This book discusses some important features of Fulfulde syntax like vowel length, consonant germination, agreement and consonant alternation. Vowel length and consonant germination are phonemic in the language while consonant alternation is always triggered by number. In addition to these important features, the book discusses the three sets of pronouns that Fulfulde has; these include, the anaphoric pronouns (reflexives and reciprocals), the nominal class pronouns and the disjunctive pronouns.
Apart from the disjunctive pronouns, the other two sets of pronouns are affixes that are attached either to the verbal roots or nominal stems. In addition to its primary function of word formation, Fulfulde noun classes can function also as subject/object pronouns, demonstrative pronouns and complimentizers. Agreement in Fulfulde goes beyond word level it affects both words and sentences. The initial consonants of the subject noun and that of the verb agree when number is added to the subject noun. This agreement affects adjectives also. Although Fulfulde is classified as an SVO word order language, there are other word orders derived through various transformations; there are structures derived as a result of NP movements (passivization, topicalization and foculization) and WH-movement (WH-questions). In Fulfulde passive constructions, both objects can passivize. The logical subject of the sentence drops to pave way for the moving object to occupy the subject position. Topicalization and foculization are two types of emphasis in Fulfulde. The line of demarcation between the two structures is so thin that one can substitute one for the other. Furthermore, the book discusses Fulfulde phrase structure rules and sentence analysis using the tree diagram method.
ISBN 9783862880720. LINCOM Language Coursebooks 13. 134pp. 2011. Students' discounts available! Please ask!