Language in Africa Volume 2, Number 2 (2021)

MINYANKA NOUN CLASS SYSTEM Abstract: This paper is a description of the noun class system of the Minyanka dialect (Senufo, Gur) spoken in the Penesso village (Segou region, southeastern Mali). It describes the noun class markers and the agreement classes of this dialect. A comparison with other Minyanka dialects already described displays that the dialect spoken in Penesso has undergone a reduction of its agreement classes. ________________________________________ ON THE ASPECTUAL SYSTEM OF WUSHI (BABESSI), A RING GRASSFIELDS BANTU LANGUAGE OF CAMEROON Abstract: One of the characteristics of Bantu languages, including Grassfields Bantu languages, is their multiple time distinctions. Within the Ring Grassfields group, multiple tenses are also well attested. For example, Aghem has three past and two future tenses (Anderson 1979), Babanki has four past tenses and three future tenses (Akumbu & Fogwe 2012), as well as Lamnso’ (Yuka 2012). Oku has three past tenses and two future tenses (Nforbi 1993) and Babungo has four past and two future tenses (Schaub 1985). These tenses represent different degrees of remoteness in time such as hesternal, immediate, distant, etc. However, in spite of the indisputable lexical unity of Ring Grassfields Bantu languages (Stallcup 1980; Piron 1997), Wushi strikingly stands apart: it does not mark tense morphologically. As a matter of fact, the aspectual system of Wushi is based on five aspects: perfective, imperfective, retrospective or anterior, potential, and the distal or dissociative marker kə that is analyzed in the light of Botne & Kershner (2008). This paper sets out to analyze these verb forms. ________________________________________ CONSTRUCTION SCHEMAS IN YORUBA COMPOUNDING: FOCUS ON PERSONAL NAMES Abstract: Compounding is a common word-formation process in Yoruba which is instantiated by different compound structures and types. However, in Yoruba personal names, compounds may exhibit significant formal and semantic properties that reflect certain constructional schemas in grammar. Hence, using the framework of construction morphology, this paper examines various schemas in Yoruba compound personal names and the internal features of these schemas. Based on data collected from personal interviews and native speaker intuition, I show that Yoruba personal names are constructions involving complex structural schemas which constitute a form-meaning pair where there are internal features that are not only semantic but syntactic and phonological. Furthermore, the paper reveals that several compound patterns may occur in Yoruba names including N-N, N-V, V-N, N-A and N-Av and that phonological processes in these schemas may be unique to the name constructions. ________________________________________ ÌLÀJE NAMES: AN APPRAISAL OF YORÙBÁ CULTURE Abstract: Naming is an intrinsic aspect of the Yorùbá culture. Beyond identification tags, it also serves as an anchorage to project culture, didactics and the destiny of a name-bearer, particularly in Ìlàje communities of Ondo State, Nigeria. Notwithstanding, critics of Yorùbá names have overlooked the deep historicity and culture preservation entrenched into Ìlàje names. This study, therefore, examines Ìlàje names based on their linguistic and religious significance to consolidate the need for culture retention among the Yorùbá. The study employs traditional criticism as a theoretical construct to analyze the primary data, which were indigenous names collected through oral interviews from indigenes of Ìlàje communities. The secondary data comprised books, journals, internet articles on names. Findings reveal that despite modern civilization and western religion, Ìlàje communities maintain indigenous names which bother on profound Yorùbá culture manifested in the names of their children and their ornate consequence within the broader spectrum of the Yorùbá culture. Ìlàje names were categorized based on association with prominent Yorùbá concepts like destiny, death, religion, metaphysics, morality, children, kinship, social relations and wealth. The study, though a contribution to existing knowledge on Yorùbá names, is a unique interdisciplinary blend of culture and linguistics of Ìlàje communities. A SKETCH OF NGEN PHONOLOGY Abstract: The paper provides a preliminary description of the phonology of Ngen, a South Mande language spoken in Ivory Coast. Ngen has a system of oral and nasal vowels. The consonant inventory is characterised by a complementary distribution between [b] and [m], [l] and [n], [y] and [ɲ]. There are 3 level tones. Tone melodies on disyllabic feet exhibit all possible combinations except LH. The majority of non-derived words have CV, CVCV, and CVŋ structures.