Chapter ##
GENITIVE PHRASES
enitive phrases in Bole in their canonical structure simply juxtapose POSSESSED
+ POSSESSOR. The phrase may comprise two nouns or a noun plus a
G
pronominal clitic as possessor. There are, however, a number of special types
of linked genitive phrases, particularly involving kin terms and certain categories of body
part terms. In addition, some nouns have idiosyncratic properites, such as lengthening
the final vowel of N1.
1. Regular N + N Genitives
1.1. Form of N + N genitives. The list below gives examples of typical N + N genitives,
grouped according to the final segment of N1. This shows that as a general rule, N1 is
unaltered in genitive constructions, though there are special cases described in sections
below. In some cases, juxtaposition of nouns in genitive constructions results in general
Bole tonal alternations, explained below the data table. Genitive constructions always
have the order  possessed-possessor . The English translations use the most natural
English order, sometimes with the N [of] N Bole order, sometimes with a genitive
marked possessor preceding, sometimes as a compound.
Final V of N1 = a
 Bamoi s circumcision
sha\} Bamoi
 Bamoi s friend
so\bać Bamoi
 European shoes
taćkać Naćsa\ra
 calabash for beer or  calabash of beer
kulać moćs�n
 women s stool
ndaćya mondeć
 mushroom ( stool of a toad )
ndaćya d�nd�
 goat manure
&yoppa uwwać < ś&yoppać uwwaćś
 eyeball ( kernel of eye )
dać^ya ido < śdać&ya �doś
Final V of N1 = e
 Bamoi s son
beĄ Bamoi
 jug of honey or  jug for honey
buleć so\ni
 cow s leg
shećkeć koćm
 sauce of baobab (greens)
biyeć kućshi
 date palm tree
rećwe d�binoć
 children of a monkey
da\nde b�doć
 Achilles tendon ( tendon of foot )
tećze shekeć < śtećze shećkećś
1
Final V of N1 = o
 doorway ( mouth of hut )
boĄ b�n
 Bamoi s horse
do\sho Bamoi
 Bamoi s beard
buĄyoć Bamoi
 feathers of a bird
soćwwoć yaĄro
odoć soĄto  beans for fried cakes [H: �osai]
 donkey of a slave
ko\ro baĄyać
 breakfast food ( otto of morning )
otto sa\toć < śottoć saĄtoćś
 nostril ( hole of nose )
wućyo wunti < śwućyo wućntiś
Final V of N1 = i
 Bamois s goat
oĄshi Bamoi
 Bamoi s nose
wućnti Bamoi
 Lengi s husband
moćj� Leng�
 millet worm
tętok� &yaćla
 stone partridge ( chicken of stone )
yaĄwi guĄsho
 palm leaf mat ( mat of mat )1
bu\sh� daćwun
 fruit ( child of tree )
le'i rewe < ślećyi rećweś
 shoulder ( head of arm )
ko mba\ < śko mba\ś
"
 bone of a cow
oćsoki ko]m < śoćsoki koćmś
 sorghum stalks
ka\ri kuteć < śka\r� kućtećś
Final V of N1 = u
 human corpse ( corpse of person )
guĄ meĄmuć
 Bamoi s buttocks
sumbu Bamoi
 song of the Bole people
aĄru b�ya Pikkać
 Bamoi s wife
moćnduć Bamoi
 (upper) grinding stone ( pestle of grinding )
anku ossoć < śanku oćssoćś
 inoculation of a cow
di+"+"u ko]m < śdi+"+"u koćmś
N1 ends in a consonant or diphthong
 sorghum mush
urućm kućteć
 cat s claw
kućrućm aĄweć
 fat of meat
sh�fior lo
 life of the king
zo]u moi
 hyena s chin
jućntul zoćnge
 bark ( back ) of a tree
boi rewe < śboi rećweś
 blacksmith s iron
oćyum an gućwa < śoćyum aćn gućwaś
These examples show that in regular N + N genitive constructions, there is no linking
morpheme meaning  of or the like, nor do either of the nouns undergo any segmental
changes. Juxtaposition of nouns in genitive constructions does trigger two general Bole
tonal alternations:
1
Bu\sh�  incomplete palm leaf mat is a Kanuri loanword. Dąwun is the native Bole generic term for a mat.
2
Raising of Variable Tone (##): A restricted set of disyllabic nouns with a HL tone
pattern in citation form take HH tones when not phrase final. Some examples in the
data above are  yoppą  shit in  yoppa uwwą  shit of goats and da\ndeć  children in
da\nde b�doć  children of a monkey . Note that the tone of the syllable following the
variable tone syllable may be H or L.
Low Tone Raising (LTR) (##): The rule LTR applies across a range of low level
syntactic boundaries to raise a L tone to H in the environment ...H L... if the L
syllable begins in a segment other than a voiced obstruent. N + N genitive
constructions are a canonical environment for LTR, which a number of the examples
above illustrate, for example, dą ya ido /dą ya + �do/  eyeball ,2 łyo wunti /łyo +
włnti/  nostril , �soki k�m /�soki + k�m/  bone of a cow , ko mba\ /ko mba\/. Note
"
that in �soki k�m, LTR yields a Falling tone on k�m  cow , with the first mora of the
two mora word bearing the H and the second mora retaining the underlying L,
whereas in ko mba\, LTR yields a level H on underlying /mba\/  arm by replacing the
"
L on the first mora with H.
These two tonal rules interact: Variable Tone Raising produces a word final H,
which then conditions LTR, as in otto sa\toć /ottoć ą saĄtoć/  breakfast food , ka\ri kuteć
/ka\r� ą kućteć/  sorghum stalks .
1.2. Meaning relationships expressed by N + N genitives. Typical of African
languages, the basic Bole N + N genitive construction can express essentially any
meaning relationship that can exist between two nouns (though see ż7 for kin terms and
ż2 for expressions where N2 is locative or temporal). Some of the meaning relationships
that the data in ż1.1 express are the following:
" Possession (alienable): do\sho Bamoi  Bamoi s horse , taćkać Naćsa\ra  a European s
shoe
" Possession (inalienable): shećkeć koćm  cow s leg , moćj� Leng�  Lengi s husband
" Part-whole: ka\ri kuteć  sorghum stalk
" Source: moćr duĄroć  peanut oil
" Product-material: urućm kućteć  sorghum staple food
" Functional association: buleć so\ni  honey jug , anku ossoć  grinding stone
" Container-contents: buleć so\ni  jug of honey
" Type delimitation: taćkać Naćsa\ra  European shoes , guĄ meĄmuć  human corpse
and many others. N + N genitives are the source of many compounds in Bole (##), i.e.
expressions where the overall meaning of the expression is not compositionally
predictable from the literal meanings of its parts, e.g. dą ya ido  eyeball ( kernel of
2
Phonetically, the phrase is [da~/"a /ido], with a glottal stop initiating the third syllable. We argue (##) that
glottal stop is the default onset for otherwise onsetless syllables, not a true contrastive phonological unit.
Regardless of one s phonological analysis, however, this syllable meets the environment for LTR since
neither [/] nor the vowel i- are voiced obstruents, the only type of segment that blocks LTR.
3
eye ), ndąya d�nd�  mushroom ( stool of toad ), wąną �do  indecisiveness ( dancing
of eye ), boi bin  toilet ( back of house ).
2. Linked nominal genitives: N nć N
As shown in ż1, most types of N + N genitive phrases juxtapose nouns with no overt
morphological marking. However, phrases where N2 indicates the location of N1 or a
time reference for N1, genitive constructions require a linker nć between the nouns. If N1
ends in a vowel, nć becomes the coda of the final syllable of N1 and its L tone associates
with the second mora of that syllable, resulting in a falling tone if the original syllable
was H. If N1 ends in a consonant, the linking nć is a L tone syllabic nasal. The linker is
subject to regular nasal assimilation processes to point of articulation of a following
consonant and complete assimilation to a following sonorant (##).
N2 is location
 northern river ( river of north )
aćush�n gudi
 left road ( road of left )
goćggoćn gećfie
 left hand
saćra]n gećfie
 domestic animal ( animal of house )
dabbaćm boćnoć
 wild animal ( animal of bush )
lo]m maĄla
 money of Nigeria
do\do]n NaĄje\riyać
 mat for an entrance hall
daćwun nć maćt�ra
 right-hand corner ( elbow of right )
shungule]n t�sho
 upper incisors ( teeth of above )
ućdo]n ko&y&yeć
 lower incisors ( teeth of below
ućdo]n oćl&oćli
 an insider ( person of the house )
meĄmućn boćnoć
 citizens ( people of the town )
mi&y&ya]n goĄru
N2 is time
 this year s millet
moćrfio]n soćniyeć
 today s otto
otto]n unsho\
 next year s harvest
kaka]n zo]u
 next month ( month of tomorrow )
tećre]n fio\sh�
 people of yore
mi&y&ya]n oćnz�
 this year s maize
da\masaćr nć soćniyeĄ
}
The two types of genitive constructions direct juxtaposition and nć linked provide
a way to distinguish meaning relationships between nouns. Moreover, it is possible to
omit the nć of linked constructions but to retain the meaning associated with this type of
construction by non-application of Low Tone Raising between the nouns. 3
3
This differentiation of meaning by (non-)application of LTR shows up elsewhere, e.g. in distinguishing
ethnonyms from N+location phrases (##). The explanation for non-application of LTR is open to question.
One possibility is that the linking nć may be omitted but that the effect of its L tone remains, blocking LTR.
This account could apply to N+Adjective constructions as well (##), where linking nć normally is present
4
Regular genitive  Linked genitive
(direct juxtaposition)
(linker nć and/or no LTR)
 domestic dog  dog of the house ,
aćdać boćnoć aćdaćn boćnoć
( dog-of house ) i.e. he lives there
 the town s well  well located in a
boćzoć goćru boćzoćn goćru
town
 river water , i.e. a  water in the river
aćmma aushi aćmma aćushi
type of water cf.  southern water
< śaćushiś cf. aćmma]n aćushi
 Bole people  people of Fika , i.e.
b�ya Pikkać b�ya P�kkać
( people of Fika ) located there
< śP�kkaćś but *b�ya]n P�kkać
 Monday tuwo , the  Monday s tuwo ,
otto Lęt�r�n otto L�t�r�n
type eaten on M. i.e. cooked on M.
< /L�t�r�n/ `" otto]l L�t�r�n
In the first two examples, where N1 ends in L tone, the environment for LTR would
not be met. Hence, the presence or absence of linking nć is the only overt marking of the
meaning distinction. The word ąushi means either  river or  south in Bole of Fika, the
latter meaning derived from the fact that the Gongola River, the main watercourse in the
area, lies south of Fika in Bole of Gombe, which lies south of the Gongola, ąushi
means  north ! These two meanings of ąushi can be distinguished by presence or
absence of nć. The collocation b�ya + P�kką  people + Fika , which does not permit use
of linking nć in any use, may actually represent a construction type different from either
N+N or N nć N. The word b�ya  people of... is generally bound in some way and can
form ethnonyms. The meaning distinction in the table, marked only by presence or
absence of LTR, is systematic for this word and also for an  associate of..., person of...
(##).
There are some dialectal and idiolectal differences, apparently having to do with
interpretation of the relationship between the nouns. For example, Gadaka has kaĄlan
shećkeć  toe ( finger of foot ),4 whereas Fika has kaĄla shekeć, as a regular N + N genitive
without linking nć. This distinction may be related to thinking of the expression as
meaning  finger located on the foot (the linked version) or  foot finger (the regular
genitive version).
Finally, as shown in ż5, some body part terms ending in -o change the final vowel to
-i in genitive constructions (łdo + tŁmshi ! łdi temshi  tooth of a sheep ). In linked
genitive constructions, this vowel change does not take place, e.g. łd�n ko y yŁ  upper
incisors .
but may be omitted. This account, however, fails to associate blocking of LTR in these cases with the
broader generalization the LTR does not apply between a noun and any postnominal modifier (number,
demonstrative, relative clause, in addition to the constructions discussed here).
4
Note that the second syllable of kaĄlan  finger of ... does not have a falling tone as it would in the Fika
dialect. In medial position, the Gadaka dialect seems to level these falling tones to H.
5
3. Regular N + pronoun Genitives
When the possessor (N2) is a pronoun, the general pronominal clitics (##) are directly
attached to the noun. The segmental forms of the pronouns remain the same in all
environments, but the tones vary as follows:
" Third masculine singular -n� is always L; other pronouns have the following patterns:
" Following a noun ending in L, the pronoun is H;
" Following a noun ending in HH, the final syllable of the noun becomes L and the
pronoun is H;
" Elsewhere (following a monosyllabic H noun or a noun ending in LH), the pronoun is
L in phrase final position but is H if anything follows in the same intonational phrase.
Noun ends in L Noun ends in LH
kłtŁ  sorghum
moćrfio  millet
1 1p 1 1p
kućteć-no kućteć-mu moćrfio-noć moćrfio-muć
2ms 2p 2ms 2p
kućteć-ko kućteć-ku moćrfio-koć moćrfio-kuć
2fs 2fs
kućteć-shi moćrfio-sh�
3ms 3p 3ms 3p
kućteć-n� kućteć-mu kućteć-n� moćrfio-suć
Noun ends in HH
kunsho  newly ripe grain
1 1p
kunshoć-no kunshoć-mu
2ms 2p
kunshoć-ko kunshoć-ku
2fs
kunshoć-shi
3ms 3p
kunshoć-n� kunshoć-mu
Nouns ending in falling tones treat the fall as H+L over two moras. The final L
conditions H on the pronoun: zo]u-no  my life , raćkka\-to  her ankle bracelet , saćla]m-ku
}
 greetings to you (pl) , though 3rd masculine singular remains L, e.g. sha\-n�  his
}
circumcision .
The following examples, where the noun is monosyllabic H or ends in LH, show that
the 3rd masculine singular pronoun is always L but other pronouns are L phrase finally
but H non-finally, regardless of what follows:
 his goat  not his goat
oĄshi-n� oĄshi-n� sa
 his skin  his skin is red
fi�shi-n� fi�shi-n� daći
 your (ms) goat  not your goat
oĄshi-koć oĄshi-ko sa
 their skin  their skin is red
fi�shi-suć fi�shi-su daći
 our granary  our granary is full
&yaćwo-muć &yaćwo-mu ngoćmatoć
 my water  my water spilled
aćmma-noć aćmma-no paćttuwoć
 your (pl) tree  this tree of yours
rećwe-kuć re'we-ku eme\
 my back  my back hurts
boi-no boi-no ać paćfiać
6
The tonal behavior of the pronoun clitics (other than 3rd masculine singular -n�) shows
that they bear VARIABLE TONE, along with certain other clitics and the final syllables of
some disyllabic nouns and pronouns (##), viz. H after L and L after H, but with L ! H in
the latter case when non-final.5
The lowering of a final H, illustrated in the paradigm with kunsho  newly ripe grain ,
is a result of the general rule of PRE-CLITIC LOWERING (##):
PRE-CLITIC LOWERING: T ! L / H___+ where T = any tone and + = clitic boundary
The rule applies not only to nouns ending in HH (and vacuously to nouns ending in
L), but also to nouns ending in VARIABLE TONE. In the latter case, the the HL tone pattern
on nouns with pronominal clitics appears to be the citation tone pattern, e.g. ott�  staple
food , ott�-no  my stable food . However, the fact that these nouns in N + N genitives
have HH tones (otto Leng�  Lengi s staple food ) shows PRE-CLITIC LOWERING has
applied before pronoun clitics, forcing a L on the final syllable of the noun. The
examples below show several aspects of tonal behavior: (1) PRE-CLITIC LOWERING
applies to create the environment for H on the pronoun clitic; (2) PRE-CLITIC LOWERING
applies not only before the pronouns with variable tone, but also before 3rd masculine
singular -n�, which is invariably L; (3) PRE-CLITIC LOWERING does not apply in N + N
genitives, but this environment does condition H tone on the final syllable of nouns
ending in VARIABLE TONE.
Nouns ending in HH: �soki  bone , shungule  elbow , do\do  money
 my bone  his bone  bone of a goat
oćsok�-no oćsok�-n� oćsoki oĄshi
 your (ms) elbow  his elbow  Gambo s elbow
shunguleć-ko shunguleć-n� shungule Gaćmbo
 our money  his money  Bamoi s money
do\doć-mu do\doć-n� do\do Bamoi
Nouns ending in VARIABLE TONE: ott�  staple food ,  yoppą  excrement
 their food  his food  breakfast
ottoć-su ottoć-n� otto sa\toć
 my excrement  his excrement  cow dung
&yoppać-no &yoppać-n� &yoppa ko]m
PRE-CLITIC LOWERING applies only to open syllables. Nouns ending in closed
syllables retain H, as do most heavy monosyllables, resulting in a L clitic in phrase final
position.
 innuendo  your (ms) innuendo
madam madam-koć
 mat used as door panel  our door panel
kasar kasar-muć
 burrow  his burrow
borom borom-n�
 name  my name
sun sun-noć
The word gam  ram shows variable behavior. With a pronoun clitic, it can bear H,
conditioning L on the pronoun, or it can exceptionally undergo PRE-CLITIC LOWERING
(normally restricted to nouns of two or more syllables with a final HH tone pattern and an
5
Lukas (1970-72:żż31-33) was the first to describe the tones of Bole pronominal clitics and associated
tonal changes of the nominal hosts. His observations are essentially the same as those presented here.
7
open syllable in final position), taking a falling tone and conditioning H on the pronoun:
gam-n� = g�m-no  my ram . In N + N construction, it is always H, e.g. gam Bamoi
 Bamoi s ram (*g�m Bamoi). Gam is the only CVm word with H tone in Bole, so it is
hard to say whether this is a  regular pattern, restricted to one word, or an analogical
extension of some type.
4. Independent Genitives
The independent genitive pronouns are as follows:
Singular Plural
1 1
m�nno m�mmu
2ms 2
m�kko m�kku
2fs
m�sshi
3ms 3
m�nn� m�ssu
3fs
m�tto
Independent genitives with noun possessors ( Bamoi s, that of Bamoi ) use a clitic
that is underlyingly /n;/, i.e. a H tone syllabic nasal, represented in the standard Bole
orthography as in. This clitic is subject to regular nasal assimilation rules (##). The
examples here use the orthographic represenation, showing syllabicity by the initial i-.
The independent possessive clitic conditions LOW TONE RAISING (LTR). The base tones
of words whose tones have been altered are shown between slashes.
 the children s
in da\ndeć
 the king s
im moi
 that of the morning
in sa\toć śsaĄtoćś
 the hedgehog s
i&! kum+"eć śkućm+"ećś
i&! a&! gućwa �&i&! &a&! gućwa�  the blacksmith s
il Leng�  Lengi s
ir rewe śrećweś  that of a tree
iny ya\ro śyaĄroś  the bird s
As an extended version of the independent pronominal genitives, Bole allows
in+independent gentive pronoun, with no apparent meaning difference from the simple
pronoun, e.g. im m�nno  mine (= m�nno), im m�kko (= m�kko)  yours (ms), im m�nn�
(= m�nn�)  his . Note that LTR does not apply in these cases even though it does apply to
nominal complements of in.
8
5. Final Vowel Reduction of Inalienables with Final -o (and -u) 6
All body part terms that end in -o and have the tone pattern LH on the final two
syllables delete the final -o and insert epenthetic -i. The epenthetic vowel is obligatorily
if deletion of -o would create an impermissible consonant sequence, optional otherwise.7
The H tone of the deleted -o remains, docking on the epenthetic -i if it is present,
otherwise docking on the final mora of the noun root, resulting in a final R(ising) tone.
With d�fio  neck , the only relevant word whose last consonant is fi, epenthetic -i is
required before noun possessors, but optional before pronoun possessors. If epenthetic -i
is not inserted, the fi assimilates completely to the next consonant and the tone on the
noun root becomes H rather than R.
Following is a complete list of body part terms with the LH-o shape.8 The examples
use -no  my and Bamoi (a man s name) as possessors, but the possessed nouns would
have the same forms form with other pronominal or nominal possessors, e.g. kućmi-n� `"
ku'm-n�  his ear , kućmi rewe `" ku'm rewe  leaf ( ear of tree ).
 stomach
aćwo `" a'u-noć `" aćwu-noć9 aćwu Bamoi `" a'u Bamoi
 neck
d�fio din-noć `"d�fii-noć d�fii Bamoi but " dib Bamoi
 forehead
dućmpo dućmpi-noć dućmpi Bamoi
 voice
fi�lo fi�li-noć `" fi�l-noć fi�li Bamoi `" fi�l Bamoi
 eye
�do �di-noć �di Bamoi
 ear
kućmo kućmi-noć `" ku'm-noć ku'm Bamoi but @" kućmi Bamoi
 ribs, side
paĄd�ro paĄd�ri-noć `" paĄd�r-noć paĄd�ri Bamoi `" paĄd�r Bamoi
 thigh
pućndo pućndi-noć pućndi Bamoi
 heart
t�lo t�li-noć `" t�l-noć t�li Bamoi `" t�l Bamoi
 tooth
ućdo ućdi-noć ućdi Bamoi
Reduction of final -o applies only to body part terms ending in LH, i.e. it does not
affect other words with the LH-o pattern nor body part terms ending in -o with other tone
patterns or final LH words ending in other vowels.
6
Lukas (1970-72:ż36b, c, l) presents a description the facts of which are the same as the facts presented
here, aside from our adding a few words that Lukas did not list.
7
An alternative account would directly replace -o by -i. Deletion and (optional) epenthesis is the
preferable analysis, both because an o ! i is phonetically implausible and is unattested anywhere else in
Bole-Tangale languages, and also because word final vowel deletion in tight syntactic phrases is
widespread in Bole-Tangale and is without question the source or what, today, looks like an alternation in
Bole.
8
The word ruć+"ućso  liver appears to be an exception, since it ends in LH-o, yet is invariable: ruć+"ućso-noć
 my liver , ruć+"ućso Bamoi  Bamoi s liver . In the Gadaka dialect this word is pronounced ru+"so, with HH
tones.
9
Final /-i/ of the possessed form of ąwo  stomach becomes -u through assimilation to the preceding w.
The Gadaka dialect retains -i, e.g. Gadaka ąwi-n�  my stomach .
9
Non-body part LH-o words Non-LH-o body part terms
 my granary  my hair
&yaćwo-noć soćwwoć-no
 nostril ( hole of nose )  Bamoi s mouth
wućyo wunti boĄ Bamoi
 my stone  my hand
guĄsho-noć saćra-noć
There are a few additional words ending in -o or -u that undergo vowel reduction
similar to that of LH-o body parts. They are all in the category of inalienable possessions.
There are no broader patterns into which they fall, so we present the full list without
further comment.
 father
boĄwu bo\-noć bo\-ti Bamoi (see ż6)
 mother
noĄnu non-noć non-ti Bamoi (see ż6)
 house, home
boćnoć boćn-no baćni Bamoi (note internal vowel)
 (home)town
goćru go'r-muć go'r Bamoi
 body
j�woć j�-no j� Bamoi
6. Nouns that lengthen the final vowel before pronouns
A number of nouns lengthen their final vowel when a genitive pronoun clitic is added.
(the when the clitic -ti used with noun possessors of certain nouns ż7). Lukas
(1970-72:ż38) notes this phenomenon for many of the same nouns. The examples below
show that lengthening takes place before pronoun clitics but not in other environments,
including other clitics such as the Previous Reference Marker ye], N + N genitives, and
phrases where the following word does not bear a close syntactic relationship to the noun.
For nouns with final HH, note the application of PRE-CLITIC LOWERING, described in ż3:
aćdać
 dog aćdaĄ-n�  his dog aćdać ye]  the dog?
kaĄla  finger kaĄla\-noć  my finger kaĄla Bamoi  B s finger
&yula  testicle(s) &yulaĄ-n�  his testicles &yula kaćbba\woć  the testicles
swelled
kulać  calabash kulaĄ-mu  our calabash kulać moćs�n  beer calabash
ngorwać  guests ngorwaĄ-no  my guests ngorwa sa  not guests
temka  sheep (pl) temkaĄ-ko  your sheep temka fio@  are they sheep?
shećkeć  foot shećke-Ąn�  his foot shećkeć Bamoi  Bamoi s foot
shungule  elbow shunguleĄ-no  my elbow shungule b�n  corner of a room
zaćppeć  companions zaćppeĄ-ku  your companions mu innan  we didn t see
zaćppeć sa each other
da\ndeć  children da\ndeĄ-no  my children da\nde goraĄji  male children
bonne  houses bonneĄ-su  their houses bonne mi&y&ya  people s houses
sućgure  in-laws sućgureĄ-no  my in-laws sućgure sa  not in-laws
Nouns that lengthen the final vowel before clitics fall into two groups: (1) those that
lengthen in both the morphological singular form and the morphological plural form if
there is one (many Bole nouns have no morphological plural) and (2) those whose
morphological plural lengthens but whose morphological singular does not. The latter
group comprises all and only nouns with disyllabic plurals of the form s\Ce or s\Ca (s\ =
10
heavy syllable ##). Bole has one semi-productive plural that adds a suffix -inshe to the
noun root (##), e.g. ądą  dog , pl. ądinshe. There is some dialectal and perhaps even
individual speaker variation as to whether the final vowel of -inshe plurals lengthen, e.g.
aćdinsheć-no ~ aćdinsheĄ-no  my dog . For speakers who do NOT lengthen the final vowel
in such plurals, this would constitute a group of nouns that lengthen in the singular but
not in the plural. The lists below are exhaustive for current data for the Fika dialect.
Nouns that lengthen and have no morphological plural
 center, middle, between  foot
daćllać shećkeć
 place, bailiwick  elbow
kućsać shungule
 sorghum  navel
kućteć tućmba
 occiput  load, burden
njuĄla ulać
 pain, ache  hello, greetings
paćfiać useć
(as in useĄku ^greetings to you!&)
 tail; penis
paćtać
 face  testicle(s)
puskać &yula
Nouns that lengthen in both the singular and the plural
Singular Plural
 servant
bućdać budde
 boyfriend
bućnga bunje
 in-law
su\ru sućgure
Nouns that lengthen in the singular and have -nshe plurals
Singular Plural
 dog
aćdać aćdinshe
 hoe
jaćfiać jaćfiinshe
 finger
kaĄla kaĄlinshe
 calabash
kulać kućlinshe
 shirt, gown
suć+"ać suć+"inshe
 shoe
taćkać taćkinshe
Nouns that lengthen in the plural but not the singular (all and only s\Ce and s\Ca
plurals)10
 house
boćnoć bonne
 elder sister
daĄda daćddeć
 grandmother, granddaughter
(d�yati) d�kkeć
 rooster
ga\zać gajje
 stone
guĄsho gucce
 child
laĄwoć da\ndeć
 farm
koĄr� ko\re
 mouse
koćsum kosse
10
The only apparent exception is mąnshi pl. manshe  old person , which does not lengthen in the plural,
e.g. manshŁ-no  my old people .
11
 people
meĄmuć mi&y&yać
 husband
moćj� mojje
(molti (m), moćleti (f))
 younger sibling
molleć
 wife
moćnduć mondeć
 co-wife
muć&ya mu&y&ye
 guest
ngoćropi ngorwa
 mother
noĄnu nonneć
 sheep
tećmshi temka
 gourd cup
toćsum tosse
 goat
oĄshi uwwać
The following nouns, all kin terms, represent special cases. The singulars do have
long vowels with pronoun clitics (ba\-noć  my elder brother , d�shę-noć  my grandfather ),
but the forms of the singulars used with pronoun clitics are themselves bound, i.e. they
must have a clitic of some kind, whether a pronoun or the morpheme -ti (used in the
citation form11 and with a nominal possessor see ż7). In the case of  father , there is a
special citation form. The plurals, all of which have the form s\Ce, also lengthen.
 elder brother
ba\- (ba\ti) bać&&eĄ- ( bać&&eĄti)
 father
bo\- (boĄwu) boćbbeć
 grandfather, grandson
d�shę- (d�shęti) d�kkeć
 compatriot
za\- (za\ti) zaćppeć
There is variability for some nouns in lengthening vowels before clitics, both cross-
dialectal and even within the Fika dialect. For example, sąra  hand requires lengthening
in the Gadaka dialect (saćra\-noć  my hand ) whereas this noun does not lengthen in the
Fika dialect. Lengthening is optional for the words ula  burden and ule  saliva in the
Gadaka dialect. e.g. ulą-no = ulaĄ-no  my burden , but only the former is acceptable in
Fika. Likewise, phrases with or without lengthening seem equally acceptable in the Fika
dialect for many nouns, e.g. jaćfiaĄ-no = jaćfiać-no  my hoe , temkać-n� `" temkaĄ-n�  his
sheep (pl) . The word su\ru  in-law has peculiar behavior. The final syllable fails to
undergo PRE-CLITIC LOWERING (see ż3), a rule which is otherwise 100% productive for
words ending in HH tones. Lukas (1970-72:ż34) also recorded this word without PRE-
CLITIC LOWERING with a pronoun clitic. 12
Nouns that lengthen the final vowel before pronoun clitics must be lexically marked,
i.e. there are many nouns of similar shape that never undergo lengthening in any dialect.
Nonetheless, as a group, they share certain formal and semantic features:
11
It seems awkward to cite in isolation those kin terms listed with a citation form ending in -ti, such as ba\ti,
pl. bać&&ti  elder brother , d�yati  grandmother/grandaughter (in the table above), etc. When asked to give
these terms, Bole speakers invariably provide a possessed form, such as bać&&eĄ-no  my elder brothers .
12
Lukas (1970-72:ż34) gives su\ru\, with a long final vowel in citation form. This seems unlikely. The
final vowel is short in phrase medial position in modern Fika Bole, e.g. su\ru sa  not an in-law . Lukas may
have been extrapolating from the possessed form.
12
(1) They all end in -a or -e (with the exception of d�shę-  grandfather/grandson , which
requires a clitic, and su\ru  in-law , which has other special properties noted
immediately above).
(2) Most of the singulars that lengthen are disyllabic and have a light first syllable.
(3) a. If a singular lengthens and the noun has a morphological plural, the plural
lengthens (though see the comment of -inshe plurals above).
b. Where lengthening applies to a plural but not to a singular, the singular usually
does not end in -a or -e. Exceptions are the word ga\jać  rooster and the kin terms
daĄda  elder sister , d�ya-  grandmother/granddaughter (with the gender neutral
plural d�kkŁ), mł ya  co-wife , and m�leti  younger sister (cf. m�le-n�  my
younger sister ).
(4) The nouns are all count nouns and refer to body parts, domestic animals, common
tools and utensils, and kin relations.
This combination of criteria provides a certain degree of predictability as to those
nouns that lengthen the final vowel before clitics. However, there are words like kućfia
(pl. kućfiinshe)  cooking pot , r�ya (no plural)  bow , ga\jać (pl. gajje)  rooster , tŁje
 tendon , and many others that meet the criteria in (1-4) but do not lengthen. The fact
that there is only rough predictability and that there is variation for some nouns, both
dialectal and with individual speakers, suggests that lengthening before clitics is a
historical remnant of a process that has long ceased to be active in Bole (see ż9).
7. Genitive Linker -ti: Kin Terms and Others
Nearly all kin terms and terms of close social relationships require a linking clitic -ti
with a nominal possessor. In addition, the nouns  ya  thing and ąrŁ  relations, race
require this clitic. Most kin terms also affix -ti in citation form, though, as noted in
footnote 11, it seems awkward to cite many kin terms in isolation without attaching an
overt possessor. Pronoun possessor clitics replace -ti, e.g. ba\-noć  my elder brother (cf.
citation form ba\ti), d�kkeĄ-no  my grandparents (cf. d�kkeĄti). Nouns that lengthen the
final vowel before pronoun clitics (ż6) also lengthen before -ti, e.g. sućgureĄ-no  my in-
laws , sućgureĄ-ti Bamoi  Bamoi s in-laws (from słgure). Also, -ti conditions PRE-
CLITIC LOWERING (##) cf. mu y ye  co-wives and mi y yą  people (which has final
variable tone ż3), though su\ru\ti...  in-law of... retains root-final H, as before pronoun
clitics (a fact mentioned in ż6). The list below is exhaustive for nouns requiring the
linking -ti. Unless otherwise noted the phrases on the right mean  Bamoi s KIN .
 paternal aunt
babać babaćti Bamoi
pl. baćbaĄwa baćbaĄwati Bamoi
 elder brother
ba\ti ba\ti Bamoi
pl. bać&&eĄti bać&&eĄti Bamoi
 boyfriend  Lengi s boyfriend
bućnga bućnga\ti Leng�
pl. bunje bunjeĄti Leng� `" bunje Leng�
13
 elder sister
daĄdati daĄdati Bamoi
pl. daćddeĄti daćddeĄti Bamoi
 younger brother
mol;ti molti Bamoi
 younger sister
moćleti moćleti Bamoi
 B s younger siblings
pl. moćlleĄti moćlleĄti Bamoi
 father
boĄwu bo\ti Bamoi
 the children s fathers
pl. boćbbeć boćbbeĄti da\ndeć
 mother
noĄnu nonti Bamoi
 mothers of the children
pl. nonneć nonneĄti da\ndeć
 child
(laĄwoć) (laĄwoć Bamoi)
 children, offspring
pl. da\ndeć da\ndeĄti Bamoi `" da\nde Bamoi
 daughter
(laĄwoć moćnduć) bati Bamoi
(pl. da\nde mondeć) (dandeĄti Bamoi mondeć)13
 grandparent/-child
d�shęti (m) d�shęti Bamoi
d�yati (f) d�yati Bamoi
pl. d�kkeĄti d�kkeĄti Bamoi
 maternal uncle
rapać rapaćti Bamoi
pl. raćpaĄwa raćpaĄwaćti Bamoi `" raćpaĄwa Bamoi
 friend
so\bać so\baćti Bamoi `" so\bać Bamoi
pl. soĄbaĄwa soĄbaĄwati Bamoi `" soĄbaĄwa Bamoi
 in-law
su\ru su\ru\ti Bamoi
pl. sućgure sućgureĄti Bamoi
 co-wife  Lengi s co-wife
muć&ya muć&yati Leng�
pl. mu&y&ye mu&y&yeĄti Leng�
 maternal aunt
yaćgaćna yaćgaćnati Bamoi
 compatriot, pal
za\ti za\ti Bamoi
 pals of the children
pl. zaćppeĄti14 zaćppeĄti da\ndeć
 person  adherent of the king
meĄmuć15 meĄmućti moi
pl. mi&y&yać mi&y&yaĄti moi
 relatives
aćreć aćrećti Bamoi16
 thing
&ya &yaćti Bamoi
(note L tone)
Although the majority of kin terms require the -ti linker, there are nouns in this
category for which -ti is optional, such as da\ndeć  children and so\bać  friend in the list
13
Literally  the children of Bamoi (who are) female . Da\nde mondeć Bamoi would mean  Bamoi s
girlfriends .
14
ZąppŁ without the -ti suffix is the reciprocal pronoun  each other .
15
MeĄmuć (pl. mi y yą) use the  kinship linker -ti only in the sense of  adherent of a person . In the sense
 person/people associated with a place , they take the linker nć. See ż2 for examples.
16
The construction of ąrŁ using -ti meaning  relatives of... , characteristic of kinship phrases, is in contrast
with ąrŁ Bamoi  Bamoi s seeds (for planting) , with a regular juxtaposed N+N genitive.
14
above, and there some which do not allow -ti. Compare głny� Bamoi (*głny�ti
Bamoi)  Bamoi s girlfriend with bućnga\ti Leng�  Lengi s boyfriend . The list of words
below not using -ti with nominal possessors may be exhaustive, though what one calls a
 kin term is somewhat flexible.
 slave  child, offspring
baĄyać laĄwoć
 son  husband
beĄ moćj�
 servant  wife
bućdać moćnduć
 girlfriend  guest
gućnyoć ngoćropi
Whether or not a genitive with a kin term takes -ti may be in part pragmatically
determined. Kin terms like babą  paternal aunt , yągąna  younger maternal aunt can
used as terms of reference or address, e.g. Babą Leng�  Aunt Lengi , Rapą Bamoi
 Uncle Bamoi , BaĄ Bamoi  Big Brother Bamoi . Presence or absence of -ti distinguishes,
for example, between babąti Leng�  Lengi s aunt versus Babą Leng�  Aunt Lengi , and
a phrase like *Babą Bamoi without -ti is anomalous, since it would mean ?? Aunt
Bamoi (where Bamoi is an unambiguously male name). None of the terms just above
that do not permit use of -ti would be used referentially in this way, i.e. beĄ Bamoi,
without -ti, could only be interpreted as  Bamoi s son . The same comment applies to all
the words where use of -ti is optional. There are, however, terms such as boĄwu  father ,
mł ya  co-wife , whose use as referential terms would be unlikely but which require -ti.
8. Irregular Genitives
A few nouns require genitive morphology that cannot be generalized across larger
phonological or semantic classes of nouns (Lukas (1970-72:ż36) mentions all these).
Sections above include some nouns that seem to fit one of the larger classes, but with
exceptional behavior, in particular, boĄwu  father , noĄnu  mother , j�woć  body , and b�n�
 house , which exceptionally reduce their final vowels (see end of ż5). Similar to these is
gąwa  interior , which can be used productively to mean  in, inside and which also
forms part of many compounds..17
gąwa  interior ga\-suć  inside them gaĄ b�n  room ( in hut )
ga\-n�  in it gaĄ saćra  palm of hand ( in hand )
gaĄ �do  face ( in eye )
gaĄ koĄr� `" koĄr�  farm
The reduced form ga\ has H tone before pronouns but L before nouns. The L on the
pronoun results from the original final H on gąwa (see ż3 and ##). With reduction to a
17
This word originally meant  chest, cough . In that meaning it is now part of the compound boĄ gaćwa
literally  mouth of gawa and still forms part of some idioms such as ngortuĄ gaćwan�  he persevered ,
literally  he bound up his chest . The reduction of gąwa meaning  in(terior) probably results from its
shift to a quasi-prepositional function rather than from the inherited morphophonological reduction
exhibited by the other words listed here.
15
monosyllable, the rising tone simplified to H to give a polar HL sequence. The same
process may have affected boĄwu  father (cf. bo\-noć  my father ), but not j�woć  body (cf.
j�-no  my body ), which has the base tone pattern LL. Before nouns, the original final H
of gąwa has disappeared with the syllable that bore it, a change particular to this word
(see footnote 17).
The remaining irregular genitive constructions, all with monosyllabic nouns in their
genitive forms, geminate the consonant pronoun possessors:
(laĄwoć moćnduć)  daughter bannoć  my daughter bati Bamoi (see ż7)
bassh�  your (f) daughter
bann�  his daughter
&ya  thing &yaćnno  my thing &yaćti Bamoi (see ż7)
&yaćkko  your (m) thing
&yaćtto  her thing
lo  meat lo]kko  your (m) meat lo Bamoi
lo]nn�  his meat
lo]mmuć  our meat
koĄyi  head konnoć  my head ko Bamoi
kokkoć  your (m) head ko ido ^eyebrow&
konn�  his head ( head of eye )
kottoć  her head
See ż7 for the -ti linker with N+N constructions for  daughter and  thing . The word
 head looks as if it has undergone reduction parallel to the nouns listed at the beginning
of this section, but (1) those do not geminate the consonant of clitic pronouns and (2)
those that reduce to CV have a long vowel before nouns, whereas  head has a short
vowel. The tones of  thing ,  meat , and  head likewise remain unexplained.
Comparative evidence does not help. In closely related Ngamo (Yaya dialect), the
cognate words are lu,  ya, and ką, with H, H, and L tones respectively, which the nouns
retain in genitive constructions.
9. Historical Perspective on the Bole Genitive System
The basic genitive construction of Bole, N+possessor, is simple and straightforward,
making one wonder what the source of the relatively small number of anomalies
described in żż5-8 might be. Partial answers lie in genitive constructions in other
languages of the Bole-Tangale group. Comparative evidence indicates that the forms of
genitive constructions in proto-West Chadic were determined by two broad criteria:
(1) the semantic relationship between N1 and N2 and (2) the gender of N1. Data from
modern Bole-Tangale languages shows that proto-Bole-Tangale must have inherited a
system not unlike that of its West Chadic parent, though every language in the group has
altered this system to a greater or lesser degree.
The semantic relationship between N1 and N2 determined whether or not a linker was
required. Kanakuru retains this distinction, which Newman (1974:88) describes as
follows:
16
 Kanakuru formally distinguishes between REGULAR POSSESSION, indicating ownership or actual
possession, and INALIEABLE POSSESSION, indicating that a nominal is a part of, inseparable from,
or intimately related to a second nominal. Inalienable possession is primarily used with terms for
parts of the body and with kinship terms. (our small caps RGS, AMG)
REGULAR POSSESSION in Kanakuru requires a linker between the constituents for both
nouns and pronouns, whereas INALIENABLE POSSESSION uses direct juxaposition: gam
ma tamnoi  the woman s ram , gam ma-n�  his ram (REGULAR POSSESSION with the
linker ma) vs. yi ga;m  ram s body , yę-n�  his body (INALIENABLE POSSESSION with no
linker).  Inalienable possession is too narrow a label, however. As Newman
(1974:91-93) notes, the construction with direct juxtaposition covers a broad range of
constructions in addition to inalienable  possessives , e.g. essentially all compounds
(shina ya+"o  adze for carpentry , buro dok  Bornu salt   salt of horse , etc.). It is
 regular possession that is semantically restricted, referring essentially only to a relation
of actual ownership.
For the proto-West Chadic linked genitive constructions ( regular possession in
Newman s terminology), the gender of N1 determined the form of the linker. In
Kanakuru, the linker is mV if N1 is masculine and rV < *tV if N1 is feminine, e.g. gam
ma-n�  his ram vs. ti&!a ra-n�  his ewe .
The  regular vs.  inalienable distinction in genitive constructions and the
grammatical gender distinction have both been lost as active categories in Bole (see ##
for discussion of gender). Bole has now generalized direct juxtaposition as its productive
genitive construction for nearly all categories, but in the process of this generalization,
the original gender-related linkers, rather than being entirely lost, have taken on new
functions. Bole-Tangale masculine *mV now shows up in nć linked genitives (ż2), e.g.
do\do]-n NaĄje\riyać  money of Nigeria .18 The Bole-Tangale feminine *tV now shows up
in the -ti linked kin phrases (ż7), e.g. daĄda-ti Bamoi  Bamoi s big sister . The feminine
*t may also be the source of the geminate consonant in the irregular constructions of ż8,
e.g. &yaćkko < * yą-t-ko  your thing . While we can be certain of the historical sources of
the modern Bole genitive forms, we can only make vague guesses at the steps by which
Bole moved from a system with two basic kinds of genitive construction and gender-
marked linkers to a system with one basic, non-linked genitive construction and
specialized linked constructions with linkers having nothing to do with gender.
Additional comparative evidence from Bole dialects and closely related languages might
give some ideas, but it is clear that Bole has been exceptionally innovative. Ngamo, for
example, has a system more like that of Kanakuru than of Bole, even though the
linguistic and geographical relation between Bole and Ngamo is much closer than
between Bole and Kanakuru.
In addition to distinctions in genitive constructions related to presence and absence of
linkers, Bole differentiates genitive constructions on the basis of vowel reductions and
lengthenings (żż5-6). Here again Bole has been innovative, but closely related languages
reflect the sources of these distinctions. Vowel reduction (ż5), e.g. t�lo  heart but t�l-noć
18
The -n of the Bole construction resembles the widespread masculine  n of Chadic (and Afroasiatic) as,
for example, in Hausa kufii-n NaĄje\�iyać  money of Nigeria . However, only m- is found as a masculine
formative for demonstratives and linkers in Bole-Tangale languages. It is unlikely that Bole alone within
Bole-Tangale would possess the Chadic masculine n in these functions.
17
 my heart , is a feature of a number of Bole-Tangale languages, e.g. Tangale (Kidda
1985), where it is a general process whenever clitics are added to any vowel final words
and Karekare, where it is more a feature of speech tempo and style, e.g. waćfioć  song but
waćfi tać fiaćkwaćraću  song of marriage . Bole has restricted such reduction to a specific
type of genitive construction, viz. body parts with final -o and LH tones plus a few other
words that would be heard primarily in genitive constructions.
The source of lengthening the final vowels of some nouns with clitics (ż6) is less
clear. Frajzyngier (1989:148) describes nouns with possessive clitics as systematically
undergoing vowel lengthening in Pero, but this is not a widely shared property in Bole-
Tangale. In Karekare, most nouns that end in the vowel -a and a number that end in -e
(the two vowels that typically undergo lengthening in Bole genitives) have long final
vowels in all environments, e.g. Karekare r�nka\ bai ^not a bow&, r�nka\ mać baćsa\  bow for
shooting . It may be that what is now a  lengthening process in Bole is actually
 absence of shortening for selected nouns.
18