Monosyndetic and bisyndetic conjunction in Gizey

Abstract

Previous studies on Gizey (glottocode: gize1234, Masa < Chadic < Afroasiatic) have treated the monosyndetic and bisyndetic uses of the conjunction māj/mɛ̄j as semantically equivalent. This paper challenges that view, presenting novel evidence that these two forms of conjunction cannot always be equated. We argue that the distributional differences between monosyndetic and bisyndetic conjunction can be better understood by considering how they contribute to the coherence of the discourse that contain them. Using Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT), we show that monosyndetic and bisyndetic conjunction are compatible with coordinating discourse relations (e.g. RESULT, NARRATION, PARALLEL, CONTRAST) and are congruently incompatible with subordinating discourse relations (e.g. ELABORATION, EXPLANATION). Furthermore, whereas monosyndetic conjunction can appear with all coordinating relations, bisyndetic conjunction is restricted to the structural discourse relations, namely PARALLEL and CONTRAST.