zompist bboard

I followed a fieldwork class on Anyi last semester. A native speaker came in class and we did fieldwork sessions with him. I decided to put up my findings (I already got a grade for it) for you guys to see. I hope it gives a good insight for those unfamiliar with the language and an exciting read. I got graded 9/10; do you think it's worth that?

You'll see that I am not a man of many words; I prefer to illustrate things with data rather than giving elaborate explanations.

Hope you at least glance over it and see what you think !

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29498835/report ... ldwork.pdf

Interesting! I wish there was more, but obviously there's only so much you can do within the confines of a field methods class.

There isn't much info on Anyi online, though I did find this paper, which has a fair amount on the pronouns, and includes some asides on ATR-harmony, tone, etc. It's still unclear to me how important tone is, though it seems to play a more important role than you guys were able to determine. Apparently the few instances of vowel length are connected with tonal stuff too; i.e., syncope of an earlier vowel in CVL sequences leads to a long following vowel with combined tones, so blàá "woman" is bàlá in some dialects, apparently.

You also missed that the 2sg distinguishes subject and object forms as well, not only the 3sg (subject ɛ-, object (w)ɔ́ -- as shown e.g. in (45) mi kluɔ, "I love you" [cf. 177, 178a, 276-277a, 390a, etc.] and (105) mi li ɔ flua ɡɔ̃, "I have a letter for you"), the object forms being the same as those used in possessive constructions and so on (with certain aspects, however, the subject pronouns apparently all take low tone while the object pronouns retain high tone, so in those cases subject/object is distinguished for all person/numbers). Interestingly, Burmeister says reflexives are formed with the object pronouns and the noun ŋwṍ, but your data very clearly demonstrate the construction with bɔbɔ̃, with numerous examples.

There's also a paper from the 70s on Anyi serial verb constructions here. One interesting thing I noticed on skimming it (reeeeally briefly) is what is probably a dialectal difference; while your informant has adua for "dog", Van Leynseele records "cụ̀á" (= tʃʊ̀á?).

Oh, and in English it's Ivory Coast, not Cote d' Ivoire (because most monolingual English speakers don't know how to pronounce that), but that's a forgivable mistake.

I like your work tho!

Zontas wrote:Oh, and in English it's Ivory Coast, not Cote d' Ivoire (because most monolingual English speakers don't know how to pronounce that), but that's a forgivable mistake.

Hold your horses. The official name in English for purposes of diplomacy, international conferences and any dealings with the Ivorian government is Côte d'Ivoire:

wikipedia wrote:The name had long since been translated literally into other languages which the post-independence government considered to be increasingly troublesome whenever its international dealings extended beyond the Francophone sphere. Therefore, in April 1986, the government declared Côte d'Ivoire (or, more fully, République de Côte d'Ivoire) to be its formal name for the purposes of diplomatic protocol, and officially refuses to recognize or accept any translation from French to another language in its international dealings.
Despite the Ivorian government's request, the English translation "Ivory Coast" (sometimes "the Ivory Coast") is still frequently used in English, by various media outlets and publications.

You may place the Ivorian governments insistence on using the French name even in non-French languages anywhere on the range from "scurillous" to "bloody annoying", but using Côte d'Ivoire is not a mistake, it's actually official usage, which is also followed by all international organisations, the governments of English-speaking countries, and a lot of English-language newspapers and publications.

hwhatting wrote:

Zontas wrote:Oh, and in English it's Ivory Coast, not Cote d' Ivoire (because most monolingual English speakers don't know how to pronounce that), but that's a forgivable mistake.

Hold your horses. The official name in English for purposes of diplomacy, international conferences and any dealings with the Ivorian government is Côte d'Ivoire:
You may place the Ivorian governments insistence on using the French name even in non-French languages anywhere on the range from "scurillous" to "bloody annoying", but using Côte d'Ivoire is not a mistake, it's actually official usage, which is also followed by all international organisations, the governments of English-speaking countries, and a lot of English-language newspapers and publications.

Yeah, I know it as Côte d'Ivoire in English. That's what they say on the news and certainly sounds more natural than the Ivory Coast. Actually, Cote d'Ivoire probably because accents that aren't acute or diaeresis are especially optional. I'd use the French name without thinking of it, or thinking of it as a French word any more than croissant , baguette or cafetiere.

Also "cote" follows bog-standard English spelling rules and rhymes with note, quote, wrote and remote, and the end of "d'Ivoire" looks like the end of boudoir, Loire, and repertoire and rhymes with them as well and if any monolingual English speaker can't work that out, I suggest they learn to read more good. Silly Zontas.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't realise this was a Museum thread :s

Gulliver wrote:

hwhatting wrote:

Zontas wrote:Oh, and in English it's Ivory Coast, not Cote d' Ivoire (because most monolingual English speakers don't know how to pronounce that), but that's a forgivable mistake.

Hold your horses. The official name in English for purposes of diplomacy, international conferences and any dealings with the Ivorian government is Côte d'Ivoire:
You may place the Ivorian governments insistence on using the French name even in non-French languages anywhere on the range from "scurillous" to "bloody annoying", but using Côte d'Ivoire is not a mistake, it's actually official usage, which is also followed by all international organisations, the governments of English-speaking countries, and a lot of English-language newspapers and publications.

Yeah, I know it as Côte d'Ivoire in English. That's what they say on the news and certainly sounds more natural than the Ivory Coast. Actually, Cote d'Ivoire probably because accents that aren't acute or diaeresis are especially optional. I'd use the French name without thinking of it, or thinking of it as a French word any more than croissant , baguette or cafetiere.

Also "cote" follows bog-standard English spelling rules and rhymes with note, quote, wrote and remote, and the end of "d'Ivoire" looks like the end of boudoir, Loire, and repertoire and rhymes with them as well and if any monolingual English speaker can't work that out, I suggest they learn to read more good. Silly Zontas.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't realise this was a Museum thread :s

One interesting thing (at least around here): although the country is always (or mostly) "Cote d'Ivoire", the football team is always (as in ALWAYS) "Ivory Coast". Used to confuse me a bit, that.