Clause chaining in Bambara

Bambara (Manding < West Mande < Mande < Niger-Congo) has a specialized clause chaining (cosubordinative) construction where the first clause has a verb full-fledged for TAM and polarity, and verbs of subsequent clauses are in infinitive; non-initial clauses are not embedded into the initial one and cannot be therefore regarded as subordinate. Characteristics of the Bambara clause chaining are analyzed: scope of operators (illocutionary force, negation), TAM characteristics, same- and different-subjectness. From the evidence of peripheral Manding varieties, a hypothesis concerning the origin of infinitive from an archaic preposition is advanced.