# The Limba verb stem (Thənkə dialect)

Larry M. Hyman and Daniel Ibrahim Kamara

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DOI: 10.4000/15e42

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Larry M. Hyman and Daniel Ibrahim Kamara, "The Limba verb stem (Thənkə dialect)", *Linguistique et langues africaines* [Online], 11(1) | 2025, Online since 30 June 2025, connection on 18 December 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/lla/14183; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/15e42

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# The Limba verb stem (Thənkə dialect)

Larry M. Hyman
University of California, Berkeley

Daniel Ibrahim Kamara
University of California, Berkeley

## ABSTRACT

In this article we present a first description of the verb stem in the understudied Thənkə /tɔŋkɔ́/ dialect of Limba, a Niger-Congo language of Sierra Leone. In successive sections, we describe the phonological and morphological structure of the verb stem, which appears in two forms, STEM1 and STEM2, where the former is basic and the latter is required in progressive aspect and the imperative. Besides the root and the inflectional ending of STEM2, Thənkə distinguishes eleven derivational suffixes (“extensions”) of which up to four can cooccur in a fixed order. Particular attention is paid to the sometimes elusive tonal properties of roots, extensions and inflected forms.

## KEYWORDS

affix ordering, aspect, Limba, Niger-Congo, tense, tone, verb extensions

## RÉSUMÉ

Dans cet article, nous présentons une première description des radicaux verbaux en thənkə /tɔŋkɔ́/, une variété encore peu connue du limba, langue Niger-Congo parlée en Sierra Léone. Dans les différentes parties de ce travail, nous décrivons successivement la phonologie et la morphologie des radicaux verbaux, lesquels apparaissent sous deux formes, le RADICAL1, qui constitue la forme de référence du verbe, et le RADICAL2, utilisé à l'aspect progressif et au mode impératif. En sus de ces deux racines et des désinences flexionnelles liées à l'emploi du RADICAL2, le thənkə distingue onze suffixes dérivationnels ou « extensions », et un seul et même verbe peut être associé à un maximum de quatre extensions, lesquelles apparaissent dans un ordre déterminé. Notre étude consacre un soin tout particulier à l'examen des caractéristiques tonales, parfois difficiles à cerner, des racines, des extensions et des formes fléchies du verbe thənkə.

## MOTS-CLÉS

aspect, combinaisons d'affixes, dérivation verbale, Limba, Niger-Congo, temps, ton
# 1. INTRODUCTION

In this paper we provide a comprehensive description of the verb stem in Thənkə /tɔŋkə/ dialect of Limba, an understudied Niger-Congo language of Sierra Leone.<fnref n="1" /> As seen in Figure 1, Limba occupies a boomerang-shaped area in Northwest Sierra Leone, spilling over slightly into Guinée. Although Finnegan (1965: 144) estimates “13 or more” dialects, these cluster into three groups: Biriwa-Sa-frəkə in the South, on which most of the previous work has been done, Wara Wara in the North, and Thənkə-Sɛla in the West.

<figure><img src="image_3.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1 — Ethnolinguistic map of Sierra Leone</figcaption></figure>

(Source: Amitchell125 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45570056)

<footnote n="1">1. Research on Limba was supported by an Oswalt Endangered Language Grant, University of California, Berkeley. We are grateful to the editors, two anonymous reviewers and Konstantin Pozdniakov for helpful comments and suggestions on the original submission.</footnote>
Besides Finnegan's ethnographic study, the major linguistic work on Limba is Clarke's (1922) Bi-riwa-Safròkò dictionary containing more than 4,000 entries, including slightly over 1,300 verbs. Almost all of the later published works have been based on Clarke's dictionary including several studies of the noun class system (Thomas 1920; Berry 1958; Pichl n.d.), a short note on voice and aspect (Berry 1960), and an attempt to establish Limba sound correspondences with Proto-Bantu (Mukarovsky 1962/63). A Limba primer has more recently appeared (Conteh 2017). Finally, although our study is on Thònkò dialect, we gratefully acknowledge the access we have had to field notes from Nicholas Rolle on Wara Wara dialect and Valentin Vydrin on Guinée Limba, the only materials that mark tone. While both the noun class system and the verb extension system (§4) are typologically similar to languages in Greenberg's (1963) original Atlantic subgroup of Niger-Congo, Pozdniakov et al. (2019) consider Limba to be an isolate within Niger-Congo.

In this paper we present the first analysis of the Limba-Thònkò verb stem, which maximally consists of the following three constituents:

(1) Root – Extension(s) – Final Vowel (FV)

As in other Niger-Congo languages, a verb root may be followed by one or more derivational suffix or “extension” (causative, applicative etc.). In addition, the verb potentially ends in a FV spell-out of either a derivational suffix, e.g. passive /-o/, an inflectional suffix, e.g. progressive /-a/, or epenthetic -i (see below). The only prefix that can be added to the verb stem is the infinitive marker /a-/. In most cases, however, tense-aspect-mood (TAM) and negation are expressed by independent markers which precede or follow the verb (see §6). The tone of the verb stem is determined by the underlying H(igh) vs. L(ow) tone contrast of roots, verb suffixes, and the different TAMs in which they occur. For example, the roots /bog/ ‘bemoan’ and /lóg/ ‘wash’ contrast in underlying tone, as do the passive /-o/ and instrumental /-é/ extensions. As we shall see in §5, six stem tone patterns result from the interaction between the tones of the root, the verb extension(s) and the TAM.<fnref n="2" /> Table 1 presents the consonant and vowel system of the language.

<table><caption>Table 1 — The consonant and vowel systems of Limba-Thònkò</caption><thead><tr><th>p</th><th>th<br>[t]</th><th>t</th><th>k</th><th>gb<br>[kp]</th><th></th><th>i</th><th>u</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>b</th><td></td><td>d</td><td>g</td><td></td><td></td><td>e</td><td>o</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>s</td><td></td><td></td><td>h</td><td>ɛ</td><td>ɔ</td></tr><tr><th>w</th><td></td><td>l, r</td><td>y</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>a</td></tr><tr><th>m</th><td></td><td>n</td><td>ŋ</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

All of the above symbols follow the IPA values except y = [j] and, following Limba orthography, th = an unaspirated dental stop [t], and gb is voiceless [kp] (vs. [gb] in other dialects). Both /p/ and /k/ are also unaspirated, while alveolar /t/ is aspirated (and affricated in certain other dialects). As indicated, Limba contrasts seven vowels, with only a marginal vowel length contrast limited to stem-initial word-penultimate position, e.g. *mɛti* [mɛthi] ‘town’, *mɛɛti* [mɛ:thi] ‘salt’ (cf. the verbal examples in (5b)).

Turning to syllable structure, consonant clusters consist either of a homorganic nasal (N) plus stop, which we write as *m* before *p* and *b*, and *n* before *th*, *t*, *k* and *d*, e.g. *kampa* ‘elephant’, *banka* [baŋka] ‘house’, or a consonant followed by /w/, e.g. *mɛswɛ* ‘thin’.<fnref n="3" /> The only word-final consonants

<footnote n="2">2. All of the material presented in this paper were obtained through elicitation based on the speech of the second author, who was raised in Kabasa village in Kambia Province where Thònkò is spoken. Written materials and recordings are archived with the California Language Archive (http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7297/X2571B92).</footnote>

<footnote n="3">3. We have found two cases of an *ns* sequence (*ba-gbense* ‘dried rice’, *bɔnsɔ* ‘family’). The [ŋf] cluster in *yanfa* ‘conspiracy’ is doubly exceptional in having a non-homorganic nasal and, along with the borrowing *kɔfifi* ‘coffee’, an [f], since Proto-Limba *f>f* h, e.g. Biriwa *fanda*, Thònkò *handa* ‘father’. Note, finally, that /g/ contrasts with /k/ only in grammatical morphemes</footnote>
are /y/, e.g. *hoy* ‘swim’, and /m/, /n/ and /ŋ/, which merge as [ŋ] stem-finally. Thus, the verb roots /dam/ ‘hunt’, /man/ ‘visit’ and /haŋ/ ‘hit’ are pronounced *a-daŋ*, *a-maŋ* and *a-haŋ* in the infinitive vs. *dam-a*, *ma-n-a* and *haŋ-a* in the imperative.<fnref n="4" /> Verb roots that would end in other coda consonants are realized with an epenthetic -i suffix which becomes [u] by rounding harmony, e.g. *a-dɛth-i* ‘to look at’, *a-kut-u* ‘to see’ (see §2.2).<fnref n="5" />

Concerning the tone system, Limba-Thənkə contrasts H and L, as well as a derived downstep (↓) occurring before some instances of H. H is marked by an acute accent, while L is unmarked, e.g. H-L *kóma* ‘grandson’.<fnref n="6" /> In citing examples, we use phonemic slashes // when a point is being made about an underlying form, and phonetic brackets [ ] when a point is being made about the phonetics. However, we mostly cite forms in italics, showing how words and phrases appear before pause. Since there is a rule that lowers a H or sequence of Hs to L before pause (Hyman & Kamara 2025), phonemic slashes will sometimes be needed to show underlying tones, e.g. the underlying /L-H/ of /banká/ ‘house’, which has the L-L output *banka* [banča] before pause (cf. *banká banč* ‘the house’). There is an additio- nal complication in the case of verb roots, which contrast /H/ vs. /L/ tone, but where the /H/ is realized on the final vowel. Thus, the underlying /H/ of the verb root /lóg/ ‘wash’ is realized on the epenthetic FV -i in *a-log-í paga* ‘to wash rice’ but deleted before pause (*a-log-i* ‘to wash’). As we discuss in §5, most verb roots are /L/. Thus, compare *a-dɛth-i paga* ‘to look at rice’, where the FV -i is realized L.

With the above preliminaries established we are now ready to analyze the verb stem in Lim-
ba-Thənkə. In §2 we present STEM1 verb forms arranged by the number and shape of syllables. In §3
we discuss STEM2 formation. In §4 we turn to verb extensions. This is followed by §5, which discusses
tone, and §6, which expands on the TAM verb paradigm. §7 concludes with a brief summary and com-
parison of Limba verb extensions with those found in Atlantic-group languages further to the North.

## 2. STEM1 FORMS

In Limba most (unextended) verbs have two stem forms, which we refer to as *STEM1* vs. *STEM2*. Thus, the verb root /tot-/- ‘cook’ appears as *tot-i* in *STEM1* and *tot-a* in *STEM2*. *STEM1* appears in the infinitive and most verb tenses and is considered basic, while *STEM2* is derived, most commonly by substituting or adding an /-a/- final vowel (FV) suffix. *STEM2* is largely associated with progressive aspect but also occurs as the imperative (*tot-a* ‘cook!’). It is in fact a nominalized form of the verb that can be modified with class 5 *hu-/-ha-* agreement (*tot-a hu-nɛnɛ* ‘bad cooking’, *tot-a ha-η* ‘the/this cooking’). In this section our focus is on *STEM1* forms, although we will also cite *STEM2* forms which often help interpret *STEM1* forms, particularly the underlying forms of *CVη* roots. We postpone a more systematic treatment of *STEM2* to §3.

Although STEM1 appears in a number of (non-progressive) TAMs, we will exemplify STEM1 forms preceded by the infinitive prefix /-a-/.<fnref n="7" /> In this and the next section we restrict ourselves to stems which do not have an identifiable derivational suffix (causative, applicative etc.). We first discuss monosyllabic verb stems and then turn to bisyllabic and longer verb stems.

<footnote>in Thənkə. (It is almost totally lacking in other dialects.) Only [k] occurs stem-initially, while only [g] occurs intervocalically within the stem, e.g. *kogi* ‘rooster’ (*koki* in Biriwa). After a nasal, /g/ automatically devoices, producing [ŋk]: *gu-theŋ* ‘dog’, *gu-theŋ ku-nthe* ‘one dog’ (cf. *gu-nthe* ‘one’ (class 3’)). For more detail about post-nasal devoicing of /g/ in Thənkə, see Galvano & Kamara (2024a; 2024b).</footnote>

<footnote n="4">4. In the infinitive the verb appears in what we will refer to as *STEM1*. In progressive tenses and the imperative, the verb appears in *STEM2*, most commonly marked by an /-a/- suffix.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">5. Another harmony rule tenses /ɛ/ to [e] when followed by /e/ or /o/ and /ɔ/ to [o] when followed by /o/, e.g. *a-dɛth-i* ‘to look at’, *a-deth-ege* ‘to look at alone’, *a-deth-o* ‘to be looked at’; *a-kɔr-i* ‘to kill’, *a-kor-o* ‘to be killed’.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">6. As discussed in Hyman & Kamara (2025), there is a marginal /L/ vs. Ø contrast in the language. Although it is sometimes hard to determine if an underlying non-/H/ tone is /L/ or Ø, in this paper there is no need to refer to Ø tone. It should, however, be borne in mind that some of the forms that we identify as /L/ may ultimately be better analyzed with Ø.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">7. /L/ verbs are all L in the infinitive. /H/ tone verbs such as /a-lóg-i/ ‘to wash’ are realized with a syllable-final H, which however undergoes final H tone lowering before pause: *a-log-i* ‘to wash’ vs. *a-log-í ga banka* ‘to wash at home’. /L/ tone infinitives such as /a-bog-i/ ‘to bemoan’ are realized all L in both environments: *a-bog-i* ‘to bemoan’, *a-bog-i ga banka* ‘to bemoan at home’. As mentioned at the end of §1, italicized examples indicate the tone that words have before pause.</footnote>
## 2.1. Monosyllabic verb stems

Of the 290 verb stems in our current lexicon, the following thirteen have the monosyllabic shape CV or NCV, where N is a non-syllabic homorganic nasal, which we write as *m* before labials, *n* elsewhere (2).

<table><thead><tr><th>(2)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="4">a.</td><td>a-ni</td><td>'to do, make, act'</td><td>ni-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thi</td><td>'to call, put'</td><td>thi-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thu</td><td>'to plant'</td><td>thu-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-du</td><td>'to return, come/go back'</td><td>du-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">b.</td><td>a-mpu</td><td>'to give birth'</td><td>mp-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-nki</td><td>'to give'</td><td>nk-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">c.</td><td>a-the</td><td>'to borrow (sth. that is returned)'</td><td>the</td></tr><tr><td>a-twe</td><td>'to steal'</td><td>twe</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">d.</td><td>a-se</td><td>'to come'</td><td>sa</td></tr><tr><td>a-ke</td><td>'to go'</td><td>ka</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">e.</td><td>a-ŋɔ</td><td>'to lie down'</td><td>ŋɔ</td></tr><tr><td>a-kɔ</td><td>'to stand'</td><td>kɔ</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔ</td><td>'to enter, penetrate, puncture'</td><td>thɔ</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (2a) the root has a high vowel /i/ or /u/. While there is no overt *-i* suffix in STEM1, as on longer stems (§2.2), this could be due either to assimilation or to the absence of *-i* after a vowel. (A hypothetical underlying representation /du-i/ would be realized [du], since /i/ regularly assimilates in rounding to a preceding /u/, as we shall see in clearer examples below.) The verbs in (2b) are the only two verbs we have found which begin with a NC sequence.<fnref n="8" /> As seen, they too have a high vowel which in this case is replaced by the /-a/ suffix in STEM2.

In (2c) and (2d) we have separated two pairs of verbs that have the vowel [e]. The two verbs in (2c) end with an /e/ that remains in STEM2 contexts, e.g. in the present progressive: *ndɛ kiŋ ka thê 's/he is borrowing', *ndɛ kiŋ ka twê 's/he is stealing' (*ndɛ 'cl1.SBJ' kiŋ 'be' ga 'at' thê/twê 'borrowing/stealing'). There is however some question about how to interpret the two verbs in (2d), which have the vowel /e/, but which appear with /a/ in STEM2: *ndɛ kiŋ ka sa 's/he is coming', *ndɛ kiŋ ka ka 's/he is going' (lit. s/he is at coming/going). One possibility is that [se] and [ke] involve a fusion of /a/ with the *-i* suffix that will be discussed below, i.e. /sa-i/, /ka-i/. This is supported by the forms *a-sa-ege* 'to come alone' and *a-ka-ege* 'to go alone', where /-egɛ/ is the exclusive verb extension (§4.6). The related verbs *a-kande* 'to walk about' and *a-kayɔgɔ* 'to walk' also suggest that the root of 'go' is /ka/ (see §4.3 and §4.7 for discussion of reciprocal *-ande* and reflexive *-ɔgɔ*, respectively). However, in the infinitive the *-i* suffix normally occurs only after (non-nasal) consonants (see (5) below). Corresponding with this, *-i* does not occur with the three /Cɔ/ verbs in (2e) nor is *-a* added in STEM2: *ndɛ kiŋ ka ηɔ 's/he is lying down', *ndɛ kiŋ ka kɔ 's/he is standing' (lit. s/he is at lying down/standing*).<fnref n="9" />

A second hypothesis is that the roots are /se/ and /ke/, and that the [a] is from the STEM2 suffix /-a/. Thus, compare *ndɛ thi* 's/he called' vs. *ndɛ kiŋ ka thi-a* 's/he is calling'. However, as seen in (2c), and as we will further see in (9), verbs that end in [e] generally do not replace the [e] with /-a/ in STEM2 (*i-mase* 'to help', *ndɛ kiŋ ka mase* 's/he is helping'). We therefore will tentatively interpret [se] and [ke] as /sa-i/ and /ka-i/, which exceptionally maintain the historical *-i* suffix that has been lost after other vowels.<fnref n="10" />

<footnote n="8">8. It is likely that the two verbs had a preceding V or CV that has fallen out, which would make *nki* resemble the Bantu regional reconstruction *(j)ink* and its variant *-nink* (Coupez et al. 1998).</footnote>

<footnote n="9">9. /-i/ also doesn't occur after longer verbs that end with /ɔ/ in the infinitive but take /-i/ in the aorist: *a-yɔhɔ* 'to be good', *ndɛ yɔhɔ-i* 's/he is/was good'. See (103) and (104) in §6 for more discussion of aorist-dependent *ɔgɔ-i*.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">10. The two verbs diverge, however, when the applicative suffix /-i-/ and FV /-e/ are added: *a-ka-y-e ma* 'to go for me' vs. *a-se-y-e* 'to come for me'. As a reviewer points out, it is not surprising for the verbs 'come' and 'go' to be exceptional.</footnote>
In addition to the CV verbs in (2), the ten verbs in (3) have been found with the shape CVy.

(3) STEM1 STEM2

<table><tr><td>a-boy</td><td>'to buy'</td><td>boy-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-hoy</td><td>'to swim'</td><td>hoy-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-mey</td><td>'to reply, answer'</td><td>mey-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ηay</td><td>'to stand up'</td><td>ηay-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-pey</td><td>'to leave'</td><td>pey-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-puy</td><td>'to heal, cure'</td><td>puy-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-tay</td><td>'to lay'</td><td>tay-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thay</td><td>'to dry (intr.)'</td><td>thay-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thoy</td><td>'to build'</td><td>thoy-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thoy</td><td>'to know how'</td><td>thoy-a</td></tr></table>

Initially we wrote the verb stems in (3) with a final *i*, e.g. *a-hoi* 'to swim', *a-pui* 'to heal', to match the -i ending that appears on longer stems in the infinitive and elsewhere. However, unlike these latter, the *y* of CVy stems is not replaced by other suffixes, e.g. the -a of STEM2 forms. Thus, while the verb *a-deth-i* 'to look (at)' has the STEM2 form *deth-a*, the STEM2 form of *a-puy* 'to heal' is *puy-a*, not *pu-a*.

The remaining monosyllabic verb stems all end with the velar nasal *η*, the only other consonant that occurs word-finally besides *y*.<fnref n="11" /> 29 such verbs occur in our lexicon presented in (4a-c), with their STEM2 counterparts indicated on the right. (The auxiliary verb *kiη* 'be, have' in (4d) does not have an infinitive or STEM2 form.)

<table><thead><tr><th>(4)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="7">a.</td><td>a-daŋ</td><td>'to hunt'</td><td>dam-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-dɔŋ</td><td>'to say'</td><td>dɔm-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-hɛŋ</td><td>'to breath'</td><td>hɛm-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-kaŋ</td><td>'to dance'</td><td>kam-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-paŋ</td><td>'to chase, drive away'</td><td>pam-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɛŋ</td><td>'to cut'</td><td>thɛm-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔŋ</td><td>'to eat'</td><td>thɔm-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-yeŋ</td><td>'to run after, follow'</td><td>yem-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="6">b.</td><td>a-maŋ</td><td>'to visit'</td><td>man-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ηoŋ</td><td>'to harvest (rice)'</td><td>ηon-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ηuŋ</td><td>'to swallow'</td><td>ηun-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-poŋ</td><td>'to cook, boil'</td><td>pon-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɛŋ</td><td>'to be enough'</td><td>tɛn-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɛŋ</td><td>'to shiver'</td><td>thɛn-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="6">c.</td><td>a-daŋ</td><td>'to groan'</td><td>daŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-gbɛŋ</td><td>'to crack (shell)'</td><td>gbɛŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-gbiŋ</td><td>'to swear'</td><td>gbiŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-haŋ</td><td>'to hit, beat'</td><td>haŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-hɔŋ</td><td>'to blow nose'</td><td>hɔŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-huŋ</td><td>'to exit, depart'</td><td>huŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-keŋ</td><td>'to fly'</td><td>keŋ-a</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="11">11. The verb *a-yaw* 'to ask for' is an exception. Its form in Biriwa dialect is *a-lawi* (Clarke 1922: 30).</footnote>
<table><tr><td>a-lɔŋ</td><td>'to close, lock'</td><td>lɔŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋeŋ</td><td>'to shake (tr.)'</td><td>ŋeŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-sɔŋ</td><td>'to sing'</td><td>sɔŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thing</td><td>'to swell'</td><td>thing-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thung</td><td>'to kick'</td><td>thung-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-toŋ</td><td>'to drop'</td><td>toŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔŋ</td><td>'to contribute'</td><td>tɔŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-yɔŋ</td><td>'to pound'</td><td>yɔŋ-a</td></tr><tr><td>d. kiŋ</td><td>'be, have'</td><td></td></tr></table>

As seen, when the STEM2 suffix -a is added, the underlying /m/, /n/ or /ŋ/ appears intervocalically. Before another consonant, nasals must be homorganic: a-yumb-u 'to wait', a-kɔntɔŋ 'to count', a-penk-i [apeŋki] 'to meet'.

## 2.2. Bisyllabic and trisyllabic verb stems

Of the 228 bisyllabic and longer verb stems in our lexicon, 118 end in an -i suffix. 90 of these are bisyllabic. Examples are given in (5a, b), where the nine in (5b) have a long vowel and a corresponding STEM2 ending in -wa rather than the more common -a.<fnref n="12" /> 22 are trisyllabic, of which six are shown in (5c), arranged by their (necessarily coronal) third consonant.

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="8">a.</td><td>a-ŋind-i</td><td>'to send (sth.)'</td><td>ŋind-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-deth-i</td><td>'to look (at)'</td><td>deth-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-yel-i</td><td>'to throw'</td><td>yel-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-heth-i</td><td>'to laugh (at)'</td><td>heth-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-log-i</td><td>'to wash (sth.)'</td><td>log-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋɔt-i</td><td>'to fall'</td><td>ŋɔt-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-gbal-i</td><td>'to write'</td><td>gbal-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-siiy-i</td><td>'to think'</td><td>sii-wa</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="8">b.</td><td>a-tɔɔg-i</td><td>'to burn (intr.)'</td><td>tɔɔg-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔɔg-i</td><td>'to be tall'</td><td>thɔɔg-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-sees-i</td><td>'to start'</td><td>sesi-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-pɛɛg-i</td><td>'to untie'</td><td>pɛgi-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-dɛeth-i</td><td>'to look for'</td><td>deth-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-pooth-i</td><td>'to get dirty'</td><td>pooth-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋaat-i</td><td>'to itch'</td><td>ŋath-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-kɔɔy-i</td><td>'to be soft'</td><td>kɔɔy-wa</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="7">c.</td><td>a-gbɔgɔl-i</td><td>'to grind'</td><td>gbɔgil-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-kɔyɔn-i</td><td>'to soften'</td><td>kɔyin-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-dahath-i</td><td>'to chew'</td><td>dahith-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-segeth-i</td><td>'to take'</td><td>segeth-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋɔgɔt-i</td><td>'to push'</td><td>ŋɔgit-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔŋɔt-i</td><td>'to send (sth.)'</td><td>tɔŋit-a</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="12">12. Since a-dɛeth-i 'to look for' is clearly related to a-deth-i 'to look at', this suggests that such length, which is both rare and found only in the initial stem syllable, may be the effect of an earlier fused suffix.</footnote>
As seen, the two vowels of the trisyllabic stems in (5c) are identical when occurring with the -i suffix. The corresponding STEM2 forms to the right exemplify the general rule that a stem-internal vowel occurring after the first stem syllable is [i] when followed by a FV other than -i. As will be seen when we treat verb extensions in §4, we consider the stem-internal /i/ to be underlying, hence /gbɔgil/ ‘grind’, /sɛgith/ ‘take’, /ŋɔgit/ ‘push’, etc.

A potentially important fact is that only one verb (*a-lɛm-i* ‘to sharpen’) and no nouns have been found that end with [mi] and no words end with [ni]. The four bisyllabic verbs ending in [ni] in (6a) have been noted, all of which take -wa in their STEM2. All nine trisyllabic verbs which end in [ni] in (6b) are morphologically complex. As seen in the corresponding basic verb forms to their right, these consist of a verb root + the /-íŋ/ causative extension + the final -i suffix, which may be epenthetic (see §4.1).<fnref n="13" />

<table><thead><tr><th>(6)</th><th>STEM1</th><th></th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-min-i</td><td>‘to lick’</td><td>min-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-than-i</td><td>‘to learn’</td><td>than-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔn-i</td><td>‘to get wet’</td><td>thɔn-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tɔn-i</td><td>‘to burn’</td><td>tɔn-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>Causative verb</td><td></td><td>basic verb</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-bɔl-ɔn-i</td><td>‘to blacken (tr.)’</td><td>a-bɔlɔ</td><td>‘to be black’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kah-an-i</td><td>‘to strengthen’</td><td>a-kah-i</td><td>‘to become strong’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kɔy-ɔn-i</td><td>‘to soften (tr.)’</td><td>a-kɔɔy-i</td><td>‘to be soft’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-payɔ-n-i</td><td>‘to scare’</td><td>a-payɔ</td><td>‘to fear’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-poth-on-i</td><td>‘to dirty’</td><td>a-póoth-i</td><td>‘to get dirty’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-sah-an-i</td><td>‘to clear bush’</td><td>a-sah-i</td><td>‘to clear bush’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-say-an-i</td><td>‘to tear (tr. & intr.)’</td><td>a-sainɔ(i)</td><td>‘to tear (intr.)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-than-an-i</td><td>‘to teach’</td><td>a-than-i</td><td>‘to learn’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔn-ɔn-i</td><td>‘to wet’</td><td>a-thɔn-i</td><td>‘to get wet’</td></tr></tbody></table>

On the other hand, 44 bisyllabic and trisyllabic verbs end in -η.<fnref n="14" /> These fall into two groups represented in (7). Those in (7a) can be identified as causatives on the basis of the corresponding intransitives given to the right, while those in (7b), cannot be, although some may have historically been causatives as well.

<table><thead><tr><th>(7)</th><th>Causative verb</th><th></th><th>Basic verb</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-mɛth-ɛŋ</td><td>‘to clean’</td><td>a-mɛth-i</td><td>‘to become clean, to be clear’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋay-aŋ</td><td>‘to wake (tr.)’</td><td>a-ŋáye</td><td>‘to wake (intr.), rise’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋay-aŋ</td><td>‘to hide (tr.)’</td><td>(a-nunɔgɔ)</td><td>‘to hide (self)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thiŋ-ïŋ</td><td>‘to fill’</td><td>thínɛ</td><td>‘full’ (adj.)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pir-ïŋ</td><td>‘to lose’</td><td>a-piriginɔ</td><td>‘to get lost’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thank-aŋ</td><td>‘to finish (tr.)’</td><td>a-thank-i</td><td>‘to finish (intr.)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thim-ïŋ</td><td>‘to make love’</td><td>a-thimo</td><td>‘to love’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thith-ïŋ</td><td>‘to dry (tr.)’</td><td>a-thith-i</td><td>‘to get dry’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔh-ɔŋ</td><td>‘to lend’</td><td>a-thɔh-i</td><td>‘to borrow’</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="13">13. Note that the verbs in (6) do not require the FV -i for phonological reasons. If absent, the /n/ could be pronounced as [ŋ]. The STEM2 forms of causativized and other extended verbs will be seen in §4.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">14. This includes the following alternates of the -ni verbs in (6b): *a-kahaŋ* ‘to strengthen’, *a-kɔyɔŋ* ‘to soften (tr.)’, *a-payɔŋ* ‘to scare’, *a-pothɔŋ* ‘to dirty (tr.)’.</footnote>
<table><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔ̈m-əŋ</td><td>'to feed'</td><td>a-thɔ̈ŋ</td><td>'to eat'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tɔ̈ŋ-əŋ</td><td>'to show'</td><td>a-tɔ̈ŋ</td><td>'to contribute'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>STEM1</td><td></td><td>STEM2</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-bereŋ</td><td>'to cry'</td><td>berin-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dunkuŋ</td><td>'to give'</td><td>dunkun-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kɔ̈nthɔ̈ŋ</td><td>'to count'</td><td>kɔ̈nthin-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kupuŋ</td><td>'to uncover'</td><td>kupun-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pigiŋ</td><td>'to pass gas'</td><td>pigin-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pithiŋ</td><td>'to sweep'</td><td>pithin-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔ̈nthɔ̈ŋɔ̈ŋ</td><td>'to ask'</td><td>thɔ̈nthigin-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tenteŋeŋ</td><td>'to change'</td><td>tentiŋin-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yupuŋ</td><td>'to bend, kneel'</td><td>yupun-a</td><td></td></tr></table>

As seen in (7b), all of the $η$-final verbs are pronounced [n] before /-a/ in STEM2, where the preceding vowel is realized [i] or [u] (see below for the rounding harmony of /i/ to [u]). Again, our analysis is that the last syllable is /in/, identifiable as the causative extension /-in/ in (7a). While it is conceivable that $η$-final verbs once had an $-i$ suffix, a possible synchronic analysis is that the final $-i$ on verb roots that end in a non-nasal consonant is epenthetic, inserted to avoid a final consonant that is not licensed in coda position. Note for example that when the verb ends in $η$, the vowels are identical exactly like when a verb ends in $-i$. If the $-i$ were epenthetic, then the vowel agreement of /i/ in the STEM1 forms in (5c) above could be attributed to the latter being in a closed syllable, as in (6b) and (7), assuming that the epenthetic $-i$ is invisible or is inserted after vowel assimilation.<fnref n="15" /> The verb $a-payɔ̈-η$ 'to scare' and the two trisyllabic verbs $a-thɔ̈nthɔ̈ŋɔ̈ŋ$ 'to ask' and $a-tenteŋeŋ$ 'to change' in (7b) would be exceptional, although the latter two appear to involve reduplication, and realize the internal /i/ in their STEM2.<fnref n="16" />

Also missing from the verb stems ending in $-i$ are verbs that have /u/ as their root vowel. As seen in (8), this gap is filled by the following sixteen bisyllabic and five trisyllabic verbs in our lexicon that have /u/ as their root vowel and also end in $-u$.

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>STEM1</th><th></th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="16">a.</td><td>a-bul-u</td><td>'to flow'</td><td>bul-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-dut-u</td><td>'to return (tr.)'</td><td>dut-(w)a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-gbus-u</td><td>'to dig, hoe, harvest yams'</td><td>gbus-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-hug-u</td><td>'to fan'</td><td>hug-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-hut-u</td><td>'to fold'</td><td>hut-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-kump-u</td><td>'to peel'</td><td>kump-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-kut-u</td><td>'to see, find, discover'</td><td>kut-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-punk-u</td><td>'to be able'</td><td>punk-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-punt-u</td><td>'to hop'</td><td>punt-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thuh-u</td><td>'to descend'</td><td>thuh-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thur-u</td><td>'to roast, grill'</td><td>thur-wa</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thuth-u</td><td>'to spit'</td><td>thuth-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-tug-u</td><td>'to die'</td><td>tug-a</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-tun-u</td><td>'to rot'</td><td>tun-wa</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="15">15. Another possible argument that $-i$ is epenthetic is that it is the only vowel that changes in STEM2. Thus, STEM1 $deth-i$ becomes STEM2 $deth-a$, while STEM1 verbs like mase 'help' and thimo 'love' remain unchanged in STEM2.</footnote>

<footnote n="16">16. The STEM2 form thɔ̈nthigin-a of 'to ask' is irregular, as is the [ɛ] of the penultimate syllable of $a-tenteŋeŋ$ 'to change', which is however regular in its stem2 form tentiŋin-a.</footnote>
<table><tr><td></td><td>a-yug-u</td><td>'to tie'</td><td>yug-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yumb-u</td><td>'to wait'</td><td>yumb-a</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-huŋut-u</td><td>'to take out, remove'</td><td>huŋut-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-hutut-u</td><td>'to fold, bend'</td><td>hutut-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-putut-u</td><td>'to cover'</td><td>putut-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yugut-u</td><td>'to carry'</td><td>yugut-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tun-un-u</td><td>'to make rotten'</td><td>tun-un-wa (cf. tun-u 'to rot')</td></tr></table>

The above exemplify the general rule of rounding harmony which changes /i/ to [u] after /u/.<fnref n="17" /> Particularly intriguing is the fact that the four of the five trisyllabic verbs in (8b) have /t/ as their root-final consonant, suggesting that they may contain a frozen dative /-ít-/ extension (§4.5).<fnref n="18" /> We also note that *a-dut-u* ‘to return (tr.)’ in (8a) is related to *a-du* ‘to return (intr.)’, and thus likely derives from /du-it-i/.

Of the 47 bisyllabic and longer verb stems that do not end in either *ŋ*, -i, or -u, many contain a recognizable verb extension, even if the corresponding non-extended verb stem does not exist. Examples include 26 polysyllabic verbs that end in *e*, 36 which end in *ɔ*, and two that end in *o*. Those ending in *e* fall into the following groups.

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>STEM1</th><th></th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-yentheg-e</td><td>'to lift, raise'</td><td>yenthig-in-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yuy-e</td><td>'to hear'</td><td>yuy-a</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-deg-e</td><td>'to fight'</td><td>degy-a &lt; /dege-a/</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-biye</td><td>'to bathe'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋaye</td><td>'to stand up'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thaye</td><td>'to catch'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thanthiye</td><td>'to refuse'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thiye</td><td>'to drink'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-biyande</td><td>'to enter'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-daŋande</td><td>'to pass'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kande</td><td>'to walk about'</td><td>(cf. a-kayɔŋgɔ 'to walk'; kâ 'go STEM2')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pankinwande</td><td>'to scatter (tr., intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-paŋitinwande</td><td>'to scatter (intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɛtande</td><td>'to break, shatter (intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɛtinande</td><td>'to break, shatter (tr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thinkinande</td><td>'to break, snap (tr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-bohege</td><td>'to touch'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thetege</td><td>'to beg (s.o.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yenthege</td><td>'to raise, lift'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>f.</td><td>a-mase</td><td>'to help'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-muhe</td><td>'to sweat, perspire'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-nine</td><td>'to sleep'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="17">17. The fact that the final *y* of the verb *a-puy* ‘to cure, heal’ from (3a) and nouns such as *ba-puy* doctor’, *gu-muy* ‘fly’ and *gu-muymuy* ‘house ant’ do not undergo the rule is consistent with the decision to treat the final sequence as *uy* rather than *ui*.</footnote>

<footnote n="18">18. Of the 33 trisyllabic verbs in our lexicon (excluding those which end with -ande, -ege or -ɔgɔ, which resemble the reciprocal /-ande/, exclusive /-egɛ/ and reflexive /-ɔgɔ/ extensions), all but nine have either /n/ or /t/ as the onset of the third syllable. These thus likely involve a frozen causative /-in/ or dative /-ít-/ extension. See §4.</footnote>
The two verbs in (9a) appear to end in an /-e/ FV since, as seen to the right, they alone of the e-final verbs have a distinct STEM2 form where the /-e/ does not appear. The verb in (9b) appears exceptionally to keep its final e, which glides to [y] when adding -a in STEM2. The final *ye* verbs in (9c), on the other hand, keep their final e in STEM2 without adding -a, as do the verbs in (9d-f). The verbs in (9d) all end in *ande*, which is identical to the reciprocal extension: *a-deth-i* ‘to look at’, *a-deth-ande* ‘to look at each other’ (cf. §4.3). As seen, the first five verbs involve motion, while the last three are verbs of breaking. Although something other than reciprocity is involved, *a-thetinande* ‘to break by shattering (tr.)’ is clearly related to its intransitive counterpart *a-thetande* by the presence of the causative extension /-ín/ (§4.1). We thus are justified in segmenting the transitive verb as *a-thet-in-ande*.<fnref n="19" /> Additional evidence that *ande* is a frozen suffix is that the pluractional extension -w- (§4.9) precedes it: *binde術th-ín-ánde kópu* ‘they broke a cup’ vs. *binde術th-ín-w-ánde tha-kópu* ‘they broke cups’. Pluractional -w- is preferred in *a-pankin-w-ande* ‘to scatter’, which normally requires multiple actions.

Turning to (9e), the final *ege* on these three verbs resembles the exclusive /-egé/ verb extension which indicates doing something aside, alone, or in secret, e.g. *a-thəŋ* ‘to eat’, *a-thom-ege* ‘to eat in secret, alone, not wanting to share’. Evidence for *ege* being a frozen suffix comes from the fact that the applicative suffix /-i-/ precedes it: *nde術hețege* ‘s/he begged’, *nde術th-í-égé ma* ‘s/he begged for me’. Finally, the verbs in (9f) simply end in *e*, which remains *e* in STEM2. It might thus appear that they end in an [*e*] that is not an independent FV the way epenthetic -i and STEM2 -a have been seen to be. However, applicative /-i-/ precedes the final [*e*]: *nde más-í-é ma* ‘s/he helped for me’, *ndeín-í-é ma* ‘s/he slept for me’. Unless we propose that this is infixation, *-e* may also be a lexicalized suffix, an earlier extension.

To complete our survey, there are two verbs that end in *o* and 36 verbs which end in *ɔ* in our lexicon. These can be grouped as follows.

<table><thead><tr><th>(10)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-thambo<br>a-thimo</td><td>‘to hate’<br>‘to love’</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-dɔŋɔ<br>a-dunkɔ<br>a-kɔthɔ<br>a-payɔ<br>a-heŋɔ<br>a-thinkɔ<br>a-setwɔ</td><td>‘to sit’<br>‘to rise, ascend’<br>‘to know’<br>‘to fear, be afraid’<br>‘to faint’<br>‘to break, snap (intr.)’<br>‘to miscarry’</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-thur-ɔ<br>a-nen-ɔ<br>a-thiŋ-ɔ<br>a-bɔl-ɔ</td><td>‘to be short’<br>‘to be bad’<br>‘to be full’<br>‘to be black’</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-nunɔgɔ<br>a-yugɔgɔ<br>a-kayɔgɔ<br>a-sigiyɔgɔ<br>a-tutɔgɔ</td><td>‘to hide (intr.)’<br>‘to dress formally’<br>‘to walk’<br>‘to go around’<br>‘to carry on head’</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-gbonkoy<br>a-thonoy</td><td>‘to speak’<br>‘to be sick’</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="19">19. Transitive *a-think-in-ande* ‘to break (by snapping)’ also has the variant *a-think-i* and a corresponding intransitive *a-thinkɔ* (see (10b)), indicating that it too contains a causative *-in-* suffix. Interestingly, when applicative *-i-* is added to produce *a-think-in-i-ande* ‘to break for (someone)’, it occurs between causative *-in-* and *-ande*, thereby adding evidence that *-ande* is recognized as a suffix, the same one that realizes the reciprocal in *a-deth-ande* ‘to look at each other’. See §4.3 for more discussion.</footnote>
All of the verbs in (10) have the same *STEM2* except for the two indicated above. The final [ɔ] of the two verbs in (10a) resembles the passive extension, e.g. *a-deth-o* ‘to be looked at’ (from *a-deth-i* ‘to look (at)’). The final [ɔ] in (10b) looks like what Berry (1960) identifies as a “neuter” ending occurring on verbs which do not take an agentive subject. As seen, many of these verbs are stative (cf. §4.10).<fnref n="20" /> Three of the four verbs in (10c) are clearly related to adjectives ending in ε, suggesting that ɔ, ε or both are suffixes.<fnref n="21" /> The ɔgɔ ending on the verbs in (10d) clearly resembles the reflexive extension, e.g. *a-deth-ɔgɔ* ‘to look at oneself’ (§4.7). We can thus interpret these as inherently reflexive verbs, thus meaning ‘to hide oneself’, ‘to dress oneself’, ‘to walk oneself’ (cf. French *se promener*) and ‘to move oneself around’. This is supported by the fact that applicative *-i-* precedes the ɔgɔ ending on these verbs: *a-nun-i-ɔgɔ niŋ* ‘to hide for him/her’. Finally, note the two exceptional verbs in (10e) which we analyze as ending in *oy* rather than *o-i*, since the *y* of *thonoy* remains in all TAMs, and the *y* of *gbonkoy* remains in all TAMs that take *STEM1*.

### 3. STEM2 FORMS

In the preceding sections, we have mostly focused on verbs in their *STEM1* form as they appear with surface L tones in the infinitive, e.g. *a-gbal-i* ‘to write’. We saw however that many have a *STEM2* form which occurs in progressive tenses and the imperative. Thus, one can contrast *STEM1 gbal-i* in *nde gbal-i* ‘s/he wrote’ vs. *STEM2 gbal-a* in *nde kiŋ ka gbal-a* ‘s/he is writing’ and *gbal-a* ‘write!’. As we pointed out earlier, the *STEM2* forms are nominalizations which can be modified (*gbal-a haŋ* ‘the writing’) and appear in TAMs which use the prepositions *ga* ‘at’ (→ *ka* after a nasal) and *ba* ‘for’. Thus, the present progressive example above literally means ‘s/he is at writing’, where *kiŋ* ‘be’ independently occurs in various contexts in the language, e.g. *nde kiŋ ka bánká baŋ* ‘s/he is at the house’. In this section we will be concerned only with the different *STEM2* forms. Treatment of the TAM system is postponed to §6.

The first observation to be made is that not all verbs have a distinct *STEM2*, the same *STEM1* form being used in the progressive tenses and the imperatives: *a-thanthiye* ‘to refuse’, *nde kiŋ ka thánthiye* ‘s/he is refusing’, *thanthiye* ‘refuse!’. Verbs which end in /ɔ/, including reflexive /-ɔgɔ/, do not have a *STEM2*, nor do verbs ending in /e/, including applicative /-i-e/, reciprocal /-ande/, dative /-ít-e/ and exclusive /-egé/.<fnref n="22" /> In most cases, the *STEM2* tone is the same as *STEM1*, while in other cases there is a change, although much depends on the TAM (see §6). In what follows we will start with the most general markers of *STEM2* and then turn to less common formations.

The most common *STEM2* formation process is by suffixation of /-a/. In the examples in (11), /-a/ is added to the *STEM1* form.

<table><thead><tr><th>(11)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3">a.</td><td>a-ni</td><td>ni-a</td><td>'to do'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thu</td><td>thu-a</td><td>'to plant'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thi</td><td>thi-a</td><td>'to call'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">b.</td><td>a-thɔŋ</td><td>thɔm-a</td><td>'to eat'</td></tr><tr><td>a-maŋ</td><td>man-a</td><td>'to visit'</td></tr><tr><td>a-haŋ</td><td>haŋ-a</td><td>'to hit'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-hoy</td><td>hoy-a</td><td>'to swim'</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="20">20. One pair might suggest that /ɔ/ was once a reverse: *a-her* ‘to breathe’, *a-herɔ* ‘to faint’ (unbreathe = loss of breath, consciousness?). However, the corresponding noun is *hema* ‘breath’, which has an internal /m/ vs. the /ŋ/ of ‘faint’. Perhaps historically there was a velar consonant that caused the /m/ to assimilate to [ŋ] and then dropped out, e.g. *hɛm-kɔ*.</footnote>

<footnote n="21">21. Some adjectives ending in ε correspond to verbs taking (epenthetic) -i: *a-thɛb-i* ‘to be cold’ (*thɛbɛ* ‘cold’), *a-tug-u* ‘to die’ (*tugɛ* ‘dead’), *a-kah-i* ‘to be strong’ (*kahwɛ* ‘strong’), *a-tun-u* ‘to rot’ (*tunwɛ* ‘rotten’).</footnote>

<footnote n="22">22. As seen earlier in (9), out of 26 polysyllabic verb stems ending in /e/ in our lexicon, we have found four exceptions: *a-dege/degy-a* ‘to fight’, *a-yuye/yuy-a* ‘hear’, *a-ŋaye/ŋái-n-ɔgɔ* ‘to stand up’, *a-yenthege/yentheg-in-a* ‘to raise, lift’, the latter two involving the causative /-in/ extension.</footnote>
<table><tr><td></td><td>a-mey</td><td>mey-a</td><td>'to reply'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pey</td><td>pey-a</td><td>'to leave'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tay</td><td>tay-a</td><td>'to lay'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-bereŋ</td><td>berin-a</td><td>'to cry'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kəntəŋ</td><td>kəntin-a</td><td>'to count'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dunkuy</td><td>dunkun-a</td><td>'to give'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-thəm-əŋ</td><td>thəm-in-a</td><td>'to feed'</td><td>cf. a-thəŋ 'to eat'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thank-aŋ</td><td>thank-in-a</td><td>'to finish (tr.)'</td><td>cf. a-thank-i 'to finish (intr.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thəh-əŋ</td><td>thəh-in-a</td><td>'to loan'</td><td>cf. a-thəh-i 'to borrow'</td></tr></table>

As before, we exemplify *STEM1* with the infinitive prefix /a-/, and *STEM2* forms are cited with the prepausal tones they have in the future progressive and the imperative, e.g. *ndɛ́ bóheŋ bá berin-a* 's/he will be crying' (lit. *s/he FUT.PROG* with crying), *berin-a!* 'cry!'. In (11a) we see that CV stems generally add /-a/, as do all CVC verb stems in (11b, c) and all longer stems ending in a nasal consonant (11d), including those with a causative /-íŋ/ extension in (11e). Exceptions are shown in (12).

<table><thead><tr><th>(12)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-ke</td><td>ka</td><td>'to go' /a-ka-i/</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-se</td><td>sa</td><td>'to come' /a-sa-i/</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-nki</td><td>nk-a</td><td>'to give, offer'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-mpu</td><td>mp-a</td><td>'to give birth'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-ŋay</td><td>ŋa-in-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to stand up' ~ <i>ŋay-a</i></td></tr></tbody></table>

We have already discussed the two verbs in (12a), where there is reason to believe that the roots are /ka/ and /sa/, and that [ke] and [se] have a fused /-i/ suffix, which is replaced by /-a/ as a general rule (see 13c, d). In (12b) the *STEM2* /-a/ suffix replaces the final vowel. The [i] of *nki* 'to give' may be a root vowel (cf. note 8), or a suffix /-i/ (cf. the past form *nk-e*). In (12c), the verb *a-ŋay* 'to stand up' has an irregular *STEM2* *ŋa-in-ɔgɔ* which takes a causative plus reflexive sequence *-in-ɔgɔ* with the literal meaning 'cause to stand oneself up'. As shown, the regular *STEM2* *ŋay-a* is also acceptable.

Turning to consonant-final verbs and verbs that end in an /-i/ suffix (whether analyzed as underlying or epenthetic, as we have suggested), the most common pattern of *STEM2* formation is for the /-a/ suffix to be added, replacing the /-i/ (~-u). All 40 CVC *STEM1* verbs in our lexicon take /-a/ in *STEM2*, as representative examples show in (13a, b).

<table><thead><tr><th>(13)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-kaŋ</td><td>kam-a</td><td>'to dance'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-maŋ</td><td>man-a</td><td>'to visit'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-haŋ</td><td>haŋ-a</td><td>'to hit'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-hoy</td><td>hoy-a</td><td>'to swim'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thay</td><td>thay-a</td><td>'to dry (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-puy</td><td>puy-a</td><td>'to cure, heal'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-ŋind-i</td><td>ŋind-a</td><td>'to send (s.o.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-penk-i</td><td>penk-a</td><td>'to meet'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-hɛ́th-i</td><td>hɛ́th-a</td><td>'to laugh'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-gbus-u</td><td>gbus-a</td><td>'to dig'</td><td>/a-gbus-i/</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-toh-i</td><td>toh-a</td><td>'to sew'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kɔ́r-i</td><td>kɔ́r-a</td><td>'to kill'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-gbal-i</td><td>gbal-a</td><td>'to write'</td></tr></tbody></table>
<table><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-sigbit-i</td><td>sigbit-a</td><td>'to pierce, stab'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-segeth-i</td><td>segeth-a</td><td>'to take'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-putut-u</td><td>putut-a</td><td>'to cover'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-gbɔgɔl-i</td><td>gbɔgil-a</td><td>'to grind'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-tɔŋɔt-i</td><td>tɔŋit-a</td><td>'to send (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dahath-i</td><td>dahith-a</td><td>'to chew'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kaŋat-i</td><td>kaŋit-a</td><td>'to puncture'</td></tr></table>

Of the 146 verbs with STEM1 final -i or -u in our lexicon, 85 replace the -i with -a in STEM2. Representative bisyllabic and trisyllabic examples are given in (13c, d). In (13d), except for /i/ and /u/, the vowel of the second stem syllable is also different in STEM1 (where it assimilates to the preceding vowel) vs. STEM2, where the underlying /i/ is realized (→ [u] after /u/).

While (13) represents the general pattern for STEM1 i-final verbs, there is a second pattern. 50 verbs in our lexicon form their STEM2 with the suffix -wa instead of -a. 43 of these have a STEM1 ending with /i/ (→ [u]) as in (14a-c), the remaining eight ending with ŋ, as in (14d).

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">a.</td><td>a-thel-i</td><td>thel-wa</td><td>'to hoe'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔn-i</td><td>thɔɔn-wa</td><td>'to get wet'</td></tr><tr><td>a-min-i</td><td>min-wa</td><td>'to lick'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thith-i</td><td>thith-wa</td><td>'to fish with net'</td></tr><tr><td>a-kas-i</td><td>kas-wa</td><td>'to vomit'</td></tr><tr><td>a-kah-i</td><td>kah-wa</td><td>'to become strong'</td></tr><tr><td>a-log-i</td><td>log-wa</td><td>'to wash (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td>a-sas-i</td><td>sas-wa</td><td>'to pour'</td></tr><tr><td>a-yoh-i</td><td>yoh-wa</td><td>'to urinate'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="8">b.</td><td>a-pooth-i</td><td>poth-wa</td><td>'to get dirty'</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋaath-i</td><td>ŋaathwa</td><td>'to itch'</td></tr><tr><td>a-dɛɛth-i</td><td>dɛth-wa</td><td>'to look for'</td></tr><tr><td>a-seɛs-i</td><td>seɛs-wa</td><td>'to start'</td></tr><tr><td>a-pɛɛg-i</td><td>pɛg-wa</td><td>'to untie'</td></tr><tr><td>a-siiy-i</td><td>si-wa</td><td>'to think'</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔɔgi</td><td>tɔɔg-wa</td><td>'to burn (intr.)'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔn-ɔn-i</td><td>thɔn-in-wa</td><td>'to wet (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5">c.</td><td>a-poth-on-i</td><td>poth-on-wa</td><td>'to dirty (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td>a-kah-an-i</td><td>kah-in-wa</td><td>'to strengthen (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td>a-bɔl-ɔn-i</td><td>bɔl-in-wa</td><td>'to blacken (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td>a-than-an-i</td><td>than-in-wa</td><td>'to teach'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thith-iŋ</td><td>thith-in-wa</td><td>'to dry (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">d.</td><td>a-pɛpɛŋ</td><td>pɛpin-wa</td><td>'to unfold, spread out'</td></tr><tr><td>a-pithiŋ</td><td>pithin-wa</td><td>'to sweep'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

To compare, 62 CVC-i STEM1 verbs take -a in STEM2 vs. 32 which take -wa, as in (14a). On the other hand, all seven of the CVVC-i STEM1 verbs in our lexicon in (14b) take -wa in their STEM2 form, although a-tɔɔg-i 'to burn (intr.)' also has the alternative tɔg-a. (14c) shows that verbs that contain the causative suffix /-íŋ/ plus the FV /-i/ all take -wa in STEM2. While most verbs that end in /in/ without
the FV -i form their STEM2 with -a, e.g. STEM1 *a-thəm-əŋ* 'to feed', STEM2 *thəm-in-a*, a few take -wa, as in (14d). In §4.4 we will see that verbs that take -wa in their stem also mark their passive with -wo rather than -o. Although there is a pluractional extension /-w-/ treated in §4.9, it is hard to relate the STEM2 and passive [w] to it.

Recall that some STEM1 verbs that end in a vowel other than -i (~ -u) do not have a distinct STEM2 form. While those that do show one of the above two patterns, it does not appear to be possible to predict which verbs will form their STEM2 with -a vs. -wa. In addition, the following six verbs have been found to have irregularities in their STEM2 formation.

<table><thead><tr><th>(15)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-yenthege</td><td>yenthigin-a</td><td>'to lift, raise'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-thigit-i</td><td>titigin-a</td><td>'to (ex)change'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-piriŋ</td><td>pirigin-a</td><td>'to lose'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thənthəŋəŋ</td><td>thənthigin-a</td><td>'to ask'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-gbonkoy</td><td>gbonk-ia</td><td>'to speak'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-həŋət-i</td><td>hənkit-a</td><td>'to blow (through mouth)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (15a), *a-yenthege* adds [in] to form its STEM2, as also in (15b), which also involves a change of initial *thi* to *titi*. (A regular STEM2 *thigit-a* is also possible.) The two verbs in (15c) add an extra [ig] in STEM2. In (15d) the final /oy/ of *a-gbonkoy* 'to speak' is replaced by *-ia*, the *-i-* possibly being the applicative extension. In (15e), an exceptional [k] is inserted after the nasal in *hənkit-a*. These six STEM2 forms simply have to be listed in the lexicon.<fnref n="23" />

This completes our brief survey of STEM2 forms. In §6 we will further explore the contexts within the inflectional verb paradigm in which STEM1 vs. STEM2 is used. We turn first to verb extensions in §4 and then tone in §5.

## 4. VERB EXTENSIONS

Limba verbs support a wide range of derivational suffixes known as extensions. We have already referred to some of these in the preceding sections. In this section we will first examine the extensions that have been identified and then turn to combinations of two or more extensions. In (16) we present a summary of the extension system, where UR = underlying representation and V represents a copy of the preceding root vowel.

<table><thead><tr><th>(16)</th><th>Extension</th><th>UR</th><th>Allomorphs</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>Causative</td><td>/-in/</td><td>-Vη finally,<br/>-Vn before /i/<br/>-in- before<br/>other vowels</td><td>not rare, but lexically restricted</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Applicative</td><td>/-i-/</td><td>-i-e (active),<br/>-i-o (passive),<br/>cannot occur<br/>word-finally</td><td>productive with benefactive<br/>or circumstantial meaning 'for'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Reciprocal</td><td>/-ande/</td><td>-ande</td><td>productive with 'each other' meaning;<br/>also lexicalized cases</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="23">23. A reviewer has suggested that the identical STEM2 marking of progressive aspect and the imperative marking may simply mean that there are two separate homonymous /-a/ suffixes. Since verbs use the same minority /-wa/ suffix and the exceptional STEM2 marking in (15) in both the progressive and the imperative, it seems better to equate the two, as we have done in recognizing a STEM1 vs. STEM2 distinction.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>Passive</td><td>/-o/</td><td>-o (general),<br/>-a (restricted)</td><td>productive</td></tr><tr><td>Dative</td><td>/-ít-/</td><td>Vt before /i/,<br/>-it- before<br/>other vowels</td><td>not rare, but lexically restricted, recipient<br/>‘to’, ablative ‘from’, malefactive</td></tr><tr><td>Exclusive</td><td>/-egé/</td><td>-ege, passive<br/>-ogo</td><td>productive, idea of doing sth. in exclusion, apart, alone; lexicalized cases</td></tr><tr><td>Reflexive</td><td>/-ɔgɔ/</td><td>-ɔgɔ</td><td>productive, also lexicalized cases</td></tr><tr><td>Instrumental</td><td>/-ɛ́/</td><td>-e</td><td>restricted, allows unmarked instrument</td></tr><tr><td>Pluractional</td><td>/-w-/</td><td>-w-</td><td>productive, plural participants, actions</td></tr><tr><td>Intensive</td><td>/-k'-/</td><td>-k-</td><td>only occurs after some CVη roots</td></tr><tr><td>Stative</td><td>/-ɔ/</td><td>-ɔ</td><td>stative and adjectival verbs</td></tr></table>

We treat each of these now in turn.

## 4.1. Causative /-ín/

The causative suffix /-ín/ has an underlying /n/, which becomes [ŋ] at the end of the word. As seen in the following examples, the V of -Vŋ is an exact copy of the root vowel. When the -a suffix is added in the STEM2 form, the underlying /i/ is realized (→ [u] by rounding harmony).

<table><thead><tr><th>(17)</th><th>Basic STEM1</th><th>Causative STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>a-thith-i</td><td>a-thith-ij</td><td>'to dry (tr.)'</td><td>thith-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-keŋ</td><td>a-keŋ-ɛŋ</td><td>'to fly (tr.)'</td><td>keŋ-in-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-mɛth-i</td><td>a-mɛth-ɛŋ</td><td>'to clean, clear'</td><td>mɛth-in-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thuh-u</td><td>a-thuh-uj</td><td>'to lower'</td><td>thuh-un-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-hoy</td><td>a-hoy-ɔŋ</td><td>'to swim (tr.)'</td><td>ho-in-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔŋ</td><td>a-thɔm-ɔŋ</td><td>'to feed'</td><td>thom-in-a</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋay</td><td>a-ŋay-aj</td><td>'to stand sth. up'</td><td>ŋa-in-a</td></tr></tbody></table>

While the above pairs show that there is a recognizable causative extension, not all verbs can be causativized. First, all of the inputs to causativization except *a-thɔŋ* ‘to eat’ are intransitive verbs. It is in fact difficult to derive a causative of a transitive verb. In the rare cases where this occurs, the result does not involve an increase in valence. Thus, *nde thíŋ bára* and *nde thémɛ́ŋ bára* both mean ‘s/he cut meat’. Similarly, both *nde sáhí thíála* and *nde sáhání thíála* both mean ‘s/he cleared elephant grass’. (We have not found any semantic nuance between the two forms.) Of the causative verbs in (17), they are likely all lexicalized except for *a-keŋ-ɛŋ* ‘to fly (tr.)’ and *a-hoy-ɔŋ* ‘to swim (tr.)’, found to be acceptable in sentences like *nde kéŋ-éŋ bétíŋ bɛŋ* ‘s/he flew the birds’ and *nde hoy-ɔŋ mpati bɛŋ* ‘s/he swam the children’. However, many intransitive verbs cannot be causativized, e.g. *a-hɛŋ* ‘to breathe’ (*a-hɛmɛ́ŋ*), *a-huj* ‘to exit, depart’ (*a-huj-uj*), *a-thar-i* ‘to run’ (*a-thar-aj*).

While most of the causative verbs end in -Vŋ, a few end in -Vn-i (see also (6b) above).

<table><thead><tr><th>(18)</th><th>Basic STEM1</th><th>Causative STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>a-kah-i</td><td>a-kah-an-i</td><td>'to strengthen'</td><td>kah-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-than-i</td><td>a-than-an-i</td><td>'to teach'</td><td>than-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pooth-i</td><td>a-poth-on-i</td><td>'to dirty'</td><td>poth-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔn-i</td><td>a-thɔn-ɔn-i</td><td>'to wet (tr.)'</td><td>thɔn-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋɔt-i</td><td>a-ŋɔt-ɔn-i</td><td>'to fell'</td><td>ŋɔt-in-wa</td></tr></tbody></table>
As seen, the vowel of -Vn-i is again a copy of the root vowel. As in English, the last example was accepted only with a tree as the object: ndɛ̈ηɔ́t-ɔ́n-ì kú-yɛ́n̥ koŋ ‘s/he felled the tree’ and cannot be used with the meaning ‘make fall’ in general. In the examples in (18), it looks as though the -i suffix of the base verb carries forward into the causative. A similar observation concerns the verb a-nin-e ‘to sleep’, which carries its final e forward to produce the causative a-nin-in-e ‘to sleep (tr.)’: ndɛ̈ nin-in-e mpati oŋ ‘s/he slept the children’. Note in this context that a few verbs take either form: a-thith-ìŋ ~ a-thith-in-ì ‘to dry (tr.)’, derived from a-thith-i ‘to become dry’; a-kɔ̈y-ɔ̈ŋ ~ a-kɔ̈y-ɔ̈n-ì ‘to tear (tr.)’, derived from a-kɔ̈ɔ̈y-ì ‘to tear (intr.)’. Like the /-in-i/ causative verbs seen earlier in (14c), these all form their STEM2 with -wa.

In addition to the above, there are cases of verb forms that end in -Vŋ, but which are not transparently causative. (All verbs ending with -Vn-i have a corresponding non-causative base.) Such verbs as the following in (19) have a causative phonological form, but do not have a corresponding non-derived basic verb stem.

<table><thead><tr><th>(19)</th><th>Basic STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>a-bereŋ</td><td>‘to cry’</td><td>*a-ber-i</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-digiŋ</td><td>‘to set a trap’</td><td>*a-dig-i</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dunkuŋ</td><td>‘to give’</td><td>*a-dunk-i<sup>24</sup></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kɔ̈ntɔ̈ŋ</td><td>‘to count’</td><td>*a-kɔ̈nt-i</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-pithiŋ</td><td>‘to sweep’</td><td>*a-pith-i</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yehɛŋ</td><td>‘to fix, repair’</td><td>*a-yeh-i</td></tr></tbody></table>

There are three arguments that the final Vŋ in such verbs is a frozen causative: (i) except for a-bereŋ ‘to cry’, they are all transitive; (ii) they show the same vowel realizations as the causative; (iii) they have an underlying /n/, as seen in the STEM2 forms. Although we saw in (4) that the ŋ of monosyllabic CVŋ verbs can be underlyingly /m/, /n/ or /ŋ/, the final nasal of longer verbs is always /n/. Thus, there are no verb stems having the shape CVCVm-i or CVCVŋ-i. Finally, we have found only one case where the vowel that precedes this nasal is not identical to the root vowel: a-payɔ̈-n-ì ‘scare’ (cf. a-payɔ̈ ‘to fear’), which may have derived from an earlier a-payɔ̈-ɔ̈n-ì which would automatically undergo vowel shortening.<fnref n="25" />

Although not ending in -Vŋ in their base forms, we also have noted two verbs that inexplicably acquire an -in- suffix in STEM2, one of which changes dental th to alveolar t in the STEM2 -in- allomorph (20).

<table><thead><tr><th>(20)</th><th>STEM1</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>a-thigit-ì</td><td>‘to (ex)change’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yenthege</td><td>‘to lift, raise’</td></tr></tbody></table>

To summarize thus far, we have treated the /-ín/ causative with an underlying /i/ which is realized as a copy of the root vowel before final ŋ or -i, and as -in- (→ -un- by rounding harmony) when followed by a vowel other than -i.<fnref n="26" /> (We will see in §4.5 that the /i/ of the dative extension /-ít-/ has the same realizations.) While we feel that the vowel of the causative is underlyingly /i/, and the extension was likely *-ín historically, one might also consider /-án/, which is also attested in Atlantic languages and is in fact reconstructed by Doneux (1975). Starting with either /-ín/ or /-án/, we would need a rule that assimilates the vowel to the preceding root vowel when the verb ends with ŋ or n-ì. While this may seem a strange pair of environments, recall that we considered the possibility that the FV -i is epenthetic. If -i were not present, or if it is marked off as extrametrical (invisible), the pre-nasal vowel

<footnote n="24">24. The verb *a-dunkɔ* ‘to rise, go up’ is not likely related, unless ‘make rise (to)’ can shift to mean ‘give’.</footnote>

<footnote n="25">25. There is also a corresponding noun *payɔ* ‘fear’ that might have served as the base for both *a-payɔ* ‘to fear’ and *a-payɔ-ni* ‘to scare’.</footnote>

<footnote n="26">26. In the case of verbs like *a-dunkuŋ* ‘to give’ in (19), we assume that the second [u] is a copy vowel, whereas the second [u] in STEM2 *dunkun-a*, derives from /dunkin-a/ by rounding harmony.</footnote>
would be in a closed syllable. In this case the generalizations would be: (i) the /i/ of /-ín/ assimilates to the preceding root vowel when it is in a closed syllable; (ii) the /i/ of /-ín/ remains [i] (→ [u] by rounding harmony) in an open syllable, i.e. when the vowel following /-ín/ is other than -i. In fact, we can generalize further: with very few exceptions, post-root vowels are always /i/ in bisyllabic and trisyllabic verbs. This would also apply to verbs such as in (19), which are not synchronically causative. The verb stem of *a-bereŋ* ‘to cry’ would be underlyingly /berin/, and its *STEM2* form *berin-a* would be /berin-a/. The remaining unexplained issue, however, is why some verbs end with *ŋ*, others with *n-i*.<fnref n="27" />

The alternative representation /-án/ has been mentioned mostly because the vowel /a/ is also very common in causative extensions in Atlantic languages. Although many Niger-Congo languages assimilate affixal /a/ to a mid root vowel /e/, /ɛ/, /o/ or /ɔ/, it is less common for affixal /a/ to assimilate to /i/ or /u/. If we did start with /-án/, we would have to treat the [i] of *-in-* and other post-root syllables as a reduction, rather than a retention of underlying /i/. A potential complication, however, concerns the reciprocal extension /-ande/, which does not assimilate to the preceding root vowel: *a-dɛth-ande* ‘to look at each other’. Note that if we assumed that it is /a/ rather than /i/ that assimilates, the /a/ of *-ande* should assimilate, since it is in a closed syllable, where a copy vowel is expected. In fact, treating the causative and similar post-root vowels as /i/ fills in a gap: Besides the /a/ of /-ande/, the remaining internal suffixal vowels are /e/ and /ɔ/, which also do not assimilate to the root vowel: *a-thɔm-ege* ‘to eat alone’, *a-dɛth-ɔgɔ* ‘to look at oneself’. Instead, both vowels of the exclusive extension /-egɛ/ and the reflexive extension /-ɔgɔ/ remain identical to each other independent of the nature of the root vowel (see §4.6 and §4.7). We are thus left with the four internal post-root vowels /i/, /e/, /ɔ/ and /a/, with only /i/ becoming a copy of the root vowel. We will see more evidence for underlying /i/ as we consider other verb extensions.<fnref n="28" />

## 4.2. Applicative /-i-/

Limba is rather rich in having three applicatives, which are used with different functions. The first of these is applicative /-i-/, which most commonly licenses a benefactive object. (As will be seen in §4.5 and §4.8, we refer to the other two as dative /-ít-/- and instrumental /-é-/.) Unlike causative /-ín/-, the applicative /-i-/- extension is never final. When *STEM1* occurs in the active voice without another extension, /-i-/- is followed by the FV /-e/.<fnref n="29" /> As seen in (21), its major function is to license a benefactive object. Verbs ending in applicative /-i-e/ do not change in *STEM2* contexts.

<table><thead><tr><th>(21)</th><th>Base verb</th><th>Applicative</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-kaŋ</td><td>a-kam-i-e</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-sɔŋ</td><td>a-soŋ-i-e</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-gbonkoy</td><td>a-gbonk-i-e</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-mɛy</td><td>a-mey-e<sup>30</sup></td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="27">27. As of this writing, here are the counts of final nasal and final *n-i* in our lexicon: CVη (29), CVn-i (4), CVCVη (38), CVCVn-i (16). The four CVn-i verbs are *a-min-i* ‘to lick’, *a-than-i* ‘to learn’, *a-tɔn-i* ‘to burn (tr.)’ and *a-thɔn-i* ‘to get wet’. There is only one CVm-i stem (*a-lɛm-i* ‘to sharpen’) and no CVη-i stems. We note that Clarke’s (1922) dictionary of Biriwa dialect sometimes gives two variants. Thus, corresponding to Thɔnkɔ *STEM1* *a-kaŋ* ‘to dance’ (*STEM2* *kam-a*), Clarke cites the infinitive as “*kaŋ* or *kami*” (p. 21).</footnote>

<footnote n="28">28. An even more interesting possibility is that the vowel of internal post-root syllables was itself historically epenthetic, thus making the causative suffix simply *n*. In this case, the earlier consonant clusters would have been broken up differently. Hypothetic *bern* ‘cry’ would have become *beren* (later *bereŋ*), while *bern-a* would have become *berina*. The idea is that *bern* would have been modified earlier than *bern-a*, hence two different “repairs”. Unfortunately, other than Limba dialects themselves, there are no closely enough related languages to test this hypothesis.</footnote>

<footnote n="29">29. We analyze /-i-e/ as two morphemes, since /-i-/- can occur without /-e/- when combining with another extension, e.g. *a-pon-i-o* ‘to be cooked for’, *a-pon-i-ɔgɔ* ‘to cook for oneself’. However, rather being replaced by /-a/, the final /-e/- remains in *STEM2*: *nde kiŋ ka pón-í-é ma* ‘s/he is cooking for me’.</footnote>

<footnote n="30">30. While we expect *a-mey-i-e*, the *-i-* is “absorbed” into the preceding [y]. The *-e* FV also tenses the /ɛ/ of *a-mɛy* to [e]. As seen in other examples, it also tenses /ɔ/ to [o].</footnote>
<table><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-poŋ</td><td>'to cook, boil'</td><td>a-pon-i-e</td><td>'to cook for s.o.'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋind-i</td><td>'to send'</td><td>a-ŋind-i-e</td><td>'to send for s.o.'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yug-u</td><td>'to tie'</td><td>a-yug-i-e</td><td>'to tie for s.o.'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-gbal-i</td><td>'to write'</td><td>a-gbal-i-e</td><td>'to write for s.o.'</td></tr></table>

The verbs in (21a) are often used with only the beneficiary expressed, e.g. *a-kam-i-e ma* 'to dance for me', while those in (21b) often also have a lexical object, e.g. *a-pon-i-é má paga* 'to cook rice for me'. The applicative extension -i- is required to license an additional benefactive object. Thus, the verbs in (22a) become transitive and those in (22b) become ditransitive. The sentences to the right would be ungrammatical without the applicative -i- extension.

<table><thead><tr><th>(22)</th><th colspan="2">Without applicative</th><th colspan="2">With applicative object</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="4">a.</td><td>ndɛ gbonkoy</td><td>'s/he spoke'</td><td>ndɛ gbónk-í-é ma</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ kaŋ</td><td>'s/he danced'</td><td>ndɛ káŋ-í-é ma</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ sɔŋ</td><td>'s/he sang'</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-í-é ma</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ mɛy</td><td>'s/he answered'</td><td>ndɛ méy-é ma</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4">b.</td><td>ndɛ pón pága</td><td>'s/he cooked rice'</td><td>ndɛ pón-í-é má paga</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ ŋind-i hati</td><td>'s/he sent a child'</td><td>ndɛ ŋínd-í-é má hati</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ yúg-ú bára</td><td>'s/he tied meat'</td><td>ndɛ yúg-í-é má bara<sup>31</sup></td><td>'... for me'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ gbal-i ku-thagba</td><td>'s/he wrote a letter'</td><td>ndɛ gbal-í-é má ku-thagba</td><td>'... for me'</td></tr></tbody></table>

Recall from the previous section that *a-thɔŋ* 'to eat' is a rare transitive verb that can be causativized as *a-thɔm-ɔŋ* 'to feed', which licenses two objects occurring in the same order as in English: *ndɛ thɔm⁺-ɔŋ bíndɛ paga* 's/he fed them rice'. Although otherwise rare in the language, when applicati- vized, a third object is possible: *ndɛ thɔm-í-n-í-é má bindɛ paga* 's/he fed them rice for me'. As seen, the causative extension -in- precedes applicative -i-, as expected from the scope relation (see §4.12 for the treatment of extension ordering). It should be noted that the applicative expresses both senses of English 'for'. The sentence *ndɛ pón-í-é yɛ́rɛmɛ oŋ paga* 's/he cooked rice for the woman' can mean that s/he cooked either 'for the woman's benefit' or 'in the woman's place'.

As an alternative to applicative marking with -i-, the preposition *ba* 'for' can be used. This pro- duces equivalent sentences such as those in (23).<fnref n="32" />

<table><tr><td>(23) a.</td><td>ndɛ gbonk-i-e hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he spoke for the child' (hati 'child', oŋ 'the')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ gbónkóy bá hati oŋ</td><td>(idem)</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ pón-í-é hátí óŋ paga</td><td>'s/he cooked rice for the child'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ pón pága ba hati oŋ</td><td>(idem)</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ kám-í-é kɔbírî</td><td>'s/he danced for money'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ káŋ bá kɔbiri</td><td>(idem)</td></tr></table>

The pairs of sentences in (23) appear to be completely synonymous. Either the applicative is used, as in the first example of each pair, or the preposition *ba* is used. The two are mutually exclusive, e.g. *ndɛ gbónk-í-é bá hati oŋ* (s/he spoke-APPL-FV for child DET). The examples in (23b) show that there is a word order difference between the two sentences, as in English: 's/he cooked the child rice' vs. 's/he cooked rice for the child'. Finally, (23c) shows that the same two options are possible with a circumstance (e.g. 'money'), which also can be licensed by the applicative extension. Compare *ndɛ*

<footnote n="31">31. Note that the -i- of yúg-í-é does not harmonize to [u]. This may provide an incentive to transcribe -i-e as -y-e instead. This is how the applicative is realized after a CV verb: *a-thu* 'to plant', *a-thu-y-e* ma 'to plant for me'.</footnote>

<footnote n="32">32. Although the second author originally offered *ndɛ pón-éŋ bá-wáliŋ paga* 's/he cooked rice for farmers', where *-eŋ* might look like the causative except for the fact that the /e/ doesn't undergo assimilation to the preceding /o/, he later came to doubt this form with *-eŋ*, which we could not find to occur with any other verb.</footnote>
pón-í-é máthón maŋ ~ ndɛ́ póń bá mathoŋ maŋ ‘s/he cooked for the traditional dance’ (*mathoŋ maŋ* ‘traditional dance’ + ‘the’).33 Finally, note in (24a) that the applicative can be used for a benefited possessor.

(24) a. ndɛ́ lóg-í-é má thɛ́nkɔ ‘s/he washed my hands’ (s/he washed-APPL-FV me hands)

b. ndɛ́ lóg-í-thenkɔ nîŋ thaŋ (idem) (lit. s/he washed hands my the)

c. ndɛ́ lóg-í-é má yaba ‘s/he washed my clothes’, ‘s/he washed clothes for me’ (s/he washed-APPL-FV me clothes)

(24a) is equivalent to (24b), where the verb lacks the applicative extension when the possessive pro-
noun nîŋ ‘my’ occurs. While (24a, b) concern a body part, when an external object is substituted as
in (24c), the result is ambiguous between a benefactive and a possessive reading. In the reading ‘s/he
washed clothes for me’, the clothes do not necessarily have to belong to me.

4.3. Reciprocal /-ande/

The reciprocal extension /-ande/ is completely productive. It can be added to any transitive verb whenever a reciprocal ‘each other’ meaning is felicitous. Verbs that end in -ande do not have a distinct STEM2 form. As seen in (25), reciprocals have two realizations. Those in (25a) have the simple reciprocal suffix -ande. Those in (25b) have -w-ande with an extra pluractional suffix -w- (see §4.9). Reciprocals necessarily involve at least two participants and two actions.34

(25) Base verb Applicative

a.
| | |
|---|---|
| a-paŋ 'to chase' | a-pam-ande 'to chase each other' |
| a-dɛ́th-i 'to look at' | a-dɛ́th-ande 'to look at each other' |
| a-ŋind-i 'to send' | a-ŋind-ande 'to send each other' |
| a-ŋɔ̃gɔt-i 'to push' | a-ŋɔ̃git-ande 'to push each other' |
| a-biye 'to bathe' | a-biy-ande 'to bathe each other' |

b.
| | |
|---|---|
| a-yɛ́th-i 'to choose' | a-yɛ́th-w-ande 'to choose each other' |
| a-maŋ 'to visit' | a-man-w-ánde<fnref n="35" /> 'to visit each other' |
| a-mɛ́y 'to answer' | a-mɛ́y-w-ande 'to answer each other' |
| a-yug-u 'to tie' | a-yug-w-ande 'to tie each other' |
| a-kɔ́th-ɔ̃ 'to know' | a-kɔ́th-w-ánde 'to know each other' |

In addition, two cases have been found that add the causative suffix -in- when reciprocalized: *a-the-
tig-in-w-ánde* ‘to beg each other’ (*a-thetege* ‘to beg’) and *a-ŋɔ̃git-in-w-ánde* ‘to push each other’ (*a-
ŋɔ̃gɔt-i* ‘to push’), the second being a variant of *a-ŋɔ̃git-ande* seen in (25a).

As already seen in (9d), there are verbs of motion, scattering and breaking with an *ande* ending.
The following eight such verbs have been found, which do not change in STEM2.<fnref n="36" />

<footnote n="33">33. Both a benefactive and a circumstance can become the subject of the passive: *hati oŋ pon-i-o* ‘the child was cooked for’, *kɔbiri kam-i-o* ‘money was danced for’. Both objects of all three valence increasing extensions can in fact become subject of the corresponding passive.</footnote>

<footnote n="34">34. While both forms are acceptable on most verbs, e.g. *a-pam-(w)-ande* ‘to chase each other’, and certain verbs were preferred with -w- and others less so, the second author consistently felt that -w- has to do with plurality involving multiple actions. The -w- was explicitly rejected on certain verbs, e.g. *bindɛ́ biy-w-ande* ‘they bathed each other’.</footnote>

<footnote n="35">35. While /-ande/ has underlying /L/ tone, when the verb root is /H/, a H is realized on the penult. Thus, from /mán/ ‘visit’, we obtain *a-man-w-ánde* ‘to visit each other’ (see §5.1).</footnote>

<footnote n="36">36. Two other lexicalized cases of *ande* are *a-thɔiwánde* ‘to resemble’, whose reciprocity is transparent, and *a-haŋande* ‘to divide’. The first might be related to *a-thɔy* ‘to know how (to do something)’. Concerning the second, *a-haŋ* ‘to hit’ would suggest the meaning ‘to hit each other’, which *a-haŋ-ande* also means.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>(26) a.</td><td>a-kande /ka-ande/</td><td>'to walk about'<br/>(cf. a-kayɔgɔ 'to walk'; a-ke 'to go' /a-ka-i/)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-daŋ-ande</td><td>'to pass'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-biy-ande</td><td>'to enter'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-pank-in-w-ande</td><td>'to scatter (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-paŋit-in-w-ande</td><td>'to scatter (tr., intr.)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-thɛt-ande</td><td>'to break, shatter (intr.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɛt-in-ande</td><td>'to break, shatter (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-think-in-ande</td><td>'to break, snap (tr.)'</td></tr></table>

While none of the above verbs have a sense of mutuality, there is good reason to identify -ande as the reciprocal suffix. Besides the segmental resemblance, the most convincing argument is the fact that applicative -i- comes before it: a-daŋ-i-ándé ma 'to pass for me', a-thɛt-in-i-ándé ma 'to break for me'. The same argument is available with passive /-o/, which replaces the final [e] of -ande. Thus, in bindɛ ŋínd-í-ánd-o 'they were sent for each other', applicative -i- precedes and passive -o follows the reciprocal suffix, replacing its final [e].<fnref n="37" />

### 4.4. Passive /-o/

The passive extension /-o/ is completely productive and can be added to any transitive or transitivized verb base. Passivized verb stems do not have a distinct STEM2 form. Examples are given in (27).

<table><thead><tr><th>(27)</th><th>Base verb</th><th>Passive</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-thi</td><td>'to call'</td><td>a-thi-o</td><td>'to be called'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ni</td><td>'to do'</td><td>a-ni-o</td><td>'to be done'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-nki</td><td>'to give'</td><td>a-nk-o</td><td>'to be given'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-the</td><td>'to borrow'</td><td>a-the-o</td><td>'to be borrowed'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-thɔŋ</td><td>'to eat'</td><td>a-thom-o</td><td>'to be eaten'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-maŋ</td><td>'to visit'</td><td>a-man-o</td><td>'to be visited'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-lɔŋ</td><td>'to close, lock'</td><td>a-loŋ-o</td><td>'to be closed, locked'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thoy</td><td>'to build'</td><td>a-thoy-o</td><td>'to be built'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-dɛth-i</td><td>'to look at'</td><td>a-deth-o</td><td>'to be looked at'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋínd-i</td><td>'to send'</td><td>a-ŋínd-o</td><td>'to be sent'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋɔgɔt-i</td><td>'to push'</td><td>a-ŋogit-o</td><td>'to be pushed'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thigit-i</td><td>'to (exchange)'</td><td>a-thigit-o</td><td>'to be (ex)changed'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-biye</td><td>'to bathe'</td><td>a-biy-o</td><td>'to be bathed'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-bohege</td><td>'to touch'</td><td>a-bohog-o</td><td>'to be touched'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kɔthɔ</td><td>'to know'</td><td>a-koth-o</td><td>'to be known'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-payɔ</td><td>'to fear'</td><td>a-pay-o</td><td>'to be feared'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-kutu</td><td>'to see'</td><td>a-kut-o</td><td>'to be seen'</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="37">³⁷ It is tempting to see semantic relationships among some of these verbs. Thus, in (26b) scattering involves a motion 'away' between the plural items that scatter, and there is also a change of position involved in walking about, passing and entering in (26a). The -ande 'break' verbs in (26c) incorporate the idea of 'away' or 'apart', thus 'to break something apart', 'to break something off/away'. Instead, the corresponding verbs a-think-ɔ (intr.), a-think-i(ŋ) (tr.) are used when something is broken, but not necessarily into separate pieces. The reciprocal can also acquire the meaning of 'together': ndɛ gbónk-íti-ándé ma 's/he spoke together with me', where -it- is the dative suffix discussed in §4.5.</footnote>
The monosyllabic verbs in (28a, b) show that the -o is simply added.<fnref n="38" /> In (28c), -o occurs in the same FV “slot” as -i. Since we suggested that this -i is epenthetic this might also be a case of simple addition of /-o/ to the verb root. The verbs in (28d), however, show that the non-epenthetic FVs e and ɔ are in fact replaced. In *a-bohog-o* ‘to be touched’, both vowels of the *-ege* ending become [o]. There is no distinct *STEM2* form.

The above shows passivization of an underived verb base. It is also possible to passivize a derived verb. The examples in (28) show the two allomorphs -o and -wo when lexicalized and derived causative verbs are passivized.

<table><thead><tr><th>(28)</th><th>Base verb</th><th>Passive</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3">a.</td><td>a-sayan-i</td><td>a-sain-o</td><td>sain-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔŋɔŋ</td><td>a-toŋin-o</td><td>tɔŋin-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɔm-ɔŋ</td><td>a-thom-in-o</td><td>tɔm-in-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">b.</td><td>a-kɔntɔŋ</td><td>a-kɔntin-wo</td><td>kɔnt-in-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-mɛth-ɛŋ</td><td>a-mɛthin-wo</td><td>mɛthin-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-yupuŋ</td><td>a-yupun-wo</td><td>yupun-a</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">c.</td><td>a-than-an-i</td><td>a-than-in-wo</td><td>than-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔn-ɔn-i</td><td>a-ton-in-wo</td><td>tɔn-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-bɔl-ɔn-i</td><td>a-bol-in-wo</td><td>bɔl-in-wa</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">d.</td><td>a-dunkuŋ</td><td>a-dunkun-(w)o</td><td>dunkun-a</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋayan</td><td>a-ŋain-(w)o</td><td>ŋain-a</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen, the passive is formed by the general -o in (28a), but an extra [w] appears in the passive forms in (28b, c). The causative group in (28c) also takes an extra [w] in its *STEM2*, shown in the last column. The two verbs in (28d) are acceptable both with and without [w], suggesting that there may be more variation.

In addition, -wo appears not only after bisyllabic verb bases ending in /in/, but also on the four transitive CVVC-i verbs in our lexicon in (29).

<table><thead><tr><th>(29)</th><th>Base verb</th><th>Passive</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a-dɛɛth-i</td><td>'to look for'</td><td>a-dɛth-wo</td><td>'to be looked for'</td><td>dɛth-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-pɛɛg-i</td><td>'to untie'</td><td>a-pɛg-wo</td><td>'to be untied'</td><td>pɛg-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-seɛs-i</td><td>'to start'</td><td>a-seɛs-wo</td><td>'to be started'</td><td>sɛs-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-siiy-i</td><td>'to think'</td><td>a-sii-wo</td><td>'to be thought'</td><td>sii-wa</td></tr></tbody></table>

One unmistakable generalization is that verbs whose *STEM2* is marked by the -wa suffix also mark their passive with -wo.

<table><thead><tr><th>(30)</th><th>Active</th><th>Passive</th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a-tet-i</td><td>'to destroy'</td><td>a-tet-wo</td><td>'to be destroyed'</td><td>tet-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-hut-u</td><td>'to fold'</td><td>a-hut-wo</td><td>'to be folded'</td><td>hut-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-tɔn-i</td><td>'to burn (tr.)'</td><td>a-tɔn-wo</td><td>'to be burned'</td><td>tɔn-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-log-i</td><td>'to wash'</td><td>a-log-wo</td><td>'to be washed'</td><td>log-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-sas-i</td><td>'to pour'</td><td>a-sas-wo</td><td>'to be poured'</td><td>sas-wa</td></tr><tr><td>a-toh-i</td><td>'to sew'</td><td>a-toh-wo</td><td>'to be sewed'</td><td>toh-wa</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="38">38. A phonological effect that is seen in several passive examples is that base /ɛ/ and /ɔ/ become [e] and [o]. The examples in (28) and (29) show that this harmony effect persists through an intervening /i/: *a-ŋɔgɔt-i* ‘to push’, *a-ŋogit-o* ‘to be pushed’, *a-thɔm-ɔŋ* ‘to feed’, *a-thom-in-o* ‘to be fed’.</footnote>
Since the passive is marked by an -o FV, we need to say something about verbs whose active forms end in o or ɔ. First, we have noted the following irregularities in (31).

<table><thead><tr><th>(31)</th><th>Base verb</th><th></th><th>Passive</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-thimo<br>a-thambo</td><td>'to love'<br>'to hate'</td><td>a-thim-i-ô<br>a-thamb-i-ô</td><td>'to be loved'<br>'to be hated'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-kɔthɔ</td><td>'to know'</td><td>a-koth-ô ~<br>a-koth-i-ô</td><td>'to be known'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-payɔ<br>a-seθwɔ</td><td>'to fear'<br>'to miscarry'</td><td>a-pay-ô<br>a-seθw-ô</td><td>'to be feared'<br>'to be miscarried'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (31a), the two transitive verbs ending in -o add applicative -i- in the passive and end in a HL falling tone, e.g. (binde) bi thim-i-ô 'they are/were loved', which looks like it should mean 'they are/were loved for'.<fnref n="39" /> Turning to (31b), a-kɔth-ɔ 'to know' is one of only four transitive verbs we have found that end in the stative FV /-ɔ/ (§4.10). As seen, there are two different passive forms. When the subject is inanimate, -i- is optional, e.g. nɔndi baŋ koth-(i)-ô 'the truth was known', while it is required when the subject is animate: yaŋ ndo koth-i-ô 'I am known' (*koth-ô). The two verbs in (31c) change their FV /-ɔ/ to HL -ô.

### 4.5. Dative /-ít-/

The previous four extensions have been relatively straightforward both in form and in function. This was true, for instance, of the applicative /-i-/, which licenses a benefactive or circumstance, both of which can alternatively be expressed with the preposition *ba* 'for'. The next extension, which we are calling dative /-it-/, although similar to the applicative in increasing the valence of the verb, occurs with several different effects. The examples in (32) show /-ít-/- licensing a recipient object.

<table><thead><tr><th>(32)</th><th>Base verb</th><th></th><th>Dative</th><th></th><th>STEM2</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-gbal-i</td><td>'to write'</td><td>a-gbal-it-e<br>a-gbal-at-i</td><td>'to write to<br>(s.o.)'</td><td>gbal-it-e<br>gbal-it-a</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-sɔŋ</td><td>'to sing'</td><td>a-soŋ-it-e<br>a-sɔŋ-ɔt-i</td><td>'to sing to (s.o.)'</td><td>soŋ-it-e<br>soŋ-it-a</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-yaw<sup>40</sup></td><td>'to ask for'</td><td>a-yaw-t-e</td><td>'to ask (s.o.) for'</td><td>yaw-t-e</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-ni gboŋ<sup>41</sup></td><td>'to sell'</td><td>a-ni-t-e gboŋ</td><td>'to sell to (s.o.)'</td><td>ni-t-e gboŋ</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen in (32a, b), if /-ít-/- would otherwise be final in the verb stem, it requires a FV which in the active voice can be -e, like the applicative, or (epenthetic) -i, the latter conditioning a vowel change: *a-gbal-it-ɛ́ mina* ~ *a-gbal-at-í mina* 'to write to us'. As seen in the *STEM2* forms in the last column, the respective corresponding FVs are also different: the final -e of *STEM1* remains, while -i is replaced by -a.

While both increase the valence, the functions of the applicative and dative are quite distinct. Thus compare the sentences in (33a), where applicative -i- licenses a beneficiary, and (33b), where dative -it- licenses a recipient. The base verbs are *a-gbal-i* 'to write' and *a-sɔŋ* 'to sing'.

<footnote n="39">39. The exceptional final HL falling tone presumably has something to do with the stative construction which, as seen, requires a subject marker, here class2 *bi* which, when present, does not require the pronoun *binde* 'they'. An alternate pro-nunciation with L tone -o is also possible.</footnote>

<footnote n="40">40. Recall from note 11 that *yaw* is the only verb stem that ends with [w]. Its dative stem also lacks the [i] of dative -it-. This verb is irregular in another sense: The dative suffix can optionally appear even without a recipient object: *nde yáw bára* = *nde yáwté bára* 's/he asked for meat'. However, it is required when the recipient is expressed: *nde yáw-t-é má bara* 's/he asked me for meat' (*nde yáw má bara*).</footnote>

<footnote n="41">41. The literal meaning of *a-ni gboŋ* is 'to do a sale'. The dative stem presumably derives from *ni-it-e* with vowel shortening.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>(33) a.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-í-é hátí óŋ ku-thagba</td><td>'s/he wrote a letter for the child'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-í-é hátí óŋ kwiŋa</td><td>'s/he sang a song for the child'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-ít-é hátí óŋ ku-thagba</td><td>'s/he wrote a letter to the child'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-ít-é hátí óŋ kwiŋa</td><td>'s/he sang a song to the child'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-í kú-thágba ba hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he wrote a letter for the child'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ kwíŋá ba hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he sang a song for the child'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-í kú-thágba ga hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he wrote a letter to the child'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ kwíŋá ga hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he sang a song to the child'</td></tr></table>

The sentences in (33c) show that a beneficiary can instead be marked by the preposition *ba* ‘for’, as we also saw in (23). The sentences in (33d) show that a recipient can alternatively be marked by the preposition *ga* ‘to, at’. Neither applicative *-i-* nor dative *-it-* can cooccur with the corresponding preposition.

In most of the forms cited thus far, the dative realizes its underlying representation /-ít-/.<fnref n="42" /> Recall from the discussion of causative /-ín/ in §4.1 that an /i/ internal vowel will become a copy of the root vowel if the /n/ is final, pronounced [ŋ], or if it is followed by *-i*. The same is true of /-ít-/- when it is followed by *-i*. In (34) the meaning shifts to one of malefactive. Thus, compare the following two pairs of sentences, where the forms on the right indicate the different FVs in STEM2.

<table><tr><td>(34) a.</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-ít-é má kwiŋa</td><td>'s/he sang a song to me'</td><td>soŋ-it-e</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-ɔt-í má kwiŋa</td><td>'s/he sang a song against me'</td><td>sɔŋ-it-a</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>?ndɛ lɔŋ-ít-é má biyó hay</td><td>'s/he closed the door to me'</td><td>lɔŋ-it-e</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ lɔŋ-ɔt-í má biyó hay</td><td>'s/he closed the door on me'</td><td>lɔŋ-it-a</td></tr></table>

Whereas the recipient meaning is neutral in (34a), (34b) implies that s/he sang disparagingly at or about me. (34c) is only marginally acceptable, since the intended recipient meaning is not quite right, while (34d) is well-formed with the malefactive meaning ‘on, against’. The meaning of ‘against’ arises in other examples as well (35).

<table><tr><td>(35) a.</td><td>ndɛ kay</td><td>'s/he danced'</td><td>kam-a</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ kám-í-é ma</td><td>'s/he danced for me'</td><td>kam-i-e</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ kám-ít-é ma</td><td>'s/he danced against me'</td><td>kam-it-e</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ kám-át-í ma</td><td>(idem)</td><td>kam-it-a</td></tr></table>

While (35b) is clearly benefactive, both (35c) and (35d) indicate a negative effect on me, i.e. the dancing got directed at me, perhaps bumping into me. As was seen in (34a, b), in some cases the *-it-e* and *-Vt-i* spell-outs of the dative seem to have the same meaning, as do causative *-in-i* and *-Vŋ*, whereas in other cases they differ.<fnref n="43" /> Again, the STEM2 forms are provided in the last column.

The dative suffix comes up in Conteh’s (2017: 35) list of extensions that can be added to the verb /thɔm/ ‘eat’. The corresponding Thəŋkə forms are given in (36a), the STEM2 forms in the last column.

<table><tr><td>(36) a.</td><td>ndɛ thɔm-ɔt-i</td><td>'s/he ate uninvited, bad effect'</td><td>thɔm-it-a</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ thɔm-ít-é ma</td><td>'he ate from me, from my food'</td><td>thɔm-it-e</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>bindɛ thɔm-ít-ánde</td><td>'they ate from each other'</td><td>thɔm-it-ande</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="42">42. Although obscured by the all H tone of the aorist in (33), like the /H/ of roots, the H of /-ít-/- is realized on the FV, e.g. *a-gbal-it-é hátí óŋ kuthagba* ‘to write a letter to the child’ (lit. to write-*dat*-FV child the letter). The final H is automatically lowered before pause: *a-gbal-it-e* ‘to write to’.</footnote>

<footnote n="43">43. One can see how there could be crucial “pivot” cases where a recipient is viewed as a malefactive. Thus, *hati óŋ bé-rin-ít-é ma* was first glossed with a malefactive interpretation ‘the child cried on me’ (that’s what s/he did to me), but it could</footnote>
As seen, a negative effect accompanies the eating. Conteh glosses *thɔm-ɔt-i* as ‘eat uninvited, eat someone’s food, to cheat’, thus taking from someone’s food without their permission. The idea of eating from someone’s food is seen also in (36b, c). More examples are given in (37).

(37) a. *ndɛ́ thɔm-ɔt-í má paga* ‘he ate rice from me’

b. *ndɛ́ thɔm-ít-é má paga* (idem)

c. *ndɛ́ thɔm-ít-í-é má paga* (idem)

d. *ndɛ́ thɔm-ít-é kúmpa* ‘he ate with a spoon’ (i.e. from a spoon)

While (37a, b) correspond to (36a, b) with the object *paga* ‘rice’ expressed, it is also possible with the same meaning to add the applicative *-i-* extension, as in (37c). This ablative function naturally lends itself to an instrumental use, as seen in (37d), although Limba also has a separate instrumental extension /-é/ (§4.8).<fnref n="44" /> The use of a combined *-it-i-* sequence with an ablative meaning needs to be further examined. The two suffixes can also co-occur when each licenses a separate object (38).

(38) a. *ndɛ́ sɔŋ-ít-í-é má Kabá na kwíŋa* ‘s/he sang a song to Kaba for me’

b. *ndɛ́ thɔh-ít-í-é má Kabá na kɔbiri* ‘s/he borrowed money from Kaba for me’

(s/he sang/borrowed-DAT-APPL-FV me Kaba FOC song/money)

To summarize, /-ít-/ has a number of usages perhaps in a semantic chain ranging from recipient to malefactive to ablative to instrumental. While these meanings all seem related to us, another interpretation is that applicative /-i-/ which licenses benefactive and circumstance objects, leaves /-ít-/ open to take on the range of complementary interpretations we have seen, i.e. involvement of a recipient or otherwise affected participant other than a beneficiary.

While /-ít-/ is quite productive, there also are some lexicalized cases. One is the verb *a-tɔŋɔt-i* ‘to send (sth.)’ exemplified in the equivalent sentences in (39a, b).

(39) a. *ndɛ́ tɔŋít-é hátí óŋ bara* ‘s/he sent the child meat’

b. *ndɛ́ tɔŋɔt-í hátí óŋ bara* (idem)

c. *ndɛ́ tɔŋít-é bára ga hati óŋ* (lit. s/he sent.DAT meat to child the)

As seen, ‘send’ takes two objects, as one would expect if it were analytically /tɔŋ-ít-é/. In addition, the corresponding sentence with one object and a prepositional phrase in (39c) is ungrammatical, which we would predict from the presence of dative /-ít-/ . While lexicalized with the meaning of ‘send’, *a-tɔŋɔt-i* is likely related to the verbs *a-tɔŋ* ‘to contribute’ and *a-tɔŋɔŋ* ‘to show’, the latter presumably having a frozen causative suffix.

Another likely lexicalized case is *a-yugut-u* ‘to carry (on the back)’. This form is identical to the dative of the verb *a-yug-u* ‘to tie’. Thus consider the sentences in (40).

(40) a. *ndɛ́ yúg-ú bára* ‘s/he tied meat’

ndɛ́ yúgút-ú bára ‘s/he carried meat’

b. *ndɛ́ yúgú bárá ba Kabâ* ‘s/he tied meat for Kaba’

ndɛ́ yúgút-ú bárá ba Kabâ ‘s/he carried meat for Kaba’

c. *ndɛ́ yúg-út-é Ká⁺bá na bara* ‘s/he tied meat for Kaba’ ~ ‘s/he carried meat for Kaba’

d. *ndɛ́ yúg-út-í-é Ká⁺bá na bara* (idem)

<footnote>also mean ‘the child cried to me’, possibly its original meaning. The malefactive also has a natural relation to the ablative function: ‘to eat food from me’ ~ ‘to eat food on me’.</footnote>

<footnote n="44">44. The following examples further exemplify the ablative function of /-ít-/ , realized -t-: *ndɛ́ twé-t-é má kɔbiri* ‘s/he stole money from me’, *ndɛ́ thè-t-é má⁺báiki* ‘s/he borrowed a bicycle from me’, *ndɛ́ bój-t-é má bara* ‘s/he bought meat from me’.</footnote>
(40a) shows the verbs ‘tie’ and ‘carry’ with a single object. (40b) shows the same with the benefactive object ‘for Kaba’ expressed as a prepositional phrase. In (40c), where *na* is a focus marker, we see that the same verb form followed by two objects is ambiguous between ‘tie for’ and ‘carry for’. In (40d) the verb also has the applicative suffix -i- and is ambiguous in the same way as (40c).

The seven additional CVCVt- verb bases we have found are listed in (41). As indicated in the first column, they can mostly, if not all, be potentially related to the different meanings of /-ít-/. However, none of these can take two unmarked object NPs.

<table><tr><td>(41) a.</td><td>'from':</td><td>a-huŋut-u</td><td>'to take out, remove'</td><td>(cf. a-huŋ 'to exit, to depart')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-thigit-i</td><td>'to change, exchange'</td><td>(cf. thiga 'wrapper')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-hɔŋɔt-i</td><td>'to blow (from the mouth)'</td><td>(cf. a-hɔŋ 'to blow nose')</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>'away':</td><td>a-ŋɔgɔt-i</td><td>'to push'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>'into':</td><td>a-sigbit-i</td><td>'to pierce, stab'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-kaŋat-i</td><td>'to puncture, burst'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>'onto':</td><td>a-putut-i</td><td>'to cover'</td><td></td></tr></table>

Finally, we turn to the verb ‘to give’, which takes two objects, one of which is the recipient. There are in fact two such verbs in Limba. The first is *a-nki* which has the unusual property of starting with a complex nasal onset. It becomes [nké] in the aorist, identical to its past tense (42).

<table><tr><td>(42) a.</td><td>ndɛ nkɛ́ bára</td><td>'s/he gave meat (to s.o.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ nkɛ́ ma</td><td>'s/he gave me (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ nkɛ́ má bara</td><td>'s/he gave me meat'</td></tr></table>

The second is *a-dunkuŋ*, which, like other CVCVŋ verbs, including causatives, uses the FV -e without the dative /-ít-/- extension to express a recipient (43).

<table><tr><td>(43) a.</td><td>ndɛ́ dúnkún bára</td><td>'s/he gave meat (to s.o.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ dúnkún-é ma</td><td>'s/he gave me (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ dúnkún-é má bara</td><td>'s/he gave me meat'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ kiŋ ka dúnkun-é má bara</td><td>'s/he is giving me meat'</td></tr></table>

As we pointed out in (19), this second verb ‘to give’ possibly has a frozen causative suffix, and may thus have historically been *dunk-in.<fnref n="45" /> What we propose is that the final -é is the same /-e/ that accompanies applicative -i- and dative -it-, but acquires its H tone from the unexpressed dative /-ít-/.<fnref n="46" /> This /-e/ is required to express a recipient object in all TAMs in the active voice, hence blocking a STEM2 -a spell-out of the progressive in (43d) (cf. ndɛ́ kiŋ ka dúnkun-á bára 's/he is giving meat' where -a appears in the absence of a recipient). In fact, CVCVŋ verbs have been found to express a dative in two different ways. In (44a, b) the verbs a-tɔŋɔŋ 'to show' and a-kɔth-ɔŋ 'to make known' add /-é/ to express a dative, while in (44c) two different verbs 'to hide' add /-ít-/, which is realized -t- after /in/. Finally, a three-way contrast was found with the verb *a-bereŋ* 'to cry' in (44d).

<table><tr><td>(44) a.</td><td>ndɛ́ tɔŋɔŋ bára</td><td>'s/he showed meat (to s.o.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ tɔŋɔ́n-é ma</td><td>'s/he showed me (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ tɔŋɔ́n-é má bara</td><td>'s/he showed me meat'</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="45">45. One problem with this hypothesis, however, is that /a-dunkun/ does not have an underlying /H/ on its final syllable, as identifiable causatives do: *a-dunkuŋ bara* 'to give meat' vs. *a-thɔm-ɔŋ yéreme* 'to feed a woman'. It does have a final H in STEM2, however: *dunkun-á bára* 'give meat!'.</footnote>

<footnote n="46">46. Another possibility is that it is related to the instrumental extension /-é/ (§4.8).</footnote>
<table><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ kɔ́th-ɔŋ yɛ́rɛmɛ oŋ</td><td>'s/he made the woman known' (a-kɔth-ɔ 'to know')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ kɔ́th-in-é ma</td><td>'s/he made (sth.) known to me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ kɔ́th-in-é má yɛ́rɛmɛ oŋ</td><td>'s/he made the woman known to me'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ ŋáyán-t-í má muthɔma</td><td>'s/he hid food from me' (a-ŋayan 'to hide (tr.)')</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ núnún-t-ú má kɔbiri</td><td>'s/he hid money from me' (a-nunun 'to hide (tr.)')</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ bérín-é ma</td><td>'s/he cried to me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ bérén-t-í ma</td><td>'s/he cried against/on me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ bérín-t-é ma</td><td>'s/he cried over/about me'</td></tr></table>

Sorting out such verb-specific subtleties is beyond the scope of the present study. We hope that additional research will clarify the division of labor between these suffixes, for example, whether /-ín/ and /-e/ are valence augmenters, and applicative /-i-/ and dative /-ít-/ provide semantic roles for the licensed object. An alternative is that /-e/ is an active voice marker which stands in opposition with passive /-o/: ndɛ dúnkún-ó bára 's/he was given meat'.

### 4.6. Exclusive /-egé/

For want of a better name, we are calling the next extension exclusive /-egé/, since it marks that an action is done by an animate subject in exclusion, alone, aside, apart, by oneself. A sentence such as (45a) can mean simply that the person ate alone, a neutral observation, or by implication that they took their food away from others, perhaps in secret, so as not have to share.<fnref n="47" />

<table><tr><td>(45)</td><td>a.</td><td>ndɛ thom-ege</td><td>'s/he ate alone'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ thóm-égé bára baŋ</td><td>'s/he ate the meat alone'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ thom-it-ege</td><td>'s/he ate slowly alone'</td></tr></table>

In (45b) the meaning is that the subject alone ate the meat (i.e. without others) and not that s/he ate only the meat. Thus, in the corresponding passive *bara baŋ thom-ogo* 'the meat was eaten alone', the reference is to someone eating alone, not to only the meat being eaten.<fnref n="48" /> When combined with dative /-ít-/ as in (45c), there is a nuance of eating slowly, as if 's/he ate from (sth.) alone', which makes sense, given the ablative (partitive?) use of /-ít-/ seen in the preceding section. Other examples are shown in the infinitives in (46), arranged by stem shape.

<table><thead><tr><th>(46)</th><th>Base verb</th><th colspan="2">Exclusive</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3">a.</td><td>a-se /-sa-i/</td><td>'to come'</td><td>a-sa-ege 'to come alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-ke /-ka-i/</td><td>'to go'</td><td>a-ka-ege 'to go alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-kɔ</td><td>'to stand'</td><td>a-kɔ-ege 'to stand alone'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">b.</td><td>a-kaŋ</td><td>'to dance'</td><td>a-kam-ege 'to dance alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-daŋ</td><td>'to hunt'</td><td>a-dam-ege 'to hunt alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-hoy</td><td>'to swim'</td><td>a-hoy-ege 'to swim alone'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="4">c.</td><td>a-heth-i</td><td>'to laugh'</td><td>a-heth-ege 'to laugh alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-mah-i</td><td>'to farm'</td><td>a-mah-ege 'to farm alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-sɔs-i</td><td>'to smoke'</td><td>a-sos-ege 'to smoke alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thith-i</td><td>'to fish'</td><td>a-thith-ege 'to fish alone'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">d.</td><td>a-biye</td><td>'to bathe'</td><td>a-biy-ege 'to bathe alone'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thiye</td><td>'to drink'</td><td>a-thiy-ege 'to drink alone'</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="47">47. The final H of /egé/ is subject to lowering before pause (cf. ndɛ thom-egé ga banka 's/he alone at home').</footnote>

<footnote n="48">48. Since /-egé/ only refers to an animate subject, a sentence like *búgú oŋ ŋot-ege* 'the book fell alone' is ill-formed.</footnote>
<table><tr><td></td><td>a-nine</td><td>'to sleep'</td><td>a-nin-ege</td><td>'to sleep alone'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-heŋɔ</td><td>'to faint'</td><td>a-heŋ-ege</td><td>'to faint alone'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dɔŋɔ</td><td>'to sit'</td><td>a-doŋ-ege</td><td>'to sit alone'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dunkɔ</td><td>'to rise'</td><td>a-dunk-ege</td><td>'to rise alone'</td></tr></table>

In some cases, when used with dative /-ít-/, the exclusionary nature of /-egé/ can be interpreted as a reflexive, as in (47).

<table><tr><td>(47) a.</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-it-ege</td><td>'s/he sang unto him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ ní-t-égé káraŋ<sup>49</sup></td><td>'s/he read unto him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-it-ɔgɔ</td><td>'s/he sang to him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ ní-t-ógɔ káraŋ</td><td>'s/he read to him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ sɔŋ-égé kwiŋa</td><td>'s/he sang a song alone'</td></tr></table>

As seen, there is an idea of ‘unto oneself’, perhaps more ‘at oneself’. However, as in (47b), Limba also has a reflexive extension /-ɔgɔ/ (§4.7), which is in fact preferred over /-egé/ in such cases. An important difference between the two extensions is that /-egé/ does not decrease the valence, as seen in (45b) and (47c). The reflexive, on the other hand, fills an object position (see next section).

In our lexicon we have found the following three verbs with lexicalized -ege.

<table><tr><td>(48) a.</td><td>a-bohege</td><td>'to touch'</td><td>cf. a-boh-i</td><td>'to seize, grasp, hold'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-yenthege</td><td>'to lift, to raise'</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thetege</td><td>'to beg (s.o.)'</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

While none of the three appear to have anything to do with self-exclusion, it is clear that they still have the complex structures /boh-ege/, /yenth-ege/ and /thet-ege/. Thus compare the sentences in (49a) and (49b).

<table><tr><td>(49) a.</td><td>ndɛ bóhégé bára baŋ</td><td>'s/he touched the meat'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ yénthégé bára baŋ</td><td>'s/he lifted the meat'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ thétégé yɛrɛmɛ oŋ</td><td>'s/he begged the woman'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ bóh-í-égé má bara baŋ</td><td>'s/he touched the meat for me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ yénth-í-égé má bara baŋ</td><td>'s/he lifted the meat for me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ thét-í-égé má yɛrɛmɛ oŋ</td><td>'s/he begged the woman for me'</td></tr></table>

The sentences in (49a) show the three verb stems followed by a direct object. Interestingly, when a benefactive ‘for me’ is added in (49b), the applicative extension -i- occurs before -ege, exactly as it would before the productive exclusive -ege extension: ndɛ thóm-í-égé ma ‘s/he ate alone for me’. Unless the pre-ege positioning of -i- is due to analogy, we can assume that the three verbs have a historically lexicalized -ege suffix.

### 4.7. Reflexive /-ɔgɔ/

As already seen in (47b), there is a reflexive extension of the shape /-ɔgɔ/. Virtually any transitive verb can take this extension, as long as it makes semantic sense. The forms in (50) are arranged by stem ending.<fnref n="50" />

<footnote n="49">49. ‘To read’ consists of /a-ni/ ‘to do’ + /karàŋ/ ‘reading’.</footnote>

<footnote n="50">50. Some of the verbs in (45) show tonal variation between H-L and L-L on /-ɔgɔ/, which we discuss in §5.1.</footnote>
<table><thead><tr><th>(50)</th><th>Base verb</th><th colspan="2">Reflexive</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-thi<br>a-nki</td><td>'to call'<br>'to give'</td><td>a-thi-ɔgɔ<br>a-nki-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to call oneself'<br>'to give oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-haŋ<br>a-thuŋ<br>a-thɔm-ɔŋ<br>a-puy<br>a-mɛy</td><td>'to hit, beat'<br>'to kick'<br>'to feed'<br>'to cure'<br>'to answer'</td><td>a-haŋ-ɔgɔ<br>a-thuŋ-ɔgɔ<br>a-thɔm-in-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-pu-in-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-mɛy-ɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to hit oneself'<br>'to kick oneself'<br>'to feed oneself'<br>'to cure oneself'<br>'to answer oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-dɛth-i<br>a-log-i<br>a-hɛth-i<br>a-hug-u<br>a-than-an-i</td><td>'to look at'<br>'to wash'<br>'to laugh'<br>'to fan'<br>'to teach'</td><td>a-dɛth-ɔgɔ<br>a-log-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-hɛth-ɔgɔ<br>a-hug-ɔgɔ<br>a-than-in-ɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to look at oneself'<br>'to wash oneself'<br>'to laugh at oneself'<br>'to fan oneself'<br>'to teach oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-biye<br>a-mase<br>a-yuye</td><td>'to bathe'<br>'to help'<br>'to hear'</td><td>a-biy-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-masy-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-yuy-ɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to bathe oneself'<br>'to help oneself'<br>'to hear oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>a-kɔthɔ<br>a-payɔ<br>a-thimo</td><td>'to know'<br>'to fear'<br>'to love'</td><td>a-kɔth-i-ɔ́gɔ<br>a-pay-ɔgɔ<br>a-thim-i-ɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to know oneself'<br>'to fear oneself'<br>'to love oneself'</td></tr></tbody></table>

While /-ɔgɔ/ is usually added directly to the base verb, the forms *a-pu-in-ɔ́gɔ* ‘to cure oneself’ and *a-thim-in-ɔ́gɔ* ‘to love oneself’ add an intervening causative /-in/ extension. The reflexive can also be added to derived verb forms: *a-thɔm-in-ɔ́gɔ* ‘to feed oneself’, *a-tot-i-ɔ́gɔ* ‘to cook for oneself’, *a-gboŋk-it-ɔ́gɔ* ‘to speak to oneself’. We have also found fourteen lexicalized reflexive verbs (51).

<table><tbody><tr><td>(51) a.</td><td>a-kayɔ́gɔ<br>a-yugɔ́gɔ<br>a-kutɔ́gɔ<br>a-nunɔ́gɔ<br>a-silɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to walk'<br>'to dress formally'<br>'to feel, sense'<br>'to hide (intr.)'<br>'to turn back'</td><td>cf. a-ke 'to go' &lt; /a-ka-i/<br>cf. a-yug-u 'to tie'<br>cf. a-kut-u 'to see'<br>cf. a-nun-uŋ 'to hide (tr.)'<br>cf. a-sili 'to turn, rotate (sth.)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-danɔ́gɔ<br>a-diginɔ́gɔ<br>a-gbanthɔ́gɔ<br>a-gbonɔ́gɔ<br>a-papiɔ́gɔ<br>a-sigiyɔ́gɔ<br>a-thurɔ́gɔ</td><td>'to quiet down'<br>'to lean (intr.)'<br>'to swing (intr.)'<br>'to advance'<br>'to change (intr.)'<br>'to go around'<br>'to play'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-bɔlɔgɔ<br>a-tutɔgɔ</td><td>'to crawl'<br>'to carry (on head)'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen, most of these verbs are intransitive. Those in (51a) have related base verbs shown to the right. Thus, ‘to walk’ = ‘to go oneself’ and ‘to dress formally’ is literally ‘to tie oneself’. Those in (51b, c) do not have a corresponding basic stem. All of the infinitives in (51a, b) have a penultimate H, while the two verb stems in (51c) are all L.

An interesting property of both lexicalized and productively created reflexive verbs, as well as intransitive verbs ending in -ɔ, is that they take an -i suffix in the aorist tense (52).
<table><tr><td>(52) a.</td><td>ndɛ kayɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he walked'</td><td>cf. ndɛ goŋ káyɔ́gɔ</td><td>'s/he will walk'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ nunɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he hid'</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ dɛ́th-ɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he looked at self'</td><td>cf. ndɛ goŋ dɛ́th-ɔ́gɔ</td><td>'s/he will look at self'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ hɛ́th-ɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he laughed at self'</td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ payɔ-i</td><td>'s/he fears, feared'</td><td>cf. ndɛ goŋ pay-ɔ</td><td>'s/he will fear'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ kɔthɔ-i</td><td>'s/he knows, knew'</td><td></td><td></td></tr></table>

As seen to the right, -i fails to appear in the future tense. This differs from other verbs which keep their -i unless replaced by an extension or other final vowel. While a verb like *a-dɛ́th-i* ‘to look (at)’ needs to keep the -i for phonological reasons, hence *ndɛ dɛ́th-i* ‘s/he looked’, *ndɛ goŋ dɛ́th-i* ‘s/he will look’, there is no phonological reason for the /-i/ to occur after -ɔgɔ or simple -ɔ, as in (52c). Consider in this context the verbs *a-tutɔgɔ* ‘to carry (on the head)’ and *a-kat-i* ‘to carry’ in (53).

<table><tr><td>(53) a.</td><td>ndɛ tutɔgɔ(-i)</td><td>'s/he carried (on the head)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ tútɔ́gɔ́(-i) búgúinɛ̃</td><td>'s/he carried books (on the head)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ kat-i</td><td>'s/he carried'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ kát-í búgúinɛ̃</td><td>'s/he carried books'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>ndɛ kát-í-ɔ́gɔ búgúinɛ̃</td><td>'s/he carried books for him-/herself'</td></tr></table>

Since *a-tutɔgɔ* ‘to carry’ is transitive, it appears at first not to be a lexicalized reflexive. As seen in (53a, b), it optionally takes the -i suffix in the aorist tense, whether an object follows or not. Since it cannot express a recipient (‘carry on the head to s.o.’), it may better be interpreted as static, as in ‘support/balance sth. on the head’. The verb *a-kat-i* ‘to carry’ is shown in (53c, d), alone and with an object. It occurs with an applicative and reflexive suffix in (53e).

Before leaving the reflexive, it is interesting to speculate about the /g/ in both exclusive /-egé/ and reflexive /-ɔgɔ/. Since both extensions refer back to the subject (‘alone’ vs. ‘self’), it is tempting to see a relationship and to separate the -Vg- from the FV. An interesting piece of evidence for such a relationship concerns certain intransitive verbs that can take both extensions with very close meanings (54).

<table><tr><td>(54) a.</td><td>a-hoy</td><td>'to swim'</td><td>a-hoy-ege</td><td>'to swim alone'</td><td>a-hoy-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to swim by oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-thari</td><td>'to run'</td><td>a-thar-ege</td><td>'to run alone'</td><td>a-thar-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to run by oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-ke</td><td>'to go'</td><td>a-ka-ege</td><td>'to go alone'</td><td>a-kay-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to go by oneself'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-tugu</td><td>'to die'</td><td>a-tug-ege</td><td>'to die alone'</td><td>a-tug-ɔgɔ</td><td>'to die by oneself'</td></tr></table>

While (54) identifies the meaning of /-egé/ as ‘alone’, it could also mean ‘aside, away from others, in secret’, as we pointed out in §4.6. We have chosen to translate the reflexive examples with a very similar meaning ‘by oneself’. The question, therefore, is whether the reflexive could once have been *-Vg-ɔ, in which case the exclusive may have been *-Vg-é. A possible phonological argument is that the underspecified V of -Vg- copies the FV, including when /-egé/ is passivized to -ogo (§4.4). As we saw in (10b, c) and will see again in §4.10, /-ɔ/ is a non-agentive or stative suffix, while /-é/ is an instrumental extension, to which we now turn.

## 4.8. Instrumental /-é/

In §4.2 and §4.5 we saw examples of the (benefactive) applicative /-i-/- and the dative/ablative /-ít-/-, both of which occur with a FV /-e/ in the active voice. It turns out that a /H/ tone /-é/ can be used alone to express an instrument (55). Instrumental forms remain the same in STEM2.<fnref n="51" />

<footnote n="51">51. In §5.1 we analyze the /-e/ which occurs with the applicative as underlyingly /L/. Since instrumental /-é/ is underlyingly /H/, it is not clear that they are the same morpheme. This /H/ undergoes final H tone lowering in the examples in (55) but is realized medially. Thus compare: *a-thom-é kúmpa* ‘to eat with a spoon’, *a-han-é kúyɛ́n* ‘to hit with a stick’, *a-gbal-é gu-péni* ‘to write with a pen’.</footnote>
<table><thead><tr><th>(55)</th><th>Base verb</th><th colspan="2">Instrumental</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-thɔŋ</td><td>‘to eat’</td><td>a-thom-e ‘to eat with (sth.)’</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-haŋ</td><td>‘to hit, beat’</td><td>a-haŋ-e ‘to hit with (sth.)’</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-gbal-i</td><td>‘to write’</td><td>a-gbal-e ‘to write with (sth.)’</td></tr></tbody></table>

Fuller examples are given in (56a).

<table><tr><td rowspan="3">(56) a.</td><td>ndɛ thóm-é kúmpa / yɔ́nkɔ</td><td>‘s/he ate with a spoon / with a hand’</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ háŋ-é má ku-yɛŋ</td><td>‘s/he hit me with a stick’</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ gbál-é gu-péni</td><td>‘s/he wrote with a pen’</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">b.</td><td>ndɛ thón ǐŋ kúmpa / ǐŋ yɔ́nkɔ</td><td>‘s/he ate with a spoon / with a hand’</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ háŋ má ǐŋ kú-yɛŋ</td><td>‘s/he hit me with a stick’</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ gbál-í ǐŋ gu-péni</td><td>‘s/he wrote with a pen’</td></tr></table>

As seen in the synonymous sentences in (56b), it is instead possible to express an instrument with the preposition /íŋ/ ‘with, by’, in which case the verb occurs without the /-é/ instrumental extension.

Although instrumental /-é/ is relatively productive, a recurrent problem is detecting it on verb forms that otherwise end with /e/, as in (57).

<table><tr><td rowspan="2">(57) a.</td><td>ndɛ gbal-i</td><td>‘s/he wrote/has written/writes’</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ gbal-e</td><td>‘s/he wrote’</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-é kú-thágba</td><td>‘s/he wrote a letter’</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ gbál-é kú-yɛŋ</td><td>‘s/he wrote with a stick’</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ thóm-égé bára</td><td>‘s/he ate meat alone’</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>ndɛ thóm-égé kúmpa</td><td>‘s/he ate alone with a spoon’</td></tr><tr><td>f.</td><td>bindɛ háŋ-ánde</td><td>‘they hit each other’</td></tr><tr><td>g.</td><td>bindɛ háŋ-ándé tete</td><td>‘they hit each other now’</td></tr><tr><td>h.</td><td>bindɛ háŋ-ánde kú-yɛŋ</td><td>‘they hit each other with a stick’</td></tr></table>

As seen in (57a), in addition to the aorist, here ending in -i, some verbs have a past tense form marked by the FV -e.<fnref n="52" /> Compare also ndɛ hɛth-i ~ ndɛ heth-e ‘s/he laughed’, ndɛ mah-i ~ ndɛ mah-e ‘s/he farmed’. As seen in (57b), the e-final past form is pronounced with an all H tone pattern medially, which spreads onto the following all /L/ tone noun /ku-thagba/ ‘letter’. Since H tone spreading would occur onto all L /ku-yɛŋ/ ‘stick’ anyway, we cannot tell in (57c) if the instrumental suffix /-é/ is present or not. We similarly can’t tell in (57d), whether it is the H tone of the exclusive extension /-egé/ or of the TAM which spreads onto all L /bara/ ‘meat’, or if it could be the H of instrumental /-é/ that spreads onto all L /kumpa/ ‘spoon’ in (57e). In (57f) we see that the H of the aorist only reaches the first vowel of the reciprocal suffix /-ande/. When the all L adverb /tete/ ‘now, soon’ is added in (57g), the H reaches the FV of /-ande/ but not the following word. However, in (57h), where the all L instrument /ku-yɛŋ/ ‘stick’ follows, the penultimate H fails to reach the FV, but the noun undergoes H tone spreading to become [kú-yɛŋ]. Our interpretation is that /-é/ is present in (57h), with the intermediate representation bindɛ háŋ-ánde-é + ku-yɛŋ. To derive bindɛ háŋ-ánde kú-yɛŋ, the LH e-é sequence is shorted and the H is assigned to /ku-yɛŋ/.<fnref n="53" />

<footnote n="52">52. The -i aorist form is variably interpreted as past, present perfect or present, while the -e form is always past.</footnote>

<footnote n="53">53. The difference between (57g) and (57h) cannot be due to the fact that tete ‘now’ is an adverb and /ku-yɛŋ/ is a direct object noun because of examples like bindɛ háŋ-í-ándé gu-then ‘they hit a dog for each other’, where H tone spreading on /-ande/ does not reach the all L noun /gu-then/ ‘dog’. In this example, an object noun is possible because of the increase in valence provided by the applicative suffix /-i-/.</footnote>
We saw in (37d) in §4.5 that the dative /-ít-/ suffix sometimes licenses an instrumental object. When /-ít-/ appears in a passivized verb, the passive FV /-o/ necessarily blocks the appearance of instrumental /-é/ (see also note 60). Examples are seen in (58), derived from the verbs /a-thom/ [a-thoŋ] ‘to eat’ and /a-yug-i/ [a-yug-u] ‘to tie’.

(58) a. *a-thom-it-ó kúmpa* ‘to be eaten with a spoon’
b. *a-yug-ut-ó nkála* ‘to be tied with a rope’

In these examples the final H of -ó could derive from dative /-ít-/ or from instrumental /-é/, if it is underlyingly present. As a potential parallel, recall from (43) and (44) that the recipient form of CVCVη verbs is also expressed by H tone /-é/ without -it-. While dative /-ít-/ has different functions, instrumental /-é/ can only license an instrument and not other obliques that can be translated by ‘with’ in English. Although it has been difficult to produce an adverbial manner such as ‘with intelligence’, (59a) shows that the preposition /iŋ/ ‘with’ is required to express manner of motion.

(59) a. *ndɛ kɛ́ *íŋ báiki* ‘s/he went by bicycle’
*ndɛ kɛ́ *íŋ lɔ́ri* ‘s/he went by car’
b. *ndɛ dú *íŋ Kába* ‘s/he returned with Kaba’
*ndɛ thɔ́ŋ *íŋ Kába* ‘s/he ate with Kaba’

(59b) shows that /iŋ/ is also required to express a comitative noun phrase. Thus, *ndɛ thóm-é Kába* cannot mean ‘s/he ate with Kaba’, rather ‘s/he ate Kaba’.

## 4.9. Pluractional /-w-/ and intensive /-k'-/

In this section we treat two somewhat overlapping extensions. We have already seen the pluractional extension /-w-/ in our discussion of reciprocal /-w-ande/ (§4.3). A common usage of this extension is as a frequentative marking multiple actions, in which case it can occur with both singular and plural participants. We translate this with ‘repeatedly’ in (60).

(60) a. *ndɛ kiŋ ka hɛ́th-a* ‘s/he is laughing’
*binde kiŋ ka hɛ́th-a* ‘they are laughing’
b. *ndɛ kiŋ ka hɛ́th-w-a* ‘s/he is laughing repeatedly’
*binde kiŋ ka hɛ́th-w-a* ‘they are laughing repeatedly’

Since a verb cannot end in [w], /-w-/ cannot occur on unextended STEM1 verb roots of the shapes CV or CVC.<fnref n="54" /> -w- also cannot occur on verbs ending in -i (and rounded -u). While this effectively avoids the sequences [wi] and [wu] which are disallowed in the language, [wi] does occur when /-w-/ precedes applicative -i- (61).<fnref n="55" />

(61) a. *binde pón-í-é mína* ‘they cooked for us’
b. *binde pón-w-í-é mína* ‘they cooked for us repeatedly’

Our interpretation of (61b) is that underlying /-w-i-/ is allowed to surface, while the [wi] sequence that would be produced from epenthetic -i is blocked. To produce, say, *binde hɛ́th-w-i* ‘they laughed repeatedly’, the first stage of the derivation would be *hɛ́th-w-* which cannot surface as *hɛ́th-w-i*. On the other hand, /-w-/ can appear in STEM1 before the three other FVs, e.g. before STEM2 /-a/ in (60b) above, and passive /-o/ and instrumental /-e/ in (62).

<footnote n="54">54. The verb *a-mpu* ‘to give birth’ has an exceptional form *a-mpuyu*, as in *binde mpuyu* ‘they gave birth (many times)’. While this form might derive from /mpu-w-i/ through an intermediate *mpu-y-i* stage followed by rounding harmony, /-w-/ does appear in its STEM2: *binde kiŋ ka mpúy-wa* ‘they are giving birth (many times)’.</footnote>

<footnote n="55">55. There are otherwise no occurrences of [wi] in our lexicon and only one stem with [wu], *wuli* ‘thousand’.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>(62) a.</td><td>bindɛ heth-o</td><td>'they were laughed at'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ heth-w-o</td><td>'they were laughed at repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>bindɛ thóm-é kúmpa</td><td>'they ate with a spoon'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ thóm-w-é kúmpa</td><td>'they ate with a spoon repeatedly'</td></tr></table>

In the above, we have emphasized the “frequentative” nature of the pluractional marker. We did not find cases where /-w-/ simply marks the involvement of plural participants, and /-w-/ is never required. As we saw in (60), a plural participant is not required, although when present, /-w-/ has an individuating effect, as seen in (63).

<table><tr><td>(63) a.</td><td>bindɛ kɔr-ande</td><td>'they killed each other' (one group, one event)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ kɔr-w-ande</td><td>'they killed each other' (multiple groups, multiple events)</td></tr></table>

While largely productive, /-w-/ cannot be directly suffixed to all verbs. As seen in (64b), one such verb is *a-sɔŋ* ‘to sing’.

<table><tr><td>(64) a.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka sɔŋ-a</td><td>'they are singing'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>*bindɛ kiŋ ka sɔŋ-w-a</td><td>'(intended: they are singing repeatedly')</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka sɔŋ-k-a</td><td>'they are singing a long time'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka sɔŋ-k-w-a</td><td>'they are singing (long and repeatedly)'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>bindɛ sɔŋ</td><td>'they sang'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>bindɛ sɔŋ-k-i</td><td>'they sang a long time'</td></tr><tr><td>f.</td><td>bindɛ sɔŋ-k-i ga banka</td><td>'to sing at home'</td></tr><tr><td>g.</td><td>a-sɔŋ ka banka</td><td>'to sing at home'</td></tr><tr><td>h.</td><td>a-sɔŋ-k-í ga banka</td><td>'to sing at home a long time'</td></tr></table>

There does not seem to be any phonological or semantic reason why /-w-/ cannot occur in (64b). As seen in (64c), /sɔŋ/ ‘sing’ allows the possibility of a H tone intensive /-k’-/ extension which introduces the durative meaning of laughing over a long period. (64d) shows that /-w-/ can now be added, the result combining durative and frequentative meanings. The verbs in (64a-d) are in STEM2. The STEM1 form is seen in (64e), and in (64f), where it is marked by the intensive /-k’-/ and final -i. The infinitive in (64g) shows that /sɔŋ/ is a /L/ tone verb, which means that the final H tone on the verb in (64h) must be attributed to /-k’-.

While most verbs can take /-w-/, /-k’-/ is acceptable only on a subset of monosyllabic CVŋ verbs.<fnref n="56" /> Of 29 CVN verbs, 10 accept -k-. Of these some allow the -k-w- sequence seen in (64d). Only three CVŋ verbs independently accept both /-w-/ and /-k’-/ (65).

<table><tr><td>(65) a.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka dam-w-a</td><td>'they are hunting repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka daŋ-k-a</td><td>'they are hunting a long time'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka gbiŋ-w-a</td><td>'they are swearing repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka gbiŋ-k-a</td><td>'they are swearing a long time'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka haŋ-w-a</td><td>'they are hitting repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindɛ kiŋ ka haŋ-k-a</td><td>'they are hitting a long time'</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="56">56. We tested and found no cases of /-k’-/ on CV and longer verbs, including CVCVŋ stems. Since [k] and [g] are almost in complementary distribution, [k] stem-initially and after [ŋ], [g] stem-intervocalically, we considered a relation between /-k’-/ and exclusive /-egé/ since /k/ would automatically be realized [g] intervocalically. (We could thus equally well phonemicize these as /-g’-/ and /-eké/ or with one archiphoneme /K/.) Although both have underlying /H/ tone, there does not seem to be a semantic relationship between the two, and in any case CVŋ contrasts the two: *a-sɔŋ-k-i* ‘to sing a long time’, *a-sɔŋ-ege* ‘to sing alone’. It also isn’t clear if the extra [ig] noted in the STEM2 forms *pir[ig]ina* ‘lose’ and *thɔnth[ig]ina* ‘ask’ in (15c), the rounded [ug] in the passive in *a-tut[ug]un-o* ‘to be accused’ (cf. *a-tutuŋ* ‘to accuse’), or the [k] in STEM2 *hɔn[k]it-a* ‘blow (through mouth)’ in (15e) are related.</footnote>
Our hypothesis is that /-k'-/ used to be more widespread but dropped out except after a subset of monosyllabic CVη stems.

### 4.10. Stative (non-agentive)

In §2, we pointed out that a number of stative and other verbs that do not have an agentive subject end in -ɔ. Although this doesn't cover all of these verbs, we will refer to /-ɔ/ as the stative extension. In (66) we provide the complete list of 25 verbs from our lexicon. Verbs ending with /-ɔ/ do not have a distinct STEM2.

<table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">(66)</td><td>a.</td><td>a-kɔ</td><td>'to stand'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ηɔ</td><td>'to sit'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thɔ</td><td>'to enter'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="10">b.</td><td>a-dɔηɔ</td><td>'to sit'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-dunkɔ</td><td>'to rise, ascend'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-hεηɔ</td><td>'to faint'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-dɔηɔ</td><td>'to sit down'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thinkɔ</td><td>'to break, snap (intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-piriginɔ</td><td>'to get lost'</td><td>cf. a-piriŋ 'to lose'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thɛlɔ</td><td>'to choke on something'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-yantɔ</td><td>'to hang (intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-sainɔ</td><td>'to tear (intr.)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td rowspan="10">c.</td><td>a-bɔl-ɔ</td><td>'to be black'</td><td>cf. bɔl-ɛ 'black'</td></tr><tr><td>a-dim-ɔ</td><td>'to be heavy'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-nɛn-ɔ</td><td>'to be bad'</td><td>cf. nɛn-ɛ 'bad'</td></tr><tr><td>a-ŋal-ɔ</td><td>'to be bitter'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-pɛth-ɔ</td><td>'to be well'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thim-ɔ</td><td>'to be sweet'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-thiŋ-ɔ</td><td>'to be full'</td><td>cf. thiŋ-ɛ 'full'</td></tr><tr><td>a-thur-ɔ</td><td>'to be short'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-yɔh-ɔ</td><td>'to be good, beautiful'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>a-ni-ɔ</td><td>'to happen'</td><td>cf. a-ni 'to do (tr.)'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">e.</td><td>a-kɔthɔ</td><td>'to know'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-payɔ</td><td>'to fear'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a-sɛtwɔ</td><td>'to miscarry'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

In (66a), it is significant that the only Cɔ monosyllabic stems we have found are all intransitive, raising the question of whether they originally had the structure CV-ɔ or C-ɔ. The bisyllabic verb stems in (66b) have (or had) the structure CVC-ɔ and are also intransitive. It is likely that -ɔ was once productive, perhaps as a de-adjectival verbalizer as in (66c) or as an anti-causative, as in the case of a-ni-ɔ 'to happen' in (66d), which is clearly derived from the transitive verb a-ni 'to do'. Finally, although the three verbs in (66e) are transitive, their subject NP is not agentive. Since reflexive -ɔgɔ decreases the valence of the verb, detransitivizing a transitive verb, its FV may be the same -ɔ, hence likely from -Vg-ɔ, as we hypothesized in §4.6.<fnref n="57" />

<footnote n="57">57. Recall that we also speculated that -Vg- may be the same morph found in the /-egɛ/ exclusive suffix, whose passive form is -ogo.</footnote>
## 4.11. No locative or reversible extensions

We have seen that Limba has eleven verb extensions all being at least semi-productive except intensive /-k'-/ and stative /-ɔ/. This places it towards the higher end of Niger-Congo languages with extensions. While there is some originality to the system (we do not know of any other language that has an "exclusi-ve" suffix equivalent to Limba /-egé/, for instance), Limba extensions do not cover everything found in related languages.<fnref n="58" /> Thus, there is no locative extension or requirement to use an extension when a locative is expressed. Instead, the preposition /ga/ 'to, at' must be used. The sentences in (67a, b) show that there also is no special marking to distinguish between a locative setting and a locative participant:

<table><tr><td>(67) a.</td><td>ndɛ́ póny pá⁺gá báŋ ka banka</td><td>'s/he cooked the rice at home'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ́ póny pá⁺gá báŋ ka sómba hay</td><td>'s/he cooked the rice in the pot'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ́ yɛ́ŋ mpátí béŋ ka banka</td><td>'she chased the children in(to) the house'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ́ kánthí mpátí béŋ ka banka</td><td>'s/he chased the children out of the house'</td></tr></table>

In (67c) the unextended verb *a-yɛŋ* ‘to chase’ is used both to express a location (‘in house’) and a locative goal (‘into house’). Both the setting/participant and location/goal distinctions are often distinguished in Bantu languages by use of the applicative extension. Although we saw a limited ablative interpretation of dative /-ít-/, this does not generalize to a ventive function. (67d) shows that /ga/ is also used to express a locative source with the verb *a-kanti* ‘to drive away, chase out’. Although found in Atlantic languages, there are no ventive, itive, or distal extensions. There also is no reversible extension. Reversive relations are expressed lexically: *a-yug-u* ‘to tie’, *a-pɛɛg-i* ‘to untie’; *a-putut-u* ‘to cover’, *a-kupuŋ* ‘to uncover’.

## 4.12. Extension ordering

While we have introduced each extension independently, we have also provided occasional examples combining two extensions. In fact, it is (at least marginally) possible for the verb to have up to four extensions. The table in (68) summarizes the possible extension combinations.

<table><thead><tr><th>(68)</th><th>CAUS</th><th>DAT</th><th>PLUR</th><th>APPL</th><th>RECIP</th><th>EXCL</th><th>REFL</th><th>PASS</th><th>INSTR</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><th>CAUS</th><td>*</td><td>-ín-t-</td><td>-ín-w-</td><td>-ín-i-</td><td>-ín-ande</td><td>-ín-egé</td><td>-ín-ɔgɔ</td><td>-in-o</td><td>-in-é</td></tr><tr><th>DAT</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>-it-w</td><td>-ít-i</td><td>-ít-ande</td><td>-it-egé</td><td>-ít-ɔgɔ</td><td>-ít-o</td><td>-ít-é?</td></tr><tr><th>PLUR</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>-w-i-</td><td>-w-ande</td><td>-w-egé</td><td>-w-ɔgɔ</td><td>-w-o</td><td>-w-é</td></tr><tr><th>APPL</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>-i-ande</td><td>-i-egé</td><td>-i-ɔgɔ</td><td>-i-o</td><td>-i-é?</td></tr><tr><th>RECIP</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>(-and-o)</td><td>-ande-é?</td></tr><tr><th>EXCL</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>-og-o</td><td>-égé-é?</td></tr><tr><th>REFL</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td></tr><tr><th>PASS</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>-ó</td></tr><tr><th>INSTR</th><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td><td>*</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen, we have reordered the extensions to reveal the following generalizations.

(69) a. The causative suffix /-ín/ must come first.

b. The dative suffix /-ít-/ can only be preceded by the causative, in which case the expected sequence *-in-it-e* is instead realized as *-in-t-* (ablative) or *-in-e* (recipient).

c. The passive suffix /-o/ must come last.

d. The instrumental suffix /-é/ must come last.

e. The exclusive suffix /-egé/ and the reflexive suffix /-ɔgɔ/ are mutually exclusive.

<footnote n="58">58. Merrill (2023: 200) reports -oot ‘V[erb] by one’s self’ in the Cangin language Saafi, which he says is borrowed from Sereer -ood.</footnote>
As indicated in (69a, b) the two extensions of the shape VC must come first and second, while as indicated in (69c, d), the two extensions of the shape V must come last.<fnref n="59" /> Because of this last restriction, the vowels of the passive and instrumental extensions are mutually exclusive.<fnref n="60" /> One other generalization in (69e) concerns the exclusive and reflexive suffixes which cannot occur together. In fact, the exclusive can only be followed by the passive. The reflexive does not occur with the passive, which would produce -ogo, identical to the passive of exclusive /-egé/.<fnref n="61" /> The resulting order of extensions is summarized in (70).

<table><thead><tr><th>(70)</th><th>CAUS</th><th>DAT</th><th>PLUR</th><th>APPL</th><th>RECIP</th><th>EXCL/REFL</th><th>PASS/INSTR</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>-íŋ-</td><td>-ít-</td><td>-w-</td><td>-i-</td><td>-ande-</td><td>-egé/-ɔ́gɔ̃</td><td>-o/-e</td></tr></tbody></table>

While the order reciprocal-applicative was originally felt to be marginal at first, the final judgment was that it is unacceptable, as seen in (71b, c).

(71) a. bindɛ yéth-í-ánde bara ‘they chose meat for each other’

b. *bindɛ yéth-ánd-í-é bára (idem)

c. *bindɛ yéth-í-ánd-í-é bára (idem)

The same facts are observed when the reciprocal expresses the direct object of the verb (72).

(72) a. bindɛ yéth-í-ándé ma ‘they chose each other for me’

b. *bindɛ yéth-ánd-í-é ma

Returning to the table in (68), it will be seen that a number of forms in the instrumental column have question marks after them. These refer to the difficulty mentioned in §4.8 of determining if the instrumental suffix /-é/ is present in verb forms that independently end in [e], i.e. those with applicative /-i-e/, reciprocal /-ande/, dative /-ít-e/ and exclusive /-egé/. This leaves the attested extension combinations in (73), where we follow Conteh’s (2017: 35) choice of illustrating extensions with the verb /thɔm/ ‘eat’ where possible: ndɛ thɔŋ ‘s/he ate’, ndɛ thɔm-ɔŋ ‘s/he fed’ etc.

<table><thead><tr><th>(73)</th><th>CA</th><th>ndɛ thóm-ín-í-é má hati oŋ</th><th>‘s/he fed the child for me’</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>CD</td><td>ndɛ thɔh-ín-é má kɔbiri</td><td>‘s/he lent money to me’</td></tr><tr><td>CPl</td><td>ndɛ kiŋ ka thɔm-ín-w-á ma</td><td>‘s/he is feeding me repeatedly’</td></tr><tr><td>CR</td><td>binde thɔm-ín-w-ánde</td><td>‘they fed each other’</td></tr><tr><td>CP</td><td>ndɛ thom-in-o</td><td>‘s/he was fed’</td></tr><tr><td>CE</td><td>ndɛ thom-in-ege</td><td>‘s/he fed alone’</td></tr><tr><td>CF</td><td>ndɛ thɔm-in-ɔ̃gɔ̃-i<sup>62</sup></td><td>‘s/he fed him-/herself’</td></tr><tr><td>CI</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ín-é má yɔnkɔ</td><td>‘s/he fed me by hand’</td></tr><tr><td>DPl</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ít-w-é ma</td><td>‘s/he ate from me repeatedly’</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="59">59. The stative extension /-ɔ/, not included in (68), also has a V shape and must also come last. Also not included is the non-productive intensive /-k'-/ suffix, which must immediately follow the subset of monosyllabic CVŋ roots on which it can occur.</footnote>

<footnote n="60">60. Although instrumental -é is overridden by passive -o, there is evidence that its H tone is still present. Thus a-thom-o ga banka ‘to be eaten at home’ shows that all of the morphemes are underlyingly /L/, including passive /-o/. However, in a-thom-ó kúmpá ‘to be eaten with a spoon’ the H of the FV -ó is attributable to instrumental /-é/.</footnote>

<footnote n="61">61. The reflexive can also not be followed by instrumental /-é/. Instead, the preposition -iŋ ‘with’ must be used in the sentence: ndɛ thɔmínɔ́gɔ́í iŋ yɔ́nkɔ / iŋ kúmpa ‘s/he fed him-/herself by hand / by spoon’. However, note that an unmarked instrument can occur when the applicative /-i-/ is added: ndɛ thɔm-ín-í-ɔ́gɔ́ yɔ́nkɔ / kumpa ‘s/he fed him-/herself by hand / with a spoon’ (s/he eat-CAUS-APPL-REFL hand/spoon). As seen, the instrumental suffix /-é/ is not present. The fact that the reflexive occurs without -i in this aorist sentence is due to the presence of the applicative suffix (cf. ndɛ thɔm-ín-í-ɔ́gɔ́ ma ‘he fed himself for me’).</footnote>

<footnote n="62">62. Recall that a final -i is required after -ɔgɔ̃ in the aorist.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>DA</td><td>nde thóm-ít-í-é má *(ga) Kabâ</td><td>'s/he ate from Kaba for me'</td></tr><tr><td>DR</td><td>binde thóm-ít-ánde</td><td>'they ate from each other('s food)'</td></tr><tr><td>DP</td><td>nde thom-it-o</td><td>'s/he was eaten from (one's food)'</td></tr><tr><td>DE</td><td>nde thom-it-ege</td><td>'s/he ate alone from it (slowly)'</td></tr><tr><td>DF</td><td>nde thòm-it-ɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he ate from him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>PlA</td><td>binde pón-w-í-é mína</td><td>'they cooked for us repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>PlR</td><td>binde héth-w-ánde</td><td>'they laughed at each other repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>PlP</td><td>binde heth-w-o</td><td>'they were laughed at repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>PlE</td><td>binde heth-w-ege</td><td>'they laughed alone repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>PlF</td><td>binde héth-w-ɔgɔ</td><td>'they laughed at themselves repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>PlI</td><td>binde thóm-w-é kúmpa</td><td>'they ate with a spoon repeatedly'</td></tr><tr><td>AR</td><td>binde thóm-í-ánde</td><td>'they ate for each other'</td></tr><tr><td>AP</td><td>nde pon-i-o</td><td>'s/he was cooked for'</td></tr><tr><td>AE</td><td>nde thóm-í-égé ma</td><td>'s/he ate alone for me'</td></tr><tr><td>AF</td><td>nde thòm-i-ɔgɔ-i</td><td>'s/he ate for him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>RI</td><td>binde háŋ-ánde kúyêŋ</td><td>'they hit each other with a stick'</td></tr><tr><td>EP</td><td>pagá thom-og-o</td><td>'rice was eaten alone'</td></tr></table>

C = causative, D = dative, Pl = pluractional, A = applicative, R = reciprocal, E = exclusive, F = reflexive, P = passive, I = instrumental

The above are the sequences that can be easily segmented. The others indicated by the question mark in the last column of (68) are not so clear. For example, *nde kiŋ ka thóm-égé kúmpa* 's/he is eating alone with a spoon' clearly has both the meaning of the exclusive extension /-egé/, but also an unmarked instrument 'spoon'. Since *nde thɔŋ kúmpa* can only mean 's/he ate a spoon' and not 's/he ate with a spoon', it is possible that the above example contains a sequence of the exclusive and instrumental suffixes, i.e. /-egé-é/.

The reflexive raises a different issue. While it is logically possible for instrumental /-é/ to replace the final vowel of reflexive /-ɔgɔ/, we have not found any forms with -og-e, indicating that a reflexive-instrumental combination is not possible. Instead, the preposition *íŋ* is required, as in (74a, b), whereas (74c, d) are ungrammatical.

<table><tr><td>(74) a.</td><td>nde thóm-ín-ɔgɔ-í íŋ yɔŋkɔ</td><td>'s/he fed him-/herself by hand'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>nde thóm-ín-ɔgɔ-í íŋ kúmpa</td><td>'s/he fed him-/herself with a spoon'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>*nde thóm-ín-ɔgɔ-í yɔŋkɔ</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>*nde thóm-ín-ɔgɔ-í kúmpa</td><td></td></tr></table>

One other combination we haven't yet considered is reciprocal + passive -and-o, which was placed in parentheses in (68). An active sentence such as *binde mán-ánde* 'they visited each other' cannot have a corresponding passive *binde mán-ánd-o. However, it is possible to passivize a reciprocal verb whose valence is licensed by the applicative or dative, hence the applicative-reciprocal-passive and dative-reciprocal-passive sequences in (75), where we have also provided a few other examples containing verbs with three extensions.

<table><tr><td>(75) ARP</td><td>binde ņínd-í-ánd-o</td><td>'they were sent for each other'</td></tr><tr><td>DRP</td><td>binde ņínd-ít-ánd-o</td><td>'they were sent to each other'</td></tr><tr><td>DEP</td><td>kumpa goŋ thom-it-og-o</td><td>'the spoon was eaten alone with'</td></tr><tr><td>CAR</td><td>binde thóm-ín-í-ándé paga</td><td>'they fed rice for each other'</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td>CAP</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ín-í-ó yɛ́rɛmɛ oŋ</td><td>'they were fed for the woman'</td></tr><tr><td>CAE</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ín-í-égé má hati oŋ</td><td>'s/he alone fed the child for me'</td></tr><tr><td>CAF</td><td>ndɛ thɔ́m-in-i-ɔ́gɔ́-i</td><td>'s/he was fed for him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>CEP</td><td>ndɛ thɔ́m-in-og-o</td><td>'s/he alone was fed'</td></tr><tr><td>DAE</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ít-í-égé má kumpa</td><td>'s/he alone ate with a spoon for me'</td></tr><tr><td>DAF</td><td>ndɛ thóm-ít-í-ɔ́gɔ́ kumpa</td><td>'s/he ate with a spoon for him-/herself'</td></tr><tr><td>DEP</td><td>kumpa goŋ thɔ́m-it-og-o</td><td>'the spoon was eaten alone with'</td></tr></table>

Looking back at (70), we see that it should in principle be possible to get four, even five extensions in a row. In (76), we attempt to get a causative-applicative-reciprocal-passive order with four extensions.<fnref n="63" />

<table><tr><td>(76)</td><td>a. CARP</td><td>?*bindɛ thóm-ín-í-ánd-o</td><td>'they were fed for each other'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. CARP</td><td>gíŋ think-ín-í-ánd-ó ma</td><td>'it was broken for me'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>c. CAREP</td><td>yaŋ think-ín-í-ánd-óg-ó ntha</td><td>'for me alone something was broken'<br>(lit. I alone was broken something for)</td></tr></table>

As seen, the CARP order in (76a) is either ungrammatical or borderline. On the other hand, the CARP order in (76b), based on *a-think-in-ánde* 'to break (tr.)', is totally grammatical, since lexicalized *-ande* is not semantically reciprocal (cf. *a-thinkɔ* 'to break (intr.)'). Getting five extensions in a row is even harder, although (76c) is grammatical, again with lexicalized *-ande*.

### 4.13. Summary

In the preceding sections, we have surveyed the form of the extensions, their interpretation and their interaction with each other. Although we have repeatedly referred to the “licensing” property of some extensions, it is clear that they have syntactic consequences (and limitations). As in Bantu (Schadeberg & Bostoen 2019), we can divide the suffixes into the following three sets.

<table><tr><td>(77)</td><td>a. Causative, Applicative, Dative, Instrumental</td><td>(increase the valence of the verb)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>b. Reciprocal, Passive, Reflexive, Stative</td><td>(decrease the valence of the verb)</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>c. Exclusive, Pluractional, Intensive</td><td>(no effect on valence of the verb)</td></tr></table>

The first set consists of the indicated four extensions which increase the valence of the verb, thereby making it possible for an intransitive verb to take an object and a transitive verb to take two objects. In the second set, the passive and stative clearly decrease the valence of the verb, as do the reciprocal and reflexive extensions, which incorporate the object into the verb. The exclusive, pluractional and intensive extensions are neutral in not affecting the valence of the verb. Of course, when multiple extensions are present, one may increase the valence and the other subtract from the valence, as in *ndɛ pón-í-ó pága* 's/he was cooked rice (for)', where the applicative *-i-* increases the valence of the transitive verb /pon/ 'cook', and the passive *-o* subtracts from the valence. If we look at the order of the extensions in (70), we see that three of the four valence-increasing extensions (causative, dative, applicative) come earlier than the valence-decreasing extensions (reciprocal, reflexive, passive, stative). The one exception is the instrumental extension which comes last.

## 5. TONE

In the preceding sections we have cited *STEM1* verbs as they appear in the infinitive, where almost all verbs have an all surface L tone pattern before pause. We also cited *STEM2* forms with all L tone, as

<footnote n="63">63. The CARP order is widespread in Bantu (Hyman 2003; 2025a).</footnote>
they appear in the imperative. This has allowed us to postpone discussion of the underlying tones that clearly contrast on verb forms. The output tone of a verb stem depends on three factors (78).

(78) a. a right-edge H tone from a /H/ verb root

b. a right-edge H tone from a /H/ verb extension

c. a left-edge H tone from a /H/ TAM

As we have pointed out above, any H tones that appear before pause are subject to a general rule of Final High Lowering (FHL). What this means is that the right-edge H tones of (78a, b) will not be realized in this context. Thus consider the following verb tones in the infinitive, which do not assign a left-edge H.

<table><thead><tr><th>(79)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-haŋ</td><td>a-haŋ mina</td><td>'to hit (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-dethi</td><td>a-dethi mina</td><td>'to look (at us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-ŋɔgɔti</td><td>a-ŋɔgɔti mina</td><td>'to push (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-maŋ</td><td>a-maŋ mína</td><td>'to visit (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-mase</td><td>a-masé mína</td><td>'to help (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-thetege</td><td>a-thetegé mína</td><td>'to beg (us)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (79a), the verbs /haŋ/ ‘hit’, /dethi/ ‘look (at)’ and /ŋɔgɔti/ ‘push’ are L tone roots. As a result, the infinitive maintains an all L surface pattern whether the verb is final or is followed by something, here /mina/ ‘us’. In (79b), the verbs /mán/ ‘visit’, /máse/ ‘help’ and /thétege/ ‘beg’ have an underlyingly /H/ tone which we mark on the first vowel of the root in underlying representations. This /H/ is realized finally when something follows but undergoes FHL before pause. As seen, the first syllable of /mina/ ‘us’ is realized H by a rule of H tone spreading.

Let us now compare the same verbs in the aorist, which is one of the TAMs that assigns a H tone at the left edge of the stem (80).

<table><thead><tr><th>(80)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>nde haŋ</td><td>nde háŋ mína</td><td>'s/he hit (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>nde dethi</td><td>nde déthi mína</td><td>'s/he looked (at us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>nde ŋɔgɔti</td><td>nde ŋɔgɔtí mína</td><td>'s/he pushed (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>nde maŋ</td><td>nde máŋ mína</td><td>'s/he visited (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>nde máse</td><td>nde má* sé mína</td><td>'s/he helped (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>nde thétege</td><td>nde thétegé mína</td><td>'s/he begged (us)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (80a) the /L/ tone verbs are realized all L before pause. However, when something follows, they are realized with all H tone. In (80b), we see something quite different. If we first look at the trisyllabic verb /thétege/, we see that it is realized H-L-L before pause, and H-L-H when something follows. The first H is from the aorist, while the final H is the underlying /H/ of the verb. The H-\*H realization má\*sé ‘help’ realizes the same /HLH/ pattern, where the L floats as a trigger of downstep between the two Hs. The verb /mán/ ‘visit’ is the only monosyllabic root that we have found with a /H/ tone. As seen, a single H is realized when the verb is not before pause. While we can’t tell whether this is the root /H/ or the /H/ assigned by the aorist, or whether the two fuse, the H triggers High Tone Spreading (HTS) onto /mina/, as it does in all of the examples in (80). There is no downstep (*nde máŋ * mína*).

To summarize, we have observed four general tone patterns on verb stems which are schematized in (81), where the asterisk means “one or more”.
<table><thead><tr><th>(81)</th><th>TAM Input</th><th>Stem Input</th><th>Internal Output</th><th>Prepausal Output</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td>L</td><td>L</td><td>L*</td><td>L*</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>L</td><td>H</td><td>L*H</td><td>L*</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>H</td><td>L</td><td>H*</td><td>L*</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>H</td><td>H</td><td>HL*H</td><td>HL*</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen above, the tone of a verb stem depends on several factors, including whether the stem and TAM are /H/ or /L/.<fnref n="64" /> Note that when a /L/ verb stem occurs in a H TAM category, the H spreads onto all of the syllables of the stem. On the other hand, when a /H/ verb stem occurs in a H TAM category, a HL*H pattern occurs. Something is keeping the TAM H from spreading up to the (final) stem H. In §5.1 and §5.2 we address the tonal properties of verb extensions and the tonal effects of the STEM1-STEM2 distinction. We then in §6 address the segmental and tonal properties of different inflectional features of tense, aspect, mood, negation, and main vs. relative clauses.

## 5.1. Verb extension tone

As seen in the preceding, verb roots can either be underlyingly /H/ or /L/. The latter is more common. In fact, the ratio is roughly two to one: In our lexicon of 290 verbs, 178 are /L/, while 90 are /H/. The remaining verbs end with reciprocal -ande or reflexive -ɔgɔ, including stems on which they are frozen. These have a unique tonal effect which is addressed below.

In §4 we presented the underlying segmental representations of eleven verb extensions but postponed a discussion of their tone. In (82), which involves /L/ verb roots, we see that in the infinitive, verb stems containing an extension are realized all L before pause. However, one sees evidence of an underlying /H/ on certain extensions when something follows the verb stem. (ga b. abbreviates ga banka ‘at home’.)

<table><thead><tr><th>(82)</th><th></th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td rowspan="6">a.</td><td>APPL</td><td>/-i-e/</td><td>a-deth-i-e</td><td>a-deth-i-e mina 'to look for (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>RECIP</td><td>/-ande/</td><td>a-deth-ande</td><td>a-deth-ande ga b. 'to look at each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>PASS</td><td>/-o/</td><td>a-deth-o</td><td>a-deth-o ga b. 'to be looked at (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>REFL</td><td>/-ɔgɔ/</td><td>a-deth-ɔgɔ</td><td>a-deth-ɔgɔ ga b. 'to look at oneself (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>PLUR</td><td>/-w-/</td><td>a-heth-w-a</td><td>a-heth-w-a mina 'to laugh repeatedly at us'</td></tr><tr><td>STAT</td><td>/-ɔ/</td><td>a-deth-ɔ</td><td>a-deth-ɔ ga b. 'to sit (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="5">b.</td><td>CAUS</td><td>/-íŋ/</td><td>a-thom-m-ɔŋ</td><td>a-thom-m-ɔŋ mina 'to feed (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>/-ít-e/</td><td>a-gbal-it-e</td><td>a-gbal-it-é mina 'to write to (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>EXCL</td><td>/-egé/</td><td>a-gbal-ege</td><td>a-gbal-egé ga b. 'to write alone (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>INSTR</td><td>/-é/</td><td>a-thom-e</td><td>a-thom-é kúmpa 'to eat with (a spoon)'</td></tr><tr><td>INTENS</td><td>/-k'-/</td><td>a-seth-k-i</td><td>a-seth-k-i ga b. 'to sing a long time (at home)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In (82) we have placed the eleven extensions into two groups: those in (82a) which are toneless vs. those in (82b) which have an underlying /H/. As seen, both groups of infinitives are all L before pause. Those in (82a) are realized all L when /mina/ ‘us’ or /ga banká/ ‘at home’ is added, while those in (82b) have a H tone on their FV. It should be noted that the /H/ of the extensions in (82b) is maintained when followed by a toneless extension, e.g. passive /-o/: a-gbal-it-ó mina ‘to be written to us’ (from /-ít-/ + /-o/), a-gbal-ogó ‘to be written (while) alone’ (from /-egé/ + /-o/).

When appearing with the aorist H tone, extended /L/ verb stems divide into two different groups (again, ga b. stands for ga banka ‘at home’) (83).

<footnote n="64">64. Although we represent the non-/H/ TAMs as having a /L/ tone, it would work equally well to view them as assigning no tone.</footnote>
<table><thead><tr><th>(83)</th><th></th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>CAUS</td><td>ndɛ̈ thɔ̈m-ɔŋ</td><td>ndɛ̈ thɔ̈m-ɔŋ mána</td><td>'s/he fed (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>APPL</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbal-i-e</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbál-í-é mána</td><td>'s/he wrote for (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>PASS</td><td>ntha gbal-o</td><td>ntha gbál-ó ga b.</td><td>'something was written (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>DAT</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbal-it-e</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbál-í-t-é mána</td><td>'s/he wrote to (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>EXCL</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbal-ege</td><td>ndɛ̈ gbál-égé ga b.</td><td>'s/he wrote alone (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>INSTR</td><td>ndɛ̈ thom-e</td><td>ndɛ̈ thóm-é kúmpa</td><td>'s/he ate with (a spoon)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>PLUR</td><td>ndɛ̈ biy-w-e</td><td>ndɛ̈ bíy-w-é ga b.</td><td>'s/he bathed repeatedly (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>INTENS</td><td>ndɛ̈ sɔŋ-k-i</td><td>ndɛ̈ sɔŋ-k-í ga b.</td><td>'s/he sang a long time (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>STAT</td><td>ndɛ̈ dɔŋ-ɔ</td><td>ndɛ̈ dɔŋ-ɔ ga b.</td><td>'s/he sat (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>RECIP</td><td>bindɛ̈ déth-ánde</td><td>bindɛ̈ déth-ándé ga b.</td><td>'they looked at each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>REFL</td><td>ndɛ̈ gɔŋ déth-ɔŋgɔ<sup>65</sup></td><td>ndɛ̈ gɔŋ déth-ɔŋgɔ ga b.</td><td>'s/he will look at self (at home)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

The stems of the majority group in (83a) are realized with an all H pattern internally, which undergoes FHL before pause. In (83b), when the reciprocal /-ande/ or reflexive /-ɔŋgɔ/ extension occurs before pause, the H of the aorist is realized, but only reaches the penultimate vowel. Internally, the H spreads to the FV.

One question we haven't addressed is what happens if both the root and the extension have a /H/ tone. While there is some evidence that more than one final /H/ is assigned, the situation is slightly complicated. The examples in (84) show the /H/ verbs /thíye/ 'drink' and /tɔŋg/ 'be hot' as they are realized medially in the infinitive, a /L/ TAM.

<table><thead><tr><th>(84)</th><th>Base verb</th><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-thiyé mándi</td><td>'to drink water'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-tɔŋ-í ga banka</td><td>'to become hot at home'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>/-ín/</td><td>a-tɔŋ-ɔŋ bára</td><td>'to heat meat'</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>/-it-e/</td><td>a-tog-it-é mána</td><td>'to be hot against us'</td></tr><tr><td>EXCL</td><td>/-egé/</td><td>a-thiy-égé mándi</td><td>'to drink water alone'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>a-tog-égé ga banka</td><td>'to be hot alone at home'</td></tr><tr><td>INSTR</td><td>/-é/</td><td>a-thiy-é yónkɔ</td><td>'to drink with the hand'</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen, even when a /H/ tone extension is added, there is a single final H on FV except for /-egé/, which is realized -égé. While the two Hs may reflect the root H followed by the extension H, we note that /-egé/ is also realized H-H with /L/ verb roots if at least two stem syllables precede it: *a-gbɔ-gil-égé bára* 'to grind meat alone', *a-dahith-égé bára* 'to chew meat alone'.

The sentences in (85) show how the same /H/ verb roots + /H/ extensions are realized in the /H/ aorist.

<table><thead><tr><th>(85)</th><th>Base verb</th><th></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td></td><td></td><td>ndɛ̈ thí+yé mándi</td><td>'s/he drank water'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td>ntha tó+g-í ga banka</td><td>'something heated at home'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS</td><td>/-ín/</td><td>ndɛ̈ tó+g-óŋ mána</td><td>'s/he made us hot'</td></tr><tr><td>DAT</td><td>/-it-é/</td><td>ndɛ̈ thíyé-t-é mána</td><td>'s/he drank from us (from our drink)'</td></tr><tr><td>EXCL</td><td>/-egé/</td><td>ndɛ̈ thíy-egé mándi</td><td>'s/he drank water alone'</td></tr><tr><td>INSTR</td><td>/-é/</td><td>ntha tó+g-é bû</td><td>'something heated with fire'</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="65">65. As will be more fully exemplified in (103) below, the reflexive usually appears with a final -i in the aorist, which imposes an all H pattern on the verb, overriding the H-L of -ɔŋgɔ: ndɛ̈ deth-ɔŋgɔ-i, ndɛ̈ déth-ɔŋgɔ-í ga banka 's/he looked at him-/herself (at home)'. For this reason, we show H-L final tones in the future tense.</footnote>
As seen, a /HLH/ pattern occurs except for the all H pattern of dative /-ít-e/ whose H appears to fuse with the root H. Similar facts are noted when more than one /H/ extension occur in sequence.

<table><tr><td>(86) Base verb</td><td>a-thɔŋ bara</td><td>'to eat meat'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS-EXCL</td><td>/-ín-egé/</td><td>a-thɔm-in-égé mína</td><td>'to feed us alone'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS-INSTR</td><td>/-ín-é/</td><td>a-thɔm-in-é mína kuyɛŋ</td><td>'to feed us with a spoon'</td></tr></table>

<table><tr><td>(87) Base verb</td><td>ndɛ thɔŋ bára</td><td>'to eat meat'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS-EXCL</td><td>/-ín-egé/</td><td>ndɛ thɔm-in-égé mína</td><td>'s/he fed us alone'</td></tr><tr><td>CAUS-INSTR</td><td>/-ín-é/</td><td>ndɛ thɔm-in-é mína kuyɛŋ</td><td>'s/he fed us with a spoon'</td></tr></table>

While the same final H and HLH patterns are seen in (86) and (87), /-egé/ again has a H tone on both vowels since it is preceded by two stem syllables.

Before leaving extensions, it is necessary to comment on the other two -VCV extensions. Both reciprocal -ande and reflexive -ɔgɔ show considerable variation, suggesting that there may be tonal changes in progress. With both H and L verbs, they end with a H-L sequence before pause in H TAMs such as the aorist. This is seen with the verbs /dɛthi/ 'look (at)' and /máse/ 'help' in (88).<fnref n="66" />

<table><tr><td>(88)</td><td>Before pause</td><td>Internally</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>a.</td><td>bindɛ déth-ánde</td><td>bindɛ déth-ándé ga banka</td><td>'they looked at each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ goŋ déth-ɔgɔ</td><td>ndɛ goŋ déth-ɔgɔ ga banka</td><td>'s/he will look at self (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>bindɛ másy-ánde</td><td>bindɛ másy-ándé ga banka</td><td>'they helped each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ goŋ másy-ɔgɔ</td><td>bindɛ goŋ másy-ɔgɔ ga banka</td><td>'s/he will help self (at home)'</td></tr></table>

As seen, when followed by something, the H spreads onto the FV. If the aorist H had directly mapped up to the FV, all of the Hs would have been lowered before pause, as we have seen in previous examples. One way this could be avoided is to mark off the FV as extrametrical (invisible), hence not able to be targeted by HTS. Another is to assume that these two suffixes have an underlying penultimate /H/, i.e. /-ánde/, /-ɔgɔ/. In other grammatical contexts HTS fails to apply onto a final syllable before pause, e.g. sómba 'pot' vs. sómbá hu-nthe 'one pot', so this is motivated. It is in fact rather remarkable that /H/ and /L/ verbs merge as the penultimate H pattern in the aorist.

It is not possible to cover all of the tonal properties of the verb stem. However, we want to make clear why these two suffixes have been problematic. The first issue is to determine whether they are underlyingly /L/, i.e. /-ande/ and /-ɔgɔ/, or whether they have an underlying initial H, i.e. /-ánde/ and /-ɔgɔ/. The problem is particularly acute in the /L/ TAMs, e.g. the infinitive. In looking at a wide range of verbs we first discovered that several /L/ verbs take the L-L allomorphs consistently, and several /H/ verbs consistently take the H-L allomorphs (89).

<table><tr><td>(89)</td><td>Before pause</td><td>Internally</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>/L/</td><td>a-deth-ande</td><td>a-deth-ande ga banka</td><td>'to look at each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-deth-ɔgɔ</td><td>a-deth-ɔgɔ ga banka</td><td>'to look at oneself (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>/H/</td><td>a masy-ánde</td><td>a-masy-ánde ga banka</td><td>'to help each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>a-masy-ɔgɔ</td><td>a-masy-ɔgɔ ga banka</td><td>'to help oneself (at home)'</td></tr></table>

<footnote n="66">66. For the reflexive we have switched to the H future tense, marked by goŋ, since the aorist requires an additional -i suffix on the reflexive, which then creates an all H pattern: ndɛ deth-ɔgɔ-i / ndɛ déth-ɔgɔ-í ga banka 'they saw themselves (at home).'</footnote>
If this were consistent for all /L/ and /H/ verbs, we would conclude that the two extensions are /L/ and that the H on -ande and -ɔ́gɔ́ above is from the verb root. However, there are variations and inconsistencies. Concerning the reciprocal, all of the /L/ verbs consistently had all L tone before pause. However, as seen in (90), they differ internally. Some stay L, some acquire a final H, and some end H-H.

<table><thead><tr><th>(90)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-dagb-w-ande<br>a-heth-ande</td><td>a-dagb-w-ande ga banka<br>a-heth-ande ga banka</td><td>'to beat each other (at home)'<br>'to laugh at each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-dam-ande<br>a-han-ande ~</td><td>a-dam-andé ga banka<br>a-han-andé ga banka</td><td>'to hunt each other (at home)'<br>'to hit each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-han-w-ande<br>a-bog-w-ande</td><td>a-han-w-ándé ga banka<sup>67</sup><br>a-bog-w-ándé ga banka</td><td>'to hit each other (at home)'<br>'to bemoan each other (at home)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

In the case of /H/ verbs, some end H-L before pause, as expected, while others end L-L (91).

<table><thead><tr><th>(91)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-man-w-ánde<br>a-yugut-w-ánde</td><td>a-man-w-ándé ga banka<br>a-yugut-w-ándé ga banka</td><td>'to visit each other (at home)'<br>'to carry each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-minw-ande<br>a-thanthi-w-ande</td><td>a-min-w-ándé ga banka<br>a-thanthi-w-ándé ga banka</td><td>'to lick each other (at home)'<br>'to refuse each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>a-thay-ande<br>a-yugut-ande</td><td>a-thay-ande ga banka<br>a-thay-ándé ga banka<br>a-yugut-ande ga banka<br>a-yugut-ándé ga banka</td><td>'to catch each other (at home)'<br>(idem)<br>'to hit each other (at home)'<br>(idem)</td></tr></tbody></table>

Those that end H-L become H-H internally, as in (91a), while those which end L-L are also realized H-H internally, as in (91b), or variably remain L-L, as in (91c).

The reflexive extension usually shows the same tones as the reciprocal, but not always. Thus, the /H/ verb /lógi/ ‘wash’ is realized with final L-L with the reciprocal extension, but H-L with the reflexive suffix (92).

<table><thead><tr><th>(92)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-log-w-ande</td><td>a-log-w-ánd-é ga banka</td><td>'to wash each other (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>a-log-ɔ́gɔ́</td><td>a-log-ɔ́gɔ́ ga banka</td><td>'to wash oneself (at home)'</td></tr></tbody></table>

Since 12 out of the 14 verbs with final lexicalized -ɔ́gɔ́ show the H-L pattern in the infinitive, our suspicion is that the reflexive extension was historically H-L, but is becoming L-L, with some /H/ verb bases resisting. On the other hand, eight of the ten verbs with lexicalized -ande show the L-L pattern. It will take more work with more speakers to determine the full range of variation.<fnref n="68" />

<footnote n="67">67. At one point we considered whether the /-w-/ of -w-ande also contributes a H, but that did not work in all cases, as can be seen in the first example in (90a).</footnote>

<footnote n="68">68. One other inconsistency worthy of note concerns the FV -e of applicative -i-e and passive -o. As expected, these are realized H following a /H/ root, since this /H/ links to the final vowel. Thus, from /máse/ ‘help’, we derive *a-mas-i-é ma* ‘to help for me’, *a-mas-ó ga banka* ‘to be helped at home’. Similarly, the two FVs -e and -o are usually L after a /L/ verb such as /dɛ́th/ ‘look (at)’: *a-deth-i-e ma* ‘to look at for me’, *a-deth-o ga banka* ‘to be looked at at home’. However, a few /L/ verbs such as /thɔ́m/ ‘eat’ and /gbal/ ‘write’ show an unexpected H on these FVs: *a-thom-i-é ma* ‘to eat for me’, *a-thom-o* (~ *a-thom-ó*) ga banka ‘to be eaten at home’, *a-gbal-i-é ma* ‘to write for me’, *a-gbal-i-ó ga banka* ‘to be written for at home’. In this case we believe that both FVs were historically *L*.</footnote>
## 5.2. Stem1 vs. stem2 tone

We have established that both verb roots and verb extensions exhibit a /H/ vs. /L/ contrast. In this section we consider the effect of the STEM1-STEM2 distinction on tone. In order to investigate this, we systematically examined all 290 verbs in our lexicon in the following four contexts (C1-C4).

<table><thead><tr><th>(93)</th><th>TAM tone</th><th>Stem form</th><th>TAMs</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>C1</td><td>L</td><td>STEM1</td><td>infinitive a-</td></tr><tr><td>C2</td><td>H</td><td>STEM1</td><td>aurist, present ndo, future goŋ</td></tr><tr><td>C3</td><td>L</td><td>STEM2</td><td>imperative, future progressive bóheŋ bá</td></tr><tr><td>C4</td><td>H</td><td>STEM2</td><td>present progressive kiŋ ka, past progressive kiŋ nde</td></tr></tbody></table>

The above define six tone patterns which we schematize on an internal trisyllabic stem in (94).

<table><thead><tr><th>(94)</th><th>Trisyllabic stem</th><th>TAM tone</th><th>Root+extension tone</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1</td><td>L-L-L</td><td>L</td><td>L</td></tr><tr><td>2</td><td>H-H-H</td><td>H</td><td>L</td></tr><tr><td>3</td><td>L-L-H</td><td>L</td><td>H</td></tr><tr><td>4</td><td>H-L-H</td><td>H</td><td>H</td></tr><tr><td>5</td><td>L-H-L</td><td>L</td><td>H-L</td></tr><tr><td>6</td><td>H-H-L</td><td>H</td><td>H-L</td></tr></tbody></table>

As can be seen, the six tone patterns can be viewed as three pairs 1/2, 3/4 and 5/6, depending on whether they involve a L or a H TAM: 1/2 verbs are those which do not have a /H/ in their stem, while 3/4 verbs are those verbs which have either a /H/ verb root or extension (or both). 5/6 verbs exclusively end with either the reciprocal -ande or reflexive -ɔgɔ ending. As just discussed, these sometimes impose a final H-L pattern that is otherwise not attested on verb forms. As seen below, in a count of 267 of the verbs in our lexicon 205 fall into one of the three tone pairings in (95a).

<table><thead><tr><th>(95)</th><th>STEM1-STEM2</th><th>#</th><th>Example</th><th>Comments</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>12-12<br>34-34<br>56-56</td><td>134<br>59<br>12</td><td>gbali<br>mase<br>kayɔgɔ</td><td>'write'<br>'help'<br>'walk'</td><td>all end in -ande or -ɔgɔ</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>16-16</td><td>7</td><td>daŋande</td><td>'pass'</td><td>5 end in -ande, one in -ɔgɔ</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>12-34<br>34-12</td><td>18<br>8</td><td>sasi<br>kasi</td><td>'pour'<br>'vomit'</td><td>7 of the 9 i-final verbs take -wa in STEM2<br>4 are causative</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>12-32<br>12-36</td><td>2<br>1</td><td>ŋagi<br>suŋɔ</td><td>'bite'<br>'be deep'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>12-14<br>12-16</td><td>3<br>5</td><td>biye<br>bɔlɔgɔ</td><td>'bathe'<br>'crawl'</td><td>2 end in -ande, 3 in -(ɔg)ɔ</td></tr><tr><td>f.</td><td>32-34</td><td>14</td><td>logi</td><td>'wash'</td><td>6 end in -ɔ</td></tr><tr><td>g.</td><td>14-12<br>34-16<br>36-12<br>56-16</td><td>1<br>1<br>1<br>1</td><td>ŋaathi<br>digiŋ<br>ŋayaŋ<br>gbɔnɔgɔ</td><td>'itch'<br>'set a trap'<br>'wake (tr.)'<br>'advance'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

In (95), the numbers in the STEM1-STEM2 column refer to the tone patterns in (94). The hyphen separates the STEM1 and STEM2 tones. On each side of the hyphen, the first number refers to /L/ TAMs and the second one to /H/ TAMs. Identical numbers on both sides of the hyphen indicate that these 205
verbs do not change their tones in STEM1 vs. STEM2: 12-12 /L/ stems, 34-34 /H/ stems and the 56-56 final H-L verbs maintain the same tone patterns in both STEM1 and STEM2. Although (95b) involves an exceptional pairing, the 16-16 tones remain the same in STEM1 and STEM2.

The remaining verbs show tonal differences between STEM1 and STEM2. The two patterns in (95c) involve a shift from one of the main pairings to the other: 12-34 verbs are /L/ in STEM1, but /H/ in STEM2, while 34-12 verbs are /H/ in STEM1 and /L/ in STEM2. The two patterns in (95d) show a similar shift from a /L/ to a /H/ in STEM2, but only in /L/ TAMs. 12-32 maintains the L pattern in /H/ TAMs, while 12-16 changes to the final H-L patterned associated with -ande and -ɔŋɔ. The two patterns in (95e) show the opposite: the L pattern remains in STEM2 /L/ TAMs, while 12-14 changes to a /H/, and 12-16 to a final H-L. The verbs in (95f) are quite curious: In STEM2 they are clearly /H/, while in STEM1 they are /H/ in /L/ TAMs, but /L/ in /H/ TAMs. The remaining four patterns in (95g) are quite exceptional, having one example each.

The conclusion of the above is that there is a strong tendency for verb stems to have the same tones in STEM1 and STEM2, which can be predicted from their root tones. As seen in the comments in the last column of (95), some of the irregularities are imposed by certain endings resembling verb extensions. In any case, everything except for the patterns in (95a) has to be entered as lexically exceptional, hence the need to look at all four contexts in the verb paradigm: STEM1 vs. STEM2, /L/ vs. /H/ TAM. There are a few other verbs that are idiosyncratic in the tonal paradigm, and in some cases, there is either uncertainty or variation of the tone. We will not develop this further, rather move on to address both segmental and tonal properties of the inflectional verb paradigm.

## 6. VERB PARADIGM

In the previous sections we saw that different TAM categories take different tone patterns and require either STEM1 or STEM2. Examples we have provided of STEM1 include the /L/ infinitive TAM and the /H/ aorist TAM, while STEM2 forms have been exemplified in the /H/ present progressive, /L/ future progressive and in the /L/ imperative. These are again exemplified in (96), where the /L/ verb ‘look (at)’ is realized *deth-i* in STEM1, *deth-a* in STEM2.

<table><thead><tr><th>(96)</th><th>Before pause</th><th>Internally</th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>a.</td><td>a-deth-i</td><td>a-deth-i yɛrɛmɛ</td><td>'to look (at a woman)'</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ deth-i</td><td>ndɛ deth-i yɛrɛmɛ</td><td>'s/he looked (at a woman)'</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ kiŋ ka deth-a</td><td>ndɛ kiŋ ka deth-á yɛrɛmɛ</td><td>'s/he is looking (at a woman)'</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ bóheŋ bá deth-a</td><td>ndɛ bóheŋ bá deth-a yɛrɛmɛ</td><td>'s/he will be looking (at a woman)'</td></tr><tr><td>e.</td><td>deth-a</td><td>deth-a yɛrɛmɛ</td><td>'look (at a woman)!</td></tr></tbody></table>

Concerning the tone patterns, the infinitive STEM1, future progressive STEM2 and imperative STEM2 in (96a, d, e) are realized L-L both before pause and internally, while the aorist STEM1 and present progressive STEM2 in (96b, c) are also realized L-L before pause, but as H-H when something follows.

Although in the general case STEM1 and STEM2 end in -i and -a, respectively, we have seen that certain extensions require the FV to be other vowels. Of the seven vowels of Limba, /i, e, ɛ, u, o, ɔ, a/, all can contrastively occur stem-finally except /u/. (Cases of final [u] involve rounding harmony of -i to [u] triggered by a root /u/). The examples in (97) provide an example of each FV.

<table><tr><td>(97) /-i/</td><td>aorist</td><td>ndɛ deth-i</td><td>'s/he looks'</td></tr><tr><td>/-e/</td><td>past</td><td>ndɛ deth-e</td><td>'s/he looked'</td></tr><tr><td>/-ɛ/</td><td>WH past</td><td>mbɛ́ o deth-ɛ</td><td>'who looked?'</td></tr><tr><td>/-o/</td><td>passive</td><td>ndɛ deth-o</td><td>'s/he was looked at'</td></tr><tr><td>/-ɔ/</td><td>stative</td><td>ndɛ kɔth-ɔ</td><td>'s/he knows'</td></tr><tr><td>/-a/</td><td>imperative</td><td>deth-a</td><td>'look!'</td></tr><tr><td>/-ɛŋ/</td><td>hortative</td><td>miŋ déth-ɛŋ</td><td>'let's look!'</td></tr></table>
As seen in the last example, we have added the hortative, which ends in /-ɛŋ/. Of the above, all of the endings mark inflectional distinctions except the passive suffix -o and stative -ɔ, which are derivational verb extensions. The others mark parts of the inflectional verbal paradigm.

As of this writing we have investigated the major TAM forms but have not done an exhaustive study of some of the semantic distinctions. For example, what we are calling the aorist expresses present vs. past time and what we have identified below as a present tense marked by *ndo* has sometimes referred to future time. With these caveats, what we have thus far established is presented in the table in (98), showing the main clause affirmative and negative markers. (The infinitive doesn't have a corresponding negative.)<fnref n="69" />

<table><thead><tr><th colspan="4">(98)</th><th colspan="4">Main Clause Affirmative</th><th colspan="4">Main Clause Negative</th></tr><tr><th>Tense</th><th>Segmentals</th><th>Stem</th><th>Tone</th><th>Segmentals</th><th>Stem</th><th>Tone</th><th>Tense</th><th>Segmentals</th><th>Stem</th><th>Tone</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Infinitive</td><td>a-</td><td>1</td><td>L</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Aorist</td><td>Ø</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td>thá</td><td>1</td><td>L*H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Present</td><td>(ndo)</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td>Ø -e ta</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Future</td><td>goŋ ~ koŋ</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td>sá</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Pres. Prog.</td><td>kiŋ ka</td><td>2</td><td>H</td><td>ká gá</td><td>2</td><td>H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Past Prog.</td><td>kiŋ nde ga</td><td>2</td><td>H</td><td>Ø -e ta nde</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Fut. Prog.</td><td>(ndo) bóheŋ bá</td><td>2</td><td>L</td><td>bóheŋ ta bá</td><td>2</td><td>L</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>Ø</td><td>2</td><td>L</td><td>ba</td><td>1</td><td>H/L</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Hortative</td><td>Ø</td><td>-ɛŋ</td><td>HF</td><td>bêŋ</td><td>1</td><td>H</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

The affirmative TAM categories are exemplified in (99), where “...” indicates that something follows the verb.

<table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">(99)</td><td rowspan="2">a.</td><td>Infinitive</td><td>a-η̑ɔt-i<br/>a-η̑ɔt-i ...</td><td>'to fall'</td></tr><tr><td>Aorist</td><td>ndɛη̑ɔt-i<br/>ndɛη̑ɔt-í ...</td><td>'s/he fell'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Present</td><td>yaŋ ndoη̑ɔt-i<br/>yaŋ ndoη̑ɔt-í ...</td><td>'I fall, am falling'</td></tr><tr><td>Future</td><td>ndɛ goŋη̑ɔt-i<br/>yaŋ goŋη̑ɔt-í ...</td><td>'s/he will fall'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">b.</td><td>Pres. Prog.</td><td>ndɛkiŋ kaη̑ɔt-a<br/>ndɛkiŋ kaη̑ɔt-á ...</td><td>'s/he is falling'</td></tr><tr><td>Past Prog.</td><td>ndɛkiŋ nde gaη̑ɔt-a<br/>ndɛkiŋ nde gaη̑ɔt-á ...</td><td>'s/he was falling' [kinde ga]</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">Fut. Prog.</td><td>yaŋ (ndo) bóheŋ báη̑ɔt-a<br/>yaŋ (ndo) bóheŋ báη̑ɔt-a ...</td><td>'I will be falling'</td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>η̑ɔt-a<br/>η̑ɔt-a ...</td><td>'fall!'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">c.</td><td>Hortative</td><td>miŋη̑ɔt-ɛ̑ŋ<br/>miŋη̑ɔt-éŋ ...</td><td>'let's fall!'</td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="69">69. Another marker we have found is the anterior marker *nda*, as in *ndɛη̑ɔt-é nda* 's/he has already fallen' and past expe- riential *nde*, as in *ndɛη̑ɔt-í*<sup>4</sup>*ndé* 's/he has fallen before'.</footnote>
As seen, those TAMs in (99a) take *STEM1*, while those in (99b) take *STEM2*. The hortative ends with /-êŋ/ in (99c). In (99), we have written the TAM markers as separate words, several of which are in fact identifiable: /kiŋ/ ‘be’, /ga/ (→ ka postnasally) ‘at, to’, /nde/ ‘past’, /ba/ ‘for’. The future progressive marker *bóheŋ* appears related to the verb *a-boh-i* ‘to hold, grasp’. Recall that *STEM2* is a nominal form, such that the present progressive *kiŋ ka* and past progressive *kiŋ nde ga* literally mean ‘is/are with falling’ and ‘was/were with falling’, and the future progressive *bóheŋ bá* may derive from ‘hold for falling’ (where /ba/ receives a H tone). We have illustrated the present and future progressive above with *yaŋ* ‘I’, since *ndo* is used only with first and second person subjects (optionally in the future progressive).

When we turn to the negative, we find the following. (There is no negative infinitive.)

<table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="3">(100)</td><td rowspan="2">a.</td><td>Aorist</td><td>nde thá ŋɔt-i<br/>nde thá ŋɔt-í ...</td><td>'s/he didn't fall'</td></tr><tr><td>Present</td><td>nde ŋɔt-e ta<br/>nde ŋɔt-é tá ...</td><td>'s/he doesn't fall, isn't falling'</td></tr><tr><td>Future</td><td>nde sa ŋɔt-i<br/>nde sa ŋɔt-í ...</td><td>'s/he will not fall'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="3">b.</td><td rowspan="2">Pres. Prog.</td><td>ndɛ́ ká gá ŋɔt-a</td><td>'s/he isn't falling'</td></tr><tr><td>ndɛ́ ká gá ŋɔt-á ...</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Past Prog.</td><td>ndɛ́ ŋɔt-e ta ndɛ́<br/>ndɛ́ ŋɔt-é tá ndɛ́ ...</td><td>'s/he wasn't falling'</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">c.</td><td rowspan="2">Hortative</td><td>Fut. Prog.</td><td>ndɛ́ bóheŋ ta bá ŋɔt-a<br/>ndɛ́ bóheŋ ta bá ŋɔt-a ...</td><td>'s/he will not be falling'<sup>70</sup></td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>ba ŋɔt-i<br/>ba ŋɔt-í ...</td><td>'don't fall!'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>miŋ bêŋ ŋɔt-i<br/>miŋ bêŋ ŋɔt-í ...</td><td>'let's not fall!'</td></tr></tbody></table>

As seen, the suffix -e is used in the present tense and in the past progressive, and the negative imperative has the *STEM1* -i suffix. This makes sense in the case of the past progressive, which is formed from the *STEM1* present negative by adding the past marker *nde*.<fnref n="71" /> The imperative also switches to *STEM1*, as does the hortative.

As seen in the non-final forms marked by “...” in (100) and as indicated in the table in (98), most of the negative TAMs are /H/ except for the future progressive. Two of the negative TAMs are exceptional and require comment. First, the negative of the aorist marked by a preposed /thá/ shows some rather unique tonal alternations. As seen in (101), the verb stems are realized all L before pause, but L\*H internally:

<table><tbody><tr><td rowspan="10">(101)</td><td rowspan="10">a.</td><td>nde thá thoŋ</td><td>nde thâ thón bara</td><td>'s/he didn't eat (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá boy</td><td>nde thâ bóy bára</td><td>'s/he didn't buy (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá dethi</td><td>nde thá dethí bára</td><td>'s/he didn't look (at meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá hethi</td><td>nde thá hethí ga banka</td><td>'s/he didn't laugh (at home)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá bogi</td><td>nde thá bogí mína</td><td>'s/he didn't bemoan (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá ņindi</td><td>nde thá ņindí mína</td><td>'s/he didn't send (us)'</td></tr><tr><td>nde thá ŋɔgɔti</td><td>nde thá ŋɔgɔtí mína</td><td>'s/he didn't push (us)'</td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>

<footnote n="70">70. Unlike the affirmative, *ndo* is not used with first and second person subjects in the future progressive negative, e.g. *yaŋ bóheŋ ta bá ŋɔt-a* ‘I will not be falling’.</footnote>

<footnote n="71">71. An alternative is *nde ká ndé gá ŋɔt-a* ‘s/he wasn’t falling’, which is formed by adding *nde* to the present progressive.</footnote>
<table><tr><td>b.</td><td>ndɛ́ thá maŋ</td><td>ndɛ́ thâ máŋ mína</td><td>‘s/he didn’t visit (us)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá logi</td><td>ndɛ́ thá logí bára</td><td>‘s/he didn’t wash (meat)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá mase</td><td>ndɛ́ thá masé mína</td><td>‘s/he didn’t help (us)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá bereŋ</td><td>ndɛ́ thá beríŋ ga banka</td><td>‘s/he didn’t cry (at home)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá yugutu</td><td>ndɛ́ thá yugutú bára</td><td>‘s/he didn’t carry (meat)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá thanthiye</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thanthiyé bára</td><td>‘s/he didn’t refuse (meat)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá thetege</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thetegé mína</td><td>‘s/he didn’t beg (us)’</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thɔ́m-ɔŋ</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thɔ́m-ɔŋ bára</td><td>‘s/he didn’t feed (meat)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-it-e</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-it-é mína</td><td>‘s/he didn’t eat from (us)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-ege</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-egé ga b.</td><td>‘s/he didn’t eat alone (at home)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-e</td><td>ndɛ́ thá thom-é kúmpa</td><td>‘s/he didn’t eat with (a spoon)’</td></tr><tr><td>d.</td><td>ndɛ́ thá tot-i-e</td><td>ndɛ́ thá tot-i-é mína</td><td>‘s/he didn’t cook for (us)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá deth-o</td><td>ndɛ́ thá deth-ó ga banka</td><td>‘s/he wasn’t looked at (at home)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>bindé thá deth-ande</td><td>bindé thá deth-andé ga b.</td><td>‘they didn’t look (at each other)’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ndɛ́ thá deth-ɔ̃gɔ</td><td>ndɛ́ thá deth-ɔ̃gɔ ga b.</td><td>‘s/he didn’t look at self (at home)’</td></tr></table>

The verb roots in (101a) are /L/, while those in (101b) are /H/. As seen, both sets acquire the L\*H tone pattern. While the /H/ extensions in (101c) would be expected to have a H on their FV internally, the /L/ extensions in (101d) also exhibit a H FV. It thus appears that this TAM is /L/, but that all stems have a /H/ which is realized on the FV. In this case we posit a floating L tone in the negative marker /thá / which, as seen, is realized on the marker itself when the verb stem is monosyllabic: ndɛ́ thâ bóy bára ‘s/he didn’t buy meat’.

The tone of the negative imperative is more complex, as seen in (102).

<table><tr><td>(102) a.</td><td>ba thôŋ</td><td>ba thôŋ bara</td><td>‘don’t eat (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba bôy</td><td>ba bôy bara</td><td>‘don’t buy (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba déthi</td><td>ba déthí bara</td><td>‘don’t look (at meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba héthi</td><td>ba héthí mína</td><td>‘don’t laugh (at us)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba bógi</td><td>ba bógí mína</td><td>‘don’t bemoan (us)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba ŋindi</td><td>ba ŋíndí mína</td><td>‘don’t send (us)!’</td></tr><tr><td>b.</td><td>ba ŋɔgɔti</td><td>ba ŋɔgɔtí mína</td><td>‘don’t push (us)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba segeti</td><td>ba ségétí bára</td><td>‘don’t take (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba gbɔgɔli</td><td>ba gbógólí bára</td><td>‘don’t grind (meat)’</td></tr><tr><td>c.</td><td>ba maŋ</td><td>ba máŋ mína</td><td>‘don’t visit (a hunter)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba logi</td><td>ba lógí bára</td><td>‘don’t wash (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba mase</td><td>ba másé mína</td><td>‘don’t help (us)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba bereŋ</td><td>ba béréŋ ka banka</td><td>‘don’t cry (at home)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba yugutu</td><td>ba yúgútú bára</td><td>‘don’t carry (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba thanthiye</td><td>ba thánthiyé bára</td><td>‘don’t refuse (meat)!’</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>ba thetege</td><td>ba thétégé mína</td><td>‘don’t beg (us)!’</td></tr></table>

The verb roots in (102a, b) have /L/ tone. As seen, those in (102a) are realized with a HL tone finally. While these verbs become all H internally, HTS does not apply onto the following word. The longer /L/ verbs in (102b) have the same tone pattern as the /H/ verbs in (102c): They are all L finally and all H internally, this time allowing HTS to apply onto the following word. These forms thus show an exceptional merger of trisyllabic /L/ and /H/ verbs. Even if we assume that ‘push’ and ‘take’ have a
frozen /H/ tone dative /-it-/ suffix, in other TAMs they have the 12-12 tone pattern, not 34-34. Since the verb /gbɔgəli/ ‘grind’ does not have an identifiable frozen extension, it may simply be that trisyl-labic verbs merge their tone patterns in the negative imperative.

One last curious fact that we referred to in (52) concerns verbs that end in -ə, including reflexive /-əgɔ/. As seen in (103), such verbs take an additional -i suffix in the aorist and hortative, but not in other TAM categories.

<table><tr><td>(103) Aorist</td><td>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ-i<br>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ-í bára</td><td>'I fed myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Present</td><td>yaŋ ndo thóm-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ ndo thóm-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'I feed myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Future</td><td>yaŋ kɔŋ thóm-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ kɔŋ thóm-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'I will feed myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Pres. Prog.</td><td>yaŋ kiny ka thóm-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ kiny thóm-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'I am feeding myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Past Prog.</td><td>yaŋ kinde ga thóm-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ kinde ga thóm-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'I was feeding myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Fut. Prog.</td><td>yaŋ ndo bóheŋ bá thom-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ ndo bóheŋ bá thom-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'I will be feeding myself (meat)'</td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>thom-in-ɔgɔ<br>thom-in-ɔgɔ bara</td><td>'feed yourself (meat)!'</td></tr><tr><td>Hortative</td><td>miŋ thóm-in-ɔgɔ-i<br>miŋ thóm-in-ɔgɔ-í bara</td><td>'let's feed ourselves (meat)'</td></tr></table>

In the above forms /thɔm/ ‘eat’ is a /L/ root, while /thɔm-ín/ ‘feed’ acquires a H tone from the cau-sative extension. In the /H/ TAMs we expect a HLH tone pattern, where the second H reaches the first vowel of the /L/ extension /-ɔgɔ/. This is seen in the present, future, present progressive and past progressive. However, as seen in the aorist, an all H tone melody is imposed by -i which is realized all L before pause. Thus /bara/ ‘meat’ becomes bára by HTS only in the aorist. In the other TAM categories, that /H/ of /-ɔgɔ/ spreads onto the following syllable, but no further. HTS does not reach the /-i/ suffix in the hortative, this /-i/ occurring instead of the affirmative /-êŋ/. While we have considered the FV -i to be epenthetic in other cases, it is hard to maintain this view when the verb ends in /ɔ/ (cf. also yaŋ payɔ-i ‘I was afraid’ vs. yaŋ kiny ka payɔ ‘I am afraid’).

Interestingly, in the corresponding negative TAM categories, only the present requires -i. This is not surprising since the present negative is based on the aorist affirmative, to which the negative mar-ker /ta/ is added, while the aorist negative requires a preposed negative marker /thá/.

<table><tr><td>(104) Aorist</td><td>yaŋ thá thom-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ thá thom-in-ɔgɔ ...</td><td>'I didn't feed myself'</td></tr><tr><td>Present</td><td>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ-i ta<br>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ-í tá ...</td><td>'I do not feed/am not feeding myself'</td></tr><tr><td>Future</td><td>yaŋ sá thɔm-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ sá thɔm-in-ɔgɔ ...</td><td>'I will not feed myself'</td></tr><tr><td>Pres. Prog.</td><td>yaŋ ká gá thom-in-ɔgɔ<br>yaŋ ká gá thom-in-ɔgɔ ...</td><td>'I am not feeding myself'</td></tr><tr><td>Past Prog.</td><td>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ ta nde<br>yaŋ thɔm-in-ɔgɔ ta nde ...</td><td>'I wasn't feeding myself'</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td>Fut. Prog.</td><td>yaŋ bóheŋ ta bá thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ̃<br/>yaŋ bóheŋ ta bá thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ́ ...</td><td>‘I will not be feeding myself’</td></tr><tr><td>Imperative</td><td>ba thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ̃<br/>ba thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ́ ...</td><td>‘don’t feed yourself!’</td></tr><tr><td>Hortative</td><td>miŋ bɛ́ŋ thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ̃<br/>miŋ bɛ́ŋ thɔ́m-íŋ-ɔ́gɔ́ ...</td><td>‘let’s not feed ourselves!’</td></tr></table>

Other than the /-i/ that occurs after final /ɔ/, the main effects of the TAM system on stem structure concerns the choice of STEM1 vs. STEM2, as well as potential tonal changes. We can in fact explain why the verb shifts to STEM2 in the progressive. We pointed out earlier that STEM2 is a nominalized form (recall *gbal-a haŋ* ‘the writing’). It is therefore appropriate that it appears after the preposition /ga/ ‘at, to’ in the present and past progressive and after the preposition /ba/ ‘for’, which appears with H tone in the future progressive.<fnref n="72" /> Why the nominalized STEM2 should be used in the imperative is not clear.

This completes our survey of the TAM categories as we understand them to date.

## 7. CONCLUSION

In the previous sections we have in turn considered the phonological and morphological structure of the verb stem. Taken together, the phonology and the morphology account for the interesting restrictions on syllable and word structure, consonant and vowel distributions, and phonological alternations, including tone. It was shown that most verbs have two forms, which we labeled STEM1 and STEM2, and that the choice between them depends on the TAM category in which the verb occurs. A major part of understanding the verb stem concerned the numerous verb extensions that can be added to the verb root and to each other. Although their phonological and morphological structure was examined in great detail, we only indirectly saw some of the the syntactic properties of the extended verb and its arguments. Although not explicitly addressed in this report, in Thɔ́nkɔ, both arguments of a ditransitive verb are eligible to become the subject of the corresponding passive: *hati oŋ pón-í-ó pága* ‘the child was cooked rice (for)’, *pagá pón-í-ó háti ôŋ* ‘rice was cooked for the child’. But since our focus was on phonological and morphological form, we end with a few words about how the Limba verb extension system fits into wider Niger-Congo.

Recall from our introduction that Pozdniakov et al. (2019) consider Limba to be an isolate within Niger-Congo. As Pozdniakov & Segerer (2024: 22) put it, “[a] careful look at the potential cognates shows that there is no good reason to think that Limba would be closer to Atlantic (or to Mel) than to any other N[iger]C[ongo] family.” The question is whether the extension system we have presented can help us locate Limba within Niger-Congo. Although most branches of Niger-Congo have verb extensions (Williamson 1989; Williamson & Blench 2000; Hyman 2007; 2014; Creissels 2019, among others), the Limba extension system most closely resembles certain languages in the Atlantic subgroup.<fnref n="73" /> We present a comparison of Limba verb extensions with Atlantic and Mel languages in Table 2, where the bold horizontal lines separate subgroups and families.<fnref n="74" />

<footnote n="72">72. Since it is followed by STEM1, we do not think that the *ba* in a sentence like *nde thímɔ́ yáŋ ba thɔŋ* ‘s/he wants me to eat’ (lit. s/he wants me *ba* eat) is related to the preposition *ba*, nor to the *ba* that appears in the negative imperative with STEM1: *ba thɔŋ* ‘don’t eat!’.</footnote>

<footnote n="73">73. Mel is a subbranch of Niger-Congo, formerly included in Greenberg’s (1963) Atlantic subgroup, and includes Temne, bordering on Limba to the south. For a recent subgrouping proposal of the remaining Atlantic languages, see Pozdniakov & Segerer (2024). Merrill (forthcoming) argues that Atlantic is itself not a unified subgroup of Niger-Congo.</footnote>

<footnote n="74">74. The Atlantic forms are from Becher (2002: 31), except for Bijogo from Segerer (2002: 211–226), Bandiaranke from Cover (2010) and the passive forms from Voisin (2024: 565). The forms of the two Mel languages, Kisi and Temne, are taken from Childs (1995) and Kanu (2004), respectively. *CAUS₁* and *CAUS₂* refer to direct and indirect causation, while *PLUR* replaces Becher’s “Soziativ”, which is described as either ‘together’ or involving plural subjects or objects, and *INSTR* replaces Becher’s “Circumstantiv” (2002: 14). We note that some sources report certain differences from Becher.</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 2 — Comparison of Limba extensions with Atlantic and Mel languages</caption><thead><tr><th></th><th>CAUS<sub>1</sub></th><th>CAUS<sub>2</sub></th><th>APPL</th><th>DAT</th><th>INSTR</th><th>PLUR</th><th>RECIP</th><th>PASS</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Ful</td><td>(i)n</td><td>(i)n, d</td><td>an, in</td><td></td><td>ir, or, d</td><td>(o/i/u)d</td><td>indir, ondir, ootir, tir</td><td>-e</td></tr><tr><td>Sereer</td><td>and</td><td>in, an, il, it</td><td>an, in, al</td><td></td><td>(i/o)r, it, an, od</td><td>ir, or, od</td><td>or, od, andor</td><td>-el</td></tr><tr><td>Wolof</td><td>al, *in</td><td>al</td><td>al, wal</td><td></td><td>e, al</td><td>and-</td><td>oo, ante</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Palor</td><td>al, el, id</td><td>id</td><td>id</td><td></td><td>a?</td><td></td><td>ante, antox</td><td>-u</td></tr><tr><td>Ndut</td><td>il</td><td>id</td><td>id</td><td></td><td>a?</td><td></td><td>anta?</td><td>-u(u)</td></tr><tr><td>Noon</td><td>id, *l</td><td>id, d</td><td>id</td><td></td><td>oh</td><td></td><td>oh</td><td>-us</td></tr><tr><td>Diola</td><td>en, a</td><td>en, a</td><td>um</td><td></td><td>um</td><td></td><td>or</td><td>-i, -e</td></tr><tr><td>Balante</td><td>n</td><td>n</td><td>ed, Vd</td><td></td><td>(i)r, i</td><td>*d</td><td>ndi, ir</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Basari</td><td>ʌn</td><td>ʌn, l</td><td>i, l-i</td><td></td><td>al, r</td><td>dʌr, dʌ</td><td>ʌr, r</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bedik</td><td>ɔn</td><td>ɔn</td><td>ɔn</td><td></td><td>al</td><td>ɔd</td><td>ɔr</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Badiaranke</td><td>n, a:n</td><td></td><td>i:</td><td></td><td>e:n</td><td></td><td>-ər</td><td>o:</td></tr><tr><td>Bijogo</td><td>i</td><td>i</td><td>an</td><td></td><td></td><td>an</td><td>an</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Kisi</td><td>i</td><td>i</td><td>(u)l</td><td></td><td></td><td>i</td><td>i-ŋ, (i/a)ndo</td><td>nũŋ</td></tr><tr><td>Temne</td><td>s</td><td></td><td>na</td><td>r (loc.)</td><td>ʌnɛ</td><td></td><td>ʌnɛ</td><td>—</td></tr><tr><td>Limba</td><td>in, Vn</td><td></td><td>i</td><td>it, Vt</td><td>é</td><td>w</td><td>ande</td><td>o</td></tr></tbody></table>

In Table 2, the Limba forms in the last row are bolded as are potential cognate forms. The most striking resemblance is the -n found in the causative. Both Limba and Atlantic languages lack the more general Niger-Congo -i and -s causatives. Bijogo alone has -i, while -s is attested in the Mel language Temne.<fnref n="75" /> The other striking resemblance occurs in the reciprocal, where Limba -ande corresponds to forms like Wolof -ante and Balante -ndi.<fnref n="76" /> Finally, Limba passive -o resembles Bandiaranke -o: and less so the -u(s) of Palor, Ndut and Noon, which also functions as a marker of a plural subject (Merrill 2023: 192–198).<fnref n="77" /> While these resemblances do not point to a particular language or subgroup as closest to Limba, another striking overlap with Atlantic is the suffix /-íŋ/ which marks the plural of certain nouns classes, e.g. class 1/2 bahu ‘goat’, bahu-ïŋ ‘goats’ (Hyman & Kamara 2025).<fnref n="78" /> Unfortunately, whether these resemblances represent a common inheritance or contact is not clear. We therefore have to conclude that despite similarities with Atlantic verb extensions, Limba must still be tentatively treated as an isolate within Niger-Congo.

<footnote n="75">75. Within Niger-Congo an -n causative is found outside Atlantic and Limba only in certain Adamawa languages, e.g. Mam-bay (Anonby 2011: 346–347). The widespread Niger-Congo -i and -s causatives are further documented in Hyman (2025b), which discusses other comparative aspects of Limba verb extensions within a Niger-Congo perspective.</footnote>

<footnote n="76">76. While these may look like Proto-Bantu *-an (Meeussen 1967: 118), the addition of an alveolar t or d appears to be an Atlantic feature.</footnote>

<footnote n="77">77. This extension also resembles Proto-Bantu *-o (Meeussen 1967: 118).</footnote>

<footnote n="78">78. This suffix likely developed from the preposition íŋ ‘with’ which was seen with instruments in (56) but is also used to conjoin noun phrases: yɛrɛmɛ́ *íŋ hátí ‘a woman with/and a child’. Pozdniakov (2015: 79–81) reports that it is used only with animates in some Atlantic languages, which is not the case in Limba: poro ‘noise’, poro-íŋ ‘noises’. For other hypotheses, discussion of contact, and the possibility that the nasal plural suffix may have had different sources, see Cobbinah & Lüpke (2014) and Voisin (2015).</footnote>