Open AccessDogon pronominal systems their nature and evolution
Author(s) -
Christopher Culy,
Koungarma Kodio
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
studies in african linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.178
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2154-428X
pISSN - 0039-3533
DOI - 10.32473/sal.v23i3.107411
Subject(s) - pronoun , linguistics , ancestor , personal pronoun , reflexive pronoun , language family , subject (documents) , history , computer science , philosophy , archaeology , world wide web
The Dogon language family has received little attention in the linguistics literature to date. In this paper we examine the binding properties of the pronominal systems of three Dogon languages, Donno S:>, T:>r:> S:>, and Togo Ka. We also posit the pronominal system of their common ancestor, and the changes from the common ancestor to the contemporary languages. In doing so, we find two ways in which languages can lose logophoricity: (1) the logophoric pronoun becomes a subject oriented reflexive, and (2) the logophoric pronoun is lost without any reflex. The Dogon languages thus give us insight into the nature of pronominal systems and how they evolve.