A study of transitivity in Xhosa

Jama, Zukile

A study of transitivity in Xhosa

Thesis / Dissertation

1995

Abstract

This study is an explicit description of transitivity in Xhosa. The introductory chapter {Chapter One) outlines relevant theories relating to the issue of transitivity. The controversies surrounding transitivity and grammatical relations in general are noted. Special emphasis is put on Hopper and Thompson 1980's study. Different opinions from linguists across languages of the world as well as African linguists are assessed and evaluated. The debate revolves around their adequate/inadequate handling of the problem of transitivity. Emphasis is here put on main declarative sentences although it is acknowledged that language • cannot be described nor understood without its communicative intent. Chomsky's idea of autonomous syntax is here found suspect and this study yields more towards pragmatics. Most of the discussions is persued along the following lines: noncontroversial issues, controversial issues and tentative solutions, unresolved problems and verb extension suffixes as devices for either increasing or decreasing transitivity and therefore posing a theoretical problem. A solution is extracted from J.L. Taylor (1991)'s study which secures a polysemous relationship among constructions. general theoretical controversies suggests that controversies exist theoretical levels. This chapter also handles in grammar and at theoretical therefore and preThe second chapter is a sequel to Chapter One and provides further discussions of the transitivity components and updates them by introducing the notion of control and ability and the speaker's perspectivization of grammatical material. It is concluded here that these are crucial transitivity notions and that the morpho-syntactic reflexes of transitivity are discourse conditioned. The third chapter is a discussion of the different verbal categories in Xhosa. There is an indepth discussion of controversial issues such as locative nouns, body parts and instrumentals. Morphological marking is assumed to be significant in this regard and is related to the pragmatic use of language. It is concluded here that a binary classification of verbs into a clear cut transitive intransitive dichotomy is unacceptable. Chapter Four handles the question of verb extension and divides them into two groups. The transitivizing ones and intransitivizing ones and the implication thereof for transitivity. The theoretical problems posed by verb extension by either augmenting or diminishing transitivity is evaluated and it is suggested that if grammatical relations are seen as a continuum, and within polysemy (meaning relatedness}, this presents few or no problems. Verb extension is also seen as a productive process but which is linked to pragmatic use of language. Chapter Five links the issue of transitivity with specialized meaning. It is an expansion of the last four chapters and eliminates cases left unclear in these preceding chapters. The chapter starts by giving philosophical definitions of meaning and relates semantic conceptualization with pragmatic factors. It is concluded here that syntactic structures should be seen as instantiations of pragmatic options. Chapter Six is the last chapter and conclusion. It sums up the issues raised in the last five chapters and the standpoints taken in this dissertation. It is concluded that transitivity is a property of clauses than verbs, and that it is discourse determined. Lastly it is proposed that Hopper and Thompson's theory needs updating. In this instance the concepts of control and ability as well as meaning relatedness amongst constructions are introduced.

Keywords

African Languages and Literatures

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