Coordination
Полное изложение текста
1The default way to conjoin constituents A and B in Beng is the construction A nà̰ B lō, literally ‘A together with B’. This construction conjoins noun phrases (102b), adjective phrases, as well as adverbial constituents. Verbs and verb phrases never conjoin in Beng, so that the meaning of corresponding constructions of European languages has to be expressed via clause combination of one kind or another (102c). Clause-level conjunction in its turn has to be expressed via juxtaposition of sentences, or, alternatively, as temporal subordination (see 13.5). Such differentiation of conjunction patterns by the syntactic category of the conjunction is common in languages of Sub-Saharan Africa (Haspelmath 2005b), which is the biggest area with a systematic contrast between nominal and verbal coordination.
The first conjunct in a coordinate NP is doubled by pronouns of the existential series, the second by the non-subject series.
2Disjunction, in contrast to conjunction, does not distinguish sharply between nominal and sentential domains; NPs, postpositional phrases, and full sentences are disjoined with the same marker (102b,c). The disjunctive coordinator is structurally a conditional clause à lɛ́ ɛ́ nḭ̄, literally ‘if it is not’, which can undergo shortening to àlɛ́nḭ̄. So Beng has a remarkably compositional semantics of its disjunction, as indeed, Boolean disjunction in logic (A or B) is equivalent to a combination of a negation and an implication (not A ⇒ B). Sometimes one uses the alternate disjunction nḭ̄ŋɛ̄ɛ̄ (104e). Extraposition of the second disjunct with the disjunction marker (104e) is common (though never found with overt conjunction), and perhaps could be analyzed as sentential disjunction under ellipsis; more inquiry into the structure of such sentences is needed.
Examples in (102) illustrate uses of conjunction and disjunction. (102a) presents a coordinate structure with a wh-element:
(102a) |
[Mḭ̄ |
nà̰ |
dé |
lō] |
fɛ̰̄ |
ká |
gṵ́à̰ |
kā |
wlá |
wē |
flɔ̰́ɔ̰̄ |
ná̰? |
2sg |
and |
who |
with |
Rel |
2pl:Pst+ |
stay |
2pl |
house |
there |
today |
Top |
|
‘Who did you stay with at home today?’ (literally ‘You and who that you stayed at your house today?’). |
(102b) |
Ŋ̄ |
tɔ́ |
lɛ̀ |
ŋ̄ |
dē |
nà̰ |
ŋ̄ |
1sg |
name |
Def |
1sg |
father |
and |
1sg |
dā |
lō |
ɲɛ̰̄ |
ŋā |
kà |
ɛ̄. |
mother |
with |
Foc |
3pl:Pst+3 |
put:L |
Foc |
‘My name, it was my father and my mother who gave it to me’ (literally: ‘it was my father and my mother who put it’). |
(102c) |
Wà |
bèsé |
ɛ̀ |
yéwɔ̀ |
[glɛ̄ |
lɛ̀ |
ló] |
2sg:Hab+3 |
machete |
Def |
sharpen:L |
rock |
Def |
on |
à |
lɛ́-nḭ̄ |
[klàwá |
à |
lō]. |
3sg:Pst- |
Cop:L:Neg-if.not |
whetstone |
Def |
with |
‘She sharpens her machete on the rock or with the whetstone’. |
(102d) |
ŋó |
sròbɛ̀í |
à |
lɛ́ |
ɛ́ |
nḭ̄ |
Ŋó |
gṵ̄à̰ |
wlá |
nɔ̰̄. |
1sg:St+ |
leave |
3sg:Pst- |
Cop:L |
Neg |
if.not |
1sg:St+ |
stay |
house |
here |
|
‘I will either leave or I will stay at home’. |
(102e) |
mḭ-ó |
wápló |
klɛ̄ |
nḭ̄ŋɛ̄ɛ̄ |
mà̰nṵ́ŋ́? |
2sg-St+ |
fufu |
Post |
or |
rice |
|
‘Would you like fufu or rice?’ (lit. ‘Are you after fufu or rice?’) |
Чтобы цитировать эту статью
Ссылка в печатном виде
Denis Paperno, «Coordination», Mandenkan, 51 | 2014, 58-60.
Электронная ссылка
Denis Paperno, «Coordination», Mandenkan [Онлайн], 51 | 2014, Выложить онлайн 01 juin 2014, Наводить справки в 29 mars 2024. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/mandenkan/567; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/mandenkan.567
Верх страницыАвторские права
The text only may be used under licence CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.
Верх страницы