Abstract:
This study discusses complement clauses of verbs of speech and cognition in
Kikuyu. The aim is to look at what types of complement clauses these verbs can take.
I have achieved this by looking at some Kikuyu data, which I have collected from my
knowledge of the language as a native speaker and by using a narrative text taken
from a Kikuyu first lessons book. It will be shown that Kikuyu verbs of speech and
cognition operate like other Complement-Taking Predicates (CTP), as they allow
complementizers [but... there are some differences, e.g. it is not possible for the
subject of the embedded clause to be marked as an Object Concord marker in the
main verb if that verb is a verb of cognition]. However, this research is not exhaustive
and more work remains to be done on the subj ect.
