Abstract
In a number of Bantu languages, object marking is correlated with a definite or specific interpretation of the agreeing object DP, and similar claims about the semantic effects of object marking have also been made for Zulu (Nguni; S42). This paper examines these claims by applying a range of diagnostic tests for (in)definiteness and (non-)specificity to sentences with object-marked objects in Zulu. The paper’s first finding is that agreeing objects in Zulu can violate the uniqueness requirement that holds for definite expressions, and can therefore appear in contexts in which definite DPs are not tolerated. The second finding is that object-marked objects in Zulu can take narrow scope in relation to intensional verbs and negation, in which case they are interpreted as (scopally) non-specific. Object marking in Zulu therefore cannot be regarded as a morphosyntactic device to mark definiteness or specificity. Rather, it is suggested that the interpretative effects of object marking follow from information structure: agreeing DPs in Zulu are obligatorily dislocated and hence appear outside the focus domain (the vP). Consequently, an agreeing object in Zulu is incompatible with semantic focus, which implies that it can (but crucially, does not have to) be interpreted as denoting a discourse-familiar referent.
Funding source: Vetenskapsrådet
Award Identifier / Grant number: Dnr. 2017-01811
Acknowledgments
The results reported here were presented at the workshop “Definiteness and Specificity in Languages with Bare Nouns: The Case of Bantu” (Bantu8 conference, University of Essex), at the 2021 conference of the Southern African Linguistics and Applied Linguistics Society (Stellenbosch University), and in an online seminar at the University of Rochester. I thank the audiences at these events and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments, and my Zulu informants for providing the data presented here. Special thanks to Vicki Carstens for many stimulating discussions, and to Vicki, Loyiso Mletshe, and Veneeta Dayal for sharing their work on (in)definiteness with me prior to publication. All errors are mine. The research for this article was conducted as part of the research project “The Role of the Verb Phrase and Word Order in the Expression of Definiteness in Bantu Languages”, funded by the Swedish Research Council (Dnr. 2017-01811).
References
Abott, Barbara. 2004. Definiteness and indefiniteness. In Laurence R. Horn & Gregory Ward (eds.), The handbook of pragmatics, 122–149. Malden, MA: Blackwell.10.1002/9780470756959.ch6Suche in Google Scholar
Adams, Nikki. 2010. The Zulu ditransitive verb phrase. Chicago: The University of Chicago Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Andrason, Alexander & Marianna W. Visser. 2016. The mosaic evolution of Left Dislocation in Xhosa. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus 50. 139–158.10.5842/50-0-720Suche in Google Scholar
Asiimwe, Allen. 2014. Definiteness and specificity in Runyankore-Rukiga. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Beaudoin-Lietz, Christa, Derek Nurse & Sarah Rose. 2004. Pronominal object marking in Bantu. In Akinbiyi Akinlabi & Oluseye Adesola (eds.), Proceedings of the 4th World Congress of African Linguistics, New Brunswick 2003, 175–188. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe Verlag.Suche in Google Scholar
Bloom Ström, Eva-Marie. 2020. The existential copula in Xhosa in relation to indefiniteness. Studies in African Linguistics 49(2). 213–240. https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v49i2.117136.Suche in Google Scholar
Bresnan, Joan & Lioba Moshi. 1990. Object asymmetries in comparative Bantu syntax. Linguistic Inquiry 21(2). 147–181.Suche in Google Scholar
Buell, Leston. 2005. Issues in Zulu verbal morphosyntax. Los Angeles: University of California Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Carlson, Greg N. 1977. A unified analysis of the English bare plural. Linguistics and Philosophy 1. 413–457. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00353456.Suche in Google Scholar
Carstens, Vicki & Jochen Zeller. 2020. ‘Only’ in Nguni: A phrase-final particle meets antisymmetry theory. Linguistic Inquiry 51(2). 199–235. https://doi.org/10.1162/ling_a_00337.Suche in Google Scholar
Carstens, Vicki, Loyiso Mletshe & Veneeta Dayal. Forthcoming. (In)definiteness in Xhosa: A case study. In Veneeta Dayal (ed.), The open handbook of (in)definiteness: A hitchhiker’s guide to interpreting bare arguments (Open Handbooks in Linguistics). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Cheng, Lisa Lai-Shen & Laura J. Downing. 2009. Where’s the topic in Zulu? Linguistic Review 26(2). 207–238. https://doi.org/10.1515/tlir.2009.008.Suche in Google Scholar
Dayal, Veneeta. 2018. (In)definiteness without articles: Diagnosis, analysis, implications. In Ghanshyam Sharma & Rajesh Bhatt (eds.), Trends in Hindi Linguistics, 1–26. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110610796-001Suche in Google Scholar
Dayal, Veneeta (ed.). Forthcoming. The open handbook of (in)definiteness: A hitchhiker’s guide to interpreting bare arguments (Open Handbooks in Linguistics). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Devos, Maud & Rozenn Guérois. 2022. Micro-variation in object marking in North Mozambican Bantu languages. In Andrew Nevins, Anita Peti-Stantić, Mark de Vos & Jana Willer-Gold (eds.), Angles of object agreement, 164–194. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780192897749.003.0007Suche in Google Scholar
Diercks, Michael. 2022. Information structure is syntactic: Evidence from Bantu languages. Pomona College Unpublished manuscript.Suche in Google Scholar
Doke, Clement M. 1997. Textbook of Zulu grammar, 6th edn. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman.Suche in Google Scholar
Enç, Mürvet. 1991. The semantics of specificity. Linguistic Inquiry 22(1). 1–25.Suche in Google Scholar
Farkas, Donka F. 1994. Specificity and scope. In Lea Nash & George Tsoulas (eds.), Actes du premier Colloque Langues & Grammaire, 119–137. Paris: Université Paris.Suche in Google Scholar
Farkas, Donka F. 2002. Specificity distinction. Journal of Semantics 19. 213–243. https://doi.org/10.1093/jos/19.3.213.Suche in Google Scholar
Fodor, Janet D. 1970. The linguistic description of opaque contexts. Boston: MIT Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Gambarage, Joash Johannes. 2019. Belief-of-existence determiners: Evidence from the syntax and semantics of Nata augments. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Givón, Talmy. 1976. Topic, pronoun, and grammatical agreement. In Charles Li (ed.), Subject and topic, 149–188. New York: Academic Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Güldemann, Tom. 2016. Maximal backgrounding = focus without (necessary) focus encoding. Studies in Language 40(3). 551–590. https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.40.3.03gul.Suche in Google Scholar
Halpert, Claire. 2017. Prosody/syntax mismatches in the Zulu conjoint/disjoint alternation. In Jenneke van der Wal & Larry M. Hyman (eds.), The conjoint/disjoint alternation in Bantu, 329–349. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.10.1515/9783110490831-012Suche in Google Scholar
Hualde, José. 1989. Double object constructions in Kirimi. In Robert Botne & Paul Newman (eds.), Current approaches to African linguistics 5, 179–189. Dordrecht: Foris.10.1515/9783112420089-014Suche in Google Scholar
Hyman, Larry M. & John R. Watters. 1984. Auxiliary focus. Studies in African Linguistics 15(3). 233–273. https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v15i3.107511.Suche in Google Scholar
Ioup, Georgette. 1977. Specificity and the interpretation of quantifiers. Linguistics and Philosophy 1(2). 233–245. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00351105.Suche in Google Scholar
Karttunen, Lauri. 1976. Discourse referents. In James D. McCawley (ed.), Syntax and semantics 7: Notes from the linguistic underground, 363–386. New York: Academic Press.10.1163/9789004368859_021Suche in Google Scholar
Kerr, Elizabeth J. & Jenneke van der Wal. 2022. Indirect verum marking in 10 Bantu languages. Paper presented at Bantu9, Malawi University of Science and Technology, 7 June.Suche in Google Scholar
Kidima, Lukowa. 1987. Object agreement and topicality hierarchies in Kiyaka. Studies in African Linguistics 18. 175–209. https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v18i2.107475.Suche in Google Scholar
Kimambo, Gerald Eliniongoze. 2018. Object marking in Swahili, definiteness, specificity or both? South African Journal of African Languages 38(1). 27–35.Suche in Google Scholar
Lippard, Hannah, Justine Sikuku, Crisófia Langa da Câmara, Rose Letsholo, Madelyn Colantes, Kang (Franco) Liu & Michael Diercks. 2021. Emphatic interpretations of object marking in Bantu languages. Unpublished manuscript.Suche in Google Scholar
Lyons, Christopher. 1999. Definiteness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Marlo, Michael M. 2015. On the number of object markers in Bantu languages. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 36(1). 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1515/jall-2015-0001.Suche in Google Scholar
Marten, Lutz & Nancy C. Kula. 2012. Object marking and morphosyntactic variation in Bantu. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 30(2). 237–253. https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2012.737603.Suche in Google Scholar
Marten, Lutz & Deograsia Ramadhani. 2001. An overview of object marking in Kiluguru. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics 11. 259–275.Suche in Google Scholar
Matthewson, Lisa. 2004. On the methodology of semantic fieldwork. International Journal of American Linguistics 70(4). 369–415. https://doi.org/10.1086/429207.Suche in Google Scholar
Mojapelo, Mampaka Lydia. 2007. Definiteness in Northern Sotho. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Riedel, Kristina. 2009. The syntax of object marking in Sambaa: A comparative Bantu perspective. Utrecht: LOT.Suche in Google Scholar
Riedel, Kristina. 2022. Object marking in Bantu: Reassessing agreement. In Andrew Nevins, Anita Peti-Stantić, Mark de Vos & Jana Willer-Gold (eds.), Angles of object agreement, 110–132. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780192897749.003.0005Suche in Google Scholar
Roberts, Craige. 2003. Uniqueness in definite noun phrases. Linguistics and Philosophy 26. 287–350. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1024157132393.10.1023/A:1024157132393Suche in Google Scholar
Schwarz, Florian. 2009. Two types of definites in natural language. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Dissertation.Suche in Google Scholar
Schwarz, Florian. 2021. Intensional transitive verbs. In Daniel Gutzmann, Lisa Matthewson, Cécile Meier, Hotze Rullmann & Thomas. E. Zimmermann (eds.), The Wiley Blackwell companion to semantics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781118788516.sem113Suche in Google Scholar
Sikuku, Justine & Michael Diercks. Forthcoming. Object marking in Lubukusu: At the interface of pragmatics and syntax. Berlin: Language Science Press.Suche in Google Scholar
Sikuku, Justine, Michael Diercks & Michael Marlo. 2018. Pragmatic effects of clitic doubling: Two kinds of object markers in Lubukusu. Linguistic Variation 18(2). 359–429. https://doi.org/10.1075/lv.00027.sik.Suche in Google Scholar
Taji, Julius. 2020. Definiteness in Chiyao. Ghana Journal of Linguistics 9(2). 44–64. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjl.v9i2.3.Suche in Google Scholar
Van der Spuy, Andrew. 1993. Dislocated noun phrases in Nguni. Lingua 90. 335–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/0024-3841(93)90031-q.Suche in Google Scholar
Van der Wal, Jenneke. 2022. A featural typology of Bantu agreement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780198844280.001.0001Suche in Google Scholar
Visser, Marianna W. 2008. Definiteness and specificity in the isiXhosa determiner phrase. South African Journal of African Languages 28(1). 11–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/02572117.2008.10587298.Suche in Google Scholar
Voeltz, F. K. Erhard. 2004. Long and short verb forms in Zulu. University of Cologne Unpublished manuscript.Suche in Google Scholar
Wald, Benji. 1979. The development of the Swahili object marker: A study of the interaction of syntax and discourse. In Talmy Givón (ed.), Discourse and syntax 12, 505–524. New York: Academic Press.10.1163/9789004368897_021Suche in Google Scholar
Zeller, Jochen. 2015. Argument prominence and agreement: Explaining an unexpected object asymmetry in Zulu. Lingua 156. 17–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2014.11.009.Suche in Google Scholar
Zeller, Jochen. 2021. ‘Not’ in focus: Objects under negation in Zulu. Studies in African Linguistics 50(1). 38–58. https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v50i1.128777.Suche in Google Scholar
© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial 2023
- Research Articles
- Tapped /r/ in RP: a corpus-based sociophonetic study across the twentieth century
- Revisiting English written VP-ellipsis and VP-substitution: a dependency-based analysis
- Agreeing objects in Zulu can be indefinite and non-specific
- On the semantics of (negated) approximative kaada in Classical Arabic: a case for embedded exhaustification
- Imperatives as persuasion strategies in political discourse
- Primate origins of discourse-managing gestures: the case of hand fling
- Basic word order typology revisited: a crosslinguistic quantitative study based on UD and WALS
- The effect of L2 German on grammatical gender access in L1 Polish: proficiency matters
- Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: brief assessments
- Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: long-form assessments
- Cerebral asymmetries in the processing of opaque compounds in L1 Polish and L2 English
- Are preschool children sensitive to the function of accessibility markers? A visual world study with German-speaking three- to four-year-olds
- Sensory experience ratings (SERs) for 1,130 Chinese words: relationships with other semantic and lexical psycholinguistic variables
- A corpus-based study of quoi in French native speech
- The overlooked effect of amplitude on within-speaker vowel variation
- Contextualized word senses: from attention to compositionality
- Words of scents: a linguistic analysis of online perfume reviews
- Constraction: a tool for the automatic extraction and interactive exploration of linguistic constructions
- The Red Hen Anonymizer and the Red Hen Protocol for de-identifying audiovisual recordings
- Novel metaphor and embodiment: comprehending novel synesthetic metaphors
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Editorial 2023
- Research Articles
- Tapped /r/ in RP: a corpus-based sociophonetic study across the twentieth century
- Revisiting English written VP-ellipsis and VP-substitution: a dependency-based analysis
- Agreeing objects in Zulu can be indefinite and non-specific
- On the semantics of (negated) approximative kaada in Classical Arabic: a case for embedded exhaustification
- Imperatives as persuasion strategies in political discourse
- Primate origins of discourse-managing gestures: the case of hand fling
- Basic word order typology revisited: a crosslinguistic quantitative study based on UD and WALS
- The effect of L2 German on grammatical gender access in L1 Polish: proficiency matters
- Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: brief assessments
- Validation of two measures for assessing English vocabulary knowledge on web-based testing platforms: long-form assessments
- Cerebral asymmetries in the processing of opaque compounds in L1 Polish and L2 English
- Are preschool children sensitive to the function of accessibility markers? A visual world study with German-speaking three- to four-year-olds
- Sensory experience ratings (SERs) for 1,130 Chinese words: relationships with other semantic and lexical psycholinguistic variables
- A corpus-based study of quoi in French native speech
- The overlooked effect of amplitude on within-speaker vowel variation
- Contextualized word senses: from attention to compositionality
- Words of scents: a linguistic analysis of online perfume reviews
- Constraction: a tool for the automatic extraction and interactive exploration of linguistic constructions
- The Red Hen Anonymizer and the Red Hen Protocol for de-identifying audiovisual recordings
- Novel metaphor and embodiment: comprehending novel synesthetic metaphors