The Noun Phrase in Ɔkere

Abstract

A noun phrase is a phrase that behaves like a noun. The head of a noun phrase is technically the noun. In grammar, a noun phrase functions as subject and as object. The noun phrase is found in the grammar of all languages and, therefore, this thesis aims to examine it in Ɔkere, a Guan language which is spoken in Ghana. This thesis examines the constituent structure of the noun phrase in Ɔkere, with primary focus on determining the constraints on head-noun modification in the Ɔkere noun phrase, and on establishing how constituent (morphological and syntactic) units are distributed or organized within the noun phrase in Ɔkere. arranged. organized. modifiers are organized with respect to the head-noun in the noun phrase in Ɔkere. The study is descriptive and is based on field-work data collected from the Ɔkere-speaking communities in the Eastern region of Ghana. Some of the discoveries made about the noun phrase in Ɔkere are as follows: the noun phrase in Ɔkere has an obligatory head, which may or may not occur with a modifier. Head-noun modifiers exist as pre-modifiers or post-modifiers of the head-noun in the following sequential order: (Pre-Det) N (Adj) (Qt/Num) (Det) (RC). This distributional structure of constituent-units within the Ɔkere NP is an evidence in support of the designation of Ɔkere as a member of the Kwa sub-family of the Niger-Congo phylum.