Making it clearer: Elaboration strategies in Gĩkũyũ, a Bantu language

Abstract

Typically, spontaneous language comprises sequences of logically joined clauses. Studies have revealed that such structures contribute to fluency in speech or writing as they reduce the use of simple structures. Simple structures have been found to make texts more disjointed. The combined clauses, which Systemic Functional linguistics calls clause complexes, are fundamentally held together by two forms of logico-semantic relations: expansion and projection. These relations are achieved through different strategies, among them conjunctive resources. An individual’s knowledge of conjunctive patterns of a language, and logico-semantic relations by extension, influences one’s selection of conjunctive resources. This article aims at exploring the logico-semantic relation of elaboration, a mode of expansion, in Gĩkũyũ clause complexes. Its data, Gĩkũyũ clause complexes, were purposively sampled majorly from spoken and written sources. The findings reveal different categories of paratactic and hypotactic elaboration in Gĩkũyũ. The different categories were found to employ varied elaboration strategies such as overt conjunctive expressions that mark certain relations, acting as linkers and binders in the clause complexes. The strategies are significant in promoting communicative competence as they have previously been noted to contribute to cohesion in Gĩkũyũ texts.