The aim of the present study was to determine from the literature how ellipses are characterized in English and which ellipse constructions are attested in isiZulu, which remains virtually unstudied in this regard. A large body of literature has been written under the Minimalist Program (as part of Generative Grammar) about these ellipsis constructions as they appear in English.
Introduction to Ellipsis
In this thesis I present a comparative study of selected ellipsis constructions in English and in isiZulu. Originally I intended to give an overview of several different ellipsis constructions in English and to see which of the various constructions mentioned in the literature were attested in isiZulu.
Thesis Outline
The second part of each of these chapters begins with a discussion of the results for its specific ellipsis construction in Bantu languages. The issues of licensing, identity and the content of the ellipsis site are also central issues in sluicing.
Overview of isiZulu
The verb is marked for agreement with the object, with the object agreement marker of the noun class 9 being yi-. 4 The class prefix of class 5 only occurs on some monosyllabic noun stems, but is otherwise omitted.
Methodology
I report a particular construction as "grammatical" if most of my interlocutors judged it to be so, and "ungrammatical" if most of my informants found it ungrammatical. If most isiZulu examples of a particular type of ellipsis construction (ie VP-ellipsis, sluicing, etc.) were found to be grammatical, I reported that this type of construction is attested in isiZulu.
Introduction to the Minimalist Program
Generative Grammar
In the generative framework, researchers attempt to find generative rules for languages that can account for the formation of every sentence that is grammatical in a given language. A theory of language that is explanatoryly adequate is one that is descriptively adequate, yet simple and principled enough to be able to exist in the mind of a speaker and be learned by a child (Chomsky, 1995, 3 ).
S 0
According to Chomsky, for language to be useful at all, the information in the expressions generated by L must be accessible to other systems. This is the interface condition of (1)b, which states that the . This means that L must be the optimal solution to the requirements imposed by the C-I and SM interfaces, or in other words, that L is the best, most efficient way to meet the needs of the conceptual-intentional and sensorimotor systems (Chomsky.
I-Language
During the derivation, these features must be eliminated by checking or evaluating in order for the derivation to converge. Another key idea of the Minimalist Program is that derivation is not produced in a single stroke.
Narrow Syntax
The idea of phases explains the fact that empirically there are limits in the derivation beyond which operations such as Agree cannot operate (Chomsky. The Agree operation is responsible for eliminating the inexplicable features of LI in the derivation (Chomsky.
Example
First, the phonetic zero determiner, ø, is joined to the noun, syntax, creating a determiner phrase (DP). From now on, only the light verb and subject will be visible for further operations according to the PIC.
The MP and Ellipsis
T's unvalued φ features are valued by the subject; in return, T is able to assign nominative case to the subject DP because of its valued Tns feature. Move takes the subject and TP and creates a new TP (with the old TP becoming T`) in order to satisfy the EPP feature11 of T.12 Finally, a null complement becomes C (another phase head) with the TP merged.
VP-ellipsis in English
Introduction
Content of the Ellipsis Site
In (8)a, the wh-clause was extracted from the deleted VP in the second conjunction. In b, the DP tomato was topicalized and migrated from the excised VP.
Identity
This supports the idea that the identity relation between an ellipsis site and its antecedent is semantic in nature (van Craenenbroeck and Merchant. While the antecedent for the ellipsis site in (18)a contains the name Alex, the unlearned example is, ( 18)b , shows that this proper noun cannot be in the ellipsis place.
Licensing
This exhaustive list shows which elements in the extended projection of the verb can license VP-ellipsis. 14 According to Van Craenenbroeck, denial is unusual because of the possibility of licensing VP-ellipsis.
Merchant’s (2001) Theory of Ellipsis
The F-closure of α is the result of replacing F-labeled parts of α with ∃-bound variables of the appropriate type, modulo ∃-type displacement. Since the expressions are exactly the same under existential closure and focus closure, it is clear that the antecedent VP entails the F closure of the elided VP and that the elided VP entails the focus closure of the antecedent VP.
Verb-stranding VP-ellipsis
- Introduction
- Verb-stranding VP-ellipsis is VP-ellipsis
- Verb-stranding VP-ellipsis Versus Null Objects
- Other Notes on Verb-stranding VP-ellipsis
- Conclusion
Ma (2017, 2) cites Huang (1988) as one of the first to argue in favor of Mandarin having VP-ellipsis with verb chains, but Ma (2017) and others argued against Mandarin having VP-ellipsis with verb chains. No discussion of VP-ellipsis of verb inflection would be complete without mentioning the verbal identity requirement.
Ellipsis in isiXhosa
Introduction to Ellipsis in isiXhosa
Ma’s (2017) Findings on VP-ellipsis in isiXhosa
The standard assumption in the literature is that the verb undergoes V-to-T movement so that it could occupy outside the site of ellipsis in the VP-ellipsis of the inflected verb (Ma. Ma's argument against V-to-T movement in isiXhosa depends on of the order of the morphemes attached to the verb in isiXhosa.
Other Types of Ellipsis in isiXhosa
Halpert and Zeller note that it is well established in the isiZulu literature that the subjunctive form of a verb is only allowed when the verb is followed by overt material in vP. The slightly modified (Halpert and Zeller) example in (75)a shows a regular transitive sentence in isiZulu where the verb is in the subjunctive form.
VP-ellipsis in isiZulu
IsiZulu VP-ellipsis
The older informant found the construction unacceptable, and a younger speaker was uncertain about the construction. Only the youngest informant was unsure about it, and the last two informants (including the oldest informant) found the construction completely unacceptable.
IsiZulu verb-stranding VP-ellipsis
Intended: 'Nolwazi gave the children potatoes and so did Sipho'. 81) five first language speakers rated isiZulu as very poor, with a sixth speaker unsure of its grammaticality. These examples use VP-internal adverbs that would be expected to be eliminated under VP-ellipsis verbs.
Is There VP-ellipsis in isiZulu?
Conclusion
Sluicing in English
- Introduction
- The Ellipsis Site in Sluicing
- Nature of the Ellipsis Site
- Identity
- Licensing in Sluicing
One of the ways in which the place of the ellipse can differ from its predecessor in scratching is in finiteness (van Craenenbroeck and Merchant. In the following examples from van Craenenbroeck and Merchant the interpretation of the place of the ellipse must differ from its predecessor in with finality.
Sluicing in Bantu
Sluicing in Other Bantu Languages
1st.SG=ERG here someone.OBL=ACC see-PFV.M.SG but mujhe nahĩĩ pataa kis=ko. 1st.SG.DAT don't know who.OBL=ACC. They also show that sprouting is possible in both these languages, as shown in (33) and (34) (Manus and Patin, to appear, 55), where the wh-phrase has no overt correlation in the antecedent clause (Manus and Patin) , appears, 55).
Sluicing in isiZulu
The wh phrase in this example is eyabani; anything after the wh phrase is omitted. In addition, the verb is omitted in these examples, further suggesting that the wh-phrase has moved from the VP.
Conclusion
Gapping in English (and Other Languages)
Introduction
Properties of Gapping
- Basic Observations
- Restrictions on Remnants and Other Observations
According to Hartmann, this is because Peter in (15) is the complement of the preposition it and therefore does not directly dominate the VP. In (16) from Belgium, the largest projection is PP, but it is immediately dominated by the projection of the noun visitor rather than VP or S0.
Johnson’s Approach
Johnson's analysis of gap is quite different from the other approaches to the analysis of ellipsis discussed in this thesis. Johnson emphasizes the fact that by requiring the gaping rope to be a rope from which something has scrambled, we can explain the constitutive condition that applies to the remnants of gaping.
Hartmann’s Approach
I believe that Peter is traveling to India with his wife and Martin to Switzerland with his colleagues.'. Meaning: 'I believe that Peter is traveling to India with his wife and Martin to Switzerland with his colleagues.'.
Stripping
Johnson (2014, 3) states that examples such as (31) can be classified as gap constructions, likewise Merchant says that disposal is usually analyzed as a type of gap. In fact, defining removal as a subtype of loopholes may be getting things wrong.
Pseudogapping
On the other hand, pseudogapping also resembles VP ellipsis in that the place of ellipsis is preceded by an auxiliary or modal (Gengel that in (32) is do and in (33) is do. The next section includes a discussion of pseudogapping in Bantu. where it appears that pseudogapping is not attested in the two languages studied.
Gapping in Bantu
Gapping in Other Bantu Languages
For stripping, Manus and Patin (to appear, 44) provide examples from Shingazidja and Swahili, two of which I repeat below in (40) and (41). In (43) I present Ma's example which shows that this type of ellipsis is not possible within a subordinate clause.
Gapping in isiZulu
John arrives tomorrow, Sara next week.'. 45) was rated as completely acceptable by three of my informants. In this example of stripping, and some of the others, some of my informants noticed that the construction is unclear.
Conclusion: Gapping in Bantu
Although speakers' judgments of pseudogapping examples are not as biased as I would have hoped, at least half of my informants found each example to be so. The judgments for pseudogapping constructions are not so different from those for the VP-ellipsis examples in 3.4.1.
Conclusion
Ellipsis in Hungarian and the typology of lock. ed.), Ellipsis in minimalism: Proceedings of the 7th Seoul International Conference on Generative Grammar. ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax. What VP ellipsis can and can't do, but not why. ed.), The Handbook of Modern Syntactic Theory.
