Cover not available
Article published In:
Studies in Language
Vol. 41:3 (2017) ► pp.615–637

The origin and use of a relative clause construction that targets objects in Orungu (Bantu, Gabon)

| Llacan (UMR 8135 CNRS - USPC/Inalco)
| Llacan (UMR 8135 CNRS - USPC/Inalco)
This paper provides an analysis of two relative clause constructions in the Gabonese Bantu language Orungu that are in complementary distribution. The choice between them is determined by the target of relativisation in a typologically interesting way, in that it involves the combination of the criteria of the syntactic relation, thematic role and referential properties of the target. The construction that targets most types of objects is formally nearly identical to relative clauses that target the subject of a passive clause and we argue that it originates in the syntactic reanalysis of such subject relatives. That is, relative clauses that targeted the subject of a passive clause have been reanalysed as relative clauses that target the object of an active clause. This shows a rare type of change in relative clause constructions, which is unique in Bantu, but grounded in the universal tendencies captured by the accessibility hierarchy.
Keywords: relative clauses, syntactic reanalysis, Bantu, passive, accessibility hierarchy
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The Orungu language
    • 2.1Location, genealogical classification and previous work
    • 2.2Syntax: Constituent order and grammatical relations
    • 2.3Morphological characteristics: Noun classes, verb structure
  • 3.The structure of relative clauses
  • 4.The distribution of the F construction and the O construction
  • 5.Synchronically, the O-construction is not a relative clause construction derived from a passive construction
    • 5.1The passive construction
    • 5.2Evidence for the constructionalisation of O relatives
  • 6.Diachronic explanation: Reconstructing a discontinuity in the accessibility hierarchy
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 October 2017
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/sl.41.3.03van
References
Ambouroue, Odette
2006 De la tonalité des nominaux en orungu (B11b). Africana Linguistica 121. 1–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2007 Eléments de description de l’orungu, langue bantu du Gabon (B11b). Brussels: Université Libre de Bruxelles PhD thesis.Google Scholar
Bakker, Dik & Kees Hengeveld
1999 Relatieve zinnen in typologisch perspectief. Gramma/TTT 7–3. 191–214.Google Scholar
Dik, Simon
1997 The theory of functional grammar. Berlin: de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Harris, Alice C. & Lyle Campbell
1995 Historical syntax in cross-linguistic perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Haspelmath, Martin
2007 Ditransitive alignment splits and inverse alignment. Functions of Language 14–1. 79–102.Google Scholar
Hendery, Rachel
2012 Relative clauses in time and space. A case study in the methods of diachronic typology (Typological Studies in Language vol. 1011). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hyman, Larry
2004 How to become a Kwa verb. Journal of West African Languages 30(2). 69–88.Google Scholar
Keenan, Edward L. & Bernard Comrie
1977 [1972] Noun phrase accessibility and universal grammar. [Paper read at LSA Annual Meeting, Atlanta]. Linguistic Inquiry 81. 63–99.
Maho, Jouni
2003 A classification of the Bantu languages: An update of Guthrie’s referential system. In Derek Nurse & Gérard Philippson (eds.), The Bantu languages, 639–651. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Maniacky, Jacky & Odette Ambouroue
2014 Melodic tones in Orungu (Bantu B11b). Africana Linguistica XX1. 243–262. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meeussen, Achille Emiel
1967 Bantu Grammatical Reconstructions. Africana Linguistica III1. 81–121.Google Scholar
Nsuka Nkutsi, François
1982 Les Structures Fondamentales du Relatif dans les Langues Bantoues. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa.Google Scholar
Nurse, Derek
2008 Tense and aspect in Bantu. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Philippson, Gérard & Gilbert Puech
unpublished). Tonal domains in Galwa. Available at: [URL].
Schadeberg, Thilo
2003 Derivation. In Derek Nurse & Gérard Philippson (eds.), The Bantu languages (Routledge Language Family Series, v4), 71–89. London & New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Van de Velde, Mark
2010 The syntax of verb complements and the loss of the applicative in Eton (A71). In Karsten Légère & Christina Thornell (eds.), Bantu languages: Analyses, description and theory, 281–294. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
To appear. Nominal morphosyntax. In Mark Van de Velde & Koen Bostoen eds The Bantu languages 2nd edition London Routledge
Van de Velde, Mark and Odette Ambouroue
2011 The grammar of Orungu proper names. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 231. 113–141.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 2 other publications

Van de Velde, Mark L. O.
2021. The Bantu relative agreement cycle. Linguistics 59:4 ► pp. 981 ff. DOI logo
Velde, Mark L. O. Van de
2020. Concernee-Concern constructions. Studies in Language 44:1 ► pp. 70 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 11 november 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.