35.3168, Books: Tunen Syntax and information Structure Kerr (2024)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-3168. Mon Nov 11 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.3168, Books: Tunen Syntax and information Structure Kerr (2024)

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Date: 25-Oct-2024
From: Jan Martin [lotdissertations-fgw at uva.nl]
Subject: Tunen Syntax and information Structure Kerr (2024)


Title: Tunen syntax and information structure
Series Title: LOT Dissertation Series
Publication Year: 2024
Publisher: Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke
(LOT)
                http://www.lotpublications.nl/
Book URL: https://dx.medra.org/10.48273/LOT0676

Author: Elisabeth J. Kerr
Paperback: ISBN: 978-94-6093-462-9 Pages: 487 Price: Europe EURO 49,00
Abstract:

This thesis investigates the interaction between syntax and
information structure in Tunen, a Bantu language spoken in Cameroon by
approximately 70,000-100,000 people. Tunen has previously been noted
to be unusual for a Bantu language in several respects, being the only
one of the 550-some Bantu languages reported to have
subject-object-verb (SOV) rather than subject-verb-object (SVO) basic
word order. As previous work suggested that Tunen’s unusual syntax
relates to information structure, this thesis serves to test this
relationship. The principal data source comes from fieldwork conducted
by the author in Ndikiniméki/Yaoundé, Cameroon, with supplementary
evidence from secondary sources and remote elicitation.

The results indicate that Tunen syntax shows less influence from
information structure than expected from previous work on the language
and the surrounding languages. Instead, Tunen’s basic word order is
shown to be consistent across discourse contexts, clause types, and
object types. Alongside discussion of the SOV word order, the thesis
investigates the means available for expressing information structure
and the syntax of a typologically-unusual discontinuous DP
construction, which is shown to be found across information-structural
contexts. A first formal analysis of Tunen syntax is provided, drawing
up a synchronic and diachronic account within the framework of
generative syntax. The thesis also includes an updated grammatical
overview of the language and sample texts.

As a detailed study of the relationship between syntax and information
structure in a typologically-unusual language, this thesis is of
interest to researchers in the fields of Bantu linguistics,
Niger-Congo studies, theoretical syntax, and linguistic typology.

Linguistic Field(s): Genetic Classification
                     Syntax

Subject Language(s): Tunen (baz)

Language Family(ies): Northwest Narrow Bantu A

Written In: English (eng)



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