The Morphological Strategies of Causatives in Gichuka

Abstract

Causation is a valence increasing operation that adds a causer argument, which acts upon a causee to perform an action. It involves internal changes in a word, and delights in attachment of affixes onto a word. This paper looks into specific affixes used in the Gichuka causation and the interactive patterns involved. It establishes that Gichuka utilizes both morphological and analytic means in encoding causation. Morphologically, -i- and -ith- bound morphemes suffix on the verb, while the analytic -tum-a- is used in the analytic method. Causation is highly productive in that it occurs in all the roots; transitive, intransitive and di-transitive. Besides, it occurs in adjectives and nouns, de-adjectivizing and de-nomnalizing into verbs of becoming respectively. The study was conducted in Chuka Division, Tharaka-Nithi County. Gichuka is a Language spoken by Chuka people living on the Eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya in Kenya. The paper asserts that there are two affixes used for causation in Gichuka and establishes the patterns in which they occur and are used. The findings contribute to the scholarly literature in linguistics and especially in morphology of Gichuka as an independent language. Data was collected from a sample of ten (10) Gichuka speaking persons selected purposively and supplemented by the researcher’s own intuitive knowledge of the language. It was based on self-generated tests, designed to elicit directed information. It was then analyzed using phrases, clauses and sentences based on theory of Distributed Morphology.