Aspectual auxiliary verbs in Xitsonga

Abstract

In Xitsonga, certain Aspectual Auxiliary verbs (AA verbs) appear with double subject agreement. While these AA verbs have been reported in the description of Xitsonga (Baumbach 1987: 250-252), a systematic morphosyntactic study of these constructions has not been undertaken. This study aims to fill this gap. An AA verb is marked with tense, aspect, mood, negation and relative clause markers and may occur in wh-questions. The lexical verb following the AA verb may be the target of verbal extensions (applicative and reciprocal), reflexive, causative and passive markers. [Please click on "Supplementary files" in the ARTICLE TOOLS sidebar on the right for the accompanying sound files.]

Keywords

• Aspectual Auxiliary (AA) verbs, Xitsonga, morphosyntax, doubling of subject agreement