Allen Asiimwe - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Allen Asiimwe

Linguistics

Determiner spreading, the phenomenon whereby adnominal modifiers carry an ‘additional’ determiner... more Determiner spreading, the phenomenon whereby adnominal modifiers carry an ‘additional’ determiner, has been studied extensively for a variety of languages, most notably Greek, Semitic, and Scandinavian languages. Interestingly, the same phenomenon occurs in the Bantu language Rukiga. We show how the Rukiga augment is parallel to the Greek determiner in the context of modification, and how it triggers a restrictive reading when present on a larger class of modifiers than familiar so far: relative clauses, adjectives, possessives, and certain quantifiers. Considering its morphosyntactic and interpretational properties, we propose that the variation in the presence versus absence of the augment on modifiers is due to different underlying structures, applying an analysis of determiner spreading in terms of a reduced relative clause structure.

Journal of the Language Association of Eastern Africa

The goal of the paper is to provide a linguistic description of the structure of personal names i... more The goal of the paper is to provide a linguistic description of the structure of personal names in a lesser studied Bantu language of Uganda, Rukiga (JE14). Data show that Rukiga personal names are presented as lexical entities but with underlying elaborate grammatical structures derived from the syntax, morphology, phonology and the lexicon of the language. Personal names in Rukiga form a special category of nouns derived from nouns, adjectives, verbs, phrases, clauses and full sentences. This study establishes that truncation, affixal derivation, lexicalization of phrases, clauses and sentences are employed in name-formation. The study further reveals that the socio-cultural context influences the semantics and structure of names in Rukiga. Data for this study were collected in Kabale district in western Uganda through interviewing older persons, reviewing baptism and marriage records and tax collection registers. The study mirrors personal names as a part of the grammar of Rukiga reflecting the general complex linguistic system of the language. Data from this study is envisaged to contribute to typological and theoretical analyses of personal names which have internal morphosyntactic properties.

Linguistique et langues africaines

The locative expressions in Runyankore-Rukiga consist of nouns that can refer to both places and ... more The locative expressions in Runyankore-Rukiga consist of nouns that can refer to both places and spatial relations, whether they are inherent or derived. Instead of focusing solely on the morphological properties and presentation of locative words, our attention is directed towards locative phrases. These expressions resemble prepositional phrases in terms of their configuration since the locative particle appears before the noun as a separate word. Despite describing spaces rather than objects, these phrases function as nominal expressions and exhibit morpho-syntactic behaviour akin to noun phrases. To support this assertion, we examine Locative Inversion, arguments of negative verbs, and Alternate Locative Agreement patterns in detail. By utilizing type-semantic concepts alongside structural representations, we propose a revised version of the two-layered noun phrase approach initially proposed by Bresnan and Mchombo (1989).

Language Matters, 2020

Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the ... more Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the Global South. Based on fieldwork conducted in October 2018 in four primary schools in Gulu district, Acoli region, northern Uganda, this study investigates school characteristics and facilities available to learners and teachers to scaffold the acquisition of literacy in the early years of schooling. These are discussed within the framework of Uganda's mother-tongue education programme with a focus on the challenges of literacy acquisition. Data were collected from four schools by means of questionnaires, classroom interactions, and interviews, and were analysed through triangulation. The findings suggest that there are difficulties to attaining literacy within the MT education programme. Some of the challenges relate to teachers' attitudes and practices, lack of school materials, poor school conditions, and large learner numbers per class. The implications of the observed challenges to literacy acquisition are discussed.

Nordic Journal of African Studies, Mar 31, 2021

The multifunctionality of-o in Rukiga: pronoun, contrastive topic, and mirative marker Allen Asii... more The multifunctionality of-o in Rukiga: pronoun, contrastive topic, and mirative marker Allen Asiimwe & Jenneke van der Wal This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

South African Journal of African Languages, 2016

This article examines the intrinsic relation between the demonstrative and the definite morpheme ... more This article examines the intrinsic relation between the demonstrative and the definite morpheme -a in Runyankore- Rukiga, a Bantu language of south-western Uganda. Although the definite morpheme -a lacks the deictic feature, which is intrinsic in the demonstrative, the paper gives semantic evidence to show that this morpheme is a functional determiner exhibiting an intricate relation with the demonstrative. Hence, the functional determiner -a can be viewed as a grammaticalised form of the demonstrative. Based on the criteria for the characterisation of grammaticalisation of demonstratives, a connection between the morpheme -a and the demonstrative is established.

To my supervisor Prof. Marriana Visser, words alone cannot express how grateful I am. You selfles... more To my supervisor Prof. Marriana Visser, words alone cannot express how grateful I am. You selflessly took me through this challenging long journey with a lot of patience. You withstood all my weaknesses and modeled me into a linguistics researcher. I can only say Yebare munonga! (Thank you very much!)

A presentation at the 2020 Colloquium of African Languages and Linguistics, hosted at Leiden Univ... more A presentation at the 2020 Colloquium of African Languages and Linguistics, hosted at Leiden University.

Nordic Journal of African Studies, Mar 31, 2021

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 2019

This paper discusses the morphosyntactic properties of relative clause constructions in the Runya... more This paper discusses the morphosyntactic properties of relative clause constructions in the Runyankore-Rukiga language cluster (Bantu, JE13/14, Uganda). Relative clauses in this paper are categorized into nominal and clausal relatives on the basis of their exhibited morphosyntactic properties. The nominal relative clause category comprises elements which have been previously regarded as adjectives (Morris and Kirwan 1972; Taylor 1985) which include some color terms among other lexical items. The second category, namely clausal relatives, is subcategorized into subject and object clausal relatives. The subject clausal relative is realized within the subject nominal prefix by differential tone marking while the object clausal relative is an obligatory agreement-bearing complementizer which stands alone in agreement with the object antecedent. This paper describes the properties and use of the object relative marker as it has previously been regarded as a demonstrative or a pronoun. The paper offers an alternative position to the status of the object relative clause marker, proposing that it is not a pronoun equivalent to the English Wh-relative pronoun, and that it is not a demonstrative per se, but rather an agreement-bearing complementizer that heads a CP. The paper further asserts that the augment is not a relative clause marker as it is stated in Morris and Kirwan (1972) and Taylor (1985) but expresses a restrictive relative clause when present. As part of syntax, the paper discusses agreement properties in relative clause constructions and reports that a clausal relative takes the agreement of the head of the relative clause, but this is not always the case since anti-agreement cases are reported. Data for the analysis comes from authentic written materials and elicited constructions.

Language Matters, 2020

Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the ... more Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the Global South. Based on fieldwork conducted in October 2018 in four primary schools in Gulu district, Acoli region, northern Uganda, this study investigates school characteristics and facilities available to learners and teachers to scaffold the acquisition of literacy in the early years of schooling. These are discussed within the framework of Uganda’s mother-tongue education programme with a focus on the challenges of literacy acquisition. Data were collected from four schools by means of questionnaires, classroom interactions, and interviews, and were analysed through triangulation. The findings suggest that there are difficulties to attaining literacy within the MT education programme. Some of the challenges relate to teachers’ attitudes and practices, lack of school materials, poor school conditions, and large learner numbers per class. The implications of the observed challenges to ...

Studies in African Linguistics

The Bantu language Rukiga (JE14, Uganda) shows tonal reduction on the verb in a subset of tenses,... more The Bantu language Rukiga (JE14, Uganda) shows tonal reduction on the verb in a subset of tenses, similar to the conjoint/disjoint alternation in Haya. Whereas in other languages the conjoint/disjoint alternation is usually marked by segmental morphology in at least one tense, Rukiga is unique in showing only tonal reduction. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that tonal reduction in Rukiga is not merely a phonological rule, but it encodes the conjoint/disjoint alternation. Furthermore, we show that tonal reduction in Rukiga is determined by constituent-finality, and there is no direct relation to focus

Linguistics

Journal of the Language Association of Eastern Africa

Linguistique et langues africaines

Language Matters, 2020

Nordic Journal of African Studies, Mar 31, 2021

South African Journal of African Languages, 2016

Nordic Journal of African Studies, Mar 31, 2021

Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 2019

Language Matters, 2020

Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the ... more Literacy in the early years is crucial but attained amidst various challenges, especially in the Global South. Based on fieldwork conducted in October 2018 in four primary schools in Gulu district, Acoli region, northern Uganda, this study investigates school characteristics and facilities available to learners and teachers to scaffold the acquisition of literacy in the early years of schooling. These are discussed within the framework of Uganda’s mother-tongue education programme with a focus on the challenges of literacy acquisition. Data were collected from four schools by means of questionnaires, classroom interactions, and interviews, and were analysed through triangulation. The findings suggest that there are difficulties to attaining literacy within the MT education programme. Some of the challenges relate to teachers’ attitudes and practices, lack of school materials, poor school conditions, and large learner numbers per class. The implications of the observed challenges to ...

Studies in African Linguistics