On the reconstruction of some tense/aspect markers in Proto-Mande

Kirill Babaev (Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences (Moscow), babaev@yandex.ru)

Journal of Language Relationship, № 6, 2011 - p.1-24

Abstract: The paper discusses the origins and diachronic development of predicative markers of tense / aspect, mood and negation in the languages of the Mande family (West Africa). The analysis contains a survey of hypotheses regarding the genesis of the structure of verbal clauses in Mande from a typological standpoint, as well as a tentative reconstruction of some of the Proto-Mande predicative markers or their lexical sources.

Keywords: Mande languages, Niger-Congo languages, verbal system, TAM marking, predication, negation marking, comparative research, reconstruction

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