The Syntax of Simple Verbal and Nominal Clauses of Yem
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Date
2007-08
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This study is about the syntax of simple verbal and nominal clauses of Yem in
light or the Minimalist Approach of Chomsky ( 1995a and 1995b), The focus is on
the derivation or simple verbal and nominal affirmative clause structures, The flrst
chapter has dealt with the background, research question. objectives, methodology
and the theoretical framework of the study
Previous studies are available on the phonology, morphology and to some extent
on the syntax and sociolinguistics of the language. This study intended to fill some
gaps in the ,description of the syntax of the language. So the basic questions that
are answered in this stencil include how are simple affirmative verbal and nominal
clause structures of Yem derived? What are the possible derivational operations as
well as the feature checking principles of verbal and nominal clause structures?
What are the projectiles and hierarchical orders of functional and lexical
categories in IP and VP in the language? What are the similarities and differences
between the structure of verbal and nominal clauses in the language
The objective of this study is to describe the derivation of simple verbal and
nominal clauses in the language. The study identify derivation al operations,
the projections of functional and lexical categories and the conditions of theta- role
assignment, feature checking condition, the hierarchical order of functional and
lexical categories in the VF and IP layers as well as the similarities and differences
between verbal and nominal clause structures the language
The research method includes reading relevant research materials and creating a
point of departure for the present study and developing clear concepts about the
Minimalist approach as .1 theoretical framework. Data is collected from native
speakers of Yem. Sample verbal and nominal structures are prepared in Amharic
for soliciting equivalents in the target language. The data IS phonemically
transcribed and checked again stapes recordings. Finally, data is described and
analyzed on the bases of the Minimalist approach and conclusions are drawn about
the syntax of simple verbal and nominal clauses. Under the theoretical framework.
basic assumptions of the Minimalist approach about syntactic representations In
general and clause derivations in particular are considered in this chapter.
In the second chapter, some functional and derivational inflections on verbs and
infinitives are described. These include agreement. tense, aspect and case in verbal
clauses as well as agreement and nulls in nominal clauses. Some derivation al
clements like nominalizers and causativizers are al so described.
The th ird chapter shows the derivat ions of simple verbal and nominal clauses
including their similarities and diffen:nces. The derivational operations are merge
and move. Features like agreement, tense and case trigger movement. The
functional categories projected in IP layer are TP, AgrsP, and AspP. Their
hierarchical order is [AgrsP[TP[AgrsP[ AspP[vP[ VP llllll for past perfect simple
affirmative clauses and this goes in line with Baker's (1985) Mirror Principle. The
basic word order is SOY derived from Kayne's (1994) SVO universal order. OSV is
also possible when object is focused. Nominative case is checked at the spec of AgrsP
whereas accusative case is checked at the spec of vP in verbal clauses.
The derivation of nominal clauses is similar to that of their verbal counterpart in Yem.
The assumption of this study is that the derivation of nominal clause takes place in the
lexicon following the lexicalist hypothesis. The word order in nominal clauses is similar
to the basic order. The difference is that there is no temporal element in nominal clauses
and it is interpreted as DP, not as IP. The hierarchical order that observed in nominal
clause is [DP[AgrsP[nP[NP llll. Accusative and nominative cases are checked at the spec
of nP and AgrsP respectively. The highlights and some facts abut the derivations of
verbal and nominal clauses are given in chapter four.
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Keywords
Simple Verbal Nominal