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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
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EXPERIENCER CONSTRUCTIONS IN WOLOF
CONTENTS
1.1 THE EXPERIENCER.................................................................................. 3
1.2 THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ........................................................ 7
1.2.1 DEFINITIONS ..................................................................................... 8
1.2.2 EXPERIENTIAL DOMAINS............................................................. 8
1.2.3 THE MODEL ....................................................................................... 9
1.3 STRUCTURE OF THE ANALYSIS........................................................... 10
3 THE CODIFICATION OF EMOTION IN WOLOF................................ 12
3.1 CONGRUENT RENDERING VS. METAPHORICAL BODY PART
EXPRESSION .................................................................................................. 14
3.2 PHENOMENON-ORIENTED EMOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS................. 19
3.2.1 THE CAUSATIVE SUFFIX –AL ..................................................... 20
3.2.2 THE CAUSATIVE SUFFIX –LOO .................................................. 21
3.2.3 BASIC EXPERIENCER-OBJECT- VERBS..................................... 26
3.3 EXPERIENCER-ORIENTED CONSTRUCTIONS EXPRESSING THE
PHENOMENON .............................................................................................. 27
3.4 THE EMOTIONAL CATEGORIES LOVE, HATE, AND PITY ................ 29
3.5 FURTHER METAPHORICAL RENDERINGS OF EMOTIONAL
SITUATIONS.................................................................................................... 33
3.5.1 EXPERITUM-ORIENTED METAPHORICAL RENDERINGS..... 33
3.5.2 POSSESSIVE COPULA CONSTRUCTIONS.................................. 36
3.5.3 IDEOPHONIC EXPRESSIONS ........................................................ 39
4 NON-EMOTIONAL MENTAL EXPERIENCES IN WOLOF ...................... 39
4.1 CONGRUENT EXPRESSIONS OF NON-EMOTIONAL MENTAL
EXPERIENCE.................................................................................................. 40
4.2 METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS OF NON-EMOTIONAL MENTAL
EXPERIENCES................................................................................................ 45
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4.2.1 BODY PART ORIENTED FIGURATIVE EXPRESSIONS............ 46
4.2.2 PHENOMENON-ORIENTED METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS
...................................................................................................................... 47
4.2.3 EXPERIENCER-ORIENTED METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS48
4.2.3.1 Experiencer-participant‘s active engagement is highlighted .......................... 48
4.2.3.2 Possessive copula constructions...................................................................... 49
4.2.3.3 Onomatopoetic expressions............................................................................. 50
5 INNER PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE ........................................................... 50
5.1 CONGRUENT RENDERINGS OF INNER PHYSICAL EXPERIENCE .. 50
5.2 EXPERITUM-ORIENTED RENDERINGS OF INNER PHYSICAL
EXPERIENCE.................................................................................................. 53
5.3 EXPERIENCER-ORIENTED METAPHORICAL EXPRESSIONS .......... 54
5.2.1 SPECIFIYING EXPRESSIONS ........................................................ 54
5.2.2 POSSESSIVE COPULA CONSTRUCTIONS.................................. 55
5.2.3 CIRCUMSTANTIAL RELATION OF ACCOMPANIMENT......... 55
6 SUMMARY.................................................................................................... 56
APPENDIX II: LITERATURE ON WOLOF................................................ 85
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................... 86
REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 88
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
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1 Introduction
This paper investigates into the field of experiencer constructions in the Atlantic language
Wolof.1 The analysis is carried out within the framework of a research project on experiencer
encoding in African Languages2 and follows a model developed by M. Reh (1998a and
1998b) which records descriptively and comparatively the lexico-grammatical means
available in African languages to denote experiential situations.
I begin in the next section with a characterization of the thematic role ‘experiencer’. The
following section briefly outlines Reh’s model, which forms the theoretical framework of the
paper. A descriptive recording and thorough analysis of experiencer situations in Wolof is the
topic of section 2. The final section summarizes the lexico-grammatical means available in
Wolof to render experiencer expressions and compares different grammatical realizations
across all sub-domains of experiential situations with regard to possible structural and
functional regularities and their respective motivations. According to the principle of nonsynonymy of grammatical forms it is assumed that a systematic difference in the linguistic
encoding corresponds to a systematic difference in meaning.
1.1 The Experiencer
This section is going to discuss the notion of ‘thematic roles’ (also known as semantic roles,
theta roles, theta grids, participant roles, thematic relations, deep cases, semantic cases, case
frames). The most common understanding is that thematic roles are semantic/conceptual
elements and they are assumed to be the source of grammatical relations in many linguistic
theories. They express generalizations on the types of lexical functions that are established
between the verb and its arguments in the predication. By assigning thematic roles, the
linguist attempts to capture similarities and differences in verb meaning that are reflected in
1
Wolof is classified as a member of the Atlantic language family, one of the subdivisions of the Niger-Congo
language phylum. It is spoken by about 4 million people in Senegal, Gambia and parts of Mauritania. The Wolof
examples on experiential situations in this paper are taken from a combination of sources. A great deal of the
examples were elicited from native speakers during a research stay in Gambia and Senegal between November
1998 and March 1999 with the help of a questionnaire, developed by M. Reh (1998) within the framework of the
research project on experiencer encoding in African languages. Other examples are taken from a variety of
published materials: grammar books, dictionaries, newspapers, instructional books published by the government
of Senegal, narratives (novels and tales) and transcriptions of radio and television plays. The published sources
are listed in Appendix II.
2
The research project ‚Experiencer encoding in African Languages‘ was started in 1996, directed by Mechthild
Reh, Institute of African and Ethiopian Studies, University of Hamburg, and is sponsored by the German
Research Foundation (DFG).
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
argument expression, with emergent generalizations that will contribute to the mapping from
semantics to syntax.
Since Fillmore (1968) popularized the notion of ‘deep semantic cases’ as underlying
situational categories, which have to be distinguished from grammatical surface structure
categories, such as subject and object, an extensive literature has been published on this
subject.
Despite the general agreement on the importance of the notion of thematic roles authors
disagree on how many different roles are to be distinguished. The lists of individual roles
given in the literature vary from author to author which is primarily due to the problem of
delimiting particular roles. This in turn is attributable to the problem of selecting specific
semantic parameters for characterizing such roles. I will introduce here three different
approaches to the question of thematic role assignment in order to demonstrate the
considerations underlying the conceptualization of experiencer-participants in Reh’s model.
(a) Longacre (1983)
An early attempt to define an inventory of thematic roles and their relationship to the verb
types with which they characteristically occur is lined out in Longacre (1983). Longacre
developed ‘case frame model’, which divides verbs into 48 distinct types (or case frames) on
the basis of their inherent semantics (i.e., whether they are state, process, action-process, or
action verbs) in addition to a number of special semantic parameters such as reference to
physical states, reference to factual knowledge, reference to emotions or the psych, etc.
Ten nuclear cases/thematic roles (agent, patient, experiencer, range, measure, instrument,
locative, source, goal, path) are required in this model to determine the roles that the referents
of nominal phrases play in varying situations as distinguished by the established verb types.
The experiencer-role which he defined as ”an animate entity whose registering nervous
system is relevant to the predication” (Longacre 1983:155) figures in a number of experiential
case frames, that is, case frames which refer to factual knowledge, desire, cognition, emotions
and the psych, etc.
The model is of highly descriptive value but due to its complexity of less value for general
statements concerning role assignments.
(b) Bugenhagen (1990)
Bugenhagen’s approach to the problem of role assignment which he presents in the
introductory chapter of a descriptive analysis of experiential constructions in the Austronesian
language Mangap-Mbula, reduces the number of thematic roles to two basic categories: protoagent and proto-patient. Thematic roles are no longer viewed as discrete and bound categories
(a view underlying Longacre’s approach) but as more or less prototypical versions of the two
basic roles. Thus, according to Bugenhagen the thematic role of an experiencer is not defined
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
as clearly distinct from the roles of prototypical agents and prototypical patients but is rather
defined as an intermediate role between prototypical agent and prototypical patient.
The following table lists the semantic features, which characterize a prototypical agent, a
prototypical patient, and an experiencer (Bugenhagen 1990:184-185).
human entity
volition
initiation
control
sentience
affectedness
prototypical agent
+
+
+
+
+
-
prototypical patient
+
experiencer
+
+/+/+/+
+
Table (1): Semantic features characterizing the thematic role of an experiencer as distinct from those of
prototypical agents and prototypical patients.
According to this definition agent-like and patient-like features overlap in the description of
an experiencer-role. The experiencer shares semantic features with the prototypical agent
(human entity, sentience) as well as with the prototypical patient (affectedness) and is left
unspecified with regard to other features (volition, control, initiation). Different encoding of
the experiencer (as grammatical subject or as grammatical object) manifests different
conceptualizations of experiential situations.
Underlying Bugenhagen’s definition of the role of an experiencer is the presumption that
experiential situations are built on prototypical causal type events, i.e. events involving a
transitive verb which prototypically renders a material process and two participants, the Agent
and the Patient. The activity encoded in the verb is viewed as a transfer of energy from the
agent-participant to the patient-participant.
When the experiencer is coded as the subject of an affective predication she or he is perceived
as having an active, volitional, controlled involvement in the interaction.
[experiencer]subject [experitum]verb [stimulus]object
When the experiencer is coded as the object of an affective predication she or he is
conceptualized as a passive or inactive participant with a non-volitional involvement in the
situation.
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[stimulus]subject [experitum]verb [experiencer]object
The cognitive dominance of the ‚causal type event‘ is widespread but investigations into
experiential constructions in African languages revealed (Ameka 1990, Bugenhagen 1990,
Reh 1998) that an experiencer participant can be rendered linguistically in a way that differs
from grammatical realizations as prototypical agent or patient, i.e., without reference to the
causation schema. In this case metaphorization is used as a grammatical strategy to
manipulate the renderings of experiencer situations.
When experiential situations are not expressed by literal expression types which already allow
for some variation as to the grammatical encoding of the experiencer participant (i.e. as
grammatical subject or as grammatical object) but are rendered metaphorically, the question
arises which pragmatic functions the metaphorical use of language serves and how to account
for the differences between literal and metaphorical renderings. Bugenhagen’s approach to
explaining the relationship between the grammatical position taken by the experiencer
participant and the semantic interpretations derived from differing grammatical encodings
does not account for metaphorical representations of experiencer situations, especially those
figurative expressions which are not grounded in the causation schema.
(c) Halliday (1994)
Hallidays functional-systemic approach to explaining the grammatical and semantic
relationship that participants bear to the clause allows capturing the connections between
congruent3 and metaphorical expressions of experiential situations and is briefly outlined here.
Halliday (1994:106-124) classifies verbs, not according to their internal semantics (a
subdivision underlying Longacre’s model) but according to their external semantics, i.e.,
whether they express outer experience (material processes), inner experience (mental
processes), or relational experience (relational processes).4
According to the category of process, which they describe, verbs entail different thematic
roles for participants of the clause. Material processes are characteristically associated with
the roles actor and goal (the agent and the patient in the terminology of some authors as
outlined in Bugenhagen 1990). Relational processes, which express that a relationship is
being set up between two entities, characteristically include a carrier role and an attribute role
(if the relationship is of the attributive type) or the roles of an identified and an identifier (if
the relationship is of the identifying type).
3
Halliday (1985:321) introduces the term ‚congruent‘ to refer to literal expressions as distinct from metaphorical
expressions. According to Halliday congruent modes of representation are typically the ‚unmarked‘ way of
saying a thing.
4
Besides the three main types of processes (material, mental, relational) Halliday (1994:139) recognizes three
subsidiary process types, located at the boundaries of the main types: (A) Behavioral processes between material
and mental processes. (B) Verbal processes between mental and relational processes. (C) Existential processes
between relational and material processes.
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It is only the mental processes (Halliday 1994:108: SEEING, FEELING, THINKING) that
characteristically include one participant that is endowed with consciousness and to whom the
role-label ‘senser’ is given (the experiencer in the terminology of most authors) and an
element that is experienced to which the role-label ‘phenomenon’ is assigned.
The relevance of this approach for explaining the diverse encoding of experiential situations
lies in the fact that Halliday’s model allows to distinguish particular thematic roles for
participants of experiencer expressions encoded by mental process verbs as distinct from the
thematic role requirements of material or relational process verbs which are the source of
metaphorical renderings of experiential situations.
Thus, according to Halliday, an experiential situation may be presented congruently as a
mental process that usually has the structure ‘senser – mental process – phenomenon’. It may,
however, alternatively be encoded as a material or a relational process, that is, by a
metaphorical mode of representation. In this case, the cognitive units of experiencer
constructions (senser, mental process, phenomenon) can be arranged in differing
configurations. What is meant by this (Halliday 1985:322) is that a mental process like I saw
can, for example, be turned into a participant of a material process (a sight) as in I came upon
a sight or even be split up into an actor (a sight), a material process (met) and a goal (eyes) as
in a wonderful sight met her eyes.
It will become apparent in the section on experiencer encoding in Wolof that the internal
semantics as well as the external semantics of verbs in experiential constructions with their
respective requirements for participant roles and related grammatical functions have to be
considered in order to capture the conceptual differences of propositionally related
experiential predications.
The following section presents the conceptual framework for the analysis of experiencer
encoding in African languages as outlined in Reh (1998a, 1998b). The framework builds on
elements drawn from Bugenhagen’s (1990) as well as Halliday’s (1985 and 1994) analysis of
experiential situation and further extends and specifies them.
1.2 The theoretical framework
The theoretical framework of Reh‘s research project on experiencer encoding in African
languages will be specified in this section. First all relevant definitions concerning
experiencer expressions will be given. The next section names the experiential domains and
their respective sub domains that have been selected for analysis in Reh’s project. I then move
on to present Reh’s model, which was developed on the basis of empirical facts from a great
number of African languages.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
1.2.1 Definitions
The term ‚experiencer construction‘ is used for clauses that (a) denote mental or inner
physical experience and (b) express the experiencer participant linguistically.
Conceptually experiencer constructions are depicted as consisting of three cognitive units
(Reh 1998a:2 and 1998b):
1. Experiencer: the participant who undergoes the mental or inner physical
experience and who is aware of it.
2. Experitum: the mental or inner physical experience.
3. Phenomenon: the participant that gives rise to the mental or inner physical
experience.
These units are linguistically complemented by a fourth unit, the predicator, which transforms
the proposition into a clause.
1.2.2 Experiential domains
Reh‘s model treats experiential situations as consisting of the following six domains and
subsequent sub domains of mental and inner physical experience:
EMOTION
COGNITION
CONCEPTION
VOLITION
PERCEP.
PHYSICAL
ANGER
KNOWING
BELIEVING/
WANTING
SEEING
PAIN
FEAR
UNDERSTANDING
TRUSTING
NEEDING
HEARING
COLD
JOY/HAPPYNESS
REMEMBERING
THINKING
ENVYING
SMELLING
SWEATING
LOVE
FORGETTING
ASSUMING
CONTENTM.
WORRY
SURPRISE
DOUBTING
SHAME
DISAPPOINTMENT
SADNESS
HATE
PITY
JEALOUSY
Table (2): Domains and sub domains of experiential situations.
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HUNGER
SICKNESS
PREGNANCY
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
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1.2.3 The model
On the basis of linguistic facts from African languages Reh developed a model which intends
to record the linguistic means available in African languages to render the pragmatically least
marked forms of experiential situations, whether they are expressed by a congruent or by a
metaphoric construction. The language data thus collected and categorized is supposed to
serve as a base for a comparative analysis of experiencer expressions as attested in African
languages (and also cross-linguistically).
The model allows for the following semanto-grammatical differences to be considered in the
analysis of linguistic representations of experiential expressions:
(1) The dimension of topic selection, i.e. which of the three main conceptual units of
experiential expressions, the experiencer participant, the experitum, or the phenomenon
participant are encoded in subject position.
Since different perspectives or conceptualizations of experiencers are signaled by the
grammatical relation assumed by the experiencer-participant, special attention is laid on the
grammatical function hold by this particular participant in a specific context.
(2) The dimension of expressive strategy, i.e. whether the experiential situation is rendered by
a congruent expression – that is, an expression in which the semantic domain of the basic
meaning of the predicate is congruent with the semantic domain to which the meaning of the
whole clause belongs (labeling expressions, metonymically expanded expressions, or derived
expressions) or whether the experiential situation is rendered by a metaphorical clause – that
is, a clause in which the experiential situation does not derive from the lexical meaning of the
predicate but from participants added (locative and possessive copula constructions,
specifying expressions, attributive expressions, anthropomorphistic expressions).
(3) The dimension of pragmatical markedness.
(4) The dimension of grammatical transitivity.
(5) The person category of the experiencer participant.
Because of the importance of the second dimension for a systematic analysis of experiencer
encoding, the subdivisions of congruent as well as metaphorical expressions will be
explicated here in more detail.
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Congruent expressions:
- Labeling expression: the experiencer situation is rendered by a monomorphemic verb
displaying an unmotivated sound sequence.
- Metonymically expanded expression: the literal meaning of the verbal predicate refers
to a different but related semantic area.
- Derived expression: the verbal predicate is morphologically derived to bind other
participants.
Metaphoric expressions:
- Locative / possessive copula constructions: the experiencer situation is presented in
terms of a spatial configuration between the experiencer and the experitum (locative) or
the experiencer situation is rendered as a relation between two entities in possessive
terms as ‘having’ or ‘owning’ the relevant experitum (possessive).
- Specifying expressions: the predicate is made up of a transitive perception verb that
indicates the general semantic area. The experiential situation is then further specified
by the direct object of this perception verb, which denotes the specific experitum.
- Attributive expressions: the experiencer situation is represented as the physical quality
of a body part or as a qualitative relation between the phenomenon and the experiencer,
provided the respective language owns a phenomenon-oriented congruent verb.
- Anthropomorphistic expressions: the nominally expressed experitum (or
metonymically a body part associated with the experiential situation) and other
participants are related by means of a verb taken from the domain of material processes.
Having laid out the conceptual basics of experiencer constructions and explicated the
terminology used in reference to mental and inner physical experience in the previous section,
I now move on to explore the various ways of conceptualizing experiential situations that are
encoded in grammatical constructions in Wolof.
1.3 Structure of the analysis
Differences in the congruent grammatical encoding of experiencer situations in Wolof suggest
a three-way distinction between the following domains: (1) emotional experiences, (2) nonemotional mental experiences, and (3) inner physical experiences. There are systematic
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11
differences in the linguistic encoding of each of the experiential groups set up above. One of
the differences relates to the argument structure of the verb, i.e., whether the verb occurs with
only one argument, the subject, or whether two arguments are required.
Croft (1993:58-63) captured the difference between one-place and two-place mental verbs and
their respective participant role requirements in a model, which depicts the semantic structure
of events as causal chains. He distinguished four causal types: volitional, physical, inducive,
and affective causation. According to Croft, mental verbs belong to the affective causation
type and divide into three subsets: mental state verbs, mental activity verbs and causative
mental verbs.
(a) Mental state verbs imply no inherent directionality of causation; no transmission of force
is involved. The experiencer is assigned to subject position and the stimulus is frequently
found in a governed oblique since the experiencer does not affect it.
(b) Mental activity verbs assign the experiencer to subject position and the stimulus to object
position, a result of the directionality of causation.
(c) Causative mental verbs require the stimulus (the ‘phenomenon’ in Reh’s terminology) to
be the subject and the experiencer to be the object because they represent a transmission of
force from the stimulus to the experiencer.
Croft’s classification of mental verbs can be applied to experiencer verbs in Wolof.
Experiencer verbs belong to one of the above-mentioned subsets of mental verbs, yet they are
not equally distributed across the experiential domains but rather show the following salient
distribution pattern in congruent expressions:
Non-emotional mental experiences are predominantly rendered in congruent expressions by
transitive or two-place verbs in their pragmatically least marked form. In these constructions
the experiencer participant and the phenomenon participant are usually grammatically
expressed as subject and object of the clause respectively.
Emotional and inner physical experiences, on the other hand, are typically encoded in their
pragmatically least marked form with only one participant, the experiencer, overtly expressed.
The second participant, the phenomenon is not made explicit. It requires a causative verb to
express that the mental or inner physical state is triggered by some external cause. The
external cause is then grammatically encoded as the subject of the clause and the experiencer
is shifted to object position.
One of the sub domains of inner physical experience, the sub domain PAIN shows the
peculiarity that the locus of affect and not the experiencer participant or any of the conceptual
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entities outlined in Reh’s model are encoded as the grammatical subject of a congruent
expression.
The linguistic survey of experiential situations in Wolof starts in the next section with a
systematic study of emotional expressions in Wolof. The following two sections will
investigate into non-emotional mental experiences and into the domain of inner physical
experience.
3 The codification of emotion in Wolof
I begin this section with a presentation of the general pattern underlying the codification of
emotional expressions. The linguistic renderings of the emotional sub domains which follow
this general pattern will be presented below in order to illustrate that there are principled
distinctions between congruent expressions and metaphorical body part phrases, whether the
phenomenon-participant triggering the emotional state is explicitly expressed or not.
The following table presents an overview of the general pattern underlying the codification of
emotional expression.
EMOTION
GRIEF
ANGER
FEAR
JOY
CONTENTMENT
congruent
metaphoric
metaphoric
S (experiencer) S (phenomenon)
S (body part)
S (phenomenon)
dafa naqarlu
suma xol dafa naqari
dafa naqari suma xol
‚she feels bitter‘ ‚it made me feel bitter‘
‚my heart is bitter‘
‚it made my heart bitter‘
dafa mer
daf ma merloo
suma xol bi tàng
dafa tàngal suma xol
‚she is angry‘
‚it made her/him angry‘
‚my heart is hot‘
‚it heated my heart‘
dafa tiit
daf ma tiitloo
suma fit dafa ricc
—
‚she fears‘
‚it frightens her/him‘
‚my spirit escaped‘
dafa kontaan
daf ma kontaanloo
suma xol bi fééx
‚she is happy‘
‚it made her/him happy‘ ‚my heart is fresh‘
it refreshed my heart‘
dafa kontaan
daf ma kontaanloo
suma xel bi dal
dafa dalal suma xel
‚she is satisf.‘
‚it satisfied her/him‘
‚my mind is settled‘
‚it calmed my mind‘
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congruent
daf ma naqarloo
dafa fééxal suma xol
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EMOTION
WORRY
SHAME
SADNESS
congruent
congruent
metaphoric
metaphoric
S (experiencer) S (phenomenon)
S (body part)
S (phenomenon)
dafay jaaxle
daf ma jaaxal
suma xel bi dalul
mënoo dalal suma xel
‚she worries‘
‚it worried her/him‘
‚my mind is not settled‘
‚it can’t calm my mind‘
dafa rus
daf ma rusloo
suma der bi yàqu
danga yàq suma der
‚she is ashemed‘ ‚it ashamed her/him‘
‚my skin is destroyed‘
‚you destroyed my skin‘
—
suma yaram bi yepp dee —
—
‚my whole body died‘
DISAPPOINTM.
JEALOUSY
—
—
suma xel bi tilim
dafa tilimal suma xel
‚my mind is dirty
‚it made my mind dirty
dafa fiir
dafa xett xolam
5
‚he is jealous‘
SURPRISE
dafa waaru
‚it pierced her/his heart‘
daf ma waar
—
—
‚she is surprised‘ ‚it surprised her/him
Table (3): General codification pattern of emotional situations.
The examples given in table (3) illustrate that specific body parts are associated with specific
emotions:
xol
xel
yaram
der
‚heart‘
‚mind‘
‚body‘
‚skin‘
seat of GRIEF, ANGER, JOY, JEALOUSY
seat of CONTENTMENT, WORRY, DISAPPOINTMENT
seat of SADNESS, PITY
seat of SHAME
Three emotional sub domains, LOVE, HATE, and PITY, are not encoded according to this
general pattern and will be explicated after the general strategies have been outlined.
There are of course quite a number of further metaphorical renderings of emotional situations
that modify one or more of the semantic and pragmatic features of the pragmatically least
5
The emotional situation JEALOUSY can only be rendered with a mental state verb in a congruent expression. A
corresponding causative verb is not attested. This might be due to the fact that jealousy is, according to
informants, an emotion exclusively experienced by a husband and usually triggered by (one of) his wife (his
wives).
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marked forms. These metaphoric expressions will be systemized and analyzed in section 3.6.
in order to demonstrate the full range of semanto-grammatical means available to a speaker of
Wolof to signal different conceptualizations of a particular situation and the participants
involved in it.
3.1 Congruent rendering vs. metaphorical body part expression
The examples given in table (3) illustrate that emotional expressions show the peculiarity that
for a given emotion a congruent experiencer-oriented rendering (e.g. dafa mer ‘she is angry’)
corresponds systematically to a metaphorical body part-oriented rendering (e.g. xolam dafa
tàng ‘his/her heart is hot’) – that is, a body part phrasal which usually renders the emotional
situation as the physical quality of a body part and encodes the experiencer-participant as the
possessive attribute of the respective body part term.6 In experiencer-oriented congruent
expression the phenomenon-participant gets not expressed overtly. Instead, congruent
expressions including the phenomenon encode this participant in subject position (e.g. daf ko
merloo ‘it made him/her feel angry’) and they correspond systematically to phenomenonoriented body part phrases (e.g. dafay tàngal sama xol ‘it heats my heart’) in which the
experitum is expressed by a body part noun which is represented as acquiring a certain quality
under the influence of the phenomenon-participant.
The semantic difference captured by these two encoding relates, according to the statement of
Wolof-informants, to whether the emotional state of the experiencer is manifested overtly in
some sort of physical or physiological behavior (e.g. facial expressions, body postures, bodily
activities, etc.) or whether the emotional state is not expressed overtly.7 If the emotion is not
physically expressed a body part term which is supposed to be the seat of the respective
emotion is introduced and typically modified by a qualitative verb.
From this follows that the difference between the above mentioned congruent and
metaphorical body part expressions does not relate to pragmatical markedness, irrespective of
whether pragmatical markedness be defined in terms of a higher intensity in regard to the
6
In one instance the emotional situation is not construed as the physical quality of a body part, instead another
strategy, the anthropomorphistic strategy, is used. In this case, the body part associated with the experiential
situation acts as a metaphorical agent and gets combined with a verb whose literal meaning pertains to a material
process (e.g. FEAR ricc ‚to escape‘ in suma fit dafa ricc ‚my spirit escaped‘).
7
A distributional analysis of this type of body part expressions within the Wolof-data which serves as the
analytical base of this study revealed, that the possibility to differentiate between an emotion which is physically
or physiologically expressed and one which is not physically or physiologically expressed correlates with a
dominance of 3rd person reference in the use of congruent constructions and a dominance of 1st person reference
in the use of body part constructions. This might be due to the fact that outer manifestations of emotions are
more likely to be observed with other people while a speaker referring to himself or herself will more likely
express in words what is not yet expressed physically.
HAAP 2 (2003)
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15
respective emotion or whether it be defined statistically by comparing the number of
occurrences of different renderings of a given emotional expression. Thus the emotion WORRY
is congruently rendered with the labeling verb jaaxle ‚to worry‘ as in dafay jaaxle ‚she
worries‘. Yet, the corresponding body part phrasal xelam bi dalul ‚his/her mind is not at
peace‘ displays a higher statistical frequency and indicates less intensity in regard to the
mental state as compared to the labeling emotion verb. This might be interpreted along the
same lines as has been done concerning the differences between congruent renderings and
body part phrases in as much as emotions which find no outer expression might be assumed to
be minor in intensity and still kept in their respective bodily seats whereas an increase in
intensity finally results in the physical or physiological visibleness of the respective emotion.
Body part phrases push any aspects of control on part of the experiencer into the background.
They express a relational process of the attributive type and are thus not grounded in the
causation schema. Furthermore, the experiencer is substituted for a body part term and
appears only as a possessor attribute to this body part. Hence, she or he is conceptualized as
an inactive participant in the respective emotional process.
The examples given in table (3) relate one congruent expression to one metaphoric rendering.
Yet, there is usually more than one metaphoric expression corresponding to one congruent
one. The choice of attribute as encoded in the verbal element of the body part phrasal allows
for a quite elaborate differentiation between different shades of intensity in regard to the
emotional concept, which is encoded in the sentence.
The examples given below illustrate how the emotion ANGER can be rendered linguistically.
One congruent rendering stands against a number of possible metaphorical renderings, which
express increasing shades of intensity in regard to the respective emotion.
congruent
dafa mer
‚she is angry‘
body part phrasal
sama xol bi neexul
‚my heart is not sweet‘
sama xol bi bon
‚my heart is bad‘
sama xol bi tój
‚my heart is broken‘
sama xol bi tàng
‚my heart is hot‘
sama xol bi fuur
‚my heart is boiling, effervescent‘
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
It is not unusual that there exists also more than one congruent expression to encode a specific
emotion. The verbs of these additional congruent expressions (which may be labeling, derived
or metonymically expanded verbs) are less frequently used by speakers of Wolof and are
either considered ‚more old-fashioned‘ or ‚more traditional Wolof-style‘ by informants or
they convey specific semantic connotations.
Below, five emotional situations are chosen to illustrate the semantic differences which are
expressed by the choice of different congruent renderings of the same emotional situation.
emotion
JOY
SURPRISE
SHAME
JEALOUSY
GRIEF
unmarked form
kontaan
‚be happy‘
more old-fashioned special semantic connotations
bég
baneexu8
‚be happy‘
‚enjoy oneself, be happy‘
doylu9
‚have all one needs, be happy‘
waaru
jommi
‚be surprised‘
‚be amazed, be surprised‘
rus
torox
‚be ashamed‘
‚be ashamed‘
fiir
añaan
‚be jealous‘
‚be jealous, be envious‘
naqarlu
mettitlu10
‚experience sorrow‘
‚brood about a painful event‘
Two emotional concepts DISSAPOINTMENT and SADNESS, which are lexically expressed in
English with the labeling verbs ‘be disappointed’ and ‘be sad’, are not lexicalized by a verbal
lexeme in Wolof. Instead the derived verb naqarlu (naqar-l-u bitterness-CAUS-MID) to
experience a profound sorrow, to grief‘ covers the two emotion types and it was also given by
Wolof informants in reference to the emotional category ANGER. In this case, the verb implies
that the feeling of ANGER is directed toward the speaker, i. e., the verb meaning is equivalent
to English ‚be angry at oneself‘ or ‚be frustrated‘.
8
The mental state verb baneexu is derived from the noun baneex b- ‚the enjoyment‘ with the middle suffix –u.
Furthermore, the noun baneex is itself derived from the verb neex ‚to be sweet‘ with the nominalizing prefix bawhich is traceable etymologically to an original function as prefixed class marker.
9
The mental state verb doylu is derived from the one-place verb doy ‚to be enough‘ with the causative suffix –al
and the middle suffix –u.
10
The mental state verb mettitlu is formed from a nominal base (mettit ‚pain‘) with two affixes, the causative
suffix –al and the middle suffix –u. It pertains in its literal meaning to the domain of INTERNAL PHYSICAL
EXPERIENCE, hence, metonymy is involved.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
The fact that a labeling verb in Wolof covers a number of emotional categories that are
lexically distinguished in other languages might be due to similar physical or physiological
manifestations of these emotions on part of the experiencer. This view is corroborated by the
fact that body part phrases, which, as noted earlier, express emotions without a physical or
physiological manifestation on part of the experiencer, do distinguish differing emotional
concepts related to English language use. The differences are expressed by the choice of
different body part nouns, which are construed as the seat of the emotion (the heart is the seat
of ANGER, the body is the seat of SADNESS, and the mind is the seat of DISSAPOINTMENT) and
the qualities associated with the respective body part terms.
Body part phrases rendering the emotional situations
DISAPPOINTMENT are given below.
ANGER, FRUSTRATION
ANGER, FRUSTRATION
ANGER, FRUSTRATION
ANGER, FRUSTRATION
SADNESS
SADNESS
DISSAPOINTMENT
FRUSTRATION,
congruent
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
dafa naqarlu
‚she experiences bitterness‘
SADNESS
and
body part phrasal
sama xol dafa naqari
‚my heart is bitter‘
sama xol bi tiis
‚my heart is heavy‘
sama xol dafa jeex
‚my heart is finished‘
sama xol bi yàqu
‚my heart is spoiled‘
sama yaram bi yepp dee
‚my whole body died‘
sama yaram nangul
‚my body does not agree‘
sa xel dafa tilim
‚my mind is dirty‘
In table (3) above two experiencer sub domains CONTENTMENT and SURPRISE, which Reh and
Simon (1998:42) classified as subsets of desiderative and cognitive experience respectively,
have been included as emotional experiences on the basis of their structural features which
correspond to the ones described for emotional categories.
As far as SURPRISE is concerned, there are no body part phrasals attested which correspond to
the congruent rendering. Yet, the general linguistic pattern, i.e., a congruent experienceroriented construction with no overt expression of the phenomenon-participant pairs with a
congruent phenomenon-oriented construction, determined the categorization of SURPRISE as
an emotional sub domain.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
CONTENTMENT,
on the other hand, is lexically not differentiated from the concept JOY. They
are both expressed congruently with the French loanword kontaan (be happy, be satisfied). A
Wolof lexeme bég (be happy, be satisfied), which also covers both semantic fields, i.e. JOY
and CONTENTMENT, exists but was considered by Wolof-informants as more ‚old-fashioned‘
or ‚traditional Wolof style‘. It is the body part phrases, which reveal that two experiential
categories might actually underlie one congruent rendering. As will be laid out below, JOY is
metaphorically rendered predominantly with reference to the body part term xol (heart)
whereas CONTENTMENT is metaphorically rendered predominantly with the body part term xel
(mind). The same qualities might be attributed to either of the two body parts, a fact which
indicates the close conceptual relationship between the two experiential sub domains.
Congruent renderings:
JOY/CONTENTM.
dafa kontaan
dafa bég
‚she is happy‘, ‚she is satisfied‘
‚she is happy‘, ‚she is satisfied‘
Body part phrasals:
JOY
sama xol bi sedd
sama xol bi fééx
sama xol bi neex
sama xol angi dal
‚my heart is cold‘
‚my heart is fresh‘
‚my heart is sweet‘
‚my heart is at peace‘
CONTENTMENT
sama xel angi dal
sama xel dafa fééx
‚my mind is at peace‘
‚my mind is fresh‘
The appropriateness of classifying CONTENTMENT as a sub domain of emotional experience and not as a sub domain of desiderative experience - is corroborated, not only by the general
structure of encoding this mental experience, but also by a semantic comparison of the
qualitative verbs which are assigned attributively to body part nouns in body part phrases
rendering contrary emotional experiences.
CONTENTMENT
(1)a
sama xel bi dal
‚my mind is at peace‘
WORRY
pairs with
(1)b
JOY
(2)
sama xol bi sedd/fééx/neex pairs with
‚my heart is cold/fresh/sweet
HAAP 2 (2003)
sama xel bi dalul
‚my mind is not at peace‘
ANGER
(2)b
sama xol bi tàng/neexul
‚my heart is hot/ is not sweet‘
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
19
The quality verb dal ‚be at peace‘ in the body part phrase rendering CONTENTMENT forms an
antonym with the quality verb in the body part expression rendering WORRY in the same way
as quality verbs in body part phrases expressing JOY form antonyms with the quality verbs in
body part phrases rendering ANGER. Since WORRY is categorized (according to Reh 1998a&b)
as an emotional experience it follows that CONTENTMENT too should be identified as an
emotional sub domain.
Yet, the hermaphroditic status of both WORRY and CONTENTMENT can be inferred from the
body part term xel ‚mind‘ which typically occurs in body part clauses expressing mental
processes of thinking and reasoning. The use of mental state verbs in congruent expressions
alongside the use of the body part term xel in the metaphorical renderings thus indicates that
both experiences, in one respect, reflect an emotional process/state, on the other hand, they
reflect a mental process involving the intellect.
3.2 Phenomenon-oriented emotional expressions
The previous section outlined the general pattern of emotional situations. They are typically
rendered with no overt expression of the phenomenon-participant: in experiencer-oriented
congruent encoding by mental state verbs, in body part-oriented metaphorical encoding by
quality verbs, which are also inherently stative.
With congruent renderings as well as with body part phrases it requires an experiencer-objectverb in order to express that the feelings are triggered by some external cause. The external
cause or phenomenon is then grammatically encoded as the subject of the clause and the
experiencer is shifted to object position (in congruent renderings) or, respectively, is encoded
as the possessor attribute of a body part term in object position (in metaphorical renderings).
There are three types of experiencer-object-verbs encoding emotional expressions in Wolof:
(a) Causative verbs derived from one-place verbs with the causative suffix –al.
(b) Causative verbs derived from one-place verbs with the causative suffix –loo
(c) Basic (non-derived) experiencer-object-verbs.
Each type of experiencer-object-verb will be discussed in the following sections with special
attention paid to the difference between al- and loo-derived causatives.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
3.2.1 The causative suffix –al
The experiencer-object-verb in a phenomenon-oriented body part phrasal is usually derived
from the respective one-place quality verb of the body part-oriented construction by the
attachment of the derivational affix -al. The suffix –al triggers an argument structure change.
It augments the valence of the basic verb such that the number of required arguments is
increased for one more argument, the causer. The phenomenon-participant assumes subject
position and the body part noun is shifted to object position. The following list illustrates this
derivational process:
body part oriented
suma xol bi fééx
‚my heart is fresh‘
phenomenon-oriented
dafay fééxal suma xol
‚it refreshes my heart‘
ANGER
suma xol bi tàng
‚my heart is hot‘
dafay tàngal suma xol
‚it heats my heart‘
WORRY
suma xel bi tilim
‚my mind is dirty‘.
dafa tilimal suma xel
‚it made my mind dirty‘
CONTENTM.
suma xel bi dal
‚my mind is at peace‘
dafa dalal suma xel
‚it calmed my mind‘
JOY
There are two exceptions to this general pattern. The first includes the two-place verb yàq ‚to
destroy‘. This non-derived transitive verb appears in phenomenon-oriented body part phrases
which express the emotions SHAME and GRIEF while the respective one-place verb of the body
part-oriented metaphoric expression is derived from the basic two-place verb by means of the
middle suffix –u.
SHAME
(3)a
dafa yàq suma der
‚it destroyed my skin‘
(3)b
suma der dafa yàqu
‚my skin is destroyed‘
dafa yàq suma xol
‚it destroyed my heart‘
(4)b
suma xol dafa yàqu
‚my heart is destroyed‘
GRIEF
(4)a
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The second exception concerns the verb naqari ‚be bitter, to make bitter‘ which has a
transitive and an intransitive reading11 and thus appears in the body part-oriented as well as in
the phenomenon-oriented metaphoric renderings of the emotion GRIEF.
GRIEF
(4)C
dafa naqari suma xol
‚it made my heart bitter‘
(4)d
suma xol dafa naqari
‚my heart is bitter‘
3.2.2 The causative suffix –loo
The second causative suffix –loo12 is used to form experiencer-object-verbs from mental state
verbs. Most mental state verbs can also be extended with the general causative suffix –al in
order to become experiencer-object-verbs but the causative suffix –loo cannot be applied to
material verbs. It is restricted to (1) experiencer verbs expressing mental states ( kontaan ‚be
happy‘ > kontaanloo ‚to make happy‘;gum ‚to believe‘ > gumloo ‚to make believe‘), (2) states
of inner physical experience (xiif ‚be hungry‘ > xiifloo ‚to make hungry‘, etc.), and (3) verbs
expressing physical signs of mental states (jooy ‚to cry‘ > jooyloo ‚to make cry‘; ree ‚to
laugh‘ > reeloo ‚to amuse‘; etc.). 13
Thus, a material verb like neex ‘be sweet’ can be extended with the causative suffix –al (neexal ‘to sweeten’) but not with the causative suffix –loo whereas a mental verb like tiit ‘to fear’
can be extended with the causative suffix –al (tiit-al ‘to frighten) or the causative suffix –loo
(tiit-loo ‘to cause someone to be afraid). Other mental verbs again, i.e. mer ‘be angry’, rus ‘be
ashamed’, kontaan ‘be happy’ do only allow the addition of the causative suffix –loo (mer-loo
‘to make someone feel angry’, rus-loo ‘to put someone to shame’, kontaan-loo ‘to make
someone feel happy’).
11
The verb naqari is formed from the noun naqar ‚bitterness‘. In its transitive reading it functions as an
experiencer-object verb (daf ma naqari ‚it makes me bitter‘) but it cannot function as an experiencer-subject
verb in its intransitive reading since the subject of ITR naqari has to be a non-human entity. The respective
experiencer-subject verb is formed from the nominal base naqar with the causative suffix –al and the middle
suffix –u: naqarlu ‘to experience sorrow’.
12
In the literature on Wolof the function of the suffix –loo in combination with one-place verbes is described as
follows: (Kobes 1923:182): Il rend actifs et exprime l’idée de produire la qualité ou l’action signifiée par le
radical: mer ‚être en colère‘; merloo ‚mettre en colère‘. (Fal 1991:29): Factitif –loo: avec les verbes d’état:
mettre dans un état: jooy ‚pleurer‘ > jooyloo ‚faire pleurer‘.
13
Hallliday classifies this a set of verbs as ‚behavioral verbs, i.e., verbs encoding processes that (Halliday
1994:107) ”represent manifestations of inner workings, the acting out of processes of consciousness and
physiological states." To my knowledge there is only one exception where a monovalent verb of locomotion dox
‚to walk, to go‘ serves as the base for the extension –loo (Speisser 1888:139): mu ngiy doxloo gaal gi ‚Il a fait
marcher le bâteau.‘ Here the boat is seen as an entity endowed with the ability to move itself while the subject of
the clause is seen as instigating the action of moving with no direct causality implied. A derived form doxal that
is formed from the basic verb with the suffix -al is attested in Fal (1991:66) na nga doxal liggééy bi ‚you should
speed up the work‘. The last example implies a direct causation on part of the verb’s subject.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
The verbal extension –loo is a complex derivational affix. In order to understand the semantosyntactic function of this suffix it is necessary to decompose it in its constituting elements and
analyze their functions and meanings.
The derivational element –loo is composed of three affixes in the order –al + -u + -e. The
suffix –al augments the valence of the base verb to permit an additional causer argument in
subject position. The experiencer-participant as the causee of the al-derived causative verb
assumes object position. Yet, it is the causee who actually performs the action encoded in the
verb and at the same time she or he is the entity affected by the verbalized action. This
semantic feature - i.e., the experiencer-participant in object position possesses agent-like
(sentience, some degree of control and initiation) as well as patient-like (affectedness)
characteristics is signalled by the suffix –u14. The fact that the mental process/state
experienced by the experiencer-participant in object position is due to a causal element is
marked for by the circumstantial suffix –e.
The difference between al- and loo-derived causatives - which is one of representing the
experiencer participant as purely affected (al-causative) as against a representation of the
experiencer-participant as affectee and performer of the action simultaneously (loo-causative)
- will be illustrated in the following examples on the basis of the mental state verb tiit ‚be
afraid‘ which is one of the mental state verbs that allow the application of both causative
suffixes.
tiit ‚to fear‘
(5)a dafa tiit-al xale
FEAR
S3sg
fear-CS child
bi
DET
‚she frightened the child‘
(5)b
daf
ma
tiit-loo
S3sg
O1sg
fear-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it made me feel afraid‘
Example (5)a depicts a causal sequence in which the causer in subject position (semantically
the phenomenon-participant of the experiential expression) acts directly on the causee in
object position (semantically the experiencer-participant of the experiential expression). The
causer is the actor/agent whereas the causee bears the patient/goal role. Thus the extension –al
14
In Wolof, verb stems that combine with the suffix -u are verbs which can signal: (1) reflexives, (2)
spontaneous events, (3) resultative-statives, (4) potentials, (5) bodily activities and postures, (6) body states, (7)
naturally reciprocals, (8) actions of clothing and body care, and (9) autobenefactives. The semantic range of the
suffix -u classifies it as a middle extension.
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23
derives causative mental verbs that reflect a conscious and deliberate act on the part of the
causer (phenomenon) and typically require the causer to be a human entity.
Example (5)b, on the other hand, depicts a causal sequence in which the participant in subject
position (the phenomenon-participant) is inducing or instigating the action but the affected
participant in object position, the experiencer, is actually performing the action.15 Semantic
features of the phenomenon-participant are crucial in determining the choice of loo-derived
causative verbs. A causative clause containing a loo-derived causative verb presumes an
unintentional entity as causer, which instigates the action performed by quite a separate agent.
Thus the phenomenon-participant as subject of a loo-derived causative is a non-volitional and
typically non-human entity, it can even be a ‚fact‘ or ‚metaphenomenon‘ (Halliday 1994:115),
i.e., something that is constructed as a participant by projection, as indirect or reported speech.
If a ‚fact‘ is construed as the causer/instigator then the loo-causative is the only possible way
of rendering the respective situation.16 Such a metaphenomenon can never be the subject of an
al-derived causative verb since the latter requires the subject to be an entity endowed with the
ability to act.
(5)c
li
nga
ma
wax
daf
ma
tiit-loo
what
S2sg
O1sg
say
S3sg
O1sg
fear-CS:MID:CIRC
‘what you told me made me feel afraid’
but not
*li nga ma wax daf ma tiit-al
As mentioned above, both causative extensions can usually be attached to a basic mental state
verb. Yet, a few mental state verbs, (a) the verb mer ‚be angry‘, (b) the verb ragal ‚be afraid‘,
and (c) the verb rus ‚be ashamed‘, can only be combined with the suffix –loo. Here, different
techniques are applied in order to express linguistically a sentient and volitionally acting
phenomenon-participant.
15
Klaiman (1988:36-38) describes two causative constructions in Greek, an active causative (involving a causer
who acts and a causee who is affected) and a catalytic or middle voice causative (the subject catalyzes the action
performed by a different agent) which entail the same functional differences as the two causative constructions
described above in Wolof. Klaiman puts emphasis on the fact that Greek distinguishes the controller-role
(catalyst) from the actor-role and assigns subject status to the former.
16
When I was eliciting emotional expressions from informants in Senegal and Gambia and insisted on an overt
expression of a nominal participant in loo-derived causative clauses, the informants frequently offered me
clauses like afeeram daf ma kontaanloo ‚his/her matters made me feel happy‘ in which the phenomenonparticipant is an unspecified noun afeer ‚matter‘.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
(a) As regards the one-place verb mer ‚be angry‘ the phenomenon-participant cannot be
construed as the causer argument of a causative construction. In order to introduce a
volitional/human phenomenon-participant the mental state verb is transformed into a twoplace mental activity verb with the valence-increasing suffix –e, thus permitting a human
phenomenon-participant to appear as the object of the derived verb.
(6)a
dafa
mer
S3sg
be.angry
(6)b
‚she is angry‘
mer-e
nga
ma
be.angry-VIN
S2sg
O1sg
‚you are angry with me‘
(b) The verb ragal ‚be afraid‘17 has two readings, an intransitive and a transitive one. It can
syntactically function as a mental state verb and it can also function as a mental activity verb.
The mental process is then conceptualized as being extended or directed to another
participant.
(7)a
dafa
ragal
S3sg
be.afraid
‚she is afraid‘
(7b)
ragal
naa
ko
be.afraid
S1sg
O3sg
‚I fear him/her/it‘
A derived mental state verb raglu ‚be scary‘ which is formed with the middle suffix –u
(ragal-u > raglu) also exists. The one-place middle verb encodes the phenomenon-participant
in subject position and leaves the experiencer-participant unexpressed. Here, the middle suffix
marks the affectedness of an argument that is not overtly expressed.
(c) The emotion SHAME is congruently rendered with the labeling one-place verb rus ‚be
ashamed‘. It can be extended with the causative suffix –loo but not with the causative suffix
–al and it cannot be transformed into a two-place verb by derivational processes. For that
reason, Wolof makes use of a metaphorical form to express an intentionally induced feeling of
shame.
Experiencer-oriented congruent rendering of SHAME
(8)a dafa rus
S3sg
be.ashamed
‚she is ashamed‘
17
The verb ragal ‚to be afraid‘ looks like a derived verb consisting of a base rag- and the derivational affix –al
yet, a verbal root *rag is not attested in Wolof, hence, the form ragal has to be considered a basic verb.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
Phenomenon-oriented rendering of SHAME, non-volitionally induced:
(8)b daf
ma
rusloo
S3sg
O1sg
be.ashamed-CS:MID:VAIN
‚it made me feel ashamed‘
Phenomenon-oriented rendering of SHAME, volitionally induced by a human entity:
(8)c jabar-am
moo ko
tek
gàcce
wife-POSS3sg
S3sg
O3sg
put
shame
‚his wife put shame on him‘
The linguistic renderings of the emotion SHAME illustrate the importance of the conceptual
differentiation between a volitionally and a non-volitionally induced feeling of shame which
gets linguistically encoded. When the mental process is unintentionally obtained then a
causative verb is formed from the mental state verb rus with the suffix –loo. When, on the
other hand, the phenomenon-participant is a human entity, intending to bring about the
respective mental process and thus acting with volition, the situation can only be rendered
linguistically with a metaphoric expression including the material verb tek ‚to put on‘ and the
experitum noun gàcce ‚shame‘.
Two other experiencer-oriented figurative expressions are probably inspired by the
metaphoric use of the verb tek ‚to put on‘.
(8)d
gàcce boobu mun-u-ma
ko
een-u
shame DEM
O3sg
carry.on.head-MID
can-NEG-1sg
‚I can not carry that shame on my head‘
(8)e
du-ma
jél
gàcce gi
IMV:NEG-1sg
take
shame DET
‚I do not take the shame‘
Experiencer-oriented metaphoric expressions are usually construed as relational processes
highlighting the stativity of the emotional situation and depicting the experiencer as a rather
inactive participant in the respective process (compare 3.5.2). Example (8)d and (8)e are
exceptions to this general pattern, which render the experiencer as a participant who actively
and volitionally refuses to take on him/herself the negatively evaluated feeling of shame.
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3.2.3 Basic experiencer-object- verbs
Wolof has a number of non-extended experiencer-object-verbs (gétin ‚to bother, to worry‘,
waar ‚to surprise‘, bett ‚to surprise‘, neex ‚be sweet, to please‘, and others), i.e. verbs that
require the phenomenon-participant to be the subject and the experiencer-participant to be the
object of the respective clause.
The list given below illustrates that some of these verbs serve as a derivational base to form
experiencer-subject verbs. Some, however, function exclusively as experiencer-object verbs.
SURPRISE
experiencer-object verb
daf
ma
waar
experiencer-subject verb
dama waar-u
S3sg
S1sg
O1sg
surprise
surprise-MID
‚it surprised me‘
‚I am surprised‘
daf
ma
bett
no experiencer-subject verb
S3sg
O1sg
surprise
‚it surprised me‘
WORRY
daf
ma
jaaxal
dama jaaxl-e
S3sg
O1sg
worry
S1sg
worry-VRE
‚it worries me‘
‚I am worried‘
daf
ma
gétin
no experiencer-subject verb
S3sg
O1sg
bother
‚it bothered me‘
Experiencer-subject verbs are formed either with the suffix –u (as in waaru ‚be surprised‘
from the base verb waar ‚to surprise‘) which signals an affectedness of the verb’s subject by
the verbal action or with the suffix –e (as in jaaxle ‚be worried‘ from the base verb jaaxal18 ’to
worry‘) whose function it is to reduce the valence of the verb for one argument.
Exceptional as to what has been demonstrated so far is the rendering of the emotional sub
domain PLEASING. It is rendered solely by an experiencer-object verb neex ‚to please‘19.
18
The verbal base jaaxal is actually a causative-derived form whose base is no longer attested in modern Wolof:
*jaax (?) > jaax-al (to worry).
19
The verb neex has two readings, an intransitive reading (to be sweet) and a transitive reading (to please).
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
PLEASING
(9)a
loolu neex
na
ma
that
S3sg
O1sg
please
‚it pleases me‘
The subject of neex cannot be a human entity (see also section 3.4). It is only by means of a
metaphoric rendering of the situation that the experiencer-participant can appear as subject of
the clause and thus be presented as an active, volitional and controlling participant.
(9)b
neex-aay
gi
mu
daan def
ci
moom
be.sweet-NZ
REL
3sg
HAB
Pp
it/him/her
do
‘the happyness which she got from it‘ (lit.: ‚the sweetness that she did in her/him/it‘)
The metaphoric experiencer-oriented rendering doesn’t encode the experitum as the predicate
of the clause. It appears in nominalized form as the object of a verb taken from the domain of
material processes. Metaphor thus serves here the function to highlight aspects of control on
part of the experiencer.
3.3 Experiencer-oriented constructions expressing the phenomenon
In the previous sections I argued that emotional situations are linguistically rendered in their
pragmatically least marked form as either congruent experiencer-oriented constructions
leaving the phenomenon-participant unexpressed or metaphorically as body part phrases,
which also do not express the phenomenon-participant.
Yet some mental state verbs (besides ragal ‚be afraid‘ which has a transitive as well as an
intransitive reading and mer ‚be angry‘ whose valence can be increased by derivational
means) can appear in congruent constructions which permit the phenomenon to be expressed
as an oblique governed by the preposition ci ‚in, at, by‘. The occurrence of an emotional state
together with the phenomenon-participant that induced the emotional state is focus-sensitive
in Wolof. The choice of focus alters the way in which the event being described is interpreted.
a) When a one-place mental state verb is combined with the predicate focus marker, the
resulting construction emphasizes that the state expressed in the verb is an attribute of the
subject. No external cause is necessarily implied.
b) Conversely, when a one-place mental state verb is combined with the completive focus
marker, the resulting construction signals that the respective state is the outcome of a
preceding event, which has enduring relevance to the reference time. Since the preceding
event (the phenomenon in the terminology of experiencer situations) carries implications for
the moment of speech (reference time) it can be made explicit. Grammatically it gets coded as
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
a governed oblique, i.e., as an argument, which is not required by the verb and seen as less
structurally attached to it.
predicate focus
dama kontaan
‚I am happy‘
completive aspect focus
kontaan naa ci yow
I am happy with you‘ (because of what has happened)
dama jaaxle
‚I am worried/I worry‘
jaaxle naa ci lool
‚I worry much about it‘ (because of what has happened)
The question arises as to how the difference between the two congruent constructions, either
marked for predicate focus or for completive aspect focus, are to be interpreted in cognitive
terms.
Halliday (1994:121) indicates that there is an overlap between mental processes and relational
processes, that is, processes in which a relation is being set up between two terms. The
overlap concerns relational clauses of the attributive type in which the attribute denotes a
quality equivalent to a mental process. In those clauses, the participant to whom the attribute
is assigned is equivalent to the Senser (the experiencer-participant in Reh’s terminology) as in
English ‚I am glad‘ or ‚I am pleased‘.
Halliday interprets these English clauses not as mental processes but as relational processes
and hence, as metaphorical expressions of a mental process.
If Halliday’s theory is applied to emotional expressions in Wolof, clauses formed in the
predicate focus that have so far been analyzed as congruent renderings of emotions have to be
reanalyzed as relational processes of the attributive type.
This view is corroborated by the fact that (a) the experiencer of an emotional expression in the
predicate focus, but never in the completive aspect focus, can sometimes be substituted for a
body part term (implying that the quality denoted in the verbal element is now assigned as an
attribute to the body part noun) and (b) the body part noun in a body part phrasal can
sometimes be replaced by the experiencer-participant thus assigning the quality expressed in
the qualitative verb to the experiencer.
(a) Body part noun substitutes the experiencer-participant:
(10)a dafa
PFOC3sg
‚she is happy‘
HAAP 2 (2003)
kontaan
(10)b suma xol
be.happy
my
heart
dafa
kontaan
PFOC3sg
be.happy
‚my heart is happy‘
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
(11)a kontaan
be.happy
naa
ci
AFOC Pp
yow
(11)b *suma xol kontaan naa ci yow
you
‘I am happy/satisfied with you’
(b) Experiencer-participant substitutes the body part noun:
(12)a suma xol
my
heart
dafa
tàng
PFOC3sg be.hot
‚my heart is hot‘
(13)a suma xol
my
heart
dafa
man
gi
dafa
tàng20
DET
PFOC3sg be.hot
‚the man is hot‘ (lit.: ‚the man is angry‘)
fééx
PFOC3sg be.fresh
‚my heart is fresh‘
(12)b góór
(13)b fééx-ag-u-ma
daal
be.fresh-not.yet-NEG-1sg INTJ
‚I am not yet fresh‘ (lit.: ‚I am not happy‘)
Interpreting experiencer-oriented predicate focus constructions as relational processes would
imply that metaphoric language use is the unmarked form in Wolof to express emotional
situations. Experiencer-oriented predicate focus constructions expressing emotions, which are
physically manifested, and body part phrases expressing emotions, which are usually not, yet
manifested physically could then be accounted for as instances where metaphorical
representation has become the norm and is now the unmarked choice for expressing the
situations in question.
3.4 The emotional categories LOVE, HATE, and PITY
The linguistic rendering of the emotional sub domains LOVE, HATE, and PITY does not follow
the general pattern outlined in the previous sections.
The difference relates to the inherent semantics of the verbs encoding the above-mentioned
emotions in congruent expressions. The respective verbs are not mental state verbs but mental
activity verbs. The emotional situation is thus not conceptualized as a mental state but as a
mental activity. Mental activity verbs are two-place verbs requiring both arguments, the
experiencer in subject position and the phenomenon-participant in object position, to be
linguistically expressed.
The semantically related emotions LOVE and HATE are, in their pragmatically least marked
form, encoded with the verb bëgg ‚to want‘. This verb actually belongs to the experiential
20
In one expression that I elicited from an informant the quality verb of the congruent expression was replaced
by a nominal element saxaar ‚smoke‘ which was used as a verbal element in this position: góór gi dafa saxaar
‚the man is angry‘ (lit.: ‚the man smoked‘)
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
domain VOLITION – hence, metonymy is involved. In an affirmative clause bëgg refers to
LOVE, in a negated clause bëgg encodes HATE.
LOVE
(14)
dama bëgg
jigéén jii
S1sg
woman DEM
want
‚I love this woman‘
HATE
(15)
bëgg-u-ma
jigéén jii
want-NEG-1sg
woman DEM
‚I do not like this woman‘
In order to denote an emotional situation the object of bëgg (the phenomenon-participant) has
to be a human entity. A non-human entity triggers the basic meaning of bëgg ‚to want‘.
There are other labeling verbs denoting LOVE and HATE. In regard to LOVE these verbs express
different aspects of the respective emotion as demonstrated in table (4):
dama bëgg jigéén jii
dama nob jigéén jii
dama sopp jigéén jii
‚I love this woman‘ (general love)
‚I love this woman‘ (romantic love)
‚I love this woman‘ (venerating love)
Table (4): Different aspects of the emotion LOVE.
In regard to
(5).
HATE
these verbs express different shades of intensity as demonstrated in table
bëgguma jigéén jii
dama bañ jigéén jii
dama jéppi jigéén jii
‚I do not like this woman‘
‚I reject/refuse this woman‘
‚I hate and despise this woman‘
Table (5): Different shades of intensity in regard to the emotion HATE.
As I mentioned above, mental activity verbs encoding LOVE and HATE require the
phenomenon-participant to be a human entity.
When a speaker directs the emotions LOVE or HATE to a non-human entity, a phenomenonoriented clause containing the verb neex ITR: ‚be sweet, TR: ‚to please‘ is the only possible
rendering.
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31
PLEASING:
phenomenon-oriented:
(16)a daf
ma
neex
S3sg
O1sg
please
‚it pleases me‘
In this construction the experiencer gets encoded in object position. She is seen as somebody
who is not in control over the situation expressed.
The only possible experiencer-oriented rendering of the above mentioned situation is a
metaphorical representation, which expresses the experitum with the material process verb def
‚to do, to perform‘ and an experitum-noun derived from the respective experiencer verb neex
‚be sweet‘.
PLEASING:
experiencer-oriented:
(16)b dama def
neex-aay
S1sg
do
be.sweet-NZ
ci
loolu
Pp
that
‚I am pleased by that‘ (lit.: ‚I do sweetness in that‘)
In section 3.1. Body part phrases have been described and analyzed as corresponding to
congruent expressions that include mental state verbs. No body part phrasals are attested
regarding LOVE and HATE, two emotional situations, which are encoded by mental activity
verbs.
The emotional category PITY is also conceptualized as a mental activity and congruently
rendered with mental activity verbs.
(17)a dama-y
S3sg-IMV
yërëm jigéén ji
pity
woman DET
‚I feel pity for the woman‘
(17)b dama la-y
yég
S1sg
feel
O2sg-IMV
‚I feel pity for you‘
Example (17)b includes the verb yég ‚to feel‘, an unspecified perception verb which gets
metonymically expanded in order to refer to an emotional category.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
A mental state verb can be formed from the mental activity verb yërëm with the suffix –aate,
a complex derivational extension comprising the suffixes –aat (repetitiv) and –e (valencereducing).
(17)c dafa yërëmaate
‚she is compassionate; she is a soft touch‘
A body part phrasal, not of the attributive but of the anthropomorphistic type, including as
metaphorical agent the body part term yaram ‚body‘ and a verb of locomotion daw ‚to run‘ is
also attested:
(17)d suma yaram daw
my
body
run
na
ndik
moom
S3sg
because.of
him/her
‚I feel pity for him/her‘
The body part clause varies from the respective congruent expression (17)a with regard to
whether the experiencer is seen as somebody who has control over the situation expressed (a
connotation present in the congruent rendering as a transitive clause) or whether she is seen as
somebody who rather involuntarily experiences the respective emotion (a connotation present
in the body part expression).
Yet, both expression types depict the emotional situation in question not as a mental state but
as a mental activity.
The phenomenon-participant of the body part term can be shifted to subject position,
assigning object position to the body part noun and the experiencer-participant who is
coreferential with the possessive attribute of the respective body part.
(17)e bataaxal
letter
yi
daw21 nañu suñu
DET
run
S3pl
yaram
Poss1pl body
‚the letters aroused our sympathy‘ (lit.: ‚the letters run our body‘)
The choice of a phenomenon-oriented body part phrasal indicates that the experiencer is
conceptualized as a completely inactive participant with no control over the event expressed.
21
The verb daw is basically an intransitive verb of locomotion, which cannot function as a transitive verb.
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33
3.5 Further metaphorical renderings of emotional situations
Apart from body part phrases (encoding the body part term as subject or object of the
respective clause) whose functions have been described in the previous sections there are a
number of further metaphorical renderings of emotional situations which modify one or more
of the semantic and pragmatic features of the pragmatically least marked forms.
Metaphorical representations are almost exclusively of two types. The first category
comprises experitum-oriented metaphorical renderings that depict the experiencer as a
completely inactive participant who is not responsible for the mental experience. She or he is
rather conceptualized as the victim of the emotion. The second category comprises
experiencer-oriented renderings that depict the emotional experience as a relational process,
usually of the possessive type.
There is a third category of metaphorical renderings which serves expressive functions of
communication, a type of metaphorical expression which is also used in other domains of
mental experience serving the same function. In these expressions the predicate is formed
with a verb of saying and an onomatopoetic lexeme.
3.5.1 Experitum-oriented metaphorical renderings
The experitum within an emotional expression may be encoded by a nominal lexeme, a socalled experitum noun and thus be presented as a participant of the respective event. Such
experitum nouns are usually derived from the respective emotion verbs. The predicative
relation between the nominally expressed emotion and the experiencer-participant is
established by means of a verb taken from the domain of physical processes.
Since the resulting expressions refer to emotional situations and not to physical processes
metaphor is involved. The metaphor type is that of personification. The nominally encoded
emotion is treated as the agent and combined with a verb taken from the domain of material
processes. The experiencer-participant appears as the object of the respective material verb
and hence as a participant lacking control over the situation.
Table (6) presents an overview of experitum-oriented metaphorical renderings of emotional
situations.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
tiit-aange
moo
ko
jàpp
fear-NZ
S3sg
O3sg
catch
‚fear seized him‘
jaaxle dugg ko
nak
worry
O3sg
INTJ
gàcce gi
war
ko
dal
shame DET
must
O3sg
come.down
fiir-aange
moo
ko
jàpp
jealous-NZ
S3sg
O3sg
seize
añaan
moo
ko
téyé
jealousy
S3sg
O3sg
hold
enter
mer
moo
ma
téyé
anger
S3sg
O1sg
hold
mer
moo
ma
jàpp
anger
S3sg
O1sg
seize
m-bett-eel
gee
‚worry entered him/her‘
‚shame must come upon him/her‘
‚jealousy seized him/her‘
‚jealousy held him/her‘
‚anger held me‘
‚anger seized me‘
ko
jàpp
NZ-surprise-NZ DET:3sg
O3sg
seize
m-bëgg-al
moo
ma
jàpp
NZ-want-NZ
S3sg
O1sg
seize
m-bañ-eel
moo
ko
laal
NZ-hate-NZ
S3sg
O3sg
touch
‚surprise seized him/her‘
‚love seized me‘
‚hate touched him/her‘
Table (6): Experitum-oriented mentaphorical renderings of emotional situations.
All examples in table (6) present the experiencer as being seized, hold, entered or touched by
the respective emotion. The experiencer cannot help but experience the situation. Any
connotations of control over the situation on part of the experiencer are erased when a speaker
of Wolof chooses this linguistic encoding.
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35
Two experitum-oriented metaphoric expressions in the Wolof-data which I analyzed deviate
from the general pattern outlined above in table (6) in so far as the experiencer in object
position is replaced by a body part noun.
(18)
n-kañaan
di
lekk
nile
sa
xol
NZ-be.jealous
IMV
eat
thus
POSS2sg
heart
‚jealousy eats thus your heart‘
(19)
tiit-aange
roofu ci
siddit-am
fear-NZ
push
vene-POSS3sg
Pp
‚Fear pushed in his/her venes‘
In these expressions the experiencer is rendered as the possessive attribute of a body part term
in object position. Her/his role as a victim of the emotion is thus even further emphasized as
compared to a realization as (direct) object of a material verb as illustrated in table (6).
In another experitum-oriented construction type the emotion has also been turned into a
participant but the predicative relationship is established with the stative verb nekk ‚be, to
become‘.
(20)
nob-al
moo
nekk
ci
man
love-NZ
S3sg
be
Pp
me
‚love is on/in me‘
(21)
tiit-aange
moo
nekk
ci
man
fear-NZ
S3sg
be
Pp
me
‚fear is on/in me‘
According to the verbal element, these constructions are not grounded in the causation
schema but express a relational process. The relational process is of the circumstantial type.22
A feature of place relates two entities. The experiencer-participant, grammatically encoded as
an oblique argument in a prepositional phrase, is linked into the process via the preposition ci
‚in/at/by‘ and thus conceptualized as an ‚indirect‘ participant, not actively involved in the
process.
22
In a relational process of the circumstantial type (Halliday 1994:130) ”one entity is related to another by a
feature of time, place, manner, cause, accompaniment, role, matter or angle.”
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
The expressions (20) and (21) can also be thought of as a subcategory of possessive
constructions, a type of metaphorical language use which will be discussed in the following
section.
3.5.2 Possessive copula constructions
Possessive copula constructions are a subtype of relational processes. In possessive relations
(Halliday 1994:132) ”the relationship between the two terms is one of ownership: one entity
possesses another.”
The use of this type of relational process in metaphoric language is a widespread strategy in
Wolof to render experiencer-oriented expressions but avoiding to construe the experiencer as
an active, volitional participant, a connotation often present when the experiencer gets coded
in subject position and thus as the topic of the clause.
Table (6) provides some examples in which the emotional experience is rendered as a
relational process of the possessive type.
FEAR
di-na
tax
ñu
am
tiit-aange
IMV-S3sg
cause
S1sg
have
fear-NZ
‚it will cause (that) we have fear‘
SURPRISE
am
naa
tey
m-bett
have
S1sg
today
NZ-surprise
‚I am surprised today‘
GRIEF
am
naa
naqar
have
S1sg
bitterness
‚I have bitterness‘
JOY
am
naa
ba-neex
ci
li
nga
ma
wax
have
S1sg
NZ-sweet
Pp
what
S2sg
O1sg
talk
‚I feel happyness about what you told me‘
SHAME
am
na
gàcce ci
li
doom-am
have
S3sg
shame Pp
what
child-POSS3sg stomach
‚she is ashamed because her/his child is pregnant‘
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
PITY
am
na
yërm-ande
ci
man23
have
S3sg
pity-NZ
Pp
me
37
‚she has pity with me‘
PITY
am
na
yég
ci
have
S3sg
feeling Pp
nit
yi
human.being
DET
‚she has pity with me‘
PITY
dafa
am
xol
S3sg
have
heart
‚she has pity‘ (lit.: she has heart‘)
Table (7): Possessive copula constructions rendering emotional situations.
The possessive relations are of the attributive type. Ownership is an attribute being ascribed to
the experiencer-participant. The experiencer is conceptualized as owning an emotion. Thus,
the experitum is not expressed in the predicate but appears in nominalized form, usually
derived from the respective emotion verb, as the object of the verb am ‚to have‘. In the last
example of table (7) the body part xol ‚heart‘ expresses the experitum and substitutes the
experitum noun yërmande ‚pity‘.
In a subgroup of possessive constructions, what is possessed by the experiencer is not
expressed by means of a nominalized experitum noun but is referred to as an abstract matter,
which instigates a certain emotional state, and which gets further specified by a relative
clause. This relative clause contains a causative mental verb: the abstract matter induces a
certain mental state in regard to the experiencer, which gets coded as the object of the
causative verb.
GRIEF
(22)
am
naa
lu
ma
naqar-i
have
S1sg
what
O1sg
bitterness-VZ
I have something which made me feel bitter‘
23
The possessive construction of the experience PITY is negated with the verb ñakk ‚to lack, to need to have‘ and
not with a negated form of the verb am ‚to have‘: dafa ñakk yërmande ‚s/he has no compassion‘ as against GRIEF
amul naqar ‚s/he has not bitterness‘. Thus, Wolof-speakers differentiate between a lack of a desirable emotional
state, one worth striving for and the absence of an undesired and negatively evaluated emotional feeling.
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WORRY
(23)
am
naa
lu
ma
gétin suma
xel
have
S1sg
what
O1sg
bother POSS1sg
mind
‚I have something which worries my mind‘
This metaphoric construction type is only attested for the emotional domains
WORRY.
GRIEF
and
There are a number of further experiencer-oriented metaphorical representations of emotional
situations. In these expressions the experitum is again rendered in nominalized form yet, it is
not related to the experiencer in possessive terms but rather by a feature of accompaniment or
place.
(24)
dangeen
ànd
ak
m-bég-te
bi
S2pl
accompany
with
NZ-joy-NZ
DET
‚you have the joy‘ (lit.: ‚you go with the joy‘)
(25)
yow
yaa
deseek
gàcce gi
you
S2sg
remain:with
shame DET
‚you remain with the shame‘
(26)
dañu nekk-ali
ci
jaaxle googu
S3pl
Pp
worry
be-DUR
DEM
‚they are in that worry‘
Relational processes generally emphasize the stativity of the event expressed. The experiencer
is not conceptualized as performing a mental activity but as having or being with/in a certain
emotion.
Thus experiencer-oriented renderings of emotions are generally encoded as stative expression,
whether they are congruent expressions or metaphorical ones, or body part phrases in which a
body part term substitutes the experiencer in subject position. Dynamic expressions of
emotional situations usually encode the phenomenon-participant in subject position, as causer
or instigator of a mental process or they encode a nominalized experitum as subject of the
clause which undertakes some kind of action in order to ‚take hold‘ of the experiencer.
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3.5.3 Ideophonic expressions
The last section describes a very expressive metaphorical rendering of experiential situations,
which is not restricted to emotional expressions. It is a widespread strategy peculiar to Wolof,
serving communicative functions of discourse. The experitum is rendered by a combination of
the verb of speech ne ‚to say‘ and an onomatopoetic element. Subject position is usually
assigned to the experiencer-participant but can also be assigned to a body part noun replacing
the experiencer as illustrated below:
FEAR
mungi-y
ne
ñogg ci
biir
neeg-am
S3sg-IMV
say
ñogg
stomach
room-POSS3sg
Pp
‚she is afraid in his/her room‘
FEAR
suma
fit
ne
xëyy
POSS1sg
spirit
say
xëyy
‚I am afraid‘ (lit.: ‚my spirit said xëyy‘)
SHAME
dafa
ne
yomm
S3sg
say
yomm
‚she is ashamed‘
SURPRISE
mu
ne
cee
S3sg
say
cee
she is ashamed‘
4 Non-emotional mental experiences in Wolof
Non-emotional mental experiences comprise the categories COGNITION (subcategories:
KNOWING, UNDERSTANDING, REMEMBERING, FORGETTIING, RECONITION, REALIZATION),
CONCEPTION (subcategories: THINKING, BELIEVING/TRUSTING, ASSUMING, DOUBTING),
VOLITION (subcategories: WANTING, NEEDING, ENVY), and PERCEPTION (subcategories: SEEING,
HEARING, SMELLING)24.
24
Definitions for cognitive, conceptual and perceptive experience are given in Horie (1985:40).
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4.1 Congruent expressions of non-emotional mental experience
Non-emotional mental experiences (i.e., cognitive, conceptual, desiderative and perceptual
experiences) are predominantly rendered in congruent expressions by two-argument verbs in
their pragmatically least marked form. In these constructions the experiencer-participant and
the phenomenon-participant are usually grammatically expressed as subject and object of the
clause respectively. Thus, the respective experiences are not conceptualized as mental states –
as it has been the case for emotional experiences – but as mental activities. The experiencerparticipant is perceived as an active, volitional participant with some degree of control over
the mental act that she or he performs.
KNOWING
(27)
xam
naa
loolu/kooku25
know
S1sg
that thing/that person
I know it/him/her
THINKING
(28)
mu ngi-y
xalaat Aida
PROG-IMV
think
Aida
‚I think of Aida‘
WANTING
(29)
dañu bëgg
seen
xaalis
S3pl
O3pl
money
want
‚they want their money‘
SEEING
(30)
dama gis
guy
S1sg
baobab DET
see
gii
‚I saw the baobab-tree‘
Congruent expressions comprise labeling, derived and metonymically expanded expressions.
Some non-emotional mental experiences can only be encoded congruently by derived verbs as
illustrated for the cognitive experience REMEMBERING:
25
As English, Wolof does not differentiate between acquaintancee knowledge (German: ‚kennen‘, French:
‚connaître‘) and factual discourse knowledge (German: ‚wissen‘, French: ‚savoir‘).
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REMEMBERING
(31)
fattaleeku
naa
benn
jamano
forget:REV:MID
S1sg
one
time
‚I remember a time ...‘
Other situations, however, possess various labeling references. In this case, one is usually
more basic whereas the others include further semantic features.
RECOGNITION
(32)a xàmme
recognize
naa
ko
S1sg
O3sg
‚I recognized him/her‘
(32)b raññe
distinguish
naa
ko
ci
xale
yi
S1sg
O3sg
Pp
child
DET
‚I recognized him/her amongst the children‘
(32)c nemmeeku
recognize
naa
fa
S1sg
there
‚I recognized [the place] there‘
Some situations can only be rendered by metonymically expanded or metaphorical
expressions. In this case, the relevant verb pertains either to another experiential sub domain
(metonymy) or it denotes a material process (metaphor).
REALIZATION
(33)a mu
S3sg
nettali ni
mu
yég-e
biir-u
doom ji
explain how
S3sg
feel-CIRC
stomach-GEN
child
DET
‚she explained how she realized the pregnancy of the child‘
(33)b Maram
seet-l-u
Maram
ne
regard-CS-MID that
mu ngi mat-si
jànq
S3sg
womanhood
reach-VEN
Maram realized that she came to reach womanhood‘
(33)c ma
S1sg
gis
ne
dama-y
am
problem
see
that
S1sg-IMV
have
problem
‚I realized that I will have a problem‘
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(33)d soo
dem-ee
dinga
xam
ne
go-PV
FUT:2sg
know
that
if:S2sg
‚if you go you will realize that ....‘
UNDERSTANDING
(34)a dégg26 nga
Wolof
hear
Wolof
S2sg
‚do you understand Wolof‘
(34)b maa ngi
S1sg
soog-a
xam
li
ngeen bëgg
begin-PART
know
what
S2pl
want
‚I begin to understand what you want‘
(34)c gis
nga
su-ñ
ñów-ee
sa
kër27
see
S2sg
if-S1pl
come-PV
your
compound
you understand, if we come to your compound ...‘
(34)d jàpp
nga
boobu
catch
S2sg
that
‚did you understand that‘
(34)e jél-i
take-ITIV
nga
ma
S2sg
O1sg
‚did you understand me‘
The majority of non-emotional mental experiences, however, can be rendered by labeling or
metonymically expanded verbs and by metaphorical expressions.
ASSUMING
(35)a foog
naa
assume S1sg
ne
danga caaxaan
that
S2sg
make.fun
‚I assumed that you were just joking‘
(35)b dafa
S3sg
yaakaar
ne
ñun
ay
American
lañu
assume/hope
that
we
DET
American
S3pl
‚she assumed that we are Americans‘
26
When dégg ‚to hear‘ refers to a perceptual activity it encodes a graduel-telic situation. When it refers to a
cognitive activity (‚to understand‘) it encodes an inchoative-stative situation.
27
In sentence (33)c gis ‚to see‘ functions as a discourse marker.
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(35)c dafa
S3sg
teg-oon
ne
dee
nañu
put-PAST
that
die
S3pl
43
‚she assumed that they had died‘
HEARING
(36)a dégg
hear
naa
ko
S1sg
O3sg
‚I heard it‘
(36)b dég-l-u
naa
hear-VINC-MID S1sg
radio bi
radio
DET
‚I listened to the radio‘
(36)c yég-u-leen
feel-NEG-2pl
ne
président
da-y
ganale
that
president
S3sg-IMV
invite
‚didn’t you hear that the president iinvites [for dinner]‘
(36)d gëj
long.time.not
naa
ko
jàpp
S1sg
O3sg
catch
‚I didn’t hear from him/her for a long time‘
Sentence (36)a implies that the knowledge is due to direct perception whereas (36)c and (36)d
indicate that the perceptual information is hearsay rather than knowledge.
The experiential verbs gum and yaakaar are ambiguous between two conceptual readings.
They may either encode the experience BELIEVING/TRUSTING or the experience ASSUMING.
Which of the possible readings is triggered depends on whether the verb’s complement (i.e.
the phenomenon-participant) is a nominal group or a subordinated verbal clause.
BELIEVING/TRUSTING
(37)a gum naa la
believe S1sg O2sg
‘I believe you’
ASSUMING
(37)b gum naa ne
yaa
ko
def
believe S1sg that S2sg O3sg to.do
‘I think/assume that you did it’
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BELIEVING/TRUSTING
(38)a dama ko
yaakaar
S1sg O3sg trust
‘I trust him/her’
ASSUMING
(38)b yaakaar-u-ma
ne
dina
trust-NEG-1sg
that FUT:3sg
‘I don’t think/assume that she will agree’
nangu
agree
Throughout the examples given the experiencer-participant is encoded in subject position and
thus conceptualized as an active, volitional participant with some degree of control. The
perceptive experience SMELLING, the desiderative experience NEEDING and the conceptual
experience TRUSTING figure as exceptions in the general encoding of non-emotional mental
experiences. They are congruently encoded by experiencer-object verbs, i.e., experiential
verbs that assign subject position to the phenomenon-participant.
NEEDING
(39)
lu
ma
ko
doy-e
what
O1sg
O3sg
be.enough-CIRC
‚what do I need it for‘
TRUSTING
(40)
woor
be.sure
(image formation implying a high degree of certainty)
na
ma
ne
nob na
ko
S3sg
o1sg
that
love
S3sg
O3sg
lit.: ‚it is certain [to] me that she loves him/her‘
SMELLING
(41)a cere
couscous
ji
xeeñ
na
ma
DET
smell
S3sg
O1sg
lit.: ‚the couscous smells [to] me‘
In the last examle, an experiencer-subject verb can be derived from the experiencer-object
verb xeeñ ‚to smell‘ with the suffixes –at (intensive) and –u (middle). The attachment of the
suffix –u triggers a shift of the experiencer, from grammatical object to grammatical subject
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position.28 The resulting derived verb xeeñtu implies that the perceptual activity is carried out
deliberately and intentionally on part of the experiencer.
(41)b xaj
dog
baa ngi-y
xeeñ-t-u
rab-u
PROG:3sg-IMV smell-INT-MID animal-GEN
all
yi
bush
DET
‚the dog scents the wild animals‘
Having laid out the structure of congruent renderings of non-emotional mental experiences I
will now move on to analyze the typical patterns of metaphorical expressions.
4.2 Metaphorical expressions of non-emotional mental experiences
Metaphorical expressions which serve the purpose to manipulate the renderings of
experiential situations with regard to topic selection and experiencer’s control over the
situation exist, but they are never of the body part-oriented attributive type, a type which has
been extensively documented for descriptive emotional expressions.
Another type of metaphorical rendering, experitum-oriented expressions are also not used to
encode non-emotional mental experiences although they are amply attested for emotional
situations.
Figurative expressions encoding non-emotional mental experiences are either body partoriented, phenomenon-oriented or experiencer-oriented. All but the experiencer-oriented
expressions reduce the notion of control on part of the experiencer. Experiencer-oriented
figurative expressions, on the other hand, either highlight the experiencer’s control over the
respective situation, in which case they turn the experitum into a participant of a material
process (e.g. tek yaakaar ci ‘put trust/hope in’), or they encode the situation as a possessive
relation: the experiencer owns the nominalized experitum.
Of interest is the fact that all types of metaphorical renderings mentioned in section 1.2.3 are
attested for the conceptual category THINKING and all but the possessive type is also attested
for the cognitive categories REMEMBERING and FORGETTING. Apart from these categories that
seem to be especially liable to be rendered by metaphorical expressions non-emotional mental
experiences can’t be related systematically to certain strategies of metaphoric language use.
28
The same derivational process derives the experiencer-subject verb fattaleeku ‚to remember‘ from the
experiencer-object verb fattali ‚to remind‘ which is itself derived from the base verb fatte ‚to forget‘ with the
reversive suffix –ali.
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4.2.1 Body part oriented figurative expressions
Body part-oriented expressions that are only attested for the cognitive experiences
REMEMBERING and FORGETTING are of the anthropomorphistic type. The body part xel
‚mind‘ and other participants are related by means of a verb taken from the domain of
material processes.
REMEMBERING
(42)a xel-am
mind-his/her
dellu ci
leeb
bi
return
story
DET
Pp
‚she remembered the story‘ (lit.: ‚her/his mind returned to the story‘
(42)b xel-am
mind-his/her
delloo
ko
Walo
return:VINC
O3sg
Walo
‚she remembered Walo (lit.: ‚his/her mind returned her/him [to] Walo‘)
(42)c sama xel
daj
na
ci
moom
my
hit
S3sg
Pp
him/her
mind
‚I remembered him/her‘ (lit.: my mind hit on him/her‘)
FORGETTING
(43)
suma xel
daj-u
ko
my
hit-NEG:3sg
O3sg
mind
‚I forgot it‘ (lit.: my mind did not hit [on] it‘)
A body part-oriented locative construction is frequently used in reference to the conceptual
category THINKING.
THINKING
(44)a xela-am
mind-his/her
angi
ci
kër
COP
Pp
house
lit.: ‚her/his mind is on the house‘
(44)b seen
their
xel
ne-wul
ci
bokk
governema
mind
be.located.NEG:3sg
Pp
share
governmnent
‚lit.: their mind was not on taking part in the government‘
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4.2.2 Phenomenon-oriented metaphorical expressions
Here, subject position is assigned to the phenomenon-participant which or who is usually
related to the body part term xel ‚mind‘ by a verb taken from the domain of material
processes. The experiencer-participant appears back grounded as the possessor of the
respective body part. Metaphorical language use thus serves the purpose to completely
remove any notion of control over the situation on part of the experiencer-participant.
REMEMBERING
(45)
dugg na
sama xel
enter
my
S3sg
mind
lit.: ‚it entered my mind‘
FORGETTING
(46)
génn
na
sama xel
leave
S3sg
my
mind
lit.: ‚it left my mind‘
SEEIING
(47)
ñów
na
sama bët
come
S3sg
my
eye
lit.: ‚it came [to] my eye‘
HEARING
(48)
wax
jooju tabbindoo
speech DET
fall
ci
nopp-u
baay
bi
Pp
ear-GEN
father
DET
lit.:‘ that speech fell into the ear of the father‘
A phenomenon-oriented existential construction is frequently used in reference to the
conceptual category THINKING.
THINKING
(49)
moo-y
sama xalaat
S3sg-IMV
my
though
lit.: ‚this is my thought‘
One last phenomenon-oriented relational strategy of the locative type is also attested for the
category THINKING.
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THINKING
(50)
nen
a
nekk
ci
sama
xel
egg
FOC
be.located
Pp
POSS1sg
mind
‘I think of eggs’
4.2.3 Experiencer-oriented metaphorical expressions
As I mentioned earlier, experiencer-oriented figurative expressions either highlight the
experiencer as an active, volitional and controlling participant or, on the contrary, they
background the experiencer by rendering the experiential situation in terms of a possessive
relation, presenting the experiencer-participant either as the owner of either the nominalized
experitum or the body part xel ‚mind‘ A minor type of experiencer-oriented metaphorical
renderings are onomatopoetic expressions, a category which I already mentioned in reference
to metaphorical emotional expressions (see section 3.6)
4.2.3.1 Experiencer-participant‘s active engagement is highlighted
REMEMBERING
(51)a mu
S3sg
jublu démb
turn
yesterday
‚she remembered the past‘
(51)b mu
S3sg
janook
yar
bi
mu .....
face:with
education
REL
S3sg
‚she remembered the education which she ....‘
FORGETTING
(52)
dama ko
bayyi gànnaaw
S1sg
leave
O3sg
back
‚I forgot it‘
THINKING
(53)a xalaat yi
thought REL
Maram
di
def
Maram
IMV
do
‚what Maram thinks ...‘
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(53)b nga
jox-e
OBL2sg give-VRE
sa
xalaat
POSS2sg
thought
49
‘say what you think’ (lit.: ‘give out your thought!’)
WANTING
(54)
fas
naa
yééné tukki
knot
S1sg
wish
travel
‚I wanted to travel‘
SEEING
(55)
dama teg
bët
njaaxum
ba
fa
am
S1sg
eye
disaster
REL
there
have
put
‚I looked at the disaster which happened there‘
4.2.3.2 Possessive copula constructions
TRUSTING
(56)
am
naa
yaakaar
ci
moom
have
S1sg
trust/hope
Pp
him/her
‚I trust her/him‘
THINKING
(57)
am
naa
ci
xel
torop
have
S1sg
Pp
mind
very
‚I think a lot about it‘
NEEDING
(58)
am
naa
soxla ci
yow
have
S1sg
need
Pp
you
am-u-ñu
benn
bëgg-bëgg
have-NEG-3pl
one
wish
‚I need you‘
WANTING
(59)
‚they have no wish‘
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DOUBTING
(60)a am
have
naa
ci
ñaari xel
S1sg
Pp
two
mind
‚I doubt it‘ (lit.: ‚I have two minds about it‘)
The last example (60)a is the only possible construction to render unambiguously the
conceptual experience DOUBTING. Informants, however, frequently negated the conceptual
verbs foog ‚to assume‘ or xalaat ‚to think‘ in order to express the concept DOUBT.
DOUBTING
(60)b foog-u-ma
ko-woon
assume-NEG-1sg
O3sg-PAST
‚I doubt it‘ (lit.: ‚I don’t assume it‘)
(60)c xalaat-u-ma
ko
think-NEG-1sg O3sg
‚I doubt it‘ (lit.: ‚I don’t think it‘)
4.2.3.3 Onomatopoetic expressions
Onomatopoetic expressions are constructions in which the predicate consists of a verb of
saying ne ‚to say‘ and an onomatopoetic lexeme. They serve expressive discourse functions
and are thus pragmatically highly marked (see also section 3.6).
THINKING
(61)
mu
ne
yunn
ci
neeg
bi
S3sg
say
yunn
Pp
room
DET
‚she looked into the room‘
5 Inner physical experience
Inner physical experience comprises experiences such as
HUNGRY, BEING SICK and BEING PREGNANT.
PAINING, FEELING COLD/HOT, BEING
5.1 Congruent renderings of inner physical experience
Situations depicting inner physical experience are linguistically rendered in their
pragmatically least marked form by one-argument verbs that encode the event expressed in
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51
the predicate as an internal physical state. In this respect they resemble emotional experiences
that are also typically rendered in their pragmatically least marked form by mental state verbs,
one-argument verbs that encode only the subject-participant.
FEELING COLD
(62)a dama liw
S1sg
feel.cold
‚I feel cold‘
(62)b dama sedd
S1sg
be.cold
‚I am cold‘
FEELING HOT
(63)
dama tàng29
S1sg
be.hot
‚I am hot‘
FEELING HUNGRY
(64)
dama xiif
S1sg
be.hungry
‚I am hungry‘
BEING SICK
(65)
dama feebaar
S1sg
be.sick
‚I am sick‘
It requires a causative verb to express that the internal physical state is triggered by some
external cause. The external cause is then grammatically encoded as the subject of the clause
and the experiencer-participant is shifted to object position. In order to derive a causative
verb, the physical state verb is typically extended with the middle causative –loo (see also
section 3.2.2 on emotional experiences). Such loo-derived causative verbs presume an
unintentional entity as causer, which instigates the verbalized action. The action itself is
actually performed by quite a separate entity (the experiencer-participant).
29
The expressions dama tàng ‚I feel hot‘ as well as dama sedd ‚I feel cold‘ are ambiguous between designating
an internal physical experience (literal meaning) and an emotional experience (metonymically expanded
meaning: ‚to be angry‘, ‚to be happy‘).
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BEING HUNGRY
(66)
daf
ma
dee
xiif-loo
S3sg
O1sg
HAB
be.hungry-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it makes me feel hungry‘
FEELING COLD
(67)
daf
ma
dee
liw-loo
S3sg
O.1sg
HAB
feel.cold-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it makes me feel cold‘
FEELING HOT
(68)
daf
ma
dee
tàng-loo
S3sg
O1sg
HAB
be.hot-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it makes me feel hot‘ ~ ‚it makes me feel angry‘
BEING SICK
(69)
daf
ma
dee
feebaar-loo
S3sg
O1sg
HAB
be.sick-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it makes me feel sick‘
The encoding of the physical condition PREGNANCY follows the same pattern, but Wolof lacks
a labeling expression to refer to it. Two metonymically expanded expressions are usually
employed to denote PREGNANCY. One contains the two-argument verb ëmb ‚to bundle up‘
which has an intransitive reading when it is applied to PREGNANCY. The second contains the
noun biir ‚stomach‘ in predicate position.
BEING PREGNANT
(70)a dafa
S3sg
ëmb
bundle.up
‚she is pregnant‘
(70)b dafa
S3sg
biir
stomach
‚she is pregnant‘
As regards the physical condition PREGNANCY, a loo-derived phenomenon-oriented
construction *biirloo ‚to make pregnant‘ is not permissible since the causer can’t be
conceptualized as an unintentional entity. Instead, the direct al-derived causative (see section
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53
3.2.1 on emotional experiences), which implies a consciously and deliberately acting causer,
is applied.
(70)c daf
S3sg
ko
biir-al
O3sg
stomach-CS
‚he made her pregnant‘
The encoding of the internal physical experience PAIN deviates from the above given pattern.
In congruent renderings the experitum is encoded in the predicate. Subject position, however,
is neither assigned to the experiencer-participant nor to any other conceptual element outlined
in Reh’s model of experiential situations but to the locus of the pain.
FEELING PAIN
(71)a sama biir
daf
ma-y
metti
my
S3sg
O1sg-IMV
pain
stomach
‚my stomach pains me‘
The experiencer-participant is indexed twice, as the possessor of the body part and as the
grammatical object. The indexation in object position, however, is optional.
(71)b sama biir
my
stomach
dafa-y
metti
S3sg-IMV
pain
‚my stomach pains‘
5.2 Experitum-oriented renderings of inner physical experience
Experitum-oriented metaphorical renderings depict the experiencer-participant as a
completely inactive participant who is not responsible for the physical condition she or he
experiences. He of she is presented as being seized, hold, come upon or attacked by the
respective internal physical condition. Here again, the metaphorical codification strategy
resembles the one applied to situations of emotional experience, where the experiencerparticipant is construed as the victim of the respective emotion (see 3.5.1).
FEELING PAIN
(72)
mettit wee
ko
jàpp
pain
O3sg
seize
DET-FOC
‚pain seized me‘
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FEELING HUNGRY
(73)
xiif
moo
hunger S3sg
ma
téyé
O1sg
hold
‚hunger holds me‘
BEING SICK
(74)a feebaar
sickness
bi
moo
ma
dal
DET
S3sg
O1sg
come.upon
‚the sickness came upon me‘
(74)b feebaar
sickness
bi
moo
ko
jot
DET
S3sg
O3sg
afflict
‚the sickness afflicted him/her‘
(74)c feebaar
sickness
bi
moo
ma
jàpp
DET
S3sg
O1sg
seize
‚the sickness seized me‘
(74)d jàngoro
illness
ji
song
na
ko
DET
attack
S3sg
Osg
‚the illness attacked him/her‘
5.3 Experiencer-oriented metaphorical expressions
Experiencer-oriented figurative renderings in the domain of inner physical experience are
typically specifying expressions. The only exception is the internal physical experience PAIN
that can be rendered in terms of a possessive relation, presenting the experiencer-participant
as the owner of a paining body part or in terms of a circumstantial relation of accompaniment.
5.2.1 Specifiying expressions
In specifying expressions the predicate is made up of an unspecific perception verb yég ‚to
feel‘ which indicates the general semantic area (i.e. experiencer situations). The experiencer
situation is then further specified by the direct object of this perceptual verb that denotes the
specific experitum.
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PAIN
(75)
dinga
yég
mettit
FUT:2sg
feel
pain
‚you will feel pain‘
FEELING COLD
(76)
dama-y
yég
sedd
S1sg-IMV
feel
coldness
‚I feel cold‘
FEELING HUNGRY
(77)
dama-y
yég
xiif
S1sg-IMV
feel
hunger
‚I feel hungry‘
5.2.2 Possessive copula constructions
Although possessive copula constructions are a widespread strategy in Wolof to render
experiencer-oriented experiential situations but avoiding to construe the experiencerparticipant as an active volitional participant, this strategy is exemplified only once in the data
on internal physical experience.
BEING SICK
(78)
dama am
mettit-u
biir
S1sg
pain-GEN
stomach
have
‚I have stomach trouble‘
5.2.3 Circumstantial relation of accompaniment
Instead of rendering the situation SICKNESS in terms of a possessive relation, it is also
common to construe the experiencer-participant as being involved in a circumstantial relation.
BEING SICK
(79)
dafa ànd
S3sg accompany
‚she has a cough‘
ak
with
jàngoro
illness
sëqët
coughing
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6 Summary
The preceding chapters proved that metaphorical renderings of experiential situations reflect
the systematic differences discovered in congruently rendered situations of the same type.
Emotional and inner physical experiences are typically encoded congruently by one-argument
verbs that indicate an emotional or internal physical state. Non-emotional mental experiences,
on the other hand, are usually rendered by two-argument verbs, the so-called mental activity
verbs, which depict the respective situation as a mental activity. Metaphorical renderings
exhibit the same distinction regarding the overt representation of experiencer- and
phenomenon-participant.
Additionally, emotional and inner physical experiences are frequently expressed
metaphorically by experitum-oriented expressions, which depict the experiencer-participant as
a victim of the emotion or the physical condition respectively. Non-emotional mental
experiences, on the other hand, are not rendered metaphorically by experitum-oriented
constructions. They show a wide range of body part-, phenomenon- or experiencer-oriented
figurative renderings, typically construing the situation as a mental activity but either back
grounding the experiencer-participant by assigning subject-position to another conceptual
entity or highlighting the experiencer’s control over the situation when retaining him/her in
subject position.
One metaphorical strategy, however, is applied to all three (emotional, mental, inner physical)
types of experiential situations. Possessive copula constructions encode the experiencerparticipant in subject position (obviously the most preferred grammatical position for this
participant). At the same time they avoid to construe the experiencer as an active, volitional
participant.
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Appendix I: Experiencer-constructions in Wolof listed according to experiential
domains.
Experiential
domains
EMO:
ANGER
Experiential expressions
Orient. Strategy
dafa mer
S3sg be.angry
‘s/he is angry’
EXR
label
mer-e nga ma
be.angry-VZ S2sg O1sg
‘I am angry at you’
EXR
deriv/app.
góór gi dafa tàng
man DET S3sg be.hot
‘the man is angry’ (lit.: ‘the man is hot’)
EXR
label/metaph.
mer moo ma jàpp
anger S3sg O1sg to.seize
‘anger seized me’
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
mer moo ma téyé
anger S3sg O1sg to.hold
‘anger held me’
EXM
anthrop.
(hold)
mer-am dal ne
anger-POSS3sg to.settle S3sg
‘s/he is no longer angry’ (lit.:‘his/her anger settled’)
EXM
anthrop.
sama xol dafa tàng
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.hot
‘my heart is hot’
BODY attributing
sama xol bi neex-ul
POSS1sg heart DET bee.sweet-NEG:3sg
‘I am not angry’ (lit.:‘my heart is not sweet’)
BODY attributing
sama xol bi tój
POSS1sg heart DET be.broken
‘I am angry’ (lit.:‘my heart is broken’)
BODY attributing
sama xol bi bon
POSS1sg heart DET be.bad
‘I am angry’ (lit.: ‘my heart is bad’)
BODY attributing
HAAP 2 (2003)
58
ANGER/
Causative
EMO:
FEAR
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
sama xol dafa fuur
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.effervescent
‘I am angry’ (lit.: ‘my heart is effervescent’)
BODY attributing
moo xall a yàq sa xol
S3sg almost PART to.destroy POSS2sg heart
‘it almost made you angry’ (lit.:‘it almost destroyed
your heart’)
PHM
metaph./
mat.V.+BODY
daf ma mer-loo
S3sg O1sg be.angry-CS:MID:CIRC
‘it made me feel angry’
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
dafa tàng-al sama xol
S3sg be.hot-CS POSS1sg heart
‘it made me angry’ (lit.: ‚it heated my heart‘)
PHM
metaph./
caus.+Body
dafa tiit
S3sg be.afraid
‘s/he is afraid’
EXR
label
dama ragal
S1sg be.afraid’
‚I am afraid‘
EXR
label/
(lex. caus.)
ragal naa ko
be.afraid S1sg O3sg
‚I am afraid of it‘
EXR
label
(lex. caus.)
dina tax ñu am tiit-aange
FUT:3sg to.cause S1pl to.have to.fear-NZ
‚it caused (that) we have fear‘
EXR
relat./poss.
EXR
mungi ne ñogg ci biir neeg-am
PROG3sg to.say ñogg Pp stomach room-POSS3sg
‚s/he is afraid in her/his room‘
tiit-aange moo ma téyé
to.fear-NZ S3sg O1sg to.hold
‚fear held me‘
HAAP 2 (2003)
EXM
say +onom.
anthrop.
(hold)
59
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
FEAR/
Causative
EMO:
JOY
tiit-aange moo ma jàpp
to.fear-NZ S3sg O1sg to.seize
‚fear seized me‘
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
tiitaange moo nekk ci man
fear S3sg be.located Pp me
‘fear is on me’
EXM
relat./loc.
tiitaange roofu ci siddit-am
fear to.push Pp vene-POSS3sg
‘fear pushed in his/her venes’
EXM
anthrop.
xol-am bi fudd-u
heart-POSS3sg DET to.stretch-MID
‚his/her heart is stretched‘
BODY attributing
sama fit dafa ricc
POSS1sg spirit S3sg to.escape
‘my spirit escaped’
BODY anthrop.
sama fit ne xëyy
POSS1sg spirit to.say xëyy
‘I was afraid’ (lit.: ‘my spirit said xëyy’)
BODY anthrop.
(say+onom.)
bu ma tiit-loo
IMP2sg O1sg be.afraid-CS:MID:CIRC
‚don’t make me feel afraid‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
bu ma ragal-loo
IMP2sg O1sg be.afraid-CS:MID:CIRC
‚don’t make me feel afraid‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
dafa tiit-al xale bi
S3sg be.afraid-CS child DET
‚it frightened the child‘
PHM
deriv./caus.
dama kontaan
S1sg be.happy
‚I am happy/satisfied‘
EXR
label
(loan)
dama bék
S1sg be.happy
‚I am happy/satisfied‘
EXR
label
HAAP 2 (2003)
60
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
bék naa ci yow
be.happy S1sg Pp you
‚I am happy/satisfied with you‘
EXR
label
kontaan naa ci yow
be.happy S1sg Pp you
‚I am happy/satisfied with you’
EXR
label
dama ba-neex-u
S1sg NZ-be.sweet-MID
‘I am happy’
EXR
deriv./denom.+
mpass.
dama doy-l-u
S1sg be.enough-CS-MID
‘I am happy’
EXR
meton./
caus.+mpass.
xaj dal di fééx
dog at.once IMV be.fresh
‚the dog was at once happy/satisfied’
EXR
label/metaph.
dama am m-bég-te
S1sg to.have NZ-be.happy-NZ
‚I have joy‘
EXR
relat./poss.
am naa ba-neex
to.have S1sg NZ-be.sweet
‚I have joy’
EXR
relat./poss.
m-bég-te bi ngeen ànd-al
NZ-be.happy-NZ REL S2pl to.accompany-CIRC
‚the joy with which you go‘
EXR
relat./circ.
neex-aay gi ma daan def
be.sweet.NZ DET S1sg HAB to.do
‚the joy which I did‘
EXR
metaph.
(do+EXM)
sama xol dafa kontaan
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.happy
‚my heart is happy/satisfied‘
BODY label
sama xol dafa bék
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.happy
‚my heart is happy/satisfied‘
BODY label
61
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
JOY/
Causative
EMO:
LOVE
ndax seen xol sedd
because POSS3pl heart be.cold
‚because their heart is cold‘
BODY attributing
xol-am fééx na
heart-POSS3sg be.fresh S3sg
‚his/her heart is fresh‘
BODY attributing
suma xol bi neex
POSS1sg heart DET be.sweet
‘my heart is sweet’
BODY attributing
suma xol angi dal
POSS1sg heart PRÄS to.settle
‚my heart is settled‘
BODY attributing
tey dang ma kontaan-loo
today S2sg O1sg be.happy-CS: MID: CIRC
‚today you made me feel happy‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass
mu di leen fééx-al seen xol
S3sg IMV O3pl be.fresh-CS POSS3pl heart
‚it refreshes their heart‘
PHM
metaph.
caus.+BODY
dafa bëgg Ràkki
S3sg to.want Rakki
‘s/he loves Rakki‘
EXR
label/meton.
dafa ma nob
S3sg O1sg to.love
‘s/he loves me‘
EXR
label
dama la sopp
S1sg O2sg to.love
‚I love/venerate you
‘
ma indi-l ko m-bëgg-al
S1sg to.bring-BENE O3sg NZ-to.want-NZ
‚I brought her/him love‘
EXR
label
EXR
metaph./
bring+EXM
dem naa yóbb-aale sama m-bëgg-al
to.go S1sg to.take-VE POSS1sg NZ-to.want-NZ
‚I went away with my love‘
EXR
metaph./
take+EXM
HAAP 2 (2003)
62
LOVE/
Causative
EMO:
PLEASING
EMO:
WORRY
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
m-bëgg-al moo ma jàpp
NZ-to.want-NZ S3sg o1sg to.seize
‚love seized me‘
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
nob-al moo nekk ci man
to.love-NZ S3sg be.located Pp me
‚love is (located) on me‘
EXM
relat./loc.
moo ma-y dof-loo
S3sg O1sg-IMV be.crazy-CS:MID:CIRC
‚s/he makes me feel in love‘
PHM
metaph./
caus.+mpass.
loolu neex-oon na ko lool
that be.sweet-PAST S3sg O3sg very
‚it pleased him/her a lot‘
PHM
label/metaph.
yaa ma saf
S2sg O1sg be.tasty
‚I like you‘
PHM
label/metaph.
bu soob-ee Yàlla
if to.please-PV God
‚if it pleases God‘
PHM
label
neex-aay gi mu daan def ci moom
be.sweet.NZ REL S3sg HAB to.do Pp him/her/it
‘the happyness which s/he got from it’ (lit.: ‘the
sweetness which s/he did in him/her/it’)
EXR
metaph./
do+EXM
dama jaaxl-e
S1sg to.worry-VRE
‘I worry‘
EXR
deriv./dtr.
nit ñi nekk-ali ci jaaxle googu
peaple DET to.be-DUR Pp distress DEM
‚the people are in that (state of) worrying‘
EXR
relat./loc.
waa ji ñów ak jaaxle bu metti
guy DET to.come with distress REL to.pain
‚the guy came with a thorough distress’
EXR
metaph./
come+EXM
EXR
am naa lu ma gétin sama xel
to.have S1sg Rel O1sg to.bother POSS1sg mind
‘I am troubled’ (lit.: ‘I have someth which troubles my
HAAP 2 (2003)
relat./poss./
rel.clause
63
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
mind’)
yàq-u-ma sama bopp
to.destroy-NEG-S1sg POSs1sg head
‘I did not destroy my head‘
EXR
metaph./refl.
jaaxle dugg ko nak
worry to.enter O3sg INTJ
worry entered him/her‘
EXM
anthrop.
(enter)
suma xel bi dafa jaxasoo
POSS1sg mind DET S3sg be.mixed.up
‚my mind is mixed up‘
BODY attributing
suma xel bi dal-ul
POSS1sg mind DET to.settle-NEG:3sg
‚my mind is not settled‘
BODY attributing/
neg.
sama xel bi toog-ul
POSS1sg mind DET to.sit-NEG:3sg
‚my mind is not at peace‘
BODY attributing/
neg.
sama xel baa ngiy wërante
POSS1sg mind DET:PROG to.go.to.and.fro
‚my mind goes to and fro‘
BODY anthrop.
xol-u Bugguma daan jaxasoo
heart-GEN Bugguma HAB be.mixed.up
‚Bugguma’s heart used to be mixed up‘
BODY attributing
BODY attributing
bi mu ko dégg-ee fit-am toog-ul
neg.
when S3sg O3sg to.hear-PV spirit-POSS3sg to.sitNEG:3sg
when s/he heard it, her/his spirit did not sit down‘
yef yi dañoo jaxasoo ci xel-am
thing DET S3sg:IMV be.mixed.up Pp mindPOSS3sg
‚the things are mixed up in his/her mind‘
PHM
metaph.
mat.V.+
BODY
moo xall a yàq sama xol
S3sg almost PART to.destroy POSS1sg heart
‚it almost destroyed my heart‘
PHM
metaph.
mat.V.+
BODY
HAAP 2 (2003)
64
WORRY:
Causative
EMO:
SHAME
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
d-u ma gétin
IMV-NEG3sg O1sg to.bother
‚it doesn’t worry me‘
PHM
label
daf ma jaaxal (jaax-al)
S3sg O1sg to.worry (-?—CS)
‚it worried me‘
PHM
label/
lex.caus.
daf ma doon xalaat-loo
S3sg O1sg IMV:PAST to.think-CS:MID:CIRC
‚it made me feel worried‘
PHM
meton.
caus.+mpass.
mën-oo dal-al sama xel
to.can-NEG:2sg to.settle-CS POSS1sg mind
‘you can’t give me peace of mind’ (lit.: ‚you cannot
settle my mind‘)
PHM
metaph.
caus.+BODY
dafa tilim-al xel-am
S3sg be.dirty-CS mind-POSS3sg
‚it made his/her mind dirty‘
PHM
metaph.
caus.+BODY
dama rus
S1sg be.ashamed
‚I am ashamed‘
EXR
label
dama torox
S1sg be.ashamed
‚I am ashamed‘
EXR
label
EXR
dafa am gàcce ci li doom-am biir
S3sg to.have shame Pp what child-POSS3sg
stomach
‚s/he feels shame because of the his/her child’s
pregnancy‘
HAAP 2 (2003)
relat./poss.
gàcce boobu mën-u-ma ko yeen-u
shame DEM to.can-NEG-1sg O3sg
to.carry.on.head:MID
‚I can’t bear that shame‘
EXR
metaph./
carry+EXM
d-u-ma jël gàcce gi
IMV-NEG-1sg to.take shame DET
‚I do not take the shame‘
EXR
metaph./
take+EXM
65
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
yow yaa deseek gàcce gi
you S2sg to.remain:with shame DET
‚you remain with the shame‘
EXR
metaph./
remain+EXM
dafa dugg-al bopp-am ci gàcce
S3sg to.enter-CS head-POSS3sg Pp shame
‘s/he put her/his head into shame‘
EXR
metaph./
put in+EXM
EXR
dafa ne yomm, kenn gis-at-u ko
S3sg to.say yomm someone to.see-REP-NEG
O3sg
‚s/he went away with shame, nobody saw her/him
again‘
metaph./
say+onom.
sama der bi yàq-u
POSS1sg skin DET to.destroy-MID
‘I am ashamed’ (lit.: ‘my skin is destroyed’)
BODY attributing
lu mu def ba gàcce gi war ko dal
what S3sg to.do until shame DET must O3sg
to.come.upon
‚what had he done so that shame came upon him‘
EXM
anthrop.
(come upon)
toroxteem jee ko tee génn
shame:POSS3sg DET:FOC O3sg to.prevent
to.go.out
‚her shame prevented her from going out‘
EXM
anthrop.
(go out)
su ma dem-ee sa gàcce la
if S1sg to.go-PV POSS2sg shame COP:3sg
‚if I go it is your shame‘
PHM
existential
jabar-am moo ko tek gàcce
wife-POSS3sg S3sg O3sg to.put shame
‚his wife put shame on him‘
PHM
metaph.
put on+EXM
daf ma jox gàcce
S3sg O1sg to.give shame
‚s/he put shame on me‘
PHM
metaph.
give+EXM
danga yàq sama der
S2sg to.destroy POSS1sg skin
‚you destroyed my skin‘
PHM
metaph./
mat.V.+
BODY
HAAP 2 (2003)
66
SHAME/
Causative
EMO:
SADNESS
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
li ma dégg daf ma rus-loo
what S1sg to.hear S3sg O1sg be.ashamedCS:MID:CIRC
‚what I heard made me feel ashamed‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
daf ko-y torox-al
S3sg O3sg-IMV be.ashamed-CS
‚it puts shame on me‘
PHM
deriv./caus.
Góórgi torox-al der-am
Góórgi be.ashamed-CS skin-POSS3sg
‚Góórgi put shame on his/her skin‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+refl.
daf ma-y gàcceel
S3sg O1sg-IMV shame:CS
‚it puts shame on me‘
PHM
deriv./
denom.+caus.
dama triste
S1sg be.sad (french: triste)
‚I am sad‘
EXR
label
(loan)
sama xol a jeex
POSS1sg heart FOC be.finished
‚my heart is finished‘
BODY attributing
BODY anthrop.
bi ma ko dégg-ee suma yaram bi yepp dee
When S1sg O3sg to.hear-PV POSS1sg body DET
all to.die
‚when I heard it, my whole body died‘
EMO:
DISLIKE
HAAP 2 (2003)
tey daal sama yaram nangu-l
today INTJ POSS1sg body to.agree-NEG:3sg
‚today my body does not agree‘
BODY anthrop.
bëgg-u-ma ko
to.want-NEG-S1sg O3sg
‚I hate him/her ~ I don’t like it‘
EXR
label/
meton./neg.
dafa ma bañ
S3sg O1sg to.refuse
‘s/he hated me’ (lit.: ‚s/he refused me‘)
EXR
label
ma jéppi ko
S1sg to.despise O3sg
‚I hate/dispise her/him‘
EXR
label
67
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
EMO:
PITY
anthrop.
(touch)
m-bañ-eel moo ko laal
NZ-to.refuse-NZ S3sg O3sg to.toouch
‚hate touched him/her‘
EXM
sama xol bañ loolu
POSS1sg heart to.refuse DEM
‚my heart refuses that‘
BODY label
yef-am neex-u ma
matter-POSS3sg be.seet-NEG O1sg
‚his/her affairs are not sweet to me‘
PHM
label/metaph.
sa yef saf-u ma
POSS2sg matter to.taste-NEG O1sg
‚your affairs are not tasty to me‘
PHM
label/metaph.
dama ko yërëm
S1sg O3sg to.pity
‚I pitied him/her‘
EXR
label
dafa am yërmande ci man
S3sg to.have pity Pp me
‚s/he has pity with me‘
EXR
relat./poss.
d-u la yég
IMV-NEG:3sg O2sg to.feel
‚s/he has not mercy with you‘
EXR
label/meton.
dafa am yég ci nit ñii
S3sg to.have feeling Pp people DET
‚s/he has mercy with these people‘
EXR
relat./poss
dafa am xol
S3sg to.have heart
‚s/he is a emotional/mercyful person‘
EXR
relat./poss
sama xol daf ko yërëm
POSS1sg heart S3sg O3sg to.pity
‘my heart pitied him/her‘
BODY label
sama xol dafa yeew pur moom
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.bound for him/her
‚my heart is bound for him/her‘
BODY label/metaph
HAAP 2 (2003)
68
EMO:
JEALOUSY
EMO:
GRIEVING
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
sama yaram daw na ndik moom
POSS1sg body to.run S3sg because.of him/her
‘I feel pity for him/her (lit.: ‚my body ran because of
him/her‘)
BODY metaph.
bataaxal yi daw nañu suñu yaram
letter DET to.run S3pl POSS1pl body
‚the letters aroused our sympathy‘ (lit.: ‘the letters
ran our body’)
PHM
metaph./mat.V.
+BODY
Cherno dafa fiir
Cherno S3sg be.jealous
‚Cherno is jealous‘
EXR
label
dafa añaan
S3sg be.jealous/envious
‘s/he is jealous’
EXR
label
fiir-aange moo ko jàpp
be.jealous-NZ S3sg O3sg to.seize
jealousy seized him/her‘
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
fiir-aange moo ko téyé
be.jealous-NZ S3sg O3sg to.hold
‚jealousy held him/her‘
EXM
anthrop.
(hold)
nk-añaan di lekk nile sa xol
NZ-be.jealous IMV to.eat POSS2sg heart
‘jealousy eats thus your heart’
EXM
anthrop.
(eat)+BODY
sama xol dafa fiir
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.jealous
‚my heart is jealous‘
BODY label
daf daan xett xol-u Maram
S3sg HAB to.pierce heart-GEN Maram
‚it used to pierce Maram’s heart‘
PHM
metaph./mat.V.
+BODY
dama naqar-i torop
S1sg bitterness.VZ very
‘Igrieve a lot’’
EXR
deriv./denom.
naqar-l-u naa li la dal
bitterness-CS-MID S1sg what O2sg to.come.upon
‚I am very concerned about what happened to you‘
EXR
deriv./denom.
caus.+mpass.
69
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
GRIEF/
Causative
VOL/
CONTENTM.
dafa-y metti-t-l-u
S3sg-IMV to.pain-NZ-CS-MID
‘s/he broods about a painful event’
EXR
deriv./denom.
caus.+mpass.
dama am naqar
S1sg to.have bitterness
‚I have bitterness‘
EXR
relat./poss.
am naa lu ma naqar-i
to.have S1sg what S1sg bitterness-VZ
‘there is something which makes me feel bitter’
EXR
relat./poss./
rel.clause
dee-am naqar-i na ma
death-POSS3sg bitterness-VZ S3sg O1sg
‚his/her death made me feel sad‘
PHM
deriv./denom.
sama xol dafa naqar-i
POSS1sg heart S3sg bitterness-VZ
‚my heart grieves‘
BODY deriv./denom.
sama xol dafa tiis
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.heavy
‘I grieve’ (lit.: ‘my heart is heavy’)
BODY attributing
sama xol dafa yàq-u
POSS1sg heart S3sg to.spoil-MID
‘my heart is spoiled’
BODY attributing
sama xol dafa jeex
POSS1sg heart S3sg be.finished
‘my heart is finished’
BODY attributing
loolu daf ma naqar-loo
that S3sg O1sg bitterness-CS:MID:CIRC
‚that makes me feel bitter‘
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
loolu daf ma metti-t-loo
that S3sg O1sg to.pain-NZ-CS:MID:CIRC
‘that makes me feel bitter’
PHM
deriv./denom.
caus.+mpass.
kontaan naa ci lool
be.satisfied S1sg Pp very
‘I am very satisfied with it’
EXR
label/
(loan)
HAAP 2 (2003)
70
CONTENTM./
Causative
EMO:
SURPRISE
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
bék naa
be.contented «S1sg
‘I am contented’
EXR
label
dama doy-l-u
S1sg to.suffice-BENE-MID
‘I am satisfied’
EXR
label/metaph./
caus.+mpass.
dama bari-l-e
S1sg be.plenty-CS-CIRC
‘I am satisfied’
EXR
label/metaph./
caus.
xel-u Binta dal na
mind-GEN Binta be.settled S3sg
‘Binta is contented’ (lit.: ‘Binta’s mind is at
peace/settled’)
BODY attributing
suma xel neex-u-t-oon
POSS1sg mind be.sweet-NEG-3sg-PAST
‘I am not contented’ (lit.: ‘my mind was not sweet’)
BODY attributing
sama xel bi dafa fééx
POSS1sg mind DET S3sg be.fresh
‘I am satisfied’ (lit.: ‘my mind is fresh’)
BODY attributing
afeer-am daf ma doy-loo
matter-POSS3sg S3sg O1sg suffice-CS:MID:CIRC
‘his/her affairs made me feel contended’
PHM
meton./
caus.+mpass.+c
irc.
jabar ji waar-u lool
wife DET to.surprise-MID very
‘the wife is very surprised’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
ma ne cee
S1sg to.say cee
‘I was surprised’
EXR
metaph.
say+onom.
ma ne yabb
S1sg to.say yabb
‘I was surprised’
EXR
metaph.
say+onom.
71
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
COG:
KNOWING
(wissen &
kennen)
COG:
UNDERSTANDING
am naa tey m-bett mu ma neex
to.have S1sg today NZ-to.surprise REL O1sg
be.sweet
‘I have a surprise today which pleases me’
EXR
relat./poss.
m-bett-eel gee ko jàpp
NZ-to.surprise-NZ DET O3sg to.seize
‘surprise seized him/her’
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
daf ma bett
S3sg O1sg to.surprise
‘it surprised me’
PHM
label
daf ma waar
S3sg O1sg to.surprise
‘it surprised me’
PHM
label
mu ne bilaaye doy na waar
S3sg to.say bilaaye to.suffice S3sg to.surprise
‘s/he said it is surprising’
léégi mu xam li xew
now S3sg to.know what to.happen
‚now s/he knows what happened‘
(PHM) (label)
EXR
label
kenn xam-u la
somebody to.know-NEG O2sg
‘nobody knows you’
EXR
label
jàpp nañu ne seen coosaan Sose la
to.catch S3pl that POSS3pl Mandinka COP:3sg
‘they knew that their origin was Mandinka’
EXR
label/metaph.
dafa dugg sama bopp
S3sg to.enter POSS1sg head
‘I knew it’ (lit.: ‘it entered my head’)
PHM
metaph./
enter+BODY
dafa dugg sama xel
S3sg to.enter POSS1sg mind
‘I knew it’ (lit.: ‘it entered my mind’)
PHM
metaph./
enter+mind
yaangiy dégg lu ma la wax
PROG:2sg to.hear what S1sg O2sg to.say
‘do you understand what I told you’
EXR
label/meton.
HAAP 2 (2003)
72
COG:
REMEMBERING
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
dégg nga Sose
to.hear S2sg Mandinka
‘do you understand Mandinka’
EXR
label/meton.
maangi soog-a xam li ngeen bëgg
PRÄS:1sg to.begin-PART to.know what S2pl
to.want
‘I begin to understand what you want’
EXR
label/meton.
EXR
gis nga ñun su ñ ñów-ee sa kër gis nga
to.see S2sg we If S1pl to.come-PV POSS2sg house
to.see S2sg
‘you understand, we, if we come to your house, you
understand’
label/meton.
jàpp nga boobu
to.catch S2sg that
‘did you understand that’
EXR
label/metaph.
eske jél-i nga ma
QUEST to.take-ITIV S2sg O1sg
‘did you understand me’
EXR
label/metaph.
dama fàtt-ale-eku benn jamano
S1sg to.forget-REV-MID one time
‘I remembered one time’
EXR
deriv./revers.+
mpass.
xel-mati naa ko
mind-VZ S1sg O3sg
‘I remembered it’
EXR
deriv./denom.
dem-oon naa ci démb
to.go-PAST S1sg Pp yesterday
‘I remembered yesterday/the past’
EXR
label/metaph.
mu jub-l-u démb
S3sg be.straight-CS-MID yesterday
‘s/he remebered yesterday/the past’
EXR
label/metaph.
caus.+mpass
moo soxla di dellu gànnaaw
S3sg need IMV to.return back
‘s/he had to remember the past’
EXR
label/metaph.
73
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
Góórgi janook yar bi mu yar Ràkki
Góórgi be.face.to.face:with education REL S3sg
to.educate Ràkki
‘Góórgi remembered how he educated Ràkki’
EXR
label/metaph.
dafa dugg sama bopp
S3sg to.enter POSS1sg head
‘it entered my head’
PHM
metaph./
enter+BODY
dafa dugg sama xel
S3sg to.enter POSS1sg mind
‘it entered my mind’
PHM
metaph./
enter+BODY
su mu bëgg-ee ñów ci xel-am
if S3sg to.want-PV to.come Pp mind-POSS3sg
‘if she wanted to come to his memory’
PHM
metaph./
come+BODY
xel-am dellu ci leeb bi
mind-POSS3sg to.return Pp story DET
‘his/her mind returned to the story’
BODY label/metaph./
xel-am dellu gànnaaw
mind-POSS3sg to.return back
‘his/her mind returned to the past’
BODY label/metaph.
xel-am dello ko Walo
mind-POSS3sg to.return O3sg Walo
‘his/her mind returned him/her to Walo’
BODY label/metaph.
BODY label/metaph.
xel-am yepp angi jub-l-u démb
miond-POSS3sg all PRÄS be.straigh-CS-MID
yesterday
‘all his/her mind faced was directed towards the past’
COG:
FORGETTING
sama xel dal di sore
POSS1sg mind to.settle IMV be.far
‘my mind was far away (in the past)’
BODY label/metaph.
sama xel daj na ci moom
POSS1sg mind to.touch S3sg Pp him/her
‘I remembered him/her’ (lit.: ‘my mind touched
him/her’)
loolu d-u-ma ko fàtte
that IMV-NEG-1sg o3sg to.forget
‘I will not forget that’
BODY label/metaph.
EXR
label
HAAP 2 (2003)
74
COG:
RECOGNIZE
COG:
REALIZE
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
dama ko bayyi gànnaaw
S1sg to.leave back
‘I forgot it’ (lit.. ‘I left it behind’)
EXR
metaph.
génn na sama xel
to.go.out S3sg POSS1sg mind
‘I forgot tn’ (lit.: ‘it left my mind’)
PHM
metaph./
leave+ BODY
sama xel daj-u ko
POSS1sg mind to.touch-NEG O3sg
‘I forgot it’ (lit.: ‘my mind didn’t touch it’)
BODY label/metaph.
xam-mé-u-ñu ma
to.know-VE-NEG-S3pl O1sg
‘they didn’t recognize me’
EXR
label/meton.
raññe na ko ci xale yi
‘to.recognize S3sg O3sg Pp child DET
‘s/he recognized him/her amongst the children’
EXR
label
nemmeeku naa ko
to.recognize:MID S1sg O3sg
‘I recognized it (the place)’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
jàpp-u-loo ko bu-m romb-ee
to catch-NEG-2sg O3sg when-S3sg to.pass.by-PV
‘didn’t you recognize her/him when s/he passed by’
EXR
label/metaph.
EXR
soo dem-ee dinga xam ne sa yaay am na faayda
if:S2sg to.go-PV FUT2sg to.know that POSS2sg
mother to.have S3sg respect/dignity
‘if you go you will realize that your mother has
respect’
label/meton.
EXR
ma gis ne dama-y am problem
S1sg to.see that S1sg-IMV to.have problem
‘I realized that I will have problems’
EXR
mu nettali ni mu yég-é biir-u doom ji
S3sg to.explain how S3sg to.feel-CIRC stomachGEN child DET
‘she explained how she realized that her daughter was
pregnant’
label/meton.
label/meton.
75
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
CON:
BELIEVING/
TRUSTING
CON:
THINKING
Maram mas-ul seet-l-u ne Rakki angiy mat-si jànq EXR
Maram ever-NEG3sg to.regard-CS-MID that Rakki
PROG to.reach-VEN womanhood
‘Maram never realized that Rakki was reaching
womanhood’
meton./
caus.+mpass.
woolu naa la
to.trust:MID S1sg O2sg
‘I trust you’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
danga gum tuuti Yàlla
S2sg to.believe/to.trust little God
‘you trust a little in God’
EXR
label
dama ko yaakaar
S1sg O3sg to.believe/to.trust
‘I trust her/him’
EXR
label
am naa yaakaar ci moom
to.have S1sg trust Pp him/her
‘I trust her/him’
EXR
relat./poss.
k-oolu-te googu mu am-oon ci moom
NZ-to.trust-NZ DEM REL to.have Pp him/her
‘the trust which s/he had in him/her’
EXR
relat./poss.
ci yow laa teg sama yaakaar
Pp you S1sg to.put POSS1sg trust
‘I trust you’
EXR
metaph./
put+EXM
ñu tas sa yaakaar
S3pl to.scatter POSS2sg trust
‘they destroyed your trust’
PHM
metaph./
scatter+EXM
wóór na ma ne nob na ko
be.sure S3sg O1sg that to.love S3sg O3sg
‘I am sure that s/he loves him/her’
PHM
label
maangiy xal-aat Aida
PROG:1sg mind-VZ Aida
‘I am thinking of Aida’
EXR
deriv./
denom.+rep.
loo xal-aat ci xew boobu
what:2sg mind-VZ Pp event DEM
‘what do you think about this event’
EXR
deriv./denom.
+rep.
HAAP 2 (2003)
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
waññi-l sa xal-aat
to.reduce-IMP POSS2sg mind-VZ
‘stop thinking’
EXR
metaph./
reduce+EXM
ku nekk nga jox-e sa xal-aat
REL to.be S2sg to.give-VRE POSS2sg mind-VZ
‘everybody shall tell what s/he thinks’
EXR
metaph./
give+EXM
xal-aat yi Maram di def
mind-VZ REL Maram IMV to.do
‘what Maram was thinking’
EXR
metaph.
do+EXM
dinaa ci bàyyi sama xel
FUT:1sg Pp to.leave POSS1sg mind
‘I will think of it’
EXR
metaph.
leave+BODY
am naa ci xel torop
to.have S1sg Pp mind very
‘I think a lot about it’
EXR
relat./poss.
moo-y sama xal-aat ci loolu
S3sg-IMV POSS1sg mind-VZ Pp that
‘this is my thought about it’
PHM
existential
PHM
nen a nekk ci sama xel
egg FOC to.be Pp POSS1sg mind
‘I was thinking of eggs’ (lit.: ‘eggs were in my mind’)
relat./loc.
BODY label/denom.
xel-am xal-aat-u ko
mind-POSS3sg mind-VZ-NEG O3sg
‘s/he didn’t think of it’ (lit.: ‘her/his mind didn’t think
(of) it’)
xel-am angi ci kër gi
mind-POSS3sg COP Pp house Det
‘his/her mind is at the house’
BODY relat./loc.
BODY relat./loc.
seen xel ne-wul ci bokk goornemaa Abdu Juuf
POSS3pl mind to.be-NEG Pp to.participate
government Abdu Juuf
‘they didn’t think of participating in Abdu Juuf’s
government’
HAAP 2 (2003)
77
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
xel-u Maram dellu ci doom ji
mind-GEN Maram to.return Pp child DET
‘Maram thought of her child’
BODY metaph.
xel-am jox ko mu dem laaj ko
BODY metaph.
mind-POSS3sg to.give O3sg S3sg to.go to.ask
O3sg
‘s/he thought about going and asking him/her’
BODY metaph./
sa xel génn-é sa xel rekk
leave+BODY
POSS2sg mind to.go.out-VIN POSS2sg mind only
‘stop thinking of it’ (lit.: ‘your mind shall go out of
your mind’)
CON:
ASSUMING
CON:
DOUBTING
dama xal-aat-oon ne sàcc lawoon
S1sg mind-VZ-PAST that thief COP-PAST
‘I thought it was a thief’
EXR
label/meton.
danga foog ne dama caaxaan
S2sg to.assume that S1sg to.joke
‘you thought/assumed that I was joking’
EXR
label
defe-woon naa danga tukki
to-assume-PAST S1sg S2sg to.travel
‘I thought/assumed (that) you had traveled’
EXR
label
daf ma teg xale ba tey
S3sg O1sg to.put child until today
‘s/he thought/assumed (that) I am still a child’
EXR
label/meton.
EXR
gum-u-ma ne Binta dina def loolu
to.believe-NEG-1sg that Binta FUT:3sg to.do that
‘I don’t think that Binta will do this’
label/meton.
yaakaar-u-ma ne dina nangu
to.hope-NEG-1sg that FUT:3sg to.agree:MID
‘I don’t think s/he will agree’
EXR
label/meton.
ñepp jàpp ne Mbaax dafa-y dee
all to.catch that Mbaax S3sg-IMV to.die
‘all assumed that Mbaax will die’
EXR
label/meton.
am na ci ñaar-i xel
to.have S3sg Pp two-GEN mind
‘s/he doubts it’ (lit.: s/he has two minds about it’)
EXR
relat./poss.
HAAP 2 (2003)
78
VOL:
DEMANDING
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
foog-u-ma ko-woon
to.assume-NEG-1sg O3sg-PAST
‘I doubted it’ (lit.: I didn’t assume it’)
EXR
label/meton.
xal-aat-u-ma ko-woon
mind-VZ-NEG-1sg O3sg-PAST
‘I doubted it’ (lit.: ‘I didn’t think so’)
EXR
label/meton.
sama xel baangiy werante
POSS1sg mind PROG to.roam.around
‘my mind roams around’
BODY anthrop.
bëgg naa ko
to.want S1sg O3sg
‘I want it’
EXR
label
bañ naa ko
to.refuse S1sg O3sg
‘I didn’t want it / I refused it’
EXR
label
dama ko sopp-a am
S1sg O3sg to.love-PART to.have
‘I want to have it’
EXR
label/meton.
dama bëgg-al Bacc mi lu baax
S1sg to.want-BENE Bacc DET what be.good
‘I wish Bacc all the best’
EXR
deriv./appl.
maang leen ko ñaan-al it
S1sg O2pl O3sg to.ask.for-BENE also
‘I wish it also to you’
EXR
label/appl.
mu yééné ñu jàmm
S3sg wish O1pl peace
‘s/he wished us peace’
EXR
label
am-u-ñu benn bëgg-bëgg
to.have-NEG-3pl one wish
‘they don’t have any wish’
EXR
relat./poss.
am naa yééné ju opp sax loolu
to.have S1sg wish REL to.surpass even that
‘I have a desire which is more than that’
EXR
relat./poss.
79
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
VOL:
NEEDING
fas naa yééné tukki
to.knot wish to.travel
‘I wanted/decided to travel’ (lit.: ‘I knotted a wish to
travel’)
EXR
metaph./
knot+EXM
ma fas samp
S1sg to.knot to.build
‘I wanted/decided to build’ (lit.: ‘I knotted to build’)
EXR
label/metaph.
looloo-y sama bëgg-bëgg
that-IMV POSS1sg wish
‘that is my wish’
PHM
existential
loolu moo-y sama yééné
that S3sg-IMV POSS1sg desire
‘that is my wish/desire’
PHM
existential
lu-y sa tànk
what-IMV POSS2sg foot/leg
‘what is your wish/request/concern’
PHM
existential
wante xol bi bañ
but heart DET to.refuse
‘but the heart refused’
BODY label
dañu soxla seen neeg
S3pl to.need POSS2pl room
‘they need your room’
EXR
label/
(loan)
bëgg-u-ma ko
to.want-NEG-1sg O3sg
‘I don’t need it’ (lit.: ‘I don’t want it’)
EXR
label/meton.
am naa soxla ci you
to.have need Pp you
‘I need you’
EXR
relat./poss.
lu ma ko doy-e
what S1sg O3sg to.suffice-CIRC
‘what do I need it for’
PHM
label/meton.
negation of soxla renders the meaning ‘not to be
necessary’
soxlawul ma di ko tudd
‘it is not necessary for me to name it’
HAAP 2 (2003)
80
VOL:
ENVYING
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
dañu ko añaan-e dall-am
S3pl O3sg to.envy-VIN shoe-POSS3sg
‘they envy him/her his/her shoes’
EXR
deriv./appl.
ma ñee ñi seen kër sori-wu-l
S1sg to.envy those POSS3pl house be.far-NEG3sg
‘I envy those whose house is not far’
EXR
label
iñaane may nelaw a tax ngay faraas-faraas sa bale EXM
‘envying my sleeping caused (that) you swinging the
broom’
PERC:
SEEING
HAAP 2 (2003)
anthrop.
dang ko gis
S2sg O3sg to.see
‘you saw it’
EXR
label
xanaa seet-u-loo ko
QUEST to.look.for-Neg-2sg O3sg
‘didn’t you look for it’
EXR
label
xool naa ko
to.regard S1sg O3sg
‘I regarded it’
EXR
label
ma seen Beccek bi
S1sg to.see.from.afar Beccek DET
‘I saw this Beccek from afar’
EXR
label
alal ji nga fi xel-mati
wealth REL S2sg cast.a.glance.at
‘the wealth which you can cast a glance at here’
EXR
label/metaph.
bëgg-at-u ko gis ak bët
to.want-REP-NEG:3sg O3sg to.see with eye
‘s/he didn’t want to see it with her eyes’
EXR
label/
+BODY(PP)
ci sama biir bët laa ko def-e
Pp POSS1sg stomach eye S1sg O3sg to.do-CIRC
lit.: ‘in my eyes did I do it’
EXR
metaph./
do+BODY
dafa tek bët njaaxum ba fa am
S3sg to.put eye misfortune REL there to.have
lit.:‘s/he put eye (on) the misfortune which happened
there’
EXR
metaph./
put+BODY
81
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
PERC:
HEARING
PERC:
SMELLING
mu ne yunn ci neeg bi
S3sg to.say yunn Pp room DET
‘s/he took a look at the room’
EXR
metaph./
say+onom.
ñów na sama bët
to.come S3sg POSS1sg eye
‘I saw it’ (lit.: ‘it came (to) my eye’)
PHM
metaph./
come+BODY
dégg naa ko
to.hear S1sg O3sg
‘I heard it’
EXR
label
dama dég-l-u xabaar bi
S1sg to.hear-CS-MID news Det
‘I listened to the news’
EXR
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
Musa gëj naa ko jàpp nak
Musa long.time.not S1sg O3sg to.catch INTJ
‘I didn’t hear from Musa for quite some time’
EXR
label/metaph.
yég-u-leen ne da-y gan-ale
‘to.feel-NEG-2pl that S3sg-IMV guest-VZ
‘didn’t you hear that he invites for dinner’
EXR
label/meton.
wax jooju tabbindoo ci nopp-u baay bi
speech DEM to.fell Pp ear-GEN father DET
‘that speech fall into the father’s ear’
PHM
anthrop.
fall+BODY
cere ji xeeñ na ma
couscous DET to.smell S3sg O1sg
‘I smell the couscous’ (lit.: ‘the couscous smells (to
me)’
PHM
label
xaj baangiy xeeñ-t-u rab-u all
dog PROG to.smell-INT-MID animal-GEN bush
‘the dog scents wild animals’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
ma foon litkoloñ gi
S1sg to.sniff parfume DET
‘I sniffed the parfume’
EXR
label
HAAP 2 (2003)
82
PHYS:
PAIN
PHYS:
COLD
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
sama biir dafa-y metti
POSS1sg stomach S3sg-IMV to.pain
‘my stomach pains’
LOC
label
sama biir daf ma-y metti
POSS1sg stomach S3sg O1sg-IMV to.pain
‘my stomach pains me’
LOC
label
dama am metti-t-u biir
S1sg to.have to.pain-NZ-GEN stomach
‘I have stomach pain’
EXR
relat./poss.
di-nga yég metti-t
FUT-2sg to.feel to.pain-NZ
‘you will feel pain’
EXR
specif./
(feel)
mu def metti-t ci xol-am
S3sg to.do to.pain-NZ Pp heart-POSS3sg
‘his/her heart pained (lit.: s/he did pain at/in her/his
heart’)
EXR
metaph./
do+EXM
sama bopp bayyi metti rekk
POSS1sg head to.leave to.pain only
‘my head stopped paining’
LOC
metaph./
leave+EXM
sama yaram neex-u-l
POSS1sg body be.sweet-NEG-3sg
‘my body aches’ (lit.: ‘my body is not sweet’)
LOC
attributing
metti-t wee ko jàpp
to.pain-NZ DET:FOC O3sf to.seize
‘pain seized him/her’
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
da-y metti sama wet
S3sg-IMV to.pain POSS1sg side
‘it pains my side’
PHM
label
dama li-w
S1sg feel.cold-MID
‘I freeze’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
dama-y yég sedd
S1sg-IMV to.feel coldness
‘I feel cold’
EXR
specif./
(feel)
83
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
COLD/
Causative
PHYS:
HUNGER
HUNGER/
Causative
PHYS:
SWEATING
PHYS:
SICKNESS
sama li-w metti na tey
POSS1sg feel.cold-MID to.pain S3sg today
‘I feel cold today’ (lit.: ‘my coldness pains today’)
EXM
anthrop.
(label)
sedd bi daf ma dee li-u-loo
cold DET S3sg =1sg HAB to.freeze-MIDCS:MID:CIRC
‘the cold made me freeze’
PHM
deriv./caus.
+mpass.+circ.
dama xiif
S1sg be.hungry
‘I am hungry’
EXR
label
xiif moo ma téyé
hunger S3sg O1sg to.hold
‘hunger hold me’
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
xiif angi ci dëkk bi
hunger PRÄS Pp town/country DET
‘hunger is in the town/country’
EXM
relat./loc.
daf ma dee xiif-loo
S3sg O1sg HAB be.hungry-CS:MID:CIRC
‘it makes me feel hungry’
PHM
deriv./
caus.+mpass.
dama ñaq
S1sg to.sweat
‘I sweat’
EXR
label
dama tàng
S1sg be.hot
‘I sweat / feel hot’
EXR
attributing
dama feebaar
S1sg be.sick (french)
‘I am sick’
EXR
label/
(loan)
dama opp
S1sg be.sick
‘I am sick’
EXR
label
HAAP 2 (2003)
84
PHYS:
PREGNANCY
HAAP 2 (2003)
J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
dama sibbir-u
S1sg be.sick-MID
‘I am sick / I have a fever’
EXR
deriv./mpass.
wér-u-ma
be.healthy-NEG-1sg
‘I am sick’ (lit.: ‘I am not healthy’)
EXR
label
(neg.)
dafa ànd ak jangoro sëqët
S1sg to.accompany with sickness cough
‘s/he has a cough’
EXR
relat./circ.
mungoog feebaar la def-oon
there.s/he.is sickness S3sg to.do-PAST
‘s/he is sick’ (lit.: s/he did sickness’)
EXR
metaph./
do+EXM
feebaar bi moo ma dal
sickness DET S3sg O1sg to.come.upon
lit.: ‘sickness came upon me’
EXM
anthrop.
(come upon)
feebaar bu bon moo ko jot
sickness REL be.bad S3sg O3sg befall
‘a bad sickness befall him/her’
EXM
anthrop.
(befall)
feebaar bii mag rekk la-y jàpp
sickness DEM old.person only S3sg-IMV to.seize
‘this sickness takes only hold of old people’
EXM
anthrop.
(seize)
su la jangoro ji song-ee
if O2sg sickness DET to.attack-PV
‘if sickness attacks you’
EXM
anthrop.
(attack)
dama biir
S1sg stomach
‘I am pregnant’
EXR
label/denom.
dama ëmb
S1sg to.bundle.up
‘I am pregnant’
EXR
label/metaph.
dafa uuf koll
S3sg to.put.on.one’s.lap be.stomach
lit.: ‘she put a big stomach on her lap’
EXR
metaph./put
on+BODY
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PREGNANCY/
Causative
jigéén-u wér-u-l la
woman-GEN be.healthy-NEG-3sg COP
‘she is pregnant’ (lit.: ‘she is a woman of no health’)
dafa nekk ci m-baax-u jigéén
S3sg to.be Pp NZ-be.good-GEN woman
‘she is pregnant’ (lit.: ‘she is in the goodness of
woman’)
EXR
existential
EXR
relat./loc.
daf ko biir-al
S3sg O3sg stomach-CS
‘he made her pregnant’
PHM
meton./denom+
caus.
Appendix II: Literature on Wolof
Examples of experiencer constructions have been taken from the following published
materials including grammar books, dictionaries, newspapers and instructional books
published by the government of Senegal:
Dial, Abdoulaye 1998. Na nga def. Apprentissage rapide du Wolof parlé. Saint-Louis.
Diouf, Jean-Léopold et Marina Yaguello 1991. J’apprends le wolof. Damay jàng Wolof.
Paris: Édition Karthala.
Fal, Arame, Rosine Santos et Jean Léonce Doneux 1990. Dictionnaire wolof-français. Paris
Édition Karthala.
Kesteloot, Lilyan et Chérif Mbodj 1983. Contes et Mythes Wolof. Paris: Les Nouvelles
Éditions Africaines.
Munro, Pamela and Dieynaba Gaye 1991. Ay baati Wolof. A Wolof dicionary. Los Angeles:
University of California, UCLA occasisional papers in Linguistics, Number 9.
Ndaw, Sééx Aliyu 1993. Buur Tileen. Ndakaaru: IFAN Cheikh Anta Diop.
Sofaa 1994 – 1995. W. B. 206 – Ndakaaru: Imprimerie Monteiro.
Xumma, Mamadu 1998. Fééxlu. Projet Alphabétisation ”Priorité Femmes”. Ndakaaru.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
List of Abbreviations
AFOC
Aspect focus
BENE
Benefactive
BODY
Body part
caus.
Causative
CIRC/circ.
Circumstantial extension
COP
Copula
CS
Causative extension
DEM
Demonstrative
denom.
Denominal
deriv.
Derived
DET
Determiner
DRV
Derivational suffix (unclassified)
DUR
Durative extension
EXM
Experitum
EXR
Experiencer
FOC
Focus marker
FUT
Futur marker
GEN
Genetive marker
HAB
Habitual marker
IMP
Imperative
IMV
Imperfective
INT
Intensive extension
INTJ
Interjection
ITIV
Itiv extension
ITR/intr.
Intransitive
lex.caus.
Lexicalized causative extension
mpass.
Medio-passive
mat.V.
Material verb
meton.
Metonymically expanded
metaph.
Metaphorical expression
MID
Middle extension
neg.
Negated
NEG
Negative marker
NZ
Nominalizer
O
Object
OBL
Obligative
onom.
Onomatopoetic expression
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
orient.
Orientation
PAST
Past tense marker
PART
Verbal particle
PFOC
Predicate focus
PHM
Phenomenon
pl
Plural
POSS
Possessive pronoun
poss.
Possessive relation
Pp
Preposition
PRÄS
Presentative
PROG
Progressive
PV
Perfective
refl.
Reflexive
REL
Relative pronoun
rel.clause
Relative clause
relat.
Relational process
REP
Repetitive extension
REV/revers.
Reversive extension
S
Subject
sg
Singular
TR/tr.
Transitive
V
Verb
VE
Verbal extension
VEN
Ventiv
VIN
Valence-increasing extension
VRE
Valence-reducing extension
VZ
Verbalizer
QUEST
Question-introducing particle
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
References
Ameka, Felix
1990 The Grammatical Packaging Of Experiencers In Ewe: A Study In The Semantics Of
Syntax. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 19, 139-181.
Bugenhagen, Robert D.
1990 Experiential constructions in Mangap-Mbula. Australian Journal of Linguistics 10:
183-215.
Croft, William
1993 Case marking and the semantics of mental verbs. In: J. Pustejovsky (ed.) Semantics
and the Lexicon, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 55-72.
Fillmore, Charles J.
1968 The case for case. In: E. Bach & R. Harms (eds.) Universals in linguistic theory. New
York: Holt, Rinehart, and Wilson, 1-88.
Halliday, M.A.K.
1994 An Introduction to Functional Grammar. 2nd ed. London, etc.: E. Arnold. (1st ed.
1985).
Horie, Kaoru
1985 Lexico-syntactic analysis of verbs of cognition, conception and perception. Sophia
Linguistica 18: 39-48.
Klaiman, M. H.
1988 Affectedness and control: a typology of voice systems. In: Masayoshi Shibatani (ed.)
Passive and Voice. Typological Studies in Language. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John
Benjamins Publishing Company, 25-84.
Longacre, Robert E.
1983 The Grammar of Discourse. New York, London: Plenum Press.
Reh, Mechthild
1998a. Experiens-Konstruktionen in afrikanischen Sprachen: Erkenntnisinteressen, Ansätze,
Ergebnisse. In: M. Reh (ed.), Experiens-Kodierung in afrikanischen Sprachen
typologisch gesehen: Formen und ihre Motivierungen, Hamburg: Universität
Hamburg, Institut für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik, 1-22.
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J. Becher: Experiencer constructions in Wolof
1998b The role of metaphor in grammar: experiencer constructions. In: M. Reh (ed.),
Experiens-Kodierung in afrikanischen Sprachen typologisch gesehen: Formen und
ihre Motivierungen, Hamburg: Universität Hamburg, Institut für Afrikanistik und
Äthiopistik, 25-40.
1998c Questionnaire on Experiencer Constructions in African Languages. Hamburg. MS.
Reh, Mechthild & Christiane Simon
1998 Experiens-Konstruktionen in Mande-Sprachen. In: M. Reh (ed.), Experiens-Kodierung
in afrikanischen Sprachen typologisch gesehen: Formen und ihre Motivierungen,
Hamburg: Universität Hamburg, Institut für Afrikanistik und Äthiopistik, 41-88.
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