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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The clitic nature of person-gender-number markers in Naro
Authors:Kari, EthelbertISNI
Mogara, Budzani
Year:2016
Periodical:Language Matters: Studies in the Languages of Africa (ISSN 1753-5395)
Volume:47
Issue:1
Pages:128-148
Language:English
Geographic term:Botswana
Subjects:Naro language
grammar
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2015.1120767
Abstract:This article discusses the phonosyntactic behaviour of person-gender-number (PGN). The discussion is restricted to PGN markers referring to first person singular masculine/ feminine, third person singular masculine and third person singular feminine. Reference is not made to PGN markers referring to second person, whether masculine or feminine, because unlike the PGN markers under consideration, those referring to second person do not have forms without a vocalic element that will necessitate their attachment to an adjacent leftward element to form a prosodic unit with that element. PGN markers have full and reduced forms, and that full forms of PGN markers are used when the noun in sentence-initial position is the logical subject of the sentence while reduced forms are used when the noun or an element in sentence-initial position is not the logical subject of the sentence. Furthermore, the article notes that reduced forms of PGN markers cannot exist independently but attach as enclitics to a variety of morphosyntactic categories and form a prosodic unit with them, and that such behaviour is not consistent with the behaviour of genuine morphological affixes. On the basis of the phonosyntactic behaviour of reduced forms of PGN markers, the article concludes that these intriguing, prosodically-deficient, hermaphroditic elements are clitics in Naro. App., bibliogr., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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