Locative Inversion as an Alternation Phenomenon in Setswana: The Case of Lexical Functional Grammar Theory
Keywords:
Argument, Information Structure, Locative, Topic, Focus, Lexical Functional Grammar
Abstract
The paper has examined locative inversion constructions in Setswana, showing that the pre-posed locative phrase in these constructions is not the subject as it is viewed by other linguists in the literature. It has been argued, in this paper, that locative phrase occurs in the sentence initial position to perform the topic function which sets the scene for the focused noun phrase that alternates with it (locative phrase). The analysis has been achieved through information structure approach, showing the locative phrase that occurs in sentence initial position is a discourse phenomenon showing given information, and that the focused post-verbal noun phrase is new information that is emphasised on. Also, an appeal is made to Lexical Functional Grammar Approach to explain different ways of representing syntactic structures such as constituent structure and the functional structure.References
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15. Diercks, Michael (2011). The Morpho-syntax of Lubukusu Locative Inversion and the Parameterization of Agree. Lingua, 121 (5), 702-720
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23. Machobane, M. (l995). The Sesotho Locative constructions. In Journal of African Languages and Linguistics (16):115-136.
24. Mchombo, S. (2003). On Discontinuous Constituents in Chichewa. In Zribi-Hertz, Anne, & Patrick Sauzet (eds.). Typologie de langues d’Afrique et Universaux de la Grammaire, 141-167. Paris: L’Harmattan.
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27. Morimoto, Y. (2000). Discourse Configurationality in Bantu Morpho-syntax, Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, California.
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29. Neumann, Sabine (1999). The Locative Class in Shengologa (Kgalagadi). New York: Peter Lang.
30. Perez, Carolyn (1983). Locative Pseudo-Subjects in Shona. Journal of African Languages 5, 131-155
31. Taraldsen, Knut (2010). The Mono-syntax of Nguni Noun Class Prefixes and Concords. Lingua, 120 (6), 1522-1548
32. Van der Spuy, Andrew (2014). The Morphology of the Zulu Locative. Transactions of the Philological Society.
33. Van Valin, R. and R. Lapolla (l997). Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Functions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34. Yoneda, N. (2011). Word Order in Matego: topically and information roles. Lingua 121 (5): 754-771
35. Zeller, Jochen (2011). Semantic Locative Inversion and predication in Zulu. Manuscript, University of Natal
36. Zeller, Jochen (2013). Locative Inversion and predication in Zulu. Linguistics, 51:1107-1146 University of Natal
2. Bresnan, J. (1978). A Realistic Transformational Grammar. Linguistic Theory and Psychological Reali-ty, eds Morris Halle, Joan Bresnan, and George A. Miller, 1-59. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
3. Bresnan, J. (2001). Lexical Functional Syntax. Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers I Inc.
4. Bresnan, J. and Mchombo, S. (l987). Topic, pronoun, and agreement in Chichewa. In Language63 (4), 741-782
5. Bresnan, J. and J. M. Kanerva (l989). Locative inversion in Chichewa: A case of factorization. In Linguistic Inquiry (20), 1:1-50.
6. Buel, Lester (2012). Class 17 as a non locative non class in Zulu. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics, 33 (1), 1-35
7. Carstens, Vicki (1997). Empty nouns in Bantu locatives. The Linguistic Review, 14, 361-410.
8. Chafe, Wallace L. (1976). Givenness, Contractiveness, Definiteness, Subjects, Topics and Point of view. In Li, C. (Ed.) Subject and Topic: New York: Academic Press, 26-55.
9. Chomsky, Noam (1993). A Minimalist Program for Linguistic Theory. In Kenneth L. Hale and Samuel J. Keyser (eds.). The view from Building 20: Essays in Honor of Sylvain Bromberger. Cambridge: MIT Press. Pp1-52
10. Cole, Desmond T. (1955). An Introduction to Tswana Grammar. Cape Town: Longman Penguin.
11. Creissels, D. (2011). Tswana locative and their status in the inversion construction. Africana Linguistics XVII, 17, 33-52
12. Dalrymple, M. (2001). Lexical Functional Grammar: San Diego; CA: Academic Press.
13. Demuth, Katherine (1990). Locative, impersonal and expletives in Sesotho. The Linguistic Review 7, 233-249.
14. Demuth, Katherine and Sheila Mmusi (l997). Presentational focus and thematic structure in comparative Bantu. In Journal of African Languages and Linguistics (18):1-19.
15. Diercks, Michael (2011). The Morpho-syntax of Lubukusu Locative Inversion and the Parameterization of Agree. Lingua, 121 (5), 702-720
16. Fillmore, Charles (1976). Pragmatics and the Description of Discourse. In S. Schmidt (Ed.). Pragmatic II. Munic: Wilhelm Fink Verlag. Reprinted in Cole (ed.), 1981
17. Harford, C. (l993). The Applicative in Chishona and Lexical Mapping Theory. In Mochombo, S. (ed), Theoretical Aspects of Bantu Grammar. Stanford, CA: CSLI Mchombo (l993c), 93-111.
18. Kaplan, Ronald M and Joan Bresnan, (1982). Lexical –Functional Grammar: a formal system for grammatical representation. In Bresnan, J. (ed.), The Mental representation of Grammatical Relations. Cambridge MA: MIT Press
19. Keenan, Edward (1976). Towards a Universal Definition of “Subject’’. In Charles Li (Ed.), Subject and Topic. New York: Academic Press, 3030-334.
20. Lambrecht, Knud (1994). Information Structure and Sentence Form. Topic, Focus, and the Mental Representations of Discourse Referents (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics 71). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
21. Li, Charles N. and S. A. Thompson (1976). Subject and Topic: A new Typology of Language. In Li, C. (Ed.) Subject and Topic. New York: Academic Press
22. Lutz, Marten. (2006). Locative Inverstion in Otjiherero: More on morphosyntax variation in Bantu. ZAS. Papers in Linguistics. 43:97-122
23. Machobane, M. (l995). The Sesotho Locative constructions. In Journal of African Languages and Linguistics (16):115-136.
24. Mchombo, S. (2003). On Discontinuous Constituents in Chichewa. In Zribi-Hertz, Anne, & Patrick Sauzet (eds.). Typologie de langues d’Afrique et Universaux de la Grammaire, 141-167. Paris: L’Harmattan.
25. Mchombo, S. (2004). The syntax of Chichewa. Cambridge: University of Cambridge.
26. Morapedi, Setumile (2006). The syntax of Locative Inversion and Related Constructions in Setswana: An approach to Information Structure in Lexical functional Grammar. Doctoral Thesis, University of Sussex, Sussex, UK.
27. Morimoto, Y. (2000). Discourse Configurationality in Bantu Morpho-syntax, Doctoral dissertation, Stanford University, California.
28. Muragi, Victor and Makoro, Laston (2014). Locative Inversion in Shona. In L. Khumalo (ed) African Languages and Linguistic Theory. Cape Town: CASAS
29. Neumann, Sabine (1999). The Locative Class in Shengologa (Kgalagadi). New York: Peter Lang.
30. Perez, Carolyn (1983). Locative Pseudo-Subjects in Shona. Journal of African Languages 5, 131-155
31. Taraldsen, Knut (2010). The Mono-syntax of Nguni Noun Class Prefixes and Concords. Lingua, 120 (6), 1522-1548
32. Van der Spuy, Andrew (2014). The Morphology of the Zulu Locative. Transactions of the Philological Society.
33. Van Valin, R. and R. Lapolla (l997). Syntax: Structure, Meaning and Functions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
34. Yoneda, N. (2011). Word Order in Matego: topically and information roles. Lingua 121 (5): 754-771
35. Zeller, Jochen (2011). Semantic Locative Inversion and predication in Zulu. Manuscript, University of Natal
36. Zeller, Jochen (2013). Locative Inversion and predication in Zulu. Linguistics, 51:1107-1146 University of Natal
Published
2020-06-30
How to Cite
Morapedi, S. (2020) “Locative Inversion as an Alternation Phenomenon in Setswana: The Case of Lexical Functional Grammar Theory”, Journal of Law and Social Sciences, 4(2), pp. 1-13. doi: https://doi.org/10.53974/unza.jlss.4.2.467.
Section
Social Sciences