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This paper explores syntactic operations that obtain in multiple object and serial verb constructions in Akoose, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon. Focus is placed on the structure and types of multi-verb constructions (MVCs), the structure of (MVCs), as well as multiple object constructions (MOCs). The paper also examines argument-sharing in both (MVCs) and (MOCs). The analysis is done following insights from Chomsky (1981, 1995; Miyagawa, 2010). While (MOCs) display predicates with two structural patterns, namely [VP, [NP IO [NP DO]]] and [VP, [NP DO [NP IO]]], serial verb constructions (SVCs) constitute a maximum of three different VP structures, namely a) [V1 [XP [V2]], b) [XP [V1 [V2]], and c) [V1[V2 [XP [V3]]]. It is found that notwithstanding the normal SVO word order in the language, complex serial verbs impose an S-V1-V2-(V3)-O word order, which further derives S-V1-V2-O-V3 and S-V1-O-V2-V3 surface variants. The analysis further reveals that irrespective of the complex nature of structures examined and the various transformational operations they undergo, there is no argument sharing in MOCs and SVCs in Akoose.

Akoose exhibits light verbs, which have a nontrivial bearing on the resultant syntactic structures and word order in the language. In constructions involving the complex VP, the post-verbal NP undergoes object shift (OS) once a light verb is introduced in the structure. This process in turn changes the word order in the language from SVO to SOV, stranding the verb in sentence final position (leaving a transitive verb without its complement). The paper seeks to establish the rationale for OS in the language; the discussion is done within the framework of the Minimalist Program (Chomsky, 2000;2001a;2001b). The analysis shows that although case deficiency (Chomsky, 1981) of visible NPs seems to justify OS in some structures in Akoose, there remains a theoretical weakness in that, some apparent, ungrammatical cases are not accounted for by the Case Filter. It is therefore assumed that a solution to the problem posed by OS in the language can only be sought elsewhere. It is found that agreement requirements in light verb constructions in the language trigger OS; agreement links the probe and its goal via movement, and where agreement relations hold uninterpretable features of the relevant syntactic objects are valued for convergence.

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