African Language Structures AFRICAN LANGUAGE STRUCTURES Wm. E. Welmers UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS Berkeley . Los Angeles . London i L goog, University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England ISBN: 0-520-02210-6 Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 70-186108 Copyright © 1973 by the regents of the university of California PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA to Bee Preface It is the purpose of this work to survey a variety of structural phenomena which appear commonly in African languages, or in languages of one family or group in Africa, but which are not necessarily typical of human language in the broad¬ est sense. No effort is made to isolate linguistic “universals” at a high level of abstraction, nor to investigate the validity of theories of linguistic universals which have been proposed. At the other extreme, it is considered trivial merely to list, for one or another group of languages, certain superficial characteristics of pho¬ nology or grammar irrespective of their significance for the total linguistic sys¬ tem, for procedures in linguistic analysis, or for comparison with other languages. Between the levels of an abstract theory of human language and the trivia of isolated details, however, there are many phenomena which have repeatedly presented problems of analysis to a large number of students of African lan¬ guages. Inadequately trained investigators have frequently failed to note, or have simply ignored, significant areas of linguistic data. Just as frequently, an un¬ sophisticated analysis has at least partially distorted the picture of a linguistic system. It is hoped that this study of some types of widespread structural phe¬ nomena will contribute to more adequate, more thorough, and more consistent analyses of African languages. A major source of the data on which this work is based is the author’s own research and experience, or research with which he has been directly associated, covering a span of thirty years. Much of this research is represented in publi¬ cations, but some of it is reflected only in rough field notes, and still more of it in hitherto unrecorded memories. Studies contributing to this work have ranged from a few hours to several years per language, with native speakers of perhaps seventy to eighty languages. Substantial experience can be claimed in the case of only about twenty languages, but in many other instances even a very brief exposure has provided significant data for the study of language structures. Languages of the Niger-Congo family account for most of the data, but some Nilo-Saharan and Afro-Asiatic languages are also represented. The foregoing paragraphs are by no means intended to imply that earlier scholars made no useful contributions to the study of African languages. On the contrary, the utmost respect is due to pioneer analysts such as J. G. Christaller, Diedrich Westermann, Ida C. Ward, R. C. Abraham, and many others. How¬ ever, it has been the author’s privilege to have the opportunity to work inde¬ pendently with most of the languages investigated by these and some other scholars, and to verify or in some cases to modify their conclusions for himself. Thus, for most of the data cited, the same ears have done the hearing, and the same principles of analysis have been applied. vix Preface VIII In relatively recent years, particularly within the last decade, there has been an enormous increase in the number of scholars with excellent training in descrip¬ tive linguistics working on African languages. For languages with which the author has had little or no direct experience, their publications or personal com¬ munications have provided a second important and valuable source of data. At the same time, no apology is offered for relying as much as possible on analyses that could be personally verified. It is not the purpose of this work to survey the vast literature on African languages, which ranges in quality from clearly or apparently excellent to virtually useless. The purpose is rather to present sam¬ ples of phonologic and grammatical systems in such a way that others can recog¬ nize or look for similar or significantly different systems in other languages. Substantial amounts of data are cited from a relatively few languages, some well known and others little known; smaller amounts of data, down to isolated details, are cited from scores of other languages. In some cases, general statements are made for groups of languages such as Bantu or Mande; available literature in many such cases will verify what is here illustrated by data from only a few lan¬ guages in such groups. Most of the content of this work has been the subject matter of a graduate- level course taught annually for some fifteen years. Some knowledge of linguis¬ tics on the part of the user is naturally assumed; however, the material is presented in such a way that the relative beginner as well as the advanced student can profit from it, in classroom instruction or privately in connection with the study of a particular language. In addition to presenting many of the kinds of struc¬ tures that the analyst is likely to meet, some suggestions and warnings are includ¬ ed relevant to field procedures. Personal references in connection with work on a number of languages are included only to explain the unavoidable limitations of the data. Otherwise, the sometimes informal and even anecdotal style is intended primarily as a reminder that, in spite of the recognized technicalities of linguis¬ tic analysis, we are still dealing with real languages spoken and understood in the work and play, the joys and sorrows, of daily life. No effort has been made to present all of the material with a single theo¬ retical linguistic outlook. The author’s first training was, naturally, in taxonomic linguistics. Developments anticipating many aspects of more recent theories, however, date back to very early work, and are reflected at many points. Some recent work illustrates the application of contemporary theories more explicitly. Fortunately, this variety in approach has never seemed confusing to students. It would be impossible to acknowledge individually all of my colleagues, students, language informants, and friends who have helped to make this work possible by their advice, their criticism, and especially their encouragement and inspiration. In worldly prestige, they range from distinguished university profes¬ sors to barefooted children; the relative value of each one’s contribution cannot be assessed in terms of any social or educational scale. I hope they will forgive me for not listing their many names. I could not forgive myself, however, if I did not express my unique indebtedness to my wife Beatrice. She has followed Preface ix me into the most improbable adventures, listened patiently to my efforts to for¬ mulate structural statements concerning whatever linguistic data I happened to be working on, become a respectable practical linguist in her own right, success¬ fully accomplished research and teaching tasks for which I had opportunity but no time, learned a substantial amount of at least eight African languages, proven herself an inspired language teacher, been an equal collaborator in major publica¬ tions, and through it all remained a relaxed and gracious companion and hostess, and my most loyal fan. In 1853, Sigusmund Wilhelm Ivoelle closed the Preface of his great Polyglotta Africana with the following words, which I would like to make mine on this oc¬ casion: “May the following feeble endeavor in behalf of Africa be found useful; and may that land of the natural sun soon be equally distinguished as the land over which the Sun of Righteousness shineth !” Los Angeles, October, 1971 Win. E. Welmers