par Guitang, Guillaume
Référence Biennial international conference on the Chadic languages (11: 11-12 November 2022: Vienna)
Publication Non publié, s.d.
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : All Northern Masa languages (Chadic < Afroasiatic), viz. Gizey, Masana, Ham, Musey, and Marba have an intransitive predicate denoting existence. In some languages, the “existential” predicate shows gender-number contrast. For example, in Ham, the gender-number paradigm includes the forms má ‘exist.SM’, tá ‘exist.SF’, and ná ‘exist.PL’ (Melis 2006a). Other languages like Gizey, Musey, and Marba use the form ká ‘exist’ (Melis 2006a) which does not show any gender-number contrast. Generally, the languages under study negate verbal predications with a constructions involving the “existential”, which occurs before the verbal predicate, and a clause final negation particle. Languages like Masana have developed a negative existential predicate used in negative constructions. The Masana negative existential predicate also shows gender-number contrast: máj ‘exist.NEG.SM’, táj ‘exist.NEG.SF’ and sáj ‘exist.NEG.PL’ (Melis 2006a; Melis 1999; Melis 2006b). In Gizey, the negative existential marker, máj, does not manifest gender-number contrast.In this talk, I argue that the original existential paradigm in Northern Masa is má ‘exist.SM’, tá ‘exist.SF’, and ná/sá ‘exist.PL’ and that the form ká, which is attested across Chadic, is a contact-induced innovation. I then show that two scenarios emerged with the introduction of ká. First, in some languages (e.g., in the Haara variety of Masana), ká was attributed specific functions (locational predication), while the original paradigm was maintained (Melis 2006a). Second, in other languages (e.g., Musey), ká supplanted the original paradigm. I argue that gender neutralization, an internal change pattern observable in other subsystems, lies at the heart of the paradigm changes observed in the forms of the existential predicate.

Documents en relation