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metatony in Eton

Phonology/Syntax Interface in Bantu (and other) languages : Metatony , Focus and Dislocation Paris, June 28-29 Mark Van de Velde C.N.R.S. - LLACAN. metatony in Eton. 1. Introduction.

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metatony in Eton

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  1. Phonology/Syntax Interface in Bantu (and other) languages : Metatony, Focus and Dislocation Paris, June 28-29 Mark Van de Velde C.N.R.S. - LLACAN metatony in Eton

  2. 1. Introduction At least two things have been called metatony in Bantu studies: a high tone on constituents that follow infinitives and a final high tone on non-final verb forms. These are distinct phenomena in Eton that should not be confounded elsewhere. Several functions have been ascribed to metatony, including signalling object status and signalling focus. These claims are typically not supported by evidence. At least for Eton, they are unjustified.

  3. 1. Introduction Term coined by Meeussen (1967:111)? “The final element [of the infinitive] has to be set up as –a (low) or –á… (with metatony: high if an object follows, low otherwise).”

  4. 1. Introduction (Nurse 2008: 48) “A second [notable tone phenomenon] is metatony, whereby in certain TA forms a high tone replaces a low or falling tone on post-radical syllables (e.g. of extensions) as well as on a following non-accented low syllable, if and only if the verb is not phrase-final, that is, followed by other material such as object or adverbial.”

  5. 1. Introduction (Nurse 2008) “[Metatony] is often described as just a tonal process, but it is striking that it has certain characteristics linking it to focus: it seems to affect certain (mostly affirmative) tenses in the language (e.g. Guarisma 2003: 320–7), and it marks a contrast between verb focus and post-verbal focus. This suggests it has a syntactic-semantic function, an opinion shared by Schadeberg (1995: 176; also Dimmendaal 1995: 32; de Blois 1970: 107).”

  6. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.1. A floating high tone “word” A floating high tone between an infinitive and a following nominal element within the same sentence. In some cases (that I can only list) link tone also shows up with a non-nominal element. For link tone to appear, there need not be a syntactic relation between the infinitive and the following element. This floating high tone attaches to the right and behaves tonologically as a separate word, i.e. it behaves as other high tones that need to cross a word boundary before attaching to the right, and it does not behave as a tonal suffix, which would attach to the left.

  7. Link tone (≈metatony) Hadermann (2005: 406) “Certaineslangues, qui construisentleurinfinitifdansuneclasseautreque la classe 15, appliquent le phénomène de la métatonie à la fois à leurformeinfinitivale, à la fois au sein de la conjugaisonlorsque la formeverbaleestsuivie d’un complément. C’est entre autres le cas des langues du groupe A70 (infinitif en á- < classe 16), (…) fang A75; OndoMebiame 1992) ábàgə̀lě mi̍nə́ná (ábàgə̀lè ‘garder’) garderune femme” But note: The locative preposition marks the citation form of infinitives. The infinitive marker itself is a floating low tone prefix.

  8. Link tone (≈metatony) Infinitives (strictlyspeaking) occur after auxiliaries and quasi-auxiliaries, e.g. in the Present tense (auxiliary Ltə́) and the Future tense (auxiliary èèy).

  9. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2. Contexts 2.2.1. Before nominals Link tone always appears when an infinitive is followed by a nominal element, if they belong to the same larger domain (larger than the clause, the sentence?). (2) àté kùlbíkòb bí tíd |à-Ltɛ́ L-kùlH bì-kòb bí=tíd| i-pr inf-clean lt 8-skin viii.con=[9]animal ‘He cleans the skins.’

  10. Link tone (≈metatony) (3) mə̀tə́ yì lə́ꜜvúꜜvwágɔ́ |mə̀-Ltɛ́ L-jì Hlə̀-vúL∼vɔ́g-á| 1sg-prinf-wantlt v-red∼one-sf [Talking about cocoyams (cl.5/6).] ‘I want a single one.’

  11. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”? (4) mə̀ywàgmə́ꜜtə́ ꜜɲúŋbàníꜜsín |mə̀-jɔ̀gmə́-Ltɛ́ L-ɲúŋ-bànHì-sín| 6-wine vi-pr inf-drink-pas lt 7-cold ‘Wine is consumed cold.’

  12. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”? (5) àté kùlvè bìkòb |à-Ltɛ́ L-kùlvɛ̀ bì-kòb| i-pr inf-clean only 8-skin ‘He cleans only the skins.’

  13. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”? (6) ùdù úꜜté jàbábwǐ |ù-dù ú-Ltɛ́ L-ʤàbH à-bùí| 3-udu.tree iii-pr inf-be.big lt 3-very ‘The udu tree is very big.’ (7) àbù bôdúsɔ́ |à-bùí H=b-òdú-H-sɔ́| 3-many iii.con=2-person iii-pst-come ‘Many/several persons came.’

  14. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”? (8) àté kwàgdɔ́ dúŋně swàlbɔ̀ |à-Ltɛ́ L-kɔ̀gdà HL-dúŋnə̀ HL-sɔ̀lbà| i-pr inf-do.wellltinf-do.againltinf-hide ‘He really hides himself again.’

  15. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”? (9) mèté bɛ̀lnì èèykwàb |mə̀-Ltɛ́ L-bɛ̀lnì èːj kɔ̀b| 1sg-pr inf-use with [9]hook ‘I use a hook.’

  16. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun? Hadermann (2005) « la métatonie met en évidence le lien verbe-complément et plus particulièrement le lien infinitif de classe 15-complément. C’est le caractère ambigu, à la fois nominal et verbal, de l’infinitif qui nécessite un processus de marquage spécifique lorsqu’il entre dans une construction avec complément. » « Il serait certes intéressant d’étudier le rapport syntaxique entre le verbe à ton haut métatonique et le syntagme suivant, … »

  17. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun? (10) və́ íbôrbə́ꜜtə́ sòmlə́kɔ̌ŋ |vɛ́-Hí-b-òdbə́-Ltɛ́ L-sòmHlə̀-kɔ̌ŋ| give-imp au-2-person ii-pr inf-hunt lt 5-lance ‘Give a lance to those who hunt.’

  18. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun? A similar example from Ewondo: (11) váɦá é-b-ôd b-éèykwànHmə́ꜜndím give.imp au-2-person ii-futinf.be.sicklt 6-water [What will be my task?] ‘Give water to those who will be sick.’

  19. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.4. Does metatony mark focus? (12) [What will she buy at the market?] [What will she do at the market?] [Will she buy manioc at the market? No, ] [Will you buy cocoyams at the market? No, ] èèykùsmə́bàŋà |à-èèjL-kùsHmə̀-bàŋà| i-futinf-buy lt 6-cocoyam ‘She will buy cocoyams.’

  20. Link tone (≈metatony) (13) màáꜜtə́ dìŋɛ́bàŋà |mə̀-àá-Ltɛ́ L-dìŋH ɛ̀-bàŋà| 1sg-neg-pr inf-like lt 5-cocoyam ‘I don’t like cocoyam (macabo).’

  21. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.5. Is it a trace of the augment? (14) màáꜜtə́ ꜜjɜ́míꜜlúná |mə̀-àá-Ltɛ́ L-ʤɛ̀mHìlúná| 1sg-neg-pr inf-know ltEloundou ‘I don’t know Eloundou.’

  22. Link tone (≈metatony) 2.2.6. Cases in which LT appears before elements that are not (clearly) nominal (15) mə̀tə́ kùzzâŋmál |mə̀-Ltɛ́ L-kùzHzàŋ͡mál| 1sg-pr inf-buy lt seven [At the market, pointing at any product.] ‘I buy seven.’

  23. Link tone (≈metatony) (16) ɛ̀lɛ́n ɛ́ꜜté jò bêb èèyndá |ɛ̀-lɛ́n ɛ́-Ltɛ́ L-ʤò Hbə̀bə̀ èèjndá| 5-palm.treev-pr inf-grow lt close with [9]house ‘The palm treegrows close to the house.’

  24. Link tone (≈metatony) àná ‘today’, link tone with some speakers (17) a. àté sòb àná |à-Ltɛ́ L-sòbàná| i-pr inf-return today ‘He returns today.’ b. àté sòb áꜜná |à-Ltɛ́ L-sòbHàná| i-pr inf-return lt today ‘He returns today.’

  25. Link tone (≈metatony) Absence of link tone in front of prepositions (not a homogeneous category) cf. (9) (18) ùté còg ànə́ ꜜntáŋní |ù-Ltɛ́ L-ʧògànə́ ǹ-táŋní| 2sg-pr inf-think like 3-European ‘You think like a European.’

  26. Link tone (≈metatony) Absence of link tone in front of verb forms (19) a. èèysòb àdǐ ꜜɲúŋní |à-èèjL-sòb à-dìá ɲ̀-ɲúŋ-ní| i-fut inf-return i-being 3-drunkard ‘He will come back drunk. (lit. beingdrunk)’ b. èèysòb ɲ́ꜜɲúŋní |à-èèjL-sòbH ɲ̀-ɲúŋ-ní| i-fut inf-return lt 3-drunkard ‘He will come back drunk’

  27. Link tone (≈metatony) Absence of link tone in front of a sentence boundary (?) (20) bété sílâ, màgà mə̀yɜ́blə̂ŋgànà |bə́-Ltɛ́ L-sílà màgà mə̀-jɛ́bl-ə̀ŋgànà| ii-pr inf-ask 1sg.cpr 1sg-answer-prt ‘They ask, I answer.’ (21) ùtə́ dùgà mə̀jwàg màánjí màn |ù-Ltɛ́ L-dùgà mə̀-ʤɔ̀gmə̀-àá-nʤí L-màn| 2sg-pr inf-lie 6-wine vi-neg-neginf-finish ‘You’re lying! The wine isn’t finished.’

  28. non-final verb forms 3.1. A floating high tone suffix A floating high tone suffix that is attached to Hesternal and Hodiernal Past Perfective verb forms, whenever these are not in sentence final position. The final form (without suffix) also appears in front of certain subordinate clauses. As with link tone, the syntactic link between the verb in non-final position and the following element, if any, is irrelevant. Following the general tone rules of Eton, the -H suffix attaches to the left and subsequently copies to the right. This high tone suffix never appears in utterance-final position.

  29. non-final verb forms (23) a. àkǒlúyábnêŋgàn |à-kǒl ú-H-jábn-ə̀ŋgànà| 3-foot iii-pst-hurt-g ‘The foot hurt.’ b. àkǒlúyábnéŋgán má |à-kǒl ú-H-jábn-ə̀ŋgànà-H mǎ| 3-foot iii-pst-hurt-g-nf 1sg.fppr ‘My foot hurt.’

  30. non-final verb forms 3.2. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H appears All contexts in which Link Tone appears, plus: 3.2.1. In front of prepositions (24) àkɛ́ngí á mákíd ‘He went to market.’ (25) àkpág éèypà ‘He did the groundworkwith a machete.’ (26) àkpágə́vwàz úꜜsó ‘He cleared the ground up till the river.’ (27) àcógánə́ ꜜntáŋní ‘He thoughtlike a European.’

  31. non-final verb forms 3.2. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H appears All contexts in which Link Tone appears, plus: 3.2.2. In front of subordinate verb forms: (27) àsób ájàgà jà ‘He returnedsinging a song.’ In front of certain subordinate clauses : (28) àbúmgán íyɔ̂ŋ mèɲíìnì ‘Shestartledwhen I came in.’

  32. non-final verb forms 3.3. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H does not appear 3.3.1. In front of certain subordinate clauses. (29) àwûlàtɔ̀ n áꜜbə́ kwàngì ‘He walked, althoughhewassick.’ (30) mùŋ ádûgàásɥínâ bə́wôg ùswán ‘The child lied, becausehewasashamed.’ 3.3.2. Across sentences (31) mə̀ɲíìnì ìsòm í múŋ ílígə́ ꜜválá ‘I came back. The kid stayedthere.’ (32) bə́dûgà mà mə̀kádbə́ꜜbɛ́lə́ ‘They lied. I told the truth.’

  33. 4. Discussion and conclusion Link Tone and non-final verb forms with -H suffix are clearly different phenomena in Eton: they are formally different and they appear in different contexts. We shouldn’t call both metatony. Link Tone corresponds best to Meeussen’s original use of the term metatony (Meeussen 1967:111), although it differs in its location. Neither has an obvious function (no object marking, no focus marking, not even signalling “a certain syntactic relation”). They are submorphemes, in that they have morphological form, but no meaning: “Yesterday’s morphology is today’s junk.”

  34. 4. Discussion and conclusion Hyman and Lionnet (2011) propose a typology of “metatony” that accommodates both phenomena we saw in Eton.

  35. 4. Discussion and conclusion Metatony, strictosensu, may be reconstructable: it might originate in a connective construction it may have been exapted in some languages Non-final verb forms are probably part of a much larger phenomenon of elements that have different shapes according to whether they are final in a given domain. disparate origins (cf. Abo) not necessarily involving high tone an example of such a phenomenon in Eton is the shape of 1st and 2nd person pronouns: low in non-final position, rising in final position

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