Lutz Marten

The dynamics of language

Argues that knowledge in language consists of being able to use it in speaking and understanding. This work analyses a variety of languages, from English to Japanese and Swahili. It is intended for those in the disciplines of language, linguistics, anthropology, education, psychology, cognitive science, law, media studies, and medicine.

Object marking and morphosyntactic variation in Bantu

Abstract The paper presents a detailed discussion of morphosyntactic variation in object marking in Bantu. Building on previous work (Marten et al., 2007), the paper investigates variation in object marking in 16 Bantu languages with respect to six parameters: the co-occurrence of object markers and lexical objects, the obligatoriness of object markers with specific classes of objects, the presence of locative object markers, multiple object markers, object marking in double object constructions, and object marking in relative clauses. The study shows that even within these fine-grained parameters, variation between different languages can be further distinguished. The paper provides a systematic overview of the kind of morphosyntactic variation found in Bantu, and provides an empirical framework for further descriptive and comparative studies.

Benefactive and substitutive applicatives in Bemba

Abstract Benefactive applicative constructions can encode a range of different meanings, including notably recipient, substitutive and plain benefactive readings, which are often distinguished in cross-linguistic studies. In Bantu languages, this distinction has not received much attention, in part because most Bantu languages do not formally distinguish between different readings of benefactive applicatives. In Bemba (Bantu M42, Zambia), by contrast, substitutive applicatives, where the action of the verb is performed by the agent instead of, on behalf of, or in place of someone else, are formally marked by applicative morphology in addition to a post-verbal clitic -kó, based on a grammaticalised locative demonstrative clitic. The paper provides a detailed discussion of the construction and proposes that the interpretation of substitutive applicatives results from the interaction of abstract applicative and locative semantics and depends on underlying metaphors of spatial and abstract location. Bemba benefactive applicatives thus provide an illustration of the complex function and interpretation of Bantu applicatives and locative markers more widely. The construction is interesting from a historical-comparative and typological perspective because of the particular grammaticalisation process from a locative source involved in the historical development of the construction, and because substitution is marked in addition to applicative marking.

Locative object marking and the argument-adjunct distinction

Abstract This paper examines the status of locative phrases in Bantu and the argument-adjunct distinction. We look at verbal locative agreement and at other morphosyntactic patterns related to locative phrases in different Bantu languages including Kiswahili, Sambaa, Haya, and several Nguni languages. We propose that object marking cannot be taken to be evidence for the objecthood of the corresponding NP in Bantu. We focus on three domains where verbal agreement marking of locative complements differs from the corresponding marking of non-locative complements: (i) object-marking paradigms without locative markers, (ii) contexts in which locative object markers may be used, but where other, non-locative object markers are disallowed, and (iii) locative complements marked by post-verbal locative clitics rather than, or in addition to, locative object markers. We then show how variation in locative object marking is related more generally to corresponding variation in locative marking in Bantu on one hand, and on the other hand to several processes of grammaticalisation for which locative markers serve as a starting point. We propose that, because the system of morphosyntactic coding of locatives in Bantu is in flux, locative object marking may be related to more or less object-like grammatical functions, depending on the particular state within the wider process of transition of locative marking, and hence presents a mixed picture.

Variation and grammaticalisation in Bantu complex verbal constructions: The dynamics of information growth in Swahili, Rangi and siSwati

Many Bantu languages have a system of complex verbal constructions, where several verbal forms combine to describe a single event. Typically, these consist of an auxiliary and a main verb, and often tense-aspect marking and subject agreement is found on both forms. In this paper we develop a parsing-based, Dynamic Syntax analysis of complex verbal constructions in three Bantu languages – Swahili, Rangi and siSwati – and show how concepts of structural underspecification, accumulation of information and contextual update can be harnessed to explain the use of several verbal forms for the building of one semantic structure. At the heart of the analysis is the idea that structure established early in the parse can be ‘re-built’ from subsequent lexical input as long as incrementality and information growth are respected. This correctly predicts the accumulation of tense-aspect information and the fact that multiple subject markers have to be interpreted identically, while maintaining a uniform pronominal analysis of Bantu subject markers. From a comparative perspective, we show that complex verbal constructions result from processes of grammaticalisation, and, especially with reference to the extensive auxiliary system of siSwati, we sketch different processes of lexical change underlying the stages of the grammaticalisation process.

Background languages, learner motivation and self-assessed progress in learning Zulu as an additional language in the UK

The article reports results of a study of beginner-level learners of Zulu in higher education in the UK, focussing on learners’ linguistic background, their motivation and reasons for studying Zulu, and their self-assessed progress at the beginning of the second term of teaching. The study shows that participants typically studied Zulu as an additional or L3 language and often had prior knowledge of three or four background languages, including in many cases prior knowledge of an African language. They studied Zulu for personal, academic and professional reasons and their motivation was integrative as well as instrumental. Many expected to use Zulu professionally, in particular for work or study in South Africa. While learners’ motivation does not interact significantly with self-assessed progress, the study suggests that both a higher number of background languages, and knowledge of an African language structurally similar to Zulu might have positive effects on self-assessed progress.

Meanings of money: national identity and the semantics of currency in Zambia and Tanzania

In addition to practical, pragmatic functions, both money and language fulfil symbolic functions. The designation, design and language use of currencies, like choices about language policies and national languages carry symbolic weight and reflect different conceptions of national identity. In independent Africa, different approaches to language policy and currency terms are found, and the interaction between the two often reflects specific historic-political circumstances and the public and official portrayal of nationhood. Tracing language and currency choices in Zambia and Tanzania shows that the situations in the two countries stand in an inverse symmetrical relation: In Zambia, language choice was primarily pragmatic, and currency terms carry high symbolic function. In contrast, in Tanzania, the choice of Swahili as national language was highly symbolic, while the choice of currency terms was pragmatic. Although the relations between language and currency terms identified in the case studies are specific to Zambia and Tanzania, the study shows how symbolic functions of money and language are embedded in discourses about national identity more generally.

Southern Bantu Languages

The geographical-referential classification ‘southern Bantu languages’ includes the Bantu languages of the Nguni group (including Zulu, Xhosa, Swati, Ndebele), the Sotho-Tswana group (including Northern Sotho, Sesotho, Tswana), the Tswa-Ronga group, the Imhambane group, as well as Shona and Venda. Southern Bantu languages are spoken in South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and southern Mozambique, and they are official languages in several countries, including South Africa, where all nine official Bantu languages are southern Bantu languages.

Structure building and thematic constraints in Bantu inversion constructions

Bantu inversion constructions include locative inversion, patient inversion (also called subject–object reversal), semantic locative inversion and instrument inversion. The constructions show a high level of cross-linguistic variation, but also a core of invariant shared morphosyntactic and information structural properties. These include: that the preverbal position is filled by a non-agent NP triggering verbal agreement, that the agent follows the verb obligatorily, that object marking is disallowed, and that the preverbal NP is more topical, and the postverbal NP more focal. While previous analyses have tended to concentrate on one inversion type, the present paper develops a uniform analysis of Bantu inversion constructions. Adopting a Dynamic Syntax perspective, we show how the constructions share basic aspects of structure building and semantic representation. In our analysis, cross-linguistic differences in the distribution of inversion constructions result from unrelated parameters of variation, as well as from thematic constraints related to the thematic hierarchy. With some modification, the analysis can also be extended to passives.

Valency and expectation in Bantu applicatives

Abstract Bantu applicatives are standardly analysed syntactically, as encoding a change in valency. However, in many cases applicatives do not change valency, but are rather related to a change in interpretation. In particular pragmatic functions of applicatives related to focus and emphasis are often noted in the description of individual languages, but are very rarely reflected in typological or theoretical work. To address this problem, this paper develops a pragmatic analysis of applicatives, in which applicatives signal that the action denoted by the base verb is being carried out in some way remarkably, and so differently from normal expectations about the action. Pragmatic effects are found with all uses of applicatives, and may lead to a change in valency, or not. Absence of a change in valency is found in particular with locative and instrument applicatives, while benefactive applicatives almost always entail a change in valency. This is related to the thematic hierarchy: Beneficiaries occupy a high position in the thematic hierarchy and have a strong effect on the expectedness of the action expressed. The advantage of our analysis is that it addresses both interpretational and structural aspects of applicative constructions and provides a unified explanation for them.