Multiple exponence in the Lusoga verb stem

Abstract: 

Most overviews of the Bantu verb stem assume a structure with an obligatory verb root followed by possible derivational suffixes (“extensions”), and ending with an inflectional final vowel (FV) morpheme, e.g. Chichewa mang-an-a ‘tie each other’ (mang- ‘tie’, -an- ‘reciprocal’, -a ‘FV’). Based on Lusoga, a Bantu language spoken in Uganda, we describe and provide an account of several systematic exceptions to this pan-Bantu structure, particularly as concerns multiple spell-outs of the same derivational and inflectional morphemes. The multiple exponence observed in Lusoga poses interesting challenges both for the ‘split morphology’ hypothesis, according to which derivation occurs in a separate module ordered before inflection, and for hypotheses that morphological systems are inherently designed to avoid redundancy (Anderson 1992).

Publication date: 
January 1, 2017
Publication type: 
Recent Publication
Citation: 
Hyman, L. M. & Inkelas, S. (2017). Multiple exponence in the Lusoga verb stem. In C. Bowern, L. Horn & R. Zanuttini (eds), On looking into Words (and beyond), pp.171-188. Berlin: Language Science Press.