( SWL 1 ) Leipzig , 5-8 August 2004 Non-canonical applicatives and focalization in Tswana
This paper examines non-canonical uses of Tswana applicative verb forms that support the hypothesis of a prototypical relationship between the syntactic role of object and the pragmatic role of focus. In its canonical use, the applicative suffix of Tswana can be defined as licensing the presence of a direct object representing a participant that cannot figur in the construction of the same verb in its non-derived form. One of the non-canonical uses of applicative verb forms examined in this paper involves no change in the valency of the verb: in Tswana, as in other Southern Bantu languages, the use of the applicative form of the verb may simply indicate the focalization of a locative complement or adjunct. This non-canonical use of applicative verb forms must be related to other facts of Tswana, and more generally of Bantu languages, suggesting that in Bantu syntax the immediate post-verbal position, grammaticalized as the obligatory position of the objects of transitive verbs, is primarily a focus position.
The contribution of African linguistics towards a general theory of focus. Update and critical review
This cross-theoretical review of the study of focus in African languages identifies a number of trends of general theoretical, typological and methodological significance concerning, for instance, the definition and extension of the category of focus' itself, the proper context in which it ought to be studied, and its systematic relationship to other constructions such as relatives. Findings formulated in terms of different theoretical frameworks, often taken to be mutually inconvertible, are shown to complement each other. A number of proposals for future research are summarized in the conclusion.
Health-care practices of the rural aged.
1. One of the primary concerns of the rural aged is the maintenance of their physical health so that they may function independently and remain in their own homes. 2. The findings of this study indicate that most older rural adults do not regularly have positive health-care practices. This may be due to the unavailability of health-care providers or health promotion programs in isolated rural areas. 3. Implications of this study include the need to make health promotion programs relevant to the concerns of the rural aged rather than those of the urban elderly.