Inversion structures in Northern Sotho

Abstract

Inversion structures, in which the logical subject appears in postverbal position, are a wide-spread phenomenon among Bantu languages. The paper presents an overview of inversion structures in Bantu languages and describes in detail the inversion constructions in the Southern Bantu language Northern Sotho. It argues that Northern Sotho shows only one inversion structure, namely the impersonal construction. I propose that constructions which arguably constitute cases of locative inversion in neighboring languages can be analysed as impersonal constructions with preposed locative constituents. Evidence from morphosyntax, syntax, intonation and discoursepragmatics is investigated. The paper supports the claim made by Demuth (1990) and Baker (1992) for Southern Sotho.

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2006, 24(3): 361–376