2.9.2. Lower class adverbs
The previous analysis (chapter 4) indicated that lower class
adverbs aredivided into pre-verbal and post-verbal adverbs. The pre-verbal
adverbs include the aspectual and the epistemic IIadverbs, while the
post-verbal adverbs include the locative, the manner, the celerative, the
temporal, the degree, the restrictive, the comparative, the exocomparative
adverbs, and others.
2.9.2.1. Pre-verbal adverbs
The pre-verbal adverbs are the aspectual adverbs(habitual,
repetitive, continuative, anterior tense andprogressive), and the epistemic II.
2.9.2.1.1. Aspectual adverbs
As earlier mentioned in chapter four concerning their
morphological property, aspectual adverbs are mainly grammatical words. The
data in (28) below show that they can be focalized as part of the VP in which
they are found.
(28) Focalization
a) m?ìn ti?ì nsuì
taìsaÌ
child Prog. wash dish
«The child is washing the dish»
b) aÌ ti?ì nsuì
m?ìn taìsaÌ
Cl. Prog. wash child dish
«It is the child that IS WASHING the dish»
c) *m?ìn poì ti?ì nsuì
taìsaÌ
child Foc Prog. wash dish
Intended: «it is the child that IS WASHING the
dish»
d) aì kaì nsuì
m?ìn taìsaÌ
Cl. Hab. wash child dish
«It is ALWAYSthat the child that washes the dish»
e) *m?ìn poì kaì
nsuì taìsaÌ
child Foc. Hab. wash dish
Intended: «It is the child that ALWAYS washes the
dish»
f) aì pit nsuì
m?ìn taìsaÌ
Cl. Rep. wash child dish
«It is the child that WASHED the dish AGAIN»
g) *m?ìn poì pit
nsuì taìsaÌ
child Foc. Rep. wash dish
Intended: «The child has WASHED the dish AGAIN»
h) aì t?Ìt nsuì
m?ìn taìsaÌ
Cl. Ant. wash child dish
«It is the child that JUST WASHED the dish»
i) *m?ìn poì t?Ìt
nsuì taìsaÌ
child Foc Ant. wash dish
Intended: «It is the child that JUST washed the
dish»
The data in (28.c), (28.e), (28.g) and (28.i) show that
focalization with «poì» is not possible with
pre-verbal lower class adverbs. Meanwhile those in (28.b), (28.d), (28.f) and
(28.h) show that they can be focalized with the cleft copula
«aì». It is worth mentioning that this focalization
of aspectual adverbs initiates the subject inversion in the structure. For
instance, one movesfrom SVO to VSO structure. The new structure will be the one
represented by the phrase marker in (29) below:
(29) FocP
Spec Foc'
Foc0 TP
Spec T'
T0 VP
Spec V'
V0 DP
aìkaì nsuìm?ìn
kaì nsuì m?ìn nsuì
taìsaÌ
This structure shows that for pre-verbal lower class adverbs
to be focalized, there should be raising of aspect morphemes alongside the
verb. The verb moves from V0 and attaches to the aspectual morpheme
at T0, and they are moved together from T0to
Foc0. In relation to the other types of focalization studied
previously, the cleft copula «aì» occupies the
specifier of the Focus Phrase.
As far as topicalization of aspectual adverbs is concerned,
the data in (30) below show that this process is impossible. This is due to the
fact that topicalization in Shupamem requires movement to the left periphery of
the sentence, and aspect markers cannot come at the sentence initial position.
Even their raising alongside the verb still makes the sentence
ungrammatical.
(30) Topicalization
a) m?ìn kaì
nsuì taìsaÌ
child Hab. wash dish
«The child always washes the dish»
b) *kaì n?ì,
m?ìn nsuì taìsaÌ
Hab.Top child wash dish
Intended: «Always,the child washes the dish»
c) *kaì
nsuì n?ì,
m?ìn taìsaÌ
Hab.wash Top, child dish
Intended: «Always,the Washes child the dish»
Aspectual adverbs allow focalization with
«aì». They neither undergo focalization with
«poì» nor topicalization.
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