Jukunoid

The focus of the present study are serial verb constructions (SVCs) in Bezen, a previously little researched Southern Jukunoid language spoken in one village in North-Western Cameroon. Serial verb constructions are defined as several verbs within a clause that are neither coordinated, nor subordinated. Bezen therfore forms part of a larger linguistic area featuring SVCs reaching from the Ivory Coast to Cameroon (Dimmendaal 2001: 382). Several related Niger-Congo languages have been described to feature SVCs: the Kwa languages Likpe (Ameka 2009), Ewe (Ameka 2006), and Fon (Lefebvre 1991), the Gur language Supyire (Carlson 1994), Benue-Congo Yoruba (Bamgboṣe 1974) and the neighbouring Grassfields-Bantu language Isu (Kießling 2011). The closely related lan-guages Yukuben (Anyanwu 2013) and Kuteb (Koops 1969; 2009) also feature SVCs.
Apart from a description and analysis of SVCs, this work also contains a description of the Bezen verbal system. In the first chapter, previous works on serialisation in related West-African languages are discussed. The data-collection process and the analysis are also presented in this chapter. The verbal system is described in the second chapter, including the aspect and modal categories, adverbs, deictic marking and negation patterns. In this chapter, I also address grammaticalisation processes during which lexemes develop to grammatical morphemes. Since SVCs are defined in delimitation to other multiverb-constructions, such as subordinated and coordinated clauses, these are addressed in the third chapter. The fourth chapter finally is dedicated to the profound discussion of SVCs.
The Bezen data confirms Aikhenvald’s (2006) typology which allows for a classifi-cation of SVCs into two groups, symmetrical and asymmetrical SVCs. Whereas the verbs in symmetrical SVCs are not semantically restricted, at least one verb in asymmetrical SVCs has restricted semantics. Asymmetrical SVCs can be further subclassified: some verbs mod-ify others concerning quality, others introduce an aspectual notion. One group of semanti-cally subordinate verbs introduce arguments, others express the direction of a movement. Switch-function SVCs are a special form of SVCs in which the object of the first verb serves as the subject for the second verb. In Bezen, these SVCs cannot be classified as one of the categories symmetrical or asymmetrical. Some authors (Haspelmath 2015) argue that this type of constructions should not be included in descriptions of serialising languages at all. However, since the verbs share the object of V1, they are included here.

Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt serielle Verbkonstruktionen (SVKs) in der noch wenig erforschten südjukunoiden Sprache Bezen, die in einem Dorf im Nordwesten Kameruns von nur etwa 450 Menschen gesprochen wird. Als serielle Verbkonstruktionen bezeichnet man mehrere Verben in einem Satz, die weder durch Koordinations­morpheme, noch durch Subordinatoren miteinander verbunden sind. Bezen fügt sich somit in eine lange Reihe verwandter Niger-Kongo-Sprachen ein, die dieses Phänomen aufweisen.

Bezen looks like a typical Benue-Congo noun class language: A rich variety of prefixes adorn its nouns. Contrary to the linguist's expectation, the agreement system does not reflect the high number of nominal prefixes but is reduced to four classes: One singular and three plural classes. The function of the nominal prefixes is not restricted to number-marking, however. They also serve to derive a large array of nouns from verbs and adjectives. Zusammenfassung Bezen Nomen sehen wie typische Benue-Kongo Nomen aus, sie bestehen aus einem Präfix, das Singular oder Plural markiert und einer Wurzel. Entgegen aller Erwartungen spiegelt sich die Vielfalt der Präfixe nicht im Konkordanzsystem der Sprache wider: Es sind nur noch vier Klassen von einem ehemals wohl elabo-rierterem System übrig. Die Funktion der Präfixe ist nicht auf Numerusmarkierung reduziert, sie sind äußerst produktiv bei der Derivation von Nomen.