Enoch O. Aboh

Clause Structure and Verb Series

This article argues that in V1-XP-V2 and V1-V2-XP series, V1 merges in the functional domain of the lexical verb (V2). V2 introduces the (internal) argument and is embedded under an AspP whose head is endowed with an EPP feature. Surface word order variations in Kwa (and Khoisan) result from the EPP licensing that triggers V2-object inversion, sometimes followed by V2 movement past the shifted object.

The Morphosyntax of the Noun Phrase

This chapter is intended to familiarize the reader with certain aspects of the noun phrase in the Kwa languages. A major observation that we have made in this chapter is that even though the noun head precedes modifiers and determiners on the surface, it is reasonable to assume that these languages are underlyingly head initial. The consequence of this view is that the sequence of modifiers and the relative position of the noun with respect to the determiners derive from various movement operations that pied-pipe the noun phrase to the left of its modifiers and determiners. The chapter also previews relative and possessive constructions in some Kwa languages.

The Phonology Syntax Interface

This chapter discusses the “phonology–syntax interface”. It shows that the Kwa languages are tone languages like most West African languages. As such they use suprasegmatals (tonemes) in addition to phonemes to form morphemes. The suprasegmentals also play a role in syntax where they sometimes express aspect and modality, as well as signal a syntactic configuration (e.g., that between a head and its licensed complement).

Topics in Kwa syntax

Foreword.- List of Contributors.- Introduction.- Map.- CHAPTER 1 - Aboh, E.O., and Essegbey, J.: The Phonology Syntax Interface.- CHAPTER 2 - Aboh, E. O.: Morphosyntax of the Noun Phrase.- CHAPTER 3 - Aboh, E. O., and Essegbey, J.: General properties of the Clause in Kwa.- CHAPTER 4 - Adesola, Oluseye: The Non-agreeing Subject Resumptive Pronoun in Yoruba.- CHAPTER 5 - Saah, Kofi: Relative Clauses in Akan.- CHAPTER 6 - Enoch O. Aboh: On the Right Edge C-type Negation Markers.- CHAPTER 7 - Ameka, Felix: Information Packaging Construction in Kwa: Micro-variation and Typology.- CHAPTER 8 - Essegbey, James: Inherent Complement Verbs and Double Object Constructions in Gbe.- CHAPTER 9 - Larson, Martha: The Empty Subject Construction: Verb serialization in Baule.- Index

General Properties of the Clause

This chapter previews aspects of the clause structure in Kwa (e.g., argument structure, serialization, tense, mood, aspect marking). that the discussion on the INFL domain shows that the Kwa languages are analytic because they resort to free morphemes for marking tense, mood, and aspect, where synthetic languages display inflectional morphology. It appears that the position of the verb with respect to both the aspect markers and the internal argument is an indication of verb movement in these languages, which lack inflectional morphology of the Indo-European type. Next, we suggest that discourse particles (e.g., topic, focus, question) are functional elements whose syntax has repercussion on word order variation.

C-type negation markers on the right edge

This paper shows that the Gbe languages involve both a pre-verbal and right edge position for encoding sentential negation. It is argued that the pre-verbal negation head a negative phrase (NegP) within the inflection domain. On the other hand, the right edge negative elements are modal elements belonging to the complementizer where they encode (negative) evidentiality. Like other left peripheral markers in Gbe, these negative markers surface to the right edge because they take wide scope over the proposition. Put differently, Neg°[C] attracts in its specifier, the proposition containing the narrow scope taking pre-verbal negative particle. The proposed analysis of negative sentences as peripheral modal elements leads to a fine characterization of the architecture of complementizer system and sheds a new light on the interactions between the C-system and the INFL-system.

The emergence of hybrid grammars: A rejoinder to Peter Bakker

Peter Bakker’s review of my book The emergence of hybrid grammars: Language contact and change, published in Word 62, 4. 228–243, amounts to a catalogue of misrepresentations and misconceptions of the positions I developed there. These claim 12 of his 14-page review. In what follows, I first summarize the hypotheses I developed in the book, intended now for those who have not read it yet, and then I expose Bakker’s inability or unwillingness to interpret the book accurately and critique it competently.

Locality and the functional sequence in the left periphery

Cartographic studies have focused on the sequences of functional elements which characterize the fine structure of the different zones of clauses and phrases. Such functional sequences have well-defined properties, which have been the target of extensive study in recent year: properties of ordering, of dependencies and mutual incompatibilities between positions, of freezing induced by certain functional elements and the like. These discoveries have substantially enriched the empirical coverage of theoretical and comparative syntax. Why is it that we typically find certain properties of ordering and cooccurrence restrictions, rather than others? As pointed out in Cinque and Rizzi (2010) it is unlikely that the functional hierarchy may be an absolute syntactic primitive, unrelated to other requirements or constraints: why should natural language syntax have evolved to express such a complex and apparently unmotivated primitive? It is more plausible that the functional hierarchy and its properties (to the extent to which they are universal) may be rooted elsewhere. So, properties of the functional sequence should be amenable to “further explanations” in terms of deductive interactions involving basic ingredients and fundamental principles of linguistic computations. The search for such further explanations should be considered an integral part of the cartographic endeavor (Rizzi 2013). What could be possible sources of “further explanation” for the properties of functional sequences? Two broadly defined candidates come to mind: 1. Certain properties could derive from requirements of the interface systems. For instance, it could be that functional head B may necessarily occur under functional head A (thus giving the linear order AB in head initial languages and BA in head-final languages) because the opposite hierarchical order would yield a structure not properly interpretable. Ordering of aspect below tense may be a case in point, as well as other cases of the strict orders between functional elements in the IP spine systematically mapped in Cinque (1999)

Benin: Language Situation

This article discusses the language situation in Benin, a former French colony. It is shown that Benin is like most West African countries in that its population consists of several ethnic groups with their own languages or dialects. These native languages can be typologically classified into three main language families: Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. French is the official language, and therefore serves as the unique language of instruction and administration, while native languages are mainly restricted to informal settings. This is so even though there has been a recent development whereby native languages have attained more importance in the mass media.