The syntax of interjections in isiXhosa: A corpus-driven study

Keywords: African languages, isiXhosa, interjections, syntax, comics, extra-systematicity

Abstract

This paper examines the syntactic properties of interjections in isiXhosa and their compliance with the interjectional prototype and its extra-systematicity as postulated in linguistic typology. By reviewing nearly two thousand uses of interjections in the comic genre, the authors conclude the following: in its integrity, the category of interjections is internally complex and diversified, containing members with varying degrees of canonicity and extra-systematicity. Although in various uses interjections comply with the interjectional prototype, and being extra-systematic in many others, their canonicity and extra-systematicity are significantly lower.

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Published
2019-12-18
How to Cite
Andrason, A., & Matutu, H. (2019). The syntax of interjections in isiXhosa: A corpus-driven study. Stellenbosch Papers in Linguistics Plus, 58, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.5842/58-0-833