A Grammar of HdiHdi is a hitherto undescribed language spoken in northern Cameroon. The language belongs to the Central Branch of Chadic. The aim of the book is to provide a fairly complete description of the grammar of this language. Consequently, the grammar describes the phonology, morphology and syntax of Hdi and the semantic and discourse functions coded in this language. Most clauses in Hdi are verb-initial, with the subject directly following the verb. The object is often marked by a preposition. What makes Hdi unusual is that the object-marking preposition is unique and does not function elsewhere as a locative preposition. Another interesting feature of Hdi is that there are two types of clauses, pragmatically independent and pragmatically dependent, and that the difference between these is coded by different tense and aspectual systems. In addition, there are two clausal orders for complex sentences: The order embedded clause-matrix clause codes one type of modality, while the order matrix clause-embedded clause codes another. The language also has a rich system of verbal extensions coding the semantic roles of arguments and adjuncts and the direction of movement. The grammar is of interest not only to linguists working in African, Chadic and Afroasiatic linguistics, but also to general linguists, since it describes phenomena rarely seen in other languages of the world. The grammar is described in terms accessible to linguists working within various theoretical frameworks. |
Contents
List of abbreviations | 1 |
Phonology | 9 |
Phonotactics of consonants | 16 |
Consonant devoicing | 25 |
Tone | 39 |
The structure of the noun phrase | 45 |
The order modifier head | 53 |
The collective | 59 |
Normative modality | 286 |
Emotive modality or warning | 292 |
The perfective aspect in pragmatically dependent clauses | 300 |
The dependent imperfective aspect | 311 |
The progressive aspect | 317 |
Conclusions | 325 |
Referentiality and the perfective | 328 |
Conclusions | 334 |
Coding the notion of belonging | 67 |
The comparative form of the modifying construction | 73 |
Coreference and disjoint reference | 76 |
Deixis and anaphora | 83 |
Specific and nonspecific child | 94 |
The underlying tone of the verb | 101 |
Suppletive plural | 107 |
The structure of polysyllabic verbs | 115 |
Verbal nouns | 116 |
Coding of the object | 130 |
Inherent properties of verbs and object coding | 147 |
Coding the addressee of verbs of saying | 153 |
Cognate objects | 161 |
Conclusions | 167 |
Introduction | 169 |
Point of view of goal | 176 |
Dative and benefactive argument coding | 182 |
Coreferentiality of arguments | 195 |
The inverse extension s | 204 |
The system of partitive extensions | 210 |
Conclusions | 215 |
Associative extension ndá | 221 |
The locative adjunct | 227 |
Adverbs of time | 235 |
The system of locative extensions | 241 |
Downward movement extension xà | 252 |
The allative extension dá | 258 |
The movement into extension m | 264 |
Modalities | 271 |
Conclusions | 341 |
Property concept predicates | 347 |
Clauseinitial deictic particles | 353 |
Negation | 379 |
Negation of possessive clauses | 386 |
Topicalization of the subject in equational clauses | 393 |
Topicalization of the adjunct | 396 |
Focus on the subject in verbless clauses | 402 |
Focus on and relativization of the object | 408 |
The topicalized adverb and focused object | 414 |
Negation focus and relativization | 424 |
Disjoined clauses | 431 |
Negative sequential clauses | 437 |
Discourse conjunctions | 438 |
The coding of the addressee | 444 |
The imperative mood in complements of verbs of saying | 451 |
Interrogative complements | 459 |
Nonpropositional addressees | 467 |
Coding indirect perception | 473 |
Different subjects | 479 |
Purpose clauses | 491 |
The negative conditional mood | 498 |
Texts | 505 |
ghùzá dùxwál Beer of Adulthood? | 512 |
Work for Squirrels Inlaws | 516 |
Conversation between two speakers | 531 |
547 | |
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Common terms and phrases
References to this book
Clusivity: Typology and Case Studies of Inclusive-exclusive Distinction Elena Filimonova Limited preview - 2005 |