Object marking in Swahili is topic agreement

Abstract: This paper discusses object marking in Swahili, a Bantu language. After presenting the contexts in which object marking is optional and obligatory, respectively, it is shown that it is the information structural status of the object that determines the presence of the object marker. If the object is Given, the object agreement marker is present. This is derived via assuming the presence of a Topic head in the left periphery of the vP, in which a topic feature is bundled with phi-features. This head then enters into an agree relation with the Given object, suggesting that the object marker in Swahili is the result of agreement and not a clitic co-referent with the object.