A Grammar of MinaA Grammar of Mina is a reference grammar of a hitherto undescribed and endangered Central Chadic language. The book contains a description of the phonology, morphology, syntax, and all the functional domains encoded by this language. For each hypothesis regarding a form of linguistic expression and its function, ample evidence is given. The description of formal means and of the functions coded by these means is couched in terms accessible to all linguists regardless of their theoretical orientations. The outstanding characteristics of Mina include: vowel harmony; use of phonological means, including vowel deletion and vowel retention, to code phrasal boundaries; two tense and aspectual systems, each system carrying a different pragmatic function; a lexical category 'locative predicator' hitherto not observed in other languages; some tense, aspect, and mood markers that occur before the verb, and others that occur after the verb; the markers of interrogative and negative modality that occur in clause-final position; the conjunction used for a conjoined noun phrase in the subject function that differs from the conjunction used for a conjoined noun phrase in all other functions.In addition to the coding of argument structure, adjuncts, tense, aspect, and mood categories, Mina also codes the category point-of-view. The language has a clausal category 'comment clause' used in both simple and complex sentences, which overtly marks the speaker's comment on the proposition. The discourse structure has the principle of unity of place. If one of the participants in a described event changes scene, that is coded by a special syntactic construction in addition to any verb of movement that may be used. Because of these unusual linguistic characteristics, the Grammar of Mina will be of interest to a wide range of linguists. |
Contents
Phonology | 7 |
The vowel system | 17 |
Syllabification | 24 |
The structure of the noun phrase | 35 |
Possessive pronouns | 48 |
Attributive functions through the genitive marker | 54 |
Coordinating construction through the associative | 63 |
Coding of the exclusion of other participants | 69 |
Comment clause | 246 |
The endofevent marker in protasis clauses | 254 |
Conclusions | 260 |
Negation of the habitual | 267 |
Verbless clauses | 273 |
Plurality coding through reduplication | 282 |
Questions about the truth with presuppositions | 290 |
Reference system | 305 |
A nonproductive suffix ù | 75 |
Subject pronouns | 81 |
40 | 88 |
Pleonastic subjects | 91 |
Pronominal objects | 97 |
Argument structure of verbs of emotional states | 103 |
Coding reciprocity | 114 |
Point of view of the subject and speakers empathy | 121 |
Functions of coding means in locative predication | 127 |
Genitive construction in the locative phrase | 133 |
Prepositional form of pronouns | 141 |
Preposition ndòŋ bottom inside | 147 |
Adjuncts | 155 |
Adverbs yà and yám also | 160 |
Adverbs of manner | 166 |
Function of the goal orientation extension | 173 |
Tenses | 179 |
Independent past tense | 188 |
Dependent past tense | 194 |
Independent habitual | 200 |
Perfect | 211 |
The intentional aspect | 218 |
Inceptive aspect | 224 |
Imperative | 231 |
Polite orders | 237 |
Coding the mood of obligation through possessive constructions | 244 |
Full noun phrase as subject | 312 |
Use of pronouns in reference system | 315 |
The domain of known referent | 323 |
The remote previous mention marker nákáhà | 334 |
Entity anaphor and switch reference | 340 |
Focus constructions | 347 |
Conclusions | 355 |
Nonpropositional topics | 362 |
Introduction | 369 |
Sequential events coding through the auxiliary 373 nd go | 378 |
Objecttoobject raising | 397 |
Conclusions | 403 |
Introduction | 405 |
Conclusions | 417 |
Comparative constructions | 423 |
Relative clause | 429 |
Relativization of possessor | 435 |
Change of scene | 441 |
Conclusions | 451 |
The three men | 459 |
A frog and a buffalo | 491 |
501 | |
503 | |
507 | |