Learning How to License Null Noun-Class Prefixes in Sesotho

Language ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
pp. 864-883 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Demuth ◽  
'Malillo Machobane ◽  
Francina Moloi
Keyword(s):  
Noun Class ◽  
Null Noun

Some restrictions on Sesotho null noun class prefixes

2007 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 166-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malillo Machobane ◽  
Francina Moloi ◽  
Katherine Demuth
Keyword(s):  
Noun Class ◽  
Null Noun

Reduced forms in the nominal morphology of the Lindisfarne Gospel Gloss. A case of accusative/dative syncretism?

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (s41) ◽  
pp. 37-65
Author(s):  
Julia Fernández-Cuesta ◽  
Nieves Rodríguez-Ledesma
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Old English ◽  
Frequency Condition ◽  
Facsimile Edition ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
Nominal Morphology ◽  
Reduced Forms ◽  
Syntactic Context

Abstract One of the most characteristic features of the grammar of the Lindisfarne Gospel gloss is the absence of the etymological -e inflection in the dative singular in the paradigm of the strong masculine and neuter declension (a-stems). Ross (1960: 38) already noted that endingless forms of the nominative/accusative cases were quite frequent in contexts where a dative singular in -e would be expected, to the extent that he labeled the forms in -e ‘rudimentary dative.’ The aim of this article is to assess to what extent the dative singular is still found as a separate case in the paradigms of the masculine and neuter a-stems and root nouns. To this end a quantitative/statistical analysis of nouns belonging to these classes has been carried out in contexts where the Latin lemma is either accusative or dative. We have tried to determine whether variables such as syntactic context, noun class, and frequency condition the presence or absence of the -e inflection, and whether the distribution of the inflected and uninflected forms is different in the various demarcations that have been identified in the gloss. The data have been retrieved using the Dictionary of Old English Corpus. All tokens have been checked against the facsimile edition and the digitised manuscript in order to detect possible errors.

scholarly journals The gender system of Longuda

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (2) ◽  
pp. 327-346
Author(s):  
Julius-Maximilian Elstermann ◽  
Ines Fiedler ◽  
Tom Güldemann
Keyword(s):  
Historical Reconstruction ◽  
Classifier System ◽  
Class System ◽  
Nominal Form ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Nominal Classification ◽  
Gender System

Abstract This article describes the gender system of Longuda. Longuda class marking is alliterative and does not distinguish between nominal form and agreement marking. While it thus appears to be a prototypical example of a traditional Niger-Congo “noun-class” system, this identity of gender encoding makes it look morpho-syntactic rather than lexical. This points to a formerly independent status of the exponents of nominal classification, which is similar to a classifier system and thus less canonical. Both types of class marking hosts involve two formally and functionally differing allomorphs, which inform the historical reconstruction of Longuda noun classification in various ways.

scholarly journals Numerals in Akebu

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 344-356
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Makeeva ◽  
Andrey Shluinsky
Keyword(s):  
Noun Classes ◽  
Noun Class

AbstractThis article presents an overview of the numeral system in Akebu, a Kwa language of Togo. The Akebu numeral system is a decimal one and contains simple numerals from ‘1’ to ‘9’ and decimal bases for ‘10’, ‘100’, and ‘1,000’. The former have noun class agreement markers, while the latter do not. Only some noun classes are compatible with numerals, but among them there are both plural and singular classes.

The Bantu Preprefix, Morphology, Phonology or Syntax?

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Devet Goodness
Keyword(s):  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Initial Element ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
To Come

Bantu languages are characterized with the presence of an initial element that appears after a noun class prefix. This initial element (also known as initial vowel, pre-prefix or augment) has attracted the attention of most Bantuists. One issue of concern with regard to this initial element (hereafter called the preprefix) is related to its form, its distribution and its function. A question often asked is concerned with what triggers its occurrence in Bantu languages. This paper seeks to examine the preprefix in Bantu so as to come to grips with what triggers its occurrence in different Bantu languages. The findings indicate that the preprefix in Bantu may be associated with phonology, morphology and syntactic contexts. It has been revealed that in some cases, the preprefix in Bantu is triggered by its phonological context, morphology in some contexts and syntax in other contexts. It has been revealed that of all these three criteria (i.e morphology, phonology and syntax) syntax plays a greater role in the manifestation of the preprefix. However, in this paper it is concluded that the occurrence of the preprefix cannot be associated with a single aspect. 

scholarly journals Children’s sensitivity to phonological and semantic cues during noun class learning: evidence for a phonological bias

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Culbertson ◽  
Hanna Jarvinen ◽  
Frances Haggarty ◽  
Kenny Smith
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Developmental Changes ◽  
Artificial Language ◽  
Phonological Information ◽  
Semantic Cues ◽  
Artificial Language Learning ◽  
Cue Use ◽  
Noun Class

Previous research on the acquisition of noun classification systems (e.g., grammatical gender) has found that child learners rely disproportionately on phonological cues to determine the class of a new noun, even when competing semantic cues are more reliable in their language. Culbertson, Gagliardi, and Smith (2017) argue that this likely results from the early availability of phonological information during acquisition; learners base their initial representations on formal features of nouns, only later integrating semantic cues from noun meanings . Here, we use artificial language learning experiments to show that early availability drives cue use in children (67 year-olds). However, we also find evidence of developmental changes in sensitivity to semantics; when both cues types are simultaneously available, children are more likely to rely on phonology than adults. Our results suggest that early availability and a bias favoring phonological cues both contribute to children’s over-reliance on phonology in natural language acquisition.

Syllables and redundancy rules in generative phonology

1970 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gillian Brown
Keyword(s):  
Bantu Language ◽  
The Status ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Eastern Uganda ◽  
Main Language

This paper is concerned with two topics, the status of the syllable and the scope of redundancy rules, in generative phonology. We begin the discussion by examining material from Lugisu, a Bantu language of eastern Uganda, which will be used as the main language of exemplification. The simple noun in Lugisu is formed by the sequence: determiner, classifier, stem. The determiner is deleted before consonant-initial stems in some syntactic environments (and in isolation; examples 1 and 3, for example, show the sequence: classifier, stem). The first examples are from Meinhof's noun class 3 (Meinhof, 1932) where the determiner is /gu/ 3 and the classifier /mu/.

Orphan Classes, Chameleon Stems, Ghost Controllers, Adverbial Classes, and Versatile Relativizers in Jóola Fóoñi (Atlantic)

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Denis Creissels ◽  
Alain Christian Bassène ◽  
Boubacar Sambou
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Approach ◽  
Traditional Notion ◽  
Single Category ◽  
Noun Class

Abstract The traditional approach to Niger-Congo gender systems conflates the number markers of nouns and the gender-number markers of adnominals and pronouns into a single category of ‘class markers’. Using Jóola Fóoñi as an illustration, this paper discusses several types of phenomena commonly found in these systems that are problematic for the traditional notion of noun class and support the necessity of a revision of the conceptual and terminological framework commonly used in the description of Niger-Congo gender systems.

Word Order and Agreement in Tagoi

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 161-174
Author(s):  
Suzan Alamin
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Class System ◽  
Order Types ◽  
Sentence Level ◽  
Constituent Order ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
South Kordofan

Abstract This study provides a detailed description of word order types, agreement patterns and alternations found in Tagoi, a Kordofanian language traditionally spoken in South Kordofan. After a brief presentation of the language (section 1), the noun class system is introduced (section 2) and the word order and agreement patterns are examined at the noun phrase level (section 3). Section 4 gives information about the constituent order at clause and sentence level, while Section 5 summarizes the findings and conclusion of the paper. All in all, the paper aims at contributing to a better understanding of the grammar, structure and typological features of Tagoi.

Number, names, and animacy

2018 ◽  
pp. 203-233
Author(s):  
Clarissa Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Functional Projection ◽  
Noun Classes ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Insight Into

Chapter 10 identifies three distinct types of noun classification active in Gitksan: mass/count, animate/inanimate, and common/determinate. It further identifies three types of number contrast each conditioned by a specific noun class; these are additive, pronominal, and associative plurals, respectively. These plurals, particularly the additive and associative plural, are shown to differ from each other in both their syntax and semantics. The author locates each of the three pairs of noun class and number contrasts in a distinct functional projection, from a nominal AspP, to φ‎P, to DP. By doing so, the chapter provides insight into the articulated projections that make up the Gitksan nominal spine, and exemplifies the variability that noun classes and number contrasts may have even within the grammar of a single language.

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