Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Based on the seminar work of Rizzi (1997) and others, this dissertation entitled “The Structure of the Left Periphery in Ghɔmáláʼ” explores the left periphery of the clause in Ghɔmáláʼ, a Bantu language spoken in the West region of Cameroon with particular attention on the interrogative structures and their replies. The work is confined within the Minimalist Program (MP) as developed by Noam Chomsky (1995, 1998, 1999, and 2001) and others. It gives the importance and the raison-d’être of the minimalist framework when describing a language. The data discussed have been collected from native speakers of the Ghɔmáláʼ. I first uttered the sentence in French, and then asked them to translate integrally if possible or to give the equivalence of the message in the language.  The central aim is to draw syntactic maps in a very detail and economical way that can easy the description and the interpretation of the language. The dissertation provides a syntactic based-account of possible structures of questions and answers that allow us to understand not only the interrogatives, but also provides us with new perspective for the study of the topic and focus layer and the left periphery as a whole. As such, a grammatical sketch is done in order to familiarize the reader with some background information of the language. As far as interrogative is concerned, the different yes/no markers encode the objectivity “a”, the insurance “lə́” or the confirmative “kəkə” aspect of the question. Following Chomsky’s (1993) Extension Condition, the whole TP in IntP undergoes movement to Spec Int at LF. Ghɔmáláʼ also appeals for indirect questions through the use of the lexical complementiser “gά” and the QM “kílə́”. In Ghɔmáláʼ, except the non-referential adjunct m gα̂kə̀ “how” that is bound to the in situ position, the other wh-operators are subject to movement or remain in situ. The Topic is morphologically marked by “a/lə́” and prosaically by a break (comma) between the topic and comment. This Topic precedes the Force at PF by moving to the DiscourseP. This ordinary topic can be introduced by an optional Evidential Topic introducer “á” (ETi). Another topic position is observed with negative and passed sentences before the verb. This is proper to object and referential adjuncts that undergo two times movement: first in aderived posotion and second in the left periphery. Focalization in turn is realized in two different layers: the in situ  (IP) by two distinct markers in post-verbal position:“á/pə́” that must precede the focus direct object or “â/pə̂” that must precede the focus indirect object and adjuncts, and the ex situ associated with a ClefP is marked by :“nə̂/lê” and tə́”. Relativisation is realized by the use of bipartite phonologically marked relative operators: the first agrees with the noun class that precedes it and encodes edge features while the second “á/â/lə” is IP like fashion and moveless. After exploring the hirarchical structure of the left periphery in Ghɔmáláʼ, we have come up with the following picture:

 [DiscP [ForceP ([ETiP) [TopP (Emph) [IntP_{[STAT] [REL]}[ModP ([CleftP])[FocP [ModP [RelRP [FinP...

ABSTRACT

Language in Multilingual Urban Contexts: A case study of the vitality of the Ghomálá' language in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Tatchum Noussi -- August 2020

Three generations are required for a language to die if certain conditions are not met. According to statistics available nowadays, 41% of the world language are endangered (Eberhard et al., 2020). Many factors lead to that end. The Ghomálá’ language is not left aside. In this research, my aim is to see whether Ghomálá is at risk of disappearing in the multilingual urban context of Yaoundé. I needed to know the conditions (or circumstances) that will encourage the language to flourish or allow it to die. In the development of this work, I met several people and carried out interviews with individuals, did two focus groups and spent time observing the behaviour of this people toward their language in Yaoundé. I used the most recent tools to assess the vitality of Ghomálá’ in Yaoundé. Findings of this research underline on the one hand how old users of the language are not using the language as they used to do; they are using French. On the other hand, some few people are keen to learn the language and seeking for opportunities to speak and use the language in its various forms. I have learned therefore that even with languages, it is when someone invests in its learning that it is seriously considered, appreciated and is given full due. With this small percentage of Ghomálá’ people in Yaoundé who do not skimp on the means to use Ghomálá’, there is hope for the future.

Contact me for more information at: gideon_noussi@sil.org / gnoussi@gmail.com

Key word: Language vitality, language assessment, language shift, language endangerment, multilingual contexts, reversing language shift, sustainable language use level, revitalisation.

ABSTRACT

Translation has often been regarded as one of the important tools of communication between different languages and cultures. However, the predominance of translation activities from and into inherited Indo-European languages is considerable while Cameroonian languages in particular receive far less attention. Hence the issue of extinction of local languages or Endangered languages, which has been the subject of much ink and spit with regard to the country's language policy. In this context, the objective of this study is twofold. First, it aims to highlight the linguistic and cultural aspects of Ghↄm l '. Secondly, it aims to translate a corpus of health-related material for ghɔmala'-phone speakers, to identify the contribution of translation to language planning and to propose a medical terminology adapted to the said language. The problem is therefore the following: what is the contribution of translation in solving the problem of valorization and enrichment of the Ghɔmala' language in the field of health? However, it follows from this questioning the hypothesis that a greater diffusion of terminology in this field would constitute a way of recourse in the resolution of the problem of extinction of the identity languages of Cameroon. To confirm or refute this hypothesis, we translated a corpus of 6,294 words from the book entitled Bacterial meningitis: treatment and prevention strategies, which yielded 13,224 words. In view of the translational complexities, we conducted library searches and surveys by questionnaire and interview. In addition, we used the decoding and transcoding method of translation and ended with the terminology extraction phase. Thus, we designed a French- ghɔmala' glossary and lexicon of 30 and 170 entries, respectively. On the basis of the evaluation of the translation, the terminology and the test carried out with health specialists from the Ad Lucem Hospital in Bandjoun and the Centre de Santé Intégré Catholique Mère Nazaria IGNACIA in Bamendjou, the ATNG and the Bafoussam Ghɔmala' language committee, we confirmed the initial hypothesis. The results obtained thus demonstrate that translation is a means par excellence of revalorising and enriching the ghɔmala' in health from both the linguistic and terminological points of view.

 Keywords: medical translation, medical terminology, ghɔmala' language, valorization, enrichment, skopos theory.

Abstract

This dissertation tackles the morphosyntactic properties of verbs in Ghɔmáláʼ with special focus on syntactic behaviors of inherent complement verbs and serial verb constructions. The work is confined within the Minimalist Program as developed by Chomsky (1995, 2000, 2001, 2008, and 2013) though an eclectic approach is sometimes adopted. The data discussed have been gathered beside native speakers of the language using both the elicitation and the observation methods. In doing so, the argument structure of Ghɔmáláʼ is discussed by tackling the issue of transitivity. The verbs are grouped according to their argument structural characteristics. The unaccusative hypothesis (Perlmutter 1978) is also addressed. The work reveals that a two-way distinction (unaccusative vs. unergative) of verbs that occur within intransitive clause cannot hold in Ghɔmáláʼ, and argues for a three-way distinction of these verbs. Looking at the semantic relationship between the verb and its complement, it is argued that most of the transitive verbs in Ghɔmáláʼ can select a generic meaning DP as object. However, there are some verbs which require a more specific meaning DP as complement namely, inherent complement verbs. As for the latter, it is shown that both the verb root and its nominal complement contribute to the meaning of the [V-N] complex and this meaning can be either compositionally or metaphorically derived. The study discloses that the inherent complement bears phi-features since it can undergo pronominalization in certain discourse context though it cannot be marked with a question feature. Both the verb and its complement can be focused. However, the focused IC has a predicate focus reading instead of having an argument focus interpretation. This syntactic behavior leads to the conclusion according to which, the IC is not a semantic but a syntactic argument of its verb which is a functional verb. Being a functional verb, the ICV is purely merged under a functional position wherein it fails to assign theta-roles to its arguments. As far as SVCs are concerned, the study shows that they are not instances of covert coordination and distinguishes them from other multiverb constructions. In terms of their composition, they are split into two broad classes, asymmetrical and symmetrical SVCs. It is demonstrated that asymmetrical SVCs are used to express various functions such as direction, aspect and tense, comparison and instrumentation. As for their morphosyntactic features, it is argued that tense, negation, nominalizer as well as subordinator are expressed once per SVC, an evidence of their monoclausality. However, aspect can receive a concordant marking. Similarly, each component of the SVC can be focused or questioned. SVCs components share at least one argument, mostly the external argument. Given the morphosyntactic properties display by Ghɔmáláʼ Cs, it is argued that apparently object sharing is asymmetrical and does not exist in syntax.