Phasal Polarity Systems in East Bantu

Abstract: This study explores a category of expressions akin to not yet, already, still and no longer, called Phasal Polarity (PhP) expressions. They encode the domains of phasal values, polarity and speaker expectations and have previously been described in European languages (van der Auwera 1998) and in a small, genealogically diverse sample (van Baar 1997). Using reference grammars as the primary source of information, the aim of this crosslinguistic study is to describe PhP expressions in a sample of East Bantu languages. It is found that the distribution and behaviour of PhP expressions in East Bantu differ from both European languages and the genetically diverse sample of van Baar. The markers are found to be morphologically diverse and of varied crosslinguistic frequency. Furthermore, the verbal morphotax indicates that the markers are, or are in the process of, being incorporated into the tense-aspect systems of their respective language.