Clause chaining in Bambara
Clause chaining in Bambara

Author(s): Valentin Vydrin
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Applied Linguistics
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: clause chaining; cosubordination; infinitive; Bambara; Manding
Summary/Abstract: Bambara (Manding < West Mande < Mande < Niger-Congo) has a specialized clause chaining (cosubordinative) construction where the first clause has a verb full-fledged for TAM and polarity, and verbs of subsequent clauses are in infinitive; non-initial clauses are not embedded into the initial one and cannot be therefore regarded as subordinate. Characteristics of the Bambara clause chaining are analyzed: scope of operators (illocutionary force, negation), TAM characteristics, same- and different-subjectness. From the evidence of peripheral Manding varieties, a hypothesis concerning the origin of infinitive from an archaic preposition is advanced.

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