DEPENDENCY REVERSAL IN NORTHERN SUBSAHARAN AFRICA Mark Van

“DEPENDENCY REVERSAL” IN NORTHERN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA. Mark Van de Velde LLACAN - C. N. R. S. (Paris) UMR 8135 CNRS INa. LCO Centre André-Georges Haudricourt 7 rue Guy Môquet 94801 Villejuif Cedex - France http: //llacan. vjf. cnrs. fr/ llacan@vjf. cnrs. fr

1. INTRODUCTION (1) Basaa (Bantu; Hyman 2003) a. li -wa nda li =ki ŋɛ 5 -friend V. GEN=chief ‘the friend of the chief’ b. li -kɛ ŋgɛ li =m-u t 5 -clever V. GEN=1 -person ‘a clever person’ c. ma -kɛ ŋgɛ ma =ɓ-o t 6 -clever VI. GEN=2 -persons ‘clever people’

1. INTRODUCTION PLAC but not DRNA (2) Makwe (Benue-Congo, Bantu; Mozambique; Maud Devos 2008: 136) (3) Zaar (Afro-Asiatic, Chadic, West B 3; Nigeria; Bernard Caron 2005: 227) muú-nu w-á=ki-búúli 1 -person I-GEN=7 -silent ‘a silent person’ (literally: ‘person of silent’) la t kə mu ːri skin GEN new ‘a new skin’ (literally: ‘skin of new’)

1. INTRODUCTION Sometimes compared to: expressive binominal NPs (EBNPs) (Ad Foolen 2004) (4) 161) Shingazidja (Benue-Congo, Bantu; Grande Comore; a. trombe l-a=m-ndru [5]avorted_seed V-GEN=1 -person ‘a dead loss’ b. dji-ndru l-a=meza 5 -giant V-GEN=table ‘a huge table’ Michel Lafon 1997:

2. DRNA IN BENUE-CONGO LANGUAGES Eton (Bantu A 70; Cameroon; Mark Van de Velde 2008)

2. DRNA IN BENUE-CONGO LANGUAGES Eton (Bantu A 70; Cameroon; Mark Van de Velde 2008) (5) ɛ bèŋ ɛ lôŋ ɛ -bɛ ŋ ɛ =lòŋ 5 -beauty V. GEN=[5]hair ‘beautiful hair’ (6) i ŋgu ŋgwa l i mo d i -ŋgu ŋgwa l i =m-o d 7 -miserable VII. GEN=1 -person ‘a miserable person’

2. DRNA IN BENUE-CONGO LANGUAGES (7) a. i ve vɛ z m pe g i ꜜte ku i -və vɛ z H=ɴ -pɛ g 7 -light VII. GEN=3 -bag ‘The light bag falls. ’ b. me te ꜜyɛ n yɔ mə -Ltɛ L-jɛ n j-ɔ 1 SG-PR INF-see VII-PRO ‘I see it. ’ i -Ltɛ VII. PR L-ku INF-fall

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES 3. 1. Gbaya (CAR; Paulette Roulon-Doko 1987, 2008, p. c. )

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES 3. 1. Gbaya (CAR; Paulette Roulon-Doko 1987, 2008, p. c. ) (8) gba ʔa fɔ gba ʔa -H fɔ old-REL field ‘an old field (waste land)’ (9) ga sa tu a ga si -a (-H) be. big-ADJ-(REL) ‘a big house’ tu a house

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (10) ba fa nda e ba fa -H male-REL ‘a bull’ nda e cow (11) we e yi we e -H yi fire-REL water ‘hot water’

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (12) ga sa a ga si -a -H-a be. big-ADJ-REL-3 SG. POSS. INAN ‘the big one’ (lit. ‘its being big’)

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (9) ga sa tu a ga si -a (-H) be. big-ADJ-(REL) ‘a big house’ tu a house (13) ga si kɔ tu a bigness REL house ‘the bigness of the house’

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES 3. 2. Zande (DRCongo; Raymond Boyd 1987, ms. )

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES 3. 2. Zande (DRCongo; Raymond Boyd 1987, ms. ) (14) me me nya bone animal ‘The bone of an animal’ gbi a ꜜku mba GEN chief man ‘the chief’s man’ (15) ga

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (16) pa ra nga young ‘a boy’ ꜜku mba man

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (19) a. gba ngu a na a gu ru long tree with short ‘the long stick and the short stick’ b. gba ngu a na a gu ru long tree with short ‘the long stick and the short one’ ngu a tree he 3 SG. INAN. POSS

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES (20) a. fu a bo ro wa fu a a ngo te track person like track dog NEG ‘A person’s track is not like a dog’s track. ’ b. fu a bo ro wa ga a ngo te track person like GEN dog NEG ‘A person’s track is not like a dog’s. ’

3. DRNA IN UBANGIAN LANGUAGES “Deep” DRNA (21) a. gbi nza ku mba wa gbi nza de te old man like old woman NEG ‘An old man is not like an old woman. ’ b. gbi nza ku mba wa ga de te old man like GEN woman NEG ‘Old men and women are not the same. ’

4. DRNA IN CHADIC LANGUAGES Hausa (West Chadic; Nigeria)

4. DRNA IN CHADIC LANGUAGES (24) ka aka -an grandfather-LK. MS ‘the boy’s grandfather’ (25) ri iga a gown[FS] ‘white gown’ fa r-a a white-FS ya aro o boy[MS]

4. DRNA IN CHADIC LANGUAGES (26) a. fa r-a -r white-FS-LK. FS ‘white gown’ b. fa r-i-n white-MS-LK. MS ‘white cloth’ ri iga a gown[FS] za ne e cloth[MS]

5. DRNA IN SARA-BONGO-BAGIRMI LANGUAGES Bongo (Central Sudanic; Sudan; Pierre Nougayrol 2008)

5. DRNA IN SARA-BONGO-BAGIRMI LANGUAGES Bongo (Central Sudanic; Sudan; Pierre Nougayrol 2008) (27) fɨ r kʉ ɲa speech bad ‘bad words’ (28) ma -kʉ ɲa fɨ r DER-bad speech ‘bad words’ (29) fɨ r ka kʉ ɲ-a a speech with badness-of_it ‘bad words’

6. A TENTATIVE SCENARIO

6. A TENTATIVE SCENARIO

6. A TENTATIVE SCENARIO • The DRNA pattern originates in the Ubangian languages. • In Gbaya, for instance, the majority of qualifiers are relational nouns derived from verbs. DRNA constructions are structurally identical to Action Nominal Constructions. • This analysis does not (or rarely) work in non-Ubangian “DRNA languages” in the area. DRNA must have been borrowed from Ubangian in these languages.