Morphosyntax of causativised passives in Xitsonga

Abstract

This article explores the structure of the transitive verb that concurrently appears with both the causative morpheme -is- and the passive morpheme -iw- in Xitsonga. Generally, these two morphemes are treated independently of each other in the literature. Xitsonga is no exception to this phenomenon. No report is available which highlights the effect of the co-occurrence of the causative morpheme -is- and the passive morpheme -iw- on transitive verbs in Xitsonga. This, despite the fact that it is common to find the two morphemes occurring simultaneously on a single transitive verb in the everyday language of Xitsonga speakers. Five issues will be addressed in this article: first, the effect of each of these two morphemes on the argument structure; second, the linearity order of the two morphemes. That is, finding which of the two morphemes precedes or follows the other, as well as finding the order that yields grammaticality and that which yields ungrammaticality. Third, the effect of the features of ambiguity and a focus on the construction in which the transitive verb occurs simultaneously with the two morphemes will be examined. Fourth, the syntactic status, that is, the complement and the adjunct status of the agent PPs which modify the passive together with the determining factors thereof will be investigated. Fifth, the structures and the factors which allow or disallow the omission of agent PPs, instrument PPs and causer PPs, which are also known as unspecified agents/instruments/causers on constructions whose verbs occur with the causative morpheme -is- and the passive morpheme -iw-, including those that occur with the perfect morpheme -ile, in addition to the two morphemes, will be examined.