Pronominal clitics in Tsonga and Mozambican Portuguese : a comparative study
This thesis contrasts the system of pronominal clitics (also known as subject and object markers) in Tsonga, a Bantu language spoken in Mozambique, with that of European Portuguese; and seeks to establish how the co-existence of the two languages in the bilingual section of the community is reflected in the variety of Portuguese spoken by Tsonga native speakers, referred to here as ~Popular Mozambican Portuguese (PMP)~. The theoretical framework within which the languages are analyzed is Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), which has been used extensively in the past for describing subject and object markers in Bantu languages. In addition, it has a mechanism for differentiating between grammatical and anaphoric agreement, which is a central issue in the syntax of Tsonga and European Portuguese pronominal clitics. Chapter 1 outlines the aims of the thesis, and the structure and administration of the questionnaire used to investigate the usage of pronominal clitics in PMP. It also discusses the position of Tsonga and European Portuguese in the Mozambican constellation of languages; and presents the main aspects of LFG relevant to the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses the Tsonga class and number system and the European
Matsinhe, Sozinho Francisco
Linguistics
Pronominal clitics in Tsonga and Mozambican Portuguese : a comparative study. This thesis contrasts the system of pronominal clitics (also known as subject and object markers) in Tsonga, a Bantu language spoken in Mozambique, with that of European Portuguese; and seeks to establish how the co-existence of the two languages in the bilingual section of the community is reflected in the variety of Portuguese spoken by Tsonga native speakers, referred to here as ~Popular Mozambican Portuguese (PMP)~. The theoretical framework within which the languages are analyzed is Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), which has been used extensively in the past for describing subject and object markers in Bantu languages. In addition, it has a mechanism for differentiating between grammatical and anaphoric agreement, which is a central issue in the syntax of Tsonga and European Portuguese pronominal clitics. Chapter 1 outlines the aims of the thesis, and the structure and administration of the questionnaire used to investigate the usage of pronominal clitics in PMP. It also discusses the position of Tsonga and European Portuguese in the Mozambican constellation of languages; and presents the main aspects of LFG relevant to the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses the Tsonga class and number system and the European
pronominal clitics portuguese comparative_study contrast system pronominal clitics also_know subject_object marker bantu_language speak mozambique european portuguese seek_establish co_existence two_language bilingual section community reflect variety portuguese speak native_speaker refer popular portuguese theoretical_framework within language analyze lexical_functional grammar lfg use_extensively past describing subject_object marker bantu_language addition mechanism differentiate grammatical anaphoric agreement central_issue syntax european portuguese pronominal clitics outline aim structure administration questionnaire use_investigate usage pronominal clitics also_discuss position european portuguese constellation language present main_aspect lfg relevant thesis discus class number system european