... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Lang... more ... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa. ID Code: 7227. Deposited By: Lutz Marten. Deposited On: 27 Apr 2009 16:13. Last Modified: 27 Apr 2009 16:13. Statistics. ...
L’otjiherero a un systeme de flexion tonale du nom appele ‘ cas tonals’. Ce systeme permet de dif... more L’otjiherero a un systeme de flexion tonale du nom appele ‘ cas tonals’. Ce systeme permet de differencier les noms selon le contexte syntaxique, notamment les cas qu’on appelle ‘ complement’ et ‘ par defaut’. Les noms marques comme cas ‘ complement’ ne se trouvent qu’immediatement apres le verbe et seulement dans un sous-ensemble d’aspects verbaux. Le groupe de noms qui peuvent prendre le cas ‘ complement’ inclut des objets directs et indirects, des noms adverbiaux, des sujets anticipes et des sujets postposes au verbe. On rencontre donc le cas ‘ complement’ avec differents noms, independamment de leur fonction grammaticale, du moment qu’ils sont places immediatement apres le verbe. Il existe deux arguments qui permettent de montrer que le systeme est (historiquement) lie a la structure informative. Tout d’abord, on ne trouve pas de cas ‘ complement’ dans les propositions relatives ou avec les noms deplaces par dislocation. Ensuite, les noms qui suivent un verbe au negatif factitif-habituel peuvent etre marques, soit comme cas ‘ complement’, soit comme cas ‘ par defaut’, selon qu’ils sont focalises ou non. A partir de la fonction et de la distribution des cas ‘ complement’, l’article suggere qu’il existe un parallelisme etroit entre le systeme de cas tonals et le systeme d’alternances conjoint-disjoint qu’on trouve en tswana. Les deux systemes impliquent un marquage prosodique, ne s’observent qu’a certains temps, marquent la relation entre un verbe et le nom qui le suit immediatement independamment de sa fonction grammaticale, sont limites a un domaine structurel comme la proposition et sont lies a la focalisation et a la structure informative. L’article ne propose pas de reconstruction detaillee, mais il suggere que les deux systemes, celui des cas tonals et celui de l’alternance conjoint-disjoint, sont des exemples de structure informative grammaticalisee. L’etroite similarite entre les deux systemes permet de penser qu’ils ont une fonction commune et peut-etre meme une origine historique commune.
Conjoint/disjoint alternations in Bantu languages such as Bemba (Sharman 1956; Costa and Kula 200... more Conjoint/disjoint alternations in Bantu languages such as Bemba (Sharman 1956; Costa and Kula 2008), Kirundi (Meeussen 1959) and Tswana (Creissels 1996) have been the most welldocumented cases; Kavari et al. (2012) note the similarity between conjoint/disjoint systems and 'tone cases' in Otjiherero-see also Hyman (this volume) on the comparison with tone cases, the augment and metatony. Non-Bantu languages for which conjoint/disjoint distinctions have been reported include Doyayo (Adamawa; Elders 2006), Igbo (and other Benue-Kwa languages) (Manfredi 2005), Majang (Nilo-Saharan; Joswig 2015), and Yom (Gur; Fiedler this volume). Although not explicitly referred to as conjoint/disjoint systems, comparable distinctions are also found in Bantoid (Aghem, Ejagham) and Nigerian Benue-Congo languages such as Efik and Gwari, where distinct verb forms are used to indicate argument vs. verb phrase focus (Hyman and Watters 1984).
This paper was first presented in 2008 and there are a number of people who have contributed to t... more This paper was first presented in 2008 and there are a number of people who have contributed to these ideas and to subsequent developments that have arisen from it. First there is Miriam Bouzouita, without whom the Dynamic Syntax account of syntactic change might never have got off the ground. We are very grateful to her for letting us use her data, for her insights into methodologies for diachronic study and the nature of diachronic developments of Spanish clitics. There has also been substantial collaborative work done on clitic cluster distributions by the first author and Chatzikyriakidis (see Chatzikyriakidis 2010, 2011, Chatzikyriakidis and Kempson 2011). These two colleagues in particular deserve a special vote of thanks. We are also grateful to Jekura Kavari for supplying the Otjiherero data and for discussion of their analysis with the third-named author. There is also Eleni Gregoromichelaki, Jieun Kiaer, Andrew Gargett, and Wilfried Meyer-Viol to thank for input as these ideas have emerged. This work was reported at a Person Case Constraint workshop in November 2007 at Queen Mary University of London, and we thank participants for comments. Normal disclaimers apply.
The languages of Central, East, and Southern Africa are, like the cultures in which they are embe... more The languages of Central, East, and Southern Africa are, like the cultures in which they are embedded, diverse, dynamic, and vibrant. They offer a wealth of exciting structural, sociolinguistic, and comparative material, which is a key to our understanding of the human capacity for language. More than 500 languages are spoken in this vast area and the majority of countries covered have a high degree of multilingualism, both because several languages are part of the public discourse and because speakers are smoothly manipulating different languages for different functions and in different contexts. These circumstances allow for, and sometimes force, the shifting of linguistic identities and allegiances, and are reflected in new linguistic structures and varieties due to language contact and migration, as well as the endangerment of many languages. In terms of classification, all four African linguistic groups are represented in East and Southern Africa: Afroasiatic and Nilosaharan languages in northern East Africa; Khoisan languages in Southern Africa; and Niger-Congo (mainly Bantu) languages in the whole area. In addition, Afrikaans represents a Germanic language, and Malagasy belongs to the Austronesian family. The vast majority of languages in the whole region, however, are Bantu languages. Originating, as far as we can ascertain, from the Nigerian-Cameroonian borderland, Bantu languages have come to be used more widely during the last three millennia and are now spoken throughout the larger part of Central, East, and Southern Africa. Bantu languages are structurally characterized by a complex noun class system according to which each noun is grouped into a specific class marked by a prefix which must agree with dependent elements. Most Bantu languages have between 15 and 20 classes, including a number of singular-plural paired classes. In addition to noun classes, the study of Bantu tone, verb structure, agreement and constructions involving the equivalence of English pronouns, have contributed profoundly to developments in these areas in general linguistics. Many, probably most of the languages of East and Southern Africa have not yet been comprehensively documented. More study would very likely illustrate further how much the languages from this part of the world can tell us about the cultures and histories of the region, and about the nature of language in general. The languages covered in the following pages are prominent languages of the area and among the largest in terms of numbers of speakers. They include fourteen feature languages: Zulu,
This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguish... more This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguishes between seven types of inversion constructions: formal locative inversion, semantic locative inversion, instrument inversion, patient inversion, (clausal) complement inversion, default agreement inversion and agreeing inversion. Based on a set of nine surface variables, a matrix of inversion constructions is developed which identifies characteristics of the set of constructions overall as well as of each individual construction type. The distribution of the different inversion constructions is documented with reference to a sample of 46 Bantu languages, from which geographical and typological generalisations are drawn. For example, languages with instrument inversion or with patient inversion always have locative inversion (but not vice versa), or if a language has at least one inversion construction, it always has at least either default agreement inversion or agreeing inversion. Fin...
Bouzouita (2001). As this array of jointly authored papers makes plain, it is almost an accident ... more Bouzouita (2001). As this array of jointly authored papers makes plain, it is almost an accident of history who turns out to be a listed author. In particular, we have to thank Wilfried Meyer-Viol for his influence on almost every page. A substantial part of chapters 2-3 overlaps with that of Kempson et al. (2001). And the discussion of quantification chapter 3, section 3 relies very heavily on chapter 7 of Kempson et al. (2001), which is largely his work. So our biggest vote of thanks goes to him. He cannot however be blamed for any of the analyses presented here, and he would certainly disavow the particular cognitive stance which we have adopted. So we thank him for the high standards of formal rigour he has demanded of all explanations articulated within the framework, and for the challenge of disagreeing with him almost every step of the way over the cognitive underpinnings of the system as set out. There are many other people over the years we have to thank, for their input, their support, even their disagreement, all of which have contributed to the further articulation of our ideas. These include, perhaps first and foremost our students, since they have had to bear the brunt of hearing our ideas as they have emerged, and so have contributed centrally to the way the framework has developed:
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2012
ABSTRACT This paper examines the status of locative phrases in Bantu and the argument-adjunct dis... more ABSTRACT This paper examines the status of locative phrases in Bantu and the argument-adjunct distinction. We look at verbal locative agreement and at other morphosyntactic patterns related to locative phrases in different Bantu languages including Kiswahili, Sambaa, Haya, and several Nguni languages. We propose that object marking cannot be taken to be evidence for the objecthood of the corresponding NP in Bantu. We focus on three domains where verbal agreement marking of locative complements differs from the corresponding marking of non-locative complements: (i) object-marking paradigms without locative markers, (ii) contexts in which locative object markers may be used, but where other, non-locative object markers are disallowed, and (iii) locative complements marked by post-verbal locative clitics rather than, or in addition to, locative object markers. We then show how variation in locative object marking is related more generally to corresponding variation in locative marking in Bantu on one hand, and on the other hand to several processes of grammaticalisation for which locative markers serve as a starting point. We propose that, because the system of morphosyntactic coding of locatives in Bantu is in flux, locative object marking may be related to more or less object-like grammatical functions, depending on the particular state within the wider process of transition of locative marking, and hence presents a mixed picture.
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2012
The paper presents a detailed discussion of morphosyntactic variation in object marking in Bantu.... more The paper presents a detailed discussion of morphosyntactic variation in object marking in Bantu. Building on previous work (Marten et al. 2007), the paper investigates variation in object marking in 16 Bantu languages with respect to six parameters: The co-occurrence of object markers and lexical objects, the obligatoriness of object markers with specific classes of objects, the presence of locative object markers, multiple object markers, object marking in double object constructions, and object marking in relative clauses. The study shows that even within these fine-grained parameters, variation between different languages can be further distinguished. The paper provides a systematic overview of the kind of morphosyntactic variation found in Bantu, and provides an empirical framework for further descriptive and comparative studies.
... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Lang... more ... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa. ID Code: 7220. Deposited By: Lutz Marten. Deposited On: 24 Apr 2009 16:22. Last Modified: 24 Apr 2009 16:22. Repository Staff Only: item control page. ...
... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Lang... more ... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa. ID Code: 7227. Deposited By: Lutz Marten. Deposited On: 27 Apr 2009 16:13. Last Modified: 27 Apr 2009 16:13. Statistics. ...
L’otjiherero a un systeme de flexion tonale du nom appele ‘ cas tonals’. Ce systeme permet de dif... more L’otjiherero a un systeme de flexion tonale du nom appele ‘ cas tonals’. Ce systeme permet de differencier les noms selon le contexte syntaxique, notamment les cas qu’on appelle ‘ complement’ et ‘ par defaut’. Les noms marques comme cas ‘ complement’ ne se trouvent qu’immediatement apres le verbe et seulement dans un sous-ensemble d’aspects verbaux. Le groupe de noms qui peuvent prendre le cas ‘ complement’ inclut des objets directs et indirects, des noms adverbiaux, des sujets anticipes et des sujets postposes au verbe. On rencontre donc le cas ‘ complement’ avec differents noms, independamment de leur fonction grammaticale, du moment qu’ils sont places immediatement apres le verbe. Il existe deux arguments qui permettent de montrer que le systeme est (historiquement) lie a la structure informative. Tout d’abord, on ne trouve pas de cas ‘ complement’ dans les propositions relatives ou avec les noms deplaces par dislocation. Ensuite, les noms qui suivent un verbe au negatif factitif-habituel peuvent etre marques, soit comme cas ‘ complement’, soit comme cas ‘ par defaut’, selon qu’ils sont focalises ou non. A partir de la fonction et de la distribution des cas ‘ complement’, l’article suggere qu’il existe un parallelisme etroit entre le systeme de cas tonals et le systeme d’alternances conjoint-disjoint qu’on trouve en tswana. Les deux systemes impliquent un marquage prosodique, ne s’observent qu’a certains temps, marquent la relation entre un verbe et le nom qui le suit immediatement independamment de sa fonction grammaticale, sont limites a un domaine structurel comme la proposition et sont lies a la focalisation et a la structure informative. L’article ne propose pas de reconstruction detaillee, mais il suggere que les deux systemes, celui des cas tonals et celui de l’alternance conjoint-disjoint, sont des exemples de structure informative grammaticalisee. L’etroite similarite entre les deux systemes permet de penser qu’ils ont une fonction commune et peut-etre meme une origine historique commune.
Conjoint/disjoint alternations in Bantu languages such as Bemba (Sharman 1956; Costa and Kula 200... more Conjoint/disjoint alternations in Bantu languages such as Bemba (Sharman 1956; Costa and Kula 2008), Kirundi (Meeussen 1959) and Tswana (Creissels 1996) have been the most welldocumented cases; Kavari et al. (2012) note the similarity between conjoint/disjoint systems and 'tone cases' in Otjiherero-see also Hyman (this volume) on the comparison with tone cases, the augment and metatony. Non-Bantu languages for which conjoint/disjoint distinctions have been reported include Doyayo (Adamawa; Elders 2006), Igbo (and other Benue-Kwa languages) (Manfredi 2005), Majang (Nilo-Saharan; Joswig 2015), and Yom (Gur; Fiedler this volume). Although not explicitly referred to as conjoint/disjoint systems, comparable distinctions are also found in Bantoid (Aghem, Ejagham) and Nigerian Benue-Congo languages such as Efik and Gwari, where distinct verb forms are used to indicate argument vs. verb phrase focus (Hyman and Watters 1984).
This paper was first presented in 2008 and there are a number of people who have contributed to t... more This paper was first presented in 2008 and there are a number of people who have contributed to these ideas and to subsequent developments that have arisen from it. First there is Miriam Bouzouita, without whom the Dynamic Syntax account of syntactic change might never have got off the ground. We are very grateful to her for letting us use her data, for her insights into methodologies for diachronic study and the nature of diachronic developments of Spanish clitics. There has also been substantial collaborative work done on clitic cluster distributions by the first author and Chatzikyriakidis (see Chatzikyriakidis 2010, 2011, Chatzikyriakidis and Kempson 2011). These two colleagues in particular deserve a special vote of thanks. We are also grateful to Jekura Kavari for supplying the Otjiherero data and for discussion of their analysis with the third-named author. There is also Eleni Gregoromichelaki, Jieun Kiaer, Andrew Gargett, and Wilfried Meyer-Viol to thank for input as these ideas have emerged. This work was reported at a Person Case Constraint workshop in November 2007 at Queen Mary University of London, and we thank participants for comments. Normal disclaimers apply.
The languages of Central, East, and Southern Africa are, like the cultures in which they are embe... more The languages of Central, East, and Southern Africa are, like the cultures in which they are embedded, diverse, dynamic, and vibrant. They offer a wealth of exciting structural, sociolinguistic, and comparative material, which is a key to our understanding of the human capacity for language. More than 500 languages are spoken in this vast area and the majority of countries covered have a high degree of multilingualism, both because several languages are part of the public discourse and because speakers are smoothly manipulating different languages for different functions and in different contexts. These circumstances allow for, and sometimes force, the shifting of linguistic identities and allegiances, and are reflected in new linguistic structures and varieties due to language contact and migration, as well as the endangerment of many languages. In terms of classification, all four African linguistic groups are represented in East and Southern Africa: Afroasiatic and Nilosaharan languages in northern East Africa; Khoisan languages in Southern Africa; and Niger-Congo (mainly Bantu) languages in the whole area. In addition, Afrikaans represents a Germanic language, and Malagasy belongs to the Austronesian family. The vast majority of languages in the whole region, however, are Bantu languages. Originating, as far as we can ascertain, from the Nigerian-Cameroonian borderland, Bantu languages have come to be used more widely during the last three millennia and are now spoken throughout the larger part of Central, East, and Southern Africa. Bantu languages are structurally characterized by a complex noun class system according to which each noun is grouped into a specific class marked by a prefix which must agree with dependent elements. Most Bantu languages have between 15 and 20 classes, including a number of singular-plural paired classes. In addition to noun classes, the study of Bantu tone, verb structure, agreement and constructions involving the equivalence of English pronouns, have contributed profoundly to developments in these areas in general linguistics. Many, probably most of the languages of East and Southern Africa have not yet been comprehensively documented. More study would very likely illustrate further how much the languages from this part of the world can tell us about the cultures and histories of the region, and about the nature of language in general. The languages covered in the following pages are prominent languages of the area and among the largest in terms of numbers of speakers. They include fourteen feature languages: Zulu,
This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguish... more This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguishes between seven types of inversion constructions: formal locative inversion, semantic locative inversion, instrument inversion, patient inversion, (clausal) complement inversion, default agreement inversion and agreeing inversion. Based on a set of nine surface variables, a matrix of inversion constructions is developed which identifies characteristics of the set of constructions overall as well as of each individual construction type. The distribution of the different inversion constructions is documented with reference to a sample of 46 Bantu languages, from which geographical and typological generalisations are drawn. For example, languages with instrument inversion or with patient inversion always have locative inversion (but not vice versa), or if a language has at least one inversion construction, it always has at least either default agreement inversion or agreeing inversion. Fin...
Bouzouita (2001). As this array of jointly authored papers makes plain, it is almost an accident ... more Bouzouita (2001). As this array of jointly authored papers makes plain, it is almost an accident of history who turns out to be a listed author. In particular, we have to thank Wilfried Meyer-Viol for his influence on almost every page. A substantial part of chapters 2-3 overlaps with that of Kempson et al. (2001). And the discussion of quantification chapter 3, section 3 relies very heavily on chapter 7 of Kempson et al. (2001), which is largely his work. So our biggest vote of thanks goes to him. He cannot however be blamed for any of the analyses presented here, and he would certainly disavow the particular cognitive stance which we have adopted. So we thank him for the high standards of formal rigour he has demanded of all explanations articulated within the framework, and for the challenge of disagreeing with him almost every step of the way over the cognitive underpinnings of the system as set out. There are many other people over the years we have to thank, for their input, their support, even their disagreement, all of which have contributed to the further articulation of our ideas. These include, perhaps first and foremost our students, since they have had to bear the brunt of hearing our ideas as they have emerged, and so have contributed centrally to the way the framework has developed:
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2012
ABSTRACT This paper examines the status of locative phrases in Bantu and the argument-adjunct dis... more ABSTRACT This paper examines the status of locative phrases in Bantu and the argument-adjunct distinction. We look at verbal locative agreement and at other morphosyntactic patterns related to locative phrases in different Bantu languages including Kiswahili, Sambaa, Haya, and several Nguni languages. We propose that object marking cannot be taken to be evidence for the objecthood of the corresponding NP in Bantu. We focus on three domains where verbal agreement marking of locative complements differs from the corresponding marking of non-locative complements: (i) object-marking paradigms without locative markers, (ii) contexts in which locative object markers may be used, but where other, non-locative object markers are disallowed, and (iii) locative complements marked by post-verbal locative clitics rather than, or in addition to, locative object markers. We then show how variation in locative object marking is related more generally to corresponding variation in locative marking in Bantu on one hand, and on the other hand to several processes of grammaticalisation for which locative markers serve as a starting point. We propose that, because the system of morphosyntactic coding of locatives in Bantu is in flux, locative object marking may be related to more or less object-like grammatical functions, depending on the particular state within the wider process of transition of locative marking, and hence presents a mixed picture.
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 2012
The paper presents a detailed discussion of morphosyntactic variation in object marking in Bantu.... more The paper presents a detailed discussion of morphosyntactic variation in object marking in Bantu. Building on previous work (Marten et al. 2007), the paper investigates variation in object marking in 16 Bantu languages with respect to six parameters: The co-occurrence of object markers and lexical objects, the obligatoriness of object markers with specific classes of objects, the presence of locative object markers, multiple object markers, object marking in double object constructions, and object marking in relative clauses. The study shows that even within these fine-grained parameters, variation between different languages can be further distinguished. The paper provides a systematic overview of the kind of morphosyntactic variation found in Bantu, and provides an empirical framework for further descriptive and comparative studies.
... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Lang... more ... SOAS Departments & Centres: Faculty of Languages and Cultures > Department of the Languages and Cultures of Africa. ID Code: 7220. Deposited By: Lutz Marten. Deposited On: 24 Apr 2009 16:22. Last Modified: 24 Apr 2009 16:22. Repository Staff Only: item control page. ...
Uploads
Papers by Lutz Marten