metatony in Eton

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UMR8135 CNRS INaLCOCentre André-Georges Haudricourt7 rue Guy Môquet 94801 Villejuif Cedex - France

Phonology/Syntax Interface in Bantu (and other)

languages :Metatony, Focus and

DislocationParis, June 28-29

Mark Van de VeldeC.N.R.S. - LLACAN

METATONY IN ETON

1. INTRODUCTION

• At least two things have been called metatony in Bantu studies: a high tone on constituents that follow infinitives and a final high tone on non-final verb forms. These are distinct phenomena in Eton that should not be confounded elsewhere.

• Several functions have been ascribed to metatony, including signalling object status and signalling focus. These claims are typically not supported by evidence. At least for Eton, they are unjustified.

1. INTRODUCTION

Term coined by Meeussen (1967:111)?

“The final element [of the infinitive] has to be set up as –a (low) or –a… (with metatony: high if an object follows, low otherwise).”

1. INTRODUCTION

(Nurse 2008: 48)“A second [notable tone phenomenon] is metatony, whereby in certain TA forms a high tone replaces a low or falling tone on post-radical syllables (e.g. of extensions) as well as on a following non-accented low syllable, if and only if the verb is not phrase-final, that is, followed by other material such as object or adverbial.”

1. INTRODUCTION

(Nurse 2008)“[Metatony] is often described as just a tonal process, but it is striking that it has certain characteristics linking it to focus: it seems to affect certain (mostly affirmative) tenses in the language (e.g. Guarisma 2003: 320–7), and it marks a contrast between verb focus and post-verbal focus. This suggests it has a syntactic-semantic function, an opinion shared by Schadeberg (1995: 176; also Dimmendaal 1995: 32; de Blois 1970: 107).”

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.1. A floating high tone “word”• A floating high tone between an infinitive and a

following nominal element within the same sentence. In some cases (that I can only list) link tone also shows up with a non-nominal element.

• For link tone to appear, there need not be a syntactic relation between the infinitive and the following element.

• This floating high tone attaches to the right and behaves tonologically as a separate word, i.e. it behaves as other high tones that need to cross a word boundary before attaching to the right, and it does not behave as a tonal suffix, which would attach to the left.

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

Hadermann (2005: 406)“Certaines langues, qui construisent leur infinitif dans une classe autre que la classe 15, appliquent le phénomène de la métatonie à la fois à leur forme infinitivale, à la fois au sein de la conjugaison lorsque la forme verbale est suivie d’un complément. C’est entre autres le cas des langues du groupe A70 (infinitif en a- < classe 16), (…)

fang A75; Ondo Mebiame 1992)abàgəWle mi Znə[na (abàgəWlè ‘garder’)garder une femme”

But note: The locative preposition marks the citation form of infinitives. The infinitive marker itself is a floating low tone prefix.

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

Infinitives (strictly speaking) occur after auxiliaries and quasi-auxiliaries, e.g. in the Present tense (auxiliary Ltə+) and the Future tense (auxiliary eey).

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2. Contexts2.2.1. Before nominalsLink tone always appears when an infinitive is followed by a nominal element, if they belong to the same larger domain (larger than the clause, the sentence?). (2) àté kul bikob bi tid

|à-Ltɛ[ L-kul H bi-kob bi=tid|I-PR INF-clean LT 8-skin

VIII.CON=[9]animal‘He cleans the skins.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

(3) məWtə[ yi lə[ꜜvuꜜvwagɔ[|məW-Ltɛ[ L-ji H ləW-vuL∼vɔ[g-a|1SG-PR INF-want LT V-red∼one-SF[Talking about cocoyams (cl.5/6).] ‘I want a

single one.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”?

(4) məWywàg mə[ꜜtə[ ꜜɲuŋbàn iꜜsin|məW-jɔWg mə[-Ltɛ[ L-ɲuŋ-bàn H iW-sin|6-wine VI-PR INF-drink-PAS LT 7-

cold‘Wine is consumed cold.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”?

(5) àté kul vè bikob|à-Ltɛ[ L-kul vɛW bi-kob|I-PR INF-clean only 8-skin‘He cleans only the skins.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”?

(6) udu uꜜté jàb abwi|u-du u-Ltɛ[ L-ʤàbH à-bui|3-udu.tree III-PR INF-be.big LT 3-very‘The udu tree is very big.’

(7) àbu bôd usɔ[|à-bui H=b-od u-H-sɔ[|3-many III.CON=2-person III-PST-come‘Many/several persons came.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”?

(8)

àté kwàgdɔ[ duŋne swàlbɔW|à-Ltɛ[ L-kɔWgdà H L-duŋnəW H L-sɔWlbà|I-PR INF-do.well LT INF-do.again LT INF-hide‘He really hides himself again.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.2. Does LT signal an “object relation”?

(9) mèté bɛWlni èèy kwàb|məW-Ltɛ[ L-bɛWlni èːj kɔWb|1SG-PR INF-use with [9]hook‘I use a hook.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun?

Hadermann (2005) « la métatonie met en évidence le lien verbe-complément et plus particulièrement le lien infinitif de classe 15-complément. C’est le caractère ambigu, à la fois nominal et verbal, de l’infinitif qui nécessite un processus de marquage spécifique lorsqu’il entre dans une construction avec complément. »

« Il serait certes intéressant d’étudier le rapport syntaxique entre le verbe à ton haut métatonique et le syntagme suivant, … »

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun?

(10) və[ ibôr bə[ꜜtə[ som lə[kɔsŋ|vɛ[-H i-b-odbə[-Ltɛ[ L-som H ləW-kɔsŋ|give-IMP AU-2-person II-PR INF-huntLT 5-lance‘Give a lance to those who hunt.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.3. Does LT signal a (any) syntactic relation between an infinitive and a following noun?

A similar example from Ewondo:(11)vaɦa é-b-ôd b-éèy kwàn H mə[ꜜndimgive.IMP AU-2-person II-FUT INF.be.sick LT

6-water[What will be my task?] ‘Give water to those who will be sick.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.4. Does metatony mark focus?

(12) [What will she buy at the market?][What will she do at the market?][Will she buy manioc at the market? No, ][Will you buy cocoyams at the market? No, ]èèy kus mə[bàŋà|à-èèj L-kus H məW-bàŋà|I-FUT INF-buy LT 6-cocoyam‘She will buy cocoyams.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

(13) màaꜜtə[ diŋ ɛ[bàŋà|məW-àa-Ltɛ[ L-diŋ H ɛW-bàŋà|1SG-NEG-PR INF-like LT 5-cocoyam‘I don’t like cocoyam (macabo).’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.5. Is it a trace of the augment?

(14) màaꜜtə[ ꜜjɜ[m iꜜluna|məW-àa-Ltɛ[ L-ʤɛWm H iluna|1SG-NEG-PR INF-know LT Eloundou‘I don’t know Eloundou.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

2.2.6. Cases in which LT appears before elements that are not (clearly) nominal

(15) məWtə[ kuz zaŋmal|məW-Ltɛ[ L-kuz H zàŋxmal|1SG-PR INF-buy LT seven[At the market, pointing at any product.] ‘I buy

seven.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

(16) ɛWlɛ[n ɛ[ꜜté jo beb èèy nda|ɛW-lɛ[n ɛ[-Ltɛ[ L-ʤo H bəWbəW èèj nda|5-palm.tree V-PR INF-grow LT close with[9]house‘The palm tree grows close to the house.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

ana ‘today’, link tone with some speakers(17)a. àté sob àna

|à-Ltɛ[ L-sob àna|I-PR INF-return today‘He returns today.’

b. àté sob aꜜna|à-Ltɛ[ L-sob H àna|I-PR INF-return LT today‘He returns today.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

Absence of link tone in front of prepositions (not a homogeneous category)

cf. (9)

(18) uté cog ànə[ ꜜntaŋni|u-Ltɛ[ L-ʧog ànə[ n-taŋni|2SG-PR INF-think like 3-European‘You think like a European.’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

Absence of link tone in front of verb forms(19)a. èèy sob àdi ꜜɲuŋni

|à-èèj L-sob à-dia ɲW-ɲuŋ-ni|I-FUT INF-return I-being 3-drunkard‘He will come back drunk. (lit. being drunk)’

b. èèy sob ɲ[ꜜɲuŋni|à-èèj L-sob H ɲW-ɲuŋ-ni|I-FUT INF-return LT 3-drunkard‘He will come back drunk’

LINK TONE (≈METATONY)

Absence of link tone in front of a sentence boundary (?)(20) bété sila, màgà məWyɜ[blə|ŋgànà

|bə[-Ltɛ[ L-silà màgà məW-jɛ[bl-əWŋgànà|II-PR INF-ask 1SG.CPR 1SG-answer-PRT‘They ask, I answer.’

 (21) utə[ dugà məWjwàg màanji màn

|u-Ltɛ[ L-dugà məW-ʤɔWg məW-àa-nʤi L-màn|2SG-PR INF-lie 6-wine VI-NEG-NEG

INF-finish‘You’re lying! The wine isn’t finished.’

NON-FINAL VERB FORMS

3.1. A floating high tone suffix• A floating high tone suffix that is attached to Hesternal

and Hodiernal Past Perfective verb forms, whenever these are not in sentence final position. The final form (without suffix) also appears in front of certain subordinate clauses.

• As with link tone, the syntactic link between the verb in non-final position and the following element, if any, is irrelevant.

• Following the general tone rules of Eton, the -H suffix attaches to the left and subsequently copies to the right.

• This high tone suffix never appears in utterance-final position.

NON-FINAL VERB FORMS

(23)a. àkol uyabneŋgàn

|à-kol u-H-jabn-əWŋgànà|3-footIII-PST-hurt-G‘The foot hurt.’

b. àkol uyabnéŋgan ma|à-kol u-H-jabn-əWŋgànà-H ma|3-footIII-PST-hurt-G-NF 1SG.FPPR‘My foot hurt.’

NON-FINAL VERB FORMS

3.2. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H appearsAll contexts in which Link Tone appears, plus: 3.2.1. In front of prepositions(24) àkɛ[ngi a makid ‘He went to market.’(25) àkpag éèy pà ‘He did the groundwork with a machete.’(26) àkpagə[ vwàz uꜜso ‘He cleared the ground up till the river.’(27) àcog anə[ ꜜntaŋni ‘He thought like a European.’

NON-FINAL VERB FORMS

3.2. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H appearsAll contexts in which Link Tone appears, plus:

3.2.2. In front of subordinate verb forms:(27) àsob ajàgà jà ‘He returned singing a song.’ In front of certain subordinate clauses :(28) àbumgan iyɔ|ŋ mèɲiini ‘She startled when I

came in.’

NON-FINAL VERB FORMS

3.3. Contexts in which the non-final suffix -H does not appear

3.3.1. In front of certain subordinate clauses.(29) àwulà tɔW n aꜜbə[ kwàngi ‘He walked, although he was sick.’(30) muŋ adugà asɥ ina bə[wôg uswan ‘The child lied, because he was ashamed.’ 3.3.2. Across sentences(31) məWɲiiniW isom i muŋ iligə[ ꜜvala ‘I came back. The kid stayed there.’(32) bə[dugaW mà məWkad bə[ꜜbɛ[lə[ ‘They lied. I told the truth.’

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

• Link Tone and non-final verb forms with -H suffix are clearly different phenomena in Eton: they are formally different and they appear in different contexts.

• We shouldn’t call both metatony. Link Tone corresponds best to Meeussen’s original use of the term metatony (Meeussen 1967:111), although it differs in its location.

• Neither has an obvious function (no object marking, no focus marking, not even signalling “a certain syntactic relation”). They are submorphemes, in that they have morphological form, but no meaning:

“Yesterday’s morphology is today’s junk.”

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Hyman and Lionnet (2011) propose a typology of “metatony” that accommodates both phenomena we saw in Eton.

4. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Metatony, stricto sensu, may be reconstructable: • it might originate in a connective construction• it may have been exapted in some languages

Non-final verb forms are probably part of a much larger phenomenon of elements that have different shapes according to whether they are final in a given domain.• disparate origins (cf. Abo)• not necessarily involving high tone• an example of such a phenomenon in Eton is the shape of 1st and 2nd person pronouns: low in non-final position, rising in final position