The role of tone and morphology in the syntax of the Ikalanga DP

Abstract

This paper argues that Ikalanga DPs are not simple DPs but relative clauses, supporting Koopman's (2003) proposal that the structure of DP is really D CP rather than D NP. The agreement morphology on all three types of DPs discussed in this paper carry a low tone, a feature characteristic of relativisation. The low tone on the agreement morphology on these DPs suggests that all three are relative clauses. Thus, all three DP types can be contrasted with declarative sentences in the same way that relative clauses contrast with declaratives. In addition, the head noun in the given set of DPs occurs higher than the relative agreement marker, suggesting movement to the CP domain. Regarding the question of the distribution of the different agreement morphemes on the three DP types discussed, I argue that it is a result of the different domains within DP in which these modifiers occur: adjectival predicates, that is class I modifiers copy the noun class prefix of the noun they modify because they occur in the domain of NP, a domain which does not project VP. Class II and III modifiers have verbal type of agreement morphology because the domain of DP includes a VP projection.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2006, 24(3): 291–309