Beyond aspect : the expression of discourse functions in African languages / edited by Doris L. Payne ; Shahar Shirtz, University of Oregon.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Payne, Doris L., 1952- editor.

Shirtz, Shahar, editor.

Series:

Typological studies in language ; 109.

Typological studies in language, 0167-7373 ; 109

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African languages--Discourse analysis.

African languages.

Discourse analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (329 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam ; Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Certain grammatical elements help hearers know how propositions are conceptually related: Does a given proposition advance the foregrounded event line, or not? Initiate versus continue an event chain? Indicate that one proposition belongs to a different "mental space" from the previous one? Provide background information? Studies in this volume show that African languages sometimes support, but often refute the idea that perfective aspect or past tense marks the narrative event line. Rather, languages may employ clause level constructions, conjunctions or connectives, tonal melodies on verbs or subjects, specialized auxiliaries, special verb forms and even dependent clause and imperfective aspect forms. Often, correlation of such grammatical elements with the event line is a subcase of a more general function. Analyses in this volume contribute to developing a typology of the expression of discourse functions, a field of research which has so far been minimally addressed from a typological perspective.

Contents:

Beyond Aspect

Editorial page

Title page

LCC data

Table of contents

Preface

Discourse structuring and typology

1. Discourse and discourse functions

1.1 Definitions and operationalizations

1.1.1 Foreground: Main event line, "important", "unexpected"

1.1.2 Degrees of foreground

1.2 Discourse functions as comparative concepts

1.3 Exploration of MEL as a comparative concept

1.3.1 Elaborating Hopper's 1979 typology

1.3.2 Revisiting Hopper's analysis of Swahili

1.4 Axes of variation in MEL as a typological domain

2. Expressing the MEL

2.1 Complexity in expressing foregrounding

2.2 Strategies for expressing events on the MEL

2.3 The interaction between aspect and (other) expressions of the MEL

3. Structuring of discourse

4. Conclusions, further questions

Abbreviations

References

Aspect and thematic clause combining in Maa (Nilotic)

1. Introduction

2. Theoretical preliminaries

2.1 Operationalizing narrative main event line

2.2 Tense and aspect categories

3. Narrative sequences versus the Maa n[HL]- prefix

4. "Past" and "Perfective" versus the Maa PF category

4.1 Evidence from elicitation: Not "past tense".

4.2 Evidence from text distribution: Not "past tense" and not "narrative main event line".

4.3 Entry into an anterior or backflash cognitive space, out of sequence with the narrative mel.

4.4 Anterior action with relevance to current discourse space

4.5 Pure anterior

4.6 Resultant state of anterior action with continuing effect up to "now"

4.7 Entry into a non-anterior "daughter" cognitive space of supporting relevance to a "parent" space

4.8 Presenting already-shared information in order to ground something in the current discourse space.

4.9 Entry into a "closure" or "assessment" cognitive space that summarizes an earlier cognitive space.

5. Typological and diachronic notes

6. Conclusions

Main event line structure and aspect in Sandawe narratives

2. Grammatical preliminaries

2.1 Basic clause structure

2.2 Clause combinations

2.3 Aspect

3. Structuring the narrative

3.1 Advancing the MEL

3.2 Outside the MEL

3.3 Perfective and imperfective aspect concepts in non-MEL information

3.4 Non-sequential events in non-MEL information

4. Conclusion

Appendix: Orthography

The Functions of Non-Final Verbs and Their Aspectual Categories in Northern Mao (Omotic) Narrative

2. An overview of relevant Northern Mao patterns

2.1 Northern Mao alignment: Word order, case marking, and bound pronominal marking

2.2 The Final verb category

2.3 A note on the Northern Mao sentence

3. Northern Mao's non-final verb types

3.1 Subject marking and non-final verbs

3.2 Tense-inheritance and non-final verbs

3.3 Aspect on non-final verbs

3.4 Event Sequence vs. overlap

4. The function of non-final verbs and their aspectual categories in narrative discourse

4.1 Non-final verb choice and the marking of main and non-main events.

4.1.1 Main event marking: Ss and ds non-final verbs

4.1.2 Non-main event marking: Ti non-final verbs

4.2 Progressive aspect and temporal overlap: Non-main events

4.3 Perfect aspect and highlighting sequence: Temporal sectioning of main events

5. Conclusions

Aspect-Mood and discourse in Kabyle (Berber) spoken narratives

1. Preliminaries

1.1 Foregrounding, backgrounding and aspect

1.2 Kabyle

1.2.1 Aspect-Mood

1.2.2 Word order

2. Folktale 'The seven daughters'.

2.1 Synopsis

2.2 Word order

2.3 Mood-aspect profile

2.3.1 Perfective

2.3.2 Imperfective

2.3.3 Preverbed Aorist

3. Personal recount: 'The traditional vs. contemporary life of women'

3.1 Discourse organization

3.2 Aspect-Mood profile

4. Discussion

The Roles of Dissociative and (Non-)Completive Morphology in Structuring Totela (Bantu) Narratives

1.1 Totela

1.2 Terminology and conventions

2. Dissociation and Completion in Totela

2.1 (Non-)Completion

2.1.1 Situation types

2.1.2 Completive ‑a-

2.1.3 Non-Completives

2.2 Dissociation

2.3 Summary of verb forms

3. (Non-)completion in Totela narrative

3.1 Completion in narrative

3.1.1 Completive marking as episodic boundary marking

3.1.2 Resumptive and other uses of Completive marking

3.1.3 Completion in Totela narrative: Summary

3.2 Non-completion in narrative

3.2.1 Non-completion and songs

4. Dissociation in narrative

4.1 Abstract and orientation

4.2 Coda

4.3 Dissociation in narrative: Summary

5. Conclusion

Rethinking narrative tenses based on data from Nalu (Atlantic) and Yeyi (Bantu)

2. Narrative tenses and related verb forms in African languages

3. Detachment and dimensionalization

4. An introduction to the relevant Yeyi verb forms

4.1 Structure of an inflected Yeyi verb

4.2 Prehodiernal Anterior (SCa - taa - Stem - a)

4.3 Prehodiernal Past (SCa - riku - Stem - a)

4.4 Consecutive Tense (SCa - kú - Stem - a)

5. The joint operation of taa-, kú- and riku- in discourse for relating prehodiernal past events

5.1 Presenting Yeyi discourse located in the prehodiernal past

5.2 The collaboration of taa-, kú-, and riku- in relating past events.

5.3 The collaboration of taa-, kú-, and riku- in terms of dimensionality and detachment

6. Hodiernality in Yeyi

7. An introduction to the relevant TAM forms in Nalu

7.1 Events in the present

7.2 Events in the past

7.2.1 Past event in current time region (anterior)

7.2.2 Past event in distal time region (recent past)

7.2.3 Past event in detached time region (past anterior)

7.3 The contextualizing forms

8. Joint operation of stage-setting and contextualizing forms in Nalu past narratives

8.1 Presenting discourse located in the past in Nalu

8.2 Detachment and dimensionality in regards to the Nalu past forms

9. A comparison of Yeyi and Nalu

9.1 Detachment in Yeyi and Nalu past narratives

9.2 Dimensionalization in Yeyi and Nalu past narratives

9.3 Contextualizing in Yeyi and Nalu past narratives

10. Conclusions

Narrative uses of the U̱t-Ma'in (Kainji) Bare Verb form

1.1 Fauconnier's mental space model and defining narrative

1.2 U̱t-Ma'in language classification and data sources

2. Overview of U̱t-Ma'in language structures

2.1 U̱t-Ma'in nominal morphology

2.2 U̱t-Ma'in basic clause structure and verbal constructions

2.2.1 Bare Verb clause construction

2.2.2 Morphological expressions of Past and Perfect

2.2.3 Auxiliary expressions of Progressive, Future and Deontic

2.3 Other relevant verbal constructions

2.3.1 Focus construction

2.3.2 Spatial Deixis constructions

2.3.3 Negative Existential construction

2.3.4 Future and Purpose construction

3. Space builders and interpreting the Bare Verb in narrative contexts

3.1 Past -g construction as a space builder

3.2 Perfect -t(ɛ) construction as a space builder

3.3 Time adverbials as space builders

3.4 Adverbial Clauses as space builders.

4. Designating times: A structural analysis of an U̱t-Ma'in text

5. Conclusions regarding meaning of the Bare Verb

The Factative and the Perfective-Inchoative in Cuurammã (Turka, Gur)

2 Factative systems

3. Factative and Perfective-Inchoative in conversation

3.1 Interaction with dynamic predication

3.2 Interaction with stative predication

4. Clause chaining constructions

5. The Factative and the Perfective-Inchoative in narrative discourse

6. Conclusion

Aspectual and storyline tension in Emai's (Edoid) narrative template

2. Aspect in Emai

2.1 Affirmative inflection

2.2 Negative inflection

2.3 Aspectualizer preverbs

2.4 Postverbal aspectual particles

2.5 Subjunctive inflection

2.6 Summary of Aspect Types

3. Aspect distribution in an Emai narrative sample

Topic Index

Language Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789027267870

9027267871