ASPECTS OF GUA (GWA) PHONOLOGY BY MICHAEL YEBOAH OBIRI (10225330) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF M.PHIL LINGUISTICS DEGREE JUNE, 2013 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i ASPECTS OF GUA (GWA) PHONOLOGY BY MICHAEL YEBOAH OBIRI (10225330) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF M.PHIL LINGUISTICS DEGREE JUNE, 2013 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DECLARATION I humbly declare that apart from references to works that have been consulted and duly acknowledged and cited, this dissertation is the result of my own research and that, it has neither in whole nor in part been presented for any degree elsewhere. Signed ……………………… Date ………………….. Michael Yeboah Obiri (Candidate) Signed ……………………… Date ………………….. Dr. Grace Diabah (Supervisor) Signed ……………………… Date ………………….. Dr. J. A. N. Saanchi (Supervisor) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the Amoah-Frimpong and the Obiri Yeboah families for your love, care and unflinching support showed me throughout my studies. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not. (1 Cor. 4:7) NIV. I do not consider myself as having done anything all by myself. It is through the grace and the favour of God that I have come this far. I humbly give a heartfelt gratitude to the Almighty God for how far He has brought me in my course of study. I am also grateful to my supervisors Dr. Grace Diabah and Dr. J. A. N. Saanchi for the motherly and fatherly love shown to me. Their comments, directions and the pieces of advice made this thesis what it is. My next gratitude goes to my lecturers: Professors Kofi Agyekum (Head, Linguistics Department), Kofi K. Saah, Alan Duthie, John Victor Singler (A visiting lecturer from the New York University), Akosua Anyidoho, Nana Aba Appiah-Amfo; Doctors Alex K. Dzameshie, Clement Kwamena Insaidoo Appah, Evershed Kwasi Amuzu, George Akanlig-Pare, Fushieni Hudu, J. T. Agor, Kofi Dorvlo (Language Centre) and all the other workers in the department for their unflinching support throughout my course of study. My colleagues graduate students, Phillips Atsu Larnyo, Mark Dundaa, Nerius Kuubezelle, Charles Gamortsey, Monica Amoah Apenteng, Eugenia Serwaah Cobbina and Abdul Edem Rashidat, I am grateful to you for your advice, support and encouragement. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v A special mention needs to be made of Mr. and Mrs. N. K. Afunya, Mr. Obiri Yeboah and Dr. Victor Odjana Okoh who are part of my respondents who made home away from home at Boso during my fieldwork exercise and all the other respondents who for the sake of space I could not mention your names here individually; I am grateful. Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to show my deepest appreciation to my parents Mr Emmanuel Amoah-Frimpong, Mrs Dora Aduamah, my siblings and the rest of my family members who have helped me in divers ways to bring me this far. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vi ABSTRACT In this thesis, I discuss the sound system, tonal patterns and some phonological processes of Gua (Gwa). As a „Hill Guan‟ language, Gua belongs to the Guan language group under Central Comoe sub-family of the Kwa language family. It is spoken typically by the people of Anu-(m) and Boso, which form the two dialects of the language. It is located in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The thesis relied on data from the Boso dialect of Gua for its description. Using primary sources of data such as wordlist elicitation, unstructured interviews and focus group discussions, the thesis adopts Dixon‟s (1997, 2010a, 2010b and 2012) Basic Linguistic Theory to describe the phonology of Gua. The thesis claims that Gua has ten (10) vowels with thirty-two (32) consonants (both plain and labialised). The study maintains that Gua has five (5) syllable types which include CV, V, C, VC and CVC. The thesis maintains vowel deletion, epenthesis, aspiration, palatalisation, homorganic nasal assimilation and nasalisation are phonological processes in Gua. Others are labialisation, labial-palatalisation and vowel mutation. The thesis claims that, Gua has low and high basic tones. It shows that verbs and adjectives have clarity in tonal patterns but in nouns it‟s only the monosyllabic ones. Grammatically, Gua uses tone to distinguish between present and past tense on one hand and habitual, progressive and perfective aspects on the other. Finally, the thesis indicates that downstep, downdrift, tone polarity, tone deletion and dissimilation are tone processes in Gua. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover Page.....................................................................................................i Declaration..................................................................................................... ii Dedication...................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgement......................................................................................... iv Abstract.......................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents........................................................................................... vii List of Tables................................................................................................. xii List of Maps and Figures............................................................................... xiii List of Symbols and Abbreviations................................................................ xiv CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION................................... 1 1.0Introduction................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background to the Study.............................................................. 1 1.2 The Ethnography of Gua ............................................................. 3 1.3 Linguistic Background of Gua ................................................... 6 1.4 Statement of the Problem ............................................................ 11 1.5 Research Objectives.................................................................... 13 1.6 Scope of the Study....................................................................... 13 1.7 Relevance of the Study................................................................ 14 1.8 Source of Data and Methodology............................................... 14 1.9 Literature Review....................................................................... 16 1.10 Theoretical Approach…………………………………….. 28 1.11 Organisation of Chapters…………………………………. 31 1.12 Summary of the Chapter………………………………...... 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh viii CHAPTER TWO: PHONEMIC INVENTORY AND SYLLABLE STRUCTURE IN GUA ............................................................................ 34 2.0 Introduction............................................................................. 34 2.1 Vowels in Gua.......................................................................... 35 2.1.1 Gua Oral Vowels................................................................... 35 2.1.2 Gua Nasal Vowels.................................................................. 36 2.1.3 Gua Nasalised Vowels........................................................... 37 2.1.4 Vowel Length in Gua............................................................. 39 2.1.5 Vowel Harmony..................................................................... 40 2.1. 5.1 Set I: Advanced Tongue Root (+ATR)............................. 41 2.1.5.2 Set II: Non-Advanced Tongue Root (-ATR)....................... 42 2.1.6 Description and Distribution of Gua Vowels......................... 43 2.1.6.1 High Vowels........................................................................ 44 2.1.6.2 Mid Vowels......................................................................... 45 2.1.6.3 Low Vowels......................................................................... 47 2.2 Consonants in Gua..................................................................... 50 2.3 Description and Distribution of Gua Consonants...................... 53 2.3.1Stops/Plosives.......................................................................... 53 2.3.2 Fricatives................................................................................. 58 2.3.3 Nasals...................................................................................... 59 2.3.4 Affricates................................................................................ 61 2.3.5 Trills........................................................................................ 62 2.3.6 Laterals................................................................................... 63 2.3.7 Approximants......................................................................... 64 2.3.8 Labialised Sounds................................................................... 64 2.3.9 Free Variation in Gua......................................................... 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix 2.4 Syllable Structure of Gua......................................................... 70 2.4.1 CV-Syllable Structure............................................................ 72 2.4.2 V-Syllable Structure............................................................... 74 2.4.3 C-Syllable Structure............................................................... 75 2.4.4 CVC-Syllable Structure......................................................... 77 2.4.5 VC-Syllable Structure............................................................ 78 2.5 Summary of the Chapter........................................................ 79 CHAPTER THREE: PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES..................... 81 3.0 Introduction.............................................................................. 81 3.1 Syllable Structure Processes..................................................... 81 3.1.1 Deletion/Elision..................................................................... 82 3.1.2 Vowel Deletion...................................................................... 82 3.1.2.1 Vowel Deletion in Compound Words in Gua..................... 83 3.1.2.2 Vowel Deletion in Possessive Constructions in Gua........... 84 3.1.3 Insertion/Epenthesis................................................................ 86 3.1.4 Consonant Deletion and Vowel Mutation............................... 87 3.1.5 Syllable Loss........................................................................... 88 3.1.6 Aspiration................................................................................ 90 3.2 Assimilatory Processes in Gua.................................................. 91 3.2.1 Vowel Harmony..................................................................... 92 3.2.2 Homorganic Nasal Assimilation............................................ 93 3.2.3 Nasalisation............................................................................ 95 3.2.4 Labialisation........................................................................... 95 3.2.5 Palatalisation.......................................................................... 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x 3.2.6 Labial-Palatalisation............................................................... 97 3.2.7 Consonant Mutation................................................................ 98 3.3 Summary of the Chapter......................................................... 100 CHAPTER FOUR: TONOLOGY OF GUA......................................... 102 4.0 Introduction............................................................................... 102 4.1 Basic Tone in Gua..................................................................... 104 4.1.1 Low Tone............................................................................... 105 4.1.2 High Tone............................................................................... 105 4.2 Gliding Pitches in Gua.............................................................. 106 4.2.1Rising Pitch.............................................................................. 106 4.2.2 Falling Pitch............................................................................ 108 4.3 Tone in Major Word Classes in Gua......................................... 109 4.3.1 Tone in Monosyllabic Nouns.................................................. 109 4.3.2 Tone in Disyllabic Nouns....................................................... 109 4.3.3 Tone in Trisyllabic Nouns...................................................... 110 4.3.4 Tone in Monosyllabic Verbs.................................................. 111 4.3.5 Tone in Disyllabic Verbs in Gua............................................ 111 4.3.6 Tone in Trisyllabic Verbs in Gua............................................ 112 4.3.7 Tonal Patterns in Adjectives in Gua....................................... 112 4.4 Tone Processes in Gua.............................................................. 113 4.4.1 Downstep................................................................................ 113 4.4.2 Downdrift................................................................................ 115 4.4.3 Tone Polarity........................................................................... 116 4.4.4 Tone Deletion.......................................................................... 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xi 4.4.5 Dissimilation.......................................................................... 119 4.5 Functions of Tone in Gua....................................................... 120 4.5.1 Lexical Function of Tone in Gua........................................ 121 4.5.1.1 Lexical Function of Tone in Monosyllabic Words.......... 121 4.5.1.2 Lexical Function of Tone in Disyllabic Words................... 122 4.5.2 Grammatical Function of Tone in Gua................................... 122 4.5.2.1 Simple Present, Past and Future Tense Marking................. 123 4.5.2.2 Functions of Tone in Aspectual Constructions.................... 124 4.5.2.3 Tone in Nominalised Verbs................................................. 127 4.5.2.4 Noun-Adjective Compounding........................................ 128 4.6 Summary of the Chapter........................................................... 129 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION................................................................................ 130 5.0 Introduction............................................................................... 130 5.1 Summary of Findings................................................................ 130 5.2 Contribution of the Study........................................................... 133 5.3 Limitations of the Study............................................................ 134 5.4 Suggestions and Recommendations........................................... 136 5.5 Conclusion................................................................................. 137 APPENDIX..................................................................................... 138 REFERENCES.............................................................................. 172 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Latɛ Consonants 21 Table 2: Consonants of Guan Languages 24 Table 3: Position of the Occurrences of Gua Vowels 49 Table 4: Gua Consonants 52 Table 5: Differences between Plain and Labialised Gua Consonants 68 Table 6: A Table indicating Aspiration in Gua 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiii LIST OF MAPS AND FIGURES Page Map 1: Language Map of Ghana 10 Figure 1: Gua Language Family Tree 8 Figure 2: Gua Vowel Chart 36 Figure 3: Internal Structure of the Onset-Rhyme Principle (ORP) 71 Figure 4: Illustration of the Internal Structure of the ORP 71 Figure 5: Illustration of the CV-Syllable Structure 73 Figure 6: Illustration of the V-Syllable Structure 74 Figure 7: Illustration of the C-Syllable Structure 76 Figure 8: Illustration of the CVC-Syllable Structure 78 Figure 9: Illustration of the VC-Syllable Structure 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xiv LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS Page + Present or advanced - Absent or non-advanced ͂ Nasal diacritic σ Syllable symbol ! Downstep marker 1 First Person 2 Second Person 3 Third Person ANIM Animate ATR Advanced Tongue Root C Coda CM Clause Marker COMPL Completive marker CV Consonant-Vowel DET Determiner University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xv DIM Diminutive FUT Future H High tone HAB Habitual marker INANIM Inanimate L Low tone N Nucleus NEG Negative marker NOM Nominaliser NUM Number O Onset PERF Perfective marker PL Plural marker POSS Possessive linker PRES Present Tense marker PROG Progressive marker PST Past Tense marker University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xvi R Rhyme SG Singular Marker STAT Stative SUBJ Subject marker V Vowel University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1.0 Introduction This chapter presents a general overview of the thesis. It discusses the background to the study, ethnolinguistic issues of Gua and its people, linguistic background of Gua and the problem statement. In addition to the above discussion are the objectives of the study, its significance and scope. The source of data for this thesis, methodology, literature review, theoretical approach and the organisation of the various chapters have also been discussed in this chapter. The chapter concludes with a brief summary of the things discussed. 1.1 Background to the Study A language can be considered conceptually as a living thing. In that sense, once a language can be born, so also can it die. To linguists, every language has something to contribute to knowledge. This has necessitated the call by linguists for every language to be documented in order to preserve the vital parts (thus its phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics) that contribute to knowledge, should the language die. Unfortunately, many languages, especially the minority ones, have died without leaving any trace of their vital parts because they were not documented. Brenzinger et al (1991:19) explain how minority languages and cultures suffer from their maintenance and development. They University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 write, “the members of the communities concerned very often are, as minorities, not in a position to fight successfully for their basic rights, which include that of maintaining and developing their own culture and language.” This is so with some Ghanaian languages, with Gua inclusive. In Ghana, minority languages are struggling to survive as a result of the threats posed by English and other majority Ghanaian languages, especially Akan and Ewe. It is therefore prudent for linguists to rise up to the task and document these languages that are under threat. Exploring the phonology of such languages is one major step towards documentation and maintenance; hence the topic, “Aspects of Gua Phonology”. Gua is a minority language which has not been widely explored. As a language with very little work on the description of the various linguistic elements such as phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, among others, a lot needs to be done to bring the language to light thereby saving it from getting extinct without leaving any trace of its written form. The scope of this study will be in the area of phonemic inventory of the sounds of the language, syllable structure, tone and phonological processes. Gua has two dialects which are Anu (m) and Boso. This study will consider only the Boso dialect with data taken from Boso. The research will employ primary data as the source of data with Basic Linguistic Theory as the approach in the description of Gua. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 1.2 The Ethnography of Gua According to Ampene (2003:6), “The „aboriginal inhabitants‟ of Ghana called themselves GUAN, and speak a language of the same name”. However, he asserts that due to the various places where these people lived after disintegration “there are many variants of the name: GWA, GUAN, GOUN.” (Ampene 2003:6). The speakers of the Boso dialect call the language Gua /gwa/. It so occurs that, the „Hill Guan‟ people – Okere, Larteh, Anum, Boso – call themselves GWA-EBI, meaning the people of Guan descent. Guan largely refers to the language and the people who reached Ghana first before any other ethnic group (Ampene 2003). Gua is spoken at places like Anu(m), Boso, Tosen, Dodi, Nanyɔ, Nkwakubew, Anum Apapam, Asamankese Anum, partially at Asikuma and Sankɔre. There are other pockets of communities where the language is spoken largely because there are people who are of Gua descent residing in those places. In this study, I will restrict myself to the Boso dialect of Gua which is spoken in areas such as Boso, Tosen, Dodi and Nanyɔ. Boso is located in the Asuogyaman Constituency of the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region of Ghana. In the area of Traditional administration, Boso serves as the head of the Gua Boso Traditional Council with the Paramount Chief living in Boso. Towns which form part of the Gua Boso Traditional Council include Dodi, Nanyɔ, Tosen and Boso itself. Tradition has it that Boso comes from two Gua words: bɔ „mountain‟ and so „upper surface‟ meaning „on top of a mountain‟. If you take into consideration the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 geographical position of Boso, it is situated on a mountainous area. Indeed the entire town of Boso is found between two mountains. This has been the long standing belief of some people concerning the name Boso. A contrary view concerning the etymology of Boso is a legend reported by Ampene (2003). This legend states that, “the town was founded on rocks (Twi: „Abo so‟)” (Ampene 2003:88). Ampene (2003) admits that this myth is degrading because he sees it as hazy. He disagrees with the two views (on the etymology) discussed above. However, Ampene (2003) seems to support the tradition which seems to be acceptable in the area and among the people themselves. That is, “anytime travellers or visitors questioned the inhabitants „about progress so far,‟ the evasive answer was Ɛne bo so „we are making some progress‟, and this expression became corrupted into Boso.” (p.88) Another significant thing about Boso is the belief system of the people. The people of Boso seem to be highly religious. I came across an edifice close to the central point of the town in the middle of the road during my fieldwork. This edifice signifies the heart of the town. The belief is that, that is the god which takes care and protects the people of Boso. No one is expected to touch that edifice. When an individual touches it or even a car hits it, rituals which involve sacrificing of sheep would have to be performed for the person (s) or vehicle involved. Apart from this belief, Christianity has also gained root on the land. Churches like the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Anglican, and Methodist Church, Ghana are some of the Christian denominations at Boso. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 If there is one thing that unites the people of Boso and its environs, then it must be the festival, “Odweegyi”. This festival is celebrated in other areas as the „Odwira‟ festival. Odweegyi comes from two Gua words. Odwe „a type of yam‟ and gyi „eat or celebrate‟. The Odweegyi is the major festival which is celebrated in the month of September. This is celebrated to mark the end of a year and for the initiation into the New Year. It is at a time when odwe is allowed to be uprooted for human consumption for the first time in the New Year. This festival brings family members and friends who for one reason or the other have travelled far and near to come home for a reunion. There is a great deal of merry making during this season. The major occupation of the area is farming. As farmers, the main crops cultivated are oil palm, cocoa, maize, cassava and yam. These activities are mostly done by men with few women getting involved lately. Women are mostly into trading in the foodstuffs that are produced by the farmers. Palm oil production has also become another major source of income for women in the area lately. In terms of education, Boso Presbyterian Primary and Junior High School and the Anglican Primary and Junior High schools are the main basic schools at Boso. There is also Boso Senior High and Technical School which accommodate most of the students who complete the basic schools at Boso. Despite the fact that most of the youth are entering into second cycle institutions, there is still a relatively high level of illiteracy. Indeed the literacy rate in the L2 of the area has been pegged at 5-15% (Lewis et al 2013). This may be due to the fact that some of the older generation in the area did not benefit much from education. Even though literacy University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 level in the English Language is relatively low, there have been some important personalities from Boso who have served and others who are still serving in various capacities in Ghana. The rate of illiteracy is also affecting the lives of school going age individuals at Boso. This is because some parents find it difficult to send their wards to school partly because some of those parents did not receive formal education. Some of the parents prefer their children rather help on the farms. Also, lack of available funds due to lack of adequate employment avenues can be the cause of parents not being able to send their children to school result ing in relatively high level of illiteracy. 1.3 Linguistic Background of Gua The linguistic situation of Boso, Tosen, Dodi and Nanyɔ is such that, the people are bilinguals. The Akuapem dialect of Akan and Gua are the major languages used besides English. In these places, Gua seems to be the language used in most domains; primarily in informal settings. In the language, Gwa means „run‟. It is worth noting that non-speakers of Gua use Gua and Boso (which is a dialect of Gua anyway) interchangeably to refer to both the language and the speakers of the language. This reference is largely accepted by the Gua speakers. Gua is a Guan language. Dakubu (1988) categorises the language under the Tano group of the Volta-Comoe of the Kwa language family. It is one of the “Hill Guan” languages (Painter 1967a:75). Painter (1967a:75) presents a reclassification exercise of the Guan languages spoken in Ghana. It is based on this that he discusses Gua as a Hill University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 Guan language. In his work, the Guan languages spoken in Ghana could be classified into four broad language groups. These are the North Guan, Nkonya Guan, Hill Guan and the Coastal Guan. The North Guan language group comprises Gonja, Choruba, Ndmpo, Yeji, Prang, Nawuri, Achode, Anyanga, Nchimburu, Nchumuru and Krachi with Nkonya Guan having only Nkonya as part of the group. While Hill Guan has Anum (Gua/Anum-Boso), Coastal Guan has Awutu and Effutu. These classifications were made possible due to some features the languages exhibit. Per this classification, a language family tree which has Gua as the main focus could be drawn for Gua from the Volta-Comoe. This is as follows: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 Figure 1: Gua Language Family Tree Volta-Comoe Guan North Guan Nkonya Guan Hill Guan Coastal Guan Larteh (Lɛtɛ), Cherepong, Anum (Gua/Anum Boso) Anum Boso This tree has been adopted and modified from Painter (1967b:6). Lewis et al (2013) have also come out with a current classification of the Gua language. In the analysis, the linguistic lineage of Gua could be represented as follows: Niger-Congo, Atlantic-Congo, Volta-Comoe, Kwa, Nyo, Potou-Tano, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 Tano, Guan, South Guan, Gua. Gua in this context refers to both the Anu(m) and the Boso dialects. The map below indicates where Gua is spoken in Ghana. On the map, Gua is indicated with figure 52. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 Map 1: Language Map of Ghana Source: Lewis et al (2013) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 1.4 Statement of the Problem As noted in 1.1, Gua is a language which is not yet documented. Very few works can be found on the language. One of such works is Dakubu (1988). This work mainly describes the typology of the language. The language is influenced by Akan, thereby making the people highly bilingual. Akan is gradually taking over some of the major domains of Gua usage in Boso and its related environments. An instance is where during my fieldwork, I realised Akan is studied as a language while Gua, due to the lack of its written form, is only used for emphasis in the classroom because most of the students can read and write Akan. Gua is only employed when there is lack of clarity and more emphasis needs to be laid. This is however seen as a threat to the language. Taking cognizance of what has happened to some Guan languages (where some unwritten Guan languages have become extinct), it is possible that if Gua remains unwritten, there will be a language shift which will consequently lead to language death. This is not to say that unless a language is written, its ability to survive cannot be assured. Rather, documenting a language goes a long way to help maintain the language even when it is no longer in use. Dakubu (1988) hints of some of the Guan languages which have become extinct without any trace of their written forms. Her work cites Nterato, once spoken north of Salaga, Mpre on the West bank of the Volta below Yapei and Mpur on the east bank of the Volta which have become extinct. Here, she states, “the area is Gonja speaking today” (Dakubu1988:78). However, she is not certain whether Mpur and Mpre are entirely different languages. On the other hand, Blench and Dendo (2007) express University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 a view that Mpre, which was known to its speakers as Mpra spoken around Butei, is technically and practically an extinct language. This assertion is based on a field work to Butei they embarked upon in February 2007. All these give a strong indication that some of the minority Guan languages are getting extinct. The point therefore is that, Gua being one of the minority Guan languages, it should not come as a surprise should it gradually follow this trend if not salvaged. There are other instances identified where the speakers of the Southern Guan languages (of which Gua is also a member) refuse to use the language when they leave their hometown to places like Accra, etc. According to Dakubu and Emberson (1979), cited in Dakubu (1988), exploratory surveys indicate that only insignificant members among nearby Akan and Ga or Dangbe speaking populations speak a south Guan language. This raises a matter which needs to be of concern to every linguist in Ghana. In a country where the use of the language around the catchment area is encouraged to be used in the basic schools, there is the need for all languages to be researched into and developed for educational purposes. It is also very difficult to get scholarly work on Gua which add to the threat of it becoming extinct. The few research works (including Painter 1967a, 1967b and Dakubu 1988) that seem to talk about the language only make some general highlights on the typology and linguistic affinity of the language. In terms of the description of the language, very little has been said about it. Indeed Dakubu (1988) in her remarks of the discussion on the linguistic characteristics of the Guan languages notes “in this section we shall not attempt a comprehensive description of any of the Guang languages, but University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 comment briefly on some of their more distinctive characteristics” (Dakubu 1988:81). This gives room for a detailed description of the languages involved especially Gua which is the subject under study. 1.5 Research Objectives In an attempt to address the problem stated above, the proposed study, among other things, would seek to: 1. investigate and present a description of the phonemic inventory of Gua. 2. study the syllable structure associated with Gua. 3. discuss tone markings in the language 4. offer description of the various phonological processes that can be found in Gua. 1.6 Scope of the Study In a single study, one cannot touch on everything in an area within the language. In this vein, it is important to clarify issues on the scope of the study. In this research, I have indicated that the study will concentrate on the Boso dialect only. This is because of the differences that exist among Anu(m) and Boso, the two dialects of Gua. Besides, there is an ongoing project on the Grammar of Anum. At this point, it is realised that the Boso dialect needs attention. The study will focus primarily on some aspects of its phonology. Aspects like phonemic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 inventory, syllable structure, phonological processes as well as tone and tone processes. 1.7 Relevance of the Study It is my hope that when the objectives are achieved, this thesis would, among other things, be: 1. the first study with a detailed description of Gua. Areas like phonemic inventory, syllable structure, phonological processes and tone would be the focus. 2. the unifying factor for the speakers of Gua to better appreciate their linguistic identity and heritage 3. the contributing factor for the maintenance of the language and culture of Boso. 4. a reference point for Gua in academia. 1.8 Source of Data and Methodology The study employs the use of primary data elicited through focus group discussions, unstructured interviews and recordings of wordlists in Gua. The focus group discussions throw light on the ethnolinguistic information needed for this thesis. The focus group discussion was specifically administered to two sets groups with three women in each group. This was specifically done because it was meant to give equal opportunity to both males and females since more males took University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 part in the wordlist elicitation per the plan for the data. The first focus group discussed issues that relates to general life and living standard at Boso and how the odweegyi „Odwira festival‟ is celebrated at Boso. Topics relating to some aspects of the language and the culture were raised for the discussions. The topics encompassed the history of the language, social and cultural interaction of the area. The second focus group‟s discussion centred on only the celebration of the Odwira festival and its relevance. The focus group discussions gave me the opportunity to understand the way of life of the people of Boso and a general view about the language. The unstructured interviews as well as consultations were made to help in the elicitation of the data collected for proper and accurate description. The unstructured interviews and the consultations were conducted among groups like the old, young, male, female, educated and uneducated. This helped to complement the focus group discussion and the wordlist elicitation. The unstructured interviews and the consultations helped in ascertaining the validity of the words transcribed. Through the use of Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) wordlist, data concerning lexical items in the language were elicited. Using the SIL wordlist, six hundred and sixteen (616) words were elicited in this exercise. In all, ten (10) males and females were engaged in the wordlist elicitation. Again, my native speaker‟s intuition has been utilised greatly in this study. Due to my native speaker‟s competence, it made it a bit easier analysing the data University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 collected. Analysis of the data collected was purely descriptive. I described phenomena as they appeared in the language as required by the Basic Linguistic Theory. This theory has been expounded in section 1.10. 1.9 Literature Review Gua has very few literary works which are basically generalisations on the language which make in-depth review work difficult. However, there have been some works on other languages for consideration. These are literature on languages which have similarities on the topic and areas which share some closeness with the language under study as well as literature that has similar phenomena in Gua phonology. One literature on Gua which has been chanced upon has also been discussed in this section. In this section, I will review literature within the four thematic areas of the entire thesis; thus, phonemic inventory, syllable structure, tone and phonological processes. Painter (1967b) makes the attempt to describe Gua. He describes the various vowels and consonants of the language. He touches on tone and vowel harmony as well. Painter‟s work is not detailed. In fact in his own words, he states “the papers in this collection do not represent an even partially complete phonology or grammar of Gwa [Gua]” (Painter 1967b: 3). Painter‟s work represents the first major work done specifically on Gua. Even though this work is not detailed, I will draw a lot of inspiration from his work. His work gives a general overview of the Anu (m) and the Boso dialects but the current work will focus specifically on the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 Boso dialect. His work identifies phonological features like phonemic inventory, tone, and loan words from other languages into Anum and Boso. His work is seriously an eye-opener and offers a great deal of insight into the current work. The description he made makes it possible for even a beginner to be able to read and understand some of the phonological elements the language portrays. Asante (2009) works on the Nkonya language. The work suggests that the classification which categorises Guan languages should be looked into again. He writes, “clearly it could be seen that very little could be said to justify the unity of the North Guang languages, particularly so when there is even more linguistic evidence that supports a possible unity between Nkonya and the other South Guan languages” (Asante 2009:10). He supports his arguments with some cognates from some of the Guan languages. His observation is that, Nkonya which has been classified under North Guan cannot be accurate since the language has a lot of resemblances with the South Guan languages. He in the end suggests that Nkonya should be considered under the South Guan language group and not the North Guan. Asante‟s (2009) view seems to suggest that language classification should be done meticulously to avoid disagreements in future work by other scholars. Asante (2009) turns his attention to describing the various sounds found in the language. According to him, “Nkonya has 18 phonemic vowels” (Asante 2009:60). He indicates that half of these vowels are oral while the other half is nasal vowels. The 9 oral vowels are /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, ʊ, u/ and the 9 nasal vowels are /i͂, ɪ͂, e͂, ɛ͂, a͂, ɔ͂, o͂, ʊ͂, u͂/. In effect, all the oral vowels in Nkonya, to him, have their nasal counterparts. These are produced without any influence of a nasal consonant in a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 close environment. In the case of distribution of these vowels, the work indicates that the 9 oral vowels occur word medially, word finally and in word initial except /u/ and /ʊ/ which do not occur word initially. He explains how these 18 phonemic vowels are realised in the language as used in words below. Example (1): /i/ ikwi „beard‟ /ɪ/ lɪ́ɪ „stand‟ /e/ kebibɔbʊɛ „fetus, baby‟ /ɛ/ pɛ́lɪ́ɪ „shyness‟ /a/ batɛ „chicken‟ /ɔ/ ɪ̀wɔ „snake‟ /o/ oɲi͂ „male‟ /ʊ/ ɔtʊ „laddle‟ /u/ kufa͂ „goat‟ /i͂/ ofi͂ „shin‟ /ɪ͂/ tɪ͂ „to tear‟ /a͂/ kufa͂ „sheep‟ /ɛ͂/ opioʧɪhɛ͂ „sister‟ /e͂/ obi͂́e͂́ „snail‟ /ʊ͂/ akʊ͂ „hunger‟ /u͂/ du͂ „bite‟ /ɔ͂/ pɔ͂ „to become weak (verb)‟ /o͂/ e/obó͂ „potter‟s clay‟ (p. 61) One interesting thing Asante (2009) found on Nkonya vowels is that, “difference in vowel length may bring about meaning difference” (p. 61). To this end, meaning difference is realised when the vowel is short or long and vice versa. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 In terms of consonants, Asante identifies 23 consonants. He explains that 19 of these consonants are oral while the other 4 are nasal. The oral consonants are /f, s, p, t, ts, k, kp, h, ʔ, v, b, d, ʤ, g, j, r, l, w, gb/, and the 4 nasal consonants include /n, m, ɲ, ŋ/. Talking about the distribution of these consonants, he explains that /v, r, ʔ/ do not occur in word initial position while /ŋ, ʔ/ do not have representation in word medial position. At the instance of word final position, he is of the view that only /m, n, ŋ, ʔ/ can occur. He also used distinctive features to describe the phonemic inventory of Nkonya. Apart from these discoveries on the vowels and consonants, he also mentions that Nkonya has 4 main syllable types. These types are CV, V, CVC and VC. The C in the Coda position of CVC is occupied by a nasal or the glottal stop. He indicates that due to the various types of the syllable found in the language, vowels have greater possible combinations than their consonant counterparts (Asante 2009:65). Asante also makes mention of a syllable type which he calls CVV. In this type, the V2 element is realised as a duplicated form of V1. He exemplifies it in example (2) below; (2a). sa.sa „fast‟ sa.sa.a.sa „very fast‟ (2b). tsɔ.tsɔ „many‟ tsɔ.tsɔ.ɔ.tsɔ „very many‟ (Asante 2009:111) He also discusses some syllable structure processes and assimilation processes of the language. He also discusses vowel harmony which is a significant feature in some Ghanaian languages. Tone in the language was also discussed extensively. Asante‟s (2009) work is a very significant piece because it is a Guan language which is classified differently yet they share some resemblances based on the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 similarities in the area of phonemic inventory, syllable structures, phonological processes and tonal patterns with Gua. Nkonya also shares some resemblances with the Hill Guan and the other South Guan languages. Again, in Asante (2009), emphasis has been laid on the essence of fieldwork. This is because through the extensive fieldwork embarked upon by him, he was able to bring to bear the actual vowels which can be found in Nkonya. His work has debunked the view that “Nkonya had only 7 vowels” (Dakubu 1988:82). This work has made me aware that some of the issues raised in the literature may be misleading; hence, the essence of going to the field as well as offering detailed description on every language on the basis of what is available in the language and not what is thought to be there. Akrofi Ansah‟s (2002) description was on Latɛ (known to its speakers as Lɛtɛ). Latɛ is one of the Hill Guan languages. Akrofi Ansah (2002) refers to it as a dialect of Guan. She describes the phonemic inventory of the language using the Distinctive Feature framework devised by Chomsky and Halle (1983). She explains that Latɛ has 10 oral vowels with 7 nasal vowels. The oral vowels are /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, ʊ, u, ɑ/ while the nasal vowels are /i͂, ῖ, ɛ͂, ɑ͂, ɔ͂, ʊ͂, u͂/. She points out that vowel nasality in Latɛ is phonemic. In that sense, vowel nasality results in semantic change. Irrespective of the fact that nasal vowels are realised as counterparts of the oral vowels in Latɛ, not all the oral vowels have a nasal counterpart. Per her discussion, /e, o, a/ do not have nasal counterparts. In terms of distribution of Latɛ vowels, she explains that all the oral vowels occur word University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 initially with the exception of /u, ʊ/. In addition, oral vowels can also occur in word final positions except /a/. In describing the consonants of the language, she indicates that, Latɛ has 27 phonemic consonants. She puts these consonant in a chart as indicated below: Table 1: Latɛ Consonants Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Pre- /Palatal Velar Labial- velar Glottal Plosive p b t d k kw gw kp gb Affricate ts ʨ ʨʮ ʥ ʥʮ Nasal m n ɲ ŋ Lateral l Trill r Fricative f s ɕ ɕʮ m h Approx/ Glide ʮ y[j] w (p.23) She explains that [ts] and [ʨ] are free variants, as in words like tsa and ʨa “house” (p. 23) in the language. They do not make any difference no matter where they University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 occur. In terms of distribution she argues that apart from /r/, all other consonants can occur in stem initial position. She adds that /r/ occurs frequently only in intervocalic position. There is also the point that all sounds do not occur in word final position except /m/, /ŋ/, and /w/. Apart from the position of the occurrence of /m/ and /ŋ/ in the language, they can also occur in word final position in loanwords from Akan. Mention is also made of three types of syllable structures in the language. These syllable types are CV, V and C. She argues that there is another type of syllable structure which is CCV which is realised after the deletion of the V1 element in word like wυrɛ “wear” sιrι “run” which would now be realised as wrɛ and srι respectively. Some assimilatory processes discussed include vowel harmony, homorganic nasal assimilation and nasalisation. Tone in Latɛ also caught her attention. Using the autosegmental theory (Goldsmith 1976), she presents two basic tone markings in the language. She identifies high and low tones as the basic tones in the language. In terms of function, she explains that tone in Latɛ has two main functions. These are lexical and grammatical which were also discussed in her work. She uses tone to distinguish between various functions of verb forms as well as sentence types of the language. This work is considered as an object of review, particularly because it discusses another Hill Guan language. Gua being a Hill Guan language, it would be good to review work done in a sister Hill Guan language. The work has given me an indication of some of the sound inventories and the possible syllable types that University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 could be found in describing Gua. It has set the ball rolling for me as a guide as to how the Hill Guan languages looks like. Considering the works of Akrofi Ansah (2002) and Asante (2009), it can be observed that, because they are all Guan languages, they have some similar phonological features and contrasts in some areas as well. Latɛ has 10 oral vowels with 7 nasal vowels while Nkonya is made up of 9 oral vowels with each of them having their nasal counterparts. In the case of the Nkonya vowels, all the oral vowels have their nasal counterparts but that does not seem to be the case in Latɛ even though they are all Guan languages. This point to the fact that, in describing Gua, which is another Guan language, there may be a situation where some phonological features may be similar to or contrast with Nkonya and Latɛ. This work has reiterated the fact that specific languages exhibit their specific characteristics. This calls on linguists to describe languages according to the specific observations made on the language. Dakubu (1988) also describes the various languages in Ghana. She looks at them from a broader perspective of the various language families available in Ghana. She gives a general description of the Guan languages. She adopts Painter‟s classification of Gua, Larteh and Okere (Kyerepong) as a “Hill Guang” language. The review below has been done in such a way that it is skewed along the lines of the features which are common or closer to the Gua language. In terms of linguistic features of the Guan languages, (in the area of phonology) she explains among other things that, most of the Guan languages show phonemic opposition in University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 their consonant inventory. She considers these inventories in table (2) as common to the Guan languages. Table 2: Consonants of Guan Languages Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Labio-Velar[sic] Plosive b d g p t k kp Affricate ǰ tʃ Fricatives f s (h) Frictionless Continuant w l y (Nasal) m n ɲ ŋ (p:81) She makes some generalisations about the Guan languages. To her, most occurrences of /p/ in the Hill Guan languages appear to be loan words from Twi. She adds that /g/ does not occur in Nkonya and it is also rare in Nchumburu and Hill Guan. She indicates that, /h/ which occurs in the South Guan languages is realised as [x] in Hill Guan. She argues that most Guan languages do not have „/ʃ/‟ as a contrastive sound to /s/. She however observes that /ʃ/ which occurs as a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 contrast to /s/ in Okere does not occur as such in Gua and Larteh even though they are all Hill Guan languages. She attributes this difference to perhaps the influence that Twi has had on Okere. In the area of vowels, she argues that Gonja, Gichode and Nkonya have seven vowel phonemes. However, Asante (2009) claims that Nkonya has 18 phonemic vowels with 9 being oral while the other 9 are nasal. Dakubu (1988) is of the view that Nchumburu has nine while Krachi and Hill Guan have ten. The work also reveals that in Hill Guan and North Central Guan, like Akan, the vowels of the language exhibit vowel harmony. On tone, Dakubu (1988:82) indicates that “all the Guang languages are terraced level tone languages.” She adds, “all the others on which there are data (Gonja, Nchumburu, North-East and South Guan) are terraced level with two tones”. Dakubu‟s (1988) work is relevant because it offers a general description of the Guan languages. It gives a general overview of what to expect on Guan languages. Uguru‟s (2010) views on nasal vowels in the Ika dialect of Igbo are worth considering in this thesis. The main focus of his work was on Nasal Vowels in Ika. However, he throws light on the Standard Igbo Vocalic Systems. He states, /a/, /e/, /i/, /o/, /ɪ/, /ɔ/, and /ʊ/ are the various vowel sounds in Standard Igbo. He however adds that, /ɛ/ and /ə/ are part of the vocalic systems in Ika. His attention on the Ika Vocalic Systems establishes that /ə/ is used as a substitute for /ʊ, e, a/. In a sense Uguru (2010) is saying that even though all the dialects of Igbo have nasal consonants and nasalised vowels, Ika shows occurrences of nasal vowels as well. The difference between the nasalised vowel and the nasal vowels is such that the oral vowels become nasalised when they occur in nasal environment while the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 nasal vowels are intrinsically nasalised. He posits that / ã, ẽ, ĩ, ɪ͂, õ, ɔ̃, ũ, and ʊ͂/ are the nasal vowels in Ika. This means that these vowels are intrinsically nasalised. Examples of these nasal vowels could be established from their oral counterparts in the pairs of words below; (3) chá /tʃã/ wash (4) chá /tʃa/ ripe (5) dé /dẽ/ rumble (6) dé /de/ write (7) chí /tʃĩ/ go back; state (one‟s case) (8) chí /tʃi/ god (p. 22) Based on the above findings made by Uguru (2010), he suggests some hypotheses. First, the nasal vowels in Ika may have resulted from the language contact with Edoid. Second, as in Edoid, it is possible that all Ika vowels can be nasalised. However, he makes calls on further researchers to research into this area to test the two hypotheses above. He indicates in his work that vocalic nasalisation in Ika is unpredictable with regard to nasal vowels and the inherently nasalised consonants. Ika nasal vowels transfer nasality to preceding consonants. He explains that “Ika nasal vowels transmit some degree of nasality to the adjoining sound segments. Thus, the direction of the flow of nasality is from right to left contrary to what is obtained in other Igbo dialects where nasalised consonants confer nasality on adjacent vowels from left to right” (Uguru 2010: 24). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 He acknowledges the fact that Igbo has nasal consonants which are /m, n, ŋw, ɲ, ŋ/ and nasalised sounds. Yet, the Ika dialect of Igbo exhibits nasal vowels in Ika in addition to the nasal consonants, oral vowels and the nasalised vowels. His thinking is that even though Ika is a dialect of Igbo, Ika has nasal vowels as compared to other Igbo dialects, and this seems to confirm the assertion of Williamson (1968:84; cited in Uguru 2010) that Ika and Ukwuani differ from other dialects of Igbo „purely on linguistic grounds.‟ He adds that there are both progressive and regressive nasal assimilation in the Ika dialect. One other important revelation that Uguru (2010) has made is the fact that plosives and affricates allow nasalisation which opposes what some scholars like Anyanwu (1998) cited in Uguru (2010) seems to suggest that plosives and affricates block nasalisation of vowels in Igbo. Finally, Uguru (2010) calls on other researchers to investigate why Ika allows nasal vowels to appear with plosives and affricates. Uguru (2010) leaves room for more research work to be carried out in order to establish whether nasal vowels in Ika may have resulted from language contact with Edoid languages and the indication that, as in Edoid, it is possible that all Ika vowels can be nasalised. This work is relevant to this thesis because, Uguru (2010) makes a case for the presence of nasal vowels in Ika. This, he explained with much detail. Ika being a non-Ghanaian language and a non-Guan language, it portrays nasal vowel features which are found in Guan languages. The expectation is that Gua like some other Ghanaian languages has nasal vowels. This thesis will find out whether the nasal vowels in Gua are as a result of the contacts Gua has had with other neighbouring University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 languages which is the case Uguru (2010) supposes is the case in the Ika dialect of Igbo. 1.10 Theoretical Approach The research employs the Descriptive approach through the use of Dixon‟s (1997, 2010a, 2010b and 2012) Basic Linguistic Theory. The basic linguistic theory is actually a theory for grammar writing. However, since phonology is an aspect of grammar, the theory would be useful in describing Gua phonology. The theory claims that a linguist must be taught the principles of basic linguistic tools and also receive instruction on how to describe language. It is a theory that differs from other linguistic theories. Dryer (2006:3) writes that, Basic linguistic theory differs most sharply from other contemporary theoretical frameworks in what might be described as its conservativeness: unlike many theoretical frameworks that assume previous ideas only to a limited extent and freely assume many novel concepts, basic linguistic theory takes as much as possible from earlier traditions and only as much as necessary from new traditions. It can thus be roughly described as traditional grammar, minus its bad features (such as a tendency to describe all languages in terms of concepts motivated for European languages), plus necessary concepts absent from traditional grammar. It has University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 supplemented traditional grammar with a variety of ideas from structuralism, generative grammar (especially pre-1975 generative grammar and relational grammar), and typology. Dryer‟s (2006) view here is that, Basic Linguistic theory does not necessarily make a case against earlier theories as some theories may do, rather, it tries to refine existing theories and incorporate them if they are found to be useful in describing any particular phenomenon in a language under description. Dixon (1997) notes that, in dealing with an unwritten language towards its description, “the ideal plan is to undertake original fieldwork on a previously undescribed (or scarcely described) language, and write a comprehensive grammar on it as a Ph.D dissertation” (Dixon 1997:130). The theory maintains that, since every language is capable of producing a theoretical issue, describing a language will end up going into literature. In view of that, the description should be done first, and when one knows what the language has, a particular theory could be employed on any aspect of the language. Dixon (2010a) provides the methodology that linguists should adopt in describing a particular language. It makes a case for a good fieldwork exercise. In describing fieldwork exercise, he notes, When commencing work, the linguist will record, transcribe, and analyse texts, uncovering bit by bit the grammatical regularities and irregularities of the language. Gradually, over a period of months, the overall structural scheme of the language will emerge, as the linguist is able to relate together bits of patterns from different areas. (Dixon 2010a:57). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 This methodology follows with some grammatical topics on phonology, morphology and syntax. The methodology and the grammatical topics have been well expounded in (Dixon 2010a, 2010b and 2012). The underlying tenets of the Basic Linguistic Theory are that; first, fieldwork is very essential in language description and analysis. Linguists who seek to describe or analyse any particular language must therefore undertake fieldwork to gain natural data to work with. It is only when the linguist gets to the field that he would know how the languages are being used; the context of usage and the people whose language is under study would get involved and accept wholly what the linguist is saying about them and their language. However, if there is any feature in one language which is similar to a feature in the language under description, it can be alluded to before what pertains in the language under study is presented. Secondly, there should be the description of languages before theoretical application. The explanation is that, since theories have a life span, if we start analysing languages on a theoretical basis (formalisms), with time when the theory becomes out dated, it will be difficult to find enough data on the language to which the theory was applied. These formalisms make some generalisations on the structure of language, a template with which every language is believed to have. Again, every bit and piece of the language (based on the data elicited) must be analysed and adequate explanation given with enough evidence supporting the explanation. To this end, in describing a language, one needs to talk about what is University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 found on the language. A claim cannot be made without the needed data supporting it. Through this exercise, whatever the language is made up of with its relevance would be discussed and explained. Finally, the linguist can draw on ideas from the available formalisms which best describe any particular phenomenon found on the language. What this means is that, the linguist who is describing a particular language should not limit himself to a particular theory which only highlights an aspect of the language. If the linguist limits himself to a particular theory, other essential parts of the language would be left unattended to or would not be discussed since it would be irrelevant to the theory being applied. This theory would be applicable to this study because Gua is a minority language which has not been studied into detail. In view of that, it is important that any scholarly work that is done on it makes a presentation of what is available in the language. There is no imposition of what is not available in the language from another language or languages since field work has been embarked on in areas where Gua is spoken. Adequate and proper descriptions with explanations would be made as far as the Basic Linguistic Theory can allow. 1.11 Organization of Chapters This section provides information on how the thesis is outlined in terms of chapters. Chapter one discusses an overview of the research that would be carried out in this thesis. It particularly introduces the entire thesis, discusses the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 background to the study, ethnolinguistic issues of Gua and its people, linguistic background of Gua and the problem statement. The chapter also talks about the objectives of the study, significance of the study and the scope of the study. Other things that this chapter talks about are source of data and methodology, literature review, and theoretical approach. In chapter two, the phonemic inventory of Gua has been discussed. Consonant and vowel inventories in the language have been dealt with while particular discussion on their distribution in the language has been given. The chapter also discusses the syllable structures of Gua. Chapter three talks about the various phonological processes that Gua exhibit. Assimilatory processes as well as syllable structure processes have been the focal point in this chapter. Chapter four will also consider tone. The various basic tones have been discussed. This chapter will also consider the lexical and grammatical functions of tone as well as morphological. Finally, chapter five would consider conclusion of the entire thesis and make some recommendations for future work. 1.12 Summary of the Chapter The chapter concludes by looking at the various things that have been discussed so far. It has thrown light on Gua, its speakers and the socio-economic situation of the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 areas where it is spoken. I have identified some problems associated with the language and the steps to take in order to ameliorate the situation. I have indicated some objectives and the significance of the research. Source of data and methodology, theoretical approach, review of related literature and how the entire thesis is structured have also been discussed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 CHAPTER TWO PHONEMIC INVENTORY AND SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF GUA 2.0 Introduction This chapter focuses on the phonemic inventory and syllable structure of Gua. Phonemic inventory and syllable structure are phenomena in every language. Cross-linguistically, languages have a way of representing the sounds that are prevalent in them. They pattern these sounds in an organised manner which can be pronounceable referred to as syllables. This chapter will focus primarily on the various consonants and vowels in Gua with a description and the distribution of the sounds on one hand and the syllable structure on the other hand. In the case of the vowels, oral and nasal vowels have been identified with specific discussion on their description and distribution. With the consonants, mention is made of their description and distribution. Particularly, the CV (Consonant Vowel), V (Vowel Only), C (Consonant only) VC (Vowel Consonant) and the CVC (Consonant Vowel Consonant) syllable types have been identified and discussed. The chapter has been grouped into five sections. Section one discusses vowels with relation to their description and distribution while two deals with consonants. In section three, a description and the distribution of the consonants are given, section four contains the discussion on the syllable structure of Gua using the Onset Rhyme Principle. The final section takes a look at summary of the chapter. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 2.1 Vowels in Gua Gua has ten (10) phonemic oral vowels with seven (7) nasal vowels. 2.1.1 Gua Oral Vowels The ten (10) oral vowels in Gua are /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, a, æ, ɔ, o, ʊ, u/. These vowels occur in the following words. Example (9): /i/ timi short okisi rat /ɪ/ mfalɪ salt sɪ soil /e/ ætebi animal tente long/tall /ɛ/ ntɛ drink (n) aɲɛ male/man /a/ adanna jaw akpɛ road/path /ɔ/ bɔ mountain ɔlɔma kitchen /o/ oni fish/meat ælo squirrel /ʊ/ akpʊsɛ ladder ahʊ breast /u/ kutu cooking pot butu bend /æ/ æɲi night æbie chair Based on how vowels are represented using the vowel chart, the ten (10) Gua vowels are represented in figure 2.0 below; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 Figure 2: Gua Vowel Chart Front Central Back High i u ɪ ʊ Mid-high e o Mid-low ɛ ɔ Low æ a The above figure indicates where the high, mid and low vowels are produced with regard to the tongue. The description and distribution of these vowels have been given at section 2.3.1. 2.1.2 Gua Nasal Vowels The seven (7) nasal vowels in Gua have been discussed here. The understanding is that, when these vowels occur in a non-nasal environment or in an environment where there are no nasal sounds to influence them to assume a nasal feature, the nasal feature is still realised when producing them. These nasal vowels are /i͂, ɪ͂, ɛ͂, a͂, ɔ͂, ʊ͂, u͂/. These vowels have the same place of articulation as their oral University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 counterparts but in terms of stricture, the airstream escape through the nasal passage in the production of the nasal vowels. For the purposes of clarification, these nasal vowels have been exemplified in (10) below with words from their oral counterparts to determine their phonemic status. Example (10): ORAL NASAL /i/ ti „close/cover‟ /i͂/ tĩ „short/summary‟ /ɪ/ aʨɪ „woman‟ /ɪ͂/ aʨɪ͂ „sponge‟ /ɛ/ kɛ „to teach/show‟ /ɛ͂/ kɛ͂ „spread (mat), drive‟ /a/ ʨa „to dance‟ /a͂/ ʨa͂ „to lit (matches)/change‟ /ɔ/ kɔ „defecate‟ /ɔ͂/ kɔ͂ „fight‟ /a/ akʊ „one‟ /ʊ͂/ akʊ͂ „honey‟ /u/ tu: „an idiophone for emphasise‟ /u͂/ tu͂: black 2.1.3 NASALISED VOWELS IN GUA Nasalised vowels are oral vowels which are also realised as nasal when they occur in nasal environment. Cross-linguistically, the nasal environment of the nasalised vowels could either be before, between and/or after a nasal consonant. In their production, the airstream escapes through both the oral and the nasal cavity. In Gua, the nasal environment for nasalised vowels is when the vowels occur before, between and/or after nasal consonants. It must be noted that all the ten oral vowels in Gua can be nasalised in nasal environment. Example (11) below illustrates nasalised vowels in Gua. Example (11) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 /i͂/ ẽɲĩmĩ „skin (human skin) etẽ:mĩ „money‟ /ɪ͂/ fɪñɛ ̃ „to smell‟ mɪ ̃ „to swallow‟ /ẽ/ mĩẽnĩ „hair‟ ẽɲĩ „teeth‟ /ɛ͂/ ɲɛ ̃ „name‟ ohũmɛ ̃ „swelling‟ /a͂/ ãŋmwã „fist‟ fa͂nɪ ̃ „scar‟ /õ/ õnĩ „fish‟ nturoturõmĩ „an ant‟ /ɔ͂/ bʊ̃nɔ̃ „an egg‟ mũnɔ͂sʊ „garbage dump‟ /ʊ͂/ lã:nʊ̃ „forehead‟ ãnʊ̃ „mouth‟ /u͂/ sũ̃̀nɔ́̃ „seven‟ ŋũ „head‟ /æ̃/ næ̃mĩ „toe‟ æ̃ɲẽti „morning‟ It is realised that, with the exception of /e/, /æ/ and /o/, the rest of the seven (7) oral vowels in Gua have their nasal counterparts. That notwithstanding, all the ten (10) oral vowels in Gua can be nasalised in the environment of nasal consonants. The nasalisation process is such that, it can take place at word initial, medial and final positions. Nasalisation as an assimilatory process has been discussed in section 3.2.3. One important issue about Gua nasal vowels is the fact that they are inherent in the language. There are situations where languages have been influenced due to their contact with other languages. An example is Uguru‟s (2010) work on Ika Igbo, where he suggests that, the nasal vowels in Ika which do not reflect in the other dialects of Igbo could partly be attributed to the contact Ika has had with Edoid. In the case of Gua, the nasal vowels which are realised have not come about as a consequence of contact with other languages like Akan and Ewe. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 2.1.4 Vowel Length in Gua Another important point that needs to be made about Gua vowels is that, differences in vowel length brings about a change in meaning. Fitzgerald (2012:446) indicates that, “length contrasts in vowels are typically accounted for by assuming a quantitative distinction between short vowels (one mora) and long vowels (two moras)”. The point noted by Fitzgerald (2012) is realised in Gua except that long vowels are not realised on some non-initial loan words when stress is transferred as found in O‟odham. In Gua, when a vowel is lengthened in clause initial position, it can bring about a semantic change. In other words, long vowels in clause initial positions could create meaning difference especially when dealing with simple clauses. It can be said that, there is no such meaning difference when the long vowel is realised in the final position of a word. Examples of the above phenomenon include: 12a. á-bɛ̀ 3SG-come.PROG „S/he is coming‟ 12b. ǎ:-bɛ́ 3SG.CM-come.PERF „S/he has come‟ 13a. á-ʥí tèí 3SG-eat.HAB food „She/he eats (food)‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 13b. â:-ʥì tèí 3SG.CM-eat.PERF food „S/he has eaten (food)‟ 14a. æturu: gun b. ætohi: male goat This lengthening is applicable to all the vowels of the language which can occur in word initial position. From the examples above, examples (12a) and (13a) have high tone marking on the initial vowel, but as soon as the vowel in the clause initial position is lengthened, as in (12b) and (13b), the high tone on the initial vowel changes to become a rising and a falling tone respectively due to the functions of the tones on them. Rising and falling has been described in section 4.0 in this thesis. It must be mentioned that, just as it is revealed in (14a) and (14b), there is no such contrast when a long vowel ends a word. There cannot be a situation where *æturu and *ætohi can be meaningful and grammatical in Gua in order to call for a contrast between the short and the long vowel. 2.1.5 Vowel Harmony Vowel Harmony can be both segmental and an assimilatory process in phonology. The feature as realised in Gua is both segmental and assimilatory. The segmental feature as it pertains to Gua would be dealt with in this section. As a segmental feature, vowel harmony can be describe as a situation where vowels of a language can be grouped into two sets based on the position of the tongue root, lips and tension in the vocal cords. Archangeli and Pulleyblank (2002:139) are of the view University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 that, “Canonically, vowel harmony describes a situation where a feature distributes itself throughout some definable domain, for example, the word”. Dolphyne (1988:14) discussing Akan vowel harmony indicates, “In any Akan word of two or more syllables, only vowels of one set may occur. This means that there is restriction on the distribution of these vowels which does not generally allow the vowels in Set I to occur in the same word with the vowels of Set II.” The views of Archangeli and Pulleyblank (2002) and Dolphyne (1988) indicate that vowel harmony group vowels into definable and specific environments based on the rules of the language involved. Similarly, Gua, vowels can be grouped into two sets basically due to the position of the tongue root. It is expected that by distribution, only vowels that belong to one set occur in a given word at a time. Based on the tongue root position, the ten (10) vowels in Gua have been grouped into advanced tongue root and the non-advanced tongue root. We achieve advanced tongue root (ATR) when in the production of vowel segments the tongue root moves forward (indicated by a plus sign (+)). In the event that the root of the tongue moves backwards, then, we achieve non-advanced tongue root (indicated with a negative sign (-)). To this end, any word with vowels must select the vowels from only one of the two sets. The two sets are elaborated below: 2.1.5.1 Set I: Advanced Tongue Root (+ATR) /i, e, o, u, æ/ These can be exemplified in words below. Example (15): University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 okiti lizard ntebi things(n), animals oni fish/meat ægbeli cassava kutu cooking pot æturu gun It can be observed that all the vowels highlighted come from the first set. There is no word which mixes the vowels in Set I with the vowels in Set II in the examples above. 2.1.5.2 Set II: Non-Advanced Tongue Root (-ATR) /ɪ, ɛ, ɔ, ʊ, a/ The following words shed light on how the -ATR vowels select their vowels in words. Example (16) ɔkpʊkpʊ wall akpʊsɛ ladder bakpɛ shoulder kpɪtɪ tear/shift In the above examples, it is observed that the vowels in the words are selected from the Set II only. Some of the instances where this principle is violated with much clarity are when a particular assimilatory process has taken place which allows for vowels from the University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 two sets to co-exist and when both /a/ and /æ/ are replaced with /a/ in the orthography. The conditions and circumstances which allow for this mixing have been outlined in sections 3.1.2.1 and 4.5.3.2.1. 2.1.6 Description and Distribution of Gua Vowels The vowels of Gua have different environments of occurrence. The import of this section is to describe the vowels in terms of their production and distribution. Vowels are generally produced in relation to the tongue and the lips (since vowel production takes into account the lip posture). With respect to the tongue, a distinction is made when the body of the tongue moves forward (front vowels) against an instance where the body of the tongue moves backwards (back vowels). Another distinction that needs to be made in respect of the tongue is the tongue root feature. Where as in the case of advanced vowels are produced when the root of the tongue moves forward, in the case of the unadvanced vowels the root of the tongue moves backwards. A distinction is also made in respect of the height of the tongue during the production of the vowel. In view of that, high vowels are produced with the body of the tongue moving towards the hard palate while in the production of low vowels, the body of the tongue fall below the neutral level. With regard to the lips, rounded vowel is produced when the lips become round and protrude in the production of the vowels while in the case of unrounded vowels, the lips are spread given the unrounded nature of the vowels concerned in their production. In this section, the various vowels in Gua would be described and University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 their distribution shown based on the tongue body features. A position of occurrence of the vowels would be added to the description with them being bolded to distinguish them from other sounds. 2.1.6.1 High Vowels The high vowels are vowels produced with the body of the tongue moving towards the hard palate. The following are high vowels in Gua. /i/ High Front Unrounded Advanced Vowel The vowel occur word initially, medially and in word final positions. The example (17) below explain the positions of occurrence of the vowel. (17) a. iʥoji „stalk‟ b. ibie „market‟ c. æbie „a chair‟ d. oni „fish‟ /ɪ/ High Front Unrounded Unadvanced Vowel The /ʊ/ vowel occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. The illustrations in example (18) below confirm the position of occurrence of the vowel in Gua. (18) a. ɪkpʊ „chest‟ b. ɪfɪ „rope‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 c. kpɪtɪ „pluck‟ d. sɪ „sand/land‟ /u/ High Back Rounded Advanced Vowel The /u/ vowel occurs in only word medial and word final positions in Gua. It does not occur in word initial position. The examples below confirm the positions of occurrence of the vowel. (19) a. kutu „pot‟ b. ehurumi „intestines‟ c. æhurututu „lungs‟ d. ku „cut‟ /ʊ/ High Back Rounded Unadvanced Vowel In Gua, the /ʊ/ vowel occurs in word medial and final positions only. These have been exemplified in example (20) below: (20) a. ɔkpʊkpʊ „a wall‟ b. kpʊsɛ „lean against (something)‟ c. ɔkʊkwɪ „Childbearing‟ 2.1.6.2 Mid Vowels Mid vowels are produced between the high and the low vowels. Mid-high vowels are produced with the body of the tongue rising a little above the neutral level University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 while the mid-low vowels are produced when the body of the tongue falls a little below the neutral level in the oral cavity. As far as distribution is concerned, the mid vowels in the examples have been bolded to show their uniqueness from other vowels. /e/ Mid-High Front Unrounded Advanced Vowel /e/ vowel occurs in vowel initial, medial and final positions. Example (21) sheds light on the assertions above. (21) a. ete:mi „money‟ b. kpite „clean/brush‟ c. ælebi „child‟ d. ekpiti „leprosy‟ /ɛ/ Mid-Low Front Unrounded Unadvanced Vowel The environment with which the vowel occurs is word initial, medial and final positions. The examples below affirm the above proposition. (22) a. bɛ „come‟ b. ɛbʊkwarɪ „ancestor‟ c. ɛhʊtɔ: „blood‟ d. ɲɛɲɛ „grandfather‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 /o/ Mid-High Back Rounded Advanced Vowel In terms of distribution, the /o/ vowel occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. Examples to buttress these points include: (23) a. okuro „town‟ b. ose „bowl/ c. sobiasɪ „kitchen‟ d. sobi „pull‟ /ɔ/ Mid-Low Back Rounded Unadvanced Vowel The vowel can occur in word initial, medial and final positions. Examples below explain further: (24) a. dɔ „weed‟ b. fɔ „wash c. ɔkpɔlɪ „cleansing‟ d. ɔna „leg‟ 2.1.6.3 Low Vowels The low vowels are produced with the body of the tongue falling below the neutral level in the oral cavity during production. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 48 /a/ Low Central Unrounded Unadvanced Vowel /a/ vowel occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. The examples below show how the /a/ vowel occurs in Gua words. (25) a. ɔta „cloth‟ b. adɔdɪ „a hoe‟ c. akpakpʊ „he-goat‟ d. amɪ „stomach‟ /æ/ Low Front Unrounded Advanced Vowel The /æ/ vowel occurs in word initial, medial and final positions in Gua. Examples of the various occurrences of /a/ are indicated in the examples below. (26) a. æɲi „night‟ b. æsiæ „in-law‟ c. bæku͂ „elbow‟ d. ækpæbi „servant‟ Generally, as far as distribution is concerned, it is realised that the vowels of Gua occur in word initial, medial and final positions except /ʊ/ and /u/ which do not occur in word initial positions. The table below summarises positions of occurrence of Gua vowels. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 49 Table 3: Position of the occurrences of Gua Vowels VOWEL WORD INITIAL POSITION WORD MEDIAL POSITION WORD FINAL POSITION /i/ + + + /ɪ/ + + + /e/ + + + /ɛ/ + + + /u/ - + + /ʊ/ - + + /o/ + + + /ɔ/ + + + /a/ + + + /æ/ + + + From Table 3, a plus sign (+) indicates where a vowel occurs and a minus sign (-) indicates the absence of the occurrence of the vowel in question. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 50 2.2 Consonants in Gua The consonants in Gua are thirty-two (32) in number. The consonants are /p, b, t, d, s, f, k, g, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ŋm, l, r, h, w, j, ʨ, ʥ, kp, gb, bw, dw, gw, fw, kw, lw, hw, ŋmw, ŋw, ʨw/. These consonants are made up of twenty-two (22) plain consonants with ten (10) labialised counterparts. These sounds occur in example (27) below: /p/ pebi small pusi cat /b/ bɛ come æbobi bird /t/ ntɔ͂ feather ætohi: male-goat /d/ adɔdɪ hoe adanda jaw /s/ sɔ͂ burn nsensemi housefly /f/ afɪntɪ moon/month fɪtɪ:dɛ shout /k/ kɛ show/teach kɪsɪ: monkey /g/ ægumæ naughty play gɔʊ „cemetary‟ /m/ masɪ laugh mɪtɛ hide /n/ nɛnɛ grandmother anɪ who /ŋ/ ŋu head naŋuni knee /ɲ/ æɲeti morning ɲɔ lit /ŋm/ ŋmkpa bed ŋmkpakʊ liver /l/ lʊlwɛ prepare/arrange lɪ pass /r/ awurudu chameleon efuri lather /w/ wʊrɛ wear wuri steal /h/ ahɛdɛ afternoon ahɛ wisdom /j/ æjikpemi stump jɪrɛ hide /ʨ/ ʨa dance ʨu take /ʥ/ aʥonku groin iʥoji stalk /kp/ ɔkpʊlɔ͂ table ækpʊsɛ ladder University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 51 /gb/ agbeli cassava gbei dog /bw/ bwɛ do æbwɛhʊ messenger /dw/ odwe a type of yam dwɪnɪ think /gw/ gwaw beat (someone with cane) gwa run /fw/ afwɛ stranger mfwɛ palm oil /kw/ kwe grind kwɛ debt /lw/ ɔlwɛ sickness/illness alwɛ sore /hw/ ahwɛ new hwɛlɛ water (v) /ŋmw/ ŋmwɛ life/act of thanking aŋmwa fist /ŋw/ ŋwa to eat something greedily aŋwa nose /ʨw/ ʨwi eight edueʨwi eighty With respect to the International Phonetic Alphabet, Gua phonemic consonants can be put on a table as indicated on table 4 below: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 52 Table 4: Gua Consonants Bilabial Labiodental Alveolar Pre- /Palatal Velar Labial- velar Glottal Plosive p b bw t d dw k kw g gw kp gb Affricate ʨ ʨw ʥ Nasal m n ɲ ŋ ŋw ŋm ŋmw Lateral l lw Trill r Fricative f fw s h hw Approx/ Glide J W The table above summarises the consonants in Gua. It shows both the plain consonants with the labialised as well. There are some of the plain consonants University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 53 which are phonemic in contrast with the lebialised ones which have been discussed in section 2.3.8 table 5. 2.3 Description and Distribution of Gua Consonants The various consonants in Gua would be described with their distributions specified. Voicing feature is assigned to the consonants when the vocal cords vibrate or otherwise. The voicing quality of the consonants would be indicated in the description below. The consonant would be voiced when the vocal cords vibrate in their production while the sound becomes voiceless when the vocal cords do not vibrate in their production. 2.3.1 Stops/Plosives Stops/Plosives are produced when the airstream is blocked in the oral cavity plus a blockage in the nasal passage briefly with subsequent sudden release when the vocal apparatus which caused the closure is released. The name of the sounds is generated as a result of the place where the closure occurs in the oral vocal tract. Gua has a number of stop sounds. These stops have been described below: /p/ Voiceless Bilabial Stop/Plosive /p/ occurs in only word initial and medial positions in Gua. Examples include: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 54 (28) a. pebi „small‟ b. pusi „cat‟ c. papa „father‟ d. panɪ „syringe/needle‟ It must be noted that, even though /p/ has been identified in Gua, it seems to occur only in borrowed words. This appears to confirm Dakubu‟s (1988) assertion about the Guan languages that most occurrences of /p/ appear to be loan words from Twi. Perusing through the data gathered, there were few instances where /p/ was used in words like pusi „cat‟, papa „father‟ and pebi „small‟. There is a possibility that these words may have been borrowed from other languages like Akan and English. Pusi which means „cat‟ for instance may have been borrowed from the English word pussy „cat‟ while papa „father‟ may have come from Akan. The reason for this position is that these words have other forms of representation in the Gua language. We can have æʥinæmʊa „cat‟, du:dubi „small‟, and asɪ „father‟ in Gua without resorting to the pusi, pebi or papa. Irrespective of the fact that the sound seems to be found in borrowed words, it qualifies as a Gua sound because it has now been nativised into the language. In fact we can hear people use the words in both monolingual and bilingual speeches in Gua. A word like panɪ „syringe‟ and a few others do not have any form again in Gua contributing to the claim that /p/ has been nativised in Gua. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 55 /b/ Voiced Bilabial Stop/Plosive The /b/ sound in Gua can occur in word initial and medial positions only. It does not occur in word final position. Examples include the following. (29) a. bɛ „come‟ b. esibi „an eye‟ c. ɔba „arm‟ d. ba͂ „sew‟ /t/ Voiceless Alveolar Stop/Plosive In Gua, the /t/ sound occurs in word initial and medial positions only. The /t/ sound does not occur in the final position of a word. The following examples explain further: (30) a. tei „food‟ b. ætohi: „male-goat‟ c. oɲinti „pregnancy‟ d. tu: „black‟ /d/ Voiced Alveolar Stop/Plosive In Gua, /d/ occurs in word initial and medial positions only. In that sense, the /d/ sound does not occur in final position of words. The following examples clarify the occurrence of the /d/ sound in Gua. (31) a. dɪ: „sleep (v)‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 56 b. adʊ „machine/trap‟ c. adamɪ „heart‟ d. daŋʊa „nail‟ /k/ Voiceless Velar Stop/Plosive /k/ in Gua occurs in word initial and medial positions only. It does not end a word. The following examples testify about the situation in Gua. (32) a. ɪkɔ͂ „fighting (n)‟ b. mkpakʊ „liver‟ c. kalɪ „count‟ d. kɔ: „red‟ /g/ Voiced Velar Stop/Plosive In terms of the distribution in Gua, /g/ occurs in word initial and medial positions only. It does not occur in word final position. Examples are found in the following words in Gua: (33) a. gɔw „cemetary/burial place‟ b. gɔta „gutter‟ c. ægumæ „naughty play (especially by children)‟ It must be indicated that, the occurrences of /g/ is very limited in Gua. Indeed Dakubu (1988) made a similar assertion concerning the /g/ sound (cf. Section 1.9). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 57 It may be because of the presence of the /gb/ and /gw/sounds. Indeed the various occurrences of the /g/ are normally before a rounded vowel. /kp/ Voiceless Labial-Velar Stop/Plosive The voiceless labial-velar stop/plosive /kp/ has two places of articulation which combines the features of bilabial and velar sounds. The sound occurs in only initial and medial positions of words in Gua. The sound has been attested for in Gua in the words below. (34) a. kpɪlaʨɪ „vomit‟ b. kpʊtɔ „frog‟ c. æjikpemi „stump‟ d. ækpu „chin‟ /gb/ Voiced Labial-Velar Stop/Plosive Just like its voiceless counterpart, the voiced labial-velar stop/plosive occurs in word initial and word medial positions in Gua. Examples in Gua include the following. (35) a. gbei „dog‟ b. ægbeli „cassava‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 58 2.3.2 Fricatives Fricatives are sounds produced with the free flow of the airstream through the vocal tract amidst hissy noise and without any blockade in the oral cavity. /s/ Voiceless Alveolar Fricative In Gua, /s/ occurs in word initial and medial positions. Just like other consonants described already, /s/ does not occur in final position of words. Examples include the following words: (36) a. sɪlɪ „fear (v)‟ b. sɪsɛ „human being‟ c. æsi „waist‟ d. idu sa͂ „thirteen‟ /f/ Voiceless Labiodental Fricative In terms of distribution in Gua, the /f/ sound occurs in word initial and medial positions. The /f/ sound does not occur in word final position. Examples depicting the above description include the following: (37) a. fanɪ „scar‟ b. fui „open‟ c. efuri „lather‟ d. efu „wind‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 59 /h/ Voiceless Glottal Fricative /h/ occurs in word initial and medial positions in Gua. It does not occur in word final position. Examples include the following: (38) a. ahɛ „wisdom‟ b. ahɛdɛ „afternoon‟ c. hɔlɛ „water (v)‟ d. he „fall (to fall down) 2.3.3 Nasals Nasals are sounds produced with the airstream exiting through the nasal cavity. Generally, all nasals are voiced which means that when it comes to a nasal description voicing is not indicated. Cross-linguistically, due to the sonorous nature of nasal sounds, they are normally able to occur in final position of words. In the case of Gua, only the alveolar nasal /n/ and the bilabial nasal /m/ can occur in word final positions. /m/ Bilabial Nasal The bilabial nasal /m/ in Gua occurs in word initial, medial and final positions. Examples of the occurrence of /m/ in Gua include the following. (39) a. amɪ „stomach‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60 b. næmi „toe‟ c. mkpalɪ „rib‟ d. oʥæmpim „elephantiasis‟ /n/ Alveolar Nasal The segment in Gua occurs in both word initial and word medial positions only. It does not occur in word final position. Examples of the description above include the following: (40) a. nɛnɛ „grandmother‟ b. na „walk‟ c. fanɪ „scar‟ d. afɪntɪ „moon/month‟ /ŋ/ Velar Nasal /ŋ/ occurs in word initial and medial positions in Gua. The various occurrences of the velar nasal have been exemplified below. (41) a. ŋu „head‟ b. naŋuni „knee‟ c. daŋʊ͂a „nail‟ d. ŋɔ „farm‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 61 /ɲ/ Palatal Nasal The palatal nasal occurs in only word initial and medial positions in Gua. The examples below buttress the above assertion. (42) a. oɲinti „pregnancy‟ b. ɲɛ „name‟ c. aɲɛ „man‟ d. æɲeti „morning‟ /ŋm/ Labial-Velar Nasal The voiceless labial-velar nasal /ŋm/ has two places of articulation which combines the features of bilabial and velar sounds. The sound occurs in only initial position of words in Gua. (43) a. ŋmkpa „bed‟ b. ŋmkpakʊ „liver‟ c. ŋmkpalɪ „ribs‟ 2.3.4 Affricates Affricates are sounds that are produced with two strictures. During the production of affricates, there is a closure in the vocal cavity causing a blockage of the airstream for a while and then there is a gradual release of the airstream amidst hissy noise after the blockage has been opened. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 /ʨ/ Voiceless Palatal Affricate The palatal affricate can occur in word initial and medial positions in Gua. Examples include: (44) a. ʨɪ „watch/see‟ b. ʨa „dance‟ c. nʨa „change‟ d. æjiriʨihʊ „madperson‟ /ʥ/ Voiced Palatal Affricate The sound occurs in word initial and word medial environments in Gua. Examples as typified by Gua include: (45) a. ʥobini „vulture‟ b. ʥi „eat‟ c. æʥesi „smoke‟ d. æʥe „fire‟ 2.3.5 Trills Trills are sounds that are produced by continuously hitting the tip of the tongue or the uvular (at the end of the velum) for several times in quick succession. They are generally voiced. There are only two trills which occur in known languages. Only one trill occurs in Gua. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 /r/ Alveolar Trill The alveolar trill is the only trill which occurs in Gua. It occurs in only word medial position. Examples include: (46) a. hʊrɔ: „finger/toe nail‟ b. ehurumi „intestine‟ c. æturu „gun‟ d. æhuru: „navel‟ 2.3.6 Laterals Laterals are sounds produced with the tip and front part of the tongue rising to touch the upper part of the oral cavity leaving the airstream to exit along the sides of the tongue. Gua data exhibits only the alveolar lateral which has been described below. /l/ Alveolar Lateral It occurs in word initial and word medial positions in Gua. Examples are the following: (47) a. le „song‟ b. lʊbwɪ „insult‟ c. jeli „stand‟ d. ælebi „child‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 64 2.3.7 Approximants They are consonants which are produced with vowel features. In Gua, /w/ and /j/ are the approximants identified. The approximants are generally voiced. In the area of distribution, /w/ occurs in word initial, medial and final positions whereas /j/ occurs in only word initial and medial positions. /w/ Labial-Velar Approximant (48) a. wɪ: „chew‟ b. wʊrɛ „wear‟ c. ɔwɛ „snake‟ d. jaw „Thursday male born‟ e. ɔhaw „distress‟ /j/ Palatal Approximant (49) a. jie „remove‟ b. æjule „strength‟ c. jeli „stand/stop‟ d. jɪrɪ „share‟ 2.3.8 Labialised Sounds These are consonants that are produced with rounded lips without effect from a rounded vowel. Apart from the plain sounds identified in Gua, there also exist University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 65 some labialised sounds which are part of the sound systems. These sounds do not have any rounded vowel occurring after them causing them to be labialised. They are indicated by a superscript /w/ diacritic. It must be indicated that all the labialised sounds occur in word medial positions but none occur in word final position. In the case of word initial position, only the voiceless labiodentals labialised fricative /fw/ cannot occur. All the sounds that are labialised have been described (cf. Section from 2.3.2.1- section 2.3.2.8) In view of that, detail description would not be done here, rather examples as exhibited in Gua words are shown in the examples below. /bw/ Labialised Voiced Bilabial Stop/Plosive (50) a. bwɛ „do (it)‟ b. lʊbwɪ „insult (v)‟ c. ɔlʊbwɪ „insult (n)‟ d. bwi „stone‟ /kw/ Labialised Voiceless Velar Stop/Plosive (51) a. ɪkwa „neck‟ b. kwini: „quinine‟ c. ʨukwi „uproot‟ d. nʊkwarɪ „truth‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 66 /dw/ Labialised Voiced Alveolar Stop/Plosive (52) a. odwe „a type of yam‟ b. dwɪnɪ „think‟ c. ækurodwe „hernia‟ d. odwe:ʥi „Odwira festival‟ /gw/ Labialised Voiced Bilabial Stop/Plosive (53) a. gwaw „to beat mercilessly with cane‟ b. gwa „run‟ c. agwarɪ „bathroom‟ d. ogwantɪ: „sheep‟ /fw/ Labialised Voiceless Labiodental Fricative (54) a. afwɛ „visitor/guest/stranger‟ b. mfwɛ „cooking oil‟ /lw/ Labialised Alveolar Lateral (55) a. alwɛ „sore‟ b. ɔlwɛ „sickness‟ c. álwɛ̀ „s/he is sick‟ d. lwɛ „get sick‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 67 /hw/ Labialised Voiceless Glottal Fricative (56) a. ahwɛ „new‟ b. hwɛ „Saturday‟ c. ɪhwɛ „guilt‟ d. ahwe „menstruation‟ /ŋmw/ Labialised Labial-Velar Nasal (57) a. aŋmwa „fist‟ b. ŋmwɛ „life/thank‟ c. æɲiŋmwæbi „old man‟ /ŋw/ Labialised Velar Nasal (58) a. aŋwa „nose‟ b. ŋwa „take something greedily‟ c. aŋwa „cooking oil‟ /ʨw/ Labialised Voiceless Palatal Affricate (59) a. ʨwi „eight‟ b. idu-ʨwi „eighteen‟ c. edueʨwi „eighty‟ The distinction that exists between the plain consonants and the labialised ones have been summarised in the table below. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 68 Table 5: Differences between Plain and Labialised Gua Consonants Plain Sound Example Labialised Sound Example /b/ bɛ „come‟ /bw/ bwɛ „do/work‟ /d/ adamɪ „heart‟ /dw/ dwɪnɪ „wait‟ /g/ ægumæ „naughty play‟ /gw/ gwaʊ „to beat mercilessly with cane‟ /k/ kɛ „spread mat/pay/show /kw/ kwɛ „debt‟ /f/ afɪ „an axe‟ /fw/ mfwɛ /l/ alo „squirrel‟ /lw/ alwɛ „sore‟ /h/ ahɛdɛ „afternoon‟ /hw/ ahwɛ „new‟ /ʨ/ ʨɪ „see/watch‟ /ʨw/ ʨwi „eight‟ /ŋm/ ŋmkpakʊ „liver‟ /ŋmw/ ŋmwɛ „life/thank‟ /ŋ/ ŋũ „head‟ /ŋw/ aŋwa „nose‟ Generally, in the area of distribution, it is observed that all the Gua consonants can occur in word initial positions except /fw/ and /r/. All the consonants can occur in word medial position. When it comes to syllable final position, only the bilabial University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 69 nasal /m/, the alveolar nasal /n/ and the labio-velar approximant /w/ can occur. This seems to be in consonance with what happens in Latɛ (cf. Section 1.9 and Akrofi Ansah 2002). This may be because Gua and Latɛ are Hill Guan languages. It is also important to note that, the /ʨ, ɲ, ʥ, j/ sounds in the language are represented as “ky”, “ny”, “gy” and “y” respectively in the orthography of Gua. Labialised sounds are spelt with “w” sound following the plain sound that it has been attached to in the orthography. The same thing happens when a sound gets labialised. 2.3.9 Free Variation in Gua Free variation is a phonological phenomenon where two different sounds can be used interchangeably without altering the semantic content of the words involved. Gua exhibits free variation involving the sounds in the words below: (60) a. ætohi:/ætoɕi: „male-goat‟ b. ahɪkɔ/aɕɪkɔ „marriage‟ (61) a. wʊrɛ/wʊlɛ „wear‟ b. kɪrɪ/kɪlɪ „catch/tie (something)‟ It can be seen in example (60) that even though /h/ and /ɕ/ alternate in the examples, no semantic change was realised. Similar situation can be found in example (61) where /l/ is alternating with /r/ in the words yet no meaning change was realised. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70 2.4 Syllable Structure of Gua The syllable has been described by many in different terms. Some phoneticians have used the Chest-Pulse Principle while others also use the Sonority Hierarchy Principle to describe what a syllable of a language means. Both principles have their own challenges. Phonologists have accepted the use of both theories to describe what is meant by a syllable. For the purposes of this work, I shall discuss the syllable as a phonological constituent serving as a unit of pronunciation which is made up of vowels and some specific consonants at the center and consonants at the peripherals which serve as the domain for phonological properties such as tone. Kenstowicz (1994), looking at the structure of the syllable, indicates that at the heart of the syllable are an obligatory nucleus and optional consonantals onset and coda. Onset-Rhyme Principle would be used to discuss the syllable structure of Gua in this section. The onset-rhyme principle is a phonological theory used to represent how syllable structures of languages are realised. This is done in a hierarchical order. In the Onset-Rhyme Principle, there is recognition and the use of the binary branching structure when it comes to the analysis of the syllable. Based on the requirement of the binary branching node, at the root of the syllable (the components of the syllable to be discussed) is the syllable type which is divided into the Onset and the Rhyme branching nodes. The rhyme is further divided into the Nucleus and the Coda as shown in figure 3. The Onset and the Coda positions are mostly filled by consonants while the nucleus position is either filled by University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 71 vowels or syllabic consonants. The nucleus is the only obligatory component of the syllable. The onset and the coda are optional components. This means that a nucleus alone can constitute a syllable but an onset or a coda will need a nucleus in order to qualify to be a syllable. One most important fact to note is that, unlike morphemes, a syllable does not necessarily have to be meaningful. Figure 3: The Internal Structure of the Onset-Rhyme Principle The above structure is experimented below in Gua. Figure 4: Illustration of the Internal Structure of the Onset-Rhyme Principle SYLLABLE ( RHYME CODA NUCLEUS SYLLABLE (σ) ONSET (O) RHYME (R) CODA (C) NUCLEUS (N) ɛ b ONSET University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 72 The Onset Rhyme Principle has been applied to Gua example bɛ „come‟ above. The example above has an empty Coda position. This, however, makes bɛ, „come‟ qualify as a pure CV – Syllable structure in Gua. 2.4.1 CV – Syllable Structure Phonologists explain that the CV – Syllable type is the most preferred cross- linguistically. Jacobson (1962:526), as cited in Akanlig-Pare (1994:84), says “There are languages lacking syllables with initial vowels and/or syllables with final consonants, but there are no languages devoid of syllables with initial consonants or syllables with final vowels.” Blevins (1996) also acknowledges that all languages have the CV – Syllable type. Gua exhibits this kind of syllable as the most preferred. What seems to be a similarity between Gua and Latɛ is the fact that they all have CV – Syllable structure as more dominant than any other. Examples of CV – Syllable structure in Gua are as follows (It must be noted that, the full stop sign is used within disyllabic and polysyllabic environments to indicate syllable boundary): (62) a. ku.tu - pot b. bɔ - mountain c. fɔ - wash d. ʨɪ - see/watch, e. sɛ - fetch, f. nɛ.nɛ – grandmother University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 73 g. ɲɛ.ɲɛ - grandfather h. ma.ma – mother The structure below shows how the onset-rhyme principle has been applied on the CV syllable structure of Gua. Figure 5: Illustration of the CV-Syllable Structure From figure 5, it is observed that the onset position is occupied, by the /f/ sound with /ɔ/ occupying the nucleus position while the coda position is left empty. The coda position being empty doesn‟t in anyway invalidate the onset rhyme principle. It must be said that, even though this gives a clear explanation to the CV syllable structure in Gua, it also fulfils the onset rhyme principle in phonological analysis. fɔ ONSET (O) RHYME (R) CODA (C) NUCLEUS (N) ɔ f University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 74 2.4.2 V - Syllable Structure In Gua, V - Syllables occur as single elements. They are the next dominant syllable type after the CV – Syllables. Examples include; (63) a. a - Determiner b. a.bo.bi - bird c. ɔ.ʨʊ - cheek Figure 6: Illustration of the V-Syllable Structure Figure 6 indicates that, it is only the nucleus position which has been occupied which gives credence to the onset-rhyme principle. The above example shows that the nucleus position of the syllable is obligatory, hence needs to be filled. There are examples of V – Syllables occurring at word initial positions (as shown above) as well as at word final positions of CVV structures involving long vowels a ONSET (O) RHYME (R) CODA (C) NUCLEUS (N) a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 75 and two vowels ending a word (which is not necessarily a diphthong). The following words are examples to explain the validity of the CVV type. (64) a. tu.u - tu: - black b. kpo.o.mo – kpo:mo – big c. i.bi.e – market d. æ.bi.e – chair 2.4.3 C – Syllable Structure The C – Syllable is also the syllable with only a consonant. The consonants involved are phonologically referred to as syllabic consonants. Syllabic Consonants which can form C – Syllable in Gua according to the data elicited are the nasals. It is worth noting that all the C-Syllable types occur in word-initial position. These sounds are exhibited in words below; (65) a. n.tɛ - alcoholic (beverage) drink b. n.te.bi - things/items c. m.kpa - bed d. m.mo.bi - birds Applying the onset-rhyme principle on the C syllable, we come by the structure in figure 7 below; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 76 Figure 7: Illustration of the C-Syllable Structure The word ntɛ „alcoholic beverage/drink‟ which is a two-syllable word has the nasal n occupying the nucleus position of the first syllable while tɛ the other syllable has /t/ and /ɛ/ occupying the onset and the nucleus positions respectively. In this structure, the observation is that, in the first syllable, only the nasal which is a syllabic consonant forms a syllable on its own with the nasal occupying the nucleus position of the syllable. The second syllable however has the onset and the nucleus positions filled by the consonant and the vowel respectively. This observation validates the onset-rhyme principle. The next issue with the syllable structure is what seems to be a CCV structure. The fact is a CVCV syllable structure can be reduced to just a single CCV syllable structure. This is believed to happen when V1 is deleted from the first CV structure SYLLABLE (σ) σ O R C N n σ O R N C ɛ t n.tɛ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 77 in a CV1CV2 syllable forms. This means that a CVCV syllable form would be re- syllabified into what may seem to be a CCV structure where the CC would be occupied by consonants. Examples of such structure include; (66) a. wʊ.rɛ wrɛ wear b. yɪ.rɛ yrɛ hide c. sɪ.lɪ slɪ fear d. bɪ.lɪ bli collect Usually, the V1 that is deleted is a high vowel as shown in the examples above. 2.4.4 CVC - Syllable Structure This is a syllable structure which is made up of consonant-vowel-consonant. It means that the syllable has a consonant at the onset position, vowel at the nucleus position and a consonant at the coda position. In this instance a consonant may be used to close an open syllable. In Gua, only the bilabial nasal /m/, the alveolar nasal /n/ and the labial-velar approximant /w/ can close a syllable. The CVC syllable type has been exemplified in the following words below: (67) a. ɔ.hʊ.nam – (human) body b. o.ʥæm.pim – elephantiasis c. o.ɲin.ti – pregnancy d. fɪn.tɪ - jump e. ɔ.haw – distress f. gɔw – cemetery University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 78 The onset-rhyme principle has been applied on fɪntɪ „jump‟ which is a two syllable word in Gua below. Figure 8: Illustration of the CVC-Syllable Structure Figure 8 indicates how the CVC syllable type can be represented using the onset- rhyme principle. 2.4.5 VC – Syllable Structure Gua exhibits the VC syllable type. It must be noted that the VC syllable type is very minimal compared to the other syllable types. Indeed I found only one example from the data I elicited. (68) æn.si „back/behind‟ SYLLABLE (σ) σ O R C N ɪ σ O R N C ɪ t fɪn.tɪ f n University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 79 The VC syllable type has been exemplified based on the Onset-Rhyme principles. Figure 9: Illustration of the VC-Syllable Structure Per the literature reviewed, Nkonya which is a Guan language does not exhibit this kind of syllable type in Gua (Asante 2009). It must also be indicated that, Akrofi Ansah (2002) also did not make mention of the VC type as a syllable type in Latɛ. 2.5 Summary of the Chapter The chapter has looked at the phonemic inventory and the syllable structures of Gua. It was realised that Gua has ten (10) oral vowels with seven (7) nasal counterparts. All the oral vowels can be nasalised when they occur before, between and after nasal consonants. In the case of distribution, apart from /ʊ/ and /u/, which cannot occur in word initial positions, all the Gua vowels can occur word initially medially and finally. In the case of the consonants in Gua, it is realized that Gua has twenty-two (22) plain consonants with ten (10) labialised SYLLABLE (σ) σ O R C N æ σ O R N C i s æn.si n University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 80 counterparts. With respect to their distributions, with the exception of /fw/ and /r/, the rest of the consonants can occur in word initial and medial positions. However, the point must be made that only the bilabial nasal /m/, the alveolar nasal /n/ and the labial-velar approximant /w/ can occupy the coda position of the syllable in Gua. The chapter also discussed the syllable structure of Gua. Using the Onset-Rhyme principle for the description, it was realised that there are five (5) basic types of syllable structures in Gua. These structures are the CV, V, C, VC and the CVC types. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 81 CHAPTER THREE PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES 3.0 Introduction In this chapter, I will discuss phonological processes. These are the processes that segments and suprasegmental features go through to change their forms to reflect the true state of the language under study. That is, changes that occur when sounds are put together. In this respect, the concentration would be on syllable structure processes and assimilatory processes. 3.1 Syllable Structure Processes Syllable structure processes are processes which cause segments and syllables to change or adapt to a new form. This change can either be that a segment or a syllable gets deleted or a segment is inserted into the available structure in order to fulfill the required structure of the language involved. It may also be the loss or gain of some feature of a neighbouring sound. Syllable structure processes are applied on segments and to a large extent syllables. What this means is that sometimes the change may occur due to the presence of a particular segment or an entire syllable. These processes come in several forms. What these processes do is to either replace an entire segment, syllable, other suprasegmental features or modify these segments and the features in order that the structure will conform to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 82 the expectation of the language under discussion. I discuss some of these processes that occur in Gua below. 3.1.1 Deletion/Elision Deletion is a syllable structure process in which a segment gets elided. It is the realisation of a syllable or a word in the surface structure without a segment or a feature. In the event that a segment gets deleted, its feature may remain untouched. In another instance, a feature can be removed while the segment remains. For instance, if the sound /a/ with a low tone /`/gets deleted, the segment will be no more but the feature low tone will remain. 3.1.2 Vowel Deletion Vowel deletion is the elision of a vowel in a syllable or a word. This means that a vowel segment is barred from appearing in a particular environment. In Gua, vowel deletion can occur in several forms. In this section, we would discuss the various forms of vowel deletion in Gua and the circumstances that trigger their occurrences. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83 3.1.2.1 Vowel Deletion in Compound Words in Gua One area where vowel deletion occurs in Gua is in the area of compounding. In the process of forming compound words, if it happens that the second word has an initial vowel, the vowel gets elided when the preceding word ends in a vowel. In that sense, it can be said that the final vowel of the initial word triggers the deletion of the initial vowel of the second word. The following examples indicate the phenomenon described above. (69) a. æ̀ɲɛ́ + ànûm æ̀ɲɛ́nûm man elder elderly man b. tèí + æ̀kɔ́sɪ̀ tèíkɔ́sɪ ̀ food good good food c. ésíbì + àlé èsìbìlé eye difficult/hard courage/boldness In the event that the initial vowel of the second word is not dropped, the word becomes ungrammatical. For example; (70) a. æ̀ɲɛ́ + æ̀nûm *æɲɛanum b. tèí + æ̀kɔ́sɪ̀ *teiakɔsɪ Examples (70a.) and (70b.) show the ungrammaticality of the failure to delete the initial vowel of the second word. This structure is ill-formed and it is highly unacceptable in Gua. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 84 3.1.2.2 Vowel Deletion in Possessive Constructions in Gua A possessive construction may require a possessive linker to link two nouns. In some languages like Ewe, there can be a structure which will require the two nouns to take a possessive linker. It could also happen that the possessive linker may not be needed yet the structure would be grammatical (Amuzu 2009). This means that the possessive linker is zero marked, hence not realised. Gua has both cases. Gua makes a distinction between kinship and non-kinship nouns. The structure which involves kinship nouns require mɔ́ as the possessive linker whilst the structure that deals with the non-kinship nouns take mʊ́ as its possessive linker. There is another structure which does not require a linker to link the two nouns. This structure can be referred to as a „linkless‟ structure. The „linkless‟ construction normally makes the structure indefinite. For the structure that requires a possessive linker, the linker causes the second noun to lose its initial vowel. It must be indicated that, the possessive linker that carries a high tone becomes low when it occurs in the construction. High and low tones have been discussed in section 4.1.1 and 4.1.2 respectively. Examples are: (71) a. Gyau + mɔ́ + ǽnî Gyau mɔ̀- ní Gyau POSS mother Gyau POSS-mother „Gyau‟s mother‟ b. Karle + mɔ́ + ǽsíæ̀ Karle mɔ̀-síæ̀ Karle POSS in-law Karle POSS-in-law „Karle‟s in-law‟ (71) c. Gyau + mɔ́ + ǽnî *Gyau mɔ̀ ánî Gyau POSS mother Gyau POSS mother University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 85 d. Karle + mɔ́ + æsiæ *Karle mɔ̀-ǽsíæ̀ Karle POSS in-law Karle POSS-in-law In the above examples, example (71a and b) is grammatical and well structured because the initial vowel in the second noun was deleted when the possessive linker was attached, but in the case of (71c and d), the initial vowel has been maintained which violates the grammaticality of possessive constructions in Gua. It is interesting to note that even though this particular deletion process occurs in possessive constructions in Gua, it only affects the kinship possessive construction. Both the non-kinship and the „linkless‟ construction do not go through this deletion process. Examples include the following; (72) a. gbèí á mʊ́ ábíè gbèí á mʊ́ ábíè dog DET POSS chair dog DET POSS chair „The dog‟s chair‟ „The dog‟s chair‟ (72) b. gbei ᴓ adanda gbei ᴓ adanda dog POSS jaw dog POSS jaw „A dog‟s jaw‟ „A dog‟s jaw‟ In example (72), (72a) indicates the non-kinship construction while (72b) shows the „linkless‟ construction. Examples (72a) and (72b) indicate that the initial vowel of the second noun in non-kinship and the „linkless‟ construction does not go through the deletion process as found in the kinship construction in example (71a). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 86 3.1.3 Insertion/Epenthesis Epenthesis is a syllable structure process which allows the addition of a segment in the body of a syllable or a word. Epenthesis in Gua is mostly employed to separate consonant clusters of borrowed words. Blevins (1996) acknowledges that all languages have the CV – Syllable type. Gua prefers CV syllable type. In view of that, any borrowed word which has a consonant cluster needs to be separated through epenthesis. Akanlig-Pare (2005:49) notes a similar thing that happens in Buli. He writes, “the occurrence of epenthesis is an indication that consonant clusters are not preferred in the syllable structure of Buli words.” He cites some examples of borrowed words from English whose clusters have been separated through epenthesis which have been listed below in example (73). (73) /stri:t/ si.ti.ri:.ti./si.ti:.ti (street) /sku:l/ su.ku:l(i) (school) /teɪbl/ te:.bu.luk (table) (p. 48) In Gua, a similar phenomenon occurs. Since consonant clusters are not normally allowed in Gua, vowels are used to separate the cluster. The following examples indicate what happens in Gua. (74). stri:t sì.tì.rí.tì (street) sku:l sù.kǔ: (school) teɪbl té:.bù: (table) trein tè.réì (train) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 87 3.1.4 Consonant Deletion and Vowel Mutation Consonant deletion as the name suggests is the dropping of a consonant sound or a segment. Vowel mutation on the other hand is a syllable structure process which allows a vowel to change its form to another. In Gua, there are instances of consonant deletion and vowel mutation occurring together. This involves the second person singular subject pronoun wʊ́ with the high tone and a verb. What happens is that, the full form of wʊ is realised in present tense; but when it comes to past tense construction, the approximant /w/ in the pronoun is deleted while the rounded vowel /ʊ/ mutates to either /o/ or /ɔ/ depending on the vowels in the stem based on the requirement of vowel harmony in Gua. The mutated vowel carries a low tone instead of the high on the pronoun while the verb in the past takes a rising pitch. Pitch has been discussed in section 4 of this thesis. Examples of such processes include: Present Tense Past Tense (75) a. wʊ́- dɪ̀: ɔ̀- dɪ̂: 2SG.SUBJ sleep.PRES 2SG.SUBJ sleep.PST „You sleep‟ „You slept‟ (75) b. wú- nù: ò- nû: 2SG.SUBJ drink.PRES 2SG.SUBJ drink.PST „You drink‟ „You drunk‟ (75) c. wʊ́- wɪ̀: ɔ̀- wɪ̂: 2SG.SUBJ chew.PRES 2SG.SUBJ chew.PST „You chew‟ „You chewed‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 88 The above examples show how two phonological processes combine their forms to make pronunciation of words in Gua simpler. The description above shows how Gua speakers, whether consciously or unconsciously, modify sounds in their mental lexicon when speaking. Should the speaker fail to go by this phenomenon in the past tense construction, the construction would be rendered ungrammatical. Examples of ungrammatical construction per the above description include: Present Tense Past Tense (76) a. wʊ́- dɪ̀: *(c) wʊ́-dɪ̂: 2SG-sleep.PRES 2SG-sleep.PST „You sleep‟ (76) b. wʊ́- wɪ̀: *(d) wʊ́- wɪ̂: 2SG-chew.PRES 2SG-sleep.PST „You chew‟ In example (76), all the (a) and (b) examples are grammatical while the (c) and (d) examples are ungrammatical. The (c) and (d) examples are ungrammatical because they do not go through the laid down procedure of consonant deletion and vowel mutation. It is okay if it appears to mean what is expressed in (a) and (b) but not in past tense as expressed in (c) and (d) examples. 3.1.5 Syllable Loss This is where a syllable is deleted due to the presence of other morphemes attached to it. In Gua, a syllable can be deleted during the formation of compound words. It usually involves objects which need possessive linker to form a noun- University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 89 noun compound word. It is a process that allows you to form the young component of the older one. What it means is that this process allows you to get the name of an offspring relating to the name of the mother or the parent. It normally involves nouns. (77) a. æ̀kɪ́rɛ́nɪ̀ + mɔ́ + ábî æ̀kɪ́rɛ́nɪ̀-bì chicken POSS child chick- child „chick‟ (77) b. àʨɪ́ + mɔ́ + ǽbî àʨɪ́- bí woman POSS child woman- child „woman‟s child‟ „young girl‟ (77) c. ájì + mɔ́ ábî ájì- bí tree POSS child tree- child „tree‟s child‟ „chewing stick‟ Drawing from example (77) one thing that is worth noting is that in Gua, one can form the smaller component of a larger or older one only when the possessive marker is deleted in constructions which need the linker. In this case, the -bi „child‟ must lose its possessive linker mɔ́ „possessive linker‟ in order to make the structure grammatical. It must be noted that the tone on the possessive linker also gets deleted. (tone deletion has been discussed in section 4.4.4). These constructions actually connote indefinite marking of the new word formed. In the event that the possessive linker is maintained, a definite structure is constructed and a definite marker is also required to make the construction grammatical. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90 3.1.6 Aspiration Aspiration takes place when an extra force is exerted when producing a sound. Bodomo (1997:12 cited in Agoswin 2010:98) in talking about aspiration notes that, “voiceless plosives are usually aspirated when they occur in primary syllable initial positions.” Agoswin (2010:98) sharing his view on aspiration as a syllable structure process opines that in Kusaal, “the consonants [p, t and k] are the candidates which are produced with a greater degree of force when they occur at the beginning of syllables.” These views point to the fact that aspiration occurs on the voiceless stops/plosive at the initial position of a primary syllable. Aspiration in phonology is represented by the superscript /h/. Unlike Kusaal, as noted by Agoswin (2010:98), in Gua, aspiration of segments occur on only /t/ and /k/ since /p/, to a large extent, is found in borrowed words in Gua. The Gua data shows that when a /t/ or /k/ occurs at the initial position of a basic syllable with a high tone, the /t/ or /k/ becomes aspirated. However, when the same /t/ or /k/, occurs in the initial position of the syllable with a low tone, aspiration does not take place. This is espoused in table 6 below: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 91 Table 6: A Table indicating Aspiration in Gua Sound Aspirated Meaning Unaspirated Meaning /t/ thé Oath tè cross a river/ weed (a bushy path) /k/ khú khɛ́ hole show/teach kù kɛ̀ cut spread a mat The above table shows the differences that exist between the aspirated and the unaspirated /t/ and /k/. The point must however be emphasised that anytime there is an aspirated /t/ or /k/, then there would be a high tone on the vowel. 3.2 Assimilatory Processes in Gua Assimilatory processes are processes which cause segments to adapt to, change or modify part or all their features to look more like a neighbouring segment. Katamba (1989:80) defines assimilation as “the modification of a sound in order to make it more similar to some other in its neighbourhood.” This means that assimilation is a phonological process where a sound copies or assumes the quality of a neighbouring sound. This is done so that pronunciation would be easier and friendly. Katamba points out that “the advantage of having assimilation is that it results in smoother, more effortless, more economical transitions from one sound University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 92 to another” (1989:80). Assimilation processes can be realised progressively or regressively. Progressive assimilation is a process where a sound copies the quality of a sound that follows it. Regressive assimilation on the other hand, is a process where a sound copies a quality of a sound that precedes it. In this section, I will show how some of the assimilatory processes take place in Gua. 3.2.1 Vowel Harmony Vowel Harmony is both a segmental and an assimilatory process in phonology. Dolphyne (1988) treats vowel harmony as both a segmental and assimilatory phenomenon in Akan. The feature as realised in Gua is both segmental phenomenon and an assimilatory process. The segmental phenomenon has been discussed in section 2.1.5. As an assimilatory process, vowel harmony can be described as a process where vowels from one set copy the features of the other set when two words are merged to form a word in Gua. It is expected that by distribution, only vowels that belong to one set occur in a given word at a time. In a situation where this fails to happen in Gua, then vowel harmony as a process has taken place. (78) a. mɪ́- è- bíè (78) b. mí- è- bíè 1SG PERF bath 1SG PERF bath.PERF „I have bathed‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 93 (79) a . wʊ́- sòbí (79) b. ò- sóbì 2SG pull NOM. pull „Pulling‟ (80) a. wʊ́-ʨɪ̀ æ̀lèbí à (80) b. ɔ̀-ʨɪ̂ æ̀lèbí à 2SG-watch/see child DET 2SG-watch/see.PST child DET „You looked after the child‟ From the examples above, example (78b) shows that because the vowels in the verb comes from Set I, the vowel in the pronoun has to change from /ɪ/ to /i/ based on the requirement of the vowel harmony. In the case of example (79b), /ʊ/ vowel in the pronoun has to mutate to /o/ in nominalising the verb. Example (80b) indicates that the vowel in the pronoun has to change to /ɔ/ because the vowels in the verb-stem are from Set II of the vowel harmony distribution. This is a clear case of regressive assimilatory feature of vowel harmony in Gua. However, unlike Akan where only set I or advanced vowels assimilate unadvanced vowels, these Gua examples show that both set I and set II vowels can assimilate vowels that precede them. 3.2.2 Homorganic Nasal Assimilation This is an assimilatory process where a nasal consonant takes on the place of articulation feature of a neighbouring segment especially the initial consonant of the base. In Gua, the case of homorganic nasal assimilation is regressive. One way in which homorganic nasal assimilation occurs is after vowel deletion has taken University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 94 place. This can be realised when the first person subject possessive pronoun is attached to a verb in the past tense form. After the deletion of the vowel in the pronoun, the syllabic nasal assumes a low tone while the initial syllable of the disyllabic words changes the low-high tone to a high-low tone. However, in the present tense construction, the full form of the first person pronoun is realised. Examples include: Present Tense Past Tense (81) a. mɪ́- sùmɛ́ ǹ- súmɛ̀ 1SG.SUBJ send.PRES 1SG.SUBJ send.PST „I send‟ „I sent‟ (81) b. mɪ́- kɪ̀rɪ́ ŋ̀- kɪ́rɪ̀ 1SG.SUBJ tie.PRES 1SG.SUBJ tie.PST „I tie‟ „I tied‟ (81) c. mɪ́- kpìté ŋ̀- kpítè 1SG.SUBJ clean.PRES 1SG.SUBJ clean.PST „I clean‟ „I cleaned‟ Example (81) shows how homorganic nasal assimilation is realised. In example (81a), the bilabial nasal in the pronoun had to assume the alveolar quality of the voiceless alveolar fricative /s/ causing the bilabial nasal to change to alveolar nasal /n/. In (81b and c), the bilabial nasal in the pronoun copied the velar feature of the voiceless velar stop /k/ and the voiceless labial-velar stop /kp/causing the bilabial nasal to change its form to become a labial-velar nasal /ŋm/. The tonal patterns on the past tense structure have been discussed in section 4.5.2.1. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 95 3.2.3 Nasalisation Nasalisation is an assimilatory process where non-nasal or oral sounds copy the nasal feature of neighbouring nasal sounds. Katamba explains that “Nasalisation is a process whereby an oral segment acquires nasality from a neighbouring nasal segment” (Katamba 1989:93). The oral sound takes on the nasal feature of the nasal sound before it or the one after it. In Gua, nasalisation occurs both progressively and regressively. Let us consider the following examples in (82). (82) a. ã̀ŋ wã̃́ „fist‟ b. dɔ̀̃:nɪ ̃̃̂ „tongue‟ c. ẽ́ɲi ̃̃̂ „teeth‟ d. nã̃́mi ̃̃̂ „toe‟ e. fɪ ̃̀nɛ̃̃́ „smell (v) The above words exhibit nasalisation in simple words in Gua. It is evident that, nasalisation takes place in three major environments in which the vowels occur. A vowel can be nasalised if it occurs before, between or after nasal sounds 3.2.4 Labialisation According to Abakah (2012:67), “labialisation refers to secondary articulation formed by rounding and protruding the lips, the same gesture that is utilised in [+Round] vowels. This configuration can be superimposed on all consonants including labials”. In a sense, labialisation could be described as an assimilatory University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 96 process where an unrounded consonant becomes round due to the presence of a rounded vowel in its neighbourhood. When this happens, the unrounded consonant which is produced with spread lips is now produced with the lips rounded and protruded simultaneously even before the sound is heard in its production. Labialisation is marked with a superscript /w/. The same process occurs in Gua. It must be noted that this process is different from how labialised consonants are realised. In the case of the labialised consonants, the roundedness of the consonant is part of it; there is no rounded vowel following the consonant causing it to be round as has been the case in labialisation (cf. Section 2.3.8 and table 5). Examples of labialisation in Gua include the following in (83); (83) a. ŋwú head b. æ̀kpwǔ chin c. kwú hole d. èswùswú: saliva e. ɛ̀hwʊ̀twɔ̀: blood 3.2.5 Palatalisation Palatalisation is an assimilatory process which causes non-palatal sounds to be produced close to the palatal region in the oral cavity. Dolphyne (1988:143) indicates that “Palatalisation refers to the raising of the body of the tongue towards the hard palate when a sound is being made.” She notes that, “/p/ in pɛ „like‟ is pronounced pyɛ, that is palatalised, in Fante, but pɛ, not palatalised, in Akuapem and Asante.” (Dolphyne 1988:143) In the case of Gua, non-palatal consonants University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 97 assume the palatal features of high vowels which are perceived to be produced with the body of the tongue raised towards the palatal region. What happens is that, when these consonants are followed by the high front unrounded vowel /i/, it causes the consonants to be palatalised. Palatalisation is marked with a superscript /j/ after the palatalised sound. Examples of this are provided in (84): (84) a. æ̀tòhjí: male-goat b. bǽbîkòntjì: thumb c. èkpìtjì leprosy d. àtjírìdjí: fever 3.2.6 Labial-Palatalisation Writing on labial-palatalisation Ladefoged (1993:232, cited in Abakah 2012:78) notes that, In some languages, (for instance Twi and other Akan languages spoken in Ghana), labialization co-occur with palatalisation. As palatalisation is equivalent to the superimposition of an articulation similar to that in [i], labialization plus palatalisation is equivalent to the superimposition of a rounded [i] – that is [y]. … the corresponding semivowel is [ɥ]. Accordingly these secondary articulations may be symbolised by a raised [ɥ]. As noted above, labial-palatalisation is a secondary articulation process where in the production of a segment, the body of the tongue moves toward the hard palate University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 98 whiles the lips round and spread at the same time. The superscript /ɥ/ diacritic is used to indicate labial-palatalisation. The following are examples in (85); (85) a. kpui [kpɥî] pot for water storage b. akpʊkpui [àkpwʊ́kpɥî] pestle c. kului [kwúlɥǐ] pig It can be said that this process is possible when the labial-palatalised consonant is followed by /u/ and /i/ in succession. 3.2.7 Consonant Mutation Segments sometimes give up their identity to take on the identity of another. This is the case of consonant mutation. Consonant mutation is an assimilatory process where a consonant takes on the qualities of another consonant which results in segment change. Bota (2002:93) describes consonant mutation as “an assimilatory process that takes place when a consonant changes some of its phonetic qualities under certain phonetic and/or grammatical conditions.” Bota (2002) is of the view that, “the only account of consonant mutation that occurs in almost all Akan dialects is a voiced plosive becoming a nasal after a preceding nasal.” However, in the case of the Jaman subdialect of Bono, she notes that, “another type of consonant mutation occurs which involves a voiceless consonant becoming voiced after a nasal.” A similar instance of the first phenomenon of consonant mutation described by Bota (2002) occurs in Gua. In Gua, consonant mutation occurs when the regular plural marker (a nasal consonant) is attached to a noun which begins with /a/. When the regular plural marker is attached to a singular noun, the prefix University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 99 a- gets deleted; then the nasal takes on the place of articulation of the following consonant (thus, the initial consonant of the base) and the consonant of the base word also copies the nasality of the preceding nasal. Examples of consonant mutation in Gua can be found in the following words. (86) a. æ̀bòbí m + æbobi m̀-mòbí bird PL bird PL-bird „bird‟ „birds‟ b. àbî m + abi m̀-mî snail PL snail PL-snail „snail‟ „snails‟ c. æ̀bìé m + æbie m̀-mìé chair PL chair PL-chair „chair‟ „chairs‟ In example (86), (a), (b) and (c) indicate how the consonant mutation process works. The arrow shows the direction of the change. After the deletion of the /a/ vowel, the plural prefix is then attached to the noun stem. It is observed that all the examples which occurred involved the voiced sounds. This means that the consonant that mutates must be a voiced consonant. It is important to note that, consonant mutation takes place after homorganic nasal assimilation has been achieved. In a situation where after the deletion the consonant that remains is voiceless, mutation will not take place. For instance, when the alveolar nasal is attached to a noun which begins with /a/ when vowel deletion takes place if the following University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 100 consonant is the voiceless alveolar stop /t/, the voiceless alveolar stop will remain unchanged. However, its voiced counterpart /d/ undergoes mutation. The example below attests to this fact. (87) a. æ̀tèbí n + ætebi ǹ-tébì animal PL animal PL-animal „animal‟ „animals‟ „animals‟ (87) b. àdàmɪ́ n + adamɪ ǹ-námɪ̀ heart PL heart PL-heart „heart‟ „hearts‟ „hearts‟ c. æ̀tùrú: n + æturu: ǹ-túrù: gun PL + gun PL-gun „gun‟ „guns‟ 3.3 Summary of the Chapter The chapter has delved into the various phonological processes in Gua. The discussion has basically revolved around the various syllable structure processes as well as the assimilatory processes in the language. Specific discussion was made on processes like vowel deletion, epenthesis, aspiration, etc constituting the syllable structure processes whilst homorganic nasal assimilation, palatalisation, labial-palatalisation, labialisation, nasalisation, consonant mutation, among others are the various assimilatory processes discussed in this chapter. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 101 The chapter in effect has shown how Gua segments and features go through some processes to modify their forms to conform to the structures accepted in the language. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 102 CHAPTER FOUR TONOLOGY OF GUA 4.0 Introduction This chapter considers the subject matter of tone in Gua. Tone can basically be described as the relative contrastive realisation of pitch on words. Pitch is the rate of vibration of the vocal cords. Dolphyne (1988:54) explains that “a fast vibration of the vocal cords gives an auditory sensation of high pitch, and a slow vibration, low pitch.” It means that high pitch produces high tone while low pitch produces low tone. The point must be made that even though tone uses pitch, it employs relative pitch but not absolute pitch. In describing tone, Yip (2002:5) is of the view that tone refers to “a phonological category that distinguishes two words or utterances, and is thus only a term relevant for language, and only for languages in which pitch plays some sort of linguistic role.” Tone is therefore a basic phenomenon in tonal languages. Pike (1948:3) [one of the earliest scholars who made a case for tonal studies] notes that, “a tone language may be defined as a language having lexically significant, contrastive, but relative pitch on each syllable.” This means that a tone language uses variation in pitch level to determine the differences that exist in words and utterances. In the words of Zhang (2001:1), “The term „tone language‟ usually refers to languages in which the pitch of a syllable serves lexical or grammatical functions.” University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 103 Tone is, therefore, a very important feature whose emphasis cannot be underestimated in tonal languages. Kratochil (1968:342) explains that, “since tones are minimal distinctive features differentiating syllables identical in segmental structure, they are phonemically distinctive features and we speak of tone phoneme (sometimes called tonemes).” Dediu and Ladd (2007:10944) also indicate that, “In tone languages, that is, pitch is organised into tone phonemes that are functionally comparable with consonant and vowel phonemes.” These views show that just as segments play significant role in phonological analysis, tone is equally a very important feature which needs special attention in describing phonological systems of tonal languages. Tone languages have been found and research work being carried out on them. It is estimated that over half of the world‟s languages are tonal. For instance, Yip (2002:19) notes that, “at a very rough estimate as many as 60-70 per cent of the world‟s languages are tonal.” His point seems to suggest that, tone languages exist so special attention should be given to the treatment of tone. A tone bearing unit (TBU) refers to the linguistic element which carries the tone. Zhang (2001:2), gaining inspiration from other woks notes that The ubiquity of this type of contour-tone restriction prompts analysts to posit the following principles regarding tonal representation: first, the mora is both the contrastive segmental length unit and the tone-bearing unit (TBU); second, a contour tone is structurally composed of two level tones; and third, each mora can only be associated with one tone. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 104 Yip (2002:74) is of the view that, “since there are cases in which the tone bearing unit must be the mora or the syllable, and no cases in which it must be the segment, it seems that tone always associates to prosodic entities.” Zhang (2001) suggests that, the tone bearing unit is the mora whereas Yip (2002) considers both the mora and the syllable as the tone bearing unit. On the other hand, Hyman and Schuh (1974:82) explain that In some languages there is instead a particular tone pattern which must be assigned to a whole morpheme or word. Thus, as reported in Mende (Dwyer I971), a falling contour is realized as a falling tone on monosyllabic words, as a high tone followed by a low tone on bisyllabic words... Gua shows this kind of falling tone in addition a rising tone in the sense of low and high. These tones would be realised as the discussion progresses. In the discussion on tonal patterns in Gua, the syllable would be considered as the tone bearing unit. 4.1. Basic Tones in Gua Based on the relative pitch level, tone in Gua exhibits two basic forms. The basic tone levels are low and high. The low tone has been discussed in section 4.1.1 while high tone has been explained in section 4.1.2. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 105 4.1.1 Low Tone Low tone is a level tone which is realised on a relative low pitch. It is represented as //̀ in the body of the work. Examples can be realised in the following words. (88) a. kɔ̀͂ fight b. ʨù take c. ɲè go d. dì bite e. kpɔ̀ get out 4.1.2. High Tone High tone is a level tone which is realised on a relative high pitch. The high tone is represented by //́ in the body of the work. The following examples in (89) throw light on the high tone. (89) a. lé song b. bɔ́ mountain c. ŋmwɛ́ life/thanks d. ɲɛ́ name e. kpɔ́͂ knot It can be observed that examples (88) and (89) show how high and low tones are marked respectively. These markings are marked based on relative pitch levels. In University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 106 the fore-going discussion, the low tone and the high tone would be exemplified on other tonal patterns. 4.2.0 Gliding Pitches in Gua Gua is a register tone language which makes use of the height of the pitch to distinguish words. As a register tone language, Gua tones are expected to be realised on relative low and high level pitches. However, it is possible to realise low-high or high-low level pitches (especially on disyllabic words), which are referred to as rising and falling pitches respectively. In register tone language analysis, it can happen that both high and low tones and vice versa are realised on a single syllable. This is what has been described as falling and rising tones in some West African languages (cf. Hyman and Schuh 1974:82). In some cases, the high-low or the low-high tones can occur on disyllabic words when they occur sequentially. In the case of Gua, due to the open nature of some of the syllable structures (cf. Sections 2.4.1), when there are two vowels ending a word, it is likely that a gliding pitch would be realised. In the sections that follow, rising and falling pitches have been discussed. 4.2.1 Rising Pitch Rising pitch is said to occur when a sequence of low-high tones occur on a long vowel or a sequence of two vowels. In Gua, rising pitch can occur in monosyllabic University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 107 or disyllabic words which show tone polarity (cf. Section 4.4.3). The instance of a rising pitch thus occurs with the use of a long vowel or when a low-high tone sequence occurs in disyllabic words. Rising pitch can also occur in some simple clauses in Gua. It normally occurs on the initial sound which is a long vowel in Gua. Examples of the realisation of rising pitch in Gua include; (90) a. ǎ:-bɛ̀ 3SG-come.PROG „she/he is coming‟ b. ǎ:-dɔ̀ 3SG-weed.PROG „She/he is weeding‟ c. tèí food d. bìé „bath‟ e. tǔ: „black‟ The examples in (90) above show cases of a rising pitch on both monosyllabic and disyllabic words. In examples (a) and (b), it is realised that the rising pitch occurs on a single syllable, that is, an initial long vowel. In the case of examples (c), (d), and (e) it can be realised that the rising pitch arises as a result of the occurrence of low-high tone on a disyllabic words. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 108 4.2.2 Falling Pitch Falling Pitch occurs when sequences of high-low tones occur on a monosyllable. It can therefore be said that in Gua tonal analysis, it is possible to realise high-low tone sequence on a long vowel or a sequence of two vowels. In Gua, it is possible to find falling pitch on monosyllables due to tone stability after vowel deletion. The following illustrates the above assertion. (91) a. â:-wɪ̀: òní 3SG-chew.PERF fish „She/he has chewed fish‟ b. â:-dɔ̀ 3SG-weed.PERF „She/he has weeded‟ c. ǽbíè chair d. àwʊ́ɪ̀ calabash e. íbíè market It must be noted that, the falling pitch in example 91 (a), and (b), the falling pitch occurred on only one initial syllable. In the case of (91c, d and e), the falling pitch occurred on disyllables which have a sequence of two vowels, CV1-V2 is a syllable that has no onset unlike the first syllable. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 109 4.3 Tone in Major Word Classes in Gua Tone shows different patterns of realisation cross-linguistically when it comes to the major word classes involved. In this section, tone within nouns, verbs and adjectives in Gua would be discussed. 4.3.1 Tone in Monosyllabic Nouns in Gua Monosyllabic nouns in Gua are realised with high tones. Examples below attest to this fact; (92) a. kú hole b. lʊ́ hernia c. ɲɛ́ name d. té oath It can be realised from the above examples that high tones are marked on all the monosyllabic nouns. 4.3.2 Tone in Disyllabic Nouns Tone patterns in disyllabic nouns are such that their environments are difficult to predict. However, it can be realised from example 91 that, there can be L-H, H- Falling and H-H tones on disyllabic nouns. Examples below share more; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 110 (93) a. gbèí a dog b. áfɪ̂ an axe c. kúrî pig d. sóbí cooking stove 4.3.3 Tone in Trisyllabic Nouns Unlike the disyllabic nouns whose tonal markings are difficult to predict, in the case of trisyllabic nouns, the tonal patterns are such that they are not uniform. There can be H-H-L, L-L-H and or L-L-L. The examples below illustrate further: (94) a. ǽsíæ̀ in-law b. àfɪ̀ntɪ ̀ month/moon c. íbíè market d. ǽbíæ̀ thigh e. æ̀lèbí child The point must be made that, apart from the monosyllabic nouns in Gua, other types of nouns do not have a uniform realisation. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 111 4.3.4 Tone in Monosyllabic Verbs In Gua, monosyllabic verbs are characterised by low tone when they are not attached to any grammatical element. In other words, low tone is marked on monosyllabic verbs when they are in isolation. Examples below attest to this fact; (95) a. mɪ̀ swallow b. tè weed (to weed a foot path) c. ɲɛ̀ get d. bà͂ sew It can be realised from example (95) above that low tones are indicating verb forms. This opposes monosyllabic noun forms where they are marked by high tone. 4.3.5 Tone in Disyllabic Verbs in Gua When it comes to tonal structure of disyllabic verbs in Gua, the case is such that low-high tones are realised. Example (96) below speaks to this phenomenon. (96) a. kùrí dig b. sòbí pull c. bɪ̀rɪ́ collect d. kpìté clean University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 112 4.3.6 Tone in Trisyllabic Verbs in Gua Tone in trisyllabic verbs in Gua shows a pattern of L-L-H. The words below attest to the above point. (97) a. bùrùfé urinate b. ʨɪ̀nàɪ́ sit c. kpɪ̀làʨɪ́ vomit 4.3.7 Tonal patterns in Adjectives in Gua Gua as a language has few adjectives. Monosyllabic adjectives in Gua have low tone marking while disyllabic adjectives indicate high-high tonal patterns. Due to the few adjective forms in Gua, in a situation where an adjective is needed for clarity, phrasal expressions are rather used to describe the phenomenon under discussion. In this section, the tonal patterns in some of the adjectives have been discussed to buttress the point made above. Examples of the adjectives include: (98) a. tù: black b. kɔ̀: red c. fítǽ: white d. pébí small e. tímí short f. ténté tall University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 113 4.4 Tone Processes in Gua Just as segments go through some phonological processes-(syllable structure and assimilatory processes) to modify their realisations, tone also goes through some processes to bring about differences in their realisations. Tone processes occur in several ways. In this section, my attention would be on downstep, downdrift, tone polarity, tone deletion and tone stability. 4.4.1 Downstep Downstep has been referred to in various materials. It has been described based on the characteristics it portrays. In basic terms, downstep can be described as the lowering of a second high tone when there is high-low-high tone occurring sequentially. Downstep tone is of two kinds. The two kinds are automatic and non- automatic downstep. Automatic downstep tone occurs where in a sequence of High-Low-High tones, the low tone causes the pitch level on the second high tone to be lowered. It occurs because of the lowering effect of the intervening low tone which is actually present in the construction. It must be indicated that the lowered pitch on the second high tone is not lowered to the pitch level of the low tone. The symbol for the downstep tone is the exclamation sign (!) which is placed in front of the downstepped tone to indicate the tone has been lowered. It may only occur in clausal domains. The automatic downstep tone is illustrated below; H-L-H H-L-!H. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 114 99. Kòfí nɛ̃̀ !mɪ̃́ ǹ!ʨá Kofi give.PST 1SG change „Kofi gave me a change‟ 100. Kù kú nɛ̃̀ !mʊ̃́ dig hole give 3SG „dig a hole for him/her‟ In examples 99 and 100, it is realised that the second high tone in the structure is lowered because of the presence of the intervening low tone in the bolded part of the construction. When it comes to the non-automatic downstep tone, it occurs when sometimes a low tone syllable in a H-L-H sequence is deleted, yet the lowering effect of the deleted low tone remains. In words, there will be a sequence of high-high tones, but with floating low tone intervening them. It is this phenomenon that Connell (2001:3) explains that the lowering was attributed to the influence of the intervening L or one that had been lost historically. However, the point must be made that, in Gua, the environment that leads to non-automatic downstep is not realised. This means that Gua does not exhibit non-automatic downstep based on the data elicited. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115 4.4.2 Downdrift Downdrift is realised when downstep is realised on a longer utterance. In the words of Dolphyne (1988:57) downdrift is “[the] steady drop in the pitches of High tones preceded by Low tones in an utterance.” It means that Downdrift occurs when a high tone is lowered after a low tone because of the influence the low tone has had on it, and in a longer utterance where there are sequences of high and low tones, there will be steady lowering of the high tones. Dolphyne (1988:57) explains that downdrift is “a feature of intonation in Akan.” She comes to this point probably because downdrift is basically regarded as a feature that occurs in clausal domains. The situation is not different in Gua. The following examples in Gua explain further. 103. àɲɛ́ á bɛ̀ dó man DET come.HAB here - - „The man comes here‟ 104. Kòfí bɛ̀-bɛ́ dó àʨɪ ́ - Kofi FUT-come here tomorrow - - - „Kofi will come here tomorrow‟ The above examples indicate how downdrift is realised in Gua. The illustrations beside the examples indicate the representations of how the examples show the steady lowering of the high tone in the construction from a higher level to a lower one. The downdrift in Gua is actually an intonation feature in Gua just like the - - - - - - University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 116 case in Akan (Dolphyne 1988:57). One important issue is that, when it comes to the discussion on downdrift, the low tone which is causing the second high tone to be lowered is evident because it is represented. 4.4.3 Tone polarity Tone polarity is a process where two adjacent tone bearing units possesses tone whose value opposes one another. This means that in tonal analysis, it is possible for a language to exhibit tonal pattern where adjacent tones oppose one another when they occur sequentially. In Gua, there are cases of tone polarity. This can be realised in disyllabic verbs and some disyllabic nouns. Examples include; 105a. àsɪ́ under 105b. àɲɛ́ man 105c. mɪ̀tɛ́ hide 105d. bìrí talk 105e. ʨùkwí uproot It can be realised that the adjacent tone markings in examples 105a to 105e oppose each other and as noted in 4.4.3, tone polarity in some disyllabic words. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 117 4.4.4 Tone Deletion Tone deletion is a situation where a tone gets elided. It means that the tone would be there but depending on the environment in which the tone occurs, it can be deleted. In Gua, tone deletion occurs in possessive constructions. This can be realised when the construction which involves a possessive linker causes the initial vowel of the succeeding noun to be deleted, the tone deletes with the segment. In that instance, the deleted tone does not dock onto the next available tone bearing unit. Examples of tone deletion in Gua include: (106) a. Kwasi mɔ́ ǽnî Kwasi mɔ̀- ní Kwasi POSS mother Kwasi POSS-mother „Kwasi‟s mother‟ b. æ̀lèbì á mɔ́ ásɪ̂ æ̀lèbì á mɔ̀-sɪ́ child DET POSS father child DET POSS-father „The child‟s father‟ c. àʨɪ́ á mɔ́ ǽbî àʨɪ́ á mɔ̀-bí woman DET POSS child woman DET POSS-child „The woman‟s child‟ Tone deletion can also occur in possessive constructions which use the subjective pronoun in Gua. In this case also, the initial vowel of the possessed noun gets deleted with its tone. Examples include. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 118 (107) a. mɪ́ ásɪ̂ mɪ́-sɪ́ 1SG.SUBJ father 1SG.SUBJ-father „My father‟ b. wʊ́ ǽbî wʊ́-bí 2SG.SUBJ child 2SG.SUBJ-child „Your child‟ c. mɔ́ ákɛ̂ mɔ́-kɛ́ 3SG.SUBJ wife 3SG.SUBJ wife „His wife‟ From the above examples in (107a, b, c), it is realised that when the kinship noun is attached to the possessive linker, the initial syllable gets deleted with its tone while the while the falling tone on the kinship noun gets levelled and become a high tone. This happens because the construction deals with possession of a kinship noun which has a falling tone on its final syllable. The point is that, when these kinship nouns are produced in isolation, they maintain their final falling tone but when they are used in construction, after the deletion of the initial syllable, they falling tone gets levelled to become high. This similar phenomenon of the process which leads to the levelling of the falling tone in Gua is what Akanlig-Pare (2005:180) refers to in Buli as Simplification of Rising Contour. In the case of Buli, he explains that, “Simplification of the Rising Contour involves the delinking of the high edge of the rise. When this occurs, only the L tone portion of the rise will surface in the output. The motivation is to level up the contour tone” (2005:183). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 119 4.4.5 Dissimilation Dissimilation is a tone process where a syllable which has an underlying tonal representation, changes its tonal pattern when found close to a syllable which has an identical tone. In the words of Hyman and Schuh (1974:100), “dissimilation differs [from polarisation] in that a syllable assigned an underlying tonal representation, but when it is in proximity with a syllable of indentical tone, its tone changes”. In Gua, dissimilation occurs in constructions involving possession. What happens is that the high tone on the possessive marker changes to low when the possessor is close to a syllable with an identical tone. Dwyer (1971:120) identifies a similar situation in Mende where he asserts that, there are some unexpected results in which high tone of the possessive linker are changed to become low. Examples of dissimilation in Gua include: (108) a. Kwame mɔ́ ǽnî Kwame mɔ̀- ní Kwame POSS mother Kwame POSS-mother „Kwame‟s mother‟ b. æ̀lèbí á mɔ́ ásɪ̂ æ̀lèbí á mɔ̀-sɪ́ child DET POSS father child DET POSS-father „The child‟s father‟ c. àʨɪ́ á mɔ́ ǽbî àʨɪ́ á mɔ̀-bí woman DET POSS child woman DET POSS-child „The woman‟s child‟ It must be noted that this process also affects the falling tone on the final kinship noun which changes to high before the tone on the possessive linker changes to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 120 low. Dissimilation is used to cause adjacent tones of the same kind to change to their opposite tones. It was realised in section 4.4.4 that after the deletion of the initial tone bearing unit of the kinship noun leading to the levelling of the falling tone on the final tone bearing unit on the kinship noun to high, the adjacent tones on the possessive linker and the noun have the same high tone. However, in tonal analysis, dissimilation is used to cause adjacent tones of the same kind to oppose one another. So the process which causes the tone polarisation in Gua is dissimilation. This is seen to be a repair mechanism in tonal studies in phonology. 4.5 Functions of Tone in Gua Different tone patterns in Gua indicate different functions. The way the tone is patterned has a particular role that it plays. It can be said that tone in Gua exhibits two broad functions. These functions are lexical and grammatical. The lexical function of tone makes a distinction between how two words with identical segments differ semantically based on the tones that occur on them. Grammatical function of tone is achieved when changes in tones lead to changes in grammatical functions. The words involved may belong to the same word class. These functions have been discussed in sections 4.5.1 and 4.5.2. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 121 4.5.1 Lexical Function of Tone in Gua As noted above, lexical function of tone indicates how the meanings of two or more segmentally identical words are distinguished depending on the tone patterns on the words. For example, the segments of two words may be the same but based on the tonal pattern, the word classes of the two words may change. I look at the examples within various types of words in the following sections. 4.5.1.1 Lexical Function of Tone in Mononsyllabic Words High tone Low tone 109. kú hole kù cut/dig 110. lʊ́ hernia lʊ̀ weave 111. mɪ́ 1SG mɪ̀ swallow 112. té oath tè weed-to weed foot path 113. ɲɛ́ name ɲɛ̀ get 114. bá͂ a garden bà͂ sew It can be realised from the above examples that a tonal change in the similar monosyllabic words brings about a change in meaning. It is observed that, the words which have the high tones are nouns while those with low tones are verbs. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 122 4.5.1.2 Lexical Function of Tone in Disyllabic Words When it comes to tonal marking in disyllabic stems in Gua, the case is such that if it occurs with low-high tone, then a verb is realised. However, when it comes to nouns, they have different realisations. The tonal pattern could be realised as low- high, high-high and high-falling. In the case of adjective, it is realised as high-high (cf. Section 4.3.7). Examples 115 to 118 below explain the above assertions further. 115. kùrí dig kúrì pig 116. sòbí pull sóbí cooking stove 117. bɪ̀rɪ ́ collect bɪ́rɪ ̀ time 118. àsɪ́ under/beneath ásɪ̀ father 4.5.2 Grammatical Function of Tone in Gua In the case of grammatical function of tone patterns in Gua, it can be said that tone can be used to indicate various grammatical functions in the language. Cross- linguistically, it is possible to find languages which use particles to express some grammatical functions. However, there are instances where other suprasegmental features like tone, intonation, stress, aspiration etc have been used to distinguish one grammatical function from another. In the case of Gua, it has been observed that, apart from particles, tone is also used in identifying some grammatical functions of the language. These are referred to as the grammatical functions of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 123 language. The foregoing discussion will revolve around tense and aspect constructions in Gua. 4.5.2.1 Simple Present and Past Tense Tonal Marking in Gua In Gua, simple present tense is marked using tone to distinguish it from other tense forms. The regular tone marking on a verb is usually low when dealing with a simple present while the tone becomes high on the verb when dealing with past tense construction. Examples include the following; Present Tense Past Tense 119. Kòfí kɛ̀ ɛ̀dɪd́ɛ̀ Kòfí kɛ́ ɛ̀dɪd́ɛ̀ Kofi spread.PRES mat Kofi spread.PST mat „Kofi spreads mat‟ „Kofi spread the mat‟ 120. lɔ̌:rɪ ̀bɛ̀ lɔ̌:rɪ̀ bɛ́ car come.PRES car come.PST „A car comes‟ „a car came‟ When dealing with either disyllabic or trisyllabic verbs, the first syllable takes a high tone in the past tense construction but in the case of present tense constructions, the tones on the verbs remain the same as when the verbs are found in isolation. Examples are; University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 124 Simple Present Tense Simple Past Tense (121) a. mɪ́-sɔ̀tɛ́ ǽkútù b. ǹ-sɔ́tɛ̀ ǽkútù 1SG-catch.PST orange 1SG-catch.PST orange „I catch orange‟ „I caught orange‟ (122) a. wʊ́- mɪ ̀ ǹhú b. ɔ̀-mɪ̂ ǹhú 2SG swallow fufu 2SG-swallow.PST fufu „You swallow fufu‟ „You swallowed fufu‟ (123) a. á- kpìté æ̀bú dɛ́ b. á-kpítè æ̀bú dɛ́ 3SG.SUBJ. clean.PRES house inside 3SG.SUBJ-clean.PST house inside „She/he cleans room‟ „She/he cleaned room‟ The above examples indicate that, when the structure involves a second and third person singular pronoun, the full form of the pronoun with the high tone is realised but when it involves the first person singular pronoun, the high tone is realised as low on the initial vowel. 4.5.2.2 Functions of Tone in Aspectual Constructions Tone patterns in Gua also bring about some differences in aspect. These tonal patterns can be found in constructions involving habitual, progressive and perfective aspects. These constructions have been detailed below. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 125 Habitual Aspect The tone pattern in Gua in the habitual construction is such that, the tone pattern on the verb is changed from low to high in monosyllabic verbs and it becomes low-low in the case of disyllabic verbs. The examples below indicate habitual constructions in Gua. (124). Amoah wʊ̀rɛ̀ kʊ̀tʊ́ Amoah wear.HAB cap/hat „Amoah wears a hat/cap (125). Gyau fɪ́ ńtɛ̂ Gyau sell.HAB alcohol „Gyau sells alcohol‟ (126). á yèrì dó 3SG.SUBJ stand.HAB here „she/he stands here‟ Progressive Aspect Progressive aspect construction in Gua is marked through the use of the progressive marker e/ɛ with a high tone attached to the verb depending on the vowels in the verb based on the requirement of vowel harmony (cf. Section 2.1.4). This happens when the construction involves first and second person or there is a construction to that effect. Another feature of the progressive marker is the lengthening of the third person singular marker /ǎ:/ /æ̌:/. When it involves a third University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 126 person pronoun, a rising tone is realised on the lengthened ǎ :/æ̌:. In the instance where a proper name is used, a lengthened e-/ɛ is used with a rising tone on the progressive marker. The following examples authenticate the assertion above. (127). Amoah ɛ̌:-wʊ̀rɛ̀ kʊ̀tʊ́ Amoah PROG-wear cap/hat „Amoah is wearing a hat/cap (128). Gyau ɛ̌:-fɪ̀ ǹtɛ́ Gyau PROG-sell alcohol „Gyau is selling alcohol‟ (129). ǎ:- yèrì dó 3SG.SUBJ.PROG stand here „she/he is standing here‟ Perfective Aspect The construction involving the perfective aspect is similar to the progressive construction. The only difference is that the progressive marker e-/ɛ- has a low tone. If the perfective marker uses a falling tone, then it means that the construction involves a third person. (130). Amoah ɛ̂:-wʊ́rɛ̀ kʊ̀tʊ́ Amoah PERF-wear cap/hat „Amoah has worn a hat/cap University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 127 (131). Gyau ɛ̂:-fɪ́ ǹtɛ́ Gyau PERF-sell alcohol „Gyau has sold alcohol‟ (132). â:- yérì dó 3SG.SUBJ.PERF stand here „She/he has stood here‟ 4.5.2.3Tone in Nominalised Verbs Nominalisation occurs when a word which hitherto was not a noun is used as a noun. It can also occur when a noun is generated from a word which traditionally belongs to a different word class. In Gua, nominalisation occurs by attaching a prefix to a verb to derive a noun. This prefix has a low tone. Nominalised nouns in Gua are normally derived from verbs after attaching the nominalised prefix to the verb. The following examples attest to this; Verb Derived Noun (133). hʊ̀mɪ ́ ɔ̀-hʊ́mɪ̀ rest NOM-rest „rest (v) „resting (n)‟ (134). kpʊ̀tɛ́ ɔ̀-kpʊ́tɛ̀ separate NOM-separate „separate‟ „separation‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 128 (135). sòbí ò-sóbì pull NOM-pull „pull (v) „pulling‟ The above examples show how nouns can be derived by attaching a nominaliser prefix which has a low tone to the verb. There is also a tonal change in the verb stem when it is nominalised. Example 135 attests to this. 4.5.2.4 Noun-Adjective Compounding in Gua The tonal patterns in noun-adjective compounding takes place when the two words are merged; the adjective that begins with the vowel loses its vowel in addition to the tone with the rest of the two words maintaining their tonal patterns. When the construction involves adjectives which begin with consonants, the tonal patterns remain the same. The examples below tell it all: Noun-Adjective Compound Derived Noun (136). àɲɛ́ + æ̀nûm àɲɛ́nûm man older/elder older/elder man „elderly man‟ (137). ésíbì + æ̀lé ésíbìlé eye difficult/hard eye hard „courage/boldness‟ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 129 (138). ésíbì + fɔ́lɪ́ èsíbìf ɔ́lɪ́ an eye cover „eyelid‟ „an eyelid‟ In Gua, when a noun-adjective compound occurs, when there is a vowel deletion, the tone also deletes. It could be realised again that when the noun and the adjective have vowels from either of the two sets of vowel harmony (cf. Section 2.1.5) the vowels in the two words remain unchanged as would have been expected of the principles of vowel harmony in Gua. This is due to the idiosyncracies surrounding each of the words. Examples (136), (137) and (138) attest to the assertion above. 4.6.0 Summary of the Chapter This chapter has looked at tonal patterns in Gua. Tonal types as well as the various tonal patterns in the major word classes have been discussed. The chapter later took a look at some tone processes like downstep, downdrift, tone polarity, tone deletion and dissimilation in Gua. Finally, the chapter showed how tone functions lexically and grammatically in Gua. This discussion has shown that Gua is rich in tonal distinction, which leads to major semantic changes that exist among word forms and grammatical structures. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 130 CHAPTER FIVE SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 5.0 Introduction This chapter presents the findings in line with the rudiments of the Basic Linguistic Theory as has been applied throughout the research. Since the theory maintains that effective fieldwork activity be carried out with the basic elements in the language described without recourse to any particular theory in linguistic analysis, the important tenets of the theory have been utilised in the thesis. This chapter presents the summary of the findings, some suggestions and recommendations as well as conclusion to the entire thesis. The chapter has five main sections. Section one deals with summary of findings, two discusses contribution of the data while three looks at some of the limitations to the thesis. In section four, some suggestions and recommendations have been outlined while section five gives the conclusion of the entire thesis. 5.1 Summary of Findings The presentations on the findings will encompass the four thematic areas of the thesis; these are phonemic inventory, syllable structure, phonological processes and tone. Based on the fieldwork conducted as per the requirement of the basic linguistic theory, chapter two of this thesis focused on the description of the phonemic inventory and the syllable structures of Gua. It was realised that Gua has University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 131 ten (10) oral vowels with seven (7) nasal counterparts. The ten oral vowels discussed include /i, ɪ, e, ɛ, a, æ, ɔ, o, ʊ, u/. Their nasal counterparts are /i͂, ɪ͂, ɛ͂, a͂, ɔ͂, ʊ͂, u͂/. It was again realised that all the oral vowels can be nasalised when they occur before and after a nasal consonant. In the case of distribution, apart from /ʊ/ and /u/, which cannot occur in word initial position, the rest of the Gua vowels discussed in chapter two occur word initially, medially and finally. With regard to consonants, it was argued that, Gua has twenty-two (22) plain consonants with ten (10) labialised counterparts. These consonants are /p, b, t, d, s, f, k, g, m, n, ɲ, ŋ, ŋm, l, r, h, w, y, ʨ, ʥ, kp, gb, bw, dw, fw, kw, lw, hw, mw, ŋw, ŋmw, ʨw/. With respect to their distributions, all Gua consonants can occur in word- medial positions. In the case of word-initial position, with the exception of /fw/ and /r/ the rest of the consonants occur in word initial positions. Word final positions in Gua can only be occupied by the bilabial nasal /m/, the alveolar nasal /n/ and the labial-velar approximant /w/ consonants. Syllable structures were discussed in chapter two. It was realised that there are five (5) main basic types of syllable structures in Gua. These structures are the CV, V, C, VC and the CVC syllable types. However, there are some resemblances of a CCV structure after the deletion of V1 in CV1CV2 structure (cf. Section 2.4.3). In respect of the phonological processes as discussed in chapter three, it was realised that vowel deletion can take place in compound word formation and possessive constructions while epenthesis occurs in borrowed words. Aspiration in Gua occurs when the voiceless sounds /t/ and /s/, with a high tone, begin a word University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 132 while palatalisation takes place when a bilabial and an alveolar consonant sound precede the /i/ vowel. It was realised in chapter three that, homorganic nasal assimilation occurs when a pronoun loses its vowel and the nasal in the pronoun copies the place of articulation feature of the consonant that follows it. On the other hand, nasalisation occurs when an oral sound acquires the nasal feature of a nasal consonant in its environment. It was also noted that labialisation in Gua occurs when a consonant is followed by a rounded vowel, where the consonant copies the rounded feature of the rounded vowel following it. Labial-palatalisation also occurs when the high vowels /u/ and /i/ are preceded by a consonant, where the consonant copies the round and palatal features of the high vowels. The final theme that the thesis considered was tone, which has been espoused in section 4. In section 4, it was realised that monosyllabic nouns in Gua are marked by high tones while their verb counterparts are marked by low tone. Low-high tones are normally marked on disyllabic verbs where disyllabic adjectives are marked with high-high tone. Apart from monosyllabic nouns which exhibit high tone marking, the other types of the nouns do not show clear regular tonal patterns. It was also observed that, in terms of grammatical functions of tone, present tense maintains the normal tone markings on the verb while in the case of past tense, the initial syllable of disyllabic and polysyllabic verbs takes high tone; when the past involves monosyllabic verbs, the tone on the verb changes from low to high. When the construction involves nominalisation, the tonal markings take after the tonal patterns in nouns where the nominaliser, which is normally a vowel, takes a low tone. Finally, it was observed that when it comes to noun-adjective compounding University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 133 in Gua, when the adjective involves an initial vowel, the vowel together with its tone deletes with the tone marking on the rest of the syllables remaining same. It was also noted that in a situation where the adjective does not involve an initial vowel, the tonal patterns remain the same. Tone Polarity occurs in Gua when opposite tones of high-low or low-high occur sequentially. It was observed that, all disyllabic verbs exhibit tone polarity. In respect of tone deletion, it was realised that tone can be deleted when an entire syllable is deleted (cf. Section 4.4.4) whereas in the case of dissimilation, a tone changes its form because it is identical to a neighbouring tone (cf. Section 4.4.5). This discussion has shown that the different tonal patterns in Gua lead to some changes that exist among word forms and grammatical structures. Still on tone, it was noted that even though Gua is a register tone language, it shows resemblances of a contour tone on a monosyllable which could be referred to as either falling or a rising tone depending on the nature. 5.2 Contribution of the Study This study has filled some important gaps in the area of the documentation of the Gua language, thus, the Boso dialect which is an unwritten Ghanaian endangered language has been given a detail description of its phonemic inventory, syllable structure, phonological processes, tone and tone processes. This is a contribution towards the documentation process of the language. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 134 The thesis will serve as a document towards the development of the language in the area of dictionary writing, primers and grammar books. This is because it will provide an opportunity for future researchers to know what has been done on the language and what is left to be done. It is hoped that, upon the attainment of the grammar of Gua and other literary works on the language, the government‟s policy to use the indigenous languages as medium of instruction in the first three years of education in the basic schools Ghana will be possible for the people of Boso because, Gua is an indigenous language of the area. In addition, Gua has contributed to linguistic theory by offering data to be tested through the use of the basic linguistic theory. Finally, the study has produced a material which will be used as a point of reference in academia. Since the study has become a research material to which reference could be made. 5.3 Limitations of the Study The study wished to have taken care of certain issues on the phonology of Gua. However, due to some constraints, there are some important things which were not dealt with. Some of the things which have constrained this study have been discussed below. Firstly, time and space is one of the constraints that this thesis has suffered. Due to the fact that the Master of Philosophy degree course which made it possible for University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 135 this research to be carried out, it was not possible to write everything on the language. Besides, there are restrictions on the number of pages that the thesis can contain. In view of that, there are certain important aspects of Gua Phonology which were not tackled. This is a fundamental issue which has constrained this thesis. Secondly, there was not enough clarity on the various exceptions on vowel harmony due to the amount of data at my disposal during the study. Vowel harmony has been described but there were some observations of the vowels from the two sets of the harmony mixing which could be treated as exceptions to the principles of vowel harmony. However, due to the amount of data at hand during the study, some generalisations were made in respect of the principles of vowel harmony, it is clear that if further research is carried out additional exceptions can be made at the instance of the violation of the principles of vowel harmony. Another limitation is on the case where nouns show different forms of realisation. This realisation made it difficult to indicate their actual environments. Finally, there were other phonological processes and tone which could not gain space in the description due to limited space and time. 5.4 Suggestions and Recommendations In section 5.3, it was observed that, there are some constraints which militated against the study. However, if the following suggestions and recommendations are University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 136 adhered to, it will help ameliorate some of the constraints that this study faced and also serve as direction for future research work. In the first place, a grammar of Gua needs to be written. Dixion (1997:130) notes that “the ideal plan is to undertake original fieldwork on a previously undescribed (or scarcely described) language, and write a comprehensive grammar on it as a Ph.D dissertation”. Based on Dixon‟s (1997:130) view on the need for a full description of every language, a full description of Gua in the form of „the Grammar of Gua‟ is therefore a necessity. The grammar of the language would bring to bear the full details of the phonological, morphological, syntactic and the semantic elements of Gua. This will help in using data from the language to contribute to learning. It will also help to take care of the constraints dealt with (cf. Section 5.3). Secondly, as a Hill Guan language, the work in Gua is now available for adequate comparison with other Guan languages. This could help in shaping the various existing linguistic theories. I suggest that some of these comparative exercises should be carried out in order to ascertain the contribution of Gua to knowledge. In addition, tone which is an integral part of the language needs further study. It could be recalled that in chapter four Gua tonal systems were discussed. However, this discussion was not enough as far as the language is concerned especially where syntactic function was not fully addressed coupled with the fact that the environment for the realisation of falling and the rising tones were not discussed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 137 In view of that, I suggest that further study be carried out on the tonal system of Gua with particular attention given to the areas pointed out above. 5.5 Conclusion In conclusion, this thesis has focused on describing the sound system and tonal patterns of Gua, which is a major step in the codification of the language. It is a dream come true that the aims and objectives set out to be achieved have been fulfilled. The thesis has successfully applied the principles of Basic Linguistic Theory on the work by getting data on the field, transcribing and describing the data with the necessary explanation and examples to authenticate the description. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 138 APPENDIX WORD LIST ELICITED BASED ON THE SUMMER INSTITUTE OF LINGUISTICS COMPARATIVE AFRICAN WORDLIST (SILCAWL) 1.0 MAN‟S PHYSICAL BEING 1.1BODY PARTS 0001 body sɪ̀sɛ́ æ̀jí/ɔ̀hʊ́nã̀m 0002 skin (of man) èɲĩ́mĩ̀ 1.1.1 Head 0003 head ŋú̃ 0004 forehead lǎ:nʊ̀̃ 0005 face ɛ̀sɪ́rɛ̀ 0006 eye èsíbì 0007 eyebrow èsíbì àmɛ̃́ mĩ̀ẽ́nĩ̀ 0008 eyelid èsíbì f ɔ̀lɪ́ 0009 eyelash èsíbì mĩ̀ẽ́nĩ̀ 0011 nose àŋwá͂ 0013 ear ɔ̀sʊ́ 0014 cheek ɔ̀ʨʊ́ 0015 mouth ànʊ́̃ 0017 tongue dɔ̌:nɪ ̃̀ 0018 tooth èɲĩ́ 0021 jaw àdándà/àdánnà 0022 chin æ̀kpú 0023 neck ɪ̀k wá 0025 throat æ̀búróbì/ɪ̀k wá àsɪ́ 0027 hair (of head) ŋú̃ sʊ̀ mĩ̀ẽ́nĩ̀ 0028 beard æ̀kpú/àbɔ́ʥwɪ́sɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 139 0029 hair (of body) mĩ̀ẽ́nĩ̀ (sɪ̀sɛ́ jʊ́ mĩ̀ẽ́nĩ̀ ) 1.1.1 Trunk 0031 shoulder bàkpɛ́ 0033 chest ɪ̀kpʊ́ 0034 breast àhʊ́ 0035 side (of body) èkě:mĩ̀ 0036 waist ǽsî 0037 navel æ̀hùrǔ:/àhʊ́ ànʊ́ 0040 stomach (internal) òfúrò 0041 womb àwʊ̀ʨwǎ: 0042 back æ̀nsì 0044 buttock àtʊ́ 0045 anus àtʊ́ kú/àtʊ́ kǔ: 0046 penis æ̀dú/æ̀tótóbì 0047 testicle èhúróbì 0048 vagina bʊ́ 1.1.2 Limbs 0050 arm ɔ̀bá 0051 armpit kɛ̀lɪ́dɛ̀ 0053 elbow bæ̀kú͂ 0055 wrist ɔ̀bá ànʊ́ sʊ̀ 0056 hand ɔ̀bá 0057 fist àŋmwã́ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 140 0058 palm (of hand) ɔ̀bádɛ́ 0059 finger bæ̀bí 0060 thumb bæ̀bíkóntǐ: 0062 fingernail hʊ̀rɔ̌: 0063 leg ɔ̀ná͂ 0064 hip æ̀ʥónkù 0065 thigh æ̀bíæ̀ 0066 knee nã̀ŋũnĩ̀ 0070 foot ɔ̀ná ɛ̀lɛ̀ ìkpílè sɪ̀lɛ́ 0073 toe næ̀̃mĩ́ 1.1.3 Internal parts and products 0074 bone bǒ: 0076 skeleton èbǒ: 0077 skull ŋũ àwʊ́ɪ̀ 0080 rib ŋm̀kpálɪ̀ 0081 brain mɔ̀̃mɔ̀̃/àhɛ́ 0082 heart àdámɪ̀ 0083 liver ŋm̀kpákʊ̀ 0085 lung æ̀húrútùtù 0086 intestines èhúrúmì 0091 vein èʨínì 0093 saliva èsùsǔ:/ànʊ́̃ ǹʨṹ 0108 blood ɛ̀hʊ̀tɔ̌: 0101 urine æ̀búrì 0102 excrement, faeces bìní/m̀búámɛ̃̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 141 1.2 BODY PROCESSES, FUNCTIONS 0107 yawn hʊ̀kɛ́ 0108 snore kpùnĩ́ 0119 urinate bùrùfé 0121 defecate kɔ̀ 0128 sleep (v) dɪ̀: 0129 dream (n) àdɛ́dɪ̀ 1.2.1 Senses 0131 see ʨɪ̀ 0134 hear kà 0135 listen kà 0136 smell (v) fɪ ̃̀nɛ̃́ 0139 taste dàʨɪ́ 1.2.2 Ingestion 0140 eat ʥì 0141 bite (v) dì 0143 chew wɪ̀: 0145 swallow mɪ̀ 0146 choke ɛ̌:lɛ̀ wʊ́ 0147 lick dĩ̀ɛ̃́ 0148 suck fǒ: 0149 drink nǔ͂: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 142 1.2 BODY MOVEMENT 0150 sit ʨìnã̀ ɪ ̃́ 0151 rise up (intr) kʊ̀sʊ́ jèlí 0154 walk nà 0158 crawl wɔ̀lɪ́ 0159 run gwà 0160 swim bìé 0161 jump (v) fɪ ̃̀ntɪ́ 1.3 BODY STATES AND CONDITIONS 1.4.1 Body positions 0169 stand jèlí 0171 lean against (intr) kpʊ̀sɛ́ 0172 bend down, stoop bùtú 0173 bow (as in greeting) wɔ̀ wʊ́ ŋũ ásɪ̀ 0175 squat ʥɔ́wɛ̀͂ 0176 kneel bùtú wʊ́ nàŋũnì ɛ̀sɪ́lɛ̀ 1.4.2 Body conditions 0178 (be) hot (of person) jʊ̀ ɛ̌:ʨɛ̀ 0179 (be) hungry, hunger (v) òkó 0181 (be) thirsty, thirst (v) æ̀ʨúkò 0182 (be) drunk ɔ̀bɔ́ 0183 (be) tired ɪ̀kpánɪ ̃̀/ɔ̀kpánɪ ̃̀ 0184 (be) sleepy dɪ̌: wɪ̀rɛ̀ (mʊ́) ɛ̀sɪ́lɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 143 0185 rest hʊ̀mɪ́ 1.4 IRREGULAR CONDITIONS 0189 hump (of hunchback) àʨáʨà 1.5 Abnormal qualities (adjectival) 0190 (be) bald ɔ̀kpɔ́ndɛ̀ ɛ̌:kpɛ̀ 0191 (be) blind ésíbì èfùrǽ 0193 (be) thin èlú ɔ̀tɛ̀ 0194 (be) impotent mʊ́ àɲɛ̃́ bɛ̀b wɛ̀ èsímĩ̀ /æ̀dú ě:wù 1.5.2 HANDICAPPED PEOPLE 0195 barren woman àʨɪ́ àsɛ́ bɛ̀kʊ̀k wɪ̀ 0196 blind person àsɛ́ nɪ̀ mʊ́ èsíbì ě:fùrǽ 0197 deaf (mute) person æ̀sítǐ:hʊ̀ 0199 cripple (n) àpáʨɪ̀ 0200 dwarf mʊ̀átíà 0202 stupid person æ̀ʥímíhʊ̀ 0204 mad person æ̀jíríʨíhʊ̀ 1.6 HEALTH AND DISEASE 0205 (be) healthy, (be) well æ̀júlè 0207 hurt oneself æ̌:kpìlè mɔ́̃ jʊ̀ 0209 medicine æ̀lí 0210 get well, recover ɲɛ̃̀ æ̀júlè/nɪ̀ wʊ́ jʊ̀ tɔ̀ wʊ́ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 144 1.6.1 Abnormalities 0213 swelling òhùmɛ̃́ 0216 burn (n) ɔ̀sɔ́͂ 0217 goiter kɔ̀mkpɔ́ 0218 hernia (umbilical) æ̀kúródwè 0219 ulcer (leg) àlwɛ́ 0220 wound, sore àlwɛ́ 0222 scar fà͂nɪ ̃́ 1.6.2 Disease, malaise 0225 elephantiasis òʥǽmpìm 0227 leprosy èkpítì 0228 malaria (fever) æ̀tírídǐ: 0230 pain (n) àjʊ́sè 0233 vomit (v) kpɪ̀làʨɪ́ 0234 stomachache, upset stomach àmɪ ̃́dɛ́ʨì 0235 headache ŋũ dè òdìmɛ̃́ 0236 diarrhea àmɪ́dɛ̀ ɔ̀ʨɛ́kɪ́rɛ̀ 1.6.3 Life and death 0238 life ŋmwɛ̃́ 0239 (be) alive ʨìnã́ ɪ ̃̀ 0240 menstrual period æ̀hwébɪ́rɪ̀ 0241 (be) pregnant óɲĩ́ntì 0242 miscarriage óɲĩ́ntì ɛ̌:sɛ̀ɪ́/a:kpɔ̌͂: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 145 0244 bear (child), give birth kʊ̀kwɪ́ 0245 (be) born kʊ̀kwɪ́ 0246 (be) young æ̀lébì 0247 grow up dè 0249 die wù 0250 death lèwú 2 MAN‟S NONPHYSICAL BEING 2.1 KNOW, BELIEVE, TEACH 0252 think dwɪ̀nɪ ̃́ 0253 believe ɲɛ̀ ʥìdí 0254 hope (n) æ̀nídásʊ̀/èsíbì kàns ʊ́͂ 0256 knowledge àwɔ́lɪ̀ àhɛ́ 0257 wisdom àhɛ́ 0258 (be) wise àhɛ̌:hʊ̀ 0262 learn kàsɪ́ 0263 teach kɛ̀ 0264 show bʊ̀ ɔ̀kɛ́/kɛ̀ 0265 remember kàɪ́ 0266 forget tànsʊ́ 2.2 EMOTIONS 0269 laugh màsɪ́ 0270 smile màsɪ́ 0271 (be) sad (ʥì) àwɪ́rɛ́hʊ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 146 0272 cry, weep sù̃ 0273 sorrow (n) àwɪ́rɛ́hʊ̌: 0274 shame (n) èsíbíwû 0276 fear (n) ɔ̀sɪ́rɪ̀/èfú 0279 (be) angry æ̀kpùfú 0280 calm (oneself) bɔ̀kɔ̌: 0282 respect (v) bù ɛ̀dɛ́ 0283 honour (v) wʊ̀rɛ́ mʊ́ æ̀núóɲæ̀m 0284 love (v) ɔ̀dɔ́ 2.3 HUMAN WILL 0289 choose (tr), pick (tr) ʨù àkʊ́ 0291 abstain fã̀ ɪ ̃́ nɪ ̃̀ ɔ̀b wɛ́/nì wʊ́ jʊ̀ ʨù jʊ̀ 0292 allow, permit nɛ̀ (jʊ̀) àkpɛ́ 0294 prevent tì (jʊ̀) àkpɛ́ 0297 succeed dè ɔ̀bwɛ́ 0298 fail bèdé ɔ̀bwɛ́ 0299 pretend sìbwé 2.4 HUMAN CHARACTER 0300 (be) kind ŋú̃ dɛ̀ àbɪ̀rɪ́ 0301 (be) generous àhúmɔ́bɔ̀ 0304 (be) corrupt æ̀béʥì nʊ̀kwárɪ̀ 0307 (be) jealous ésíbì hɪ̀nɪ́ ɛ̀dɛ́ 0308 (be) shy ɛ̀dɛ́hɪ̀lɪ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 147 0309 (be) courageous, (be) brave ɪ̀kpʊ́ æ̀dú 0313 (be) lazy àfɔ̌:hʊ̀/ɛ̀fɔ̀ 0314 (be) patient tɔ̀wʊ́bʊ́àsɪ̀ 0315 (be) impatient àbɛ̀tɔ́ mʊ́ bʊ́ àsɪ́/àmɛ́ bʊ́àsɪ́tɔ̀ 0317 (be) stubborn àsʊ́délè 2.5 DIFFICULTY 0319 hardship, distress ɔ̀háw/àdwɪ́nd wɪńɪ̀ 0321 suffer àmánɪ̀/àjʊ́kɪr̀ɪ́ 3 PERSONS 0326 human being, person sɪ̀sɛ́ 0327 self jʊ̀ (mɪ́ jʊ̀) 0328 man (male) àɲɛ̃́ 0329 woman àʨɪ́ 0330 white man òbúrónì 3.1 STAGES OF LIFE 0332 baby æ̀lébì dǔ:dùbì 0333 twin ǹtǎ: 0334 child æ̀lébì 0335 boy àɲɛ̃́bì 0336 girl àʨɪ́bì 0337 adult æ̀nû̃m 0338 young man àbɪ́rántɪ̀bì University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 148 0339 virgin æ̀kǽsínìbì às ɛ́ bèhú àɲɛ̃́ 0340 old person æ̀ɲímwǽbì/àʨɪ́kpábì/àsɔ́kʊ̀ àsɛ́ ně:dè 3.2 BLOOD RELATIONS 0341 relative (by blood) òbúsúæ̀nì 0342 ancestor ɛ̀bʊ́kwárɪ̀ 0343 grandparent ɲɛ̃̀ɲɛ̃́/nɛ̃̀nɛ̃́ 0344 father ásɪ̂ 0345 mother ǽnĩ́ 0346 brother (elder/younger) àbɪ́rɪ́nsɪ̀ àɲɛ̃́ 0347 sister (elder/younger) àbɪ́rɪ́nsɪ̀ àʨɪ́ 0348 father‟s brother (uncle) ásɪ̂ nũm/ásɪ̂lèbí 0349 mother‟s brother (uncle) wʊ́ wɔ̀fá 0350 mother‟s sister (aunt) ǽnĩ̂ kùmǽ̃/ǽnĩ̂ nnm/ǽnĩ̂ lèbí 0351 father‟s sister (aunt) sɪ́wǎ 0352 cousin ǽnĩ̂mõ̀ bí 0353 firstborn ǽbî æ̀nû̃m 0355 son ǽbî àɲɛ́ 0356 daughter ǽbî àʨɪ́ 0357 grandchild ànɛ̃́ 0359 name ɲɛ̃́ 3.1 MARRIAGE RELATIONS 0361 in-law, relative by marriage 0362 husband æ̀kúrì University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 149 0363 wife àkɛ́͂ 0365 father-in-law ǽsíæ̀ àɲɛ̃́ 0366 mother-in-law ǽsíæ̀ àʨɪ́ 0367 brother-in-law àkʊ́ntà 0368 sister-in-law æ̀kùmæ̌: 0369 son-in-law ǽsíæ̀ 0370 daughter-in-law ǽsíæ̀ àʨɪ́ 0371 widow æ̀kúrúkòhʊ̀ àʨɪ́ 0372 widower æ̀kúrúkòhʊ̀ àɲɛ̃́ 0373 orphan æ̀wúsíæ̀ 0374 fiance (betrothed boyfriend) èhóbɛ̀ àɲɛ̃́ 0375 fiancee (betrothed girlfriend) èhóbɛ̀ àʨɪ́ 0376 bastard, illegitimate child æ̀lébì àsɛ́ mɛ̀ ásɪ̂ 3.4 RELATIONS, EXTENDED AND SOCIAL 0379 family æ̀búsúæ̀ 0380 friend àdámfʊ̀/bìrǽhù͂ 0381 neighbour àsɛ́ nɪ̀ wʊ́ nɪ ̀mʊ́ jì ɔ̀bɪ̀tɛ́ 0384 guest, visitor àfwɛ́ 0385 stranger (unknown person) àfwɛ́ 0386 enemy àtáhʊ̀ 0388 thief æ̀jǔ: 0390 messenger àbɔ̌:hʊ̀/àsúmwɛ̃́hʊ̀ 0391 crowd sɪ̀sɛ́ èkú 0392 chief, headman ǽwúlè University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 150 0393 elder æ̀nûm 0394 master ádáhʊ̀ 0395 slave ǽkpǽbì 3.5 PROFESSIONS 0396 farmer òkwǽnì 0397 fisherman àsɛ́ jìé òní 0398 hunter àsɛ́ wè kpɔ́ dɛ́ 0399 blacksmith æ̀bíélìh ʊ̀ 0400 potter àsɛ́ lʊ̀ sɪ́ 0401 weaver àsɛ́ lʊ̀ ɔ̀tá 0403 trader àsɛ́ ʥì ìbíè /ìbíéʥìhʊ̀ 0406 soldier òsóʥǽnì 0407 prostitute æ̀húrítæ̀lɪ́hʊ̀ 0408 midwife àsɛ́ sɔ̀ ɔ̀kwɪḱwɪ̀ 0410 fetish priest ɔ̀kɔ́mfʊ̀ 0412 witch (female) ɔ̀bʊ́nsàm àʨɪ́ 4. PERSONAL INTERACTION 4.1 ASSOCIATION OFF PERSONS 0421 flee, run away from gwà 0422 drive away ʥè mʊ́ 0426 resemble ɔ̀wʊ́rɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 151 4.2 SPEECH, LANGUAGE 0430 language m̀bírì/m̀mírì 0431 word èsé 0433 say jɪ̀ 0434 voice èbídé 0435 speak, talk bìrí 4.2.1 Greeting 0443 greet (v) bìæ̀kɛ́ 0444 call (someone) tɪ̀rɪ́ 0445 say goodbye, take leave of nǎ:rɪ̀/ɔ̀kɪ́rɛ̀ 4.2.2 Information and questions 0446 announce dɛ̀ mʊ́ æ̀déwúræ̀ 0448 news èsé ɛ̀nɪ̀ ɛ̌:bɛ̀ 0449 explain kɛ̀ àsɪ́/kɛ̀ dɛ́ 0451 gossip (v) ǹsèkú 0452 lie (falsehood) ènùfú 0453 ask, request bìsé 0456 answer, reply (v) nɛ̀ m̀mùáɪ̀ 0457 thank nɛ̀ ŋmwɛ́ 4.2.3 Promise 0459 oath té 0460 swear kɛ̀ té University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 152 4.2.4 Strife and praise 0461 insult (v) lʊ̀bwɪ́ 0462 insult (n) ɔ̀lʊ́bwɪ ̀ 0465 argue ʨì òʥí 0470 deny bɛ̀sɔ́ òtúdè 4.2.5 Discourse genres 0480 story (tale) àtɪ̌: 0481 proverb bɛ́ 4.3 INTERPERSONAL CONTACT 0484 embrace, (hug) (v) bwɛ̀ mʊ́ æ̀tǔ: 4.4 HELP AND CARE 0492 help bʊ̀á 0494 look after ʨɪ̀ sʊ̀/ɔ̀ʨɪ́ 0495 bring up (a child) tànɪ́ mʊ́ 4.5 DOMINION AND CONTROL 0501 serve sì (æ̀sɔ́kʊ̀) 4.6 CONFLICT AND RESOLUTION 0508 quarrel àbìétì 0509 fight ɪ̀kɔ̀͂ 0510 stab wɔ̀ (mʊ́) æ̀ʨí University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 153 0511 kill, murder mɔ̀ mʊ́ 4.7 CRIME AND JUSTICE 0517 steal wùrí 0518 rape tù (mʊ́) mʊ̀nǎ: 0519 judge (v) ʥì èsé 0520 law m̀márà 0522 (be) guilty ǽʥì ɪ̀h wɛ́ 0523 (be) innocent ǽʥì bé 0524 punish ǽsòbì mʊ́ ɔ̀sʊ́ 0525 penalty, punishment ɔ̀sʊ́ òsóbì 5. HUMAN CIVILISATION 5.1 SETTLEMENT 0529 move away, migrate ʨùkwí ɲẽ̀ 0530 country, ethnic area òkúrò 0533 village æ̀kúræ̀ 0535 market (n) ìbíè 5.2 CLOTHING AND ADORNMENT OF BODY 5.2.1 Clothing 0537 wear clothes hì ɔ̀tá/wʊ̀rɛ̀ àtǎ:lɪ̀ 0538 dress (v) wʊ̀lɛ̀ àtǎ:lɪ̀ 0539 undress kpɛ̀ wʊ́ jʊ̀ 0541 hat kʊ̀tʊ́ 0542 shirt sʊ̀̃nsʊ́ àtǎ:lɪ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 154 0543 trousers sɪ̀rɛ́ àtǎ:lɪ ̀ 0548 shoe, sandal m̀pǎ:bʊ̀á 5.2.2 Adornment and accessories 0549 bead àkwánsɪ̀ 0552 necklace ɪ̀k wá dɛ̀ ɛ̀dɛ́ 0554 ring (finger) kǎ: 0555 earring àsʊ́mkǎ: 5.2.3 Car for body 0561 bathe, wash oneself òbíè/fɔ̀ wʊ́ yʊ̀ 0563 wipe off (excreta) fàlɪ́ wʊ́ yʊ̀ 0564 cut (hair) sɪ̀ wʊ́ mĩ̀ẽ́ nì 0565 shave (v) sɪ̀ wʊ́ æ̀kpú 0567 comb (n) ǹjʊ́rʊ́fɪ̀ 0568 tooth stick, tooth brush æ̀jíbì/æ̀jíbì ɛ̀nɪ́ ɛ̀bɪ́rɪ̀ òkpítè èɲĩ́ 5.3 FOOD AND DRINK 5.3.1 Food 0569 food tèí 0570 meat òní 0571 fat sɪ̀rádɪ̀ 0572 oil m̀fwɛ́ 0573 soup, broth æ̀ʨú 0575 bread bùródò University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 155 0577 flour sá͂m 0578 salt m̀fálɪ̀ 0579 breakfast æ̀ɲẽ́ tì tèí 0580 evening meal àdɪ́dɪ̀ tèí 0582 leftovers tèí ɛ̀nɪ ̃́ ɛ̌:ʥì nɪ̀ ɛ̌:kɛ̀ àsɪ̀ 5.3.2 Drink 0585 milk (n) àhʊ́ dɛ́ ǹʨú 0587 alcohol (general) ǹtɛ́ 0588 beer (traditional) ǹtɛ́ ě:fùrí 0590 palm wine ǹtɛ́ ě:fùrí 5.4 FOOD PREPARATION 5.4.1 Kitchen preparation 0591 prepare (food to cook) dàɪ́ tèí 0595 peel (v) fɪ̀rànʨɪ́/sèlí 0596 mix (v) bʊ̀ ɔ̀sàɪ́ 0597 stir wùrèdɛ́ 0599 pound wɔ̀ 0600 ground kwè 5.4.2 Cooking 0603 cook (v) dàɪ́ 0604 roast tɔ̀͂ 0605 fry kwɛ̀lɛ́ 0606 bake (in ashes) tɔ̀͂ bʊ̀ ǹsɔ́ dɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 156 0607 (be) smoked hʊ̌: 0608 boil (water), bubble up dàɪ́ 5.5 DOMESTIC UTENSILS AND CONTAINMENT 5.5.1 Kitchen utensils 0610 cooking pot (earthenware) sòbí/kʊ̀rʊ́pɔ̌:tʊ̀ 0612 pot (chair) kpí 0613 ladle àkpɔ́lɪ̀ 0618 pestle, pounding stick æ̀kpúkpúì 0619 mortar, pounding pot àkpʊ́kpʊ̀ 5.5.2 Eating utensils 0620 plate pɪ̀lɛ́tɪ̀ 0621 bowl òsé 0622 cup kùrúwæ̀ 0623 spoon (traditional) àtɪŕɪ̀/àkpɔ́lɪ̀ 5.3 Containers and containment 0624 bag òkótókù/bæ̌:gɪ̀ 0627 bucket, pail bòkítì 0628 calabash àwʊ́ɪ̀ 0629 bottle tùmpáɪ̀ 0632 pour ʨɛ̀kɪ́rɛ̀ 0636 (be) full ɛ̌:bɔ̀͂/nɪ̀ ɪ̀bɔ̀͂ 0637 (be) empty ʨɛ̀kɪ́rɛ̀ kǎ:nà/nɪ ̀ɪ̀tɛ́/ɛ̌:tɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 157 0638 (be) open fùí/bùʨí 0642 cover (v) tì ànʊ́/hɛ̀ sʊ̀ 0643 uncover fùí sʊ̀ 0653 rope ɪ̀fɪ͂ ́ 0654 knot kpɔ́͂ 0656 tie (knot) dɛ̀ (mʊ́) kpɔ́͂ 0657 untie sàɪ́ 5.6 HABITATION 5.6.1 Parts of a house 0662 compound, house æ̀wí sʊ̀ 0664 wall ɔ̀kpʊ́kpʊ̀ 0667 window m̀fɛ́nsɪ́rɪ ̀ 0670 floor sɪ̀rɛ́ 0671 room æ̀búdè 0672 bedroom pìǽdɛ̀/æ̀búdè 0673 kitchen sòbíásɪ̀ 0676 fence (n) ɔ̀kpʊ́kpʊ̀ 0680 bathing place æ̀bìé sɪ́/àg wárɪ́ɛ̀ 0681 latrine, toilet ɔ̀ʨɛ́ 0682 garbage dump mùnɔ́͂sʊ̀ 5.6.2 Construction 0685 build kpìlé 0692 ladder àkpʊ́sɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 158 5.6.3 Furniture 0693 chair æ̀bíè 0694 stool sòbíásɪ̀-æ̀bíè 0696 bed ŋm̀kpá 0700 bell dɔ́͂ 0701 ring (bell) (v) wʊ̀sʊ́ (dɔ́͂) 5.7 PROFESSIONS AND WORK 0703 work (n) èsímì 5.7.2 Pottery 0710 mould (pottery) lʊ̀ 5.7.3 Wood work 0712 wood æ̀ʥé 0713 cut down (tree) kù æ̀jí/tàkɛ́ æ̀jí 0716 axe àfɪ́ 0724 nail (n) dàŋʊ́à 5.7.4 Tailoring and weaving 0725 sew bà͂ 0726 needle pã̀nɪ͂́ 0729 pocket òkótókù University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 159 5.7.5 Domestic work 0733 rag tɪ̀nã́nã̀ 0734 broom àfɪ͂́ 0735 sweep fʊ̀ʨɪ́ 0737 wash (clothes and utensils) fɔ̀ 0738 draw water sɛ̀ ǹʨú 0739 fetch (firewood) ʥàɪ́ (æ̀ʥé/ǹʥébì) 0740 dig kù 0741 rubbish mù̃nɔ́͂ 5.8 AGRICULTURE 5.8.1 Cultivation 0750 weed (v) dɔ̀ 0751 hoe (v) àdɔ́dɪ̀ 0752 hoe (n) àdɔ́dɪ̀ 0753 big hoe àdɔ́dɪ̀ kpǒ:mò 0755 machete, cutlass àdɛ́ 5.9.2 Fishing 0799 fish (v) jìé òní (bʊ̀ ǹʨú dɛ́) 0802 fishing net æ̀sǽwù 5.10 POSSESSIONS AND COMMERCE 5.10.1 Possessions 0809 give nɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 160 5.10.2 Money exchange, finances 0817 money ètě:mì/sìká 0820 buy sɔ̀ 0821 sell fɪ̀ 0823 (be) expensive ìbíè æ̀lé 0825 price ìbíè 0827 payment kwɛ́ ɔ̀kɛ́ 0828 pay (for goods, services, etc.) kɛ̀ kwɛ́ 0832 borrow hà 0833 lend bʊ̀ ɔ̀há 0834 debt kwɛ́ 5.12 WAR 0866 war ɔ̀sɛ́/ɪk̀ɔ́͂ 0867 peace ɔ̀sʊ́dɛ̀ òwírì 0868 army ɛ̀sɛ́ wè ɔ̀kɔ́͂ 0871 sword æ̀ʨí 0872 gun æ̀túrǔ: 5.13 ARTS AND LEISURE 5.13.1 Music and dance 0878 music lé 0879 song lé 0883 dance (n) ɔ̀ʨá 0884 dance (v) ʨà University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 161 5.14.1 RELIGION AND THE SUPERNATURAL 5.14.2 Religion and witchcraft 0912 pray dɛ̀ m̀páɪ̀/b wɛ̀ m̀páɪ̀ 0913 blessing ǹɕírà 0920 curse (v) dʊ̀mɪ́/dà 0921 curse (n) mùsú/ɔ̀dá 0930 pour libation wʊ̀ʨɪ́ ǹtɛ́ 5.15 CEREMONIES 0935 circumcision (male) æ̀tæ̌:bì ɔ̀tɪ́/ɔ̀tɪ́ 5.15.1 Marriage 0939 marry hò 0940 marriage (state of wedlock) òhó 0944 bride àʨɪ́ àsɛ́ wè àɕɪ́kɔ̀/àhɪ́kɔ̀ 0945 groom àɲɛ́ àsɛ́ ně:hò àkɛ́ 0947 adultery èhó ɔ̀bwɛ́ 0948 divorce (v) àkɔ̀͂ 5.15.2 Funeral 0953 corpse hùní 0954 bury (hùní) òhúlè 0955 grave (hùní) ɪ̀bɔ́͂ 0956 cemetery gɔ̌:/kpɔ́dɛ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 162 6. Animals 0957 animal æ̀tébì 6.1 DOMESTIC ANIMALS 6.1.2 Ovines and caprines 0965 goat æ̀tóhǐ:/àtóɕǐ: 0966 he-goat, billy goat àkpákpʊ̀ 0967she-goat, nanny goat æ̀tóhǐ: àʨɪ́ 0969 sheep ògwã́ntɪ̌: 6.1.3 Poultry 0974 chicken àkɪ́rɛ́nɪ̀ 097 hen àkɪ́rɛ́nɪ̀ àʨɪ́ 6.1.5 Other 0987 pig kúrî 0991 dog gbèí/ɔ̀kɪ́rámàɪ̀ 0993 cat pùsí/àʥínámʊ̀à 6.2 MAMMALS 6.2.1 Rodents 1009 mouse ɛ̀jɪ́ 1010 rat òkísì 1017 squirrel æ̀ló University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 163 6.3 BIRDS 1041 bird æ̀bóbì 1056 hawk àkpálɪ̀ 1057 vulture ʥòbínì Bird parts and things 1058 feather ǹtɔ́ 1066 egg bʊ̀nɔ́ 6.3.2 Bird actions 1071 fly (v) fùrìʨí 1080 lay (eggs) tù (bʊ̀nɔ́) 1082 hatch bòlí (bʊ̀nɔ́) 6.4 FISH 1083 fish ǹʨúdé òní 6.4.1 Fish parts 6.4.2 Shellfish and mollusks 1091 crab ɔ̀kɔ́tɔ̀ 1092 shrimp ɛ̀sá 1094 snail ǽbî 6.5 REPTILES 1095 snake ɔ̀wɛ́ 1100 lizard òkítì 1102 chameleon æ̀wúrídù University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 164 1106 frog kpʊ̀tɔ́ 6.6 INSECTS 1122 cockroach àkpákpɪ́làʥà 1123 ant ǹtúrótùrõmĩ̀ 1127 spider ànánsɪ̀ 6.6.1 Flying insects 1142 mosquito ǹtʊ́mtʊ̀m 6.6.2 Insect things 1156 honey àkɔ́͂ 7. PLANTS 7.1 TYPES OF PLANTS 7.1.1 Trees 1158 tree æ̀jí 1168 oil palm ɛ̀bɪ́ 7.1.2 Grasses 1173 grass ɪ̀sɛ́ 1174 bamboo kæ̀mpúlò 7.2 PLANT PARTS 1188 flower ǹhwíréì University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 165 7.3 PLANT PRODUCTS 7.3.1 Plant product parts 1197 juice æ̀jí dè ǹʨú 1202 seed æ̀jí èbí 7.3.2 Fruits 1207 fruit èbí 1208 banana kwæ̌:dù 1209 plantain òbúróʥò 1211 orange æ̀kútù 1213 pawpaw, papaya æ̀dúwæ̀ 8. ENVIRONMENT 8.1 NATURE 8.1.2 Physical features 1262 mountain bɔ́ 1268 hole kú 8.1.4 Water related 1284 water ǹʨú 8.1.5 Fire related 1305 fire æ̀ʥé 1308 smoke æ̀ʥésì 1310 firewood ǹʥébì 1311 charcoal èdùdǔ: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 166 8.1.6 Sky 1313 sky èfũndè 1316 rainbow ɔ̀lálɪ̀ 1317 sun æ̀wí 1318 moon àfɪ́ntɪ̀ 8.2 WEATHER 1330 wind (n) èfú͂ 8.2.2 Ambient Conditions 1348 sunshine æ̀wí ɛ̌:fà 1349 moonlight àfɪ́ntɪ̀ ɛ̌:wáʨɪ̀ 8.3 TIME 1352 time bɪ̀rɪ ́ 8.3.1 Time periods 1367 day ǹʨɪ́/kʊ́kɔ̀ 1368 month àfɪ́ntɪ̀ 1369 year æ̀fíǽnʊ̀ 1370 today ǹdɪ́ 1371 yesterday ɪ̀ɲɪ ̃́dɪ̀ 1372 day before yesterday ɪ̀nɪ ̃́ ǹʨɪ́sà 1373 tomorrow áʨɪ̀ 1374 day after tomorrow áʨɪ̀-àmɛ́ 1375 olden times tɪ̀tɪ́bɪŕɪ̀ á/ʥɛ̀m wɛ́ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 167 8.3.2 Times of the day 137 dawn (before sunrise) dɪ̀bǎ:ʨɪ̀ 1378 morning æ̀ɲétì 1379 noon àhɛ́dɛ̀/ìdú ɲɔ́͂ bɪ̀rɪ́ 1380 afternoon àhɛ́dɛ̀ 1381 sunset àdɪ́dɪ̀ ànʊ́ 1384 night ǽɲǐ 8.4 SPACE AND OBJECTS 1389 front (of something) ɛ̀sɪ́rɛ̀ 1390 back (of something) àmɛ́ 9. EVENTS AND ACTIONS 9.1 MOVEMENT (MOSTLY INTRANSITIVE) 1399 come bɛ̀ 1400 go ɲè 1402 arrive bɛ̀fʊ́ 1403 remain, stay kɛ̀/jèrí/ʨɪ̀nàɪ́ 1407 enter, go in ɲè dɛ̀/wʊ̀rɛ́ dɛ̀ 9.2 ACTIONS, EVENTS AFFECTING MATTER 9.2.1 General 1422 take ʨù 1434 pull sòbí 1435 drag sòbí 1436 push pìá University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 168 9.2.2 Percussion 1447 beat bʊ̀rɪ́ 9.2.3 Creation and destruction 1458 create, make lʊ̀/bwɛ̀ 1461 destroy, spoil sɛ̀ɪ́ mʊ́/sɛ̀ɪ ́ 9.2.4 Association of things 1465 gather bʊ̀á ànʊ́ 1467 scatter (tr) wʊ̀ràʨɪ́ wʊ̀ràʨɪ́ dɛ̀ 1468 throw away, get rid of tù ɔ̀fɪ́ 9.2.5 Placement 1470 leave (something somewhere) sì͂/sì͂ òtú/sì͂ ǹdè 1472 hide (tr) kpɪ̀lɛ́/jɪr̀ɛ́ 1474 look for ʥàɪ́ 9.2.7 Action with liquids 1480 flow ě:ʨè 10 QUALITY 10.3 COLOUR 1555 (be) white fìtǎ: 1556 (be) black tǔ: 1557 (be) red kɔ̌: University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 169 11 QUANTITY 11.1 CARDINAL NUMBERS 1590 one (1) àkʊ́ 1591 two (2) ɲɔ́͂ 1592 three (3) sá͂ 1593 four (4) nɛ̃́ 1594 five (5) nĩ́ 1595 six (6) sĩ̀ɛ́͂ 1596 seven (7) sù̃nɔ́̃ 1597 eight (8) ʨwí 1598 nine (9) kpʊ̀lɔ́͂ 1599 ten (10) ìdú 1600 eleven (11) ìdú àkʊ́ 1601 twelve (12) ìdú ɲɔ́͂ 1602 thirteen (13) ìdú sá͂ 1603 fourteen (14) ìdú nɛ̃́ 1604 fifteen (15) ìdú nĩ́ 1605 sixteen (16) ìdú sĩ̀ ɛ́͂ 1606 seventeen (17) ìdú sùnɔ́̃ 1607 eighteen (18) ìdú ʨwí 1608 nineteen (19) ìdú kpʊ̀lɔ́͂ 1609 twenty (20) èdóɲɔ́̃ 1610 twenty-one (21) èdóɲɔ́̃ àkʊ́ 1611 twenty-two (22) èdóɲɔ́̃ ɲɔ́̃ 1612 thirty (30) èdúɛ́sà͂ 1613 forty (40) èdúɛ́nɛ̃́ 1614 fifty (50) èdúénĩ́ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 170 1615 sixty (60) èdúésìɛ́͂ 1616 seventy (70) èdúésùnɔ́͂ 1617 eighty (80) èdúéʨwì 1618 ninety (90) èdúékpʊ̀lɔ́͂ 1619 hundred (100) ɔ̀lɔ́fɛ̀ 1620 two hundred (200) ɔ̀lɔ́fɛ̀ ɲɔ́̃ 1621 five hundred (500) ɔ̀lɔ́fɛ̀ nĩ́ 1622 thousand (1000) æ̀kpé 11.2 ORDINAL NUMBERS 1623 (be) first ɛ̀lɛ́ ǹʥé ŋmwɛ̃̀ 1624 (be) second ɛ̀lɛ́ tù sʊ̀ ɲɔ́̃ 1625 (be) third ɛ̀lɛ́ tù sʊ̀ sá͂ 1626 (be) last ɛ̀lɛ́ kù àtʊ́ 12 GRAMMATICAL ITEMS 12.1 PRONOUNS 1648 I mɪ́ 1649 you (masc., sing.) wʊ́ 1650 he (human) mʊ́ 1651 we (incl.) ɛ̀nɪ́ 1652 you (pl) ɛ́nɪ̀ 1653 they (human) ɛ̀mʊ́ 12.2 RELATIONALS 1654 here dó 1655 there dá University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 171 1656 far nɔ̌:nɔ̀/kpá/àmɛ́ 1657 near bɪ̀tɛ́ 1670 in front of, before ɛ̀sɪ́rɛ̀ 1671 behind àmɛ́ 1673 inside dɛ̀ 1674 outside àfǎ:nʊ̀ 1675 between ǹsɪ́nɪ̀ 1678 with nɪ̀/ɔ̀ká ǹsʊ́ 12.3 DEMONSTRATIVE ARTICLES 1679 this (man) mɔ́̃ 1680 that (man) mǎ:mʊ̀/mʊ́/bæ̀ɪ́ 1681 some (men) ɛ̀sɔ́kʊ̀ 1682 other (men) ǹkáɪ̀ 12.4 QUESTION WORDS 1683 who? ànɪ́ 1684 what? mɛ̀nɛ́ 1685 which? (one)? dɛ̌:lɛ́bɔ̂/ɛ̀lɛ́bɔ́ 1686 where? ɔ̀nʊ́fɪ̀ 1687 when? mɛ̀nɛ́ bɪ̀rɪ́/màɪ́ 1688 why? mɛ̌:bɛ̀ 1689 how? mɛ̀nɛ́ àkpɛ́ sʊ̀ 1690 how many? ɛ̀bɛ́nɪ̀/ɛ̀mʊ́ ɛ̀bɛ́nɪ ̀ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 172 REFERENCES Abakah, E. N. (2012). Some assimilatory processes in Akan. Journal of West African Languages. Vol. XXXIX (2). Pp. 47-82. Agoswin, A. M. (2010). Aspects of Kusaal Phonology. An MPhil Thesis submitted to the Department of Linguistics. Legon: University of Ghana. Akanlig-Pare, G. (2005). Buli Tonology: A Non-Linear Approach. A PhD Dissertation submitted to the Linguistics Department. Legon: University of Ghana Akanlig-Pare, G. (1994). Aspects of Buli Phonology. An MPhil Thesis submitted to the Linguistics Department. Legon: University of Ghana Akrofi Ansah, M. (2002). Aspects of Latɛ Phonology. An MPhil Thesis submitted to the Linguistics Department. Legon: University of Ghana. Ampene K. (2003). History of the Guang-Speaking People of Ghana. 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