THE SYNTACTIC AND SEMANTIC PROPERTIES OF ‘TWA’, ‘SUSU’, ‘SESA’, AND ‘KA’ VERBS IN AKAN

ABSTRACT 

This thesis explores the syntactic and semantic properties of some Akan verbs: cut, contact by impact, change of state and perception verbs in the context of argument structure and their transitivity. The main objective of the study is to identify and discuss the various semantic classes of these verbs and explore their semantic and syntactic properties. These properties are used as the criteria for identifying the verbs. The verbs have semantic restrictions on their subject and shared arguments. It is found that in terms of semantics the verbs in the study can have many meanings. The analysis is pursued within the study of functional approach to grammar. The sources of data for the study include written texts, conversations and my own introspection as a native speaker of Asante Twi. The findings show that the cut, change of state contact by impact and perception verbs in their syntactic construction encodes the use of instrument and also involves subject and object in the structure. In the study the use of the verbs in different syntactic and semantic contexts exhibit different meanings. They require the presence of an agent and at least two other arguments in a construction.