On the Reciprocal in Ndebele

Abstract

This article presents an analysis of the reciprocal extension in the Ndebele language (S.44, ISO 639-3 nde; not to be confused with South African Ndebele, S.407, ISO 639-3nbl) using the apparatus of the Lexical Functional Grammar’s Lexical Mapping Theory. The reciprocal in Ndebele, like in most Bantu languages, is clearly marked by the verbal suffix an-. Its typical properties are that the subject NP must be plural or alternatively must be a coordinate structure and that it is an argument changing verbal extension. This article will demonstrate that in Ndebele the reciprocal verb can take the direct object. It will further show that the reciprocal in Ndebele can co-occur with the passive and finally the paper will show that the notion of transitivity is not so straightforward both at syntactic and semantic levels when viewed in the context of certain reciprocal constructions.