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- Language Family: Kwa
- Topic #1: Verbs
- Topic #2: Morphology
Verb extensions in Likpe (Sɛkpɛlé)
The noun class systems of the Ghana-Togo-Mountain (GTM) languages have attracted a lot of interest and have been used as a defining feature of the group as the “Class languages” (Westermann and Bryan 1952). Verb extensions, or verb derivational suffixes, also occur in the GTM languages yet they have not received much attention. This paper examines the syntax and semantics of verb extensions in Likpe (Sɛkpɛlé) ISO 639-3: lip, a Na-Togo language. Likpe has two rather productive extensions: the causative –sə́ and the associative -ko. In addition there are two semi-productive ones -fə́ ‘contactive’ and –ə ‘transitive’. Each of these forms is described and the possibilities of combining the extensions are explored. The question is also raised as to whether some recurrent forms at the ends of certain verb stems such as a final -kV as in tə́kə́ ‘be.on’ or a final –ma as in yoma ‘hang’, are historically verb extensions. This is related to the lexicalization and fossilization of verb extensions with some verb stems e.g. bóko ‘bring’ < bə́ ‘come’+ ko ‘ASSOC’. The use of the associative marker on both verbs and pronouns and its relation to a comitative preposition and the NP linker are used to assess the claims about the possible grammaticalisation paths of verb extensions.
Le system des classes dans les langues Ghana-Togo-Mountain (GTM) ont généré beaucoup d’interêt, et mené à leur designation comme “Class Languages” (langue de classes) (Westerman et Bryan 1952). Des extensions verbales ou des derivations suffixales verbales aussi se trouvent dans les language GTM, mais elles n’ont pas été accordées la même attention. Dans cet article, j’examine la syntaxe et la semantique des extensions verbales dans Likpe (Sɛkpɛlé) ISO 639-3: lip, une language Na-Togo. Likpe à les deux extensions productives, –sə́ causatif et -ko associatif . Je discute aussi deux suffixes semi-productifs, -fə́ ‘contactif’ et –ə ‘transitive’. Je discute chacune de ces suffixes et recherche les possibilites de combinaison des extensions. Je soulève aussi la question à savoir si des formes recurrentes à la fin de quelques mots telles que –kV dans le mot tə́kə́ ‘etre.sur’ ou –ma dans le mot yoma ‘suspendre’, sont historiquement des extensions verbales. Ceci est lié à la lexicalisation et la fossilisation des extensions verbales des mots tels que boko ‘apporter’ < bə́ ‘venir’ + ko ‘ASSOC’. J’evalue l’hypothese des trajets de grammaticalisation en tenant en utilisant l’utilisation de la forme associative pour des verbes et des pronoms, d’une part, et leur relation à la preposition comitative et le connecteur de NP, d’autre part.