Lexical generality as a determinant of extension position in Northern Sotho

Abstract

To date, no comprehensive study of verbal extension sequencing in Northern Sotho has been undertaken. This article is about verbal extension sequencing and emanates from research towards the building of a computational morphological analyser for Northern Sotho. It recognizes two theories about affix ordering, namely Hyman (2002) who argues in favour of a Pan-Bantu suffix template as the determinant of verbal extension order and Bybee (1985) who ascribes affix ordering to the semantic function and scope of affixes. The applicability of Hyman's Causative-Applied-Reciprocal-Passive (CARP) order to Northern Sotho verb stems is not doubted, but due to the nature of this study, the ordering of all other verbal extensions had to be investigated as well. The article seeks explanations for the ordering of verbal extensions in Northern Sotho by means of an analysis of verb stems taken from a sizeable portion of the Comprehensive Northern Sotho Dictionary (CNSD). Lexical generality (Bybee, 1985:16–17) is one of a range of criteria that are applied to determine whether affixes are inflectionally or derivationally inclined. It is used to determine the productivity of all verbal extensions of Northern Sotho that are listed against each of the 458 Northern Sotho verb stems in the CNSD selected for this study. The data shows a near direct correlation between the relative positions of verbal extensions and their productivity. The article confirms the link between two criteria for inflection as opposed to derivation for Northern Sotho, namely the criteria of generality and of proximity to the stem, as originally proposed by Bybee (1985). Further research is required to throw more light onto the question of whether or not extension ordering is determined by the morphology proper as proposed by Hyman (2002) or by morphology- external factors as proposed by Bybee (1985).