Wager, Janet S.

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Proceedings of the Sixth Conference on African Linguistics . OSU WPL 20 . 270-278 (1975) A Constraint on Complements in Swahili* Janet S. Wager University of Washington 1. Introduction In his article "Surface structure constraints in syntax", Perlmutt~r (1970) discusses a surface structure constraint on the order of clitic pronouns i n Spanish. This constraint performs a filtering function in that sentences in which the clitics do not conform to the constraint are discarded as ungrammatical. This constraint applies to the output of the transformational component, and no transformations apply after the constraint filters out the ungrammatical sentences. In this paper I will argue that Swahili grammar also contains a surface structure constraint which serves to filter out ungrammatical sentences . It may be stated as : (1) *m,CSJ VP I will also demonstrate that Swahili grammar contains three rules , Extra.position, Pseudo-Clefting, and Nominalization, which function to prevent surface structures with sentential subjects from being derived. The following sentences illustrate the type of sentences with which this paper is concerned. The (a) sentences are ungrammatical in Swahili , and the (b) sentences , the result of the application of some rule to the (a) sentences, are grammatical . (2) a. *Kuwa alilruJa ilinishangaza. That he- came surprised-me . 'That he came surprised me .' b. Ilinishangaza kwa alikuja. It- surprised-me that he- came . ' It surprised me that he came .' (3) a. *Kuwa kwa nilimvona jana ni kweli That that I - saw-him yesterday is true iliwafura bisha. _made- them- happy. 'That that I saw him yesterday is true made them happy. ' b . Iliwafura.hisba kuwa ni kweli kuwa nilimvona It-made- them-happy that is true that I-saw-him Jana. yesterday. 'It made them happy that it is true that I saw him yesterday. ' 270 271 (4) a . "Kuwa alikuja ilinishangaza. That he- came surpr ised- me. ' That he came surprised me .' b . Lililonishangaza ni kuwa alikuja. (The thing)- which- surprised-me is that be- ca.me . 'What surprised me is that he came.' (5) a . *Kuwa alifika mapema ni vizuri . That be- arrived early is good. ' That he arrived early is good.' b . Lililo zuri ni kuwa alifika (The thing)- which- is good is that he- arrived mapema. early. ' What is good is that he arrived early.' (6) a . ·•Kuwa alikuja ilinishangaza. That he- came surprised-me . ' That he came surprised me .' b . Kuja kwake kulinisha.'lgaza. Coming his surprised- me. ' His coming surprised me.• (7) a . *Kuwa alisoma ilimsaidia. That he- studted helped-him. ' That he studied helped him. ' b . Kusoma kwake kulimsaidi a . Studying his helped- him. ' His studying helped him.' In each case the (a) sentence contains a complement in subject position, and in the (b) sentence that complement has been eliminated from subject position . Thus , it appears that the ungrammaticality of the (a) sentences lies in the occurrence of the complements in subject position. As seen in (2), (~) . and (6) , this filtering process involves at least three rules, each of which can act independently to remove a complement from subject position, thus making the sentences grammatical . 2. Discussion of the rules a . The first rule, Extra.position , can be shown to e xist in Swahili by demonstrating its interaction with another rule , Passive, which is definitely in the grammar of Swahili . This will be shown from the underlying structure , Figure J, to which agreement has been applied and the kuwa complementizer inserted. presumably transformationally. Fulani has been chosen as the equivalent of the abstract agent 'someone' in English. If it were assumed that E.xtraposition preceded Passive , the result of' the application of Extra.position on the S1 cycle gives Pigurp II and sentence (8) . 272 Figure I. -----Sl~ NP VP I __.-/-----fulani V NP (someone) I l alionyesha S2 (he-showed~ ____ -,---____ kuwa NP VP (that) /:::::::::--,,_ L'-> jambo lile ni kweli (thing that) (is true) Figure II. S1 /"" ~----Nr vr S2 f'Ulani alionyesha ~ (someone) (he-shot,ed) kuwa jambo lile ni kweli (that that thing is true) (8) Fulani alionyesha kw,a jambo lile ni kweli. Someone showed that thing that is true. 'Someone showed that that thing is true.' Now , however, Passive cannot apply to this structure, as the NP which dominated S2 is deleted with the application of Extraposition. This would eliminate the derivation of a possible sentence from I, sentence (9). (9) Ilionyeshwa {na fulani) kuwa jambo lile ni kweli. It-was-shown (by someone) that thing that is true . 'It t,as shown that that thing is true. 1 This sentence could not be generated by the above ordering of Extra-position and Passive. If, however, the order is reversed, this sentence results from Passive being applied first on S1, giving the ungrammatical (10) . (10) *Kuwa jambo lile ni kweli ilionyeshwa (na fulani). That thing that is true was-shown (by someone). ' That that thing is true was shown . 1 Then Extraposition applies, giving the desired (9). {9) Ilionyeshwa na fulani kuwa j ambo lile ni kweli. In the step preceding (10) an agreement transformation bas applied, changing the subject prefix on the verb from a- to 1-. Verbs with sentential subjects take the i- (Class 9Jprefix. This agreement rule must apply each timethe subject of a verb is 273 changed, since if this were not the case there would be no way to obtain the i - prefix on ilionyeshwa, as Extraposition would have moved its subject . The result would have been sentence (11) if the subject sentence had been moved before the application of agreement . (11) *AJ.ionyeshwa kuwa jambo lile ni kweli . (ungrammatical with this meaning} So, in order to be able to generate all possible sentences in Swahili, Passive must precede Extraposition, and since Extraposition applies to the output of an independently motivated rule, it must be a rule in Swahili. b. The second rule is considered to be a Pseudo- Clefting rule, though no attempt will be made to formalize it. This rule relates the following (a) and (b) sent ences , which are paraphrases . (12) a. Anapenda kwenda shule. He- likes to-go (to} school . b. 'He likes to go Analopenda to school.' ni kwenda shule. (T"ne thing)- wbich-he-likes is to-go (to) school . 'What he likes is to go to school. ' (13) a . Kitabu changu ni kikubwa. Book my is big. ' My book is big. ' b . Kilicho kikubwa ni kitabu changu. (The tbing}- which- is big is book my . ' What is big is my book. ' This rule must also follow Passive . Figure I on tne preceding page is the underlying form from which this wi 11 be iletermi ned . Pseudo-Clefting may apply on S2 giving Lililo kweli ni ,1ambo lile, but it is the Si cycle that is important in this argument . If it were assumed that Pseudo- Clefting -preceded Passive, the result of its application on S1 gives (14) Aliloonyesha ni kuwa Jambo lile ni (The thing)-which he- showed i s that thing that is kweli. true . 'What he showed is that that thing is true .' Passive can no longer apply because the copula verb ni cannoc be passivized. There is, however , a passive sentence derivable from the above structure. It is only possible to generat e this sentence i~ the rule of ?assive precedes the Pseudo-Clefting rule . Passive and agreement applied on s 1 results in (15) : (15) *Kuwa jambo lile ni kweli ilionyeshva na fulani . That thing that is true was-shown by someone . ' That that thing is true was sho"11 by someone . ' 27~ Nm, Pseudo- Clef'ting may apply, giving (16) Lililoonyeshwa ni kuwa Jambo lile (The thing)- whicb- was- shown is that thing that ni kveli. is true . ' What was shown is that that thing is true.' Therefore , Pseudo- Clefting must follow Passive, and exist as a rule in Swahili. c . The third rule , Nominalization, is different from the other two rules in tbat it is not a movement rule. It is also much more restricted than the others. This transformation changes a sentence to a verbal noun complex, which becomes a noun phrase, with the sentence node and thus the complementizer being deleted. A verbal noun compl ex consists of the nominalization of a verb to what is actually its infinitive form, followed by a ~ossessive agreeing in number and person with the original subject noun. If this was not a pronoun, the possessive or the word meaning 1of 1 , kwa (agreeing with the verbal noun), will be followed by the original subject noun . This transformation is only possible witb sentences that do not themselves embed a sentence, as it cannot occur where the subject noun phrase is complex. Also, nominali-zation cannot apply with the copula verb kuwa, nor the verb 'to have ', kuwa na . Sentence (17} is ungrammatical in Swahili, though its equivalent in English is well-formed. (17) *Kuwa kvetu wanafunzi kulimshangaza. Being our students surprised-him. ' Our being students surprised him.' In Swahili , an equivalent sentence would have to be expressed in the following manner : (18) Ilimshangaza kuwa tulikuwa wanafunzi. It- surprised-him that we-were students. 'It surprised him that we were students .' To obtain this sentence , Extraposition has applied to the original structure . It is possible to show tbat the result of Nominalization is a noun phrase and not a sentence; that is, that ,he sentence node deletes as a result of the application of the rule . First, Extra-position, which moves sentences, cannot apply to a sentence that has undergone Nominalization. Thus, (19) is ungrammatical . {19) *Ilinishangaza kuja kwake. It- surprised- me coming his. '"It surpr ised me his coming. 1 Second , when these verbal noun complexes are in subject position, the subject prefix on the verb is ku-, agreeing with the noun 275 phrase, and not i -, which is the subj ect prefix used on verbs which have sentential subjects . (20) a. *Kupika kwake ilikuwa nzuri . Cooking his was good. 1His cooking was good.' b. Kupika kwake kulikuwa kuzuri. Cooki ng his was good. ' His cooking was good.' 3 . Role of the rules in removing subject complements It will be shown from Figure III how each of the rules acts to eliminate complements from subject position, thereby forming grannnatical sentences. Figure III. ------S1 ----NP VP I /'::::,,S2 ni kweli _.---/ ---- (is true) kuwa NP VP (that) I I S3 ilinishangaza ,., ,., ,., 1/ ~it- surprised-me) kuwa !IP VP (that> I I yeye alikuja (he) (he-came) With no transformations other than agreement and kuwa insertion applied to this structure, the sentence is ungra.iiiiiiatical, as predicted by (l) . (21) *Kuwa kuwa alikuja ilinishangaza ni kweli . That that he-c8llle surprised-me is true . ' That that he came surprised me is true .' First i.; will be shown how Extraposition moves complements from subject position . Since Extra.position moves embedded sentences, it cannot apply on the S3 cycle . Moving to the S2 cycle, its application t here gives the ungra:mmatical (22) . (22) *Kuwa ilinishangaza kuwa alikuja ai kweli. That it- surprised- me that he-came is true . ' That it surprised me that he came is true. 1 Also ungrammatical is t he result of the application of Extra.position only on the S1 cycle . 276 (23) ·•JU kweli ku"a kuwa alikuJa ilinisha.ngaza. Is true that that be- came surprised-me. 'It is true that that he came surprised me.' Though the literal translations of the above sentences are gra.nnnatical in English, they a.re all ungrammatical in Swahili. The only possibility for producing a grammatical Swahili sentence from Figure III using only Extraposition is to apply that rule on both the S2 and s1 cycles . This gives (24) Ni kweli kuwa ilinisbangaza kuwa alikuja. Is true that it- surprised- me that he- came. 'It is true that it surprised me that he came.' As in English, Extraposition in S"ahili has the constraint that a sentence cannot be moved more than one sentence up co the right. Therefore, extraposition of S3 to s1 produces an ungrammatical sentence . {25) *Kuwa ilinishangaza ni kweli kuwa alikuja. That it-surprised-me is true that he-came. ,:; 'That it surprised me is true that he came. ' Similarly , if S3 is extraposed to S1 and then S2 is moved to s1 • the result is ungrammatical. (26) *Ni kweli ku"a alikuja kuwa ilinishangaza. Is true that he- came that it- surprised-me. *' It is true that he came that it surprised me.' These sentences are all ungranunatical, except (24), because they violate the surface structure constraint. Only "hen~ subject complements are extraposed do the sentences become grammatical. Next it will be sbo"ll how Pseudo-Clefting works to remove subject complements. This rule applied to S3 gives an unacceptable sentence. (27) ?AliyekuJa ni yeye. (He)-who-came is him . ' He who came is him. ' This is probably because of the pronoun feature on the subject noun, as a similar sentence "ith a non-pronoun subject is acceptable. (28) a . Mwalimu alikuja. Teacher he-came. b. 'The teacher came.' Aliyekuja ni mwalimu. (He)-who-ceme is teacher . 'He who came is the teacher.' 277 Assuming that Pseudo- Clefting does not apply on S3, its application on S2 gives (29) "Kuwa lililonishangaza ni kuva That (the thing)-wbich- surprised-me is that alikuja ni kweli. be- came is true . 'That what surprised me is that he came is true .' Again, there is a complement in subject position causing the sentence to be ungrammatical . Pseudo- Clefting can now apply on S1 giving (30) Lililo kweli ni kuwa lilil onishangaza (The tbing)-which-is-true is that (the thing)-ni kuwa alikuja. which-surprised-me is that he-came. 'What is true is t hat what surprised me is that he came.' The complement bas been moved from subject to object position. The non- application of Pseudo-Clefting on S2 would result in an ungrammatical sentence. (31) *Lililo kweli ni kuwa kuwa alikuja (The tbing}-which-is true is that that he- came ilinishangaza. surprised- me. ' What is true is that that he came surprised me . ' Pseudq-Clefi;ing, then, applies to allow ded vat ion or sen.:ences which would otherwise be filtered out by the surface structure conl:>t.raint . Noroinalization , as was seen in (6} and (7), removes the sentence node from subject position . Thus, this rule also acts as one of the rules that function to support the surface structure constraint . 4. Conclusion It has been shown that Swahili gr ammar must contain a surface structure constraint , (1) , which filters out sentences containing sentential subjects . It has also been shown that Swahili contains three rules , Extraposition , Pseudo- Clefting, and Nominalization, which function to remove sentences from subject position , allowing for the derivation of grammatical sentences which otherwise would be filtered out by the surface structure constraint . Since all sentences confor·ming to (J) are ungrammatical, this fact could he accounted for by making each of the three rules obligatory . However , the same fact can be stated simply by the constraint (1), and since this requires only one statement of this fact about Swahili, it is much more desirable in a grannnar than a condition on three separate rules . 278 Footnote *I would like to express rrt;t thanl<s to Profell!:sor Frederick Newmeyer of the University of Washington for his critical reading of the earlier and final drafts of this paper and for helpfUl discussions of theoretical issues. I would also like to thank Professor Carol Eastman, also of the University of Washington, for her help with questions relating to Swahili and stimulation in the area of linguistic research on Swahili. Reference Perlmutter, David M. 1970. Surface structure constraints in syntax. Linguistic Inquiry 1.2:187-255, 

A Constraint on Complements in Swahili

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A Constraint on Complements in Swahili

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