scholarly journals relatives possessives en mbochi (C25)

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 7-31
Author(s):  
Jean-Marc Beltzung ◽  
Annie Rialland ◽  
Martial Embanga Aborobongui
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Congo Brazzaville ◽  
Detailed Presentation

This paper deals with the possessive constructions — either connective or relative — in Mbochi (C25), a Bantu language spoken in Congo-Brazzaville. In Mbochi, as in most languages of the same group (C20), the underlying /CV-/ form of nominal prefixes never surfaces as such but is targeted by two main processes: consonantal dissimilation and vowel elision. Both processes are in complementary distribution and the alternations triggered by them may explain the surface forms of both connective and relative constructions. In order to provide the necessary background for the study of Mbochi relative clauses, the three subject markers of Mbochi are introduced and the main verbal suffixes are also discussed. Thereafter, a detailed presentation and analysis of the relative constructions is given. Finally, we discuss the prosody of these constructions, showing that relative clauses in Mbochi have no particular tonal markers and we propose a model involving superimposed boundary tones to account for their intonation.  

The origin and use of a relative clause construction that targets objects in Orungu (Bantu, Gabon)

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark L. O. Van de Velde ◽  
Odette Ambouroue
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Rare Type ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Syntactic Relation

Abstract This paper provides an analysis of two relative clause constructions in the Gabonese Bantu language Orungu that are in complementary distribution. The choice between them is determined by the target of relativisation in a typologically interesting way, in that it involves the combination of the criteria of the syntactic relation, thematic role and referential properties of the target. The construction that targets most types of objects is formally nearly identical to relative clauses that target the subject of a passive clause and we argue that it originates in the syntactic reanalysis of such subject relatives. That is, relative clauses that targeted the subject of a passive clause have been reanalysed as relative clauses that target the object of an active clause. This shows a rare type of change in relative clause constructions, which is unique in Bantu, but grounded in the universal tendencies captured by the accessibility hierarchy.

scholarly journals The Bondei object pronoun in clefts and pseudo-clefts.pdf

1988 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-257
Author(s):  
Elizabeth G. Weber
Keyword(s):  
East Africa ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Syntactic Category ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Grammatical Construction ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Cleft Constructions

Verbs in Bondei, a Bantu language spoken in East Africa, have crossreferencing pronouns which agree in noun class with the subject and object of the clause. This paper will examine the distribution of the syntactic category object pronoun in four grammatical constructions: (a) basic affirmative declarative clauses; (b) relative clauses; (c) clefts; and (d) pseudo-clefts. In declarative and relative clauses, the presence of the object pronoun does not require a definite interpretation of the object noun; the absence of the object pronoun does not preclude a definite interpretation of the object noun. In both cleft and pseudo-cleft constructions, however, the object pronoun obligatorily functions to grammatically mark clef ted and pseudo-clef ted objects as definite. In the cleft constructions, the definiteness of the clef ted NP forces a contrastive interpretation. Thus, a judgement concerning the function of this grammatical construction with regard to contrastive function will be made on the basis of the distribution of the syntactic category object pronoun. possible to make the same judgment. Contrastive function is unambiguously signaled by the relative morphology on the verb of the pseudo-cleft. In this constuction, the object pronoun serves only to force a definite interpretation of the NP. In the pseudo-cleft constructions, it is not possible to make the same judgment. Contrastive function is unambiguously signaled by the relative morphology on the verb of the pseudo-cleft. In this constuction, the object pronoun serves only to force a definite interpretation of the NP.

scholarly journals prosody of Símákonde relative clauses

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 159-185
Author(s):  
Sophie Manus
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Noun Phrases ◽  
Head Noun ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Prosodic Phrase ◽  
Final Stress ◽  
The Relationship

Símákonde is an Eastern Bantu language (P23) spoken by immigrant Mozambican communities in Zanzibar and on the Tanzanian mainland. Like other Makonde dialects and other Eastern and Southern Bantu languages (Hyman 2009), it has lost the historical Proto-Bantu vowel length contrast and now has a regular phrase-final stress rule, which causes a predictable bimoraic lengthening of the penultimate syllable of every Prosodic Phrase. The study of the prosody / syntax interface in Símákonde Relative Clauses requires to take into account the following elements: the relationship between the head and the relative verb, the conjoint / disjoint verbal distinction and the various phrasing patterns of Noun Phrases. Within Símákonde noun phrases, depending on the nature of the modifier, three different phrasing situations are observed: a modifier or modifiers may (i) be required to phrase with the head noun, (ii) be required to phrase separately, or (iii) optionally phrase with the head noun.  

scholarly journals Pre-verbal focus in Kisikongo (H16a, Bantu)

2014 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
pp. 95-122
Author(s):  
Jasper De Kind
Keyword(s):  
Focus Position ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Cleft Constructions ◽  
Congo Brazzaville ◽  
Focus Strategy ◽  
Focus Strategies

The present paper aims at describing different pre-verbal focus strategies in Kisikongo (H16a), spoken in the vicinity of Mbanza Kongo, northern Angola. This western Bantu language is part of the Kikongo Language Cluster (KLC), stretching from southern Gabon to northern Angola, including Cabinda and parts of Congo-Brazzaville and Congo-Kinshasa. Kikongo exhibits a clause-internal pre-verbal argument focus position, which has rarely been reported in Bantu languages, except in Mbuun (B87) (Bostoen and Mundeke 2012) and Nsong (B85d) (Koni Muluwa and Bostoen, this volume), both spoken in the neighboring Kwilu region of the DRC. The more extensively studied eastern and southern Bantu languages generally have a post-verbal argument focus position (cf. Watters 1979, Morimoto 2000, Creissels 2004, Güldemann 2007, Buell 2009, van der Wal 2009, among others). In addition to this mono-clausal argument focus strategy, Kisikongo also relies on different bi-clausal constructions to focus arguments, i.e. cleft-constructions.  

Pivot and puzzling relativization in Indonesian

2021 ◽  
pp. 181-202
Author(s):  
I Wayan Arka
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Complementary Distribution

This chapter presents a novel analysis of Indonesian relative clauses that makes use of the Pivot (PIV) notion as an abstract discourse-syntactic overlay function involving prominent GFs (SUBJ/OBJ) and prominent DFs (FOC-C/TOP-C). The analysis resolves certain perennial relativization issues in Indonesian. The PIV-based analysis not only offers a solution to the Indonesian relativization puzzles presented but sheds light upon the fallibilities of previous analyses of Indonesian relativization processes, which assume gapping and pronominal copy strategies to be in complementary distribution. Instead, the PIV-based analysis offers a stronger account for these facts whereby the presence of overt SUBJ in the tight yang structure with nasal AV verbs renders the relativization of OBJ unacceptable, irrespective of which relativization strategy is used. This can be thought of as a ‘hard’ grammatical constraint of SUBJ relativization in Indonesian, which requires gapping.

A participle account of Blackfoot relative clauses

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-238
Author(s):  
Sara Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Morphological Composition ◽  
Adjectival Modification ◽  
Agreement Morphology ◽  
Direct Objects ◽  
Nominal Agreement

AbstractBlackfoot verbs are marked with nominal agreement morphology in relative clauses, in place of verbal inflection. These relative clauses have previously been analyzed as nominalizations. The present study shows that a nominalization analysis makes incorrect predictions about the morphological composition of relative clauses, as well as the availability of non-agentive and possessive constructions, and adjectival modification. This study demonstrates that relative clauses can relativize subjects, direct objects, and indirect objects. Based on observations about obviation, recursion, long-distance extraction, inflection, and word order, I propose that relative clauses are participles: clausal entities with a nominal superstructure. This accounts for their mixed clausal and nominal properties, and provides an analysis of Blackfoot relative clauses similar to those proposed for related Algonquian languages.

scholarly journals Papers from the workshop on Bantu relative clauses

2010 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Laura Downing ◽  
Annie Rialland ◽  
Jean-Marc Beltzung ◽  
Sophie Manus ◽  
Cédric Patin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Relative Clause ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
The Other ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Western Uganda ◽  
Restrictive Relatives

All of the papers in the volume except one (Kaji) take up some aspect of relative clause construction in some Bantu language. Kaji’s paper aims to account for how Tooro (J12; western Uganda) lost phonological tone through a comparative study of the tone systems of other western Uganda Bantu languages. The other papers examine a range of ways of forming relative clauses, often including non-restrictive relatives and clefts, in a wide range of languages representing a variety of prosodic systems.  

scholarly journals Definiteness in Chiyao

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 44-66
Author(s):  
Julius Taji
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
Family Relations ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Audio Recording ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Subject And Object ◽  
Bare Nouns ◽  
North Western

The aim of this paper is to examine the linguistic devices used to express definiteness in Chiyao, a Bantu language of Southern Tanzania, Southern Malawi, and north-western Mozambique. The analysis is guided by the familiarity theory of definiteness, and is based on the data collected through audio-recording of traditional narratives which were later transcribed to identify utterances with definite NPs. Findings establish three main strategies of signalling definiteness in the language, which include morphological, morphosyntactic, and use of bare nouns. The morphological indicators of definiteness include subject and object markers while the morphosyntactic indicators include demonstratives, locative particles, possessive determiners, genitive expressions, and relative clauses. Bare definiteness is mainly expressed by nouns of inalienable possession, including those denoting body parts and family relations. These findings enrich the existing literature on definiteness in Bantu languages and inform future typological and comparative studies on this subject.

Duplicity in possessive merger: evidence from Spanish alienable possessive constructions

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 371-412
Author(s):  
Sangyoon Kim
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Relative Clauses ◽  
The Core ◽  
Internal Category ◽  
Direct Modification ◽  
Word Order Variation ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Order Variation ◽  
Principled Explanation

Abstract In this paper, I argue that Spanish prenominal and postnominal possessives target different external merge positions focusing on alienable possessive constructions. The analysis is developed alongside a proposal on the organization of DPs, according to which articles are merged as a DP-internal category between the domains assigned to direct and indirect modifiers. Prenominal possessives are determiners reanalyzed from direct modification adjectives whereas postnominal possessives are indirect modification adjectives that arise as predicates of reduced relative clauses. This analysis provides a principled explanation on the behavior of Spanish possessives that is lacking in the generalized idea that they are pronouns with a unique merge position. Arguments are also presented showing that syntax-driven phonological restrictions condition the derivation of DPs. The account successfully derives the core properties of word order variation and related issues within possessive constructions.

Gothic Relative Clauses Introduced by and Revisited

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20
Author(s):  
Elena Afros
Keyword(s):  
Relative Clauses ◽  
The Other ◽  
Symmetric System ◽  
Relative Pronoun ◽  
Complementary Distribution ◽  
Grammatical Categories ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Relative Pronouns

The Gothic invariant relativizers and have been analyzed in different ways. Von der Gabelentz and Loebe (1836/1846), Harbert (1992), Klinghardt (1877), and Streitberg (1910) treated and as indeclinable relative particles. Musić (1929) and Wright (1954), on the other hand, regarded them as relative pronouns. The present study shows that in the attested Gothic, and do not form a symmetric system with the opposition of gender. In addition, and appear to lack the grammatical categories of number and case applicable to the pronominal relativizers in Gothic and therefore cannot be classified as pronouns. Significantly, the elements and are reserved for certain types of antecedents and constructions, which might indicate that diachronically, they might have been in complementary distribution with relative pronouns, as suggested by Delbrück (1909). Synchronically, however, it is impossible to account for overlapping distribution of the relativizers and , the relative pronoun based on the demonstrative, and the complementizers and .

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