Shilluk noun morphology and noun phrase morphosyntax Bert

Shilluk noun morphology and noun phrase morphosyntax Bert Remijsen Otto Gwado Ayoker University of Edinburgh 1

About of this talk MESSAGE • Overview of the morphology and syntax of Shilluk nouns. PARTS • Background on the sound system, esp. tone and length • The inflectional paradigm: forms and their functions • The syntax of the noun phrase 2

Background on Shilluk

Background on Shilluk • A West Nilotic language, within the Nilo-Saharan language family • Spoken in South Sudan • At least 200, 000 speakers South Sudan Figure. Map from Storch (2005), showing the West Nilotic languages 4

Background on Shilluk / sound system Consonants Plosives Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar p b t d c ɟ k g 5

Background on Shilluk / sound system Consonants Plosives Nasals Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar p b t d c ɟ k g m n n ɲ ŋ 6

Background on Shilluk / sound system Consonants Plosives Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar p b t d c ɟ k g l, r j Nasals m Other w n n ɲ ŋ 7

Background on Shilluk / sound system Consonants Plosives Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar p b t d c ɟ k g l, r j Nasals m Other w n n ɲ ŋ Vowels Front -ATR +ATR ɪ ɛ Closed Half-open Open i e Central Back -ATR +ATR ʊ ɔ a ʌ u o 8

Background on Shilluk / sound system Consonants Plosives Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar p b t d c ɟ k g l, r j Nasals m Other w n n ɲ ŋ Vowels Front -ATR +ATR ɪ ɛ Closed Half-open Open i e Central Back -ATR +ATR ʊ ɔ a ʌ u o 9

F 1 (z-transformed) Background on Shilluk / sound system + Advanced Tongue Root - Advanced Tongue Root F 2 (z-transformed) Figure. Means and distributions (ellipses cover 1 standard deviation) for first and second formants for Shilluk vowels. Data: 4 items for each of 10 vowels for 9 speakers.

Background on Shilluk / sound system • Most lexical stems consist of a single closed syllable with structure C(w/j)VC t ɔ ɔl dje k le eec-ɔ ‘rope’ ‘goat: P’ ‘tooth-S’ kwʌ n ʊ gi ik ‘porridge’ ‘buffalo’ • Rich in suprasegmentals: - 3 levels of vowel length 11

Background on Shilluk / sound system • Some minimal sets for vowel length. Short Long pa l ‘dodge: NOM’ t ɔ l ‘eat: NOM’ du p ‘mess. up: NOM’ pa al ‘surgery. knife’ Overlong pa aal ‘surgery. knife: PERT. P’ t ɔ ɔl t ɔ ɔɔl ‘rope’ ‘rope: PERT. P’ du uup ‘rodent: PERT. P’ du up ‘rodent’ 12

Vowel duration (ms) Background on Shilluk / sound system Figure. Means and standard deviation for vowel duration by Vowel length (V, VVV) 13

Background on Shilluk / sound system • Most lexical stems consist of a single closed syllable with structure C(w/j)VC t ɔ ɔl dje k le eec-ɔ ‘rope’ ‘goat: P’ ‘tooth-S’ kwʌ n ʊ gi ik ‘porridge’ ‘buffalo’ • Rich in suprasegmentals: - 3 levels of vowel length - 8 tonemes, including four falling contours (cf. Andersen 1999 on Päri) 14

Background on Shilluk / sound system Tone pattern Example Gloss Low a -lɛ ŋ a -lɛ ŋ Mid High Rise Mid to Low Fall High to Mid Fall Early High Fall (to Low) Late High Fall (to Low) PAST-take: 2 SG PAST-take: APPL PAST-drum: APPL. 2 SG PAST-take: APPL. 2 SG PAST-drum: APPL PAST-take/drum PAST-take: ITIVE 15

Background on Shilluk / sound system Tone pattern Example Gloss Low a -lɛ ŋ a -lɛ ŋ Mid High Rise Mid to Low Fall High to Mid Fall Early High Fall (to Low) Late High Fall (to Low) PAST-take: 2 SG PAST-take: APPL PAST-drum: APPL. 2 SG PAST-take: APPL. 2 SG PAST-drum: APPL PAST-take/drum PAST-take: ITIVE 16

Background on Shilluk / sound system “[T]here is no possible opposition between two HL or two LH contours where the two tones are synchronized differently within the syllable. ” [Hyman 1988: 51] “[I]t might be that in some languages pitch changes are timed relatively early in the syllable, and in other languages they are timed relatively late. Such control would only be phonetic, never phonological. ” [Odden 1995: 450] 17

Background on Shilluk / sound system • Evidence for contrastive alignment in contour tones is most compelling from a system with level tones as well: Figure. Schematic representations of four tone categories distinguished by tonal alignment. 18

Background on Shilluk / sound system Early High Fall Late High Fall

Background on Shilluk / sound system • Acoustic evidence for contrastive tonal alignment: Figure. Schematic representations of Figure. Means and standard four tone categories distinguished by deviations for tonal alignment in Shilluk (high turning point by Tone), tonal alignment. from Remijsen & Ayoker (2014). 20

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns 21

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns • Key characteristic: head-marking 22

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Example Base du up Example of base form: da a du up EXIST rodent ‘There is a rodent. ’ 23

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Example Base du up du uup Pertensive* Example of pertensive: da a du uup twɔ ɔŋ EXIST rodent: PERT Twong ‘There is the rodent of Twong. ’ Pertensive: morphological marking of the head (possessed) term of a possessive noun phrase (Dixon 2011). 24

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Example Base du up du uup Pertensive, sg. possr. Pertensive, pl. possr. Example of da a du uup twɔ ɔŋ pertensive, sg. EXIST rodent: PERT. S Twong ‘There is the rodent of Twong. ’ possr. Example of da a du uup mʌ ʌn pertensive, sg. EXIST rodent: PERT. P women ‘There is the rodent of the women. ’ possr. 25

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Suffixed Base du up du uup Pertensive, sg. possr. Pertensive, pl. possr. dɔ ɔɔr-ɔ 26

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Suffixed Base du up du uup Pertensive, sg. possr. Pertensive, pl. possr. dɔ ɔɔr-ɔ dɔ ɔr -ɪ dɔ ɔr-ɪ Example of da a dɔ ɔr -ɪ twɔ ɔŋ pertensive, sg. EXIST axe: PERT. S Twong ‘There is the axe of Twong. ’ possr. Example of da a dɔ ɔr-ɪ mʌ ʌn pertensive, sg. EXIST axe: PERT. P women ‘There is the axe of the women. ’ possr. 27

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Example Base du up du uum Construct state* Example of construct state: da a du uum dwɔ ɔŋ EXIST rodent: CS big. S ‘There is a big rodent. ’ Construct state: morphological marking on the head of a modified noun phrase (Creissels 2009). 28

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Suffixed Base du up du uum dɔ ɔɔr-ɔ dɔ ɔr -ɪ Construct state Example of construct state: da a dɔ ɔr -ɪ dwɔ ɔŋ EXIST axe: CS big. S ‘There is a big axe. ’ 29

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Example Base du up du uum Demonstrative Example of demonstrative: da a du uum EXIST rodent: DEM ‘There is this rodent. ’ 30

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Suffixed Base du up du uum Demonstrative Example of demonstrative: dɔ ɔɔr-ɔ dɔ ɔr-ɪ da a dɔ ɔr-ɪ EXIST axe-DEM ‘There is this axe. ’ 31

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Suffixed Base du up du uup dɔ ɔɔr-ɔ dɔ ɔr -ɪ dɔ ɔr-ɪ Pertensive, sg. possr. Pertensive, pl. possr. Construct state Demonstrative du uum 32

The inflectional paradigm of Shilluk nouns Inflection Suffixless Base du up du uup Possessed, sg. possr. Possessed, pl. possr. Construct state Demonstrative du uum High Fall to Mid Late Fall 33

The syntax of the noun phrase 34

The syntax of the noun phrase • Key characteristic: head-initial • Template (dimin) head (numeral) (other modifier) (demonstrative) 35

The syntax of the noun phrase / modification • Three syntactic structures are used with modifiers: (1 a) jʌ ʌ da a pu uk mɛ -dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle MDF. S-big ‘I have a big turtle. ’ (1 b) jʌ ʌ da a pu uuŋ a dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle REL big ‘I have the big turtle. ’ (1 c) jʌ ʌ da a pu uuŋ dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle big ‘I have the big turtle. ’ 36

The syntax of the noun phrase / modification • Three syntactic structures are used with modifiers: (1 a) jʌ ʌ da a pu uk mɛ -dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle MDF. S-big Indefinite ‘I have a big turtle. ’ (1 b) jʌ ʌ da a pu uuŋ a dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle REL big ‘I have the big turtle. ’ (1 c) jʌ ʌ Definite da a pu uuŋ dwɔ ɔŋ PREP: 1 S EXIST turtle big ‘I have the big turtle. ’ 37

The syntax of the noun phrase / modification • Example from narrative illustrating definiteness: (2 a) gi n-a nɪ ^ rɪ -gɔ ku m-ɛ kɪ ʊ gɔ t mɛ -lʊ ʊʊc thing. CS-DEM REFL-PRN cover-3 S PREP cloth MDF. S-black: CTG ‘That thing, it had covered itself with a black cloth. ’ (2 b) ŋa aan ^ a tɛ ɛk ʊ gɔ t -ɛ ʊ -lu ɲ-ɛ wʌ k person: CS RELstrong cloth PERT-3 S FUT-dress. PETAL-3 S away ‘The strong one, he will take of his (the man’s) coat. ’ 38

The syntax of the noun phrase / modification • The same structures are used when verbs are used as modifiers: (3) ^ wɔ a -pe ekɪ a bu ut-ɪ ɟa al-ɔ mɛ -go ook-ɔ ɔ ɔt-ja at PR 1 PEX PAST-settle ARG LOC-PERT. S man-S MDF. Swork: ATP. DUR house-tree ‘We stayed at the place of a man who worked in the hospital. ’ 39

The syntax of the noun phrase / an aside on adjectives • Shilluk adjectives have a contingent or stage-level form alongside the absolute base form – comparable to long-form vs. short-form adjectives in Russian (Roy 2013). (4) dɛ ɛŋ ra ac dɛ ɛŋ ra aac Deng bad ‘Deng is evil. ’ Deng bad: CTG ‘Deng is behaving badly. ’ ŋa aan-a nɪ pɛ ɛk ŋa aan-a nɪ pɛ ɛɛk person: CS-DEM heavy: CTG ‘That person is fat. ’ ‘That person is pregnant. ’ 40

The syntax of the noun phrase / numerals • Cardinals derived through affixation • They are nouns • They constitute heads in relation to following modifiers 41

The syntax of the noun phrase / numerals • Cardinals derived through affixation No. 1 2 3 4 5 Ordinal kjɛ l rjɛ w dʌ k ŋwɛ ɛn bi c Cardinal a -kjɛ l a -rjɛ w a -dʌ k a -ŋwɛ ɛn a -bi c No. 6 7 8 9 10 Ordinal bi ikjɛ l bi irjɛ w bi idʌ k bi iŋwɛ ɛn pjʌ ʌʌr Cardinal a-bi ikjɛ l a -bi irjɛ w a -bi idʌ k a -bi iŋwɛ ɛn pjʌ ʌʌr-ɔ 42

The syntax of the noun phrase / numerals • Numerals are nouns, as seen from their paradigms: Inflection rodent third fifth Base du up du uup dʌ k dʌ ʌʌk dʌ ʌʌŋ bi c bi iic bi iiɲ Pertensive, sg. possr. Pertensive, pl. possr. Construct state Demonstrative du uum 43

The syntax of the noun phrase / numerals • Numeral inflected for pertensive: (5) mɛ n ba a dʌ ʌʌk mɔ k-a a IDP. S NOMCOP third: PERT. P IDP. P-1 S: P ‘This is the third one of mine. ’ [e. g. pointing at a bag. ] 44

The syntax of the noun phrase / numerals • Numeral inflects for construct state: (6) jʌ ʌ da a gwo ook a -dʌ ʌʌŋ a tɛ ɛk OBL: PR 1 S EXIST dog. P CARD: P-third: CS REL strong ‘I have the set of three dogs that are strong. ’ • Note that the overall head of the noun phrase is in the base form. 45

The syntax of the noun phrase / the scope of agreement • Demonstratives are marked stem-internally or by a separate morpheme (7) gwo ooŋ -a n dog: CS: DEM ‘This dog. ’ dog: CS-DEM ‘That dog. ’ 46

The syntax of the noun phrase / the scope of agreement • The demonstrative modifies the nearest noun head it can modify: (8) gwo ook bɔ ɔn -ɪ dog: S. PERT craftsman-DEM 1 ‘The dog of this craftsman. ’ *‘This dog of the craftsman’ 47

The syntax of the noun phrase / the scope of agreement • It is the rightmost modifier within the noun phrase: (9) *gwo ooŋ bɔ ɔɔt -ɔ dog: S. PERT craftsman-S *‘This dog of the craftsman’ 48

The syntax of the noun phrase / the scope of agreement • Hypothesis: the demonstrative modifies the nearest noun head with which it can go: (10) gɛ cwɔ l-ɪ ga a ^ PR 3 P call-ITER PR 3 P-ARG leader. P all a jɪ ŋ ɲɪ ŋ-ɪ a ko ool be een d wʌ ʌŋ mɔ ɔɔ-gɛ n REL NOMCOP name. P-PERT. P status MDF. P: PERT. P-3 P ‘They were all called leaders, which was their title (lit. : which were their names of status). ’ 49

The syntax of the noun phrase / the scope of agreement • In the following example, the demonstrative inflection has scope over the whole noun phrase because it is a compound noun: (11) ɔ ɔt-ja at ɔ ɔt-ja aan house-plant ‘Hospital. ’ house-plant: CS: DEM ‘This hospital. ’ 50

Conclusion • Shilluk nouns present morphological paradigms in which suprasegmentals play an important role. • The typologically unusual features of the sound system have developed from the morphology (cf. Blevins 2004) • The morphology of noun phrases is characterised by head-marking, with both separate inflections for pertensive and construct state. • Noun phrases are head-initial, and attributes modify the nearest possible head. 51

References Blevins, J. (2004). Evolutionary Phonology – The Emergence of Sound Patterns. Cambridge University Press Creissels, D. (2009). Construct forms of nouns in African languages. In Peter Austin et al. (eds. ) Proceedings of Conference on Language Documentation and Linguistic Theory 2. SOAS. Dixon, R. M. W. (2011). Basic Linguistic Theory – Volume 2: Grammatical Topics. OUP. Hyman (1988). Syllable structure constraints on tonal contours. Linguistique Africaine 1, 49 -60. Odden (1995). Tone: African languages. In John A. Goldsmith (ed. ) The Handbook of Phonological Theory. Blackwell, 444 -475. Remijsen, Ayoker & Mills (2011). Shilluk. Journal of the International Phonetic Assocation 41, 131 -145. Remijsen, B. & O. G. Ayoker (2014) Contrastive tonal alignment in Shilluk. Phonology 31, 435 -462. Remijsen, B. O. G. Ayoker, & S. Jørgensen (ms. ). Three-level vowel length in Shilluk. Submitted to Journal of Phonetics. Roy, I. A. (2013). Nonverbal Predication: Copular Sentences at the Syntax-Semantics Interface. Oxford University Press. Storch, A. (2005). The Noun Morphology of Western Nilotic. Nilo-Saharan vol. 21. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag. 52