27.2089, Diss: Bantu, Semantics, Syntax: Kyle Jerro: 'The Syntax and Semantics of Applicative Morphology in Bantu'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-27-2089. Fri May 06 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.2089, Diss: Bantu, Semantics, Syntax: Kyle Jerro: 'The Syntax and Semantics of Applicative Morphology in Bantu'

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Date: Fri, 06 May 2016 11:15:45
From: Kyle Jerro [jerrokyle at gmail.com]
Subject: The Syntax and Semantics of Applicative Morphology in Bantu

 
Institution: University of Texas at Austin 
Program: Department of Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2016 

Author: Kyle Jerro

Dissertation Title: The Syntax and Semantics of Applicative Morphology in Bantu 

Linguistic Field(s): Semantics
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): Kinyarwanda (kin)
                     Lubukusu (bxk)
                     Nyanja (nya)

Language Family(ies): Narrow Bantu


Dissertation Director(s):
John Beavers

Dissertation Abstract:

This dissertation concerns itself with the applicative morpheme, often
analyzed as a valency-increasing morpheme which licenses an additional object
to the argument structure of a verb. To date, applicativization has been
analyzed as an operation that monotonically adds a new object to the argument
structure, with little significant interaction with the verb to which the
applicative attaches. However, there are two broad empirical;Lubukusu;Nyanja
issues with this view. First, there are instances in several languages where
the applied variant of a particular verb licenses no additional object,
contingent on the choice of verb. Second, the semantic role of the applied
object is often conditioned by the meaning of the verb. In this dissertation I
propose that applicativization serves fundamentally only to restrict the
truth-conditional content of an internal argument of the verb, but that this
constraint can be satisfied in various constrained ways on a verb
class-by-verb class basis of which canonical object addition is just an
option. I present evidence from locative applicatives in Kinyarwanda that the
semantic role of the locative applied object, and whether it is even present,
is conditioned by the meaning of the verb to which the applicative attaches.
Furthermore, I show that the semantics of both verb class and the applicative
are important in capturing instrumental applicative-causative syncretism and
constraints on what thematic role the applied object of such an applicative
will have contingent on the particular verb. Finally, I revisit the question
of object symmetry, where I argue that contra the dominant perspective in the
literature, there is no universal correlation between a particular syntactic
structure or thematic role and any particular symmetry pattern. Instead, I
propose that symmetry facts follow on a language by language basis from a
variety of factors, such as verb meaning, thematic role, cast of the relevant
nouns, and information structure. This semantically-driven framework in which
a mélange of other factors conspire to determine symmetry provides a more
comprehensive empirical account of the syntactic and semantic nature of
applicative morphology in Bantu.




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