| Summary: | The relation between verbal affixes and their effect on the predicate argument structure of
the verbs that host them has been the focus of many studies in linguistics, with special
reference to Bantu languages in recent years. Given the colonial policy on indigenous
languages in Angola, Kikongo, as is the case of other Bantu languages in that country, has
not been sufficiently studied. This study explores the form and function of six verbal
affixes, including the order in which they occur in the verb stem. The study maintains that
the applicative and causative are valency-increasing verbal affixes and, as such, give rise
to double object constructions in Kikongo. The passive, reciprocal, reflexive and stative
are valency-decreasing and, as such, they reduce the valency of the verb by one object.
This study also suggests that Kikongo is a symmetrical object language in which both
objects appear to have equal status. === African languages === M.A.
|
|---|
