complementation strategies in ruuli (bantu) · complementation strategies in ruuli (bantu)...

Complementation strategies in Ruuli (Bantu)

Marie-Louise Lind Sørensen (University of Copenhagen)Alena Witzlack-Makarevich (Hebrew University of Jerusalem)

September 4, 2018

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• TheRuulilanguageanditsspeakers

• Complementa6on:someterminology

• Goalsandresearchques6ons

• Thecorpusandannota6on

• Complementa6onstrategiesinRuuliandcausesofvaria6on

• Thear6cledra>isavailableonrequest

Talk outline

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•Ruuli(ISO639-3:ruc)•Twocloselyrelatedvarie6es•Othernames:Luruuli/Lunyara,Luduuli,…•GreatLakesBantu(NarrowBantu,Niger-Congo)groupoflanguages

•Previouslyunderscribed•MainlyinNakasongolaandKayungadistrictsofcentralUganda•Upto190,000speakers

The language and its speakers

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• SinceJanuary2017: AcomprehensivebilingualtalkingLuruuli/Lunyara-Englishdic=onarywithdescrip=vebasicgrammarforlanguagerevitalisa=onandenhancementofmother-tonguebasededuca=on

• funding:KnowledgeforTomorrow–PostdoctoralFellowshipsintheHumani6esinSubSaharanAfricaandNorthAfrica(VolkswagenFounda6on,2017–2020,PISaudahNamyalo)

• acorpusofover200,000words,primarilynaturalis6cdialogues

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The language and its speakers

•PrimarilySVOwithalotofvaria6on• Synthe6cverbalinflec6onalmorphology:Sevenprefixslots,fivesuffixslots

•Obligatorysubjectindexing(person,number,nominalclass)•Differen6alobjectindexing• Forphonotac6creasonsverbstemsareo>enfollowedbythesocalledfinalvowel(FV)-a,unlessthereisavowel-finalsuffix(notglossedlater)a) nje n-li-a nkodole.

1sg 1sgS-eat-FV francolin(9)‘Ieatafrancolin.’

b) Naye nje eisumu n-a-li-zw-ire=ku but 1sg spear(5) 1sgS-PST-5O-abandon-PFV=17.LOC ‘ButIabandonedthespear.’

Morphosyntactic profile

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• Syntac/cdefini6on:“certainverbscantakeaclause,insteadofanNP,asacoreargument.Thisiscalledacomplementclause.”(Dixon2006)

• Seman/cdefini6ons: Abiclausalsyntac6cconstruc6onsinwhich“ano'onalsentenceorpredica6onisanargumentofapredicate”(Noonan1985:52) “Complementrela6onslinktwoSoAssuchthatoneofthem(themainone)entailsthatanotherone(thedependentone)isreferredto”(Cristofaro2003:95) →complementclausespropervs.complementa'onstrategies (i.e.notcomplementclauses,Dixon1995,2006)

Complementation: some terminology

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• Inthisstudycomplementa=onstrategiesisusedintheseman6csenseandincludesbothcomplementclausesproperandotherconstruc6ons

• similartofunc'onaldomainofcomplementa'oninDeutscher(2000)

• similartocomplementa'onpa7erninSchmidtke-Bode(2014)

Complementation: some terminology

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•Whatcomplementa6onstrategiesareavailableinRuuli?•Doindividualcomplementtakingpredicates(CTPs)/groupsofCTPshaveapreferenceforaspecificstrategy?

•Whichseman6candstructuralcondi6onsdeterminethispreference?

• Ifacomplementtakingpredicatecanbeusedwithseveralstrategies,whatdeterminestheirdistribu6on?

Research questions

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•Asampleofover1500complementclausesannotatedfor- complement-takingpredicateanditstype- theformoftheverbinthecomplementclause:finiteindica6veorsubjunc6vevs.infini6ve

- thepresenceofthecomplemen6zer:n=,nga,others- directorindirectspeech- coreferenceofargumentsinthetwoclauses:samesubjectvs.differentsubject

- illocu6onaryforce(withurerancepredicates)- proposi6onvs.state-of-affairsdis6nc6on- polarityofthetwoclauses

The corpus and annotation

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•Whatcomplementa6onstrategiesareavailableinRuuli? (focusonobjectcomplementa6ononly)

Research questions

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•Maincomplementtypes(basedontheverbform):- infini6vecomplements (o)ku-‘INF’- indica6vecomplements -a‘FV’(notinthegloss)or-ire‘PFV’- subjunc6vecomplements -e‘SUBJ’

•Complemen/zers- n=- nga- oba

•Posi/on:Objectcomplementsalmostalwaysfollowthecomplement-takingpredicate,butitispossibletoletcomplementclausesprecedeorsurroundtheverb.

Complement strategies in Ruuli: An overview

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•Markedbytheclass15prefixku-ando>entherespec6veaugmentprefixo-.

• INFdonotshowsubjectindexinganddonottakeTAMmarking

•S/Aargumentcannotbeexpressedovertly,Pargumentisok:

a) Tu-tandik-ire [ku-lia bisolo bya bajungu]. 1plS-start-PFVINF-eat animal(8)8.GENEuropean(2) “WehavestartedtoeatanimalsofEuropeans(i.e.pigs).”

Infinitive complements

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•Theindica/veobligatorilyindexesS/Aandop6onallyParguments

SameTAM-markingasintheindependentclauseb) N-lowooza [ba-ku-funa=mu kidooli]. 1sgS-think 3plS-PROG-get=LOC lirle ‘Ithinktheybenefitlirle.’

Indicative and subjunctive complement clauses

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•Thesubjunc/veismarkedbythesuffix-e,whichreplacesthefinalvowel-aofIND NootherTAM-markingc) Omwana tu-ku-taka [a-kul-e]. child(1) 1plS-PROG-want 3sgS-grow.up-SUBJ ‘Wewantthechildtogrowup(whileitiscalm).’

•Theformandthefunc6on(horta6ve,opta6ve,modalmeaning)ofthissuffixaresimilartothecognateonesincloselyrelatedGreatLakesBantulanguages(Nurse&Muzale1999)

Indicative and subjunctive complement clauses

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•Themostcommoncomplemen6zern=op6onallyintroducesindica6vecomplements,butneversubjunc6vesorinfini6vesd) Ti-n-ku-loleera [n' a-li=wo NEG-1sgS-PROG-see COMP 3sgS-be=16.LOC ekintu e-ki-yinza [oku-bbaa ki-zibu]]. thing(7) REL-7S-may INF-be 7-difficult ‘Idon’tseethatthereissomethingwhichmaybedifficult.’

Indicative complement, complementizer nti

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•Theformn=isalsousedasaquota6vemarkertointroducedirectreportwithoutanycomplementtakingpredicates:a)N' “Bugerere”. b)N' “Mu Banyala?" QUOT Bugerere QUOT18.LOC Banyala ‘(Isay)“Bugere.”’ ‘(Theyask)“FromBanyala?”’c)N' “Yee!” QUOT yes ‘(Isay)“Yes!”’

•N=isusedbothwithindirectreportedspeechandwithvariousCTPsthatdonotnecessarilyreportspeech→anotherexampleofanitemwherethedis6nc6onbetweenaquota6veandacomplemen6zerisblurred(seeGüldemann2008)

Indicative complement, complementizer nti

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•Lessfrequentcomplemen6zersoba‘whether’andnga‘when,while’,othermarginalcomplemen6zers,e.g.a=

•oba‘whether’withINDcomplementsexpressesdoubt/uncertaintytowardstheproposi6on e) Ti-maite [oba ki-kola]. NEG.1SSG-know COMP7S-work ‘Idon’tknowwhetheritworks.’

•obaisotherwiseusedwiththemeaning‘or’tocoordinatetwonounphrases,verbs,andotherunitsofthesametype

Complementizers oba

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•Lessfrequentcomplemen6zersoba‘whether’andnga‘when,while’,othermarginalcomplemen6zers,e.g.a=

•ngamarkscomplementsexpressingdirectpercep6on(possiblyotherfunc6ons),alsousedasaconjunc6on‘when,while’f) M-puura [empewonga e-ku-nya-kala-ku]. 1sgS-hear 9.wind COMP 9S-PROG-1sgO-pass-LOC ‘Ihearthewindpassingoverme.’

Complementizers nga

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✓Whatcomplementa6onstrategiesareavailableinRuuli?

•Docertaincomplementtakingpredicateshaveapreferenceforaspecificstrategy?

Goals and research questions

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•over60complement-takingpredicatesrecurinthesampleof1500complementconstruc6onsweannotated

•furthercomplement-takingpredicateswereiden6fiedinthelexiconofRuuli(10,000items,Namyaloetal.inprogress)andinelicita6ons,theyarenotincludedintothisstudy

•CPTswerefirstgroupedinto7classesforconvenience:modals,phasals,desidera6ves,knowledge,prop.aytude,ureranceandpercep6onpredicates

•themostfrequentCTPs:okukoba‘say,tell’(urerance),okutandika‘start’(phasal),okubona‘see’(percep6on),okwendya‘like,need,want’(desidera6ve,modal),…

Complement taking predicates

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Complementation strategies: frequent classes

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StrategySUBJINDIND+ntiIND+ngaIND+obadirect reportdirect report+ntiINF(NP+)REL

Totalof1123tokensofcomplementa6onstrategies

•Docertaincomplementtakingpredicateshaveapreferenceforaspecificstrategy?

- Somepredicateclasses(modalsandphasals)areratherhomogenous,whereasothershowalotofvaria6on

- Theinfini6veisthemostwidelyusedconstruc6on,butitsfrequencyvariesbetweenpredicateclasses


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✓Whatcomplementa6onstrategiesareavailableinRuuli?✓Docertaincomplementtakingpredicateshaveapreferenceforaspecificstrategy?

• Whichseman6candstructuralcondi6onsdeterminethispreference?

• Ifacomplementtakingpredicatecanbeusedwithseveralstrategies,whatdeterminestheirdistribu6on?


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•Desidera6vesaremosto>enusedwithINFandSUBJ•The(not)sharingofpar6cipantsbetweenmatrixandcomplementclausesmarers

•Samesubject a) Tu-ku-taka [ku-ki-yindula]. 1plS-PROG-want INF-7O-change ‘Wewanttochangeit.’

•Differentsubject b) Tu-ku-taka[mu-ta-e=wo elesoni…]. 1plS-PROG-want 2plS-introduce-SUBJ-LOClesson(9) ‘Wewantyoutointroducealesson.’

The subjunctive

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The subjunctive

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•Whichseman6candstructuralcondi6onsdeterminethispreference?

•Ahypothesis:thecontrastbetweenstates-of-affairsandproposi6onmightplayaroleinthechoiceofcomplementa6onstrategies(cf.Lyons1977;Hengeveld1990;DikandHengeveld1991;Cristofaro2003;Boye2012)

- states-of-affairs/ac6ons/events,i.e.non-truthvaluedmeaningunitsvs.

- proposi/ons,i.e.truthvaluedmeaningunits

Causes of variation: State-of-affairs and propositions

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•Complementcontrasts(Boye2012:188-194;Boye&Kehayov2016):

1. a.Iknow[(that)hewaswri=ngaleVer].➙proposi6on b.Iknow[howtowritealeVer].➙state-of-affairs

2. a.Itoldher[(that)hewaswri=ngaleVer].➙proposi6on b.Itoldher[towritealeVer].➙state-of-affairs

3. a.Isaw[(that)hewaswri=ngaleVer].➙proposi6onb.Isaw[himwritealeVer].➙state-of-affairs

Causes of variation: State-of-affairs and propositions

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•Reportedasser6on(proposi6on)withindica6vecomplementa)o-a-kobere [n' byonaoKanca niye a-li aiguru] 2sgS-PST-sayCOMP8.all 1.god COP.1 3sgS-beabove ‘YousaidthatitisGodthatisaboveeverything.‘

•Reporteddirec6ve(state-of-affairs)withsubjunc6veorinfini6vecomplement b)tu-a-a-mu-kob-ire [a-tu-weery-e=yo omusaayi] 1plS-PST-3sgO-say-PFV 3sgS-1plO-give-SUBJ-LOC 3.blood ‘Wetoldhimtogiveussomeblood.’

Utterance predicates

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•Indirectpercep6on/acquisi6onofknowledge(proposi6on)withIND a) m-puura [a-zwamu alubaawo] 1sgS-hear3sgS-produce 11.6mber ‘Ihearitproduces6mber.’

•Directpercep6on(state-of-affairs)withnga-complement b) m-puura [empewonga e-ku-n-yakala=ku] 1sgS-hear9.wind COMP 9S-PROG-1sgO-pass=LOC ‘Ihearthewindpassingoverme.’

Perception predicates

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•Theabsenceorpresenceofthecomplemen6zern=withindica6vecomplementsdoesnotappeartobecorrelatedwithanyseman6ccontrast,nordoesn=disambiguatedirectreportedspeechfromindirectreportedspeech

Further generalizations

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•Complementtakingpredicatesvaryastowhichcomplementa6onstrategiestheycanbecombinedwith

•Varia6onwithsomeclassescanbeexplainedbythedifferencebetweenstate-of-affairsvs.proposi6onsandbythecontrastbetweensame-subject/different-subjectconstruc6ons

Conclusions

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• INDcomplements(op6onallywithn=andoba)occurinconstruc6onswherethecomplementisarguablyproposi/onal.

• INFandSUBJgenerallyexpressstates-of-affairs: Non-epistemicmodalsaswellasphasals,desidera6vesanddirec6veurerance-predicates,whichhavebeenrelatedtostate-of-affairs,occurwithINFand/orSUBJanddonotoccurwithcomplemen6zers.

•Noonecomplementtypeappearstobecompletelypolyfunc6onalbetweenthetworeadingsasisthecaseinsomelanguages (Boye2010).

•Ontheotherhand,thereistendencyforcomplement-takingpredicatestobepolyfunc6onalandtakemorethanonetypeofcomplement.

Conclusions

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Thank you!

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complementation strategies in ruuli (bantu) · complementation strategies in ruuli (bantu)...

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