Issue

Vol. 5 No. 1 (2016)

Constituent Order and Focus in Naro Language

https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.147
Rose Letsholo, PhD
Mogara

Corresponding Author(s) : Rose Letsholo, PhD

rose.letsholo@udsm.ac.tz

Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), Vol. 5 No. 1 (2016)

Abstract

In Naro, the base word order is SOV (Visser, 2010). However, this language displays
interesting variations in word order due to the fact that different constituents can occur
in non-canonical positions, particularly the sentence initial position. It is in lieu of this
that this paper investigates the following questions: (1) In Naro, what constituents can
be fronted and which cannot? (2) What is the significance of the PGN marker in the order
of the constituents in Naro sentences? (3) What is special about the sentence initial
position given that different lexical constituents can occupy this position? Regarding
question (1), we show that different lexical constituents can be fronted in Naro, namely
lexical subject NPs as well as full pronouns; lexical object NPs, verbs, and adverbs while
grammatical elements such as tense morphemes and PGN markers cannot occur in
sentence initial position. We also show that the PGN marker has significant roles to play
in the syntax of Naro since truncated forms of the PGN can function as pronouns. In
addition, we argue that PGN markers have an important role to play in the flexibility of
word order in Naro since they act as resumptive pronouns that represent the right
dislocated NPs in structures in which a constituent other than the subject is preposed. In
addition, we also conclude that the sentence initial position in Naro is important
because it is a position that is occupied by focused constituents.
 

Keywords

word order, focus, Khoisan languages, Naro, Botswana
Constituent Order and Focus in Naro Language. (2022). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 5(1). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.147
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Constituent Order and Focus in Naro Language. (2022). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 5(1). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v5i1.147
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