On the justification for language-specific sub-grammatical relations

Abstract

This paper examines the syntactic behavior of a semantically specifiable set of NP'S, the NP's, in OluTsootso, a Bantu language. We attempt to determine their grammatial relation in sentences I and find that the traditional and generative analysiS of these elements as prepositional-phrase non-terms is inadequate. We claim that these locatives constitute a sub-relation of the grammatical. relation of direct object. We do this by demonstrating that the set of locatives in question (which we call locative objects) can be sharply distinguished from prepositional phrase locatives on the basis of behavioral and coding properties. We then show that objects and direct objects are the only elements which undergo certain relation-changing processes, trigger similar verbal cliticization processes in pronominalization, and that as targets of relativization and topicalization, have similar but unique morphosyntactic outputs. We show that indirect objects are placed lower on the accessibility Hierarchy for grammatical relation-changing rules than objects, which results in needlessly violating an otherwise Universal constraint on subjectivization rules, given the (incorrect) assumption that objects are prepositional phrases. We then show that although there is evidence that objects and direct objects should be classified together. We find further evidence which suggests that there is a broader gr8Ulllatical relation of direct object which encompasses the sub-relations of (regular) direct objects and objects.