Moore Verbs: singular and iteratve
Aspectual study of verbs in Mooré:
the singular vs the iterative
Stendhal Grenoble III University
Department of Linguistics
2015-2016
OUEDRAOGO Wendingoudi Emile
1- The verbs n boke and n boge = to vaccinate
Yʋʋm ka tɛka, b zãgsam tɩ b pa bogd bamb kamba ye: for a very long time, they refused to have their children vaccinated
Here bogd designates the conjugated form of the infinitive verb n boge (to vaccinate several times), this
last itself being the iterative correspondent of the verb n boke (vaccinate once).
A translation which is intended to be fairly faithful in French of our extract from the corpus, should therefore mention the repetitive nature of the action of "vaccinating": (...) they refused that each of their children be vaccinated several times or that a same vaccine is not applied to more than one of their children at the same time.
2- The verbs n tõbge and n tõbse = to pinch
Mam yinga tõbsedame: my body itches
A tõbga a yaowa yibeoogɛ̃ hal tɩ -a yãbe: he pinched his little brother this morning in such a way
(until) he cried
N tõbge and n tõbse are two infinitive verbs with aspectual values singulative for the first and iterative for the second. Thus the implicit plural idea, that is to say the idea of an action of "pinching" several times, calls for the use of one form (n tõbse) instead of another
(n tõbge).
3- The verbs n pooge and n poa = to drill, to hole
B zaka rãmb zãng fãa pooga sãaga: all the members of their family have bitten the diarrhea
Yõngra poa võy wʋsg rooga poaga: the mouse drilled a lot of holes in the house
In Mooré, "to pierce diarrhea" actually means "to prick diarrhea" and is designated by the infinitive form n poog sãaga. But if a person has suffered enough from this disease on several occasions (for example during his life), we will rather mean that he has "pierced diarrhea", she stung several different diarrhea: n poa sãase with the possibility of an iterative aspect (n pooge vs n poa).
4- The verbs n pãrge and n pãrse = to tear
B zaba taab hal n pãrs taab futu: they fought to the point of tearing their clothes
N pãrge is opposed to n pãrse, as for the other verbs mentioned above, so that one expresses the idea of a singular action not repeated while the other hammers precisely on repetition. We could translate the example of the body, not by "tearing" but "tearing": they fought to the point of tearing each other's clothes = tearing several times.
5- The verbs n tabge and n tabse = to pick up
Kamba ra zĩi n tabsda gũyã: the children were sitting collecting ants
N tabge means to pick up (usually something tiny); on the other hand, n tabse will denote to express the fact of picking up several tiny things.
Bibliography
- Zongo, B. (2004). Let's speak Mooré: language and culture of the Mossis. Paris: L’Harmattan.
- Learn Mooré - zãms mõore: https://www.facebook.com/zamsmoore
- Blog: http://langueburkinabe-moore.blogspot.fr/
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