What grammar for Bamileke languages? A common grammar or a ‘library’ of grammars?

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Published: Mar 31, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6092/jalalit.v1i1.6733

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Eliane Kamdem Sonkoue
University of Bayreuth

Abstract

This paper describes and then compares tense-aspect features in three Bamileke languages, viz. Ghomalaʔ, Ngiemboon, and Ngombale, with a view to (1) providing a detailed description of the mechanisms for expressing tenseaspect categories in three Bamileke languages and (2) testing the assumption that Bamileke languages could be described in a common grammar. The study shows that there is an extensive inventory of tense-aspect markings in each of the languages under investigation, which enables speakers to refer to situations that are distinct with respect to tense (past, present, future) and aspect (perfective, imperfective, progressive, habitual). The comparison of the investigated languages with respect to the structure of tense-aspect categories, the form of tense-aspect markers, and the function of tense-aspect categories reveals that the languages analysed show similarities, but also huge differences with respect to tense-aspect categories. I conclude from this that Bamileke languages are not suitable candidates for inclusion in a common grammar.
KEY WORDS: Bamileke languages, Grassfields, grammar, tense, aspect

Article Details

Issue
No 1 (2020): Journal of African Languages and Literatures
Section
Research articles
Author Biography

Eliane Kamdem Sonkoue, University of Bayreuth

Eliane Kamdem Sonkoue is a doctoral researcher in the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS) at the University of Bayreuth, Germany. Prior to this, she was a master’s student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Yaounde I, Cameroon. Her research focuses on the morphosyntactic study of Bamileke languages, with particular interests in issues such as the expression of tense, aspect, and standard negation from both synchronic and diachronic perspectives. She also carried out research in the learning and teaching of some Indo-European and African languages.