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The Shona reflexive as covert anaphora*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 April 2016

Dennis Ryan Storoshenko
Dennis Ryan Storoshenko*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary
*
dstorosh@ucalgary.ca
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Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of reflexives in Shona. Taking seriously the observation that the reflexive morpheme zvi- is homophonous with one of Shona's object markers, I argue that this homophony is not accidental. Rather, the morpheme that emerges in reflexive contexts is object marking triggered by a covert anaphor. The analysis rests on two planks: first, establishing that zvi- is the default agreement form in the language generally; and second, establishing that a covert anaphor may trigger such an agreement. In so doing, a treatment of object marking as the exponence of discourse-givenness is advanced. The analysis is compatible with treatments of object marking in Shona as either an agreement affix or a clitic. Theoretical issues related to default agreement, covert anaphors, and distinctions between discourse-givenness and topicality are also discussed, along with an alternative account treating zvi- as a valence-reducing derivational affix.

Résumé

Cet article offre une analyse des marques réfléchies du shona. Partant de l'observation que le morphème réfléchi zvi- et une des marques d'objet sont homophones, je propose que cette homophonie n'est pas accidentelle. Le morphème qui apparait dans les contextes réfléchis est une marque d'objet autorisée par une anaphore invisible. Cette analyse repose sur deux idées: dans un premier temps, il faut établir que zvi- est la forme par défaut de l'accord dans cette langue; dans un second temps, il faut montrer qu'une anaphore invisible peut mener à cet accord. Ce faisant, une analyse de la marque d'objet comme l'exposant d'information donnée sera présentée. Cette analyse est compatible avec les analyses de la marque d'objet du shona comme un affixe d'accord ou un clitique. Je fournis une discussion concernant l'accord par défaut, les anaphores invisibles et la distinction entre information donnée et la topicalité. Enfin, sera examinée une analyse alternative qui traite du morphème zvi- comme un affixe dérivationnel qui réduit la valence.

Keywords

ShonaBantureflexiveobject markinganaphorashonabanturéfléchimarque d'objetanaphore
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique , Volume 61 , Issue 2 , July 2016 , pp. 156 - 189
Copyright
© Canadian Linguistic Association/Association canadienne de linguistique 2016 

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Footnotes

*

Thanks to audiences at the working papers series at UBC and Yale for comments on earlier versions of this work, as well as the audience at the Bantu IV conference in Berlin. Thanks also to the three anonymous CJL reviewers whose comments have greatly improved this article. Unless otherwise indicated, all Shona data come from original fieldwork with speakers of the Karanga dialect of Shona residing in Canada and the USA. My thanks to those consultants for sharing their language with me. All errors are my own.

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