THE EXPRESSION OF LOCATIVE RELATIONS IN SISSALA

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Résumé

Abstract: This study investigates spatial and temporal particles in Sissala from a synchronic
perspective. Sissala is a language of the central subgroup of Gurunsi languages. It is spoken
in the village of Boura, located in Nando Region of Burkina Faso in the Sissili province. The
study aims to describe the structural organisation and the functional behaviour of these
particles and their comparison to the English ones. The study employs a qualitative
methodology, using an annotated questionnaire to collect the data. It deploys the theoretical
and terminological framework proposed by Creissels (1979, 1983, 2006) and the contrastive
analysis framework by Whitman (1970). The data are obtained from Sissala native participants
from the village of Boura. The findings of the research show that Sissala has various locative
constituents. The research has identified them by specifying their function within the
utterance. The locative nouns {làkà} and {dàha}, the locative substitutes {díẽ}, {nè}, {rεέ}, and
{rã}, and varioius relators associated with human body parts. Additionally, it outlines their
ordering and mobility across the utterance. It also reveals the agreement mechanisms
observable within locative constructions in this language. Finally, the findings proceeding
from the contrastive analysis reveal that Sissala employs postposed tonal locatives and
body-part metaphors, whereas English uses non-tonal prepositions. The findings shed
light on pedagogical implications in bilingual education and translation.

Mots-clés

Keywords: contrastive analysis ; morphology ; particles;; semantics; Sissala; syntax.