Browsing by Author "Neckemiah, Nelius Rwebangira"

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    Noun phrase structure in Kihangaza
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 2010) Neckemiah, Nelius Rwebangira
    This study focuses on the description of the noun phrase structure (henceforth NP) in Kihangaza using the X-bar theory which is a component of the Phrase Structure Grammar. It aims at providing a precise identification of the category NP in this language, establishing the criteria for categorising elements that can become its dependents, showing the extent to which the noun can be projected as well as examining the features of the NP that contribute to new knowledge. In terms of research methodology, the data was collected through questionnaire, interviews, text analysis, free conversations and story telling. As regards the analysis of the data, the morphosyntactic approach is taken aboard in order to achieve the intended objectives of the study. In this approach, the Kihangaza nouns and other elements, some of which operate as noun dependents, were morphologically and syntactically analysed in order to shed light on the morpho-syntactic relations that the noun head has with its dependents. Findings from the study reveal that members of word classes in Kihangaza NP and other Bantu languages can best be determined based on Bantu inflection. It is further revealed that based on this criterion, the dependents of the head noun in the NP may be clustered into 2 categories, namely: pronominals and adjectives.