This collection of papers offers a description of voice through verbal extensions in nine Bantu languages spoken in Cameroon, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Rwanda. The languages in question are Bafut, La’mnso, Kom, Isangu, Ngiemboon, Ngwe, Havu, Duala and Kinyarwanda. For all papers data were collected on the basis of the same questionnaire and the same theorical basis. Most work on this subject deals with morphologic aspect of the voice in Bantu languages ; this volume attempts to include a morphosyntactic issue whereby voice is viewed broadly as comprising all the morphological procedures which, operating on the level of the verb, are in relation to the semantic roles attributed to subject and object. The study of voice here presupposes a consideration of the systematic relationships which can exist in a language, between verb morphology and the semantic roles attributed to subject and object. (for more information, please see the LINCOM webshop : lincom.at).

Contents: Chapter 1 : Bantu verbal extensions : a historical perspective Chapter 2 : A morphophonemic study of Verbal extensions in Bafut (Grassfields) Chapter 3 : Verbal extensions in La'mnso (Grassfields) Chapter 4 : Voice through Verbal extensions in Isangu (B 40) Chapter 5 : Verbal extensions in Kom (Grassfields) Chapter 6 : Les extensions verbales en NguiembOOn (Grassfields) Chapter 7 : Le système des extensions verbales en Kinyarwanda (J. 60) Chapter 8 : Verbal extensions in Ngwe (Grassfields) Chapter 9 : Le système des extensions verbales en Havu (J. 50) Chapter 10 : Le système des extensions verbales en Duala (A 20)