Magister Artium - MA / The purpose of this study is to investigate how subject PRO of the infinitive in Sesotho is assigned an antecedent The general framework which is assumed is the Government Binding theory of generative grammar, in particular one of its subtheories, namely the Control theory which is concerned with the assignment of an antecedent to the subject PRO in the infinitive. A survey of the work done by various linguists on the Infinitive in Bantu languages shows that much has been written on the properties of the infinitive. In the Nguni languages, especially in Xhosa, considerable research has been done to establish the syntactic nature of the infinitive in the various constructions that it may occur. The Infinitive in Sesotho has, however, not been studied extensively. The central issue of this study relates to establishing the antecedent of the subject PRO of the infinitive in the various constructions in which it may appear. It is demonstrated that in some instances it is possible for two different NP arguments in a sentence to serve as a possible antecedent of the empty category PRO. This examination of control of the subject PRO in the infinitive in Sesotho has revealed the following: The subject PRO in the infinitive must have antecedent. In such cases the empty category PRO which is obligatory control is considered to behave like an anaphor, because as an empty of the clausal complement it must take its referential index from either the subject or object argument of the matrix sentence. This implies that the empty category PRO has no capacity for independent reference. 2. The subject PRO in the infinitive may have an In such cases the empty category PRO which is subject to non-obligatory control is considered to behave like a pronoun, because the empty category PRO may either refer to individuals independently or co-refer to individuals already named on a given sentence. Finally the subject PRO in the infinitive can at times have no antecedent at all In such cases the empty category PRO is subject to arbitrary control, because its antecedent may be implicit This has been established in the following instances: 3.1 There are cases where the infinitive is a complement of a Verb or a Copulative with the subject position occupied by an empty existential pronominal which is associated with the existential morpheme Ho. This pronominal is an empty category just like PRO, but is in a non-argument position, for it lacks a thetha-role. This is attributed to the fact that the existential pronominal associated with Ho, which signifies "it" or "there" is a dummy element and has therefore no semantic role. Therefore the antecedent of the subject PRO in the infinitive can be "anyone in general". The interpretation thereof is known as arbitrary control. It has also been established that, the Nominal infinitive, which has in Sesotho, like all other nominals, a class prefix which is morphologically marked with a prefix Ho, is subject to arbitrary control (see 3 above). This is attributed to the fact that its subject NP-argument has a non-referential expression which is thus ungoverned, because it has no agreement (-AGR) and can therefore not be assigned Case.

Thesis (M. A. (African Languages) --University of Limpopo,2005 / The study aimsat finding out thecategorical status of copulatives in Northern Sotho. This will be achieved by examining the morphosemantic features of various copulatives. From a morphological perspective, thestudy focuses on the following types ofcopulative verbs: ke, se, ba, le, na, and COP. The study argues that the foresaid copulatives are not particles but are fully-fledged verbs. As far as the semantic nature of the copulatives is concerned, the study discovered a variety of meanings associated with copulatives, such as the following: the identifying, descriptive,locational and associative. Lastly, the study contends that any research on the copulative in Northern Sotho should be a morphosemantic one, as previous studies focused on one and neglected the other.

In der vorliegenden Dissertation werden die deutschen zusammengesetzten Substantive analysiert. Das Forschungsmaterial stammt aus den handschriftlichen zweisprachigen baltischen Wörterbüchern, die in das 15. bis in das 18. Jahrhundert hineinreichen. Zur Gliederung der deutschen Substantivkomposita wurden zwei Klassifizierungen unternommen. Der ersten Gruppe werden Komposita nach den morphologischen Eigenschaften ihrer Erstglieder zugeordnet, wobei man die Art und Weise sowie Häufigkeit der Fugenelemente feststellt. Die zweite Gruppe bilden Zusammensetzungen nach der semantisch–syntaktischen Charakteristik ihrer Konstituenten. Bei der letzteren stützt man sich insbesondere auf die von J. H. Larsson (2002; 2010) unternommene Klassifizierung von Komposita. Nach dieser Einordnung unterscheidet man zwischen Determinativ-, Possessiv-, Kopulativ- und Rektionskomposita. / Šios disertacijos tyrimo objektas yra baltų kalbų rankraštinių dvikalbių žodynų vokiškosios dalies sudurtinių daiktavardžių daryba. Medžiaga rinkta iš įvairių amžių šaltinių: paties pirmojo vokiečių-prūsų kalbų Elbingo žodynėlio XV a. nuorašo, J. Langijaus XVII a. latvių-vokiečių kalbų ir XVIII a. J. Brodovskio vokiečių-lietuvių kalbų žodynų. Dūriniai pirmiausiai grupuojami pagal jų pirmojo dėmens morfologines savybes,nustatomi sudurtinių daikatavardžių modeliai ir jų dėmenų jungimo pobūdis. Grupuojant žodynų dūrinius pagal jų dėmenų semantinį-sintaksinį ryšį, pasiremta J. H. Larsson sudurtinių žodžių klasifikacija, kurioje skiriami determinatyviniai, posesyviniai, kopuliatyviniai ir valdomieji dūriniai. / This dissertation analyzes the compounding of German nouns in the hand-written bilingual Baltic dictionaries. The research begins with the oldest manuscript of the German–Prussian Vocabulary of Elbing, dated with the 15th Century. The second research source is the Latvian–German Dictionary by J. Langius from the 17th Century. The third manuscript is the German–Lithuanian dictionary by J. Brodowski from the 18th Century. The research material comes from the above-mentioned Baltic dictionaries. The results are presented as follows: first the orthography of nominal compounds is discussed, after that the types of German nouns based on their left-hand members containing a linking element are described in detail. Finally, the paper analyses classification (group) of compounds according to the semantic and syntactic interpretation of their constituents: determinative, possessive, copulative and deverbal. Further, an internal structure of nouns is described. At the end of each research chapter there is an overview of the words with unique morphemes, konfixes and affixoids.

This thesis investigates the system of compounding attested in the earliest written Latvian texts of the 16th and 17th centuries. The philological analysis presented in this work is the first systematic attempt to extensively treat compounds in Old Latvian. The purpose of this thesis is to thoroughly describe the system of compounding of the earliest period of written Latvian. One of the main aims of the analysis provided in this work is to determine whether the Old Latvian compounds were distinguished in terms of their meaning and form. This is why another important aim of this study is to discern the most characteristic formal properties of each category of compounds in Old Latvian. This study also addresses the morphological variation of the components of compounds and seeks to explain why one finds different tendencies of compounding in the texts of this period.    Firstly, it is shown in this thesis that compounds in Old Latvian were clearly distinguished in terms of their meaning. The main semantic types of Old Latvian compounds, which were analyzed in this study, are the determinative compounds, the possessive compounds, the verbal governing compounds, and the copulative compounds. Secondly, it is argued that the aforementioned types of compounds were clearly differentiated in terms of the formal properties of their components. A large number of possessive compounds and verbal governing compounds had the compositional suffix -is (m.)/-e (f.). By contrast, only a handful of determinative compounds had this suffix. In view of the distribution of the suffix found in the Old Latvian compounds, it is suggested that the suffix was originally restricted to adjectival compounds. Furthermore, the different types of compounds in Old Latvian were also distinguished in terms of the first component. In the majority of cases, both the possessive compounds and the verbal governing compounds were coined without linking elements, while the determinative compounds had linking elements to a larger extent. Thirdly, it is proposed in this thesis that a part of linking elements used in the determinative compounds in Old Latvian originated from the original stem vowels of the first components. Thus, it is argued that stem compounds were still attested in the Old Latvian texts, although this Baltic model of coining compounds is no longer visible in Modern Latvian. Lastly, it is suggested that the tendencies of compounding found in the texts under discussion represent dialectal differences. Another contribution of this study is that the Old Latvian compounds are not treated in isolation, but analyzed in drawing parallels with compounds in the other Baltic languages, Lithuanian in particular. Hence, by analyzing common features and similarities between the compounding systems, the Old Latvian compounds are positioned within the context of the Baltic system of compounding.

Southern Sotho verbal relative clauses are, on discourse-pragmatic grounds, categorised as direct and indirect. The pragmatic factors that govern the occurrence of these two types of relatives within a particular discourse context are investigated. An analysis of relative clauses occurring in live conversations as well as in the dramas Bulane (Khaketla, 1983) and Tjootjo e tla hloma sese/a (Maake, 1992) reveals that direct relative clauses usually modify the reference of predicate nouns (i.e. nouns used as the complements of copulative predicates), while indirect relative clauses modify the reference of object nouns. Theories which suggest that both predicate as well as object nouns generally convey new information, but that the reference status of predicate nouns is non-specific indefinite, while that of object nouns is specific indefinite, are discussed. A hypothesis suggesting that there is an interrelationship between the reference status of a head noun and the type of relative by means of which it is qualified, is proposed. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Southern Sotho verbal relative clauses are, on discourse-pragmatic grounds, categorised as direct and indirect. The pragmatic factors that govern the occurrence of these two types of relatives within a particular discourse context are investigated. An analysis of relative clauses occurring in live conversations as well as in the dramas Bulane (Khaketla, 1983) and Tjootjo e tla hloma sese/a (Maake, 1992) reveals that direct relative clauses usually modify the reference of predicate nouns (i.e. nouns used as the complements of copulative predicates), while indirect relative clauses modify the reference of object nouns. Theories which suggest that both predicate as well as object nouns generally convey new information, but that the reference status of predicate nouns is non-specific indefinite, while that of object nouns is specific indefinite, are discussed. A hypothesis suggesting that there is an interrelationship between the reference status of a head noun and the type of relative by means of which it is qualified, is proposed. / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

Thesis (M.A. (Translation Studies and Linguistics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2022 / The prime goal of this study is to explore, form and analyse the semantic content of compound words in Sepedi. The study used the qualitative method. Data were collected using participant observations from various written sources and it was analysed through Content Analysis. The Theory of Construction Morphology was tested on endocentric, exocentric, and copulative compound words to locate the headedness of Sepedi compound words. The study revealed that the head of compound words can be located on the nominal prefix, left-hand side, right-hand side, on both nominal prefixes and it can be determined outside of the compound word for metaphoric exocentric nominal compounds. Furthermore, because of the role noun class prefixes play on determining the head of compound words, the study found that Sepedi compound words are nominals. The formation of Sepedi compound words involves the combination of different word aspects such as objects concords, deverbatives, verbal roots, stems, suffixal endings, and lexical categories such as nouns, Adjectives, and verbs. The resultant compound word of these combinations always results in a compound noun. It was recommended that future researchers should investigate the semantic content of exocentric compound words in African languages, especially the Sepedi language. The study further highlighted that there is still a need for a study that looks at the influences of nominal prefixes on the headedness of compound words in Sepedi. Furthermore, the study recommended that to alleviate the gap of shortage of literature in Sepedi, future studies should focus on word formation processes in Sepedi. / Feenix Crowdfunding and C Track Fleet Management Solutions Pty Ltd

<p>Дати рад има задатак да представи, опише и одреди статус лексички крњих глагола у руском и српском језику. Реч је о глаголима који нису способни самостално да функционишу, због чега су упућени на самосталне речи, са којима у споју остварују своју улогу и постају способни да изразе граматичко значење самосталних речи, као и читаве конструкције чији су саставни део.<br />Глаголи овога типа биће класификовани у три основне групе: 1) копулативни глаголи; 2) модални и фазни глаголи и 3) формално пунозначни глаголи, њихова анализа спроводиће се како у оквиру наведених група, тако и у целини, а основу датог проучавања представљаће контрастивна анализа и одређивање статуса датих глагола у савременом руском и српском језику.<br />Иако су више пута били предмет истраживања, непунозначни глаголи нису добили једну целовиту анализу, нису адекватно груписани и побројани, није урађена типолошка класификација ове групе глагола у оба поређена језика. Насупрот детаљно истраженој групи пунозначних (самосталних) глагола, група лексички непунозначних глагола заслужује исцрпнију анализу, јаснију научну дефиницију, изучавање њихове семантике, карактера, као и специфичности односа које означавају, односно положаја који заузимају у општем систему језичких јединица.</p> / <p>Dati rad ima zadatak da predstavi, opiše i odredi status leksički krnjih glagola u ruskom i srpskom jeziku. Reč je o glagolima koji nisu sposobni samostalno da funkcionišu, zbog čega su upućeni na samostalne reči, sa kojima u spoju ostvaruju svoju ulogu i postaju sposobni da izraze gramatičko značenje samostalnih reči, kao i čitave konstrukcije čiji su sastavni deo.<br />Glagoli ovoga tipa biće klasifikovani u tri osnovne grupe: 1) kopulativni glagoli; 2) modalni i fazni glagoli i 3) formalno punoznačni glagoli, njihova analiza sprovodiće se kako u okviru navedenih grupa, tako i u celini, a osnovu datog proučavanja predstavljaće kontrastivna analiza i određivanje statusa datih glagola u savremenom ruskom i srpskom jeziku.<br />Iako su više puta bili predmet istraživanja, nepunoznačni glagoli nisu dobili jednu celovitu analizu, nisu adekvatno grupisani i pobrojani, nije urađena tipološka klasifikacija ove grupe glagola u oba poređena jezika. Nasuprot detaljno istraženoj grupi punoznačnih (samostalnih) glagola, grupa leksički nepunoznačnih glagola zaslužuje iscrpniju analizu, jasniju naučnu definiciju, izučavanje njihove semantike, karaktera, kao i specifičnosti odnosa koje označavaju, odnosno položaja koji zauzimaju u opštem sistemu jezičkih jedinica.</p> / <p>The aim of this dissertation is to analyze and determine the status of lexically incomplete verbs in Russian and Serbian. Lexically incomplete verbs are those that cannot function independently, which is why they are directed towards independent words. It is by means of this relationship they are able to perform their function and express grammatical meaning of independent words, as well as of the entire phrase they are a part of.<br />These verbs will be classified in three primary groups: 1) copulative verbs; 2) modal and phase verbs; 3) verbs with formally full meaning, their analysis will be performed both within the framework of the aforementioned groups and by treating them as a whole, whereas the basis for the study will be set by a contrastive analysis and the determination of the status of the verbs in modern Russian and Serbian.<br />Even though they have so far been an object of numerous studies, verbs without full meaning have yet not been given a thorough analysis, nor have they been adequately grouped, inventoried and typologically classified in either of the two contrasted languages. If compared to the group of independent verbs with full meaning that were examined in great detail, the group of verbs without full lexical meaning deserves a more comprehensive analysis, a clearer scientific definition, an analysis of their semantics, character, as well as the specific relations they signify and the position they occupy in the general system of linguistic units.</p>