Aspects Of Semantic Change In Ghanaian English
Date
2016-07
Authors
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Publisher
University of Ghana
Abstract
Conceptually situated within the Kachruvian approach to the study of non-native varieties of
English, this study delves into the nature of semantic change in Ghanaian English. It examines
the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English and highlights the kinds of semantic
changes that are involved in this meaning creation process. This study brings to the fore creative
innovations as well as sociolinguistic realities in the lexis of Ghanaian English. From the
sociolinguistic standpoint that is associated with Kachru (1992), numerous lexical items were
collected from spoken as well as written sources of Ghanaian English usage and analysed within
the framework of sense relations and rhetorical ideas. The study reveals that analogy,
association, exaggeration, understatement, propriety or expediency and L1 transference underlie
meaning creation in Ghanaian English. It also comes to light that the kinds of semantic changes
involved in this meaning creation process are metaphoric, metonymic, hyperbolic, litotic,
euphemistic, similized and calqued semantic changes. Summarily, the findings of this research
show that the lexis of English has somehow been creatively customized in Ghana and it mirrors
the socio-cultural context of its uses.
Description
Thesis (MPhil)
Keywords
Semantic Change, Ghanaian English, English, Ghana