8.1 Additive connectives
The procedural meaning of additive connectives consists in inviting the hearer to treat the information of an utterance as an addition to other information.
The following five additives can be distinguished in Godié: •
n ɩ ‘ADD1’, normally translated into English as ‘and’ or ‘then’
• -yä ‘ADD2’ with its variants -ya and
ɩyä, all of which are translated as ‘and’ but may also be translated as ‘so that’
• s
ɩɩ ‘ADD3’, which is commonly translated as ‘also’ •
-mä ‘ADD4’, often translated as ‘but’, ‘however’, ‘now’ •
-mää ‘ADD5’, also translated as ‘but’, ‘however’, ‘now’ The general instruction for interpretation that is common to all additives can be formulated as
follows: •
Treat the information added in the clause after the additive connective as an addition to already established information.
The instruction for each of the different additive connectives specifies in which way exactly the information is to be added to the context. The five additive connectives are described in more detail
below.
8.1.1 The additive connective n
ɩ ‘ADD1’
The additive connective n ɩ is the most frequent connective in Godié. Information connected by way of
the additive n ɩ is to be seen as very closely related. That is certainly why among the five additive
connectives n ɩ is the one with the shortest scope inasmuch as it connects only the information of noun
phrases and clauses, not of larger discourse units such as sentences or paragraphs. The instruction for interpretation given by the additive n
ɩ can be formulated as follows: •
Consider the two pieces of information connected by n ɩ as very closely related.
The connective ‘ n ɩ is used for connecting event information, as in examples 146a and 146b, as
well as non-event information, as in 146c-e. The events can be successive, as in 146a, or simultaneous, as in 146b.
2
146 a.
ɔ -
mʋ nɩ
ɔ -zla ɔ
nagɔ -bhlo
gɔlʋ 3
S
go:
CP ADD
1 3
S
ask:
CP
3
S
friend one
canoe ‘… he went to ask lit. and he asked one of his friends for a canoe.’ [greve 57–58]
b. -
mɔɔ gwäda
wlu ɔ
- kʋ
‘nɩ ɔ
tu
LOC
kapok:
DEF
on_top 3
S BE
1
ADD
1 3
S
cry:
ICP
‘there he was sitting on top of the kapok tree crying lit. and he was crying.’ [sigo 193–194] c.
ɔmɔ -mä ɔ plöö-
ylä ŋwadi
3
S
:
TH ADD
4 3
S BE
2:
CP
now:
LOP
man ‘Now he, he was a man
2
The English translation in 147a by an infinitive construction shows the close relationship of the actions ‘go’ and ‘ask’. Likewise, in 147b the English translation of the second event as a participle signals its close connection to the
first event.
nɩ ɔ
-yi ylä
ŋie nä
ADD
1 3
S
know now:
LOP
swim
SP
1 and he knew how to swim …’ [kazo 26–27]
d. kuŋnʋkla
-a -
kʋ ylä
- mɔɔ nyibhlëa
ghost_old_woman:
DEF NH
1:
REL
B
E
1:
CP
now:
LOP LOC
river:
DEF
‘The old woman’s ghost that was there in the river mʋ nɩ
-a plöö-
ylä -
mɔɔ -zlëa
nä
OBL ADD
1
NH
1:
REL BE
2:
CP
now:
LOP LOC
:
GEN
spirit:
DEF SP
1 and that was its spirit lit. the spirit of there,
a yä
kazɔɔ kʋ bhlü
NH
1
XPER
raffia_washcloth:
DEF VPC
take it has taken the raffia washcloth.’ [kazo 29–31]
The close connection between two pieces of information as constrained by ‘ n ɩ may in addition be
expressed by parallel syntax, as in example 147. 147
ɔ -kä a
lɩ nɩ
ɔ -kä a
- gänʋnyʋä
3
S
have
PST
2 thing:
PL ADD
1 3
S
have
PST
2 slavery_people ‘He had riches and he had slaves.’ [filsprod 5–6]
If ‘ n ɩ is followed by a yi clause see §9.1.2, as in example 148, the actions referred to happened
in temporal sequence. 148
- Kɔkɔɔbhɛlʋ mʋʋ-
pio lä
nä
nɩ ʋ
yi Rooster
NH
3:
TH
:
REL
hurry
LOP SP
1
ADD
1
NH
3
XFUT
‘It was Rooster that hurried and he arrived Clikpëkʋ ŋë
nɩ
wa yiu dö
ylä Tripoko
arrive
ADD
1 3
P XFUT
:3
SO
news ask
at Tripoko, and they asked him the news.’ [kokoleko 19–21] This also applies to an action that follows upon reported speech material and is the confirmation or
execution of what was said in the speech, as in example 149. 149
nä -a gä
ye -yä
- lɔɔ -ɔ -yi
lä
SP
1 1
P XPOT
dance
ADD
2
DPF REL
know
LOP
‘We’ll dance, then, and the one who knows yesä
nä [kpazebhleku] -a
gɔ ni
[aao] dance:manner
SP
1
NUPT
1
P XPOT
:3
S
find okay how to dance, we are going to find him.
nɩ
- Kɔkɔɔbhɛlʋ
yi -jlëë
slo [kpazebhleku]
ADD
1 Rooster
XFUT
crowd:
OBL
meet
NUPT
And Rooster came out before the crowd,
nɩ
wa yi
- mɔɔ
plüü ŋʋ
ADD
1 3
P XFUT
LOC
drum:
PL
:
DEF
put and they started beating the drums there.’ [kokoleko 23–27]
The additive n ɩ may introduce direct speech in a reported conversation, with the implication that
the speaker doesn’t change but that the same speaker adds an utterance to his speech, as in example 150.
150 ɔ lä
-
ɛɛ ɔ lä nɩ
yua -wa
gäma bhlä
nä 3
S
said yes 3
S
said
ADD
1 child:
DEF
:
PL REL
:3
P
play:
ICP PST
1:
LOP SP
1 ‘He said, “Yes.” Then he added, “And the children who used to play together,
-naa -
lɔɔ -kʋ -
lɔɔ -a
2
S
:
GEN DPF
BE
1:
CP
there
Q
is yours there?”’ [sigo 356–357] The connective n
ɩ is also used in contexts where the material connected is semantically in contrast, as in examples 151a and 151b. Note, however, that the contrastive interpretation is not due to the
connective ‘ n ɩ but due to the semantic contrast between the two clauses.
151 a.
n luënöɔ
a kwiee
1
S
think:falsely:
APL
:3
S PST
2 death:
OBL
‘I thought he was dead
nɩ ɔɔ
- wʋ
lä kuu-
ADD
1 3
S
:
XNEG CNT
2
LOP
die:
CP
and he wasn’t lit. I thought him in death and he hadn’t died …’ [filsprod 267–268] b.
n ɔnɔ
-yä n
ɩ -n
ɔnɔ kuu-
DEMPR
live:
CP ADD
DEMPR
die:
CP
‘One lit. that one lived and one lit. that one was dead.’ [siamoi 26]
8.1.2 The additive connective -yä ‘ADD2’