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Applied Objects and the Syntax–Semantics Interface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 June 2020
Abstract
This paper investigates the syntax–semantics interface within the domain of the realization of applied objects in Bantu languages, and I argue that the syntactic structure and semantic contribution of a given argument-licensing functional head (here, the applicative) do not covary. Specifically, I show that in principle, both high and low applicatives can (and should) be available with any type of applicative and not tied to a specific semantics (such as transfer of possession) or thematic role, as proposed in earlier work. Furthermore, I reject the centrality of thematic roles as a component of grammar that determines the grammatical function of applied objects, and I propose instead a typology of Bantu applied objects based on their semantic and morphological properties. This approach makes several predictions about applied objects: (i) syntactic and semantic diagnostics for high and low applicatives need not pattern together, (ii) syntactic asymmetry (such as c-command) can arise for applied objects which pattern symmetrically with other diagnostics (such as passivization), and (iii) the type of an applied object does not universally capture symmetry properties cross-linguistically. The view put forward in this paper provides a framework that can better capture this type of variation with object symmetry in Bantu languages as well as language-internal facts about applied objects; more generally, this paper sheds light on the nature of the syntax–semantic interface by showing that the meaning of a functional head is not necessarily determined by its syntactic position.
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- © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press
Footnotes
I would like to thank John Beavers, Michael Everdell, Hannah Gibson, Lutz Marten, Stephen Wechsler, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments and discussion around the ideas presented here. Some of the ideas here had their origins in my Ph.D. thesis (Jerro 2016b), though these have been extensively refined and expanded. This research was funded in part by NSF Grant #1451566. I am indebted to countless people’s generosity, patience, and hospitality, especially: the Zinkanda family in Gowa, Malawi; Justine and Hellen Sikuku in Eldoret, Kenya and the Sifuna family in Bungoma, Kenya; and my second home at the Urukundo Children’s Home in Muhanga, Rwanda. For their Kinyarwanda judgments, thank you to: Habarurema Gilbert, Ingabire Félicité, Munyaneza Olivier, Kansiime Oliver, Nyiracumi Olive, Cyubahiro Tresor, and Uwonkunda Devine. For their Lubukusu judgments, thank you to: Benson Sindani, Krispinas Wafula, Tetas Wekesa, Rogers Wanjala, Benson Masai, Matthews Wekesa, Wekesa Wafula, Joseph Barasa, Sikuku Barasa, Obadiah Wafula, Antony Makokha, Christine Watoka, and especially Hesborn Sumba Wandabwa. For judgments on Chicheŵa, thank you to: Geoff Mlongoti, Nafe Mlongoti, Theo Dolozi, and Mwalimu Mackwell as well as Besta, Reyfus Hampton, Namayenda, Mike, Innocent, and Happy George. All errors are entirely my own. The interlinear glosses for the data use the Leipzig Glossing Conventions, with the exception that numbers are used to indicate noun class and fv indicates ‘final vowel’.
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