Iraqw has a number of morphological means to derive nouns from verbs. All of these can develop specific meanings but it is the nominalisation that expresses the action of the verb that allows for... Show moreIraqw has a number of morphological means to derive nouns from verbs. All of these can develop specific meanings but it is the nominalisation that expresses the action of the verb that allows for the expression of arguments, irrespective of the actual nominalisation morpheme. These arguments (patient or agent) can be expressed as possessive elements in noun phrases. Despite the fact that the deverbal noun is fully nominal in morphological characteristics, the deverbal noun can occur in constructions in which its semantic argument (patient or agent) is expressed as an object to the main verb. There are four constructions to integrate a deverbal noun in a clause. We provide an overview of the formal characteristics of these constructions. Show less
Iraqw has a number of preverbal elements that are compounded to the verb and some of these have functions similar to an applicative.These compounds are not fully productive and are prone to... Show moreIraqw has a number of preverbal elements that are compounded to the verb and some of these have functions similar to an applicative.These compounds are not fully productive and are prone to lexicalisations.One of them, hara, doubles as a preposition. The grammaticalisation of a number of these preverbal elements allows us to study the process of development from preposition (and other independent elements) to verbal applicative marker. Show less
The paper provides an overview of blessings and curses in verbal art and in daily life among the Iraqw (Cushitic) of Tanzania. Blessings and curses are common in the verbal art and these seem to be... Show moreThe paper provides an overview of blessings and curses in verbal art and in daily life among the Iraqw (Cushitic) of Tanzania. Blessings and curses are common in the verbal art and these seem to be formally different from how traditionally in daily life people would intentionally bless and curse.The fiiro traditional prayer (literally requesting) is interspersed with blessings/curses or strong wishes which are clearly set apart from by a high speed of speech, high pitch and loud voice for a whole sentence upon which the audience waves the hands in the air or towards the ground. The slufay poetry which follows the fiiro can be seen as one long blessing, using subordinate verb forms and other archais elements but not containing these formally marked utterances of the fiiro (Beck and Mous 2014).In daily life cursing is done sometimes standing on a hillock wishing bad fortune on ones opponent but the actual words nor the way they are performed seem to be essential (Kamera 1986). Lifting the curse is a major event however. This can easily take up a whole day of discussing, singing, drinking and eating and the ceremony needs to be performed with the families of the two opponents and other people from the area present and with text emphasizing peace, good wishes and community spirit. The anthropological literature discusses the societal functions of curses (Hagborg 2001, Lawi 2000, Rekdal 1999, Snyder 2005, Thornton 1980).Blessing is often done by putting a piece of grass, barsi, above the door of the house between the cross bar above thr door opening and the roof. This can but need not be accompanied with speech. Show less
