This study analyzes the grammar of Shupamem, a language that belongs to a geographically defined group of languages known as `Grassfields Bantu languages'. Through a comprehensive description of empirical data on essential aspects of the morphosyntax syntax of Shupamem, this dissertation makes significant empirical and theoretical contributions to the increasingly important literature on Grassfields Bantu linguistics. Prominent aspects of Shupamem morphosyntax are discussed with some reference to other closely related Grassfields Bantu languages. The methodology and analytical approach adopted here are essentially in line with the Minimalist Program developed in studies like Chomsky (1995, 2001) and Kayne's (1994) LCA-based approach designed to account for the principles of Universal Grammar. The topics addressed here suggest a great diversity in terms of word order phenomena and morphological markers. The analysis proposed in this study provides some evidence that a number of movement operations attested in Shupamem are highly constrained. / This thesis explicitly centers on: (a) the internal syntax of the DP and word alternation between the head noun and its various modifiers; (b) the syntax of negation that reveals that Shupamem has bipartite negation (Bell 2004) with a great diversity of negation patterns whose surface forms depend on the status of Tense, Aspect and Mood; (c) the syntax of focus that suggests two focus fields for Shupamem e.g., a left peripheral field and a post-verbal field indicated morphologically (e.g., overt focus marker po) or syntactically (e.g., cleft constructions); and (d) the syntax of body part expressions with a particular reference to the Binding Theory (Chomsky 1986). This study thus offers a collection of distinct empirical puzzles that seem both theoretically and typologically significant. I explicitly analyze the distribution of lexical categories within the clause with a particular emphasis on a number of principles that govern their surface representations. / Beside the wide range of phenomena covered in this analysis, I also indicate aspects of Shupamem that could be further explored. These aspects include the process of nasal place assimilation, vowel length and tones, the syntax of locative expressions and serial verbs.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/U0003502799 |
| Creators | Nchare, Abdoulaye Laziz. |
| Publisher | New York University. |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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