Personal pronouns in Bua languages

Pascal Boyeldieu (1)

1 CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

Bua languages in general are poorly documented and many aspects of their morphosyntax are still undescribed. The purpose of this paper is to outline a state of the art concerning the structure and operation of the personal pronoun systems. Largely based on unpublished or restricted documentation, it systematically reviews the systems of eight languages, commenting on both the identity of persons and the types of functional paradigms. Despite numerous shortcomings and uncertainties, interesting observations can be made concerning the 1st person plural ‘exclusive’/‘inclusive’ contrast, the logophoric pronouns, the tonal polarity of Subject and Object pronouns, and different types of personal possessive constructions.

Mots clés: personal pronouns; 1st pl. exclusive/inclusive; logophoric; reflexive; same referent; tonal polarity; possessive construction; Bua languages; Adamawa languages

Domaines: Linguistique

Pascal Boyeldieu. Personal pronouns in Bua languages. Language in Africa (Moscow & St. Petersburg), 2020, Special issue on the Adamawa languages, 1 (3), pp.292-335. ⟨10.37892/2686-8946-2020-1-3-292-335⟩. ⟨halshs-03097103⟩