Restructuring and the Proper Syntactic Analysis

This paper aims to make it clear that syntactic analysis should be based on the lexical information given in the lexicon. For this purpose, lexical information of the syntactic argument is to be taken the form like [VP NKP, _, DKP, AKP] for the ditransitive verb give in English. The argument structure projects to syntactic structure. The NKP in this structure becomes VP-subject, but there is another subject called S-subject (Sentence-Subject) below S node. This amounts to Two-Subject Hypothesis for English. Between these two subjects, there intervene Conjugation-Like Elements, enriched by close examination of English verbal conjugation. Two-Subject Hypothesis perfectly accounts for peculiarities of the Expletive There (ET)construction. Restructuring can also explain the so-called Long Distance Wh-interrogative without introducing Wh-movement, and it can also explain why the imperative verbs are taking the base forms. It can also explain the characteristics of adjective imperatives by the same principles as applied to verbal imperatives. We try to deal with the other subtle problems, to get fruitful results. Restructuring approach, we think, provides more convincing explanations than the movement one.

A Feature Percolation Convention of Affixation Processes in Urhobo

This paper seeks to examine headedness in affixation processes in Urhobo using a feature percolation approach. Affixation is a rich source of word formation process in the Urhobo language. The specific objectives are to identify affixation processes in Urhobo, investigate how they are used to derive words and determine headedness in the Urhobo language using a feature percolation theory as a framework. This paper reveals three affixation processes in Urhobo, which are prefixes, circumfixes and suffixes. Affixation is a derivational aspect of morphology and it brings about change in the grammatical class of the word or rather, provides additional semantic information to a word. The paper discovers that new words are derived in the language by attaching an affix either at the beginning (prefix), or to the end (suffix) of a word. This process is very productive in the language. The paper reveals that the head of a word using prefix is left-right branching while for suffixes, it is right-left branching. The prefix and suffix attached to a root to form the circumfix project to be the head of a word. The study observes circumfixes to have two heads. Feature percolation theory is also used to determine the head of a word in Urhobo. The paper concludes by recommending further researches on the use of theories especially morphological theories in analysing morphological processes in Urhobo.

Diagrammatic Iconicity in EkeGusii: A relation between the structure of form and meaning

This paper mainly presents evidence for a relationship between language structure and meaning in EkeGusii, a Bantu language spoken in Kenya. The main argument is that the structure of language mirrors the structure of reality. A brief overview of other scholars demonstrates that diagrammatic iconicity shows universal tendencies. Five main ideas run down the discussion. Firstly, in EkeGusii, speakers sub-consciously cluster sounds around related meanings, evidencing gestalt and relative iconicity. Secondly, there is evidence of overlap of morphological and phonetic iconicity, an aspect of phonaesthesia. Thirdly, reduplication in certain infinitives demonstrates the reality of phono-iconicity in EkeGusii, augmented by unpleasant sound sequences. Fourthly, certain onomatopes in EkeGusii are actually diagrammatic, indicating that there is no one stop criterion for classifying overlapping types of icons. And finally, the paper posits that iconicity intersects with arbitrariness showing that language has both motivated and discrete symbols.

Sentences with Object-oriented Adverbials and the Syntax-Semantics Interface

SOOAs refer to the phenomenon that the state adjective in the adverbial position is semantically associated with the object. In this paper this fact will be accounted for by invoking the properties of a pre-syntactic level of semantic representation and its interplay with syntax proper. It will be argued that the object-oriented adverbial is not derived from the attributive; in effect, it is base-generated in the complement position. A model of projection of arguments that allows for this will be proposed. It will be shown that the other special properties of SOOAs follow from the way the verb’s object and complement are represented at the pre-syntactic level. In particular, it will be shown that the underlying structure must satisfy both the requirement of the syntactic system and the requirement of the semantic system. The presence of any symbol in a representation is conditional. The theta-roles of internal arguments are assigned by the predicate, which is locally constrained, whereas the theta-roles of external arguments are assigned by the maximal projection of the predicate, viz. VP. When an external argument occurs, there is an empty predicate position in the representation, for there is an asymmetry between the conceptual system and the syntactic system. Derivation involves Move-α and Generalized Transformation. Different use of derivation methods gives rise to various forms of constructions in Chinese. Similarly, different semantic orientations result from different distributions. The state adjective is base-generated in the position behind the object because its nature is to serve the function of the complement of the object. It co-occurs with the object in the embedded VP because they are closely related to each other in terms of semantics. There is no overt predicate between the object and the state adjective. The state adjective occurs in other positions, which is the result of movement. Movement falls into two types, viz. object movement and state adjective movement. Object movement is prior to state adjective movement. In order to satisfy the requirement of feature checking, the object moves to the position NP. Then the state adjective moves to the major predicate and merges with it so as to maintain its semantic association with the state adjective and to serve the function of the complement. It follows that the difference between Chinese SOOAs and English as well as German SOOAs lies in the distance of movement of state adjectives. In Chinese, there are causative markers, resultative markers, and manner markers that can license the state adjective in the landing sites and help to maintain its semantic association with the object while in English and German there are no such markers. As a consequence, the object in Chinese-type SOOAs does not move while the state adjective moves out of the embedded VP to the empty verb position where the manner marker is inserted. The major predicate moves to the same position and merges with the newly-formed syntactic object ADJ-MANN. Furthermore, Chinese-type SOOAs allow the state adjective to precede the major predicate as the manner marker can license the state adjective. In contrast, in English-type SOOAs, neither the state adjective nor the object moves. Moreover, English-type SOOAs do not allow the state adjective to come before the major predicate because there is no manner marker to license it.

When Is a Causative Situation not Mapped to a Causative Construction Proper? The Case of Hupa

This work interrogates why certain real-world events that meet criteria for being considered causative events cannot be expressed using Hupa’s morphological or syntactic causative constructions, but must be encoded using one of two periphrastic constructions in which the Causer or cause is not marked as an argument. Based on fieldwork with a native speaker, I probe into these two periphrastic constructions in depth, accounting for their distributions through an appeal to Næss’s (2007) account of semantic transitivity.

Reflexivization and Reciprocality in the Kalabari Language

This paper examines reflexivization and reciprocality in Kalabari with particular attention to the forms, functions and structures of reflexive and reciprocal constructions (the nominal sub-type) in the language. The paper adopts the binding theory as a framework in analysing the data. The data were gathered through interaction and introspection. The findings reveal that reflexives and reciprocals in Kalabari require a compatible clause-mate antecedent due to the strong anaphoric relationship between reflexive and reciprocal markers and their antecedents respectively. The findings further reveal that the form of Kalabari reflexives consists of -ḇù (-self) and the appropriate form of the pronoun in the language. The paper also reveals that the Kalabari language makes a tripartite distinction for number, person and gender, and the form of the reflexive does not change; only the pronoun changes, while reciprocals consist of a reduplicated form jụmọ jụmọ, jápụ jápụ and jéin jéin. In terms of the structure, findings reveal that reflexives and reciprocals come before the verb of the clause in which they occur. The finding further reveals that reflexives in the language perform both non-emphatic and emphatic functions, while reciprocal relates to human and non-human reference of mutuality. Tonal inflection also makes a distinction in 1st person singular and 2nd person singular reflexives. It is therefore recommended that more studies be done to ascertain the form, function and structure of the verbal and possessive sub-type of reflexive and reciprocal constructions in the language.

Cultural Dominance and Language Endangerment: The case of Efut in Cross River State, Nigeria

The Efut culture, and by extension language, seems to have been mortally threatened after their speakers’ migration to Nigeria from Cameroun in the 16th Century. The linguistic situation resulting in language shift was especially exacerbated in the last seven decades, largely due to the dominant cultural influence of Efik, Ibibio and English. The most ostensive vestige of the language manifests in the Ekpe ‘Leopard’ secret society songs, rituals and proverbs (performed by, and intelligible mostly to octogenarians). The Efut language sociolinguistic status is between post moribund and dead stage(s). This paper attempts, therefore, to x-ray ways to revitalize and revive it. Two such revival strategies are the use of digital communication technology and Efut in Nollywood movies. Data for this work came mainly from songs, proverbs, interviews, wordlist and available historical literature. The prognosis for reviving Efut appears realistically poor, at present. However, with appropriate input and pragmatic will from all stakeholders, it would be hasty, uncharitable, to consign the language to irreversible extinction. This optimism is sustainable only if language engineers, policymakers and the Efut nation do not continue to sit on the fence.

The Behavior and Representation of Geminate Consonants in Moroccan Arabic

The present paper explores the special behavior of geminate consonants in Moroccan Arabic vis-á-vis short consonants and consonant clusters. By way of comparison, it is shown that geminates exhibit properties that are reminiscent of both unit structures and cluster structures. In particular, we reveal that geminates in MA demonstrate an inconsistent behavior in relation to the process of schwa epenthesis. In this context, we ask whether geminates get split up in MA, and when and how that happens. In order to characterize the patterning of geminates in MA, different phonological representations of geminates are examined against the variable behavior of geminates. On this basis, it is eventually suggested that geminates should be depicted as two root nodes that are underlyingly associated with a mora at the prosodic level.

The Structure and Hierarchy of Sentence-endings in Tibetan Language

This paper discusses the structure and hierarchy of sentence-endings in Tibetan language. Tibetan sentence-endings are hierarchical. They can be divided into two levels from the perspectives of structure, distribution and expressive function. The first level comes after the predicate or verb phrase, indicating the category of tense/aspect/mood (TAM). The second level, which follows a self-sufficient sentence, mainly expresses the meaning of the speaker’s hint, inference, evaluation and attitude to the information. Each level includes several different types of endings, which act on different syntactic categories or manifest different degrees of subjectivity. The lower the degree of correlation between the endings and the information of the self-sufficient sentence is, the higher the corresponding semantic category and the speaker’s subjective participation are. Some lower-level endings can also express the grammatical meaning of the higher level in certain context with increasing subjectivity.

The Comparative Phonology of Konsoid

This study compares the phonology of Konso, Diraytata and Mosittacha languages which belong to the Konsoid subgroup in the Lowland East Cushitic family. The aim is to identify and describe the phonological similarities and differences that exist among these languages. The classification of the languages’ sound systems, gemination, phonotactics and syllable structures are carried out in order to determine the major pattern of differences and similarities. Some major sound changes are discovered and the merger of voiced obstruents into voiceless counterparts is another major finding observed in these languages.