University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH ASPECTS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH BY GABRIEL OPOKU (10245579) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MPHIL ENGLISH DEGREE JULY, 2016 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis, with the exception of the cited references and sources of data, is the result of my own original research and that no part of it has been presented for another degree in this university or elsewhere. ……………………………………………. Date……………………………… Gabriel Opoku (10245579) i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CERTIFICATION We hereby certify that this thesis was supervised in accordance with procedures laid down by this University. ……………………………………………. Date………………………… GLADYS NYARKO ANSAH (DR.) (SUPERVISOR) ……………………………………………. Date……………………….. ELISABETH ORFSON-OFFEI (DR.) (SUPERVISOR) ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my Father and Friend, at Whose word was the beginning and the end of this MPhil programme; and then to they who gave me birth but are now with Him. iii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT To the One I owe my soul and corporality, my talents and destiny, I give my firstfruits. When the going got tough, Mama Cecilia Opoku‟s words got me going. Thanks mum. This study was with no clear focus initially, but got one; thanks to Dr. G. N. Ansah. Her pleasure with my efforts inspired much confidence; thanks to Dr. E. Orfson-Offei. Her words warmed my heart and renewed my mind; thanks to the wife of my life, Joce. The prayers and motivation of friends wrought miracles; thank you Kingsley and Richard Aunt Hetty, Edmund, Yao and everyone in this Department for your assistance here and there. iv University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENTS Content Page DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………………..........i CERTIFICATION………………………………………………………………………………...ii DEDICATION……………………………………………………………………………………iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………………………..iv TABLE OF CONTENT…………………………………………………………………….……..v ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………….....viii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION...…………………………………………………….…..1 1.0 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….1 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY…………………………………………………………..1 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT/RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY………………………………3 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY………………………………………………………...……4 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS………………………………………………………...…………5 1.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK…………………………………………………….……….5 1.6 METHODOLOGY…………………………………………………………………………....6 1.7 ETHICAL ISSUES……………………………………………………………………………7 1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY…………………………………………………………..8 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………...………………………..…9 2.0 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………….9 2.1 THE CONCEPT OF THE NEW ENGLISHES……………………………………………….9 2.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES TO THE DESCRIPTION OF NEW ENGLISHES……11 2.3 THE STATUS OF GHANAIAN ENGLISH……………………………………………..….14 v University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY……….23 3.0 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………...23 3.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK……………………………………………………………23 3.2 METHODOLOGY………………….……………………………………………………….31 3.2.1 DATA COLLECTION…………………………………………………………………….31 3.2.2 DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………………………………..33 3.2.3 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS………………………………………………………..34 CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS…………………………..35 4.0 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………...35 4.1 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR………………………………………………35 4.2 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS EUPHEMISM………………………46 4.3 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS HYPERBOLE……………………….51 4.4 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METONYMY……………………………………………...51 4.5 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS EUPHEMISM……………………….64 4.6 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SYNECDOCHE…………………………………………...65 4.7 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY HYPERBOLE……………………………………………..67 4.8 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SIMILE……………………………………………………67 4.9 SEMANTIC NARROWING BY SYNECDOCHE………………………………………….68 4.10 SEMANTIC NARROWING BY METONYMY…………………………………………..70 4.11 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE……………….….72 4.12 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS INTENSIFICATION BY HYPERBOLE……..……..73 4.13 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS WEAKENING BY LITOTES…………………….…75 4.14 SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND/OR AMELIORATION BY HYPERBOLE….…76 4.15 SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE…….……….79 4.16 MISCELLANEOUS SEMANTIC CHANGES………………………………………….…80 vi University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.17 CALQUED/IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS………………………………………………..84 4.18 SENSE RELATIONS IN THE DATA ANALYSIS……………………………………….91 4.19 CONCLUDING SUMMARY……………………………………………………………...96 METAPHORIC CHANGE……………………………………………………………....96 METONYMIC CHANGE………………………………………………………….......100 HYPERBOLIC CHANGE…………………………………………………………...…104 SYNECDOCHIC CHANGE…………………………………………………………...106 SIMILIZED CHANGE…………………………………………………………………107 LITOTIC CHANGE……………………………………………………………………108 CALQUED CHANGE………………………………………………………………….109 CHAPTER FIVE: FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION………………………………………112 5.0 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………….112 5.1 MECHANISMS OF MEANING CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH………………112 5.2 KINDS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE INVOLVED IN MEANING CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH....................................................................................................................................116 5.3 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE PATTERNS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH....………………………………………………………………………......………..117 5.4 GENERAL CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………..119 5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH……………………………………121 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………122 APPENDICES………………………………………………………………………………….130 vii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ABSTRACT Conceptually situated within the Kachruvian approach to the study of non-native varieties of English, this study delves into the nature of semantic change in Ghanaian English. It examines the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English and highlights the kinds of semantic changes that are involved in this meaning creation process. This study brings to the fore creative innovations as well as sociolinguistic realities in the lexis of Ghanaian English. From the sociolinguistic standpoint that is associated with Kachru (1992), numerous lexical items were collected from spoken as well as written sources of Ghanaian English usage and analysed within the framework of sense relations and rhetorical ideas. The study reveals that analogy, association, exaggeration, understatement, propriety or expediency and L1 transference underlie meaning creation in Ghanaian English. It also comes to light that the kinds of semantic changes involved in this meaning creation process are metaphoric, metonymic, hyperbolic, litotic, euphemistic, similized and calqued semantic changes. Summarily, the findings of this research show that the lexis of English has somehow been creatively customized in Ghana and it mirrors the socio-cultural context of its uses. viii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents an overview of the study. It provides a brief summary about the background to this work, the rationale, objectives, research questions, conceptual framework, methodology, ethical issues and the significance of the study. 1.1 BACKGROUD TO THE STUDY Compared with some of its facets such as phonology and grammar, the lexis of Ghanaian English (GhE) appears to have received less research attention. The few known researches conducted (e.g. Sey 1973; Dako 2001, 2003, etc.) concentrate on a collection and publication of lexical items that have undergone semantic change(s) in Ghanaian English. Such items are then classified based on the effects that the changes have on their meaning (e.g. semantic extension, semantic narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, etc.). This study seeks to explore how meaning is created in Ghanaian English, the kinds of semantic change involved in this meaning creation process and the place of creative innovation in these changes. It is hoped that this study will help augment text collections on the lexis of Ghanaian English. It could also help to improve the attitude of Ghanaians towards Ghanaian English, a variety of English that the researcher considers a New English. The concept of new Englishes, understood in recent years as non-native varieties of English mainly born out of language contact, has not gone uncontested by various linguists, notable among whom is Randolph Quirk. Quirk (1990, p. 5-6) views the new Englishes as unwarranted 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and the result of a failed attempt at approximating to Standard English (Bolton, 2009, p. 240-5; Bamgbose, 1997, p. 13). Kachru (1991, p. 3-13), who is probably the most notable proponent of the concept and reality of the new Englishes, vehemently disagrees with Quirk on this matter. One of Kachru‟s major concerns about Quirk‟s position is that it repudiates the sociolinguistic factors that hold true in non-native environments. For example, Quirk‟s intolerance of the new Englishes is tantamount to a rejection of the inevitability of the indigenization or nativisation processes that are at work in a second-language situation. This polemical reaction to the concept of new Englishes resonates in the issue of Ghanaian English. While some linguists consider it a New English (Grieve (1964); Platt, Weber and Ho (1984); Gorlach (1985); Bamgbose (1997), Dako (2001); Huber (2004), etc.), others (e.g. Brown and Scragg (1948); Criper (1971); Sey (1973); Tingley (1981); Gyasi (1991); Ahulu (1994), etc.) think of it less so; they consider it as a deviant form of Standard British English that is error- laden. Gyasi (1991, p. 27), for instance, asserts that: There is nothing like „Ghanaian English‟ if we base our argument on the occurrence of such errors as equipments; we must voice out our views; I am going and come. Convince the Ghanaian that these are errors or deviations from British Standard forms and he will not intentionally use them again. We should not therefore elevate bastardization into a status of legitimacy and call it Ghanaian English. Like Gyasi, Sey (1973, p. 10) thinks no differently of Ghanaian English; he observes that “nothing disgusts the educated Ghanaian more than to be told that the English he uses is anything but standard…” and that once the linguist makes the features of Ghanaian English known to him, he “would strive to avoid them altogether…” Sey‟s choice of the word „strive‟ must not go unexamined. If the users of Ghanaian English have had to „strive‟ in their bid to avoid the 2 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh features of Ghanaian English, then the impression is created that those features are well- established. Furthermore, it connotes the absence of linguistic freedom: why must the educated Ghanaian strive to use English because of some ideals in Standard British English which is even an abstraction? It is such attitudes that, coupled with other problems such as inadequate text collections on Ghanaian English and a lack of its codification using corpus linguistics methods, are impeding the promotion of Ghanaian English. This has given rise to a number of problems: Oral English Examination in our schools, for instance, is conducted using the British model of English, which is grossly at variance with the phonological reality of the English spoken in Ghana; it is no surprise that many students and the teachers alike tend to grapple with phonology in the school curriculum. That there exist some established variations in the phonology, semantics, grammar and even pragmatics of Ghanaian English when compared with British Standard English especially, is common knowledge among many Ghanaian linguists, if not all. A close examination of some of these peculiarities of Ghanaian English, especially its lexis, would reveal some creative innovations and sociolinguistic realities, which is what this study seeks to concern itself with. 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT/RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY Comparatively, the lexis of Ghanaian English seems to have been given less research attention than its phonology or syntax. Research on the semantics of Ghanaian English tends to concentrate generally on the outcome of semantic change in Ghanaian English. This refers to the effects that meaning creation in Ghanaian English has on the meaning of English words. As 3 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh mentioned earlier, examples of such effects or outcome of semantic change in Ghanaian English include semantic extension, narrowing, amelioration, pejoration, shift, etc. (e.g. Dako, 2001.). It would seem that none of these kinds of semantic changes has as yet received exclusive in-depth analysis from a sociolinguistic angle. The researcher believes that exploring each of these kinds of semantic changes further can reveal some patterns of linguistic creativity or innovation in Ghanaian English. In addition, such an analysis will bring to the fore the rhetorical and conceptual mechanisms that underlie this creativity or innovation that result in change in meaning of English words in the Ghanaian setting. This study would augment the text collections on Ghanaian English. It will also help to ascertain creativity in the lexical changes in Ghanaian English, and hopefully change some of the negative attitudes toward it. 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The primary goal of this research is to explore, through various relevant and reliable ways, the nature of semantic change in Ghanaian English with a view to foregrounding the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English. In addition, this study seeks to highlight the kinds of semantic change that are involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English. Another objective of this study is to examine patterns that are found in the mechanisms of meaning creation and its attendant kinds of semantic change in Ghanaian English and draw relevant conclusions from them. 4 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS Summarily, this study sought to find answers to these three questions below: 1) What are the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English? 2) What kinds of semantic changes are involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English? 3) What conclusions may be drawn from the patterns that are found in the mechanisms as well as kinds of semantic change in Ghanaian English? 1.5 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This study is conceptually situated within the Kachruvian Approach (Kachru 1992), which is a sociolinguistic approach to the description of non-native varieties of English. This sociolinguistic method to the description of non-native varieties is predicated on liberation linguistics and acknowledges the adaptability of language to reflect sociocultural and functional realities. It also upholds the notion of innovation and creativity with English as Second Language rather than focus on „errors‟ or deviations from Standard English, as done in the deviation approach to the description of the new Englishes. 5 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.6 METHODOLOGY Data for this work were collected from both written and spoken sources, and analysed within the framework of sense relations and rhetorical ideas. The written sources of data included relevant research publications by linguists on Ghanaian English (e.g. Kari Dako’s (2001) Ghanaianisms: Towards a semantic and a formal classification and (2003) Ghanaianisms: A Glossary; K. A. Sey’s (1973) Ghanaian English: An Exploratory Survey, etc.), some prose works about Ghanaians and by Ghanaians like Ama Ata Aidoo, Efua T. Sutherland, Ayi Kwei Armah and Kwakuvi Azasu; some Ghanaian newspapers and chats on social media. The spoken sources included observation of public conversation or interaction: interactions in English on Ghanaian radio and television stations, campuses, public vehicles like the trotros, as well as interactions in public places like the markets, churches, etc. were observed, and from these interactions the researcher collected lexical items that are frequently used in a peculiar sense, that is, in a way that suggests changed meanings and are different from the meanings recorded in Standard English (using British and American dictionaries as a guide because they, especially British English, are thought to be the most widely used models of English in Ghana). These items and their usage were then jotted down for later analysis. The data were generated from a cross section of Ghanaians who can express themselves, at least, intelligibly in English as a second language. The lexical items were grouped based on the kind(s) of semantic change(s) they have undergone and the mechanism(s) of the change. They were then analysed one by one under various sections, each section representing one of the various groups. Items to be analysed were first introduced; examples of its usage were then given to delimit their meaning(s); detailed analysis was then 6 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh conducted using some traditional assumptions from sense relations and rhetorical ideas, then a conclusion was drawn before moving to the next item. The findings of these analyses were presented under three sections with headings that are based on the themes each research question answers. 1.7 ETHICAL ISSUES The sources of data and literature used in this study have been duly acknowledged. There was no fabrication of data or findings whatsoever. One limitation of this study is with the collection of spoken data. It was done without the explicit consent of the speakers because one could not anticipate exactly where and when the targeted vocabulary items would occur in speech. Besides, informing speakers could have affected their choice of words. However, the researcher does not link the data to any particular individual who contributed to the data used. Furthermore, because no interviews were conducted, the researcher could not ascertain the nationality, level of education and bilingual status of the people from whom the spoken data were sourced. These parameters were assumed on the basis of location, fluency in English and phonological considerations. Lastly, literal translation in the semantic change process was established by using only Twi and Ga because they are the only local languages the researcher is fluent in. However, since Twi is the local language used by the vast majority of Ghanaians, it was hoped that coupling it with Ga, which is mainly spoken in Greater Accra, a highly cosmopolitan region, was not going to affect the findings significantly. 7 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1.8 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY It is hoped that this study would augment the text collections on Ghanaian English. It will also help to ascertain creativity in the lexical changes in Ghanaian English. It would serve as a supplementary reference point as far as literature on semantic change in Ghanaian English is concerned. It would also, to some extent, help to do away with some meaning-related communication problems that can hold between Ghanaians and non-Ghanaian users of English, especially the native speakers of English. Lastly, it could help change some negative attitudes toward Ghanaian English. 8 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 2.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter examines some relevant literature on Ghanaian English and discusses the status of English in Ghana. It opens with a brief consideration of the general status of English in non- native environments and discusses the various approaches that are adopted to describe non-native varieties of English. The chapter then concentrates on, and concludes with, the status of English in Ghana. 2.1 THE CONCEPT OF THE NEW ENGLISHES The label „New English‟ is, according to Dako (2001, p. 24), used by a large number of people in contemporary times to describe varieties of English that are evolving or have evolved „in the environment of a second-language situation.‟ The term encapsulates the Englishes found in English as Second Language (ESL) and English as Foreign Language (EFL) contexts. It can be seen as a superordinate term with such hyponyms as Asian English, Caribbean English, African English, etc. which are also broader terms with hyponyms. African English, for instance, also has as co-hyponyms Southern African English, East African English and West African English, etc., where Ghanaian English falls. According to her (Dako, 2001, p. 24), such Englishes have undergone a process of indigenization which „includes not only linguistic processes that involve phonological, structural and lexical changes … but also pragmatic adaptation and creative innovation.‟ 9 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The term „New Englishes‟ itself is a hyponym of the term „World Englishes‟, which must have been coined by Kachru and Smith (1985) when, as new editors, they changed the title of the journal World Language English to World Englishes. They (1985, p. 210) explain that „”Englishes” symbolizes the functional and formal variation in the language, and its international acculturation‟ in both non-native and native English contexts; they add that English „now belongs to those who use it as first language, and those who use it as an additional language, whether in its standard form or in its localized forms.‟ Pondering over this, it comes to mind that the choice of the label „World Englishes‟ is handy, as it captures the fact of an enormous proliferation of varieties of English now; it is polycentric. The rationale behind this choice, as explained by them (Kachru and Smith 1985), connotes a kind of linguistic liberation, a kind of implicit quest for due recognition of non-native varieties of English. This subtle goal, it would seem, is being achieved as now non-native writers in English are winning Nobel Prizes and other highly coveted international awards (e.g. Wole Soyinka, a Nigerian, 1986; Derek Walcott, a Caribbean, 1992; Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian, McArthur Fellowship, 2008, etc.). Bolton (2009, p. 242) cites Pico Iyer who quotes John Robert McCrum, an English writer and editor, as saying: There is not one English language anymore, but there are many English languages … each of these Englishes is creating its own very special literature, which, because it doesn‟t feel oppressed by the immensely influential literary tradition in English, is somehow freer ( as cited in Iyer, 1993, 53). The need for recognition and linguistic liberation for the non-native varieties of English would seem to have dawned on some linguists much earlier; notable among such linguists is Randolph 10 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Quirk. As Bolton (2009, 243) rightly observes, „Quirk seems to have begun his academic life as a “linguistic liberal” … arguing for tolerance [of the new Englishes].‟ Thus Quirk, (1962, p. 17- 18) notes: English is not the prerogative or “possession” of the English … Acknowledging this must – as a corollary – involve our questioning the propriety of claiming that the English of one area is more “correct” than the English of another. Certainly, we must realize that there is no single “correct” English, and no single standard of correctness. It is surprising then that Quirk later comes to question the validity of the new Englishes. He (1990, p. 5-6) dismisses the whole concept of the new Englishes as unwarranted and the consequence of a failed attempt at approximating to Standard English. He must have switched his theoretical standpoint from the sociolinguistic perspective which supports liberation linguistics to the deviation and common core perspectives, which are two of several theoretical approaches to the description of non-native varieties. These approaches have been treated in the next section. 2.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES TO THE DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW ENGLISHES The description of non-native varieties of English has been undertaken through many different theoretical perspectives. Bamgbose (1997, p. 13-15) identifies six of such perspectives: the deviation, common core, register, common origin, comparative and sociolinguistic approaches. The deviation approach, which is usually adopted by prescriptivists, views non-native varieties of English as “imperfect varieties”. Such varieties are seen as error-laden, the result of a failed attempt at learning the Target Language (TL), Standard English. This approach holds that with time and adequate instruction, non-native learners of a language would improve, gradually shedding off the errors with continuous exposure but hardly ever becoming perfect. Citing Quirk 11 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh (1990, p. 5-6), Bamgbose declares that according to him (Quirk), it is those who are unable to shed off their errors that represent the users of the non-native Englishes. The kind of English that results from such language contact situations is therefore dismissed as a deviation from native English rather than seen as a variation or variant of it. Bamgbose (1997, p. 13) asserts that this approach is the worst, „palpably flawed‟ in that it even denies the possibility for the existence of any such thing as non-native varieties besides institutionalized varieties like British and American English. It writes off the effects that sociocultural forces have on linguistic behaviour. Of course, this approach is not the best since it seems blind to, or at least, does not seem to take cognisance of the fact that language is dynamic, and that with growth and the encounter of new geographical and socio-cultural settings, it adapts and gives birth to new varieties. American English, for instance, could be thought of as a product of this process, and hence, in itself, a variety of British English. So are Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, etc. In contrast to the perspective of deviation is the sociolinguistic standpoint to the description of non-native varieties of English. This approach acknowledges the role of socio-cultural factors in determining linguistic behaviour. It highlights processes of indigenization or nativisation that serve to customize English to suit its new socio-cultural context in order for it to function properly. As Bamgbose (1997, p. 15) rightly puts it, „this approach accepts them [the non-native Englishes] for what they are and not as imperfect approximations of native norms.‟ This approach could indeed be considered the best because it is concerned not only with the formal aspects of language and its dynamic nature but also the effects society and culture have on languages. One problem that one might find with this approach is, however, the issue of how to 12 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh deal with errors, especially of a grammatical nature. The local standardisation of the new Englishes could deal with this possible problem. Another approach to the description of non-native varieties of English that Bamgbose identifies is the common core approach. According to him, this approach recognises non-native varieties of English on the basis of a continuous shared cardinal or essential, especially grammatical, features with the native varieties. In this common core relationship, the native varieties are the sole norm providers. What this means, in effect, is that native varieties cease to be acceptable if „they deviate from the common core (Bamgbose 1997, p. 27).‟ This makes it seem no more than the deviation approach. This theoretical standpoint seems biased against the non-native varieties of English. Besides, such an approach is obviously opposed to innovation and can stifle creativity and the growth of the new Englishes. As the name may suggest, the register approach puts the label „register‟ on the new Englishes and accepts them only under such identity. That is, this approach does not recognise non-native Englishes as new varieties but as styles of English that are used in certain social contexts. As Bamgbose rightly puts it, citing Widdowson (1995), with this approach „a special category for the non-native varieties of English‟ is redundant since their distinctive features could be accounted for by the notion of varying contexts. This could result in register duplication. It also reduces non-native varieties with their functional and socio-cultural contexts of usage to a kind of appendage. The common origin approach to the description of non-native varieties of English maintains that all varieties of English come from the same source. It holds that they are offshoots from a common node; thus, there is no point in drawing a distinction between native and non-native 13 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Englishes (Singh, 1995; as cited in Bamgbose, 1997, p. 14). That all Englishes have a common origin implies that there is a prototype or an archetype of English, which obviously will fall to British English. Does it mean that other varieties must look up to British English for norm provision? If there is no justification for distinction between native and non-native Englishes because they come from a common node, can there be any justification for calling some varieties deviant varieties? The last but not the least of the six approaches to the description of non-native varieties of English that Bamgbose identifies is the comparative approach. According to him, this approach, mainly associated with the International Corpus of English Project, uses corpus linguistics methods to study English texts from various varieties. It is a purely descriptive process. One of its strengths lies in its objectivity: it does not make judgements about the status of any variety; and its descriptive text collections can facilitate the codification of the relevant varieties of English. One thing that could be seen as a problem with this approach is its focus on the written corpus. Because some, if not most, of the non-native Englishes have not as yet been codified, many of their indexical features tend not to be expressed in the written text. Supplementing this approach with a phenomenological study, therefore, could help deal with this problem. 2.3 THE STATUS OF GHANAIAN ENGLISH The idea of a distinct kind of English in Ghana goes as far back as the colonial times when the English language had started gaining roots as the official language of Ghana, then Gold Coast. Right from the pre-independence era up until now, the label „Ghanaian English‟ has tended to be 14 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh considered a misnomer. According to Ahulu (1994, p. 25), Brown and Scragg (1948) associated Ghanaian English with errors; they saw it as essentially British Standard English that was fraught with mistakes in its usage by Ghanaians, then Gold Coasters. Brown and Scragg observed that the errors, which were mainly of a grammatical kind, occurred as a result of L1 interference. Their concern about this and their motivation to correct it must have motivated their 1948 publication, Common Errors in Gold Coast English. Like Brown and Scragg, Sey (1973), Tingley (1981), Gyasi (1990, 1991) and Ahulu (1994, 1996), among other educated Ghanaians, view Ghanaian English no differently. Sey (1973) is credited with according the label Ghanaian English „wide currency (Ahulu, 1994, p. 25).‟ He also considers Ghanaian English a deviation from British Standard English on grounds of the occurrence of errors. Unlike Brown and Scragg, however, he does not focus the causes of the deviations on L1 interference but more on analogy. He (Sey1973, p. 6, 10) thinks Ghanaian English is a misnomer and as good as non-existent in that it is Standard British English that educated Ghanaians „cling with great circumspection to‟ and that „the surest way to kill Ghanaian English, if it really exists, is to discover it and make it known.‟ In other words, even a conception of the reality of a variety of English one can characterise as Ghanaian seems still- born, especially in the minds of educated Ghanaians, including himself. Furthermore, he ties the ability to reach the linguistic ideals of Standard British English to the level of education of speakers and argues that most of the features that make Ghanaian English deviant are not unique to Ghana but common to almost all English as second language environments. This is Ahulu‟s (1994, 1996) main argument. 15 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh There seem to be two fundamental problems with Sey‟s position on Ghanaian English: firstly, he does not seem to appreciate the inevitable effects and concomitant changes that societies have on language, which is dynamic. Many of these changes may not always really be errors but he seems to concentrate on the errors. Secondly, it is not only analogy or L1 transference that accounts for these changes; propriety, association, exaggeration for effects, brevity and other creative mechanisms may underlie some of these changes. Tingley (1981) adopts a similar perspective in his description of English as used in Ghanaian newspapers. He talks of Ghanaian English as steeped in „deviances‟ which stem from mistakes. He views proficiency in English on an educational cline with Standard British English, which is the target of many educated Ghanaians, at the very top. Like Sey, it seems that to Tingley, the higher one climbs up on the education ladder, the more they become competent in the language and the fewer their „deviances‟. Thus, to him the deviations from Standard British English that characterise English in Ghana are as a result of „the misgrasping of TE (Target English) usage (1981, p. 39).‟ This position seems to take it for granted that there is an automatic correlation between level of education and the ability to use English as competently as does the native speaker. Language learning, however, varies in terms of the personality and geographical location of people. Besides, this position also concentrates on the errors that occur in Ghanaian English rather than its socio-linguistic realities. Gyasi (1990, 1991) is probably the most critical and intolerant of Ghanaian English. It seems that he even shies away from using the term „Ghanaian English‟; he usually would opt for „English in Ghana‟ as evidenced by some of the titles of his relevant publications, especially the 1990 The State of English in Ghana and the 1991 Aspects of English in Ghana. He also usually focuses on the „persistence‟ of „errors or deviations from British Standard forms (1991, p. 27)‟ in the 16 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh features of Ghanaian English. He makes rather caustic remarks about Ghanaian English; for instance, he refers to it as „bastardization‟. His approach to the description of Ghanaian English is obviously anything but sociolinguistic. There is no denying the fact that there exist some peculiarities in the phonology, semantics, syntax, morphology and pragmatics of the English language in Ghana; even those opposed to the reality of Ghanaian English do not shy away from admitting this: “One has to admit that English as used in Ghana is characterised by the persistence of peculiar forms and usages that can be found at all levels” (Gyasi, 1991, p. 27). Sey (1973, p. 9) also shares in this view: “…there are elements in the English of educated Ghanaians that mark it off as Ghanaian.” That notwithstanding, a variety of English that is distinct enough to be called Ghanaian English remains the bone of contention among many linguists. As pointed out earlier, Ahulu (1994), for instance, denies the idea that Ghanaian English is fit to be described as a distinct variety of English because he observes that other postcolonial countries share the same “nonstandard” principles of language change and that the changes in Ghanaian English are even not significant enough to merit description as a variety. This is not entirely untrue but one could have reason to believe that the deep structure of language alone is not enough reason to discredit Ghanaian English since variation in the surface structure also counts, stylistically; so although Ghanaian English may share some common principles of language change with other English as Second Language (ESL) environments, such principles, in most cases, manifest themselves differently and in ways as varied as the various environments in which English is used. Besides, it is observable that similar, and in some cases the same, linguistic principles underlie the changes in different languages. For instance, calquing or borrowing, acronymy, clipping, compounding, metaphorical extensions, conversion, etc. are mechanisms of language change in both English 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and French; would we say then that they are the same because they share some common principles of language change? One might also wonder if Ahulu had considered the phonology of Ghanaian English too, since in his article How Ghanaian is Ghanaian English? he only stands on the Lexis and Grammar of Ghanaian English to make the claim that the changes are as good as insignificant as to merit the status of a variety of English; not to mention the fact that he only concentrates on the written corpus of Ghanaians. Because Ghanaian English has not as yet been formally recognized, it seems its speakers as well as some Ghanaian editors carefully do away with many of the characteristic features of Ghanaian English that Ahulu might describe as „nonstandard‟, such that at the end of the day, the written corpus hardly ever reflects the true picture. Furthermore, describing variation in Ghanaian English as „nonstandard‟ suggests an adoption of the standpoint of deviation from British Standard English; this implies the absence of linguistic liberation. If features of non-native Englishes are described as non-standard provided they do not conform to the norms of British Standard English, then it goes without saying that there is only one English, probably BBC English, and all other Englishes, including American English, Canadian English, Scottish English, South African English, Indian English, etc. are all nonstandard or deviant varieties because they have developed their own sets of norms. Regarding the dismissal of the new Englishes as „non-standard‟ because of the occurrence of errors, what shall we say about the non-standardised varieties of native English? Are they also error-laden because they are not standard? Another issue Ahulu (1994) raises against the idea of accepting Ghanaian English as a variety is the issue of ethnic plurality. He seems to reduce many of the variations in the lexis of Ghanaian English to ethnolinguistic interferences, which is rather narrow. He seems deliberately blind to, 18 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh or at least (considering his 1996 article Just how innovative are the „New Englishes‟?) sceptical of, creativity in the lexis of Ghanaian English. As this study would soon reveal, there is some creativity or innovation in the lexis of Ghanaian English, it is not all about L1 transference and mistakes or errors. Regarding the likelihood of there being many varieties of Ghanaian English as a result of a multiplicity of ethnic groups, it is observable that many of the variations cut across, so such variations would constitute the common core of Ghanaian English and the comparatively few differences would find resolution in their recognition as regional variations, some of which would pass for synonyms in Ghanaian English. In any case, such varieties abound even in British English itself. Ahulu‟s (1994, p. 29) conclusion would make it seem that he does not describe Ghanaian English from only the standpoint of deviation; he also seems to adopt the common register approach. He appears to, though indirectly, reduce Ghanaian English, and non-native Englishes for that matter, to common registers of Standard British English. Attempting to relegate the new Englishes to the status of styles of „Standard English‟ would be tantamount to a total renunciation of the functional and socio-cultural contextual realities of these varieties. Besides, given that this had been Ahulu‟s intended conclusion all along, he could be seen to have contradicted himself: one would wonder how variations that have earlier been written off as „nonstandard‟ would now come and pass for registers of Standard English. Does that mean that the registers of „Standard English‟ are „nonstandard‟, or that the consideration of these „nonstandard‟ varieties as registers of „Standard English‟ is what would change their status? Not all linguists look at Ghanaian English from the perspective of deviation from British Standard English. A good number of scholars describe it from a sociolinguistic standpoint. Grieve (1964) was the first to make a significant use of the label Ghanaian English (Ahulu, 1994, 19 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh p. 25). He sees Ghanaian English as a modification of British Standard English that is not to be looked down on. In other words, he sees Ghanaian English as a new kind of English that is different in several respects from British English but he does not stigmatise it. It is not clear what his theoretical standpoint is but it is certain that is not that of deviation; it may be the comparative approach since he seems to have observed the similarities and differences, and seeing that the differences are probably well-established and outweigh the similarities, concluded with some kind of socio-linguistic consciousness that Ghanaian English should be accepted as a modified version of British English because it reflects the socio-cultural context of its use. In her PhD dissertation, Koranteng (2006, p. 1) also considers Ghanaian English a new English and confirms the distinctive features of Ghanaian English, having observed thus: It is clear that the model of English taught, learnt, and used in all teaching and learning situations in Ghana is not RP, but a form one might readily describe as Ghanaian English, though there is yet no official recognition of any such model, because it is not codified. Dako (2001) adopts the sociolinguistic approach to describe Ghanaian English and, accordingly, observes that „Ghanaian English reflects the socio-cultural context in which it is used (p. 26).‟ She asserts that Ghanaian English has undergone a process of indigenization, a process she identifies as marking „the evolution of English as a New English (p. 24).‟ Citing Platt, Weber and Ho, 1984; Gorlach, 1985; Bamgbose, 1997, etc. she reiterates the fact that Ghanaian English could be identified as a New English. Huber (2004, p. 90) says this about Ghanaian English: …whether or not the existence of a distinct Ghanaian English is acknowledged very much depends on one‟s theoretical standpoint in this debate. The prescriptivists deny the reality of GhE as an 20 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh autonomous variety and maintain that it essentially is (or ought to be) BrE. Anything else is simply labelled wrong English. The theoretical standpoint of Brown and Scragg, Tingley, Sey, Gyasi and Ahulu in the debate about the concept of Ghanaian English as a New English seems similar to, if not the same as, that of Quirk‟s to the new Englishes: they seem to describe it from the Deviation and Common Core perspectives which are perpetually at war with the notion of liberation linguistics for non-native Englishes. In conclusion, it can be observed that one theme seems to run through the arguments of the opponents to the reality of Ghanaian English, and by extension, the new Englishes: it is the occurrence of errors that is usually highlighted. Is that to say that errors do not occur in native English? An article posted by the Oxford Royale Academy on February 13, 2014, titled “14 Common Grammatical Mistakes in English - How to Avoid them” has it that „a huge number of native English speakers make frequent English slip-ups that bring on the wrath of the UK‟s army of grammar pedants …‟(www.oxford-royale.co.uk). Stuart Cook, who is an English teacher and runs the Speakapeak website, looks „at some common mistakes made by native English speakers‟ in his November 18, 2011 post at speakspeak.com. A lot more other articles online talk about errors made by many native speakers of English .The question is, if even native speakers of English make mistakes in their use of the language, why do we make such a fuss about the occurrence of errors in non-native Englishes? In any case, most of the so-called errors recorded in Ghanaian English as well as other new Englishes are grammatical in nature, and grammar is just one, albeit essential, aspect of these non-native Englishes. Are their phonological, lexical and pragmatic features, etc. not equally important? Comprehensive studies, publicity and mass education on how to avoid these mistakes 21 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh can, to an extent, deal with the occurrence of grammatical errors; but what do we answer the other variations with? Any effort to fashion the new Englishes to conform to British Standard English norms through, for instance, native teacher support and constant exposure to native English as Quirk (1990) will have it, is bound to fail; unless, of course, there is an overhaul of the socio-cultural setup of the non-native speakers of English to correspond with that of Great Britain. The main problem with the concept of a Ghanaian variety of English, and the new Englishes for that matter, therefore, boils down to the failure of „Standard English‟ ideals or an „English‟ notion of correctness to correspond with the socio-cultural realities of Ghana and other non-native soils. In the light of these controversial issues concerning the status of Ghanaian English, conducting this present study could be considered a step in the right direction since it could help address some of the concerns about Ghanaian English. It could help to unveil more distinctive features of Ghanaian English. It can help to bring to the fore creative innovation in Ghanaian English; this could help to improve attitudes towards it. This study will also lead to a corroboration of the reality of the indigenisation of Ghanaian English. All these could augment the text collections on Ghanaian English, which could go a long way to facilitate its eventual codification. 22 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER THREE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND METHODOLOGY 3.1 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This study is conceptually situated within the Kachruvian Approach to the study of the new Englishes. It is a sociolinguistic approach that is associated with Kachru (1992) See also (Bolton 2009: 248-51). This theoretical perspective is predicated on liberation linguistics and advocates an autonomous status for the new Englishes as varieties with as much legitimacy as Standard British or American English. It acknowledges the growth and dynamism of language which enables it to adapt to new settings to reflect sociocultural and functional realities via organised processes of indigenisation or nativisation and acculturation. The Kachruvian approach again upholds the notion of innovation and creativity with English rather than „errors‟, as viewed from the perspective of deviation. The Kachruvian Approach acknowledges English as transplanted from its native soils to other parts of the globe. Kachru (1985, 1992) expresses this idea with his model of the spread and stratification of English around the world. He demonstrates this with respect to three concentric circles that typify both the diasporas (where diasporas refer to the significant spread of English to the peoples of the world) and varieties of English. The first of these circles is the Inner Circle which refers to English as a Native Language (ENL). This is English language as spoken mainly by the natives of Britain and America; it also includes Australian English and New Zealand English. The Kachruvian approach refers to them as „Old Englishes‟. The Inner Circle is considered the original provider of the norms of the English language. 23 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The second concentric circle stands for Outer Circle English. This refers to English as a Second Language (ESL), which is generally the English language that is spoken by non-natives who are mainly in former British colonies. These are speakers of English who had the language imposed on them sometime in history; English is now the official and second language in many of such Commonwealth countries. Outer Circle English falls within the category of new Englishes and it is developing its own sets of localised or „endocentric‟ linguistic norm that reflect the socio- cultural context of such varieties of English. Ghanaian English can be cited as an example of Outer Circle English; other examples are: Nigerian English, Singapore English, Indian English, etc. The last concentric circle refers to the variety of English that the Kachruvian approach calls Expanding Circle English. This refers to English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It falls within the category of the emerging new Englishes. Examples are: Korean English, Chinese English, Saudi Arabian English, etc. Because Expanding Circle English societies are basically learners of English as a foreign language either for global interaction or business purposes among others, they usually look up to such exocentric or external models as British or American English for the norms of the language. Although Kachru‟s Concentric Circles (1985, 1992) model of English has proved beneficial in language studies for quite a long time and it has been cited by many a linguist from the time it was propounded up to date, the model is not without limitations. A number of critics has raised concerns about some of the shortcomings of Kachru‟s model and called for its modification; this includes McArthur (1998), Modiano (1999), Jenkins (2003, 2006), Kirkpatrick (2006, 2007, 2010), Pung (2009) and Mahboob and Szenes (2010) among others. 24 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Almost all these scholars seem to agree that Kachru‟s concentration of his model on geography and history is problematic. Jenkins (2003) observes that many English as Native Language (ENL) speakers reside in English as Second or Foreign Language (ESL or EFL) environments; similarly, large groups of ESL or EFL speakers can also be found in ENL territories so the geographical partition by Kachru does not account for this. These critics again observe that Kachru‟s categorisation is not based on the speaker‟s use of English and this, according to them, makes it almost impossible to describe the speakers on the basis of their proficiency in English. Measuring the proficiency of speakers in English could be a bit difficult because proficiency is quite hard to pin down, especially in ESL and EFL domains since the tendency would be to fall on Standard British or American English as a model. Some of these critics are of the view that the use of concentric circles for the geographical partition of speakers of English as well as the labels Inner, Outer and Expanding Circles tends to create an idea of divisiveness rather than the „we-ness‟ that Kachru intends to achieve with his model. McArthur (1998), for instance, believes that drawing a fundamental distinction between native speakers and non-native speakers, and assigning first place to native speakers of English in the inner circle is tantamount to a consideration of this group as superior in spite of the quality of their English. He also thinks that Kachru‟s model seems to take it for granted that there is a uniform linguistic situation across the countries in each circle and fails to account for the variation or dialectal differences in each circle. It is these concerns that he must have sought to address with his „wheel‟ model of 1987. Jenkins (2003) and Kirkpatrick (2006, 2007, 2010) think no differently: according to Jenkins, Kachru‟s categorisation with the label „Inner Circle‟ places ENL countries on a higher pedestal, enjoying a pivotal position while the ENL and EFL countries occupy a kind of peripheral position. One would wonder if these concerns are not 25 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh borne out of a misinterpretation of Kachru‟s categorisation as his objective was to trace the spread of English around the world, guided by history; ENL is of course the source; ESL is the next and then EFL. It would not, however, be fruitless if it could be modified as far as possible to avoid such impressions. One of Kirkpatrick‟s major problems with Kachru‟s model has to do with how Kachru uses the term „colony‟ in respect of the mode of spread of English to members of the Outer Circle. He is of the view that Kachru‟s definition of the term is limited, in that it lacks depth or details; for as Mufwene (2001) observes, the term „colony‟ could be defined in more detail and delimited on account of history such that we could chronologically talk of trade colonies, exploitation colonies and then settlement colonies. This, according to Kirkpatrick, could have accounted for the development of pidgins and creoles in Kachru‟s model. Kirkpatrick‟s second major issue with Kachru‟s model concerns the place of English in the Expanding Circle. To him, it is downplayed. He thinks the impression is created that the English used in these countries is not domesticated, hence they depend solely on inner circle norms. He cites „Chinglish‟ as a counteracting case since, according to him, it is a recognised and accepted customised variety of English in China. It is against the background of some of these criticisms that Modiano (1999) propounded his Model of English which he represents with three centripetal circles. This model, unlike Kachru‟s, focuses not only on users but use of English as well as proficiency. The central circle is occupied by those who use English as an international language with cardinal characteristics that are intelligible to the vast majority of both native and proficient non-native users of English. The second circle consists of linguistic and sociolinguistic features which may become popular and accepted or unpopular and discarded. The outer circle consists of American English, British 26 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh English, other major native varieties, local varieties and foreign varieties with respective distinctive features that could limit mutual intelligibility. In spite of the various criticisms against it, Kachru‟s model of English is still viable, especially in the context of language contact through the spread of English across the globe. It is a pluricentric approach to English studies and it has no objective of making one variety inferior or superior to another. Besides, as Bruthiaux (2003, p. 172) rightly observes, “… no model of a complex phenomenon such as language variation can hope to account for every local twist in the sociolinguistic plot.” Central to the Kachruvian Approach is the issue of autonomy for the new Englishes. This is underscored by the principles of liberation linguistics. Nativisation processes are at work in the new Englishes: these are linguistic as well as sociolinguistic changes that occur in a superstrate or additional language mainly due to the socio-cultural situation in the language contact environment, of which the influence of the substrate or first language is part. The end product is the evolution of English into a new English, an indigenized variety of English that is norm- developing and has the same legitimacy as British or American English. This way, the use of the English language is adapted to suit its new context of use and users are able to freely use the language to mean exactly what they mean and create culture-specific effects. The other face of nativisation, according to Kachru (1992), is Englishisation. This refers to the reciprocal changes that the substrate or local languages also create in the additional language in the contact situation. Subsequently, Kachru (1992) recommends a descriptive, rather than a prescriptive, approach to the study of the new Englishes. A prescriptive approach is essentially the deviation approach which was discussed in the preceding chapter. This is not to say that the new Englishes are error- free; the Kachruvian approach focuses on the sociolinguistic realities as well as creative 27 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh innovations as opposed to errors or „deviances‟ in the new Englishes. The approach does not identify errors in relation to Standard British or American English norm but in terms of relatively realistic local standards, which are usually determined by the users and policy makers in any given non-native environment. At the end of the day, therefore, the issue of what is acceptable or not acceptable usage becomes a subjective affair that is left to the society involved. In describing the new Englishes, therefore, nativised features that make it different from British, American or other Englishes are considered as variants. The Kachruvian Approach highlights creativity or innovation in the new Englishes. This is manifested by the formal as well as socio-cultural dynamic processes that serve to defamiliarise the new Englishes in several respects of its uses. It conceptualises creativity especially in terms of linguistic changes of a literary kind. According to Kachru (1992), the current of nativisation also sweeps through the literary output of non-native speakers of English, and leads to the production of new literatures in English, which he also describes as „contact literatures in English‟. According to him, such literatures are successful for its sterling creative use of language, and in a way that reflect the current sociolinguistic realities in world English. That non-native English creative writers are winning various international prizes as mentioned earlier is evidence of the creative use of the new Englishes. I think that Ghanaian English can be considered as one of the Outer Circle Englishes because it was acquired through imperial expansion by Great Britain; it is a lingua franca and the official language, mainly second language, of Ghana; it has been indigenised and it has developed its own set of endonormic rules only muffled by the fact that it is yet to be codified and flogged by the perspective of deviation. For instance, some of the norms palpable in Ghanaian English phonology are the merger or monophthongization of diphthongs (e.g. /ei/ is usually realised as a 28 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh stressed /a/ or a lengthened /e/; /әʊ/ tends to be realised as a stressed /o/, as in /go/ instead of /gәʊ/, etc.) and the neutralization of vowel length distinctions such that some minimal pairs in RP become homophones in GhE: fool/full, pool/pull, seat/sit, cut/cat, etc. (Huber, 2004, p. 75- 6);. In the area of syntax, there is the intransitive use of some verbs that are characteristically transitive in Standard English. For instance, the English Language paper of the 2015 WAEC final examination for Senior High School students (Private Candidates) had as question 3 of Section A (Essay), „…write a letter…requesting for two basic amenities…‟ In Standard British English, for instance, this would have been written as „write a letter…requesting two basic amenities,‟ „request‟, used as a verb is transitive and as such does not require a preposition; it is in its noun form that it takes a preposition, as in „write a letter…making a request for two basic amenities.‟ It is also not uncommon to hear and read such verb phrases as „order for‟, „heed to‟, „demand for‟, etc. Ghanaian English is also marked by some creative uses. For instance, in Ghanaian English an additional meaning has been creatively assigned to the word „potholes‟; it also means, „spaces left blank on the page during notetaking because one missed some information from a lecturer or teacher‟. Below is an example of how it is used in Ghanaian English: Can you lend me your notebook, please? I‟d like to fill in my potholes. 29 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Just as the hole created in a road is a problem which can be solved by filling it in with tar, so is the void left on the page during notetaking a problem and it can be solved by filling it in with words. This is an instance of resemblance-based metaphor. I could not, therefore, agree with Dako (2001, p. 24-5) more on her argument that Ghanaian English is a New English because it fulfils the following criteria: 1. It has developed in a population the majority of which have other first languages and are therefore bilinguals, 2. It has developed through the education system [which, according to her, includes not only the classroom but mainly other agencies and agents of socialization], 3. It is creative and has a wide range of uses, 4. It has been influenced by the languages in its environment and has become indigenized. One could even add to this set of criteria provided by Dako (2001) that Ghanaian English has become the L1 of some Ghanaians, especially in urban areas. It is observable that in many educated, and especially rich, homes in the urban areas in particular, the language that most parents first introduce to their children is English, and may only later add their native language as the children grow; the children themselves might also pick up bits of a native language from the community while they are growing up. English is, therefore, the main language in such homes, at least, between parents and their children, and then among the siblings. My rationale for adopting the Kachruvian approach in this study is in the strengths associated with its predication on liberation linguistics which promotes the notion of innovation and creativity. In addition to this, it does not focus on prescriptive native norms but a description and 30 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh acceptance of the new Englishes for what they are, taking into due consideration processes of indigenization and acculturation that are at work in language contact situations. The rationale for this study makes the Kachruvian approach immediately handy. It is hoped that this study would foreground creative innovations and some socio-cultural mechanisms of semantic change in Ghanaian English. This could help to improve attitudes towards it. 3.2. METHODOLOGY 3.2.1 DATA COLLECTION Data for this work were collected from both written and spoken sources. The written sources of data for this work included literary and non-literary works: some literary works, especially prose, about Ghanaians and by Ghanaians like Ama Ata Aidoo, The Dilemma of a Ghost; Efua T. Sutherland, The Marriage of Anansewa; Kwakuvi Azasu, The Slave Raiders; Ayi Kwei Armah, The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born; chats on social media as well as some Ghanaian newspapers were perused for lexical items of English origin that had been used in ways that suggested changes in their meaning in Ghanaian English. These authors were selected because they are among the few Ghanaian writers who seem not to shy away from the use of Ghanaianisms in their writings. For the purpose of this study, „Ghanaianisms‟ shall be defined as „features of Ghanaian English that distinguish it from British or American English.‟ Some lexical items that have been cited by researchers on Ghanaian English to have undergone semantic change were also included in the data for this work. Dako (2001; 2003) and Sey (1973) are the main relevant publications from which data was sourced. These works were chosen because, as far as the researcher is concerned, they are the known quite comprehensive 31 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh compilations on the lexis of Ghanaian English that took years of research. Dako‟s (2001, p. 24) took not less than ten years; Sey‟s (1973) duration of compilation is not specified but, acknowledging those who made inputs into the work, he talks of „…generations of school children and university students…‟ in the preface. This creates the impression that it must have taken him many years; it is certainly more than three years since he says that the original work had been submitted to the Victoria University of Manchester for an M.A. in 1970. The researcher later focused on these publications for data from the written sources because they were sparse or as good as absent in the other sources; besides, the few lexical items collected from these sources were found to have been already captured by these publications. Resorting to them, therefore, bought the researcher some time to be able to analyze as many items as possible. The spoken sources of data for this study were included for two main reasons: it is unlike the written sources where editors may do away with such items altogether; furthermore, it could help to confirm the relevance of the data from the written sources. These sources included observation of public conversation or interaction: interactions in English on Ghanaian radio and television stations, campuses, public vehicles like the trotros, as well as interactions in public places like the markets, churches, etc. were observed, and from these interactions the researcher collected lexical items that are frequently used in a peculiar sense, that is, in a way that suggests changed meanings and are different from the meanings recorded in Standard English (using British and American dictionaries as a guide because, pending the codification of Ghanaian English, these two varieties, especially British English, would seem to be what most Ghanaians think they are using). These items and their usage were then jotted down for later analysis. The data were generated from a cross section of Ghanaians who use English as a second language and can express themselves intelligibly either in speech or writing in the English 32 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh language, regardless of their level of education. Since in Ghana, English is acquired mainly through the education system, it was assumed that those who use it have had at least basic education. That notwithstanding, lexical items that were, to a large extent, observed to be used across board were those that were selected for the analysis. 3.2.2 DATA ANALYSIS These items were grouped based on the kind(s) of semantic change and the mechanism(s) of the change. They were then analysed one by one under various sections, each section representing one of the various groups. Items to be analysed were first introduced; examples of its usage were then given to delimit their meaning(s); detailed analysis was then conducted using assumptions from both sense relations and rhetorical ideas because the researcher was interested not only in the speech styles but also the linguistic thought patterns underlying these variations of meaning in Ghanaian English. Assumptions from these traditions are used to characterise the meanings of these items as they occur in context. A conclusion was then drawn before moving to the next item. Online dictionaries, specifically Wiktionary, Oxford and Merriam-Webster, were used in the data analysis. These sources were chosen because, unlike the hard copy dictionaries, they are frequently updated and capture latest developments in the language, especially from a World English perspective. In this work, the researcher glossed over the formal or informal status of the lexical items selected for analysis for two main reasons: negative attitudes towards vocabulary items that are particularly Ghanaian in character (Ghanaianisms) and the fact that the distinction between what is formal or informal English vocabulary is usually not clear in Ghana. Some Ghanaians tend to 33 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh view every Ghanaianism as informal or merely colloquial usage. Perhaps, a codification of Ghanaian English could solve this problem. In addition to this problem of attitude towards Ghanaianisms, the distinction between formal and informal usage seems quite hard to pin down in English as used in Ghana. 3.2.3 PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS In all, hundred (100) lexical items (77 simple words, 3 compound words and 20 phrasal semantic units in Ghanaian English) were analysed .The findings of these analyses are presented in chapter 5 under three sections with headings that are themed based on the respective research question each section answers: 5.1 MECHANISMS OF MEANING IS CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH 5.2 KINDS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE INVOLVED IN MEANING CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH 5.3 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE PATTERNS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH A summary of the data analysis and findings on the kinds of semantic change involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English were presented in the form of tables in chapter four (4), section 4.18; each table provides information on the lexical items that have undergone a given change, the Ghanaian English meaning as well as the Standard British or American English meaning it must have derived or originated from and the effect(s) of the change on the meaning of the given word. The other findings are presented in simple paragraphed descriptions in chapter five (5). 34 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FOUR DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS 4.0 INTRODUCTION The purpose of this chapter is to present the various English lexical items collected from both written and spoken sources and to analyse them in order to identify the mechanisms that underlie semantic changes in Ghanaian English. The lexical items are predominantly simple words; a few of them are either compound or phrasal (i.e. calqued/idiomatic expressions). In all, hundred (100) items have been analysed one by one under various sections based on the kind(s) of semantic change and the mechanism(s) of the change. The lexical items are first introduced; examples of their usage are given to delimit their meaning(s) (Examples without source citation are from the spoken sources of data); a detailed analysis is then conducted within the framework of assumptions from sense relations and rhetorical ideas. Finally, a conclusion is drawn before moving to the next item. 4.1 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR This section presents and analyses lexical items whose meanings have been found to have changed due to implied comparison. Metaphor, for the purpose of this analysis, is defined as „the understanding of one thing in terms of another‟. Where one thing is understood in terms of another because of perceived similarity, it is identified as resemblance-based metaphor; but where it is as a result of association of ideas, it is identified as conceptual or correlation-based metaphor. 35 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh POTHOLE 1) Can you lend me your notebook, please? I‟d like to fill in my potholes. 2) I can‟t even read my own notes: the potholes are just too many; the lecturer dictated at such supersonic speed! In these sentences, „potholes‟ cannot be understood in the literal Standard English sense as „a deep round hole in the road or some other surface‟ but as „spaces left blank on the page during notetaking because one missed some information from a lecturer or teacher‟. Just as the hole created in a road is a problem which can be solved by filling it in with tar, so is the void left on the page during notetaking a problem and it can be solved by filling it in with words. This is an instance of resemblance-based metaphor and accordingly this kind of semantic change can be classified as metaphorical. HOT 1) I am hot, we have a test tomorrow (as cited in Dako, 2001, p. 29). 2) Charley I‟m hot o; I sent the money to a wrong account It can be deduced from these examples that anxiety or troubling experiences have been understood in terms of high temperature or heat and this is an instance of the use of metaphor, resulting in a metaphorical extension of the meaning of the word „hot‟. MAFIA 1) Don‟t choose his course o: that man is a mafia lecturer. 36 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) Charley, some mafia paper I went to write, eh. 3) That man once mafiaed me, and I‟m not going to give him another chance. In the first sentence, „mafia‟ can be understood as „cruel or stingy with marks‟. In the next sentence, „mafia‟ can be understood as „difficult, perplexing or disappointing‟ whereas in the last sentence, it could be understood as „not being trustworthy‟ or „to deceive‟. It would seem that the word has come to be understood in terms of negative or vicious qualities of, or attitudes towards „Mafia‟ as a criminal syndicate. This can also be seen as an instance of the use of conceptual metaphor and passes for an example of metaphorical extension in Ghanaian English. DRY 1) When your pockets are dry and you don‟t know which way to turn for help, call on Jesus. 2) As for today I am dry, can you sort me out? In the examples above, dry (adjective) does not refer literally to the state of being devoid of liquid or moisture; here, money has been understood in terms of liquid or moisture, the loss or absence of which leaves one broke (dry). The word „dry‟ is also used as verb as exemplified by the sentence, That girl will dry you o. This means that she is going to sap you of your liquid (money), leaving you broke. Understanding money in terms of liquid is an instance of metaphor, the mechanism for this semantic extension, and accordingly this change in meaning can be described as metaphorical. TOWEL 1) Please give me tuo zafi 2 cedis and towel 3 Ghana; I like a lot of stew. 37 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) Is towel the only meat you know of in this world? From these sentences, the meaning of the word „towel‟ can be seen to have been extended to cover „tripe‟ such that the word „towel‟ becomes polysemous with such meanings as: a) a piece of absorbent cloth for drying especially the body b) the stomach tissue or lining of ruminants such as a cow that is eaten as food. In the sense of the second meaning, „tripe‟ therefore becomes a synonym of the word „towel‟. The sense relationship between these two meanings is in the appearance or texture. Thus, probably because, in some respects, tripe and a towel are comparable, some Ghanaians extend the semantic reference of towel to cover tripe, which is an instance of metaphorical extension. CARE OF (c/o) 1) Don‟t mind him, it‟s just care of so he can delay; he hasn‟t really left anything here. 2) Cheap party! They are only using this as care of to make the government unpopular. As seen in its usage above, „care of‟ can now be understood as „a pretext or insincere excuse.‟ Here, it can be seen that a particular kind of social or human behaviour has been described or understood in terms of another, which is a mailing practice. The mechanism involved in this semantic extension can therefore be identified as metaphor. CHECK 1) Wow! I check your dress. 38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) Do you check my friend? From the above usage it can be gathered that „check‟ also means „to like or admire greatly‟. This meaning probably derives from the literal use of the checkmark to show that something has been examined and found satisfactory. Given that this is the source of this meaning of the word, then this semantic change can be identified as metaphorical. PULL 1) Can you pull that track for me? 2) I have gone to pull some new videos. It can be deduced from these sentences above that to pull also means „to transfer or download multimedia files.‟ Understanding the transfer in terms of a force or physical movement towards oneself is an instance of conceptual metaphor. This would seem to derive from the influence of L1 since in some Ghanaian languages like Akan and Ga, „pull‟ is used when talking about multimedia files transfer. FORMAT 1) Hey! Look at him, this little boy wants to give me format; when did you come into this scam business? 2) Don‟t think you can fool me; I know this format very well. It can be deduced that „format‟ as used in the above sentences does not literally refer to „the general plan of organisation or makeup of printed, audiovisual or computing materials.‟ It refers 39 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to „a cleverly organized or spun idea or story intended to deceive.‟ This pejorative extension in the meaning of „format‟ can be seen as metaphorical at the conceptual level. GRAB 1) Kojo was the first among us to grab. 2) How could a fresh boy like you attend University of Ghana for four good years without grabbing? To grab, as used in the sentences above, is to find a girlfriend or a boyfriend. Finding a girlfriend or boyfriend would seem to have been understood or described in terms a kind of speedy search or hasty hunt for something. It seems to be understood in terms of a rare opportunity which one must leap at when it presents itself. A romantic relationship is here thought of as urgent and requiring rapidity and the use of some force, and also as a kind of object that must be seized. Understanding one thing in terms of another mirrors the presence of metaphor. CHEW/CHEWER Related to the word „grab‟, meaning to find a lover, is the word „chew‟ or „chewer‟ which means „to fail to find a lover‟ or „one that is unable to find a girlfriend or boyfriend‟ respectively. „Chew‟ or „chewer‟ is probably a literal translation from some Ghanaian indigenous languages such as Twi or Fante or Ga. In these languages the word means „to fail or be last in a race or contest of any kind.‟ In Ghanaian students‟ parlance, especially in senior high schools and tertiary institutions, there is the term „September Rush‟ which means the speedy search or hungry hunt for friends from female freshmen, popularly called „freshers‟. If finding a girlfriend is seen as a race, what that means is that the one who fails to find one has failed or lost the race 40 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which, translating literally from some indigenous Ghanaian languages like Akan, we will say that that person has „chewed‟. Concluding from this point of view, we can say that trying to get a girlfriend has been understood in terms of running a race or participating in one contest or another and this can also be seen as metaphorical. Another change in the meaning of the word „chew‟ is „to memorize or swot up on something.‟ Let us consider the following examples of its use in Ghana: 1) The exam‟s tomorrow, I know, but no fear; I‟ll chew everything tonight. 2) That girl is very good at chewing. 3) Our educational system is such that it encourages „chew and pour (learning by rote)‟. It becomes obvious that „swotting‟ or „memorizing‟ has been described or understood in terms of mastication. Here, the material to be studied or memorized is conceived of as food to be eaten and the act of memorizing or swotting is seen as masticating the food. This kind of semantic change can also be seen as metaphorical. There is another sense in which the meaning of the word „chew‟ has changed. Let us consider examples of its usage in the following sentences: 1) So you‟re chewing that small girl, ehn? You‟re very wicked. 2) You go and chew someone‟s little daughter and when you get caught by the police, you blame it on the devil. 3) As for that lady if I get her, I will chew her waa (intensifier). 41 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To „chew‟ in this sense means „to have sex with someone, especially a female.‟ In this sense, having sex has been thought of in terms of consuming food. Just as eating food satisfies one‟s literal hunger, so does having sex satisfy one‟s sexual appetite. This kind of semantic change can also be seen as metaphorical. This sense of „chew‟ makes it synonymous with another word that has also undergone some semantic changes in Ghanaian English, and it is the word „chop‟. CHOP 1) The way you‟ve been looking at me, I can see that if you get me you will chop me paa (intensifier). 2) Today I must chop fufu. 3) This afternoon he has chopped nothing. 4) After chopping all his money, she left him. 5) She will chop 70 next year. 6) He chopped lotto last week. 7) I want to chop this Christmas overseas. 8) Darrel was first but Dan chopped last. „Chop‟, as used in the second sentence, means „to eat, especially solid food‟. This would seem the basic meaning underlying the other changed meanings. The word has probably come to so mean because eating mostly involves some mastication which also involves a kind of chopping or cutting of food into pieces to facilitate digestion. Even before solid food enters the mouth, it is 42 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh usually cut to pieces with cutlery or the hand, especially when eating fufu, banku, emutuo, ampesi, etc. Here, the teeth, hand or cutlery become a kind of knife that helps in the cutting of the food into pieces. Possibly, it is this aspect of the process of eating that has been given prominence, letting it stand for the whole. This can be seen as an instance of the use of metonymy to broaden the semantic scope of a word. The other meanings, viz. „to have sex with someone, to spend money, to turn or attain a new age, to win, as in a game or contest, and to celebrate,‟ all seem to derive from the meaning of „chop‟ as „to eat‟. All the other meanings seem related to this in the general sense of consumption and its attendant satisfaction. Understanding having sex, spending money, attaining a new age, winning a game or contest, celebrating an occasion, taking a particular position, etc. in terms of the consumption of food can be described as metaphorical. This kind of semantic change could also be attributed to L1 influence. CONCRETE 1) What he can afford there is gari and beans with palm oil, and in spite of the worrying thought that it is not called concrete for nothing, the man begins to enjoy it (as cited in Dako 2003, p. 64). 2) Even concrete that used to be considered a meal for the poor is now as expensive as Jollof. Here, just as concrete is a mixture of stone, cement sand and water, so is gari and beans a mixture of gari, a powdery food of dry-fried grated cassava; beans, palm oil and water; and just 43 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh as concrete is heavy and hardens with time, so does gari and beans feel heavy, especially in the stomach and it hardens in no time. This is a kind of resemblance-based metaphor. REACH 1) Will this small food reach you? 2) The money for the materials won‟t reach. 3) Please, the change has not reached. In sentence 1, „reach‟ means „be enough for‟; in the second sentence, it means „be sufficient‟, while in the last sentence, by „the change has not reached‟ what is meant is that the speaker has been shortchanged. Understanding sufficiency, adequacy or satisfactoriness in terms of „an extension or a stretching out to touch or grasp something‟ can be seen as metaphoric. This kind of semantic change could be attributed to L1 transference since it mirrors a linguistic thought pattern in some Ghanaian indigenous languages. It can therefore be seen as a kind of direct translation. PASSION WEEK 1) We can no longer talk about „passion week‟ but rather „passion weeks‟ (St. Ess. 1996; cited in Dako, 2001, p. 31). 2) At a time like this, when the month was so far gone and all there was the half-life of Passion Week (as cited in Sey, 1973, p. 106). The impression is created that the last week before payday people are usually broke and may have to endure some hardship as a result. Trying to understand this experience in terms of Jesus 44 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Christ‟s sufferings that led up to his crucifixion is a kind of metaphoric allusion to the Bible. But this is also hyperbolic in that likening mere hardship as result of delayed or exhausted salary to the torturing and fatal experiences of Christ is exaggeration, to say the least. This kind of semantic change can therefore be seen as both metaphoric and hyperbolic. HEAVY 1) The President‟s wife is a heavy woman. 2) The one million dollar Harley Davidson is a heavy machine. From how the word is used, it obviously does not refer to weight; it means „classy or chief in excellence.‟ At this we get the impression that superiority or excellence has been understood in terms of weight. This semantic change, however, may possibly have taken its source from the British English slang as (from Wiktionary) „good‟ as in „This film is heavy.‟ If so, then it means that this sense of the meaning of „heavy‟ has only been intensified by hyperbole in Ghanaian English. CURRENT 1) We were packed into the bus like sardines but luckily one fresh girl happened to sit beside me, our bodies clinging; you can‟t imagine the current I enjoyed. 2) You are pulling current, aren‟t you? Here, it will be noticed that what is meant by current is not „the flow of electric charge or a fluid in a certain direction‟ but „sexual pleasure or excitement‟. Describing sexual pleasure or 45 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh randiness in terms of a current can be seen as an instance of the use of metaphor and therefore this kind of semantic change can be seen as metaphorical. WORLD BANK 3) If you realize that every party has its world bank, Afigya Sekyere just happens to be another world bank (as cited in Dako, 2001, p. 31). 4) He therefore called on the people of the Volta Region (don‟t forget that is NDC‟s World Bank) (as cited in Dako, 2001, p. 31). In these two examples, „world bank‟ cannot be understood as „that large group of financial organizations whose objective is economic development and poverty elimination‟ but as „an area that contributes a large group of voters for a political party during elections.‟ In much the same way as the World Bank is a great source of help to countries, especially in helping to eliminate poverty, so is a large group of voters to a political party, especially in helping to eliminate election loss. This semantic change can accordingly be identified as metaphorical. 4.2 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS EUPHEMISM CHISEL 1) She is chisel: when she is removing money, it‟s as if she is pulling the hairs in her nostrils. 2) That chisel man promised you what? An i-pad? Hahaaa. 46 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It can be deduced from the sentences that the meaning of the word „chisel‟ has been extended to cover „stinginess‟. Thus, to be chisel is to be stingy or miserly. Understanding the unwillingness to give or spend, in terms of a tool for cutting can be identified as an instance of the use of metaphor. It would seem that this metaphorical extension in the meaning of the word „chisel‟ has arisen because of analogy. A chisel is a cutting tool that will not cut or perform a particular task until it is pushed or pounded at one end with a hammer or mallet. In much the same way, stingy people will not willingly give or offer help expected, unless they are pushed or practically forced to. This semantic change can therefore be said to have come about through the use of metaphor. It is euphemistic too. This is because it could be seen as a milder and even more humorous way to talk about stinginess. SHOT 1) The late President Mills was well-known for occasional shots in parliament and elsewhere. 2) When speaking English, I‟m very careful; why won‟t I when I‟m afraid I might give a shot? „Shot‟ in the context of these two sentences can obviously not be understood literally as a gunshot but rather its analogy: it seems to mirror the suddenness with which a bullet fires and the effect it has on its target. Here, the mouth is thought of in terms of a gun, the error or mistake as a bullet, the speaker as the shooter and the audience becomes the target or victim. Thus, an error or mistake in public speaking hits the listener like a bullet. The mechanism for this semantic extension can be identified as metaphor and hence an instance of metaphorical extension but considering its effect, there is a kind of euphemistic rationale behind this kind of extension. 47 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DOWNLOAD 1) Eating too much bread makes it very hard for me to download with ease. 2) Hey, there comes Esi; she‟s coming to snoop as usual and then go and download. In the first sentence, download can be understood as defecate. Thus, the freeing of bowels has been expressed in terms of the transfer of files. Here, the rectum seems to be understood in terms of the original location of a file; the file itself stands for the faeces, the network through which the transfer happens becomes the anus while the new location of the transferred file becomes the toilet (as in washroom or lavatory) and the whole data transfer process is understood as egestion. This is another instance of metaphorical extension of meaning in Ghanaian English. It also reveals another rhetorical device at work: euphemism, since „download‟ in this sense is a milder or more pleasant, even humorous way of talking about toileting. In the second sentence, download can be understood as gossip (verb). In much the same way as downloading involves transferring data from one location to another, gossiping involves the transfer or relation of information about people‟s personal lives to others. This too is an instance of metaphorical extension of meaning and it is also euphemistic in that „download‟ can be seen as a milder word than gossip. In Ghanaian English, the word „download‟, therefore, becomes polysemous with such metaphorically related meanings as: a. to transfer files b. to defecate c. to gossip 48 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SCHOLARSHIP 1) Why is it practically impossible to be nice to a man without him thinking you are offering him a „scholarship‟? (as cited in Sey, 1973, p. 108) 2) …a fifth form girl who took a liking to a…form one boy because he resembled her kid brother became the object of a big scandal because the boy went about boasting that she had given him a „scholarship‟ (as cited in Sey, 1973, p. 108). From one of the senses of „scholarship‟ as „grants-in-aid to a student (as by a college or foundation),‟ a new meaning has been generated in Ghanaian English. Usually shortened to „scho‟, scholarship also means „the initiation, or attempted initiation, of a romantic or amorous relationship by a lady or girl usually by spending on him, especially without any efforts or expenditure from a man or boy‟. This can be seen as an example of metaphorical extension since the latter can be understood in terms of the former meaning. Let us represent the former sense of the word as „grants-in-aid to a student (as by a college or foundation)‟ by the letter A and the latter meaning as „the initiation of a romantic or amorous relationship by a lady or girl, especially without any efforts or expenditure from a man or boy‟ by the letter B. Because in A, students more or less get the education freely offered them by a college or foundation, and in B, males more or less get an amorous relationship and other things freely offered them by females, some Ghanaians tend to equate A to B, both of which are different events but share some similarity. The mechanism for this semantic change can therefore be understood as metaphorical. Its humorous effect tones down the seriousness of this behaviour in the socio-cultural context of Ghana so it can also be seen as euphemistic. 49 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh JACK 1) Whenever I see that girl I jack. 2) Even the opening scene in that film will send you jacking; watching it, I jacked throughout. An operated jack is usually directed upwards or raised gradually and it becomes perpendicular to the ground. In much the same way, the sexual erection of a male is not sudden but gradual; it is also an upward kind of movement and the sex organ usually stands perpendicular to the body if it is in a straight or an erect position. This qualifies as an instance of the use of metaphor. Considering its effect, however, it can be seen as euphemistic in that it is a kind of milder way to talk about sexual erection. CORRECT 1) Is that woman lying across your street correct? 2) (Insult) You are not correct. 3) Move away from him! Can‟t you see he is not correct? The meaning of the word „correct‟ (adjective) as used in these sentences is „sane‟. Here, it can be seen that sanity or mental soundness has been thought of in terms of freedom from errors. Metaphor is at work here, and this semantic change can also be seen as euphemistic since it counts for a milder way to talk about insanity. 50 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.3 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS HYBERBOLE BLOW 1) I‟m not afraid for him; I know he is going to blow the paper. 2) Kwadwo…had really blown the exams to get straight A‟s (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako 2003, p. 41). It becomes clear that „blow‟ here means „to excel or perform surpassingly well in an undertaking, especially examinations.‟ It would seem that tasks like exams have here been conceptualized as a kind of insurmountable mountain, and performing well in such undertakings is comparable to annihilating such a mountain, as if by explosives, and emerging an overcomer or a conqueror. This kind of semantic change can accordingly be considered as metaphorical. It also has an element of exaggeration about it so it can also be seen as hyperbolic. 4.4 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METONYMY LIGHT 4) I couldn‟t iron my dress because there was no light. 5) The light has come so run and charge your phone before dumsor takes over again. Light, as used in the above sentences, cannot be understood literally as illumination but as electricity; this shows that in Ghanaian English, the meaning of light has been widened to cover electricity. It can be seen that because of the contiguity or close association between electricity 51 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh and light, the former being one of the sources of the latter, most Ghanaians tend to let one stand for the other, thus light stands for electricity. This kind of semantic extension can be identified as metonymic since the mechanism for its semantic change is metonymy. PASTE 1) Have you pasted this morning? 2) I was too tired to paste before going to bed yesternight. It can be seen that, toothpaste, „a facility or instrument‟ in the activity of brushing one‟s teeth, has come to stand for the whole activity. Thus because of the close relationship between toothpaste and the act of brushing the teeth, toothpaste has been given prominence, making it represent the whole process. The mechanism involved in this semantic change can therefore be seen as metonymy and accordingly the change can be described as metonymic. Used as a noun, however, the meaning of the word paste is narrowed to toothpaste, and this meaning is immediately palpable without any qualification of the word „paste‟. Let us consider the following examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: 1) My paste is finished. 2) Do you have paste? In these examples, it can be seen that a part of the meaning of the word „toothpaste‟, which is „paste‟ has been made to stand for the whole meaning and this kind of semantic change can be seen as synecdochic. It can be concluded then that the word paste has undergone both metonymic and synecdochic changes in Ghanaian English. 52 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The word squat has undergone a similar semantic change in Ghanaian English. It also means „to go to toilet, defecate or urinate‟ (Dako, 2001, p. 4). Examples of its usage in Ghanaian English are: 1) (Public Notice, Accra, 1993) DO NOT SQUAT (as cited in Dako, 2001, p. 31) 2) People are just squatting anywhere (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako, 2001). Other than the water closet, defecating in bushes, at the shores of seas, on refuse dumps and using certain toilet facilities such as pit latrines, all of which are rife in Ghana, require squatting. Here, posture or the physical bodily position assumed in order to defecate has come to stand for the activity itself. This can be seen as a metonymic change. It is however euphemistic too since it is kind of a milder or quite humorous way of talking about something that one does not usually find comfortable mentioning plainly. WHITE 1) Hey, you‟ve got to stop indulging yourself on sweets else you‟ll get white. 2) I need something to treat my white. It would seem from the way the word „candidiasis‟ is used that even this new sense of the word is restricted in meaning since it almost always refers to vulval or vaginal candidiasis, never oral Candidiasis, penile Candidiasis, etc. Since perhaps the most prominent symptom of candidiasis is the physical appearance of Candida, a group of fungal yeasts usually whitish in colour, many Ghanaians refer to this infection using a 53 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh feature or one of its symptoms, viz. the colour white. This is an instance of the use of metonymy since an infection has been referred to using something else closely associated with it. RUN 1) The food I ate at the party made me run all night 2) When I eat too much pepper I run. In the above sentences, what is meant by „run‟ is „to frequently pass watery stools or get diarrhoea.‟ This meaning might derive from the fact that diarrhoea makes the bowels run or that it is a medical condition that usually may send its victim running to use the washroom. Either way, there is metonymy at work since something (a medical condition) has been referred to by using something else that is closely associated with it: this medical condition liquifies the stool, making it run or flow down the bowel; or that this medical condition can send one literally running or moving with rapidity to the washroom so as not to defecate on oneself. This metonymic change in meaning narrows this semantic sense of the word and it is somewhat euphemistic since it would seem a milder word than diarrhoea. It should be stressed here that this metonymic change may not have been initiated by Ghanaians since it exists in British English too. That notwithstanding, this change has been furthered or customized by Ghanaians: in British English it is either used as an adjective (as in „running tummy‟) or as a slang in the form of a noun phrase, „the runs‟ (as in „I‟ve got the runs‟). In Ghanaian English, however, it has been converted to a verb and is mainly used without modification. An aspect of the medical condition, which is the flow of the stool, has been given more prominence and made to stand for the whole medical condition such that there is no need 54 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh for any form of modification. This further change is also metonymic. Any other kind of medical condition characterized by running would always be modified (e.g. „My nose is running‟ or „I‟ve got running nose‟). TEA Tea is another word that has undergone some semantic modification in Ghanaian English. Firstly, in one of its senses in British English as „the main evening meal,‟ the meaning of tea seems to have been narrowed in Ghanaian English since it is rarely used. It is observable, however, that in its original sense as „a kind of hot beverage of bags of dried leaves or buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis, the meaning of tea has been widened in Ghana to cover any hot beverage like coffee, chocolate drink, Milo drink, etc. such that tea, which is a co-hyponym with coffee, chocolate drink, etc. in Standard British English, has been widened in meaning to become a kind of superordinate term that stands for tea itself, and other hot beverages. This kind of semantic change can be identified as hyponymic. The mechanism involved can be seen as metonymy since one word has come to stand for other words closely associated with it. HEAR The way the word hear has been used in the following dialogue suggests the meaning „to smell‟: X: Something is burning; can‟t you hear it? Y: Me I can‟t hear anything. X: Herh, you mean you can‟t hear the smell? Another instance of this usage is: 55 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It is when you squeeze the leaf of a plant that you hear its scent. Its use in the sentences below suggests the meaning „to know or understand‟: 1) Ho, that man, he doesn‟t hear English o. 2) (A Ghanaian student says of a Nigerian lecturer) As for me, when she teaches I don‟t hear her accent so I don‟t hear anything. In this last sentence, it suggests „to feel‟: There‟s a mosquito biting you, can‟t you hear it? Thus in Ghanaian English, hear has such polysemous meanings as: a) to perceive with the ears b) to perceive with the nose or to smell c) to sense touch or to feel d) to understand or know, etc. The word „hear‟ becomes a kind of superordinate term that generally means „to sense‟ and has as hyponyms hear, smell, feel, taste (I don‟t hear any salt or pepper in the soup), etc. This semantic change can therefore be seen as hyponymic or metonymic since hear comes to stand for hear, smell, feel, etc. because of contiguity in sense. It could be attributed to L1 transference since in some Ghanaian languages like Akan and Ga, the words which translate „hear‟ is polysemous. In Twi, for instance, the same word, te, is used to describe the sense of hearing, smell, taste and 56 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh touch or feeling in general. These metonymic extensions of the meaning of the word hear to cover other senses therefore reflects L1 transference. PETROL Similarly, the meaning of the word „petrol‟ tends to be broadened to cover other fuels such as Diesel and Liquefied Petroleum Gas. Because they are contiguous in terms of fuels for vehicles, one, which is petrol, and the commonest of motor fuels to most Ghanaians, tends to be made to stand for the others such that the meaning of „petrol‟ is generalized to mean fuel for automobiles; making it a kind of superordinate term with other fuels such as Diesel and LPG as its co- hyponyms. This way, in the minds of many Ghanaians, when they use the word „petrol‟, they do not usually mean petrol as a distinct kind of fuel but fuels for vehicles in general. Among fuels for vehicles and other motors, giving such prominence to petrol is an instance of metonymy. PUSH 1) Has he (the baby) pushed? 2) They say the choir master has been pushing the ladies in the choir. 3) Joseph, push for Catherine to sit by you. In example one, the intended meaning is defecation. Here, the focus is on the force that causes the downward ejection or movement of the faeces or urine. Giving prominence to an aspect of a process or activity and making it stand for the whole is metonymic but it can also be seen as euphemistic in that it is a milder way of talking about defecation. 57 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In the second example, „pushing‟ can be understood as having sex. Over here, the focus again is on the force involved in the forward or penetrative penile movement during intercourse. As in the first example, this semantic change can also be seen both as metonymic and euphemistic. In the last example, „push‟ can be understood as „budge up‟ or to move a bit to create some space for someone to sit down. Here too, the focus is presumably on the force that causes the sideward movement or shift in location or sitting position to make room for another to sit. This could pass for an example of metonymic change in meaning. SPONSOR 1) As for today you‟re going to sponsor me lunch. 2) I want to see Uncle Ebo‟s play this Saturday; can you sponsor me? 3) Sponsor me one yoghurt. It looks like the word „sponsor‟ in Ghanaian English generally means „free assistance or doing something free of charge for someone‟. When the word is used, it would seem that the focus is on the immediate freeness of help to the beneficiary and not in the least on the benefactors‟ expectations or what they stand to gain. Here, a feature of the whole act of sponsorship seems to have been given exaggerated prominence, making this semantic modification both metonymic and hyperbolic. FAN(S) The meaning of the word „fan‟ has also undergone a change in its sense as „an admirer or a devotee to something such as a sport, or someone such as a performer.‟ Usually in the plural 58 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh form, the word would seem to have also come to stand for admiration, praise or attention, as it can be seen in the following examples of its usage in Ghana: 1) He wants fans but he will get none. 2) Give him some fans. 3) They gave him a lot of fans when he sang. In the examples above, it can be seen that the word „fans‟ means „cheers, as in cries or chants of joy, approval, pleasure, admiration or support for someone who is introduced to or addresses a group of people or someone who performs to an audience.‟ It can be noticed that in this kind of semantic extension, admiration comes to stand for the admirer, support comes to stand for the supporter, and attention comes to stand for the attendant, etc. This semantic change can be seen as metonymic since the action comes to stand for its performer. REMEMBER 1) Please remember me to bring the notes to you on Monday. 2) You forgot to remember me that I had to buy Nancy‟s birthday gift. In the contexts above, the obvious intended meaning of „remember‟ is „remind‟. It would seem that because of the mental or conceptual semantic relationship between „remember‟ and „remind‟, some Ghanaians tend to let the one stand for the other, making „remind‟ for instance, one of the extended meanings of remember. This kind of semantic change can be considered metonymic since one (remember) has been made to stand for another (remind) because of the conceptual or mental contiguity in their meanings. This kind of semantic extension could be due 59 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh to L1 transference since in Twi, for instance, the same word kai stands for both „remember‟ and „remind‟. BORROW 1) Can you borrow me 50 cedis? I‟ll give it back tomorrow. 2) Borrow me your pen. In the above sentences, „borrow‟ can be understood as „lend‟. Thus, „borrow‟ also means „lend‟ in Ghanaian English. Because of the converse relationship between „borrow‟ on the one hand and „lend‟ on the other, there is the tendency among some Ghanaians to let one stand for the other such that „to borrow‟ for instance, also means „to lend‟. At any rate, once there is borrowing, it means there is lending. It is this contiguous relationship in meaning that makes some Ghanaians allow one to stand for the other. This kind of semantic change could also be described as metonymic. COME So is the relationship between „coming‟ and „going‟ in Ghanaian English. It has been observed that many a Ghanaian would say „I am coming‟, when in reality, they are actually going away from their addressees. They usually would say they are coming because they have plans of coming back shortly. So here, the emphasis is on „coming‟; after all, at the time of saying they are coming, their addressee knows or can see that they are going, so they are interested in letting them know what they cannot see or do not know, which is the intention of the speaker so they tell them they are coming. It would seem that rather than using the long sentence, „I am going to do something but I will come back in no time,‟ the Ghanaian eases their communication by using 60 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh contraction or summary, and in so doing they highlight the most important thing which is that they are coming back shortly, allowing coming to stand for going in the process. In much the same way as in Standard English „Can you pass me the spoon?‟ stands for or actually means „Pass me the spoon,‟ in Ghanaian English too it can be said that „coming‟ in contexts like this stands for or actually means „going‟ but coming back soon. This can be seen as metonymic. KICK 1) Hey don‟t touch that wire; it will kick you. 2) Adzee! The iron has kicked me. „Kick‟ as used in the above sentences means „to give an electric shock to‟ and this broadens the semantic scope of the word. In an electric shock, the sudden outburst of electric power usually hits the animate body that comes into contact with it. Thus, it hits you like a kicking object. It is this characteristic feature of an electric shock that has been highlighted and made to stand for the whole notion of an electric shock. This semantic extension of the word „kick‟ could therefore be seen as metonymic since something (electric shock) has been referred to, using something else that is closely associated with it, and this is the hitting or kicking effect it has on an animate body it comes in contact with. COLLECTION 1) I didn‟t go to church because I don‟t have collection. 2) Nowadays it is those who give the fattest collections that are regarded at church. 61 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh The meaning of „collection‟ seems metonymically narrowed to offertory. It appears that the mode of taking offertory in the churches is what has been highlighted. Here, it would seem that the focus is not on the freewill aspect of offertory. An idea of obligation is implied by the giving of prominence to the mode of taking the offering which as good as compels people to give, such that in effect, it more or less ceases to be offering. PAPER 1) The paper was hard. 2) I have finished my papers! Now I can sleep and have fun for as long as I want. „Paper‟ in this sense means „examination‟ or „examination questions.‟ In the first example for instance, it is obvious that is not the paper that was hard but the examination questions and in the last example it is clear that it is not the literal paper that is referred to but the examinations. Examinations in Ghanaian educational institutions are usually paper-based or written. Here, it can be seen that an aspect of the form that the examination takes has been made to represent the examination itself. Thus, paper now stands for both the questions printed on it and the entire concept of examination. Accordingly, this semantic change can be established as metonymic. In this sense the word „paper‟ becomes polysemous with such meanings as: a) the material on which examination questions are printed b) the examination questions on the paper c) the examination itself 62 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh COLLEAGUE The meaning of the word „colleague‟ seems broadened in Ghanaian English. From the way it is used by Ghanaians, it would seem that the word does not just mean „a fellow worker‟ but it generally means an associate. A colleague in Ghanaian English could be a friend, a schoolmate, a classmate, a course mate, a church member, a peer, a fellow worker, a partner, etc. The word colleague has become a kind of superordinate term with peers, playmates, church members, fellow workers, coursemates, etc. as its co-hyponyms. This semantic change can therefore be seen as hyponymic. The mechanism for this semantic change can be seen as metonymy since a member of a group has been made to stand for the rest, thereby highlighting the idea of association. KNOCK 1) Have you gone to knock already? 2) The knocking ceremony was successful. „To knock‟ means „to formally ask a maiden‟s or a woman‟s hand in marriage from her family.‟ Since to enter someone‟s home for this purpose, literally, one has to knock in order to be allowed entry, traditionally, this practice has become symbolic such that knocking no longer refers to the literal knocking or banging on the door but represents the purpose for seeking entry, which is to propose marriage or seek a lady‟s hand in marriage from her parents. Referring to marriage proposal or a request for a lady‟s hand in marriage form her family by using something else closely associated with such a practice, which is the knocking at the door of the lady‟s family‟s 63 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh house, is an instance of the use of metonymy. This kind of semantic change mirrors literal translation from L1. 4.5 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METONYMY PLUS EUPHEMISM PRIVATE 1) I am going to private. 2) He went to private. Here, privacy about the act of defecating has been foregrounded and made to represent the whole act. This semantic extension of the meaning of „private‟ can therefore be seen as metonymic. It is also euphemistic in that it becomes a less offensive or more pleasant way of talking about defecation. OBITUARY 1) They say that hooligan has become obituary. 2) Driving at 180 km/h? You‟re only aspiring to be obituary. It can be seen from how it has been used that „obituary‟, which is „a notice of a person‟s death,‟ has been made to stand for the death itself; thus to become obituary is to be dead. This is metonymic but it can also be seen as euphemistic since it is about a humorous way of talking about death. 64 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ENVELOPE 1) Often a little envelope does the trick (as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 84). 2) Bribe money is often cloaked in…not so fancy names…”envelope”…(as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 84). 3) This fellow collected an envelope from a top minister of state…(as (cited in Dako, 2003, p. 84). It will be seen that since an envelope in most cases is closely associated with the giving of bribe, it has come to stand for the bribe itself. This could pass for an instance of the use of metonymy. It is also euphemistic since it is a milder way to talk about bribe. WHITE HOUSE 1) Is that the white house? 2) I‟m going to the white house. „White house‟ as used in the sentences above means a lavatory or washroom. This euphemistic term has probably come to be used because some detached toilets are usually painted white. 4.6 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SYNECDOCHE MINERAL 1) He asked me what I would like to drink, and I opted for mineral (Chronicle, 20- 21.8.1997; as cited in Dako 2001, p. 31). 65 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) Well, he always bought minerals for me but how was I to know that it was his way of asking me out. Probably because soft drinks usually contain carbonated water which also contains mineral salts or gases, mineral, which is a part or meronym of a soft drink, is given prominence and made to represent the whole drink. This can be seen as a synecdochic extension in the meaning of the word „mineral‟. In its new sense as a soft drink, „minerals‟ become a hyponym of beverages. At another level, it becomes a superordinate term with such co-hyponyms as Coke, Fanta, etc. POLE 1) While a student and sports boy at the Accra Academy, Asamoah Djan could dribble from pole to pole. 2) Back then we used bricks as improvised poles to play soccer; some people still do though. It is realizable from the sentences above that „pole‟, among other meanings, refers to the goal. Perhaps, this meaning derives from the goal posts which are usually metal or wooden vertical supports in the form of poles or bars, usually with a horizontal cross-section for limiting the goal. Probably because these poles are used to limit the goal, the poles, which are limiting parts of a goal, have come to stand for or represent the goal. This kind of semantic extension can therefore be seen as synecdochic since a part of a goal has come to represent the whole goal. LEG 1) Come and sit on my legs. 2) The bus was full so some of the students had to sit on the legs of the older ones. 66 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh It is clear from the sentences that by „legs‟ what is actually meant is the lap, which refers to „the upper legs or part of the thighs of a seated person.‟ Here, it can be seen that the whole leg has come to represent a part of it. This kind of semantic change can be identified as synecdochic since the whole leg has been used to represent just a part of it. 4.7 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY HYPERBOLE SPIN One of the meanings of the word „spin‟ would seem extended in Ghanaian English and it is its meaning as „to engage in spin control or give comments, as by a spin doctor, intended to bias opinion on an unpleasant situation‟. In Ghanaian English, however, it is not limited to politics, it generally means „to deceive or lie to someone‟ and anyone who engages in it is called a spinner. Let us consider the following examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: 1) When he tells you to look down, look up; he is such a spinner. 2) You said you were going to ask questions on the digestive system but you spinned us. It seems hyperbolized to become more pejorative. 4.8 SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SIMILE GRADUATE The meaning of the word „graduate‟ has been widened to cover the meaning “anybody who has finished any sort of training or education (Dako, 2003, p. 99).” Let us consider the following examples of its usage in Ghana, as cited in Dako (2003, p. 99): 67 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1) He advised graduates of vocational institutes to form cooperative ventures. 2) …whose credentials a kindergarten graduate would not be enthused about. 3) …the main aim is to assist both JSS and SSS graduates… Just as a graduate in the Standard English sense as “a holder of an academic degree or diploma” has finished university, high school or college and has accordingly been certified, so the one who finishes the basic school, second cycle school, or even vocational training, also gets certified. Perhaps, to some Ghanaians it is about the same thing or at least similar so mostly they address anyone who has finished any sort of training or education as a graduate. This kind of semantic change is similized since simile is at work. 4.9 SEMANTIC NARROWING BY SYNECDOCHE CREATE/CAUSE 1) Those guys like creating too much. 2) Any demon that has come here to create in our midst, we bind him in Jesus‟ name. To create in this context means to „create confusion or cause commotion.‟ Here, the part of a meaning has been made to represent the whole meaning, as a cause of an event has been made to stand for the outcome. This is an instance of synecdochic change. This intransitive use somehow narrows the meaning of the word „create‟ which is transitive and generally means „to produce or cause something to exist.‟ The word „cause‟ has undergone the same semantic change such that it is about a synonym of „create.‟ It can therefore replace „create‟ in the sentences above, as shown below: 68 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1) Those guys like causing too much. 2) Any demon that has come here to cause in our midst, we bind him in Jesus‟ name. „Cause‟, as used in these sentences, can therefore be understood as „cause confusion, commotion or trouble.‟ MEAN 1) What at all did you do to give him reason to mean you like this? 2) I have meant him paa; if he falls into my trap, big trouble for him! As used in the sentences above, „to mean‟ can be understood as „to mean to teach someone a lesson; or to have it in for someone.‟ It would seem that the generic sense of the meaning of the word „mean‟ as “to intend, to plan (to do); to have as one‟s intention (Wiktionary)” is what has come to be narrowed through a metonymic or synecdochic process. It would seem that a part of the rather long string of words „mean to teach someone a lesson‟, which is „mean‟, has been made to stand for the whole string of words (synecdochic); or that intention has been made to represent the intended or the verb has been made to represent its direct object because of close relationship (metonymic). SHOW 1) The way he showed me the last time! Because he was angry with me he refused to give me lorry fare and I had to walk all the way home. 2) You, I will get you; I will show you. 69 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh „Show‟ in this context means „to show somebody that you are in charge; to show them where power lies or to show a cloven foot,‟ that is, „to show another one‟s malicious or vicious side by being mean or cruel to them.‟ Here, prominence is given to the action „show‟ and made to represent the longer stretch of words, which is the direct object of the verb that usually exists in the mind of the interlocutors. This semantic change can accordingly be seen as synecdochic since part of the meaning has been made to stand for the whole meaning. 4.10 SEMANTIC NARROWING BY METONYMY LIFE One of the semantic senses of „life‟ as „one or more aspects of the process of living (Merriam- Webster Dictionary, 2016)‟ seems narrowed. In this broader sense, we can have sex life, school life, married life, entertainment, fashion, etc. It is noticeable that in this sense of the word, some Ghanaians tend to narrow the meaning of „life‟ to fashion. Let us consider the following examples of its usage in Ghana: 1) All that the youth of today know and think of is life. 2) (Of someone who is gaudily dressed) Ei, you and life! Life will kill you. It can be seen from the above examples that fashion, which is one of the associations of life or an aspect of the process of living, has come to stand for it. It is evident that metonymy is at work. This kind of semantic narrowing can therefore be described as metonymic. 70 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh PIPE „Pipe‟ has been narrowed in meaning since, when used in Ghana, it almost always refers not generally to tubular objects for passage of fluids, among other meanings, but to water- transporting tubes, especially for domestic use. Even in this narrowed meaning there are other interesting semantic changes. Let us consider the following sentences on the usage of the word by some Ghanaians: 1) There is no pipe in that village. 2) The MP promised to bring pipe to our village and every home so that we shall stop walking all the way to the stream to fetch water. 3) Hey, turn off the pipe and stop wasting the water. It can be seen from the above sentences that „pipe‟ refers to pipe-borne water and also to the tap. Here, it can be seen that the pipe has come to stand for the material it transports. Letting the channel, instrument or vehicle for transporting water stand for the water itself is an instance of the use of metonymy. This semantic change can therefore be identified as metonymic. Again, in the last sentence, by „turn off the pipe,‟ the speaker actually means „turn off the tap or faucet of the pipe.‟ Because of the contiguous relationship between the pipe and the tap or faucet, the former has been made to represent the latter. This is also evidence of metonymy at work. In Ghanaian English, „pipe‟ in this regard becomes a polysemous word with such meanings as: a) a tube that carries water b) the water that the tube carries and 71 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh c) a tap for dispensing the water carried by the tube; or the faucet for regulating the flow of water from the tube. 4.11 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE RITUAL The word „ritual‟ is frequently used in ways that suggest a restriction in its meaning. There seem to be a change in meaning that proceeds from its generic and neutral sense as „acts always performed in a particular way or as part of a ceremony.‟ Let us consider the following examples of its usage in Ghana: 1) They say he was used for rituals o, for blood money. 2) Hey, as for that church, please don‟t attend; I hear that they do rituals. 3) Judging from the way parts of his body, such as his genitals, are missing, the police suspect his death to be ritual murder. It was gathered from the way the word „ritual‟ was frequently used in public that its meaning seemed narrowed to „dark or black magic, vicious sorcery or fetish practices‟ as evidenced by the sentences above. It has become somehow pejorative by virtue of acquiring some negative connotations. Obviously, the meaning of „ritual‟ has been intensified and made worse than it really is in Standard British English and this can be cited as a hyperbolic change in meaning. So are the synonymous words „silly‟, „foolish‟ and „nonsense‟. SILLY The word „silly‟, according to a corpus-based Merriam-Webster Dictionary (2016), means: 72 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1archaic : helpless, weak 2 a : rustic, plain b obsolete : lowly in station: humble 3 a : weak in intellect : foolish b : exhibiting or indicative of a lack of common sense or sound judgement < a very silly mistake> c : trifling, frivolous 4 : being stunned or dazed In the context of Ghana, however, the meaning of silly as well as foolish or nonsense tend to be narrowed to an insult as offensive as „imbecilic‟ or „idiotic‟. Clearly, the meaning of such words has been made worse than it really is and accordingly this change can be thought of as hyperbolic. 4.12 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS INTENSIFICATION BY HYPERBOLE FLEX The meaning of flex, as in bodybuilding, which is „to tighten the muscles for display of size or strength (Wiktionary)‟ and its metaphorically extended meaning, „(transitive) use or demonstrate (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016),‟ seem to have undergone some semantic changes in Ghanaian English. Let us consider the following examples of its usage: 1) She likes flexing too much. 73 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) Are you trying to flex me? 3) How she flexes with her wedding ring! Often used intransitively, the meaning in this sense of the word „flex‟ is „to brag, show off or even behave pompously‟. Its meaning in this regard has been narrowed and it has undergone a kind of pejorative intensification that is hyperbolic. In Standard English, its metaphoric extension broadly means „to use or demonstrate something‟ and it is almost always used transitively and this narrows or specifies its meaning in use, as in: 1) He is flexing his skills as an athlete. 2) Flexing his oratorical ability that night won him the contest. Used this way, ostentation could be an implicit meaning but in Ghanaian English, the meaning of flex has been intensified and narrowed, making ostentation an explicit meaning of the word. Besides, in Standard English, flex is not as pejorative as it has become in Ghanaian English. ENGAGEMENT 1) The chairman at an engagement ceremony is expected to offer pieces of advice to the newly married couple (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 83). 2) Engagement is the actual marriage; as for the wedding it is just some church ceremony. The meaning of the word „engagement‟ is usually restricted to a marital affair, specifically „a traditional marriage‟. Besides, the Standard English definition of the word as „the period of time when marriage is planned or promised (Wiktionary)‟ or „betrothal (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016)‟ has been intensified or exaggerated to mean „a complete traditional marriage ceremony‟. 74 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh WEDDING Similarly, the meaning of the word „wedding‟ has been restricted to „a marriage ceremony in the western fashion, usually conducted in church and characterized by pomp and the wearing of a white wedding gown by the bride, and suit by the groom.‟ In addition to this restriction, there seem to be an exaggerated appreciation for or prestige about weddings. 4.13 SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS WEAKENING BY LITOTES SHARK One of the metaphorical meanings of the word „shark‟ in Standard English seems narrowed and slightly understated in Ghanaian English. In one of its senses, „shark‟, according to the 2016 corpus-based Merriam-Webster Dictionary, means „one who excels greatly especially in a particular field.‟ This meaning, it would seem from the way the word is used in Ghanaian English, has been narrowed to „an intelligent person, especially a student‟ such that any intelligent student, regardless of whether seen to be excelling or not, is described as a shark as seen in the following examples: 1) (Said of someone mainly because he speaks sweet-sounding English, and eloquently) As for that guy, he‟s a shark. 2) All his family members are sharks. If in Standard English a shark is a greatly excellent person, then it can be concluded that the meaning of the word has been understated in Ghanaian English. 75 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHARTER 1) I was in a hurry so although the place is not far, I chartered a taxi rather than walk as usual. 2) Taxi drivers who go out looking for “charter”…should not hope for any business this week (as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 57). It can be deduced from these sentences that when used this way in Ghana, the word „charter‟ usually means „to engage the service of a driver, usually a taxi driver, for sometime, at a usually bargained fee.‟ It does not usually mean „to rent the car for exclusive but temporary use.‟ It can be seen that the meaning of the word, in this sense, has become less in intensification than it really is and this kind of semantic change shows that litotes is at work. Besides, when native speakers hear these utterances or read such sentences, they may think that the taxi was rented for exclusive but temporary use, which would be more than what the Ghanaian speaker actually intends. 4.14 SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND/OR AMELIORATION BY HYPERBOLE TOUGH 1) Jakes has released a new ride; you should see it, it‟s so tough. 2) Has he the money it takes to win, much less to talk of marry, such a tough lady? From the examples above, it can be noticed that there has been widening in the semantic scope of „tough‟ to accommodate a new ameliorative meaning, which is ‟(of a person or something) 76 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh classy or chief in excellence.‟ This exaggerated amelioration in the meaning of the word can be seen as hyperbolic. FRESH 1) I want some fresh boy to marry, not this Shaka Zulu of a man. 2) Herh, that girl is fresh! I say when I see her…charley stop… 3) What you did was not fresh „koraa‟; you didn‟t do well at all. It can be deduced from its usage that „fresh‟ has also come to mean „very beautiful, even ravishing, or handsome; nice or fair‟. It appears to have undergone an exaggerated kind of ameliorative intensification in its meaning, and accordingly it can be seen as hyperbolic. SEVERAL 1) Unlike last year‟s which was quite poorly attended, several people attended the party‟s mammoth rally this year. 2) The pandemic outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus took several lives across the globe, and especially in Liberia. „Several‟ which in Standard English refers to a number more than two but not many, has come to mean many or a lot in Ghanaian English. Thus, it has come to refer to a greater number or quantity than it really does in Standard English and the mechanism for this kind of semantic change can accordingly be identified as hyperbole. 77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh FLIRT 1) Those guys only go round flirting: sleeping with almost everything in skirt. 2) He said he divorced his wife because she was a flirt. The standard meaning of flirt which is „to play; to talk with teasing affection, to insinuate sexual attraction in a playful (especially conversational) way (Wiktionary)‟ has been intensified to mean „cheating in a relationship or engaging in multiple sexual affairs.‟ This is an instance of semantic exaggeration and accordingly hyperbole can be said to be at work here. CHILL 1) The last Christmas I chilled papa: I spent a whole week at White Sands. I swam for as long as I wanted, treated myself to sumptuous meals, great wines, music and friendship. 2) (Said of someone eating fried rice with grilled chicken and sipping once in a while from a bottle of coke standing on a table in an air-conditioned office) I can see your money has come; look how you‟re chilling! It is noticeable that in the context of Ghana, „chill‟ does not just mean „to relax, hang out or chill out‟ but „to have fun or enjoy oneself a lot‟. It has undergone semantic intensification and amelioration in a way that shows evidence of hyperbole at work. It means real good living. 78 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.15 SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE BY HEART 1) I don‟t like the way you do things by heart. 2) As for Leslie she spends money by heart. 3) He simply talks by heart without regard to facts on the ground (as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 52). From the examples above, it can be deduced that „by heart‟ also means „impulsive, excessive or without control; illogical or unreasonable.‟ It is probably a pejorative intensification of the Standard English meaning of the word as “by rote or from memory (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016)” or “knowing completely; as having committed completely to memory (Wiktionary).” This meaning has obviously been exaggerated and made more negative than it originally is. Accordingly, hyperbole can be said to be at work. CONNECTION 1) The gadgets they sell there are connection ones, either robbed or thieved. 2) As for connection-it was beyond kalabule (St. Ess. 1996;as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 65). 3) That boy bombed his exams but I don‟t know how he managed to gain admission, and to read administration in such a top university; well, connection as usual. It will be noticed from how it has been used that „connection‟ also means „obtainment by skullduggery or corrupt deals.‟ This new meaning seems degenerated and hyperbolised. 79 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.16 MISCELLANEOUS SEMANTIC CHANGES VILLAGER The word „villager‟ has undergone some interesting semantic changes in Ghana. When used in Ghana, it usually does not only refer to someone who lives in a village or comes from a village but highlights a characteristic or an aspect of their life which is almost always narrowed to „deficiency in social graces or polish.‟ There are many ideal characteristics of the village and villagers for that matter: they are close to nature and mostly natural or not given to affectation or artifices, enjoy less pollution, are sociable, humble, well-mannered, strong, hardworking, peaceful, lack in modern social graces or polish, etc. but of all these characteristics, „deficiency in social graces or polish‟ seems to be the feature that is given prominence in Ghanaian English. Allowing this particular feature to represent them in terms of the meaning of the word „villager‟ is an instance of metonymic change since one of the features closely associated with villagers has been made to represent the rest and stand for them (people who live in or come from the villages). The word villager also refers to someone who neither lives nor comes from a village. Any town or city dweller who behaves like a villager, in the sense of displaying a deficiency in modern social graces or polish is described as a villager. This is usually used in a playful or non- derogatory sense. For instance, city parents can address their children who like to eat something like rice with their bare hands rather than with a spoon as villagers. This kind of semantic change can be identified as similized since the mechanism involved in this semantic extension is simile. There is another highly pejorative or derogatory meaning assigned the word villager. This usually has nothing to do with whether a person lives or comes from a village, behaves like one 80 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh or not. It is an insult that means „a barbarian or highly uncivilized person.‟ This kind of semantic change can be seen as hyperbolic. The word „villager‟ therefore becomes a polysemous word with the meanings: a) a person who lives in or comes from a village b) a person who behaves as such; lacking in modern social graces or polish c) (insulting or derogatory) a barbarian or highly uncivilized person The word „bush‟ has undergone similar semantic changes and it is used interchangeably with the word „villager‟ so we can think of them as synonyms in Ghanaian English. RAP 1) Don‟t think I am going to fall for your raps; I won‟t be coaxed by you this time. 2) Those two young male university undergrads went to the Volta Hall and tried to „rap’ a new and innocent lady (as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 176). As used above, „rap‟ can be understood as „to coax or chat up‟. According to Wiktionary, “to talk casually” is one of the meanings of the word rap (verb). It would seem that it is this sense of the word that has been intensified or exaggerated by Ghanaians. If so, then this kind of semantic change can be seen as hyperbolic. These new meanings might also have come about through the use of metaphor. It could be that chatting up or coaxing has been understood or described in terms of the use of sweet-sounding or pleasant lyrics; enticing or attractive musical quality of rap music. The word „yob‟, converted to a verb in Ghanaian English, has acquired the same meaning as „rap‟, making the two words synonymous in Ghanaian English. 81 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LYRICS 1) That man has lyrics; that‟s what won him the position he occupies now. 2) If you don‟t have lyrics, you can‟t win a Legon girl. „Lyrics‟ as used in the above sentences obviously does not refer to the words of a song but „persuasive or romantic words or communication skills that work like the soothing, romantic or captivating words of a great tune.‟ This semantic can be seen as similized or metaphorical. CONCERT/COMEDY 1) The word „concert’ in Ghana means any stage performance (St. Ess. 1994; cited in Dako, 2003, p. 64). 2) Uncle Ebo‟s concerts are simply spectacular; if you‟ve seen none yet, then you‟ve never seen a play. It is evident from the above sentences that to some Ghanaians, any stage performance at all is a concert. A concert which could be seen as a hyponym of staged performances, and is co- hyponyms with staged jokes, choreography, plays, poetry recitals, etc. has now come to stand for the superordinate term „performance‟ or „show‟. Making a member of a group stand for the rest can be seen as metonymic, or synecdochic if we consider it as allowing a part of a group to represent the whole group. There is another way in which the meaning of the word „concert‟ has changed. Let us consider the following examples of such usage: 1) Don‟t mind him; it‟s only concert: there is nothing he can do to you. 82 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2) What? You call this concert training to win the Spelling Bee? 3) Listen, I‟m serious; stop this concert you‟re doing and help me. In the first sentence, „concert‟ can be understood as „bluffing or pretentious behaviour to intimidate‟, hence, such behaviour is not to be taken seriously. In the second and last sentences, „concert‟ can be understood as „facetiousness, a joke or the treatment of urgent issues with little or no seriousness at all; making light of important or urgent matters.‟ It would seem that bluffing or facetiousness has been understood in terms of an aspect of a concert, which is the playful or entertaining air about it. This can be seen as metaphorical. The word „comedy‟, usually plural, has undergone the same semantic change as „concert‟ in the sense of bluffing or being facetious, making the two words synonymous such that it can substitute it in the sentences above, as shown below: 1) Don‟t mind him; it‟s only comedies: there is nothing he can do to you. 2) What? You call this comedies training to win the Spelling Bee? 3) Listen, I‟m serious; stop this comedy you‟re doing and help me. CHUCKLE Also observed to have undergone a semantic change is the word „chuckle‟. In Ghanaian English, it does not only mean to “to laugh inwardly or quietly (Merriam-Webster 2016)” or “to cluck (Wiktionary)” among others; it also means „to suck one‟s teeth, hiss, tut or make a similar sound, „chw‟ or „tsw‟ that Ghanaians have christened „chwia‟ or „tsia‟. It is unclear what occasioned this meaning but it would seem that the sound of the word, particularly the initial sibilant sound 83 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh which is the voiceless alveo-palatal affricate, is what has engendered this unusual extension in the meaning of the word. Besides, „chuckle‟ has some sound similarity with the word „cheek‟, meaning „impudent or insolent behaviour‟. Given that this is the case, then we can conclude that the mechanism responsible for this extension is onomatopoeia. 4.17 CALQUED/IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS This section analyses semantic units that are bigger than the word. It was observed during data collection that some phrasal and even clausal structures in Ghanaian English have meanings that are non-literal in English; that is, such semantic structures could not be understood literally but pragmatically in the socio-cultural context of Ghana. The researcher therefore thought it would be important to look at such items too. In all, there are twenty (20) of them, the majority of which can be seen as literal translations from indigenous Ghanaian languages, especially Twi, which is about the major native language spoken in Ghana. Each item is first introduced, explained and then used in examples to reflect how it is used in Ghanaian English. To stand on someone is to put pressure on them to do something for you. This in itself is metonymic since one of the ways of mounting pressure on people to get them to do something has been made to stand for the whole concept. One may sit or stand when waiting, or even make repeated phone calls but all are narrowed down to standing on the person, which is also idiomatic because you do not literally position yourself atop the person. This is an instance of literal translation from L1. Let us look at some examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) As for that tailor, if you don‟t stand on him, he won‟t sew your dress for you o. b) We had to stand on her before she gave us the introductory letters. 84 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh c) To see top is to make progress; to be able to deal with a problem; to work out. This is, in itself, metaphoric since progress has been described in terms of a sight of the highest part of a height but since it is a literal translation it reflects Ghanaian‟s original creativity with language. The following are some examples of its use in Ghanaian English: a) Mahama is obviously not seeing top. b) Are you seeing top? To advise one’s self is to reconsider, to take action (Dako, 2003, p. 13). This is quite euphemistic and also a transference from L1. Here are some examples of its use in Ghanaian English: a) If matters should go on like this, UCC students would definitely or probably advise themselves. (as cited Dako 2003, p. 13) b) The Students Representative Council (SRC) of…Polytechnic has threatened to advise itself if the government continued to disregard the... (as cited Dako, 2003, p. 13) To go someone is also a calqued expression that means, to pain someone, and to fit someone: The following are examples of its use in Ghanaian English: a) It has gone you papa (intensifier). b) It looks like the dress has become small; will it go you? To be on somebody is to mean to pick on or criticize someone, usually for fun. It is also transference from L1. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) I can see that you people are on me today. 85 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh b) Yes, today we are on you; you, when you get others, do you spare them? Did one go or come? is a rhetorical question that is used to say that it would seem one has made no progress at all. It is also a literal translation from L1.The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) Reverting to three years of senior high school education? Did we go or did we come? b) Why would I import a car bought at 20,000 dollars and sell it way less than that? Did I go or did I come? To see someone in chambers is to see them privately. It probably borrows from the practice of consulting judges privately in their chambers. This could be seen as similized or metaphorical. It is also euphemistic when a corrupt deal such as bribery is intended. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) If you want to blow this paper too, you know what to do: just come and see me in chambers. b) Go and see him in chambers; he‟ll make sure you get the job. To do someone show (also fine) is to give someone a treat: entertain, especially with food and drinks, money, etc; to be generous or kind to someone. The following are examples of how it is used in Ghanaian English: a) Go and do me show. b) Do him fine for me, ok. 86 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To squeeze one’s face is to frown. This is metaphoric since the face has been compared to something like an orange or a football that can be squeezed and become unevenly shaped, which is what compares to a frown since it usually brings the eyebrows together and wrinkles the face. This is a kind of creative innovation. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) Why have you squeezed your face like that? b) If you don‟t know and you squeeze your face again, I will slap you. To put money on the table; also, to remove money is to provide money for housekeeping. Traditionally, some husbands usually leave the money for upkeep on a table before leaving for work, especially when it is very early in the morning. This practice has come to stand for the act of giving house-keeping money. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) He doesn‟t put enough money on the table, yet he expects to be fed sumptuously. b) We shall see who removes money in this house! To blow fuse is to have bad breath or to reek of alcohol, smoke, etc. This can be seen as metaphorical since it is a description of bad breath in terms of the scent or smell that a blown fuse gives off. It is also to an extent euphemistic since it is a milder way of talking about bad breath which many people do not feel comfortable to talk about. This is another instance of creative innovation in Ghanaian English. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) Go and paste and stop blowing us fuse. 87 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh b) No lady will like a man who blows fuse as he does. To be somewhere with someone is to go out with or date them; to be in a romantic or sexual relationship with. This is, in itself, an instance of conceptual metaphor since it appears that romantic relationships have been thought of in terms of a movement in space with a destination. „there‟ suggests a place that is far from a point. This is an L1 concept that is transferred into English. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) Is that guy there with your sister? b) Are they there? (Used in the second person) to be somewhere is to be a member, staff or resident of a place or group. This is also another instance of literal translation from L1. It goes without saying that when one works, attends, resides, fellowships or schools somewhere, they are usually found there. It is this feature that has been made to stand for the affiliation, and this is an instance of metonymy. The following are examples of how it is used in Ghanaian English: a) Please, are you here? b) He is here, so go and ask him. To be sitting somewhere is used to say that a particular seat is already taken or reserved for someone. This is also transference from L1. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) No, please you can‟t sit there; someone is sitting there. b) Is someone sitting here? 88 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To forget one’s self is to be absent-minded or to forget one‟s prior decision not to do something and do it. This is also an instance of literal translation from L1, especially Twi and Ga. The following are examples of how it is used in Ghanaian English: a) I forgot myself and put the money rather in the dustbin. b) I forgot myself and told her about your wedding. To sit well (usually said to females) means that one‟s private parts, especially the pants or thighs, are showing, usually unaware, while seated so they should address it. It is culturally seen a more polite way of drawing a lady‟s attention to this and can therefore be seen as euphemistic. The following are examples of how it is used in Ghanaian English: a) That guy‟s eyes are fixed this way because of you so sit well. b) It can‟t be easy for some male teachers; especially when some nice girls intentionally don‟t sit well in class. I’m aware/am aware refers to a kind of dressing, especially by females, that deliberately or unintentionally exposes some of their private parts, especially the back and pants. This can be seen as metonymic since something associated with a particular way of dressing has been made to stand for it. It is also an instance of creative innovation by Ghanaians. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) They are snatching our husbands with their „am awares‟. b) It‟s as if nowadays, if you don‟t wear I‟m aware then you‟re no lady. 89 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh To do someone is to create problems for or harm or injure them by using sorcery; to bewitch someone. It is also an instance of direct translation from L1. The following are examples of its usage in Ghanaian English: a) Pastors who tell people that their grandmothers or mothers are doing them had better watch their mouth. b) No one is doing you; you are the cause of your own woes. To weed on Tuesdays is (used of men) to be impotent; unable to impregnate a woman. It is a euphemistic way of talking, especially in Akan. It must have probably been transferred into English because of propriety in speech on such a sensitive issue. The following is example of its usage in Ghanaian English: They say her husband weeds on Tuesdays. Face the wall is a humorous metonymic expression for a Ghanaian food called „kokonte‟. It is made from dried cassava flour and is one of the cheapest foods one can find. It appears that it has very low regard and tends to be associated with the poor. Because of this, some people shy away from eating it in public. The impression is created that people hide to eat it so „face the wall‟ becomes a metonymy for the tendency to avoid being noticed while eating kokonte. An example of its usage in a sentence is I‟m going to buy face the wall. To remove one’s mouth is to defend oneself in speech; to answer or respond to an allegation. It is a direct translation from native Ghanaian languages like Akan and Ga. It is mainly used in English to create humour in conversation. Below are examples of how it is used: 1) Go and remove your mouth. 2) If you think it is not true, then come and remove your mouth. 90 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.18 SENSE RELATIONS IN THE DATA ANALYSIS Generally, the dominant sense relationships underlying the various meaning creation mechanisms and processes in Ghanaian English are Metaphor, Association and Analogy. The sense relations brought to the fore in the analysis are polysemy, hyponymy, meronymy and synonymy. Metaphor, as a meaning-creation mechanism, has led to peculiar polysemy in Ghanaian English. Some words that are not polysemous in British English, for instance, have acquired other different but related meanings and become polysemous in Ghanaian English. The item „care of‟, for example, has acquired another meaning in Ghanaian English which is different from its original meaning but both meanings have a shared sense: Meaning 1: used in mailing to specify distribution to the intended recipient by a named intermediary Meaning 2: a pretext or an insincere excuse Here, although both meanings are different, their shared sense is in their conceptual correlation. Another example is the word „pothole‟: Meaning 1: deep holes in the road or some other surface Meaning 2: Spaces left blank on the page during notetaking because one missed some information from a lecturer or teacher In this example too, although the meanings are different, they share a sense of resemblance. 91 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh From the data analysed, the other lexical items that have become polysemous in Ghanaian English are:  Hot  Mafia  Dry  Towel  Check  Pull  Format  Grab  Chew  Chop  Concrete  Reach  Passion Week  Heavy  Current  World Bank  Chisel  Shot  Download  Scholarship  Jack  Correct  Blow  Push  Paper  Kick  Knock  Squat  Fans  Pipe It also comes to light in the data analysis that, in addition to metaphor, association plays a major role in the meaning creation process in Ghanaian English. This is especially made manifest by the metonymic and synecdochic changes. It mainly leads to hyponymy and meronymy as well as 92 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh synonymy in Ghanaian English. It can be seen from the data analysis that something closely associated with one thing, may come to denote it; so is a part or whole of something. For instance, the noun „paste‟ which is a superordinate term with such co-hyponyms as groundnut paste, flour paste, toothpaste, an adhesive, etc. has been narrowed or restricted in meaning to „toothpaste‟, which is an instance of hyponymic change. Another example of hyponymic change can be seen in the item „tea‟. Its sense as „a kind of hot beverage of bags of dried leaves or buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis,‟ has been widened in Ghana to cover any hot beverage like coffee, chocolate drink, Milo drink, etc. such that tea, which is a co-hyponym with coffee, chocolate drink, etc. in Standard British English, has become a kind of superordinate term that stands for tea itself, and other hot beverages. From the analysis, the other items that fall under this category are:  Petrol  Life  Colleague  Hear  White  Collection Meronymy can also be observed in this meaning creation process. For example, mineral, which is a meronym or part of a soft drink, has come to denote the broader term. Similarly, „pole‟ which is a meronym of a goal post has come to mean the goal post itself. Also, „leg‟ denotes one of its meronyms which is the lap; and the item „create‟, which is a meronym of „create confusion‟, has come to denote the whole phrase. Other examples are: 93 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Cause  Mean  Show Based on association, some peculiar synonymous relationships also emerge: o Private/white house/toilet o Envelope/bribe o Remember/remind o Borrow/lend The last major underlying sense relationship in the meaning creation process is analogy. Because of a relationship of similarity or resemblance between certain concepts, meanings or linguistic features, one may be made to denote or represent another. This creates a special kind of synonymy in Ghanaian English. The word „villager‟ does not only refer to someone who lives in a village but anyone who behaves like one, such that „an uncivilized person‟ or „someone who lacks in modern social graces or polish‟ is described as a „villager‟ or as „bush‟, its synonymous equivalence. The words „villager‟ and „bush‟ can therefore be seen as synonyms that can be substituted in relevant contexts with such English words as „brute‟, „barbarian‟ or „rustic‟. Other examples are: o Rap/yob/coax or chat up o Lyrics/sweet-talk o Concert/comedies/bluff or facetiousness o Chuckle/hiss/tut/‟twea‟ o Etc. 94 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh In summary, the dominant sense relationships that generally underlie the meaning creation process in Ghanaian English are metaphor, association and analogy. From the analysis of the data, the major sense relations observable in the created meanings in Ghanaian English are polysemy, hyponymy, meronymy and synonymy. These are markedly different from what pertains in Standard British English. 95 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4.19 CONCLUDING SUMMARY This section presents a brief account of the patterns of semantic change that have been brought to the fore through the analysis of data. In a tabular form, each kind of semantic change that is involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English is given quick attention, citing as examples all analysed lexical items that have undergone a given change. For each item, the created meaning, which is the GhE meaning, and the BrE or AmE meaning that it must have originated from are given on the same row. These are followed by the effect that each meaning creation has on the semantic field of the item. It should be noted here that the semantic changes are not mutually exclusive: some words were seen to have undergone more than one semantic change so such words may be repeated under their relevant kinds of semantic change if the change is in a different sense of the meaning of the word; otherwise, it will be treated under the main change but it will be indicated in the last column with the word Also. The kinds of semantic change that are involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English are: Metaphoric Change, Metonymic Change, Hyperbolic Change, Synecdochic Change, Litotic Change, Euphemistic Change, Similized Change and Calqued Change. All these changes, except the euphemistic ones which co-occur with the other kinds of change, have been treated in separate tables. METAPHORIC CHANGE This a kind of change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of implied comparison based on resemblance or conceptual correlation. 96 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Potholes Deep holes in the road Spaces left blank on the Semantic Extension or some other surface page during notetaking (noun) because one missed Also some information from a lecturer or teacher Hyperbolic Hot Heated, of high Anxious; troubled or Semantic Extension (adjective) temperature verging on problems Mafia A criminal syndicate Difficult, perplexing or Semantic Extension (adjective)/ disappointing; not being trustworthy or to (verb) deceive Dry Devoid of liquid or Broke; to sap one of Semantic Extension (adjective/verb) moisture their money Towel A piece of absorbent The stomach tissue or Semantic Extension cloth for drying, lining of ruminants (noun) especially the body such as a cow that is eaten as food. Care of (c/o) used in mailing to a pretext or insincere Semantic Extension specify distribution to the intended recipient by excuse (adjective/noun) a named intermediary Check To use the checkmark to to like or admire Semantic Extension show that something has greatly (verb) been examined and Also Hyperbolic found satisfactory Pull Using force to draw to transfer or download Semantic Extension something towards multimedia files (verb) oneself Format the general plan of a cleverly organized or Semantic Extension organisation or makeup spun idea or story (noun) of printed, audiovisual intended to deceive or computing materials 97 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Grab To seize or grip To find a girlfriend or a Semantic Narrowing suddenly boyfriend (verb) Chew To masticate To be unable to find a Semantic Extension girlfriend or boyfriend; (both transitive to have sex with; to Also and intransitive swot up verb) Euphemistic Chop To cut into pieces To eat; to have sex, Semantic Extension spend money, attain a new age, win a game or (verb) contest, celebrate an Also Calqued occasion, take a particular position, etc Concrete A mixture of cement, Gari and beans, a kind Semantic Extension water, gravel and sand of Ghanaian dish (noun) as building material Reach To extend or move in To satisfy or suffice; be Semantic Extension order to touch, deliver enough for, sufficient, (verb) Also Calqued something or get satisfactory or adequate somewhere Heavy (of a physical object) (of people or things) Semantic Extension having great weight classy or chief in (adjective) excellence Current The flow of electric Sexual pleasure or Semantic Extension charge or a fluid in a sexual excitement (noun) Also Euphemistic certain direction World Bank That large group of An area that contributes Semantic Extension (noun) financial organizations a large group of voters whose objective is for a political party economic development during elections. and poverty elimination Passion Week A holy week or the the week before the day Semantic Extension week between Passion one receives their (noun) Sunday and Palm salary or gets paid for Also Hyperbolic Sunday work 98 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Download To move or transfer To defecate; Semantic Extension data or files from one Also (verb) location to another via a To gossip network Euphemistic Scholarship grants-in-aid to a the initiation of a Semantic Extension student (as by a college romantic or amorous (noun) or foundation) relationship by a lady Also or girl, especially without any efforts or Euphemistic expenditure from a man or boy Correct Free from errors (of a person) mentally Semantic Extension sound; sane; (usually (adjective) in the negative-not Also Euphemistic correct) insane Concert A musical facetiousness, a joke Semantic Extension entertainment or the treatment of (noun, also urgent issues with adjective) little or no seriousness; also, bluffing a blunder, especially a Semantic Extension Shot grammatical or Also An action of shooting phonological error (noun) made in public Euphemistic and speaking Hyperbolic Chisel A cutting tool for (of people) unwilling Semantic Extension removing parts of to give or offer help (adjective) stone, wood or metal expected, unless they Also by pushing or are pushed or pounding it at one end practically forced to Euphemistic with a hammer or do so; stingy or mallet miserly 99 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh METONYMIC CHANGE This is a kind of meaning change in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of associative representation. Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Light Absence of darkness; Electrical power; electricity Semantic Extension illumination (noun) Paste A soft mixture, such as To brush one‟s teeth, Semantic Extension toothpaste especially by using (verb) toothpaste Squat To crouch or bend the To defecate, especially by Semantic Extension knees while resting on squatting Also (verb) one‟s feet Euphemistic White A kind of colour that Candidiasis, especially Semantic Extension looks like the colour of vaginal candidiasis and Narrowing (noun) snow or fresh milk Also Euphemistic Run ( o f fluids) to move or to frequently pass watery Semantic Narrowing (verb) flow quickly stools or get diarrhoea Also Euphemistic Tea a kind of hot beverage of Any hot beverage Semantic Narrowing bags of dried leaves or and Extension (noun) buds of the tea plant, Camellia sinensis Hear To perceive with the ears to perceive with the nose or Semantic Extension to smell; to sense touch or to (verb) feel; to understand or know Also Calqued 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Petrol A kind of motor fuel used Motor fuels, including Semantic Extension to power petrol engines petrol, diesel, LPG (noun) Push To apply force to move To budge up; to defecate; to Semantic Extension an object from the agent have sex with Also Euphemistic (verb) Sponsor To be a sponsor for To offer free assistance or Semantic Extension something; to pay for, do something free of charge (verb) usually in return for for someone Also Litotic something else Fan (usually an admirer or devotee to Admiration, praise or Semantic Extension fans) something such as a sport attention or someone such as a (noun) performer Remember To bring back to mind; to To remind someone of Semantic Extension retain in memory something (verb) Borrow To take and use with the To give to be used and Semantic Extension intention of returning returned later (verb) later Come To move towards To go or move away from Semantic Extension someone or something someone, usually with the (verb) intention of coming back soon Kick To strike out or hit, to give an electric shock to Semantic Extension especially with the foot or (verb) feet Collection The process of gathering An offering of money, Semantic Narrowing (noun) or collecting something; collected as a part of a what has been collected Christian church service; offertory 101 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Paper A material used for A paper-based examination; Semantic Extension writing on or printing on printed examination (noun) questions Colleague A person who works with Any associate or mate Semantic Extension you (noun) Knock To hit a door or gate, to formally ask a maiden‟s Semantic Extension usually with the knuckles hand in marriage from her (verb) Also Calqued to attract attention family Envelope A paper or cardboard Bribe Semantic Extension wrapper used to enclose Also Euphemistic (noun) flat items White House Official place for the US Toilet or lavatory Semantic Extension president/executive; a (noun) building painted white Also Euphemistic Life One or more aspects of Fashion, or the interest and Semantic Narrowing the process of living pursuit of it (noun) Pipe A tubular object for the A tube that carries water; Semantic Narrowing the water that the tube and Semantic passage of fluids carries and; a tap for (noun) dispensing the water carried Extension by the tube; the faucet Obituary a notice or publication of A loss of life; the state of Semantic Extension a person‟s death being dead; dead Also Euphemistic (noun) Private Providing privacy, A toilet or washroom Semantic Extension (noun) secluded, used by an Also Euphemistic individual 102 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Villager Someone who lives in or Someone who lacks in Semantic Extension comes from a village social graces or polish (noun) 103 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh HYPERBOLIC CHANGE This is a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through exaggeration or hyperbole. Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Spin to engage in spin control or To lie or deceive Semantic Extension (verb) give comments, as by a spin someone or people doctor, intended to bias opinion on an unpleasant situation Rituals acts always performed in a dark or black magic, Semantic Narrowing particular way or as part of a vicious sorcery or fetish and Pejoration ceremony practices Silly Having or showing lack of Imbecilic or idiotic Semantic Narrowing, (adjective) thought, understanding or Intensification and good judgement, not sensible; Pejoration trivial Flex (as in bodybuilding) to to brag, show off or even Semantic (verb) tighten the muscles for behave pompously intensification and display of size or strength Pejoration Engagement the period of time when A traditional marriage Semantic (verb) marriage is planned or Intensification promised; betrothal Wedding A ceremony at which two a marriage ceremony in Semantic Narrowing (noun) people are married to each the western fashion, and Amelioration other usually conducted in church and characterized by pomp Tough Strong, sturdy (of a person or Semantic (adjective) something) classy or Intensification and chief in excellence. Amelioration Fresh Newly produced; pure, not very beautiful, even Semantic (adjective) stale ravishing, or handsome; Intensification and nice or fair Amelioration Several a number more than two but A lot, many Semantic (adjective) not many Intensification 104 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Chill To relax, hang out or chill out To have fun; to enjoy Semantic (verb) oneself; to live good Intensification Flirt to play; to talk with teasing Cheating in a Semantic (verb) affection, to insinuate sexual relationship or engaging Intensification attraction in a playful way in multiple sexual affairs By heart by rote or from memory; impulsive, excessive or Semantic (adjective/ad knowing completely; as without control; illogical Intensification and verb) having committed completely or unreasonable Pejoration to memory Connection association based on certain obtainment by Semantic Pejoration (noun) relationships or factors skullduggery or corrupt deals Villager One who lives or comes from a barbarian or highly Semantic (noun) a village uncivilized person Intensification and Pejoration Rap To talk casually to coax or chat up Semantic (verb) Intensification 105 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SYNECDOCHIC CHANGE This is a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the swapping of part- whole representations. Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Mineral A chemical substance that A non-alcoholic Semantic Extension occurs naturally in certain beverage, specifically a (noun) foods and is important for soft drink that contains good health; mineral salts mineral salts Pole A long and slender piece of (in sports, especially Semantic Extension metal or wood used for soccer) the area into (noun) various construction or which players attempt to support purposes put an object; the goal Leg the lower limb of especially The upper legs or part of Semantic Extension the human body the thighs of a seated (noun) person; the lap Create To produce or cause To create confusion or Semantic Narrowing something to exist cause commotion Also Metonymic (verb) Cause To set off an event or action To cause trouble or Semantic Narrowing or to produce as a result create problems; Also Metonymic (verb) (synonym: create) Mean to intend, to plan (to do); to To mean to teach Semantic Narrowing have as one‟s intention someone a lesson; or to Also Metonymic (verb) have it in for someone Show To demonstrate, display or to show somebody that Semantic Narrowing have people see you are in charge; to (verb) show a cloven foot or Also Metonymic one’s malicious side 106 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SIMILIZED CHANGE This is a kind of semantic change in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of analogy or simile. Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Graduate a holder of an academic anybody who has finished Semantic Extension degree or diploma any sort of training or (noun) education Lyrics The words of a song (or persuasive or romantic words Semantic Extension other vocal music) or communication skills that and Amelioration (noun) work like the soothing, romantic or captivating words Also of a great tune Hyperbolic Chuckle To laugh inwardly or to suck one‟s teeth, hiss, tut Semantic Pejoration quietly; to cluck or make a similar sound, (verb) „chw‟ or „tsw‟ that Ghanaians Also have christened „chwia‟ or „tsia; to make a cheeky sound Onomatopoeic 107 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh LITOTIC CHANGE This is a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the understatement of the meaning of a word. Word/Class BrE/AmE Meaning GhE Meaning Effect of Change/Also Shark one who excels greatly An intelligent person, Semantic Narrowing especially in a particular especially a student and Weakening (noun) field Charter to hire, rent or lease for To engage the services of a Semantic Weakening usually exclusive but driver, especially a taxi (verb) temporary use driver for sometime at a usually bargained fee. 108 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CALQUED/IDIOMATIC SEMANTIC CHANGES GhE EXPRESSION EXPLANATION EXAMPLES To stand on someone (metonymic)To put pressure As for that tailor, if you don‟t on someone to do something stand on him, he won‟t sew for you your dress for you o. To see top (metaphoric)To make progress;  Mahama is not seeing to be able to deal with a top? problem; to work out  Are you seeing top? Face the wall (metonymic) A Ghanaian food When I buy face the wall, I eat called kokonte that seems to it at home. have low social regard so may be eaten in hiding To go someone To pain someone  It has gone you papa. To fit someone  It looks like the dress has become small; will it go you? To be on somebody To mean to pick on or criticize I can see that you people are on someone, usually for fun me today. Did we go or did we come? (Rhetorical) used to say that it Reverting to three years of would seem we have made no senior high school education? progress at all Did we go or did we come? To advise oneself (Euphemistic)To reconsider, to If matters should go on like take action (Dako 2003, p. 13) this, UCC students would definitely or probably advise themselves. (Metaphoric/euphemistic)To To see someone in chambers see someone secretly or If you want to blow the paper, consult privately; (sometimes come and see me in chambers. suggests corrupt deals) 109 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh GhE EXPRESSION EXPLANATION EXAMPLES To do someone show (also To give someone a treat:  Go and do me show, 3. fine) entertain, especially with food and drinks, money, etc; to be  Do him fine for me, ok. generous or kind to someone. To squeeze one’s face (metaphoric) To frown Why have you squeezed your face like that? To put money on the table; To provide money for  He doesn‟t put enough also, to remove money housekeeping money on the table, yet he expects to be fed sumptuously.  We shall see who removes money in this house. To blow fuse (Metaphoric) to have bad Go and paste and stop blowing breath or to reek of alcohol, us fuse. smoke, etc. To be somewhere with (used in the third person) to go  Is that guy there with someone out with or date someone; to be your sister? in a romantic or sexual  Are they there? relationship with To forget oneself To be absent-minded I forgot myself and put the money rather in the dustbin To sit well (usually said to (Euphemistic) it means one‟s  That guy‟s eyes are females) private part(s), especially the fixed this way because pants or thighs, are showing, of you so sit well. usually unaware, while seated so they should address it  It can‟t be easy for we male teachers; especially when some nice girls intentionally don‟t sit well in class. 110 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh GhE EXPRESSION EXPLANATION EXAMPLES I’m aware/Am are (Metonymic) kind of dressing,  They are snatching our especially by females, that husbands with their „am deliberately or unintentionally awares‟. exposes some of their private parts, especially the back and  It‟s as if nowadays, if pants you don‟t wear I‟m aware then you‟re no lady. To do someone To create problems for or harm Pastors who tell people that or injure someone by using their grandmothers or mothers sorcery; to bewitch are doing them, had better watch their mouth. To weed on Tuesdays (Euphemistic)To be impotent; They say her husband weeds unable to impregnate on Tuesdays.  Please, are you here? To be somewhere (Used in the second person) to  They are here so go and be a member, staff or resident of a place or group ask them. To remove one’s mouth To defend oneself in speech; Come and remove your mouth. to answer or respond to an allegation. 111 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh CHAPTER FIVE FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION 5.0 INTRODUCTION This chapter presents the findings of the study and draws conclusions based on these findings, By way of a quick revision, the questions this study sought to answer are: 1) What are the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English? 2) What kinds of semantic changes are involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English? 3) What conclusions may be drawn from the patterns that are found in the mechanisms as well as kinds of semantic change in Ghanaian English? 5.1 MECHANISMS OF MEANING IS CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH Based on the outcome of the analysis of data for this work, this section seeks to foreground the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English. It came to light from the analysis of data that paramount among the mechanisms of meaning creation in Ghanaian English is metaphor. This is comparison or the description of something in terms of another because of some shared attribute(s). For example, the meaning of the word pothole as a space left blank on the page during notetaking because one missed some information from a lecturer or teacher was created in Ghanaian English through the use of resemblance-based metaphor. The next dominant mechanism of meaning creation in Ghanaian English is metonymy. This is the tendency to refer to something by using something else that is closely associated with it. 112 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Thus, when there is a contiguous semantic relationship between or among some referents or concepts, the sense of one is usually made to stand for the other(s). For instance, because of the contiguity or close relationship between electricity and light, the former being one of the sources of the latter, most Ghanaians tend to let one stand for the other, thus light stands for electricity. The tendency to replace one word or phrase with another that is considered less offensive or more pleasant is another way that meaning is created in Ghanaian English. Examples are: envelope for bribe; white house or private for toilet; download for defecate or gossip; chisel for being stingy; jack for penile erection, etc. The mechanism of this kind of meaning creation was considered as euphemism. The next major way that meaning is created in Ghanaian English is exaggeration. The meaning of a word may be made more intense than it really is. Examples are: chill for to enjoy oneself very much; spin for to lie or deceive; rituals for dark or black magic, vicious sorcery or fetish practices; silly for imbecilic or idiotic, flex for brag, show off or behave pompously; engagement for wedding rather than just betrothal; wedding for marriage in white fashion characterized by pomp; villager for a barbarian or highly uncivilized person, etc. The mechanism of this kind of semantic change in Ghanaian English was identified as hyperbole. Making the meaning of a word seem weaker or less intense than it really is in Standard English is another way that meaning is created in Ghanaian English. Thus, some semantic changes are engendered through a kind of understatement of the actual meaning of some words. For instance, one of the extended meanings of the word shark, according to the 2016 corpus-based Merriam- Webster Dictionary, is one who excels greatly especially in a particular field. This meaning, it would seem from the way the word is used in Ghana, has been narrowed to just an intelligent 113 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh person, especially a student such that any intelligent student, regardless of whether seen to be excelling or not, is described as a shark. So is the meaning of the word charter; in Ghanaian English, it usually only means to engage the services of a driver, especially a taxi driver and not to hire, rent or lease for usually exclusive but temporary use (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2016). The mechanism for this kind of semantic change in Ghanaian English was identified as litotes. Another mechanism the outcome of the data analysis reveals as a way that meaning is created in Ghanaian English is synecdoche. A meronym or part of something may be made to stand for the whole thing and vice versa. For instance, probably because soft drinks usually contain carbonated water which also contains mineral salts or gases, mineral, which is a part or meronym of a soft drink, is given prominence and made to represent the whole drink. Other examples are: legs for lap; pole for goal (post), etc. Literal translation was also seen to be a major mechanism of semantic change in Ghanaian English. There seem to be occasional semantic and syntactic transferences from the local Ghanaian languages into English. In Twi, for instance, the word te is polysemous and generally means to sense. This polysemy in the meaning of the word manifests itself in the meaning of the word hear in Ghanaian English such that in Ghanaian English, hear has such polysemous meanings as: 1. to perceive with the ears 2. to perceive with the nose or to smell 3. to sense touch or to feel 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4. to understand or know, etc. It was observed that loan or literal translation occurs majorly in phrasal or clausal semantic units, examples being: to see (or not see) top, to advise oneself, to stand on someone, to weed on Tuesdays, etc. This mechanism was identified as calquing. Last but not least, it was gathered from the outcome of the data analysis that when the referent of one word is like another‟s, the former may be made to denote the latter. For instance, in Ghanaian English, the meaning of the word villager is not limited to someone who lives in or comes from a village or rural area. It also refers to anyone who lives or comes from a city but behaves like a villager. In much the same way, in Ghanaian English a graduate is anybody who has finished any sort of training or education (Dako 2003, p. 99). Just as a graduate in the Standard English sense as “a holder of an academic degree or diploma” has finished university, high school or college and has accordingly been certified, so the one who finishes the basic school, second cycle school, or even vocational training, also gets certified. Perhaps, to some Ghanaians it is about the same thing or at least similar so mostly they address anyone who has finished any sort of training or education as a graduate. The mechanism for this kind of meaning creation in Ghanaian English was identified as simile. The mechanisms of semantic change or meaning creation in Ghanaian English can therefore be summarized as, but may not be limited to:  Metaphor  Metonymy  Euphemism 115 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Hyperbole  Synecdoche  Simile  Litotes  Calquing 5.2 KINDS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE INVOLVED IN MEANING CREATION IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH The kinds of semantic change involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English can be summarised as:  Metaphoric Change: a kind of change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of implied comparison based on resemblance or conceptual correlation.  Metonymic Change: a kind of meaning change in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of associative representation or metonymy.  Euphemistic Change: a kind of semantic change in Ghanaian English that is created through the choice of words, phrases or ideas that are mild or less harsh.  Hyperbolic Change: This is a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through exaggeration or hyperbole.  Synecdochic Change: a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the swapping of part-whole representations. 116 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh  Similized Change: a kind of semantic change in Ghanaian English that is created through the use of analogy or simile.  Litotic Change: a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through the understatement of the meaning of a word.  Calqued Change: a change in meaning in Ghanaian English that is created through translation from L1. 5.3 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE PATTERNS OF SEMANTIC CHANGE IN GHANAIAN ENGLISH The patterns that have emerged from the study of the mechanisms as well as kinds of semantic change involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English reveal that Analogy, Association, Exaggeration, Understatement, Propriety or Expediency and L1 transference are the main factors that drive or motivate semantic change in Ghanaian English. The use of analogy is made manifest by the metaphoric and similized semantic changes. Association as a factor in the semantic change process is signaled by the metonymic and synecdochic changes. Hyperbolic change suggests the use of exaggeration or overstatement whereas litotic change suggests understatement as another factor in semantic change in Ghanaian English. Propriety or expediency and L1transference as other factors of change in the meaning of English words in Ghanaian English are especially indicated by the euphemistic changes and the literal or direct translations from L1. Ghanaians are quite creative with English as their second language. That there abound in the lexis of Ghanaian English semantic changes brought about by the use of such rhetorical devices 117 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh as metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, simile, euphemism, hyperbole and litotes is ample evidence that Ghanaians are creative with the use of English. Meaning in the English language seems customized of a sort by many Ghanaians to serve their various communicative purposes. One major idea that was brought to light through the data analysis confirms the observation that Ghanaian English reflects the socio-cultural realities of its location in time and space. A study of the semantic changes in the meaning of English words in Ghana, at least, confirms the fact that some of these changes are attributable to certain socio-cultural realities that the language must express in its new home. For instance, through colonial encounter, certain aspects of foreign culture have crept into indigenous Ghanaian culture such that in the area of marriage, for example, the Ghanaian traditional marriage is now seen as betrothal and called „engagement‟ as such; marriage in the White fashion, church marriage particularly, is now what seems the preferred marriage in Ghana and accordingly, Ghanaians call it „wedding‟ Since the traditional way of marriage is indispensable, it is now co-existent with this foreign style of marriage such that in effect, there is a kind of double wedding. This creates the impression that most Ghanaians have come to appreciate this aspect of foreign culture more than theirs. The meaning of the word „knock‟ for example, has been imbued with an indigenous Ghanaian cultural reality, making one of its extended meanings „to formally ask a maiden‟s or woman‟s hand in marriage from her family‟. Literal translation as a mechanism of semantic change in Ghanaian English partly shows that some Ghanaians tend to think in their local languages first before they relay it in English. 118 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.4 GENERAL CONCLUSION The primary goal of this research was to explore semantic change in Ghanaian English with a view to foregrounding the mechanisms of the change. The study was conducted under Kachru ‟s (1992) sociolinguistic framework of describing non-native varieties of English. This sociolinguistic framework is predicated on liberation linguistics and acknowledges the adaptability of language to reflect sociocultural and functional realities. It also upholds the notion of innovation and creativity with English as a Second Language rather than the notion of „errors‟. Data for this study was collected from both written and spoken sources and analysed within the framework of sense relations and rhetorical ideas. The rationales of this study were to ascertain creativity in the lexical changes in Ghanaian English; help to improve attitudes towards Ghanaian English and to add to the text collections on its description. It was found that Metaphor, Metonymy, Euphemism, Hyperbole, Synecdoche, Simile and Calquing are the mechanisms of semantic change in Ghanaian English. Accordingly, the causal kinds of semantic change, that is, the kinds of semantic change involved in meaning creation in Ghanaian English are: Metaphoric, Metonymic, Euphemistic, Hyperbolic, Synecdochic, Similized and Calqued semantic changes. Analogy, Association, Exaggeration, Understatement, Propriety or Expediency and L1 transference are the underlying factors of these semantic changes in Ghanaian English. Patterns from these changes also show that the lexis of English has somehow been creatively customized in Ghana and it mirrors some socio-cultural realities. One important observation that is worth a mention here is that most of the lexical items that were collected as data for analysis did not come from the written sources. They were sparse, and in some cases, as good as absent, in the written or printed works, even in some informal writings. 119 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh This confirms Dako‟s (2002, p. 49) observation that, probably because of prescriptivism or the view of Ghanaianisms as „deviances‟, „…in current writing, they are either present, but isolated on the page…or they are entirely absent, as if they did not exist.‟ This seems hypocritical and brings into question the attitude of some Ghanaians towards Ghanaian English. If the English of the written corpus in Ghana and by Ghanaians does not reflect some important linguistic realities in Ghanaian English, then the impression is created that freedom of expression in English in Ghana is limited. Don‟t you think that Ghanaian English needs linguistic liberation? There could be local or national standardisation to deal with the issue of what is accepted or not accepted; what is formal or informal, etc. Regarding the issue of international intelligibility, publicity of these linguistic changes globally can help. 120 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH From the collection and analysis of data for this research, some research-worthy areas came up that the researcher had to gloss over because they did not directly fall within the purview of the research objectives of this work. One of such areas is the motivations for and socio-cultural significance of literal translation in Ghanaian English. Another is syntactic change due to semantic change in Ghanaian English. What one could also look at is the exploration of malapropisms in Ghanaian English. The diachronic study of semantic change in Ghanaian English is another challenging research area that one could venture. The researcher also observed that English words that are borrowed into local languages, especially Twi take on interestingly different meanings so one could also opt to explore that. Text collections on the semantics of Ghanaian English shall be immensely augmented if future researchers would take up the challenge and conduct researches into these areas. All this will improve the chances of securing ample recognition for Ghanaian English to make way for its majority acceptance, promotion, growth and codification as a New English with as much autonomy as British or American English. 121 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh REFERENCES Ahulu, S. (1994). “How Ghanaian is Ghanaian English?” English Today, 38, 25-29. Ahulu, S. (1995). “Hybridized English in Ghana.” English Today, 44, 31-36. Ahulu, S. (1996). “Just how innovative are the „New Englishes‟?” English Today, 46, 32-34. Aidoo, A. A. (1995). The dilemma of a ghost. London: Longman. Algeo, J. 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World Englishes: Implications for international communication and English language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 125 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Koranteng, L. (2006). “Ghanaian English: A description of the sound system and phonological features”. Ph.D. dissertation. University of Ghana. Kropp Dakubu, M. E. (Ed.) (2002). Ghanaian Journal of English Studies. Accra; Sedco Publishers. Lyons, J. (1963). Structural Semantics. Oxford: Blackwell. Lyons, J. (1977). Semantics. (2 vols.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. McArthur, T. (1993). The English language or the English languages? Whitney, F., Bolton, K. and Crystal, D. (Eds.) The English Language. London: Penguin, 323-341. McArthur, T. (1998). The English languages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Merriam-Webster, Inc. (2016). Merriam-Webster – Android apps on Google play. Retrieved from http://play.google.com/store/?id=com.merriamwebster&hl=en Modiano, M. 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New York: Linguistic Circle of New York. 128 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh Wiktionary (2016). English dictionary: The free dictionary. Retrieved from http://en.wiktionary.org./wiki/English 129 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh APPENDICES SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR 1) Can you lend me your notebook, please? I‟d like to fill in my potholes. 2) Charley I‟m hot o; I sent the money to a wrong account 3) Don‟t choose his course o: that man is a mafia lecturer. 4) When your pockets are dry and you don‟t know which way to turn for help, call on Jesus. 5) Please give me tuo zafi 2 cedis and towel 3 Ghana; I like a lot of stew. 6) Wow! I check your dress. 7) Can you pull that track for me? 8) Cheap party! They are only using this as care of to make the government unpopular (intensifier). 9) The way you‟ve been looking at me, I can see that if you get me you will chop me paa. 10) Today I must chop fufu. 11) After chopping all his money, she left him. 12) She will chop 70 next year. 13) He chopped lotto last week. 14) I want to chop this Christmas overseas. 15) Darrel was first but Dan chopped last. 130 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16) So you‟re chewing that small girl, ehn? You‟re very wicked. 17) The exam‟s tomorrow, I know, but no fear; I‟ll chew everything tonight. 18) Can you pull that track for me? 19) Hey! Look at him, this little boy wants to give me format; when did you come into this scam business? 20) How could a fresh boy like you attend University of Ghana for four good years without grabbing? 21) Even concrete that used to be considered a meal for the poor is now as expensive as Jollof. 22) Will this small food reach you? 23) The money for the materials won‟t reach. 24) Please, the change has not reached. 25) At a time like this, when the month was so far gone and all there was the half-life of Passion Week (as cited in Sey, 1973, p. 106). 26) The President‟s wife is a heavy woman. 27) We were packed into the bus like sardines but luckily one fresh girl happened to sit beside me, our bodies clinging; you can‟t imagine the current I enjoyed. 131 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28) He therefore called on the people of the Volta Region (don‟t forget that is NDC‟s World Bank) (as cited in Dako, 2001, p. 31). 29) What? You call this concert training to win the Spelling Bee? SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS EUPHEMISM 30) She is chisel: when she is removing money, it‟s as if she is pulling the hairs in her nostrils. 31) The late President Mills was well-known for occasional shots in parliament and elsewhere. 32) Eating too much bread makes it very hard for me to download with ease. 33) Hey, there comes Esi; she‟s coming to snoop as usual and then go and download. 34) Why is it practically impossible to be nice to a man without him thinking you are offering him a „scholarship‟? (as cited in Sey, 1973, p. 108) 35) Even the opening scene in that film will send you jacking; watching it, I jacked throughout. 36) Is that woman lying across your street correct? SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METAPHOR PLUS HYBERBOLE 37) I‟m not afraid for him; I know he is going to blow the paper. 38) Kwadwo…had really blown the exams to get straight A‟s (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako 2003, p. 41). 132 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METONYMY 39) I couldn‟t iron my dress because there was no light. 40) I was too tired to paste before going to bed yesternight. 41) My paste is finished. 42) People are just squatting anywhere (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako, 2001). 43) Hey, you‟ve got to stop indulging yourself on sweets else you‟ll get white. 44) The food I ate at the party made me run all night 45) It is when you squeeze the leaf of a plant that you hear its scent. 46) Ho, that man, he doesn‟t hear English o. 47) There‟s a mosquito biting you, can‟t you hear it? 48) Has he (the baby) pushed? 49) They say the choir master has been pushing the ladies in the choir. 50) Joseph, push for Catherine to sit by you. 51) As for today you‟re going to sponsor me lunch. 52) Sponsor me one yoghurt. 53) He wants fans but he will get none. 54) They gave him a lot of fans when he sang. 55) Please remember me to bring the notes to you on Monday. 56) Can you borrow me 50 cedis? I‟ll give it back tomorrow. 57) Hey don‟t touch that wire; it will kick you. 58) Nowadays it is those who give the fattest collections that are regarded at church. 59) The paper was hard. 133 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60) I have finished my papers! Now I can sleep and have fun for as long as I want. 61) The knocking ceremony was successful. SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY METONYMY PLUS EUPHEMISM 62) I am going to private. 63) They say that hooligan has become obituary. 64) Bribe money is often cloaked in…not so fancy names…”envelope”…(as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 84). 65) Is that the white house? SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SYNECDOCHE 66) The bus was full so some of the students had to sit on the legs of the older ones. 67) While a student and sports boy at the Accra Academy, Asamoah Djan could dribble from pole to pole. 68) He asked me what I would like to drink, and I opted for mineral (Chronicle, 20- 21.8.1997; as cited in Dako 2001, p. 31). SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY HYPERBOLE 69) When he tells you to look down, look up; he is such a spinner. 70) You said you were going to ask questions on the digestive system but you spinned us. 134 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh SEMANTIC EXTENSION BY SIMILE 71) He advised graduates of vocational institutes to form cooperative ventures. 72) …whose credentials a kindergarten graduate would not be enthused about. 73) In Ghanaian English, anyone who neither comes from nor lives in a village but behaves like one is also called a villager. SEMANTIC NARROWING BY SYNECDOCHE 74) Any demon that has come here to create in our midst, we bind him in Jesus‟ name. 75) Those guys like causing too much. 76) What at all did you do to give him reason to mean you like this? 77) You, I will get you; I will show you. SEMANTIC NARROWING BY METONYMY 78) All that the youth of today know and think of is life. 79) (Of someone who is gaudily dressed) Ei, you and life! Life will kill you. 80) There is no pipe in that village. 81) Hey, turn off the pipe and stop wasting the water. SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE 82) Hey, as for that church, please don‟t attend; I hear that they do rituals. 135 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83) They say he was used for rituals o, for blood money. In Ghanaian English, „silly’ usually means imbecilic or idiotic. SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS INTENSIFICATION BY HYPERBOLE 84) She likes flexing too much. 85) The chairman at an engagement ceremony is expected to offer pieces of advice to the newly married couple (St. Ess. 1996; as cited in Dako, 2003, p. 83). 86) Engagement is the actual marriage; as for the wedding it is just some church ceremony. SEMANTIC NARROWING PLUS WEAKENING BY LITOTES 87) All his family members are sharks. 88) I was in a hurry so although the place is not far, I chartered a taxi rather than walk as usual. SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND/OR AMELIORATION BY HYPERBOLE 89) Jakes has released a new ride; you should see it, it‟s so tough. 136 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90) Has he the money it takes to win, much less to talk of marry, such a tough lady? 91) I want some fresh boy to marry, not this Shaka Zulu of a man. 92) What you did was not fresh „koraa‟; you didn‟t do well at all. 93) Unlike last year‟s which was quite poorly attended, several people attended the party‟s mammoth rally this year. 94) Those guys only go round flirting: sleeping with almost everything in skirt. 95) The last Christmas I chilled papa: I spent a whole week at White Sands. I swam for as long as I wanted, treated myself to sumptuous meals, great wines, music and friendship. SEMANTIC INTENSIFICATION AND PEJORATION BY HYPERBOLE 96) I don‟t like the way you do things by heart. 97) The gadgets they sell there are connection ones, either robbed or thieved. 98) That boy bombed his exams but I don‟t know how he managed to gain admission, and to read administration in such a top university; well, connection as usual. 99) In Ghana, a villager is any barbarian or highly uncivilized person. CALQUED/IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS 100) As for that tailor, if you don‟t stand on him, he won‟t sew your dress for you o. 137 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 101) Mahama is obviously not seeing top. 102) The Students Representative Council (SRC) of…Polytechnic has threatened to advise itself if the government continued to disregard the... (as cited Dako, 2003, p. 13). 103) It has gone you papa (intensifier). 104) It looks like the dress has become small; will it go you? 105) I can see that you people are on me today. 106) Reverting to three years of senior high school education? Did we go or did we come? 107) If you want to blow this paper too, you know what to do: just come and see me in chambers. 108) Go and do me show. 109) Do him fine for me, ok. 110) Why have you squeezed your face like that? 111) He doesn‟t put enough money on the table, yet he expects to be fed sumptuously. 112) We shall see who removes money in this house! 113) Go and paste and stop blowing us fuse. 114) Is that guy there with your sister? 138 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115) Please, are you here? 116) No, please you can‟t sit there; someone is sitting there. 117) I forgot myself and put the money rather in the dustbin. 118) That guy‟s eyes are fixed this way because of you so sit well. 119) They are snatching our husbands with their „am awares‟. 120) Pastors who tell people that their grandmothers or mothers are doing them had better watch their mouth. 121) They say her husband weeds on Tuesdays. 122) If you think it is not true, then come and remove your mouth. 123) I‟m going to buy face the wall. 139