Predicate Structure And Argument Indexing In Early Bantu

Abstract

Meeussen’s (1967: 108–111) Proto-Bantu reconstruction involves a morphologically compact predicate with bound cross-reference on the verb for core arguments, which indeed characterises the majority of modern languages in the Bantu spread zone. In the north-west, however, numerous Bantu languages possess a split predicate structure with free pronouns or person-inflected portmanteau morphemes that also encode tense, aspect, modality, and polarity. This feature is also found in many languages of the Macro-Sudan Belt, a large convergence area neighbouring the Bantu spread zone and hosting its homeland and Bantu’s closest relatives in Benue-Kwa (Güldemann 2008; 2018). Moreover, several Proto-Bantu subject and object prefixes reconstructed by Meeussen (1967) and other researchers deviate considerably from pronoun forms that can be assumed for early Benue-Kwa and Niger-Congo in general (Güldemann 2017). Against this background, the present chapter proposes a revised conceptualisation of pronominal participant marking in early Bantu that can reconcile the modern empirical data in this group with the typological profile of the area where Proto-Bantu originates. It implies that Meeussen’s verbal argument cross-reference reconstructions are themselves valid, both in terms of morphosyntactic status and segmental form, but should not be projected back to the proto-stage that gave rise to the entire Narrow Bantu family as traditionally defined. Since these reconstructions differ from argument cross-reference in predicates elsewhere in Benue-Kwa, they should be seen as innovations in later ancestral stages of Bantu.