Patterns of Agreement in Gitigania

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the forms of agreement in Gí®tigania. The purpose of the study is to provide detailed patterns of agreement in Gí®tigania as hitherto, no studies to explain the syntax of Gí®tigania agreement are documented in the language. I demonstrate that there is subject-verb, verb-object and noun modifier agreement in Gí®tigania. Morphological marking in Gí®tigania is pre-stem. Subject marking is obligatory whether the subject noun phrase is overtly present or not, while object marking is optional. In conventional use, the object marker does not co-occur in the same sentence with the direct object noun phrase. If a sentence has got both the direct and the indirect object in Gí®tigania, agreement is usually with the indirect object but not the direct one. There is also noun-modifier agreement in Gí®tigania.I also show that most object markers have the same morphological shape as the corresponding subject markers but are distinguished by their position in the verbal template.