Prenominal a and determiners in three Mabia/Gur languages: Dagara, Mooré and Koromfe

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Résumé

This paper discusses the different syntactic status of the prenominal marker a in three languages spoken in Burkina Faso and neighbouring countries (Dagara, Mooré and Koromfe) and its respective relation to the determiner system. We argue that the marker is a head-initial determiner in Dagara, a proprial article in Mooré and a nominal expletive in Koromfe and tentatively suggest a possible common pronominal origin. The paper also addresses further points of variation in the higher nominal structure of the three languages concerning DP directionality and the co-occurrence of determiners, demonstratives and possessors, providing a basis for future wider investigations across the Mabia/Gur family.

RESUME en Dagara:
A sεbε ƞan na wiili na a lε a ƴεr-bir pu-tuuro ‘lan bà nà bʊɔllε ka “prenominal marker a” a ãglε kɔkɔr nan ƞmεn a Burkina kɔkɔε minε pʊɔ. Tὶ bέlɩ na a “prenominal marker a” ƞaarʊ a Dagara kɔkɔr pʊɔ, a Mɔɔsi kɔkɔr pʊɔ, ni a Korõfe kɔkɔr pʊɔ. Tὶ yεrε wiili na a lε ʊlε ni a ƴεr-bir ‘lan bà nà bʊɔllε ka “noun” nan nyɔwtaa. Tὶ yèlla ka “a”, a Dagara kɔkɔr pʊɔ, ɩ-n ƴεr-bir pu-tuuro nanmɩ be puori (“head-initial determiner”). A Mɔɔsi kɔkɔr pʊɔ, ʊ ɩ nir-yuo pu- tuuro (“a proprial article”). ‘Lan wa be a ƴεr-bir puori nan, a wùla ka a ƴεr-bir ‘lan ɩ-n nir-yuo. A Korõfe kɔkɔr pʊɔ, tὶ yèlla ka a ƴεr-bir pu-tuuro ‘lan (a “a”) ba tεr par ε; ʊ ɩ-n na zi-guuro na. ʊ mɩ be na a be a “noun” nan ti sεw k’ʊ be na ti ba tεr “meaning” ε. A sεbε ƞan pʊɔ, tὶ mán na a lε a “noun” ƴεr-bir ni a ʊ pu-tuuro ƃã-taa nan ƞa-taa bii ba ƞa-taa-ɩ a Dagara kɔkɔr pʊɔ, a Mɔɔsi kɔkɔr pʊɔ, ni a Korõfe kɔkɔr pʊɔ. A sεbε ƞan nan sõw na a ni-bε bala ‘ha nan tʊnɔ ni a Afriki kɔkɔε ala bà nà bʊɔllε ka “Mabia/Gur language family.”

Mots-clés

Mabia languages; nominal structure; expletive determiners; demonstratives; possessive structure