
ɲ
tn l
"let them push"
"to cry" [
ɲ n
ɲ
ɲ
]
"let me cry"
"let us cry"
"let them cry"
Note that there is an assimilation rule whereby the verbal pronoun is assimilated by
the vowel of the preceding morpheme:
ɲ
ɲ
nd
ɡ n
→
→
ɲ nd
ɲ ɡ n
"let him go"
"let him use"
ɲ
ɲ
ɡ n
tn l
→
ɲ ɡ n
ɲ tn l
"let us use"
"let us push"
The negative form is done with either
a. Roots ending with /a/
l m "to sing" [ m ]
r m / rɲ n m
"don’t let me sin "
r m d / rɲ d
"don’t let us sing"
r m / rɲ
m
"don’t let t em sin "
m
m or
ɲ.
b. Roots ending with / /
l nd "to go" [n ]
r m / r ɲ n nd
"don’t let me o"
r m / r ɲ d nd
"don’t let us o"
r m / rɲ
nd
"don’t let t em o"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
87
l
ŋɡ "to run" [ ŋɡ ]
r m / rɲ n
ŋɡ
"don’t let me run"
r m / rɲ
ŋɡ
"don’t let us run"
r m / rɲ
ŋɡ
"don’t let t em run"
l
l
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
r m / rɲ n tn l
"don’t let me pus "
r m / rɲ tn l
"don’t let us pus "
r m / rɲ
tn l
"don’t let t em pus "
"to cry" [
]
r m / rɲ n
" on’t let me r "
r m / rɲ d
" on’t let us r "
r m / rɲ
" on’t let t em r "
l "to call" [ l ]
r m / rɲ n
l
"don’t let me all"
r m / rɲ
l
"don’t let us all"
r m / rɲ
l
"don’t let t em all"
9. Subjunctive mood
It expresses an order given in a relatively polite form, as a request, it occurs in final
and intentional sentences. Just like in the hortative mood, the verb roots ending with /a/
change that vowel in /e/.(10)

Simple structure, positive:
SP + root (/a/ → [e]
Examples:
a. Roots ending with /a/
b. Roots ending with / /
l m "to sing" [ m ]
n m (11)
"I should sing"
l nd "to go" [n ]
n nd (12)
"I should go"
l
n
"to come" [d ]
"I should come"
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
tn l
"we should push"
l
ŋɡ "to run" [ ŋɡ ]
ŋɡ
"they should run"
l
Β
"to cry" [
(13)
]
"they should cry"
l
l "to call" [ l ]
l
"they should call"
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
tn l
"they should push"
88
G.ATINDOGBE

Simple structure, negative:
SP +
+ root
Examples:
a. Roots ending with /a/
l m "to sing" [ m ]
n r m!
"I should not sing"
b. Roots ending with / /
l nd "to go" [n ]
n r nd
I s oul n’t go"
l
n
"to come", d "go"
r
"I should not come"
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
r tn l
"we should not push"
l
ŋɡ "to run" [ ŋɡ ]
r ŋɡ
"they should not run"
l
l
"to cry" [
r
l "to call" [ l ]
r l
"they should not call"
l t n l "to push" [t n l ]
r tn l
"they should not push"
]
"they should not cry"
Complexe structure (i.e. with preclause), without the relative clause marker.
Present tense positive:
Pre lause
P
root (/a/ → [e]
Present tense negative:
Preclause + SP +
+ root (no vowel change for roots ending with /a/)
The structure of the preclause is:
SP +
(say)
or
SP +
(think)
Examples:
Positive
m n l
"s/he says I should eat"
m l
"s/he says you should eat"
m l
"s/he says he should eat"
Negative
m n r l
"s/he says I should not eat"
m
r l
"s/he says you should not eat"
m
r l
"s/he says he should not eat"
l t l l
"s/he thinks we should eat"
l t l l
l t l
r l
"s/he thinks we should not eat"
l t l
r l
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
89
"s/he thinks you should eat"
l t l
l
"s/he thinks they should eat"
l ɸ
ll
"s/he thinks you should not eat"
l t l
r l
"s/he thinks they should not eat"
"to say"
"to eat"
Complexe structure (i.e. with preclause), with the relative clause marker.
Present tense positive:
P
Preclause +
root (/a/ → [e]
Present tense negative:
preclause +
+ SP +
+ root (no vowel change for roots ending with /a/)
The structure of the preclause does not change.
Examples:
Positive
Negative
m n m n l
"s/he says that I should eat"
m n m l
"s/he says that you should eat"
m n m l
"s/he says that he should eat"
l t l n m l
"s/he thinks that we should eat"
l t l n m l
m n m n r l
"s/he says that I should not eat"
m n m
r l
"s/he says that you should not eat
m n m
r !l
"s/he says that he should not eat
l t l n m
r l
"s/he thinks that we should not eat
l t l n m
r l
"s/he thinks that you should eat"
l t l n m
l
"s/he thinks that they should eat"
n m
"s/he thinks that you should not eat
l t l n m
r l
"s/he thinks that they should not eat
"that"
Note that the inflection of all the persons of the preclause does not change the
structure of the subjunctive.
Positive
m n l
Negative
n m n r l
"I say I should eat"
m l
"you say you should eat"
"I says I should not eat"
m
r l
"you (sg) says you should not eat"
90
G.ATINDOGBE
m l
"s/he says he should eat"
l t l l
we l t l we s oul eat
m l
ou l t l ou s oul eat
m
l
"they say they should eat"
m
r l
"s/he says he should not eat"
l t l r l
"we think we should not eat"
l t l
r l
"you (pl) think you should not eat"
l t l
r l
"they think they should not eat"
The use of the preclause in the past adds the past morpheme to the structure. The
subjunctive clause does not change. Also note that instead of the verb m (
"say")
which was heavily used in the present tense, it is the verb - ɸ (> ɸ "say") which is
used in the past. The structure of the preclause in the past is therefore:
SP +
+- ɸ (say)
or
SP +
+
(think)
Examples:
10.
Positive
Negative
n m ɸ n m n m
"I said I should sing"
m ɸ n m n nd
"you said I should go"
m ɸ n m n
"s/he said I should come"
m l t n m l
"we thought we should eat"
m ɸ n m n r l
"s/he said I should not eat"
m ɸ n m
r l
"s/he said you should not eat"
m ɸ n m
r !l
"s/he said he should not eat"
m l t n m
r l
"s/he thought we should not eat"
m l t n m l
"you thought you should eat"
m l t n m
l
"they thought they should eat"
m l t n m
r l
"s/he thought you should not eat"
m l t n m
r l
"s/he thought they should not eat"
Conditional mood
(1) Conditional 1
Conditional 1 or "real" conditional is formed with a will verb in the result clause and
the present tense in the if-clause (
"if").
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
91
Examples:
►Result clause positive +
a.
b.
c.
d.
-clause positive
l
t n d l
!
l t n
l
n mb t n
m
"s/he will eat if you come"
"they will eat if they come"
"I will sing if she sings"
l
"we will eat if you go"
"I will eat if you cook"
"you will eat if my wife cooks"
"you will eat if I cook"
t n w n
n l t n w
l t n m l n
l t n n
m
Note the complete change of the morphological structure of the verb ʒ "to come",
dʒ "come" which realized dʒ , and the ending the verbs
"to sing",
"sing" and l nd "to go", nd "go" which ends in a vowel /i/, i.e.
and w
respectively. The verb
"to cook", [ ] "cook" would certainly also end with the
vowel /i/. However, we on’t ave *
probably because the sequence / / + /i/ may
not be a preferred sequence in the language. The appearance of the vowel /i/ at the end
of certain forms is not strange. As rightly put by Deen (2001: 42):
[…]. Moo is marke as a suffix, an is alwa s the final vowel in the
verbal complex. This final vowel alternates three ways between the
indicative [a], the subjunctive [e] and the negative [i].
Alt ou t e /i/ is not in t e ne ative form in Mokpe, it onfirms Deen’s o servation
of a vowel /i/ being part of the vowel making mood in Bantu.
►Result clause negative +
a.
b.
c.
d.
r !l
r l
n r nd
n r m!
r !l
n r
r !l
n
-clause positive
t n
l
t n
d ! l
t n
l
t n
m
t n w n
t n
n
t n n
r !l t n w
r !l t n m l n
"s/he will not eat if you come"
"they will not eat if they come"
"I will not go if she comes"
"I will not sing if she sings"
"we will not eat if you go"
"I will not come if she goes"
"you (pl) will not eat if I cook"
m
"I will not eat if you cook
"you (sg) will not eat if my wife cooks"
92
G.ATINDOGBE
►Result clause positive +
-clause negative
n l t n n r !w r l
l t n
r w ŋɡ r n
l t n
r l ŋɡ n
l t n
r l ŋɡ n
l t n
r n
m l
►Result clause negative +
"I will eat if I am not sound"
"you will eat if they are not ready"
"s/he will eat if t e on’t want
"we will eat if ou on’t want
"they will eat if there is no money"
-clause negative (i.e. with
r
ŋɡ t n n r !w r l
r m
t n
r w ŋɡ r n
r
t n
r l t t n
r
t n
n
r n
r ɡ
t n
"they will not run if I am not sound"
"they will not sing if they are not
ready"
"they will not r if t e on’t want
"we will not unite if ou on’t want
"s/he will not cook if there is no
money"
r l ŋɡ n
r l ŋɡ n
r n
m l
t n n
r
r
)
m l
"I will not u if I on’t ave
money"
"you (pl) will not lim if ou on’t
have power"
ŋɡ ɲ
(2) Conditional 2 ("unreal" conditional)
The simple form or present conditional (positive) of Conditional 2 with or without the
-clause is made of the subject pronoun followed by the morpheme and the verb root.
SP + +verb root + (
The negation is done with
SP +
Examples without
Positive
n l
l
l
l
d
l
l
-clause)
.
+
+ verb root + (
-clause)
-clause:
"I would eat"
"you would eat"
Negative
n r l
r l
"I would not eat"
"you would not eat"
"he would eat"
"we would eat"
"you would eat"
"they would eat"
r l
r l
r l
r l
"s/he would not eat"
"we would not eat"
"you would not eat"
"they would not eat"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
Examples with
-clause:
►Result clause positive +
n l t n w
l t n m l n
l t n
l
d
l t n w n
l
l
t n n
t n
r l
r l
r l
r l
r l
m
"you would eat if I cook"
"they would eat if they come"
!
d l
r l
t n w
t n m l n
t n
l
t n w n
t n n
m
!
t n
d l
►Result clause positive +
n l t n n
l t n
l t n
d
l t n
l t n
l t n
l t
r
l t n
-clause positive
"I would not eat if you cook"
"you would not eat if my wife cooks"
"s/he would not eat if you come"
"we would not eat if you go"
"you would not eat if I cook"
"they would not eat if they come"
-clause negative
r w r l
r w ŋ r n
r
r
r
r
r ŋ t m n
"I would eat if I am not sound"
"you would eat if they are not ready"
s/ e woul eat if t e on’t want
we woul eat if ou on’t want
"you (pl) would eat if there is no money"
r m n
m n
r t
"you (pl) would eat if there is no money"
"you (pl) would eat if there is no money"
"they would eat if t e on’t quarrel"
►Result clause negative +
n
-clause positive
"I would eat if you cook"
"you would eat if my wife cooks"
"s/he would eat if you come"
"we would eat if you go"
►Result clause negative +
n
93
-clause negative (i.e. with
)
r l t n n r w r l
r l t n
r w ŋ r n
r l t n
r
r
"I would not eat if I am not sound"
"you would not eat if they are not ready"
s/ e woul not eat if t e on’t want
r l t n
r l t n
r l t n
"we woul not eat if ou on’t want
"you (pl) not would eat if there is no money"
"they not would eat if t e on’t quarrel"
r
r
r
m n
r t
94
G.ATINDOGBE
Note that the
n l
l
l
t n m
t n m l n
t n m
-clause can equally be in the past.
m
"I would eat if you cooked"
"you would eat if my wife cooked"
"s/he would eat if you came"
m
As for the composed form or simple past conditional, without the if-clause, is done
with the verbal morpheme
at the beginning of the utterance. The morpheme
between the subject pronoun and the root is the past tense marker.
+ SP +
+ verb root + (
-clause)
The meaning of the sequential morpheme
is not yet clear. What is certain for
now is that it comes exclusively with the composed form. It can therefore be considered
as the "real" conditional marker. While in the positive form there is no vowel change,
the negation is done with
and a change of quality in the root vowel.
+ SP +
+ verb root (/a/ → [e] +
Examples: simple past conditional without the
a.
b.
-clause
-clause
Positive
m n m l
"I would have eaten"
m n m ɡ n
"I would have used"
m n m m
"I would have sung"
m m k n
Negative
m n r l
"I would not have eaten"
m n r ɡ n
"I would not have used"
m n r m
"I would not have sung"
m
r k n
"you would have prayed"
m m nd
"s/he would have gone "
"you would not have prayed"
m
r nd
"s/he would have gone "
Examples: simple past conditional with the
►Result clause positive +
a.
m n m l
b.
m n m m
m m k w
l ŋɡ n t
m n m l
-clause
-clause positive (i.e. with
t n
m
t n
t n
m m
m
t n
m
).
"I would have eaten if she
cooked"
"I would have sung if she sang"
"s/he would have divided if she
wanted"
"I would have called if she came"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
95
m
m k n
t n
k t
m k n
m m nd t n m
m
m k j t n
►Result clause negative +
a.
b.
m n ŋɡ
m l ŋɡ n
-clause positive
m n r l t n m
m n r m
t n m m
m
r k w
t n
m
l ŋɡ n
m n r ! l
t n
m
d
m
r k n
t n
m
n ŋɡ
k t
m k n
m
m
"you would have prayed if she
gave me the prayer book"
"s/he would have gone if she
came"
"we would have cut if she
wanted"
zr nd t n m
r t n m l ŋɡ n
"I would not have eaten if she cooked"
"I would not have sung if she sang"
"s/he would not have divided if she
wanted"
"I would not have called if she came"
"you would not have prayed if she gave
me the prayer book"
"s/he would not have gone if she came"
"we would not have cut if she wanted"
(3) Conditional 3
Conditional 3, often called “past on itional” uses t e same morp emes as t e simple
past of conditional 2. The difference between the two lies in the conditional 3 deals with
past situations with hypothetical results.
►Result clause negative +
m n
a.
b.
r l
t n
m n
r m
r m
m
r k w
l ŋɡ n
m n r
l
-clause negative
r
t n
t n
r
t n
r
d
m
n ŋɡ
k t
r k n
m k n
t n
r
"I would not have eaten if she had not
cooked"
"I would not have sung if she had not
sung"
"s/he would not have divided if she had
not wanted"
"I would not have called if she had not
come"
"you would not have prayed if she had
not given the prayer book"
96
G.ATINDOGBE
m
r nd
m
l ŋɡ n
t n
r
r k
t n
►Result clause positive +
a.
b.
m n m l
r
"s/he would not have gone if she had not
come"
"we would not have cut if she wanted"
-clause negative
t n
r
"I would have eaten if she had not
m
m k n
t n
k t
m k n
m m nd t n
r
cooked"
"I would have sung if she had not sung
"s/he would have divided if she had
not wanted"
"I would have called if she had not
come"
"you would have prayed if she had not
given the prayer book"
"s/he would have gone if she had not
m n m m
m m k w
t n
t n
r m
r l ŋɡ n
m n m
t n
r
m
l
m k k
t n
r n ŋɡ
come"
"we would have cut if she wanted"
r l ŋɡ n
11. Infinitive phrases
Infinitive phrases are formed using the preposition
the verb.
PREP
l- ŋw
m -t
5-kill
1-man
PREP
preceding the infinitive form of
l -l k r
l
5-forgive
God
"to kill is human, to forgive is from God."
PREP
l -k
l-
5-cut
5-Cd
-
l -d n
8-tree
5-bring
-t m -t m
7-heat
"to cut the trees will bring heat."
PREP
l- r
d
5-dance
too much
d
-d n
l t
7-make
tired
"to dance too much makes tired."
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
97
12. Gerund
When in the middle of the utterance, the gerund is the form of the verb in isolation,
without modification.
"eat"
r
lŋ n
n
1sg
Neg
love
l -l
d
5-eat
much
d
"I on’t like eatin a lot."
1pl
"play"
lŋ n
l k
football
love
5-play
9.football
"We enjoy playing football."
However, when at sentence-initial, the low tone of the prefix is replaced by a high
tone.
"to cut"
l -k
l-
5-cut
5-Cd
-
l -d n
8-tree
5-bring
-t m -t m
7-heat
"Cutting the trees will bring heat."
"to dance"
l- r
ld
5-dance
5-Cd
d
too much
l- l
l t
5-COP
tired
"Dancing too much makes tired."
2. Verbal Derivation
In Mokpe, some of verb meanings can be obtained through derivations, i.e. the
combination of the verb root with a morpheme to form new words. Suffixation is very
productive.
1. Applicative/Benefactive
The applicative/benefactive is marked with the toneless suffix -eja or -ea (the variant
- a was recorded by Kagaya 1992a) which replaces the last vowel of the verb root and
copies its tone.
a.
- : the last vowel of the root ends with a low tone
l ŋw
ŋw
98
G.ATINDOGBE
l ŋw
lt m
lt m
lw w
lw w
l m
l m
l ŋ
"die for ..."
"to stand, fight"
"to stand, to fight for (sb)"
"to take"
"take for ..."
"to sing"
"sing for ..."
"to look at, watch"
l ŋ
"to watch over"
b. - : the last vowel of the root ends with a high tone
lɡ
"to work"
lɡ
"work for ..."
l n
"to buy"
l n
"to buy (sth) for (sb)"
l nd
"to go", "to walk"
l nd
"to go to" "to walk for"
l
l
l
l
nn
nn
ŋ
ŋ
"to fight"
"to defend, fight for sb"
"to grow"
"to look after" (a child)
2. Comitative / Associative
Comitative actions are expressed with the toneless suffix -na which copies the tone of
the final vowel. The vowel /a/ of this suffix can be realised / / if the final vowel of the
verb root is / / and as [ ] if the final vowel of the root is / /.
a. Verb roots ending in a low-toned vowel
l ŋw
"to die"
l ŋw n
"to die with ..."
lk k
"to tie"
lk k n
"to tie with..."
lɲ
"to drink"
lɲ n
"to drink with..."
lk l
lk l n
"to finish"
"to finish with..."
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
99
b. Verb roots ending in a high-toned vowel
l ɡ
"to climb"
l ɡ n
"to climb with..."
ln ŋ
"to sleep"
ln ŋ n
"to sleep with..."
l
"to laugh"
l n
"to laugh with..."
l nd
"to go"
l nd n
"to go with..."
3. Associative reciprocal
Associative reciprocal is done with two morphemes: the infix - - and the suffix - .
The infix - - replaces the vowel / / of the verb prefix - whereas the suffix - replaces,
in the unmarked case, the final vowel of the root. Furthermore, the infix - - is realised
- - when the root starts with the vowel / /, /o/ or /u/, by virtue of a height assimilation
process. In other words, the infix - - is found exclusively in consonant-initial roots.
a. - - in consonant-initial roots + suffix lt n
"to cure, treat"
l t n
"to cure each other"
lk k
"to tie, to bind"
l k k
"to tie each other"
llŋ n
"to like, to love"
l lŋ n
"to like, love each other"
lk k
"to stretch sth"
l k k
llŋ l
l lŋ
lk m n
l k m n
"to stretch each other"
"to coil"
"to coil each other"
"to cover" (with a lid)
"to cover each other"
b. - - → - - in vowel-initial roots + suffix l k r
"to injure (sb)"
l k r
"to injure each other"
l ŋɡ
l ŋ n
l k n
"to look at, to watch"
"to look at each other"
"to listen"
100
G.ATINDOGBE
l k n l
l ŋm
l ŋ!m n
"to listen to each other"
"to meet"
"to meet each other"
In some cases, the last vowel does not delete and instead of a replacement, there is
simply addition of the suffix - onto the root. Then, the epenthetic consonant /n/ is
inserted to break the hiatus.
l ŋɡ
"to look at, to watch"
l ŋ n
l ŋm
l !ŋm n
lt
l t n
"to look at each other"
"to meet"
"to meet each other"
"to shout"
"to shout at each other"
Similarly, when the verb root ends with two vowels and the last is substituted with
the suffix - , the epenthetic consonant /l/ is inserted to separate the two final vowels.
lt m
"to defend sb"
l t m l
l k n
l k n l
"to defend each other"
"to listen"
"to listen to each other"
4. Causative
The causative is marked through the suffixation of the toneless morpheme -izr (the
variant -izre was recorded by Kagaya 1992a). This morpheme replaces the last vowel of
the verb root, and will take a low, a high or a falling contour tone on both vowels
depending on the tone of the last vowel of the root.
a.
- : the last vowel of the root ends with a low tone
l k w
"to learn"
l k w r
"to teach (cause sb to learn)"
lk k
"to tie"
lk k r
"to make tie"
lt w
"to quarrel"
lt w r
"to cause sb to quarrel"
l r ŋ
l r ŋ
r
"to clean"
"to make clean"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
101
b. - : the last vowel of the root ends with a high tone
l r
"to repair, fix, arrange"
l r r
"to make repair"
ltt
"to wet"
ltt r
"to make wet"
lɲŋ
"to shake"
lɲŋ r
"to make shake"
l n
"to buy"
l n
c.
r
"to cause sb to buy"
- : the last vowel of the root ends with a falling contour tone
ll
"to eat"
ll r
"to feed, give food"
l kp
"to fall"
l kp r
"to make fall"
Sometimes, the last vowel of the root does not get deleted, and the tone of the
causative marker is the copy of the last tone of the undeleted vowel. Interestingly, the
tonal melody of the last vowel is maintained in the causative form.
lk
lk r
l
l
r
"to become dirty"
"to make dirty"
"to laugh"
"to cause sb to laugh"
5. Reflexive verbs
Reflexivit on t e ver is marke
t e insertion of t e i -tone morp eme / /
between the TAM marker and the verb root. This insertion triggers the change of the
final vowel /a/ to / / for the verb roots ending with /a/, but there is no change when the
verb root already ends with vowel / /. Tonally, the verb root must bear high melody
irrespective of t e ori inal tone melo an t e num er of s lla les. T is i melo
is s stemati all lowere
t e presen e of t e i tone of t e reflexive morp eme / /
virtue of Meeussen’s rule. Finall , t e meanin of ver an e omplete wit t e
addition of the reflexive pronoun in final position.
a. Consonant-initial roots
m !t !j (w t
n m !d !n (m t
m ! r !rz (m t
lt /t
l
n /d n
l r r / r r
“you slapped yourself”
“I brought myself”
“I washed myself”
102
G.ATINDOGBE
n m !k ! (m t
m !t !mb (ŋm t
m t n!d !l (ŋm t
lk /lk
l t mb / t mb
ltn l /tn l
“I cut myself”
“s/he leaked himself”
"s/he pushed himself"
When the root starts with a vowel, the reflexive morpheme / / rops, ut transfers its
i tone to t e first vowel of t e root, an Meessen’s rule still applies.
b. Vowel-initial roots
n m !ŋ !w !n m t
l ŋɡw n / ŋɡw n
"I helped myself"
n m !ŋw m t
m !k !zr w t
n m !k !zr m t
n m !nd m t
m ! !n (ŋm t
n m k! r m t
l
l
l
l
l
l
"I killed myself"
"you hurt yourself"
"I hurt myself"
"I bought myself"
"s/he hung himself"
"I washed myself"
ŋw / ŋw
k / k
k / k
n / n
n /
n
k r / k zr
When the sentence is in the present tense and consequently no overt TAM marker,
the reflexive marker is placed between the subject marker and verb.
l !w (m t
! !
l w (w t
! !
l w (ŋm t
!
d
lŋ n ( r wt
!
lŋ n (ɲ wt
!
l ŋ n (w w t
n
w
!
ll w /l w
l l ŋɡ n /l ŋɡ n
"I find myself"
"you find yourself"
"s/he finds himself"
"we love ourselves"
"you love yourselves"
"they love themselves"
6. Relationship
Relationship is expressed through the suffixation of the toneless morpheme - l
which copies the tone of the last vowel of the root. Since there is no final vowel
replacement, an epenthetic consonant, /l/ or /n/ is inserted etween t e final vowel an
t e suffix. T e onsonant /n/ is inserte w en t e vowel sequen e is / / (i.e. / / →
[ n ]) and /l/ is inserted when the sequence is / / (i.e. → l ).
a. Verb roots ending in a low-toned vowel
lɸ ŋ
"to spoil"
lɸ ŋ n l
"to spoil around, to spoil people, to ferment"
l
l
l
l
r n
r n l l
ŋm
ŋm l l
"to sign"
"sign (something for somebody)"
"to come"
"to come from (somewhere)"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
103
b. Verb roots ending in a high-toned vowel
lɸ
"to mix"
lɸ n l
"to mix sth with sth, put together"
l ŋm
"to meet"
l ŋm n l
"to meet with person, in a place"
lr ŋ
"to assemble"
lr ŋ n l
"to bring together (people)"
l
l
r
r l l
"to sell"
"sell (something to somebody)"
7. Process through predicate past participle
The toneless suffix - a marks process or inchoative state. Its replaces the final vowel
and copies the tone of the latter.
a. Verb roots ending in a low-toned vowel
lɸ ŋ
"to spoil"
lɸ ŋ
lw k
lw k
lk n
lk n
l ŋm
l ŋm
l w nd
"to become spoiled"
"to dislocate"
"to become dislocated"
"to crack"
"to become cracked"
"to come"
"to be from"
"to snap"
l w nd
"to become snapped"
b. Verb roots ending in a high-toned vowel
l nd
"to go, walk"
l nd
"to go to"
l n
"to buy"
l n
"to be bought"
ln ŋ
"to sleep"
ln ŋ
"to sleep out, for"
l
l
n
n
w
w
"to loosen"
"to become loosen"
104
G.ATINDOGBE
8. Neutro-passive
The neutro-passive or passive without agent is rendered by - , - and depending on the last vowel of the verb root. When the last vowel of the verb root is any
vowel except / / and / /, the morpheme is - . When the last vowel is / / or / / the
variants - or - are used respectively.
l ɸ
l ɸ
"to kill"
"to be killed"
l
l
l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ
lk k
lk k
l r
l r
"to bear" (a child)
"to be born"
"to give"
"to be given"
"to tie"
"to be tied"
"to repair, fix, arrange"
"to be repaired" (by sb)
lɸ n
lɸ n
lt n n
lt n
llm r
llm r
"to hang" (generic)
"to be suspended"
"to straighten"
"to be straightened"
"to extinguish"
"to be extinguished"
l nd
l nd
"to deceive"
"to be deceived" (by sb)
ln t
ln t
"to twist"
"to be twisted"
Examples:
a.
m !l l
m !l l
l ŋ
m ŋ
t
m m l
m m l
l m wn
l m m l
m l
w l
m
m
m ŋ
cl. 3
cl. 4
cl. 5
cl. 6
"the food was eaten"
"the foods were eaten"
"the race was won"
"the mangoes were eaten"
cl. 7
cl. 8
cl.10
"the rat was eaten"
"the works were done"
"the bananas were given"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
105
n n m ŋw
w l w m n
cl. 13
cl. 14
"the bird was killed"
"the canoe was bought"
b.
m ɲ m m n
m ɲ m m n
l n l m
l
r m tn l
cl. 3
cl. 4
cl. 5
cl. 7
"the land was cultivated"
"the lands were cultivated"
"the name was called"
"the wall was pushed"
m k
m l m
r
w mb w m l ŋ
cl. 7
cl. 10
cl. 14
"the tree was cut"
"the goats were cut"
"the sugar was liked by us"
m l n m ŋɡ
t
m
zr
m l m m nd
m
m m ɲ
cl. 1
cl. 2
cl. 3
cl. 5
"the woman was seen"
"the people were chosen"
"the mountain was descended"
"the blood was drunk"
m ɲ
n n m k
w l w m t zr
cl. 9
cl. 13
cl. 14
"the bier was drunk"
"the bird was washed"
"the canoe was touched"
c.
9. Morpheme stacking
It is possible to stack morphemes.
Causative + relationship
ltm
"to return"
ltm - r
t m - r -l- l
lɸ ŋ l ɸ ŋ -l- l
l ɸ ŋ - r -l- l
"to return sth, (money)", "to change, to substitute"
"to reply, exchange"
"to spoil"
"to ferment"
"to make ferment"
Causative + comitative
lɲŋ "to shake"
lɲŋ - r
"to make sth shake"
l ɲ ŋ - r -n
"to shake strongly or to shake with ..."
- -
- l
- a
Reflexive verbs
Relationship
Predicative
Past participle (Process)
(~- ~- )
-
-izr
Causative
Neutro-passive
- - ... -
Associative reciprocal
Copies tone of FV of VR
Adds to FV of VR
Adds to FV of VR
Fixed high tone
Copies tone of FV of VR
Fixed high tone
Placed between TAM & VR
Replaces FV of VR
Copies tone of FV of VR
Replaces or adds to FV of VR
Suffix: replaces FV of VR
Fixed L-H tone sequence
for both infix and suffix
Copies tone of FV of VR
Adds to FV of VR
-na
Applicative/comitative
Infix: placed between VPr & VR.
- a (Kagaya 1992a)
Copies tone of FV of VR
Replaces FV of VR
-eja or -ea
Applicative/Benefactive
→
→
/ #—
/ #—
Insertion of epenthetic
/l/, /n/ between FV & suffix
Optional use of RP (refl pron)
FV /-a/ changes to / /
-izre (Kagaya 1992a)
Insertion of epenthetic
l, n between FV & suffix -
- - → - -/ l — , o or u
na → n / #—
na → n / #—
Remarks
Tone
Behaviour
Morpheme
Derivational event
10.
Table 12. Mokpe verb derivational morphemes
106
G.ATINDOGBE
Summary
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
107
3. The Verb Phrase
There exist in Mokpe some morpheme used to specify the verbal action with regard
to its phases, manner or quantity.
1. Marking of phase of action
(1) Durative

or
"meantime"
t
t
t
t
n
n
n
n
/
/
/
/
n
n
n
n
m l
m
m w w
m nd
"In the meantime, he ate"
"In the meantime, he came
"In the meantime, he took"
"In the meantime, he went"
t
n
/
n
m tn l
"In the meantime, he pushed"

l
l
l
l
l
m
m
m
m
m
l or
l
l
l
l
l
/n
/n
/n
/n
/n
m
m
m
m
m

"meanwhile"
l
nd
tn l
w w
"meanwhile, he ate"
"meanwhile, he came"
"meanwhile, he went"
"meanwhile, he pushed"
"meanwhile, he took"
n "keep on"
n m l n m n
"I keep on eating"
n
n
n
n
"I keep on coming"
"you keep on going"
"you keep on pushing"
"we keep on taking"
m
n
m nd n
m tn l
m w w
m n
m n
n m n
n m n
(2) Ingressive

n
w
"still"
l n
m l l (14)
l n m l l
l n m l l
l n
l l (15)
I’m still a tea er
ou’re still a tea er
"s/he is still a teacher"
we’re still tea ers
108
G.ATINDOGBE
l n
l n
l l
l l (16)

rk
rk
rk
rk
ou’re still tea ers
t e ’re still tea ers
or
m
m
m
m
n m
m
m
m
rk m
rk m
m
m
"previously"
m l l
n m n l
n m k l
n
t
n
m
l l
n l
n
"previously, I was a teacher"
"previously, you were a farmer"
"previously, he was a player"
"previously, we were nice people"
"previously you were teachers"
"previously they were farmers"
(3) Resultative

m nd
m
ŋ
a.
m l
m
m m
b.
ʒ
or
"on arrival"
k l
"s/he walked on arrival"
"s/he ran on arrival"
k l
k l
w l
k l
k l
m l
k l
!
!
m
k l
m ŋw m
k l
n m k
k l
m tn l
k l
"s/he ate on arrival"
"s/he worked on arrival"
"s/he sang on arrival"
"s/he ate it on arrival"
"s/he did it on arrival"
"s/he sang it on arrival"
"I cut it on arrival"
"you pushed it on arrival"
(4) Terminative

"in/on time"
n m
m m
m nd
w ŋ
r
n
n
n
m m
w ŋ
m m
r
n
n
"I came on time"
"you sang on time"
"s/he went on time"
"that is we who worked in time"
"that is we who came in time"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp

r
r
r
r
r
n
n
n
n
n
"early"
m
l l kp l l l
m m
l l kp l l l
m n
l l kp l l l
m ɡ
w l
l l kp l l l
m ŋɡ n
l l kp l l l

m
m
m
m
ɲ
nd w
w ŋɡ
l w
ɡ
m m
109
"all day long"
ɲ w r
w ɲ w r
ɲ w r
w l w ɲ w r
w
"that is we who came early in the morning"
"that is we who sang early in the morning"
"that is we who went early in the morning"
"that is we who worked early in the morning"
"that is we who helped early in the morning"
ɲ w r
"s/he walked the whole day/all day long"
"s/he ran the whole day/all day long"
"s/he ate the whole day/all day long"
"s/he worked the whole day/all day long"
"s/he sang the whole day/all day long"
(5) Habitual

j
and
"used to"
n j k lt m l n m
j k ltn l m l n ŋ
j k l n m l n n
k l m
l n
r
j k llŋ n
l n
ɲ
!
j k l
r
l n
w
n m
l n
n l
m
l n

"the farmers used to cultivate"
"always"
n ŋ w n m l n m ŋ l ŋ l
n m l n ŋ ŋ l ŋ l
n n m l n n ŋ l ŋ l
d m
l n
r ŋ l ŋ l
l
l n
ɲ ŋ l ŋ l
!
lŋ n
"I used to beat my wife"
"you used to push your wife"
"s/he used to carry his wife"
"we used to send our wives"
"you (pl) used to love your wives"
"they used to sell their wives"
"I used to cultivate"
l n
ɲ ŋ l ŋ l
"I always help my wife"
"you always carry his wife"
"s/he always beat his wife"
"we always send our wives"
"you (pl) always call your wives"
"they always love your wives"
110
G.ATINDOGBE

k
k
k
k
k
j
/
"often"
t m l n n
l ŋɡw n m l n n
tn l m l n n
t m l n n l m
lt m l n n
"s/he often beats his wife"
"s/he often helps his wife"
"s/he often pushes his wife"
"s/he often slaps his wife"
"s/he often fucks his wife"
(6) Simultaneity

m r
m l n
m ɲ n
m r
m l l
"while"
l
m
m
l
r
nd
m
nd
w l m
m m
m
nd
m
"the boy eats while walking"
"the woman sings while walking"
"the man cultivates while singing"
"the boy eats while singing"
"the teacher dances while going"
In the past, a different morpheme is used.

n m l
m m
m
r
m
m t
m k
"while"
r n nd
r w l
n
r
r
r
t nd l

m r
m l n
m ɲ n
m r
m l l

m r
m l n
m ɲ n
"I ate while walking"
"you sang while eating"
"s/he cried while cultivating"
"we came while dancing"
"you slaped while laughing"
"they cut while pushing"
as …"
l n
m
l
l n
r ŋ
nd
n
w l
l kp n m
m
m n nd
"the boy eats as he walks"
"the woman sings as she works"
"the man cultivates as he sings"
"the boy eats as he sings"
"the teacher dances as he goes"
Zero morpheme "and"
l
r
m
nd
w l
m
"the boy eats and dances"
"the woman sings and walks"
"the man cultivates and sings"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
m r
m l l
m r
m r
l m
m
r
nd
l nd or
nd l
( m
111
"the boy eats and sings"
"the teacher dances and goes"
"the boy eats and walks"
"the boy walks and eats"
(7) Sudden action

n m k
m tn
m
m k
m ŋ
m ŋ
"quickly"
k rk r
l k rk r
r k rk r
rk r
k rk r
k rk r

m
n m k
m tn
m
m ŋ
m ŋ
"I cut quickly"
"you pushed quickly"
"s/he sold quickly"
"we cried quickly"
"you gave quickly"
"they built quickly"
"rashly"
n m kp r
n m kp r
l n m kp r
r n m kp r
n !m kp r
n !m kp r
m l k rk r
m m k rk r
m tn l k rk r
n m k n m kp r
m m n m kp r
m ŋ n m kp r
"s/he worked rashly"
"I cut rashly"
"you pushed rashly"
"s/he sold rashly"
"you gave rashly"
"they built rashly"
"s/he ate it quickly"
"s/he sang it quickly"
"you pushed it quickly"
"I cut it rashly"
"we sent it rashly"
"they built it rashly"
(8) Repetition
To express repetition, Mokpe uses the adverb
"again".
d
"come again"
ɡ
"do again"
m
m
"send again"
"sing again"
112
l
w w
m !
G.ATINDOGBE
"eat again"
"take it again"
"when do you come again?"
!
n
d
(9) Cumulative
The cumulation adverb
n
M
r l ɡ
m
n
1sg.Obj
"also" is used to indicate addition.
also
r
1sg
l- -ɡ
want
INF-Obj-do
"I also want to do it"
W
w
m n
2sg.Obj
also
ŋɡ
n
m2sg
PAST
go
ŋɡ
there
"Did you also go there?"
n nd ŋm l
n- Ø
M
m
1sg.Obj
also
1sg
nd
PRES
go
ŋm l
tomorrow
"I will also go tomorrow"
2. Quantification of action
(1) Intensive

dʒ dʒ
"much, very very"
a. with l
"sharp"
l w n l
l
l
l
d
l
d
w
l w n l
w
w
l w n
l w n
l
l
!
w
l w n
l
!
!
"the knife is sharp"
"it is sharp"
"it is very sharp"
"it is very, very sharp"
"it is very, very, very sharp"
"s/he has a sharp knife"
d
d
"s/he has a very sharp knife"
"s/he has a very, very sharp knife"
d
"s/he has a very, very, very sharp knife"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
113
. wit l t n blunt"
l w n
lt n
"the knife is blunt"
lt n
"it is blunt"
lt n
"it is very blunt"
lt n
d
"it is very, very blunt"
lt n d
d
"it is very, very, very blunt"
w
l w n
lt n
w
l w n
lt n
d
"s/he has a very blunt knife"
w
l w n
lt n
d
"s/he has a very, very blunt knife"
w
l w n
lt n
d
"s/he has a very, very, very blunt knife"

a.
dʒ dʒ
d
d
"s/he has a blunt knife"
and idiomatic expression "too much, excessively"
as "too much"
t d d
nd d d
w l d
b.
"s/he speaks too much"
"s/he walks too much"
"s/he works too much"
d
Idiomatic expression "too much"
l l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ n m t w
t r r
l m t w
"s/he speaks too much"
"s/he speaks too much"
"s/he speaks too much"
"s/he speaks too much"
(2) Ability

"be able to" (Affirmative)
n t n lt m l n m
t n ltn l m l n ŋ
t n l n m l n n
t n l m
l n
r
t n llŋ n
l n
ɲ
t n l
r
l n
w

n
r !t n l t
!
"I am able to beat my wife"
"you are able to push your wife"
"s/he is able to carry his wife"
"we are able to send our wives"
"you (pl) are able to love your wives"
"they are able to sell their wives"
mb n "not be able to" (Negative)
m l n
m
r t n ltn l m l n ŋ
r !t n l n l m l n n
"I am not able to beat my wife"
"you are not able to push your wife"
"s/he is not able to carry his wife"
114
G.ATINDOGBE
r !t n l m
l n
r
r !t n l l ŋ n
l n
ɲ
r t n l
r
l n
w
"we are not able to send our "wives"
"you (pl) are not able to love your wives"
"they are not able to sell their wives"
(3) Negation of habitual

"never"
The expression of "at no time", "not in any degree" as well as the permanent negation
of habitual is done via the privative adverb
r
r
r
r
zr
r
r
l
"never".
"never eat"
"never call"
"never push"
"never open"
"never go"
"never sing"
"never divide"
l
tn l
l w
nd
m
k w
r ŋɡ
r n
r
"never give"
"never buy"
"never cry"
3. Manner of action

n m k n
m tn l n
"carefully"
ŋ
ŋ
m
r n
ŋ
m
n
ŋ
m ŋ
n
ŋ
m ŋ n
ŋ
"I cut carefully"
"you pushed carefully"
"s/he sold carefully"
"we cried carefully"
"you gave carefully"
"they built carefully"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp

or
"well"
n m k
m
m tn l
m
!
m
r
m
m m
m
!
m ŋ
m
m ŋ
m

nd
m m n m
m ŋ!
n m
m ŋ n m
ɲ
"I cut it well"
"you pushed it well"
"s/he sold it well"
"we sent it well"
"you gave it well"
"they built it well"
"nicely"
n m k nd m
m t n l nd m
m ! r nd m

115
"I cut it nicely"
"you pushed it nicely"
"s/he sold it nicely"
"we sent it nicely"
"you gave it nicely"
"they built it nicely"
"restlessly"
a.
n m k n ɲ ŋ
m tn l n ɲ ŋ
m
r n ɲ ŋ
m
n ɲ ŋ
m ŋ
n ɲ ŋ
m ŋ n ɲ ŋ
"I cut restlessly"
"you pushed restlessly"
"s/he sold restlessly"
"we cried restlessly"
"you gave restlessly"
"they built restlessly"
b.
n m k n ɲ ŋ
m tn l n ɲ ŋ
m ! r n ɲ ŋ
m m n ɲ ŋ
m ŋ!
n ɲ ŋ
m ŋ n ɲ ŋ
"I cut it restlessly"
"you pushed it restlessly"
"s/he sold it restlessly"
"we sent it restlessly"
"you gave it restlessly"
"they built it restlessly"
116
G.ATINDOGBE
4. Summary
Table 13. Morphemes for phase of actions, manner or quantity
t
n
/
n
"meantime"
l m l /n
n m n
rk m
/
m
!
r ɸ n
!
ɸ n m r / ɸ n
k l /
l
ɸ n
kp l l l / l k l
w ɲ w r
j k an m
!
ɸ n
ŋɡ l ŋɡ l
r
"meanwhile"
"Keep on"
"still"
/ "previously"
k
"on coming, arrival"
"in / on time"
"early"
"all day long"
"used to"
"all the time"
"always"
ŋɡ l ŋɡ l / j k
m (present tense)
r (past tense)
n
Zero morpheme
k rk r
m kp r
d d
lt n
"often"
"while"
"while"
as … / "like"
"and"
"quickly"
"rashly"
"much, very very"
"be able to"
l mb n
l ŋɡ
m /ll
nd m
ɲ ŋ
n
"not be able to"
"carefully"
"well"
"nicely"
"restlessly"
"like"
5. Time and locative adverbs
Here are the time and locative adverbs commonly used in Mokpe.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
(1) Time adverbs
l l
ŋɡ m
n w r
m ! n
w n
m !n ŋm
"in the morning"
"in the evening"
"ago", "sometimes ago"
"when"
"today"
"next year"
n ŋɡ
ŋm l
ŋɡ n
ŋm
wk
"now"
"yesterday", "tomorrow"
"in one month"
"in one year"
"in one week"
w r
r k m
!
m ɲ m
w
w
w
w
w
w
r
r n
r t
r w
r
"after"
"short ago or a while ago"
"in three days"
"in three days"
"in four days"
"in five days"
"the day before yesterday"
"in two days"
"in the night"
(2) Locative adverbs
n
ŋɡ
n
r or r
n t
m r
ŋm ɲ
t ŋɡ ŋɡ
r
"here"
"there"
"before"
"together"
"until"
"behind"
"on"
"nearby"
"under"
t n
"in", "inside"
!
"from"
n
117
118
G.ATINDOGBE
V. SYNTAX
1. Simple Sencence Construction
Mokpe is an SVO language. In an affirmative indicative sentence, the verbal clause
has the order of morphemes below:
Subject Pronoun - (Tense/Aspect) - (Object Pronoun) - Verb Root - Object
Examples:
a.
b.
N
l ŋɡ n
-ŋɡ n
1sg
love +PRES
N
m
l
m
1sg
PAST
eat
9.banana
"I love a girl."
7.DET-9.girl
"I ate a banana."
When the object pronoun is inserted into the verbal complex, the structure is then:
Subject Pronoun-(Tense/Aspect)-(Object Pronoun)-Infix vowel O-Verb Root
Examples:
l
"to wash"
m
n
m
m
m
m
d
m
m
3sg
PAST
l
"to give"
m
n
mm
m
m
d
m
m
3sg
PAST
ObjP
ObjP
r
r
r
r
r
!
zr
InfxV
"he washed me"
"he washed you (sg)"
"he washed him/her"
"he washed us"
"he washed you (pl)"
"he washed them"
wash
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
!
ŋɡ
InfxV
r
r
r
r
r
zr
give
"he gave me"
"he gave you (sg)"
"he gave him/her"
"he gave us"
"he gave you (pl)"
"he gave them"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
l
l "to call"
m
n
m
m
mm
d
m
m
l
l
l
l
l
l
3sg
PAST
l
l "to push"
m
n
m
m
m
m
d
m
m
3sg
PAST
119
ObjP
ObjP
InfxV
call
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn
tn
InfxV
"he called me"
"he called you (sg)"
"he called him/her"
"he called us"
"he called you (pl)"
"he called them"
l
l
l
l
l
l
"he pushed me"
"he pushed you (sg)"
"he pushed him/her"
"he pushed us"
"he pushed you (pl)"
"he pushed them"
push
That structure does not change when you use the imperative mood. The pronoun
object is still intercalated in the verbal phrase.
l
3sg
"to give" (Imperative)
m
ŋɡ
-b l
d
ŋɡ
-b l
ObjP
InfxV
give
"give him the ball"
"give us the ball"
7.DET-9.ball
As we can see in the examples above, the object pronoun is systematically followed
by the infix vowel . If we admit that the object pronouns have the following shapes:
"me", "you (sg)", m "him/her", "us", "you (pl)",
"them", then the presence of
the vowel
triggers the phonological processes whereby the vowels of the object
pronoun are either deleted or changed into consonant. This is illustrated as follows:
n
m
→ n
→ m
→ d
"me"
"him/her"
"us"
( eletion of t e vowel
(deletion of the vowel )
(the vowel i become d )
Also note the deletion of the vowel /a/ of the past tense marker at the 2sg and 2pl, i.e.
→ m in a sequence m + (2sg) and m + (2pl).
As for the infix vowel / /, it assimilates to the vowel /e/ of the 2pl become, and
deletes completely when its occurs in front of the 3pl .
120
G.ATINDOGBE
It is equally very important to note that in vowel-initial verb root, the infix vowel / /
does show up and there are a series of phonological processes that are triggered by its
absence depending on whether the verb root starts with the vowel /-i/, /-u/, /-o/ or /-a/.

When the verb root starts with the vowel /-i/, the infix vowel / / is absent
and the following phonological processes occur, mostly on the object
pronouns:
►the vowel of the 1sg deletes (
→ n), i.e. /a/ → [Ø]/__ i.
►a prothetic semivowel, /w/, is inserted between the 2sg and the vowel /i/ of the verb
root, i.e. /Ø/ → [w]/ __ i.
►the vowel / / of the 3sg m deletes (i.e. m → m) and the consonant /m/ becomes
[ŋm] before the vowel /i/ of the verb root, i.e. /m/ → [ŋm]/__ i.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 1pl, is realised [d ] before the vowel /i/ of the
verb root, i.e. /i/ → [d ]/__ i.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 2pl, is realised [ ] before the vowel /i/ of the
verb root by virtue of assimilation, i.e. / / → [ ] /__ i.
►the vowel / / of the 3pl deletes before the vowel /i/ of the verb root, i.e. / / → Ø /__ i.
All these rules are illustrated in the example below:
l ʒ
3sg

"to ask"
m
n
m
m
ŋm
m
d
m
m
w
w
w
w
w
w
w
PAST
ask
ObjP
"he asked me"
"he asked you (sg)"
"he asked him/her"
"he asked us"
"he asked you (pl)"
"he asked them"
When the verb root starts with the vowel /-u/, the infix vowel / / is absent
and the following phonological processes occur on the object pronouns:
►the vowel of the 1sg deletes ( → n), i.e. /a/ → [Ø]/__ u.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 2sg, is realised [ ] before the vowel /u/ of the
verb root by virtue of assimilation, i.e. / / → [ ] /__ u.
►the vowel / / of the 3sg m is realised [ ] before the vowel /u/ of the verb root by
virtue of assimilation, i.e. / / → [ ] /__ u.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 1pl, is realised [d ] before the vowel /u/ of the
verb root, i.e. / / → [d ]/__ u.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
121
►the vowel / / of the 3pl
deletes before the vowel /u/ of the verb root, i.e. / / → Ø
/__ u ( → ), and the consonant / / is realised [w] before the vowel /u/ of the verb
root, i.e. / / → [w] /__ u.
All these rules are illustrated in the example below:
3sg

l "to show"
m
n
m
ŋm l
ŋm l
"he showed me"
"he showed you (sg)"
m
m
m
m
m
d
ŋm
ŋm
ŋm
ŋm
"he showed him/her"
"he showed us"
"he showed you (pl)"
"he showed them"
PAST
ObjP
w
l
l
l
l
show
When the verb root starts with the vowel /-o/, the infix vowel / / is absent
and the following phonological processes occur on the object pronouns:
►the vowel of the 1sg deletes (
→ n), i.e. /a/ → [Ø]/__ o.
►the vowel / / of the 3sg m is realised [ ] before the vowel /o/ of the verb root by
virtue of assimilation, i.e. / / → [ ] /__ o.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 1pl, is realised [d ] before the vowel /o/ of the
verb root, i.e. / / → [d ]/__ o.
►the vowel / / of the 3pl
deletes before the vowel /o/ of the verb root, i.e. / / → Ø
/__ o ( → ), and the consonant / / is realised [w] before the vowel /o/ of the verb
root, i.e. / / → [w] /__ o.
All these rules are illustrated in the example below:
m
m
m
m
m
m
3sg
PAST
"to help"
n
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
m
ŋɡ
d
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
w
ŋɡ
ObjP
help
w
w
w
w
w
w
n
n
n
n
n
n
"he helped me"
"he helped you (sg)"
"he helped him/her"
"he helped us"
"he helped you (pl)"
"he helped them"
122
G.ATINDOGBE

When the verb root starts with the vowel /-a/, the infix vowel / / is absent
and the following phonological processes occur, mostly, on the object
pronouns:
►the vowel of the 1sg deletes ( → n), i.e. /a/ → [Ø]/__ a.
►a prothetic semivowel, /w/, is inserted between the 2sg and the vowel /a/ of the
verb root, i.e. /Ø/ → [w]/ __ a.
►the vowel / / of the 3sg m deletes (i.e. m → m) and the consonant /m/ becomes
[ŋm] before the vowel /a/ of the verb root, i.e. /m/ → [ŋm]/__ a.
►the vowel / /, the object pronoun of 1pl, is realised [d ] before the vowel /a/ of the
verb root, i.e. / / → [d ]/__ a.
All these rules are illustrated in the example below:
"to shoot, to throw"
m
n
ŋɡ
m
w ŋɡ
m
ŋm
ŋɡ
m
d
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
m
m
3sg
PAST
ObjP
"he shot me"
"he shot you (sg)"
"he shot him/her"
"he shot us"
"he shot you (pl)"
"he shot them"
shoot
Even when the imperative mood is used, the infix vowel / / still oesn’t s ow up at
all in a verb root starting with a vowel, and four of the rules identified above are equally
observed.
2sg
n
"to help"
ŋɡ w n
m
d
w
ŋɡ w n
ŋɡ w n
ŋɡ w n
ObjP
"help me"
"help him"
"help us"
"help them"
help
Also, w en t e o e t is t e pronoun ‘it’, the infix vowel / / oes not surfa e in
vowel-initial verb root. Note the insertion of the prothetic glide /j/ between the object
pronoun and the verb root.
l n
"to buy"
n
m
m
m
n
n!d
n!d
!
j n
"I bought it"
"s/he bought it"
"I bought them"
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
!
m
3sg
j n
PAST
ObjP
123
"s/he bought them"
buy
Thus the infix vowel / / does show up in vowel-initial verb root, because the root
already has its vowel. Thus, the vowel / / which is intercalated between the object
pronoun and the verb root is no longer necessary. This suggests that the structure SVO
must have a vowel before the verbal root when the object is a pronoun. Let us call this
infix vowel / /, a prothetic vowel which must be present each time a verbal predicate is
constructed with an object pronoun.
When the pronominal object is ‘it’, t ere is variation a or in to referent because it
is only in the correct context that it has meaning. The morpheme-by-morpheme analysis
will give:
l k t / m k t bread/s" (cl. 5/6)
A:
l -!k t
Do you have the bread?
2sg
B: Ɛ
yes
have
5-bread + int
n
l-
-
1sg
5.ObjP
have
A:
2sg have
B: Ɛ
n
yes
1sg
m /
A:
2sg
B: Ɛ
yes
have
m -k t
6-bread+ int
m6.ObjP
B: Ɛ
yes
7.ObjP
(cl. 6)
Yes, I have them (the breads).
(cl. 6)
(cl. 7)
Yes, I have it (the fruit).
(cl. 7)
Do you have the fruits?
(cl. 8)
Yes, I have them (the fruits).
(cl. 8)
have
m
8-fruit+ inter
n
1sg
Do you have the breads?
7-fruit+ inter
have
(cl. 5)
m fruit/s" (cl. 7/8)
- m
Do you have the fruit?
A:
2sg
Yes, I have it (the bread).
have
n
1sg
(cl. 5)
8.ObjP
have
ɲ m / ɲ m "fish/es" (cl. 9/10)
-ɲ m
A:
2sg
B: Ɛ
have
9-fish+ inter
n
d
Do you have the fish?
(cl. 9)
Yes, I have it (the fish).
(cl. 9)
124
G.ATINDOGBE
yes
1sg
9.ObjP
have
-ɲ m
A:
2sg
B: Ɛ
yes
have
10-fish+ inter
n
d
1sg
10.ObjP
Do you have the fishes?
(cl. 10)
Yes, I have them (the fishes).
(cl. 10)
have
2. Complexe Sentence Constructions
Many other morphemes can enter the construction of sentence in Mokpe.
1. Qualification of the noun in the NP
m
l
ɲ ɲ
3sg
PAST
eat
9.lemon
kp ɲ kp ɲ
9-Cd
sour
"S/he ate a sour lemon."
2sg
m
-m
PAST
dig
- n
nd n
7-hole
9.big
"You dug a big hole."
m
2sg
t
PAST
-
harvest
m
7-fruit
j-
- !t
7-Cd
strong
"You harvested a strong fruit."
Note:
ll
lm
l t
"to eat"
"to dig"
"to harvest"
2. Copula +predicate sentence
l n
m -t
3sg
COP
CLIT
1-person
w
w
1.bad
n
but
"S/he is a bad person, but he works well"
Note:
m t / t
w w
lɡ
w l
"person"
"bad"
"to (do) work"
lɡ
w l /
ɡ m
"to do"
"work"
"well"
w l
ɡ
3sg
do.PRES
-w l
ɡ m
7-work
9.well
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
125
3. Juxtaposition of complements
m
ŋɡ
m - t ,
3sg
PAST
look at
9-fabric
m
3sg
n
PAST
buy
n
l- n
m n
CLIT
5-DEM
only
"S/he looked at the fabrics, she bought only this one"
Note:
l ŋɡ
l n
3sg
"to look at"
"to buy"
zr
- n
zr ŋɡ
w- ŋɡ ,
NEG
see
9-father
2sg-PosP
3sg
m
- n
n
w - m
PAST
see
only
1sg-PosP
"S/he did not see your father, he saw only mine"
Note:
r
l n
r ŋɡ / r ŋɡ
NEG past
"to see"
"guest"
4. Consequence
-nd
7.DET-9.tiger
Cd
m
ŋw
n
m - n
l- n l
n
l-
PAST
die
because
of
4-trick
5-violence
and
5-theth
"The tiger died because of tricks, violence and theth"
Note:
nd
/ nd
l ŋw
ŋm n / m n
l n l /l n l
l /l
5. Circumstantial clause
-w ɸ
7.DET-9.fowl
7.Cd
"tiger"
"to die"
"trick"
"violence"
"theth"
m
ɲ
m -
m - n
PAST
lay
4-egg
4-POS
"When the fowl layed her eggs, the dog passed"
Note:
w ɸ
lɲ
ŋm
ŋɡ
l k
"fowl"
"to lay"
/m
"egg"
"dog"
"pass"
-ŋɡ
7.DET-9.dog
7.Cd
m
- k
PAST
pass
126
G.ATINDOGBE
Ɛn l
1. Endalle
1.Cd
m
ɲ
ŋm n
m -l n
PAST
give
birth
1.child
1-male
ŋɡ n
LOC
-
9.month
9-Cd
m
r
behind
"Endalle gave birth to a baby girl last month"
Note:
lɲ
ŋɡ n
"give birth"
"month"
/ ŋɡ n
6. Destination, location
3sg
m
-k
m -
t n
PAST
put
4-egg
PREP
k
ɸ
d - r
10.calabash
10-all
"S/he put the eggs in all the calabashes"
3sg
m
-k
m -
t n
t m
k
ɸ
PAST
put
4-egg
PREP
each
9.calabash
"S/he put the eggs in each calabash"
7. Embedded (relative) clause
l
m
ŋɡ
1.
Tortoise
1.Cd
PAST
m ɲ
built
LOC
9.land
m
3sg
r ŋɡ
PAST
inherit
"Tortoise built on the land he inherited from my father"
k l /k l
l ŋɡ
m ɲ /m ɲ
"tortoise"
"to build"
"land"
l r ŋɡ
"to inherit"
8. Conditional clause
N
l
t n
w
COND
2sg
Note:
1sg
Mood
eat
cook +PRES
"I would eat if you cook"
l
zr
1sg
Neg
Mood
t n
eat
COND
r
2sg
r
Neg
want +PRES
"We woul not eat if ou on’t want
m
CLIT
n
m
1sg
PAST
l
call
t n
COND
r
3sg
Neg
d
come
n
r ŋɡ
m
from
7-father
1.POS
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
127
"I would have called if she had not come"
3. Relative Clauses
The relative forms use invariably the morpheme
regardless of the noun class that
the relative pronoun qualifies. It is placed just after the noun and precedes the verb
concord.
m l
n
m
m
ŋɡ
w ŋɡ
w n
n m
m
m m
l m
m m
l m
m l m
m w l t
m
ŋw
The relative pronoun
cl. 1
cl. 2
cl. 3
cl. 4
cl. 10
cl. 14
cl. 13
"the women who laughs"
"the children who laugh"
"the head which has hair"
"the heads which have hair"
"the dogs which barks"
"the brain which thinks"
"the cartridge which kills"
cl. 5
"the tooth which cuts meat"
cl. 7
"the work which ends"
cl. 9
"the dog which barks"
can be omitted.
l r ŋɡ m l k ! ɲ m
l r ŋɡ l k ! ɲ m
w l m k
w l k
ŋɡ
m l m
ŋɡ
l
An example of morpheme-by-morpheme gives:
L -zr ŋɡ
m
5.DEM-tooth
RelPro
lk
!
cut + PRES
ɲ m
9.Cd
9.meat
"The tooth which cuts meat"
4. Questions
In Mokpe, apart from interrogative pronouns, there is no lexical device that indicates
interrogation. In other words, the syntaxic structure of an interrogative sentence is
similar to the one of a declarative sentence. Interrogations or questions are rendered by
a rising intonation at the end of the utterance.
!
m
!
2sg
have
-
m
7-fruit
128
G.ATINDOGBE
"Do you have the fruit?"
m k t
m -k t
2sg
have
6-fruit
"Do you have the breads?"
m
m
IntP
!
!
n
!
d
n
9.time
2sg
Ø
!
PRES
come
d
again
"When do you come again?"
W
W
m l
2sg
TAM
n n t
m l
wait
n
n
here
zr mb
n t
-n
until
7-DemPro
7-tree
-zr m-b
7-roten-PASS
"Are you waiting here so that this tree get roten?"
5. Copula and Existential Sentences
Non-verbal predicates are constructed with the copulative morpheme
which will
take the meaning of quality, location and stabilisation depending on the particle that
precedes or follows it. A concept like "origin" is equally presented under non-verbal
predicates.
1.
ualit ː
"be"
The morphemic sequence ...
The negation form is rendered with
"be", positive form, generally expresses quality.
ʒ →
ʒ .
Positive
n
l n m k l
"I am a player"
l n ŋɡ ŋɡ
"you are a doctor"
l n m n l
"s/he is a farmer"
Negative
n r n
m k l
"I am not a player"
r n
ŋɡ ŋɡ
"you are not a doctor"
r n
m n l
"he is not a farmer"
l n
l l
"we are teachers"
l n
k l
r n
l l
"we are not teachers"
r n
k l
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
"you are players"
l n r ŋɡ
"they are fathers"
2.
o ationː
129
"you are not players"
r n
r ŋɡ
"they are not fathers"
"be"
The morphemic sequence ...
negation form is equally rendered with
"be", positive form, expresses location. The
ʒ →
ʒ .
Positive
n
l w w ŋɡ (17)
"I am in the box"
l w l w
"you are in the market"
l m
"s/he is in the village"
l n w
"we are in the house"
Negative
n r n
w w ŋɡ
"I am not in the box"
r n
w l w
"you are not in the market"
r n
m
"s/he is not in the village"
r n
n w
"we are not in the house"
l w ŋɡ
"you are in the farm"
l t
"they are in the room"
n
l n 18
"I am here"
l ŋɡ
"you (sg) are there"
r n
w ŋɡ
"you (pl) are not in the farm"
r n
t
"they are not in the room"
n r n
n
"I am not here"
r n
ŋɡ
"you (sg) are not there"
3. Stabilization with
: "it is"
The morpheme
is used as a stabilizer ("it is"), in nouns of all classes and
independent pronouns. Negation here is rendered by
ʒ →
ʒ for human
and
k t → zr k t for non-human and the independent pronouns. When zr k t is
used the particle preceding
/
ʒ (
/
ʒ ) drops.
a.
In noun of all classes
Positive
Negative
l n l
"it is God"
l n r ŋɡ
r n
l
"it is not God"
r n
r ŋɡ
130
b.
G.ATINDOGBE
"it is a father"
l n l n ŋɡ
"it is Linonge"
l n m l l
"it is a teacher"
l n ŋm n
"it is a child"
l n
m
"it is not a father"
r n
l n ŋɡ
"it is not Linonge"
r n
m l l
"it is not a teacher"
r n
ŋm n
"it is not a child"
zr k t
m
"it is a fruit"
l n
r
"it is a wall"
l n m l
"it is a goat"
l n t
"it is a room"
l n l r ŋɡ
"it is not a fruit"
zr k t
r
"it is not a wall"
zr k t m l
"it is not a goat"
zr k t t
"it is not a room"
zr k t l r ŋɡ
"it is a tooth"
"it is not a tooth"
In independent pronouns
Positive
Negative
m
"it is me"
zr k t m
w
"it is you"
zr k t w
m
"it is him"
zr k t m
r
"it is us"
zr k t r
ɲ
"it is us"
zr k t ɲ
"it is not me"
"it is not you"
"it is not him"
"it is not us"
"it is not you"
w
"it is not them"
"it is them"
zr k t w
Note that
ʒ (negation) can also be completed with
human vs non-human (i.e.
ʒ vs. zr k t ) is neutralised.
Negative
r n
r n
r n
r n
n
n
n
n
ln
l la
ɲ m
n
"it is not a name"
"it is not a duck"
"it is not an animal"
"it is not a way"
r n
n
k m
"it is not a monkey"
r n
n
w l
"it is not a canoe"
. Then, the opposition
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
4. Stabilization with
131
: "there is"
The morpheme
is also used as a stabilizer ("there is"), but most of the time
without
. Negation here is done with
ʒ →
ʒ .
Positive
l n m
"there is a problem"
l w l
Negative
r n
n m
"there is no problem"
r n
w l
"there is money"
l
n
"there is time"
l l w
"there is a market"
l m w
"there is a village"
l w ŋɡ
"there is a farm"
"there is no money"
r n
n
"there is no time"
r n
l w
"there is no market"
r n
m w
"there is no village"
r n
w ŋɡ
"there is no farm"
l t
"there is a room"
l m r
"there is a river"
l
r
"there is a bottle"
l l pk
"there is a bag"
r n
t
"there is no room"
r n
m r
"there is no river"
r n
r
"there is no bottle"
r n
l pk
"there is no bag"
5. Stabilization with - -: "that is"
Apart from
and
, stabilization is equally realised with - - w ere
t e p ens are repla e
t e lass markers [ ], [ ], [m ], [l ], [ ], [ ], [w ]. T e first
vowel is identical to the second. The tone on the first vowel is always low, whereas the
final tone is systematically falling.
a.
Positive (independent pronouns)
m
ŋɡ
"that is me"
(cl.1)
w ŋɡ
m ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
"that is you"
"that is s/he"
"that is we"
(cl.1)
(cl.1)
(cl.2)
132
G.ATINDOGBE
ɲ
b.
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
"that is you"
"that is they"
(cl.2)
(cl.2)
Positive (all noun classes)
ŋm n ŋɡ
"that is a guest"
ŋm m m ŋɡ
"that is a heart"
l r l ŋɡ
"that is an eye"
w l ŋɡ
"that is a work"
(cl.1)
(cl.3)
(cl.5)
(cl.7)
ɲ m ŋɡ
n n ŋɡ
w l w ŋɡ
(cl.9)
(cl.13)
(cl.14)
"that is an animal"
"that is a bird"
"that is a canoe"
The negative forms of those phrases are:
a.
b.
Negative (independent pronouns)
zr k t m
zr k t w
zr k t m
"that is not me"
"that is not you"
"that is not him"
(cl.1)
(cl.1)
(cl.1)
zr k t r
zr k t ɲ
zr k t w
"that is not us"
"that is not you"
"that is not them"
(cl.2)
(cl.2)
(cl.2)
Negative (all noun classes)
zr k t ŋm n ŋɡ
zr k t ŋm m m ŋɡ
zr k t l r l ŋɡ
zr k t w l ŋɡ
"that is not a guest"
"that is not a heart"
"that is not an eye"
"that is not a work"
(cl.1)
(cl.3)
(cl.5)
(cl.7)
zr k t ɲ m ŋɡ
zr k t n n ŋɡ
zr k t w l w ŋɡ
"that is not an animal"
"that is not a bird"
"that is not a canoe"
(cl.9)
(cl.13)
(cl.14)
6. Stabilization with ndʒ
"who is?"
Stabilization may also be realised with ndʒ
Negation: ndʒ
ʒ → ndʒ
ʒ .
Positive
nd
l m
"who is me?"
nd
l w
Negative
nd
r n
m
"who is not me?"
nd
r n
w
("who is?"), as shown below.
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
133
"who are they?"
nd
l m r
"who is a boy?
nd
l m
"who is a head?"
nd
l l r
"who is an eye?"
nd
l l l
"who are not they?"
nd
r n
m r
"who is not a boy?"
nd
r n
m
"who is not a head?"
nd
r n
l r
"who is not an eye?"
nd
r n
l l
"who is a duck?"
nd
l k m
"who is a monkey?"
nd
l w n
"who is a cartridge?"
nd
l w r
"who is a face?"
nd
l l n ŋɡ
"who is not a duck?"
nd
r n
k m
"who is not a monkey?"
nd
r n
w n
"who is not a cartridge?"
nd
r n
w r
"who is not a face?"
nd
r n
l n ŋɡ
"who is Linonge?"
nd
l s m
"who is Eseme?"
nd
l m l
"who is Mbella?"
nd
l m zr ŋɡ
"who is Munsonge?"
"who is not Linonge?"
nd
r n
s m
"who is not Eseme?"
nd
r n
m l
"who is not Mbella?"
nd
r n
m s ŋɡ
"who is not Munsonge?"
7. Origin: -
l l (
The morpheme →
ll
.
)
ll (
) expresses origin. The negation is done with
Positive
n w l l (19) r k l
"I am from school"
w w l l w l w
"you are from the market"
w w l l n
m w
Negative
n r w l l n
w ŋɡ
"I am not from the farm"
r w l l n
t
"you are not from the room"
!
r w l l n
m t w
"s/he is from the village"
d w l l n n
"we are here"
"s/he is not from the car"
r w l l n
m t w
"we are not from the car"
ll
134
G.ATINDOGBE
w l l n ŋɡ
"you are there"
w l l n
n w
"they are from the house"
Paul w w l l n
n
"Paul is from the street"
Paul n Peter w l l n n
"Paul and Peter are from the
r w l l n
ŋɡ k
"you are not from the place"
r w l l n
m r
"they are not from the river"
Paul r w l l n
n
"Paul is not from the street"
Paul n Peter
r w l l n
n
"Paul and Peter are not from the street"
street"
8. Passive with agent
Contrary to the passive without agent which is done with the suffix
and its variants
and
(cf. section IV.2.8), the passive with agent is rendered by a sequential
morpheme n
, irrespective of the vowel of the root, placed between the verb and
the agent.
ŋm n
m
l
n n
n ɲ ŋ
cl.1
"The child was called by the mother."
n
m r r
n n n ɲ ŋ
w
"The children were bathed by their mothers."
cl.2
M ɲ m m n
n n n m k l
"The land was cultivated by the white man."
cl.3
M ɲ m m n
cl.4
n n
n
k l
"The lands were cultivated by the white men."
L! ŋ l m
ŋ
n n n m
"The race was ran by the boys."
r
cl.5
M
m m ɲ
n n n m
"the blood was drunk by him."
cl.6
t m l
n n n p r
"The rat was eaten by the cat."
cl.7
t
m l
n n n p r
"The rat were eaten by the cats."
cl.8
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
135
ŋ
m r r
n n n m
"the dog was bathed by her."
cl.9
ŋ
m
zr
n n n m
"The dogs were chosen by her."
cl.10
!
t m
m w t
n n n ŋm n
"The shoe was put on by the child."
cl.13
W l w m t zr
n n n
r ŋ
"The canoe was touched by the father."
cl.14
6. Useful Expressions
ŋɡ w
ŋɡ w
w ŋɡ w
w ŋɡ w
ɡ ɡ m
! !
d !
l l ɡ m
ŋɡ m ɡ m
n
"heh!"
"attention!"
"Take care!"
"be carefull!"
"watch out!"
"congratulations!"
"yes!"
"no!"
"good morning!"
"good evening!", "good night!"
"go, go away!"
136
G.ATINDOGBE
VI. WORD LISTS
Each word we know, especially when it is the right word, is a powerful tool to
express what we want. It is generally admitted that for basic communication, knowledge
of vocabulary is more important than knowledge of grammar, structure or syntax.
Indeed, it is possible to achieve very elementary communication skills in a language
without knowing the structure or syntax of the target language, but with some basic
lexical items. That is why I found it important to complete this grammatical sketch with
a list of vocabulary. Obviousl , it annot repla e u e works like
a a a’s (1992a) A
Classified Vocabulary of the Bakueri Language, or Connell’s (1997 Mokpe (Bakweri) English Dictionary. It is an adjunct to these works and a completion of or confirmation
to previous works.
This list is an extended version of the standard word list proposed by Morris
Swadesh. It is organized in two sections, English-Mokpe and Mokpe-English. In each
section, the words are grouped within constellations of part of speech: nouns, verbs and
adjectives for easy and quick reference. In the list of nouns, the nouns are followed by
their class number.
1. English - Mokpe
1. Nouns
animal
arm
arrow
ashes
axe
back
bag
banana
banana
bark (of tree)
basket
bat
beans
beard
bee
belly (external)
Singular
m 9
m 3
m n
3
lw 5
j n 19
m r 9
l kp 5
ɡ 7
m 9
m w m
ŋɡ t 9
ŋm m 3
n 9
w kp 14
ɲ w 9
l ŋɡ 5
3
Plural
m 8
m 4
m n
4
lw 5
n 8
m r 10
m kp 6
ɡ 8
m 10
m w m
ŋɡ t 10
m m 4
n 10
w kp 14
ɲ w 10
m ŋɡ 6
4
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
bird
blood
boat/canoe
boat/canoe
body
bone
bow (weapon)
breast (female)
bush, farm
buttocks
calabash
cassava
cat
charcoal
chicken
chief
child
chin
cloth (material)
cock
compound
cooking pot
corpse
cow
crab
crocodile
darkness
daughter
dawn
day
doctor
dog
door
door (with palm leaves )
dry season
duck
dust
eagle
ear
earth (soil)
egg
elephant
encouragement
eye
n n 19
m
6
w l 14
l n 5
ɲ 9
r 7
lk r 5
l 5
w ŋɡ 9
m n 9
k ɸ 9
l kp m 5
p r (loan, Eng.) 9
n
l 9
w
14
k ŋɡ 9
ŋm n 1
r 7
l t 5
m m w
9
w k 7
!
d ŋɡ
m l l 19
mw m 3
ɲ k 9
r r 19
ŋɡ n 9
d tt 9
ŋɡ n 9
l l 7
w ɲ 9
ŋɡ ŋɡ 9
ŋɡ 9
l
5
m k ɲ 3
kp 7
l l 7
zr w 9
d ŋɡ 19
lt 5
m ɲ 3
ŋm 3
nd k 9
m k 9
l r 5
137
n n 8
m
6
w l 14
m n 6
ɲ or !ɲo 10
r 8
m k r 6
m
6
w ŋɡ 10
m n 10
k ɸ 10
m kp m 6
p r 10
n
l 10
d
10
k ŋɡ 10
n 2
r 8
m t 6
w m
w
10
w k 8
!
ŋɡ
m l l 8
m m a4
ɲ k or ɲ k 10
r r 8
ŋɡ n 10
w t t 10
ŋɡ n 10
l l 8
w ɲ 10
ŋɡ ŋɡ 2
ŋɡ 10
m
6
m k ɲ 4
kp 8
l l 8
zr w 10
ŋɡ 8
m t 6
m ɲ 4
m or m 4
n k 10
m k 10
m r 6
138
fabric
fasces
fat
father
fear
feather
female
fire
firewood
fish
food
fowl
friend
goat
God
grass
grinding stone
grinding stone
ground
groundnut
guest
hair (head)
hand
hat/cap
head
heart
he-goat
hoe
horn
horse
house
housefly
hunger
hunter
husband
iron (metal)
jaw
king
kite
knee
knife
kola nut
lap
leaf
G.ATINDOGBE
l w t 5
l w 5
m n n 6
t t 9
w ŋɡ 14
r or r 7
ŋm l 1
m ɲ 3
d l 19
ɲ m m lw 9
m l l 3
w ɸ 14
m n 9
m l 9
l
9
w l 7
l l n k 5
l l !l ! r k 5
m ɲ 3
ŋɡ n 9
ŋm n 1
l m 5
l 5
t m 9
m
3
ŋm m 3
kp m l 7
ŋm 3
m r w 3
w r (loan, Eng.) 14
n w 9
ɲɲ 9
nd w 9
m zr ŋɡ r ŋɡ 1
m ɲ n 1
k 7
l m 5
k ŋɡ 9
w m 14
lj ŋɡ ŋɡ 5
lw n 5
l l 5
l
5
l 7
m t 6
m ŋw or m w 6
m n n 6
t t 2
w ŋɡ 14
r or
r 8
l 2
m ɲ or m ɲ 4
l 8
ɲ m
m l w 10
m l l 4
w ɸa14
m n 10
m l 10
l
10
w l 8
m m n k 6
m m !l ! r k 6
m ɲ 4
ŋɡ n 10
n 2
m m 6
m 6
t m 10
m
4
m m 4
kp m l 7
m 4
m r w 4
w r 10
m n w 6
ɲ ɲ 10
nd w 10
r ŋɡ r ŋɡ 2
w ɲ n 2
k 8
m m 6
k ŋɡ 10
w m 14
m ŋɡ ŋɡ 6
m w n 6
m l 6
m
6
l 8
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
leg
lie
lizard
louse
macabo
machete
maize
male
man
market
mat
meat, animal
money
money
money
monkey
moon
mortar
mosquito
mother
mot er’s brother
mount Cameroon
mountain
mouth
mud
nail
name
navel
neck
needle
new-born
night
nose
notable
oil
old person
orange
palm oil
palm wine
penis
penis
pepper
permission
person
ŋm n 3
m l ŋ 3
nd l 9
ɲɲ 9
lk w 5
9
m r 9
m m 3
m ɲ n 1
l w 7
r r 19
ɲ m 9
m l 6
ŋɡ t 9
w l 14
k m 9
l w l w 7
m t (loan, Eng.) 6
d ŋɡ 19
ɲ ŋɡ 9
m l l 3
ɸ k 9
m l 3
w n 14
l r n
5
ŋɡ n 9
ln 5
nd ŋɡ 9
lw 5
nd nd k 9
ŋm ŋɡ 3
w 14
m m 3
m nd n 1
m w
6
k k m t 7
l n
19
l 5
mm m l 9
k 7
t l l 9
n k 9
n
9
m t 1
139
m n 4
m l ŋ 4
nd l 10
ɲ ɲ 10
m k w 6
10
m r 10
m m 4
w ɲ n 2
l w 8
r r 8
ɲ m 10
m l 6
ŋɡ t 10
w l 14
k m 10
l w l w 7
m t 6
ŋɡ 8
ɲ ŋɡ 10
m l l 4
ɸ k 10
m l 4
w n 14
m r n
6
ŋɡ n 10
mn 6
nd ŋɡ 10
m w 6
nd nd k 10
m ŋɡ 4
m w 6
m m 4
n n 2
m w
6
k k
t 8
m l n
6
m 6
m m m l 10
k 8
t l l 10
n k 8
n
10
t 2
140
pig
plantain
porcepine
pot
race
rain
rainy season
rat
read
river
room
root
rope
rubbish heap
saliva
salt
sand
sea
seed
seed
senior/older
sheep
shoe
side
skin
sleep
smoke
snail
snake
son
song
soup/sauce/stew
spear (war)
speech
star
stomach (internal)
stone
story
sun, sunshine
tablet
tail
theth
thief
thigh
G.ATINDOGBE
ŋɡ
lk
ŋɡ
d
l
m
w
5
m
ŋɡ
ŋ
w
9
9
19
5
9
7
t 7
l l ŋɡ 5
m r 3
t 9
mw ŋɡ 3
m l 3
l t 5
l 8
kp 9
ɲ ŋɡ 9
ŋm n
3
m ŋɡ 3
ŋɡ 9
m l !l 1
m l ŋɡ 3
t m 19
t ŋɡ ŋɡ 9
m w 3
l n ŋɡ 5
l t t 5
k 9
ɡ
9
m r 9
m zr k 3
ŋɡ ɲ 9
l ŋɡ 5
d
9
r m 9
w ŋɡ 19
l 5
ɡ t 14
ɡ 19
ɡ
9
m n 3
l 5
mw 1
r r 7
ŋɡ w 10
m k 4
ŋɡ m 10
ŋɡ 8
m ŋ 6
m w 10
8
t 8
l l ŋɡ 6
m r 4
t 10
m ŋɡ 4
m l 4
m w t 6
l 8
kp 9
ɲ ŋɡ 10
m n
4
m ŋɡ 4
ŋɡ 10
w l !l 2
m l ŋɡ 4
t m 8
t ŋɡ ŋɡ 10
m w 4
l n ŋɡ 5
t t 8
k 10
m
6
m r 10
m zr k 4
ŋɡ ɲ 10
m ŋɡ 6
d
19
!
rom 10
w ŋɡ 8
m 6
m t or m t 6
ɡ 19
m 6
m n 4
l 5
or
2
r r 8
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
thing
thirst
thorn
thread
tobacco
tongue
tooth
tortoise
tree, stick
trick
urine
vagina
village, city
violence
vulture
wall
war
water
water pot
whisper
wife
wind
wine/beer (general word)
witch
woman
word
work
yam
year
2. Adjectives
bad
big
cold
dry
full
good
hard
heavy
hot
left
long
new
old
w
l l w ,n n
l rm
l r nd
l n
ɡ m
l t
llt
lt m n
ŋm l
lw w
ɲ
m n n
m 7
ɲ r 9
nd n
9
m r ŋɡ 3
t k (loan, Eng.) 9
d m 9
l r ŋɡ 5
k l k l 9
7
ŋm n 3
lɲ l 5
s l l 9
m w 9
l n l 5
w m 14
r 7
nd m 9
m l 6
!
d ŋɡ
m l w 19
r r 8
m l n 1
mb n 9
mm 9
mw m 1
m l n 1
7
w l 7
n 7
ŋm 3
141
m 8
ɲ r 10
n
n
10
m r ŋɡ 4
t k 10
d m 10
m r ŋɡ 6
k l k l 10
8
m n 4
mɲ l 4
s l l 10
m m w 6
l n l 5
w m 14
r 8
nd m 10
m l 6
!
ŋɡ
m lw 8
r r 8
l n 2
mb n 10
m m 10
m 2
l n 2
8
w l 8
n 8
m 4
142
right
short
small
strong
wet
white
G.ATINDOGBE
m m
l t w
r l
lm m
ltt
mb m
3. Verbs
abuse
agree
answer
arrive
ask
bathe
be born
be broken
be certain
be closed
be deceived (by sb.)
be dislocated
be extinguished
be fermented
be from
be giddy, tired
be given
be gone
be hard
be heard
be hot, boiled
be killed
be long, tall
be mad, crazy
be painful, hot
be quick
be quiet, silent
be repaired (by sb.)
be rotten
be spoiled
be straightened
be suspended
be tied
be twisted
bear (a child)
Isolation form
ɲ
m
l ɸ
k
w
k
m
ɸ
m n
nd
w k
l m zr
ɸ ŋ
ŋm
t
ŋɡ
ɲ ŋ
t
w n
t m n
ŋw
w w
kp ɲ
k
m r
n m
zr
ɲ m
ɸ ŋ
t n
ɸ n
k k
n t
Infinitive
l ɲ
l m
l l ɸ
l k
l
w
l k
l
l m
lɸ
l m n
l nd
lw k
llm r
lɸ ŋ
l ŋm
l t
l ŋɡ
lɲ ŋ
l t
lw n
lt m n
l ŋw
lw w
l kp ɲ
l k
l m r
l n m
l r
lɲ m
lɸ ŋ
lt n
lɸ n
lk k
ln t
l
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
beat
beat (drum)
become cracked
become lame
become loosen
become snapped
begin
bite
blow (mouth)
blow (wind)
boast
bow
break
break
bring
build
burn
burry
burst
buy
call
carry
carve
catch
catch (animal)
cause sb. to buy
cause sb. to laugh
cause sb. to quarrel
cause sb. to sell
change
choose
clear
clear, cut grass
climb
close
come
cook
count
cover
crack
cultivate
cut
dance
deceive
143
t (t
k m
k n
kp r ɸ
n w
w nd
t
k k
ŋ l
t ŋ
k m ŋ ŋ
r m
nd
d n
ŋɡ
zr l
m
m w
n
l
n l
w k
ɲ ŋɡ
l mb
n r
j r
t w zr
r l l
ŋɡ w
zr
ɸ
r r
ɡ
m
d
ŋɡ
ɸ n
k n
n
k
r
nd
l t (l t
lk m
lk n
l kp r ɸ
l n w
l w nd
l t
lk k
l ŋ l
lt ŋ
lk m ŋ ŋ
l r m
l nd
l
ld n
l ŋɡ
l r l
lm
l m w
l n
l l
l n l
lw k
l ɲ ŋɡ
l l mb
l n r
l
r
lt w r
l
r l l
l ŋɡ w
l zr
l ɸ
l r r
l ɡ
l m
l
l
l ŋɡ
lɸ n
lk n
l n
lk
l r
l nd
144
defecate
deny, disclaim
descend
descend
die
dig
discover
dislocate
divide
do
drag, pull
dream
dress
drink
dry
dry (cloth)
dry (fish)
dwell
eat
enter
expose
extinguish
fall
fear
fear
feed
fight
finish
fly
follow
follow
fool
forget
forgive
fry
gather
get
give
give birth
go
go to
greet
grind
hang
G.ATINDOGBE
ɲ
zr zr
nd
rw
ŋw
m
ɸ
w k
k w
ɡ
k w
n ŋɡ n t
w t
ɲ
mb
t m
zr ŋ r
l
l
kp
ɲ l l
lm r
pk
k w ŋɡ
l r
n
k l
k w
n ŋɡ
l
l k l
ŋɡ
l k r
ŋɡ
r ŋɡ
l w
ŋɡ
ɲ
n
nd
k m
rk
n
lɲ
l r zr
l nd
l rw
l ŋw
lm
lɸ
lw k
lk w
lɡ
lk w
l n ŋɡ n t
lw t
lɲ
l mb
lt m
l r ŋ r
ll
ll
l kp
l ɲ l l
llm r
l pk
l
l k w ŋɡ
ll r
l n
lk l
lk w
l n ŋɡ
l l
ll k l
l ŋɡ
ll k r
l ŋɡ
l r ŋɡ
ll w
l ŋɡ
lɲ
l nd
l nd
lk m
l rk
l n
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
hang (generic)
have
hear
help
hit
hoe, beat
hold
hunt
hurt
inform
inherit
jump
kill
kneel
know
laugh
leak
learn
lick
lie down
like
live, to grow
look
look for
loose
loosen
lose
lose (way)
love
make
meet
mould (pot)
move quickly
open
pass
pay
pierce
pierce
plait
plant
play
pound
pour
pour
145
ɸ n
n
ŋɡw n
l
t (t )
l mb
r ŋ
k
l
r ŋ ɸ
n
ŋw
r m
j
t
k w
t mb
k ŋɡ m r
l ŋɡ n
ŋ
ŋ
ŋɡ or r
w l n
n w
w l
t n
l ŋɡ n
ɡ
ŋm
ŋ w
ɸn l
l w
k
t ŋɡ
t w
ŋm
n
n
k
k k
zr l
k m w
lɸ n
l n
l
l ŋɡw n
ll
l t (l t
l l mb
l r ŋ
l k
l l
l r ŋ ɸ
l n
l ŋw
l r m
l
l
lt
l k w
l t mb
l k ŋɡ m r
l l ŋɡ n
l ŋ
l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ or l r
lw l n
l n w
lw l
lt n
l l ŋɡ n
lɡ
l ŋm
l ŋ w
lɸn l
ll w
l k
l t ŋɡ
lt w
l ŋm
l n
l n
l k
lk k
l r l
lk m w
146
pour (drinks)
promise
pull, drag
push
put on
quarrel
read
refuse
refuse (s.o. sth)
remember
repair
reply
return
roast
rotten
run
say
see
sell
send
shoot
show
sing
sit down
sit, remain, stay
sleep
snap
sow
speak
spit
split
spoil
stand up
steal
stick
stink
straighten
summon
swallow
sweep
swell
take
take off
talk
G.ATINDOGBE
k m
k k n
r m
tn l
w t
t w
l ŋɡ
ŋ
w n
ŋɡ l
r
tm r l l
tm
t m
zr mb
ŋɡ
ɸ
n
r
m
ŋm
ŋw l
m
l ! r
l
n ŋɡ
w nd
k l
t r
zr
k n
ɸ ŋ
t m
ɓ
k k m n
ŋm
t n n
w
m
t t
t
w w
l
lk m
lk k n
l r m
ltn l
lw t
lt w
l l ŋɡ
l ŋ
lw n
l ŋɡ l
l r
ltm r l l
ltm
lt m
l r mb
l ŋɡ
l
l n
l
r
l m
l ŋm
l ŋw l
l m
ll ! r
ll
l n ŋɡ
l w nd
lk l
lt r
l r
lk n
lɸ ŋ
lt m
lɓ
lk k m n
l ŋm
lt n n
l w
lm
lt t
lt
lw w
l l
l
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
147
k n
k l
k w zr
ɲ w
l t
m
ŋ
k k
t zr
nd
k k
n t
d n
w n w
ɲ
w
m l
m w
nd
r
r r
k
l
taste
teach
teach (cause sb. to learn)
tear
think
throw
throw (mystic)
tie
touch
travel
try
twist
unite
untie
urinate
vomit
wait
wake up
walk
want, to desire
wash
wash (wish soap)
light
l k n
l k l
l k w r
lɲ w
ll t
l m
l ŋ
lk k
l t zr
l nd
lk k
ln t
l
n
lw n w
lɲ
l w
l m l
lm w
l nd
l r
l r r
l k
l
l
2. Mokpe - English
1. Nouns
Singular
n 9
d ŋɡ 19
!
d ŋɡ
m l w 19
!
d ŋɡ
m l l 19
d m 9
d tt 9
d l 19
d ŋɡ 19
d
9
d ŋɡ 19
7
7
k 7
l l 7
r 7
ɡ 7
Plural
n 1
ŋɡ
!
ŋɡ
m lw
!
ŋɡ
m l l
d m 10
w tt 1
l
ŋɡ
d
19
ŋɡ
k 8
l l
r
ɡ
beans
pot
water pot
cooking pot
tongue
darkness
firewood
eagle
speech
mosquito
word
tree, stick
iron (metal)
dawn
bone
banana
148
m 9
k k m t 7
l l 7
l w l w 7
l w 7
t 7
w k 7
w l 7
w l 7
r or r 7
r r 7
r 7
7
ɡ
9
ɡ
9
ɡ t 1
ɡ 19
kp 9
k l k l 9
l n
19
n n 19
n k 9
t m 19
w ŋɡ 19
r r 19
r r 19
l 7
r 7
j n 19
k 7
kp m l 7
kp 7
m 7
n 7
k 9
k m 9
k ŋɡ 9
k ŋɡ 9
k ɸ 9
l n
l n l
l
l
l
G.ATINDOGBE
m 8
k k
t
l l
l w l w 7
l w
t
w k
w l
w l
r or
r
r r
r
m
m 6
m t or m t
ɡ 19
kp 9
k l k l 10
m l n
n n
n k
t m
w ŋɡ
r r
r r
l
r
n
k
kp m l 7
kp
m
n
k 10
k m 1
k ŋɡ 1
k ŋɡ 1
k ɸ 10
m n
l n l
l
m
m
animal
old person
duck
moon
market
rat
compound
work
grass
feather
thigh
wall
rainy season
snake
tablet
story
sun, sunshine
salt
tortoise
orange
bird
pepper
shoe
stomach (internal)
mat
crab
leaf
chin
axe
penis
he-goat
dry season
thing
yam
snail
monkey
chief
king
calabash
boat/canoe
violence
theth
hand
palm oil
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
l ŋɡ
l 5
l l !l ! r k
l l n k
lk w
lk 5
lk r
l kp
l kp m
l l ŋɡ
ln
lɲ l
l n ŋɡ
l
lt 5
lw 5
lw n
lw
l r n
l r 5
l r ŋɡ
l ŋ
l 5
l l
l
5
l m
l m
lj ŋɡ ŋɡ
l w
l
9
l t
l t t
l ŋɡ
l t
l w t
m l
m
m l
m n n 6
m t (loan, Eng.) 6
m w
m k 9
m r 9
m r 9
m ŋɡ
m 6
m m !l ! r k
m m n k
m k w
m k 4
m k r
m kp
m kp m
l l ŋɡ
mn
mɲ l
l n ŋɡ
m
m t
m w 6
m w n
lw
m r n
m r 6
m r ŋɡ
m ŋ
m
6
m l
m
6
m m
m m
m ŋɡ ŋɡ
m ŋw or m w
l
10
m t 6
t t
m ŋɡ
m w t
m t
m l
m
m l
m n n 6
m t
m w
m k 10
m r 1
m r 1
149
spear (war)
stone
grinding stone
grinding stone
macabo
plantain
bow (weapon)
bag
cassava
read
name
urine
sleep
door
ear
neck
knife
ashes
mud
eye
tooth
race
breast (female)
kola nut
lap
hair (head)
jaw
knee
fasces
God
cloth (material)
smoke
belly (external)
rubbish heap
fabric
money
blood
water
fat
mortar
oil
encouragement
maize
son
150
mb n 9
m 9
m l 9
m n 9
m w 9
m n 9
m w 9
m r 9
m 3
m l 3
m ɲ 3
m l ŋɡ 3
m nd n 1
m ɲ 3
m zr k 3
m zr ŋɡ r ŋɡ 1
mm 9
mm m l 9
m k ɲ 3
m l l 3
m l n 1
m l n 1
m l ŋ 3
m l l 3
m l 3
m m w
9
m m 3
m n 3
m w 3
m w m
3
m
3
m t 1
m r w 3
m r ŋɡ 3
m r 3
m n
3
m m 3
m ŋɡ 3
m l !l 1
m ɲ 3
m ɲ n 1
m ɲ n 1
mw ŋɡ 3
mw 1
G.ATINDOGBE
mb n 1
m 1
m l 1
m n 1
m m w
m n 1
m w 1
m r 1
m 4
m l
m ɲ 4
m l ŋɡ
n n 2
m ɲ 4
m zr k 4
r ŋɡ r ŋɡ 2
mm 1
mm m l 1
m k ɲ
m l l
l n 2
l n 2
m l ŋ
m l l
m l
w m
w
1
m m 4
m n
m w
m w m
m
t 2
m r w
m r ŋɡ
m r
m n
m m
m ŋɡ
w l !l 2
m ɲ or m ɲ
w ɲ n 2
w ɲ n 2
m ŋɡ
or
2
wind
banana
goat
buttocks
village, city
friend
rain
back
arm
rope
ground
sheep
notable
earth (soil)
song
hunter
wine/beer (general word)
palm wine
door (with palm leaves )
mot er’s rot er
wife
woman
lie
food
mountain
cock
male
tail
skin
bark (of tree)
head
person
horn
thread
river
arrow
nose
seed
senior/older
fire
husband
man
root
thief
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
mw m 1
mw m 3
ɲ w 9
ɲ k 9
ɲ m 9
ɲ m m lw 9
ɲ ŋɡ 9
ɲ ŋɡ 9
n w 9
nd nd k 9
nd w 9
nd k 9
nd l 9
nd n
9
nd m 9
nd ŋɡ 9
ɲɲ 9
ɲɲ 9
ɲ r 9
ɲ 9
ŋɡ n 9
ŋɡ n 9
ŋɡ ŋɡ 9
ŋɡ t 9
ŋɡ 9
ŋɡ n 9
ŋɡ n 9
ŋɡ t 9
ŋɡ m 9
ŋɡ ɲ 9
ŋɡ w 9
ŋm 3
ŋm 3
ŋm l 1
ŋm n 1
ŋm n
3
ŋm n 3
ŋm n 1
ŋm m 3
ŋm m 3
ŋm n 3
ŋm ŋɡ 3
ŋm 3
ɸ k 9
m 2
m m a
ɲ w 10
ɲ k or ɲ k 1
ɲ m 1
ɲ m
m lw 1
ɲ ŋɡ 1
ɲ ŋɡ 1
m n w
nd nd k 1
nd w 1
n k 1
nd l 10
n
n
1
nd m 1
nd ŋɡ 1
ɲɲ 1
ɲɲ 1
ɲ r 10
ɲ or !ɲo 10
ŋɡ n 1
ŋɡ n 1
ŋɡ ŋɡ 2
ŋɡ t 1
ŋɡ 1
ŋɡ n 1
ŋɡ n 1
ŋɡ t 1
ŋɡ m 1
ŋɡ ɲ 1
ŋɡ w 1
m
m
l 2
n 2
m n
m n
n 2
m m
m m 4
m n
m ŋɡ
m or m
ɸ k 1
151
witch
corpse
bee
cow
meat, animal
fish
sand
mother
house
needle
hunger
elephant
lizard
thorn
war
navel
louse
housefly
thirst
body
nail
crocodile
doctor
basket
dog
groundnut
daughter
money
porcepine
soup/sauce/stew
pig
year
hoe
female
child
sea
trick
guest
heart
bat
leg
new-born
egg
mount Cameroon
152
p r (loan, Eng.) 9
s l l 9
t k (loan, Eng.) 9
t m 9
t t 9
t ŋɡ ŋɡ 9
t l l 9
t 9
w n 1
w ŋɡ 9
w kp 14
w l 14
w ŋɡ 1
w r (loan, Eng.) 14
w l 1
w m 1
w m 1
w 1
w ɲ 9
w ɸ 1
w
1
zr w 9
r m 9
9
ŋɡ 9
l
r r
n
l 9
n
9
2. Adjectives
ɡ m
l t
llt
lm m
ltt
lt m n
lw w
l r nd
l rm
l l w ,n n
l n
l t w
mb m
G.ATINDOGBE
p r 1
s l l 1
t k 1
t m 1
t t 2
t ŋɡ ŋɡ 1
t l l 10
t 1
w n 1
w ŋɡ 1
w kp 14
w l 14
w ŋɡ 1
w r 1
w l 1
w m 1
w m 1
m w
w ɲ 1
w ɸa14
d
1
zr w 10
!
rom 1
1
ŋɡ 1
l
r r
n
l 10
n
1
good
hard
heavy
strong
wet
hot
long
dry
cold
big
full
short
white
cat
vagina
tobacco
hat/cap
father
side
penis
room
mouth
bush, farm
beard
boat/canoe
fear
horse
money
kite
vulture
night
day
fowl
chicken
dust
star
machete
seed
saliva
whisper
charcoal
permission
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
m m
m n n
ŋm l
w
r l
ɲ
right
old
left
bad
small
new
3. Verbs
Isolation form
ɡ
k
l ɸ
m l
n
n
n m
n r
n l
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋ
r
n
r
r l l
k
k
k l
nd
nd
nd
ŋ
ŋɡ or r
ŋɡ l
d
d n
d n
m
mb
m
nd
nd
nd
n
Infinitive
l ɡ
l k
l l ɸ
l m l
l n
l n
l n m
l n r
l n l
l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ
l ŋ
l r
l n
l
r
l
r l l
l k
l k
l k l
l nd
l nd
l nd
l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ or l r
l ŋɡ l
l
ld n
l
n
l m
l mb
l m
l nd
l nd
l nd
l n
153
climb
pass
answer
wait
fight
buy
be quiet, silent
cause sb. to buy
carry
count
fry
throw (mystic)
want, to desire
hang
sell
cause sb. to sell
bathe
wash (wish soap)
teach
descend
deceive
be deceived (by sb.)
look
look for
remember
come
bring
unite
sing
dry
agree
travel
walk
go to
see
154
ɲ l l
ŋɡ w
t
ɡ
ɡ
ɓ
w
m
m
m w
ɲ
t
r ŋ
j
j
r
w
w
k k
k k
k k n
k k m n
k m w
k n
k n
k n
k w
k k
k l
k m
k
k k
k k
k m
k ŋɡ m r
k w
k w
kp ɲ
kp
kp r ɸ
k l
G.ATINDOGBE
l ɲ l l
l ŋɡ w
l t
l
lɡ
lɡ
lɓ
l
w
lm
lm
lm w
lɲ
lt
l r ŋ
l
l
l
l
l
r
l w
l w
lk k
lk k
lk k n
lk k m n
lk m w
lk n
lk n
lk n
lk w
lk k
lk l
lk m
lk
lk k
lk k
lk m
l k ŋɡ m r
lk w
lk w
l kp ɲ
l kp
l kp r ɸ
lk l
expose
change
be hard
break
do
make
steal
ask
dig
burry
wake up
urinate
swell
hunt
cook
bear (a child)
be born
laugh
cause sb. to laugh
vomit
summon
tie
be tied
promise
stick
pour
crack
split
become cracked
divide
pound
sow
greet
cut
try
bite
pour (drinks)
lie down
drag, pull
fly
be mad, crazy
enter
become lame
finish
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
k m
k m ŋ ŋ
l
l k r
l ŋɡ
l mb
l mb
l r
l ! r
l
l
lm r
l m zr
l ŋɡ n
l ŋɡ n
l
l w
l k l
l t
l w
m
ɲ
ɲ
ɲ w
ɲ m
n ŋɡ
ɲ ŋɡ
n ŋɡ n t
ɲ
n ŋɡ
n t
n t
n
ɲ ŋ
ŋɡ
ŋɡ
ŋw
k
k
k w ŋɡ
k n
k
k w
k w zr
lk m
lk m ŋ ŋ
ll
ll k r
l l ŋɡ
l l mb
l l mb
ll r
ll ! r
ll
ll
llm r
llm r
l l ŋɡ n
l l ŋɡ n
ll
ll w
ll k l
ll t
ll w
lm
lɲ
lɲ
lɲ w
lɲ m
l n ŋɡ
l ɲ ŋɡ
l n ŋɡ n t
lɲ
l n ŋɡ
ln t
ln t
l nd
lɲ ŋ
l ŋɡ
l ŋɡ
l ŋw
l k
l k
l k w ŋɡ
l k n
l k
l k w
l k w r
155
beat (drum)
boast
eat
forgive
read
catch (animal)
hold
feed
sit down
dwell
sit, remain, stay
extinguish
be extinguished
love
like
hit
open
fool
think
get
swallow
defecate
give birth
tear
be rotten
sleep
catch
dream
drink
follow
twist
be twisted
go
be gone
give
be given
die
hurt
play
fear
taste
be painful, hot
learn
teach (cause sb. to learn)
156
m
m
n
n
ŋɡ
ŋ
ŋ w
ŋɡw n
ŋw
ŋw
ɸ
t
ɸ n
ɸ n
ɸ n
ɸ ŋ
ɸ ŋ
ɸ ŋ
ɸ
ɸ
ɸn l
pk
t m
t ŋɡ
t
t r
t w
t w zr
t zr
t mb
t m
t n n
t n
t (t
t (t )
tm
tm r l l
tn l
t n
t ŋ
t m n
t m
t t
G.ATINDOGBE
l m
l m
l n
l n
l ŋɡ
l ŋ
l ŋ w
l ŋɡw n
l ŋw
l ŋw
l
l t
l
lɸ n
lɸ n
lɸ n
lɸ ŋ
lɸ ŋ
lɸ ŋ
lɸ
lɸ
lɸn l
l pk
lt m
l t ŋɡ
lt
lt r
lt w
lt w r
l t zr
l t mb
lt m
lt n n
lt n
l t (l t
l t (l t
ltm
ltm r l l
ltn l
lt n
lt ŋ
lt m n
lt m
lt t
send
be broken
cultivate
plant
build
live, to grow
mould (pot)
help
kill
be killed
say
be giddy, tired
talk
cover
hang (generic)
be suspended
spoil
be fermented
be spoiled
be certain
discover
move quickly
fall
dry (cloth)
pay
leak
speak
quarrel
cause sb. to quarrel
touch
lick
stand up
straighten
be straightened
beat
hoe, beat
return
reply
push
lose (way)
blow (wind)
be hot, boiled
roast
sweep
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
t w
k
l
m
m n
m w
ŋ l
ŋm
ŋm
ŋm
ŋm
ŋm
ŋw l
ɸ
w w
w k
w k
w l
w l n
w t
w t
w n
w k
w nd
w nd
w w
w n
w n w
r
r ŋɡ
r ŋ ɸ
r r
zr
zr l
zr mb
zr ŋ r
zr zr
zr
r
zr l
r m
rk
rw
r r
lt w
l k
l l
l m
l m n
l m w
l ŋ l
l ŋm
l ŋm
l ŋm
l ŋm
l ŋm
l ŋw l
l ɸ
lw w
lw k
lw k
lw l
lw l n
lw t
lw t
lw n
lw k
l w nd
l w nd
lw w
lw n
lw n w
l r
l r ŋɡ
l r ŋ ɸ
l r r
l r
l r l
l r mb
l r ŋ r
l r zr
l r
l r
l r l
l r m
l rk
l rw
l r r
157
pierce
arrive
take off
close
be closed
burst
blow (mouth)
pierce
shoot
stink
meet
be from
show
clear
be long, tall
dislocate
be dislocated
lose
loose
dress
put on
be heard
carve
snap
become snapped
take
refuse (s.o. sth)
untie
dance
gather
inherit
clear, cut grass
spit
pour
rotten
dry (fish)
deny, disclaim
be repaired (by sb.)
repair
burn
pull, drag
grind
descend
wash
158
r m
r m
l
m r
n
ŋ
ŋɡ
zr
l
nd
n
ɲ
l
m
n
ŋɡ
t
n w
n w
l
G.ATINDOGBE
l r m
l r m
l l
l m r
l n
l ŋ
l ŋɡ
l zr
l
l
l l
l nd
l n
l ɲ
l
l l
l m
l n
l ŋɡ
l t
l n w
l n w
l
l
bow
kneel
follow
be quick
jump
refuse
run
choose
fear
hear
call
break
have
abuse
know
inform
throw
plait
forget
begin
loosen
become loosen
light
A Grammatical Sketch of M kp
159
NOTES
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
This information is taken from Lewis (2009).
The symbols used are from the IPA chart.
The term is borrowed from Urs (1996) but is assigned a slightly different
meaning here.
T is rap eme, as well as R, r, an Ʒ, will never appear alone and will never
appear at word-initial position.
This grapheme can appear alone and word-initially only in borrowed words.
This grapheme, as well as Z, z, cannot appear alone, but can be seen at word- or
syllable-initial.
T e se on person sin ular is in fa t [ ]. However, it is realise as [ ] when the
following vowel (of the verb root) is either [ ] or [ ]. Note that this is the only
instance where we find the vowel [ ] at word-initial position in the whole corpus.
Kagaya (1992a) and Connell (1997) identified a nasal prefix for classes 9 and 10,
i.e. N-/N-. As you have noti e , t e plural forms eit er maintains t e N- prefix
or take i -tone vowel - as prefix. T e i -tone prefix - may be seen as a
remnant of the original augment which remained in plurals. There seems to be
absolutely no principle governing the use of that vowel as prefix. However, the
tendency seems to be the use of N- prefix for both classes 9 and 10.
Some of these nouns do not have a plural counterpart because they are abstract words.
This reminds us of the following statement of Bati o (2
2 “T e most
common modal forms in Bantu languages include the indicative, usually
represented by the suffix -a and the subjunctive, represented by the suffix -e.
Note t at n m is from n
m .
From n
nd .
From
.
It is also possi le to ave n
l n m l l.
It is also possi le to ave
l n
l l.
It is also possi le to ave
l n
l l.
The morp eme of t e lo ative a ver is realised w- when it occurs before vowels.
!
I am ere an also e sai n
l n . In fa t, l n
an e ontra te to
ive l
or l . T is appens mostl in rapi spee . For example we
re or e
l m ɲ n
ou are a man." n t e ot er an , note t at t e
morp eme of t e lo ative a ver is elete efore ere an t ere."
T e vowel [a] of t e 1s an 3pl is elete efore - w l l . For the 2sg and 3sg,
the glide [w] is inserted between the subject pronoun an - w l l . As for 1pl
and 2pl, their subject pronouns become [d ] an [ ] respe tivel efore - w l l .
160
G.ATINDOGBE
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———— Accepted December 14, 2012
Author’s Name and Address: Gratien ATINDOGBE, Department of Linguistics,
University of Buea, Buea, South West Region, CAMEROON.
E-mail: grat_atin [at] yahoo.com