A typology of Bantu subject inversion

Marten, Lutz; Wal, Jenneke van der

doi:10.1075/lv.14.2.04mar

Cited by 48 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 77 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…It is a complex phenomenon involving phonology (phrasing), morphology (conjoint/disjoint form of the verb), syntax (order of elements), and information structure. Studies carried out on subject inversion in the Bantu language family have shown how the different constructions appear across the family, but also how closely related languages can differ in this domain, making it an interesting candidate for a micro-variation project (Marten and van der Wal 2014).…”

Section: Subject Inversion In a Micro-variation Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has been extensively studied in Bantu linguistics, both for individual languages and comparatively (e.g. Bresnan and Kanerva 1989;Demuth 1990;Demuth and Mmusi 1997;Marten 2006;Zerbian 2006;Buell 2007;Marten 2011;Creissels 2011;Zeller 2013;Marten and van der Wal 2014). The core inversion constructions are recognised through certain diagnostics, to be presented in section 3.3, and have in common that the post-verbal subject is non-topical.…”

Section: Inverted Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Constructions with a post-verbal agreeing subject are not uncommon in Xhosa and other Bantu languages; for an overview, see Marten and van der Wal (2014). There are in fact two kinds of such constructions, superficially similar but different in their syntax and information structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When the verb agrees with the post-verbal subject, they are referred to as "agreeing inversion" and are used for subjects that lack topicality; i.e. subject focus and thetic 2 constructions (Marten and van der Wal 2014). For Xhosa, data are lacking with regard to the agreeing inversion construction, and it is reported not to be allowed in Zulu (Marten and van der Wal 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…subject focus and thetic 2 constructions (Marten and van der Wal 2014). For Xhosa, data are lacking with regard to the agreeing inversion construction, and it is reported not to be allowed in Zulu (Marten and van der Wal 2014). The following phrase is an example from the Matengo language.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

What the Giant Tells Us About Agreeing Post-Verbal Subjects in Xhosa

Ström

2017

SPILPLUS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Constructions with the subject following the verb are a widely studied topic in Bantu linguistics. One such construction, in which the subject is dislocated, is considered not as core subject inversion, but generally as an afterthought construction. This study takes a spoken text, in this case a narrative, as its point of departure to examine this kind of construction more carefully in terms of its function and morphosyntactic structure in Xhosa, a Bantu language of South Africa. The paper shows that such agreeing post-verbal subject constructions are used to re-activate semi-active concepts that have been mentioned previously in the narrative. They reintroduce a concept which then becomes the topic of the current sentence and of subsequent phrases, in which the subject is often pronominalized. It is also shown that the expected penultimate lengthening, one of the diagnostics used to differentiate core inversion from constructions with a dislocated subject, is often not present. The function of the construction and other morphosyntactic diagnostics point to the subject being dislocated, however. Furthermore, it is argued, based on a few examples from the narrative and follow-up grammaticality judgements, that there is agreeing inversion in Xhosa, with the subject in the immediately-after-verb position. This inversion construction has not previously been attested in Xhosa and further research is needed in order to corroborate the results. The appendix presents the recorded, transcribed, glossed and translated narrative on which the analysis is based.

show abstract

Section: Subject Inversion In a Micro-variation Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Inverted Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

What the Giant Tells Us About Agreeing Post-Verbal Subjects in Xhosa

Ström

2017

SPILPLUS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Locative Inversion

Diercks

2017

The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Syntax, Second Edition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Locative inversion patterns are instances of a non‐canonical word order where a locative phrase (in a canonically SVO language) moves to preverbal position, leaving the thematic subject postverbally. There are a wide variety of morphosyntactic variations in this basic inversion pattern cross‐linguistically (and even within individual languages), and the evidence suggests that different syntactic mechanisms are used in different instances to generate the same surface word orders, both in English and in various Bantu languages. Analyses and diagnostic evidence are presented for all of these languages showing that, despite the range of variation, similar syntactic mechanisms appear to be at play across languages. The non‐canonical patterns that occur in locative inversion constructions raise important questions for theoretical assumptions about Case licensing, agreement, and locality in particular, and the theoretical work in those areas is addressed as well.

show abstract

The morphosyntax of exhaustive focus

Fominyam

Šimík

2017

Nat Lang Linguist Theory

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A typology of Bantu subject inversion

Cited by 48 publications

References 77 publications

What the Giant Tells Us About Agreeing Post-Verbal Subjects in Xhosa

What the Giant Tells Us About Agreeing Post-Verbal Subjects in Xhosa

Locative Inversion

The morphosyntax of exhaustive focus

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About