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"Bantu languages Verb."
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The Conjoint/Disjoint Alternation in Bantu
The series publishes state-of-the-art work on core areas of linguistics across theoretical frameworks as well as studies that provide new insights by building bridges to neighbouring fields such as neuroscience and cognitive science. The series considers itself a forum for cutting-edge research based on solid empirical data on language in its various manifestations, including sign languages. It regards linguistic variation in its synchronic and diachronic dimensions as well as in its social contexts as important sources of insight for a better understanding of the design of linguistic systems and the ecology and evolution of language.
eBook
Actionality and aspect in Southern Ndebele and Xhosa, two Nguni languages of South Africa
This paper presents some key findings of studies of actionality and the verbal grammarlexicon interface in two Nguni Bantu languages of South Africa, Xhosa and Southern Ndebele. We describe interactions between grammatical tense marking (and other sentential bounding elements) and lexical verb types, arguing for the salience of inchoative verbs, which lexically encode a resultant state, and, in particular, a subclass of inchoative verbs, two-phase verbs, which encode both a resultant state and the \"coming-to-be\" phase leading up to that state. We further discuss other important features of actional classes in Xhosa and Southern Ndebele, including topics such as the role of participant structure and the relative importance of cross-linguistically prominent distinctions such as that between Vendlerian activities and accomplishments. Although differences between Xhosa and Southern Ndebele are evident both in the behaviour of individual tense-aspect forms and in the interpretive possibilities of specific verbs, the general patterns are quite similar. This similarity suggests that the patterns are likely to extend to other Nguni languages, as well, and that cross-linguistic comparison of particular lexical items across these languages are both feasible and likely to bear fruit.
Journal Article
Focus Fronting in a Language with In Situ Marking: The Case of Mǝ̀dʉ́mbà
This paper discusses the structural realisation of contrastive focus in the Grassfields Bantu language Bamileke Mǝ̀dʉ́mbà, yet another language with grammatically optional focus fronting. We show that the realisation of contrastive focus in Mǝ̀dʉ́mbà is by default marked in situ with the morphological focus marker á. We further show that á introduces an additional, not-at-issue exhaustivity inference as part of its lexical meaning. Taken together, this means that two often-discussed interpretive triggers of grammatically optional focus fronting, namely, contrastivity and exhaustivity, are not responsible for triggering Mǝ̀dʉ́mbà’s focus left-dislocation. Rather, the main semantic contribution of focus fronting consists in triggering an existence presupposition, a discourse-semantic effect well known from other focus–background bipartitions, possibly in combination with other, softer discourse-semantic effects, such as the special emphasis required in cases of discourse unexpectedness.
Journal Article
On the link between onset clusters and codas in Mbat (Jarawan Bantu)
This paper explores morphologically-conditioned alternations in Mbat (Jarawan Bantu) verb stems. Some inflectional affixation in Mbat results in resyllabification. The singleton coda of a CGVC verb stem will become the onset of a new syllable following the addition of a vowel-initial suffix (e.g., Perfective -
am
). What is surprising is that this, in turn, triggers onset simplification in the stem itself (i.e., CV.C-am). Adding further complexity to Mbat is that these alternations are limited to verb stems containing mid vowels. Stems with low vowels retain their pre-vocalic glide upon suffixation (i.e., CGV.C-am). These outcomes have implications for at least two contemporary lines of inquiry in phonological theory: i) the prosodification and behavior of pre-vocalic glides, and ii) the formal connection between so-called M
2
syllable margin positions (i.e., the second member of a complex onset and the sole member of a singleton coda). I illustrate that Mbat has something to contribute to current perspectives on both these fronts. In addition to the theoretical and typological contributions entailed herein, this paper is also significant in that it is the first formal linguistic study of a Jarawan Bantu language, a cluster of languages spoken primarily in eastern Nigeria.
Journal Article
An overview of Kabarasi verb tone
This article presents the results of a study of verbal tone patterns in Kabarasi [lkb], a Kenyan Bantu language of the Luhya [luy] group. Kabarasi tone has a number of features that are common to Bantu languages (Kisseberth & Odden 2003, Downing 2011, Marlo & Odden 2017), including a lexical contrast between /H/ and /∅/ verb roots and a rich system of tonal inflection. Long H spans that extend across several words may be created by a pair of iterative, mutually feeding rules. One of these rules only applies across word boundaries and exhibits look-ahead effects; the other motivates a novel morphophonological domain: the limitative stem.
Journal Article
Deficient Verb KA In Sesotho negative constructions
Sesotho is one of the African Languages that expresses sentence negation by means of bound pre-verbal negative morphemes. It has only three negative morphemes, viz. /ha/, /sa/ and /se/ spread across various Sesotho matrix and subordinate clauses. These morphemes negate different predicate forms such as non-copulative verbs, copulative verbs and deficient verbs. However, with regard to deficient verbs such as /ile/, they are replaced by the deficient verb /ka/ in Sesotho negative constructions. An attempt will be made to demonstrate that negation of deficient verbs in Sesotho is achieved through the employment of the deficient verb /ka/ in all the three negative constructions where negative morphemes /ha/, /se/ and /sa/ appear. This study is a descriptive research design within Generative Grammar, examining the syntactic distribution of the deficient verb /ka/ with its supplementary role in Sesotho negative sentence constructions over a range of inflectional categories such as aspect and mood. This article maintains that the deficient verb /ka/ plays a significant role in negating deficient verbs in Sesotho and as such, should be regarded as the negative deficient verb as it is the case with the negative copulative verb /se/ in copulative constructions, and as it is the case with the negative suffix /-e/ in none copulatives.
Journal Article
Basic motion verbs in Nyakyusa: lexical semantics and associated motion
This paper gives a descriptive account of the lexical semantics of seven basic verbs of translational motion in Nyakyusa (Bantu, M31), together with a description of the meaning and use of another motion verb that has grammaticalized to a marker of associated motion. The findings include, among other things, that Nyakyusa's most simple verb of motion encodes solely a motion path and that only the 'come'-verb, but none of the 'go'-verbs, encodes reference to the deictic centre. Applying a microcomparative perspective, the choice of ' go'-verb that has grammaticalized to a marker of associated motion is explained based on the relative salience assigned to the goal vis-avis the path.
Journal Article
Radical Defectivity: Implications of Xhosa Expletive Constructions
In Xhosa VSO clauses, subject agreement exhibits default features, objects cannot be pronominalized, a subject focus reading is obligatory, and experiencer verbs with two DP arguments are precluded. We argue that impoverished versions of T and v* in VSO clauses lack the probe features involved in subject agreement, EPP, object shift, and nominative/accusative valuation within Xhosa SVO sentences. Only an unusual focus-linked strategy can Case-license full DPs in VSO clauses, but this is incompatible with inherent Cases borne by arguments of experiencer verbs. We show that CPs and augmentless NPs appear in positions where DPs cannot surface because uCase is a feature of D. Given the striking evidence for abstract Case in Xhosa, we propose Case-friendly analyses for Bantu Case-theoretic anomalies that Xhosa shares.
Journal Article
Encoding the plural-honorific suffix -ani and the imperfective anga in Malawian CiTonga (N.15)
Many Bantu languages have the plural-honorific suffix *-Vni and the imperfective morpheme *-a(n)g-. In most of these languages, *-Vni is reported to be clearly encoded at POST-FINAL position. On the other hand, *-a(n)g- is said to be ambiguously encoded, either at EXT (extension) in one language or FV (final vowel) in another language. Still in others it coexists at both EXT and FV; there has also been a suggestion that it is encoded at POST-FINAL in several others. This article argues that the status of both the plural-honorific suffix -ani (*-Vni) and the imperfective -anga (*-a(n)g)- in CiTonga is fluid, it prevaricates between EXTENSION (suffix), FV (the commonest), and POST-FINAL (clitic). Although these formatives can be encoded at these positions, they are shown to be functionally different from extensions, inflectional vowel suffixes and clitics
Journal Article