The grammar of Orungu proper names

✍ Scribed by Van de Velde, Mark; Ambouroue, Odette

• Book ID: 115473319
• Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co. KG
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 448 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0167-6164
• DOI: 10.1515/jall.2011.004

✦ Synopsis

Aspects of the grammar of proper names in the Gabonese Bantu language Orungu are described and tentatively explained, with special attention for agreement and definiteness marking. Proper names have a mixed agreement pattern that differs from that of the common nouns with which they are related. Definiteness marking is redundant on proper names, which are inherently definite. The difference between definite and non-definite tone patterns is deployed to express other semantic-pragmatic values. Although the main focus is on personal names and place names, we pay attention to different types of names, including autonyms and names for numbers and languages. A noteworthy conclusion is that in order to arrive at a satisfying description, we need to define a new grammatical category, viz. that of deproprial nouns.