Definiteness in Chiyao

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

Morphosyntactic variation in Bantu: Focus on East Africa

Recent studies have developed a systematic approach to morphosyntactic variation among Bantu languages, taking well-known and widely attested construction types as a starting point and sketching their distribution across the family. One such approach, Guérois et al. (2017), utilises 142 morphosyntactic parameters or features, across a sample of some 50 Bantu languages (Marten et al. 2018). The present paper builds on this work and focusses on 10 parameters of variation where there is a significant difference between the values for East African Bantu languages and non-East African Bantu languages of the sample. The parameters relate to areas such as noun class morphology, agreement, and word order and so cover a wide range of morphosyntactic structures. The paper shows that the differences overall can be used for an initial characterisation of East Africa as a morphosyntactic area, with its own specific language change and language contact dynamics

Variation in double object marking in Swahili

There is a high degree of morphosyntactic microvariation with respect to the number and position of object markers found across Bantu languages. This paper examines variation in object marking in Swahili, against the backdrop of variation in object marking in Bantu more broadly. Verb forms in Standard Swahili are well-known to typically only permit one pre-stem object marker. However, here we show that there are isolated cases of post-verbal marking of objects from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The paper focuses on two case studies. Firstly, ‘Old Swahili’ – that is, the language of classical Swahili poetry – where examples of typologically unusual emphatic object marker doubling are found. Secondly, we show that post-verbal object marking is in fact also found in Standard (Modern) Swahili, namely in second person plural marking, in post-verbal locative markers and with non-verbal predication. However, we also show that the relationship between these forms, the Old Swahili paradigm of object marker doubling, and post-verbal object marking in Bantu more widely – in particular post-verbal plural addressee marking – is complex

Variation in double object marking in Swahili

There is a high degree of morphosyntactic microvariation with respect to the number and position of object markers found across Bantu languages. This paper examines variation in object marking in Swahili, against the backdrop of variation in object marking in Bantu more broadly. Verb forms in Standard Swahili are well-known to typically only permit one pre-stem object marker. However, here we show that there are isolated cases of post-verbal marking of objects from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The paper focuses on two case studies. Firstly, ‘Old Swahili’ – that is, the language of classical Swahili poetry – where examples of typologically unusual emphatic object marker doubling are found. Secondly, we show that post-verbal object marking is in fact also found in Standard (Modern) Swahili, namely in second person plural marking, in post-verbal locative markers and with non-verbal predication. However, we also show that the relationship between these forms, the Old Swahili paradigm of object marker doubling, and post-verbal object marking in Bantu more widely – in particular post-verbal plural addressee marking – is complex

Morphosyntactic variation in Bantu: Focus on East Africa

Recent studies have developed a systematic approach to morphosyntactic variation among Bantu languages, taking well-known and widely attested construction types as a starting point and sketching their distribution across the family. One such approach, Guérois et al. (2017), utilises 142 morphosyntactic parameters or features, across a sample of some 50 Bantu languages (Marten et al. 2018). The present paper builds on this work and focusses on 10 parameters of variation where there is a significant difference between the values for East African Bantu languages and non-East African Bantu languages of the sample. The parameters relate to areas such as noun class morphology, agreement, and word order and so cover a wide range of morphosyntactic structures. The paper shows that the differences overall can be used for an initial characterisation of East Africa as a morphosyntactic area, with its own specific language change and language contact dynamics

Verb stem influence on object marking in Chiyao

This article examines the influence of verbal syntactic and semantic features on the occurrence of the object marker in Chiyao (P21), a Bantu language of Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. The article categorises verb stems into three main groups: those that take an obligatory object marker; those that block the occurrence of the object marker; and those that neither require nor block the object marker. The analysis shows that some monotransitive verbs denoting visual and mental perception take an obligatory object marker regardless of the syntactic context or semantic features of their respective object NPs. A similar pattern is exhibited by unextended ditransitive verbs. On the other hand, verbs in the middle voice and those occurring in cognate object constructions restrict the occurrence of the object marker. Between these two extremes are the verbs that pose no restriction to object marking as they can occur with or without the object marker depending on syntactic structure, pragmatic context and object noun features. This last category constitutes the majority of the verbs and is considered unmarked. It is concluded that verbal semantic and syntactic features are important aspects to consider in any account of the conditions for object marking in Chiyao

Animacy-based concord in Chiyao

Chiyao (Bantu, P21) allows animate concord and/or grammatical agreement for subject and object marking, depending on the type of noun. This article offers an initial description of the relevant patterns in Tanzanian Chiyao. We examine animacy effects in Chiyao grammar, focusing on subject and object marking. We show that the choice of animate concord over class concord is determined by a complex combination of factors, including formal grammatical features like noun class and number, semantic features of the referent such as size, and pragmatics. These findings contribute to the literature on Chiyao, our understanding of agreement systems in Bantu languages and the typological and comparative literature on animacy as a grammatical and/or pragmatic feature

Suffix order restrictions in Bantu

Bantu languages typically have a rich and complex verb structure, where a range of derivational suffixes can be distinguished. Focusing on the interaction of applicative, causative, reciprocal and passive suffixes, different theoretical and analytical models have been used to explain the order of these suffixes. Work over the past 40 years has shown that the phonological shape of the suffixes, a morphological template determining suffix ordering, semantic scope and syntactic derivation all play a role in understanding suffix order in Bantu. In addition, research in this area has shown rich variation between different Bantu languages, including specific developments and restrictions on morphological processes and the interaction of derivational and inflectional suffixes. The area of suffix order restrictions has become a central topic in Bantu linguistics and in studies of the interaction between phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics more broadly

Variation in double object marking in Swahili

There is a high degree of morphosyntactic microvariation with respect to the number and position of object markers found across Bantu languages. This paper examines variation in object marking in Swahili, against the backdrop of variation in object marking in Bantu more broadly. Verb forms in Standard Swahili are well-known to typically only permit one pre-stem object marker. However, here we show that there are isolated cases of post-verbal marking of objects from both a synchronic and diachronic perspective. The paper focuses on two case studies. Firstly, ‘Old Swahili’ – that is, the language of classical Swahili poetry – where examples of typologically unusual emphatic object marker doubling are found. Secondly, we show that post-verbal object marking is in fact also found in Standard (Modern) Swahili, namely in second person plural marking, in post-verbal locative markers and with non-verbal predication. However, we also show that the relationship between these forms, the Old Swahili paradigm of object marker doubling, and post-verbal object marking in Bantu more widely – in particular post-verbal plural addressee marking – is complex