An Analysis of Verbal Extensions in Malawian Tonga: Towards Mirror Principle and Templatic Morphology

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 66
Author(s):  
Mexon Manda ◽  
Wellman Kondowe ◽  
Flemmings Fishani Ngwira ◽  
Lydia Kishindo
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Templatic Morphology ◽  
Mirror Principle ◽  
Affix Ordering

The question on affix ordering is among the central concerns in morphological analyses of Bantu languages, with most studies drawing insights from Mirror Principle and Templatic Morphology theoretical underpinnings. However, it remains debatable to a larger extent on whether conclusions drawn from such studies can be extended to all languages with agglutinative morphological structures. This study was carried out to examine the structure of suffix ordering in Malawian Tonga by examining the two theories. On morpheme co-occurrence, the study reveals that causatives and applicatives, as argument-structure increasing suffixes, should always precede other extensions which are argument-structure reducing suffixes in order to be consistent with the tenets of the two theories. However, there are some observable cases where prescriptions of these theories breed ungrammatical structures in Tonga.

CARP Affix Ordering: Problematic in Lubukusu

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-36
Author(s):  
Mary K. Lonyangapu
Keyword(s):  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
Templatic Morphology ◽  
Relevance Principle ◽  
Affix Ordering

Hyman and Mchombo (1992), Babye (1985), (Myers 1987), (Rice 2000), and Hyman (2002 & 2003) have shown that there is affix ordering in Proto-Bantu languages that obeys the 'CARP' (Causative-Applicative-Reciprocal-Passive template). Drawing data from Lubukusu, a Bantu language, the current study analyzes affix ordering of class-changing morphemes, arguing against the templatic morphology that most researchers have shown to be dominant in Bantu languages.  The current study uses Bybee’s (1985) principle of iconicity (principle of relevance), where it is proposed that affixes closer to the verb stem are more 'relevant' to the verb than to the rest of the sentence and those affixes further away are less relevant. Based on Baybee’s relevance principle, the study argues that there are various affix ordering orders in Lubukusu, which are semantically motivated.  The data that are used in the analyses are self-generated and verified by three native Lubukusu speakers who are competent in the language. Findings show that as much as Lubukusu obeys the templatic morphology, the same is violated in various morpho-semantic contexts. The study recommends more studies on affix ordering in the Lubukusu language based on other existing frameworks that have been tested on languages rather than those from the proto Bantu family.

Rules and construction effects in learning the argument structure of verbs

2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-821 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE DEMUTH ◽  
'MALILLO MACHOBANE ◽  
FRANCINA MOLOI
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Rule Learning ◽  
Double Object ◽  
Learning Problem ◽  
Order Restrictions ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Verb Semantics ◽  
Applicative Constructions

Theorists of language acquisition have long debated the means by which children learn the argument structure of verbs (e.g. Bowerman, 1974, 1990; Pinker, 1984, 1989; Tomasello, 1992). Central to this controversy has been the possible role of verb semantics, especially in learning which verbs undergo dative-shift alternation in languages like English. The learning problem is somewhat simplified in Bantu double object constructions, where all applicative verbs show the same order of postverbal objects. However, Bantu languages differ as to what that order is, some placing the benefactive argument first, and others placing the animate argument first. Learning the language-specific word-order restrictions on Bantu double object applicative constructions is therefore more akin to setting a parameter (cf. Hyams, 1986). This study examined 100 three- to eight-year-old children's knowledge of word order restrictions in Sesotho double object applicatives. Performance on forced choice elicited production tasks found that four-year-olds showed evidence of rule learning, although eight-year-olds had not yet attained adult levels of performance. Further investigation found lexical construction effects for three-year-olds. These findings suggest that learning the argument structure of verbs, even when lexical semantics is not involved, may be more sensitive to lexical construction effects than previously thought.

On the nature of Bulgarian prefixes: Ordering and modification in multiple prefixation

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelina Markova
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Morphological Evidence ◽  
Functional Projection ◽  
Verbal Prefixes ◽  
Morphological Differences ◽  
Mirror Principle ◽  
Basic Intuition

The paper deals with multiple prefixation in Bulgarian and the linearization of the Bulgarian verbal prefixes. Following the basic intuition behind Baker's (1985) ‘Mirror Principle’, according to which syntax reflects morphology and vice versa, I propose that the linearization of the Bulgarian prefixes is syntactically driven. More precisely, and in order to describe the principles according to which prefixes are merged in syntax, I defend the existence of a universal hierarchy of functional projections, as in Cinque (1999) , according to which affixes are merged in order to check their features. Consequently, whenever a prefix bears some aspectual (Aktionsart) content, it is merged within this hierarchy of aspectual features as a head of the corresponding functional projection. In this way, the attested prefix orderings are correctly accounted for. With these assumptions in mind, I present syntactic, semantic and morphological evidence for establishing three types of prefixes in Bulgarian: lexical (idiosyncratic), inner (argument-structure related) and outer (adverbial), and show that the surface order is always [outer [inner [lexical]]]. Moreover, I show that the different syntactic derivations of these prefixes are responsible for the observed semantic and morphological differences together with the linearization patterns and hierarchical dependencies attested within the three prefix groups.

scholarly journals Passive constructions in Setswana

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-52
Author(s):  
Setumile Morapedi
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
View Point ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Transitive Verb ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Passive Construction ◽  
Grammatical Subject ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Mapping Theory ◽  
Lexical Mapping

The paper analyses passive constructions in Setswana from morpho-syntactic view point, showing that the suffixation of a passive morpheme to the verb reduces the argument structure of the verb. Previous studies carried out in Setswana verbal suffixes have confined their investigations to these morphemes as elements of morphology but have failed to observe that these affixes overlap into syntax. Chebanne (1996) observes that in Setswana, verbal extensions can combine with a single verbal base but fail to observe the overlap into syntax. Further, the studies do not give any insight in the features that Setswana shares with other Bantu languages. The passive construction in Setswana, like in other Bantu languages, is a bit complex in the sense that the verbal extension –iw brings into effect the dropping of the subject, and the object becomes the grammatical subject, thus rendering the transitive verb, such as, apaya ‘cook’ intransitive. Conversely, other derivational suffixes, such as applicative and causative, increase the verb’s arguments by two. For instance, the suffixation of the verbal suffix –el suggests an entity carrying out the action and somebody benefiting. The paper also compares passive with other verbal extensions such as neuter, applicative, causatives and reciprocals. It shows that while the passive occurs with most verbs and other verbal extensions, such as, applicative or causative suffixes, the neuter is rigid in occurring with other verbal extensions. The paper also appeals to Lexical Mapping Theory, whose role is to constrain mapping relations between thematic roles, such as an agent or patient and the corresponding grammatical functions, such as the subject, patient and oblique that have been subcategorized for by predicates

Phonological evidence for morpho-syntactic structure in Athapaskan

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Goad ◽  
Lisa deMena Travis
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Iterative Root ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Direct Mapping ◽  
Phonological Constraints ◽  
Mirror Principle ◽  
Affix Ordering

Abstract Athapaskan verbal morphology appears to violate the Mirror Principle in multiple ways and, thus, the ordering of affixes in these languages has resisted a straightforward analysis. We adopt a new morphological tool of Iterative Root Prefixation, which allows for a more direct mapping from syntax to morphology in languages of this profile. Apparent violations of affix ordering that remain, namely the puzzling placement of the transitive and causative morphemes, are argued to be explained by overriding phonological constraints.

Introduction: Affixes and bases

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-168
Author(s):  
Stela Manova
Keyword(s):  
Special Issue ◽  
Affix Order ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Affix Ordering

This special issue includes a selection of papers presented at the 2nd Vienna Workshop on Affix Order held in Vienna, Austria on June 4–5, 2009. The workshop was in honor of Wolfgang U. Dressler on the occasion of his 70th birthday. However, this special issue differs from the classical Festschrift dedicated to a renowned scholar and is ‘more special’ in two respects at least: 1) not all authors are Dressler's friends and colleagues, some of them are only indirectly related to him, through his students; and 2) since the papers were presented at a topic-oriented workshop, they are thematically uniform. In other words, this special issue is a kind of scientific genealogy in terms of affix ordering. Thus, the title Affixes and bases should be understood in two ways: literally – affixes and bases as linguistic notions, and metaphorically – affixes and bases as linguists related directly and indirectly to a prominent base: Wolfgang U. Dressler.

Scales and Units

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn M. de Luna
Keyword(s):  
Language Change ◽  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
The North ◽  
First Case ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
River Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Alternative Approaches

This chapter uses two case studies to explore how historians study language movement and change through comparative historical linguistics. The first case study stands as a short chapter in the larger history of the expansion of Bantu languages across eastern, central, and southern Africa. It focuses on the expansion of proto-Kafue, ca. 950–1250, from a linguistic homeland in the middle Kafue River region to lands beyond the Lukanga swamps to the north and the Zambezi River to the south. This expansion was made possible by a dramatic reconfiguration of ties of kinship. The second case study explores linguistic evidence for ridicule along the Lozi-Botatwe frontier in the mid- to late 19th century. Significantly, the units and scales of language movement and change in precolonial periods rendered visible through comparative historical linguistics bring to our attention alternative approaches to language change and movement in contemporary Africa.

Spanning versus Constituent Lexicalization

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Knut Tarald Taraldsen
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
The Other ◽  
Input Tree ◽  
Bantu Languages

This chapter seeks to evaluate the relative merits of two competing views of how lexical insertion should work in a nanosyntactic framework. One view holds that a sequence of heads meeting certain conditions, a “span,” can be replaced by a single morpheme even when those heads do not form a constituent in the input tree. The other view allows lexical insertion only to target constituents. The article focuses on certain properties of portmanteau prefixes identified by investigating the nominal class prefixes in Bantu languages. Accounting for portmanteau prefixes looks like a serious challenge to the theory restricting lexical insertion to constituents. They can be accommodated by positing only a richer syntactic structure than is usual. However, various empirical arguments show that the richer syntactic structure is in fact needed in an analysis of the nominal class prefixes in Bantu and that this conclusion extends to class prefixes in other languages.

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