(THE LACK OF) QUANTITY
SUPERLATIVES IN KAGULU
MALIN PETZELL
Today’s talk
• Adjectives in Bantu (and Kagulu)
• Ways of comparing adjectives
• Method (Storyboards)
• The findings (or lack thereof)
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Adjectives - Dixon’s semantic types
DIMENSION (contains antonym
-dodo/-dodogi [1] ‘small’
-guhi ‘short’
-sili ‘narrow’
-nene ‘fat’
pairs)
-kulu ‘big’
-tali ‘tall’[3]
-galamu ‘wide’
- [2]
PHYSICAL PROPERTY
-chafu ‘dirty’
-doda[5] ‘rotten’
-bisi ‘raw/unripe’
-sito ‘heavy’
-swanu ‘beautiful’
[1] The two alternative forms represent no disparity in meaning.
[2] ‘thin’ is not an adjective; it is a property expressed by a verb in Kagulu
Adjectives (cont.)
COLOUR
-dung’hu ‘red’
-jelu ‘white’
-titu ‘black’
HUMAN PROPENSITY [3]
-fifu ‘spoilt’
-kiwa ‘poor’
-tamu ‘sick’
AGE (contains antonym pairs)
-isha ‘new’
-sehe ‘old’ (for animates only)
[3] In Kagulu, these may be used for all animates and not just for humans.
Adjectives in Bantu
• Very rare
• Other strategies (nouns, verbs, the associative)
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‘Good’ and ‘bad’ are verbs
Utamu
wihilise
u- tamu
u- ih
-il
-is
-e
ni
ukimwi.
ni
ukimwi
14- disease 14- bad -APPL -INTS -FV COP aids
A disease which is bad is Aids.
Comparison
imwana imudodogi kusuma iwangu
a child smaller than mine
kusuma = to conquer
Also used: the Swahili kuliko ‘than’ (‘which is’)
The intensifier-si
imsigo msitosi
a very, very heavy bag
mabakwa matitusi
very black doors
Ideophones
choe di
very noisy
Mamudyo gamulile nang’a.
The fruits are very sweet.
uji musito go
very thick/heavy gruel
Gadilodi ni mtitu tuku.
Gadrord is pitch black.
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The (verbal) intensifier
• ka-bilim-is-a
• PST.1-run-INT-FV
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Storyboards
“The ‘storyboard’ technique is a language data collection
technique that tries to gather authentic speech with as little
influence from English as possible.”
“Each of these storyboards is designed to bring out a subtle
meaning distinction... in many cases, a meaning distinction that
English doesn't distinguish! The end goal is to discover what
meaning distinctions are possible across human languages.”
http://totemfieldstoryboards.org/
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Storyboards
• http://totemfieldstoryboards.org/stories/miss_smith/
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I picked the most flowers, my sister picked fewer flowers, and my brother
picked the fewest flowers.
Hanibawa maluwa mengi, dada hakabawa maluwa makefu, na ikaka
hakabawa maluwa makefu-si.
I picked flowers many/much, sister picked flowers few, and brother picked
flowers few-INT’
Swahili
• Comparatives: kuliko ‘which is’ used as ‘than’
• Superlatives ‘than all’
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Why this technique did not work so well
• The construction does not exist in the source
language (Swahili)
• Unfamiliar way of telling stories
• Informants are used to translation
• Lack of cultural appropriateness even after
adaptation
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The data
My sister got there first, because she ran the fastest
Hakowa wa kwanza kufika kwa sababu ha-ka-bilim-isa.
PST-1-be first to_arrive because PST-1-run-INT-FV
The verbal intensive extension -is meaning ‘very’.
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The data
We wanted to catch the biggest fish.
Hachiwendaga kutega samaki ing’hulu(si).
PST-1PL-want to_catch fish big(-INT)
The adjectival intensifier -si.
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The data
Most of the other fish swam away, too.
Isisomba si-monga naso ha-si-luta.
fish others with_them PST-10-go
(-monga = other/s or another)
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The data
But I caught the most fish, so I was also proud. I was
even prouder than she was.
Hanilowa samaki nyingi-si(-si).
PST-1SG-catch fish many/much-INT(-INT)
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The data
We ate most of the fish we caught, but we couldn't eat
them all.
Hachidiya kalibia samaki wose wochalowile, lakini
sichadahile kuwamala wose.
PST-1PL-eat almost fish all that_we_caught but NEG1PL-PST_manage to finish all.
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More data…
My sister ate less rice than my brother, but more rice than
me. That’s because she is smaller than him and bigger than
me.
Dada yangu hakadiya ubwabwa mkefu lakini ubwabwa
wakwe hauwa mwengi-si kuliko uwangu kwa sababu
mwene ni mdodogi kusuma ikaka yetu lakini kahe ni mkulu
kusuma aniye.
sister my ate rice few but rice hers was many/more-INT than
mine because she is small exceeding brother out but
also/again is big_person exceeding me.’
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Examples of elicited comparatives that could be
superlatives
Fitabu
fino
fiswanusi
8-book
8-DEM
8-good-INT
kusuma
afiya
fitabu.
conquer
8-DEM
8-book
These books are better than those (or the best).
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Comparatives
• If the expression with the intensifier can be translated
at face value or with a comparative reading – how do
we know what it really is?
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Superlatives
• If the test for superlatives is systematicity, then
Kagulu does not have genuine superlatives.
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