Full Description
This volume explores the rich and complex pattern of morphosyntactic variation in the Bantu languages, providing a comprehensive overview of the wealth of empirical and conceptual work in the field. The chapters discuss data from some 80 Bantu languages as well as drawing on a wider comparative set of more than 200 languages from across Central, Eastern and Southern Africa: some studies focus on one specific language in a comparative context; some investigate fine-grained variation among a close-knit group of languages; and others present large-scale comparative studies spanning the whole of the Bantu-speaking area. The contributors address a range of topics from a micro-variation perspective, primarily in the areas of nominal and verbal morphology and syntax and information structure. The volume highlights key aspects of contemporary research in Bantu morphosyntax and outlines distinct and novel approaches to prominent questions; it combines the most recent thinking on morphosyntactic variation in Bantu with different theoretical and methodological approaches and novel empirical data from a wide range of languages.
Contents
1: Lutz Marten, Rozenn Guérois, Hannah Gibson, and Eva-Marie Bloom Ström: Morphosyntactic variation in Bantu: An introduction
Part I. Morphosyntactic variation across Bantu
2: Peter Edelsten, Rozenn Guérois, and Lutz Marten: Comparative analysis of morphosyntactic variation in Bantu languages: Parameters, data representation, and database design
3: Nobuko Yoneda: Micro-variation of noun-modifying constructions in Bantu languages
4: Justine Sikuku: Reflexive and reciprocal marking in Bantu
5: Rozenn Guérois, Hannah Gibson, and Lutz Marten: A parametric approach to negation in Bantu languages
6: Rasmus Bernander, Maud Devos, and Hannah Gibson: Existential constructions in Bantu languages
7: Denis Creissels: Predicative possession in Bantu languages
Part II. Areal and micro-level morphosyntactic variation in Bantu
8: Eva-Marie Bloom Ström and Matti Miestamo: The use of the augment in Nguni languages: A marker of referentiality?
9: Atikonda Mtenje-Mkochi: Micro-variation in the nominal class marking systems of Malawian languages
10: Dorothee Beermann and Allen Asiimwe: Locatives in Runyankore-Rukiga
11: Amani Lusekelo: Morphosyntactic properties of object marking in Nyakyusa
12: Sebastian Dom, Heidi Goes, and Koen Bostoen: Multiple-reciprocity marking in the Kikongo language cluster: Functional distribution and origins
13: Koen Bostoen: Reflexive-reciprocal polysemy in South-Western Bantu: Distribution, typology, and origins
14: Yuko Abe: Morphosyntactic and semantic variation of the persistive aspect in Lake Tanganyika Bantu: A focus on Bende
15: Daisuke Shinagawa: A micro-parametric approach to focus marking ni in Kilimanjaro Bantu languages: With special reference to Rombo-Mkuu and Uru
