FV & mV
fV marker
- it shows up only with transitive verbs;
- it has a meaning similar to perfective;
- it is incompatible with negation;
- it is incompatible with A′
- extraction of any kind (questions, relative clauses);
- it is in complementary distribution with another marker, mV.
Complete situation
The morpheme fV has a perfective meaning and is used to decribe complete situations. It cannot be used to describe ongoing or habitual situations.
(1)
| ù | f(i) | òdʒ(e) | àba̋tʃà | hì | (mɛ̄) |
| 1SG | PERF1 | morsel | cassava | cook | (already) |
| 'I have cooked mashed cassava.' | |||||
| *I cooked mashed cassava just now. | |||||
| *I cooked mashed cassava (habitual). | |||||
| *I am cooking mashed cassava. |
Word order with fV
One of the most recognizable properties of fV is its influence on word order. The surface word order in Igala is SVO, including with the progressive and the imperfective markers. However, in the presence of fV, this is modified. This morpheme appears to surface in the usual verb slot, while the matrix verb appears sentence-finally.
(2a)
| ù | hʲ | òdʒ(e) | à↑ba̋tʃà |
| 1SG | cook | morsel | cassava |
| I cooked mashed cassava.' |
(2b)
| ù | f(i) | òdʒ(e) | àba̋tʃà | hì |
| 1SG | PERF1 | morsel | cassava | cook |
| 'I have cooked mashed cassava.' |
(3a)
| ú | lʲ | ǒhìmìnì |
| 1SG | see | ocean |
| 'I saw the ocean' |
(3b)
| ù | f(i) | òhìmìnì | lí |
| 1SG | PERF1 | ocean | see |
| 'I have seen the ocean' |
About fV and the splitting verbs
When the verb is split, the first part of the verb is before the object and second part is after the object, including with the progressive and imperfective aspectual markers.
（4a)
| ù | kpɔ̄ | (ɔ)nà | lɛ́ | fɔ̄ |
| 1SG | break- | door | DEF.DIST | -break |
| 'I broke the door.' |
(4b)
| Ǒtʃálā | k(ɔ) | ēlā | lɛ́ | da |
| Ochala | cut- | meat | DEF.DIST | -cut |
| 'Ochala cut the meat. |
(5a)
| otʃala | a | d(u) | ɔbɛ | k(ɔ) | ela | lɛ | da |
| Ochala | IPFV | take | knife | cut- | meat | DEF.DIST | -cut |
| 'Ochala will take the knife and cut the meat.' |
(5b)
| otʃala | na | d(u) | ɔbɛ | k(ɔ) | ela | lɛ | da |
| Ochala | PROG | take | knife | cut- | meat | DEF.DIST | -cut |
| 'Ochala was cutting the meat with a knife.' |
When f(i) is added to a sentence with a split verb, the word order seems to become SOV.
(6a)
| ū | f(i) | ɔ̌nâ | lɛ̄ | kpɔ̀ | fɔ̄ |
| 1SG | PERF1 | door | DEF.DIST | break- | -break |
| 'I have broken the door.' |
(6b)
| Ǒtʃálā | f(i) | ela | lɛ | kɔ | da |
| Ochala | PERF1 | meat | DEF.DIST | cut- | -cut |
| 'Ochala has cut the meat.' |
fV and Stative Verbs
Fu cannot join with most stative verbs.
(7)
| *u | fu | gʷu |
| 1SG | F1 | sit |
| “I finished sitting” |
mV marker
In complementary distribution with fV (under unknown conditions - might have something to do with unaccusative/unergative distinction and/or thematic roles).
(8)
| ù | m(u) | (*f(i)) | őgìgò | mī | dū | tíŋɔ̂ |
| 1SG | ? | (*PERF1) | glasses | my | take | lost |
| I have lost my glasses.' |