Kofi Agyekum
List of John Benjamins publications for which Kofi Agyekum plays a role.
Articles
2023. Idioms, proverbs and body part expressions on Yiedie “wellbeing” in Akan. Pragmatics and Society 14:1, pp. 1–22
This paper investigates the interaction between language, culture, body and emotions. It is an aspect of cognitive semantics that discusses the Akan somatic nature of their body and therefore have existing lexical items, idioms and proverbs to comment on “wellbeing”. It is based on Conceptual… read more | Article
2019. The ethnopragmatics of Akan advice. Pragmatics 29:3, pp. 309–331
This paper discusses Akan Advice under ethnopragmatics. It adopts persuasion, speech acts of directives and expressives, and Akan proverbs to discuss advice with the insight from Akan culture. The adviser expresses some feelings and emotions and directs the advisee to act and behave towards the… read more | Article
2017. The language of Akan herbal drug sellers and advertisers. Language and Dialogue 7:3, pp. 360–386
This paper addresses the language and pragmatic strategies used by Akan herbal drug sellers to persuade would-be-buyers. It adopts the theoretical framework of Weigand’s Mixed Game Model (MGM) and defines persuasion as a variable of competence-in-performance, and language use as the basis of… read more | Article
2016. Bodily state and metaphors relating to ho, ‘body’, in Akan. Metaphor and the Social World 6:2, pp. 326–344
This paper addresses metaphorical extensions of ho, which means ‘body’ in Akan, a Ghanaian language. In Akan, as in many other languages, body part expressions and bodily functions have extended meanings that still relate to the basic sense of the words. Expressions derived from ho are used to talk… read more | Article
2016. Metaphors and Metonyms of Nsa, ‘the Hand’ in Akan. Pragmatics & Cognition 23:2, pp. 300–323
This paper looks at the metaphorical and metonymic expressions derived from nsa, ‘hand’. I will analyse and discuss hand metaphoric and metonymic expressions in relation with the universal concept of the agility and versatility of the hand as an important aspect of the human being. The paper… read more | Article
2015. Metaphors of Anger in Akan. International Journal of Language and Culture 2:1, pp. 87–107
This paper addresses the semantic shifts, extensions, semantic patterns, and pragmatic nature of the metaphor of anger and its usage in different contexts. It looks at the conceptual relationship between the two words akoma, “heart” and bo, “chest,” and how they have been lexicalized in the Akan… read more | Article
2015. Akan metaphoric expressions based on yam ‘stomach’. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 2:1, pp. 94–115
This paper discusses the Akan body part yam ‘stomach’ and its metaphorical extensions. It will consider how most of the extensions have been conventionalised to the extent that there are no alternative means of expressing the concept, and look at the strong relationship between the stomach, the… read more | Article
2011. The ethno-pragmatics of “amannebɔ” in Akan. Language and Dialogue 1:2, pp. 243–265
Among the Akan, one of the parameters for assessing a person’s communicative competence is to see how much s/he is conversant with giving an account of his/her mission anytime he/she plays the role as a guest, a host, or a spokesperson. The aim of this paper is to discuss the Akan narrative concept… read more | Article
2004. Invective language in contemporary Ghanaian politics. Journal of Language and Politics 3:2, pp. 345–375
This paper addresses the use of invectives in modern Ghanaian politics. Evidence is drawn from public speeches of political activists of the two leading parties of the country, namely: the National Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC). The paper analyses at the context… read more | Article
2004. The socio-cultural concept of face in Akan communication. Pragmatics & Cognition 12:1, pp. 71–92
The paper examines the metaphorical expressions derived from anim ‘face’ in Akan, a major language in Ghana. It analyses and discusses face metaphoric expressions in relation with the universal concept analysed by Face Theory. The paper projects this concept onto the Akan cultural system and looks… read more | Article
2002. The communicative role of silence in Akan. Pragmatics 12:1, pp. 31–51
This paper looks at the meaning of silence within the Akan speech community. It discusses two types of silence (1) performative silence and (2) semiotic silence. The positive attributes of silence as a communicative strategy will be explored. The paper outlines the various communicative situations… read more | Article
1999. The pragmatics of duabↄ ‘grievance imprecation’ taboo among the Akan. Pragmatics 9:3, pp. 357–382
Article