[Lingtyp] questions about adverbs

[Henrik Liljegren]

Dear Majigeen and all,
What you describe is strikingly similar to what I have found in Indo-Aryan Palula (Pakistan). I refer to them as co-lexicalised intensifiers (I quote from my own grammar below, p. 184):

“There is a number of more or less standard compounds with an adjective/adverb and a matching intensifying element, not much different from the effect other
degree adverbs have on the modified constituent. Such an intensifier is either uniquely occurring with a particular adjective/adverb, or occurs only with a limited
set of adjectives/adverbs. It seems those elements are mostly made up of a single closed syllable, as can be seen in Table 8.9.

Table 8.9: Examples of co-lexicalised intensifiers
phaṣ paṇáaru ‘white as a sheet’                tap c̣hiṇ ‘pitch dark’
kham kiṣíṇu ‘pitch black’                             bak práal ‘shining bright’
čáu lhóilu ‘bright red’                                   ḍanɡ khilayí ‘all alone’
tak zeṛ ‘bright yellow’                                   čap mhoóru ‘extremely sweet’
pak kaantíiru ‘mad as a hat’                       šam šidáalu ‘ice-cold’
pak bíidri ‘completely clear’                        šam níilu ‘deep green/blue’

Strikingly similar compounds have been observed in several other languages in the region, some of them even involving similar or identical forms as those found in Palula: e.g., in Dameli (Perder 2013: 163) and Khowar (Elena Bashir, pc, and own field notes).”

Liljegren, Henrik. A Grammar of Palula. Studies in Diversity Linguistics 8. Berlin: Language Science Press, 2016.

The region I refer to above is the mountainous Hindu Kush-Karakorum of northern Pakistan and surrounding areas in adjacent countries (Afghanistan and India), but the phenomenon miɡht very well be more widespread in South and West Asia.

Best,
Henrik


From: Lingtyp <lingtyp-bounces at listserv.linguistlist.org> On Behalf Of Majigeen Aminata
Sent: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 11:56 PM
To: lingtyp at listserv.linguistlist.org
Subject: [Lingtyp] questions about adverbs

Dear all,

I am currently working on what are called “adverbs” (see words un bold) in wolof literature. Wolof, spoken in Senegal (West Africa) has specific words that only work with some colors: white, black, red and each word-adverb match only with its color, they are not commutable.

weex tàll: extremely white (it can't be whiter)

ñuul kukk: extremely black (it can't be more black)

xonq coyy: extremely red (it can't be more red)

Others words adverbs go with state verbs and are specific to them as well. They are not commutable.


baax lool: extremely nice (it can't be nicer)

bees tàq: really new (nobody has ever used it)

dëgër këcc: extremely hard (it can't be harder)

diis gann: really heavy (very difficult to carry)

fatt taraj: extremely blocked (it can't be more blocked)

fess dell: extremely full (it can't be fuller)

forox toll: really acidic (it can't be more acidic)

gàtt ndugur: really short (he can't be shorter)

jeex tàkk: completely finished, ...


In Wolof they are called intensifiers but this term does not convince me because it can be confusing. They do not intensify the verbs. These words mean that the state or action of the verb is at its end of completude.


They are not onomatopoeias, Wolof also has them and they are different.
tàkk jëppet: catch fire abruptly on the way up (jëppet expresses the way of catching fire suddenly on the way up
njool tàlli: to be straight
tàlli ñare: to be stiffly straight,

Thanks and regards.

Aminata

Bonjour,

Je suis entrain de travailler sur ce qu’on appelle adverbes dans la littérature. Le wolof a par exemple des mots spécifiques qui ne marchent qu’avec certaines couleurs :  blanc, noir, rouge et chaque mot-adverbe ne marche qu’avec sa couleur, ils ne sont pas interchangeables.

weex tàll :                   extrêmement blanc (on ne pas être plus blanc)

ñuul kukk :                extrêmement noir (on ne pas être plus noir)

xonq coyy :                 extrêmement

D’autres vont avec des verbes d’états et leur sont spécifiques aussi. Ils ne sont pas interchangeables.

baax lool :                   extrêmement gentil (on ne pas être plus gentil)

bees tàq :                    vraiment nouveau (personne ne l’a jamais utilisé)

dëgër këcc :                extrêmement dur (on ne pas être plus dur)

diis gann:                   vraiment lourd (tres difficile de le soulever)

fatt taraj :                   extrêmement bouché (on ne pas être plus bouché)

fess dell:                      extrêmement plein (on ne pas être plus plein)

forox toll:                   vraiment acide (on ne pas être plus acide)

gàtt ndugur:               vraiment court (on ne pas être plus court)

jeex tàkk:                   tout à fait terminé, etc…

En wolof on les appelle des intensifieurs ou intensificateurs mais ce terme ne me convainc pas car il peut porter à confusion. Ils n’intensifient pas. Ces mots veulent dirent que l’état ou l’action du verbe est à son extrémité.

Ce ne sont pas des onomatopées. Le wolof a aussi des onomatopées différentes de ces mots. Je voudrais savoir s’il existe des langues qui fonctionnent comme ça et quelle est la terminologie employée pour ce genre de construction Est-ce quelqu’un peut aussi me recommander de la documentation nouvelle sur la définition des notions de verbes, adverbes, adjectifs… dans les langues africaines ?

Merci

Aminata

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