Abstract
In Bantu languages such as Chichewa or Herero, locatives can function as subjects and show noun class agreement (in class 16, 17 or 18) with predicates and modifiers. In contrast, (preverbal) locatives in Sotho-Tswana and Nguni have been analysed as prepositional adjuncts, which cannot agree. Our paper compares locatives in Kinyarwanda (JD61) with locatives in these other Bantu languages and demonstrates that the Kinyarwanda locative system is essentially of the Chichewa/Herero type. We show that Kinyarwanda locatives are nominal in nature, can act as subjects, and agree with predicates and modifiers. However, even though Kinyarwanda has four locative noun classes (16, 17, 18 and 25), there is only one locative agreement marker (class 16 ha-), which indiscriminately appears with all locatives, regardless of their noun class. We explain this fact by arguing that noun class features in Kinyarwanda do not participate in locative agreement; instead, the invariant class 16 marker expresses agreement with a generic feature [location] associated with all locatives. We offer a syntactic analysis of this peculiar aspect of Kinyarwanda locative agreement, and we propose a parameter that accounts for the relevant difference between Kinyarwanda and Chichewa/Herero-type Bantu languages.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank three anonymous JALL-reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments on an earlier version of this article, and Vicki Carstens, Nancy Kula, Lutz Marten, Andrew Van der Spuy, and the audience of SAMWOP 5 (Bloemfontein) for stimulating discussions on the data and ideas presented here. Special thanks also go to Leston Buell, Nhlanhla Mathonsi, Shamila Naidoo and Muhle Sibisi for their help with the Zulu data. All remaining errors are of course our responsibility. This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF). Any opinion, finding and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the authors and the NRF does not accept any liability in this regard.
Abbreviations
- 1/2s/p
first/second person singular/plural
- adj
adjective marker
- appl
applicative
- asp
aspect
- ass
associative
- aug
augment
- caus
causative
- cop
copula
- dem
demonstrative
- dj
disjoint verb form
- fut
future tense
- fv
final vowel
- inf
infinitive
- loc
locative marker
- neut
neuter
- om
object marker
- pass
passive
- perf
present perfect
- pres
present tense
- prog
progressive
- pst
past tense
- recp
reciprocal
- recpst
recent past
- rem
remote past
- sm
subject marker
Numbers in the gloss line represent noun class.
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