The Dangme Clausal Connective
Abstract
The focus of this paper is to analyze the semantics of the general Dangme clausal connective n ‘and’, and the pragmatic relations which pertain between clauses which are linked by this marker. The paper describes the nature of the clausal linkage achieved by means of the marker n, examining the nature of the nexus of n constructions. Like its other natural language counterparts, the semantics of n works in tandem with other crucial features of the linguistic and extra-linguistic context to bring to light specific inter-clausal relations existing between the linked clauses. These inter-clausal relations are pertinent to the derivation of the intended cognitive effects, which render specific n-constructions optimally relevant. The identified pragmatic relations that exist between clauses linked by n are temporal, causal, contrastive, parallel, additive and explanatory. The paper explores the motivation for particularly the explanatory inter-clausal relation, since such a relation has been predicted as unlikely for some other natural language counterparts of n, and it examines the syntactic constraints under which such explanatory relations are possible.
Description
Keywords
Clausal relations, cognitive effects, connective, Dangme, semantics, pragmatics
Citation
Journal of West African Languages Vol XXXVIII (1), 53-68