jeff_l
(Jeff_L)
#1
636 12 Extraction processes
(732) a. as-halas
MaSg-man
[w-a-\s 0-aeba rure-s]
[Ma-Dem.Sg-Mnstr 3MaSgS-be.lost.PerfP son-3SgPoss]
'the man whose son was lost (=died).'
b. ae-hdbs [w-a-\s aqre-r edi-nnet]
Sg-man [Ma-Dem.Sg-Mnstr kill.PerfP-lSgS dog-3SgPoss]
'The man whose dog I killed.'
The -\s appears in this construction even when the possessed NP is
fronted to preverbal position. This fronting is syntactically equivalent to
topicalization (733).
(733) ά-lyad [w-a-\s sbba-nnet
Sg-child [Ma-Dem.Sg-\Instr father-3SgPoss
"ί-kka baemaeko]
3MaSgS-go.to.PerfP Bamako]
'the boy whose father went to Bamako'
This can be literally glossed "the boy such that, as for his father, he
(=father) went to Bamako." I am not certain that such constructions are normal
in idiomatic speech.
The -\s construction is also used when the complement of daedes- 'next to'
is relativized on. As noted in §6.6.1), daedes- is arguably still segmentable as a
complex preposition d "'ae-des 'with (=by) the side (of...)', in other words a PP
whose complement is a possessed NP, as in the bracketed representation [with
[side ofX]]. An example of a relativized complement is (734).
(734) e-hasn [w-a-\s slle-γ dasdes-annet
Sg-house [Ma-Dem.Sg-\Instr be.Reslt-lSgS next.to-3SgPoss]
'The house next to which I am.'
If (734) is analysed as a possessor relative parallel to (732-3), it supports
the segmentability of daedes- as composite d ""ae-des ('by the side of).
Given the resumptive pronominals in (732-4), it is necessary to distinguish
these possessor relatives from simple prepositional relatives (§12.1.4, above).
The possessor relatives are structurally related to long-distance relatives
where the head of the relative is coreferential to a resumptive pronoun in a
subordinated clause (735).
