Citation: Yahaya Mohammed AHMED (2020). Syntactic Analysis of Imperative Sentences in Weewevveere Variety of Fulfulde: A Generative Approach. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. .8 Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660
SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS OF IMPERATIVE SENTENCES IN WEEWEVVEERE VARIETY OF FULFULDE: A GENERATIVE APPROACH
Yahaya Mohammed AHMED
Abstract
The imperative clause is one of the four major sentence types
found to be common across languages. Comparing imperative with Declaratives,
Interrogatives and Exclamatives (hereafter D, I & E), the imperative type
has received varied analyses in the literature. This study is limited to the
investigation of the taxonomy, nature of imperativization (the morphosyntactic
system, structure and interpretation of imperative and related constructions)
in the variety of Fulfulde spoken by the Weeweɓɓe/beeweɓɓe Fulɓe that form part
of the constituent of Central Northern Nigerian Dialect (henceforth, CNND). In
line with this, the paper examined five categories of imperatives. These are:
advice/exhortation; apology; command/instruction; request/invitation and good
wishes. It explored these in comparison with the characteristics of the English
counterpart embedded within Fulfulde imperatives. The current paper is
structured into 5 sections (introduction, Imperativization in Weeweɓeere, data
presentation and discussion) and offered descriptive evidence and suggestions
in the syntax of imperatives in Fulfulde. The paper identified
firstly, that for any sentence in the variety to be considered as
imperative, it must stick to the following criteria: a. the
sentence should refer to the 2nd person and occasionally 1st &
3rd person, b. a second person subject pronoun
should either be overt or covert, and c. the sentence should
sometimes have an exclamation mark in writing if the command is forceful.
Specifically, Speaker and Addressee are theoretically necessary for an adequate
syntactic account of imperative. Secondly, the study unveiled that the subject
of the imperative clause must be the addressee in the case of 2nd person.
Thirdly, the study realized that 1st and 3rd person
imperative subjects (hortative) are overtly realized. Fourthly, the
investigation disclosed that negative imperative in the variety studied are
realized in two ways: free and bound negation. Finally, the research discovered
the occurrence of embedded imperatives in the variety investigated. To arrive
at all these findings, the paper adopted the generative (grammar) framework in
analyzing the data gathered for the study.
1.0 Introduction
Imperative clause is one of the four major sentence types that
have been found to be universal across languages. Compared to declaratives,
interrogatives and exclamatives, the imperative type has received diverse
analyses in the literature and found to have distinctive morphosyntactic
properties that set it apart as basic sentence type (Sadock and Zwicky, 1985).
Some of these properties include: imperative verb in Fulfulde lacks completive.
Hence, imperative refers to a situation in the immediate or more remote (near)
future and are therefore incompletive with time adverbial that refer to time
period in the past e.g. waru keenya “come yesterday”. Crystal
(1988, p. 153) is of the view that imperative “refers to verb forms or
sentence/clause types used in the expression of commands”. Ndimele (1999, p.
202), Huddleston (2005, p, 3-4) and Alcázar and Saltarelli (2014), are of the view that, imperative sentences are
characteristically used to issue a command or instruction, make a request,
offer advice/exhortations, express good wishes and apology. Describing
imperative clauses, Quirk, Greenbaum, Leech and Svartvik (1985, p. 827-831)
posit that, “imperative sentences generally do not end with an exclamation mark
unless they represent very peremptory and very urgent commands” as in: Get
out! he shouted angrily. They are also of the view that imperatives refer
to sentences which normally have no overt grammatical subject and whose verbs
have the based form.
It is in the light of these apparent definitions and descriptions
of the phenomenon (imperative clause) that this present paper seeks to bring to
light an account of imperative clauses in the syntax of Fulfulde. The scope of
the research is Central Northern Nigerian Dialect (henceforth, CNND) with
emphasis on some selected villages and settlements in Barikin Ladi Local
Government Area of Plateau state. These include: Fas, Luggere (Sho),
Lukfay, Mahanga and Mazat. The paper is limited to giving
a taxonomy of imperatives in Fulfulde, description of their nature and
structure related to construction.
In analyzing the data gathered, the study adopted the Dependency
Grammar (DG) which is one of the theories that form the group of formal language theories of grammar, or what can be referred to as “formal grammar”.
Other theories that form parts of the formal theories include: The
Transformational Grammar (TG), The Standard Theory (ST), Government and Binding
Theory (GB), Minimalist Program (MP) and Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
(HPSG) among others. This theory is a set of formal rules that dictate or
analyze the structures (sentences) looking at the relations between words in
language (Agbedo, 2015, p. 62).
The data were heavily drawn from a field work
conducted at the universe of the research as earlier identified. The researcher
visited the areas several times and observed how the Fulɓe interact among them.
An unstructured Interview was also employed to source information from the
informants. The researcher further contacted documented materials for more
data.
1.1 Imperativization in Weeweɓeere Variety
Previous works on Fulfulde; Arnott (1970), McIntosh (1984),
Mukoshy (1991) and Daudu (2005) delved heavily on the description of suffixes
of imperative verbs in the dialect. The suffixes are for singular and plural
subjects; and active and middle voices. They include: -u/zero; -a/zero and
-atay for singular active/middle voice singular and –ee for
both active and middle plural forms. Others are: -atay and –etee for
plural active and middle voices. Arnott (1970, 248-253) further identified
imperatives belonging to two sets: General imperative e.g. war-tu (sg.)
and ngar-tee (pl.) denoting “come back” and statistically
less frequent Habitual imperative e.g. war-atay (sg.)
and ngar-etee (pl.) denoting “keep on coming”. Variations in
these suffixes demonstrate the difference between the suffixes of imperative
verbs and other verbs in Weeweɓɓeere variety of Fulfulde.
Another difference that exist between imperative and declarative
sentences shows that unlike declarative sentences where the subject and verb
are clearly expressed, imperative sentences in Fulfulde do not have a readily
identifiable subject when written out. The subject is actually implied or
elliptical meaning that the verb refers directly back to the subject.
Therefore, the speaker or the author assumes they have (or will have) their
subject attention. The verb let can also be used
in imperatives with 1st and 3rd person singular
and plural subjects. Furthermore, negative and embedded imperatives constitute
categories of imperative in Weeweɓɓeere variety of Fulfulde.
2.0 Data Presentation
For the purpose of this study, the following data were collected
from different respondents in the area covered by the research. These include:
Fulfulde: Subtu woɗeere naa ndaneere nden
Translation: “Choose the red one, not the white one.”
Fulfulde: Ɓorna toggore heyre nden
Translation: “Wear the new dress.”
Fulfulde: Fulɓe njanngee, nduree ndemee
Translation: “Fulani, read books and farm.”
Fulfulde: Yaafam
Translation: “Pardon me.”
Fulfulde: Waɗu munyal
Translation: “Please be patient.”
Fulfulde: Faranam
Translation: “Forgive / pardon me.”
Fulfulde: Faram mo
Translation: “Forgive him.”
Fulfulde: Wurta!
Translation: “Get out!”
Fulfulde: Maɓɓu dambugal ngal
Translation: “Close the door.”
Fulfulde: Maɓɓutu dambugal ngal
Translation: “Open the door.”
Fulfulde: Nastu nder to a neeɓay
Translation: “Go in if you want.”
Fulfulde: Hokkam ndeya deftere
Translation: “Give me that book.”
Fulfulde: War gaa’e
Translation: “Come here.”
Fulfulde: Allah hoyna laawol
Translation: “Have a nice trip!”
Fulfulde: Njottoɗa njam
Translation: “May you reach safely.”
Fulfulde: Ngartaa jam
Translation: “I wish you a safe return.”
Fulfulde: Ɗal mi wara
Translation: “Let me come.”
Fulfulde: En ndillu juulirde
Translation: “Let us go to the mosque.”
Fulfulde: En jooɗa
Translation: “Let us sit.”
Fulfulde: En njaru
Translation: “Let us (let’s) have a drink.”
Fulfulde: Ɗal o seyo
Translation: “Let him/her be happy.”
Fulfulde: Ɗal ɓe seyo
Translation: “Let them be happy.”
Fulfulde: Taa nyaamu ɓiɓɓe leɗɗe ɗe lootaaka
Translation: “Don’t take unwashed fruits.”
Fulfulde: Taa nyaamu nyiiri ndin
Translation: “Don’t eat the food.”
Fulfulde: Taa jooɗa nokkuuje ɗe salaatu
Annabiijo waɗataake
Translation: “Don’t sit in a place where prayers for the Prophet
are not recited.”
Fulfulde: Oori wi’i, noddu mo
Translation: “Oori said, call him/her!”
Fulfulde: Oori wii, noota
Translation: “Oori said, answer!”
Fulfulde: Duree na’i mooɗon nder wuro, ɓustee
eggol
Translation: “Graze your cows at home, reduce migration.”
Fulfulde: De’u!
Translation: “Keep quiet!”
Fulfulde: Seedu ka am!
Translation: “Move out of my way!”
Fulfulde: Laɓɓin kolte maaɗa goggaaɗe
Translation: “Wash your clothes and press them.”
Fulfulde: To hiirii Ngam Allah tawmin njaren
Translation: “Come out with us tonight.”
Fulfulde: Baalen jam
Translation: “Have a nice night.”
Fulfulde: Allah welna
Translation: “Have a nice time.”
Fulfulde: En juulu
Translation: “Let us pray.”
Fulfulde: Roota tummbude nden dow taarde
Translation: “Put the calabash on the circle.”
Fulfulde: Hoosu hooremaaɗa gaaɓɗo
Translation: “Consider yourself lucky.”
Fulfulde: Taa do’ana juulɗo musiibo koo ɗume o
waɗanma
Translation: “Don’t pray evil for a Muslim, whatever he/she does to
you.”
Fulfulde: E mi toroma, lootidaayam e maɓɓe
Translation: “I am begging you, bathe me together with them.”
Fulfulde: Jooni huwu masin diiwaaɓe, ngam taa
rellen ko nyaameten
Translation: “Now work hard to drive them away so that we don’t
lack what to eat.”
Fulfulde: Tuuban jawmiraawo tedduɗo, ɗuuddinaa
istingifaaru
Translation: “Pray for the forgiveness of Almighty Allah and
increase asking for pardon.”
3.0 Data Analysis and
Discussion
Our data above comprise different categories of imperatives
present in Fulfulde. Unlike previous works which were limited to the
description of suffixes of Fulfulde imperative verbs, in subsequent paragraphs
this study attempts to show their taxonomy, nature, structure, hortative,
negation and possibly imperatives embeddedability. The paper also illustrates
that at their most basic;
imperatives are binary, which is to say they must be either positive or
negative. While positive imperatives use affirmative verbs in addressing the
subject, negatives do the opposite. In other words,
imperativization in Fulfulde splits imperative verb into two paradigms one for
affirmative sentences and one for negative sentences as discussed below.
3.1 Fulfulde Imperatives with Simple Clause
This section involves imperatives where it is intuitively clear
that the meaning of a directive implies that omitted subject is the second
person pronoun you. This covers Fulfulde imperatives that relay
advice/exhortation; apology; command/ instruction/order;
invitation/request/appeal and good wish as demonstrated below.
3.1.1 Fulfulde Imperatives that Relay Advice/ Exhortation/warning
This set of imperative conveys advice/exhortation or warning in
Fulfulde as exhibited in the data gathered for this study. Consider the
following examples:
1) a. Subtu woɗeere
nden, naa raneere nden
Choose red the, not white
the
“Choose the red,
not the white”
b. Ɓorna toggoore
heyre nden
wear shirt new the
“Wear the new shirt”.
c. Fulɓe,
njanngee, nduree, ndemee
Fulɓe read, rear cattle farm
“Fulɓe read, rear
cattle and farm”
Our examples in (1a-c) above evidently demonstrated that the
imperative verbs in the clauses intuitively have second person you as
their subjects. In other words, it is intuitively clear that the semantic of an
imperative implies that the omitted subject is the second person pronoun you.
In view of this property, the subjects of the imperative verbs: subtu “choose”
and ɓorna “wear” in examples (1a & b) are intuitively
implied as 2nd person you in the singular form
while the imperative verbs janngee “read”, nduree “rear”, ndemee “cultivate”
in (1c) have their subjects in the plural form Fulɓe “Fulanis”. The
subjects are also realized as the addressees of the speech act. This implies
that morphosyntactically, an imperative in Fulfulde need not express an
overt a “you 2nd sg.” or on “you
2nd pl” singular and plural subjects respectively. Expressing
the 2nd person subject in this construction will lead to an
ungrammatical construction. Consider:
2) a. *A subtu
woɗeere nden, naa raneere nden
You choose red the, not white the
“You choose the red one, not the white”
b. *A ɓorna
toggoore heyre nden
You wear shirt new the
“You wear the new shirt”.
c. *Fulɓe, on njanngee,
nduree, ndemee
Fulɓe you read, rear cattle
farm
“Fulɓe you read,
rear cattle and farm”
By virtue of their
structure, examples (2a-c) above are realized as ungrammatical to the native
speaker of the dialect. This is because of the occurrence of the subjects as
overt 2nd person elements in the constructions.
3.1.2 Fulfulde Imperatives that Communicate Apology
Another category of imperatives involves expressing regret to
the listener. This can be illustrated with the following examples:
3)
a. Yaaf-am
pardon-pro
1st objt
“Pardon
me”.
b. Waɗu munyal
do patient
“Please be patient”.
c. Faran-am
Excuse-pron 1st sg
objt
“Please excuse me”
d. Faram mo
Excuse 3rd sg
objt pronoun
“Please excuse
him/her”
In (3a-d) above, the category of imperative denotes apology. All
the verbs in the imperatives have second person singular as their subjects
which are realized intuitively. However, considering the forms of the
imperative verbs in (3a & c), it is clear that there is a case of
cliticisation of first person (-am) singular object pronoun which is attached
to the imperative verbs: yaaf- “forgive” which has its etymology
from Arabic (ʔaf’w) and farana- “to excuse” which also has its
origin from Arabic (gafara) roots. Analysing the verb in (3c) further,
one discovers that -an “for” dative suffix is attached to the
root of the verb far- “excuse”. Example (3b) has 2nd person
singular subject (realized intuitively) with munyal “patient”
as object of the verb “be”. In (3d), the imperative has mo “him/her”
as object of the verb “excuse”. By implication, in both (3b & d), the
objects remain independent unlike in (3a & c). Another point to consider is
that whenever the imperative verb has /a/ as its final vowel (as in 3a & c)
above, the 1st person singular object pronoun is cliticised to
the verb. But if the object of the verb (either 1st or 3rd person)
is in the plural form, the object is realized as an independent morpheme (as in
3d) above. Additionally, one need to note that example (3c) cannot have –a as
its final vowel.
3.1.3 Fulfulde Imperatives that Relay Command/ Instruction/Order
By virtue of being used to issue an order or command, imperatives
in this group have most of their pattern in the form of verbs alone as
exemplified below:
4) a. Wurta!
Come out
“Move out!”
b.
Maɓɓu
dammbugal ngal
close
door the
“Shut
the door”.
c. De’u!
keep silent
“You be quiet!”
d.
Maɓɓ-utu
dammbugal ngal
Open
door the
“Open the door”.
e. Roota tummbude nden dow taarde
Put calabash the on circle
“Put the calabash the on a circle”
Considering our data in (4) above, one observes that the
imperative verbs in (4a & c) are intransitives and therefore, the patterns
of the imperative clauses in the two examples (4a & c) are in the form
of: wurta and de’u meaning “move out” and “be
quiet” respectively. However, in (4b), the imperative verb maɓɓu is
of the transitive verb hence, the need for object dammbugal “door”
in the clause. Taking into consideration of the imperative verb maɓɓ-utu in
(4d), one reaalises the occurrence of a different form of morphosyntactic
property. This involves the surfacing of -ut- for singular and -it- for
plural reversive1 verbal extension occurring before the
imperative /u/ or -ee (for singular and plural) final vowel of the verb
respectively. Example (4e) above, illustrates that imperatives in Fulfulde can
also be realized syntactically as in the form of; Verb + Object + Adjunct
(henceforth, VOA). The term roota “put” is the V, tummbude “calabash”
is the O and the constituent, dow taarde “on a circle” is the
Adjunct.
3.1.4 Fulfulde Imperatives that Relay Request/Invitation
This type of imperative is realized as a clause denoting
invitation offered to the addressee to do or honour something. This category
can be exemplified as in the following examples:
5) a. To hiirii, ngam
Allah tawa min njaren
when be evening
time for Allah meet pro.1st pl. drink-1st pl
“When it is
evening, please for God sake meet us to drink together”
b. Nastu nder to a neeɓay
come in if you be
a while
“Come in if you are
staying for a while”
c. Hokkam ndeya
deftere
Give-1st person
sg. that book
“Please pass that book
to me”.
d. War gaa’en
Come on this side
“Come over here”
In Example (5a) above, “to” is identified as an introducer
of the adverb of time denoting when something or an action
takes place or is expected to take place. Therefore, the expression, “to
hiirii” is inviting the listener to come in the evening. On the other
hand, (5b) indicates that the addressee is invited to come in if he/she is
staying for a while. However, in (5c), the imperative hokk- has the
object pronoun -am “me” cliticized to it. This example designates
that the speaker is requesting the addressee to give/pass the book to him/her.
Example (5d) illustrate an imperative denoting request/invitation with a verb
realized with a null/zero /-Ø/ suffix war-Ø “come on” with an implied subject “you come
on”. This is because it will be ungrammatical to have it as waru gaa’e as
the verb is of the CVC- structure and additionally its final sound is a
sonorant /-r/.
3.1.5 Fulfulde Imperatives that Relay Good Wish
In this classification, the imperative is structured expressing
the wish/hope of the speaker to the addressee. These imperatives are expressed
as in the following examples:
6) a. Allah hoyna laawol!
Allah protect road
“Have a nice trip!”
b. Njottoɗa jam
reach + 2nd person
subjt well-being
“May you reach
safely”.
c. Baalen jam
sleep well-being
“May we have a nice
night”.
d. Ngartaa jam
return happiness
“May return in
happiness”
Considering the examples in (6) above, it implies that they are
more of prayers for good thing to happen to the addressee(s). In (6a), there is
no any morpheme of evidence of addressee unlike in (6b & c) which have the
addressee(s) -ɗa and -en “you and we” cliticized to the
roots njotto- and baal- “reach and spend the night”
respectively. On the other hand, to demonstrate that the wish in (6a) is
forceful, the imperative ends with an exclamation mark (!). Example (6d)
demonstrate an imperative verb war- realized as ngar-
denoting reversive “come back” with an inversion form. Hence, the alternation
of the initial consonant of the verb in (1c) above is realized from /w/ to
/ng/.
3.1.6 Fulfulde Imperatives with Let verb
Apart from the second person subject imperatives, first and
third person imperatives otherwise known as imperatives with let whose
subject or object are said to be 1st plural and 3rd person
singular and plural are also found in Fulfulde. These are formed through the
use of the verb “let” preposing the verb in the clause. These types
of imperatives can also be referred to as “imperatives with let”. This is
because they occur with the verb “let” as described below.
3.1.7 Fulfulde Imperatives with 1st Person
Singular
Imperatives can be formed with first person singular mi “me”
object pronoun which is preceded by the verb let ɗal morpheme.
However, this kind of imperative is very rare because it is realized with
only ɗal verb and the mi subject pronoun as
in:
7)
a. Ɗal mi wara
let me come
“Let
me come”
Taking into cognizance of the example in (7a) above, one
observes that the imperative with ɗal verb can take 1st person
singular object pronoun mi which is realized as equivalent to
English “me” object pronoun. The phrase ɗal mi wara “let me”
can equally be described as hortative singular meaning with which a speaker
exhorts himself.
3.1.8 Fulfulde Imperatives with 1st Person
Plural
Plurality in 1st person subject and object
pronouns in Fulfulde are identified as inclusive or exclusive. The difference
in meaning between these two terms is conceived by the inclusion or exclusion
of the person to whom the speech is directed i.e. the listener, who is mainly
the person addressed. First person plural inclusive imperatives can be formed
by preposing the subject pronoun en, intuitively realized as
let verb plus subject plural pronoun interpreted as “let’s” (short form
of let us) followed by the lexical verb. Consider the following
examples:
8)
a. En juulu
we pray
"Let us pray".
b.
En ndillu juulirde
we go mosque
“Let us go to the mosque”
c.
En jooɗa
we sit
“Let us sit”
Our examples in (8a-c) above demonstrated that unlike previous
studies which were of the view that imperative are restricted to only second
person. Our study unveils that first person plural inclusive (1st pers
pl.) en “we” imperatives are used mainly for suggesting an
action to be performed together by the speaker and the addressee (and possibly
other people). This type of imperative can be referred to as hortative. Hortatives, make the case that the so-called
pragmatic restriction of second person subjects is syntactically
localized. The en morpheme
usually occurs at the initial position of this kind of imperative clause.
3.1.9 Fulfulde Imperatives with 3rd Person
Singular and Plural
Third
person imperatives in Fulfulde otherwise also known as jussives are used to
suggest or order that a third party or parties be permitted or made to do
something. Consider the following examples:
9)
a. Ɗal O seyo
Cease
3rd person sg. happiness
“Let
him/her be happy
b.
Ɗal
ɓe seyo
Cease
3rd person pl. happiness
“Let
them be happy! (equivalent to a third person imperative
c. Allah welna
Allah (subjt) enjoy
“Have a nice time”
With particular reference to hortatives (imperatives with let verb),
previous scholars on Fulfulde fall short of accounting for them. However, our
examples in (9a-c) above have shown that hortative with 3rd person
singular o “s/he” or plural ɓe “them” occur
in Fulfulde. These also revealed that in Fulfulde, one has to bear in mind that
both imperative and hortative have to do with the expression of a wish of the
speaker about a future state of affairs.
3.1.10
Fulfulde Negative Imperative
All
the way along, we have been concerned with the description of imperatives that
belong to the positive kinds. Now we are turning to the opposite kinds
(negatives) of imperatives. Unlike the positive imperative in Fulfulde, the
negative has a special way of marking itself different. Fulfulde marks its
negative imperatives in two ways: firstly, using taa negation
particle and secondly, using the taa negation particle plus -aayi/-taako bound
negation suffixes that are attached to the lexical verb. It is far more common
in the language to employ prohibitive or a prohibitive plus bound negative
suffix of the verb in the object complement to form a negative imperative.
Consider the following examples:
10)
a. Taa
nyaamudu nyiiri ndin
do not eat food the
“Don’t eat the whole
food”
b.
Taa
jaɓu mi war-an-ma
do
not agree I come for you
“Don’t
let mi meet you there”
c.
Taa
nyaamu ɓiɓɓe leɗɗe ɗe loot-aaka
do
not eat sons trees which wash-not
“Don’t
eat fruits that are not washed”
d.
Taa
jooɗa nokkuuje ɗe salaatu Annabiijo waɗ-ataake
do
not sit places which prayer Prophet do-not
“Don’t
sit in places where prayer for the Prophet is not done”
Considering
examples (10a - d) above, one observes that the negative imperatives are
realized through the use of the taa “don’t” prohibitive
negation particle. The verb in negative imperative cannot be obtained through
the suffixation of negative VAP suffixes. Hence, the verbs: nyaamu and jooɗa cannot
take the negative polarity when in the imperative form rather, the prohibitive
particle precedes them in Fulfulde. This is unlike other languages such as
Spanish which surrogate in forming their negative imperatives (Chung-hye, 1998,
p. 62 -64).
3.2 Fulfulde Embedded
Imperatives
Although imperatives have been considered as a main clause
phenomenon in Fulfulde (as exhibited in subsequent paragraphs), this study
reveals that imperatives can occur in a certain subordinate environment. Based
on this assertion, embedded imperatives are said to be found occurring in two
different contexts: firstly, in matrix declarative clause plus an affirmative
embedded imperative clause. Secondly, is where both the matrix and the embedded
clauses are in the imperative type.
3.2.1 Declarative Matrix Clause Plus an Affirmative Embedded
Imperative Clause
In this category, the embeddability is express with the matrix
clause occurring in declarative form while the junior clause contains an
embedded imperative. Let us observe the following:
11) a. Oori wi’i, noddu Jaa’e!
Oori said call+imp Jaa’e
“Oori said, call Jaa’e!”
b. Oori wi’i, taa noddu Jaa’e
Oori said do not call + imp Jaa’e
“Oori said don’t call Jaa’e”
c. Oori wii noota mo
Oori said answer + imp him/her
“Oori said answer him/her”
A general description of the data in (11a-c) above show that all
their matrix clauses are in the affirmative while the embedded clauses are in
the imperative kind. A further description reveal that the embedded
imperative noddu “call” in (11a) is positive while in (11b)
the embedded imperative is expressed with taa “do not” which
is abbreviated to “don’t” prohibitive negation particle. Similarly, example
(11c) has its imperative verb as noota “answer” and it is
within the embedded clause with covert second person “you sg” as
its subjective node.
3.2.2 Imperative Matrix plus Embedded Imperative Clause (Imp +
Imp)
The second category of embedded imperative involves a context
where the imperative can be traced in both matrix and the embedded clauses in
Fulfulde. This phenomenon can be demonstrated as in the following examples:
12) a. Laɓɓin kolte maaɗa, goggaa ɗe
wash + imp. clothes your iron them
“Wash your clothes and iron them”
b. Nduree na’i mooɗon
nder wuro, ɓustee eggol
rear cows your pl inside house reduce migration
“Reduce migration and rear your cattle in one place”.
Taking into account of the data in (12a-b) above, one observes
that all the clauses in the two examples are in the positive imperative forms.
In (12a), the subject of the imperative verb laɓɓin “wash” in
the matrix clause is covert which is intuitively implied as you 2nd person
singular while the object kolte “clothes” is overt and
independent. The imperative goggaa “iron” in the dependent
clause has its subject, you, 2nd person
singular covert which is realized intuitively whereas the object (ɗe “them”)
of the verb is overtly realized. The same phenomena implied for (12b) above.
4.0 Conclusion
This study reveals that imperitivisation is a substantive
phenomenon in Weeweɓɓeere variety of Fulfulde. It also established that the
Weeweɓɓeere imperatives adhere to the universal claim of 2nd person
subject pronoun which is optional in surface structure in the variety but
mostly overt if used in a plural form especially in commands. It also reveals
that the Weeweɓɓeere imperative construction does not have a special marker
except for the negatives. The study further established that by far, the most
common type of imperative in Weeweɓɓeere is the subject less second person
imperative. Additionally, the paper discovered that in imperative, only
reflexive “yourself” (i.e. second person), not any other reflexive pronoun can
occur as reflexive of the subject of the imperative verb in Weeweɓɓeere. With regard to morphology, imperative verbs can
be basic roots or minimally inflected forms. The research further established
that structurally, Fulfulde imperatives
can be in the patterns form of: V as in war “come”, VO as
in maɓɓutu ndammbugal “open the door” , VC as in dillu
janngirde, “go to school”, VA as in nastu nder “get
inside”, VOO as in wi’am ngoonga “tell me the truth”, VOC as
in hoosu hoore maaɗa gaaɓɗo/biisiiɗo “consider yourself lucky”
and VOA as in roota tummbude nden dow taarde “put the calabash
on a circle”. The paper equally reveals that a truly imperative past is
apparently not attested in Weeweɓɓeere.
References
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(1988). A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics (6th Edition). New.
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Appendix
Fulfulde: Nyaamu nyiiri taa yiɗi
Translation: “Eat the apple if you want.”
Fulfulde: E mi toroma lootidaayam e maɓɓe
Translation: “I am asking you to bathe me together with them.”
Fulfulde: Jooni huwu masin diiwaaɓe, ngam taa
rellen ko nyaameten
Translation: “Now work hard to drive them away, so that we don’t
lack what to eat.”
Fulfulde: Tuuban jawmiraawo tedduɗo, ɗuuddinaa
istigifaaru
Translation: “Pray to the Almighty Forgiver and increase asking for
forgiveness.”
Fulfulde: E mi yela a meetataa gaɗa ka’a Kadin
Translation: “I implore you never to do this again.”
Fulfulde: Wo’inan soobiraaɓe maaɗa
Translation: “Be nice to your friends.”
Fulfulde: Yahu janngirde njanngaa
Translation: “Go to school.”
Fulfulde: Juulu juulɗe jowi ndye fuu
Translation: “Pray all the prayers.”
Fulfulde: Ɗalu nyamnuki laahooji ɗin
Translation: “Stop feeding the dogs.” (request or demand)
Fulfulde: De’u!
Translation: “Shut up!”
Fulfulde: Piju bol
Translation: “Play ball!”
Fulfulde: Tara, to jahata
Translation: “Watch where you are going.”
Fulfulde: Munnyita
Translation: “Take it easy.”
Fulfulde: Wo’inan soobiraaɓe maaɗa
Translation: “Be nice to your friends.”
Fulfulde: Yahu janngirde njanngaa
Translation: “Go to school and read.”
Fulfulde: Juulu juulɗe jowi ndye fuu
Translation: “Pray five times always.”
Fulfulde: War lee
Translation: “Come with me.”
Fulfulde: Heɗam
Translation: “Wait for me.”
Fulfulde: War jaaden
Translation: “Come, let us go together.”
Fulfulde: Wuuwatay suudu maaɗa
Translation: “Be sweeping your room.”
Fulfulde: To hiirii Ngam Allah tawmin njaren
Translation: “Come out with us tonight.”
Fulfulde: Tawaamin njaaden
Translation: “Please join us for dinner.” (invitation)
Fulfulde: Waru lee
Translation: “Come with me.”
Fulfulde: Ngam Allah de’u
Translation: “Please be quiet.”
Fulfulde: Liwa lamɗam ɗam
Translation: “Pass the salt.”
Fulfulde: Timmin ngal kuugal yaago njaango
Translation: “Finish this by tomorrow.”
Fulfulde: Naftora nebam ɗam
Translation: “Use oil in the pan.” (instruction)
Fulfulde: Ɗalu nyamnuki laahooji ɗin
Translation: “Stop feeding the dog from the table.” (request or
demand)
Fulfulde: En juulu
Translation: “Let us pray.”
Fulfulde: En ndillu juulirde
Translation: “Let us go to the mosque.”
Fulfulde: En jooɗa
Translation: “Let us sit.”
Fulfulde: Ɗal o seyo
Translation: “Let him/her be happy.”
Fulfulde: Ɗal ɓe seyo
Translation: “Let them be happy.” (third-person imperative)
Fulfulde: En njaru
Translation: “Let us (let’s) have a drink.” (first-person plural
imperative)
Fulfulde: Taa jaɓumi waran-ma
Translation: “Don’t let me come there!”
Fulfulde: E mi yela a meetete gaɗa ka’a Kadin
Translation: “I implore you never to do this again.”
Fulfulde: Nyaamu nyiiri taa yiɗi
Translation: “Eat food if you want.” (permission)
Fulfulde: Hoosu hoore maaɗa gaaɓɗo / biisiiɗo
Translation: “Consider yourself lucky.”
Fulfulde: Roota tummbude nden dow taarde
Translation: “Put the calabash on a circle.”
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