Determiner phrase structure and concord in Mə̀dʉ́mbὰ

Abstract

This article investigates the Mə̀dʉ́mbὰ determiner phrase (DP) and proposes an account of the DP-internal agreement phenomenon. In Mə̀dʉ́mbὰ , multiple modifiers agree with the head noun in the same DP. Following the logic of Pollock’s (1989) Split Inflexional Phrase (IP) hypothesis, many instances of agreement logically call for the projection of numerous agreement phrases (AgrPs). The article argues however, that despite the presence of so many instances of agreement in the Mə̀dʉ́mbὰ DP, we do not need to project an AgrP in the Determiner Phrase. Independently motivated projections provide the checking configurations for handling agreement in the Mə̀dʉ́mbὰ DP.

South African Journal of African Languages 2013, 33(1): 59–64