The Phonology of Akan Loanwords in Ga and Dangme

Abstract

This thesis studies the loanword phonologies of Ga and Dangme (Kwa, Ga-Dangme group) languages. It focuses on investigating how Akan (Kwa, Tano Central group) source words have been phonologically adapted into Ga and Dangme. It has been observed that both Ga and Dangme have borrowed comparatively more Akan words into their vocabularies than Akan has borrowed from Ga and Dangme. However, not much studies have been carried out to establish the nature and extent of borrowings between Akan, on the one hand, and Ga and Dangme, on the other hand. The thesis, therefore, seeks to investigate how the two target languages have adapted some Akan segments, especially non-native segments (both vowels and consonants) into their vocabularies. It also explores how Akan source prosodic features such as syllabic nasals and tone have been realised in the two target languages. The data for this study were collected from the entries in both Ga-English and Dangme-English dictionaries. The study concludes that the phonological adaptations in general are motivated by a combination of phonological and perceptual factors. Phonologically, the adaptations of non-native vocalic and consonantal segments can be accounted for within OT due to the crucial ranking of some markedness constraints. In terms of tone, it has been concluded that the source tone melody is generally preserved in both languages. However, additionally, the same source melodies can be adapted into other melodies present in the targel languages.