The Inflectional Structure of Lubukusu Verbs

Abstract

The study was an analysis of the verbal inflectional morphology of Lubukusu. The linguistic study sought to cross-examine the verbal templatic structure, which appears the same cross-linguistically within Bantu languages. The basis of this study is to focus on subject/object markers, negation, TAM, agreement and inflectional rules. The objectives that guided the research were to describe the order of morphemes in Lubukusu verbs, to find out the morphosyntactic properties of Lubukusu verbal inflectional morphology and lastly, to describe the inflectional rules that govern the inflectional morphology of Lubukusu verbs. Stump‟s theory of Inferential Realization (2000) lays an emphasis on inflectional markings and inflectional rules, which helps to delimit my study on most of its tenets. This study employed a descriptive design because it helped the researcher in interpreting, summarizing and analyzing data. In this study, the target population comprised native speakers of Lubukusu while the sample size included the three villages and three proficient native speakers from Bumula. The study utilized elicited, introspected and corpora data, which was analyzed descriptively within the morphological theory accompanied with tables. The findings of the study indicate that inflectional features on the root are based on a templatic morphology, a sub-category of inflectional morphology. The Bantu verbal template was re-structured to suit the structure evident in Lubukusu. Tone marking which is influenced by phonological, syntactical and morphological factors helps in the realization of the surface level of some verbs. Agreement between morphology and syntax is realized through specific morphemes while inflectional, and realization rules are formed from RULE BLOCKS. The study contributes to linguistic theory of morphological typology, which is a basis for language documentation. It will be a useful reference material by native speakers and academicians.