A Grammar of Syer (Western Karaboro, Senufo)

Phonology, Morphology, Argument Realization

Author: Klaudia Dombrowsky-Hahn. Series edited by: Gudrun Miehe, Brigitte Reineke, Manfred von Roncador.

Series: Gur Monographs · Monographies Voltaïques Volume 12

2015
20 pp. Roman, 582 pp.
2 colour maps, numerous tables and charts
Text language(s): English
Format: 160 x 240 mm
1210 g
Hardcover
€ 69.80

Buy 'A Grammar of Syer (Western Karaboro, Senufo)' as a downloadable PDF document directly from our online shop »

Order 'A Grammar of Syer (Western Karaboro, Senufo)' as print edition »

Syer, also known as Western Karaboro, is a Senufo language spoken in Southwestern Burkina Faso near the town of Banfora. Together with Kar it forms the Karaboro dialect continuum. Karaboro is considered to form a separate subgroup of Senufo due to several factors. One factor is its geographical situation, for Karaboro is a Senufo island surrounded by Cerma (Gouin), Curama (Turka), Tusian and Dogose, hence members of other subdivisions of the Gur family, and the Mande language Jula, which is not only spoken by their northern neighbors who belong to the ethnic group of the Cefɔ as a first language, but also by many people in the entire region as a second language. The other factors are certain lexical, phonetic and morphological characteristics that set Karaboro apart from other branches of Senufo.

The present grammar was motivated by the obviously weak mutual intelligibility of the speakers of Eastern and Western Karaboro. It concentrates on the Syer variety spoken in the Bakona district of the village of Ténguéréla, which shows considerable differences with respect to Kar of Tiéfora (Eastern Karaboro) and constitutes a conservative variety of Karaboro. The same variety is the subject of Prost’s (1964) short grammar sketch, which already noted some quirks, such as the excessive use of diminutive suffixes not only on nouns but also on determiners and numerals.

The grammar contains a phonological and a tonological analysis, chapters on nominal and verbal morphology, other word classes, the noun phrase, the TAM system, and nonverbal predication. The last chapter presents verbal clauses and focuses on argument realization. In this respect the coding of three-participant events and certain mental events show particularly interesting possibilities. Appendices contain lists of nouns and verbs.

 

Following the links below you will find the complete review text by Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu and further publications of the author:

Accompanying material:

• Afrikanische Sprachen im Brennpunkt der Forschung (ISBN 978-3-89645-121-7)
• Dictionnaire Sénoufo–Français (ISBN 978-3-89645-115-6)
• Directionality in Grammar and Discourse (ISBN 978-3-89645-899-5)
• Gur Languages and Nominal Classification Diversity (ISBN 978-3-89645-613-7)
• Noun Class Systems in Gur Languages I + II (ISBN 978-3-89645-619-9)
• Zwischen Bantu und Burkina (ISBN 978-3-89645-348-8)

Cross-reference:

• Nyagalen Mugan Tarawele (ISBN 978-3-89645-263-4)
• Phénomènes de contact entre les langues minyanka et bambara (sud du Mali) (ISBN 978-3-89645-113-2)

Reviews

PDF documents:

Review by Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu

(≈ 110 kB)

« back

Print version

[top]