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Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics Thesis Approval Sheet This thesis, entitled A Grammar Sketch of Dazaga written by Josiah Keith Walters and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with major in Applied Linguistics has been read and approved by the undersigned members of the faculty of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics _______________________________ Dr. Paul Kroeger (Supervising Professor) _______________________________ Dr. Michael Boutin _______________________________ Dr. Steve Parker _______________________________ date signed A Grammar Sketch of Dazaga by Josiah Keith Walters Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with major in Applied Linguistics Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics June 2015 © 2015 Josiah Keith Walters All Rights Reserved CERTIFICATE I acknowledge that use of copyrighted material in my thesis may place me under an obligation to the copyright owner, especially when use of such material exceeds usual fair use provisions. I hereby certify that I have obtained the written permission of the copyright owner for any and all such occurrences and that no portion of my thesis has been copyrighted previously unless properly referenced. I hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics from any and all claims that may be asserted or that may arise from any copyright violation. __________________________ Signature __________________________ Date THESIS DUPLICATION RELEASE I hereby authorize the Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics Library to duplicate this thesis when needed for research and/or scholarship. Agreed: ____________________________ Signature Date Refused: ____________________________ Signature Date ABSTRACT A Grammar Sketch of Dazaga Josiah Keith Walters Master of Arts with major in Applied Linguistics Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics, June 2015 Supervising Professor: Dr. Paul Kroeger In this thesis, I describe the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Dazaga, a Saharan language spoken in Niger and Chad, based on a corpus of about 2,600 lexical items, as well as hundreds of sentences, gathered by Kevin Walters and the author, over the past three decades. Phonemic /p/ is lacking from the twenty consonants. The nine vowel phonemes harmonize in ATR within the phonological word, although /a/ is transparent. Tone patterns in a pitch-accent system. The distribution of articles is determined by combinations of definiteness and specificity. In lieu of the previously proposed three class verb system for Dazaga (Lukas 1953), I analyze verbs as exhibiting split-intransitivity. S and transitive verbs are either simple verbs or light verb a constructions. Basic word order is SOV. Transitive subjects receive optional ergative case, whose occurrence is determined by a variety of factors. Monotransitive objects receive optional accusative case. Recipients of ditransitive verbs are primary objects (based on object agreement), but obligatorily take dative case, thus displaying an uncommon pattern of mixed alignment. Causatives are either periphrastic, causative light verb constructions, or serial verb constructions. Serial verb constructions are also used to increase valency and to express an action and its purpose. 14 May, 2015 DEDICATION To Dad (Kevin) and Mom (Colleen) This study is largely the fruit of your many years of hard work. “Others have done the hard work, and [I] have reaped the benefits of their labor.” John 4:38 (NIV) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My thanks go first of all to you, Dad and Mom. You gladly provided me with your data from your many years of work with Dazaga, and have been enthusiastic supporters of my research. Dad, I can’t adequately express how much I appreciate the countless hours you’ve fit into your already-too-busy schedule to answer questions, offer suggestions, and comment on each chapter of this thesis. I greatly appreciate the oversight and assistance provided by the members of my thesis committee. Paul Kroeger gladly met many times to discuss various aspects of my analysis. His guidance in analyzing the verb system was particularly instrumental in getting me on the right track. Michael Boutin offered many insightful comments that have helped shape important aspects of my analysis, such as the terminology of split- intransitivity. His careful editor’s eye and instinct for clarity of expression have greatly improved various sections of my thesis. Steve Parker’s insistence on more plausible explanations and robust evidence has made my phonology chapter much more analytically sound. His built-in, human spell-checker has helped me correct numerous errors. Je veux également remercier M. El Hadj Oumar Mamane pour son aide généreuse et sa patience. Comme un locuteur natif du dialecte Keshirda de Dazaga, son aide et ses intuitions ont été très importantes pour mes recherches. J’apprécie le temps qu’il a donné pour répondre à mes nombreuses questions, ainsi que son aide pour corriger mon français là où il le fallait. Sa disponibilité pour travailler ensemble en février 2015 m’a fourni des informations importantes qui me manquaient sur la tonalité. Several other linguists have helped me in various ways. Andrew Wolfe provided me with an early copy of his and Tajeldin Adam’s work on the optional ergative marker in Beria (2015), which has greatly influenced my own analysis. He has also kindly read and commented on various other aspects of my analysis. Rod Casali graciously provided viii me with access to his article on tongue root harmony in Africa (2008). Angelika Jakobi willingly shared her work on the Beria verb system (2011) and Beria focus markers (2006). Mark Ortman shared with me his important work on the Tedaga verb system (2003). Milton Watt persuasively encouraged me, at the very beginning of my time at GIAL, to consider writing a thesis. Friends here at GIAL have helped and encouraged me in my work. Rachel Jamison provided me with her bibliography on light verb constructions. Joy Sanders gave me her phonetician’s judgment of the rhotic segments in Dazaga. Marlin Leaders helped me with various aspects of using FLEx (FieldWorks Language Explorer) and Phonology Assistant. The GIAL librarians — Ferne Weimer, Carole Unseth, Dorothy Buice, and Robert Sivingy — have willingly helped me with various aspects of my research. I particularly appreciate Carole Unseth’s help with obtaining various resources through InterLibrary Loan. Jana Teders reviewed the mechanics of this thesis and offered helpful suggestions for improvement. Miriam, you’ve been patient through my many long days in class and in the library. Thanks for your hard work and your support and encouragement. I love you. Titus, Esther, and Kate, thanks for seeing me out the door each morning and excitedly welcoming me home each evening. “Now to him who is able to keep [us] from stumbling and to present [us] blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” (Jude 24-25; ESV) ix TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................. viii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... xiv LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................. xvi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................. xvii Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................... 1 1.1 The Daza people and the Dazaga language ............................................ 1 1.2 Objectives and methodology of the present study .................................. 5 1.3 Typological sketch of Dazaga ................................................................ 6 1.4 Explanation of certain conventions ........................................................ 9 Chapter 2: Literature Review ........................................................................ 11 2.1 Early minor works ................................................................................ 11 2.2 The major works ................................................................................... 12 2.3 Recent minor works .............................................................................. 14 Chapter 3: Phonology ..................................................................................... 17 3.1 Consonant phonemes ............................................................................ 17 3.1.1 Phones [b] and [p] ......................................................................... 19 3.1.2 Phones [s] and [ʃ] .......................................................................... 21 3.1.3 Phones [kʷ] and [ɡʷ] ...................................................................... 22 3.1.4 Rhotics ........................................................................................... 23 3.2 Vowel phonemes .................................................................................. 24 3.2.1 Nazalized vowels........................................................................... 26 3.2.2 [±ATR] vowel pairs [e,ɛ], [o,ɔ]....................................................... 26 3.2.3 The phone [ɨ] ................................................................................. 27 3.3 Syllable and word structure .................................................................. 28 3.4 Tone ...................................................................................................... 33 3.5 Vowel harmony .................................................................................... 38 3.6 Other Phonological processes .............................................................. 40 3.6.1 Assimilation .................................................................................. 41 3.6.2 Dissimilation ................................................................................. 41 3.6.3 Deletion ......................................................................................... 42 3.7 Orthography .......................................................................................... 43 Chapter 4: Nouns and Noun Phrase Constituents ....................................... 44 4.1 Syntactic categories found in noun phrases ......................................... 44 4.1.1 Nouns ............................................................................................ 45 x