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The morphosyntax of adverbs in Shupamem

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par Abass NGOUNGOUO YIAGNIGNI
Université de Yaoundé 1 - Master en Linguistique Générale 2016
  

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CONCLUSION

This chapter on the inventory and classification of adverbs in Shupamem has looked at the semantic, the syntactic and the morphological aspects of the adverbs and adverbial expressions in Shupamem. I have gone through fourteen adverbial groups, namely manner, celerative, temporal, frequency, epistemic, locative, degree, restrictive, aspectual, speech act, completive proximative, ideophonic and comparative adverbs.

Their syntactic inventory has revealed that some adverbs are base-generated after the verb while the others are generated before the verb. Speech act and epistemic adverbs in Shupamem are base-generated at the sentence initial position. As for the aspectual adverbs, they appear before the verb, but not at the sentence initial position. The rest of the adverbs come after the.

As far as the morphological inventory of adverbs is concerned, I have identified four types of adverbs. The first one concerns pure adverbs and is divided into lexical and grammatical words. The second one includes adverbs derived through adjunction of elements such as preposition+noun, preposition+adjective, and others. The third type includes adverbs derived throughaffixation. Here, the suffixes «kériì» or «riì»are attached to nominal or adjectival stems to form adverbs. As for the fourth type of adverbs, they are derived through reduplication. Finally, the fith type of adverbs comprises those derived and through substitution of the nominal or adjectival final vowel by another vowel.

CHAPTER FOUR:

RELATIVE ORDER AND ADVERBS HIERARCHY IN SHUPAMEM

INTRODUCTION

In the previous chapter, I made an inventory of adverbs in Shupamem, wherein I stressed on the unmarked positions and the morphological properties of adverbs. In this chapter on relative order and adverbs hierarchy in Shupamem, I explore different orders of occurrence of adverbs and their hierarchy in Shupamem. This chapter is structured into two main sections, which are the relative order of adverbs, and the adverbs hierarchy in the sentence. The first section will, in a step-by-step-like analysis, explore the different orders of occurrence of adverbs, given that two or more adverbs can co-occur in the same structure. In section two, I shall first recall the Cinquean adverbs hierarchical framework (stated in chapter two on theoretical framework), then, look at the adverb linear placement in the structure. Finally, I shall bring out the adverbs fixedhierarchy in Shupamem.

2.6. RELATIVE ORDER OF ADVERBS IN SHUPAMEM

It has been shown previously that two or more adverbs can co-occur in the same structure in Shupamem. This section looks at the different adverbs orders in a structure. I discuss most cases of adverbs co-occurrence in Shupamem.

2.6.1. Manner+Time

When a structure comprises both a manner and a temporal adverb, the unmarked order requires that the manner adverb precedes the temporal adverb. Nevertheless, the temporal adverb can come before the manner adverb without rendering the sentence ungrammatical. This is shown in (1) below:

(1) a) m?ìn lié po?kériì n?Ì ?yì?

child slept well in the night

«The child slept well in the night»

b) m?ìn lié n?Ì ?yì? po?kériì

child slept in the night well

«The child slept well in the night»

In (1.a) above, the manner adverb «po?kériì» (well) comes before the temporal adverb «n?Ì ?yì» (in the night). In (1.b) however, this order is reversed, that is, the manner adverb comes after the temporal adverb, and the sentence remains grammatical.

2.6.2. Manner+Locative

The manner adverb occurs before the locative adverb in the sentence in the unmarked position. However, the reverse is grammatical in Shupamem, as shown in (2) below:

(2) a) Njoya su? taìsaÌ maÌt?Ì kiì??Ìm poìkériì

Njoya washed dish in the kitchen well

«Njoya washed the dish well in the kitchen»

b) Njoya su? taìsaÌ poìkériì maÌt?Ì kiì??Ìm

Njoya washed dish well in the kitchen

«Njoya washed the dishes in the kitchen well»

The data in (1.a) show that the locative adverb «maÌt?Ì kiì??Ìm» (in the kitchen) precedes the manner adverb «poìkériì» (well). As for (2.b), it shows that the manner adverb can come before the locative adverb in Shupamem.

2.6.3. Locative+Temporal

The locative adverb comes before the temporal adverb in the sentence. Like in the previous cases, the reverse is possible as shown in (3) below:

(3) a) Njoya wu??n mf?ì ndaìp ?kuìr?Ì

Njoya went to the house yesterday

«Njoya went to the house yesterday».

b) Njoya wu??n ?kuìr?Ì mf?ì ndaìp

Njoya went yesterday to the house

«Njoya went yesterday to the house».

In (3.a) above, the locative adverb «mf?ì ndaìp» (to the house) precedes the temporal adverb «?kuìr?Ì» (yesterday). In (3.b), the order has been changed and the temporal adverb comes before the locative adverb.

2.6.4. Manner+Celerative

When a manner adverb co-occurs with a celerative adverb within the same structure, the manner adverb precedes the celerative adverb. The contrary is grammatical as shown in (4) below:

(4) a) Njoya ti?ì nsuì taìsaÌ poìkériì m?j?Ìt m?Ìj?t

Njoya Prog. wash dish well slowly

«Njoya is washing the dishes well slowly»

b) Njoya ti?ì nsuì taìsaÌ m?j?Ìt m?Ìj?t poìkériì

Njoya Prog. wash dish slowly well

«Njoya is washing the dishes slowlyvery good»

The example in (4.a) shows that the manner adverb «poìkériì» (well) precedes the celerative adverb «m?j?Ìt m?Ìj?t» (slowly). However the celerative adverb comes before the manner adverb in (4.b) without making the sentence ungrammatical.

2.6.5. Manner+Locative+Time

Let's consider the examples in (5) below:

(5) a) Noya suìu taìsaÌ ?kuÌr?Ì maìt?Ì ki??Ìm pokériì

Njoya wash dish yesterday in the kitchen well

«Njoya washedthe dishes well in the kitchen yesterday»

b) Njoya suìu taìsaÌ ?kuÌr?Ì pokériì maìt?Ì ki??Ìm

Njoya wash dish yesterday well in the kitchen

«Njoya washed the dishes well in the kitchen yesterday»

c) Njoya suìu taìsaÌ pokériì ?kuÌr?Ì maìt?Ì ki??Ìm

Njoya wash dish well yesterday in the kitchen

«Njoya washed the dishes well yesterday in the kitchen»

d) Njoya suìu taìsaÌ pokériì maìt?Ì ki??Ìm ?kuÌr?Ì

Njoya wash dish well in the kitchen yesterday

«Njoya washed the dishes well in the kitchen yesterday»

e) Njoya suìu taìsaÌ maìt?Ì ki??Ìm pokériì ?kuÌr?Ì

Njoya wash dish in the kitchen well yesterday

«Njoya washed the dishes in the kitchen well yesterday»

f) Njoya suìu taìsaÌ maìt?Ì ki??Ìm ?kuÌr?Ì pokériì

Njoya wash dish in the kitchen yesterday well

«Njoya washed the dishes in the kitchen well yesterday»

These examples show that the order of occurrence of the manner, locative and temporal adverbs within a structure in Shupamem is highly flexible. The one can come before or after the others. However, the order in (5.a) appears to be the most used in the structure, while the one in (5.d) is the rarely used. Therefore, Time>Place>Manner is considered as the unmarked order of these three adverbial classes.

2.6.6. Manner+Epistemic

The epistemic adverb named epistemic I, that is, «m?ì? mb?ì» (maybe),occurs at sentence initial position. Therefore, the manner adverb will come after it in a post-verbal position. As for epistemic II adverb «k?ì mbuì?/puì?»(unavoidably) which never occurs sentence initially, it will still precede the manner adverb. In brief, epistemic adverbs occur before manner adverbs. This is shown in (6) below:

(6) a) m?ì? mb?ì m?ìn lié poìkériì

maybe child slept well

«Maybe the child slept well»

b) *m?ìn lié poìkériì m?ì? mb?ì

child slept well maybe

Intended: «The child slept well, maybe»

c) m?ìn k?ì mbuì? ndié poìkériì

child unavoidably slept well

«The child unavoidably slept well».

d) *m?ìn lié poìkériì k?ì mbuì?

child slept well unavoidably

Intended: «The child unavoidably slept well»

In (6.a) and (6.b) above, the epistemic I adverb «m?ì? mb?ì» (maybe) and the epistemic II «k?ì mbuì?» (unavoidably) come before the manner adverb «poìkériì» (well). The reverse is ungrammatical, reason why (6.b) and (6.d) wherein the manner adverb comes before the epistemic adverbs are ungrammatical.

2.6.7. Manner+Epistemic+Temporal

In case the epistemic adverb co-occurs with the manner and the temporal adverbs, the epistemic adverb comes first. The unmarked order will be Epistemic>Manner>Temporal. It is worth noting that the manner adverb may precede the temporal adverb without rendering the sentence ungrammatical. This is shown in (7) below:

(7) a) m?ì? mb?ì m?ìn lié poìkériì n?Ì ?yì?

maybe child slept well in the night

«Maybe the child slept well in the night»

b) * m?ìn lié poìkériì n?Ì ?yì? m?ì? mb?ì

child slept well in the night maybe

Intended: «The child slept well in the night, maybe»

c) * m?ìn lié poìkériì m?ì? mb?ì n?Ì ?yì?

child slept well maybe in the night

Intended: «The child slept well in the night, maybe»

In (7.a) above, the order is epistemic>manner>temporal. In (7.b) and (7.c), the manner and the temporal adverbs precede the epistemic adverb, and therefore, that makes the sentences ungrammatical.

2.6.8. Manner+Frequency

The Frequency I adverbs come before the manner adverb in a structure (8.a), while the manner adverbs come before the frequency II adverbs (8.b) in the unmarked orders. The reverse is possible, as shown in (8.c) and (8.d).

(8) a) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ ?gu? ?kuì???ì poìkéri

Mfangam Aff. Washes dish every morning well

«Mfangam washes the dishes well every morning»

b) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ poìkéri ?kaì iìti?Ìn

Mfangam Aff. Washes dish well five times

«Mfangam washes the dish well five times»

c) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ poìkéri ?gu? ?kuì???ì

Mfangam Aff. washes dish well every morning

«Mfangam washes the dishes well every morning»

d) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ ?kaì iìti?Ìn poìkéri

Mfangam Aff. washes dish five times well

«Mfangam washes the dish well five times»

In (8.a) above, the frequency I adverb «?gu? ?kuì???ì» (every morning) precedes the manner adverb «poìkéri» (well), whereas in (8.b), it is the manner adverb that precedes the epistemic I adverb. Similarly, epistemic II «?kaì iìti?Ìn» (five times) precedes the manner adverb «poìkéri» (well) in (8.c), whereas the manner adverb precedes the epistemic II adverb in (8.d). All these orders are grammatical in Shupamem.

2.6.9. Temporal+Frequency

Temporal adverbs precede frequency adverbs, and this order is reversible, as shown in (9) below:

(9) a) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ n?Ì ?yì? ?kaì iìpa?

Mfangam Aff. washes dish in the night twice

«Mfangam washes the dish twice in the night»

b) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ ?kaì iìpa? n?Ì ?yì?

Mfangam Aff. washes dish twice in the night

«Mfangam washes the dish twice in the night»

In (9.a), the temporal adverb «n?Ì ?yì?» (in the night) precedes the frequency adverb «?kaì iìpa?» (twice) while the frequency adverb precedes the temporal adverb in (9.b). This shows that their order of occurrence is flexible.

2.6.10. Temporal+Frequency I+Frequency II

In some constructions, the frequency I and frequency II adverbs can co-occur with the temporal adverb. In this case, the most used order requires that frequency I adverbs come first, followed by the frequency II adverbs, and lastly by temporal adverbs. This order is reversible, as shown in (10) below:

(10) a) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ ?gu? lién??ì ?kaì iìpa? n?Ì ?yì?

Mfangam Aff. Washes dish everyday twice inthe night

«Mfangam washes the dish twice every day in the night»

b) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ ?kaì iìpa? ?gu? lién??ì n?Ì ?yì?

Mfangam Aff. Washes dish twice every day inthe night

«Mfangam washes the dish twice every day in the night»

c) Mfangam naì nsuì taìsaÌ n?Ì ?yì? ?gu? lién??ì ?kaì iìpa?

Mfangam Aff. washes dish in the night everyday twice

«Mfangam washes the dish twice every day in the night»

The data in (10.a) display the order frequency I>frequency II>temporal. As for (10.b) the order is frequency II>frequency I>temporal. Finally, the order of adverbs in (10.c) is temporal>epistemic I>epistemic II. In brief, the order between epistemic I, epistemic II and temporal adverbs is interchangeable.

2.6.11. Frequency+Locative+Time

When frequency, locative and temporal adverbs co-occur, locative adverbs come first, followed by frequency and temporal adverbs. In other words, the unmarked order islocative>frequency>temporal. As earlier illustrated, the reversed possibilities are grammatical. This is shown in (11) below:

(11) a) m?ìn wu?Ìn mf?ì ndaÌ lér?Ìwa ?kaì iìpa? ?kuÌr?Ì

child went to school twice yesterday

«The child went to school twice yesterday»

b) m?ìn wu?Ìn ?kaì iìpa? mf?ì ndaÌ lér?Ìwa ?kuÌr?Ì

child went twice to school yesterday

«The child went twice to school yesterday»

c) m?ìn wu?Ìn ?kuÌr?Ì ?kaì iìpa? mf?ì ndaÌ lér?Ìwa

child went yesterday twice to school

«The child went yesterday twice to school «

In (11.a), the locative adverbial «mf?ì ndaÌ lér?Ìwa» (to school) precedes the frequency adverb «?kaì iìpa?» (twice). The latter in turn precedes the temporal adverb «?kuÌr?Ì» (yesterday). In (11.b), the frequency adverb precedes the temporal adverb which precedes the locative adverb. Finally, in (11.c), the temporal adverb precedes the frequency adverb which in turn precedes the locative adverb. All these orders demonstrate that the order between these adverbs is flexible

2.6.12. Manner+Place

The locative adverb comes before the manner adverb in the structure. The reverse is possible as shown in (12) below:

(12) a) m?Ìmviì ?iìi maì ndaìp n?Ì nd??ìr?ì

goat entered in the house rapidly

«The goat entered the house rapidly»

b) m?Ìmviì ?iì n?Ì nd??ìr?ì maì ndaìp

goat entered rapidly in the house

«The goat entered the house rapidly»

The data in (12.a) show that the locative adverb comes before the manner adverb. However, the manner adverb can come before the locative adverb without rendering the sentence ungrammatical, as is the case in (12.b) above.

2.6.13. Habitual+Frequency:

The habitual aspect adverb comes before the frequency adverbs in the unmarked order. This can be reversible, especially when the frequency adverb is raised to the sentence initial position. The examples in (13) illustrate this case:

(13) a) m?ìn kaì ?gw?Ìn lér?ÌwaÌ ?gu? ?kuì?n??ì

child Hab. go school every morning

«The child always goes to school every morning»

b) ?gu? ?kuì?n??ì m?ìn kaì ?gw?Ìn lér?ÌwaÌ

every morning child Hab. go to school

«The child always goes to school every morning»

In (13.a), the habitual aspect adverb «kaì» (habitual) precedes the frequency adverb «?gu? ?kuì?n??ì» (every morning), whereas in (13.b), the frequency adverbs precedes the habitual aspect adverb. This does not affect the grammaticality of the sentence.

2.6.14. Anterior tense Repetitive

The anterior tense adverb precedes the repetitive adverb. This order is not reversible, as shown below:

(14) a) m?ìn t?Ìt mbiìt n??ì paìj?ì

child Ant. Rep. eat. food

«The child has already eaten food again»

b) *m?ìn piìt t?Ìt n??ì paìj?Ì

child Rep. Ant. eat food

Intended: «The child already has eaten food again»

The data in (14.a) show that the anterior tense adverb «t?Ìt» (already) precedes the repetitive adverb «mbiìt» (again). This order is not interchangeable, reason why the data in (14.b) wherein the repetitive adverb precedes the anterior tense adverb are ungrammatical.

2.6.15. Frequency+Habitual+temporal

The habitual adverb, given that it is always pre-verbal, comes before the frequency adverb. The reverse is possible, as shown below:

(15) a) m?ìn kaì n?e???ì n?Ì ?yì? ?kaì ipa?

child Hab. urinate in the night twice

«The child always urinates twice in the night»

b) m?ìn kaì n?e???ì ?kaì ipa? n?Ì ?yì?

child Hab. urinate twice in the night

«The child always urinates twice in the night»

c) n?Ì ?yì? m?ìn kaì n?e???ì ?kaì ipa?

in the night child Hab. urinate twice

«Every night, the child urinates twice»

In (15.a), the adverbs order is habitual>temporal>frequency, while in (15.b), the order is habitual>frequency>temporal. Finally, the temporal adverb «n?Ì ?yì?» (in the night) has been raised to the sentence initial position. It is followed by the habitual adverb, which precedes the frequency adverb.

2.6.16. Progressive+durative

The progressive adverb precedes the durative adverb. The contrary is not grammatical. This is shown in (16) below:

(16) a) m?ìn ti?ì ?k?ì ndié

child Prog. Dur. sleeps

«The child is still sleeping»

b) *m?ìn ?k?ì ti?ì die

child Dur. Prog. sleeps

Intended: «The child is still sleeping»

In (16.a), the progressive adverb «ti?ì» (progressive) comes before the durative aspect adverb «?k?ì» (still). Given that this order is not reversible, the data in (16.b) is ungrammatical.

2.6.17. Progressive+repetitive

The progressive aspectadverb comes before the repetitive adverb. This order is not reversible, as shown in (17) below:

(17) a) m?ìn ti?ì mbiìt ndié (m?ì? ?kée)

child Prog. Rep. sleep Rep.

«The child is sleeping again»

b) * m?ìn piìt ti?ì ndié (m?ì? ?kée)

child Rep. Prog. sleep Rep.

Intended: «The child is sleeping again»

In (17.a), the progressive aspect «ti?ì» precedes the repetitive aspect «mbiìt». As said above, this order is not reversible. That is why the data in (17.b) are ungrammatical.

2.6.18. Speech act+Epistemic

Speech act and epistemic adverbs are higher adverbs. They are base-generated at the sentence initial position. When they co-occur, the speech act adverb precedes the epistemic adverb. It is possible to reverse this order. In this case, the speech act adverb will come at the sentence final position, preceded by a pause. This is shown in (18) below:

(18) a) m?Ì ndaì ?gaÌm m??? mb?ì m?ìn j?Ì paìj?ì

Honestly maybe child ate food

«Honestly, maybe the child ate food»

b) m??? mb?ì m?ìn j?Ì paìj?ì, m?Ìndaì ?gaÌm

maybe child ate food, honestly

«Maybe the child ate the food, honestly»

In (18.a) above, the order of adverbs is speech act>epistemic, while in (18.b), it is epistemic>speech act. It should be noted that the absence of the pause here will render the speech act adverb «m?Ì ndaì ?gaÌm» (honestly) a manner adverb. The sense of the sentence will be «It is honestly that the child ate food».

2.6.19. Manner+Exocomparative

When a manner adverb co-occurs with an exocomparative adverb, the exocomparative adverb comes before the manner adverb. The reverse is ungrammatical, as shown in (19) below:

(19) a) jiì léraÌ? naì ndét lér?ÌwaÌ ndu?niì poìkériì

Dem. Teacher Aff. teach lesson differently well

«This teacher teaches differently well»

b) * jiì léraÌ? naì ndét lér?ÌwaÌ poìkériì ndu?niì

Dem. Teacher Aff. teach lesson well differently

Intended: «This teacher teaches differently well»

In (19.a), the exocomparative adverb «ndu?niì» (differently) precedes the manner adverb «poìkériì» (well). As far as (19.b) is concerned, the manner adverb precedes the exocomparative adverb. This order renders the sentence ungrammatical.

2.6.20. Temporal+Exocomparative

Temporal adverbs follow exocomparative adverbs in the structure. This order is reversible, as shown in (20) below:

(20) a) jiì léraÌ? lét lér?ÌwaÌ ndu?niì ?kuÌr?Ì

Dem. teacher taught lesson differently yesterday

«This teacher taught differently yesterday»

b) jiì léraÌ? lét lér?ÌwaÌ ?kuÌr?Ì ndu?niì

Dem. Teacher taught lesson yesterday differently

«This teacher taught differently yesterday»

The example in (20.a) shows that the exocomparative adverb precedes the temporal adverb. In the same vein, the example in (20.b) shows that the temporal adverb can come before the exocomparative adverb without making the sentence ungrammatical.

2.6.21. Locative+Exocomparative

Exocomparative adverbs precede locative adverbs in the same structure. Like the previous cases, the order can be reversed. This is shown in (21) below:

(21) a) paì léraÌ? wu?Ìn maì Yaoundé ?g??ì ?g??ì

Pl. teacher went to Yaoundé similarly

«The teachers went to Yaoundé similarly»

b) paì léraÌ? wu?Ìn ?g??ì ?g??ì maì Yaoundé

Pl. teacher went similarly to Yaoundé

«The teachers went to Yaoundé similarly»

In (21.a), the locative adverb «maì Yaoundé» (to Yaoundé) precedes the exocomparative adverb «?g??ì ?g??ì» (similarly). The reverse is possible, that is why the order exocomparative>locative in (21.b) does not render the sentence ungrammatical.

In brief, the analysis of the ordering of twenty-one possible combinations of adverbs that I have studied can be presented as follows:

· poìkériì>n?Ì ?yì?: Manner>Time (reversible)

· maÌt?Ì kiì??Ìm>poìkériì: Locative>manner (reversible)

· mf?ì ndaìp>?kuìr?Ì: Locative>Temporal (reversible)

· ?kuÌr?Ì>maìt?Ì ki??Ìm>pokériì: Temporal>Locative>manner (all reversible)

· ?gu? ?kuì???ì>poìkéri: Frequency I>manner (reversible)

· poìkéri>?kaì iìti?Ìn: manner>Frequency II (reversible)

· n?Ì ?yì?>?kaì iìpa?: Temporal>Frequency II (reversible)

· ?gu? lién??ì>?kaì iìpa?>n?Ì ?yì?: FrequencyI>FrequencyII>Temporal(all reversible)

· mf?ì ndaÌ lér?Ìwa>?kaì iìpa?>?kuÌr?Ì:locative>Frequency II>temporal (all reversible)

· maì ndaìp>n?Ì nd??ìr?ì: Locative>Celerative (reversible)

· ndu?niì >?kuÌr?Ì: Exocomparative>time (reversible)

· maì Yaoundé>?g??ì ?g??ì: Locative>Exocomparative (reversible)

· ndu?niì>poìkériì: Exocomparative>manner (irreversible)

· poìkériì>m?j?Ìt m?Ìj?t: Manner>celerative (irreversible)

· t?ì>mbiìt: Anterior tense>Repetitive (irreversible)

· ti?ì>mbiìt:Progressive>Repetitive (irreversible)

· ti?ì>?k?ì:Progressive>Durative (irreversible)

2.7. ADVERBS HIERARCHY IN SHUPAMEM IN THE LIGHT OF THE CINQUEAN APPROACH

The previous section aimed at bringing out the relative order of adverbs when they co-occur in Shupamem. In this section, I present the hierarchy of the adverbs based on the approach of Cinque (1999). I first recall the Cinquean view on the adverbs hierarchy, then, I classify adverbs according to their place of occurrence in the sentence (Higher and lower classes). Finally, I bring out the fixed hierarchy of adverbs in Shupamem.

2.7.1. The Cinquean Approach

As previously mentioned in chapter two, Cinque (1999) posits that adverbs occur in a fixed order in all the languages. He proposes that each adverb should occur at the specifier position of the various functional projections. These functional projections are the Mood (Mood-), the Modality, (Mod-), the Tense (T-), and the Aspect (Asp-). The scheme he proposed to account for his point of view was presented in the section on the Cartographic Approach.

According to Cinque (1999), even if the specifiers or the heads of the functional projections are not realized, the whole hierarchy maybe present in a sentence. This hierarchization is based on the adverb linear placement within the sentence. Thus, in order to establish the fixed hierarchy of adverbs in Shupamem, I first look at their linear placement within the structure.

2.7.2. Adverbs linear placement

Cinque (1999) classifies adverbs into two classes, which are higher class adverbs and lower class adverbs. The higher class comprises adverbs that are base-generated at the sentence initial position. On a domain-based classification, these adverbs are also called CP-adverbs (Njike 2009). As for the lower class, it is made up of adverbs that do not occur at the sentence initial position. These are pre-verbal and post-verbal adverbs.

2.7.2.1. Higher class adverbs

As mentioned above, this is the class of adverbs whose unmarked position is sentence initial position. Throughout chapter three, I noticed that only the speech act and the epistemic I adverbs are base-generated at the sentence initial position. However, some adverbs can be raised to the sentence initial position through focalization and topicalization as will be shown in the next chapter. Examples of higher class adverbs are presented in (22) below:

(22) a) m??? mb?ì maÌtwaì tu?Ì n?Ì ?yì?

maybe car came in the night

«Maybe the car came in the night».

b) m?Ì ndaì ?gam m?Ì j??ìn ??ìn

honestly I P1 see thief

«Honestly, I have seen the thief»

The examples in (22) show that speech act and epistemic I adverbs belong to the higher class adverbs, because they are base-generated at the sentence initial position.

The section on their relative order revealed that the most frequently used order is speech act>epistemic.

2.7.2.2. Lower class adverbs

The lower class is made up of adverbs that occur either before or after the verb.

2.7.2.2.1. Pre-verbal lower class adverbs

Pre-verbal adverbs, as shown previously, are aspectual and epistemic II adverbs. Consider the data in(23) below:

(23) a) m?ìn kaì nsuì ???Ì?

child often wash clothes

«The child often washes the clothes» (Habitual)

b) m?ìn piÌt nsuì ???Ì?

child again wash clothes

«The child washed the clothesagain» (Repetitive)

c) m?ìn paì m?Ì jin nsuì ???Ì?

child Prog. wash clothes

«The child is washing the clothes (Progressive)

d) m?ìn t?Ìt nsuì ???Ì?

child already. wash clothes

«The child has already the clothes» (perfective/anterior tense)

e) m?ìn kaì? ?k?ì nsuì ???Ì?

child still wash clothes

«The has already the clothes» (continuative)

In all the data presented above, the aspectual adverbs come just before the verb. They are preverbal lower class adverbs. The study of the relative order of some combinations of aspectual adverbs revealed the following hierarchy: Anterior tense>Repetitive; Progressive>durative; Progressive>repetitive.

2.7.2.2.2. Post-verbal adverbs

The post-verbal adverbs are the rest of adverbs, such as manner, locative, degree, temporal, restrictive, exocomparative, and others. The hierarchy between these adverbs is highly flexible. In fact, out of the twenty-one combinations I studied previously, there are fifteen cases of reversible orders against six cases of irreversible ones.

The results of this analysis show that speech act and epistemic I adverbs precede all other adverbs in Shupamem. They are followed by the aspectual adverbs, which belong to the pre-verbal lower class adverbs. The post-verbal adverbs are the last in the chain. This is summarized in the diagram below:

Adverbs

Higher class Lower class

- m?Ì ndaì ?gaÌm (Honestly)

- m?ì? mb?ì (maybe)

Include: Manner, Celerative, Frequency, Epistemic II, Degree, temporal, locative, restriction, proximative, Comparative and Exocomparative adverbs

Pre-verbal lower class Post-verbal lower class

- t?Ìt (Already)

- piÌt/mbiìt(again)

- ti?ì (Prog.)

- kaì? ?k?ì(still)

Figure6, Hierarchical scheme of adverbs in Shupamem

After the identification of the adverbs linear placement, the hierarchy of the adverbs in Shupamem is as follows:

(24) [m?Ì ndaì ?gaÌm Mood-speech act honestly

[m?ì? mb?ì Mod-epistemic I maybe

[maÌn??ìm m?ìkét f?Ì? Mod-Proximative soon

[ti?ì Asp-Progressive progressive

[t?ìt Asp-Anterior already

[kaì Asp-Habitual always

[k?ì puÌ? Asp-Epistemic II unavoidably

[kaì? ?k?ì Asp-Continuative/durative still

[piìt Asp-repetitive again

[?aÌ jiìi Asp-Locative here

[?guì lién??ì Asp-Frequency I everyday

[?kaì ipa? Asp-Frequency II twice

[n?Ì ?yì? Asp-Temporal in the night

[poìkériì Asp-manner well

It should be remembered that the order between the post-verbal adverbs is highly flexible. That is why all the structures in (25) below and other possible combinations of their post-verbal adverbs are grammatical.

(25) a) m?Ì ndaì?gaÌm, m?ì?mb?ì p?ìn ti?ì mbiÌt ?k?Ì mbuì?

Epist. Sp.act children Prog. Rep. unavoidably

?kaìam mf?ì ndaìp ?guì lién??Ì ?kaì ipa? n?Ì ?yì? poìkériì

play Loc. Freq1 Freq2. Temp. Mann.

«Honestly, maybe the children are unavoidably still playing well twice every day at home in the night»

b) m?Ì ndaì?gaÌm, m?ì?mb?ì p?ìn ti?ì mbiÌt ?k?Ì mbuì?

Epist . Sp.act children Prog. Rep. unavoidably

?kaìam poìkériì ?guì lién??Ì mf?ì ndaìp ?kaì ipa? n?Ì ?yì?

play mann. Freq.1 Loc. Freq.2 in the night

«Honestly, maybe the children are unavoidably still playing well twice every day at home in the night».

The order of post-verbal adverbs in (24.a) is epistemicII>locative>frequency I>frequency II>temporal>manner, while that of (24.b) isepistemic II>manner>frequencyI>locative>frequencyII>temporal. This shows the flexibility of the post-verbal adverbs orders.

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