Thank you for your article about Bantu noun phrases especially as you specifically focus on RR NP.Its good you highlighted some dependant elements which modify RR nouns as seen from your example, http://typecraft.org/tc2wiki/Special:TypeCraft/Editor/1078/12865
As you continue to develop the article with a focus on finding out and comparing the elements which modify RR nouns,or even RR NPs themselves,I would like you to have and reflect on the following issues in details:
1.Structual Elements in NP Modification
The three components of Noun and NP modification as advocated by Greenbaum.S & Quick.R's [1] (2007), which i think apply to RR since it is also an SVO word order language.These include; The Head of the NP,Its Premodification, and Postmodification.
In line to the above, I think it is important to have examples of both Simple RR NPs like:
Enkyende emwe
“One monkey”
| Enkyende |
| e | n | kyende |
| IV | 9 | monkey |
| N |
and Complex RR NPS like;
Buri ibara kitabo kyona ekyangye ekihango munonga
“Every book of mine that is very big”
| ekyangye |
| e | ky | angye |
| DEF | 7 | mine |
| PNposs |
| ekihango |
| e | ki | hango |
| DEF | 7 | big |
| ADJ |
, And,
omukazi muraingwa ogwo oyemereire omushonda y'enju owaanyiiga ahabwokuba waasheka n'omwishiki muhango mugufu oshutami aha kitebe ekyo ekikuzire
“That tall woman standing in the corner of the house who has become angry because you have laughed with the short big girl seated on that old stool”
| omukazi |
| o | mu | kazi |
| IV | 1 | woman |
| N |
| muraingwa |
| mu | raingwa |
| 1 | tall |
| ADJ |
| ogwo |
| o | gw | o |
| IV | 1AGR | thatMEDIAL |
| DEM |
| oyemereire |
| o | yemere | ire |
| 2SG | stand | PROG |
| V |
| owaanyiiga |
| owa | a | nyiig | a |
| whoREL | PASTim | become-angry | IND |
| REL |
| ahabwokuba |
| ahabwokuba |
| because |
| CONJ |
| waasheka |
| wa | a | shek | a |
| 2SG | PASTim | laugh | IND |
| V |
| omwishiki |
| o | mu | ishiki |
| IV | 1 | girl |
| N |
| oshutami |
| o | shutam | i |
| 2SG | sit | |
| V |
| ekikuzire |
| e | ki | kuz | ire |
| 7 | 3SG | old | STAT |
| V |
The above can help us to compare elements which modify RR NP and we may even be able to gauge how far these elements may stretch in modifying the RR NP.
2.Semantic Implications on Element's Position Shift
As you go on to find the possible semantic implications of shifting positions of elements within RR NP, bear in mind that some NP may involve incompatible semantic features, therefore this is likely to limit the supposedly multiple meanings a NP may attract. Rugemalira J. M. (2007), has it that Semantic considerations indicate that two elements may or may not co-occur in a row depending on their semantic features.
According to Rugemalira J. M.[2](2007:325),the above semantic restrictions on the co-occurrence and re-occurence of some elements of the noun phrase, it is reasonable to argue that, it is not possible to expand the phrase indefinitely since the restrictions have a cumulative effect.
Otherwise your article is good and interesting as it opens our eyes and minds to think about the RR NP and the Bantu NP in general.
--natumanyam 14:07, 22 May 2011 (UTC)
References
- ↑ Greenbaum.S& Quick.R.(2007:363) A Student's Grammar of the English Language.Longman,England.
- ↑ Rugemalira J. M.(2007)The Structure of the Bantu Noun Phrase.
University of Dar es Salaam, http://www.soas.ac.uk/linguistics/research/workingpapers/volume-15/file37804.pdf /