1. Sheko
- Author
-
Anne-Christie Hellenthal
- Abstract
This chapter focuses on the grammar of Sheko. Its phonology stands out through a series of retroflex sibilants and four levels of tone. After discussing word classes, derivation is treated, showing among others how the combination of causative and middle morphemes codes reciprocity. The discussion of the verb system comprises stem formation, aspectual and modal distinctions as well as stance marking. Sheko has a rich array of complex verb constructions, such as medial clause chains and different types of subordinate clauses. In relative clauses, a resumptive pronoun may occur before the antecedent. In interrogatives, elision occurs of grammatical morphemes which are required in declaratives, thus making subtractive morphology one of the ways in which questions are formed. The discussion of nominal morphology shows close relationships between gender, definiteness, and number. Some nominal marking also occur on verbal forms. Furthermore, several types of information structure and focus are distinguished based on the presence and absence of subject clitics and their exact position in main and medial clauses.
- Published
- 2023