Project B03 in SFB 1629 NegLaB, DFG, 2024-2027
PI: Katharina Hartmann & Johannes Mursell (Frankfurt)
In this project, we investigate the interactions of negation with other functional elements at different levels of the clause. In order to do so, we focus on two languages families of the Niger-Congo Phylum, the Bantu and the Mabia languages, as these show a very rich functional morphology and therefore predictably a large number of interactions. Based on fieldwork in Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, we will investigate interactions of negation with, among other categories, tense, aspect, and mood marking, as well as imperatives. The expected systematic nature of these interactions will inform our understanding not just of negation and its different components, but also of the syntax of these understudied languages more generally.