Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma

Although extensive works have been done on languages of the Nilo-Saharan family with generalizations made about the defining characteristics of their relative clauses, little can be said of this in relation to Zarma despite being a member language of the family. This paper investigates the features...

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Main Author: Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Bern Open Publishing 2025-04-01
Series:Linguistik Online
Online Access:https://bop.unibe.ch/linguistik-online/article/view/12289
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author Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
author_facet Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
author_sort Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
collection DOAJ
description Although extensive works have been done on languages of the Nilo-Saharan family with generalizations made about the defining characteristics of their relative clauses, little can be said of this in relation to Zarma despite being a member language of the family. This paper investigates the features of Zarma relative clauses using the raising approach as well as some relevant aspects of the Minimalist Program (MP). Although, Zarma relative clauses are typologically postnominal, the study shows that the language employs discrete relative clause marker different from relative pronoun just as it uses gapping and resumptive pronoun strategies. Zarma relative clauses largely follow the universal pattern though relativisation in the language does not yield Subject object verb (SOV) ordering as assumed in some literature.
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spelling doaj-art-82386f2da4b949ffb756dee1b903e7c02025-08-20T02:09:41ZdeuBern Open PublishingLinguistik Online1615-30142025-04-01135310.13092/32wjp541Internal structures of relative clause in ZarmaWaheed Ayisa Jayeola Although extensive works have been done on languages of the Nilo-Saharan family with generalizations made about the defining characteristics of their relative clauses, little can be said of this in relation to Zarma despite being a member language of the family. This paper investigates the features of Zarma relative clauses using the raising approach as well as some relevant aspects of the Minimalist Program (MP). Although, Zarma relative clauses are typologically postnominal, the study shows that the language employs discrete relative clause marker different from relative pronoun just as it uses gapping and resumptive pronoun strategies. Zarma relative clauses largely follow the universal pattern though relativisation in the language does not yield Subject object verb (SOV) ordering as assumed in some literature. https://bop.unibe.ch/linguistik-online/article/view/12289
spellingShingle Waheed Ayisa Jayeola
Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
Linguistik Online
title Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
title_full Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
title_fullStr Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
title_full_unstemmed Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
title_short Internal structures of relative clause in Zarma
title_sort internal structures of relative clause in zarma
url https://bop.unibe.ch/linguistik-online/article/view/12289
work_keys_str_mv AT waheedayisajayeola internalstructuresofrelativeclauseinzarma