Diachrony of biclausal causal constructions in Gban

Abstract The paper presents an internal diachronic reconstruction for a certain type of marking found in causal clauses in Gban. Gban has a set of biclausal causal constructions built on the basis of two elements, clause-initial nɛ̰̀… and clause-final …lɛ̌ (cognate with the postposition lɛ̌ ‘because of’ and the noun lɛ̌ ‘matter’). One of these varieties contains both elements, resulting in a frame-like marking “[[ nɛ̰̀ cause lɛ̌ ], consequence ]”, the other two contain only one element: “[[ nɛ̰̀ cause ], consequence ]” and “[[ cause lɛ̌ ], consequence ]”. There is also a consequence construction, again involving a cognate element lɛ̌… , this time clause-initial and meaning ‘therefore’: “[ cause ], [ lɛ̌ consequence ]”, and a set of correlative cause-and-consequence constructions: “[( nɛ̰̀ ) cause ( lɛ̌ )], [ lɛ̌ consequence ]”. Several diachronic scenarios for the emergence of these constructions are discussed. The most plausible scenario states that the element lɛ̌ in all constructions comes from a contraction of a longer (and still attested) unit ȁ lì lɛ̌ , literally ‘it’s because of that ’, and that in the causal constructions, this ( ȁ lì ) lɛ̌ unit appeared via reanalysis from either its medial uses in correlative structures and the consequence construction or from its possible final use, similar to He fell because the floor was slippery, that’s why .