International Journal of Language & Linguistics

Ekegusii DP and its Sentential Symmetry: A Minimalist Inquiry
Nobert Ombati Basweti, Elizabeth A. Achola, David Barasa, James Nyachae Michira

Abstract
This paper hypothesizes that the Ekegusii sentential agreement has a symmetrical relationship with the Ekegusii Determiner Phrase internal concord; and that the feature checking theory and full interpretation (FI) in the Minimalist Program (MP) can adequately analyse the internal structure of the Ekegusii DP. It aims at studying concord in the Ekegusii DP in order to determine its syntactic function; and to find out the relationship between the agreement pattern in the Ekegusii sentence (INFL) and the concord of the Ekegusii DP. The paper thus examines the nominal structure of Ekegusii, highlighting the noun class system and concord between the noun and its modifiers. It concludes that the principles of feature checking and FI in the MP are mutually crucial in ensuring that Ekegusii constructions (DP and sentence) are grammatical (converge). In a sentence, case features are checked by noun movement and tense features are checked by verb movement. (Feature checking, full interpretation, concord, Ekegusii, determiner phrase, sentential symmetry, Minimalist program)

Full Text: PDF