Probing the interaction of language contact and internal innovation: Four case studies of morphosyntacitc change in Rangi

Gibson, Hannah; Marten, Lutz

Abstract

The Bantu language Rangi is spoken at the northern borderlands of Tanzania, where Bantu, Cushitic and Nilotic languages meet. In many regards , Rangi exhibits the morphosyntax typically associated with East African Bantu: SVO word order, an extensive system of agreement and predominantly head - marking morphology. However, the language also exhibits a number of features which are unusual from a comparative and typological perspective, and which may have resulted from language contact. Four of these features are examined in detail in this paper: 1) Verb-auxiliary order found in the future tense, 2) clause-final negation, 3) a three-way distinction in verbal deictic markers, and 4) an inclusive/exclusive distinction in personal possessive pronouns. These features are assessed with reference to three criteria: syntactic structure, lexical/morphological form and geographic distribution. The examination shows that two of the unusual features result from a combination of internal and external factors, while the other two appear not to be related to external influence through contact. The results of the study show the complex interaction between internal and external factors in language change, and the importance of investigating potentially contact-induced change in detail to develop a more complex and fine-grained understanding of the morphosyntactic process of innovation involved.

Citation

Gibson, H., & Marten, L. (2019). Probing the interaction of language contact and internal innovation: Four case studies of morphosyntacitc change in Rangi. Studies in African Linguistics, 48(1), 64-86. https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v48i1.114932

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 17, 2018
• Publication Date: Jul 3, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: May 15, 2019
• Journal: Studies in African Linguistics
• Print ISSN: 2154-428X
• Electronic ISSN: 0039-3533
• Publisher: University of Florida Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 48
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 64-86
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.32473/sal.v48i1.114932
• Publisher URL: https://journals.flvc.org/sal/article/view/114932