Predicate structure and argument indexing in early Bantu
Domaine:
natural language processingType de record:
paper
Créateur:
Gül
Éditeur:
Hôte:
Meeussen’s (1967: 108–111) Proto-Bantu reconstruction involves a morphologically
compact predicate with bound cross-reference on the verb for core arguments,
which indeed characterises the majority of modern languages in the Bantu spread
zone. In the north-west, however, numerous Bantu languages possess a split
predicate structure with free pronouns or person-inflected portmanteau morphemes
that also encode tense, aspect, modality, and polarity. This feature is also found in
many languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt, a large convergence area neighbouring
the Bantu spread zone and hosting its homeland and Bantu’s closest relatives in
Benue-Kwa (Güldemann 2008; 2018). Moreover, several Proto-Bantu subject and
object prefixes reconstructed by Meeussen (1967) and other researchers deviate
considerably from pronoun forms that can be assumed for early Benue-Kwa and
Niger-Congo in general (Güldemann 2017). Against this background, the present
chapter proposes a revised conceptualisation of pronominal participant marking
in early Bantu that can reconcile the modern empirical data in this group with the
typological profile of the area where Proto-Bantu originates. It implies that Meeus-
sen’s verbal argument cross-reference reconstructions are themselves valid, both in
terms of morphosyntactic status and segmental form, but should not be projected
back to the proto-stage that gave rise to the entire Narrow Bantu family as
traditionally defined. Since these reconstructions differ from argument cross-reference
in predicates elsewhere in Benue-Kwa, they should be seen as innovations in later
ancestral stages of Bantu.
compact predicate with bound cross-reference on the verb for core arguments,
which indeed characterises the majority of modern languages in the Bantu spread
zone. In the north-west, however, numerous Bantu languages possess a split
predicate structure with free pronouns or person-inflected portmanteau morphemes
that also encode tense, aspect, modality, and polarity. This feature is also found in
many languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt, a large convergence area neighbouring
the Bantu spread zone and hosting its homeland and Bantu’s closest relatives in
Benue-Kwa (Güldemann 2008; 2018). Moreover, several Proto-Bantu subject and
object prefixes reconstructed by Meeussen (1967) and other researchers deviate
considerably from pronoun forms that can be assumed for early Benue-Kwa and
Niger-Congo in general (Güldemann 2017). Against this background, the present
chapter proposes a revised conceptualisation of pronominal participant marking
in early Bantu that can reconcile the modern empirical data in this group with the
typological profile of the area where Proto-Bantu originates. It implies that Meeus-
sen’s verbal argument cross-reference reconstructions are themselves valid, both in
terms of morphosyntactic status and segmental form, but should not be projected
back to the proto-stage that gave rise to the entire Narrow Bantu family as
traditionally defined. Since these reconstructions differ from argument cross-reference
in predicates elsewhere in Benue-Kwa, they should be seen as innovations in later
ancestral stages of Bantu.