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Predication in African Languages
Edited by James Essegbey and Enoch O. Aboh
[Studies in Language Companion Series 235] 2024
► pp. 99–127

Chapter 4
Adposition classes in Tafi and Sɛlɛɛ

| University of Ghana
| University of Ghana
The main goal of this paper is to describe and compare the adposition classes of two Ghana-Togo Mountain (GTM) languages: Tafi (KA-GTM) and Sɛlɛɛ (NA-GTM). The core of the preposition classes in the two languages consists of a (general) locative and comitative prepositions, with Tafi showing the grammaticalization of a number of verb forms into prepositions. Both languages exhibit the postpositional use of body part nouns and locatives. There are debates as to whether Kwa languages have two classes of adpositions. The paper argues that both languages indeed have two adposition classes – prepositions and postpositions and shows the asymmetry in the distribution of the members of each class in both languages.
Keywords: adposition, grammaticalization, Kwa, Tafi, Sɛlɛɛ
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Typological overview
  • 2.Prepositions in Tafi and Sɛlɛɛ
    • 2.1The locative preposition
      • 2.1.1BLC
      • 2.1.2Locative adjunct
      • 2.1.3Temporal adjunct
    • 2.2The comitative preposition
      • 2.2.1Instrument
      • 2.2.2Comitative
      • 2.2.3Manner
      • 2.2.4Additive
    • 2.3The ablative preposition
    • 2.4Verbs grammaticalizing into prepositions
      • 2.4.1The allative preposition
      • 2.4.2The perlative preposition ganɔ ‘through’
      • 2.4.3The dative preposition kɔ́ ‘for’
  • 3.Postpositions
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 18 July 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.235.04bob
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