<研究論文>スワヒリ語マクンドゥチ方言のコピュラ[主語接辞-wa] について

Abstract

The Kimakunduchi (Kikae) dialect is a regional variety of Swahili spoken in the southern part of Unguja, the largest island of the Zanzibar archipelago. There is a copula [Subject Marker-wa] in this dialect. This copulative element is used in neither Standard Swahili nor the Kiunguja dialect, which are regarded as prestigious dialects of Swahili. In this paper, I discuss the following three topics regarding this copulative element. 1. The use of the [Subject Marker-wa] copula is mostly restricted to 'predicational sentences'. 2. The form [Subject Marker-wa] is analyzed as a 'Perfect' verb form, but differs from the 'Perfect' of other verbs in temporality. 3. It is highly probable that [Subject Marker-wa] is a grammaticalized existential verb.