nynä kä n
kää- lä
göglä nä
SP
2
ASF
1
S XPOT
:2
SO LOP
prepare
SP
1 that I would really give you a good situation.…”’ [sigo 399–400]
b. nyɩkpɔ -bhlogbe
yii lä
soo nynä…
person one_single
XFUT
:1
SO LOP
speak
SP
2 ‘somebody said to me that…’ [greve 65–66]
If a verb has two objects and both are third person pronouns, they are separated by the palatal nasal consonant ny, as illustrated by examples 4a and 4b.
9
Note that in b the second pronoun is the third person singular simple pronoun, non-human class 2; see table 2.3.
4 a.
L aagɔ mɔ -ɔ
cii nynä
n
pɔnyɩ
nä God
TH
3
S
:
REL
speak
SP
2 1
S
throw:3
S
:
NHP SP
1 ‘It was God who said that I am to give it =the name John to him,
ɩɩ-zä n pɔɔnyɩ
CLU
1 1
S
throw:
CP
:3
S
:
NHP
that is why I gave it to him’ [elisabet 94–96] b.
n ɩ
ɔ yionyɛ
nyɛ
ADD
1 3
S XFUT
:3
S
:
NH
2 give
‘then he gave it to him’ [sigo 129] If one of the two pronominal verb objects is a third person pronoun and the other a first or second
person pronoun, both pronouns are thematic pronouns, as in example 5.
10
5 a
po yɩ
nyukwli -yä
n k
anyɩmɩ yɩ
soo 2
P
listen now
VC
ears
ADD
2 1
S XPOT
:2
PO
:
NHP
:
TH
now speak
‘Listen now and I shall speak to you about them [i.e. the matters to be discussed in the radio program].’ [radio 19]
2.2.2 The locative pronoun -m
ɔɔ
Godié has one locative pronoun, which is -m ɔɔ ‘LOC’. It normally stands for a local noun or noun phrase,
as illustrated in example 6a. The locative pronoun -m ɔɔ may be fronted for focus, as in 6b.
6 a.
nyibhlëa- -
kʋ lä
- lɔɔ
nä kuŋnʋklä
- kʋ
- mɔɔ
river-
DEF BE
1:
CP
:
REL LOP
there
SP
1 ghost:old_woman
BE
1:
CP LOC
‘That river lit. the river that was there, an old woman’s ghost was in there.’ [kazo 7–8]
9
This consonant could also be analysed as the onset of a contextual variant form nyV of the thematic third person pronoun that occurs only in object position after a human third person pronoun. Also see the form ny
ɩ of the thematic marker in the first and second person thematic pronouns in table 2.3.
10
Whether it is the first pronoun that loses its last vowel in the word kany ɩmɩ or the second pronoun that loses its
first vowel cannot be determined on the basis of this pronoun combination. A third person pronoun with a different vowel than
ɩ would be needed here, but unfortunately it cannot be provided from our database. However, given that a third person thematic pronoun can also occur without its first syllable in certain contexts—for example, in
structures with argument focus see end of §4.1.2—it seems more likely that m ɩ constitutes the third person
pronoun in this context. Third person singular thematic pronouns would then have two contextual variants: mV and nyV.
b. jiee
- zɔɔ
- mɔɔ ʋ
cie lä
kʋ ocean-
GEN
under
LOC NH
3 begin:
ICP LOP
VPC
‘Down south lit. under the ocean, that’s where it =the world begins.’ [creation 133] The locative pronoun -m
ɔɔ may also be followed by the noun or noun phrase it stands for, as in example 7.
11
7 a.
döö -
wʋ -mɔɔ Gbɔglɛ
- kʋ
news:
XNEG CNT
2
LOC
Sassandra
BE
1:
CP
‘There are no news there in Sassandra.’ [neyo 1] b.
ɔ -kʋ yɩ
- mɔɔ ɔɔ
cɔkʋʋ wlu
[-kpazebhleku] 3
S BE
1:
CP
now
LOC
3
S
:
GEN
rock:
DEF
on_top
NUPT
‘… he was now there on top of his rock.’ [sigo 417] Just as postpositional phrases and nouns with the oblique marker can appear in subject position in
Godié, the locative pronoun -m
ɔɔ can also function as clause subject, as in example 8.
8 -sikaac
ɩɩ ʋ ŋʋʋ- lä
-bl ɩɩ
[-kpazebhleku] gold:chain
NH
3 put:
CP LOP
neck:
OBL NUPT
‘It is a gold chain that he =Worm has put round his neck,
ɩɩ -zä -mɔɔ lele
lä mʋ [-aao]
CLU
1
LOC
shine:
ICP LOP
VPC UPT
that’s why it lit. there is shining.’ [kokoleko 8–9] The locative pronoun also occurs as the noun complement in a genitival construction, as in example
9. A high floating tone, represented by the apostrophe, is then attached to it. 9
a mʋ -yä
a -lä
- mɔɔ
- sikaakpätlʋweyee
2
P
go
ADD
2 2
P
bring
LOC
:
GEN
gold:ring ‘Go and bring the golden ring that is there’ [filsprod 151–152]
2.3 Determiners