Grimm2015 Gyeli Grammar Dissertation-Version

A Grammar of Gyeli
Dissertation
zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades
doctor philosophiae
(Dr. phil.)
eingereicht an
der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
von
M.A. Nadine Grimm, geb. Borchardt
geboren am 28.01.1982 in Rheda-Wiedenbrück
Präsident der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz
Dekanin der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen

Fakultät Prof. Dr. Julia von Blumenthal
Gutachter:
1.
2.
Tag der mündlichen Prüfung:

Table of Contents
List of Tables xi
List of Figures xii
Abbreviations xiii
Acknowledgments xv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 The Gyeli Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 The Language’s Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.2 Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.3 Language Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.4 Dialects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.1.5 Language Endangerment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.1.6 Special Features of Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
1.1.7 Previous Literature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.2 The Gyeli Speakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.1 Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.2.2 Subsistence and Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.3 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.3.1 The Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.3.2 The Construction of a Speech Community . . . . . . . 27
1.3.3 Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
1.4 Structure of the Grammar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2 Phonology 32
2.1 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.1.1 Phonemic Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
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Nadine Grimm A Grammar of Gyeli
2.1.2 Realization Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.1.2.1 Labial Velars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.1.2.2 Allophones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.1.2.3 Pre-glottalization of Labial and Alveolar Stops
and the Issue of Implosives . . . . . . . . . . 47
2.1.2.4 Voicing and Devoicing of Stops . . . . . . . . 51
2.1.3 Consonant Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.1.3.1 Prenasalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.1.3.2 Labialization and Palatalization . . . . . . . 59
2.1.3.3 Consonant-Fricative Clusters . . . . . . . . . 62
2.1.4 Phonotactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
2.2 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2.2.1 Plain Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.2.2 Diphthongs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
2.2.3 Vowel Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
2.2.4 Nasal Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.3 Syllable Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
2.3.2 Syllable Internal Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
2.3.3 Syllable Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
2.3.3.1 Syllables in Nominal Prefixes . . . . . . . . . 89
2.3.3.2 Syllables in SCOPs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
2.3.3.3 Syllables in Noun Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
2.3.3.4 Syllables in Verb Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
2.4 Tonology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
2.4.1 Tonal Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.4.1.1 Level Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
2.4.1.2 Contour Tones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
2.4.1.3 Toneless Syllables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
2.4.2 Tone Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
2.4.2.1 High Tone Spreading To The Right . . . . . 102
2.4.2.2 High Tone Spreading To The Left . . . . . . 104
2.4.2.3 L Tone Detachment in Monosyllabic L Verb
Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
2.4.2.4 H Tone Lowering in Monosyllabic H Verb
Stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
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2.5 Discussion: Gyeli Phonology within Bantu A80 . . . . . . . . 108
3 The Noun Phrase 112

3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.2 The Gender and Agreement System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
3.2.1 Agreement Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
3.2.2 Noun Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
3.2.3 The Gyeli Gender System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
3.2.3.1 Gender 1/2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
3.2.3.2 Gender 3/4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
3.2.3.3 Gender 5/6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
3.2.3.4 Gender 7/8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
3.2.3.5 Gender 9/6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
3.2.3.6 Gender 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
3.2.4 Inquorate Genders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
3.3 The Noun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
3.3.1 Mass Nouns and Countability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
3.3.2 Nominalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
3.3.2.1 Agentive Nominalization of Gender 1/2 . . . 146
3.3.2.2 Event Nouns of Class 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
3.4 Agreement Targets of the Noun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
3.4.1 Subject Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.4.2 Non-Subject Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.4.3 Interrogative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
3.4.4 Demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
3.4.5 Possessor Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
3.4.6 Attributive Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
3.4.7 Genitive Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
3.4.8 Agreeing Quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
3.4.8.1 Agreeing Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
3.4.8.2 Non-Numeral Quantifier -ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’ . . . . . . . 161
3.4.9 Deictic Modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
3.5 Invariable Modifiers in the Noun Phrase . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
3.5.1 Qualifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
3.5.2 Invariable Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
3.5.2.1 Enumeratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
iii
3.5.3 Invariable Quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

3.5.3.1 Prenominal Invariable Quantifiers . . . . . . 176
3.5.3.2 Postnominal Invariable Quantifiers . . . . . 176
3.5.4 Locative Adpositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
3.5.4.1 Prenominal ɛ́ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
3.5.4.2 Postnominal dé . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
3.5.4.3 Other Locative Postpositions . . . . . . . . . 180
3.6 Distributive Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
3.6.1 Distributive Construction with náà . . . . . . . . . . . 180
3.6.2 Distributive Numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
3.7 Attributive Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.7.1 Noun + Noun . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
3.7.1.1 Optional Omission of the Attributive Marker 184
3.7.1.2 Nominal Possessives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
3.7.1.3 Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
3.7.1.4 Nominal Quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
3.7.1.5 Nominal Locatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
3.7.2 Noun + Qualifier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
3.7.3 Noun + Verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
3.7.4 Noun + Interrogative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
3.7.4.1 vɛ́ ‘which’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
3.7.4.2 níyɛ̀ ‘how many’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3.7.4.3 púù ‘cause’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3.7.5 Noun + Numeral: Ordinal Numerals . . . . . . . . . . 210
4 The Verb Phrase 213

4.1 The Verb . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
4.1.1 Verb Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4.1.2 Verbal Derivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
4.1.2.1 Reciprocal -ala . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
4.1.2.2 Passive -a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
4.1.2.3 Causative -ɛsɛ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
4.1.2.4 Applicative -ɛlɛ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
4.1.2.5 Autocausative Middle Voice -ɛga/-aga . . . . 230
4.1.2.6 Positional Middle Voice -ɔwɔ . . . . . . . . . 232
4.1.2.7 Expansions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
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4.2 Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

4.2.1 Group 1 Adverbs: Deictic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
4.2.2 Group 2 Adverbs: Temporal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
4.2.3 Group 3 Adverbs: Manner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
4.2.4 Group 4 Adverbs: Locative/directional . . . . . . . . . 248
4.2.5 Group 5 Adverbs: Anaphoric . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
4.2.6 Discussion: Multiple Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
4.3 Ideophones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
4.3.1 Phonological Shape of Ideophones . . . . . . . . . . . 253
4.3.2 Morphosyntactic Properties of Ideophones . . . . . . . 256
5 Tense, Aspect, Mood and Negation 260

5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
5.2 Grammatical Expression of Tense and Mood . . . . . . . . . . 262
5.2.1 Patterns of the SCOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
5.2.1.1 SCOP Assimilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
5.2.1.2 SCOP Omission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
5.2.2 Patterns of the Verb Stem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
5.2.3 The Metatonic H Tone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
5.2.4 Tense-Mood Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
5.2.4.1 Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
5.2.4.2 Inchoative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
5.2.4.3 Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
5.2.4.4 Recent Past (PST1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
5.2.4.5 Remote Past (PST2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
5.2.4.6 Imperative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
5.2.4.7 Subjunctive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
5.3 Aspectual Markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
5.3.1 Progressive nzíí, nzí, and nzɛ́ɛ ́ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
5.3.2 Priorative pã ̂ ‘first’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
5.3.3 Prospective múà . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
5.3.4 Retrospective lɔ́ ‘come’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
5.3.5 Perfect bwàà ‘have’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
5.3.6 Absolute Completive -mɔ̀/-Ṽ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
5.3.7 Non-Complete Accomplishment sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ . . . . 324
5.3.8 Habitual by Verb Reduplication . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
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5.4 Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

5.4.1 Negation with -lɛ in the present . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
5.4.2 Negation with sàlɛ́/pálɛ́ in the past . . . . . . . . . . 333
5.4.3 Negation with kálɛ̀ in the future . . . . . . . . . . . 334
5.4.4 Negation with tí . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
5.5 Embedding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
6 Simple Clauses 344

6.1 Non-Verbal Predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344
6.1.1 SCOP Copula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
6.1.2 Identificational Marker wɛ́ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
6.1.3 Optional ∅-Copula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
6.1.4 Verbal Copula bɛ̀ ‘be’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
6.1.5 Verbal Copula múà ‘be’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
6.1.6 Verbal Copula bùdɛ́ ‘have’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
6.2 Verbal Clauses and Grammatical Relations . . . . . . . . . . 362
6.2.1 Grammatical Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
6.2.1.1 Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
6.2.1.2 Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
6.2.1.3 Obliques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
6.2.2 Basic Clause Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
6.2.2.1 S V Word Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381
6.2.2.2 S V O Word Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
6.2.2.3 S V O O Word Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
6.2.3 Complex Predicates: Auxiliaries . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
6.2.4 Sentential Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
6.3 Information Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
6.3.1 Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
6.3.1.1 Left Dislocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
6.3.1.2 Emphatic Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
6.3.1.3 Contrastive -ga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
6.3.1.4 Topicalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
6.3.2 Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
6.3.2.1 In-Situ Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
6.3.2.2 Object Pronoun Fronting . . . . . . . . . . . 411
6.3.2.3 Cleft Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
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6.4 Special Clause Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

6.4.1 Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
6.4.2 Possessor Raising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
6.4.3 Comparison Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
7 Complex Clauses 427

7.1 Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
7.1.1 Conjunction with nà ‘and’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
7.1.2 Covert Coordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432
7.1.3 Disjunction with kânà/nânà ‘or’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 433
7.1.4 Adversative Coordination with ndí ‘but’ . . . . . . . . 434
7.2 Subordination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
7.2.1 Asyndetic Subordinate Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
7.2.1.1 Infinitival Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 437
7.2.1.2 Framing Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
7.2.2 Relative Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444
7.2.3 Adverbial Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453
7.2.3.1 Full Adverbial Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
7.2.3.2 Conditional Clauses with ká ‘if’ . . . . . . . . 457
7.2.3.3 Infinitival Adverbial Clauses . . . . . . . . . 460
7.2.4 Attributive Clauses with nâ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
7.2.4.1 Bare Complementizer Constructions . . . . . 464
7.2.4.2 Adverbials + Complementizer Constructions 465
7.2.5 Complement Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 467
7.3 Reported Discourse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
Appendix I: Verb Extensions 473
Appendix II: Texts 493

II.1 The Healer and the Antilope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494
II.2 Nzambi Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
II.3 Conversation in the Village Ngolo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533
Appendix III: Lexicon 572
Bibliography 609
vii
List of Tables
1.1 Internal classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) . . . . 7

1.2 Classification of Gyeli’s contact languages . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Phonemic inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.2 Phonetic inventory - major consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.3 Prenasalized consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.4 Distribution of NC sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
2.5 Labialized/palatalized consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.6 Prenasalized and labialized/palatalized consonants in noun
stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
2.7 Distribution of consonant-fricative clusters . . . . . . . . . . 62
2.8 Phonotactics of Phonemic Consonants in Noun Stems . . . . 65
2.9 Phonotactics of Phonemic Consonants in Verb Stems . . . . . 66
2.10 Phonotactics of Consonants Clusters in Noun and Verb Stems 68
2.11 Frequency of plain vowels in noun and verb stems . . . . . . 71
2.12 Distribution of plain vowels in monosyllabic stems . . . . . . 72
2.13 Phonotactics of vowels in disyllabic noun stems . . . . . . . . 73
2.14 Phonotactics of vowels in disyllabic verb stems . . . . . . . . 73
2.15 Frequency of σ3 plain vowels in trisyllabic stems . . . . . . . 74
2.16 Diphthongs in monosyllabic noun and verb stems . . . . . . . 76
2.17 Long vowels in monosyllabic noun and verb stems . . . . . . 78
2.18 Long vowels in di- and trisyllabic noun and verb stems . . . . 79
2.19 Nasalized vowels (short, oral) in monosyllabic noun and verb
stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
2.20 Long vowels in di- and trisyllabic noun and verb stems . . . . 81
2.21 Frequency of syllable length in noun stems . . . . . . . . . . 90
2.22 Distribution of syllable types in monosyllabic noun stems . . 91
2.23 Distribution of syllable types in bisyllabic noun stems . . . . 91
viii
2.24 Distribution of syllable types in trisyllabic noun stems . . . . 92

2.25 Frequency of syllable length in verb stems . . . . . . . . . . . 92
2.26 Distribution of syllable types in monosyllabic verb stems . . 93
2.27 Distribution of syllable types in disyllabic verb stems . . . . . 93
2.28 Distribution of syllable types in trisyllabic verb stems . . . . 94
2.29 Distribution of level tones in noun stems . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
2.30 Tonal distribution in verb stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
2.31 Distribution of contour tones in noun stems . . . . . . . . . . 99
3.1 Agreement classes and their target POS in Gyeli . . . . . . . 117

3.2 Frequency of agreement classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
3.3 Noun classes and their corresponding agreement classes . . . 120
3.4 Frequency of genders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
3.5 Subject pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
3.6 Object pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
3.7 Gyeli demonstratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
3.8 Basic possessor roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
3.9 Tonal patterns of possessor pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
3.10 Possessee agreement prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
3.11 Attributives in the different agreement classes . . . . . . . . 157
3.12 Agreement marking of genitive markers . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
3.13 Agreement prefixes of modifying numerals . . . . . . . . . . 160
3.14 AGR-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’ in various agreement classes . . . . . . . . . . . 162
3.15 Agreement prefixes of deictic modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
3.16 AGR-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other’ in various agreement classes . . . . . . 164
3.17 AGR-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same’ in various agreement classes . . . . . . 165
3.18 AGR-fúsì ‘different’ in various agreement classes . . . . . . . 165
3.19 Qualifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
3.20 Simplex enumeratives in Gyeli and Mabi . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
3.21 Complex enumeratives in Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.22 Multiplication as augend (up to ‘100’) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
3.23 Multiplication as addend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
3.24 Multiple addition operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
3.25 Distributive numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
3.26 Interrogative word ‘which’ in the different agreement classes 207
ix
3.27 Interrogative word ‘how many’ in the different agreement

classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
3.28 Ordinal numerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
4.1 The typical Bantu verb structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

4.2 The Gyeli verb structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
4.3 Epenthetic consonants in verb derivation . . . . . . . . . . . 217
4.4 Summary of verb derivation morphemes . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
4.5 Examples of verb derivation morphemes . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
4.6 Scale of decreasing participants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
4.7 Criteria for adverb classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
4.8 Deictic adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
4.9 Morphosyntactic properties of locative deictics . . . . . . . . 245
4.10 Group 2 adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
4.11 Manner adverbs and their affiliated parts-of-speech . . . . . . 247
4.12 Locative/directional adverbs and their source nouns . . . . . 249
5.1 Surface patterns of the SCOP in different TM categories . . . 265

5.2 Patterns of the SCOP in different AGR classes and TM categories265
5.3 Variation of SCOP presence in the text corpus . . . . . . . . . 273
5.4 Tone patterns of the verb stem in different TM categories . . 273
5.5 Surface tone patterns of monosyllabic verb stems in different
TM categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274
5.6 Surface tone patterns of bisyllabic verb stems in different TM
categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
5.7 Surface tone patterns of trisyllabic verb stems in different TM
categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
5.8 Realis/irrealis axis in Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
5.9 Modality expression and mood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
5.10 Frequency of TM categories in corpus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
5.11 Gyeli aspect markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
5.12 SCOPs for different aspect markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
5.13 Patterns of the SCOP in different AGR classes and aspect cat-
egories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
5.14 Mood categories of aspect markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
5.15 Frequency of aspect markers in corpus . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
5.16 Negation markers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
x
6.1 Copula types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

6.2 Word order in simple clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
6.3 Order of dual grammatical relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
6.4 Features of complex predicates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
6.5 Sentential modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
6.6 Topic and focus strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
7.1 Adverbials introducing adverbial clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
xi
List of Figures
1.1 Location of Gyeli and Cameroon in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 4

1.2 The classification of Gyeli within the Niger-Congo family . . 5
1.3 Bantu zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Map of the Gyeli language area and its neighboring languages 10
1.5 Map of landscape changes in the Gyeli area . . . . . . . . . . 23
2.1 Intervocalic [b] in /kfúbɔ̀/ ‘chicken’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

2.2 Intervocalic [β] in /kfúbɔ̀/ ‘chicken’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.3 Implosive [ɓ] in Mpiemo (Thornell & Nagano-Madsen (2004: 172)) 48
2.4 Preglottalized and prevoiced [b] in Gyeli, speaker 1 . . . . . 49
2.5 Preglottalized and prevoiced [b] in Gyeli, speaker 2 . . . . . 50
2.6 Double plosive in /ntdàlò/ ‘tobacco’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
2.7 Postnasal [d] with aspiration in /ndɛ̀mɔ́/ ‘dream (n.)’ . . . . . 53
2.8 Devoiced postnasal [d] in /ndɛ̀mɔ́/ ‘dream (n.)’ . . . . . . . . 54
2.9 Plain vowels in Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
2.10 Vowel plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.11 Binary branching model with rhyme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
2.12 Pitch in HTS within the nominal domain . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
2.13 Phonetic pitch lowering of final H after L . . . . . . . . . . . 104
2.14 Pitch level of H sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
3.1 Major genders in Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.1 Conjoint/disjoint distinction in Tonga (M64) . . . . . . . . . 278
xii
Abbreviations
For notation conventions, I use the Leipzig Glossing Rules. These may dif-
fer from abbreviations typically used in the lexicon. Abbreviations in the
lexicon are generally in small characters ending in a dot while most abbre-
viations in glosses (except for noun class labels) are represented in capital
letters.
* ungrammatical form COMP complement clause

() element in brackets is optional COMPL absolute completive
- morpheme boundary COND conditional clause
∅ prefixless noun class CONTR contrastive marker
1-9 agreement class 1-9 COP SCOP copula
1-3P first-third person plural DEM demonstrative
1-3S first-third person singular DIST distal
ADV adverbial clause EMPH emphatic pronoun
adv. adverb EXCL exclamation
AGR agreement FUT future
ANA anaphoric marker H high tone
AP associative plural HAB habitual
appl. applicative HL falling contour tone
ATT attributive marker HORT hortative
autoc. autocausative HTS high tone spreading
AUX auxiliary ID identificational marker
ba ba- noun class IDEO ideophone
be be- noun class IMP imperative
caus. causative INCH inchoative
cl. agreement class INF infinitival clause
COM comitative marker intr. intransitive
xiii
inv. invariable PROSP prospective

L low tone PROX proximal
le le- noun class PST1 recent past
LH raising contour tone PST2 remote past
LOC locative Q question particle
ma ma- noun class QI quotative index
mi mi- noun class Q(tag) question tag
N nasal; N- noun class qual. qualifier
n. noun R realis mood
NCA non-complete accomplishment RD reported discourse
NEG negation recip. reciprocal
NP noun phrase REL relative clause
num. numeral RETRO retrospective
O onset SBJ subject
OBJ object SCOP subject clause operator
OBJ.LINK object linker SEQU sequential marker
pass. passive S singular
PL plural marker SBJV subjunctive
pl. plural sg. singular
PN proper name stat. stative
POS part of speech TBU tone bearing unit
posit. positional TM tense-mood
POSS possessive tr. transitive
PRES present v. verb
PRF perfect VOT voice onset time
PRED predicate X oblique
PRIOR priorative
PROG progressive
xiv
Acknowledgments
This grammar would not have been possible without the many Gyeli speak-
ers I have worked with over the years and who patiently taught me about
their language. I am especially grateful to the people of Ngolo, in particu-
lar to Mama David, Ada Joseph, Mambi, Nandtoungou, Nze, Tsimbo, Nkolo
Dorothée, Segyua, ‘Délégué’ Bikoun, Tata, and Aminu.
Thanks also to my Kwasio assistants and friends Bimbvoung Emmanuel
Calvin, Djiedjhie François, and Nouangama Severin who did not only help
with interpreting, translations, and annotations, but who made my life in
the field so much easier and enjoyable. Thanks for always being around
and taking care of me when I was sick with malaria and chikungunya. I
am also particularly grateful to my fellow team members Daniel Duke and
Emmanuel Ngue Um and our cameraman Christopher Lorenz.
My fieldwork was funded by the VolkswagenFoundation grant ‘84976’
and a generous extension phase ‘87014’ within the DoBeS (Documentation
of Endangered Languages) Initiative. I am grateful for the opportunity the
grants gave me and for all the assistance, especially by Mrs. Szöllosi-Brenig.
I would like to thank my dissertation advisors Tom Güldemann and
Maarten Mous for their numerous helpful suggestions throughout the course
of writing this dissertation. I have discussed many aspects of this grammar
with various people over the last years. I particularly thank Pierpaolo Di
Carlo, Ines Fiedler, Hana Filip, Jeff Good, Larry Hyman, Lutz Marten, Joyce
McDonough, and Murray Schellenberg.
Last, but not least, I am very grateful to my family and friends who sup-
ported me in the field and took active interest in all the news I brought
from Cameroon. Special thanks to my wonderful husband Scott for his pa-
tience with the long absences that fieldwork makes necessary, for sharing
my excitement and worries, and for proof-reading this grammar.
xv
Chapter 1
Introduction
Gyeli is a Bantu A80 language spoken in southern Cameroon and northern

Equatorial Guinea. The Gyeli speakers, who are called Bagyeli, are hunter-
gatherers constituting the western-most ‘Pygmy’ group in Central Africa.
Their forest foraging lifestyle distinguishes them from agriculturalist Bantu
groups in the area, opposing ‘Bagyeli’ and ‘Bantu’ ethnically, even though
linguistically, they are all Bantu speakers.
In order to give a framework to the grammatical description, I will pro-
vide extra-linguistic and methodological information in this introductory
chapter. The introduction contains three parts. I will provide a general
discussion of Gyeli’s language situation including information on the name,
linguistic classification, speaker numbers, language contact, and dialects. I
will pay special attention to the village Ngolo on whose speakers I base this
description. In the second part, I introduce the Gyeli speakers, the environ-
ment they live in, and give a rough outline of their culture and subsistence.
Finally, I will address various aspects of the methodology I used in compil-
ing this grammatical description of Gyeli. This includes information on the
data, but also information on what I consider the ‘speech community’ on
which I base my linguistic description.
1.1 The Gyeli Language

The Gyeli language situation is characterized by a relatively small number of
speakers scattered in a vast area that is shared with a multitude of other lan-
guages and ethnic groups. Estimations of the population of Gyeli speakers
1
vary from 2,200, following Renaud (1976: 27), to around 5,000 as proposed
by Ngima Mawoung (2001: 215). In the Ethnologue, Lewis (2009) gives fig-
ures of 4,250 Gyeli speakers in Cameroon and 29 in Equatorial Guinea.
Based on a sociolinguistic survey conducted with my colleague Emmanuel
Ngue Um in 2010, we estimate 4,000 to 5,000 speakers.1
The region in which Gyeli is spoken is about 12,500km2 (which cor-
responds to about 4,800m2 ). Unlike many other languages in the world,
especially in the Indo-European context with its national languages, Gyeli
is neither the only (or predominant) language in the region nor restricted
to one contiguous geographic area. Instead, Gyeli is one out of nine lan-
guages in the area as shown below in Map 1.4. Naturally, there is intensive
language contact between the languages of the region. Gyeli speakers are
shifting to the languages of their farmer neighbors, a trend which both frag-
ments Gyeli into different dialects and contributes to the language’s endan-
germent. I will discuss each of these aspects in turn in more detail below.
1.1.1 The Language’s Name

Gyeli is known under a variety of names, sometimes depending on who
is talking about the language. In the Ethnologue, for instance, Lewis (2009)
calls the language Gyele with the code ISO 639-3: gyi. It also lists the follow-
ing alternate names that are also used to designate the same language (how-
ever, not specifying who uses which name): Babinga, Bagiele, Bagyele, Ba-
jele, Bajeli, Bako, Bakola, Bakuele, Bekoe, Bogyel, Bogyeli, Bondjiel, Giele,
Gieli, Gyeli, Likoya.
There are two patterns observable within the various names. First, some
names have a prefix of the general form Ba- and some are prefixless. The Ba-
prefix, or the corresponding prefixes Bo- and Be- used in other languages,
are typical Bantu prefixes of the plural noun class 2 of the human gender
designating groups of people. Thus, the language names with a prefix derive
from a group of people rather than their language.
1
The difficulty in establishing a more precise estimate arises for various reasons. Gyeli
speakers often live in remote villages and settlements which are not easily accessible. They
often do not possess identity cards, so that they are not officially registered with the au-
thorities. Another difficulty in estimating population numbers is due to mobility patterns.
Gyeli speakers, though becoming more sedentary in terms of permanent villages, are highly
mobile and regularly switch villages. Therefore, it is hard to say how many people exactly
live in a village.
2
Even though this might be unusual for the anglophone Bantu tradition, I
refer to the speaker group as Bagyeli, using the Ba- prefix instead of the bare
stem. The reason for this is that both the Gyeli speakers and neighboring
Bantu groups use this term (rather than Gyeli), both in local languages and in
French. In contrast, most ethnic groups of the area, for instance the Kwasio,
Mabi, Bulu, and Yassa, do not receive the Ba- prefix. Since the prefix is then
not used consistently for all ethnic groups, it seems that it is really part of
the name for Gyeli speakers. When talking about the language, however, I
use the bare stem Gyeli.2
Another pattern, apart from a name with or without a prefix, is the sim-
ilarities of forms to either ‘Gyeli’ or ‘Kola’. There are variants such as -jele,
-giele, -jeli, -gyel or Gieli which can be subsumed under variants of ’Gyeli’.
Other variants such as -kola, -ko or -koya can be subsumed under variants of
‘Kola’.These two different names correlate with geographic areas. Speakers
in the northern part of the Gyeli language zone call their language Kola,
speakers in the central and southern part call it Gyeli, but it is nevertheless
considered being the same language. Accordingly, the speakers are called
Bagyeli in the center and south, and Bakola in the north. Since the speech
community on which I base this grammar is located in the southern-central
part of the Gyeli/Kola language zone (see Map 1.4), I use the name Gyeli
rather than Kola.
Bagyeli and Bakola are terms used both as endonym (the way a group
calls itself) and exonym (the name used for a group by outsiders).3 There is,
however, an alternate exonym used by all local Bantu gneighbors, namely
the French word pygmées, ‘Pygmies’. It seems to be a convenient cover term
for short-sized hunter-gatherers in Central Africa, especially since people
not familiar with the ethnic and linguistic situation in Central Africa usually
associate more with the term ‘Pygmy’ than with ‘Bagyeli’ or ‘Bakola’. I
will, however, not use this term for several reasons. First, the term ‘Pygmy’
generally has a pejorative connotation (though this is certainly not always
implied by the Bantu farmer neighbors who use it). Second, it implies a
2
In contrast to the Ethnologue, I use the spelling of Gyeli with an ‘i’ in the end instead
of Gyele with an ‘e’ at the end since my language consultants prefer this variant.
3
Groups such as the Mabi and Ngumba, both dialects of Kwasio, as well as the Bulu,
seem to use these terms. Exonyms used by other groups such as the Yassa or Bakoko, as
respresented in Map 1.4, require further investigation since I was not in direct contact with
them during my fieldwork. Renaud (1976: 29-30) discusses exonyms as used by the Basaa,
Bulu, Fang, Mabi, and Ngumba. They are all related to the terms ‘Gyeli’ and ‘Kola’.
3
certain homogeneity among such Central African forest foragers which is,
in all reality, not existent. So-called ‘Pygmy’ groups differ considerably in
terms of language, type of contact with their farming neighbors, settlement
patterns, and hunting techniques, just to mention a few differences.
1.1.2 Classification
With about 2000 languages out of the about 7000 languages world-wide,
the African continent is linguistically very rich and diverse. For Cameroon
alone, the Ethnologue lists 278 living languages. Figure 1.1 shows the geo-
graphic location of the Gyeli language within Africa.
Figure 1.1: Location of Gyeli and Cameroon in Africa
Classification within Niger-Congo Languages of Cameroon mostly be-

long to the Niger-Congo languages, as does Gyeli. With roughly 1,500 lan-
guages, Niger-Congo constitutes the biggest language family in Africa, as
classified by, for instance, Williamson & Blench (2000). Figure 1.2 visual-
izes the classification of Gyeli within the Niger-Congo family. The figure is
a simplified adaptation from Williamson & Blench (2000) and Lewis (2009).
4
Niger-Congo
• Atlantic-Congo
• Benue-Congo
• Southern Bantoid
• Narrow Bantu
• Makaa-Njem Group (A80)
• Gyeli (A801)
Figure 1.2: The classification of Gyeli within the Niger-Congo family
A more detailed classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) is given be-

low, after explaining the organizational system of Bantu languages.
Classification within Bantu With about 500 members, the Bantu lan-
guages form the biggest subfamily of the Niger-Congo languages and, at
the same time, cover a vast territory stretching from the borders of Nige-
ria and Cameroon all the way to east and south Africa. Probably the most
famous member of the Bantu languages is Swahili, a language spoken in
Tanzania, Kenya and in parts of other surrounding countries such as Mozam-
bique, Uganda, Burundi, DRC and Somalia. Even though Swahili is spoken
thousands of kilometers away, many linguistic similarities to the Bantu lan-
guages in Cameroon can still be observed.
Guthrie (1971) classifies the Bantu languages areal-typologically. As a
referential classification, his model is, with slight modifications, still the
most widely accepted one, even though the classification is based on geog-
raphy, and not on linguistic-genetic criteria, as Maho (2001: 46) points out.
Guthrie divides the Bantu-speaking area into sixteen zones and names each
zone with a capital letter (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, K, L, M, N, P, R, S), as ex-
plained in Nurse & Philippson (2003: 3) and shown in Figure 1.3.4 He then
further subdivides each zone into smaller parts which he labels by decimals.
4
The figure is taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthrie_classification_of_Bantu_languages,
accessed on July 15th, 2015.
5
For instance, the Bantu zone A is divided into the sub-zones A10, A20, A30,
A40, A50, A60, A70, A80, and A90.
Figure 1.3: Bantu zones
Bantuists often distinguish between northwestern Bantu languages, also

called ‘Forest’ languages, and non-northwestern languages, referred to as
‘Savannah’ languages. Northwestern Bantu includes Guthrie’s zones A and
B at its core and, to a lesser extent, also (parts of) zones C, D, and H, de-
pending on the author (Nurse 2008: 10). Gyeli, as a Bantu A language, is
a northwestern Bantu language. Nurse & Philippson (2003: 5) state that
northwestern Bantu languages “form exceptions to many possible general-
izations for Bantu” and show lots of ‘non-Bantu’ features. This is also true
for Gyeli which is, for instance, a much more isolating language than its
Savannah relatives.
Classification within the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) The languages of

each sub-zone are specified by adding further digits to the sub-zone code.
For instance, Gyeli as part of the sub-zone A80 is referenced by A801. The
internal classification of A80, also called Makaa-Njem Group, is adapted
from Maho (2009: 15) and shown in Table 1.1. The table is sorted by the
6
Guthrie code ISO code Name(s)

A801 gyi Gyele, Bagyeli, Bakola
A802 ukh Ukwadjo, Ukhwejo
A803 Shiwe, Oshieba, Ossyeba, ‘Fang Makina’
A81 nmg Mvumbo, Kwasio, Ngumba, Magbea, Bujeba
A82 sox So
A83 mcp Makaa, South Makaa
A83A Bebend
A83B Mbwaanz
A83C Shikunda, Sekunda
A831 mkk Byep, North Makaa
A832 biw Bekol, Kol, Bikele
A84 njy Njem, Nyem, Zimu
A841 Bajue, Badwee
A842 ozm Koonzime, Nzime
A85a Nkonabeeb, Konabem
A85b bkw Bekwel, Bakwele
A86a Mezime, Medjime
A86b mgg Mpompon, Mpongmpong, Bombo
A86c mcx Mpiemo, Mbimu
A87 bmw Bomwali, Sanghasangha
Table 1.1: Internal classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80)
Guthrie code as updated by Maho (2009).5 The second column lists the ISO
code, if existing, as used in the Ethnologue. The third column gives the name
and possibly alternate names used for the language.6
Gyeli receives the Guthrie code A801 and the ISO code ISO 639-3: gyi.
As the three-digit Guthrie code shows, the language was not represented
in the original classification, but added later by Maho. According to Maho
(2001: 46), a third digit is added to the code if the language’s affiliation is
not clear or it is closely related to several other languages of the group.
One reason for Gyeli’s unclear status may be more ethnic or historical
than reflecting a synchronic linguistic reality. The Bagyeli have a special
status in that they are not ethnically Bantu. They are forest foragers who
have lived in symbiosis with sedentary Bantu farmer communities over a
long period of time. Ruhlen (1994: 154) expresses a widely held view:
5
Maho (2009) added some coding features to Guthrie’s system. Dialects are marked by
a letter following the digits. A lower-case letter is used in Guthrie’s original classification,
an upper-case letter for newly added dialects.
6
A valuable discussion of the geographic distribution of Bantu A80 languages, including
maps, is given in Cheucle (2014).
7
“It is assumed that Pygmies once spoke their own language(s), but that,
through living in symbiosis with other Africans, in prehistorical times, they
adopted languages belonging to these two families [Niger-Kordofanian and
Nilo-Saharan].” As with many other examples in the history of language
classification, ethnic affiliation and/or historic assumptions may have in-
fluenced linguistic classification. In the Gyeli case, this may have lead to
confusion as to how to integrate a hunter-gatherer language (with a suppos-
edly distinctive linguistic history) into a farmer language group since the
other languages of the Makaa-Njem group are all spoken by farming com-
munities. In synchronic linguistic description, however, neither the ethnic
background of the speakers nor an unknown linguistic history should play
a role in classifiying a language.
Another reason for Gyeli’s unclear status within the A80 group in Maho’s
(2009) classification may be due to the problematic differenciation between
‘language’ and ‘dialect’. The Gyeli language as it is spoken today is indeed
closely related to Kwasio (A81). As previous literature by Renaud (1976)
suggests, Gyeli is so similar to Kwasio that Bahuchet (2006) considers it be-
ing a dialect of the latter. This view may, however, be biased since Renaud
bases his description on a Gyeli variety that is closest to Kwasio. There are
other Gyeli varieties which are less related to Kwasio, but more influenced
by other neighboring farmer languages as I will explain in sections 1.1.3
and 1.1.4 on language contact and dialects of Gyeli.
I consider, just like the Ethnologue and Maho (2009), that Gyeli is a lan-
guage on its own, containing several dialects. Whether Gyeli is a language or
a dialect (of Kwasio) is not entirely uncontroversial, for indeed, the Bagyeli
in close vicinity to Kribi and along the road between Kribi and Lolodorf are
in close contact with Kwasio speakers and their variety is very similar to
Kwasio. There are, however, two main reasons why I treat Gyeli as a lan-
guage on its own. First, there are still significant differences in linguistic
features. For instance, the Gyeli tense system is highly reduced segmentally
in comparison to the farmer languages of the area. While all related and
neighboring Bantu farmer languages use inflectional morphemes to express
tense, tense-mood in Gyeli is only marked by tonal contrasts. Second, mu-
tual intelligibility between Kwasio and Gyeli is limited. All Bagyeli speak,
or at least understand, Kwasio for socio-economic reasons since they have
learned the language of higher prestige in a multilingual setting. My Kwasio
8
language assistants state, however, that when the Bagyeli speak their own
‘real’ or ‘deep’ language, i.e. when they do not make efforts to be understood
by their farming neighbors, Kwasio speakers do not understand them.
1.1.3 Language Contact

The Gyeli language is part of a highly complex language contact situation.
There are several groups and several directions of borrowing which all to-
gether make for an intricate language contact scenario. The Gyeli speakers
are in contact with eight Bantu farmer languages which, in turn, are influ-
enced by the colonial language French.
Figure 1.4 provides a map of the Gyeli speaking area and its contact
languages. Gyeli, marked by a purple line and shade, is roughly spoken
from the river Nyong in the north to just across the river Ntem in the south
into Equatorial Guinea. To the west, the area is delimited by the Atlantic
Ocean while it stretches almost to Ebolowa in the east. Bantu farmer contact
languages are represented by capital letters in different colors. The colors
correspond to different language subgroups within the Bantu A group. For
instance, the languages in green, Batanga and Yassa, are part of the A30
group. Some languages receive additional graphical marking by a shaded
area. Basaa is marked by a grey shade, Bulu by red, and Kwasio with its
two dialects Mabi and Ngumba in different blue shades. These languages
are specifically marked since they constitute the contact languages of Gyeli
varieties studied within the DoBeS project, as further explained in section
1.3.1. The variety I describe in this grammar is located in the red-shaded
Bulu region. Two locations are marked in the Bulu area, one with a blue
dot and one with a red dot. Officially, they belong to the same village
‘Nko’olong’. The blue dot represents the Bulu village Nko’olong. About 1-
2km to the southeast of it is the Gyeli village Ngolo (which outsiders also call
Nko’olong) where I collected the data for my description. Other locations
with a blue dot (Nziou as a Bantu farmer village) and with a red dot (Bibira
as another Gyeli village) are marked in the Mabi speaking area. Data from
these locations serve as comparative material to the Ngolo Gyeli variety
spoken in the Bulu region.
It is characteristic for this part of Cameroon that languages are geograph-
ically quite interspersed. Usually, there is no clear-cut area that only con-
9
Figure 1.4: Map of the Gyeli language area and its neighboring languages
tains one language. Taking a road in the northern part of the Gyeli speak-
ing area, for instance, one might pass a Basaa village. The next village
is Ewondo and then the next one is Basaa again. This is, of course, quite
difficult to visualize in a map showing a surface larger than 12.500 km2 .
Therefore, the map in Figure 1.4 is best understood as an approximation
rather than the represention of a linguistic reality.
Contact with Bantu farmer groups Bantu farmer languages in contact

with Gyeli include (read clockwise starting in the northwest in the map of
Figure 1.4): Batanga, Bakoko, Basaa, Ewondo, Bulu, Fang, Yasa, and Kwasio
with its two dialects Mabi and Ngumba. All of these languages also belong
to the Bantu A zone, though to different subgroups, as illustrated in Table
1.2.7
The nature of contact and thus the linguistic closeness between the Bagyeli
and speakers of these eight different farmer groups differs depending on the
socio-economic relations in play. The Bagyeli have closer relations to some
7
Each language name is accompanied by the ISO code as used in the Ethnologue.
10
Group Languages Color in Fig. 1.4

A30 Batanga (bnm), Yassa (yko) green
A40 Basaa (bas), Bakoko (bkh) grey
A70 Bulu (bum), Fang (fan), Ewondo (ewo) red
A80 Kwasio (nmg) with two dialects blue
Mabi and Ngumba
Table 1.2: Classification of Gyeli’s contact languages
farming groups than to others. Contact to the Yassa, for instance, who are
traditonally fishermen, is less intense than with the Kwasio who are, at least
partially, agriculturalists: the Bagyeli seem to be more interested in agricul-
tural products than in seafood. There may also be historic reasons why
relations to some farming Bantu groups are closer than to others depending
on whom the Bagyeli had first contact with and which Bantu farmer groups
arrived later in the area. Further, on an individual rather than a group level,
the type of contact may be different between individual Gyeli and farmer
families. Some Gyeli families have closer ties to certain farmer families than
others.
The picture is thus quite heterogeneous and would require a thorough
socio-economic survey supplemented by historic information in order to
provide a more informed account of the nature of different types of con-
tact. Since such a survey for the whole Gyeli speaking area would exceed
the frame of this work though, information presented here are based on
statements by my informants, both Bagyeli and farmers, on socio-linguistic
information gathered in the Gyeli village Ngolo, and on my observations of
contact behavior between some Gyeli and farmer groups.
It is important to keep in mind that the status of Gyeli and the surround-
ing farmer languages are not the same concerning the prestige of the lan-
guages. Gyeli is associated with backwardness, a lack of education and even
civilization. The Bantu farmer languages, in contrast, are the languages of
the Bagyeli’s patrons, associated with power and prestige. Thus, in inter-
ethnic communication between Bagyeli and Bantu farmers, it is the farmers’
languages that are being used. In fact, the farmers do not speak Gyeli. If
some farmers understand snippets of a conversation among the Bagyeli this
is only due to a certain amount of linguistic similarity between Gyeli and
Kwasio.
11
Multilinguism Speakers of all different languages in the area are in con-

tact with some other languages; it is not only the Bagyeli being in contact
with Bantu farmers. As a consequence of this close contact as well as in-
termarriage and trading relations, just to mention the most important fac-
tors, members of all ethnic groups are multilingual. This also holds for the
Bagyeli who are multilingual with at least the three languages they speak,
but usually even more. How many and which languages a Gyeli speaker
masters depends on the location of his or her village within the Gyeli speak-
ing area. Given the geographic size of the Gyeli speaking area, it is obvious
that a single Gyeli speaker is not in contact with all of the eight contact lan-
guages. Rather, Gyeli speakers are in close contact with usually one main
contact language. Further, all Bagyeli seem to speak or at least understand
Kwasio, Gyeli’s closest linguistic relative. If a Gyeli speaker speaks other
languages than Kwasio and potentially another language of close contact
depends then highly on individual ties to other Gyeli groups and individual
mobility. For instance, if a Gyeli speaker from a village in the Bulu contact
area has relatives in another Gyeli village closer to the Fang contact area
where he or she spends a certain amount of time, he or she will likely pick
up some of the Fang language.
Of course, it is difficult to measure the degree of fluency in several lan-
guages of even a restricted number of Gyeli speakers given the number of
languages the Bagyeli speak and the various factors for acquiring contact
languages. Since it was not possible to test fluency of all the various lan-
guages my consultants claim to ‘speak’, information provided here relies to
a large degree on the speakers’ self-assessment, at least for those languages I
have not witnessed interactions with. In the case of Kwasio and Bulu, I was
able to observe communications with the respective farmers and I am sure
that the Bagyeli indeed speak these languages they claim to speak. For other
languages, however, I do not have any data based on observation. In any
case, the Bagyeli I have worked with have a good intuition of the languages
of the area, even of those they do not speak: playing Gyeli texts from other
contact regions to them, they were able with a high degree of accuracy to
detect loan words from other contact languages within the text and, even
though they did not understand the meaning, they were able to indicate the
source language.
While Gyeli is in contact with several Bantu farmer languages, there is
12
also contact between different Gyeli varieties which I will describe in section
1.1.4. Bagyeli of the Bulu contact area also have strong ties with other
Bagyeli in the Mabi contact region who speak a different dialect. Contact
among Bagyeli of different contact languages may be the primary reason
that speakers have such a good intuition about languages of the area, even
if they do not speak them.
The role of French The last element in Gyeli’s language contact situation
is the colonial language French. Gyeli is not (yet) directly influenced by
French. Many Bagyeli do not go to school and thus do not speak French.
This situation, however, may change rapidly since more schools are being
built and the government, as well as some NGOs, make an effort to facilitate
schooling for Bagyeli children. Nontheless, Gyeli speakers already use a few
French words that regularly show up in texts. These words include mostly
particles and filling words such as donc ‘so’, alors ‘well’ or allez ‘let’s go’
and seem to have the emblematic function of showing a certain education.
They are borrowed from Bantu farmers who use the same expressions in
code-switching in their languages for exactly the same purpose.
Language contact situation in Ngolo Ngolo is situated in the Bulu (A70)

contact area, so Bulu is the primary farmer language of influence. The
Bagyeli in Ngolo are all mulitlingual. Besides Gyeli and the main contact
language Bulu, they also speak Kwasio (A80) (mostly its dialect Mabi, but
some speakers rather speak the other dialect Ngumba). Further, most con-
sultants in Ngolo speak Fang (A70). A few speakers in Ngolo have traveled
far and state that they speak even Makaa, Eton and Bamenda.
Concerning the command of French, the Bagyeli in Ngolo have a com-
paratively good school education. In contrast to many other Gyeli villages,
their children have attended school more or less regularly for a couple of
years. Further, some of them have worked in the nearby rubber plantations
where they had to interact in French. Thus, they all speak French on a basic
level. Their command is, however, not enough to have a whole conver-
sation or even do elicitations in French. There is a general tendency that
Gyeli speakers in Ngolo rather understate their level of French by claiming
that they do not speak French at all, while it turns out that they actually do
speak some and they definitely understand more than they claim.
13
In terms of contact with other Gyeli varieties, the main contact dialects
include Gyeli as it is spoken in contact with Mabi and Ngumba. Further,
inhabitants of Ngolo are in contact with Gyeli villages in the Fang region.
Since our project did not gather data in this region, however, it is not clear
whether the Gyeli variety of the Fang region constitutes a different dialect
than the one in the Bulu region. On an individual level, family ties may
reach further than these regions.
As a consequence of all these factors, there is a high degree of linguistic
variation even within just one village, depending on a speaker’s individual
linguistic background. In intra-ethnic communication, every Gyeli speaker
just speaks their ideolect and everybody understands without attempting to
correct each other concerning, for example, phonetic realizations or lexical
choices. One reason for this non-prescriptive language behavior is likely
due to the fact that there is no standard variety which could serve as the
norm. Other factors may include a low level of education and a relatively
egalitarian social system. An extreme example in Ngolo concerns a Gyeli
woman who grew up with Kwasio farmers and thus speaks Kwasio even
after having returned to the Gyeli village. This does not seem to bother the
other Bagyeli who speak Gyeli with her while she keeps speaking Kwasio.
1.1.4 Dialects
Gyeli speakers are currently shifting to the languages they are most closely
in contact with, due to massive changes in their environment, as outlined
in section 1.1.5. In the course of this language shift, different Gyeli dialects
are emerging, as previous work and results of the current DoBeS project
(section 1.3.1) show.
Already in the 1970s, Renaud (1976: 29) noticed two varieties, based on
phonological, morphological, and lexical differences. He refers to one vari-
ety as ‘Bajele’ which he views as more innovative, while the ‘Bakola’ variety
is said to be more conservative, being more closely related to Proto-Bantu
than to the Makaa-Njem Group.8 He further states that both varieties are
mutually intelligible and not bound to any specific geographic distribution.
While it is true that Gyeli varieties are mutually intelligible, there seems
8
This generalization is based on only 221 lexical items. It is also not quite clear what
the innovative versus conservative features are specifically.
14
to be some geographic distribution which is linked to Gyeli’s contact lan-

guages. Renaud’s ‘Bakola’ variety seems to roughly correspond with Gyeli
as spoken in the Basaa contact area, while his ‘Bajele’ variety refers to the
dialect spoken in the Ngumba contact area.9 It seems, however, be mislead-
ing to assume two varieties based on the two different names for the Gyeli
language. Rather, there are more varieties than just two, but none of them
have a specific name, neither given by the Bagyeli nor by outsiders. The
terms ‘Bakola’ and ‘Bajele’ are originally exonyms from Basaa and Kwasio,
respectively, which have become endonyms in the different Gyeli varieties
and other Gyeli varieties.
The data from the DoBeS project on Bakola/Bagyeli suggests that there
are at least three dialects: one that is influenced by Basaa, one by Kwasio,
and the third by Bulu. There may be more dialects corresponding to other
contact languages, such as Fang or Bakoko. Given the vast geographical
area and number of contact languages, it was, however, beyond the frame
of the project to investigate potential dialects in the entire Gyeli speaking
area. Additionally, linguistic variation within the language is not classified
by speakers by different dialect names. Thus, speakers would acknowledge
that other Gyeli speakers speak ‘differently’, being more influenced by a cer-
tain contact language, but there is no systematic classification nor labelling
of varieties. As such, it is difficult to artificially label different varieties.
Further, the geographic extent of a certain dialect is not known exactly at
this point and must be taken as preliminary.
Therefore, we do not suggest any specific names for different Gyeli va-
rieties, but rather refer to roughly where a dialect is spoken (not specifying
the exact geographical extent). Within the three different contact regions
that we investigated, namely Kwasio, Basaa, and Bulu, we collected data
from several locations. This way, we made sure that the language variety is
not only spoken in a particular village, but in a broader region.
Dialectal differences as observed within the DoBeS project are based on
9
A reason why Renaud does not notice any particular geographic distribution of the
two varieties may be due to his fieldwork location around Bipindi (see Figure 1.4). Bipindi
lies at the intersection of two roads: Along the east-west road, there are mainly Ngumba
villages, while the road to the north houses many Basaa villages. Nevertheless, villages of
different ethnic groups are generally interspersed and there is lots of contact between all
groups. In addition to that, the Bagyeli are highly mobile and frequently stay in other Gyeli
villages. Therefore, it is not surprising that both names seem to be used interchangeably
within the same area.
15
phonological and lexical differences. For instance, while the Gyeli variety
that is primarily in contact with Bulu uses alveolar fricatives /s/ and /z/,
these are systematically realized as postalveolar fricatives /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ in
the Kwasio contact region. Another example concerns voiced bilabial and
dental implosives which occur in the dialect that is in closest contact with
Basaa, but which are lacking in the varieties of the Kwasio and Bulu contact
region. Lexically speaking, each variety has a number of loan words from
its closest contact language that lack in different varieties.
Since the goal of this work is a grammatical description of one of the
Gyeli varieties, an exact dialect comparison with a more extensive list of
distinguishing features has to wait for future research, as well as determin-
ing more precisely how many Gyeli varieties there are. Another question
that cannot be answered at this point concerns the historical development
of Gyeli dialects. Thus, it is currently not clear when different varieties
started to emerge and whether this ties in with sedentarization patterns of
whether dialectal differentiation started already before the Bagyeli became
sedentary as of the 1960ies.10
1.1.5 Language Endangerment

Gyeli is considered an endangered language. Symptoms of Gyeli’s status
as an endangered language include a high level of bilinguism and on-going
adaptation of the native languages of neighboring Bantu farmers. Other
factors that are usually taken as signs of language endangerment such as
low speaker numbers and a low level of transmission to the young gener-
ation seem to be less indicative though. Currently, there are about 4,000
to 5,000 Gyeli speakers. While this is not a high number in comparison
to larger languages in the world, the number is not alarming per se, given
that all members of the ethnic group speak the language. In addition, the
language is still passed on to Gyeli children and it seems that the current
young generation is still fully fluent in Gyeli.
All Bagyeli are, however, at least bilingual with an increasing amount
of situations where they use the non-native language. As a result, the non-
native language has an impact on the way Gyeli is spoken, as outlined in
section 1.1.4. Investigating the causes for the increased use of other lan-
10
This date is given by Renaud (1976: 25).
16
guages than Gyeli reveals the level of endangerment, even though this is
not (yet) reflected in speaker numbers and language transmission to the
next generation.
The two major causes for Gyeli to be viewed as endangered concern
massive changes in the Bagyeli’s environment, as discussed in section 1.2.1,
and the low social status of the Bagyeli. While the Bagyeli are traditionally
hunter-gatherers depending on the forest for food resources, they are pro-
gressively forced to change their subsistence strategy towards more seden-
tary farming activities. Together with this economic change, they are also
linguistically adapting to their farming neighbors.
Another factor that reinforces language endangerment is the low pres-
tige of Gyeli which ties in with the low social status of the Bagyeli as an eth-
nic group within the Cameroonian society. The Bagyeli are discriminated
against by other Bantu farmer groups for their perceived backwardedness,
“primitive” lifestyle, low level of education, and lack of political organiza-
tion and thus power. While not all Bantu farmers have a negative attitude
towards the Bagyeli, the general sense is that the Bagyeli need to change
their lifestyle, become sedentary and modern, educated and part of the gen-
eral Cameroonian society.
Such expectations as well as discrimination have an impact on the Bagyeli’s
linguistic behavior. As Ngima Mawoung (2001: 218) notes, Bagyeli report-
edly prefer to speak Kwasio when addressing outsiders. Since language also
has an emblematic function, many Bagyeli prefer not to speak Gyeli to out-
siders since they perceive their language as a sign of their putative back-
wardedness. Instead, speaking a Bantu farmer language shows a higher
level of education and distances the speaker less from the other Camerooni-
ans. This was confirmed in my fieldwork experience, speakers had an initial
tendency to switch to Bulu or Kwasio when speaking with the interpreters
until they got used to speaking their language with outsiders.
Given the massive environmental changes in the area as well as the enor-
mous social pressure to adapt to the Bantu farmers’ lifestyle, it seems just a
natural consequence to also adopt linguistic practices. Therefore, the future
of the Gyeli language is far from being safe, despite current fluency amongst
Gyeli children.
17
1.1.6 Special Features of Gyeli

In terms of its linguistic structure, Gyeli yields features that are of interest
to both Bantuists and to general typologists. In the following, I will list a
few examples. Phonologically, for instance, Gyeli has more complex conso-
nants and consonant clusters than other Bantu languages. These include, for
example, homorganic affricates /pf/ and /bv/ and the prenasalized labio-
velar /mgb/. Sounds that are usually analyzed as implosives in neighboring
languages are realized as pre-glottalized and prevoiced stops in Gyeli.
Tone plays a central role in this language, both for lexical distinctions
and grammatical functions. Tense-mood distinctions are achieved without
segmental morphemes, but only by tonal manipulation of the subject-clause-
operator (SCOP) and the tonal pattern of the verb. In addition to tense-mood
marking, tone also has a syntactic function of linking the clostest argument
to the verb.
In terms of nominal morphology, Gyeli has a remarkable system of geni-
tive constructions when linking two nouns via an attributive marker. While
the marker generally agrees in gender with the head noun, it receives a
special form when the head noun is a proper name. Besides, Gyeli has in-
tricate rules under which the attributive marker can be omitted in contrast
to contexts when it has to occur.
Another typologically rare property of Gyeli concerns its postpositions.
As Dryer (2013) shows, languages with a basic V O word order usually have
prepositions. While Gyeli has a basic V O word order, it nevertheless has
both pre- and postpositions.
While Bantu languages are generally known for their productive verb
extensions, part of the Gyeli verbal derivation system is in decay, merging
applicative and causative suffixes. In contrast, the language has an elaborate
system of leser studied extensions, distingushing for example autocausatives
and positionals.
Gyeli also has a rich system in terms of negation strategies. The ex-
pression of negation depends on the tense-mood category and clause type.
While, in the present negation is marked by a suffix on the verb and a
special tonal pattern of the SCOP, negation in past and future is encoded
by distinct negation words. The present as well as subordinate clauses fur-
ther use a negation adverb which requires an infinitival verb in dependent
18
clauses.
The language has a multitude of ways to express non-verbal predicates,
using three different non-verbal copulas and three verbal forms. The choice
of the form depends both on the tense-mood category of the phrase and the
type of relation between the subject and the non-verbal predicate.
1.1.7 Previous Literature

Languages of the Makaa-Njem Group generally constitute under-studied lan-
guages. While there are a few accounts by SIL missionaries and local stu-
dents, these works are often difficult to access. Probably the best known and
widely available description of an A80 language is the sketch grammar on
Makaa by Heath (2003). Cheucle (2014) provides a thorough comparative
study of the A80 languages, comparing phoneme and tonal inventories as
well as noun class systems. She also gives a valuable review of the linguis-
tic literature of the Makaa-Njem languages so that I will not go into further
detail here in this respect. Instead, I will review the existent literature on
Gyeli, both linguistic and non-linguistic.
Previous linguistic literature on the Gyeli language is quite limited. It
includes a description of ‘Bajɛle’ by Renaud (1976) from the 1970ies. This
work is quite valuable and detailed in many respects. It is, however, re-
stricted to the phonology and nominal morphology to the Gyeli variety that
is spoken around Bipindi in the Kwasio contact region (with some influ-
ence by Basaa). Therefore, the description of the Gyeli variety spoken in
Ngolo extents Renaud’s work in terms of a more in-depth grammatical de-
scription, covering, for instance, also verb morphology and clause types. It
further adds to our knowledge about Gyeli varieties, given that the variety
spoken in Ngolo constitutes a different dialect in comparison to the variety
that Renaud studied. Besides, Letouzey (1995) provides an ethnobotanic
perspective on the language by comparing Gyeli tree names with other lan-
guages of the region.
Early publications on the Bagyeli comes mostly from missionary and
traveller reports. This is, for example, the case with Seiwert (1926) who
gives an anecdotal account of his encounters with the Bagyeli in ‘Anthro-
pos’. Other reports have been published even before the turn into the 21st
century in German colonial reports and ethnographic journals. A list of
19
these very early publications on Gyeli, which are generally difficult to get
access to, is provided in Renaud (1976: 357-360). Newer ethnographic pub-
lications on the Bagyeli include papers by, for example, Joiris (1994) and
Ngima Mawoung (2001) which both focus on the relationship between the
Bakola and their neighbors. While this list is certainly not exhaustive, it
covers the seemingly most important ethnographic studies, supplementing
Renaud’s list.
Recent years have also seen a flourishing literature involving research on
the Bagyeli in other scientific areas. One domain of publications involves
ethnopharmacological and medical literature. Fomogne-Fodjo et al. (2014),
for instance, investigate the Bagyeli’s plant use for treating respiratory prob-
lems. Mauclère et al. (2011) study viral infections in the Bagyeli population
as compared to the Bantu farmer population.
Another area of great attention in the recent literature concerns the
Bagyeli’s changing environment and their (lack of) protection as an eth-
nic minority group. For instance, Pelican (2009) discusses the impact (or
lack thereof) of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples by the
United Nations General Assembly in 2007 on ethnic minority groups such
as the Bagyeli in American Ethnologist Journal. Germond-Duret (2012)
explores discourse dynamics in the construction of indigenous peoples by
different actors of conflicting interests in the International Journal on Mi-
nority and Group Rights. The impacts of the developing oil industry in the
Gyeli speaking area is investigated in Cultural Survival Quarterly by Nelson
& Tchouomba (2004) and in the Journal of Developing Societies by Swing
et al. (2012).
In addition to traditionally published resources, more information on the
Bagyeli is also found in other media, for example online. The DoBeS lan-
guage documentation project that constitutes the framework of this descrip-
tion (see section 1.3.1) provides information along with pictures and links
to audio and video recordings in the DoBeS archive. Another online source
is provided by the anthropologist Devin (2015) who has a website on dif-
ferent Central African ‘Pygmy’ groups online, including information on the
Bagyeli/Bakola. Further, there are various documentaries. Lorenz (2014)
produced a documentary series in three episodes as part of our documenta-
tion project. Another documentary was done by Thomopoulos (2012).
20
1.2 The Gyeli Speakers

In this section, I provide more information on the Gyeli speakers, including
their environment and lifestyle in terms of culture and subsistence.
1.2.1 Environment
Geographic extent Gyeli (or Kola) speakers live roughly in the area be-
tween the Nyong river in the north and the Ntem river at the border to
Equatorial Guinea, as shown in the map of Figure 1.4. Lewis (2009) reports
in the Ethnologue that a few Gyeli speakers also live in Equatorial Guinea,
but the majority of speakers are found on the Cameroonian side. On a west-
east axis, the Gyeli speaking area stretches from the coastline of the Atlantic
Ocean to about 150km inland, not quite reaching the town Ebolowa.
Vegetation and climate The Bagyeli are forest foragers of the tropical
rainforest in southwestern Cameroon. Woodlands usually consist of pri-
mary rainforest, but also more and more of secondary forest, i.e. forest areas
which have regrown after logging. Primary rainforest is also increasingly
replaced by private gardens and manioc farms and industrial plantations for
rubber, cocoa, and palm oil.
Generally, forest areas are still large, however, and often difficult to
access since roads are few and often so bad that they cannot be used by
cars. Also, the rainforest is interspersed by a multitude of waterways, rivers,
streams, and creeks. These could potentially be used as infrastructure through
the forest, but the Bagyeli usually walk by foot rather than building canoes
to use these waterways for moving in the forest. The same is true for the
Bagyeli who live close to the coastline: canoes are not part of their trans-
portation system.
The climate in this part of the world is tropical with an alternation of dry
and rainy seasons. There is a dry season from November through February
with temperatures reaching 32 degrees celsius. From March through June
follows a so-called ‘small’ rainy season with drizzly rain while July is rela-
tively drier again, but generally cooler than the big dry season. June and
July are usually the busiest times of the year fro the Bagyeli since this is the
season for intensely collecting honey, fruit and nuts. The time from August
21
through October receives most of the precipitation in a year with almost

daily strong rains and heavy storms.
Changing landscape While the Bagyeli live traditionally as mobile hunter-

gatherers in the rainforest, the changing landscape of the last decades is one
cause for changes in their lifestyle. A lot of Gyeli villages are now also found
alongside roads in close vicinity to Bantu farmer villages. Those who do not
live close to the roads usually stay in more remote areas. These remote
areas are typically regions that are less valued by the Bantu neighbors for
their farming activities, such as hill sides, wetlands or the immediate area
around protected forest such as the Campo Ma’an Reserve.
As a general tendency, there are fewer and fewer places the Bagyeli can
live in the forest because of rapid deforestation. Industrial development
of the region has the biggest impact on forest destruction. Forest area is
significantly decimated by the construction of the deep-sea port south of
Kribi, the largest port for central Africa which was inaugurated in 2015.
The Kribi port complex spreads over 26,000ha and a coastline of 20km,
according to Ntaryike (2015). Related infrastructure development projects
further cause forest loss, such as the oil pipeline that runs from the border
of Chad to the new port. The port also requires an extension of the existing
road and railroad net for inland transportation. Figure 1.5 shows some of
the landscape changes, including protected forests, the new deep-sea port,
and the oil pipeline.
Other manners of land exploitation also deprive the Bagyeli of rainforest
areas they formerly had access to. There have been increased logging ac-
tivities for tropical woods. Industrial plantations such as SOCAPALM (palm
oil) and HEVECAM (rubber) take over and expand on former primary rain-
forest.11 Even projects that are intended to protect the environment, such
as the Campo Ma’an Reserve, displace the Bagyeli from former areas they
inhabited since they are not allowed to live within the Reserve.
11
Both plantations are roughly located to the southwest of Ngolo, but it was impossible
to find any maps of their extent. Information on their total surface is also difficult to find.
In a project approved in 1980, the Worldbank (2015) specifies that the HEVECAM rubber
plantation has a surface of 40,000ha. These figures are most likely outdated, though while
exact figures for SOCAPALM do not seem to be publicly accessible. For a general overview,
the World Resources Institute (2015) provides more systematic information on the kinds
of land use in the Forest Atlas of Cameroon. It is, however, not always clear who has the
land rights.
22
Figure 1.5: Map of landscape changes in the Gyeli area
1.2.2 Subsistence and Culture

Subsistence The Bagyeli are traditionally forest foragers who live off hunt-
ing animals in the rainforest and gathering plants, fruit, nuts, and honey.
Hunting techniques involve killing animals with spears and machetes as well
as net hunts with a larger group of individuals. Every Gyeli village has a
number of dogs that help with hunting. The Bagyeli also build different
types of traps, depending on the animal they are looking for. Animals that
the Bagyeli eat include all sorts of monkeys, wild cats, different types of an-
tilopes ranging from small duikers to larger water bucks, mongooses, bush
rats, porcupines, but also non-vertebrates such as snails and snakes.
Fish is also on the dietary plan, but is less valued than meat. Fishing is
regarded as a passtime, especially for children, but not as a serious activity.
Bagyeli catch fish in creeks in the forest by building dams or, in deeper
rivers and the sea, by using fish lines, standing on rocks. All of them are
usually good swimmers, but they do not venture out into the sea.
Honey is highly valued for it is often dangerous to reach. Bee hives
are usually high up in trees so that the Bagyeli have to climb a tree and
smoke the bees out—without any security line holding them. Vegetarian
23
food resources involve different types of tubers, fruit that grow in the forest,
such as the so-called wild mango that is used to make a sauce, and nuts.
Since primary forest is becoming increasingly scarce, so are the animals
and plants the Bagyeli depend on. Therefore, the Bagyeli get more and more
engaged in other activities as well in order to make a living. This concerns
foremost low-scale farming such as growing fruit trees (e.g. bananas and
plantains, bread fruit, canarium schweinfurthii, known as purple canary trees,
citrus and avocado) which require little maintenance. They also grow other
plants though which need more care in small fields, such as manioc and
yams. Keeping chickens is another innovation in many Gyeli camps.
Besides farming activities, some Bagyeli may earn a little bit of money
through day labor in the industrial plantations or with the Bantu farmer
neighbors and through selling wild meat and baskets they make. A few
villages have also discovered tourism as a source of income where they take
gifts (money, food, drinks) in return for pictures the tourists take.
Sedentarization and mobility patterns While the Bagyeli were tradi-

tionally nomads, changing their camp sites frequently, they have become
more and more sedentarized over the past decades12 as a result of envi-
ronmental changes as well as government efforts. As a consequence, Gyeli
villages are generally as permanent now as those of the Bantu farmers in
the sense that the material village does not change location.
The Bagyeli do keep, however, certain mobility patterns on both a group
and an individual level. Groups of Bagyeli still leave their permanent vil-
lage for hunting trips that can take up several days and even weeks. On
such hunting trips, the Bagyeli construct traditional huts or use seasonal
camps in the forest to sleep. Additonally, mobility is kept on an individual
basis where single people move between different villages to visit relatives,
partners, and friends. Such visits can also be extended to several days and
weeks.
Settlement patterns Traditionally, the Bagyeli lived in temporary camps

in the forest. The huts they used for shelter were made out of sticks and
12
Renaud (1976: 25) assumes progressive sedentarization since the 1960s, while Joiris
(1994: 86) proposes that the Bagyeli have become increasingly sedentary already since the
early 1900s.
24
leafage. These huts are easy to assemble, requiring about 3 hours of work
load. Nowadays, many Gyeli villages are comparable to those of the Bantu
farmer neighbors, with the exception that they are usually smaller in size.
An average Gyeli village, of which there are more than 100 in the whole
Gyeli speaking area, has 20-30 inhabitants. There are, however, also smaller
settlements with just a core family of 4-5 people, or exceptionally large
villages with up to 150 inhabitants. Houses in permanent Gyeli villages are
either made from wooden planks or clay, so-called poto-poto houses, which
are highly valued by the Bagyeli since they are in the same style as the Bantu
farmers’ houses. Gyeli villages are either along the roads that cross-cut the
rainforest, being built in close vicinity to Bantu farmer villages, or remotely
located in the forest.
Due to environmental changes, there have been recent cases of resettle-
ment. For example, Gyeli villages that were formerly located in the Campo
Ma’an Reserve were moved outside the Reserve. Now, they line the bor-
der to the Park. There are also villages that needed to make way for the
deep-sea port south of Kribi, as for example the village Bibira in Figure 1.5.
While Bantu farmer villages, which were moved as well, got monetary com-
pensation, the affected Gyeli villages have not yet received their promised
compensation. Instead, wooden houses were built for them outside the for-
est with the prospect that they may be resettled again.
Relations with Bantu farmers Relations between Bagyeli and their farm-
ing Bantu neighbors are complex. Generally, the Bantu farmers have a
higher prestige and marriages between Bagyeli and farming neighbor com-
munties are unilateral—Bantu farmer men occasionally marry Gyeli women,
but Bantu farmer women do not marry Gyeli men. Apart from these ten-
dencies, the relationship between Bagyeli and Bantu farmers takes a range
of forms. On the extreme ends of this spectrum, the relationship may be
described as one between masters and slaves, patrons and clients, or, on
the other hand, as family relations. During the project, we have witnessed
Bantu farmers who stated that they owned a certain Gyeli group and that we
would have to pay them money in order to see the Bagyeli. In contrast, we
have also seen Bantu farmer women who referred to elderly Gyeli women
as their mother whom they treated with respect.
We interviewed Bagyeli in various villages of different language contact
25
regions about the perceived relation to their Bantu neighbors. Many of the
interviewees stated that they felt discriminated against in several ways. Dis-
crimination, according to them, ranges from unequal treatment in business
transactions to verbal and physical violence. For instance when selling bush
meat, the Bagyeli would be paid much lower prices than Bantu vendors. In
general, they state that they are poorly paid for day labor. Verbal discrim-
ination involves either mockery, e.g. comparing bad habits such as getting
very drunk to typical “Pygmy” behavior, or insults. In a few cases, Bagyeli
also reported of physical violence and being beaten by Bantu farmers (the
exact circumstances where not described though). In contrast, some speak-
ers also talked about their ‘Bulu father’ who would lend them his gun in
order to help young men out. This way, the young men could kill and sell
more animals to save money for the required brideprice of the women they
intended to marry.
In order to obtain a more holistic picture of the heterogeneous relations
between Bagyeli and farmers, we also interviewed several villagers from
various Bantu farmer groups. Also in these interviews, different attitudes
were reflected. Some interviewees saw the Bagyeli as backward, dirty, dis-
honest, and ‘primitive’. Many requested that the government needed to help
them so that they would reach an equal development state as the farmers
by building schools and hospitals. Others called the Bagyeli their ‘brothers’
who were basically of equal rank. In some cases, Bantu farmers expressed
great admiration for the Bagyeli’s skills as dancers and healers. For exam-
ple, Bagyeli are frequently invited to the farmers for weddings and funerals
in order to make music and dance. Bantu farmers also consult Gyeli healers
for health issues. As such, they are admired for their magical powers, but
also feared. No matter whether the attitude was more on the friendly or dis-
criminatory side, the overall view was that the Bagyeli needed to stop living
in the forest, but become modern people, more like the farmers themselves.
1.3 Methodology
In this section, I describe the methodology involved in producing this gram-
matical description. I first outline the project that served as the framework
for the grammar. I then define the ‘speech community’ whose language
26
variety I describe before I detail the data on which this grammar is based.
1.3.1 The Project

The basis for this grammar stems from 19 months of field research that I con-
ducted within the frame work of the DoBeS (Documentation of Endagered
Languages) project on the Bakola/Bagyeli language from March 2010 till
February 2012 and during an extended project phase from March 2013 till
August 2014. The overall goal of the project was to document aspects of
the Gyeli language, concentrating on the collection and archiving of pri-
mary data. Primary data include both audio and video recordings, covering
various text genres, e.g. conversations, interviews, traditional story telling,
songs, and descriptive texts accompanying everyday activities such as hunt-
ing and hut building. A more detailed description of the data is provided in
section 1.3.3.
The project was carried out by the project director Prof. Maarten Mous
and three linguists: Dr. Emmanuel Ngue Um, Daniel Duke and myself. In
addition to the linguists, the project also included a professional camera-
man, Christopher Lorenz. In terms of task distribution, the three linguists
worked in different regions of the Gyeli speaking area, as respresented by
the shaded areas in Figure 1.4. Ngue Um worked on describing the Kola va-
riety spoken in the Basaa contact area, Duke mainly worked in the Kwasio
contact region around Lolodorf, but also in the Gyeli village Bibira, while
the variety of my description is located in the Bulu contact region. The cam-
eraman Lorenz joined the linguists’ team each year for several weeks and
made high-quality video recordings in all dialectal areas.
1.3.2 The Construction of a Speech Community

A grammar is usually the description of some variety of a language spo-
ken by a group of speakers that, in an idealized way, constitutes the speech
community. In reality, however, there is no such thing as a ‘pure’ or homo-
geneous speech community. A speech community that serves as the basis
for a grammatical description is rather an abstraction made by the linguist.
Various factors interfere with a clear-cut concept of ‘speech community’, the
most important ones being language contact and multilinguism in the Gyeli
27
case.
As outlined in section 1.1.3, the Gyeli language situation is complex with
a high degree of language contact and multilinguism. As such, idiolects may
differ quite a lot from speaker to speaker, even within the same village, de-
pending on their individual language exposure of various contact languages
and personal family ties to other Gyeli villages in other language contact
regions.
I consider the village Ngolo as the speech community that provides the
empirical basis for this grammar. Ngolo is located in the Bulu contact region
and constitutes a different dialect from Gyeli villages in the Basaa or Kwasio
speaking area. I do not, however, view the Gyeli variety as spoken in Ngolo
necessarily representative for all Gyeli villages in the Bulu contact region
since such a generalization would require a larger data coverage of all Gyeli
villages in this region.13
A further complication with this ‘speech community’ is to delimit who
exactly is a member of Ngolo and thus to pinpoint how many speakers the
community has. As explained in section 1.2.2, the Bagyeli are still highly
mobile between permanent villages. Therefore, there is always fluctuation
in terms of presence and absence of individuals. While the number of houses
remains stable, at any given time, I would never get the exact same set and
number of speakers. The village has six houses that belong to different core
families. The number of inhabitants is around thirty, including children.
Core families or individuals may, however, be away for some time, visiting
relatives in other villages are staying in the forest on extended hunting trips.
At the same time, other relatives may be visiting and staying in the Ngolo
houses. In order to come to grips with these dynamics, as a working defini-
tion for Gyeli speakers of Ngolo, I consider those a member of the ‘speech
community’ who state that that they were either born in the village or come
from another village within the Bulu contact region.
1.3.3 Data
Findings presented in this grammar are based both on elicitations and an
extensive amount of natural texts. As part of a language documentation
13
Data gathered in another Gyeli village within the Bulu contact region, called Bom-
napenda, suggests, however, that the variety in Ngolo and Bomnapenda constitute one
dialect as opposed to other varieties in the Kwasio and Basaa regions.
28
project, the documentary team collected a variety of text genres such as

narratives, procedural, hortative, and descriptive texts, dialogues, conver-
sations, and interviews, among others. These also include a wide range of
everyday activities such as hunting with different techniques such as spears
or nets, building traps and huts, collecting honey, building musical instru-
ments, preparing hunted animals, dancing, healing sessions, and telling tra-
ditional and autobiographical stories.14
The text corpus that specifically serves as the empirical basis for the
description of the Ngolo variety is comprised of 540 intonation phrases of
high-quality annotation, distributed over three text genres, namely a folk-
tale, a conversation between multiple speakers, and an autobiographical
narrative. The annotated texts can be found in Appendix II. In addition
to these thorough annotations, more natural text has been roughly anno-
tated and/or translated. These supplementary annotations and translations
include 15 different texts and snippets of texts of about 2 hours and 10 min-
utes in total. In addition to annotations, I use lexical databases, one for
nouns and one for verbs. The noun database includes 875 entries and the
verb database 377.
I also gathered experimental data based on the language of perception
field manual designed at the Max-Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics.
These experiments included color naming tasks developed by Majid & Levin-
son (2007), the olfactory test by Majid et al. (2007), the taste test by Senft
& Levinson (2007) and tests on spatial orientation by Levinson & Schmitt
(1993) and topological relations by Bowerman & Pederson (1992).
The third kind of data I collected contains elicitations and questionnaires.
They are comprised of approximately 1,000 audio recording sessions with
an average of 10 minutes each, and in total about 167 hours. The question-
naires I used include, for instance, questionnaires on tense-aspect-mood,
question types, relative clauses, and information structure. Each question-
naire that served as a basis for my analysis is cited in the chapter where the
data occurs. While the collection of natural text and experimental tasks took
place in the village of Ngolo, I supplemented these data with elicitations and
questionnaires with language consultants in Kribi.
14
A selection of audio and video material and their annotations can be found in the
DoBeS archive. At present, 133 audio and 52 video recordings from different dialect areas
are uploaded into the archive, 69 of which are annotated.
29
Elicitations were carried out with one consultant at a time, varying be-
tween five different speakers during my fieldwork. Natural text and exper-
imental data stem from a larger pool of speakers. The number of speakers
that provided natural text from Ngolo include at least 15 adult speakers.
Given that the approximate size of the village is 30 inhabitants, including
children, this seems to cover the entire adult population. In group conver-
sations, children were also present and so their speech was also recorded.
Some speakers were recorded more often than others, depending on their
availability. While the ratio of male and female speakers is equal, men re-
ceived slightly more recording time since women seemed to be generally
busier with cooking while men had more time. Since basically all speakers
of Ngolo were recorded, also all age groups are represented in the record-
ings. Adult speakers’ ages range from teenagers15 to elders of about 60
years.
1.4 Structure of the Grammar

This grammar is divided into seven chapters. After this introductory part,
I describe the phonology of Gyeli in chapter 2. This chapter contains a
discussion of the phoneme inventory, the syllable structure as well as a
description of the tonology.
In chapter 3, I explore grammatical phenomena in the noun phrase, start-
ing out with the gender and agreement system. As such, I investigate mod-
ifiers of the noun and invariable elements found in the noun phrase. Ad-
positions are also discussed in this chapter as well as other types of noun
phrases, fir instance noun + noun constructions.
Chapter 4 deals with the verb phrase. I first outline the verb structure
and verbal derivation suffixes. Then, I discuss adverbs and ideophones. The
inflectional level of the verb phrase, namely tense, aspect, and mood as well
as negation, is described separately in chapter 5.
The last two chapters are reserved for clause types. In chapter 6, I in-
vestigate simple clauses, including both verbal and non-verbal predicates.
I lay out the grammatical relations found in Gyeli and discuss basic word
15
In the Gyeli society, adulthood starts earlier than in western societies. Thus, teenagers
of around 15 years are considered as young adults. Age is generally subject to estimation
since the Bagyeli usually do not know their exact age.
30
order as well as special word order constructions, for instance within the
domain of information structure and questions. Also complex predicates
and sentential modification are described. Chapter 7 deals with complex
clauses including different types of both coordination and subordination,
e.g. relative and adverbial clauses.
The seven main chapters are supplemented by a tripartite appendix. In
Appendix I, I list the specific verb extensions for each verb in my verb
database. Appendix II contains a collection of annotated natural text. Ap-
pendix III provides a Gyeli — English dictionary with about 1500 lexical
entries.
31
Chapter 2
Phonology
In this chapter, I outline the sound patterns of Gyeli including segmental and
tonological phonology. The phonological description is complemented by
some basic phonetic information. My account of Gyeli phonology is largely
theory-neutral. In the tonology section, I recur to autosegmental phonology
for convenience of explaining tonal rules.
Note on notational conventions Gyeli does not have an official orthog-

raphy. For phonological and phonetic transcription in this chapter, I use
IPA symbols. Phonetic representations are marked by square brackets []
while phonemic transcription is marked by slashes / /. Throughout the
other chapters of this grammar as well as in glossed examples I use a typi-
cal Bantu notation. Even though most of the Gyeli speakers are illiterate at
the time of writing this grammar, their literacy will certainly increase over
the next decades. At the same time, more literate Bantu neighbors such as
the Mabi, prefer a typical Bantu orthography which will facilitate the use of
this grammar for Gyeli speakers at a later point given that the Bagyeli are
mostly taught by teachers of surrounding Bantu groups.
The main differences between phonological transcription and Bantu or-
thography concerns the palatal nasal /ɲ/ which is represented as ny in the
orthography. The palatal glide /j/ is marked as y in the orthography while
the affricate /dʒ/ is represented as dj in the orthography. Further, in the
orthography, I do not distinguish alveolar and velar nasals [n] and [ŋ]. In
the orthography, I write them both as n because they are allophones and
their realization is predicatble from their phonetic environment.
32
As described in section 2.4 of this chapter, Gyeli is a tonal language. I in-

dicate tone according to the Africanist tradition with accent marks, an acute
accent [ ́] representing a high (H) tone and a grave accent [ ̀] representing
a low (L) tone. If a syllable is not represented with any tonal marking, this
indicates that it is toneless. In glossed examples, the first line represents the
surface form, showing phonetic tone. Thus, even toneless syllables will be
marked for their surface tone here. The second line represents the under-
lying phonological form where toneless syllables are represented without
tonal marking.
Outline of the chapter I first describe Gyeli’s segmental phonology in-

cluding the consonant and vowel inventory which are both complemented
by realization rules and phonotactics. In a third part, I describe the syl-
lable structures of Gyeli nouns and verbs before I finally turn to tonology.
This last section contains the tone inventory as well as tonal distribution
and rules. I conclude the chapter with a discussion of the place of Gyeli
phonology within Bantu A80 languages.
2.1 Consonants
Gyeli segmental phonology features many typical characteristics that one
would expect for a Bantu languages, but there is also a certain degree of
variation, as will become clear in this chapter. Gyeli has, in relation to Proto
Bantu (PB), retained a fairly simple vowel system with the same number of
distinctions, namely seven, however with some featural changes (see section
2.2).
Concerning the consonant system, the Gyeli system seems to be more
complex than the PB one. According to Hyman (2003: 42) who cites Meeussen
(1967), PB only had 11 consonantal phonemes including a series of voice-
less stops *p, *t, *k and voiced stops *b, *d, *g.1 *c and *j can, as Hyman
(2003) points out, be interpreted as either affricates or palatal stops. Fi-
nally, PB had a series of nasals *m, *n, *ɲ. Gyeli has developed in addition
1
There is discussion whether the latter should be viewed as voiced stops or rather as
continuants *β, *l, *ɣ as which they occur in many Bantu languages today (Hyman 2003:
42).
33
to these PB sounds, a series of fricatives and semi-vowels, as I will describe

in detail in the following.
In this section, I will first outline the phonemic inventory of Gyeli by pro-
viding minimal pairs. In section 2.1.2, I present realization rules, including
allophonic variation. Consonant clusters are discussed in section 2.1.3. Sec-
tion 2.1.4 gives information on the phonotactics of sounds, comparing their
distribution in noun and verb stems.
2.1.1 Phonemic Inventory

Gyeli has 22 phonemic consonants, as illustrated in Table 2.1. These com-
prise (series of) stops, fricatives, affricates, nasals, lateral approximants,
glides, and prenasalized stops.
Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p, b t, d k, g ʔ
Fricatives f, v s, z
Affricates tʃ, dʒ
Nasal m n ɲ
Lateral approx. l
Glides w j
Pren. stops mb nd ŋg
Table 2.1: Phonemic inventory
In the following, I will demonstrate the phonemic status of each of the pro-
posed phoneme by contrast of (near-)minimal pairs.
/p/ Gyeli has a series of plosives including bilabial, alveolar, velar, and
glottal stops. Except for the glottal stop, all plosives have a functional op-
position of voicing. /p/ contrasts in stem initial position with a range of
other phonemes, some of which are listed in (1), including for instance its
voiced counterpart /b/.
(1) pɔ́ ‘news, message’ vs. bɔ̀ ‘rot’

pɛ́mbɔ́ ‘clay, bread’ vs. vɛ́mbɔ ‘blow nose’
pɛ́lɛ̀ ‘moment’ vs. tɛ́lɛ ‘place sth. upright’
34
púù ‘reason’ vs. fúù ‘driver ant’

pɛ̂ ‘choose’ vs. kɛ̀ ‘walk (v.)’
/p/ in stem-medial position is rather rare and I only found one minimal pair:
(2) pɛ́pɛ́ ‘clay, bread’ vs. pɛ́lɛ̀ ‘side’
/b/ Bilabial plosives have a voicing contrast, functionally opposing /p/

and /b/ as shown in (3).
(3) búɔ̀ ‘mortar’ vs. pùɔ́ ‘pay’

bɛ̀ ‘sow, cultivate’ vs. pɛ̂ ‘choose’
bàwɛ ‘carry’ vs. wàwɛ ‘spread out’
bíwɔ̀ ‘bad luck’ vs. víwɔ ‘suck’
bílɛ ‘being beat’ vs. sílɛ ‘finish’
In contrast to its voiceless counterpart, /b/ is more frequent in stem-medial

position. (Near-)minimal pairs are provided in (4).
(4) kfúbɔ́ ‘chicken’ vs. kfùmɔ́ ‘stump’

tsíbɔ ‘grind, trample’ vs. tsìlɔ ‘write’
dvùbɔ ‘soak, dip’ vs. dvùdɔ ‘drive’
/t/ Alveolar plosives also have a voicing contrast distinguishing /t/ and
/d/, as shown in (5).
(5) túmbɔ́ ‘country’ vs. dúmbɔ́ ‘package’

tándɔ́ ‘womb’ vs. jándɔ́ ‘trace’
-tánɛ̀ ‘five’ vs. sánɛ ‘decide’
tɔ̀ndɔ̀ ‘nail’ vs. lɔ̀ndɔ́ ‘ring’
tàmɛ ‘spit’ vs. wámɛ ‘hurry’
(Near-)minimal pairs in stem medial position are rare since most occur-
rences of stem medial /t/ seem to be found in loan words or words that are
areally widespread.
(6) pɔ̀tɔ̀ ‘clay’ vs. pɔ̀pɔ́ ‘papaya’

sɔ́tì ‘trousers’ vs. sɔ́nì ‘shame’
tàtɔ ‘squeak’ vs. tàwɔ̀ ‘goat’
Further, I have not found any opposition of /t/ and /d/ intervocalically
within a stem.
35
/d/ The phoneme /d/ occurs both stem initially and stem medially as
shown in (7) and (8), respectively.
(7) dɔ̀ ‘negotiate’ vs. tɔ̀ ‘any’

dìlɛ ‘bury’ vs. sílɛ ‘finish’
dè ‘eat’ vs. lé ‘tree’
dã̀ ‘draw water’ vs. mã̂ ‘sea’
díjɛ̀ ‘expensive’ vs. jíjɛ ‘dodge’
(8) bédò ‘ferment’ vs. bénó ‘buttock’

kúdɛ́ ‘skin’ vs. kùlɛ ‘borrow’
vòdà ‘rest’ vs. vòwa ‘wake up’
/k/ (9) shows (near-)minimal pairs of /k/ in stem initial position.
(9) kɔ̀lɛ ‘stumble’ vs. gɔ́lɛ̀ ‘gold’

kìja ‘give’ vs. sìja ‘wash’
kù ‘rat’ vs. dù ‘oven’
kɛ̀lɛ ‘hang’ vs. jɛ́lɛ ‘whistle’
kámbɔ ‘chew’ vs. lámbɔ̀ ‘trap’
Unlike other pairs of plosives (/p/ and /b/ and /t/ and /d/), the velar plo-
sives also contrast in terms of voicing stem medially, as shown in (10).
(10) búkɛ ‘smoke (tr. v.)’ vs. búgɛ ‘put down lengthwise’
fúkɛ̀ ‘driver ant’ vs. fúgɛ ‘end (v.)’
bvúkɛ ‘break (tr.)’ vs. bvùlɛ́ ‘night’
/g/ As Van de Velde (2008: 10) points out for Eton (A71), “The opposition
between /k/ and /g/ carries a very low functional load.” The same is true
in Gyeli, at least for stem initial syllable onsets. /g/ in Gyeli, just as in
Eton, is usually prenasalized in nouns. In contrast to Eton though, there
are examples in Gyeli where /g/ occurs in initial stem positions without
prenasalization, these occurrences are just extremely rare, representing only
0.4% of both noun and verb stem onsets (see section 2.1.4 on phonotactics
for more information).
(11) gã̂ ‘gown’ vs. kã̂ ‘wrap’

gìjɔ ‘cry (v.) vs. bìjɔ ‘hit (v.)’
36
/g/ is more frequent intervocalically within a stem. Therefore, there are

more (near-)minimal pairs listed in (12).
(12) kàgá ‘defect giving birth’ vs. káka ‘shiver’

le-kàgà ‘bewitched woman’ vs. le-kàʔá ‘clan’
le-kàgà ‘bewitched woman’ vs. le-kàlà ‘doughnut’
nkágá ‘side of animal’ vs. nkázá ‘whip (n.)’
/ʔ/ The glottal stop /ʔ/ only occurs in stem medial positions, but never
stem initially. Since /ʔ/ contrasts with other stops and its occurrence is
not predictable from its morpho-phonological environment, I treat it as a
phoneme. (13) gives (near-)minimal pairs.
(13) sɛ́ʔɛ̀ ‘liver’ vs. sɛ́kɛ̀ ‘termite’

nkáʔà ‘colobus monkey’ vs. nkágá ‘side of animal’
nkɛ́ʔɛ́ ‘jaw’ vs. nkɛ́dɛ́ ‘courage’
/f/ Gyeli has a series of fricatives, including labiodentals and alveolars

which both show a contrast in voicing. (14) shows functional distinctions
with other phonemes of the same or close place and manner of articulation.
(14) fû ‘fish’ vs. vû ‘leave’

fúkɛ̀ ‘driver ant’ vs. búkɛ́ ‘crazy person’
fúlɛ ‘escape (v.)’ vs. dùlɛ ‘be bitter’
fùlɔ ‘descend’ vs. búlɔ ‘fish (v.)’
-fúsì ‘different’ vs. púsí ‘bottle’
There are no minimal pairs for /f/ in stem medial position.
/v/ (15) gives (near-)minimal pairs for /v/.
(15) vúlɔ ‘slice (v.)’ vs. fùlɔ ‘descend’

vìnɔ́ ‘finger’ vs. bìnɔ́ ‘louse’
vísɔ́ ‘sun’ vs. sìsɔ ‘be happy’
vìjɔ́ ‘fire’ vs. píjɔ̀ ‘small’
vàà vs. ‘praise’ wàà ‘chimpanzee’
Just like for its voiceless counterpart, there are no minimal pairs for /v/ in
stem medial position.
37
/s/ The phoneme /s/ occurs frequently in stem initial positions. Examples
of contrasts are presented in (16).
(16) síjɔ̀ ‘dry season’ vs. píjɔ̀ ‘small’

sɔ́ndɔ̀ ‘week’ vs. tɔ̀ndɔ̀ ‘nail’
sâ ‘do’ vs. bâ ‘marry’
súmɛlɛ ‘greet’ vs. lúmɛlɛ ‘send’
sɔ́ ‘friend’ vs. dɔ̀ ‘negotiate’
While /s/ also occurs intervocalically within a stem, there is no opposition

of voiced and voiceless alveolar fricatives.
(17) vìsɔ́ ‘bone’ vs. vìjɔ́ ‘fire’

kàsà ‘bridge’ vs. kàlà ‘strawmat’
kɔ́sɛ ‘cough’ vs. kɔ́bɛ̀ ‘cup’
/z/ The voiced alveolar fricative /z/ is quite rare stem initially and the
examples in (18) are the only near-minimal pairs that I found. It is possible
that a stem initial /z/ only occurs in loan words or words that are possibly
widespread in the area, such as zìβí ‘tse tse fly.’ It seems thus that voicing
carries a low functional load in stem-initial alveolar fricatives, just like the
opposition of /k/ and /g/ in this position.
(18) zìmbà ‘soldier’ vs. jìmbá ‘age’

zíŋgɔ́ ‘short dress’ vs. nsíŋgɔ́ ‘fast speed’
In contrast, /z/ and /s/ contrast stem medially, as shown in (19).
(19) nkázá ‘whip (n.)’ vs. nkwásá ‘fishing pole’

nkùzɔ́ ‘widow/er’ vs. nkúlɔ́ “dead’ season (May-Aug)’
kfúzá ‘fist’ vs. kfúmá ‘chief’
/tʃ/ Both affricates, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/, are highly restricted in their distribu-
tion, unlike most other phonemes. They only occur as onsets of first syl-
lables, comparable to labiodental fricatives, and they can only be followed
by the vowel /i/. As the examples in (20) show, this restriction does not
impose a realization rule though, since also plain consonants occur in the
same environment. The occurrence of the affricate is thus not predictable.
Arguments for affricates as phonemic units rather than consonant clusters
are given in section 2.1.3.3.
38
(20) tsìì ‘live’ vs. tíì ‘get going’

tsíì ‘life’ vs. dʒìí ‘forest’
/dʒ/ Just as its voiceless counterpart, also the affricate /dʒ/ is restricted
in its distribution and rather rare, as shown in section 2.1.4 on phonotactics.
There are still a few (near-)minimal pairs, as illustrated in (21).
(21) dʒíyɛ ‘burn (intr.)’ vs. díyɛ̀ ‘expensive’

dʒíwɔ́ ‘river’ vs. bíwɔ̀ ‘bad luck’
/m/ Gyeli has a series of three nasal consonants: /m/, /n/, and /ɲ/. (22)
provides examples of functional oppositions of /m/ in stem initial position
while (23) lists oppositions within the stem.
(22) mâ ‘accuse’ vs. nâ ‘that (COMP)’

mɔ̀ ‘stomach’ vs. bɔ̀ ‘rot’
mã̂ ‘sea’ vs. lã̂ ‘read, count’
míjù ‘brother, cousin’ vs. pìjù (pìjù) ‘drizzle rain’
(23) pámo ‘appear’ vs. pàno ‘shine’

kwámɔ́ ‘bag’ vs. kwádɔ́ ‘village’
djúmɔ̀ ‘spouse’ vs. djúwɔ ‘hear’
/n/ Also /n/ occurs frequently in both stem initial and stem medial posi-
tion, as shown in (24) and (25), respectively.
(24) nɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘take’ vs. dɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘puddle’

níndja ‘urinate’ vs. síndja ‘exchange’
níí ‘vagina’ vs. tíì ‘get going’
níjɛ̀ ‘how many’ vs. jíjɛ ‘dodge’
nâ ‘that(COMP)’ vs. mâ ‘accuse’
(25) dʒínɔ̀ ‘name’ vs. dʒímɔ̀ ‘be deep’

vìnɔ́ ‘finger’ vs. vìsɔ́ ‘bone’
kwànɛ ‘sell’ vs. kwàlɛ ‘love (v.)’
39
/ɲ/ The palatal nasal /ɲ/ occurs mainly in stem initial position. (Near-)
minimal pairs are listed in (26). While I use the IPA symbol for this phoneme
in this section, I will stick to Bantu tradition in terms of orthography in the
following and represent the palatal nasal as ny.
(26) ɲúlɛ̀ ‘body’ vs. júlɛ̀ ‘decedent’

ɲâ ‘finger/toe nail’ vs. lâ ‘harvest’
ɲàgà ‘cow’ vs. sàga ‘be surprised’
ɲá ‘really’ vs. ná ‘still’
ɲú ‘bee’ vs. ndʒú ‘gap between incisor teeth’
In stem medial position, /ɲ/ occurs so rarely that I didn’t find any minimal
pairs.
/l/ Gyeli has one lateral approximant, namely /l/. It occurs both stem
initially (27) and stem medially (28).
(27) lé ‘tree’ vs. té ‘posture, position’

lã̂ ‘read, count’ vs. dã̀ ‘draw water’
lúmɛlɛ ‘send’ vs. súmɛlɛ ‘greet’
lâ ‘harvest’ vs. nâ ‘that (COMP)’
lùndá “bosquet’ (bush area between villages)’ vs. kùndá ‘shoe’
(28) nkɛ̀lɛ̀ (já dísì) ‘eyebrow’ vs. nkɛ́dɛ́ ‘courage’

kwàlɛ ‘love (v.)’ vs. kwànɛ ‘sell’
jílɛ̀ ‘viper’ vs. jíjɛ ‘dodge’
/w/ The bilabial glide /w/ is relatively frequent in stem initial position
and contrasts with other phonemes of the same or close place of articulation,
as shown in (29).
(29) wàà ‘chimpanzee’ vs. vàà ‘praise’

wàwɛ ‘spread’ vs. bàwɛ ‘carry’
wùndɛ̀ ‘groundnut’ vs. tùndɛ ‘fail’
wɔ́lɛ̀ ‘hawk’ vs. lɔ́lɛ̀ ‘weaver’
wúsɛ̀ ‘drought’ vs. pùsɛ ‘push’
Further, /w/ is found intervocalically within a stem where it contrasts with

other phonemes such as /b/ or /m/, as shown in (30).
40
(30) dʒíwɔ ‘steal’ vs. dʒìbɔ ‘close’

djúwɔ ‘hear’ vs. djúmɔ̀ ‘spouse’
tàwɔ̀ ‘goat’ vs. tàtɔ ‘squeak’
/j/ The second of the two glides in Gyeli is the palatal glide /j/. Again,
while I use the IPA symbol in this section, I will represent the palatal glide
according to Bantu tradition as y in the following chapters. (31) provides
(near-)minimal pairs for /j/ in stem initial and (32) for stem medial position.
(31) jí ‘wood’ vs. ɲî ‘enter’

jílɛ̀ ‘viper’ vs. sílɛ ‘finish’
jándɔ́ ‘trace’ vs. tándɔ́ ‘womb’
jíjɛ ‘dodge’ vs. kìjɛ ‘try’
júlɛ̀ ‘decendent’ vs. fúlɛ ‘escape’
(32) vìjɔ́ ‘fire’ vs. vìnɔ́ ‘finger’

kòjà ‘rope’ vs. kòla ‘add’
síjɛ̀ ‘saw’ vs. símɛ ‘respect (v.)’
/mb/ Gyeli has three voiced prenasalized stops which I consider as phone-
mic units: /mb/, /nd/, and /ŋg/. In contrast to other NC sequences which
I treat as consonant clusters, these prenasalized stops occur both word ini-
tially and medially. A more thorough discussion of the segmental status of
prenasalized stops as units versus sequences of consonants is given in section
2.1.3.1. (33) provides minimal pairs for /mb/ in stem initial position.
(33) mbámbɛ́ ‘ancestor’ vs. ŋgámbɛ́ ‘vision, oracle’

mbɛ̀ ‘drum’ vs. ndɛ̀ ‘bait’
mbɛ̂ ‘door’ vs. mɛ̂ ‘1S (OBJ)’
mbàŋgá ‘nut’ vs. kàŋgá ‘proverb’
mbɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘fatness’ vs. dɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘puddle’
/mb/ is also found in onsets of second syllables, i.e. word medially, as the
minimal pairs in (34) show.
(34) ɲámbá ‘armpit’ vs. ɲàmá ‘broken thing’

pɛ́mbɔ́ ‘bread’ vs. pɛ́wɔ́ ‘scar’
ŋkùmbɔ́ ‘porcupine’ vs. ŋkùzɔ́ ‘widow/er’
41
/nd/ The same is true for /nd/. (35) gives some examples of (near-)minimal
pairs for this phoneme in stem initial position.
(35) ndáwɔ̀ ‘house’ vs. tàwɔ̀ ‘goat, sheep’

ndà ‘cross (v.)’ vs. nà ‘and, with’
ndísì ‘rice’ vs. dísì ‘bowl’
ndɛ̀ ‘bait’ vs. wɛ̀ ‘die’
Likewise, /nd/ is also contrastive in stem medial position, as shown in (36).
(36) pándɛ ‘arrive’ vs. panɛ ‘hang up’

sɔ́ndɔ̀ ‘week’ vs. sɔ́ʔɔ̀ ‘continue’
wùndɛ̀ ‘ground nut’ vs. wùmɛ ‘pluck’
búndɔ̀ ‘bride price’ vs. búlɔ ‘fish (v.)’
/ŋg/ The third voiced prenasalized stop that I count as a phonemic unit is
the velar /ŋg/. (37) provides minimal pairs for /ŋg/ in stem initial position,
while (38) shows minimal pairs for stem medial occurrences.
(37) ŋgɔ̀ ‘grinding stone plate’ vs. dɔ̀ ‘negotiate, discuss’

ŋgɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘eyebrow’ vs. bɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘shoulder’
ŋgàmbàlà ‘difficulty’ vs. kàmbala ‘defend’
ŋgálɛ̀ ‘thunder, lightning’ vs. bálɛ ‘surpass’
ŋgùŋgù ‘log’ vs. sùŋgù ‘war’
(38) mpìŋgá ‘sweet cassava’ vs. mpìmbá ‘pancreas’

lùŋga ‘grow’ vs. lùndá “it bosquet’ (bush area between villages)’
ŋkɔ́ŋgɔ́ ‘frog’ vs. ŋkɔ́lɔ̀ ‘clock, watch’
2.1.2 Realization Rules

Beside the 22 consonantal phonemes, Gyeli has a multitude of other sounds.
They are represented in Table 2.2.2 The phonemes are in bold contrasting
the other sounds of non-phonemic status which are either allophones or
2
Abbreviations: Plos.: Plosives, Fric.: Fricatives, N: Nasals, Lat. approx.: Lateral ap-
proximants, Pren.: Prenasalized, Hom.: Homorganic, Het.: Heterorganic, aff.: Affricates,
Lab.: Labialized, Pal.: Palatalized, BL: Bilabial, LD: Labiodental, AL: Alveolar, PL: Palatal,
VL: Velar, GL: Glottal, LV: Labial velar, *: voiced counterpart only if preceded by nasal, (
): only in loan words
42
consonant clusters.The sounds in brackets, namely the labial velars /kp/ and
its voiced counterpart /mgb/, which only occurs as a prenasalized form, are
neither allophones nor clusters. They are so rare, however, that they seem
to be borrowed rather than genuine Gyeli phonemes.
BL LD AL PL VL GL LV
Phonemes and Allophones
Plos. p, b t, d k, g ʔ (kp*)
Fric. β f, v s, z ɣ
Affr. ts, dz tʃ, dʒ
N m n ɲ ŋ
Lat. approx. l
Glides w j
Pren. stops mb nd ŋg (mgb)
Consonant Clusters
Lab. obst. pw, bw sw kw, gw
Pal. obstr. pj dj kj, gj
Stop-fric. cl. pf, bv tf, dv kf*
Pren. stops mp nt ŋk
Pren. fric. mf, mv ns, nz
Pren. aff. mbv ndv nkf, ngv
Pren. lab. mpw, mbw nkw, ngw
Pren. pal. ndj nkj, ngj
Table 2.2: Phonetic inventory - major consonants
2.1.2.1 Labial Velars
Labial velars are rare and restricted in Gyeli, but they do occur. Interest-
ingly, the voiceless labial velar /kp/ is found only in one lexeme, namely
in kpɛ̀mɛ̀ ‘manioc leaves’, which is either a loan word or at least areally
widespread. The voiced counterpart [gb] only occurs prenasalized, never
on its own. It is more frequent though with six occurrences which are listed
in (39).
(39) mgbɛ̀ŋmgbɛ̀mɛ̀ ‘lion’

mgbásá ‘hunting with spears and dogs’
mgbã̀ ‘crow’
mbgísì ‘rawness, freshness’
mgbámàlà ‘be sour’ ma-mgbámàlà ‘acidity’
43
Cheucle (2014: 148) points out that labial velars in other Bantu A80
languages such as Bekwel often occur in variation with labialized velar stops
[kw] and [gw]. This does not seem to be the case in Gyeli. These sounds
seem, however, very much in line with other Bantu A80 languages. For
instance, Cheucle (2014: 503) reconstructs the lexeme for ‘crow’ as *gwàŋ
which surfaces synchronically as ngbàn in Bekol, Kwasio, and Njem. Further,
according to the judgment of Mabi speakers, the Gyeli word mgbɛ̀ŋmgbɛ̀mɛ̀
‘lion’ is very typical Gyeli (which most likely means that it is no innovation,
but rather older), while the Mabi would rather use màbùnzò for ‘lion’.
2.1.2.2 Allophones
Allophones in Gyeli mostly concern variation of voiced stops. The voiced

plosives /b/ and /g/ often undergo lenition in intervocalic position. This
rule does not apply to the alveolar voiced plosive /d/ though. This phoneme,
in contrast, can be realized as a tap intervocalically, which I analyze as an
instance of code-switching. Realizations of /b/, /d/, and /g/ are discussed
below in turn.
Realization of /b/ Being subject to a general lenition rule of intervocalic

voiced stops, /b/ is weakened to [β]. This rule is, however, not absolute, but
rather subject to speaker variation and speed of speech. The same speaker
may pronounce the same lexeme with an intervocalic /b/ one time with
[b], and another time with [β]. Therefore, there is no strict complementary
distribution of [b] and [β], but rather a tendency. Further, this rule only
concerns stem medial positions. If the phoneme /b/ occurs stem initially in
between vowels, it does not change to [β].
Figures 2.1 and 2.2 show the contrast of the two allophones. The real-
ization of the intervocalic /b/ as a plosive is clearly seen in Figure 2.1 while
in Figure 2.2 no closure appears.3
Realizations of /d/ The phoneme /d/ does not undergo lenition, in con-
trast to other voiced stops. It is sometimes pronounced as a tap [ɾ] in stem
medial, intervocalic position. This variation may, however, be considered
3
In stem or word initial position, /b/ is pre-glottalized (see section 2.1.2.3).
44
Figure 2.1: Intervocalic [b] in /kfúbɔ̀/ ‘chicken’
Figure 2.2: Intervocalic [β] in /kfúbɔ̀/ ‘chicken’
as an instance of code-switching rather than allophonic variation. Speak-

ers who are in closer contact with Mabi tend to pronounce the lexeme for
‘woman’ as mùɾã ̂ while those who are less influenced by Mabi pronounce it
mùdã.̂ Again, it is definitely a matter of speaker variation instead of com-
plementary distribution and correlates with language contact factors.
It seems that there is a regular sound correspondance with Mabi. The
Mabi [ɾ] is mostly pronounced as [d] in Gyeli. I also found one example
45
where a Mabi [ɾ] is pronounced as [l] in Gyeli: mà-táɾá ‘beginning’ in Mabi

which is mà-tálá in Gyeli. Due to lack of data, the exact correspondance
is not yet clear. Cheucle (2014: 432) reconstructs Proto-A80 as not having
possessed [ɾ] as a phoneme,4 so it seems that [ɾ] might be rather an inno-
vation in Mabi. In sum, Gyeli /d/ is only realized as [d], while words with
a tap [ɾ] are instances of Mabi in Gyeli speech.
Further, just like word initial /b/, inital /d/ is pre-glottalized and pro-
nounced with a relatively long VOT (see section 2.1.2.3 on pre-glottalized
stops).
Realizations of /g/ The phoneme /g/ is, just like /b/, subject to lenition
in stem medial, intervocalic position, having as allophone [ɣ]. Again, the
same holds as for /b/: There is no strict complementary distribution, but it
is rather speaker dependent whether the stop undergoes lenition or not.
/g/ in stem-initial position is rare, as shown in section 2.1.4 on phono-
tactics. Velar stops in this position are either voiceless or stem-initial /g/ is
palatalized and surfaces as [gj] (or gy in the orthographic representation).
This, however, does not seem to be conditioned by any realization rule since
the plain stop and the palatalized one can be both followed by any vowel. In
the rare cases where /g/ occurs stem initially, /g/ is subject to pre-voicing
which is discussed in section 2.1.2.3.
Realizations of /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ The affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ are some-
times realized as /ts/ and /dz/, respectively, depending on speaker variation
rather than a realization rule. While there is variation across speakers, also
the speaker may use both variants in free variation.
The allophone [ŋ] The velar nasal [ŋ] is an allophone of nasal conso-
nants in general. Its occurrence is conditioned by the nasal place assim-
ilation rule: A nasal that precedes another consonant, forming a nasal-
consonant cluster, assimilates to the place of articulation of the following
consonant. This is illustrated in the rule below and some examples in (40).
Nasal Place Assimilation

4
It is not clear, however, whether [ɾ] occurred as an allophone since allophony is not
discussed by Cheucle (2014).
46
   
[ ] +nasal −nasal
+nasal    
−→  +consonant /  +consonant 
+consonant
+articulation place x +place x
/N + bɔ̂/ → [mbɔ̂] ‘arm’

(40) /N + túmbà/ → [ntúmbà] ‘older brother’
/N + gjɛ̃/̂ → [ŋgjɛ̃]̂ ‘stranger’
In contrast to other nasal consonants, [ŋ] has no phonemic status in
Gyeli because it’s occurrence is predictable from a following velar obstruent.
There is one exception, namely with the noun ŋwándɔ́ ‘cassava stick’ that
contrast with ŋgwàndɔ́ ‘melon seed’. While the latter noun takes a velar nasal
as expected from the following velar stop, there is no velar stop in ŋwándɔ́
‘cassava stick’. Actually, a labial nasal [m] would be expected before [w].
Since this is the only occurrence of a contrastive [ŋ] and since [ŋ] only
occurs in a sequences of nasal + velar consonant, but never on its own, I
do not consider it a phoneme.
Interestingly, nasalization of labial velars is done with a bilabial nasal:
/N + kp/ → [mgb].
2.1.2.3 Pre-glottalization of Labial and Alveolar Stops and the Issue

of Implosives
In this section, I expand on the issue of the phonetic realization of voiced

stops and show in some detail that these are not implosive. Implosives
have been reported before in other varieties of Gyeli and in neighbouring
languages, but in the Ngolo variety of Gyeli, voiced stops that could be
perceived as implosives should rather be analyzed as pre-glottalized stops
with a relatively long voice onset time.
In stem initial position, labial and alveolar stops /b/ and /d/ are realized
with pre-glottalization and a relatively long voice onset time (VOT). This
combination sounds very different from Indo-European [b] and [d] and can
perceptually easily be mistaken for an implosive [ɓ], especially since the oc-
currence of implosives is expected in the area. On closer inspection, claims
for implosives in neighbouring languages may have to be reconsidered in
the light of this analysis for Gyeli. Ngue Um (2012), for instance, lists all
stem initial occurrences of /b/ in the Gyeli variety spoken in the contact re-
gion with Basaa as either implosives or bilabial fricatives while, according to
47
him, there are no stem initial realizations as [b]. This is typologically rather
unexpected, especially if there is no opposition of stem initial egressive [b]
versus the implosive [ɓ].
In comparison, Thornell & Nagano-Madsen (2004: 173) state in their
phonetic description of the closely related language Mpiemo (A86c) that
implosives [ɓ] and [ɗ] occur frequently in stem initial and intervocalic po-
sition. The authors treat implosives as allophones of their egressive coun-
terparts which generally occur anywhere but before high close vowels [i]
and [u], and before nasals. They also point out, however, that there may
be free variation of implosive or egressive stop use before [a] and that the
distribution is not completely clear yet. They show an instance of a bilabial
implosive in their Figure 6, replicated here in Figure 2.3.5
Figure 2.3: Implosive [ɓ] in Mpiemo (Thornell & Nagano-Madsen

(2004: 172))
Clements & Osu (2002: 312) describe the most salient features of implo-
sives as being
5
Cheucle (2014: 461) assumes in her comparative study and reconstruction of proto
A80 that voiced plosives have been realized as implosives, but given the scarce data, this
may need to be reconsidered since she even points out herself that “Seul le mpiemo com-
porte une distribution complémentaire entre les implosives et les occlusives voisées. Pour le
bekwel et le shiwa, il a été précisé plus haut que les occlusives sont généralement réalisées
implosives. Dans les autres langues, nous ne disposons pas d’informations à ce sujet. On
peut toutefois supposer que les occlusives voisées du P-A80 aient plutôt été des implosives.”
[Only Mpiemo has a complementary distribution of implosives and voiced plosives. For
Bekwel and Shiwa, it has been stated above that stops are generally realized as implosives.
For the other languages, we do not have any information concerning this matter. One can
still assume that voiced stops in P-A80 have rather been implosives.]
48
“the absence of turbulence noise (in the form of burst or aspira-

tion) at their release and the steady or rising amplitude of vocal
fold vibration during the production of the constriction.”
In Figure 2.3, the rising amplitude before the release is clearly seen in a
typical cone shape, with voicing starting a good 150ms before the release.
In contrast, Gyeli does not necessarily have the same type of amplitude
increase, as shown in Figure 2.4. One could argue that instead the amplitude
is steady, but then the release has more turbulence which is an indication
for an egressive [b].
Figure 2.4: Preglottalized and prevoiced [b] in Gyeli, speaker 1
Further, the voicing onset starts with a glottal closure, marked by the
circle in Figure 2.4. In fact, the manner of production of the word/stem
initial egressive voiced stops in Gyeli involves the same places of articu-
lation as implosives with a closure at the glottis, an increase of pressure
in the oral cavity and finally a labial or alveolar release. The only differ-
ence is the movement of the glottis producing different kinds of airstreams.
While in implosives the glottis moves downwards which causes an ingres-
sive airstream, the airstream in Gyeli is always egressive with the glottis
moving upwards.
The increase of airstream pressure in the oral cavity varies among speak-
ers, as shown in Figure 2.5. Here, the pre-voicing before the release is not
49
steady, but rising, however not in a regular way. And again, there is a good
deal of turbulence noise during the release.
Figure 2.5: Preglottalized and prevoiced [b] in Gyeli, speaker 2
In summary, the perceived particularity in the production of stem ini-

tial [b] and [d] is related to pre-glottalization followed by a long VOT.
Speaker 1, for instance, has a pre-voicing of 182ms in bɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘shoulder’ in Fig-
ure 2.4, speaker 2 has a pre-voicing of 190ms in Figure 2.5. During voicing,
airstream pressure increases in the oral cavity which, in turn, leads to a
more intense burst at the release. The longer the voicing time, the poten-
tially stronger is the burst at release. The strong burst may then again be
misleading to assume that the stop is realized as an implosive.
Investigating stem initial /b/ ( as representative for both labial and alve-
olar voiced stops) in other environments, i.e. preceding vowels of different
vowel quality, showed that the voicing time between glottal closure and
labial/alveolar release differ depending on the vowel that follows. (41)
gives pre-voicing times of word initial /b/ followed by different vowels, de-
creasing in vowel height. For future work, it would be good to look at a
larger sample of tokens, but for the time being, (41) gives a good impres-
sion. With the exception of the vowel [e], there is a tendency that high
vowels such as [i] and [u] have a short VOT. This may reflect Thornell’s
and Nagano-Madsen’s findings for Mpiemo that these vowels (and [b] af-
ter nasals) surface as egressive plosives. All instances in (41) were taken
50
in isolation. In context, for instance when verbs are preceded by a subject

marker or nouns by a plural class prefix, VOTs are shorter. The same is true
for tokens that occur after a nasal or within a stem.
bìjɔ ‘hit’ → [b] = 130ms
búlɔ ‘fish (v.)’ → [b] = 130ms
bé ‘pit’ → [b] = 81ms
(41) bógɛsɛ ‘enlarge’ → [b] = 157ms
bɛ̀ ‘sow’ → [b] = 145ms
bɔ̀ndì ‘black colobus monkey’ → [b] = 137ms
báβɛ̀ ‘disease’ → [b] = 151ms
Also /g/ is pre-voiced in word initial position, but lacks pre-glottalization

in comparison to /b/ and /d/. There are, however, not that many instances
of a word initial /g/ which would allow for a more systematic investigation.
In the lexeme gɔ́lɛ̀ ‘gold’, for instance, the VOT amounts to 120ms. Again,
impressionistically, it is shorter if /g/ is followed by a high vowel.
There are several ways to interpret these findings in relation to other
Bantu A80 languages. Either, pre-glottalization followed by pre-voicing of
[b] and [d] could be areally more widespread, but it has not been recognized
as such. Or, it is a special feature in Gyeli. It is even possible that these pre-
glottalized stops are an imitation of sounds that are possibly implosives in
neighboring languages. Duke (2014) observed in the Gyeli variety spoken
around Bipindi, which is in contact with Kwasio and Basaa, that speakers
mimick in a playful way sounds of neighboring languages. This happens,
according to Duke, both in contact situations with non-Bagyeli, but also
within the speech community in order to emphasize personal relations with
other community members with whom the individual may have spent some
time with e.g. the Basaa.
2.1.2.4 Voicing and Devoicing of Stops
The voicing of stops is subject to variation depending on the stops’ phonetic

environment. While stops are clearly distinguishable in terms of voicing in
word or stem initial position, their voicing status is less clear when they
follow a nasal or occur intervocalically. Both cases are discussed in turn.
51
Devoicing of Stops after Nasals Phonologically, both voiced and voice-

less stops occur after nasals. Perceptually, their voicing status when pre-
nasalized is, however, sometimes hard to distinguish. Even though post-
nasal voicing seems to be the more common process cross-linguistically, I
argue that in Gyeli the rarer case of postnasal devoicing also occurs as allo-
phonic variation, especially with labial and alveolar stops. This unusual
behavior seems to be linked to pre-glottalization as discussed in section
2.1.2.3. Pre-glottalization in prenasalized environments is assimilated from
an underlying /n’d/ to either a double plosive /ntd/ or an aspirated voiced
plosive /ndh/. As a next assimilation step, postnasal stops are voiceless
altogether.
As discussed in the previous section, voiced stops in stem or word initial
position tend to be pre-glottalized and show a relatively long VOT, while
they are clearly voiced in a non-aspirated way. In environments where they
are prenasalized, pre-glottalization of the stop is assimilated and surfaces as
one of various allophonic forms. One allophonic form is a double plosive
which is the realization of /n’d/ → /ntd/. An example is given in Figure
2.6 where an unaspirated voiced stop after a nasal involves a double closure
after the nasal, first producing a voiceless and then a voiced stop. Instead of
a glottal and then an alveolar closure, both stops are alveolar though due to
assimilation of the place of articulation. This happens within milliseconds
though and is acoustically not perceivable, but very clear from the wave
sound in Figure 2.6.6
The result of this assimilation is that on the surface, prenasalized voiced
plosives undergo devoicing. If postnasal stops were subject to voicing rather
than devoicing, one would expect that the distribution of the two stops were
the inverse, namely the first stop being voiced and the second voiceless. The
double stop in Figure 2.6 with the voiceless plosive preceding the voiced one
is an argument in support of the devoicing hypothesis.
Other allophonic forms of prenasalized voiced stops surface in the range
of a voiced aspirated or devoiced, i.e. voiceless stop. These two possibilities
occur in free variation and are represented for the lexeme /ndɛ̀mɔ́/ ‘dream
(n.)’ in Figures 2.7 and 2.8. Both tokens were produced by the same speaker.
6
Even though such examples are so rare in Gyeli that it is not clear whether a double
closure after a nasal is contrastive, these instances are no recording or speech mistakes
either. Speakers were consistent in their pronounciation and produce the double closure
in every occurrence of the lexeme.
52
Figure 2.6: Double plosive in /ntdàlò/ ‘tobacco’
In Figure 2.7, the postnasal /d/ is aspirated so that voicing is interrupted

between /d/ and the following vowel as seen in the fundamental frequency.
Aspiration lasts for an average of 20ms comparable to voiceless stem or
word intial stops. At the same time, the VOT is much shorter than in non-
prenasalized voiced stops.
Figure 2.7: Postnasal [d] with aspiration in /ndɛ̀mɔ́/ ‘dream (n.)’
In contrast, in Figure 2.8, the lack of voicing during the stop release is clearly
53
seen in the spectrogram.
Figure 2.8: Devoiced postnasal [d] in /ndɛ̀mɔ́/ ‘dream (n.)’
In summary, voiced stops that occur with prenasalization undergo assim-

ilation and surface as one of three allophonic variants which reflect different
stages of assimilatory development:
/n’d/ → /ntd/ → /ndh/ → /nt/
Underlying pre-glottalization and pre-voicing surface either as a dou-

ble closure, as an aspirated voiced stop or as a voiceless stop under pre-
nasalization. This assimilation chain ulitmately has the effect of stop devoic-
ing after a nasal. The decisive argument supporting the surface devoicing
hypothesis rather than assuming that voiceless stops acquire voicing fea-
tures from the preceding nasal is the following: In many cases, the underly-
ing phonological form of a postnasal stop is known, i.e. whether the stop is
underlyingly voiced or voiceless. Deverbal nominalization from verbs start-
ing with a voiced plosive is a good test. In nominalization, the verb stem
is preceded by a homorganic nasal. It becomes clear then that while a verb
stem initial voiced stop is not aspirated, it is aspirated or even devoiced as
a deverbal noun with aspiration being a feature of voiceless stops.
Intervocalic stops In intervocalic position, voiceless stops such as [p, t, k]

are slightly voiced in fast speech. Thus, here the inverse to the devoicing of
54
postnasal stops is the case, which is certainly more expected. For instance,
the noun /ŋgàtà/ ‘tied bundle’ may surface as [ŋgàdà] just as /fúkɛ̀/ ‘driver
ant’ may be pronounced as [fúgɛ̀] (which then becomes a homonym with
/fúgɛ̀/ ‘end’).
2.1.3 Consonant Clusters

Gyeli has a wide range of consonant sequences such as prenasalized conso-
nants, labialized and palatalized stops, and consonant-fricative clusters. In
many Bantu languages, these sounds are treated as single phonemic units.
In Gyeli, I consider some of them as units, but some as clusters, i.e. se-
quences of phonemes. Following Güldemann (2001: 8), I view clusters as
“a sequence of two consonantal constituents having phoneme status as in-
dependent segments which join together in one, more elaborate segment.”
In the following, I will present the various consonant clusters and explain
how I delimit them from unit segments.
2.1.3.1 Prenasalization
Gyeli has a variety of prenasals, mostly prenasalized obstruents, but also a

few prenasalized glides and laterals. Table 2.3 lists all nasal + consonant
(NC) sequences. Basically every oral consonant in Gyeli that occurs stem-
initially can be prenasalized. Table 2.3 does not include the prenasalized
palatal glide because it is difficult to distinguish it from the palatal nasal
[ɲ]. This does not mean that there is no prenasalized palatal glide, but for
consistency, I subsume potential prenasalized palatal glides under palatal
nasals.
BL LD AL PL VL LV
Stops mp, mb nt, nd ŋk, ŋg mgb
Fricatives ns, nz
Lateral approximant nl
Glides mw
Table 2.3: Prenasalized consonants
There are different ways to analyze the status of these prenasals which
can either be treated as a single segment or as a sequence of segments, i.e.
consonant clusters. I argue that some NC occurrences form a segment unit,
55
namely the ones in bold, while the others constitute clusters in Gyeli. The
status distinction of NC segments into units versus sequences is primarily
based on distributional properties, as I will explain in the following, while
other diagnostics that are often used in Bantu studies to determine NC status
can be ruled out as decisive criteria. (The prenasalized labial velar is a
marginal phenomenon and further discussed in section 2.1.2.1.)
Chacha Mwita (2007) summarizes arguments that have been put forth
in Bantu studies for and against treating prenasals as single segments. The
main points of evidence concern homorganicity, duration, and syllabifica-
tion. The author points out that “similar gestural sequences in some lan-
guages should be treated as unitary segments, particularly if they occur in
syllable-initial position”. As Table 2.3 shows, all NC segments are homor-
ganic and, as I will show below, all occur in syllable-initial position. There-
fore, homorganicity is not a criterion in Gyeli to distinguish NC units from
NC sequences.
Another putative diagnostic for NC segments as phonemic units con-
cerns duration. It has been claimed that, if NC segments are units, “at the
phonetic level, the prenasalized consonants have the same length as other
consonantal segments” (Chacha Mwita 2007: 61). According to Downing
(2005: 183), however, one cannot simply correlate the phonetic duration
of prenasalized consonants with their segmental status. Both are language
specific. In Gyeli, NC sequences seem to be longer than singleton segments,
as (42) and (43) show.7
mɛ̀ ‘1S’ → [m] = 133ms
(42) bɛ́ɛ ̀ ‘shoulder’ → [b] = 184ms
mbɛ̂ ‘door’ → [mb] = 255ms
Longer duration of prenasalized in comparison to plain obstruents is more
evident in prenasalized voiceless stops, as shown in (43) since they lack the
relatively long VOT of voiced stops, as discussed in section 2.1.2.2.
ná ‘still (adv)’ → [n] = 181ms

(43) kà ‘catch’ → [k] = 21ms
ŋká ‘line’ → [ŋk] = 200ms
7
Both (42) and (43) constitute single tokens and rather serve at giving an impression.
For generalizations, a larger sample is needed. Since I do not consider duration as a de-
cisive criterion in determining NC segment status, however, I do not investigate duration
systematically at this point.
56
Another argument that is used in the discussion on the status of prenasals

is syllabification. If the NC sequence belongs to the same syllable, it is
usually viewed as a unit:
“The fact that the units making up the prenasals usually find
themselves in one syllable has been taken as proof that the con-
secutive consonants in a prenasal form a unit segment or one
sound.” (Chacha Mwita 2007: 62)
This is true for all NC sequences in Gyeli since nasals are never syllabic,
as shown in section 2.3. Gyeli has, synchronically, almost no nasal prefixes
as would be common for Bantu languages. Instead, the nasal that most
likely used to be a syllabic prefix has become frozen to the noun stem which
becomes obvious in the plural classes which retain the nasal that occurs in
the singular: mbáálɔ́ ‘jaw’ retains the /m/ in the plural class 4 mimbáálɔ́
‘jaws’. This suggests a closer liaison between nasal and obstruent.
This syllabification pattern is, however, not only the case for NC se-
quences such as /mb/, but also for those that are less typically viewed as
single phonemic units, for example a nasal plus a lateral approximant [nl]
as in nlémò ‘heart’, minlémò ‘hearts’. While it is quite common for Bantu
languages to have prenasalized obstruents as phonemic units, it is rather
uncommon to have phonemic units of prenasalized lateral approximants.
As an interim summary, the diagnostics of homorganicity, duration, and
syllabification are either inconclusive (as far as duration is concerned) or
seem to indicate a unit status of all NC sequences. The unit status is then
based on homorganicity of all NC sequences and their occurrence within
the same syllable. Considering the distribution of NC sequences, however,
shows that there are differences between nasal + voiced stop sequences in
contrast to other NC sequences, as illustrated in Table 2.4.
The table shows the distribution of NC sequences in nouns and verbs.
For both nouns and verbs, different consonant positions in stems are rep-
resented. O1 stands for the onset of the first syllable in a stem, O2 for the
second, and O3 for the third, irrespective of whether the onset is one single
consonant or a cluster.8
8
Consonants in codas almost never occur since they are exclusively nasal and tend to
be deleted while nasality is spread onto the preceding vowel.
57
The numbers under O1, O2 and so on give total numbers of all NC se-
quences in this position. For instance, for O1 in nouns, 178 out of 855 nouns
stems that have a consonantal onset in O1 start with an NC sequence. In
contrast, 377 verb stems start with a consonant, but only 6 of them are pre-
nasalized stops. The number of consonantal slots in O2 and O3 are decreas-
ing because obviously they cannot be filled in mono- or disyllabic stems.
Nouns Verbs
NC O1 O2 O3 O1 O2 O3
178/855 168/650 4/88 6/377 54/274 -/76
mp 30 1 - - - -
mb 30 69 - - 25 -
nt 26 1 - 3 - -
nd 7 55 2 1 23 -
ŋk 47 3 - - - -
ŋg 24 39 2 1 6 -
mgb 5 1 - 1 - -
ns 20 - - - - -
nz 10 - - - - -
nl 9 - - - - -
mw 5 - - - - -
Table 2.4: Distribution of NC sequences
The distribution shows that all possible NC sequences occur in O1 of

nouns while they are exceptions in O1 of verbs. This distribution can be
explained by the noun class morphology, as already stated above: diachron-
ically, the nasal was most likely a syllabic nasal prefix as it is common for
many Bantu languages. Synchronically, the former nasal prefix has become
frozen to the stem.
Assuming this historic scenario, it is not surprising that NC sequences are
almost absent in O1 position in verbs, with a few exceptions only. There
are only a few instances where a verb starts with a prenasalized stop as
in ndà ‘cross’ or ntɛ́gɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘disturb’. They are restricted though, not allowing
prenasalized labials, and they are rather rare with only 6 occurrences in a
database of 377 verbs, as shown in Table 2.4.
There are, however, also NC sequences that occur in O2 (and excep-
tionally in O3 of nouns). They are restricted to voiced prenasalized stops.9
These occurrences cannot be explained by diachronic noun class morphol-
9
Instances of voiceless nasal stops in O2 of nouns can be explained by reduplications.
58
ogy, but suggest a different phonological status. Given the distributional

differences, I propose a unit analysis for voiced prenasalized stops /mb/,
/nd/, and /ŋg/ in Gyeli while I treat all other NC sequences as clusters.
This holds the advantage of not artificially inflating the phoneme inventory
while acknowledging the language’s properties in terms of homorganicity
and syllabification.
2.1.3.2 Labialization and Palatalization
Obstruents can occur in a labialized and/or palatalized form, i.e. the obstru-
ent is followed by a labial or palatal glide. Both phenomena are specified in
the lexicon rather than being phonological processes in Gyeli since their oc-
currence is not predictable from the (morpho-)phonological environment.
According to Hyman (2003: 55), “The post-consonant glides [y] and [w]
are typically derived from underlying vowels.” Therefore, one would ex-
pect that certain vowels following a labialized or palatalized obstruent are
disallowed.
It turns out, however, that in Gyeli this is not the case. (44) lists noun
stems that start with /bw/, providing examples of different vowel heights.
These examples contrast with (45) where /b/ is not labialized and followed
by the same vowels. Therefore, labialization cannot be a phonological pro-
cess that is determined by the consonant’s phonological environment. Just
like most NC sequences, I consider labialized and palatalized obstruents as
consonant clusters rather than phonemic single units. This analysis is based
on the fact that both consonants in the sequence can occur as independent
phonemes on their own as well as distributional restrictions to first sylla-
bles.10
(44) /bw/ noun stem initial

a. bwímò ‘net hunting’
b. bwújà ‘hundred’
c. bwèdɔ̀wɔ̀ ‘taste’
10
Another possible analysis would be to assume a third category of complex consonants,
in contrast to simple consonants and consonant clusters, as Güldemann (2001) proposes for
!Xõo. While this is an elegant solution for !Xõo, it does not apply neatly to Gyeli though.
Introducing a third category rather moves the decision between unit and cluster analysis
to another level.
59
d. bwɔ̂ ‘brain’
e. bwàndjá ‘disdain, adultery’
(45) /b/ noun stem initial

a. bíá ‘beer’
b. búgɛ́ ‘tse tse fly (Glossina)’
c. bé ‘well’
d. bɔ́ndí ‘black colobus monkey’
e. bàlándè ‘larva’
The same is true for other obstruents and palatalization (for the sake of
space, I will not give examples for all of them). Another putative analysis
would be that the glide is part of a diphthong. Gyeli has four diphthongs:
/uɔ/, /ua/, /ɔa/, /iɛ/ (see also section 2.2.2). For instance, it would be
possible that the diphthong /ua/ surface as [wa]. This, however, does not
work out for two reasons. First, in that case we should only find labializa-
tion/palatalization with certain vowels - /w/ preceding /ɔ/ and /a/ and /j/
preceding /ɛ/. This is clearly not the case since these coarticulated conso-
nants occur in front of any vowel, as shown already above. Second, speakers
pronounce diphthongs and labialized stops distinctly. This can be nicely il-
lustrated with the minimal pair bwɔ̂ ‘brain’ vs. búɔ̀ ‘mortar’.
The fact that labialization and palatalization are not predictable real-
ization rules in Gyeli is also seen in (near-)minimal pairs contrasting plain
obstruents and obstruents + glide, as shown in (46) for labial glides and in
(47) for palatal glides.
(46) bwà ‘give birth’ vs. bâ ‘marry’

kwà ‘grind’ vs. kà ‘catch’
swáálɛ̀ ‘bone marrow’ vs. sáálɛ̀ ‘work (n.)’
(47) djɔ̀ ‘laugh’ vs. dɔ̀ ‘negotiate’

kjàlɛ ‘start an engine’ vs. kálɛ́ ‘sister’
lè-gjɔ́lɛ́ ‘bushbaby (galago alleni)’ vs. gɔ́lɛ̀ ‘gold’
Labialized and palatalized obstruents basically only occur stem initially,

as shown in Table 2.5. Exceptions in O2 in nouns are due to reducplica-
tion of the first syllable and loan words. Also, these sounds occur more
60
frequently in nouns than in verbs. The most frequent ones are /bw/, /kw/,
/dj/, /gj/.
Nouns Verbs
O1 O2 O3 O1 O2 O3
59/855 2/650 -/94 53/377 -/274 -/76
labialized obstr.
pw 2 1 - 1 - -
bw 12 - - 10 - -
kw 10 - - 9 - -
gw 2 - - - - -
sw 3 - - 2 - -
palatalized stops
pj 1 - - - - -
dj 11 1 - 12 - -
kj 1 - - 2 - -
gj 17 - - 17 - -
Table 2.5: Labialized/palatalized consonants
Finally, labialized and palatalized obstruents can enter an even more

complex consonant cluster by being preceded by a nasal. These complex
sounds are, however, restricted to nouns. Table 2.6 shows the distribution.
Mostly, these complex sounds occur in O1 position, with the exception of
/ndj/ which is more frequent in O2 than in O1.
pren. lab. stops O1 O2 O3

mpw 1
mbw 5 1
nkw 6
ngw 7
pren. palat. stops
ndj 2 13
nkj 3
ngj 8 1
Table 2.6: Prenasalized and labialized/palatalized consonants in noun stems
61
(48) opposes prenasal stops to prenasal stops + glide.
(48) mpá ‘island’ vs. mpwá ‘bouillon’

ndáwɔ̀ ‘house’ vs. ndjàwɔ̀ ‘chisel’
nkã̂ ‘guinea fowl’ vs. nkjã̂ ‘scabies’
2.1.3.3 Consonant-Fricative Clusters
Consonant-fricative sequences are another series of consonant cluster in

Gyeli. I propose to consider consonant-fricative sequences as clusters be-
cause i) their occurrence is highly restricted in terms of their distribution,
unlike most other phonemic units, and ii) a unit analysis would be typologi-
cally uncommon for these sequences. Treating all of them as phonemic units
would again artifically expand the phoneme inventory. Further, a cluster
analysis is in line with the treatment of prenasal and labialized/palatalized
consonant clusters.
Most of the consonant-fricative clusters consist of a stop + fricative,
but there are also lateral + fricative sequences, as Table 2.7 shows. All of
them are restricted to the onset of the first syllable, both in noun and verb
stems. The only exception of an occurrence of /bv/ in O2 in the table is a
reduplication of the first syllable.
Consonant- Nouns Verbs

fricative O1 O2 O3 O1 O2 O3
sequence 40/855 1/650 -/94 27/377 -/275 -/76
pf 6 - - 5 - -
bv 6 1 - 6 - -
tf 6 - - 5 - -
dv 4 - - 5 - -
kf 16 - - 4 - -
lv 2 - - 2 - -
pren. stop-fric. 24
mbv 8 - - - - -
ndv 2 - - - - -
nkf 5 - - - - -
ngv 9 - - - - -
Table 2.7: Distribution of consonant-fricative clusters
All consonant-fricative clusters are relatively rare, [kf] being the most
62
frequent sequence type, at least in noun stems.11 In contrast, /lv/ sequences

are the least frequent.
Some of the stop-fricative clusters appear also prenasalized, as shown in
Table 2.7. Prenasalization is, however, restricted to a subset of consonant-
fricative clusters in noun stems, including prenasalization of /bv/, /dv/,
/kf/, and /gv/. /gv/ as voiced counterpart to /kf/ only occurs if a nasal
precedes it. Prenasalized consonant-fricative clusters do not occur in verbs.
Consonant-fricative clusters are further restricted in their distribution
in that they only occur before the high vowel /u/. This makes it likely
to assume a realization rule of affrication, as for instance Van de Velde
(2008: 26) describes for Eton. There is, however, no complementary dis-
tribution or conditioning of the fricative cluster occurrence with respect to
plain consonants. Their occurrence is not predictable from any rules, as the
(near-)minimal pairs in (49) show.
(49) bvúlɛ̀ ‘Bulu person’ vs. búlɛ ‘burst’

tfúdɛ́ ‘bump’ vs. túdɛ̀ ‘tumor’
kfúdɛ ‘cover’ vs. kúdɛ́ ‘skin’
lvúmɔ́ ‘maggot’ vs. lùmɔ́ ‘yellow fever mosquito’
All initial consonants are followed by the same high back vowel [u]. Speak-
ers are aware of the difference and correct me if I pronounce it wrong either
way.
While ruling out a realization rule of affrication, one could still assume
that stop-fricative clusters should be viewed as either homorganic or het-
erorganic affricates. An argument in favor of this hypothesis is that the af-
fricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ are equally restricted in their distribution: they only
occur in first syllables of noun and verb stems and they precede only the
vowel /i/.
There are several reasons, however, why I treat affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ as
phonemic units which are distinct from consonant-fricative clusters. First,
clusters are per definitionem comprised of two consonantal constituents which
have independent phonemic status. While this is true for the consonant-
fricative clusters, it does not hold for the affricates: /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ are not
11
An observation with respect to the closest related language Mabi: Mabi does not have
the phoneme [kf], but rather uses [pf] as in Mabi pfúmá ‘chief’ where the Bagyeli say
kfúmá. It is not clear, however, if this is a regular sound correspondance since Gyeli uses
both (non-allophonic) sequences [pf] and [kf].
63
independent phonemes in Gyeli. Second, the affricates are better explained

within the system as filling a slot in the palatal series, as also suggested by
Cheucle (2014: 335) for other A80 languages. She further points out that af-
fricates are viewed as phonemic units in other A80 languages. It also seems
to be more systematic to group the clusters as distinct from the affricates
since they differ in the type of fricative. While consonant-fricative clusters
always involve a labiodental fricative, the affricates /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ involve a
palatal fricative.
2.1.4 Phonotactics
In this section, I lay out the phonotactics, i.e. distribution and frequency, of
consonants comparing noun and verb stems. The basis for my analysis is a
database of 875 noun and 377 verb stems.12
Consonants only occur in syllable onset positions, and almost never as
codas (with the exception of a few nasals). Noun stems can have up to four
syllables, verb stems up to three. (For more detailed information on syllable
structure, see section 2.3.) Tables 2.8 and 2.9 reflect the syllable structure
for the potential occurrence of consonants in nouns and verbs, respectively.
Thus, O1 (onset 1), for instance, stands for the stem initial consonant slot,
O2 (onset 2) for the consonant slot in the second syllable and so on. I prefer
to refer to onsets rather than to C (consonant) because these slots can be
filled by multiple consonant, i.e. consonant clusters as discussed in section
2.1.3.
The number following O1, O2, and so on refers to the number of onsets.
For example, out of 875 noun stems, 855 have an onset in their first syl-
lable, while there are only 650 onsets in the slot O2, and only 94 in O3.
There are two reasons why the number does not match the total number
of noun/verb stems. First, there are a few loan words which do not have a
consonantal onset, for instance èsãŝ ‘fuel’. Second, the numbers are decreas-
ing for slots O2, O3 (and O4) because noun and verb stems have different
syllable lengths. Monosyllabic stems obviously do not have an O2 slot, so
12
Note that there is a much higher number of verb forms, namely derived verbs that
take verb extensions. I consider, however, only synchronically non-derived verb stems. If,
on the other hand, a verb stem has an applicative extension -ɛlɛ, but synchronically there
is no basic verb stem (anymore), I consider this applicative form in my analysis. For more
information on verbs and verb extensions, see section 4.1.
64
the potential number of O2 occurrences is smaller than for O1.
O1 (855) O2 (650) O3 (88) O4 (6)

Stops 205 (24%) 138 (21.2%) 14 (15.9%) 1 (16.6%)
p 36 4 - -
b 54 28 2 -
t 31 10 1 -
d 19 43 7 -
k 63 15 3 -
g 2 25 6 1
’ - 13 - -
Affricates 25 (2.9%) - - -
tʃ 16 - - -
dʒ 9 - - -
Fricatives 97 (11.3%) 48 (7.4%) 9 (10.2%) 1 (16.6%)
f 11 2 1 -
v 25 5 - -
s 58 36 7 -
z 3 5 1 1
Nasals 56 (6.5%) 92 (14.2%) 17 (19.3%) 1 (16.6%)
m 24 60 5 -
n 7 28 12 1
ɲ 25 4 - -
Glides 67 (7.8%) 176 (27.1%) 40 (45.5%) 3 (50%)
l 29 125 30 2
w 22 30 9 -
j 16 21 1 1
Pren. stops 61 (7.1%) 163 (25.1%) 4 (4.5%) -
mb 30 69 - -
nd 7 55 2 -
ŋg 24 39 2 -
Total 59.6% 95% 89.7% 100%
Table 2.8: Phonotactics of Phonemic Consonants in Noun Stems
Tables 2.8 and 2.9 show the frequency and distribution of all 22 phone-
mic consonants in Gyeli noun and verb stems. Allophones are included with
their respective phoneme. For instance, occurrences of intervocalic [β] is
subsumed unter the phoneme /b/. The bold numbers in the rows of ‘stops’,
‘affricates, ‘fricatives’, ‘nasals’, ‘glides’, and ‘prenasalized stops’ show the
sums of their respective single phonemes. For example, 56 is the number of
all occurrences of /m/, /n/, /ɲ/ taken together in O1 noun stem position.
This is 6.5% of all noun stem onsets which means that nasals are relatively
65
rare in noun stem initial position. The percentages at the bottom under ‘To-
tal’ sum up all phonemic unit instances in a particular slot. For O1 in noun
stems, for instance, only 59.6% have a phonemic unit onset. The other 40%
constitute consonant clusters.
O1 (377) O2 (274) O3 (76)

Stops 129 (32.6%) 66 (24.1%) 9 (11.8%)
p 20 - -
b 34 17 1
t 22 4 1
d 7 19 3
k 39 7 -
g 1 16 4
’ - 3 -
Affricates 22 (5.8%) - -
tʃ 9 - -
dʒ 13 - -
Fricatives 65 (17.2%) 20 (7.3%) 10 (13.2%)
f 4 - -
v 24 - -
s 37 20 10
z - - -
Nasals 26 (6.9%) 51 (18.6%) 5 (6.6%)
m 8 37 -
n 4 14 5
ɲ 14 - -
Glides 45 (11.9%) 82 (29.9%) 51 (67.1%)
l 31 48 44
w 10 17 7
j 4 17 -
Pren. stops 2 (.5%) 54 (19.7%) -
mb - 25 -
nd 1 23 -
ŋg 1 6 -
Total 74.9% 99.6% 98.7%
Table 2.9: Phonotactics of Phonemic Consonants in Verb Stems
In both noun and verb stems, stops and fricatives generally occur stem
initially, but their occurrences decrease in O2 and O3. The contrary is the
case for nasals and glides: their occurrences are more numerous in O2 and
O3 while they are rather rare stem initially.13
13
O4 in noun stems should not be counted in these generalizations since there are only
66
In terms of voicing, some plosives are more frequent in stem initial posi-
tion, such as /t/ and /k/ which are more frequent in O1 than their counter-
parts /d/ and /g/, whereas in O2 the inverse is the case. This holds for both
noun and verb stems. The situation is different for bilabial stops where the
voiced /b/ is more frequent in any position; in verb stems, /p/ only occurs
in O1.
This voicing distribution is not true for fricatives in general. /v/ is more
frequent than /f/ in O1 and O2 in both noun and verb stems. For the alveolar
fricatives, though, the voiceless /s/ is always more frequent than voiced
/z/. Interestingly, /z/ does not occur in verbs at all. Further, /s/ is the only
fricative in verb stems that occurs in other positions than O1.
As to nasals, /m/ is more frequent than /n/ in both nouns and verbs.
These two phonemes mostly occur in O2. In contrast, /ɲ/ is only found
in in O1 in verb stems which is also generally true for nouns. The four
occurrences of /ɲ/ in O2 of nouns can be explained by reduplication and
loan words.
Similar to nasals, glides are also more frequent in O2 than in O1. /l/ is
the most frequently used phoneme in this position. As to the semi-vowels,
/w/ is generally more frequent than /j/ in O1 and for noun stems also in
O2, while the distrubution of /w/ and /j/ is equal for O2 in verbs.
Comparable to the voiced alveolar stop /d/ and the nasals /m/ and /n/,
prenasalized stops are more frequent in O2 than in O1 position. This is true
for both noun and verb stems. Another exceptional distribution concerns
affricates which only occur in O1 position, but never stem medially.
The tables also show that verb stems generally have a higher percentage
of plain consonants which, in turn means, that consonant clusters are more
found in noun stems. About 40% of noun stem initial onsets consist of
clusters, while for verbs only about a quarter of the stems begin with a
sequence of consonants. The trend also holds in onsets of second and third
syllables. For O2, about 95% have phonemic units in nouns while it is 99.6%
in verbs.
As already discussed in section 2.1.3, most consonant clusters occur stem
initially, with the exception of a few prenasalized stops which also occur in
O2. Table 2.10 summarizes the distribution of consonant clusters in O1 and
6 occurrences anyway so that their numbers are not representative. The same may be true
for O3 in verb stems.
67
O214 , contrasting noun and verb stems. Since detailed information were
already given in the respective discussions of single consonant cluster types,
I only list types of sequences here.15
Nouns Verbs
(855 total) (377 total)
Cluster type O1 O2 O1 O2
Pren. obstr. 208 (24.3%) 5 (.8%) 4 (1.1%) -
Lab. obstr. 29 (3.4%) 1 (.2%) 22 (5.8%) -
Pal. obstr. 30 (3.5%) 1 (.2%) 31 (8.2%) -
Stop-fric. cl. 40 (4.7%) - 27 (7.2%) -
Total 35.9% 1.2% 22.3% -
Table 2.10: Phonotactics of Consonants Clusters in Noun and Verb Stems
It is remarkable that prenasalized obstruents mostly occur stem initially

in nouns while they rarely occur in O1 in verb stems. They do occur in
O2 in verbs, but they are still more frequent in the same position in nouns.
Prenasalized stops are basically the only consonant clusters that occur stem
medially. The exceptional couple of labialized and palatalized obstruents
in noun O2 can be explained by reduplication of the stem’s first syllable or
by loan words.
While prenasalized clusters are more frequent in noun stems, labial-
ized/palatalized obstruents as well as affricates are more frequent in verb
stems. Summing up all consonant clusters, almost 40% of noun stems start
with a consonant sequence while only 28% of verb stems do so. This trend
also holds for O2 with about 26% in nouns and 18% in verbs. These figures
reflect what has already been stated for the distribution of plain phonemes
which are more often found in verb than in noun stems.
2.2 Vowels
Gyeli has seven contrastive vowels. In addition, the language disposes of
a range of diphthongs, as well as contrastive vowel length and nasalized
14
Consonant clusters do generally not occur in O3 or O4.
15
The various types of sequences include the following consonant clusters: prenasalized
obstruents: [mp, nt, ŋk, mgb, ns, nz, nl, mw]; Labialized onstruents: [pw, bw, kw, gw,
sw]; Palatalized onstruents: [pj, dj, kj, gj]; Stop-fricative cluster: [pf, bv, tf, dv, kf]. Fur-
ther, note that labial velars are subsumed under prenasalized obstruents since their only
occurrence is in a cluster [mgb].
68
vowels. I will discuss each of these in turn, starting with presenting ‘plain’,
i.e. short, oral vowels.
2.2.1 Plain Vowels

Figure 2.9 shows the seven plain vowels /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, /a/.
i u
e o
ɛ ɔ
Figure 2.9: Plain vowels in Gyeli
(50) provides (near-)minimal pairs of all seven vowels, demonstrating

their functional contrast.
/i/ vs. /u/ /kìndá/ ‘sugar ant’ vs. /kùndá/ ‘shoe’
/u/ vs. /o/ /kùlɛ/ ‘borrow’ vs. /kòlɛ/ ‘help’
/e/ vs. /ɛ/ /lé/ ‘tree’ vs. /lɛ́/ ‘glass’
/o/ vs. /ɛ/ /kòlɛ/ ‘help’ vs. /kɛ̀lɛ/ ‘hang’
(50) /ɛ/ vs. /i/ /lɛ̀bɛlɛ/ ‘follow’ vs. /líbɛlɛ/ ‘show’
/ɔ/ vs. /ɛ/ /kámbɔ/ ‘chew’ vs. /kámbɛ̀/ ‘weaver ant’
/a/ vs. /ɛ/ /kìja/ ‘give’ vs. /kìyɛ/ ‘try’
/o/ vs. /ɔ/ /bédo/ ‘ferment’ vs. /bédɔ/ ‘go up’
/i/ vs. /a/ /wùsi/ ‘sprout’ vs. /wùsa/ ‘forget’
Vowel space The Gyeli vowel system is the same as what Cheucle (2014: 389)
reconstructs for Proto-A80. Synchronically, Bantu A80 languages differ in
the number of phonemic vowels and vowel quality as described by Cheucle
(2014: 324). According to her summary of the literature, most of these lan-
guages have six phonemic vowels /i, e, ɛ, a, o, u/, while Shiwa and Kwasio
69
only have a five-vowel-system /i, e, a, o, u/ where /e/ and /o/ are vari-
ants of /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, respectively. This special status of /e/ and /o/ is also
seen in Gyeli. Even though these two vowels have a constrastive function
as shown in (50) and therefore must be considered phonemes, /e/ and /o/
differ from the other vowels in two respects. First, they are significantly
less frequent than other vowels, as will be shown in, for instance, Tables
2.12 and 2.14 in the discussion of vowel phonotactics. Second, the plotting
of the Gyeli vowel space in Figure 2.10 shows that both /e/ and /o/ are
cramped between /i/ and /ɛ/ and /u/ and /ɔ/, respectively.16
Figure 2.10: Vowel plot
While a 7-vowel system is the norm in Bantu languages, the Gyeli vowel
space differs from what is generally expected for Bantu languages. Mad-
dieson (2003: 18) notes that
16
The vowel chart was plotted from 233 vowel tokens taken from two male speakers. I
used a Praat script to measure F1 and F2. For extreme outliers I corrected the fundamental
frequencies manually. These cases all concerned word final vowels. Many thanks to Joyce
McDonough and Murray Schellenberg for their help with this.
70
“Bantu vowel inventories, both five- and seven-vowel-systems,

are split between those which are similar to global norms in their
spacing [i.e. evenly distributed] and those in which the vowels
are atypically crowded in the higher part of the vowel space.”
Vowels are neither evenly distributed in the vowel space in Gyeli, nor are the
vowels atypically cramped in the higher part. In comparison to Maddieson’s
example of a 7-vowel system with atypical crowding in the higher part still
differs from Gyeli in that the high and mid vowels are relatively evenly
spaced with respect to one another while there is a relatively large space
between the mid vowels and /a/. What seems to be atypical in Gyeli is
that /e/ and /o/ are tightly wedged between /i/ and /ɛ/ and /u/ and /ɔ/,
respectively. With the exceptions of /e/ and /o/, the other five vowels are
fairly evenly distributed.
The Gyeli system is very similar to the one of Mpiemo that Thornell &
Nagano-Madsen (2004: 167) describe. Also in Mpiemo, /i/ and /e/, and /u/
and /o/ lay very close together. Further, both languages have a common
relation of the spacing between the lower mid vowels /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ to /a/,
the mid vowels ranging at on average around 500 Hz in F1 and /a/ at a
mean of about 730 Hz. There are, however, differences concerning mostly
F2 for the high vowels which range at under 1000 Hz in Gyeli, but slightly
under 700 Hz in Mpiemo.
Vowel phonotactics In terms of frequency and distribution of vowels, a

general observation is that high vowels /i, u/ occur more in first syllables of
both verb and noun stems while lower mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ and low vowel /a/
are more frequent in second syllables. This becomes obvious when compar-
ing plain vowels in noun and verb stems of different syllable length which
are summarized in Table 2.11. Note that this concerns only plain vowels and
does not represent general syllable distribution. This, in turn, is discussed
in section 2.3.
Noun stems Verb stems

σ 108 39
σσ 508 205
σσσ 93 76
Table 2.11: Frequency of plain vowels in noun and verb stems
71
Disyllabic stems are most frequent for both noun and verb stems, as Table
2.11 shows. In contrast, it is more frequent for nouns to have plain vowels
with monosyllabic than with trisyllabic stems , while the inverse is the case
for verbs.
Vowel Noun stems Verb stems
i 14 (13%) 4 (10.3%)
u 18 (16.6%) 4 (10.3%)
e 3 (2.7%) 2 (5.1%)
o 3 (2.7%) -
ɛ 18 (16.6%) 11 (28.2%)
ɔ 18 (16.6%) 6 (15.4%)
a 34 (31.5%) 12 (30.8%)
Table 2.12: Distribution of plain vowels in monosyllabic stems
Table 2.12 shows the frequency of the various plain vowels in monosyl-
labic noun stems, contrasting them with verb stems. While the high back
vowel /u/ occurs slightly more often than its front counterpart /i/ in noun
stems, the distribution of these two high vowels is more equal in verbs. Mid
vowels /e, o/ are rare in both nouns and verbs. /o/ is even completely ab-
sent in monosyllabic verb stems.17 Also, in both noun and verb stems, the
most frequent plain vowel is /a/ with over 30%.
Comparing plain vowel distribution in disyllabic noun and verb stems
shows that the occurrence of vowels is more restricted in verb than in noun
stems, as shown in Tables 2.13 and 2.14. For both, there is a tendency that
high vowels occur more frequently in the first than in the second syllable.
In verb stems, though, high vowels systematically do not occur at all in the
second syllable.18
Mid vowels /e, o/ are, just like in monosyllabic stems, rare in both first and
second syllables. In noun stems, only 2.4% of first syllables contain /e/, and
only 2% contain /o/. In verb stems, /e/ occurs with a frequency of 4.4%
while /o/ has the same frequency as in nouns. As to the second syllable,
/e/ does not occur at all in verb stems and is rare in noun stems (2.6%).
In contrast, the lower mid vowels /ɛ, ɔ/ occur in the first and second
syllable, but are significantly more frequent in second syllables. This holds
17
Despite this low frequency of mid vowels, they can still not be subsumed under either
higher or lower vowels since there are minimal pairs that prove their contrastive function.
18
The two instances of /i/ in the second verb stem syllable shown in Table 2.14 are most
likely loan words.
72
σ2 →
i u e o ɛ ɔ
Total a %
σ1 ↓
σ1
i 23 11 - 3 7 29 15 88 (17.3)
u 11 15 5 6 43 37 29 146 (28.7)
e 1 - 1 4 3 2 1 12 (2.4)
o 2 1 1 3 2 - 1 10 (2.0)
ɛ 6 - - 1 30 12 7 56 (11.0)
ɔ 7 - - - 19 26 6 58 (11.4)
a 9 3 6 12 27 32 49 138 (27.2)
Total σ2 59 30 13 29 131 138 108 508 (100)
% (11.6) (5.9) (2.6) (5.7) (25.8) (27.2) (21.3) (100)
Table 2.13: Phonotactics of vowels in disyllabic noun stems
for both noun and verb stems, while, again, this tendency is even stronger
in verb stems. Here, 10.2% of first syllables contain /ɛ/ and 6.8% /ɔ/, but
/ɛ/ occurs in 35.6% of verb stem second syllables and /ɔ/ in even 43.4%. In
noun stems, lower mid vowels occur around 11% of the time in first syllables
and are more frequent in second syllables with 25.8% for /ɛ/ and 27.2% for
/ɔ/.
σ2 →
i u e o ɛ ɔ a Total %
σ1 ↓
σ1
i 1 - - 2 15 23 7 48 (23.4)
u 1 - - 1 18 20 9 49 (23.9)
e - - - 2 1 5 1 9 (4.4)
o - - - - 1 - 3 4 (2.0)
ɛ - - - - 9 12 - 21 (10.2)
ɔ - - - - 11 1 2 14 (6.8)
a - - - 5 18 28 9 60 (29.3)
Total σ2 2 - - 10 73 89 31 205 (100)
% (1.0) - - (4.9) (35.6) (43.4) (15.1) (100)
Table 2.14: Phonotactics of vowels in disyllabic verb stems
The vowel /a/ is, just like high vowels, more frequent in first syllables
for both noun and verb stems. This difference is more significant in verbs
than in nouns with 29.3% occurrence in first and 15.1% in second syllabes,
whereas 27.2% of first noun stem syllables include /a/, but only 21.3% of
second syllables.
Stems with three syllables are the most restricted as to the vowel that oc-
curs in the third syllable. The vowel quality of these final vowels is further
restricted by its preceding vowel of the second syllable while the first sylla-
73
ble vowel does not seem to influence the last’s syllable vowel at all. Table
2.15 shows the frequency of the different plain vowels in a third syllable of
trisyllabic stems, contrasting nouns and verbs. The table further provides
information on the vowel that precedes the final vowel in the second syl-
lable. For instance, /ɛ/ is used as a final vowel in a trisyllabic verb stems
in 61.8% of all third syllable vowel occurrences. In 85% of these cases, the
final /ɛ/ is preceded by the same vowel in the stem’s second syllable.
V Noun stems Verb stems

Frequency Preceding syllable vowel Frequency Preceding syllable vowel
i 15 (16.1%) /i/ (> 50%) - -
u 6 (6.5%) high and mid vowels - -
e 3 (3.2%) /e/ and /a/ - -
o 3 (3.2%) /o/ and /u/ - -
ɛ 32 (34.4%) /ɛ/ (40.6%), /a/ (21.9%) 47 (61.8%) /ɛ/ (85%), /a/ (12.8%)
ɔ 12 (12.9%) /ɔ/ (66.7%) 6 (7.9%) /ɔ/ (all)
a 22 (23.7%) /a/ (50%), /i/ (27.3%) 23 (30.3%) /a/(78.3%), /ɛ/ (21.7%)
Table 2.15: Frequency of σ3 plain vowels in trisyllabic stems
In the third syllable of a trisyllabic noun stem, any vowel can show up.
Most frequently, this is /ɛ/, followed by /a/, though. Also lower mid vowels
/e, o/ do show up in this position, but they are rare, as in other positions
as well. It is further remarkable that the front high vowel /i/ occurs sig-
nificantly more often than its back counterpart /u/. Despite a tendency of
specific vowels occurring in the preceding second syllable of a noun stem,
there do not seem to be strict rules that prohibit the ocurrence of some vow-
els before a certain third syllable vowel. The final vowel /a/, for example,
is mostly preceded by a vowel of the same quality (50%) or the high front
vowel /i/ (27.3%). The remaining 12.7%, however, are filled by vowels of
different qualities.
This is different with third syllable vowels in verb stems. First off, unlike
in noun stems, only three vowels are permitted in this position: /ɛ, ɔ, a/.
Like with nouns, the most frequent one of them is /ɛ/, with a much higher
percentage though. Second, the vowel in the preceding second syllable is
more restricted than it is the case in noun stems. Every occurrence of /ɔ/
in a final trisyllabic verb syllable, for instance, is always preceded by a
syllable whose vowel is also /ɔ/. Also for the other two possible vowels,
there is a tendency that the last vowel is preceded by an identical vowel.
Thus, trisyllabic verb stems ending in /ɛ/ have in 85% of the cases /ɛ/ also
74
as a second syllable, while endings in /a/ have 78.3% of the second syllable
filled with /a/ as well. The few cases where second and third syllable vowels
are not identical are covered by /a/ for endings in /ɛ/ and, vice versa, by
/ɛ/ for endings in /a/.
2.2.2 Diphthongs
Gyeli has a few diphthongs: /ua/, /uɔ/, /iɛ/, /ɔa/. They all occur in mono-
syllabic stems of nouns and verbs (and in reduplicated second syllables of
noun stems). Examples are given in (51); the dot represents the syllabic
unit.19
(51) djúà. ‘swim’

ŋgùɔ́. ‘sugar (cane)’
tsíɛ̀. ‘blood’
tɔ̀à. ‘boil (intr.)’
Diphthongs in Gyeli do not constitute mere vowel sequences, i.e. vowels

of two syllables without hiatus, but are part of one syllable which speakers
clearly recognize when humming syllables. Thus, monosyllabic diphthongs
can be contrasted to disyllabic vowel sequences which are always subject to
hiatus resolution by means of glides, as shown in (52).
(52) djù.wá ‘thorn’

nkfù.wɔ́ ‘torso’
kí.yɛ́ ‘iron’
tɔ́.wá ‘all’
Diphthongs are rather rare, as Table 2.16 shows. Out of a total of 223
monosyllabic noun stems, 8.0% contain a diphthong. The percentage for
verbs is slightly higher with 12.5% of diphthongs in a total of 88 monosyl-
labic verb stems. The most frequently found diphthong in noun stems is
/uɔ/ while for verb stems it is /iɛ/. The diphthong /ɔa/ is the least frequent
in both noun and verb stems.
19
In terms of tonal representation, note that tonal marking on each vowel in a diphthong
does not indicate two tones, but only one tone on the syllable. In djúà ‘swim’, for instance,
the syllable does not have one L and one H tone, but one falling HL tone. In tɔ̀à ‘boil’,
the syllable has one long L tone comparable to syllables with long vowels, as discussed in
section 2.2.3.
75
Diphthong Noun stems (total 223) Verb stems (total 88)

ua 4 (1.8%) 3 (3.4%)
uɔ 9 (4.0%) 2 (2.3%)
iɛ 4 (1.8%) 5 (5.7%)
ɔa 1 (0.4%) 1 (1.1%)
Total 18 (8.0%) 11 (12.5%)
Table 2.16: Diphthongs in monosyllabic noun and verb stems
Historically, these diphthongs most likely were two distinct vowels be-
longing to different syllables though. The likely scenario would be that an
intervocalic consonant, the onset of the second syllable, first underwent le-
nition, then elision, and in a third step, as hiatus resolution, the two adjacent
vowels were contracted to a diphthong in one syllable. This assumption is
supported by Cheucle (2014: 330-331) who comes to the same conclusion
by showing that some cognates in different Bantu A80 languages contain
either a disyllabic stem where the intervocalic consonant is either /b/ or
/w/, or where the consonant has been lost, resulting in a vowel sequence
or diphthong. Her example (47), for instance, includes the lexeme ‘shield’
which is nkùbò in Njem, nkùwò in Makaa, and nkùò in Konzime. This sce-
nario would also explain why diphthongs are only found in monosyllabic
stems.
Nevertheless, Gyeli cannot be simply categorized as a language that syn-
chronically displays only one stage in this development, for example only us-
ing diphthongs in contrast to disyllabic stems with intervocalic consonants.
Rather, Gyeli has all three types: disyllabic stems with an intervocalic /b/ as
in Njem, e.g. kfúbɔ̀ ‘chicken’, disyllabic stems with an intervocalic glide /w/
as in Makaa, e.g. djúwɔ̀ ‘sky’, and diphthongs, e.g. búɔ̀ ‘mortar’. As shown
in Figure 2.2 of section 2.1.2.2, Gyeli has a tendency to weaken intervocalic
voiced plosives such as /b/ which then surface as /β/. They may then eas-
ily undergo further lention to /w/ up to a complete omission resulting in
diphthongs. Rather than a phonological rule though, it seems to be lexically
specified to which of these three stages a noun or verb stem belongs. The
same is true for higher vowels and diphthongs; is it lexically specified that
certain stems are monosyllabic with a diphthong such as tsíɛ̀ ‘blood’ while
others are disyllabic with an intervocalic glide such as nsìjɛ̀ ‘string’.
76
2.2.3 Vowel Length

Gyeli uses vowel length as a distinctive feature. This is quite expected,
according to Cheucle (2014: 327):
“La longueur vocalique semble avoir une fonction distinctive dans

la plupart des langues A80. La longueur est considérée comme
phonémique, par les auteurs, en bekol, en makaa, en njem, en
konzime et en bekwel.” [Vocalic length seems to have a dis-
tinctive function in the majority of A80 languages. Length is
considered as phonemic by the authors in Bekol, Makaa, Njem,
Konzime, and Bekwel.]20
For Gyeli, there are numerous (near-)minimal pairs showing the contrastive
function of vowel length. Some examples are given in (53). All plain (oral,
short) vowels have a long counterpart except for /o/. /e/ does occur some-
times as a long vowel, but the frequency is so low that I did not find any
minimal pairs.
(53) tsíì ‘life’ vs tsì ‘interdiction’

nkùù ‘evil spirit’ vs. nkù ‘animal den’
mbɛ́ɛ ́ ‘metal oven’ vs. mbɛ̂ ‘door’
dɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘puddle’ vs. dɔ̀ ‘negotiate’
mpàà ‘fog, vapor’ vs. mpà ‘bushbaby (galago thomasi)’
Long vowels are clearly longer than short vowels and as such perceiv-
able. Also speakers are aware of vowel lengthening and reliably indicate
whether a vowel is short or lengthened (tiré). (54) contrasts two mini-
mal pairs measuring their vowel length. In the first case, the long vowel
[aa] in nzáàlɛ̀ ‘beggar’ is about 100ms longer than the short [a] in nyàlɛ́
‘son/brother-in-law’. In the second example, the long vowel [uu] in knùù
‘evil spirit’ is even 180ms longer than [u] in nkù ‘animal den’ which is more
than double as long. Of course, these two examples only provide an im-
pressionistic picture and require a more systematic investigation of a larger
quantity of vowels in future work.
20
Cheucle (2014: 327) assumes that vowel length is currently developing phonemic sta-
tus in Kwasio and Mpiemo.
77
ɲáàlɛ̀ ‘beggar’ → [aa] = 235ms

ɲàlɛ́ ‘son/brother-in-law’ → [a] = 135ms
(54)
nkùù ‘evil spirit’ → [uu] = 430ms
nkù ‘animal den’ → [u] = 150ms
Contrastive long vowels are most often found in monosyllabic stems.

Table 2.17 shows the frequency and distribution of long vowels in mono-
syllabic stems, contrasting nouns and verbs. In general, long vowels are
more frequent than diphthongs. 26.5% of monosyllabic noun stems contain
a long vowel, but only 8.0% of diphthongs. The same is true for verb stems,
of which 19.3% have a long vowel, but only 12.5% have a diphthong (see
Table 2.16 in section 2.2.2.)
Long vowel Noun stems (total 223) Verb stems (total 88)
ii 7 (3.1%) 1 (1.1%)
uu 13 (5.8%) -
ee 2 (0.9%) 1 (1.1%)
oo - -
ɛɛ 8 (3.6%) 3 (3.4%)
ɔɔ 7 (3.1%) 1 (1.1%)
aa 22 (9.9%) 11 (12.5%)
Total 59 (26.5%) 17 (19.3%)
Table 2.17: Long vowels in monosyllabic noun and verb stems
As with other phonological features, long vowels differ in frequency and

distribution in noun and verb stems, but also show some similarities. For
both noun and verb stems, /aa/ is the most frequent long vowel. In contrast,
while /uu/ is relatively often found in noun stems, it is completely absent
in verb stems. Generally, long high and higher mid vowels /ii/, /uu/, /ee/,
and /oo/ are rather rare or even absent in verb stems.
Even though long vowels are most frequently found in monosyllabic
stems, they are not restricted to this environment, but can also occur in
stems of more syllables, as (55) shows, and in syllables other than the first.
As such, long vowels differ from diphthongs. Long vowels in second (and
third) syllables only occur in noun stems though and are so rare that I did
not find any minimal pairs. Nevertheless, (56) shows a few examples while
Table 2.18 shows the distribution of long vowels other than in monosyllabic
stems.
78
(55) ɲùùlɛ̀ ‘mosquito’ vs. ɲùlɛ̀ ‘flame’

káàsa ‘imitate’ vs. kàsà ‘bridge
ɲáàlɛ̀ ‘beggar’ vs. ɲàlɛ́ ‘son/brother-in-law’
(56) sìsùù ‘apparition’

ŋgòmbáà ‘lemon’
nákúlúú ‘forest tortoise (Kinixys homeana)’
Position Noun stems Verb stems

disyllabic, VV in σ1 20 (3.6%) 4 (1.9%)
disyllabic, VV in σ2 10 (1.8%) -
disyllabic, VV in σ1 and σ2 2 (0.4%) -
trisyllabic, VV in σ3 1 (1.0%) -
Table 2.18: Long vowels in di- and trisyllabic noun and verb stems
In comparison to noun stems, verb stems are rather restricted in the oc-
currence of long vowels. Apart from monosyllabic stems, they only allow
long vowels in the first syllable of disyllabic stems. All cases include ex-
clusively /aa/ as the long vowel in this position. Noun stems, in contrast,
are more flexible as to where long vowels are permitted as well as to which
vowel quality can occur in disyllabic stems. In disyllabic noun stems where
the first syllable has a long vowel, the majority (60%) of these long vowels
is /aa/, but the remaining 40% are distributed over other vowel qualities
including /uu/, /ɛɛ/, and /ɔɔ/. Long vowels in the second syllable of a di-
syllabic noun stem are evenly distributed over /aa/ and /uu/. Long vowels
in the last syllable of trisyllabic stems are negligible since I only came across
one occurrence in the lexeme le-dèlɛ́mɔ́ɔ̀ ‘mud wasp’.
As to the origin and development of long vowels, it is possible that (some)
long vowels developed, just like diphthongs, from disyllabic stems where an
intervocalic /b/ or glide got lost, contracting two adjacent vowels into one
syllable. Either these two vowels were of the same vowel quality or they
assimilated to be so. Cheucle (2014: 328) shows in her example (41) that
long vowels in one language correspond to disyllabic stems with intervocalic
or syllable final /b/ or glide in other languages. These correspondances
are, however, by no means regular. Also, this scenario does not account
for all instances of long vowels though because if long vowels originated
solely from intervocalic loss, that would not explain long vowels in disyl-
labic stems, especially not in second syllables.
79
2.2.4 Nasal Vowels

Gyeli has six distinctive nasal vowels. Just like with long vowels, all vowels
can be nasalized except for /o/. (57) provides examples of (near-)minimal
pairs.
(57) ndzĩ ́ ‘jealousy’ vs. ndzǐ ‘path’

kũ̂ ‘leopard’ vs. kù ‘rat’
pẽ ́ ‘injury’ vs. péè ‘avocado’
tɛ̃̂ ‘limp’ vs. tɛ̂ ‘create, invent’
lã̂ ‘read, count’ vs. lâ ‘harvest’
Comparable to diphthongs and long vowels, nasalized vowels are also

most often found in monosyllabic stems, as Table 2.19 shows. Nasal vowels
are slightly more frequent in noun stems than in verb stems. For both /ã/
is the most frequent nasal vowel, followed by /ũ/ in noun stems. /ɔ̃/ is
completely absent in verb stems while other mid and also high vowels are
generally rare.
Nasal vowel Noun stems (total 223) Verb stems (total 88)
ĩ 5 (2.2%) 1 (1.1%)
ũ 10 (4.5%) 2 (2.3%)
ẽ 3 (1.3%) 1 (1.1%)
õ - -
ɛ̃ 4 (1.8%) 2 (2.3%)
ɔ̃ 6 (2.7%) -
ã 21 (9.4%) 9 (10.2%)
Total 49 (22.0%) 15 (17.0%)
Table 2.19: Nasalized vowels (short, oral) in monosyllabic noun and verb
stems
There are a few cases where nasal vowels show up in disyllabic noun
and trisyllabic verb stems, as shown in Table 2.20.
In contrast to noun stems, nasal vowels never occur in stem final syllables
in verbs. They are either found in the first syllable or in the second if there
is a third syllable. Again, /ã/ is the most frequent nasal vowel also in these
positions.
Since nasal vowels in other than monosyllabic stems are rare, it is diffi-
cult to find minimal pairs. (58) provides some examples of noun and verb
80
Position Noun stems Verb stems

disyllabic, VV in σ1 2 (0.4%) 5 (5.2%)
disyllabic, VV in σ2 9 (1.6%) -
disyllabic, VV in σ1 and σ2 2 (0.4%) -
trisyllabic, VV in σ1 and σ2 - 1 (1.0%)
trisyllabic, VV in σ2 only - 1 (1.0%)
Table 2.20: Long vowels in di- and trisyllabic noun and verb stems
stems where nasal vowels occur in the first and/or second syllable of di- or
trisyllabic stems.
(58) ma-bwãś à ‘thoughts’

m-ùdã̂ ‘woman’
le-tsĩjɛ̃̀ ́ ‘knot’
ŋgãŋ ̀ gã́ ‘healer’
gjãl̂ ɛ ‘roast’
sãã́ s̀ a ‘mix’
víjãs̀ a ‘be bright’
Also long vowels and diphthongs can be nasalized, as shown in (59) for long
vowels and in (60) for diphthongs.21
(59) sĩĩ́ ̀ ‘approach sth.’

tṹũ̀ ‘axe’
be-bɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ ‘beauty’
tɛ̃ɛ̀ ̀̃ ‘abandon’
djãã ́ ̀ ‘chase, drive away’
Nasalized long vowels and diphthongs are quite rare though. There are two
instances of nasalized long vowels in noun stems and eight in verb stems,
including /ii/, /ɛɛ/, and /aa/. For diphthongs, the inverse distribution is
the case with seven cases of nasalized diphthongs (/ua/ and /uɔ/) in noun
stems and two in verb stems. Thus, there is no overall tendency as to which
one is more frequent. Examples of nasalized diphthongs are given in (60).
(60) ŋkṹɔ̃̀ ‘treason, treachery’

ɲṹã̀ ‘snake’
21
It is remarkable that most nasalized long vowels and diphthongs carry a HL tone, even
though there are also exceptions.
81
lṹɔ̃̀ ‘build’
lṹã̀ ‘whistle’
Nasal vowels in Gyeli stem from diachronic closed syllables with a velar
nasal as their coda. This becomes obvious when comparing Gyeli to other
A80 languages. Cheucle (2014: 329) proposes a floating underlying nasal
segment to explain nasal vowels in Bantu A80. She points out that all A80
languages she is comparing have closed syllables ending in a velar nasal
coda. Vowels preceding these velar nasals are usually nasalized which sug-
gests that nasalized vowels in these languages are contextual with nasality
spreading from a following nasal consonant. As Cheucle (2014: 329) states,
only Makaa uses stem final nasal vowels—with the correspondance of ve-
lar nasal codas in the other languages. Nasal vowels with phonemic status
in Makaa are, however, restricted to /ɛ̃/ and /õ/. Further, also Makaa has
instances of closed syllables using a velar nasal as a coda.
In that sense, Gyeli seems to be the only known A80 language which
does not at all have closed syllables (see also section 2.3), not even with
velar nasal codas. In contrast, the inventory of contrastive nasal vowels is
then larger than in Makaa, also disposing of phonemic /ĩ/, /ũ/, /ẽ/, /ɔ̃/,
and /ã/ (but not /õ/, unlike Makaa).
2.3 Syllable Structure
2.3.1 Introduction
Despite syllables being an integral part of phonological description, they
are intuitively less tangible than other phonological units such as vowels
or consonants. Therefore, I will first provide a definition of syllables and
then present arguments why syllables should be viewed as phonological con-
stituents. Before introducing my general approch to the internal structure
of syllables, I will also discuss the role of sonority in syllable research.
According to Blevins (1995: 207), “syllables can be viewed as structural
units providing melodic organization to such [phonological] strings” with
segments being “organized into rising and falling sonority sequences, with
each sonority peak defining a unique syllable.”
82
The syllable as a phonological constituent Blevins (1995: 207-10) posits

several arguments for the syllable to be considered as a phonological con-
stituent. Some of these arguments clearly apply to Gyeli, and I outline them
in turn.
First, tone takes the syllable as its tone bearing unit (TBU) in Gyeli, dis-
tinguishing heavy and light syllables in tonal mapping (see section 2.4 for
more detail). Second, syllables serve as targets for morphological processes
such as reduplication. Color terms, for instances, are quite susceptible to
reduplication of their second syllable as with ná.vjû ‘black’ which may also
occur as ná.vjû.vjû.22 Other instances of syllable reduplication are often
lexical rather than morphological, for example in the nouns sà.sà.mbɛ́ ‘mis-
carriage’ or nkú.nkú.mbɛ́ ‘bow’. It is likely that these nouns are historically
derived from nominalized verbs and an object, but synchronically this can-
not be parsed anymore. In any case, it is rather unusual to find the first and
second syllable of stems to be identical in Gyeli which suggests that they are
the product of reduplication. Finally, Blevins (1995: 209) mentions native
intuitions as a diagnostic for the syllable as a phonological unit. Indeed, the
Bagyeli are very reliable and consistent in recognizing syllables and syllable
breaks which they easily hum.
Sonority As stated above, syllables are defined by sonority sequences or-

ganized around sonority peaks. While many issues concerning sonority are
controversial in phonological theory,23 most phonologists agree that there
is some sort of sonority scale governing the sequences of phonological units
that form syllables. This is often referred to as the ‘Sonority Sequencing
Principle’, a term used for more than a century by, for instance, Jespersen
(1904) and Selkirk (1984). Blevins (1995: 210-211) prefers to call it the
Sonority Sequencing Generalization, pointing out that cross-linguistically
many exceptions can be found. She states the following version of the Sonor-
ity Sequencing Generalization:
“Between any member of a syllable and the syllable peak, a

sonority rise or plateau must occur.” (idem.)
22
The first syllable ná- stems most likely from a similative marker ‘like’; see also section
3.5.1 on qualifiers.
23
These issues comprise fundamental questions such as “How should sonority be de-
fined?” or “Is there a single universal sonority scale or is there cross-linguistic variation?”
See Clements (1990: 287) for an in-depth discussion.
83
Gyeli mostly follows this generalization, sticking to a typical sonority hi-

erarchy such as vowels > glides > liquids > nasals > fricatives > stops, which
is an adopted version from Clements (1990) and Blevins (1995). There is
one exception, however. Gyeli violates the Sonority Sequencing Principle in
that nasals may occur before stops and fricatives in syllable onsets, as will
be shown in detail in section 2.3.2 on the internal structure of Gyeli sylla-
bles. Clements (1990: 321) explains, however, that these instances have a
special status. He argues that sequences of the same place of articulation
are simpler than sequences with different places of articulation, which takes
precedence over the sonority principle (idem.).
Syllable internal structure The theoretical literature proposes several

models concerning the internal structure of syllables. I use a binary branch-
ing model with onset and rhyme as illustrated in Figure 2.11 for the German
word Traum ‘dream’, adopted from Blevins (1995: 213).24
onset rhyme
nucleus coda
X X X X X
t r a ʊ m
Figure 2.11: Binary branching model with rhyme
Many phonological phenomena can be described in terms of this model,

for instance language specific differences in terms of syllable weight, distin-
guishing heavy and light syllables. Hyman (1985) defines heavy syllables as
those that have a branching nucleus or a branching rhyme.
In the remainder of this section, I give an outline of Gyeli’s internal syl-
lable structure presenting the various syllable types. I then show their dis-
tribution as well as syllable numbers in the domain of prefixes and subject-
clause-operators (SCOPs) and noun and verb stems.
24
See Blevins (1995: 212-14) for a discussion of models on the internal structure of
syllables and arguments for the binary branching model with rhyme.
84
2.3.2 Syllable Internal Structure

Gyeli features light and heavy syllables. Heavy syllables are characterized
by a branching nucleus, never by a branching rhyme since the language only
has open syllables, i.e. there are no codas (with the exceptions of a few loan
words). In this, Gyeli has retained a typical feature of Proto-Bantu, accord-
ing to Hyman (2003: 43), who also states that many other Northwestern
Bantu languages of zones A and B have developed closed syllables (p. 58).
Branching nuclei consist of both long vowels (V:) and diphthongs (VV). An-
other characteristic of Gyeli is complex onsets with up to three consonantal
phonemes. At the same time, V-initial syllables are generally prohibited,
with the only exception occuring in subject-clause-operators (SCOPs) which
are portmanteau morphemes marking person and time.
Gyeli allows the following syllable types:
V, CV, CV:, CVV, CCV, CCV:, CCVV, CCCV, CCCV:, CCCVV
Since there are restrictions on the combination of onset consonants, I further

subdivide the class of consonants using the following symbols that are also
employed by Van de Velde (2008: 41):25
C any consonant
G glide (subclass of C)
N nasal (subclass of C)
P plosive (subclass of C)
F fricative (subclass of C)
V vowel
Syllables in Gyeli range from the most simple structure, consisting only of a
vocalic nucleus—which is generally rare in Gyeli—to more complex syllable
structures. Syllable complexity concerns both the consonantal onset and
the vocalic nucleus. In terms of onsets, complexity varies, allowing either a
simple consonant or a consonant cluster. Clusters may include up to three
consonantal phonemes. Consonant clusters are restricted to those discussed
in section 2.1.3: prenasalized obstruents, consonants (mostly obstruents,
but also a few lateral approximants) followed by glides, and affricates.Both
25
In contrast to Van de Velde (2008: 41), I do not distinguish sonorants and voiced stops
since this does not play a role in Gyeli.
85
affricates and clusters of obstruents plus glides can further be prenasalized,

forming a cluster of three phonemes. Thus, possible phoneme combinations
in syllable onsets are:
C simple consonant
NC prenasalized consonant
CG consonant + glide
PF plosive + fricative (affricate)
NCG nasal + consonant + glide
NPF nasal + plosive + fricative
Complexity in the syllable nucleus concerns vowels. These can either occur
as simple (short) vowels or as long vowels or as diphthongs (sequences of
vowels). In my notation, I mark long vowels with a colon while diphthongs
are represented as VV:
V simple (short) vowel

V: long vowel
VV diphthong
The different types of nuclei combine with any of the onset structures, even
though their frequency varies. For example, diphthongs following a con-
sonant + glide onset are so extremely rare that I only found one instance.
Also, syllables may consist of only a nucleus of a short or long vowel, but
there are no syllables that consist of only a diphthong. In contrast to many
languages of the area, for instance Eton or Abo, Gyeli does not have syl-
labic nasals, as further explained in section 2.3.3.1. For each of the possible
syllable types, I provide examples below:
86
V
á ‘s/he, it (1 PRES)’
V:
àá ‘s/he, it (1 INCH)’
CV
vì.lɛ̀ ‘ginger species (aframomum)’
tɛ́.gɛ ‘make tired’
CV:
kɔ̀ɔ ̀ ‘plant species (gnetum africanum)’
dùù ‘nose’
CVV
túà ‘move places’
pùɔ́ ‘pay’
PFV
pfù.dé ‘mold’
tsí.dí ‘animal’
PFV:
tsìì ‘be well, live’
le-bvúú ‘anger’
PFVV
bvúɔ̀ ‘break (intr.)’
tsíɛ̀ ‘blood’
NCV
le-nkɛ́.dɛ́ ‘hip’
mbì.mbó ‘corps’
NCV:
mbáá.lɔ́ ‘jaw’
ŋgɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘eyebrow’
87
NCVV
nkùá ‘tree trunk’
ntùɔ́ ‘six’
CGV
gwà.wɔ́ ‘civet’
gjí.mù ‘tongue’
CGV:
djùù ‘kill’
bwàà ‘become’
CGVV
djúà ‘swim’
NCGV
ŋgjà ‘intestines’
mbwɛ̌ ‘dog’
NCGV:
ŋgjɛ́ɛ ̀ ‘block sth.’
ná.nkyàá.lɛ́ ‘termite mound’
NCGVV
ndjúà ‘swimming’
NPFV
nkfù.wɔ́ ‘torso’
mbvû ‘year’
NPFV:
ndzàà.lɛ́ ‘tree pangolin (Manis tricuspis)’
nkfúù ‘ghost’
NPFVV
ndvùɔ́ ‘suffering, difficulty’
mpfùɔ́ ‘last meal in healing ceremony’
2.3.3 Syllable Distribution

In this section, I present how the different syllable types are distributed in
various environments. These different environments include noun prefixes,
portmanteau morphemes that code person and tense which I call subject-
clause-operators (SCOPs), and noun and verb stems. I start out with the
88
more restricted environments.
2.3.3.1 Syllables in Nominal Prefixes
Noun class prefixes come in two forms, either as a nasal consonant or as a

syllabic prefix of CV shape (see also section 3.2.2). Nasal prefixes such as
in (61) are, however, not syllabic.
(61) n-sùnɛ́ ‘flesh’ → mi-sùnɛ́ ‘types of flesh’

n-túmbà ‘older brother’ → ba-túmbà ‘older brothers’
n-gjɛ̀lì ‘Gyeli person’ → ba-gjɛ̀lì ‘Gyeli people’
There are two arguments that support this claim. First, they do not serve as
tone bearing units (see section 2.4) and second, speakers do not recognize
them as syllables when they are humming.26
2.3.3.2 Syllables in SCOPs
Subject-clause-operators function as subject markers and tense encoding

morphemes at the same time, as discussed in section 5.2.1. Nearly all of
them have a CV shape just like plural noun class prefixes. There is one ex-
ception though for class 1 (i.e. third person singular) which lacks an onset
and thus is V-initial a. In the present tense, this SCOP comes as a short
vowel while for future and remote past, the vowel is legthened.
2.3.3.3 Syllables in Noun Stems
Noun and verb stems are more complex in their syllable structure because
they vary in syllable length while syllabic nominal prefixes and SCOPs do
not. In this and the next section, I will first outline syllable lengths of stems
before turning to the distribution of syllable types within stems.
Noun stems are most frequently bisyllabic. Out of 869 nominal lexemes,
555 stems have two syllables. As shown in Table 2.21, monosyllabic noun
stems are, in contrast, only about half as frequent while stems with three
syllables are the rarest.27
26
Renaud (1976: 109) treats nasal prefixes as syllabic, carrying a L tone in the Gyeli va-
riety spoken around Bipindi in the contact region with Kwasio. I see, however, no evidence
for such an analysis, at least not in the Gyeli variety spoken in Ngolo.
27
There are a few noun stems comprising four syllables, but their number is negligible.
89
Syllable length Number of occurrences/Frequency

σ 224 (25.8%)
σσ 555 (63.9%)
σσσ 90 (10.3%)
Total 869 (100%)
Table 2.21: Frequency of syllable length in noun stems
Most syllable types are found in stems of the various syllable lengths
with more restrictions the more syllables a stems has. Also, restrictions on
syllable occurrence applies with respect to the syllable’s position within the
stem. This does not hold for monosyllabic stems, obviously. Table 2.22
shows the frequency of different syllable types in monosyllabic noun stems.
For convenience, I do not subdivide different consonant types in consonant
clusters, but subsume them under C.28 In contrast, vowels are represented
as either short or long vowels or diphthongs. Nasal vowels are treated just
like oral vowels since, in terms of syllable structure, they do not behave
differently from their oral counterparts. They are thus categorized as either
short or long vowels and rarely as nasalized diphthongs.
As Table 2.22 shows, the most common syllable type is CV,29 followed
by CCV. Generally, frequency descreases with increasing complexity of the
onset, just as simple, i.e. short, vowels are preferred over heavy syllables.
Monosyllabic noun stems, however, include a fair amount with a long vowel
as their nucleus while diphthongs are generally rarer.
In bisyllabic noun stems, as represented in Table 2.23, the preference for
light syllables including short vowels becomes even more obvious. Diph-
thongs in both first and second syllables occur either not at all, for instance
as CCVV, or at frequencies under 1%. The latter is the case for CVV and
CCCVV. Parallel to monosyllabic stems, CV syllable types are the most fre-
quent ones in bisyllabic stems. CV.CV is the most common combination,
followed by CCV.CV. The inverse, i.e. CV.CCV, is another commonly found
pattern, as well as CCV.CCV. More complex onset types including three con-
They also show some morphological particularities including either syllable reduplications
or derivation from compounds.
28
For more information on occurrences and frequency of various consonant clusters, see
section 2.1.3.
29
Note that in a few cases, a C onset may stem from a non-syllabic noun class prefix as,
for instance, in d-á ‘crab’ which is m-á ‘crabs’ in the plural. In most cases, however, a stem
genuinely comes with its own consonantal onset.
90
Syllable type Frequency

CV 78 (34.8%)
CV: 27 (12.1%)
CVV 6 (2.7%)
CCV 63 (28.1%)
CCV: 12 (5.4%)
CCVV 12 (5.4%)
CCCV 18 (8.0%)
CCCV: 3 (1.3%)
CCCVV 5 (2.2%)
Total 224 (100%)
Table 2.22: Distribution of syllable types in monosyllabic noun stems
sonantal phonemes are quite rare, in second syllables even more than in first
syllables.
σ2 →
CV CV: CVV CCV CCV: CCVV CCCV Total %
σ1 ↓
σ1
CV 197 5 71 6 279 (50.3)
CV: 9 2 11 (2.0)
CVV 2 2 (0.4)
CCV 132 1 1 64 3 6 207 (37.3)
CCV: 6 6 (1.1)
CCVV - -
CCCV 31 12 3 46 (8.3)
CCCV: 3 3 (0.5)
CCCVV 1 1 (0.2)
Total σ2 377 10 1 147 3 - 15 555 (100)
% (68.3) (1.8) (0.2) (26.5) (0.5) - (2.7) (100)
Table 2.23: Distribution of syllable types in bisyllabic noun stems
Turning to trisyllabic noun stems, the most frequently found syllable type
combinations are CV.CV.CV (33%), CCV.CV.CV (21.6%), CV.CCV.CV (16%),
and CCV.CCV.CV (13.6%), as shown in Table 2.24. Both long vowels and
diphthongs are almost absent in trisyllabic noun stems and only occur as
rare exceptions, represented at the bottom on the table. Generally, espe-
cially for the last syllable in a trisyllabic stem, a CV type is preferred. If
a stem includes syllables with a complex onset, this onset will most likely
have only two consonants and occur towards the left side of the stem, or in
the middle.
91

CV CV CV 29 (33.0%)
CV CCV CV 14 (16.0%)
CV CV CCV 4 (4.5%)
CCV CV CV 19 (21.6%)
CCV CCV CV 12 (13.6%)
CCV CCV CCV 1 (1.1%)
CCV CV CCV 1 (1.1%)
CCCV CV CV 3 (3.4%)
CCCV CCCV CV 2 (2.3%)
CCVV CV CV 1 (1.1%)
CV CV CV: 1 (1.1%)
V CCV CV 1 (1.1%)
Total 88 (100%)
Table 2.24: Distribution of syllable types in trisyllabic noun stems
2.3.3.4 Syllables in Verb Stems
Verb stems show the same distribution of syllable lengths as compared to

noun stems. Here also the most common stem length is bisyllabic with more
than half of the verbs in the database. In contrast to noun stems, however,
the frequency difference between mono- and trisyllabic is not as sharp, as
shown in Table 2.25. Both kinds occur at above 20%.
Syllable length Number of occurrences/Frequency

σ 88 (23.3%)
σσ 213 (56.5%)
σσσ 76 (20.2%)
Total 377 (100%)
Table 2.25: Frequency of syllable length in verb stems
Verb stems are much more restricted in the syllable types that they allow,
in comparison to noun stems. While in monosyllabic noun stems complex
onsets with three consonantal phonemes are found, these are completely
absent in verb stems. Verb stems, however, also display heavy syllables
with a nucleus consisting either of a long vowel or a diphthong, as shown
in Table 2.26. Again, CV syllables are the most frequent ones, followed, by
CCV types, just as it is the case with noun stems.
Bisyllabic verb stems have even more restrictions with respect to which
syllable types they permit. In contrast to noun stems, they only permit three
92

CV 34 (38.6%)
CV: 14 (15.9%)
CVV 9 (10.2%)
CCV 20 (22.7%)
CCV: 5 (5.7%)
CCVV 8 (9.1%)
Total 88 (100%)
Table 2.26: Distribution of syllable types in monosyllabic verb stems
types in the second syllable: CV, CCV, CCCV, not allowing heavy syllables
in this position. Also, bisyllabic verb stems do not feature diphthongs in
any position, which is another difference to noun stems.
σ2 →
CV CCV CCCV Total σ1 %
σ1 ↓
CV 111 29 3 143 (67.1)
CV: 5 5 (2.3)
CCV 49 12 2 63 (29.5)
CCV: 1 1 (0.5)
CCCV 1 1 (0.5)
Total σ2 167 41 5 213 (100)
% (78.4) (19.2) (2.3) (100)
Table 2.27: Distribution of syllable types in disyllabic verb stems
Table 2.27 shows that CV type syllables are most frequent with 62.9% in
first and even 78.4% in second syllables. The most common syllable type
combination is CV.CV, followed by CCV.CV. Also CCV syllables are found in
second positions, while complex onsets with three phonemes in this position
are very rare. All of the latter are of the type NPG, either /ndj/ or /ngj/, as
for instance in bwàndjà ‘despise’ or gjáŋgjà ‘work’.
Also trisyllabic verb stems allow fewer syllable types than their nominal
counterparts. With one exception,—CV:.CV.CV—trisyllabic verb stems do
not allow heavy syllables. More than half of trisyllabic verb stems are of a
CV.CV.CV combination while the other likely combination is CCV.CV.CV.
As a summary, Gyeli features open syllables with both complex onsets
and complex nuclei. Simple syllable structures are, however, preferred in all
environments and stem positions. Also, in terms of complexity, minimally
complex onsets, i.e. two consonantal phonemes in an onset, are generally
93

CV CV CV 4 (56.7%)
CV CCV CV 9 (11.8%)
CV CV CCV 1 (1.3%)
CV: CV CV 1 (1.3%)
CCV CV CV 20 (26.3%)
CCV CCV CV 1 (1.3%)
CCCV CV CV 1 (1.3%)
Total 76 (100%)
Table 2.28: Distribution of syllable types in trisyllabic verb stems
preferred over nucleus complexity while heavy syllables contain more often
a long vowel rather than a diphthong.
2.4 Tonology
Gyeli is a tonal language. It uses pitch differences for both lexical and gram-
matical distinctions. Yip (2002: 4) gives the following definition of a tone
language:
“A language with tone is one in which an indication of pitch

enters into the lexical realization of at least some morphemes.”30
Tone (i.e. pitch modulation) attaches to segmental units which are called
‘tone bearing units’ (TBUs). Whether the TBU is the segment (e.g. vowel
or nasal consonant), mora, or syllable, is language specific and may vary
across even closely related languages. In Gyeli, the TBU is the syllable. As
discussed in section 2.3.2, Gyeli has heavy and light syllables, differing in
their number or weight units which are called ‘moras’. Heavy syllables have
two moras, light syllables only one. The reason why in Gyeli the syllable
must be the TBU is that heavy and light syllables bear the same number of
tones (see Yip 2002: 73).
Both heavy and light syllables can host level and contour tones, as further
discussed in the following section and illustrated here in (62).
(62) a. tsì ‘interdiction’

tsìì ‘live, be well’
30
This definition also subsumes accentual languages under tone languages.
94
b. dʒǐ ‘bench’
dʒìí ‘forest’
c. fû ‘fish’
fùú ‘rainy season’
The occurrence of contour tones on both heavy and light syllables reveals
that the syllable is the TBU in Gyeli. In contrast, the vowel or mora can be
dismissed as possible TBUs, based on the occurrence of contour tones: If the
TBU was the vowel or the mora, one would expect either that contour tones
are not allowed in mono-moraic syllables. The light syllable examples in
(62) show, however, that mono-moraic syllables in Gyeli do allow contour
tones. Or, one would expect that bi-moraic syllables allow for two contour
tones, allowing a contour tone on each mora. Two contour tones in one
syllable are not permitted, though.
In the following, I will first describe the tonal inventory of the language
as well as the tonal distribution in noun and verb stems. Then, I will lay out
tonal rules that apply.
2.4.1 Tonal Inventory

Gyeli possesses level tones, contour tones, as well as underlyingly toneless
TBU’s which surface phonetically as L or are assigned a H tone by its envi-
ronment. I will address each of them in this order.
2.4.1.1 Level Tones
Gyeli has two level tones: H and L as contrasted in (63).
(63) a. síŋgí ‘squirrel’

b. sìŋgì ‘spirit’
c. síŋgì ‘cat’
The L tones in these examples are lexically specified as such, rather than
being underlyingly toneless. Toneless syllables are restricted to noun class
prefixes in the nominal domain and to (diachronic) extension morphemes in
the verbal domain. Both are described in section 2.4.1.3 which also provides
an in-depth discussion of distinguishing L and toneless TBUs. Note for the
95
time being that a TBU marked with a L here is thus phonologically L (while
toneless TBUs will not be marked for tone in glosses of underlying forms).
In terms of their distribution, level tones are significantly more frequent
than contour tones in nouns and the only tones occuring in verbs which do
not take contour tones underlyingly. Table 2.29 shows the distribution of
level tones in noun stems. The table is divided into three horizontal blocks
each of which represent different syllable lengths. The number in the syl-
lable rows indicate how many occurrences of level tones are found in this
specific syllable length. In monosyllabic stems, for instance, 119 out of a
total of 224 stems have level tones which is a bit more than half (53.1%)
of all monosyllabic noun stems. (The remaining 46.9% carry contour tones
which are discussed in section 2.4.1.2.) The rows below indicate the fre-
quency of the different level tones, L and H, within the set of level tone
carrying monosyllabic noun stems. Thus, 57 (47.9%) monosyllabic noun
stems are L, while 62 (52.1%) are H.31
Tonal pattern Frequency Example

σ (119/224) (53.1%)
L 57 (47.9%) ndɛ̀ ‘bait’
H 62 (52.1%) nká ‘line, row’
σσ (518/555) (93.3%)
LL 115 (22.2%) ntɔ̀ŋgɛ̀ ‘hornet, wasp’
HH 148 (28.6%) ndʒímí ‘blind person’
LH 106 (20.5%) vìnɔ́ ‘finger’
HL 150 (29%) dʒínɔ̀ ‘name’
σσσ (86/90) (95.6%)
LLL 26 (29.1%) bɛ̀ŋgvùdɛ̀ ‘golden angwantibo’
HHH 14 (17.4%) títímɔ́ ‘middle’
LHH 6 (7.0%) ndzìmɔ́zɔ́ ‘guard’
HLL 13 (15.1%) mpí’ìdì ‘heat (from fire)’
LHL 10 (11.6%) sìsímù ‘shadow (of person)’
HLH 3 (3.5%) nkúmbɔ̀lɔ́ ‘diarrhea’
LLH 5 (5.8%) mìntùlí ‘mouse’
HHL 9 (10.5%) djúŋgúlɛ̀ ‘chameleon’
Table 2.29: Distribution of level tones in noun stems
31
Note that bimoraic syllables with the same level tone are treated the same as
monomoraic syllables. For example, a monosyllabic noun stem such as nlàà ‘antenna,
horn’ with a long vowel would be categorized as a L tone monosyllabic stem in the table.
96
Generally, level tones occur in more than 90% of di- and trisyllabic noun
stems, while only about half of the monosyllabic stems have level tones.
Gyeli exploits all possible combinations of level tones in noun stems that the
binary distribution of H and L allows, with two possibilities in monosyllabic
stem (H and L), four patterns in disyllabic stems (H H, L L, H L, L H), and
eight in trisyllabic stems (see Table 2.29). L and H tones are relatively
evenly distributed over mono- and disyllabic noun stems. Both range around
50% in monosyllabic stems with a slight preference for H tones. In disyllabic
stems, nouns also have a slight preference for H tones where both H L and H
H are more common than L L or L H. This preference is different in trisyllabic
noun stems where the most frequently found pattern is L L L with almost a
third of all level toned stems. Generally, almost half of all trisyllabic noun
stems show the same tone on all syllables, either L L L or H H H.
In contrast to noun stems, verb stems only allow level tones, but no
contour tones, as 2.30 shows. Also, different tonal patterns within a verb
stem are significantly more limited than nouns. This is due to the fact that
only monosyllabic stems and the first syllable of stems with more than one
syllable are specified for tone. Any second and/or third syllable in a verb
stem is underlyingly toneless (see section 2.4.1.3).

σ (88)
L 39 (44.3%) kɛ̀ ‘go’
H [HL] 49 (55.7%) nyɛ̂ ‘see’
σσ (213)
L∅ 92 (45.2%) sɛ̀ŋgɛ ‘lower’
H∅ 121 (56.8%) gjíbɔ ‘call’
σσσ (76)
L∅∅ 26 (34.2%) kàsɛlɛ ‘light’
H∅∅ 50 (65.8%) dʒímɛsɛ ‘extinguish’
Table 2.30: Tonal distribution in verb stems
While H tones in bi- and trisyllabic verb stems are realized as such, H
tones in monosyllabic stems surface phonetically as HL, as further discussed
in section 2.4.2.4. Phonologically, I treat them as H tones though. Just
like with nouns, also verb stems have a slight preference for H tones which
constitute just over 55% of all monosyllabic verb stems. This is also true for
bi- and trisyllabic stems in terms of a H in the first syllable. Especially in
97
trisyllabic stems, the difference is significant with about 65% stems starting
with a H in contrast to about 35% starting with a L tone.
2.4.1.2 Contour Tones
Gyeli has two contour tones: falling HL and rising LH. Contrastive examples
are given in (64) and (65) for falling and rising contour tones, respectively.
(64) a. sâ ‘thing’ ⇔ sá ‘hut’

b. le-lâ ‘antenna, horn’ ⇔ le-lá fish ‘trap’
c. le-báà ‘stumbling’ ⇔ le-bàà ‘view’
d. mbɛ̂ ‘door’ ⇔ mbɛ̀ ‘drum’
(65) a. dʒǐ ‘bench’ ⇔ dʒí ‘place’

b. bwǎ ‘swell’ ⇔ bwà ‘give birth’
c. be-dʒìí ‘forests’ ⇔ be-dʒíì ‘anger’
The occurrence of contour tones is restricted to noun stems; contour

tones do not occur in verb stems. In noun stems, both HL and LH contour
tones are found, as Table 2.31 shows.
Falling HL contour tones are significantly more frequent than rising LH.
LH occurs in mono- and bisyllabic noun stems, but not in trisyllabic noun
stems. Table 2.31 shows that almost 80% of all monosyllabic noun stems
with contour tones carry a HL, while only about 20% are covered by LH.
Further, LH is more restricted in terms of its occurrence position. While HL
is found in initial and final syllables of bi- and trisyllabic noun stems, LH is
limited to the first syllable (unless the second syllable is a reduplication of
the first as it is the case when two contours occur in a bisyllabic stem).
While contour tones are pervasive in monosyllabic noun stems, they con-
stitute exceptions in bi- and trisyllabic stems: only 40 examples of contours
are found in bi- and trisyllabic noun stems, equalling to 4.6% of all nouns
in the database. In many instances, this exceptional tone pattern can be
explained on a morpho-phonological basis. For instance, bisyllabic stems
which have a contour in both syllables are always instances of reduplica-
tions. Bisyllabic stems ending in a HL tone frequently constitute instances
of deverbal nouns where the final HL is part of the derivation rule, along
with the initial nasal. Other examples can be explained by compounding.
98

σ (105/224) (46.9%)
HL 82 (78.1%) sâ ‘thing’
LH 23 (21.9%) mbwɛ̌ ‘dog’
σσ (36/555) (6.5%)
Contour Level 12 (33.3%)
HL H 4 (33.3%) kândá ‘proverb’
HL L 6 (50%) nkâŋgà ‘weaver bird’
LH H 1 (8.3%) ná-nkjàálɛ́ ‘termite mound’
LH L 1 (8.3%) pùúlì ‘hat’
Contour Contour 5 (13.9%)
HL HL 4 (80%) píìpíì ‘butterfly’
LH LH 1 (20%) bùábùá ‘non-dry meat/fish’
Level Contour 19 (52.8%)
L HL 13 (68.4%) mɛ̀vâ ‘pride’
H HL 6 (31.6%) nkándâ ‘crack’
σσσ (4/90) (4.4%)
Contour Level Level 1 (25%)
HL H L 1 (25%) tsíɛ̀sámɛ̀ ‘circumcision’
Level Level Contour 3 (75%)
H H HL 1 (25%) le-jímbálî ‘entrance’
L H HL 1 (25%) le-dèlɛ́mɔ́ɔ̀ ‘mud wasp’
H L HL 1 (25%) mwádɛ̀kã ̂ ‘other side’
Table 2.31: Distribution of contour tones in noun stems
tsíɛ̀sámɛ̀ ‘circumcision’, for example, includes the verb tsíɛ̀ ‘cut’. (sámɛ̀ does
not seem to be a Gyeli lexeme, but may either be a loan word from Mabi or
a contracted form of nsámbò ‘penis’.)32
2.4.1.3 Toneless Syllables
In addition to level and contour tones, Gyeli has morphemes that are un-
specified for tone, i.e. which are underlyingly toneless.33 Toneless TBUs are
restricted to noun class prefixes in the nominal domain and to (diachronic)
extension morphemes—second and third syllables in verb stems—in the ver-
32
Another explanation for unusual contour tone patterns is most likely borrowing. Ex-
amples such as le-jímbáli ‘entrance’ do not look like Gyeli words, but their source is not
known.
33
Renaud (1976) is rather unspecific on this issue for the Gyeli variety spoken around
Bipindi in the contact area with Kwasio. He gives a definition for ‘neuter syllables’, but in
his subsequent discussion, he seems to only talk about surface tones which makes it difficult
to distinguish whether a toneme is phonologically marked, for instance, L or whether this
is only the phonetic realization.
99
bal domain. These TBUs surface phonetically as L in isolation or they take a

H tone through High Tone Spreading from their tonal environment, as dis-
cussed in section 2.4.2. Further, so called subject-clause-operators (SCOPs),
i.e. portemanteau morphemes that encode subject marking and tense-mood
information, are toneless and take different tonal patterns depending on the
tense they encode. Their various tonal patterns are described in chapter
5.2.2.
There are many Bantu languages that have a two-way distinction of pri-
vative H tones and toneless TBUs. Hyman (2001: 239) lists, for instance,
Shona, Haya, and Digo as examples for such tonal systems where a possible
L tone assignment is only phonetic. In contrast, Gyeli has a three-way tonal
opposition in level tones, namely H, L, and ∅. This claim raises at least two
questions: How can we tell that there is really a distinction between L and
toneless TBUs rather than treating both as one category, either L or ∅? And,
if we accept that there is a distinction, how can we tell them apart within
the language?
Hyman (2001) proposes a range of arguments and characteristics in or-
der to determine whether tones in a language should be analyzed as ‘marked’
or ‘unmarked.’ Based on his criteria, L is a marked tone in Gyeli because
in languages with privative H as opposed to ∅, one would not expect to
find contour tones. The reason for this, according to Hyman (2001: 240),
is that “the combination of [H] and [∅] could only be pronounced [H].”
Since Gyeli has contour tones, as shown in section 2.4.1.2 though, L must
be phonologically marked.
Having established that there must be marked L tones in Gyeli, I now turn
to explaining why I propose additional toneless TBUs. The two arguments
I put forth involve on the one hand tonal distribution and on the other the
nature of tone realization rules. These arguments elucidate at the same time
the distribution of L and toneless TBUs in Gyeli.
Looking at tonal distribution, it is quite striking that while noun stems
can take all kinds of tonal combinations including H on penultimate and fi-
nal syllables, this is not the case for verb stems. As shown in section 2.4.1.1,
Table 2.30, second and third syllables always surface as L in isolation. Since
tonal distribution in noun stems is unpredictable, I suggest that all tones in
noun stems are lexically specified and L tones are therefore marked as such
rather than being underlyingly toneless. In contrast, only first syllables in
100
verb stems are specified for tone, including L tones, while any second or
third syllables are predicted to be (phonetically) L in isolation.
Further evidence for this claim comes from the realization of tonal rules.
Toneless morphemes are subject to high tone spreading (HTS) under cer-
tain conditions, for instance in past tenses or metatonic object linking (see
section 5 for more precise information). In leftward HTS in the verbal do-
main, it is the final syllable in disyllabic and the mid and final syllable of
trisyllabic stems that will host the spreading H tone while first syllable L
tones are not affected by the spread (see section 2.4.2.2). This suggests that
L in first syllables are marked as such while the following morphemes are
toneless and thus ‘free’ to host spreading H tones.
Monosyllabic verb stems behave a bit differently. They are specified
for tone and never toneless, even though their L tone gets detached and
replaced by a H tone in, for instance, past tense formation. I explain this in
more detail in section 2.4.2.2.
Turning to the nominal domain, toneless TBUs occur in noun class pre-
fixes while noun stems are specified for H and L tones. This is not surprising,
since Kisseberth & Odden (2003: 60) point out that “Class prefixes [in Bantu
languages] are typically toneless.” Evidence for this in Gyeli comes, again,
from tonal realization in certain environments. Just as verbal extension
morphemes, noun class prefixes are subject to HTS, for instance when pre-
ceded by an attributive (ATT) marker in a N1 + N2 construction (see section
2.4.2.1). If class prefixes were underlyingly marked L rather than just sur-
facing phonetically as L in isolation, one would expect a H stem in N2 to be
downstepped, as Hyman & Lionnet (2011: 175) discuss for Abo.34 This is,
however, not the case. Rather than suggesting a rule of featural change of a
marked L prefix or L deletion followed by HTS in such contexts, suggesting
toneless class prefixes provides the simpler and more elegant analysis for
Gyeli.
2.4.2 Tone Rules

Gyeli gets by with just a few tonal rules, the most important of which is high
tone spreading (HTS). HTS differs in the nominal domain compared to the
34
Abo shows the same tonal surface in these environments in that the H stem is not
lowered. Hyman & Lionnet (2011: 175) propose a different analysis though, suggesting
that the L of a prefix is deleted in these contexts, and then followed by HTS.
101
verbal domain in that HTS goes to the right in the nominal, but to the left
in the verbal domain. I will explain both in turn.
2.4.2.1 High Tone Spreading To The Right
HTS to the right occurs when a toneless noun class prefix is preceded by a
H tone within a grammatically cohesive unit of an intonation phrase. The
preceding H may, for instance, be a metatonic H (see section 5.2.3) or a past
H tone which spreads from verb final TBUs onto following nominal objects,
as shown in (66).35
(66) a. mɛ́ dé má-ntúà

mɛ-H dè-H ma-ntúà
1S-PRES eat-R ma6-mango
‘I eat mangos.’
b. mɛ̀ gyámbɔ́ bé-déwɔ̀
mɛ gyámbɔ-H be-déwɔ̀
1S.PST1 prepare-R be8-food
‘I cooked food.’
Further, HTS occurs in N + N attributive constructions. In (67a),36 the

attributive (ATT) marker has a L tone. Thus, the following underlyingly
toneless noun class prefix of the second nominal constituent surfaces L since
it is underlyingly toneless and there is no H that could attach to it. In (67b),
the attributive marker is H and this H tone spreads onto the following noun
class prefix.
(67) a. sɔ́ wà bà-tí

sɔ́ wà ba-tí
∅1.friend 1:ATT ba2-in.law
‘the friend of the in-laws’
b. bà-sɔ́ bá bá-tí
ba-sɔ́ bá ba-tí
ba2-friend 2:ATT ba2-in.law
35
The ‘R’ in the glosses stands for ‘realis’ since metatonic H tones seem to cut across a
realis/irrealis distinction in Gyeli, which I discuss in more detail in section 6. In past tenses,
the metatonic H and the past H cannot be told apart. For consistency, I label the H tone
as ‘R’; tense information is carried also by the tonal pattern of the subject-clause-operator
(SCOP).
36
The first line of the glosses represents the surface form, the second line shows the
underlying form.
102
‘the friends of the in-laws’
(68) gives an autosegmental representation of (67b). It shows how the

H from the attributive marker spreads to the right onto the toneless noun
class prefix which then surfaces as H as well.
(68) b a ba−t i → b a b
a − t i

H H H H
As discussed in section 2.4.1.3, the noun class prefix is underlyingly tone-
less and only surfaces phonetically as L in isolation. If it was marked L, one
would have to assume a more complicated rule of featural change or L dele-
tion. Or, one would expect an underlying L to affect a H stem by lowering
the L in downstep. This is, however, not the case, as shown in Figure 2.12.
Just as in (67b), mà-fwálá má bé-túmbɔ́ ‘borders (lit. ends of the countries)’
surfaces with a H on the prefix be- which has spread from the preceding at-
tributive marker má. The pitch track in Figure 2.12 shows that there is neiter
downstep nor downdrift, but the pitch stays at the same level throughout
the utterance.37
Figure 2.12: Pitch in HTS within the nominal domain
H tone lowering may occur towards stem final positions if a H is preceded

by a L, as shown in Figure 2.13. The final H in the N + N construction bà-
bwálɛ̀ bá bá-ntɛ̀mbɔ́ ‘the parents of the younger siblings’ is lower than the H
tones on all other H syllables.
37
This also shows that the Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) “which disallows se-
quences of identical tones” as described by Yip (2002: 52), is not relevant in Gyeli.
103
Figure 2.13: Phonetic pitch lowering of final H after L
This, however, seems to be a phonetic realization phenomenon rather than

a phonological rule. The final H is affected both by the preceding L and its
utterance final position, lacking the energy to be produced with the same
pitch as the preceding H tones.
2.4.2.2 High Tone Spreading To The Left
HTS in the verbal domain differs from HTS in the nominal domain in that
the spreading goes to the left rather than to the right. Also, there is a dif-
ference in the origin of the spreading H tone. While in the nominal domain
the H tone which spreads comes from a segmental element, e.g. a verb or at-
tributive marker, spreading H tones in the verbal domain are floating gram-
matical tones which are otherwise not attached to any segment until they
attach to the verb. Therefore, HTS in the verbal domain always requires a
previous attachment of a floating H to the verb before it spreads.
There are two circumstances under which a H tone will attach to the
right of a verb stem and spread to the left onto all toneless extension mor-
phemes. First, a H tone marks both past tenses—recent and remote past—,
and second, a metatonic H tone links the finite verb to a following nominal
object in realis mood (see section 6 for more information on metatony). (69)
provides an example of HTS in the context of past tense expression.38 (69a)
contrasts the present tense form without HTS to (69b) in the recent past
38
Spreading of a metatonic tone happens exactly the same way, just that an object has
to follow.
104
with HTS. Note that the second gloss line shows underlying tone patterns
making clear which TBUs are toneless.
(69) a. mɛ́ lɔ̀ŋgàlà

mɛ-H lɔ̀ŋgala
1S-PRES scream
‘I scream.’
b. mɛ̀ lɔ̀ŋgálá
mɛ lɔ̀ŋgala-H
1S.PST1 scream-PST
‘I screamed.’
Besides a change in the tonal pattern of the SCOP (subject-clause operator

encoding subject and tense), the main means to express past versus non-
past in Gyeli involves modification of the tonal pattern on the verb. In the
present, the toneless extension morphemes on the verb surface L in (69a).
In the past, in contrast, a H tone attaches to the right of the verb and spreads
across all toneless TBUs to the left, as (69b) shows. Since the first syllable
of a verb stem is specified for tone, either H or L, the HTS does not affect
this first syllable. Thus, the first TBU in (69b) stays L.
(70) gy a g a → gy a g a → gy a g a

L L ?>=<
89:;
H L H
An autosegmental representation of HTS is provided for first syllable L

verb stems, in (70) for a bisyllabic stem and in (71) for a trisyllabic stem.
(71) v i dega → v i d e1g a → videga

1
1
1
L L 89:;
?>=<
H L H H
The above examples all include a L first syllable in the verb stems. If this
first syllable is H, though, the surface tonal pattern ends up with a sequence
of H tones, as illustrated in (72).
(72) v i yala → v i y a l a → v i y a..l a

.
..
.
H H ?>=<
89:;
H H H
105
Just as in the nominal domain, there is no OCP rule prohibiting such se-
quences of H tones. In a phrase such as in (73), for instance, H spreads onto
three underlyingly toneless morphemes, both in the verbal and in the nomi-
nal domain. Comparable to the illustration in (72), a H attaches to the right
of the verb stem and spreads across the toneless morphemes of the verb as
well as to the right onto the following toneless noun class prefix, compara-
ble to the illustration in (68). There are H tones preceding and following
the sequence of HTS, resulting in five juxtaposed H.
(73) à swásɛ́lɛ́ bápándyɛ̀

a swásɛlɛ-H ba-pándyɛ̀
1.PST1 dry-R ba2-plate
‘S/he dried the plates.’
As Figure 2.14 shows, all five H tones are at the same pitch level throughout
the utterance so that potential downstep phenomena can be ruled out.
Figure 2.14: Pitch level of H sequence
2.4.2.3 L Tone Detachment in Monosyllabic L Verb Stems
The processes of tonal attachment and spreading as described for bi- and
trisyllabic verb stems above do not work for monosyllabic verb stems since
these are already specified for tone and there are no toneless TBUs to which
a H could attach and/or spread. Nevertheless, the language has special
rules for these cases in order to tonally distinguish monosyllabic verb stems
106
in, for instance, past as opposed to present forms. These rules differ for
monosyllabic L and H stems.
Monosyllabic L verb stems take a H in past and metatonic contexts, as
shown in (74) which compares present and past monosyllabic stems.
(74) a. mɛ́ dè
mɛ-H dè
1S-PRES eat
‘I eat.’
b. mɛ̀ dé
mɛ dè-H
1S.PST1 eat-PST
‘I ate.’
In order to explain how a H in monosyllabic L verb stems surfaces, simple

H attachment and/or spreading is not enough. A specified L must either
be deleted before the H can attach or featurally changed. For the sake of
consistency with HTS of bi- and trisyllabic verb stems, I propose that a L in
monosyllabic verb stems gets detached, as shown in (75), and then a past
or metatonic H tone attaches to it.
(75) de → d e// → de
/
= //
/
L L H ?>=<
89:; H
2.4.2.4 H Tone Lowering in Monosyllabic H Verb Stems
In underlyingly H monosyllabic verb stems, it is the present form rather

than the past or metatonic form that gets changed in order to distinguish
the two. In present or infinitival forms, the underlying H gets lowered to
a falling HL tone, an example of which is given in (76). This is the reason
why there are no monosyllabic H infinitival verb forms, they all surface as
HL.39
(76) a. mɛ́ kwê

mɛ-H kwé-L
1S-PRES fall
‘I fall.’
39
See the distribution of level and contour tones in sections 2.4.1.1 and 2.4.1.2.
107
b. mɛ̀ kwé
mɛ kwé
1S.PST1 fall
‘I fell.’
(77) shows the autosegmental representation of the final H lowering in

infinitival and present monosyllabic verb stems. A lowering L attaches to
an underlying monosyllabic H verb stem, resulting in a HL surface form.
(77) kw e → kw e// → kw e--

// / ---
/ -
H ?>=<
89:;
H L H L
Renaud (1976: 230) addresses this phenomenon, subsuming it under a

general rule of / ́/ → / ̂/ at the end of a syntagm. This rule, however, is
not context sensitive, neglecting cases of syntagm final H, for instance for
final past verb forms.
2.5 Discussion: Gyeli Phonology within Bantu

A80
Having described consonants, vowels, syllables and tones in Gyeli, I con-
clude this chapter by comparing Gyeli phonology to other Bantu A80 lan-
guages and thus locating Gyeli within this language family. For comparative
data, I refer to Cheucle (2014) whose valuable thesis is based on her own
fieldwork on Bekwel as well as an assemblage of data by various authors.
Her comparison includes Bekwel, Bekol, Konzime, Makaa, Mpiemo, Kwa-
sio, Njyem, and Shiwa which she uses to reconstruct Proto-A80.40 The data
show that Gyeli possesses many properties that are found in the A80 group.
At the same time, it is most closely related to Kwasio and to Shiwa and
possibly Mpiemo, as can be seen from many characteristics these languages
have in common and which are absent in the other languages.
Consonants Gyeli’s consonant inventory is quite close to the Proto-A80

one as reconstructed by Cheucle (2014: 432). It’s main difference concerns
40
These are the languages that are sufficiently described to allow for systematic com-
parison. A few A90 languages may arguably be considered as more closely related to A80
and should thus be included in such a comparison, but this exceeds the frame of this work.
108
the series of fricatives for which the author proposes /s/ as the only frica-
tive in the Proto language, while Gyeli’s fricative inventory has expanded,
synchronically comprising /f/, /v/, /s/, and /z/.
According to Cheucle (2014: 335), all compared A80 languages have a
series of bilabial, alveolar, palatal and velar stops, both voiced and voice-
less.41 Gyeli clusters more closely with Kwasio and Shiwa though in three
respects. First, also in Kwasio the use of /g/ is highly restricted. Second,
Kwasio and Shiwa are the only two other A80 languages that feature frica-
tive clusters as in Gyeli such as /pf/, /bv/, /kf/, and /gv/. Third, Shiwa
is the only other language, with Gyeli, that allows for voiceless stops in
C2 while all other A80 languages exclusively allow voiced plosives in this
position (Cheucle 2014: 340).
The distribution of fricatives among A80 languages is synchronically
more varied. Cheucle (2014: 342) lists six possible fricatives that may oc-
cur: /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /ʃ/, and /ʒ/. Gyeli features the first four of them,
but lacks the latter two. No other language displays the same distribution.
The most similar distribution is found in Konzime which has /s/ and /z/,
but only a restricted occurrence of /f/ and /v/, and Kwasio with the same
phonemes, just that /f/, /v/, and /z/ are rather limited.
Other consonants are less varied across A80, all featuring nasals /m/,
/n/, and /ɲ/. Also /l/, /w/, and /j/ are found in all languages. They
all feature NC clusters, but for many languages (Konzime, Njyem, Kwa-
sio, and Shiwa), their phonological status is not clear, according to Cheucle
(2014: 348). Nevertheless, all languages including Gyeli have both pre-
nasalized voiced and voiceless obstruents, except for Kwasio and Shiwa
which are otherwise most similar to Gyeli in other charateristics.
Vowels Cheucle (2014: 324) states that A80 languages differ significantly
in their number of vowels, ranging between 5 and 11, as well as in their
vowel quality. The vowels that all languages under investigation have in
common are /i/, /u/, /ɛ/, and /a/. Differences concern thus mostly the mid
vowels. Gyeli displays the same 7-vowel system as Bekwel and Mpiemo,
comprising /i/, /u/, /e/, /o/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/, and /a/. Cheucle (2014: 389) re-
constructs this same vowel system for Proto-A80 which means that Gyeli,
41
Cheucle (2014: 335) classifies /tʃ/ or /ts/ as well as /dy/ or /dʒ/ in the literature as
palatal /c/ and /ɟ/. In Gyeli, they correspond to the affricates /ts/ and /dʒ/.
109
Bekwel and Mpiemo are the most conservative languages within the A80
group, at least with respect to their vowels.
It is possible that languages such as Gyeli and potentially Mpiemo are
currently losing /e/ and /o/ as contrastive phonemes. This hypothesis is
supported by the special status of these vowels in Gyeli concerning the small
space in the vowel plot and the low frequency, as discussed in section 2.2.1.
Other A80 languages, as discussed by Cheucle (2014: 324-325), support
this assumption further since most of them have lost a phonemic vowel in
comparison to the seven-vowel-system of Proto-A80. In Shiwa and Kwasio,
/e/ and /o/ are variants of /ɛ/ and /ɔ/, so there seems to be a tendency to
dispense with the higher rather than the lower mid vowels. Also, the trend
is to lose vowels rather than expanding the vowel inventory to a nine-vowel-
system, which would be a possible route of innovation.
Contrastive vowel length is found in most A80 languages, as it is in Gyeli.
In Mpiemo, Kwasio, and Shiwa which constitute languages apparently more
closely related to Gyeli, vowel length has not been analyzed as being phone-
mic by the authors though, as Cheucle (2014: 327) points out. In Proto-A80,
vowel length is not distinctive. Cheucle (2014: 395-396) reconstructs the
origin of synchronic distinctive vowel length as final nasal consonants or
syllables with /b/ as their onset, which have been lost in some languages
and replaced by long vowels.
Gyeli seems to have a special status as to nasal vowels within A80. Only
Makaa has two nasal vowels /õ/ and /ɛ̃/ while nasal vowels are regarded
as contextual in the other languages under investigation, being conditioned
by following velar nasals (Cheucle 2014: 329, 397).
Vowel sequences or diphthongs are attested in Konzime, Njyem, Mpiemo,
Kwasio, and Shiwa, as summarized by Cheucle (2014: 330). Just as in Gyeli,
they occur canonically in monosyllabic stems, but differ in their number and
vowel quality. The sequence/diphthong /uo/ (or /uɔ/), for instance, is only
attested in Gyeli, Konzime, Kwasio, and Shiwa.
A feature that is absent in Gyeli, but widespread in other A80 languages
is an epenthetic vowel. Cheucle (2014: 332) specifies that this is most often
a schwa, at least for the languages Bekol, Makaa, Konzime, and Bekwel.
Syllables Cheucle (2014: 319) states that A80 languages are generally
characterized by open syllables and a canonical CV type, allowing, however,
110
also other types of syllables, including closed ones. In this, Gyeli differs from
the majority of A80 languages in that it has exclusively open syllables. The
only other language with this restriction is Shiwa.
All studied A80 languages allow for complex onsets, including Gyeli.
Even though an onset is most frequently occupied by a simple consonant,
more complex clusters are allowed. Cheucle (2014: 319) distinguishes con-
sonant clusters that include a consonant and a glide, but treats nasal +
consonant clusters as well as affricates as phonemic units. Therefore, a
comparison of onset complexity and frequency is not possible at this point.
As to syllable structures in prefixes, all languages under investigation
allow CV prefixes, according to Cheucle (2014: 322). In terms of other prefix
structures, however, they differ. Gyeli shares with Shiwa and Kwasio the
feature of not allowing V type nominal prefixes while all other studied A80
languages do. Shiwa and Kwasio, however, feature syllabic nasal prefixes,
Gyeli does not. In that, it behaves like Konzime and Njyem which have
nasal prefixes which are not syllabic though.
Tone A tonal comparison across A80 languages is limited to lexical tones

and even then rather tentative since tone is treated to varying degrees in
the literature. Nevertheless, according to Cheucle (2014: 350)’s summary
of A80 lexical tone, Gyeli behaves as expected, displaying a H and a L level
tone as well as HL and LH contour tones, the latter of which may be realized
as a mid tone. The literature does not, however, discuss potentially toneless
TBUs. It would be worthwhile to investigate tonal rules and grammatical
tone across A80 languages in the future especially since Kisseberth & Odden
(2003: 59) point out that despite a widespread two level tone opposition in
Bantu languages, there is considerable variation between Bantu languages
and dialects in terms of their tonal systems.
111
Chapter 3
The Noun Phrase
3.1 Introduction
Noun phrases can be viewed in relation to their syntactic status within a
clause as well as to their internal structure. The status of a noun phrase
within a sentence relates to its function as an argument (or else, for example
as an adjunct) in relation to a predicate. The internal structure relates to
questions such as ‘What elements do noun phrases contain?’ and ‘What is
the order of these elements in a noun phrase?’
The noun phrase on the sentence level This latter perspective is usually
assumed when defining the term ‘noun phrase’. A definition depends, at
least to some extend, on the function that is attributed to the noun phrase.
Andrews (2007: 132) points out that there are three ways to think of func-
tions of the noun phrase, namely in terms of its semantic roles, its pragmatic
or its grammatical functions.
Semantic roles are imposed on noun phrases by predicates which create
a certain situation and imply certain ways in which noun phrases partici-
pate as actors in this situation. They are called ‘arguments’ to the predicate.
Andrews (2007: 135) gives the example of the verbal element kill that re-
quires a participant that takes over the role of the killer and one that is
the killed. Traditionally, there are general classes of semantic roles such as
agent, patient, recipient, experiencer and many more.1
1
See Jackendoff (1990), Andrews (2007), and Levin & Hovav (2005) for further read-
ings on semantic roles.
112
Pragmatic functions relate to information structure and include core no-

tions such as ‘topic’ and‘’focus’. Information structure will be discussed in
section 6.3 since, first, information structure has to be seen on a phrase or
even discourse level. Second, focussed or topicalized elements of a phrase
exceed noun phrases; for instance, verbs can also be the topic or focus of a
sentence.
In terms of their grammatical functions, Dryer (2007b: 151) defines noun
phrases as “syntactic constituents which serve as arguments of verbs” They
express core grammatical relations such as ‘subject’ and ‘object’. Classes of
semantic roles relate in a systematic way to grammatical roles. Thus, very
often, agents are the subjects of a sentence while patients are found in the
object position.
These different grammatical relations can be expressed in different ways
across languages. Andrews (2007: 141) posits “three basic techniques which
languages use to code syntactic functions: order and arrangement, np- mark-
ing, and cross-referencing.” These different coding strategies will be dis-
cussed in detail in chapter 6.
It is important to make the distinction between semantic and grammat-
ical functions of noun phrases and be aware of their relation. In this gram-
matical description of Gyeli, I adopt, however, an appoach that focusses on
a grammatical rather than a semantic description.
The internal structure of noun phrases Having introduced the main

functions of noun phrases on a sentence level as discussed in the literature, I
now turn to noun phrases’ internal constituency. Rijkhoff (2002: 23) points
out that noun phrases vary in terms of their constituency and complexity,
both within and across languages.
Dryer (2007b: 151) distinguishes three types of noun phrases for a typo-
logical discussion of noun phrases across languages:
1. simple noun phrases, which contain only pronouns or nouns plus sim-
ple modifiers like articles, adjectives, demonstratives, or numerals
2. complex noun phrases, which contain more complex sorts of modifiers,

like genitive or possessive modifiers and relative clauses
3. various sorts of noun phrases which lack a head noun
113
I will adopt a similar structure for this chapter. Since agreement based on
gender plays such a central role in Bantu languages, especially in the noun
phrase, I will discuss this aspect first. Then, after introducing the Gyeli
noun, I will describe simple noun phrases in the section on modifiers of the
noun. In the following, I will turn to a description of invariable words in
the noun phrase. Further, I will lay out more complex noun phrases such
as attributive constructions before turning to headless noun phrases. I will
conclude this chapter with a discussion of word order in the noun phrase.
3.2 The Gender and Agreement System

As a typical feature of a Bantu language, Gyeli has a relatively elaborate
gender and agreement system. In the literature, this is often referred to
as ‘noun class’ or ‘concord’ systems, depending on the authors’ preferences
and research tradition. Authors differ substantially in their definition of key
notions such as ‘noun class’ and ‘gender’. Often, these terms seem to be used
interchangeably as in Heine (1982: 190):
“A noun class or gender system is said to be present if the nouns

of a given language are divided into classes by means of concor-
dial agreement markers.”
Aikhenvald (2003), for instance, notices the widespread interchangeable

use of ‘noun class’ and ‘gender’ and opts for adopting ‘noun class’ as the
generic term for both noun class and gender, while the term ‘gender’ should
be restricted to noun categorization systems that are sex-based, i.e. which
make a distinction between grammatical feminine versus masculine (p. 19).
In that, she deviates from Corbett (1991) who views also the term ‘gender’
as based on agreement classes.
Given the inconsistent terminology, some authors, for instance Medjo Mvé
(2011: 85), establish gender systems solely based on pairings of noun class
prefixes rather than by agreement classes. This method, most likely, artifi-
cially inflates the system since there are more pairings of noun class forms
than agreement classes. In the light of such terminological confusion, I will
first clarify the terminology as I use it before moving on to the description
of the Gyeli system. I distinguish three terms: ‘gender’, ‘agreement class’,
114
and ‘noun class’, following Güldemann (2000) in his straightforward ap-

proach to analyze noun categorization in a consistent way that facilitates
cross-linguistic comparison.
Gender The term ‘gender’ is largely discussed in the literature, especially

by Corbett (1991). He defines ‘gender’ as “classes of nouns reflected in
the behavior of associated words”, Corbett (1991: 1) who cites Hockett
(1958: 231), or, more specifically, ‘gender’ is viewed as a “set of nouns
which take the same agreements (typically a singular-plural pair)”, Corbett
(1991: 45). Güldemann (2000: 13) emphasizes that nouns are assigned to
a nominal category “according to some feature that is conceptually INHER-
ENT to a given noun” and that “noun gender refers to a more abstract item of
the lexicon.” I label genders in Gyeli by their pairing of agreement classes,
as discussed below. For instance, the noun -ùdì ‘person’ inherently belongs
to the class of nouns that triggers agreement class 1 in its singular form and
agreement class 2 for the plural. It therefore belongs to gender 1/2.
Agreement class Gender cannot be established by solely investigating the

noun itself and potentially its changing affixes in the singular and the plu-
ral. Rather, the gender of a noun is exclusively established by agreement
phenomena, or as Hockett (1958) puts it, according to the ”behavior of
associated words.” An agreement class is therefore defined by ”regular mor-
phological processes on the parts of speech that are controlled by a partic-
ular noun in a given utterance” (Güldemann 2000: 13). Following Corbett
(1991) and Güldemann (2000), the parts of speech that agree with a noun
are called ‘agreement targets’, while the noun that controls agreement on
depending parts of speech is called ‘agreement trigger’.2 I label agreement
classes in Gyeli following the traditional Bantu numbering.
The difference between agreement class and gender can be illustrated
with an example from Gyeli.3 A nominal root such as -kɔ́ndyì ‘hand’ comes
in two forms, namely as le-kɔ́ndyì in the singular and ma-kɔ́ndyì in the plural.
2
The notion of ‘agreement class’ following Güldemann (2000) and the way I use it
differs from the way Corbett (1991: 147) understands the term. An agreement class relates
exclusively to one way of agreement pattern on the agreement targets and is not determined
by number.
3
The provided example is parallel to one that Güldemann (2000: 13) quotes from
Nichols (1992: 125) on Luganda.
115
The first triggers agreement of class 5, i.e. all dependent parts of speech will
show the agreement pattern which belongs to this agreement class, while the
latter triggers class 6 agreement on all agreement targets. Thus, the nominal
lexeme -kɔ́ndyì belongs to gender 5/6 which is a pairing of agreement classes
5 and 6.
Noun class Since gender is determined only by agreement, noun classes

are not decisive in establishing gender or agreement classes. Noun classes
rather relate to prefix marking on the noun which does not necessarily index
agreement class affiliation. In some cases, the noun class prefix reflects the
agreement class that the noun triggers. For instance, the noun class prefix
le- in le-kɔ́ndyì ‘hand’, is identical in form with most agreement targets such
as subject marking, demonstratives, or the attributive marker (as shown in
Table 3.1). There are, however, also noun classes which do not map onto
their respective agreement classes. One example is the noun class that is
marked by a nasal N-. This noun class is found both in agreement class 1
and 3. At the same time, there are nouns of agreement classes 1, 3, 7, 8,
and 9 which do not take any noun class prefix at all. Unlike for genders
and agreement classes, I refer to noun classes not by numbering, but by the
form of their prefix.
3.2.1 Agreement Classes

Gyeli has nine agreement classes that are reflected in the morphosyntac-
tic behavior of their dependent word classes. These agreement targets and
their agreement patterns are listed in Table 3.1. Parts of speech that agree
with the agreement triggering noun include subject marking4 and object
pronouns, demonstratives,5 attributive markers, possessive pronouns, quan-
tifiers, deictic modifiers, and numerals.6 Table 3.1 represents a simplified
4
Subject marking is achieved by subject-clause operators which are portemanteau mor-
phemes encoding subject agreement and tense-mood information. They are represented
without tones because their surface tones depend on the tense-mood category (see section
5.2.1).
5
Demonstratives have two patterns with a distinction for proximal versus distal. In
this table, only the proximal demonstratives are shown as representatives of the whole
paradigm.
6
Quantifiers that agree with a noun show various patterns; variation can to some degree
be explained by phonological constraints (see section 3.4.8). The agreement pattern of
‘numerals’ include the numbers from ‘2’ through ‘5’. Since these are inherently plural, only
116
version of the agreement system in some respects in order to make it more

reader-friendly for a first glance. Each agreement target will be discussed
in detail in section 3.4 on modifiers of the noun.
Monomorphemic words Agreement prefixes

AGR- V AGR(L)- C AGR(H)- C
AGR SCOP DEM ATT OBJ POSS, DEIC GEN,
class QUANT, NUM
DEIC
1 a/nyɛ nû wà nyɛ̂ w-/n- m- -
2 ba bâ bá bɔ̂ b- bà- bá-
3 wu wɔ̂ wá wɔ̂ w- m-/∅- -
4 mi mî mí myɔ̂ m(y)- mì- mí-
5 le lê lé lɔ̂ l- l-/lè- -
6 ma mâ má mɔ̂ m- mà- má-
7 yi yî yá yɔ̂ y- ∅- -
8 bi bî bí byɔ̂ b(y)- bì-̀ bí-
9 nyi nyî nyà nyɔ̂ ny- m-/∅- -
Table 3.1: Agreement classes and their target POS in Gyeli
The middle column including SCOP, demonstrative, attributive marker, and

object pronoun shows grammatical words which cannot be split up into
further morphemes while the right column shows agreement prefixes for
possessive pronouns, quantifiers, deictics, genitives, and numerals. There
are three sub-columns for the agreement prefixes based on the form of CV-
shape prefixes: the first one does not have any CV- shape prefixes as an
assimilation to a vowel initial stem, the second and third do have some
CV- prefixes as the stem they are preceding starts with a consonant. In the
second, CV- prefixes come with a L tone while in the last, CV- prefixes have
a H tone.7
The first sub-column of the agreement prefixes, including possessive pro-
nouns, quantifiers, and deictics, shows prefixes as they occur if the stem
plural agreement classes are represented since they would not show up in singular classes.
7
I categorize the agreement markers for genitive and numerals als prefixes and not par-
ticles, in contrast to e.g. attributive markers, based on prosodic cues and speaker intuition.
Prosodically, agreement prefixes belong to the word, while attributive markers from a dif-
ferent prosodic unit from the word they precede. Speakers mark this my a pause in careful
speech.
117
starts with a vowel. It is not clear whether one could classify them as be-
longing to one of the other of the consonant stem inital types because i)
differences in consonantal prefix shape may be conditioned by phonologi-
cal rules which cannot be tested for and ii) prefixes before a vowel do not
constitute a TBU so that it is impossible to group them either with the L or
the H tone prefixes. Therefore, I prefer to classify them as a type apart.
Strictly speaking, one would need to split the AGR-V agreement targets
up into more columns, i.e. agreement patterns, because of differing forms
in cl. 1. Thus, while for the possessives and the quantifiers, cl. 1 has a w-
prefix, and the deictics the prefix n-. The same is true for deictic modifiers
in the second sub-column which belong to the group of L tone CV- prefixes.
Cl. 3 and 9 may either have a m- prefix or no prefix at all. The last sub-
column only shows agreement prefixes in the plural class because either the
modifier is inherently plural, as it is the case with the agreeing numerals, so
that there are no singular agreement targets or singular forms do not take
any agreement prefixes, which is the case for the genitive.
Agreement classes differ in size. Table 3.2 shows the distribution of the
single agreement classes in terms of frequency in a database of 875 nominal
lexemes. The noun database stems from elicitation with the SIL comparative
African 1700 word list by Roberts & Snider (2006) and from texts and other
elicitations. 837
AGR class Frequency

1 164 (9.8%)
2 162 (9.7%)
3 170 (10.2%)
4 167 (10%)
5 137 (8.2%)
6 241 (14.4%)
7 306 (18.3%)
8 284 (17%)
9 43 (2.6%)
Total 1674
Table 3.2: Frequency of agreement classes
Table 3.2 reflects the agreement class distribution in a total of 1674 nomi-
118
nal forms. Assuming that each agreement class neatly pairs with a singular
or plural counterpart, respectively, this would only provide 837 nominal
lexemes, in contrast to 875 lexemes in the database. The discrepancy is
explained by the fact that agreement classes do not always have a singular
or plural counterpart, but there are also transnumeral classes.8 It is thus
worthwhile not to only show the frequency of the various genders as pro-
vided in section 3.2.3, but also to give a general impression of agreement
class frequency.
The agreement class with most members is class 7, followed by classes
8 and then 6. Agreement classes 1, 2, 3, and 4 are about equally numerous
in members. The smallest agreement class is class 9 with only 43 members.
3.2.2 Noun Classes

Gyeli has seven formal head noun classes as defined by their prefix. Table
3.3 shows how the different head noun classes map onto the agreement
classes. The head noun class ‘N’, for example, which is characterized by a
nasal prefix, is found both in agreement class 1 and 3. The prefixless noun
class ‘∅’ occurs in agreement classes 1, 3, 7, 8, and 9. In contrast, head noun
classes with a CV- prefix, namely ‘ba, ‘mi’, ‘le’, ‘ma’, and ‘be’ only map onto
one agreement class.9
8
In the singular, 51 nouns in the database have no singular form, while only 21 have
no plural form.
9
Only CV- prefixes are syllabic. Nasal prefixes do not constitute syllables, as described
in chapter 2.3. As such, they do not serve as tone bearing units.
119
Head noun class AGR class Example

N 1 m-ùdì ‘person’
3 n-vɛ̀wɔ̀ ‘breath’
ba, (b-) 2 ba-kálɛ́ ‘sisters’, b-ùdì ‘people’
∅ 1 kálɛ́ ‘sister’
3 mbɛ̀ ‘drum’
7 síŋgì ‘cat’
8 bwálɛ̀ ‘canoe’
9 tsĩ ́ ‘neck’
mi 4 mi-vɛ̀wɔ̀ ‘breaths’
le, (d-) 5 le-máá ‘cheek’, d-úú ‘nose’
ma, (m-) 6 ma-máá ‘cheeks’, m-úú ‘noses’
be 8 be-síŋgì ‘cats’
Table 3.3: Noun classes and their corresponding agreement classes
In glosses, I distinguish head noun and agreement classes. Head nouns

are thus glossed with their head noun and agreement class. For instance,
le-máá would be represented as ‘le5-cheek’ and síŋgì as ‘∅7.cat’.
Phonologically conditioned variants The ‘ba’, ‘le, and ‘ma’ head noun
classes have a variant which is phonologigally conditioned in all cases. The
vowel in their prefix is deleted if they precede a vowel initial stem. Thus,
as (78) shows for agreement classes 2 and 6, the noun class prefix takes a
CV shape when it precedes a consonant initial stem.
(78) CV- prefix

a. bà-mbámbɛ́ ‘ancestors’, cl. 2
b. bà-nyúã̀ ‘snakes’, cl. 2
c. mà-lɛ́ndí ‘palm trees’, cl. 6
d. mà-gyɛ́ ‘teeth’, cl. 6
If the stem is vowel intial or starts with a labial glide, however, the prefix
vowel is omitted and only the prefix consonant surfaces, as shown in (79).
(79) C- prefix
a. b-ùdũ̂ ‘men’, cl. 2
120
b. b-wánɔ̀ ‘children’, cl. 2

c. m-ɛ́ndì ‘courtyards’, cl. 6
d. m-ù ‘ovens’, cl. 6
In the ‘le’ class, there is further a consonantal change from /l/ to /d/.
(80) provides again examples of the CV- prefix when the stem is consonant
initial.
(80) CV- prefix

a. le-lɛ́ndí ‘palm tree’, cl. 5
b. le-gyɛ́ ‘tooth’, cl. 5
c. le-bɛ́lɛ̀ ‘breast’, cl. 5
d. le-kúndí ‘mat’, cl. 5
When the stem is vowel initial, the prefix vowel is deleted and /l/ becomes
/d/, as shown in (81).
(81) C- prefix
a. d-ísì ‘eye’, cl. 5
b. d-ù ‘oven’, cl. 5
c. d-ɛ́ndì ‘courtyard’, cl.5
d. d-á ‘crab’, cl. 5
The variants for vowel initial stems are marked in parantheses while the
general name of the head noun class is marked in bold in Table 3.3.
Noun class alternation in agreement classes 1 and 3 Agreement classes

1 and 3 show two patterns in terms of their head noun classes. Either, they
take a nasal prefix from head noun class ‘N’ or they lack a prefix altogether.
This variation, in contrast to head noun classes ‘ba’, ‘mi’, ‘le’, ‘ma’, and ‘be’,
is not phonologically conditioned, but lexically specified.
23 (14%) of the nouns in agreement class 1 have a nasal noun class prefix
while 141 (86%) lack a noun class prefix and thus belong to the head noun
class ‘∅’. In agreement class 3, almost all nouns belong to the ‘∅’ head noun
class with 167 nouns lacking a prefix and only 3 having a nasal prefix. 63
121
(44.7%) nouns of agreement class 1 belonging to head noun class ‘∅’ start
with a non-nasal consonant. Examples are given in (82).10
(82) a. sã́ > ba-sã́ ‘father’

b. kálɛ́ > ba-kálɛ́ ‘sister’
c. kó > ba-kó ‘uncle (mother’s brother)’
d. sɔ́ > ba-sɔ́ ‘friend’
e. kúmá > ba-kúmá ‘chief’
f. tsídí > ba-tsídí ‘animal’
g. kfúbɔ̀ > ba-kfúbɔ̀ ‘chicken’
h. kímì > ba-kímì ‘monkey (generic)’
i. fû > ba-fû ‘fish’
j. kù > ba-kù ‘rat’
k. wàà > ba-wàà ‘chimpanzee’
l. púndí > ba-púndí ‘colobus monkey’
The other 55.3% of nouns of the ‘∅’ head noun class in agreement class
1 start with a nasal consonant; in agreement class 3, almost all nouns of the
‘∅’ head noun class start with a nasal. I analyze the nasal as part of the stem
when the nasal consonant is retained in plural formation, as illustrated in
(83).11
(83) no prefix (nasal retainment)

a. ntɛ̀mbɔ́ > ba-ntɛ̀mbɔ́ ‘younger sibling’, cl. 1/2
b. ndjɔ́’ɔ̀ > ba-ndjɔ́’ɔ̀ ‘elephant’, cl. 1/2
c. mbámbɛ́ > ba-mbámbɛ́ ‘ancestor’, cl. 1/2
d. mámɛ́ > ba-mámɛ́ ‘aunt (father’s sister)’, cl. 1/2
e. nlô > mi-nlô ‘head’, cl. 3/4
f. nkùzɔ́ > mi-nkùzɔ́ ‘widow/er’, cl. 3/4
g. mpàgó > mi-mpàgó ‘road’, cl. 3/4
10
Semantically, more than 37% of nouns in class 1 that have a consonant initial and no
noun class prefix are loan words; the others designate social relations and animals.
11
Historically, the nasals were most likely a nasal noun class prefix which became frozen
to the stem. I do not consider these frozen nasals, however, as (double) prefixes. Similar
processes of former nasal noun class prefixes that got frozen onto the nominal root are
known from other languages, for instance from the Grassfield language Oku as described
by Blood (1999: 3).
122
h. mbvû > mi-mbvû ‘year’, cl. 3/4
Some nouns such as in (84), however, lose the nasal and replace it sim-
ply with the corresponding plural noun class prefix. In these cases, the nasal
is considered as a nasal noun class prefix. The latter pattern is much less
frequent though. (83) and (84) show examples for classes 1 and 3 with
examples of both nasals /n/ and /m/. For class 3, however, no nasal retain-
ment could be found with the nasal /m/.
(84) N- prefix (no nasal retainment)

a. n-túmbà > ba-túmbà ‘older brother’, cl. 1/2
b. n-tì > ba-tì ‘in-law’, cl. 1/2
c. n-gyɛ̃̂ > ba-gyɛ̃̂ ‘stranger’, cl. 1/2
d. n-jíbí > ba-jíbí ‘thief’, cl. 1/2
e. m-ùdã̂ > b-ùdã̂ ‘woman’, cl. 1/2
f. m-ùdì > b-ùdì ‘person’, cl. 1/2
g. m-ùdũ̂ > b-ùdũ̂ ‘man’, cl. 1/2
h. m-wánɔ̀ > b-wánɔ̀ ‘child’, cl. 1/2
i. m-bwálɛ̀ > ba-bwálɛ̀ ‘parent’, cl. 1/2
j. n-sùnɛ́ > mi-sùnɛ́ ‘calf’, cl. 3/4
k. n-vɛ̀wɔ̀ > mi-vɛ̀wɔ̀ ‘breath’, cl. 3/4
Whether the nasal is retained in the plural form or not is lexically spec-
ified and not phonologically predictable. For instance, the lexemes ntɛ̀mbɔ́
‘younger sibling’ and n-túmbà ‘older brother’ are very similar in their phono-
logical structure. The nasal precedes a voiceless plosive /t/, syllable struc-
ture and length are similar. Nevertheless, one retains the nasal while the
other does not. Further, in terms of semantics, both lexemes express kin-
ship relations as many other nouns in both patterns do. Thus, there does not
seem to be an obvious semantic rule that assigns noun class prefix patterns.
Whether a noun stem starts with a nasal or a non-nasal consonant is also
lexically specified and not predictable from the noun’s phonological shape.
Many examples in (82) without a noun class prefix (and initial nasal con-
sonant), for instance, have a velar /k/ as stem-intial consonant while many
examples in (83) and (84) show an NC-cluster where C is a labial or alveolar
obstruent. This may raise the question whether the occurence of a nasal in
123
the first place is conditioned by features of the consonant in an NC-cluster

or a stem-initial position, i.e. by its place of articulation. This hypothesis,
however, can be ruled out on the basis of counter-examples. Thus, /k/, for
instance, can appear without a preceding nasal as in kfúbɔ̀ ‘chicken’ or with
a preceding nasal as in the near minimal pair nkùzɔ́ ‘widow/er’. The same
is true for alveolar fricatives as in sã ́ ‘father’ without and nsá ‘shore’ with a
nasal.
Historically, the stem-initial nasal was most likely a noun class prefix
which got frozen onto the nominal root in most Gyeli nouns of classes 1,
3 and also 9 (which I will discuss below). This is also assumed by Hyman
(2003: 50) who points out that “when a stem appears to begin with NC, the
nasal may have originally been a prefix.”
In Gyeli, this phenomenon is not restricted to nouns that start with a
prenasalized consonant, but is also found for nasals that precede a vowel
and are not part of a NC cluster. For instance, mámɛ́ ‘aunt’ forms its plural
with a CV- shape prefix ba-mámɛ́, the initial nasal being part of the stem
(instead of *m-ámɛ́ > *b-ámɛ́). In contrast, m-ùdì ‘person’ treats the nasal
as a prefix that gets replaced by a class 2 prefix in the plural b-ùdì ‘persons’.
Again, it seems to be specified in the lexicon whether a nasal preceding a
vowel is part of the nominal stem or a nasal noun class prefix.
Synchronically, only few nouns still have a nasal ‘N’ prefix: 14% of the
nouns in agreement class 1 (which is 22.7% of all nouns in class 1 that
start with a nasal) and 1.8% of the nouns in agreement class 3. In most
nouns, the nasal is now part of the nominal stem which also occurs then in
corresponding plural forms. Nouns of class 9, in contrast to those of classes
1 and 3, always treat initial nasals as part of the stem rather then a nasal
prefix. About three quarters of class 9 nouns have a stem-initial NC cluster
which is retained in plural formation.
3.2.3 The Gyeli Gender System

The nine agreement classes in Gyeli form six major genders, as illustrated in
Figure 3.1. The major genders are pairings of agreement classes 1/2, 3/4,
5/6, 7/8, and 9/6. Further, the language has a transnumeral gender which
does not involve a singular-plural pairing. Instead, nouns only appear in
agreement class 6. There are other nouns which do not have a counterpart
124
in the singular or plural either, but which occur in only one number cate-
gory. This ties in with mass and/or abstract nouns and countability and is
discussed in section 3.3.1.
Figure 3.1: Major genders in Gyeli
There are other minor pairings of agreement classes which I do not con-
sider as major, but inquorate genders since they have a limited number of
members. They include, for instance, the inquorate genders 7/6, 3/6, 7/0,
and 0/8 which I discuss below in gender size.
Gender assignment Corbett (2013) states that the way nouns are assigned
to a gender can be either strictly semantic, predominantly semantic, or be
based on a combination of semantic and formal criteria. In strictly semantic
systems, the affiliation of a noun to a gender can be deduced from its mean-
ing. Predominantly semantic systems have more complex assignment rules
and therefore the semantic grounds on which affiliation to a gender is based
appears less clearly. Corbett (2013: 2) notes that in these languages, “for
125
at least some nouns there is no longer a principle for assignment which is

still “live” for current speakers.” Finally, formal criteria both phonological
and morphological can in some languages account for assignment of a noun
to a gender, but there are no gender assignment systems that are entirely
form based, they rather occur in a combination with semantic assignment
criteria (Corbett 2013: 3).
For Bantu languages, Corbett (2013: map 32) states in the WALS that
gender is typically assigned on both semantic and morphological grounds.
In Gyeli, semantic affiliation of a noun to a certain gender is often opaque
and semantic principles governing gender assignment are much less clear-
cut, at least synchronically. One cannot say, for instance, that nouns des-
ignating humans belong to gender 1/2 which is the typical ‘human’ gender
in Bantu languages. It is true that a large part of gender 1/2 comprises hu-
mans, but words for humans are also found in almost all the other genders.
The same is true for animals, body parts, tools, plants, and other semantic
fields. Not one of them is exclusively found in one gender, but spread across
several genders.12
It is rather a question of frequency which makes for the typicality of a
noun belonging to a certain semantic field to be assigned to a specific gen-
der. Thus, even though human nouns are found in many genders, they are
most frequently and thus most typically found in gender 1/2. Another ten-
dency in gender assignment concerns loan words which are most frequently
found in gender 1/2 and (less often though) in gender 7/8. Other patterns,
if there are any, are less obvious though.
Gender size The various genders differ in size, i.e. the number of members
they have. Table 3.4 shows the distribution of the 875 lexemes in the nom-
inal database across different genders, distinguishing major and inquorate
genders.13
12
Contini-Morava (2000: 3) claims in her cognitive grammar approach on Swahili that
“[n]oun classes [are] semantic in origin but [...] have lost much of their semantic coherence
over time.” In order to verify whether this claim applies to Gyeli as well, much more data
would be required which exceeds the limits of this grammar.
13
I consider all genders as major which have a representation of more than 4% in the
database. All other genders, both agreement class pairings and transnumeral genders, are
inquorate genders.
126
Gender Frequency
1/2 162 (18.5%)
3/4 165 (18.9%)
5/6 136 (15.5%)
Major genders
7/8 270 (30.9%)
9/6 40 (4.6%)
6 37 (4.3%)
7/6 24 (2.7%)
7 13 (1.5%)
8 12 (1.4%)
9 3 (.3%)
3/6 2 (.2%)
Inquorate genders 8/6 2 (.2%)
8/8 2 (.2%)
4 2 (.2%)
1 2 (.2%)
3 2 (.2%)
5 1 (.1%)
Total 875
Table 3.4: Frequency of genders
The largest gender is gender 7/8 with over 30% of the nouns in the
database, followed by genders 3/4 and 1/2. The major genders with the
least members are genders 9/6 and the transnumeral gender 6. The pair-
ing of agreement classes 7 and 6 constitutes the largest inquorate gender,
representing 2.7% lexemes in the noun database. Other inquorate genders
with more than 1% are the transnumeral genders 7 and 8 while all other
exceptional patterns are only represented between one and three times in
the noun database.
In the following, I discuss each gender in turn, including examples and
semantic tendencies relating to the semantic field of a noun. In order to de-
termine the semantic field of a noun, I coded nominal entries according to
the database Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009) use in their world loanword ty-
pology. The authors distinguish 24 categories differenciating, for instance,
‘the physical world’, ‘kinship’, ‘animals’, ‘body’, ‘food and drink’, clothing’,
127
‘house’, ‘vegetation’, ‘technology’, or ‘time’.14
3.2.3.1 Gender 1/2
Gender 1/2 is a fairly large gender with regard to the number of nouns
that are assigned to it with 162 members out of 875 nominal lexical en-
tries. This gender is traditionally referred to as the ‘human’ gender in Bantu
studies, but seems to have been extended to an ‘animate’ gender in Gyeli.
Only about 30% of the nouns do refer to humans (if one excludes agentive
deverbal nouns). Most of these human nouns designate kinship and a few
social relations as shown in (85) and (86). In comparison to other genders
containing human nouns, however, gender 1/2 contains the vast majority.
(85) kin relations

a. sã/́ ba-sã́ ‘father’
b. nyã/̂ ba-nyã̂ ‘mother’
c. n-túmbà/ba-túmbà ‘older male relative’
d. ntɛ̀mbɔ́/ba-ntɛ̀mbɔ́ ‘younger sibling’
e. kálɛ́/ba-kálɛ́ ‘older sister’
(86) social relations

a. sɔ́/ba-sɔ́ ‘friend’
b. n-gyɛ̃/̂ ba-gyɛ̃̂ ‘stranger’
c. kfúmá/ba-kfúmá ‘chief’
d. mbúmbù/ba-mbúmbù ‘person with the same name’
̂ gã/̂ ba-ŋgãŋ
e. ŋgãŋ ̂ gã̂ ‘healer’
39% of the gender’s nouns belong to the semantic field of animals, both
bigger and smaller, as illustrated in (87).
(87) animals
a. tsídí/ba-tsídí ‘animal, meat’
b. kímì/ba-kímì ‘monkey’
c. nyû/ba-nyû ‘bee’
d. fû/ba-fû ‘fish’
14
For a complete list of all categories and their affiliated lexemes as well as their coding,
see Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009: 22-34).
128
e. nyúà/ba-nyúà ‘snake’
The remaining 30% cover a variety of semantic fields such as ‘food’, ‘ cloth-
ing’, ‘house’, ‘vegetation’, or ‘modern world’. It is remarkable that at least
more than a third of them constitute loan words that are borrowed espe-
cially from English and French as shown in (88). They designate most often
recently introduced items in the area of clothing, food, and the modern
world.
(88) loan words

a. sɔ́tì/ba-sɔ́tì ‘trousers (> English: shorts)’
b. fàrínì/ba-fàrínì ‘flour (> French: farine)’
c. mɔ̀nɛ́/ba-mɔ̀nɛ́ ‘money’
d. màtèlà/ba-màtèlà ‘mattress’
e. ŋgóvìnà/ba-ŋgóvìnà ‘government’
Finally, the absence of a semantic field may be remarkable as well. While

‘body’ nouns15 are found with a relatively high percentage in all other gen-
ders, they are basically absent in gender 1/2. So far, I only found three
instances, all of which designate humans that have a health problem, such
as njímí/ba-njímí ‘blind person’, búɔ̀/ba-búɔ̀ ‘mute person’, and nɔ́ɔ/́ ba-nɔ́ɔ́
‘deaf person’. Body parts, however, are completely absent in this gender.
3.2.3.2 Gender 3/4
Gender 3/4 is about the same size as gender 1/2 with 165 members out of
875 nominal lexemes. In terms of the meaning of its nouns, the gender is
more diverse concerning the semantic fields it covers. The biggest part of
its vocabulary belongs to the body parts field with about 27%, examples of
which are given in (89).
(89) body
a. nlô/mi-nlô ‘head’
b. d-ìsì/m-ìsì ‘eye’
c. nyùmbù/mi-nyùmbù ‘mouth’
15
Note that the semantic field ‘body’ not only contains body parts, but also body func-
tions, health and disease vocabulary as well as terms related to life cycles.
129
d. mɔ̀/mi-mɔ̀ ‘stomach’
e. n-sùnɛ̀/mi-sùnɛ̀ ‘calf’
Examples in (90) represent the next biggest semantic field in gender 3/4
with about 14% of nouns designating objects in the ‘physical world’.
(90) physical world

a. nsá/mi-nsá ‘shore’
b. nkìyɔ́/mi-nkìyɔ́ ‘wave’
c. mpá/mi-mpá ‘island’
d. nsɛ́/mi-nsɛ́ ‘sand’
e. nkúdɛ́/mi-nkúdɛ́ ‘cloud’
Further, a relatively large part (11%) of the lexicon in gender 3/4 desig-
nates what the Loanword Database labels as ‘basic actions/technology’, as
exemplified in (91).
(91) technology
a. ntúmɛ́/mi-ntúmɛ́ ‘walking stick’
b. ntúmò/mi-ntúmò ‘knife’
c. nkwɛ̌/mi-nkwɛ̌ ‘basket’
d. ŋkúŋkúmbɛ́/mi-ŋkúŋkúmbɛ́ ‘bow’
e. nkwálá/mi-nkwálá ‘machete’
Animals are also represented in this gender with more than 8%; (92) gives
examples of some of them.
(92) animals
̂ tsúgɛ́/mi-ntsãn
a. ntsãn ̂ túgɛ́ ‘dragon fly’
̂
b. nsĩ/mi-nsĩ ̂ ‘mangoost’
c. nkâ/mi-nkâ ‘colobus monkey’
d. nkwúlɔ́/mi-nkwúlɔ́ ‘cricket’
e. mbúlɔ̀/mi-mbúlɔ̀ ‘locust’
Nevertheless, the remaining 40% of nouns cover a wide range of semantic

fields including ‘food’, ‘kin’, ‘house’, ‘vegetation’, ‘language’, and ‘time’, as
illustrated in (93), just to mention a few.
130
(93) others
a. ŋkwànɔ̀/mi-ŋkwànɔ̀ ‘honey’
b. mbàmbà/mi-mbàmbà ‘co-wife’
c. mbɛ̂/mi-mbɛ̂ ‘door’
d. mpìŋgá/mi-mpìŋgá ‘cassava’
e. nlâ/mi-nlã̂ ‘story’
f. mbû/mi-mbvû ‘year’
3.2.3.3 Gender 5/6
Gender 5/6 is slightly smaller than genders 3/4 and 1/2 with 136 members.
Like gender 3/4, it contains many body parts (94), namely 33%. The as-
signment of a body part noun to gender 3/4 or 5/6 seems to be arbitrary
since no semantic or form based pattern is obviously descernible.
(94) body
a. d-úú/m-úú ‘nose’
b. le-lɔ̂/ma-lɔ̂ ‘ear’
c. le-nkɛ́dɛ́/ma-nkɛ́dɛ́ ‘hip’
d. le-tɔ́lɛ̀/ma-tɔ́lɛ̀ ‘navel’
e. le-bɛ́lɛ̀/ma-bɛ́lɛ̀ ‘breast’
Further, gender 5/6 contains roughly 19% animal nouns. Judging from
examples such as in (95), size or habitat of an animal seem not to determine
its gender affiliation since quite a range of different animals are found in this
gender.
(95) animals
a. le-bóndó/ma-bóndó ‘frog’
b. d-á/m-á ‘crab’
c. le-bwǐ/ma-bwǐ ‘hyena’
d. le-kénó/ma-kénó ‘duiker’
e. d-áwɛ̀/m-áwɛ̀ ‘goliath frog’
Also humans are found in this gender which, according to the Loanword
Database, are spread over various semantic fields such as ‘kin’, ‘social re-
lations’, ‘religion’, and ‘body’ (for the ‘defective’ or sick humans). (96).
131
Taking these different categories together, human nouns make up 9% of

gender 5/6.
(96) humans
a. le-wǎ/ma-wǎ ‘twin’
b. le-wányɛ̀/ma-wányɛ̀ ‘young man’
c. le-kàgà/ma-kàgà ‘bewitched woman’
d. le-tɔ́ndí/ma-tɔ́ndí ‘lover’
e. le-bùɔ́/ma-bùɔ́ ‘cripple’
Further, gender 5/6 includes a small number of nouns belonging to the do-
main of ‘house’ and the ‘physical world’ with about 7% each and exemplified
in (97) and (98) respectively.
(97) house
a. le-wùdɛ̀/ma-wùdɛ̀ ‘cooking stone’
b. d-ù/m-ù ‘oven’
c. d-ɛ́ndɛ̀/m-ɛ́ndɛ̀ ‘courtyard’
d. d-úgó/m-úgó ‘toilet’
e. le-yímbálî/ma-yímbálî ‘entrance’
(98) physical world

a. le-náŋgá/ma-náŋgá ‘star’
b. le-bàdà/ma-bàdà ‘ground’
c. le-kɔ́/ma-kɔ́ ‘stone’
d. le-lɔ̀ɔ/́ ma-lɔ̀ɔ ́ ‘dew’
e. le-tɔ́/ma-tɔ́ ‘drop’
The remaining quarter of gender 5/6 nouns is spread across semantic fields
such as ‘vegetation’, ‘technology’, ‘quantity’, ‘time’, ‘language’, and ‘hunt-
ing’. (99) gives a few examples.
(99) other
a. le-lɛ́ndɛ́/ma-lɛ́ndɛ́ ‘palm tree’
b. le-kúndí/ma-kúndí ‘mat’
c. le-wúmɔ̀/ma-wúmɔ̀ ‘ten’
132
d. le-wùlá/ma-wùlá ‘hour, time’

e. le-kɛ́lɛ́/ma-kɛ́lɛ́ ‘language’
f. le-lámbɔ̀/ma-lámbɔ̀ ‘trap’
Finally, gender 5/6 contains a number of deverbal nouns which are dis-
cussed in section 3.3.2.
3.2.3.4 Gender 7/8
Gender 7/8a is the largest gender in terms of its affiliated nouns with 270
members. ‘Body’ (100) and ‘animal’ (101) nouns constitute the majority
with both around 20%.
(100) body
a. vìnɔ́/be-vìnɔ́ ‘finger’
b. dò/be-dò ‘thigh’
c. sɛ́/be-sɛ́ ‘liver’
d. kúdɛ́/be-kúdɛ́ ‘skin’
e. gímù/be-gímù ‘tonge’
(101) animals
a. nɔ̀nɛ́/be-nɔ̀nɛ́ ‘bird’
b. tàwɔ̀/be-tàwɔ̀ ‘goat’
c. mgbɛ̀mgbɛ̀mɛ̀/be-mgbɛ̀mgbɛ̀mɛ̀ ‘lion’
d. sɛ́’ɛ̀/be-sɛ́’ɛ̀ ‘baboon’
e. síŋgì/be-síŋgì ‘cat’
Around 10% each is taken up by clothing vocabulary as in (102) and ‘food’

terms as exemplified in (103).
(102) clothes
a. zíŋgɔ́/be-zíŋgɔ́ ‘short dress’
b. túnɛ̀/be-túnɛ̀ ‘scarf for carrying babies’
̀
c. kàβà/be-kàβà ‘long dress’
d. tsílì/be-tsílì ‘long skirt’
e. póòlì/be-póòlì ‘hat’
133
(103) food
a. kálá/be-kálá ‘spice’
b. kwàndɔ̀/be-kwàndɔ̀ ‘plantain’
c. dísì/be-dísì ‘bowl’
d. ŋgùɔ́/be-ŋgùɔ́ ‘sugar cane’
e. búɔ̀/be-búɔ̀ ‘mortar’
Another semantic field that is represented in gender 7/8 is ‘vegetation’ as

in (104), however, only with around 6%.
(104) vegetation
a. mpànyè/be-mpànyè ‘bamboo’
b. lé/be-lé ‘tree’
c. làwɔ́/be-làwɔ́ ‘branch’
d. dùwá/be-dùwá ‘thorn’
e. kókó/be-kókó ‘mushroom’
As in other genders as well, there is a proportion of nouns that belongs

to a wide diversity of semantic fields. In gender 7/8, around a third of
its member nouns constitute such a semantic diversity. Nouns of semantic
fields that are represented with less than 5% cover semantic domains such as
(in decreasing frequency) ‘language’, ‘physical word’, ‘technology’, ‘house’,
‘hunting’, ‘time’, ‘social/political relations’, ‘spatial relations’, and more. An
example of each is provided in (105).
(105) other
a. bã/̂ be-bã̂ ‘word’
b. nkúdɛ́/be-nkúdɛ́ ‘fog’
c. tṹũ̀/be-tṹũ̀ ‘axe’
d. pìmáá/be-pìmáá ‘wall’
e. bwímɔ̀/be-bwímɔ̀ ‘net hunt’
f. mɛ́nɔ́/be-mɛ́nɔ́ ‘day’
g. túmbɔ́/be-túmbɔ́ ‘country’
h. dyá/be-dyá ‘distance’
134
Finally, gender 7/8 also has a few loan words. This is remarkable because
usually loan words are found in gender 1/2. Gender 7/8 seems to be the
only other gender that also takes a few borrowed nouns as listed in (106).
Compared to gender 1/2, loan words are, however, much less numerous in
gender 7/8.
(106) loan words

a. sɔ́βì/be-sɔ́βì ‘soap’
b. fùláwà/be-fùláwà ‘flower’
c. súbì/be-súbì ‘soup’
It is not clear at this moment, on which grounds loan words get assigned
to either one of the two genders that take loan words. If one considers
gender 1/2 as the default gender for loan words, it is not clear on which
grounds some exceptions are made by assigning loan words to gender 7/8.
There is no obvious semantic nor phonological or morphological assignment
rule. For instance, sɔ́βì ‘soap’ (gender 7/8) forms a minimal pair with the
loan words sɔ́tì ‘trousers’ of gender 1/2. Both nouns belong, according to
Haspelmath & Tadmor (2009), semantically to the field of ‘clothing and
grooming’. Another example concerns trisyllabic nouns which start both
with /f/ and have the same tonal pattern L H L: fùláwà ‘flower’ belongs
to gender 7/8 while fàrínì ‘flour’ belongs to gender 1/2. Gender 7/8 has
about 10% food vocabulary, so it cannot be the case that fàrínì ‘flour’ is
not assigned to this gender because it would not fit in semantically. In
return, gender 1/2 has some (although few) nouns designating ‘vegetation’,
so again it cannot be on semantic grounds that fùláwà ‘flower’ is not assigned
to the default loan word gender 1/2. One determining factor could be the
donor language . It seems that all loan words in gender 7/8 have an English
origin. So far I have not come across any French loan words in this gender.
In contrast, loan words in gender 1/2 may come from both English and
French. The question still remains then why some English loan nouns are
assigned to gender 7/8 while the majority goes into gender 1/2.
3.2.3.5 Gender 9/6
Gender 9/6 is the smallest of the major genders with only 40 members in
the database of 875 nominal lexemes. Historically, Gyeli has lost agree-
135
ment class 10 with which agreement class 9 would pair in most other Bantu
languages. Instead, Gyeli class 9 pairs synchronically with class 6. In com-
parison to inquorate genders as discussed in section 3.2.4, gender 9/6 has,
however, still more members (> 4%) than the inquorate ones. Even more
importantly, agreement class 9 always pairs with agreement class 6 while
agreement classes that occur in inquorate genders usually pair with other
classes than they do in major genders.
Semantically, a large part of gender 9/6 nouns (about 29%) belong to
the field of ‘body’ nouns. Examples are given in (107).
(107) body
a. nyúlɛ̂/ma-nyúlɛ̂ ‘body’
b. mbɔ̀mbɔ́/ma-mbɔ̀mbɔ́ ‘face’
c. mbvṹɔ̃/̀ ma-mbvṹɔ̃̀ ‘hair’
́
d. tsĩ/ma-tsĩ ́ ‘neck’
e. ndzílíkɔ̃/̂ ma-ndzílíkɔ̃̂ ‘elbow’
Further, a relatively big part (14%) of gender 9/6 nouns belongs to the
semantic field of ‘language and speech’ as illustrated in (108).
(108) language
a. ŋgɔ̀mɔ̀/ma-ŋgɔ̀mɔ̀ ‘little drum (tam tam)’
b. pɔ́/ma-pɔ́ ‘news’
̂
c. tsĩ/ma-tsî ‘voice’
d. mpàálé/ma-mpàálé ‘message’
Both, the physical world and ‘house’ vocabulary is represented with about
9% each and exemplified in (109) and (110) respectively.
(109) physical world

a. mbí’ìlì/ma-mbí’ìlì ‘charcoal’
b. sí/ma-sí ‘ground’
c. pfùdí/ma-pfùdí ‘mold’
(110) house
a. ndáwɔ̀/ma-ndáwɔ̀ ‘house’
b. ntábò/ma-ntábò ‘washing place’
136
c. ŋgɛ̃/̂ ma-ŋgɛ̃̂ ‘garden’
The remaining 40% of nouns belong to semantic fields such as ‘food’, ‘tech-
nology’, ‘motion’, ‘spatial relations’, ‘law’, ‘religion’, and more. Some exam-
ples representing the listed semantic domains are given in (111).
(111) others
a. ndzà/ma-ndzà ‘hunger’
b. ŋkábɛ́/ma-ŋkábɛ́ ‘paddle’
c. ndzì/ma-ndzì ‘path’
d. ŋkwàló/ma-ŋkwàló ‘edge’
e. mpìndá/ma-mpìndá ‘prohibition’
f. ŋkwɛ́lɛ̀/ma-ŋkwɛ́lɛ̀ ‘witchcraft’
3.2.3.6 Gender 6
The transnumeral gender 6 is the smallest of the major genders with only 37
members (4.3% of nouns in the database). Semantically, it mostly includes
liquid mass nouns, as exemplified in (112).
(112) a. ma-jíwɔ́ ‘water’

b. ma-wã̂ ‘fat’
c. ma-nyɔ́ɔ ̀ ‘drink, wine’
d. ma-nyálɛ̀ ‘urine’
e. ma-dyúmù ‘sperm’
Other instances of nouns in this gender cover deverbal eventive nouns, as

shown in (113).
(113) a. ma-dìlá ‘funeral’ → dìlɛ ‘bury’

b. ma-dígà ‘vision’ → dígɛ ‘watch’
c. ma-bwálɛ́ ‘birth’ → bwálɛ ‘be born’
3.2.4 Inquorate Genders

Inquorate genders are those which have so few members (i.e. less than 4% of
the nominal lexemes in the database) that I prefer to treat them as exceptions
137
rather than full-fledged genders in order not to artificially inflate the gender
system. Inquorate genders in Gyeli contain the same agreement classes than
major genders. Just their pairing is exceptional. For instance, agreement
class 7 usually pairs with agreement class 8. In some exceptions, however,
agreement class 7 pairs with class 6 and thus does not belong to the same
gender as gender 7/8. Instead, it will be called gender 7/6. Inquorate
genders in Gyeli are listed in Table 3.4 and will be discussed in order of
decreasing member numbers.
Gender 7/6 The inquorate gender 7/6 has 24 members in the nominal
database. It covers widely diverse semantic fields such as ‘body’, ‘vegeta-
tion’, ‘social relations’, ‘animals’, ‘hunting’, or ‘possession’. (114) provides
some examples.
(114) a. bɛ̀/ma-bɛ̀ ‘shoulder’

b. ntúà/ma-ntúà ‘mango’
c. kwádɔ́/ma-kwádɔ́ ‘village’
d. yílì/ma-yílì ‘viper’
e. wáádɔ́/ma-wáádɔ́ ‘net (for hunting)’
f. mbúlá/ma-mbúlá ‘debt’
It is likely that nouns in this minor gender stem from various classes, but it
is difficult to trace back since a reconstruction to Proto Bantu (PB) is hardly
discernible. Only bɛ̀ ‘shoulder’, out of all 7/6 nouns, can be reconstructed
as *-bègà according to Guthrie (1967: 154), and belonged to gender 5/6
(Meeussen 1967: 101).Other nouns such as ‘debt’ or ‘mango’ do not occur
in Meeussen’s and Guthrie’s reconstructions while kwádɔ́ ‘village’ in Gyeli
does not seem to have any relation with the PB reconstructions as seen in
Guthrie (1971: 27). Likewise, it is then not clear whether the singular class
of a noun has switched agreement classes or the plural class or whether both
scenarios hold for different nouns.
Gender 7 The transnumeral gender which only contains the singular agree-
ment class 7 is represented with 13 members in the noun database. It con-
tains a few abstract nouns which lack a plural, as illustrated in (115).
(115) a. sɔ́nì ‘shame’
138
b. mɛ̀vâ ‘pride’
c. sɔ̀mɔ̀nɛ̀ ‘complaint’
d. ŋgɔ̀ŋgɔ̀lɛ̀ ‘sadness’
e. pɔ́nɛ́ ‘truth’
f. ŋgwámɛ́ ‘danger’
Other nouns that only have a singular form in agreement class 7 are country
names, as shown in (116).
(116) a. fàlà ‘France’

b. ŋgyàmànɛ̀ ‘Germany’
c. ìtálíyɛ̀n ‘Italy’
Gender 8 There are also 12 nouns in the database which only have a form
in agreement class 8, but no singular or plural counterpart. Like with the
transnumeral gender 7, they include abstract nouns, as listed in (117).
(117) a. be-bɛ̃ɛ̂ ̃̀ ‘beauty’

b. be-síyá ‘imitation’
c. be-djíì ‘anger’
d. be-kílì ‘attention, cunning’
Other nouns of this gender are inherently singular (e.g. as a mass noun or
a singular occurrence in the world) and lack a plural form, as it is the case
with the examples in (118).
(118) a. vìyɔ́ ‘fire’

b. vísɔ́ ‘sun’
Gender 9 Also agreement class 9 constitutes a transnumeral gender with

three members. They are listed in (119).
(119) a. ŋgwɛ́lɛ̀ ‘witchcraft’

b. mpà’à ‘vapor, fog’
c. bvúbvù ‘multitude’
139
Gender 3/6 Many exceptional agreement class pairings only occur a cou-
ple of times in the database. This is the case with the pairing of agreement
classes 3 and 6. The only two examples that I found are shown in (120).
(120) a. m-bɔ́/mà-bɔ́ ‘arm’

b. n-ákɔ́/m-ákɔ́ ‘earwax’
This lexeme -bɔ́ ‘arm’ may be reconstructed to PB *-bóko ‘arm’ which be-
longed to gender 15/6 according to Meeussen (1967: 102).16
Gender 8/6 Agreement class 8 has a few singular nouns. While the plural
nouns of agreement class 8 all belong to head noun class ‘be’, the singular
members of agreement class 8 do not take a prefix.17 Historically, agreement
class 8 nouns which do not take a prefix have probably merged from a former
class 14 as the root beginning bw- or b- suggests. This would also be in line
in with the plural pairing with class 6 since Meeussen (1967: 100) points
out that class 14 in PB formed its plural with class 6. Pairings of class 8/6
are very rare though in Gyeli. I only found two examples which are given
in (121).
(121) a. bwã/̂ ma-bwã̂ ‘medicine’

b. bw-álɛ̀/m-álɛ̀ ‘canoe’
Gender 8/8 There are two other examples where the singular variant of
agreement class 8 pairs with the plural class 8, as shown in (122).
(122) a. bvùlɛ́/be-bvùlɛ́ ‘night’

b. bírɛ̀lɛ̀/be-bírɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘smoke’
16
Other nouns that Meeussen (1967: 102) classifies as gender 15/6 nouns such as ‘leg’,
‘knee’, or ‘ear’ do not have any reflexes in synchronic Gyeli. Since many of them constitute
body parts, this is, however, not surprising at all. Wilkins (1996), for instance, shows
that especially body parts, or ‘parts of a person’ terminology, as he labels it, is subject
to a great deal of semantic change which follows cross-linguistically natural tendencies.
Therefore, synchronic noun stems of body parts may have an entirely different shape than
the reconstructed PB forms. In any case, it is not possible to say that historic class 15 nouns
merged systematically with class 3.
17
There is one exception where a singular agreement class 8 noun takes a a prefix of the
shape bw-, a remnant of a former class 14. Since this is the only example though, I do not
list ‘bw’ as a head noun class on its own.
140
Other exceptional transnumeral genders Except for agreement class 2,

all agreement classes show instances where they lack either a singular of
plural counterpart. For classes 1, 3, 4, and 5, this is very rare though with
only one or two examples each. (123) shows the two examples found for
agreement class 4.
(123) a. mi-ŋgyɛ̌ ‘hunting rats (digging out their dens)’

b. my-ɛ́ ‘fur’
Instances where agreement class 1 does not have a plural form concern
proper names of countries/continents which are inherently singular, as shown
in (124).
(124) a. kàmɛ̀rún ‘Cameroon’

b. àfríkà ‘Africa’
There are also two examples of agreement class 3 nouns which do not take
a plural form in class 4. These are listed in (125).
(125) a. bíwɔ̀ ‘bad luck’

b. mbvú ‘white/grey hair’
Agreement class 5 only has one instance which lacks a plural counterpart,
as shown in (126).
(126) dyúwɔ̀ ‘sky’
3.3 The Noun

There has been much discussion in the literature as to what a noun is, a lin-
guistic term that is often used intuitively. Rijkhoff (2002: 10) maintains that
”there is still no general concensus among typologists on what constitutes
a noun”. There is not even an unanimous agreement as to whether every
language has a noun category. Gil (2013) claims, for instance, that Riau In-
donesian does not have a noun (nor a verb) word class. Rijkhoff (2002: 12)
distinguishes between i) languages without a major word class of nouns, ii)
languages where nouns cannot be distinguished from other word classes,
and iii) those languages that do have a distinct noun word class. Schachter
& Shopen (2007: 5), on the other hand, hold that ”[t]he distinction between
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nouns and verbs is one of the few apparently universal parts-of-speech dis-
tinctions.” They further explain that alleged examples of languages which
would fall in category i) or ii) according to Rijkhoff had been based on
incomplete data and therefore cannot be considered as counter-examples
against this universal word class distinction. In any case, scholars seem to
agree that at least most languages of the world dispose of nouns as a distinct
word class (Koptjevskaja-Tamm 2006: 720).
According to Evans (2000: 708), linguists usually define nouns by three
different types of criteria, namely semantically, morphologically, and syn-
tactically. In terms of semantics, a common definition is given by Schachter
& Shopen (2007: 5) who consider nouns a ”class of words in which occur
the names of most persons, places, and things”. (Similar definitions are pro-
vided by other authors, for example by Koptjevskaja-Tamm (2006: 720) and
Evans (2000: 710).) All these scholars emphasize, however, that this is a
traditional definition of convenience, but that membership of a word in a
certain part of speech has to be established on other grounds. There may be
nouns that refer to other entities than persons, places or things, while, on
the other hand, there may be persons, places or things that belong to some
other word class than nouns.
Another way of viewing nouns is to distinguish them from other open
word classes such as verbs, adverbs, and adjectives on the basis of differ-
ent morpho-syntactic properties (see, for instance, Bhat (2000) and Baker
(2003)). The advantage of this approach is that it emphasizes the spe-
cific structures within a parts-of-speech system of a given language rather
than over-generalizing across languages. Nouns may be inflected for cat-
egories such as number, case, possession, and definiteness (Koptjevskaja-
Tamm 2006: 722). They may trigger agreement of these categories as heads
of a noun phrase. Syntactically, they may take a certain position within a
noun phrase that serves as an argument or adjunct, while dependent word
classes are arranged in specific ways around them.
As Lehmann & Moravcsik (2000: 733) put it concisely, “Like any other
grammatical category, the word class ‘noun’ has no universal status a pri-
ori; rather, it is a language-specific category.” Therefore, I will provide in
the following a kind of check list for the Gyeli noun by describing its most
common properties. This will help to distinguish nouns from other parts
of speech as well as to establish subcategories of nouns that share some
142
nominal features, but not all of them.

A typical Gyeli noun has the following properties that characterize a
word as a noun:
- affiliation to a gender and noun class (see section 3.2)
- serves as agreement trigger
- can be modified by agreeing as well as invariable modifiers
- may serve as head of a noun phrase
These features serve as diagnostics to determine whether a word is a noun.

Thus, in turn, if a word is not affiliated to a gender and noun class, if it does
not trigger agreement on dependent parts of speech and cannot be modified
by word classes such as possessives or attributive markers, and if a word
cannot function as the head of a noun phrase, that word is most likely not
a noun.
Nouns in Gyeli are not a unified class, but have further subclasses which
show different morpho-syntactic behavior. This is nothing unusual from a
typological perspective; as Schachter & Shopen (2007: 8) point out:
”In most languages some grammatical distinction is made be-

tween common nouns, which are used to refer to any member
of a class of persons, etc. (e.g. girl, city, novel), and proper
nouns, which are used to refer to specific persons, etc. (e.g.
Mary, Boston, Ivanhoe).”
This is also true for Gyeli. Proper nouns, subsequently referred to as ‘proper
names’, show a different behavior in terms of genitive indicating devices
(see section 3.7.1.2).
Structure of Gyeli nouns Structurally, the Gyeli noun consists of a nomi-

nal root which typically consists of one or two (open) syllables which ususally
have a consonantal onset. For more details on the phonological shape of
nominal roots see section 2.3.3.3.
The nominal root may either take a noun class prefix as in lè-kàá ‘clan’
or may have no noun class prefix as ∅-tsídí ‘animal’. A detailed description
of the structure of noun class perfixes is provided in section 3.2.2. Further
143
information as well as an explanation of terminological distinctions of ‘noun

class’, ‘agreement class’ and ‘gender’ are provided in section 3.2.
In the following, I will concentrate on three aspects concerning noun
morphology. First, I will investigate mass nouns and countability, second,
I will provide a brief discussion on generics, and third, I will explore noun
derivation.
3.3.1 Mass Nouns and Countability

Gyeli has a mass/count distinction like many languages in the world. For-
mally, one can distinguish nouns that occur both in a singular and a plural
form, those that only come in a singular noun class, and those which only
have a plural form. Nouns with a singular and a plural form are mostly
countable. Typically, they describe material entities such as humans, ani-
mals, plants, tools and the like that come as individualizable objects.
Nouns that only have a plural form are often (liquid) mass nouns as in
(127) or deverbal event nouns as in (128) (see section 3.3.2.2 for the latter)
which are assigned to noun class 6.
(127) Liquid mass nouns

a. ma-jíwɔ́ ‘water’
b. ma-vúdɔ́ ‘oil’
c. ma-tàŋgò ‘palm wine’
d. ma-vínó ‘pus’
e. ma-nzálɛ̀ ‘urine’
f. ma-dyúmù ‘sperm’
(128) Deverbal event nouns

a. ma-nyû ‘drink (n.)’ > nyùlɛ ‘drink (v.)’
b. ma-bwãŝ à ‘thoughts’ > bwãŝ a ‘think’
c. ma-bwàlɛ̀ ‘birth’ > bwàlɛ ‘be born’
d. ma-sâ ‘game (playing) > sâ ‘do’
e. ma-tálá ‘beginning’ > tálɛ ‘begin’
f. ma-dìlá ‘funeral’ > dìlɛ ‘bury’
144
There are other mass nouns with only a plural form in other noun classes,
but they seem to be less frequent. They mostly belong to class 8 and com-
prise entities that usually occur as many, for instance bè-sìŋgì ‘spirits’. They
also include deverbal nouns such as bè-déwɔ̀ ‘food’ which is derived from dè
‘eat’.
Then there are nouns that only have a singular form. While most class
8 nouns come with the noun class prefix bè- (class 8a), there are those class
8b nouns which have a singular meaning and pair usually with class 6 in the
plural (see sections 3.2.1 and 3.2.2). There are, however, exceptions with
class 8b nouns that do not have a plural counterpart. These are vísɔ́ ‘sun’
and vìyɔ́ ‘fire’.
Other nouns that only have a singular form are very often abstract nouns.
Most of them are assigned to class 7, as illustrated in (129).
(129) Abstract nouns

a. dú ‘lie’
b. sɔ̀mɔ̀nɛ̀ ‘complaint’
c. ŋgɔ̀ŋgɔ̀lɛ́ ‘sadness, compassion’
d. pɔ́nɛ̀ ‘truth’
e. sɔ́nɛ̀ ‘shame’
f. mɛ̀vâ ‘pride’
There are a few other singular nouns without a plural form in other noun
classes. Semantically, they describe mass entities which have a rather un-
specified shape and lack clear-cut boundaries such as pfùdɛ́ ‘mold’ (cl. 9) or
dùwɔ́ ‘sky’ (cl. 5). bíwɔ̀ ‘bad luck’ (cl. 3) is another example of an abstract
noun.
Finally, there are nouns which display characteristics of both mass and
count nouns. They have a singular and a plural form, and semantically des-
ignate granular aggregates such as nsɛ́/mì-nsɛ́ ‘sand’ or ndísì/mì-ndísì ‘rice’.
In their singular form, they behave like other uncountable nouns, for in-
stance liquids, just that they occur in the singular. This becomes especially
obvious when modified by quantifiers (see section 3.7.1.4). If used in the
plural form, these nouns get a reading of ‘different types of’ or ‘different
units of’. In these cases, they grammatically behave more like countable
nouns.
145
3.3.2 Nominalization
The most frequent source of derived nouns in Gyeli are verbs. Deverbal
nouns are assigned to different genders which seem to correlate with the
type of noun, for instance agentive nouns in contrast to result or event
nouns. Thus, deverbal agentive nouns describing the agent of an action
are assigned to gender 1/2. Deverbal result nouns usually go into gender
7/8 while deverbal event nouns are assigned to gender 6 lacking a singu-
lar form. Each of them are described in detail in the following. For more
information on genders, see section 3.2.3.
3.3.2.1 Agentive Nominalization of Gender 1/2
Agentive nouns typically describe the ‘doer’ of an action. This type of nom-
inalization is the most frequent one found in Gyeli since it applies to a wide
range of verbs. Nominalized verbs that allow for agentive nominalization
are affiliated to the human/animate gender 1/2.18
As nouns of classes 1 and 2, deverbal agentive nouns take the respective
noun class prefixes which is nasal prefix for class 1 and and the prefix bà-
for class 2. The type of nasal prefix in class 1 depends on the phonological
properties of the noun’s stem-initial consonant. If the stem starts with a
bilabial consonant, the nasal will be a labial nasal /m/ as in (130). On the
other hand, if the consonant is an alveolar consonant, it will be an alveolar
nasal /n/ as in (131). Finally, if the consonant is a velar as in (132), the
nasal will be a velar nasal /ŋ/.
(130) m- prefix
a. m-bɛ́dɔ̀ ‘climber’ > bédɔ ‘climb’
(131) n- prefix
a. n-dìlɛ̀ ‘undertaker’ > dìlɛ ‘bury’
b. n-sálɛ̀ ‘maker’ > sâ ‘make’
(132) ŋ- prefix
a. ŋ-gyàgà ‘buyer’ > gyàga ‘buy’
18
Nouns for humans are also found in other genders in Gyeli, but gender 1/2 is the
human class in Proto-Bantu and many other Bantu languages synchronically. Also, in Gyeli
most humans are assigned to gender 1/2.
146
b. ŋ-kòlɛ̀ ‘helper’ > kòlɛ ‘help’

c. ŋ-gyímbɛ̀dɛ̀ ‘danser’ > gyímbɔ ‘dance’
In terms of the stem structure, there are different patterns a noun can be
derived from a verb form: i) monosyllabic verb roots can be expanded with
what seems generally to be a transitivizing applicative suffix as in (133). In
some cases, the function of this verb extension is not transparent anymore,
for instance, with kɛ̀ → kɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘walk’.19
(133) verb extension with monosyllabic verb extensions

a. sâ ‘make’ > sálɛ ‘make (tr.)’ > n-sálɛ̀ ‘maker’
b. dè ‘eat’ > dèlɛ ‘eat (?)’ > n-dèlɛ̀ ‘eater’
c. kɛ̀ ‘walk’ > kɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘walk (?)’ > n-kɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘walker’
ii) Verbs stay as they are and only take the noun class prefix. This is even
true for monosyllabic nouns; not all monosyllabic verbs require an extension
suffix in order to be nominalized as in (133), but can occur as in (134).
(134) no verb extension with monosyllabic verb stems

a. djì ‘open’ > n-djì ‘opener’
The same is definitely true for bisyllabic verbs as shown in (135).
(135) simple N- prefixing with bisyllabic nominalizations

a. gyàga ‘buy’ > ŋ-gyàgà ‘buyer’
b. kòlɛ ‘help’ > ŋ-kòlɛ̀ ‘helper’
c. tsìlɔ ‘write’ > n-tsìlɔ̀ ‘writer’
iii) In addition to prefixing a N-, some verbs that end in -bɔ̀ delete the final
vowel and attach the morpheme -ɛ̀dɛ̀ as in (136). In terms of tone, the first
mora of the deverbal noun takes a H tone, even though the verb form would
have a L tone as in gyìmbɔ ‘dance’.
(136) -ɛ̀dɛ̀ suffix replacing -ɔ ending

a. gyámbɔ ‘cook’ > ŋ-gyámbɛ̀dɛ̀ ‘cook (n.)’
b. gyìmbɔ ‘dance’ > ŋ-gyímbɛ̀dɛ̀ ‘danser’
19
For more information of verb extensions, see chapter 4.1.2.
147
This, however, does not seem to be a strict phonological rule because other
verbs ending in -bɔ̀ do not take the -ɛ̀dɛ̀ suffix, but are nominalized without
a stem change as shown in (137). It should rather be assumed therefore that
the replacement of a verbal -ɔ ending by -ɛ̀dɛ̀ in nominalization is lexically
specified.
(137) retention of -bɔ̀ ending

a. djìbɔ ‘close’ > n-djíbɔ̀ ‘sb. who closes’
b. lìmbɔ ‘know’ > n-límbɔ́ mámbɔ̀ ‘connaisseur of things’
Again, the tone of the first mora in a deverbal noun is H. In (137b), the
nominalized verb further needs a specification/argument mámbɔ̀ ‘thing’ and
cannot stand alone.
3.3.2.2 Event Nouns of Class 6
A vast number of deverbal nouns is assigned to the transnumeral gender

6. They are uncountable and lack a singular counterpart in class 5. These
nouns usually represent an event noun, examples of which are provided in
(138). All these nouns take the noun class prefix ma-. Other changes both
tonal or related to the final vowel may apply, but need to be investigated
more.
(138) deverbal event nouns

a. sâ ‘make, do’ > ma-sâ ‘game’
b. dìlɛ ‘bury’ > ma-dìlá ‘funeral’
c. bwà ‘give birth’ > bwàlɛ ‘be born’ > ma-bwálɛ̀ ‘birth’
d. bwãŝ a ‘think’ > ma-bwãŝ à ‘thoughts’
e. tálɛ ‘begin’ > ma-tálà ‘beginning’
f. sɔ̀si ‘be happy’ > ma-sɔ̀sí ‘joy’
3.4 Agreement Targets of the Noun

Agreement targets of the noun are those parts of speech in the noun phrase
that agree with the head noun they modify, as explained above in section
3.2. In this section, I will describe in turn all parts of speech in the noun
148
phrase that are marked for agreement with the noun. Invariable, i.e. non-
agreeing modifiers of the noun are discussed in section 3.5.
3.4.1 Subject Pronouns

In Gyeli, only non-speech act participants (non-SAP), i.e. third person sin-
gular and plural, agree with the head noun. For completeness, Table 3.5
also provides the pronouns of speech act participants (SAP), i.e. first and
second person in both singular and plural.
Singular Plural
Speech Act Participants 1S mɛ 1P ya
2S wɛ 2P bwa
Non-Speech Act Participants cl.1 a cl.2 ba
(3rd person) cl.3 wu cl.4 mi
cl.5 li cl.6 ma
cl.7 yi cl.8 be
cl.9 nyi
Table 3.5: Subject pronouns
The pronouns in Table 3.5 are not marked for tone because they receive their
tonal specification depending on tense and aspect marking in the phrase as
discussed in chapter 5. The status of these pronouns in terms of subject
agreement within a phrase is laid out in more detail in the ‘Clause’ chapter
in section 6.2.1.1.
3.4.2 Non-Subject Pronouns

The second set of pronouns in Gyeli concerns all non-subject pronouns, in-
cluding object and emphatic pronouns as well as pronouns used in oblique
phrases. For convenience, I gloss these pronouns as ‘OBJ’ pronouns, but it
has to be kept in mind that these pronouns also occur in other contexts than
the syntactic object.
As shown in Table 3.6, non-subject pronouns for singular SAPs have the
same forms as their subject pronoun counterparts. All the other pronouns,
namely plural SAPs and all non-SAPs have their own form which differs from
149
that of subject pronouns. Non-subject pronoun forms of non-SAPs, except

for cl. 1 nyɛ, have a root -ɔ that takes an agreement prefix.
Singular Plural
Speech Act Participants 1S mɛ 1P bi
2S wɛ 2P be
Non-Speech Act Participants cl.1 nyɛ cl.2 b-ɔ
cl.3 w-ɔ cl.4 my-ɔ
cl.5 l-ɔ cl.6 m-ɔ
cl.7 y-ɔ cl.8 by-ɔ
cl.9 ny-ɔ
Table 3.6: Object pronouns
The tonal specification of object pronouns depends on their syntactic posi-

tion (phrase medial or phrase final).
3.4.3 Interrogative Pronouns

In addition to subject and non-subject pronouns, Gyeli also has two inter-
rogative pronouns: nzá ‘who’ for animate/human referents and gyí ‘what’
for inanimate referents. nzá ‘who/whom’ and gyí ‘what’ replace a nominal
NP which is shown in (139) and (140), respectively. In (139), the interrog-
ative replaces the subject NP m-ùdũ̂ ‘man’ while, in (140), the interrogative
gyí replaces the object NP má-jíwɔ́ ‘water’. In that sense, they behave like
personal pronouns. Both interrogatives can be used to ask for a subject NP
and an object NP.
(139) a. [mùdũ̂] à nyɛ́ mùdã.̂

̂
m-ùdũ a nyɛ̂-H m-ùdã.̂
N1-man 1.PST1 see-R N1-woman
‘The/a man saw the/a woman.’
b. nzá à nyɛ́ mùdã?̂
nzá a nyɛ̂-H m-ùdã̂
who 1.PST1 see-R N1-woman
‘Who saw the/a woman?’
(140) a. mùdũ̂ á nyùlɛ́ [májíwɔ́].

̂
m-ùdũ a-H nyùlɛ-H H-ma-jíwɔ́
N1-man 1-PRES drink-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-water
150
‘The/a man drinks water.’

b. gyí mùdũ̂ á nyùlɛ̀?
gyí m-ùdũ̂ a-H nyùlɛ
what N1-man 1-PRES drink
‘What does the man drink?’
Interrogative pronouns can also occur in oblique phrases with the comi-
tative marker nà, as shown in (141) and (142).
(141) a. mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì [nà Àdà].

m-ùdũ̂ a kɛ̀-H m-àkítì nà Àdà
N1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market COM PN
‘The/a man went to the market with Ada.’
b. nà nzá mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì?
nà nzá m-ùdũ̂ a kɛ̀-H m-àkítì
COM who N1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market
‘With whom did the man go to the market?’
(142) a. mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì [nà tṹũ̀].

m-ùdũ̂ a kɛ̀-H m-àkítì nà tṹũ̀
N1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market COM ∅7.axe
‘The/a man went to the market with an axe.’
b. nà gyí mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì?
nà gyí m-ùdũ a ̂ kɛ̀-H m-àkítì
COM what N1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market
‘With what did the man go to the market?’
nà nzá ‘with whom’ is interesting in that nzá seems to take a plural

marker if the expected answer is more than one person, as shown in (143).
Since the prefix bà- comes with a L tone, it seems to behave like either a
noun class or agreement prefix. Since nzá only occurs with humans, the pre-
fix (if it should be analyzed as such) is invariably class 2 bà-, therefore it is
difficult to test whether the supposed prefix belongs to a noun or a modifier.
(143) a. mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì [nà Àdà nà Màmbì]

̂
m-ùdũ a kɛ̀-H m-àkítì nà Àdà nà Màmbì
N1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market COM PN COM PN
‘The/a man went to the market with Ada and Mambi.’
b. nà bànzá mùdũ̂ à kɛ́ màkítì?
nà bà-nzá m-ùdũ a ̂ kɛ̀-H m-àkítì
COM 2-who ba1-man 1.PST1 go-R ma6-market
151
‘With whom did the man go to the market?’
3.4.4 Demonstratives
Gyeli has two sets of demonstrative pronouns distinguishing different de-
grees of distance between the speaker and the object or person he or she
is talking about. One set of demonstratives, the proximal demonstratives,
refers to objects or persons close to the speaker. Distal demonstratives are
employed when the object or person in question is further away from the
speaker (but not necessarily close to the addressee).
Proximal and distal demonstratives are formally distinguished by differ-
ent tonal patterns and vowel lengthening of the distal pronouns. Table 3.7
contrasts the two sets of demonstratives. While proximal demonstratives
end in a simple vowel with a falling HL tonal pattern, distal demonstratives
all have a lengthened vowel with a H tone.
proximal distal
1 nû núú
2 bâ báá
3 wɔ̂ wɔ́ɔ́
4 mî míí
5 lɛ̂ lɛ́ɛ ́
6 mâ máá
7 yî yíí
8 bê béé
9 nyî nyíí
Table 3.7: Gyeli demonstratives
Both proximal and distal demonstratives follow the noun they modify in a
noun phrase as shown in (144).
(144) a. m-ùdì nû
N1-man 1.DEM.PROX
‘this man’
b. m-ùdì núú
N1-man 1.DEM.DIST
‘that man’
152
These demonstratives are also used as presentational or identificational

markers in non-verbal predicates of the pattern ‘This is a house.’ Such con-
structions are discussed in chapter 6.1.
3.4.5 Possessor Pronouns

Possessor pronouns in Gyeli consist of a root indicating the possessor and a
prefix that agrees with the possessee, as shown in (145).
(145) a. m-ùdì w-ɔ̂

N1-man 1-2S.POSS
‘your (SG) man’
b. mì-nkwɛ́ my-áwɔ́
mi4-basket 4-3P.POSS
‘their baskets’
Possessor roots Table 3.8 shows the possessor roots. While most posses-
sor roots are used for all agreement classes, there are both segmental and
tonal changes depending on the phonological shape of agreement prefixes
and the agreement class affiliation respectively.
Singular Plural
1 -ã -isi (-usi)
2 -ɔ -inɛ (-unɛ)
3 -ɛ -awɔ
Table 3.8: Basic possessor roots
Some possessor roots are influenced in their segmental form by the shape
of the possessee agreement prefix. The first and second person plural are
subject to variation if the possessee belongs to class 1 or 3. Then, the first
high front vowel used in all other agreement classes turns into a high back
vowel as an assimilation to the agreement prefix w- in class 1 and 3. The
contrast between the two root shapes is illustrated in (146).
(146) a. gyà y-ísí

7.music 7-1P
‘our music’
153
b. m-wánɔ̀ w-ùsí
N1-child 1-1P
‘our child’
The agreement class that the possessor root takes also determines the
tonal pattern of the root. The tonal pattern of 1S and 2S are the same in
every agreement class, as shown in Table 3.9. The vast majority of agree-
ment classes takes a H tone in the third person singular and a H H pattern
for the plural possessor roots. Classes 1 and 9, however, are different: the
third person singular has a falling HL tone and the plural persons are L H.
Basic tonal pattern Exceptions: cl. 1 and 9

Person Singular Plural Singular Plural
1 -ã̂ -ísí (-úsí) -ã̂ -ìsí (-ùsí)
2 -ɔ̂ -ínɛ́ (-únɛ́) -ɔ̂ -ìnɛ́ (-ùnɛ́)
3 -ɛ́ -áwɔ́ -ɛ̂ -àwɔ́
Table 3.9: Tonal patterns of possessor pronouns
Possessee agreement prefixes Agreement of possessor pronouns is marked

by agreement prefixes which are listed in Table 3.10 for the various agree-
ment classes.
AGR class AGR prefix

1 w-
2 b-
3 w-
4 mi-
5 l-
6 m-
7 y-
8 bi-
9 ny-
Table 3.10: Possessee agreement prefixes
Prefixes of classes 4 and 8 ending in a high front vowel are assimilated to the
possessor root. If the root starts with a high front vowel /i/ as for the first
and second person plural (-ísí and -ínɛ́), the vowel of the prefix is deleted:
154
class 4:
mi- + -ísí → mísí ‘our’
mi- + -ínɛ́ → mínɛ ‘your (PL)’
class 8:
bi- + -ísí → bísí ‘our’
bi- + -ínɛ́ → bínɛ ‘your (PL)’
For the other roots starting in different vowels, the prefix vowel is assimi-
lated and becomes a glide:
class 4:
mi- + -ã ̂ → myã ̂ ‘my’
mi- + -ɔ̂ → myɔ̂ ‘your (SG)’
mi- + -ɛ́ → myɛ́ ‘his/her’
mi- + -áwɔ́ → myáwɔ́ ‘their’
class 8:
bi- + -ã ̂ → byã ̂ ‘my’
bi- + -ɔ̂ → byɔ̂ ‘your (SG)’
bi- + -ɛ́ → byɛ́ ‘his/her’
bi- + -áwɔ́ → byáwɔ́ ‘their’
I assume that possessee agreement prefixes are underlyingly toneless just

as noun class prefixes. As discussed in the phonology chapter in section
2.4.1.3, segments may be deleted, but their tones often survive. Possessee
agreement prefixes never surface with a vowel because the vowel is deleted
in assimilation with the vowel onset of the possessor root. If the deleted
vowel was specified for tone, one would assume that the tone survives and
affects the root. As possessor roots that are preceded by a deleted vowel
(e.g. cl. 4 or 8) show the same tonal pattern as those that are just preceded
by a consonant (e.g. cl. 1 or 3), I suggest that the deleted prefix vowel came
without any tone in the first place.
155
3.4.6 Attributive Markers

Attributive markers constitute another class of function words that agree
with their head noun. In Bantu studies, they are also called genitive or
associative markers. Gyeli has a split genitive system with two different
paradigms of genitive, or associativity, indicating constructions. I label one
paradigm as ‘attributive’ and the other as ‘genitive’ markers.
Genitive markers are different from attributive markers both in their
form and their occurrence. They only show up when the possessor is ex-
pressed by a proper name, as in (147a), and thus forms a true genitive in
this language. In contrast, if the possessor is expressed by a noun, as in
(147b), the attributive paradigm will be used. Genitive linkers are described
in more detail in section 3.4.7.
(147) a. síŋgì ŋgá Àdà

∅7.cat GEN PN
‘Ada’s cat’
b. síŋgì yá m-ùdũ̂
∅7.cat 7:ATT ∅1-man
‘the man’s cat’
Attributive markers serve as a linking element between a noun and typi-

cally another noun, as shown in (148). Attributive markers also link a noun
to a verb, a qualifier, or an interrogative. The different constructions and
their constituents are discussed in section 3.4.7 on attributive constructions.
At this point, I will only present the agreement target, namely the attributive
marker itself.
(148) a. síŋgì yá djí

∅7.cat 7:ATT ∅7.forest
‘forest cat’
b. lè-lɔ̂ lé síŋgì
le5-ear 5:ATT ∅7.cat
‘the cat’s ear’
Attributive markers are also used in relative clauses, as exemplified in

(149) and discussed in detail in chapter 7.2.2.
(149) a. síŋgì yá yí kwè

∅7.cat 7:ATT 7.PRES fall
156
‘the cat that falls’

b. síŋgì yá mɛ́ nyɛ̂
∅7.cat 7:ATT 1S.PRES see
‘the cat that I see’
Meeussen (1967), and later Van de Velde (2013: 219), posits that the
canonical form for Bantu attributives is AGR-a, a root -a which is preceded
by an agreement prefix. Many Gyeli attributives follow this canonical form.
Exceptions to this tendency are found though in classes 4, 5, and 8 which
come with high and mid vowel roots rather than with -a, as shown in Table
3.11. Attributive markers in Gyeli typically have a H tone, except for those
of classes 1 and 9 which both come with a L tone.
AGR class ATT marker

1 wà
2 bá
3 wá
4 mí
5 lé
6 má
7 yá
8 bé
9 nyà
Table 3.11: Attributives in the different agreement classes
3.4.7 Genitive Markers

Genitive markers are used instead of attributives if the second constituent
in a noun + noun construction is a proper name, as illustrated in (150).
(150) a. ndáwɔ̀ ŋgá Àdà

∅9.house GEN PN
‘Ada’s house’
b. ndáwɔ̀ nyá m-bvùlè
∅9.house 9:ATT N1-Bulu
‘the Bulu20 man’s house’
20
Bulu describes a neighboring ethnic group to the Bagyeli as well as their language
which is classified as Bantu A74.
157
Further, the genitive marker is used in the question word pú’ù ŋgá nzá ‘for
whom’ when the answer could potentially be a proper name. In question
words where something else than a proper name is expected as an answer,
as in pú’ù yá gyí ‘for what’, the attributive is used.
The genitive marker is particular in its agreement behavior since it only
takes an agreement marker if the preceding possessee noun occurs in the
plural. If it is singular, however, the genitive marker takes a default form
ŋgá. Table 3.12 shows the agreement pattern of genitive markers with the
non-agreeing singular forms in the left and the agreeing plural forms in the
right column.
Singular classes Plural classes

cl. 1 ŋgá cl. 2 bá-ŋgá
cl. 3 ŋgá cl. 4 mí-ŋgá
cl. 5 ŋgá cl. 6 má-ŋgá
cl. 7 ŋgá cl. 8 bé-ŋgá
cl. 9 ŋgá
Table 3.12: Agreement marking of genitive markers
The agreement prefix, though it seems to be identical with the attributive

marker, belongs prosodically to the genitive word ŋgá. In contrast, following
speakers’ intuitions, the attributive marker is prosodically an independent
word. I therefore do not view agreeing plural forms of the genitive linker
as constructions containing both attributive and gentitive markers.
Agreement prefixes of the genitive marker are remarkable in terms of
their H tone which is comparable to agreement prefixes of agreeing numer-
als (section 3.4.8.1), while most other agreement prefixes, such as those
used for -vúdû ‘same, one’ or -fúsì ‘different’, are toneless (see section 3.4.9)
and surface usually with a L tone (if there is no H tone spreading from the
left to the right). Logically, there are two possibilities how to analyze this:
either, the agreement prefixes are specified for a H tone or they are also
toneless, but take the H tone through spreading from the -ŋgá root.
I analyze these prefixes as being specified for a H tone rather than being
subject to H tone spreading for two reasons. First, H tone spreading from
the right to the left does occur in Gyeli, but it seems to be restricted to the
verbal domain (as with underlyingly toneless verb extension morphemes
158
which are discussed in section 2.4.2.1). Therefore, it seems unlikely that

the H tone from the -ŋgá root would spread leftwards onto the prefix.
Second, contrasting cases of L tone CV- agreement prefixes that occur
with other modifiers, such as -vúdû ‘same, one’ and -fúsì ‘different’, sug-
gest that the CV- agreement prefixes for the genitive marker (and numerals
from ‘2’ through ‘5’) are indeed specified for a H tone. The other modifiers
also start with a H tone stem, but they still have CV- agreement prefixes
that surface with a L tone. There could be a rule that H tone spreading is
restricted to a certain class of agreement targets, but given these two ar-
guments, it seems unlikely. The ultimate proof against H tone spreading,
namely checking what happens with the CV- prefixes if the stem starts with
a L tone, is not testable because all modifier roots that take a H tone CV-
agreement prefix (-ŋgá and the numerals ‘2’ though ‘5’) start with a H or HL
mora, but never with a L.
3.4.8 Agreeing Quantifiers

I distinguish between two kinds of agreeing quantifiers, namely those that
are numerals and thus describe an exact number of entities, and those quan-
tifiers that are non-numeral. Non-numeral quantifiers give an idea of quan-
tity, such as ‘some’, ‘many’, or ‘all’, but in contrast to numerals they are not
exact. I will start out with describing numeral quantifiers and then move
on to the only non-numeral quantifier that agrees with the noun: -ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’.21
3.4.8.1 Agreeing Numerals
Numerals may, depending on the language, form various numeral series

such as enumeratives, cardinal, ordinal, or distributive numerals. In Gyeli,
only a few cardinal numerals agree with the noun. Cardinal numerals (in
contrast to enumeratives which are discussed in section 3.5.2.1) are used
attributively with nouns when counting items.22
21
Of course, Gyeli has more quantifiers than ‘all’, but they do not constitute agreement
target and are therefore discussed in other sections.
22
Gyeli numerals do not belong to one uniform category. There are monomorphemic
(simplex) and polymorphemic (complex) numerals. Even simplex numerals do not belong
to one category in terms of parts of speech, but can be classified into three types: i) modi-
fiers, ii) uninflected (invariable) words, and iii) nouns. Complex numerals constitute either
a coordination construction or a noun + modifier NP or a combination of the two.
159
Numerals ‘2’, ‘3’, ‘4’, and ‘5’ The (cardinal) numerals -báà ‘2’, -láálɛ̀ ‘3’,
-nã ̂ ‘4’, and -tánɛ̀ ‘5’ agree with their head noun. The agreement prefixes of
modifier numerals and some examples are listed in Table 3.13.23
AGR class AGR prefix Example Gloss

2 bá- b-ùdì bá-báà ‘two people’
4 mí- mi-nkwɛ̂ mí-báà ‘two baskets’
6 má- ma-kí má-báà ‘two eggs’
8 bé- be-síŋgì bé-báà ‘two cats’
Table 3.13: Agreement prefixes of modifying numerals
All agreement prefixes on the agreeing numerals come with H tones, in con-
trast to noun class prefixes and agreement prefixes of some other modifiers
(see section 3.4.9) which are toneless and thus often surface as L toned.
One could argue that these agreement prefixes may not be analyzed as
such, but may rather constitute attributive markers which have the same
shape as these prefixes. This is unlikely, however, because enumeratives, as
discussed in section 3.5.2.1, always require a default prefix even though they
are not modifying any noun. It is thus more likely to assume that numerals
take a default prefix rather than a default attributive marker in a headless
construction. Further, also the genitive marker takes H tone prefixes (see
section 3.4.7 for more information on H tone marking of prefixes).
The cardinal numerals from ‘2’ through ‘5’ invariably follow the head
noun, as shown in (151).
(151)
a. b-ùdã̂ bá-báà b. b-ùdã̂ bá-láálɛ̀
ba2-woman 2-two ba2-woman 2-three
‘two women’ ‘three women’
c. b-ùdã̂ bá-nã̂ d. b-ùdã̂ bá-tánɛ̀

ba2-woman 2-four ba2-woman 2-five
‘four women’ ‘five women’
23
Since all the numerals that take agreement markers are inherently plural, singular
class prefixes are never used.
160
3.4.8.2 Non-Numeral Quantifier -ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’
Non-numeral quantifiers can semantically be distinguished as intersective,

universal, or proportionality quantifiers in the nominal domain (D- quanti-
fiers). Zerbian & Krifka (2008: 388) define intersective quantifiers as ”quan-
tifiers whose truth conditions can be given in terms of the intersection of
the noun meaning and the predicate meaning.” Intersective quantifiers are,
for instance, ‘many’, ‘several’, ‘few’, ‘a certain/other’, ‘some’ or ‘no’. The
authors state that most intersective quantifiers in Bantu languages agree
with their head noun. As I will show below, this is not true for Gyeli which
often prefers nominal genitive constructions (see section 3.7.1.4) in order
to express quantifiers such as ‘many’ or ‘few’. Universal quantifiers express
totality and contain items such as ‘all’ and ‘every’ (Zerbian & Krifka 2008:
394). Finally, proportionality quantifiers such as ‘most’, ‘half of’, or ‘many
of’ relate a given quantity to a set of entities. Zerbian & Krifka (2008: 398)
propose that Bantu languages generally use complex morphosyntactic con-
structions to express these.
Investigating Gyeli quantifiers show, however, that just like in many
other languages these semantic distinctions do not map onto distinct con-
struction types. Rather, Gyeli distinguishes four types of quantifiers which
do not correspond with the semantic groupings presented above. Gyeli
quantifiers can either be expressed as a nominal genitive construction par-
allel to the English expression ‘a multitude of x’. This construction type is
the most frequent one and discussed in section 3.7.1.4. Then, Also, there
are invariable quantifiers (see section 3.5.3) that either precede or follow
the noun, but they do not agree with it. Further, the ‘all’ quantifier -ɛ́sɛ̀
is a modifier and agrees with its head noun as shown in this section. Fi-
nally, reduplication is a means of expressing ‘each’ in a distributive sense as
decribed in section 3.6.1.
The universal quantifier ‘all’ consists of a root which takes an agreement

marker that agrees with the noun in class according to the scheme AGR-ɛ́sɛ̀.
Table 3.14 provides examples of the quantifier for all agreement classes
showing the agreement prefix in bold. The agreement prefix for ‘all’ is the
same as the possessee agreement of possessor roots. As most other modifiers,
‘all’ follows the head noun.
161
cl. 1 mùdì w-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all (the parts of) the person’

cl. 2 bùdì b-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all people’
cl. 3 nkwɛ̌ w-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all (the parts of) the basket’
cl. 4 mi-nkwɛ̌ my-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all baskets’
cl. 5 le-dùndá l-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all (the parts of) the sparrow’
cl. 6 ma-dùndà m-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all sparrows’
cl. 7 síŋgì y-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all (the parts of) the cat’
cl. 8 be-síŋgì by-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all cats’
cl. 9 ndáwɔ̀ ny-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all the house’
Table 3.14: AGR-ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’ in various agreement classes
In Gyeli, just as in English, ‘all’ is typically used with plural nouns. Un-
like English, though, the singular counterparts can, in a specific context, be
modified by -ɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all’ as well which is also shown in Table 3.14. This spe-
cial context requires a situation where a typical singular entity consists of
or is cut up into several parts. Taking the example of a cat, síŋgì yɛ́sɛ̀ ‘all
the cat’ would mean that a cat is cut up into different parts, but then all
the parts are used, which is different from ‘the whole cat’, though, which
would mean that a cat is taken in its entirety withuout being cut up. (152)
illustrates the difference between ‘all’ and ‘whole’ (as discussed in section
3.5.3.2 on invariable quantifiers following the noun).
(152) a. síŋgì y-ɛ́sɛ̀

∅7.cat 7-all
‘all (the parts of) the cat’
b. síŋgì màndjìmɔ̀
∅7.cat whole
‘the whole cat (in its entirety)’
3.4.9 Deictic Modifiers

Another set of modifiers that take agreement prefixes as shown in Table 3.1
in section 3.2.1 are the deictic modifiers24 -ɔ́(nɛ́)gá ‘(an)other’, -vúdû ‘one,
24
Deictic modifiers could be argued to constitute adjectives on the basis of their mor-
phosyntactic behavior of modifying nouns. Adjectives are, however, usually taken to be
‘lexical’ (or content) words, according to Rijkhoff (2002: 121), and describe properties such
as “size, weight, color, age, and value.” These words describing properties of nouns in Gyeli
162
same’, and -fúsì ‘different’. They agree with their head noun which they
follow, as shown in (153).
(153) a. m-ùdì n-ɔ́(nɛ́)gá

N1-person 1-other
‘a/the other person’
b. m-ùdì m-vúdũ̂
N1-person 1-same
‘the same person’
c. m-ùdì m-fúsì
N1-person 1-different
‘a different person’
Deictic modifiers do not constitute, however, a uniform category, but

display different agreement prefix patterns, as summarized in Table 3.15.
The agreement prefixes used for deictic modifiers are similar to noun class
prefixes.
-ɔ́(nɛ́)gá -vúdũ̂ -fúsì

n- m- m-
b- bà- bà-
w- m- -
my- mì- mì-
l- lè- lè-
m- mà- mà-
y- - -
by- bì- bì-
ny- m- -
Table 3.15: Agreement prefixes of deictic modifiers
-ɔ́(nɛ́)gá ‘other’ differs from the other two deictic modifiers for the reason
that its stem starts with a vowel, as discussed in section 3.2.1 on agreement
classes. The other two modifiers have both consonant initial stems and their
CV- shape prefixes surface with L tones. Still, they differ in cl. 3 and 9: -
vúdũ̂ ‘one, same’ has a prefix m- in these classes while -fúsì ‘different’ does
are uninflected and discussed in section 3.5.1 on ‘qualifiers’. A more detailed discussion of
the status of qualifiers versus adjectives is given there, too.
163
not have any agreement prefixes in these classes. In the following, I will
provide examples of each of the modifiers in the various agreement classes.
-ɔ́(nɛ́)gá ‘(an)other’ The full form ‘other’ in careful speech is -ɔ́nɛ́gá. In fast
speech, however, a shortened form AGR-ɔ́gá is used where nɛ́ is omitted. The
option to omit nɛ́ is indicated by the brackets in Table 3.16.
cl. 1 mùdì n-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘another person’

cl. 2 bùdì b-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other people’
cl. 3 nkɛ̌ w-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘another basket’
cl. 4 mi-nkwɛ̌ my-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other baskets’
cl. 5 le-dùndà l-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘another sparrow’
cl. 6 ma-dùndà m-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other sparrows’
cl. 7 síŋgì y-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘another cat’
cl. 8 be-síŋgì by-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other cats’
cl. 9 ndáwɔ̀ ny-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘another house’
Table 3.16: AGR-ɔ́ (nɛ́) gá ‘other’ in various agreement classes
-vúdũ̂ ‘one, same’ -vúdũ̂ can denote both the cardinal numeral ‘1’ and the
deictic modifier meaning ‘same’. It is classified here with the deictic modi-
fiers rather than with the numeral modifiers from ‘2’ through ‘5’ because the
numerals differ in their agreement pattern in that their agreement prefixes
carry a H tone while deictic modifier CV- agreement prefixes come with a L
tone.
As the cardinal numeral ‘1’, -vúdũ̂ logically only occurs with singular
entities it modifies. If it is used in order to express identity of entities,
however, -vúdũ̂ also takes an agreement prefix for plural classes, as shown
in Table 3.17.
164
cl. 1 mùdì m-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same person’

cl. 2 bùdì bà-vúdũ̂ ‘same people’
cl. 3 nkɛ̌ m-vúdũ̂́ ‘one/same basket’
cl. 4 mi-nkwɛ̌ mì-vúdũ̂ ‘same baskets’
cl. 5 le-dùndà lè-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same sparrow’
cl. 6 ma-dùndà mà-vúdũ̂ ‘same sparrows’
cl. 7 síŋgì ∅-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same cat’
cl. 8 be-síŋgì bè-vúdũ̂ ‘same cats’
cl. 9 ndáwɔ̀ m-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same house’
Table 3.17: AGR-vúdũ̂ ‘one/same’ in various agreement classes
-fúsì ‘different’ -fúsì ‘different’ follows the noun it modifies just as the
other deictic modifiers. It has, however, yet another pattern of agreement
prefixes that even differs from -vúdũ̂ ‘same’ even though both of them start
with a labiodental fricative. While -vúdũ̂ ‘same’ takes the nasal m- as agree-
ment prefix for classes 3 and 9, -fúsì ‘different’ does not take any agreement
prefixes for these classes. Examples for fúsì ‘different’ in different agreement
classes are provided in Table 3.18.
cl. 1 mùdì m-fúsì ‘a different person’

cl. 2 bùdì bà-fúsì ‘different people’
cl. 3 nkɛ̌ ∅-fúsì ‘a different basket’
cl. 4 mi-nkwɛ̌ mì-fúsì ‘different baskets’
cl. 5 le-dùndà lè-fúsì ‘a different sparrow’
cl. 6 ma-dùndà mà-fúsì ‘different sparrows’
cl. 7 síŋgì ∅-fúsì ‘a different cat’
cl. 8 be-síŋgì bè-fúsì ‘different cats’
cl. 9 ndáwɔ̀ ∅-fúsì ‘a different house’
Table 3.18: AGR-fúsì ‘different’ in various agreement classes
3.5 Invariable Modifiers in the Noun Phrase

The noun phrase in Gyeli also contains invariable modifiers which do not
agree with the head noun. These include qualifiers, numeral and non-
165
numeral quantifiers, question words, and locative adpositions which are

presented in this section.
3.5.1 Qualifiers
Gyeli has a small set of words which I call ‘qualifiers’. They denote proper-
ties of the noun such as value and color. In other (Bantu) languages, such
properties are often expressed by word classes that are viewed as adjec-
tives. Gyeli, however, does not have an adjective category. Qualifiers in
Gyeli cannot be classified as adjectives because they lack the defining cri-
teria of agreement with the noun (see for instance Bhat (1994) and Bhat
& Pustet (2000: 757) for a detailed definition of ‘adjectives’). Typical ad-
jectives denoting properties such as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘big’, ‘small’, ‘young’, or
‘old’ are either expressed by uninflected words, namely qualifiers, or nouns
while modifiers which do agree with the noun, fall rather into a category of
non-content words, e.g. quantifiers or deictic modifiers.
Qualifiers in Gyeli can also not be classified as nouns because they do not
exhibit typical nominal behavior. First, they do not take a singular and/or
plural form. Second, they do not have the possibility of being modified
by demonstratives or possessive pronouns. Third, they can generally not
serve as the head of a noun + noun genitive construction. Qualifiers may
at best be viewed as defective nouns which lack the above listed properties
of typical nouns. In this grammar, I treat them as a category on their own.
Table 3.19 provides a list of Gyeli qualifiers. They describe properties
such as value, size and color.25 Other properties such as ‘tall’ or ‘old’ are
expressed by nouns in noun + noun constructions as described in section
3.7.1.3. When denoting properties of a noun, qualifiers enter a genitive
construction with a noun as the dependent element as discussed in section
3.7.2.
25
In Bulu, the closest contact language, Alexandre (1955: 21) classifies similar lexemes
to Gyeli ‘good’ and ‘bad’, which in Bulu are mba ‘good’ and mbia, as nouns with an adjectival
use (”emploi de noms comme adjectifs”).
166
mpà ‘good’
value
bíwɔ̀ ‘bad’
píyɔ̀ ‘small’
size
nɛ́nɛ̀ ‘big’
námbàmbàlà ‘white’
návyûvyû ‘black’
color nábèbè ‘red’
nápfûpfû ‘darkened color’
náyɛ̂yɛ̂ ‘brightened color’
Table 3.19: Qualifiers
Strikingly, all color terms start with ná-. This ná- might be a grammati-
calized similative marker while the remainder of the lexeme used to be a
verb. There is evidence that, historically, color terms of at least some related
languages of the area were verbs, for instance in Bulu,26 even though they
may have developped into other parts of speech than in Gyeli. It is likely
that such color verbs were grammaticalized, together with the ná similative
marker, into a synchronic uninflected element of the noun phrase.
Another argument in favor of grammaticalized verbs with a similative
marker comes from the atypical terms nápfûpfû and náyɛ̂yɛ which rather de-
scribe the change of color than a specific hue. When asked for the meaning
of these atypical colors, speakers would give a verbal explanation, namely
that a more prototypical color such as ‘black’, ‘white’, or ‘red’ has changed
by either having become darker (nápfûpfû) or brighter, being ‘bleached out’
(náyɛ̂yɛ). In contrast, other colors are referred to by French adjectives in
explanations.
According to traditional color theories, these two special color terms
are rather unusual in that they do not fit into basic color words that have
been investigated cross-linguistically (see for instance Berlin & Kay (1969)).
Nevertheless, I classify nápfûpfû and náyɛ̂yɛ as color terms because they do
26
Synchronically, the Bulu basic color terms are nouns: évìndì ‘black’, évèlè ‘red’, and
éfùmùlù ‘white’. Bates (1904) gives the verbal color forms for Bulu as follows: vé ‘be/get
red’, vìn ‘be/get black’, and fùm ‘be white’ without mentioning any nominal color forms.
Alexandre (1955: 44) explains that these verbs can take a causative suffix vìn ‘be black’
→ vìn-ì ‘make black’. These causative verbs were then nominalized and assigned to noun
class 5 with the prefix é-. Alexandre (1955: 68) states that this class usually hosts deverbal
nouns derived from stative verbs.
167
have a morpho-syntactic structure that is reserved to basic color terms (I

have not come across other derived verbs that are preceded by or have
merged with a similative marker). Further, they only show up in discourse
when talking about colors.
Generally, for a Bantu language one would expect only three basic color
words, namely ‘black’, ‘red’, and ‘white’. Gyeli has more color terms than
those, for instance màká ‘green’ which is a noun and also means ‘leaves’.
Those other color terms are, however, recently acquired and differ in their
morpho-syntactic status in that they are nouns rather than qualifiers. More
information on colors and color perception including a comparison across
Bagyeli and Bantu farmer communities is given in Borchardt (to appear).
Syntactically, qualifiers modify nouns in two different constructions. Ei-
ther, the qualifier directly follows the head noun or an attributive marker
that agrees with the head noun occurs between head and qualifier.
1) [HEAD QUAL] 2) [HEAD ATT QUAL]
Examples of both construction types are given in (154) and (155), respec-
tively.
(154) a. nkɔ́lɔ̀ mpà

∅-watch good
‘a/the good watch’
b. nkɔ́lɔ̀ nɛ́nɛ̀
∅-watch big
‘a/the big watch’
c. nkɔ́lɔ̀ nábèbè
∅-watch red
‘a/the red watch’
(155) a. nkɔ́lɔ̀ wá mpà

∅-watch 3:ATT good
‘a/the good watch’
b. nkɔ́lɔ̀ wá nɛ́nɛ̀
∅-watch 3:ATT big
‘a/the big watch’
c. nkɔ́lɔ̀ wá nábèbè
∅-watch 3:ATT red
‘a/the red watch’
168
Constructions that either take or optionally omit the attributive marker are
discussed in section 3.7.
3.5.2 Invariable Numerals

Gyeli has simplex cardinal numerals which follow the noun just like modi-
fier numerals discussed in section 3.4.8.1, but which do not agree with the
noun, as shown in (156). In contrast to qualifiers, they never occur in a
construction involving an attributive marker.
(156)
a. b-ùdã̂ ntùɔ́ b. b-ùdã̂ mpúɛ̀rɛ́
ba2-woman six ba2-woman seven
‘six women’ ‘seven women’
c. b-ùdã̂ lɔ̀mbì d. b-ùdã̂ rèbvùá

ba2-woman eight ba2-woman nine
‘eight women’ ‘nine women’
3.5.2.1 Enumeratives
Enumeratives are not strictly speaking invariable words within a noun phrase.
Since they are, however, invariable, I will discuss them here. Presenting the
enumeratives, I will also explain the mathematical structures used in form-
ing Gyeli numerals after providing some enthnographic notes on number
use among the Bagyeli.
Ethnographic notes in number use among the Bagyeli Generally, the

use of numerals varies widely among speakers in that speakers show vary-
ing competence in number use. This most likely correlates with both the
degree of education and regular involvement in situations where number
knowledge is required, for instance regular day labor. Speakers who have
never been to school and/or who mostly stay in the Gyeli community with-
out closer interaction with the farming Bantu show a limited competence
in counting and numeral use. Many speakers cannot count further than
‘10’, sometimes even that only with difficulties. Also, number estimation
169
tasks indicating the rough amount of given entities seem to be very dif-
ficult. Thus, many speakers cannot give an estimate of, for instance, the
number of wooden sticks needed for making a fish trap which is about 40
sticks. The Bagyeli generally do not know their age and their age judge-
ments often seem far from reality. Exact numbers do not play any role in
the traditional Bagyeli lives. Of course, the Bagyeli today have to deal with
money, but even there counting is not really required since bank notes seem
not to be seen as a series that can be counted, but rather as individual bank
notes which have their different names and values.27
The Bagyeli, however, who have had at least basic schooling and/or are
in a professional relationship with Bantu farmers, do not have any problems
counting even to higher numbers. In comparison to other Gyeli villages, this
is very often the case in Ngolo, the language community this grammar is
based on. It seems that in the Bulu contact region schooling is better than in
other regions. This is why the children here get longer and/or more regular
schooling than Bagyeli children in other language contact areas. Further,
some men are (sporadically) working on the nearby palm oil and rubber
plantations with Bantu farmers where they have more contact with numbers
in terms of measurements, monetary value and time. Therefore, numeral
competence is comparatively high in Ngolo in contrast to, for instance, the
village Bibira in the coastal Mabi region.
Arthmetic structure of the Gyeli numeral system One typical use of nu-
merals is counting. If counting is abstract and not referring explicitly to a
certain entity, the numerals used are called enumeratives. They occur with-
out any noun, in contrast to other numeral series such as cardinals (sections
3.4.8.1 and 3.5.2), ordinals (section 3.7.5), or distributives (section 3.6.2).
Numeral systems have an internal structure, and I will explain the struc-
ture of the Gyeli numeral system on the basis of enumeratives, even though
this is also true for other numeral series, especially for the cardinals. Mor-
phologically, one can distinguish simplex from complex numerals. Simplex
numerals are also called ‘atoms’ or ‘basic numerals’ in the literature, and
27
Nevertheless, the Bagyeli are just as competent in comparative number estimation
tasks as people with a higher/literate educational background. In tasks that do not ask for
the exact or rough number of some given entities, but that rather ask whether ‘one heap
has more than the other’, ,the Bagyeli can definitely tell which one of two units contains
more dots.
170
denote those numerals that are monomophemic, i.e. they cannot be split
up into further numeric elements (see Borchardt (2011: 25)). According
to Greenberg (1978: 255), every numeral system has such numerals that
‘receive simple lexical representation’.
Functionally, simplex numerals can be further subdivided in terms of
their role in the formation of complex numerals. The majority of simplex
numerals serves as an argument that linearly changes within a sequence of a
mathematic operation. For instance, the English numerals ‘21’ through ‘29’
are expressed via an addition sequence where the second argument changes
linearly from ‘twenty-one’ to ‘twenty-two’ to ‘twenty-three’ and so on. A
stable argument such as ‘twenty-’ is a ‘regular reference point in series of
the same arithmetic operation’, and is commonly referred to as a ‘base’ (cf.
Borchardt 2011: 23).
The functional distinction of these two types of arguments in an arith-
metic operation that helps to form complex numerals is also reflected in the
morphosyntactic behavior of numeral words. Thus, bases in Gyeli, namely
‘10’, ‘100’, and ‘1000’, are nouns (see section 3.7.1.4) while the other sim-
plex numerals are not. The numerals from ‘2’ through ‘5’ are clearly mod-
ifiers (see section 3.4.8.1) which take agreement prefixes. ‘1’ has a special
status as a quantifier and deictic modifier at the same time and is discussed
in section 3.4.9. The numerals from ‘6’ though’ ‘9’ (section 3.5.2) are nei-
ther nouns nor do they behave like the other modifying numerals in that
they are invariable, but occur in the same position as modifier numerals in
a cardinal context.
171
Gyeli Mabi
‘1’ vúdũ̀ wúrɛ̀
‘2’ bí-báà bá
‘3’ bí-láálɛ̀ bí-lá
‘4’ bí-nã̂ bí-ná
‘5’ bí-tánɛ̀ bí-tán
‘6’ ntùɔ́ ntùɔ́
‘7’ mpúɛ̀rɛ́ mbúɛ̀rɛ́
‘8’ lɔ̀mbì lɔ̀mbì
‘9’ rèbvùá rèbvùá
‘10’ lè-wúmɔ̀ wúm
’100’ bwúyà búyà
’1000’ tɔ́dyínì tɔ́gínì
Table 3.20: Simplex enumeratives in Gyeli and Mabi
Enumeratives take invariably the same form since they do not agree with
any head noun but occur on their own. Neverthess, the simplex numerals
from ‘2’ through ‘5’ require a prefix even as enumeratives, as shown in Table
3.20. They take the class 8 bí- agreement marker as a default plural prefix
(since any number higher than ‘1’ is inherently plural). In contrast, ‘1’ and
the numerals from ‘6’ through ‘9’ do not take any prefix as enumeratives.
The other simplex numerals, i.e. the bases, are nouns. While lè-wúmɔ̀ ‘10’
always comes with its noun class prefix lè- of class 5, the other two nominal
numerals are without noun class prefixes. bwúyà ‘100’ belongs to class 7 and
tɔ́dyíní ‘1000’ to class 1. All the nominal numeral bases occur in singular
classes, and only take plural prefixes once they are used in the construction
of complex numerals.
In contrast to monomorphemic numerals, complex numerals contain two
or more numeric elements. Based on the way different numeric elements
are combined, Gyeli numerals form a decimal system: complex numerals
are formed in reference to ‘10’ or bases that are multiples of ‘10’. According
to the World Atlas of Language Structures, Comrie (2005: map 131), decimals
are the most widespread bases in the numeral systems of the world. While
in West Africa many vigesimal systems occur in Niger-Congo languages,
especially Benue-Congo, Bantu languages typically have decimal systems.
Gyeli is no exception.
172
Addition Multiplication
→ Coordination → Noun phrase
‘11’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná vúdũ̀ ‘20’ mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà
‘12’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-báà ‘30’ mà-wúmɔ̀ má-láálɛ̀
‘13’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-láálɛ̀ ‘40’ mà-wúmɔ̀ má-nã̂
‘14’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-nã̂ ‘50’ mà-wúmɔ̀ má-tánɛ̀
‘15’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-tánɛ̀ ‘60’ mà-wúmɔ̀ ntùɔ́
‘16’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná ntùɔ́ ‘70’ mà-wúmɔ̀ mpúɛ̀rɛ́
‘17’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná mpúɛ̀rɛ́ ‘80’ mà-wúmɔ̀ lɔ̀mbì
‘18’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná lɔ̀mbì ‘90’ mà-wúmɔ̀ rèbvùá
‘19’ lè-wúmɔ̀ ná rèbvùá ‘200’ bì-bwúyà bí-báà
‘2000’ bà-tɔ́dyínì bá-báà
Table 3.21: Complex enumeratives in Gyeli
Functionally, Gyeli uses two types of arithmetic operations in order to

form complex numerals: addition and multiplication as illustrated in Table
3.21. The different operations are reflected in different grammatical con-
structions. While addition operations are expressed by coordination, multi-
plication operations constitute noun phrases made of a nominal noun (the
base) and a modifying or invariable simplex numeral.
Numeric elements used in these operations are ordered according to lan-
guage specific rules. In Gyeli, higher numeric elements occur first, the lower
ones second. Speaking in mathematical terms, multiplicands precede multi-
pliers, and augends precede addends.28 In the following, I will explain both
the ordering of arithmetic operations and numeric elements.
The primary operation is addition. Starting out with the lowest base
‘10’, the first complex numeral is ‘11’, expressed as ‘10 + 1’ followed by
‘10 + 2’ and so on. This addition sequence continues as long as the addend
is smaller than the augend, i.e. the base. As soon as the addend would be
identical or higher in its numeric value, the base gets multiplied and thus
the augend is formed by a multiplication operation. This rule holds as long
as the multiplier is smaller than the multiplicand. If the multiplier were to
28
The constituents of a multiplication process are called multiplicands and multipliers.
The multiplicand is the number that is multiplied by another number. This other number
is called the multiplier. Likewise, addition operations comprise two arguments which form
a sum. An augend is the one that another number is added to while the added number is
called an addend.
173
be identical or higher in its numeric value than the multiplicand, the next
higher base is used instead. The highest base used is tɔ́dyínì ‘1000’. Even
though logically higher bases would be possible they are not used and not
part of the language. If higher numerals than multiples of thousands need
to be used, for instance in a monetary context, speakers switch to French.
In any case, these are amounts of money the Bagyeli do not interact with.
Both addition and multiplication operations can be combined in one nu-
meral making the numeral even more complex. Multiplication occurs along
with addition in one numeral in order to form an additive constituent (ei-
ther an augend or an addend) by a product. Up to ‘100’, multiplication
processes linearly precede addition. This correlates with the rule that the
augend has a higher numeric value than the addend. In Table 3.22, the
augend is formed by multiplication and the numeric value of the product is
higher than the one of the addend.
Augend Addend
Multiplicand Multiplier
mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà ná bí-láálɛ̀ ‘23’ (10 x 2 + 3)
mà-wúmɔ̀ má-tánɛ̀ ná lɔ̀mbì ‘58’ (10 x 5 + 8)
mà-wúmɔ̀ mpúɛ̀rɛ ná bí-nẫ ‘74’ (10 x 7 + 4)
mà-wúmɔ̀ rèbvùá ná vúdũ ‘91’ (10 x 9 + 1)
Table 3.22: Multiplication as augend (up to ‘100’)
This situation changes once the multiplier becomes higher than the multi-
plicand so that instead the next higher base is used. This is the case for the
numerals between ‘101’ and ‘199’ and between ‘1001’ through ‘1999’. Then
the augend is simply expressed by the next higher base bwúyà ‘100’ or tɔ́dy-
ínì ‘1000’ while the addend may be more complex, including for instance a
product as shown in Table 3.23.
174
Augend Addend
Multiplicand Multiplier
bwúyà ná mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà ‘120’ (100 + 10 x 2)
bwúyà ná mà-wúmɔ̀ ntùɔ́ ‘160’ (100 + 10 x 6)
tɔ́dyínì ná mà-wúmɔ̀ má-tánɛ̀ ‘1050’ (1000 + 10 x 5)
tɔ́dyínì ná bì-bwúyà bí-tánɛ̀ ‘1500’ (1000 + 100 x 5)
Table 3.23: Multiplication as addend
The higher the base, the more complex the numeral can become. Proba-
bly the most complex numeral in Gyeli would include four additive con-
stituents, three of which being formed by a product, namely the multiples
of the three Gyeli bases, as shown in (157). Logically, even with these three
bases numerals could be more complex, for instance going into the hundred
thousands, but as I stated before, their use would be highly artificial since
there is no use in Gyeli culture for such high numerals, and most speakers
would not be able to form such high numerals in Gyeli.
(157) bà-tɔ́dyínì bá-tánɛ̀ ná bè-bwúyà bé-báà ná mà-wúmɔ̀

ba2-thousand 2-five COM be8-hundred 7-two COM ma6-ten
má-láálɛ̀ ná lɔ̀mbì
6-three COM eight
‘5238 ((1000 x 5) + (100 x 2) + (10 x 3) + 8 )’
Finally, multiple arithmetic operations in a Gyeli numeral do not always

have to comprise a combination of multiplication and addition. It is also
possible to have multiple addition processes in a numeral without involving
any multiplication as shown in Table 3.24. The inverse, however, where
a Gyeli numeral consists of multiple multiplication operations without in-
volving addition is not possible.
Addition only
bwúyà ná lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-báà ‘112’ (100 + 10 + 2)
tɔ́dyínì ná lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-báà ‘1012’ (100 + 10 + 2)
tɔ́dyínì ná bwúyà ná lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bí-báà ‘1112’ (100 + 100 + 10 + 2)
Table 3.24: Multiple addition operations
175
3.5.3 Invariable Quantifiers

There are a few quantifiers in Gyeli that are invariable and thus do not count
as modifiers of the noun. There are invariable quantifiers that precede the
noun and those that follow it.
3.5.3.1 Prenominal Invariable Quantifiers
tɔ̀ ‘any’ The quantifier tɔ̀ ‘any’ is invariable and precedes the quantified
noun as in (158a). The use of tɔ̀ in negated sentences is grammatically not
obligatory, as shown in (158b), where the same sentence occurs without
the quantifier under negation. Semantically, however, there is a difference
in that no person at all is seen in (158a), while (158b) negates a specific,
known person.
(158) a. mɛ̀ɛ ́ nyɛ́-lɛ́ tɔ̀ m-ùdì

1S see-NEG any N1-person
‘I don’t see any person.’
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ nyɛ́-lɛ́ m-ùdì
1S see-NEG N1-person
‘I don’t see the person.’
3.5.3.2 Postnominal Invariable Quantifiers
bvùbvù ‘many, much’ While ‘many, much’ can be used in a noun + noun
genitive construction as shown in section 3.7.1.4, the same lexeme can also
occur as an invariable quantifier following the quantified noun as shown in
(159). In contrast to the nominal quantifier bvúbvù nyà, the invariable one
changes in the tonal pattern to L L bvùbvù. The nominal quantifier seems to
be the more marked form which occurs less frequently. Possible meaning
differences are subtle; speakers claim that both mean the same and can be
used in the same contexts.
(159) a. b-ùdì bvùbvù

ba2-people many
‘many people’
b. mà-jíwɔ́ bvùbvù
ma6-water much
‘much water’
176
Just like the nominal variant, bvùbvù ‘many, much’ is not sensitive to a
mass/count distinction and occurs both with countable and uncountable
nouns alike as shown in (159a) and (159b).
màndjìmɔ̀ ‘whole, entire’ màndjìmɔ̀ ‘whole, entire’ is another invariable

quantifier that follows the quantified noun as in (160). Despite the similarity
to the nominal modifier ndjìmɔ̀ wá ‘a certain’ plus something that looks like
a class 6 prefix, màndjìmɔ̀ is not a noun since it lacks noun properties such as
the possibility to be modified by, for instance, demonstratives or possessive
pronouns, or entering a N + N genitive construction as the head.
(160) a. púsí màndjìmɔ̀

∅7.bottle whole
‘the whole bottle’
b. ndáwɔ̀ màndjìmɔ
∅9.house whole
‘the entire house’
c. bè-síŋgì màndjìmɔ
be8-cat whole
‘the entire cats’
màndjìmɔ̀ is sensitive to a mass/count distinction in that it does not ap-

pear with uncountable nouns, neither liquids nor granular aggregates, as
shown in (161). Using màndjìmɔ̀ with mass nouns requires a specification
of the physical entity, for instance a bottle as in (161c).
(161) a. *mà-tàŋgɔ̀ màndjìmɔ̀

ma6-palm.wine whole
‘the whole palm wine’
b. *ndísì màndjìmɔ
∅3.rice whole
‘the entire rice’
c. púsí (yá) má-vúdɔ̀ màndjìmɔ̀
∅7.bottle (7:CON) ma6-oil whole
‘a whole bottle of oil’
In contrast to the singular form of granular aggregate mass nouns which

cannot occur with màndjìmɔ̀, their plural counterpart allows for its use as
177
in (162). In this case, however, it is understood that the noun comes in

packaged entities, for instance in sachets or bag, or that different types of
the noun are involved.
(162) mì-ndísì màndjìmɔ̀

mi4-rice whole
‘the whole rice (= all its types or packages)’
3.5.4 Locative Adpositions

Gyeli has only a few locative adpositions, one of which precedes the noun,
the other following it. Generally, Gyeli has a limited range of locative ad-
positions. In many contexts where English, for instance, requires a locative
preposition, such as in ‘I go to town.’, Gyeli does not use any locative marker
or preposition at all, as shown in (163). There are two options of saying ‘I
go to town.’, differing in the noun used for the landmark.
(163) a. mɛ́ kɛ́ m-ã̂

1S.PRES go ma6.sea
‘I go to town29 .’
b. mɛ́ kɛ́ tísɔ̀nì
1S.PRES go ∅7.town
‘I go to town.’
Other directionals that are usually employed in English where they typ-
ically include prepositions, such as ‘go up’, ‘go down’, or ‘go around’, are
expressed by verbs in Gyeli, as illustrated in (164). Therefore, they do not
include further adpositions.
(164) a. mɛ́ bédégá nkùlɛ́

1S.PRES ascend ∅3.hill
‘I go up the hill.’
b. mɛ́ sìlégá nkùlɛ́
1S.PRES descend ∅3.hill
‘I go down the hill.’
29
From the perspective of the village Ngolo, the town Kribi is located towards the sea
line. Therefore, speakers most frequently refer to the direction of the sea when they talk
about the town.
178
c. mɛ́ kɛ́ vyàmbɛ̀lɛ̀ nkùlɛ́

1S.PRES go surround ∅3.hill
‘I go aound the hill.’
In the following, I will discuss the Gyeli preposition ɛ́ and postposition

dé in turn.
3.5.4.1 Prenominal ɛ́
The preposition ɛ́30 is most frequently used to accompany a locative adverb

as discussed in section 4.2.1 and listed in (165).
(165) a. ɛ́ vâ ‘here’
b. ɛ́ wû ‘there (MID)’
c. ɛ́ pɛ̀ ‘there (DIST)’
d. ɛ́ bà ‘to, at’
Further, the preposition ɛ́ can precede a noun in a locative context as in

(166).
(166) a. ɛ́ tísɔ̀nì ‘in town’

b. ɛ́ nkɔ̀lɛ́ ‘on the line’
Semantically, ɛ́ is used as a locative preposition when the described location

is about is about any spatial relation except containment. Spatial contain-
ment relations are expressed by the postposition dé as discussed in section
3.5.4.2.
3.5.4.2 Postnominal dé
The locative postposition dé is used when a spatial relation of CONTAIN-

MENT is referred to. Most often, it is followed by tù ‘inside’, but the latter
is not obligatory. (167) provides some examples.
(167) a. ndáwɔ̀ dé (tù) ‘in the house’

b. djí dé (tù) ‘in the forest’
Also, dé can describe spatial relations of CONTACT as in (168).
30
The corresponding preposition in Mabi is ɔ́.
179
(168) nsɔ̃́ wɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ̀ nyúlɛ̀ dé

∅3.worm 3.? 2S ∅9.body LOC
‘The worm is on your body.’
Spatial relations are often described by noun + noun attributive construc-

tions. These are described in section 3.7.1.5.
3.5.4.3 Other Locative Postpositions
Typically, specific locations are expressed by noun + noun constructions as

outlined in section 3.7.1.5. Some of the locative nouns described there can
also be used as locative postpositions. They behave like the postposition
dé as explained in section 3.5.4.2, but differ in their degree of grammati-
calization. dé is so far grammaticalized that an original meaning cannot be
discerned anymore. In contrast, these other locative postpositions are also
clearly used as nouns and as such their meaning is obvious. (169) lists the
various nouns that can be also used as postpositions.
(169) a. ndáwɔ̀ dyúwɔ̀ ‘on top/over the house’ > dyúwɔ̀ ‘top’
b. ndáwɔ̀ sí ‘under the house’ > sí ‘ground’
c. ndáwɔ̀ písɛ̀ ‘behind the basket’ > písɛ̀ ‘back’
d. ndáwɔ̀ sɔ̀ ‘in front of the house’ > sɔ́ ‘front’
3.6 Distributive Constructions

Gyeli makes use of constructional iteration in the nominal domain to express
distributivity both for the quantifier ‘each’ and for distributive numerals.
Both instances are discussed in turn.
3.6.1 Distributive Construction with náà

In order to express ‘each’, a (countable) noun is iterated while náà is inserted
to link the two nouns. The status of náà is not entirely clear. It does not
seem to be a comitative marker judging from the tones since they come with
a L tone. náà rather resembles the adverb nâ ‘still, again’, which, however,
has a short vowel instead of a long one.
180
The quantified noun can come both in the singular or in the plural as
shown in (170). The use of plural nouns as in (170b) implies a distribution
over a set of entities.
(170) a. m-ùdì náà m-ùdì

N1-person by? N1-person
‘each person’
b. b-ùdì náà b-ùdì
ba2-person by? ba2-person
‘each (set of) people’
Iterated quantification in the sense of ‘each’ only works for countable

nouns. Thus, neither liquid mass nouns nor granular aggregates in their
singular form allow for iterated quantification as shown in (171). Granu-
lar aggregates in their plural form, however, can enter such a construction
which then gives the reading of ‘each set of entities of x’ as in (171c).
(171) a. *ma-jíwɔ́ náà ma-jíwɔ́

ma6-water by? ma6-water
‘each water’
b. *ndísì náà ndísì
∅3.rice by? nc3.rice
‘each rice’
c. mi-ndísì náà mi-ndísì
mi4-rice by? nc4-rice
‘each set of packages of rice’
3.6.2 Distributive Numerals

Distributives form series of numerals which are expressed by repetition of
the numeral. They serve the purpose of disambiguating sentences such as
in (172) which can have either a collective or a distributive reading.
(172) Finn and Riley ate two apples.
In the collective reading, two apples altogether were shared between Finn
and Riley whereas in a distributive interpretation, Finn ate two apples and
Riley ate two apples. In English, such sentences can be disambiguated by
the use of ‘each’: ‘Finn and Riley ate two apples each.’ Sentences as in (172)
are, however, ambiguous and allow for both interpretations.
181
Some languages have means to regularly disambiguating such cases. For

those languages that do that, the most common means is reduplication of
numerals. Gil (2005: 4) explains this common strategy by its iconic motiva-
tion. According to him, copies of the numeral correspond to multiple sets
of entities.
Gyeli also uses the reduplication strategy in order to express distributive
numerals. Even though reduplication is a common strategy for distributive
expression in the languages of the world, Rubino (2005: 3) states that, ‘The
phonological nature of the reduplicated material varies from language to
language and construction to construction.” Borchardt (2011: 118) shows
that the Benue-Congo language Ikaan, for instance, uses several types of
reduplication in order to express distributives. These range from full redu-
plications including the agreement markers to full root reduplications ex-
cluding agreement markers and partial root reduplications where only part
of the numeral root is copied.
In Gyeli, distributive numerals only display one kind of reduplication,
namely full reduplication. The numeral, based on its cardinal form, is en-
tirely copied, including its agreement prefixes, if required, and tones. (173)
illustrates how distributives may be used in Gyeli.
(173) b-wánɔ̀ bà dé !mí-mbàŋgá mí-mbáà mí-mbáà

ba2-child 2:PST1 eat.PST1 mi4-nut 4-two 4-two
‘The children ate two nuts each.’
Just like cardinals, distributive numerals agree with the head noun in its
noun class, if the specific numeral takes an agreement marker. The distribu-
tives that take agreement markers are exactly the same as the cardinals that
do, namely ‘2’ through ‘5’. For those modifier numerals that do not take
any agreement prefixes (‘6’ through ‘9’), they are entirely reduplicated, just
without prefixes. Nominal nouns as well as complex numerals involving
noun phrases and/or coordination are also fully reduplicated as one would
expect from their cardinal form. Table 3.25 lists Gyeli distributives using
the noun mbàŋgá ‘nut’ of gender 3/4 as an example.
182
Examples of distributive numerals Gloss

mbàŋgá mvúdũ̂ mvúdũ̂ ‘one nut each’
mi-mbàŋgá mí-mbáà mí-mbáà ‘two nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá mí-nláálɛ̀ mí-nláálɛ̀ ‘three nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá mí-nã ̂ mí-nã ̂ ‘four nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá mí-ntánɛ̀ mí-ntánɛ̀ ‘five nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá ntùɔ́ ntùɔ́ ‘six nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá mpúɛ̀rɛ́ mpúɛ̀rɛ́ ‘seven nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá lɔ̀mbì lɔ̀mbì ‘eight nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá rèbvùá rèbvùá ‘nine nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá le-wúmɔ̀ le-wúmɔ̀ ‘ten nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá le-wúmɔ̀ ná mí-báà le-wúmɔ̀ ná mí-báà ‘twelve nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá ma-wúmɔ̀ má-báà ma-wúmɔ̀ má-báà ‘twenty nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá bwúyà bwúyà ‘a hundred nuts each’
mi-mbàŋgá tɔ́dyínì tɔ́dyínì ‘a thousand nuts each’
Table 3.25: Distributive numerals
3.7 Attributive Constructions

In his comparative study on Bantu attributive constructions, Van de Velde
(2013) defines a ‘canonical’ attributive construction as a dependency rela-
tion between two nominal constituents. It is also known as associative or
genitive constructions in the Bantu literature. Since in Gyeli these construc-
tions are, however, not confined to genitive contexts, I prefer to call them
‘attributive constructions’. So, canoncially, a attributive (or associative)
marker links a head noun with a dependent noun. Van de Velde (2013: 217)
illustrates this with an example from Kagulu (Bantu G12, Tanzania), cited
from Petzell (2008: 86) in (174).
(174) Kagulu (Bantu G12)
m-ejiR1 g-aREL mu-nyuR2

6-water VI-ATT 3-salt
‘salt water’
Van de Velde (2013) describes the canonical attributive construction as

HEAD (R1) - RELATOR (REL) - DEPENDENT (R2), where the relator (at-
tributive marker) links the head noun (R1) to the dependent noun (R2). He
183
further points out that Bantu languages are homogeneous with respect to
the way they express attributive possession structurally. There is a huge
variation in terms of, for instance, the shape of the attributive marker with
a canonical shape of AGR-a (see section 3.4.6 for the attributive marker).
Also, the dependent constituent which is typically a noun, can also belong
to another part of speech. This is the case for Gyeli. In terms of frequency,
the dependent constituent is mostly a noun. It can, however, also belong to
the category of qualifiers, verbs, or interrogative words. While the part of
speech of the dependent constituent may belong to various categories, the
head of the construction seems always to be a noun. In the following, I will
present the different construction types that occur with a noun + POS.
3.7.1 Noun + Noun

Noun + noun attributive constructions in Gyeli typically express attribu-
tive possession. This core meaning, however, which is extended to other
semantic properties of a noun, e.g. quantification (’a lot of cats’) and loca-
tion (’front of the house’). I will discuss in turn the different domains of
attributive constructions, starting with the core meaning of possession.
Before turning to the different attributive constructions in Gyeli, how-
ever, I will first explore a general formal issue: the optional omission of the
attributive marker. The core of a noun + POS construction seems to be
the linking element, the attributive marker, which gives the construction its
name. Often, the attributive marker can be omitted, while in some cases, it
cannot, but must appear.
3.7.1.1 Optional Omission of the Attributive Marker
In Gyeli, the attributive marker can in many cases be omitted optionally

(which seems to be the default case) as shown in (175). In some special
cases, however, the attributive is obligatorily, as in (176).31
(175) m-ínɔ̀ (má) bá-sɔ́

ma6-name 6:ATT ba2-friend
‘the friends’ names’
31
Note that attributive markers in parentheses are optional while those without brackets
cannot be omitted, but must obligatorily appear.
184
(176) dj-ínɔ̀ lé sɔ́

le5-name 5:ATT ∅1.friend
‘the friend’s name’
This phenomenon cannot be based on free variation, but must be condi-

tioned by some (set of) rules since speakers are consistent in their judgments
of optional omission or obligatory presence of the attributive.
The question is then what conditions are at play in the presence or ab-
sence of the attributive marker. It seems that multiple factors determine
whether the attributive marker has to appear, including i) phonological
ones where a dependent noun that comes with a CV- shape noun class prefix
favors omission of the attributive and ii) semantic ones concerning the rela-
tion between the two nouns. In the following, I will go through a number of
possible determining factors and point out in how far they might influence
the occurrence of a attributive marker. I will start out with phonological
factors, then move on to morphological, and finally to semantic factors.
Phonological factors: Tonal patterns The H tone of a attributive marker

spreads on to a CV- noun class prefix of the dependent noun as shown in
(177) and discussed in section 2.4.2.1. One could assume that if the H tone
of the attributive marker spreads to the otherwise L tone prefix of the de-
pendent noun R2 , the tonal process might mark the dependency relation and
an overt attributive marker is not necessary as in (177a), while agreement
classes that come with a L tone attributive marker where no H tone spread-
ing occurs determine the obligatory use of the attributive as would seem to
be the case in (177b).
(177) a. mì-nlô (mí) bá-tídí

mi4-head 4:ATT ba2-animal
‘the heads of the animals’
b. nlô wà tsídí
∅3.head 3:ATT ∅1.animal
‘the head of the animal’
This turns out not to be the case, though. (178) counterexemplifies the
tonal hypothesis because in (178a), there is no high tone spreading, but the
use of the attributive marker is still optional while in (178b) there is high
tone spreading, but the use of the attributive marker is still obligatory.
185
(178) a. m-páà (wà) nlàmbɔ́

N1-president 1:ATT ∅3.country
‘president of the country’
b. bà-páà bá nlàmbɔ́
ba2-president 2:ATT ∅3.country
‘presidents of the country’
Phonological factors: syllable length There is a tendency for monosyl-

labic dependent nouns R2 to require a attributive marker rather than allow-
ing for its omission as in (179) compared to bisyllabic dependent nouns R2
in (180). A bit more than half of the elicited attributive constructions with
monosyllabic R2 behave this way.
(179) a. sɔ́ wà n-tí

∅1.friend 1:ATT N1-in.law
‘the friend of the in-law’
b. bà-sɔ́ bá n-tí
ba2-friend 2:ATT N1-in.law
‘the friends of the in-law’
(180) a. sɔ́ (wà) bà-tí

∅1.friend 1:ATT ba2-in.law
‘the friend of the in-laws’
b. bà-sɔ́ (bá) bá-tí
‘friends of the in-laws’
There are, however, many exceptions as in (181) where the dependent noun
R2 is monosyllabic, but the use of the attributive marker is still optional.
(181) a. ndzí (nyà) nsɛ́

∅9.path 9:ATT ∅3.sand
‘path of sand’
b. dj-ìnɔ́ (lé) n-tí
le5-name 5:ATT N3-in.law
‘the name of the in-law’
At the same time, these examples concerning syllable length could also re-
late to number morphology. Monosyllabic nouns are almost exclusively
186
singular while plural nouns are almost exclusively at least bisyllabic. So the
question is whether a possibly conditioning factor is about syllable length
or rather about number morphology or agreement class affiliation.
Morphological factors: number of R2 Another factor that seems to deter-

mine the obligatory presence of the attributive marker is the number of the
dependent noun R2 . If R2 occurs in the singular, the attributive occurrence
is often (more than 50% of the elicited examples) obligatory as exemplified
in (182a). In fact, out of all cases where the attributive linker is obligatory,
more than 75 % have a singular dependent noun R2 . In contrast, if R2 is
plural as in (182b), the use of the attributive is mostly optional.
(182) a. ndzí nyà táwɔ̀

∅9.path 9:ATT ∅7.goat
‘path of the goat’
b. ndzí (nyà) bè-táwɔ̀
∅9.path 9:ATT be8-goat
‘path of the goats’
Again, there are examples, such as in (183), where the inverse is the case.
(183) a. dj-ìnɔ́ (lé) d-á’á

le5-name 5:ATT le5-crab
‘name of the crab’
b. dj-ìnɔ́ lé m-á’á
le5-name 5:ATT ma6-crab
‘name of the crabs’
Morphological factors: noun class affiliation Another hypothesis could

be that attributive marker optionality is conditioned by gender or agreement
class and depends on the gender/noun class of the head noun R1 or the de-
pendent noun R2 . This is in fact the case in many closely related languages as
described by Henson (2007) for Kol (A832),32 by Beavon (2006) for Njyem
(A84)33 and by Heath (2003) for Makaa (A83).34 For Gyeli, however, this
32
Henson (2007: 113) points out for Kol that ”For most singular nouns, the ‘basic’ asso-
ciative marker is either zero or a tonal marker”.
33
Beavon (2006: 118) shows that head nouns of classes 1, 9, and 10 in Njyem occur
without associative markers.
34
As in Njyem, head nouns of classes 1, 9, and 10 in Makaa do not come with an asso-
ciative marker and are therefore zero-marked in noun + noun constructions according to
187
does not seem to be the case for either the head nor the dependent noun.
Changing the noun class of R1 in (184) gives both optional omission of the
attributive as in (184a) and obligatory use of the attributive marker as in
(184b).
(184) a. sɔ́ (wà) ŋ-gyɛ̃̂

∅1.friend 1:ATT N1-stranger
‘friend of the stranger’
b. ndzí nyà ŋ-gyɛ̃̂
∅9.path 9:ATT N1-stranger
‘path of the stranger’
The same is true for the dependent noun R2 in (185): (185a) shows a case
where the attributive can be omitted while it cannot in (185b).
(185) a. sɔ́ (wà) m-ùdã̂

friend.1 1:ATT N1-woman
‘friend of the woman’
b. sɔ́ wà nkwànò
∅1.friend 1:ATT ∅3.honey
‘friend of honey’ (= somebody who likes honey)
It also does not depend on whether the head noun R1 and the dependent
noun R2 belong to the same noun class or not: in (186), all constituents
belong to noun class 7. In (C71), the use of the attributive is obligatory
while in (C72) its use is optional.
(186) a. vɛ́ɛl̀ á yá yí
∅7.decoration 7:ATT ∅7.wood
‘decoration of the wood’
b. vɛ́ɛl̀ á (yá) táwɔ̀
∅7.decoration 7:ATT ∅7.goat
‘decoration of the goat’
Morphological factors: overt noun class marking of R2 There is a ten-

dency to omit the attributive marker when the dependent noun R2 has a
syllabic noun class prefix as seen for instance in (177a) or (180a). This is
true for more than 80% of the elicited attributive construction examples.
Heath (2003: 341).
188
Further, at the intersection of phonology and morphology, there is a ten-

dency to avoid successive identical CV morphemes, i.e. when the attributive
marker and the following noun class prefix have the same CV pattern as in
(187). In more than 90% of these cases, speakers prefer to omit the attribu-
tive.
(187) a. bà-sɔ́ (bá) bá-tí

‘the friends of the in-laws’
b. dj-ìnɔ́ (lé) lé-kǎ
le5-name 5:ATT le5-clan
‘the name of the clan’
Nevertheless, there are again counterexamples as in (188).
(188) mà-dyû má má-kǎ

ma6-fever 6:ATT ma6-clan
‘the fevers of the clans’
Semantic factors: relation between the nouns It seems that the attribu-
tive linker can be omitted when the relation between the two nouns is an
identity relation as with names in (189) and colors in (190).
(189) kwádɔ́ (yá) Ngòló

∅7.village 7:ATT PN
‘the village of Ngolo’
(190) nsínó (wá) nábèbè

∅3.color 3:ATT red
‘the color red’
Also numeral head nouns are always followed by an optional attributive

marker as shown in (191).
(191) a. lè-wúmɔ̀ (lé) bá-sɔ́

le5-ten 5:ATT ba2-friend
‘ten friends’
b. bwúyà (yá) bá-sɔ́
∅7.hundred 7:ATT ba2-friend
‘hundred friends’
189
c. tɔ́gyínì (wà) bà-sɔ́

∅1.thousand 1:ATT ba2-friend
‘thousand friends’
Further, the omission of the attributive marker changes, in some cases,

the meaning of the construction which supports the hypothesis on identity
relation: if the head and dependent noun refer to the same entity, the at-
tributive can or even must be omitted as in (192a) and (193a). In these
cases, the second noun rather serves as a modifying noun to the head. In
contrast, (192b) and (193b) which require the attributive marker, are at-
tributive possession constructions.
(192) a. sɔ́ m-ùdã̂

∅1.friend N1-woman
‘the female friend’
b. sɔ́ wà m-ùdã̂
∅1.friend 1:ATT N1-woman
‘the friend of the woman’
(193) a. kfúbɔ̀ dyá

∅1.chicken ∅7.length
‘the tall chicken’
b. kfúbɔ̀ wà dyá
∅1.chicken 1:ATT ∅7.length
‘the chicken that is far away’ (poulet eloigné)
Semantic factors: prototypical use A final factor that I consider here

concerns prototypicality of use which relates to the most frequent, most
natural way, two nouns are linked. In (194), for instance, it seems that
speakers natuarlly think of a country usually having only one president. In
this case (194a), the attributive can be omitted. If, however, speakers talk
about several presidents as in (194a), for instance historically successive
presidents, this is the more marked form and there the use of the attributive
is obligatory.
(194) a. m-páà (wà) nlàmbɔ́

N1-president 1:ATT ∅3.country
‘president of the country’
190
b. bà-páà bá nlàmbɔ́
ba2-president 2:ATT ∅3.country
‘presidents of the country’
It has to be noted that there might be other factors at play as well and
also that there seem always to be exceptions to the rules and that these rules
are rather tendencies. Ultimately, it is not completely clear at this moment
what makes attributive occurrence obligatory, also because it is not clear in
which way the different factors interact.
3.7.1.2 Nominal Possessives
Having discussed the optional omission and obligatory presence of the at-
tributive marker in noun + noun constructions, I will for reasons of simplic-
ity in the following not indicate anymore, whether the attributive is optional
or not. After having discussed the formal side of noun + noun attributive
constructions, I now turn to semantically different noun + noun construc-
tions. The core meaning of these is that of attributive possession. Examples
of possessive noun + noun constructions are given in (195), where the head
noun changes noun class. The head noun expresses the possessee while the
dependent noun expresses the possessor.
(195) a. m-ùdã̂ wà m-ùdì

N1-woman 1:ATT N1-person
‘the person’s wife’
b. b-ùdã̂ bá m-ùdì
ba2-woman 2:ATT N1-person
‘the person’s wives’
c. d-ìsí lé m-ùdì
le5-eye 5:ATT N1-person
‘the person’s eye’
d. m-ísì má m-ùdì
ma6-eye 6:ATT N1-person
‘the person’s eyes’
Split genitive Gyeli has a split genitive system. Interestingly, the lan-
guage has, however, not a typical possessive classification system which
most often distinguishes grammatically between alienable and inalienable
191
possession. Nichols & Bickel (2013) explain that this type of possessive clas-
sification is based on properties of the possessee. Typically, inalienable pos-
session concern kinship relations and body parts while alienable possessions
can be separated from the owner, for instance materials (axe, spear) or food
items (mango, bread). According to the WALS map on possessive classifica-
tion by Nichols & Bickel (2013), some Niger-Congo languages such as Gbeya
Bossangoa (Central African Republic), Lango and Luganda (Uganda), or Lu-
vale (Angola) have a two possessive classes with an alienable/inalienable
distinction.
Gyeli does not make a grammatical distinction between alienable and
inalienable possession as shown in (196). No matter whether the possessee
is a kin (196a), body part (196b), or material possession (196c), the attribu-
tive marker always agrees in class with the head noun (possessee).
(196) a. nyã̂ wà m-wánɔ̀

∅1.mother 1:ATT N1-child
‘the child’s mother’
b. d-úú lé m-wánɔ̀
le5-nose 5:ATT N1-child
‘the child’s nose’
c. nkwálá wá m-wánɔ̀
∅3.machete 3:ATT N1-child
‘the child’s machete’
In Gyeli, the genitive split is conditioned by properties of the possessor.

If the possessor is expressed by a proper name, no attributive marker will
be used, but a genitive marker as discussed in section 3.4.7 and exemplified
again in (197). In (197a), the possessor is expressed by a proper name,
thus it is preceded by a genitive marker. In contrast, a parallel construction
in (197b) where the possessor is not a proper name, but the noun mùdã ̂
‘woman’, the construction occurs with a attributive marker instead.
(197) a. m-ùdû ŋgá Nándtùngù

N1-man GEN PN
‘Nandtoungou’s husband’
b. m-ùdũ̂ wà m-ùdã̂
N1-man 1:ATT N1-person
‘the woman’s husband’
192
c. mà-kwámɔ́ má-ŋgá Nándtùngù

ma6-bag 6-GEN PN
‘Nandtoungou’s bags’
The genitive marker only takes an agreement prefix if the possessee head
noun occurs in a plural form, as it is the case in (197c).35 Therefore, the
attributive marker between two nouns is conditioned both by the head and
the dependent noun. The dependent possessor noun determines whether a
attributive or a genitive marker is used (depending whether it is a proper
noun). The head possessee noun determines number/agreement class mark-
ing.
3.7.1.3 Properties
A semantic sub-category of possession are those noun + noun constructions

that express a property of the head noun such as ‘old’, ‘beautiful’, or ‘strong’.
These properties are expressed by nouns in Gyeli; examples are given in
(198).
(198) a. sɔ́ wà ntúlɛ́

∅1.friend 1:ATT 3.oldness
‘old friend’
b. b-ùdã̂ bá bé-bɛ̃́
ba2-woman 2:ATT be8-beauty
‘beautiful women’
c. m-ùdì wà ŋgvùlɛ́
N1-person 1:ATT ∅9.strength
‘strong person’
The property noun + noun constructions differ structurally from nom-

inal possessives in the role of the head noun. While in nominal possessive
constructions the head noun is the possessee, in property noun + noun
constructions the head noun is rather the possessor in the unmarked case
following a pattern ‘a man of strength’. The order of head and dependent
noun can, however, be reversed while the basic meaning remains the same,
as in (199).
35
See section 3.4.7.
193
(199) a. m-ùdũ̂ wà tílì

N1-man 1:ATT ∅7.smallness
‘small man’
b. tílì yá m-ùdũ̂
∅7.smallness 7:ATT N1-man
‘small man/smallness of man’
(199a) exhibits the unmarked order which can literally be translated as

‘man of smallness’. In contrast, the order of the nouns is reverse in (199b).
This case is ambiguous because it can mean either ‘the smallness of the
man’, so talking about his size. Or it can still refer to the man himself in the
sense of ‘a midget of a man’. The reversal in the second sense seems more
to have pragmatic functions of irony or emphasis which is something that
needs further research.
3.7.1.4 Nominal Quantifiers
Another extension of the canonical noun + noun construction concerns ex-

pression of quantification. Some quantifiers in Gyeli are nouns and combine
with the noun that they quantifiy as the head of the construction.
Nominal quantifiers include numerals, and non-numeral modifiers such
as ‘many’, ‘few’, ‘a certain’, ‘some’, and partitive quantifiers such as ‘half’.36
In fact, the majority of quantifiers are nominal and discussed in the follow-
ing.
Numerals Some simplex numerals in Gyeli constitute nouns. As discussed

in section 3.5.2.1 on enumeratives, these are the bases of the system, namely
le-wúmɔ̀ ‘10’ (cl. 5), bwúyà ‘100’ (cl. 7), and tɔ́dyínì ‘1000’ (cl. 1). Being
nouns themselves, they do not agree with the noun they quantify. Instead,
they can become the head of a N + N genitive construction of which the
nominal numeral is the head as exemplified in (200). The two nouns are
linked by a attributive marker that can optionally be omitted.
(200) a. lè-wúmɔ̀ (lé) bá-sɔ́

5cl-ten 5:ATT ba2-friend
‘ten friends’
36
For an introduction to quantifiers from a semantic perspective, see section 3.4.8.2.
194
b. bwúyà (yá) bá-sɔ́

7.hundred 7:ATT ba2-friend
c. tɔ́dyínì (wà) bà-sɔ́
1.thousand 1:ATT ba2-friend
The N + N construction with a attributive marker is the preferred option

to express nominal cardinals which speakers would judge as ‘good Gyeli’.
Nevertheless, speakers sometimes seem to generalize characteristics of the
majority modifier numerals and thus also allow for nominal numerals in a
modifier numeral position, i.e. following the quantified noun as in (201).
The two nouns are then juxtaposed without any attributive marker, thus
copying the syntax of noun + modifier numeral noun phrases.
(201) a. bà-sɔ́ lè-wúmɔ̀

ba2-friend le5-ten
‘ten friends’
b. bà-sɔ́ bwúyà
ba2-friend 7.hundred
c. bà-sɔ́ tɔ́dyínì
ba2-friend 1.thousand
Complex numerals There are two construction types of complex numer-

als which have been laid out in more detail in section 3.5.2.1 on enumera-
tives:
1. [N + Num]NP
2. N + Num coordination
In the context of cardinal numerals, these numerals become even more com-
plex since the noun that they quantify needs to be included into the construc-
tion. If a noun is quantified by a [N + N um]NP multiplication construction,
the numeral NP takes the position of a modifying numeral, namely it follows
the quantified noun as in (202a). It is not possible to have the NP precede
the quantified noun, shown in (202b), as one might expect from the word
order in constructions with simplex nominal numerals as in (200).
195
(202) a. b-ùdì [mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà]

ba2-person ma6-ten 6-two
‘twenty people’
b. *[mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà] b-ùdì
ma6-ten 6-two ba2-person
‘twenty people’
For the coordination numerals there are different options as to where

the quantified noun can appear in the construction. Just like in the nominal
numeral constructions, the quantified noun can enter a genitive construction
with the nominal numeral by preceding it and linking the two nouns with a
attributive marker. The addend then follows the quantified noun as shown
in (203). If the simplex numeral in the second additive constituent is a
modifier that takes an agreement marker, it will agree with the quantified
noun. Thus, ‘2’ agrees with ‘person’ in (203b).
(203) a. [[lè-wúmɔ̀ lé b-ùdì] ná vúdũ̃]

le5-ten 5:ATT ba2-person COM one
‘eleven people’
b. [[lè-wúmɔ̀ lé b-ùdì] ná bá-báà]
le5-ten 5:ATT ba2-person COM 2-two
‘twelve people’
The other option as to the postion of the quantified noun is to appear at the
beginning, as shown in (204). The coordinated complex numeral, i.e. nom-
inal numeral + modifier numeral, follows the quantified noun. In this case,
the whole numeral construction is treated like a simplex modifier numeral.
As in the first construction type, the simplex modifier numerals in the second
constituent that take agreement markers agree with the quantified noun, as
in (204b).
(204) a. [b-ùdì [lè-wúmɔ̀ ná vúdũ̂]]

ba2-person le5-ten COM one
‘eleven people’
b. [b-ùdì [lè-wúmɔ̀ ná bá-báà]]
ba2-person le5-ten COM 2-two
‘twelve people’
For even more complex numerals containing multiple arithmetic opera-

tions and thus a combination of numeral noun phrases (multiplication) and
196
coordination (addition), the quantified noun is preferrably integrated into

the least complex additive constituents. If, for instance, the first constituent
in an addition coordination constitutes a base while the second constituent
consists of a multiplication operation and thus a N + Num noun phrase, the
quantified noun will enter the first constituent, as in (205a). If the first con-
stituent is a product while the other is not, the quantified noun will enter
the second constituent, as in (205b). If both constituents are complex, the
quantified noun precedes the whole construction, as in (205c). Having the
quantified numeral in the initial position is an option in any case.
(205) a. [[bwúyà yá b-ùdì] ná [mà-wúmɔ̀ má-tánɛ̀]]

7.hundred 7:ATT ba2-person COM ma6-ten 6-five
‘one hundred-fifty people’
b. [[mà-wúmɔ̀ má-báà] ná [b-ùdì bá-báà]]
ma6-ten 6-two COM ba2-person 2-two
‘twenty-two people’
c. [b-ùdì [[bì-bwúyà bé-tánɛ̀] ná [mà-wúmɔ̀ má-nã]̂ ]]
ba2-person be8-hundred 8-five COM ma6-ten 6-four
‘five hundred-forty people’
One could investigate very complex numeral constructions and the noun
they quantify more thoroughly, but this seems rather artificial since numer-
als, at least very complex ones, are rarely used and many speakers have not
mastered them.
’many, lots’ Many quantifiers in Gyeli are expressed by a N + N genitive

construction as described in section 3.4.7. In these cases, a quantifying
noun serves as head of the construction, the quantified noun is linked by a
conncetive marker that agrees with the head noun as in (206).
(206) bvúbvù nyà b-ùdì

∅9.multitude 9:ATT ba2-people
‘many people’
Only a few quantifiers in Gyeli make a distinction between countable and

non-countable nouns, for instance ‘each’ or numeral quantifiers, as I will
show below. bvúbvù ‘many’, however, is used for both countable and non-
countable nouns. (207) provides examples of quantified nouns which se-
matically belong to liquids or granular aggregates and which typically are
197
not countable. Also in Gyeli, these mass nouns cannot occur with a numeral,
but they take the same intersective quantifier (as defined in section 3.4.8.2)
for ‘many, lots’ as countable nouns.
(207) a. bvúbvù nyà mà-jíwɔ́

∅9.multitude 9:ATT ma6-water
‘lots of water’
b. bvúbvù nyà ndísì
∅9.multitude 9:ATT ∅3.rice
‘lots of rice’
c. bvúbvù nyà mì-nsɛ́
∅9.multitude 9:ATT mi4-sand
‘lots of (types of) sand’
’few, little’ The counterpart to bvúbvù ‘many, lots’ is mwánɔ̀ ‘little’ and
bwánɔ̀ ‘few’. The primary lexical meaning of mwánɔ̀/bwánɔ̀ is ‘child/children’.
In a compound with a (countable) noun, however, it also has the meaning
of ‘small (in size)’, as shown in (208a). This is quite typical for many Bantu
languages. Used in a N + N genitive construction (with a attributive marker
for countable nouns) as in (208b), one gets the quantifying interpretation
of smallness in number rather than size.
(208) a. b-wánɔ̀ bá-kɔ́bɛ̀

ba2-small ba2-cup
‘small cups’
b. b-wánɔ̀ bá bá-kɔ́bɛ̀
ba2-small 2:ATT ba2-cup
‘few cups’
In some cases of countable nouns, however, the attributive marker can be

omitted while the construction maintains a quantifying meaning rather than
talking about size as in (209).
(209) a. b-wánɔ̀ bá má-ntúà

ba2-small 2:ATT ma6-mango
‘few mangos’
b. b-wánɔ̀ má-ntúà
ba2-small ma6-mango
‘few mangoes’
198
This feeds into the issue of a possible attributive marker omission discussed
in section 3.4.6. It is not clear at the moment, which factors select for a
preference of attributive marker use or omission in quantifying construc-
tions with countable nouns. When asked what they would say for ‘small
mangoes’, speakers state that they prefer the use or píyɔ̀ ‘small’ for man-
goes as in (210). It is not clear what semantically selects for either píyɔ̀ or
mwánɔ̀ when talking about smallness in size and more research is in order
to understand the distribution.
(210) mà-ntúà má píyɔ̀

ma6-mango 6:ATT small
‘small mangoes’
In contrast to bvúbvù ‘many, lots’, ‘few, little’ is sensitive to countability

distinctions. With countable nouns, obligatorily the plural form bwánɔ̀ is
used as in (208b) since ‘few’ is inherently plural. For uncountable nouns,
however, the singular form mwánɔ̀ ‘little’ is used in a compound construction
with a singular non-countable noun, as in (211). Note also that this con-
struction is a compound rather than a N + N genitive construction since
using a attributive marker, as in (211c), is prohibited. So, this construction
is parallel to the one in (208a).
(211) a. m-wánɔ̀ nsɛ́

N1-small ∅3.sand
‘little sand’
b. m-wánɔ̀ ndísì
N1-small ∅3.rice
‘little rice’
c. *m-wánɔ̀ wà nsɛ́
N1-small 1:ATT ∅3.sand
‘little sand’
It is possible to use the plural of uncountable nouns as in (212). In these

cases, the quantifying noun has to take its plural form as well. Still, in con-
trast to countable nouns, these constructions never come with a attributive
marker. The semantic difference between singular and plural forms of mass
nouns such as ‘sand’ or ‘rice’ seems context dependent. It could mean, on
the one hand, that one is talking about a huge quantity of ‘sand’ or ‘rice’.
199
On the other hand, one gets, according to the context, the reading of ‘differ-
ent types/qualities’ (e.g. ‘different types of sand’) or ‘different entities’ (e.g.
‘different bags of rice’) of ‘sand’ or ‘rice’.
(212) a. b-wánɔ̀ mì-nsɛ́

ba2-small mi4-sand
‘little sand’
b. b-wánɔ̀ mì-ndísì
ba2-small mi4-rice
‘little rice’
In contrast to other uncountable nouns such as ‘rice’ or ‘sand’ which

have a singular and a plural form, liquids usually only have a plural form in
class 6 without any singular counterpart. They behave morphosyntactically
differently because unlike in (212), this plural class does not require the
plural form of the quantifier noun, but its singular form. Thus, it is not the
case that a plural uncountable noun requires necessarily a plural quantifier
noun to be grammatically correct. (213) illustrates that this would even be
ungrammatical for liquid mass nouns.
(213) a. m-wánɔ̀ mà-jíwɔ́

N1-small ma6-water
‘little water’
b. *b-wánɔ̀ mà-jíwɔ́
ba2-small ma6-water
‘little water’
Countable nouns usually occur with the plural form bwánɔ̀ in a N + N at-
tributive construction. Granular aggregates do have a plural form (even
though they are not countable in the sense that one can use them with nu-
merals) and use the singular form mwánɔ̀ for singular nouns and the plural
form bwánɔ̀ for plural nouns. They differ from countable nouns in that they
never seem to come with a attributive marker in a genitive construction,
but rather in a compound. Finally, liquid mass nouns are again different
from granular aggregates in that they morphologically always appear in a
plural form since they lack a singular. Unlike granular aggregates, they
do not take a plural quantifier noun, though, but the singular form mwánɔ̀
while, parallel to granular aggregates, they do not come with a attributive
construction.
200
Liquid mass nouns in Gyeli show an interesting difference to Mabi, the

closest relative of Gyeli, since in Mabi, ‘little water’ is expressed with the
plural form of the quantifying noun as bwa majiwɔ.
’any/some’ Gyeli does not make any further distinctions in terms of ap-
proximate quantities other than ‘many’ and ‘few’, i.e. additional quantifiers
such as ‘a couple’ or ‘several’ do not exist. There is a means, however, to
express unspecificity of both entity and number: ndjìmɔ̀ wá ‘a certain’ or
quelconque in French. Using this quantifier expresses that the entity is not
known or specified and also its number or amount remains unspecified.
ndjìmɔ̀ wá is used with both singular and plural nouns (214), as well as
countable and uncountable nouns (215), while the quantifying head noun
is invariable and does not take, in contrast to mwánɔ̀/bwánɔ̀ ‘few, little’,
singular or plural forms depending on the quantified noun.
(214) a. ndjìmɔ̀ wá m-ùdì

∅3.certain 3:ATT N1-person
‘a certain person’
b. ndjìmɔ̀ wá b-ùdì
∅3.certain 3:ATT ba2-people
‘certain people’
(215) a. ndjìmɔ̀ wá mà-jíwɔ́

∅3.certain ma6-water
‘certain water’
b. ndjìmɔ̀ wá mí-nsɛ́
∅3.certain 3:ATT mi4-sand
‘certain sands’
’some’ Another quantifier that expresses unspecificity is bímbú yá ‘a quan-

tity of’. In contrast to ndjìmɔ̀ wá ‘a certain’, the entity is not unknown, but
its number or amount is unspecified.
Just as the genitive construction with bvúbvù ‘many, lot’,here too the
quantifying noun serves as head in the N + N construction and links the
quantified noun with a attributive marker that agrees with the head noun,
as in (216). Also, both countable and uncountable nouns can be used with
bímbú yá, i.e. this quantifier is not sensitive to the mass/count distinction.
201
(216) a. bímbú yá b-ùdì

∅7.quantity 7:ATT ba2-people
‘a certain quantity of people (some people)’
b. bímbú yá mà-jíwɔ́
∅7.quantity 7:ATT ma6-water
‘a certain quantity of water (some water)’
Then, the unspecific noun quantifier can yet be made more specific in
a combination with one of the other intersective quantifiers such as bvúbvù
‘many’ and mwánɔ̀/bwánɔ̀ ‘few’ as shown in (217). Just like unspecific uses
of bímbú as in (216), these constructions are not sensitive to a mass/count
distinction as it is with mwánɔ̀/bwánɔ̀ ‘few’.
(217) a. m-wánɔ̀ bímbú yá b-ùdì

N1-small ∅7.quantity 7:ATT ba2-people
‘a small quantity of people’
b. m-wánɔ̀ bímbú yá ndísì
N1-small ∅7.quantity 7:ATT ∅3.rice
‘a small quantity of rice’
’half’ Gyeli only has few proportionality quantifiers, one of which is tsílɛ̀
yá ‘half of’. This quantifying noun is semantically sensitive to a mass/count
distinction concerning plural nouns in so far as countable nouns usually
come as material entities that can be split into half. tsílɛ̀ ‘half’ refers to
material halves rather than half in terms of number. If the half of number
is meant rather than splitting something numerically into half, this has to
be made explicit with countable nouns.
(218) a. tsílɛ̀ yá b-ùdì

∅7.half 7:ATT ba2-people
‘the half of people (their bodies)’
b. tsílɛ̀ yá tã̂ yá b-ùdì
∅7.half 7:ATT ∅7.number ba2-people
‘half of the people (their number)’
This distinction does not have to be made, however, for liquid mass nouns
where there is only one reading for ‘half of the water’, for instance, as in
(219).
202
(219) tsílɛ̀ yá má-jíwɔ̀

∅7.half 7:ATT ma6-water
‘half of the water’
Other proportionality quantifiers such as ‘a quarter’ or ‘a third’ do not

exist in Gyeli, but one could further subdivide ‘a half’ by saying ‘a certain
part of half’ as in (220).
(220) ndjìmɔ̀ wá mpá’à wá tsílɛ̀

∅3.certain 3:ATT ∅3.part 3:ATT half
‘a certain part of half’
3.7.1.5 Nominal Locatives
Another function of noun + noun constructions is to express location that

is more specific than just the locative preposition ɛ́ as discussed in section
3.5.4.1. Examples (221) through (227) list (rather exhaustively) the differ-
ent locative noun + noun constructions.
(221) on top/over
(ɛ́) dy-úwɔ̀ lé ndáwɔ̀

LOC le5-behind 5:ATT ∅9.house
‘on top/over the house’
(222) under
(ɛ́) sí yá ndáwɔ̀
LOC ∅7.ground 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘under the house’
(223) behind
(ɛ́) písɛ̀ yá ndáwɔ̀

LOC ∅7.behind 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘behind the house’
(224) in front
(ɛ́) (mbɔ́mbɔ́) sɔ̀ yá ndáwɔ̀

LOC ∅9.face ∅7.front 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘in front of the house’
203
(225) next to
(ɛ́) ŋgwálɔ̀ yá ndáwɔ̀

LOC ∅7.side 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘next to the house’
(226) opposite
(ɛ́) mwádèkã́ yá ndáwɔ̀

LOC ∅7.other.side 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘opposite of the house’
(227) in the middle
(ɛ́) títímɔ́ yá ndáwɔ̀

LOC ∅7.middle 7:ATT ∅9.house
‘in the middle of the house’
In comparison to a cross-linguistic tendency to express many specific

locatives with body part nouns, as noted by Wilkins (1996), Gyeli does not
make use of this source in order to express location. It seems rather that
Gyeli uses landmark nouns such as dyúwɔ̀ ‘top’ (French haut) which is also
the word for ‘sky’ or sí ‘ground’. Also písɛ̀ ‘back/behind’ differs from the
body part ‘back’ which is ŋkɔ̀ŋ.
For expressing CONTAINMENT as with ‘inside’, the postposition dé (see
also section 3.5.4.2) has to be obligatorily used as shown in (228). This,
however, is not a noun + noun construction, but behaves very differently
in that the landmark (the house) is just followed by a postposition dé while in
the noun + noun locative constructions the landmark noun is the dependent
noun while the locative noun is the head noun.
(228) inside
(ɛ́) ndáwɔ̀ dé (tù)

LOC ∅9.house LOC inside
‘in the house’
Some of the locative nouns can also be used postnominally and in that case
behave grammatically more like locative adpositions as discussed in section
3.5.4.3.
204
3.7.2 Noun + Qualifier

While attributive constructions typically involve two nouns, a head and a
dependent noun, the slot for the dependent noun can also be filled by a
member of a different part of speech. Qualifiers, for instance, as discussed in
section 3.5.1, enter a attributive construction when combined with a noun,
as shown for qualifiers of value in (229) and (230). Both examples show the
change in number/class of the head noun while the qualifier is invariable.
(229) a. m-wánɔ̀ wà mpà

N1-child 1:ATT good
‘good child’
b. b-wánɔ̀ bá mpà
ba2-child 2:ATT good
‘good children’
(230) a. m-wánɔ̀ wà bíwɔ̀

N1-child 1:ATT bad
‘bad child’
b. b-wánɔ̀ bá bíwɔ̀
ba2-child 2:ATT bad
‘bad children’
These constructions are parallel to noun + noun constructions of properties

as described in section 3.7.1.3. The head noun is, so to speak, the possessor
of a property which is expressed either by a dependent noun or by a quali-
fier. The same is true for properties describing size as in (231) or colors as
in (232).
(231) a. m-wánɔ̀ wà píyɔ̀

N1-child 1:ATT small
‘small child’
b. m-wánɔ̀ wà nɛ́nɛ̀
N1-child 1:ATT big
‘big child’
(232) a. nsɛ́ wá nábèbè

∅3.sand 3:ATT red
‘red sand’
205
b. nsɛ́ wá návyûvyû
∅3.sand 3:ATT black
‘black sand’
3.7.3 Noun + Verb

Though less frequently, also verbs can be used in a noun + attributive con-
struction as for instance in (233). Van de Velde (2013: 224) describes such
constructions as deviations from the canonical dependent constituent R2
which are apparently found frequently in other Bantu languages such as
Mongo or Ruwund.
(233) sá yá dè
∅7.thing 7:ATT eat
‘something to eat’
3.7.4 Noun + Interrogative

Gyeli has different types of noun + interrogative constructions where the
interrogative serves different purposes, i.e. refers to different entities. On
the one hand, the interrogative can refer to the head noun of the construc-
tion itself as in ‘which man?’ or ‘how many men?’. On the other hand, the
head noun may systematically be used in a more or less grammaticalized
way in order to form other complex interrogative constructions as it is the
case, for instance, with the expression for ‘why’: púù yá gyí? which literally
means ‘what reason?’. In the following, I will outline constructions with vɛ́
‘which’ and níyɛ̀ ‘how many’ and finally turn to constructions involving púù
‘reason’.
3.7.4.1 vɛ́ ‘which’
The interrogative word vɛ́ ‘which’ is used as a second constituent in a noun

- attributive - interrogative construction as shown in Table 3.26.
206
AGR class Noun ATT marker INTERR Gloss

1 m-ùdì wà vɛ́ ‘which person?’
2 b-ùdì bá vɛ́ ‘which people?’
3 nkwě wá vɛ́ ‘which basket?’
4 mi-nkwě mí vɛ́ ‘which baskets?’
5 le-lá lé vɛ́ ‘which fish trap?’
6 ma-má má vɛ́ ‘which fish traps?’
7 síŋgì yá vɛ́ ‘which cat?’
8 be-síŋgì bé vɛ́ ‘which cats?’
9 ndáwɔ̀ nyà vɛ́ ‘which house?’
Table 3.26: Interrogative word ‘which’ in the different agreement classes
Temporal interrogative constructions with vɛ́ Further, vɛ́ ‘which’ is sys-

tematically used in order to ask for temporal adjuncts. There are two in-
terrogative constructions asking for temporal adjuncts which can both be
translated with ‘when’:
wùlà yá vɛ́ ‘when (which time/hour)’
dúβɔ̀ lé vɛ́ ‘when (which day)’
Speakers use either one of the two depending on what the expected answer
would provide as a time frame, i.e. based on whether the temporal informa-
tion is about a day or rather about a particular time which is measured in
hours or related to a part of the day, for instance morning or night.
‘Type’ interrogative constructions with vɛ́ Interrogative constructions

with ‘which’ can be yet more complex and include in fact two attributives,
when specifying the question by the noun kà ‘type/kind’ as shown in (234).
(234) lè-kà lé kálàdɛ̀ yá vɛ́?

le5-kind 5:ATT ∅7.kalade 7:ATT which
‘which kind of book?’
In these cases, the interrogative word vɛ́ still enters a attributive construction
with the noun kálàdɛ̀ ‘book’ rather than with kà ‘type’ while kálàdɛ̀ ‘book’
serves as second constituent in the first attributive construction which has
kà ‘type’ as head noun.
207
3.7.4.2 níyɛ̀ ‘how many’
The interrogative word níyɛ̀ ‘how many’ behaves similar to vɛ́ ‘which’. Se-
mantically, however, the use of ‘how many’ is restricted to plural noun
classes, which are listed in Table 3.27.
AGR class Noun ATT marker INTERR Gloss

2 b-ùdì bá níyɛ̀ ‘how many people?’
4 mì-nkwě mí níyɛ̀ ‘how many baskets?’
6 mà-má má níyɛ̀ ‘how many fish traps?’
8 bè-síŋgì bé níyɛ̀ ‘how many cats?’
Table 3.27: Interrogative word ‘how many’ in the different agreement

classes
níyɛ̀ ‘how many’ can also be used when asking for temporal adjuncts as
shown in (235).
(235) a. à kɛ́ [mà-wùlà má-láálɛ̀]

3S.PST1 go ma6-hour 3-three
‘I walked for three hours’
b. à kɛ́ mà-wùlà má níyɛ̀?
3S.PST1 go ma6-hour 6:ATT how.many
‘For how many hours did he walk?’
3.7.4.3 púù ‘cause’
púù ‘cause’ is systematically used as a head noun in noun + interrogative

constructions. The second constituent that púù ‘cause’ is the head of, is
another invariable interrogative word, namely either nzá ‘who’, gyí ‘what’,
or vɛ́ ‘which’. Different types of questions are formed with púù, ranging from
benefactive to purpose or reason questions. Possible combinations are the
following:
púù yá gyí ‘why (what cause)’
púù yá vɛ́ ‘why (which cause)’
púù ŋgá nzá ‘for whom’
Purpose/reason In order to express a question related to purpose or rea-

son, the interrogative gyí ‘what’ is used as second constituent, as shown in
208
(236).
(236) púù yá gyí wɛ́ gyàgá kálàdɛ̀ yî?

∅7.cause 7:ATT what 2S.PRES buy ∅7.book 7.DEM.PROX
‘Why do you buy this book?’
gyí can also be substituted by vɛ́ ‘which’ for the same question as shown in
(237). The use of gyí as in (236) is, however, preferred.
(237) púù yá vɛ́ wɛ́ gyàgá kálàdɛ̀ yî?

∅7.cause 7:ATT which 2S.PRES buy ∅7.book 7.DEM.PROX
‘Why do you buy this book?’
Benefactive púù in interrogative constructions also frequently has a bene-

factive meaning and speakers would spontaneously translate púù yá as ‘for’.
Typically, the benefactor is human and so the interrogative nzá ‘who’ is
then used as second constitueny as shown in (238). Further, since the ex-
pected answer possibly entails a proper name, the question word ‘for whom’
always has to be formed with the genitive marker ŋgá rather than a attribu-
tive marker.37
(238) púù ŋgá nzá wɛ́ gyámbɔ́ bé-déwɔ̀?

∅7.cause GEN who 2S.PRES cook be8-food
‘For whom do you cook food?’
Finally, more complex interrogative constructions can be formed with

a double attributive construction as in (239). In this example, púù ‘cause’
serves again as head noun of a attributive construction while its dependent
constituent b-ùdì ‘people’ is at the same time the head of a second attribu-
tive construction with the interrogative word níyɛ̀ ‘how many’ as second
constituent.
(239) púù yá b-ùdì bá níyɛ̀ wɛ́ gyámbɔ́

∅7.cause 7:ATT ba2-person 2:ATT how.many 2S.PRES cook
bé-déwɔ̀?
be8-food
‘For how many people do you cook food?’
37
The different paradigms for genitive and attributive markers are discussed in sections
3.4.6 and 3.4.7.
209
3.7.5 Noun + Numeral: Ordinal Numerals

Ordinal numerals differ from cardinals in that they do not assign an attribu-
tive quantification to a noun. Their function is rather to rank the noun
within a given set (’first’, ‘second’, ‘third’, and so on), as discussed in Bor-
chardt (2011: 111). Stolz & Veselinova (2005: 1) state that ordinals can mor-
phologically be analyzed in a ‘derivational dependence’ to cardinals while
Greenberg (1978: 288) points out that ordinals usually have a higher degree
of overt marking than cardinals.
In Gyeli, ordinals generally take the numeral root that is found also in
cardinals and enumeratives, as shown in Table 3.28. In that, they are de-
rived from cardinal numerals. Also, they are morphologically more marked
since they enter a genitive construction with the noun they modify, be-
ing linked by a attributive marker. (For more information of genitive con-
structions and attributives in particular, see sections 3.4.7 and 3.4.6 respec-
tively.)
Examples of ordinal numerals Gloss

kùsì wà m-vúdũ̂ or mà-tálá ‘the first parrot’
kùsì wà m-báà ‘the second parrot’
kùsì wà n-láálɛ̀ ‘the third parrot’
kùsì wà nã ̂ ‘the forth parrot’
kùsì wà n-tánɛ̀ ‘the fifth parrot’
kùsì wà ntùɔ́ ‘the sixth parrot’
kùsì wà mpúɛ̀rɛ́ ‘the seventh parrot’
kùsì wà lɔ̀mbì ‘the eighth parrot’
kùsì wà rèbvùá ‘the ninth parrot’
kùsì wà le-wúmɔ̀ ‘the tenth parrot’
kùsì wà le-wúmɔ̀ ná vúdũ̂ ‘the eleventh parrot’
kùsì wà ma-wúmɔ̀ má-báà ‘the twentieth parrot’
kùsì wà bwúyà ‘the hundredth parrot’
kùsì wà tɔ́dyínì ‘the thousandth parrot’
Table 3.28: Ordinal numerals
While ordinal roots generally have the same form as cardinals, there
is one exception. For ‘first’, two options seem to be acceptable to express
this ordinal. Either, it can take the shape found also in the cardinal roots,
210
namely -wúrû,̃ or it can take a suppletive form mà-tálá ‘beginning’. Further,

the simplex modifier numerals (‘2’ through ‘5’) do not take the class 8 default
agreement prefix as they do in the enumerative series or a prefix that agrees
with the modified noun, but they take a nasal.38 Also, vúdũ̂ takes a nasal
in the agreement classes 1, 3, and 9 while in classes 5 and 7 only the root
appears without any nasal.
Naturally, ordinals always occur with a singular noun and thus modifiers
take singular agreement markers because an ordinal depicts one rank among
a set of entities. (240) through (243) give examples of ordinals modifying
nouns of different noun classes. (240) contrasts the noun classes which
trigger a nasal on vúdũ̂ and those that don’t giving examples from all possble
noun classes. Concerning (241), I only provide noun class examples for
classes 1 and 7 since then the ordinal root does not change anymore. (241)
illustrates a construction where the ordinal modifier takes a nasal prefix
while it does not in (242). Finally, (243) exemplifies that nominal numerals
are integrated into the gentitive construction exactly the same way modifier
numerals are.
(240) a. sɔ́ wà mvúdũ̂

∅1.friend 1:ATT one
‘the first friend’
b. mbɛ̂ wá mvúdũ
∅3.door 3:ATT one
‘the first door’
c. lè-kí lí vúdũ̂
le5-egg 5:ATT one
‘the first egg’
d. sâ yá vúdũ̂
∅7.thing 7:ATT one
‘the first thing’
e. ntɛ́mò nyà mvúdũ̂
∅9.dream 9:ATT one
‘the first dream’
(241) a. sɔ́ wà nláálɛ̀

∅1.friend 1:ATT three
38
The nasal does not surface in -nã ̂ since this root starts with a nasal itself so that the
prefix nasal gets assimilated.
211
‘the third friend’

b. sâ yá nláálɛ̀
∅7.thing 7:ATT three
‘the third thing’
(242) a. sɔ́ wà ntùɔ́

∅1.friend 1:ATT six
‘the sixth friend’
b. sâ yá ntùɔ́
∅7.thing 7:ATT six
‘the sixth thing’
(243) a. sɔ́ wà lè-wúmɔ̀

∅1.friend 1:ATT le5-ten
‘the tenth friend’
b. sâ yá lè-wúmɔ̀
∅7.thing 7:ATT le5-ten
‘the tenth thing’
212
Chapter 4
The Verb Phrase
This chapter deals with the lexical level of the Gyeli verb phrase. I first lay
out the structure of the Gyeli verb in contrast to the verb structure which is
more typical among the Savannah Bantu languages. I will then discuss verb
extensions and finally, I will look at the more extended verb phrase and
describe adverbs and ideophones. For readability, I postpone the discussion
of inflectional elements, namely tense, aspect, mood, and negation until
chapter 5.
4.1 The Verb

Verb as a word class Nouns and verbs constitute the two major word
classes in possibly all languages in the world, as Viberg (2006: 408) points
out. But what are verbs and how are they distinguished from nouns? Schachter
& Shopen (2007: 9) provide a general, semantically based definition, stating
that
“Verb is the name given to the parts-of-speech class in which

occur most of the words that express actions, processes, and the
like.”
Other properties that the authors highlight include, for instance, the verbs’
foregrounding of temporal relations as well as their function as predicates.
After all, characteristics of verbs (as any other word class) are language
specific and therefore, it makes sense to distinguish them based on a given
language’s properties. In Gyeli, nouns and verbs are distinct in many ways.
213
As shown in chapter 2, they differ on phonological grounds, for example in

their distribution of phonemes and tones, nouns allowing a larger degree of
freedom while verbs restrict occurrences of consonants, vowels, and tones
more. On a morphological level, nouns take prefixes which Gyeli verbs do
not. Vice versa, verbs take (extension) suffixes which is not the case for
nouns. In terms of syntactic function, verbs serve canonically as predicates
while nouns (or noun phrases) constitute arguments to a given predicate.
These various formal differences show clearly that nouns and verbs in Gyeli
belong to different word classes.
Bantu verb structure The typical verb structure in Bantu languages has
a verb root with slots to both its left and its right, as shown in Table (4.1),
which is an adaptation from Nurse (2008: 40) and ultimately Meeussen
(1967: 108).
Slot Pre- Initial Post- Pre- Radical Prefinal Final Post-

initial initial radical final
Function TAM, Subject TAM, Object Root TAM, TAM par-
NEG, concord NEG, concord valence ticipant,
clause clause change NEG,
type type clause
type
Table 4.1: The typical Bantu verb structure
A typical Bantu verb may or may not start with TAM, negation or clause
type marking in the so-called pre-initial slot. In contrast, the initial slot
marking subject concord is usually obligatory in eastern and southern Bantu
languages. Also obligatory is TAM (or negation or clause type) marking in
the post-initial slot. Object concord is marked in the pre-radical slot and is
closest to the radical. Further, many Bantu languages mark multiple objects
in this position, typically in a ditransitive phrase. The verb root in the
radical slot is followed by the prefinal which marks TAM and/or valence
change. Valence change refers to Bantu typical verb extensions such as,
for instance, applicatives, causatives, and reciprocals. In Savannah Bantu
languages, verbs often end in a vowel in the final slot which is indicative
of TAM. Thus, in Swahili (Bantu G42), for example, the final vowel is -a in
assertive verbs while it changes to -i in negation and to -e in the optative.
214
Finally, there is a post-final slot that carries information on negation, clause

type or participant. “Participant” marking refers typically to marking the
plural when addressing several people, for instance in plural imperatives.
The root plus suffixes plus final vowel is typically designated as the verb
stem (Hyman 1993: 3). According to Good (2007: 206),
“The Bantu verb stem can be described with respect to both its
morphosyntactic and its morphophonological properties. In gen-
eral, these two sets of properties will coincide in a given morpho-
logical form.”
For more (theoretical) discussions on the Bantu verb stem, including

both morphosyntactic and morphophonological, see for instance Downing
(1999), Hyman (1993), or Marten (2003).
4.1.1 Verb Structure

In comparison to the Savannah Bantu languages of eastern and southern
Africa, northwestern Bantu languages such as Gyeli are significantly more
isolating. The Gyeli verb structure is more reduced than the widely spread
structure presented above. In Gyeli, the verb starts with the radical slot,
i.e. the verb root. There are no other slots preceding the verb root, not
even subject concord or tense marking. Subject marking is not part of the
verb. Instead, a non-nominal subject is expressed in a subject clause opera-
tor (SCOP) portemanteau morpheme that also carries tense-mood informa-
tion (see chapter 5.2.1).
Slot Radical Prefinal

Function Root valence
change
Table 4.2: The Gyeli verb structure
There is only one slot following the Gyeli verb root, namely the prefinal slot
that marks valence change.
Stem final vowel Gyeli does not have a typical Bantu final vowel which,
in other languages, serves as tense, aspect and/or mood inflection. Due
215
to a canonical CV syllable structure, Gyeli verbs always end in a vowel,

but they are by no means comparable to the typical final vowels found in
Bantu languages such as Shona or Swahili where a specific vowel is tied to
a specific tense, aspect, or mood category. In contrast, Gyeli final vowels
are rather restricted by the stem’s syllable length. In monosyllabic stems,
any of the seven vowels, except for /o/, can occur in a stem final position,
while disyllabic verbs only allow four vowels in this position, /o/, /ɛ/, /ɔ/,
/a/, as discussed in chapter 2.2.1.
Another argument not to consider Gyeli stem final vowels as occupying
the final slot within a typical Bantu verb structure comes from verb exten-
sions. When Bantu languages such as Swahili add an extension morpheme
in the prefinal slot, the final vowel is not necessarily affected by this. The
Swahili stem chek-a ‘laugh’, for instance, keeps the final vowel -a even if the
stem is extended by a causative morpheme -Ish-: chek-esh-a ‘make laugh’.
This is not the case in Gyeli, as I will show for each extension morpheme in
the following sections. Extension morphemes in Gyeli come with their own
final vowels and override a stem final vowel of an underived form as in djílɔ
‘be satisfied’ → djíl-ɛsɛ ‘make satisfied’.
The question is then, how to analzye the final /ɔ/ in djílɔ. Is it part of
the root or not? In other eastern and southern Bantu languages, the root
would be djíl- which together with the final vowel would form the stem.
And given that verb extension morphemes in Gyeli largely attach to the
root’s final consonant (at least in bisyllabic stems), it is tempting to assume
that the Gyeli verb root also ends in a consonant. I propose, however, to
count a stem final vowel in a Gyeli underived verb form as being part of
the root which may get deleted and replaced under derivational processes.
The main reason for this analysis is that the quality of a root final vowel
is not predictable and is thus lexically determined. This is especially true
for monosyllabic stems which show a higher degree of freedom in terms of
which vowels are allowed in comparison to di- or trisyllabic stems.
Having established that stem final vowels of underived verb forms are
part of the root, two phonological processes are needed in order to extend
verb stems with derivation morphemes: i) vowel deletion and ii) conso-
nant epenthesis. The two processes are complementarily distributed over
bi- and monosyllabic stems. The first one, vowel deletion, concerns bisyl-
labic stems, as shown for djílɔ ‘be satisfied’ where the final vowel /ɔ/ is
216
deleted if the form takes the causative extension morpheme -ɛsɛ, forming
djílɛsɛ ‘make satisfied’.1 There are many underived verb forms which end in
a final vowel /ɛ/ so that one could propose that the extension morpheme is
actually only -ɛs while a following -ɛ is the regular final vowel. But again,
this is lexically determined, and, of course it is preferrable to have only one
rule for all verbs.
Extension morphemes attaching to monosyllabic underived verbs usu-
ally require an epenthetic consonant which gets inserted between the root
final vowel and the vowel of the extension morpheme. The quality of this
epenthetic consonant differs, though, and is in most cases not predictable.
Further, in a few cases, the same underived monosyllabic verb form may
take different epenthetic consonants with different extension morphemes.
This is, however, again unpredictable and irregular so that no rule can be
stated for the insertion of epenthetic consonants. Table 4.3 lists the various
consonants that may serve as epenthetic consonants in verbal derivation as
well as their frequency. This is based in 85 underived monosyllabic verbs
which take extension morphemes.2
Consonant Frequency Example

/ŋg/ 27 sã̂ ‘vomit’ → sáŋgala ‘vomit together’
/y/ 26 bà ‘smoke’ → bàyaga ‘smoke (by itself)’
/g/ 20 dvùɔ̀ ‘hurt’ → dvùgɛsɛ ‘make hurt’
/l/ 11 bû ‘destroy’ → búla ‘be destroyed’
- 7 dyâ ‘lie down’ → dyáala ‘lie down together’
/s/ 3 sɔ́ɔ ̀ ‘continue’ → sɔ́sɛlɛ ‘continue with’
/n/ 2 bâ ‘marry’ → bánala ‘marry one another’
/w/ 2 dyû ‘kill’ → dyúwala ‘kill one another’
/ʔ/ 1 vèè ‘try on’ → vèʔɛlɛ ‘make try on’
/β/ 1 dè ‘eat’ → díβa ‘be eaten’
Table 4.3: Epenthetic consonants in verb derivation
Table 4.3 also shows that there are a few cases where no epenthetic
consonant is inserted, as shown in (244). The general rule that adjacent
1
As discussed in the section on syllables, there are also trisyllabic verb stems. They do
not, however, undergo verb derivation because they all comprise already a derivational
morpheme. Nevertheless, I need to count them as trisyllabic verb stems since they do not
have any (synchronic) underived form.
2
As discussed in chapter 2.3.3.4, there are 88 monosyllabic verb stems in my database.
Not all of them undergo derivation, though. dɔ̀ ‘negotiate’, for instance, does not seem to
have any derived forms.
217
vowels across syllables is prohibited, thus has a few exceptions.
dyâ ‘lie down’ → dyáala ‘lie down together’

bvû ‘think’ → bvúala ‘think together’
(244)
kwê ‘fall’ → kúɛsɛ ‘make fall’
láà ‘tell’ → láala ‘tell each other’
The synchronic unpredictability of epenthetic consonants most likely has
a historic explanation. At least some underived monosyllabic verb stems
used to be bisyllabic before they lost segmental material including second
syllable onset consonants and were reduced to one syllable. These lost con-
sonants may be reflected in derived verb foms where they show up again.
This also explains why we find certain tendencies as to which consonants
get inserted in specific environments. Monosyllabic stems ending in nasal
vowels, for instance, almost exclusively take /ŋg/, as exemplified in (245).
/ŋg/ is consonant cluster that was lost together with the second syllable,
while nasality survived on the vowel of the first syllable.
lã̂ ‘pass’ → làŋgɛlɛ ‘let pass, spend time’

kẽ ̀ ‘shave’ → kèŋgala ‘shave one another’
(245)
sã̂ ‘vomit’ → sáŋgɛsɛ ‘make vomit’
dyũ̂ ‘be hot’ → dyúŋgɛlɛ ‘heat sth.’
Another tendency is found with monosyllabic verbs containing a diphthong.
They almost exclusively use /g/ as epenthetic consonant, as shown in (246),
with a few exceptions concerning the diphthong /iɛ/ which sometimes may
also take /y/.
dvùɔ̀ ‘hurt (intr.)’ → dvùgala ‘hurt one another’

lùà ‘curse’ → lɔ̀ga ‘be cursed’
(246)
tɔ̀à ‘boil (intr.)’ → tɔ̀gala ‘boil together’
líɛ̀ ‘cede, let’ → lígala ‘let to one another’
4.1.2 Verbal Derivation

Bantu languages are known for their multitude of productive verb exten-
sions, also known under the term of ‘verbal derivation’. These suffixes in the
prefinal verb slot bring about a valence change from intransitive to transitive
verbs and may generally include such categories as applicatives, causatives,
reversives or reciprocals.
218
Table 4.4 summarizes verb derivation morphemes in Gyeli, including

both extensions and expansions, while Table 4.5 gives examples for them.
In Nurse’s (2008) definition, extensions are verbal “productive derivational
suffixes” that “change the valency and meaning of [verb] roots” (p. 311). In
Gyeli, they comprise the forms -ala, -a, -ɛsɛ, -ɛlɛ, -ɛga, and -ɔwɔ. In contrast,
the Gyeli expansions -kɛ, -lɛ, and -bɔ are not productive synchronically. They
are low in number and, even more importantly, it is difficult to match their
form onto a functional category.
Status Form Category label # verbs

-ala reciprocal 270
-a passive 105
-ɛsɛ causative 89
extensions
-ɛlɛ applicative 34
-ɛga autocausative middle voice 28
-ɔwɔ positional middle voice 5
-kɛ ??? 10
expansions
-lɛ ??? 6
-bɔ reversive 1
Table 4.4: Summary of verb derivation morphemes
While historically the derivational system was most likely more produc-
tive, it is synchronically determined in the lexicon whether a verb takes verb
extensions and, if so, which. There is no verb that takes all possible exten-
sions. Also, there seems to be a general tendency to reduce verb extensions.
For instance, the applicative and causative are currently merging into one
transitivizing category, blurring semantic distinctions.
Canonically, multiple extension morphemes are allowed within the Bantu
verb structure. This is not the case in Gyeli where a verb stem cannot ex-
ceed three syllables. This, however, is expected for northwestern Bantu
languages since, according to Güldemann (2011: 122-123),
“the highly productive MULTIPLE stacking of suffixes in most
but not all of Bantu is the result of LOSING different degrees of
prosodic stem restrictions observed in its northwestern sphere
and the adjacent zone in the Macro-Sudan belt, thereby building
up extreme verb-stem complexity from an earlier moderate one.”
Gyeli verb roots generally only take one derivation morpheme. There are a
few exceptions, though. Within the limits of a maximum three syllables, a
219
verb may combine two extensions/expansions. This is, for instance, the case
with passives formed from other extensions such as the causative, applica-
tive, or positional middle voice (see section 4.1.2.2). Another exception to
the trend of allowing only one derivation morpheme concerns the causative
that may show (remnants of) a combination with the applicative, (247), or
the expansion morpheme -lɛ, (248), respecting the three syllable maximum
of the verb stem. Examples such as in (247) are rare. Likewise, /s/t as
an epenthetic consonant is rare, as I showed in Table 4.3. It is possible
that all of these instances stem from an original causative morpheme, but
synchronically that cannot be determined with certainty. Combinations of
causative and applicative morphemes in Gyeli respect the originally fixed
causative-applicative suffix ordering, as discussed by Good (2005).
(247) kà-s-ɛlɛ
catch-CAUS-APPL
‘light sth. (make sth. catch fire)’
In combinations of the causative and the expansion -lɛ, in contrast, the ex-
pansion morpheme precedes the causative suffix, as shown in (248). Syn-
chronically, it is not clear what this expansion does or what its semantic
function is, as I discuss in more detail in section 4.1.2.7. In (248), -lɛ may
indicate a perfective reading: bwà ‘give birth’ → bwà-lɛ ‘be born’ → bwà-l-ɛsɛ
‘make give birth’.
(248) bwà-l-ɛsɛ
catch-le-CAUS
‘make give birth (e.g. midwife)’
Some verbs lacking the bisyllabic expansion form with -lɛ, still use /l/ as
an epenthetic consonant in the causative form, for instance in bâ ‘marry’
→ bál-ɛsɛ ‘make marry’ (but having no form bálɛ). In verb forms that take
two different epenthetic consonants with different derivation morphemes,
one of the consonants is often /l/, which may have its origin in the expan-
sion morpheme -lɛ. Extensions derived from the -lɛ form include passive
and applicative, for example in bû ‘destroy’ → búl-a ‘destroyed’, while the
reciprocal is formed with /y/ búy-ala ‘destroy each other’. As stated above,
however, this observation does not translate into any synchronic rule and
is currently lexically specified.
220
As Table 4.4 shows, extension forms vary hugely in their number, which
may have different reasons. While categories such as causative or applica-
tive seem to have become reduced, other extensions such as -ɔwɔ and -ɛga
are restricted semantically. -ɔwɔ as a positional category, for instance, only
combines with semantically compatible verb roots. It should also be men-
tioned that the numbers given in the table should not be taken as absolute.
For one, despite my attempt to elicit the entire paradigm of possible ex-
tended verb forms, there is the possibility that the speaker could not think
of any appropriate context and rejected a possible extended verb form on
these grounds, while another speaker would have accepted a potential form.
So there may actually be more forms.
Category Example
reciprocal lúnd-ala ‘fill one another’ → lúndɔ ‘fill oneself’
passive lúnd-a ‘be filled’ → lúndɔ ‘fill oneself’
causative lúnd-ɛsɛ ‘make sth. full’ → lúndɔ ‘fill oneself’
applicative lúnd-ɛlɛ ‘fill sth.’ → lúndɔ ‘fill oneself’
autocausative vìd-ɛga ‘turn (by itself)’ → vìdɛ ‘turn sth.’
positional kɛ̀l-ɔwɔ ‘assume hanging position’ → kɛ̀lɛ ‘hang sth.’
-kɛ djí-kɛ ‘burn sth.’ → djíyɛ ‘burn (intr.)’
-lɛ bwà-lɛ ‘be born’ → bwà ‘give birth’
-bɔ/wɔ djì-bɔ ‘close’ → djì ‘open’
Table 4.5: Examples of verb derivation morphemes
Another issue concerns verb forms that have an extension or expansion,

but no synchronic underived form. I treat them as underived forms here,
i.e. I do not count them as extensions in the table in order to be consistent
across categories. While it is easy to recognize, for instance, a causative
or applicative form, it is much harder for possible expansions such as -kɛ.
As indicated in Table 4.4, there are 10 instances of this morpheme serving
as an expansion to an underived form. There are, however, 5 instances in
my database where a -kɛ ending appears as an apparent underived form
itself, taking yet its own extension morphemes. Synchronically, it is not
possible to determine whether this -kɛ carries any morphological function
or whether it is simply a random lexical form. Table 4.5, as a summary,
provides examples of each extension and expansion category, including the
underived verb form.
In the following, I will describe the single derivation morphemes and
their semantic functions in a decreasing order of frequency. As discussed in
221
chapter 2.4, all derivation morphemes are underlyingly toneless. Therefore,

they are represented without tonal marking here.
4.1.2.1 Reciprocal -ala
The verb extension -ala is by far the most frequently occurring one in Gyeli.
Out of 377 verbs in the database, 270 (71.6%) allow for this extension which
I label as reciprocal. Further, there are eight occurrences of verb stems
ending in -ala that do not have an underived form.
In terms of the extension’s semantic function, it has mostly a reciprocal
meaning, as the examples in (249) show which express ‘mutuality’.
dvùɔ̀ ‘hurt (intr.)’ → dvùg-ala ‘hurt one another’

dyúwɔ ‘hear’ → dyúw-ala ‘understand each other’
gyíwɔ ‘call’ → gyíw-ala ‘call each other’
(249) kwàlɛ ‘love’ → kwàl-ala ‘love each other’
tsíndɔ ‘push’ → tsínd-ala ‘push each other’
bâ ‘marry’ → bán-ala ‘marry each other’
kɛ̃̀ ‘shave’ → kèŋg-ala ‘shave each other’
Beyond this reciprocal meaning, there are many instances of verbs whose
semantics do not allow for a reciprocal use. In these cases, the extension
-ala has a ‘togetherness’ reading, as shown in (250).
nyùlɛ ‘drink’ → nyùl-àlà ‘drink together’

kɔ́sɛ ‘cough’ → kɔ́s-ala ‘cough together’
pámɔ ‘show up’ → pám-ala ‘show up together’
(250) tɛ́βɔ ‘get up’ → tɛ́b-ala ‘get up together’
bwà ‘become big’ → bɔ̀g-ala ‘become big together’
kwê ‘fall’ → kwéy-ala ‘fall together’
nyî ‘enter’ → nyíŋg-ala ‘enter together’
It is possible that verbs which do allow a reciprocal meaning may get
a ‘togetherness’ reading, depending on the context. This, however, needs
further investigation.
4.1.2.2 Passive -a
I will discuss the contrast between active and passive constructions follow-
ing Siewierska’s (2013) defining criteria for passive constructions. (251a)
222
is the active, while (251b) is the contrasting passive construction. Accord-

ing to Siewierska (2013), “the subject of the active corresponds to a non-
obligatory oblique phrase of the passive or is not overtly expressed,” which
is the case for the subject bùdì in (251a). Another characteristic of pas-
sive constructions is that their subjects correspond to the direct object in
the active counterpart, as with bèkálàdɛ̀ ‘books’. Siewierska also points out
that passive constructions are pragmatically more restricted than active con-
structions, which is true in Gyeli as well. Finally, she notes that passive con-
structions receive a special morphological marking of the verb. In the case
of Gyeli, this is a final vowel -a, in most cases, as will be discussed below.
(251) a. bùdì bá tsìlɔ́ békálàdɛ̀.

b-ùdì ba-H tsìlɔ-H H-be-kálàdɛ̀
ba2-person 2-PRES write-R OBJ.LINK-be8-book
‘People write books.’
b. bèkálàdɛ̀ bé tsìlá (nà bùdì).
be-kálàdɛ̀ be-H tsìl-a-H nà b-ùdì
be8-book 8-PRES write-PASS-R COM ba2-person
‘Books are written (by people).’
Generally, passive forms are far less frequent than reciprocals, with only
105 attested instances, equaling 27.9% of the verbs in the database. Mor-
phological marking of the passive on the verb in Gyeli differs phonologi-
cally, depending on the syllable number of the verb form the passive is de-
rived from. Passives from mono- and bisyllabic stems differ from trisyllabic
ones. I will discuss both in turn.
Passive formation from mono- and bisyllabic stems The passive in Gyeli
is formed by the extension -a, resulting in a bisyllabic verb stem if it is de-
rived from a mono- or bisyllabic verb, as shown in (252).
kwàlɛ ‘love’ → kwàl-a ‘be loved’

bvúɔ̀ ‘break sth.’ → bvúg-a ‘be broken’
djì ‘open’ → djìy-a ‘be open’
(252) dyû ‘kill’ → dyúw-a ‘be killed’
djíwɔ ‘steal’ → djíy-a ‘be stolen’
vìdɛ ‘turn sth.’ → vìd-a ‘be turned’
bàwɛ ‘carry sth.’ → bàw-a ‘be carried’
223
All these instances have an underived form. There are, however, 36

other bisyllabic verb stems ending in -a which are underived, non-passive
forms. Examples are given in (253). In fact, these verbs cannot be passivized
nor do they have a passive meaning. Expressing passive meaning as in (252)
is not possible for them since their ending is identical with the passive suffix.
gyàga ‘buy’
kòla ‘add’
(253)
kìya ‘give’
bwàndya ‘despise’
For other bisyllabic verb stems ending in -a which do not have an un-
derived form, agentivity is less specified. Semantically, they imply some
unaccusative reading. The examples in (254) can be thought of as having a
non-specified agent while the subject takes the semantic role of an experi-
encer.
vòwa ‘wake up’
wùsa ‘forget’
(254) káka ‘shiver’
kánda ‘crack (intr.; e.g. bottle or glass)’
sìya ‘wash, bathe sb./oneself’
Note that the passive form is formally related to the formation of the
nominalized passive form. Nominalized passives also take a final -a which
receives a H or HL tone and, in addition, an initial homorganic nasal. Nomi-
nalized passive forms are significantly more frequent than non-nominalized
passive forms, though, with 327 forms found in the database (86.7%). It
seems that the only restriction for a verb not to have a nominalized passive
form is semantic in nature and includes verbs of saying or intransitive verbs
such as dyúà ‘swim’ or sìsɔ ‘be happy’.
The difference between non-nominalized passive and nominalized pas-
sive is both structural and semantic. The passive verb form is preceded by
a SCOP, as in (255), while the nominalized passive requires the SCOP cop-
ula (as discussed in chapter 6.1.1) that agrees with the subject, as shown
in (256). The meaning difference between the two constructions is in fact
aspectual. The passive construction views an event as ongoing while the
224
nominalized form is more resultative.3
(255) yí kɛ̀là
yi-H kɛ̀l-a
7-PRES hang-PASS
‘It is being hung.’
(256) yíì nkɛ̀lá

yíì n-kɛ̀l-a-H
COP NOM-hang-PASS-NOM
‘It has been hung.’
Finally, a few bisyllabic passive forms take a final -ɛ rather than the usual
passive -a extension, as shown in (257) which lists all known instances.
bwè ‘catch’ → bùl-ɛ ‘be caught’

(257) sàlɔ ‘cut lengthwise’ → sàl-ɛ ‘be cut lengthwise’
tìnɔ ‘harvest tubers’ → tìl-ɛ ‘be harvested (tubers)’
These exceptions are specified in the lexicon rather than stemming from a
predictable morpho-phonological rule. Their origin and/or motivation is
not clear at this point.
Passive formation from trisyllabic stems In a few rare cases, the passive
can also be formed from trisyllabic stems, i.e. from verbs which already have
an extension such as the causative, applicative, or positional middle voice.
In these cases, not only the final vowel changes to -a, but also that of the
second syllable, as shown in (258).4 Note that I do not mark morpheme
breaks with a hyphen for these passive forms since morpheme boundaries
are not clear-cut. Rather, an extension morpheme such as -awa has to be
considered a portemanteau morpheme, encoding both the passive via the
vowels /a/ and the positional via the consonant /w/.
3
The English translation does not do these constructions justice in terms of their tense
marking which is both present. The German translation gets closer to the tense transla-
tion, opposing ‘Es wird aufgehängt.’ for the passive form and ‘Es ist aufgehängt.’ for the
nominalized form. Nominalized passive forms are labeled as statives in the lexicon.
4
Note that the passive forms that are derived from applicatives -ɛlɛ are identical with
the reciprocal forms.
225
bál-ɔwɔ ‘bend down’ → bálawa ‘be bent down’

bén-ɛlɛ ‘raise, lift sth.’ → bénala ‘be lifted (lift each other)’
(258) bùm-ɛlɛ ‘hit (nail)’ → bùmala ‘be hit (hit each other)’
dyɔ̀l-ɛsɛ ‘make laugh’ → dyɔ̀lasa ‘be made to laugh’
pín-ɛsɛ ‘squeeze’ → pínasa ‘be squeezed’
Historically, the passive extension is likely to have developed from the
middle voice suffix -aga which is still used in Mabi as passive. In Gyeli, the
velar stops got lost and the vowel contracted. In careful speech, the final -a
is sometimes still lengthened, for instance in gyàmbaa ‘be cooked’ which is
derived from gyámbɔ ‘cook’, but in fast speech and most lexemes, it surfaces
as a short vowel.
The use of passive verbs is rather restricted, nevertheless. For one, many
underived verbs do not allow for passivization, even though this would se-
mantically be possible. Also, in terms of text frequency, even verbs that do
have a passive form are rarely used in natural language.5 In natural speech,
the Bagyeli prefer to use an active construction with a class 2 (3rd person
plural) subject as an agent which remains semantically unspecified, as in
(259).
(259) bá gyàgá má-ntúà
ba-H gyàga-H H-ma-ntúà
2-PRES buy-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘They buy the mangos (= the mangos are bought).’
See also chapter 6.3 on information structure for a more detailed discussion.
4.1.2.3 Causative -ɛsɛ
The causative extension morpheme -ɛsɛ changes the argument structure of

the verb in that it increases the verb’s valency, turning intransitive verbs into
transitive and transitive verbs into ditransitive ones. Song (2013) defines
causative constructions as denoting complex situations
“consisting of two component events [...]: (i) the causing event,
in which the causer does or initiates something; and (ii) the
caused event, in which the causee carries out an action, or un-
dergoes a change of condition or state as a result of the causer’s
action.”
5
The passive forms discussed in this section stem mainly from elicitations.
226
This definition becomes clearer when looking at (260) where the causer,
Màmbì, does something, namely teaching which is the causing event. As
a consequence, the causee, Àdà, does something, namely learning English
which is the caused event.
(260) Màmbì á gyíkɛ́sɛ́ Àdà ŋgɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀

Màmbì a-H gyík-ɛsɛ-H Àdà ŋgɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀
PN 1-PRES learn-CAUS-R PN ∅1.English
‘Mambi teaches Ada English (lit. makes Ada learn English).’
This type of morphological causative, as opposed to lexical and syntac-

tic causatives (see Song (1996: 3)), is marked on the verb by a suffix and
is widely spread across Bantu languages. Note, however, that the morpho-
logical causative is not the only causative construction found in Gyeli. Also
syntactic causatives using the verb sâ ‘make’ plus the complementizer nâ,
are quite common, as exemplified in (261).
(261) mɛ́ nzíí sâ nâ wɛ́ dyɔ̀

mɛ-H nzíì-H sâ nâ wɛ-H dyɔ̀
1S-PRES PROG-R make COMP 2S-PRES laugh
‘I make you laugh.’
The morphological causative in Gyeli is formed by the suffix -ɛsɛ. 89

verbs in the database have a causative suffix, which corresponds to 23.6%.
Further, there are another 6 verbs with a causative ending which do not,
however, have an underived form. Examples of causatives are provided in
(262).
gìyɔ ‘cry’ → gìl-ɛsɛ ‘make cry’

gyímbɔ ‘dance’ → gyímb-ɛsɛ ‘make dance’
dyúwɔ ‘hear, perceive’ → dyúg-ɛsɛ ‘make feel’
nyâ ‘suckle, lick’ → nyáŋg-ɛsɛ ‘breast-feed’
(262)
mìno ‘swallow’ → mìn-ɛsɛ ‘make swallow’
djíyɔ ‘burn (intr.)’ → djíg-ɛsɛ ‘make angry’
lùŋga ‘grow (intr.)’ → lùŋg-ɛsɛ ‘raise, make grow’
gyíkɛ ‘learn’ → gyík-ɛsɛ ‘teach’
Note that some medial consonants of underived verb forms are subject
to change in verb derivation. This is precisely the case with epenthetic
consonants such as /w/ (between /u/ and /ɔ/) and /y/ (between /i/ and
227
/ɔ/) which may be replaced by another consonant in the derived forms.

In this respect, bisyllabic underived verbs behave parallel to monosyllabic
stems, as discussed in section 4.1.1 for stem final vowels.
While in the great majority of cases, the suffix -ɛsɛ expresses causativ-
ity, there are a few cases where the semantic lines between causative and
applicative are blurred, as for instance with the verb dvùbɔ ‘dip, soak’. This
verb takes both an applicative and a causative suffix. The applicative form,
however, comes with a special lexical meaning ‘weed grass with a rake’ and
is therefore not used in typical applicative contexts. For these, both the
underived verb can be used, as in (263a), or the causative, as in (263b).
(263) a. mɛ́ dvùbɔ́ pɛ̀mbɔ̀ ɛ́ kɔ̀fí

mɛ-H dvùbɔ-H pɛ̀mbɔ̀ ɛ́ kɔ̀fí
1S-PRES dip-R ∅1.bread LOC ∅7.coffee
‘I dip the bread in coffee.’
b. mɛ́ dvùbɛ́sɛ́ wɛ̂ màjíwɔ́
mɛ-H dvùb-ɛsɛ-H wɛ̂ ma-jíwɔ́
1S-PRES dip-CAUS-R 2S ma6-water
‘I dip you in water.’
The distribution and use frequency of the underived versus the causative
form needs further investigation. The occurrence of comparable cases in the
corpus is so rare that no generalizations can be made at this point.
4.1.2.4 Applicative -ɛlɛ
-ɛlɛ extensions in Gyeli are significantly rarer than causative -ɛsɛ suffixes,
with only 34 instances in the database, which equals to 9%. Further, there
are no verbs ending in -ɛlɛ that have no underived form. I refer to the -ɛlɛ suf-
fix as ‘applicative’, a category that is commonly found in Bantu languages.
Morphosyntactically, the applicative changes the verb’s valency by in-
creasing “the number of object arguments selected by the predicate [...]
by one with respect to the basic construction” (Polinsky 2013). Peterson
(1997: 278) specifies that, in applicative constructions,
“thematically peripheral objects are treated in a more core or di-

rect object manner, and in terms of discourse, they often have
higher relative topicality in applicative constructions as com-
pared to when they occur in non-applicative constructions.”
228
Gyeli forms applicatives both from intransitive (264) and transitive (265)
verbs, which seems to be the typical case in Bantu languages, according to
Polinsky (2013).
nyùmbɔ ‘smell (intr.)’ → nyùmb-ɛlɛ ‘smell sth.’

swásɔ ‘dry (intr.)’ → swás-ɛlɛ ‘dry sth.’
bédɔ ‘go up’ → béd-ɛlɛ ‘mount sth.’
lúndɔ ‘fill oneself’ → lúnd-ɛlɛ ‘fill sth.’
(264)
sɔ́’ɔ̀ ‘continue’ → sɔ́s-ɛlɛ ‘continue with sth.’
djímbɛ ‘get lost’ → djímb-ɛlɛ ‘lose sth.’
bámɔ ‘scold (intr.)’ → bám-ɛlɛ ‘scold sb.’
dyũ̂ ‘be hot’ → dyúŋg-ɛlɛ ‘heat sth.’
Further, Polinsky (2013) distinguishes applicative constructions in terms of

the semantic role of the applied object, pointing out that Bantu languages
typically licence benefactive and other semantic roles. This is also true for
Gyeli. Benefactive contexts usually arise with applicatives formed from
transitive verbs, for instance as shown in (265) for gyámbɔ ‘prepare’. In
these cases, a second object is added which often takes the role of a bene-
factive or also of an instrumental. On the other hand, applicatives which are
derived from intransitive verbs typically do not have a benefactive reading
since valency increases only by one. The one object argument that is added
to the construction tends to rather take the semantic role of a patient.
lúmɛ ‘send’ → lúm-ɛlɛ ‘send to sb.’

gyámbɔ ‘prepare’ → gyámb-ɛlɛ ‘prepare for sb.’
dyúwɔ ‘hear, perceive’ → dyúw-ɛlɛ ‘listen’
(265)
vísɔ ‘cover’ → vís-ɛlɛ ‘cover sth. + INSTR/BEN’
kfùbɛ ‘provoke’ → kfùb-ɛlɛ ‘provoke sb. + INSTR/BEN’
vídɛ ‘turn sth.’ → víd-ɛlɛ ‘turn sth. + INSTR/BEN’
Currently, the applicative and the causative seem to be merging into one
category, with the applicative as the category that is most likely going to
be lost, given its lower frequency in comparison to the causative. It is rare
that a verb has both an applicative and a causative form. In my database, I
only found 5 instances of two forms. In the majority, a verb has a causative,
but no applicative form. Further, some applicative forms have a causative
meaning as (266).
229
vásɛ ‘rise (dough)’ → vás-ɛlɛ ‘make (dough) rise’

(266) vè’è ‘try on clothes’ → vè’-ɛlɛ ‘make sb. try clothes on’
kɔ́sɛ ‘cough’ → kɔ́s-ɛlɛ ‘make cough’
It is not surprising that these two categories are merging since, seman-
tically, there is some overlap between them. For instance, the applicative
form of nyî ‘enter’, nyíŋgɛlɛ, may be viewed as adding an applied object to
the underived verb form. On the other hand, semantically, it can also be
thought of as a causative context in the sense of ‘making sth. enter’. The
same is true for dyû ‘be hot’ which has an applicative form dyúŋg-ɛlɛ ‘heat
sth.’ Again, an object is added to an otherwise intransitive verb, resulting
in a reading of ‘applying heat to sth.’ At the same time, semantically, it can
also be thought of as ‘make sth. hot’.6
Just like the causative, also the applicative extension has a periphrastic
alternative to convey the same, or at least similar, meaning, as shown in
(267).
(267) mɛ́ gyá gyá mpá’à wɔ̂

mɛ-H gyâ-H gyá mpá’à w-ɔ̂
1S-PRES sing-R ∅7.song ∅3.side 3-2S.POSS
‘I sing a song for you.’
4.1.2.5 Autocausative Middle Voice -ɛga/-aga
The extension -ɛga/-aga appears 28 times in the verb database which means
that 7.4% of the verbs allow this extension. Further, there are 4 verbs with
this extension which, however, have no synchronic underived form.
In contrast to other extensions, this derivation has two variant suffixes:
-ɛga and -aga. A specific verb will only take one of the two forms, i.e. it
is not possible for a given verb to use either one or the other. The choice
for one of the two suffix forms seems to be lexically specified rather than
depending on phonological rules. Even though there is a tendency that -aga
is used after the glide /j/ (‘y’ in orthography) as well as after /m/ or /mb/,
there are also a few cases where -ɛga appears after these consonants. Given
that their form is very similar while the function is the same, I consider
6
Bostoen & Mundeke (2011) report a similar syncretism of applicative and causative
for Mbuun (Bantu B87). According to them, however, the syncretism in Mbuun is based
on phonological rather than semantic grounds.
230
these two suffixes as belonging to the same category. It is possible that the
form -aga has its origin in the neighboring language Mabi where the suffix
is used productively for passive formation. This, however, does not explain
why -ɛga is used for some and -aga for other verbs and how the existing
distribution comes about. In terms of frequency, -ɛga is found more often
than its variant -aga, the latter appearing only nine times in contrast to -ɛga
with 19 times.
The suffix variants -ɛga and -aga constitute one of two middle voice cat-
egories in Gyeli. I distinguish, in terms of terminology, the autocausative
middle voice extension -ɛga/-aga from the ‘positional’ middle voice suffix
-ɔwɔ, as discussed in the following section. Unlike valency-increasing ex-
tensions, such as the applicative or causative, the middle voice constitutes
a category ‘intermediate in transitivity between one-participant and two-
participant events’, as defined by Kemmer (1993: 3).7 In Gyeli, the auto-
causative middle voice typically denotes one-participant events, requiring
only one argument (the subject) and in that has a valency decreasing effect.
The autocausative, as exemplified in (268), is accordingly intransitive, de-
rived from transitive verbs. Semantically, the subject of autocausative verbs
incorporates the roles of both agent and undergoer, while syntactically the
agent remains under-specified. Often, a certain self-causation is implied in
such events which I translate as ‘by itself’.
vìdɛ ‘turn (tr.)’ → vìd-ɛga ‘turn (by itself)’

wàwɛ ‘spread sth.’ → wàw-ɛga ‘spread (by itself)’
djìna ‘dive’ → djìn-ɛga ‘sink (intr), melt (intr)’
kfúdɛ ‘cover sth.’ → kfúd-ɛga ‘cover (by itself)’
(268)
lɛ̀ndo ‘flow’ → lɛ̀nd-ɛga ‘flow (by itself)
lɛ́gɛ ‘singe’ → lɛ́g-ɛga ‘singe (by itself)
tfúmbɔ ‘wrinkle sth.’ → tfúmb-aga ‘get wrinkled (by itself)’
líyɔ ‘clear land’ → líy-aga ‘clear (by itself)’
Cross-linguistically, there seems to be a strong relation between mid-

dle voice and reflexive. Kemmer (1993) assumes even that middle marking
evolves from reflexive constructions. Speakers indeed tend to translate auto-
7
Note that Kemmer (1993) primarily defines the middle voice as a semantic category
which, in some languages, receives formal marking. I deviate from this notion in that
I consider middle voice categories in Gyeli as formal categories which map onto certain
functions.
231
causative middle voice forms with a French reflexive construction involving

se, for example tfúmb-aga ‘get wrinkled (by itself)’ would be translated as se
plier in French. Nevertheless, I argue that the autocausative in Gyeli consti-
tutes a basic system which is not derived from reflexive constructions. This
view is parallel to Maldonado’s (2009) observation on South American lan-
guages where middle voice also is a basic system independent of reflexives.
In comparison to the autocausative suffix, Bantu reflexives are canoni-
cally expressed by an affix preceding the stem, which Meeussen (1967: 109)
calls ‘infix’ and reconstructs as *-ᶖ ́- (-jᶖ-? -jᶖᶖ-?) for Proto-Bantu. Such a pre-
fix is not found in Gyeli. Reflexivity in Gyeli is rather expressed by object
pronouns plus mɛ́dɛ̀ ‘self’ as in (269) or, in other cases, carry reflexive mean-
ing lexically as in síya ‘wash (oneself)’.
(269) mɛ́ nyɛ́ mɛ̂ mɛ́dɛ̀

mɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mɛ̂ mɛ́dɛ̀
1S-PRES see-R 1S.OBJ self
‘I see myself.’
Given these constructions which differ formally very much from the au-
tocausative, there is no obvious reason to assume that they are related or
even that the autocausative has evolved from the reflexive. On the other
hand, the autocausative is structurally more similar to the passive in Mabi,
which has the extension -aga or may even be related to the passive extension
-a(a) in Gyeli itself. At this point, however, it can only be speculated which
one is derived from the other.
4.1.2.6 Positional Middle Voice -ɔwɔ
The extension -ɔwɔ constitutes the second category of middle voice in Gyeli.
-ɔwɔ is the least frequent verb extension in Gyeli with a total of 15 occur-
rences, 11 of which are part of the 377 verb database while four have not
been considered for this database. Out of the 11 occurrences within the
database, only six (1.6%) are used productively in the sense that they have
synchronically an underived verb form while the other five instances do not.
I label this category as ‘positional middle voice’ since almost8 all verbs
with this extension describe the event of assuming a position, as illustrated
in (270).
8
One exception to posture reference is the verb bwèd-ɔwɔ ‘be tasty/sweet’.
232
kɛ̀lɛ ‘hang sth.’ → kɛ̀l-ɔwɔ

‘assume a hanging
position’
kfúdɛ ‘cover sth.’ → kfúd-ɔwɔ ‘lay down by cover-
ing head with arms’
(270) kwádɔ ‘twist sth.’ → kwád-ɔwɔ ‘assume a crooked
position’
ŋgwáwɔ ‘bend sth.’ → ŋgwáŋg-ɔwɔ ‘bend (intr.)’
pwásɔ ‘flatten sth.’ → pwás-ɔwɔ ‘assume a flatened
position, stretch out’
The same is true for verbs of this ending which do not seem to have a syn-
chronic underived form, as exemplified in (271).
bál-ɔwɔ ‘bend down’

kwàŋg-ɔwɔ ‘lie down on side’
(271) gyí-ɔwɔ ‘lean back’
pwàŋgy-ɔwɔ ‘lie down stretched out (allonger)’
sɛ̀ŋgy-ɔwɔ ‘assume inclined position’
Schadeberg (2003: 75) uses the term ‘positional’ for a stative category
that talks about ‘assuming a position’ or ‘being in a position’. He recon-
structs *-am- as the positional extension for PB which differs significantly
in the segmental material -ɔwɔ in Gyeli. Nevertheless, both forms seem to
carry the same meaning.
Schadeberg does not consider the derivation *-am- in PB as middle voice.
He mentions, however, that this extension is known to have become a pas-
sive suffix in certain Bantu languages of zone C (cf. Schadeberg (2003: 76)).
For languages such as Gyeli and Mabi, it seems though that passive forms
are more related to the autocausative middle voice category, as described
in section 4.1.2.5.
Passivization of the positional A few positional forms can further be

derived to passive forms by substituting the two final vowels /ɔ/ by the
passive vowel /a/, as shown in (272).9
9
Passive forms of the positional middle voice were not given for all positional verb
forms. Given that passive forms are generally restricted and less frequent than logically
possible, it seems that the same is true for passives of positional forms rather than assuming
that these are gaps in the data, which in particular instances might be the case.
233
bál-ɔwɔ ‘bend down’ → bál-awa ‘be bent down’

(272)
pwàs-ɔwɔ ‘stretch out’ → pwás-awa ‘be stretched out’
Middle voice categories in comparison Comparing both middle voice

categories, the autocausative and the positional, they do not only differ in
their extension forms, but also in their distribution of admissible subjects
and their semantics. Subjects of the positional middle voice are typically
human, at least animate, while the autocausative allows both animate and
inanimate subjects. Very often, though, subjects of autocausative verb forms
are inanimate, given that they incorporate the role of an undergoer which
for many transitive verbs such as kfúdɛ ‘cover’ or lɛ́gɛ ‘singe’ is typically
inanimate.
In terms of semantics, the agent in autocausative forms is underspec-
ified, implying a certain self-causation which is not necessarily real. For
instance, when using the form wàw-ɛga ‘spread (by itself)’ with a subject
such as ‘seeds’, this is generally understood as ‘the seeds spread by them-
selves’. In all reality though, they are probably spread by the wind or some
other agent such as animals which is not salient that it deserves mentioning.
Thus, the subject is treated as the agent, even though this might not be the
case in the external world. In contrast, the agent of positional verb forms is
always identical with the subject.
A verb can have both middle voice forms. Given the low frequency of
forms of both middle voice categories, there are not many examples, but
one is the verb kwádɔ ‘twist’ which has both the autocausative kwád-ɛga
‘get twisted, twist by itself’ and the positional kwád-ɔwɔ ‘assume a twisted,
curved position’. The autocausative typically has an inanimate subject, for
instance a rope or a net, while the positional form has a human subject.
Further, this verb has a passive form kwád-a ‘be twisted’ which shows that
whole range of the possible spectrum of agent specification in Gyeli, as il-
lustrated in Table (4.6).
Transitive → Positional → Autocausative → Passive

two participants agent=subject agent implied agent not specified
kwádɔ kwádɔwɔ kwádɛga kwáda
‘twist sth.’ ‘assume twisted ‘get twisted’ ‘be twisted’
position’
Table 4.6: Scale of decreasing participants
234
4.1.2.7 Expansions
Expansions, in contrast to extensions, are not productive. They are low

in frequency and do not have an obvious core function, at least not one
that applies to all instances of their occurrence. Gyeli has three expansion
suffixes which I will discuss in turn.
-kɛ/gɛ The expansion suffix -kɛ or its weakened form -gɛ is found ten times
in the database as a derivation from an underived verb form. Further, five
other verbs in the database show this suffix ending, all of which are transi-
tive verbs which do not, however, have an underived intrasitive form.
This suffix has different effects for different verbs which is lexically spec-
ified. In most instances, the suffix -kɛ is valency inceasing, turning an in-
transitive verb into a transitive one, as shown in (273).10
bwà ‘become big’ → bɔ̀-kɛ ‘make sth. big’

kàgɔ ‘promise (intr.)’ → kà-gɛ ‘promise (tr.)’
lṹã̀ ‘whistle’ → ́ -gɛ
lɔ̃ŋ ‘whistle sth.’
(273)
tɛ́’ɛ̀ ‘be soft’ → tɛ́-gɛ ‘soften sth.’
tɔ̀à ‘boil (intr.)’ → tɔ̀-kɛ ‘boil sth.’
bô ‘lie down (intr.)’ → bú-gɛ ‘lie sth. down’
In another case, the inverse happens and the expansion -kɛ serves as a
valency decreasing suffix, as in (274). This may be an exception, though.
(274) bvúɔ̀ ‘break sth.’ → bvú-kɛ ‘break (intr.)’
For the majority of instances where the suffix -kɛ has a valency increasing
effect, one might assume that this may be linked to a causative meaning,
especially in examples such as bɔ̀-kɛ ‘make big’ or tɛ́-gɛ ‘soften sth.’. The
-kɛ expansion is, however, distinct from the standard causative -ɛsɛ, and
not an allomorph, as cases of verbs show which have both suffixes. For
instance, the verb djíyɛ ‘burn (intr.)’, as shown in (275), allows -kɛ as a
valency increasing expansion djígɛ ‘burn sth’. Also, the causative form djíg-
ɛsɛ is found with the figurative meaning ‘make sb. angry’.
10
Note that some verbs with a sequence of /wa/ or /ua/ in their underived form change
to /ɔ/ in the derived form, as with bwà ‘become big’ changing to bɔ̀kɛ ‘make big’. Whether
this change happens is lexically specified and not a general phonological rule since there
are verbs with the same sequences which do not change to /ɔ/, for example bwà ‘be born’
having the derived form bwà-lɛ ‘be born’.
235
djíyɛ ‘burn (intr.)’ → djí-gɛ ‘burn sth.’

→ djíg-ɛsɛ ‘make angry’
(275)
dvùɔ̀ ‘hurt (intr.)’ → dvù-gɛ ‘hurt sb.’
→ dvùg-ɛsɛ ‘make sb. hurt’
The base final consonant of the causative forms in (275) could actually be
traces of the -kɛ/gɛ expansion, also in other extension forms (see discussion
on alternating epenthetic consonants in section 4.1.1.)
-lɛ Another non-productive suffix is -lɛ with only 6 derived forms in the
database. -lɛ is a frequent ending of bisyllabic verbs though; 21 underived
bisyllabic verbs end in this syllable. It is, however, uncertain whether this
is a phonologically wide-spread syllable in verbs or whether diachronically
there was a productive extension morpheme -lɛ.
As with the suffix -kɛ/gɛ, it is difficult to pinpoint -lɛ’s function. Often, it
seems to be valency increasing, transitivizing an intransitive verb form, as
in (276).
vû ‘leave’ → vú-lɛ ‘get rid of sth.’

(276) djí(yɔ) ‘sit, live’ → djí-lɛ ‘seat sb.’
tɛ́bɔ ‘rise’ → tɛ́-lɛ ‘place sth.’
In other cases, however, the -lɛ suffix more seems to have a passivizing
function, as in (277). Usually, passivization is achieved by the passive mor-
pheme -a. In these two cases, however, no such form is available and rather
the -lɛ suffix is used.
bwà ‘give birth’ → bwà-lɛ ‘be born’
(277)
tìnɔ ‘harvest tubers’ → tì-lɛ ‘be harvested’
Given these different uses of -lɛ, it is not possible to provide a unified

category label for this expansion.
-bɔ/wɔ Finally, another frequent suffix is the expansion -wɔ/bɔ used in

bisyllabic verbs. With only two derived forms and eight verbs without an
underived form the database provides few examples though. This, again,
makes it difficult to make generalizations about its function. It is tempting
to assume a reversive category when considering (278).
(278) djì ‘open sth.’ → djì-bɔ ‘close sth.’
236
Other examples, however, do not support this hypothesis, but rather

suggest that in some cases at least, -bɔ/wɔ has a detransitivizing effect, as in
(279).11
sɔ̀-lɛ ‘hide sth.’ → swà-wɔ ‘hide (intr.)’
(279) tɛ́-lɛ ‘place sth.’ → tɛ́-bɔ ‘rise’
láà ‘tell sth.’ → là-wɔ ‘speak’
4.2 Adverbs
Adverbs, along with nouns, verbs, and adjectives, constitute an open part-
of-speech class. According to Schachter & Shopen (2007: 20), adverbs may
have various subclasses, such as directional adverbs (‘down’), degree ad-
verbs (‘extremely’), manner adverbs (‘quickly’), time adverbs (‘today’), or
sentence adverbs (‘unfortunately’). These subclasses show that adverbs do
not necessarily modify verbs, but may also modify adjectives or other ad-
verbs or even whole sentences. Schachter & Shopen (2007: 20) thus provide
a broad definition of adverbs as elements which “function as modifiers of
constituents other than nouns.”
In general, the class of adverbs in Gyeli is rather restricted in diversity,
just as in many other Bantu languages. Thus, in the Gyeli text corpus, as
described in chapter 1.3.3, fewer than 20 different adverbs occurred. One
reason for this is that, according to Creissels et al. (2008: 126), in many
African languages, “the possibility of deriving manner adverbs from other
categories or to use adjectives as verb modifiers, is very limited.” This is
also true for Gyeli where the meaning of typical English manner adverbs is
instead expressed by ideophones, as will be discussed in section 4.3, or by
nouns in complement position, as in (280).
(280) màlɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè mípìndí

ma-lɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè H-mi-pìndí
ma6-palm.nut 6.DEM.PROX only fall OBJ.LINK-mi4-non.ripe
‘These palm nuts only fall non-ripe.’
Despite this restricted diversity, Gyeli adverbs occur pervasively in all types
of text genres (dialogues, folktales, autobiographic narratives). Almost a
11
In the two first cases, it is hard to specifiy which form is the derived and which is the
underived form since both verbs have an expansion morpheme, but there is no monosyllabic
form without derivation morpheme.
237
quarter of all intonation phrases in the Gyeli text corpus (123 (23%) of 540
intonation phrases) include an adverb.
Gyeli adverbs are invariable and do not receive any specific morpho-
logical marking, e.g. through suffixes, like the English -ly or French -ment.
Subclasses of adverbs can be distinguished through several morphosyntactic
properties and/or a combination of them. I will consider the following five
subclasses as described by their most salient characteristics:
Group 1: adverbs optionally combining with LOC preposition ɛ́

Group 2: adverbs that can occur in noun + attributive constructions
Group 3: adverbial lexemes that can act as nominal modifiers in NPs
Group 4: adverbial lexemes that occur as nouns in NPs
Group 5: adverb that does not exhibit any of the above mentioned properties
Subclassification of adverbs in the literature is typically done on a se-

mantic basis, such as manner, temporal or locative adverbs. The choice
of semantic categories may, however, be arbitrary and may not match the
morphosyntactic categories of a language. In Gyeli, morphosyntactic classes
map onto semantic categories, as shown in Table 4.7. Group 1 consists en-
tirely of deictic adverbs which include locative and manner deictics. Group
2 hosts temporal adverbs. Group 3 contains manner adverbs, and group 4
locative and directional adverbs. Group 5 only has one member, namely an
anaphoric adverb.
Nevertheless, the defining criteria for adverbial subclasses in Gyeli are
four morphosyntactic properties as listed in the column names of Table 4.7:
i) the potential combination with the locative ɛ́, ii) use of a lexeme as both
adverb modifying a verb and qualifier/quantifier modifying a noun, iii) oc-
currence in noun + attributive marker construction, and iv) occurrence in
phrase final position only. The last column also provides information on
the derivational source of the adverbs. Since this is not a morphosyntactic
property though, it does not determine adverbial classification.
The distinctive characteristic of group 1 adverbs is their potential com-
bination with the locative preposition ɛ́ which no other adverbial subclass
allows for. Also, some (but not all) group 1 adverbs can be used in noun
+ attributive marker constructions. This property is defining for group 2
adverbs. Group 3 and 4 adverbs have in common that they are the only
238
Group Semantic LOC ɛ́ QUAL / ATT constr. final posi- derivational

core QUANT tion only source
1 deictic x — (x) — underived
2a temporal — — x — underived
2b temporal — — x — denominal
3 manner — x — x QUAL/QUANT
4 locative — — — x denominal
5 anaphoric — — — — ndɛ̀ + ná
Table 4.7: Criteria for adverb classification
ones to be restricted to a phrase final position only while all other adverbs
can also occur at the beginning of a phrase. Group 3 and 4 adverbs differ
though with respect to nominal modification: lexemes occurring in group
3 can also be used as qualifiers or quantifiers to modify nouns. In contrast,
lexemes in group 4 cannot be used in nominal modification, but they can
be used as nouns in noun phrases. Finally, the anaphoric adverb of group 5
is defined by the absence of all four morphosyntactic properties.
In the following, I will describe each adverb subclass in more detail. In
order to be consistent with the structure of this grammar, I will only dis-
cuss adverbs that modify verbs in this section. Note that I treat words such
as ‘also’, ‘still’, and ‘only’ separately in chapter 6.2.4 since they behave as
modifiers on a clausal level and, as such, show greater positional variability.
4.2.1 Group 1 Adverbs: Deictic

Adverbs of group 1 are all deictic in nature, including both locative and
manner deixis. They are the most frequent ones occurring in natural text
out of all adverb types. Deictic adverbs, as any deictic elements, are of-
ten accompanied by showing gestures or assume common knowledge of the
specific place under discussion. Table 4.8 provides a summary of deictic ad-
verbs in Gyeli as well as their numeric frequency in the Gyeli text corpus.12
The deictic elements represented in the table mostly function as adverbs,
namely when they occur with verbs, but as the last column shows, almost
all of them may also occur in the nominal domain modifying nouns. This
is further discussed below on ‘Formal commonalities’. Chapter 3.5.4.1 pro-
vides more information on the locative ɛ́.
12
Obviously, this is a very limited corpus, but it shows some tendency as to which adverb
gets used more frequently.
239
Deictic element Gloss Frequency

with verb with noun
(ɛ́) vâ ‘here’ 41 2
(ɛ́) pɛ̀ ‘over there’ 21 0
(ɛ́) wû ‘there’ 12 3
(ɛ́) tè ‘there’ 8 13
(ɛ́) mpù ‘like this’ 14 0
Table 4.8: Deictic adverbs
Formal commonalities I view deictic adverbs as a category, based on for-

mal similarity and their potential co-occurrence with the locative marker ɛ́,
which distinguishes them from other adverb subclasses. All deictic adverbs
are monosyllabic. They do not seem to be derived from another part of
speech, in contrast to, for instance, group 3 and 4 adverbs. Some of them
may, however, also be used to modify nouns rather than a verbs, namely
as the second constituent in noun + attributive marker constructions, as
discussed in chapter 3.7. The distribution of deictic adverbs as modify-
ing verbs as opposed to nouns is illustrated in Table 4.8 under ‘Frequency’.
(281) gives an example of a deictic element as nominal modifier while the
examples in the remainder of this section show deictic adverbs modifying
verbs.
(281) mɛ̀gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ dyúwɔ́ nzãã́ ̀ [dúwɔ̀ lé tè].

mɛ-gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ ́
dyúwɔ-H nzãã ̀ d-úwɔ̀ lé tè
1S-CONTR 1S.PST2 feel-R ∅7.appetite le5-day 5:ATT there
‘As of me, I felt appetite the day there.’
Contrasting deictics as verbal versus nominal modifiers, there is a tendency

that the more frequently a (locative) deictic element occurs as verbal mod-
ifier, the less frequently it is found as a nominal modifier. This is the case,
for instance, with vâ ‘here’. Within the Gyeli text corpus, vâ is found 41
times as a verbal, but only twice as a nominal modifier. Vice versa, the
less frequently a deictic adverb modifies verbs, the more often it occurs as
nominal modifier as with tè ‘there’ which occurs only 8 times with verbs,
but 13 times with nouns.
The manner deictic (ɛ́) mpù never occurs as nominal modifier. It gener-
ally serves to introduce gestures and ideophones, as for instance in (282).
In this example, the first occurrence of mpù frames the ideophone while the
240
second refers to a gesture that may actually be made or not, i.e. the gesture
is most likely implied, but not necessarily made.
(282) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí njí mpù bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ,̂ njì dígɛ̀ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí njî-H mpù bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ,̂ njì dígɛ̀ mpù
so PN.PRES come-R like.this IDEO come look like.this
‘So Nzambi comes like this [depiction of walking a long distance],
comes looking like this.’
Also, mpù is used in comparison constructions as in (283). In these cases,

mpù is translated as ‘like, than’ rather than ‘like this’.
(283) Màmá à ndáà gyà ntɛ̀ mpù Màmbì.

Màmá a ndáà gyà ntɛ̀ mpù Màmbì.
PN 1.have also ∅7.length ∅3.size like PN
‘Mama is as tall as Mambi.’
Phrase position Another distinctive morphosyntactic property in adver-

bial subclasses is the phrase position in which adverbs can occur. As a
default position, all adverb classes occur phrase finally. This is also true for
group 1 adverbs, as shown in (284) through (286).
(284) mɛ́ bvú nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ́ mɛ̀ vâ.

mɛ-H bvû-H nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ-H mɛ̀ vâ
1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅3.machete 3.PST2 miss-R 1S here
‘I think that the machete missed [= injured] me here.’
(285) mɛ́ pã́ ná kɛ̀ dígɛ̀ mùdì wà nû ɛ́

mɛ-H pã-̂ H ná kɛ̀ dígɛ m-ùdì wà nû ɛ́
1S.PRES try-R again go see N1-person 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX LOC
pɛ́.
pɛ́
there
‘I try again and go see that person there.’
(286) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí dígɛ́ mísì ɛ́ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí dígɛ-H m-ísì ɛ́ mpù
so PN look-R ma6-eye LOC like.this
‘So Nzambi looks with the eyes like this.’
In contrast to groups 3 and 4, group 1 adverbs also pervasively appear in

phrase initial positions, as in (287) through (289). This position is clearly
241
correlated with information structure, moving the deictic adverb into a focus
position.13 While also group 2 (temporal) and group 5 (anaphoric) adverbs
can occur in this initial focus position, deictic adverbs are significantly more
frequently focussed in the Gyeli text corpus.
(287) ɛ́ vâ mɛ̀ dyùwɔ́ nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì sílɛ̀

ɛ́ vâ mɛ dyùwɔ-H nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì sílɛ̀
LOC here 1S.PST1 hear-R COMP LOC here 7.FUT finish.FUT
njì búlɛ̀.
njì búlɛ
come destroy
‘Here I heard that here it will all come to be destroyed.’
(288) ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ̃̂ nyà ndáwɔ̀.

ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ̃̂ nyà ndáwɔ̀
LOC there-DIST 1S.FUT build real ∅9.house
‘Over there, I will build a real house.’
(289) ɛ́ mpù bá kí nâ djíwɔ́ mbyɛ̂ nà djíwɔ́

ɛ́ mpù ba-H ki-H nâ djíwɔ́ mbyɛ̂ nà djíwɔ́
LOC like.this 2-PRES say-R COMP ∅7.river ∅3.high COM ∅7.river
nkɛ̀.
nkɛ̀
∅3.low
‘Like this they say that up the river and down the river.’
If a deictic adverb occurs in the initial focus position, it is often repeated

again at the end of the phrase in its default position, as shown in (290) and
(291).
(290) ɛ́ pɛ̀ bà sílɛ́ bî lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀

ɛ́ pɛ̀ ba sílɛ-H bî lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
LOC there 2.PST1 finish-R 1P.OBJ build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
ɛ́ pɛ̀.
ɛ́ pɛ̀
LOC there
‘There, they have finished to build us houses there.’
(291) ɛ́ wû bèyá lwɔ̃́ kwádɔ́ yã̂ ɛ́ wû.

ɛ́ wû bèyá ̂
lwɔ̃-H kwádɔ́ y-ã ̂ ɛ́ wû
LOC there 2P[Kwasio] build-R ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S LOC there
‘Over there you (pl) build my village over there.’
13
See chapter 6.3 on information structure for a more detailed discussion.
242
The use of the locative ɛ́ is more frequent when the adverb occurs phrase
initially while post-verbal and phrase final occurrences allow for a higher
degree of optionality whether to use the locative or not. The higher degree
of locative ɛ́ omission when the deictic adverb occurs phrase finally might
be phonologically conditioned. Phrase finally, the locative ɛ́ usually follows
a vowel either from a preceding verb or noun and may undergo deletion in
fast speech. When asked, speakers state though that the use of the locative ɛ́
is possible in both phrase initial and phrase final positions. It is less clear at
this point whether the co-occurrence of the locative ɛ́ with a deictic adverb
is generally optional, comparable to the optional use or omission of the
attributive marker as discussed in chapter 3.7.1.1 or whether the locative ɛ́
is always underlyingly present with deictic adverbs and its omission in the
surface form is purely phonological.
Distinctions within the locative deictic system Gyeli uses a range of

deictic elements to refer to places or locations in varying distance to the
speaker. Since most of these elements would be translated as ‘there’ in En-
glish, the system merits a more thorough explanation. In general, distances
in Gyeli are relative rather than absolute in that ‘here’, for instance, can de-
note a place within a hand-reach of the speaker, but could also talk about a
whole village. On the other hand, ‘over there’ can then be a distant place or,
in other cases, a place even within the village, depending on the discourse
topic.
Semantically, the clearest distinction is between vâ ‘here’, which refers
to the relative immediate surroundings of the speaker, and pɛ̀ ‘over there’,
which denotes the place furthest away. In French, pɛ̀ gets translated as là-
bas. wû and tè would both be translated as ‘there’, or là in French, which
makes it more difficult to grasp their semantic distinctions. Differences in
their morphosyntactic behavior can help to disentangle their meaning con-
trast.
In the default case, it seems that wû denotes a medial distance between
vâ ‘here’ and pɛ̀ ‘over there’ and occurs mainly in the verbal domain. In
contrast, tè is mostly used with nouns rather than with verbs where tè seems
to be related more to specificity and/or anaphora than to actual location.
In that sense, tè may be less part of the distance-related deictic system, as
(292) illustrates. In this example, tè is more existential than about distance.
243
(292) bã̂ yɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè

bã̂ y-ɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè
∅7.word 7-2S.POSS 7.ID there
‘Your word is there [= you are understood].’
Also in (293), the use of tè is not primarily locative, but more anaphoric to
the circumstances of earning only 250 Francs CFA.
(293) ká bá kɛ́ wɛ̂ vɛ̀ bé-bwúyà bébáà nà

ká ba-H kɛ̀-H wɛ̂ vɛ̀ H-be-bwúyà bé-báà nà
if 2-PRES go-R 2S.OBJ give OBJ.LINK-be8-hundred 8-two COM
mà-wú mátánɛ̀, wɛ́ sá tè ná?
ma-wú má-tánɛ̀, wɛ-H sâ-H tè ná?
ma6-ten 6-five 2S-PRES do-R there how
‘If they go give you 250 (Francs), how do you manage there? [be-
cause it’s very little money]’
In other cases, however, as in (294), tè is place-denoting just like the

other deictic adverbs. Speakers state that, in this example, tè can also be
replaced by pɛ̀ or wû.
(294) tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè

tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbi kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè
there 1S.FUT start go build there
‘There, I will first go to build there.’
Further, distance cannot be the only distinctive criterion within the loca-
tive deictic system: An increased sense of distance can be added phonolog-
ically by lengthening the final vowel of the adverb and a H tone, as shown
in (295) and in (288) above.
(295) lèkfúdɛ̀ à nzí bíyɔ̀ nlô pɛ́ɛ ́

le-kfúdɛ̀ a nzí bíyɔ nlô pɛ́-ɛ́
le5-idiot 1 PROG.PST hit ∅3.head over.there-DIST
‘The idiot was hitting his head far over there.’
This way of expressing further distance by vowel lengthening and H tones

is possible with both pɛ̀ and wû. An example for the latter is given in (296).
This does not seem to be possible with tè though which indicates again that tè
behaves differently from the other more purely locative deictic elements.14
14
vâ ‘here’ also does not allow for final vowel lengthening and a H tone, but that is
clearly a semantic restriction since it denotes a place that is close to the speaker.
244
(296) báà tfùbɔ̀, báà tfùbɔ̀. mpàgó wá nùmbà wúú.

báà tfùbɔ̀, báà tfùbɔ̀. mpàgó wá nùmbà wú-ú
2.FUT pierce 3P.FUT pierce ∅3.road 3:ATT ∅1.logger there-DIST
‘They will cut, they will cut. The road of the loggers there.’
Another difference between wû and tè concerns the combination with a

vocative morpheme -o which, at the same time, can further take a H tone
to indicate distance between the speaker and the addressee. This vocative
morpheme can be used with wû, as shown in (297), but not with tè nor any
other deictic element.
(297) mùdì kí tàtɔ̀ wúó!

m-ùdì kí tàtɔ wú-o-H
N1-person NEG scream there-VOC-DIST
‘Nobody scream over there!’
In summary, it seems that vâ ‘here’, wû ‘there’ and pɛ̀ ‘over there’ form
the core locative deictic system while tè ‘there’ takes over other functions
(specificity, anaphora) as a default, but can also act as a deictic element
within the locative system. The different properties of the various locative
deictics as discussed above are summarized in Table 4.9.
Deictic Gloss LOC ɛ́ mostly modifying DIST marking Vocative -o
vâ ‘here’ x verbal — —
wû ‘there’ x verbal x x
pɛ̀ ‘over there’ x verbal x —
tè ‘there’ x nominal — —
Table 4.9: Morphosyntactic properties of locative deictics
4.2.2 Group 2 Adverbs: Temporal

Adverbs of group 2 have four members which are all temporal and listed
in Table 4.10. While group 2 adverbs form a unitary morphosyntactic cate-
gory, they differ in their derivational source. While tɛ́ɛ ̀ ‘now’ and dẽ ̂ ‘today’
seem to be underived lexemes, the other two adverbs in the group are clearly
derived from nouns: nàkùgúù ‘yesterday’ is derived from kùgúù ‘evening’ and
nàmɛ́nɔ́ ‘tomorrow’ from mɛ́nɔ́ ‘morning’.
Historically, the nà- morpheme in the denominal group 2 adverbs is most
likely a similative marker that is also found in basic color terms (see chap-
245
Adverb Gloss Derivational source

tɛ́ɛ ̀ ‘now’ underived
dẽ ̂ ‘today’ underived
nàkùgúù ‘yesterday’ denominal
nàmɛ́nɔ́ ‘tomorrow’ denominal
Table 4.10: Group 2 adverbs
ter 3.5.1).15 Synchronically, speakers clearly perceive these adverbs as one

word that cannot be parsed into further meaningful units.
The defining property of group 2 temporal adverbs is that they can all
also occur in nominal modification as second constituent in a noun + at-
tributive marker construction, as in (298).
(298) a. bèdéwɔ̀ bé dẽ ̂
be-déwɔ̀ bé dẽ ̂
be8-food 8:ATT today
‘food of today.’
b. nlã̂ wá nàkùgúù
nlã ̂ wá nàkùgúù
∅3.story 3:ATT yesterday
‘yesterday’s story.’
While some group 1 adverbs exhibit the same property, deictic adverbs also
combine with the locative ɛ́, unlike group 2 temporal adverbs.
All group 2 adverbs occur phrase finally as a default position. Examples
are given in (299) through (301).
(299) wɛ́ làwɔ́ tɛ́ɛ.̀

wɛ-H làwɔ-H tɛ́ɛ ̀
2S-PRES talk-R now
‘You speak now.’
(300) nyɛ̀ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀ dẽ.́

nyɛ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀ dẽ ́
1 COMP 1 PROSP 2S.OBJ hit today
‘He [says] that he is about to beat you today.’
15
Note though that the tone on na- for group 3 adverbs and color terms are not the same.
The morpheme receives a L tone in adverbs and a H tone in color terms.
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(301) mɛ̀ nzí kɛ̀ jí nàkùgúù.

mɛ nzí kɛ̀ jí nàkùgúù
1S PROG.PST go ∅7.forest yesterday
‘I was going to the forest yesterday.’
They can all also occur phrase initially, as shown in (302). In these
cases, they are in focus, as discussed for group 1 adverbs and in chapter 6.3
on information structure. In (302), the narrator stresses that the mice will
only eat the skulls the next day, as contrastive focus to the possibility that
they might eat them right away.
(302) àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè, nàmɛ́nɔ́.

àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè, nàmɛ́nɔ́
EXCL tomorrow 2P.FUT eat tomorrow
‘Ah, tomorrow you will eat, tomorrow.’
In comparison to group 1 adverbs, which occur frequently in this focus po-

sition, group 2 adverbs are rarely found in this position in natural text.
4.2.3 Group 3 Adverbs: Manner

Group 3 adverbs are defined by their lexemes’ double affiliation to the part
of speech of qualifiers or quantifiers when modifying nouns. Semantically,
they map onto manner adverbs. Manner adverbs are rare in Gyeli, both in
terms of number and occurrence. Table 4.11 gives an exhaustive list of all
manner adverbs found in the Gyeli text corpus as well as text stemming from
questionnaire elicitation. Each of these manner adverbs occurs only a couple
of times in the corpus, thus their natural frequency seems to be generally
low. Gyeli seems rather to have a preference to express the manner of an
action or event by ideophones, as will be discussed in section 4.3.
Manner adverb Gloss Affiliation to other POS

mpà good invariable qualifier
bíwɔ̀ bad invariable qualifier
fí different deictic modifier (→ short form of -fúsì)
bvùbvù a lot invariable quantifier
Table 4.11: Manner adverbs and their affiliated parts-of-speech
All of these manner adverbs are also found as nominal modifiers where
they differ though in their behavior, as shown in chapter 3.4 and 3.5. Most
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of them such as mpà ‘good’, bíwɔ̀ ‘bad’, and bvùbvù ‘much’ are invariable also
in noun phrases. Only -fí ‘different’, the short form of -fúsì used as a deictic
modifier, agrees with its head noun. In the verbal domain, however, all of
them are invariable.
In terms of their position, manner adverbs exclusively occur (intonation)
phrase finally. Thus, the adverb may follow the verb if there is no object,
as demonstrated in (303) and (304).
(303) wɛ̀ nzíí bàlɛ̀ mpà

wɛ nzíì-H bàlɛ mpà
2S PROG.PRES-R keep good
‘You are keeping [the words] well.’
(304) wɛ́ ná báàla nà nyɛ́ fí nà wɛ́

wɛ-H ná báàla-H nà nyɛ̂-H fī ́ nà wɛ-H
2S-PRES again repeat-R COM see-R different COM 2S-PRES
ndyándyá ná sálɛ́ ɛ́ pɛ̂
ndyándya-H ná sálɛ-H ɛ́ pɛ̂
work-R again ∅7.work LOC there
‘You repeat again and see differently [try something else] and you
do again work there.’
If the clause has an object, the manner adverb will follow the object instead
of the verb, as shown in (305) and (306).
(305) á sìmbɔ́ màtúà bíwɔ̀

a-H sìmbɔ-H màtúà bíwɔ̀
1-PRES drive-R ∅1.car bad
‘He drives the car poorly.’
(306) mɛ̀ɛ ́ djí-lɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù

mɛ̀ɛ ́ djí-lɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù
1S.PRES.NEG ask-NEG 2S much
‘I don’t ask you [for] much.’
In contrast to adverb groups 1, 2, and 5, manner adverbs cannot be used in

a phrase initial focus position.
4.2.4 Group 4 Adverbs: Locative/directional

Just like group 3, group 4 adverbs also have a double affiliation to two parts
of speech. In contrast to group 3, however, group 4 adverbs do not serve
248
as nominal modifiers, but are nouns themselves when they occur in a noun
phrase. In fact, these adverbs are zero-derived from their corresponding
referential nouns. Table 4.12 shows the lexemes and their meaning both in
adverbial and in nominal use.
Lexeme Adverbial use Nominal use
sí ‘under, down’ ‘ground’
dyúwɔ̀ ‘up, about’ ‘sky’
tɛ́mɔ́ ‘between’ ‘middle’
písɛ̀ ‘behind’ ‘behind, back (n.)’
sɔ̂ ‘in front, before’ ‘front (n.)’
Table 4.12: Locative/directional adverbs and their source nouns
Semantically, group 4 adverbs map onto locative and directional adverbs.

The same adverb can be used both in a locative and directional way, as for
instance sí which can mean both ‘under’ and ‘down’.
Given that these lexemes also have a use as nouns in noun phrases, one
could argue that group 4 adverbs should not be analyzed as adverbs at all,
but rather as oblique nouns. Syntactic and distributional differences show,
however, that in Gyeli, group 4 adverbs belong to a different part of speech
than their related nouns. First, when referential nouns are used as locations
in a phrase, they are preceded by the locative preposition ɛ́, as shown in
(307).
(307) mɛ̀ lɛ̀bɛ́lɛ́ wɛ̀ ɛ́ tísònì nàkùgúù

mɛ lɛ̀bɛlɛ-H wɛ̀ ɛ́ tísònì nàkùgúù
1S.PST follow-R 2S.OBJ LOC ∅7.town yesterday
‘I followed you to town yesterday.’
In contrast, locative adverbs never co-occur with the locative ɛ́, as exempli-
fied in (308).
(308) mɛ̀ búgɛ́ wɛ̀ sí nàkùgúù

mɛ búgɛ-H wɛ̀ sí nàkùgúù
1S.PST put.down-R 2S.OBJ down yesterday
‘I put you down yesterday.’
Second, locatives in adverbial use do not exhibit typical noun character-

istics such as triggering agreement. The use of locative adverbs is invariable
in (309), i.e. the adverbial cannot be extended by, for instance, an attribu-
tive construction.
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(309) nsɔ̃́ wɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ sí/písɛ̀/sɔ̂.

nsɔ̃́ wɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ sí/písɛ̀/sɔ̂
∅3.worm 3:ID 1S.OBJ under/behind/in.front
‘The worm is under/behind/in front of me.’
The minimal pair to this phrase in (310) shows that also nouns can be used
in this phrase, but in that case, the syntactic structure changes. The locative
noun is followed by an attributive marker which agrees with the noun and
thus clearly marks it as a noun. Further, the object mɛ̀ ‘1S’ that precedes the
adverbial locative follows the nominal locative.
(310) nsɔ̃́ wɔ́ɔ ̀ sí/písɛ̀/sɔ̂ yá mɛ̀.

́
nsɔ̃ wɔ́ɔ ̀ sí/písɛ̀/sɔ̂ yá mɛ̀
∅3.worm 3:ID under/behind/in.front 7:ATT 1S.OBJ
‘The worm is under/behind/in front of me.’
Comparable to group 3 manner adverbs, group 4 adverbs occur only

phrase finally, as shown in (308), (309), and (311). They do not appear in
the phrase initial focus position.
(311) à kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀, à dígɛ́ɛ ̀ à

a ́
kɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ a dígɛ́ɛ ̀ a
1.PST1 go.PRF enter there on.top 1.PST1 watch.PRF 1.PST1
díg-â dígɛ́ɛ.̀
díg-â dígɛ́ɛ.̀
watch-1.PST1 watch.PRF
‘He had gone and entered there on top, and watched and watched
and watched.’
Finally, group 4 adverbs can also modify phrases rather than verbs, as
shown in (312).
(312) mbúmbù wã̂ wɛ́ kúmbɔ́ mɛ̂ sá

mbúmbù w-ã ̂ wɛ-H kúmbɔ-H mɛ̂ sá
∅1.namesake 1-POSS.1S 2S-PRES arrange-R 1S.OBJ ∅7.thing
mpù. ɛ́ mwánɔ̀ wɑ̃̂ dyúwɔ̀.
mpù. ɛ́ m-wánɔ̀ wɑ̃̂ dyúwɔ̀.
like.this EXCL N1-child 1-POSS.1S on
‘My namesake, you do a thing to me like this. Hey, about [concern-
ing] my child!’
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4.2.5 Group 5 Adverbs: Anaphoric

The fifth adverbial sublass is exceptional in that it is basically defined by
negative values concerning the defining morphosyntactic features: it does
not combine with the locative ɛ́, it does not have a double affiliation to
another part of speech nor is it used as nominal modifier, and it is not re-
stricted to a phrase final position. Group 5 only has one member which is
ndɛ̀náà ‘like this’.
ndɛ̀náà ‘like this’ is derived from the anaphoric marker ndɛ̀ plus the in-
terrogative ná ‘how’. Phonologically and following speaker intuition, this
adverb is considered as one word though. The inclusion of the anaphoric
marker hints at the difference to the manner deictic mpù of adverb group 1
which receives the same translation. Instead of framing gestures and ideo-
phones like mpù, ndɛ̀náà mainly serves as an anaphoric adverb, summarizing
in some sense the previous discourse.16 This is illustrated in (313) through
(315). For example, in (313), ndɛ̀náà refers to the event chain of collecting
money and giving it to the person the money is owed to.
(313) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ tɔ́kɛ́ mɔ̀nɛ́ wɛ̀ vɛ̀ nyɛ̂, nâ
yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H tɔ́kɛ-H mɔ̀nɛ́ w-ɛ̀ vɛ̀ nyɛ̂, nâ
so 1S-PRES collect-R ∅1.money 1-POSS.3S give 1.OBJ COMP
ndɛ̀náà yíì mpà.
ndɛ̀náà yíì mpà
like.this 7.ID good
’So I collect her money [and] give [it to] her, so that like this it be
good.’
In (314), the anaphoric adverb summarizes the previous events of leaving
her child to the person Nzambi in exchange for food and thus returning home
and arriving at the river bank ‘like this’, i.e. without the child.
(314) ndɛ̀náà pámò lé-bũ̂ àá gyì.
ndɛ̀náà pámo H-le-bũ̂ àá gyì.
like.this arrive OBJ.LINK-le5-river.bank 1.INCH cry
’Having arrived like this [= without the child] at the river bank she
is at the beginning of crying.’
ndɛ̀náà can also occur relatively independently in its own intonation phrase,
as in (315), referring to the previous discourse.
16
mpù is significantly more frequent in natural texts with 23 occurrences in the Gyeli
corpus, contrasting with only 4 occurrences of ndɛ̀náà.
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(315) m̀ m̀ ndɛ̀náà. lèkɛ́lɛ̀ lɛ́ndɛ̀ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nâ...

m̀ m̀ ndɛ́náà. le-kɛ́lɛ̀ lɛ́-ndɛ̀ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nâ...
EXCL like.this le5-word 5-ANA 5.ID COMP
‘Yes, like this. The word is that...’
4.2.6 Discussion: Multiple Adverbs

When discussing the syntactic position of adverbs, I so far referred to phrase
initial versus final positions. This, however, only holds if there is only one
adverb in the phrase. In phrases with multiple adverbs, adverbs generally
still occur after the verb and potentially after an object, but of course not
each adverb can occur phrase finally. I therefore suggest that there is a gen-
eral phrase final slot for adverbs which can be filled with multiple adverbs.
There seem to be some ordering principles within this adverb slot, i.e.
some adverbs seem to be closer to the center of the phrase than others.
Since multiple adverbs do not occur very frequently in natural speech, it is
not possible at this point to give a full account of adverb order in multiple
adverb constructions. The present examples, however, suggest that group
1 adverbs are closest to the center, i.e. verb and following object, as shown
in (316) and (317), as well as above in (311).
(316) pílì bèyá lɔ́ njì ɛ̀ vá tɛ́ɛ ̀ dẽ,́

when 2P RETRO come LOC here now today
‘When you just arrived here now today,’
(317) mɛ̀ nzí dyá vâ kùgúù [dẽ ̀ màfú mábáà].

mɛ̀ nzí dyá vâ kùgúù dẽ ̀ ma-fú má-báà.
1S PROG.PST1 lie.down here ∅7.evening today ma6-day 6-two
‘I was here the evening two days ago.’
Other generalizations as to whether any of the other adverb subclasses is

closer to the center or the periphery of the clause require more investigation.
This is most likely also correlated with information structure factors.
4.3 Ideophones
Ideophones are widely attested in the literature on African languages (see,
for instance, Westermann (1907) on Ewe, Dumestre (1998) on Bambara,
252
Alexandre (1966) on Bulu, or Newman (2001) on Hausa) and also found in

Gyeli. In defining the term ‘ideophone’, I refer to Dingemanse (2011: 25)
who views ideophones as “marked words that depict sensory imagery”, a
definition that deserves some further explanation. First, according to the
author, ideophones are often marked by phonological pecularities and/or
stand out from other words by means of “special word forms, expressive
morphology, relative syntactic independence and foregrounded prosody”
(p. 26). Second, the fact that ideophones are words implies that they are
“conventionalized minimal free forms with specifiable meanings.” Gyeli
speakers use ideophones in a conventionalized way, i.e. describing the mean-
ing of single ideophones consistently.17 Third, Dingemanse (2011: 27) makes
the point that ideophones rather depict than describe their referents. This is
similarly explained by Güldemann (2008: 280) who notes that “Metaphor-
ically, one can characterize ideophones as a performance or a gesture in
disguise of a word.” Finally, Dingemanse restricts ideophones to a semantic
domain depicting sensory imagery which he views as “perceptual knowl-
edge that derives from sensory perception of the environment and the body”
(p. 28).
The author argues that this semantic-functional definition makes sense
for cross-linguistic comparison while grammatical-structural features of ideo-
phones have to be considered language specifically. As I will show below,
Gyeli ideophones modify verbs in some cases, namely when they behave
like adverbs. Even when they are syntactically more independent or occur in
complement clauses, they depict the way an event happens. Therefore, I dis-
cuss them in detail in the verb chapter, while they are also cross-referenced
in chapter 6 on clauses, depending on their syntactic construction type. Gen-
erally, Gyeli ideophones structurally stand out from other words in terms
of their phonological shape and their syntactic integration into a phrase. I
will discuss both aspects in turn.
4.3.1 Phonological Shape of Ideophones

Ideophones in Gyeli are phonologically marked by various means, including
reduplication or a repetitive character, final vowel lengthening, and special
17
Ideophones seem further to be consistently used in the area either through genealogical
affiliation or language contact. In any case, they are easily recognized and understood by
speakers of neighboring languages such as Mabi and Bulu.
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syllable structure such as closed syllables or syllables consisting of a con-

sonant only. These three properties usually do not all occur in the same
ideophone, but are partially mutually exclusive. For instance, final vowel
lengthening excludes the possibility of a closed syllable. Also, reduplication
does usually not occur with final vowel lengthening while closed syllable
ideophones may also be reduplicated. I will discuss each of these three
features in more depth in the following.
Reduplication/repetitive character Many Gyeli ideophones involve redu-

plication or repetition, where a word is minimally reduplicated. In most
cases, however, the word gets repeated multiple times, i.e. more than twice,
usually three to five or six times, depending on the ideophone and the dra-
matic effect aimed at in the discourse. For all repetitive ideophones it holds
that the number of repeated syllables is not necessarily conventionalized.
Each ideophone seems to have a preference for the number of repetitions as
represented in the following examples, but the number is not fixed.
Repetitive ideophones can be divided into those that remain steady in
their tonal melody and those that change their tonal melody. In (318), for
instance, the ideophones involve repeated monosyllabic words each carry-
ing the same tone.
ʃyɛ̂ ʃyɛ̂ ‘depiction of sneaking’

tʃɔ̀p tʃɔ̀p tʃɔ̀p ‘depiction of dripping sound or sound walking
in mud’
(318) mtʃà mtʃà mtʃà ‘depiction of picky eating (only taking certain
items off a plate)’
kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ ‘depiction of placing objects in a row’
tsùk tsùk tsùk tsùk ‘depiction of noise that mice make’
In contrast, the ideophones in (319) show an alternating tonal pattern

with repeated monosyllabic words alternating between H and L tones. One
could argue that two syllables, a H plus a L, actually constitute one unit that
gets repeated rather than the single syllable. The fact that these ideophones
are often used with an uneven number of syllables, however, indicates that
also for tonally alternating ideophones the repeated unit is the monosyllabic
word.
254
gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́

‘depiction of small objects moving in space
(319) (e.g. bacteria roaming in a body)’
wùù wúú wùù wúú ‘depiction of sound of bees’
There are a few instances where the word is bisyllabic and again, it is
the word that gets reduplicated, as shown in (320). In contrast to mono-
syllabic ideophone words, bisyllabic ones are only subject to reduplication,
but usually do not get repeated more than twice.
kpúdùm kpúdùm ‘depiction of drumming’

(320) kpàdà kpàdà ‘depiction of drumming on bamboo pipes’
mátʃà màtʃà ‘depiction of eating in little bits’
Semantically, ideophones that involve reduplication or repetition often

depict iterative events, for example repeated motion such as drumming or
dripping water or recurring sounds such as noise of mice.
Final lengthening A large group of Gyeli ideophones systematically em-

ploys final vowel lengthening, as shown in (321). All of them occur as
monosyllabic words only.
ndɛ̃ɛ́ ɛ̃́ ɛ̃́ ̃́ ‘depiction of staring’

wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ ́ ‘depiction of moving by foot or motorbike’
bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ̂ ‘depiction of walking a long distance fast’
(321)
wùùùù ‘depiction of pouring liquids or granulars’
pfáááá ‘depiction of flinging a long object or slinging’
tèèèè ‘depiction of waiting’
In comparison to iterative, repetitive ideophones, this group depicts events

that either persist in time, for instance staring or waiting, or depict dis-
tances, as it is the case with flinging an object (into some distance) or mov-
ing into distance.
As mentioned above, this group of ideophones that receives its special
marking in the sense of Dingemanse’s (2011) definition by vowel lengthen-
ing, usually does not combine with reduplication. There are a few excep-
tions though. For instance, wùùùù ‘depiction of pouring liquids or granulars’
was found to be used in a reduplicated form, depicting the situation when
the main character in the Nzambi story (see Appendix II.2) repeatedly pours
fuel onto a house.
255
Special syllable structure Another aspect of ideophones’ phonological

markedness concerns their syllable structure. As outlines in chapter 2.3,
the Gyeli syllable is open with a typical CV structure. Exceptions to this
generalization are found in ideophones though which exhibit both closed
syllables and syllables that only consist of a consonant.
Closed syllables in ideophones frequently end in /m/, but also voiceless
obstruents such as /f/ or /k/. Most of them are monosyllabic, as in (322).
wɔ̀m ‘depiction of (sudden) silence’

ùf ‘depiction of sound when something catches fire suddenly’
(322)
gbìm ‘depiction of putting or falling down of a person or object’
bààm ‘depiction of closing or finishing something’
There are also bisyllabic ideophones whose second syllable is closed, ending
in the nasal /m/, as shown in (323).
pfùtùm ‘depiction of sound when jumping into water’

(323) pùdùm ‘depiction of falling into mud or throwing stone into water’
ntɔ̀ndɔ̀m ‘depiction of monkeys jumping in trees’
Most of these closed syllable ideophones occur without reduplication. In
these cases, they typically depict some sort of suddenness (sudden silence,
suddenly catching fire) or an endpoint of an event (falling, closing, hitting
water). There are, however, also a few examples of closed syllable ideo-
phones which involve reduplication such as wùf wùf ‘depiction of walking
mice’.
The other unusual syllable type found in ideophones is that of a con-
sonantal nucleus. Examples are given in (324). Note that the voiceless
bilabial in p p p p ‘depiction of smoking pipe’ is produced with an ingressive
airstream, imitating the inhaling when smoking.
ḿ m̀ m̀ m̀ ḿ ‘depiction of someone mumbling to himself’

(324)
pppp ‘depiction of smoking pipe’
4.3.2 Morphosyntactic Properties of Ideophones

In terms of word class, ideophones have been assigned to different parts
of speech in the literature, depending on the language. Dwyer & Moshi
(2003: 173) provide examples from different African languages where ideo-
phones are categorized, for instance, as verbs, adjectives, interjectionals,
256
special classes, but most commonly as adverbs. They further specify that
ideophones
“often differ syntactically from the rest of the grammar. 1) usu-

ally occur either before or after a sentence; 2) often don’t fit into
any of the standard categories for parts of speech.” (p. 174)
These generalizations also apply in Gyeli. Gyeli ideophones are closest to the
class of adverbs in their morphosyntactic behavior, but differ from them in
terms of syntactic freedom. Possible positions where ideophones are found
are i) at the end of an intonation phrase, ii) independently, i.e. outside of
an intonation phrase, and iii) as complements in complement clauses.
Ideophones at the end of intonation phrases Ideophones in Gyeli fre-

quently occur at the end of an intonation phrase as in (325) and (326).
In these cases, ideophones are similar to adverbs in their position and their
function, namely depicting the manner in which an action or event happens.
(325) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ dígɛ́ mísì ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ .́

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã ̂ dígɛ-H m-ísì ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ ́
so 1N-woman watch-R ma6-eye IDEO
‘So the woman looks with her eyes [depiction of staring].’
(326) bá kɛ́ ndáà nà tɛ́lɛ́ mákùndù má

ba-H kɛ-H ndáà nà tɛ́lɛ-H H-ma-kùndù má
2-PRES go-R also COM put-R OBJ.LINK-6ma-clay.house 6:ATT
kùrã̂ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́.
kùrã̂ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́
∅7.electricity IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO
‘They also go and put clay houses with electricity, [depiction of
putting the electricity poles along the road].’
In contrast to adverbs though, ideophones also occur in constructions

with the deictic element mpù ‘like this’, as shown in (327).
(327) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí ndjí mpù bãã ̂ ã̂ ã̂ ,̂ njì dígɛ̀ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí ndji-H mpù bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ,̂ njì dígɛ̀ mpù
so PN come-R like.this IDEO come look like.this
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The use of deictic elements such as mpù ‘like this’ makes perfect sense in
that it frames the verbal depiction.
Ideophones as nâ complements Similarly, the same sort of framing hap-

pens when ideophones are used as complements in nâ clauses, as illustrated
in (328).
(328) nzàmbí, màbɔ́ɔ ̀ nkwɛ́ɛ ̀ dé nâ vɔ́sì.
nzàmbí ma-bɔ́ɔ ̀ nkwɛ́ɛ ̀ dé nâ vɔ́sì
PN ma6-bread.fruit ∅3.basket LOC COMP IDEO
‘Nzambi, the bread fruits in the basket [depiction of pouring]’
This type of construction is parallel to reported speech, as discussed in
Güldemann (2008). For more information on Gyeli complement construc-
tions and reported speech, see chapter 7.2.5.
Syntactic independence of ideophones Very often, ideophones occur in-

dependently from an intonation phrase, rather forming an intonation phrase
on their own. In this, they differ from adverbs which cannot occur as in-
dependent intonation phrases. In (329), the ideophone occurs before the
intonation phrase it refers to in the discourse. The ideophone is separated
from the following intonation by a short pause, indicated by a comma in
the gloss.
(329) gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ,́ à múà nà báβɛ̀ tí
gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ a múà nà báβɛ̀ tí
IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO 1S.PST1 PROSP COM ∅7.illness NEG
wúmbɛ́ wɛ̀
wúmbɛ-H wɛ̀
want-R die
‘[depiction of disease roaming in his body] He was about to be sick
without wanting to die.’
Intonationally independent ideophones can also follow the intonation phrase
they are semantically linked to in the discourse, as shown in (330).
(330) wɛ́ dyúwɔ́ mpù bàmìntùlɛ̀ bɔ́gá bá tsígɛ̀
wɛ-H dyúwɔ-H mpù ba-mìntùlɛ̀ bɔ́-gá ba-H tsígɛ̀
2S-PRES hear-R like.this ba2-mouse 2-other 2-PRES take.off
tsùk tsùk tsùk.
tsùk tsùk tsùk
IDEO IDEO IDEO
258
‘You hear like this the other mice take off [depiction of noise made
by mice].’
In addition to intonational breaks, the end of an intonation phrase can be

indicated by the tonal melody. In (330), it is the L tone on tsígɛ̀ ‘take’ off
which shows the end on the intonation phrase. If the ideophone was part
of the same intonation phrase, the final tone on tsígɛ̀ would be H.
Having discussed the Gyeli verb structure and its derivation system, as
well as verbal modifiers such as the different adverbial classes and ideo-
phones, I turn to the inflectional level of the verb phrase in the next chapter.
259
Chapter 5
Tense, Aspect, Mood and

Negation
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I describe the inflectional level of the verb phrase, including
tense, aspect, mood, and negation. Tense and aspect are often referred to
as an interlocking system. It sometimes can be hard to distinguish whether
a form expresses tense or aspect since, in many languages, forms may ex-
press both at the same time. In Gyeli, tense and mood information is coded
together while there is a basic formal distinction between tense-mood and
aspect. Information concerning tense-mood is encoded by tonal processes
on both the subject clause operator (SCOP) and the verb stem. In contrast,
making statements about the internal constituency of an event involves typ-
ically periphrastic constructions using a range of aspectual verbs and mark-
ers. Before describing the particular tense-mood-aspect system in Gyeli, I
first introduce the terminology that I use.
Tense, mood, and aspect Grammatical tense and its relation to aspect
has been extensively discussed in the literature. Comrie (1985: 9), for in-
stance, defines tense as “grammaticalised expression of location in time.”
Dahl (1985: 25) notes more precisely that “tenses are typically deictic cate-
gories, in that they relate time points to the moment of speech. Aspects, on
the other hand, are non-deictic categories.” As Comrie (1976: 5) explains,
“Aspect is not concerned with relating the time of the situation to any other
260
time-point, but rather with the internal temporal constituency of the one
situation”. Or, as Timberlake (2007: 315) puts it: “aspect locates events
(and measures their progress or change or results or liminality) in relation
to an internal time”.
While tense and aspect are mostly, to varying degrees, delimited from
one another, there are also approaches that deliberately do not distinguish
the two at all. Thus, both Dahl (1985) and Bybee et al. (1994: 3) prefer to
investigate so-called gram-types, i.e. categories such as ‘future’, ‘past’, ‘per-
fective’, and ‘imperfective’, without attempting to group these grams into
higher categories such as tense and aspect. In my account of Gyeli tense-
mood-aspect categories, I will also consider gram-type like categories, based
on their formal commonalities. I represent these categories with small cap-
itals, for instance future or subjunctive. In contrast to Dahl and Bybee,
however, I suggest that these categories can be grouped into tense-mood
and into aspect categories.
As seen in the previous definitions of tense and aspect, these two cate-
gories are traditionally viewed as being closely related. As I will show for
Gyeli, tense and mood are more related than tense and aspect. Timberlake
(2007: 326) views grammatical systems of mood as “modality crystallized
as morphology” while modality “is consideration of alternative realities me-
diated by an authority” (p. 315). Common mood categories include ‘realis’
versus ‘irrealis’, ‘indicative’ versus ‘non-indicative’, and also ‘imperative’.
In Gyeli, the basic mood distinction is between ‘realis’ and ‘irrealis’ where
imperative and subjunctive are subsumed under the general ‘irrealis’
mood.
Diagnostics for tense, mood, and aspect categorization in Gyeli The

diagnostics for delimiting tense, mood, and aspect in Gyeli are formal-structural.
As a basic distinction, tense and mood are primarily expressed through tonal
processes. In contrast, aspect marking is mainly achieved through lexical-
segmental material. The tonal processes that determine specific tense-mood
(TM) categories are described in detail in section 5.2. They involve tonal
modification of i) the subject-clause-operator (SCOP), ii) the final verb tone
in phrase final position, and iii) the final verb tone in non-phrase final po-
sition.
261
Gyeli as a ‘tense’ language In that sense, Gyeli is more of a tense language

since TM (tense-mood) marking is in several respects more prominent. First,
aspect marking is not obligatory, but tense has always to be marked. Sec-
ond, no aspect distinction is relevant in every tense. In fact, most aspect
categories are restricted to a specific TM category in which they can occur,
but not in others. And third, aspect markers cannot occur under negation.
Negation marking depends on different tense-mood distinctions. For exam-
ple, the present category has a specific negation marking strategy while the
future and the past use different negation lexemes. These are, however,
determined by the TM categories and not by aspectual categories.
The tense-aspect-mood system in Gyeli is an interlocking system where
no single category can be described on its own. The combination of dif-
ferent grammatical phenomena leads to the interpretation of semantic cat-
egories such as tense, aspect, and mood. Therefore, instead of structuring
this chapter in terms of these semantic categories, I rather describe the vari-
ous diagnostics which cross-cut with semantic categories. First, I discuss the
grammatical expression of tense and mood which is achieved through tonal
patterns of the SCOP, the verb stem final tone, and a syntactic (metatonic)
H tone. I then turn to aspectual marking and, in the subsequent section,
to negation. I conclude this chapter with a discussion of how grammatical
phenomena map onto semantic categories.
5.2 Grammatical Expression of Tense and Mood

In many languages, there is a one-to-one mapping of a morpheme to a tense
category, as shown for Swahili in (331). The prefix -ta- indicates future
tense.
(331) Swahili (Bantu G42)
ni-ta-kul-a
1S-FUT-eat-FV
‘I will eat.’
It is very common though for northwestern Bantu languages that tense, as-
pect, and/or mood categories do not neatly map onto a single segmental
262
morpheme as in Swahili. Instead, expression of tense-aspect categories usu-

ally involve both segmental material and tonal change on the verb and pos-
sibly the subject marker.1
Gyeli is special within the northwestern Bantu languages in its segmental
minimality in tense expression. Instead of segmental morphemes, Gyeli only
uses tonal changes (and vowel lengthening) in order to express tense and
mood distinctions. Consider the surface forms of the minimal pair in (332).
(332) a. mɛ́ dè
1S eat
‘I eat.’
b. mɛ̀ dé
1S ate
‘I ate.’
In the present tense in (332a), the subject marker, in the following called
subject-clause-operator (SCOP), has a H tone while the tone on the verb
stem is L. In contrast, in (332b), the past tense form is characterized by a L
tone on the SCOP and a H tone on the verb. Interpreting the tense of a clause
cannot be done with only the SCOP or the verb tone, but as a combination
of both.
In Gyeli, there are three grammatical parameters that determine both
tense and mood of a phrase. These are:
1. The pattern of the SCOP
2. The verb’s final tone (in phrase final position)
3. A syntactic H tone (in non-phrase final position)
As I will show in the following sections, the combination of the SCOP pat-
tern and the verb final tone in phrase final position define single tense-mood
(TM) categories, comparable to Dahl’s (1985) grams, such as present, re-
cent past, remote past, or future. Generally, the shape of the verb tone
holds more coarse-grained information about the basic distinction between
past and non-past, while the shape of the SCOP holds more fine-grained
information about further sub-distinctions within these two categories, for
1
Compare for instance Makasso (2012) for Basaa (A43) and Beavon (1991) for Kɔɔzime
(A842).
263
example pst1 (recent past) versus pst2 (remote past) within the general
past category.
In certain contexts, the construction of paradigms is straightforward.
For instance, in environments without aspectual and/or negation marking
where the verb is phrase final, one arrives clearly at the above mentioned
TM categories. It becomes, however, more complicated in other environ-
ments. When, for instance, the verb is not phrase final, but followed by
an object or adverb, a syntactic H tone attaches to the right of the verb in
certain categories. Whether a category will take this syntactic H tone or not
cross-cuts the mood distinction into realis and irrealis.
Further, as I will show in section 5.3, aspectual marking ‘interferes’ with
the shape of the SCOP, and thus with basic tense marking, since aspect
markers take over the role of tense specification in a different way. Finally,
different negation patterns are found for different TM categories. Some TM
categories have their own lexical or morphological negation marker while
others can only be negated in embedded sentences. In the next section, I
will first present the different patterns of the SCOP that serve at establishing
the various TM categories.
5.2.1 Patterns of the SCOP

The subject-clause-operator (SCOP) is a portemanteau morpheme marking
the subject as well as encoding information on tense and mood. At the same
time, it is subject to further change in negation and aspect marking contexts;
we will return to that later. As discussed below in section 5.2.1.2 on SCOP
omission and in chapter 4.1.1 on the Gyeli verb structure, the SCOP is a free
morpheme that, unlike the Swahili subject prefix, is not part of the verb. In
contrast to, for example, the Swahili subject concord prefix, the Gyeli SCOP
can be omitted when a nominal subject is present.
The shape of the SCOP changes across different TM categories. Changes
concern both tonal melodies and a distinction between long and short vow-
els of the SCOP, as exemplified in Table 5.1 with the SCOP of agreement
class 2.
The table shows four different surface shapes of the SCOP, exploiting
all tonal possibilities of the language: i) H, ii) L, iii) HL, and iv) LH. If the
SCOP has a contour tone, HL or LH, the vowel is lengthened. SCOPs with
264
TM category SCOP Verb stem Gloss

present bá dè ‘they eat’
inchoative bàá dè ‘they are at the beginning of eating’
future báà dè ‘they will eat’
past 1 bà dé ‘they ate (recently)’
past 2 báà dé ‘they ate (a long time ago)’
imperative dê ‘eat! (sg.)’
subjunctive bá déè ‘may they eat’
Table 5.1: Surface patterns of the SCOP in different TM categories
H tones occur in two TM categories, namely pres and sbjv, and the HL
pattern is found in two TM categories as well, namely in the fut and the
pst2 categories. In the imp category, no SCOP is used at all, but only the
specific verb form.
For a better overview, Table 5.2 lists the SCOPs and its surface tones
for all agreement classes in all TM categories. The fut category has an
exceptional tonal pattern for certain agreement classes which are marked
in bold. The vowel of the second person plural 2P is either pronounced
with a long or a short vowel if the tone is not a contour tone, i.e. if it is
either H or L.
TM 1S 2S 1P 2P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
CAT
pres mɛ́ wɛ́ yá bwá(á)á/ bá wú mí lé má yí bé nyí
nyɛ́/
nú
inch mɛ̀ɛ ́ wɛ̀ɛ ́ yàá bwàá àá bàá wùú mìí lèé màá yìí bèé nyìí
fut mɛ̀ɛ ̀ wɛ̀ɛ ̀ yáà bwáà àà/ báà wúù míì léè máà yíì béè nyíì
nyɛ̀ɛ/̀
nùù
pst1 mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a/ ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
nyɛ/
nu
pst2 mɛ́ɛ ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ yáà bwáà áà/ báà wúù míì léè máà yíì béè nyíì
nyɛ́ɛ/̀
núù
imp — — — — — — — — — — — — —
sbjv mɛ́ wɛ́ yá bwá(á) á/ bá wú mí lé má yí bé nyí
nyɛ́/
nú
Table 5.2: Patterns of the SCOP in different AGR classes and TM categories
Class 1 has a as a basic form and an alternate form nyɛ which is probably
265
the result from influence from Kwasio. At the same time, nyɛ is identical
with the object pronoun of class 1 in Gyeli. Both forms are equally used
and speakers state that both are part of the Gyeli language, while they are
quite aware of loan words in general, though the a form is more frequently
found in texts. Also, class 1 has a third alternate form, namely nu which is
identical with the class 1 demonstrative. It can, however, also be used as
SCOP with the specific tonal pattern for each TM category. In this, the class
1 SCOP is exceptional because demonstratives of other agreement classes
cannot function as SCOP.
Toneless past 1 category I suggest that, underlyingly, the L surface form

of the pst1 category is tonally not specified and only surfaces phonetically
as L. This is comparable to other grammatical morphemes such as noun class
prefixes or verbal derivation morphemes as discussed in chapter 2.4.1.3. I
view this phonetically L form as a tonally underspecified default form be-
cause it does not only occur in the past 1 category, but also serves as general
default form in other TM categories when these are combined with aspectual
markers (see section 5.3). It further provides the basic form from which the
present category is derived with a H tone. Consequently, in the glossing
of examples, the surface L SCOPs are represented as being toneless in the
underlying line. pres SCOP forms are underlyingly represented as toneless
SCOPs which receive a H tone, characterizing this category.
Tone pattern in the future category In the future category, the SCOP
differs in its shape even within the same TM category, depending on the
agreement class that the SCOP encodes. While for the other TM categories,
the tonal and vowel length pattern is the same for each agreement class
for the future, the first and second person singular as well as the SCOP
encoding class 1 deviate from the usual future pattern. As shown in Table
5.1, the general pattern for the future is a long vowel with a HL tonal
melody. The exceptional three categories, however, have a long vowel with
a L tonal melody, as listed in (333).
(333) a. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ dè ‘I will eat’

b. wɛ̀ɛ ̀ dè ‘you will eat’
c. àà/nyɛ̀ɛ ̀ dè ‘s/he will eat’
266
5.2.1.1 SCOP Assimilation
In careful, slow speech, the SCOP usually surfaces. In fast speech, however,
the SCOP can be subject to assimilation and omission. Both cases are out-
lined in turn. Depending on the morphophonological shape of the SCOP,
the SCOP can undergo assimilation with preceding vocalic material in fast
speech. This applies mainly to the class 1 SCOP whose segmental material
consists of the vowel a. Given that it is not preceded by a consonant, unlike
the SCOPs of all other agreement classes, it can assimilate with the final
vowel of a preceding verb or noun.
An example of SCOP assimilation with both preceding verbs and nouns is
provided in (334). In the first instance, the SCOP assimilates to the verb njì
‘come’ of the preceding phrase. Thus, SCOP assimilation in fast speech is not
restricted to in-phrase assimilation, but can also cross phrase boundaries.
(334) à njâ dyùmɔ́ bùdàà dyùmɔ́ bùdàà dyùmɔ́

a nji-H a dyùmɔ-H b-ùdì a dyùmɔ-H
1.PST1 come-R 1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person 1S.PST1 heal-R
bùdàà dyùmɔ́ bùdì.
b-ùdì a dyùmɔ-H b-ùdì
ba2-person 1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person
‘He came, he was healing people (4x).’
In the other assimilation instances in (334), the SCOP assimilates to the

nominal object bùdì ‘people’, also of the previous phrase. In both cases, the
first vowel is elided while the vowel of the SCOP surfaces. At the same time,
the tone of the omitted vowel survives, as seen with the contour tone on [njí
+ à] → /njâ/. In the second instance, while vowel quality is assimilated to
the SCOP, both tone and vowel length survive, surfacing in a long vowel:
[bùdì + à] → /bùdàà/.
SCOP assimilation with proper names As seen in the previous example,

in SCOP assimilation it is usually the preceding vocalic material of a noun
or verb that is deleted. This is different for SCOP assimilation with proper
names. Proper names do not change their vowel quality, but assimilate
tonally to the class 1 SCOP whose vocalic material is being elided, as shown
in (335).
267
(335) a. Màmbì á kwè → /Màmbí kwè/

Màmbì a-H kwè
PN 1-PRES fall
‘Mambi falls.’
b. Màmbì àá kwè → /Màmbìí kwè/
Màmbì àá kwè
PN 1.INCH fall
‘Mambi is at the beginning of falling.’
Tonal changes on the proper name do not depend on tonal or phonolog-

ical patterns of the name, but are controlled by the noun’s feature of being
a proper name. The fact that proper names receive special morphosyntac-
tic treatment in Gyeli also appears in the split genitive system discusses in
chapter 3.4.6).
If the proper name’s final tone and the SCOP’s tone are identical, there is
no tonal or vocalic surface change, but the SCOP simply is elided, as shown
in (336a) for the proper name Màmbì ending in a L tone and a following L
SCOP and, in (336b), the proper name Bìyã ́ ending in a H tone in combina-
tion with a pres H tone SCOP.2
(336) a. Màmbì à kwé → /Màmbì kwé/

Màmbì a kwè-H
PN 1.PST1 fall-PST
’Mambi fell.’
b. Bìyã́ á sàgà → /Bìyã́ sàgà/
Bìyã́ a-H sàga
PN 1-PRES frighten
‘Biyang is frightened.’
These cases are thus rather instances of SCOP omission than SCOP assimi-
lation, which leads to the next section on SCOP omisson.
5.2.1.2 SCOP Omission
Under certain circumstances, the SCOP can be elided rather than assimi-
lated, as seen in the previous section. There are two general scenarios under
which the SCOP may be omitted in fast, non-careful speech:
1. SCOP omission when a nominal subject/noun phrase is present

2
Note that the underlying tonal form of the verb is explained in section 5.2.2.
268
2. Subject ellipsis as dramatic effect in story telling
I will describe both scenarios in turn.
SCOP omission with nominal subject Unlike SCOP assimilation, SCOP

omission with a nominal subject present is not conditioned by the phono-
logical shape of the SCOP, but can occur in all agreement classes. There are,
however, other restrictions on whether the SCOP has to surface also in fast
speech or whether it can be elided. These restrictions concern the TM cat-
egory of the SCOP and the morphophonological properties of the nominal
subject’s noun class marking.
Generally, only the pres and the pst1 categories allow for SCOP omis-
sion while fut, pst2, inch, and sbjv always exclude SCOP omission with
nominal subjects (with the exception for inch with proper names, as seen
in the previous section), as shown in (337).3 The parentheses indicate that
the use of the SCOP is optional while a lack of parentheses indicates that
the SCOP has to be used obligatorily.
(337) a. kálɛ́ (nú) kwè → /kálɛ́ kwè/

kálɛ́ nu-H kwè
∅1.sister 1-PRES fall
‘The sister falls.’
b. kálɛ́ (nù) kwé → /kálɛ́ kwé/
kálɛ́ nu kwé
∅1.sister 1.PST1 fall
‘The sister fell (recently).’
c. kálɛ́ núù kwé → /kálɛ́ núù kwé/
kálɛ́ núù kwè-H
∅1.sister 1.PST2 fall-PST
‘The sister fell (a long time ago).’
d. kálɛ́ nùù kwè → /kálɛ́ nùù kwè/
kálɛ́ nùù kwè
∅1.sister 1.FUT fall
‘The sister will fall.’
e. kálɛ́ nùú kwè → /kálɛ́ nùú kwè/
kálɛ́ nùú kwè
∅1.sister 1.INCH fall
3
In this example, the class 1 SCOP takes the alternate shape of the demonstrative rather
than the default shape a.
269
‘The sister starts to fall.’

SCOP omission in the presence of a nominal subject is also conditioned
morphophonologically and depends on the shape of the nominal subject’s
noun class prefix. This is parallel to the potential omission of the attributive
marker discussed in chapter 3.7.1.1, and the conditioning factors seem to be
similar, too. If a nominal subject has a CV- noun class prefix, the omission
of the SCOP is never allowed. This is generally the case for all plural noun
classes and class 5. Prefixless subjects always allow for SCOP omission in
the present and past 1 TM categories.
Potential SCOP omission was checked for a range of nouns, controlling
for different tonal and phonological patterns, noun class affiliation, num-
ber, animacy, and different verbs. For simplicity, I only contrast two nouns
in their singular and plural form, both belonging to gender 5/6, with the
difference that the singular noun in (338) has a CV shape noun class prefix,
while the one in (339) does not.4 Comparing both examples shows in the
case of the singular class 5 that the potential omission of the SCOP depends
on the CV- shape noun class prefix: in (338a), the noun does have a CV pre-
fix. Consequently, SCOP omission is not allowed. In contrast, the singular
class 5 noun in (339a) does not have a CV- prefix and there, SCOP omission
is allowed.
(338) a. lèndzólɛ̀ lé kwè → /lèndzólɛ̀ lé kwè/
le-ndzólɛ̀ le-H kwè
le5-tear 5-PRES fall
‘The tear falls.’
b. màndzólɛ̀ má kwè → /màndzólɛ̀ má kwè/
ma-ndzólɛ̀ ma-H kwè
ma6-tear 6-PRES fall
‘The tears fall.’
(339) a. jáwɛ̀ (lé) kwè → / jáwɛ̀ kwè/
j-áwɛ̀ le-H kwè
le5-goliath.frog 5-PRES fall
‘The goliath frog falls.’
b. máwɛ̀ má kwè → /máwɛ̀ má kwè/
m-áwɛ̀ ma-H kwè
ma6-goliath.frog 6-PRES fall
4
While these examples only account for the present TM category, the same holds for
past 1.
270
‘The goliath frogs fall.’
The shape of the prefix is, however, not the only conditioning factor.
Comparing the plural classes in (338b) and (339b), the first with and the
second without CV- prefix, SCOP omission is never allowed for these plural
classes. At the same time, these two examples also illustrate that animacy
does not play a role, neither does general noun class affiliation since both
examples belong to gender 5/6.
SCOP omission with different noun phrase types The SCOP can be
elided not only if a single noun is present, as described above with data
from elicitation and shown with an example from natural speech in (340),
but it can also be omitted if other noun phrase types constitute the subject.
The subject noun phrase is indicated by square brackets in the following
examples while the SCOP that would follow in careful speech is absent.
(340) àá gyì, àá gyì, [dyúmò]NP njì nyɛ̂ nɔ̀ɔ.̀

àá gyì, àá gyì, dyúmò njì nyɛ̂ nɔ̀ɔ ̀
1.INCH cry 1.INCH cry ∅1.spouse come 1.OBJ take
‘She’s at the beginning of crying, she’s at the beginning of crying,
the husband comes to fetch her.’
Examples from the Gyeli corpus show that the SCOP can be elided if the
subject noun phrase is an interrogative pronoun, as in (341).
(341) [nzá]NP nzíí mɛ̂ nyɛ̂?

nzá nzíí mɛ̂ nyɛ̂
who PROG.PRES 1S.OBJ see
‘Who is seeing me?’
More complex noun phrases such as noun + possessive constructions allow

for SCOP omission, as shown in (342).
(342) nyɛ̀ nâ [sɔ́ wɔ́ɔ]̀ NP nɔ̀ɔ ́ mɔ̀ mwánɔ̀.

nyɛ nâ sɔ́ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H mɔ̀ m-wánɔ̀
1 COMP ∅1.friend 1-POSS.2S take-R PRF 1-child
‘She [says] ‘Your friend has taken the child.”
Finally, there are also examples in the corpus showing that noun + noun
attributive constructions may occur without a SCOP, as in (343).
271
(343) mɛ́ dyúwɔ́ nâ [mpàgó wá pɔ́dɛ̀]NP lã́ vâ.

mɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ mpàgó wá pɔ́dɛ̀ lã-̀ H vâ
1S-PRES hear-R COMP ∅3.street 3:ATT ∅1.port pass-R here
‘I hear that the road to the port passes [= will pass] here. ’
Subject ellipsis In a few cases, it is not only the SCOP that is omitted, but
the subject, as illustrated in the second phrase in (N1).
(N1) à kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ à dígɛ́ɛ ̀ à

a ́
kɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ a dígɛ́ɛ ̀ a
1.PST1 go.PRF enter there on.top 1.PST1 watch.PRF 1.PST1
díg-â dígɛ́ɛ.̀ kì nâ nzá nyɛ́ mɛ̂?
dígɛ́ɛ ̀ a dígɛ́ɛ ̀ kì nâ nzá nyɛ̂-H mɛ̂
watch.PRF 1.PST1 watch.PRF say COMP who see-R 1S.OBJ
‘He went inside there on top and watched and watched and watched.
[He] says: ‘Who sees me?’
There are a few comparable examples in the corpus which all seem to entail
some dramatic effect in story-telling. Consequently, this type of ellipsis is
more often found in narratives than in conversations.
Distribution of SCOP occurrence/omission in the corpus The Gyeli text

corpus shows clearly that the most common case involves the occurrence of
the SCOP rather than its omission. Table 5.3 summarizes the variation in
the presence of the SCOP. It shows that in 412 instances, out of a total of
472,5 the SCOP is present. This number includes both cases where the SCOP
is the subject of the clause and cases where the SCOP is preceded by more
noun phrase material such as nouns, noun + possessive constructions, and
so forth.
While SCOP assimilation as discussed in section 5.2.1.1 and complete
subject ellipsis are rather rare, the omission of the SCOP when a noun phrase
is present occurs in 9.9% of the cases. Imperatives are listed in the table as
well because their category is characterized by the absence of a SCOP.
5
Identificational markers agreeing with the subject and constituting the predicate at the
same time were not counted since they do not classify as SCOPs. Also special constructions
of quotative indexes where the SCOP is present, but no verb, were not taken into consid-
eration. A third case that was excluded concerns imperatives since imperatives never take
a SCOP and thus do not show any variation.
272
SCOP present 412 (87.3%)

Assimilation 6 (1.3%)
Omission with NP 47 (9.9%)
Subject ellipsis 7 (1.5%)
Total 472
Table 5.3: Variation of SCOP presence in the text corpus
5.2.2 Patterns of the Verb Stem

Having discussed the different patterns of the SCOP across the various TM
categories, I now turn to the patterns of the verb which are also subject to
modification, depending on the category it encodes. The verbal tone pat-
terns as a diagnostic for TM categories is restricted to phrase final positions
of the verb. Tonal verb patterns in contexts where the verb is followed
by some other element are discussed in section 5.2.3. Further, this section
excludes aspectual and negation marking since these represent special en-
vironments where the rules here discussed do not apply.
The tonal pattern on the verb in phrase final position, in combination
with the shape of the SCOP, characterizes the single TM categories, as shown
in Table 5.4. Since a few SCOPs share the same form, the combination with
different verb tone patterns is in fact necessary in order to disambiguate TM
categories. For instance, the SCOP of the future and the past 2 category
both have a long vowel with a HL pattern. The difference between the two
categories is, however, clear from the tonal pattern on the verb: while the
future category has a verb ending in a L tone, the past 2 verb has a H
tone.
Basic TM SCOP Verb stem Gloss
distinction category
pres bá dè ‘they eat’
non-pst inch bàá dè ‘they are at the beginning of eating’
fut báà dè ‘they will eat’
pst1 bà dé ‘they ate (recently)’
pst
pst2 báà dé ‘they ate (a long time ago)’
imp dê ‘eat! (sg.)’
other
sbjv bá déè ‘may they eat’
Table 5.4: Tone patterns of the verb stem in different TM categories
There are three types of verb patterns in Gyeli TM categories: i) verbs

with final L, ii) verbs with final H, and iii) verbs with a special form. The
273
special forms include the imperative and the subjunctive which are both
tenseless mood categories. As illustrated in Table 5.4 in the first column,
the tonal variation between a final L or H cross-cuts with a basic distinction
between past and non-past. past categories include the recent past past
1 and the remote past past 2. non-past categories involve the present,
the future, and the inchoative.
As described in chapter 2 on phonology, verb stems have one, two, or
three syllables while only the first syllable is specified for tone. In contrast,
second and third syllables are underlyingly toneless. The verb dè ‘eat’ used
as an example in Table 5.4 thus only represents one tonal-phonological set
of verbs, namely the monosyllabic ones specified with a L tone. For clarifi-
cation, I will provide examples in different TM categories also for the other
tonal-phonological verb sets. The tonal rules that apply when, for instance,
a past H tone attaches to the verb, are described in detail with an autoseg-
mental analysis in chapter 2.4.2.
Monosyllabic verb stems Monosyllabic verb stems are underlyingly ei-

ther specified with a L or a H tone. An example for each is given in Table
5.5. While surface tones for both underlyingly L and H tone verbs are iden-
tical in past and ‘other’ categories, the rules to derive this surface pattern
differ. As shown in chapter 2.4.2.3, the L tone is detached and replaced with
a H tone in the past categories. In contrast, monosyllabic H tone verbs are
subject to H tone lowering in the non-past categories, resulting in a falling
HL tone in these categories, as discussed in chapter 2.4.2.4.
Basic TM category SCOP L verb H verb

distinction kɛ̀ ‘go’ nyɛ́ ‘see’
pres bá kɛ̀ nyɛ̂
non-pst inch bàá kɛ̀ nyɛ̂
fut báà kɛ̀ nyɛ̂
pst1 bà kɛ́ nyɛ́
pst
pst2 báà kɛ́ nyɛ́
imp kɛ̂ nyɛ̂
other
sbjv bá kɛ́ɛ ̀ nyɛ́ɛ ̀
Table 5.5: Surface tone patterns of monosyllabic verb stems in different TM

categories
For underlyingly monosyllabic H tone verbs, the tonal pattern on non-past
274
categories and the imperative are identical, they surface both as HL. In
comparison, monosyllabic L tone verbs have a L tone for the non-past
categories and a HL pattern for the imperative.
Bisyllabic verb stems In bisyllabic verb stems, the first syllable is spec-
ified for either H or L while the second syllable is underlyingly toneless.
When the verb is in a phrase final position in the non-past categories, the
second syllable will then surface with a phonetically L tone, as shown in
Table 5.6.
Basic TM category SCOP L ∅ verb H ∅ verb

distinction gyàga ‘buy’ gyíbɔ ‘call’
pres bá gyàgà gyíbɔ̀
non-pst inch bàá gyàgà gyíbɔ̀
fut báà gyàgà gyíbɔ̀
pst1 bà gyàgá gyíbɔ́
pst
pst2 báà gyàgá gyíbɔ́
imp gyàgâ gyíbɔ̂
other
sbjv bá gyàgáà gyíbɔ́ɔ ̀
Table 5.6: Surface tone patterns of bisyllabic verb stems in different TM

categories
In the past categories, a H tone attaches to the right of the verb to the
underlyingly toneless syllable, as discussed for High Tone Spreading (HTS)
to the left in chapter 2.4.2.2. The special HL pattern of the imperative
is realized on the second syllable while the first remains as underlyingly
specified, L or H, respectively. The same is true for the subjunctive: while
the first syllable surfaces as underlyingly specified, the second syllable takes
a special form by lengthening the final vowel which carries a HL tone.
Trisyllabic verb stems Trisyllabic verbs are similar to bisyllabic ones in

terms of the tonal rule of HTS that applies in the past categories. The
difference is that trisyllabic verbs have two toneless syllables. Thus, in non-
past categories, the last two syllables surface L, while in past categories,
the last two syllables take a H tone. As shown in Table 5.7, the first syllable
does not change in different TM categories.
In the special categories of imperative and subjunctive, the last syllable
carries the HL tone that is characteristic of thee categories while the second
275
Basic TM category SCOP L ∅ ∅ verb H ∅ ∅ verb

distinction vìdɛga ‘turn’ lúmɛlɛ ‘send’
pres bá vìdɛ̀gà lúmɛ̀lɛ̀
non-pst inch bàá vìdɛ̀gà lúmɛ̀lɛ̀
fut báà vìdɛ̀gà lúmɛ̀lɛ̀
pst1 bà vìdɛ́gá lúmɛ́lɛ́
pst
pst2 báà vìdɛ́gá lúmɛ́lɛ́
imp vìdɛ́gâ lúmɛ́lɛ̂
other
sbjv bá vìdɛ́gáà lúmɛ́lɛ́ɛ ̀
Table 5.7: Surface tone patterns of trisyllabic verb stems in different TM

categories
syllable is subject to high tone spreading as in the past.

I have shown that the combination of different SCOP and (phrase final)
verb stem patterns constitute seven TM categories: present, inchoative,
future, past 1, past 2, imperative, and subjunctive. While the clas-
sification as tense categories such as present or past1 is intuitively clear,
classification as mood categories still needs to be explained. This is done in
the next section.
5.2.3 The Metatonic H Tone

The third grammatical phenomenon that characterizes TM categories is a
syntactic H tone that attaches to non-phrase final verbs in certain TM cate-
gories, but not in others. I classify categories that take this syntactic H tone
as realis moods while those that do not as irrealis moods. The syntactic H
tone is also known as metatony in the literature. I will explain the term, the
phenomena and previous approaches to it in this section.
Consider (344) where the expected tone on gyámbɔ ‘cook’ would be L in
the present in phrase final position. If, however, the verb is followed by,
for instance, a nominal object such as be-kwàndɔ̀ ‘plantains’ in the example,
the verb takes a H tone.
(344) mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ békwàndɔ̀

mɛ-H gyámbɔ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S-PRES cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I cook plantains.’
I argue that the H tones on the verb and the object are two distinct tones.
276
While one could assume that the underlyingly toneless noun class prefix of
be-kwàndɔ̀ acquires its surface tone through HTS in (344), there are reasons
to view the two tones as distinct: the H tone on the prefix of the object also
occurs in irrealis moods where the verb ends in a L tone. Also, in aspectual
constructions as discussed in section 5.3, the verb following an aspectual
marker end L while the prefix of the object would be H. I consider the H
tone on the object noun class prefix an ‘object linking H tone’ which I mark
as ‘OBJ.LINK’ in the glosses. The object linking H tone is described in more
detail in chapter 6.2.1.2. In contrast, I view the H tone on the verb as a
metatonic H tone that correlates with a realis/irrealis distinction.
Metatony in the literature Metatony has been discussed in the Bantu lit-
erature, mainly trying to explain the origins of this H tone variation. It has
been viewed, for instance, as a remnant of a former grammatical morpheme
whose segments were lost, but whose tone survived. Dimmendaal (1995)
and Angenot (1971), for example, trace metatonic H tones back to a former
connective or augment. On this assumption, an infinitive was followed by
a connective ‘of’ (or attributive marker as discussed for Gyeli). The con-
nective was deleted in non-infinitival verb forms, but the H tone survived.
But as Hyman & Lionnet (2011: 169) point out, there is no evidence that a
connective was ever present in non-infinitival metatonic verb forms since
the object normally follows without marking. They further rule out the as-
sumption that metatonic tones have their origin in an ‘article-like’ augment
*ú- that was deleted, but whose tone survived (p. 170). This scenario would
not explain the occurrence of metatonic tone with word classes other than a
noun such as pronouns, adverbs, or prepositions. The augment would only
appear with the noun, but metatonic tone also occurs with these other word
classes in Gyeli and other Bantu languages.
In comparison, Hyman & Lionnet (2011) provide a purely phonological
account of metatony in Abo (A42), proposing different underlying suffix
tones for verbs in different TAM categories. It is not clear, though, why
some TAM categories have metatony while others do not.
There are also some functional explanations in the literature. Schadeberg
(1995) and Hadermann (2005), for example, view metatony as marking a
somewhat special relation between verb and the element that follows. In
Gyeli, this analysis is unlikely since the function of marking the relation
277
between verb and object is already taken over by the object linking H tone
discussed in chapter 6.2.1.2. Even if one assumes that this function is doubly
marked, it does not explain why object linking would be marked in some
TM categories, but not in others.
Other authors such as Costa & Kula (2008), Makasso (2012) and Nurse
(2008) describe metatony rather as a conjoint/disjoint distinction that re-
lates to focus marking. Hyman (2013: 7), for instance, shows in Figure 5.1
for Tonga (M64) that a change in focus leads to a change in tone. This is a
valid explanation for many Savannah Bantu languages. For Gyeli, however,
also this explanation has to be ruled out. First, in Gyeli, there is no choice
within a TM category whether to use a metatonic H tone or not which de-
pends on focus. Second, focus marking in Gyeli is achieved by means of
cleft constructions and movement, as shown in chapter 6.3, but not by sin-
gle H tones. Third, while in many Savannah Bantu languages no H tone can
occur in ‘unfocussed’ relative or subordinated clauses, in Gyeli there is no
restriction of metatonic H tones to certain clause types.
Figure 5.1: Conjoint/disjoint distinction in Tonga (M64)
Metatony in Gyeli While in Gyeli the origin of the metatonic H tone is

not clear, its synchronic funtion is more obvious. The presence and absence
of metatony correlates to grammatical TM categories which are realis and
irrealis, respectively, as Table 5.8 shows.
TM categories that occur with a metatonic H tone include present, in-
choative, past 1, and past 2. In contrast, irrealis moods, namely future,
imperative, and subjunctive, do not take a metatonic H tone. (345) pro-
vides examples for all metatonic TM categories, where the realis (R in the
gloss) marking metatonic H tone is marked in bold.
278
Metatony No Metatony
→ Realis → Irrealis
present future
inchoative imperative
recent past subjunctive
remote past
Table 5.8: Realis/irrealis axis in Gyeli
(345) a. mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ békwàndɔ̀

mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S-PRES want-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I want plantains.’
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ́ békwàndɔ̀
mɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S.INCH want-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I’m at the beginning of wanting plantains.’
c. mɛ̀ wúmbɛ́ békwàndɔ̀
mɛ wúmbɛ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S.PST1 want-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I wanted plantains (recently).’
d. mɛ́ɛ ̀ wúmbɛ́ békwàndɔ̀
mɛ́ɛ ̀ wúmbɛ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S.PST2 want-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I wanted plantains (a long time ago).’
While the tonal change from a phrase final L to a non-phrase final H

tone is obvious in the non-past categories present and inchoative, this
is less clear for both past categories, recent and remote. As a reminder,
these categories are specified for a final H tone also in verb final positions.
Nevertheless, I view them as realis categories as well, based on comparison
with closely related languages. In Abo (A42), for instance, past also belongs
to the metatonic tenses, according to Hyman & Lionnet (2011: 171).6 In
terms of glossing examples, I thus mark phrase final H tones on past verbs as
-‘PST’, as in (346a). In non-phrase final position, however, H tones in past
categories are marked as -‘R’, as in (346b). With this, I rather emphasize the
mood distinction, even though the H tone collapses both tense and mood
information.
6
In Abo, the metatonic H tone is realized on the verb’s first mora though, while in Gyeli,
it seems to have shifted to the last.
279
(346) a. mɛ̀ gyámbɔ́

mɛ gyámbɔ-H
1S.PST1 cook-PST
‘I cooked.’
b. mɛ̀ gyámbɔ́ békwàndɔ̀
mɛ gyámbɔ-H H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S.PST1 cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I cooked plantains.’
In contrast to realis TM categories, the irrealis ones do not take metatonic

H tones, as shown in (347) for the future, imperative, and subjunctive
categories.
(347) a. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ̀ békwàndɔ̀

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ H-be-kwàndɔ̀
1S.FUT cook OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I will/might cook plantain.’
b. gyámbɔ̂ békwàndɔ̀
gyámbô H-be-kwàndɔ̀
cook.IMP OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘Cook plantains!’
c. mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ nâ wɛ́ gyámbɔ́ɔ ̀
mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H nâ wɛ-H gyámbɔ́ɔ ̀
1S-PRES want-R COMP 2S-PRES cook.SBJV
békwàndɔ̀
H-be-kwàndɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘I want you to cook plantain.’
In the realis categories which do take the metatonic H tone, all parts of
speech that follow the verb trigger the appearance of the H tone, as (348)
shows. Thus, the decisive criterion is not the restriction to certain parts of
speech, but that the verb is not intonation phrase final.
a. mɛ́ gyámbɔ̀ ‘I cook’

b. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ bé-kwàndɔ̀ ‘I cook plantains’ N
c. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ byɔ̂ ‘I cook it’ PRO
(348)
d. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ ndáà ‘I cook today’ ADV
e. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ ɛ́ kìsíní dé tù ‘I cook in the kitchen’ PREP
f. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ nà wɔ́mbɛ̀lɛ̀ ‘I cook and sweep’ CONJ
280
Type Mood category

Ability/dynamic (can) expressed by realis → with metatony
Deontic (must) expressed by realis → with metatony
Possibility expressed by irrealis (fut) → no metatony
Bouletic expressed by irrealis (sbjv) → no metatony
Table 5.9: Modality expression and mood
As listed in (348), the phrase final verb gyámbɔ ‘cook’ surfaces with a L
tone. If it is followed though by a noun, pronoun, adverb, preposition, or
conjunction, the verb takes a final H tone. The same is true for multiple
verbs, as illustrated in (349). Again, if the verb wúmbɛ ‘want’ occurs phrase
finally, it surfaces L. If it is followed by another element, in this case the
verb gyámbɔ ‘cook’, it takes a final H tone.
a. bá wúmbɛ̀ ‘they want’

(349)
b. bá wúmbɛ́ gyámbɔ̀ ‘they want to cook’ verb
It is, however, only the first, finite verb that undergoes tonal change. If
a second, non-finite verb is not intonation phrase final, it keeps its default
tones, as shown in (350). In this example, the modal verb wúmbɛ ‘want’
takes the metatonic H tone that indicates the realis category. The final tone
on gyámbɔ ‘cook’ surfaces L.
(350) bá wúmbɛ́ gyámbɔ̀ békwàndɔ̀.

ba-H wúmbɛ-H gyámbɔ H-be-kwàndɔ̀
2-PRES want-R cook OBJ.LINK-be8-plantain
‘They want to cook plantains.’
The correlation of metatony to grammatical TM categories only applies

to these grammatical TM categories, but not to modals in general. Table 5.9
gives an overview of the expression of different types of modality.
Different modals are expressed in different mood categories. While ability
or dynamic modals such as kùga ‘can’ in (351) and deontic modals such as
yànɛ ‘must’ in (352) behave like non-modal verbs, i.e. they can occur in
any TM category with the realis mood, possibility and bouletic modality is
rather expressed with the irrealis.
(351) ká yí nyí mɛ̂ mbɔ̀... mpáŋgì yí kùgá

ká yi-H nyî-H mɛ̂ m-bɔ̀ mpáŋgì yi-H kùga-H
when 7-PRES enter-R 1S N3-arm ∅7.bamboo 7.PRES can-R
281
nâ nyíì wɛ̂ mbɔ̀.

nâ nyíì wɛ̂ m-bɔ̀
COMP enter.SBJV 2S N3-arm
‘When it goes into my arm... the bamboo can sting your arm.’
(352) donc wɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nà bàfû, wɛ́ yànɛ́ gyàgà bɔ̂.

donc wɛ bùdɛ-H nà ba-fû wɛ-H yànɛ-H gyàga bɔ̂
so[French] 2S be-R COM ba2-fish 2S-PRES must-R buy 2.OBJ
‘So, you have fish, you have to buy them.’
Possibility generally is realized with the future category, as shown in

(353). In this example, the use of the future TM category has more of
a possibility reading than it is related to actual tense.
(353) ndí wɛ́ lèmbó nâ mbvúndá nyíì bvúdà nà

ndí wɛ-H lèmbo-H nâ mbvúndá nyíì bvúda nà
but 2S-PRES know-R COMP ∅9.trouble 9.FUT fight COM
mbvúndá.
mbvúndá
∅9.trouble
‘But you know that trouble would fight with trouble.’
Bouletic modality as in (354) is expressed with the subjunctive in subor-

dinated clauses.
(354) mɛ́ làwɔ́ náà màndáwɔ̀ má zì má

mɛ-H làwɔ-H nâ ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì ma-H
1S-PRES say-R COMP ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6-PRES
kùgáà mɛ̀ vâ.
kùgáà mɛ̀ vâ
be.enough.SBJV 1S.OBJ here
‘I say that there should be enough tin (roofed) houses here for me.’
5.2.4 Tense-Mood Categories

As I have established in the previous three sections, Gyeli has seven different
TM categories which are each characterized by a particular combination of
SCOP and phrase final verb tone patterns. In addition to that, the ability of
certain TM categories to take a metatonic H tone in non phrase final posi-
tions determines whether a specific category is classified as realis or irrealis
mood. In this section, I briefly discuss the distribution of the different TM
282
categories within the Gyeli corpus. I then summarize the characteristics of

each TM category and provide examples in the following subsections.
Table 5.10 both summarizes the affiliation of each TM category to either
realis or irrealis mood and shows the frequency of each TM category in
the Gyeli corpus. The numbers in the frequency column are comprised of
all examples in the corpus that are not marked for aspect and negation,
but just show bare tense-mood marking. I consider aspectual and negation
marking separately in the respective sections. There are 369 instances of
bare TM marking in the corpus, 58.8 % of which are covered by the present
category.
Basic distinction TM category Mood Frequency

pres realis 217 (58.8%)
non-pst inch realis 5 (1.4%)
fut irrealis 40 (10.8%)
pst1 realis 69 (18.7%)
pst
pst2 realis 8 (2.2%)
imp irrealis 13 (3.5%)
other
sbjv irrealis 17 (4.6%)
Total 369
Table 5.10: Frequency of TM categories in corpus
The second most used TM category is the recent past 1 with 18.7% and then
future with 10.8%. The other TM categories, subjunctive, imperative,
past 2, and inchoative, in order of decreasing frequency, are rarely found
in the corpus. The following discussion of each TM category will elucidate
this distribution further by explaining the semantics of each category.
5.2.4.1 Present
The present is characterized by a short vowel, H tone SCOP and a phrase

final L verb tone. A metatonic H tone in non-phrase final position indicates
its affiliation to the realis mood. The present is the most frequently found
TM category in the corpus in all text genres. The present can be viewed as
a default TM category in narrations. Even in the autobiographic narrative in
Appendix II.1, the narrator switches to the present in the tenth intonation
phrase, after having started out in the past 1.
Semantically, the present primarily relates to a time that is relatively
283
identical to speech time. Thus, the sentence in (355), out of context, refers
to the time of utterance.
(355) mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ bédéwɔ̀.

mɛ-H gyámbɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀
1S-PRES cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I cook food.’
Within a specific context though that is common knowledge for the speech
act participants, the sentence in (355) can also relate to a time that follows
speech time. The present can thus be used to refer to future events as well.
It is hard to delimit though, how far into the future the present may refer
and does not seem to be categorically bounded by, for instance, day times
or even days. Especially when temporal adverbs or other means of time
reference are used as in (356), the grammatical present form can extend
into the future for several days.
(356) mɛ́ kɛ́ djì ɛ́ Ngòló sɔ́ndɔ̀ nɔ́nɛ́gá.

mɛ-H kɛ̀-H djì ɛ́ Ngòló sɔ́ndɔ̀ n-ɔ́nɛ́gá
1S-PRES go-R stay LOC PN ∅1.week 1-other
‘I will stay in Ngolo next week.’
The present tense form can also be used for imperative meanings, as in
(357).7 While imperative is an irrealis mood that does not take metatonic
H tones, the aspectual verb pã ̂ is clearly marked with a realis indicating
metatonic H tone.
(357) wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ pã́ lígɛ̀, yá nà nyɛ̀ yá kɛ́

wɛ ̂
mɛ́dɛ́ pã-H lígɛ ya-H nà nyɛ ya-H kɛ̀-H
2S.EMPH self start-R stay 1P-PRES COM 1 1P-PRES go-R
mánkɛ̃.̂
H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
OBJ.LINK-6-field
‘You [= his wife] stay first, we and her, we go to the field.’
The present TM category is further used in contexts of genericity or

states that persist as in (358). Here, the speaker talks about a general prob-
7
As a reminder, the tense information here is encoded by the metatonic H tone on
the aspectual verb pã ̂ while the typical present H tone of the SCOP is not present since
the SCOP itself is omitted; only the emphatic pronoun and mɛ́dɛ́ ‘self’ is used, but these
elements do not take the present H tone.
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lem that applies to the time of uttterance, but also extends to an unbounded
time before and after time of utterance.
(358) yá tfúgá nà ngùndyá, mpáŋgì.

ya-H tfúga-H nà ngùndyá mpáŋgì
1P-PRES suffer-R COM ∅9.raffia ∅7.bamboo
‘We suffer from the straw, the bamboo.’
While the use of the present TM category seems to be easily applied to

the time at and after speech time, it extends less easily to time before the
utterance. Thus, the sentence in (355) cannot be interpreted, under any cir-
cumstances, as having happened already. With a special construction using
the retrospective aspect marker lɔ́, however, events that have happened
shortly before the time of utterance are expressed with the present tonal
pattern, as shown in (359).
(359) áh gyí wɛ́ lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ̀?

áh gyí wɛ-H lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ
EXCL what 2S-PRES RETRO come look.for
‘Ah, what have you just come to look for?’
This construction is parallel to the French construction venir de and is ex-

actly translated as such. It may even be a loan construction from French
since Gyeli does not have a way of expressing this construction with its own
lexemes. Instead, lɔ́ ‘come’ is a loan word from Basaa (A43).
5.2.4.2 Inchoative
The inchoative is marked by a long vowel, rising tone SCOP and a phrase
final L verb tone. Just like the present, the inchoative belongs to the re-
alis mood and is a subcategory of the non-past. In contrast to the present
though, the inchoative occurs rarely in the corpus (only 1.4% of all bare
TM occurrences).
The inchoative indicates the entry into a state or beginning of an event.
In the literature, the inchoative is generally assumed to be an aspectual cate-
gory, which differs depending on the language: The inchoative has been ob-
served as part of the viewpoint aspectual system (aspect1 in Sasse’s (2002)
terms) for example by Melchert (1980) and Wichaya (2013: 50) who gives
an example for Fengshun Hakka in (360).
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(360) Fengshun Hakka; Sinitic

ŋai11 min11 phak55 liau42
1sg understand inch
‘I have understood.’
The inchoative has also been related to the Aktionsart of a verb (Sasse’s
aspect2 ) by, for instance, Botne (1983), Klein (1995), and Talmy (2007).
An example is given for Russian in (361) by Braginsky (2008: 226).
(361) Russian; Slavic

zvezda za-sverkalaPRF na nebe
star inch-twinkled on sky
‘The star started twinkling in the sky.’
The inchoative in Gyeli is different. Here, the inchoative is expressed

as a tense-mood category: it is formally marked by tone and combines with
aspect markers in embedded constructions (see section 5.5). Gyeli thus con-
trasts with better-known languages with grammatical inchoative marking,
e.g. Lithuanian, where the inchoative is purely viewpoint aspectual and
tense is encoded separately, as described by Arkadiev (2013). The Gyeli
inchoative both shifts the viewpoint to the beginning of a situation and lo-
cates the situation temporally at speech time (or narration time in the case
of story-telling). In (362), the situation is that Nzambi’s wife (see Appendix
II.2) has just given up her child in return for food. So she returns home
without the child. Before having reached her house, she arrives at the river
bank. At this point, she has just started to cry, i.e. she is at the beginning of
crying.
(362) ndɛ̀náà pámò lébũ̂ àá gyì.

ndɛ̀náà pámo H-le-bũ ̂ àá gyì
‘Having arrived like this [= without the child] at the river bank she
Even though the inchoative is inherently bounded at the beginning of an

event, i.e. it refers internally to the time just after the beginning of an event
or state, the event can additionally be bounded at the endpoint as well by
means of temporal adverbials and the like, as shown in (363).
286
(363) àá bámálá tɔ́bá mpfùmɔ̀ nà pámò mɛ́nɔ́.

àá bámala-H tɔ́bá mpfùmɔ̀ nà pámo mɛ́nɔ́
1.INCH scold-R since ∅3.midnight COM arrive ∅7.morning
‘He is at the beginning of scolding from midnight until the morning.’
Just like the present TM category, also the inchoative has the ability
to extend to a time after speech time, as shown in (364). Here, the event of
arriving, pándɛ, is perceived as a non-punctual event that has internal du-
ration. The inchoative refers to the first moment where ‘he’ is just showing
up at home.
(364) pílɔ̀ àá pándɛ̀ àà kfùmàlà bédéwɔ̀ bè

pílɔ̀ àá pándɛ àà kfùmala bédéwɔ̀ be
when 1.INCH arrive 1.FUT find OBJ.LINK-be8-food 8
sílɛ̃ɛ́ .̃̀
sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
finish.COMPL
‘When he is (at the beginning of) arriving, he will find that the food
is finished.’
Since the occurrence of the Gyeli inchoative is rare in natural speech, fur-
ther investigation is required to find out about the exact type of verbs that
can occur with this category (e.g types of events and states) or whether re-
strictions apply, for instance to verbs that do not have any internal duration.
5.2.4.3 Future
The future is formally expressed by a long vowel of the SCOP which, as

a default, takes a HL tone and, in some exceptional agreement classes, a L
tone. As part of the non-past categories, it has a final L tone on the verb
if the verb occurs phrase finally, just like present and inchoative. The
future belongs to the irrealis mood which is marked by the absence of a
metatonic H tone when the verb is not phrase final. It represents 10.8% of
the bare TM occurrences in the corpus.
The use of the future category primarily relates to a time some point
after speech time, i.e. the future. Often, it is accompanied by temporal
adverbials, as in (365) where Nzambi tells the mice that they will eat the
bones of the burned bodies the next day.
287
(365) àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè, nàmɛ́nɔ́.

àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè nàmɛ́nɔ́
The future category can also relate to intented acts, as in (366).
(366) pílɔ̀ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ nyá mùdì mɛ̀ɛ ̀ tɛ̀lɛ̀ mùdà ndáwɔ̀.
pílɔ̀ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ nyá m-ùdì mɛ̀ɛ ̀ tɛ̀lɛ mùdà ndáwɔ̀
when 1S.FUT be big N1-person 1S.FUT place great ∅9.house
‘When I will be grown up, I will build a great house.’
The same is true for promises, as in (367).
(367) mɛ́ kàkɛ́ wɛ̀ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ njì nàmɛ́nɔ́.

mɛ-H kàkɛ-H wɛ̀ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ njì nàmɛ́nɔ́
1S-PRES promise-R 2S.OBJ COMP 1S.FUT come tomorrow
‘I promise you that I will come tomorrow.’
Apart from factual temporal reference, the future also expresses possibil-
ity, as in (368). In this example, the sentence has two readings. In the first,
the speaker is convinced that the bag will break, thus, a more temporal
reading is implied. In another reading, the speaker can express uncertainty
and just gives the possibility that the bag might break.
(368) ká wɛ́ kíyá lékɔ́’ɔ̀ kwámɔ́ dè kwámɔ́ nyíì

ká wɛ-H kíya-H H-le-kɔ́’ɔ̀ kwámɔ́ dè kwámɔ́ nyíì
if 2S-PRES put-R OBJ.LINK-le5-stone ∅9.bag LOC ∅9.bag 9.FUT
búlɛ̀.
búlɛ
break
‘If you put the stone into the bag, the bag will/might break.’
5.2.4.4 Recent Past (PST1)
The recent past past 1 is the default past category and occurs significantly
more frequently in the corpus (18.7%) than the remote past past 2 (2.2%).
The recent past is characterized by a short vowel with a surface L tone on
the SCOP and final H tone on the verb, also when the verb is phrase final.
As a realis mood, it keeps this H tone in metatony environments, i.e. in
non-phrase final positions.
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The recent past refers to situations that happened before speech time, as
in (369) where time is further specified by a temporal adverb.
(369) mɛ̀ gyámbɔ́ bédéwɔ̀ nàkùgúù.

mɛ gyámbɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀ nàkùgúù
1S.PST1 cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-food yesterday
‘I cook food yesterday.’
The actual distance between speech time and the past situation that is
being referred to is relative. While, according to Nurse (2008: 22), many
Bantu languages distinguish past tense categories such as hodiernal and hes-
ternal past based on objective time intervals, namely days, this is not the
case in Gyeli. Thus, when a phrase is lacking further time specification, as
in (370), it is not inferrable at what time precisely the speaker has been vis-
iting the Ngumba. This could be, according to the context, earlier the same
day, the day before, the week before, or even a year before speech time.
(370) mɛ̀ bɛ́ ngyɛ̃̂ Ngvùmbɔ̀.

mɛ bɛ̀-H n-gyɛ̃̂ Ngvùmbɔ̀
1S.PST1 be-R N1-guest PN
‘I was a guest of the Ngumba.’
Temporal proximity is not based on objectively measurable parameters, but

rather relates to the speaker’s attitude towards the situation and potentially
its impact on speech time. Thus, different situations which have the same
temporal distance may be judged differently and therefore coded differently
with respect to the recent and remote past. For instance, a speaker may
use the recent past when reporting that they ate out with a good friend
yesterday. In contrast, stating that they ate their last meal at the same
temporal distance (yesterday) and have not eaten anything since then may
involve the remote past because not eating in 24 hours would be considered
a long time.
The recent past is also used in story-telling to generally set the scene
as in (371). Even though this autobiographic anecdote took place many
years before telling the story (Appendix II.1), the temporal distance is not
important to the speaker at this point. Therefore, he uses the default past
category.
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(371) yɔ́ɔ ̀ ŋgã̀ nû à bɛ́ ŋgã,̀

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ŋgã̀ nû a bɛ̀-H ŋgã̂
so ∅1.healer 1.DEM.PROX 1.PST1 be-R ∅1.healer
‘So, this healer was a healer.’
Finally, past 1 is the only TM category used with the absolute com-
pletive aspect marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ, as in 372. As described in section 5.3, most
aspect markers are restricted to certain TM categories. While most aspect
categories restricted to the past can combine with both recent and remote
past, the absolute completive is restricted to the past 1.
(372) mɛ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀.

mɛ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
1S.PST1 understand-R COMPL
5.2.4.5 Remote Past (PST2)
The remote past is expressed with a long HL vowel on the SCOP and a final
H tone on the verb. Just like the past 1, also past 2 belongs to the realis
mood. The remote past is the more marked form of the two past categories
and is thus less frequent with only 2.2% of the TM occurrences in the corpus.
As explained above for the recent past in section 5.2.4.4, past tense dis-
tinctions are based on relative speaker attitude rather than objective param-
eters. A remote past phrase such as mɛ́ɛ ̀ dé ‘I ate (a long time ago’) is gen-
erally translated by speakers with the plus-que-parfait into French: ‘j’avais
mangé’. From contexts and further explanations by speakers though, it is
clear that no posteriority is involved, but that past 2 refers to a relatively
more distant past. In (373), for instance, the chief of Ngolo talks about the
dangers of the Bagyeli’s lifestyle and points to a scar in his face that he got
from a machete. By using the remote past, he expresses his attitude towards
the injuring event as being temporally far away.
(373) mɛ́ bvú nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ́ mɛ̀ vâ.

1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅3.machete 3.PST2 miss-R 1S.OBJ here
‘I think that the machete had missed [= injured] me here.’
The same is true for his statement in (374). There, he talks about the former
settlement before the current village of Ngolo was built. Again, it is not
290
objectively inferrable whether the speaker had settled in the former village
when he was a child or a young man or even only two years ago. Using
the remote past, however, shows that in terms of relevance to the present
situation, settling in the old village is rather remote.
(374) ɛ́ pɛ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ tɛ́.

ɛ́ pɛ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ tɛ̂-H
LOC over.there 1S.PST2 found-PST
‘Over there I had originally settled.’
The remote past is also found in narrations such as the Nzambi folktale.
The general narration tense is the present. From time to time, however,
the narrator switches back from present to past, as seen in (375) where the
three sentences appear in the same order in the story. (375a) starts out in
the present, (375b) shows a temporal rupture using the remote past, and
in (375c), the speaker switches back to the general present.
(375) a. yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nìyɛ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nìyɛ
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.DIST return
‘So that Nzambi returns [home].’
b. ɛ́kɛ̀! nzàmbí wà nú áà sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ nà
ɛ́kɛ̀! nzàmbí wà nú áà sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ nà
EXCL PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.DIST 1.PST2 NEG.PST be COM
bã ̂ líná-á pámò.
bã ̂ líná a-H pámo
∅7.word when 1-PRES arrive
‘Oh! That Nzambi had no words when he arrives.’
c. nyɛ̀ nâ álè.
nyɛ nâ álè
1 COMP allez[French]
‘He [says]: Allez! [= Ok].’
It seems that the use of the remote past is intended to sporadically relocate
the story in time and emphasize that this (fictional) story happened a very
long time ago. At the same time, the narrator can use the remote past as
a means to distance himself from the story and comment about it. While
the general chain of events is told in the present—Nzambi returns home,
he says...—comments from the narrator about the state of the character are
realized in a different TM category, the remote past in this case.
291
Another example of past 2 in the folktale is in direct reported speech

where one Nzambi asks his friend whether he has really eaten his child.
Presumably, the remote past is used rather than the recent past in order to
stress the fact that he as the child’s father is too late to safe his child.
(376) wɛ́ɛ ̀ dé mwánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ?̀

wɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H m-wánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ ̀
2.PST2 eat-R N1-child no
‘You ate the child, didn’t you?’
In summary, the choice between the use of recent or remote past is based
on the speaker’s attitude towards a situation and the situation’s impact on
the current speech time.
5.2.4.6 Imperative
The imperative is an irrealis mood which is characterized by the absence

of the SCOP and a special tonal pattern on the verb, namely a final short HL
vowel.
(377) provides examples of singular imperative forms, marked by an
exclamation sign, and shows at the same time the infinitival form. The
examples cover all syllable lengths and tonal patterns found for verbs. They
show that the characteristic HL pattern for the imperative is only found on
the last syllable.
(377) a. dê! > dè ‘eat!’

b. nyɛ̂! > nyɛ̂ ‘see!’
c. gyàgâ! > gyàga ‘buy!’
d. gyámbɔ̂! > gyámbɔ ‘cook!’
e. vìdɛ̀gâ! > vìdɛga ‘turn!’
f. lúmɛ̀lɛ̂! > lúmɛlɛ ‘send!’
In monosyllabic verb stems, the verb takes a HL pattern, no matter whether

it is specified with a L or underlying H tone (which surfaces as HL due to
H tone lowering). As the examples for bisyllabic verbs show, the tone of
the first syllable remains the same while the toneless second syllable takes
the imperative HL tone. In trisyllabic verbs, the same is true. The second
syllable remains toneless and surfaces L, thus HTS does not apply here.
292
If the imperative form is not phrase final, but is followed by another

element, such as a nominal object, the verb form keeps its HL final tone
instead of taking a metatonic H tone. This tonal behavior assigns the im-
perative to the irrealis mood. Examples of non-phrase final imperative
forms are given in (378).8
(378) a. dê mántúà! ‘eat mangoes!’

b. nyɛ̂ mɛ̀! > nyɛ̂ ‘see me!’
c. gyàgâ mántúà! ‘buy mangoes’
d. gyámbɔ̂ bédéwɔ̀! ‘cook food!’
e. vìdɛ̀gâ wámíyɛ̀! ‘turn fast’
f. lúmɛ̀lɛ̂ békálàdɛ̀! ‘send books!’
Imperatives constitute one of the lower frequency TM categories in the

corpus with only 3.5 %. Imperative forms, expressing orders, are naturally
restricted since they only occur in direct speech. Thus, they mainly occur
in conversations, as in (379).
(379) bímbú lɛ́ mámbòŋgò mâ, wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ dígɛ̂

bímbú lɛ́ ma-mbòŋgò mâ wɛ mɛ́dɛ́ dígɛ̂
∅5.amount 5:ATT ma6-plant 6.DEM.PROX 2S self look.IMP
mɛ́dɛ́,
mɛ́dɛ́
self
‘The amount of these plants, yourself, look yourself,’
They are, however, also frequently found in narratives, namely in the form
of reported direct speech, as in (380).
(380) bàmbɛ́, kɛ̂ djíì mbúmbù mwánɔ̀ sá yí dè.

bàmbɛ́ kɛ̂ djíì mbúmbù m-wánɔ̀ sá yí dè
sorry go.IMP ask ∅1.namesake N1-child ∅7.thing 7:ATT eat
‘Excuse me, go and ask the namesake [the other Nzambi] for a little
to eat.’
Plural imperative If the addressee of an order is comprised of more than

one person, the plural particle ga, or its variant ŋga, is used, following the
imperative verb form, as in (381).
8
In the case of nominal objects with CV- noun class prefix, the object linking H tone
still applies.
293
(381) a. dê gà! ‘don’t (pl.) eat’

b. gyàgâ ŋgà! ‘don’t (pl.) buy’
The choice and distribution of the ga versus ŋga is not yet fully understood.
It seems that ga is the default case that is used with most verbs. ŋga, in
contrast, appears definitely when a monosyllabic verb ends in a nasal vowel
as it is the case with lã ̂ ‘read, count’ where the plural imperative is lã ̂
ŋgà! Nasal vowels are, however, not the only factor that triggers the plural
particle to surface with a nasal since ŋga is also found with bi- and trisyllabic
verbs which do not end in a nasal vowel, as shown in (381) with gyàgâ ŋgà!
There also seems to be a certain degree of free variation since both ga and
ŋga can occur with the same verb form, as in (382).
(382) a. dê gà! ‘don’t (pl.) eat’

b. dé ŋgá wámíyɛ̀! ‘don’t (pl.) eat fast’
In terms of its part of speech, I consider ga/ŋga as a particle rather than a

suffix that is bound to the imperative verb form. Reasons for this are both
syntactic and tonal. Syntactically, ga/ŋga does not always appear after the
verb, but may also occur before the verb. This is the case in negated plural
imperatives, as shown in (383). It is therefore not attached to the verb as
it is the case, for instance, with the plural marker -ni in Swahili.
(383) tí ŋgá dè wámíyɛ̀.

tí ŋga dè wámíyɛ̀
NEG PL eat fast
‘Don’t eat fast.’
Also, tonally ga/ŋga does not behave like a suffix. The particle is under-
lyingly toneless, just like extension morphemes, but tonally, it behaves more
like toneless CV- shape noun class prefixes. This is shown in (384). Phrase
finally, ga/ŋga surfaces L. If a nominal object follows, ŋga takes the object
linking H tone which ma-ntúà ‘mangoes’ would take if the plural particle
was not there. With the plural particle, however, ma-ntúà surfaces with a L
tone on the prefix. The same is true when the particle is followed by wámíyɛ̀
‘quickly’.
(384) a. dê ŋgà! ‘eat (pl.)!

b. dê ŋgá màntúà! ‘eat (pl.) mangoes!’
294
c. dê ŋgá wámíyɛ̀! ‘eat (pl.) quickly!’
Plural imperatives are less frequent than their singular counterparts in

the corpus. There are some examples though, given in (385) and (386).
(385) nyáà ŋgà, sílɛ́ nyî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù.

nyáà ŋgà sílɛ́-H nyî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
shit.IMP PL finish-R enter ∅9.house LOC inside
‘Faites chier, go all into the house.’
(386) sílɛ̂ ŋgà nyî vâ.

sílɛ̂ ŋgà nyî vâ
finish.IMP PL enter here
‘Enter all here.’
Cohortative The cohortative describes a wish directed towards the first

person plural and can be translated into English as let’s. It is a subclass of
the imperative and is formed with the same imperative verb form and
the plural particle ga/ŋga. In addition, the cohortative also takes the first
person plural SCOP with a H tone pattern, as shown in (387).
(387) a. yá dê gà! ‘Let’s eat!’

b. yá gyàgâ ŋgà! ‘Let’s buy!’
This H tone pattern on the SCOP is not identical with the present H tone
since the present TM category belongs to the realis mood and as such
would show a metatonic H tone on the verb. This, however, is not the case
with the cohortative that behaves as expected for the imperative category
and thus has a final HL tone on the verb.
Also when the verb is not phrase final, the construction is tonally parallel
to plural imperatives. As (388) shows, the verb keeps the non-metatonic HL
tone while the plural particle takes the object linking H tone and thus the
nominal object mantúà ‘mangoes’ surfaces L on its noun class prefix.
(388) a. yá dê gá màntúà! ‘Let’s eat mangoes!’

b. yá gyàgâ ŋgá màntúà! ‘Let’s buy mangoes!’
In summary, the category of imperatives is characterized by a HL tonal

pattern on its ultimate syllable. There are three subgroups of imperatives:
i) singular forms that have no SCOP, but only the bare imperative verb
295
form, ii) plural forms which have no SCOP either, but a plural particle fol-
lowing the imperative verb form, and iii) cohortative forms which are al-
most identical to plural imperatives with the exception that a first person
plural SCOP with a H tone precedes the verb form. Cohortative forms are
not represented in the corpus, but stem solely from elicitation.
5.2.4.7 Subjunctive
The subjunctive TM category in Gyeli is an irrealis mood that is charac-

terized by a H tone SCOP and a special tonal pattern on the verb, as shown
in (389).
(389) a. á dé’è > dè ‘he eat’

b. á nyɛ́’ɛ̀ > nyɛ̂ ‘he see’
c. á gyàgá’à > gyàga ‘he buy’
d. á gyámbɔ́’ɔ̀ > gyámbɔ ‘he cook’
e. á vìdɛ́gáà > vìdɛga ‘he turn’
f. á gyíkɛ́sɛ́’ɛ̀ > gyíkɛsɛ ‘he teach’
The verb ends in a HL tonal pattern. In contrast to the imperative which

also has a final HL, the subjunctive has a lengthened vowel. In addition,
the long vowel may occur with a glottal stop, as indicated by the apostrophe
in the transcription, or as a phraryngealized vowel. All these forms occur
in free variation. In fast speech, there is a tendency that the vowel is only
lengthened, but not pharyngealized or glottalized.
Another difference between imperative and subjunctive verb forms
concerns High Tone Spreading in trisyllabic verb forms. While no HTS oc-
curs in imperatives where the penultimate syllable in trisyllabic verbs sur-
faces L, HTS occurs in subjunctives. Thus, the penultimate syllable in
trisyllabic verbs surfaces H, as shown in (389).
As an irrealis mood, the subjunctive keeps its final HL tone on the verb
even when the verb is not phrase final. When followed by a nominal object,
for instance, only the object CV- prefix takes the object linking H tone, but
the verb does not take a metatonic H, as shown in (390).
(390) a. á gyàgá’à mántúà ‘he buy mangoes’

b. á nyùlɛ́’ɛ̀ májíwɔ́ ‘he drink water’
296
c. á gyámbɔ́’ɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀ ‘he cook food’

d. á dyíkɛ́’ɛ̀ mándáwɔ̀ ‘he burn the houses’
e. á gyíkɛ́sɛ́’ɛ̀ bábwálɛ̀ fàlà ‘he teach the parents French’
As to its distribution and meaning, the subjunctive in Gyeli is used in

order to express wishes or orders. Subjunctive forms often occur in subor-
dinate clauses which involve i) wishes expressed in reported speech (391a),
ii) obligations (391b) or iii) prohibition (391c).
(391) a. á lãã́ ́ mɛ̀ nâ mɛ́ vɛ́’ɛ̀ bwánɔ̀

a-H ́ ̀
lãã-H mɛ̀ nâ mɛ-H vɛ́’ɛ̀ b-wánɔ̀
3S-PRES tell-R 1S.OBJ COMP 1S-PRES give.SBJV ba2-child
bèfùmbí.
be-fùmbí
be8-orange
‘He tells me that I should give the children oranges.’
b. yíì mpìnàgà nâ wɛ́ kɛ́’ɛ̀ sùkúlì.
yíì mpìnàgà nâ wɛ-H kɛ́’ɛ̀ sùkúlì
7 ∅3.obligation COMP 2S-PRES go.SBJV ∅7.school
‘It’s an obligation that you go to school.’
c. yíì mpìndá nâ wɛ́ djíwɔ́’ɔ̀
yíì mpìndá nâ wɛ-H djíwɔ́’ɔ̀
7 ∅9.prohibition COMP 2S-PRES steal.SBJV
bésâ.
H-be-sâ
OBJ.LINK-be8-thing
‘It’s forbidden that you steal things.’
Wishes and intentions can not only be expressed by an animate agent, but
also inanimate objects are treated as having intentions. This is exemplified
in (391) where the straw is said to have the intention to sting people’s arms.
When translating these phrases, speakers consistently use the French verb
vouloir ‘want’. The example further shows that the SCOP usually preceding
the subjunctive form can be elided.

when 7-PRES enter-R 1S N3-arm ∅7.bamboo 7-PRES can-R
nâ nyíì wɛ̀ mbɔ̀.
nâ nyíì wɛ̀ m-bɔ̀
297
Subjunctive forms occur more frequently in the corpus than impera-

tives, 4.6% in comparison to only 3.5%. The reason for this may be that
subjunctives are considered more polite. At the same time, as shown in
section 5.2.4.1 on the present TM category, also the present can take
over the function of imperatives while it usually does not take over the
function of subjunctives. (393) and (394) provide further subjunctive
examples from the corpus.
(393) á lèmbó nâ bùdì báà bà múà

a-H lèmbo-H nâ b-ùdì báà ba múà
1S-PRES know-R COMP ba2-person 2.DEM.PROX 2 PROSP
búɛ̀lɛ̀ nâ bá dyúù nyɛ̀.
búɛlɛ̀ nâ ba-H dyúù nyɛ̀
fish COMP 2-PRES kill.SBJV 1.OBJ
‘He knows that these people are about to fish [= look for him] in
order to kill him.’
While most subjunctive forms occur in a subordinate complement clause

involving the complementizer nâ, subjunctives can also occur in subordi-
nate clauses without complementizer nâ, as in (394).
(394) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ mándáwɔ̀ má zì má

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H H-ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì ma-H
so 1S-PRES want-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6-PRES
tɛ́wɔ́’ɔ̀ mɛ̀ vâ, ndá zì.
tɛ́wɔ̀ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ vâ ndá zì
put.SBJV 1S.OBJ here ATT[Bulu] ∅7.tin[Bulu]
‘So I want tin (roofed) houses be put here for me, of tin.’
There are a few examples where the subjunctive is not restricted to a

subordinate clause, but can occur in the main clause, as in (395).
(395) bɛ̀yá nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmàlà.

bɛ̀ya-H nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmala
2P-PRES come.SBJV 1P.OBJ find
‘You (pl) may come to meet us.’
298
5.3 Aspectual Markers

While tense-mood marking in Gyeli is obligatory since every SCOP and verb
has to surface with a certain tonal pattern that characterizes the single cat-
egories, aspect marking is optional. At the same time, aspect marking is
significantly less frequent in the corpus with 122 occurrences than utter-
ances with tense-mood marking only (369 occurrences). Another difference
between tense-mood and aspect marking concerns their form. While tense-
mood is mainly expressed tonally on the SCOP and verb, aspect marking is
achieved through segmental material. This includes mainly aspectual verbs
which are more or less grammaticalized as well as postverbal morphemes.
In this section, I first present the different aspect forms, explaining their
morphosyntactic properties and the tonal patterns of the SCOP that are spe-
cific to aspectual markers as well as restrictions to certain TM categories. I
then discuss the frequency of the single aspect markers in the corpus and
combinations of multiple aspect markers. In the following subsections, I in-
vestigate the functions and meaning of single aspect forms, providing more
details and examples.
Gyeli has ten aspect markers which are presented in Table 5.11.9 The ta-
ble holds information on the morphosyntactic status of each aspect marker,
its form, the tonal pattern of its SCOP, represented by the class 2 SCOP ba,
TM restriction, and its function with which it is also glossed in examples
and texts.
Morphosyntactic properties of aspect markers Most aspect markers in

Gyeli are verbs. They function as finite verbs which are tonally inflected
for mood distinctions. At the same time, they precede a non-finite verb
which carries lexical information of the event in the clause. The difference
between finite and non-finite verbs in Gyeli is that finite verbs potentially
take metatonic tones, depending on the mood category, while non-finite
9
The abbreviations used in the table and in glosses are the following:
compl: absolute completive
hab: habitual
nca: non-complete accomplishment
prf: experiential perfect
prog: progressive
prosp: prospective
retro: retrospective
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Status Aspect SCOP TM Function

marker restriction
Grammaticalized nzíí bà pres prog
verbs nzí bà, báà pst prog
nzɛ́ɛ ́ bà subordinate prog
pã́ various none prior
Transparent lɔ́ ‘come’ bá pres retro
verbs bwàá ‘have’ bà, báà pst prf
múà ‘be’ mixed fut prosp
sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ various none nca
Reduplication STEM-STEM bá pres hab
Postverbal mɔ̀/-Ṽ bà pst1 compl
Table 5.11: Gyeli aspect markers
verbs are not inflected for mood. Finite verbs occupy the first position in a
chain of multiple verbs. Every verb following a finite verb is automatically
non-finite. In (396), for instance, the present progressive marker nzíí
precedes the non-finite verb gyámbɔ ‘cook’, carrying a metatonic H tone
which assigns nzíí to the realis moods. I will get back to aspect and mood
below.
(396) mɛ̀ nzíí gyámbɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

mɛ nzíì ́ gyámbɔ H-be-déwɔ̀
1S PROG.PRES.R cook OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I am cooking food.’
Verbal aspect markers differ in their degree of grammaticalization. In

Table 5.11, I distinguish highly grammaticalized from less grammaticalized
transparent verbs. Grammaticalized aspectual verbs cannot occur by them-
selves as a verb nor can they be translated into any (verbal) meaning by
speakers. The set of grammaticalized aspect verbs include the three pro-
gressive markers nzíí for the present, nzí for the past, and nzɛ́ɛ ́ for sub-
ordinate clauses, and pã.́ The latter is consistently translated as d’abord
‘first’ in French which suggests that speakers do not recognize any verbal
character. In terms of tonal patterns and phrase position and distribution,
however, pã ́ behaves just like the other verbal aspect markers.
Other aspectual verbs are more transparent in their meaning and can
be used in non-aspectual contexts as well. When used as aspectual markers
though, they are restricted to certain TM categories. In this, they differ from
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other verb types, for instance modals such as wúmbɛ ‘want’ or yànɛ ‘must’ or
deictic motion verbs such as kɛ̀ ‘go’ or it njì ‘come’. These are not restricted
to specific TM categories. The retrospective marker lɔ́, for instance, is
a loan word from Basaa (A43) and means ‘come’. It is never used as such
in Gyeli, however, since the language has its own lexeme njì. Nevertheless,
speakers are aware of the origin. lɔ́ is further restricted to the present and
never found in any other TM category, unlike the Gyeli lexeme njì ‘come’.
In contrast to the more grammaticalized aspect verbs and the retro-
spective marker lɔ́, the other transparent aspect verbs can occur by them-
selves without another verb following them. This is, for instance, the case
with the perfect marker bwàá which can oocur without another verb when
it expresses identity relations, as shown in (397).
(397) yɔ́ɔ ̀ bànzàmbí bá tè bà bwàá sɔ́,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-nzàmbí bá tè ba bwàà-H sɔ́,
so 2-PN 2:ATT there 2.PST1 PRF-R ∅1.friend
‘So, the Nzambis there had been friends,’
At the same time, bwàá can also occur with another verb, as in (398).10
(398) à bwàá yɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ́ djì mpù.

a bwàà-H yɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀-H djì mpù
1.PST1 PRF-R then? go-R stay like.this
‘He [the other Nzambi] had gone and stood like this.’
Also, the prospective marker múà ‘be’ can occur both independently on its
own as in (399), or in conjunction with another verb, as in (400).
(399) mɛ̀ múà tísɔ̀nì

mɛ múà tísɔ̀nì
1S PROSP ∅7.town
‘I’m about to be in town.’
(400) nyɛ̀ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀ dẽ,́

nyɛ nâ a múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ dẽ ́
‘He [says] that he is about to beat you today,’
10
Speakers translate this example as Il est depuis allé rester comme ça. into Cameroonian
French.
301
The transparent aspectual verb sílɛ ‘finish’ marking non-complete ac-

complishment is special in that it is not restricted to certain TM categories
and is, at the same time, clearly recognized as a verb by speakers (in con-
trast to pã)́ . As such, it represents the least grammaticalized of all aspect
verbs. One could argue that sílɛ ‘finish’ may then not constitute a real aspect
marker, but should be considered as a semi-auxiliary as, for instance, táalɛ
‘begin’. In contrast to semi-auxiliaries, however, sílɛ is subject to distribu-
tional restrictions which clearly indicate aspectual character, as illustrated
in (401) and (402). Semi-auxiliaries such as táalɛ ‘begin’ can be used with
all kinds of participants.
(401) a. bà táálɛ́ kɛ̀.

ba táalɛ-H kɛ̀
2.PST1 begin-R go
‘They began to walk.’
b. à táálɛ́ kɛ̀.
a táalɛ-H kɛ̀
1.PST1 finish-R go
‘He began to walk.’
(402) a. bà sílɛ́ kɛ̀.

ba sílɛ-H kɛ̀
2.PST1 finish-R go
‘They have all gone.’
b. *à sílɛ́ kɛ̀.
a sílɛ-H kɛ̀
1.PST1 finish-R go
‘*He has all gone.’
In contrast to the semi-auxiliary táalɛ ‘begin’, the aspect verb sílɛ can only
be used with plural subjects in certain contexts, as in (402a), where the
event distributes over the different participants, while singular subjects as
in (402b) are thus ungrammatical. The functions and meaning of sílɛ ‘finish’
as well as its functional label are discussed in more detail in section 5.3.7.
There are two aspectual categories that are not expressed by aspectual
verbs, but by other means. The habitual is marked by verb stem redupli-
cation, for instance, in mɛ́ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂ ‘I (often, usually) see’ or mɛ́ pándɛ̀ pàndɛ̀ ‘I
(often, usually) arrive’. Tonal patterns on the reduplicated verb stems may
change though; this is described in section 5.3.8.
302
The second non-verbal aspect marker is the absolute completive and

is expressed by a postverbal morpheme that comes in different variations.
It either surfaces as the morpheme mɔ̀ or as a lengthened and nasalized final
verb vowel with a HL tonal pattern. This is further discussed in section 5.3.6
Aspect and SCOP For some aspectual markers, the tonal patterns of the
SCOP differ from the shape as discussed for the TM categories without aspec-
tual marking. This is true for the present progressive marker nzíí and the
prospective marker múà. The other aspect marker SCOPs take the same
tonal patterns as the respective TM category SCOPs without aspect mark-
ing. While Table 5.11 lists surface SCOP patterns according to the different
aspect categories, Table 5.12 sorts aspect markers by their SCOP shape.
SCOP SCOP Aspect TM Function

surface shape example marker restriction
short vowel bà nzíí pres prog
L tone bà nzɛ́ɛ ́ subordinate prog
bà mɔ̀/-Ṽ pst1 compl
short vowel bá lɔ́ ‘come’ pres retro
H tone bá STEM-STEM pres hab
two patterns bà, báà nzí pst prog
bà and báà bà, báà bwàá ‘have’ pst prf
mixed mɛ̀, bá múà ‘be’ fut prosp
various pã́ none prior
sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ none nca
Table 5.12: SCOPs for different aspect markers
There are five SCOP groups for aspect markers: those with i) short vowels
surfacing in a L tone (which I analyze as underlyingly toneless), ii) short
vowels with a H tone, iii) aspect markers which take two different patterns
depending on the two past categories they are restricted to, namely the
short L vowel past 1 and the long HL vowel for past 2, iv) a mixed cate-
gory, and v) a category allowing various SCOP patterns. The latter group
is comprised of the aspect markers which are not restricted to any TM cate-
gories. For this reason, their SCOP can occur in various shapes, depending
on the TM category in which the aspect marker is used.
While most aspect markers occur with a SCOP that takes the same shape
as in non-aspectual marking, two exceptions deserve further mention. The
303
first one is the progressive marker nzíí in the present which combines with
a L tone SCOP, even though present is marked with a H tone SCOP when as-
pect markers are not present. It would, however, be wrong to classify nzíí as
restricted to past categories, according to the L tone SCOP pattern, because
in terms of meaning, the present and past progressive forms provide
clear minimal pairs, as shown in (403). In fact, for the progressive, it is
the aspectual marker itself that encodes tense information, distinguishing
present and past. The SCOPs for present and past 1 are identical for
the progressive. Only for past 2 does the SCOP change according to its
usual past 2 shape, as shown in (403c).
(403) a. mɛ̀ nzíí dè

mɛ nzíí dè
1S PROG.PRES.R eat
‘I am eating.’
b. mɛ̀ nzí dè
mɛ nzí de
1S.PST1 PROG.PST.R eat
‘I was eating [= recently].’
c. mɛ́ɛ ̀ nzí dè
mɛ́ɛ ̀ nzi-H de
1S.PST2 PROG.PST eat
‘I was eating [= a long time ago].’
The second SCOP exception concerns the prospective marker múà.

Here, the SCOP pattern is comparable to the future where some SCOPs
have an exceptional tonal pattern from the others. The first and second per-
son singular as well as the class 1 SCOP are different from the other agree-
ment classes. The actual shape, however, differs between prospective and
future SCOPs. In the future, SCOPs have a long vowel which are all L
for the exceptional cases and HL for the majority. In contrast, prospective
SCOPs have all short vowels with a L tone for the exceptional and H tones
for the majority classes. This is also illutsrated in Table 5.13 which provides
the SCOPs for all participants and agreement classes for the different aspect
categories.11 Aspect categories which are not restricted to certain TM cate-
11
The class 1 SCOP a has, as in the general TM categories, two variants nyɛ and nu.
They can also occur with aspect markers, but for better readability of the table, I do not
represent them here.
304
gories are not represented since they take their SCOPs according to the TM
category they occur in.
Aspect 1S 2S 1P 2P 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
nzíí mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
nzɛ́ɛ ́ mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
mɔ̀/-Ṽ mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
lɔ́ mɛ́ wɛ́ yá bwá(á) á bá wú mí lé má yí bé nyí
hab mɛ́ wɛ́ yá bwá(á) á bá wú mí lé má yí bé nyí
nzí mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
mɛ́ɛ ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ yáà bwáà áà báà wúù míì léè máà yíì béè nyíì
bwàá mɛ wɛ ya bwa(a) a ba wu mi le ma yi be nyi
mɛ́ɛ ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ yáà bwáà áà báà wúù míì léè máà yíì béè nyíì
múà mɛ wɛ yá bwá(á) a bá wú mí lé má yí bé nyí
Table 5.13: Patterns of the SCOP in different AGR classes and aspect cate-
gories
Tense-mood restrictions As stated before, most aspect markers are re-

stricted to certain tense-mood categories which distinguishes them from
modal or deictic motion verbs. Aspect markers vary in the number of TM
categories they are restricted to. Three out of nine markers are restricted
to the present, namely the present progressive marker nzíí, the ret-
rospective marker lɔ́, and the habitual which is expressed by verb stem
reduplication.
The same amount of aspect markers is restricted to the past. While
some past aspect markers can occur in both the recent past 1 and the
remote past 2, others only appear in the recent past 1. The progressive
marker nzí and the perfect marker bwàá are restricted to past in general,
i.e. they occur in both past categories. They are marked by ‘past’ in the
TM restrictions column of Table 5.11. In contrast, the table specifies for
the absolute completive marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ that this postverbal marker only
occurs in past 1.
The prospective marker múà can be assigned to the future TM cate-
gory. It takes the tonal pattern of the irrealis for the verb múà in non phrase
final position, namely a final L tone. And even though its SCOP differs from
the general future SCOP in non-aspect marking contexts, it shows the same
category internal variation: first and second person singular as well as the
SCOP of class 1 have a different shape in comparison to all other participants
and agreement classes, as shown in Table 5.13.
305
Finally, there are two aspect categories which are not restricted to any
TM category: pã ́ ‘first’ and the non-complete accomplishment marker
sílɛ ‘finish’. Examples for both are given below in the subsections on the
single aspect markers.
Aspect and mood Each aspect category also cross-cuts with at least one
mood category. As Table 5.14 shows, most aspect markers belong to the
realis mood, while only one marker, namely the prospective múà, belongs
to the irrealis category. Aspect markers that are not restricted to a specific
TM category can occur in both realis and irrealis mood.
Mood Aspect TM Function

marker restriction
realis nzíí pres prog
nzí pst prog
nzɛ́ɛ ́ subordinate prog
lɔ́ ‘come’ pres retro
bwàá ‘have’ pst prf
mɔ̀/-Ṽ pst1 compl
STEM-STEM pres hab
irrealis múà ‘be’ fut prosp
both pã ́ none prior
sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ none nca
Table 5.14: Mood categories of aspect markers
Affiliation to realis mood is determined by the presence of a metatonic

H tone, as described in section 5.2.3. This also holds for aspect marking.
With aspect marking though, there is variation where the metatonic H tone
shows up. For verbal aspect markers, it is the aspect marker that carries
the metatonic tone, as illustrated in (404). (404a) shows the position of the
metatonic H tone without aspect marking and (404b) with aspect marking.
(404) a. á sɛ́lɔ́ béntɔ̀gɔ̀ byɛ́sɛ̀.

a-H sɛ́lɔ-H H-be-ntɔ̀gɔ̀ by-ɛ́sɛ̀
1-PRES peel-R OBJ.LINK-be8-sweet.potato 8-all
‘He peels all the sweet potatos.’
b. à nzíí sɛ́lɔ̀ béntɔ̀gɔ̀ byɛ́sɛ̀.
a nzíí sɛ́lɔ H-be-ntɔ̀gɔ̀ by-ɛ́sɛ̀
1S PROG.PRES.R peel OBJ.LINK-be8-sweet.potato 8-all
‘He is peeling all the sweet potatos.’
306
Since these verbal aspect markers never occur phrase finally—they are al-
ways followed by a verb or sometimes, in the case of bwàá, by a nominal—it
is not possible to prove their underlying tonal pattern. For example, judg-
ing from other present monosyllabic verb forms that end in a long vowel,
one would assume that the underlying form for nzíí is nzíì and for bwàá it
should be bwàà. Given the lack of evidence though, I use the default surface
form nzíí and bwàá as quotation forms and mark the metatonic tone as being
inherent to this aspect form.
Non-verbal aspect markers that belong to the realis mood mark their
metatonic H tone on the finite verb, as expected, except that the finite verb
here is not the aspect marker. In the case of the postverbal absolute com-
pletive marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ, the preceding finite verb carries the metatonic H
tone. In (405a), the metatonic H tone thus appears on the final vowel of
gyámbɔ ‘cook’. The more grammaticalized variant in (405b) also carries the
H tone. Here, the verb and the completive marker mɔ̀ have fused, resulting
in a long final vowel that is nasalized and that reflects the tonal pattern of
the mɔ̀ variant: first a metatonic H tone and then the L tone of the postverbal
aspect marker, surfacing as a long HL vowel.
(405) a. mɛ̀ gyámbɔ́ mɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

mɛ gyámbɔ-H mɔ̀ H-be-déwɔ̀
1S cook-R COMPL OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I have cooked the food.’
b. mɛ̀ gyámbɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ bédéwɔ̀
mɛ gyámbɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ H-be-déwɔ̀
1S cook:R:PRF OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I have cooked the food.’
In the case of verb stem reduplication in the habitual aspect, metatonic

H tones are also used when the reduplicated form is not phrase final. The
reduplicated verb stem does not count as an element following the verb,
but as part of the verb itself. Therefore, no metatonic tone occurs on the
final vowel of the first verb, as shown in (406). This is also why I consider
reduplicated habitual forms as one word rather than two. In contrast, the
absolute completive marker mɔ̀ has to be considered a free morpheme
since it triggers a metatonic H tone which only applies across word bound-
aries.
307
(406) mɛ́ nyùlɛ̀nyùlɛ̀

mɛ-H nyùlɛ-nyùlɛ
1S-PRES drink-drink
‘I often drink.’
Further, reduplications come with special tonal patterns, preferring all

L tones on the reduplicated second verb, even though the verb form itself
may be specified with a H tone on the first syllable. This is shown in (407)
where the verb pándɛ ‘arrive’ has a H tone in its first syllable. In the verb
copy, however, this tone is overridden and surfaces L.
(407) mɛ́ pándɛ̀pàndɛ̀

mɛ-H pándɛ-pandɛ
1S-PRES arrive-arrive
‘I often arrive.’
If a reduplicated habitual form is followed by, for instance a noun,

metatonic H tones occur on both verb stems, as in (408). The metatonic
H tone spreads across all underlyingly toneless syllables which includes the
whole verb copy and the extension morphemes of the first verb.
(408) mɛ́ dílɛ́sɛ́dílɛ́sɛ́ bwánɔ̀

mɛ-H dílɛsɛ-dilɛsɛ-H b-wánɔ̀
1S-PRES feed-feed-R ba2-child
‘I often give food to the children.’
While aspect markers majoritarily belong to the realis mood, there is also
a clear case of irrealis aspect. This is the case for the prospective marker
múà. múà does not take a metatonic H tone, as shown in (409).
(409) mɛ̀ múà gyámbɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

mɛ múà gyámbɔ H-be-déwɔ̀
1S PROSP cook OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I’m about to cook food.’
Finally, aspect markers that are not restricted to certain TM categories

can be used in both realis and irrealis moods. In (410), for instance, pã ̂
appears with a metatonic tone in the realis present category.
308
(410) wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ pã́ lígɛ̀ yá nà nyɛ̀ yá kɛ́

wɛ mɛ́dɛ́ pã-̂ H lígɛ ya-H nà nyɛ ya-H kɛ̀-H
2S self start-R stay 1P-PRES COM 1 1P-PRES go-R
mánkɛ̃.̂
H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
OBJ.LINK-6-field
In contrast, in (411), pã ̂ is used in the irrealis imperative category without

metatonic tone.
(411) pã̂ mɛ̂ láà tè!

pã ̂ mɛ̂ láà tè
start.IMP1S.OBJ tell there
‘Tell me first there! [= Tell me how they would come.]’
The same distribution is found for the non-complete accomplishment

marker sílɛ. Examples are provided below in section 5.3.7.
Frequency of aspect markers in corpus As mentioned, aspect markers

are significantly less frequent in the corpus than constructions that use tense-
mood marking only. They present a total of 122 occurrences, as shown in
Table 5.15, while tense-mood marking only is represented 369 times in the
corpus.
Status Aspect TM Function Frequency

marker restriction
Grammaticalized nzíí pres prog 17 (13.9 %)
verbs nzí pst prog 10 (8.2 %)
nzɛ́ɛ ́ subordinate prog 0 (0 %)
pã ́ none prior 11 (9 %)
Transparent lɔ́ ‘come’ pres retro 17 (13.9 %)
verbs bwàá ‘have’ pst prf 3 (2.5 %)
múà ‘be’ fut prosp 14 (11.5 %)
sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ none nca 20 (16.4 %)
Reduplication STEM-STEM pres hab 1 (0.8 %)
Postverbal mɔ̀/-Ṽ pst1 compl 29 (23.8 %)
Total 122
Table 5.15: Frequency of aspect markers in corpus
Not all aspect markers occur equally frequently. The most used one is the
postverbal absolute completive marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ which constitutes almost
309
a quarter of all aspect markers in the corpus. The non-complete accom-

plishment marker sílɛ (16.4 %), the present progressive nzíí and retro-
spective marker lɔ́, both 13.9 %, as well as the prospective marker múà
(11.5 %) range in the middle in terms of frequency among aspect markers.
The progressive marker nzɛ́ɛ ́ for subordinate clauses and the habitual
both do not occur at all or only very rarely in the corpus. Data for these
categories stem from elicitation and questionnaires.
Aspect marker combinations Just like the co-occurrence of more than

one TM category is prohibited, also combinations of several aspect markers
seems to be generally ruled out. I found one exception though where the
progressive can co-occur with the absolute completive, as in (412).
Instead of using the bare progressive form with the verb sílɛ ‘finish’, the
speaker marks sílɛ with the absolute completive morpheme, expressing
that the field of palm fruit is in the process of having run out of food.
(412) nkɛ̀ nyì nzí sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̀̃ bédéwò.

nkɛ̀ nyi nzí ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ H-be-déwò.
∅9.field 9 PROG.PST finish.COMPL OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘This field was already running out of food.’
There are instances where the verb sílɛ, which is also the marker for the
non-complete accomplishment aspect, co-occurs with aspect markers.
In these cases, however, I suggest that sílɛ be rather considered as the verb
‘finish’ instead of the aspect marker. sílɛ is the least grammaticalized aspect
marker in Gyeli. This non-grammaticalized status allows for co-occurrences
following other aspect markers, as in (413) where sílɛ follows the retro-
spective marker lɔ́ as a non-finite verb form.
(413) bɔ́nɛ́gá bá lɔ́ sílɛ̀ làwɔ̀ nâ bvúlɛ̀ bá

bɔ́-nɛ́gá ba-H lɔ́ sílɛ làwɔ nâ bvúlɛ̀ ba-H
2-other 2-PRES RETRO finish speak COMP ba2.Bulu 2-PRES
ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bágyɛ̀lì,
ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
bother-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
‘The others have just said that the Bulu bother the Bagyeli,’
Another example is found with the prospective marker múà in (414).
310
(414) mɛ̀ múà sílɛ̀ dè.

mɛ múà sílɛ dè
1S PROSP finish eat
‘I’m about to be done eating.’
In contrast, combinations of other more grammaticalized aspect markers are

not possible.
Aspect markers and negation Aspect markers cannot be used with nega-
tion. Negated forms only take the bare TM categories without aspect mark-
ing. Thus, a sentence that would appear with, for instance, the progressive
in an affirmative context, would lose its aspect marking under negation and
just take the negation form of the specific TM form, as discussed in section
5.4 on negation. A contrastive example is already given here in (415). As
(415c) shows, the progressive marker cannot be used under negation.
(415) a. mɛ̀ nzíí dè.

mɛ nzíí dè
1S PROG.PRES eat
‘I’m eating.’
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ délɛ́
mɛ̀ɛ ́ de-lɛ́
1S.NEG eat-NEG.PRES
‘I don’t eat.’
c. *mɛ̀ nzíí délɛ́
mɛ nzíí de-lɛ́
1S PROG.PRES eat-NEG.PRES
‘I’m not eating.’
In the remainder of this section, I will present the single aspect categories in
more detail, providing more examples and describing each marker’s mean-
ing.
5.3.1 Progressive nzíí, nzí, and nzɛ́ɛ ́

The progressive aspect category has three suppletive forms for different
TM categories: nzíí for the present, nzí for the general past, i.e. both re-
cent and remote, and nzɛ́ɛ ́ in subordinate clauses. The progressive is a
frequently found aspect category with 27 occurrences in the corpus which
311
is 22.1 % of all aspect markers. The present form is significantly more rep-
resented than the past form while the subordinate progressive form nzɛ́ɛ ́
was only found in elicitations and questionnaires, but not in the corpus.
The progressive forms for the present and past are distributed alike,
as shown in (403). In (403a), the present form is used and a deictic ad-
verb that refers to speech time. In (403b), the past form is used with the
temporal adverb nàkùgúù ‘yesterday’.
(416) a. mɛ̀ nzíí gyámbɔ̀ tɛ́ɛ.̀

mɛ nzíí gyámbɔ tɛ́ɛ ̀
1S PROG.PRES.R cook now
‘I’m cooking now.’
b. mɛ̀ nzí gyámbɔ̀ nàkùgúù.
mɛ nzí gyámbɔ nàkùgúù
1S PROG.PST.R cook yesterday
‘I was cooking yesterday.’
In contrast, the form nzɛ́ɛ ́ only occurs in subordinate clauses, indicated by

square brackets in the examples, as in (417) and (418). Since nzɛ́ɛ ́ is not
specified for a certain tense, tense-mood information has to be coded in the
matrix clause.
(417) ká wɛ́ pámó màwùlà lɔ̀mbì, wɛ́ kfùmàlà [mɛ̀

ká wɛ-H pámo-H ma-wùlà lɔ̀mbì wɛ-H kfùmàlà mɛ
if 2S-PRES arrive-R ma6-hour eight 2S-PRES find 1S
nzɛ́ɛ ́ gyámbɔ̀.]
nzɛ́ɛ ́ gyámbɔ
PROG.SUB.R cook
‘If you arrive at eight o’clock, you find that I am cooking.’
In (417), the matrix clause occurs in the present while the one in (418)
occurs in the future. Even though the future category belongs to the
irrealis mood which does not take metatonic H tones, this does not affect
the subordinate progressive nzɛ́ɛ:́ it always occurs with a metatonic H
tone, irrespective of the TM category in the matrix clause.
(418) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀.]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀
1S.FUT be 1S PROG.SUB.R go
‘I will be going.’
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In terms of its meaning, the progressive describes situations as ongoing

and unbounded, as shown in (419b). It is semantically distinct from the un-
marked tense-mood form in (419a) which seems to carry some imperfective
meaning. Thus, also in the non-aspectual form, there are no endpoints of
the situation implied (this depends, of course, also on the verb type). The
emphasis of the progressive form, however, is specifically on the dura-
tion of the situation. This is also reflected in speakers’ French translation
of progressive constructions which are usually translated with the French
construction être en train de faire quelque chose ‘being in the process of doing
something’.
(419) a. mɛ́ dè.

mɛ-H dè
1S-PRES eat
‘I eat.’
b. mɛ̀ nzíí dè.
mɛ nzíí dè
1S PROG.PRES.R eat
‘I’m eating.’
The progressive in Gyeli differs in a few respects from its distribution

in, for instance, English. For example, this aspect form is especially found
in questions, as in (420). While the unmarked, bare tense-mood form is
also grammatically correct in questions, the progressive form is definitely
preferred and much more frequent.12
(420) nzá nzíí mɛ̂ nyɛ̂?

Another difference with regard to English is that the Gyeli progressive

aspect does not seem to be restricted to certain verb classes. While English,
for instance, disprefers progressives with verbs expressing states, in Gyeli
all kinds of verbs can occur with the progressive. This is illustrated in
(421) for a stative verb and in (422) for a (desiderative) modal verb.
12
For more information on questions, see chapter 6.4.1
313
(421) kó mbúmbù, nyɛ̀ nzí lèmbò dyùù bɔ̂ fàmíì

kó mbúmbù nyɛ nzí lèmbo dyùù bɔ̂ fàmíì
EXCL ∅1.namesake 1.PST1 PROG know kill 2.OBJ ∅1.family
bá bùdì ná?
bá b-ùdì ná
2:ATT ba2-person how
‘Oh namesake, how could he kill them, the family of people?’
(422) mɛ̀ nzí wúmbɛ̀ nâ bwánɔ̀ bã̂ bá

mɛ nzí wúmbɛ nâ b-wánɔ̀ b-ã ̂ ba-H
1S.PST1 PROG want COMP ba2-child 2-POSS.1S 2-PRES
bwámóò ɛ́ mpù mìntáŋgánɛ́ békúdɛ́
bwámóò ɛ́ mpù mi-ntáŋgánɛ́ H-be-kúdɛ́
become.SBJV LOC like.this mi4-white.person OBJ.LINK-be8-skin
bé mpâ.
bé mpâ
8:ATT good
‘I have been wanting my children to get like the white people good
skin.’
In addition to describing a situation as ongoing and unbounded, the pro-

gressive is also used for backgrounding information, as shown in (423)
which presents three chronological utterances by a speaker talking about
his mother. The phrase in (423a) includes the main information, namely
that the speaker’s mother is in another village (and not in Ngolo). He then
explains as backgrounding information in (423b) that she went there for his
brother’s funeral. In (423c), this is supplemented with further background
information, namely that the brother had died there.
(423) a. nyãã́ ̀ wã̂ núú Ntàbɛ̀tɛ́ndá pɛ̀.

nyãã ́ ̀ w-ã ̂ núú Ntàbɛ̀tɛ́ndá pɛ̀
∅1.mother 1-POSS.1S 1.DEM.DIST PN there
‘My mother is over there in Ntabɛtɛnda [= name of village].’
b. à nzí kɛ̀ lètʃíndɔ́ lé
a nzí kɛ̀ le-tsíndɔ́ lé
1 PROG.PST1 go le5-funeral.ceremony 5:ATT
ntùmbà wã.̂
n-tùmbà w-ã̂
N1-older.brother 1-POSS.1S
‘She was going to my older brother’s funeral ceremony.’
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c. nɔ́gá à nzí wɛ̀ wû.

nɔ́-gá a nzí wɛ̀ wû
1-CONTR 1 PROG.PST1 die there
‘That one died over there.’
Especially the phrase in (423c) shows that in these instances, the progres-
sive form is most likely not concerned with an unbounded, ongoing situ-
ation since the verb wɛ̀ ‘die’ is typically punctual rather than ongoing and
unbounded.
5.3.2 Priorative pã ̂ ‘first’

The opaque priorative marker pã ̂ is consistently translated as d’abord ‘first’
into French. From its distribution and tonal behavior, however, it is clear
that this lexeme is an aspectual verb rather than an adverb, contrary to what
the translation suggests. It is always used with a main verb and thus does
not occur as a verb in its own right though.
pã ̂ is, unlike most other aspect markers, not restricted to any TM cate-
gory. In (424), for instance, it occurs with the present and thus takes a
metatonic H tone.
(424) yíì pẽ’̀ ẽ ̀ nyà mwánɔ̀ mùdũ̂, mɛ́ pãã ́ ́ ná

yíì pẽ’̀ ẽ ̀ nyà m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdũ̂ mɛ-H ́
pãã-H ̀ ná
7.ID ∅9.memory 9:ATT N1-child N1-male 1S-PRES PRIOR-H again
nyɔ̂ vɛ̀.
nyɔ̂ vɛ̀
9.OBJ give
‘This is the memory of a boy [= talks about himself], I first give it
[to him]. [= pay the other Nzambi back]’
In contrast, in (425), the aspectual verb occurs in the future and therefore
does not take a metatonic H tone.
(425) bwáà pãã ́ ̀ ŋgâ dyà nà pówàlà wû.

bwáà pãã́ ̀ ŋgâ dyà nà pówàlà wû
2P.FUT PRIOR PL sleep COM ∅7.calm there
‘You (pl.) will first sleep quietly there.’
The marker pã ̂ has also been observed to occur in the imperative form, as
in (426) where, due to the irrealis mood, a metatonic H tone is absent.
315
(426) pã̂ bígɛ̀.

pã̂ bígɛ̀.
PRIOR.IMP develop
‘Speak first.’
While it seems generally possible to use pã ̂ in any TM category, the cor-

pus only yields examples where this aspect marker has a present or fu-
ture orientation, but no past orientation. This may, however, have seman-
tic/pragmatic reasons.
5.3.3 Prospective múà

The prospective marker múà is the only aspect that belongs to the irrealis
mood in Gyeli which is characterized by the absence of a metatonic H tone
on the aspectual verb, as shown in (427). It is further similar to the future
irrealis category in that the SCOPs of the first and second person singular
as well as the class 1 SCOP show a different tonal pattern from the other
agreement classes, as contrasted in the same example.
(427) a. à múà dè.

a múà dè
1 PROSP eat
‘S/he is about to eat.’
b. bá múà dè.
ba-H múà dè
2-PRES PROSP eat
‘They are about to eat.’
Comrie (1976: 64) describes the prospective as an aspect “where a state

is related to some subsequent situation, for instance where someone is in the
state of being about to do something.” Speakers usually translate the use of
this aspect marker in (427a) as Je veux/vais déjà manger into Cameroonian
French, meaning ‘I want/will already eat.’ In a detailed description of the
situation in (427a), speakers explain that a person would be sitting already
at a table, a plate of food in front of them, and being in the state of just
being about to start eating.
Using the French modals also reflects the future orientation of the Gyeli
prospective, similarly to what Matthewson (2012) describes for Gitksan
(Tsimshianic; British Columbia, Canada) modals. This future orientation
316
explains the affiliation to the irrealis mood. Even though in terms of alter-
native realities, it is highly probable that the person in (427a) will indeed
start to eat, consider (428).
(428) mɛ̀ múà wɛ̀ nà nzà.

mɛ múà wɛ̀ nà nzà
1S PROSP die COM ∅9.hunger
‘I’m about to die from hunger.’
This example shows that the prospected event is not inevitable and at the
point of utterance, it is not certain that it will really happen.
The prospective shows a mid-range frequency in the corpus, constitut-
ing 11.5 % of the aspect markers. Just like the progressive aspect, also
the prospective does not seem to be restricted to certain verb classes, but
can occur with both eventive and stative verbs. Further, its subjects can be
both animate and inanimate. The latter is exemplified in (429) where the
speaker is talking about the port that is about to affect also the village of
Ngolo.
(429) à múà njì lã,̀ báà bù mpàgó.

a múà njì lã̀ báà bù mpàgó
1 PROSP come pass 2.FUT break ∅3.road
‘It [the port] is about to come pass [= by here], they will build the
road.’
5.3.4 Retrospective lɔ́ ‘come’

The retrospective aspect is the counterpart to the prospective on the
time line, looking back at situations. It is most likely a loan construction
from French venir de faire quelque chose ‘just having done something’, while
the lexeme lɔ́ ‘come’ is a loan word from Basaa (A42). The retrospective
is restricted to the present (unlike French, where it can also be used in
other tenses). Accordingly, SCOPs carry the present H tone, as shown in
(430), while the verb lɔ́ always occurs with a metatonic H tone.13 Unlike
the prospective, all SCOPs carry the same tone in this aspect category, as
(430a) and (430b) show.
13
Since lɔ́ never occurs phrase finally in Gyeli, there is no proof of any underlying tone.
I therefore gloss lɔ́ with a H tone also in the underlying form which inherently carries the
metatonic H.
317
(430) a. á lɔ́ dè.

a-H lɔ́ dè
1-PRES RETRO.R eat
‘He just ate [Il vient de manger.]’
b. bá lɔ́ dè.
ba-H lɔ́ dè
2-PRES RETRO.R eat
‘They just ate.’
The retrospective is slightly more frequent in the corpus with 13.9 % of

the aspect markers than its counterpart, the prospective (11.5 %). In con-
trast to prospective though, the retrospective has only been observed
to occur with eventive verbs and animate subjects in the corpus.
The distance between speech time and the situation that is looked at ret-
rospectively is relative. In (431), for instance, speech time and the situation
are immediate in that the situation still affects speech time. The addressee
of the question is still present and is still looking for something.
(431) áh, gyí wɛ́ lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ̀?

áh, gyí wɛ-H lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ
EXCL what 2S-PRES RETRO.R come look.for
In contrast, in (432), the retrospect situation is already finished which is

clearly marked by the verb fwála ‘end’ and also the event of speaking is
accomplished. Here, speech time and the situation are in close temporal
proximity of about a few seconds.
(432) yá lɔ́ fwálà nà mɛ́ lɔ́ láwɔ̀.

ya-H lɔ́ fwála nà mɛ-H lɔ́ láwɔ
1P-PRES RETRO.R end COM 1S-PRES RETRO.R speak
‘We have just finished and I have just spoken.’
There are, however, also instances in the corpus where more time passes
between speech time and the situation. In (433), Nzambi’s wife comes home
after having lost her child and now explains the situation to her husband,
namely that the husband’s friend has taken the child in return for food. She
reports that the friend had said that they don’t work hard enough to earn
their food. Between the situation where the friend said this though (the
retrospect situation) and the time of utterance, the wife has left the friend’s
318
home, walked all the way back to her own home, had cried and had gotten
picked up by her husband. Thus, in this case, situation and speech time are
not at all immediate.
(433) yɔ́ɔ ̀ á lɔ́ kì náà: ɛ́ mpù wɛ̀ɛ ́

yɔ́ɔ ̀ a-H lɔ́ kì náà ɛ́ mpù wɛ̀ɛ ́
so 1-PRES RETRO say COMP LOC like.this 2S.PRES.NEG
gyáŋgyálɛ́ bédéwɔ̀.
gyáŋgya-lɛ́ H-be-déwɔ̀
work-NEG OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘So he just said that: Like this, you don’t work for your food.’
The retrospective aspect is often viewed as perfect in the literature

and the example in (433) could be taken as such. As Comrie (1976: 64)
states, the ‘perfect is retrospective.’ In Gyeli, however, the two are distinct
and have distinct forms, as I show in the next subsection.
5.3.5 Perfect bwàà ‘have’

The perfect in Gyeli is expressed by the verb bwàà ‘have’. This aspect is
restricted to the past TM categories and can occur in both recent and remote
past, as shown in (434).
(434) a. mɛ̀ bwàá dè.

mɛ bwàà-H dè
1S PRF-R eat
‘I have eaten (recently).’
b. mɛ́ɛ ̀ bwàá dè.
mɛ́ɛ ̀ bwàá dè
1S.PST2 PRF eat
‘I have eaten (long ago).’
The perfect is rather rare in the corpus with only 2.5 %. It is thus chal-
lenging to delimit a core meaning for this category. At the same time, the
perfect seems to be similar to other aspects such as retrospective, ab-
solute completive, and non-complete accomplishment in the sense
that the situation has been completed by speech time. In comparison to
the retrospective, however, the emphasis of the perfect is a relative
long time distance between the situation and speech time which is usually
319
translated into Cameroonian French with the plus-que-parfait and the ad-
verb depuis which means ‘a long time ago.’ Thus, the phrase in (435) is
consistently translated as Il est depuis allé rester comme ça.
(435) à bwàá yɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ́ djì mpù.

1 PRF-R then? go-R stay like.this
‘He [the other Nzambi] has gone and stood like this.’
Also data from Dahl’s (2000) perfect questionnaire supports that bwàà
is used when the situation is temporally distant from speech time. (436) is
the answer to the statement ‘Don’t speak so loud, you will wake up the baby’,
stating that the baby is already awake. In (436a), bwàà is used; speakers
explain that the baby has woken up already a while ago. In contrast, the use
of the absolute completive in (436b) hints at the fact that he has only
woken up recently.
(436) a. à bwàá vòbà.

a bwàà-H vòba
1S PRF-R wake
‘He has woken up already (a while ago).’
b. à vòbá mɔ̀.
a vòba-H mɔ̀
1S wake-R COMPL
‘He has woken up already (recently).’
Given that the perfect can occur in both past 1 and past 2 TM cate-
gories, i.e. time distance between situation and speech time can be manipu-
lated, a relatively long time distance between speech time and the situation
cannot be the only information that the perfect encodes. Also, there are
examples such as (437) where speech time and the situation are more im-
mediate.
(437) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí náà mɛ̀ bwàá wɛ̀ tʃíyɛ̀ lèkɛ́lɛ̀

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H náà mɛ bwàà-H wɛ̀ tʃíyɛ le-kɛ́lɛ̀
so PN say-R COMP 1S.PST1 PRF-R 2S.OBJ cut le5-speech
dẽ ́ nâ mɛ́ lígɛ́ dè mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ,̀
dẽ ́ nâ mɛ-H lígɛ-H dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀
today COMP 1S-PRES stay-R eat N1-child 1-POSS.2S
‘So Nzambi says ‘I have cut your word today’ [= I’m not listening
to you] ‘I stay and eat your child’,’
320
In fact, it seems that the narrator could also have chosen to use the retro-
spective form here, or the absolute completive (see next section). The
reason for this preference of bwàà over other aspect forms in this context is
not clear.
5.3.6 Absolute Completive -mɔ̀/-Ṽ

The only aspect marker that follows the verb is the absolute completive
mɔ̀/-Ṽ. It comes in two forms: a postverbal morpheme mɔ̀, as in (438a), and
a nasalized vowel with a falling HL tone (438b). The latter is said to be more
typical Gyeli, but mɔ̀ is also productively used. It can be excluded that mɔ̀ is
a loan form from Mabi since the cognate form in Mabi is mà. Historically,
it probably stems from a serial verb construction which Nurse (2008: 67)
views as a Niger-Congo derivative from -mala > -ma ‘finish’ and which is
found in many northwestern Bantu languages—e.g. Maande (A46), Himba
(B30), Yanzi (B85), and Nyanga (D43) (p. 100).
(438) a. mɛ̀ lùŋgá mɔ̀.

mɛ̀ lùŋgá mɔ̀
1S grow COMPL
‘I have (already) grown.’
b. mɛ̀ lùŋgãã́ .̀
mɛ̀ lùŋgãã́ ̀
1S grow:COMPL
‘I have (already) grown.’
I consider mɔ̀ a free morpheme rather than a verbal suffix since it triggers
a metatonic H tone on the preceding verb. If mɔ̀ was a suffix, it would be
the suffix (and the preceding toneless verbal derivation morphemes) that
would take the metatonic H tone in non final position. This, however, is
not the case, as (439) shows.
(439) mɛ̀ lùŋgá mɔ̀ bvùbvù.

mɛ lùŋga-H mɔ̀ bvùbvù
1S grow-R COMPL lots
‘I have (already) grown lots.’
The second form with the final lengthened and nasalized vowel in (438b)
is the contracted form of mɔ̀. The segmental nasal has been deleted, but
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nasality survived on the lengthened vowel. Also, the tonal pattern of the
metatonic H plus the L tone mɔ̀ is maintained.
While there are some verbs as in (438) which can take both the mɔ̀ form
and the contracted form, other verbs can only take one or the other. lámbɔ
‘trap’, for instance, can only take the contracted form as in (440a), while the
non-contracted form in (440b) is judged as ungrammatical. It seems to be
lexically determined whether a verb takes one or the other or both forms.
(440) a. mɛ̀ lámbɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ kù.

mɛ lámbɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ kù
1S trap.R.COMPL ∅1.rat
‘I have (already) trapped the rat.’
b. *mɛ̀ lámbɔ́ mɔ̀ kù.
mɛ̀ lámbɔ-H mɔ̀ kù
1S trap-R COMPL ∅1.rat
‘I have (already) trapped the rat.’
Both forms, contracted and non-contracted, are restricted to the recent past.
Unlike other aspectual categories such as the past progressive form nzí
or the perfect bwàà which allow both past TM categories, the use of past
2 is prohibited for the absolute completive.
In the corpus, 17 occurrences of the absolute completive have the
uncontracted form and 12 the contracted form. In sum, the absolute com-
pletive is the most frequent aspect marker with 23.8 % in the corpus.
The absolute completive mostly occurs with eventive verbs, as illus-
trated in (441) through (443).
(441) mínɔ̀ má bùdì mà kɛ̃ɛ́ ,̃̀ máà vé?

m-ínɔ̀ má b-ùdì ma kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ máà vé
ma6-name 6:ATT ba2-person 6.PST1 go.COMPL 6.ID where
‘The people’s names have gone, where are they? [= strangers come
once, but do not return again]’
(442) bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ,̀̃

bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
OK[French] ∅7.generation finish.COMPL
‘OK, the generation has been wiped out,’
(443) wɛ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀?

wɛ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
2S.PST1 hear-R COMPL
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‘Have you understood?’
While stative verbs rarely take this aspect marker, it is still possible, as (444)
shows.
(444) wɛ̀ lèmbṍõ̀ sâ bányá màmbò

wɛ lèmbṍõ̀ sâ H-ba-nyá m-àmbò
2S.PST1 know.COMPL do OBJ.LINK-ba2-important ma6-thing
nâ ká mɛ́ lúmɔ́ wɛ̂ nláà nâ,
nâ ká mɛ-H lúmɔ-H wɛ̂ nláà nâ
COMP if 1S-PRES send-R 2S.OBJ ∅3.message COMP
‘You know to do the important things that if I send you the message
that,’
All of these examples have in common that the aspect marker conveys
a meaning of completeness. They are usually translated as déjà ‘already’ by
speakers. In (441), the people have completely left, in (442), the generation
has completely been wiped out, and in (443), the process of understanding
has to be complete in order to count as understanding. The delimitation of
the absolute completive in comparison to other aspect categories with
some semantic overlap in terms of completeness and/or perfectiveness is
illustrated in the minimal pairs in (445). This example compares the ab-
solute completive with the non-complete accomplishment and the
perfect.
(445) a. mɛ̀ lá mɔ̀ kálàdɛ̀ yíndɛ̀.

mɛ lâ-H mɔ̀ kálàdɛ̀ yí-ndɛ̀
1S.PST1 read-R COMPL ∅7.book 7-ANA
‘I have read this book [= entirely, all of it].’
b. mɛ̀ sílɛ́ lâ kálàdɛ̀ yíndɛ̀.
mɛ sílɛ-H lâ kálàdɛ̀ yí-ndɛ̀
1S.PST1 finish-R read ∅7.book 7-ANA
‘I’m done reading this book. [ = but not necessarily the whole
book]’
c. mɛ̀ bwàá lâ kálàdɛ̀ yí-ndɛ̀.
mɛ bwàà-H lâ kálàdɛ̀ yí-ndɛ̀
1S PRF-R read ∅7.book 7-ANA
‘I have read this book [= more general/experiential].’
The example compares different aspect meanings in the situation of reading

a book. If mɔ̀ is used, the interpretation is that the book has been read
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entirely. Therefore, I call this aspect category absolute completive. In

comparison, the aspect marker sílɛ ‘finish’, which is discussed in more detail
in the next section, also carries a completive meaning in that the subject is
done reading the book. The use of sílɛ, however, does not entail that the
book has been read in its entirety, just that the subject is done reading (parts
of) it. Therefore, I label this aspect as non-complete accomplishment.
For the perfect use in (445c), speakers provide a more vague translation,
suggesting that the perfect has a more general and maybe experiential
meaning.
In that, the perfect would then also have some semantic overlap with
the absolute completive since typical experiential meaning is also ex-
pressed by mɔ̀, as shown in (446).
(446) wɛ̀ làdtɔ́ mɔ̀ nà káliyâ?
wɛ làdtɔ-H mɔ̀ nà káliyâ
2S.PST1 meet-R COMPL COM ∅1.sister:1S.POSS
‘Have you (already, ever) met my sister?’
Finally, the absolute completive is also used in more figurative and
idiomatic ways. In (447), for instance, Nzambi’s wife states that she has
died from hunger, even though, obviously, she is still alive.
(447) nyɛ̀ náà mùdì wãã́ ,̀ mɛ̀ wɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà nzà.
nyɛ náà m-ùdì w-ãã́ ̀ mɛ wɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà nzà.
1 COMP N1-person 1-POSS.1S 1S die.COMPL COM ∅9.hunger
‘She: ‘My person, I’m dead from hunger.”
In the same way, speakers use the absolute completive in situations of
announcing their leaving, as in (448), while, literally, they have not left yet.
(448) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí nâ bon mɛ̀ nìyɛ́ mɔ̀.
yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H nâ bon mɛ nìyɛ-H mɔ̀
so PN say-R COMP good[French] 1S.PST1 return-H COMPL
‘So Nzambi says: Good, I am returning home.’
In summary, the absolute completive has a wide range of applica-
tions. It would be worthwhile for future research to investigate this more.
5.3.7 Non-Complete Accomplishment sílɛ̀ ‘finish’

The verb sílɛ̀ ‘finish’ occurs frequently in the corpus with 16.4 %. It is the
least grammaticalized of all aspectual verbs. Like pã,̂ it is not restricted to
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any TM categories and thus can also occur in both realis or irrealis mood
form. In contrast to all other aspectual verbs though, sílɛ is further not
restricted to the first, finite verb position in a chain of verbs, as (449) shows.
(449) mɛ̀ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ̀ lévúdũ̂ nà

mɛ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ H-le-vúdũ̂ nà
1S PROG.PRES go COM take.away OBJ.LINK-le5-one COM
lèvúdũ̂, mɛ́ táálɛ́ sílɛ̀ nyùlɛ̀.
le-vúdũ ̂ mɛ-H táálɛ-H sílɛ nyùlɛ
le5-one 1S-PRES begin-R finish drink
‘I’m taking down one by one, I start to drink (them) (= make palm
wine out of them).’
The category label non-complete accomplishment has been explained

in the previous section in comparison with the absolute completive mɔ̀/-
Ṽ. Example (445) shows that, while mɔ̀/-Ṽ implies absolute completeness
of an event, as in the case of reading a book, sílɛ ‘finish’ only expresses that
a subject is over with an event, but not necessarily that the event has been
completed. Similarly, in (450), the question is interpreted as to whether
the addressee is done sweeping, but not, if they have swept everything (the
whole house or yard).
(450) nà wɛ̀ sílɛ́ wɔ̀mbɛ̀lɛ̀?

nà wɛ sílɛ-H wɔ̀mbɛlɛ
Q 2S finish-R sweep
‘Have you finished sweeping?’
Besides this non-complete accomplishment implication, one of the core

functions of sílɛ̀ is to express distributivity of an event or kind. In the case of
the palm wine in (449), for example, it requires many episodes of ‘drinking a
palm tree’, namely coming back every day and harvesting the wine. Again,
it does not mean that there is no a drop of sap left in the palm trees at the
end, but that the speaker will keep harvesting palm wine from the trees until
he is done with these multiple actions. The same is true for (450) where the
event of sweeping is comprised of many episodes of moving the broom over
the ground.
A similar effect can be observed for distributivity over kinds. (451)
shows that the aspect marker can, in certain contexts, only be used with
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plural participants. Here, the event of leaving distributes over several peo-
ple. In contrast, a singular participant is ungrammatical because sílɛ cannot
distribute over different kinds or events in this case.
(451) bà sílɛ́ kɛ̀ → *à sílɛ́ kɛ̀

ba sílɛ-H kɛ̀ → a sílɛ-H kɛ̀
3P.PST1 COMPL-R go → 1.PST1 COMPL-R go
‘They have all left. → *He has all left.’
A singular participant is, however, grammatical if there are several events

that the aspect marker can distribute over. (452) shows a coordinated clause
where the first constituent is almost identical to the non-grammatical phrase
in (451). The second constituent adds another event though over which sílɛ
can distribute which makes (452) perfectly acceptable.
(452) áà sílɛ́ kɛ̀ nà dvùwɔ́ dyúwɔ̀,

áà sílɛ-H kɛ̀ nà dvùwɔ-H dyúwɔ
1.PST2 finish-R go COM stuff-R ∅7.top
‘He has gone and stuffed the top [= with straw],’
Other examples of sílɛ as distributing over kinds are given in (453) and
(454). In (453), Nzambi of the story in Appendix II.2 forces the whole fam-
ily of his friend to enter a house. The non-complete accomplishment
marker sílɛ refers to the single people who have to enter one after the other.
(453) nyáà ŋgà, sílɛ́ nyî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù.

In (454), the chief of Ngolo talks about his fruits trees that will be destroyed
once the road for the port will pass through their village. Again, sílɛ does
not necessarily imply that not a single tree will be left at the end, but rather
points to the distributivity of destroying one tree after the other.
(454) byɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ̀ ntàmànɛ̀.

by-ɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ ntàmanɛ
8-all 8.FUT finish ruin
‘they all will be ruined.’
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5.3.8 Habitual by Verb Reduplication

While, impressionistically from observing conversations, the habitual as-
pect, expressed by a reduplicated verb, is very frequent, it is barely found
in the corpus. From elicitation, however, it is clear that the habitual is re-
stricted to the present TM category and thus its SCOP always takes a H tone
while the verb in non phrase final position takes a metatonic H tone. This is
shown in (455). For the analysis of habitual forms as a word rather than
two and its tonal patterns, see the discussion on ‘aspect and mood’ above as
well as examples (406) through (408).
(455) mɛ́ gyámbɔ́gyámbɔ́ bédéwɔ̀

mɛ-H gyámbɔ-gyambɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀
1S-PRES prepare-prepare-R OBJ.LINK-8-food
‘I usually, regularly prepare food.’
In terms of its meaning, the habitual relates to events that occur regu-
larly or usually. (456) illustrates this when the narrator of the Nzambi story
comments that these stories are left to them by their ancestors their ances-
tors so that the present generation tells these stories. Both verbs líyɛ ‘leave’
and tà ‘tell (a story)’ occur in the habitual reduplicated form, indicating
that both events happen habitually.
(456) bàmpámbó bá líyɛ̀lìyɛ̀, nâ yá

ba-mpámbó ba-H líyɛ-liyɛ nâ ya-H
ba2-ancestor 2-PRES leave-leave.HAB COMP 1P-PRES
tãã ́ t̀ à békàndá bé tè.
tãã́ -̀ tà H-be-kàndá bé tè
tell.SBJV-HAB OBJ.LINK-be8-proverbs 8:ATT there
‘The ancestors leave [the proverbs to us], so that we tell the proverbs
there.’
(456) also shows that the habitual can simultaneously occur with the sub-
junctive form while the subjunctive will show on the first part of the verb
(tãã́ -̀ ), while the copy (-tà) is not affected.
5.4 Negation
Gyeli uses different negation strategies for different tense-mood categories.
These are summarized in Table 5.16. In present negation, a negation suffix
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-lɛ is used, while past and future use negation verbs that precede the
negated verb, similar to aspectual verbs. There is also a negation verb, tí or
its Kwasio variant kí, which occurs in the present and with imperatives,
but also in infinitival negation.
Negation marker Status Function Frequency

-lɛ verbal suffix pres 23 (62.2 %)
sàlɛ́/pàlɛ́ negation verb pst 4 (10.8 %)
kálɛ̀ negation verb fut 3 (8.1 %)
tí negation verb pres, imp, infinitival 7 (18.9 %)
Total 37
Table 5.16: Negation markers
As the function column in the table shows, most TM categories have their
own special negation marking. Only the inchoative and the subjunctive
are missing in this list. The inchoative cannot be negated directly, but
requires an embedding construction, as shown in section 5.5. As for the
subjunctive, this TM category is systematically negated lexically with the
verb dúù ‘should/must not’. As in the affirmative subjunctive forms, the
SCOP takes a H tone and the verb dúù lacks a metatonic H tone, as expected
for this TM category. Examples are given in (457) and in (458) from the
corpus.
(457) a. á dúù dè ‘He shouldn’t eat.’

b. á dúù kɛ̀ ‘He shouldn’t go.’
c. á dúù gyàgà ‘He shouldn’t buy.’
d. á dúù nyùlɛ̀ ‘He shouldn’t drink.’
e. á dúù gyámbɔ̀ ‘He shouldn’t cook.’
f. á dúù gyíkɛ̀sɛ̀ ‘He shouln’t teach.’
g. á dúù vìdɛ̀gà ‘He shouldn’t turn.’
(458) kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ bá dúù bɛ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ ba-H dúù bɛ̀ H-be-déwɔ̀
NEG 1S 2.FUT say COMP 2-PRES must.not.SBJV grow be8-food
‘It’s not me, they [= who] will say that they must not grow food.’
As (459) shows, a metatonic H tone is also missing when the non-finite

verb is followed by an object or adverb. This is expected for the irrealis
mood to which the subjunctive belongs.
328
(459) a. á dúù dè mántúà ‘He shouldn’t eat mangoes.’

b. á dúù kɛ̀ tísɔ̀nì ‘He shouldn’t go to town.’
c. á dúù gyàgà békálàdɛ̀ ‘He shouldn’t buy books.’
d. á dúù nyùlɛ̀ májíwɔ́ ‘He shouldn’t drink water.’
e. á dúù gyámbɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀ ‘He shouldn’t cook food.’
f. á dúù gyíkɛ̀sɛ̀ bábwálɛ̀ fàlà ‘He shouln’t teach the parents French.’
g. á dúù vìdɛ̀gà tɛ̀ ‘He shouldn’t turn now.’
Table 5.16 also provides information on the frequency of each negation

strategy in the corpus. With only 37 instances of negation marking, these
figures are not representative and can just give a tendential impression. Not
surprisingly, present negation marking is the most frequently found with
over 60%, followed by the negation verb tí which is relatively frequent due
to its various usage environments. Negation verbs for the past and future
both have a lower frequency of roughly 10% in the corpus. In the following,
I will discuss each negation marking strategy in turn.
5.4.1 Negation with -lɛ in the present

In the present TM category, the verbal suffix -lɛ is used in negation. I
consider this suffix as toneless, its surface tones depending on the verb stems
tonal specification.
Tonal patterns of the negated verb In general, the first mora of a verb
stem, i.e. the first verb syllable, determines the tonal pattern of a verb
negated with the suffix -lɛ. In monosyllabic verb stems, the stem always
changes to a H tone which then also spreads onto the negation suffix. (460)
gives examples for underlyingly L tone verb stems and (461) for monosyl-
labic verb stems which surface as HL in isolation.14
(460) L→H
a. dè ‘eat’ > dé-lɛ́
b. kɛ̀ ‘go’ > kɛ́-lɛ́
(461) HL → H
14
For convenience, I do not consider subject concord until later.
329
a. nyɛ̂ ‘see’ > nyɛ́-lɛ́

b. pɛ̂ ‘choose’ > pɛ́-lɛ́
For bisyllabic verbs, the determining factor for the negated surface form
is the first syllable’s tonal specification. If the tonal pattern of a bisyllabic
verb is H Ø, the H tone spreads onto the second, underlyingly toneless mora
of the verb and also onto the negation suffix, as in (462).
(462) HØ→HH
a. síndya ‘change’ > síndyá-lɛ́
b. símɛ ‘respect’ > símɛ́-lɛ́
c. dzímbɛ ‘get lost’ > dzímbɛ́-lɛ́
d. ŋgwáwɔ ‘bend’ > ŋgwáwɔ́-lɛ́
The same is true for trisyllabic verbs where the first mora is specified H and
the two following morphemes are toneless. (463) shows that, again, the H
tone from the first mora spreads to the right, all the way to the negation
suffix.
(463) HØØ→HHH
a. gyíkɛsɛ ‘teach’ > gyíkɛ́sɛ́-lɛ́
b. líyɛlɛ ‘show’ > líyɛ́lɛ́-lɛ́
c. lúmɛlɛ ‘send’ > lúmɛ́lɛ́-lɛ́
d. súmɛlɛ ‘greet’ > súmɛ́lɛ́-lɛ́
The process changes if the first mora of a bi- or trisyllabic verb is specified
with a L tone. In these cases, the tone on the first mora undergoes a featural
change from L to H. This, however, does not affect the following toneless
extension and negation suffix morphemes. These all surface as L, as shown
in (464) for bisyllabic and in (465) for trisyllabic verbs.
(464) LØ→HL
a. gyàga ‘buy’ > gyágà-lɛ̀
b. vɔ̀wa ‘wake up’ > vɔ́wà-lɛ̀
c. lùŋga ‘grow’ > lúŋgà-lɛ̀
d. tsìlɔ ‘write’ > tsílɔ̀-lɛ̀
(465) LØØ→HLL
330
a. kfùbala ‘move’ > kfúβàlà-lɛ̀

b. vìdɛga ‘turn’ > vídɛ̀gà-lɛ̀
c. kàmbala ‘defend’ > kámbàlà-lɛ̀
d. djìnɛsɛ ‘make sth. sink’ > djínèsɛ̀-lɛ̀
Patterns of the SCOP in present negation As described above and illus-

trated in entire phrases in (466), the present negation suffix -lɛ is attached
to the finite verb.
(466) a. bá kɛ́lɛ́.
ba-H kɛ́-lɛ
2-PRES go-NEG
‘They do not go.’
b. bá wúmbɛ́lɛ́ kɛ̀.
ba-H wúmbɛ-lɛ kɛ̀
2-PRES want-NEG go
‘They do not want to go.’
As a default, the SCOP under present negation has the same pattern as
the non-negated form. As with future non-negated SCOPs, however, there
are a few exceptions in certain agreement classes. The SCOPs for first and
second person singular as well as for class 1 take a special shape with a long
vowel and rising LH pattern, as shown in (467). All other SCOPs take a H
tone SCOP, as in (466).
(467) a. mɛ̀ɛ ́ kɛ́lɛ́.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ kɛ́-lɛ
1S.PRES.NEG go-NEG
‘I do not go.’
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ́lɛ́ kɛ̀.
mɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ-lɛ kɛ̀
1S.PRES.NEG want-NEG go
‘I do not want to go.’
Just like the non-negated forms, the SCOP can also be omitted with negated
forms, for instance when a more complex subject noun phrase is present, as
with mùdì nú ‘that person’ in (468).
331
(468) mùdì nú bɛ́lɛ́.

m-ùdì nú bɛ́-lɛ́
N1-person 1.DEM.DIST be-NEG
‘Nobody is there.’
Other present negation examples from the corpus are provided in (469)
and (470).
(469) má dvúmɔ́lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû.

ma-H dvúmɔ́-lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû
6-PRES produce-NEG ∅3.year like[Kwasio] ∅3.year
‘They [the palm trees] don’t produce [fruit] every year.’
(470) mɛ̀ɛ ́ djílɛ́ wɛ̀ bvúbvû.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ djí-lɛ́ wɛ̀ bvúbvû
1S.PRES.NEG ask-NEG 2S.OBJ much
‘I don’t ask you for much.’
Present negation and realis mood While the present TM category is

a realis mood which is characterized by a metatonic H tone on the verb if
the verb is not phrase final, the metatonic H tone does not apply to negated
forms in the present. Negation with -lɛ does not take metatonic tones.
Instead, the tonal pattern of the negated verb plus suffix is specified by
negation and -lɛ surfaces either H or L, depending on the tone of the verb’s
first mora. Thus, if a nominal object, for instance, follows the negated verb
form, the negation tonal pattern remains unchanged, as shown in (471).
If an noun with a CV shape prefix follows the negated verb, the tone-
less noun prefix takes a linking H tone, no matter whether the preceding
negation suffix is specified H or L as shown in (471).
(471) a. àá délɛ́ mántúà.

àá dè-lɛ H-ma-ntúà
1.PRES.NEG eat-NEG OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘He does not eat mangoes.’
b. àá gyágàlɛ̀ békáládɛ̀.
àá gyàga-lɛ H-be-káládɛ̀
1.PRES.NEG buy-NEG OBJ.LINK-be8-book
‘He does not buy books.’
In (471a), the negated verb surfaces with a H tone anyway so that one could
assume that the H tone has merged with the metatonic H tone. (471b)
332
shows, however, that this is not the case. Even in non-phrase final posi-
tion, the toneless TBUs of the verb plus negation suffix remain all L also in
this context. I consider this an excepetional tonal pattern in terms of realis
marking. As I will show for the verbal negation words in past and future,
these negation verbs cross-cut tonally with the realis/irrealis distinction.
5.4.2 Negation with sàlɛ́/pálɛ́ in the past

Negating past tense-mood forms involves the negation verbs sàlɛ́ or pálɛ́
which seem to be interchangeably used. Speakers state that they can both
be used in the same context and due to a low frequency in the corpus, no
limitation on any one usage can be seen. They can be used in both the recent
past and the remote past. In (472), for instance, the remote past is used.
(472) ɛ́kɛ̀! nzàmbí wà nú áà sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ nà

bã̂ líná-á pámò.
bã̂ líná a-H pámo
‘Oh! That Nzambi had no words as soon as he arrives.’
In (473) and (474), the negation verb occurs with a recent past SCOP which
surfaces with a L tone. The SCOPs for both past categories take the same
pattern under negation as in non-negated forms, unlike the present.
(473) à pálɛ́ lìí bâ.

a pálɛ́ lìí bâ
1.PST1 NEG.PST yet married
‘He is not yet married.’
(474) yà pálɛ́ bɛ̀ nà bùdã.̂

ya pálɛ́ bɛ̀ nà b-ùdã̂
1P.PST1 NEG.PST be COM ba2-woman
‘We did not have any women.’
sàlɛ́ and pálɛ́ are verbs, even though synchronically their meaning, apart
from negation, is opaque. They have to be considered as verbs, however,
because of their distribution, the suffix -lɛ and their tonal pattern. In terms
of distribution, they occur just like aspectual verbs before the non-finite,
negated verb. For instance, in (474), pálɛ́ precedes the verb bɛ̀ ‘be’.
333
Both sàlɛ́ and pálɛ́ end in-lɛ, the negation suffix used also in the present
TM category. Since they meaning of sà- and pá- is unknown synchronically,
though, I do not gloss -lɛ separately as a negation suffix, but treat the whole
verb as negation marker.
Also, it seems that these negation verbs are more grammaticalized than
the present forms in terms of their tonal behavior. Unlike the special tonal
patterns in the present, the past negation verbs all surface with a final
metatonic H tone, as seen in the previous examples.
5.4.3 Negation with kálɛ̀ in the future

Just like the past negation verbs, also the future uses the same means of
expressing negation, namely with the negation verb kálɛ̀. Again, the suffix
-lɛ is used in a verb whose synchronic meaning is opaque. Also the future
negation verb kálɛ̀ occurs with a SCOP that is identical to the non-negated
future. For the first and second person singular and class 1, the SCOP has
a long vowel with a L tone pattern, as in (475), while all other agreements
classes have a long vowel with a HL pattern, as exemplified in (476).
(475) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kálɛ̀ ná bɛ̀ nà djí ɛ́ vâ.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kálɛ̀ ná bɛ̀ nà djí ɛ́ vâ
1S.FUT NEG.FUT anymore be COM ∅7.place LOC here
‘I won’t have a place here anymore.’
(476) ká wɛ́ kíyá lékɔ́’ɔ̀ ɛ́ kwámɔ́, kwámɔ́

ká wɛ-H kíya-H H-le-kɔ́’ɔ̀ ɛ́ kwámɔ́, kwámɔ́
if 2S-PRES put-R OBJ.LINK-le5-stone LOC ∅9.bag ∅9.bag
nyíì kálɛ̀ búlɛ̀.
nyíì kálɛ̀ búlɛ
9.FUT NEG.FUT break
‘If you put the stone in the bag, the bag will not break.’
In contrast to the past negation verbs, kálɛ̀ always ends in a L tone, also
when it is not phrase final. This is in accordance with the irrealis mood of
the future which is characterized by the absence of a metatonic H tone.
kálɛ̀ has also been observed to negate cleft sentences, as in (477).
334
(477) kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ bá dúù bɛ̀

kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ ba-H dúù bɛ̀
NEG 1S 2.FUT say COMP 2-PRES must.not.SBJV grow
bédéwɔ̀.
H-be-déwɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-be8-food
5.4.4 Negation with tí

Negation of imperatives and infinitives is achieved with the highly gram-
maticalized negation verb tí. tí can also be used for negation with a present
time reference, as shown in (478a). This contrasts with the specific present
negation in (478b), as discussed in section 5.4.1.
(478) a. mɛ̀ tí ná dè.

mɛ tí ná dè
1S NEG anymore eat
‘I don’t eat anymore.’
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ délɛ́ ná.
mɛ̀ɛ ́ dé-lɛ́ ná
1S.PRES.NEG eat-NEG anymore
‘I don’t eat anymore.’
Negation with tí with present tense reference often comes in combination

with the adverb ná ‘still’, which then means ‘not anymore’. Impressionisti-
cally, in this context of ‘not anymore’, tí is preferrably used since this is the
first spontaneous answer speakers give. When asked, they state, however,
that also the suffix -lɛ is correct and equally used, as shown in (478b). The
exact distribution and semantic difference between present negation with tí
in contrast to negation with with the suffix -lɛ still requires a more thorough
investigation.
Tonally, tí behaves like an aspectual verb: the SCOP surfaces with a L
tone, comparable to SCOPs with the present progressive marker nzíí,
as shown in (479a). Also, the following verb comes in its non-finite tonal
pattern. When an object follows, as in (479b), and the negated verb is not
phrase final, it still does not take a metatonic H tone. This is the same tonal
pattern found for aspectual verbs.
335
(479) a. mɛ̀ tí gyàgà.

mɛ tí gyàga
1S NEG buy
‘I don’t buy.’
b. mɛ̀ tí gyàgà mántúà.
mɛ tí gyàga H-ma-ntúà
1S NEG buy OBJ.LINK-6ma-mango
‘I don’t buy mangoes.’
tí seems to be a highly grammaticalized negation verb which, histori-

cally, also had a negation suffix -lɛ like the other negation verbs. Evidence
for this comes from Mabi where the regular correspondance is kí. The Mabi
negation verb is frequently used in Gyeli texts in code-switching, as shown
in (480).
(480) mɛ̀ kí bɛ̀ nà tsídí.

mɛ kí bɛ̀ nà tsídí
1S.PST1 NEG[Kwasio] be COM ∅1.meat
‘I didn’t have any meat.’
kí seems to be the shortened form of kílɛ̀ which occurs in (481).
(481) bá lã́ pámò vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ bà kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ yɔ̀

ba-H lã-̀ H pámo vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ ba kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ yɔ̀
2S-PRES pass-R arrive here now 2S.PST1 cut.COMPL 7.OBJ
kílɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ tsíyà.
kílɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ tsíyà
NEG[Kwasio] hear ∅1.question
‘They pass and arrive here now, they cut it already without hearing
a question [= without asking].’
It thus seems that kí in Mabi has lost its negation suffix. It is very likely
that the same happened in Gyeli, even though the exact grammaticalization
path is unknown. It is not clear, for instance, whether Gyeli ever had a
form tílɛ̀ where the negation suffix was lost or whether Gyeli borrowed the
grammaticalized Mabi kí form which then became tí.
While the present TM category has a choice of negation strategies, i.e.
with the suffix -lɛ or the grammaticalized negation verb tí, other TM cate-
gories do not have this choice. Imperatives and subjunctives are always
negated with tí. The same is true for infinitives.
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Negation of imperatives Negative singular imperatives, i.e. prohibitions,

are expressed by the negation verb tí. tí precedes the negated verb, as shown
in (482). The negated verb takes the tonal pattern of an infinitive, i.e. it is
non-finite rather than taking the tonal pattern of the (affirmative) impera-
tive as outlined in section 5.2.4.6.
(482) a. tí dè! ‘Don’t (sg.) eat!’

b. tí gyàgà! ‘Don’t (sg.) buy!’
c. tí nyúlɛ̀! ‘Don’t (sg.) drink!’
d. tí vìdɛ̀gà! ‘Don’t (sg.) turn!’
If the non-finite, negated verb is not phrase final, but followed, for in-
stance, by a nominal object, the non-finite verb surfaces with a final L tone,
as expected (and does not take a metatonic H tone). This is shown in (378).
(483) a. tí dè mántúà! ‘Don’t (sg.) eat mangoes’

b. tí gyàgà mántúà! ‘Don’t (sg.) buy mangoes!’
c. tí nyúlɛ̀ májíwɔ́! ‘Don’t (sg.) drink water!’
d. tí vìdɛ̀gà wámíyɛ̀! ̀ ‘Don’t (sg.) turn fast!’
When the addressee of an imperative form is a plural entity, the plural

particle ŋga is used, as for the affirmative forms. As (484) shows, the plural
particle follows the negation verb tí, but precedes the negated, non-finite
verb form. Here, the toneless plural particle ŋga gets its tonal specification
from the preceding negation verb tí and thus surfaces with a H tone.
(484) a. tí ŋgá dè! ‘Don’t (pl.) eat!’

b. tí ŋgá gyàgà! ‘Don’t (pl.) buy!’
c. tí ŋgá nyúlɛ̀! ‘Don’t (pl.) drink!’
d. tí ŋgá vìdègà! ‘Don’t (pl) turn!’
Again, even when the negated verb is not phrase final, it will not take
a metatonic H tone, since it is non-finite, but surfaces with a L tone. A
nominal object with CV- shape prefix, however, takes a linking object H
tone, as shown in (485).
(485) a. tí ŋgá dè mántúà! ‘Don’t (pl.) eat mangoes’

b. tí ŋgá gyàgà mántúà! ‘Don’t (pl.) buy mangoes!’
337
c. tí ŋgá nyúlɛ̀ májíwɔ́! ‘Don’t (pl.) drink water!’

d. tí ŋgá vìdɛ̀gà wámíyɛ̀! ‘Don’t (pl) turn fast!’
The third construction subsumed under imperatives, besides singular

and plural ones, concerns cohortative constructions, as described for affir-
mative forms in section 5.2.4.6. As for the affirmative imperative forms,
the first person plural SCOP yá is used with a present H tone pattern also
with the negation verb tí, as shown in (486). Thus, the structure for negated
cohortatives is: SCOP - negation verb - plural particle - non-finite verb.
(486) a. yá tí ŋgá dè! ‘Let’s eat!’

b. yá tí ŋgá gyàgà! ‘Let’s buy!’
c. yá tí ŋgá nyúlɛ̀! ‘Let’s drink!’
d. yá tí ŋgá vìdɛ̀gà! ‘Let’s turn!’
Negated cohortative forms which not only involve a non-finite negated verb,
but also an object or adjunct, are parallel to the other respective forms of
the imperatives, as illustrated in (487).
(487) a. yá tí ŋgá dè mántúà! ‘Let’s not eat mangoes’

b. yá tí ŋgá gyàgà mántúà! ‘Let’s not buy mangoes!’
c. yá tí ŋgá nyúlɛ̀ májíwɔ́! ‘Let’s not drink water!’
d. yá tí ŋgá vìdɛ̀gà wámíyɛ̀! ̀ ‘Let’s not turn fast!’
Negation of infinitives A common use of the negation verb tí concerns

the negation of infinitives. It is characteristic of these constructions that the
negated verb appears in its infinitival tonal pattern, i.e. without tense-mood
and/or metatonic marking. Also, the negation verb tí is not preceded by a
SCOP in these constructions, as (488) and (489) show.
(488) gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ à múà nà bábɛ̀ tí

gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ a múà nà bábɛ̀ tí
IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO 1 PROSP COM ∅7.illness NEG
wúmbɛ̀ wɛ̀.
wúmbɛ wɛ̀
want-R die
‘[depiction of disease roaming in his body] He was about to be sick,
without wanting to die.’
338
(489) nà kɛ́ djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ,̂ tí

nà kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ tí
COM go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside COM ∅9.path arrive today NEG
nyɛ̂ nyɛ̀.
nyɛ̂ nyɛ
see 1.OBJ
‘And (he) goes in the forest on the path till today, without seeing
him [= without being seen].’
In that sense, tí plus infinitive function as a subordinate clause, where the

subject is elided. This, however, only applies for contexts where the subject
of the main clause and the elided subject of the subordinate clause are co-
referential.
I have shown the different negation strategies in Gyeli which mostly
depend on the TM category in which they are used. The most common
strategy is a negation suffix -lɛ which either appears in the negated verb
in the present or on special negation verbs in other categories. Each of
these negation verbs are grammaticallized in a sense that their synchronic
meaning is opaque. The most grammaticalized negation verb is tí which
most likely has lost the negation suffix -lɛ.
5.5 Embedding
As seen in the previous sections of this chapters, Gyeli has restrictions on
combinations of, for instance, certain TM categories and aspect markers.
Thus, the inchoative, for example, cannot directly combine with any as-
pect marker. The same is true for aspect and negation which never co-occur
directly. The language has, however, means to allow for different tense-
mood, aspect, and negation combination via embedding in framing con-
structions as discussed in chapter 7.2.1.2. In these constructions, a main
clause with the auxiliary verb bɛ̀ ‘be’ expresses basic tense-mood and possi-
bly negation distinctions while a subordinated clause is specified for tense-
mood or aspect marking. In the following, I will show the different combi-
natory possibilities which include the main combinations of i) tense-mood
with a different tense-mood category, ii) tense-mood with aspect, and iii)
negation with aspect. In general, these embedding constructions are rare in
the corpus, but are more pervasive in questionnaires, for instance in Dahl’s
339
(2000) future and perfect questionnaire, as well as in elicitations.
Tense-mood combinations with other tense-mood categories In non-

embedded sentences, the tense(-mood) interpretation is relative to speech
time. Thus, the future use in (490), entails that the situation of cooking
will happen sometime after speech time.
(490) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ H-be-déwɔ̀
1S.FUT cook OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I will cook food.’
In embedded constructions relating to TMA expression, speech time is an-

chored at the time of the main clause, while the time of the subordinate
clause, indicated by square brackets, is then relative to the time anchor of
the main clause. In (491), for instance, speech time is moved to the future
in the main clause. From this perspective, the present of the subordinate
clause indicates temporal identity between the newly anchored speech time
and the situation described by the subordinate clause.
(491) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ bédéwɔ̀.]PRES [FUT - PRES]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ-H gyámbɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀
1S.FUT be 1S-PRES cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I will be cooking food.’
As a minimal pair, (492) shows that a change of the TM category in the

subordinate clause entails a change in the relation between newly anchored
time and the situation. While the main clause still anchors speech time in
the future, from this future perspective, the situation of cooking will have
been completed in the remote past.
(492) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ́ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ́ bédéwɔ̀.]PST2 [FUT - PST2]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀
1S.FUT be 1S.PST2 cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘I will have cooked food.’
In contrast, changing the TM category in the main clause simply anchors

speech time at that particular reference time. In (493), the embedded clause
occurs in the inchoative. The TM category of the main clause changes
though. In (493a), the main clause is encoded for future while it is en-
coded for the recent past in (493b).
340
(493) a. àà bɛ̀ [àá gyì]INCH nàmɛ́nɔ́. [FUT - INCH]

àà bɛ̀ àá gyì nàmɛ́nɔ́
1.FUT be-PST 1.INCH cry tomorrow
‘She will be at the beginning of crying tomorrow.’
b. à bɛ́ [àá gyì]INCH nàkùgúù. [PST1 - INCH]
a bɛ̀-H àá gyì nàkùgúù
1.PST1 be-PST 1.INCH cry yesterday
‘She was at the beginning of crying yesterday.’
Impressionistically, it seems that any two TM categories can be com-

bined. (494), taken from the corpus, shows that even the two past cate-
gories can be combined via embedding, a combination that might appear
semantically or contextually unlikely.15 Here, the main clause is encoded
for the remote past. The subordinate clause appears in the recent past.
Speech time is thus anchored in the remote past, while the situation hap-
pened in the recent past, relative to the new time anchor.
(494) áà bɛ́ [à bó nà màbádò nyúlɛ̀.]PST1

áà bɛ̀-H a bô-H nà ma-bádò nyúlɛ̀
1.PST2 be-R 1.PST1 lie-R COM ma6-open.wound ∅9.body
‘He was being lying with open wounds on the body.’
Whether there are actually any restrictions on TM category combination in

embedding constructions requires further research.
Tense-mood combinations with aspect marking Just as two TM cate-

gories can be combined via embedding, aspect marking can be achieved
for any TM category. Anchoring speech time at a certain reference point is
done in the main clause while aspect marking of the described situation is
bound to the subordinate clause. (495) illustrates this for the progressive
aspect which, in (495a), is anchored in the future and in (495b) in the
inchoative.
(495) a. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè.]PROG [FUT - PROG]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè
1S.FUT be 1S PROG.SUB eat
‘I will be eating.’
15
Speakers translate this construction with Il était étant couché... into Cameroonian
French.
341
b. mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè.]PROG [INCH - PROG]

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè
1S.INCH be 1S PROG.SUB eat
‘I’m at the beginning of being eating.’
The progressive aspect is the only aspect marker that has a suppletive form
for subordinate causes. All the other aspect markers can also occur in such
a construction, but with the same form that also occurs in non-embedded
constructions. This is shown for other aspect markers in (496).
(496) a. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ lùŋgá mɔ̀.]PROG [FUT - COMPL]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ lùŋga-H mɔ̀
1S.FUT be 1S grow-R COMPL
‘I will have grown up.’
b. mɛ́ɛ ̀ bɛ́ [mɛ̀ múà dè.]PROG [PST2 - PROSP]
mɛ́ɛ ̀ bɛ̀-H mɛ múà dè
1S.PST2 be 1S PROSP eat
‘I’m at the beginning of being eating.’
c. mɛ́ɛ ̀ bɛ́ [mɛ́ gyámbɔ̀gyàmbɔ̀.]PROG [PST2 - HAB]
mɛ́ɛ ̀ bɛ̀-H mɛ-H gyámbɔ-gyambɔ
1S.PST2 be 1S-PRES cook-cook
‘I used to cook (a long time a go).’
Again, these embedded constructions that serve to express aspect at a

different reference time are rather rare and do not occur often in the cor-
pus. A larger corpus and a more thorough investigation is needed to further
explore all possible combinations.
Negation with aspect marking As pointed out in the section on aspect

marking, aspectual markers cannot directly combine with negation. Embed-
ding constructions serve as a means to combine negation and aspect marking
indirectly, though. As shown for tense-mood combinations and tense-mood
combinations with aspect, the same distribution of main and subordinate
clause is used for negation and aspect combinations. Here, negation is spec-
ified in the main clause for the reference time while aspect is marked in the
subordinate clause, as shown in (497) for different reference times.
(497) a. mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè.]PROG [PRES - PROG]

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè
1S.NEG.PRES be-NEG 1S PROG.SUB eat
342
‘I am not eating.’
b. mɛ̀ sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè.]PROG [PST1 - PROG]
mɛ sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè
1S.PST1 NEG.PST be 1S PROG.SUB eat
‘I was not eating.’
c. mɛɛ̀̀ kálɛ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè.]PROG [FUT - PROG]
mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kálɛ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè
1S.FUT NEG.FUT be 1S PROG.SUB eat
‘I will not be eating.’
Future research needs to explore the combination possibilities further and

check whether all negation forms can combine with any aspect marker.
In this chapter, I have outlined the tense-mood-aspect system and how it
connects to negation. Tense, mood, aspect, and negation as the inflectional
level of the verb phrase represent the intersection between verb phrase and
clause level. While TMA and negation in other Bantu languages such as
Swahili are expressed in the verbal morphology, Gyeli expresses these se-
mantic categories on the tonal, morphological, and syntactic level. This is
the case, for instance, with tonal patterns of the SCOP as well as metatonic
tones whose appearance not only depend on a specific mood category, but
also on elements following the verb, such as nouns, pronouns, or adverbs. I
now turn to the description of different clause types in the next chapter.
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Chapter 6
Simple Clauses
In this chapter, I describe the different types of simple clauses in Gyeli. I

first outline non-verbal clauses including different copula constructions in
section 6.1. I then discuss verbal clauses, grammatical relations, and ba-
sic clause types in section 6.2 along with complex auxiliary predictes and
sentential modification. Section 6.3 is dedicated to information structure
phenomena. In section 6.4, I discuss special clause types, including ques-
tions, possessor raising, and comparison constructions.
The discussion of simple clauses distinguishes different clause types in
Gyeli based on their internal structure, which mainly concerns different
types of predicates. Along with Dryer (2007a), I distinguish clauses that
are non-verbal from the ones that include a verb.
6.1 Non-Verbal Predicates

Clauses with non-verbal predicates are also refered to as copula construc-
tions. They are typically comprised of a subject, a copula, and a predicate
which is sometimes called a ‘copula complement’. In (498), for instance,
John is the subject, is the copula, and tall the predicate.
(498) John is tall.
Dryer (2007a: 225) suggests that, even though the copula is is an inflected
form of the verb be, the verb should not be regarded as the predicate since
tall takes over the function of a predicate. He notes that:
344
‘The verb be is more of a function word than a predicate; its func-

tion can be thought of as combining with nonverbal predicates
to form what is syntactically a verbal predicate.’ (p.225)
Copula constructions differ structurally and cross-linguistically in differ-

ent respects. First, the grammatical status of the copula can differ, even
within the same language. Dryer (2007a: 225-227) gives examples from
several languages where the copula is either verbal or non-verbal. Non-
verbal copulas have cross-linguistically different morphosyntactic shapes,
ranging from words to clitics and affixes. Second, Dryer points out that
there are three types of predicates, namely adjectival, nominal, and locative
predicates. Semantically, copula constructions encode two different types
of relations which are, according to Curnow (2001: 1-2), identity relations
and classifications, as exemplified in (499).
(499) a. Identity: ‘That man is my father.’

b. Classification: ‘That man is a teacher.’
In Gyeli, both identity and classification relations are expressed by cop-

ula constructions. Gyeli copula constructions differ in the type of predi-
cate and the type of copula. The predicate ranges from nominal to locative
and qualifier/quantifier (the equivalent to adjectival predicates in other lan-
guages) predicates. Also, demonstratives and possessive pronouns can serve
as predicates as well as deictic elements, as I will show for the various copula
types below.
Gyeli has six different copula types, three of which are non-verbal and
three verbal, as shown in Table 6.1. The most frequent copula in the corpus
is the SCOP copula that is expressed by a special SCOP form. It merges the
subject and the copula in one morpheme and constitutes the most frequent
of all copula constructions found in the corpus (43.7%). Another non-verbal
copula is the invariable identificational marker wɛ́ which represents 11.6%
of the copular clauses. There are also instances where the copula is zero-
expressed. This construction, however, is only found in elicitations and does
not occur in the corpus. All non-verbal copulas are restricted to the present
TM category. If other TM categories are to be encoded, as well as negation,
the verbal copula bɛ̀ ‘be’ is used.
Two of the verbal copulas are forms of ‘be’ . One is the more general and
more frequent bɛ̀ (24.1% of all copula constructions in the corpus) and one
345
Status Copula element Label Corpus frequency

SCOP form SCOP copula (COP) 49 (43.7%)
non-verbal wɛ́ identificational (ID) 13 (11.6%)
∅-copula 0
bɛ̀ ‘be’ 27 (24.1%)
verbal múà ‘be’ 6 (5.4%)
bùdɛ́ ‘have’ 17 (15.2%)
Total 112
Table 6.1: Copula types
is múà (5.4%) which is also used as the aspectual prospective marker, as

discussed in chapter 5.3.3. bùdɛ́ is the third verbal copula. It covers 15.2%
of all copular constructions and is mostly used in predicate possession of the
present.
I will describe each copula type in the following, providing examples and
information on its distribution. This will also show that not every copula
behaves like a real copula element in every context, i.e. linking a subject to
a copula complement. In some cases, some copula elements also take over
functions such as presentational or existential markers which do not require
a predicate and thus are then not strictly speaking copulas in all contexts.
6.1.1 SCOP Copula

The SCOP copula (COP) takes a special form of the SCOP which is identical
to the SCOP of the future TM category, as discussed in chapter 5.2.4.3. It
has a long vowel with a default HL tonal pattern for all agreement classes
and speech act participants, except for the first and second person singular
and agreement class 1 where the long vowel takes a L tone.
Predication types Unlike all other copula types, the SCOP copula agrees
with the subject in gender. The SCOP copula can link a nominal subject to
different predicatation types. In (500), the predicate is nominal, expressing
a classification relation: Ada is a member of the set of teachers.
(500) Àdà àà ŋgɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀. [nominal]

Àdà àà ŋgɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀
PN 1.COP ∅1.teacher
‘Ada is a teacher.’
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(501) and (502) provide examples where the predicate is a qualifier.
(501) Àdà àà mpà. [qualifier]

Àdà àà mpà
PN 1.COP good
‘Ada is good.’
(502) bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ,̃̀ nà béè

bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà béè
good[French] ∅7.generation finish.COMPL COM 2P.COP
bànáyɛ̂yɛ̂. [qualifier]
ba-náyɛ̂yɛ̂
2-bleached.out
‘Good, the generation has been wiped out, and you are bleached out
[= white].’
In (503) and (504), the predicate is a locative noun phrase.
(503) Àdà àà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù. [locative]

Àdà áà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
PN 1.COP ∅9.house LOC inside
‘Ada is inside the house.’
(504) bɔ́nɛ́gá báà ná djìí dé tù. [locative]

b-ɔ́nɛ́gá báà ná djìí dé tù
2-other 2.COP still ∅7.forest LOC inside
‘The others are still in the forest.’
In addition to these predicate types which Dryer (2007a) views as the most
common ones across languages, the SCOP copula in Gyeli can also be used
with locative interrogative words as in (505) and with deictic elements, as
in (506).
(505) ɛ́ nà! mwánɔ̀ nùù vɛ́? [interrogative]

ɛ́ nà m-wánɔ̀ nùù vɛ́
LOC how N1-child 1.COP where
‘What! Where is the child?’
(506) bã́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè. [deictic]

bã ́ y-ɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè
∅7.word 7-POSS.2S 7.COP there
‘Your word is there [= I understand you].’
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Finally, the SCOP copula can also introduce reported speech. Thus, in
(507), the SCOP copula báà serves as quotative index to the direct reported
speech in the copula complement, marked by square brackets.
(507) báà [nâ wɛ̀, sílɛ̂ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́.] [complement]

báà nâ wɛ sílɛ̂ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́
2.COP COMP 2S finish.IMP go do ∅7.work
‘They are like ‘you, finish go do the work’.’
SCOP copula as the predicate In the vast majority of cases, the SCOP
copula functions as element linking the subject to the predicate. In a few
special cases, however, there is no copula complement and the SCOP serves
as predicate, as in (508) and (509) which represent existential clauses. Ac-
cording to Dryer (2007a: 241),
“From a discourse point of view, the primary function of such

[existential] clauses is apparently to introduce into the discourse
a participant that is new to the hearer.”
In English, this is often achieved with constructions involving there is or

there are.
(508) bèsá bíndɛ̀ byɛ́sɛ̀ béè ndáà.

be-sá bí-ndɛ̀ by-ɛ́sɛ̀ béè ndáà
be8-thing 8-ANA 8-all 8.ID also
‘There are also all these things. [= way of introducing a problem]’
(509) lé [yá wɛ́ nyɛ̂]REL [bá gyíbɔ́ ngàlɛ́]REL yíì.

lé yá wɛ-H nyɛ̂ ba-H gyíbɔ-H ngàlɛ́ yíì
∅7.tree 7:ATT 2S-PRES see 2-PRES call-R PN 7.COP
‘There is the tree that you see that they call ngàlɛ́.’
Expression of the subject As mentioned above, a copula links a subject to

a predicate. In the previous examples, the shape of the subject was some sort
of noun phrase. In (505) and (509), the subject is expressed nominally while
the subject noun phrase in (508) is more complex, including two modifiers.
The SCOP copula can also encode subject and copula at the same time and
thus can occur on its own, without a nominal noun phrase, as in (510).
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(510) mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbòlɛ̀ ɛ́ mpù báà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù

mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbo-lɛ̀ ɛ́ mpù báà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
1S.PRES.NEG know-NEG LOC like.this 2.COP ∅9.house LOC inside
dénè.
dénè
today[Bulu]
‘I don’t know how they are in the house today.’
This construction type is also used in generic ‘it is’ clauses where the subject
is inanimate, but underspecified, as for instance in (511).
(511) yíì mpà yɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ wɛ́ kã́ yɔ̀ dúmbɔ́.

yíì mpà yɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ wɛ-H kã-̂ H yɔ̀ dúmbɔ́
7.COP good ∅7.time 2S-PRES wrap-R 7.OBJ ∅7.package
‘It is good when you wrap it in a (leaf) package.’
The yíì SCOP copula is also used in cleft sentences, as shown in section
6.3.2.3.
Semantic range of SCOP copula Having described the structural prop-

erties of subjects and predicates involved in copula constructions with the
SCOP copula, I now turn to presenting examples of the SCOP copula’s uses
from a semantic perspective. As pointed out above in (508) and (509), the
SCOP copula is used in existential clauses. This is also the case, when the
predicate is a deictic element as in (512) and (513). Both examples can be
interpreted as existential or locative, depending on the context.
(512) bèkɔ́kɔ́ bé nlô bé tè béè tè.

be-kɔ́kɔ́ bé nlô bé tè béè tè
be8-hollowness 8:ATT ∅3.head 8:ATT there 8.COP there
‘The skulls there are there.’
(513) yáà ndáà vâ.

yáà ndáà vâ
1P.COP also here
‘We are also here.’
Also, the SCOP copula expresses equational relations, as in (514). Dryer

(2007a: 233) notes that true equational clauses are those where the subject
and predicate can be reversed, which is true for (514).
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(514) djínɔ̀ lɛ́ kwàdɔ̀ yã̂ yíì Ngòló.

dj-ínɔ̀ lɛ́ kwàdɔ̀ y-ã̂ yíì ngòló
le5-name 5:ATT ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S 7.COP PN
‘The name of my village is Ngolo.’
In contrast, clauses where subject and (nominal) predicate cannot be re-

versed, are termed ‘true nominal predicates’ by Dryer. (515) provides an
example of such a clause.
(515) béè bùdì bá vúdũ̂ ndí bwáá gyɛ́sɔ́

béè b-ùdì bá vúdũ ̂ ndí bwáa-H gyɛ́sɔ-H
2P.COP ba2-person 2:ATT one but 2P-PRES search-R
mápè’è.
H-ma-pè’è
OBJ.LINK-ma6-wisdom
‘You (pl) are the same people, but you are looking for wisdom.’
Finally, the SCOP copula can also express predicate possession, as in

(516). In this example, the possessor mbúmbù precedes the possessee lèbvúú
which serves as the subject. The SCOP copula agrees as expected with the
subject in gender and is followed by the predicate which is a locative in this
case.
(516) mbúmbù lèbvúú léè nlémò dé.

mbúmbù le-bvúú léè nlémò dé
1n.namesake le5-anger 5.COP ∅3.heart LOC
‘The namesake is anger in the heart (he is angry).’
6.1.2 Identificational Marker wɛ́

The identificational marker wɛ́ is invariable and does not agree with the
subject. The marker occurs in two types of constructions. The primary use
is as a copula, linking a subject and a predicate, as in (517).
(517) ntɛ́mbɔ́ wã̂ wɛ́ nû.

ntɛ́mbɔ́ w-ã ̂ wɛ́ nû
∅1.younger.brother 1-POSS.1S ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘My younger brother is this.’
In contrast to the SCOP copula, however, wɛ́ links a subject only to

demonstratives and anaphoric markers. This is why I label wɛ́ as identifica-
tional marker. As Mikkelsen (2011: 1812) states for English, “[i]dentificational
350
clauses are characterized by having a demonstrative pronoun or demonstra-

tive phrase in the subject position.” In Gyeli, the demonstrative does not
occur in the subject, but in the predicate position. Nevertheless, I label wɛ́
as an identificational marker since it takes over the same function, namely
identifying people, places, and the location of things. In (517), the speaker
identifies his younger brother by using a deictic demonstrative, at the same
time pointing to the person in question. In (518), the chief of Ngolo talks
about a scar on his forehead, identifying its location and again pointing to
it.
(518) mɛ́ bvú nâ bàmó tè yɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ́ yî.

mɛ-H bvû-H nâ bàmó tè yɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ́ yî
1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅7.scar there 7.EMPH ID 7.DEM.PROX
‘I think, the scar there is this.’
Apart from demonstratives, anaphoric elements may also occur with the
identificational marker wɛ́. This can be the bare anaphoric marker ndɛ́ as in
(519) which does not take an agreement prefix.
(519) kàndá wɛ́ ndɛ̀.

kàndá wɛ́ ndɛ̀
∅7.proverb ID ANA
‘The story is this.’
Also, the anaphoric marker with an agreement prefix occurs in identifica-

tional constructions, as shown in (520).
(520) bã̂ yã̂ màfwálá wɛ́ yíndɛ̀.

bã ̂ y-ã ̂ ma-fwálá wɛ́ yí-ndɛ̀
∅7.word 7-POSS.1S ma6-end ID 7-ANA
‘This is my last word.’
The second type of construction where wɛ́ is used in one without a pred-
icate. In (521), the parentheses indicate that the use of the demonstrative is
optional. Often, the demonstrative is not expressed, so that only the subject
and wɛ́ surface. In that sense, wɛ́ is not a real copula here since it does not
link a subject to another constituent. It has its origin, however, in a copula
construction. Environments where wɛ́ is used phrase-finally, i.e. without
demonstrative or anaphoric marker, are usually those where the subject is
a personal pronoun as in (521).
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(521) nyɛ̀ wɛ́ (nû).

nyɛ wɛ́ (nû)
1 ID (1.DEM.PROX)
‘It’s him.’
Such identificational constructions show a particular structure when they

involve a proper name, as in (522). Here, the personal pronoun is followed
by the proper name and the identificational marker wɛ́ occurs phrase-finally.
They differ from the above examples in that wɛ́ is not a linking element,
but rather functions as a deictic itself. In this view, it is not surprising
that proper name constructions with wɛ́ do not involve demonstratives or
anaphorics.
(522) mhm, mɛ̀ Nzìwù wɛ̂.

mhm mɛ Nzìwù wɛ́
EXCL 1S PN ID
‘Mhm, I’m Nziwu.’
Finally, wɛ́ is also used in cleft constructions, as shown in (523). The

structure of the identificational clause is parallel to the one in (521) without
a demonstrative predicate, namely nyɛ̀ wɛ́, except that the subject is more
complex, specifying who nyɛ̀ is. The identificational clause is followed by
a relative clause which, in this case, does not have an attributive marker to
indicate the relative clause.1
(523) ntɛ́mbɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ wã̂ nyɛ̀ wɛ́ [bùdɛ́

ntɛ́mbɔ̀ wà m-ùdã ̂ w-ã ̂ nyɛ wɛ́ bùdɛ-H
∅1.younger.sibling 1:ATT N1-woman 1-POSS.1S 1 ID have-R
mwánɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ mvúdũ̂.]REL
m-wánɔ̀ wà m-ùdã ̂ m-vúdũ̂
N1-child 1:ATT N1-woman 1-one
‘It’s my wife’s younger sister who has one girl.’
As with all other non-verbal copula types, also wɛ́ is restricted to the present
TM category.
6.1.3 Optional ∅-Copula

In a few environments, a copula can be optionally omitted. Copula omis-
sion in Gyeli is grammatically optional and not grammatically conditioned,
1
For more information on relative clauses, see section 7.2.2.
352
even though certain environments seem to favor omission. In all examples

presented below, a copula could also be used. Environments which favor
copula omission often seem to involve genitive predicates, as in (524) and
(525). Both examples differ though. In (524), the subject is a demonstrative
while the predicate is a nominal noun phrase, modified by a possessive pro-
noun. The clause could also be expressed with a SCOP copula: núù mwánɔ̀
wã.̂ Since examples of copula omission are rare, the sample is not suffi-
cient to make any generalizations about the difference between the use of
a SCOP copula in contrast to copula omission. It may be a matter of fast
and colloquial speech to omit the copula. It may also be related to informa-
tion structure. The bare demonstrative as subject, as in (524), could thus
introduce a new topic, while the SCOP copula may suggest that the topic is
already known.2
(524) nû [mwánɔ̀ wã.̂ ]PRED

nû m-wánɔ̀ w-ã
1.DEM.PROX N1-child 1-1S.POSS
‘This is my child.’
In contrast to (524), the predicate in (525) is a possessive pronoun while

the subject is a complex nominal noun phrase, including a demonstrative.
Again, it is possible to use a copula, for instance the SCOP copula wúù of
agreement class 3, which is deleted in fast speech.
(525) nkwànɔ̀ wɔ̂ [wã.̂ ]PRED

nkwànɔ̀ wɔ̂ w-ã̂
∅3.honey 3.DEM.PROX 3-1S.POSS
‘This honey is mine.’
In addition to genitive predicates, a copula can also be omitted in nom-

inal predication when the subject is a personal pronoun, as in (526).
(526) mɛ̀ [nsálɛ̀ gyàŋgó.]PRED

mɛ n-sálɛ̀ gyàŋgó
1 N1-doer ∅7.hunt
‘I’m a hunter.’
2
It is also possible to use the identificational marker wɛ́ for (524), but in that case,
subject and predicate would need to be reversed, making the predicate mwánɔ̀ wã ̂ the
subject and nû the predicate. This construction then differs also in terms of information
structure, moving the demonstrative into focus position.
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Zero copula constructions always refer to the present tense. If non-verbal

predicates are to be expressed in other tense-mood categories, a verbal cop-
ula is required.
6.1.4 Verbal Copula bɛ̀ ‘be’

The non-verbal copula types presented so far can only be used in affirmative
clauses which occur in the present. To express copular clauses in other
tense-mood categories or to negate them, the verbal copula bɛ̀ ‘be’ is used.
Additionally, bɛ̀ is used in expressing predicate possession by adding the
comitative marker nà. Each of these uses is illustrated below.
Tense expression with bɛ̀ The verbal copula bɛ̀ can be used in all tense-
mood categories. Even though for the present TM category, usually non-
verbal copula types are used, also bɛ̀ can serve as copula in the present.
This seems to mainly occur when the subject is an emphatic pronoun, as in
(527) and (528).
(527) lûŋgà yá sã́ wã̂ yɔ́ bɛ́ yíí.

lûŋgà yá sã ́ w-ã ̂ yɔ́ bɛ̀-H yíí.
∅7.grave 7:ATT ∅1.father 1-POSS.1S 7.EMPH be-R 7.DEM.DIST
‘My father’s grave is over there.’
(528) ngùndyá tè nyɔ́ bɛ́ nyî.

ngùndyá tè nyɔ́ bɛ̀-H nyî
∅9.raffia there 9.EMPH be-R 9.DEM.PROX
‘The raffia there, it is that.’
Also, special construction types can trigger the use of bɛ̀ as copula in the
present. For instance, the copula bɛ̀ can occur as second constituent in
a coordination of verbs, as in (529). In order to keep the verbal structure
of the first constituent, and share the first constituent’s subject yí ‘it’, the
copula of the second constituent is verbal as well.
(529) bon pílì yí báàlá nà bɛ̀ ndɛ̀náà ndɛ̀náà

bon pílì yi-H báàla-H nà bɛ̀ ndɛ̀náà ndɛ̀náà
good[French] when 7-PRES repeat-R COM be like.that like.that
ndáà ná.
ndáà ná
also still
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‘So, when it continues and is still like this and like that.’
Another special construction type in the present where a verbal cop-

ula is chosen over the non-verbal copulas involves sentential modifiers, as
illustrated in (530). Certain sentential modifiers such as kɔ́ɔ̀ ‘still’ require
an infinitival construction, as further discussed in section 6.2.4.
(530) nà bí bɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã̂ bɛ̀ dé tù.

nà bí b-ɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã̂ bɛ̀ dé tù
COM 1P.EMPH 2-all still ∅7.electricity be LOC inside
‘with all of us just electricity be inside.’
Besides these special cases in the present, the verbal copula bɛ̀ is used
in other TM categories. This is shown for the recent past in (531) and
(532). (531) represents a nominal predicate, while (532) gives an example
where the predicate is an interrogative pronoun.
(531) yɔ́ɔ ̀ ŋgã̀ nû à bɛ́ ŋgã,̀

(532) mà bɛ́ vɛ́?

ma bɛ̀-H vɛ́
6.PST1 be-R where
‘Where were they [= the houses]?’
Similarly, bɛ̀ can be used in the remote past, as shown in (533).
(533) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nɔ́gá núù bɛ́ nzàmbí wà gyí?

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nɔ́-gá núù bɛ̀-H nzàmbí wà gyí?
so PN 1-other 1.PST2 be-R PN 1:ATT what
‘So this other Nzambi was which Nzambi?’
Finally, the verbal copula bɛ̀ can even take the absolute completive
aspect marker mà, as shown in (534). This, however, seems to be the only
possible combination of verbal copula and aspect. Also, it is noteworthy that
this construction has been observed several times with the Mabi version of
the completive aspect marker mà as an instance of code-switching, but has
never been noticed with the Gyeli form of the aspect marker mɔ̀.
355
(534) wú bɛ́ mà bî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù!

wú bɛ̀-H mà bî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
3 be-R COMPL[Kwasio] 1P.OBJ ∅9.house LOC inside
‘That it was already in our houses!’
Negation with bɛ̀ bɛ̀ is the only copula type that can be used in negated
copula constructions. This holds for all predication types as well as for all
TM categories, including the present. Thus, the negated form bɛ́lɛ́ is used
in the present, for instance with a nominal predicate, as in (535).
(535) mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ mùdì wà lèkɛ́lɛ̀.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ m-ùdì wà le-kɛ́lɛ̀
1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG N1-person 1:ATT le5-word
‘I’m not a person of many words.’
The same construction is used with qualifier predicates, as in (536).
(536) nkwànò wú bɛ́lɛ́ mpà.

nkwànò wu-H bɛ̀-lɛ mpà
∅3.honey 3-PRES be-NEG good
‘The honey is not good.’
Also deictic predicates have been found with a negated copula bɛ́lɛ́, as in
(537).
(537) nyɛ̀ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ wû.

nyɛ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ̀-lɛ wû
1 COMP 1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG there
‘He [says]: ‘I’m not there.”
Finally, there are a few constructions which lack a predicate, parallel to

what has been described for the SCOP copula in section 6.1.1. In (538),
the negated copula expresses a negative existential clause: the person is not
there. While in English, the use of ‘there’ is obligatory in these constructions,
in Gyeli, the occurrence of the deictic as in (537) is optional. In (538), the
deictic does not appear so that the negated form of ‘be’ serves as predicate
in this case.
(538) mùdì nú bɛ́lɛ́.

‘This person is not there.’
356
Predicate possession with bɛ̀ nà The verbal copula bɛ̀ ‘be’ in conjunction
with the comitative marker nà express predicate possession. Typically, the
predicate is nominal in these cases. Predicate possession with bɛ̀ nà can be
used in all tense-mood categories. I provide examples for some of them in
(539), namely for the present, the recent past, and the future.
(539) a. mɛ́ bɛ́ nà nkwànò.

mɛ-H bɛ̀-H nà nkwànò
1-PRES be-R COM ∅3.honey
‘I have honey.’
b. mɛ̀ bɛ́ nà nkwànò.
mɛ bɛ̀-H nà nkwànò
1.PST1 be-R COM ∅3.honey
‘I had honey.’
c. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ nà nkwànò.
mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ nà nkwànò
1.FUT be COM ∅3.honey
‘I will have honey.’
Encoding of predicate possession in the present is special in that it can

also take other forms to express the meaning of ‘have’. While the verbal
copula plus comitative marker as in (539a) is one option, the copula can
also be omitted in the present so that only the comitative marker surfaces,
as in (540).
(540) mɛ́ nà nkwànò.

mɛ-H nà nkwànò
1-PRES COM ∅3.honey
‘I have honey.’
Further, another verbal copula, bùdɛ́, can be used, as discussed in section

6.1.6.
bɛ̀ nà can be used for affirmative clauses, but also in negation, thus ex-
pressing negative possession. Negation of bɛ̀ nà constructions is achieved
by regular negation patterns for the different tense-mood categories as dis-
cussed in chapter 5.4. In the present, two construction types are possible.
One involves the neagtion suffix -lɛ, as in (541).
(541) mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà nkwànò.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ̀-lɛ nà nkwànò
1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG COM ∅3.honey
357
‘I don’t have any honey.’
The second possible negation construction involves the negation particle tí,
or, as in (542), the Mabi form kí which is often used in code-switching.
(542) mɛ̀ kí bɛ̀ nà tsídí.

1S NEG[Kwasio] be COM ∅1.meat
‘I don’t have any meat.’
Also for past negation, both negation words, sàlɛ́ and pálɛ́ can be used,
as (543) and (544) show. The negation words precede bɛ̀ nà as they would
with any other verb.
(543) ɛ́kɛ̀! nzàmbí wà nú áà sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ nà

bã ̂ líná-á pámò.
bã ̂ líná a-H pámo
(544) yà pálɛ́ bɛ̀ nà bùdã.̂

1P NEG.PST be COM ba2-woman
Accordingly, negation of predicate possession in the future is achieved

with the future negation word kálɛ̀, as shown in (545).

6.1.5 Verbal Copula múà ‘be’

The verbal copula múà seems to be a special variety for expressing copular
clauses in the recent past. As such, its use is very limited as well as its
occurrence in the corpus. While the general verbal copula bɛ̀ constitutes
24.1% of all copula occurrences in the corpus, múà only constitutes 5.4%.
358
Also, the use of múà as a copula seems to depend on speaker preference.

Only one of the speakers chose múà over bɛ̀ while other speakers only used
múà as prospective marker (see chapter 5.3.3). Therefore, in all copular
clauses with múà, múà could be replaced by the more general verbal copula
bɛ̀. Examples from the corpus with múà as copula are given in (546) and
(547).
(546) à múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá mùdì.

a múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá m-ùdì
1S be self real N1-person
‘He was about to be a real (old) man.’
(547) mɛ̀ múà pɔ́nɛ́ wá yìmbá ntɛ́ wû.

mɛ múà pɔ́nɛ́ wá yìmbá ntɛ́ wû
1S be ∅7.truth 3:ATT ∅7.age ∅3.size there
‘I was really about the age of this size there [makes a gesture with
hand showing his height].’
múà as a copular verb is, however, more restricted than bɛ̀ in that is can
only occur in the recent past. Also, negation is not possible with múà.
Predicate possession with múà nà The expression of predicate possession

is also possible with múà in conjunction with the comitative marker nà.
Again, this is restricted to the recent past, as (548) shows.
(548) gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ à múà nà bábɛ̀ tí

gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ a múà nà bábɛ̀ tí
IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO 1S PROSP COM ∅7.illness NEG
wúmbɛ̀ wɛ̀.
wúmbɛ wɛ̀
want-R die
‘[imitation of the disease roaming in his body] He was about to be
sick, without wanting to die.’
múà nà cannot be directly negated, but requires the past negation words
sàlɛ́ or pálɛ́ as in (543) and (544).
6.1.6 Verbal Copula bùdɛ́ ‘have’

The verbal copula bùdɛ́ ‘have’ only expresses predicate possession. It is in-
terchangeable with bɛ̀ plus comitative marker nà, as (549) shows.
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(549) a. bá bɛ́ nà bvúbvù.

ba-H bɛ̀-H nà bvúbvù
2-PRES be-R COM lots
‘They have lots.’
b. bá bùdɛ́ bvúbvù.
ba-H bùdɛ́ bvúbvù
2-PRES have.R lots
‘They have lots.’
bùdɛ́ occurs 17 times in the corpus which equals 15.2% of all copula
occurrences. Out of 27 instances of bɛ̀ as a copula, 10 occur with the comi-
tative marker nà. Thus, bɛ̀ nà constructions only constitute 11.2% of the
copula constructions and are thus less frequent than predicate possession
constructions with bùdɛ́. Given the relatively few instances in the corpus of
both constructions, it is not yet possible to determine distributional and/or
semantic differences. Speakers generally state that both constructions mean
the same and both can be used interchangeably.
bùdɛ́ differs from other verbs including the copula bɛ̀ in its tonal behavior
on the SCOP. Comparable to, for instance, the future TM category, the first
and second person singular and the SCOP of class 1 have a different tonal
pattern, namely a L tone, than the SCOPs of the other agreement classes
which have a H tone, as in (549b). As to the tonal shape of the verb bùdɛ́, it
always ends in a H tone which suggests that it belongs to the realis mood, as
discussed in chapter 5.2.3. Since bùdɛ́ never occurs phrase-finally though, it
is not possible to prove that its final TBU is underlyingly L. I therefore gloss
the metatonic realis H tone as being inherent to the verb.
The predicates in constructions with bùdɛ́ are all nominal or extended
nominal noun phrases, as examples (550) though (552) show. In (550), the
predicate is a noun plus a numeral.
(550) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ bwánɔ̀ bábáà.

mɛ bùdɛ́ b-wánɔ̀ bá-báà
1S have.R ba2-child 2-two
‘I have two children.’
In (551), the predicate is nominal as well, followed by a comitative con-

struction which literally translates as ‘the Bulu has anger with me.’
360
(551) pílì wɛ́ kɛ́ nâ wɛ́ kɛ́ tɔ́kɛ̀ mwánɔ̀ sáyà,

pílì wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀-H tɔ́kɛ m-wánɔ̀ sáyà
when 2S-PRES go-R COMP 2S-PRES go-R collect N1-child ∅7.thing
bvúlɛ̀ à bùdɛ́ lébvúú nà mɛ̂.
bvúlɛ̀ a bùdɛ́ H-le-bvúú nà mɛ̂
ba2.Bulu 1 have.R OBJ.LINK-le5-anger COM 1S.OBJ
‘When you go to go gather a small thing, the Bulu is angry with me.’
bùdɛ́ can also occur in relative clauses, as (552) shows. Here, the relative
clause modifies the object noun phrase mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ.̀ The demonstrative fol-
lowing bùdɛ́ is coreferential with this object noun phrase.
(552) vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ ̀ [wà wɛ̀ bùdɛ́

vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ wà wɛ bùdɛ́
give.IMP 1S.OBJ only N1-child 1-POSS.2S 1:ATT 2S have.R
nû.]REL
nû
1:DEM.PROX
‘Give me only your child that you have here.’
The distribution of bùdɛ́ seems to be restricted to the present TM cate-

gory. Given the special tonal pattern of the SCOP which differs from the gen-
eral present tonal pattern, TM category affiliation cannot be determined
by the default tonal shape. Speakers consistently translate clauses with bùdɛ́
with the present though. The same is true for the special construction in-
volving the Kwasio loan form of the absolute completive marker mà. As
discussed in chapter 5.3.6, the Gyeli completive marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ is restricted
to the recent past. In (553), however, it occurs with bùdɛ́ and speakers
translate the sentence in the present into French as Il a déjà une femme.
(553) à bùdɛ́ mà mùdã.̂

a bùdɛ́ mà m-ùdã.̂
1 have.R COMPL[Kwasio] N1-woman
‘He already has a wife.’
Two explanations are possible. One could propose that bùdɛ́ does not
belong to the present TM category and constitutes a general exception.
As such, it can combine with the absolute completive marker mà. Se-
mantically, it encodes a present perfect reading, comparable to English have
got constructions. Alternately, one could propose that bùdɛ́ belongs to the
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present TM category, despite the special tonal pattern of the SCOP. The co-
occurrence with mà, which is only expected to occur in the recent past,
can be explained by the potential grammaticalization of mà into an adverb.
It is noteworthy that bùdɛ́ only co-occurs with the Kwasio loan form of mà,
but never with its own absolute completive marker mɔ̀/-Ṽ. At the same
time, speakers consistently translate mà as déjà ‘already’. It is thus possible
that mà functions as an adverb rather than an aspect marker which would
explain why mà is not restricted to the recent past.
Finally, bùdɛ́ is also used in the quotative index of reported speech (see
chapter 7.3 for more information), as shown in (554) and (555). Generally,
there seems to be a tendency that bùdɛ́ as verb in a quotative index indicates
some kind of wish or order, as both examples illustrate.
(554) mais mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ ɛ́ pɛ̀, ɛ́ wû

mais mɛ bùdɛ́ nâ ɛ́ pɛ̀ ɛ́ wû
but[French] 1S have.R COMP LOC over.there LOC there
bèyá lwɔ̃́ kwádɔ́ yã̂ ɛ́ wû.
bèya-H ̂
2P[Kwasio]-PRES build-R ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S LOC there
‘But I say that over there, there you (pl) build my village over there.’
(555) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ á lwɔ́ŋgɔ́ mɛ̂ màndáwɔ̀,

mɛ bùdɛ́ nâ a-H lwɔ́ŋgɔ-H mɛ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀
1S have.R COMP 1-PRES build[Kwasio]-R 1S.OBJ ma6-house
‘I say that she [Nadine] builds me houses,’
Having outlined constructions with non-verbal predicates, I now turn to

constructions with verbal predicates as well as a general discussion of gram-
matical relations in Gyeli.
6.2 Verbal Clauses and Grammatical Relations

Clauses with verbal predicates are more complex than non-verbal ones for
they may involve more grammatical relations. I first discuss the different
grammatical relations found in Gyeli first before I describe basic clause
types. Other topics addressed in this section are complex predicates and
sentential modifiers.
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6.2.1 Grammatical Relations: Definitions and Diagnos-

tics
In this section, I describe the grammatical relations in Gyeli. In doing so,
I follow Dryer (1997) who argues against grammatical relations, such as
subject and object, as cross-linguistic notions, but emphasizes that grammat-
ical relations are fundamentally language-specific. I therefore use a range
of language specific formal criteria in order to determine the grammatical
relations in Gyeli. These include word order, agreement, and suprasegmen-
tal noun phrase marking. Based on these criteria, I distinguish subjects,
objects, and obliques in Gyeli, which I will discuss in turn.
6.2.1.1 Subjects
Subjects in Gyeli are formally characterized by their preverbal position in

basic word order, as shown in (556) and (557), and by agreement of the
SCOP, a portemanteau morpheme encoding subject agreement and other
clause information such as tense-mood and negation (see chapter 5.2.1 for
more information on the SCOP). Also, pronouns can serve as a subject di-
agnostic since subject pronouns differ in their shape from non-subject pro-
nouns.
(556) yɔ́ɔ ̀ [mùdã]̂ SBJ á kɛ̀. [intransitive]

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã̂ a-H kɛ̀
so N1-woman 1-PRES go
‘So the woman goes.’
(557) [nzàmbí]SBJ à bwãã̀ ́ mwánɔ̀. [transitive]

nzàmbí a bwãã̀ -H m-wánɔ̀
PN 1.PST1 give.birth-R N1-child
‘Nzambi has given birth to a child.’
As visible in these two examples, the subject has the same characteristics for
intransitive and transitive verbs, both in terms of word order and agreement
behavior.
The SCOP, á in (556) and à in (557), is a free grammatical morpheme
rather than a prefix since it can optionally be omitted in certain contexts,
as explained in chapter 5.2.1. Despite this optional SCOP omission, the
SCOP is a valid diagnostic for subjecthood since it can always be added to
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a nominal subject. The SCOP as agreement suffices as subject expression in

cases where the subject noun phrase is not expressed, i.e. when a phrase is
subjectless, as shown in (558) and (559) for intrasitive and transitive verbs,
respectively.
(558) yɔ́ɔ ̀ á kɛ̀. [intransitive]

yɔ́ɔ ̀ a-H kɛ̀
so 1-PRES go
‘So she goes.’
(559) à bwãã̀ ́ mwánɔ̀. [transitive]

a bwãã̀ -H m-wánɔ̀
1.PST1 give.birth-R N1-child
‘He has given birth to a child.’
The only exceptional environment where the SCOP is consistently not used
concerns imperatives, as shown in chapter 5.2.4.6. Imperatives are char-
acterized by the absence of a SCOP.
Another subject diagnostic is the form of the SCOP which differs from
non-subject pronouns. SCOP portemanteau morphemes never occur with
other grammatical relations than the subject. Thus, the SCOP, functioning
as subject pronoun, differs clearly in its shape from non-subject pronouns, as
illustrated in (560) with the SCOP and non-subject pronouns for agreement
class 6.
(560) a. [má]SBJ kwé mímpìndí. [subject]

ma-H kwè-H H-mi-pìndí
6-PRES fall-R OBJ.LINK-mi4-non.ripe
‘They [= the bread fruit] fall non ripe.’
b. mɛ́ nyɛ́ [mɔ̂]OBJ . [object]
mɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mɔ̂
1S-PRES see-R 6.NSBJ
‘I see them [= the bread fruit].’
c. mɛ́ njí [nà mɔ̂]OBL . [oblique]
mɛ-H njì-H nà mɔ̂
1S-PRES come-R COM 6.NSBJ
‘I bring them [= the bread fruit].’
(560a) shows the SCOP of agreement class 6 which takes the form má, the
H tone encoding present tense-mood. In (560b), the agreement class 6
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pronoun is in object position and takes the shape mɔ̂. This is the same form
as the pronoun takes in obliques with the comitative marker nà, as in (560c).
The complete paradigm for SCOP forms in the different agreement classes is
given in chapter 3.4.1 (and chapter 5.2.1 where different tonal patterns are
explained). In contrast, the complete paradigm for non-subject pronouns is
listed in chapter 3.4.2.
6.2.1.2 Objects
While subjects can uncontroversially be recognized as a grammatical rela-

tion, it is more challenging to distinguish objects from obliques. This seems
to be particularly common in northwestern Bantu. For instance, Van de
Velde (2008: 287) only distinguishes subjects from non-subjects in Eton
(A71) since “there are no clear syntactic arguments to define grammati-
cal relations other than subject.” This correponds to Schadeberg’s (1995)
observation that
“Bantu languages recognize a type of syntactic relationship which

is wider than our traditional category of object, including some
but not all of our category of adjunct.” (p. 179)
In Gyeli, however, there are means to distinguish objects from obliques,

even though they differ from the typical diagnostics used in Bantu lan-
guages.
Some of the typical object diagnostics for Bantu languages such as object
prefixes on the verb or passivization, as suggested by Schadeberg (1995),
do not work in Gyeli. Many Bantu languages cross-reference the object on
the verb by a prefix, as in Swahili in (561).
(561) Swahili
ni-na-m-piga Hamisi
1S.SBJ-PRES-3S.OBJ-beat PN
‘I beat Hamisi.’
In contrast, in Gyeli, objects are generally not cross-referenced on verbs.

(562) shows that the verb does not take any object marking prefixes, no
matter whether the object is expressed by a lexical noun phrase, as in (562a),
or a pronoun, as in (562b).
365
(562) Gyeli
a. mɛ́ bìyɔ́ Màmbì S V ON
mɛ-H bìyɔ-H Màmbì
1S-PRES beat-R PN
‘I beat Mambi.’
b. mɛ́ bìyɔ́ nyɛ̂ S V OPRO
mɛ-H bìyɔ-H nyɛ̂
1S-PRES beat-R 3S.OBJ
‘I beat him.’
In contrast to pre-verbal object prefixes, post-verbal object marking is more

difficult to analyze. This is because, according to Marten & Kula (2012: 239),
post-verbal object markers
“may in fact be normal pronouns, or pronouns in some special

position with respect to the verb, or clitic pronouns with special
phonological or morphological characteristics.”
In Gyeli, I consider them “normal” pronouns. As such, they do not qualify

as object diagnostics.
Another diagnostic that is often used in determining objects in Bantu
is passivization. In Gyeli, passivization seems, however, to be an artificial
process that mostly shows up in elicitations, but not in natural speech. I
therefore do not consider passivization as a good diagnostic for objecthood,
even though simple constructions such as in (563) yield the expected results.
As described in chapter 4.1.2.2, the object of an active construction as in
(563a) corresponds to the subject of a passive construction as in (563b),
while the subject of an active construction can optionally be expressed as
an oblique in the passive construction.
(563) a. [bùdì bá]SBJ tsìlɔ́ [békálàdɛ̀.]OBJ

b-ùdì ba-H tsìlɔ-H H-be-kálàdɛ̀
ba2-person 2-PRES write-R OBJ.LINK-be8-book
‘People write books.’
b. [bèkálàdɛ̀ bé]SBJ tsìlá [(nà bùdì).]OBL
be-kálàdɛ̀ be-H tsìl-a-H nà b-ùdì
be8-book 8-PRES write-PASS-R COM ba2-person
‘Books are written (by people).’
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The caveat of passivization as object diagnostic in Gyeli is that, first,

passivization is a restricted morphological process, given that the possibility
to form passives is lexically determined by the verb. Thus, many verbs that
semantically would be expected to have a passive form, do not. Speakers
generally prefer active constructions with unspecified agents expressed by
the agreement class 2 SCOP ba. Second, while passivization might work as
a diagnostic for single objects, it does not for double object constructions.
The attempt to passivize both objects in a double object construction in
elicitation proved to be an unnatural process and yielded dubious results.
Having ruled out some typical Bantu object diagnostics for Gyeli, I now
turn to the two formal criteria that actually characterize objects in this lan-
guage. These include suprasegmental marking of the object noun phrase,
which I call an “object linking H tone”, and word order. I will discuss both
in turn.
Object Linking H Tone Objects in Gyeli are marked by a syntactic H tone

that attaches to underlyingly toneless TBUs of the object noun, namely to
CV- noun class prefixes. I gloss this object linking H tone as “OBJ.LINK.”
Thus, in (564), the object receives a H tone, attaching to the noun class
prefix which is underlyingly toneless.
(564) wɛ̀ nzíí bàlɛ̀ [bébãã́ .̀ ]OBJ

wɛ nzíí bàlɛ H-be-bãã́ ̀
2S PROG.PRES keep OBJ.LINK-be8-word
‘You are keeping the words.’
In contrast, in (565), the noun phrase following the verb is not marked with
a H tone, indicating its status as an oblique.
(565) mɛ̀ pàlɛ́ kɛ̀ dyɔ̂ [màfú málálɛ̀.]OBL

mɛ pàlɛ́ kɛ̀ dyɔ̂ ma-fú má-lálɛ̀
1S NEG.PST go sleep ma6-day 6-three
‘I haven’t slept in three days.’
Since the appearance of the object linking H tone is restricted to CV- shape
noun class prefixes, nominal objects that have no CV- prefix or pronominal
objects are not marked for their object status suprasegmentally. Only a sub-
stitution test, substituting a tonally unmarked noun phrase with a noun that
has a CV- noun class prefix, ultimately determines whether the noun phrase
367
is an object or an oblique. This, however, is subject to further restrictions.

As we will see below, in double object constructions, only the object that is
closest to the verb is tonally marked as an object.
Before investigating double object constructions and multiple post-verbal
noun phrases, I first turn to discussing the origin of the object linking H
tone and its appearance in related languages of the area. A H tone on the
object’s noun class prefix also occurs in other languages of the area, for
instance in Abo (A42). In Abo, however, the H tone on the lexical object
noun phrase is phonologically conditioned as a result of HTS. As Hyman &
Lionnet (2011: 171) show, the tone on the object prefix is tied to metatony.
Thus, the object prefix following a verb which takes a metatonic H tone also
surface H, as in (566a). In contrast, if the verb occurs without metatony, as
in (566b), the object prefix surfaces L.3
(566) Abo (A42)

a. ǎ pɔ̀ŋɔ́ bí-támbé. (with metatony)
3S make be8-shoe
‘He is making shoes.’
b. à káà pɔ̀ŋɔ̀ bì-támbé. (without metatony)
3S FUT make be8-shoe
‘He will make shoes.’
In Gyeli, I argue for two distinct tones, a metatonic tone on the verb as
described in chapter 5.2.3, and an object linking H tone on the CV- noun
class prefix of an object. While it is possible that the object linking H tone
has its origin in HTS from a metatonic H tone on the verb, synchronically,
these two tones are distinct, as (567) shows. The object linking H tone shows
up with metatony, as in (567a), but also without metatony, as in (567b).
The latter case makes clear that HTS is not an explanation for the H tone on
the object.
(567) a. mɛ́ gyámbɔ́ bélɔ̀lɔ̀. (with metatony)

mɛ-H gyámbɔ-H H-be-lɔ̀lɔ
1S-PRES cook-R OBJ.LINK-be8-duck
‘I cook ducks.’
3
There are special TM categories where the verb ends in a H tone, but HTS is blocked
and the object surfaces with a L tone prefix. This is the case for imperatives, statives, and
subjunctives.
368
b. mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ̀ bélɔ̀lɔ̀. (without metatony)

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ gyámbɔ H-be-lɔ̀lɔ
1S.FUT cook OBJ.LINK-be8-duck
‘I will cook ducks.’
Other evidence that the H tone on the object prefix cannot stem from HTS
comes from examples where multiple verbs occur between the metatonic H
tone and the object H tone, as in (568).
(568) à nzíí tálɛ̀ sɛ́lɔ̀ [béntùgú.]OBJ

a nzíí tálɛ sɛ́lɔ H-be-ntùgú
1 PROG.PRES.R begin peel OBJ.LINK-be8-potato
‘S/he is starting to peel potatoes.’
The same is true when other parts-of-speech than verbs stand between the
main verb and the object, as for instance adverbs in (569).
(569) mɛ́ kwàlɛ́ kɔ́ɔ ̀ [bábwálɛ̀ bãã́ .̀ ]OBJ

mɛ-H kwàlɛ-H kɔ́ɔ ̀ H-ba-bwálɛ̀ b-ãã́ ̀
1S-PRES love-R always OBJ.LINK-ba2-parent 2-1S.POSS
‘I always love my parents.’
Double objects and the linking H tone The function of the linking H
tone is to mark the object that is closest to the verb. This becomes apparent
in constructions involving two objects. As (570) shows, a verb can be fol-
lowed by two object noun phrases. Riedel & Marten (2012: 279) point out
that indirect objects generally precede direct objects in Bantu languages.
In Gyeli, however, there is no word order restriction as to which object is
closer to the verb. (570b) illustrates that also the direct object can precede
the indirect object. The labelling as indirect and direct object here follows
crosslinguistic and semantic assumptions. In Gyeli, there are no formal cri-
teria though to distinguish what is generally called a direct object from an
indirect object. Therefore, I will rather refer to multiple objects as the first
object, i.e. the object closer to the verb, and the second object. The crucial
point is that, in Gyeli, the object that is closer to the verb is marked by the
linking H tone, but not the second object.
(570) a. mɛ́ vɛ́ bábwálɛ̀ bèfùmbí S V O 1 O2

mɛ-H vɛ̂-H H-ba-bwálɛ̀ be-fùmbí
1S-PRES give-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-parent be8-orange
‘I give the parents oranges.’
369
b. mɛ́ vɛ́ béfùmbí bàbwálɛ̀. S V O 1 O2

mɛ-H vɛ̂-H H-be-fùmbí ba-bwálɛ̀
1S-PRES give-R OBJ.LINK-be8-orange ba2-parent
‘I give oranges to the parents.’
Thus, tonally, the second object cannot be distinguished from an oblique

noun phrase as in (565) where the noun class prefix also surfaces with a
L tone. In order to distinguish objects from obliques, another diagnostic is
needed, namely word order.
Word order Riedel & Marten (2012: 279) state that

“The clearest way to distinguish adjuncts from objects in Bantu
languages appears to be word order. Bantu languages gener-
ally have the word order S V O X or rather S V IO DO X, where
locatives usually follow any objects, and high adjuncts, such as
temporal modifiers, also follow the objects.”
This generalization broadly applies to Gyeli as well, except that indirect
and direct objects cannot be clearly distinguished, as noted above. Thus, it
seems more accurate for Gyeli to suggest a general order of S V O1 O2 Xn .
The object slot can host any number of objects from none to two. Also the
oblique position X can be filled by multiple adjuncts. Within the object slot,
the order of two objects is free. Similarly, also adjuncts are free in their
relative order. Generally, however, objects are restricted to the object slot
and obliques to the final X slot. This word order ultimately distinguishes
objects from obliques and is illustrated in (571).
(571) a. mɛ̀ vɛ́ [bábwálɛ̀]OBJ1 [bèfùmbí]OBJ2 [màfú

mɛ vɛ̂-H H-ba-bwálɛ̀ be-fùmbí ma-fú
1S.PST1 give-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-parent be8-orange ma6-day
málálɛ̀ dẽ]̂ X1 [ɛ́ tísònì.]X2
má-lálɛ̀ dẽ ̂ ɛ́ tísònì
6-three today LOC ∅7.town
‘I gave the parents oranges three days ago in town.’
b. mɛ́ vɛ́ [béfùmbí]OBJ1 [bàbwálɛ̀]OBJ2 [ɛ́
mɛ-H vɛ̂-H H-be-fùmbí ba-bwálɛ̀ ɛ́
1S-PRES give-R OBJ.LINK-be8-orange ba2-parent LOC
tísònì]X1 [màfú málálɛ̀ dẽ.̂ ]X2
tísònì ma-fú má-lálɛ̀ dẽ ̂
∅7.town ma6-day 6-three today
370
‘I gave oranges to the parents in town three days ago.’

c. *mɛ̀ vɛ́ [bábwálɛ̀]OBJ1 [màfú málálɛ̀ dẽ]̂ X1
mɛ vɛ̂-H H-ba-bwálɛ̀ ma-fú má-lálɛ̀ dẽ ̂
1S.PST1 give-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-parent ma6-day 6-three today
[bèfùmbí]OBJ2 [ɛ́ tísònì]X2
be-fùmbí ɛ́ tísònì
be8-orange LOC ∅7.town
‘I gave the parents three days ago oranges in town.’
In (571a) and (571b), the relative order of objects and obliques is reversed
within the object and oblique slot, respectively. While this is permissible,
moving an oblique into an object position or an object into the oblique
slot, as in (571c), is prohibited. Thus, word order principles characterize a
second object such as bèfùmbí ‘oranges’ in (571a) as an object in comparison
to the following oblique noun phrase màfú málálɛ̀ ‘three days’. Both noun
phrases carry a L tone on the noun class prefix since only the first object
is marked by the object linking H tone. The second object, however, can
be promoted to the first object position while the oblique noun phrase can
only be reversed in order with another oblique.
Locative objects Bare noun phrases expressing location and/or direction

can also serve as objects.4 In (572), the verb kɛ̀ ‘go’, which is mostly in-
transitive, takes an object argument mánkɛ̃̂ ‘fields’. It is clear that the noun
phrase mánkɛ̃̂ has object rather than oblique status because of the charac-
teristic object linking H tone.
(572) wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ pã́ lígɛ̀ yá nà nyɛ̀ yá kɛ́

wɛ ̂
[mánkɛ̃.̂ ]OBJ
H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
OBJ.LINK-6-field
‘You [= his wife] stay first, we and her, we go to the fields.’
Nevertheless, locative objects are special in their word order behavior in

contrast to non-locative objects in that they can occur in oblique position
4
Alternately, one could propose that the linking H tone generally picks out arguments,
i.e. constituents that are required by the verb’s valency, in contrast to adjuncts. Since
arguments other than objects are rare in Gyeli, however, and those that allow a potential
H tone to surface on a CV- prefix are even rarer, this is difficult to prove at the moment.
371
while maintaining the object H tone, as shown in (573). In this example,

the oblique comitative phrase nà nyɛ̀ ‘with him’ directly follows the verb,
preceding the object noun phrase mánkɛ̃̂ ‘fields’.
(573) mùdã̂ kɛ́ [nà nyɛ̀]OBL [mánkɛ̃,̂ ]OBJ

m-ùdã ̂ kɛ̀-H nà nyɛ̀ H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
N1-woman go-R COM 1 OBJ.LINK-ma6-field
‘The woman [his wife] shall go with him to the fields,’
Locative objects thus share word order properties with obliques in that they
can occur in oblique position, which has not been observed for non-locative
objects.
6.2.1.3 Obliques
In the previous section, I explained the formal distinction between objects

and obliques which is related to an object linking H tone and word order. In
this section, I present different types of obliques, following Dryer & Gensler’s
(2013) definition of “oblique”:
“An oblique phrase is a noun phrase or adpositional phrase (prepo-

sitional or postpositional) that functions as an adverbial modifier
(or “adjunct”) of the verb.”
(574) provides an example with multiple obliques, all of which represent

different types of oblique phrases. As described in the previous section al-
ready, the order of the oblique phrases can be freely varied, provided that
the obliques remain within the oblique slot and do not move to the objects’
position.
(574) S V O X1 X2 X3
[bùdì bɔ́gà bá]SBJ gyámbó [bédéwɔ̀]OBJ

b-ùdì bɔ́-gà ba-H gyámbɔ-H H-be-déwɔ̀
ba2-person 2-other 2P-PRES prepare-R OBJ.LINK-be8-food
[púù yá bwánɔ̀]X1 [kìsínì dé tù]X2 [nà màsɔ̀sí.]X3
púù yá b-wánɔ̀ kìsínì dé tù nà ma-sɔ̀sí
∅7.reason 7:ATT ba2-child ∅7.kitchen LOC inside COM ma6-joy
‘Other people prepare food for the children in the kitchen with joy.’
372
X1 is an instance of a noun + noun construction expressing a benefactive

oblique. X2 constitutes a adpositional noun phrase with the postposition dé,
and X3 is a comitative phrase. I will describe different oblique phrase types
in turn.
Bare noun phrases An oblique can have the structure of a bare noun
phrase, i.e. a noun phrase without any adposition or other grammatical
marker such as the comitative. An example of a bare noun phrase oblique
was given in (565) for a temporal oblique. A similar example of a temporal
oblique is given in (575).
(575) mɛ̀gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ dyúwɔ́ nzãã́ ̀ [dúwɔ̀ lé tè.]X

mɛ-gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ dyúwɔ-H nzãã́ ̀ d-úwɔ̀ lé tè
‘As for me, I felt appetite that day.’
Bare noun phrases can also encode other types of obliques, as in (576).
Here, the first oblique, bàgyɛ̃̂ ‘guest’, serves as a secondary predication re-
lating to the subject. The second oblique is introduced by the associative
plural marker and discussed below.
(576) mɛ́ lɔ́ njì [bàgyɛ̃]̂ X1 [bà wɛ̂.]X2

mɛ-H lɔ́ njì ba-gyɛ̃̂ bà wɛ̂
1S-PRES RETRO come ba2-guest AP 2S
‘I just came as a guest to you.’
The oblique nouns in both (565) and (576) can clearly be identified as such
since they surface with a L tone on their noun class prefix. If they were
object arguments, they would surface with an object linking H tone.
Purpose/benefactive púù yá ‘reason of’ Some nouns are consistently used

in obliques. This is, for instance, the case with púù ‘reason’ which is used in
benefactive obliques, as shown in (577).
(577) á gyàgá mántúà [púù yá bwánɔ̀.]X

a-H gyàga-H H-ma-ntúà púù yá b-wánɔ̀
1-PRES buy-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango ∅7.reason 7:ATT ba2-child
‘He buys mangoes for the children.’
púù yá obliques also express purpose, as illustrated in (578).
373
(578) mɛ́ lɔ́ nɔ́ɔ ̀ mwánɔ̀ [púù yá mábɔ́’ɔ̀

mɛ-H lɔ́ nɔ́ɔ ̀ m-wánɔ̀ púù yá ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
1S-PRES RETRO take N1-child ∅7.reason 7:ATT ma6-bread.fruit
mâ.]X
mâ
6.DEM.PROX
‘I have just taken the child for these bread fruit.’
Manner/benefactive mpá’à wá ‘side of’ While púù ‘reason’ seems to be

the default noun for benefactive obliques, also mpá’à ‘side’ can be used for
this function, as (579) shows.
(579) á gyàgá mántúà [mpá’à wá bwánɔ̀.]X

a-H gyàga-H H-ma-ntúà mpá’à wá b-wánɔ̀
1-PRES buy-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango ∅3.side 3:ATT 2ba-child
‘He buys mangoes for the children.’
While speakers state that both nouns can be used interchangeably for
benefactive obliques, there seems to be a tendency that mpá’à ‘side’ is used
if the benefactor is expressed pronominally, as in (580), even though also
pronominal benefactors are allowed with púù ‘reason’.
(580) á gyàgá mántúà [mpá’à wã.̂ ]X

a-H gyàga-H H-ma-ntúà mpá’à w-ã̂
1-PRES buy-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango ∅3.side 3-POSS.1S
‘He buys mangoes for me.’
Further, mpá’à ‘side’ is used in manner obliques, as in (581).
(581) bí bɔ́ɔ ̀ yá bígɛ́ [mpá’à wá vɛ́?]X

bí b-ɔ́ɔ ̀ ya-H bígɛ-H mpá’à wá vɛ́
1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES develop-R ∅3.side 3:ATT which
‘How will we others develop?’
Obliques with the associative plural marker bà Another type of oblique

phrase is introduced by the associative plural marker bà and expresses usu-
ally location, as in (582) and (583).5
5
While associative plurals canonically co-occur with nouns whose referents are typically
human, as stated by Daniel & Moravcsik (2013), the associative plural morpheme bà also
extends to pronouns in Gyeli. Other than expressing association with the nominal referent,
the associative plural can also express location at the referent’s place which is systematically
translated by the preposition chez ‘at somebody’s place’ into French.
374
(582) bèdéwò béndɛ̀ byɔ̀ mɛ́ lɔ́ njì lɛ́bɛ̀lɛ̀ bédéwò

be-déwò bé-ndɛ̀ byɔ̀ mɛ-H lɔ́ njì lɛ́bɛlɛ H-be-déwò
be8-food 8-ANA 8.EMPH 1-PRES RETRO come follow be8-food
[bà wɛ̀.]X
bà wɛ̀
AP 2S.OBJ
‘It is that food that I have come to look for at your place.’
(583) mùdì á sɔ́mɔ́nɛ́ mùdã̂ [bà kfúmá wà

m-ùdì a-H sɔ́mɔnɛ-H m-ùdã ̂ [bà kfúmá wà
N1-person 1-PRES complain-R N1-woman AP ∅1.chief 1:ATT
kwádɔ́.]X
kwádɔ́
∅7.village
‘The person complains about the woman at the chief of the village.’
The associative plural corresponds to the French preposition chez ‘at’ and is
consistently translated as such.
Adpositional obliques Adpositional obliques express location. They come

in two types, namely with i) the preposition ɛ́ and ii) the postposition dé, as
described in chapter 3.5.4.1 and 3.5.4.2, respectively. The oblique includ-
ing the preposition ɛ́ in (584) refers to some general location, corresponding
to at in English.
(584) nyàá sùbɔ̀ èsãŝ [ɛ́ dyúwɔ̀.]X

nyàá sùbɔ èsãŝ ɛ́ dyúwɔ̀
1.INCH pour ∅1.fuel LOC ∅7.top
‘He starts pouring fuel on top.’
In contrast, the postpositional oblique in (585) rather refers to containment,

i.e. a location inside the locative noun.
(585) bùdì bɛ́sɛ̀ bà nzíí kɛ̀ nà kɛ̀ dẽ ́ [bèdjìí dé

b-ùdì b-ɛ́sɛ̀ ba nzíí kɛ̀ nà kɛ̀ dẽ ́ be-djìí dé
ba2-person 2-all 2 PROG.PRES go COM go today be8-forest LOC
tù.]X
tù
inside
‘All the people are going into the forest today.’
375
Comitative obliques A lot of oblique phrases contain the comitative marker

nà ‘and/with’. The notion ‘comitative’, as used in the Bantuist tradition,
should however, not lead to any terminological confusion in assuming that
it has only the use of accompaniment, for it shows a broad range of uses, as
I will show in the following.
One salient function of comitative obliques is accompaniment, as shown
in (586) and (587). In (586), the intransitive verb njì ‘come’ is followed
by the comitative phrase. This construction of ‘come with’ is systematically
used to express ‘bring’ in English.
(586) ɛ́ pɛ̀ nâ á njíyɛ̀ mɛ̀ [nà yɔ̂.]X

ɛ́ pɛ̀ nâ a-H njíyɛ mɛ̀ nà yɔ̂
LOC there COMP 1-PRES come.SBJV 1S.OBJ COM 7.OBJ
‘So that she bring me that [food].’
In (587), the comitative oblique nà màbɔ́ɔ̀ ‘with bread fruit’ is the accompa-
niment to the verb dè ‘eat’.
(587) nyɛ̀ nâ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dé pɔ́nɛ́ [nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀.]X

nyɛ nâ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H pɔ́nɛ́ nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
1 COMP 1S.PST2 eat-R ∅7.truth COM ma6-bread.fruit
‘He [says]: I really ate [it] with bread fruit.’
The comitative oblique phrase can also have an instrumental function, as in

(588).
(588) á kɛ́ sɔ́lɛ̀gà ngùndyá [nà nkwálá.]X

a-H kɛ̀-H sɔ́lɛga ngùndyá nà nkwálá
1-PRES go-R chop ∅9.raffia COM ∅3.machete
‘He goes to cut the raffia with the machete.’
Instrumental meaning can extend to contexts which are expressed by

locatives in English. In (589), the speaker chooses to employ a comitative
oblique rather than a locative oblique with the preposition ɛ́. This gives
more of an instrumental than locative reading.
(589) á kɛ́ djìí dé tù [nà ndzǐ gyâ.]X

a-H kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ gyâ
1-PRES go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside COM ∅9.path ∅7.length
‘He goes into the forest using the long path.’
376
Another function of the oblique phrase is to express the agent role in a

passive construction, as in (590).
(590) lé yí lɛ̀yá [nà mpɛ̀wɔ́.]X

lé yi-H lɛ̀ya-H nà mpɛ̀wɔ́
∅7.tree 7-PRES uproot:PASS-R COM ∅3.wind
‘The tree is uprooted by the wind.’
This structure is parallel to many verb constructions which synchronically

cannot be transparently recognized as passive forms since they lack another
underived form which does not end in -a.6 In these instances, the oblique
expresses some kind of source which is usually encoded by a prepositional
phrase with from in English. In (591), the source of the suffering is the raffia
and bamboo.
(591) yá tfúgá [nà ngùndyá, mpáŋgì.]X

In (592), the source of death is hunger.
(592) mɛ̀ múà wɛ̀ [nà nzà.]X

Another example where the comitative oblique expresses the source is given
in (593).
(593) nyɛ̀gà váà nyɛ̀gá tsíyɛ́ sáà [nà màlɛ́ndí,]X

nyɛ-gà váà nyɛ-gá tsíyɛ́ sáà nà ma-lɛ́ndí,
3S-CONTR here 3S-CONTR live-R only COM 6-palm.tree
màlɛ́ndí máà mɔ́gà.
ma-lɛ́ndí máà mɔ́-gà
6-palm.tree 6:DEM 6-CONTR
‘Him here, he lives only from palm trees, these palm trees.’
Certain verbs such as dílɛsɛ ‘feed’ in (594), also require a comitative

oblique phrase rather than expressing its noun as an object. In such in-
stances, one can think of the comitative’s function either as manner or in-
strumental.
6
See chapter 4.1.2.2 for more information on passive formation.
377
(594) Màmbì à nzí dílɛ̀sɛ̀ Àdà [nà ntúà.]X

Màmbì a nzí dílɛsɛ À̀dà nà ntúà
PN 1 PROG.PST feed PN COM ∅7.mango
‘Mambi feeds Ada a mango.’
Comitative obliques may encode a stimulus, as in (595) where the snake

causes fear.
(595) Àdà á sàgá [nà nyùà.]X

Àdà a-H sàga nà nyùà
PN 1-PRES be.scared-R COM ∅1.snake
‘Ada is scared of the snake.’
These sentences provide a few examples of the functional range of comita-

tive obliques. While they seem to cover the most frequent functions, they
most likely do not constitute an exhaustive list.
6.2.2 Basic Clause Types

Based on the grammatical relations that I established for Gyeli in the pre-
vious section, I now discuss basic clause types in this language, including
word order under varying verb valency.According to Dryer (2007c: 73-76),
basic word order can be identified through a number of criteria, such as:
1. Frequency
2. Pragmatic neutrality
3. Possible restrictions in distribution
For Gyeli, I will mostly consider frequency as determining the basic word
order. Pragmatic neutrality ties in with this factor since those constructions
that are not pragmatically neutral, i.e. which take over some special topic or
focus function, as discussed in section 6.3, are naturally less frequent. As to
possible restrictions in distribution, we will see in chapter 7 that Gyeli gen-
erally keeps the basic word order of simple, main clauses also in dependent
clauses.
Table 6.2 summarizes the frequency of each basic clause type relating to
word order as found in the Gyeli corpus. ‘Basic clause type’ includes all sim-
ple, non-dependent clauses with a verbal predicate. Per definitionem, other
378
clause types are excluded from this count, namely complex clauses, such as
relative clauses and coordination, and clauses with non-verbal predicates.
I also do not consider unfinished sentences that obviously occur in natu-
ral speech. Repeated clauses are only listed once to not artificially enlarge
the corpus with one construction type. Subjects and objects include both
instances of lexical noun phrases and bare SCOP or pronominal objects.
S V (Xn ) 104 (48.8%)

Basic word order S V O (Xn ) 74 (34.7%)
S V O1 O2 (Xn ) 3 (1.4%)
∅ V (Xn ) 5 (2.3%)
Imperatives
∅ V O (Xn ) 3 (1.4%)
S V X LO 1 (0.5%)
Special object position Object fronting 17 (8%)
Left dislocation 6 (2.8%)
Total 213
Table 6.2: Word order in simple clauses
As Table 6.2 shows, the most frequent word order patterns in Gyeli are
S V (48.8%) and S V O (34.7%). Intransitive constructions are more fre-
quent than those containing an object, while double object constructions
are rather rare in the corpus, representing only 1.4% of the basic verbal
clauses.7 Every construction type can be followed by one or more oblique
phrases. As outlined in section 6.2.1.3, obliques generally follow the object
slot. This is also true for special word order patterns such as object fronting
and left dislocation. The only exception concerns locative objects with the
verb kɛ̀ ‘go’ where a comitative oblique can precede the object noun phrase
expressing a goal or direction.
Imperatives and special object positions in Table 6.2 list exceptional pat-
terns. First, imperative forms lack subject marking. Therefore, both intran-
sitive and transitive imperative constructions do not contain a subject, while
maintaining the general word order of verb before object.
Object positions can be exceptional in various ways. The first construc-
tion type of S V X LO is special in that the oblique precedes the object.
This, as confirmed in elicitations and further discussed in section 6.2.1.2,
7
Note that ‘V’ generally represents the predicate without specifying whether the pred-
icate is simple or complex. Thus, ‘V’ may be comprised of 1-3 verbs; complex predicates
are discussed in section 6.2.3.
379
only works with locative objects. Object fronting and left dislocation are
pragmatically non-neutral constructions and relate to information structure.
Both are discussed in more detail in section 6.3. Object fronting subsumes
all instances where a pronominal object precedes the simple verb or part
of a multi-verb construction. In addition to the basic word order criterion
of being pragmatically neutral, object fronting is further restricted in its
distribution since only pronominal objects can be fronted. As such, object
fronting cannot be considered a basic word order type. The same is true
for left dislocation where the lexical object noun phrase precedes the sub-
ject noun phrase (and is then pronominally taken up again in situ). These
construction types are non-basic due to their low frequency.
Having investigated the basic word order of all grammatical relations, I
now briefly discuss the relation between pairs, namely the order of subject
to verb, verb to object, and object to subject. These dual relations confirm
the findings of a general S V O (X) word order in Gyeli.
Table 6.3 summarizes the relative order of only two grammatical rela-
tions. The first column states the grammatical relations whose order are
investigated, followed by the total number of occurrences in the corpus.
For instance, there are 205 simple verbal clauses which contain a subject
and a verb.8 Given that there are transitive and intransitive simple verbal
clauses, this total number changes for the relation between verb and object
which only has 104 occurrences in the corpus; subject to verb order can be
investigated for 101 instances.
Grammatical relations Word order Frequency

S - V (205) SV 205 (100%)
VO 81 (77.9%)
V - O (104)
OV 23 (22.1%)
SO 95 (94.1%)
S - O (101)
OS 6 (5.9%)
Table 6.3: Order of dual grammatical relations
In 100% of the cases, the subject precedes the verb. In relations be-
tween the verb and the object, there are two options for the relative order
though. In verb - object relations, the verb canonically precedes the object.
8
This number can also be deducted from Table 6.2 where every construction type in-
volves a subject and an object except for the imperative constructions.
380
This is the case for 77.9% or all verb - object relations. There are a few
exceptions though where the object precedes the verb. This is the case in
left dislocation where the nominal object noun phrase appears even before
the subject and in pronominal object fronting. Due to its low frequency
and special pragmatic function in terms of information structure, O V order
should be considered as non-basic. In addition to this, Dryer (2007c: 80)
suggests to identify basic word order based on nominal noun phrases rather
than pronominal ones. The fact that nominal objects can not be fronted fur-
ther indicates the special, rather than basic, order of O V. Finally, also the
relation between subject and object clearly shows that subjects generally
precede objects, as in 94.1% of all subject - object co-occurrences. Again,
the only exception to this basic order is related to left dislocation.
In the following subsections, I will give examples of the basic word or-
der types, namely S V, S V O, and S V O O. Note that obliques have been
discussed in section 6.2.1.3 and will not be subject to further investigation
here.
6.2.2.1 S V Word Order
Intransitive S V clauses constitute the most frequent construction type in

Gyeli simple verbal clauses. In the most simple case, as in (596), the clause
minimally consists of a subject SCOP and a verb.
(596) [á]S [vòdà.]V

a-H vòda
1-PRES rest
‘She rests.’
S V clauses can be more complex than that. For instance, the subject can
be expressed by a lexical noun phrase and the verb may be accompanied by
aspect marking which, in (597), appears postverbally.
(597) [bànzàmbí bá tè bá]S [djìlɛ́ mà.]V

ba-nzàmbí bá tè ba-H djìlɛ-H mà
2-PN 2:ATT there 2-PRES sit-R COMPL[Kwasio]
‘The Nzambis there live there already.’
Also, an S V clause can be expanded by an oblique noun phrase. In (598),

the oblique is a bare locative noun phrase. In addition to the oblique, the
381
verb is also followed by the sentential modifier sâ ‘only’.9
(598) [à]S [tɛ́lɛ́]V sâ [dɛ́ndì témɔ́.]X

a tɛ́lɛ-H sâ d-ɛ́ndì témɔ́
1.PST1 stand-R only le5-courtyard middle
‘He just stood in the middle of the courtyard.’
An S V clause can further increase in complexity through auxiliary con-

structions, as in (599).10 In this example, the predicate consists of the ret-
rospective aspectual verb lɔ́ ‘come’ and the non-finite verb njì ‘come’.
(599) [mɛ́]S [lɔ́ njì]V [bàgyɛ̃]̂ X1 [bà wɛ̂.]X2

mɛ-H lɔ́ njì ba-gyɛ̃ ̂ bà wɛ̂
1S-PRES RETRO come ba2-stranger AP 2S
Also, the clause contains two oblique noun phrases, a bare noun phrase and
one with associative plural marker bà.
6.2.2.2 S V O Word Order
S V O word order is found in the corpus in 34.7% of all simple verbal clauses.
Just like S V clauses, their shape differs as well concerning complexity. The
clause in (600) represents a relatively simple case with a lexical subject noun
phrase, including the SCOP, a simple predicate, and a lexical object noun
phrase.
(600) [Màmbì à]S [dé]V [mántúà.]O

Màmbì à dè-H H-ma-ntúà
PN 3S.PST1 eat-PST OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘Mambi ate mangoes.’
Both subject and object can, however, be also expressed by non-lexical

noun phrases. In (601), the subject is only expressed by the SCOP and the
object by a pronoun.
(601) [bwáá]S [lã]́ V [bɔ̂!]O

bwáa-H lã-H bɔ̂
2P-PRES tell-R 2.OBJ
‘You tell them!’
9
Sentential modification is discussed in section 6.2.4.
10
Auxiliary constructions are described in section 6.2.3.
382
(602) represents an example of a complex object noun phrase, containing a

noun + noun genitive construction with a possessive pronoun.
(602) [à]S [nzí kɛ̀]V [létʃíndɔ́ lé

a nzí kɛ̀ H-le-tsíndɔ́ lé
1 PROG.PST1 go OBJ.LINK-le5-funeral.ceremony 5:ATT
ntùmbà wã.̂ ]O
n-tùmbà w-ã̂
S V O clauses can be complex in terms of their predicate. In (603), the

verb is preceded by a progressive aspect.
(603) [wɛ̀]S [nzíí bàlɛ̀]V [bébãã́ .̀ ]O

wɛ nzíi-H bàlɛ H-be-bãã́ ̀
2S PROG-PRES keep OBJ.LINK-be8-word
Finally, S V O clauses can be increased in complexity through the addi-

tion of oblique noun phrases as with the comitative oblique in (604).
(604) [mɛ̀gà mɛ́]S [lígɛ́ dè]V [mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ]̀ O [nà

mɛ-gà mɛ-H lígɛ-H dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ nà
1-CONTR 1S-PRES stay-R eat N1-child 1-POSS.2S COM
màbɔ́’ɔ̀.]X
ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
ma6-bread.fruit
‘As for me, I stay and eat your child with bread fruit.’
6.2.2.3 S V O O Word Order
Double object constructions are rather rare in the corpus with only three
instances. As outlined in section 6.2.1.2, however, each object in a double
object construction can occur as first or as second object. This is illustrated
in example (605).
(605) a. [Àdà á]S [líbɛ́lɛ́]V [Màmbì]O1 [màtúà.]O2

Àdà à-H líbɛlɛ-H Màmbì màtúà
PN 1S-PRES show-R PN ∅1.car
‘Ada shows Mambi A/THE CAR.’
383
b. [Àdà á]S [líbɛ́lɛ́]V [màtúà]O1 [Màmbì.]O2

Àdà à-H líbɛlɛ-H màtúà Màmbì
PN 1S-PRES show-R ∅1.car PN
‘Ada shows MAMBI a/the car.’
Pragmatically, the second object position seems to be the focus position.

Thus, the choice of which object appears first and which second is condi-
tioned by the information structure of the clause. In (605a), màtúà ‘car’ is
in focus, while in (605b) it is the animate object Màmbì.11
Just as lexical object noun phrases can appear in both object positions,
as in (606), also pronominal objects can occur either in the first or second
object position, depending on which object is in focus.
(606) a. [mɛ̀]S [vɛ́]V [bábwálɛ̀]O1 [bèfùmbí.]O2

mɛ vɛ̂-H H-ba-bwálɛ̀ be-fùmbí
1S.PST1 give-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-parent be8-orange
‘I gave the parents ORANGES.’
b. [mɛ́]S [vɛ́]V [béfùmbí]O1 [bàbwálɛ̀.]O2
mɛ-H vɛ̂-H H-be-fùmbí ba-bwálɛ̀
1S-PRES give-R OBJ.LINK-be8-orange ba2-parent
‘I gave THE PARENTS oranges.’
In (607), the lexical object noun phrases of (606) are replaced by pronouns.
Each of them can occur in either the first or second object position. The
second object position is, again, the focus position.
(607) a. [mɛ̀]S [vɛ́]V [bɔ̂]O1 [byɔ̂.]O2

mɛ vɛ̂-H bɔ̂ byɔ̂
1S.PST1 give-R 2.OBJ 8.OBJ
‘I gave them [the parents] THEM [the oranges].’
b. [mɛ́]S [vɛ́]V [byɔ̂]O1 [bɔ̂.]O2
mɛ-H vɛ̂-H byɔ̂ bɔ̂
1S-PRES give-R 8.OBJ 2.OBJ
‘I gave THEM [the parents] them [the oranges].’
11
Note that I refrain from using the terminology of ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ objects in Gyeli
since they cannot be distinguished on formal grounds. As explained in section 6.2.1.2, the
first object which is closer to the verb receives an object linking H tone if it has a CV- shape
noun class prefix while the second does not. When changing positions, still the first object
will receive the H tone, but not the second object.
384
6.2.3 Complex Predicates: Auxiliaries

Verbal predicates in Gyeli can be complex and be comprised of multiple
verbs. I consider a predicate as complex when a simple monoclausal con-
struction contains more that one verb. Practically, this is two or three verbs,
three verbs being the upper limit. In these multi-verb constructions, only
the first verb, the auxiliary, is inflected tonally for tense-mood while the fol-
lowing verbs occur in their infinitival form. The last verb is semantically the
main verb. As we shall see below, multi-verb constructions with three verbs
contain two auxiliaries and one main verb. According to Dryer (2007c: 90),
the general order of the auxiliary (AUX) preceding the main verb is to be
expected in V O languages.
Auxiliary verbs in Gyeli belong to different verb classes, namely:
1. Aspectual verbs (lɔ́ ‘come’, sílɛ ‘finish’, múà ‘be’, táalɛ ‘begin’)
2. Deictic motion/posture verbs (kɛ̀ ‘go’, njì ‘come’, lígɛ ‘stay’)
3. Modal verbs (lèmbɔ ‘can/know’, yánɛ ‘must’, dúù ‘must not’, kwàlɛ
‘like’)
Complex predicate constructions with these auxiliary verbs are pervasive

in the corpus and constitute 25.8% of all simple verbal clauses (55 complex
predicates out of 213 simple clauses). Auxiliary constructions can be distin-
guished based on the number of verbs they contain and on whether they are
directly juxtaposed or separated by sentential modifiers or object pronouns.
Table 6.4 shows the distribution of these two aspects.
Feature Frequency
two-verb constructions 42 (76.4%)
three-verb constructions 13 (23.6%)
juxtaposed 35 (63.6%)
separated 20 (36.4%)
Total 55
Table 6.4: Features of complex predicates
More than three quarters of the complex predicate constructions found in

the corpus contain two verbs and only less than a quarter contain three
verbs. Similarly, directly juxtaposed auxiliary and main verbs are signifi-
cantly more frequent than those constructions where the multiple verbs are
385
separated by sentential modifiers or object pronouns. I will discuss both

cases of juxtaposed versus separated complex predicates in turn while pro-
viding examples for the different auxiliary verb classes first as well as ex-
amples for two-verb and three-verb constructions.
Directly juxtaposed verbs In the majority of cases, an auxiliary verb di-

rectly precedes the main verb, as it is the case with the following two-verb
constructions. Almost all auxiliary verbs can appear in simple predicate
constructions as verbs in their own right. The only exceptions are more
grammaticalized aspect markers with verbal character, e.g. the progres-
sive markers, which never occur on their own.12
(608) and (609) provide examples of aspectual auxiliary verbs. In (608),
the auxiliary verb lɔ́ ‘come’ marks retrospective aspect. It is inherently
inflected for the realis mood and thus always carries a H tone. In contrast,
the main verb nɔ́ɔ̀ ‘take’ appears in its infinitival form and is not inflected
tonally for tense-mood.
(608) mɛ́ lɔ́ nɔ́ɔ ̀ mwánɔ̀ púù yá mábɔ́’ɔ̀

mâ.
mâ
6.DEM.PROX
In (609), the auxiliary verb sílɛ ‘finish’ is further inflected for absolute
completive aspect, while, again, the following main verb surfaces as an
infinitive.
(609) kɛ́ mbúmbù, bwánɔ̀ bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ kɛ̀ vɛ́?

kɛ́ mbúmbù b-wánɔ̀ ba sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ kɛ̀ vɛ́
EXCL ∅1.namesake ba2-child 2.PST1 finish.COMPL go where
‘Ey namesake, where have all the children gone to?’
In addition to aspectual verbs, also deictic motion or posture verbs can

serve as auxiliaries, as shown in (610) through (613). The most pervasive
aspectual deictic motion verbs are kɛ̀ ‘go’ and njì ‘come’. kɛ̀, as in (610),
always has an allocative meaning, i.e. the event expressed in the main verb
12
Verbal aspect markers are discussed in more detail in chapter 5.3.
386
takes place at another location than where the speaker is at the point of
utterance.
(610) ngùndyá, mɛ́ kɛ́ sɔ́lɛ̀gà ngùndyá dyúwɔ̀.

ngùndyá mɛ-H kɛ̀-H sɔ́lɛga ngùndyá dyúwɔ̀
∅9.raffia 1S-PRES go-R chop ∅9.raffia on.top
‘The raffia, I go to chop the raffia on top.’
njì ‘come’ naturally constitutes the counterpart to this allocative func-

tion. Thus, it expresses that the event of the main verb takes place at or
towards the speaker’s location, as shown in (611).
(611) ɛ́ tè wɛ̀gà wɛ́ njí sâ mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ

ɛ́ tè wɛ̀-gà wɛ-H njì-H sâ mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ
LOC there 2S-CONTR 2S-PRES come-R do ∅9.trouble LOC ∅9.path
vâ.
vâ.
here
‘There you, you come to make trouble on the way here.’
Other motion verbs than those two canonical ones can also serve as auxil-
iaries, as is the case with lã ̀ ‘pass’ in (612).
(612) bá lã́ pámò vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ bà kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ yɔ̀

ba-H ̀
lã-H pámo vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ ba ́
kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ ̃ ̀ yɔ̀
Finally, posture verbs such as lígɛ ‘stay’ can take the function of an auxiliary,
as shown in (613).
(613) mɛ̀gà mɛ́ lígɛ́ dè mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ,̀

mɛ-gà mɛ-H lígɛ-H dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀
1-CONTR 1S-PRES stay-R eat N1-child 1-POSS.2S
‘As for me, I stay and eat your child,’
Modal verbs constitute the third class that can serve as auxiliaries. (614)
through (616) provide examples of various modal verbs. In (614), the modal
verb wúmbɛ ‘want’ appears as auxiliary, preceding the main verb lɛ́ɛ ̀ ‘talk’,
which is an instance of code-switching to Kwasio.
387
(614) mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nà bɔ̂.

mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H lɛ́ɛ ̀ nà bɔ̂
1S-PRES want-R talk[Kwasio] COM 3P
‘I want to talk with them.’
As mentioned above, most auxiliary verbs are also found as independent

verbs in other contexts besides auxiliary constructions. Thus, wúmbɛ ‘want’
can also be used as a transitive verb requiring an object or it appears in main
clauses to a complement clause. Similarly, yánɛ ‘must’ in (615) is another
modal auxiliary that is commonly found in the corpus.
(615) donc wɛ̀ bùdɛ́ ná bàfû, wɛ́ yànɛ́ gyàgà

donc wɛ bùdɛ-H ná ba-fû wɛ-H yànɛ-H gyàga
so[French] 2S be-R again ba2-fish 2S-PRES must-R buy
bɔ̂.
bɔ̂
2.OBJ
‘So, you have fish again, you have to buy them.’
For the negated form, Gyeli has a suppletive lexical form, namely dúù ‘must
not’, as shown in (616).
(616) kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ bá dúù bɛ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

While the previous examples all contained one auxiliary plus a main
verb, complex predicates can also be composed of three verbs. The first
two verbs are auxiliary verbs, belonging to one of the three mentioned verb
classes, while the third verb is again the main verb. Also in tripartite verb
constructions, only the first auxiliary is tonally inflected for tense and mood
while the second appears as an infinitive, just like the main verb.
Since three-verb predicate constructions are significantly less frequent in
the corpus, their exact combination patterns are more difficult to explore.
In general, however, it seems that auxiliaries from any two verb classes can
combine and precede the main verb. The first auxiliary then has scope over
the following two verbs while the second auxiliary only has scope over the
main verb, as indicated by the square brackets.
388
Aspectual auxiliaries which are more grammaticalized so that they do

not occur as verbs in their own right have a tendency to appear in first aux-
iliary position, as the Basaa loan word lɔ́ ‘come’ expressing retrospective
aspect in (617).
(617) áh gyí wɛ́ [lɔ́ [njì gyɛ́sɔ̀]]?

A similar construction is found with the priorative marker pã ̂ in (618). As

shown in (623) below, however, this tendency is not absolute and also more
grammaticalized aspectual verbs can occur in the second auxiliary position.
(618) á [páàŋgɔ́ [tálɛ̀ sílɛ̀,]] mɛ̀ nzíí ná kɛ̀.

a-H páàŋgɔ-H tálɛ sílɛ mɛ nzíí ná kɛ̀
1-PRES PRIOR[Kwasio]-R begin finish 1S PROG.PRES again go
‘He starts first to finish [speaking], I’m continuing again [= will
then speak].’
Other auxiliaries are generally more free to appear either as first or sec-
ond auxiliary. Thus, sílɛ ‘finish’, for instance, occurs as first auxiliary in
(619), but as second in (620) and (621). In (619), sílɛ ‘finish’ has scope over
both the second auxiliary and the main verb.
(619) ɛ́ vâ mɛ̀ dyùwɔ́ nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì [sílɛ̀ [njì

ɛ́ vâ mɛ dyùwɔ-H nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì sílɛ njì
LOC here 1S.PST1 hear-R COMP LOC here 7.FUT finish come
búlɛ̀.]]
búlɛ
destroy
In contrast, in (620) and (621), sílɛ only has scope over the main verb.
In (620), it is preceded by another aspectual auxiliary verb.
(620) mɛ̀ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ̀ lévúdũ̂ nà

mɛ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ H-le-vúdũ̂ nà
1S PROG.PRES go COM take.away OBJ.LINK-le5-one COM
lèvúdũ̂, mɛ́ [táálɛ́ [sílɛ̀ nyùlɛ̀.]]
̂
le-vúdũ mɛ-H táálɛ-H sílɛ nyùlɛ
389
‘I’m taking down one by one, I start to drink (them) up [= make

palm wine out of them].’
In comparison, in (621), sílɛ is preceded by the deictic motion verb kɛ̀ ‘go’.
(621) bwánɔ̀ bá kálɛ́ bã̂ bɔ́ bá [kɛ́

b-wánɔ̀ bá kálɛ́ b-ã ̂ bɔ́ ba-H kɛ̀-H
ba2-child 2:ATT ∅1.older.sister 2-POSS.1S 2.EMPH 2-PRES go-R
[sílɛ̀ pándɛ̀.]]
sílɛ pándɛ
finish arrive
‘The children of my older sister, they all arrive.’
Separated verbs The hypothesis that the second auxiliary and the main
verb function as one unit over which the first, inflected auxiliary has scope,
is further supported by the position of sentential modifiers (listed in Table
6.5). Thus, complex predicates cannot only appear directly juxtaposed with
one another, but they can also be separated by sentential modifiers and
object pronouns. Sentential modifiers have been observed to occur after
the inflected auxiliary, as in the two-verb predicate in (622).
(622) wɛ́ yànɛ́ ná gyàgà ndísì,

wɛ-H yànɛ-H ná gyàga ndísì
2S-PRES must-H again buy ∅3.rice
‘You must again buy rice,’
If a sentential modifier is used in a three-verb predicate, as in the com-

bination of modal and aspectual auxiliaries in (623), the modifier will still
appear after the first, inflected auxiliary. It has not been observed to appear
after the second auxiliary though.
(623) bí bɔ́gà yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà pãã ́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ

bí bɔ́-gà ya-H wúmbɛ-H ndáà pãã ́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ
1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES want-R also PRIOR see ∅7.thing
bá gyíbɔ́ ngyùlɛ̀ wá kùrã.̂
ba-H gyíbɔ-H ngyùlɛ̀ wá kùrã̂
2-PRES call-R ∅3.light 3:ATT ∅7.electricity
‘We others, we also want to first see the thing they call the light of
electricity.’
390
The same is true when an object pronoun is fronted and appears within
a complex predicate: the object pronoun will always appear after the first
auxiliary, as in (624) for a two-verb construction and in (625) for three-verb
constructions.13 (In my notation in the following examples, I distinguish
lexical and pronominal objects, representing full NP objects with a capital
‘O’ while pronominal objects are indicated by a small ‘o’.)
(624) S AUX o V
mɛ́ lígɛ́ nyɛ̂ dè,

mɛ-H lígɛ-H nyɛ̂ dè
1S-PRES stay-R 1.OBJ eat
‘I stay to eat it,’
(625) S AUX o1 V1 V2 O2
báà sílɛ̀ bî kúmbà lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀.

báà sílɛ bî kúmba lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
2.FUT finish 1P.OBJ arrange build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘They will arrange for us building houses.’
What these examples also show is that complex predicates can either
involve one object, as in (624), or two different objects, as in (625). For such
single object constructions, the preverbal object pronoun always appears
between the auxiliary and the main verb, following the pattern S AUX O
V. This order also holds when the clause is expanded by an oblique noun
phrase, as in (626).14
(626) S AUX o V X
bùdì bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù vâ.

b-ùdì ba ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù vâ
ba2-person 2.PST1 finish.COMPL 1S.OBJ die ∅9.house inside here
‘The people have all died here inside the house.’
Further, this order holds in special constructions such as object left dislo-
cation, as discussed in section 6.3.1.1. In (627), the object noun phrase is
topicalized while the pronominal object fronting results in predicate focus.
13
Preverbal object pronouns are an information structure phenomenon, achieving pred-
icate focus. This is further discussed in section 6.3.2.2.
14
The object pronoun mɛ̂ is an instance of possessor raising as discussed in section 6.4.2.
391
(627) O1 , S AUX o1 V
kɛ́ɛ ̀ bwánɔ̀ bã,̊ mɛ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bɔ̂ dyùù.

kɛ́ɛ ̀ b-wánɔ̀ b-ã̊ mɛ sílɛ̃ɛ ̃̀ bɔ̂ dyùù
EXCL ba2-child 2-POSS.1S 1S finish.COMPL 2.OBJ kill
‘He [says]: Ha, my children, I have already killed them.’
Constructions with two objects, one of which occurring preverbally, have

the general structure S AUX O1 V O2 . Thus, in a double object construc-
tion with a typical ditransitive verb such as vɛ̀ ‘give’ in (628), one of the
pronominal objects can be fronted before the main verb while the second
verb stays in the canonical object position. Both are clearly objects, the
first one marked by a pronoun and the second, lexical object by the object
linking H tone.
(628) S AUX o1 V O2
ká bá kɛ́ [wɛ̂]O1 vɛ̀ [bébwúyà bébáà nà

màwú mátánɛ̀,]O2
ma-wú má-tánɛ̀
ma6-ten 6-five
‘If they go give you 250 (Francs),’
More research is required to determine whether any of the two objects can
be fronted as a pronoun. Intuitively, it seems that this would be possible and
just depend on which object is more salient and thus stays in a phrase-final
focus position.
6.2.4 Sentential Modification

Gyeli has a range of sentential modifiers, listed in Table 6.5. They are all
monosyllabic and clearly not nouns. These modifiers are special instances
of adverbs which, in contrast to adverbs discussed in chapter 4.2, occur in a
preverbal position. As such, they show greater variability in their possible
positions. In terms of their function, they modify the action and/or state of
the verb.
392
ndáà ‘also’ 21 (37.5%)

ná ‘again, still’ 13 (23.2%)
vɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘only, still’ 8 (14.3%)
kɔ́ɔ ̀ ‘only, still’ 7 (12.5%)
sâ ‘only, just’ 5 (8.9%)
lìí ‘not yet’ 2 (3.6%)
Total 56
Table 6.5: Sentential modifiers
Some sentential modifiers play a role in information structure. For in-

stance, ndáà ‘also’ is used for expanding a topic or focus, while its coun-
terparts vɛ̀ɛ,̀ kɔ́ɔ,̀ and sâ restrict topics and foci. Also ná ‘again, still’ can
be used for both verbs and other grammatical relations. Further, vɛ̀ɛ ̀ and
kɔ́ɔ̀ can introduce subordinate clauses, similar to the negation particle tí,
acting as a sequential marker. These constructions are discussed in chapter
7.2.3.3. Finally, lìí ‘not yet’ not only modifies verbs, but it is a negative
polarity item. As such, it interacts with tense-mood and polarity categories
which goes beyond just modifying a verb.
The most frequent sentential modifier in the Gyeli corpus is ndáà ‘also’,
constituting 37.5% of all sentential modifiers. Table 6.5 lists modifiers in
decreasing frequency. Thus, the second most frequent modifier is ná ‘again,
still’ which is translated as encore into French. The modifiers vɛ̀ɛ,̀ kɔ́ɔ,̀ and
sâ are about equally frequent. In terms of their semantics, they are diffi-
cult to distinguish though. They definitely have some overlap and speakers
often state that one can be used interchangeably for the other. Typically,
they are translated as either seulement or toujours into Cameroonian French.
Examples of each sentential modifier and its range of use is given in the
following.
ndáà ‘also’ The sentential modifier ndáà ‘also’ generally serves to expand a
grammatical relation in terms of information structure. It generally follows
the constituent it refers to. Thus, in (629), ndáà follows the lexical subject
noun phrase, expanding the subject topic.
(629) The woman ate mangoes.
nà [mwánɔ̀ mùdã]̂ S ndáà à nzí dè

nà m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdã ̂ ndáà a nzí dè
COM N1-child N1-woman also 1 PROG.PST eat
393
mántúà.
H-ma-ntúà
OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘And the girl also ate mangoes.’
ndáà also occurs directly after verbs, as in (630). In the previous clause,
the speaker stated that the Bulu contest the Bagyeli’s ownership of their
village. Now he expands on what else the Bulu do, namely also bother
them.
(630) bvúlɛ̀ bá ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ ndáà bíyɛ̀.

bvúlɛ̀ ba-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H ndáà bíyɛ̀
ba2.Bulu 2-PRES bother-R also 1P.OBJ
‘The Bulu bother us, too.’
Further, ndáà is used under negation, as in (631).
(631) ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ́lɛ́ ndáà, mɛ́ nɔ̀ɔ ́ nkwɛ̂

ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ-lɛ́ ndáà mɛ-H nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H nkwɛ̂
if 2S.PRES.NEG want-NEG also 1S-PRES take-R ∅3.basket
wá mábɔ́’ɔ̀.
wá H-ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
3:ATT OBJ.LINK-ma6-bread.fruit
‘if you don’t want [this] either, I take the basket with the bread
fruit.’
ndáà also occurs phrase-finally, as in (632). Here, it modifys the copula

complement kùrã ̂ ‘electricity’, which is one of the things, among others, that
the Bagyeli wish to obtain.
(632) yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà náà bí bɔ́gà yá

ya-H wúmbɛ-H ndáà nâ bí b-ɔ́gà ya-H
1P-PRES want-R also COMP 1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES
páŋgɔ́ bɛ̀ nà kùrã̂ ndáà.
páŋgɔ-H bɛ̀ nà kùrã ̂ ndáà
PRIOR[Kwasio]-R be COM ∅7.electricity also
‘We also want that we others first have also electricity.’
ná again The sentential modifier ná is mostly translated as encore into

Cameroonian French, but in some contexts also as toujours, roughly trans-
lating to ‘still’ and ‘again’ in English. ná mostly occurs directly after the
394
verb. If the clause contains a complex predicate with an auxiliary, the sen-
tential modifier occurs between the auxiliary and the main verb, as in (633)
with a modal auxiliary and (634) with an aspectual auxiliary.
(633) wɛ́ yànɛ́ ná gyàgà ndísì,

(634) mɛ́ pã́ ná kɛ̀ dígɛ̀ mùdì wà nû

mɛ-H pã-̂ H ná kɛ̀ dígɛ m-ùdì wà nû
1S-PRES PRIOR-H again go see N1-person 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
ɛ́ pɛ́ɛ.́
ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́
LOC over.there.DIST
‘I try again and go see this person over there.’
When ná follows negation, as in (635), its meaning is ‘anymore’. Thus,

comparable to ndáà under negation, no negative polarity item is required.

In non-verbal predicates, ná follows the SCOP copula, as in (636).
(636) bɔ́nɛ́gá báà ná djìí dé tù.

ná further occurs frequently at the end of a phrase. For example, in

(637), ná follows the object rather than the verb. While the modifier could
also appear after the auxiliary, the choice of a phrase-final position in this
instance is most likely related to information structure, making bényámɛ̀
more salient. This, however, requires further investigation.
(637) ónóò bí bɔ́gà yá pã́ djî bényámɛ̀

ónóò bí b-ɔ́gà ya-H ̂
pã-H djî H-be-nyámɛ̀
EXCL 1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES start-R stay OBJ.LINK-be8-poor
ná.
ná
still
395
‘Ohhh, we other will first stay still poor.’
ná can co-oocur with other sentential modifiers, such as ndáà ‘also’. In

this case, ná follows ndáà, as shown in (638).
(638) bwánɔ̀ bá bùdã̂ bábáà èè nà mwánɔ̀ wà

b-wánɔ̀ bá b-ùdã ̂ bá-báà èè nà m-wánɔ̀ wà
ba2-child 2:ATT ba2-woman 2-two EXCL COM N1-child 1:ATT
mùdã̂ nláálɛ̀ ndáà ná.
m-ùdã ̂ nláálɛ̀ ndáà ná
N1-woman three also again
‘Two girls, yes, and also again a third girl.’
There are a few cases where ná appears twice in a clause. In (639), the
modifiers occurs after the auxiliary as well as phrase-finally.
(639) áà mɛ̀ nzíí ná làwɔ̀ ná.

áà mɛ nzíí ná làwɔ ná
yes 1S PROG.PRES still talk still
‘Yes, I am still talking.’
Finally, ná can also occur preverbally, as in (640). Here, it follows the

subject wɛ́ ‘you’ (while the other instances of ná in the clause follow the
verb.)
(640) wɛ́ ná báàlá nà nyɛ́ fí nà wɛ́

wɛ-H ná báàla-H nà nyɛ̂-H fí nà wɛ-H
ndyándyá ná sálɛ́ ɛ́ pɛ̀ nà wɛ́ kòlá
ndyándya-H ná sálɛ́ ɛ́ pɛ̀ nà wɛ-H kòla-H
work-R again ∅7.work LOC over.there COM 2S-PRES add-R
ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû.
ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû
again ∅1.money 1.DEM.PROX
‘You repeat again and see differently [= find another work] and
you do again work there and you add again this money [= same
amount of 250 Francs].’
Instances of ná following the SCOP seem to be rather rare, however, at least

rarer than ndáà ‘also’ modifying noun phrases.
396
vɛ̀ɛ ̀ In contrast to ndáà ‘also’ and ná ‘again’, vɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘only, still’ generally has
scope over the constituents that follow the modifier. This may either be a
noun phrase, a verb, or the whole sentence. At the same time, vɛ̀ɛ ̀ seems to
acquire different meanings in different contexts, as we will see below. Even
though it is beyond the scope of this work to disentangle the entire seman-
tic range of sentential modifiers, it seems that vɛ̀ɛ ̀ has a restrictive function
when it has scope over single constituents of the sentence. In contrast, when
it has scope over the whole sentence, it seems to rather function as a sequen-
tial marker connecting subsequent events and adding a dramaturgic aspect.
In (641) and (642), vɛ̀ɛ ̀ appears phrase-initially. In both cases, it has a
restrictive meaning which can truly be translated as ‘only’ in the sense of
‘nothing but’.
(641) mɛ̀ nyɛ́ kwádɔ́ yî, Kúndúkùndù. vɛ̀ɛ ̀

mɛ nyɛ̂-H kwádɔ́ yî Kúndúkùndù vɛ̀ɛ ̀
1S.PST1 see-R ∅7.village 7.DEM.PROX PN only
màndáwɔ̀ má zì mɔ́ nà mɔ́.
ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì mɔ́ nà mɔ́
ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6.OBJ COM 6.OBJ
‘I saw this village, Kundukundu. Only tin (roofed) houses, each and
each.’
In (641), the vɛ̀ɛ ̀ modifies màndáwɔ̀ má zì ‘tin houses’ (in contrast to

houses with raffia roofs). In (642), it refers to nàmɛ́nɔ́ ‘tomorrow’.
(642) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nà pámò dẽ.̀

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nà pámo dẽ ̀
only tomorrow tomorrow COM arrive today
‘Only tomorrow, tomorrow, until today. [= only heard promises
till today]’
In (643), the modifier also appears phrase-initially, but in this instance,

it does not have a restrictive meaning and as such does not seem to modify
the subject noun phrase. Instead, it seems to rather have scope over the
whole sentence and function as a dramatic sequential marker which is best
translated as ‘suddenly’ or ‘unexpectedly’.15
15
In Cameroonian French, vɛ̀ɛ ̀ is still translated as seulement ‘only’, but the meaning of
seulement in this case is far from being clear.
397
(643) nâ bá dyúù nyɛ̂. vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mùdì nyɛ̀ djãã́ s̀ à.

nâ ba-H dyúù nyɛ̂ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ m-ùdì nyɛ djãã́ s̀ à
COMP 2-PRES kill.SBJV 1.OBJ only N1-person 1 disappear
‘That they kill him. Suddenly the person disappears.’
Another instance of a sequential function is given in (644). Here, the

Nzambi story (see Appendix II.2) reaches its climax where the protagonist
locks his friend’s family into a house, pours fuel over the house, takes a
lighter and lights it. The phrase in (644) is the last step in this chain of
events, the sentential modifier vɛ̀ɛ ̀ serving as a sequential marker that seems
to express a dramaturgic effect at the same time.
(644) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ̀.

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ
only light
‘just light [the house].’
vɛ̀ɛ ̀ can also precede adverbs which it modifies in a restrictive sense. This
is the case for both (645) and (646).
(645) ɛ́ vâ màkwɛ̀lɔ̀ má fúgɛ̀, vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ.

ɛ́ vâ ma-kwɛ̀lɔ̀ ma-H fúgɛ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ
LOC here ma6-felling 6-PRES end only here
‘Here, the felling ends, only here.’
(646) yɔ́ɔ ̀ pɔ̀nɛ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ pɔ̀nɛ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mpù
7.COP ∅7.truth still like.this
‘It is still true like this.’
In some instances, the modifier seems to pick out a whole verb phrase
(i.e. verb plus noun phrase) while actually restricting only the noun phrase.
This is the case in (647) where vɛ̀ɛ ̀ precedes the verb, but in terms of its
meaning, it rather serves as a restriction to the object mímpìndí ‘non-ripe’:
in contrast to falling ripe, the palm nuts only fall non-ripe.
(647) màlɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè mímpìndí.

ma-lɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè H-mi-mpìndí
ma6-palm.tree 6.DEM.PROX only fall OBJ.LINK-mi4-non.ripe
‘These palm trees only fall non-ripe [fruit].’
398
kɔ́ɔ̀ ‘still, just’ The sentential modifier kɔ́ɔ̀ has some functional and se-
mantic overlap with both vɛ̀ɛ ̀ and sâ. Therefore, it is hard to distinguish the
functional and semantic range of these three modifiers. kɔ́ɔ̀ has in common
with vɛ̀ɛ ̀ that both can be used as a sequential marker which have scope
over a whole sentence rather than single constituents. This is the case, for
instance, in (648) where kɔ́ɔ̀ links an event within a chain of events. Nzambi
locks his friend’s family into a house, pours fuel over the house and the takes
a lighter—the following event is introduced with vɛ̀ɛ ̀ as explained in (644).
(648) kɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ ̀ brìkɛ̂ wɛ̂,

kɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ ̀ brìkɛ̂ w-ɛ̂
just take ∅1.lighter[French] 1-POSS.3S
‘just takes his lighter,’
In (649), the speaker wraps up a conversation by stating that they were

three people who spoke and then finish. As such, kɔ́ɔ̀ again more serves as
a sequential marker rather than a restrictive modifier.
(649) kɔ́ɔ ̀ sílɛ̀.

kɔ́ɔ ̀ sílɛ
just finish
‘Just finish.’
As a second function, kɔ́ɔ̀ is also used for restricting information. Thus,

the statement in (650), ‘The woman bought oranges and beans for the chil-
dren.’ is corrected, noting that only oranges have been bought. In this case,
the modifier precedes the constituent it modifies, namely befùmbí ‘oranges’.
As (650a) and (650b) illustrate, the modifier always precedes the object
noun phrase, no matter whether it occurs as first or second object.
(650) The woman bought oranges and beans for the children.
a. tɔ̀sâ, à nzí gyàgà sâ/kɔ́ɔ ̀ béfùmbí
tɔ̀sâ a nzí gyàga sâ/kɔ́ɔ ̀ H-be-fùmbí
no 1 PROG.PST buy only OBJ.LINK-be8-orange
bwánɔ̀.
b-wánɔ̀
ba2-child
‘No, she bought only oranges for the children.’
b. tɔ̀sâ, à nzí gyàgà b-wánɔ̀ sâ/kɔ́ɔ ̀ bè-fùmbí.
tɔ̀sâ a nzí gyàga b-wánɔ̀ sâ/kɔ́ɔ ̀ be-fùmbí
no 1 PROG.PST buy ba2-child only be8-orange
399
‘No, she bought only oranges for the children.’

What this example also shows is that the modifiers kɔ́ɔ̀ and sâ can be used
interchangeably in this context, namely whenever kɔ́ɔ̀ expresses restriction.
Also (651) represents such a case. When Nzambi realizes that his family has
been killed, he just cries (and does not do anything else).
(651) nzàmbí wà nû kɔ́ɔ ̀ kìyà léwê.
nzàmbí wà nû kɔ́ɔ ̀ kìya H-le-wê
PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX only give OBJ.LINK-le5-cry
‘This Nzambi only gives a cry.’
In other contexts, kɔ́ɔ̀ seems to be less restrictive in its function, but
expresses something like ‘just’ or ‘simply’ in English. This is the case in
(652), which is certainly not restrictive since the Bagyeli state that they
also wish for other improvements, for instance tin roofs.
(652) nà bí bɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã̂ bɛ̀ dé tù.
nà bí b-ɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã̂ bɛ̀ dé tù
COM 1P.EMPH 2-all just ∅7.electricity be LOC inside
Another way of translating kɔ́ɔ̀ into Cameroonian French is toujours ‘still’,
which applies in examples such as (653) and (654). In both cases, the func-
tion of kɔ́ɔ̀ is to take up a previous discourse topic and re-introduce it.16
(653) yá mbàà, yá mbàà yíì nâ kɔ́ɔ ̀ mpù ɛ́ nzìwù
yá mbàà yá mbàà yíì nâ kɔ́ɔ ̀ mpù ɛ́ nzìwù
7:ATT second 7:ATT second 7.COP COMP still like.this LOC PN
lɔ́ táálɛ̀ làwɔ̀ nâ bon,
lɔ́ táálɛ làwɔ nâ bon
RETRO begin talk COMP good[French]
‘The second, the second is that still as Nze just began to say that,
good,’
(654) yíì pɔ́nɛ́ kɔ́ɔ ̀ lèváá lɛ̀vúdũ̂ nâ bí
yíì pɔ́nɛ́ kɔ́ɔ ̀ le-váá ̂
lɛ̀-vúdũ nâ b-í
7.COP ∅7.truth still le5-thing 5-one COMP ba2-non.Bagyeli
bá ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bágyɛ̀lì.
ba-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
2-PRES bother-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
16
An English translation with ‘just’ also seems plausible and the exact difference between
‘just’ and ‘still’ in these contexts is hard to grasp. Speakers, however, make a difference
whether they use seulement ‘only’ or toujours ‘still’ in their translations.
400
‘It is true, still the same thing that the non-Bagyeli bother the Bagyeli.’
Finally, kɔ́ɔ̀ seems to express some kind of irrealis modality, as in (655)
(655) kɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ́gà á làwɔ́ ndáà.

kɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ́-gà a-H làwɔ-H ndáà
only 1-CONTR 1-PRES speak-R also
‘If only him, he would also speak.’
For a better understanding of the use and semantic range, a much larger
corpus is needed as well as a more systematic investigation of sentential
modifiers.
sâ ‘only’ The primary function of the modifier sâ is restrictive, as already

seen in (650). sâ seems to only have scope over single constituents in a
clause rather than over the whole sentence. It immediately precedes the
constituent that it modifies. In (656), for instance, sâ precedes the oblique
noun phrase nà màlɛ́ndí ‘from palm trees’. In terms of its meaning, sâ re-
stricts the interpretation to this noun phrase, i.e. Nzambi only lives from
palm trees and no other crops.
(656) nyɛ̀gà váà nyɛ̀gá tsíyɛ́ sâ nà màlɛ́ndí,

nyɛ-gà váà nyɛ-gá tsíyɛ́ sâ nà ma-lɛ́ndí,
ma-lɛ́ndí máà mɔ́-gà.
In (657), the sâ restricts the object interpretation and thus precedes the
object noun phrase mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ̀ ‘your child’. Nzambi asks his friend’s wife
for her child in return for food. In this example, he restricts the payment
for food to her child, rather than accepting money or other goods in return.
(657) vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ ̀ wà wɛ̀ bùdɛ́

vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ wà wɛ bùdɛ-H
give.IMP 1S.OBJ only N1-child 1-POSS.2S 1:ATT 2S have-R
nû.
nû
1:DEM.PROX
401
sâ can also modify adverbs, as in (658). The implicit contrast of the

restriction is ‘here’ as opposed to some other place. Thus, the speaker em-
phasizes that he stays only in the same place and does not go elsewhere so
that his relatives are encouraged to join him in his village.
(658) ká wɛ́ nyɛ́ mɛ̂ djíì sâ vâ nâ bá

ká wɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mɛ̂ djíì sâ vâ nâ ba-H
if 2S-PRES see-R 1S.OBJ stay only here COMP 2-PRES
nzíyɛ̀, bá nzíyɛ̀ djìyɔ̀.
nzíyɛ̀ ba-H nzíyɛ̀ djìyɔ
come.SBJV 2-PRES come.SBJV stay
‘When you see me staying only here, so that they come, they come
to stay.’
While sâ is observed in the vast majority of cases to have a restrictive

function, there are, however, non-restrictive uses which more convey the
sense of ‘just/simply’. In (659), there is no restriction on the following
locative noun phrase, nor on any other constituent of the phrase.
(659) à tɛ́lɛ́ sâ dɛ́ndì témɔ́.

1.PST1 stand-R just le5-courtyard middle
lìí ‘not yet’ The least frequently found sentential modifier in the corpus
is lìí which is a negative polarity item only occuring with past negation
words (see chapter 5.4 for more information on negation). This is confirmed
by elicitations, given the scarcity of data in the corpus. As such, it is not
just simply an adverb modifying a verb, but also depends on the polarity
category. Therefore, I classify it as a sentential rather than a verbal modifier.
lìí directly follows the negation word. As such, it is the only sentential
modifier whose occurrence is restricted to one position only. In (660), the
modifier occurs between the negation and the main verb.
(660) mɛ̀ pálɛ́ lìí bâ.

mɛ pálɛ́ lìí bâ
1S.PST1 NEG.PST yet marry
‘I am not yet married.’
The same is true for (661) which also includes an object, but this does not
affect the position of the modifier.
402
(661) mɛ̀ pálɛ́ lìí dè mántúà.

mɛ pálɛ́ lìí dè H-ma-ntúà
1S.PST1 NEG.PST yet eat OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘I have not yet eaten the mangoes.’
lìí has only been observed to occur with the negation word pálɛ́. It is not
clear whether it can occur also with the variant sàlɛ́.
6.3 Information Structure

Following Güldemann et al. (2015: 156), information structure
“is about how speakers structurally encode propositional content

with respect to their assessment of knowledge that is (not) shared
by the interlocutors in a particular communicative situation.”
As such, information structure, i.e. the packaging of, for instance, given and
new information, has an impact on general clause structure. African lan-
guages are known to be rich in information structure phenomena and recent
years have seen a wealth of publications in this research area.17
Gyeli uses a range of strategies to package information in clauses and
discourse. The most important information structure strategies are listed in
Table 6.6. This list is not exhaustive. For instance, prosodic means seem
to be relevant as well, but this requires further research. There are four
strategies to express focus, namely left dislocation, topicalization, emphatic
pronouns, and the contrastive marker -ga. These strategies either apply to
subjects, objects, or both. Focus is expressed in-situ, by pronominal object
fronting, and by cleft constructions.
In the following subsections, I will discuss both topic and focus phenom-
ena in turn. Data on information structure stem both from the questionnaire
on information structure (mainly the topic and focus translation tasks) by
Skopeteas et al. (2006) and the Gyeli corpus.18
17
A literature overview on information structure in African languages is given in Gülde-
mann et al. (2015).
18
Information structure questionnaires turned out to be less successful to elicit relevant
data since speakers strongly preferred to give one-word answers or provide pragmatically
neutral answers. The corpus, however, in combination with the questionnaires, allow some
reliable generalizations on information structure phenomena in Gyeli.
403
Function Strategy Grammatical relation

Left dislocation S and O
Emphatic pronouns S and O
Topic
Contrastive -ga S
Topicalization O
In-situ S, O, X, PCF
Focus Object pronoun fronting PCF
Cleft constructions S
Table 6.6: Topic and focus strategies
6.3.1 Topic
I follow Dik (1997: 312) in his definition of topic and topicality who states
that
“Topicality concerns the status of those entities “about” which

information is to be provided or requested in the discourse. The
topicality dimension concerns the participants in the event struc-
ture of the discourse”
Therefore, topic phenomena concern subjects and objects, but not, in con-
trast to focus phenomena, predicates and adjuncts. Gyeli uses a variety
of strategies to express “aboutness”. In order to follow a current topic in
the discourse, not only single clauses in isolation have to been examined,
but their context in the discourse so that given information can be distin-
guished from new or newly requested information. Therefore, I provide the
discourse context of each example either by description or by a sentence in
the example line.
6.3.1.1 Left Dislocation
One means to express topicality is left dislocation. This phenomenon ap-

plies mainly to objects, but can be argued to occur also with subjects in
combination with other information structure phenomena. In object left
dislocation, an object noun phrase is left dislocated in front of the subject
and later taken up again in-situ by an object pronoun. This is illustrated in
(662). Previously to this phrase, the chief of Ngolo talks about how he got
injured cutting raffia for his roof. He then changes the topic from ‘raffia’
to ‘tin-roofed houses’ which will prevent future injuries related to cutting
404
raffia. Note that the left dislocated object noun phrase usually occurs with
a prosodic break which is indicated by the comma.
(662) áá bíì, màndáwɔ̀ má zì, yáà mɔ́ fúàlà

áá bíì ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì yáà mɔ́ fúala
EXCL 1P.OBJ ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin[Bulu] 1P.FUT 6.OBJ end
bwɛ̂ lèwùlà lé vɛ́?
bwɛ̂ le-wùlà lé vɛ́
receive le5-hour 5:ATT which
‘Ah, us, as for the tin houses, when will we receive them?’
The same pattern applies in (663) where the speaker talks about The
Bulu people. He then changes the topic from the Bulu person to the Gyeli
child about whom he says that the Bulu will beat him.
(663) The Bulu person says that he will quarrel with you [= the Gyeli
child].
pílì mwánɔ̀ bàgyɛ̀lì, àà nyɛ̂ kɛ̀ bíyɔ̀,

pílì m-wánɔ̀ ba-gyɛ̀lì àà nyɛ̂ kɛ̀ bíyɔ
when N1-child ba2-Gyeli 1.FUT 1.OBJ go hit
‘At times the Gyeli child, he will go hit it,’
While in most cases the left dislocated object is expressed in-situ pronomi-
nally, it can also surface lexically, as shown in (664). The discourse context
is the same as for (662) where the chief of Ngolo talks about his injury and a
scar he got on his forehead. To clarify the source of his scar, he changes the
topic to the raffia which he cuts up in the trees. In (664), ŋgùndyá ‘raffia’
is left dislocated before the subject and the occurs again in its lexical form
in-situ.
(664) I think, the machete missed me here [= pointing to his forehead].
ŋgùndyá, mɛ́ kɛ́ sɔ́lɛ̀gà ŋgùndyá dyúwɔ̀.

ŋgùndyá mɛ-H kɛ̀-H sɔ́lɛga ŋgùndyá dyúwɔ̀
Left dislocation is also used to expand the topic, as in (665). Expansion

is achieved with the sentential modifier ndáà ‘also’ which follows the con-
stituent it modifies.19 Thus, in (665), the lexical object noun phrase is left
dislocated, followed by ndáà and taken up in-situ by an object pronoun.
19
See section 6.2.4 for more information on sentential modifiers.
405
(665) The woman ate the oranges.
nà màntúà ndáà à nzí dè mɔ̂.

nà mà-ntúà ndáà a nzí dè mɔ̂
COM ma6-mango also 1 PROG.PST eat 6.OBJ
‘And she also ate mangoes.’
While left dislocation of objects is obvious and quite salient—objects usu-

ally appear after the verb—left dislocation of subjects is less obvious since
they appear at the left edge of the clause anyway. One could argue, how-
ever, that left dislocation of subjects takes place with other topic phenomena
such as emphatic pronouns and the contrastive -ga which appear before the
SCOP. It seems that in these instances, there is also a short prosodic break,
in contrast to non-dislocated lexical subject noun phrases. Thus, subject
topicality achieved by emphatic pronouns and the contrastive marker -ga
also involves left dislocation.
6.3.1.2 Emphatic Pronouns
Emphatic pronouns also serve as a means to express topic. Mostly, emphatic

pronouns occur with subjects, as in (666). In this example, a new topic is
introduced. In the previous sentence, the speaker was talking about the
team of linguists who come to his village. Now he changes the topic to the
Bagyeli themselves and how they react to their visitors.
(666) You come to find us here.
donc bí, yá táálɛ́ bê yàlànɛ̀, àà.

donc bí ya-H táálɛ-H bê yàlanɛ àà
so[French] 1P.EMPH 1P-PRES begin-R 2P respond[Bulu] EXCL
‘So we, we start to respond to you, mhm.’
Often, an emphatic pronoun is combined with the marker -ga, indicating

a contrastive topic, as in (667). The speaker talks about NGOs and white
people who receive money in Europe to help Africans. Assuming that other
people in Africa profit from this money, he now states that the people in
Ngolo also want to receive help for obtaining electricity, where the marker
-ga contrasts the Bagyeli from other African communities.
(667) White people working for NGOs receive money in Europe.
406
bí bɔ́gà, yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà pãã́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ

bí bɔ́-gà ya-H wúmbɛ-H ndáà pãã́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ
1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES want-R also start see ∅7.thing
2-PRES call-R ∅3.light 3:ATT ∅7.electricity
electricity.’
Also, an emphatic pronoun can be used in expanded topics, as in (668).

The chief of Ngolo addresses the Ngumba and Mabi speakers among the
visitors. He points out that they as well, in addition to the European people
in the group, also speak French (while he does not).
(668) ɛ̀sɛ́ béé ndáà, bèyá làwɔ́ fàlà.

ɛ̀sɛ́ béé ndáà bèya-H làwɔ-H fàlà
is.it[French] 2P.EMPH also 2P[Kwasio]-PRES speak-R ∅1.French
‘Isn’t it, you, you also speak French.’
Emphatic pronouns are further used with objects in left dislocation, as

in (669). Nzambi’s wife explains to her husbands friend that their fields are
not producing enough food. She then changes the topic from the problems
in food production to the food itself which she asks the friend for.
(669) The field is running out of food.
bèdéwò béndɛ̀ byɔ̀, mɛ́ lɔ́ njì lɛ́bɛ̀lɛ̀ bédéwò

bà wɛ̀.
bà wɛ̀
AP 2S.OBJ
‘This food, I have come to look for the food at your place.’
6.3.1.3 Contrastive -ga
The marker -ga is used in order to contrast a new subject topic from an old
one. For instance, in (670), the speaker talks about the problems the Bagyeli
encounter with the Bulu. He states that if a Gyeli person goes hunting on
terms of equal sharing with a Bulu person, the Bulu person in turn will
deceive him.
407
(670) wɛ́ kɛ́ nà nyɛ̂ nkɔ̃w ̀ áká. nyɛ̀gà, à

wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nà nyɛ̂ nkɔ̃w ̀ áká nyɛ̀-gà a
2S-PRES go COM 1 equal.sharing 1.EMPH-CONTR 1
nzíí wɛ̂ vãã́ k̀ ɛ́ sâ mpù.
nzíí wɛ̂ ́
vããkɛ́ ̀ sâ mpù
PROG.PRES 2S.OBJ go[Bulu] do like.this
‘You go with him [= the Bulu] equally sharing. As of him, he is
going to do you like this [= tries to trick you].’
This contrast of subject topics is also well illustrated in (671). Here,

Nzambi offers his friend’s wife bread fruit in return for her child, specifying
the terms of the deal. She will get the bread fruit, while he will eat her
child.
(671) You take the bread fruit.
wɛ̀gà, wɛ́ kɛ́ nà mɔ̂. mɛ̀gà, mɛ́ lígɛ́

wɛ-gà wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nà mɔ̂ mɛ-gà mɛ-H lígɛ-H
2S-CONTR 2S-PRES go-R COM 6.OBJ 1-CONTR 1S-PRES stay-R
dè mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ.̀
dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀
eat N1-child 1-POSS.2S
‘As for you, you take them [= the bread fruit] away. As for me, I
stay and eat your child.’
A final example for the marker -ga is provided in (672). Again, the
speaker contrasts a new subject topic to an old one. The previous topic
was himself where he says that he asks his friend for help. As of the friend
(‘you’), he does not react in the expected way, but causes trouble.
(672) I send you the message and ask you to help me.
ɛ́ tè wɛ̀gà wɛ́ njí sâ mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ

ɛ́ tè wɛ̀-gà wɛ-H njì-H sâ mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ
LOC there 2S-CONTR 2S-PRES come-R do ∅9.trouble LOC ∅9.path
vâ.
vâ.
here
‘There you, you come to make trouble on the way here.’
408
6.3.1.4 Topicalization
Topicalization can be viewed as a special case of left dislocation which only

applies to objects. In contrast to left dislocation as discussed in section
6.3.1.1, in topicalization, the object occurs in front of the subject, but is not
cross-referenced in-situ. Thus, in (673), the emphatic object pronoun is left
dislocated, but does not occur in-situ after the verb. In this example, the
chief of Ngolo talks about his wishes to obtain houses with tin roofs. He
finishes his statements by the summary ‘This I want.’, referring to all the
points he brought up about new houses in the village and tin roofs.
(673) I will build houses in Ngolo, each with a tin roof.
yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ wû.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H wû
7.EMPH 1S-PRES want-R there
‘This I want there.’
In (674), he similarly talks about a topic, namely a tree that people are
going to take down without even asking for permission. He concludes by
summarizing the general topic of the tree: ‘This I have planted.’
(674) yɔ́ɔ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ djìlɛ́ mà.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ djìlɛ-H mà
7.OBJ 7.OBJ 1S.PST1 place-R COMPL[Kwasio]
‘This, this I have placed [there].’
While most instances of topicalization seem to involve a pronominal ob-

ject, as in (673) and (674), there are also examples where a lexical object
noun phrase is left dislocated, but not cross-referenced in-situ. This is the
case in (675).
(675) The woman cooked rice for her child.
nà nákúndɛ̀kúndɛ̀ ndáà, à bíyɛ́lɛ́.

nà nákúndɛ̀kúndɛ̀ ndáà a bíyɛlɛ-H
COM ∅1.bean also 1.PST1 cook-PST
‘And she also cooked beans.’
Topicalization is less frequent than general left dislocation in the corpus.

It seems, from the few examples, that topicalization is rather used to wrap
up a topic and/or summarize the topic of the previously said, while left
dislocation introduces a new topic.
409
6.3.2 Focus
According to Dik (1997: 326),
“The focal information in a linguistic expression is that informa-

tion which is relatively the most important or salient in the given
communicative setting.”
Fiedler et al. (2010: 236) note that this relative importance or salience is
expressed either by “introducing new information into the discourse (in-
formation focus), or by standing in explicit or implicit contrast to a set of
comparable alternatives (contrastive focus).”
Gyeli has at least three ways of expressing focus, namely in-situ which
applies to all grammatical relations, by fronting an object pronoun to achieve
predicate focus (PCF), and by cleft constructions in order to express subject
focus.
6.3.2.1 In-Situ Focus
In-situ focus seems to be the most common focus strategy in Gyeli, apply-
ing to subject, object, predicate, and adjunct focus. This is illustrated by
examples for each grammatical relation. In (676), the statement of the first
clause in (676a) is corrected in (676b). There, the new and thus most salient
information is the subject noun phrase mùdã ̂ ‘woman’ which appears in-situ,
namely as first argument in the general S V O word order.
(676) a. mùdũ̂ à dé mántúà.

m-ùdũ̂ a dè-H H-ma-ntúà
N1-man 1.PST1 eat-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘The man ate the mangoes.’
b. tɔ̀sâ, mùdã̂ à nzí dè mántúà.
tɔ̀sâ m-ùdã̂ a nzí dè H-ma-ntúà
no N1-woman 1 PROG.PST eat OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘No, THE WOMAN was eating the mangoes.’
The same strategy applies to object focus. Again, (677b) is a correction

of the clause in (677a). This time, the correction of information concerns
the object, which appears in-situ, namely after the verb.
410
(677) a. mùdã̂ à dé mántúà.

m-ùdã̂ a dè-H H-ma-ntúà
N1-woman 1.PST1 eat-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘The woman ate the MANGOES.’
b. tɔ̀sâ, à nzí dè ndísì.
tɔ̀sâ a nzí dè ndísì
no 1 PROG.PST eat ∅3.rice
‘No, she was eating RICE.’
(678) represents an example of in-situ adjunct focus. Here, the oblique

noun phrase lèwùlà lé vɛ́ ‘when’ occurs in-situ. As explained in section 6.4.1,
such question noun phrases can also appear phrase-initially, but the general
focus position is at the end of a phrase in Gyeli.
(678) áá bíì, màndáwɔ̀ má zì, yáà mɔ́ fúàlà

‘Ah, us, as for the tin houses, WHEN will we receive them?’
Finally, also predicate focus can be achieved in-situ, as shown in (679).

In the answer to the question ‘What did the woman do with the mangoes?’,
the predicate dè ‘eat’ appears in-situ, i.e. as expected between S and O.
(679) a. gyí mùdã̂ à sá nà màntúà?

gyí m-ùdã̂ a sâ-H nà ma-ntúà
what N1-woman 1.PST1 do-R COM ma6-mango
‘What did the woman do with the mangoes?’
b. à dé mɔ̂.
a dè-H mɔ̂
1.PST1 eat-R 6.OBJ
‘She ATE them.’
6.3.2.2 Object Pronoun Fronting
The phenomenon of preverbal objects in Benue-Congo languages is exten-

sively discussed by Güldemann (2007). Following him, I propose that the
marked preverbal object position moves the object into an extrafocal posi-
tion, resulting instead in the predicate being in focus. This hypothesis is
411
supported by the fact that only pronominal objects can be fronted before
the verb, but not lexical objects. Pronouns usually refer to already given
information and are thus less salient in terms of new or contrastive infor-
mation.
Pronominal objects can be fronted in a way that they occur before a sim-
ple predicate, as in (680). While in a pragmatically more neutral clause the
object pronoun yɔ̂ ‘it’ would occur after the verb, it is here fronted and the
predicate appears phrase-finally, making it more salient in terms of infor-
mation structure. The Nzambi explains to his friend’s wife that her child
would be very tender when one steams it, wrapped in leaves. He then em-
phasizes that he will EAT the child, which can be interpreted as an instance
of truth value focus, highlighting the truth of his future deeds.
(680) This tender child is good when you wrap it in a leaf package.
mɛ̀ɛ ̀ yɔ̂ dè.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ yɔ̂ dè
1S.FUT 7.OBJ eat
‘I will EAT it [= the child].’
If a clause contains a complex predicate with an auxiliary, the pronomi-

nal object under fronting appears between the auxiliary and the main verb,
as shown in (681). The context is the same as in (680). Again, the protag-
onist of the story stresses what he is going to do with the child, namely eat
it. The verb dè ‘eat’ appears in focus position since the pronoun nyɛ̂ ‘him’ is
defocussed.
(681) mɛ́ lígɛ́ nyɛ̂ dè.

‘I stay to EAT him [= the child].’
A similar example is presented in (682). Again, the predicate is complex

with an aspectual auxiliary verb that is followed by a pronominal object
so that the main verb occurs phrase-finally. Here, the speaker explains the
troubles the Bagyeli encounter with their Bulu neighbors.
(682) nyɛ̀ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀.

nyɛ nâ a múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ
1 COMP 1 PROSP 2S.OBJ hit
412
‘He [the Bulu person says] that he is about to BEAT you [= the Gyeli
person].’
He reports that the Bulu often threaten to beat the Bagyeli. With the object
pronoun wɛ̀ ‘you’ in preverbal position, the verb bíyɔ ‘hit’ is in focus position.
6.3.2.3 Cleft Constructions
In addition to in-situ focus, subjects can also be focussed by means of cleft

constructions. There are two types of clefts used for subject foucs, one with
the SCOP copula and one with the identificational marker wɛ́. Just as the
SCOP copula is more frequent than the identificational marker, as discussed
in section 6.1, cleft constructions with the SCOP copula also seem to be the
default cleft construction. An example of this is given in (683). The subject
appears in focus, as an answer to the question ‘Who ate the mangoes?’. The
default SCOP copula of agreement class 7 is generally used to express ‘it is
X’.20
(683) Who ate the mangoes?
yíì bwánɔ̀ [bá dé mántúà.]REL

yíì b-wánɔ̀ ba-H dè-H H-ma-ntúà
7.COP ba2-child 2-PRES eat-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango
‘It’s the children who eat mangoes.’
Under negation, the SCOP copula is replaced by the verbal copula bɛ̀
‘be’, as expected and discussed in section 6.1.4. Thus, in (684), the negated
correction of the statement ‘That woman ate the mangoes’ is expressed by
the negated verbal copula bɛ́lɛ́ for ‘it is not X’, while for the affirmative cleft,
the SCOP copula is used again.
(684) That woman ate the mangoes.
20
Optionally, an attributive marker could be inserted after bwánɔ̀, but since the attribu-
tive marker is identical in its form with the following SCOP bá, it is highly preferred to omit
the attributive marker. This is in line with general relative clause marking as discussed in
chapter 7.2.2. Relative clauses can in any case be marked by an attributive marker, but in
many cases, the attributive marker can be omitted.
413
tɔ̀sâ, yí bɛ́lɛ́ mùdã̂ núndɛ̀, yíì mɛ̂ [mɛ̀ nzí

tɔ̀sâ, yí bɛ̀-lɛ m-ùdã̂ nú-ndɛ̀, yíì mɛ̂ mɛ nzí
no 7.PRES be-NEG N1-2 woman 1-ANA 7.COP 1S.OBJ 1S
dè mántúà.]REL
dè H-ma-ntúà.
PROG.PST eat
‘No, it is not that woman, it is me who ate the mangoes.’
If the subject in focus consists of a complex lexical noun phrase, as in

(685), a cleft construction with the identificational marker wɛ́ is preferred.
As in the previous examples, the relative clause following the cleft appears
without explicit attributive marker.
(685) ntɛ́mbɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ wã̂ nyɛ̀ wɛ́ [bùdɛ́

mwánɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ mvúdũ̂.]REL
m-wánɔ̀ wà m-ùdã̂ m-vúdũ̂
‘My wife’s younger sister, it is her who has one girl.’
Finally, the SCOP copula and identificational marker wɛ́ can also appear
in combination as a double cleft construction, as shown in (686). In these
double clefts, first the SCOP copula cleft type is used and then the identifica-
tional one with the marker wɛ́. These constructions seem to be more marked
than simple clefts and thus seem to emphasize the subject focus even more.
(686) The woman ate the mangoes, didn’t she?

a. tɔ̀sâ, [yíì ntɛ̀mbɔ́ wɛ̂] [nyɛ̂ wɛ́] [nzí dè
tɔ̀sâ yíì ntɛ̀mbɔ́ w-ɛ̂ nyɛ̂ wɛ́ nzí dè
no 7.COP ∅1.sibling 1-POSS.3S 1.EMPH ID PROG.PST eat
mántúà.]REL
H-ma-ntúà
ma6-mango
‘No, it is her sister who ate the mangoes.’
b. tɔ̀sâ, [yíì síŋgì] [yɔ̂ wɛ́] [nzí dè.]REL
tɔ̀sâ yíì síŋgì yɔ̂ wɛ́ nzí dè.
no 7.COP ∅7.monkey 7.EMPH ID PROG.PST eat
‘No, it is the monkey who ate [= them].’
414
In this section, I presented the most frequent and salient phenomena

of Gyeli information structure. For future work, it would be desirable to
expand research on this topic, especially concerning prosodic cues.
6.4 Special Clause Types

Having investigated the basic word order in simple clauses as well as spe-
cial constructions relating to information structure, I discuss some special
clause types in this section. These include questions, possessor raising, and
comparison constructions.
6.4.1 Questions
I distinguish three basic types of questions: i) polar questions, ii) leading
questions, and iii) constituent questions (what is also known as wh- ques-
tions for English). Generally, polar and leading questions occur in basic
word order, but add a question marker either at the beginning or the end
of the phrase. Constituent questions, in contrast, are more flexible with
respect to the occurrence of the interrogative. I will discuss each of these
types in turn, basing my analysis both on the question types questionnaire
developped by Patin & Riedel (2011) as well as questions occurring in the
Gyeli corpus.
Polar questions with nà(nâ) Polar questions are those which typically
entail a yes or no answer. They are usually marked by the question marker
nà or nànâ which grammatically marks a sentence as a question. The first
version is the shorter default form nà, as shown in (687), which also has a
longer emphatic form nànâ, as in (688). Both only occur at the beginning
of a phrase.
(687) nà wɛ̀ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂?

nà wɛ nyɛ̂-H nyɛ̂
Q 2S.PST1 see-R 1.OBJ
‘Did you see him?’
The emphatic question marker nànâ in polar questions pragmatically ex-

presses insistence or even disbelief. Thus, in (688), the speaker who asks
415
the question rather expects the addressee to not have seen the person in
question and insists on getting a true answer.
(688) nànâ wɛ̀ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂?

nànâ wɛ nyɛ̂-H nyɛ̂
Q 2S.PST1 see-R 1.OBJ
‘Did you really see him?’
Prosody does not seem to play a role in terms of indicating a question.

Therefore, question markers are the only means to mark questions clearly as
such, especially in polar questions which do not employ any other question
indicating devices, in contrast to constituent questions which use interroga-
tives. Nevertheless, the use of question markers is not obligatory, not even
in polar questions, as shown in (689). In this example, it has to be clear
from the context, however, that the sentence is a question. Otherwise, nà
as in (687) has to be used.
(689) wɛ̀ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂?

wɛ nyɛ̂-H nyɛ̂
2S.PST1 see-R 1.OBJ
‘Did you see him?’
In addition to their syntactic function of marking a phrase as a question,

question markers also have a pragmatic function. In contexts where it is
clear that a phrase is meant as a question and nà is still used, the question
marker serves as marking emphasis. For instance, (687) could also be trans-
lated as ‘Did you really see him?’, just as in (688). Using the longer form
nànâ, as in (688), is even more emphatic and indicates the speakers disbe-
lief: speakers would also translate the question in (688) as ‘Are you sure
that you saw him?’
nà can also co-occur with interrogatives, as shown in (690). nà is not
required to indicate that the sentence is a question since this is already
achieved through the interrogative construction púù yá gyí ‘why’. It seems
though that nà here has an emphasizing function.
(690) nà púù yá gyí wɛ̀ pálɛ́ gyàgà

nà púù yá gyí wɛ̀ pálɛ́ gyàga
Q ∅7.reason 7:ATT what 2S.PST1 NEG.PST buy
mányâ?
H-ma-nyâ
OBJ.LINK-ma6-milk
416
‘Why didn’t you buy milk?’
Leading questions with ŋgáà The question marker ŋgáà is used for lead-
ing questions, i.e. polar questions which lead the addressee to give a specific
yes or no answer, as expected by the speaker. ŋgáà roughly corresponds to
n’est-ce pas in French and right? or isn’t it? in English, which are sometimes
also referred to as tag questions. I therefore gloss ŋgáà as ‘Q(tag)’. Just like
the question marker nànâ, ŋgáà has both a syntactic and pragmatic func-
tion. Syntactically, it encodes question marking. Pragmatically, it leads the
addressee to give an expected answer. In contrast to nà(nâ), ŋgáà can occur
both at the beginning and the end of a question, as shown in (691). The
expected answer to the questions in (691) would be ‘yes’.
(691) a. wɛ̀ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂, ŋgáà?

2S.PST1 see 3S Q(tag)
‘You saw him, didn’t you/right?’
b. ŋgáà, wɛ̀ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂?
Q(tag) 2S.PST1 see 3S
‘Right, you saw him?’
ŋgáà is used in the same form for negated questions, as shown in (692).
Here, the expected answer would be ‘no’.
(692) a. wɛ̀ nyɛ́lɛ́ nyɛ̂, ŋgáà?

wɛ nyɛ̂-lɛ nyɛ̂ ŋgáà
2S.PST1 see-NEG 1.OBJ Q(tag)
‘You didn’t him, did you?’
b. ŋgáà, wɛ̀ nyɛ́lɛ́ nyɛ̂?
ŋgáà wɛ nyɛ̂-lɛ nyɛ̂
Q(tag) 2S.PST1 see-NEG 3S
‘Right, you didn’t see him?’
In contrast to constituent questions, ŋgáà does not co-occur with nà in the

same question.
Constituent questions Constituent questions are expressed by interroga-

tives. Subject and object questions employ the interrogative pronouns nzá
‘who’ for human/animate and gyí ‘what’ for inanimate entities. Adjunct
questions use a range of interrogatives such as ɛ́ vɛ́ ‘where’ and oblique
417
noun phrases, such as dúbɔ̀ lé vɛ́ ‘when [= which day]’, wùlà yá vɛ́ ‘when
[= what time]’ and púù yá gyí ‘why [= what reason]’. I will discuss the
various constituent question types sorted by constituent, starting out with
subject questions.
Subject interrogative pronouns always occur in-situ, i.e. phrase-initially.
An example of a subject question using the human/animate interrogative
pronoun nzá ‘who’ is given in (693).
(693) nzá nzí nyɛ̂ Màmbì? SVO

nzá nzí nyɛ̂ Màmbì
who PROG.PST see PN
‘Who saw Mambi?’
(694) provides an example for a question asking for an inanimate subject,

thus using gyí ‘what’.
(694) gyí nzí bvúɔ̀ kàsà? SVO

gyí nzî ́ bvúɔ̀ kàsà
what PROG.PST break ∅7.bridge
‘What broke the bridge?’
As a side note, there seems to be a preference to use the progressive

marker nzí in past questions, even though the meaning is not necessarily pro-
gressive. Questions can also be formed without the progressive marker, as
in (695), but speakers would spontaneously form questions with this aspect
marker while stating that questions without it are also grammatical and
apparently mean the same. nzí therefore most likely also serves another
function than progressive, but this needs further investigation.
(695) gyí bvúɔ́ kàsà? SVO

gyí bvúɔ̀-H kàsà?
what break-R ∅7.bridge
‘What broke the bridge?’
Other constituents besides objects have two positional options. Either,

interrogatives for objects and adjuncts appear in-situ or are left dislocated to
a phrase initial position. I will first demonstrate this with object questions.
For object questions, the same interrogative pronouns are used as for
subject questions. In (696), the object interrogative pronoun nzá ‘who’ is
left dislocated to the beginning of the phrase. As (696b) shows, this also
holds for negated questions. Both questions occur in O S V (X) word order.
418
(696) a. nzá wɛ̀ nzí nyɛ̂ mɛ́nɔ́ yî mákítì?

nzá wɛ̀ nzí nyɛ̂ mɛ́nɔ́ yî mákítì
who 2S PROG.PST see ∅7.morning 7.DEM ma6.market
‘Who did you see this morning at the market?’
b. nzá wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ̀lɛ̀?
nzá wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwàlɛ-lɛ
who 2S.PRES.NEG like-NEG
‘Who don’t you like?’
Likewise, the inanimate interrogative pronoun gyí ‘what’ can be left dis-
located in object questions, as shown in (697). Again, this also holds for
negated questions, as in (697b).
(697) a. gyí bwáà nzí nyɛ̂ tísɔ̀nì? OSVX

gyí bwáà nzí nyɛ̂ tísɔ̀nì
what 2P PROG see ∅7.town
‘What did you (Pl.) see in town?’
b. gyí wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ́lɛ́ tísɔ̀nì dé tù? OSVX
gyí wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwàlɛ-lɛ tísɔ̀nì dé
what 2S like-NEG ∅7.town LOC inside
‘What don’t you like in town?’
c. gyí Àdà lãã́ ́ pá’á wà sã?̂ OSVX
gyí Àdà lãã́ -̀ H pá’á wà sã̂
what PN read-R ∅1.side 1:ATT ∅1.father
‘What does Ada read for father?’
The object interrogative pronoun can also occur in-situ, as shown in

(698) for both nzá ‘who’ and gyí ‘what’. In terms of its pragmatics, the
in-situ position differs from left dislocatation in terms of information struc-
ture. The object position in-situ is the focus position, and thus the object
interrogative appears in focus in (698).
(698) a. wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ́lɛ́ nzá? SVO

wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ́-lɛ́ nzá
2S.PRES.NEG like-NEG who
‘WHO don’t you like?’
b. Àdà lãã́ ́ gyí pá’á wà sã?̂ SVOX
́ ̀
Àdà lãã-H gyí pá’á wà sã̂
PN read-R what ∅1.side 1:ATT ∅1.father
‘WHAT does Ada read for father?’
419
In questions with double objects, the object interrogative can occur in

three positions. In (699), the question asks for the recipient object (which
is often referred to as the direct object, but, as explained in section 6.2.1.2,
direct and indirect objects cannot be distinguished on formal grounds in
Gyeli). The object interrogative can appear either in i) left dislocation at
the beginning of the phrase, as in (699a), ii) in the first object slot, as in
(699b), and iii) in the second object slot, as in (699c).
(699) a. nzá á vɛ́ béfùmbí? O1 S V O 2

nzá a-H vɛ̂-H H-be-fùmbí
who 3S-PRES give-R OBJ.LINK-be8-orange
‘Whom does s/he give the oranges?’
b. á vɛ́ nzá bèfùmbí? S V O 1 O2
a-H vɛ̂-H nzá be-fùmbí
3S-PRES give-R who be8-orange
‘Whom does s/he give the oranges?’
c. á vɛ́ béfùmbí nzá? S V O 1 O2
a-H vɛ̂-H H-be-fùmbí nzá
3S.PRES give-R be8-orange who
‘WHOM does s/he give the oranges?’
The same holds for gyí when asking for the patient object, as illustrated for
all three possible positions in (700).
(700) a. gyí wɛ́ gyíkɛ́sɛ́ bwánɔ̀? O1 S V O 2

gyí wɛ-H gyíkɛsɛ-H b-wánɔ̀
what 2S-PRES teach-R ba2-child
‘What do you teach the children?’
b. wɛ́ gyíkɛ́sɛ́ gyí bwánɔ̀? S V O 1 O2
wɛ-H gyíkɛsɛ-H gyí b-wánɔ̀
2S-PRES teach-R what ba2-child
‘What do you teach the children?’
c. wɛ́ gyíkɛ́sɛ́ bwánɔ̀ gyí? S V O 1 O2
wɛ-H gyíkɛsɛ-H b-wánɔ̀ gyí
2S-PRES teach-R ba2-child what
‘WHAT do you teach the children?’
Just like object questions, also adjunct questions can occur both phrase-
initially or in-situ. I demonstrate this for various adjunct questions. In
(701), for instance, the constituent that is asked for, is a comitative oblique
420
encoding accompaniment. This is expressed by a comitative marker plus an

interrogative pronoun in the question. The oblique question can occur both
phrase-initially and in-situ.
(701) a. nà nzá wɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ pɛ̂? XSV

nà nzá wɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ pɛ̂
COM who 2S.FUT go over.there
‘With whom will you go there?’
b. wɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ pɛ̂ nà nzá? SVX
wɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ pɛ̂ nà nzá
2S.FUT go over.there COM who
‘WITH WHOM will you go there?’
The same pattern holds for oblique questions comprised of an associative

plural construction, as in (702).
(702) a. bà nà nzá báà kɛ̀ pɛ̂? XSV

bà nà nzá báà kɛ̀ pɛ̂?
AP COM who 2.FUT go over.there
‘They and who will go there?’
b. báà kɛ̀ pɛ̂ bà nà nzá? SVX
báà kɛ̀ pɛ̂ bà nà nzá̂
2.FUT go over.there AP COM who
‘They and who will go there?’
Some verbs with reciprocal meaning require the comitative marker nà.
They behave peculiarly in question formation in that they both require an in-
terrogative pronoun in left dislocation and a comitative oblique noun phrase
at the end of the question. The object is taken up again in the oblique phrase
by a pronominal resumptive. This is shown in (703).
(703) a. nzá yáà lã́ nà nyɛ̂?

nzá yáà ̂
lã-H nà nyɛ̂
who 1P.PST2 talk-R COM 3S.OBJ
‘Who did we talk to?’
b. nzá wɛ̀ nzí làdtɔ̀ nà nyɛ̂ tísɔ̀nì?
nzá wɛ nzî-H làdtɔ̀ nà nyɛ̂ tísɔ̀nì
who 2S PROG-PST meet COM 3S.OBJ ∅7.town
‘Who did you meet in town?’
421
Other examples of adjunct questions concern locative questions. Again,

as shown in (704), the locative oblique phrase can occur phrase-initially
or in-situ, even though the left dislocated variant seem to be much more
frequent, given their relatively unmarked status.
(704) a. ɛ́ vɛ́ wɛ́ɛ ̀ lúmɛ̀lɛ̀ bwánɔ̀ sùkúlì? X1 S V O X2

ɛ́ vɛ́ wɛ́ɛ ̀ lúmɛlɛ b-wánɔ̀ sùkúlì
LOC where 2S.FUT send ba2-child ∅7.school
‘Where will you send the children to school?’
b. wɛ́ɛ ̀ lúmɛ̀lɛ̀ bwánɔ̀ sùkúlì ɛ́ vɛ́? X1 S V O X2
wɛ́ɛ ̀ lúmɛlɛ b-wánɔ̀ sùkúlì ɛ́ vɛ́
2S.FUT send ba2-child ∅7.school LOC where
‘WHERE will you send the children to school?’
Temporal questions are also formed with oblique noun phrases. Depend-
ing on the expected time specificity, speakers usually use dúbɔ̀ lé vɛ́ ‘what
day’, as in (705a), or wùlà yá vɛ́ ‘what time’, as in (705b). Again, both ex-
amples can occur phrase-initially and in-situ with the in-situ position being
the more marked one.
(705) a. dúbɔ̀ lé vɛ́ à nzí pámò? XSV

d-úbɔ̀ lé vɛ́ a nzî-H pámò
le5-day 5:ATT which 3S PROG-R arrive
‘When did she arrive [= what day]?’
b. à nzí pámò wùlà yá vɛ́? SVX
a nzî-H pámò wùlà yá vɛ́
3S PROG-R arrive ∅7.hour 7:ATT which
‘WHEN did she arrive [= what time]?’
Finally, also purpose obliques including púù yá gyí ‘what reason’ are ex-
pressed following the same structure, as (706) shows.
(706) a. púù yá gyí bá gyíbɔ́ nyɛ̂? XSV

púù yá gyí ba-H gyíbɔ-H nyɛ̂
∅7.reason 7:ATT what 2-PRES call-R 1.OBJ
‘Why do they call him?’
b. bá gyíbɔ́ nyɛ̂ púù yá gyí? SVX
ba-H gyíbɔ-H nyɛ̂ púù yá gyí
2-PRES call-R 1.OBJ ∅7.reason 7:ATT what
‘WHY do they call him?’
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6.4.2 Possessor Raising

Possessor raising is a pervasive phenomenon in Gyeli. While I use the term
possessor raising in line with the literature on this topic, I do not imply
an analysis of raising in the syntactic tree, but rather a marked possession
construction. Thus, the possessor can be expressed as the subject or object of
a clause, avoiding adnominal possession marking and benefactive obliques.
In (707), the possessor is expressed in the subject.
(707) mɛ́ dvúɔ́ nkû.

mɛ-H dvúɔ̀-H nkû
1S-PRES hurt-R ∅3.foot
‘My foot hurts.’
In most cases, however, the possessor has object status. In (708), for
instance, the possessor mɛ̂ takes the object position while mbɔ̀ ‘arm’ occurs
as a bare locative oblique noun phrase.

when 7-PRES enter-R 1S.OBJ N3-arm ∅7.bamboo 7-PRES can-R
nâ nyíì wɛ m-bɔ̀
A possessor can also occur in copula constructions, as shown in (709).

Here, the possessor appears in the copula complement.
(709) nzà nyíì mɛ̀ mɔ̂.

nzà nyíì mɛ̀ mɔ̂
∅9.hunger 9.COP 1S.OBJ ∅3.stomach
‘I am hungry (lit.: hunger is me in the stomach).’
While the previous examples could also have been expressed by posses-
sive pronouns as modifiers to the noun, other possessor raising constructions
are rather equivalent to benefactives. In (710), for example, the structure
could be modified to ‘build houses for me’ with a purpose or benefactive
oblique phrase introduced by púù yá (see section 6.2.1.3).
(710) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ á lwɔ́ŋgɔ́ mɛ̂ màndáwɔ̀,

mɛ bùdɛ-H nâ a-H lwɔ́ŋgɔ-H mɛ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀
1S have-R COMP 1-PRES build[Kwasio]-R 1S.OBJ ma6-house
423
The same benefactive reading holds for copula constructions, as in (711).
(711) nlã̂ wá zì, ndáwɔ̀ nyà zì nyíì mɛ̀ vé?

nlã ̂ wá zì ndáwɔ̀ nyà zì nyíì mɛ̀ vé
∅3.story 3:ATT ∅7.tin ∅9.house 9:ATT tin 9.COP 1S.OBJ where
‘The problem with the tin, where is the tin (roofed) house for me?’
As a counterpart to benefactive readings, possessor raising can also ex-

press adversary functions, as in (712) where the speaker experiences a bad
event. The construction is further special in terms of information structure
since the possessor object pronoun is fronted before the verb so that the
verb appears in focus position (see section 6.3.2.2). This shows that posses-
sor objects indeed behave identical to other objects.
(712) bùdì bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù vâ.

b-ùdì ba ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù vâ
ba2-person 2.PST1 finish.COMPL 1S.OBJ die ∅9.house inside here
6.4.3 Comparison Constructions

Comparison and superlative constructions in Gyeli, just as in many other
Bantu and generally African languages, as observed, for instance, by Stassen
(1984: 157) are expressed verbally with the verb bálɛ ‘surpass’. This holds
for the comparison of the quality of two entities, as in (713). In this example,
the compared quality is mpà ‘good’, a nominal qualifier, followed by the
infinitival form of bálɛ ‘surpass’.
(713) kàbà yíì mpà bálɛ̀ sɔ́tì.

kàbà yíì mpà bálɛ sɔ́tì
∅7.dress 7.COP good surpass ∅1.trousers
‘The dress is better than the trousers.’
The pattern is the same for adverbial comparison. In (714), mpà serves
as an adverb to kɛ̀ ‘go, run’. Just as in the previous example, it is followed
by the comparison verb.
(714) Màmbì á kɛ́ mpà bálɛ̀ Àdà.

Màmbì a-H kɛ̀-H mpà bálɛ̀ Àdà
PN 1-PRES go-R good surpass PN
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‘Mambi runs better than Ada.’
bálɛ is further used in comparison of quantities. Here, bálɛ follows the object
noun phrase that the quantity refers to and directly precedes the entity that
is subject to comparison, namely the person Màmbì.
(715) Adà à tsìlɔ́ békáládɛ̀ bálɛ̀ Màmbì.

Adà a tsìlɔ-H H-be-káládɛ̀ bálɛ̀ Màmbì
PN 1.PST1 write-R OBJ.LINK-be8-letter surpass PN
‘Ada wrote more letters than Mambi.’
bálɛ can also function as the only verb in a clause that is tonally inflected
for tense and mood, as in (716). Here, the comparison is between the sec-
ond constituents of a noun + noun genitive construction while the first
constituent of the second construction is elided.
(716) lèdyṹũ̀ lé dẽ ̂ bálɛ́ nàkùgúù.

le-dyṹũ̀ lé dẽ ̂ bálɛ-H nàkùgúù
le5-heat 5:ATT today surpass-R yesterday
‘Today it’s warmer than yesterday.’
In (717), a comparison construction is used to express semantically a

superlative by comparing one person’s driving style to that of everyone else.
(717) Adà á dvùdɔ́ màtúà bálɛ̀ bɔ́gà.

Adà a-H dvùdɔ-H màtúà bálɛ bɔ́-gà
PN 1-PRES drive-R ∅1.car surpass 2-other
‘Ada drives the car faster than all [= the fastest].’
In contrast, in (718), a superlative is expressed without comparing two en-

tities. Instead, bálɛ follows an object noun phrase which is subject to the
superlative interpretation while kɛ̀ mpfúndɔ́ encodes in which way Ada’s car
is the best, namely in going fast.
(718) Adà á dvùdɔ́ màtúà bálɛ̀ kɛ̀ mpfúndɔ́.

Adà a-H dvùdɔ-H màtúà bálɛ kɛ̀ mpfúndɔ́
PN 1-PRES drive-R ∅1.car surpass go ∅3.speed
‘Ada drives the fastest car.’
Finally, some comparison construction types take additionally to bálɛ the

adverb mpù ‘like’. This is the case in equatives, as shown in (719).
425
(719) mɛ̀ɛ ́ bálɛ́lɛ́ bɛ̀ nà mɔ̀nɛ́ ɛ́ mpù nàkùgúù.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bálɛ-lɛ bɛ̀ nà mɔ̀nɛ́ ɛ́ mpù nàkùgúù
1S.PRES.NEG surpass-NEG be COM ∅1.money LOC like yesterday
‘I don’t have as much money as yesterday.’
Further, mpù is used in comparisons of non-identical objects, as in (720).
(720) Àdà à dé mántúà bálɛ̀ mpù Màmbì

Àdà a dè-H H-ma-ntúà bálɛ mpù Màmbì
PN 1.PST1 eat-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango surpass like PN
à dé mándjù.
a dè-H H-ma-ndjù
1.PST1 eat-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-banana
‘Ada ate more mangoes than Mambi bananas.’
Having described major types and phenomena of simple clauses, I now turn
to complex clauses in the next chapter.
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Chapter 7
Complex Clauses
Complex clauses are those which are comprised of one or more clauses, fol-
lowing the standard notion of complex clauses, including coordination and
subordination, as given, for instance, by Wegener (2012). A complex clause
is coordinated when the two (or more) clauses it is comprised of, are equal
in their status. Usually, coordination involves the combination of two (or
more) independent clauses. In contrast to coordination, in subordination,
clauses are combined which are not symmetrical in their status. They are
formed by combining a main clause, i.e. a clause that can occur indepen-
dently, with a dependent clause, i.e. a clause that cannot occur on its own.
In this chapter, I present different types of coordination and subordination.
I finally discuss the special case of reported discourse which I do not view as
a type of subordination, but rather as being organized at a higher discourse
level.
7.1 Coordination
Haspelmath (2007: 1) defines coordination as: “syntactic constructions in
which two or more units of the same type are combined into a larger unit
and still have the same semantic relations with other surrounding elements.”
He points out that these units can either be words (e.g. verbs), phrases (e.g.
noun phrases), subordinate clauses, or full sentences. In terms of terminol-
ogy, Haspelmath calls the units that are combined ‘coordinands’ while the
element that links the coordinands is called ‘coordinator’.
Gyeli uses a range of coordinators which broadly map onto different
427
coordination relations as distinguished by Haspelmath:
1. combination (conjunction)
• comitative marker nà ‘and’

• asyndetic (covert) coordination
2. alternative (disjunction) nânà/kânà ‘or’
3. contrast (adversative coordination) ndí ‘but’
The most frequent coordinator in the corpus is nà for conjunction with 21

occurrences, followed by ndí with 9 instances. Both covert coordination and
disjunction are rather rare in the corpus for which there are only a couple
of examples each. Nevertheless, corpus example have been supplemented
with elicitations. I discuss each of these coordination strategies in turn.
7.1.1 Conjunction with nà ‘and’

Conjoining two clauses with the comitative marker nà is the most frequent
coordination stratgey in the Gyeli corpus. nà usually appears between to
clauses, but can also occur at the beginning of a new clause, linking the
clause to the previous text, as in (721). nà is never found sentence-finally.
(721) He is going into the forest on the long path.
nà pándɛ̀ vâ, bùdì báà bɛ̀.

nà pándɛ̀ vâ b-ùdì báà bɛ
COM arrive here ba2-person 2.DEM.PROX be.there
‘And having arrived here, these people are there.’
There are structural differences among conjoined clauses. I thus distin-

guish conjoined clauses which both express overtly a subject from those
where the subject is elided in the second coordinand. Other differences are
explained as well in the following examples, which pertain to general sym-
metry and asymmetry of the two coordinands in terms of clause type, word
order, and aspect marking.
428
Subject expression in both coordinands Two clauses can be conjoined

with nà where both coordinands display overt subject marking. This is true
for both same and different subjects. Subjects are always overtly expressed
in both coordinands if they are not identical. In (722), for example, a lexical
noun phrase serves as subject, while the second clause only marks subject
agreement on the SCOP copula. The two coordinands are asymmetrical in
terms of their clause type. The first coordinand represents an intransitive
verbal clause while the second constitutes a non-verbal copula construction.
(722) bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà béè

bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà béè
OK[French] ∅7.generation finish.COMPL COM 2P.COP
bànáyɛ̂yɛ̂.
ba-náyɛ̂yɛ̂
2-bleached.out
‘OK, the generation has been wiped out and you are bleached out
[= white].’
(723) also has different subjects in the two coordinands. At the same
time, it is noteworthy that both have the same aspect marker which cannot
be elided in the second constituent.
(723) yá lɔ́ fúàlà nà mɛ̀ lɔ́ làwɔ̀.

ya-H lɔ́ fúala nà mɛ lɔ́ làwɔ
1P-PRES RETRO end COM 1S RETRO talk
‘We just finished and I just spoke.’
If two conjoined clauses have the same subject, the subject in the sec-
ond clause can often be elided. There are, however, circumstances in which
speakers prefer overt subject expression in the second clause over elision.
This is, for instance, the case, when both coordinands are relatively com-
plex, as in (724).
(724) mɛ́ lámbó nzàmbí wà nû nà mɛ́

mɛ-H lámbo-H nzàmbí wà nû nà mɛ-H
1S-PRES trap-R PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX COM 1S-PRES
wúmbɛ́ lèmbò ɛ́ mpù à bùdɛ́ mɛ̂.
wúmbɛ-H lèmbo ɛ́ mpù a bùdɛ-H mɛ̂
want-R know LOC like.this 1 have-R 1S.OBJ
‘I trap this Nzambi and I want to know like this how he takes me
(what he thinks of this story).’
429
Overt expression of the same subject is also preferred when the two coordi-
nands differ in their aspect marking, as shown in (725).
(725) donc bɛ̀yá lɔ́ kɛ̀ nà bɛ̀yà nzíí pándɛ̀.

donc bɛ̀ya-H lɔ́ kɛ̀ nà bɛ̀ya nzíí pándɛ
so[French] 2P-PRES RETRO go COM 2P PROG.PRES arrive
‘So, you just came and you are arriving.’
Another instance where the subject of the first coordinand is resumed in

the second is when the two clauses differ with respect to their information
structure. In (726), the first coordinand has a left dislocated object while
the second appears in basic word order.
(726) bèkúmbɛ́ báà njì nà byɔ̂ nà báà njì lwɔ̃̂

be-kúmbɛ́ báà njì nà byɔ̂ nà báà njì lwɔ̃̂
be8-roof 2.FUT come COM 8 COM 2.FUT come build
mándáwɔ̀.
H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘Roofs they will bring and they will come and build houses.’
Subject elision in second coordinand In many cases where the two sub-
jects are identical, the one in the second coordinand is elided. Elision, where
possible, is generally preferred over overt expression and occurs twice as
often in the corpus than overt subject expression. An example of subject
elision in the second coordinand is given in (727).
(727) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mùdì nyɛ̀ djãã́ s̀ à nà kɛ́ djìí dé tù

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ m-ùdì ́
nyɛ djããsà ̀ nà kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù
only N1-person 1 disappear COM go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside
nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ.̂
nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ
COM ∅9.path arrive today
‘Suddenly the person disappears and goes in the forest on the path
till today,’
A very common conjunction type is represented in (728a) which en-

codes a chain of events. First, the agent has gone and then stuffed the top
of the roof with straw. The occurrence of the coordinator nà clearly distin-
guishes the sentence in (728a) from the one in (728b) where no coordinator
is present.
430
(728) a. áà sílɛ́ kɛ̀ nà dvùwɔ́ dyúwɔ̀,

b. áà sílɛ́ kɛ̀ dvùwɔ̀ dyúwɔ̀,
áà sílɛ-H kɛ̀ dvùwɔ dyúwɔ
1.PST2 finish-R go stuff ∅7.top
‘He has gone to stuff the top [= with straw],’
(728b) represents an instance of a complex auxiliary construction. As such,

the verb dvùwɔ occurs in its infinitival form, i.e. with a final L tone. In
contrast, under coordination as in (728a), the verb is tonally inflected for
tense and mood and thus occurs with a H tone.
Finally, conjunction constructions can have multiple coordinands, as
(729) shows. This complex example contains both coordinands with elided
subjects and overt subject expression.
(729) wɛ́ ná báàlá nà nyɛ́ fí nà wɛ́

ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû.
ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû
nà in non-clausal coordination It should also be mentioned that nà is not

only used in clausal coordination, but also in coordination of, for instance,
noun phrases, as shown in (730).
(730) nà mìmbàŋgá nà màsá nà bègyí nà

nà mi-mbàŋgá nà ma-sá nà be-gyí nà
COM mi4-coconut.tree COM ma6-prune COM be8-what COM
bègyí, byɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ̀ ntàmànɛ̀.
be-gyí by-ɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ ntàmanɛ
be8-what 8-all 8.FUT finish ruin
431
‘And the coconut trees and the pruniers and so on and so forth, they
all will be ruined.’
Also, this coordinator can conjoin two oblique phrases, as in (731).1
(731) S V X1 ‘and’ X2
àá bámálá tɔ́bá mpfùmɔ̀ nà pámò mɛ́nɔ́.

Coordination of verbs sharing the same object has not been observed in the
corpus.
7.1.2 Covert Coordination

A minor strategy to conjoin clauses is asyndetic coordination, i.e. coordina-
tion without any overt coordinator. This is also called ‘covert coordination’.
In Gyeli, covert coordination seems to be quite restricted and involves two
clauses with different verbal predicates, the second of which is ditransitive.
The second clause does then not only share the first’s clause subject, but
also its object, both of which are elided in the second clause, as shown in
(732) and (733).2
(732) S V1 O1 [‘and’] V2 O2
[yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ tɔ́kɛ́ mwánɔ̀] [kàlànɛ̀ nyɛ̂.]

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã ̂ tɔ́kɛ-H m-wánɔ̀ kàlanɛ nyɛ̂
so N1-woman collect-R N1-child hand.over 1.OBJ
‘So the woman picks up the child [and] hands [it] over to him.’
(733) S V1 O1 [‘and’] V2 O2
[yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ tɔ́kɛ́ mɔ̀nɛ́ wɛ̀] [vɛ̀ nyɛ̂.]

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H tɔ́kɛ-H mɔ̀nɛ́ w-ɛ̀ vɛ̀ nyɛ̂
so 1S-PRES collect-R ∅1.money 1-POSS.3S give 1.OBJ
1
Note that pámò ‘arrive’ is consistently used in a preposition-like function of ‘till’.
2
Instances of such covert coordination constructions where the second clause has a
transitive verb which it shares with the first clause have not been observed. Future research
will have to show whether such constructions are possible.
432
‘So I collect her money [and] give [it to] her,’
I analyze these constructions as instances of covert coordination rather

than complex predicate constructions for two reasons. First, the verb of the
first clause is not a typical auxiliary verb. As explained in chapter 6.2.3,
auxiliaries generally belong to three verb classes, namely apsectual verbs,
deictic motions verbs, and modal verbs. tɔ́kɛ ‘collect’ clearly does not fit into
any of these categories and has not been observed in any other instances
to occur as auxiliary in complex predicate constructions. Second, while
complex predicates often describe one event expressed by the final main
verb, clauses with covert coordination clearly encode a sequence of events.
Thus, in (732), the woman first picks up her childs and then hands it over
to Nzambi.
7.1.3 Disjunction with kânà/nânà ‘or’

Disjunction, also called ‘alternative coordination’, can be expressed with
both coordinators kânà and nânà ‘or’. Disjunction is rather rare in the corpus
where only the variant kânà appears, but speakers state that it can always
be replaced with nânà. Just like the conjunction coordinator nà, kânà/nânà
can appear in between clauses and sentence initially, as in (734). Here,
Nzambi explains that his friend told him to kill people in order to help them
get white skin. He then concludes in a new sentence ‘Or I also broke the
interdiction’, as an alternative judgement of his deeds.
(734) You were telling me to do so.
kánâ mɛ̀ kɔ̀bɛ́ ndáà tsì, mɛ̀ɛ ́

kánâ mɛ kɔ̀bɛ-H ndáà tsì mɛ̀ɛ ́
or 1S.PST1 break-R also ∅7.interdiction 1S.PRES.NEG
lémbólɛ́.
lémbo-lɛ
know-NEG
‘Or I also broke the interdiction, I don’t know.’
(735) represents an example where the disjunctive coordinator appears

between two clauses. Again, it shows that both coordinators nânà and kânà
can be used as ‘or’. In contrast to conjunction, in disjunction, there seems
to be a general preference to express the (same) subject overtly in both
coordinands. Thus, wɛ́ ‘you’ is resumed also in the second clause.
433
(735) wɛ́ njí nà bî nânà/kânà wɛ́ lígɛ̀?

wɛ-H njî-H nà bî nânà/kânà wɛ-H lígɛ
2S-PRES come-R COM 1P.OBJ or 2S-PRES stay
‘Do you come with us or do you stay?’
kânà can also be used in both of the coordinands, expressing ‘either...or’.

This is shown in (736). In this construction, the coordinator in the second
clause can be abbreviated to kâ.
(736) kânà àà njì nà byɔ̂ kâ(nà) àà lúmɛ̀lɛ̀.

kânà àà njì nà byɔ̂ kâ(nà) àà lúmɛlɛ
or 3S.FUT come COM 8.OBJ or 3S.FUT send
‘Either he will bring them [= books] or he will send [them].’
(736) also shows that the second coordinand elides its object which it shares
with the first clause. Elision of shared objects is also a feature of covert
coordination, as discussed above.
Finally, (737) represents a case where the first and the second coor-
dinand are asymmetrical in that the second coordinand consists only of a
negated substitute m̀ m̂ ‘no’ of the first clause. The speaker makes a sug-
gestion in the first coordinand, but then changes his mind and suggests the
opposite.
(737) mùdã̂ kɛ́ nà nyɛ̀ mánkɛ̃̂ kánâ m̀ m̂ .

m-ùdã ̂ ̂
kɛ̀-H nà nyɛ̀ H-ma-nkɛ̃ kánâ m̀ m̂
N1-woman go-R COM 1 OBJ.LINK-ma6-field or no
‘The woman [his wife] shall go with him to the field or no.’
7.1.4 Adversative Coordination with ndí ‘but’

Adversative coordination is expressed by ndí ‘but’ in Gyeli. Haspelmath
(2007) distinguishes different subtypes of contrast, depending on the origin
of conflict. Thus, the adversative coordinator can be i) ‘oppositive’, as in
(738), ii) ‘corrective’, as in (739), or iii) ‘counterexpectative’, as in (740).3
Gyeli does not make any lexical distinction between these subtypes, but
expresses all of them with the same adversative coordinator ndí ‘but’.
(738) Oppositive
3
Examples of these different adversative subtypes stem from Mauri (2008).
434
mɛ̀ gyàgá békùndá ndí Àdà à gyàgá

mɛ gyàga-H H-be-kùndá ndí Àdà a gyàga-H
1S.PST1 buy-PST1 OBJ.LINK-be8-shoe but PN 3S.PST1 buy-PST1
tsílɛ̀ yá sɔ́tì.
tsílɛ̀ yá sɔ́tì
∅7.smallness 7:ATT ∅1.trousers
‘I bought shoes whereas Ada bought shorts.’
(739) Corrective
á sàlɛ́ bédtɔ̀ nkòlɛ́ mpfùndɔ̀ ndí à nzí kɛ̀
a-H sàlɛ́ bédtɔ̀ nkòlɛ́ mpfùndɔ̀ ndí a nzî-H kɛ̀
3S-NEG PST.NEG ascend ∅3.hill fast but 3S.PST1 PROG-R go
nà kɛ̀ tsídɛ́ɛ.̀
nà kɛ̀ tsídɛ́ɛ ̀
COM ∅7.walk slow
‘He didn’t run up the hill, but went slowly.’
(740) Counterexpectative
Àdà á dyà ntɛ́ bvùbvù ndí àá
Àdà a-H dyà ntɛ́ bvùbvù ndí àá
PN 3S-PRES ∅7.tallness ∅3.size much but 3S.PRES.NEG
lálɛ́ basket.
lá-lɛ́ basket
play-NEG basketball
‘Ada is very tall, but he doesn’t play basketball.’
Just like other coordinators, ndí ‘but’ precedes a clause, as shown by the
double occurrence of ndí in (741).
(741) ndí mɛ̀ɛ ́ sálɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù ndí vɛ̀dáà mɛ́

ndí mɛ̀ɛ ́ sâ-lɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù ndí vɛ̀dáà mɛ-H
but 1S.PRES.NEG do-NEG 2S.OBJ much but but[Bulu] 1S-PRES
dyúwɔ́ nâ wɛ́ɛ ̀ dé mwánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ?̀
dyúwɔ-H nâ wɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H m-wánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ ̀
understand-R COMP 2.PST2 eat-R N1-child no
‘But I don’t do you a lot, but I understand that you have eaten the
child, didn’t you?’
In contrast to other coordinators, ndí is the only one that is prone to

code-switching, which systematically happens both to Bulu and French. In
(742), the Bulu coordinator vɛ̀dáà ‘but’ is used instead of ndí. In other cases,
ndí and vɛ̀dáà are both used, the Gyeli variant preceding the Bulu one, as
shown in (741).
435
(742) yí ntɛ́gɛ̀lɛ̀, vɛ̀dáà mɛ́ sùmbɛ́lɛ́ bê.

yi-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ vɛ̀dáà mɛ-H sùmbɛlɛ-H bê
7-PRES disturb but[Bulu] 1S-PRES greet[Kwasio]-R 2P.OBJ
‘That disturbs, but I greet you.’
Also, ndí is often substituted by the French form mais ‘but’, as in (743).
(743) ká wɛ́ sílɛ́ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́ mais pílì wɛ́

ká wɛ-H sílɛ-H kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́ mais pílì wɛ-H
if 2S-PRES finish-R go do work.7 but[French] when 2S-PRES
kɛ́ nâ wɛ́ kɛ́ djíì mònɛ́ wɔ̂, á
kɛ̀-H nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀-R djíì mònɛ́ w-ɔ̂ a-H
go-R COMP 2S-PRES go-R ask ∅1.money 1-POSS.2S 1-PRES
làwɔ́ wɛ̂ nyùmbò.
làwɔ-H wɛ̂ nyùmbò
tell-R 2S ∅3.mouth
‘If you go do all the work, but when you go to go ask for your money,
he frowns at you.’
7.2 Subordination
As described by Haspelmath (2007: 46-48), coordination and subordination
generally differ in two main respects. First, while coordination can be used
for both phrases and clauses, subordination only applies to clauses. Second,
in contrast to coordination, clauses in subordination are not symmetrical,
but have a dependency relation. A such, a dependent clause, i.e. a clause
that is incomplete and cannot occur on its own, is embedded into a main
or matrix clause. The embedded dependent clause, also called ‘subordinate
clause’, takes over some syntactic function of the main clause, either by
modifying a constituent as in attributive subordinate clauses, or by replacing
a constituent, as in complement clauses.
Attributive dependent clauses can be further subdivided. I distinguish
syndetic from asyndetic subordinate clauses. Syndetic clauses are those that
are overtly marked as such by a grammatical morpheme, for instance the
attributive marker in relative clauses. In contrast, asyndetic clauses are
those which lack overt lexical marking as a subordinate clause.
I will first discuss two kinds of asyndetic attributive clauses in section
7.2.1. These include infinitival subordinate clauses and framing construc-
436
tions. Then, I turn to syndetic attributive dependent clauses, namely rel-

ative clauses in section 7.2.2, adverbial clauses in section 7.2.3, of which
conditional clauses are a sub-type, and finally attributive clauses with the
complementizer nâ in section 7.2.4. In section 7.2.5, I describe complement
clauses.
7.2.1 Asyndetic Subordinate Clauses

Attributive dependent clauses in Gyeli include two types which are asynde-
tic, i.e. which do not mark the subordinate clause as such by means of, for
example, an attributive marker in relative clauses or an adverb in adverbial
clauses. Asyndetic can thus be considered as ‘linkless’ to some extent. They
do, however, display the defining features of subordinate clauses: they de-
pend on a main clause in that they cannot occur independently and they
are marked prosodically as a clausal unit by a pause between the dependent
and the main clause.
Gyeli has two types of asyndetic attributive clauses. I refer to one type
as infinitival clauses and to the other as framing constructions. I discuss
both in turn.
7.2.1.1 Infinitival Clauses
One kind of asyndetic attributive subordinate clauses in Gyeli are infini-

tival clauses. I call them infinitival clauses since the verb in this type of
subordinate clause occurs in its infinitival form and is thus uninflected for
tense-mood marking. Another characteristic of infinitival clauses is that the
subordinate clause lacks any subject marking. It either receives its subject
interpretation from the main clause, the subject of the main clause and the
subject of the infinitival clause being co-referential, or the infinitival clause
remains unspecified for a subject. Infinitival clauses can both be preposed
and postposed to the main clause, as I show in the following.
Preposed infinitival clauses In (744) through (749), the infinitival clause

is precedes the main clause it modifies.
Preposed infinitival clauses often express temporal sequences, the event
of the infinitival clause being posterior to the event of the main clause. Thus,
437
in (744), the event of arriving in town is completed at the time of greeting

people.4
(744) [pámɔ̀ tísɔ̀nì,]INF á súmɛ́lɛ́ bùdì.

pámɔ tísɔ̀nì a-H súmɛlɛ-H b-ùdì
arrive ∅7.town 1-PRES greet-R ba2-people
‘Having arrived in town, he greets the people.’
(744) and (745) are both instances where the implied subject of the in-
finitival clause is co-referential with the subject of the main clause. In (744),
it is the same person who arrives in town and then greets the people. In
(745), the person first eats mangoes and then, as a result, does not feel hun-
gry anymore. The subject interpretation for the infinitival clause has to be,
however, clear from the context. In the right context, it is also possible
that the subject of the infinitival clause in (744) is interpreted as non-co-
referential to the one in the main clause, for instance when the speaker talks
about his own arrival in town, but about a different person greeting the peo-
ple (a similar case is presented below in (747) where the implied agent of the
subordinate clause and the subject of the main clause are not co-referential).
In (745), the co-referential reading is reinforced due to the causality chain:
because the person ate the mangoes, he is not hungry anymore.
(745) [sílɛ dè mántúà,]INF à tí ná dyúwɔ̀ nzà.

sílɛ dè H-ma-ntúà a tí ná dyúwɔ nzà
finish eat OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango 1 NEG anymore feel ∅9.hunger
‘Having finished eating mangoes, he does not feel hunger anymore.’
In other cases, it is not quite clear whether the subject of the main and the
infinitival clause are co-referential. In (746), for instance, the narrator talks
about a healer who has turned into an antilope and has vanished into the
forest, while the people of his village are following him with the intention
of killing him. The infinitival clause in (746) allows both interpretations of
either the healer having arrived ‘here’, i.e. in the forest, or the people of his
village.
4
In my translation into English, I choose the gerund -ing form since it allows to not
express the subject of the subordinate clause. I do not imply, however, that there are any
other parallels between the English translation and the Gyeli structure. Speakers translate
these constructions with a past participle form, for example for (744) as Arrivé en ville, il
salue les gens.
438
(746) [nà pándɛ̀ vâ,]INF bùdì báà bɛ̀.

In other instances, the subject of the main clause and the implied subject
of the infinitival clause are clearly different. (747) is uttered by the same
narrator in the same story. The context here is that the people of the village
look for the healer in his hut and discover that he is not there. Thus, the
infinitival clause has the people of the village as its implied subject, while
the main clause’s subject is mùdì ‘person’.
(747) [kɛ̀ dígɛ̀ mpù,]INF mùdì nú bɛ́lɛ́.

kɛ̀ dígɛ mpù m-ùdì nú bɛ́-lɛ́
go look like.this N1-person 1.DEM.DIST be-NEG
‘Going looking like this, nobody is there.’
The main clause can have most of the tense-mood category that are al-
lowed in a main clause. Thus, the subjunctive is excluded on the grounds
that it is restricted to subordinate clauses. Also, imperatives are not found
in main clauses which embed infinitival clauses. Past categories and the
future, however as well as the present, as illustrated in the previous ex-
amples, are allowed in main clauses to infinitival clauses. The same is true
for the inchoative, as shown in (748).
(748) [ndɛ̀náà pámò lébũ̂,]INF àá gyì.

ndɛ̀náà pámo H-le-bũ ̂ àá gyì
While most preposed infinitival clauses seem to express temporal sequences,

they may also express purpose, as in (749).
(749) [donc pɛ̀ tsíyɛ̀ pɔ́nɛ́ lèkɛ́lɛ̀,]INF bvúlɛ̀ bá

donc pɛ̀ tsíyɛ pɔ́nɛ́ le-kɛ́lɛ̀ bvúlɛ̀ ba-H
so[French] there cut ∅7.truth le5-word ba2.Bulu 2-PRES
ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bíì ɛ́ vâ.
ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H bíì ɛ́ vâ
bother-R 1P.OBJ LOC here
‘So, to say the truth, the Bulu bother us here.’
439
Postposed infinitival clauses Infinitival clauses can also follow the main
clause, as shown in (750) through (754). Postposed infinitival clauses seem
to express purpose or manner rather than temporal sequences as with pre-
posed clauses. In (750) and (751), the infinitival clause modifies the main
clause which is comprised of a non-verbal predicate. In both instances, the
implied subject of the infinitival clause is co-referential with the subject of
the main clause. Also, both express purpose, comparable to English in order
to- sentences.
(750) wɛ̀ nà ngvùlɛ̀ [kɛ̀ sɔ́lɛ̀gà wû]INF nà njí kù

wɛ nà ngvùlɛ̀ kɛ̀ sɔ́lɛga wû nà njì-H kù
2S COM ∅9.strength go fall there COM come-R fall[Kwasio]
ɛ́ sì.
ɛ́ sì
LOC ∅9.ground
‘You are strong to go fall there and come fall to the ground.’
(751) also shows that infinitival clauses can be subject to non-basic word
order. While in the basic word order, the object follows the verb, in (751),
an object pronoun is fronted, as discussed in chapter 6.3.2.2 on information
structure.5
(751) bá nà ngvùlɛ̀ [bíyɛ̀ sílɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀.]INF

bá nà ngvùlɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ sílɛ lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
2 COM ∅9.strength 1P.OBJ finish build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘They have the strength to build us all houses.’
While preposed infinitival clauses directly precede the main clause, post-
posed infinitival clauses can constitute one of several subordinate clauses
following the main clause. In these multiple subordinate constructions,
there are differences as to whether an infinitival clause modifies the main
clause or another subordinate clause. This can be established in most cases
based on which clause’s subject is co-referential with the infinitival clause’s
implied subject.
For instance, (752) consists of a main clause, followed by an adverbial
subordinate clause and an infinitival clause. The two subordinate clauses
5
This example is also noteworthy because the fronted object pronoun usually occurs
between the auxiliary verb sílɛ ‘finish’ and the main verb lwɔ̃̂ ‘build’. In this example,
however, it occurs before the auxiliary.
440
are juxtaposed and the infinitival clause still depends on the main clause
since the same subject of the main clause is implied for the infinitival clause.
(752) S V O [ADV] [INF]
báà bù mpàgó [pílì pɔ́dɛ̀ àà vâ,]ADV [njì tsíyɛ̀

báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ́dɛ̀ àà vâ njì tsíyɛ̀
2.FUT break ∅3.road when ∅1.port 1.COP here come cut
vâ.]INF
vâ
here
‘They will build a road when the port is here, coming cross-cutting
here.’
(753) is also comprised of a main clause, followed by two subordinate

clauses, namely a complement and an infinitival clause. In this case, how-
ever, the infinitival clause is dependent on the complement rather than the
main clause. The subject of the complement clause is also implied as subject
for the infinitival clause.
(753) S V [[COMP] [INF]]
bɔ́nɛ́gá bá lɔ́ sílɛ̀ làwɔ̀ [nâ bvúlɛ̀ bá

ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bágyɛ̀lì,]COMP [kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ̀ bùdã̂ kɛ̀ nà
ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ b-ùdã ̂ kɛ̀ nà
bother-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli go COM love 2n-woman go COM
kwàlɛ̀ bùdã̂ bá bá-gyɛ̀lì.]INF
kwàlɛ b-ùdã̂ bá ba-gyɛ̀lì
love ba2-woman 2:ATT ba2-Gyeli
‘The others have just said that the Bulu bother the Bagyeli, com-
ing and loving the women, coming and loving the women of the
Bagyeli.’
Finally, also noun phrase constituents of an infinitival clause can serve as

the head of another subordinate clause, as shown in (754). In this example,
the main clause is followed by an infinitival clause, a relative clause and then
another infinitival clause. The implied subject of the first infinitival clause
is co-referential with the subject of the main clause. The object noun phrase
of the first infinitival clause serves as subject head to the following relative
441
clause. The second infinitival clause takes the subject of the relative clause
as implied subject which, ultimately, is the object of the first infinitival
clause.
(754) S V X [[INF1] [REL] [INF2]]
yá sàgà mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̂ [nyɛ̂ mápà

ya-H sàga mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̂ nyɛ̂ H-ma-pà
1P-PRES be.surprised ∅7.morning in see OBJ.LINK-ma6-paw
má ndjìbù]INF [má bwámɔ́ ndáwɔ̀ dé tù,]REL [kɛ̀
má ndjìbù ma-H bwámɔ-H ndáwɔ̀ dé tù kɛ̀
6:ATT ∅1.antilope 6-PRES come.out-R ∅9.house LOC inside go
dɛ́ndì.]INF
d-ɛ́ndì
le5-courtyard
‘We are surprised in the morning to see paws of an antilope which
come out of the house, going into the courtyard.’
Given the limited amount of infinitival clauses in the corpus, future research
will have to determine other differences in the structure and the semantic
range of infinitival clauses.
7.2.1.2 Framing Constructions
The second type of asyndetic subordinate clauses concerns framing con-

structions. Framing constructions are characterized by a S V main clause,
comprised of a simple verbal predicate that is followed by the dependent
‘framed’ clause. The dependent clause has to take the same SCOP as the
main clause, but usually differs in TM and/or aspect marking.
Framing constructions are mentioned in chapter 5.5 as an embedding
strategy to combine certain TM categories which cannot be combined di-
rectly in a simple clause. They are, however, not restricted to aspectual
verbs, but can also occur with non-aspectual verbs, as shown in (755). This
example further illustrates why the ‘framed’ clause really qualifies as a de-
pendent clause. First, the main clause is treated as an intonation phrase. If
the embedded clause was part of the main clause, the verb gyímbɔ ‘dance’
would surface with a metatonic H tone. Since it does not, it is clear that the
embedded clause is treated as its own intonation unit. Second, the embed-
ded clause contains a progressive marker in the variant that only occurs
in subordinate clauses, but never in main clauses.
442
(755) á gyímbɔ̀ [à nzɛ́ɛ ́ sâ mákwásì.]

a-H gyímbɔ a nzɛ́ɛ ́ sâ H-ma-kwásì
1-PRES dance 1 PROG.SUB do OBJ.LINK-ma6-clapping
‘He dances while clapping.’
In terms of its function, the main clause anchors the time frame of the
‘framed’ clause. Thus, in (755), the main clause could also take a past or
future TM category and the embedded clause would be temporally anchored
at that time.
In terms of frequency, framing constructions occur significantly more
often with aspectual than with non-aspectual verbs in the main clause. An
example is given in (756). Here, the ‘framed’ clause is temporally anchored
at the remote past of the main clause, while the ‘framed’ clause has the
recent past as its TM category.6
(756) áà bɛ́ [à bó nà màbádò nyúlɛ̀.]

1.PST2 be-PST 1.PST1 lie-R COM ma6-open.wound ∅9.body
‘He was being lying with open wounds on the body.’
While the dependent clause in (756) does not include any aspect mark-
ing, in the vast majority of cases, aspect marking is essential in the ‘framed’
clause. Two examples of this are given in (757) and (758).
(757) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ [mɛ̀ nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀.]

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ̀ mɛ nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀
1S.FUT be 1S PROG.SUB.R go
‘I will be going.’
In (757), the main clause anchors the embedded clause in the future while
the dependent clause is marked for progressive aspect.
(758) áà kɛ́ [à nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀ nà gyìyɔ̀.]

áà kɛ̀-H à nzɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ̀ nà gyìyɔ
1.PST2 go-PST 1 PROG.SUB go COM cry
‘She left crying.’
The same aspect marking occurs in the dependent clause in (758). This
sentence is anchored in the remote past though.
6
The French translation given by speakers is Il était étant couché....
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7.2.2 Relative Clauses

Relative clauses are attributive subordinate clauses which modify a noun
phrase constituent in a main clause. Andrews (2007: 206) specifies in his
functional definition, “A relative clause (RC) is a subordinate clause which
delimits the reference of an NP by specifying the role of the referent of
that NP in the situation described by the RC.” In Gyeli, relative clauses
are externally headed by the head of the noun phrase which precedes the
relative clause. They have a minimal syntactic form of:
[(ATT) S V]REL
As we shall see below, relative clauses may be introduced by an attribu-

tive marker which, in many cases, is optional though. Generally, relative
clauses internally follow a basic word order of S V. The position of the object
depends, however, on the funtion of the relative clause’ head. If the head
functions as the object of the relative clause, it occurs externally and is gen-
erally not cross-referenced in-situ. If the head of the relative clause does not
function as its object, an object usually appears in its basic position, namely
after the verb. I will get back to this in more detail below.
I explore relative clauses in Gyeli in various directions. First, I investi-
gate what kind of noun phrases in the main clause can be modified. I then
describe how relative clauses are formally marked. Third, I show the dif-
ferent syntactic roles that a head noun of a relative clause can take within
the relative clause. Finally, I provide examples of different types of relative
clauses such as restrictive, non-restrictive, and free relative clauses. Data
on relative clauses stem both from the Gyeli corpus and the Relative Clause
Questionnaire by Downing et al. (2010).
Noun phrases that can be modified by a relative clause Noun phrases

that can be modified by a relative clause in Gyeli include all available noun
phrases in a clause, namely subject, object, and oblique noun phrases, as
illustrated in (759) through (764).
In (759), the relative clause modifies the subject noun phrase of the ver-
bal main clause.7
7
This noun phrase is comprised of a noun + noun construction which lacks an attribu-
tive marker. Interestingly, the head of the relative clause is the second nominal constituent
of the noun + noun construction, even though the head of the noun + noun construction
is the first constituent, as discussed in chapter 3.4.6.
444
(759) bwánɔ̀ békúmbé [bé bà njí nà byɔ̂]REL bé

b-wánɔ̀ be-kúmbé bé ba njì-H nà byɔ̂ be-H
ba2-child be8-tin 8:ATT 2.PST1 come-R COM 8.OBJ 8-PRES
tɛ́lɛ́ màbé.
tɛ́lɛ-H mà-bé
stand-R here-8
‘The few tin roofs that they brought stand here.’
Also, relative clauses can modify subject noun phrases of non-verbal pred-
icate constructions, as in (760). Here, the subject is followed by a SCOP
copula.
(760) bã̀ [yá bwánɔ̀ bá lɔ́ làwɔ̀]REL yíì tè.

bã ̀ yá b-wánɔ̀ ba-H lɔ́ làwɔ yíì tè
∅7.word 7:ATT ba2-child 2-PRES RETRO speak 7.COP there
‘The word that the children just said is there. [= it is true]’
Likewise, the relative clause can appear as the copula comlpement in

a non-verbal predicate construction, as shown in (761). In this case, the
relative clause follows the SCOP copula. The head of the relative clause is
encoded in the SCOP copula and cross-referenced by a resumptive pronoun
at the end of the relative clause.
(761) lèbvúú lé tè lɔ́ɔ ̀ [yá bùdɛ́ lɛ̂.]REL

le-bvúú lé tè lɔ́ɔ ̀ ya-H bùdɛ-H lɛ̂
le5-anger 5:ATT there 5.COP 1P-PRES have-R 5.OBJ
‘The anger there it is that which we have.’
Relative clauses can also modify object noun phrases. In (762), the sec-
ond object of a double object construction is followed by a relative clause.
(762) vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ ̀ [wà wɛ̀ bùdɛ́

nû.]REL
nû
1:DEM.PROX
Also left dislocated object noun phrases can be modified by a relative clause,
as shown in (763).
445
(763) nyɛ̀ nâ yáà mɛ́ láà, nâ sá [wɛ́ sá nɔ́gá

nyɛ nâ yáà mɛ-H láà nâ sá wɛ-H sâ-H nɔ́-gá
1 COMP yes 1S-PRES say COMP ∅7.thing 2S-PRES do-R 1-other
mùdì,]REL àà yɔ̂ wɛ̂ nyê.
m-ùdì àà yɔ̂ wɛ̂ nyê
N1-person 1.FUT 7.OBJ 2S return
‘He: Yes, I say, the thing that you do to another person, he will
return to you.’
Finally, relative clauses may modify oblique noun phrases, as illustrated

with the locative oblique in (764).
(764) à làdó nà sɔ́ ɛ́ ndáwɔ̀ dé tù [nyà

a làdo-H nà sɔ́ ɛ́ ndáwɔ̀ dé tù nyà
1.PST1 meet-R COM ∅1.friend LOC ∅9.house LOC inside 9:ATT
sã́ wɛ̂ à lwɔ̃.̂ ]REL
sã́ w-ɛ̂ a lwɔ̃̂
∅1.father 1-POSS.3S 1.PST1 build
‘He met with a friend in the house that his father built.’
Marking of relative clauses As these examples show, Gyeli does not have
a distinct grammatical class of relative pronouns. Instead, an attributive
marker (ATT) can be used to indicate the attributive relation between sub-
ordinate clause and modified noun phrase.8 This attributive marker, which
agrees in gender with the head noun, is also used in noun + noun construc-
tions, as discussed in chapter 3.4.6. In most cases, however, the use of the
attributive marker is optional so that a relative clause is often not marked
morphologically. The circumstances under which speakers omit the attribu-
tive marker in contrast to using it are not clear. In the corpus, about half of
the relative clauses appear with an attributive marker and about half with-
out. Few generalizations can be made at this point as to what conditions the
marker’s appearance or optional omission. Both appearance and omission
occur with attributive markers of all agreement classes, singular and plural.
Further, attributive markers and their omission are found with all subject,
object, and oblique noun phrases that are being modified. Finally, the role
that the head noun plays in the relative clause does not seem to be deci-
sive for appearance or omission of the attributive marker since examples of
8
As such, I consider relative clauses as syndetic dependent clauses, even though the
attributive marker can be omitted optionally.
446
both variants are found for cases where the head of the relative clause is
the subject or any type of object of the relative clause, as we will see below.
The only criterion that seems to favor attributive marker deletion is when
the attributive marker and the following SCOP are identical in shape, as for
instance in (765).
In contrast to optional morphological marking, all relative clauses are
marked prosodically in that they are treated as distinct intonation units. As
such, verb final relative clauses do not take a metatonic H tone in the realis
moods as they would within an intonation phrase. Also, a pause indicates
the end of a relative clause.
The syntactic role of the head of the relative clause Relative clauses
can further be distinguished based on the syntactic function of the head
noun within the relative clause. The head noun can serve, for instance, as
the subject of the relative clause, but also as an object or an oblique.
In (765), the head noun of the relative clause functions as the subject
of it. In these constructions, the relative clause has the same word order as
basic clauses, namely S V. In fact, since the relative clause in this example
is not marked by an attributive marker, only prosody indicates the relative
clause which otherwise would not be distinguishable from a basic clause
followed by another basic clause.
(765) bwánɔ̀ bùdã̂ [bá lìmbɔ́ dyúà,]REL bá sá

b-wánɔ̀ b-ùdã ̂ ba-H lìmbɔ-H dyúà ba-H sâ-H
ba2-child ba2-woman 2-PRES know-R swim 3S-PRES do-R
másâ ɛ́ nsá’à wá jíwɔ́.
H-ma-sâ ɛ́ nsá’à wá jíwɔ́
OBJ.LINK-ma6-game LOC ∅3.shore 3:ATT ∅7.river
‘The girls who know how to swim are playing at the riverbanks.’
The head of the relative clause can also take the function of an object
of the relative clause. This is the case, for example, in (766) and (767). In
both examples, the head noun serves as the object for the main clause as
well as for the relative clause. Also, for both examples, the object of the
main clause appears in-situ. In (766), the relative clause is marked with
an attributive marker. In terms of word order, the object that serves as the
head of the relative clause is preposed to the clause, which then has the
structure O S V in (766) and O S V X in (767).
447
(766) bíì, bá dyúwɔ́ lɛ́kɛ́lɛ̀ [lé

bíì ba-H dyúwɔ-H H-lɛ-kɛ́lɛ̀ lé
1P.EMPH 2-PRES understand OBJ.LINK-le5-language 5:ATT
wɛ́ làwɔ̀.]REL
wɛ-H làwɔ
2S-PRES speak
‘We, they understand the language that you speak.’
In comparison, (767) appears without the attributive marker, even though

the structure is identical to the one found in (766).
(767) bí bɔ́gà yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà pãã́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ

[bá gyíbɔ́ ngyùlɛ̀ wá kùrã.̂ ]REL
2-PRES call-R ∅3.light 3:ATT ∅7.electricity[French]
electricity.’
Double object constructions within the relative clause function similarly.

Both, the patient (P) and the recipient (R) object of the relative clause can
serve as its head, as shown in (768) and (769). As with single object con-
structions, the object that serves as head in double object relative clauses
precedes the relative and is thus moved out of its basic position.
(768) OP [S V OR ]...
kálàdɛ̀ [yá Àdà nzí vɛ̀ mɛ̂]REL yíì mpâ.

kálàdɛ̀ yá Àdà nzí vɛ̀ mɛ̂ yíì mpâ
∅7.book 7:ATT PN PROG.PST give 1S.OBJ 7.COP good
‘The book that Ada gave me is nice.’
(769) OR [S V OP ]...
mwánɔ̀ mùdã [mɛ̀ nzí vɛ̀ kálàdɛ̀]REL áà mpâ.
m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdã mɛ nzí vɛ̀ kálàdɛ̀ áà mpâ
N1-child N1-woman 1S PROG-PST1 give ∅7.book 1.COP good
‘The girl to whom I gave the book is nice.’
If the head of a relative clause serves as an oblique of the relative clause,

this is marked by a resumptive pronoun following the comitative marker nà
in the relative clause. This is illustrated in (770).
448
(770) Xi [S V O Xi ]...
ntfúmɔ̀ [yá tsíyɛ́ pɛ́mbɔ́ nà wɔ̂]REL wú vúlɔ́lɛ́
ntfúmɔ̀ ya-H tsíyɛ-H pɛ́mbɔ́ nà wɔ̂ wu-H vúlɔ-lɛ
∅3.knife 1P-PRES cut-R ∅7.bread COM 3.OBJ 3-PRES slice-NEG
ná.
ná
anymore
‘The knife we cut bread with does not slice anymore.’
The same resumptive pronoun is used in constructions where the relative

clause has a reciprocal verb, such as ládo nà ‘meet with’ in (771).
(771) Xi [S V Xi Xii ]...

sɔ́ [mɛ̀ ládó nà nyɛ̂ mbvû lã]̀ REL àà pándɛ̀
sɔ́ mɛ ládo-H nà nyɛ̂ mbvû lã ̀ àà pándɛ
∅1.friend 1S.PST1 meet-R COM 1.OBJ ∅3.year pass 1.FUT arrive
njì dígɛ̀ bî nàmɛ́nɔ́.
njì dígɛ bî nàmɛ́nɔ́
come watch 1P.OBJ tomorrow
‘The friend I met last year will come to see us tomorrow.’
Types of relative clauses The relative clauses discussed so far were ‘re-
strictive’ relative clause, i.e. the relative clause limits the referent(s) of the
head to a subset of entities. There are, however, other types of relative
clauses, such as non-restrictive, cleft, and free clauses. As I will show, these
show the same structure as restrictive relative clauses.
Non-restrictive relative clauses do not limit the referent to a subset, but
add information to a known participant or entity. This is the case in (772),
where the head of the non-restrictive relative clause serves as its subject.
This structure is the same as its restrictive counterpart in (765).
(772) Àdà [á lìmbɔ́ mbásâ,]REL àà sɔ́ wãã́ .̀

Àdà a-H lìmbɔ-H mbásâ àà sɔ́ w-ãã́ ̀
PN 1-PRES know-R ∅7.hunt 1.COP ∅1.friend 1-POSS.1S
‘Ada who knows how to hunt is my friend.’
The same is true for non-restrictive relative clauses whose head serves
as an object of the clause, as in (773).
449
(773) míyù wãã́ ̀ [wɛ̀ nzí nyɛ̂ ndáwɔ̀,]REL àà

míyù w-ãã́ ̀ wɛ nzí nyɛ̂ ndtáwɔ̀ àà
∅1.sibling 1-POSS.1S 2S.PST1 PROG-PST1 see ∅9.house 1.COP
ŋgyɛ́’ɛ̀lɛ̀.
ŋgyɛ́’ɛ̀lɛ̀
N1-teacher
‘My brother, who you saw at the house, is a teacher.’
Another type of relative clause concerns cleft constructions which are

discussed in detail in chapter 6.3.2.3 on information structure. These con-
structions involve the default SCOP copula of agreement class 7 which is
followed by the relative clause. Also in cleft constructions, the use of the at-
tributive marker is optional, as indicated by the parantheses in (774). Since
the attributive marker and the following SCOP are identical in their shape,
the omission of the attributive marker is preferred.
(774) Si [Si V O X]
yíì bwánɔ̀ bùdã̂ [(bá) bá sá

yí b-wánɔ̀ b-ùdã̂ (bá) ba-H sâ-H
7.COP ba2-child ba2-woman (2:ATT) 2-PRES do-R
másâ ɛ́ jíwɔ́.]REL
H-ma-sâ ɛ́ jíwɔ́
OBJ.LINK-ma6-game LOC ∅7.river
‘It’s the girls who are playing by the river.’
While the head of the cleft relative clause in (774) serves as its subject, it
serves as its object in (775).
(775) O [S V]
yíì bwánɔ̀ bùdã̂ [wɛ̀ nzí nyɛ̂.]REL
yíì b-wánɔ̀ b-ùdã̂ wɛ̀ nzí nyɛ̂
7.COP ba2-child ba2-woman 2S PROG.PST see
‘It’s the girls that you saw.’
Again, the same is true for double object constructions in the relative
clause, where one of the objects is the head noun of the clause, as in (776).
This example further shows that the (recipient) head noun is moved out
of the first object position since the second (patient) object in the relative
clause occurs without the object linking H tone, even though it follows the
verb directly on the surface.
450
(776) OR [S V OP ]
yíì bwánɔ̀ bùdã̂ [bá àà lúmɛ̀lɛ̀ bèkúlà.]REL
yíì b-wánɔ̀ b-ùdã ̂ bá àà lúmɛlɛ be-kúlà
7.COP ba2-child ba2-woman 2:ATT 1.FUT send be8-present
‘It’s the girls that she will send presents to.’
The fourth type of relative clause that Downing et al. (2010) control
for in their questionnaire is free relative clauses. According to McArthur
(2005), in these constructions, the “relative word in the nominal relative
clause has no antecedent, since the antecedent is fused with the relative”.
In English, I know what you want. is an example of a free relative clause.
In Gyeli, free relatives with a human referent are either expressed by the
generic noun mùdì ‘person’ or by the interrogative pronoun nzá ‘who’, as
shown in (777). In this example, the free relative serves as the subject of
the relative clause.
(777) mɛ́ nyɛ́ mùdì/nzá [nzí njì pá’à

mɛ-H nyɛ̂-H m-ùdì/nzá nzî-H njì pá’à
1S-PRES see-R N1-person/who PROG-PST1 come ∅3.side
wãã́ .̀ ]REL
w-ãã́ ̀
3-POSS.1S
‘I see the person/who passed by me.’
(778) gives an example of a free relative clause where the head is the
object of the relative clause. If the generic noun mùdì ‘person’ is chosen to
express the free relative, the attributive marker wà of agreement class 1 can
be used. In contrast, if the interrogative pronoun nzá was to be used, the
use of the attributive marker is excluded.
(778) mɛ̀ lã́ bɔ̀ mùdì [wà Àdà kwàlɛ̀.]REL

mɛ lã-̂ H bɔ̂ m-ùdì wà Àdà kwàlɛ̀
1S.PST1 tell 2.OBJ N1-person 1:ATT PN like
‘I told them who Ada likes.’
If the referent of a free relative clause is inanimate, the generic noun

sâ ‘thing’ is used or the interrogative pronoun gyí ‘what’, as (779) demon-
strates. In this example, a resumptive pronoun has to appear in the relative
clause. Whether sâ ‘thing’ or the interrogative pronoun gyí ‘what’ is used,
the resumptive pronoun will be of agreement class 7 in both cases.
451
(779) mɛ́ nyɛ́ sâ/gyí [bá njí nà yɔ̂.]REL

mɛ-H nyɛ̂-H sâ/gyí ba-H njì-H COM yɔ̂
1S-PRES see-R ∅7.thing/what 2-PRES come-R COM 7.OBJ
‘I see the thing/what they bring.’
Free relatives can also be formed with an interrogative pronoun where

the interrogative serves as an object of the relative clause. This is the case
in (780) where nzá ‘who’ serves as recipient object of the clause.
(780) mɛ́ lìmbɔ́ nzá [àà líbɛ̀lɛ̀ béyìgà.]REL

mɛ-H lìmbɔ-H nzá àà líbɛlɛ H-be-yìgà
1S-PRES know-R who 3S.FUT show OBJ.LINK-be8-picture
‘I know who she will show the pictures to.’
Temporal relative clauses One special function that relative clauses take
in Gyeli is that to express temporality. While other languages achieve this
with adverbs, as in English when, Gyeli uses oblique nouns that are modified
by the relative clause as in (781).
(781) yíì mpà [yɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ wɛ́ kã́ yɔ̀ dúmbɔ́.]REL

‘It is good when you wrap it in a (leaf) package.’
Complex relative clause constructions I now discuss some examples of

complex relative clauses. Relative clauses can be complex in various re-
spects. For instance, there can be double relative clause constructions, as in
(782). Here, a relative clause is followed by another relative clause with-
out any coordinating device. The head of both relative clauses is, however,
the same, namely lé ‘tree’. For both relative clauses, the head serves as an
object.
(782) lé [yá wɛ́ nyɛ̂]REL [bá gyíbɔ́ ngàlɛ́]REL yíì.

‘The tree that you see that they call ‘ngàlɛ́’ is that.’
Relative clauses can also be coordinated, as shown in (783). Thus, the

comitative marker nà conjoins the two relative clauses.
452
(783) bwánɔ̀ [bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ lã̂ békálàdɛ̀ nà

b-wánɔ̀ ba sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ lã̂ H-be-kálàdɛ̀ nà
ba2-child 2.PST1 finish.COMPL read OBJ.LINK-be8-book COM
bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ dyíkɛ̀sɛ̀,]REL bá kùgá nà kɛ̀
ba ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ dyíkɛsɛ ba-H kùga-H nà kɛ̀
2.PST1 finish.COMPL study 2-PRES can-R COM go
ndáwɔ̀.
ndáwɔ̀
∅9.house
‘The children who have finished reading their books and who have
finished studying can go home.’
Also, there are examples of relative clauses which contain a complement

clause, as in (784).
(784) mùdì [mɛ́ bvúálá [nâ à nzí làwɔ̀]COMP ]REL à

m-ùdì mɛ-H bvúala-H nâ à nzí làwɔ à
N1-person 1S-PRES think-R COMP 1 PROG.PST talk 1
nzí láà dó.
nzí láà dó
PROG.PST tell ∅7.lie
‘The person that I think she spoke with was lying.’
While this section has provided a comprehensive description of relative

clauses in Gyeli, future research is still required, for instance to determine
which factors favor or prevent the omission of the attributive marker.
7.2.3 Adverbial Clauses

Another type of syndectic subordinate clauses are adverbial clauses. Basi-
cally all adverbial clauses are introduced by an adverbial with the exception
of causal clauses which are introduced by a noun plus attributive marker.
For convenience, I also discuss this clause type in this section as well.
Generally, I distinguish two kinds of adverbial clauses, as shown in Table
7.1. Certain adverbials entail a full dependent clause which includes mini-
mally a subject and a verb, the verb being inflected for tense and mood. I
call them ‘full adverbial clauses’.
There are other adverbials which trigger an infinitival structure. Adver-
bial infinitival clauses lack a subject in the dependent clause and do not
mark tense-mood on the verb. This is comparable to asyndetic infinitival
453
Clause type Adverbial Gloss Function

líní when temporal
pílì/pílɔ̀ ‘when’ temporal
Full adverbial clause tɔ̀ ‘even, although’ concessive
púù yá ‘because’ causal
ká ‘if’ conditional
tí ‘without’ negation
Adverbial infinitival clause vɛ̀ɛ ̀ ‘only’ sequential
kɔ́ɔ̀ ‘only’ sequential
Table 7.1: Adverbials introducing adverbial clauses
clauses discussed in section 7.2.1.1, but differs from those in that adverbial
infinitival clauses require the adverbial. I will provide examples for each of
adverbial clause type and the different adverbials in the following.
7.2.3.1 Full Adverbial Clauses
Gyeli uses a range of adverbials to introduce full subordinate clauses, includ-

ing temporal, concessive, clausal, and conditional clauses. The adverbials
differ in their degree of grammaticalization, some being highly grammati-
calized as adverbs while others share features of nouns. The language has
three variants for temporal clauses, namely líní and pílì or pílɔ̀. pílì occurs
most frequently in the corpus while pílɔ̀ and líní may be loan words from
neighboring languages since they are also used in, for istance, Mabi. When
asked, speakers state, however, that they are also Gyeli words.
Temporal líní ‘when’ The adverb líní ‘when’ is a temporal adverb that only
showed up in elicitation, but not in the corpus. (785) gives an example of
a preposed adverbial clause with líní.
(785) [líní á sílɛ́ dè mántúà,]ADV à tí ná

líní a-H sílɛ-H dè H-ma-ntúà, a tí ná
when 1-PRES finish-R eat OBJ.LINK-ma6-mango 1 NEG anymore
dyúwɔ̀ nzà.
dyúwɔ nzà
feel ∅9.hunger
‘When he has eaten mangoes, he does not feel hunger anymore.’
(786) provides an example of a postposed adverbial clause with líní. Both

sentences express temporal sequences, the event of the adverbial clause hap-
454
pening before the event of the main clause.
(786) á súmɛ́lɛ́ bùdì, [líní á pámɔ́ tísɔ̀nì.]ADV

a-H súmɛlɛ-H b-ùdì líní a-H pámɔ-H tísɔ̀nì
1-PRES greet-R ba2-person when 1-PRES arrive-R ∅7.town
‘He greets the people, when he arrives in town.’
líní also has a variant lí nâ, including a complementizer. This construction

is described in section 7.2.4.
Temporal pílì/pílɔ̀ ‘when’ The temporal adverb pílì is the most frequently
used temporal adverb in the corpus, introducing a dependent clause. (In
elicitation, also pílɔ̀ was sometimes used.) Adverbial phrases with pílì can
both precede and follow the main clause. In (787), it precedes the main
clause. The dependent clause here shows basic S V word order.
(787) [pílì mɛ́ làwɔ́ mpù,]ADV mɛ̀ɛ ́ válɛ́

pílì mɛ-H làwɔ-H mpù mɛ̀ɛ ́ vá-lɛ́
when 1S-PRES speak-R like.this 1S.PRES.NEG tolerate-NEG
làwɔ̀.
làwɔ
speak
‘When I speak like this, I don’t tolerate to talk [= I’m not lieing].’
Also in (788), the adverbial clause is preposed to the main clause. In this
example, the dependent clause includes a verbal copula múà with a nominal
locative predicate.
(788) [pílì yí múà ndáwɔ̀ nyà mànyɔ̀ ndɛ̀náà,]ADV á

pílì yí múà ndáwɔ̀ nyà ma-nyɔ̀ ndɛ̀náà a-H
when 7 be ∅9.house 9:ATT ma6-drink like.this 1-PRES
kí náà à múà njì bvúdà nà wɛ̂.
kì-H nâ a múà njì bvúda nà wɛ̂
say-R COMP 1 PROSP come quarrel COM 2S.OBJ
‘When it is in a bar like this, he says that he is about to come quarrel
with you.’
Adverbial clauses with pílì can also be postposed, as shown, for instance, in
(789).
(789) báà bù mpàgó [pílì pɔ̀dɛ̀ àà lã.̀ ]ADV

báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ̀dɛ̀ àà lã̀
3.FUT break ∅3.road when ∅1.port 1.FUT pass
455
‘They will build a road when the port passes.’
(790) provides a more complex example of a postposed adverbial clause.

Here, the adverbial clause follows the basic word order S V O, while the
object is expressed by a complement clause.
(790) wɛ́ yànɛ́ ná gyàgà ndísì, [pílì wɛ́ lèmbó

wɛ-H yànɛ-H ná gyàga ndísì pílì wɛ-H lèmbo-H
2S-PRES must-H again buy ∅3.rice when 2S-PRES know-R
[nâ bùdì bá ndáwɔ̀ bvùbvù.]COMP ]ADV
nâ b-ùdì bá ndáwɔ̀ bvùbvù
COMP ba2-person 2:ATT ∅9.house many
‘You must again buy rice, when you know that there are many peo-
ple at home.’
Concessive tɔ̀ ‘even, although’ Another adverbial used to introduce de-

pendent clauses is the concessive tɔ̀ ‘even, although’ which also appears
in nominal modification, expressing ‘any’, as described in chapter 3.5.3.1.
Again, adverbial clauses introduced by tɔ̀ can both precede and follow the
main clause, as shown in (791) and (792), respectively.
(791) [tɔ̀ wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ́lɛ́ nyɛ̂,]ADV wɛ́ yànɛ́ nyɛ̂

tɔ̀ wɛ̀ɛ ́ kwálɛ-lɛ nyɛ̂ wɛ-H yànɛ-H nyɛ̂
even 2.PRES.NEG like-NEG 1.OBJ 2S-PRES must-R see
bégyɛ́mɔ̀.
H-be-gyɛ́mɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-be8-good.manner
‘Even if you don’t like him, you must still be polite [= lit. see good
manners].’
(792) à bwámɔ́ djî [tɔ̀ mpù á

a bwámɔ-H djî tɔ̀ mpù á
3S.PST receive-PST1 ∅7.position even like.this 3S.PST.NEG
sàlɛ́ sílɛ́ sùkúlì.]ADV
sàlɛ́ sílɛ-H sùkúlì
NEG.PST finish-R ∅7.school
‘He got the job although he didn’t finish school.’
Causal púù yá ‘because’ púù yá marks the causal relation relation between
the main clause and the dependent clause it introduces. Strictly speaking it
is not an adverbial though, but a noun and an attributive marker, literally
456
meaning ‘reason of’. The dependent clause that follows oúù yá is then the
second constituent of the nominal attributive construction. In contrast to
other adverbial clauses, púù yá clauses have only been observed to follow
main clauses, as illustrated in (793).
(793) yà nzí gyâ djìí [púù yá lévídó

ya nzî-H gyâ djìí púù yá le-vídó
1P.PST PROG-R sleep ∅7.forest ∅7.reason 7:ATT le5-darkness
lè múà djî.]
le múà djî
5.PST PROSP ∅7.forest
‘We slept in the forest because it was about to get dark in the forest.’
Comparable to líní ‘when, púù can also be used with a complementizer, as

shown in section 7.2.4.
In the corpus, púù yá is not used to introduce subordinate clauses, but
only in oblique phrases, as discussed in chapter 6.2.1.3. Data for subordi-
nate clauses stem from elicitation. In the corpus, the expression of causal
relations between main and dependent clauses is subject to code-switching
to Bulu, as shown in (794).
(794) tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè, [àmú vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́

tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè àmú vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́
there 1S.FUT first go build there because[Bulu] here 1S.NEG
bɛ́lɛ́ nà sí ɛ́ va]
bɛ́-lɛ́ nà sí ɛ́ vâ
be-NEG COM ∅ 9.ground LOC here
‘There, I will first go construct there because here I don’t have any
land.’
7.2.3.2 Conditional Clauses with ká ‘if’
The adverbial ká ‘if’ introduces conditional clauses, comparable to if-clauses

in English.9 ká has been observed to also function as a temporal rather than
a conditional marker, as shown in (795).
9
These conditional clauses have the same structure as other full adverbial clauses. I
treat them in their own section only for the convenience of the reader in order to find them
more easily in the grammar.
457
(795) [ká á dígɛ́ nâ [gesture],] á nyɛ́

ká a-H dígɛ-H nâ [gesture] a-H nyɛ̂-H
when 1-PRES look-R COMP [gesture] 1-PRES see-R
mbúmbù wɛ́ɛ ̀ á pámò.
mbúmbù w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ a-H pámo
∅1.namesake 1-POSS.3S 1-PRES arrive
‘When he looks like [gesture], he sees his namesake who arrives.’
The remainder of this section is, however, dedicated to ká as a conditional

marker which seems to be its primary function in terms of frequency.
In all instances in the corpus, the ká-clause is preposed to the main
clause. Examples of preposed conditional clauses are given in (796) through
(798). The sentences in (796) and (797) show that the basic word order in
the dependent clause is maintained.
(796) [ká wɛ́ wúmbɛ́ djímbɛ̀lɛ̀ lébímbú]COND déè

ká wɛ-H wúmbɛ-H djímbɛlɛ H-le-bímbú déè
if 2S-PRES want-R lose OBJ.LINK-le5-weight eat.SBJV
pɛ́mbɔ́ mwánɔ̀ sâ.
pɛ́mbɔ́ m-wánɔ̀ sâ
∅7.bread N1-child ∅7.thing
‘If you want to lose weight, eat less bread.’
The same is true for negated conditional clauses, as in (797).
(797) [ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ́lɛ́ ndáà,]COND mɛ́ nɔ̀ɔ ́ nkwɛ̂

ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ-lɛ́ ndáà mɛ-H nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H nkwɛ̂
if 2S.PRES.NEG want-NEG also 1S-PRES take-R ∅3.basket
wá mábɔ́’ɔ̀.
wá H-ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
3:ATT OBJ.LINK-ma6-bread.fruit
‘If you don’t want [this] either, I take the basket with the bread
fruit.’
Conditional clauses can, however, also take a special word order in terms
of focus strategies, as it is the case in (798). In this example, the object
pronoun is fronted and occurs between the modal auxiliary and the main
verb so that the main verb is in focus position.
458
(798) [ká kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ yí wúmbɛ́ wɛ̂ dyɔ̀dɛ̀,]COND wɛ́

ká kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ yi-H wúmbɛ-H wɛ̂ dyɔ̀dɛ wɛ-H
if ∅7.égal 7-PRES want-R 2S.OBJ deceive 2S-PRES
kílɔ̀wɔ̀.
kílɔwɔ.
be.vigilant
‘If somebody wants to deceive you, you are vigilant’
From elicitation, it is known that conditional ká clauses can also be post-

posed to the main clause, as shown in (799).
(799) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ njì nàmɛ́nɔ́ [ká Àdà á wúmbɛ́ nâ mɛ́

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ njì nàmɛ́nɔ́ ká Àdà a-H wúmbɛ-H nâ mɛ-H
1S.FUT come tomorrow if PN 1-PRES want-R COMP 1-PRES
pándɛ́ɛ.̀ ]COND
pándɛ́ɛ ̀
arrive.SBJV
‘I will come tomorrow if Ada wants me to come.’
Irrealis marking of conditonal clauses Conditional clauses can usually

express different degrees of realis or irrealis, making a statement about the
likelihood whether the event in the main clause will really happen. In En-
glish, this is achieved by the use of different tenses. In Gyeli, also differ-
ent tense-mood categories can be used in conditional clauses, as shown in
(800) through (803). Generally, the same TM category is used in the condi-
tional clause that is also used in the main clause. Thus, in (800), the main
clause appears in the present and so does the conditional clause. When
the present TM category is used, the conditional has a high realis degree,
i.e. the event of the main clause is very likely to happen. In such instances,
where the reading is generic, ká may also be replaced by pílì ‘when’.
(800) [ká mɛ́ bwé nkwànò,]COND mɛ́ dè.

ká mɛ-H bwè-H nkwànò mɛ-H dè
if 1S-PRES obtain-R ∅3.honey 1S-PRES eat
‘If I get honey, I eat [it].’
In order to mark irrealis conditions, other TM categories are used. The

most salient strategy to mark a conditional clause as irrealis, however, is the
use of the irrealis marker kɔ̀. In (801), for instance, the main and conditional
clause appear in the future. The speaker can then choose to use the irrealis
459
marker kɔ̀ in order to express that it is rather unlikely that he will find honey.
If kɔ̀ is not used, the speaker indicates that it is more likely to find honey in
the future.
(801) [ká mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bwé nkwànò,]COND (kɔ̀) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ dè.

ká mɛ̀ɛ ̀ bwè-H nkwànò kɔ̀ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ dè
if 1S.FUT obtain-R ∅3.honey IRR 1S.FUT eat
‘If I obtain honey, I will eat [it].’
The same choice is given for conditionals in the recent past, as (802)
shows. Parantheses around kɔ̀ indicate its optionality. Again, when the
irrealis marker is used, is emphasizes the likelihood that the event of the
main clause will not happen. In contrast to the present use in (800), the
recent past seems to indicate a lower likelihood of finding honey.
(802) [ká mɛ̀ bwé nkwànò,]COND (kɔ̀) mɛ̀ dé.

ká mɛ bwè-H nkwànò kɔ̀ mɛ dè-H
if 1S.PST1 obtain-R ∅3.honey IRR 1S.PST1 eat-PST
‘If I obtained honey, I would eat [it].’
The only circumstances where kɔ̀ is systematically used is the clear irre-
alis context which is further expressed by the remote past. This is shown
in (803). Here, the speaker talks about an event that clearly did not happen.
(803) [ká mɛ́ɛ ̀ bwé nkwànò,]COND kɔ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dé.

ká mɛ́ɛ ̀ bwè-H nkwànò kɔ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H
if 1S.PST2 obtain-R ∅3.honey IRR 1S.PST2 eat-PST
‘If I had obtained honey, I would have eaten [it].’
In the corpus, conditional clauses only appear with present marking,

while data on other TM categories in conditonal clauses stem from elicita-
tion. Therefore, an investigation of the frequency of other TM categories in
conditional clauses requires a significantly larger corpus in future research.
7.2.3.3 Infinitival Adverbial Clauses
The second type of adverbial clauses is not expressed by a full dependent

clause, but by an infinitival clause which lacks both explicit subject and
tense-mood marking. While all infinitival adverbial clauses lack tense-mood
marking, the absence of a subject is the usual case, but not absolute. There
460
are examples where a subject occurs, but the verb still appears in its infini-
tival form.
Infinitival adverbial clauses are comparable to asyndetic infinitival sub-
ordinate clauses, as discussed in section 7.2.1.1 with the difference that
the adverbial is required in these circumstances. Omitting the adverbial ei-
ther changes the meaning or makes the sentence ungrammatical altogether.
Therefore, the dependent clause cannot be considered asyndetic, but the
adverbial is the device that grammatically marks the clause as a depen-
dent clause. There are three adverbials that entail an infinitival dependent
clause: tí expressing negation and vɛ̀ɛ ̀ and kɔ́ɔ̀ serving as sequential markers.
Negation with tí In contrast to asyndetic infinitival subordinate clauses,

which can be both preposed and postposed, infinitival clauses that are in-
troduced by an adverbial follow the main clause. As explained in section
7.2.1.1, preposed asyndetic infinitival clauses usually express temporal se-
quences while postposed clauses often encode purpose. None of these func-
tions hold for adverbial infinitival clauses, which is probably the reason
why these sentences are considered as ungrammatical without the adver-
bials. The adverbial tí rather expresses simultaneity, as shown in (804) and
(805).
(804) à múà nà bábɛ̀ [tí wúmbɛ̀ wɛ̀.]

a múà nà bábɛ̀ tí wúmbɛ wɛ̀
1S be COM ∅7.illness NEG want-R die
‘He was sick, without wanting to die.’
The main clause in (804) is comprised of a verbal copula construction and

modified by the adverbial infinitival clause. Semantically, the event of the
main and the subordinate clause happen simultaneously: the person is sick
and, at the same time, does not want to die.
As with asyndetic infinitival clauses, the subject of the dependent clause
is not explicit, but a matter of interpretation whether the subject of the
dependent clause is co-referential with the subject of the main clause or
not. While, in (804), the implied subject of the dependent clause is co-
referential with the one of the main clause, this is not the case in (805).
Here, the subject of the main clause is the healer who roams the forest in
the shape of an antilope while the implied subject of the dependent clause
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is the people of the village, while the healer is the object referent of the
dependent clause (‘without seeing him [= the healer])’.
(805) nà kɛ́ djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ,̂ [tí

nà kɛ-H djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ tí
COM kɛ̀-R ∅7.forest LOC inside COM ∅9.path arrive today NEG
nyɛ̂ nyɛ̀.]
nyɛ̂ nyɛ̀
see 1.OBJ
‘And (he) goes in the forest on the path till today, without seeing
him.’
Sequential marker vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ and kɔ́ɔ̀ are both used as sentential modifiers,
as described in chapter 6.2.4. They can also introduce an adverbial infini-
tival clause when they directly precede the verb. Only in this position do
they alter the clause type to an infinitival dependent clause. In (806), the
verb bɛ́dɛ ‘light’ surfaces without a realis marking metatonic H tone and has
thus to be considered as an infinitive.
(806) à nɔ̀ɔ ́ brìkɛ̂, [vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀.]

a nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H brìkɛ̂ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ ndáwɔ̀
1.PST1 take-R ∅1.lighter[French] SEQU light ∅9.house
‘He took the lighter, just lighting the house.’
The adverbial in (806) can be omitted without making the sentence un-
grammatical. It changes, however, the sentence’s meaning. Without the
adverbial, the asyndetic dependent clause would express purpose ‘He took
the lighter in order to light the house.’ The intended meaning with the ad-
verbial is sequential: the person first takes the lighter and then lights the
house on fire.
A special case is presented in (807) where the infinitival clause has an
overt subject. The verb kwè ‘fall’ appears still in its infinitival form, lacking
the metatonic H tone. Since infinitival dependent clauses are very rare in
the corpus, it is not possible at this point to establish what conditions the
overt marking of subjects in this clause type.
462
(807) má dvúmɔ́lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû, [màlɛ́ndí

ma-H dvúmɔ́-lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû ma-lɛ́ndí
6-PRES produce-NEG ∅3.year like[Kwasio] ∅3.year ma6-palm.tree
máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè mípìndí.]
máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè H-mi-pìndí
6.DEM.PROX only fall OBJ.LINK-mi4-non.ripe
‘They don’t produce [fruit] every year, these palm trees only falling
non-ripe [fruit].’
Sequential marker kɔ́ɔ̀ The sequential marker kɔ́ɔ̀ seems to have exactly
the same fucntion as vɛ̀ɛ ̀ when introducing a dependent clause. While both
sentential modifiers are compared in chapter 6.2.4, their potential distri-
butional and semantic differences is even less clear as clause introducing
devices. It rather seems that they are freely interchangeable in this func-
tion. An example of kɔ́ɔ̀ introducing an adverbial infinitival clause is given
in (808).
(808) à djí mbɛ̂, [kɔ́ɔ ̀ gyíbɔ̀ bwánɔ̀.]

a djì-H mbɛ̂ kɔ́ɔ ̀ gyíbɔ bwánɔ̀
1.PST1 open-R ∅3.door SEQU call ba2-child
‘She opened the door, just calling the children.’
As with vɛ̀ɛ,̀ omitting the adverbial in (808) gives a purpose reading of

‘She opens the door in order to call the children.’ In contrast, kɔ́ɔ̀ gives a
sequential interpretation.
7.2.4 Attributive Clauses with nâ

The fourth type of attributive subordinate clauses, along with asyndetic, rel-
ative, and adverbial clauses, are those that use nâ. I generally classify nâ as
a complementizer and gloss this grammatical morpheme as such, since this
seems to be its primary function. Also, attributive complementizer clauses
share some prosodic features with true complement clauses, as discussed in
section 7.2.5, in that the main and the dependent clause are treated as one
intonation unit, as we shall see below. In terms of its function, however,
nâ also introduces subordinate clauses which modify the main clause rather
than replacing an argument.
In attributive clauses with nâ, the complementizer can either occur on
its own, or it can co-occur with an adverbial. In both cases, the dependent
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clause serves as an attributive addition to the main clause, containing infor-

mation that is not grammatically required, unlike true complement clauses.
As such, these clauses are comparable to oblique phrases with the difference
that they are clausal rather than phrasal.
7.2.4.1 Bare Complementizer Constructions
Bare attributive clauses with nâ belong to one intonation unit with the main
clause they modify. This is seen in (809) where the verb of the main clause
takes a metatonic H tone which it would not if it was at the end of an in-
tonation phrase. As such, attributive complementizer clauses differ from
other types of attributive clauses such as relative or adverbial clauses. The
nâ clause is, however, clearly a dependent clause. A diagnostic for this sta-
tus is the use of the subordinate progressive form in (809). Attributive
complementizer clauses are generally postposed to the main clause, as this
example also shows. This is another difference to other attributive subordi-
nate clauses.
(809) mɛ́ sìsɔ́ [nâ mɛ́ nzɛ́ɛ ́ nyɛ̂

mɛ-H sìsɔ-H nâ mɛ-H nzɛ́ɛ ́ nyɛ̂
1S-PRES be.happy-R COMP 1S-PRES PROG.SUB see
mándáwɔ̀.]COMP
H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-ma6-houses
‘I’m happy that I’m seeing the houses.’
Bare complementizer clauses can also follow main clauses that are com-
prised of cleft constructions, as in (810). In this example, the main clause
expresses a prohibition while the dependent clause specifies what the pro-
hibition is about. (810) also provides further evidence that the nâ clause is
a dependent clause since it includes the subjunctive form of the verb. As
explained in chapter 5.2.4.7, subjunctives usually appear in subordinate
clauses.
(810) yíì mpíndá [nâ mɛ́ déè.]COMP

yíì mpíndá nâ mɛ-H déè
7.COP ∅9.prohibition COMP 1S-PRES eat.SBJV
‘It is forbidden that I eat.’
464
A common function of attributive bare complementizer clauses is to ex-

press purpose and/or intention. This is demonstrated in (811) and (812).
(811) ɔ̀ múà gyɛ́sɔ̀ [nâ wɛ́ kɛ̀.]COMP

ɔ múà gyɛ́sɔ nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀
2S[Kwasio] RETRO search COMP 2S-PRES go
‘you are about to want to leave.’
While (811) takes a present TM marking in the nâ clause, the subjunctive

is used in (812). Both TM categories seem to equally possible in this context.
(812) á lúndɛ́lɛ́ bɔ̂ lèkàá lé ndáwɔ̀ nyî

a-H lúndɛlɛ-H bɔ̂ le-kàá lé ndáwɔ̀ nyî
1-PRES fill-R 2.OBJ le5-kind 5:ATT ∅9.house 9.DEM.PROX
[nâ bɛ́ɛ ̀ vyâ.]COMP
nâ bɛ́ɛ ̀ vyâ
COMP be.SBJV full
‘He fills them in this kind of house that it [house] be full.’
Bare complementizer clauses with nâ not only modify main clauses, but
also other dependent clauses, as for instance adverbial subordinate clauses
in (813). In this example, the adverbial clause precedes the main clause and
so does the complementizer clause which modifies the adverbial clause.
(813) [pílì wɛ́ kɛ́ [nâ wɛ́ kɛ́ djíì mònɛ́

pílì wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀-R djíì mònɛ́
when 2S-PRES go-R COMP 2S-PRES go-R ask ∅1.money
wɔ̂,]COMP ]ADV á làwɔ́ wɛ̂ nyùmbò.
w-ɔ̂ a-H làwɔ-H wɛ̂ nyùmbò
1-POSS.2S 1-PRES tell-R 2S ∅3.mouth
‘When you go to go ask for your money, he frowns at you.’
7.2.4.2 Adverbials + Complementizer Constructions
In contrast to bare complementizer attributive clauses, dependent clauses

that are introduced by an adverbial plus nâ behave more like other adver-
bial dependent clauses in two respects. First, they constitute an intonation
phrase on their own and second, they can both precede and follow the main
clause.
465
Temporal adverbials There are two temporal adverbials in Gyeli which

combine with the complementizer nâ, namely lí ‘when’ and sɔ́ɔ̀ ‘before’. This
is most likely not an exhaustive list and other adverbials might be possible
in this construction type as well.
(814) gives an example of a postposed adverbial + complementizer
clause, using the adverbial lí ‘when’. Semantically, the sentence expresses
simultaneity, the event of the main clause happening at the same time as
the event of the dependent clause.
(814) mɛ̀ nzí nɔ̂ fɔ́tɔ̀ [lí nâ Àdà à

mɛ nzî-H nɔ̂ fɔ́tɔ̀ lí nâ Àdà a
1S.PST PROG.PST1 take ∅1.photo when COMP PN 3S.PST
nzí bɛ̀ à nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè mántúà.]
nzî-H bɛ̀ a nzɛ́ɛ ́ dè H-ma-ntúà
PROG.PST1 be 3S PROG eat ma6-mango
‘I was taking photos while Ada was eating mangoes.’
In contrast, the dependent clause in (815) precedes the main clause it

modifies. In this example, the adverbial sɔ́ɔ̀ ‘before’ is used, expressing an-
teriority. Thus, the event of the main clause happens before the event of
the subordinate clause.
(815) [sɔ́ɔ ̀ nâ á pámó tísɔ̀nì,] á súmɛ́lɛ́

sɔ́ɔ ̀ nâ a-H pámo-H tísɔ̀nì a-H súmɛlɛ-H
before COMP 1-PRES arrive-R ∅7.town 1-PRES greet-R
bùdì.
b-ùdì
ba2-person
‘Before he arrives in town, he greets the people.’
Reason/purpose with púù nâ ‘reason that’ púù nâ expresses purpose in

the dependent clause it introduces and is a variant to the noun plus attribu-
tive construction púù yá which is discussed in section 7.2.3.1. An example
is provided in (816).
(816) yá pándɛ́ nà síŋgìlìtì [púù nâ wɛ́

ya-H pándɛ-H nà síŋgìlìtì púù nâ wɛ-H
1P-PRES arrive-R COM ∅1.shirt ∅7.reason COMP 2S-PRES
bwádɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ̀ púù màbwálɛ́.]
bwádɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ̀ púù ma-bwálɛ́.
wear.SBJV 1.OBJ ∅7.reason ma6-birth
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‘We bring the shirt so that you wear it for [your] birthday.’
Semantically, there seems to be a difference in that púù yá has a causal

reading in the sense of ‘because’ while púù nâ expresses purpose, translated
as ‘so that’.
7.2.5 Complement Clauses

Sentential complementation is restricted to verbs of perception (‘hear’, ‘see’),
consciousness (‘know’, ‘remember’, ‘think’), and intention (‘want’, ‘like’) in
Gyeli. While, structurally, complement clauses seem to be identical with
bare complementizer clauses, they differ from those in that they are not at-
tributive, but serve as a complement to the main clause. Noonan (2007: 52)
defines complement clauses as follows: “By complementation, we mean the
syntactic situation that arises when a notional sentence or predication is an
argument of a predicate.”
Thus, while the main clause in (809), repeated here in (817), can appear
on its own, the nâ clause being attributive and optional, the main clause in
(818) is incomplete without the complementizer clause.10
(817) mɛ́ sìsɔ́ [nâ mɛ́ nzɛ́ɛ ́ nyɛ̂

mɛ-H sìsɔ-H nâ mɛ-H nzɛ́ɛ ́ nyɛ̂
1S-PRES be.happy-R COMP 1S-PRES PROG.SUB see
mándáwɔ̀.]
H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-ma6-houses
‘I’m happy that I’m seeing the houses.’
Both, the attributive and the complement nâ clause have in common

that they form one intonation unit with the main clause, as indicated by
the metatonic H tone on the verb sìsɔ ‘be happy’ in (817) and wúmbɛ ‘want’
in (818). Further, in both cases, the nâ clause is a dependent clause, as
suggested by the occurrence of the subjunctive in (818) which is generally
restricted to subordinate clauses.
10
I do acknowledge, however, that the presented predicates of the main clauses in com-
plementation may not inherently be transitive and thus, by means of their valency, require
an object. There are certainly contexts in which these predicates can be intransitive. Also,
objects can be elided under certain circumstances. In the presented examples, however,
the nâ clauses are syntactically required and not optional.
467
(818) mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ [nâ á gyámbɔ́ɔ ̀ bèdéwɔ̀.]COMP

mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H nâ a-H gyaḿbɔ́ɔ ̀ be-déwɔ̀
1S-PRES want-R COMP 3S-PRES cook.SBJV be8-food
‘I want her/him to cook food.’
Apart from verbs expressing intention, such as wúmbɛ ‘want’, also verbs
of consciousness serve as predicates to complement clauses. This is the case,
for instance, with lèmbo ‘know’, as shown in (819) and (820).
(819) á lèmbó [nâ bùdì báà bá múà

a-H lèmbo-H nâ b-ùdì báà ba-H múà
1S-PRES know-R COMP ba2-person 2.DEM.PROX 2-PRES PROSP
búɛ̀lɛ̀ nâ bá dyúù nyɛ̀.]COMP
búɛlɛ̀ nâ ba-H dyúù nyɛ
‘He knows that these people are about to fish (look for him) in order
to kill him.’
(820) ndí wɛ́ lèmbó [nâ mbvúndá nyíì bvúdà nà

mbvúndá.]COMP
mbvúndá
∅9.trouble
The same is true for bvû ‘think’, as in (821).
(821) mɛ́ bvú [nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ́ mɛ̀

mɛ-H bvû-H nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ-H mɛ̀
1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅3.machete 3.PST2 miss-R 1S.OBJ
vâ.]COMP
vâ
here
Finally, also verbs of perception can function as predicates of complement

clauses. An example is given in (822).
(822) mɛ́ dyúwɔ́ [nâ mpàgó wá pɔ́dɛ̀ lã́ vâ.]COMP

mɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ mpàgó wá ̀
pɔ́dɛ̀ lã-H vâ
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Traditionally, also quotes in reported discourse are viewed as a subtype

of sentential complementation. As I will show in the following section, how-
ever, reported discourse constructions are formally not the same.
7.3 Reported Discourse

Reported discourse (RD) represents a special instance in which the com-
plementizer nâ is systematically used. As we shall see below, nâ clauses in
reported discourse are different from both attributive and complement uses.
Before arguing for this hypothesis, I first define the terminology related to
reported discourse, following Güldemann (2008: 6):
“Reported discourse is the representation of a spoken or mental

text from which the reporter distances him-/herself by indicating
that it is produced by a source of consciousness in a pragmatic
and deictic setting that is different from that of the immediate
discourse.”
Structurally, Güldemann (2008) distinguishes the quote, i.e. the reported

spoken or mental text, from the quotative index (QI), which serves at intro-
ducing the quote. Thus, in (823), the unit marked as ‘QI’ introduces the
reported text which, in turn, is marked by ‘RD’.
(823) [yɔ́ɔ ̀ bá kí nâ]QI [ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀ mwánɔ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ mùdã̂

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-H kì-H nâ ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀ m-wánɔ̀ w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ m-ùdã̂
so 2-PRES say-R COMP EXCL N1-child 1-POSS.3S N1-woman
wà nù à bwãã́ .̀ ]RD
wà nù a bwãã́ ̀
1:ATT 1:DEM 3SPST1 give.birth.PRF
‘So they say: ”Oh, his child who is the wife of that one, has already
given birth”.’
Prosodically, the complementizer nâ belongs to the QI and not to the

quote, which is indicated by a pause after the complementizer.11 In some
cases, the complementizer also undergoes salient lengthening, in addition
11
This phenomenon has also been noted, for instance, in Hausa, as Güldemann
(2008: 236) points out.
469
to the following pause, as shown in (824).12 This does not happen in at-
tributive or complement clauses where nâ rather belongs to the dependent
clause.
(824) Speak Gyeli!
[mɛ́ làwɔ́ náà]QI [màndáwɔ̀ má zì má

1S-PRES talk-R COMP ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6-PRES
kùgáà mɛ̀ vâ.]RD
kùgáà mɛ vâ
Most QIs in Gyeli are bipartite, containing a verbal predicate, usually

a say-verb, and the complementizer nâ. This is the case in (823) with the
say-verb kì ‘say’, which is the most common and frequent predicate in a QI,
and in (824) with làwɔ ‘talk’. Another element that can appear in the QI is
the verbal copula bùdɛ́ ‘have’, as shown in (825).
(825) [mais mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ]QI [ɛ́ pɛ̀, ɛ́ wû

mais mɛ bùdɛ-H nâ ɛ́ pɛ̀ ɛ́ wû
but[French] 1S have-R COMP LOC over.there LOC there
bèyá lwɔ̃́ kwádɔ́ yã̂ ɛ́ wû.]RD
bèya-H ̂
2P[Kwasio]-PRES build-R ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S LOC there
‘But I say that over there, there you (pl) build my village over there.’
When bùdɛ́ is used in a QI, it generally seems to imply a wish, request,

order, or some sort of intention expression, as also shown in (826).
(826) [bvúlɛ̀ bà bùdɛ́ nâ]QI [ká wɛ̀ ŋgyɛ̀lì wɛ̀ bùdɛ́ tʃídí
bvúlɛ̀ ba bùdɛ-H nâ ká wɛ ŋ-gyɛ̀lì wɛ bùdɛ-H tsídí
ba2.Bulu 2 have-R COMP if 2S N1-Gyeli 2S have-R ∅1.animal
wɔ̂]RD bá sɛ̀ŋgɛ́ nyɛ̂ sí.
w-ɔ̂ ba-H sɛ̀ŋgɛ-H nyɛ̂ sí
1-POSS.2S 2-PRES lower-R 1.OBJ down
‘The Bulu say that if you, Gyeli, you have your animal, they lower
it [= its price].’
12
In this example, the speaker has switched to Bulu and is reminded by the interpreter
to speak in Gyeli. He then repeats what he has said by quoting his own speech. His quote
is emphasized by the lengthened complementizer.
470
QIs in Gyeli can also occur without any predicate at all. Minimally, they
contain speaker reference and the complementizer. This is demonstrated in
(827) where the QI is only comprised of the speaker reference nyɛ̀ and the
complementizer nâ.
(827) [nyɛ̀ nâ]QI [ooh mùdã,̂ bàmbɛ́, kɛ̀ djíì mbɔ́mbɔ̀

nyɛ̀ nâ ooh m-ùdã̂ bàmbɛ́, kɛ̀ djíì mbɔ́mbɔ̀
3S COMP EXCL N1-woman sorry go ask.IMP ∅1.namesake
mwánɔ̀ sá yí dè.]RD
m-wánɔ̀ sá yí dè
N1-child ∅7.thing 7.DEM eat
‘He: ‘Oh, wife, excuse me, go and ask the namesake [the other
Nzambi] for a little to eat.”
In addition to its special prosodic feature which suggest that nâ belongs

to the QI and not the quote, non-clausal QIs as in (827) provide another
argument against analyzing reported discourse as sentential complementa-
tion. These non-clausal QIs, which occur pervasively in the corpus, do not
possess any predicate that could require a complement clause.13 Instead of
analyzing the QI as the matrix clause of the quote that serves as a comple-
ment, it seems more consistent to view the QI being the tag to the quote on
a higher structural level than sentential units, as Güldemann (2008: 231)
explains.
While these arguments that Güldemann puts forth apply to direct re-
ported discourse, I also extend them to indirect reported discourse for there
is no structural difference in marking direct and indirect speech in Gyeli.
Differences only concern “quote-internal referential adjustments” (p. 234)
such as pronominal marking and the use of exclamations, which are re-
stricted to direct reported discourse. In the corpus, most instances of re-
ported discourse are direct. There are, however, also examples of indirect
speech, as in (828).
13
Güldemann (2008: 226-233) lists other arguments against a sentential complemen-
tation analysis for direct reported discourse. For instance, often the QI does not have to
be expressed at all in direct reported discourse. Also, if the QI includes a predicate, the
predicate does not necessarily have a quote-oriented valency.
471
(828) [mùdì wà sɔ̀ndyɛ́ à nzí kí nâ]QI [ká mɛ̀

m-ùdì wà sɔ̀ndyɛ́ a nzî-H kì-H nâ ká mɛ
N1-person 1:ATT ∅1.police 3S.PST PROG-R say COMP if 1S.PST
nyɛ́ àksìdɛ̃.̂ ]RD
nyɛ̂-H àksìdɛ̃̂
see-R ∅1.accident[French]
‘The police officer asked whether I saw that accident.’
This concludes a brief discussion of complex clauses in Gyeli. This discus-

sion is clearly not exhaustive and I fully expect that larger corpora and fur-
ther investigation would lead to uncovering further intricacies in the Gyeli
system.
472
Appendix I: Verb Extensions
In this Appendix, I provide the different extension forms for each verb in the
verb database. In some cases, certain extension forms yield a semantic shift
or a meaning different than expected. These can be found in the lexicon in
Appendix III, while the verb extension Appendix just lists existing forms.
I use the notational convention that when morpheme breaks are opaque,
no morpheme break is indicated at all. This is, for instance, the case with
some passive forms of trisyllabic verbs where the passive -a also affects the
penultimate vowel of the second syllable.
473
Verb Gloss Reciprocal Passive Causative Applicative Autocausative Positional
-ala -a -ɛsɛ -ɛlɛ -ɛga/-aga -ɔwɔ
bâ marry bán-ala - bál-ɛsɛ - - -
bà smoke sth. báy-ala - - - bày-aga -
Nadine Grimm
báàla (nà) repeat - - - - - -

báàlɛ protect, guard báà-la báàl-a - - - -
bága (nà) stop sth. bá-ala - - - - -
bàkɛ glue, post - bàg-a - - - -
bálɛ surpass - bál-a - - - -
bálɔwɔ bend down - bálawa - - - -
bámɔ scold bám-ala bám-a - bám-ɛlɛ - -
474
bàwɛ carry bàw-ala bàw-a bàw-ɛsɛ - - -
báwɛ injure (oneself) báw-ala - báw-ɛsɛ - - -
bɛ̀ sow, plant bèy-ala bɛ̀y-a - - - -
bɛ́dɛ light bɛ́d-ala - - - bɛ́d-ɛga -
bédɔ go up, mount béd-ala béd-a béd-ɛsɛ béd-ɛlɛ béd-ɛga -
bédo ferment - béd-a - - - -
bɛ̀lànɛ use - bèlàn-a - - - -
bénɛlɛ raise, lift bén-ala bénala - - bén-ɛga -
bènɔ refuse bèn-ala bèn-a - - - -
béyɔ ripen - - bél-ɛsɛ - béy-aga -
A Grammar of Gyeli
bígɛ develop, emerge - - bíg-ɛsɛ - - -

bísi (nà) pay attention - - - - - -
bíyɔ hit bín-ala bíl-a bíl-ɛsɛ bìy-ɛlɛ - -
Nadine Grimm
bɔ̀ rot - - bɔ̀y-ɛsɛ - - -

bɔ̀gɛ enlarge bɔ̀g-ala bɔ̀g-a bɔ̀g-ɛsɛ - - -
bɔ́mɛlɛ wrinkle bɔ́m-ala - - - - -
bû destroy búy-ala búy-a - - - -
bô lie down (intr.) - búg-a - - - -
búlɛ burst - búl-a - - - -
búlɔ fish búl-ala búl-a - - - -
475
búmɛ bark búm-ala - - - - -
bùmɛ announce sth. bùm-ala bùm-a - - - -
bùmɛlɛ hit (nail) bùm-ala bùmal-a - - - -
búndɔ pay brideprice búnd-ala búnd-a búnd-ɛsɛ - - -
búwɛlɛ tâter (fruit) - búwal-a - - - -
bvû think, believe bvú-ala - - - - -
bvúda (nà) quarrel bvúd-ala - - - - -
bvùma thunder - - - - bvùm-aga -
bvùmba surprise, scare bvùmb-ala - - - - -
bvúɔ̀ break (tr.) bvúg-ala bvúg-a - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
bwãŝ a think, remember - - - - - -

bwɛ̃ɛ́ l̃ ɛ wait bwã-́ ãla - - - - -
bwà give birth - - bwàl-ɛsɛ - - -
Nadine Grimm
bwà become big bɔ̀g-ala - - - - -

bwádɔ dress, wear bɔ́d-ala - bɔ́d-ɛsɛ - - -
bwámɔ receive bwám-ala bwám-a - - - -
bwàndɔ peel (mango) bwànd-ala bwànd-a - - - -
bwàndya despise bwàndy-ala - - - - -
bwè catch, arrest bèy-ala bùl-ɛ - - - -
bwɛ̀dɔwɔ be tasty - - bɔ̀d-ɛsɛ - - -
476
byáàda answer - - - - - -
dã̀ draw water dãŋ̀ g-ala dãã̀ l̀ -a - dã-̀ ãlɛ - -
dè eat díy-ala díb-a díl-ɛsɛ - - -
dɛ́ndɛ set trap dɛ́nd-ala dɛ́nd-a - - - -
dìlɛ bury dìl-ala dìl-a - - - -
djímbɛ get lost djímb-ala - djímb-ɛsɛ djímb-ɛlɛ - -
djãã́ s̀ a disappear djã-́ ãl̀ a - - - - -
djàŋgala have sex - - - - - -
djì open djìy-ala djìy-a - - - -
djì(yɔ) sit, habiter djìl-ala djìl-a - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
djìbɔ̀ close djìb-ala djìb-a - - - -
djílɔ be satisfied - - djíl-ɛsɛ - - -
Nadine Grimm
djìlɔ be heavy - djìl-a djìl-ɛsɛ - - -

djímɛsɛ extinguish - djím-a - - - -
djímɔ be deep - - - - - -
djìna dive - - djìn-ɛsɛ - djìn-ɛga -
djíwɔ steal djíb-ala djíb-a - - - -
djíyɛ burn (intr.) djíg-ala - djíg-ɛsɛ - - -
dɔ̀ negotiate - - - - - -
477
dùlɛ be bitter dyùl-ala dyùl-a dyùl-ɛsɛ - - -
dùmɔ heal, get well - dyùm-a - - - -
dúna quarrel - - - - - -
dvùbɔ soak, dip dvùb-ala - dvùb-ɛsɛ (dvùb-ɛlɛ) - -
dvùdɔ drive dvùd-ala dvùd-a - - - -
dvúmɛlɛ praise sb. dvúm-ala - - - - -
dvùmɔ fall down dvùm-ala dvùm-a dvùm-ɛsɛ - - -
dvùɔ̀ hurt dvùg-ala dvùg-a dvùg-ɛsɛ - - -
dwàmbo ask for sth. dwàmb-ala - - - dwàmb-aga -
dyãã́ ̀ chase dyáŋg-ala dyáŋg-a - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
dyũ̀ be hot dyúŋg-ala - - dyúŋg-ɛlɛ - -

dyà sing dyà-ala dyày-a - - - -
dyâ lie down dyá-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
dyɛ́gɛ lean sth. dyɛ́k-ala - - - - dyɛ́g-ɔwɔ

dyɔ̀ laugh dyɔ̀-ala dyɔ̀las-a dyɔ̀l-ɛsɛ - - -
dyɔ̀dɛ deceive dyɔ̀d-ala dyɔ̀d-a - - - -
dyû kill dyúw-ala dyúw-a - - - -
dyúà swim - - - - - -
dyúwɔ hear dyúw-ala - dyúg-ɛsɛ dyúw-ɛlɛ - -
dyúàda perceive - - - - - -
478
dzámɛ excuse - - - - - -
fùɛsɛ shake - - - - - -
fúgɛ end fú-ala - - - - -
fùlɛ miss fù-ala - fùl-ɛsɛ - - -
fùlɔ descend - fùl-a fùl-ɛsɛ - - -
gìyɔ (gyì) cry gyìl-ala - gìl-ɛsɛ - - -
gyã̀ paint - gyàŋg-a - - - -
gyãl̂ ɛ roast - - - - - -
gyàga buy gyàg-ala - - - - -
gyámbɔ cook gyámb-ala gyámb-a(a) - gyámb-ɛlɛ gyámb-aga -
A Grammar of Gyeli
gyáŋgya work gyáŋga-ala - gyáŋg-ɛsɛ - - -

gyɛ́’ɛ̀ block gyɛ́g-ala gyɛ́g-a - - - -
gyɛ̀’ɛlɛ pray, beg - - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
gyɛ́lɛ jump, fly gyɛ́l-ala gyɛ́l-a gyɛ́l-ɛsɛ - - -

gyɛ̀ndɔ slip - gyɛ̀nd-a - - - -
gyɛ́sɔ search gyɛ́s-ala gyɛ́s-a - - - -
gyíbɔ call gyíb-ala gyíb-a - - - -
gyìbɔ sharpen gyìb-ala gyìb-a - - - -
gyìdɛ forgive - gyìd-a(a) - - - -
gyíka (nà) resemble - - - - - -
479
gyíkɛ learn - - gyík-ɛsɛ - - -
gyímbɔ dance gyímb-ala gyímb-a(a) gyímb-ɛsɛ - - -
gyímɛ wake sb - gyím-a(a) gyím-ɛsɛ - gyím-aga -
kã̂ wrap kã-́ ãla - - - - -
kà catch - - - kàs-ɛlɛ - -
ká’à role up kág-ala - - - - -
kàdɛ detach kàd-ala - kàd-ɛsɛ - kàd-ɛga -
kádɔ be too much kád-ala - - - - -
kàgɔ promise kàg-ala - - - - -
káka shiver - - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
kàlanɛ transmit - - - - - -
kàlɛga stop over - - - - - -
kámbɔ chew kámb-ala kámb-aa - - - -
Nadine Grimm
kàmbɔ (nà) defend kàmb-ala kàmb-a - - - -

kánda crack - - kánd-ɛsɛ - - -
kàsɛlɛ light kàs-ala - - - - -
kásɔ become thin kás-ala - - kás-ɛlɛ kás-ɛga -
kàbɔ share kàb-ala kàb-a(a) - - - -
kɛ̀ go - - - - - -
kɛ̃̀ shave kèŋg-ala - - - - -
480
kɛ́’ɛ̀ hatch - kɛ́g-a(a) - - - -
kɛ̀dɛlɛ gnaw kɛ̀d-ala - - - - -
kɛ̀lɛ hang kɛ̀l-ala kɛ̀l-a - - - -
kfúdɛ cover kfúd-ala kfúd-a(a) - - kfúd-ɛga -
kfùlɔ scrape kfùl-ala kfùl-a - - kfùl-ɛga -
kfùmala find - kfùm-a(a) - - - -
kfùbɛ provoke kfùb-ala - - kfùβ-ɛlɛ - -
kílɔwɔ be vigilant - - kíl-ɛsɛ - - -
kíŋgɛlɛ become stiff - - - - - -
kìya give kìy-ala - kìy-ɛsɛ - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
kìyɛ try, tempt kìy-ala - - kìy-ɛlɛ - -

kɔ̂ gather, pluck kɔ́y-ala kɔ́y-a - - kɔ̀y-aga -
kɔ́bɛ violate kɔ́b-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
kɔ́dɛ turn sth kɔ́d-ala kɔ́d-a kɔ́d-ɛsɛ - kɔ́d-ɛga -

kɔ́gɛ straighten kɔ́g-ala kɔ́g-a kɔ́g-ɛsɛ - - -
kòla add kòl-ala - - - - -
kòlɛ help kòl-ala - - - - -
kɔ̃l̂ ɛ snore - - - - - -
kɔ́sɛ cough kɔ́s-ala - - kɔ́s-ɛlɛ - -
kúɛlɛ mock kú-ala - - - - -
481
kùga spread, fit - - - - - -
kùlɛ borrow kùl-ala - kùl-ɛsɛ - - -
kùmasa prepare - - - - - -
kùmbɔ repair kùmb-ala - - - - -
kwã̂ cut raffia kwàŋg-ala kwáŋg-a - - - -
kwã̂ betray kwáŋg-ala kwáŋg-a kwáŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
kwãã́ l̀ ɛ spy kwãĺ -ala - - - - -
kwà grind kwàg-ala kwàg-a - - - -
kwádɔ twist sth - kwád-a - - kwád-ɛga kwàd-ɔwɔ
kwàlɛ love kwàl-ala kwàl-a - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
kwànɛ sell - - - - - -
kwê fall, fail kwéy-ala - kù-ɛsɛ - - -
kwêlɛ bite kwá-ala kwáál-a(a) - - - -
Nadine Grimm
kwɛ̀lɔ cut down kwɛ̀l-ala kwɛ̀l-a(a) - - kwɛ̀l-ɛga -

kyàlɛ start engine - - - - - -
kyɛ̀lɛga fall from tree kyɛ̀l-ala - - - - -
lã̂ read, count láŋg-ala láŋg-a - - - -
lã̀ pass làŋg-ala - - làŋg-ɛlɛ - -
lɛ̃̀ pour in lɛ̀ŋg-ala lɛ̀ŋg-a(a) - - - -
lũ̂ insult lúŋg-ala - - - - -
482
lṹã̀ whistle lɔ́ŋg-ala lɔ́ŋg-a - - - -
lṹɔ̃̀ build lúŋg-ala - lúŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
lâ harvest léy-ala léy-a - - léy-ɛga -
láà tell lá-ala - - - - -
làdo (nà) meet làd-ala - làd-ɛsɛ - - -
lága contaminate intr lég-ala - lég-ɛsɛ - - -
lámbɔ trap lámb-ala lámb-a(a) - - - -
lána distribute lán-ala - - - - -
lɛ̂ offer lɛ́y-ala lɛ́y-a - - - -
lɛ̀bɛlɛ follow lɛ̀b-ala - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
lɛ̀ɛ ̀ uproot lɛ̀y-ala lɛ̀y-a - - - -

lɛ́gɛ singe lɛ́g-ala - lɛ́g-ɛsɛ - lɛ́g-ɛga -
lèmbo know, flee lèmb-ala - lèmb-ɛsɛ - - -
Nadine Grimm
lɛ̀ndɔ flow - - lɛ̀nd-ɛsɛ - lɛ̀nd-ɛga -

líbɛla appear - - - - - -
líbɛlɛ show líb-ala - - - - -
límbɛ pull límb-ala - - - límb-ɛga -
líyɛ leave líg-ala - - - - -
líyɛlɛ accompany líy-ala - - - - -
líyɔ clear land líy-ala líy-a - - líy-aga -
483
lɔ̀ sew, weave lɔ̀y-ala lɔ̀y-a lɔ̀y-ɛsɛ - - -
lùà curse lɔ̀g-ala lɔ̀g-a lɔ̀g-ɛsɛ - - -
lúmɛ send lúm-ala lúm-a - lúm-ɛlɛ - -
lúndɔ fill oneself lúnd-ala lúnd-a lúnd-ɛsɛ lúnd-ɛlɛ - -
lùŋga grow - - lùŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
lùŋgɛlɛ aim at lùŋg-ala - - - - -
lúwɔ bite lúw-ala lúw-a lúw-ɛsɛ - - -
lvúmɔ sting lvúm-ala lvúm-a lvúm-ɛsɛ - - -
má’à accuse mág-ala mág-a - - - -
mándɔ stuff mouth mánd-ala mánd-a - mád-ɛlɛ - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
mɛ́ɛl̀ ɛ accept mɛ́-ala mɛ́ɛĺ -a - - - -

mɛ̀mɔ admit mɛ̀m-ala - - - - -
mɛ̀sɔ wave mɛ̀s-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
mgbámala be sour - - - - - -
mímba brag mímb-ala - - - - -
mìno swallow mìn-ala - mìn-ɛsɛ - - -
múɛlɛ nibble mú-ala - mú-ɛsɛ - - -
mwàsɔ throw mwàs-ala mwàs-a - - - -
myàkɛ sprinkle myàk-ala - myàk-ɛsɛ - - -
myámata be narrow - - - - - -
484
myámɔ knead, press myám-ala - - - - -
náàta (nà) stick - - - - - -
ndà cross ndàŋg-ala ndàŋg-a - - - -
ndtámanɛ ruin, destroy - - - - - -
ŋgwáwɔ bend, bow - - ŋgwáŋg-ɛsɛ - - ŋgwáŋg-ɔwɔ
níndya urinate níndy-ala - níndy-ɛsɛ - - -
nìyɛ be beautiful níndy-ala - níŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
njì come - - - - - -
nɔ̀ɔ ̀ take nɔ̀ŋg-ala nɔ̀ŋg-a - - - -
ntãã́ ̀ climb over ntàŋg-ala - ntàŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
ntɛ́gɛlɛ disturb ntɛ́g-ala - - - - -

nyâ lick nyáŋg-ala - nyáŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
nyàà defecate nyàg-ala - nyàg-ɛsɛ - - -
Nadine Grimm
nyàlɛ scratch nyàl-ala - - - - -

nyàmɔ deteriorate nyàm-ala - nyàm-ɛsɛ - - -
nyàno hurt - - - - - -
nyɛ̂ see nyɛ́n-ala - - - - -
nyɛ̀sɛlɛ deepen, press on - - - - - -
nyì return nyìg-ala - - - - -
nyî enter nyíŋg-ala - - nyíŋg-ɛlɛ - -
485
nyímɛ refuse nyím-ala - nyím-ɛsɛ - - -
nyímɛ̀lɛlɛ tighten nyím-ala - - - - -
nyɔ̀mb-ɛlɛ tickle nyɔ̀mb-ala - - - - -
nyùlɛ drink nyùl-ala - nyùl-ɛsɛ - - -
nyùmbɔ smell (intr) nyùmb-ala - nyùmb-ɛsɛ nyùmb-ɛlɛ - -
pã̂ reign páŋg-ala - - - - -
pá’à dig pág-ala - - - - -
pà’à grow intr pàg-ala - - - - -
pádɔ pluck pád-ala - - - - -
pálaba blink (eye) - - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
pálɔ̀ sort pál-ala - - - - -

pámo appear pám-ala - - - - -
pándɛ arrive pánd-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
pánɛ hang up pán-ala - pán-ɛsɛ - - -

pàno shine - - - - - -
pɛ̂ choose pɛ́y-ala - - - - -
pɛ̀ndɛlɛ lick out pɛ̀nd-ala - - - - -
péndɔ braid pénd-ala pénd-a - - - -
péya booze péy-ala - péy-ɛsɛ - - -
pfúɛlɛ crunch pfú-ala - - - - -
486
pfùmbɛ pull out pfùmb-ala - - - - -
pfúndɔ be frightened pfúnd-ala - pfúnd-ɛsɛ - - -
pfùβɛlɛ blow pfùβ-ala - - - - -
pfùwɔ dust pfùw-ala - - - - -
pímbɛ wipe pímb-ala - - - - -
pínasa be squeezed pín-ala - pín-ɛsɛ - - -
pɔ́ndɛsɛ punish - - - - - -
pṹɔ̃̀ pay púŋg-ala - - - - -
púndi polish púnd-ala - - - - -
pùsɛ push pùs-ala - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
pwàsɔ stretch pwàs-ala - - - - pwàs-ɔwɔ

sã̂ vomit sáŋg-ala - sáŋg-ɛsɛ - - -
sãã́ s̀ a mix - - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
sĩĩ́ ̀ (bà) approach sth síŋg-ala - - sís-ɛlɛ - -

sâ do sá-ala - - - - -
sá’àwa move repeatedly - - - - - -
sàga shock, scare sàg-ala - - - - -
sàlɔ cut lengthwise sàl-ala sàl-ɛ - - - -
sálɔ become plenty - - - - - -
sánɛ decide sán-ala - - - - -
487
sɛ̀gɛsɛ sieve - - - - - -
sɛ́lɔ peel sɛ́l-ala sɛ́l-a - - - -
sɛ̀ndɛ slip sɛ̀nd-ala - sɛ̀nd-ɛsɛ - - -
sɛ̀ŋgɛ lower sɛ̀ŋg-ala - - - - -
síawa have hiccup - - - - - -
sílɛ finish síl-ala - síl-ɛsɛ - - -
sìlɛga fade sìl-ala - sìl-ɛsɛ - - -
sílɔ rub, smear síl-ala - - - - -
símasa regret - - - - - -
sìmbɔ drag sìmb-ala - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
símɛ respect sím-ala - - - - -

síndya exchange síndy-ala - - - - -
sísɛlɛ scare sb sís-ala - - - sís-ɛga -
Nadine Grimm
sísɔ (bà) approach sís-ala - - - - -

sìsɔ be happy sìs-ala - - - - -
sìya wash, bathe sìy-ala - - - - -
síyɛ saw síy-ala - - - - -
síyɛsɛ swing, shake - - - - - -
sɔ́’ɔ̀ continue - - - sɔ́s-ɛlɛ - -
sòbala accumulate - - - - - -
488
sɔ́lɛ undress sɔ́l-ala - sɔ́l-ɛsɛ - - -
sɔ̀lɛ̀ hide sth. sɔ̀l-ala - - - - -
sɔ́lɛga fall - - - - - -
sɔ́ndya sharpen (point) sɔ́ndy-ala - - - - -
sɔ́sɛlɛ smoke meat - - - - - -
sùmbɔ die mysteriously sùmb-ala - - - - -
súmɛlɛ greet súm-ala - - - - -
sùbɛ pour out sùb-ala - sùb-ɛsɛ sùb-ɛlɛ - -
swásɔ dry swás-ala - - swás-ɛlɛ - -
swàwɔ hide intr - - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
tãã́ l̀ a judge - - - - - -
tɛ̃̂ limp tɛ́ŋg-ala - - - - -
tɛ̃ɛ̀ ̃̀ abandon tɛ̀ŋg-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
tɔ̃ɔ́ l̃̀ ɛ guide - - - - - -

tá’àlɛ start - - - - - -
tàtɔ squeak tàt-ala - tàd-ɛsɛ - - -
tátɔ take care of tát-ala - - - - -
tɛ̂ invent, create tɛ́y-ala - - - - -
tɛ́’ɛ̀ be soft - - - - - -
tɛ́bɔ rise tɛ́l-ala - - - - -
489
tɛ́gɛ tire, fatigue tɛ́g-ala - tɛ́g-ɛsɛ - - -
tɛ̀mbɔwɔ set (sun) - - tɛ̀mb-ɛsɛ - - -
tɛ̀ndɔ tear tɛ̀nd-ala - tɛ̀nd-ɛsɛ - - -
tfúada be late - - - - - -
tfùbɔ pierce, rape tfúb-ala - - - - -
tfùdɔ pinch tfùd-ala - - - - -
tfúga suffer tfúg-ala - tfúg-ɛsɛ - - -
tfúmbɔ fold, wrinkle tfúmb-ala - tfúmb-ɛsɛ - tfúmb-aga -
tíì get going tíy-ala - - - - -
tìnɔ harvest tubers tìn-ala tìl-ɛ - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
tɔ̀à boil intr. tɔ̀g-ala - - - - -

tɔ́kɛ pick up tɔ́k-ala tɔ́k-a tɔ́k-ɛsɛ - - -
tɔ́wa drip, leak - - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
tsĩ ̂ untie tsíŋg-ala - - - - -

tsĩɛlɛ́ bind, tie ́
tsĩ-ala - - - - -
tsàmɛ spit tsàm-ala - - - - -
tsíbɔ grind, trample tsíb-ala - - - - -
tsìɛ̀ live, be well - - - - - -
tsíɛ̀ cut tsíy-ala - - - - -
tsìlɔ write tsìl-ala tsìl-a tsìl-ɛsɛ - - -
490
tsímɛlɛ sneeze tsím-ala - tsím-ɛsɛ - - -
tsíndɔ shove, push tsínd-ala - - - - -
túà move places tɔ́g-ala - tɔ́g-ɛsɛ - - -
tùndɛ miss tùnd-ala - - - - -
túnɔwɔ float - - - - - -
túwanɛ (nà) meet túw-ala - - - - -
twálɔ peck twál-ala - - - - -
vàà praise vàg-ala - - - - -
vàmòkwè knock over - - - - - -
vásɛ rise (dough) - - - vás-ɛlɛ - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
vê give vɛ́y-ala - - - - -
vè’è try on clothes vèg-ala - - vè’-ɛlɛ - -
vɛ́mbɔ blow nose vɛ́mb-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
vɛ́sɔ have desire vɛ́s-ala - - - - -

vɛ̀wɔ breathe - - - - - -
vèyɛ mesure vèy-ala - - - - -
vìdɛ (re-)turn vìd-ala vìd-a - vìd-ɛlɛ vìd-ɛga -
vímala groan - - - - - -
víndo hate vínd-ala - - - - -
vísɔ cover vís-ala - - vís-ɛlɛ - -
491
víwɔ suck víw-ala - - - - -
víyãsa be light - - - - - -
víyala touch - - - - - -
vɔ̂ be calm/cold vɔ́l-ala - vɔ́l-ɛsɛ - - -
vòda rest vòd-ala - - - - -
vɔ́lɛ help vɔ́l-ala - - - - -
vòwa wake up vòw-ala - vòl-ɛsɛ - vòl-ɛga -
vû leave vúy-ala vúm-a - - - -
vúɛlɛ blow - - - - - -
vúlɔ be sharp - - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
vúba (nà) hug - - - - - -

vyámbɛlɛ surround - - - - - -
vyɛ̀ draw vyèg-ala - - - - -
Nadine Grimm
wɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ skin animals wɛ́ŋg-ala - - - - -

wámɛ hurry - - - - - -
wàwɛ spread out wàw-ala wàw-a(a) - - wàw-ɛga -
wáwɔ crawl - - - - - -
wɛ̀ die - - - - - -
wómbɛlɛ sweep wómb-ala - - - - -
wúmbɛ want wúmb-ala - - - - -
492
wùmɛ pluck wùm-ala - - - - -
wúŋgala wander, dangle - - - - - -
wùsa forget wùs-ala wùs-a(a) - - - -
yàlanɛ respond - - - - - -
yɛ́mɛdɛ tighten yɛ́m-ala - - - - -
yíɛ̀ avoid, dodge yé-ala - - - - -
yímbɔ visit yímb-ala - - - - -
A Grammar of Gyeli
Appendix II: Texts
This appendix contains the annotated Gyeli text corpus which is comprised
of three texts of different genres. The first one, The Healer and the Antilope,
is an autobiographic narration, the second one, the Nzambi Story, a folktale,
and the third a conversation with multiple speakers in the village Ngolo.
Each text is split up into intonation phrases. Since intonation phrases are
not always clear-cut, especially in fast natural speech, I relied on two prin-
ciples in determining intonation phrases: pauses and speaker intuition. As
a first parsing principle, I took pauses as indications for intonation phrases.
Later on, text annotation was done with the help of a language consul-
tant who would naturally break the text up into phrases as he repeated
the recordings during transcription.
Intonation phrases do not always match grammatical sentences. There-
fore, I indicate at the end of each intonation phrase whether a sentence is
ended, using a fullstop. In cases where the grammatical sentence contin-
ues in the next line, I indicate that by a comma at the end of an intonation
phrase. In a few rare cases, grammatical sentences end within an intona-
tion phrase. Since the speaker did not pause and the language consultant
did not identify a natural break, I mark the end of the grammatical sen-
tence with a fullstop within the intonation phrase. Grammatical sentences
that the speaker does not finish are marked by three dots.
Each intonation phrase has four annotation lines. The first represents
the surface form on the word level. The second line shows the underlying
form on the morpheme level, including tonal changes. The third line is
the gloss and the fourth the translation. Code-switching to, for instance,
Kwasio or French, is indicated in the gloss line with the language name in
square brackets for non-Gyeli elements. If a whole phrase is in a language
other than Gyeli, for instance in Bulu, only the surface form is indicated,
but not the underlying form. Square brackets in the translation line serve
493
as explanations and do not translate the transcription literally.
II.1 The Healer and the Antilope

The story about the healer who turned into an antilope is an autobiographic
narrative by Ada Joseph, about 30 years old at the time of recording. The
narrative was audio recorded in May 2011 in Nziou, a village close to Kribi.
During lunch time small talk with the Mabi speakers Djiedjhie François
and Bimbvoung Emmanuel Calvin, and me, this anecdote came up and Ada
agreed to tell it again for the recording.
The narrative is about an old man that Ada knew from his village when
he was a teenager. This man was a healer and became sick himself. Since
he did not want to die, he turned himself into an antilope and fled into the
forest. The villagers were worried about this and tried to kill the antilope,
but they could never find it.
(A1) yɔɔ̀́ yá táàlɛ̀.
yɔ́ɔ ̀ ya-H táàlɛ̀
so 1P-PRES begin
‘So, we begin.’
(A2) yɔ́ɔ ̀ ŋgã̀ nû à bɛ́ ŋgã,̀
(A3) ŋgã.̂
ŋgã̂
∅1.healer
‘a healer.’
(A4) à djìlɛ́ mâ.
a djìlɛ-H mâ
1S.PST1 stay-R PRF
‘He was there.’
(A5) à njâ dyùmɔ́ bùdàà dyùmɔ́ bùdàà dyùmɔ́
a nji-H a dyùmɔ-H b-ùdì a dyùmɔ-H
1.PST1 come-R 1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person 1S.PST1 heal-R
bùdàà dyùmɔ́ bùdì.
b-ùdì a dyùmɔ-h b-ùdì
ba2-person 1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person
494
‘He came, he was healing people (4x).’
(A6) à múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá mùdì.

a múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá m-ùdì
1S be self real N1-person
‘He was himself a real (old) man.’
(A7) à dyùmɔ́ bùdì, à dyùmɔ́ bùdì,

a dyùmɔ-H b-ùdì a dyùmɔ-H b-ùdì
1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person 1S.PST1 heal-R ba2-person
à múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá mùdì pɔ́nɛ́ ntúlɛ́.
a múà mɛ́dɛ́ nyá m-ùdì pɔ́nɛ́ ntúlɛ́
1S.PST1 be self real N1-person ∅7.truth ∅3.old
‘He was healing people, he was healing people, he was himself a
real old man.’
(A8) nyɛ̀ táàlɛ́ bábɛ̀.

nyɛ táàlɛ-H bábɛ̀
1S.PST1 begin-R ∅7.illness
‘He started to be sick.’
(A9) gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ̀ gbĩ ́ à múà nà bábɛ̀ tí

́ ̀ ́ ̀ ́
gbĩ gbĩ gbĩ gbĩ gbĩ a múà nà bábɛ̀ tí
IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO 1 PROSP COM ∅7.illness NEG
wúmbɛ̀ wɛ̀.
wúmbɛ wɛ̀
want-R die
‘[imitation of the disease roaming in his body] He was about to be
sick, without wanting to die.’
(A10) bá sàgà ɛ́ kfùmàlà mɛ̀ múà ndáà mùdì.

ba-H sàga ɛ́ kfùmala mɛ múà ndáà m-ùdì
2-PRES be.surprised LOC find 1S be also N1-person
‘They are surprised to find that I was a grown up person (story teller
about his own age at point of when story takes place).’
(A11) mɛ̀ múà pɔ́nɛ́ wá yìmbá ntɛ́ wû.

mɛ múà pɔ́nɛ́ wá yìmbá ntɛ́ wû
1S be ∅7.truth 3:ATT ∅7.age ∅3.size there
‘I was really about the age of this size there [makes a gesture with
hand showing his height].’
495
(A12) allez...
go.IMP.PL
‘[French] so...’
(A13) yá sàgà. àà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù nyɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ támé.

ya-H sàga àà ndáwɔ̀ dé tù nyɛ mɛ́dɛ́ támé
1P-PRES be.surprised 1.COP ∅9.house LOC inside 1 self alone
‘We are surprised. He is in his house all by himself.’
(A14) ḿh m̀ h m̀ m̀ ḿh.
IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO
‘[imitation of healer’s self talk and noises he makes in the house].’
(A15) yá sàgà mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̂ nyɛ́ɛ ̀ mápà

ya-H sàga mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̂ nyɛ́ɛ ̀ H-ma-pà
1P-PRES be.surprised 7∅.morning in see.? OBJ.LINK-ma6-paw
má ndjìbù má bwámɔ́ ndáwɔ̀ dé tù,
má ndjìbù ma-H bwámɔ-H ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
6:ATT ∅1.antilope 6-PRES come.out-R ∅9.house LOC inside
‘We are surprised in the morning to see paws of an antilope which
come out of the house,’
(A16) kɛ̀ dɛ́ndì.

kɛ̀ d-ɛ́ndì
go le5-courtyard
‘going into the courtyard.’
(A17) kɛ̀ dígɛ̀ mpù,

kɛ̀ dígɛ mpù
go look like.this
‘Going looking like this,’
(A18) mùdì nú bɛ́lɛ́.

‘nobody is there.’
(A19) ndùù à vìdégáà ndjìbù.

ndùù a vìdeg-áà ndjìbù
so 1S.PST1 turn-PRF ∅1.antilope
‘[French: So], he has already turned into an antilope.’
496
(A20) à múà á kɛ́ djìí dé tù,

a múà a-H kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù
1.PST1 be 1-PRES go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside
‘He was about to go into the forest.’
(A21) nà ndzǐ gyâ.

nà ndzǐ gyâ.
COM ∅9.path ∅7.length
‘on the long path.’
(A22) kɛ́ djìí dé tù,

kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù
go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside
‘(He) goes into the forest’

nà ndzǐ gyâ.
(A24) kɛ́ djìí dé tù,

kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù
go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside
‘(He) goes into the forest’

nà ndzǐ gyâ
(A26) nà pándɛ̀ vâ bùdì báà bɛ̀.

(A27) á lèmbó nâ bùdì báà bá múà

a-H lèmbo-H nâ b-ùdì báà ba-H múà
1S-PRES know-R COMP ba2-person 2.DEM.PROX 2-PRES PROSP
búɛ̀lɛ̀ nâ bá dyúù nyɛ̀.
búɛlɛ̀ nâ ba-H dyúù nyɛ
‘He knows that these people are about to fish (look for him) in order
to kill him.’
497
(A28) nâ bá dyúù nyɛ̂. vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mùdì nyɛ̀ djãã́ s̀ à,

nâ ba-H dyúù nyɛ̂ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ m-ùdì nyɛ djãã́ s̀ à
COMP 2-PRES kill.SBJV 1.OBJ only N1-person 1 disappear
‘That they kill him. Suddenly the person disappears,’
(A29) nà kɛ́ djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ,̂

nà kɛ̀-H djìí dé tù nà ndzǐ pámò dẽ
COM go-R ∅7.forest LOC inside COM ∅9.path arrive today
‘And (he) goes in the forest on the path till today,’
(A30) tí nyɛ̂ nyɛ̀.

tí nyɛ̂ nyɛ
NEG see 1.OBJ
‘without seeing him.’
498
II.2 Nzambi Story

The Nzambi Story is a well-known folktale among the Bagyeli. It was video
recorded in August 2012 in the Gyeli village Ngolo. While Tata is the main
narrator, standing in the middle of the village under the big tree, the rest of
the village is gathered around him and comments on both the story and the
recording.
The folktale is about two friends, both called Nzambi, which means ‘God’.
One of them grows breadfruits, the other palm nuts. The Nzambi growing
breadfruit marries the daughter of his friend and they have a child. When
the palm trees are not producing well, the family suffers hunger and the
palm nut grower Nzambi sends his wife to the breadfruit grower Nzambi
to ask for food. The breadfruit grower Nzambi agrees to give food to the
wife, but keeps their child in return and eats it. When the palm nut grower
learns about this, he goes to see his friend and ask him why he did this. The
breadfruit grower admits that he ate the child and pretends that he also ate
his own children by showing him moneky skulls. He then suggests that the
palm nut grower should also eat his children so that they get good skin like
white people. But the palm nut grower rather takes revenge on his friend
by locking the breadfruit grower’s family in a house which he then burns
down. He then has mice eat the remains of the burned bodies. When the
breadfruit grower Nzambi returns home and finds his whole family dead,
he is devastated.
Tata:
(N2) djíyɔ̀.
djíyɔ
sit.down
‘Sit down [Introductory words to a story]’
(N3) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí núù djì.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí núù djì.
so PN 1.DEM.PROX sit
‘So, there is this [person called] Nzambi.’
(N4) nzàmbí djìlɛ́ mà.

nzàmbí djìlɛ-H mà
PN sit-R COMPL[Kwasio]
499
‘Nzambi is already there.’
Aminu to cameraman:
(N5) wɛ̀ nzíí bàlɛ̀ bébãã́ .̀

wɛ nzíi-H bàlɛ H-be-bãã́ ̀
2S PROG-PRES keep OBJ.LINK-be8-word
Tata:
(N6) wɛ̀ nzíí bàlɛ̀ mpà.

wɛ nzíi-H bàlɛ mpà
2S PROG-PRES keep good
‘You are keeping [the words] well.’
(N7) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí núù djì.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí núù djì
so PN 1.DEM.PROX sit
‘So there is this [person called] Nzambi.’
Aminu:
(N8) bwáá lã́ bɔ̂!

bwáa-H lã-H bɔ̂
2P-PRES tell-R 2.OBJ
‘You tell them!’
Tata:
(N9) nzàmbí djĩĩ́ ̀ à lwɔ́ mɔ̀ kwádó,

nzàmbí djĩĩ́ ̀ a lwɔ̂-H mɔ̀ kwádó
PN sit.COMPL 1S.PST build-R COMPL ∅7.village
‘Nzambi is there, he has already built a village,’
(N10) bá nà mùdã̂ wɛ̂.

bá nà m-ùdã̂ w-ɛ̂
2 COM 1-woman 1-3S.POSS
‘they [= him] and his wife.’
(N11) bànzàmbí bábáà,

ba-nzàmbí bá-báà,
ba2-PN 2-two
‘Two Nzambis,’
500
(N12) nɔ́gá gyãã́ ̀ nkɛ̀ nɔ́gá gyãã́ ̀ mbyɛ̂.

nɔ́-gá gyãã́ ̀ nkɛ̀ nɔ́-gá gyãã́ ̀ mbyɛ̂
1-other ∅1.side ∅3.low 1-other ∅1.side ∅3.high
‘one down-stream, the other up-stream.’
(N13) ɛ́ mpù bá kí nâ djíwɔ́ mbyɛ̂ nà djíwɔ́

ɛ́ mpù ba-H ki-H nâ djíwɔ́ mbyɛ̂ nà djíwɔ́
LOC like.this 2-PRES say-R COMP ∅7.river ∅3.high COM ∅7.river
nkɛ̀.
nkɛ̀.
∅3.low
‘Like this they say that up the river and down the river.’
(N14) yɔ́ɔ ̀ bànzàmbí bá tè bá djì.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-nzàmbí bá tè ba-H djì
so ba2-PN 2:ATT there 2-PRES sit
‘So the Nzambis there sit [are settled].’
(N15) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nɔ́gá núù bɛ́ nzàmbí wà gyí?

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nɔ́-gá núù bɛ̀-H nzàmbí wà gyí?
so PN 1-other 1.PST2 be-R PN 1:ATT what
‘So this other Nzambi was which Nzambi?’
(N16) mɛ́ líβɛ̀lɛ̀, nzàmbí wà lèlɛ́ndí.

mɛ-H líβɛlɛ nzàmbí wà le-lɛ́ndí.
1S-PRES show PN 1:ATT le5-palm.tree
‘I show [gesture], the Nzambi of the palm tree.’
(N17) nɔ́nɛ́gá nyɛ̀gà,

nɔ́-nɛ́gá nyɛ̀-gà
1-other 1-CONTR
‘The other one,’
(N18) wà lè-bɔ́ɔ.̀
wà le-bɔ́ɔ.̀
1:ATT le5-breadfruit.tree
‘the one of the breadfruit tree.’
(N19) yɔ́ɔ ̀ bànzàmbí bá tè bà bwàá sɔ́,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-nzàmbí bá tè ba bwàa-H sɔ́,
so 2-PN 2:ATT there 2.PST1 become-R ∅1.friend
‘So, the Nzambis there became friends,’
501
(N20) nâ bá djíì,
nâ ba-H djíì
COMP 2-PRES sit.SBJV
‘so that they stay,’
(N21) ɛ́ nû pɛ̀ ɛ́ nû pɛ̀.

ɛ́ nû pɛ̀ ɛ́ nû pɛ̀
LOC 1.DEM.PROX there LOC 1.DEM.PROX there
‘one there and one there.’
(N22) bànzàmbí bá tè bá djìlɛ́ mà.

ba-nzàmbí bá tè ba-H djìlɛ-H mà
2-PN 2:ATT there 2-PRES sit-R COMPL[Kwasio]
‘The Nzambis there live there already.’
(N23) yɔ́ɔ ̀ bá kí nâ ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀!

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-H ki-H nâ ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀!
so 2-PRES say-R COMP EXCL
‘So they say that [EXCL of surprise]!’
(N24) mwánɔ̀ wɛ̂ mùdã̂ wà nû.

m-wánɔ̀ w-ɛ̂ m-ùdã̂ wà nû.
N1-child 1-POSS.3S N1-woman 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
‘His child [is] the wife of this one [pointing to imaginary breadfruit
Nzambi].’
(N25) à bwãã̀ .̀
a bwãã̀ .̀
1.PST1 give.birth
‘She has given birth.’
(N26) nyɛ̀gà váà nyɛ̀gá tsíyɛ́ sâ nà màlɛ́ndí,

nyɛ-gà váà nyɛ-gá tsíyɛ́ sâ nà ma-lɛ́ndí,
ma-lɛ́ndí máà mɔ́-gà.
(N27) má dvúmɔ́lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû,

ma-H dvúmɔ́-lɛ́ mbvú mbì mbvû
6-PRES produce-NEG ∅3.year like[Kwasio] ∅3.year
‘They don’t produce [fruit] every year,’
502
(N28) màlɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè mímpìndí.

ma-lɛ́ndí máà vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kwè H-mi-mpìndí
ma6-palm.tree 6.DEM.PROX only fall OBJ.LINK-mi4-non.ripe
‘these palm trees only falling non-ripe [fruit].’
(N29) nzàmbí à bwãã̀ ́ mwánɔ̀.

nzàmbí a ̀
bwãã-H m-wánɔ̀
PN 1.PST1 give.birth-R N1-child
‘Nzambi has given birth to a child.’
(N30) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nyɛ̀gà à kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ dígɛ̀ mísì.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí nyɛ-gà a ́
kɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ dígɛ m-ísì
so PN 1-too 1.PST1 go.COMPL watch ma6-eye
‘So this Nzambi has gone and watched with his eyes [= was think-
ing].’
(N31) nyɛ̀ nâ ooh mùdã,̂

nyɛ nâ ooh m-ùdã̂
1 COMP EXCL N1-woman
‘He: ‘Oh, wife,”
(N32) bàmbɛ́, kɛ̂ djíì mbúmbù mwánɔ̀ sá yí dè,

bàmbɛ́ kɛ̂ djíì mbúmbù m-wánɔ̀ sá yí dè
sorry go.IMP ask ∅1.namesake N1-child ∅7.thing 7:ATT eat
‘excuse me, go and ask the homonym [the other Nzambi] for a little
to eat,’
(N33) ɛ́ pɛ̀ nâ á njíyɛ̀ mɛ̀ nà yɔ̂.

ɛ́ pɛ̀ nâ a-H njíyɛ mɛ̀ nà yɔ̂
LOC there COMP 1-PRES come.SBJV 1S.OBJ COM 7.OBJ
‘so that she bring me that [food].’
(N34) mɛ̀ múà wɛ̀ nà nzà.

(N35) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ nùù tè,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã ̂ nùù tè,
so N1-woman 1.COP there
‘So the woman is there [= leaves],’
503
(N36) kíyà mwánɔ̀ ndzɛ̀ŋgɔ̀,

kíya m-wánɔ̀ ndzɛ̀ŋgɔ̀
carry N1-child inclined
‘carry the child on her side [in contrast to on the back],’
(N37) nkwé nkô.

nkwé nkô.
∅3.basket ∅3.back
‘the basket on the back.’
(N38) ̀
wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ ́ gbĩm
wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ ɔ́ ́ gbĩm ̀
IDEO IDEO
‘[depiction of moving by foot or motorbike and imitating sound of
putting basket down]’
(N39) áh gyí wɛ́ lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ̀?

‘[Breadfruit Nzambi talking] Ah, what have you just come to look
for?’
(N40) nyɛ̀ náà mùdì wãã́ ,̀ mɛ̀ wɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nà nzà.

nyɛ náà m-ùdì w-ãã ́ ̀ mɛ wɛ̃ɛ ̃́ ̀ nà nzà.
1 COMP N1-person 1-POSS.1S 1S die.COMPL COM ∅9.hunger
‘She: ‘My person, I’m dead from hunger.”
(N41) nkɛ̀ nyì nzí sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bédéwò.

nkɛ̀ nyi nzí sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ H-be-déwò.
∅9.field 9 PROG.PST finish.COMPL OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘This field was already running out of food.’
(N42) bèdéwò béndɛ̀ byɔ̀ mɛ́ lɔ́ njì lɛ́bɛ̀lɛ̀ bédéwò

bà wɛ̀.
bà wɛ̀
AP 2S.OBJ
‘This food, I have come to look for the food at your place.’
(N43) náà ká wɛ̀ múà wáà vɔ́lɛ̀ mɛ̀...

náà ká wɛ múà wáà vɔ́lɛ mɛ̀
COMP if 2S PROSP 2S.FUT[Kwasio] help 1S.OBJ
‘If you can help me...’
504
(N44) nzà nyíì mɛ̀ mɔ̂.

nzà nyíì mɛ̀ mɔ̂
∅9.hunger 9.COP 1S.OBJ ∅3.stomach
‘Hunger is me in the stomach.’
(N45) nágyàlɛ́ wà mùdã.̂

nágyàlɛ́ wà m-ùdã̂
∅1.breastfeeding 1:ATT N1-woman
‘[I am a] breastfeeding woman.’
(N46) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ̀ sá yí dè.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ sá yí dè
so 1S-PRES RETRO come search ∅7.thing 7:ATT eat
‘So I just came to look for something to eat.’
(N47) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí á kí náà ɛ́ɛ,̀

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí a-H kì-H náà ɛ́ɛ ̀
so PN 1-PRES say-R COMP yes
‘So Nzambi says yes,’
(N48) bã́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè.

bã ́ y-ɔ́ɔ ̀ yíì tè
∅7.word 7-POSS.2S 7.COP there
‘Your speech is there [= I understand you].’
(N49) ndí vɛ̀dáà,

ndí vɛ̀dáà
but but[Bulu]
‘But still,’
(N50) yíì mùdà nlã.̂

yíì mùdà nlã̂
7.COP big ∅3.story
‘this is a big story.’
(N51) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí nâ bõ̀

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H nâ bõ̀
so PN say-R COMP good[French]
‘So Nzambi says ‘Good.”
(N52) mùdã̂ kɛ́ nà nyɛ̀ mánkɛ̃,̂

m-ùdã ̂ kɛ̀-H nà nyɛ̀ H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
n1-woman go-R COM 1 OBJ.LINK-ma6-field
‘The woman [his wife] shall go with him to the field,’
505
(N53) kánâ m̀ m̂ .
kánâ m̀ m̂
or no
‘or no.’
(N54) wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ pã́ lígɛ̀. yá nà nyɛ̀ yá kɛ́

wɛ ̂
mánkɛ̃.̂
H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
OBJ.LINK-6-field
(N55) yɔ́ɔ ̀ bá téé kɛ̀ndɛ̀,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ ba-H téè-H kɛ̀ndɛ̀
so 2-PRES start.walking-R ∅7.walk
‘So they go on the walk,’
(N56) bà mùdã̂ wà nû.

bà m-ùdã ̂ wà nû
AP N1-woman 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
‘they with this woman.’
(N57) wúɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ́ pámò mánkɛ̃,̂

wúɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ́ pámo H-ma-nkɛ̃̂
IDEO arrive OBJ.LINK-ma6-field
‘[depiction of moving] Having arrived in the fields,’
(N58) nzàmbí, màbɔ́ɔ ̀ nkwɛ́ɛ ̀ dé nâ vɔ́sì.

nzàmbí ma-bɔ́ɔ ̀ nkwɛ́ɛ ̀ dé nâ vɔ́sì
PN ma6-bread.fruit ∅3.basket LOC COMP IDEO
‘Nzambi, the bread fruits in the basket [depiction of pouring].’
(N59) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí á nɔ̀ɔ ́ mábɔ́ɔ ̀ má ndɛ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí a-H nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H H-ma-bɔ́ɔ ̀ má ndɛ̀
so PN 1-PRES take-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-bread.fruit 5:ATT ANA
‘So Nzambi takes those bread fruit.’
(N60) nyɛ̀ nâ bõ̀,

nyɛ nâ bõ̀
1 COMP good[French]
‘He says ‘Good,”
506
(N61) ɔ̀ múà gyɛ́sɔ̀ nâ wɛ́ kɛ̀.

ɔ múà gyɛ́sɔ nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀
2S[Kwasio] RETRO search COMP 2S-PRES go
‘you are about to want to leave.’
(N62) sílɛ̂ nà mɛ̀ kɛ̀ndɛ̀ vúdũ̂.

sílɛ̂ nà mɛ̀ kɛ̀ndɛ̀ vúdũ̂
finish.IMP COM 1S ∅7.time one
‘Finish with me one time [= in one go, immediately].’
(N63) mɛ̀ɛ ́ djílɛ́ wɛ̀ bvúbvû.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ djí-lɛ́ wɛ̀ bvúbvû
1S.PRES.NEG ask-NEG 2S.OBJ much
‘I don’t ask you for much.’
(N64) vɛ̂ mɛ̀ sâ mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ ̀ wà wɛ̀ bùdɛ́

nû.
nû
1:DEM.PROX
(N65) mɛ́ lígɛ́ nyɛ̂ dè,

‘I stay to eat it,’
(N66) nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀ máà.

nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀ máà
COM ma6-bread.fruit 6:DEM.PROX
‘with these bread fruit.’
(N67) wɛ́ nɔ̀ɔ ́ mábɔ́’ɔ̀ máà.

wɛ-H nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H H-ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀ máà
2S-PRES take-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-bread.fruit 6:DEM.PROX
‘You take these bread fruit.’
(N68) wɛ̀gà, wɛ́ kɛ́ nà mɔ̂.

wɛ-gà wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nà mɔ̂
2S-CONTR 2S-PRES go-R COM 6.OBJ
‘As of you, you take them [= the bread fruit] away.’
507
(N69) mɛ̀gà, mɛ́ lígɛ́ dè mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ,̀

mɛ-gà mɛ-H lígɛ-H dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀
1-CONTR 1S-PRES stay-R eat ma1-child 1-POSS.2S
‘As of me, I stay and eat your child,’
(N70) nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀.
nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
COM ma6-bread.fruit
‘with bread fruit.’
(N71) sílɛ̀!
sílɛ
finish
‘That’s it!’
(N72) ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀ mùdã̂ à gyɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ à gyɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ ah

ɛ́ɛḱ ɛ̀ m-ùdã̂ a gyɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ a gyɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ ah
EXCL N1-woman 1.PST1 cry.COMPL 1.PST1 cry.COMPL EXCL
mùdì wãã́ ̀ wɛ́ sá mɛ̂ ná?
m-ùdì w-ãã ́ ̀ wɛ-H sâ-H mɛ̂ ná
N1-person 1-POSS.1S 2S-PRES do-R 1S.OBJ how
‘Oh, the woman cries and cries; ah, my person, what do you do to
me?’
(N73) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí náà mɛ̀ bwàá wɛ̀ tʃíyɛ̀ lèkɛ́lɛ̀

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H náà mɛ bwàà-H wɛ̀ tʃíyɛ le-kɛ́lɛ̀
so PN say-R COMP 1S.PST1 PRF-R 2S.OBJ cut le5-speech
dẽ ́ nâ mɛ́ lígɛ́ dè mwánɔ̀ wɔ́ɔ,̀
dẽ ́ nâ mɛ-H lígɛ-H dè m-wánɔ̀ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀
today COMP 1S-PRES stay-R eat N1-child 1-POSS.2S
‘So Nzambi says ‘I have cut your word today’ [= I’m not listening
to you] ‘I stay and eat your child’,’
(N74) nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀,
nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
COM ma6-bread.fruit
‘with bread fruit.’
(N75) lèkáà lé tè’ètè yá mwánɔ̀ yíì,

le-káà lé tè’ètè yá m-wánɔ̀ yíì
le5-kind 5:ATT ∅7.tenderness 7:ATT N1-child 7.DEM.PROX
‘The kind of this tenderness of the child,’
508
(N76) yíì mpà yɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ wɛ́ kã́ yɔ̀ dúmbɔ́.

‘is good when you wrap it in a (leaf) package.’
(N77) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ yɔ̂ dè.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ yɔ̂ dè
1S.FUT 7.OBJ eat
‘I will eat it.’
(N78) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí náà bõ̀,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H náà bõ̀
so PN say COMP good[French]
‘So Nzambi says ‘Good’,’
(N79) ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ́lɛ́ ndáà,

ká wɛ̀ɛ ́ wúmbɛ-lɛ́ ndáà
if 2S.PRES.NEG want-NEG also
‘if you don’t want [this] either,’
(N80) mɛ́ nɔ̀ɔ ́ nkwɛ̂ wá mábɔ́’ɔ̀.

mɛ-H nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H nkwɛ̂ wá H-ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
1S-PRES take-R ∅3.basket 3:ATT OBJ.LINK-ma6-bread.fruit
‘I take the basket with the bread fruit.’
(N81) wɛ́ kɛ́ wɛ̀ nà nzà nyɔ́ɔ ̀ ɛ́ pɛ̀, wɛ́

wɛ-H kɛ̀-H wɛ̀ nà nzà ny-ɔ́ɔ ̀ ɛ́ pɛ̀, wɛ-H
2S-PRES go-R die COM ∅9.hunger 9-POSS.2S LOC there 2S-PRES
kɛ́ wɛ̀ nà nyɔ́ɔ.̀
kɛ̀-H wɛ̀ nà ny-ɔ́ɔ ̀
go-R die COM 9-OBJ
‘Your are going to die of your hunger there, you are going to die of
it.’
(N82) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ dígɛ́ mísì ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ .́

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã̂ dígɛ-H m-ísì ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ ́
so N1-woman watch-R ma6-eye IDEO
‘So the woman looks with her eyes [ideophone for staring].’
(N83) nyɛ̀ nâ tɔ̀sâ!

nyɛ nâ tɔ̀sâ
1 COMP nothing
‘She [says]: no!’
509
(N84) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ tɔ́kɛ́ mwánɔ̀ kàlànɛ̀ nyɛ̂.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã̂ tɔ́kɛ-H m-wánɔ̀ kàlanɛ nyɛ̂
so N1-woman collect-R N1-child hand.over 1.OBJ
‘So the woman picks up the child, hands it over to him.’
(N85) nzàmbí nyɛ̀ nâ ŋkɛ̀.

nzàmbí nyɛ nâ ŋkɛ̀
PN 1 COMP go.HORT
‘Nzambi [says]: Let’s go.’
(N86) wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ́ bɔ́ pámò.

wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ́ bɔ-H pámo
IDEO 2-PRES[Kwasio] arrive
‘[depiction of motor sound] They arrive.’
(N87) nzàmbí nyɛ̀ nâ ɛ́ mùdã̂ wã,̂

nzàmbí nyɛ nâ ɛ́ m-ùdã̂ w-ã̂
PN 1 COMP LOC N1-woman 1-POSS.1S
‘Nzambi [says]: My woman,’
(N88) mwánɔ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ nyɛ̀ nû.

m-wánɔ̀ w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ nyɛ nû
N1-child 1-POSS.3S 1 1.DEM.PROX
‘her child is this.’
(N89) mɛ́ lɔ́ nɔ́ɔ ̀ mwánɔ̀ púù yá mábɔ́’ɔ̀

mâ.
mâ
6.DEM.PROX
(N90) kálɛ̀ mɛ̀ báà kì nâ bá dúù bɛ̀ bédéwɔ̀.

(N91) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mùdã̂ nú kɛ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ m-ùdã ̂ nû-H kɛ̀
so N1-woman 1-PRES go
‘So the woman goes.’
510
(N92) ndɛ̀náà pámò lébũ̂, àá gyì.

ndɛ̀náà pámo H-le-bũ̂ àá gyì
(N93) àá gyì, àá gyì, dyúmò njì nyɛ̂ nɔ̀ɔ.̀

àá gyì, àá gyì, dyúmò njì nyɛ̂ nɔ̀ɔ ̀
1.INCH cry 1.INCH cry ∅1.spouse come 1.OBJ take
‘She’s at the beginning of crying, she’s at the beginning of crying,
the husband comes to fetch her.’
(N94) ɛ́ nà! mwánɔ̀ nùù vɛ́?

ɛ́ nà m-wánɔ̀ nùù vɛ́
LOC how N1-child 1.COP where
‘What! Where is the child?’
(N95) nyɛ̀ nâ sɔ́ wɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ ́ mɔ̀ mwánɔ̀.

nyɛ nâ sɔ́ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ-̀ H mɔ̀ m-wánɔ̀
1 COMP ∅1.friend 1-POSS.2S take-R COMPL 1-child
‘She [says] ‘Your friend has taken the child.”
(N96) à kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyɛ̂ dè.

a kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyɛ̂ dè
1.PST1 go.COMPL 1.OBJ eat
‘He has left to eat it.’
(N97) yɔ́ɔ ̀ á lɔ́ kì náà:

yɔ́ɔ ̀ a-H lɔ́ kì náà
so 1-PRES RETRO say COMP
‘So he just said that:’
(N98) ɛ́ mpù wɛ̀ɛ ́ gyáŋgyálɛ́ bédéwɔ̀.

ɛ́ mpù wɛ̀ɛ ́ gyáŋgya-lɛ́ H-be-déwɔ̀
LOC like.this 2S.PRES.NEG work-NEG OBJ.LINK-be8-food
‘Like this, you don’t work for your food.’
(N99) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ̀gá nɔ̀ɔ ̀ mwánɔ̀,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ-gá nɔ̀ɔ ̀ m-wánɔ̀
so 1-other take N1-child
‘So the other taking the child,’
511
(N100) á lígɛ́ nyɛ̂ dè,

a-H lígɛ-H nyɛ̂ dè
1-PRES stay-R 1.OBJ eat
‘he stays to eat it,’
(N101) nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀ mɛ́ɛ.̀

nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀ m-ɛ́ɛ ̀
COM ma6-bread.fruit 6-POSS.3S
‘with his bread fruit.’
(N102) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû kɛ́ dígɛ̀ mpù nâ kɛ́!

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû kɛ̀-H dígɛ mpù nâ kɛ́
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX go-R look like.this COMP EXCL
‘So this Nzambi goes and looks like this: ‘Ey!”
(N103) mbúmbù wã̂ wɛ́ kúmbɔ́ mɛ̂ sá

mbúmbù w-ã ̂ wɛ-H kúmbɔ-H mɛ̂ sá
∅1.namesake 1-POSS.1S 2S-PRES arrange-R 1S.OBJ ∅7.thing
mpù.
mpù
like.this
‘My namesake, you really do this to me.’
(N104) ɛ́ mwánɔ̀ wɑ̃̂ dyúwɔ̀.

ɛ́ m-wánɔ̀ w-ɑ̃̂ dyúwɔ̀
EXCL N1-child 1-POSS.1S on
‘Hey, about my child!’
(N105) [clicking] yɔ́ɔ ̀ wà núndɛ̀ dígɛ́ mísì,

[clicking] yɔ́ɔ ̀ wà nú-ndɛ̀ dígɛ-H m-ísì
[clicking] so 1:ATT 1.DEM-ANA look-R ma6-eye
‘[sound of disappreciation] So this one looks with his eyes,’
(N106) ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ ẽ́ ́ nyɛ̀ nâ tɔ̀sâ!

ndẽẽ́ ẽ́ ẽ́ ́ nyɛ nâ tɔ̀sâ
IDEO 1 COMP nothing
‘[depiction of staring] He [says]: No!’
(N107) yíì pẽ’̀ ẽ ̀ nyà mwánɔ̀ mùdũ̂, mɛ́ pãã́ ́

yíì pẽ’̀ ẽ ̀ nyà m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdũ̂ mɛ-H pãã́ -̀ H
7.COP ∅9.memory 9:ATT N1-child N1-male 1S-PRES start-H
ná nyɔ̂ vɛ̀.
ná nyɔ̂ vɛ̀
again 9.OBJ give
512
‘This is the memory of a boy [= talks about himself], I first give it

[to him]. [= pay the other Nzambi back]’
(N108) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nyî.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nyî
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.DIST enter
‘So that Nzambi comes in.’
(N109) bóŋ
bóŋ
good[French]
‘Good.’
(N110) mɛ́ lámbó nzàmbí wà nû,

mɛ-H lámbo-H nzàmbí wà nû
1S-PRES trap-R PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
‘I trap this Nzambi,’
(N111) nà mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ lèmbò ɛ́ mpù à bùdɛ́ mɛ̂.

nà mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H lèmbo ɛ́ mpù a bùdɛ-H mɛ̂
COM 1S-PRES want-R know LOC like.this 1 have-R 1S.OBJ
‘and I want to know like this how he takes me (what he thinks of
this story).’
(N112) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bwãs̀ à, nyɛ̀ nâ:

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû ́
kɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ bwãs̀ a nyɛ nâ
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX go.COMPL think 1 COMP
‘So this Nzambi has gone to think, he [says]:’
(N113) sá mɛ́dɛ́ mɛ̀ nzí sâ yî.

sá mɛ́dɛ́ mɛ nzí sâ yî
∅7.thing self 1S PROG.PST do 7.OBJ
‘The thing itself, I was doing it [= by sending his wife].’
(N114) mɛ́ pã́ ná kɛ̀ dígɛ̀ mùdì wà nû

mɛ-H ̂
pã-H ná kɛ̀ dígɛ m-ùdì wà nû
1S-PRES start-H again go see N1-person 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
ɛ́ pɛ́ɛ.́
ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́
LOC over.there.DIST
‘I try again and go see this person over there.’
513
(N115) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí njí mpù bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ,̂ njì dígɛ̀ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí njî-H mpù bãã̂ ã̂ ã̂ ̂ njì dígɛ mpù
so PN come-R like.this IDEO come look like.this
(N116) nyɛ̀ nâ kɛ́ɛɛ́ ɛ́ !́

nyɛ nâ kɛ́ɛɛ́ ɛ́ ́
1 COMP EXCL
‘He [says]: What!’
(N117) mbúmbù!
mbúmbù
∅1.namesake
‘Namesake!’
(N118) mɛ́ lɔ́ njì bàgyɛ̃̂ bà wɛ̂.

mɛ-H lɔ́ njì ba-gyɛ̃ ̂ bà wɛ̂
1S-PRES RETRO come ba2-stranger AP 2S
(N119) ndíííí,
ndí
but
‘But...’
(N120) ndjìmɔ̀ wá sá ndjìníì.

ndjìmɔ̀ wá sá ndjìníì
∅3.entire 3:ATT ∅7.thing different
‘the whole thing is different.’
(N121) mɛ́ lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ̀ bà wɛ̂.

mɛ-H lɔ́ njì gyɛ́sɔ bà wɛ̂
1S-PRES RETRO come search AP 2S
‘I just came to search at your’s.’
(N122) ɛ́ɛɛ́ ́ nzàmbí kí nâ ɛ́ɛ,́

ɛ́ɛɛ́ ́ nzàmbí kì-H nâ ɛ́ɛ ́
EXCL PN say-R COMP yes
‘Hey, Nzambi says: ‘Yes,”
(N123) bèsá bíndɛ̀ byɛ́sɛ̀ béè ndáà.

be8-thing 8-ANA 8-all 8.COP also
‘All these things are there also. [= way of introducing a problem]’
514
(N124) bèsá bíndɛ̀ byɛ́sɛ̀ béè ndáà.

be8-thing 8-ANA 8-all 8.COP also
‘All these things are also there [= way of introducing a problem]’
(N125) ndí mɛ̀ɛ ́ sálɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù ndí vɛ̀dáà

ndí mɛ̀ɛ ́ sâ-lɛ́ wɛ̂ bvùbvù ndí vɛ̀dáà
but 1S.PRES.NEG do-NEG 2S.OBJ much but but[Bulu]
mɛ́ dyúwɔ́ nâ,
mɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ
1S-PRES understand-R COMP
‘But I don’t do you a lot, but I understand that,’
(N126) wɛ́ɛ ̀ dé mwánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ?̀

wɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H m-wánɔ̀, nɔ́ɔ ̀
2.PST2 eat-R N1-child no
‘you have eaten the child, didn’t you?’
(N127) nyɛ̀ nâ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dé pɔ́nɛ́ nà màbɔ́’ɔ̀.

nyɛ nâ mɛ́ɛ ̀ dè-H pɔ́nɛ́ nà ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀
1 COMP 1S.PST2 eat-R ∅7.truth COM ma6-bread.fruit
‘He [says]: I really ate [it] with bread fruit.’
(N128) mɛ̀gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ dyúwɔ́ nzãã́ ̀ dúwɔ̀ lé tè.

mɛ-gà mɛ́ɛ ̀ dyúwɔ-H nzãã́ ̀ d-úwɔ̀ lé tè
‘As of me, I felt appetite that day.’
(N129) mɛ̀ kí bɛ̀ nà tsídí.

1S.PST1 NEG[Kwasio] be COM ∅1.meat
‘I didn’t have any meat.’
(N130) á kfùmálá mpù, nzàmbí lúndɛ́lɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ ɛ́ mpù.

a-H kfùmala-H mpù ́ ̀
nzàmbí lúndɛ́lɛ̃ɛ ̃ ɛ́ mpù
1-PRES find-R like.this PN fill.COMPL LOC like.this
‘He finds [it = inside the house] like this, Nzambi has filled [it =
the house] like this.’
(N131) kɛ́ mbúmbù, bwánɔ̀ bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ kɛ̀ vɛ́?

kɛ́ mbúmbù b-wánɔ̀ ba ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ kɛ̀ vɛ́
EXCL ∅1.namesake ba2-child 2.PST1 finish.COMPL go where
‘Ey namesake, where have all the children gone to?’
515
(N132) nyɛ̀ nâ kɛ́ɛ ̀ bwánɔ̀ bã,̊ mɛ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bɔ̂

nyɛ nâ kɛ́ɛ ̀ b-wánɔ̀ b-ã̊ mɛ sílɛ̃ɛ ̃̀ bɔ̂
1 COMP EXCL ba2-child 2-POSS.1S 1S finish.COMPL 2.OBJ
dyùù.
dyùù
kill
‘He [says]: Ha, my children, I have already killed them all.’
(N133) ŋgáà, wɛ́ nyɛ́ mpù?

ŋgáà, wɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mpù
Q(tag) 2S-PRES see-R like.this
‘Right, you see that?’
(N134) bèkɔ́kɔ́ bé nlô bé tè,

be-kɔ́kɔ́ bé nlô bé tè
be8-hollowness 8:ATT ∅3.head 8:ATT there
‘The skulls there,’
(N135) béè tè,

béè tè
8.COP there
‘are there,’
(N136) mìnlô mí bákímì.

mi-nlô mí ba-kímì
mi4-head 4:ATT ba2-monkey
‘monkey heads.’
(N137) kó mbúmbù, nyɛ̀ nzí lèmbò dyùù bɔ̂ fàmíì

kó mbúmbù nyɛ nzí lèmbo dyùù bɔ̂ fàmíì
EXCL ∅1.namesake 1.PST1 PROG know kill 2.OBJ ∅1.family
bá bùdì ná?
bá b-ùdì ná
2:ATT ba2-person how
‘Oh namesake, how could he kill them, the family of people?’
(N138) nyɛ̀ nâ ó,
nyɛ nâ ó
1 COMP EXCL
‘He [says]: ‘Oh,”
(N139) mbúmbù!
mbúmbù
∅1.namesake
‘Namesake!’
516
(N140) ɛ́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ wà mwánɔ̀ mùdũ̂ sá màmbò má

ɛ́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ wà m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdũ̂ sâ-H m-àmbò má
LOC so 2S[Bulu] N1-child N1-man do-R ma6-thing 6:ATT
mwánɔ̀ mùdũ̂.
m-wánɔ̀ m-ùdũ̂
N1-child N1-man
‘So you boy do boy things.’
(N141) mɛ̀ nzí wúmbɛ̀ nâ bwánɔ̀ bã̂ bá

mɛ nzí wúmbɛ nâ b-wánɔ̀ b-ã̂ ba-H
1S.PST1 PROG want COMP ba2-child 2-POSS.1S 2-PRES
bwámóò ɛ́ mpù mìntáŋgánɛ́ békúdɛ́
bwámóò ɛ́ mpù mi-ntáŋgánɛ́ H-be-kúdɛ́
become.SBJV LOC like.this mi4-white.person OBJ.LINK-be8-skin
bé mpâ.
bé mpâ
8:ATT good
‘I have been wanting my children to get like the white people good
skin.’
(N142) nzàmbí kí nâ bon,

nzàmbí kì-H nâ bon
PN say-R COMP good[French]
‘Nzambi says: ‘Good,”
(N143) mɛ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀.

mɛ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
1S.PST1 understand-R COMPL
(N144) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí nâ bon mɛ̀ nìyɛ́ mɔ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H nâ bon mɛ nìyɛ-H mɔ̀
so PN say-R COMP good[French] 1S.PST1 return-H COMPL
‘So Nzambi says: Good, I am returning home.’
(N145) nyɛ̀ nâ mbúmbù, nlâ wùú gyálɛ́.

nyɛ nâ mbúmbù nlâ wùú gyà-lɛ́
1 COMP N1-namesake ∅3.story 3.PRES.NEG be.long-NEG
‘He [says]: ‘Namesake, the story isn’t long. [= it is easy]”
517
(N146) sílɛ̂ dyùù fàmí wɔ́ɔ ̀ wà bùdì, wɛ̀ɛ ̀

sílɛ̂ dyùù fàmí w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ wà b-ùdì wɛ̀ɛ ̀
finish.IMP kill ∅1.family 1-POSS.2S 1:ATT ba2-person 2S.FUT
nyɛ̂.
nyɛ̂
see
‘Kill your whole family of people, you will see.’
(N147) bwánɔ̀ bɔ́ɔ ̀ báà bwámò míntáŋgánɛ́.
b-wánɔ̀ b-ɔ́ɔ ̀ báà bwámo H-mi-ntáŋgánɛ́
ba2-child 2-POSS.2S 2.FUT become OBJ.LINK-mi4-white.person
‘Your children will become white people.’
(N148) gyí mɛ́dɛ́ wɛ́ kɛ́ nà vũ̀ũ̀ wɛ̂?
gyí mɛ́dɛ́ wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nà vũ̀ũ̀ wɛ̂
what self 2S-PRES go-R COM worry there
‘What do you go and worry about there?’
(N149) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nìyɛ̀.
yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà núú nìyɛ
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.DIST return
‘So that Nzambi returns [home].’
(N150) ɛ́kɛ̀! nzàmbí wà nú áà sàlɛ́ bɛ̀ nà
bã̂ líná-á pámò.
bã̂ líná a-H pámo
(N151) nyɛ̀ nâ álè.
nyɛ nâ álè
1 COMP allez[French]
‘He [says]: Allez! [= Ok].’
(N152) nyáà ŋgà, sílɛ́ nyî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù.
(N153) sílɛ̂ ŋgà nyî vâ.
sílɛ̂ ŋgà nyî vâ
finish.IMP PL enter here
‘Enter all here.’
518
(N154) á lúndɛ́lɛ́ bɔ̂ lèkàá lé ndáwɔ̀ nyî

a-H lúndɛlɛ-H bɔ̂ le-kàá lé ndáwɔ̀ nyî
1-PRES fill-R 2.OBJ le5-kind 5:ATT ∅9.house 9.DEM.PROX
nâ bɛ́ɛ ̀ vyâ.
nâ bɛ́ɛ ̀ vyâ
COMP be.SBJV full
‘He fills them in this kind of house that it [house] be full.’
(N155) áà sílɛ́ kɛ̀ nà dvùwɔ́ dyúwɔ̀,

(N156) nâ tã.̂
nâ tã̂
COMP tight
‘tight.’
(N157) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí dígɛ́ mísì ɛ́ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí dígɛ-H m-ísì ɛ́ mpù
so PN look-R ma6-eye LOC like.this
‘So Nzambi looks with the eyes like this.’
(N158) nzá nzíí mɛ̂ nyɛ̂?

(N159) ah mbúmbù, wɛ̀ wɛ́ tɛ́lɛ́ núndɛ̀?

ah mbúmbù wɛ wɛ-H tɛ́lɛ-H nú-ndɛ̀
EXCL ∅1.namesake 2S 2S-PRES stand-R 1-ANA
‘Ah namesake, is it you who is standing there?’
(N160) nyàá djìwɔ̀ djìwɔ̀ djìwɔ̀ wɛ̀!

nyàà-H djìwɔ djìwɔ djìwɔ wɛ
shit-R close close close 2S
‘Shit, close, close, close you!’
(N161) nà mùdã̂ wɔ́ɔ,̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ bɛ́sɛ̀ báà tù wû.

nà m-ùdã̂ w-ɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ́ɛ ̀ b-ɛ́sɛ̀ báà tù wû
COM N1-woman 1-POSS.2S EXCL 2-all 2.COP inside there
‘And your wife, so all are inside there.’
519
(N162) lígɛ̀ sâ nzàmbí nyɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́.

lígɛ sâ nzàmbí nyɛ mɛ́dɛ́
stay only PN 1 self
‘Only Nzambi himself stays [outside].’
(N163) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí sá mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí sâ-H mpù
so PN do-R like.this
‘So Nzambi does like this.’
(N164) à kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ à dígɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀

a kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyî pɛ̀ dyúwɔ̀ a dígɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
1.PST1 go.COMPL enter there on.top 1.PST1 watch.COMPL
à díg-â dígɛ̃ɛ́ .̃̀
a dígɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ a dígɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
1.PST1 watch.COMPL 1.PST1 watch.COMPL
‘He went inside there on top and watched and watched and watched.’
(N165) kì nâ nzá nyɛ́ mɛ̂?

kì nâ nzá nyɛ̂-H mɛ̂
say COMP who see-R 1S.OBJ
‘[He] says: ‘Who sees me?”
(N166) yá nyɛ́-lɛ́, yá nyɛ́-lɛ́ wɔ́ɔ.̀

ya-H nyɛ́-lɛ́, ya-H nyɛ́-lɛ́ wɔ́ɔ ̀
1P-PRES see-NEG 1P-PRES see-NEG 2S.OBJ[Kwasio]
‘We don’t see, we don’t see you.’
(N167) nyɛ̀ nâ àwâ.

nyɛ nâ àwâ
1 COMP thanks
‘He: ‘Thanks.”
(N168) nyàá sùbɔ̀ èsãŝ ɛ́ dyúwɔ̀.

nyàá sùbɔ èsãŝ ɛ́ dyúwɔ̀
1.INCH pour ∅1.fuel LOC ∅7.top
‘He starts pouring fuel on top.’
(N169) wùùùù wùùùù.

wùùùù wùùùù
IDEO IDEO
‘[depiction of pouring].’
520
(N170) àlé,
àlé
allez[French]
‘Allez [= Ok],’
(N171) kɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ ̀ brìkɛ̂ wɛ̂,

kɔ́ɔ ̀ nɔ̀ɔ ̀ brìkɛ̂ w-ɛ̂
SEQU take ∅1.lighter[French] 1-POSS.3S
‘then takes his lighter,’
(N172) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ̀.

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ bɛ́dɛ
only light
‘just light [the house].’
(N173) tèèè uf.

tèèè uf
IDEO IDEO
‘[depiction of waiting and then the flame].’
(N174) mùdì kí tàtɔ̀ wúó!

m-ùdì kí tàtɔ wú-o-H
N1-person NEG scream there-VOC-DIST
‘Nobody scream over there!’
(N175) áá nyáò, áá táò!

áá nyá-ò, áá tá-ò
EXCL N1-mother-VOC EXCL N1-father-VOC
‘Oh mother, oh father!’
(N176) nâ wɔ̀m, mùdì núú djí nâ wɔ̀m.

nâ wɔ̀m m-ùdì núú djì-H nâ wɔ̀m
COMP IDEO N1-person 1.DEM.DIST stay-R COMP IDEO
‘Be there silence, that person stay silent.’
(N177) màà mâ...

m-àà mâ
ma6-thing 6.DEM.PROX
‘These things...’
(N178) ɛ́ mùdì nɔ́gá núù lígɛ́ vâ?

ɛ́ m-ùdì nɔ́-gá núù lígɛ-H vâ
LOC N1-person 1-other 1.DEM.PROX stay-R here
‘Is there any person left here?’
521
(N179) lèkfúdɛ̀!
le-kfúdɛ̀
le5-idiot
‘Idiot!’
(N180) à bwàá yɛ́ɛ ́ kɛ́ djì mpù.

1 PRF-R then? go-R stay like.this
‘He [the other Nzambi] has gone and stood like this. [Il est depuis
allé rester comme ça.]’
(N181) nyɛ̀ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ wû.

nyɛ nâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ̀-lɛ wû
1 COMP 1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG there
‘He: ‘I’m not there.”
Nze:
(N182) yà!
yà
yes
‘Yes!’
Tata:
(N183) mìntáŋgánɛ́ mí múà vìdɛ̀gà dé.

mi-ntáŋgánɛ́ mi-H múà vìdɛga dé
mi4-white.person 4-PRES PROSP turn LOC
‘They are about to turn into white people.’
(N184) bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ,̃̀

bon, mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
OK[French] ∅7.generation finish.COMPL
‘OK, the generation has been wiped out,’
(N185) nà béè bànáyɛ̂yɛ̂.

nà béè ba-náyɛ̂yɛ̂
COM 2P.COP 2-bleached.out
‘and you are bleached out [= white].’
(N186) ɛ́ mpù mbúmbù núú láá mɛ̂ nâ,

ɛ́ mpù mbúmbù núú láà-H mɛ̂ nâ
LOC like.this ∅1.namesake 1.DEM.DIST tell-R 1S.OBJ COMP
‘Like this, that namesake tells me that,’
522
(N187) báà sâ nâ lèfû lèvúdũ̂,

báà sâ nâ le-fû lè-vúdũ̂
2.FUT do COMP le5-day 5-one
‘They will make that one day,’
(N188) báà dyâ wû.

báà dyâ wû
2.FUT sleep there
‘they will sleep there.’
(N189) wɛ́ dyúwɔ́ mpù bàmìntùlɛ̀ bɔ́gá bá tsígɛ̀

wɛ-H dyúwɔ-H mpù ba-mìntùlɛ̀ bɔ́-gá ba-H tsígɛ
2S-PRES hear-R like.this ba2-mouse 2-other 2-PRES take.off
tsùk tsùk tsùk.
tsùk tsùk tsùk
IDEO IDEO IDEO
‘You hear like this the other mice take off [depiction of noise of
mice].’
(N190) àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè, nàmɛ́nɔ́.

àà nàmɛ́nɔ́ bwáà dè nàmɛ́nɔ́
(N191) bwáà pãã́ ̀ ŋgâ dyà nà pówàlà wû.

bwáà pãã́ ̀ ŋgâ dyà nà pówàlà wû
2P.FUT start PL sleep COM ∅7.calm there
‘You (pl.) will first sleep quietly there.’
(N192) bé dúú vũ̀ũ̀.

be-H dúù-H vũ̀ũ̀
2P-PRES must.not-R worry
‘Don’t worry.’
(N193) bèdéwɔ̀ bínɛ́, mɛ̀ nzíí byɔ̂ gyámbɔ̀.

be-déwɔ̀ b-ínɛ́ mɛ nzíí byɔ̂ gyámbɔ̀
be8-food 8-POSS.2P 1S PROG.PRES 8.OBJ prepare
‘Your food, I am preparing it.’
Nze:
(N194) yééééé!
yééééé
EXCL
‘[sound of disappreciation]!’
523
Tata:
(N195) wùf wùf.

wùf wùf
IDEO IDEO
‘[depiction of sound when mice are walking].’
(N196) bàmìntùlɛ̀ bá lèmbó nâ màmbò má bvùlɛ́.

ba-mìntùlɛ̀ ba-H lèmbo-H nâ m-àmbò má bvùlɛ́
ba2-mouse 2-PRES know-R COMP ma6-thing 6:ATT ∅8.night
‘The mice know that these are things of the night.’
(N197) bá múà gyɛ́sɔ̀ bédéwɔ̀ byáwɔ́.

ba-H múà gyɛ́sɔ H-be-déwɔ̀ by-áwɔ́
2-PRES PROSP search OBJ.LINK-be8-food 8-POSS.3P
‘They are about to look for their food.’
(N198) ùβù ùβù bàmìntùlɛ̀ báà wû.

ùβù ùβù ba-mìntùlɛ̀ báà wû
IDEO IDEO ba2-mouse 2.COP there
‘[depiction of sound of mice] The mice are there.’
(N199) nzàmbí nzí kàmbɔ̀.

nzàmbí nzí kàmbɔ
PN PROG.PST1 defend
‘Nzambi was defending [the house, in vain].’
(N200) àá bámálá tɔ́bá mpfùmɔ̀ nà pámò mɛ́nɔ́.

(N201) à tɛ́lɛ́ sâ dɛ́ndì témɔ́.

1.PST1 stand-R only le5-courtyard middle
(N202) mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̀ɛ ̀ nyɛ̂ nâ mbúmbù nzíí kì

mɛ́nɔ́ wɛ̀ɛ ̀ nyɛ̂ nâ mbúmbù nzíí kì
∅7.morning 2S.FUT see COMP ∅1.namesake PROG.PRES say
nâ,
nâ
COMP
‘In the morning you will see that namesake is saying that,’
524
(N203) bímbú lékàá lé wùlà yá Nadine lɔ́ sɛ́mbɔ̀

bímbú le-kàá lé wùlà yá Nadine lɔ́ sɛ́mbɔ
∅7.amount le5-kind 5:ATT ∅7.time 7:ATT PN RETRO arrive
vâ,
vâ
here
‘The amount of time that Nadine just arrived here, [= when Nadine
just arrived here]’
(N204) nzàmbí vɛ̀ɛk̀ ɛ́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mbɛ̀.

nzàmbí vɛ̀ɛk̀ ɛ́ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mbɛ̀
PN go[Bulu] open[Bulu] ∅3.door
‘Nzambi just goes open the door.’
Mambi:
(N205) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ kíŋgɛ̀lɛ̀ kíŋgɛ̀lɛ̀ kíŋgɛ̀lɛ̀.

vɛ̀ vɛ̀ vɛ̀ vɛ̀ kíŋgɛlɛ kíŋgɛlɛ kíŋgɛlɛ
only only only only become.stiff become.stiff become.stiff
‘Only, only, only, only stiff, stiff, stiff.’
Tata:
(N206) bènké’é.
be-nké’é
be8-scream
‘Screams.’
(N207) nzàmbí, nké’é yá nzàmbí núù vɛ̀ vâ.

nzàmbí nké’é yá nzàmbí núù vɛ̀ vâ
PN ∅7.scream 7:ATT PN 1.DEM.PROX give here
‘Nzambi, the scream that Nzambi gave here.’
(N208) à nzíí kìyà nké’é.

a nzíí kìya nké’é
1 PROG.PRES give ∅7.scream
‘He is screaming.’
(N209) ká á dígɛ́ nâ [gesture] á nyɛ́

ká a-H dígɛ-H nâ [gesture] a-H nyɛ̂-H
when 1-PRES look-R COMP [gesture] 1-PRES see-R
mbúmbù wɛ́ɛ ̀ á pámò.
mbúmbù w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ a-H pámo
∅1.namesake 1-POSS.3S 1-PRES arrive
‘When he looks like [gesture], he sees his namesake who arrives.’
525
Aminu:
(N210) mbúmbù wà lèbɔ́’ɔ̀.

mbúmbù wà le-bɔ́’ɔ̀
∅1.namesake 1:ATT le5-bread.fruit
‘The namesake of the bread fruit.’
Tata:
(N211) àá, à pámṍõ̀,

àá, a pámṍõ̀
EXCL 1.PST1 arrive.COMPL
‘Yes, he has arrived,’
(N212) wà màlɛ́ndí.
wà ma-lɛ́ndí
1:ATT ma6-palm.tree
‘of the palm trees.’
(N213) yɔ́ɔ ̀ á sɛ́mbɔ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ a-H sɛ́mbɔ
so 1-PRES arrive
‘So he arrives.’
(N214) mbúmbù ɛ́ ná?

mbúmbù ɛ́ ná
∅1.namesake LOC how
‘Namesake, how is it?’
(N215) mbúmbù lèbvúú léè nlémò dé.

mbúmbù le-bvúú léè nlémò dé
1n.namesake le5-anger 5.COP ∅3.heart LOC
‘The namesake is anger in the heart (he is angry).’
(N216) mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbòlɛ̀ bàsɔ̃́ bɔ́ɔ ̀ ɛ́ mpù

mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbo-lɛ̀ bà-sɔ̃ ́ b-ɔ́ɔ ̀ ɛ́ mpù
1S.PRES.NEG know-NEG ba2-father 2-POSS.2S LOC like.this
bâ.
bâ
2.COP
‘I don’t know how your fathers are.’
526
(N217) mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbòlɛ̀ ɛ́ mpù báà ndáwɔ̀ dé

mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbo-lɛ̀ ɛ́ mpù báà ndáwɔ̀ dé
1S.PRES.NEG know-NEG LOC like.this 2.COP ∅9.house LOC
tù dénè.
tù dénè
inside today[Bulu]
‘I don’t know how they are in the house today.’
Ada:
(N218) nâ wɛ̀ sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ nyàà dyùù mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ yá

nâ wɛ ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ nyàà dyùù mpɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ yá
COMP 2S.PST1 finish.COMPL shit kill ∅7.generation 7:ATT
bùdì!
b-ùdì
ba2-person
‘That you have completely killed a generation of people!’
Tata:
(N219) bá lɔ́ sâ ná?

ba-H lɔ́ sâ ná
2-PRES RETRO do how
‘How did they do [that]?’
(N220) bùdì bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù

b-ùdì ba ́
sílɛ̃ɛ ̃ ̀ mɛ̂ wɛ̀ ndáwɔ̀ tù
ba2-person 2.PST1 finish.COMPL 1S.OBJ die ∅9.house inside
vâ.
vâ
here
(N221) ɛ́ mpù wɛ̀ nzí mɛ̂ láà.

ɛ́ mpù wɛ nzí mɛ̂ láà
LOC like.this 2S PROG.PST1 1S.OBJ tell
‘You were telling me like this.’
(N222) kánâ mɛ̀ kɔ̀bɛ́ ndáà tsì,

kánâ mɛ kɔ̀bɛ-H ndáà tsì
or 1S.PST1 break-R also ∅7.interdiction
‘Or I also broke the interdiction,’
527
(N223) mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbólɛ́.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ lémbo-lɛ
1S.PRES.NEG know-NEG
‘I don’t know.’
(N224) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kí nâ mbúmbù,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí kì-H nâ mbúmbù
so PN say-R COMP ∅1.namesake
‘So Nzambi says: ‘Namesake’,’
(N225) djíì sí vâ.

djíì sí vâ
sit.IMP down here
‘sit down here.’
(N226) nóò!
nóò
EXCL
‘No!’
(N227) béè bùdì bá vúdũ̂ ndí bwáá gyɛ́sɔ́

béè b-ùdì bá vúdũ̂ ndí bwáa-H gyɛ́sɔ-H
2P.COP ba2-person 2:ATT one but 2P-PRES search-R
mápè’è.
H-ma-pè’è
OBJ.LINK-ma6-wisdom
‘You (pl) are the same people, but you are looking for wisdom.’
Aminu:
(N228) ɛ̀hɛ̂!
ɛ̀hɛ̂
EXCL
‘Exactly!’
Tata:
(N229) wɛ̀ lèmbṍõ̀ sâ bányá màmbò

wɛ lèmbṍõ ̀ sâ H-ba-nyá m-àmbò
2S.PST1 know.COMPL do OBJ.LINK-ba2-important ma6-thing
nâ ká mɛ́ lúmɔ́ wɛ̂ nláà nâ,
nâ ká mɛ-H lúmɔ-H wɛ̂ nláà nâ
COMP if 1S-PRES send-R 2S.OBJ ∅3.message COMP
‘You know to do the important things that if I send you the message
that,’
528
(N230) mbúmbù, kòlɛ̂ mɛ̀,

mbúmbù kòlɛ̂ mɛ̀
∅1.namesake, help.IMP 1S.OBJ
‘namesake, help me,’
(N231) ɛ́ tè wɛ̀gà wɛ́ njí sâ,

ɛ́ tè wɛ̀-gà wɛ-H njì-H sâ
LOC there 2S-CONTR 2S-PRES come-R do
‘and there you, you come to make,’
(N232) mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ vâ.

mbvúndá ɛ́ ndzǐ vâ
∅9.trouble LOC ∅9.path here
‘trouble on the way here.’
(N233) ndí wɛ́ lèmbó nâ mbvúndá nyíì bvúdà nà

mbvúndá.
mbvúndá
∅9.trouble
(N234) nzàmbí wà nû kɔ́ɔ ̀ kìyà léwê.

nzàmbí wà nû kɔ́ɔ ̀ kìya H-le-wê
PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX only give OBJ.LINK-le5-cry
‘This Nzambi only gives a cry.’
(N235) bààm.
bààm
IDEO
‘[finish].’
(N236) nzàmbí gyĩĩ́ .̀

nzàmbí gyĩĩ́ ̀
PN cry.COMPL
‘Nzambi has cried.’
(N237) à gyĩĩ́ .̀
a gyĩĩ́ ̀
1.PST1 cry.COMPL
‘He has cried.’
529
(N238) lèkfúdɛ̀ à nzí bíyɔ̀ nlô pɛ́ɛ.́

le-kfúdɛ̀ a nzí bíyɔ nlô pɛ́-ɛ́
le5-idiot 1 PROG.PST hit ∅3.head there-DIST
‘The idiot was hitting the head there.’
(N239) áà bɛ́ à bó nà màbádò nyúlɛ̀.

1.PST2 be-R 1.PST1 lie-R COM ma6-open.wound ∅9.body
‘He was being lying with open wounds on the body. [Il était étant
couché avec...]’
(N240) nyɛ̀ nâ yáà mɛ́ láà,

nyɛ nâ yáà mɛ-H láà
1 COMP yes 1S-PRES say
‘He: ‘Yes, I say,”
(N241) nâ sá wɛ́ sá nɔ́gá mùdì,

nâ sá wɛ-H sâ-H nɔ́-gá m-ùdì
COMP ∅7.thing 2S-PRES do-R 1-other N1-person
‘the thing that you do to another person,’
(N242) àà yɔ̂ wɛ̂ nyè.

àà yɔ̂ wɛ̂ nyè
1.FUT 7.OBJ 2S return
‘he will return to you.’
(N243) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nzàmbí wà nû
so PN 1:ATT 1.DEM.PROX
‘So this Nzambi,’
(N244) sá á sá nɔ́nɛ́gá,
sá a-H sâ-H n-ɔ́nɛ́gá
∅7.thing 1-PRES do-R 1-other
‘the thing that he does to the other,’
(N245) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ̀gà á nyé nyɛ̂,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ̀-gà a-H nyè-H nyɛ̂
so 1-other 1-PRES return-R 1.OBJ
‘so the other returns to him,’
(N246) ŋgvùndɔ̀ nyà tè.

ŋgvùndɔ̀ nyà tè
∅9.vengence 9:ATT there
‘the vengence of there.’
530
(N247) ɛ́ vâ màlíyɔ̀ má fúgɛ̀.

ɛ́ vâ ma-líyɔ̀ ma-H fúgɛ
LOC here ma6-clearing 6-PRES end
‘Here, the clearing ends.’
(N248) ɛ́ vâ màkwɛ̀lɔ̀ má fúgɛ̀,

ɛ́ vâ ma-kwɛ̀lɔ̀ ma-H fúgɛ
LOC here ma6-felling 6-PRES end
‘Here, the felling ends,’
(N249) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ.

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ
only here
‘only here.’
(N250) kàndá wɛ́ ndɛ̀.

kàndá wɛ́ ndɛ̀
∅7.proverb ID ANA
‘The story is this.’
(N251) bàmpámbó bá líyɛ̀ líyɛ̀,

ba-mpámbó ba-H líyɛ líyɛ
ba2-ancestor 2-PRES leave leave
‘The ancestors leave [the proverbs to us],’
(N252) nâ yá tãã́ t̀ à békàndá bé

nâ ya-H ́
tãã-tà ̀ H-be-kàndá bé
COMP 1P-PRES tell-tell.SBJV OBJ.LINK-be8-proverbs 8:ATT
tè.
tè
there
‘so that we tell the proverbs there.’
(N253) byɔ̂ wɛ́ bèndɛ̀.

byɔ́ wɛ́ bè-ndɛ̀
8.EMPH ID 8-ANA
‘Those are these.’
(N254) byɔ̂ bé vɛ́ bíì màpè’è.

byɔ̂ be-H vɛ̀-H bíì ma-pè’è
8.EMPH 8-PRES give-R 1P.OBJ ma6-wisdom
‘They give us wisdom.’
Aminu:
531
(N255) ká kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ yí wúmbɛ́ wɛ̂ dyɔ̀dɛ̀,

ká kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ yi-H wúmbɛ-H wɛ̂ dyɔ̀dɛ
if ∅7.égal 7-PRES want-R 2S.OBJ deceive
‘If somebody wants to deceive you,’
(N256) wɛ́ kílɔ̀wɔ̀.

wɛ-H kílɔwɔ
2S-PRES be.vigilant
‘you are vigilant.’
(N257) wɛ́ kí nâ ɛ́y!

wɛ-H kì-H nâ ɛ́y
2S-PRES say-R COMP EXCL
‘You say: ‘Hey!”
Djiedjhie:
(N258) yí bálɛ́ gyà.

yi-H bálɛ-H gyà
7-PRES surpass-R ∅7.length
‘This is too long.’
532
II.3 Conversation in the Village Ngolo

This text is a guided conversation between several speakers in the village
Ngolo. It was video recorded in May 2011 and is in fact the first official
conversation the DoBeS team had with the Bagyeli in Ngolo. First, the chief
Nze introduces himself and the village and states that they wish to have tin
roofs instead of raffia roofs. He further complains that people from NGOs
come and go, but that they are not really helpful. Occasionally, Nze is
interrupted by Severin in Ngumba (northern Kwasio dialect) who serves as
an interpreter and loosely guides the conversation. The topic then shifts to
the construction of the port and its impact on the people of Ngolo who fear
that roads will be built and, as a consequence, their houses and plants will be
destroyed. After Nze talks about his plans to move to his former settlement
further in the forest, Severin encourages Mambi (at the beginning of his
20ies) to talk about himself. Mambi explains the problems they encounter
with their Bulu neighbors. According to him, the Bulu contest their land
rights, quarrel about money with them and threaten them with physical
violence. Nze shortly talks about his marital status, i.e. that he is married
and has two children before Mambi continues about their wish to obtain
electricity in the village. The third speaker in the conversation is Mama,
about 17 years old, who introduces himself as an orphan, having lost his
father while his mother lives in another village. Then, Mambi and Nze
talk again about the future of their village, their desire to obtain tin-roofed
houses, and the problems with the Bulu.
Nze:
(C1) mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nà bɔ̂.

mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H lɛ́ɛ ̀ nà bɔ̂
1S-PRES want-R talk[Kwasio] COM 3P
‘I want to talk with them.’
(C2) yí ntɛ́gɛ̀lɛ̀, ɔ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀?

yi-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ ɔ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
7-PRES disturb 2S[Kwasio] hear-R COMPL
‘It disturbs, have you understood?’
533
(C3) yí ntɛ́gɛ̀lɛ̀, vɛ̀dáà mɛ́ sùmbɛ́lɛ́ bê.

yi-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ vɛ̀dáà mɛ-H sùmbɛlɛ-H bê
7-PRES disturb but[Bulu] 1S-PRES greet[Kwasio]-R 2P.OBJ
‘That disturbs, but I greet you.’
(C4) mɛ́ sùmɛ́lɛ́ bê ndɛ̀náà.

mɛ-H sùmɛlɛ-H bê ndɛ̀náà
1S-PRES greet-R 2P.OBJ like.that
‘I greet you like this.’
(C5) djínɔ̀ lɛ́ kwàdɔ̀ yã̂ yíì Ngòló.

dj-ínɔ̀ lɛ́ kwàdɔ̀ y-ã ̂ yíì ngòló
le5-name 5:ATT ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S 7.COP PN
‘The name of my village is Ngolo.’
(C6) pándɛ̀ té nà té, mɛ̀ djínɔ̀ ná Nzɛ̀.

pándɛ té nà té mɛ dj-ínɔ̀ ná Nzɛ̀
arrive ∅7.position COM ∅7.position 1S le5-name SIM PN
‘Having arrived immediately, my name is Nze.’
(C7) kfúmà wà Nkóòlóŋ.

kfúmà wà nkóòlóŋ
∅1.chief 1:ATT PN[Bulu]
‘The chief of Ngolo [= uses exonym].’
(C8) kfúmà wà Nkóòlóŋ, Nzɛ̀.

kfúmà wà nkóòlóŋ, Nzɛ̀
∅1.chief 1:ATT PN[Bulu] PN
‘The chief of Ngolo, Nze.’
Mambi:
(C9) nyɛ̀ wɛ́ nû.

nyɛ wɛ́ nû
1 ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘This is him [= Nze].’
(C10) á páàŋgɔ́ tálɛ̀ sílɛ̀, mɛ̀ nzíí ná kɛ̀.

a-H páàŋgɔ-H tálɛ sílɛ mɛ nzíí ná kɛ̀
1-PRES PRIOR[Kwasio]-R begin finish 1S PROG.PRES again go
‘He starts first to finish [speaking], I’m continuing again [= will
then speak].’
Nze:
534
(C11) áà mɛ̀ nzíí ná làwɔ̀ ná.

áà mɛ nzíí ná làwɔ ná
yes 1S PROG.PRES still talk still
‘Yes, I am still talking.’
(C12) gyí bí yá tfúgà yá tfúgá nà gyí?

gyí bí ya-H tfúga ya-H tfúga-H nà gyí
what 1P.EMPH 1P-PRES suffer 1P-PRES suffer-R COM what
‘What do we suffer, we suffer from what?.’
(C13) yá tfúgá nà ngùndyá, mpáŋgì.

(C14) ká yí nyí mɛ̂ mbɔ̀... mpáŋgì yí kùgá

when 7-PRES enter-R 1S N3-arm ∅7.bamboo 7-PRES can-R
nâ nyíì wɛ m-bɔ̀
(C15) yáà fúàlà bígɛ̀ yɔ̃̂ yá vɛ́?

yáà fúala bígɛ yɔ̃̂ yá vɛ́
1P.FUT end develop ∅7.time[Bulu] 7:ATT which
‘When will we end up developping?’
(C16) yá vyãã́ ́ kɛ̀ nà kwã̂ mángùndyá, wɛ̀ nà

ya-H vyãã́ -̀ H kɛ̀ nà kwã̂ H-ma-ngùndyá wɛ nà
1P-PRES do.but-H go COM cut OBJ.LINK-ma6-raffia 2S COM
ngvùlɛ̀ kɛ̀ sɔ́lɛ̀gà wû nà njí kù ɛ́
ngvùlɛ̀ kɛ̀ sɔ́lɛga wû nà njì-H kù ɛ́
∅9.strength go fall there COM come-R fall[Kwasio] LOC
sì.
sì
∅9.ground
‘We do nothing but go and cut the raffia, you are strong to go fall
there and come fall to the ground.’
(C17) mɛ́ bvú nâ nkwálá wúù tfùndɛ́ mɛ̀ vâ.

1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅3.machete 3.PST2 miss-R 1S.OBJ here
535
(C18) ngùndyá, mɛ́ kɛ́ sɔ́lɛ̀gà ngùndyá dyúwɔ̀.

ngùndyá mɛ-H kɛ̀-H sɔ́lɛga ngùndyá dyúwɔ̀
(C19) áá bíì, màndáwɔ̀ má zì, yáà mɔ́ fúàlà

‘Ah, us, tin houses, when will we receive them?’
(C20) mà bɛ́ vɛ́?

ma bɛ̀-H vɛ́
6.PST1 be-R where
‘Where were they?’
(C21) mɛ́ bvú nâ bàmó tè yɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ́ yî.

mɛ-H bvû-H nâ bàmó tè yɔ́ɔ ̀ wɛ́ yî
1S-PRES think-R COMP ∅7.scar there 7.EMPH ID 7.DEM.PROX
‘I think, the scar there is this.’
(C22) bwà nzíí kàlànɛ̀?

bwa nzíí kàlanɛ
2P PROG.PRES transmit
‘Are you translating?’
(C23) yá lɔ́ fúàlà nà mɛ̀ lɔ́ làwɔ̀.

ya-H lɔ́ fúala nà mɛ lɔ́ làwɔ
1P-PRES RETRO end COM 1S RETRO talk
‘We just finished and I just spoke.’
(C24) nlã̂ wá zì, ndáwɔ̀ nyà zì nyíì mɛ̀ vé?

nlã ̂ wá zì ndáwɔ̀ nyà zì nyíì mɛ̀ vé
∅3.story 3:ATT ∅7.tin ∅9.house 9:ATT tin 9.COP 1S.OBJ where
‘The problem with the tin, where is the tin (roofed) house for me?’
(C25) fàmí wã̂ nyɛ̀ngwɛ́sɛ̀ nâ á bígɛ́ɛ.̀

fàmí w-ã ̂ nyɛ̀
- ngwɛ́s ɛ̀ nâ a-H bígɛ́ɛ ̀
∅1.family 1-POSS.1S 9-entire COMP 1-PRES develop.SBJV
‘My whole family, may it develop.’
536
(C26) wúù vé?

wúù vé
3.COP where
‘Where is it [the story of the tin]?’
(C27) Nkóòlòŋ nâ wú bígɛ́ɛ.̀

Nkóòlòŋ nâ wu-H bígɛ́ɛ ̀
∅3.PN[Bulu] COMP 3-PRES develop.SBJV
‘Nko’olong [name of the village], may it develop.’
(C28) ɔ̀bâj ɔ̀bâj ɔ̀bâj.

[straw straw straw]Bulu
‘Straw, straw, straw.’
(C29) mɛ́ ŋgà kɛ́ sɔ́tàn ɛ̀lɛ̀ yɔ́ßɛ̀tɛ̀.

[1S build go jump tree top]Bulu
‘I build and jump up on the tree.’
(C30) fá à ŋgà bálɛ̀ màvá.

[machete 3S 1S hurt here]Bulu
‘The machete injured me here.’
(C31) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ mándáwɔ̀ má zì má

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H H-ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì ma-H
so 1S-PRES want-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6-PRES
tɛ́wɔ́’ɔ̀ mɛ̀ vâ, ndá zì.
tɛ́wɔ̀ɔ ̀ mɛ vâ ndá zì
put.SBJV 1S.OBJ here ATT[Bulu] ∅7.tin[Bulu]
‘So I want tin (roofed) houses that they be put here for me, of tin.’
(C32) má kì má yánɛ́ bî ndà zì djálɛ́ tèvá.

[1S too 1S have houses ATT tin village ATT here]Bulu
‘Me too, I have tin (roofed) houses in the village here.’
Severin:
(C33) làwɔ̂ bágyɛ̀lì!

làwɔ̂ H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
speak.IMP OBJ.LINK-2-Gyeli
‘Speak Gyeli!’
Nze:
537
(C34) mɛ́ làwɔ́ náà màndáwɔ̀ má zì má

1S-PRES say-R COMP ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6-PRES
kùgáà mɛ̀ vâ.
kùgáà mɛ vâ
(C35) bàgyɛ̀lì bá sɔ́ bà sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bígɛ̀.

ba-gyɛ̀lì bá sɔ́ ba sílɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ bígɛ
2-Gyeli 2:ATT ∅1.friend 2.PST1 finish.COMPL develop
‘The fellow Bagyeli have already all developped.’
(C36) bí bɔ́ɔ ̀ yá bígɛ́ mpá’à wá vɛ́?

bí b-ɔ́ɔ ̀ ya-H bígɛ-H mpá’à wá vɛ́
1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES develop-R ∅3.side 3:ATT which
‘How will we others develop?’
(C37) mɛ́ kɛ́ dvùmɔ̀ nkùndyá dyúwɔ̀,

mɛ-H kɛ̀-H dvùmɔ nkùndyá dyúwɔ̀
1S-PRES go-R fall ∅9.raffia on.top
‘I go fall from the raffia up there,’
(C38) kɛ̀ kwã̂ ngùndyá mbvúɔ̀ nzíí nɔ̀.

kɛ̀ kwã̂ ngùndyá mbvúɔ̀ nzíí nɔ̀
go cut ∅9.raffia ∅1.rain PROG.PRES rain
‘going cutting the raffia when it’s raining.’
(C39) ŋgà wɛ́ nyɛ́ nyɛ̂?

ŋgà wɛ-H nyɛ̂-H nyɛ̂
Q(tag) 2S-PRES see-R see
‘Right, you see [that] often.’
(C40) ngùndyá tè nyɔ́ bɛ́ nyî.

ngùndyá tè nyɔ́ bɛ̀-H nyî
∅9.raffia there 9.EMPH be-R 9.DEM.PROX
‘The raffia there, it is that.’
(C41) ndí mɛ̀, mɛ̀, yà, bà fàmí wã̂ yáà bígɛ̀

ndí mɛ mɛ ya bà fàmí w-ã̂ yáà bígɛ
but 1S 1S 1P AP ∅1.family 1-POSS.1S 1P.FUT develop
yɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ yá vɛ́, ɛ́ yã̂ kwádɔ́ nâ
́
yɔ̃ɔ ̃ ̀ yá vɛ́ ɛ́ y-ã ̂ kwádɔ́ nâ
∅7.time[Bulu] 7:ATT which LOC 7-POSS.1S ∅7.village COMP
538
yíì vàágɔ̀?
yíì vàágɔ̀
7.COP animated
‘But I, I, we, my family, what time will we develop, so my part of
the village be lively?’
(C42) mɛ̀ bɛ́ ngyɛ̃̂ Ngvùmbɔ̀.

mɛ bɛ̀-H n-gyɛ̃̂ Ngvùmbɔ̀
1S.PST1 be-R N1-guest PN
‘I was a guest of the Ngumba.’
(C43) mɛ̀ nyɛ́ kwádɔ́ yî, Kúndúkùndù.

mɛ nyɛ̂-H kwádɔ́ yî Kúndúkùndù
1S.PST1 see-R ∅7.village 7.DEM.PROX PN
‘I saw this village, Kundukundu.’
(C44) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ màndáwɔ̀ má zì mɔ́ nà mɔ́.

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì mɔ́ nà mɔ́
only ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin 6.OBJ COM 6.OBJ
‘Only tin (roofed) houses, each and each.’
(C45) mɛ́gà ɛ́ɛ ̀ yã̂ kwádɔ́ yɔ́gà!

mɛ́-gà ɛ́ɛ ̀ y-ã ̂ kwádɔ́ yɔ́-gà
1S-CONTR EXCL 7-POSS.1S ∅7.village 7-CONTR
‘As of me, right, my [part of the] village too!’
(C46) wɛ́gà wɛ̀ njí dyɔ̀dɛ̀ bùdì.

wɛ́-gà wɛ njì-H dyɔ̀dɛ b-ùdì
2S-CONTR 2S.PST1 come-R deceive ba2-person
‘As of you, you came to deceive people.’
(C47) mínɔ̀ má bùdì mà kɛ̃ɛ́ ,̃̀ máà vé?

m-ínɔ̀ má b-ùdì ma kɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ máà vé
ma6-name 6:ATT ba2-person 6.PST1 go.COMPL 6.COP where
‘The people’s names have gone, where are they? [= strangers come
once, but do not return again]’
(C48) lèbvúú lé tè lɔ́ɔ ̀ yá bùdɛ́ lɛ̂.

le-bvúú lé tè lɔ́ɔ ̀ ya-H bùdɛ-H lɛ̂
le5-anger 5:ATT there 5.COP 1P-PRES have-R 5.OBJ
‘The anger there it is that which we have.’
539
(C49) vɛ̀ɛ ̀ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nà pámò dẽ.̀

vɛ̀ɛ ̀ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nàmɛ́nɔ́ nà pámo dẽ ̀
only tomorrow tomorrow COM arrive today
‘Only tomorrow, tomorrow, until today. [= only heard promises
till today]’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C50) bùrè bvúbvù bɔ́ ʃí nzì wâ?

people many 2 PROG come here
‘Are many people coming here?’
Nze:
(C51) éè bvúbvù. pílì mɛ́ làwɔ́ mpù, mɛ̀ɛ ́

éè bvúbvù pílì mɛ-H làwɔ-H mpù mɛ̀ɛ ́
yes many when 1S-PRES speak-R like.this 1S.PRES.NEG
válɛ́ làwɔ̀.
vá-lɛ́ làwɔ
tolerate-NEG speak
‘Yes, many. When I speak like this, I don’t tolerate to talk [= I’m
not lieing].’
(C52) yíì nâ báà bvúbvù.

yíì nâ báà bvúbvù
7.COP COMP 2.COP many
‘It is that they are many.’
(C53) bwánɔ̀ békúmbé bé bà njí nà byɔ̂ bé

b-wánɔ̀ be-kúmbé bé ba njì-H nà byɔ̂ be-H
ba2-child be8-tin 8:ATT 2.PST1 come-R COM 8.OBJ 8-PRES
tɛ́lɛ́ màbé.
tɛ́lɛ-H mà-bé
stand-R here-8
‘The few tin roofs that they brought stand here.’
(C54) màndáwɔ̀ má tɛ́lɛ́ màmá.

ma-ndáwɔ̀ ma-H tɛ́lɛ-H mà-má
ma6-house 6-PRES stand-R here-6
‘Houses stand here.’
(C55) bèsàndyá lèwúmɔ̀ nà bétánɛ̀,

be-sàndyá lè-wúmɔ̀ nà bé-tánɛ̀
be8-raffia.mat le5-ten COM 8-five
‘Fifteen raffia mats,’
540
(C56) byɔ̀ bé tɛ́lɛ́ bé.

byɔ̀ be-H tɛ́lɛ-H (mà-)bé.
8.EMPH 8-PRES stand-R 8
‘They stand here.’
(C57) bèkúmbɛ́ báà njì nà byɔ̂ nà báà njì lwɔ̃̂

be-kúmbɛ́ báà njì nà byɔ̂ nà báà njì lwɔ̃̂
be8-roof 2.FUT come COM 8 COM 2.FUT come build
mándáwɔ̀.
H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘Roofs they will bring and they will come and build houses.’
(C58) bímbú lɛ́ fàmí wã̂ wà mɛ̀ bùdɛ́

bímbú lɛ́ fàmí w-ã̂ wà mɛ bùdɛ-H
∅5.amount 5:ATT ∅1.family 1-POSS.1S 1:ATT 1S.PST1 have
mà...
mà
COMPL[Kwasio]
‘The size of my family that I have gotten...’
(C59) ndáwɔ̀ tè ká mɛ́ lã́ tè...

ndáwɔ̀ tè ká mɛ-H ̀
lã-H tè
∅9.house there when 1S-PRES pass-R there
‘The house there, when I pass there...’
(C60) ɛ́ pɛ́ɛ ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ̃̂ nyà ndáwɔ̀.

ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ̃̂ nyà ndáwɔ̀
LOC there-DIST 1S.FUT build real ∅9.house
‘I will build a real house over there.’
(C61) ɛ́ pɛ́ɛ ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djìyɔ̀.

ɛ́ pɛ́-ɛ́ mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djìyɔ
LOC there-DIST 1S.FUT stay
‘I will live over there, here I heard that here it [they] will come and
destroy all.’
(C62) ɛ́ vâ mɛ̀ dyùwɔ́ nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì sílɛ̀ njì

ɛ́ vâ mɛ dyùwɔ-H nâ ɛ́ vâ yíì sílɛ njì
LOC here 1S.PST1 hear-R COMP LOC here 7.FUT finish come
búlɛ̀.
búlɛ
destroy
541
(C63) bímbú lɛ́ mámbɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ máà mɛ̀ vâ.

bímbú lɛ́ ma-mbɔ̀ŋgɔ̀ máà mɛ̀ vâ
∅5.amount 5:ATT ma6-plant 6.COP 1S.OBJ here
‘I have many plants here.’
(C64) mɛ́ kɛ́ djìyɔ̀ vé, yá bà fàmí wã?̂

mɛ-H kɛ̀-H djìyɔ vé ya-H bà fàmí w-ã̂
1S-PRES go-R stay where 1P-PRES AP ∅1.family 1-POSS.1S
‘Where will I live, we with my family?’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C65) bã̂ njè bû wáá?

2.FUT arrive break here
‘Will they come to destroy the place here?’
Nze:
(C66) mɛ́ dyúwɔ́ nâ mpàgó wá pɔ́dɛ̀ lã́ vâ.

mɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ mpàgó wá ̀
pɔ́dɛ̀ lã-H vâ
(C67) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kálɛ̀ ná bɛ̀ nà djí ɛ́ vâ.

(C68) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì nyɛ̀, mɛ́ kɛ́ ɛ́ pɛ̀ búùlɛ̀.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì nyɛ̀ mɛ-H kɛ̀-H ɛ́ pɛ̀ búùlɛ̀
1S.FUT first return 1S-PRES go-R LOC there ∅7.old.settlement
‘I will first return, I go over there to the old settlement.’
(C69) ɛ́ pɛ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ tɛ́.

ɛ́ pɛ̀ mɛ́ɛ ̀ tɛ̂-H
LOC there 1S.PST2 found-PST
‘Over there I had originally settled.’
(C70) áà kɛ́ndɛ́ gyà.

áà kɛ́ndɛ́ (yá) gyà
EXCL ∅7.walk (7:ATT) ∅7.distance
‘Oh, it’s a long walk.’
542
(C71) báà tfùbɔ̀ ndáà,

báà tfùbɔ ndáà
2.FUT pierce also
‘They will cut [= a road there] too,’
(C72) báà tfùbɔ̀, báà tfùbɔ̀.

báà tfùbɔ̀ báà tfùbɔ̀
2.FUT pierce 3P.FUT pierce
‘they will cut, they will cut.’
(C73) mpàgó wá nùmbà wúù.

mpàgó wá nùmbà wúù
∅3.road 3:ATT ∅1.logger there
‘The road of the loggers there.’
(C74) tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè.

tè mɛ̀ɛ ̀ djíbì kɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ tè
there 1S.FUT first go build there
‘There, I will first go construct there.’
(C75) àmú vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà sí ɛ́ vâ.

àmú vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ nà sí ɛ́ vâ
because[Bulu] here 1S.NEG be-NEG COM ∅9.ground LOC here
‘Because here I don’t have any land.’
(C76) ɛ́ vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà sí vâ.

ɛ́ vâ mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ nà sí vâ
LOC here 1S.NEG be-NEG COM ∅9.ground LOC here
‘Here I don’t have any property.’
(C77) wɛ́ dyúwɔ́ nâ mɛ̀ nzíí kɛ̀ nà kwɛ̀lɔ̀

wɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ mɛ nzíí kɛ̀ nà kwɛ̀lɔ
2S-PRES hear-R COMP 1S PROG.PRES go COM fell
málɛ́ndí tè ɛ́ vâ?
H-ma-lɛ́ndí tè ɛ́ vâ
OBJ.LINK-6-palm.tree there LOC here
‘Do you hear that I’m going to fell these palm trees here?’
(C78) mɛ̀ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ́ lévúdũ̂ nà

mɛ nzíí kɛ̀ nà vúlɛ-H H-le-vúdũ̂ nà
1S PROG.PRES go COM take.away-R OBJ.LINK-le5-one COM
lèvúdũ̂, mɛ́ táálɛ́ sílɛ̀ nyùlɛ̀.
̂
le-vúdũ mɛ-H táálɛ-H sílɛ nyùlɛ
543
‘I’m taking down one by one, I start to drink (them) up [= make

palm wine out of them].’
(C79) m̀ m̀ ndɛ̀náà. lèkɛ́lɛ̀ lɛ́ndɛ̀ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nâ...

m̀ m̀ ndɛ̀náà. le-kɛ́lɛ̀ lɛ́-ndɛ̀ lɛ́ɛ ̀ nâ
EXCL like.this le5-word 5-ANA 5.COP COMP
‘Yes, like this. The word is that...’
other speaker:
(C80) nà mìmbàŋgá nà màsá nà bègyí nà

nà mi-mbàŋgá nà ma-sá nà be-gyí nà
COM mi4-coconut.tree COM ma6-prune COM be8-what COM
bègyí,
be-gyí
be8-what
‘And the coconut trees and the pruniers and so on and so forth,’
(C81) byɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ̀ ntàmànɛ̀.

by-ɛ́sɛ̀ béè sílɛ ntàmanɛ
8-all 8.FUT finish ruin
‘they all will be ruined.’
Nze:
(C82) màsá mâ vâ kɛ́ nà ntàmànɛ̀, nà

ma-sá mâ vâ kɛ̀-H nà ntàmanɛ nà
ma6-prunier 6.DEM.PROX here go-R COM ruin COM
màbɔ́
‘These’ɔ̀pruniers will
tu be ruined
tu and the bread
tu, fruit trees,
ngùɔ́everything,
.
ma-bɔ́’ɔ̀ tu tu tu ngùɔ́
the sugar cane.’
ma6-bread.fruit all[French] all[French] all[French] ∅7.sugar.cane
(C83) mɛ̀ bìyɛ́ làwɔ̀ nâ àà bwánɔ̀ bã.̂ ..
mɛ bìyɛ-H làwɔ nâ àà b-wánɔ̀ b-ã̂
1S in.vain? speak COMP EXCL ba2-child 2-POSS.1S
‘I say in vain: ‘ah, my children...”
(C84) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ djìlɛ́ kwádɔ́ yî.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ djìlɛ-H kwádɔ́ yî
so 1S.PST1 stay-R ∅7.village 7.DEM.PROX
‘so I stayed in this village.’
Severin in French asking about Mambi:
544
(C85) C’est qui là?

it.is who there
‘Who is this there?’
Nze:
(C86) ntɛ́mbɔ́ wã̂ wɛ́ nû.

ntɛ́mbɔ́ w-ã ̂ wɛ́ nû
∅1.younger.sibling 1-POSS.1S ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘This is my little brother.’
Mama:
(C87) ntùmbà wã̂ wɛ́ nû.

ntùmbà w-ã̂ wɛ́ nû
∅1.older.brother 1-POSS.1S ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘This is my big brother.’
Nze:
(C88) mwánɔ̀ wã̂ ndáà wɛ́ nù.

m-wánɔ̀ w-ã ̂ ndáà wɛ́ nù
N1-child 1-POSS.1S also ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘This is also my child.’
Djiedjhie:
(C89) pã̂ bígɛ̀.

pã ̂ bígɛ̀.
start.IMP develop
‘Speak first.’
Mambi:
(C90) bõ mwa mɛ́ɛ ́ béè

bõ mwa mɛ́ɛ ́ béè
good[French] 1S.EMPH[French] 1S.COP 2P.COP
alónzì vâ tè nà bèyá njí nyɛ̂
alónzì vâ tè nà bèya-H njì-H nyɛ̂
come.on[French] here there COM 2P-PRES come-R see
bágyèlì.
H-ba-gyèlì
OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
‘Good, me, I’m, you are, allons-y, here that you come see the Bagyeli.’
545
Severin in French:
(C91) C’est toi qui?

it.is 2S who
‘Who are you?’
Mambi:
(C92) mɛ̀ djínɔ̀ ná màmbì, mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà mùdã.̂

mɛ dj-ínɔ̀ ná màmbì mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ nà m-ùdã̂
1S le5-name SIM PN 1S.PRES.NEG be.NEG COM N1-woman
‘My name is Mambi, I don’t have a wife.’
(C93) mɛ̀ pálɛ́ lìí bâ.

mɛ pálɛ́ lìí bâ
1S.PST1 NEG.PST yet marry
‘I am not yet married.’
Nze:
(C94) à pálɛ́ lìí bâ.

a pálɛ́ lìí bâ
1.PST1 NEG.PST yet married
‘He is not yet married.’
Mambi:
(C95) mɛ̀ djínɔ̀ ná màmbì, màmbì.

mɛ dj-ínɔ̀ ná màmbì màmbì
1S le5-name SIM PN PN
‘My name is Mambi, Mambi.’
Nze:
(C96) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ bwánɔ̀ bábáà.

mɛ bùdɛ-H b-wánɔ̀ bá-báà
1S have-R ba2-child 2-two
‘I have two children.’
Mambi:
(C97) pílì bèyá lɔ́ njì ɛ́ vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ dẽ,́

pílì bèya-H lɔ́ njì ɛ́ vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ dẽ ́
when 2P-PRES RETRO come LOC here now today
‘When you just arrived here now today,’
546
(C98) nâ bèyá njí nyɛ̂ bá-gyèlì, voilà.

nâ bèya-H njì-H nyɛ̂ H-ba-gyèlì voilà
COMP 2P-PRES come-R see OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli voila
‘so that you come to see the Bagyeli, voilà.’
(C99) bí bɔ́gà yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà mínsáyá

bí b-ɔ́gà ya-H wúmbɛ-H ndáà H-mi-nsáyá
1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES want-R also OBJ.LINK-mi4-deed
mí màmbò bèyá sá bî myɔ̂ kí bɛ̀
mí m-àmbò bèya-H sâ-H bî myɔ̂ kí bɛ̀
4:ATT ma6-thing 2P-PRES do-R 1P.OBJ 4.OBJ NEG[Kwasio] be
mímpà.
mí-mpà
4-good
‘Us, the others, we want also the deeds of things that you do us, they
are not good.’
(C100) ká bèyá bùdɛ́ másà wùnɛ́,

ká bèya-H bùdɛ-H másà w-ùnɛ́
if 2P-PRES have-R ∅1.boss 1-POSS.2P
‘If you have your boss,’
(C101) ká másà wùnɛ́ njì, yá láá másà wùnɛ́

ká másà w-ùnɛ́ njì ya-H láà-H másà w-ùnɛ́
if ∅1.boss 1-POSS.2P come 1P-PRES tell-R ∅1.boss 1-POSS.2P
nâ mìnsáyá mí bèyá sâ mí bɛ́lɛ́ mpà, vúdũ̂ wɛ́
nâ mi-nsáyá mí bèya-H sâ mi-H bɛ́-lɛ́ mpà, vúdũ̂ wɛ́
COMP mi4-deed 4:ATT 2P-PRES do 4-PRES be-NEG good one ID
yí-ndɛ̀.
yí-ndɛ̀
7-ANA
‘If your boss comes we will tell him that the things that you do are
not good, that is the first thing.’
(C102) yá mbàà, yá mbàà yíì nâ kɔ́ɔ ̀ mpù ɛ́

yá mbàà yá mbàà yíì nâ kɔ́ɔ ̀ mpù ɛ́
7:ATT second 7:ATT second 7.COP COMP still like.this LOC
nzìwù lɔ́ táálɛ̀ làwɔ̀ nâ bon,
nzìwù lɔ́ táálɛ làwɔ nâ bon
PN RETRO begin talk COMP good[French]
‘The seecond, the second is that still as Nze just began to say that,
good,’
547
(C103) kwádɔ́ yá Ngòló, yá dzìlɛ́ màyì.

kwádɔ́ yá Ngòló ya-H djìlɛ-H mà-yì
∅7.village 7:ATT PN 1P-PRES seat-R here-7
‘The village Ngolo, we [have] place[d] it here.’
(C104) yáà ndáà vâ dísù bvúlɛ̀ bá vèlásá

yáà ndáà vâ dísù bvúlɛ̀ ba-H vèlasa-H
1P.COP also here first.off[Bulu] ba2.Bulu 2-PRES contest-R
bíì nà kwádɔ́ yî.
bíì nà kwádɔ́ yî
1P.OBJ COM ∅7.village 7.DEM.PROX
‘We are also here, first off, the Bulu contest our [ownership of] this
village.’
(C105) bvúlɛ̀ bá ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ ndáà bíyɛ̀.

bvúlɛ̀ ba-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H ndáà bíyɛ̀
ba2.Bulu 2-PRES bother-R also 1P.OBJ
‘The Bulu bother us, too.’
(C106) bvúlɛ̀ bà bùdɛ́ nâ ká wɛ̀ ŋgyɛ̀lì wɛ̀ bùdɛ́ tʃídí

bvúlɛ̀ ba bùdɛ-H nâ ká wɛ ŋ-gyɛ̀lì wɛ bùdɛ-H tsídí
ba2.Bulu 2 have-R COMP if 2S N1-Gyeli 2S have-R ∅1.animal
wɔ̂ bá sɛ̀ŋgɛ́ nyɛ̂ sí.
w-ɔ̂ ba-H sɛ̀ŋgɛ-H nyɛ̂ sí
1-POSS.2S 2-PRES lower-R 1.OBJ down
‘The Bulu say that if you, Gyeli, you have your animal, they lower
it [= its price].’
(C107) bɛ́ɛ ́ wɛ̀ nzíí dyúwɔ̀ mɛ̂? voilà, bon...

bɛ́ɛ ́ wɛ nzíí dyúwɔ mɛ̂? voilà, bon
right 2S PROG.PRES hear 1S.OBJ ok[French] good[French]
‘Right, you hear me? Ok, good...’
(C108) yá nà yí báàlá nâ bèdɔ̀wɔ̀ nà bvúlɛ̀,

yá nà yi-H báàla-H nâ bèdɔwɔ nà bvúlɛ̀
7:ATT fourth 7-PRES repeat-R COMP hang.on? COM ba2.Bulu
báà nâ wɛ̀, sílɛ̂ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́.
báà nâ wɛ sílɛ̂ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́
2.COP COMP 2S finish.IMP go do ∅7.work
‘The forth it repeats that about the Bulu, they say that ‘you, finish
go do the work’.’
548
(C109) ká wɛ́ sílɛ́ kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́ mais pílì wɛ́

ká wɛ-H sílɛ-H kɛ̀ sâ sálɛ́ mais pílì wɛ-H
if 2S-PRES finish-R go do work.7 but[French] when 2S-PRES
kɛ́ nâ wɛ́ kɛ́ djíì mònɛ́ wɔ̂, á
kɛ̀-H nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀-R djíì mònɛ́ w-ɔ̂ a-H
go-R COMP 2S-PRES go-R ask ∅1.money 1-POSS.2S 1-PRES
làwɔ́ wɛ̂ nyùmbò.
làwɔ-H wɛ̂ nyùmbò
tell-R 2S ∅3.mouth
‘If you go do all the work, but when you go to go ask for your money,
he frowns at you. [= il te fait la gueule]’
(C110) nyɛ̀ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀.

nyɛ nâ a múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ
1 COMP 1 PROSP 2S.OBJ hit
‘He [says] that he is about to beat you.’
(C111) nyɛ̀ náà à múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ̀ dẽ,́

nyɛ nâ a múà wɛ̀ bíyɔ dẽ ́
‘He [says] that he is about to beat you today,’
(C112) nkàmɔ̀ nà mònɛ́ wɔ̂ dyúwɔ̀.

nkàmɔ̀ nà mònɛ́ w-ɔ̂ dyúwɔ̀
∅9.reason COM ∅1.money 1-POSS.2S on.top
‘for the reason about your money.’
(C113) pílì wɛ́ kɛ́ nâ wɛ́ kɛ́ tɔ́kɛ̀ mwánɔ̀

pílì wɛ-H kɛ̀-H nâ wɛ-H kɛ̀-H tɔ́kɛ m-wánɔ̀
when 2S-PRES go-R COMP 2S-PRES go-R collect N1-child
sáyà, bvúlɛ̀ à bùdɛ́ lébvúú nà mɛ̂.
sáyà bvúlɛ̀ a bùdɛ-H H-le-bvúú nà mɛ̂
∅7.thing ba2.Bulu 1 have-H OBJ.LINK-le5-anger COM 1S.OBJ
‘When you go to go gather a small thing, the Bulu is angry with me.’
(C114) mɛ̀ nzí dyâ vâ kùgúù dẽ ̀ màfú mábáà.

mɛ nzí dyâ vâ kùgúù dẽ ̀ ma-fú má-báà
1S PROG.PST1 lie.down here ∅7.evening today ma6-day 6-two
‘I was here the evening two days ago [= from today].’
(C115) mɛ̀ bɛ́ nà mùdã̂ wà mí

mɛ bɛ̀-H nà m-ùdã ̂ wà m-í
1S.PST1 be-R COM N1-woman 1:ATT N1-non-Pygmy
549
deux milles.
deux milles
two[French] thousand[French]
‘I owed a Bantu farmer woman two thousand (FCFA).’
(C116) ɛ́ vâ ndáwɔ̀ vâ mùdã̂ wà mí àà

ɛ́ vâ ndáwɔ̀ vâ m-ùdã ̂ wà m-í àà
LOC here ∅9.house here N1-woman 1:ATT N1-non-Pygmy 1.FUT
njì dúwɔ̀ lévúdũ̂,
njì d-úwɔ̀ lé-vúdũ̂
come le5-day 5-one
‘This house over here, the Bantu farmer woman will come the same
day,’
(C117) ɛ́ pɛ̀ njì djíì mònɛ́ wɛ́ɛ,̀ ɛ́ pɛ̀

ɛ́ pɛ̀ njì djíì mònɛ́ w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ ɛ́ pɛ̀
LOC over.there come ask ∅1.money 1-POSS.3S LOC over.there
njì djíì.
njì djíì
come ask
‘there in order to come ask for her money, there to come ask.’
(C118) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ tɔ́kɛ́ mɔ̀nɛ́ wɛ̀ vɛ̀ nyɛ̂,

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H tɔ́kɛ-H mɔ̀nɛ́ w-ɛ̀ vɛ̀ nyɛ̂
so 1S-PRES collect-R ∅1.money 1-POSS.3S give 1.OBJ
‘So I collect her money [and] give [it to] her,’
(C119) nâ ndɛ̀náà yíì mpà.

nâ ndɛ̀náà yíì mpà
COMP like.this 7.COP good
‘that like this it be good.’
(C120) bon pílì yí báàlá nà bɛ̀ ndɛ̀náà ndɛ̀náà

bon pílì yi-H báàla-H nà bɛ̀ ndɛ̀náà ndɛ̀náà
good[French] when 7-PRES repeat-R COM be like.that like.that
ndáà ná.
ndáà ná
also still
‘So, when it continues and is still like this and like that.’
(C121) bvúlɛ̀ bà bùdɛ́ mà sá yíì ná

bvúlɛ̀ ba bùdɛ-H mà sá yíì ná
ba2.Bulu 2 have COMPL[Kwasio] ∅7.thing 7.COP again
550
vúdũ̂.
vúdũ̂
one
‘There is one more thing about the Bulu.’
(C122) wɛ́ kɛ́ nà nyɛ̂ nkɔ̃w ̀ áká, nyɛ̀gà à
wɛ-H ̀
kɛ̀-H nà nyɛ̂ nkɔ̃wáká nyɛ̀-gà a
2S-PRES go COM 1 equal.sharing 1.EMPH-CONTR 1
nzíí wɛ̂ vãã́ k̀ ɛ́ sâ mpù.
nzíí wɛ̂ ́
vããkɛ́ ̀ sâ mpù
PROG.PRES 2S.OBJ go[Bulu] do like.this
‘You go with him equally sharing, he is going to do you like this [=
tries to trick you].’
(C123) pílì yí múà ndáwɔ̀ nyà mànyɔ̀ ndɛ̀náà,
pílì yí múà ndáwɔ̀ nyà ma-nyɔ̀ ndɛ̀náà
when 7 be ∅9.house 9:ATT ma6-drink like.this
‘When it is in a bar like this,’
(C124) á kí náà à múà njì bvúdà nà wɛ̂.
a-H kì-H nâ a múà njì bvúda nà wɛ̂
1-PRES say-R COMP 1 PROSP come quarrel COM 2S.OBJ
‘he says that he is about to come quarrel with you.’
(C125) pílì mwánɔ̀ bàgyɛ̀lì, àà nyɛ̂ kɛ̀ bíyɔ̀,
pílì m-wánɔ̀ ba-gyɛ̀lì àà nyɛ̂ kɛ̀ bíyɔ
when N1-child ba2-Gyeli 1.FUT 1.OBJ go hit
‘At times the Gyeli child, he will go hit it,’
(C126) kɛ̀ nyɛ̂ bíyɔ̀ mpù.
kɛ̀ nyɛ̂ bíyɔ mpù
go 1.OBJ hit like.this
‘hit it like this.’
(C127) báà nâ bìsɔ́mɔ̀nɛ̀ bìsɔ́mɔ̀nɛ̀ bé nyì.
báà nâ bi-sɔ́mɔ̀nɛ̀ bi-sɔ́mɔ̀nɛ̀ be-H nyì
2.COP COMP be8-complaint be8-complaint 8-PRES enter
‘it is them that complaints over complaints start.’
(C128) donc pɛ̀ tsíyɛ̀ pɔ́nɛ́ lékɛ́lɛ̀, bvúlɛ̀ bá
donc pɛ̀ tsíyɛ pɔ́nɛ́ le-kɛ́lɛ̀ bvúlɛ̀ ba-H
so[French] there cut ∅7.truth le5-word ba2.Bulu 2-PRES
ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bíì ɛ́ vâ.
ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H bíì ɛ́ vâ
bother-R 1P.OBJ LOC here
551
‘So, to say the truth, the Bulu bother us here.’
(C129) kwádɔ́ yá wɛ́ nyɛ̂ yá djìlɛ́ mà

kwádɔ́ yá wɛ-H nyɛ̂ ya-H djìlɛ-H mà
∅7.village 7:ATT 2S-PRES see 1P-PRES place-R COMPL[Kwasio]
wá yî.
wá yî
here[Kwasio] 7
‘The village that you see, we have placed it here here.’
(C130) bvúlɛ̀ bá ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bíì. kwádɔ́ yá wɛ́ nyɛ̂

bvúlɛ̀ ba-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H bíì kwádɔ́ yá wɛ-H nyɛ̂
ba2.Bulu 2-PRES bother-R 1P.OBJ ∅7.village 7:ATT 2S-PRES see
yá djìlɛ́ mà wá yî.
ya-H djìlɛ-H mà wá yî
1S-PRES seat-R COMPL[Kwasio] here[Kwasio] 7
‘The Bulu bother us. The village that you see, we have placed it here
here.’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C131) bùdì bɔ́nɛ̀gà bɔ́ pɛ̂ mbíɛ̀ bɔ́ lɛ́ɛ ̀ náà

ba2-person 2-other 2 there ∅3.high 2.PRES say COMP
mí bɔ́ kwàlɛ́ b-ùdã̂ b-ɔ̀ɔ.̀
2.non.Pygmy 2.PRES love ba2-woman 2-POSS.2S
‘The other people there up stream say that the Bulu love your women.’
Mambi:
(C132) voilà wɛ̀ɛ ̀ njǐ nà njǐ, wɛ̀ɛ ̀ njǐ nà

voilà wɛ̀ɛ ̀ njǐ nà njǐ wɛ̀ɛ ̀ njǐ nà
ok[French] 2S.COP ∅9.path COM ∅9.path 2S.COP ∅9.path COM
njǐ.
njǐ.
∅9.path
‘Exactly, you are on the right track.’
(C133) donc bɛ̀yá lɔ́ kɛ̀ nà bɛ̀yà nzíí pándɛ̀,

donc bɛ̀ya-H lɔ́ kɛ̀ nà bɛ̀ya nzíí pándɛ
so[French] 2P-PRES RETRO go COM 2P PROG.PRES arrive
‘So, you just came and you are arriving,’
(C134) bɛ̀yá nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmàlà.

bɛ̀ya-H nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmala
2P-PRES come.SBJV 1P.OBJ find
552
‘you (pl) may come to meet us.’
(C135) bùdì bɛ́sɛ̀ bà nzíí kɛ̀ nà kɛ́ dẽ ́ bèdjìí

b-ùdì b-ɛ́sɛ̀ ba nzíí kɛ̀ nà kɛ̀-H dẽ ́ be-djìí
ba2-person 2-all 2 PROG.PRES go COM go-R today be8-forest
dé tù.
dé tù
LOC inside
‘All the people are going into the forest today.’
(C136) dɔ̃̂ bɛ̀yá nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmàlà.

dɔ̃ ̂ bɛ̀ya-H nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmala
so[French] 2P-PRES come.SBJV 1P.OBJ find
‘So, you (pl) may come to meet us.’
(C137) bɔ́nɛ́gá báà ná djìí dé tù.

(C138) bɛ̀yá nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmàlà vâ.

bɛ̀ya-H nzíyɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ kfùmala vâ
2P-PRES come.SBJV 1P.OBJ find here
‘You may come to meet us here.’
(C139) donc bí yá táálɛ́ bê yàlànɛ̀, àà.

donc bí ya-H táálɛ-H bê yàlanɛ àà
so[French] 1P.EMPH 1P-PRES begin-R 2P respond[Bulu] EXCL
‘So we start to respond to you, mhm.’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C140) wɛ̀ sí lɛ́ɛ ̀ náà ɔ̀ bírì bùrã̂ bɔ̀ nìà?

2S PROG.PST say COMP 2S have ba2-woman 2:ATT how.many
‘You said you have how many wives?’
Nze:
(C141) nà mɛ̂?
nà mɛ̂?
Q 1S
‘Me?’
Mambi:
553
(C142) à bùdɛ́ mà mùdã.̂

a bùdɛ-H mà m-ùdã.̂
1 have-R COMPL[Kwasio] N1-woman
‘He already has a wife.’
Nze:
(C143) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ mà mùdã̂ mvúdũ̂,

mɛ bùdɛ-H mà m-ùdã ̂ m-vúdũ̂
1S have-R COMPL[Kwasio] N1-woman 1-one
‘I have already one wife.’
(C144) bwánɔ̀ mpù [gesture showing 2].

b-wánɔ̀ mpù
ba2-child like.this
‘that many children [gesture showing 2].’
(C145) bwánɔ̀ bá bùdã̂ bábáà èè nà mwánɔ̀ wà

b-wánɔ̀ bá b-ùdã ̂ bá-báà èè nà m-wánɔ̀ wà
ba2-child 2:ATT ba2-woman 2-two EXCL COM N1-child 1:ATT
mùdã̂ nláálɛ̀ ndáà ná.
m-ùdã̂ nláálɛ̀ ndáà ná
N1-woman three also again
‘Two girls, yes, and also again a third girl.’
(C146) mm ndí nyɛ̀gà à ndáà lèbá ɛ́ pɛ̀.

mm ndí nyɛ̀-gà a ndáà le-bá ɛ́ pɛ̀
EXCL but 1-other 1 also le5-marriage LOC there
‘Mhm, but the other one has gotten also married over there.’
(C147) à kɛ́ bwálɛ̀ nà eeehhh...

a kɛ́ bwálɛ nà eeehhh
1.PST1 go be.born COM EXCL
‘She was born elsewhere and eehmmm...’
(C148) ntɛ́mbɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ wã̂ nyɛ̀ wɛ́ bùdɛ́

mwánɔ̀ wà mùdã̂ mvúdũ̂.
m-wánɔ̀ wà m-ùdã̂ m-vúdũ̂
‘It’s my wife’s younger sister who has one girl.’
554
(C149) kwádɔ́ yáwɔ̀ yɔ̂ wɛ́ yî.

kwádɔ́ y-áwɔ̀ yɔ̂ wɛ́ yî
∅7.village 7-POSS.3P 7 ID 7.DEM.PROX
‘Their village is this one.’
(C150) ká wɛ́ nyɛ́ mɛ̂ djíì sâ vâ nâ bá

ká wɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mɛ̂ djíì sâ vâ nâ ba-H
if 2S-PRES see-R 1S.OBJ stay only here COMP 2-PRES
nzíyɛ̀, bá nzíyɛ̀ djìyɔ̀.
nzíyɛ̀ ba-H nzíyɛ̀ djìyɔ
come.SBJV 2-PRES come.SBJV stay
‘When you see me just staying here, so that they come, they come
to stay.’
Mambi:
(C151) yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà náà bí bɔ́gà yá

ya-H wúmbɛ-H ndáà nâ bí b-ɔ́gà ya-H
1P-PRES want-R also COMP 1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES
páŋgɔ́ bɛ̀,
páŋgɔ-H bɛ̀
start[Kwasio]-R be
‘We also want that we others first have..’
(C152) nà kùrã̂ ndáà.

nà kùrã ̂ ndáà
COM ∅7.electricity also
‘also electricity.’
(C153) ónóò bí bɔ́gà yá pã́ djî bényámɛ̀

ónóò bí b-ɔ́gà ya-H ̂
pã-H djî H-be-nyámɛ̀
EXCL 1P.EMPH 2-other 1P-PRES start-R stay OBJ.LINK-be8-poor
ná.
ná
still
‘Ohhh, we other will first stay still poor.’
(C154) yá bɛ́lɛ́ nà kùrã.̂

ya-H bɛ́-lɛ́ nà kùrã̂
7-PRES be-NEG COM ∅7.electricity
‘There is no electricity.’
555
(C155) mɛ́ dyúwɔ́ nâ mìntáŋgánɛ́ mí nzíí njì

mɛ-H dyúwɔ-H nâ mi-ntáŋgánɛ́ mí nzíí njì
1S-PRES hear-R COMP mi4-white.person 4 PROG.PRES come
mí nzíí njì.
mí nzíí njì
4 PROG.PRES come
‘I hear that the white people are coming and coming.’
(C156) mìntáŋgánɛ́ métì mí sá náà,

mi-ntáŋgánɛ́ mé-tì mi-H sâ-H nâ
mi4-white.person 4-DEM[Bulu] 4-PRES do-R COMP
‘The white people make that,’
(C157) bàmɔ̀nɛ́ bá vɛ́ bɔ̂ ɛ́ pɛ̀ sɔ́’ɔ̀ wû...

ba-mɔ̀nɛ́ ba-H vɛ̀-H bɔ̂ ɛ́ pɛ̀ sɔ́’ɔ̀ wû
ba2-money 2-PRES give-R 2.OBJ LOC there before there
‘the money they give them there [in Europe] before...’
(C158) bí bɔ́gà yá wúmbɛ́ ndáà pãã́ ̀ nyɛ̂ sâ

2-PRES call-R ∅3.light 3:ATT ∅7.electricity[French]
electricity.’
(C159) wú bɛ́ mà bî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù!

wú bɛ̀-H mà bî ndáwɔ̀ dé tù
3 be-R COMPL[Kwasio] 1P.OBJ ∅9.house LOC inside
‘That it was already in our houses!’
(C160) màndáwɔ̀ má báà lwɔ̂,

ma-ndáwɔ̀ má báà lwɔ̂
ma6-houses 6:ATT 2.FUT build
‘The houses that they will build,’
(C161) má bá lwɔ́ bî.

má ba-H lwɔ̂-H bî
6:ATT 2-PRES build-R 1P
‘that they build for us.’
556
(C162) mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ mùdì wà lèkɛ́lɛ̀.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ m-ùdì wà le-kɛ́lɛ̀
1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG N1-person 1:ATT le5-word
‘I’m not a person of many words.’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C163) wɛ̀ wɛ́ yíì nzɛ́? gyí ywɛ̀ límbó màmbì mɔ́-míyà
2S.EMPH 2S 7.COP who what 2S know ma6.thing 6-all
bɔ́ ʃíí sâ?
2.PRES PROG do
‘Who are you? What do you know about all the things they do?’
Nze to Mama:
(C164) wɛ́ làwɔ́ tɛ́ɛ.̀

wɛ-H làwɔ-H tɛ́ɛ ̀
2S-PRES talk-R now
‘You speak now.’
Mama:
(C165) èè mɛ̀ djínɔ̀ ná Màmà.

èè mɛ̀ dj-ínɔ̀ ná Màmà
yes 1S le5-name SIM PN
‘My name is Mama.’
(C166) yíì pɔ́nɛ́ kɔ́ɔ ̀ lèváá lɛ̀vúdũ̂ nâ bí

yíì pɔ́nɛ́ kɔ́ɔ ̀ le-váá lɛ̀-vúdũ̂ nâ b-í
7.COP ∅7.truth still le5-thing 5-one COMP ba2-non.Bagyeli
bá ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bágyɛ̀lì.
ba-H ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
2-PRES bother-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
‘It is true, still the same thing that the non-Bagyeli bother the Bagyeli.’
(C167) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ, sã̂ wã́ à wɛ́, mɛ̀ɛ ̀ mwánɔ̀

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ sã̂ w-ã́ a wɛ̀-H mɛ̀ɛ ̀ m-wánɔ̀
1S.COP here ∅1.father 1-POSS.1S 1.PST1 die-R 1S.COP N1-child
nyùlɛ̀.
nyùlɛ̀
orphan
‘I’m here, my father has died, I’m an orphan.’
Nze :
557
(C168) èé, lûŋgà yá sã́ wɛ́ɛ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ yíí.

èé lûŋgà yá sã́ w-ɛ́ɛ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ yíí
EXCL ∅7.grave 7:ATT ∅1.father 1-POSS.3S 7.COP 7.DEM.DIST
‘Right, his father’s grave is over there.’
Mama:
(C169) lûŋgà yá sã́ wã̂ yɔ́ bɛ́ yíí.

lûŋgà yá sã́ w-ã ̂ yɔ́ bɛ̀-H yíí.
∅7.grave 7:ATT ∅1.father 1-POSS.1S 7.EMPH be-R 7.DEM.DIST
‘My father’s grave is over there.’
(C170) bwánɔ̀ bá kálɛ́ bã̂ bɔ́ bá kɛ́

b-wánɔ̀ bá kálɛ́ b-ã ̂ bɔ́ ba-H kɛ̀-H
ba2-child 2:ATT ∅1.older.sister 2-POSS.1S 2.EMPH 2-PRES go-R
sílɛ̀ pándɛ̀.
sílɛ pándɛ
finish arrive
‘The children of my older sister, they all arrive.’
Nze:
(C171) yáà, nyɛ̀ wɛ́ nû.

yáà nyɛ wɛ́ nû
EXCL 1 ID 1.DEM.PROX
‘Yes, this is him.’
Mama:
(C172) nyãã́ ̀ wã̂ núú Ntàbɛ̀tɛ́ndá pɛ̀.

nyãã ́ ̀ w-ã ̂ núú Ntàbɛ̀tɛ́ndá pɛ̀
∅1.mother 1-POSS.1S 1.DEM.DIST PN there
‘My mother is over there in Ntabɛtɛnda [= name of village].’
(C173) à nzí kɛ̀ létʃíndɔ́ lé

a nzí kɛ̀ H-le-tsíndɔ́ lé
1 PROG.PST1 go OBJ.LINK-le5-funeral.ceremony 5:ATT
ntùmbà wã.̂
n-tùmbà w-ã̂
Nze:
558
(C174) nɔ́gá à nzí wɛ̀ wû.

nɔ́-gá a nzí wɛ̀ wû
1-CONTR 1 PROG.PST1 die there
Mama:
(C175) nɔ́nɛ́gá à nzí wɛ̀ wû.

nɔ́-nɛ́gá a nzí wɛ̀ wû
1-other 1 PROG.PST1 die there
(C176) yɔ́ɔ ̀ pɔ̀nɛ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mpù.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ pɔ̀nɛ̀ vɛ̀ɛ ̀ mpù
7.COP ∅7.thruth still like.this
‘It is still true like this.’
(C177) bɔ́nɛ́gá bá lɔ́ sílɛ̀ làwɔ̀ nâ bvúlɛ̀ bá

ntɛ́gɛ́lɛ́ bágyɛ̀lì,
ntɛ́gɛlɛ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
bother-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
‘The others have just said that the Bulu bother the Bagyeli,’
(C178) kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ̀ bùdã̂ kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ̀ bùdã̂ bá

kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ b-ùdã̂ kɛ̀ nà kwàlɛ b-ùdã̂ bá
go COM love 2n-woman go COM love ba2-woman 2:ATT
bá-gyɛ̀lì.
ba-gyɛ̀lì
ba2-Gyeli
‘coming and loving the women, coming and loving the women of
the Bagyeli.’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C179) djínásá náà wà pɛ́lí lí bɛ̀ nà m-ùrã?̂

mean COMP 2S NEG.PST yet be COM 1-woman
‘That means that you haven’t been yet with a woman?’
Nze:
559
(C180) àà mwã̂ ntùà, àà mwã̂ ntúà.

àà m-wã̂ ntùà àà m-wã̂ ntúà.
1.COP N1-child small 1.COP N1-child small
‘He is a small child, he is a small child.’
Mama:
(C181) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ nyá mùdì nà nyɛ̂.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ nyá m-ùdì nà nyɛ̂
1S.COP real N1-person COM 1.OBJ
‘I’m an adult and him [= Mambi].’
(C182) yà pálɛ́ bɛ̀ nà bùdã.̂

1P NEG.PST be COM ba2-woman
Severin in Ngumba:
(C183) ɔ́ kɛ́ nà lywɛ́lɛ́ b-ùdã̂ bì-djìnáà.

2S.PRES go COM show ba2-woman be8-finger
‘You go and hit on women [lit. show women with fingers]?’
Mama:
(C184) mɛ̀ fúgɛ̃ɛ́ .̃̀

mɛ fúgɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀
1S.PST1 finish.COMPL
‘I have finished.’
Nze:
(C185) á kí náà à sílɛ́ mà.

a-H kì-H nâ a sílɛ-H mà
3S-PRES say-R COMP 1.PST1 finish COMPL[Kwasio]
‘He says that he has finished.’
Mambi:
(C186) donc bã̀ yíì nâ bí yá wúmbɛ́

donc bã ̀ yíì nâ bí ya-H wúmbɛ-H
so[French] ∅7.word 7.COP COMP 1P.EMPH 1P-PRES want-R
nâ nyá màmbɔ̀ máà mpâ,
nâ nyá m-àmbɔ̀ máà mpâ
COMP real ma6-thing 6.COP good
‘So, the word is that we want that the important things be good,’
560
(C187) màndáwɔ̀ má zì,

ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì
ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin[Bulu]
‘tin-roofed houses,’
(C188) nà nà kùrã̂ màndáwɔ̀.

nà nà kùrã ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀
COM COM ∅7.electricity ma6-house
‘and, and electricity in the houses.’
(C189) kí dyúwɔ̀ nâ bà lwɔ́ ndáwɔ̀ vúdũ̂ ndí

kí dyúwɔ nâ ba lwɔ̂-H ndáwɔ̀ vúdũ̂ ndí
NEG understand COMP 2.PST1 build-R ∅9.house one but
màndáwɔ̀,
ma-ndáwɔ̀
ma6-houses
‘Without understanding that they [white people] built one house,
but houses,’
(C190) mùdì nyɛ̀ ngwɛ̂ màndáwɔ̀.

m-ùdì nyɛ ngwɛ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀
N1-person 1 all[Kwasio] ma6-house
‘every person [their] houses.’
(C191) nà bí bɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã̂ bɛ̀ dé tù.

nà bí b-ɛ́sɛ̀ kɔ́ɔ ̀ kùrã ̂ bɛ̀ dé tù
COM 1P.EMPH 2-all still ∅7.electricity be LOC inside
(C192) bã̂ yã̂ màfwálá wɛ́ yíndɛ̀.

bã ̂ y-ã ̂ ma-fwálá wɛ́ yí-ndɛ̀
∅7.word 7-POSS.1S ma6-end ID 7-ANA
‘This is my last word.’
Severin in Ngumba:
(C193) bíyɔ̀ bí lɛ́ɛ ̀ náà sí nyà bɛ́-lɛ́, dí bíyà lwò

2P.EMPH 2P.PRES say COMP ∅9.land 9 be-NEG but 2P build
yɛ́?
where
‘You say that you don’t have any land, but where do you build?’
Mambi:
561
(C194) báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ̀dɛ̀ àà lã.̀

báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ̀dɛ̀ àà lã̀
3.FUT break ∅3.road when ∅1.port 1.FUT pass
‘They will build a road when the port passes.’
(C195) à múà njì lã,̀ báà bù mpàgó.

a múà njì lã̀ báà bù mpàgó
1 PROSP come pass 2.FUT break ∅3.road
‘It [the port] is about to come pass [= by here], they will build the
road.’
(C196) báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ́dɛ̀ àà vâ, njì tsíyɛ̀ vâ.

báà bù mpàgó pílì pɔ́dɛ̀ àà vâ njì tsíyɛ̀ vâ
2.FUT break ∅3.road when ∅1.port 1.COP here come cut here
‘They will build a road when the port is here, coming cross-cutting
here.’
(C197) bá báà bù mpàgó.

bá báà bù mpàgó
2.EMPH 2.FUT break ∅3.road
‘They will build a road.’
Nze:
(C198) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ búùlɛ̀ yã.̂

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ kɛ̀ búùlɛ̀ y-ã̂
1S.FUT go ∅7.old.camp 7-POSS.1S
‘I will go to my old settlement.’
Mambi:
(C199) èhè báà bù mpàgó nà pámò pɛ̀ Kyíɛ̀ŋgɛ̀.

èhè báà bù mpàgó nà pámo pɛ̀ Kyíɛ̀ŋgɛ̀
EXCL 2.FUT break ∅3.road COM arrive over.there PN
‘Yes, they will build a road up to Kienge [= river and name for
Kribi].’
(C200) bá nà ngvùlɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ sílɛ̀ lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀.

bá nà ngvùlɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ sílɛ lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
2 COM ∅9.strength 1P.OBJ finish build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘They have the strength to build us all houses.’
562
(C201) wɛ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀?

wɛ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
(C202) báà sílɛ̀ bî kúmbà lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀.

báà sílɛ bî kúmba lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
2.FUT finish 1P.OBJ arrange build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
‘They will arrange for us building houses.’
Mambi:
(C203) bá kɛ́ ndáà nà tɛ́lɛ́ mákùndù má

ba-H kɛ̀-H ndáà nà tɛ́lɛ-H H-ma-kùndù má
2-PRES go-R also COM put-R OBJ.LINK-ma6-clay.house 6:ATT
kùrã̂ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́.
kùrã ̂ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́
∅7.electricity IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO IDEO
‘They also go and put clay houses with electricity, [depiction of
putting the electricity poles along the road].’
(C204) wɛ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀?

wɛ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
Nze:
(C205) ɛ́ pɛ̀ bà sílɛ́ bî lwɔ̃̂ mándáwɔ̀

ɛ́ pɛ̀ ba sílɛ-H bî lwɔ̃̂ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀
LOC there 2.PST1 finish-R 1P.OBJ build OBJ.LINK-ma6-house
ɛ́ pɛ̀.
ɛ́ pɛ̀
LOC there
‘There, they have finished to build us houses there.’
(C206) ɔ̀ dyúwɔ́ mɔ̀?

ɔ dyúwɔ-H mɔ̀
2S.PST1[Kwasio] understand-R COMPL
563
(C207) mm, nâ yí kádɔ́ nâ mùdì bɛ̀ tí

mm nâ yi-H kádɔ-H nâ m-ùdì bɛ̀ tí
EXCL COMP 7-PRES be.plenty-R COMP N1-person be go[?]
njì nà yímbɔ̀. mhm.
njì nà yímbɔ̀. mhm
come COM visit EXCL
‘Mhm, so that it be plenty so that people come for a visit [= which
they don’t now because there is no electricity]. Mhm.’
(C208) pã̂ mɛ̂ láà tè!

pã̂ mɛ̂ láà tè
start.IMP 1S.OBJ tell there
‘Tell me first there! [= Tell me how they would come.]’
(C209) bímbú lɛ́ mámbòŋgò mâ, wɛ̀ mɛ́dɛ́ dígɛ̂

bímbú lɛ́ ma-mbòŋgò mâ wɛ mɛ́dɛ́ dígɛ̂
∅5.amount 5:ATT ma6-plant 6.DEM.PROX 2S self look.IMP
mɛ́dɛ́,
mɛ́dɛ́
self
‘The amount of these plants, yourself, look yourself,’
(C210) nâ á dyúwɔ́ bágyɛ̀lì.

nâ a-H dyúwɔ-H H-ba-gyɛ̀lì
COMP 1-PRES understand-R OBJ.LINK-ba2-Gyeli
‘so that she [Nadine] understands the Bagyeli.’
Mambi:
bã̀ word wɛ́

(C211) ‘The that you làwɔ̀
speak,bá dyúwɔ́
they understand sâ
everything. yɛ́sɛ̀not
[= . the
bã ̀ wɛ-H làwɔ ba-H dyúwɔ-H sâ y-ɛ́sɛ̀
language, 2S-PRES
but what speak
is promised]’
2-PRES understand-R ∅7.thing 7-every
∅7.word
(C212) bíì, bá dyúwɔ́ lɛ́kɛ́lɛ̀ lé
bíì ba-H dyúwɔ-H H-lɛ-kɛ́lɛ̀ lé
1P.EMPH 2-PRES understand OBJ.LINK-le5-language 5:ATT
wɛ́ làwɔ̀.
wɛ-H làwɔ
2S-PRES speak
‘We, they understand the language that you speak.’
Mama:
564
(C213) wɛ́ nyɛ́ mbɛ́ yá bá njí líbɛ̀lɛ̀ yíndɛ̀.

wɛ-H nyɛ̂-H mbɛ́ yá ba-H njì-H líbɛlɛ yí-ndɛ̀
2S-PRES see-R ∅7.thing 7:ATT 2-PRES come-R show 7-ANA
‘You see the thing [camera] that they came to show there.’
(C214) wɛ́ tɛ́bɔ́ númbá vúdũ̂!

wɛ-H tɛ́bɔ-H númbá vúdũ̂!
2S-PRES put-R ∅7.place one
‘Stay in the same place! [= don’t move because of the camera]’
Nze:
(C215) mais mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ ɛ́ pɛ̀,

mais mɛ bùdɛ-H nâ ɛ́ pɛ̀
but[French] 1S have-R COMP LOC over.there
‘But I say that over there,’
(C216) ɛ́ wû bèyá lwɔ̃́ kwádɔ́ yã̂ ɛ́

ɛ́ wû bèya-H lwɔ̃-Ĥ kwádɔ́ y-ã ̂ ɛ́
LOC there 2P[Kwasio]-PRES build-R ∅7.village 7-POSS.1S LOC
wû.
wû
there
‘there you (pl) build my village over there.’
(C217) kwádɔ́ yã,̂ màndáwɔ̀ má zì.

kwádɔ́ y-ã ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀ má zì
∅7.village 7-POSS.1S ma6-house 6:ATT ∅7.tin[Bulu]
‘My village, tin houses.’
Délégué:
(C218) voilà bùgù yɛ́sɛ̀.

voilà bùgù y-ɛ́sɛ̀
voilà[French] ∅7.place 7-all
‘Voilà, all the place.’
Nze:
(C219) mɛ̀ bùdɛ́ nâ á lwɔ́ŋgɔ́ mɛ̂ màndáwɔ̀,

mɛ bùdɛ-H nâ a-H lwɔ́ŋgɔ-H mɛ̂ ma-ndáwɔ̀
1S have-R COMP 1-PRES build[Kwasio]-R 1S.OBJ ma6-house
565
(C220) búùlɛ̀ yá Ngɔ̀lɔ́ Ngɔ̀lɔ́ Ngɔ̀lɔ́.

búùlɛ̀ yá Ngɔ̀lɔ́ Ngɔ̀lɔ́ Ngɔ̀lɔ́.
∅7.old.camp 7:ATT PN PN PN
‘at the old settlement of Ngolo, Ngolo, Ngolo.’
(C221) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ́ngɔ̀ mándáwɔ̀ Ngɔ̀lɔ́ zì

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ lwɔ́ngɔ H-ma-ndáwɔ̀ Ngɔ̀lɔ́ zì
1S.FUT build[Kwasio] OBJ.LINK-ma6-house PN ∅7.tin[Bulu]
nà zì.
nà zì
COM ∅7.tin[Bulu]
‘I will build houses in Ngolo, each with tin (roofs).’
(C222) yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ́ wúmbɛ́ wû.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ-H wúmbɛ-H wû
7.EMPH 1S-PRES want-R there
‘That is what I want there.’
(C223) àmú mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà sí vâ.

àmú mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ nà sí vâ
because[Bulu] 1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG COM ∅9.ground here
‘Because I don’t have any land here.’
(C224) bã̀ yá bwánɔ̀ bá lɔ́ làwɔ̀ yíì tè.

bã ̀ yá b-wánɔ̀ ba-H lɔ́ làwɔ yíì tè
∅7.word 7:ATT ba2-child 2-PRES RETRO speak 7.COP there
‘The word that the children just said is there. [= it is true]’
(C225) mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́lɛ́ nà sí vâ.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ bɛ́-lɛ́ nà sí vâ
1S.PRES.NEG be-NEG COM ∅9.ground here
‘I don’t have any land here.’
(C226) mɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ mpínásâ.

mɛ̀ɛ ̀ vâ mpínásâ
1S.COP here squeezed
‘I’m squeezed here.’
(C227) donc sí nyã̂ nyíì búùlɛ̀ yá

donc sí ny-ã ̂ nyíì búùlɛ̀ yá
so[French] ∅9.ground 9-POSS.1S 9:COP ∅7.old.camp 7:ATT
Ngɔ̀lɔ́.
Ngɔ̀lɔ́
PN
‘So, my land is the old settlement of Ngolo.’
566
Mambi:
(C228) lé yá wɛ́ nyɛ̂ bá gyíbɔ́ ngàlɛ́ yíì.

‘The tree that you see that they call ‘ngàlɛ́’ is that.’
(C229) bá lã́ pámò vâ tɛ́ɛ ̀ bà kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ́ ̃̀ yɔ̀

ba-H lã-H̀ pámo vâ tɛ́
ɛ ̀ ba ́
kwɛ̀lɔ̃ɔ ̃ ̀ yɔ̀
(C230) yɔ́ɔ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ̀ djìlɛ́ mà.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ yɔ́ɔ ̀ mɛ djìlɛ-H mà
7.OBJ 7.OBJ 1S.PST1 place-R COMPL[Kwasio]
‘This, this I have placed [there].’
Djiedjhie in Mabi:
(C231) pfúmá m-í lɛ́ɛ ́ mɛ̂ náà bíì tí wúmbɛ̀ sá

chief N1-non.Pygmy say 1S COMP 2P.EMPH? NEG want do
bì-sálɛ̀ bɔ̀ pwã̂ bì-dólò, bí bíná dólò ywɛ̂, bí
be8-work 2 pay be8-money 2P refuse ∅7.money 7.POSS.3S, 2P
wúmbɛ́ sá náà líní bí sá bì-sálɛ̀ bɔ́ kíyá bî
want ∅7.thing COMP when 2P do bi8-work 2 give 2P
mà-nyùà.
ma6-drink
‘The chief of the farmers [Bulu] told me that you don’t want to be
paid money when you work, you refuse their money, you want that
when you work you be given alcohol.’
Mambi:
(C232) àà kfúmá ndɛ̀ wà Nlúnzɔ̀!

àà kfúmá ndɛ̀ wà Nlúnzɔ̀
ECXL ∅1.chief ANA 1:ATT PN
‘Ah, that chief from Nlunzo!’
Nze:
567
(C233) àà á sɔ́’ɔ̀!
àà a-H sɔ́’ɔ̀
EXCL 1-PRES quit
‘Ah, may he quit!’
Mambi:
(C234) yɛ̀ŋgɛ̀-yɛ̀ŋgɛ̀ nâ bùdì bá ndyándyá wû

yɛ̀ŋgɛ̀-yɛ̀ŋgɛ̀ nâ b-ùdì ba-H ndyándya-H wû
especially COMP ba2-person 2-PRES work-R there
kàlɛ̀gà bíyɛ̀ pándɛ̀ dígɛ̀ bíyɛ̀ vâ, yà bùdɛ́ vâ nâ
kàlɛga bíyɛ̀ pándɛ dígɛ bíyɛ̀ vâ ya bùdɛ-H vâ nâ
stop.over 1P.OBJ arrive watch 1P.OBJ here 1P have-R here COMP
pílì wɛ́ kɛ́ bésàlɛ́ bèdjɔ́wɔ̀ bé
pílì wɛ-H kɛ̀-H H-be-sàlɛ́ be-djɔ́wɔ̀ bé
when 2S-PRES go-R OBJ.LINK-be8-work be8-day.labor 8:ATT
kùgúù nà bé lévídósí,
kùgúù nà bé le-vídósí
∅7.evening COM 8:ATT le5-morning
‘Especially people who work there stop over, arrive to see us here,
we say that when you go work as day labor in the evening and in
the morning,’
(C235) donc wɛ̀ bùdɛ́ ná bàfû, wɛ́ yànɛ́ gyàgà

donc wɛ bùdɛ-H ná ba-fû wɛ-H yànɛ-H gyàga
so[French] 2S be-R again ba2-fish 2S-PRES must-R buy
bɔ̂.
bɔ̂
2.OBJ
‘so, you have fish again, you have to buy them.’
(C236) wɛ́ símásá ndáà sìgá.

wɛ-H símasa-H ndáà sìgá
2S-PRES regret-R also ∅1.cigarette
‘You also regret a cigarette [= because you cannot buy it].’
(C237) wɛ́ símásá ndáà ŋwándɔ́.

wɛ-H símasa-H ndáà ŋwándɔ́
2S-PRES regret-R also ∅3.manioc.stick
‘You also regret the manioc stick.’
(C238) wɛ́ yànɛ́ ná gyàgà ndísì,

568
(C239) pílì wɛ́ lèmbó nâ bùdì bá ndáwɔ̀

pílì wɛ-H lèmbo-H nâ b-ùdì bá ndáwɔ̀
when 2S-PRES know-R COMP ba2-person 2:ATT ∅9.house
bvùbvù.
bvùbvù
many
‘when you know that there are many people at home.’
Nze:
(C240) ɛ̀sɛ́ béé ndáà bèyá làwɔ́

ɛ̀sɛ́ béé ndáà bèya-H làwɔ-H
is.it[French] 2P.EMPH also 2P[Kwasio]-PRES speak-R
fàlà.
fàlà
∅1.French
‘Isn’t it, you, you also speak French.’
(C241) mɛ̀ɛ ́ láwɔ̀lɛ̀ fàlà.

mɛ̀ɛ ́ láwɔ-lɛ̀ fàlà
1S.PRES.NEG speak-NEG ∅1.French
‘I don’t speak French.’
(C242) nzá núù dè nzá núù nyímɛ̀.

nzá núù dè nzá núù nyímɛ
who 1.FUT eat who 1.FUT refuse
‘Who will eat, who will refuse.’
Mambi:
(C243) pílì wɛ́ kɛ́ gyàgà báfû bábáà...

pílì wɛ-H kɛ̀-H gyàga H-ba-fû bá-báà
when 2S-PRES go-R buy OBJ.LINK-ba2-fish 2-two
‘When you go to buy two fish...’
(C244) ká bá kɛ́ wɛ̂ vɛ̀ bébwúyà bébáà nà

màwú mátánɛ̀,
ma-wú má-tánɛ̀
ma6-ten 6-five
‘If they go give you 250 (Francs),’
569
Nze:
(C245) wɛ́ sá tè ná?

wɛ-H sâ-H tè ná
2S-PRES do-R there how
‘how do you manage there? [because it’s very little money]’
(C246) mhm, mɛ̀ Nzìwù wɛ̂.

mhm mɛ Nzìwù wɛ́
EXCL 1S PN ID
‘Mhm, I’m Nziwu.’
Mambi:
(C247) wɛ́ ná báàlá nà nyɛ́ fí nà wɛ́

ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû.
ná mɔ̀nɛ́ nû
Nze:
(C248) yɔ́ɔ ̀ nû àá láwɔ̀lɛ̀.

yɔ́ɔ ̀ nû àá láwɔ-lɛ̀
so 1.DEM.PROX 1.PRES.NEG speak-NEG
‘So this one doesn’t speak. [= teasing Délégué who is deaf-mute: he
doesn’t speak because he is guilty of having himself be exploited]’
(C249) kɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ́gà á làwɔ́ ndáà.

kɔ́ɔ ̀ nyɛ́-gà a-H làwɔ-H ndáà
only 1-CONTR 1-PRES speak-R also
‘Only him, he would also speak. [= teasing: if he wasn’t guilty, he
would also speak and protest]’
(C250) mhm, dzámɛ́ ŋgá nyɛ̂.

mhm dzámɛ́ ŋgá nyɛ̂
EXCL excuse PL 1.OBJ
570
‘Mhm, excuse (pl) him. [= teasing: excuse him for accepting the
poorly paid work]’
(C251) bí bɛ̂ yá lɔ́ làwɔ̀.

bí b-ɛ̂ ya-H lɔ́ làwɔ
1P.EMPH 2-all[Kwasio] 1P-PRES RETRO speak
‘We all just spoke.’
(C252) yà bɛ́ bùdì báláálɛ̀.

ya bɛ̀-H b-ùdì bá-láálɛ̀
1P.PST1 be-R ba2-person 2-three
‘We were three people.’
Mambi:
(C253) kɔ́ɔ ̀ sílɛ̀.

kɔ́ɔ ̀ sílɛ
just finish
‘Just finish.’
571
Appendix III: Lexicon
The Gyeli — English lexicon represented here contains almost 1500 entries.
It is an extended version of the verb and noun databases. It includes verbs
and nouns that are not in the databases as well as other parts of speech.
Lexical entries minimally yield information on the part of speech and the
translation. For nouns, also the noun class and gender affiliation is indicated
as well as the plural form. Verbal lexemes contain information on possible
derivation forms.
In terms of notation conventions, abbreviations are listed at the begin-
ning of the grammar. Generally, entries with a hyphen indicate the lexical
stem that take a prefix. Entries without hyphens constitute prefixless, in-
dependent words. As elsewhere in the grammar, lexemes are marked for
tone. If a syllable is not marked for tone, that means that it is underlyingly
toneless.
572
A -bàà le- n. 5/6 view pl. ma-bàà

báàla nà v. repeat stat. mbàálâ
báàlɛ v. protect, guard, keep
-á d- n. 5/6 crab pl. m-á
stat. mbàálá recip. báàla
-á lé tíndí d- n. 5/6 poisonous crab
in forest pl. m-á má tíndí bààm ideo. depiction of closing or
finishing something
-áá m- n. 6 chance, luck
-bàdà le- n. 5/6 ground pl. ma-
àfríkà n. 1 Africa
bàdà
-ákɛ̀ d- n. 5/6 nest pl. m-ákɛ̀
-ákɔ́ n- n. 3/6 earwax pl. m-àkɔ́ -bàdò le- n. 5/6 skin disease with
blisters under skin, caused by lack
-álɛ̀ bw- n. 8/6 canoe pl. m-álɛ̀
of hygiene pl. ma-bàdò
-àmbɔ̀ m- n. 6 thing
-ámɔ́ d- n. 5/6 hornbill pl. m-ámɔ́ -bágá le- n. 5/6 patch (for mending
clothes) pl. ma-bágá
ányɔ̀nè n. 1/2 onion pl. ba-
bága nà v. do sth. for last time,
nányɔ̀nè
stop, separate stat. mbágâ recip. bá-
-áwɛ̀ j- n. 5/6 goliath frog (Conraua
goliath) pl. m-áwɛ̀ gala
bàgò n. 7/8 hoe pl. be-bàgò
bàkɛ v. stick, attach sth.
B stat. mbàgá
bàlándè n. 1/2 larva, caterpillar
-bã̂ le- n. 5/6 spotted-necked otter pl. ba-bàlándè
(Lutra maculicollis) pl. ma-bã̂ bálɛ v. surpass, overtake, conquer
bã̂ n. 3/4 pit, stone pl. mi-bã̂ stat. mbálâ
bã̌ n. 7/8 word pl. be-bã̌ bálɔwɔ v. bend down, se courber
bãã́ ã
́ ã
́ ́ ideo. depiction of walking a stat. mbálɔ́wɔ̂
long distance fast bàmbèyè n. 7/8 prostitution
-bɛ̃ɛ́ ̃̀ be- n. 8 beauty pl. be-bàmbèyè
-bɔ̃́ le- n. 5/6 knee pl. ma-bɔ̃́ bámíwálɛ́ n. 7/8 scorpion pl. be-
bà v. smoke (tr.) (e.g. cigarette) bámíwálɛ́
stat. mbàyá recip. bàyala au- bámɔ v. scold stat. mbámâ
toc. bàyaga appl. bámɛlɛ recip. bámala
bâ v. marry stat. mbánâ bàmò n. 7/8 scar pl. be-bàmò
caus. bálɛsɛ recip. bánala bándá n. 7/8 kingfisher (Halcyon)
-báà num. two pl. be-bándá
-báà le- n. 5/6 stumbling pl. ma- -bándí lè- n. 5/6 protecting fetish
báà (in house, not on body) pl. ma-bándí
573
-bándɔ́wɔ́ lé mpɔ̀mbɔ́ lè- n. 5/6 bènɔ v. refuse stat. mbèná re-

forehead pl. ma-bándɔ́wɔ́ má ma- cip. bènala
mpɔ̀mbɔ́ béyɔ v. ripen stat. mbéyâ
bándyɛ̀ (wà le-kɔ́ɔ)̀ n. 1/2 cave (of caus. bélɛsɛ autoc. béyaga
stone) pl. ba-bándyɛ̀ -bí le- n. 5/6 excrements pl. ma-bí
-bándyì lè- n. 5/6 slap in the face -bí’ì le- n. 5/6 leech pl. ma-bí’ì
pl. ma-bándyì bíá n. 1/2 beer pl. ba-bíá
básí n. 7/8 shoulder blade pl. be- bígɛ v. become rich, develop,
básí emerge stat. mbígâ caus. bígɛsɛ
bábɛ̀ n. 7/6 disease pl. ma-bábɛ̀ bímbú n. 7/6 quantity pl. ma-
báwɛ v. injure (oneself) bímbú
stat. mbáwâ caus. báwɛsɛ re- -bìndì le- n. 5/6 testicle pl. ma-
cip. báwala bìndì
bàwɛ v. carry stat. mbàwá bìnɔ́ n. 7/8 louse pl. be-bìnɔ́
caus. bàwɛsɛ recip. bàwala bísì nà v. pay attention, consider
bé n. 7/8 well, pit, hole pl. be-bé bíbɔ̀ n. 7/8 thickness pl. be-bíbɔ̀
bɛ̀ v. be bíwɔ̀ n. 3 bad luck, malheur
bɛ̀ v. sow, plant, cultivate bíwɔ̀ qual. bad
stat. mbÈɛ̀yá recip. bèyala bíyálá n. 7/8 awful, hysterical,
bɛ̀’ɛ̀ n. 7/6 shoulder pl. ma-bɛ̀’ɛ̀ terrible (positive or negative) pl. be-
bɛ́dɛ v. light stat. mbɛ́dâ recip. bɛ́- bíyálá
dala autoc. bɛ́dɛga bíyɔ v. hit, beat stat. mbílâ
bédɔ v. go up, mount stat. mbédâ appl. bìyɛlɛ do sth. bad, activate
appl. bédɛlɛ caus. bédɛsɛ recip. bé- sth. caus. bílɛsɛ recip. bínala
dala autoc. bédɛga ascend -bɔ́ le- n. 5/6 sole, footprint, hoof
bédo v. ferment stat. mbédálâ pl. ma-bɔ́
bɛ̀lanɛ v. use stat. mbèlánɛ̂ bɔ̀ v. rot stat. mbɔ̀yá caus. bɔ̀yɛsɛ
bɛ́lɛ́ n. 7/8 handicap pl. be-bɛ́lɛ́ -bɔ̂ m- n. 3/6 arm pl. ma-bɔ̂
-bɛ́lɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 breast pl. ma-bɛ́lɛ̀ bô v. lie down (intr) stat. mbúgâ
-bèlé le- n. 5/6 kola nut pl. ma-bèlé tr. búgɛ
bénɛlɛ v. lift, raise recip. bènala -bɔ́’ɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 bread fruit, bread
autoc. bɛ́nɛga fruit tree (Treculia africana) pl. ma-
bɛ̀ngvùdɛ̀ - n. 1/2 golden angwan- bɔ́’ɔ̀
tibo (Arctocebus aureus) pl. ba- bódé n. 1/2 boot pl. ba-bódé
bɛ̀ngvùdɛ̀ bɔ̀gɛ v. enlarge stat. mbɔ̀gá
bénó n. 7/8 buttock pl. be-bénó caus. bɔ̀gɛsɛ recip. bɔ̀gala
574
bɔ̀lɛ́ n. 7/8 mold on food pl. be-bɔ̀lɛ́ búɔ̀ n. 1/2 mute person pl. ba-búɔ̀
bɔ́mɛlɛ v. wrinkle stat. mbɔ́málâ búɔ̀ n. 7/8 mortar pl. be-búɔ̀
recip. bɔ́mala -bùɔ́ le- n. 5/6 cripple pl. ma-bùɔ́
bɔ̀ndì n. 7/8 colobus monkey búùlɛ̀ n. 7/8 old settlement pl. be-
pl. be-bɔ̀ndì búùlɛ̀
-bóndó le- n. 5/6 toad pl. ma- -búwà le- n. 5/6 lung pl. ma-búwà
bóndó búwɛlɛ v. squeeze, feel (e.g. fruit)
-bòtù ma- n. 6 scalp ringworm stat. mbúwálâ
infection (Tinea capitis) bvû v. think, believe
bû v. destroy stat. mbúyâ re- bvúala v. believe stat. mbvúálâ
cip. búyala bvúbvù n. 9 multitude
bùábùá n. 7/8 state of animal or bvùbvù inv. (too) many, (too)
fish when flesh is not yet dry during much
smoking process pl. be-bùábùá bvúdà nà v. quarrel stat. mbvúdâ
bùdɛ́ n. 7/8 shell (sea, turtle, nut), recip. bvúdala
skin of fruit pl. be-bùdɛ́ bvùdɛ̀ n. 7/6 clearing (in forest)
bùgù n. 7/8 place pl. be-bùgù pl. ma-bvùdɛ̀
búkɛ́ n. 7/8 1) crazy person 2) -bvúlɛ̀ m- n. 1/2 Bulu person
tsetse fly pl. be-búkɛ́ bvùlɛ́ n. 8/8 night pl. be-bvùlɛ́
búlɛ v. burst stat. mbúlâ bvùmá n. 7/8 1) fruit 2) ball
búlɔ v. fish stat. mbúlâ re- pl. be-bvùmá
cip. búlala bvùma v. thunder autoc. bvùmaga
-búlɔ̀ mã̂ m- n. 1/2 fisherman flock of birds flys away suddenly
pl. ba-búlɔ̀ mã̂ bvùmá yá lé-bɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 female
búmɛ v. bark recip. búmala breast pl. be-bvùmá bé má-bɛ́lɛ̀
bùmɛ v. announce sth. stat. mbùmá bvùmá yá ngɔ̀ndɛ̀ n. 7/8 full moon
recip. bùmala (ball of moon) pl. be-bvùmá bé
-bùmɛ̀ màpɔ̂ m- n. 1/2 announcer, ngɔ̀ndɛ̀
messenger pl. ba-bùmɛ̀ bá ma-pɔ̂ bvùmba v. surprise sb, chase sb.
bùmɛlɛ v. hit (nail) stat. mbùmálâ stat. mbvùmbá recip. bvùmbala
recip. bùmala bvúɔ́ n. 8/8 elephant trunk pl. be-
búndɔ̀ n. 7/8 bride price pl. be- bvúɔ́
búndɔ̀ bvúɔ̀ v. break (tr.), harvest mais
búndɔ v. pay brideprice stat. mbvúgâ recip. bvúgala
stat. mbúndâ caus. búndɛsɛ intr. bvúkɛ break
recip. búndala -bvúú lè- n. 5/6 anger, being
575
annoyed, unhappiness bwímɔ̀ n. 7/8 net hunting pl. be-

bwã̂ n. 8/6 medicine pl. ma-bwã̂ bwímɔ̀
-bwãś à ma- n. 6 thoughts bwɔ̂(bwɔ̀) n. 7/8 brain pl. be-bwɔ̂
bwãŝ a v. think, remember bwúyà n. 7/8 hundred pl. be-
bwɛ̃ɛ́ l̃̀ ɛ v. wait recip. bwãã́ l̀ a bwúyà
-bwɔ̃̌ le- n. 5/6 beehive pl. ma-bwɔ̃̌ byáàdà v. answer, respond
bwà v. give birth stat. mbwàlá stat. mbyáàdá
appl. bwàlɛ be born caus. bwàlɛsɛ
bwà v. become big stat. mbògá D
recip. bɔ̀gala tr. bɔ̀gɛ fatten, make
fat
bwá má-kí v. lay eggs dã̀ v. draw water stat. ndãá̀ lá
bwàà v. become, have, be appl. dãã̀ l̀ ɛ recip. dãn
̀ gala
bwádɔ v. dress, wear stat. mbwádâ -dã̂ lé bá-fû le- n. 5/6 fish pont,
caus. bɔ́dɛsɛ recip. bɔ́dala source pl. ma-dã̂ má bá-fû
dɛ̃̂ adv. today
-bwálɛ́ m- n. 1/2 parent pl. ba-
bwálɛ́ dè v. eat stat. ndíyâ caus. dílɛsɛ
-bwálɛ́ ma- n. 6 birth recip. díyala
-bwálɛ̀sɛ̀ bùdã̂ m- n. 1/2 midwife -dèlɛ́mɔ́ɔ ̀ le- n. 5/6 mud wasp
pl. ma-dèlɛ́mɔ́ɔ ̀
pl. ba-bwálɛ̀sɛ̀ bá bùdã̂
bwámɔ v. 1) leave, go out 2) dɛ́ndɛ v. set (trap) stat. ndɛ́ndâ
receive, obtain 3) become stat. mb- recip. dɛ́ndala
-déwɔ̀ be- n. 8 food
wámâ recip. bwámala
bwàndɔ v. peel (e.g. mais, mango) -dígà ma- n. 6 vision, apparition
stat. mbwàndá recip. bwàndala -dìlá ma- n. 6 funeral
bwàndyá n. 7/8 disdain, adultery dìlɛ v. bury stat. ndìlá recip. dìlala
dísì n. 7/8 bowl pl. be-dísì
pl. be-bwàndyá
bwàndya v. despise stat. mb- díyɛ̀ qual. expensive
wàndyá recip. bwàndyala dó n. 7/8 lie pl. be-dó
bwè v. catch, arrest stat. mbùlá -dɔ̀ ma- n. 6 negotiation for price
recip. bèyàlà dɔ̀ v. negotiate (for price), discuss
bwɛ̀dɔ̀wɔ̀ n. 7/6 taste pl. ma- dómɛ̀ n. 7/8 laziness pl. be-dómɛ̀
bwɛ̀dɔ̀wɔ̀ dɔ̀ɔ ̀ n. 7/8 puddle pl. be-dɔ̀ɔ ̀
-dówó be- n. 8 sweat
bwɛ̀dɔwɔ v. be sweet, be tasty
caus. bòdɛsɛ make sweet dù n. 7/6 thigh pl. ma-dù
-bwǐ le- n. 5/6 hyena pl. ma-bwǐ dùlɛ̀ n. 7/6 bitterness pl. ma-dùlɛ̀
576
dùlɛ̀ mákímbɔ́ n. dyà

7/6 saltiness
(bitterness of salt) pl. ma-dùlɛ̀ mádyâ (sí) v. lie (down), live
mákímbɔ́ stat. ndyáyâ recip. dyáàlà have sex
dúmbɔ́ n. 7/8 package, packet dyáàla v. have sex
pl. be-dúmbɔ́ dyágɔ́ n. 7/8 sleeping place pl. be-
dúngìlà n. 7/8 hedgehog pl. be- dyágɔ́
dúngìlà dyàmbo v. copulate
dúɔ̀dù - n. 7/8 termite queen, -dyɛ̂ le- n. 5/6 pincers (insect)
carterpillar pl. be-dúɔ̀dù pl. ma-dyɛ̂
dúù v. must not dyɛ́kɛ v. lean sth, incline sth
dvũ̌ n. 7/8 noise pl. be-dvũ̌ stat. ndyɛ́kâ recip. dyɛ́kala lean
dvṹɔ̃̀ n. 7/8 great hornbill pl. be-against one another
dvṹɔ̃̀ dyɔ̀ n. 7/8 smile, laughter pl. be-
dvùbɔ v. soak, dip stat. ndvùbá dyɔ̀
appl. dvùbɛlɛ bé-kà weed grass with dyɔ̀ v. laugh, smile stat. ndyòlasa
rake caus. dvùbɛsɛ recip. dvùbala caus. dyɔ̀lɛsɛ recip. dyɔ̀ala
dvùdɔ v. drive stat. ndvùdá dyɔ̂ n. 7/8 sleep pl. be-dyɔ̂
recip. dvùdala dyɔ̃ɔ̀ ́̃ n. 7/8 bed pl. be-dyɔ̃ɔ̀ ̃́
dvúmá n. 7/8 honour pl. be-dvúmá -dyɔ̀dálà ma- n. 6 deception,
dvúmɛlɛ v. praise sb. stat. nd- cheating
vùmálá recip. dvùmala dyɔ̀dɛ v. deceive, cheat stat. ndyɔ̀dá
dvúmɔ̀ n. 7/8 baobab tree pl. be- recip. dyɔ̀dala
dvúmɔ̀ dyũ̀ v. be hot stat. ndyúngâ,
dvùmɔ v. fall down (tree) stat. nd- ndúngálâ appl. dyúngɛlɛ heat, boil
vùmá caus. dvùmɛsɛ recip. dvùmala sth. recip. dyúngala (warm body
dvùɔ̀ v. hurt (oneself) stat. ndvùgá around fire)
caus. dvùgɛsɛ recip. dvùgala -dyũ̂ le- n. 5/6 heat (from sun),
tr. dvùgɛ fever pl. ma-dyũ̂
dvùwɔ v. stuff sth. dyúà v. swim
dwàmbo v. ask for sth stat. nd- dyúàdà v. feel, hear, perceive
wàmbá recip. dwàmbala sensually
dyãã ́ ̀ v. chase, drive away dyùlɛ v. be bitter or salty
stat. ndyángâ recip. dyángala stat. ndyùlá caus. dyùlɛsɛ re-
dyà v. sing stat. ndyàyâ recip. dyùlala
cip. dyàala dyúmɔ̀ n. 1/2 spouse pl. ba-dyúmɔ̀
dyà n. 7/8 distance, length pl. be- dyùmɔ v. heal, get well
577
stat. ndyùmá cip. djìbala

-dyúmù ma- n. 6 sperm djíga v. be angry
dyúná n. 7/8 quarrel, dispute -djíì be- n. 8 anger
pl. be-dyúná djíì v. ask (a question)
dyúna v. quarrel stat. ndúnâ djìí n. 7/8 forest, brousse pl. be-djìí
dyúngúlɛ̀ n. 7/8 chameleon pl. be- djíkɛsɛ v. make sb. angry
dyúngúlɛ̀ djílɔ v. be satisfied (not hungry)
dyùù v. kill stat. ndyúwâ re- stat. ndjílâ caus. djílɛsɛ
cip. dyúwala -djìlɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 1) weight 2) dignity
dyùwá n. 7/6, 8 thorn pl. be- pl. ma-djìlɔ̀
dyùwá, ma-dyùwá djìlɔ v. be heavy stat. ndjìlá
dyúwɔ̀ n. 5 sky caus. djìlɛsɛ
dyúwɔ̀ post. on top, above djímbɛ v. get lost stat. ndjímbâ
dyúwɔ v. hear stat. ndyùgá appl. djímbɛlɛ lose sth. caus. djím-
appl. dyúwɛlɛ listen caus. dyúgɛsɛ bɛsɛ make forget recip. djímbala
make feel recip. dyúwalɛ forget each other
dzámɛ v. excuse, forgive djímɛsɛ v. extinguish stat. ndjímâ
djímɔ v. be deep
djìna v. dive, disappear in water
DJ
stat. ndjìnâ caus. djìnɛsɛ au-
toc. djìnɛga sink (intr.), melt
djãã́ (̀ -sa) v. disappear suddenly djísɔ̀wɔ̀ n. 7/8 patience pl. be-
(slowly) stat. ndjãã́ ś á recip. djãã́ l̀ a
djísɔ̀wɔ̀
djàngala v. have sex djíwɔ́ n. 7/8 river pl. be-djíwɔ́
djí n. 7/8 place (where someone -djíwɔ́ ma- n. 6 water
stays) pl. be-djí djíwɔ v. steal, plunder stat. ndjíwâ
djí yá má-sɔ̃̂ - n. 7/8 cemetery
recip. djíwala
(place of graves) pl. be-djí bé má-sɔ̃̂ djíyɛ v. burn (intr.) stat. ndjígâ
djì v. open stat. ndjìyá re- caus. djígɛsɛ make angry recip. djí-
cip. djìyala gala burn tr. djígɛ burn sth.
djǐ n. 7/8 bench pl. be-jǐ djìyɔ́ n. 7/8 chair pl. be-djìyɔ́
djì(yɔ) (sí) v. sit (down), habiter, djɔ́wɔ̀ n. 7/8 day work pl. be-djɔ́wɔ̀
stay stat. ndjìlá appl. djìlɛ seat sb.,
stay recip. djìlala
-djíbí n- n. 1/2 thief pl. ba-djíbí
E
djìbɔ v. close stat. ndjìbá re-
578
ɛ́ prep. at, on, by -fwálá má nkùlɛ́ ma- n. 6 summit

ɛ́ ná interr. how
ɛ́ vɛ́ interr. where
G
-ɛ́ndì d- n. 5/6 courtyard pl. m-ɛ́ndì
èsãŝ n. 7/8 gaz, fuel pl. b-esãŝ
-ɛ́sɛ̀ quant. all, every gã̂ n. 1/2 gown pl. ba-gã̂
gbĩ ́ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ́ gbĩ ́ ideo. dpeiction
of small objects moving in space,
F e.g. bacteria roaming in body
gbìm ideo. depiction of putting or
fàlà n. 7 France falling down of person or object
ffàmí n. 1/2 family pl. ba-fàmí gíndó’ó n. 7/8 Calabar angwantibo
fàrínì - n. 1/2 flour pl. ba-fàrínì (Arctocebus calabarensis) pl. be-
fû n. 1/2 fish pl. ba-fû gíndó’ó
-fû le- n. 5/6 day pl. ma-fû gìyɔ v. cry caus. gìlɛsɛ recip. gìlala
fù’ú n. 1/2 rainy season (Aug-Nov) gɔ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 gold pl. be-gɔ́lɛ̀
pl. ba-fù’ú gwámbɔ v. ask for sth., beg
fùɶsɛ v. shake stat. mfùásâ gwàwɔ́ n. 7/8 civet pl. be-gwàwɔ́
fúgɛ v. end stat. mfúgâ recip. fúala gwɛ́mbɛ̀ n. 7/8 cloth pl. be-gbɛ́mbɛ̀
fúkɛ̀ n. 1/2 driver ants (Hy- gyã̀ v. paint, draw stat. ngyàngâ
menoptera) pl. ba-fúkɛ̀ gyãã ́ ̀ n. 1/2 side pl. ba-gyãã́ ̀
fùláwà n. 7/8 flower, hedge, bush gyãl̂ ɛ v. roast stat. ngyãã́ l̀ â
pl. be-fùláwà gyà n. 7/8 music, song pl. be-gyà
fùlɛ v. miss, escape stat. mfùlâ gyà v. be long
caus. fùlɛsɛ recip. fùlala -gyâ le- n. 5/6 charcoal pl. ma-gyâ
fùlɔ v. descend, go down stat. mfùlâ gyá yá nyúmbù n. 7/8 lip pl. be-
caus. fùlɛsɛ gyá bé nyúmbù
fúmbélé n. 3/4 shin pl. mi-fùmbélé gyàga v. buy stat. ngyàgá re-
fùmbí n. 7/8 orange pl. be-fùmbí cip. gyàgala
-fùɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 stem, plant pl. ma- -gyàgɛ̀sì bé-sâ n- n. 1/2 merchant,
fùɔ̀ vendor pl. ba-gyàgɛ̀sì bá bé-sâ
-fúsì qual. different gyàlɛ́ n. 7/8 puerperium (period
-fwálá le- n. 5/6 end pl. ma-fwálá after giving birth (about a month))
-fwálá lé túmbɔ́ le- n. 5/6 border pl. be-gyàlɛ́
(between countries) pl. ma-fwálá gyámbɔ v. prepare, cook
má bé-túmbɔ́ stat. ngyámbâ appl. gyámbɛlɛ
579
prepare for recip. gyámbala a person) pl. ma-gyìmbɔ̀

gyángya v. work stat. ngyángyâ gyímɛ v. wake sb. up stat. ngyímâ
caus. gyángyɛsɛ recip. gyángyala caus. gyímɛsɛ autoc. gyímaga wake
-gyɛ́ le- n. 5/6 tooth pl. ma-gyɛ́ up
gyɛ̂ n. 7/8 Cameroon clawless otter gyímù n. 7/8 tongue pl. be-gyímù
(Aonyx capensis congicus) pl. be-gyɛ̂ -gyɔ́lɛ́ le- n. 5/6 bushbaby (Galago
-gyɛ̃̂ n- n. 1/2 stranger, guest alleni) pl. ma-gyɔ́lɛ́
pl. ba-gyɛ̃̂
gyɛ́’ɛ̀ v. block stat. ngyɛ́gâ re- H
cip. gyɛ́gala
-gyɛ̀’ɛ̀lɛ̀ ma- n. 6 prayer
gyɛ̀’ɛlɛ v. pray, beg, demand hámà n. 1/2 hammer pl. ba-
stat. ngyàálâ hámà
gyɛ́lɛ v. jump, fly stat. ngyɛ́lâ
caus. gyɛ́lɛsɛ recip. gyɛ́lala I
-gyɛ̀lì n- n. 1/2 Gyeli person pl. ba-
gyɛ̀lì
-í m- n. 1/2 non-Pygmy people
gyɛ́mɔ̀ n. 7/8 habit, manner pl. be-
pl. b-í
gyɛ́mɔ̀
-ímbɔ́ dj- n. 5/6 raffia palm pl. m-
gyɛ̀ndɔ̀ v. slip stat. ngyɛ̀ndá
ímbɔ́
gyɛ́sɔ v. look for, search, lack
-ínɔ̀ dj- n. 5/6 name pl. m-ínɔ̀
stat. ngyɛ́sâ recip. gyɛ́sala
-ísì d- n. 5/6 1) eye 2) kernel, seed
gyí pro. what
pl. m-ísì
gyíbɔ v. call stat. ngyíbâ re-
-ísì lé bénó d- n. 5/6 anus (lit. eye
cip. gyíbala
of the buttock) pl. m-ísì mí bénó
gyìbɔ v. sharpen stat. ngyìbá
ìtálíyɛ̀n n. 7 Italy
recip. gyìbala
gyìdɛ v. forgive stat. ngyìdá
gyíka (nà) v. resemble K
gyíkɛ v. learn stat. ngyíkâ be
intelligent caus. gyíkɛsɛ teach kã̂ n. 7/8 bunch of palm nuts
gyímbɔ v. dance stat. ngyímbáà pl. be-kã̂
caus. gyímbɛsɛ recip. gyímbala kã̂ v. wrap stat. nkãl̂ á recip. kãã́ l̀ a
-gyìmbɔ̀ n- n. 1/2 sorcerer pl. ba- -ká le- n. 5/6 leaf pl. ma-ká
gyìmbɔ̀ ká n. 7/8 grass pl. be-ká
-gyìmbɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 magic (innate to kà v. catch (object in air) stat. nkàsá
580
appl. kàsɛlɛ light sth. stat. nkálánɛ̂

ká’à v. role up (e.g. mattress, pa- kálé n. 1/2 sister (older and
per), envelop, bandage stat. nkágâ younger) pl. ba-kálé
recip. kágala kàlɛga v. stop over, go over with
-kà’á le- n. 5/6 clan, tribe, kind stops
pl. ma-kà’á kámbɛ̀ n. 1/2 weaver ants (Oeco-
kàbà n. 7/8 long dress pl. be-kàbà phylla) pl. ba-kámbɛ̀
kábálá n. 7/8 horse pl. be-kábálá kámbɔ v. chew stat. nkámbâ
kàbɔ v. share, divide, serve recip. kámbala
stat. nkàbá recip. kàbala kàmbɔ nà v. defend stat. nkàmbá
kàdɛ v. detach, unwrap (e.g. man- recip. kàmbala
ioc stick) stat. nkàdá caus. kàdɛsɛ kàmɛ̀rún n. 1 Cameroon
recip. kàdala autoc. kàdɛga detach kánda v. crack (e.g. bottle, cup,
by itself glass) stat. nkándâ caus. kándɛsɛ
kádɔ v. exceed, be too much kàndá n. 7/8 proverb pl. be-kàndá
stat. nkádâ recip. kádala kàsà n. 7/8 bridge pl. be-kàsà
kàdó n. 1/2 gift, present pl. ba- kàsɛlɛ v. light stat. nkàsálâ re-
kàdó cip. kàsala
kàdɔ̂ n. 1/2 ladder pl. ba-kàdɔ̂ kásɔ v. become thin stat. nkásâ
kàgá n. 7/8 defect giving birth appl. kásɛlɛ recip. kásala au-
pl. be-kàgá toc. kásɛga get suddenly angry
-kàgà le- n. 5/6 bewitched woman kẽ ̀ v. shave stat. nkèngá recip. kèn-
pl. ma-kàgà gala
-kágɛ́ le- n. 5/6 promise pl. ma- -kẽ ̀ nlô n- n. 1/2 gecko pl. ba-kẽ ̀
kágɛ́ mí-nlô
kàgɔ v. promise recip. kàgala -kénó le- n. 5/6 blue duiker
káka v. shiver (Cephalophus monticola) pl. ma-kénó
kàká n. 7/8 cocoa (Theobroma kɛ́ n. 7/8 fish scale pl. be-kɛ́
cacao) pl. be-kàká kɛ̀ v. go, walk
kálá n. 7/8 chili paste seasoning kɛ̀ mpfúndɔ́ v. run, go fast
pl. be-kálá kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ kɛ́ ideo. depiction of
-kàlà le- n. 5/6 doughnuts pl. ma- placing objects in a row
kàlà -kɛ̀’ɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 molar tooth pl. ma-
kàlà n. 7/8 strawmat pl. be-kàlà kɛ̀’ɛ̀
kálàdɛ̀ n. 7/8 book pl. be-kálàdɛ̀ kɛ́’ɛ̀ (má-kí) v. hatch stat. nkɛ́gâ
kàlanɛ v. transmit, translate kɛ̀dɛlɛ v. gnaw, knabbern
581
stat. nkɛ̀dálâ recip. kɛ́dala kfúlè bìpɛ̀bɛ̀ - n. 1/2 sea turtle

-kɛ́lɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 language pl. ma-kɛ́lɛ̀ pl. ba-kfúlɛ bá bìpɛ̀bɛ̀
kɛ̀lɛ v. hang stat. nkɛ̀lá recip. kɛ̀lala -kfúlɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 hump pl. ma-kfúlɛ̀
kɛ̀mbɛ̀ n. 7/8 phlegm pl. be-kɛ̀mbɛ̀ kfùlɔ v. scrape skin of porcupine
kɛ̀ndɛ̀ n. 7/8 1) journey, traveling (soak in hot water, then remove
2) time pl. be-kɛ̀ndɛ̀ spikes) stat. nkfùlá recip. kfùlala
kɛ̀ndɛ̀ vúdũ̂ n. 7/8 1) once, one autoc. kfùlɛga
time 2) in one go, immediately kfúmá n. 1/2 chief, rich person
pl. be-kɛ̀ndɛ̀ bé-báà pl. ba-kfúmá
kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ n. 7/8 person of equal rank, kfùmala v. find stat. nkfùmá
peer, neighbor pl. be-kɛ̃ɛ́ s̃́ ɔ́ kfúmbɔ́ n. 7/8 bragging, showing-
-kfũ̀ le- n. 5/6 owl pl. ma-kfũ̀ off pl. be-kfúmbɔ́
kfùbala v. move -kfùmɔ́ le- n. 5/6 heap pl. ma-
kfùbɛ v. provoke stat. nkfùbálâ kfùmɔ́
appl. kfùbɛlɛ provoke recip. kfùbala kfùmɔ́ n. 7/8 stump pl. be-kfùmɔ́
move -kfùndɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 garbage pl. ma-
kfúbɔ́ n. 7/8 epilepsy pl. be-kfúbɔ́ kfùndɛ̀
kfúbɔ̀ n. 1/2 chicken pl. ba-kfúbɔ̀ kfúnɔ́ n. 7/8 hornbill pl. be-kfúnɔ́
-kfúdɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 mad person, idiot kfùɔ̀ - n. 7/8 alstonia tree (Alstonia
pl. ma-kfúdɛ̀ congensis) pl. be-kfùɔ̀
kfúdɛ v. cover, put a lid stat. nk- kfúzá n. 7/8 fist pl. be-kfúzá
fúdâ recip. kfúdala autoc. kfúdɛga -kí le- n. 5/6 egg pl. ma-kí
close oneself kì v. say
kfúdɔ má-bɔ̃̂ v. kneel -kìkùù ma- n. 6 exam
kfùdɔ́ yá ntɛ́lɛ́ n. 7/8 old tissue, -kílì be- n. 8 slyness, cunning
rag kílɔwɔ v. be vigilant stat. nkílásâ
kfúdɔ̀wɔ̀ n. 7/8 chest pl. be- be warned caus. kílɛsɛ make vigilant
kúdɔ̀wɔ̀ -kímbɔ́ ma- n. 6 salt
kfúlɛ̃ɛ́ ́̃ n. 7/8 raffia pl. be-kfúlɛ̃ɛ́ ̃́ kímì n. 1/2 monkey (generic)
kfúlà n. 7/8 two sticks in monkey pl. ba-kímì
trap that hold the trigger pl. be- kìndá n. 7/8 sugar ant pl. be-kìndá
kfúlà kíngɛlɛ v. become stiff
-kfúlé le- n. 5/6 paw, sole pl. ma- stat. nkíngálâ
kfúlé kísínì n. 1/2 kitchen pl. ba-kísínì
kfúlɛ̀ wà djìí n. 1/2 (forest) tortoise kìya v. give stat. nkìyá caus. kìyɛsɛ
pl. ba-kfúlɛ̀ (bá djìí) chase sb. recip. kìyala
582
kíyɛ́ n. 7/8 iron pl. be-kíyɛ́ kɔ́kɔ́ yá ngwálà n. 7/8 snail house
kìyɛ v. 1) try 2) tempt appl. kìyɛlɛ pl. be-kɔ́kɔ́ bé bá-ngwálà
taste sth. recip. kìyala taste each kɔ̃l̂ ɛ v. snore
other kɔ̀lɛ (mábɔ́ɔ)̀ v. stumble re-
kó n. 1/2 uncle (mother’s brother) cip. kɔ̀lala
pl. ba-kó -kɔ́ndà le- n. 5/6 sap pl. ma-kɔ́ndà
-kókò m- n. 1/2 Bakoko pl. ba-kókò -kɔ́ndyì le- n. 5/6 palm (of hand)
kòkù n. 7/8 albino pl. be-kòkù pl. ma-kɔ́ndyì
kòla v. add, lengthen stat. nkòlá kɔ́sɛ v. cough appl. kɔ́sɛlɛ make
recip. kòlala cough recip. kɔ́sala
kòlɛ v. help stat. nkòlá recip. kòlala kpàdà kpàdà ideo. depiction of
kòyà n. 7/8 rope Strick pl. be-kòyà drumming on bamboo
-kɔ́ le- n. 5/6 stone pl. ma-kɔ́ kpɛ̀mɛ̀ n. 7/8 manioc leaves pl. be-
kɔ́ɔ ̀ adv. always kpɛ̀mɛ̀
kɔ̂ v. gather, pluck, pick stat. nkɔ́yâ kpúdùm kpúdùm ideo. depiction
recip. kɔ́yala autoc. kɔ́yaga of drumming
-kɔ́ lé tʃĩ ́ le- n. 5/6 nape of neck kù n. 1/2 rat pl. ba-kù
pl. ma-kɔ́ má tʃĩ ́ kũ̂ n. 1/2 leopard pl. ba-kũ̂
kɔ̀’ɔ̀ n. 7/8 African Jointfir (Gnetum kúdɛ́ n. 7/8 skin pl. be-kúdɛ́
africanum) pl. be-kɔ̀’ɔ̀ kúɛlɛ v. mock, make fun of re-
kɔ́bɛ̀ n. 1/2 cup pl. ba-kɔ́bɛ̀ cip. kúala
kɔ́bɛ v. violate, break (rule) kùga v. spread, fit, be.enough
stat. nkɔ́bâ recip. kɔ́bala stat. nkùgá
-kɔ́dɛ́ le- n. 5/6 bend, curve pl. ma- kùgúù n. 7/8 evening pl. be-kùgúù
kɔ́dɛ́ kùgúù bvúɔ̀ n. 7 day before yester-
kɔ́dɛ v. turn sth. (with vehicle) day
stat. nkɔ́dâ caus. kɔ́dɛsɛ recip. kɔ́- kùgúù mgbágà - n. 7 day before
dala autoc. kɔ́dɛga turn oneself yesterday
kɔ́dɔ̀ n. 7/8 yam pl. be-kɔ́dɔ̀ kúkú n. 7/8 mushroom pl. be-kúkú
kɔ̀fí n. 7/8 coffee pl. be-kɔ̀fí kùlɛ v. borrow stat. nkùlá
kɔ́gɛ v. straighten stat. nkɔ́gâ caus. kùlɛsɛ lend recip. kùlala
caus. kɔ́gɛsɛ recip. kɔ́gala kúlí n. 9/6 funeral ceremony from
kɔ́kɔ́ n. 7/8 1) shell 2) emptiness death to burying (French deuil)
pl. be-kɔ́kɔ́ pl. ma-kúlí
kɔ́kɔ́ yá nlô - n. 7/8 skull pl. be- kùlì n. 7/8 pimpel pl. be-kùlì
kɔ́kɔ́ bé mí-nlô kùmasa v. prepare stat. nkùmásâ
583
kúmbɛ́ - n. 7/8 tin pl. be-kúmbɛ́ -kwálówó le- n. 5/6 knuckle (hand,
kùmbɔ́ n. 7/8 womb pl. be-kùmbɔ́ foot) pl. ma-kwálówó
kùmbɔ v. kwámɔ́ n. 9/6 bag pl. ma-kwámɔ́
repair, reconciliate,
arrange, fix stat. kwàndɔ̀ n. 7/8 plantain pl. be-
nkùmbá re-
cip. kùmbala kwàndɔ̀
kùnàà inv. good kwánɛ́ n. 7/8 meeting, party
kùndá n. 7/8 shoe pl. be-kùndá pl. be-kwánɛ́
-kúndí le- n. 5/6 mat pl. ma-kúndí kwànɛ v. sell stat. nkwàná
-kúɔ́ le- n. 5/6 Azobé tree, Iron- -kwásì ma- n. 6 clapping (with
wood tree (lophira alata) pl. ma-kúɔ́hands)
kùrã̂ n. 7 electricity kwàsyó n. 2 Kwasio people
kùsì n. 1/2 parrot pl. ba-kùsì kwɛ̂ n. 7/8 cough pl. be-kwɛ̂
kùbɛ̂ n. 7/6 heritage pl. ma-kùbɛ̂ kwê v. fall, fail (trans.)
-kúwɔ́ le- n. 5/6 flea pl. ma-kúwɔ́ stat. nkwéyâ caus. kùsɛsɛ make fall
-kwã̌ le- n. recip. kwéyala
5/6 spear, arrow
pl. ma-kwã̌ kwɛ̂lɛ v. bite stat. nkwáálâ re-
kwã̂ v. cip. kwáala
cut raffia leaves in tree
stat. nkwángâ recip. kwángala kwɛ̀lɔ v. 1) cut down 2) injure
kwã̂ v. betray stat. someone stat. nkwɛ̀lá recip. kwɛ̀lala
kwángâ
caus. kwángɛsɛ recip. kwángala autoc. kwɛ̀lɛga
kwãã ́ l̀ ɛ v. spy stat. nkwãã́ ĺ â
kyàlɛ v. start an engine stat. nkyàlá
recip. kwãĺ ala kyɛ́gɛ̀ n. 7/8 Basaa pl. be-kyɛ́gɛ̀
kwĩ ̂ n. 7/8 Peter’s duiker (Cephalo-kyɛ̀lɛga v. fall from tree when
phus callipygus) pl. be-kwĩ ̂ branch breaks stat. nkyɛ̀lɛ́gâ re-
kwà v. grind (with stone), hollow cip. kyɛ̀lala
out canoe stat. nkwàgá recip. kwà- kyɛ̀lí n. 7/8 bird trap pl. be-kyɛ̀lí
gala
kwádɔ́ n. 7/6 village pl. ma-kwádɔ́
L
kwádɔ́ písɛ̀ n. 7/6 countryside,
rural area pl. ma-kwádɔ́ písɛ̀
̀
kwádɔ v. twist, bend stat. nkwádâ lã v. pass, overtake, pass by
autoc. kwádɛga stat. nlàngá appl. làngɛlɛ let pass,
kwàlɛ̀ n. 7/8 1) love, desire 2) time recip. làngala
lã̂ v. read, count stat. nlángâ
partridge pl. be-kwàlɛ̀
kwàlɛ v. love, like stat. nkwàlá recip. lángala
recip. kwàlala lã́ (yá nyúà) n. 7/8 green mamba
584
pl. be-lã́ (bé nyúà) recip. lɛ̀yala

lã̂ mímbvû n. 1/2 larvaes on a tree lɛ́gɛ v. singe stat. nlɛ́gâ caus. lɛ́gɛsɛ
pl. ba-lã̂ mímbvû recip. lɛ́gala autoc. lɛ́gɛga
-lá le- n. 5/6 fish trap pl. ma-lá lèmbo v. 1) know 2) flee, escape
-là ma- n. 6 1) meaning 2) support stat. nlèmbá caus. lèmbɛsɛ re-
(material, financial) 3) importance cip. lèmbala
-lâ le- n. 5/6 antenna pl. ma-lâ -lɛ́ndɛ́ le- n. 5/6 palm tree pl. ma-
lâ v. harvest, collect honey lɛ́ndɛ́
stat. nláyâ recip. léyala au- lɛ̀ndɔ v. flow stat. nlɛ̀ndá
toc. léyɛga caus. lɛ̀ndɛsɛ autoc. lɛ̀ndɛga
láà v. tell stat. nláwâ recip. láàla lɛ́nɛ̀ n. 7/8 offer pl. be-lɛ́nɛ̀
láálɛ̀ num. three lɛ́ngɔ̀ n. 7/8 fun, amusement, joke
làdo nà v. meet stat. nlàdá pl. be-lɛ́ngɔ̀
caus. làdɛsɛ recip. làdala líbɛla v. show up, appear (e.g.
lága v. contaminate sth. (e.g. moon) stat. nlíbálâ
disease) stat. nlágâ caus. légɛsɛ líbɛlɛ v. show stat. nlíbálâ re-
recip. légala cip. líbala
-lámbɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 trap pl. ma-lámbɔ̀ líɛ̀ v. leave (to sb), cede, let
lámbɔ̀ n. 7/6 lamp pl. ma-lámbɔ̀ stat. nlígâ recip. lígala
lámbɔ v. trap stat. nlámbâ re- límà n. 7/8 stupidity pl. be-límà
cip. lámbala límbɛ v. pull stat. nlímbâ re-
lána v. distribute, unlimited offer cip. límbala autoc. límbɛga
stat. nlánâ recip. lánala línâ inv. since
lándè n. 7/6 Sea almond tree líndɛ̀ inv. when
(Terminalia catappa) pl. ma-lándè -líbɛ́lá (má ngɔ́ndɛ́) ma- n. 6 rising,
lábɛ̀ n. 1/2 big rainy season pl. ba- apparition (of moon)
lábɛ̀ lìvrɛ́ n. 1/2 book pl. ba-lìvrɛ́
lé n. 7/8 tree, bush pl. be-lé líyɛlɛ v. accompany stat. nlíyálâ
lɛ́ n. 7/8 glass pl. be-lɛ́ recip. líyala
lɛ̂ v. offer stat. nlɛ́yâ recip. lɛ́yala líyɔ v. clear land stat. nléyâ
lɛ̃̀ v. pour into stat. nlɛ̀ngá re- recip. líyàlà autoc. líyaga
cip. lɛ̀ngala lɔ̀ v. sew, weave, weave nest
lɛ̀bɛlɛ v. follow, chase stat. nlɛ̀bálâ stat. nlɔ̀yá caus. lɔ̀yɛsɛ recip. lɔ̀yala
recip. lɛ̀bala -lɔ̂ le- n. 5/6 ear pl. ma-lɔ̂
lèbvùá inv. nine lòá n. 7/8 slave, servant pl. be-lòá
lɛ̀ɛ ̀ . uproot, disroot stat. nlɛ̀yá lɔ̀gɔ̀ n. 7/8 curse pl. be-lɔ̀gɔ̀
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-lɔ́lɛ̀ mí-nkɔ̀lɛ̀ n- n. 1/2 weaver, caus. lúngɛsɛ recip. lúngala

taylor pl. ba-lɔ́lɛ̀ bá mí-nkɔ̀lɛ̀ -lvùgà mà- n. 0/6 animation,
lɔ̀lɔ̀ n. 7/8 duck pl. be-lɔ̀lɔ̀ liveliness
lɔ̀mbì inv. eight lvúmɔ́ n. 7/8 maggot pl. be-lvúmɔ́
lɔ̀ndɔ́ n. 7/8 ring pl. be-lɔ̀ndɔ́ lvúmɔ v. sting stat. nlvúmâ
lɔ́ngá n. 7/8 group, swarm, flock caus. lvúmɛsɛ recip. lvúmala fight
pl. be-lɔ́ngá in war
-lɔ̀ɔ ́ le- n. 5/6 dew pl. ma-lɔ̀ɔ ́ lvùúgɔ v. animate, excite
-lũ̀ ma- n. 6 sexual intercourse
-lũ̂ le- n. 5/6 insult pl. ma-lũ̂
M
lũ̂ v. insult stat. nlúngâ recip. lún-
gala and lúwala
lùà v. curse stat. nlɔ̀gá caus. lɔ̀gɛsɛ mã̂ - n. 6 sea
recip. lɔ̀gala má’à v. accuse stat. mágâ
lṹã̀ v. whistle stat. nlɔ́ngâ re- appl. mándɛlɛ recip. mágala
-máá le- n. 5/6 cheek pl. ma-máá
cip. lɔ́ngala scream tr. lɔ́ngɛ yɛ́lɛ̀
whistle with whistle màbè n. 6 Mabi people
lúmɛ v. send stat. nlúmâ, nlúmálâ màbùnzò n. 1/2 lion (Kwasio
appl. lúmɛlɛ recip. lúmala word) pl. ba-mábùnzò
màkítì n. 6 market
lùmɔ́ n. 7/8 yellow fever mosquito
(Aedes aegypti) pl. be-lùmɔ́ mámé n. 1/2 aunt (father’s sister)
lùndá n. 7/8 small forest, grove pl. ba-mámé
mándɛlɛ v. accuse (interchangeable
between villages and houses (French
bosquet) pl. be-lùndá with má’à) recip. mándala accuse
lúndɛ́ n. 7/8 apa tree (Afzelia màndjìmɔ̀ inv. whole, entire
bipidensis) pl. be-lúndɛ́ mándɔ v. stuff mouth stat. mándâ
appl.
lúndɔ v. fill oneself (with food)
stat. nlúndá appl. lúndɛlɛ fill sth. -màNgɔ́lɔ́ le- n. 5/6 ankle pl. ma-
caus. lúndɛsɛ recip. lúndala màngɔ́lɔ́
lùnga v. grow stat. nlùngá mânù n. 6 junction, crossroad
caus. lùngɛsɛ másà n. 1/2 boss pl. bmásà
lùngɛlɛ v. aim (at) stat. nlùngálâ másɛ́gá adv. suddenly, unexpect-
recip. lùngala edly
màtèlà n. 1/2 mattress pl. ba-
lúwɔ v . bite stat. nlùwá
caus. lúwɛsɛ recip. lúwala màtèlà
lṹɔ̃̀ v. build, construct stat. nlúngâ mátʃà màtʃà ideo. depiction of
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eating in little bits mɔ̀ n. 3/4 stomach pl. mi-mɔ̀

màtúà n. 1/2 car pl. ba-màtúà mɔ̀nɛ́ n. 1/2 money pl. ba-mɔ̀nɛ́
mɛ́ɛl̀ ɛ v. accept, respond, reply -mɔ́ngɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 male driver ant
stat. mɛ́ɛĺ â recip. mɛ́ala (Dorylinae) pl. ma-mɔ́ngɔ̀
mɛ́mɛ́dɛ́ wà be-sâ n. 1/2 owner mpá n. 3/4 island pl. mi-mpá
pl. bɛ́bɛ́dɛ́ bá bé-sâ mpà n. 1/2 1) Thomas’ bushbaby
mɛ̀mɔ v. admit stat. mèmá re- (Galago thomasi) 2) virgin pl. ba-
cip. mɛ̀mala mpà
mɛ́nɔ́ n. 7/8 morning pl. be-mɛ́nɔ́ mpà’à n. 9 vapor, fog
mɛ̀sɔ̀ v. wave (greeting) stat. mɛ̀sá mpá’à wá nyúlɛ̀ n. 3/4 side of the
recip. mɛ̀sala body pl. mi-mpá ’à mí nyúlɛ̀
mɛ̀vâ - n. 7 pride mpà(mpà) qual. good
mfû n. 3/4 poison pl. mi-mfû mpàálé n. 9/6 news pl. ma-mpàálé
mfùlɛ̀ n. 3/4 fart pl. mi-mfùlɛ̀ mpàgó n. 3/4 road pl. mi-mpàgó
mgbã̀ n. 7/8 crow pl. be-mgbã̀ mpàmbìlì n. 3/4 plunge, fall
-mgbámàlà ma- n. 6 acidity pl. mi-mpàmbìlì
mgbámala v. be sour mpàndà n. 1/2 bug (all larger,
mgbásá n. 7/8 hunting with spear rounder insects) pl. ba-mpàndà
and dogs pl. be-mgbásá mpàndyè n. 7/8 bamboo pl. be-
mgbɛ̀mgbɛ̀mɛ̀ - n. 7/8 lion pl. be- mpàndyè
mgbɛ̀mgbɛ̀mɛ̀ mpàndyì n. 7/6 rib pl. ma-
mgbísì n. 3/4 freshness, rawness, mpàndyí
living pl. mi-mgbísì mpèlɛ̀ n. 1/2 eagle pl. ba-mpèlɛ̀
mímbà v. brag recip. mímbala mpèndɛ̀ n. 3/4 root pl. mi-mpèndɛ̀
mìnkĩ ́ n. 1/2 pot, casserole pl. ba- mpɛ̀wɔ́ n. 3/4 wind pl. mi-mpɛ̀wɔ́
mìnkĩ ́ mpfùmbɔ̀ n. 3/4 dead tree (without
mìnò v. swallow stat. mìná leaves) pl. mi-mpfùmbɔ̀
caus. mìnɛsɛ recip. mìnala mpfùmɔ̀ n. 3/4 midnight pl. mi-
mìntùlí n. 1/2 mouse pl. ba- mpfùmɔ̀
mìntùlí mpfúndɔ́ n. 3/4 running, race
-mìnú le- n. 5/6 gill pl. ma-mìnú pl. mi-mpfúndɔ́
míyù n. 1/2 brother, cousin, close mpfùngyá’à n. 3/4 dust pl. mi-
friend (younger or same age) pl. ba- mpfùngyá’à
míyù mpfùɔ̀ n. 3/4 last meal with
mkpámá n. 3/4 novelty pl. mi- medicine in a healing session pl. mi-
mkpámá mpfùɔ̀
587
mpí’ìdì n. 9/6 heat (from fire, pot, mpwá n. 3/4 bouillon, stock (made
people) pl. ma-mpí’ìdì from water, salt, and chili) pl. mi-
mpíì n. 3/4 kidney pl. mi-mpíì mpwá
mpìmbá n. 7/8 pancreas pl. be- mtʃà mtʃà mtʃà ideo. depiction
mpìmbá of picky eating (only taking certain
mpìnàgà n. 3/4 obligation, duty items off the plate)
pl. mi-mpìnàgà múɛlɛ v. nibble stat. múálâ
mpíndá n. 9/6 law, prohibition caus. múɛsɛ recip. múala
pl. ma-mpíndá -múngɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 beetle (Bupresti-
mpìndí n. 3/4 non-ripeness pl. mi- dae) pl. ma-múngɛ̀
mpìndí músɔ́ n. 7/8 midday, noon pl. be-
mpìndì n. 9/6 dirt pl. ma-mpìndì músɔ́
mpìndyɔ́ n. 3/4 trigger in trap mvɛ́bɛ́ n. 7/8 hedgehog pl. be-
pl. mi-mpìndyɔ́ mvɛ́bɛ́
mpìngá n. 3/4 sweet cassava mvíndɔ́ n. 3/4 sweet water turtle
pl. mi-mpìngá pl. mi-mvíndɔ́
mpǒ n. 1/2 sun squirrel (Heliosciu- mwádèkã̂ n. 7/8 other side pl. be-
rus gambianus) pl. ba-mpǒ mwádèkã̂
mpɔ̀’ɔ̀ - n. 3/4 tooth gap pl. mi- mwálɛ́ n. 3/4 female pl. mi-mwálɛ́
mpɔ̀’ɔ̀ -mwàngɔ́lɔ́ le- n. 5/6 joint pl. ma-
mpɔ́ndɔ́ n. 3/4 shirt pl. mi-mpɔ́ndɔ́ mwàngɔ́lɔ́
mpɔ̀ngɔ́ n. 9/6 seedling pl. ma- mwàsɔ̀ n. 3/4 long bendable stick
mpɔ̀ngɔ́ in trap that holds animal pl. mi-
mpòngóló n. 7/8 ginger plant mwàsɔ̀
(Aframomum) pl. be-mpòngóló mwàsɔ v. throw stat. mwàsá
mpù ?. like (this) recip. mwàsala
mpũ̂ n. 3/4 payment pl. mi-mpũ̂ mwɛ́ n. 3/4 dam, barrage pl. mi-
mpúbɛ́lɛ̀ n. 1/2 current, rip tide mwɛ́
pl. ba-mpúbɛ́lɛ̀ myàkɛ v. sprinkle stat. myàká
mpúdɛ́ n. 3/4 mais pl. mi-mpúdɛ́ caus. myàkɛsɛ recip. myàkala
mpúɛ̀rɛ̀ inv. seven myámata v. be narrow, narrow sth.
mpùlɛ́ n. 3/4 1) African whitewood stat. myámátâ
(Enantia chlorantha) 2) yellow color myámɔ v. knead, press (dough
pl. mìmpùlÉ or fruit), press between fingers
mpúmbú n. 3/4 calf pl. mi- recip. myámala
mpúmbú myángálɛ̀ n. 3/4 rust pl. mi-
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myángálɛ̀ mbìmbó
myɛ́ n. 4 fur mbómò n. 3/4 eldest (in village)
pl. mi-mbómò
mbóndí n. 3/4 oil (for cooking)
MB
pl. mi-mbóndí
mbɔ̀lɛ̀ n. 3/4 okra pl. mi-mbɔ̀lɛ̀
mbáálɔ́ n. 3/4 jaw pl. mi-mbáálɔ́ mbɔ̀lɛ́ kfúnó n. 7/8 slime pl. be-
mbàdɔ́ n. 3/4 lake pl. mi-mbàdɔ́ mbɔ̀lɛ́ kfúnó
mbàfùmbɔ̀ n. 3/4 shrew pl. mi-
mbɔ̀mbɔ́ n. 9/6 face pl. ma-
mbàfùmbɔ̀ mbɔ̀mbɔ́
mbágò n. 3/4 package, envelop mbɔ̀mbɔ́ n. 3/4 daughter-in-law
pl. mi-mbágò pl. mi-mbɔ̀mbɔ́
mbàmbà n. 3/4 co-wife pl. mi- mbɔ̀ngɔ̀ n. 7/6 plant pl. be-mbɔ̀ngɔ̀
mbàmbà mbɔ̀ɔ ̀ n. 3/4 fatness pl. mi-mbɔ̀ɔ ̀
mbámbɛ́ n. 1/2 grand-parent, mbɔ̀sàwà n. 3/4 wetness pl. mi-
ancestor pl. ba-mbámbɛ́
mbɔ̀sàwà
mbàmbìlì n. 1/2 father-in-law mbũ̀ n. 7/8 bullfrog pl. be-mbũ̀
pl. ba-mbàmbìlì mbúlá n. 7/6 debt pl. ma-mbúlá
mbàngá n. 3/4 nut, pit, stone mbúlɛ̀ wá sí n. 3/4 blister pl. mi-
pl. mi-mbàngá
mbúlɛ̀ mí sí
mbàngá lé-lɛ́ndɛ́ - n. 3/4 coconut mbúlɔ̀ n. 3/4 migratory locust
pl. mi-mbàngá mí má-lɛ́ndɛ́ (Locusta migratoria) pl. mi-mbúlɔ̀
mbẽ ̀ n. 1/2 flood pl. ba-mbẽ ̀
mbúmbá n. 3/4 wrinkledness (e.g.
mbènɛ̀ n. 9/6 bad sign, omen of clothes) pl. mi-mbúmbá
pl. ma-mbènɛ̀ mbúmbù n. 1/2 namesake pl. ba-
mbéwɔ̀ n. 3/4 selfishness, sin mbúmbù
pl. mi-mbéwɔ̀
mbùngá n. 7/8 earring pl. be-
mbɛ̀ n. 3/4 drum pl. mi-mbɛ̀ mbùngá
mbɛ̂ n. 3/4 door pl. mi-mbɛ̂ mbùngù n. 2 Yassa
mbɛ́ɛ ́ n. 3/4 metal oven pl. mi- mbvú n. 3 white/grey hair
mbɛ́ɛ ́ mbvû n. 3/4 year pl. mi-mbvû
mbèlè n. 3/4 African Padauk, mbvùlɛ̀ n. 7/8 bushbuck (Tragela-
African Coralwood (Pterocarpus phus scriptus) pl. be-mbvùlɛ̀
soyauxii ) pl. mi-mbèlè
mbvúlɛ̀ síyɛ̀ n. 7/8 soot pl. be-
-mbĩ ̀ le- n. 5/6 pillar pl. ma-mbĩ ̀ mbvúlɛ̀ bé síyɛ̀
mbìmbó n. 3/4 corps pl. mi- mbvúndá n. 9/6 trouble, error,
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mistake pl. ma-mbvúndá nábúndjã̂ n. 1/2 bed bug pl. ba-

-mbvúndyɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 leafy debris nàbúndjã̂
to hide traps) pl. ma-mbvúndyɛ̀ nágyàlɛ́ n. 1/2 breastfeeding
mbvúɔ̀ n. 1/2 rain pl. ba-mbvúɔ̀ woman pl. ba-nágyàlɛ́
mbvúɔ̀ wà mbvú n. 1/2 drizzle (lit. nákúlúú n. 1/2 forest tortoise
rain of white hair) pl. ba-mbvúɔ̀ bá (Kinixys homeana) pl. ba-nákúlúú
mbvú námángɔ̀(mángɔ̀) n. 1/2 male
mbvúɔ̀ wà nɛ́nɛ̀ n. 1/2 strong rain lizard pl. ba-námángɔ̀(mángɔ̀)
pl. ba-mbvúɔ̀ bá nɛ́nɛ̀ námínsɔ̀gɛ̀ n. 1/2 palm rat pl. ba-
mbwâ n. 3/4 tuber, bulb pl. mi- námínsɔ̀gɛ̀
mbwâ námbàmbàlà(mbàmbàlà)
mbwàmbɔ̀ n. 3/4 bundle, package qual. white
pl. mi-mbwàmbɔ̀ nánkyàálɛ́ n. 1/2 termite mound
mbwàmɔ̀ n. 3/4 staying with pl. ba-nánkyàálɛ́
woman in other compound, adultery nápfû(pfû) qual. darkened color
pl. mi-mbwàmɔ̀ návyû(vyû) qual. black
mbwàmɔ̀ n. 1/2 python pl. ba- náyɛ̂(yɛ̂) qual. brightened color
mbwàmɔ̀ náyûyû n. 1/2 vertigo pl. ba-
mbwɛ̌ n. 1/2 dog pl. ba-mbwɛ̌ náyûyû
mbyɛ̂ n. 3/4 high, up-stream nátĩ ̂ qual . straight
pl. mi-mbyɛ̂ -nángá le- n. 5/6 star pl. ma-nángá
nɛ́nɛ̀ qual. big
N níɛ̀ v. be beautiful caus. níngɛsɛ
níí n. 7/8 vagina pl. be-níí
níndyà v. urinate caus. níndyɛsɛ
nã̂ num. four recip. níndyala
ná adv. still, again
níyɛ̀ inv. how many
nà com. and, with njũ̂ n. 7/8 gall bladder, gall pl. be-
nâ comp. that njũ̂
nàkùgúù adv. yesterday njì v. come stat. njìyá
nàmɛ́nɔ́ adv. tomorrow njí nà v. bring (come with)
náàtà nà v. stick (sth.), be sticky njímí n. 1/2 blind person pl. ba-
stat. nátâ njímí
nábànkúdí n. 1/2 female lizard
njɔ́’ɔ̀ n. 1/2 elephant pl. ba-ndjɔ́’ɔ̀
pl. ba-nábànkúdí njú n. 7/8 gap between incisor
nábè(bè) qual. red teeth pl. be-njú
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nkã̂ n. 3/4 guinea fowl pl. mi-nã̂ nkɛ́’ɛ́ n. 3/4 jaw pl. mi-nkɛ́’ɛ́
nkɔ̃̂ n. 3/4 back pl. mi-nkɔ̃̂ nkɛ̀’ɛ̀ n. 3/4 chin pl. mi-nkɛ̀’ɛ̀
nkṹɔ̃̀ n. 3/4 betrayal pl. mi-nkṹɔ̃̀ -nkɛ́dɛ́ le- n. 5/6 hip, waist pl. ma-
nkṹɔ̃̀ b-ùdì - n. 1/2 traitor pl. ba- nkɛ́dɛ́
kṹɔ̃̀ bá b-ùdì nkɛ́dɛ́ n. 9/6 courage pl. ma-nkɛ́dɛ́
nká n. 3/4 line, row pl. mi-nká nkɛ̀lɛ̀ yá d-ísì n. 7/8 eyebrow
nká’à n. 3/4 western red colobus pl. be-nkɛ̀lɛ̀ bé m-ísì
(Procolobus badius) pl. mi-nkâ nkfù lé lɔ̂ n. 3/4 whole in ear
nkáálè n. 3/4 vertebrate pl. mi- pl. mi-nkù mí ma-lɔ̂
nkáálè nkfúdɛ́ n. 7/8 cloud, fog pl. be-
nkáálɔ́ n. 3/4 fence pl. mi-nkáálɔ́ nkfúdɛ́
nkáálɔ́ n. 3/4 African/Guinea nkfùndɛ́ n. 3/4 barren woman
pepper tree (Xylopia aethiopica) pl. mi-nkfùndɛ́
pl. mi-nkáálɔ́ nkfùbɔ́ n. 3/4 trunk (body) pl. mi-
nkábɛ́ n. 9/6 paddle pl. ma-nkábɛ́ nkfùbɔ́
nkàdɛ̀ n. 3/4 provocation pl. mi- nkfúù n. 3/4 ghost pl. mi-nkfúù
nkàdɛ̀ nkfùwɔ́ n. 3/4 torso pl. mi-nkvùwɔ́
nkágá n. 3/4 side of an animal nkìngù n. 3/4 1) edge 2) edge
pl. mi-nkágá̀ pl. mi-nkìngù
nkámbílí n. 3/4 chewed up (fish) nkìyɔ́ n. 3/4 wave pl. mi-nkìyɔ́
bones that are spat out when eating nkɔ̀lɛ́ n. 3/4 vein, rope, line pl. mi-
pl. mi-nkámbílí nkɔ̀lɛ́
nkàmɛ̀ n. 3/4 sticky sap (from vein, nkɔ́lɔ̀ n. 3/4 watch, clock pl. mi-
used for birdlime) pl. mi-nkàmɛ̀ nkɔ́lɔ̀
nkàmɔ̀ n. 9 reason nkɔ́ngɔ́ n. 3/4 frog (general term)
nkándâ n. 3/4 crack pl. mi-nkándâ pl. mi-nkɔ́ngɔ́
nkàndɛ́ n. 1/2 African dwarf nkɔ́sâ n. 3/4 manner of coughing
crocodile (Osteolaemus tetraspis) pl. mi-nkɔ́sâ
pl. ba-nkàndɛ́ nkɔ́zì n. 7/8 part of throat of ani-
nkándɔ̀ n. 3/4 beer pl. mi-nkándɔ̀ mal that gets removed after killing
nkângà n. 1/2 weaver bird pl. ba- pl. be-nkɔ́zì
nkângà nkù n. 3/4 hole, animal den pl. mi-
nkázá n. 3/4 whip pl. mi-nkázá nkù
nké’é n. 7/8 scream pl. be-nké’é nkû n. 1/2 Gambian pouched rat
nkɛ̀ n. 3/4 low, down-stream (Cricetomys gambianus) pl. ba-nkû
pl. mi-nkɛ̀ nkû n. 3/4 leg, foot pl. mi-nkû
591
nkùá n. 3/4 tree trunk pl. mi-nkùá pl. mi-nlã̂

nkùlɛ́ n. 3/4 hill, mountain pl. mi- nlàà n. 3/4 antenna, horn pl. mi-
nkùlɛ́ nlàà
nkúlɔ́ n. 3/4 “dead” (raimy) season nlàwɔ́ n. 3/84 branch pl. mi-nlàwɔ́
(May-Aug) pl. mi-nkúlɔ́ nlémò n. 3/4 heart pl. mi-nlémò
nkùmàsà n. 3/4 preparation nlô n. 3/4 head pl. mi-nlô
pl. mi-nkùmàsà nlùdɛ̀ n. 3/4 scale (for weighing)
nkùmbɔ́ n. 1/2 African brush-tailed pl. mi-nlùdɛ̀
porcupine (Atherurus africanus) nlùngá n. 3/4 bucket pl. mi-nlùngá
pl. ba-nkùmbɔ́ nlvúmá n. 3/4 fork pl. mi-nlvúmá
nkùmbò n. 3/4 Nile crocodile nɔ̀ɔn ̀ ɛ́ n. 7/8 bird (generic term)
(Crocodylus niloticus) pl. mi-nkùmbò pl. be-nɔ̀ɔn ̀ ɛ́
nkùmbɔ́ wá d-úú n. 3/4 nasal wing nɔ́ɔ ́ n. 1/2 deaf person pl. ba-nɔ́ɔ ́
pl. mi-nkùmbɔ́ mí m-úú nɔ̀ɔ ̀ v. take stat. nɔ̀ngá recip. nɔ̀n-
nkúmbɔ̀lɔ́ n. 3/4 diarrhea pl. mi- gala
nkúmbɔ̀lɔ́ nsĩ ̂ n. 3/4 African linsang (Poiana
nkùmù n. 3/4 prison pl. mi-nkùmù richardsonii) pl. mi-nsĩ ̂
nkùndé n. 3/4 tail pl. mi-nkùndé nsɔ̃̂ n. 3/4 (intestinal) worm pl. mi-
nkúnkúmbɛ́ n. 3/4 bow pl. mi- nsɔ̃̂
nkúnkúmbɛ́ nsɔ̃̂ n. 3/4 beak pl. mi-nsɔ̃̂
nkùù n. 3/4 evil spirit pl. mi-nkùù nsá n. 3/4 shore pl. mi-nsá
-nkùzÓ - n. 3/4 widow/er nsá wá mã̂ n. 3/4 beach, shore
pl. mìnkùzÓ (bord de la mer) pl. mi-nsá mí mã̂
nkwãã ́ l̀ ɛ̀ b-ùdì n. 1/2 spy pl. ba- nsá’à n. 3/4 shrub, bush (e.g.
kwãã́ l̀ ɛ̀ bá b-ùdì banana tree) pl. mi-nsá’à
nkwálá n. 3/4 machete pl. mi- nsà’á n. 3/4 mantled guereza
nkwálá (Colobus guereza) pl. mi-nsà’á
nkwànò n. 3/4 honey pl. mi- nsá’àwà n. 3/4 flouncing, repeated
nkwànò movement (e.g. leaves) pl. mi-
nkwásá n. 3/4 fishing pole pl. mi- nsá’àwà
nkwásá nsàlá n. 3/4 crevice, fissure pl. mi-
nkwɛ̌ n. 3/4 basket pl. mi-nkwɛ̌ nsàlá
nkyã́ n. 3/4 shrimp pl. mi-nkyã́ -sálɛ̀ mànkɛ̃̂ n- n. 1/2 farmer
nkyã̂ n. 3/4 scabies pl. mi-nkyã̂ pl. ba-sálɛ̀ bá má-nkɛ̃̂
nlã́ n. 3/4 anus pl. mi-nlã́ nsámbò n. 3/4 penis pl. mi-
nlã̂ n. 3/4 story, tale, problem nsámbò
592
nsɛ́ n. 3/4 sand pl. mi-nsɛ́ stat. ntɛ́gálâ recip. ntɛ́gala

nsɛ́lɔ́ n. 3/4 plant with thorns ntɛ́lɛ́ n. 7/8 clothing, fabric pl. be-
pl. mi-nsɛ́lɔ́ ntɛ́lɛ́
nsíngɔ́ n. 3/4 fastness, speed ntɛ̀mbɔ́ n. 1/2 younger siblings and
pl. mi-nsíngɔ́ cousins pl. ba-ntɛ̀mbɔ́
nsínó n. 3/4 color, paint pl. mi- -ntɛ̀mbwà le- n. 5/6 wrinkle (in
nsínó skin) pl. ma-ntɛ̀mbwá
nsìsɔ́ n. 3/4 vein pl. mi-nsìsɔ́ ntɛ̀ndá n. 3/4 tear, rip pl. mi-
nsìyɛ̀ n. 3/4 string pl. mi-nsìyɛ̀ ntɛ̀ndá
nsɔ̂ wá d-ísì n. 3/4 pupil pl. mi-nsɔ̂ -ntɛ̀ndì le- n. 5/6 saliva, drool
mí m-ísì pl. ma-ntɛ̀ndì
nsɔ́nsɔ́ n. 3/4 bone marrow pl. mi- ntfùgà n. 7/8 lid (of bottle) pl. be-
nsɔ́nsɔ́ ntfùgà
nsùlɛ̀ n. 3/4 ripeness pl. mi-nsùlɛ̀ ntfúmò n. 3/4 knife pl. mi-ntfúmò
nsùmbɔ́ n. 3/4 hunt (with dogs and ntɔ̀gɔ̀ n. 7/8 sweet potato pl. be-
spears) pl. mi-nsùmbɔ́ ntɔ̀gɔ̀
ntãã́ ̀ v. climb over, overcome, ntɔ̀ndɔ̀gɛ̀ n. 7/8 needle pl. be-
suceed stat. ntàngá caus. ntàngɛsɛ ntɔ̀ndɔ̀gɛ̀
recip. ntàngala ntɔ̀ndɔ̀m ideo. depiction of mon-
ntá n. 3/4 niece, nephew (children keys jumping in trees
of the sister, i.e. children who do not ntɔ̀ngɛ̀ n. 1/2 hornet, wasp, man-
belong to the house, but have their tispid pl. ba-ntɔ̀ngɛ̀
father elsewhere) pl. mi-ntá ntsãn ́ tsùgɛ̀ n. 3/4 dragon fly
ntà n. 1/2 grand-child pl. ba-ntà (Odonata) pl. mi-ntsãn ́ tsùgɛ̀
ntámanɛ v. ruin, destroy, be ruined ntúà n. 7/6 mango (fruit), mango
ntàmbɛ̀ n. 1/2 rubber pl. ba- tree, wild mango (Irvingia gabonen-
ntàmbɛ̀ sis) pl. ma-ntúà
ntàmbɛ̂ n. 1/2 stick pl. ba-ntàmbɛ̂ -ntúdégá le- n. 5/6 bruise pl. ma-
ntàngànɛ̀ n. 3/4 white person ntúdégá
pl. mi-ntàngànɛ̀ ntúlé n. 3/4 old person pl. mi-ntúlé
ntányá n. 3/4 cleanliness pl. mi- ntúmɛ́ n. 3/4 walking stick pl. mi-
ntányá ntúmɛ́
ntɛ́ n. 3/4 tallness, size pl. mi-ntɛ́ ntúmɔ̀ n. 2 Mvai people (Campo,
ntɛ̀gá n. 3/4 weakness, softness Guinea, Mbam)
pl. mi-ntɛ̀gá ntùngù n. 3/4 manner, behavior
ntɛ́gɛlɛ̀ v. threaten, annoy, disturb pl. mi-ntùngù
593
ntùɔ́ inv. six nyàno v. hurt

ntúbí n. 3/4 savannah pl. mi-ntúbí nyè v. return stat. nyìgá recip. nyì-
númbá n. 7/8 place pl. be-númbá gala
nùmbà n. 1/2 logger pl. ba-nùmbà nyɛ̂ v. see, look recip. nyɛ́nala
nvɛ̀wɔ̀ n. 3/4 breath pl. mi-nvɛ̀wɔ̀ nyɛ̀mbɛ́ n. 7/8 gun pl. be-nyɛ̀mbɛ́
ŋwándɔ́ n. 3/4 bitter manioc nyɛ̀sɛlɛ v. press down on sth.,
pl. mi-ŋwándɔ́ deepen stat. nyɛ̀sá lowered
ŋwándɔ́ n. 9/6 manioc stick nyî v. enter stat. nyíngâ
pl. ma-ŋwándɔ́ appl. nyíngɛlɛ recip. nyíngala
nyã̂ n. 1/2 mother pl. ba-nyã̂ nyígɛ v. beg
nyá inv. really nyìkà (yá m-bɔ̂) - n. 7/8 crook of
nyâ n. 7/8 nail (finger, toe), claw the arm pl. be-nyìkà bé má-bɔ̂
pl. be-nyâ nyímɛ v. refuse stat. nyímâ
-nyâ ma- n. 6 milk caus. nyímɛsɛ recip. nyímala
nyâ v. lick, suckle (babies) nyímɛlɛ v. tighten stat. nyímálâ
stat. nyángâ caus. nyángɛsɛ re- recip. nyímala
cip. nyángala nyɔ̀mbɛlɛ v. tickle recip. nyɔ̀mbala
nyàà v. defecate stat. nyàgâ nyɔ́nyɔ̃̂ n. 7/8 yawn pl. be-nyɔ́nyɔ̃̂
caus. nyàgɛsɛ recip. nyàgala -nyɔ́ɔ ̀ ma- n. 6 wine, general term
nyáàlɛ̀ n. 1/2 beggar pl. ba-nyáàlɛ̀ for alcohol
nyádɛ̀ n. 1/2 buffalo pl. ba-nyádɛ̀ -nyɔ́ɔ ̀ má lɛ́ndɛ́ ma- n. 6 palm wine
nyàgà n. 7/8 cow pl. be-nyágà nyú (wá nkwànò) n. 1/2 bee
nyàlɛ́ n. 1/2 son/brother -in-law pl. ba-nyú (bá nkwànò)
pl. ba-nyàlɛ́ nyúúlé n. 7/8 insect pl. be-nyúúlé
nyàlɛ v. scratch stat. nyàlá re- nyṹã̀ n. 1/2 snake pl. ba-nyṹã̀
cip. nyàlala nyúlɛ́ n. 3/4 orphan pl. mi-nyúlɛ́
nyàmá n. 3/4 broken thing pl. mi- nyúlɛ̀ n. 9/6 body pl. ma-nyúlɛ̀
nyàmá nyùlɛ̀ n. 3/4 flame pl. mi-nyùlɛ̀
nyámbá n. 9/6 armpit pl. ma- nyùlɛ v. drink stat. nyùlá
nyámbá caus. nyùlɛsɛ recip. nyùlala
nyàmɛ̀ n. 7/8 poverty pl. be-nyàmɛ̀ nyùmbò n. 3/4 mouth pl. mi-
nyàmɔ v. get ruined, spoil nyùmbò
(e.g. house, fruit) stat. nyàmá nyùmbɔ v. smell intr. (good or bad)
caus. nyàmɛsɛ recip. nyàmala stat. nyùmbá appl. nyùmbɛlɛ smell
nyánɛ̀ n. 7/8 war pl. be-nyánɛ̀ sth. caus. nyùmbɛsɛ recip. nyùm-
-nyánɔ̀ ma- n. 6 pain bala
594
nyùngù n. 1/2 rainbow pl. ba- ndɛ́ndíbù n. 1/2 spider, spider web
nyùngù pl. ba-ndɛ́ndíbù
nyùùlɛ̀ n. 1/2 mosquito pl. ba- ndísì n. 3/4 rice pl. mi-ndísì
nyùùlɛ̀ ndjímbà n. 3/4 ignorance pl. mi-
nywãĩ́ ̀ adv. early (in the day, before ndjìmbá
sunset) ndjìmɔ̀ n. 3/4 some, someone, any
nzãã́ ̀ n. 7 appetite for meat or fish pl. mi-ndjìmɔ̀ (mí b-ùdì)
nzá pro. who -ndjù le- n. 5/6 sweet banana
-nzá le- n. 5/6 dead leaves in water pl. ma-ndjù
pl. ma-nzá -ndjwã̂ le- n. 5/6 eggplant pl. ma-
-nzálè ma- n. 6 urine ndjwã̂
nzàmbí n. 1/2 god, good spirit ndúá n. 7/8 clitoris pl. be-ndúá
pl. ba-nzàmbí ndùwɔ́ n. 3/4 roof pl. mi-ndùwɔ́
nzàmbɔ̀ n. 7/8 marsh pl. be- ndvùɔ́ n. 7/8 suffering, difficulty
nzàmbɔ̀ pl. be-ndvùɔ́
nzámù n. 1/2 appetite pl. ba- ndvùù n. 3/4 bad luck, bad event
nzámù pl. mi-ndvùù
nzɛ̀lɛ̀ n. 7/8 beard pl. be-nzɛ̀lɛ̀ ndwàmbɛ̀lɛ̀ n. 3/4 exaggerated
nzí nzálɛ̀ n. 7/8 bladder (place of request pl. mi-ndwàmbɛ̀lɛ̀
urine) pl. be-nzí nzálɛ̀ ndyándyà (wá m-údí) - n. 3/4
nzìlũ̂ n. 7/8 swallow pl. be-nzìlũ̂ giant, tall person pl. mi-ndyándyà
-nzímɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 termite (Isoptera) (mí b-údí)
pl. ma-nzímɔ̀ ndyàwɔ̀ n. 7/6 chisel pl. ma-
nzɔ̀mɛ́ n. 7/8 splinter pl. be-nzɔ̀mɛ́ ndyàwɔ̀
ndyúà n. 3/4 swimming pl. mi-
ndyúà
ND
ndzã̀ n. 9/6 dance pl. ma-ndzã̀
ndzĩ ́ n. 9/6 jealousy, envy pl. ma-
ndɛ̃ɛ́ ɛ́̃ ɛ́̃ ́̃ ideo. depiction of staring ndzĩ ́
ndà v. cross stat. ndàngá re- ndzĩ ̀ n. 1/2 fly pl. ba-ndzĩ ̀
cip. ndàngala ndzà n. 9/6 hunger pl. ma-ndzà
ndáà adv. also, too ndzààlɛ́ n. 1/2 tree pangolin (Manis
ndàlò n. 1/2 tobacco pl. ba-ndàlò tricuspis) pl. ba-ndzààlɛ́
ndáwɔ̀ n. 9/6 house pl. ma-ndáwɔ̀
ndzámbɔ̀ n. 7/6 upper arm pl. ma-
ndɛ̀ - n. 3/4 bait pl. mi-ndɛ̀ ndzámbɔ̀
ndɛ̀mó n. 9/6 dream pl. ma-ntɛ̀mó ndzàmbɔ̀ n. 7/8 mud pl. be-
595
ndzàmbɔ̀ ngɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀ n. 1/2 English person

ndzɛ̌ n. 1/2 panther, leopard pl. ba-ngɛ̀lɛ́nɛ̀
pl. ba-ndzɛ̌ ngɔ̀ n. 9/6 grinding stone plate
ndzɛ́lì (yá m-ísì) n. 7/8 hair in face pl. ma-ngɔ̀
(beard, around eyes) pl. be-ndzɛ́lì ngǒ n. 1/2 pig pl. ba-ngǒ
(bé m-ísì) ngǒ wà djí n. 1/2 bush pig (Pota-
ndzǐ n. 9/6 path pl. ma-ndzǐ mochoerus porcus) pl. ba-ngǒ bá djí
ndzìɛ̀ n. 1/2 gorilla pl. ba-ndzìɛ̀ ngɔ́kɔ̀bɛ́ n. 7/8 bracelet pl. be-
ndzìlì n. 1/2 guard pl. ba-ndzìlì ngɔ́kɔ̀bɛ́
ndzílí yá m-bɔ̂ n. 7/8 elbow ngòmbáà n. 1/2 lemon pl. ba-
pl. be-ndzílí ma-bɔ̂ ngòmbáà
ndzìmózó n. 1/2 guard pl. ba- ngɔ̀mbɔ̀ n. 1/2 monitor lizard
ndìmózó pl. ba-ngɔ̀mbɔ̀
ndzìwɔ̀ n. 1/2 yellow-backed ngɔ̀mɔ̀ n. 9/6 tam tam (small drum)
duiker (Cephalophus silvicultor) pl. ma-ngɔ̀mɔ̀
pl. ba-ndzìwɔ̀ ngɔ̀ndɛ̀ n. 1/2 moon, month pl. ba-
-ndzólɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 tear pl. ma-ndzólɛ̀ ngɔ̀ndɛ̀
ngɔ̀ngɔ̀lɛ̀ n. 7 sadness (about lack),
compassion
NG
ngóvìnà n. 1/2 government pl. ba-
ngóvìnà
ngã(̀ ngã)̀́ n. 1/2 healer pl. ba- ngùlá n. 3/4 headscarf pl. mi-ngùlá
ngã(̀ ngã)́
ngùndyá n. 9/6 raffia leaf when
ngɛ̃̂ n. 9/6 field, garden pl. ma-ngɛ̃̂ used for weaving pl. ma-ngùndyá
́̂ n.
ngɔ̃l̀ íngɔ̃lì 7/8 throat, larynx ngùɔ́ n. 7/8 sugar (cane) pl. be-
pl. be-ngɔ̃l̀ íngɔ̃ĺ ì ngùɔ́
ngũ̀ɔ ̀̃ n. 7/8 tomato pl. be-ngũ̀ɔ ̃̀
ngvṹɔ̃̀ n. 1/2 storm, tornado
ngálɛ̀ n. 1/2 thunder, lightning, pl. ba-ngvṹɔ̃̀
melmel pl. ba-ngálɛ̀ ngvù n. 1/2 flying squirrel (Idiurus
ngàmbàlà n. 7/6 rarity, difficulty zenkeri) pl. ba-ngvù
pl. ma-ngàmbàlà ngvùbɔ́ n. 1/2 hippopotamus
ngámbɛ́ n. 7/6 vision, oracle pl. ba-ngvùbɔ́
pl. ma-ngámbɛ̀ ngvúlɛ̀ n. 9/6 strength, force
ngàtà n. 9/6 bandage, wrapping
pl. ma-ngvúlɛ̀
pl. ma-ngàtà ngvúmà n. 1/2 some, someone (un-
ngɛ̀’ɛ̀ n. 7/8 eyebrow pl. ba-nkɛ̀’ɛ̀ specified, unknown) pl. ba-ngvúmà
596
-ngvúmbɔ̀ ma- n. 6 flirt, attention ngyɔ́wɔ̀ n. 3/4 hook pl. mi-ngyɔ́wɔ̀

seeking ngyùlè n. 3/4 light pl. mi-ngyùlè
ngvùmbɔ̀ n. 2 Ngumba people ngyùlè wá vísɔ́ n. 3/4 sunlight
ngvùndɛ̀ n. 7/8 mask pl. be- pl. mi-ngùlè mí vísɔ́
ngvùndɛ̀
ngvùndɔ̀ n. 9/6 vengence pl. ma- O
ngvùndɔ̀
ngvúngvúlɔ́ n. 3/4 bush cricket
ɔ́(nɛ́)gá mod. (an)other
(Tettigoniidae), grasshopper (Zono-
cerus) pl. mi-ngvúngvúlɔ́
ngvúú n. 7/8 shyness pl. be-ngvúú P
ngwɛ̃̌ n. 1/2 millipede pl. ba-ngwɛ̃̌
ngwálà n. 1/2 snail pl. ba-ngwálà pã̂ v. do first (only as auxiliary)
ngwálɔ̀ n. 7/6 side, next, corner pã̂ v. reign, govern, command
pl. ma-ngwálɔ̀ stat. mpángâ recip. pángala
ngwámé n. 7 danger pẽ ́ n. 9/6 injury pl. ma-pẽ ́
ngwàndɔ́ n. 3/4 melon seed (pis- pɔ̃̂ n. 2 Fang
tache) pl. mi-ngwàndɔ́ -pà le- n. 5/6 paw pl. ma-pà
ngwáwà n. 7/8 guava pl. be- pá’á n. 7/8 1) bark (tree) 2) coin
ngwáwà pl. ba-pá’á
ngwáwɔ v. bend (only animate), pá’à v. dig, hollow out (e.g. drum)
bow stat. ngwáwâ caus. ngwàngɛsɛ stat. mpágâ recip. págala
ngwɛ́lɛ̀ n. 9/6 witchcraft pl. ma- pà’à v. grow (plants) stat. mpàgá
ngwɛ́lɛ̀ recip. pàgala
ngyɛ̃̂ n. 3/4 visit pl. mi-ngyɛ̃̂ páàlà n. 9/6 valley pl. ma-páàlà
ngyà n. 3/4 intestines pl. mi-ngyà pádɔ v. 1) pluck (e.g. prunes,
ngyà wá lètɔ́lɛ̀ n. 3/4 hernia chili), 2) wring out stat. mpádâ
pl. mi-ngyà mí mátɔ́lɛ̀ recip. pádala
ngyámànɛ̀ n. 7 Germany pálaba v. blink (eye)
ngyàngɔ́ n. 7/8 hunt (with gun) pálɔ v. sort stat. mpálâ recip. pálala
pl. be-ngyàngɔ́ -pámó ma- n. 6 rise, arrival
-ngyɛ̌ mi- n. 4 hunting rats (in pámo v. appear stat. mpámâ
holes) recip. pámala
ngyɛ́mɔ̀ n. 3/4 fruit bat pl. mi- pàmpɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 grapefruit pl. be-
ngyɛ́mɔ̀ pàmpɛ́lɛ̀
ngyɛ́sá n. 7/8 cake pl. be-ngyɛ́sá pándɛ v. arrive stat. mpándâ
597
recip. pándala pfáááá ideo. depiction of flinging a

pándyì n. 1/2 plate pl. ba-pándyì long object or slinging
pándyì wà dô - n. 1/2 deep plate pfùdé n. 9/6 mold pl. ma-pfùdé
pánɛ v. hang up stat. mpánâ pfùdɔ́ n. 7/8 abandonment pl. be-
caus. pánɛsɛ recip. pánala kfùdɔ́
pàno v. shine (e.g. sun, fire- pfúɛlɛ v. crunch stat. mpfúálâ
flies, stars, moon, light, lamp) recip. pfúala
stat. mpàná pfùmbɛ v. pull out (groundnuts)
pɛ̂ v. choose stat. mpɛ́yâ re- stat. mpfùmbá recip. pfùmbala
cip. pɛ́yala pfúndɔ v. be frightened
pè’è n. 9/6 wisdom pl. ma-pè’è caus. pfúndɛsɛ recip. pfún-
-pébà le- n. 5/6 fin (fish) pl. ma- dala
pébà pfùngà n. 7/8 lid (pot, eye) pl. be-
péè n. 7/8 avocado (tree and fruit) pfùngà
pl. be-péè pfúbánɛ́ n. 3/4 cleanliness pl. mi-
pèè n. 9/6 conscience pl. ma-pèè pfúbánɛ́
pɛ́ɛp ́ ɛ́ɛ ̀ n. 1/2 cockroach pl. ba- pfùbɛlɛ v. blow (tr), blow down
pɛ́ɛṕ ɛ́ɛ ̀ stat. mpfúbálâ recip. pfùbala
pɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 side pl. be-pɛ́lɛ̀ pfùtùm ideo. depiction of sound
-pɛ́lɛ̀ bé bénó be- n. 8 buttocks when jumping into water
pɛ́mbɔ́ n. 7/8 clay, bread pl. be- pfùwɔ v. dust stat. mpfùwâ
pɛ́mbɔ́ recip. pfùwala
pɛ̀ndɛlɛ v. lick out with finger -pfùyá be- n. 8 ashes, powder
stat. mpɛ̀ndálâ recip. pɛ̀ndala píìpíì n. 1/2 butterfly, moth pl. ba-
péndɔ v. braid stat. mpéndâ píìpíì
recip. péndala -pílá ngàndɛ́ be- n. 8 overbite
pɛ́pɛ́ n. 1/2 leaf-hopper bug (Ci- (teeth) (ngàndɛ́ as in crocodile)
cadellidae) pl. ba-pɛ́pɛ́ pílì n. 7/6 moment, season pl. ma-
-pɛ́bá le- n. 5/6 wing pl. ma-pɛ́bá pílì
pɛ́wɔ́ n. 7/8 scar pl. be-pɛ́wɔ́ pílɔ̀ adv. when
péyà v. booze, get drunk pìmáá n. 7/8 wall pl. be-pìmáá
caus. péyɛsɛ recip. péyala pímbɛ v. wipe stat. mpímbâ
-pf’ǒ ba- n. 2 Bapoko (Kwasio loan recip. pímbala
word) pímù n. 9/6 force, power pl. ma-
pfũ̂ n. 7/8 colobus monkey pl. be- pímù
pfũ̂ píndyɔ́ n. 7/8 piece, part that is
598
broken off pl. be-píndyɔ́ pwàsɔwɔ v. stretch (animal with

pínɛsɛ v. squeeze stat. mpínâ sticks for smoke), stretch oneself
recip. pínala stat. mpwàsá recip. pwàsala
písɛ̀ adv, post. last, late pwɛ̀dà n. 1/2 grass pl. ba-pwɛ̀dà
písɛ̀ n. 7/8 back (spatial) pl. be-písɛ̀ pyàgá n. 7/6 paper pl. ma-pyàgá
píyɔ̀ qual. small, thin sã́ n. 1/2 father, male pl. ba-sã́
pìyù-pìyù n. 1/2 small rain, small
rainy season (Mar - May) pl. ba-
S
pìyù-pìyù
pɔ́ n. 9/6 news, prophecy pl. ma-pɔ́
pɔ́dɛ̀ n. 1/2 port, harbour pl. ba- -sâ ma- n. 6 game (playing)
pɔ́dɛ̀ sã̂ v. vomit stat. nsángâ
pɔ́m n. 1/2 potato pl. ba-pɔ́m caus. sángɛsɛ recip. sángala
pɔ́ndɛsɛ v. punish stat. mpɔ́ndásâ sã́ wà kfúbɔ̀ n. 1/2 rooster (male
pɔ́nɛ́ n. 7 truth of chicken) pl. ba-sã́ bá kfúbɔ̀
sãã ́ s̀ a v. mix stat. nsãã́ ś â
pɔ̀pɔ́ n. 7/8 papaya pl. be-pɔ̀pɔ́
pɔ̀tɔ̀ n. 7/8 clay (for building sĩĩ́ ̀ v. approach (tr.) stat. nsíngâ
houses) pl. be-pɔ̀tɔ̀ appl. sísɛlɛ recip. síngala
pówàlà qual. tranquille, calm sá n. 1/2 earth worm pl. ba-sá
-sá le- n. 5/6 prune (fruit of Ca-
púɔ̃̀ v. pay stat. mpúngâ recip. pún-
gala narium schweinfurthii tree) pl. ma-sá
pùdùm ideo. depiction of falling sà n. 7/8 hut pl. be-sà
sâ n. 7/8 thing pl. be-sâ
into mud or throwing stone into
water -sâ le- n. 5/6 feather pl. ma-sâ
púndí n. 1/2 guenon (Cercopithecus sâ v. do stat. nsáyâ recip. sáala
preussi) pl. ba-púndí sá’àwà v. move repeatedly
sáálɛ́ n. 7/8 work pl. be-sáálɛ́
púndi v. polish stat. mpúndâ
recip. púndala sàga v. shock, scare, be surprised
pùsɛ v. push stat. mpùsá re- stat. nsàgá recip. sàgala
cip. pùsala ságɔ́ságɔ́ n. 1/2 comb pl. ba-
púsí n. 7/8 bottle pl. be-púsí ságɔ́ságɔ́
púù n. 7 1) reason 2) púù + -sálá (má kúlí) ma- n. 6 ceremony
ATT/GEN for, because months after a funeral ending the
deuil
pùúlì n. 7/8 hat pl. be-pùúlì
pwápwâ n. 1/2 truth, honesty sàlàgà n. 7/8 ditch pl. be-sàlàgà
pl. ba-pwàpwâ sàlɛ v. crack intr. (e.g. wood, wall)
599
-sálɛ̀ bàmbèyè n- n. 1/2 prostitute cip. sɛ̀ngala

pl. ba-sálɛ̀ bá be-bàmbèyè sí n. 9/6 ground, soil, world
-sálɛ̀ màngámbɛ́ n- n. 1/2 di- pl. ma-sí
viner, fortune-teller pl. ba-sálè bá sí post. under
mángámbɛ́ síawa v. have a hiccup
-sálɛ̀ ngyàngɔ́ n- n. 1/2 hunter sìgá n. 1/2 cigarette pl. ba-sìgá
pl. ba-sálɛ̀ bá bé-ngyàngɔ́ -sìlá le- n. 5/6 mole-cricket
sálɔ v. become lots stat. nsálâ (Gryllotalpa africana), tiger beetle
sàlɔ v. cut lengthways stat. nsàlá (Megacephala) pl. ma-sìlá
recip. sàlala sílɛ v. finish, end, use up, kill
sàmbɛ̀sɛ̀ n. 7 rape stat. nsílâ caus. sílɛsɛ recip. sílala
sàndyá n. 7/8 raffia mat for house sìlɛga v. descend, fade stat. nsìlá
building pl. be-sàndyá caus. sìlɛsɛ recip. sìlala
sàndyà n. 1/2 fabric (pagne) pl. ba- sìlí n. 7/8 1) hair 2) spark (bé béyí)
sàndyà pl. be-sìlí
sánɛ v. decide stat. nsánâ recip. sá- sílífàzì n. 1/2 sandal pl. ba-sílífàzì
nala sílɔ v. rub, smear, paint stat. nsílâ
sàsàmbɛ́ (yá mwánɔ̀) n. 7/8 recip. sílala
miscarriage pl. be-sàsàmbɛ́ símasa v. regret stat. nsímásâ
sìmbɔ v. drag stat. nsìmbá re-
-sɛ̃̀ le- n. 5/6 small canoe, cip. sìmbala
dugout pl. ma-sɛ̃̀ símɛ v. respect stat. nsímâ re-
-sɛ̃̂ le- n. 5/6 umbrella tree (Mu- cip. símala
sanga cecropioides) pl. ma-sɛ̃̂ sìmú n. 7/8 liquid sauce pl. be-
sɛ́’ɛ̀ n. 7/8 liver pl. be-sɛ́’ɛ̀ sìmú
sɛ́’ɛ̀ n. 7/8 mandrill (Mandrillus síndya v. change, exchange
sphinx) pl. be-sɛ́’ɛ̀ stat. nsíndyâ recip. síndyala
sɛ̀gɛ̀sɛ̀ n. 7/8 sieve pl. be-sɛ̀gɛ̀sɛ̀ síngí n. 7/8 squirrel (generic term)
sɛ̀gɛsɛ v. sieve stat. nsɛ̀gásâ pl. be-síngí
sɛ́kɛ̀ n. 1/2 termite pl. ba-sɛ́kɛ̀ síngì n. 7/8 cat pl. be-síngì
sɛ́lɔ v. shell, skin, husk stat. nsɛ́lâ sìngì n. 7/8 soul, spirit pl. be-sìngì
recip. sɛ́lala sísà n. 3/4 Aidan fruit and tree
sɛ́mbɔ v. arrive, land (Tetrapleura tetraptera) pl. mi-nsísà
sɛ̀ndɛ v. slip stat. msɛ̀ndá sísɛlɛ v. scare sb. stat. nsísâ
caus. sɛ̀ndɛsɛ recip. sɛ̀ndala recip. sísala autoc. sísɛga
sɛ̀ngɛ v. lower stat. nsɛ̀ngá re- sìsímù n. 7/8 shadow (of person)
600
pl. be-sìsímù sɔ́ndɔ̀ n. 1/2 week pl. ba-sɔ́ndɔ̀

sísɔ v. approach (intr.) stat. nsísâ sɔ́ndya v. bring to point, sharpen
recip. sísala stat. nsɔ́ndyà recip. sɔ́ndyala
sìsɔ v. be happy recip. sìsala sɔ́nì n. 7 shame
sìsùù n. 7/8 apparition pl. be-sìsùù sɔ́ɔ ̀ post. before, in front
-síyá be- n. 8 imitation sɔ́ɔ ̀ n. 7 front (spatial)
sìya v. wash, bathe stat. nsìyá sɔ́sɛlɛ v. smoke (fish or animal)
recip. sìyala stat. nsɔ́sálâ
síyɛ̀ n. 7/8 fire (Kwasio loan word) -sɔ̀sí ma- n. 6 joy
pl. be-síyɛ̀ sɔ́bá n. 7/8 mud pl. be-sɔ́bá
síyɛ v. saw stat. nsíyâ recip. síyala sɔ́bì n. 7/8 soap pl. be-sɔ́bì
síyɛsɛ v. swing, shake stat. nsíyàsâ sɔ̃k ̀ ìndá n. 1/2 biting ants pl. ba-
síyɔ̀ n. 7/8 dry season (Nov-Mar) sɔ̃k̀ ìndá
pl. be-síyɔ̀ sɔ́tì n. 1/2 trousers pl. be-sɔ́tì
-síyɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 elephant tusk -sù le- n. 5/6 jigger pl. ma-sù
pl. ma-síyɔ̀ sù’ù n. 7/8 putty-nosed monkey
sɔ́ n. 1/2 friend pl. ba-sɔ́ (Cercopithecus nictitans) pl. be-sù’ù
sɔ̀ n. 7/8 saw pl. be-sɔ̀ -sù’ù le- n. 5/6 waterfall pl. ma-
sɔ̃̂ n. 9/6 grave, tomb pl. ma-sɔ̃̂ sù’ù
sɔ́’ɔ̀ v. continue stat. nsɔ́sala sùbɛ v. pour out, turn over
appl. sɔ́sɛlɛ stat. nsùbá appl. sùbɛlɛ ejacu-
sɔ̀’ɔ́ n. 7/8 cynocephalus monkey late caus. sùbɛsɛ turn sth over
pl. be-sɔ̀’ɔ́ recip. sùbala
sòbala v. accumulate, coagulate súbì n. 7/8 sauce, soup pl. be-súbì
stat. nsòbálá sùmbɔ v. die in a mystical way
sɔ̀gá n. 7/8 secret pl. be-sɔ̀gá stat. nsùmbá recip. sùmbala
sɔ́lɛ v. undress, take off (clothes) súmɛlɛ v. greet stat. nsúmálâ
stat. nsɔ́lâ caus. sɔ́lɛsɛ recip. sɔ́lala recip. súmala
sɔ̀lɛ v. hide sth. stat. nsɔ̀lá re- -sùnɛ́ n- n. 3/4 flesh pl. mi-sùnɛ́
cip. sɔ̀lala súngú n. 7/8 drinking cup made
sɔ́lɛ́ yá gɔ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 Northern of leaves (for water or medicine)
double-collared sunbird (Cinnyris pl. be-súngú
reichenowi) pl. be-sɔ́lɛ́ bé gɔ́lɛ̀ sùngù n. 7/8 war pl. be-sùngù
sɔ́lɛga v. fall, take a tumble -súnɔ́ le- n. 5/6 doubt pl. ma-súnɔ́
stat. nsɔ́lɛ́gâ súwálá n. 7/8 meeting, conference
sɔ̀mɔ̀nɛ̀ n. 7 complaint pl. be-súwálá
601
sùwɔ v. spill appl. sùwɛlɛ pour sth. -tàngò ma- n. 6 palm wine (areal
swáálɛ̀ n. 1/2 bone marrow pl. ba- term)
swáálɛ̀ tàtànɔ́s n. 1/2 mantis pl. ba-tàtànɔ́s
-swàmbò le- n. 5/6 going out (for tátɔ v. take care of, guard stat. ntátâ
hunting) pl. ma-swàmbò recip. tátala
swásɔ v. dry (intr.) stat. nswásâ tàtɔ v. squeak, scream stat. ntàdá
appl. swásɛlɛ recip. swásala caus. tàdɛsɛ recip. tàtala
swàwɔ v. hide (intr.) stat. nswàwá tàwɔ̀ n. 7/8 goat, sheep pl. be-tàwɔ̀
-swî le- n. 5/6 death pl. ma-swî té n. 7/8 posture, position pl. be-té
ʃyɛ̂ ʃyɛ̂ ideo. depiction of sneaking tèèèè ideo. depiction of waiting
tè’ètè n. 7/8 tenderness pl. be-
T tè’ètè
tɛ̂ adv. now
tɛ̂ v. create, invent, found
tã̂ n. 9/6 number, price pl. ma-tã̂ stat. ntɛ́yâ recip. tɛ́yala
tã̂ - n. 7/8 rack for smoking meat
tɛ̃̂ v. limp recip. tɛ́ngala
pl. be-tã̂ tɛ̃ɛ̀ ̀̃ v. abandon stat. ntɛ̀ngá re-
tãã́ ̀ v. tell (only used for stories,
cip. tɛ̀ngala
anecdotes, fairy tales) -tɛ́’ɛ́ le- n. 5/6 fatigue pl. ma-tɛ́’ɛ́
tãa ́ là nà v. judge
tɛ́’ɛ̀ v. be soft, be weak stat. ntɛ́gâ
-tá le- n. 5/6 stain pl. ma-tá tr. tɛ́gɛ soften, make soft
tá n. 1/2 father pl. ba-tá tɛ̀bɛ́ n. 7/8 beach, shore pl. be-tɛ̀bɛ́
tá’àlɛ v. start, begin stat. ntáálâ
tɛ́bɔ v. get up, rise, stop, stand
tàbá n. 7/8 necklace pl. be-tàbá stat. ntɛ́lâ appl. tɛ́lɛ place sth.
-tálá ma- n. 6 beginning, start upright recip. ntɛ́lala place each
-támbí le- n. 5/6 oyster pl. ma- other
támbí
tɛ́gɛ v. make tired stat. ntɛgâ
-tàmbó le- n. 5/6 bee wax pl. ma- caus. tɛ́gɛsɛ recip. tɛ́gala
tàmbó -tɛ́lɛ̀ ma- n. 6 saliva (spit)
-tánà le- n. 5/6 hail pl. ma-tánà tɛ̀mbɔwɔ v. set, go down (only for
tándɔ́ yá m-wánɔ̀ n. 7/8 womb sun) stat. ntɛ̀mbá caus. ntɛ̀mbɛsɛ
(cage, net of child) pl. be-tándɔ́ bé tɛ̀mbɔ́wɔ́ má vísɔ́ ma- n. 6 sunset
b-wánɔ̀ -tɛ̀ndáà le- n. 5/6 ground cricket
tánɛ̀ mod. five
pl. ma-tɛ̀ndáà
-tángà ba- n. 2 Batanga (Banua and tɛ̀ndɔ v. tear stat. ntɛ̀ndá
Bapoko) caus. tɛ̀ndɛsɛ recip. tɛ̀ndala
602
tɛ̀tɛ̀kɜ̀ n. 7/8 frogs that fall from caus. tɔ́kɛsɛ recip. tɔ́kala
sky with rain pl. be-tɛ̀tɛ̀kɛ̀ -tɔ́lɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 navel pl. ma-tɔ́lɛ̀
tfúada v. be late, tarder tɔ̂mbɔ́ n. 7/8 problem pl. be-tɔ̂mbɔ́
tfùbó n. 7/8 black mamba pl. be- -tóndí le- n. 5/6 friend/lover
tfùbó pl. ma-tóndí
tfùbo v. 1) pierce 2) rape stat. nt- tɔ̀ndɔ̀ n. 1/2 nail pl. ba-tɔ̀ndɔ̀
fúbâ recip. tfúbala tɔ̀ntsá n. 7/8 mistletoe plant (Age-
tfùdáà n. 7/8 pinch pl. be-tfùdáà lanthus djurensis) pl. be-tɔ̀ntsá
tfúdɛ́ n. 7/8 bump pl. be-kfúdɛ́ tɔ̃ɔ́ lɛ v. guide, direct
tfùdɔ v. pinch stat. ntfùdá re-tɔ̀sâ adv. no, never, nothing
cip. tfùdala tɔ́wá inv. all (used with time only,
tfúgà n. 7/8 suffering pl. be-tfúgà whole time/night/day/hour)
tfúga v. suffer stat. ntfúgâtɔ́wa v. drip, leak stat. ntɔ́wâ
caus. tfúgɛsɛ recip. tfúgala trésì n. 1/2 thread pl. ba-trésì
-tfùlɛ̀ ma- n. 6 smell tù post. inside
tfúmbɔ v. fold, wrinkle stat. nt- tṹũ̀ n. 7/8 axe pl. be-tṹũ̀
fúmbâ caus. tfúmbɛsɛ recip. tfúm- túà v. move places/houses
bala autoc. tfúmbaga stat. ntɔ́gâ caus. tɔ́gɛsɛ recip. tɔ́gala
tfùnɛ̀ n. 7/8 strap (made of bark túdɛ̀ n. 7/8 tumor pl. be-túdɛ̀
or veins), scarf for carrying babies -túmbà n- n. 1/2 older brother,
pl. be-tfùnɛ̀ cousin, close friend pl. ba-túmbà
-tĩɛ̃̀ ́ le- n. 5/6 knod pl. ma-tĩɛ̃̀ ́ túmbɔ́ n. 7/8 country pl. be-túmbɔ́
tíì v. start walking, displace oneself tùndɛ v. miss stat. ntùndá re-
stat. ntíyâ recip. tíyala cip. tùndala
tìnɔ v. tear out, harvest (tubers) túnɔwɔ v. float
stat. ntìná appl. tílɛ recip. tìnala túù n. 7/8 spoon pl. be-túù
tísònì n. 7/8 town pl. be-tísònì túwanɛ nà v. meet (on appoint-
títímɔ́ n. 7/8 middle pl. be-títímɔ́ ment) stat. ntúwánɛ̂ recip. túwala
-tɔ́ le- n. 5/6 drop pl. ma-tɔ́ twálɔ v. peck stat. ntwálâ re-
tɔ̀ inv. any cip. twálala
tɔ̀à v. boil (intr.) stat. ntɔ̀gá
recip. tɔ̀gala tr. tɔ̀gɛ boil sth.
TS
tɔ̀dɛ̀ n. 7/8 roundness pl. be-tɔ̀dɛ̀
tɔ́dyínì n. 1/2 thousand pl. ba-
tɔ́dyínì tsàmɛ v. spit stat. ntsàmá re-
tɔ́kɛ v. take, pick up stat. ntɔ́kâ cip. tsàmala
603
tsĩ ́ n. 9/6 1) neck 2) voice pl. ma- tsílí yá sɔ́tì n. 7/8 pants pl. be-tsílí
tsĩ ́ bé sɔ́tì
tsĩ ̂ v. untie, unwrap, loosen tsìlɔ v. write stat. ntsìlá
stat. ntsíngâ recip. tsíngala caus. tsìlɛsɛ recip. tsìlala
-tsì n- n. 1/2 in-law pl. ba-tsì tsímbɛ́ n. 7/8 plank pl. be-tsímbɛ́
tsì n. 7/8 interdiction pl. be-tsì tsímɛlɛ v. sneeze caus. tsímɛsɛ
-tsí wà m-ùdã̂ n- n. 1/2 recip. tsímala
mother/sister-in-law pl. ba-tsí tsíndí n. 9/6 riverside, shore
bá b-ùdã̂ pl. ma-tsíndí
tsíbɔ v. grind, trample (in mortar) -tsíndí (lé nkú) le- n. 5/6 heel (of
stat. ntsíbâ recip. tsíbala the foot) pl. ma-tsíndí má nkú
tsìdɛ̀dɛ̀ n. 1/2 honesty pl. ba- -tsíndɔ́ le- n. 5/6 1) party, festival
tsìdɛ̀dɛ̀ 2) neuvène ceremony nine days after
tsídí n. 1/2 animal, meat pl. ba- funeral pl. ma-tsíndɔ́
tsídí tsíndɔ v. push lightly, shove
tsíɛ̀ n. 9/6 blood pl. ma-tsíɛ̀ stat. ntsíndâ recip. tsíndala
tsíɛ̀ v. cut stat. ntsíyâ recip. tsíyala tsíyà n. 1/2 question pl. ba-tsíyà
tsìɛ̀ v. live, be well stat. ntsìgá ̀ ́ le- n. 5/6 knot pl. ma-tsĩyɛ̃
-tsĩyɛ̃ ̀ ́
-tsíɛ̀ be-nyàgà n- n. 1/2 butcher tsùk tsùk tsùk tsùk ideo. depiction
(cow slaughterer) pl. ba-tsíɛ̀ bá of noise that mice make
bé-nyàgà tʃɔ̀p tʃɔ̀p tʃɔ̀p ideo. depiction of
́
tsĩɛlɛ v. make a knod, bind, tie dripping sound or sound walking in
́
stat. ntsĩyálâ ́
recip. tsĩyala mud
tsíɛ̀sámɛ̀ n. 1/2 circumcision
pl. ba-tsíɛ̀sámɛ̀
U
tsígɛ v. take off, start going (only
with plural subject)
tsíì n. 7/8 life pl. be-tsî -ù d- n. 5/6 oven, hearth pl. m-ù
tsílì n. 7/8 smallness, part, short- -ùdã̂ m- n. 1/2 woman, wife pl. b-
ness, half pl. be-tsílì ùdã̂
tsílí yá kàbà n. 7/8 short skirt -ùdũ̂ m- n. 1/2 man, husband
pl. be-tsílí bé kàbà pl. b-ùdũ̂
tsílì yá m-ùdì n. 7/8 dwarf (small -ùdì m- n. 1/2 person pl. b-ùdì
-ùdì wà wɔ́ngɔ́ m- n. 1/2 soldier
person) pl. be-tsílì bé b-údì
tsílì yá ndáwɔ̀ n. 7/8 room pl. be- pl. b-ùdì bá bé-wɔ́ngɔ́
tsílì má-ndáwɔ̀ ùf ideo. depiction of sound when
604
something catches fire (phlegm) stat. mvɛ́mbâ recip. vɛ́m-

-úgó dv- n. 5/6 toilet pl. m-úgó bala
-úmbɔ́ d- n. 5/6 wrap pl. m-úmbɔ́ vɛ́sɔ v. have desire stat. mvɛ́sâ
-úmbɔ́ lé ká d- n. 5/6 fish or recip. vɛ́sala
meat wrapped and prepared in leaf -vɛ́wɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 cold, malaria
pl. m-úmbó má ká pl. ma-vɛ́wɔ̀
-úmbɔ́ lé nkɛ̃̂ d- n. 5/6 fish or meat vɛ̀wɔ v. breathe
prepared in pot, dish with fish in vèyɛ v. mesure stat. mvèyá re-
lemon sauce pl. m-úmbɔ́ má nkɛ̃̂ cip. vèyala
-úndɔ̀ d- n. 5/6 galago pl. m-úndɔ̀ ví n. 7/8 wooden part in trap hiding
-úú d- n. 5/6 nose pl. m-úú the hole in the ground pl. be-ví
-ùwɔ̀ d- n. 5/6 daytime pl. m-ùwÒ vìdɛ v. turn, return, roll sth.
stat. mvìdá and mvìdálâ appl. vìdɛlɛ
turn sth. recip. vìdala autoc. vìdɛga
V
vídɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 smoke pl. be-vídɛ́lɛ̀
-vídósí le- n. 5/6 dawn, early
-váá le- n. 5 thing morning pl. ma-vídósí
vàà v. praise, be proud stat. mvàgá -vídú le- n. 5/6 darkness pl. ma-
recip. vàgala vídú
vãĩ́ vã
̀ ĩ̀ ̀ n. 7/8 generosity pl. be-
-vìlɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 ginger species
vãĩ́ vã
̀ ĩ́ ̀
(Aframomum) pl. ma-vìlɛ̀
válɔ́ n. 7/8 polygamy pl. be-válɔ́ vímala v. groan stat. mvímálâ
vàmo kwɛ̀ v. knock over
vímù n. 7/8 giant pangolin (Manis
vásɛ v. rise (dough) stat. mvásâ gigantea) pl. be-vímù
appl. vásɛlɛ (caus. meaning) víndo v. hate stat. mvíndâ re-
vɛ́ inv. which cip. víndala
vɛ̂ v. give stat. mvɛ́yâ recip. vɛ́yala
-vínó ma- n. 6 pus
vè’è v. try on (clothes) stat. mvègá vìnɔ́ n. 7/8 finger pl. be-vìnɔ́
appl. vè’ɛlɛ (caus. meaning) re- vìnɔ́ yá sã́ n. 7/8 thumb (main
cip. vègala finger) pl. be-vìnɔ bé sã́
vɛ́ɛl̀ á n. 7/8 decoration pl. be-vɛ́ɛl̀ á vísɔ́ n. 8 sun
vèkò n. 7/8 drawing, painting vísɔ v. cover stat. mvísâ and
pl. be-vèkò mvísálâ appl. vísɛlɛ recip. vísala
-vɛ́mbɔ́ le- n. 5/6 guenon (Cercop-
vìsɔ́ n. 7/8 bone, skeleton, fish
ithecus) pl. ma-vɛ́mbɔ́ bone pl. be-vìsɔ́
vɛ́mbɔ (kɛ̀mbɛ̀) v. blow nose vìsɔ́ yá nkáàlɛ̀ n. 7/8 backbone
605
pl. be-vìsɔ́ bé mí-nkáàlɛ̀ vùvùlɛ̀ n. 7/8 baked bread or

víwɔ v. suck stat. mvíwâ re- baguette pl. be-vùvùlɛ̀
cip. víwala vùzí n. 7/8 abdomen pl. be-vúzì
víyãs̀ a v. be light stat. mvíyãś â vyámbɛlɛ v. surround stat. mvyám-
víyala v. touch stat. mvíyálâ bálâ
vìyɔ́ n. 8 fire vyɛ̀ v. draw stat. mvyɛ̀gá re-
vɔ̂ v. 1) be calm 2) be cold cip. vyɛ̀gala
stat. mvóyâ caus. vɔ́lɛsɛ calm sb.
down recip. vólala W
-vɔ̀dá le- n. 5/6 rest, vacation
pl. ma-vɔ̀dá
vòda v. rest, relax stat. mvòdá -wǎ le- n. 5/6 twin pl. ma-wǎ
recip. vòdala -wã̂ ma- n. 6 fat
-vɔ́lɛ̀ be- n. 8 grief (after sb.’s -wâ ntúà m- n. 1/2 young woman
departure/death) pl. b-wâ bá túà
wàà n. 1/2 chimpanzee, bonobo
vɔ́lɛ v. help stat. mvɔ́lâ recip. vɔ́lala
vóvɔ́lɛ̀ n. 7 freshness, peace, tran- pl. ba-wáa
quillity wáádɔ́ n. 7/6 net pl. ma-wáádɔ́
vòwa v. wake (up) stat. mvòwâ wàlɛ̀ n. 7/8 bitter kola (fruit and
tree) (Garcinia kola) pl. be-wàlɛ̀
caus. vòlɛsɛ recip. vòwala au-
toc. vòlɛga wake up wámɛ v. hurry
vû v. leave stat. mvúyâ appl. vúlɛ wámíyɛ́ adv. fast
-wánɔ̀ m- n. 1/2 1) child, baby 2)
get rid of, take away recip. vúyala
vũ̀ũ̀ v. worry, be excited small, few pl. b-wánɔ̀
vúba nà v. hug sb. -wánɔ̀ (wà) m-údã̂ m- n. 1/2 girl
vúdũ̀ num. one (female child), daughter pl. b-wánɔ̀
b-údã̂
vúɛlɛ v. blow (with mouth, e.g. into
fire) stat. mvúálâ -wánɔ̀ (wà) múdũ̂ m- n. 1/2 boy
-vúlɔ̀ ma- n. 6 cutting edge (of e.g. (male child), son pl. b-wánɔ̀ b-údũ̂
knife or machete) -wánɔ̀ nláwɔ́ m- n. 3/4 twig (child
vúlɔ v. be sharp stat. mvúlâ of branch) pl. b-wánɔ̀ mí-nláwɔ́
-vúlù le- n. 5/6 foam pl. ma-vúlù -wányɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 young man
vùlùngù n. 7/8 noose in trap pl. ma-wányɛ̀
wàwɛ v. spread (out) stat. mwàwá
pl. be-vùlùngù
-vúsí le- n. 5/6 hole pl. ma-vúsí recip. wàwala autoc. wàwɛga
-vútɔ̀ ma- n. 6 oil (for body) wáwɔ v. crawl
606
wáyà n. 7/8 wire pl. be-wáyà wúngala v. wander, dangle

-wê le- n. 5/6 cry pl. ma-wê wúnjɔ̀ɔ ̀ n. 2 Ewondo people
wɛ̀ v. die stat. mwɛ̀yá wùsà n. 7/8 dry banana leaf
wɛ̃ɛ́ ̀̃ v. skin (animals with fur; pl. be-wùsà
burn the fur, then scratch fur off) wùsa v. forget stat. mwùsá re-
stat. ngwɛ̃ń gâ recip. wɛ̃ń gala cip. wùsala
wómbɛlɛ v. sweep stat. mwómbálâ wúsɛ̀ n. 7/8 drought pl. be-wúsɛ̀
recip. wómbala wùù wúú wùù wúú ideo. depiction
-wɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 taro, cocoyam of sound of bees
pl. ma-wɔ̀ wùùùù ideo. depiction of pouring
wɔ́’ɔ̀ n. 7/8 broom pl. be-wɔ́’ɔ̀ liquids or granulars
wɔ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 hawk pl. be-wɔ́lɛ̀ wùwù n. 7/8 small bat pl. be-wùwù
wɔ̀m ideo. depiction of (sudden)
silence
Y
wɔ́ngɔ́ n. 7/8 helmet pl. be-wɔ́ngɔ́
wɔ́ɔɔ́ ɔ́ ́ ide. depiction of moving by
foot or motorbike yákú n. 7/8 fire fly pl. be-yákú
-wùdɛ̀ le- n. 5/6 cooking stone yàlanɛ v. respond
pl. ma-wùdɛ̀ yándɔ́ n. 7/8 trace pl. be-yándɔ́
yànɛ v. must
-wùlà le- n. 5/6 time, hour pl. ma-
̂ ã̂ - n. 1/2 pan pl. ba-yãy
yãy ̂ ã̂
wùlà
-wúmbɛ́ le- n. 5/6 wish, desire, yɛ́ n. 7/8 mushroom pl. be-yɛ́
yɛ́’ɛ́ n. 7/8 thirst, desire, envie
want pl. ma-wúmbɛ́
wúmbɛ v. want, wish, need pl. be-yɛ́’ɛ́
stat. mwúmbâ recip. wúmbala yɛ́dɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 star (also used in
want each other’s things, desire each Kwasio) pl. be-yɛ́dɛ́lɛ̀
yɛ́lɛ̀ n. 7/8 whistle (both with
other
-wùmbó le- n. 5/6 cotton pl. ma- mouth and whistle) pl. be-yɛ́lɛ̀
wùmbó yɛ́mɛdɛ v. tighten stat. myɛ́mâ
wùmɛ̀ (kfúbɔ̀) v. pluck (chicken) recip. yɛ́màlà
stat. mwùmá recip. wùmala yɛ́ngɛ̀ n. 7/8 yodel at wedding
-wúmɔ̀ le- n. 5/6 ten pl. ma-wúmɔ̀ pl. be-yɛ́ngɛ̀
wúndɛ̀ n. 1/2 window pl. ba- yɛ̃ỳ ɛ̃̀ yá m-ùdì - n. 7/8 retarded
person pl. be-yɛ̃ỳ ɛ̃̀ bé b-ùdì
wúndɛ̀
wùndɛ̀ n. 7/8 groundnut pl. be- yí n. 7/8 wood, firewood, fire
wùndɛ̀ pl. be-yí
607
yíɛ̀ v. avoid, dodge stat. nyéyâ

recip. yéala
yílɛ̀ n. 7/6 viper pl. ma-yílɛ̀
yìmbá n. 7/8 age pl. be-yìmbá
-yímbálî le- n. 5/6 entrance pl. ma-
yímbálî
yímbɔ v. go for a walk, visit
stat. yímbâ recip. yímbala
yúlɛ̀ n. 1/2 decedent, deceaed
person pl. ba-yúlɛ̀
yúngú n. 7/8 sea eagle pl. be-yúngú
(m-ùdì wà) zìmbà n. 1/2 soldier

pl. (b-ùdì bá) ba-zìmbà
zíngɔ́ n. 7/8 short dress pl. be-
zíngɔ́
zìbí n. 7/8 tsetse fly (Glossina)
pl. be-zìbí
608
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A Grammar of Gyeli

Präsident der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Dekanin der Kultur-, Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaftlichen

Tag der mündlichen Prüfung:

List of Figures xii

2.1.2 Realization Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

2.5 Discussion: Gyeli Phonology within Bantu A80 . . . . . . . . 108

3 The Noun Phrase 112

3.5.3 Invariable Quantifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

4 The Verb Phrase 213

4.2 Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

5 Tense, Aspect, Mood and Negation 260

5.4 Negation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

6 Simple Clauses 344

6.4 Special Clause Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415

7 Complex Clauses 427

Appendix I: Verb Extensions 473

Appendix II: Texts 493

Appendix III: Lexicon 572

1.1 Internal classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) . . . . 7

2.1 Phonemic inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

2.24 Distribution of syllable types in trisyllabic noun stems . . . . 92

3.1 Agreement classes and their target POS in Gyeli . . . . . . . 117

3.27 Interrogative word ‘how many’ in the different agreement

4.1 The typical Bantu verb structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

5.1 Surface patterns of the SCOP in different TM categories . . . 265

6.1 Copula types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

7.1 Adverbials introducing adverbial clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

1.1 Location of Gyeli and Cameroon in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2.1 Intervocalic [b] in /kfúbɔ̀/ ‘chicken’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

3.1 Major genders in Gyeli . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

5.1 Conjoint/disjoint distinction in Tonga (M64) . . . . . . . . . 278

* ungrammatical form COMP complement clause

inv. invariable PROSP prospective

Gyeli is a Bantu A80 language spoken in southern Cameroon and northern

1.1 The Gyeli Language

1.1.1 The Language’s Name

Figure 1.1: Location of Gyeli and Cameroon in Africa

Classification within Niger-Congo Languages of Cameroon mostly be-

• Makaa-Njem Group (A80)

Figure 1.2: The classification of Gyeli within the Niger-Congo family

A more detailed classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) is given be-

Figure 1.3: Bantu zones

Bantuists often distinguish between northwestern Bantu languages, also

Classification within the Makaa-Njem Group (A80) The languages of

Guthrie code ISO code Name(s)

Table 1.1: Internal classification of the Makaa-Njem Group (A80)

1.1.3 Language Contact

Contact with Bantu farmer groups Bantu farmer languages in contact

Group Languages Color in Fig. 1.4

Table 1.2: Classification of Gyeli’s contact languages

Multilinguism Speakers of all different languages in the area are in con-

Language contact situation in Ngolo Ngolo is situated in the Bulu (A70)

to be some geographic distribution which is linked to Gyeli’s contact lan-

1.1.5 Language Endangerment

1.1.6 Special Features of Gyeli

1.1.7 Previous Literature

1.2 The Gyeli Speakers