Fact-type complements in Gbe and the Surinamese Creoles

Abstract

Publication informationLingua, 129 (May 2013): 9-31 Publisher ElsevierItem record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/5837Publisher's statement þÿ T h i s i s t h e a u t h o r s v e r s i o n o f a w o r k t h a t w a s a c c e p t e d f o r p u b l i c a t i o n i n L i n g u a . C h a n g e s resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document.Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Lingua (VOL 129, ISSUE 2013, (2013 Creoles is modeled on that of their main input languages, the Gbe languages, we still lack precise information on the extent of the similarities and differences. In this paper we provide a broad comparison of fact-type complementation in these two language groups and suggest an explanation for the similarities we find. We explore the syntax and semantics of the complementizers used in both language groups, the kinds of complement-taking predicator (CTP) that select these complements and their syntax and semantics. The analysis reveals close structural and functional similarities between the two language groups suggesting that fact-type complementation in the Surinamese Creoles was largely modeled on that of Gbe.