21 a. kä
- mɔɔ nää-
-mä -aa
-mänömö naa […]
-nyu lä
ASF LOC
be_good:
CP ADD
4 1
P
:
GEN
at_this_place
SP
1 be_bad
LOP
‘That place lit. there is good, but this place where we are […] is bad lit. at this our place is bad.’ [creation 134, 138]
b. -naa
dää- -
kʋ lä
- länʋmʋ
[sese] 2
S
:
GEN
place:
REL BE
1:
CP LOP
at_this_place
NUPT
‘It is your home that is in this place.’ [sigo 174] The locative adverbs in Godié seem to be grouped in phonological minimal pairs, with one group
having an l as initial consonant, while the other group has an m in that position. All of them start out on a low tone and have a rising tone curve. Apart from the basic forms -l
ɔɔ and -mɔɔ, all the elements have deictic meaning. Table 2.7 shows the pairs.
Table 2.7. Godié locative adverbs and the locative pronoun -l
ɔɔ ‘there’
-m ɔɔ
‘
LOC
’ -
lɔyɩ ‘over there’
- mɔyɩ
‘over there’ -lää+noun
‘here’ -mää +noun
‘right here’ -länömö -länöm
ʋ ‘this place’
-mänömö -mänöm ʋ
‘this place right here’ Only -
mɔɔ is a pronoun. All the others are adverbs.
2.4 Relative clauses
This section describes relative clauses, first their linguistic forms and then their semantic types.
2.4.1 The linguistic forms of relative clauses
There are two forms of relative clauses in Godié depending on the grammatical function of the antecedent within the relative clause. If the antecedent’s grammatical function in the relative clause is
that of subject, as in example 22a, or that of noun complement within a nominal phrase, as in 22b, the relative marker REL is present. In all other cases the marker is absent. Thus in example 22c,
where the antecedent is the object in the relative clause, there is no relative marker.
18
22 a.
Jübënyëbluo - ɔ
-bha lä
-l ɔɔ
nëë nä
Neyo:lad:
DEF
3
S
:
REL
leave:
CP LOP
there mouth-
OBL SP
1 ‘The Neyo lad who had escaped,
kɔ -mö
ɔ bäsɩ
soo -kä
ASF
:3
S
go:
CP
3
S
father:
PL
speak
PUR
he went to tell his elders …’ [neyo 37.1–2]
18
The spacer particle nä ‘SP1’ see §7.1 marks the end of a relative clause or of a series of them.
b. wäl
ɩɩ -
ɩnözä -a
bhluu- lä
kʋ nä
affair:
DEF NHP
:
REL
:
GEN
:reason 1
P
take:
NH
3:
CP LOP
VPC SP
1 ‘The reason why we have taken it =your fishing net lit. the problem because of
which we have taken it …’ [neyo 11.2] c.
ʋ -zi
gokpü -a
plä bhlä
-zä nä
kʋ
NH
3 outstrip:
CP
boat:
PL
1
P
enter
PST
:
LOP DP
3
SP
1
VPC
‘…it =the boat outstripped the canoes we had usually taken’ [greve 28–29] The relative marker is a floating low tone. It attaches either to the personal pronoun taking up the
antecedent at the beginning of the relative clause, as in examples 22a and 22b above, or to the antecedent itself, as in example 23. In fact, the latter seems to be the rule if the antecedent is a
pronoun, as shown in example 28 below.
23 a.
nyibhlëa- -k
ʋ lä
-l ɔɔ
nä kuŋnʋklä
- kʋ
- mɔɔ
river:
DEF
:
REL BE
1:
CP LOP
there
SP
1 ghost:old_woman
BE
1
LOC
‘That river lit. the river that was there, an old woman’s ghost was in there.’ [kazo 7–8] b.
-any ɩɩ- -kä
lä gw
ɔlɩ t
ɩkɩlɩa nä
1
P
:
REL
have
LOP
boat:
PL
small:
NHP
:
DEF SP
1 ‘… we, who have small canoes, …’ [neyo 12.6]
The definite pro-form -lVV ‘DPF’ can also be the antecedent of the relative clause, as in example 24.
24 -m
ɔ -bhlogbe
co - mɔ
plöö- lä
- anyɩa yu
2
S
:
TH
one_single
ID
2
S
:
TH BE
2:
CP LOP
1
P
:
GEN
child ‘You alone, you are our child,
-l ɔɔ
Laag ɔ
ny ɩ-anyɩ
lä nä
DPF
God give:1
PO LOP
SP
1 the one that God has given us.’ [elisabet 102–103]
In relative clauses that have no expressed antecedent the relative marker attaches to the pronoun corresponding to the implied antecedent, as in example 25.
25 -
ɔ plöö-
lä bʋkʋ
- lɔɔ
nä 3
S
:
REL BE
2:
CP LOP
yet
DPF SP
1 ‘The one =son who was the younger one …’ [filsprod 8]
Adverbial clauses in Godié are syntactically construed as relative clauses, as in example 26, with antecedents such as
dä ‘place’ spatial or temporal; tɛnyɩ ‘time’; and sä ‘manner’. Such adverbial clauses are mostly left-dislocated as situational points of departure see §4.3.
26 a.
dä
ɛ bhloo-
‘ n ɩ
dä wa
-k ʋ
lä nä
[sese] place
NH
2 stop:
CP ADD
1 place
3
P BE
1:
CP LOP
SP
1
NUPT
‘… where it = the ocean ends and where they = people live …’ [creation 47–48] b.
dä n
yi lä
duu place
1
S
come
LOP
village:
OBL
‘When I come to the village…’ [medic 20]
c. -Mä
tɛnyɩɩ ɔ
pa ylä
-m ɔɔ -gbʋgbaa
ADD
4 time
3
S
push:
ICP
now:
LOP LOC
bamboo_door ‘Now, when he was then pushing the door
nɩ ɔ wlʋ
ylä -
zɔɔ nä
ADD
1 3
S
go_out:
ICP
now:
LOP VPC
SP
1 and was about to go out…’ [devinet 79–80]
d. sä
-n gä lä
n ʋ -yä
-n g ɔ
lä büda nä
[sese] way 2
S XPOT
LOP
do
ADD
2 2
S XPOT
:3
S LOP
wash
SP
1
NUPT
‘…the way you are going to proceed in order to wash him…’ [lueuzi 72–73]
2.4.2 Semantic types of relative clauses
Two semantic types of relative clauses are traditionally distinguished: identifying or restrictive relative clauses and descriptive or non-restrictive relative clauses.
Identifying relative clauses give information that allows the hearer to identify a referent. This type is illustrated by all the examples in the preceding section and by example 27, where a certain group of
boats is identified by the relative clause. 27
gokpüü -
ɩ t
ʋ-anyɩ bhlä
nä boat:
PL NHP
:
REL
cross:
ICP
:1
P PST
1:
LOP SP
1 ‘… the boats that used to take us across …’ [greve 18]
In contrast, descriptive relative clauses give information about an already identified referent. Their antecedent is either a speech pronoun first or second person, as in 28a, or a noun phrase with a
demonstrative marker, as in 28b.
19
28 a.
any
ɩɩ- -kä
lä jekpigwɔlɩ
nä […]
2
P
:
REL
have
LOP
white_people:boat:
PL SP
1 ‘… you, who have boats like the white people, […]
-any ɩɩ- -kä
lä gw
ɔlɩ t
ɩkɩlɩa nä …
1
P
:
REL
have
LOP
boat:
PL
small:
NHP
:
DEF SP
1 we, who have small canoes…’ [neyo 12.2, 12.6]
b. -
Kɔkwɛɛnɔ -
ɔɔ bh
ɛ lä monii
nii- nä …
Rooster:
DEM REL
:
XNEG PST
4
LOP
money find:
CP SP
1 ‘That rooster, who had not gained any money …
19
The demonstrative marker in 28b has human gender. In other words, Rooster is treated like a human person and referred to accordingly. Otherwise the demonstrative marker would have to be -n
ɛ see §2.3.2, table 2.6.
2.5 Tenses