Things hold together : foundation for a systemic treatment of verbal and nominal tone in Plateau Shimakonde

Abstract

This study explores the way in which different verbal and nominal

structures 'fit together' within a coherent system in Plateau

Shimakonde, a sub-dialect of the Makonde language spoken in northern

Mozambique. A central proposition of our study is that word formation in the verbal and nominal systems is hierarchical. In the verbal system, we propose that there are just four basic structures in a core tense-aspect matrix which distinguishes between perfective and imperfective aspect and between projected and non-projected time. These verbal structures then provide the basis from which negative, conjoint and relative verbs are derived, or 'built'. In the nominal system, we propose that simple nouns consist of a neutral noun prefix added to a simple stem. Different kinds of complex nouns are then built from these basic forms. These include locative nouns, agentive nouns, identifying nouns of various sorts, quality nouns, associative nouns, personified animal names and feature nouns. We also identify a range of other compound or 'marked' structures which employ 'non-neutral' affixes. These include Infinitives, deverbal abstracts, manner nouns and relational terms. The study also describes the phonological units and processes which determine the way in which underlying tones surface in Plateau Shimakonde. This description includes a survey of vowel and consonantal processes, an examination of the phonological opposition between High and Low tones, an analysis of the tone-bearing quality of nasals in different contexts and a description of various phenomena found at the boundaries of phonological phrases.