Explaining Demonstrative-Noun Word Order Variation in Digo

Steve Nicolle SIL International and Africa International University (Nairobi)

In Digo (Bantu, E73 spoken in Kenya and Tanzania), demonstratives may occur both before and after the noun, although the most common order is Dem+N, whilst all other modifiers of the noun occur after N. This raises two issues. The first concerns what motivates the dipreferred order N+Dem. Various pragmatic factors will be suggested. The second issue concerns whether the preferred Dem+N is disharmonic, given that all other modifiers follow the N. It will be suggested that Dem is neither a qualificative nor a classifier, but rather functions as a co-head with N. There is therefore no syntactic restriction on the relative order of N and Dem, which is why pragmatic factors are required to motivate the choice of the dispreferred N+Dem order.

Preferred order of demonstrative and noun

Digo has 15 noun classes, and 4 demonstrative series, 3 of which contain variant forms. Thus a single noun class (such as class 1, referring to single animate entities) may distinguish up to 9 demonstrative forms. All possible orders of Dem and N are recorded in Digo: Dem+N, N+Dem, (very occasionally) Dem+N+Dem, 1 and Dem can also stand alone (functioning predicatively). Overall, the preferred order is Dem+N, and this applies to all demonstrative series. In this respect, Digo patterns with Shambala, Pare, Rangi and the Nguni languages, rather than with most other Bantu languages which have the preferred order N+Dem. However, Dem+N is the only attested order for all demonstratives in the locative noun classes (16-18), the short variant forms of all noun classes (i.e. ye, zo etc.), and the series 2 demonstratives yuya (class 1) and hara (class 2). Excluding the frequent occurrences of yuya N in narrative texts and the obligatory Dem+N order with locative noun classes, Dem+N occurs more than twice as often as N+Dem in a corpus of untranslated Digo texts (approximately 14,000 words). All qualificatives follow N and/or Dem in the order: possessive > quantifier > numeral > lexical adjective > phrasal adjective. Two issues will be considered. First, given that Dem+N is the preferred order in Digo, what factors motivate he use of the dispreferred N+Dem order? Second, is the preferred Dem+N order disharmonic, given that all qualificatives follow N?

Reasons for N+Dem order

Ease of articulation Series 1 and 3 demonstratives modifying nouns in class 7 beginning with chi are almost always postnominal. This may be because most nouns in class 7 begin with chi and it is difficult to articulate two unstressed ch in succession: chitabu hichi may be easier to pronounce than hichi chitabu. Influence of Swahili When a word is the same in Swahili and Digo, the demonstrative is more likely to follow the noun. In example (1) below, a series 2 demonstrative (unusually) follows the noun siku day which is the same in Swahili. (1) kala
PST

si-dzangbwe
1SG.NEG-INC

ku-tayarish-a
INF-prepare-fv

ma-somo ga
6-lessons

siku hira.

6.ASS 9.day 9.DEM_2

I had not yet prepared the lessons for that day.

Both demonstratives must be of the same noun class but need not belong to the same series. Where there is an overt noun this usually occurs between the two demonstratives. There appear to be no co-occurrence restrictions or restrictions on the permitted order of demonstratives (demonstrative of different series and the same series can cooccur, long and short forms can co-occur, and short variant forms can occupy both the first and second positions).

Avoidance of scopal ambiguity Postnominal demonstratives are also found when the order Dem+N might otherwise have an unclear referent. In (2) below, the demonstrative hinya unambiguously modifies ajeni visitors, whereas if it had preceded the noun it could have modified either ajeni alone or the conjoined NP ajeni airi na aphuye two visitors and his uncle: (2) Ajeni
2.visitors

hinya
2.DEM_1

a-iri
2-two

na
COM

aphu-ye

a-tsolok-a.

9.uncle-9.3SG.POS 3PL.PST-arrive-fv

These two visitors and his uncle arrived. Discourse related reasons for N+Dem order Other occurrences of N+Dem are related to discourse. As mentioned above, at the point in a narrative where a major participant performs his or her first action on the event line, it is usually referred to using a noun followed by a series 1 demonstrative: (3) Asichana
2.girls

hinya
2.DEM_1

a-phiy-a
3PL.PST-go-fv

kpwenda-nyendek-a...
INF.IT-walk-fv

These girls went for a walk... When a demonstrative occurs immediately before the end of a thematic unit (e.g. a paragraph break or the end of a narrative) it is often postnominal: (4) ama
or

n-nge-kal-a
1SG-COND-be-fv

n-olagbw-a
1SG.PST-kill.PAS-fv

ni
by

simba hiye.
1.lion 1.DEM_1

or I could have been killed by this lion. (end of story) Emphasis In speech, postnominal demonstratives tend to be stressed, and occur frequently in emphatic contexts. The question in (5) below is asked by a character in a story who cannot believe that a person who was previously very poor now has enough money to pay two hundred workers at ten times the going rate (note that although the first demonstrative yuno is postnominal, the second zino occurs in the more usual prenominal position). (5) Mutu yuno zino
10.DEM_4

pesa
10.money

a-zi-phah-a=phi?
3SG.PST-10-get-fv=Q

1.person 1.DEM_4

Where did that man (of all people) get that (much) money from? The order N+Dem also often occurs in the description of an event which is contrary to expectation. In (6) the speaker is a son addressing his parents, and it is unusual for a son to leave an inheritance to his parents. (6) ela
but

n-chi-fw-a
1SG-DEP-die-fv

mimi
1SG

utajiri
14.wealth

hinyu
14.DEM_1

u-nda-kal-a
14-FUT-be-fv

w-enu
14-2PL.POS

but if I myself die, this wealth will be yours In procedural texts it is common to find a sequence of events being described, e.g. A is made into B, B + Dem is made into C, C+ Dem is made into D etc.

Is Dem+N order disharmonic?

Demonstratives are neither qualificatives nor classifiers: All other modifiers of the noun (qualificatives) are postnominal, but Dem usually precedes N and is always adjacent to N (whether pre- or postnominal); this suggests that Dem is not a qualificative. Demonstratives and possessives are traditionally termed classifiers and are said not to co-occur, but they do in Digo and other Bantu languages, so Dem is not a classifier. I suggest that both N and Dem can function as head of the same kind of phrase (which could be called DP or NP); that is, N and Dem are co-heads. As such, there is no syntactic constraint on the relative order of N and Dem. Instead, Dem + N is (arbitrariy) preferred and the order N + Dem is motivated by factors such as ease of articulation, the influence of Swahili, avoidance of scopal ambiguity, and discourse considerations, as just described.