Somali particle clusters
Complete paradigms, syncretism and corpus frequency
In: Brill's Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and LinguisticsSearch for other papers by Sabrina Bendjaballah in
Current site
Google Scholar
Abstract
Preverbal elements are famous for triggering several “coalescence rules” in Somali (Saeed 1999: 39). A case at hand is the set of adpositions ú (destination, manner), kú (locative, instrument), ká (source, content) and lá (comitative). The combinations of two adpositions are well documented, and it has long been noticed that some of them are phonologically opaque. Such opaque forms can in principle be analysed along two general lines: i) they are the outputs of a transparent combination of morphemes, and their surface forms is accounted for by positing allomorphy rules, or ii) they are not a combination of two morphemes, but single lexicalized units. The choice between these two options is an empirical question, which I address in this article. I examine the behaviour of opaque forms in a broader context: two-adposition clusters in combination with a pronominal clitic, and with a third adposition. Based on a new empirical basis, I conclude in favour of lexicalization. This result has consequences on the general assumption of a fixed ordering of adpositions in the preverbal domain. Since all combinations of kV́ adpositions surface as syncretic kagá, we have no evidence for assuming that the occurrence of two kV́ adpositions is ordered, and if it is ordered, in which order they appear.
Purchase
Buy instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Institutional Login
Log in with Open Athens, Shibboleth, or your institutional credentials
Personal login
Log in with your brill.com account
-
Agostini, F., A. Puglielli, C.M. Siyaad & al. 1985. Dizionario somalo-italiano. Cooperazione Italiana allo Sviluppo. G. Gangemi ed: Roma.
-
Andrzejewski, B.W. 1960. Pronominal and prepositional particles in Northern Somali. African Language Studies 1: 96–108.
-
Appleyard, D.L. 1990. Prepositional particles in Somali and their cognates in other Cushitic languages. African Languages and Cultures 3,1: 15–31.
-
Backley, P. 2011. An Introduction to Element Theory. Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh.
-
Barillot, X. 2002. Morphophonologie gabaritique et information consonantique latente en somali et dans les langues est-couchitiques. Thèse de doctorat. Université Paris 7, Paris.
-
Barillot, X. & Ph. Ségéral. 2005. On phonological processes in the “3rd conjugation” of Somali. Folia Orientalia 41: 115–131.
-
Bell, C.R.V. 1953. The Somali Language. Longmans, Green and co: London/New York/Toronto.
-
Bendjaballah, S. 1998. La palatalisation en somali. Linguistique Africaine 21: 5–52.
-
Berchem, J. 2012. Grammatik des Somali. BoD: Norderstedt.
-
Green, C.R. 2021. Somali Grammar. Mouton-CASL Grammar Series. vol. 5. de Gruyter-Mouton: Boston/Berlin.
-
Huber, D. 2007. Velars and Processes: Their Treatment in Phonological Theory. PhD Dissertation. Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest.
-
Kaye, J., J. Lowenstamm & J-R. Vergnaud. 1985. The internal structure of phonological representations: a theory of Charm and Government. Phonology Yearbook 2: 305–328
-
Kaye, J., J. Lowenstamm & J-R. Vergnaud. 1990. Constituent structure and government in phonology. Phonology Yearbook 7: 193–231.
-
Menn, L. & B. Mac Whinney. 1984. The Repeated Morph Constraint: Toward an Explanation. Language 60: 519.
-
Nilsson, M. 2023. Beginner’s Somali Grammar, accessed January 2024.
-
Orwin, M. 1994. Aspects of Somali Phonology. PhD dissertation. SOAS University of London, London.
-
Saeed, J.I. 1999. Somali. Benjamins: Amsterdam/Philadelphia, PA.
-
Tosco, M. 1997. Af Tunni. Grammar, Texts, and Glossary of a Southern Somali Dialect. Rüdiger Köppe Verlag: Köln.
-
Zholkovskij, A.K. 1971/79. Somali syntax. Academy of Sciences of the USSR: Nauka, Moscow.
-
Zorc, R.D. & M.M. Osman. 1993. Somali-English dictionary with English index. 3rd edn. Dunwoody Press: Springfield, VA.
-
Zorc, R.D. & A.A. Issa. 2002. Somali Textbook. Dunwoody Press: Springfield, VA.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 37 | 37 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 77 | 77 | 33 |
Somali particle clusters
Complete paradigms, syncretism and corpus frequency
In: Brill's Journal of Afroasiatic Languages and LinguisticsSearch for other papers by Sabrina Bendjaballah in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Preverbal elements are famous for triggering several “coalescence rules” in Somali (Saeed 1999: 39). A case at hand is the set of adpositions ú (destination, manner), kú (locative, instrument), ká (source, content) and lá (comitative). The combinations of two adpositions are well documented, and it has long been noticed that some of them are phonologically opaque. Such opaque forms can in principle be analysed along two general lines: i) they are the outputs of a transparent combination of morphemes, and their surface forms is accounted for by positing allomorphy rules, or ii) they are not a combination of two morphemes, but single lexicalized units. The choice between these two options is an empirical question, which I address in this article. I examine the behaviour of opaque forms in a broader context: two-adposition clusters in combination with a pronominal clitic, and with a third adposition. Based on a new empirical basis, I conclude in favour of lexicalization. This result has consequences on the general assumption of a fixed ordering of adpositions in the preverbal domain. Since all combinations of kV́ adpositions surface as syncretic kagá, we have no evidence for assuming that the occurrence of two kV́ adpositions is ordered, and if it is ordered, in which order they appear.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 37 | 37 | 8 |
| Full Text Views | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 77 | 77 | 33 |