The study focused on Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in Kagera region in Tanzania. The study was specifically conducted at Katera village found at Kyerwa district in Kagera region. The study drew inspiration from Burzio’s Generalization Approach focusing on Intransitive Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. It employed a qualitative research approach to explore complex data, to gain insight into people's experiences about unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to select informants. In this study, the target population were all native speakers of Runyambo from whom the sample of 4 was selected to represent others to come up with information needed. Data collection methods included sentence questionnaires and extraction from written materials. The data were analyzed descriptively using thematic analysis and tree diagrams. Tree diagrams are typically used to express the phrase structure in all versions of Transformational Grammar (TG), and to show the relationship between the D- Structure and S-Structure of the sentence and all NPs movements at the S-Structure. The findings reveal that in Runyambo, there are intransitive verbs which have a status of unaccusative verbs. They are known as intransitive unaccusative verbs because they cannot assign external theta role as well as accusative case. They do not possess an external argument at D-S. Intransitive unaccusative verbs carry only internal argument at D-S. They have the same features presented by Burzio’s Generalization Approach in verbs 3. The researcher recommends more studies to be conducted on the other Bantu language and non-Bantu language.
| Published in | International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 13, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11 |
| Page(s) | 118-127 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Unaccusative Verbs, NP Movement, Theta Role, Structural Case, Argument
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APA Style
Cyprian, L., Mpobela, L., Tibategeza, E. (2025). Unaccusative Verbs in Runyambo: Burzio’s Generalization Approach. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 13(3), 118-127. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11
ACS Style
Cyprian, L.; Mpobela, L.; Tibategeza, E. Unaccusative Verbs in Runyambo: Burzio’s Generalization Approach. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2025, 13(3), 118-127. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11,
author = {Leticia Cyprian and Lea Mpobela and Eustard Tibategeza},
title = {Unaccusative Verbs in Runyambo: Burzio’s Generalization Approach
},
journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
volume = {13},
number = {3},
pages = {118-127},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20251303.11},
abstract = {The study focused on Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in Kagera region in Tanzania. The study was specifically conducted at Katera village found at Kyerwa district in Kagera region. The study drew inspiration from Burzio’s Generalization Approach focusing on Intransitive Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. It employed a qualitative research approach to explore complex data, to gain insight into people's experiences about unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to select informants. In this study, the target population were all native speakers of Runyambo from whom the sample of 4 was selected to represent others to come up with information needed. Data collection methods included sentence questionnaires and extraction from written materials. The data were analyzed descriptively using thematic analysis and tree diagrams. Tree diagrams are typically used to express the phrase structure in all versions of Transformational Grammar (TG), and to show the relationship between the D- Structure and S-Structure of the sentence and all NPs movements at the S-Structure. The findings reveal that in Runyambo, there are intransitive verbs which have a status of unaccusative verbs. They are known as intransitive unaccusative verbs because they cannot assign external theta role as well as accusative case. They do not possess an external argument at D-S. Intransitive unaccusative verbs carry only internal argument at D-S. They have the same features presented by Burzio’s Generalization Approach in verbs 3. The researcher recommends more studies to be conducted on the other Bantu language and non-Bantu language.
},
year = {2025}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Unaccusative Verbs in Runyambo: Burzio’s Generalization Approach AU - Leticia Cyprian AU - Lea Mpobela AU - Eustard Tibategeza Y1 - 2025/05/09 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11 T2 - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JF - International Journal of Language and Linguistics JO - International Journal of Language and Linguistics SP - 118 EP - 127 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2330-0221 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20251303.11 AB - The study focused on Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo, a Bantu language spoken in Kagera region in Tanzania. The study was specifically conducted at Katera village found at Kyerwa district in Kagera region. The study drew inspiration from Burzio’s Generalization Approach focusing on Intransitive Unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. It employed a qualitative research approach to explore complex data, to gain insight into people's experiences about unaccusative verbs in Runyambo. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used to select informants. In this study, the target population were all native speakers of Runyambo from whom the sample of 4 was selected to represent others to come up with information needed. Data collection methods included sentence questionnaires and extraction from written materials. The data were analyzed descriptively using thematic analysis and tree diagrams. Tree diagrams are typically used to express the phrase structure in all versions of Transformational Grammar (TG), and to show the relationship between the D- Structure and S-Structure of the sentence and all NPs movements at the S-Structure. The findings reveal that in Runyambo, there are intransitive verbs which have a status of unaccusative verbs. They are known as intransitive unaccusative verbs because they cannot assign external theta role as well as accusative case. They do not possess an external argument at D-S. Intransitive unaccusative verbs carry only internal argument at D-S. They have the same features presented by Burzio’s Generalization Approach in verbs 3. The researcher recommends more studies to be conducted on the other Bantu language and non-Bantu language. VL - 13 IS - 3 ER -
Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania
Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania
Department of Languages and Linguistics, School of Education, St. Augustine University of Tanzania, Mwanza, Tanzania
