Cover not available
Part of
Paradigm Change: In the Transeurasian languages and beyond
Edited by Martine Robbeets and Walter Bisang
[Studies in Language Companion Series 161] 2014
► pp. 103–126

Chapter 5. Reconstructing the Niger-Congo Verb Extension Paradigm

What’s Cognate, Copied or Renewed?

 | University of California, Berkeley
You cannot reconstruct a language phylum unless you have good arguments about which language families it includes. The most striking case is Altaic, where one group of scholars produces thousands of reconstructed forms, and another denies that the major branches are even related. The most extreme case for Niger-Congo is Gerrit Dimmendaal’s 2011 book, which rejects numerous established branches and treats them as “independent”. (Blench 2012: 1)It is generally assumed that Proto-Niger-Congo (PNC) had a well-developed paradigm of verb-to-verb derivational suffixes known as verb extensions (Voeltz 1977; Hyman 2007). Specific language studies identify three types of extensions: valence increasing (e.g. causative, applicative, associative, instrumental), valence decreasing (e.g. reciprocal, reflexive, decausative, passive, stative) and valence neutral (e.g. intensive, attenuative, pluractional). Sometimes also implicated in the suffix system are inflectional suffixes marking aspect (e.g. (im)perfectivity)). Despite the assumption of such verb extensions at the PNC level, languages within the vast Niger-Congo family of ca. 1200 languages differ considerably: Some have very full paradigms of verb extensions, e.g. many Atlantic languages (Becher 2000) in the West and nearly all Bantu in the East (Meeussen 1967). Others have a limited subset of the above, only a few traces, or perhaps no verb extensions at all (e.g. much of Mande). This paper is concerned with strategies for determining whether the various reflexes of the causative, applicative etc are cognate, i.e. inherited from PNC, are copied directly or indirectly through external contact, or result from renewal via morphological cycles (Heath 1998). One problem is that head-marking and such verb extensions are found in all four of Greenberg’s (1963) original African macro-groups (Dimmendaal 2000: 187–188). Starting with Bantu and then moving out to other parts of Niger-Congo and bordering non-Niger-Congo, I address both the substantive and methodological issues involved in comparing phonetically and semantically similar verb suffixes and their linear ordering properties.
Published online: 8 October 2014
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.161.10hym
References (65)
References
Aikhenvald, Alexandra Y. 2011. Causatives which do not ‘cause’: On non-valency-increasing effects of valency-increasing derivations. In Language at Large: Essays on Syntax and Semantics, Alexandra Y. Aikhenvald & Bob Dixon (eds), 86–142. Leiden: Brill. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Akumbu, Pius Wuchu. 2008. Kejom (Babanki)-English Lexicon (Kay Williamson Educational Foundation). Bamenda.Google Scholar
Arnott, David Whithorn. 1970. The Nominal and Verbal Systems of Fula. London: OUP.Google Scholar
Becher, Jutta. 2000. Verbalextensionen in den Atlantischen Sprachen. Hamburger Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 1: 1–36.Google Scholar
Bender, Lionel M. 2000. Nilo-Saharan. In African Languages: An Introduction, Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds), 43–73. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Bila, Emmanuel Neba. 1986. A Semantic-Syntactic Study of the Bafut Verb. PhD dissertation, Post-Graduate Diploma, U. Yaounde.Google Scholar
Blench, Roger. 2011. Ngiemboon Verbal Extensions: A New Analysis. Cambridge: Kay Williamson Education Foundation.Google Scholar
. 2012. Niger-Congo: an alternative view. [URL]Google Scholar
Bomhard, Allan R. 2008. Reconstructing Proto-Nostratic: Comparative Phonology, Morphology and Vocabulary, 2 Vols. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Bostoen, Koen. 2008. Lexical reconstruction and early African history: Insights from Bantu crafts vocabulary and plant names. Powerpoint presentation. [URL]Google Scholar
Boyd, Raymond. 1995. De l’expression et de l’expressivité en morphologie: analyse comparée de la dérivation verbale en zande et en nzakala. Afrikanistische Arbeitspapiere 43: 5–36.Google Scholar
Campbell, Lyle. 1988. Review of Joseph H. Greenberg: Language in the Americas. Language 64: 591–615. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Canu, Gaston. 1976. La langue mò:rē. Paris: SELAF.Google Scholar
Cloirec-Heiss, France. 1986. Dynamique et équilibre d’une syntaxe: Le banda-linda de Centrafrique. Publié par Cambridge University Press et les Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme pour la SELAF.Google Scholar
Corbett, Greville G. 2011. Number of genders. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online, Matthew S. Dryer & Martin Haspelmath (eds), Chapter 30. Munich: Max Planck Digital Library. [URL] (9 February 2013).Google Scholar
Dimmendaal, Gerrit. 1981. On verbal derivation in Nilotic: the case of Turkana. In Nilo-Saharan: Proceedings of the First Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium , Leiden, Sept. 8–10, Thilo C. Schadeberg & M. Lionel Bender (eds). Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
. 2000. Morphology. In African Languages: An Introduction, Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds), 161–192. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. 2011. Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Doneux, Jean L. 1975. Hypothèses pour la comparative des langues atlantiques. Africana Linguistica 6: 41–129.Google Scholar
Eggert, Manfred K.H. 2005. The Bantu problem and African archeology. In African Archeology: A Critical Introduction[Blackwell Studies in Global Archaeology 3], Ann Brower Stahl (ed), 301–326. Malden MA: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Ehret, Christopher. 2001. A Historical-Comparative Reconstruction of Nilo-Saharan. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
. 2008. The internal and comparative reconstruction of verb extensions in early Chadic and Afroasiatic. In Interaction of Morphology and Syntax: Case studies in Afroasiatic [Typological Studies in Language 75], Zygmunt Frajzyngier & Erin Shay (eds), 41–59. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gerhardt, Ludwig. 1988. Note on verbal extensions in Jarawan Bantu. Journal of West African Languages 18: 3–8.Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1971. On the verbal origin of the Bantu verb suffixes. Studies in African Linguistics 2: 145–163.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Joseph H. 1963. The Languages of Africa. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Güldemann, Tom & Vossen, Rainer. 2000. Khoisan. In African Languages: An Introduction, Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds), 99–122. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Güldemann, Tom. 2011. Proto-Bantu and Proto-Niger-Congo: Macro-areal typology and linguistic reconstruction. In Geographical Typology and Linguistic Areas [Tokyo University of Foreign Studies 2], Osamu Hieda, Christa König & Hirosi Nakagawa (eds), 109–140. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hayward, Richard J. 2000. Afroasiatic. In African Languages: An Introduction, Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds), 74–98. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Heath, Jeffrey. 1998. Hermit crabs: Formal renewal of morphology by phonologically mediated affix substitution. Language 74: 728–759. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heath, Jeffrey et al. 2013. Dogon mediopassive and causative. [URL] (14 February 2013).Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Reh, Mechthild. 1984. Grammaticalization and Reanalysis in African Languages. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Nurse, Derek. 2000. African Languages: An Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, Carl. 1963. A Grammar of the Margi Language. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Hyman, Larry M. 2003. Suffix ordering in Bantu: A morphocentric approach. Yearbook of Morphology 2002: 245–281. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2007. Niger-Congo verb extensions: overview and discussion. In Selected Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, Doris L. Payn & Jaime Peña (eds), 149–163. Somerville MA: Cascadilla.Google Scholar
. 2011a. The Macro-Sudan belt and Niger-Congo reconstruction. Language Dynamics and Change 1: 1–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2011b. Bantoid verb extensions. Presented at Workshop on Bantu and its Closest Relatives, 4th International Conference on Bantu Languages, Berlin, April 6–9, 2011. To appear in volume on Bantoid.
Jisa, Harriet. 1977. Filecards of Babanki verbs.Google Scholar
Kanu, Sullay Mohamed. 2004. Verbal Morphology of Temne. MA Thesis, University of Tromsø.Google Scholar
Kiessling, Roland. 2004. Kausation, Wille und Wiederholung in der verbalen Derivation der westlichen Ring-Sprachen (Weh, Isu). In Sprache und Wissen in Afrika, Raimund Kastenholz & Anne Storch (eds), 159–181. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.Google Scholar
Kilian-Hatz, Christa. 2005. Verbal derivation in Khwe (Central Khoisan). Annual Publication in African Linguistics 2: 109–135.Google Scholar
Lord, Carol. 1993. Historical Change in Serial Verb Constructions [Typological Studies in Language 26]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mbah, Boniface Monday & Mbah, Evelyn Ezinwanne. 2012. Phonological features of verb compounds in Igbo. Journal of West African Languages 39: 99–114.Google Scholar
McGill, Stuart John. 2009. Gender and Person Agreement in Cicipu Discourse. PhD dissertation, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.Google Scholar
Meeussen, Achille E. 1967. Bantu grammatical reconstructions. Annales du Musée Royal de l’Afrique Centrale Tervuren 8: 80–121.Google Scholar
Mithun, MarianneThe reordering of morphemes. . 2000. In Reconstructing Grammar [Typological Studies in Language 43], Spike Gildea (ed.), 231–255. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ngum, Comfort Che. 2004. Verbal Extensions in Meta. Maîtrise in Linguistics, University of Yaounde.Google Scholar
Nichols, Johanna. 1986. Head marking and dependent marking. Language 62: 56–119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rose, Sharon. 2013. The morphological structure of the Moro verb. In Nuba Mountain Language Studies, Roger Blench & Thilo C. Schadeberg (eds), 83–104. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Schadeberg, Thilo. 1981. The classification of the Kadugli language group. In Nilo-Saharan, Thilo C. Schadeberg & M. Lionel Bender (eds), 291–305. Dordrecht: Foris.Google Scholar
Schadeberg, Thilo C. 1989. Kordofanian. In The Niger-Congo Language: A Classification and Description of Africa’s Largest Language Family, John Bendor-Samuel (ed.), 66–80. Lanham MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
. 2003. Derivation. In The Bantu languages, Derek Nurse & Gérard Philippson (eds), 71–89. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
. 2011. The unique nature of the Niger-Congo noun class system, and a comparison of event participant marking in Bantu and Ebang (Kordofanian). Paper presented at the Fourth International Conference on Bantu Languages, Berlin.
Schaub, Willi. 1985. Babungo. [Croom Helm Descriptive Grammars.] Beckenham: Croom Helm.
Schneider-Blum, Gertud. 2004. Verbal extensions in Alaaba. Annual Publication in African Linguistics 2: 47–66.Google Scholar
Segerer, Guillaume. 2002. La langue bijogo de Bubaque. Louvain: Peeters.Google Scholar
Stevenson, Roland C. 2009 [1942, 1943]. Tira and Otoro: Two Kordofanian Grammars by Roland C. Stevenson. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Tamanji, Pius & Gabriel, Mba.2003. A morphological study of verbal extension in Bafut. In Studies on Voice through Verbal Extensions in Nine Bantu languages spoken in Cameroon, Gabon, DRC and Rwanda, Franck Idiata & Gabriel Mba (eds), 15–38. Munich: LINCOM.Google Scholar
Thwing, Rhonda. 2006. Verb extensions in Vute. Ms, SIL.Google Scholar
Trithart, Lee. 1983. The Applied Suffix and Transitivity: A Historical Study in Bantu. PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Voeltz, Erhard. 1977. Proto-Niger-Congo Extensions. PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Vossen, Rainer. 1997. Die Khoe-Sprachen: ein Beitrag zur Erforschung der Sprachgeschichte Afrikas. Köln: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.Google Scholar
Williamson, Kay & Blench, Roger. 2000. Niger-Congo. In African Languages: An Introduction, Bernd Heine & Derek Nurse (eds), 11–42. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Wilson, William André Auquier. 1989. Atlantic. In The Niger-Congo Language: A Classification and Description of Africa’s Largest Language Family, John Bendor-Samuel (ed.), 81–104. Lanham MD: University Press of America.Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Dimmendaal, Gerrit J. & Anne Storch
2016. Niger-Congo. In Oxford Handbook Topics in Linguistics, DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 16 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.