VP Shells and Argument Structure in Lubukusu: A Syntactic Analysis

This monograph is about the application of Chomsky's (1995) Minimalism program together with the VP Shell Hypothesis on Lubukusu verbs. The point is Lubukusu verbal arguments are morphologically initiated hence posing a challenge of fitting in the limited positions available in the VP Shell structure proposed by Larson (1988). From the outset of data analysis, it is found out that the VP Shell Structure proves futile to Lubukusu predicates thereby forcing the study to come up with an alternative solution. The study proposes the application of the verbal feature theory instead of the VP Shell theory since Lubukusu (Bantu) predicates yield morphological arguments in form of the numerous verbal extensions that require their own head positions in the structure. In the end, it is concluded that the light verb in the VP Shell Hypothesis is replaced with a verbal feature/ voice in Lubukusu.