A Study of Suffixes in Bade

Citation: Ahmed Muhammed AGO (2023). A Study of Suffixes in Bade. Yobe Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (YOJOLLAC), Vol. 11, Number 1. Department of African Languages and Linguistics, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Nigeria. ISSN 2449-0660

A STUDY OF SUFFIXES IN BADE

By

Ahmed Muhammed AGO

Abstract

A Study of Bade Language Suffixes is an attempt to study the structure of new complex lexical items, created from existing simple ones which are believed to be the most productive sources of forming words into the language through the processes of inflectional and derivational morphology. The main aim of the study is to examine Suffixation Processes in the Western Bade. The objectives include investigating the structure of the Suffixes and examining the nature of inflectional and derivational Suffixes in Bade. Using the Word-Based Model of Haspelmath & Sims (2010). The work points out the inflectional process for gender transformation from masculine to feminine, marker of possessiveness, pluralization and negation marker. On the other hand derivational suffixes of Bade language are used in deriving nouns from adjectives, nouns from verbs, verbs from nouns and verbs from adjectives as well as adjectives from nouns. It can be concluded that inflectional Suffixes are more than derivational Suffixes in the language.

Keywords: Suffixes, Bade, Inflection, Derivation, Word-Based Model

1.0  Introduction

According to Greenberg (1963) Bade language is classified as one of the Chadic languages of Afro-Asiatic phylum. Newman (1977) subdivided the Chadic languages into four different groups namely: East Chadic, West Chadic, Masa and Biu - Mandara. The west Chadic was further subdivided into two different categories, that is Category A and Category B. those under A are Hausa, Bole, Angas, Warji and Ron and those under B group are: Bade, Ngizim, Duwai, Teshenawa and Auyokawa Therefore, the Bade Language belongs to B categories of West Chadic languages.

The word Bade implies both the name of the language, and the people as well as the name of a local government area in Yobe State, Nigeria with its headquarters in Gashu’a. It has an area of 772 km² and a population of 139,782 at the 2006 census Other Bade speech communities within Yobe State include Jakusko, Bursari, and Karasuwa. There are also Bade speech communities across the boundary of the Yobe State, for instance; Musari, Kadwa and Abunobo of Guri local government area of Jigawa state (Bade Ethnologue, 2017).

Bade has three main dialects western Bade, the variety with the largest number of speakers, which is spoken over the western half of two-thirds of the Bade speech communities among; Dagona, Dalah, Tagali and Madamuwa. Southern Bade which is also spoken to the southeast of the Western area and the southern Bade speech Community is Katamma, Katangana, and Gokaram. Gashua Bade is spoken in the town of Gashua and villages around Gashua of Bade’s local government area (University of California, n.d.).

The term affixation can be said to be a morphological process which involves attaching a formative to an existing word (Abubakar, 2001, p.1). The affix which is positioned before the root is called a prefix, while the one which is positioned behind the root is referred to as suffix. The one which is incorporated inside the root of a word is referred to as infix. The affixes which are used in forming words are called derivational affixes, while those used in inflecting them are called inflectional affixes.

Suffixation can simply be described as attaching a morph or morphemes in front of a root word. Suffixation plays a major role in Bade language and has the largest number of derivational suffixes compared to derivational prefixes. The structure of the Bade language provides a good facility for suffixation through which various forms of words can be derived.

This study adopted Haspelmath & Sims’ (2010) Word-Based Model where both concatenative and non-concatenative morphological patterns are described quite naturally. It emphasizes the fundamental significance of the word and the relationship between complex words is captured not by splitting them up into parts. The Model captures the processes of Affixation and base modification and allows morphological rules of virtually any type that exist in any language. The word-based Model is more empirically adequate and satisfactory, favourable, and more general. It is capable of describing many kinds of morphological patterns that are found in the world’s languages including our concern in this research.

The method used for the data collection is structured interview and observation and the tool used for the collection of data is by mobile recoding. This research uses random sampling technique for the collection of data from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was a product of unconscious utterances of words during interaction in the field. Participants of about 60 native speakers were randomly selected across men and women. The methods employed for data collection of the research include fieldwork at some few selected speech communities of Bade language. Similarly, relevant printed materials would be used as secondary source.

2.0              Inflection and Derivation

Inflection is the second branch of morphology. According to (Mathews, 1993, p.9) and (Abubakar, 2001, p.85) is concerned with various forms of a given lexical item without changing its class. Inflectional morphology is referred to as what (Nida, 1946, p.69) calls additive morpheme. Inflection is a word formation process that expresses grammatical distinctions like number (singular & plural); tense (present & past); person (first, second, or third); and case (subject, object, possessive), among others. It does not result in the creation of new lexemes, but merely changes the grammatical form of lexemes to fit into different grammatical contexts (Leiber, 2004, p.7). Inflectional process does not form new words, but rather a different form of the same word is obtained.

Derivational morphology is the process of changing the word class of the base i.e. nouns can be derived from verbs, adjectives from nouns, and so on. One frequent characteristic of derivation is creating new words for new concepts, and since we have a greater need for naming diverse nominal concepts, languages generally have more means for deriving nouns than for deriving verbs and adjectives (Bauer 2002 in Haspelmath & Sims, 2010, p. 87). Derivation involves formation of a new word from an existing lexeme by use of derivational affix the result of which is that the derived word acquires a different grammatical class from its base form (Abubakar, 2001, p. 21).

3.0 Data Presentations and Analysis

This section presents the analysis of Bade language suffixes according to the inflectional and derivational functions. Starting from the inflection part.

3.1. Suffixation

Suffixation is a process whereby a formative is attached to an operand to arrive at derive and this process is found in Bade language whereby an affix is attached to a root/stem to get another shade of meaning, the affixes which are used in forming words are called derivational affixes, while those used in inflecting them are called inflectional affixes.

3.1.1 Inflectional Suffixes

The inflectional suffixes of Bade language do not change the grammatical class of the inflected word forms but it modifies its original meaning considering the examples below.

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	PLURAL FORM	GLOSS
1a. əbdámən	“road”	-mon	əbdámàmon	“roads”
b. dəmān	“wood”	-mon	dəmāmόn	“woods”
c. gəmān	“thigh”	-mon	gəmāmόn	“thighs”

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	PLURAL FORM	GLOSS
2a. əfcà	“mat”	-wàtən	əfcàwàtənən	“mats”
b. ghāghāɓān	“fearful person”	-wàtən	ghāghāɓāwàtən	“fearful people”
c. əgzànən	“nile monitor”	-wàtən	əgzànàwàtən	“Nile monitors”

 

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	PLURAL FORM	GLOSS
3a. àɗākfān	“knee”	-nən	àɗākfənən	“knees”
b. àdàtən	“intestine”	-nən	àdàtənən	“intestines”
c. àɗāmnyān	“ridge”	-nən	àɗāmnyənən	“ridges”

 

WORD FORM		GLOSS	SUFFIX		PLURAL FORM		GLOSS
4a. ànāvùwān		“liver”	-won		ànāvùwāwόn		“livers”
b. apapīwān		“burr grass”	-won		apapīwāwόn		“burr grasses”
c. bərābəran		“granary”	-won		bərābərawόn		“granaries”
WORD FORM	GLOSS			SUFFIX		PLURAL FORM		GLOSS
5a. àbà	“bow”			-bon		àbàbόn		“bows”
b. dàbīn	“hoe”			-bon		dàbábon		“hoes”
c. áɗāksərən	“termite hill”			-ron		áɗāksərāron		“termite mounds”

A lot of inflectional suffixes of Bade language are suffixes that indicate pluralization, and the word forms and the inflected forms remain in the same grammatical class, Bade language has fourteen (14) plural markers in the language, three (3) plural infixes thus, as in əgdàdầmon “crocodiles”, auɗāɗon “graves”, and amāngugwan “co-wives” while, the eleven are plural suffix markers which are as follows; -mon, -wàtən, -nən, -bon, -ron, -won, -non, -lon, -wun, -don, and –gon found in the language. The vast majority of these plural suffixes are plural markers showing that the inflected forms are no longer in their singular forms, these affixes are only attached to a noun’s root words. Also, there is a case of vowel harmony in examples 1a, 2c, 3a, 3c, 5b, and 5c, where the Central Mid unrounded vowel becomes front open unrounded (ə→ a), front open unrounded becomes central mid unrounded vowel (a→ ə), front close unrounded vowel becomes front open unrounded (i→ a ) which are all triggered because of the affixed plural suffixes. In many cases, Bade nouns end with a nasal sound / n /, the / n / sound used to drop when an affix was attached to the root at the suffix position more especially if the suffix attached initial sound of the syllable starts with /w /, / n/ or / k/.

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	FEMININE GENDER	GLOSS
6a. ákùyān	“deaf man”	-kon	ákùyàkon	“deaf woman”
b. àlpádàrān	“male horse”	-kon	alpádáràkon	“mule”
c. āpənon	“hausa man”	-kon	āpənákon	“Hausa woman”

The suffix –kon is also an inflectional suffix, it indicates transformation from masculine to feminine gender by suffixing –kon after nouns roots as seen in the examples above. In example 6a the final word form sound “ n” dropped as a result of the suffix kon attached to the word form then, in example 6c the vowel of the third syllable of the word form back mid close rounded becomes front open unrounded (o→ a) which is a case of vowel harmony and the final sound of the word form / n / is dropped after the attachment of the suffix kon.

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	POSSESSED	GLOSS
7a. fəvən	“son”	– ŋa	fəvənŋá	“my son”
b. cəbənān	“namesake”	– ŋa	cəbənānŋá	“my namesake”
c. wùyán	“girl”	– ŋa	wùyánŋá	“my daughter”

The suffix – ŋa is another inflectional suffix of Bade language under the possessive case. This type of inflection marker is the genitive possessive maker and is formed by suffixing – ŋa to the possessed nouns or nominal as seen in the examples above.

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	NEGATED	GLOSS
8a. dànká	“everywhere”	-m	dànkám	“not everywhere”
b. ɗàvá	“good”	-m	ɗàvám	“not good”
c. gāwá	“many”	-m	gāwám	“not many”

The suffix –m is also another inflectional suffix indicating the contradiction or denial of something or the absence or opposite of something actual or positive. This suffix –m functions like the English language “not” negation marker and it is attached after adverbs or adjectives words in Bade language as cited in the examples above.

WORD FORM	GLOSS	SUFFIX	INFLECTED	GLOSS
9a. ɗàvá	“good”	-yya	dàváyya	“very good”
b. gāwà	“many”	-yya	gàwáyya	“too many”
c. kùlì	“pleasant”	-yya	kùlìyya	“very pleasant”

The suffix –yya in Bade language refers to a great extent or degree, extremely or exceedingly of something. This suffix is limited to only adjectives grammatical class in Bade as seen in the examples above.

3.1.2. Derivational Suffixes

Derivational suffixes in Bade language are used in deriving nouns from adjectives, nouns from verbs, verbs from nouns, and in deriving verbs from adjectives as well as adjectives from nouns. The derivational suffixes of Bade language are; -kwén, -mān, -n, -wo, and –wan consider the following examples below.

ROOT	GLOSS	SUFFIX	DERIVED WORD	GLOSS
10a. ānsì	“stubborn”	-kwén	ànsákwén	“stubbornness”
b. bāzən	“unmarried”	-kwén	bāzənākwén	“bachelorhood”
c. cəkəɗīmān	“meddlesome”	–kwén	cəkəɗīmākwén	“meddlesomeness”

The suffix –kwén with a down-stepped high tone (or simply “downstep”) is marked with an acute accent ( ʹ ). Down step is a slight lowering of pitch that does not go as low as a low tone. The suffix –kwén is a derivational suffix in which nouns are derived from adjectives in many cases and in some cases which is very rare from verbs as seen in the examples above. In example 10a another vowel harmony was revealed where the front close unrounded vowel becomes front open unrounded (i→ a ) after the suffix kwén was attached to it and in example 10c the final sound “ n” of the word form was dropped after the suffix was attached.

ROOT	GLOSS	SUFFIX	DERIVED WORD	GLOSS
11a. arzəkìn	“wealth”	–mān	arzəkìmān	“wealthy”
b. cākù	“weave”	–mān	cākāmān	“weaver”
c. dùnόn	“strength”	–mān	dùnόmān	“strong person”

The suffix –mān with a long vowel is a derivational suffix in which adjectives are derived from nouns, nouns from verbs, and adjectives from nouns as seen in the examples above. In examples 11a and 11c the final sound of the word form was dropped as a result of the suffix mān attached to it and in example 11b the back close rounded vowel becomes front open unrounded ( u→ a ) this is also a vowel alternation.

ROOT	GLOSS	SUFFIX	DERIVED WORD	GLOSS
12a. gàtāvà	“sick/ill”	-n	gàtāvàn	“sickness”
b. bàkso	“bad”	-n	bàkson	“badness”
c. gāmáyà	“feeling hungry”	-n	gāmáyàn	“greedy person”

The suffix –n is a derivational suffix in Bade language whereby nouns are derived from adjectives to arrive at the new word, but the derivation here is limited, only nouns are derived from adjectives as seen in the examples above.

ROOT	GLOSS	SUFFIX	DERIVED WORD	GLOSS
13a. bītlà	“red”	-tu	bītlātu	“become red”
b. dàmtό	“near”	-tu	dàmtόtu	“draw near”
c. dόndīn	“sickness”	-tu	dόndīntu	“nurse sick person”

The suffix –tu in Bade language is a verbal suffix. The suffix –tu is also a derivational suffix in which verbs are derived from adjectives or nouns as seen in the examples above. In example 13c the final consonant sound of the word form was dropped after the suffix tu attached to it.

ROOT	GLOSS	SUFFIX	DERIVED WORD	GLOSS
14a. bàrkán	“Congratulation”	-watu	bàrkáwatu	“Congratulate”
b. ɓùwà	“Red”	-wo	ɓùwàwo	“Reddish”
c. ɗùràn	“choose”	-wan	ɗùràwan	“small ants”

The suffixes –watu, -wo and –wan function as a derivational suffix in Bade language, only that these kinds of suffixes are not regular and frequent derivational suffixes in Bade, but they do change the grammatical class of the derived roots /stems as seen from the examples above. In the example, 14a verb is derived from a noun, and in the example 14b noun is derived from an adjective while in the last example which is the 14c noun is derived from a verb, in example 14a and 14c the final consonant sound of the second syllable / n / was dropped when the derivational suffix was attached.

5.0 Conclusion

Conclusively, this work attempts to analyze the inflectional and derivational suffixes of Bade language. The study revealed that in Bade language there is a case of vowel harmony in some suffixation processes and many Bade nouns end with a nasal sound / n /, the / n / sound of the word form of Bade language used to drop when an affix was attached to the root at the suffix position more especially if the suffix attached initial sound of the syllable starts with / w /, / n/, or / k also the research pointed out a possessive marker, negation marker, suffix of the degree of something both in the inflectional part and in the derivational part where nouns are derived from adjectives, nouns from verbs, verbs from nouns and verbs from adjectives as well as adjectives from nouns. Finally, Bade language uses affixes in different forms, those used in deriving new words and those used in inflecting them are found in the language and are analyzed.

References

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