Research

Bantu languages

Tunen syntax and information structure (A44, Cameroon)

My PhD position was part of the Bantu Syntax and Information Structure (BaSIS) project, which investigates information structure across a sample of 10 Bantu languages. The project asks what role information structure plays in determining the syntax of Bantu languages and how we can model this theoretically. We have collected new field data on Bantu languages using our specially-developed methodology; the data will be available in an Open Access archive (expected 2024).

I worked on the Tunen subproject. Tunen (also known as Nen, ISO-639-3 [tvu]) is a Guthrie zone A Narrow Bantu language spoken in Cameroon, bordering Grassfields Bantu varieties. Tunen has a number of distinctive properties from the Eastern and Southern Bantu languages investigated by my colleagues, such as OV rather than VO base word order. My PhD thesis covers:

• The influence of information structure on Tunen syntax
• OV vs VO word order patterns (with comparison to broader Niger-Congo)
• Discontinuity in the nominal domain
• A descriptive overview of Tunen grammar
• A theoretical analysis of Tunen syntax

You can read more about the (sub)project in the full project description, available from the BaSIS website, and find related publications on the Output page.

Comparative Bantu linguistics

Together with BaSIS colleagues I work on comparative Bantu linguistics. In 2021 the BaSIS team organised a workshop Bantu Universals and Variation (BantUniVar) at the 10th World Congress of African Linguistics (WOCAL10), resulting in a special issue of Linguistique et Langues Africaines (9(1)). We co-wrote an article on how word order across Bantu varies between being determined by grammatical role (“subject”, “object”) and discourse role (“topic”, “focus”), based on work presented at WOCAL10 and ACAL51-52 (see Output page). I also co-presented a paper with Jenneke van der Wal on Indirect truth marking in 10 Bantu languages at Bantu9, SLE2022, and CALL52, published with Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft. I also contributed a chapter on the expression of information structure in Tunen to the BaSIS project book on information structure in Bantu and co-wrote the introduction chapter with the other project members, to appear with Language Science Press.

 

The Zulu (S42, South Africa) conjoint/disjoint alternation in Dynamic Syntax

My MA dissertation at SOAS gave an empirical overview and analysis of the conjoint/disjoint alternation, a verbal phenomenon found in Eastern Bantu languages whereby a conjoint (also termed short/non-final) verb form alternates with a disjoint (long/final) form, e.g. in Zulu present tense affirmatives Ngicula ignoma `I sing a song’ vs Ngiyacula `I sing‘.  Given that alternation is sensitive to whether the verb is in final position of the verb phrase as evaluated after any topicalisation/dislocation (A’-movement), I used Dynamic Syntax (Cann et al., 2005; Kempson et al., 2001) to model the phenomenon from an incremental, surface-oriented perspective. You can read my MA dissertation on the Output page.

Information structure in Ékègùsìí (JE42, Kenya)

During my BA in Linguistics, I conducted fieldwork in South-Western Kenya with speakers of Ékègùsìí. I studied the distribution of the focus marker /ne-/, arguing that it is realised in a left-peripheral focus position within a Cartographic clause structure. Interestingly, Ékègùsìí has V-Aux order, while other SVO Bantu languages have Aux-V. I proposed that this alternation is derived from underlying Aux-V order via focus-triggered movement, given that all such verbs are prefixed by the focus marker.

Other research

The -oo/-(h)ee suffix in Gorwaa (South Cushitic, Tanzania)

As part of my MA in Linguistics at SOAS, I conducted a corpus study to investigate the distribution of a nominal suffix in Gorwaa, an endangered South Cushitic language of Tanzania, based on a recent ELDP corpus (Harvey 2017). I presented my findings at the ConSOLE28 conference in Barcelona, January 2020 and published a proceedings paper in Dec 2020 (see Output page).

Computational approaches to low-resource languages

After my BA I spent a summer as an intern in computational linguistics with Africa’s Voices (AVF) and the Cambridge University Computer Laboratory, where I studied NLTK/Python and machine learning and worked on computational analysis of messages written in Sheng, an East African mixed language drawing largely on Swahili and English. This work was a collaboration between AVF, Cambridge University, and the Kenyan media organisation Well Told Story (now rebranded Shujaaz Inc), and findings were presented at the 2018 British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) Language in Africa Special Research Group. You can find a blog post about my work on the AVF website.

Finally, I have developed a tutorial and teaching materials for the Dative web application for management of linguistic field data, which you can find on the Dative page.