Work Description

README FILE FOR JALKUNAN LEXICAL SPREADSHEETS

Jalkunan is a Mande language spoken in one village cluster in southwestern Burkina Faso. A reference grammar was published electronically by Language Description Heritage Library in 2017 with backup at deepblue
http://ldh.clld.org/2017/01/01/escidoc2346932/
http://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/139025
DOI: 10.17617/2.2346932

The spreadsheet format divides lexicon into five categories: nouns, adjectives, numerals, other, and verbs. “Other” includes adverbs, adpositions, and other grammatical elements. In the xlsx version, these are distinct worksheets belonging to a single spreadsheet. In the csv version, each sheet is its own document. The division into multiple sheets allows each category to be formatted in a customized manner with whatever columns of information are appropriate. The details are given for each sheet below. In the xlsx version, some cells are greyed out to indicate that the inflectional category in question is not applicable, because of properties (e.g. plural only, intransitive only) of the stem.

NOUNS
“stem” (all entries are marked n for noun)
“shape” CvLv, etc. (C=consonant, v=vowel, L=sonorant)
“melody” (tone pattern), e.g. LH(L), HHM(L), L=low, H=high, M=mid
“dim” (marks nouns with diminutive features)
“cpd” (marks compounds)
“rdp” (marks reduplicative nouns)
“sem” (marks certain semantic categories, e.g. fl=flora, fa=fauna, fa-bir=bird,
fa-ins=insect, f-rep=reptile, fa-mam=mammal, fa-fish=fish
(three forms of each noun, see below)
“English” gloss
“French” gloss
“comments 1”
“comments 2”

The first few columns allow sorting to bring relevant nouns together, either based on their phonological form, their morphology, or their meaning (flora, fauna).

The three forms shown for each noun are a) the premodifier form before adjectives and similar modifiers, b) the form taken by the noun in the frame ‘I saw __’, and c) the independent form that can be used in citation. The independent form typically has a suffix -ra, -la, or the like. The two other forms can differ slightly in tonal form.

ADJECTIVES
“stem” (adj), “melody”, “cpd”, “rdp” as for nouns
(three forms of each adjective, see below)
“English” gloss
“French” gloss
“comment 1”
“comment 2”

The first form shown is unsuffixed, as when followed by another modifier. The two other forms have the same suffix -ra or variant as for nouns. These two forms differ tonally as explained in the grammar.

NUMERALS
“stem” (num)
numeral
English
French
comment

OTHER
“stem” may be adv[erb], aux[iliary], compl[ementizer], coord[inator], dem[onstrative], disc[ourse category], interrog[ative], logic[al morpheme], poss[essive], postp[osition], pred[icate morpheme], pron[oun], quant[ifier], rel[ative marker], simil[arity], suffix.
“form”, “English”, and “French” are self-explanatory

VERBS
“stem” (v), “shape”, “melody”, “cpd”, “rdp” as for nouns
“tr” (transitivity): tr[ansitive], intr[ansitive], aux[iliary], refl[exive], pseudotr[ansitive], inch[oative], intr+O, “intr+P”. Transitive is defined as a verb taking a preverbal object. intr+O is a verb that takes a postverbal object. intr+P is a verb that takes a postpositional phrase. One verb meaning ‘go (to somewhere)’ is pseudo-transitive, sharing some transitive and intransitive features
(six forms of each verb, if applicable—see below)
“English”, “French”, “comment”, and “example”

The six forms shown are perfective (two tonal forms), imperfective (two tonal forms), imperative, and plural imperative. The different tonal forms are associated with different types of preceding nouns and noun-phrases, as explained in the grammar.

LICENSE

These documents are made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Please see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ for more information.