Co-occurrence of Verb Extensions in Activity Verbs in Kisukuma

Abstract

This paper examines the co-occurence and the semantic affects of the causative-applicative-reciprocal-passive (henceforth CARP) extensions in activity verb roots in Kisukuma (F21), a Bantu language spoken in north-western Tanzania. The data for the study were collected through acceptability judgements and spoken texts. The Templatic Approch (the CARP principle) by Hyman (2003) is used as a theoretical framework. The findings reveal that, the CARP extensions can be analysed in two ways. Firstly, some combinations adhere to the CARP template (i.e. they are fixed). Secondly, other combinations violate the CARP template (i.e. they are non-fixed). The latter exchange positions without affecting the grammaticality of sentences. This indicates that there are some semantic effects that are triggered by the change of the extension orders. Since Hyman’s (2003) templatic approach can not sufficiently account for all the orders attested in Kisukuma, then, the conclusion made is that the approach is language specific rather than universal to all Bantu languages. It is therefore, recommended that the approach be modified so that it could as well account for the non-fixed orders like those found in Kisukuma.

Key words: CARP extensions, Kisukuma, morphology, semantics, templatic approach