The morphosyntax of adjectives in Seenku [sos]

Seenku (Samogo, Northwestern Mande) contains a small class of adjectives, which differ morphosyntactically from deverbal modifiers (qualificational verbs) and nouns. This paper describes the morphosyntax of these adjectives as both modifiers and predicates. Modifiers follow the noun, with no tonal i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mandenkan
Main Author: Laura McPherson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Mandenkan, Langage, Langues et Cultures d’Afrique Noire 2017-12-01
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Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/mandenkan/1041
Description
Summary:Seenku (Samogo, Northwestern Mande) contains a small class of adjectives, which differ morphosyntactically from deverbal modifiers (qualificational verbs) and nouns. This paper describes the morphosyntax of these adjectives as both modifiers and predicates. Modifiers follow the noun, with no tonal interactions. Plural marking is obligatory on the adjective through reduplication and suffixation, the latter of which is optionally doubled on the noun. As predicates, adjectives follow the copular verb but are always preceded by a reflexive pronoun coindexed with the subject. I compare these constructions to other Mande languages and suggest a diachronic path for the unusual predicate construction.
ISSN:2104-371X