Variation in the coding of the noncausal/causal alternation: Causative *-i in East Bantu languages
In this paper, we discuss shifts in the formal relation, i.e. “correspondence” (Haspelmath 1993; Nichols et al. 2004), between members of noncausal/causal verb pairs in eight East Bantu languages. These shifts are the effect of diachronic changes to the morphophonological structure of the verbs invo...
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| Опубликовано в: : | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/lla, |
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| Главные авторы: | , , , |
| Формат: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Язык: | Anglais |
| Опубликовано: |
Linguistique et Langues Africaines
2023
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| Предметы: | |
| Online-ссылка: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Итог: | In this paper, we discuss shifts in the formal relation, i.e. “correspondence” (Haspelmath 1993; Nichols et al. 2004), between members of noncausal/causal verb pairs in eight East Bantu languages. These shifts are the effect of diachronic changes to the morphophonological structure of the verbs involved, conditioned by reflexes of a reconstructed Proto-Bantu causative suffix *-i. In the history of many Bantu languages, the high vowels i and u conditioned a series of sound changes on the preceding consonant. The suffixing of the causative suffix *-i to a verb root is one context in which these sound changes occurred. We investigate noncausal/causal pairs in eight East Bantu languages in which the causal verb is historically derived by a reflex of the suffix *-i. We argue that many of these noncausal/causal pairs changed from a causative to another correspondence. Our analysis has implications for the study of the formal alternations of noncausal/causal verb pairs across all Bantu languages and beyond. |
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