Subject nominalizations in Ewe (Kwa) and Oshiwambo (Bantu)

Based on a survey of 78 languages, Baker & Vinokurova (2009) conclude that agent/subject nominalizations (e.g., a seller of books) lack several verbal properties. These properties include negation (NegP) and tense (TP). Baker & Vinokurova further assume that subject nominalizations are rare cross-linguistically. Drawing evidence from scope, NPI-licensing, and temporal adverbs, I show that NegP can be realized in Ewe (Kwa) subject nominalizations (Gotah & Lee, 2024) and that TP can be realized in Oshiwambo (Bantu) subject nominalizations (Lee & Ndapo, In prep). I argue that subject nominalizations can be more articulated in syntactic size than previously assumed in the literature and that parallels can be drawn between the nominal domain and the clausal domain (Alexiadou & Schäfer 2010, among others). I also highlight that subject nominalizations are not rare, especially when a number of Bantu languages are given consideration (see Mchombo 2004 and Mletshe 2010).