A New Look at the Object (A)symmetry in Bantu Locative Applicatives

Abstract

This paper investigates the object (a)symmetry of locative applicatives in two Bantu languages ? Kinyarwanda and Chichew?a. I argue that in both Kinyarwanda and Chichew?a, the locative applicative is projected higher than VoiceP, based on the types of co-occurring roots and the distributions of the locative applicative suffix with respect to passive morphology. Thus, unlike McGinnis’s (2001; 2002) analysis, the object (a)symmetry of the locative applicatives cannot be attributed to the syntactic locus of the applicative head. I propose that the source of (a)symmetry results from elsewhere ? namely, the distinct categorical status of Location arguments in Kinyarwanda and Chichew?a. The multiple applicatives in Chichew?a and the restrictions imposed on the causative of locatives in Kinyarwanda further support the proposed alternative. Finally, with the understanding of the independent property of locative inversion and an additional assumption about equidistance, the patterns of subject movement in active locatives follow naturally.