scholarly journals A Comparative Study of the Simple Clause in Akan, Dagaare and English

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Levina Nyameye Abunya ◽  
Edward Owusu ◽  
Faustina Marius Naapane
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Significant Variation ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Linguistic Features ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Basic Word ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb

The paper compares how the simple clause is expressed in Akan (Kwa, Niger-Congo), Dagaare (Gur, Niger-Congo) and English. It examines the simple clause in relation to noun phrase, verbal phrases, adpositional phrases, basic word order in declarative and focus constructions, and the basic locative construction. Basically, the study reveals that despite the differences, Akan and Dagaare have a lot in common as compared to English. This of course shows how distant English is from the two African languages. Certain linguistic features such as serial verb construction and focus constructions were unique to Akan and Dagaare and this, is not surprising since languages within the same language family (Niger Congo) tend to share certain lexical, phonological, morphological and syntactic features. The significant variation between these languages shows where Akan and Dagaare languages diverge into other sub-family groups: Kwa and Gur, respectively.

Ditransitive constructions in Akebu

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 964-994
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Makeeva ◽  
Andrey Shluinsky
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Internal Structure ◽  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
Construction Strategy ◽  
Noun Class ◽  
Ditransitive Verbs ◽  
Mountain West ◽  
Ditransitive Constructions

Abstract This paper contributes to the typology of ditransitive constructions. Akebu (Kwa, Ghana-Togo mountain, West Africa) has four strategies of alignment of ditransitive verbs, if both theme and recipient objects are expressed: a neutral strategy, a possessive-like strategy, a strategy with a pronominal reprise and a ‘take’ serial verb construction strategy. The possessive-like strategy that is most standard in Akebu is rare in a cross-linguistic perspective and has not been attested in other Kwa languages. The factors that license a certain strategy are person, number and noun class of the theme and recipient and the internal structure of the theme noun phrase.

A comparative study of the semantics of serial verb constructions in Dagaare and Cantonese

2001 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-180 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.K. Luke ◽  
Adams Bodomo
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Serial Verb Constructions ◽  
African Languages ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Semantic Typology

The serial verb construction (SVC) is a productive syntactic phenomenon in many Asian and African languages and has been the subject of various studies. Many of these studies are, however, mainly based on data from the individual Asian and African languages or language groups (e.g. Jayaseelan 1996 for Malayalam; Schiller 1991 for Khmer; Chang 1990 for Mandarin; Bodomo 1997, 1998 for Dagaare and Akan; and Awoyale 1988 for Yoruba). There is a near lack of comparative studies involving Asian and African languages with regards to SVCs. Given the wide variety of syntactic and semantic manifestations that are characteristic of SVCs, cross-linguistic studies are crucial in developing a clear universal typology of SVCs as a first step towards a universal account of their syntax and semantics. Based on Dagaare (a Gur language of West Africa) and Cantonese (a Yue dialect of Chinese), this paper proposes a semantic typology of SVCs including benefactive, causative (resultative), inceptive, instrumental, and deictic serialization.

scholarly journals Language Variations In Madurese across Regions and Age Groups: Looking at Syntactic and Lexical Variations among Regions and Age Groups:

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (01) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Syariful Muttaqin
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Cultural Background ◽  
Order Structure ◽  
Basic Word ◽  
Different Ages ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
Social Level

This research is aimed to describe the syntactic and lexical variations of Madurese language based on different ages and regions in Madura. This is due to the changing phenomena of language especially Madurese due to socioeconomic and technological development. Participants of this study were youths and old groups from different regions. Data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively in accordance to the research problems. It was found out that syntactically, Madurese language has similar basic word order structure as Indonesian language. The possessive structure is determined by the last sound of the word, either vocal or consonant. Other structures, noun phrase, prepositions, adjective clause, nonverbal clause, and existential clause are much similar to that of Indonesian language. No differences were found in terms of syntactic variations among different ages and regions in Madura. In terms of lexical, some variations do occur as attributed to the socio-cultural background of each speaker. The level of politeness indicates that social level influences the choice of lexical terms used by speakers based on different ages and regions in Madura.

Syntactic features of medieval Hispano-Romance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven N. Dworkin
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Direct Object ◽  
Standard Language ◽  
Old Spanish ◽  
Subject Pronouns ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Object Marking ◽  
Syntactic Differences ◽  
Modern Standard

This chapter describes selected issues of noun phrase, verb phrase, and sentential syntax. It emphasizes differences between the selected constructions in Old Spanish and in the modern standard language. Specific issues discussed include the function of determiners, the use of subject pronouns, the preverbal or postverbal placement of clitic object pronouns, direct object marking, and issues involving subject-verb-object and noun-adjective word order. The section on verbal syntax examines the use of the present, imperfect, and preterit tenses in medieval Hispano-Romance, the syntax of analytic or compound tenses, the syntactic differences between the synthetic and analytic futures, the syntax and semantics of the subjunctive, and the syntax of aver/tener and ser/estar.

Zande

2020 ◽  
pp. 520-529
Author(s):  
Helma Pasch
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Personal Pronouns ◽  
Serial Verb Constructions ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Verb Constructions ◽  
Possessive Constructions ◽  
Floating Quantifiers ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
Secondary Predicates

The morphology of Zande (Ubangi) has been known since the earliest descriptions of the 1920s by Gore and Lagae. This chapter focuses on recently discovered syntactic features. The first are the functions of three copulas, the functions of the two series of personal pronouns in possessive constructions, and the functions of secondary predicates. There are also intransitive copy pronouns which mark substantivized adjectives, floating quantifiers and numerals which follow the entire noun phrase, and the functions of the preposition be ‘from, because of’ which is derived from the denotation for ‘hand’. The verb ya ‘say’ has undergone multiple grammaticalizations and functions as a complementizer, and in serial verb constructions it marks immediate anteriority or ineffective attempt.

A Note on the Serial Verb Construction in Chinese

1996 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Law
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb

The paper considers two superficially very similar constructions with two verbs in Chinese, and suggests a syntactic account for their different properties with respect to word-order, placement and scope of adverbs, and extraction. Specifically, it proposes to relate the cluster of properties of having alternative word-orders, the positioning and non-ambiguous construal of adverbs, as well as syntactic extraction of the object of the second verb to a structure in which the first verb takes as complement a VP headed by the second verb, and the lack of these properties to a structure in which the VP headed by the first verb is an adjunct to the VP headed by the second verb.

scholarly journals Effect of Topic-prominent Features of Mandarin Chinese on English Writing

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Haiyan Han
Keyword(s):  
Mandarin Chinese ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Sort It ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Grammatical Agreement ◽  
Serial Verb Construction ◽  
Serial Verb ◽  
Resultative Complement

Mandarin Chinese features a subject-verb-object word order and lacks grammatical agreement of any sort. It is basically a head-last language with the modifiers preceding the head word. Other prominent grammatical features include serial verb construction, resultative complement and the double nominative constructions. My paper focuses on the role of topic and subject in Mandarin, drawing on three views on Chinese syntactic structures, namely, SVO approach, topic-comment approach, and topic-prominence approach. A comparison is made among the different views and a conclusion is drawn that topic-prominent approach may better capture the complexities of Chinese syntax, which definitely contributes to English writing.

Pragmatics for Latin

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Devine ◽  
Laurence D. Stephens
Keyword(s):  
Noun Phrase ◽  
Word Order ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Informational Content ◽  
Compositional Process ◽  
Association With Focus ◽  
Narrow Scope ◽  
Order Language ◽  
Free Word

Latin is often described as a free word order language, but in general each word order encodes a particular information structure: in that sense, each word order has a different meaning. This book provides a descriptive analysis of Latin information structure based on detailed philological evidence and elaborates a syntax-pragmatics interface that formalizes the informational content of the various different word orders. The book covers a wide ranges of issues including broad scope focus, narrow scope focus, double focus, topicalization, tails, focus alternates, association with focus, scrambling, informational structure inside the noun phrase and hyperbaton (discontinuous constituency). Using a slightly adjusted version of the structured meanings theory, the book shows how the pragmatic meanings matching the different word orders arise naturally and spontaneously out of the compositional process as an integral part of a single semantic derivation covering denotational and informational meaning at one and the same time.

Word Order Universals: Refinements and Clarifications

1988 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyle Campbell ◽  
Vit Bubenik ◽  
Leslie Saxon
Keyword(s):  
Word Order ◽  
Supplementary Data ◽  
Basic Word ◽  
Language Sample

Studies of word-order universals have had great impact in modern linguistics, thanks to Greenberg’s (1963) work and to Hawkins’s (1983) refinements. Greenberg’s conclusions were based on a sample of 30 languages “for more detailed information” and 142 languages “for certain limited cooccurrences of basic word order” (Hawkins 1983:xi; cf. Greenberg 1963:74–75). Hawkins expanded the 142 “to some 350 languages”, and for “between one-third and one-half of these supplementary data have been collected of the type that Greenberg listed in his 30-language sample” (Hawkins 1983:xi-xii). Hawkins proposed extensive revisions in Greenberg’s universals based on this expanded sample.

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