Naledi N Kgolo-Lotshwao | University of Botswana (original) (raw)

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Current research on morphological processing focuses on the question of whether the morphological... more Current research on morphological processing focuses on the question of whether the morphological structure of a complex word like neat-ness plays a role in processing or whether morphological effects can be reduced to the combined effects of shared forms and meanings (e.g. Feldman, 2000). This paper contributes to this debate by investigating deverbative nouns in Setswana, a Bantu language. Setswana Class 9 derivations are not readily segmentable into an obvious stem and affix (tsheko-seka 'court case-stand trial') in contrast to other noun classes such as Class 1, where the prefix mo-and suffix -i transparently indicate deverbal nouns (e.g. moseki-seka 'the accused-stand trial'). Moreover, Setswana has "pseudo-derived nouns", which look as if they are derived from a verb, but are in fact not morphologically or semantically related to a verb (kgabo-gaba 'large fire-pull stomach in').

Papers by Naledi N Kgolo-Lotshwao

This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana c... more This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana corpus, the study isolated instances of temporal reference for linguistic analysis. The paper demonstrates that Setswana uses varied devices such as temporal adverbs (e.g. maabane ‘yesterday’ and phakela ‘in the morning’) and spatial metaphors (e.g. pele ‘ahead, before, in front, first’ and morago ‘behind, after, at [the] back’) to express time. Even though Setswana has adapted metric ways of showing time such as calendar months and days, the discussion shows that temporal reference in traditional Setswana was event-based (e.g. based on movements of the sun and seasonal change). The study shows that Setswana lexical expressions of time are bound up with the ways in which Setswana speakers conceptualise time.

This paper interrogates the image of Africa presented by Paul Theroux in his travel novel, The Lo... more This paper interrogates the image of Africa presented by Paul Theroux in his travel novel, The Lower River . In the analysis of the novel, I argue that Theroux’s narrative is a reconstruction of the Western colonizing discourse in contemporary literature. His narrative seeks to construct an image of Africa for the consumption of Western audiences who already exist in an ideological space that has distorted perspectives of Africa as a primitive space. By presenting Africa as a trap for white people and as a place of death, suffering, and superstition, The Lower River reinvents the stereotypical image of Africa as the Dark Continent, typical of early colonial travel narratives as well as fiction. Arguing from a theoretical base of Orientalism, the paper asserts that the distorted information relayed through the narrative serves the Occident in its endeavour to construct and dominate Orientals in the process of knowing them. The knowledge that the white protagonist, Ellis Hock, gathers...

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 2020

African languages have rarely been the subject of psycholinguistic experimentation. The current s... more African languages have rarely been the subject of psycholinguistic experimentation. The current study employs a masked visual priming experiment to investigate morphological processing in a Bantu language, Setswana. Our study takes advantage of the rich system of prefixes in Bantu languages, which offers the opportunity of testing morphological priming effects from prefixed inflected words and directly comparing them to priming effects from prefixed derived words on the same targets. We found significant priming effects of similar magnitude for both prefixed inflected and derived word forms, which were clearly dissociable from prime-target relatedness in both meaning and (orthographic) form. These findings provide support for a (possibly universal) mechanism of morphological decomposition applied during early visual word recognition that segments both (prefixed) inflected and derived word forms into their morphological constituents.

Journal of Neurolinguistics, 2004

ABSTRACT The present study investigates the on-line performance of a non-fluent Bulgarian-speakin... more ABSTRACT The present study investigates the on-line performance of a non-fluent Bulgarian-speaking aphasic patient and nine matched control participants in the recognition of prefixed verbs. A visual primed lexical decision experiment was employed to probe the role of aspect, semantic transparency, and root status (free vs. bound) in the recognition patterns obtained. Controls' results showed aspect and transparency effects. The patient demonstrated facilitation for verb forms featuring bound roots, while showing inhibition on transparent forms with free-standing roots, pointing to difficulties with decomposition, but not with accessing stored forms. These results suggest that the patient had a problem at the level of morphological decomposition-based mechanisms.

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

The proto-forms of the prefixes of classes 9/10 in Bantu languages have invariably been represent... more The proto-forms of the prefixes of classes 9/10 in Bantu languages have invariably been represented as *n-/*n-(Meeussen 1967: 97) and *ny-/*ny-(Guthrie 1971). Some scholars have proposed other forms, especially for Cl.10. Katamba (2003) has however noted that many of the contemporary Bantu languages have reduced these forms to N-/N-or Ø-/ Ø-. Thus, one finds many different manifestations of these class prefixes in the contemporary Bantu languages. This paper uses the basic descriptive theory to examine the nature and function of the prefixes of noun classes 9/10 in a selected number of Bantu languages. The main assumption of the study is that these noun class prefixes have made far-reaching evolution in their form and function due to several related phonetic and historical reasons, resulting in their reduction in some cases. The study, which is based on both primary and secondary data, reveals several types of evolutionary trends which have been followed by these prefixes.

This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana c... more This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana corpus, the study isolated instances of temporal reference for linguistic analysis. The paper demonstrates that Setswana uses varied devices such as temporal adverbs (e.g. maabane 'yesterday' and phakela 'in the morning') and spatial metaphors (e.g. pele 'ahead, before, in front, first' and morago 'behind, after, at [the] back') to express time. Even though Setswana has adapted metric ways of showing time such as calendar months and days, the discussion shows that temporal reference in traditional Setswana was event-based (e.g. based on movements of the sun and seasonal change). The study shows that Setswana lexical expressions of time are bound up with the ways in which Setswana speakers conceptualise time.

The morphological structure of poly-morphemic words (e.g. government) can affect processing, but ... more The morphological structure of poly-morphemic words (e.g. government) can affect processing, but it is unclear whether this effect is due to morphological structure or combined formal/orthographic and semantic effects. Setswana, a Bantu language, allows us to explore morphological, formal, and semantic effects: It has a noun derivation with an agglutinative agentive affix (Class-1, mo-rer-i “preacher”) and a noun derivation with vowel changes and little form-overlap (Class-9, ther-o “sermon”) that both apply to verbs (rer-a “preach”). In our masked-priming experiments (SOA = 60 ms), Class-9-forms were even more effective as primes for verbs than Class-1-forms, despite reduced formal overlap, suggesting that abstract morphological structure affects processing independently of formal or semantic relationships. Moreover, Class-1-targets showed reduced priming, indicating that unprimed morphological target material (the affix) reduces priming.
Kgolo, N., & Eisenbeiss, S. (2015). The role of morphological structure in the processing of complex forms: Evidence from Setswana deverbative nouns. Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 9, .1116-1133.

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 2020

Journal of Neurolinguistics, 2004

Language, Cognition and Neuroscience

This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana c... more This paper explores the way time is lexically expressed in Setswana. Using data from a Setswana corpus, the study isolated instances of temporal reference for linguistic analysis. The paper demonstrates that Setswana uses varied devices such as temporal adverbs (e.g. maabane 'yesterday' and phakela 'in the morning') and spatial metaphors (e.g. pele 'ahead, before, in front, first' and morago 'behind, after, at [the] back') to express time. Even though Setswana has adapted metric ways of showing time such as calendar months and days, the discussion shows that temporal reference in traditional Setswana was event-based (e.g. based on movements of the sun and seasonal change). The study shows that Setswana lexical expressions of time are bound up with the ways in which Setswana speakers conceptualise time.