diff --git a/content/article/norton.md b/content/article/norton.md index ae98556..3ae24df 100644 --- a/content/article/norton.md +++ b/content/article/norton.md @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Ama is a North Eastern Sudanic language spoken in villages to the west and north [^1]: Stevenson, *Grammar of the Nyimang Language* and “A survey of the phonetics and grammatical structure of the Nuba Mountain languages with particular reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimaŋ,” 40: p. 107. [^2]: Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* §4. -Ama examples unless otherwise stated are from the author’s fieldwork verified with leading Ama writers who oversee literacy in the language. For vowels, I distinguish five –ATR brassy vowels ɪɛaɔʊ and five +ATR breathy vowels *ieəou,* as represented fluently by Ama writers using five vowel letters {aeiou} and a saltillo {ꞌ} in breathy words. For tone, Ama’s nearest relative Afitti has been described as having two contrastive tone levels,[^3] but Ama has three levels, which play a role in the verb system as well as the wider lexicon as shown in **Table 1**. +Ama examples unless otherwise stated are from the author’s fieldwork verified with leading Ama writers who oversee literacy in the language. For vowels, I distinguish five –ATR brassy vowels *ɪɛaɔʊ* and five +ATR breathy vowels *ieəou,* as represented fluently by Ama writers using five vowel letters {aeiou} and a saltillo {ꞌ} in breathy words. For tone, Ama’s nearest relative Afitti has been described as having two contrastive tone levels,[^3] but Ama has three levels, which play a role in the verb system as well as the wider lexicon as shown in **Table 1**. [^3]: de Voogt, “A Sketch of Afitti Phonology,” p. 47. @@ -40,9 +40,11 @@ A brief overview of Ama morphosyntax can be gained by locating it in the typolog **~~Table 2. Ama morphosyntax~~** +In the remaining sections, we will examine Ama's verb syntax ([2](#syntax)), verb stems ([3](#3)) and verb affixes ([4](#4)) from a comparative perspective, followed by a conclusion ([5](#5)). + # 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*. +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 coverb suffix *-ɛn* ~ *-ɛŋ*.[^10] The transitivity of the predicate is distinguished in Ama by the tone on the light verb *ɕɪ̀ɛ̄/ɕɪ́ɛ̄*. [^8]: Dimmendaal, “Introduction” to *Coding Participant Marking,* pp. 6–7. [^9]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. 174. @@ -101,7 +103,7 @@ The adjoined relative clause strategy means that verbs tend not to occur in noun Nevertheless, the adjoined relative clause strategy is an innovative feature of Ama that tends to place information about participants outside the noun phrase where they are mentioned. A similar distribution applies to the expression of number. Within the noun phrase, there are no number affixes, although there is a plural specifier *ŋɪ̄* or *ɡɪ̄* that can be used with rational nouns as seen in (6). Speakers consulted assess this specifier the same way as unmarked relative clauses within the noun phrase: acceptable, but not used much. However, Ama also has a post-verbal quantifier *ɡàɪ̀* that can be used when there is a plural participant in the clause, as shown in (7).[^14] -[^14]: Stevenson, *Grammar of the Nyimang Language,* p. 176, claims that “GAI gives the idea of completion, going on till an act is finished,” although all his examples involve a plural subject "they” His claim suggests that this quantifier may have a collective function, over all participants and/or over all the stages in the completion of the event. It can nevertheless appear in the same clause as distributive marking *-ɪ́d̪,* as in an example shown in Norton, “Number in Ama verbs,” p. 83, *wùd̪ēŋ bā dɔ̄rɛ̄ŋ t̪ɛ̀l-ɪ́d̪-ɛ̄ ɡàɪ̀* "the child saw each of the children [until she had seen them all].” +[^14]: Stevenson, *Grammar of the Nyimang Language,* p. 176, claims that “GAI gives the idea of completion, going on till an act is finished,” although all his examples involve a plural subject "they.” His claim suggests that this quantifier may have a collective function, over all participants and/or over all the stages in the completion of the event. It can nevertheless appear in the same clause as distributive marking *-ɪ́d̪,* as in an example shown in Norton, “Number in Ama verbs,” p. 83, *wùd̪ēŋ bā dɔ̄rɛ̄ŋ t̪ɛ̀l-ɪ́d̪-ɛ̄ ɡàɪ̀* "the child saw each of the children [until she had seen them all].” {{< gloss "(6)" >}} {r} Plural noun phrase specifier (elicited) @@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ Nevertheless, the adjoined relative clause strategy is an innovative feature of We will return to this tendency to express relative clauses and number late in the clause after considering other evidence from verb stems. -# Ama Verb Stems +# Ama Verb Stems {#3} Stevenson discovered the existence of two stems of each Ama verb.[^15] The forms of the two stems are not fully predictable from each other in general, and their usage depends on aspect. @@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ Stevenson discovered the existence of two stems of each Ama verb.[^15] The forms ## The Factative–Progressive Distinction -The aspectual functions of the two stems were described by Stevenson as definite and indefinite aspect, and relabeled as perfective and imperfective by more recent authors. However, the usage of the former stem meets the definition of “factative,”[^16] such that it has a past perfective reading when used for an active verb like “eat,” but a present continuous reading when used for a stative verb like “know.” The other stem has a present progressive reading, which is marginal for stative verbs where the meaning contribution of progressive to an already continuous verb is highly marked.[^17] The factative–progressive analysis is helpful when we consider the history of these stems below. +The aspectual functions of the two stems were described by Stevenson as definite and indefinite aspect, and relabeled as perfective and imperfective by more recent authors. However, the usage of the former stem meets the definition of “factative,”[^16] such that it has a past perfective reading when used for an active verb like “eat,” but a present continuous reading when used for a stative verb like “know.” The other stem has a present progressive reading, which is marginal for stative verbs (as indicated by "?") where the meaning contribution of progressive to an already continuous verb is highly marked.[^17] The factative–progressive analysis is helpful when we consider the history of these stems below. [^16]: Welmers, *African Language Structures,* pp. 346, 348. [^17]: Compare Mufwene, “Stativity and the Progressive,” where it is argued that progressive is a stativizing category in a number of European and Bantu languages, although progressive verb forms typically have a more transient interpretation, and lexical statives a more permanent interpretation. @@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ A longer list of examples of this alternation shown in **Table 8** was documente T and K are well-known markers of singular and plural in Nilo-Saharan languages,[^21] but in Ama and Afitti where there is no T/K morphology on the noun, essentially the same alternation (*\*t* becomes dental in the Nyima branch)[^22] is found on the verb. It also cuts into the characteristic CVC verb root shape, implying that it is an innovation on the verb. I therefore propose that this class of verbs attests the Nyima cognate of the wider Nilo-Saharan T/K alternation. This entails a chain of events in which the T/K alternation first moved from the noun (singular/plural) to the verb (singulactional/pluractional), and then shifted in meaning from verbal number to verbal aspect (factative/progressive). -[^21]: Greenberg, *The Languages of Africa,* pp. 115, 132; Bryan, “The T/K Languages"; Gilley, “Katcha Noun Morphology,” §2.5, §3, §4. +[^21]: Greenberg, *The Languages of Africa,* pp. 115, 132; Bryan, “The T/K Languages"; Gilley, “Katcha Noun Morphology,” §2.5, §3, §4; ![Blench, this issue](article:blench.md). [^22]: Rilly, *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique,* p. 299. Both steps in this proposed chain are indeed plausible cross-linguistically. As to the first step, the possibility of nominal plural markers being extended to verbal pluractionals is familiar from Chadic languages, where the same formal strategies such as first-syllable reduplication or *a*-infixation may be found in plural nouns and pluractional verbs.[^23] In the Nyima languages, the productive innovation at this step appears to have been the extension of singulative T to a verbal singulactional marker. This is seen in the fact that *t̪-* alternates with other consonants as well as *k* in Ama (*t̪ān-ɛ̄/wɛ̄n* “talk,” *t̪ɛ̀l-ɛ̄/wɛ̄ɛ́n* “see,” *t̪àl/tām* “eat”), or is prefixed in front of the root (*t̪ʊ́-wár-ɔ̄/wār* “want,” *t̪ī-ŋīl-ē/ŋɪ̄l* “laugh,” *t̪ì-fìl-è/fɪ̄l* “dance,” *t̪ū-mūs-ò/mús-èɡ* “run,” *t̪ʊ̄-máɪ́/máɪ́* “know,” *t̪-īlm-ò/ɪ́lɪ́m* “milk”). There is also external evidence from Nubian and Nara cited in **Table 6** above that *\*k* is the original initial consonant in *\*kal* “eat” replaced by *t̪-* in Ama and Afitti. @@ -230,7 +232,7 @@ Both steps in this proposed chain are indeed plausible cross-linguistically. As As to the second step, the prospect of verbal number shifting to verbal aspect is supported by semantic affinity between pluractional and progressive. Progressive aspect often entails that a process that is iterated ("is coughing," "is milking") over the interval concerned.[^24] In Leggbo,[^25] a Niger-Congo language, the progressive form can have a pluractional reading in some verbs, and conversely, verbs that fail to form the regular progressive *C# → CC-i* because they already end in *CCi* can use the pluractional suffix *-azi* instead to express progressive aspect. In Spanish,[^26] a Romance language, there is a periphrastic paradigm between progressive (*estar* “be” + gerund), frequentative pluractional (*andar* “walk” + gerund), and incremental pluractional (*ir* “go” + gerund). The two Spanish pluractionals have been called “pseudo-progressives,” but conversely one could think of progressive aspect as pseudo-pluractional. What is somewhat surprising in Ama is that progressive stems, being morphologically more basic (see **Table 5**), lack any devoted progressive affixes that would have formerly served as pluractional markers.[^27] However, some progressive marking is found in irregular alternations that reveal former pluractional stems. -[^24]: Newman, “Pluractional Verbs” notes a separate affinity between pluractional and habitual aspect found in Niger-Congo and Chadic languages. Smits, *A Grammar of Lumun,* §13, identifies habitual pluractionals in a Niger-Congo language of the Nuba Mountains. +[^24]: Newman, “Pluractional Verbs” notes a separate affinity between pluractional and habitual aspect found in Niger-Congo and Chadic languages. Smits, *A Grammar of Lumun, Vol. 2,* §13, identifies habitual pluractionals in a Niger-Congo language of the Nuba Mountains. [^25]: Hyman & Udoh, “Progressive Formation in Leggbo.” [^26]: Laca, “Progressives, Pluractionals and the Domains of Aspect.” [^27]: See, however, §4.2 below which purports to recover the missing extension. @@ -238,7 +240,7 @@ As to the second step, the prospect of verbal number shifting to verbal aspect i 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-. +[^29]: Ibid; Old Nubian also attests the lateral in a hapax form ⲕⲁⲗ-. 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. @@ -293,7 +295,7 @@ A role for concreteness in grammar was previously proposed in the Pirahã langu {r} “The people are many.” (“There are many people.”) {{< /gloss >}} -# Ama Verbal affixes +# Ama Verbal affixes {#4} 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. @@ -380,7 +382,7 @@ Ama has extensions that fall within the family of pluractionals that associate p 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*. +[^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]({sc})) "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. @@ -398,9 +400,9 @@ Distributive pluractionals are characterized by optionality with a plural partic | 1 | gloss | 2 | gloss | 3 | gloss | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | -| ɡə́-ɡaɲal | I milk | é-ɡaɲal | you [sg]({sc} milk | kaɲál | he/she milks | -| kó-ɡaɲal | we (du.) milk | ó-ɡaɲál | you [du]({sc} milk | ɡaɲál-i | they [du]({sc} milk | -| kó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | we (pl.) milk | ó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | you [pl]({sc} milk | ɡaɲá-tər-i | they [pl]({sc} milk | +| ɡə́-ɡaɲal | I milk | é-ɡaɲal | you [sg]({sc}) milk | kaɲál | he/she milks | +| kó-ɡaɲal | we (du.) milk | ó-ɡaɲál | you [du]({sc}) milk | ɡaɲál-i | they [du]({sc}) milk | +| kó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | we (pl.) milk | ó-ɡaɲa-tr̀ | you [pl]({sc}) milk | ɡaɲá-tər-i | they [pl]({sc}) milk | **~~Table 13. Afitti pluractional *-t(ə)r* not used with dual subjects~~** @@ -414,14 +416,14 @@ The confirmation of distributive markers across Nubian, Nyima, and Temein implie [^50]: ![Jakobi, this issue](article:jakobi.md). 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 +### Second Historic Pluractional 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](article:jakobi.md). [^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. +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]({sc})”),[^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. @@ -454,7 +456,7 @@ The trill thus fuses with certain vowels that behave like theme vowels for creat ### 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. +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]({sc})” 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]: Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs,” §3. [^59]: Stevenson, Rottland & Jakobi, “The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik,” p. 28. @@ -462,7 +464,7 @@ A late addition to Ama’s pluractional portfolio is its unique dual suffix *-ɛ [^61]: Ibid., p. 120. [^62]: Norton, “Number in Ama Verbs,” pp. 84, 87. -# Conclusion: Ama as a Matured North Eastern Sudanic Language +# Conclusion: Ama as a Matured North Eastern Sudanic Language {#5} 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. @@ -476,7 +478,7 @@ Ama nominals, similarly, are known for their relatively rich case systems, but s The conclusion that Ama verbs (and post-verbal syntax) have matured as a result of Nyima’s isolated position, away from the river systems that hosted speakers of other languages in the Sudan region in the past, faces the possible difficulty that contacts have in fact been proposed between Nyima and other Nuba Mountain groups. Thus, it is proposed that the Niger-Congo Nuba Mountain group Heiban borrowed accusative marking and basic vocabulary from Nyima.[^65] Such contact would have put a brake on maturation in Nyima, because the use of proto-Nyima for inter-group communication between first-language Nyima users and second-language Heiban users would not have supported further growth in complexity.[^66] However, it is not realistic that such contacts lasted for a large proportion of Nyima history, but rather were fairly temporary periods punctuating Nyima’s longer isolation. Thus, the Heiban group has now developed separately in the eastern Nuba Mountains for something approaching two millennia (given the internal diversity of the ten Heiban languages found there) since its contact with Nyima. [^65]: Norton, “Classifying the Non-Eastern-Sudanic Nuba Mountain Languages.” -[^66]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. 175, notes the similarity of Ama’s nominal plural *ŋi* to a similar plural clitic *ŋi* [sic] in Heiban, which here might be interpreted as a pidginization effect in which the universally well-motivated category of nominal plurality was renewed in Nyima during inter-group communication after the earlier loss of number affixes. However, Stevenson is unusually in error in this passage as the Heiban form is actually *-ŋa* as he himself documented (ibid, p. 28). Subsequent lowering to a in Heiban cannot be ruled out (he notes Heiban’s relative Talodi has *ɛ* here), but it is also quite possible that *ŋi* was sourced internally, as the high front vowel is also the common element in the plural pronouns *ə̀ŋí/ɲí/ə̀ní* 1pl/2pl/3pl). +[^66]: Stevenson, “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structure of the Nuba Mountain Languages,” 41: p. 175, notes the similarity of Ama’s nominal plural *ŋi* to a similar plural clitic *ŋi* [sic] in Heiban, which here might be interpreted as a pidginization effect in which the universally well-motivated category of nominal plurality was renewed in Nyima during inter-group communication after the earlier loss of number affixes. However, Stevenson is unusually in error in this passage as the Heiban form is actually *-ŋa* as he himself documented (ibid, p. 28). Subsequent lowering to a in Heiban cannot be ruled out (he notes Heiban’s relative Talodi has *ɛ* here), but it is also quite possible that *ŋi* was sourced internally, as the high front vowel is also the common element in the plural pronouns *ə̀ŋí/ɲí/ə̀ní* [1pl/2pl/3pl]({sc})). Some time after the contact with Heiban, Rottland and Jakobi note the likelihood of contact of Kordofan Nubian with Ama and Afitti in the north-west Nuba Mountains before the arrival of Arabic as a *lingua franca* in the Nuba Mountains.[^67] Ama and Afitti are more lexically divergent than Kordofan Nubian and therefore were probably already separate communities when the Kordofan Nubians arrived. However, the innovation of dual marking on Ama verbs in the period after separation from Afitti still shows the hallmarks of maturation. It adds an extremely rare category, increases the occurrence of morphologically complex verbs by using a verbal marker in dual participant contexts that were not previously marked, and adds redundancy when agreeing with noun phrases containing two referents. This mature feature of Ama again suggests that any language contact with Kordofan Nubian occurred for only part of the time since Ama separated from Afitti. @@ -521,78 +523,78 @@ This period nevertheless also reveals one significant example of simplification # Bibliography -Abdel-Hafiz, Ahmed. *A Reference Grammar of Kunuz Nubian.* PhD Thesis. Buffalo: State University of New York, 1988. +Abdel-Hafiz, Ahmed. ![*A Reference Grammar of Kunuz Nubian.*](bib:ad02c9ac-0882-49db-880e-ed52beb6a0aa) PhD Thesis. Buffalo: State University of New York, 1988. -Bryan, Margaret A. “The T/K languages: A New Substratum.” *Africa* 29 (1959): pp. 1–21. +Bryan, Margaret A. ![“The T/K languages: A New Substratum.”](bib:16560c89-8752-499a-880b-439171c31936) *Africa* 29 (1959): pp. 1–21. -Comfort, Jade. “Verbal Number in the Uncu Language (Kordofan Nubian).” *Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies* 1 (2014): pp. 145–163. +Comfort, Jade. ![“Verbal Number in the Uncu Language (Kordofan Nubian).”](bib:47ef508d-dcd4-4edb-a5e7-0d8ed83d4d86) *Dotawo: A Journal of Nubian Studies* 1 (2014): pp. 145–163. -Corbett, Greville. *Number.* Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. +Corbett, Greville. ![*Number.*](bib:e55ce3fa-75cd-431c-b32f-76f020d74421) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. -Dahl, Östen. *The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity.* Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004. +Dahl, Östen. ![*The Growth and Maintenance of Linguistic Complexity.*](bib:fa85ce3a-26ea-4eef-b83c-c064741d96b0) Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2004. -Dimmendaal, Gerrit. “Africa’s Verb-Final Languages.” In *A Linguistic Geography of Africa,* edited by Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008: pp. 272–308. +Dimmendaal, Gerrit. ![“Africa’s Verb-Final Languages.”](bib:c0ae4f6f-5acf-40d6-86cf-a409df0b71c0) In *A Linguistic Geography of Africa,* edited by Bernd Heine and Derek Nurse. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008: pp. 272–308. -Dimmendaal, Gerrit. “Introduction.” In *Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African Languages,* edited by Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2009: pp. 1–22. +Dimmendaal, Gerrit. ![“Introduction.”](bib:8d06150a-e825-4f0a-bcd5-4dd73b374d0e) In *Coding Participant Marking: Construction Types in Twelve African Languages,* edited by Gerrit J. Dimmendaal. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2009: pp. 1–22. -Everett, Daniel. “Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã: Another Look at the Design Features of Human Language.” *Current Anthropology* 46, no. 4 (2005): pp. 621–646. +Everett, Daniel. ![“Cultural Constraints on Grammar and Cognition in Pirahã: Another Look at the Design Features of Human Language.”](bib:d2683616-fe5d-4e39-82ce-c90afac291c8) *Current Anthropology* 46, no. 4 (2005): pp. 621–646. -Everett, Daniel. “Pirahã Culture and Grammar: A Response to Some Criticisms.” *Language* 85, no. 2 (2009): pp. 405–442. +Everett, Daniel. ![“Pirahã Culture and Grammar: A Response to Some Criticisms.”](bib:be2fe6d9-0d3f-4bf8-8c33-febab6e158bd) *Language* 85, no. 2 (2009): pp. 405–442. -Frajzyngier, Zygmunt. “The Plural in Chadic.” In *Papers in Chadic Linguistics,* edited by Paul Newman & Roxana Ma Newman. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1977: pp. 37–56. +Frajzyngier, Zygmunt. ![“The Plural in Chadic.”](bib:1af2150f-9e58-43de-b67d-3b3e11eccbf1) In *Papers in Chadic Linguistics,* edited by Paul Newman & Roxana Ma Newman. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1977: pp. 37–56. -Gilley, Leoma. “Katcha Noun Morphology.” In *Nuba Mountain Language Studies,* edited by Thilo Schadeberg and Roger Blench. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2013: pp. 501-522. +Gilley, Leoma. ![“Katcha Noun Morphology.”](bib:e31ac0b3-4fec-4bdc-89a8-d75c16c8ce96) In *Nuba Mountain Language Studies,* edited by Thilo Schadeberg and Roger Blench. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2013: pp. 501-522. -Greenberg, Joseph. *The Languages of Africa.* Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963. +Greenberg, Joseph. [*The Languages of Africa.*](bib:df1c2298-341c-4367-a9cf-37452f7e3068) Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1963. Heine, Bernd & Rainer Voßen. “Sprachtypologie.” In *Die Sprachen Afrikas,* edited by Bernd Heine, Thilo Schadeberg, and Ekkehard Wolff. Hamburg: Helmut Buske, 1981: pp. 407–444. -Hyman, Larry, and Imelda Udoh. “Progressive Formation in Leggbo.” In *Globalization and the Study of Languages in Africa,* edited by Ozo-mekuri Ndimele. Port Harcourt: Grand Orbit Communications and Emhai Press, 2005: pp. 297-304. +Hyman, Larry & Imelda Udoh. ![“Progressive Formation in Leggbo.”](bib:7e75d6d0-9dca-45f6-8b18-bf90435447ae) In *Globalization and the Study of Languages in Africa,* edited by Ozo-mekuri Ndimele. Port Harcourt: Grand Orbit Communications and Emhai Press, 2005: pp. 297-304. Jakobi, Angelika. *Kordofan Nubian: A Synchronic and Diachronic Study.* Unpublished manuscript, 2013. -Kröger, Oliver. “Typology Put to Practical Use: A Participatory Approach to Initial Grammar Research.” In *Proceedings of the 6th World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne 17-21 August 2009,* edited by Matthias Brenzinger and Anne-Marie Fehn. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2012: pp. 155–168. +Kröger, Oliver. ![“Typology Put to Practical Use: A Participatory Approach to Initial Grammar Research.”](bib:59d14e2a-d67c-47b2-a685-0abd714c217b) In *Proceedings of the 6th World Congress of African Linguistics, Cologne 17-21 August 2009,* edited by Matthias Brenzinger & Anne-Marie Fehn. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2012: pp. 155–168. -Laca, Brenda. “Progressives, Pluractionals and the Domains of Aspect.” In *Domaines, Journées d’Études linguistiques.* Nantes: Université de Nantes, 2004: pp. 87-92. +Laca, Brenda. ![“Progressives, Pluractionals and the Domains of Aspect.”](bib:53ad1b83-8641-4257-b6dc-f5fba10b4ed7) In *Domaines, Journées d’Études linguistiques.* Nantes: Université de Nantes, 2004: pp. 87–92. -Mufwene, Salikoko S. *Stativity and the Progressive.* Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1984. +Mufwene, Salikoko S. ![*Stativity and the Progressive.*](bib:6f7190ef-4900-4d62-b053-7cd686a11b49) Bloomington: Indiana University Linguistics Club, 1984. -Nevins, Andrew, David Pesetsky & Cilene Rodrigues. “Pirahã Exceptionality: A Reassessment.” *Language* 85, no. 2 (2009): pp. 355–404. +Nevins, Andrew, David Pesetsky & Cilene Rodrigues. ![“Pirahã Exceptionality: A Reassessment.”](bib:a7981395-75e4-4b88-accd-f4c831e7a722) *Language* 85, no. 2 (2009): pp. 355–404. -Newman, Paul. “Pluractional Verbs: An Overview.” In *Verbal Plurality and Distributivity,* edited by Patricia Cabredo Hofherr and Brenda Laca. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012: pp. 185–209. +Newman, Paul. ![“Pluractional Verbs: An Overview.”](bib:3c0968aa-be51-42ba-8614-cb90a585075e) In *Verbal Plurality and Distributivity,* edited by Patricia Cabredo Hofherr and Brenda Laca. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012: pp. 185–209. -Norton, Russell. “Classifying the Non-Eastern-Sudanic Nuba Mountain Languages: Evidence from Pronoun Categories and Lexicostatistics.” In *Nuba Mountain Language Studies: New Insights,* edited by Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Birgit Hellwig and Gerrit Dimmendaal. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2019: pp. 417–446. +Norton, Russell. ![“Classifying the Non-Eastern-Sudanic Nuba Mountain Languages: Evidence from Pronoun Categories and Lexicostatistics.”](bib:17985725-27ae-41e1-b124-b0bf84df06c0) In *Nuba Mountain Language Studies: New Insights,* edited by Gertrud Schneider-Blum, Birgit Hellwig and Gerrit Dimmendaal. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2019: pp. 417–446. -Norton, Russell. “Number in Ama Verbs.” *Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages* 10 (2012): 75-94. +Norton, Russell. ![“Number in Ama Verbs.”](bib:1892def2-7fbf-46ac-88ad-8dbb288c7e5a) *Occasional Papers in the Study of Sudanese Languages* 10 (2012): 75-94. -Norton, Russell. “The Ama Dual Suffix: An Internal Reconstruction.” In *Nilo-Saharan: Models and Descriptions,* edited by Angelika Mietzner & Anne Storch. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2015: pp. 113–122. +Norton, Russell. ![“The Ama Dual Suffix: An Internal Reconstruction.”](bib:fdf23efe-67f6-4e7b-9dfc-caa2a281a38c) In *Nilo-Saharan: Models and Descriptions,* edited by Angelika Mietzner & Anne Storch. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2015: pp. 113–122. -Rilly, Claude. *Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique.* Louvain: Peeters, 2010. +Rilly, Claude. ![*Le méroïtique et sa famille linguistique.*](bib:2ca95718-79e8-40cd-939a-5dd0e3bbd07e) Louvain: Peeters, 2010. -Rottland, Franz, and Angelika Jakobi. “Loan Word Evidence from the Nuba Mountains: Kordofan Nubian and the Nyimang Group.” *Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere,* Sondernummer (1991): pp. 249–269. +Rottland, Franz & Angelika Jakobi. ![“Loan Word Evidence from the Nuba Mountains: Kordofan Nubian and the Nyimang Group.”](bib:a1bae62f-a503-409c-b07d-1d2240ba0b05) *Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere,* Sondernummer (1991): pp. 249–269. -Smits, Heleen. *A Grammar of Lumun: A Kordofanian Language of Sudan.* 2 vols. Utrecht: LOT, 2017. +Smits, Heleen. ![*A Grammar of Lumun: A Kordofanian Language of Sudan, Vol. 2*](bib:11283ee4-f4b1-42bc-8d99-cea67650843a) Utrecht: LOT, 2017. -Stevenson, Roland C. “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structures of the Nuba Mountain Languages, with Particular Reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang.” *Afrika und Übersee* 40 (1956): pp. 73-84, 93-115. +Stevenson, Roland C. ![“A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structures of the Nuba Mountain Languages, with Particular Reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang.”](bib:b8411bbc-e923-4876-bc7e-cbe3773812ed) *Afrika und Übersee* 40 (1956): pp. 73–84, 93–115. -Stevenson, Roland C. “A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structures of the Nuba Mountain Languages, with Particular Reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang.” *Afrika und Übersee* 41 (1957): pp. 27-65, 117-152, 171-196. +Stevenson, Roland C. ![“A Survey of the Phonetics and Grammatical Structures of the Nuba Mountain Languages, with Particular Reference to Otoro, Katcha and Nyimang.”](bib:859327ba-fe96-4c70-ae84-d441abadb867) *Afrika und Übersee* 41 (1957): pp. 27–65, 117–152, 171–196. -Stevenson, Roland. *Grammar of the Nyimang Language (Nuba Mountains).* Unpublished typescript, 1938. +Stevenson, Roland. ![*Grammar of the Nyimang Language (Nuba Mountains).*](bib:5d589571-e485-4ed7-8c2e-01b2091c0349) Unpublished typescript, 1938. -Stevenson, Roland, Franz Rottland & Angelika Jakobi. “The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik.” *Afrikanistiche Arbeitspapiere* 32 (1992): pp. 5–64. +Stevenson, Roland, Franz Rottland & Angelika Jakobi. ![“The Verb in Nyimang and Dinik.”](bib:976903a7-940f-4513-913f-aa8c060cfed1) *Afrikanistiche Arbeitspapiere* 32 (1992): pp. 5–64. -Stirtz, Timothy. *A Grammar of Gaahmg: A Nilo-Saharan Language of Sudan.* Utrecht: LOT, 2011. +Stirtz, Timothy. ![*A Grammar of Gaahmg: A Nilo-Saharan Language of Sudan.*](bib:723db61e-8c66-4df7-8683-d4cdfa4598df) Utrecht: LOT, 2011. Trudgill, Peter. *Sociolinguistic Typology: Social Determinants of Linguistic Complexity.* Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. -Voogt, Alex de. “A Sketch of Afitti Phonology.” *Studies in African Linguistics* 38, no. 1 (2009): pp. 35–52. +Voogt, Alex de. ![“A Sketch of Afitti Phonology.”](bib:7896653d-dbab-4dff-ae35-cc503c963e48) *Studies in African Linguistics* 38, no. 1 (2009): pp. 35–52. -Voogt, Alex de. “Dual Marking and Kinship Terms in Afitti.” *Studies in Language* 35, no. 4 (2011): pp. 898–911. +Voogt, Alex de. ![“Dual Marking and Kinship Terms in Afitti.”](bib:1b02f408-997f-4a0b-adf3-37d6fbc6c96d) *Studies in Language* 35, no. 4 (2011): pp. 898–911. -Waag, Christine. *The Fur Verb and Its Context.* Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2010. +Waag, Christine. ![*The Fur Verb and Its Context.*](bib:7ca3b062-3d4f-4553-85a1-79bc9927ba05) Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe, 2010. -Welmers, William. *African Language Structures.* Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. +Welmers, William. ![*African Language Structures.*](bib:ed6a1277-74e2-4f9e-8fd3-bfe86e635606) Berkeley: University of California Press, 1973. -Werner, Roland. *Tìdn-áal: A Study of Midob (Darfur Nubian).* Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1993. +Werner, Roland. ![*Tìdn-áal: A Study of Midob (Darfur Nubian).*](bib:56735ece-24da-4960-9101-ba484f7e57f7) Berlin: Dietrich Reimer, 1993. -Wolff, Ekkehard. “Patterns in Chadic (and Afroasiatic?) Verb Base Formations.” In *Papers in Chadic Linguistics,* edited by Paul Newman & Roxana Ma Newman. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1977: pp. 199–233. +Wolff, Ekkehard. ![“Patterns in Chadic (and Afroasiatic?) Verb Base Formations.”](bib:2f6fb9b6-658f-4292-b19b-06deebb73fc3) In *Papers in Chadic Linguistics,* edited by Paul Newman & Roxana Ma Newman. Leiden: Afrika-Studiecentrum, 1977: pp. 199–233. diff --git a/content/author/russelnorton.md b/content/author/russelnorton.md index c758ecf..716ad28 100644 --- a/content/author/russelnorton.md +++ b/content/author/russelnorton.md @@ -1,5 +1,5 @@ --- -title: Russel Norton +title: Russell Norton --- # Biography