Difference between revisions of "Wolof/Grammar"

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(→‎Indefinite Pronouns)
m (→‎Proximity markers)
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{| cellpadding=5
 
{| cellpadding=5
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|{{morphTest|nit{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl1}}|nit}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl1}}|ka}} || The person far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|nit{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl1}}|nit}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl1}}|ka}} || The person far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|nit{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl9}}|nit}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl9}}|ña}} || The people far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|nit{{tag|n}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl9}}|nit}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl9}}|ña}} || The people far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|xaj{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl2}}|xaj}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl2}}|ba}} || The dog far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|xaj{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl2}}|xaj}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl2}}|ba}} || The dog far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|xaj{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl10}}|xaj}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl10}}{{tag|pl}}|ya}} || The dogs far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|xaj{{tag|n}}{{tag|pl}}{{tag|cl10}}|xaj}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl10}}{{tag|pl}}|ya}} || The dogs far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|garab{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl3}}|garab}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl3}}|ga}} || The tree far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|garab{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl3}}|garab}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl3}}|ga}} || The tree far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|jinax{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl4}}|jinax}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl4}}|ja}} || The mouse far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|jinax{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl4}}|jinax}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl4}}|ja}} || The mouse far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|yàpp{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl8}}|yàpp}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl8}}|wa}} || The mouse far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|yàpp{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl8}}|yàpp}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl8}}|wa}} || The mouse far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|meew{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl6}}|meew}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl6}}|ma}} || The meat far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|meew{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl6}}|meew}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl6}}|ma}} || The meat far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|xorom{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl7}}|xorom}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl7}}|sa}} || The salt far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|xorom{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl7}}|xorom}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl7}}|sa}} || The salt far [from the speaker]
 
|-
 
|-
−
|{{morphTest|lëf{{tag|n}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl5}}|lëf}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl5}}|la}} || The thing far [from the speaker]
+
|{{morphTest|lëf{{tag|n}}{{tag|cl5}}|lëf}} || {{morphTest|ki {{tag|det}}{{tag|dst}}{{tag|cl5}}|la}} || The thing far [from the speaker]
 
|}
 
|}
  

Revision as of 03:09, 17 February 2023

Grammar documentation - Wolof

  • General overview of Wolof grammar[1]
  • Long academic grammatical description[2]
  • Noun classification resource[3]
  • Notable characteristics of Wolof Grammar[4]
  • Wolof Grammar Manual[5]
  • "Content question words and noun class markers in Wolof: reconstructing a puzzle"[6]
Parts of Speech

Wolof is an SVO language

  • Verbs are static and do not change for tense, aspect, or mood
  • Nouns have 10 classes, 8 of which are singular classes and are marked by specific prefixes, and 2 are plural classes also marked by prefixes
    • However, these prefixes are not morphologically marked on the noun itself, but on the dependent that agrees with the noun
      • Therefore, plural and singular nouns cannot be distinguished unless they occur in a noun phrase
  • Pronouns in Wolof are the most morphologically complex
    • separated into five categories: personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, indefinite[7]

Noun classes

Singular Classes Plural Classes
k- ñ-
b- y-
g-
j-
l-
m-
s-
w-

The k- class and it's plural the ñ- class have rigid and exclusive membership. Nouns in this class are:

  • k- class includes nit "person", and kef "thing"
  • ñ- class includes nit "person", and (speaker dependent) jigeén "women", góor "men", gaa "people"
    • other than these nouns, plural nouns are always in the y- class
  • Although the classification system is far from simple, some categories include "liquids (m-class), trees (b-class), fruits (g-class), and family

members, especially those of maternal descent U-c1ass). Although the m-class contains certain liquids such as ndox 'water', meew 'milk', saw 'urine' and soow 'curdled milk', it also contains many words that are not liquids, and there are a great number of liquids that do not fall into that class, such as deret (j-class) 'blood', diwlin (j-class) 'vegetable oil', and kokaa (b-class) 'Coca-Cola'"[8]

examples
  • noun class examples with determiners
    • determiners will always have a prefix based on noun class and cannot exist without a class morpheme (ask about putting eng glossing after the arrows instead since the lemma cannot exist independently)
      • singular and plural noun class markers can occur on many other dependents including the definite article of a noun phrase, however, the examples will be given in determiners as the class prefixes remain the same
singular determiners
nit<n><cl1> ↔ nit i <det><cl1><sg> ↔ ki The person
tëgg<n><cl2> ↔ tëgg i <det><cl2><sg> ↔ bi The blacksmith
kër<n><cl3> ↔ kër i <det><cl3><sg> ↔ gi The house
jigéen<n><cl4> ↔ jigéen i <det><cl4><sg> ↔ ji The woman
ngunu<n><cl5> ↔ ngunu i <det><cl5><sg> ↔ li The chicken coop
picc<n><cl6> ↔ picc i <det><cl6><sg> ↔ mi The bird
ndaw<n><cl7> ↔ ndaw i <det><cl7><sg> ↔ si The young woman
waasintoor<n><cl8> ↔ waasintoor i <det><cl8><sg> ↔ wi The fish scale
plural determiners
nit<n><pl det> ↔ nit i <det><cl9><pl> ↔ ñi The people
kër<n><pl det> ↔ kër i <det><cl10><pl> ↔ yi The houses

Pronominal morphemes

Personal Pronouns

Wolof has three types of personal pronouns:

  • Independent:
    • Used for emphasis
  • Verb-Object:
    • Can be used to replace a nominal direct object
  • Verb-Subject (also called Object Emphasis Pronouns in the New Wolof Book)
    • Not much documentation: highly variable in different contexts

Table: - adapted from pg 21 of "New Wolof" and "Wolof: A Grammatical Sketch" Website

English Independent Pronoun Verb-Object Pronoun Object Emphasis Pronoun
I Man Ma Laa(y)
You Yow La Nga(y)
Third Person Singular Moom Ko La(y)
We Nun/Ñun Ñu Lanu(y)
Second Person Plural Yeen Leen Ngeen(di)
Third Person Plural Ñoom Leen Lañu(y)
Demonstrative Pronouns
  • The demonstrative quality of a pronoun is signaled by a "-le" added at the end of noun determiners (which, as a reminder, signal the class of the noun by way of their first letter).
  • These noun determiners use "i" for "this" and "a" for "that."
  • For instance:
picc<n><cl6><sg> ↔ picc mi <det><cl6><sg> ↔ mile this bird
picc<n><cl6><sg> ↔ picc mi <det><cl6><sg> ↔ male that bird
Interrogrative Pronouns
  • The following are Wolof's interrogative pronouns:
kan<det><sg> ↔ kan who
kan<det><pl> ↔ ñan who (pl)
lan<det><sg> ↔ lan what
yan<det><pl> ↔ yan what (pl)
fan<det> ↔ fan where
kañ<det> ↔ kañ when
nan<det> ↔ nan how
  • Wolof also has relative interrogative pronouns, which are modified from the non-relative interrogative pronouns:
kan<det><rel><sg> ↔ ku who
kan<det><rel><pl> ↔ ñu who (pl)
lan<det><rel><sg> ↔ lu what
yan<det><rel><pl> ↔ yu what (pl)
fan<det><rel> ↔ fu where
kañ<det><rel> ↔ bu when
nan<det><rel> ↔ nu how
Indefinite Pronouns
  • Wolof has indefinite pronouns modified from the interrogative pronouns:
kan<det><indef><sg> ↔ kenn somebody
kan<det><indef><sg> ↔ képp anybody
kan<det><indef><sg> ↔ keneen somebody else
lan<det><indef><sg> ↔ lenn something
lan<det><indef><sg> ↔ lépp anything
lan<det><indef><sg> ↔ keneen something else
Possessive Pronouns
  • In Wolof, possessive pronouns signal the voice and number of the possessor in addition to the quantity of possessed objects.
    • Note: xarit is class 5 (i.e. l- class) because the example sentence on p47 of the Peace Corps Wolof Dictionary is: "Kale suma xarit la." => "That person is my friend." which has an l- signifier after it ("la").
  • See a table of possessive pronouns below:
    • Note the alternate forms: sama=suma; samay=sumay; sunu=suñu; sunuy=suñuy


sama<det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ sama xarit <n><cl5><sg> ↔ xarit my friend
sama<det><pos><cl5><pl> ↔ samay xarit <n><cl5><pl> ↔ xarit my friends
sa<det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ sa xarit <n><cl5><sg> ↔ xarit your friend
sa<det><pos><cl5><pl> ↔ say xarit <n><cl5><pl> ↔ xarit your friends
xarit <n><det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ xaritam their (sg, gender nonbinary) friend
sunu<det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ sunu xarit <n><cl5><sg> ↔ xarit our friend
sunu<det><pos><cl5><pl> ↔ sunuy xarit <n><cl5><pl> ↔ xarit our friends
seen<det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ seen xarit <n><cl5><sg> ↔ xarit your (pl) friend
seen<det><pos><cl5><pl> ↔ seeni xarit <n><cl5><pl> ↔ xarit your (pl) friends
seen<det><pos><cl5><sg> ↔ seen xarit <n><cl5><sg> ↔ xarit their (pl) friend
seen<det><pos><cl5><pl> ↔ seeni xarit <n><cl5><pl> ↔ xarit their (pl) friends
Pronoun Conjugation
Voices

Wolof has three voices: active, semi-active, passive.

  • semi-active and passive voices are formed by adding the suffix -u
Aali tëj na bunt ba. Ali closed the door.
Bunt bi tëju na. The door is closed.
Aali gaañu na. Ali is injured.
  • The passive voice can also be done using the 3rd-person plural form with an active form; this is similar to the English structure "one".
Ñoo ngi may gis. One has seen me. OR I have been seen.
ma<prn><present> ↔ may gis<v> ↔ gis One has seen me. OR I have been seen.
Proximity markers
  • there are two classes of distal/proximity markers: close to the speaker and far from the speaker
    • when ending in an i- suffix, the distal determiner is always assumed to be close to the speaker
nit<n><cl1> ↔ nit ki <det><dst><cl1> ↔ ka The person far [from the speaker]
nit<n><pl><cl9> ↔ nit ki <det><dst><pl><cl9> ↔ ña The people far [from the speaker]
xaj<n><cl2> ↔ xaj ki <det><dst><cl2> ↔ ba The dog far [from the speaker]
xaj<n><pl><cl10> ↔ xaj ki <det><dst><cl10><pl> ↔ ya The dogs far [from the speaker]
garab<n><cl3> ↔ garab ki <det><dst><cl3> ↔ ga The tree far [from the speaker]
jinax<n><cl4> ↔ jinax ki <det><dst><cl4> ↔ ja The mouse far [from the speaker]
yàpp<n><cl8> ↔ yàpp ki <det><dst><cl8> ↔ wa The mouse far [from the speaker]
meew<n><cl6> ↔ meew ki <det><dst><cl6> ↔ ma The meat far [from the speaker]
xorom<n><cl7> ↔ xorom ki <det><dst><cl7> ↔ sa The salt far [from the speaker]
lëf<n><cl5> ↔ lëf ki <det><dst><cl5> ↔ la The thing far [from the speaker]

Focus markers

Subject focus
Verb focus
Complement focus
,
  1. ↑ Languages Gulper Grammar
  2. ↑ Wolof: A Grammatical Sketch
  3. ↑ NOUN CLASSIFICATION IN WOLOF: WHEN AFFIXES ARE NOT RENEWED
  4. ↑ Peace Corps New Wolof Book
  5. ↑ Wolof Grammar Manual pdf
  6. ↑ Content question words and noun class markers in Wolof: reconstructing a puzzle
  7. ↑ Wolof Morphology
  8. ↑ NOUN CLASSIFICATION IN WOLOF: WHEN AFFIXES ARE NOT RENEWED
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