Subject marking in Awing
This paper investigates the principles that govern subject marking in Awing (Grassfields Bantu). We observe that the subject marker (SM) that doubles the subject is sometimes obligatory, sometimes optional and sometimes prohibited. We argue that it is the referentiality of the subject that controls...
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LibraryPress@UF
2021
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oai:doaj.org-article:115b19e8c6024a858e155f7d615dca4a2021-11-19T03:51:46ZSubject marking in Awing10.32473/sal.v50i1.1185280039-35332154-428Xhttps://doaj.org/article/115b19e8c6024a858e155f7d615dca4a2021-04-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/118528https://doaj.org/toc/0039-3533https://doaj.org/toc/2154-428X This paper investigates the principles that govern subject marking in Awing (Grassfields Bantu). We observe that the subject marker (SM) that doubles the subject is sometimes obligatory, sometimes optional and sometimes prohibited. We argue that it is the referentiality of the subject that controls the distribution of the SM in Awing, rather than factors such as its morpho-syntactic features or its information structural status, which have been identified to govern argument doubling in a number of other languages with a similar phenomenon. The empirical evidence leads us to conclude that the SM is a pronominal element in Awing rather than an agreement marker. When it occurs, it functions as the argument of the verb and the associated subject NP is base-generated in the left periphery of the clause; when it is absent, the NP is the verbal argument. Awing thus qualifies as a pronominal argument language in the sense of Jelinek (1984); Bresnan and Mchombo (1987); Baker (1996). Henry Zamchang FominyamDoreen GeorgiLibraryPress@UFarticlepronominal argumentsleft-dislocationreferentialityagreement dropGrassfields BantuPhilology. LinguisticsP1-1091ENFRStudies in African Linguistics, Vol 50, Iss 1 (2021) |
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pronominal arguments left-dislocation referentiality agreement drop Grassfields Bantu Philology. Linguistics P1-1091 |
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pronominal arguments left-dislocation referentiality agreement drop Grassfields Bantu Philology. Linguistics P1-1091 Henry Zamchang Fominyam Doreen Georgi Subject marking in Awing |
description |
This paper investigates the principles that govern subject marking in Awing (Grassfields Bantu). We observe that the subject marker (SM) that doubles the subject is sometimes obligatory, sometimes optional and sometimes prohibited. We argue that it is the referentiality of the subject that controls the distribution of the SM in Awing, rather than factors such as its morpho-syntactic features or its information structural status, which have been identified to govern argument doubling in a number of other languages with a similar phenomenon. The empirical evidence leads us to conclude that the SM is a pronominal element in Awing rather than an agreement marker. When it occurs, it functions as the argument of the verb and the associated subject NP is base-generated in the left periphery of the clause; when it is absent, the NP is the verbal argument. Awing thus qualifies as a pronominal argument language in the sense of Jelinek (1984); Bresnan and Mchombo (1987); Baker (1996).
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format |
article |
author |
Henry Zamchang Fominyam Doreen Georgi |
author_facet |
Henry Zamchang Fominyam Doreen Georgi |
author_sort |
Henry Zamchang Fominyam |
title |
Subject marking in Awing |
title_short |
Subject marking in Awing |
title_full |
Subject marking in Awing |
title_fullStr |
Subject marking in Awing |
title_full_unstemmed |
Subject marking in Awing |
title_sort |
subject marking in awing |
publisher |
LibraryPress@UF |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/115b19e8c6024a858e155f7d615dca4a |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT henryzamchangfominyam subjectmarkinginawing AT doreengeorgi subjectmarkinginawing |
_version_ |
1718420593621073920 |