Doing Something for Someone

Level 4

Compare bá + person + activity with action + fún + beneficiary.

How It Works

In an assistance frame, bá precedes the person receiving help and the activity phrase. In Títí bá mi ṣe iṣẹ́, Títí helps me do the work. The following verb and its object identify the activity; the person after bá receives assistance.

A frame with fún can identify someone for whom an action is performed. Compare helping Bísí wash clothes with washing clothes for Bísí. The first highlights assistance with the activity; the second identifies the beneficiary. In either frame, the clothes remain the item washed.

Lawal classifies these as prepositional serial constructions: the relationship element does not independently assert another full action. Other analyses treat such elements as prepositions. The terminology therefore requires attribution, while the participant distinction remains useful. Keep the person's pronoun appropriate to its position, and do not assume that exchanging bá and fún preserves the emphasis.

Examples (3)

  1. Délé bá Bísí fọ aṣọ.

    Délé helped Bísí wash clothes.

    Bísí receives assistance; the clothes are washed.

  2. Títí bá mi ṣe iṣẹ́.

    Títí helped me do the work.

    Mi identifies the person receiving assistance.

  3. A fọ aṣọ fún wọn.

    We washed clothes for them.

    Wọn identifies the beneficiaries, while aṣọ identifies what was washed.

How It Connects

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Doing Something for SomeoneLevel 4

Learn This First

Separate the helper, beneficiary, and affected item.