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Shilluk, a Northwestern Nilotic language of the Luwo subgroup, has not previously been described as ergative. Using the framework of Dixon (1994), we examine ergative features in Shilluk on the morphological, as well as syntactic, level. Features of morphological ergativity examined include constituent order, constituent marking, pronominal indices, cross-referencing on the verb, the antipassive, and omissibility of arguments. After reviewing these features in independent, non-sequential clauses, we examine them in three types of sequential/dependent clauses. Shilluk proves to be thoroughly ergative in independent clauses, but some ergative features are neutralised in sequential or dependent clauses. The recognition of Shilluk as morphologically ergative is particularly important in light of previous descriptions of the basic ergative sentence as passive. Finally, we consider the ways in which Shilluk is, and is not, syntactically ergative. Although Shilluk is essentially pivotless in coordinate clauses, pronominal reference exhibits minor features of a nominative-accusative system.

This case study on Shilluk reveals a rich morphological system with a small segmental footprint. Whereas nouns and particularly verbs are characterized by extensive paradigms, many inflections are marked exclusively through stem-internal markers of vowel length, tone, ATR, and changes in the root-final coda. The chapter considers both stem-internal and affixal morphology. The conclusion summarizes the general characteristics of this system, and considers how it has developed diachronically. One important factor in the diachronic development is compensatory lengthening, which can still be observed synchronically. The extensive use of the same affixes for a wide range of morphosyntactic functions may also have played a role.

This paper offers a descriptive analysis of the morphology of transitive verbs in Shilluk. Shilluk is a language in which stem-internal changes, many of them suprasegmental in nature, play an important role in the morphology, alongside affixal markers. In particular, tone, vowel length, Advanced Tongue Root (ATR), vowel height, and the stem-final consonant are involved in the morphological marking of a range inflections, expressing tense-aspect-modality, valency changes, agreement, and focus. The paper lays out the inflectional marking of these operations, for each of seven classes that can be distinguished among transitive verbs. In this way, the study extends our understanding of stem-internal morphology and its development in West Nilotic languages.

This paper presents a set of ordered rules accounting for tone changes that occur in Avokaya verbs. The most prevalent shape for Avokaya verbs is monosyllabic. Disyllabic verbs roots behave the same way as disyllabic verbs which are composed of a derivational prefix plus a monosyllabic verb root. The derivational prefixation process is the same for verbs in all grammatical constructions. Verbs in SVO constructions and SOV constructions are treated separately, since different rules apply for these two sets of constructions. Avokaya syllables may carry a high, mid, low or rising tone, but not a falling tone. In this analysis of Avokaya, we show that the expected HL tone pattern has merged to form a M tone in the verbal system.