The Structure And Role Of The Determiner Phrase In Ekegusii: A Minimalist Approach

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the different DP structures and roles in Ekegusii using the Minimalist

approach. The study has three objectives, namely: to describe the structure of the DP, to

analyze the semantic roles of the DP and to establish the extent to which the DP in Ekegusii

can be accounted for using the MP. In terms of structure, we found out that the DP in

Ekegusii projects various functional projections. These include DemP, PossD and QP. Overt

noun raising was observed as the NP raises to check agreement, possessive and number

features. Other elements seen to adjoin the NP were APs, PPs and relative clauses. As for the

semantic roles, we established that the DP in Ekegusii plays various semantic roles which

include agent and theme among others. The motivation for the study stems from the

assumption that the Minimalist Program is a universal theory that can account for the

syntactic operations in all world languages. As for Ekegusii, this was the case. Also, linguists

have noted that Ekegusii is an under described minority language with relatively few

academic descriptions, something that necessitated this study. A descriptive research design

was adopted because it is best suited for it provides a picture of a phenomenon as it naturally

occurs. Data was collected firsthand by use of compositions, from already existing written

sources in Ekegusii and introspection. We used purposive sampling in the choice of the

respondents who wrote a composition as well as in choosing appropriate sentential

constructions for the study. The data obtained was analysed using the MP. The operations

move and merge was used in the analysis of the structure and roles of the DP. It is hoped that

the findings of this study will be of benefit to curriculum developers in improving existing

curriculum materials in Ekegusii, to linguists and scholars interested in Bantu linguistics it is

hoped that this study will be a useful reference.