Grammatical Tone Patterns of Negative and Relative Verbs

Abstract

This chapter takes up two additional parameters that condition grammatical tone in Chichewa, namely: negative polarity and relative clause type. There are fewer grammatical tone patterns for negative and relative verbs, compared to affirmative main clause verbs. The inflections that grouped together for the tone patterns discussed in Chapter 7 do not always group together for the corresponding negative and relative paradigms. The two core sections of the chapter illustrate in detail the tone patterns for negative and relative verbs. The concluding section of the chapter takes up the often neglected issue of where grammatical tone patterns are represented in the grammar.