Open AccessAuxiliary verb constructions in the languages of Africa
Author(s) -
Gregory D. S. Anderson
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
studies in african linguistics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.178
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2154-428X
pISSN - 0039-3533
DOI - 10.32473/sal.v40i1.107282
Subject(s) - inflection , linguistics , verb , typology , subject (documents) , polarity (international relations) , modal verb , selection (genetic algorithm) , computer science , languages of africa , linguistic typology , history , artificial intelligence , philosophy , genetics , archaeology , biology , library science , cell
Auxiliary verb constructions–constructions with two or more elements of verbal origin, one of which expresses functional semantic categories–are widespread among the languages of Africa. In the following discussion, I present a typology of inflection in auxiliary verb constructions [AVCs] in the languages of Africa. While there are several macro-patterns of distribution seen in the various African languages, only a small selection are presented in some detail here, viz. the doubled and split/doubled inflectional patterns, along with the fusing of subject markers and TAM/polarity auxiliaries into so-called tensed pronouns that are relatively more common in AVCs across the languages of the continent than in most other parts of the world.