Nancy C. Kula

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.

Effects of phonological phrasing on syntactic structure

Abstract Bantu languages are renowned as tone languages that utilize this suprasegmental feature not only on the lexical level to distinguish lexical items, but also on the grammatical level to distinguish clause types. This article investigates one such use of grammatical tone in relative clauses in Bemba where a low tone can be used in place of a segmental relative marker. This low tone relative morpheme functions in conjunction with phrase boundary tone indicated on the head noun and which entails either restrictive or non-restrictive interpretations of relatives. Considering a mapping of XPs to major phonological phrases in the syntax-prosody interface, the resultant phonological phrasing in relatives influences the choice of syntactic structure. In the case at hand, a head-raising analysis provides an optimal mapping between syntax and prosody for restrictives. Further, a more direct influence of phonology on syntax can be seen in a perception-based model like Dynamic Syntax where the on-line building of syntactic trees can gain import from phonological information.

Phrasal phonology in Copperbelt Bemba

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Phonological and syntactic phrasing in Bemba relatives

Abstract Tone as a distinctive feature used to differentiate not only words but also clause types, is a characteristic feature of Bantu languages. In this paper we show that Bemba relatives can be marked with a low tone in place of a segmental relative marker. We treat this low tone as a morpheme rather than as just triggering a change in tone pattern that can then be related to relativization. The low tone strategy of relativization, which imposes a restrictive reading of relatives, manifests a phonological phrasing that requires the head noun to be phrased together with the relative clause that it modifies as opposed to non-restrictives where this is not the case. The paper shows that the resultant phonological phrasing favours a head-raising analysis of relativization where the head noun is considered to be inside CP. Despite the syntactic use of the relative tonal morpheme we see that it is also subject to purely phonological constraints that results in its being unable to be used to mark headless relatives. This paper therefore highlights the phonology-syntax connection and shows that phonology can directly inform syntactic analyses.

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.

Mental representation of tonal spreading in Bemba : Evidence from elicited production and perception

Abstract Previous research has shown that listeners from tonal languages are better at processing tone compared to speakers from non-tonal languages. However, most of this research has tested Asian tone languages, particularly those which have many tonal contrasts and a dense tone-to-syllable association. In this paper we investigate the mental representation of derived tones in Bemba, a Bantu language that has a two-way tone contrast but which shows robust tone spreading patterns. Specifically, we test ternary high-tone spreading, a process that is unique from a phonological perspective. In a production task we test whether ternary spread can be extended to non-words. We complement this with an AX discrimination task comparing binary vs ternary spread, which are phonologically contrastive, on the one hand, with a tonally similarly salient but non-phonologically relevant contrast, on the other. We show that in both the production and percep- tion of non-words, ternary spread is distinct from binary spread, suggesting that derived tone is equally mentally represented as lexical tone is in Asian tone languages.

Zambia language situation

Zambia, in southern central Africa, is reported to have 25 languages spoken among 80 tribes. The languages are Bantu from Bantu-speaking people that migrated mainly from the Congo basin (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). English from former British colonial rule is the most important official language but seven Zambian languages (Bemba, Nyanja, Lozi, Tonga, Luvale, Lunda, and Kaonde) also have official status. Bemba and Nyanja function as the most important lingua francas across the country. Some languages remain undocumented and are probably severely endangered while a comprehensive language survey remains to be done.

Lesotho language situation

Sesotho, also called Southern Sotho, is the major language spoken in Lesotho; 85% of the Lesotho population speaks Sesotho, comprising more than a third of the total number of Sesotho speakers in southern Africa. The people of the Basotho nation were led to the present mountainous location of Lesotho, in central South Africa, by King Moshoeshoe at the beginning of the 19th century. Sesotho is the national and official first language of Lesotho; English is the official second language. Totally surrounded by South Africa, the Xhosa (from the south) and Zulu (from the east) languages are also spoken in Lesotho. Within the region, Sesotho is related to the Tswana and northern Sotho languages.

Reduction in remoteness distinctions and reconfiguration in the Bemba past tense

Bantu languages are well-known for having multiple remoteness distinctions in both the past and the future. This paper looks at the 4-way remoteness distinction of Bemba (central Bantu) showing that the system is undergoing change that is resulting in the loss of an intermediate past tense, by merger with the remote past. Two factors are central in driving this change; a merger of forms by tone loss and neutralisation and a shift in the scope of semantic function. Because the Bemba tense-aspect system manifests the so-called conjoint-disjoint alternation, there is also some reconfiguration of the TA system that accompanies the merger. The different factors involved in this change are unified under a cognitive multi-dimensional approach to tense, which is here extended to account for language change in tense systems.