The Nkoroo pronominal system

Ebitare F. Obikudo

Department of Languages & Linguistics

Delta State University

[email protected]

Abstract

The pronominal system of any language belongs to the closed class of lexical items. It does

not permit new members and is most unlikely to undergo change in the face of

no

that is greatly endangered, reveals that retains all its pronoun forms. The only

change seems to be phonological – the case of the palatal nasal [ɲ] being weakened to a

palatal approximant [j] in the case of the independent possessive pronouns. This is obvious

when compared to its linguistic relatives, , where the palatal nasal is still

retained.

ongoing grammatical description of the language.

1.0. Introduction

(alongside Defaka) and in some other smaller villages.

Th -

residence in the midst of the Andoni and by their proximity to the Ogoni a

-

speaking groups may have given rise to a dialect that is a little divergent from its most

closely related linguistic relatives; K , Okrika an . Not much linguistic work has

been done on and there is no standard orthography for the language. As such, all the

data presented in this work are a phonetic transcription of the sounds using the IPA symbols.

Pronouns refer to a closed class of lexical items that can be substituted for nouns. In

other words, they have the same distributional potentials as nouns. Various types of

pronouns exist in the languages of the world. The terminology however varies between

grammars. The pronoun class

after the noun. We can identify four types of pronouns ; the personal, reflexive,

reciprocal, and indefinite pronouns. These four types of pronouns alongside their functions

will be described in this paper. The fieldwork that produced the data for this work was made

possible by an NSF grant 0553971 awarded to Akin Akinlabi and Bruce Connell to

. The author also acknowledges the members of the project

ː B C z -mekuri Ndimele, Inoma Essien and Will Bennett.

2.1. Personal pronouns

The personal pronouns include subject, object and possessive. They exhibit the

grammatical categories of 'person', 'number' and 'gender'. There are two types of personal

pronouns; the short pronouns and the long pronouns. The short pronouns are the normal

forms used in non-emphatic contexts, although they may also occur in emphatic contexts,

while the long pronouns are used in emphatic contexts. The short pronouns are actually a

reduced form of the long pronouns derived from its first syllable.

recognises a three-person distinction in pronouns. These are the first person

which corresponds to the speaker, the second person which corresponds to the hearer and

the third person which corresponds to the entity being talked about. The language also

makes a two-way number distinction between singular and plural in its pronominal system.

Each person is marked for number and so consists of a singular and a plural form, that is,

first persons singular and plural, second persons singular and plural, and third persons

singular and plural. In addition, there is a sex-based gender contrast in the third person

singular pron –

,

and are used to mark possession. The possessive pronouns cliticise with their host nouns.

Nouns are always HL with high toned pronouns and LL with low tone pronouns. Both short

and long pronouns retain their forms and tones in all contexts regardless of the function they

perform. However, there are some short pronouns whose forms vary depending on whether

they are followed by a consonant-initial word, a vowel-initial word or a word beginning

with a syllabic nasal. The following are the short pronoun forms as used in non-emphatic

contexts.

2.1.1. Short (non-emphatic) personal pronoun forms

All forms of the short pronouns are monomoraic bearing either a high or a low tone.

The third person plural does not have a short form. remains the same in both

emphatic and non-emphatic contexts. Only the short pronouns can be used to express

possession.

First person singular short pronoun

ː (cf. 1) when

followed by consonant-initial words and (cf. 2 & 3) when followed by vowel-initial

words or words that begin with syllabic nasals. These forms are the same for subject, object

and possessive.

First person singular subject pronoun ( / ) 1. 'I ate food'

1SG food eat

2. 'I went'

1SG go

3. ʒ dʒ 'I sold fish'

1SG fish sell

First person singular object pronoun ( / ) 4. t '

PN 1SG beat

5. t '

PN 1SG see

First person singular possessive pronoun ( / ) 6. ʒ 'my book'

]1 'my bag' ɡ 'my wealth'

1When the 1

st person singular possessive pronoun ( ) precedes a vowel-initial noun, the

vowel [e] assimilates all the features of the following vowel. This results in a lengthened

vowel which is often realised as a short vowel in rapid speech.

First person plural short pronoun

The first person plural pronoun does not exhibit any inclusive/exclusive opposition. The

short form is . It functions as subject, object and possessive.

First person plural subject pronoun ( )

7. 'We ate food'

1PL food eat

8. 'We went'

1PL go

9. ʒ ʒ 'We sold fish'

1PL fish sell

First person plural object pronoun ( )

10. t '

PN 1PL beat

11. t '

PN 1PL see

First person plural possessive pronoun ( )

12. ʒ 'our book'

'our bag'

ɡ 'our wealth'

Second person singular short pronoun

The second person singular personal pronoun also has two short forms identical to the first

ː before consonant-initial

words and before vowel-initial words or words that begin with a syllabic nasal.

Second person singular subject pronoun ( / )

13. 'You (sg.) ate food'

2SG food eat

14. 'You (sg.) went'

2SG go

15. ʒ ʒ 'You (sg.) sold fish'

2SG fish sell

Second person singular object pronoun ( / )

16. t (sg.)'

PN 1SG beat

17. t (sg.)'

PN 1SG see

Second person singular possessive pronoun ( / )

18. ʒ 2 'your (sg.) book'

'your (sg.) bag'

ɡ 'your (sg.) wealth'

2This example reflects how possessive pronouns cliticise with their host nouns. All the

nouns in the data above are HL because the second person singular possessive pronoun is

high toned.

Second person plural short pronoun

The short form of the second person plural is . This is the form it takes when it functions as

the subject, object and possessive.

Second person plural subject pronoun ( ) 19. 'You (pl.) ate food'

2PL food eat

20. 'You (pl.) went'

2PL go

21. ʒ ʒ 'You (pl.) sold fish'

2PL fish sell

Second person plural object pronoun ( ) 22. t (pl.)'

PN 2PL beat

23. t (pl.)'

PN 2PL see

Second person plural possessive pronoun ( ) 24. ʒ 'your (pl.) book'

'your (pl.) bag'

ɡ 'your (pl.) wealth'

Third person singular short pronoun

A three-way gender distinction – masculine, feminine and neuter, represented by , and

respectively exists in the third person singular pronoun. Each consists of a vowel only and

occurs with both vowel-initial and consonant-initial nouns and verbs. The third person

singular is the only pronoun that is marked for gender.

Third person singular masculine subject pronoun ( ) 25. 'He ate food'

3MSG food eat

26. 'He went'

3MSG go

27. ʒ ʒ 'He sold fish'

3MSG fish sell

Third person singular feminine subject pronoun ( ) 28. 'She ate food'

3FSG food eat

29. 'She went'

3FSG go

30. ʒ ʒ 'She sold fish'

3FSG fish sell

Third person singular neuter subject pronoun ( ) 31. 'It ate food'

3NSG food eat

32. 'It went'

3NSG go

33. ʒ p 'It ate fish'

3NSG fish eat

Third person singular masculine object pronoun ( ) 34. t '

PN 3MSG beat

35. t '

PN 3MSG see

Third person singular feminine object pronoun ( ) 36. t ' ' PN 3FSG beat

37. t '

PN 3FSG see

Third person singular neuter object pronoun ( ) 38. t '

PN 3NSG beat

39. t '

PN 3NSG see

Third person singular masculine possessive pronoun ( ) 40. ʒ 'his book'

'his bag' ɡ 'his wealth'

Third person singular feminine possessive pronoun ( ) 41. ʒ 'her book'

'her bag'

ɡ 'her wealth'

Third person singular neuter possessive pronoun ( ) 42. ɓ 'its leg'

'its teeth'

ɡ 'its bone'

Third person plural pronoun

The third person plural personal pronoun has two variants; and . It occurs with both

vowel-initial and consonant-initial nouns.

Third person plural subject pronoun ) 43. 'They ate food'

3PL food eat

44. 'They went'

3PL go

45. ʒ ʒ 'They sold fish'

3PL fish sell

Third person plural object pronoun ) 46. t '

PN 3PL beat

47. t '

PN 3PL see

Third person plural possessive pronoun ) 48. ʒ 'their book'

'their bag'

ɡ 'their wealth'

2.1.2. Long (emphatic) personal pronoun forms

all long pronouns (except for the third person plural which remains ) when they occur

in emphatic contexts. While the short forms are monomoraic, the long forms are bimoraic

and exhibit two tone patterns – either low-low (LL) or high-high-downstepped high

(HH H) ː

49. Long emphatic pronouns

LL HH H

1st ː 2

nd ː

3rd

ː 3rd

ː 3

rd ː 1

st ː

2nd

ː

Although the long emphatic pronouns can function as the subject of a sentence, they are not

used to express possession.

50. 'I did it' 1SG.Emp 1SG SM do

51. ɓ 'You a e a lia ǃ' 2SG.Emp 2SG lie.person

2.1.3. Possessive pronouns and nouns

(as well as the

long forms) retain their underlying tones and may or may not affect the tones of the

following morphemes (usually, they do not), but in expressing pos

-

nouns they modify. Further examples

are seen below.

52. ː ɓ 'ear' ʒ 'fish' ɓ 'my ear' ʒ 'my fish'

ɓ 'his ear' ʒ 'his fish'

ɓ 'your ear' ʒ 'your fish'

ɓ 'our ear (s)' ʒ 'our fish'

53. H ː t 'child'

'my child' 'your child'

'his child' 'our child'

54. H ː 'nose' l 'plank'

'my nose' l 'my plank'

'his nose' l 'his plank'

'your nose' l 'your plank'

'our nose' l 'our plank'

55. H H ː 'door' l 'kolanut'

'my door' l 'my kolanut'

'his door' l 'his kolanut'

'your door' l 'your kolanut'

'our door' l 'our kolanut'

56. HH ː 'canoe' f r 'plate'

'my canoe' r 'my plate'

'his canoe' r 'his plate'

'your canoe' r 'your plate'

'our canoe' r 'our plate'

Some nouns however, pose an exception to this pattern. T

H )

HH H )

n alienable and inalienable possession but

these exceptions may be a pointer to an extinct system of alienability versus inalienability.

57. ɡ 'mother' 58. 'father'

ɡ 'my mother' 'my father'

ɡ 'our mother' ) 'our father' 59. 'wife' 'my wife' 'your wife'

The word for 'husband' also belongs to this category of exceptional nouns but it does not

become LH after a low tone pronoun. Rather, it is H when occurring with both low and high

ː ʒ and ʒ . The fact that both

variants take high tones and not LH after low tone pronouns suggests that ʒ ʒ is

monomoraic.

60. ʒ ʒ 'husband'

ʒ ʒ 'my husband'

ʒ ʒ 'her husband'

2.1.3.1. Independent possessive pronouns

. Ig ː – )

ː

1st ː 1

st ː

2nd

ː 2nd

p ː 3

rd ː 3

rd ː

ː – 47)

H

actually derived through a combination of the short personal pronouns and the noun

'thing'. Interestingly, the form for 'thing' used in the 1st and 2

nd

'thing'

when combines with the 1st and 2

nd persons singular to form independent possessive

pronouns suggests that diachronically, was realised as ɲ 'thing' in all

other positions.

61.

1st ː 1

st ː

2nd

ː 2nd

ː 3

rd ː 3

rd ː

3rd

ː 3

rd ː

Some attributes of the independent possessive pronouns include:

i) The independent possessive pronouns can function syntactically as the subject of a

sentence.

62a. 'Give me mine/my own' (lit. 'Give me my thing')

my.thing AUX 1SG give

b. 'Give him yours/your own' (lit. 'Give him your thing')

your.thing AUX 3MSG give

c. 'Give them theirs/their own' (lit. 'Give them their thing')

their.thing AUX 3PL give

ii) The independent possessive pronouns can also function syntactically as the object of a

sentence.

63a. 'The land is mine' (lit. 'The land is my thing')

land the my.thing

b. 'The land is his' (lit. 'The land is his thing')

land the his.thing

c. ɡ 'The bone is its (own)' (lit. 'The bone is its thing')

bone the it.thing

iii) The independent possessive pronoun can be negated when it occurs in the object

position.

64a. ʒ - 'The books are not mine'

book PL my.thing-NCL

b. - 'The land is not theirs'

land the their.thing-NCL

iv) The 'thing' component of the independent possessive may be modified by the

definite article .

65a. 'Give him his (own)'

his.thing the AUX 3MSG give

b. i 'Give her hers (own)'

her.thing the AUX 3FSG give

2.1.4. Environments in which short and long personal pronouns occur

Both the short and long pronoun forms do have some restrictions on the

environments in which they can occur. As observed in earlier data, although both long and

short forms may function as the subject of a sentence, the short forms occur in non-emphatic

contexts while the long forms occur in emphatic contexts. The short forms are also used in

expressing possession while the long forms are not. Apart from these, the long and short

pronouns can function in other environments. These include;

i) The long pronouns may be negated but the short forms may not.

66a. - 'It is not me'

1SG.Emp-NCL

b.* -

1SG-NCL

ii) The short forms can occur with the existential morpheme k but not the long forms.

67a. k 'She is there/in'

3FSG EXIST

b. k

3FSG.Emp EXIST

iii) Both the short and long forms may be used in issuing commands. However, only the

short forms can be followed by the hortative marker which precedes the verb.

68a. ɓ Y ) ǃ

2SG Hort come

b. ɓ 2SG.Emp Hort come

iv) The short plural pronouns may be followed by the plural marker , but not the long

plural forms.

69a. w 'She saw many of us'

3FSG 1PL PL see

b.

3FSG 1PL.Emp PL see

2.2. Reflexive pronouns

are derived from a combination of the short personal pronouns and the nouns ɓ 'self' and

'skin of animal/hide'.

70. ɓ 'myself'

ɓ 'yourself'

ɓ 'himself'

ɓ 'herself'

ɓ 'itself'

ɓ 'ourselves'

ɓ 'yourselves'

ɓ 'themselves'

Reflexives may function as the subject of a sentence.

71. ɓ 'He did it himself'

him self skin SM do

72. ɓ - - 'I am saying it myself'

my self skin SM-SCL say-PRG

The short personal pronouns may optionally be used in addition to ɓ 'self' only to express

the reflexive.

73. ɓ 'This child bit himself'

this child teeth AUX him self bite

74. ɓ ɓ male.man the and dog the and them self kill

'The man and the dog killed themselves'

2.3. Reciprocal pronouns

Reciprocity in is expressed by reduplicating the first syllable of the numeral

'one' ɡb . The reduplicated form ɡb ɡb which means 'one another' is usually preceded

by a short personal plural pronoun.

75. ɡb ɡb 'We saw one another'

1PL one.another see

76. ɓ r ɡb ɡb 'They spoke to one another'

3PL word say one.another give

2.4. Indefinite pronouns

pronouns are generic noun-based. They are of two types: the first type is derived by

combining the numeral ɡb 'one' with a generic noun while the second type is derived by

combining a universal quantifier with a generic noun. The nouns used refer to a person,

thing or place thus resulting in nominal indefinite expressions and adverbial indefinite

expressions.

2.4.1. Nominal indefinite expressions

Nominal indefinite expressions may either be positive or negative. The positive

nominal indefinite expressions are derived in three ways. The first type of positive nominal

indefinite expression is derived by combining ɡb 'one' and either ɓ 'person' or 'thing'

to mean 'somebody' and 'something' respectively.

Positive nominal indefinite expressions

A. ɡb ɓ /ɡb ɓ 'somebody'

77. ɡb ɓ 'Somebody is at home'

one person house stay

78. ɡb ɓ ɓ - 'Somebody has come'

one person come-PRF

B. ɡb 'something'

79. ɡb 'She gave me something'

3FSG one thing AUX 1SG give

Apart from the above, the generic nouns 'person' and 'thing' may also be translated to

mean 'somebody' and 'something' respectively.

80. 'Somebody is in the house/at home'

person house stay

81. 'She gave me something'

3FSG thing AUX 1SG give

The second type of positive nominal indefinite expression is derived via a combination of

the universal quantifier meaning 'all' or 'every' and a generic noun.

C. 'everybody'

82. ɓ - 'Everybody will come'

person all/every come-FUT

D. 'everything'

83. j ɓ 'Everything is with me'

thing all/every EXIST 1SG hand LOC (lit. 'everything is in my hand')

84. - 'Everything is finished'

thing all/every finish-PRF

The third type of positive nominal indefinite expressions is derived through a combination

of meaning 'any' and a generic noun.

E. ɓ ɓ 'anybody'

85. ɓ ɓ ɓ - 'Anybody will come'

anyperson anyperson SM come-FUT

F. 'anything'

86. - 'I will eat anything'

1SG anything anything SM eat-FUT

Negative nominal indefinite expressions

Negative nominal indefinite expressions are derived through a combination of the

universal quantifier , meaning 'none' and either 'person' or 'thing'.

G. 'nobody'

87. 'Nobody is in the house/at home'

person none house LOC

H. 'nothing'

88. ɓ 'Nothing is in the pot'

thing none pot inside LOC

2.4.2. Adverbial indefinite expressions

Adverbial indefinite expressions are a combination of either of the generic place

nouns j or with the numeral 'one' ɡb or a universal quantifier.

A. ɡb /ɡb 'somewhere'

89. t ɡb - '

PN one place go-PRF

B. 'everywhere'

90. ɓ l - key the self LOC 1SG place every look.for-PRF

'I have searched for the key everywhere'

C. j 'anywhere'

91. 'Don't go anywhere!'

anywhere anywhere go IMP\Neg

3.0. Conclusion personal pronoun forms, the

short forms being a reduction of the long forms with the exception of the third person plural

which remains the same in all environments. While the short forms occur in non-

emphatic sentences and function in the subject, object and possessive case, the long forms

occur in emphatic contexts and can only function as either the subject or object of a

sentence. The long forms may be negated but the short forms may not. The short forms may

occur with the existential morpheme k but the long forms may not. Both long and short

forms may be used in issuing commands but only the short forms may occur with the

hortative marker in an imperative construction.

Furthermore, in expressing possession, the short pronouns cliticise with their host

nouns. This is seen in the tone patterns of the resultant compound. Nouns are always HL

with high toned pronouns and LL with low toned pronouns regardless of their inherent

tones. However, a study of the tone patterns that occur when the short pronouns combine

with such kinship nouns as 'moth

)

.

Although is an endangered language, it still retains all its pronoun forms.

There is however a phonological change in the form for 'thing' ( ) used in deriving

the independent possessive pronouns. With the 1st and 2

nd persons singular, this form

corr 'thing' but is realised as with other persons. This

ɲ

'thing'.

Abbreviations and Symbols

Down-stepped high tone

AUX Auxiliary verb

EXIST Existential morpheme

FUT Future time marker

H High tone

Hort Hortative marker

IMP\Neg Negative imperative marker

L Low tone

LOC Locative morpheme

NCL Negative clitic

PL Plural marker

PN Personal name

PRF Perfective marker

PRG Progressive marker

SCL Subject clitic

SM Subject marker

1PL 1st person plural pronoun

1SG 1st person singular pronoun

1SG.Emp 1st person singular emphatic pronoun

2PL 2nd

person plural pronoun

2SG 2nd

person singular pronoun

2SG.Emp 2nd

person singular emphatic pronoun

3FSG 3rd

person feminine singular pronoun

3FSG.Emp 3rd

person feminine singular emphatic pronoun

3MSG 3rd

person masculine singular pronoun

3NSG 3rd

person neuter pronoun

3PL 3rd

person plural pronoun

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