Multiple object agreement morphemes in Setswana: A computational approach

Setswana is an agglutinative language where prefixes and suffixes are extensively used in the formation of words. Words such as verbs, pronouns, adjectives and so on, which have a grammatical relationship with nouns in sentences, demonstrate agreement with such nouns by means of agreement morphemes. In certain instances verbs in Setswana sentences may take two objects. Both of these objects may be represented in the verb by object agreement morphemes. The result is that two object agreement morphemes may be prefixed to the verb. While the morphemes of the verb are presented systematically in Setswana grammars, the occurrence of multiple object agreement morphemes has received limited attention in the literature on Setswana linguistics. Similarly, this phenomenon has not yet been investigated from a computational morphological point of view. This article reports on (i) an example-based investigation towards a better and more complete understanding of the phenomenon of multiple object agreement morphemes as they appear in Setswana verbs, (ii) the modelling of these morphemes in an existing finite state tokeniser and computational morphological analyser for Setswana, and (iii) the novel role that a morphological analyser and its guesser variant can play in a corpus-based investigation of the phenomenon under discussion.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2012, 30(2): 203–21

Karakterisering in Bogosi Kupe van D.P.S. Monyaise

MA, PU vir CHO, 1990Aim of the study The aim of this study was to determine how a character should be represented theoretically and to investigate the representation of the characters in Bogosi Kupe by D.P.S. Monyaise. Methodology It was decided to use an eclectic approach as the theories of various literature theorists were compared and the most suitable theoretical elements chosen. A conclusion was reached after a thorough literature study was completed. Contents of the study Chapter 1 This chapter consists of a brief introduction, the motivation, aim and methodology followed in this dissertation. Chapter 2 A biography of the author, D.P.S. Monyaise, is given in this chapter. The biography is deemed important for this study on the basis of the psychoanalytic approach. Chapter 3 A study of characters and characterisation is done in this chapter, and a theoretical framework determined. This information is then represented grammatically. Chapter 4 A synopsis of the story is given in Afrikaans so that students not fluent in Tswana can roughly follow the story. The characters are then classified on the basis of Greimas' actantial model. This classification is done on the grounds of each character's involvement with the intrigue of the story. In the following three chapters, the characters are analysed separately according to the theoretical framework proposed in chapter three. The separation of the characters rests on the classification done in chapter four, and the characters are therefore studied as follows: Chapter 5 Characters involved in the lovers' intrigue. Chapter 6 Characters involved in the captaincy intrigue. Chapter 7 Characters involved in both the intrigue structures. Chapter 8 The conclusion of the study. It has been shown that general literary theory can be applied to certain literature. Individual differences, for example cultural differences, however, necessitate certain adaptations. It has been determined from this study, therefore, that characterisation in D.P.S Monyaise's novel, Bogosi Kupe, can be analysed according to general literary theory.Master

Outomatiese lemma-identifisering en die dilemma met die lemma in Setswana

Projects in human language technologies do not only imply challenges for programmers but also for grammarians. In a recent project to develop an automatic lemmatiser for Setswana, the problem arose as to what the lemma in Setswana should be, as no clearcut definition exists in the Bantu language grammars or lexicographic studies. This article aims to determine and discuss the term “lemma” in Setswana as it should be applied in automatic lemmatisation

A word-class tagset for Setswana

This paper aims to present a general tagset for use in an automatic word-class tagger, functioning largely at the level of word-classes, rather than pure morphological information. In view of the importance of reusability, guidelines and standards for tagsets are identified, concentrating on the standards proposed by the Expert Advisory Group on Language Engineering Standards (EAGLES) within the framework of the European Union language technology initiatives. Certain criteria for both tagsets and tag labels are identified. Thereafter, problems and solutions for tokenisation in Setswana are discussed, with emphasis on the challenge presented by the disjunctive orthography and the agglutinative character of Bantu languages. The bulk of the article is then devoted to the development of a tagset for the various part-of-speech categories of Setswana, as a test for the extent to which the EAGLES standards can be adopted and adjusted to make them suitable for an agglutinating language. The conclusion is that this is indeed possible to a large extent, with minor elaborations necessary, in particular as far as the disjunctively written prefixes of verbs are concerned.Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2003, 21(4): 203–22

Post-nasal devoicing in Tswana

Tswana is traditionally described as having a process of post-nasal stop devoicing (/mba/ → [mpa]). If this description is accurate, then Tswana poses a challenge to views that neutralization processes should be articulatorily grounded. Airflow leakage through the nasal cavity should promote, not inhibit, voicing post-nasally. Zsiga et al. [1] performed an acoustic study of the speech of 6 Tswana speakers, and found no evidence of post-nasal devoicing. They conclude that, counter to the traditional descriptions, Tswana does not have post-nasal devoicing. In an independent study, we collected speech samples from 12 Tswana speakers. Four of our speakers showed clear and consistent post-nasal devoicing. In this paper, we present the data for these 4 speakers to show that at least some speakers of Tswana do have an active process of post-nasal devoicing. We also consider possible explanations for this process, arguing that it is motivated by perceptual rather than articulatory considerations.4 page(s

Towards a computational morphological analysis of Setswana compound

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