Repository logo

Research Articles (Languages, Linguistics and Academic Literacy)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10413/6506

Browse

Browsing Research Articles (Languages, Linguistics and Academic Literacy) by Subject "Kinyarwanda language."

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Kinyarwanda locative applicatives and the Minimal Link Condition.
    (Southern African Applied Linguistics Association & The Linguistics Society of Southern Africa., 2005) Zeller, Jochen Klaus.; Ngoboka, Jean Paul.
    The two objects of ditransitive locative applicatives in Kinyarwanda display asymmetrical behaviour with respect to syntactic movement. Whereas the applied object (the goal) of a locative can be extracted in relative clauses, become the subject of a passive and incorporate as an object marker, the theme cannot undergo any of these operations, at least not as long as the applied object remains in object position. However, once the applied object has been passivised, relativised or incorporated, the theme is also free to move. We analyse these observations on the basis of the Minimal Link Condition (MLC) (Chomsky, 1995; 2000), which excludes movement of an element α to a position K if there is another element β of the same type which is closer to K. We show that the theme cannot move in Kinyarwanda locative applicatives because the applied object is closer to the potential landing site. However, in contexts in which the applied object has been moved ‘out of the way’, the MLC no longer blocks movement of the theme. In our analysis, we discuss a number of key theoretical concepts of the Minimalist Program, such as the Extension Condition, the notion of minimal domain, and derivation by phase.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    On the subject marker in Kinyarwanda.
    (Southern African Applied Linguistics Association & The Linguistics Society of Southern Africa., 2008) Zeller, Jochen Klaus.
    This article examines the morphosyntactic representation of the subject agreement marker (SM) in null subject constructions in the Bantu language Kinyarwanda. Three prominent analyses are compared. The first analysis treats the SM in null subject constructions as a pronoun which receives the subject theta role in the morphology. The second approach analyses the SM as a syntactic pronoun, i.e. as a determiner phrase (DP) which receives its theta role in [Spec, V] and then moves to [Spec, T]. The third analysis is based on the theory of pro, which assumes that the subject theta role in null subject constructions is assigned to a phonetically unrealised pronoun. According to the pro-theory, the SM is simply a reflex of agreement between the verb and the null subject pro. The paper shows that the first analysis, which treats the SM as a morphological pronoun, must be rejected for Kinyarwanda on empirical grounds. In contrast, the paper argues that both remaining alternatives represent feasible accounts. The study identifies the empirical predictions and theoretical consequences which are associated with each of these two competing alternatives.