Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
Definitive Nominal Morphological Components of Nafara
1. Introduction
As the lexical database of Senoufo-Nafara has developed, several morphological
elements have surfaced. First, it appears that there are singular and plural markers that attach as
suffixes to nouns, in the language. Each singular suffix appears to correlate with a specific plural
suffix. Adjectives seem to have gender concordance with nouns. Interestingly enough the
singular/plural marker of the noun comes after the adjective, when one is used. A closer
examination of the use of adjectives has revealed a suffix change that occurs when nouns are
made augmentative or diminutive. Furthermore, there also seem to be pejorative markers that
occur, in terms of size, as suffixes. Each suffix pairs with a particular plural suffix. While
semantics seem to play a role in determining nominal morphology in Senoufo-Nafara, this is not
entirely consistent, and there is also evidence that phonology plays a role. This can be seen in
several instances which this essay will highlight.
2. Singular and Plural Classification Markers and Gender
2.1 African languages that demonstrate singular/plural noun markers
English
BantuSwahili
(Singular)
BantuSwahili
(Singular)
Root/Stem
Child
m+toto
wa+toto
-toto
Fool
m+jinga
wa+jinga
-jinga
Girl
m+sichana
wa+sichana
-sichana
Shoe
ki+atu
vi+atu
-atu
Cup
ki+kombe
vi+kombe
-kombe
Basket
ki+kapu
vi+kapu
-kapu
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It is important to note that Senoufo-Nafara is not the only African language that
exhibits a singular and plural classification marker for nouns. This is also demonstrated in
languages like Maasai and Bantu. In Bantu (Swahili) it can be seen that prefixes, for both
singular and plural classification, attach to stems of nouns. This is demonstrated in the
table below.
It seems that what is occurring here is that both singular and plural markers are expressed as
gender-specific prefixes. In this case the roots must be specified for gender categories. This is
because the singulars are not determinative of which plurals are formed. According to the
following gender categories: [is something missing here? The reference maybe?]
Gender A:
stems of Classes 1/2
Gender B:
stems of Classes 3/4
Gender C:
stems of classes 5/6
Gender D:
stems of classes 7/8
Gender E:
stems of classes 9/10
-toto and -jinga fall under the gender categorization; Gender A and -atu and -kapu fall under the
gender categorization; Gender D (Carstens, 1991). Maasai exhibits similar phenomena, in that it
also has both singular and plural markers expressed in a gender specific manner.
Gender
English
Maasai Singular
Maasai Plural
F
Cat
em+burra
im+burri
F
Nose
eŋ+gume
iŋ+gumeʃi
F
Woman
ɛn+dasat
ɪn+dasati
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F
Wild Animal
e+ŋwes
iŋ-wesi
M
Bush Pig
ɔr+ŋɛdɛp
ɪr+ŋɛdɛpa
M
Crow
or+bitirr
ir+bitirro
M
Tongue
ɔr+kʊrrʊk
ɪr+kurruki
M
Lion
ar+ŋatun
ir+ŋatunjo
(Kirkle, 2013)
2.2 The singular/plural marking in Senoufo-Nafara
Senoufo-Nafara is similar to the afore mentioned African languages in this sense. There
are evident groups of nouns that demonstrate singular and plural patterns.
Singular Suffix
Plural Suffix
-g/ŋ
-i
-n
-gɛl
-u
-bɛl
-r
—
Singular nouns that end in -g consistently become -i in the plural form, singular nouns
that end in -n become -gel in the plural form, and singular nouns that end in -u become -bel in
the plural form. There is slight variation in the -g->-i morphology. In some cases singular nouns
end in -r and -ŋ and the plural ending is -i when pluralized. In the case of -ŋ it seems as if since
both -g and -ŋ are velar there might exist a form of variation in their use. The -r ending happens
in some cases and appears to be a gender class of its own. It also seems that the -r occurs in non
countable nominals, meaning it has no plural counterpart. It is clear all nouns collected from our
Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
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consultant end in -g, -ŋ, -n, -u, or -r. This in itself suggests the idea that singular and plural
markers do in fact exist. The table below provides several examples of the suffixes being used.
Suffix
English
Singular
Plural
Root/Stem
-u/bɛl
Child/Baby
pi+u
pi+bɛl
pi-
-u/bɛl
Female/Woman
tʃɔ+u
tʃɔ+bɛl
tʃɔ-
-u/bɛl
Well
kɔl+u
kɔl+bɛl
kɔl-
-u/bɛl
Frog
busɔ̃+u
busɔ̃+bɛl
busɔ̃-
-u/bɛl
Rat
karnɔ+u
karnɔ+bɛl
karnɔ-
-u/bɛl
Spider
be+u
be+bɛl
be-
-u/bɛl
Chicken
go+u
go+bɛl
go-
-u/bɛl
Male/Man
na+u
na+bɛl
na-
-u/bɛl
Cat
deka+u
deka+bɛl
deka-
-u/bɛl
Dog
pã+u
pã+bɛl
pã-
-u/bɛl
Uncle
ʃile+u
ʃile+bɛl
ʃile-
-n/gɛl
Eye
napi+n
napi+gɛl
napi-
-n/gɛl
Bull
napa+n
napa+gɛl
napa-
-n/gɛl
Finger
kaba+n
kaba+gɛl
kaba-
-n/gɛl
Forest
kapo+n
kapo+gɛl
kapo-
-n/gɛl
Girl
pipi+n
pipi+gɛl
pipi-
-n/gɛl
Rabbit
pie+n
pie+gɛl
pie-
-n/gɛl
Mango
lɔ+n
lɔ+gɛl
lɔ-
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-g/i
Arm
kɔ+g
kɔ+i
kɔ-
-g/i
Tree
tʃɪ+g
tʃi+i
tʃɪ-
-g/i
Rain
za+g
za+i
za-
-g/i
Smoke
wər+g
wər+i
wər-
-g/i
Foot
tɔ+g
tɔ+i
tɔ-
-g/i
Snake
wɔ+g
wɔ+i
wɔ-
-g/i
Bag
bɔɸa+g
bɔɸa+i
bɔɸa-
-g/i
Door
kɔr+g
kɔr+i
kɔr-
-ŋ/i
Name
me+ŋ
me+i
me-
-ŋ/i
Head
ɲu+ŋ
ɲu+i
ɲu-
-ŋ/i
Mouth
ɲɔ+ŋ
ɲɔ+i
ɲɔ-
-ŋ/i
House
sɔ̃+ŋ
sɔ+i
sɔ-
-r
Stomach
la+r
—
la-
-r
Discharge from
nose
ɸɨna+r
—
ɸɨna-
-r
Mud
ɸa+r
—
ɸa-
-r
Land
ta+r
—
ta-
From this we can draw the conclusion that there are at least three classes of gender endings
containing both singular and plural markers. Given that we have, so far, obtained a modest
amount of nouns, future research may reveal more gender classes.
Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
Gender
Singular
Plural
Gender A
endings
-g/ŋ
-i
Gender B
endings
-n
-gɛl
Gender C
endings
-u
-bɛl
Gender D
endings
-r
—
2.3 The -r suffix/gender class D
As mentioned before there are signs of a gender class D marked with the suffix -r. The
words that fall under this category do not have a definite plural. When asked what the plural for
such words were, our consultant responded saying there were none, but if she had to supply one
it would be -i. Several words were elicited from the consultant, but the most we have collected
thus far is four words. With not enough information/lexical database the concept of the use of -r
suffix is somewhat inconclusive, but I hypothesize that it is in fact a gender class of its as will be
demonstrated in section 3.
3. Adjectives and Their Relationship to Nouns
Most adjectives appear to have gender concordance with nouns. This is demonstrated in
the use of the adjectives ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ ‘happy,’ and ‘sad.’ The table below highlights the use of
all four adjectives with several nouns (see section N on phonological rules affecting the output
forms)
English
Noun (Singular
In Nafara)
Singular+adjecti Plural+adjective Final Product
ve
Dees 6
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Dees 7
Good mango(s)
lɔ+n
lɔ+tʃɛn+n;
lɔ+dʒɛn+n
lɔ+tʃɛn+gɛl;
lɔ+dʒɛn+gɛl
lɔtʃɛŋgɛl;
lɔdʒɛŋgɛl
Bad mango(s)
lɔ+n
lɔ+dole+n
lɔ+dole+gɛl
lɔdolegɛl
Good eye(s)
napi+n
napi+tʃɛn+n
napi+tʃɛn+gɛl
napitʃɛŋgɛl
Bad eye(s)
napi+n
napi+tole+n
napi+tole+gɛl
napitolegɛl
Good mother(s)
naɸɔ+u
naɸɔ+tʃa+u
naɸɔ+tʃan+bɛl
naɸɔtʃabɛl
Happy mother(s)
naɸɔ+u
naɸɔ+ɸuden+u
naɸɔ+ɸuden+bɛ naɸɔɸudenbɛl
l
Sad mother(s)
naɸɔ+u
naɸɔ+ɸube+u
naɸɔ+ɸube+bɛl
naɸɔɸubebɛl
Good land
ta+r
ta+tʃɛn+r
—
—
Bad land
ta+r
ta+dole+r
—
—
Good house(s)
sa+g
sa+tʃɛn+g*
sa+tʃɛn+i
satʃɛi
Here the gender class suffix (both singular and plural) follows the adjective. For example, ‘good’
following the word for mango is -tʃɛn or -dʒɛn, (the word for mango is lɔn). Then, if we look at
the word good for mother it appears as tʃau, because the word for mother is naɸɔu. The process
of noun suffixes attaching to adjectives when they are describing a noun that has that marker
provides evidence for at least four gender classes.
4. Augmentatives, Diminutives, and Pejoratives in Senoufo-Nafara
4.1 Adjectives that have their own gender class
While it appears most adjectives inflect with suffixes determined by the gender of the
noun they describe, there are several adjectives that seem to have their own gender classification.
These adjectives include ‘big’, ‘small’, and their insulting counter parts (‘too skinny/sickly’ and
‘too big/fat’) These four adjectives attach to the noun and then change the noun’s singular and
plural suffix. These adjectives can be described as augmentative, diminutive, and pejoratives.
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4.2 The examples of augmentatives, diminutives, and pejoratives can be seen in the table below:
Big
Small
Skinny
Big (Fat) Skinny
(Sickly)
-kbog
-bin
-tʃarun
-g
-n
(singular) (singular)
(singular) (singular)
(singular)
-kboi
(plural)
-bigɛl
(plural)
-tʃargɛl
-i (plural) -gɛl
(plural)
(plural)
-kboli
(plural)
-tʃaru
—-
—
—
—
—
—
(singular)
—
-tʃarbɛl
(plural)
4.3 The augmentative, meaning large, -kbɔg and its plural counterpart -kbɔi
Some variation is also present in the expression of ‘big’ in the plural. In most cases -pboi
is used as the plural form, but for ‘big women’ and ‘big girls’ -pboli is used:
‘big woman’ tʃapbɔg (singular)
‘big women’
tʃapbɔli (plural)
‘big girls’
‘big girls’
pipipbɔli (plural)
pipipbɔg (singular)
In all instances -kbog seems to be used for the singular. The singular and plural forms are
demonstrated in the table below:
4.4 The diminutives, meaning small, -bin/-tʃaru and their plural counterparts -bigɛl/-tʃarbɛl
Current data only exhibits small being marked as -bin in two instance, ‘small man’ and
and ‘small woman:’
na+bi+n and na+bi+gɛl
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tʃa+bi+n and tʃa+bi+gɛl
In many other cases of -bin or -pin being used as a suffixes indicating the noun stem as being the
‘child of.’ This is demonstrated in the table below:
English
Singular
Plural
boy
na(man)+bi+n
na(man)+bi+gɛ
l
kitten
deka(cat)+bi+n deka(cat)+bi+g
ɛl
puppy
pã(dog)+pi+n
pã(dog)+pi+gɛl
girl
pi+pi+n
pi+pi+gɛl
In other instances it is marked with -tʃaru:
English
Nafara
(Sing/Plural)
English
Singular
Plural
girl
pipi+n/pipi+gɛl
small girl
pipi+tʃar+u
pipi+tʃar+bɛl
finger
kaba+n/kaba+gɛl small finger
kaba+tʃar+u
kaba+tʃar+bɛl
baby
pi+u/ pi+bɛl
small baby
pi+tʃar+u
pi+tʃar+bɛl
uncle
ʃile+u/ʃile+bɛl
small uncle
ʃile+tʃar+u
ʃile+tʃar+bɛl
arm
kɔ+g/kɔ+i
small arm
kɔ+tʃar+u
kɔ+tʃar+bɛl
leg
tɔ+g/tɔ+i
small leg
tɔ+tʃar+u
tɔ+tʃar+bɛl
land
ta+r
small land
ta+tʃar+u
ta+tʃar+bɛl
stomach
la+r
small stomach
la+tʃar+u
la+tʃar+bɛl
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4.5 The diminutive, meaning skinny, -tʃarun and it plural counterpart -tʃargɛl.
Describing someone as small can take two different forms, one which describes them as
English
Nafara
English
(Singular/Plural)
Singular
Plural
boy
nabi+n/nabi+gɛl
big boy
nabi+kbɔ+g
nabi+kbɔ+i
finger
kaba+n/kaba+gɛl
big finger
kaba+kbɔ+g
kaba+kbɔ+i
baby
pi+u/ pi+bɛl
big baby
pi+kbɔ+g
pi+kbɔ+i
uncle
ʃile+u/ʃile+bɛl
big uncle
ʃile+kbɔ+g
ʃile+kbɔ+i
arm
kɔ+g/kɔ+i
big arm
kɔ+kbɔ+g
kɔ+kbɔ+i
leg
tɔ+g/tɔ+i
big leg
tɔ+kbɔ+g
tɔ+kbɔ+i
land
ta+r
big land
ta+kbɔ+g
ta+kbɔ+i
stomach
la+r
big stomach
la+kbɔ+g
la+kbɔ+i
short and one which describes them as small. They are very similar as demonstrated be the
examples in the table below:
English
Nafara
(Sing/Plural)
English
Singular
Plural
girl
pipi+n/pipi+gɛl
skinny girl
pipi+tʃar+n
pipi+tʃar+gɛl
finger
kaba+n/kaba+gɛl skinny finger
kaba+tʃar+n
kaba+tʃar+gɛl
baby
pi+u/ pi+bɛl
skinny baby
pi+tʃar+n
pi+tʃar+gɛl
uncle
ʃile+u/ʃile+bɛl
skinny uncle
ʃile+tʃar+n
ʃile+tʃar+gɛl
arm
kɔ+g/kɔ+i
skinny arm
kɔ+tʃar+n
kɔ+tʃar+gɛl
leg
tɔ+g/tɔ+i
skinny leg
tɔ+tʃar+n
tɔ+tʃar+gɛl
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4.6 The pejorative, meaning big (fat), -g and its plural counter part -i.
Similar to the gender A marker, the pejorative meaning big (fat) exists as a singular suffix
-g and a plural suffix -i. According to the language consultant using these suffixes implies a rude
meaning behind calling someone or something big (i.e big and fat). Examples of the suffix being
used are below:
English
(Sing/Plural)
English
Singular
Plural
girl
pipi+n/pipi+gɛl
big (fat) girl
pipi+g
pipi+i
finger
kaba+n/kaba+gɛl big (fat) finger
kaba+g
kaba+i
baby
pi+u/ pi+bɛl
big (fat) baby
pi+g
pi+i
uncle
ʃile+u/ʃile+bɛl
big (fat) uncle
ʃile+g
ʃile+i
arm
kɔ+g/kɔ+i
big (fat) arm
kɔ+g**
kɔ+i**
leg
tɔ+g/tɔ+i
big (fat) leg
tɔ+g**
tɔ+i**
**Cannot be made augmentative by this strategy.
4.7 The pejorative, meaning skinny (sickly), -n and its plural counterpart -gɛl
Similar to the gender B marker, the pejorative meaning skinny (sickly) exists as a
singular suffix -n and a plural suffix -gɛl. According to the language consultant using these
suffixes implied a rude meaning behind calling someone or something skinny (i.e sickly and
weak). Examples of the suffix being used are below:
English
(Sing/Plural)
English
Singular
Plural
girl
pipi+n/pipi+gɛl
skinny (sickly)
girl
pipi+n**
pipi+gɛl**
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finger
kaba+n/kaba+gɛl skinny (sickly)
finger
kaba+n**
kaba+gɛl**
baby
pi+u/ pi+bɛl
skinny (sickly)
baby
pi+n
pi+gɛl
uncle
ʃile+u/ʃile+bɛl
skinny (sickly)
uncle
ʃile+n
ʃile+gɛl
arm
kɔ+g/kɔ+i
skinny (sickly)
arm
kɔ+n
kɔ+gɛl
leg
tɔ+g/tɔ+i
skinny (sickly)
leg
tɔ+n
tɔ+gɛl
**Cannot be made augmentative by this strategy.
4.8 Gender and relation to size
Research demonstrates that size related meanings for noun classifications are among
some of the possible semantic values of gender systems. With this being said it is also
recognized that between sex, animacy, shape, and size, size is the least likely to occur as an
independent classification (Garbo, 2013). This would lead to the belief there there are quite
possibly sex, animacy, and/or size classifications as well. However, Allan (1977) suggested that
classifiers that manifest size alone do occur in African languages. From this, it can be concluded
that there is a possibility that there are no classifications in terms of sex, animacy, and/or shape,
but there very well could be too. Currently the data on this topic is too opaque to determine
whether there are classifications for these areas. The following is a map of the English words
encompassed within the Nafara gender classes, in table form:
Gender A
Gender B
Gender C
baby
girl
father
mouth
tongue
mother
arm
tooth
female/woman
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back
nose
male/man
stomach
finger
person
foot
calf
heart
blood
animal
cat
bone
bull
dog
cow
rabbit
elephant
horse
bird
goat
pig
tail
lion
snake
boy
mouse
bag
rope
rat
house
star
chicken
door
—
frog
ash
—
crab
day
—
fish
moon
—
spider
mountain
—
boat
rain
—
bat
—
—
book
5. Phonological Aspects of the Plural Morphology
5.1 Long front high tense vowel sound [ii]/ regressive tensing assimilation
When the plural marker for gender A (-i) is added to a root or stem word ending in the
non tense counter part of [i], [ɪ], assimilation seems to take place and [ɪ] become tense. This
assimilation accounts for the long vowel sound that occurs in several pluralizations under the
gender A suffixes. The rule of assimilation can be seen below:
[+son -cons +high -back]—> [+tense]/ #___ +[+son -cons +high -back +tense]
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Examples of the outcome of this process are demonstrated in the table below:
English
Root/Stem
Gender A
Plural
Tree
tʃɪ
tʃii
Mountain
nəbɪ
nəbii
Farm
sɪ
sii
5.2 Word final [n] deletion
I hypothesize that certain nominal and adjective stems end in the alveolar nasal [n].
Examples are provided in the table below:
English
Stem
Adjective
Good
tʃɛn-/tʃan-
Nominal
Belly
ɸitʃɛn-
Nominal
Waist/hip
sɛn-
Nominal
Egg
tʃɛn-
Nominal
Bird
ɸidʒɛn-
Nominal
Tail
nɛn-
With the addition of several phonological rules this would provide an explanation for a velar
nasal appearing all of these words’ plural forms as demonstrated in the table below:
English
Singular
Plural
Good
tʃɛn/tʃan
tʃɛŋgɛl (when in association
with a noun from gender class
B)
Belly
ɸitʃɛn
ɸitʃɛŋgɛl
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Waist/hip
sɛn
sɛŋgɛl
Egg
tʃɛn
tʃɛŋgɛl
Bird
ɸidʒɛn
ɸidʒɛn
Tail
nɛn
nɛŋgɛl
Under the assumption that the root ends in [n] the suffix addition would initially look like this:
ɸitʃɛn+n. Therefore the phonological rule set in place for this occurrence would be a deletion of
the nasal when another nasal has been added as a suffix:
[+son, +cons, -cont, +nasal, CORONAL, +ant]—>Ø/ ____+[+son, +cons, -cont, +nasal,
CORONAL, +ant]
This is why the singular form appears as ɸitʃɛn and not ɸitʃɛnn.
5.3 Regressive velar assimilation with gender class B pluralization
Under the assumption that some stems do in fact end in an alveolar nasal [n], there
appears to be a regressive velarization of the nasal when the gender class B suffix -gɛl is added,
so ɸitʃɛn+gɛl—> ɸitʃɛŋgɛl. The following phonological rule must be set in place in order for this
to occur:
[+son, +cons, -cont, +nasal, CORONAL, +ant]—> [DORSAL, +high, +back]/ ____ +gɛl
This process can be seen the table below:
English
Root/Ste Gender Gender Final
m
B
B Plural Plural
Singular
Product
Belly
ɸitʃɛn
ɸitʃɛn+n ɸitʃɛn+g ɸitʃɛŋgɛl
ɛl
Waist/hi
p
sɛn
sɛn+n
sɛn+gɛl
sɛŋgɛl
Egg
tʃɛn
tʃɛn+n
tʃɛn+gɛl
tʃɛŋgɛl
Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
Bird
ɸidʒɛn
ɸidʒɛn+
n
ɸidʒɛn+
gɛl
ɸidʒɛn
Tail
nɛn
nɛn+n
nɛn+gɛl
nɛŋgɛl
5.4 Additional [n] deletion in gender class C pluralization
In the case of adjective stems that end in the alveolar nasal [n], they may take on the
gender marking of the noun they are in relation with. This is evident in the adjective for ‘good’
when it is used to describe plural nouns from gender class C. For example the final product of
the word ‘good women’ appears as, naɸɔtʃabɛl. If the adjective stem for ‘good’ ends in [n] we
must assume the break down of the word before the final product appears as: naɸɔ+tʃan+bɛl. In
the final product the [n] is not present, so a phonological deletion rule must be set when -bɛl is
added:
[+son, +cons, -cont, +nasal, CORONAL, +ant]—>Ø/ ____+bɛl
6. Conclusion
According to this data, several conclusions/hypotheses can be made. First, it seems clear
that Nafara has plural and singular markers indexed by gender class, that attach to stem/root
words. It also seems clear that there are at least three gender classes. I would hypothesize that
there are more than three gender classes. The irregularity of -r attaching to some root words, is
evidence to believe that there are quite possibly more than three.
Another hypothesis that I would suggest, based on the data, is that the gender classes A
and B represent classifications based on size. The augmentative and diminutive endings being
the same (both singular and plural) as classes A and B, suggests a possible size gender
classification for these classes. This of course led to an analysis of words within the gender
classes. While there are outliers in the lists, meaning certain words do not fit the classifications,
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Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
there is a pattern that exhibits a possibility that gender A classifies nouns that are large in size,
while gender B classifies nouns that are small in size. We can see outliers in gender
classifications in many other languages. French for example, has two gender classes masculine
and feminine. Certain words do not fit either of these categories and are simply made masculine
or feminine. The word for table, for example, takes on the feminine article ‘la,’ however there is
nothing about a table that suggests femininity. This occurrence means several words that appear
under gender A and gender B classes may not correlate with their classification. Below is a table
demonstrating the English meaning of several words that fall under these genders:
Gender Class B (Small in Size)
Gender Class A (Big in Size)
Girl
Name
Boy
Head
Ear
Hair
Tongue
Mouth
Tooth
Arm (whole arm including hand)
Nose
Back
Finger
Leg (whole leg including foot)
Calf (leg)
Blood
Animal
Bone
Bull
Cow
Rabbit
Horse
Star
Pig
Sky
Wing
Wrist
Snake
Ankle
House
Thigh
Door
Palm
Ash
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Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
Forehead
Chair
Toe
Cloud
-
Day
-
Moon
-
Mountain
-
Rain
-
Sun
In relation to the sky, there are several words. These words include: star, cloud, moon,
and sun. ‘star’ falls underneath the umbrella of gender class B (small in size), while ‘cloud’,
‘moon’, and ‘sun’ fall underneath gender class A (big in size). In relation to each other this
makes sense. Stars appear smaller than clouds, the moon, and the sun when seen in the sky.
However, the word sky itself appears in the gender class B. This does not fit the trend of size
classification. There is also a trend in comparing body parts: ear, tongue, tooth, nose, finger, toe,
calf, foot, hand, thigh, ankle, wrist, head, forehead, hair, mouth, arm (whole arm), leg (whole
leg). ‘Ear’, ‘eye’, ‘forehead’ and ‘nose’ both appear under gender B, while the word for the
whole ‘head’ appears under gender A. It is the same for ‘tongue’ and ‘tooth’ and the word for the
whole ‘mouth’; ‘finger’, ‘wrist’, and ‘hand/palm’ and the word for whole ‘arm’, and ‘foot’,
‘thigh’, ‘toe’, ‘ankle’, and ‘calf’ and the word for whole ‘leg.’ Here we see smaller parts of
whole parts of the body categorized under the gender classified for smaller size and the whole
body parts categorize under the gender classified for larger size. The list also demonstrates a
majority of animals that are smaller in size under gender B and animals that are larger in size
under gender A (with the exception of the word for bull). The lexical list is far too incomplete to
make full judgments on the classification that occurs here. With further research it might be
possible to determine whether or not this hypothesis is plausible.
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Running read: MORPHOLOGICAL COMPONENTS
It is obvious, based on section 5, that there is a relationship between morphology and
phonology. However there are several implication in which some of the rules established may
not work. Hypothesizing that there are stems that end in -n implied a need for several other rules.
The current phonological rules I have supplied work, but there are still several instances in which
they don’t. Further analysis of the phonology taking place is needed in order to fully grasp what
is happening here.
Further research and a larger lexical database, will help to deliver a better understanding
of the occurrences taking place in the singular/plural morphology of Senoufo Nafara.
References
Allan, Keith. 1977. Classifiers. Language 53 (1), 285–311.
Carstens, V. (1991). The morphology and syntax of determiner phrases in Kiswahili. UCLA PhD
dissertation.
Garbo, F. (2013). Evaluative morphology and noun classification: a cross-linguistic study of
Africa. SKASE Journal of Theoretical Linguistics 10 (1), 114-136.
Kirkle, R. (2013). Grammar sketch of Maasai.
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