On the grammatical uses of the ‘head’ in Wolof
From reflexivity to intensifying uses
In Wolof (Atlantic, Niger-Congo), the grammatical uses of the word for head (bopp) with a possessive modifier range from direct and indirect reflexive pronoun to adnominal intensifier through an intermediary genitival reflexive. This study analyzes the semantic continuity between those different uses, and the various ways they are conditioned by their contexts. With direct and indirect (or oblique) reflexives, the reflexive anaphora has scope over two different semantic roles (agent vs. patient or beneficiary) of the same referent. Being restrictively used for typically other-directed processes, those reflexive constructions imply that alternative (more expected) agents are discarded, producing an emphasis on self-affectedness or self-benefit. This ‘centering’ effect on the actual participant is even clearer with the genitive reflexive and the adnominal intensifier due to their adnominal function. In those constructions, the reflexive anaphora creates a re-identification of the referent in the same role, producing an intensive effect by centering on the identity of the referent, discarding again alternative participants. Altogether, the various reflexive constructions in Wolof, emphasizing the agentivity, responsibility or identity of the referent, point to a metonymical use of the head for the person or individual, which is in accordance with its various lexical uses.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.The noun bopp ‘head’ and why it did not grammaticalize into a locative marker
- 3.The reflexive pronoun
- 3.1Direct Reflexive vs. Middle construction
- 3.2Oblique reflexives
- 3.3Genitive (possessive) reflexives
- 4.The prepositional reflexive as an adnominal intensifier
- 4.1Emphasizing agentivity (‘by him or herself’)
- 4.2Emphasizing identity (‘in person’, ‘per se’, ‘the actual one’)
- 4.3Emphasizing the inclusion in an ordered list (‘even him or her’)
- 4.4Semantic continuity, limits and motivation: Comparison with ci wàllu boppam
- 5.Conclusion
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Aknowledgements
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Notes
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Abbreviations
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Corpus and data references
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References