Cover not available
Part of
Similative and Equative Constructions: A cross-linguistic perspective
Edited by Yvonne Treis and Martine Vanhove
[Typological Studies in Language 117] 2017
► pp. 79–90

Chapter 3
Similarity, suitability, and non-epistemic modalities (volitionality, ability, and obligation)

This article shows that verbs expressing similarity between two entities are not only found in constructions expressing the kind of epistemic modality expressed in English by means of the verb seem, but may also be involved in polysemy patterns including the expression of other types of modalities (volitionality, ability, or obligation). Three examples of African languages illustrating this type of polysemy pattern are first presented. Then, the article examines the historical developments that led from a Proto-Germanic root *līk- ‘(as a noun) form, (as a verb) be of the same form’ to Tok Pisin laik ‘want’. It is followed by a discussion of the possible etymological link between a Bantu verb reconstructed as *ngà ‘be like’ and a Bantu modality marker reconstructable as *nga. The conclusion proposes a scenario according to which verbs originally expressing similarity between two concrete entities may acquire uses in which they express non-epistemic modalities.
Keywords: similative, volitionality, ability, obligation, grammaticalisation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Non-epistemic modalities expressed by verbs also used to express similarity: Three African examples
    • 2.1Bambara kán ‘be equal, must’
    • 2.2Tswana tshwana ‘be similar’ and tshwanela ‘be suitable, must’
    • 2.3Ngbandi léngbì ‘be equal, suffice, deserve, be able’
    • 2.4Conclusion of Section 2
  • 3.From Proto-Germanic *līk ‘body, form; like, same’ to Tok Pisin laik ‘want, like, desire’
  • 4.Bantu *ngà ‘be like; as, if’ and the modality marker *nga
  • 5.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 31 May 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.117.04cre
References (10)
References
Bailleul, Père Charles. 2007. Dictionnaire bambara-français, 3rd rev. edn. Bamako: Donniya.Google Scholar
Creissels, Denis. 2002. Valence verbale et voix en tswana. Bulletin de la Société de Linguistique de Paris XCVII (1): 371–426. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dimmendaal, Gerrit. 2011. Historical Linguistics and the Comparative Study of African Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dumestre, Gérard. 2011. Dictionnaire bambara-français. Paris: Karthala.Google Scholar
Fischer, Olga, van Kemenade, Ans, Koopman, Willem & van de Wurff, Wim. 2000. The Syntax of Early English. Cambridge: CUP.Google Scholar
Heine, Bernd & Kuteva, Tania. 2002. A World Lexicon of Grammaticalization. Cambridge: CUP. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lekens, Benjamin. 1952. Dictionnaire ngbandi. Anvers: De Sikkel.Google Scholar
Nurse, Derek. 2008. Tense and Aspect in Bantu. Oxford: OUP.Google Scholar
Orel, Vladimir. 2003. A Handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden: Brill.Google Scholar
Romaine, Suzanne. 1999. The grammaticalization of the proximative in Tok Pisin. Language 75 (2): 322–346. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Chamoreau, Claudine & Yvonne Treis
2019. Comparaisons d’égalité et de similitude : comme du pareil au même. Faits de Langues 50:1 ► pp. 9 ff. DOI logo
Taine-Cheikh, Catherine
2019. L’expression de la comparaison d’égalitéet de la similitude en arabe ḥassāniyya : Points de vue typologique et diachronique. Faits de Langues 50:1 ► pp. 45 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 19 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.