Kofi Agyekum
List of John Benjamins publications for which Kofi Agyekum plays a role.
2024 The ethnopragmatics of Akan leave-takings and farewells Language and Dialogue 14:3, pp. 403–427 | Article
The paper examines leave-takings and farewells as linguistic routines in Akan. It emerged from my previous works on ethnopragmatics of Akan linguistic routines, namely apology, requests, greetings, thanking, advice, compliments, etc. This paper adopted Weigand’s (2010) Mixed Game Model, which… read more
2023 Idioms, proverbs and body part expressions on Yiedie “wellbeing” in Akan Pragmatics and Society 14:1, pp. 1–22 | Article
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
2019 The ethnopragmatics of Akan advice Pragmatics 29:3, pp. 309–331 | Article
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
2017 The language of Akan herbal drug sellers and advertisers Language and Dialogue 7:3, pp. 360–386 | Article
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
2016 Bodily state and metaphors relating to ho, ‘body’, in Akan Metaphor and the Social World 6:2, pp. 326–344 | Article
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
2016 Metaphors and Metonyms of Nsa, ‘the Hand’ in Akan Pragmatics & Cognition 23:2, pp. 300–323 | Article
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
2015 Metaphors of Anger in Akan International Journal of Language and Culture 2:1, pp. 87–107 | Article
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
2015 Akan metaphoric expressions based on yam ‘stomach’ Cognitive Linguistic Studies 2:1, pp. 94–115 | Article
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
2011 The ethno-pragmatics of “amannebɔ” in Akan Language and Dialogue 1:2, pp. 243–265 | Article
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
2004 Invective language in contemporary Ghanaian politics Journal of Language and Politics 3:2, pp. 345–375 | Article
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
2004 The socio-cultural concept of face in Akan communication Pragmatics & Cognition 12:1, pp. 71–92 | Article
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
2002 The communicative role of silence in Akan Pragmatics 12:1, pp. 31–51 | Article
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
1999 The pragmatics of duabↄ ‘grievance imprecation’ taboo among the Akan Pragmatics 9:3, pp. 357–382 | Article