nP Rising in Bantu Languages: Evidence from Augmented Nominals

Abstract

The paper maintains that Bantu languages with augmented nouns and non-augmented nouns manifest nP rising. Asymmetry in the distribution of augmented and non-augmented nouns in these languages provides strong support for rising where non-augmented nouns (nPs) rise to the Specifier (Spec) position of the Determiner Phrase (DP) when the determiner position is null. On the contrary, the non-augmented nouns do not rise when the augment occupies the determiner position. Another asymmetry involves the distribution of the augments and demonstratives whereby the two are in either complementary distribution or the demonstrative cliticises on the augment pre-nominally via rising. The findings depart from assumptions that the nPs in many Bantu languages rise to head D position and that the augments are not differentiated in the structural configuration in DP structure (Carstens, 1991, 1993). This study was purely qualitative in the sense that data were collected from native speakers based on their intuitions and grammaticality judgment. The study was led by the DP hypothesis (Abney, 1987) which assumes that DP is the projection of NP headed by D^o. In turn the D^o takes the NP as its complement. The derivations of nP category assumes with Marantz’s (1997) Distributive Morphology regarding the noun classes (N-classes) and respective Roots in which the Roots are assigned meaning when attached to N-classes. This paper aimed to establish the phenomenal rising of nP in DP structure. The study examined Gogo, Giha and Shinyiha – Bantu languages spoken in Tanzania, to determine the rising phenomenon of the nP in syntactic configuration.