The search for V-stranding VP ellipsis in isiXhosa
- Ma, Xiujie, Simango, Silvester R
- Authors: Ma, Xiujie , Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469267 , vital:77226 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2022.2136222
- Description: It has been argued that V-stranding VP ellipsis exists in Bantu languages such as Kiswahili, Ndendeule, Chingoni, Kikuyu and Shingazidja. In the derivation, the verb moves to I0 in a tensed clause and thus survives VP ellipsis. However, through an examination of the components of a VP and their syntactic positions, we demonstrate that isiXhosa does not have V-stranding VP ellipsis. The article shows that VP-internal constituents – including object DPs, VP-internal adverbials and locative arguments – are prohibited from being elided and that the constituents that can be deleted are actually dislocated to a VP-external position before VPE takes place. We further examine the reasons why isiXhosa does not have V-stranding VP ellipsis and find that in the conjoint form the Immediately After Verb (IAV) constituent receives a focus reading, whereas in the disjoint form, it is the verb that receives a focus reading, which suggests that the VP does not comply with the e-GIVENNESS condition. We also explore the properties of the missing object and conclude that the missing object DP is a consequence of PF-deletion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
- Authors: Ma, Xiujie , Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2023
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469267 , vital:77226 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2022.2136222
- Description: It has been argued that V-stranding VP ellipsis exists in Bantu languages such as Kiswahili, Ndendeule, Chingoni, Kikuyu and Shingazidja. In the derivation, the verb moves to I0 in a tensed clause and thus survives VP ellipsis. However, through an examination of the components of a VP and their syntactic positions, we demonstrate that isiXhosa does not have V-stranding VP ellipsis. The article shows that VP-internal constituents – including object DPs, VP-internal adverbials and locative arguments – are prohibited from being elided and that the constituents that can be deleted are actually dislocated to a VP-external position before VPE takes place. We further examine the reasons why isiXhosa does not have V-stranding VP ellipsis and find that in the conjoint form the Immediately After Verb (IAV) constituent receives a focus reading, whereas in the disjoint form, it is the verb that receives a focus reading, which suggests that the VP does not comply with the e-GIVENNESS condition. We also explore the properties of the missing object and conclude that the missing object DP is a consequence of PF-deletion.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2023
Vowel hiatus resolution in ciNsenga: An Optimality Theory analysis
- Simango, Silvester R, Kadenge, Maxwell
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R , Kadenge, Maxwell
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469289 , vital:77229 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2014.925220
- Description: This article examines patterns of vowel hiatus resolution in ciNsenga, using Optimality Theory (OT). We present a formal analysis of the morphosyntatic and phonological contexts in which potential vowel hiatus occurs and the strategies that are utilised to resolve it. In this language, hiatus resolution is a function of whether V2 is an affix vowel, a nominal root initial vowel or a verbal stem initial vowel. The language has a complete ban on vowel hiatus in nominals. In verbs, it is prohibited when V2 is an affix vowel but is allowed when V2 is a verb stem-initial vowel. Thus, when V2 is a prefix or nominal stem-initial glide formation, secondary articulation and vowel elision are triggered to resolve hiatus. The main challenge is to account for the fact that in this language vowel hiatus is tolerated in one domain and is banned in another. Drawing on insights from OT we argue that, in ciNsenga, hiatus resolution is blocked when V2 is verb stem-initial because the morphoprosodic alignment constraint ALIGN (ROOTVERB, L,σ,L) outranks ONSET in the verbal domain.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R , Kadenge, Maxwell
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469289 , vital:77229 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2014.925220
- Description: This article examines patterns of vowel hiatus resolution in ciNsenga, using Optimality Theory (OT). We present a formal analysis of the morphosyntatic and phonological contexts in which potential vowel hiatus occurs and the strategies that are utilised to resolve it. In this language, hiatus resolution is a function of whether V2 is an affix vowel, a nominal root initial vowel or a verbal stem initial vowel. The language has a complete ban on vowel hiatus in nominals. In verbs, it is prohibited when V2 is an affix vowel but is allowed when V2 is a verb stem-initial vowel. Thus, when V2 is a prefix or nominal stem-initial glide formation, secondary articulation and vowel elision are triggered to resolve hiatus. The main challenge is to account for the fact that in this language vowel hiatus is tolerated in one domain and is banned in another. Drawing on insights from OT we argue that, in ciNsenga, hiatus resolution is blocked when V2 is verb stem-initial because the morphoprosodic alignment constraint ALIGN (ROOTVERB, L,σ,L) outranks ONSET in the verbal domain.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2014
An analysis of vowel harmony in ciNsenga and ciCewa: A comparative study
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469234 , vital:77222 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2013.815835
- Description: This article presents an analysis of vowel harmony that occurs in the verbal system of ciNsenga and ciCewa. In these languages the nature of suffix vowels is determined by the nature of the root: mid vowels trigger the vowel /ε/ on the suffixes, non-mid vowels, on the other hand, trigger the vowel /i/ on the suffixes. An examination of monosyllabic verbs which, by definition, have no root vowel, reveals interesting patterns between different Bantu languages: in some languages such verbs consistently select suffixes with the vowel /i/ whereas in other languages such verbs select suffixes with the vowel /ε/. Drawing on insights from Underspecification Theory (Archangeli, 1984, 1988; Archangeli and Pulleyblank, 1989, 1994) the article argues that a unified and coherent account of vowel harmony can be made for these languages by positing that the languages are parameterised with respect to the harmonic feature specified in their underlying representations and the concomitant default rule needed to derive the surface representations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469234 , vital:77222 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2013.815835
- Description: This article presents an analysis of vowel harmony that occurs in the verbal system of ciNsenga and ciCewa. In these languages the nature of suffix vowels is determined by the nature of the root: mid vowels trigger the vowel /ε/ on the suffixes, non-mid vowels, on the other hand, trigger the vowel /i/ on the suffixes. An examination of monosyllabic verbs which, by definition, have no root vowel, reveals interesting patterns between different Bantu languages: in some languages such verbs consistently select suffixes with the vowel /i/ whereas in other languages such verbs select suffixes with the vowel /ε/. Drawing on insights from Underspecification Theory (Archangeli, 1984, 1988; Archangeli and Pulleyblank, 1989, 1994) the article argues that a unified and coherent account of vowel harmony can be made for these languages by positing that the languages are parameterised with respect to the harmonic feature specified in their underlying representations and the concomitant default rule needed to derive the surface representations
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2013
Subject marking, coordination and noun classes in ciNsenga
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469256 , vital:77224 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2012.737595
- Description: Subject marking on the Bantu verb seems to be a straightforward process in clauses with simple subject noun phrases (NP) as the verb only has to agree with a single NP. With conjoined NPs, on the other hand, subject-verb agreement is more complicated as there are three possibilities for such agreement: (i) agreement with both conjuncts (total agreement); (ii) agreement with one of the conjuncts (partial agreement); (iii) no agreement at all (default agreement). This study reveals that in ciNsenga partial agreement with conjoined NPs is not permitted; that total agreement and default agreement are determined by a combination of number, human, and gender features. Total agreement is possible only if the conjuncts denote nouns from the same plural class. Default agreement comes in two different forms: (i) if two conjuncts from different noun classes denote humans then agreement is with Class 2; (ii) if the conjuncts denote singular non-humans or they conflict in noun class then agreement is with Class 8. The study also reveals that default agreement for non-humans is restricted by word order, which suggests that agreement patterns are restricted by a combination of semantic and syntactic factors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469256 , vital:77224 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2012.737595
- Description: Subject marking on the Bantu verb seems to be a straightforward process in clauses with simple subject noun phrases (NP) as the verb only has to agree with a single NP. With conjoined NPs, on the other hand, subject-verb agreement is more complicated as there are three possibilities for such agreement: (i) agreement with both conjuncts (total agreement); (ii) agreement with one of the conjuncts (partial agreement); (iii) no agreement at all (default agreement). This study reveals that in ciNsenga partial agreement with conjoined NPs is not permitted; that total agreement and default agreement are determined by a combination of number, human, and gender features. Total agreement is possible only if the conjuncts denote nouns from the same plural class. Default agreement comes in two different forms: (i) if two conjuncts from different noun classes denote humans then agreement is with Class 2; (ii) if the conjuncts denote singular non-humans or they conflict in noun class then agreement is with Class 8. The study also reveals that default agreement for non-humans is restricted by word order, which suggests that agreement patterns are restricted by a combination of semantic and syntactic factors.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
When English meets isiXhosa in the clause: An exploration into the grammar of code-switching
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469300 , vital:77230 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2011.633361
- Description: The phenomenon of code-switching accords linguists the opportunity to study the interaction between two distinct grammatical systems. The contact languages may have different specifications for corresponding lexical items; and a likely outcome of utilising two linguistic systems in the same speech event is the creation of a ‘new grammar’ in which some lexemes exhibit loss of certain abstract features. Using Myers-Scotton's (1993b, 2002, inter alia) Matrix Language Frame and the 4-M model, this study examines naturally-occurring isiXhosa-English data, collected from Rhodes University students in Grahamstown. The study shows that in bilingual speech some English transitive verbs lose their typical subcategorisation features such that they have to be ‘retransitivised’ by isiXhosa affixes. The paper argues that code-switching data can provide insights into the nature of lexical entries across languages as well as the patterns of grammatical convergence which result from language contact.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469300 , vital:77230 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2011.633361
- Description: The phenomenon of code-switching accords linguists the opportunity to study the interaction between two distinct grammatical systems. The contact languages may have different specifications for corresponding lexical items; and a likely outcome of utilising two linguistic systems in the same speech event is the creation of a ‘new grammar’ in which some lexemes exhibit loss of certain abstract features. Using Myers-Scotton's (1993b, 2002, inter alia) Matrix Language Frame and the 4-M model, this study examines naturally-occurring isiXhosa-English data, collected from Rhodes University students in Grahamstown. The study shows that in bilingual speech some English transitive verbs lose their typical subcategorisation features such that they have to be ‘retransitivised’ by isiXhosa affixes. The paper argues that code-switching data can provide insights into the nature of lexical entries across languages as well as the patterns of grammatical convergence which result from language contact.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Causative disguised as stative: The affix-ik-ek in ciCewa
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469245 , vital:77223 , https://doi.org/10.2989/SALALS.2009.27.2.1.864
- Description: Discussions of the suffix -ik/-ek, which attaches to the ciCewa verb stem, have generally focused on its valence-reducing properties (Mchombo, 1993, 2004; Dubinsky and Simango, 1996; Seidl and Dimitriadis, 2003). The affix, known as the stative, typically attaches to transitive verbs and has the effect of eliminating the underlying subject from the verb's argument structure and promoting the underlying object of the verb to the subject grammatical function. This article describes a less common variant of the suffix -ik/-ek in ciCewa which (i) typically attaches to intransitive verbs, and (ii) has the effect of increasing the verb's valence by one argument. This affix introduces an agentive argument into the verb's argument structure. It is argued that this transitive affix is a variant of the causative morpheme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469245 , vital:77223 , https://doi.org/10.2989/SALALS.2009.27.2.1.864
- Description: Discussions of the suffix -ik/-ek, which attaches to the ciCewa verb stem, have generally focused on its valence-reducing properties (Mchombo, 1993, 2004; Dubinsky and Simango, 1996; Seidl and Dimitriadis, 2003). The affix, known as the stative, typically attaches to transitive verbs and has the effect of eliminating the underlying subject from the verb's argument structure and promoting the underlying object of the verb to the subject grammatical function. This article describes a less common variant of the suffix -ik/-ek in ciCewa which (i) typically attaches to intransitive verbs, and (ii) has the effect of increasing the verb's valence by one argument. This affix introduces an agentive argument into the verb's argument structure. It is argued that this transitive affix is a variant of the causative morpheme.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Educated mother-tongue South African English: A corpus approach
- Adendorff, Ralph D, De Klerk, Vivian A, De Vos, Mark A, Hunt, Sally, Simango, Silvester R, Todd, Louise, Niesler, Thomas
- Authors: Adendorff, Ralph D , De Klerk, Vivian A , De Vos, Mark A , Hunt, Sally , Simango, Silvester R , Todd, Louise , Niesler, Thomas
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124352 , vital:35597 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10228190608566261
- Description: South Africa is anecdotally known for its complex system of speech varieties correlating with variables such as ethnicity, first language, class and education. These intuitions (e.g. Lass 1990) require further investigation, especially in the context of a changing South Africa where language variety plays a key role in identifying social, economic and ethnic group membership. Thus, in this research, the extent to which these variables play a role in variety is explored using a corpus approach (the nature of class and race in the corpus is discussed more fully later in the article). The corpus project, focusing primarily on accent, has been undertaken by members of the Department of English Language and Linguistics at Rhodes University in South Africa, collaborating with staff from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A corpus (the first of its kind) is being compiled, comprising the speech of educated, white, mother-tongue speakers of South African English (as distinct from Afrikaans English, Indian English, and the second language (L2) varieties of English used by speakers of indigenous African languages), and data collection is well under way. This short article aims to describe the aims of the project, and the methodological approach which underpins it, as well as to highlight some of the more problematic aspects of the research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
- Authors: Adendorff, Ralph D , De Klerk, Vivian A , De Vos, Mark A , Hunt, Sally , Simango, Silvester R , Todd, Louise , Niesler, Thomas
- Date: 2008
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124352 , vital:35597 , https://doi.org/10.1080/10228190608566261
- Description: South Africa is anecdotally known for its complex system of speech varieties correlating with variables such as ethnicity, first language, class and education. These intuitions (e.g. Lass 1990) require further investigation, especially in the context of a changing South Africa where language variety plays a key role in identifying social, economic and ethnic group membership. Thus, in this research, the extent to which these variables play a role in variety is explored using a corpus approach (the nature of class and race in the corpus is discussed more fully later in the article). The corpus project, focusing primarily on accent, has been undertaken by members of the Department of English Language and Linguistics at Rhodes University in South Africa, collaborating with staff from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Stellenbosch University, South Africa. A corpus (the first of its kind) is being compiled, comprising the speech of educated, white, mother-tongue speakers of South African English (as distinct from Afrikaans English, Indian English, and the second language (L2) varieties of English used by speakers of indigenous African languages), and data collection is well under way. This short article aims to describe the aims of the project, and the methodological approach which underpins it, as well as to highlight some of the more problematic aspects of the research.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2008
Enlarged arguments in Bantu : evidence from Chichewa
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6140 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011592
- Description: This paper re-examines two types of constructions that have featured in the discussion of possessor ascension in Bantu: one type – an applicative construction – is associated with alienable possession, and the other – non-applicative – is associated with inalienable possession. The study shows that the former expresses affectedness, and that the possessor reading arises only by construal; whereas the latter expresses a part–whole relationship. The paper argues that the two constructions differ in more significant ways than has previously been acknowledged; and that their distinct derivations cannot be captured by traditional possessor ascension (PA) analyses. The putative “alienable” possessor constructions belong to the class of (benefactive) applicative constructions and should be analyzed as such. The paper proposes that the so-called “inalienable” possessor constructions can best be accounted for by positing the existence of “enlarged arguments” wherein the possessum functions as a nominal predicate which more narrowly pinpoints the locus of the action described by the verb.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2007
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6140 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1011592
- Description: This paper re-examines two types of constructions that have featured in the discussion of possessor ascension in Bantu: one type – an applicative construction – is associated with alienable possession, and the other – non-applicative – is associated with inalienable possession. The study shows that the former expresses affectedness, and that the possessor reading arises only by construal; whereas the latter expresses a part–whole relationship. The paper argues that the two constructions differ in more significant ways than has previously been acknowledged; and that their distinct derivations cannot be captured by traditional possessor ascension (PA) analyses. The putative “alienable” possessor constructions belong to the class of (benefactive) applicative constructions and should be analyzed as such. The paper proposes that the so-called “inalienable” possessor constructions can best be accounted for by positing the existence of “enlarged arguments” wherein the possessum functions as a nominal predicate which more narrowly pinpoints the locus of the action described by the verb.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2007
Verb agreement and the syntax of ciNsenga relative clauses
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469278 , vital:77228 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073610609486421
- Description: Relativisation of a non-subject NP in ciNsenga (Bantu) results in the inversion of the subject and the appearance on the verb of a prefix which agrees with the relativised noun. Recent studies on Bantu relative constructions (for example, Demuth and Harford, 1999; Ngonyani, 1999; 2001) have shown that subject inversion results from the verb raising from I to C, and that this occurs only when the relative pronoun is a prosodic clitic and not a phonological word. When the relative pronoun has the status of a phonological word it blocks verb raising and thus subject inversion does not occur. In ciNsenga, however, subject inversion occurs despite the fact that the relative pronoun constitutes a phonological word. Drawing on the insights of Kayne (1994) this paper argues that the relative pronoun does not occupy the C position as is generally assumed, but that it occupies the head position of the moved DP, which itself occupies the Spec position of CP (which equates to Topic Phrase in the current study). This leaves the C position available for the inflected verb to move into.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2006
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469278 , vital:77228 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073610609486421
- Description: Relativisation of a non-subject NP in ciNsenga (Bantu) results in the inversion of the subject and the appearance on the verb of a prefix which agrees with the relativised noun. Recent studies on Bantu relative constructions (for example, Demuth and Harford, 1999; Ngonyani, 1999; 2001) have shown that subject inversion results from the verb raising from I to C, and that this occurs only when the relative pronoun is a prosodic clitic and not a phonological word. When the relative pronoun has the status of a phonological word it blocks verb raising and thus subject inversion does not occur. In ciNsenga, however, subject inversion occurs despite the fact that the relative pronoun constitutes a phonological word. Drawing on the insights of Kayne (1994) this paper argues that the relative pronoun does not occupy the C position as is generally assumed, but that it occupies the head position of the moved DP, which itself occupies the Spec position of CP (which equates to Topic Phrase in the current study). This leaves the C position available for the inflected verb to move into.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2006
World Lexicon of Grammaticalization by Bernd Heine and Tania Kuteva
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469311 , vital:77231 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073610409486363
- Description: The major goal of this book is to show that the processes which underlie grammatical evolution are not only regular cross-linguistically, but are also universal. The book consists of three chapters, three appendices and an extensive list of references. Conceived primarily as a reference source for those interested in the diachronic reconstruction of language, the authors describe over 400 grammaticalization processes drawing on data from about 500 languages. The overall organisation reflects the text’s primary purpose as a reference work: nearly three hundred pages (pp. 27–316) are devoted to the listing of the ‘source—target lexicon’ arranged in alphabetical order of the ‘source’ lexical items. The authors’ stated goal is to provide researchers with tools for explaining in a principled way ‘how and why different grammatical meanings can be related to one another’(p. 1). Although the book succeeds in showing which linguistic elements are sources and which are targets of various grammaticalization processes, it does not clearly provide the reader with the analytical tools with which to explain the link between ‘source ’and ‘target’ in a principled manner as the authors claim.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
- Authors: Simango, Silvester R
- Date: 2004
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/469311 , vital:77231 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073610409486363
- Description: The major goal of this book is to show that the processes which underlie grammatical evolution are not only regular cross-linguistically, but are also universal. The book consists of three chapters, three appendices and an extensive list of references. Conceived primarily as a reference source for those interested in the diachronic reconstruction of language, the authors describe over 400 grammaticalization processes drawing on data from about 500 languages. The overall organisation reflects the text’s primary purpose as a reference work: nearly three hundred pages (pp. 27–316) are devoted to the listing of the ‘source—target lexicon’ arranged in alphabetical order of the ‘source’ lexical items. The authors’ stated goal is to provide researchers with tools for explaining in a principled way ‘how and why different grammatical meanings can be related to one another’(p. 1). Although the book succeeds in showing which linguistic elements are sources and which are targets of various grammaticalization processes, it does not clearly provide the reader with the analytical tools with which to explain the link between ‘source ’and ‘target’ in a principled manner as the authors claim.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2004
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