Gur Language Research Articles

Moraic tone-bearing units in Kabiye

This article provides evidence that the mora, rather than the syllable, is the tone-bearing unit in Kabiye, an Eastern Gurunsi Gur language of Togo. After presenting the phoneme inventory and a brief overview of the tone system, the concept of phonological weight is introduced in order to precisely characterise the mora and the syllable in this language, as well as the relationship between them. Two observations provide evidence in favour of the mora as the tone-bearing unit: first, contour tones are licenced on heavy syllables but not on light ones; second, tonal processes are sensitive to a unit smaller than the syllable, such that the second constituent of a heavy syllable operates with a degree of independence relative to the first. These observations are explored in four phonological domains: association of the LHL tone pattern, association of two-tone patterns, L tone spreading, and vocalic elision. Two post-lexical processes — contour realignment and HLH plateauing — provide putative evidence of the syllable as tone-bearing unit, but even in these cases, a moraic account is ultimately judged to be preferable.

Syntax of reduplication and negative-polarity items in Buli

Negative-polarity items in Buli, a Mabia (Gur) language spoken in Ghana, exhibit a mixed behavior between NCIs and NPIs (or between strong NPIs and weak NPIs). Thus, Buli presents a counterexample to Vallduvı's generalization that negative-polarity items come in two kinds. Adopting and extending the framework of Collins & Postal (2014) and Collins et al. (2017), we will show that the apparently mysterious mixed behavior of negative-polarity items in Buli can be explained by articulating an unary-NEG structure and syntax of reduplication.

When Gur class markers are absent: suffix omission in Natioro

The paper deals with the morphology of class marking in Natioro, an underdescribed Gur language spoken in several villages of Burkina Faso. In Natioro, class markers (which are a typical feature of Gur languages) are frequently omitted in many contexts, such as genitive constructions, as well as NPs modified by adjectives, numerals, and quantifiers. In the paper, I will focus on the morphological (rather than semantic) properties of these constructions. I will show that noun stems occurring in constructions with omitted class markers can be regarded as instances of incorporation. Particular attention will be given to adjectival incorporation. In Natioro, there are two types of adjectival constructions, which can be distinguished by the nature of the stems involved. I will argue that some of the incorporated constructions are derived by merging a noun with a non-inflected adjective, whereas others can be regarded as full-fledged adjectives that incorporate noun stems. Some parallels between the constructions of the latter type and constructions with relational nouns are discussed as well.

Resonating embodiment

The Safaliba are an Indigenous Ghanaian ethnolinguistic group of 7,000–9,000 people (Sherris, Schaefer and Mango Aworo, 2019). They mostly inhabit their traditional lands in a rural area of Ghana’s Savannah Region. There are seven towns and villages where Safaliba (the name of both their language and themselves as a people) is a dominant communicative language resource, as well as another seven towns where Safaliba as a communicative language resource is subordinate (see Fig. 1) to approximately eleven additional Indigenous Ghanaian languages (e.g., Birifor, Choruba, Dagaare, Deg, Gonja, Jula, Kamara, Lobiri, Siti, Vagla, and Waali). Safaliba is a Gur language with an expanding and vibrant, although small, grassroots literacy activity in five government primary schools, two private primary schools, and one informal adult education program. Safaliba storytellers, poets, and teenagers in the communities are using the language in booklets, newsletters, and in some experimental attempts at Safaliba Hip Hop. The purpose of this paper is to document Safaliba metaphors that have as their source domain the human body and their target domain everyday human interactions. We argue that these target domains, although abstract, transform the limits of embodiment and thereby resonate with similar materiality. For instance, if we look at the verb phrase le o? baya poo, which literally means /fall between someone’s legs/, in conceptual metaphor theory that would be the source domain. Its target domain is its figurative meaning, which for the Safaliba is /to beg someone for help or something/. The target domain resonates with components of the original embodied state of something or someone falling between the legs of another, yet is transformed to mean, metaphorically, an abstraction – to supplicate, beg, plead. Another example would be dibi nye?a, which as a source domain means /press chest/, and its target domain is the figurative /console, comfort/.

The acquisition of English articles among L1 Dagbani L2 English learners

AbstractThis study investigates the acquisition of articles in L2 English by L1 speakers of Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in Ghana. Dagbani differs from English in that it has two definite articles, no indefinite article, and a zero-article which may express definiteness, indefiniteness as well as genericity. The study consisted of a Forced-choice task (FCT) and an Acceptability judgement task (AJT) which were administered to Dagbani teenagers with an intermediate proficiency in English (n = 45) and a group of native English speakers as controls (n = 8). The results showed that the learners’ article choice was based on definiteness, not specificity (i.e., no fluctuation between the two) and that they had slightly more problems with indefinite than definite contexts, while generic contexts were the most problematic. Except for a certain task effect as well as a possible interference of instruction (in the FCT), the results can be argued to generally be due to influence from the L1 and to the difficulty of feature reassembly.

Nasality in Dagbani prosody

Abstract This paper presents a detailed analysis of nasality in Dagbani, a Gur language of Ghana, and the role it plays in Dagbani prosody. It demonstrates that the nasal is at the centre of defining the range of what is possible in Dagbani prosodic patterns. Nasals provide the basis for determining the full range of syllable types and the tone bearing unit of Dagbani; nasals are the only coda consonants that licence vowel lengthening; and nasals provide the only cases of phonological non-vocalic geminates. The overall effects of the influence of nasality is the emergence of complex prosodic structures. Contrary to the crosslinguistically acclaimed marked position of the coda, the CVN syllable is the default, unmarked syllable in Dagbani.

Adjectives in Likpakpaln (Konkomba): Structural and Areal-Typological Aspects

Likpakpaln is a little-described Mabia (Gur) language of northern Ghana. Drawing on primary data, this first study of adjectives in Likpakpaln concludes that the language has a small, closed adjective class of about 20 members that shares grammatical properties with nouns and verbs to varying degrees. Contrary to what is the case in other Mabia languages, Likpakpaln adjectives lack inherent class markers. We identify three types of adjectives, distinguishable from nouns and verbs on morpho-syntactic and semantic grounds. Type 1 items lean towards nouns and never function as predicates of verbal clauses. Type 2 consists of one item, possibly a loan, and appears in a predicate adjective construction typical of languages with large adjective classes. Type 3 adjectives lean towards verbs and may form the predicate of verbal clauses. An understanding of Likpakpaln adjectives can contribute to refining our current knowledge of the genetic and typological position of Likpakpaln in the Mabia family.

The phonological structure of English borrowed words in Dagbani

This article examines the phonological processes and phonological structures that characterise words that are borrowed from English into Dagbani, a Gur language with a dominant CV syllable structure. The syllable is used as a descriptive tool in the accounts of the phonological difference of the borrowed words between English as the source language and Dagbani as the receiving language. The data used in this article shows that there is a strong influence of Dagbani on the pronunciation of English borrowed words as seen in examples like pᴐŋlɨ ‘pound’, masa ‘master’, fa:ɾa ‘father’, lo:ɾi ‘lorry’, pi:sɨlɨ ‘pistol’ and po:sɨ ‘post’. The results indicate that vowels are inserted between consonant clusters in English borrowed words at the onset of a syllable. The article suggests that the phonological differences that characterise the borrowed words when subjected to the phonotactics of Dagbani is the insertion of /ɨ/ and /ʊ/ to reshape the borrowed words. This is fundamental to the process of borrowing words into Dagbani. Evidence of phonological structures of loanwords existence in Dagbani confirms the explanation of the theory of loanword phonology in Gur languages, giving the basis for theoretical explanations in borrowing or loaning words from one language to the other.

Variations of [ɾ] in Dagbani female names

The article examines the sociolinguistic variations of the alveolar tap [ɾ] in Dagbani female names, a Gur language spoken in the northern part of Ghana. It focuses on how the language is losing the pronunciation of the alveolar lateral /l/ in some female names through sound substitution. The sound [ɾ] does not occur in word-initial position in Dagbani, but it is currently prominent in the pronunciation of some Dagbani female names. The article shows that the pronunciation of the alveolar tap [ɾ] in Dagbani speech communities provides the complexity of linguistic variation and language change. It also reveals that while the alveolar lateral /l/ variety is the prestigious form in Dagbani, the alveolar tap [ɾ] variety is spreading due to the Arabic education in the area. The article supports the Labovian paradigm and presents quantitative analysis of the data. The article suggests that the alveolar tap [ɾ] is frequent in the speech of the younger generation, while the alveolar lateral /l/ is frequent in the speech of the older generation.

Marking Exhaustivity in Dagbanli

The paper examines the semantics of the so-called focus particle ko as an exhaustive focus marker which expresses exhaustive identification in Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in Ghana. The paper argues that ko expresses exhaustivity in both in situ and ex situ when it occurs in a focus sentence. The paper explores ko as an operator expressing exhaustive focus on constituents and examines exhaustivity of ko as a pragmatic inference giving specific meaning to it. It shows that the particle only occurs in exhaustive focus environments in the language and focuses on both non-subject constituents and subject constituents. The paper argues that Dagbani expresses exhaustive identification in ex-situ and in-situ with evidence to show that the construction of Dagbani is established as monoclausal. The available data show that ko exhaustively marks objects constituents in post-verbal position and subjects in pre-verbal position. Finally, it shows that ko can co-occur with the Dagbani focus markers [ka, n, la] in ex-situ. The paper employs standard tests for exhaustivity using mainly Kiss’s (1998) and test of exhaustivity developed by Szabolcsi (1981).

Asymmetries in the phonological behaviour of Dagbani place features: Implications for markedness

It has been observed in phonological studies that phonological processes often apply to place features in asymmetrical ways. Certain processes may affect only one of the place features, others may affect all but one place feature. This paper analyses various asymmetrical phonological patterns in Dagbani, a Gur language of Ghana. It shows that while the dorsal place is the target of most processes that lead to the loss of underlying place features, the labial and coronal places are targets of processes that enhance underlying place specifications. Labial-dorsals [kp, ɡb, ŋm] also surface in patterns of neutralisation with dorsals. Evidence from both diachronic and synchronic sound patterns suggest active sound changes in progress with the labial-dorsals being preferred to plain dorsals. The paper discusses the implication of these findings for the understanding of the theory of markedness and questions the widely held view of segmental complexity as a markedness diagnostic.

A comparative syntax of internally-headed relative clauses in Gur

Gur (or Mabia) languages which are spoken in West Africa have so-called internally-headed relative clauses (IHRCs), but they have not received serious attention in syntactic and typological research on IHRCs. In this article, building on detailed first-hand data, we describe the syntax and semantics of IHRCs in five Gur languages: Buli, Dagaare, Dagbani, Gurene, and Kabiyé. It is demonstrated that their IHRCs refute the syntactic and semantic generalizations proposed in the literature (Gorbet 1976; Cole 1987; Grosu 2002; Watanabe 1991; 2004). We also compare IHRCs in Gur and Japanese and argue that the existing semantic typology of IHRCs must be reconsidered, showing that properties of two types of IHRCs—restrictive and maximalizing IHRCS—do not necessarily show predicated correlations.This article is part of the special collection: Internally-headed Relative Clauses

Patterns of Relative Clauses in Dagbanli

The article examines the patterns of relative clauses in Dagbanli, a Gur language spoken in northern part of Ghana. It focuses on a range of possible RC patterns, and presents a coherent classification using Vries’s model of RC types. The article argues that Dagbanli has two RC types which are characterized by shared features so “indefinite pronoun” that forms a compound with the nominal root, and maa or la “clause-final determiner.” The first RC type is restricted to cases in which the antecedent has subject function within the RC, and the other RC type occurs only with nonsubjects as relativized head making use of postsubjectival particle ni to mark subordinated clauses. It is proposed that Dagbanli has a postnominal word order of N . . . RC . . . D and allows D-type ([[Subj V Obj] D] RC) in-situ HIRC (Head Internal Relative Clause) as well HERC (Head External Relative Clause). It also presents ŋun “who” and ni “which” as question particles that are used to introduce relative clauses in Dagbanli.

Conjoint and disjoint verb alternations in Dagbani

The goal of this paper is to understand the nature and functions of aspectual suffixes of Dagbani, a language belonging to the South-Western languages of the Western Oti-Volta subgroup of the Gur group of languages. The paper considers the morphology of the verb and how it may be correlated with readily observable syntactic features of the language such as the presence or absence of certain arguments. The aspectual suffixes have different realisations which call for the presence or absence of certain structural arguments such as NP complements and adjuncts referred to as conjoint (CJ) and disjoint (DJ) verb forms respectively. I also propose three accounts in an attempt to account for the function(s) of the conjoint and disjoint alternations: the incorporated pronoun hypothesis, the medio-passive hypothesis, and the focus hypothesis, and conclude that the CJ/DJ forms are directly correlated with focus. It is concluded then that the CJ form correlates with focus on post-verbal materials, while the DJ focuses on the verb. The paper also discusses certain post-verbal particles whose distribution is affected by the aspectual markers. I give the paper a comparative flavour by drawing data from other languages of the Oti-Volta subgroup (excluding the Eastern languages) to buttress my claim based on empirical evidence that the phenomenon discussed is quite pervasive in this subgroup of Gur languages. The analysis is basically from a theory-neutral perspective. I conclude that the interaction between the aspectual suffixes and the sentence structure of Dagbani is (at least superficially) very similar to the so-called ‘short/long’ or ‘conjunctive/disjunctive’ verb which has been argued to be phenomenal in a number of Bantu languages. Keywords: Dagbani, aspect, sentence structure, conjoint, disjoint, focus hypothesis, Gur

Word tone and tonal overwriting in Kabiye nouns

AbstractThis paper presents a re-analysis of the tone of Kabiye nouns. It focuses on two tonal phenomena that have apparently not been reported elsewhere in Gur languages: root melodies associating to whole words and tonal overwriting. All singular suffixes are analyzed as being underlyingly toneless and receiving their surface tone by means of the root melody associating to the entire word, as though blind to the morpheme boundary. Association of tones to trimoraic words is dealt with by positing that the OCP is inactive. The non-singular (plural, collective and liquid) suffixes – with one exception – are underlyingly HL. The analysis of these forms distinguishes between non-overwriting suffixes, in which the word level tone is merely the sum of its parts, and overwriting suffixes, in which the tone of the suffix overwrites the final tone(s) of the root melody.

Neither Deep nor Shallow: A Classroom Experiment Testing the Orthographic Depth of Tone Marking in Kabiye (Togo).

The experiment reported here tests the Lexical Orthography Hypothesis, that is, the notion that the output of the lexical phonology is the most promising phonological depth for an exhaustive representation of tone by means of diacritics in the orthography of atone language. We conducted a controlled classroom experiment with 97 secondary school pupils learning written Kabiye, a Gur language of northern Togo. After testing their baseline skills in writing the standard orthography, the pupils participated in an eleven-hour transition course spread over three weeks in four parallel groups: DEEP (an experimental orthography representing the input of the lexical phonology), LEXICAL (representing the output of the lexical phonology), PHONEMIC (representing a level between the output of the lexical phonology and the output of the post-lexical phonology), and a control group. On the final day of the experiment, we tested their acquired skills in a dictation exercise. The results show that the LEXICAL group outperforms the other groups in three of the error types associated with adding diacritics, although they performed less well on the error type associated with writing long vowels. This initial evidence supporting the Lexical Orthography Hypothesis needs confirmation with reading and writing experiments on a variety of other tone languages.

What is the Phonological Word in Dagbani? A Positional Faithfulness Account

This paper offers a phonological diagnostic for defining the word in Dagbani, a Gur language of Ghana. It shows that a morphological unit that constitutes a complete word blocks contrast-neutralising phonological processes from target segments within its boundaries when triggered across its boundary. In sub-word units, these processes (e.g. nasal place assimilation, vowel harmony, segmental deletion) apply to target sounds without restrictions. The result is the maintenance of contrast in words and neutralisation of contrast in sub-words. The paper further argues that the asymmetrical application of these rules is an indication of a morphological strength distinction between the word as a strong position where segments are fully specified for phonological features, and the sub-word domain as a non-privileged position where segments may be underspecified for features. A formal analysis of the asymmetry is presented using the theory of positional faithfulness within the framework of Optimality Theory.Keywords: Dagbani, nasal place assimilation, vowel harmony, underspecifiation, positional faithfulness

ATR] feature involves a distinct tongue root articulation: Evidence from ultrasound imaging

The feature [ATR] (Advanced Tongue Root) assumes a unique role of the tongue root in the production of [±ATR] vowels. However, whether the actual position of the tongue root accurately characterises vowel pairs distinguished by this feature has attracted some controversy. This paper tests the hypothesis that the [ATR] specification of a vowel maps onto a definite articulatory position of the tongue root. It further investigates whether such a mapping reflects which of the values of [ATR] is dominant in a language. The results of five ultrasound imaging experiments using Dagbani, a Gur language of Ghana, show that [+ATR] vowels of all height specifications are produced with a more anterior tongue root than [−ATR] vowels. They also show that tongue body height, a plausible alternative to tongue root position, does not consistently define the distinction. More importantly, the results show that vowels specified for [+ATR], the dominant value in Dagbani, are produced with a tongue root anterior displacement from a neutral position while the recessive [−ATR] vowels have variable tongue root positions. The results support a direct mapping between the phonological feature [ATR] and the articulatory gestures producing it.

The Function of the Post Verbal la in Dagbani

This paper investigates the function(s) of the post verbal particle la in Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in Northern Ghana. I contend that the particle marks neither imperfective aspect nor contrastive focus on NP objects and adjuncts, as suggested by earlier researchers. Here, I refine the existing analyses and put forth an alternative proposal in which the particle la marks presentational focus. I suggest that la could mark presentational focus on NP complements, adjuncts or the entire VP. I demonstrate that full NPs follow la, while object pronouns precede it, suggesting that object pronouns either undergo object shift or are syntactically bound to the verb. I also discuss ka and n, which have been proposed to have functions similar to la. More information on the interaction of these elements will be relevant for the understanding of the latter’s function. I further show that there is co-occurrence restrictions between ka/n and post verbal la, as has been claimed by earlier research. I show that although we can have la that co-occurs with the focus markers ka/n, that la is probably a deictic discourse particle and not the presentational focus marker. I propose that when the deictic la co-occurs with ka/n, it appears only clause finally. I conclude that the use or non-use of the post verbal la is due to discourse-pragmatic considerations.

Elision in Dagbani

This paper gives an account of elision in Dagbani, a Gur language spoken in the Northern Region of Ghana. The analysis is done using autosegmental phonology as an analytical tool. I show that elision is a prominent syllable structure process in Dagbani. I further demonstrate that there are several morphological phenomena that motivate elision: identified to be compounding involving noun-noun, noun-adjective and a few verb-verb compounds. The other environment in which elision is found to be productive in the language is in plural formation. The paper shows that the segments that are affected by this elision process may include a vowel, a nasal consonant or an entire syllable. The paper demonstrates that elision in Dagbani which occurs at word boundaries is always leftward elision and never to the right; and that the intervening segments to the right are consonants and not vowels as it has always been for most languages. I observe that whereas elision is entirely a morpho-phonological phenomenon since its occurrence is motivated by both phonological and morphological considerations. I argue that elision in Dagbani is motivated by both phonological and morphological factors. The paper concludes based on these evidences that there is an interface between the phonology and morphology of Dagbani when accounting for elision in the language .