The great siSwati locative shift

Marten, Lutz

Abstract

In siSwati the accumulation of a number of changes in the morphology and syntax of locative phrases has led to a more fundamental shift of restructuring of the underlying grammatical system 13 the great siSwati locative shift 13 so that locatives in siSwati are no longer, as in Proto-Bantu and most other present-day Bantu languages, part of the noun class system, but are prepositional. This shift explains aspects of changes in the siSwati locative system which are not otherwise independently motivated, including the degrammaticalization of a historic noun class marker into a preposition and distinct relative clause marking of locatives, and provides an example of a complex, systematic historical change of a sub-system of the grammar.

Citation

Marten, L. (2010). The great siSwati locative shift. In A. Breitbarth, C. Lucas, S. Watts, & D. Willis (Eds.), Continuity and Change in Grammar (249-267). John Benjamins

• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Mar 9, 2012
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 29, 2016
• Pages: 249-267
• Book Title: Continuity and Change in Grammar
• ISBN: 9789027288073