Research Papers/Topics in Linguistics

ASPECTS OF BIRFOR PHONOLOGY

ABSTRACT Bɩrfʊɔr remains one of the least studied languages in the Gur family. This thesis therefore, takes a detailed look at some Aspects of the phonology of the language. Data for this study is derived from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data was gathered using the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) Africa Area Word List 2 (SILCAWL 2) compiled by Douglas Boon (see wordlist in the appendix). Secondary sources include data from existing literature such as the literacy mate...

INTERROGATIVES IN DAGARA

ABSTRACT Interrogative structures exist in all languages of the world and the use of interrogatives is a central activity in human communication. This dessertaiion seeks to explore the phenomenon of interrogatives as it obtains in Dagara, a dialect of Dagaare spoken in the Upper West Region of Ghana within the framework of the Basic Linguistic Theory as contained in Dixon (2012). The focus of this thesis is to identify and describe the typology of the interrogative clauses in Dagara and the s...

SOCIOPRAGMATICS OF REQUESTS IN LOGBA

ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the sociopragmatics of requests in Logba, a Ghana-Togo Mountain language spoken in the Hohoe District of the Volta Region of Ghana. It aims at examining the use of request expressions in the language by systematically describing the various strategies and some socio-cultural situations where request expressions are used among the Logbas. The study shows that interlocutors‟ choice of request expression is contingent on variables such as gender, rank, age, po...

AN AUTOSEGMENTAL ANALYSIS OF PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN DAGARA

ABSTRACT The stored information about the grammar in the mental lexicon of the interlocutors does not only include the morphological, syntactic and semantic components of grammar, but also its phonological component. Phonology is a component of the grammar of language which involves the production, perception as well as the interpretation of sounds. This thesis discusses the phonology and phonological processes that are specific to Dagara, a dialect of Dagaare in the Upper West Region, within...

A STUDY OF DANGME ADVERBS AND ADVERBIALS

ABSTRACT This study investigated the nature of adverbs and adverbials in Dangme (Kwa, Niger-Congo). It looked at the morphological, semantic and syntactic properties exhibited by Dangme adverbs. Data for the study were gathered from books and recordings of free oral utterances of native speakers. Using functional grammar and its prototypical means of categorization as the theoretical framework of this study, adverbs and adverbials were identified and analysed. The finding showed that in Dangm...

EXPRESSING PROPERTY CONCEPTS IN GA

ABSTRACT  This study investigated Property concepts in Ga using the Framework-free Grammatical theory (Haspelmath 2008). The study examined three main syntactic categories namely adjectives, verbs and nouns that are used to expressed property concepts in Ga. The morphological, syntactic and semantic properties of these three categories were investigated. Morphologically, most of the adjectives used as property concepts agree with the head noun in number, with the exception of those adje...

AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE PROBLEMS OF TRANSLATING COLLOCATIONS: A TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH INTO ENGLISH OF AN EXTRACT FROM ‘GUIDE JURIDIQUE ET FISCAL DES ASSOCIATIONSAU TOGO “TOME II

ABSTRACT Translation has been with human interaction from the time of creation. Scholars have found it necessary to set up frameworks for the regulation of translation due to variation and the peculiarities of languages. The study examines and analyzes the problems that may be encountered in the process of translating collocations. The source text is a legal document. Chapter one looks at the history of translation and the process of organization of translation as a field of study. The implic...

THE STRUCTURE OF THE GICHODE NOUN PHRASE

ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the structure of the Noun Phrase (NP) in Gichode, a North Volta Guan language spoken in and around Nkwanta district in the Volta Region of Ghana. The study is aimed at describing systematically, the internal components or constituents of the NP, especially, the sequential order of elements or constituents within it, the pronominal system and the distribution of pronouns in Gichode. The methods used to collect data are interviews, focus group discussion and qu...

A SOCIOLINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF DAGAABA LIBATION PRAYER IN JIRAPA MUNICIPALITY

ABSTRACT The research investigates the sociolinguistic analysis of the libation prayer in the Kuncheni community under the Jirapa Municipality in the Upper West region of Ghana. It is based on the theory that language is a powerful tool, which can be used to view and understand the worldview and philosophy of a particular society. The libation prayer of the Kuncheni community can best be understood and analysed when one is well-versed in the socio-cultural practices of the Dagaaba. The targe...

RIDDLING AMONG THE DAGBAMBA

ABSTRACT This study discusses Riddling (Salinlɔha) among the Dagbamba in the Northern Region of Ghana. The study shows that the Dagbamba riddle has the antecedent and a response and an opening formula as the basic structure. It is also shown that there may be a semantic fit or mismatch with the relationship between the antecedent and the response. There are three types of Dagbamba riddles; these include the simple riddle, the tone riddle and the song riddle. The song riddle is peculiar beca...

HIATUS RESOLUTION IN GA: AN OPTIMALITY THEORY ACCOUNT

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the hiatus resolution in Ga, a Kwa language of the Niger-Congo Family spoken in Ghana. It looks at the strategies that are used in resolving hiatus and the contexts where hiatus is permitted. All languages in the world try to resolve this situation by using several strategies to break that cluster and Ga is no exception to that. Most often than not, when hiatus is resolved it has an impact on the syllable. Some of the repair strategies that have been reported ...

LITERARY STUDY OF DAGBAMBA WORK SONGS

ABSTRACT This work deals with Dagbamba work songs and themes that depict the philosophical life of the people. Twenty songs were collected from the field as primary data transcribed and translated into English. The songs were grouped into categories, that is, songs related to farm work and house works, both being analyzed descriptively and analyzed within the context of Richard Bauman’s (1975) theory of performance as the songs were taken as performed on the field. It became known from the...

An Error Analysis Of Written Yoruba Composition Of Igbo Students In Secondary Schools

Abstract. The study was carried out to determine the major areas of difficulty experienced by the students, and it is hoped that some of the findings may help to overcome the anxieties experienced by students and teachers alike. One thousand two hundred samples of free composition written by Igbo students (J S II & J S III) who have studied Yoruba as L2 for more than one and half years were examined. The samples were randomly selected from three Federal Government Colleges in Awka and Onitsha...

Wh-Question In Koring (The Movement Of The Wh-Element In Question Formation In Koring)

ABSTRACT Wh-movement is a transformational process which causes the displacement of a wh-element from its base generated position to string initial position. This movement process is used to structurally change a wh-question. This study investigated the movement of wh-elements in question formation in Kọring. Kọring is a minority language spoken in parts of Ebonyi and Benue states. The data used in the analysis were collected from a series of fieldwork undertaken by the researcher. The da...

An Igbo Translation Of Eze Goes To School By Onuora Nzekwu And Michael Crowder: Problems And Principles

Abstract Translation of prose falls under “literary translation” that involves these other genres: poetry and drama. In literary translation enough works have not actually been done in prose, drama and poetry. In translating these genres, a lot of problems are usually encountered. This work is therefore aimed at examining these problems and highlighting some cultural elements in the text. This could not be done in isolation and for this reason, the text, Eze Goes to School by Onuora Nzekw...


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