The linguistic forms of relative clauses

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