Survey chapter: Saramaccan

Structure data for these languages can be found in structure dataset 3.

1. Introduction

Saramaccan is a maroon creole language spoken in Surinam.1 Surinam is the smallest mainland South American country, with about 490,000 inhabitants according to the 2004 census. In addition about 350,000 Surinamers live in the Netherlands.

It is one of the two creole languages that have resulted from the various bouts of marronage in Surinam (Nengee being the other, see Migge 2013). Saramaccan dialects are spoken by the Saramaccan and Matawai tribes. Saramaccan and Nengee arouse out of Surinam’s most important plantation creole, Sranan (see Winford & Plag 2013, and van den Berg & Smith 2013).

2. Sociohistorical background

Surinam was first successfully colonized in 1651 by the English. In 1667 it was assigned to the Dutch by the treaty of Breda under which the Dutch gave up their claim to New York, and the English to Surinam.

Because of the dense tropical forest and the lack of clear landward borders outside the coastal region, marronage was more successful in Surinam than in most other European colonies with slave populations. We will not deal in detail with the long history of marronage in Surinam, but will concentrate on that which gave rise to the Saramaccans and Matawai2.

The study of the processes which gave rise to the creole languages of Surinam in particular is much facilitated by the particular and rapid succession of events. As far as the development of Saramaccan is concerned this is especially so.

A timetable of historical (and hypothesized linguistic) events relevant for Surinam is given in Table 1, based on work by Smith (2002, 2009).

Table 1. Linguistically relevant events during the first 50 years of Surinam
(The hypothesized creole-relevant events are italicized.)
date event
1651 settlement of Surinam by the English
ca. 1660 marronage of Jermes’ group in the Para region
1660–1665 Sranan creolized from Caribbean Plantation Pidgin English
1665 Jewish settlers arrive from Cayenne with Portuguese Creole-speaking slaves
1667 Treaty of Breda by which Surinam was surrendered to the Dutch
1668 the effective beginning of the Dutch administration
1668–1675 80% of the English colonists leave with around 1400 slaves
1675–1680 partial relexification of Sranan with a Portuguese contact variety to Dju-Tongo (Jews’ Language) on the Middle Suriname River plantations. Dju-Tongo can be equated with Proto-Saramaccan.
1690–1695 the first mass escapes of slaves to form the Saramaccan tribe, in particular from Jewish plantations

Jermes’ group of maroons escaped in the English period. They are recorded as attacking plantations in the Para region (de Beet & Sterman 1980). Later they settled on the Coppename River, 60 miles to the west of the Para plantation area. There the Dutch signed a peace treaty with them in 1684/1685. According to de Beet & Sterman, Jermes’ group was known in the 18th century as the “Free Negroes of the Coppename” or Karboegers. They are now represented by the Western Caribs of Surinam. These are known as the Arētïrïpōno or Muraato. The first of these terms means ‘one who is at the west’; the second is the Carib version of Portuguese mulatto, referring to the mixed Carib–African heritage of this group. The important point here is that this group speaks/spoke an Amerindian language and not a creole. This suggests that Sranan had not developed at this point.

Why should Sranan have been formed in the early 1660s? The problem is that both Sranan and Dju-Tongo3 must have come into existence before Dju-Tongo can have been taken into the tropical forest in the period from 1690 onward as the language of the maroons. Placing the formation of Sranan in 1660–65 and of Dju-Tongo in 1675–80 seems to be the solution to the dating of these linguistic events that is least problematic. Both linguistic events were drastic in nature and must have taken place in succession, to judge by the evidence of the Sranan-like linguistic aspects in Saramaccan.

The Portuguese Jewish immigration in 1665 (and also in 1667) cannot be separated from the very significant nature of the Portuguese elements in Saramaccan. Price (1983) links the formation of the Saramaccan Maroon tribe to the Portuguese Jewish-owned plantations around Joden Savannah, the Jewish centre on the middle Suriname River. Direct evidence for this can be seen in the names of important Saramaccan clans such as the Matjáu and Nasí, which are derived from the surnames of Portuguese Jewish plantation owners (in this case Machado and Nassy). That the Portuguese arrived from Cayenne with some slaves is argued for in Smith (1999). The nature of the deep lexical influence of Portuguese on Saramaccan supports the hypothesis that the Portuguese Jews had brought some Portuguese Creole-speaking slaves with them.

In 1667 the Treaty of Breda was signed, which confirmed the Dutch occupation of Surinam and the English occupation of New York. By 1668 the Dutch were firmly in control. This heralded in a period lasting to 1675 during which most of the English colonists left Surinam, taking 1400 or so slaves with them. In previous work the retention of a form of English (if Sranan is regarded as such) after 1675 has sometimes been regarded as problematic. In Smith (2009) this is explained by the probability that koiné English was known to a significant proportion of the slave population till at least 1684. This, we hypothesize, was not their first language, a role filled by the previously creolized Sranan (see Smith 2009 for more on this topic).

We are fortunate in possessing poll-tax returns for 1684 and 1695. Arends (1995) supplies figures for slave imports which show that 9,768 slaves were imported between 1685 and 1695. However the slave population only grew from about 3,650 to 5,100 in this period (allowing for 10% tax evasion, cf. Postma 1990). Allowing for births and deaths, the second figure should have been around 11,350. We are faced with a shortfall of more than half the slave population, in a period that overlaps with that claimed by Price (1983) to be the formative period of the Saramaccan tribe by marronage, 16901710 (Smith 2009). This represents proof of an event that is little short of cataclysmic and supports Price’s interpretation of the archival and Saramaccan traditional-historical evidence of the foundation of the Saramaccan tribe.

3. Sociolinguistic situation

The sociolinguistic situation of Saramaccan at present is unclear. A significant part of the population has moved away from the original maroon settlements on the Suriname River to three main locations, for different reasons: Paramaribo, the capital of Surinam, for reasons of employment, and as a refuge from the civil war; French Guiana also as a refuge because of the war; and the Netherlands as an emigrant destination.

The numbers of speakers of Saramaccan involved in these various situations are unclear. The figures from the 2004 Surinam census tell us that Maroon languages are spoken as the first language in 18,797 households. The total number of maroons in Surinam was 72,553. Ethnologue (Lewis 2009) gives the number of speakers of Saramaccan as 24,000 (“SIL estimate 1995”). However, since the numbers of speakers of Saramaccan (including the Saramaccan and Matawai tribes) and Nengee (including Ndyuka, Paramaccan (Paamaka), Aluku and Kwinti) are usually stated to be about the same, we can reasonably estimate the total number of speakers of Saramaccan in Surinam to be around 36,000. Ethnologue gives 3,000 as the number of speakers in French Guiana. Choenni & Harmsen (2007) estimate the number of first and second generation maroons in the Netherlands to be 35,000. Of these probably at least 10,000 can be assumed to be speakers of Saramaccan, giving a total number of speakers of at least 50,000.

Little work has been done on internal variation in Saramaccan. Upriver and downriver dialects can be distinguished, as well as a separate Matawai dialect spoken on the Saramacca River.

4. Phonology

Saramaccan has seven vowels in a classic triangular system, including close-mid and open-mid vowels. The vowels can all occur short, long, and over-long, with respectively one, two, and three morae respectively. All vowels can also occur in nasalized form.

Table 2. Vowels
front central back
close i u
close-mid e o
open-mid ɛ ɔ
open a

Examples of the vowel contrast in monomoraic non-nasalized context are given in example (1):

(1)

/i/                  ‘see’

/e/                 ‘time’

/ɛ/        ɗɛ́        ‘there’

/a/                 ‘how’

/ɔ/        fɔ́         ‘for’

/o/                ‘go’

/u/                 ‘two’

The consonant system apparently shows dialect variation within Saramaccan. Some dialects appear not to distinguish the labio-velars (/kw/ etc.) from the labial-velars (/kp/ etc.), realizing both types as labial-velars. The distinction can be demonstrated, however, to have existed for more than two hundred years and therefore it is likely always to have been present for some speakers.

A phoneme /hw/ is recognized in a few items like /ahwámáun/ ‘shoulder’.

Table 3. Consonants
labial alveolar palatal velar labio-velar labial-velar glottal
plosive voiceless p t tj k kw kp
voiced b d dj g gw gb
implosive ɓ ɗ
nasal m n nj
fricative voiceless f s hw h
voiced v z
lateral l
glide j w

Some analysts treat the combinations /mb/, /nd/ and so on as “pre-nasalized” phonemes. This analysis lacks supporting evidence, and it is unnecessary to regard these combinations as anything but clusters. A recent discovery (Haabo 2002) is that Saramaccan distinguishes implosive stop phonemes /ɓ, ɗ/ from ordinary voiced stops. For example, compare the two forms /baí/ ‘buddy’ and /ɓaí/ ‘to brush’.

Saramaccan has been demonstrated by Good (2004) to have a split tone/accent system. In general, polysyllabic words of European (English, Portuguese, Dutch) origin contain a lexical marking for accent. The accented mora (and under certain circumstances, the mora following) is realized with a high tone. Polysyllabic words taken from African (and Amerindian) languages usually have a tone specified on every mora. The non-high tones in “European” words have changeable tones. By default they are assigned a low tone. However, a phenomenon called plateauing acts to raise such non-high tones to high in certain phrasal contexts when they are situated between two high tones in adjacent words. This makes clear that these changeable tones are not underlyingly specified, and that “European” words only bear a single accent specification. In contrast, low tones in “African” words are never affected by plateauing, thereby demonstrating that their tones are lexically specified.

Additionally, “European” words display diagnostics associated with stress systems. These are (a) the deletion of certain unaccented monomoraic syllables in fast speech, (b) the lengthening of accented vowels in accented syllables under emphasis, and (c) a general increase of perceptual prominence of accented syllables. “African” words do not display such properties. There is no deletion of syllables in fast speech, and emphasis will tend to lengthen all syllables in a word.

In what follows, we will in general not specify tones in Saramaccan examples in order to avoid confusion. The various sources consulted are inconsistent in their marking of tone. In addition, the plateauing tone sandhi described above means that many words can appear with up to three different tone patterns in sentences. We make an exception for high-toned ideophones which are not subject to tone sandhi. We have normalized the transcriptions of phonemes in individual words using the system in Haabo (2002), with the exception of his use of <y> for IPA /j/. (In the APiCS database, however, we quote examples as they occur in their sources.)

A remark needs to be made with reference to the interlinear morpheme glosses used for some Tense-Mood-Aspect particles. The gloss abbreviations employed suggest fixed interpretations. In fact these vary according to the context and the aktionsart of the accompanying verb. In particular this concerns ta [ipfv] (imperfective), o [irr] (irrealis), and ɓi [pst] (past). The interpretations given here are only meant as catch-all approximations.

5. Noun phrase

5.1 Bare nouns versus determined nouns

As in many creoles, the Saramaccan noun phrase can consist of just a bare noun in argument position, like faka ‘knife’ in (2a), or a determined noun such as ogifou ‘owl’ in (2b).

(2)  a.  Mi        koti      ɛn        ku        faka.

            1sg      cut       3sg      with    knife

            ‘I cut it with a knife.’            (Rountree 1992)

       b. A                    fa=a              kisi      ɗi           ogi-fou       a          matu.

            3sg.sbj  want   for=3sg.sbj catch   def.sg   evil-bird     loc     jungle

            ‘S/he wants him to catch the owl in the jungle.’ (adapted from Byrne 1987: 138).

In example (2b) ɗi picks up a discourse-anaphoric referent. As such it is commonly assumed to function in a way similar to definite determiners in English. Other elements in Saramaccan that function as determiners are the singular indefinite element wan (‘one, a’) and the plural marker ɗee, also corresponding to the third person plural pronoun (3a–b).

(3)  a.  wan     hanse  mujɛɛ

            indf     pretty  woman

            ‘one pretty woman’

       b. ɗee       hanse  mujɛɛ

            def.pl pretty  woman

            ‘the pretty women’   

5.2 Nominal modifiers

The Saramaccan noun phrase displays both prenominal and postnominal modifiers. According to Rountree (1992), prenominal modifiers display the order in (4a), as illustrated by the examples in (4b–c) adapted from Rountree (1992). As these examples show, the slot for adjectives may involve distinct subclasses of adjectives:

(4)  a.  Quantifier > Article > Numeral > Adjective > NOUN

       b. hii        ɗee      gaan    ɓoto

            all        def.pl big       boat

            ‘all the big boats

       c.  ɗi           wan  koɗo    langa  pɛnɗɛ       bosooko

            def.sg   one   single  long    coloured  sweater

            ‘the one single long coloured sweater’

       d. ɗi           hanse       Saamaka        mujɛɛ

            def.sg   pretty      Saramaccan  woman

            ‘the pretty Saramaccan woman’

Postnominal modifiers include possessives and relative clauses:

(5)  a.  ɗi           hanse  mujɛɛ     u     mi      seei

            def.sg   pretty woman  for  1sg    self

            ‘my pretty wife’

       b. ɗi           boto     ɗi      i        si       ɗɛ

            def.sg   boat    rel    2sg   see    there

            ‘the boat that you see there’

An interesting property of the Saramaccan noun phrase that we see in example (5a) is the usage of the reflexive marker seei ‘self’ as a marker of emphasis, or as a focusing device (Veenstra 1996: 4344). This example reminds us of English intensifier uses as in I was so annoyed I decided to talk to the director himself. A major difference, however, is that in Saramaccan the pronoun cannot be part of the focusing device.         Saramaccan noun phrases can also occur as predicate as in example (6):

(6)       Sambili    ɗa                      womi.

            Sambili    identity.cop    man

            ‘Sambili is a man.’

5.3 Reduplicated verbal adjectives

Sometimes, noun modification involves reduplicated verbal adjectives. These can only occur prenominally:

(7)       ɗi           lai~lai         goni       

            def.sg   load~adjz  gun

            ‘the loaded gun’ (Bakker 1987: 25)

Prenominal reduplicated verbal adjectives have a resultative reading (see also Aboh 2007).

5.4 Possessive constructions

In addition to using possessive pronouns as in (8a) Saramaccan typical possessive construction involves the preposition fu/u which relates the possessee to the possessor as indicated in (8b). The latter can also occur prenominally, as in (8c):

(8)  a.  mi        mujɛɛ

            1sg      woman

            ‘my wife’

       b. ɗi             mujɛɛ       u         mi

            def.sg      woman    for       1sg

            ‘my wife’

       c.  ɗi           fi=i           ɓuku

            def.sg   for=2sg   book

            ‘that (particular one) of your books’

5.5 Pronominal system

Table 4 summarizes the Saramaccan pronouns. Veenstra (1996) presents a detailed microcomparative discussion of the pronominal systems in Saramaccan dialects (Upriver, Downriver, Gaánse (village)). As this table shows, Saramaccan has two sets of pronouns: weak (or dependent) forms which cannot be used in isolation (i.e. as answer to a question) and strong (or independent) forms which can. These forms can also appear in topic and focus constructions. When this happens the order of occurrence is always [strong-weak] and the reverse order [*weak-strong] is ungrammatical (Veenstra 1996). This contrast indicates that the weak forms depend on the syntactic context in which they occur. This is further supported by the fact that the weak forms can amalgamate with the negative marker resulting in the the forms ma [1sg], ja [2sg], an [3sg], wa [1pl], wan [2pl] (Rountree 1992). The only form that does not show variation is the third person plural which is ɗe in all contexts.

Table 4. Personal pronouns and adnominal possessives
subject object independent pronouns adnominal possessives
1sg mi mi mi
2sg i i ju
3sg a ɛn hɛn hɛn
1pl u u ú u
2pl un(u) unu únu unu
3pl ɗe ɗe ɗé ɗe

Finally, Saramaccan has relative words ɗi (‘that, who, which’: singular), ɗee (‘that, who, which’: plural), te (‘when’), ka (‘where’), and fa (‘how’). The ɗi versus ɗee opposition presents us with a contrast that would seem unexpected if one adheres to the commonly assumed notion of creolization where contextual phenomena such as agreement are lost (e.g. Bickerton 1981, and much related work). Indeed Saramaccan displays agreement between the relative head noun and the relative pronoun as well. Given this, the various subtle contrasts we observe in the Saramaccan nominal system raise the question of whether similar phenomena might have gone unnoticed in other creoles as well.

5.6 Prepositional phrases

Saramaccan prepositional phrases are rather similar to those found in English, and head-initial languages in general. Thus prepositional phrases are introduced by prepositions which encode notions such as benefactive, locative, direction, and instrument. The examples in (9) illustrate some of these prepositions.

(9)
a.
Mi
1st
paka
pay
u
for
ɗi
def.sg
ɓoto
boat
noo.
only
I paid for the boat only.
b.
Ɗe
def.pl
koti
cut
ɛn
3sg
ku
with
ufangi.
machete
They cut it with a machete.
c.
Ɗe
def.pl
ɓutɛ=ɛn
put=3sg
a
loc
ɗi
def.sg
liɓa.
above
They put it on the table.

Example (9c) is indicative of the fact that Saramaccan involves complex adpositions (circumpositions) that occur on both sides of the complement simultaneously. This pattern corresponds to the one found in the Gbe languages as well (Aboh 2005).

6. Verb phrase

The Saramaccan verb phrase involves various classes of verbs which can be distinguished both in terms of their valency and aspect specifications (i.e. aktionsart). Verbs in Saramaccan obey the traditional distinction in terms of transitivity. Example (10a) illustrates an intransitive verb, (10b) a transitive verb, and (10c) a ditransitive verb (see Rountree 1992, Veenstra 1996).

(10)     a.         kule     ‘run’

b.         suti      ‘shoot’

c.         ɗa        ‘give’

As is the case in many creoles (and in West African languages) these verbs appear to be sensitive to the features “stative” versus “eventive”. As the examples in (11) show, an eventive verb that is not marked for tense or aspect is interpreted as perfective, while a stative verb in the same context is construed in present.

(11)     a.         Mi       waka.

            1sg      walk

            ‘I have walked.’ (NOT: ‘I walk’ OR: ‘I’m walking’) (Veenstra 1996)

       b. Mi        siki.

            1sg      sick

            ‘I am sick.’ (NOT: ‘I was sick.’)

A similar asymmetry is normally observed when these verbs are combined with tense and aspect markers. Indeed, an eventive verb combined with the past tense marker is normally interpreted in isolation as a past of the past, while a stative verb with the same marker is normally interpreted in isolation as a simple past tense. In running texts things may differ.

(12)     a.         Mi       ɓi         waka.

            1sg      pst      walk

            ‘I had walked.’

       b. Mi        ɓi         siki.

            1sg      pst      sick

            ‘I was sick.’ (NOT: 'I had been sick.')

Interestingly, tense, mood, and aspect markers can combine with the verb to form more complex expressions.

(13)     A       ɓi      o     sa      ta      wooko.   

            3sg    pst    irr  pot   asp    work

            ‘He could have worked.’ (Lit. ‘He could have been able to work’) (Veenstra 1996: 20)

These markers and lexical aspects will be summarized in greater detail in Table 5:

Table 5. Tense-Aspect-Mood marking
name marker aktionsart interpretation
Present Ø stative present state
Perfective Ø non-stative perfective
Imperfective ta stative continuous/habitual/inchoative
activity progressive/habitual
accomplishment progressive/habitual
achievement habitual/inchoative
Past ɓi 4 stative past state
non-stative past-before-past
Irrealis o [irrelevant] prediction/intention
stative assumptive epistemic > present time
non-stative assumptive epistemic > past time
Potential sa [irrelevant] (cap)ability/permissive/speculative epistemic
Necessity musu [irrelevant] obligation/deductive epistemic

In addition, there are a number of secondary aspect/modal constructions. A number of these are given in Table 6.

Table 6. Secondary Aspect-Modality marking
name complex predicate lexical/auxiliary verb source
Habitual aspect lo u loɓi ‘to love’
Completive aspect kaba fu kaɓa ‘to finish’
Inceptive aspect bigi fu bigi ‘to begin’
Necessity musu fu musu ‘must’
Mental capability sa u saɓi ‘to know’
Obligative a(ɓi) fu aɓi ‘to have’

As in many other Atlantic creoles, it is not easy to distinguish between stative verbs and adjectives in Saramaccan. It is possible, however, to change a verb into an adjective by reduplicating it. These reduplicated forms are real adjectives, for the following reasons.

First, they can be used attributively, as in (14), as well as predicatively with the copula ɗe, as in (15):

(14)
a.
ɗi
def.sg
fatu~fatu
fat~adjz
womi
man
the fat man (NOT: the very fat man)
b.
ɗi
def.sg
wipi~wipi
whip~adjz
womi
man
the whipped man
(15)
a.
Ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
ɗɛ
cop
naki~naki.
beat~adjz
The man has been beaten (is in a beaten state).
b.
Ɗi
def.sg
goonliɓa
earth
ɗɛ
cop
lontu~lontu.
round~adjz
The earth is round.

In addition to the reduplicated forms, only ɓunu ‘good’ may appear with ɗɛ, but not other items that would normally be translated as adjectives in English. For this reason such items used predicatively are assumed to be stative verbs too. In their prenominal use we assume that they are adjectives - note that the reduplicated forms may also occur prenominally.

Second, in contrast with the non-reduplicated “adjectivoids”, these reduplicated forms cannot receive tense or aspect marking:

(16)
a.
Ɗi
def.sg
miii
child
ta
ipfv
bigi.
big
The child is getting big.
b.
def.sg
miii
child
ta
ipfv
bigi~bigi.
big~adjz

Third, the copula is compulsory with the reduplicated forms, while it is ungrammatical with the unreduplicated forms:

(17)
a.
Ɗi
def.sg
miii
child
ɗɛ
cop
naki~naki.
beat~adjz
The child has been beaten. (i.e. He is now in a beaten state.)
b.
*Ɗi
def.sg
mii
child
naki~naki.
beat~adjz
c.
*Ɗi
def.sg
mii
child
ɗɛ
cop
naki.
beat
d.
Ɗi
def.sg
mii
child
naki.
beat
The child was/has been beaten.

Furthermore, verbs can be fronted for contrastive emphasis (i.e. focusing). A copy of the verb is obligatorily left in the original position. This is usually referred to as the predicate cleft construction:

(18)
a.
Naki
beat
ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
naki
beat
ɗi
def.sg
miii.
child
The man beat the child. (i.e. he did not caress him.)
b.
*Naki
beat
ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
ɗi
def.sg
miii.
child

The reduplicated forms can be fronted, but without leaving a copy behind.

(19)
a.
*Lontu~lontu
round~adjz
ɗi
def.sg
goonliɓa
earth
ɗɛ
cop
lontu~lontu.
round~adj
b.
Lontu~lontu
round~adj
ɗ
def.sg
goonliɓa
earth
ɗɛ
cop
The earth is round.

This movement is more like the kind of fronting which is possible with NPs, PPs, and adverbial phrases, but different from verb fronting (predicate cleft).

     To sum up, we might say that these reduplicated forms display a distribution typical of adjectives (predicative and attributive use, obligatoriness of copula), while they have few of the diagnostic features of verbs in Saramaccan (no copying, no tense marking, no objects). We may conclude then that adjectives are derived from verbs by reduplication.

7. Simple sentences

With the exception of imperatives, simple sentences in Saramaccan consist of a lexical verb and its arguments. As illustrated by example (13), the verb can combine with various tense and aspect markers. The sequencing of these markers is as in (20a), illustrated by (20b), the negative counterpart of (13):

(20)     a.         Subject-negation-tense-modality-aspect-verb-object-adjunct

       b. An            ɓi      o        sa      ta         wooko.   

            3sg.neg   pst    irr    pot   ipfv     work

            ‘He could not have worked.’ (Lit. ‘He could not have been able to work’) (Veenstra 1996: 20)

It is clear from this example and all examples discussed in previous sections that Saramaccan is an SVO language. Simple sentences sometimes involve serial verb constructions, as illustrated by the following sentences from Veenstra (1996: 107):

(21)
a.
Mi
1sg
ta
ipfv
waka
walk
ko
come
a
loc
mi
1sg
pisi.
yard
I am walking to my yard.
b.
A
3sg
ta
impfv
tei
take
pau
stick
naki
hit
hɛn.
3sg
S/he is hitting him with a stick.
c.
A
3sg
ta
ipfv
suti
shoot
hɛn
3sg
kii.
kill
He is shooting her dead.

Simple sentences also include copular clauses. Saramaccan has two forms of the copula: ɗɛ and ɗa. The copula ɗɛ has a verbal status, while ɗa has a pronominal status. Two arguments for this distinction derive from the distribution of TMA markers and subject pronouns in copular sentences, as we will see immediately below. The two forms are not mutually exclusive in their combinatory possibilities as both may occur with NP complements. However, only ɗɛ may occur with PP and AP complements:

(22)
a.
Etnel
Etnel
ɗɛ/ɗa
cop/identity.cop
wan
one
malenge-ma.
lazy-agt
Etnel is a lazy cat.
b.
Valerie
Valerie
ɗɛ/*ɗa
cop/identity.cop
n’ɛn
loc.3sg
wosu.
house
Valerie is in his house.
c.
Kone
Kone
ɗɛ/*ɗa
cop/identity.cop
siki~siki.
sick~adjz
Kone is sick.

TMA marking is only possible with ɗɛ, not with ɗa. This suggests the non-verbal status of the latter copula, since TMA markers only occur before verbal elements:

(23)
a.
Etnel
Etnel
ɓi/o
pst/irr
ɗɛ
cop
wan
one
malenge-ma.
lazy-agt
Etnel was/will be a lazy cat.
b.
*Etnel
Etnel
ɓi/o
pst/irr
ɗa
identity.cop
malenge-ma.
lazy-agt

Negation occurs before ɗɛ as with regular verbs, but in the case of ɗa a contracted form surfaces, i.e. na.

(24)
a.
M=e5
1sg=neg
ɗɛ
cop
siki~siki.
sick~adjz
I am not sick.
b.
Mi
1sg
n=a
neg=identity.cop
wan
one
malenge-ma.
lazy-agt
I am not a lazy cat.
c.
*M=e
1sg=neg
ɗa
identity.cop
wan
one
malenge-ma.
lazy-agt

With ɗa the order of the two NPs can be reversed, unlike with ɗɛ. If one of the NPs is pronominalized, the pronoun has to be the first NP.

(25)
a.
Asondone
Asondone
ɗa/ɗɛ
identity.cop/cop
Feledi
Freddy
mujɛɛ.
woman
Asondone is Freddy's wife.
b.
Feledi
Freddy
mujɛɛ
woman
ɗa/*ɗɛ
identity.cop/*cop
Asondone.
Asondone
Freddy's wife is Asondone.
c.
Hɛn
3sg
ɗa
identity.cop
Feledi
Freddy
mujɛɛ.
woman
She is Freddy's wife.
d.
*Feledi
Freddy
mujɛɛ
woman
ɗa
identity.cop
h&603;n.
3sg

The form of subject pronouns in copular sentences can also be used as evidence for the different status of the two copulas. With ɗa the subject can only be the strong pronominal form. In case of ɗɛ it can be either:

(26)
a.
*A/hɛn
3sg
ɗa
identity.cop
wan
one
ɓuni
good
sondi.
thing
That is a good thing.
b.
A/h&603;n
3sg
ɗɛ
cop
wan
one
ɓunu
good
sondi.
thing
It is a good thing.

In sum, Saramaccan exhibits two copular constructions with quite striking differences that suggest both a different categorial status for the two copulas and different developmental paths for the two constructions.

8. Complex sentences

Various complex sentences can be found in Saramaccan. In this grammar sketch, we limit ourselves to relative clauses and subordinate complement clauses. As mentioned in §5.5, Saramaccan has a wide range of relative words that can be used to form relative clauses. Such clauses can be headed or headless as illustrated in (27a) and (27b), respectively (Rountree 1992: 18, 19):

(27)
a.
Ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
ɗi
rel
ta
ipfv
wooko
work
aki,
here
hɛn
3sg
ɗa
gave
mi
1sg
ɛn.
3sg
The man who works here, he gave it to me.
b.
Ɗe
3pl
go
go
ka
loc.rel
ɗe
3pl
ɓi
pst
diki
dug
ɗi
def.sg
ɓaaku.
hole
They went where they had dug the hole.

Embedded complement clauses can be non-finite or finite clauses, as we can see in (28):

(28)
a.
Ɗe
3pl
si
see
ɗi
def.sg
fisi
fish
go
go
a
loc
liɓa
top
wata.
water
They saw the fish go to the top of the water.
b.
Mi
1sg
saɓi
know
taa
that
j=a
you=neg
o
irr
gangan
deceive
mi.
1sg
I know that you will not deceive me.

While there is no verbal morphological distinction between non-finite versus finite forms, this distinction has been argued to be irrelevant for creole languages in general (Mufwene & Dijkhoff 1989). Veenstra (1994), however, shows that examples like (28a), which lacks the complementizer, involve the embedding of a non-finite clause. On the other hand, (28b) with two distinct subjects and an intervening complementizer corresponds to a finite context. The distinction between finite and non-finite complements of perception verbs involves the simultaneity of the events as expressed by the two verbs. When the complement is finite, in which case a tense marker can occur on the embedded verb, the events are non-simultaneous. Furthermore, the finite complementizer táa is (optionally) present. Thus, in (29a) the moment of seeing is not at the same time as the moment of sleeping. In (29b), on the other hand, both events take place at the same time. The tense marker cannot occur on the second verb and the finite complementizer is obligatorily absent. In this case only aspect can be (optionally) marked on the embedded verb:

(29)
a.
Mi
1sg
si
see
taa
that
a
3sg
ɓi
pst
duumi.
sleep
I saw that he had slept. [Full complement]
b.
Mi
1sg
si
see
(*taa)
(*that)
a
3sg
ta
ipfv
duumi.
sleep
I sw him sleeping. [Bare complement]

Additional evidence has been presented in Veenstra (1994). Based on the distribution of time adverbs, the non-availability of tense and negation, and the object-like properties of the embedded subject with respect to binding, negation, quantification, and their interaction, it is shown that in the case of bare complements we are dealing with a non-finite clausal complement selected by the verb of perception.

Embedded complement clauses can be introduced by one of the following two complementizers, a “declarative” complementizer taa, derived from taki ‘say/talk/tell’, which cannot be used with a verb which requires an irrealis complement clause, and a “subjunctive” complementizer fu, which is derived from for and cannot be used with verbs like ‘know’ that demand a “realis” interpretation of their complement:

(30)
a.
A
3sg
saɓi
know
taa/*fu
that/for
ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
ɓi
pst
hondi
hunt
ɗ
def.sg
pingo.
pig
He knows that the man hunted the pig. (Byrne 1987: 148)
b.
A
3sg
ke
want
fa=a/*taa
for=3sg/that
kisi
catch
ɗi
def.sg
ogifou
owl
a
loc
matu.
jungle
He wants him to catch the owl in the jungle. (Byrne 1987: 138)

If the matrix verb is compatible with both a realized and an unrealized sentential complement, then both complementizers are possible:

(31)
a.
A
3sg
taki
say
taa
that
ɗi
def.sg
mujɛɛ
woman
ɓi
pst
go
go
a
loc
ɗi
def.sg
keiki.
church
He said that the woman had gone to the church.
b.
A
3sg
ɓi
pst
taki
talk
f=ɛn
for=3sg
kule.
run
He told him to run. (i.e. warned him)

The choice of the complementizer affects the interpretation of the embedded clause. If the “declarative” complementizer taa is used, the embedded clause (more precisely, the propositional content of the embedded clause) can either be interpreted as realized or unrealized. If, on the other hand, the “irrealis” complementizer fu is used, then the implication is that the event described in the embedded clause did not happen:

(32)
a.
A
3sg
ɗɛ
cop
fanɔuɗu
important
fu
for
ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
ɓi
pst
wooko
work
a
loc
ɗi
def.sg
wosu.
house
It was important for the man to work in the house (but he probably didn’t).
b.
A
3sg
ɗɛ
cop
fanɔuɗu
important
taa
that
ɗi
def.sg
sembe
person
ɓi
pst
go
go
a
loc
matu.
jungle
It was important that the person had gone into the jungle (and he probably did).

Furthermore, the two complementizers are not mutually exclusive (cf. Wijnen & Alleyne 1987, Veenstra 1996):

(33)
I
2sg
taki
say
taa
that
fa=a
for=3sg
naki
hit
ɗi
def.sg
dagu.
dog
You told him to hit the dog. (Veenstra 1996: 156)

A difference between the complementizers is that taa can be optionally left out, but this is not the case with fu. This is presumably due to the fact that fu is involved in clause-typing (marking it as “non-realized”), whereas taa is not (and, therefore, the clause introduced by taa can receive a “realized” as well as a “non-realized” interpretation).

9. Other features

Ideophones are words used to modulate more closely the meanings of verbs and adjectives. They are partly onomatopoetic, and particular ideophones can only be used with particular words. They are also sometimes referred to as “phonaesthetic words”. As a category, they are closer to adverbs than to any other category. An example with two ideophones is given below:

(34)
A
3sg
ɓi
pst
djombo
jump
viiin
quickly
te
till
a
in
wáta
water
djuubu.
splash
He jumped quickly, splashed in the water.

Ideophones are selected by particular verbs. They demarcate the right edge of the VP (cf. Rountree 1992, Veenstra 2003):

(35)
a.
A
3sg
naki
hit
hɛn
3sg
gboo-gboo
ideo
He hit him really hard.
b.
*A
3sg
kii
kill
hɛn
3sg
gboo-gboo.
ideo

Ideophones can only be selected by full lexical verbs and not by aspectual verbs, as shown by the following contrast:

(36)
a.
Ɗe
3pl
kaɓa
finish
kéé
ideo
u
for
feifi
paint
ɗi
def.sg
wosu.
house
They have finished (completely) painting the house.
b.
*Ɗe
3pl
baɓa
finish
kéé
ideo
feifi
paint
ɗi
def.sg
wosu.
house

In (36a) the lexical verb kaɓa selects for a complement introduced by the complementizer fu, and can be accompanied by an ideophone (kéé). If, on the other hand, the complementizer (f)u is absent, kaba has been reanalyzed as an aspectual verb, and, as such, is part of the INFL complex. Generated in this position, it cannot support its ideophone kéé anymore (cf. Rountree 1992).

Ideophones can be used in determining the structure of certain constructions. In serial verb constructions, for instance, the ideophone selected by the first verb appears after the object, indicating that there is a (right) VP-edge between the object and the second verb:

(37)
a.
A
3sg
naki
hit
hɛn
3sg
gboo-gboo
ideo
kii.
kill
She struck him dead with really hard blows.
b.
*A
3sg
naki
hit
gboo-gboo
ideo
hɛn
3sg
kii.
kill

This shows basically two things: (i) the first verb in a serial verb construction is a full lexical verb; (ii) serial verb constructions minimally consist of two VPs, and the object in between the verbs belongs to the first one.

Ideophones are a common feature in the languages of West Africa. Some parallel examples from Saramaccan and Yoruba (as an example of a West African language) are shown in (38):

(38)     a.         ‘It is snow-white.’

            Saramaccan:  a weti fáán

            Yoruba:          o funfun láúláú (Rowlands 1969: 146)

       b. ‘It is crimson.’

            Saramaccan:  a ɓɛ njaa

            Yoruba:          ó pupa fòò

Not only are ideophones a rather typical African grammatical category, sometimes the phonological form is identical to the ideophone or the normal word for the same feature in the relevant African donor language. Saramaccan fáán (intensifier for ‘white’), for example, may well be related to Gbe (Ewe) fáá.

Secondary predication constructions can be divided into three classes (e.g. Hoekstra 1988). The factor that differentiates the classes is whether the secondary predicate is contained in a complement of the higher predicate or not.

The class in which the secondary predicate is in the selected complement of the higher verb occurs with the cognition verbs like fendi consider’, perception verbs, and causative verbs:

(39)
a.
Mi
1sg
fendi
find
hɛn
3sg
wan
indf.sg
ɓumbuu
good
sɛmbɛ.
person
I consider him a good person. [cognition verb]
b.
Mi
1sg
si
see
hɛn
3sg
a
loc
ɗi
def.sg
djai.
garden
I saw him in the garden. [perception verb]
c.
Ɗi
def.sg
hia
much
daan
rum
mbei
make
hɛn
3sg
wai~wai.
happy~adj
The whole heap of rum made him happy. [causative verb]

As can be seen from these examples, there is in principle no categorial restriction on the secondary predicate. In (40a) it is an NP, in (40b) a PP and in (40c) an AP.

The secondary predicate can also be verbal in nature:

(40)
a.
Ɗe
3pl
fendi
find
ɗi
def.sg
womi
man
liɓi.
live
They found the man alive.
b.
Mi
1sg
jei
hear
ɗí
def.sg
mujɛɛ-mii
woman-child
fan
talk
ku
with
ɗi
def.sg
piki
small
wan.
one
I heard the girl talk with the smaller one.
c.
Ɗi
def.sg
kai
fall
u
for
ɗi
def.sg
tjuɓa
rain
mbei
make
hɛn
3sg
uwii
hair
munja
wet
toona
turn
ko
come
ɓɛ.
red
The rainfall made her hair wet and turn red.

The class of non-selected secondary predicates can be divided into two types: (i) subject depictive; (ii) object depictive. Subject depictives denote a property attributed to the subject. Object depictives denote a property attributed to the object:

(41)
a.
A
3sg
ɓi
tns
kule
run
kumutu
come.out
a
loc
ɗi
def.sg
wosu
house
pɛnɛpɛnɛ.
naked
She came running out of the house naked. [subject depictive]
b.
A
3sg
ta
ipfv
njan
eat
ɗi
def.sg
gwamba
meat
dɛɛ~dɛɛ.
dry~adj
He is eating the meat dry. [object depictive]

In these examples the secondary predicates are both headed by an adjective (as can be seen from the reduplication; see §6). Nouns can also head the secondary predicate, as is shown in the following example of a subject depictive:

(42)     A          ta         luku    mi        ogi-wojo.        

            3sg      ipfv     look     1sg      evil-eye

            ‘She looks at me angrily.’ [subject depictive]

Verbs and prepositions cannot head the secondary predicate in depictives (subject- as well as object-oriented ones).

In addition to the selected and non-selected (secondary) predicates, we have secondary predication constructions with a resultative interpretation. Resultatives are realized either with the addition of a full clause, introduced by the preposition te ‘until/till’, or as serial verb constructions. Thus, a typical resultative like ‘I painted the house red’ is rendered as follows:

(43)
a.
Mi
1sg
feifi
paint
ɗi
def.sg
wosu
house
te
until
a
3sg
ko
come
ɓɛ.
red
I painted the house red.
b.
Mi
1sg
feifi
paint
ɗi
def.sg
wosu
house
ko
come
ɓɛ.
red
I painted the house red.

The first instance one cannot strictly speaking identify as a case of secondary predication, since the added full clause (te a ko ɓɛ in 43a) does not function as a secondary predicate.

The Saramaccan counterpart of run-of-the-mill resultatives, exemplified here by particle-verb constructions, are, almost without exception, realized as serial verb constructions:

(44)
a.
Mi
1sg
o
irr
naki
hit
konko-tatai
gossip-rope
go
go
a
loc
BOG.
BOG
I shall call up the BOG.
b.
Ɗe
3pl
jaka
chase
hɛn
3sg
puu.
remove
They chased him away.
c.
Ɗisa
leave
hɛn
3sg
ɓuta!
put
Put it down!

Veenstra (1996) found only three examples of resultatives involving a secondary predicate headed by a preposition. It is not clear whether this constitutes a normal pattern for expressing resultative secondary predication constructions, however. Nouns and adjectives cannot head the secondary predicate in resultatives. Schematically, we have the following situation in Saramaccan:

(45)                                         selected             non-selected              resultative

            secondary predicate  N/A/P/V            N/A/*P/*V                 *N/*A/(*)P/V

Resultatives and the equivalents of particle-verb constructions in non-serializing languages are primarily expressed by means of serial verb constructions in Saramaccan.