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Part of
Finiteness and Nominalization
Edited by Claudine Chamoreau and Zarina Estrada-Fernández
[Typological Studies in Language 113] 2016
► pp. 323–344

The Manner converb in Beja (Cushitic) and its refinitization

| LLACAN (CNRS, INALCO, PRES Sorbonne Paris-Cité)
This paper focuses on the formal properties and uses of nonfinite constructions in Beja (Cushitic) with the Manner converb, and its refinitization as a Perfect paradigm. The analysis is carried out against the background of typological studies on converbs and copredicative constructions. This converb functions at several levels of juncture: predicate in deranked adverbial clauses, in complement and relative clauses for the encoding of inter-clausal relations; adverb and cognate object at the level of the verb phrase; verbal adjective in copredicative and attributive constructions at the level of the verb and noun phrases. The different uses and values in verbal periphrastic constructions (emphasis, volition), and the grammaticalization as a finite verb form (Perfect) in main and independent clauses, are also analyzed. A participial origin of the Manner converb is proposed on typological grounds alone, because of lack of Afroasiatic comparative evidence, with three different grammaticalization paths, one for each level of juncture, where nominal morphosyntax played a crucial role in the refinitization process.
Keywords: Beja, converb, copredication, grammaticalization, perfect, periphrastic constructions
Published online: 23 June 2016
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https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.113.13van
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