The Syntax and Collocations of Akan Ideophonic Words
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61307/gjl.v12i3.425Keywords:
Akan, Ideophones, collocation, polarity, negation sensitivity.Abstract
This paper examines the syntactic behavior of Akan ideophonic words. Scholars such as Dolphyne (1987) and Saah (1995) have dilated on the morphological behaviors of the variant in Akan negation morphemes thus generating the syntactic behaviors underpinning the operation of Akan negation inflections. Though Giannakidou (2008) asserts that negative polarity items can be found in all natural languages, it is an aspect of negation in syntax having little studies. Following Ampofo (2015) enlistment of negative polarity items in Akan, we limit the discussion to ideophones and argue that negative polarity in Akan is a syntactic feature of ideophonic nominal and modifiers having both recessive and dominant sensitivity with respect to negated constructions. Therefore, this study discusses the syntactic behavior of ideophonic polarity to affirmative and negated constructions. Their syntactic sensitivity categorizes the ideophones into affirmative polarity items (API) with a dominance for positive verbals as a typology only collocating with affirmative verbals and the category of negative polarity items (NPI) having a dominance sensitivity for negative verbals as a typology collocating negated verbals. It considers the permissibility of ideophonic modifiers in tense aspects and its corresponding collocants. The syntax- semantics of downward entailment theory and binding theory of Ladusaw (1980) and Progovac (1988) are employed to account for the syntactic behavior of ideophonic modifiers and their resulting collocants.
References
Akanbi, T. A. (2014). Grammatical implication of tone on Yoruba Ideophones. International Journal of Current Research Vol. 6 Issue, 07, pp. 7692-7697.
Akpanglo-Nartey, J. N. (2002). A Phonetic Course for Non-Native Speakers of English (2nd Edition). Tema: Sakumo Books.
Alexandre, P. (1966). Preliminaire a une presentation des ideophones Bulu in Lukas Johannes ed. Neue Afrikanistische Studien. (Hamburger Beitrage Zur Afrika –Kunde, Band 5 Hamburg, Deutsches Institut fur Afrika –Forschung, pp. 9-28.
Amfo, N. A. A. (2010). A Negation in Akan: Linguistic convention versus pragmatic inference. Journal of Asian and African studies 80: 97 – 112.
Ampofo, J. S. (2015). Syntax and semantics of negation in Akan. Accra: University of Ghana, Mphil thesis
Awoyale, Y. (1989). Reduplication and the status of Ideophones in Yoruba. Journal West African Languages, 3: 139-157.
Awubuluyi, O. (1975). Some traditional Yoruba adverbs in true perspective. Journal of West African Languages: Vol. X No. 1
Bamgbose, A. (1966). A grammar of Yoruba. London: Cambridge Press.
Bennie, W. G. (1953). A grammar of Xhosa for the Xhosa- speaking. South Africa, Lovedale Press.
Bodomo, A. (2006) The Structure of Ideophones in African and Asian Languages: The case of Dagaare and Cantonese. In: Mugane, J. et al (eds.) 35th ACAL: 203-213.
Bresnan, J. (2001). Lexical Functional Syntax. Malden, Mass: Blackwell.
Burssens, A. (1946). Manuel de Tshiluba. Anvers, De Sikkel.
Carnie, A. (2013). Syntax: A generative introduction (Third Edition). Malden, MA & Oxford: Wiley- Blackwell.
Chomsky, N. (1995). The Minimalist Program. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
Chomsky, N. (1989). Some notes on economy of derivation and representation. MIT Working Papers in Linguistics 10: 43-74.
Cole, D. T. (1955). An introduction to Tswana grammar. London, Longmans, Green and Co.
Conde, X. (2005). An introduction to syntax according to generative grammar theories. Romania Minor Aula Prima 2 1 - 49
Crystal, D. (1997). A Dictionary of Linguistic and Phonetics. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Cygan, J. (1974). Negation in English and Polish. PsiCL 2: 295-329
Dolphyne, F. A. (1987). On negating the consecutive verb in Akan. Journal of West African Languages 17, 2: 70- 80.
Doke, C. M. (1947). Textbook of Zulu grammar. London, Longmans, Green and Co.
Doke, C. M. (1935). Bantu Linguistic Terminology. London, Longmans Green and Co.
Doke, C. M. (1927). Textbook of Zulu grammar. London, Longmans, Green and Co.
Fintel, V. K. (1999) NPI-Licensing, Strawson- Entailment, and context dependency. Journal of semantics 16.1:97-148.
Fortune, G. (1962). Ideophones in Shona. London, Oxford University Press.
Giannakidou, A. (2008). Negative and positive polarity items: Variation licensing and compositionality. Maienborn, Claudia, Klaus von Heusinger, and Paul Portner (eds). Semantics: An international Handbook of Natural Language Meaning. Berlin Mouton de Gruyter.
Hetherwick, A. (1920). A practical manual of the Nyanja language, Glasgow
Hulsttaert, G. (1934). Les tons en Lonkundo (Congo Belge) Anthropos, XXIX, 75-97, 399- 420.
Krifka, M. (1990). Polarity Phenomenon and Alternative Semantics. In Martin Stokhof and L. Torenvilet eds. Proceedings of the 7 th Amsterdam Colloquium. Amsterdam: ITLI. 277- 302.
Ladusaw, W. (1980). Polarity Sensitivity as Inherent Scope Relations Garland, New York.
Lawler, J. (2007). Negation and negative polarity. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the Language Sciences. http//www.umich.edu/~jlawler/CELS- Negation.pdf
Mamet, M. (1960). Le langue des Bolia. ( Annales du Musee Royal du Congo Belge, Tervuren (Belgique). Serie in 8. Sciences del Homme, Linguistique, 33) Tervuren , Commission de Linguistique Africaine.
McLaren, J. (1906). A grammar of the Kaffir language. London, Longmans, Green and Co.
Meinhof, C. (1948). Grunzuge einer vergleichenden Grammatik der Bantusprachen. Hamburg, Eckhardt and Messtorff.
Penka, D. & Zeijlstra, H. (2010). Negation and Polarity: An introduction. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 28: 771-786. DOI 10.1007/s11049-0109-010-9114-0.
Progovac, L. (1993) Negative Polarity: Downward Entailment and Binding in Linguistics abd Philosophy 16: 149- 180.
Progovac, L. (1988). A Binding Approach to Polarity Sensitivity. PhD thesis. University of Southern California, Los Angeles.
Radford, A. (1997). Syntax: A Minimalist Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rowland, E. C. (1970). Ideophones in Yoruba. African Language Studies II
Saah, K. K. (1995) Negation in Akan. Niger –Congo Syntax and Semantics 6: 151-166
Samarin, W. (1971). Survey of Bantu ideophones. African Language Studies XII. London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
Sanderson, M. (1922). A Yao grammar. London, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
Stapleton, W. H. (1903). Comparative handbook of Congo languages. London, Baptist Missionary Society. (Publication place given as: Bolobo Congo, Hannah WadePrinting Press: and Yakusu, Stanley Falls Congo)
Stappers, L. (1964). Morfologie van het Songye. (Annalen, Koninklijk Museum voor Midden Afrika, Leuven. Reeks in 8. Wetenschappen van de Mens 51)
Torrend, J. (1891). A comparative grammar of the South African Bantu languages. London: Kegan Paul, Trench Trubner and Co.
Werner, A. (1919). Introductory sketch of the Bantu languages. London, Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner and Co.
Whitehead, J. (1964). Grammar and dictionary of the Bobangi language. Ridgewood: N. J.,Gregg Press Inc.
Xiang, M., Grove, J. & Giannakidou, A. (2014). Explicit and implicit negation, negative polarity, and levels of semantic representation. Manuscript
Zeijlstra, H. (2013). Negation and Polarity. In M. den Dikken (Ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of generative syntax 793-826. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Downloads
Published
Versions
- 02/16/2024 (2)
- 02/09/2024 (1)
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Isaac Nyarko, Samuel Amoh, Nicholas Obeng Agyekum
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Ghana Journal of Linguistics is published by the Linguistics Association of Ghana, P. O. Box LG 61, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
LAG Email: linguisticsgh@gmail.com. Website: http://www.laghana.org
GJL Email: gjl@laghana.org Website: http://www.laghana.org/gjl
© Linguistics Association of Ghana and individual authors, 2023.
