Theoretical aspects of noun classes in Lama

Abstract

Lama is a Gur language spoken in the districts of Keran and Doufelgou of Togo. Other than earlier research by A. Prost (1964b), the field of linguistics has not given much attention to Lama. More recently, though, dissertations by Ourso (1989) and Aritiba (1989) have contributed significantly.

This dissertation provides an analysis of the noun class system and agreement phenomena in Lama (Kante variant). Furthermore, the incorporation process for borrowed nouns and the agreement phenomena for left-dislocated coordinate NP structures support the analysis that Lama noun classes, for the most part, are not semantically or phonologically based.

The dissertation contains six chapters. The introductory chapter classifies Lama with respect to geographical and typological categories and discusses relevant research and methodology. Chapter 2 presents the reanalysis of the noun class system and Chapter 3 summarizes the agreement phenomena of nouns and their constituents. The fourth chapter contains an analysis of the borrowing process for nouns and Chapter 5 discusses agreement in left-dislocated coordinate NP structures. The final chapter summarizes the findings of this research and proposes further research areas.