While most Niger-Congo languages have SVO word order, a few outliers display S(Aux)OV(X) patterns, either in restricted TAM contexts or across the board. These OV languages include a handful of... Show moreWhile most Niger-Congo languages have SVO word order, a few outliers display S(Aux)OV(X) patterns, either in restricted TAM contexts or across the board. These OV languages include a handful of Guthrie zone A40 languages of Cameroon (Tunen, Nyokon), Bantoid languages (Tikar), and broader Niger-Congo (e.g. Gur and Kru languages). For the A40 languages, Nyokon ([nvo]/A45, Cameroon) has VO order in most tenses but OV order in the past tense, while its neighbour Tunen ([tvu]/A44, Cameroon) has OV consistently. This paper presents new data on Tunen and Nyokon, using controlled elicitation to test the accuracy of previous TAM and information structure (IS)-based accounts. I provide evidence that OV is the most pragmatically-neutral word order in Tunen, consistent across TAM contexts. For Nyokon, OV versus VO order is shown to be dependent on the TAM pattern and not directly conditioned by IS. I show that both languages otherwise consistently pattern as head-initial in their syntax. Based on these results, I reflect on the potential grammaticalisation source(s) of their OV syntax. Finally, I note that Tikar appears to pattern similarly to Nyokon in having a TAM-based OV/VO system. Show less
Kerr, E.J.; Asiimwe, A.; Kanampiu, P.; Li, Z.; Nshemezimana, E.; Wal, J. van der 2023
Discourse function has often been noticed to be a strong factor in conditioning Bantu word order. The importance of discourse function for determining the word order of Bantu languages is visible... Show moreDiscourse function has often been noticed to be a strong factor in conditioning Bantu word order. The importance of discourse function for determining the word order of Bantu languages is visible for example in locative inversion and dedicated focus positions. As a result of such phenomena, it has been proposed that Bantu word order is best captured by reference to discourse roles, e.g. Topic-Verb-Nontopic. Nevertheless, we typically see statements describing Bantu word order in relation to grammatical roles (e.g. “SVO”), and the notions “subject” and “object” remain core in analyses of Bantu. In this paper we present the result of a study reconsidering Bantu word order from a discourse-configurational perspective, asking how far we can get without reference to grammatical roles. We use a parametric approach to investigate this syntactic variation, presenting new discourse-oriented field data collected on 9 Bantu languages. We show how these parameters highlight variation within the family, with each language sitting at a different point on a continuum between grammatical role-oriented and discourse role-oriented. We therefore argue against a one-size-fits-all account of Bantu word order and advocate for approaches that include both grammatical and discourse roles. Show less
This paper presents results of a corpus study on the South-Cushitic language Gorwaa which investigated the ‘enigmatic’ -oo/-(h)ee suffix (Mous & Qorro 2010:47, Harvey 2018). Various contexts in... Show moreThis paper presents results of a corpus study on the South-Cushitic language Gorwaa which investigated the ‘enigmatic’ -oo/-(h)ee suffix (Mous & Qorro 2010:47, Harvey 2018). Various contexts in which this nominal suffix occurs are identified, including negation, polar questions, universal quantification, adverbials, the object of comparison, and locatives. I characterise these as non-specific contexts and frame-setting topics. I compare these contexts to those in which the augment (nominal pre-prefix) is dropped in Bantu languages and, based on the empirical similarities, I discuss whether analyses of the Bantu augment can account for the Gorwaa cases. One analysis proposes that the suffix marks (non-)specificity, which I show is not fully satisfactory. Instead, I propose that what truly conditions the appearance of the suffix is the syntactic position of the nominal with respect to the verb phrase. Show less
Tunen is a Bantu (Niger-Congo) language spoken in Cameroon in the Centre and Littoral provinces, with Guthrie classification A44 (Maho 2003, 2009). The language is typologically unusual in... Show moreTunen is a Bantu (Niger-Congo) language spoken in Cameroon in the Centre and Littoral provinces, with Guthrie classification A44 (Maho 2003, 2009). The language is typologically unusual in displaying SOV base word order, i.e. a head-final verb phrase (O V), while elsewhere being head initial (prepositions, Dem-N order). Dugast (1971) and Mous (1997) note that cardinal numerals appear postnominally (N NUM), with the exception of the form -mɔt̀ ɛ́ ‘one’, which can also appear before the noun in the plural. In this article, I investigate this puzzling prenominal case of -mɔt̀ ɛ́ and argue based on new data that it is not synchronically a numeral and has in fact grammaticalised to function as an indefinite determiner marking epistemic specificity. I use controlled elicitation to show semantic tests to support this and present syntactic arguments that prenominal -mɔt̀ ɛ́ appears in the position of a determiner rather than a numeral. I then investigate the marker’s likely grammaticalisation over time by considering the “seemingly universal” grammaticalisation path of numeral ‘one’ to (specific) indefinite markers that has been proposed in the typological literature (Givón 1981: 35); Heine (1995, 1997). I test the predictions of such an account by means of a corpus study of 61 folk tales (contes) published in Dugast (1975), and conclude by a brief survey of related Cameroonian languages. Show less
