Full Description
The present volume consists of fourteen comparative and descriptive studies dealing with the syntax and the morphology of the simple clause in Chadic. Chadic languages are the largest and the most diversified branch of the Afroasiatic family. Among the issues discussed in the volume are the underlying forms of verbs in West Chadic, nominal and verbal plurality, ergative characteristics, coding of grammatical relations in proto-Chadic, double coding of the subject (also known as «intransitive copy pronouns»). Also discussed are the use of verbal extensions in the coding of causative and benefactive, the ventive and the centrifugal, logophoric systems, the interrogative clause, and grammaticalization from preposition to copula. The volume concludes with a discussion of the implications of Chadic for the theory and methodology of diachronic syntax. The studies are of interest to scholars of Afroasiatic languages, African languages, typologists, scholars interested in grammaticalization, diachronic syntax, and structures of grammatical systems.
