Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39253
Katya Morgunova, David Shanks
In this paper, we examine the structure of Kirundi nominals and the elements that appear on their left periphery, in particulardemonstratives, the locative prefixes mu, ku and i, and the nominal linker na. We analyze these structures from the perspective of the phonology-syntax interface. We show that the Universal Spine Hypothesis, which assumes a fixed order of the functional categories inside the nominal, allows us to explain both the syntactic properties and phonological realization of nominals and demonstrative, locative and linker phrases. We conclude that all of these elements have different syntactic statuses and semantic roles in the nominal structure, despite some previous claims in the literature. Our proposal also adds to the typological picture of the structure of nominal and locative phrases and the role of the augment in Bantu.
{"title":"On the left periphery of the Kirundi noun phrase","authors":"Katya Morgunova, David Shanks","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39253","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39253","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we examine the structure of Kirundi nominals and the elements that appear on their left periphery, in particulardemonstratives, the locative prefixes mu, ku and i, and the nominal linker na. We analyze these structures from the perspective of the phonology-syntax interface. We show that the Universal Spine Hypothesis, which assumes a fixed order of the functional categories inside the nominal, allows us to explain both the syntactic properties and phonological realization of nominals and demonstrative, locative and linker phrases. We conclude that all of these elements have different syntactic statuses and semantic roles in the nominal structure, despite some previous claims in the literature. Our proposal also adds to the typological picture of the structure of nominal and locative phrases and the role of the augment in Bantu.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"21 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138954844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39106
Martin Renard
Serial verb constructions (SVCs), that is sequences of several consecutive verbs sharing certain features, form a well-established concept in descriptive and comparative syntax. However, there is no consensus concerning a systematic and universal definition of these constructions, leading authors like Bisang (2009) and Haspelmath (2016) to propose explicit criteria for their identification. Although Bantu languages are rarely described as containing SVCs, Tshiluba exhibits constructions that look suspiciously similar to them. This work therefore addresses two questions: (a) are these constructions SVCs in either Bisang’s (2009) or Haspelmath’s (2016) sense?; and (b) what are their key properties? Using various elicitation methods, I collected data indicating that these Tshiluba constructions conform to those definitions, and exhibit many properties which are usually associated with SVCs. Despite this evidence, further complications mean that these constructions remain ambiguous between serialization and asyndetic coordination, suggesting that we may be dealing with an on-going shift between the two (Andrason 2018), although further empirical confirmation is needed.
{"title":"“Serial Verb Constructions” In Tshiluba","authors":"Martin Renard","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39106","url":null,"abstract":"Serial verb constructions (SVCs), that is sequences of several consecutive verbs sharing certain features, form a well-established concept in descriptive and comparative syntax. However, there is no consensus concerning a systematic and universal definition of these constructions, leading authors like Bisang (2009) and Haspelmath (2016) to propose explicit criteria for their identification. Although Bantu languages are rarely described as containing SVCs, Tshiluba exhibits constructions that look suspiciously similar to them. This work therefore addresses two questions: (a) are these constructions SVCs in either Bisang’s (2009) or Haspelmath’s (2016) sense?; and (b) what are their key properties? Using various elicitation methods, I collected data indicating that these Tshiluba constructions conform to those definitions, and exhibit many properties which are usually associated with SVCs. Despite this evidence, further complications mean that these constructions remain ambiguous between serialization and asyndetic coordination, suggesting that we may be dealing with an on-going shift between the two (Andrason 2018), although further empirical confirmation is needed.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"109 3","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138958638","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39258
Claire Henderson
The Kirundi verbal suffix -an is notably polysemous with three possible meanings: reciprocal, associative, and antipassive. The contexts in which the antipassive is ambiguous or distinct raise questions for -an’s syntactic and semantic analysis. In this paper, I examine new data which demonstrate that -an’s primary function is to add a relation between the verb and an implicit argument. These data support an analysis where -an is a specialized high applicative head (ApplREL) which adds the semantics of such a relation. The distribution of the different meanings is then accounted for by differential semantic selection and binding. This analysis thereby simplifies -an to its relational role and accounts for the ambiguous and non-ambiguous contexts that characterize the suffix. Additionally, this paper addresses various questions about -an’s antipassive status and potential issues with the applicative approach.
{"title":"The antipassive in Kirundi","authors":"Claire Henderson","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39258","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39258","url":null,"abstract":"The Kirundi verbal suffix -an is notably polysemous with three possible meanings: reciprocal, associative, and antipassive. The contexts in which the antipassive is ambiguous or distinct raise questions for -an’s syntactic and semantic analysis. In this paper, I examine new data which demonstrate that -an’s primary function is to add a relation between the verb and an implicit argument. These data support an analysis where -an is a specialized high applicative head (ApplREL) which adds the semantics of such a relation. The distribution of the different meanings is then accounted for by differential semantic selection and binding. This analysis thereby simplifies -an to its relational role and accounts for the ambiguous and non-ambiguous contexts that characterize the suffix. Additionally, this paper addresses various questions about -an’s antipassive status and potential issues with the applicative approach.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"104 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138958786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39250
Chase Boles
This paper discusses the morpheme -ik in the Bantu language Kirundi (JD62). Dom et al. (2018) put forth a Proto-Bantu 'neuter middle marker' following Kemmer's (1993) 'middle domain', from which a Kirundi -ik can clearly be derived. They find that derivations of this marker occur in anticausative, agentless passive, and passive constructions in various Bantu languages. This paper demonstrates that Kirundi -ik is an anticausative marker, distinct in use and meaning from the true passive (marked with -u). This follows from tests in Alexiadou et al. (2006) and Gluckman and Bowler (2016). After determining its anticausative nature, I will discuss -ik's syntactic properties. Using the layering approach of change-of-state verbs as posited by Alexiadou et al. (2006) and Kratzer (2005), I will argue that -ik is an overt realization of Voice, providing evidence for a null semantic Voice in the crosslinguistic account of anticausatives theorized in Alexiadou et al. (2015).
{"title":"Getting the -ik: An anticausative structure in Kirundi","authors":"Chase Boles","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39250","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39250","url":null,"abstract":"This paper discusses the morpheme -ik in the Bantu language Kirundi (JD62). Dom et al. (2018) put forth a Proto-Bantu 'neuter middle marker' following Kemmer's (1993) 'middle domain', from which a Kirundi -ik can clearly be derived. They find that derivations of this marker occur in anticausative, agentless passive, and passive constructions in various Bantu languages. This paper demonstrates that Kirundi -ik is an anticausative marker, distinct in use and meaning from the true passive (marked with -u). This follows from tests in Alexiadou et al. (2006) and Gluckman and Bowler (2016). After determining its anticausative nature, I will discuss -ik's syntactic properties. Using the layering approach of change-of-state verbs as posited by Alexiadou et al. (2006) and Kratzer (2005), I will argue that -ik is an overt realization of Voice, providing evidence for a null semantic Voice in the crosslinguistic account of anticausatives theorized in Alexiadou et al. (2015).","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"20 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138956101","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39278
Yixin Wang
This paper presents the outcomes of a pilot study that explores expressions for cardinal directions in Tshiluba, a Bantu language primarily spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Language data were collected from a native Tshiluba speaker using three elicitation methods and an online dictionary. The results reveal several potential nomenclatural strategies and conceptual sources that Tshiluba uses to linguistically encode cardinal directions, including references to body parts, geographical and environmental landmarks and features, and celestial bodies and events. Meanwhile, a comprehensive exploration of the inherent characteristics of these Tshiluba cardinal direction expressions remains a subject of further investigation. The paper also includes reflections and suggestions regarding research methodologies on this topic. This paper contributes to cross–linguistic exploration and documentation of cardinal direction expressions, both within and beyond the Bantu language family. It also encourages further research on spatial language as a whole, which is a pursuit of great importance in advancing our understanding of human spatial cognition and our interactions with the external world.
{"title":"Exploring expressions for cardinal directions in Tshiluba","authors":"Yixin Wang","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39278","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39278","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents the outcomes of a pilot study that explores expressions for cardinal directions in Tshiluba, a Bantu language primarily spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Language data were collected from a native Tshiluba speaker using three elicitation methods and an online dictionary. The results reveal several potential nomenclatural strategies and conceptual sources that Tshiluba uses to linguistically encode cardinal directions, including references to body parts, geographical and environmental landmarks and features, and celestial bodies and events. Meanwhile, a comprehensive exploration of the inherent characteristics of these Tshiluba cardinal direction expressions remains a subject of further investigation. The paper also includes reflections and suggestions regarding research methodologies on this topic. This paper contributes to cross–linguistic exploration and documentation of cardinal direction expressions, both within and beyond the Bantu language family. It also encourages further research on spatial language as a whole, which is a pursuit of great importance in advancing our understanding of human spatial cognition and our interactions with the external world.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"205 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139170813","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39252
Terrance Gatchalian
This paper develops a syntactic account for Kirundi's two "copulas", the inflecting -ri and the invariant ni. I propose that these two morphemes correspond to two distinct syntactic positions, v and C respectively. This stands in contrast to a previous, semantic account for the analogous system in Kinyarwanda. I present morphological and distributional data which support the view that -ri lexicalizes v for two reasons: (i) to permit the projection of independently necessary verbal inflectional heads and to morphologically host the affixes that lexicalize them and (ii) to bind the eventuality variable introduced by location-denoting PP predicates. The two conditions are unified under the analysis that -ri, but not ni, indicates the presence of v. I argue that this account is able to capture a wider range of the distribution and properties of the two "copulas" than prior accounts.
本文对基隆迪语的两个 "共轭词"--转折词 -ri 和不变词 ni--进行了句法解释。我认为这两个词素分别对应两个不同的句法位置,即 v 和 C。这与之前基尼亚卢旺达语中类似系统的语义解释形成了鲜明对比。我提出的形态学和分布学数据支持这样的观点,即-ri词化v有两个原因:(i) 允许投射独立的必要动词词性头,并在形态学上容纳使其词化的词缀;(ii) 结合由表示位置的PP谓词引入的事件变量。这两个条件在-ri(而非 ni)表示 v 的存在这一分析下得到了统一。我认为,与之前的解释相比,这一解释能够捕捉到这两个 "共轭词 "更广泛的分布和属性。
{"title":"What's in a copula?","authors":"Terrance Gatchalian","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39252","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39252","url":null,"abstract":"This paper develops a syntactic account for Kirundi's two \"copulas\", the inflecting -ri and the invariant ni. I propose that these two morphemes correspond to two distinct syntactic positions, v and C respectively. This stands in contrast to a previous, semantic account for the analogous system in Kinyarwanda. I present morphological and distributional data which support the view that -ri lexicalizes v for two reasons: (i) to permit the projection of independently necessary verbal inflectional heads and to morphologically host the affixes that lexicalize them and (ii) to bind the eventuality variable introduced by location-denoting PP predicates. The two conditions are unified under the analysis that -ri, but not ni, indicates the presence of v. I argue that this account is able to capture a wider range of the distribution and properties of the two \"copulas\" than prior accounts.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"12 20","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138994357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39268
David Shanks
The Kirundi augment is a vowel found before noun class prefixes. I argue that the augment is an epenthetic vowel whose surface characteristics, including deletion, retention and weight, are conditioned by prosodic structure. While the augments of different noun classes present apparent asymmetries, my account unifies all surface representations under a single underlying structure. My arguments mainly focus on three nominal structures: simple nominals (syntactically φP), locative phrases (PP) and linker phrases (KP). I draw on the argument that both nP and DP are syntactic phases that correspond to prosodic words, as well as the observation that epenthetic vowels commonly pattern as weightless to quantity-sensitive phonological processes.
{"title":"Spelling out the Kirundi augment","authors":"David Shanks","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39268","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000The Kirundi augment is a vowel found before noun class prefixes. I argue that the augment is an epenthetic vowel whose surface characteristics, including deletion, retention and weight, are conditioned by prosodic structure. While the augments of different noun classes present apparent asymmetries, my account unifies all surface representations under a single underlying structure. My arguments mainly focus on three nominal structures: simple nominals (syntactically φP), locative phrases (PP) and linker phrases (KP). I draw on the argument that both nP and DP are syntactic phases that correspond to prosodic words, as well as the observation that epenthetic vowels commonly pattern as weightless to quantity-sensitive phonological processes. \u0000","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"29 40","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138955131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39256
Christiana Moser
This work explores the argument structure of causatives and applicatives in Tshiluba, a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The data were elicited with a speaker of Tshiluba through storyboard elicitation and grammaticality judgement tasks. Consistent with preceding analyses of benefactives in Bantu languages (Pylkkänen 2002; McGinnis 2008; de Kind and Bostoen 2012, inter al.), this work supports the analysis that benefactives in Tshiluba are high applicatives. Cases where both causative and applicative morphemes are present provide evidence that the position of the applicative morpheme determines whether the construction is benefactive or malefactive. Within the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle and Marantz; 1993, 1994), the applicative morpheme -el occurs as the head of a high ApplP, occasionally above vCAUSE and crucially always above Voice. This work shows that this is the case for both passives and antipassives of benefactives. Malefactives appear to be lower, as -el crucially occurs below vCAUSE and Voice in all cases. An unexpected pattern arises – Tshiluba double-object applicatives have been previously analysed as asymmetric in the positions available to each argument, in that the recipient indirect objects must follow the verb and precede the direct object (as in English, Bo grew Jo fruit vs. #Bo grew fruit Jo) (Dom et al. 2015). In the present data, direct objects and indirect objects can alternate in position.
本研究探讨了刚果(金)班图语 Tshiluba 中因果关系和应用关系的论证结构。这些数据是通过故事板诱导和语法判断任务与一位讲茨希卢巴语的人共同获得的。与之前对班图语中恩惠词的分析(Pylkkänen 2002; McGinnis 2008; de Kind and Bostoen 2012, inter al.同时出现因果和施事语素的情况证明,施事语素的位置决定了结构是有益的还是有害的。在分布式语素学(Halle 和 Marantz;1993,1994)的框架内,应用语素 -el 作为高位应用语素的头出现,偶尔出现在 vCAUSE 的上方,关键是总是出现在 Voice 的上方。这项研究表明,受益词的被动语态和反被动语态都是这种情况。反义词的位置似乎更低,因为 -el 在所有情况下都出现在 vCAUSE 和 Voice 的下方。一个意想不到的模式出现了--茨希鲁巴语的双宾语施事以前曾被分析为每个参数的可用位置不对称,即受事间接宾语必须在动词之后,直接宾语之前(如英语中的 Bo grew Jo fruit vs. #Bo grew fruit Jo)(Dom 等人,2015 年)。在本数据中,直接宾语和间接宾语的位置可以交替。
{"title":"morphosyntax of causatives and applicatives in Tshiluba","authors":"Christiana Moser","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39256","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39256","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000 \u0000 \u0000This work explores the argument structure of causatives and applicatives in Tshiluba, a Bantu language spoken in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The data were elicited with a speaker of Tshiluba through storyboard elicitation and grammaticality judgement tasks. Consistent with preceding analyses of benefactives in Bantu languages (Pylkkänen 2002; McGinnis 2008; de Kind and Bostoen 2012, inter al.), this work supports the analysis that benefactives in Tshiluba are high applicatives. Cases where both causative and applicative morphemes are present provide evidence that the position of the applicative morpheme determines whether the construction is benefactive or malefactive. Within the framework of Distributed Morphology (Halle and Marantz; 1993, 1994), the applicative morpheme -el occurs as the head of a high ApplP, occasionally above vCAUSE and crucially always above Voice. This work shows that this is the case for both passives and antipassives of benefactives. Malefactives appear to be lower, as -el crucially occurs below vCAUSE and Voice in all cases. An unexpected pattern arises – Tshiluba double-object applicatives have been previously analysed as asymmetric in the positions available to each argument, in that the recipient indirect objects must follow the verb and precede the direct object (as in English, Bo grew Jo fruit vs. #Bo grew fruit Jo) (Dom et al. 2015). In the present data, direct objects and indirect objects can alternate in position. \u0000 \u0000 \u0000","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"23 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138955205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39211
Lee Jiang
Languages have different ways of counting nouns, involvinga variable combination of pluralisation, combination withnumbers, and quantification. Established cross-linguisticliterature in this field like that of Chierchia (2019) suggestsa tripartite typological division between number-marking(e.g., English), classifier (e.g., Mandarin), and number-neutral (e.g., English) languages. In any case, the literatureargues for certain universals irrespective of type like thedivision of nouns into number-counting (e.g., pieces of meat)and kind-counting (e.g., pork and beef). In comparison withcross-linguistic typology and neighbouring languages likeLingala, Tshiluba does show affinities with the number-marking category with categories like fluid substancesneither able to change class nor combine directly withnumerals. However, there are other affinities with number-neutral languages like in the interpretation of quantifiers forthese fluid mass nouns, in this case a buunyi which can mean“many” bottles of water or “much” water. Ultimately, thetypological system is present but the motivation for it is morediscursive in that there can be countable and uncountableiterations of words like tshi-manu “wall” as opposed tocertain words being inherently (un)countable.
{"title":"Noun Class and Classification in Tshiluba (L.31)","authors":"Lee Jiang","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39211","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39211","url":null,"abstract":"Languages have different ways of counting nouns, involvinga variable combination of pluralisation, combination withnumbers, and quantification. Established cross-linguisticliterature in this field like that of Chierchia (2019) suggestsa tripartite typological division between number-marking(e.g., English), classifier (e.g., Mandarin), and number-neutral (e.g., English) languages. In any case, the literatureargues for certain universals irrespective of type like thedivision of nouns into number-counting (e.g., pieces of meat)and kind-counting (e.g., pork and beef). In comparison withcross-linguistic typology and neighbouring languages likeLingala, Tshiluba does show affinities with the number-marking category with categories like fluid substancesneither able to change class nor combine directly withnumerals. However, there are other affinities with number-neutral languages like in the interpretation of quantifiers forthese fluid mass nouns, in this case a buunyi which can mean“many” bottles of water or “much” water. Ultimately, thetypological system is present but the motivation for it is morediscursive in that there can be countable and uncountableiterations of words like tshi-manu “wall” as opposed tocertain words being inherently (un)countable.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"103 14","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138958619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-12-20DOI: 10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39254
Willie Myers
This paper provides a description and analysis of morphological causative constructions in Kirundi. I show that the causative inter- pretation of Kirundi’s two causative suffixes, -i and -ish, can be explained by a single syntactic structure. To do so, I demonstrate that the phonological and syntactic properties of -ish causatives re- quire a bimorphemic account wherein the suffix is derived from two functionally different heads: an unaccusative v head embedded by a higher Causative head. I present new empirical data collected from fieldwork in order to support these claims and fill a gap in the exist- ing documentation of the argument structure of Bantu causatives. In addition to presenting a singular account of Kirundi causative syn- tax, the proposal sheds light on cross-linguistic variation in the struc- ture of v/Voice and valency-effecting morphology, with implications for formal typologies of causatives.
{"title":"Unpacking -ish: a bimorphemic account of Kirundi causatives","authors":"Willie Myers","doi":"10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.33137/twpl.v46i1.39254","url":null,"abstract":"This paper provides a description and analysis of morphological causative constructions in Kirundi. I show that the causative inter- pretation of Kirundi’s two causative suffixes, -i and -ish, can be explained by a single syntactic structure. To do so, I demonstrate that the phonological and syntactic properties of -ish causatives re- quire a bimorphemic account wherein the suffix is derived from two functionally different heads: an unaccusative v head embedded by a higher Causative head. I present new empirical data collected from fieldwork in order to support these claims and fill a gap in the exist- ing documentation of the argument structure of Bantu causatives. In addition to presenting a singular account of Kirundi causative syn- tax, the proposal sheds light on cross-linguistic variation in the struc- ture of v/Voice and valency-effecting morphology, with implications for formal typologies of causatives.","PeriodicalId":442006,"journal":{"name":"Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics","volume":"59 15","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-12-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139169850","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}