International Journal of Linguistics & Communication

Adverbs in Kenyang
Tabe Florence A. E

Abstract
Kenyang (a Niger-Congo language spoken in Cameroon) has both pure and derived adverbs. Characteristic features of Kenyang adverbs can be captured from event structure constituting different functional projections in the syntax. Thus the behaviour of adverbs in this language is inextricably bound to both syntactic and semantic phenomena. The nature of the interface between them is explained based on their distribution and properties in the language. The adverbs can appear left-adjoined or right-adjoined to the verb. From a cartographic perspective, Kenyang adverbs can occupy different functional heads comprising the CP, IP and VP respectively. Each syntactic position affects the semantics of the proposition. The possibility of adverb stacking is constrained by the pragmatics of the semantic zones and the co-occurrence and ordering restrictions in the syntax. The ordering is a relative linear proximity rather than a fixed order. The theoretical relevance of the analysis is obtained from the assumption that there is a feasible correlation between the classes of adverbs and independently motivated functional projections, on the one hand, and on the existence of a one-to-one correlation between syntactic positions and semantic structures, on the other hand.

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/ijlc.v3n1a13