Tigrinya Clausal Prefixes @cite{cacchioli-2025}

@cite{pollock-1989} @cite{rizzi-1997}

Lexical entries for Tigrinya's four clause-initial morphemes, analyzed as spell-outs of distinct heads in a cartographic left periphery.

The four prefixes

Prefix	Gloss	Head	Clause type
zɨ-	REL	Rel	relative / general subordination
kɨ-	SBJV	Fin	subjunctive / irrealis
kəmzi-	COMP	Force	factive complementizer
ʔay-...-n	NEG	Neg	negative (circumfix)

Key empirical facts

1. Mutual exclusion: The four prefixes are in complementary distribution (no stacking of zɨ- + kɨ-, etc.)
2. Fixed position: All precede the verbal complex
3. Agreement: kɨ- and ʔay-...-n take agreement suffixes; zɨ- does not
4. Discontinuity: Only ʔay-...-n is discontinuous (circumfix)
5. Selection: Matrix verb class determines which prefix appears (knowledge → kəmzi-, desiderative → kɨ-, etc.)

inductive Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.TigrinyaClauseType : Type

Clause types in Tigrinya, determined by the clausal prefix.

• relative : TigrinyaClauseType
• subjunctive : TigrinyaClauseType
• factive : TigrinyaClauseType
• negative : TigrinyaClauseType
• matrix : TigrinyaClauseType

instance Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instDecidableEqTigrinyaClauseType : DecidableEq TigrinyaClauseType

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instDecidableEqTigrinyaClauseType x✝ y✝ = if h : x✝.ctorIdx = y✝.ctorIdx then isTrue ⋯ else isFalse ⋯

def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqTigrinyaClauseType.beq : TigrinyaClauseType → TigrinyaClauseType → Bool

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqTigrinyaClauseType.beq x✝ y✝ = (x✝.ctorIdx == y✝.ctorIdx)

instance Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqTigrinyaClauseType : BEq TigrinyaClauseType

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqTigrinyaClauseType = { beq := Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqTigrinyaClauseType.beq }

instance Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprTigrinyaClauseType : Repr TigrinyaClauseType

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprTigrinyaClauseType = { reprPrec := Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprTigrinyaClauseType.repr }

def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprTigrinyaClauseType.repr : TigrinyaClauseType → ℕ → Std.Format

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structure Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ClausePrefixEntry : Type

A Tigrinya clausal prefix lexical entry.

• prefix_ : String

  Surface form of the prefix

• gloss : String

  Gloss

• headCat : Minimalism.Cat

  Syntactic head this prefix spells out

• clauseType : TigrinyaClauseType

  Clause type selected

• takesAgreementSuffix : Bool

  Whether the prefix takes an agreement suffix

• isDiscontinuous : Bool

  Whether the exponence is discontinuous (circumfix)

• suffix_ : String

  Suffix form for circumfixes (empty if not discontinuous)

def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprClausePrefixEntry.repr : ClausePrefixEntry → ℕ → Std.Format

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instance Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprClausePrefixEntry : Repr ClausePrefixEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprClausePrefixEntry = { reprPrec := Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instReprClausePrefixEntry.repr }

instance Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqClausePrefixEntry : BEq ClausePrefixEntry

Equations

• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqClausePrefixEntry = { beq := Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqClausePrefixEntry.beq }

def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqClausePrefixEntry.beq : ClausePrefixEntry → ClausePrefixEntry → Bool

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• Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.instBEqClausePrefixEntry.beq x✝¹ x✝ = false

def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.zi : ClausePrefixEntry

zɨ- : relativizer / general subordinator. Spells out Rel. Does not take agreement. "zɨ-mäs'ə" = REL-come = "who came"

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def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ki : ClausePrefixEntry

kɨ- : subjunctive / irrealis marker. Spells out Fin with [-finite]. Selected by desiderative/manipulative verbs. "kɨ-mäs'ə" = SBJV-come = "to come"

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def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.kemzi : ClausePrefixEntry

kəmzi- : factive complementizer. Spells out Force (@cite{rizzi-1997} split-CP). Selected by knowledge/commentative verbs. "kəmzi-mäs'ə" = COMP-come = "that (he) came" (factive)

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def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ay_n : ClausePrefixEntry

ʔay-...-n : negative circumfix. Spells out Neg. The verbal stem is wrapped: ʔay-mäs'ə-n = NEG-come-NEG = "did not come". Discontinuous exponence derived from V-to-Neg head movement.

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def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.allPrefixes : List ClausePrefixEntry

All four clausal prefix entries.

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def Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.negCircumfix (verbStem : String) : Morphology.Circumfix.CircumfixExponence

Construct a CircumfixExponence from the negative circumfix entry.

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theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.neg_circumfix_example : (negCircumfix "mäs'ə").realize = "ʔay-mäs'ə-n"

The negative circumfix surfaces correctly.

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.zi_targets_rel : zi.headCat = Minimalism.Cat.Rel

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ki_targets_fin : ki.headCat = Minimalism.Cat.Fin

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.kemzi_targets_force : kemzi.headCat = Minimalism.Cat.Force

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ay_targets_neg : ay_n.headCat = Minimalism.Cat.Neg

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.zi_no_agreement : zi.takesAgreementSuffix = false

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ki_has_agreement : ki.takesAgreementSuffix = true

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ay_is_discontinuous : ay_n.isDiscontinuous = true

theorem Fragments.Tigrinya.ClausePrefixes.ki_is_continuous : ki.isDiscontinuous = false