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Kosogorova M. A. Ideophones and intensifiers in Pular

Maria A. Kosogorova
Moscow State University;
Institute of Linguistics RAS
Moscow, Russia
E-mail: maria.kosogorova@gmail.com

 

  Download  |  Go to Issue #4. 2019

 

УДК 811.4 
DOI 10.31250/2618-8619-2019-4(6)-131-140

 

ABSTRACT. The article discusses two word classes in Pular, one of the major languages of Guinea. The first part of the article deals with ideophones, which is a common word class in African languages. In Pular it has a number of characteristic features, revealed in the research. Firstly, Pular ideophones are not solely of the onomatopoeic origin, but can also be of the sensory imagery origin, as it is called by some researchers, which is based on other senses than hearing. The sensory imagery theory is widely discussed in the context of other languages, but in Pular it seems to be very adequate. Secondly, Pular ideophones are mostly grammaticalized, thus becoming other parts of speech. Some of them are, for instance, fully functional predicates and attributes. The second part of the article deals with intensifiers, which is a well-described word class in Pular, mainly because it contains a strictly limited number of widespread lexemes. Its main feature is the strict concordance of each intensifier with only one main lexeme to which it can be attached. The third part of the article presents a comparison of these two word classes and their features, deciding whether they can act as a single word class or not.

 

KEYWORDS: Pular, ideophones, intensifiers, discourse, grammaticalization

 

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