Deo Ngonyani - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Deo Ngonyani

Nordic Journal of African Studies, Sep 30, 2000

In the Bantu languages of Kikisi, Kindendeule and Chingoni, the subjunctive is a grammatical cate... more In the Bantu languages of Kikisi, Kindendeule and Chingoni, the subjunctive is a grammatical category that stands in contrast with the indicative mood. Morphologically, the subjunctive is characterized by the verbal suffix -e (or some other variants), absence of tense marking and the obligatory presence of the subject and/or object marker. Two types of subjunctive are illustrated (Quer, 2005; Stowell, 1993): (i) Intentional subjunctives that are triggered by matrix predicates and (ii) polarity subjunctives that are licensed by some operator. The subjunctive is associated with irrealis-inducing environments such as irrealis-inducing adverbs and complements of manipulative verbs (Givon, 1994). This paper argues that the subjunctive ambiguously exhibits Inflection or Tense features as well as COMP features. With respect to Inflection features, the subjunctive is in complementary distribution with tense marking. However, it displays COMP features in its selectional relations with the su...

This article describes vowel height harmony in Kindendeule and Chingoni, Bantu languages spoken i... more This article describes vowel height harmony in Kindendeule and Chingoni, Bantu languages spoken in southern Tanzania. Kindendeule has a seven vowel syste/i,e,E,a, ... , o, u/and Chingoni has five vowels: /i,a,...,u/. Both languages exhit vowel height harmony described by Hyman (1999) as asymmetric. There are three vowels /i,a,u/that appear in the –VC-strucure of verbal extensions. Data from the two languages show that both front and back vowels of the roots lower the high front vowel of the suffix, as i –e/e.oC_, and i E/E,...C_. However, with suffixal/u/, only the back vowels lower it, as u-o/oC_and u-o/o C_. The low vowel/a/ neither triggers nor is it affected by vowel harmony. As in other Bantu languages, the domain of vowel harmony is the stem. Inflections, both prefixes as suffixes, as well as deverbal affixes are not affected vowel harmony.

Nordic Journal of African Studies, 2016

This article addresses two questions on Swahili verb extensions: (a) What is the order of the ext... more This article addresses two questions on Swahili verb extensions: (a) What is the order of the extensions in relation to the applicative? (b) How can the order be accounted for? Data on the order of the extensions are obtained by searching the Helsinki Corpus of Swahili for applicative combinations with the causative, passive, reciprocal, reversive and stative. The results of the search for pairwise combinations with the applicative reveal the following: (a) The reversive appears before the applicative; (b) the applicative may appear before or after the causative and reciprocal; and (c) the stative must appear before the applicative. The findings are consistent with the Semantic Scope Hypothesis as they show the following: (a) A variable affix order that corresponds to different meanings and scopes, (b) the reversive and stative exhibit a narrower scope than the applicative, and (c) the passive, with its wider scope, always appears after the applicative.

Makala hii inafafanua vigezo vya kubainisha viambajengo katika Kiswahili. Vigezo hivyo ni (a) uba... more Makala hii inafafanua vigezo vya kubainisha viambajengo katika Kiswahili. Vigezo hivyo ni (a) ubadili, (b) usogezaji, (c) majibu mafupi na udodoshaji, na (d) uambatishaji. Vyote hutumika sana kama njia jarabati za kutambua mipaka ya virai na viambajengo katika lugha mbalimbali duniani (Aarts, 2001; Carnie, 2012; Sportiche, Koopman, & Stabler, 2014; Haegeman, 2006) . Umuhimu na matumizi ya vigezo hivyo unatolewa mfano kwa kuchunguza muundo wa sentensi, virai vitenzi vyenye yambwa mbili, na tungo tata. Matumizi ya mujarabu huu wa viambajengo ni nyenzo muhimu katika kutafiti lugha kwa mikabala yote. Ni mfano bora wa utafiti wa kisayansi ambao ni jarabati.

An analysis of applicative constructions in Bantu languages proposes a typology of applicative st... more An analysis of applicative constructions in Bantu languages proposes a typology of applicative structures, using examples from Ndendeule and Swahili. First, the basic facts about applicative constructions are presented, including those concerning morphology, meaning, and alternative expressions,'and several arguments are posited. Primary objedi:s properties diagnostics are then applied to six different applied objects. Previous typology of applied objects is reviewed and the proposed new typology is outlined. Verb phrase (VP) ellipsis is advanced as evidence of the structure of the VP, and a complex VP structure for applicative constructions is suggested. It is concluded that based on primary object properties, there are three types of applicatives whose prototypes are benefactive, instrumental, and locative. These constituent structures involve two VPs: one VP which contains the theme/patient is embedded in another VP, which contains the applied object. In addition, the applica...

Colloquium. Many thanks to the patticipants o fthe colloquium. Thanks C Driver for proofreading t... more Colloquium. Many thanks to the patticipants o fthe colloquium. Thanks C Driver for proofreading the paper My thanks also to a reviewer for very helpful conunents CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk

This paper examines the morphosyntax of sentential negation and negative imperatives in three Ban... more This paper examines the morphosyntax of sentential negation and negative imperatives in three Bantu languages of southern Tanzania. The languages are Kindendeule, Kikisi, and Chingoni. Kikisi and Chingoni are coded by Guthrie (1967-71) as G67 and N12 respectively. Kindendeule, which is not mentioned by Guthrie, is coded as N101 in Maho’s (2003) update of Guthrie’s classification. In these languages, sentential negation is marked by post-verbal particles. Furthermore, prohibitive commands in these languages do not use the imperative morphology, but what is known as surrogate negative imperatives (Rivero 1994). Accounts of surrogate negative imperatives in other languages have attributed the ban on the negative marker to its being a syntactic head that blocks movement of the verb to C (Zeijlstra 2004, 2006). This paper examines data in these three languages in the light of this claim. The main claim of the present paper is that the negative particles are adverbs that do not act as bar...

Studies in African Linguistics, 2001

The author presents evidence from Kiswahili supporting a head-raising analysis recently proposed ... more The author presents evidence from Kiswahili supporting a head-raising analysis recently proposed in Kayne (1994) and Bianchi (1999), in which the relative clause is generated as a complement of the determiner. Three kinds of evidence are presented: (1) selectional relations between demonstratives and some relative clauses; (2) quantified noun phrase-pronoun binding, in which the bound pronoun appears inside the head of the relative clause while its binder is located in the relative clause; and (3) relativization of objects comprising part of idiomatic expressions. The evidence supports both the head-raising hypothesis and the determiner complementation hypothesis.

The Linguistic Review, 2006

Page 1. Attract F and Verbal Morphology in Kiswahili ∗ DEO NGONYANI The Linguistic Review 23 (200... more Page 1. Attract F and Verbal Morphology in Kiswahili ∗ DEO NGONYANI The Linguistic Review 23 (2006), 3768 ... PR Present Tense PT Past Tense REL Relative Marker RFL Reflexive Marker SM Subject Marker SUBJ Subjunctive Marker Page 2. 38 Deo Ngonyani ...

Lingua, 2006

Studies of the applicative constructions in various Bantu languages have revealed two types: symm... more Studies of the applicative constructions in various Bantu languages have revealed two types: symmetrical object languages in which both objects in double object applicatives exhibit the same syntactic properties, and asymmetrical object languages, where the two objects do not behave the same way [Bresnan, J., Moshi, L., 1990. Object asymmetries in comparative Bantu. Linguistic Inquiry 21, 147-185]. This study investigates the constituent structure of the applicatives in Kikuyu (a symmetrical object language) and Chingoni (an asymmetrical object language). Following [Ngonyani, D., 1996a. The Morphosyntax of Applicatives. Doctoral dissertation, UCLA], VP ellipsis in which only the object is missing is established as a diagnostic tool. The data demonstrate that although the constructions lack only the complement, they exhibit the same syntactic properties as English VP ellipsis, namely, availability of sloppy identity interpretation, possibility of deleting idiom chunks, and lack of island constraints. VP ellipsis reveals that applicative constructions in both languages are generated with the direct object appearing in the lowest predicate, while the applied object appears in the higher VP. This suggests the applicative affix is a head that takes an event as its complement [Pylkkänen, L., 2002. Introducing Arguments. Doctoral dissertation, MIT]. The findings show the same pattern of argument positions in the two language thus supporting Baker's [Baker, M.,

Journal of African Cultural Studies, 2001

This paper examines the use of names in the narratives of Swahili's literary giant, Shaaban ... more This paper examines the use of names in the narratives of Swahili's literary giant, Shaaban Robert. It explores the symbolic nature of the carefully selected or invented names as well as the use of names as a discursive strategy. Focusing on his allegorical trilogy of" ...

This paper examines the use of names in the narratives of Swahili's literary giant, Shaaban R... more This paper examines the use of names in the narratives of Swahili's literary giant, Shaaban Robert. It explores the symbolic nature of the carefully selected or invented names as well as the use of names as a discursive strategy. Focusing on his allegorical trilogy of Kusadikika, Adili na Nduguze and Kufikirika, the paper reveals Shaaban's unparalleled linguistic exuberance as evidenced in the semantics and symbolism of names. A compendium of names is provided, complete with meanings of each anthroponym and toponym and the roles it plays. The paper discusses the function of names in narrating the stories. It argues that names define the discourse as fiction, as well as situate narrator and readers, summarize plots and provide didactic instruction - a common feature of Shaaban's writings.

CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research - Zenodo, Mar 15, 2022

This is a study of the reversive verb derivation –ulin Swahili, with particular attention to its ... more This is a study of the reversive verb derivation –ulin Swahili, with particular attention to its meaning and its place among derivational suffixes. This article describes its phonological, morphological, syntactic, and semantic features. It is noted the affix is associated with several other meanings: among these intensive, causative, iterative, and separative. For this reason, the reversive is often described as unproductive and lexicalized. We argue that the causative reading is a result of homophony and is not reversive. Using the prototype approach we argue that these diverse meanings form a family for which the reversive sense is a good exemplar. They result from polysemy, which has also been shown to exist in the semantics of productive derivations, including the causative, applicative, and reciprocal. This study also explores the reversive suffix’s position to other verb derivational suffixes. It reports on the findings of a search for pairwise combinations of the reversive a...

Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies