Jenneke Van Der Wal
Biographic Data
| ID | 1453880 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Jenneke Van Der Wal |
| GIVEN NAMES | Jenneke |
| FAMILY NAME | Van Der Wal |
| SIGNATURE | VAN DER WAL J |
| AFFILIATIONS | Leiden University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1136-5884 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 33 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 30 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2006 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Individual and neighborhood determinants of depressive symptoms in ethnic minorities in the urban Helius sample
Ethnic minorities in Europe experience an increased risk of depressive symptomatology. This is believed to be the result of the interplay between different factors at the individual (e.g., psychological, socioeconomic, cultural) and the neighborhood level (e.g., social cohesion, resources, ethnic diversity). This study sheds light on the interplay between variables using cross-sectional data from 13, 507 individuals from five ethnic minority grou…
Bantu word order between discourse and syntactic relations
Discourse function has often been noticed to be a strong factor in conditioning Bantu word order. The importance of discourse function for determining the word order of Bantu languages is visible for example in locative inversion and dedicated focus positions. As a result of such phenomena, it has been proposed that Bantu word order is best captured by reference to discourse roles, e.g. Topic-Verb-Nontopic. Nevertheless, we typically see statemen…
Copular constructions in Makhuwa‐Enahara
This paper describes the possible predication strategies in Makhuwa-Enahara and under what circumstances each occurs. Makhuwa-Enahara (Bantu P31E) has three main copular constructions: Predicative Lowering, the invariant copulas ti (affirmative) and kahi (negative), and the verbal copulas ori and okhala . It was previously posited that the choice between predication strategies depended on the syntactic type of the predicate, but further analysis …
Indirect truth marking via backgrounding
Verum focus has long been analysed as part of information structure, being accounted for within a theory of focus as generation of alternatives on a polarity value. Recently, however, this view has been challenged, with some authors arguing for a separation between verum and focus. The empirical debate focuses on two types of strategies: either verum is marked identically to focus (e.g., pitch accent in German, English) or through a dedicated str…
The V and CV augment and exhaustivity in Kinyakyusa
In addition to the stem and noun class prefix, the structure of nouns in Bantu languages may contain an augment. This augment typically is a vowel, but some languages show a CV augment. Interestingly, the Bantu language Kinyakyusa shows nouns with a V as well as with a CV prefix, both of which have been analysed as augments (De Blois 1970). In this short paper we clarify the formal and functional properties of the ‘CV augment’ in Kinyakyusa. Firs…
Determiner spreading in Rukiga
Determiner spreading, the phenomenon whereby adnominal modifiers carry an ‘additional’ determiner, has been studied extensively for a variety of languages, most notably Greek, Semitic, and Scandinavian languages. Interestingly, the same phenomenon occurs in the Bantu language Rukiga. We show how the Rukiga augment is parallel to the Greek determiner in the context of modification, and how it triggers a restrictive reading when present on a larger…
The insubordinated infinitive in Makhuwa-Enahara and the expression of feelings
This study sets out to investigate the insubordinated infinitive in the Bantu language Makhuwa-Enahara (P31, northern Mozambique), which is used with feeling predicates that have passive experiencers. The expression of bodily feelings and emotions in Makhuwa serves as a foundation, highlighting the unique formal and interpretational properties of the insubordinated infinitive within the domain of feelings
The locus of parametric variation in Bantu gender and nominal derivation
In this paper, we capture the crosslinguistic variation in Bantu nominal structure in a unified analysis of gender on n ( Kramer 2014 , 2015 ). We demonstrate that this analysis accounts for the morphosyntactic properties of basic nouns as well as locative and diminutive derivations. Moreover, it allows us to capture intra- and inter-language morphosyntactic variation by reference to just three parameters – one strictly morphological and two stru…
A Featural Typology of Bantu Agreement
The Bantu languages are in some sense remarkably uniform (subject, verb, order (SVO) basic word order, noun classes, verbal morphology), but this extensive language family also show a wealth of morphosyntactic variation. Two core areas in which such variation is attested are subject and object agreement. The book explores the variation in Bantu subject and object marking on the basis of data from 75 Bantu languages, discovering striking patterns …
We Don’t Agree (Only) Upward
For Bjorkman and Zeijlstra (2019), Agree consists of two operations: checking and valuation. Checking involves (a) probing, always upward from an uninterpretable feature [uF] to an interpretable feature [iF] c-commanding it, and (b) [iF]’s checking [uF]. Valuation generally happens downward, with the valuer c-commanding the valuee. Upward valuation, in which the probe c-commands the goal, is exceptional and only occurs if downward valuation has f…
The Tonal Residue of the Conjoint/Disjoint Alternation in Rukiga
The Bantu language Rukiga (JE14, Uganda) shows tonal reduction on the verb in a subset of tenses, similar to the conjoint/disjoint alternation in Haya. Whereas in other languages the conjoint/disjoint alternation is usually marked by segmental morphology in at least one tense, Rukiga is unique in showing only tonal reduction. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that tonal reduction in Rukiga is not merely a phonological rule, but it encodes the conj…
What does that Lugwere demonstrative refer to? A semantic analysis of proximity and exteriority
The Bantu language Lugwere (Uganda, JE17) has what at first sight appears to be a typical three-way distinction in its demonstratives, with a proximal, medial, and distal series of demonstratives. Upon closer inspection, however, the second series in Lugwere can also be used for distal and anaphoric referents, whereas the third series has a more restricted use. We propose a better fitting semantic analysis in terms of the features [±proximal] and…
Movement from the Double Object Construction Is Not Fully Symmetrical
A movement asymmetry arises in some languages that are otherwise symmetrical for both A- and Ā-movement in the double object construction, including Norwegian, North-West British English, and a range of Bantu languages including Zulu and Lubukusu: a Theme object can be Ā-moved out of a Recipient (Goal) passive, but not vice versa. Our explanation of this asymmetry is based on phase theory- more specifically, a stricter version of the Phase Impene…
Nominal licensing in caseless languages
This paper provides evidence for a kind of nominal licensing (Vergnaud licensing) in a number of morphologically caseless languages. Recent work on Bantu languages has suggested that abstract Case or nominal licensing should be parameterised (Diercks 2012, Van der Wal 2015a). With this is mind, we critically discuss the status of Vergnaud licensing in six languages lacking morphological case. While Luganda appears to systematically lack a Vergnau…
Diagnosing focus
Many tests have been used in eliciting focus constructions and determining what type of focus a certain linguistic strategy expresses. This paper provides an overview of the various diagnostics for focus, indicating how they show the size of the focused constituent and what semantic-pragmatic type of focus is expressed. These types range from simple pragmatic focus to semantically more complex focus, signalling exclusivity or exhaustivity either …
Introduction
The Conjoint/Disjoint Alternation in Bantu
This volume brings together descriptions and analyses of the conjoint/disjoint alternation, a typologically significant phenomenon found in many Bantu languages. The chapters provide in-depth documentation, comparative studies and theoretical analyses of the alternation from a range of Bantu languages, showing its crosslinguistic variation in constituent structure, morphology, prosody and information structure.
A Note on the (Non-Existing) Passive in Matengo
À la différence de nombreuses autres langues bantoues, le matengo ne possède pas de mécanisme de dérivation morphologique essentiellement consacré à l’expression du passif, lequel est rendu en matengo par quatre procédés différents : (1) l’extension verbale neutre ‐ik‐, (2) l’inversion du sujet, (3) la troisième personne du pluriel, et (4) l’antéposition de l’objet. Quoique sur le plan formel, ces différents procédés ne puissent être considérés c…
How ‘person’ got into focus
In several Bantu languages in the regions where Kikongo and Lingala are spoken, we encounter sentences where the word ‘person’ can appear after the subject of a canonical SVO sentence, resulting in a focused interpretation of the subject. Synchronically, we analyze this as a monoclausal focus construction with moto ‘person’ as a focus marker. Diachronically, we argue, the construction derives from a biclausal cleft, where moto functioned as the h…
Evidence for abstract Case in Bantu
Information structure, (inter)subjectivity and objectification
This paper discusses how information structure can be seen as a subjective and intersubjective concept in Verhagen's (2005) and Breban's (2010) definitions, though less so in Traugott's (2010) use of the terms. More difficult is the question of whether markers of information structure can be characterised as (inter)subjective; this is more easily determined for morphological markers than for prosody or word order. For unambiguous markers of infor…
A typology of Bantu subject inversion
This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguishes between seven types of inversion constructions: formal locative inversion, semantic locative inversion, instrument inversion, patient inversion, (clausal) complement inversion, default agreement inversion and agreeing inversion. Based on a set of nine surface variables, a matrix of inversion constructions is developed which identifies characteristi…
(Inter)subjectification in Makhuwa
This study contributes to the research on the development of pragmatic particles from the perspective of the Bantu language Makhuwa. Makhuwa shows synchronic variation in the use of va and vo , which function as locative demonstratives, va (proximal) and vo (medial), but also as pragmatic particles in the left as well as the right periphery, where they draw the attention of the addressee, intensify the illocutionary force and indicate the relatio…
Space, time, condition
L’article décrit les divers contextes dans lesquels le démonstratif éloigné de classe 16 ‘vale’ est employé en makhuwa. La diversité synchronique de sa distribution suggère que le pronom a suivi un développement diachronique du type suivant : à partir d’un démonstratif locatif, il a glissé du domaine spatial au domaine temporel comme indicateur d’une séquence temporelle pour ensuite devenir un marqueur de l’hypothétique dans certaines proposition…
Tone cases in Otjiherero
L’otjiherero a un système de flexion tonale du nom appelé ‘ cas tonals’. Ce système permet de différencier les noms selon le contexte syntaxique, notamment les cas qu’on appelle ‘ complément’ et ‘ par défaut’. Les noms marqués comme cas ‘ complément’ ne se trouvent qu’immédiatement après le verbe et seulement dans un sous-ensemble d’aspects verbaux. Le groupe de noms qui peuvent prendre le cas ‘ complément’ inclut des objets directs et indirects,…
Evidence for abstract Case in Bantu
Movement from the Double Object Construction Is Not Fully Symmetrical
A movement asymmetry arises in some languages that are otherwise symmetrical for both A- and Ā-movement in the double object construction, including Norwegian, North-West British English, and a range of Bantu languages including Zulu and Lubukusu: a Theme object can be Ā-moved out of a Recipient (Goal) passive, but not vice versa. Our explanation of this asymmetry is based on phase theory- more specifically, a stricter version of the Phase Impene…
Nominal licensing in caseless languages
This paper provides evidence for a kind of nominal licensing (Vergnaud licensing) in a number of morphologically caseless languages. Recent work on Bantu languages has suggested that abstract Case or nominal licensing should be parameterised (Diercks 2012, Van der Wal 2015a). With this is mind, we critically discuss the status of Vergnaud licensing in six languages lacking morphological case. While Luganda appears to systematically lack a Vergnau…
A typology of Bantu subject inversion
This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguishes between seven types of inversion constructions: formal locative inversion, semantic locative inversion, instrument inversion, patient inversion, (clausal) complement inversion, default agreement inversion and agreeing inversion. Based on a set of nine surface variables, a matrix of inversion constructions is developed which identifies characteristi…
Focus excluding alternatives
A Featural Typology of Bantu Agreement
The Bantu languages are in some sense remarkably uniform (subject, verb, order (SVO) basic word order, noun classes, verbal morphology), but this extensive language family also show a wealth of morphosyntactic variation. Two core areas in which such variation is attested are subject and object agreement. The book explores the variation in Bantu subject and object marking on the basis of data from 75 Bantu languages, discovering striking patterns …
The locus of parametric variation in Bantu gender and nominal derivation
In this paper, we capture the crosslinguistic variation in Bantu nominal structure in a unified analysis of gender on n ( Kramer 2014 , 2015 ). We demonstrate that this analysis accounts for the morphosyntactic properties of basic nouns as well as locative and diminutive derivations. Moreover, it allows us to capture intra- and inter-language morphosyntactic variation by reference to just three parameters – one strictly morphological and two stru…
Information structure, (inter)subjectivity and objectification
This paper discusses how information structure can be seen as a subjective and intersubjective concept in Verhagen's (2005) and Breban's (2010) definitions, though less so in Traugott's (2010) use of the terms. More difficult is the question of whether markers of information structure can be characterised as (inter)subjective; this is more easily determined for morphological markers than for prosody or word order. For unambiguous markers of infor…
(Inter)subjectification in Makhuwa
This study contributes to the research on the development of pragmatic particles from the perspective of the Bantu language Makhuwa. Makhuwa shows synchronic variation in the use of va and vo , which function as locative demonstratives, va (proximal) and vo (medial), but also as pragmatic particles in the left as well as the right periphery, where they draw the attention of the addressee, intensify the illocutionary force and indicate the relatio…
What the Bantu languages can tell us about word order and movement
Disjoint verb form and an empty immediate after verb position in Makhuwa
The Bantu language Makhuwa makes a distinction between cojoint and disjoint verb forms. Two hypotheses are made from generalisations on the distribution of the conjoint and disjoint verb forms in Makhuwa. 1) The verb appears in its conjoint form when a focal element occupies the Immediate After Verb (IAV) position; 2) the verb appears in its disjoint form when the IAV position is empty. A syntactic analysis is provided that accounts for these hyp…
Predicative tone lowering in Makhuwa
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Functions of demonstratives in Makhuwa narratives
Demonstratives are used very frequently in Makhuwa narratives, especially the distal demonstratives. Although all types of demonstratives can be used for exophoric deixis, referring to an entity in the speech setting, the distal demonstratives are predominantly used for anaphoric reference. They occur in topic shifts, tail-head linking and at episode boundaries, referring to entities that are relatively less accessible at that point in the narrat…
‘Go’ on a rare grammaticalisation path to focus
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What the Bantu languages can tell us about word order and movement
Focus excluding alternatives
Space, time, condition
L’article décrit les divers contextes dans lesquels le démonstratif éloigné de classe 16 ‘vale’ est employé en makhuwa. La diversité synchronique de sa distribution suggère que le pronom a suivi un développement diachronique du type suivant : à partir d’un démonstratif locatif, il a glissé du domaine spatial au domaine temporel comme indicateur d’une séquence temporelle pour ensuite devenir un marqueur de l’hypothétique dans certaines proposition…
Tone cases in Otjiherero
L’otjiherero a un système de flexion tonale du nom appelé ‘ cas tonals’. Ce système permet de différencier les noms selon le contexte syntaxique, notamment les cas qu’on appelle ‘ complément’ et ‘ par défaut’. Les noms marqués comme cas ‘ complément’ ne se trouvent qu’immédiatement après le verbe et seulement dans un sous-ensemble d’aspects verbaux. Le groupe de noms qui peuvent prendre le cas ‘ complément’ inclut des objets directs et indirects,…
(Inter)subjectification in Makhuwa
This study contributes to the research on the development of pragmatic particles from the perspective of the Bantu language Makhuwa. Makhuwa shows synchronic variation in the use of va and vo , which function as locative demonstratives, va (proximal) and vo (medial), but also as pragmatic particles in the left as well as the right periphery, where they draw the attention of the addressee, intensify the illocutionary force and indicate the relatio…
Information structure, (inter)subjectivity and objectification
This paper discusses how information structure can be seen as a subjective and intersubjective concept in Verhagen's (2005) and Breban's (2010) definitions, though less so in Traugott's (2010) use of the terms. More difficult is the question of whether markers of information structure can be characterised as (inter)subjective; this is more easily determined for morphological markers than for prosody or word order. For unambiguous markers of infor…
A typology of Bantu subject inversion
This study charts variation in subject inversion constructions in Bantu languages. It distinguishes between seven types of inversion constructions: formal locative inversion, semantic locative inversion, instrument inversion, patient inversion, (clausal) complement inversion, default agreement inversion and agreeing inversion. Based on a set of nine surface variables, a matrix of inversion constructions is developed which identifies characteristi…
A Note on the (Non-Existing) Passive in Matengo
À la différence de nombreuses autres langues bantoues, le matengo ne possède pas de mécanisme de dérivation morphologique essentiellement consacré à l’expression du passif, lequel est rendu en matengo par quatre procédés différents : (1) l’extension verbale neutre ‐ik‐, (2) l’inversion du sujet, (3) la troisième personne du pluriel, et (4) l’antéposition de l’objet. Quoique sur le plan formel, ces différents procédés ne puissent être considérés c…
How ‘person’ got into focus
In several Bantu languages in the regions where Kikongo and Lingala are spoken, we encounter sentences where the word ‘person’ can appear after the subject of a canonical SVO sentence, resulting in a focused interpretation of the subject. Synchronically, we analyze this as a monoclausal focus construction with moto ‘person’ as a focus marker. Diachronically, we argue, the construction derives from a biclausal cleft, where moto functioned as the h…
Evidence for abstract Case in Bantu
Diagnosing focus
Many tests have been used in eliciting focus constructions and determining what type of focus a certain linguistic strategy expresses. This paper provides an overview of the various diagnostics for focus, indicating how they show the size of the focused constituent and what semantic-pragmatic type of focus is expressed. These types range from simple pragmatic focus to semantically more complex focus, signalling exclusivity or exhaustivity either …
Introduction
The Conjoint/Disjoint Alternation in Bantu
This volume brings together descriptions and analyses of the conjoint/disjoint alternation, a typologically significant phenomenon found in many Bantu languages. The chapters provide in-depth documentation, comparative studies and theoretical analyses of the alternation from a range of Bantu languages, showing its crosslinguistic variation in constituent structure, morphology, prosody and information structure.
Nominal licensing in caseless languages
This paper provides evidence for a kind of nominal licensing (Vergnaud licensing) in a number of morphologically caseless languages. Recent work on Bantu languages has suggested that abstract Case or nominal licensing should be parameterised (Diercks 2012, Van der Wal 2015a). With this is mind, we critically discuss the status of Vergnaud licensing in six languages lacking morphological case. While Luganda appears to systematically lack a Vergnau…
What does that Lugwere demonstrative refer to? A semantic analysis of proximity and exteriority
The Bantu language Lugwere (Uganda, JE17) has what at first sight appears to be a typical three-way distinction in its demonstratives, with a proximal, medial, and distal series of demonstratives. Upon closer inspection, however, the second series in Lugwere can also be used for distal and anaphoric referents, whereas the third series has a more restricted use. We propose a better fitting semantic analysis in terms of the features [±proximal] and…
Movement from the Double Object Construction Is Not Fully Symmetrical
A movement asymmetry arises in some languages that are otherwise symmetrical for both A- and Ā-movement in the double object construction, including Norwegian, North-West British English, and a range of Bantu languages including Zulu and Lubukusu: a Theme object can be Ā-moved out of a Recipient (Goal) passive, but not vice versa. Our explanation of this asymmetry is based on phase theory- more specifically, a stricter version of the Phase Impene…
The Tonal Residue of the Conjoint/Disjoint Alternation in Rukiga
The Bantu language Rukiga (JE14, Uganda) shows tonal reduction on the verb in a subset of tenses, similar to the conjoint/disjoint alternation in Haya. Whereas in other languages the conjoint/disjoint alternation is usually marked by segmental morphology in at least one tense, Rukiga is unique in showing only tonal reduction. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that tonal reduction in Rukiga is not merely a phonological rule, but it encodes the conj…
We Don’t Agree (Only) Upward
For Bjorkman and Zeijlstra (2019), Agree consists of two operations: checking and valuation. Checking involves (a) probing, always upward from an uninterpretable feature [uF] to an interpretable feature [iF] c-commanding it, and (b) [iF]’s checking [uF]. Valuation generally happens downward, with the valuer c-commanding the valuee. Upward valuation, in which the probe c-commands the goal, is exceptional and only occurs if downward valuation has f…
The insubordinated infinitive in Makhuwa-Enahara and the expression of feelings
This study sets out to investigate the insubordinated infinitive in the Bantu language Makhuwa-Enahara (P31, northern Mozambique), which is used with feeling predicates that have passive experiencers. The expression of bodily feelings and emotions in Makhuwa serves as a foundation, highlighting the unique formal and interpretational properties of the insubordinated infinitive within the domain of feelings
The locus of parametric variation in Bantu gender and nominal derivation
In this paper, we capture the crosslinguistic variation in Bantu nominal structure in a unified analysis of gender on n ( Kramer 2014 , 2015 ). We demonstrate that this analysis accounts for the morphosyntactic properties of basic nouns as well as locative and diminutive derivations. Moreover, it allows us to capture intra- and inter-language morphosyntactic variation by reference to just three parameters – one strictly morphological and two stru…
A Featural Typology of Bantu Agreement
The Bantu languages are in some sense remarkably uniform (subject, verb, order (SVO) basic word order, noun classes, verbal morphology), but this extensive language family also show a wealth of morphosyntactic variation. Two core areas in which such variation is attested are subject and object agreement. The book explores the variation in Bantu subject and object marking on the basis of data from 75 Bantu languages, discovering striking patterns …
Philosophy (28 works) · Linguistics (26 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (25 works) · Computer Science (23 works) · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies (16 works) · Bantu languages (15 works) · Linguistic Variation and Morphology (10 works) · Philosophy (10 works) · Mathematics (9 works) · Physics (8 works)