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Natural Language & Linguistic Theory (2005) 23: 219279 Springer 2005
DOI 10.1007/s11049-004-0996-6VICKI CARSTENSAGREE AND EPP IN BANTUwABSTRACT. C agrees in the /-features of an operator in its Spec but not one in situ
in many Bantu languages. Despite this I argue that a closest c-command based
account (Chomsky 2000) is superior to a Spechead agreement analysis, for two
reasons. First, feature-valuation under closest c-command permits a unied treatment of Bantu operator agreement and West Germanic complementizer agreement
with subjects. Second, it explains a common requirement that subjects be in situ in
Bantu A-movement constructions: a subject raised to Spec, TP would intervene
between Cs /-features and the operator in outer Spec, vP that must value them. Like
wh-movement, subject raising always coincides with agreement in Bantu; I propose
that Bantu uninterpretable /-features have EPP features. These are distinct from the
classical EPP of T which, I argue, underlies a verbal agreement requirement giving
every Bantu inectional category a specier. I show that nominative Case-checking is
independent of both agreement and EPP in Bantu.1. INTRODUCTION1.1. The PhenomenaIn Kilega, a wh-phrase may either surface in situ or raise to a position
at the left periphery of the clause. Just in the latter case, the verb,
located in second position, agrees in noun class with the wh-phrase:1w This paper could not have been written without Kasangati Kinyalolos generous
assistance with the Kilega language. I am most grateful to him, to Marcel den
Dikken, and to three anonymous reviewers for comments that improved the paper
substantially. My research was supported by a grant from the Missouri Research
Board.1 All Kilega data are taken from Kinyalolo (1991) unless otherwise noted. Arabic
numerals in glosses of Bantu examples designate noun class. Roman numerals I and
II in Bantu glosses indicate 1st and 2nd person. Throughout, abbreviations are:
SA subject agreement; CA complementizer agreement (whether with wh- in
Bantu, or with a West Germanic subject); AGR agreement; ASP aspect;
T tense; PST past tense; HAB habitual; IMP imperfective; PROG progressive; MOD modal; APPL applicative morpheme; PERF perfect aspect;
PL plural; FV nal vowel of Bantu verbs. A the Kilega vowel a, which
Kinyalolo (1991, 2003) analyzes as a default vowel; it seems to lexicalize phonetically
null heads in the T/A system. ETE...