Object-sharing as symmetric sharing : predicate clefting and serial verb constructions in Kusaal

Abstract

This research investigates object-sharing in Serial Verb Constructions in Kusaal, a Gur language spoken in Ghana. In an attempt to investigate whether the object in object sharing SVCs in the said language can be said to be symmetrically shared as in the case of Dagaare, (Hiraiwa and Bodomo 2008), it is observed that the object in object sharing SVCs interacts with Predicate Cleft Constructions in a way similar to what happens in Dagaare. Data from this language reveals several patterns of predicate cleft constructions alongside object pied-piping. All the patterns observed are again realised to be consistent with what happens in Dagaare. As a result, it is argued that the object in object sharing SVCs in Kusaal is symmetrically shared. Building on the works of Citko (2005), and Hiraiwa and Bodomo (2008), symmetric sharing in Kusaal is argued to be an instance of Parallel Merge. This, as indicated by Hiraiwa and Bodomo, “provides support to Baker’s (1989) insight of Double-Headedness and against Collins’ (1997) VP-shell structure with a pro”. Instances of object sharing as symmetric sharing are quite rare in languages. Kusaal is therefore argued to provide further evidence to the observation of Hiraiwa and Bodomo (2008) with data from Dagaare “for a permissible structure of object sharing SVCs and the availability of symmetric structure in UG” Hiraiwa and Bodomo (2008).