Chapter published in:
Afroasiatic: Data and perspectives
Edited by Mauro Tosco
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 339] 2018
► pp. 203–234

Locative predication in Chadic

Implications for linguistic theory

The aim of this study is to demonstrate that Proto-Chadic had a category ‘locative predication’ that was formally and semantically distinct from all other predications in the language. The proposed hypothesis, combined with the principle of functional transparency (Frajzyngier & Shay 2003), allows us to answer the following theoretical questions: (1) why lexical items with the same reference have different properties across languages; (2) why a given form in the same language is sometimes used and sometimes not used in the coding of what appears to be the same situation; (3) why some languages have only one locative preposition and other languages have many; (4) why some languages deploy serial verb constructions and others do not; and (5) why some languages deploy verbal extensions for some functions and others do not. These questions are examined using data from locative expressions in Chadic languages.The existence of a grammaticalized predication may imply that some lexical items are compatible with semantic features of the predication and others are not. The existence of locative predication, as proposed for Proto-Chadic, means that, if the semantic feature ‘locative’ is present in the complement and/or in the predicate, no other formal means are required to mark either component for locative predication. If the feature ‘locative’ is absent in the predicate, languages with locative predication have either lexicalized the category ‘locative predicator’ or have grammaticalized other means, such as serial verb constructions and locative extensions, to mark the predicate as locative. If the complement is not inherently locative, languages have lexicalized the category ‘locative preposition’ to code the locative complement. In some Chadic languages, subsequent changes have resulted in the replacement of locative predication by narrower semantic categories, such as movement toward a goal, movement from the source, or presence in a place.
Keywords: Chadic, locative predication, types of prepositions, verbal extensions, semantic compatibility
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The aim and scope of the study
  • 2.State of the art with respect to locatives in Chadic
  • 3.The terms
  • 4.The hypotheses
  • 5.Synchronic and diachronic methodology required for locative predication
  • 6.Complementarity of lexical and grammatical means in locative predication in Mina
    • 6.1The system
    • 6.2Inherently locative predicate and inherently locative complement: coding through juxtaposition
    • 6.3Locative predicate and non-locative complement: Predicate n Noun
    • 6.4Non-locative predicate and locative complement: Predicate á Noun
    • 6.5 Non-locative predicate and non-locative complement: Predicate á n Noun
  • 7.Locative predication in Hausa
  • 8.Locative predication in Pero
  • 9.Mupun (West Chadic)
    • 9.1 Predicator a in Mupun
    • 9.2The directional predicator n
  • 10.Lele (East Chadic): coding locative predication by serial verb constructions
    • 10.1The interest of the situation in Lele
    • 10.2Inherently locative predicates and inherently locative complements
    • 10.3Coding the locative complement through postposition
    • 10.4Animate locatives
    • 10.5Summary of the coding of locative predication in Lele
  • 11.Hdi: Locative predication through locative prepositions
    • 11.1Prepositions dá and dà
    • 11.2Stative locative predication in Hdi
    • 11.3Summary of the locative coding in Hdi
  • 12.Locative predication in East Dangla
    • 12.1Summary of the locative predication in East Dangla
  • 13.Summary of the evidence for the locative predication
  • 14.Further evolution of locative predication
    • 14.1The nature of the changes
    • 14.2Gidar (Central Chadic)
    • 14.3A summary of the locative predication in Gidar
  • 15.Conclusions and implications
  • Abbreviations
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 01 February 2018
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.339.12fra
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Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Frajzyngier, Zygmunt
2021.  In Linguistic Categories, Language Description and Linguistic Typology [Typological Studies in Language, 132], ► pp. 101 ff. Crossref logo
Frajzyngier, Zygmunt
2022. Toward a functional typology of adpositions: theoretical implications. Folia Linguistica 0:0 Crossref logo

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