ARGUMENT MOVEMENT IN KÙCÉ: A MINIMALIST APPROACH
1 Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages University of Jos
* Corresponding author: chineduanyanwu92@gmail.com
* Corresponding author: chineduanyanwu92@gmail.com
Abstract
Argument movement is a scrambling operation whose
properties have been elucidated and its ramifications
explored over the last couple of years within the Generative
Grammar model. Nevertheless, this scrambling operation
has continued to interest scholars particularly because of
many parametric variations that exist across languages. This
paper therefore investigates Argument movement in Kùcé, a
Niger-Congo language spoken in Bassa, Plateau State,
North-Central Nigeria, with the aim of determining the
properties of the movement operation as well as the triggers
responsible for the movement. The study employed the
qualitative research methodology, as data were sourced from
competent native speakers of Kùcé with the use of a
researcher-designed wordlist, Ibadan wordlist containing
about five hundred words, and unstructured oral interview.
The data were then subjected to descriptive content analysis.
Using the Minimalist Program (MP) as a framework, the
study found that Argument movement in raising
constructions is essentially to value the Extended Projection
Principle (EPP) feature of the superficial subject against the
strong EPP feature of subject agreement (AGRS) in a Spec
head configuration before spell out. The study also found
that arguments in ergative constructions value their Case in
relation to the verb prior to movement, which makes
movement not for Case valuation but for satisfying the
strong EPP feature of AGRS. In Verb Phrase-Internal
Subject Hypothesis, not only can the EPP features be
valued, but also the Nominative Case features of the subject
argument. However, strong EPP features essentially
constitute the trigger responsible for movement as
Nominative Case features are free riders which are valued
along with the EPP features to ensure convergence.
Keywords
Argument
Case
EPP
Features
Kùcé
Movement
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How to Cite
ANYANWU, C. .. (2022). ARGUMENT MOVEMENT IN KÙCÉ: A MINIMALIST APPROACH. Humanity - Jos Journal Of General Studies, 13(1), 22-29. https://doi.org/10.67862/hjjgs.2022.csdl5rui
C. .. ANYANWU, "ARGUMENT MOVEMENT IN KÙCÉ: A MINIMALIST APPROACH," Humanity - Jos Journal Of General Studies, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 22-29, January 2022. doi: 10.67862/hjjgs.2022.csdl5rui
