Predication in African Languages
Edited by James Essegbey and Enoch O. Aboh
[Studies in Language Companion Series, 235] 2024. xi, 340 pp. + index
James Essegbey
List of John Benjamins publications for which James Essegbey plays a role.
Titles
Subjects Afro-Asiatic languages | Other African languages | Semantics | Syntax | Theoretical linguistics
Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa
Edited by James Essegbey, Brent Henderson and Fiona Mc Laughlin
[Culture and Language Use, 17] 2015. vi, 317 pp.
Subjects Afro-Asiatic languages | Anthropological Linguistics | Language documentation | Other African languages
Articles
2024 Chapter 5. Moving from verbs to prepositions in Gbe Predication in African Languages, Essegbey, James and Enoch O. Aboh (eds.), pp. 128–151 | Chapter
Gbe languages have two classes of adpositions, namely prepositions and postpositions that have been argued to have developed from verbs and nouns, respectively. Focusing on the former, we highlight the functions of the forms across Gbe using examples from Eastern Gbe (e.g., Gungbe) and Western… read more
2024 Chapter 11. Catching and classifying fish among the Dwang Anthropological Linguistics: Perspectives from Africa, Hollington, Andrea, Alice Mitchell and Nico Nassenstein (eds.), pp. 278–305 | Chapter
The goal of this chapter is to discuss an endangered fishing practice, and the naming and uses of fish among the Dwang of the Bono East Region of Ghana. I discuss a (defunct) communal fish catching process known as kese /kə́sə́/, in which the poisonous plant Adenia cissampeloises, also called… read more
2024 Chapter 10. From injecting to planting: The semantics of dó Predication in African Languages, Essegbey, James and Enoch O. Aboh (eds.), pp. 263–283 | Chapter
Ewe, like many Kwa languages, has very few verbs. Some of them are said to be meaningless or light because they either do not have a translation equivalent in Standard Average European languages (SAE) or, where they do, they appear on the surface to have several meanings. In this paper, I… read more
2024 Introduction Predication in African Languages, Essegbey, James and Enoch O. Aboh (eds.), pp. 1–17 | Chapter
2020 Moving into and out of Sranan: Multiple effects of contact Advances in Contact Linguistics: In honour of Pieter Muysken, Smith, Norval, Tonjes Veenstra and Enoch O. Aboh (eds.), pp. 37–60 | Chapter
In Sranan, a creole language of Suriname, motion in and out of locations is expressed differently from English, its primary lexifier language. Talmy (2000), among others, has shown that the expression of motion in English involves a verb that indicates the Manner of movement, e.g., walk, and,… read more
2015 “Is this my language?”: Developing a writing system for an endangered-language community Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa, Essegbey, James, Brent Henderson and Fiona Mc Laughlin (eds.), pp. 153–176 | Article
It used to be taken for granted that language documenters would develop an
orthography for the language which they document in cases where no writing
system exists already. Such systems facilitate the production of materials
for revitalization of the languages. Lately however questions have been… read more
2015 Introduction Language Documentation and Endangerment in Africa, Essegbey, James, Brent Henderson and Fiona Mc Laughlin (eds.), pp. 1–12 | Article
2011 A Tribute to Norval Smith Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 26:2, pp. 235–246 | Article
2008 The potential in Ewe Aspect and Modality in Kwa Languages, Ameka, Felix K. and Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu (eds.), pp. 195–214 | Article
2007 “Cut” and “break” verbs in Gbe and Sranan Substrate Influence in Creole Formation, Migge, Bettina and Norval Smith (eds.), pp. 37–55 | Article
This paper compares “cut” and “break” verbs in four variants of Gbe, namely Anfoe, Anlo, Fon and Ayizo, with those of Sranan. “Cut” verbs are change-of-state verbs that co-lexicalize the type of action that brings about a change, the type of instrument or instrument part, and the manner in which a… read more
2007 Gbe and other West African sources of Suriname creole semantic structures: Implications for creole genesis Substrate Influence in Creole Formation, Migge, Bettina and Norval Smith (eds.), pp. 57–72 | Article
This paper reports on ongoing research on the role of various kinds of potential substrate languages in the development of the semantic structures of Ndyuka (Eastern Suriname Creole). A set of 100 senses of noun, verb, and other lexemes in Ndyuka were compared with senses of corresponding lexemes… read more
2006 Review of Migge (2003): Creole formation as language contact Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 21:1, pp. 208–214 | Review
2005 The “basic locative construction” in Gbe languages and Surinamese creoles Journal of Pidgin and Creole Languages 20:2, pp. 229–267 | Article
This paper compares the conceptualisation and expression of topological relations in Surinamese creoles with that of Gbe languages (which were part of the substrate) and English (the superstrate). It investigates the components of the Basic Locative Construction (BLC), i.e. the most neutral… read more
2001 Pointing left in Ghana: How a taboo on the use of the left hand influences gestural practice Gesture 1:1, pp. 73–95 | Article
In Ghana, many peolple consider pointing by the left hand to be a taboo. We investigated consequences of this taboo on the Ghanaian gestural practice by observing gestures produced during naturalistic situations of giving route directions. First, there is a politeness convention to place the left… read more