No escape from syntax: Evidence from Gĩkũyũ subject nominalizations
Soo-Hwan Lee
August 2024 

In his influential work on Bantu nominalizations, Mugane (1997) identifies two types of individual-denoting nominalizations in Gĩkũyũ: [mu…a]-type (small subject nominalizations or loose compounds) and [mu…i]-type (big subject nominalizations). He argues that [mu…i]-type nominalizations are phrasal and that [mu…a]-type nominalizations exhibit a paradoxical nature, displaying both lexical and syntactic properties. This study revisits Mugane’s characterization, challenging the notion of a lexicon-syntax divide. By applying Wood’s (2023) 'small syntax' approach, originally developed for Icelandic nominalizations, this paper demonstrates that Gĩkũyũ small subject nominalizations can be fully explained within a syntactic framework without resorting to the lexicon. The analysis reveals that what Mugane perceived as a paradox is merely an illusion, and that syntax alone can account for both types of Gĩkũyũ nominalizations. This finding aligns with cross-linguistic evidence from English, Greek, and German, further validating the applicability of the 'small syntax' approach across different languages.

Format:	[ pdf ]
Reference:	lingbuzz/008309 (please use that when you cite this article)
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keywords:	nominalizations; gĩkũyũ; lexicon; phrasal layering analysis; complex head analysis, morphology, syntax
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