Kwa Language Research Articles

Semantic extensions of tu ‘to uproot’/‘to pull out’ in Nzema discourse

Nzema refers to both the language and the people who speak it. The language is spoken predominantly among the people who occupy the South-west part of the Western Region of Ghana as well as some parts of Côte d’Ivoire (Annan, 1980, 1994). Nzema forms part of the Niger-Congo Kwa language family. Many studies across languages have had their focus on the basic and extended usages of ‘eat’ and ‘drink’ (ingestion) verbs. Among such studies are Prins (1993), Newman (1997), Atintono and Adjei (2008), Aikhenvald (2009), Adjei (2013), Agyepong, Amfo and Osam (2017), and Otoo (2017). Several works, including Agyekum (2002, 2013, 2015a, 2015b, 2016) and Otoo (2018) have also examined the metaphorical extensions of human body parts and verbs of perception. In Nzema, however, studies on cultural schemas and conceptualisations are scanty. This paper, therefore, explores the basic and metaphorical interpretations of the disconnection verb, tu ‘to uproot’/‘to pull out’ in Nzema communication. The paper relies on Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980) with insights from ‘Cultural Conceptual Metaphors’ (Sharifian, 2011). Data were obtained from spontaneous natural speech contexts among the Nzema. Additional data were gathered by consulting other written sources like Nzema novels and drama books to extract some expressions involving the verb tu. Interviews with knowledgeable Indigenous speakers and my introspection as a native speaker were significantly brought to bear on this study. The paper finds that the basic sense of the verb is possibly projected to describe other abstract notions such as tu ahonle ‘heart uproot’ (to be afraid); tu ay?ne ‘uproot witchcraft’ (to drive a demon out of a person), tu belemgbunli ‘uproot a chief’ (to distool a chief), tu edw?k? sie (to postpone/adjourn a case), among others. The paper shows that the verb tu is ‘polysemous’, and can participate in causative/inchoative alternation.

The Pragmatic Functions of Some Morphological Structures in Nzema Proverbs

The paper examines some morphological processes in the syntactic structure of proverbs in Nzema, a Kwa language spoken predominantly in the South-west part of the Western Region of Ghana, West Africa. The paper focuses on the pragmatic imports of such word formation processes in relation to how they contribute significantly to the understanding of the proverbs. The paper shows the prevalence of word formation processes, such as reduplication, inflections, derivations, lexical borrowing, and compounding in the construction of Nzema proverbs, which essentially help to conceptualise and infer the didactic messages that are communicated via the proverbs. Data were primarily gathered through participant and non-participant observations, including discussions and interviews with competent indigenous Nzema speakers. We extracted additional data from published sources, a compilation of Nzema proverbs and from other literary texts. The paper integrates the assumptions of Goddard’s Ethnopragmatic Paradigm and Hockett’s Item-and-Arrangement and Item-and-Process Models as theoretical underpinning.

African elements in Saramaccan Maroon plant names in Suriname

The ancestors of the Saramaccan Maroons, who were brought as enslaved Africans to Suriname, used their ethnobotanical knowledge and native languages to name the flora in their new environment. Little is known about the influence of African languages on Saramaccan plant naming. We hypothesized that Saramaccan plant names were more influenced by Central African languages than found so far based on ethnobotanical research, mainly because data on the Central African region was scarce. We compiled a new database on Saramaccan plant names and compared these names with an unpublished plant name database from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the earlier published NATRAPLAND database on Afro–Surinamese plant names to find comparable plant names for botanically related species in Africa. We further analyzed form, meaning, function, and categories of Saramaccan plant name components by means of dictionaries and grammars. In total, 39% of the Saramaccan plant names had an African origin, of which 44% were African retentions, 54% were innovations, and 2% were misidentifications with botanical links to Africa via other plant species. Most retentions were of Central African origin (62%). The Bantu language that contributed most to Saramaccan plant names was Kikongo, followed by West African Kwa languages. Plant names reveal important information on the African origin of the Saramaccans and deserve more scientific attention.

Acquisition of variability in Akan Phonology: Labio-palatalized consonants and front rounded vowels.

This paper addresses how input variability in the adult phonological system is mastered in the output of young children in Akan, a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, involving variability between labio-palatalized consonants and front rounded vowels. The high-frequency variant involves a complex consonant which is expected to be mastered late, while the low-frequency variant involves a front rounded vowel which is expected to be mastered relatively early. Late mastery of complex consonants was confirmed. The high-frequency labiopalatalized-consonant variant was absent at age 3 and not yet mastered even at age 5. All children produced the easier-to-produce low-frequency front-rounded-vowel variant, most at far greater frequency than in adult speech, implying that a child's output limitations can affect which variant the child targets for production. Modular theories, in which phonological plans reflect only the characteristics of adult input, fail to account for our results. Non-modular theories are implicated.

A Morphosyntactic Analysis of Some Asante Weed Names

This paper investigates the morphosyntactic features of some indigenous weed names identified among the Asante people of Ghana. Asante is a dialect of Akan and belongs to the Kwa (Congo-Niger) language family spoken mainly in Southern Ghana. This paper discusses some forty-four (44) weed names in Asante. All the data used were collected from primary sources. The data were collected from twenty (20) native speakers of Asante through unstructured interviews. The study has revealed various morphological processes in the language that include affixation, reduplication, and compounding in terms of morphological structure. The weed names were morphologically structured as single words, di-morphemic, phrases and clauses reduced to weed names. Syntactically, these sentential names can be simple, compound, and complex sentences which can function as declarative and imperative sentences.

Elision in Esahie

One of the syllable structure changes that occur in rapid speech because of sounds influencing each other is elision. This paper provides an account of elision in Esahie, also known as Sehwi, a Kwa language spoken in the Western North region of Ghana. The paper discusses the processes involved in elision, and the context within which elision occurs in the language. The paper shows that sound segments, syllables and tones are affected by the elision process. It demonstrates that elision, though purely a phonological process, is influenced by morphological factors such as vowel juxtapositioning during compounding, and at word boundary. The evidence in this paper show that there is an interface between phonology and morphology when accounting for elision in Esahie. Data for this study were gathered from primary sources using ethnographic and stimuli methods.

Ditransitive constructions in Akebu

Abstract This paper contributes to the typology of ditransitive constructions. Akebu (Kwa, Ghana-Togo mountain, West Africa) has four strategies of alignment of ditransitive verbs, if both theme and recipient objects are expressed: a neutral strategy, a possessive-like strategy, a strategy with a pronominal reprise and a ‘take’ serial verb construction strategy. The possessive-like strategy that is most standard in Akebu is rare in a cross-linguistic perspective and has not been attested in other Kwa languages. The factors that license a certain strategy are person, number and noun class of the theme and recipient and the internal structure of the theme noun phrase.

Numerals in Akebu

AbstractThis article presents an overview of the numeral system in Akebu, a Kwa language of Togo. The Akebu numeral system is a decimal one and contains simple numerals from ‘1’ to ‘9’ and decimal bases for ‘10’, ‘100’, and ‘1,000’. The former have noun class agreement markers, while the latter do not. Only some noun classes are compatible with numerals, but among them there are both plural and singular classes.

Mind your tones! The role of tonal morphology in Kwa action nominalization

Abstract In the typology of West African languages, tone has been noted to play crucial grammatical and lexical roles, but its function in word formation has been less systematically explored and remains to be fully understood. Against this backdrop, the present study seeks to examine the form and function of tonal morphology in the formation of action nominals in four Kwa languages spoken in Ghana, namely Akan, Ga, Lεtε, and Esahie, a relatively unexplored language of the Central Tano subgroup. Relying on data from both secondary and primary sources, we argue that tone raising is an important component of Kwa action nominalization, as it is found across different languages and derivational strategies. Specifically, while across the Kwa languages considered, tone raising tends to be an epiphenomenon of phonological conditioning, sometimes tone is the sole component of the nominalization operation or, as in Esahie, it concurs with the affix to the derivation, hence playing a morphological function.

A Survey of Exocentric Compounds in Three Kwa Languages: Akan, Ewe and Ga

Whereas the existence of exocentric compounds is taken for granted in the literature on compounding, there are just a few studies devoted to the nature and types of exocentric compounds cross-linguistically and in African languages in particular, leaving exocentricity in African languages severely under-researched. This paper seeks to contribute to knowledge on exocentricity by exploring the range of exocentric compounds in three Kwa languages – Akan, Ewe and Ga – in the context of the typology of exocentric compounds proposed by Bauer (2008a, 2010) who posited five types – bahuvrihi, exocentric synthetic, exocentric co-compounds, transpositional exocentric and metaphorical compounds. Appah (2016b, 2017b) argued that three of the five types (bahuvrihi, exocentric synthetic and transpositional exocentric compounds) with various subtypes occur in Akan. The equivalent of Bauer’s metaphorical compounds was subsumed under bahuvrihi compounds, while the absence of exocentric co-compounds was argued to be an areal feature, given the observation that co-compounds are rare in Africa (Walchli 2005). This paper shows that apart from exocentric co-compounds, the rest are found in the languages under discussion to varying extents. All three languages have metaphorical and location bahuvrihi compounds, but the status of the possessor bahuvrihi type is not certain, except in Akan. Ewe has agentive exocentric synthetic compounds, but not the action and patient types, whilst Ga has none. Again, only Ga does not have transpositional exocentric compounds. Finally, it is observed that all the compounds are nouns, notwithstanding the syntactic category of the constituents. This is another potential areal feature.A Survey of Exocentric Compounds in Three Kwa Languages: 1Akan, Ewe and Ga

A microtypological survey of noun classes in Kwa

AbstractThis paper provides an overview of noun class systems in a sample of 20 Kwa languages. It focuses on the synchronic productivity of noun classification in Kwa as opposed to the full-fledged class system assumed for Proto-Kwa and for the general “Niger-Congo prototype” (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335; Creissels, Denis. Forthcoming. Noun class systems in Atlantic languages. To appear. In Friederike Lüpke (ed.),The Oxford guide to the Atlantic languages of West Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press). The productivity of class morphology on nouns is studied by exploring class marker alternations as exponents of other grammatical phenomena: the formation of the plural, diminutive derivation and nominalization. We also discuss class indexation on nominal modifiers (adjectives, numerals, demonstratives and indefinite markers) as well as subject and object pronominals. We demonstrate that Kwa languages tend to follow the typological tendencies pertaining to class marking on nouns and class indexation, e.g. the Agreement hierarchy (Corbett, Greville G. 1979. The agreement hierarchy.Journal of Linguistics15. 203–224), as established for world languages in general and Niger-Congo family in particular (Good, Jeff. 2012. How to become a “Kwa” noun.”Morphology22(2). 293–335). However, some intriguing discrepancies, e.g. different patterning of indexation on adjectives vs. on numerals in Kwa as opposed to some other Niger-Congo branches, were also attested. In diachronic perspective, our findings suggest that noun class systems are flexible as they show high intragenetic variation and are easily degradable, but they almost never disappear completely.

The communicative role of silence in Nzema language and culture

This paper looks at the role of silence within the Nzema speech community. Nzema is a Niger-Congo language of the Kwa language family spoken mainly in the South-western part of Ghana and some parts of the La Côte d`Ivoire both in West Africa. It consists of five main dialects namely; Jomoro, Ellembele, Ajomoro, Egila and Evaloe. The paper discusses linguistic and semiotic aspects of silence. It outlines the various communicative situations in Nzema society in which silence is employed, focusing cultural, social and linguistic aspects.

Metaoperational Linguistics: Issues of Translatability and Visibility

This paper aims to explore the reasons behind the limited dissemination of Adamczewski's Metaoperational approach to language beyond the French academic sphere. The theory, which developed in and by contrastivity between 1976 and 2005, is built on the basic assumption that utterances exhibit on their surface observable traces of the utterer's invisible structuring activity. It is initially derived from a corpus-based approach to English and applied to languages as different as French, Arabic, Turkish, Madagascan, and Kwa languages. The theory's visibility is investigated primarily in relation to its readability and translatability.The findings suggest that visibility retarders and obstructers are more associated with a general context of global scientific publication marked by the hegemony of English as the language of science than with the theoretical framework itself. However, if the model's body of knowledge and conceptual apparatus lend themselves to smooth interlingual transfer, as shown in books of Metaoperational inspirations in Spanish (Matte Bon (1992)), Italian (Gagliardelli (1999)), English (Adamczewski (2002)), and Arabic (Kahlaoui (2010)), the theory's high degree of formalism and its dense metalinguistic description are in some didactic contexts generative of reader frustration.

Production and perception of question prosody in Akan

The paper presents a production experiment investigating the phonetic parameters speakers employ to differentiate Yes–No questions from string-identical statements in Akan, a West-African two-tone Kwa language. Results show that, in comparison to the statement, speakers use a higher pitch register throughout the utterance as a global parameter, and falling f0, longer duration and higher intensity as local parameters on the final syllable of the Yes–No question. Further, two perception experiments (forced-choice identification and gating) investigate the perceptual relevance of the global parameter and the local final parameters. Results show that listeners cannot assess the higher pitch register information to identify the mode of a sentence early on. Rather, identification takes place when the local phonetic parameters on the final vowel are available. The findings point to the superiority of language-specific cues in sentence mode perception. It is suggested that Akan uses a low boundary tone that associates with the right edge of the intonation phrase (L%) in Yes–No questions. The results are discussed from the point of view of question intonation typology in African languages. It is argued that a classification along the lines of functionally relevant cues is preferable to an impressionistic analysis.

Metaphorical Extensions of Ye (eat) Verb: The Case of Gᾶ

The aim of this paper is to examine lexical semantics from a cognitive approach in Gᾶ, a Kwa language. In Gᾶ, the verb Ye ‘eat’ has polysemous and metaphorical uses. There has been linguistic research in Gᾶ and there is still the interest to study the language. Currently, to the best of our knowledge, there is no study that specifically explores lexical semantics from the cognitive approach. This is the gap the researcher attempts to fill. The verb denoting perception has metaphorical expressions that will have some relationship with the original verb. In the discussion, we consider the pragmatic implications and relevance of the extensions derived from the verb ye ‘eat’.. We look at the nature of the derived semantic patterns and consider the extent to which they are peculiar to the Gӑ language and culture. The study is based on Sweetser’s (1990) cognitive approach of semantic change. The paper shows that most of the metaphorical extensions are based on human perception and interaction with the physical world. The findings of the study reveal that the metaphorical meanings reflect the socio-cultural experiences of the Gӑ land, hence, the more they move away from the physical realms, the greater the realizations.

ADJECTIVE SEQUENCING IN GA

The use of multiple words to describe nouns is a common phenomenon in language and languages that have adjectives employ this word class.Ga, a Kwa language of the Niger Congo, branch is no exception, whereas languages without adjectives may use other lexical categories like nouns and verbs which play the adjectival role. Ga has adjectives and employs them as attributives for nouns. The paper examines the syntactic rule governing the occurence of several adjectives serving as attibtutes of a single head noun. In this paper the noun is considered as the head of the Ga Nominal Phrase. The order of these adjectives has not received scholarly attention in Ga and this is to fill that gap in the literature. I argued that the order of adjectives is not haphazardly arranged but follows a laid down syntactc prescription. For instance the data showed that Dimension adjectives normall occur in first position, whereas colour adjectives occur further from the head noun. It was also revealed that in the ordering of adjectives in which Value adjectives is included, the Age adjective occurs in last position and Value adjective occurs first or last when included in the ordering of adjectives for a noun. Consequently, it is opined that defying the arrangement in the ordering of the adjectives resulted in unacceptable forms.The adjectives are grouped according to Dixon semantic classes. Data is gathered from native speakers of Ga. The findings contribute to the existing literature on adjective sequencing in Ghanaian languages.

Articulatory and acoustic correlates of tongue root contrasts in Gua

Vowel systems in West African languages are often noted for using the position of the tongue root (TR) to contrast vowels throughout the vowel space. E.g. X-ray studies of Igbo show that pairs of vowels such as /i/ and /ɪ/ contrast with regards to tongue root position. A similar study of Akan shows that vowel height also gets incorporated into the contrast (Ladefoged and Maddieson 1990). While many languages are noted for having TR contrasts, imaging data are available for only a small subset. Gua, a Kwa language from the Niger Congo family spoken in coastal Ghana (Simons and Fennig 2017, Yeboah-Obiri 2013), is a critically under-documented language which contains TR contrasts in all high and mid vowels (Advanced TR: /i e o u/; Retracted TR: /ɪ ɛ a ɔ ʊ/). Acoustic analysis and articulatory data from 3D ultrasound recordings reveal that RTR vowels show a variety of deformations of the tongue surface, depending on the vowel. However, these deformations are linked by the mechanics of tongue root retraction. Also, images reveal that differences in tongue height in addition to TR advancement are often present.

Sub-classifying the languages of the Lower Volta Valley: Towards redefining Kwa

AbstractThis paper is concerned with defining the genetic position of the Ghana-Togo Mountain (GTM) languages, formerly known as theTogorestsprachen, later the Central Togo languages, in relation to what are currently known as the Kwa languages. It explores the possible genetic relationship of the languages now referred to as “Ghana-Togo Mountain” languages to the Potou-Tano languages, as an initial step towards defining their relationship towards all the languages of the area. Probably nobody today questions that the languages are all related, all being classifiable as Niger-Congo, but the problem is, how are they related? The paper does not conclusively prove that GTM languages belong to the family denoted by the node label “Potou-Tano”, but evidence adduced makes it seem very likely. It also shows that on the basis of several sound shifts it is reasonable to regard GTM as a genetic group within Potou-Tano. There is no clear evidence that the NA group of GTM is any more closely related to Tano than the KA group. An obvious next step is a proper comparison of the Tano and GTM noun class systems.

Conditionals in Tuwuli

This article examines the forms and functions of conditional clauses in Tuwuli, a Kwa language spoken in South-Eastern Ghana. It reveals how the traditional categories of conditionals (e.g. hypothetical, counterfactual, concessive) do not match up very well with the formal categories found in Tuwuli, and attempts to provide semantic characterisations for each distinct construction. The article also investigates the distribution and functions of conditional clauses in Tuwuli discourse, showing how some text types and genres use conditionals much more than others, and in some cases, for quite distinct purposes.

On Predication of Adjectives in Ga

The adjective as a word class is elusive, as sometimes this distinct class is not easy to be identified in some languages though recent linguistics studies have claimed it exists in all languages. In Ga, a Kwa language of Niger Congo, the adjective class can be clearly defined. The Ga adjective class consists of both derived and underived forms. Adjectives are syntactically known to play the role of attribution, and/or predication and also found in comparative constructions. This paper investigates how adjectives in predicative positions in English are expressed in Ga and more especially when multiple ones serve as copula complement. It shows that adjectives in predication are expressed through verbs in Ga. The adjectives found in Ga are classified according to Dixon semantic classes. The data for this study were collected through questionnaire and follow up interviews from some native speakers. From the study, it came to light that verbs that occur in predicate positions as head of the verb phrases may have adjective equivalents but speakers prefer the verbs to the adjectives and there seems to be some number agreement with the nouns in subject position. When the adjective has no verb equivalent, natives make use of relative clauses and also make use of the adjectives. The study further revealed that when multiple adjectives are used in predicative position, though a restricted order was not established, there exist a preferred order for example, dimension adjectives occur before colour adjectives.