15 Associated motion in Bantu languages

Abstract

Associated motion (AM) is not a widely used term in literature on Bantu languages. However, on the basis of a set of 55 Bantu languages, all of which have markers for associated motion, this chapter makes a case that the grammatical category of AM is indeed robustly attested throughout this language family. The chapter offers a comparative-typological survey of the encoding of associated motion in Bantu, and constitutes the first systematic examination of the category in this language family. It considers the morphological and semantic features of AM, their geographic distribution and how many AM distinctions are encoded in the languages. Further variation is also considered in relation to: i) the grammatical function of the moving figure, ii) the order of the main event and the motion co-event, iii) the restriction of markers to specific Tense-Aspect-Mood constructions, and iv) additional semantic developments associated with AM markers. By developing a small-scale typology of AM across the Bantu language family, this chapter contributes to the emerging typology of the AM category in the world’s languages, as well as to our understanding of this category in Bantu.

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