Concepts of structural underspecification in Bantu and Romance
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Lutz Marten
Abstract
The paper explores parallelisms between Bantu (specifically Otjiherero) and Romance (through Latin and Spanish) with respect to left and right peripheries, and subject and object clitics. The analysis is formulated in Dynamic Syntax (DS, Cann et al. 2005) and centrally involves notions of structural underspecification. Through providing detailed analyses of different word order possibilities in the Bantu and Romance languages discussed, we show how DS concepts of structural growth over initially underspecified tree relations, such as the building of linked structures and unfixed nodes, provide a uniform basis for analyses of word order variation across the two language groups. We then extend our analysis to include Bantu subject/object markers, which we analyze by employing the same formal tools as used in the analysis of Romance (object) clitics, namely unfixed nodes which have to be construed within a tightly locally restricted domain. Empirical support for our analysis comes from restrictions on the presence of object markers in passive and locative inversion constructions in Otjiherero, which we show to follow from independent constraints of the availability of unfixed nodes within a given domain. The analyses of Bantu and Romance presented show that despite differences in surface morphology between the two language groups, both exhibit a striking parallel with respect to the way lexical information and general structure building principles of DS interact. The difference between Romance clitic systems and the agglutinative morphology of Bantu subject and object makers is thus seen to be comparatively superficial, while the DS analysis brings out the strong structural parallelism between the two language groups.
Abstract
The paper explores parallelisms between Bantu (specifically Otjiherero) and Romance (through Latin and Spanish) with respect to left and right peripheries, and subject and object clitics. The analysis is formulated in Dynamic Syntax (DS, Cann et al. 2005) and centrally involves notions of structural underspecification. Through providing detailed analyses of different word order possibilities in the Bantu and Romance languages discussed, we show how DS concepts of structural growth over initially underspecified tree relations, such as the building of linked structures and unfixed nodes, provide a uniform basis for analyses of word order variation across the two language groups. We then extend our analysis to include Bantu subject/object markers, which we analyze by employing the same formal tools as used in the analysis of Romance (object) clitics, namely unfixed nodes which have to be construed within a tightly locally restricted domain. Empirical support for our analysis comes from restrictions on the presence of object markers in passive and locative inversion constructions in Otjiherero, which we show to follow from independent constraints of the availability of unfixed nodes within a given domain. The analyses of Bantu and Romance presented show that despite differences in surface morphology between the two language groups, both exhibit a striking parallel with respect to the way lexical information and general structure building principles of DS interact. The difference between Romance clitic systems and the agglutinative morphology of Bantu subject and object makers is thus seen to be comparatively superficial, while the DS analysis brings out the strong structural parallelism between the two language groups.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction xi
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Part 1. Clitics and agreement
- Concepts of structural underspecification in Bantu and Romance 3
- On different types of clitic clusters 41
- Pronominal object markers in Romance and Bantu 83
- The Bantu-Romance connection in verb movement and verbal inflectional morphology 111
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Part 2. The structure of DPs
- DP in Bantu and Romance 131
- On the interpretability of φ-features 167
- Agreement and concord in nominal expressions 201
- A unified syntactic analysis of Italian and Luganda nouns 239
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Part 3. Information structure
- The fine structure of the Topic field 261
- Focus at the interface: Evidence from Romance and Bantu 293
- Agreement in thetic VS sentences in Bantu and Romance 323
- Index of languages 351
- General index 353
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgments vii
- List of contributors ix
- Introduction xi
-
Part 1. Clitics and agreement
- Concepts of structural underspecification in Bantu and Romance 3
- On different types of clitic clusters 41
- Pronominal object markers in Romance and Bantu 83
- The Bantu-Romance connection in verb movement and verbal inflectional morphology 111
-
Part 2. The structure of DPs
- DP in Bantu and Romance 131
- On the interpretability of φ-features 167
- Agreement and concord in nominal expressions 201
- A unified syntactic analysis of Italian and Luganda nouns 239
-
Part 3. Information structure
- The fine structure of the Topic field 261
- Focus at the interface: Evidence from Romance and Bantu 293
- Agreement in thetic VS sentences in Bantu and Romance 323
- Index of languages 351
- General index 353
