32.276, FYI: The Bantu Noun Phrase: Issues and Perspectives

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-32-276. Thu Jan 21 2021. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 32.276, FYI: The Bantu Noun Phrase: Issues and Perspectives

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Date: Thu, 21 Jan 2021 02:12:41
From: Blasius Achiri-Taboh [achiri.blasius at ubuea.cm]
Subject: The Bantu Noun Phrase: Issues and Perspectives

 
>From the beginning of the 20th century, Bantu linguistics was mainly dominated
by the VP and its derivation, issues of TAM, and tone. In spite of it being
tremendous exciting, the Bantu NP has largely remained untouched. Although
much attention in the nominal domain has gone to categorizing nouns, this is
almost the only concentrated patch in the noun related field. As Rugemalira
(2007) points out, ‘studies of the noun in Bantu languages have traditionally
concentrated on the morphology of the noun [and this has not been unexpected,
given the very nature of the Bantu noun] with its elaborate class system [with
agreement marking] and the underlying semantic strands.’ Generally, although
extremely interesting, especially in its complex modification, the structure
of the Bantu noun phrase has largely been neglected. 
Examining the NP in some Bantu languages, Rugemalira highlights issues of how
and to what numerical extent nouns take modifiers, how modifiers are
classified, how they relate, but little has been done to fully understand
these worries. For example, Bantu nouns are largely post-modified, with
interesting ramification especially with lexical post-possessors. Some
functional modifiers in some of the languages surface as pre-modifiers or
freely alternate as pre- or post-modifiers with important implications. With
this structural free variation, my native Ngamambo (in the Grassfields)
exhibits a noun-specific restriction to possessive post-modification, that is,
although pronominal possessors can generally either precede or follow the
noun, there are a few nouns that only allow them to follow. Demonstratives
which are typically post-modifiers can surface as pre-modifiers under focus.
Even more crucial is the worry on the aging claim (See Szabolczi, 1994 and
Mojapelo, 2007) that some languages do not overtly exhibit definiteness. Yet,
within the last 20 year, interest in addressing such issues has rested upon a
few studies like those of Zeller, Van de Velde, Rugemalira, Lusekelo, O’Connor
& Patin, Tamanji & Achiri-Taboh.
Looking at noun morphology, the Bantu noun has typically been classified on
the basis of nominal prefixes following the Proto-Bantu noun class systems of
the early and post-mid twentieth Century. The problem here is that classifying
nouns on prefixhood rather than agreement (cf. Corbett, 1994) serves no real
syntactic purpose, even if Bantu nominal prefixes can be very systematic
(Taralson, 2010).

Aim of Book:

The aim of the book is to put together a collection of interesting original
descriptive/theoretical studies that address burning issues of the Bantu NP,
to gain more insight understanding into the true nature of modification,
association, apposition, genitivization, relativization, focusing, agreement
and noun formation/classification.
Potential authors, scholars particularly interested in Bantu morpho-syntax,
are invited to contribute chapters that examine any aspect of the Bantu NP,
from the nature of individual word items (potentially on agreement and noun
classes) through larger nominal constituents to comparative studies
potentially between languages. Each chapter of between 4000 to 10000 words or
so will undergo both an editorial review and at least one blind peer review by
any selected authors in the project.

Procedure:

Submit a detailed abstract of 400-1000 words in a word file to
achiri.blasius at ubuea.cm by 20th May, 2021 or earlier, with at least 3
references to support your proposal, showing how the chapter intends to
contribute to the exposition of the subject matter. An approval reply will
follow a couple of days to a week after, and authors can immediately start
working on the full text.

Important Dates:

Abstract submission:20-5-2021
Abstract acceptance notification:30-5-2021
Chapter submission:30-6-2021
Start of peer review:1-7-2021
Chapter status notification:30-8-2021
Editorial/author revision deadline:15-10-2021
Book submission:10-12-2021
Publication:March/April-2022
 



Linguistic Field(s): General Linguistics

Language Family(ies): Niger-Congo





 



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LINGUIST List: Vol-32-276	
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