diff --git a/content/article/russell.md b/content/article/russell.md index fdc4ee3..d231c52 100644 --- a/content/article/russell.md +++ b/content/article/russell.md @@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ Ama examples unless otherwise stated are from the author’s fieldwork verified A brief overview of Ama morphosyntax can be gained by locating it in the typology of Heine and Vossen,[^4] which assesses African languages on the presence of nominal classification, nominal case, and verbal derivation. In Ama, the role of nominal classification is limited due to a remarkable lack of nominal number affixes, although there is some differentiated grammatical behavior of rational nominals.[^5] However, case is extensive in Ama,[^6] as is typical of Nilo-Saharan verb-final languages,[^7] and likewise verbal derivation is extensive. [^4]: Heine & Vossen, “Sprachtypologie,” cited in Kröger, “Typology Put to Practical Use,” p. 159. -[^5]: Norton, “Number in Ama verbs,” pp. 75⁠–⁠76, 85; Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: pp. 175⁠–⁠76. +[^5]: Norton, “Number in Ama verbs,” pp. 75⁠–⁠76, 85; Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: pp. 175⁠–1⁠76. [^6]: Stevenson, *Grammar of the Nyimang Language,* §§2–⁠10. [^7]: Dimmendaal, “Africa’s Verb-final Languages,” §9.2.3. @@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ A brief overview of Ama morphosyntax can be gained by locating it in the typolog **Table 2. Ama morphosyntax** -# The Syntax of Ama Verbs +# The Syntax of Ama Verbs {#syntax} Ama verbs follow a syntax that is partly familiar from other Nilo-Saharan languages. It has SOV word order, although as we shall see, Ama is not strictly verb-final. It also has coverbs that occur with an inflecting light verb. As in Tama,[^8] most Ama verbs take their own inflections but coverbs are also seen quite frequently. Many Ama coverbs fit Stevenson’s characterization that the coverb occurs before the light verb stem *ɕɪɛ* “do/say” and is either an ideophone (with marked phonology such as reduplication or non-mid tone) or a word marked by the suffix *-ɛ̄n* (typically a borrowed verb).[^9] The form of the Ama coverb suffix *-ɛ̄n* matches the Fur co-verb suffix *-ɛn* ~ *-ɛŋ*.[^10] The transitivity of the predicate is distinguished in Ama by the tone on the light verb *ɕɪ̀ɛ̄/ɕɪ́ɛ̄*. @@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ The CVC shape of verb roots is characteristic across Eastern Sudanic languages. **Table 6. Verbs across Northern East Sudanic (NES)** -## T/K Morphology for Factative/Progressive +## T/K Morphology for Factative/Progressive {#tk} An alternation between *t̪-* and *k-* cuts into the characteristic CVC shape in one class of Ama verbs as a marker of aspect along with the theme vowel. @@ -209,7 +209,201 @@ As to the second step, the prospect of verbal number shifting to verbal aspect i [^26]: Laca, “Progressives, Pluractionals and the Domains of Aspect.” [^27]: See, however, §4.2 below which purports to recover the missing extension. -In *t̪àl/tām* “eat,” the final *l/m* alternation is unique to this item in available word lists, although *l/n* occurs elsewhere (*kɪ́l/kín* “hear,” *t̪ɛ̀l-ɛ̄/wɛ̄ɛ́n* “see”). The final *l/m* alternation is nevertheless also found in Afitti (*t̪ə̀lɔ̀/tə̀m* “eat”) and in Kordofan Nubian (*\*kol ~ kel/\*kam* “eat”).[^28] Kordofan Nubian *\*kam* is used with a plural object, a pluractional function, so in the Nyima branch the proposed shift pluractional → progressive derives the progressive function of final m found in Ama, just as it does for the initial *k* in *t̪/k* alternations or the *t* in *t̪àl/tām* “eat.” Furthermore, a final plosive in Old Nubian (ⲕⲁⲡ-; Nobiin *kab-*)[^29] suggests that the unique *m* in “eat” arose by assimilation of the final nasal (realized as *n* in the other Ama verbs mentioned) to a following *\*b*, that was fully assimilated or incorporated in Old Nubian. +In *t̪àl/tām* “eat,” the final *l/m* alternation is unique to this item in available word lists, although *l/n* occurs elsewhere (*kɪ́l/kín* “hear,” *t̪ɛ̀l-ɛ̄/wɛ̄ɛ́n* “see”). The final *l/m* alternation is nevertheless also found in Afitti (*t̪ə̀lɔ̀/tə̀m* “eat”) and in Kordofan Nubian (*\*kol ~ kel/\*kam* “eat”).[^28] Kordofan Nubian *\*kam* is used with a plural object, a pluractional function, so in the Nyima branch the proposed shift pluractional → progressive derives the progressive function of final m found in Ama, just as it does for the initial *k* in *t̪/k* alternations or the *t* in *t̪àl/tām* “eat.” Furthermore, a final plosive in Old Nubian (ⲕⲁⲡ-[^29]; Nobiin *kab-*) suggests that the unique *m* in “eat” arose by assimilation of the final nasal (realized as *n* in the other Ama verbs mentioned) to a following *\*b*, that was fully assimilated or incorporated in Old Nubian. [^28]: Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* p. 478. [^29]: Ibid; Old Nubian also attests the lateral in a hapax form κⲁⲗ-. + +Seen in this light, the significance of moving T/K morphology onto verbs in the Nyima branch is that it renewed an existing system of irregular singulational/pluractional alternations. We then have a tangible account of where Ama’s missing noun morphology went, because formerly nominal morphology is found on the verb instead. + +## Concretization of Core Clause Constituents + +We can also now tie together this finding with the findings on verb syntax in [§2](#syntax). Both T/K number marking and relative clause modification have moved out of the noun phrase, and in these comparable changes we can observe a trend towards concretization of noun phrases, with number and clausal information about the participant being expressed later in the clause. + +The trend towards concretization also affects the verb itself. T/K and other irregular stem alternations did not maintain their pluractional meaning, as this evolved into a more concrete construal of the predicate over an interval of time as progressive aspect. Since concretization affected the verb as well as noun phrases, it affected the entire core SOV clause, with plurality as well as relative clauses largely deferred to after the verb. + +A role for concreteness in grammar was previously proposed in the Pirahã language of Brazil by Everett.[^30] Everett’s approach remains highly controversial,[^31] particularly, I believe, in its attempt to constrain grammar by culture directly in the form of a synchronic “Immediacy of Experience Constraint” on admissible sentence constructions and lexemes in Pirahã. My proposal here is deliberately less ambitious, appealing to concreteness as a diachronic trend in the Nyima branch, not as a constraint on the current synchronic grammar of Ama. Thus, Ama typically attests a separation between a concrete SOV clause and post-verbal modification, but this is not a strict division in the grammar, because it is not impossible to express number or relative clauses within the noun phrase, just infrequent. The concretization process in Ama must also have been specific enough not to have eliminated adjectives from the noun phrase. Ama has adjectives, as shown in examples (8)–(11), which occur as attributive modifiers of nouns in their unmarked form, whereas in predicates they are separated from the subject noun by a clause particle and occur as the complement of the inflecting copula verb *nɛ̄*. Ama adjectives include numerals and quantifiers, despite the limited role of number in the grammar. + +[^30]: Everett, “Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã.” +[^31]: Nevins, Pesetsky & Rodrigues, “Pirahã Exceptionality"; Everett, “Pirahã Culture and Grammar.” + +(8) + +(9) + +(10) + +(11) + +# Ama Verbal affixes + +Research over the past century has also been gradually clarifying the complex morphological system of Ama verbs.[^32] Factative and progressive aspect are distinguished in the affix system as well as in stems, and there is an evolving portfolio of pluractional affixes. + +[^32]: Stevenson, *Grammar of the Nyimang Language,* §XI; Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: pp. 171-183; Stevenson, Rottland & Jakobi, “The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik"; Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs”; Norton, “The Ama Dual Suffix"; Norton, "Classifying the Non-Eastern-Sudanic Nuba Mountain Languages.” + +## Affix Selection and Order + +Some verbal affixes are selected depending on factative or progressive aspect in Ama, just as verb stems are. For example, different suffixes for past tense or for directional movement are selected in the different aspects: + +| | stem | past | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | t̪àl | t̪àl-ʊ̀n | +| **progressive** | tām | tām-áʊ́ | + +**Table 9a. Affix selection according to aspect: "eat"** + +| | stem | direction | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | dɪ̀ɟ-ɛ̄ | dɪ̀ɟ-ɛ̄-ɡ | +| **progressive** | dɪ̄ɟ-ɪ̄ | dīɟ-ír | + +**Table 9b. Affix selection according to aspect: "throw"** + +The same is true of passive and ventive suffixes, but in factative aspect the suffixes replace the theme vowel, so that the affixes are the sole exponent of aspect in many verbs: + +| | stem | passive | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | ásɪ̄d̪āy-ɛ̄ | ásɪ̄d̪āy-áɪ́ | +| **progressive** | ásɪ̄d̪āɪ̄ | ásɪ̄d̪āy-àɡ | + +**Table 10a. Affix selection as sole exponent of aspect: "paint"** + +| | stem | ventive | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | ɪ̄r-ɛ̄ | ɪ̄r-ɪ́ɪ̄ɡ | +| **progressive** | ɪ̄r | ɪ̄r-ɪ́d̪ɛ̄ɛ̀ɡ | + +**Table 10b. Affix selection as sole exponent of aspect: "send"** + +In passive and in past, affix order also varies according to aspect with respect to the dual suffix *-ɛ̄n*: + +| | stem | dual passive | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | ásɪ̄d̪āy-ɛ̄ | ásɪ̄d̪āy-áy-ɛ̄n | +| **progressive** | ásɪ̄d̪āɪ̄ | ásɪ̄d̪āy-ɛ̄n-àɡ | + +**Table 11a. Affix order variation according to aspect: "paint"** + +| | stem | dual past | +| --- | --- | --- | +| **factative** | sāŋ-ɔ̄ | sāŋ-ɛ̄n-ʊ̀n | +| **progressive** | sāŋ | sāŋ-áw-ɛ̄n | + +**Table 11b. Affix order variation according to aspect: "search"** + +The origin of this affix order variation is revealed by further evidence. Passive marking comes after dual in progressive aspect, whereas past marking comes after dual in factative aspect, but the common feature of both suffixes *-àɡ, -ʊ̀n* placed after the dual is that they both bear low tone. Two more suffixes with low tone, directional *-ɛ̀ɡ ~ -ɡ* (the second allomorph is toneless) and mediocausative *-àw ~ -ɔ̀* (the second allomorph is used word-finally) appear after the dual, but if another low-tone suffix is added after the dual, they appear before the dual instead. Hence, there is only one more affix slot in Ama after the penultimate dual suffix. + +| | | | | +| --- | --- | --- | --- | +| **gloss** | throw | throw to (du.) | elicit (du.) | +| **factative** | dɪ̀ɟ-ɛ̄-ɡ | dɪ̀ɟ-ɪ́-n-ɪ̄ɡ | kɪ́l-ɛ̄n-ɔ̀ | +| | throw-th-dir | throw-ven-du-dir | hear-du-medcaus | +| **factative imperative** | dɪ̀ɟ-ɛ̀ɡ-ɛ̄-ɪ̀ | dɪ̀ɟ-ɪ́-ɡ-ɛ̄n-ɪ̀ | kɪ́l-àw-ɛ̄n-ɪ̀ | +| | throw-dir-th-imp | throw-ven-dir-du-imp | hear-medcaus-du-imp | +| **factative past** | dɪ̀ɟ-ɛ̀ɡ-ɔ̄-ɔ̀n | dɪ̀ɟ-ɪ́-ɡ-ɛ̄n-ʊ̀n | kɪ́l-àw-ɛ̄n-ʊ̀n | +| | throw-dir-th-pst | throw-ven-dir-du-pst | hear-medcaus-du-pst | + +**Table 12. Inward displacement of suffixes by an imperative or past suffix** + +Both types of affix alternation in tables 11 and 12 involve low-tone suffixes in the final slot. Therefore, the development of all affix order alternations can be attributed to a single historical shift of all low-tone suffixes to the final slot. However, this shift is not realized in verbs containing two low-tone suffixes, because only one of them can go in the final slot. The only final-slot suffix that does not alternate is the imperative *-ɪ̀,* which leaves imperative as original to the final slot. Other suffixes originate from more internal slots to the left of the dual. + +As for the origin of affix selection according to aspect, this presumably arose as an extension of the systematic stem selection that occurs for every verb in Nyima languages. This question remains complex, however, because each of the categories affected (past, passive, directional, ventive) will have its own history as to how alternating affixes were acquired in these conditions. One modest proposal is that the NES plural copula *\*aɡ* shown earlier in **table 6** is the likely source of the progressive passive suffix *-àɡ* in Ama,[^33] via the shift from pluractional to progressive \([§3.3](#tk)\), and by a plausible assumption of a transition in passive marking strategy from use of a copula to morphological marking on the verb. This sourcing does not extend to the other passive suffix in factative aspect *-áɪ́,* however, which does not resemble the singular copula *\*an*. Some similar proposals that other progressive suffixes have pluractional origins are made in the course of §4.2 below. + +[^33]: The Tama plural copula *àɡ* is likewise listed with low tone in Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* p. 451. + +## Pluractional Affixes + +Ama has extensions that fall within the family of pluractionals that associate plurality with the verb in different ways, that has emerged as an area of study in language description in recent years.[^34] These extensions are particularly comparable with Nubian and other related languages. + +[^34]: Newman, “Pluractional Verbs.” + +### Distributive Pluractional + +Ama has a distributive suffix *-ɪ́d̪* that marks incremental distribution of an event over time or over participants (*àɪ̀ bā fʊ̄rā mʊ̄l t̪àl-ɪ́d̪-ɛ̀* "I ate until I had eaten five rabbits," *wùd̪ēŋ bā dɔ̄rɛ̄ŋ t̪ɛ̀l-ɪ́d̪-ɛ̄* "The child saw each of the children").[^35] Called “plural” in earlier works, it is remarkable that this category was largely unaffected by the shift of pluractional → progressive analyzed in [§3.3](#tk) above,[^36] indicating that we are dealing with two distinct pluractionals, a distributive pluractional and another former pluractional that is now progressive. Ama has a second distributive suffix *-r* used only on verbs with the theme vowel *-a* (*wāɡ-ā* "keep," distributive *wāɡ-ɪ́d̪-ā-r*).[^37] Ama’s immediate relative Afitti has a “verbal plural” suffix *-tər,*[^38] which corresponds to Ama *-ɪ́d̪* and *-r* combined, reminiscent of their use in that order in Ama on verbs with the theme vowel *-a,* but regularized to all verbs in Afitti. The Ama suffix *-ɪ́d̪* also closely resembles a “plural action” suffix *-(ɨ)t̪* in the nearby Eastern Sudanic language Temein,[^39] and a “plurality of action” suffix *-íd* in Midob.[^40] The distributive suffix *-ij* in Kunuz Nubian is also similar.[^41] + +[^35]: Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs,” pp. 77, 83. +[^36]: I say the distributive is “largely” unaffected by the shift from pluractional to progressive because a dental plosive appears to have been co-opted in the progressive ventive suffix, as in *dɪ̀ɟ-ɪ́-n-ɪ̄ɡ/dɪ̀ɟ-ɪ́d̪-ɛ̄n-ɛ̀ɡ* (throw-ven-du-dir) "threw to"/"is throwing to” as the dental plosive is the only difference with the factative ventive suffix *-ɪ́*. +[^37]: Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs,” p. 81. +[^38]: de Voogt, “Dual Marking and Kinship Terms in Afitti,” p. 903, which also shows a similar plural object suffix *-to*. +[^39]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. 187, where *ɨ* is used in the same way as contemporary *ɪ*. Tone was not recorded. +[^40]: Werner, *Tìdn-áal,* p. 52. +[^41]: Abdel-Hafiz, *A Reference Grammar of Kunuz Nubian,* p. 117. Tone was not recorded. + +Distributive pluractionals are characterized by optionality with a plural participant (distributivity implies plurality but is distinct from it),[^42] which distinguishes them from plural-object pluractionals found in many Nubian languages that mark, and are thus obligatory with, plural objects.[^43] Distributives are also characterized by non-occurrence with dual participants (to be non-trivial, distribution requires at least three targets).[^44] The Ama distributive has the first property of optionality in transitive (but not intransitive) verbs, and the second property of non-duality with respect to subjects (but not objects).[^45] This second property is shared by the Afitti suffix *-t(ə)r* which likewise does not occur with dual subjects.[^46] This is shown in Afitti field data below,[^47] where the suffix *-t(ə)r* contrasts in this respect with plural pronominal affixes 1pl *ko-*, 2pl *o-*, and 3pl *-i* which do occur with dual subjects. + +[^42]: Corbett, *Number,* p. 116. +[^43]: Jakobi, this issue. +[^44]: Corbett, Number, pp. 115-116. +[^45]: Norton, “Number in Ama vVrbs,” pp. 78, 79, 91. +[^46]: de Voogt, “Dual Marking and Kinship Terms in Afitti,” p. 903. +[^47]: I am grateful to Alex de Voogt for sharing this data in personal communication from his field research on Afitti. + +| 1st person | gloss | 2nd person | gloss | 3rd person | gloss | +| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | +| ɡə́-ɡaɲal | I milk | é-ɡaɲal | you (sg.) milk | kaɲál | he/she milks | +| kó-ɡaɲal | we (du.) milk | ó-ɡaɲál | you (du.) milk | ɡaɲál-i | they (du.) milk | +| kó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | we (pl.) milk | ó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | you (pl.) milk | ɡaɲá-tər-i | they (pl.) milk | + +**Table 13. Afitti pluractional *-t(ə)r* not used with dual subjects** + +Beyond the Nyima branch, the Temein “plural action” suffix *-(ɨ)t̪* shares the first property of optionality as it “is by no means always added with plural objects.”[^48] It actually marks a distributive effect of the verb on the object (*ŋɔŋɔt-ɨt̪-ɛ dʉk* "I break the stick into pieces"), as also found with the Kunuz Nubian distributive suffix *-ij* (*duɡuːɡ ɡull-ij-ossu* ‘She threw the money here and there’).[^49] Information on non-occurrence with dual subjects is not reported in these languages, but it appears that this is because non-duality is a feature of incremental-distributive marking as found in Nyima, and not distributive-effect marking as found in Temein and Kunuz which can even occur with a singular object, as in the Temein example. + +[^48]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. +[^49]: Abdel-Hafiz, *A Reference Grammar of Kunuz Nubian,* p. 118. + +The confirmation of distributive markers across Nubian, Nyima, and Temein implies that a distributive pluractional was present in Eastern Sudanic from an early stage, with a form like *\*-id.* In Nubian the consonant is palatal,[^50] and although palatals are a difficult area for establishing wider sound correspondences,[^51] the palatal arises in the plausible conditioning environment of a high front vowel. + +[^50]: Jakobi, this issue. Jakobi points that the other very similar suffix *-íd* in Midob cannot be reconstructed to proto-Nubian from just one Nubian language, so appears to be an innovation, and her observation of its similarity to the Ama suffix clearly suggests borrowing into Midob from Ama’s ancestor or another related language. Hence, the reconstructable pluractional **[i]ɟ* is more viable as the historic cognate of the Ama suffix. +[^51]: Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* pp. 303-304. + +### Second Historic Pluractionals + +Ama’s second distributive suffix *-r* corresponds to the Nubian plural object marker *\*-er,*[^52] and since this suffix is much less productive in Ama, it may well have been bleached of its original meaning. In the Kordofan Nubian language Uncu, the cognate extension *-er* has the same function as the irregular pluractional stem *(kol/)kom* “eat,” as both occur with plural objects.[^53] Similarly in Ama, some trills shown below occur in the same category as the irregular progressive stem *(t̪àl/)tām* “eat,” providing evidence that the trill originally marked the second Nyima pluractional that is now progressive. + +[^52]: Jakobi, this issue. +[^53]: Comfort, “Verbal Number in the Uncu Language.” + +The Ama suffix *-ar* can be added to a progressive verb as a mirative that marks unexpected events (*swāy-ɔ́* “was cultivating” → *swāy-ɔ̄r-ɔ́* “was unexpectedly cultivating”, where the vowel has harmonized to the following vowel). However, this suffix is also used to disambiguate progressive verb forms from otherwise indistinguishable factatives (*sāŋ-ɛ̄n/sāŋ-ɛ̄n, sāŋ-ār-ɛ̄n* “search (du.)”),[^54] providing what looks like an alternate progressive stem to take the dual suffix. Similarly, the negative imperative construction in Ama requires a progressive stem with *-ar* after the negative particle *fá* as shown in **table 14** below. Inflections occurring in this construction are a plural subject marker *à-* on the particle, and dual or distributive marking on the verb. Only the dual suffix can occur without *-ar*, where in my data the dual suffix adds to the longer stem with *-ar* unless the short stem is suppletive (*t̪ī-ə̀/túŋ* “sleep,” t̪àl/*tām* “eat”) and can take the dual suffix without ambiguity with factative aspect. + +[^54]: Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs,” p. 40. + +| singular | dual | distributive plural | gloss | +| --- | --- | --- | --- | +| fá kɪ̄r-ār | à-fá kɪ̄r-ār-ɛ̄n | à-fá kɪ̄r-ɪ́d̪-ār | don’t be cutting! | +| fá sāŋ-ār | à-fá sāŋ-ār-ɛ̄n | à-fá sāŋ-ɪ́d̪-ār | don’t be searching! | +| fá túŋ-ār | à-fá túŋ-ɛ̄n | à-fá túŋ-ɪ́d̪-ār | don’t be sleeping! | +| fá tām-ār | à-fá tām-ɛ̄n | à-fá tām-ɪ́d̪-ār | don’t be eatingǃ | + +**Table 14. Ama negative imperative paradigms** + +Another trilled suffix *-ir* marks motion in progress.[^55] It can be added to a progressive verb (*dɪ̄ɟɪ̄* “is throwing” → *dīɟ-ír* “is throwing (motion in progress)”), but on several motion verbs it is documented as part of the progressive stem, as in the examples in **table 15** below from Stevenson, Rottland, and Jakobi.[^56] The motion meaning of *-ir* simply agrees with the semantics of the roots, all of which define motion along some schematic scale, so that the aspectual meaning of *-ir* assumes greater significance. Hence, *-ir* approximates a progressive stem formative for this class of verbs. The final example in **table 15**, due to Kingston,[^57] shows still another trilled suffix *-or* in the progressive stem of a caused motion verb. + +[^55] I defer description of tone on this affix to another time. +[^56] Stevenson, Rottland & Jakobi, “The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik.” +[^57] This verb appears in unpublished data collected by Abi Kingston. + +| factative | progressive | gloss | +| --- | --- | --- | +| bwìɡ | buɡìr | overtake | +| nɪfɛ̀ɡ | nɪfìr | fall | +| tɛnɛ̀ | kɛndìr | climb | +| tɪjɛ | jeìr | shoot | +| ánasa | ánasor | take down | + +**Table 15. Progressive stems ending in a trill** + +The trill thus fuses with certain vowels that behave like theme vowels for creating extended progressive stems. As a progressive element, the trill most probably derives from the shift of pluractional → progressive, identifying it as the missing extension of the second Nyima pluractional. We then have an Ama distributive pluractional suffix *-ɪ́d̪* that resembles the Nubian distributive pluractional *\*-[i]ɟ,* and Ama “pseudo-pluractional” progressive suffixes of the shape *-Vr* that resemble the Nubian plural-object pluractional *\*-er*. + +### Innovative Dual-Participant Pluractional + +A late addition to Ama’s pluractional portfolio is its unique dual suffix *-ɛ̄n*.[^58] The older form of the Ama dual suffix is *-ɪn,*[^59] which has been noted to resemble reciprocal suffixes in other Eastern Sudanic languages, such as Kordofan Nubian *-in*, Daju *-din*, Temein *-ɛ*, and also Ik *-in* of the Kuliak group.[^60] In Ama, its function has evolved to dual reciprocal and other dual participant readings, so for example *wʊ̀s-ɛ̄n* “greet (du.)” can refer to when two people greeted each other, or someone greeted two people, or two people greeted someone.[^61] The dual suffix is regularly used in Ama folktales to link two primary characters.[^62] Although such dual participant marking is extremely rare globally, it becomes possible in Nyima languages in particular where the incremental-distributive pluractional leaves a paradigmatic gap for dual subjects, as still seen in Afitti in **table 13** above, which Ama has filled in. + +[^58]: +[^59]: +[^60]: +[^61]: +[^62]: + +# Conclusion: Ama as a Matured North Eastern Sudanic Language + +Ama verbs show a number of connections to Nubian and other Eastern Sudanic languages in their clause-final syntax, CVC root shape, and certain affixes. However, these connections are more in form than meaning, as the semantics is highly innovative in such notable shifts as plural → pluractional → progressive and reciprocal → dual, and in the drive towards concretization that has moved the expression of both relative clauses and number out of noun phrases to after the verb. In addition, the movement of low-tone suffixes to the final suffix slot, while itself a formal development, has further advanced the morphologization of aspect, so that stem selection, affix selection, and affix order all vary with aspect in Ama verbs. Next to these considerable changes, Ama’s stable distributive pluractional stands out as indicative of a wider Eastern Sudanic verbal category.