10 Is there an Adjective Class in Wolof? 247illustrated in (14), or sitting down (toog), as in (15).
(14) Ci ngoon, dama-y sonn
PREP afternoon, isg:VFOC-iMP ADj:tired
'In the afternoon, I am tired'
(15) Fii laa-y toog
LOG lSg:OFOC-IMP V:sit
'Here is where I sit (habitually)/Here is where I will sit'
Verb stems may also be inflected for mood, as in the irrealis examples in (16) and
(17).
(16) 500 dem-ee Ndakaaru
when:isg v:go-iRR Dakar
'when you go to Dakar'
(17) bu xonq-ee
if:3Sg ADj:red-iRR
'if it becomes red'
2.3. FOCUS AND TOPICALIZATION
Wolof has a syntactically encoded focus system that includes subject, verbal, and
object focus. Creissels and Robert (1998) claim that, although largely ignored in
the literature, such grammatical encoding of an information hierarchy via ver-
bal inflection is widespread in African languages. In Wolof the auxiliary differs for
each type of focus, as illustrated by the examples in (i8)-(2o), each of which focus-
es a different element in the sentence meaning 'I eat fish'.
(18) Maa-y lekk Jen
isg:SFOC-iMP v:eat fish
'I eat fish' (subject focus)
(19) Dama-y lekk Jen
isg:VFOC-iMP v:eat fish
'I eat fish' (verb focus)
(20) Jen laa-y lekk
fish isg:OFOC-iMP v:eat
'I eat fish' (object focus)
Arguments in focused phrases can also be topicalized via left dislocation, as illus-
trated in (21).
(21) Man, Jen, dama ko faral di lekk
isg:EMPH fish isg:VFOC 3SgO favour IMP v:eat
'Me, fish, I often eat it'