Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 20:1 (2010) ► pp.27–41

Noun phrase conjunction in Akan

The grammaticalization path

Noun phrase conjunction in Akan (Niger-Congo, Kwa) is performed by placing a connective between two noun phrases, but there is some variation in the forms used in the major dialects. In the Twi dialects the connective is ne, but Fante speakers may use nye or na depending on whether a comitative or a coordinative interpretation is intended. This paper focuses on the historical origins of the noun phrase connective n(y)e in Akan. It suggests that Akan patterns with other sub-saharan African languages such as Ewe, Ga, Yoruba and Hausa, which have noun phrase connectives originating from comitative verbs. This suggestion is based on the morpho-semantics of these connectives. In addition, the paper demonstrates that the origin of the connective n(y)e could be further traced to an equative copula in the language. This conclusion is based on syntactic and semantic evidence available in the language and strengthened by the cross-linguistic tendency for copula verbs to develop into noun phrase connectives in a number of unrelated languages.
Keywords: Comitative, Akan, Grammaticalization, Coordinative, Conjunction
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 1 March 2010
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.20.1.02amf
References
Abdoulaye, Mahamane L.
(2004) Comitative, coordinating and inclusory constructions in Hausa. In Martin Haspelmath (ed.), Coordinating Constructions. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol 58)Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 165-193. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Amfo, Nana Aba A.
(2007a) Noun phrase and clausal connectives in Akan. Studies in African Linguistics 36.1: 1-28.Google Scholar
(2007b) The encoding of procedures: A pragmatic analysis of selected function words in Akan. Ph.D. thesis, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
(2007c) Clausal conjunction in Akan. Lingua 1171: 666-684. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dakubu, Mary Esther Kropp
(1970) The categories of the Ga verbal group. Journal of African Linguistics 91: 70-76.Google Scholar
Ellis, Jeffrey, and Lawrence Boadi
(1969) ‘To be’ in Twi. In John W.M. Verhaar (ed.), The Verb ‘be’ and its Synonyms. (Foundations of Language Supplementary Series, Vol 9).Dordrecht: Reidel Publishing Company, pp. 1-71. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, Bernd, Ulrike Claudi, and Friederike Hünnemeyer
(1991) From cognition to grammar. In Elizabeth C. Traugott and Bernd Heine (eds.), Approaches to Grammaticalization, Vol 11. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol 19).Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 149-188.  BoP DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Heine, Bernd, and Mechthild Reh
(1984) Grammaticalization and Reanalysis in African Languages. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag.Google Scholar
Hopper, Paul J.
(1991) On some principles of grammaticalization. In Elizabeth C. Traugott and Bernd Heine (eds.), Approaches to Grammaticalization, Vol. 11. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol.10). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 17-35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hopper, Paul J., and Elizabeth C. Traugott
(2003) Grammaticalization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lehmann, Christian
(1985) Grammaticalization: Synchronic variation and diachronic change. Lingua e Stile 20.3: 303-318.Google Scholar
Lord, Carol
(1973) Serial verbs in transition. Studies in African Linguistics 41: 269-295.Google Scholar
(1993) Historical change in serial verb constructions. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol 26). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Lyons, John
(1977) Semantics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar
McMahon, April M.S.
(1994) Understanding Language Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Meillet, Antoine
(1912) L’évolution des formes grammaticales. In Antoine Meillet, Linguistiques historique et linguistique général. Paris: Champion, pp. 130-148.Google Scholar
Mithun, Marianne
(1988) The grammaticization of coordination. In John Haiman and Sandra A. Thompson (eds.), Clause Combining in Grammar and Discourse. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol 18). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 331-359. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Osam, E. Kweku
(1994) Aspects of Akan grammar: A functional perspective. Ph.D. thesis, University of Oregon.
(1996) The history of Akan complementizers. Journal of Asian and African Studies 511: 93-103.Google Scholar
(2004) The Trondheim Lectures: An Introduction to the Structure of Akan, Its Verbal and Multiverbal Systems. Legon: Department of Linguistics.Google Scholar
Stassen, Leon
(2000) AND-languages and WITH-languages. Linguistics Typology 41: 1-54. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2003) Noun phrase conjunction: The coordinative and the comitative strategy. In Frans Plank (ed.), Noun Phrase Structure and the Languages of Europe. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 761-811.Google Scholar
Svorou, Soteria
(1994) The grammar of space. (Typological Studies in Language (TSL), Vol 25). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. DOI logo  MetBibGoogle Scholar
Trutenau, H.M.J.
(1973) The verbal status of the NP-linker in Ga. Studies in African Linguistics 41: 71-86.Google Scholar
Cited by

Cited by 3 other publications

Daniels, Don
2014. Complex coordination in diachrony. Diachronica 31:3 ► pp. 379 ff. DOI logo
Shluinsky, Andrey
2023. Adpositions and adpositional relator nouns in Akebu. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 44:1 ► pp. 77 ff. DOI logo
Yakpo, Kofi
2023. The indigenization of Ghanaian Pidgin English. World Englishes DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 10 november 2023. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.