Object marking in Swahili is topic agreement
Object marking in Swahili is topic agreement
Author(s): Johannes MursellSubject(s): Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Morphology, Syntax
Published by: Filozofski fakultet, Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera, Osijek
Keywords: Swahili; object marker; agreement; cliticization;
Summary/Abstract: This paper discusses object marking in Swahili, a Bantu language. After pre-senting the contexts in which object marking is optional and obligatory, re-spectively, it is shown that it is the information structural status of the object that determines the presence of the object marker. If the object is Given, the object agreement marker is present. This is derived via assuming the presence of a Topic head in the left periphery of the vP, in which a topic feature is bun-dled with phi-features. This head then enters into an agree relation with the Given object, suggesting that the object marker in Swahili is the result of agreement and not a clitic co-referent with the object.
Journal: Jezikoslovlje
- Issue Year: XIX/2018
- Issue No: 3
- Page Range: 427-455
- Page Count: 29
- Language: English