Open AccessTransitive L-verbs (grade 2) and transitive H-verbs (grades 1, 4, 5, and 6) in Hausa verbal compounds
Author(s) -
Joseph McIntyre
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
studies of the department of african languages and cultures/studies in african languages and cultures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2545-2134
pISSN - 0860-4649
DOI - 10.32690/salc54.1
Subject(s) - transitive relation , covert , tone (literature) , linguistics , syllable , mathematics , hausa , modal verb , focus (optics) , psychology , verb , combinatorics , physics , philosophy , optics
This paper examines Hausa verbal compounds in terms of the division of regular verbs(verbs in the “grade system”) into verbs which have a High or Low tone first syllable. Thefocus of the paper is the surprisingly small number of transitive L-verbs (verbs beginningwith a Low tone – “grade 2”) and their limited use of compound markers which contrastsstrongly with the frequency of transitive H-verbs (verbs beginning with a with High tone)and their markers. I also describe several devices (e.g. grade-switching and covert subjects) which “allow” the formation of verbal compounds with transitive L-verbs.