This dissertation is a grammar of Rena (ISO bez), a Bantu language spoken in southwestern Tanzania by approximately 600,000 people. Bena is largely undocumented, and though aspects of Bena grammar have been described, there is no usable, detailed treatment of the Bena language. Therefore the goal of this dissertation is provide the first detailed description of Bena that discusses phonology, morphology, and syntax. The analysis described in this grammar is based on data collected in the Njombe district of Tanzania during 2008 and 2009. Data throughout the grammar is taken from both elicitation and a corpus of 23 narratives. Though Bena is spoken by over half a million people, it is threatened by Swahili (the national language of Tanzania). Swahili's prominence in Tanzania has increased drastically since independence in 1961, and many (if not most) of the approximately 120 languages spoken in Tanzania are threatened by Swahili. Bena is no exception to this. The results of a sociolinguistic survey conducted in 2009 indicate that Swahili is having a significant impact on the Bena language. Therefore the writing of this dissertation comes at a crucial time. It provides a record of Bena at a time before too many features of the language are lost due to language contact. The first chapter provides an introduction to the Bena language and people. It also discusses results from the 2009 sociolinguistic survey which had the goal of clarifying questions on both the dialectal situation and the sociolinguistic vitality of Bena. The second chapter is devoted to phonetics and phonology. Of particular interest in this chapter are Bena's "predictable" tone system and the morphophonological process of imbrication (a type of coalescence in which multiple morphemes are interwoven together). The third chapter gives an overview of Bena word classes and provides a road map of the next several chapters of the grammar. Fourth is a description of Bena nominal morphology and other elements in the noun phrase. Like other Bantu languages, Bena uses a complex noun class system; Bena's 19 noun classes and the ways in which they are used are discussed in detail in this chapter. Following this is a description of Bena verbal morphology. Of particular interest in Bena is its tense aspect system--Bena distinguishes four separate past tenses and three distinct futures; these interact with five aspects. The second major focus of Chapter 5 is the use of a series of suffixes in verbal derivation. The sixth chapter of the grammar describes adverbs and other invariable words in Bena. Chapter 7 describes major aspects of Bena syntax. Because Bantu languages have rich morphological systems, most grammars of Bantu languages either give a fairly cursory treatment of syntax or they ignore it completely. This dissertation aims to fill that gap by providing a description of a Bantu language that is more balanced and acknowledges the significant roles played by both morphology and syntax. The final chapter highlights several features of Bena from a typological perspective and discusses areas in which further research on Bena has the potential to contribute significantly to Bantu linguistics.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-137).

In the Bantu language Kinyarwanda, the morpheme –ish can be used to mark both causation and the instrumental applicative. This report pro- poses an explanation for this causative-instrumental syncretism, arguing that both causation and the introduction of an instrument are—at their core—two outgrowths of the same semantic notion. Fitting with other morphological causatives in Bantu, the causative use of –ish patterns as a lexical causative marker. The analysis presented here captures the lex- ical nature of the causative use of the morpheme by arguing that the new causal link is added sub-lexically, situating Kinyarwanda into a cross- linguistic typology of morphological causatives. / text

Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-137).

Diss. Univ. Uppsala, 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Louisville, 2008. / Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology. Vita. "August 2008." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-166).

Thesis (M.A. (History))--Rhodes University, 2005.

Thesis (M.A.)--Wheaton College Graduate School, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-137).

For purposes of this background study, previous research findings relating to the development of the concept of field dependence - independence may be traced in five clearly distinct and logical stages: Stage 1: The Determination of the Factors Responsible for the Maintenance of Proper Orientation to the Upright. Stage 11: The Investigation of Individual Differences in the Manner of Establishing the Upright. Stage III: The Consideration of Possible Hypotheses to Account for Consistent Individual Differences in this Mode of Perception. Stage IV: An Investigation of the Relationship Between an Individual's Characteristic Way of Perceiving and his General Personality Organisation Stage V: The Ultimate Extension and Elaboration of this Work into the Construct of Psychological Differentiation which proposes that individuals are likely to function at a more differentiated or less differentiated level in many areas of behaviour. Some discussion of these stages is necessary to provide background for the present study. Chapter 1, p. 1.

This dissertation first addresses various shortcomings in definitions of “applicative” when compared to what is actually found across languages. It then proposes a four-way distinction among applicative constructions, relevant at least to Bantu, a large family of languages spoken in Sub-Saharan Africa. Because of the gradual nature of historical change, differences among construction types may be somewhat graded. In what are called Type A applicative constructions, the applicative morpheme expands the argument structure of its root by introducing an obligatorily present applied phrase. This expansion might result, but need not, in increased syntactic valence of the derived verb stem. Type A includes cases where the applicative on a lexicalized applicative stem still has the ability to introduce an applied phrase. In Type B applicative constructions, the applicative expands the argument structure of its root by introducing an obligatorily present applied phrase and performs other semantic/pragmatic functions on the applied phrase or on the whole clause (e.g. the applied phrase becomes the narrow-focused constituent in the clause). As in Type A, syntactic valence might be increased, but need not be. In Type C applicative constructions, the applicative does not introduce an applied phrase. Instead, it provides semantic nuances to the lexical meaning of its root (e.g. the action described by the root is performed to completion, repetitively, in excess, etc.). Unlike Type A and Type B, Type C constructions are not fully productive and may undergo lexicalization. Fourthly, in Pseudo-applicative constructions, the applicative morpheme found on a lexicalized stem does not introduce an applied phrase and does not perform semantic and/or pragmatic functions described for Type B and Type C. Because the last type, especially, has not been acknowledged in prior literature, the dissertation presents a historically informed case study of 78 pseudo-applicative forms in Tswana (S31), a southern Bantu language spoken in Botswana and South Africa. Finally, this study argues that both the synchronic functions of the Bantu applicative suffix *-ɪd and the lexicalization paths emerging from the study of Tswana pseudo-applicative forms support an original Location/Goal function of *-ɪd in Proto-Bantu, rather than an original Beneficiary function.