The Factative and Perfect Aspect Markers in Degema and Kalaḅarị

Abstract

This article discusses the factative and perfect markers in Degema and Kalaḅarị. The research is motivated by the observed similarities and differences in the properties/behaviour of these markers in both languages. The article notes that the factative and perfect markers are monosyllabic in both languages, and that the perfect marker in Kalaḅarị is opaque to vowel harmony because it is prosodically independent. With reference to morphology, it notes that whereas the Degema factative and perfect markers are clitics, their Kalaḅarị counterparts are words. On a morphosyntactic level, the article observes that unlike in Degema, the factative marker in Kalaḅarị does not occur within monomorphemic stems because it is not a clitic. It is further restricted by syllable structure. The findings of this article validate the fact that although languages may have elements with similar features, such elements may not pattern in the same way, and that differences in patterning make each human language unique.