THE UNlVERSXTY QF YAOUNDE
UNIVERSITE DE YAOUNDE
FACULTE DES LETTRES ET
SCIENCES HUMAINES
FACULTY OF LETTERS AND
SOCIAL SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF AFRICAN LANGUAGES
AND LINGUISTICS
Dipartement de Langues Africaines
et Linguistique
THE LIMBUM NOUN PHRASE
(A GENERATIVE APPROACH)
Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfifment of the requierements for the award
of a postgraduate diploma
"Maitrise" in Linguistics.
BY
MPOCHE Kizitus NFORMI
(B.A. in English)
Supervised by :
Dr. Carl EBOBISSE
(charge de Cours)
University of Yaounde
and
Mr. TAMANJI Pius
Lecturer
University of Yaounde.
April 1993
--
ri
DEDICATION
T o Friends
and r e l a t i v e s
o f goodwill
i
9
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Work o f t h i s n a t u r e
without
the
support
e x t e n d my h e a r t f e l t
EBOBISE
and
could
of
hardly
many p e r s o n s .
thanks
to
meet
with
I n t h i s respect,
Dr.
supervisors,
my
success
I
Carl
TAMANJI P i u s f o r t h e m a r v e l l o u s j o b t h e y
Mr.
d i d towards t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h i s p r o j e c t .
Much g r a t i t u d e a l s o goes t o my i n f o r m a n t s
Clement
and
Jamba
John
who
bore
Ndamnsa
Mr.
w i t h p a t i e n c e t h e many
of
q u e s t i o n s I asked d u r i n g t h e c o l l e c t i o n and a n a l y s i s
data.
My t h a n k f u l n e s s t o M r .
my
Ndamnsa Clement f o r l o d g i n g me
f o r a b o u t two months d u r i n g my p r o j e c t i s immeasurable.
I
sincerely
Department
B.S.
,Mme
of
the
Linguistics,
Churnbow, M r .
Ndongo,
thank
Sadembouo
and M r .
following
who
of
o f f e r e d me c o u r s e s :
E., Mme Zoe
Ogwana John.
L i n g u i s t i c s Department D r .
lecturers
Mme
R.,
the
Prof.
Gerbault,
I a l s o thank t h e head o f
TADADJEU
Maurice
and
all
the
members
o f t h e department f o r t h e comprehension t h e y showed
whenever
I came up w i t h a problem.
To a l l
r e l a t i v e s and f r i e n d s who
i n
one
way
or
the
o t h e r c o n t r i b u t e d towards t h e r e a l i z a t i o n o f t h i s p r o j e c t ,
I
e x p r e s s my g r a t i t u d e .
Thanks t o my p a r e n t s
for
their
moral
and
financial
assistance.
Thanks t o M r .
F r e d e r i c k Fanwong f o r t y p i n g t h i s work.
Thanks t o t h e L o r d A l m i g h t y .
Eil
L I S T
OF
ABBREVIATIONS
SYMBOLS
A
AdJ e c t 1 ve
A-
Argument
AM
A s s o c i a t i v e marker
AP
A d j e c t i v a l phrase
ADV. P
A d v e r b i a l phrase
Art.
Article
C
complementizer
cf
see
CL
C 1 ass
CP
Complementizer p h r a s e
D
Determiner
eds.
Ed1t o r s
E.C.P.
Empty Category P r i n c i p l e
Fo
Immediate f u t u r e
Fig.
Figure
F.S.
Far f r o m speaker
F.S.A
F a r f r o m speaker and addressee
GB
Government and B i n d i n g
Gen. P
G e n e t i v e phrase
H
High tone
1
Inflection
Interro
Interrogative
IP
I n f l e c t i o n phrase
L
L o w tone
k
L o w f l o a t i n g tone
MT
mother tongue
AND
-
iv
-
N
Noun
N.A
Near addressee
NP
Noun phrase
N.S
Near speaker
Po
Immediate p a s t
P1
Today p a s t
P?
Yesterday p a s t
P3
Remote p a s t
POSS.
Possessive
PP
P r e p o s i t i o n a l phrase
Pres. t
Present tense
P.S.
Phrase s t r u c t u r e
Pron.
Pronoun
R+R
Referent plus referent
S+A
Speaker p l u s addressee
SM
S u b j e c t Marker
S+R
Speaker p l u s r e f e r e n t
v
Verb
VP
Verb p h r a s e
- v -1
.
LIST
- 4
d
i
OF
FIGURES
Page
...................
F i g . 1 1 ( 1 ) Congo-Kordofanian Languages .................
F i g . 1 1 1 ( 1 ) O r g a n i z a t i o n o f G . 6 ........................
Fig.1 ( 2 )
Simple s u b j e c t human pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F i g . 1 1 ( 2 ) Compound s u b j e c t human pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . .
F i g . 1 1 1 ( 2 ) Simple p r e p o s i t i o n a l o b j e c t pronouns . . . . . . .
F i g . 1 ( 1 ) G r a s s f i e l d Bantu Languages
Fig.1V
F1g.V
( 2 ) Compound p r e p o s i t i o n a l o b j e c t pronouns
...i....
4
10
17
17
18
18
...........................
pronouns ..........................
20
( 2 ) Non-human pronouns
Fig.VI ( 2 ) Reflexive
3
21
F i g . V I 1 ( 2 ) Possessive pronouns f o r m s f o r N.c:.
D3.
5/D1
.............................................
F i g . V I I I ( 2 ) Possessive pronouns forms f o r o t h e r
1
N.cls
22
..
......................
Fig.X ( 2 ) I n t e r r o g a t i v e pronouns .......................
F i g . X I ( 2 ) D e f i n i t e pronouns .........................
i ..
F i g . X I 1 ( 2 ) I n d e f i n i t e pronouns .....................
:. .
F i g . X I I I ( 2 ) Possessive d e t e r m i n e r s .....................
F i g . X I V ( 2 ) A t t r i b u t i v e a d j e c t i v e s .....................
Fig.IX
( 2 ) D e m o n s t r a t i v e pronouns
23
29
32
34
35
44
46
TABLE
vi
OF
CONTENTS
............................................
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................
ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS .............................
i
DEDICATION
1.1.3
.............................
General information on Limbum ..................
Geographical Situation .........................
Historical Situation ...........................
Socio-economic Situation .......................
1.2
The Langti-.ge
1.2.1
Cias-ification
iii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1
1.1
1
1.1.1
1.1.2
1.2.2
.................................
Socio-linguistic Situation .....................
1.2.3
Review o f Related literature
1.3
U
11
1.3.1
1.3.2
1.4
1.4.1
1.4.2
1.4.3
1.5
1
2
2
3
5
...................
6
................
Goais and Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Mezhoa of work .................................
Theoretical framework ..........................
The X I Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Theta Theory ...................................
Projection principle ...........................
Outiine of work ................................
Goais, Scope and Method of work
8
8
9
10
~
i
12
I
13
l~
14
2.0
14
2.1.1.2
2.1.1.3
2.1.2
Human object pronouns of prepositions ........
Non-human pronouns ...........................
Reflexive P r o n o u n s
..
.
.
.............................
__ ..
.~
~
~..~
......
I
I;
1
!i
16
I1
16
1I
16
i
!
2.1.1
...
11
!I
..........................
Introduction ...................................
Pronouns .......................................
Personal pronouns ..............................
2.1.1.1
Subject human pronouns .......................
I
8
CHAPTER TWO: THE NOUN PHRASE
2.1
~
!,
18
!
1
19
21
~ ~ .....
~ ~ . .
iI
.~
.
;~
.vii .
............................
................................
2.1.3
Possessive Pronouns
22
2.2
The modified NP
24
2.2.1
Determiners
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
2.2.2
....................................
......................
The interrogative pronoun ......................
The definite pronoun ...........................
The indefinite pronoun .........................
The definite article ...........................
The indefinite article .........................
Cardinal numerals ..............................
The demonstrative pronoun
29
32
34
35
38
40
41
Ordinal numerals ...............................
The possessive determiner ......................
44
.....................................
46
Adjactives
......................
The Associative NP .............................
2.2.3
The Canplex NP .................................
2.2.3
CHAPTER THREE: OTHER PHRASE TYPES .....................
3 . 0 Introduction .....................................
3.1 The inflection phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3.2
The prepositional phrase .........................
3 . 3 The adjectival phrase ............................
3.4 The verb phrase ..................................
CHAPTER FOUR: CONCLUSION ..............................
4 . 0 Summary o f work ..................................
4.1
Limitations ......................................
4.2
Significance of project ..........................
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..........................................
A
29
The attributive adjective
43
46
47
48
56
56
56
58
62
63
69
69
70
71
12
.
!
I
i
CHAPTER
ONE
.
4
I.
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL INFORMATION ON LIMBUM
1.1
GEOGRAPHICAL S I T U A T I O N
1.1.1
L i means language and
mbum
to
refers
the
speakers.
i s t h e r e f o r e t h e language o f t h e Mbum p e o p l e who a r e
Limbum
r e f e r r e d t o as Wimbum.
The Wimbum occupy t h e n o r t h e r n e x t e n s i o n o f t h e Bamenda
-
Highlands
the
Donga-Mantung
Cameroon.
middle
Division
The
belt
of
region
the
lies
1 1 0 2 0 ' ' E and l a t i t u d e 6 0 2 0 "
of
North
between
Nkambe
West
plateau
Province
of
of
l o n g i t u d e 1 0 ° 2 5 " and
and 6040'' N.
P I E T E R ( 1 9 6 6 ) says t h a t t h e s p e a k e r s o f Limbum who have
often
been
r e f e r r e d t o as n s u n g l i by t h e lamnss? and Yamba
speakers number w e l l above 7 0 . 0 0 0 w i t h some mbum communities
i n t h e Adamawa a r e a .
P I E T E R and VOORHOEVE ( 1 9 7 7 ) s t a t e t h a t
t h e language o r i g i n a t e d as p a r t o f t h e o u t e r Mbarn-Nkam g r o u p
of
Bantu
meaning
b u t ALCAM ( 1 9 8 3 : 7 ) g i v e s i t number 903
languages
that
it
belongs
to
the
of
subgroup
eastern
g r a s s f i e l d languages.
Limbum i s b o r d e r e d by Mbembe i n t h e n o r t h , d z o d i n k a and
rnfumte i n t h e n o r t h e a s t , Yamba i n t h e e a s t ,
souEh,
Speakers
n33ni
of
Donga-Mantung
.in
the
the
south
language
Division
Nkambe.
- 1 -
west
occupy
including
the
n s a r i i n t h e west.
and
about
the
Lamnso? i n
24
villages
divisional
in
capital
I
- 2 HISTORICAL S I T U A T I O N
1.1.2
H i s t o r i c a l l y , t h e Wimbum a r e
Tikari
e a r l y F u l a n i wars.
groups.
intermixed clans.
(1967
to
of
be
the
and t o have come t o t h e h i g h l a n d s d u r i n g t h e
origin
distinct
believed
T h e y a r e b e l i e v e d t o have come i n
three
Wart-, Tang, and Ya w h i c h today form t h r e e
FIORE ( 1 9 7 7 )
and
CHILVER
KAYBERRY
and
2 8 ) Share t h i s v i e w on t h e h i s t o r i c a l o r i g i n o f
p.27,
t h e Tang and Ya g r o u p s b u t J e f f r e y s ( 1 9 6 3 )
holds
that
He i s o f
Warr p e o p l e d i d n o t o r i g i n a t e f r o m somewhere e l s e .
t h e o p i n i o n t h a t t h e y were n a t i v e s o f
the
area
the
and
spoke
Limbum b e f o r e t h e coming o f t h e o t h e r g r o u p s .
is
It
really difficult
t o draw a c l e a r c u t l i n g u i s t i c
other
d i s t i n c t i o n w i t h i n the three clans
FIORE
(1977)
provides
because
example,
Mbot,
which
that
i n every d i a l e c t a l region,
v i l l a g e s b e l o n g i n g t o each o f t h e
For
than
three
clans
are
found.
and Mbaa o f Warr o r i g i n a r e f o u n d
Wat
under t h e c e n t r a l v a r i e t y which i s supposed t o be made up o f
v i l l a g e s o f t h e Tang c l a n .
1.1.2
SGCIO-ECONOMIC
The
Wimbum
SITUATION
live
in
a
i n d u s t r i e s ana c o n s e q u e n t l y
rural
few
area.
non-natives
There
live
are
in
no
the
area.
Economically,
the
Wlmbum
are
very
dynamic.
p r a c t i s e much a g r i c u l t u r e and have abundant l a n d
The
women
do
most
of
themselves c h i e f l y i n
commerci a1 a c t i v i t i e s
the
hunting,
.
for
They
this.
farmwork w h i l e t h e men engage
animal
rearing
and
other
- 3 -
THE
1.2
LANGUAGE
CLASSIFICATION
1.2. 1
de Wolf
in t
two
(1971) classifies
main
groups
grassfield
namely
Bantu
languages
West and Mbam-Nkam.
which c o n s i s t s o f a c l u s t e r o f i n t e r - c o m p r e h e n s i b l e
Limbum
dialects
spoken i n t h e Nkambe a r e a belongs t o t h e Mbam-Nkam group.
GRASSFIELO BANTU
[
MBAM-NKAM
WESTEilN G R A S S F I E L D
NKAMBE
LIMBUM
(Fig.1)
(Adapted f r o m de Wolf ( 1 9 7 1 ) )
Greenberg o n h i s p a r t c l a s s i f i e s A f r i c a n languages i n t o
4 major l i n g u i s t i c f a m i l i e s .
1 ) Congo-Kordofanian
2) N i l o - S a h a r i a n
3 ) Afro-Asiatic
4) Khoisari
Of
these
represented
4
in
main
Cameroon.
Congo-Kordofanian f a m i l y .
belonging
families,
the
Limbum
first
three
are
falls
under
the
I t i s a g r a s s f i e l d Bantu language
t o t h e Benue-Congo s u b d i v i s i o n of
t h e Niger-Congo
- A -
family. The
language
Grassfield Bantu.
belongs
to
the
northern
of
group
This i s ver fiable on the chart below:
Congo-Kordofanienne
I
Adamaoua
Oubanguiem
I
II
1
Limbum
dzodinka
mfumte
(Fig.11) (Adapted from ALCAM ( 1 9 8 3 ) )
Yamba
mba?
- 5 SOCIOLINGUISTIC S I T U A T I O N
1.2.2
Limbum i s spoken by t h e Wimbum
dialectal variations.
of
speakers
the
of
mutually.
to
discrepancies
language.
the
PIETER
quite
a
lot
of
The d i f f e r e n c e s a r e m o s t l y t o n a l and
phonemic and t h e s e l e a d
system
with
the
writing
s p i t e o f these d i f f e r e n c e s ,
In
various
in
areas
understand
each
other
( 1 9 7 7 ) f i r s t distinguished the v a r i e t i e s
as:
Western
r
Nothern
v
( wat )
(Nkambe)
Central
(Tabenken 1
Southern
(Ndu)
South Western (Taku)
F I O R E ( 1 9 7 7 ) C l a s s i f i e s t h e v a r i e t i e s on t h e
pronunciation
i n t o N o r t h e r n , C e n t r a l and Southern.
basis
To h e r ,
t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n t h e language a r e due t o t h e i n f l u e n c e
t h e languages i n t h e n o r t h and s o u t h of
Variety
Northern
t h e Wimbum area.
L o c a t ion
Binshua, Nkambe, K u n g i , Moo, E i , Binka,
N j a p , Nge, Chup,
and Tabenken
Luh, Taku,
Talla,
of
Centra1
Wat, Mbot,
and Ngarum
Southern
Ndu, Ntumbaw, Wawo, Mbipgo, N t u n d i p , Sop,
of
- 6 -
and Sinna.
FIORE holds that there
the
varieties
and
that
greatly influenced by the
is
"Kolanut"
pronounced
is
inter-relationship
between
the Northern and the Southern are
Central
in
variations
with
For
variety.
example,
the various
The North will pronounce it as bi while the
regions.
and
Central
the
latter
pronounce it as rbi.
option
pronunciation
of
is
In most works in Limburn,
adopted.
m-n-dip
is
There
"water" which varies.
m-n-dip in the Central
South
but
also
the
In the North, it is
in
the
it
South
is
The former pronunciation is adopted in most
m-n-dzip.
in Limbum.
Apart from Limbum, there is also Pidgin whicu is spoken
in the area though not widely spread.
v
This is mostly spoken
by the youths probably as a result o f education o r
contact
frequent
with members of other speech communities especially
in schools.
1.2.3
REVIEW OF RELATED
LITERATIRE
Relatively much has been written on Limbum
though
very
in
general
little or nothing at all exists on syntax.
In
this section, there will be a brief discussion on past works
on
the
language
that directly concern this study.
will just be mentioned for the sake o f
future
the language.
Of
great
importance
is
NFORGWEI
Others
research
..
(1991).
dissertation, among other things, he treats nouns in
In
on
his
Limbum
- 7aand attempts their classification.
d
.d
this
study
important
to
that it helps in the collection of data and
in
resolves some
is
This
problems
of
orthography.
He
also treats
pronouns and adjectives which have been o f great help in the
analysis of the modified NP in this study.
In addition HYMAN
treat
yrassfields
noun
class system of Limburn.
and
(1981) exhaustively
VOORHOEVE
classes
amongst which is the noun
This has been of much use
to
this
dissertation in that it has facilitated the determination o f
the various forms of the determiner.
system
It i s the
Class
noun
proposed by VOORHOEVE in this document that has been
adopted for our present study.
Moreover, there is MFONYAM ( 1 9 8 8 ) who establishes
there
are
3
phonemlc
contour tones in Limbum.
the
low
and
level tones (H,M,L)and 5 glides o r
He proposes the
combinations
of
low
orthography o f Bantu languages.
adopted
in
this
study
that
of
only
and other tones in the
This
because
marking
proposition
is
not
a non-native speaker will
hardly easily predict the unmarked tone.
Apart. from the above, there are other works on
There
i s
and BRADLEY
HIGGENS
(1985)
who worked on "Limbum
Language Learning Course", N D I et a1 ( 1 9 8 3 ) who
first
and
Limbum.
produced
a
second primer to teach reading Limbum, and MBURU
and BOMNSA ( 1 9 7 4 ) who in trying to establish a foundation in
Limbum
linguistics
published
"An introduction to Limbum".
We also have PECK ( 1 9 7 4 ) who concentrates mostly
on
words
PIETER and
and
their
VOORHOEVE ( 1 9 7 7 )
translations
English.
also published "Gender in
a n d o t h r r \,:or:k form t h e b u l k of
Liabux.
into
linguistic
Limbum
These
literature on
Limbum".
- 7b /
TABLE OF CONCORDS IN L I M B U M
-
-
'0
'0
pl
p-
8'
8'
8'
0
o'
a'
A)
la
8-
n-
y'p
yf
A-
&-
yC
h2
1,9
n-
n-
Y:@
yf
8-
6-
yC
0- 00- 9-
B1
2,8
P-
P-
ULP
p
V(-
Vi-
V i
p-
n-
p-
wLp
p
yf-
yi-
vi
p-
m-n-
ulp
ul
p
vf-
p-
V-
p
Q-
v{vr-
vf
p-
pp-
W<"t
p-
6-
4-
pll
p-
p-
WL
p
vi-
h-
w5-u;
pl-
a'-
6-
P-
P-
P-
u-
v{-
vf-
0-
vf-
p-
0-
YIQ P
a-
h-
0:
p-
'(2
2
8
us'ui
us,)
8'
8'
P-
y q
V-
Vf-
:1
3
yLg
:2
7
n@
y-
g0@-
y'0
0-
5
r-
6a
m-
B2
83
P-
0-
0'
0-
'0
Pply(P-
Pp-
0'
54
55
'6
(1
:3
I
'2
0
10
vf-
hvi-
vf
0- 8-
yig
yiyf-
yiyf-
y i
y l
0-
r-
ilr
r
ti-
t i
8-
t-
m-
mlm
m
ni-
t{mi-
mi
m-
m-
(m-)
m-
yf-
a-
'0
Pyf-
-
0-
- 0'
8yi
yi
p-
m-
'0
'0
'0
mlp
il-
'3
p
i-
0'-
m-n-
m-
mLm
m
mi-
mi-
ni
n-
0-
y-8
p
yi-
yf-
y{
8- v i -
Byl-
0-
0'
8-
'0
- 7c The rioun c l a s s s y s t e m p r o p o s e d for Limbum by VOORHOEVE.
A$/B1
b i r d , e l e p h a n t , g o r i l l e , lamp, r o p e , s t o n e
0-si'q
Az/Bz
/B3
/
"chief"
p-
bushcow, d o g , l e o p a r d
m-bjq
~ z / B 3
"bird"
chief, thief
o-kf?
A2
/ p-
/ p-
'I
b u s h c o w 'I
a n i m a l , a x e , b e l t , body, b r a n c h , f i y , god, chimpanzee, house,
k n i f e , male, m a r k e t , monkey, s n a k e , s o u p , v e g e t a b l e .
m-Sa / m - n -
"animal"
n - j & a / m-ii-
"axe"
/ b-
A2 /B.I
m-53
A2 / 8 5
q-k&r
/ p-
friend"
A2
/B6
n-dGu
/ b-
"husband"
A2
/SI
q-wLc
/ b-&e
I'
A2/1O
/ m-
"goat"
bark, c r a b , d a y , gun, h e a r t , message, nose,
5 - j i i / m-iiCz/Bi
pe r s o n 'I
g o a t , h e n , rat,, s h e e p
in-bG
Ci/B3
c h i 1d "
I'
back"
b a g , bamboo, b o n e , c l o t h , e a r , h e a d , h o e , h o l e , b a n a n a l e a f ,
m o u t h , p l a c e , t r a p , t r e e , c o u n t r y , yam
0-bSa
/ b-
"bag"
C I /Ds
n-fi.e
/ m-n-
'I
leg"
Cz / D I
0-b5 / m-
'I
hand
Cz /D3
0-koo
vt
f o o t 'I
c3 /xz
y-ii
"
t h i ng "
5/D1
root, s l a v e , t a i l
/
/ b-
m-0-
a r m , belly, b r e a s t , death, egg, eye, feather, horn, kola,
m a t , m o u n t a i n , n a i l , name, n a v e l , n e t , p a l m t r e e , p e p p e r , p o t ,
t h r o a t , t o n g u e , t o o t h , work
i
- 7d r - k j 3 / m-
5/Dz
r-kaa / m-
5/D3
r-gi. / m - 0 -
Ai
maize,
rain,
"
c a d a v e r ''
" m a i z e ''
tobacco
rain
m-b&n
Bi
hridge, b r a i n , bed, bloos,
bridge"
"
c 1o u d "
0-sa
"
cornbeer"
r-boo
"sky"
co1.11, h a i r
m-m- bZ7
CZ
5
D3
cornbeer, ashes
b e a n s , f a t , o 1, s a l i v a , s a l t , w a t e r , m e d i c i n e , wine
m-0-k
10
f a c e , t h o r n , wing
"
b-r&a
B3
d e b t ''
i r o n , war
0-kwg
A2
arm
o
"
be a n s "
b e e , cowry, d u s t , f i r e , f i r e w o o d , f i s h , f r u i t
ii-h
'' be e ''
m- b a b i
'' c o w r y "
OF WORK
GOALS, SCOPE AND METHOD
1.3
GOALS AND SCOPE
1.3.1
PROPELCA
has
Limbum as one of the languages due to go
on area extension soon.
As a result, this study is aimed at
what has already been written on Limbum so as to
increasing
facilitate the teaching and
particular
and
learning
of
the
language
in
mother tongue (MT) education in Cameroon in
general.
Besides, this dissertation is aimed at
NP
the
in Limbum with focus on the internal structure as we 1 as
the linear and hierarchical order
1%
describing
of
elements
within
the
simple and modified NPs.
The choice of this topic has been triggered by the 1ack
of
or little work on syntax in Limbum as
areas
of
study
phonology.
on
in
the
language
such
other
as morphology and
This study therefore aims at laying a foundation
Limbum Syntax.
METHOD.OF WORK
1.3.2
This
Yaounde.
words,
research
has
been
carried
out
The work has been based on a corpus
150
phrases
as
exclusively in
of
about
500
well as a collection of vital data
from what has already been done in
Mr.
to
opposed
Limbum.
My
informants
Ndamnsa Clement aged 2 8 , working with Cameroon National
Family Welfare (CAMNAFAW) and John Jarnba aged 2 2 , a
student
- 9 -
i n the University o f Yaounde did the oral
translation
from
English to Limbum.
d
I
i
have
sometimes
used
my
little
of the
knowledge
language to ask them tricky questions that have gone a
long
way to clarify the doubts that I have had in my analysis.
The
initial step consists in the syntactic analysis o f
the NP in order to
bring
out
the
various
elements
that
the n o u n ( N ) in Limbum and indicate the linear order
modify
of these s a t e i i ~ t e s within the modified NP in the language.
After
every
analysis
of
the
N
and a modifier, a phrase
structure (PS) rule will be postulated.
In the final analysis, the PS rules shall be
so
as to come up with a single generalized PS rule that can
generate the
1.4
collapsed
NP
THEORETIC&
The
fi
i n Limbum.
FRAMEWORK
theoretical
$1
orientation
this-”fT
for
adopted
~
“dissertation is that of government and binding ( G B ) which is
%generative
transformational
/
‘well-formed sentences
are
syntax.
It
deals
with
generated
in
a language.
how
The
study brings out rules which show the structural arrangement
of
elanierits
‘iri
a sentence, describes the relations that the
various elements have in the
form,
interpret
and
sentence,
pronounce
and
shows
The
how
to
sentences in the language.
This theory i s one o f the most current theories
in
Syntax.
overall organization o f ( G E ) with all its components 1s
shown below:
[q4
‘iI..
-
10
Theory, e-Theory
Xi
<--
move a
-
Projection Principle
8-cr it e r i on
Phonetic f o r m
Fig.111
The s u b - t h e o r i e s o f GB t h a t
study
include
the
Xi
directly
relate
t h e o r y (X-bar t h e o r y ) ,
( @ - t h e o r y ) and t h e p r o j e c t i o n p r i n c i p l e
to
this
t h e t a theory
which
are
briefly
p r e s e n t e d below:
T H E X’
1.4.1
This
1970s.
for
THEORY
is
(X-BAR
THEORY)
a t h e o r y t h a t was developed by Chomsky i n t h e
I t i s a more adequate and more g e n e r a l i z e d n o t a t i o n
c h a r a c t e r i z i n g p h r a s a l and s e n t e n t i a l s t r u c t u r e s .
This
t h e o r y e s t a b l i s h e s t h a t any p h r a s e i n any human language has
a
head w h i c h g i v e s t h e p h r a s e i t s e s s e n t i a l c h a r a c t e r .
head c o n t r o l s t h e o t h e r e l e m e n t s w h i c h a r e i n
related
to
it
within
the
phrase.
l e x i c a l ( i t e m ) c a t e g o r y such as N ,
V,
turn
The
Closely
The head i s u s u a l l y a
P, A , e t c .
-
-
11
X-bar theory recognizes 3 levels of projection: phrasal
level
or
projection level ( X ' l ) ,
maximal
level (Xl) and the zero or word level
level
relates
as used
category.
above
It
VP,
A?,
a
is
captures
PP, IP,
variable
linguistic
over
elements
mean
to
the
any
syntactic
generalizations.
hierarchical
elements within a phrase or sentence.
is understood
Maximal
etc.
ADV.P,
X-bar theory extablishes the linear and
of
The semi-phrasal
(X).
the maximal projection to the head.
projections include NP,
X
the semi-phrasal
The
order
Linear order here
successive
occurence
the
of
while hierarchical order has to d o with the manner
in which lower level categories combine to form higher level
categories.
1.4.2
THETA THEORY
is
This
that make u p
believes
that
( 6 THEORY)
a
theory
part
of
any
that provides semantic information
the
lexicon
of
any
lexical item must belong to a syntactic
category.
The theory then assigns 8-roles
such
patient,
goal,
to
arguments.
information
source,
8-role
given
subcategorized for.
subcategorization
genitive
here
is
about
This
which
etc.
understood
the
element
information
is
the
to
[-NP
agent,
various
mean
the
which
has
been
given
within
give
item,
information
and
with
about
the
nature of the element that is subcategorized for.
Example: Eat
as
a
frame which specifies the kind o f element
that can come after the lexical
restrictions
GB
grammar.
+ edible]
selection
semantic
Within the realm
i
ri
e-theory,
matter
what
movement
operation
undergo,
the
role must not change.
in
any
construction, only
that
is e-criterion
there
states that once a role is attributed to a structure,
which
no
of
-
12
particular
e-role
structure
may
e-criterion also holds
one
element
bears
a
and a particular e-role is assigned only
The
to one element.
that
elements
have
that
the
ability
to
assign e-roles are verbs and prepositions.
1.4.3
PROJECTION P R I N C I P L E
This
is
a
well-formedness
condition
on
syntactic
representation which establishes a kind of relation
between
the requirements of lexical items and the syntax which fills
those requirements.
The principle states that
Syntactlc representations
the 1ex:con
the
lex?cal
contain.
in
that
properties
are projected from
they uniformly observe
of
the
(RADFORD (1988
Syntactic representations i s here
structures
items
they
p.54)
understood
to
mean
that we get after the projection of the lexicon.
Uniformly observed here implies that the lexical
properties
of an item must be respected at all levels of representation
(Deep struturz, Surface Structure o r
Logical
and
phonetic
form).
In
summary therefore, the projection principle assigns
appropriate lexical
items
13
to
i,
appropriate
nodes
of
tree
structures built out of P.S. rules.
OUTLINE OF WORK
1.5
Four
chapters
make
up
introductory and is aimed at
what
the
work
of
presentation
a
The
study.
acquainting
is all about.
and scope of the study,
this
the
first is
with
reader
In it, we have the objective
review
of
related
literature,
theoretical framework, general information
on the language and its speakers, as well as the outline
of
the work.
Chapter two is concerned with the analysis o f the NP in
Lirnbum.
the
NP
It examines the internal constituent
structure
of
and establishes the linear and hierarchical order of
the modifiers o f the head N.
The third chapter takes a look at
tries
in
relation
to
constructions.
other
It
constituent
types
structures
in
larger
also shows the relationship between the
and other phrase types and
linguistic
phrase
to determine the position of occurence of the NP
and
NP
other
generalizations
brings
that
out
the
significant
characterize
the various
phrase types.
Chapter four which is the last contains
the
work,
problems
a
summary
of
faced during research, significance of
the project and suggestions for future research.
CHAPTER
T W O
THE NOUN PHRASE
2.0
INTRODUCTION
ORE YUSUF ( 1 9 9 2 p . 5 ) d e f i n e s t h e noun phrase ( N P )
as:
...
t h e c a t e g o r y t h a t codes t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s
e v e n t o r s t a t e d e s c r i b e d by t h e v e r b .
The NP i s headed b y t h e Noun ( N ) , o r pronoun
(when i t w i l l n o t be m o d i f i e d ) . . The "head"
of a phrase i s t h e S i n g l e word t h a t can s t a n d
f o r t h e whole c o n s t r u c t i o n ; i t i s t h e s i n g l e
lexical
i t e m t h a t can
r e p l a c e t h e whole
phrase.
i n the
.
G e o f f r e y Leech and Jan S v a r t v i k ( 1 9 7 5 ,
p.251) say t h a t :
A noun
p h r a s e i s a p h r a s e w h i c h can a c t as
s u b j e c t , o b j e c t o r complement o f a c l a u s e o r
p r e p o s i t i o n a l complement.
I t is c a l l e d a
noun phrase because t h e word w h i c h 1s I t s
head i s typically a noun.
From t h e above d e f i n i t i o n s , coup ed w i t h e x i s t i n g
n Limbum c o n s t i t u t e s a
i t can be s a i d t h a t an NP
on Limburn,
head word ( n o u n o r
pronoun)
with
0
Without
When t h e NP i s made IJP o f t h e head word a l o n e ,
be
a
simple
"groundnuts",
"house",
In
baa
0-gwi.
satellites,
Examples
NP.
"bag",
"dog"
in
m-baa
etc.
When
data
Limbum
satellites.
it i s said t o
include:
biran
"money" kwa "mal ze" n-dap
the
head
word
has
t i l e NP i s d e s c r i b e d as m o d i f i e d or complex.
Limbum,
the
NP-functions
as
subject,
complement i n 3 sentence as i l l u s t r a t e d below:
-
14
-
object or
1
15
m33
yi
ir,-kvir
yo
n-ye
child
of
chief
is
thief
-
"The c h i l d o f t h e c h i e f i s a t h i e f "
(subJ )
( p r e p ObJ)
(camp)
A l t h o u g h b o t h t h e noun and t h e pronoun, w h i c h are heads
of
the
NP
can f u n c t i o n as u n m o d i f i e d NPs, only
i n Limbum,
t h e head N can be m o d i f i e d as i s e v i d e n t f r o m
the
examples
below:
m53
2 (a)
( b ) *ye
Ca
child
him
this
birair,
cS rnber
groundnuts
c
'' R aw
(e)
( d ) *"wap
mango
(c5) nsi
c
"
As
b3
okip
hand
left
(f)
be
*
black
raw
cane
mbviru
that
white
*"white t h a t "
(h)
*
b-ca
b- bog bbq
these
good
*"Good t h e s e "
L e f t hand "
can
mber
*"Raw t h e i r s "
" u n r i p e mango"
(s)
cZ.
theirs c
raw
g r o u ndn u t s "
n-gst-5
this
* " T h i s him"
"This c h i l d "
(cj
Ch
n o t i c e d above,
any a t t e m p t t o m o d i f y an NP
which i s a pronoun ( P r o n ) l e a d s t o u n g r a m m a t i c a l i t y .
Pronouns which
possessive
16
mostly
pronouns,
-
serve
reflexive
as
NPs
is
pronouns
Limbum
and
are
personal
pronouns.
2.1
PRONOUNS
PRYSE ( 1 9 8 4 p . 3 )
are
used
instead
d e f i n e s pronouns a s :
of
nouns
to
avoid
"...words
which
t h e awkwardness of
r e p e a t i n g names c o n s t a n t l y i n one s e n t e n c e " .
I n Limbum, t h e r e a r e human and non-human
can
replace
nouns
earlier
pronouns which
mentioned i n a d i s c o u r s e .
The
non-htiman pronouns f u n c t i o n o n l y as s u b j e c t s w h i l e t h e human
counterparts
have d i v e r s e d f o r m s which mark s u b j e c t , o b j e c t
of v e r b and o b j e c t o f p r e p o s i t i o n .
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
2.1.1
P e r s o n a l pronouns a r e a group o f words which
o f t h e name o f a p e r s o n o r a t h i n g .
place
s e r v e s as a s u b j e c t ,
case
and
when
it
i t i s said
to
assume
serves
an
object,
as
stand
in
When t h e pronoun
the
nominative
i t assumes t h e
a c c u s a t i v e case.
2.1.1.1
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
In Limbum, t h e r e e x i s t s i m p l e s u b j e c t human pronouns as
well
as compound s u b j e c t human pronouns as shown
I and I 1 r e s p e c t i v e l y :
on f i g u r e s
-
17
-
S i m p l e S u b j e c t human Pronouns
Person
Singular
-
Limbum
Plural
English
Limbum
English
1s t
mZ
me
wer
we
2nd
WZ
YOU
wee
you
3rd
e
wowee
they
he/she
.
(Fig.1)
Compound S u b j e c t human Pronouns
Persons
Singular
Gloss
1 +2
s37
we ( S + A )
1C 3
wer
we
2+3
3+3
Plural
'Gloss
see
we ( S + A s )
(S+R)
W er
we
yee
you ( A + R )
yee
you ( A + R s )
wowee
they
wowee
they
(R+R)
(S+Rs)
(R+Rs)
( F i g . 11)
These pronouns a r e used as
subjects
in
below:
3 (a)
mZ
mb&
Ye
kw5
I
P2
eat
maize
"I a t e maize"
(b)
wer
a
mbi!
ye
kwa
we(i+3)
sm
P2
eat
mai z e
"we a t e maize"
(c)
s57
a
mbi!
so7sf
n-yor
we(l+Z)
sm
P1
wash
self/body
"We t o o k a b a t h "
"we washed o u r s e l v e s "
the
examples
(d)
18
-
yee
a
Ye
m- baa
you(2+3)
sm
eat
money
"You have s p e n t money"
2.1.1
HUMAN OBJECT PRONOUNS OF P R E P O S I T I O N S
2
There
also
prepositions
exist
which
are
simple
used
and
compound
as o b j e c t s i n Limbum.
pronouns can be seen on f i g u r e s
typeJof
of
IOU
These
I 1 1 and I V below:
Simple P r e p o s i t i o n a l object.pronouns
SIn g u l a r
Person
Gloss
Plural
Gloss
1
mi
me
wer
we
2
W&
YOU
wee
YOU
wowee
them
1
3
ye
h 1 m/her
( F i g . 111)
Compound p r e p o s i t i o n a l O b j e c t Pronouns
Persons
Singular
G1 oss
Plural
II
Gloss
1 +?
S5?
we (S+A)
see
we ( S + A s )
113
,we r
we (S+R)
we r
we ( S + R s )
2+3
yee
you ( A + R )
yee
you (A+Rs)
wbw5e
they ( R + R )
wbwee
they (R+Rs)
3+3
'
(Fig. I V )
The sentences below i l l u s t r a t e t h e
pronouns :
use
of
some
of
these
I
4
(a)
mi
fa
ni
wowee
I
give
to
them
19
-
"I have given to them"
(b)
fa
ni
mZ
give
to
me
"Give to me"
(c)
e
k5
SB
Ye
he
take
from
him
"He has taken from him"
(d)
e
k5
S6
w6wee
he
take
from
them
"He has taken from them"
The human pronouns that substitute for berb objects\, , i.n
<
~~~~
~
~
~.~
~~
.
~~~
~
~
Limbum
are
not
~
~
~
different from
the pronounshf preposition
.
~.
-\,-----~~
~~
already discussed above.
-~___-----
2.1.1.3
As
NON-HUMAN
PRONOUNS
earlier mentioned
in
2.1,
Limbum function as subjects only.
class of the nouns which they
below
shows
the
various
non-human
in
Their forms depend on the
substitute
forms
pronouns
of
for.
The
table
non-human pronouns in
Limbum and their corresponding noun classes.
~
~~~~
- 20
Plural
Singular
Gloss
N.cl.
mi
i t , they
D3,
yi/vi
it, ther
A l l others
li
a
-
5/D1
The use o f t h e s e pronouns as s u b j e c t s i s i l l u s t r a t e d i n
the
sentences
below.
The noun which i s s u b s t i t u t e d f a r i s
i n oaranthesis.
5 (a) l i
(rbi)
i t (Kolanut)
rnbij
bkte
P2
rotten
"It got r o t t e n "
(b! &
(n-wa?)
I t (book)
rnbij
b&te
P2
rotten
"It got rotten"
( c ) m i (rn-n-dip)
it (water)
rnbij
k&te
P2
sp111
" I t s D i 1 led"
( d ) v i (b-n-wa?)
they (books)
"They g o t t o r n "
mbG
sasi
P2
tear
-
-
21
REFLEXIVE PRONOUNS
2.1.2
Reflexive pronouns
are
in
formed
Limbum
by
(body or self) to the possessive adjectives which we
"nyor"
(I) below:
have in 2 . 2 . 1
I
I
Singular
Plural
I
English
/
Limbum
English
ya-nyor
myse 1 f
yer-nyor
ou rse1 ves
yo- n yor
yourself
yGe-ny6r
yoursel vs
yi-nyor
hi msel f/
herself/
itself
wap-nyor
themselves
(Fi g.VI )
Examples o f sentences with reflexive pronouns are:
6 (a)
mi
gee
ni
y a-ny6r
I
do
with
myself
" I have dealt with myself''
(b)
e
bi
VG
mbena
ni
yi-nyor
he
Fo
come
here
with
himself
"He will come here
(c)
adding
-
0
bi
VG
mbena
ni
wap-ny6r
they
Fo
come
here
with
themselves
"They will come here themselves"
--
.
.
2.1.3
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS
These pronouns whlch mark
dependent.
Taklng
into
class system for Llmbum
below
nouns
shows
of
the
consideratlon
by
VOORHOEVE
possessive
class ( 5 / D 1 ) .
possession
Figure
are
the
VI11
shows
Plural
18
ma
mi ne
1 0
mo
yours
li
mi
his
the
Gloss
1 isee
mi see
ours
16
mem
yours
1 ap
map
theirs
Singular
Plural
YS
Wh
mine
YO
WO
yours
Yi
Vi
his
I wer/visee
Figure
VI1
forms of mass nouns ( D 3 ) and
Singular
yer, yisee
class
proposed noun
(1981),
forms of the rest of the nouns in Limbum.
3
noun
Gloss
ours
yee
wee
yours
Y aP
wap
theirs
-
possessive
-
23
-
The use o f some o f these pronouns is exemplified in the
sentences below:
7
(a) baa
bag
ca
a
YA
this
is
mine
"This bag is mine"
(b) m33
a
Ca
child
yer/yisee
is o u r s
this
"This child is ours"
(c)
rbi
cane
a
10
Kolanut
that
is
yours
"That Kolanut is yours"
(d)
m-bi
m-cena a
map
Kolanuts
those
theirs
are
"Those Kolanuts are theirs"
The
pronouns
concern this
unmodified
part
NPs
discussed above are those which directly
of
in
the
dissertation.
Limbum.
NFORGWEI
They
There
shall
be
more
on
as
(199.1) also treats
pronouns in Limbum though not in the same light as
study.
serve
pronouns
in
this
in subsequent
sections .
From the above analysis, the possible PS rule that
can
generate an NP that consists only o f a pronoun o r a noun is:
i
\
i
Q
- 24 P
J
rule I NP -
> [Pron
will
In the next section of this study, there
examination
of
the
be
an
modified NP and the various satellites
that make UP such an NP.
THE MODIFIED NP
2.2
The modified NP is an NP that consists of an obligatory
N with modifying elements.
head
In Limbum, these modifying
elements can be premodifiers or postmodifiers.
Welmers ( 1 9 7 3 p.249) holds that "Many works on
Languages...
show
a
remarkable
sophistication
in
their
treatment
Talking
about
Niger-Congo languages in particular, (p.250)
he says:
"
forms
...
used
lack
of
it should be recognized
as
noun
modifiers
of
African
noun
that
linguistic
modifiers.''
the
status of
in these languages, and o f
relat.ed forms, is intrinsically difficult
to
define."
In
this wise, he prefers using the term "adjectivals "to define
the satellites that accompany the noun in a modified NP.
While Welmers's "adjectivals" is
conflates
the
welcome
because
categories of determiners and adjectives and
thus limits our inventory of categories, there seems
no
empirical
Limbum.
it
evidence
to
support
such
to
be
a proposition in
Any attempt to analyse determiners as adjectives in
Limbum will lead to a number of problems.
First, there
is
supposed to be a distinction between
-
25
-
t h e d e t e r m i n e r and t h e a d j e c t i v e w h i c h s t a t e s t h e
qualities
o f t h e noun as can be seen i n t h e examples below:
8 (a)
0-we
Ca
person
this
" T h i s man"
(b)
"
0 - ~ 2
mbviru
person
white
w h iteman "
Besides,
right of
the
a d j e c t i v e s can be s t a c k e d i n d e f i n i t e l y t o t h e
head
N
they
modify.
This
distributional
e v i d e n c e makes them d i f f e r e n t f r o m d e t e r m i n e r s which c a n n o t
be r e c u r s i v e l y s t a c k e d t o t h e head N w h i c h t h e y d e t e r m i n e .
9 (a)
0-gwa
bbnb60
cG
nsi
wife
goodgood
c
black
"The v e r y good d a r k i n c o m p l e x i o n w i f e "
cena
ca
cat
that
this
*"This
that
Cat"
(b) *rwC
--
Moreover, d e t e r m i n e r s
e
distributions
when
-
they
ani
adjectives
have
fferer;
--
.
.
~
I
.
~
-
a r e used t o g e t h e r t o m o d i f y an N.
The d e t e r m i n e r always jjrecedes t h e a d j e c t i v e .
r
10
r,,?
m-bvk
nsi
goat
black
h
' i
/
\
i/
j
good
my
-
\
"my b l a c k g o a t "
friend
26
!
" M Y good f r i e n d "
(c)
Yb
m- baa
mfi
your
money
new
"Your new money"
I n a d d i t i o n , d e t e r m i n e r s can be c o o r d i n a t e d w i t h
the
determiners
of
coordinated
with
same
others
type
of
the
just
same
as a d j e c t i v e s can be
type.
d e t e r m i n e r s c a n n o t be c o o r d i n a t e d w i t h a d j e c t i v e s .
t h e examples below:
1 1 ( a ) n-dap
house
ca
0
cena
this
and
that
" T h i s and t h a t house"
( b ) kwa
maize
mber
ce
nfi
raw
c
new
"Raw f r e s h mai Ze"
other
However,
Consider
(c)
*
-
27
Cena
o
kw.3
mber
That
and
maize
raw
* " T h a t and raw maize"
Furthermore,
adjectives
can
r e d u p l ic a t e d
be
m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y t o l a y emphasis on t h e degree o f t h e q u a l i t y
a t t r i b u t e d t o t h e noun b u t
determiners
do
not
have
this
morphological p r o p e r t y .
" A v e r y good b a s k e t "
( b ) njinwF5
woman
ntatap
hard hard
" A v e r y h a r d woman"
(C)
*
b-laba?
b-cB
CB
shoes
these
these
*"These t h e s e shoes"
Finally,
adjectives
r e s t r i c t i o n than determiners.
specific
nouns.
have
a
Specific
stricter
selection
adjectives
modify
This r e s t r i c t i o n i s r i g i d with adjectives
b u t l i b e r a l w i t h determiners.
R
iii
-
28
j /I
13 (a) q-w2
fee
person
sense
"intelligent person"
(b) *kao
fee
pan
sense
*"Intel 1 igent pan"
(c)
n-w&
cena
person
that
"That person"
(d)
kao
cena
pan
that
"That pan"
The use of the adjective fee "intelligent" is
to
humans
but
limited
use of the determiner cena "that" goes
the
with both animate and inanimate things.
Having examined the distinction between determiners and
adjectives,
it
is
clear that descriptive adequacy will be
achieved if t h e two categories are not conflated.
In the discussion o f the modifiers of the head N
follows, determiners
will
be
treated
as
category different from that of adjectives.
which
belonging to a
-
29
-
DETERMINERS
2.2.1
As earlier mentioned,
head
N.
In
pronoun,
the
indefinite
the
determiner
determines
the
Limbum, determiners include the demonstrative
interrogative
pronouns,
pronoun,
the
definite
and
the definite and indefinite articles,
and the ordinal and cardinal numerals.
The demonstrative Pronouns
A
In Limbum, there are demonstratlve form
that deslgnate
Objects near speaker (NS), ObJects far from speaker (FS) and
near the addressee ( N A ) and ObJects
addressee ( F . S . A ) .
from
speaker
and
This is illustrated on the table below:
Other Classes
All
N.Cl.
'
D3 and 5/D1
Plural
Singular
Limbum
Gloss
Limbum
far
Gloss
b-ca
cane
that (FS) (NA)
b-cane
b-yana
those
(FS)(NA)
in-cane
cena
that
b-cena
those
(FSA)
m-cena
(FSA)
these
m-ca
this (NS)
(NS)
(Fig.IX)
The
column
to the extreme right shows forms which are
used mostly with mass nouns ( D 3 )
there
are
some
demonstrative forms.
non-mass
but
one
nouns which
finds
out
that
take
the
same
There is the example of "Kolanut" rbi
which belongs to noun class 5/D1.
/
14
(a) rbi
Kol anut
"
-
Ca
m- b i
m-cti
this
Kolanuts
these
T h is Ko 1an u t ''
( b ) rbi
30
cane
"These K o l a n u t s "
m-bi
m-yana
yana
Kolanut
that
"That Kolanut"
( c ) rbi
Kolanut
m-cane
Kol a n u t
those
"Those K o l a n u t s "
cena
m-bi
m-cena
that
Kol a n u t s
those
"That Kolanut"
( d ) m-n-dip
water
"Those K o l a n u t s "
m-ca
this
"This water"
( c ) m-n-dip
m-cane
m-yana
water
"
that
That water "
( f ) m-n-dip
water
'' T h a t
m-cena
that
water ''
As can be seen i n t h e examples i n 14
and
the
various
,
demonstrative
forms
in
-
31
figure
the
IX,
forms
of
the
d e m o n s t r a t i v e pronouns a r e noun c l a s s dependent i n Limbum.
The most p r o b a b l e reason why k o l a n u t and w a t e r t a k e t h e
same form f o r t h e d e m o n s t r a t i v e s h o u l d have been
belong
to
one c l a s s b u t VOORHOEVE ( 1 9 8 1 p.189-90)
them as b e l o n g i n g
There
is
that
no
to
classes
information
at
5/D1
the
and
presents
respectively.
D3
moment
they
to
c l a r i f y the
,/----)
situation.
/
The PS r u l e c a p a b l e o f g e n e r a t i n g an NP which
is
/=-A,
up o f a noun modified by a demonytrate!pronoun w i l l be:
\
k d '
PS r u l e 2
The
NP
-
/
made>.
1'
i
,
/
-,
N(D)
o p t i o n a l i t y o f t h e d e t e r m i n e r i s due t o t h e f a c t t h a t a
head noun w i t h o u t m o d i f i e r s has t h e p o t e n t i a l i t i e s o f a f u l l
NP as i n t h e example below:
15
M-n-dip
rn-bo,oi
water
good
+
pres.t.
"Water i s good"
This
sentence can be s a i d t o be made up o f an NP and a
VP i n w h i c h case t h e NP i s a s i n g l e N .
B
The I n t e r r o q a t i v e Pronoun
The i n t e r r o g a t i v e d e t e r m i n e r i s noun c l a s s dependent
Limbum.
in
There a r e t h e f o l l o w i n g f o r m s f o r t h e i n t e r r o g a t i v e
i n t h e language:
il
-
6i~lnsG-1
I
Gloss
1 c&ft/yi-fi 1
Plural
1 mi-ft/vi-fd]
which one?
-
32
I
Gloss
which ones?
fi
where?
fi
where ?
kt
what?
ki
what ?
ndaa
whom, who, whose?
ndaa
I
I
who, whom, whose?
The use o f t h e s e i n t e r r o g a t i v e forms i s i l l u s t r a t e d
t h e sentences below:
1 6 ( a ) n-dap
house
c&fi
m-n-dap
vi-fi?
yi-fi
houses
which
which
" w h i c h house?"
"which
houses?"
(Amongst many o t h e r s )
(Amongst many)
( b ) m-n-dip
water
mi-fi?
which
"Which w a t e r ? "
( c ) n-dap
house
ndaa?
m-n-dap
ndaa?
who
houses
who
"whose house?"
"whose houses?"
in
-
iij
( d ) n-dap
house
( c ) n-dap
house
m-n-dap
k i?
what
houses
what
"What houses?"
fi?
m-n-dap
fi?
where
houses
where
"Which house?"
mi-fl
-
k i?
"What house?"
I
33
"Which houses?"
i s used w i t h nouns o f c l a s s e s
D3
(liquids)
and
we have i n 1 6 ( b ) above.
5/D1
such
C&fl
or y i - f 6 a r e used when what i s t a l k e d about i s p r e s e n t
as
rbi
"Kolanut"
amongst many o t h e r t h i n g s .
as
i s
When t h e o b j e c t i s a b s e n t , fi
used as w e have i n 1 6 ( c ) above.
yi-fc
former
and v i - f i
a r e r a r e l y used i n t h e
language.
The
i s used m o s t l y by n o n - n a t i v e speakers and t h e l a t t e r
e s p e c i a l l y by c h i l d r e n .
The P . S .
determiner
the
in
r u l e f o r an NP m o d i f i e d
by
an
interrogative
Limbum i s .
determiner
being
optional
because t h e
noun
can
f u n c t i o n i n d e p e n d e n t l y as a f u l l NP.
C
The d e f i n i t e Pronoun
In L i m b u m , t h e d e f i n i t e pronoun morphemes i n c l u d e :
S t i l l
1
-
34
I
Limbum
-
!
I
English
1
a1 1
We
msi p
rn37 ..... k a ?
I
none
(Fig. X I )
M 3 7 means " o t h e r " and ka7 i s a marker o f n e g a t i o n .
18 ( a )
mi
k3n
mS7
I
7ike
other
6
of
wowee
kS7
them
not
" I l i k e none o f them"
(b)
n3
m-ro7
m-ca
msip
drink
wine
this
all
" D r i n k a l l t h i s wine"
(c)
n5
m-ro7
m-ca
we
drink
wine
this
all
" D r i n k a l l t h i s wine"
I t i s w o r t h n o t i n g t h a t t h e d e f i n i t e pronoun i n
is
noun c l a s s dependent because i t s f o r m i s i n v a r i a b l e
not
w i t h r e s p e c t t o t h e noun i t d e t e r m i n e s .
19 ( a )
Limbum
mZ
ye
birang
m s i p/we
I
eat
groundnuts
all
"I have e a t e n a l l t h e g r o u n d n u t s "
(b)
al
4
35
-
0
y60
b-baa
msip/we
they
buy
bags
all
"They have bought all the bags"
(c)
sha
bee
0
n3
people
s.m.
drink
we/msip
cornbeer
all
"People have drunk a1 1 the cornbeer"
The definite pronoun is always positioned to the
right
of the noun it determines.
The
PS
rule
that can generate the NP consisting of a
noun modified by a definite pronoun is:
r
PS rule 4:
NP ->
N (D)
The determiner i s optional because of the status of
N.
It
(N) can independently function as an NP.
D
The indefinite Pronoun
Like
Limbum
is
the
not
definite
noun
pronoun, the indefinite pronoun in
class
dependent.
indefinite pronouns include those
in
Forms
for
figure X I 1 below.
the
- 36
-
L imbum
English
m5 7
some, c e r t a i n
93r
many, s e v e r a l ,
kZ7 . . . + i n t e r r o
Pron.
much
any
M37 has many meanings depending on t h e c o n t e x t i n which
it
is
used.
I t v a r i o u s l y means " o t h e r " ,
and "one" (when c o u n t i n g ) .
as a numeral e . g .
an
As
"certain"
20 ( a )
one man, we use m 3 7 s i r .
indefinite
pronoun,
m57
.
Q - W ~
m3 7
person
some
bee
m3 7
people
some
"Some peop 1e "
(c)
"certain"
B u t i f "one" i s used w i t h a noun
Somebody
(b)
"some",
rl-wi
m3 7
a
mb6
vi,
person
some
s.m.
P2
come
certain
Somebody came "
" A c e r t a i n p e r s o n came"
means
"some"
or
- 37 g3r can also serve both
indefinite
used.
In
as
adjective
as
and
an
depending on the context in which it is
pronoun
The former function will
the
an
be
examples, g3r
following
examined
acts
as
subsequently.
an
indefinite
pronoun.
21
bee
93r
0
mbi, vii
people
many
s.m.
P2
come
several
many
people came"
several
The sentence above i s vague as it can
in
which
also
mean
"Big
people
came"
case g3r functions as an adjective
"big".
To avoid this ambiguity, the
prefer
positioning the item "g3r" sentence-finally as in 2 2
native
speaker
would
below:
22
bee
0
mbi,
vir
93r
people
s.m.
P2
come
many/several
"Many/Several people came"
The morpheme kZ3 which is a marker o f negation
an
indefinite
pronoun.
with
pronoun
when
attached
becomes
to an interrogative
It does not make sense on its own except when used
other morphemes to mean "none" in the case of definite
pronouns, and "any" in the case of indefinite pronouns or to
express any aspect o f negation.
T o mean "any", we have
kZ7
I
+ interro.Pron. Consider the examples below:
2 3 (a) kZ7
ndaa
who
any
"
Any body ''
(b) kZ7
ki
any
"
(C)
"
what
Any th i ng
"
kZ?
ce-fi
any
which
An y one
(d) ka?
any
'I
mi-fi
which
"Anyone" (N.Cl .D3)
The
PS rule that can generate an NP i n which
possible
the noun is determined by an indeflnlte pronoun is:
c?
PS rule 5 NP
E
->
(-
N (D)
c
1
The definite Article
Morphologically, the form of the
Limbum
is
similar
to
that
of
definite
the
near
article
speaker
in
(NS)
-__
.-
demonstrative pronoun.
different
tones.
39
-
They only differ in that
The
bear
demonstrative bears a contour
(NS)
tone as in ca "this" while
they
the
definite
article
bears
a
register tone (L) as we have in 2 4 below:
2 4 (a)
rn53
Ca
child
the
e
mbii
dii
s.m.
P2
go
"The child went"
(b)
e
mbi, dii
ni
0-wa7
ca
he
P2
with
book
the
go
"He went with the b o o k "
The
definite article in Limbum is noun class dependent
as illustrated in the examples below:
25 (a)
b8o
b-Ca
vi
bebi
things
the
s.m.
spoil
"The things are spoi It"
(b)
bebi
a
YO
C&
thing
the
s.m.
spoil
"The thing is spoilt"
(c)
m-n-dip
m-ca
mi
kGte
water
the
s.m.
spill
"The water i s spilt".
-
40
-
Sometimes, the defin te article is
marked
as
in
for the sake o f convenience.
example I repeated as ( 2 6
26
not
m k
yi
q-kvli
yo
0-ye
child
of
chief
is
thief
"The child o f the chief is a thief"
PS
The
rule f o r an NP in which the head N is modified
by the definite article is:
The determiner is optional because the noun
can
act
as
a
full N P with o r without the determiner.
F
The indefinite Article
The indefinite article is not morphologically marked in
Limbum.
27
The structures below illustrate this.
( a ) fa
give
mZ
q-g3r3
me
mango
"Give me a mango"
(b)
1st-
n-Sara?
take
needle
"Take a needle"
\
- 41
( c ) o-wt
person
yo
mba
n-dap
i s
in
house
-
" A p e r s o n i s i n t h e house"
" T h e r e i s someone i n t h e house"
The
PS
possible
rule
for
an
NP
modified
by
the
i n d e f i n i t e a r t i c l e w i l l be:
PS r u l e 7 : NP
The
->
N
d e t e r m l n e r i s n o t j u s t o p t i o n a l h e r e b u t absent because
t h e i n d e f l n l t e a r t l c l e i s n o t m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y marked i n
the
1anguage .
G.
C a r d i n a l Numerals
As
NFORGWEI
(1991
p39 )
points
c a r d i n a l s a r e commonly used and a r e formed
28
1 m3'
6 ntuunfir
2 baa
7 saamba
3 taar
8 waami
4 kjee
9 tG?ii
5
tzi
A f t e r 10,
10 r G t i
we have nc6p
+
s i m p l e numbers.
out,
on
"In
Limbum,
base 10."
-
il
29
11
ncop-rn37
12
ncop-baa
13
nc6p-taar
42
-
C a r d i n a l n u m e r a l s a r e noun c l a s s dependent i n Limbum as
can be seen i n 30 below:
30 ( a ) tob5
finger
m37si r
m-tob5
m- baa
one
fingers
two
"One f i n g e r "
( b ) c5?
"Two f i n g e r s "
m37sir
c l o t h e one
"One c l o t h e "
(c) m53
child
b-cS7
b- bsa
clothes
two
C2/B1
"Two c l o t h e s "
m57si r
b3s
b- baa
one
children
two
"One c h i I d "
(d) rbi
Kolanut
C2/D1
A2/B4
"Two c h i l d r e n "
rn3'si r
m-bi
m- bSa
one
Kolanuts
two
"One K o l a n u t "
5/D1
"Two K o l a n u t s "
When a c a r d i n a l numeral d e t e r m i n e s a noun,
p o s i t i o n e d t o t h e r i g h t o f t h e s a i d noun.
i t i s always
The PS r u l e
can g e n e r a t e an NP m o d i f i e d by a c a r d i n a l numeral i s :
PS r u l e 8:
NP
->
N (D)
that
-
43
-
0 is optional because of N's ability to function as
a full
NP independently.
Ordinal numerals
H.
Unlike the cardinals, ordinals are less frequently used
This may be because they
in Limbum.
number.
are
very
limited
in
There are ordinals in Limbum which express "first"
(ahead), "next"
(behind) and
"last".
They,
unlike
the
cardinals, are
not noun class dependent as can be observed
in 31 below.
31 (a) s i 0
bird
ent5mbi
p-si0
entomb?
f i rst/ahead
birds
first/ahead
"First bird"
(b) rn-bjr,
bush cow
"First bi rds"
ent6mbi
m-m-bsrl
entomb?
first/ahead
bush cows
first/ahead
-
friend
p - k6 r
next (behind)
friends next/behind
A2/B5
"Next friends"
We can therefore
containing
&!I&]>
ernbgnji
" N e x t friend"
A2/B3
"Fi rst bush cows
"First bush cow"
( c ) n-kar
Al/Bl
postulate
the
PS
rule
for
an
NP
a noun which is determined by an ordinal numeral
as:
PS rule 9: NP ->
N
(a)
D is optional because o f the potentiality
of
N
which
can
function independently as a full NP.
I
The oossessive determiner
The
possessive
determiner
in
Limbum
is noun class
This Can be observed on the table below:
deDendent.
\
i
rn
I
Singular
English
I
---Plural
Engl ish
Li mbum
my bag
wa b-baa
my bags
your bag
wo b-bZa
your bags
t
baa
C2/B1
yi baa
his bag
v i b-baa
his bags
ySr baa
our bag
wer b-baa
our bags
yee baa
your bag
wee b-baa
your bags
yap baa
their bag
wap b-baa
their bag
m 3 3 wa
my child
b33 wa
my children
m 3 3 wo
your children
m 3 3 yi
his children
rn33 wer
our children
n33 wee
your children
n33 wap
their children
A2/B4
(Fig. XIII)
In most cases, the possessive determiner precedes the N
in
Limbum
but
can be seen on
in some cases, it comes after the head
figure
XI11
above.
The
latter
N
case
as
is
-
.
,
a
nouns reverse the general order o f [Poss. N.].
The
d
PS
rule
that
can generate this sequence of head
noun and the possessive determiner i s :
PS rule
10:
NP ->
N
(D)
(D)
N
I n the discussion of the noun and determiners
so
far,
we have postulated the following PS rules:-
1)
N + demonstrative Pron.
NP ->
N (0)
2)
N + interro. Pron.
NP ->
N
(0)
+ definite Pron.
NP ->
N
(D)
3) N
4)
N + indefinite Pron.
NP
->
N (0)
(D)
N
(0)
5) N
+ definite art.
NP ->
N
6) N
+ indefinite art.
NP->
N
7)
N + Cardinal numerals
NP ->
N
8)
N + Ordinal numerals
NP ->
N (0)
NP ->
N (D)
9) N + Poss. Pron.
(D)
A
conflated
PS
11:
NP
->
N
rule for the noun and determiners wil
be:
PS rule
(D)
N
(D)
(D)
N
a
-
46
-
ADJECTIVES
2.2.2
An adjective is a word which qualifies
it is used in an NP.
which
to
the
noun
determines
unlike
the
the
determiner
which
noun with which it is used,
adjectives.
noun
with
It assigns a particular quality
definition, adjectives in Limbum
attributive
the
will
specifies
or
From the above
include
mainly
the
All other adjectives serve more as
determiners than as adjectives.
The form of
the
adjective
is determined by the noun class of the qualified noun.
A
The attributive adjective
a quality
or
qualities to t h e noun with which it is associated as can
be
This
seen
type
of
adjective
on the figure below.
the noun it modifies.
(Fig. XIV)
attributes
Its form depends on the class of
- 47
-
The a t t r i b u t i v e a d j e c t i v e i n Limbum always comes
after
t h e head N .
The PS r u l e necessary t o g e n e r a t e t h i s NP t y p e i s :
A i s o p t i o n a l because N can f u n c t i o n as a f u l l NP w i t h o u t i t
( i e A).
2.2.3
THE A S S O C I A T I V E NP
TAMANJI (1991 p . 7 4 ) says
is
used
to
express
a s s o c i a t i o n such a s :
var e t y
of
possess on,
semantic
time
of
aspects
use,
of
material,
o r i g i n , q u a l i t y , q u a n t i t y , f u n c t i o n , p l a c e o f use
contents,
etc.
a
"The a s s o c i a t i v e c o n s t r u c t i o n
"
I n an a s s o c i a t i v e NP i n Limbum, t h e r e a r e two nouns: N1
and N 2 .
They a r e l i n k e d by an a s s o c i a t i v e marker (Am) w h i c h
i s either
a
structure.
N1.
floating
The
form
tone
or
a
segmental
house
b
b-lbr
Am
stones
"House of s t o n e s "
of
CV
o f t h e (Am) depends on t h e c l a s s o f
C o n s i d e r t h e examples below:
32 ( a ) n-dap
unit
n-dap
b-lor
(b) u-gkp
fowl
Lo
ba
Am
father
48
n-gkp ba
"Fowl of father"
"Father's fowl"
(c) n-d0u
husband
"
yi
makf0
Am
grandmother
H u sb and o f g randmoth e r
"
"Grandmother's husband"
(e) m-n-dip
water
''
mi
nigk6r
Am
yesterday
Wa te r of yesterday
"
"Yesterday's water"
What we realize from the examples
above
is
that
the
noun ( N l ) which is modified is always to the extreme left of
the phrase.
This leads us to the postulation of the PS rule
below for the associative NP:
PS rule 13:
As
in
NP ->
N (Gen.P.)
previous PS rules, the rule indicates that the N can
function as a full NP without any modification.
2.2.4 THE COMPLEX NP
A
complex NP is one in which the modifier is an embeded
sentence
that
usually functions as a relative clause.
The
0
as we have in the examples below:
complementizer
a
mbii
ye
s.m.
P2
eat
ce nf3
33 (a) birar,
groundnuts
c
Nfor
"The groundnuts which Nfor ate"
(b) in-0-gur
oi 1
Ci.
C
mb6
kGte
P2
spill
le,/
~ n a
;?/
"The oil which spilled"
c CYh.
//
O-gkP
CG
mama
am
fa
mi
fowl
C
mother
s m P3
give me
('',','
jna
:the /
:ij
"The fowl which mother gave me"
From
the
exmples above, the PS rule that can generate
the comolex NP in Limbum i s
PS
rule
14:
NP ->
N'
D
->
N
(C')
N'
The
can
C1
alone
is optional for the obvious reason
function
as
a full NP.
that
the
N
This PS rule indicates
that the satellites of a head N may not
only
be
a
single
modifier but also a phrase.
Our
foregoing
analysis
of
the modified NP in Limbum
implies that there are two levels of categories.
-
50
-
- Word-level categories e.g. N ,
P, D etc.
A,
- Phrase-level categories e.g. NP, VP, Gen.P, CP etc.
We established
recognizes
three
in
that
(1.4.1.1)
levels
of
projection:
Maximal projection level, Semi-phrasal
word
level.
the
X-bar
theory
Phrasal level o r
level
and
zero
It was also said that the semi-phrasal
relates the maximal projection to
consideration
the
X-bar
the
head.
Taking
to
verify
the
eve1
into
theory and basing our analys s on
information got so far from the NP types discussed, we
going
or
existence
or
semi-phrasal l e v e l category in Limbum.
non-existence
Let us
are
of the
consider
33
below:
33
0-gljp
ce
mama
mbii
Ye
na
fowl
C
mother
P2
eat
the
"The fowl which mother ate"
The phrase marker f o r example ( 3 3 ) will be (34) below:
-
51
-
I
CS
SPEC
mama
I
1
I
fowl
"The
which
fowl
V'
I
mother
which
P2
mother
[n-giip cS mama mbir ye] forms a
'
I
t
eat
the
ate"
constituent
which
for
the
sake of convenience now, we call X .
[o-giip
ce
mbii
mama
ye] and [na] form another constituent
X in the phrase marker looks like an
which is an NP or N11.
it will give us
or N11 but if we replace it with an Nl',
NP
the PS rule below:
PS
rule 15: NP ->
This will make
determiner
NP
the
D
rule
recursive
rule is not recursive.
whereas
X is
therfore not an N11
and cannot be an N o r a zero level category
it
is
not
a single noun.
category between
categories.
(N').
the
According
naturally, a
either
because
It is therefore an intermediary
phrasal
level
and
the
word
level
to the X-bar theory, it is an N-bar
The tree diagram (34) above will thus be 35 below:
II
-
- 52
D
na
C
CG
mama
V'
I
mb6
'
V
mother
which
which
fowl
fowl
"The
eat
P2
mother
the
ate"
This means that in Limbum we have all the three
of
projectlon
that
characterize
phrasal
and
levels
sententlal
structures.
The PS rule that can generate this NP type wlll be:
PS
rule
16:
Nll
->
N1
D
N'
->
N
C'
C'
->
c
I'
111
->
SPEC
I'
->
->
I
V'
I'
V l l
1
1
v
The determiner in this NP is not optional because N'
not
a
full
NP
and
it
independently as a full NP.
is not an
N
is
that can function
So far, the discussion on the NP in Limbum has
led
to
the postulation of the following PS rules:
->
2)
NP
3)
NP ->
4)
NP ->
5)
NIT
->
In
N
(D)
(D)
N
N (A)
N
(for the N and determiners)
(for N and adjectives)
(Gen.P) (for the associative NP)
N1
order
D
(for the complex NP)
to
achieve
a
significant
linguistic
generalization, the rules will be collapsed so that we
have
one generalized rule which will generate an NP out o f either
an obligatory pronoun or
noun
with
or
without
modifying
el emen ts .
A
below:
generalized PS rule for the NP in Limbum will be ( 1 7 )
a
1
PS rule 1 7 :
The discussion on the noun and its satellites in Limbum
has
revealed
that
whenever
a
noun
possessive determiner, the determiner precedes
but
the
case
of
nouns of class A2/B4
they reverse this order of
occurence.
by
a
head
N
is modified
the
is peculiar in that
With
them,
it
is
instead the noun which precedes the determiner.
d
i.1
The
discussion
has
also shown that mass nouns (class
' D 3 ) have semilar morphological features with nouns of
5/D1.
For
example
in
2.2.1
(A),
the
forms
class
of
the
demonstrative pronouns for the nouns of these clases are the
same :
36 (a) rn-n-dip
water
m-c&
this
N.Cl. D 3
"This water"
(b) m-bi
Kol anuts
m-ck
these
"These Kolanuts"
N.C1.
5/D1
-
P
55
4
-
Word o r d e r in the language is not very rigid.
NP,
the
head
sometimes a
indicative
mostly
determiner
of
the
occupies
the
occupies
In
the
leftmost position but
this
position
which
is
fact that word order in the language is
not very strict.
Moreover, the
pronoun
or
has
revealed
that
a noun can function as a head in the NP.
the t w o serve as
modified.
discussion
unmodified
NPs,
only
the
noun
only
a
While
can
be
a
m
i
CHAPTER
THREE
OTHER PHRASE TYPES
INTRODUCTION
3.0
The a i m o f t h i s c h a p t e r
phrase
types
in
order
i s
to
to
determine
o c c u r r e n c e o f t h e NP i n r e l a t i o n t o
larger
and
phrase
other
the
a
few
other
position
of
constituents
in
show t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between t h e NP
constructions,
other
examine
types,
and
bring
out
the
relevant
s i g n i f i c a n t l i n g u i s t i c g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s t h a t c h a r a c t e r ze t h e
v a r i o u s phrase t y p e s .
In
this
wise
there
w i l l
be
an
e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e i n f l e c t i o n p h r a s e ( P ) , t h e prepos t i o n a l
phrase (PP),
t h e a d j e c t i v a l p h r a s e CAP
(VP) i n t e r m s o f
and t h e v e r b
phrase
t h e i r c o n s t i t u e n t s t r u c t u r e s and t h e 1 in e a r
and h i e r a r c h i c a l o r d e r o f t h e c o n s t i t u e n t s .
3.1
THE I N F L E C T I O N PHRASE
The I P i s e q u i v a l e n t t o t h e s e n t e n c e ( s ) .
by
I
which
always
bears
tense
and
It i s
headed
concord p r o p e r t i e s .
T a l k i n g a b o u t t h e I P w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o B a f u t , TAMANJI
(1991
p . 9 3 ) has t h i s t o say:
IP,
I i s expanded by t h e VP i n t o I'
" I n the
w h i c h i s i n t u r n expanded by
a specifier
( u s u a l l y an N P ) i n t o I P . "
This
also
holds
f o r Limbum as seen i n t h e f o l l o w i n g
true
sentences:
-
56
-
1
(a) q-wZ
person
57
~
bi
VG
hjansi
Fo
come
tomorrow
"Somebody wi 11 come tomorrow"
(b) Sanga
Sanga
Vk
a
Pres.P.
come
"Sanga has come"
(c) Saqga
bZ
dG
Sanga
PI
go
"Sanga went"
(d) S a q g a
Sanga
mbir
ye
baa
P2
eat
cornfufu
i
"Sanga ate cornfufu
I
I
In ( d ) sanga is the specifier, mbG i s the I and
the
VP
( V 1 1 )
while
baa
i.s
an NP (N")
direct object.
ye expands rnbG into
expanded
1"
into
I1
i s illustrated below:
I
is
I
!
1
functioning as a
which
by the specifier Sanga.
ye
is
in. turn
This projection
i
.
I
I
I
I
1
!
- 58
-
SPEC
sanga
1
I
m bG
V
/
Ye
P2
Sanga
“Sanga ate
\Nil
baa
eat
cornfufu
cornfufu“
The PS rule capable of generating the 1P i s :
PS rule I:
IP ->
SPEC
1’
I’
->
I
V’
1
V”
->
v
N1
’
Other complex IPS could lead to some changes on this P S
rule
but we shall maintain the present rule since it serves
the purpose o f this study.
3.2 THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
The head word In the PP is a
expresses
preposition
which
often
possession, instrument, direction, accompaniment,
location, etc.
The following prepositions can be identified
in Limbum: ni, mbe, mba, ko, nje.
The
preposition n i functions as a marker of direction,
accompaniment and instrument
sentences below:
as
can
be
observed
in
the
3
(a)
59
-
e
ba
fa
in-baa
ni
ye
he
P1
give
money
to
him
"He gave money t o hime"
(b)
e
mb6
cep
n-too
ni
WZ
he
P2
send
message
to
you
"He s e n t a message t o you"
(c)
e
m-nvG
ni
in-baa
he
P3 come
with
money
"He came w i t h money"
)c
-/-.
( d ) / e ' mbi,
2
'
he P2
vi,
ni
m3 3
Yi
come
with
child
his
"He came w i t h h i s c h i l d "
(cf
e
mbi,
gbar
ye
ni
s a7
he
P2
cut
him
with
cutlass
"He c u t him w i t h a c u t l a s s "
(f)
e
mbil
d6
ni
Y i
ta
he
P2
go
with
his
father
"He went w i t h h i s f a t h e r "
The p r e p o s i t i o n
The
a is
always used t o express
location.
examples below i l l u s t r a t e t h e use o f mbe as a marker o f
1o c a t ion :
4
(a) e
he
60
-
mbk
n3o
mbe
koo
P2
sleep
in
bed
"He s l e D t i n bed"
(b)
e
yo
mbe
n-dap
he
is
in
house
"He i s i n t h e house"
(c) e
he
"He
(d)
mbk
CG
mbe
n-ta?
P2
sit
on
chair
s a t on a c h a i r "
le
b?
mbe
n-ji
put
hand
on
back
" P u t your hand on t h e back"
The p r e p o s i t i o n s @&
direction
and
and
location.
@
function
as
markers
of
The o n l y d i f f e r e n c e which e x i s t s
between them i s t h a t g e o g r a p h i c a l l y ,
the
former
indicates
something which i s down w h i l e t h e l a t t e r i n d i c a t e s something
which i s up.
The sentences below d e m o n s t r a t e t h e use o f t h e
two p r e p o s i t i o n s :
5
(a) e
he
ba
dk
mba
n-dap
P1
go
to
house
"He went t o t h e house"
( w h i c h 1s down)
(b) e
he
ba
VW
k6
n-ndap
Pl
come
to
house
"He came t o t h e house"
( c ) n-f5
Nfor
Nfor
(chich i s up)
mb6
v6
k6
la7
P2
come
at
home
" N f o r came home"
( d ) n-f5
-
61
(which i s up)
mbG
v6
mba
la7
P2
come
at
home
" N f o r came home"
( w h i c h i s down)
The p r e p o s i t i o n n j e i n d i c a t e s d i r e c t i o n ,
.J
I t s use can be seen i n t h e sentences below:
Provenance.
6
(a) e
he
ba
vw
nje
n-dap
P1
come
to
house
"He came t o t h e house"
(b) tata
y6
nje
n-wa?
Tata
is
at
book
"Tata i s a t school"
(c)
location
e
ci
VG
nje
dowala
ntini
he
pres.
come
from
Douala
today
cont.
"He i s coming f r o m Douala today"
and
(d) n-jike
Njike
-
62
mbit
v6
nje
Kirmba
ninkirr
P2
come
from
Kumba
yesterday
" N j ike came f r o m Kumba y e s t e r d a y "
From t h e above d i s c u s s i o n ,
t h e f o l l o w i n g PS r u l e can be
p o s t u l a t e d f o r t h e g e n e r a t i o n o f t h e PP i n Limbum:
PS r u l e 2 :
3.3
PP
->
P
NP (ADV.P)
THE ADJECTIVAL PHRASE
This phrase i s c a l l e d an AP because t h e head word i n i t
is an a d j e c t i v e .
Below a r e examples
of
phrases
a d j e c t i v e s f u n c t i o n as t h e heads o f t h e AP.
7
(a) a
Pres.t
O-WZ
nsi
na
person
black
this
"This i s a b l a c k man"
(b) a
Pres.t
n-WZ
mbviru
na
person
white
this
" T h i s i s a w h i t e man"
( c ) m53
child
mbanrir
male
"Male c h i I d "
in
whlch
(d) m33
-
63
qki7
child
little
“A little child”
Apparently, the adjectives in the examples
no
above
have
complements but if we take into consideration structural
symmetry among phrase types, we can assume
can
That is to say, A can be expanded
A-double bar (All).
word
be
from
level category into the intermediate semi-phrasal
This can in turn be expanded into the phrasal
category.
maximal
A
into A-bar ( A 1 ) which can in turn be expanded into
expanded
the
that
projection
level.
or
In this wise, we can posit the
following PS rule f o r the AP in Limbum.
’
PS rule 3:
3.4
->
A
THE VERB PHRASE
The
in
AP
VP
Limbum
verbs.
is headed by a verb.
are
divided
into
transitive
the
verbs
and intransitive
The intransitive verbs do not take NP complements as
in the examples below:
8
As in English,
(a) ya
my
ma
ci
bomi
mother
Pres.
sleep
Cont.
“My mother is sleeping”
.-
I,
(b)
n-gwe
$I
kwe
dog
Po
die
he
-
has died"
" A dog
(c) e
64
bi
kwe
Fo
die
"He will die"
(d)
e
mb&
war
he
P2
cry
"He cried"
Taking into consideration the above
examples,
the
PS
take
NP
rule that can generate the VP in Limbum will be:
PS rule 4 :
The
VP
transitive
complements.
9
(a) manjt3
Manjuh
"Manjuh
(b)
V
--i
verbs
on
the
other
hand
The examples in ( 9 ) testify this assertion.
a
Pres.P.
has
Ye
kw8
eat
maize
eaten maize"
tala?
bi
16r
m- baa
Talah
Fo
take
money
"Talah will take money"
(c)
-
65
Tala7
ba
n3
m-n-di p
Talah
P1
drink
water
" T a l a h drank w a t e r "
The f o l l o w i n g r u l e w i l l g e n e r a t e t h e VP
in
the
above
sentences:
PS r u l e 5 :
Both
VP
->
V
NP
transitive
and
intransitive
verbs
complements as i n t h e f o l l o w i n g examples.:
10 ( a ) ya
my
ma
C i
bomi
mbe
n-dap
mother
Pres.
sleep
in
house
Cont.
"My mother i s s l e e p i n g i n t h e house"
(b)
a
O - W ~
person
Pres.P.
kwe
ko
la7
die
at
home
"Someone has d i e d a t home"
( c ) Yo
your
ma
ci
b ii
ko
la?
mother
Pres.
dance
at
home
cont.
"Your mother i s d a n c i n g a t home"
take
PP
(d)
66
-
YO
ma
bi
fa
m-baa
ni
ye
your
mother
Fo
give
money
to
him
"Your mother w i l l g i v e money t o him''
The PS r u l e t h a t can t a k e c a r e o f such a VP as shown i n
t h e sentences above i s :
PS r u l e 6 :
The
->
VP
V ( N P ) PP
transitive
verb
takes
t h e NP and PP complements
w h i l e t h e i n t r a n s i t i v e v e r b t a k e s o n l y t h e PP complement
as
seen i n ( 1 0 ) above.
The
verb
complement.
can
mother
take
an
embeded
The embeded sentence i s
t h e complementizer
1 1 ( a ) mama
also
G.
always
sentence
introduced
rin
n5
ndi
bi
VG
know
c
Ndi
Fo
come
Ngala
B
Pres.P.
l a
n5
e
bi
vG
say
c
he
Fo
come
" N g a l a has s a i d t h a t he w i l l come"
( c ) n-ga1a
Ngala
a
Pres.P.
by
T h i s i s shown i n t h e examples below:
"Mother knows t h a t Ndi w i l l come"
( b ) r]-gBl&
as a
VG
n5
ye
fa
ye
m-baa
come
c
you
give
him
money
" N g a l a has come so t h a t you ( P I ) g i v e h i m money"
- 67
The PS r u l e t h a t can
-
generate
a
VP
from
the
above
examDles i s :
PS r u l e 7 :
The
VP
VP
r a i s e t h e V1
1 2 ( a ) m-bjn
Mbong
->
V C’
c o n t a i n s a s p e c t u a l markers such as -cf
into Vll.
F o r example:
mblj c 3 7 c i
P2
which
remove
+
ASP
n-ja
nje
ki0
meat
from
pot
“Mbong removed meat ( s l i c e a f t e r s l i c e ) f r o m t h e p o t ”
(b) e
he
mbtj kwebcf
P2
p i c k + ASP
b-ce?
clothes
“He p i c k e d c l o t h e s (one a f t e r t h e o t h e r ) ”
T h l s l a s t example can be r e p r e s e n t e d on a t r e e
as 13 below:
ASP
C i
kwebci
b-ce’
pick+ASP
clothes
I
‘:He p i c k e d c l o t h e s ( o n e a f t e r t h e o t h e r ) ”
diagram
so
far,
68
1
-
t h e f o l l o w i n g PS r u l e s have
been
posited
for
t h e Vp i n Limbum.
VP
->
v
->
->
V
->
v
V
NP
(NP) PP
C’
A g e n e r a l i z e d PS r u l e f o r t h e V P i n Limoum w i l l
PS r u l e 8 :
VP
be:
->
i n t h i s c h a p t e r , i t can be r e a l i z e d t h a t t h e s u b j e c t NP
precedes any o t h e r phrase t y p e w i t h which i t o c c u r s
in
the
same c o n s t r u c t i o n ( c l a u s e o r s e n t e n c e ) i n Limbum.
I n addition,
PP,
AP,
left
VP and I P ,
one n o t i c e s t h a t ,
u n l i k e i n t h e NP,
i n the
t h e head word c o n s i s t e n t l y appears t o t h e
In
o f i t s complements.
t h e NP ( c f c h . 2 )
t h e head word
o f t e n preceds i t s s a t e l l i t e s b u t sometimes i t f o l l o w s
Limbum
is
therefore
not
them.
a Head F i r s t Language p e r se and
word o r a e r i s n o t v e r y r i g i d i n t h e language.
T h i s c h a p t e r has a l s o
revealed
a
general
which c h a r a c t e r i z e s phrase t y p e s i n Limbum.
phenomenon
T h i s phemonenon
i s t h a t p h r a s e t y p e s have t h r e e l e v e l s
of
the
bar) intermediate o r
(zero)
semi-phrasal
level.
word-level,
the
(single
projection
l e v e l , and t h e ( d o u b l c - b a r ) maximal o r
viz:
phrasal
CHAPTER
FOUR
CONCLUSION
4.0
SUK:;VA:;IY
OF WORK
Tk,emain purpose of this study has been to describe the
NP in Limbum within the generative approach.
attain
To
the
I
envisaged goal, general information on
Limbum was given in chapter one.
There was the presentation
of the geographical, historical and socio-economic situation
o f the people after which the classification o f the language
was
discussed
examined.
the
and
its
sociolinguistic stituatio
There was also a review of lite
a
a
t
briefly
e
d
to
The goa'!s and scope o f
language ana theoretical frame.
the project were stated and its outline given.
in chapter two, attention was focussed on the
constituents and their linear and hierarchical order.
it was pointed out that an
pronoun)
that only
pronoun.
with
the
or
NP
without
head
is
a
head
satellites.
noun
could
be
Here,
(noun or
word
It was also stated
modified
After the analysis of the NP,
its
NP,
unlike
the
it was realized that
,.-A
word order is not very .*.striWin
.,*
the
Limbum
NP
because
edes its satellites and at other
sometimes the head noun
times it is preceded by the satillites.
In chapter three, there
phrase
types
and
revealed that the
phrase
with
a
was
comparison
Subject
NP
a
brief
between
always
look
them
precedes
at
other
and the
any
other
it occurs in a larger construction.
which
-
69
-
NP
As
concerns o t h e r A-pOSitiOnS
realized
that
NP
the
i n other
occurs
phrase i n which i t i s f o u n d .
language
has
semi-phrasal
three
phrase
only
it
types,
was
a f t e r t h e head o f t h e
I t was a l s o r e a l i z e d t h a t
levels o f projection viz:
the
word l e v e l ,
l e v e l and p h r a s a l l e v e l .
LIMITATIONS
4.1
One cannot c l a i m t o have e x h a u s t i v e l y t r e a t e d t h e NP i n
Limbum
because
i n
t h e c o u r s e o f i t s a n a l y s i s , problems t o
which adequate s o l u t i o n s
others
might
not
have
which m i g h t have escaped n o t i c e a r o s e .
satellites
of
the
A
and
we
had
to
symmetry t o assume t h a t t h e r e c o u l d be
could
i n t o A”
might
expand
A i n t o A’
have
and
One o f t h e s e
any
r e l y on c a t e g o r i a l
another
and t h a t A’
by a n o t h e r c o n s t i t u e n t .
not
found
I t was n o t p o s s i b l e t o f i n d
problems concerns t h e A . P .
that
been
constituent
c o u l d be expanded
Since t h e
data
available
been s u f f i c i e n t t o e s t a b l i s h whether t h e A
has m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y marked s a t e l l i t e s o r n o t i n
Limbum,
it
i s f e l t t h a t t h i s c o u l d s e r v e as an a r e a o f f u t u r e r e s e a r c h .
Another
problem
concerns t h e noun and
differentiate
adjectives.
which
surfaced
ts satellites.
during
I t was
The
ord nal
the
numerals
not
dependent.
The p r o b l e m t h e n was whether t h e
the
easy
to
numerals
noun
are
class
noun
former
class
should
as a d e t e r m i n e r and the. l a t t e r as an a d j e c t i v e ,
o r t h e two be t r e a t e d
solve
cardinal
are
while
treated
not
between some m o d i f i e r s namely d e t e r m i n e r s and
dependent
be
the analysis
problem,
as
determiners
or
adjectives.
TO
i t was t e n t a t i v e l y d e c i d e d t h a t t h e y be
-
71
-
treated as determiners taking into
that
fact
the
them could behave as an adjective per se. A
of
none
consideration
more detailed research on numerals could reveal whether they
are
determiners
or
adjectives, or one is a determiner and
the other an adjective.
These major problems and some minor
ones
which
might
have escaped notice came up during the analysis o f the NP in
Lirnbum.
Such problem areas could then
as
serve
areas
of
future research.
4.2
SIGNIFICANCE OF PROJECT
In
spite
of
the
above
problems
for
solutions could not be found, it i s hoped
will
,
contribute
to
the
more importantly, to the
this
study
progress
of
Mother
Tongue
/
(MT)
dissertation may also be o f inte rest to students
of linguistics
particular
in
general, and
because
it
national
and
potential
hopefully
syntactic studies in Limburn.
to
that
growth of Limburn linguistics, and
edcation i n Cameroon.
This
which tenable
lays
syntacticians
a
foundation
in
for
It could also be of importance
international linguistic bodies which are
interested in the study of African languages.
-
72
-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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