A Lexical Functional Grammar description of the Setswana complex sentence

Abstract

This dissertation provides a detailed analysis of Setswana complex sentences through the Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) framework, contextualised by an exploration of Setswana as a Bantu language, its sentence types, and the role of mood in sentence structure. The study includes a historical overview of LFG's seminal and foundational works, emphasising the framework's application to Setswana and other Bantu languages. Existing sources on Setswana and Sepedi grammar are examined, with a focus on the treatment of complex sentences. Key concepts of LFG, including constituent (c-) structure and functional (f-) structure as parallel syntactic representations, are discussed in depth. The c-structure outlines constituent order and grouping, while the f-structure captures functional information. This study explains the interrelation between c-structure and f-structure through f-descriptions and the mapping function φ, with lexical entries providing essential f-structure information for the terminal nodes in the cstructure tree. In Setswana complex sentences, which feature an independent main clause and a subordinate clause, c-structure rules and trees are developed to represent these structures and the clauses that form them. An LFG-based analysis of Setswana complex sentences is presented regarding the representation of the f-structures of these sentences. The study explores how word categories and their distinctive features interact within Setswana's syntax and examines how grammatical functions are assigned and interpreted. By detailing main and subordinate clauses with annotated attribute value matrices (AVMs), the study constructs a comprehensive f-structure for Setswana complex sentences. This work contributes a novel syntactic description of Setswana, with implications for further linguistic, theoretical, and applied research.