LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND
SYMBOLS
- A: Adjective
- AdvP : Adverbial Phrase
- AGR: Agreement
- AgrP: Agreement Phrase
- ALCAM: Atlas Linguistique du Cameroun
- Asp. Aspectual
- Aux: Auxiliary
- CERDOTOLA: Centre International de Recherche et de
Documentation en Tradition Orale et Langues Africaines
- Cert. Certitude
- Cond. Conditional
- CHL: Computation of Human Language
- Cl. Cleft
- Cond. Conditional
- CP: Complementizer Phrase
- Decl. Declarative
- Dem: Demonstrative
- DES: Post-graduate Degree Diploma
- DP: Determiner Phrase
- Dr. Doctor
- DS: Deep Structure
- Epist. Epistemic
- Evid. Evidential
- Excl. Exclusive
- F1: Immediate future
- F2: Near future
- F3: Remote future
- Fig: Figure
- Foc0: Head of the Focus Phrase
- Force0: Head of the Force Phrase
- Freq. Frequency
- GB: Government and Binding
- GBWG: Grassfield Bantu Working Group
- Hab. Habitual?
- Iff: if and only if
- IMPFVE Imperfective
- Incl. Inclusive
- Inf. Infinitive
- INFL: Inflection
- IntP. Interrogative Phrase
- LF: Logical Form
- Mann. Manner
- Mod- Modality
- MP: Minimalist Program
- N: Noun
- Neg. Negation
- Num: Numeral
- NYU: New York University
- Ø Null morpheme
- OM: Object Marker
- P1: Immediate past tense
- P2: Recent past tense
- P3: Nearpast tense
- P4: Remote past tense
- PF: Phonological Form
- PFI: Principle of Full Interpretation
- Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy
- Pl. Plural
- PPLE Participle
- Prog. Progressive
- Pst. Past tense
- QM: Question Morpheme
- Recip. Reciprocal
- Rep. Repetitive
- Sg: Singular
- SIL: Summer Institute of Linguistics
- Sp.act: Speech act
- SVO: Subject-Verb-Object
- SS: Surface Structure
- T- Tense
- T0: Head of the Tense Phrase
- TAM: Tense, Aspect, Mood
- Top0: Head of the Topic Phrase
- TP: Tense Phrase
- UG: Universal Grammar
- V0: Head of the Verb Phrase
- VP: Verb Phrase
- Vs. Versus
- VSO: Verb-Subject-Object
- ^ Falling tone
- ì High tone
- Ì Low tone
- - Mid tone
- ? Rising tone
- * Ungrammatical
- + Addition
- > Precedes
- Becomes
ABSTRACT
Thisdissertation, titled The morpho-syntax of adverbs in
Shupamem (991),seeks to provide the morphological and syntactic properties
of adverbs and adverbial expressions in Shupamem, a Grassfield Bantu language
spoken in the Noun Division of the Republic of Cameroon. The study is driven
within the framework of the Minimalist Program, a theory initiated and
developed by Noam Chomsky in the 1990s. On the one hand, the morphological
study of adverbs establishes a clear morphological difference between the
adverbs classes that exist in this language, while, on the other hand, the
syntactic study provides the unmarked positions and the hierarchy of adverbs
within a given structure. Based on empirical data, the results of the study
show that Shupamem has both pure and derived adverbs. The derivation processes
are affixation, adjunction, reduplication and substitution. The syntactic study
shows that in Shupamem, adverbs can be right-adjoined or left-adjoined to the
verb. It also shows that some adverbs allow movements through focalization and
topicalization, (higher class adverbs and post-verbal lower class adverbs),
while for others, movements are impossible or constrained (pre-verbal low class
adverbs). The results also show that the hierarchy between post-verbal adverbs
is highly flexible, given that a locative adverb can come before or after a
manner adverb, a temporal adverb, and a degree adverbetc., this order being
reversible. Furthermore, following the Ciquean (1999) Fixed Hierarchy
Hypothesis, this study provides the hierarchy of adverbs in Shupamem, a
hierarchy that remains flexible as far as post-verbal adverbs are concerned.
Itis presented as follows:
Speechact>epistemicI>proximative>progressive>anterior>habitual>epistemicII>continuative>repetitive>
locative>frequencyI>frequencyII>temporal>manner
Interchangeable
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