plik

Chapter ##

PLURACTIONAL VERBS

luractional verbs, first given this designation in Newman (1980), indicate “multiple,
iterative, frequentative, distributive, or extensive action” (Newman 2000:423). The
table below presents the range of contexts typical of pluractional verbs. This table,

as well as much of the description in this chapter, draws from Gimba (2000:Chapter 10):

NON

PLURACTIONAL

1. One subject repeatedly
doing the same action

næ duru-woæ
‘I jumped’

næ du-duru-woæ
‘I repeatedly jumped’

2. One subject repeatedly
doing the same action to the
same object

ita bìna-k kuæfia
‘she washed the pot’

ita bì-bìna-k kuæfia kala

kut-tu¥ bìneæ
‘she washed the pot over
and over, but it would not
get clean’

3. One subject acting
iteratively

several

objects

oæn-su go\roæ!
‘give them a kola!’
keære uwwaæ!
‘slaughter goats!’
koæni da\ndeæ!
‘take the children!’

oæ-&oæn-su go\roæ!
‘give each of them a kola!’
keærre uwwaæ!
‘slaughter each goat!’
koæ-gì-ni da\ndeæ!
‘take each of the children!’

4. Several subjects acting
one by one

uwwa peæte-n ko ga¥ boænoæ
‘goats came out of the
house (as a group)’
maæte ma-n boænoæ
‘they went back home’

uwwa peætte-n ko ga¥ boænoæ
‘goats came out of the
house one after another’
maæte maæ-maæ-&&an boænoæ
‘they went back home one
after another’

5. Several subjects acting
iteratively on the same
object

yaæbbi aæ jÏ doæ∫∫aæ têtokì
‘the chickens are pecking
the bug’
yaæbbi sa-n aæmma
‘the chickens drank water’

yaæbbi aæ jÏ doæ-doæ∫∫aæ têtokì
‘the chickens kept pecking
the bug’
yaæbbi saæ-&&-an aæmma
‘the chickens repeatedly
drank water’

6. Several subjects acting
iteratively

several

objects

maæte koæna-n kuælinshe
‘they picked up calabashes
(in a bunch)’

maæte koæ-koæ-gì-na-n

kuælinshe
‘they picked up calabashes
in turn’

Comparison of the pluractional verbs with their non-pluractional counterparts in the

table  reveals  that  Bole  has  three  types  of  pluractional  verb  morphology.    The  most
productive type reduplicates the initial CV- of the verb (§1).  Of the less productive types,
one infixes –gi- (§2) and the other geminates the second consonant of the verb (§3).  Bole

Pluractional verbs

also has many verbs that appear to be pluractional in form but which are no longer
associated with existing simple verbs and/or no longer have a meaning that obviously fits
the pragmatic contexts listed in the table above. We discuss these “frozen pluractionals”
in Chapter (##).

1. Reduplicated CV- Pluractionals
1.1. Structure  of  reduplicated  CV- pluractional verbs.   The most  productive method
of pluractional verb  formation is reduplication of the intial CV of the  verb stem.  If the
first vowel of the stem is long, its short counterpart appears in the reduplicated syllable.
The CV reduplication process is available for all Class A1 and A2 verbs and for at least
transitive Class B verbs.  It is available only for selected Class C and D verbs.  Examples
in  the  table  below  are  in  the  completive  masculine  singular  subject  form,  with  the
completive  affix  –wo\  and,  for  transitive  verbs,  the  Ø  object  marker,  -yi.    See  §1.2  for
discussion of the forms pluractional verbs take in other TAMs.

Class

Simple form

Pluractional

si∫uwo¥yi

sisi∫uwo¥yi

‘leap up, start’

tupuwo¥yi

tutupuwo¥yi

‘spit’

leyuwo¥yi

leleyuwo¥yi

‘give birth, procreate’

&yoruwoæ

&yo&yoruwoæ

‘stand, come to a stop’

gashuwo¥yi

gagashuwo¥yi

‘jerk away’

onuwo¥yi

o*onuwo¥yi

‘give’

ngoruwo¥yi

ngongoruwo¥yi

‘tie’

dÏruwo¥yi

dìdÏruwo¥yi

‘thresh’

ku¥puwo¥yi

kuæku¥puwo¥yi

‘embrace’

re¥tuwo¥yi

reære¥tuwo¥yi

‘split, separate’

so¥ruwo¥yi

soæso¥ruwo¥yi

‘fall’

da¥&yuwo¥yi

daæda¥&yuwo¥yi

‘step on’

zìrfiuwo¥yi

zìzìrfiuwo¥yi

‘tighten’

gaænduwoæ

gaægaænduwo¥yi

‘lie down’

fioæppuwo¥yi

fioæfioæppuwo¥yi

‘follow’

wuæn&yuæluwo¥yi

wuæwuæn&yuæluwo¥yi

‘sway’

boængìruwo¥yi

boæboængìruwo¥yi

‘turn’

te¥tìyuwo¥yi

teæte¥tìyuwo¥yi

‘try hard’

da¥rìtuwo¥yi

daæda¥rìtuwo¥yi

‘heal’

uæmbuæluwo¥yi

uæ&uæmbuæluwo¥yi

‘throw at, launch’

nja¥∫ìluwo¥yi

njaænja¥∫ìluwo¥yi

‘dabble in food’

pìta\wo¥yi

pìpìta\wo¥yi

‘sprinkle’

buæla\wo¥yi

buæbuæla\wo¥yi

‘dig up’

baæsa\wo¥yi

baæbaæsa\wo¥yi

‘shoot’

zìnga\wo¥yi

zìzìnga\wo¥yi

‘peek, peer’

aæla\wo¥yi

aæ&aæla\wo¥yi

‘carry, transport’

ndìra\wo¥yi

ndìndìra\wo¥yi

‘dig with hands or claws’

têwo¥yi

titêwo¥yi

‘eat (otto)’

êwo¥yi

i&êwo¥yi

‘do’

Pluractional verbs

sa\wo¥yi

sasa\wo¥yi

‘drink’

ka\wo¥yi

kaka\wo¥yi

‘implant’

The CV reduplicated syllable always copies the first vowel of the verb stem. For

most  verbs,  the  same  vowel  will  appear  in  all  the  verb’s pluractional  forms.    Roots for
Class C and D verbs, however, each comprise only a single consonant, with stem vowels
determined by TAM and/or subject agreement.  The vowel in Class C and D pluractional
forms thus varies from form to form, e.g. compare the forms of the Class C verb tê- ‘eat’
in the table with tango¥yi ‘they ate’, pluractional tatango¥yi and the forms of the Class D
verb  sa\-  ‘drink’  in  the  table  with  næ  se\sho¥yi  ‘I  drink’  (habitual  TAM),  pluractional
næ"!sese\sho¥yi.  Likewise, when Class B verbs assimilate a root vowel -a- to -e- in forms
where  the  stem  final  vowel  becomes  -e-  (see  ##  for  forms  with  stem  final  -e-),  the
reduplicated  CV syllable  in pluractional  verbs  copies  this -e-, e.g.  compare the Class  B
verb  baæsa\-  in  the  table  with  beæsengo¥yi  ‘he  shot  and  brought’  (completive  ventive),
pluractional beæbeæsengo¥yi.

Bole does not permit onsetless syllables (##). Thus, syllables that would otherwise

begin in a vowel have glottal stop as the default onset. This applies to pluractional
reduplication of vowel initial verbs, e.g. onuwo¥yi ‘he gave’, pluractional o&onuwo¥yi
[

/o/onuwo~…yi].

Verbs that begin in prenasalized consonants reduplicate the entire prenasalized onset,

e.g. ngoruwo¥yi ‘he tied’, pluractional ngongoruwo¥yi ‘he repeatedly tied’.  A morpheme
boundary separates the reduplicated syllable from the stem, and this morpheme boundary
corresponds  to  a  syllable  boundary,  i.e.  ngo.ngo.ru-,  not  *ngon.go.ru-.   NC  sequences
within a root  are syllabified  with the  N forming the  coda of the preceding  syllable, e.g.
zòn.ge ‘hyena’.  At the moment, we have only native speaker intuition as evidence that
the boundary falls after vowel of the reduplicated syllable, but a possible test would come
from metrics if the initial syllable of a reduplicated pluractional like ngongoru- were to
fall in a position requiring a light syllable for proper scansion.  See ## for evidence that a
morpheme boundary corresponds to a syllable boundary in internal N+C sequences.

Gimba (2000:157) notes that although transitive Class B verbs freely use

CV-  reduplicated  pluractionals,  reduplicated  Class  B  intransitive  verbs  such
as  ??paæpaæta\woæ  ‘he  repeatedly  went  out’  (<  paæta\woæ)  sound  “awkward”.    These  verbs
prefer  geminate  pluractionals  (§2),  i.e.  paættangoæ,  etc.    However,  such  geminate
pluractional can, themselves, be reduplicated when a plural subject is involved (§4), e.g.

paæpaættangoæ ‘they repeatedly went out’.

Gimba (2000:157-158) notes that some verbs in Class C and Class D, the classes with

a single root consonant, do not allow reduplicated CV- pluractional formation. The table
below lists all Bole Class C and D verbs in CV- pluractionalized form (completive,
masculine singular subject) with the judgments from Gimba (2000) on acceptability.

Pluractional verbs

Class

CV- plac. OK

CV- plac.

NOT

i&êwo¥yi

‘do’

•jijêwoæ

‘run’

titêwo¥yi

‘eat (otto)’

•ninêwoæ

‘ripen’

yiyêwo¥yi

‘stab’

•ndindêwoæ

‘go’

•rirêwoæ

‘enter’

baba\wo¥yi

‘pound in’

•gaga\wo¥yi

‘cut grass’

fiafia\woæ

‘mount’

•nzanza\wo¥yi

‘bind’

kaka\wo¥yi

‘transplant’

•wawa\wo¥yi

‘get’

mama\woæ

‘return, go back’

•&ya&ya\wo¥yi

‘exceed, surpass’

nganga\wo¥yi

‘prevent’

papa\wo¥yi

‘close’

sasa\wo¥yi

‘drink’

zaza\wo¥yi

‘put away’

In Class C, only transitive verbs allow CV- pluractional formation and only

intransitives disallow it.  This jibes with the judgments for Class B verbs.  Class D verbs,
however, do not fit any obvious pattern of this type.  Some of the Class C and D verbs
that  disallow  CV-  reduplication  form  their  pluractionals  on  the  geminate  pattern  (§3).
Others appear to have no serviceable pluractional form.

1.2.  Reduplicated  CV-  pluractionals  and  TAM  forms.    The  basis  for  dividing  Bole
verbs into five classes (A1, A2, B, C, D) is the fact that verbs of the five classes differ in
form, primarily tone and final vowel, in the five basic Bole TAMs (##).  Verbs with CV
pluractional reduplication behave in somewhat unexpected ways in the respective TAMs.
The base forms for classes A1 and B all have CVC- root shape and classes C and D have
roots  comprising  a  single  consonant.    Addition  of  the  CV-  syllable  in  reduplicated
pluractionals  thus  creates  verb  stems  that  do  not  fit  the  canonical  patterns  for  the
respective classes.  These pluractionals run counter to correlations of stem shape and verb
class  by  following  the  TAM  patterns  of  the  corresponding  non-pluractional  stems.
Glosses are those of the non-pluractional form.

Class

TAM

Non-pluractional

Pluractional

Completive

ngoruwo¥yi

ngongoruwo¥yi

‘he tied’

Subjunctive

ngoærê}

ngoængoærê}

‘that he tie’

Imperative

ngoærê}

ngoængoærê}

‘tie!’ (sing.)

Future

aæ ngoæra\yi

aæ ngoængoæra\yi

‘he will tie’

Habitual

aæ ngoro¥yi

aæ ngongoro¥yi

‘he ties’

Completive

fioæppuwo¥yi

fioæfioæppuwo¥yi

‘he followed’

Subjunctive

fioæppe\}

fioæfioæppe\}

‘that he follow’

Imperative

fioæppê}

fioæfioæppê}

‘follow!’ (sing.)

Gimba (2000:157, fn. 2) notes that the three Class C motion verbs, jê- ‘run’, ndê- ‘go’, rê- ‘enter’ disallow

CV- pluractional formation in the completive, subjunctive, and imperative, but do allow it in future and
habitual, e.g. aæ rirênaæ ‘he will repeatedly enter’. The verb nê- ‘ripen’ disallows CV- reduplication across
the board.

Pluractional verbs

Future

aæ fioæppa¥yi

aæ fioæfioæppa¥yi

‘he will follow’

Habitual

aæ fioppo¥yi

aæ fiofioppo¥yi

‘he follows’

Completive

baæsa\wo¥yi

baæbaæsa\wo¥yi

‘he shot’

Subjunctive

beæse\}

beæbeæse\}

‘that he shoot’

Imperative

beæse\}

beæbeæse\}

‘shoot!’ (sing.)

Future

aæ beæse¥yi

aæ beæbeæse¥yi

‘he will shoot’

Habitual

aæ bese¥yi

aæ bebese¥yi

‘he shoots’

Completive

têwo¥yi

titêwo¥yi

‘he ate (otto)’

Subjunctive

taæyyi

taætaæyyi

‘that he eat’

Imperative

tikko¥yi

titê}

‘eat!’ (masc. sing.)

Future

aæ têna¥yi

aæ titêna¥yi

‘he will eat’

Habitual

aæ têsho¥yi

aæ titêsho¥yi

‘he eats’

Completive

sa\wo¥yi

sasa\wo¥yi

‘he drank’

Subjunctive

saæyyi

saæsaæyyi

‘that he drink’

Imperative

sekko¥yi

sese\}

‘drink!’ (masc. sing.)

Future

aæ se\na¥yi

aæ sese\na¥yi

‘he will drink’

Habitual

aæ se\sho¥yi

aæ sese\sho¥yi

‘he drinks’

Note, in particular, the following:
• Completive tone: Class A1, C, D verbs bear H tone on the root in the completive

whereas Class A2 and Class B verbs bear L. Addition of the CV- syllable makes
class A1 verbs syllabically identical to class A2 and class D verbs identical to B, yet
they retain all H tone on the stems.

• Subjunctive stem final vowel: Subjunctive Class A1 verbs have final –i, Class A2

verbs  have  final  -e.   Reduplicated  pluractional A1  verbs retain  –i  in the subjunctive.
Class  C  and  D  verbs  have  a  special  subjunctive  stem  for  ending  in  -ay  (or  -ai—the
forms  in  the  table  have  a  Ø  object  affix  -yi  to  which  the  suffix  assimilates).
Pluractional  C  and  D  verbs  retain  this  subjunctive  form  even  though  it  is  otherwise
restricted to monoconsonantal roots.

• Future tone of A1 verbs: Class A1 verbs have LH tones on the future stem, in contrast

to verbs of Classes A2 and B, which have all L. Reduplicated pluractional A1 verbs
retain the LH pattern in the future.

• Future form of C and D verbs: Class C verbs have a future form Cênaæ and Class D

verbs have Ce\naæ. Pluractional verbs of these classes retain future forms ending in -na¥,
even though this suffix is otherwise restricted to monoconsonantal roots.

• Polysyllabic Class B verbs: Basic Bole Class B verbs are all disyllabic. Pluractional

reduplication creates otherwise anomalous trisyllabic Class B verbs, which, in all
respects, have TAM forms identical to disyllabic Class B verbs.

This is reminiscent of reduplicated Grade 3 verbs in Hausa. Two syllable Grade 3 verbs have LH tones,

e.g. fìta ‘go out’, three syllable Grade 3 verbs have LHL tones, e.g. za¥buraæ ‘leap up’. When two syllable
verbs are reduplicated, they retain the LH pattern (assigning tones right to left) even though they are
formally identical to basic three syllable verbs, e.g. fìrfìta ‘repeatedly go out’.

Pluractional verbs

These

NON

-effects on TAM forms is particular to pluractional reduplication. Other

inflectional  and  derivational  process  do  affect  TAM  forms.    When  the  subject  of  a
completive verb is plural or feminine singular, an -aC- syllable is added to the stem (##),
giving an additional mora.  A1 completive forms with plural or feminine singular subjects
have LH tones characteristic of Class A2 and Class B verbs, each of which have at least
one more stem mora than A1 verbs, e.g. ngoærango¥yi ‘they tied’, ngoærakko¥yi ‘she tied’.
The  same  facts  hold  for  addition  of  the  completive  ventive  extension,  consisting  of  a
syllable -un-  for Class A1 and A2 verbs (##), e.g. ngoærungo¥yi ‘he will tie  (and bring)’
(LH tones on an A1 ventive verb).  When a -t- dervational affix (##) is added to an A1
root, creating a stem with an additional mora, the derived verb takes A2 TAM forms, e.g.

∫olwoæ

‘it (e.g. a stick) broke’ (A1 with H tone on stem), ∫oæltuwo¥yi ‘he broke (it, e.g. a

stick)’ (A2 with LH on stem). Finally, formation of pluractionals by infixation or
gemination (§§2-3)

DOES

cause a shift in verb class.

1.3.  Reduplicated  CV-  pluractionals  and  verbal  extensions.    Reduplicated
pluractionals  show  no  special  properties  with  verbal  extension  (##)  beyond  those
described in §1.2 for TAM forms.  Compare the non-pluractional and pluractional forms
of the A1 verb ‘tied’ in the completive with each extension.

Extension

Non-pluractional

Pluractional

(no extensions)

ngorwo¥yi

ngongorwo¥yi

‘he tied’

Totality

ngortuæwo

ngongortuæwo

‘he tied completely’

Additive

ngorduæwo

ngongorduæwo

‘he tied again’

Ventive

ngoærungo¥yi

ngoængoærungo¥yi

‘he tied and brought’

Gimba (2000:159) notes that with the Intransitive Copy Pronoun (ICP—##), the

counterpart of the totality extension for intransitive verbs, pluractional verbs require a
plural subject, e.g. so¥ru\jÏnì ‘he fell’, so¥ranjÏsu ‘they fell’, soæso¥ranjÏsu ‘they fell one by
one, they fell repeatedly’, but *soæso¥ru\jÏnì ‘he fell repeatedly’. This quasi-agreement
pattern also applies to certain infixed and geminate pluractional—see §§1.2-1.3.

2. “Active” but Non-Productive Pluractionals: Infixation and Gemination

In addition to the productive CV- reduplication method of pluractional formation

described  in  §1,  Bole  has  two  other  methods  of  pluractional  formation.    They  are  not
productive in  that they are restricted  to specific verbs and would probably no longer be
extended to additional verbs.  They are “active” in the sense that they bear a transparent
morphological  relation  to  the  base  verb  and  in  certain  pragmatic  and/or  grammatical
contexts, they are required in place of the base verb.  Infixed pluractionals, described and
illustrated  in  §2.1,  infix  the  syllable  -gi-  in  the  Fika  dialect.    Geminate pluractionals,
described and illustrated in §2.2, geminate the second root consonant.

Infixed and geminate pluractionals are available only for Class A1 and Class B verbs,

the classes whose root structure is C

¨C-, and only for a minority of those. From our

current list of about 700 verbs the following figures emerge with respect to infixed
pluractionals and geminate pluractionals (discussed in §3).

Pluractional verbs

Class

#!of!verbs!in!class Infixed!plac.

Geminate!plac.

Both!inf.!&!gem.

119

23 (19.3%)

16 (13.4%)

3 (.5%)

12 (18.8%)

|C-) only

109

2.1. Pluractionals with infixed -gi-. As noted immediately above, infixed pluractionals
are available only for verbs of Classes A1 and B, those classes with C

¨C- root structure,

and one known case of a Class A2 verb of root structure C

|C-, da¥&yu- ‘step on’. In the

Fika dialect, infixed pluractionals insert a syllable -gi- after the first CV- of the root. In
the  Gadaka  dialect,  where  the  infixed  pluractional  rather  than  CV-  reduplication  is  the
productive  form  for  Class  A1  and  B  verbs,  the  pluractional  infix  is  -ki-/-ku-/-k-  (see
below  for  a  sidebar  on  the  Gadaka  dialect).    The  one  Class  A2  verb  in  Fika  with  an
infixed  pluractional  has  -ki-,  and  the  Fika  dialect  also  has  what  appears  to  be  frozen
pluractionals of the infixed type with -ki- (##).  These facts suggest that the pluractional
infix was originally -ki-.

In addition to being restricted to a subset of Class A1 and B verbs, infixed

pluractionals in the Fika further require that C

of the verb root be a sonorant consonant

or fi, though not all verbs meeting this description have infixed pluractionals, e.g.
tonuwo¥yi ‘sharpen a blade’ but no *toægìnuwo¥yi, guæra\wo¥yi ‘hoe up’ but no •guægìra\wo¥yi.

Class

Simple form

Infixed pluractional

konuwo¥yi

koægìnuwo¥yi

‘pick up’

lumuwo¥yi

luægìmuwo¥yi

‘plug a hole’

ngoruwo¥yi

ngoægìruwo¥yi

‘tie’

ngaluwo¥yi

ngaægìluwo¥yi

‘collect, gather’

gowuwo¥yi

goægìwuwo¥yi

‘hit, beat’

ngafiuwo¥yi

ngaægìfiuwo¥yi

‘eat (meat), chew’

&yoruwoæ

&yoægìruwoæ

‘come to a stop’

kaæra\wo¥yi

kaægìra\wo¥yi

‘slaughter’

aæwa\wo¥yi

aægìwa\wo¥yi

‘open’

aæla\wo¥yi

aægìla\wo¥yi

‘carry, transport’

da¥&yuwo¥yi

daækìyuwo¥yi

‘step on’

Addition of a syllable through infixation shifts Class A1 verbs to Class A2. This is in

contrast to addition of a syllable through pluractional CV- reduplication (§1.2). Thus, the
tone of the verb stem in the completive, as in the table above, is H in the simple form but
LH in the pluractional form.

Likewise, the final vowel of the subjunctive for simple A1

verbs is -i, but for infixed pluractionals, it is -e, e.g. koænê} ‘he should take it’ (simple form)
but koægìne\yì ‘they should take several’ (pluractional). Class B infixed pluractionals, on
the other hand, retain properties otherwise associated only with C

C- roots, including the

stem vowel -a\- in the completive (see examples in the table) and a verbal noun with final

Note that the vowel in the root syllable is short in the pluractional, a feature shared with CV- reduplicated

pluractionals, where the vowel of the reduplicated syllable is short regardless of root vowel length.

Pluractional verbs

vowel and initial root vowel shifted to -e-, e.g. kèrè ‘slaughtering’, kègìrè ‘repeated
slaughtering’.

Note  on  the  Gadaka  dialect  (Schuh  1983):    As  noted  above,  -k(V)-  (vowel  or  its
absence  depends  on  environment)  infixation  is  the  productive  pluractional  process  for
Classes  A1  and B  in  the Gadaka dialect, e.g. koækuænu\ buæku ‘he picked up  bags’ (< A1
konu), baæksango¥yi ‘they each shot’ (< B baæsa\), maæte aæ eækeæweæ bo¥ bìn ‘they will open
doors’ (< B aæwa\).  The  Gadaka dialect uses a similar  process for Class C and  D verbs,
e.g. raækyanjÏsu ‘they entered’ (< C rê), maæte aæ tikina paæte-paæte ‘they will eat pate-pate
pudding’  (< C  tê), maækaæyanjÏsu ‘they  each returned’  (<  D  ma\),  næ ndolu¥ næ  saækìye  aæreæ
fiinkiya  ‘I  want  to  drink  many  cups  of  water’  (<  D    sa\).    This  use  of  the  -k-  infix  is
probably a result of Ngamo influence.  Gadaka was originally an Ngamo speaking town
and  in  fact is  the  seat  of  the  Emirate  of  Mai  Gudi,  the traditional  ruler of  the Ngamos,
though  Bole  has  now  replaced  Ngamo,  even  in  the  court  of  Mai  Gudi.    In  the  Yaya
dialect of Ngamo, pluractionals for classes other than A2 infix a copy of C

, e.g. Ngamo

Class A1 nì duædgok koæsaæsaæ ‘I killed mice’ (< dug-), Class C nì tuætyok wo;toæ ‘I
repeatedly ate woto’ (< tu-). However, for vowel and h initial verbs, which have what
amounts to an onsetless first syllable, the default infixed consonant is -k-, e.g. Class A1

aæktina\" ‘he repeatedly bit me’ (< at-), Class C nì ìkyo rùta ‘I did several jobs’ (< i-).  The
fact that Ngamo and Bole both form certain pluractionals by infixation of -Ki- makes it
likely that this is an old feature, inherited into the two languages from at least the time of
their common ancestor.  However, because the incursion of Bole into Gadaka is relatively
recent, the pervasiveness of the method of pluractional formation in the Bole of Gadaka
must  but  be  an  innovation,  or  perhaps  better,  a  reintroduction,  of  the  general  use  of
-Ki- infixation in Bole.

2.2. Pluractionals with Geminate C

. A subset of verb of Classes A1 and B, the classes

with C

¨C- root structure, have active pluractionals marked by gemination of C

. There

are no apparent phonological restrictions on what C

may be, in contrast to infixed

pluractionals, where C

must be a sonorant or fi. Also in contrast to active infixed

pluractionals, where most tokens are from Class A1, geminate pluractionals are about
equally divided between Classes A1 and B (see figures at the end of §2). The intransitive
verbs are given in plural subject form of the completive—see §2.3.

Class

Simple form

Geminate pluractional

fioluwo¥yi

fioælluwo¥yi

‘swallow’

lotuwo¥yi

loættuwo¥yi

‘chip off’

motuwoæ

moættangoæ

‘die’

njiluwo¥yi

njìlluwo¥yi

‘pinch a piece off’

rupuwo¥yi

ruæppuwo¥yi

‘crush with teeth’

washuwo¥yi

waæccuwo¥yi

‘nip off’ (simple);
‘trim’ (pluractional)

gaæfia\woæ

gaæfifiangoæ

‘pass by’

paæta\woæ

paættangoæ

‘go out’

buæla\wo¥yi

buælla\wo¥yi

‘dig out of the ground’

Pluractional verbs

bìfia\wo¥yi

bìfifia\wo¥yi

‘untie’ (simple)
‘untangle’ (pluractional)

kaæwa\woæ

kaæbba\woæ

‘be sated; swell’ (simple)
‘swell locally’ (pluractional)

Gemination of C

shifts Class A1 verbs to Class A2. Thus, in the table above, the

tone of the simple A1 stem is H in the completive, but LH in the pluractional form.  The
final vowel of the subjunctive is -i in the subjunctive of the simple form, but it is -e- in
the pluractional, e.g. fioælê} ‘he should swallow’ but fioælle\yì ‘they should swallow’.  Class
B geminated pluractionals, on the other hand, retain properties otherwise associated only
with  C

C- roots, including the stem vowel -a\- in the completive (see examples in the

table) and a verbal noun with both final vowel and root vowel shifted to -e-, e.g. geæfieæ
‘passing’, geæfifieæ ‘repeated passing’.

In the Fika dialect most Class C and D verbs have geminate pluractionals. Verbs in

these classes have only a single consonant. To form geminate pluractionals, they insert a
geminate glottal stop. According to Gimba (2000:165-166), geminate pluractionals of
Class C and D verbs require a plural subject and, for transitive verbs, the object must be
singular.

The examples in the table, which are in the completive, thus have the plural

subject agreement form. With the simple form, the plural subjects would act as a group.
With the pluractional form, the several subjects would be acting as individuals.

Class

Simple form

Geminate pluractional

rangoæ

raæ&&angoæ

‘enter’

ndanjÏsu (with ICP) ndaæ&&anjÏsu (with ICP)

‘go’

tango¥yi

taæ&&ango¥yi

‘eat otto’

fiangoæ

fiaæ&&angoæ

‘climb’

manjÏsu (with ICP)

maæ&&anjÏsu (with ICP_

‘return, go back’

sango¥yi

saæ&&ango¥yi

‘drink’

pango¥yi

paæ&&ango¥yi

‘cover, close’

In the same way that some, but not all Class C and D verbs allow pluractional

formations by CV- reduplication (§1.1), not all Class C and D verbs allow geminate
pluractional formation, e.g. ango¥yi ‘they did (it)’ but no •aæ&&ango¥yi (Class C ê-),
ngango¥yi ‘they prevented (it)’ but no •\ngaæ&&ango¥yi (Class D nga\-).

As implied in the discusson above, there are no TAM restrictions on Class A1 and B

geminate pluractionals, though Class A1 verbs shift to Class A2 in TAM forms.  Class C
and  D  geminate  pluractionals  also  shift  to  Class  A2  in  terms  of  TAM  form.  Gimba
(2000:166)  points  out  that  geminate  Class  C  and  D  pluractionals  can  only  be  used  in
completive, subjunctive, and imperative, e.g.

A possible reason for the restriction of object to singular form is the fact that geminate pluractionals

incorporate a meaning of action distributed over several individuals, not repeated action involving a single
individual (§2.3). A pluractional verb would imply subject-object pairings, each subject acting on its
respective object. A plural object would pair each subject with several objects. Such a pairing would
require a “repeated action” reading, which is compatible only with CV- reduplicated pluractionals.

Pluractional verbs

Class

TAM

Non-pluractional

Pluractional

Completive

rangoæ

raæ&&angoæ

‘they entered’

Subjunctive

raæi

raæ&&e

‘that they enter’

Imperative

ra\}

raæ&&a\}

‘enter!’ (plural)

Completive

tango¥yi

taæ&&ango¥yi

‘they ate otto’

Subjunctive

taæyyi

taæ&&e\yì

‘that they eat otto’

Imperative

ta\}

taæ&&a\}

‘eat otto!’ (plural)

Completive

mangoæ

maæ&&angoæ

‘they returned’

Subjunctive

maæi

maæ&&e

‘that they return’

Imperative

ma\}

maæ&&a\{

‘return!’ (plural)

Completive

pango¥yi

paæ&&ango¥yi

‘they covered’

Subjunctive

paæyyi

paæ&&e\yì

‘that they cover’

Imperative

pa\}

paæ&&a\}

‘cover!’ (plural)

Class C and D geminate pluractionals do not appear in the future or habitual. This

may be a result of the fact that for Classes C and D, the future and habitual verb forms are
based on nominalized verbs with suffixes -ênà/-e\naæ and -êsho¶-e\sho respectively.  These
suffixes  generally  cooccur  with  verbs  having  only  one  stem  consonant.    Thus,  a  future
form such as *rì&&ênaæ ‘will enter’ or a habitual form such as *maæ&&e\sho ‘returns’ would be
anomalous,  combining  a  suffix  that  is  incompatible  with  its  host  verb  stem.    This
explanation  is  problematic,  however,  since  it  would  seem  that  these  verbs  could  use
future and habitual forms characteristic of A2 verbs, as they do in other TAMs.

2.3. Infixed and geminate pluractionals as quasi-plural agreement marking.  Infixed
and  geminate  pluractionals  have  a  referential  restriction  that  does  not  apply  to
CV-  reduplicated  pluractionals.    Whereas  CV-  reduplicated  pluractionals  may  express
any  type  of  plural  action—many  individuals  acting,  repeated  action  by  one  individual,
etc.—active infixation and active gemination indicate only action distributed across a set
of individuals.  For this reason, active infixed and geminate pluractional forms constitute
quasi-plural agreement in that they must have at least one plural argument.  If the verb is
intransitive, the subject must be plural because it is the only argument.  A transitive verb
must have  a plural subject and/or  the action must apply to several referents.   Typically,
such referents would be a plural direct object, but it could also be plural indirect objects,
plural locations, or the like.

Intransitive verb or transitive verb with plural subject and singular direct object

Base verb: paæta\ (B) ‘go out’
uwwa peættengoæ

‘goats came out’

*o¥shi peættengoæ

(‘the goat kept coming out’)

o¥shi peæpeætengoæ

‘the goat kept coming out’

Pluractional verbs

Base verb: gaæfia\ (B) ‘pass by’
mo\taæ goædon aæ jÏ geæfifieæ

‘many cars are going by’

*mo\taæn daæi aæ jÏ geæfifieæ

(‘a red car keeps going by’)

mo\taæn daæi aæ jÏ geægeæfieæ

‘a red car keeps going by’

Base verb: ’yoru (A1) ‘come to a stop’
mu &yogìraæ gaæ masêdì

‘we will stop at the mosque’

*næ &yoægìraæ gaæ masêdì

(‘I will repeatedly stop at the mosque’)

næ &yoæ&yoæra gaæ masêdì

‘I will repeatedly stop at the mosque’

Base verb: sa\ (D) ‘drink’
uwwa aæ seæ&&e\na aæmma

‘the goats will drink water’

*o¥shi aæ seæ&&e\na aæmma

(‘the goat will repeatedly drink water’)

o¥shi aæ sese\na aæmma

‘the goat will repeatedly drink water’

Singular subject with plural direct objects or other referents over which action can be
distributed (plural subjects are also acceptable)

Base verb: fiolu (A1) ‘swallow’

fioællu\ gucceæ

‘he swallowed stones’ (completive verb fioællu-
has singular subject form (##), i.e. the subject
could not be plural)

plural subject: fioællan guæcce

‘they swallowed stones’

fioællan gu¥sho

‘they each swallowed a stone’

*fioællu\ gu¥sho

(‘he kept swallowing the stone’)

fioæfioælu\ gu¥sho

‘he kept swallowing the stone’

Base verb: aæwa\ (B) ‘open, uncover’
eægìwe kufiinshe ye]!

‘uncover (sing. imper.) the pots!’

*eægìwe kufia ye]

(‘keep uncovering the pot!’)

eæ&eæwe kufia ye]!

‘keep uncovering (sing. imper.) the pot!’

Base verb: ’yoru (A1) ‘come to a stop’

næ &yoægìru\ gaæ goærinshe goædoΩ

‘I stopped in many towns’

*næ &yoægìru\ gaæ Pataskuæmoæ

(‘I stopped here and there in Potiskum’)

næ &yo&yoru\ gaæ Pataskuæmoæ

‘I stopped here and there in Potiskum’

Base verb: onu (A1) ‘give’

oægìna& &otto n; da\ndeæ

‘she gave otto to the children’

Many nouns in Bole have no morphological plural form (##), e.g. mo\taæ ‘car(s)’. However, if context,

such as that provided here by goædoΩ ‘many’, makes it clear that plural referents are involved, a distributive
pluractional verb form is acceptable.

Pluractional verbs

*oægìna& &otto l: la\woæ

(‘she repeatedly gave food to the child’)

oæ&oæna& ott l: la\woæ

‘she repeatedly gave food to the child’

Base verb: zowu (A1) ‘put, put on, place’
næ zoægìwu\ se¥fii gaæ ga¥ ko¥rinshe

‘I put fertilizer on my farms’

*næ zoægìwu\ se¥fii gaæ ga¥ ko¥rìno

(‘I put fertilizer here and there on my farm’)

næ zozowu\ se¥fii gaæ ga¥ ko¥rìno

‘I put fertilizer here and there on my farm’

The following paradigm from Gimba (2000:162) summarizes the facts, using the base

verb ngoru ‘tie up’ and pronominal subject and object:

Infixed pluractional

CV- reduplicated plurac.

Sing. subject, Sing. object

*ishi ngoægìri-na\-wo

(‘he repeatedly tied me’)

ishi ngongor-na\-wo

‘he repeatedly tied me’

Sing. subject, Plural object

ishi ngoægìri-su\-wo

‘he tied them one by one’

ishi ngongor-su\-wo

‘he repeatedly tied them’

Plural subject, Sing. object

maæte ngoægìran-na-ngo

‘they each tied me’

maæte ngoængoæran-na-ngo

‘they repeatedly tied me’

Plural subject, Plural object

maæte ngoægìran-su-ngo

‘they each tied them’ or
‘they tied them one by one’

maæte ngoængoæran-su-ngo

‘they repeatedly tied them’

3. “Stacked” Pluractionals

Pluractional formation through CV- reduplication and pluractional formation through

-Ki-  infixation  or  gemination  may  be  combined.    Reduplicative  CV-  pluractional
formation,  which  is  the  only  type  available  for  many  verb  stems,  can  indicate  either
repeated  action  by  an  individual,  action  distributed  across  several  individuals,  or  both
(see  the  table  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter).    When  combined  with  an  infixed
pluractional or a geminate pluractional, however, the meaning must be that the action is
repeated by or to several individuals, i.e. as explained in §2.3, the infixed and geminated
types  express distribution over individuals, and hence addition of the CV- reduplication
adds the only pluractional function left to add, viz. repetition.

The following sets of examples from Gimba (2000:163,!167) give an infixed or

geminate pluractional together with the same pluractional combined with reduplication,
showing the different meanngs.

Infixed or geminate pluractional alone

CV- reduplication + infix or gemination

maæte ngoægìran-na-ngo

‘they each tied me’

maæte ngoængoægìran-na-ngo

‘they each tied me repeatedly’

maæte kaægìral lo (< kaæra\)

‘they each sliced meat’

maæte kaækaægìral lo

‘they each repeatedly sliced meat’

poæfifian yaæbbi (< pofiu)

‘they each removed chickens’

poæpoæfifian yaæbbi

‘they each repeatedly removed chickens’

The same facts would hold for a geminate pluractional.