Abstract
Swahili exhibits a construction where a tensed and an infinitival clause are coordinated. This is an example of “unbalanced” coordination insofar as one verb is tensed and the other is not. Furthermore, the licensing of an overt subject in the infinitival clause problematizes Case Theory because infinitival clauses do not assign nominative case. The construction is also puzzling because although it bears some characteristics of pseudo-coordination it also has properties reminiscent of true coordination. Despite the theoretical questions this raises, the construction has not been adequately addressed in the literature: to our knowledge, this paper presents the first-ever theoretical analysis of this construction. We argue that the conjuncts are at least coordinated AgrSPs (the subject agreement phrase) dominated by TP (the tense phrase) which licenses case-marked subjects in both conjuncts.
Abbreviations
- Appl
Applicative
- Assoc
Associative
- Cop
Copula
- Dem
Demonstrative
- Fut
Future tense
- Hab
Habitual
- Imp
Imperative
- Inf
Infinitive
- Loc
Locative
- Neg
Negation
- Om
Object marker (numbers refer to noun class)
- P
(person) plural
- Pass
Passive
- Perf
Perfective
- Poss
Possessive
- Pres
Present tense
- Pst
Past tense
- Rc
Relative concord
- Rec
Reciprocal
- Refl
Reflexive
- S
(person) Singular
- Sit
Situative
- Sm
Subject marker (numbers refer to noun classes)
- Stat
Stative
- Subj
Subjunctive
- Subs
Subsecutive tense
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Rhodes University Distinguished Visiting Scholar Trust Fund and the audiences at the annual conference of the Linguistics Society of Southern Africa (University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, 25–29 June 2012) and the 5th International Conference on Bantu Languages (Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Paris, France, 12–15 June 2013).
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Suffixed plurals in Baïnonk languages: Agreement patterns and diachronic development
- On the intransitive usage of transitive verbs in Tooro, a Bantu language of Western Uganda
- The semantics of pluractionals and punctuals in Konso (Cushitic, Ethiopia)
- Swahili coordinated infinitives and non-canonical case-marking
- Book Reviews
- Robert Botne Adrien Pouille: A Saafi-Saafi (Sébikotane variety) English // French Dictionary
- Newman, Paul: Syllable Weight in African Languages
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Suffixed plurals in Baïnonk languages: Agreement patterns and diachronic development
- On the intransitive usage of transitive verbs in Tooro, a Bantu language of Western Uganda
- The semantics of pluractionals and punctuals in Konso (Cushitic, Ethiopia)
- Swahili coordinated infinitives and non-canonical case-marking
- Book Reviews
- Robert Botne Adrien Pouille: A Saafi-Saafi (Sébikotane variety) English // French Dictionary
- Newman, Paul: Syllable Weight in African Languages