Basic morphosyntax of verbal and non-verbal clauses in San-Maka

This article presents an overview of the basic verbal constructions of San-Maka, an East Mande language of Burkina Faso. The introduction provides general facts on San-Maka: its position in the San / Sane language cluster, basic information on its phonological (segmental and tonal) system. Information on noun and pronoun morphology is also given. The main part of the article deals with predicative constructions of San-Maka. The morphological paradigm of a verb in San-Maka consists of three aspectual forms: neutral, perfective and imperfective. Perfective and imperfective verb forms combine with predicative markers, some of which seem derived from copulas. The grammatical meaning of the existing predicative constructions is analyzed. It is shown that two imperfective constructions differ by their information structure and reflect different pragmatic intentions of the speaker. The final section represents an overview of San-Maka non-verbal predications. The Conclusion shows some similarities between grammatical words in San-Maka: certain copulas, predicative markers and the focus marker.