Syntax-Semantic-Pragmatic Interface of Dholuo Anaphors

Abstract

This paper highlights Dholuo anaphors in sentences at the linguistic interface of Syntax, Semantics and Pragmatics. Linguistic research on anaphors has concerned itself with, among others, questions on the relationship between syntax, semantics and pragmatics. This study sets out to investigate the interpretation of Dholuo anaphor at the three linguistic levels, since interpretation depend on the structure of the sentence. In this paper couched in Government and Binding (GB) Theory modules (Binding Theory, Case Theory, Theta Theory) and Relevance Theory (RT), it is demonstrated that Dholuo anaphors interpretation is dependent on these three linguistic fields. The interface occurs at either two or three linguistic levels. It is argued that syntactically, Dholuo anaphors adhere to Binding Principle A by being coindexed with the antecedent and also assigned case to be grammatical. The anaphor and antecedent in grammatical sentences assume different semantic interpretations when various contexts are provided. This implies that theta role assignment changes with introduction of different context. However, some structures deemed grammatical and assigned theta roles seemed illogical. Introduction of context enhanced vivid understanding of these structures. However, to reach at the right interpretation, it is inevitable to violate the Relevance Comprehension Procedure since the utterances require a lot of effort to interprete.