Based on my newly published textbook (Swahili Grammar and Workbook, Routledge, 2014), this course will focus of some features and patterns that are typically found in African languages but are relatively rare among other languages of the world. In particular, it will address the role of animacy in the noun class system, the prominence of the noun-modifier word order, the use of object markers in the relative clause formation, the use of verb phrases in the comparative constructions, the use of nominal phrases and ideophones in adverbial or adjectival constructions, and special uses of the subjunctive in the subordinate clauses. The course will alternate lectures and discussions.

Required textbook:
Swahili Grammar and Workbook, by F. Mpiranya, Routledge, 2014