Valency changing processes in Akan

22 Pages·2017·0.17 MB·English

Chapter 7
Valency changing processes in Akan
E. Kweku Osam
UniversityofGhana
Valency has been considered as both a semantic and syntactic notion. Semantically it is
usedtorefertotheparticipantsinanevent;asasyntacticnotionitisusedtoindicatethe
number of arguments in a construction. In Akan, a Kwa language spoken in Ghana, we
canidentifyvarioustransitivityclassesofverbs: verbsthatarestrictlyintransitive;those
thatarestrictlytransitive; andverbsthatareusedditransitively. Apartfromthese,there
areverbsthatcanbeusedbothintransitivelyandtransitively. Criticaltothestudyofthe
notionofvalencyinAkanisthefactthatthereisclearevidenceforgrammaticalrelations
inthelanguage.Asisthecaseinmanylanguages,Akanpossessesmorphosyntacticmeans
throughwhichthevalencyofverbscanbeadjusted. Theapplicationofthesemorphosyn-
tacticprocessesreducesorincreasesthevalencyofverbs. Thispaperexaminesthesepro-
cessesinAkan. Thecriticalvalency-reducingprocessesinAkanarereflexivization,recip-
rocals, anticausative/inchoative constructions, impersonal constructions, object omission
constructions,andunspecifiedobjectconstructions. Valency-increasingprocessesinclude
causativizationandagentivizationthroughserialization.
1 Introduction
Thelinguisticsliteratureisrepletewithstudiesonvalency–thosethataretheoretical,
cross-linguistic,andothersthatfocusonthestudyofvalencyinspecificlanguages.The
interest in understanding the notion of valency has resulted in a number of volumes
dedicated to the subject. Notable among these are Comrie & Polinsky (1993), Dixon
& Aikhenvald (2000a), Malchukov & Comrie (In press). The papers in Malchukov &
Comrie(Inpress)cameoutoftheLeipzigValencyClassesProjectandtheConference
on Valency Classes in the World’s Languages held in 2011. Worthy of mention is also
Nichols,Peterson&Barnes(2004)thatputforwardtheideaofthebasicvalencyorien-
tationoflanguages.AsinthecaseoftheLeipzigProject,anumberofscholarsadopting
themethodologyofNicholsandassociates,haveexaminedthebasicvalencyorientation
ofvariouslanguages(see,forexample,Narogg2009;Plank&Lahiri2009;vanGelderen
2011;Luraghi2012).
ThegoalofthispaperistoexaminethevalencyofAkanverbsandexplorethemor-
phosyntactic processes that apply to modify the valency of verbs. It is expected that
E.KwekuOsam.2016.ValencychangingprocessesinAkan.InDorisL.Payne,Sara
Pacchiarotti&MokayaBosire(eds.),DiversityinAfricanlanguages,117–139.Berlin:
LanguageSciencePress. DOI:10.17169/langsci.b121.478
E.KwekuOsam
thepaperwillhelpexpandfurtherourunderstandingofthebehaviorofverbsinAkan,
buildingonwhathasbeenreportedinOsam(2008b).
ThispaperisbasedontheAkanVerbsDatabaseprojectwhichwasimplementedinthe
DepartmentofLinguistics,UniversityofGhana,between2009and2011,andforwhich
I was the Principal Investigator. The project was funded by the University of Ghana
ResearchFund.Bytheendoftheproject,adatabaseofover3,500verbstemsandother
verbformshadbeencreated.
Thedatacomefromvarioussources,includingpublishednarratives,translatedworks
and,insomecases,constructedexamplesbasedonmyknowledgeasanativespeaker.
Thepaperisstructuredasfollows:§2providesanoverviewoftheverbalmorphology,
focusing on the tense-aspects distinctions of the language and clause structure/gram-
maticalrelations. Thissectionalsocoverssomeaspectsofserialverbconstructionsin
thelanguagesincetheyhaveabearingonvalencyadjustmentinthelanguage.§3deals
withAkanverbclasses.In§4themorphosyntacticprocessesthatreducethevalencyof
verbs are discussed; §5 and §6 focus on the processes that increase valency. §7 is the
summaryandconclusion.
ThelabelAkanisusedtorefertoagroupofcloselyrelateddialectsspokeninGhana,
and partially in the south eastern parts of Cote d´Ivoire. It belongs to the Kwa sub-
family of Niger-Congo. The name also refers to the people who speak the language.
ThedialectsofAkaninclude:Agona,Ahafo,Akuapem,Akwamu,Akyem,Asante,Assin,
Bono,Denkyira,Fante,Kwahu,andWassa.Generally,exceptFante,alltheotherdialects
tendtobeclassifiedasTwiintermsofAkandialectology. Currentspeakerpopulation
isestimatedatnearlytenmillion.
2 Some morphosyntactic features of Akan
In this section I provide an overview of tense/aspect and clause structure in the lan-
guage. IshouldpointoutthatAkanisatwotonelanguageandoneoftheoutstanding
phonological features of the language is the presence of Tongue Root Harmony in all
thedialectsandroundingharmonyintheFantedialect. Thediscussionthroughoutthe
paperwilldrawexamplesfromtheFante(Fa)dialectandinsomecasesfromtheAsante
(As)andAkuapem(Ak)dialectsaswell.ExamplesdrawnfromFantewillgenerallynot
beidentifiedassuch; thosefromAsanteandAkuapemwillbeindicatedasAsandAk,
respectively,inparenthesesgenerallyattheendofatranslation.
2.1 Verbalaffixes
InAkanverbalconstructionsaregenerallyformedwiththeverbanditsperson,tense,
aspect,mood,andpolarityaffixes.Therearealsoverbalprefixestomarkmotiontowards
orawayfromadeicticcentre(Table1).
The pre-verbal affixes in Akan include the tense/aspect markers. As I have argued
elsewhere(Osam1994a;2008a),AkancanbesaidtohaveaFutureTenseandthefollow-
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Table1:SubjectPrefixes
1sg me-
2sg wo-,i-(Fa)
3sg ɔ-
3sg(inanimate) ɛ-(inAk,AsandsomeFasubdialects)
1pl yɛ-
2pl mo-/wɔ-(Fa)
3pl wɔ-/yɛ-
ing aspectual forms: Completive (compl), Perfect (perf), Progressive (prog), Habitual
(hab),Continuative(cont),andConsecutive(consec).
TheFuturetenseiscodedbytheprefixbɛ-.Therealizationofthevowelisdetermined
byvowelharmony,especiallyintheFantedialect(seeDolphyne1988).
(1) a. Íyí bɛ́-mà kóŕ-yɛ́ à-bà hóḿ ńtámú.
thisfut-makeone-becons-come2pl.possmiddle
‘Thiswillbringunityamongyou.’(Krampah1970:79)
b. Dàákyéyè-bé-nyá bì á-ká á-kyèrɛ́ à-fófóró.
future 1pl.subj-fut-getsomecons-saycons-showpl-new
‘Infuturewewillhavesomethingtotellothers.’(Adi1973:34;Ak)
WhatIconsidertheCompletiveiswhatinthegeneralliteratureonAkanisreferred
toasthePasttense.However,Ihaveshowninvariousplaces(Osam1994a;2004;2008b)
thatthisformismoreofanaspectthantense.TheCompletiveisasuffixintheaffirma-
tive;butaprefixinthenegative.
(2) a. Né ǹ-sèẁ-nóḿ bèènúnyìnáyɛ́-ɛ̀ èdzìbàń.
3sg.posspl-in.law-coltwo all make-complfood
‘Eachofhistwoin-lawscooked.’(Krampah1970:57)
b. Né ǹ-sèẁ-nóḿ bèènúnyìnáà-ǹ-yɛ́ èdzìbàń.
3sg.posspl-in.law-coltwo all compl-neg-makefood
‘Histwoin-lawsdidnotcook.’
ThePerfectaspectisrealizedbytheprefixa-,andgenerallyagreeswiththevowelof
theverbrootinATRharmony.
(3) a. Bànyíńnó á-tɔ̀ àsàásé.
man defperf-buyland
‘Themanhasboughtapieceofland.’
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E.KwekuOsam
b. M`-bòfránó á-bà fíé.
pl-child defperf-comehome
‘Thechildrenhavecomehome.’
TheProgressiveisaprefix,re-.
(4) a. Mààménó rè-hwè-hwɛ́ né bá nó.
womandefprog-redu-look3sg.posschilddef
‘Thewomanislookingforherchild.’
b. Àbòfránó rù-tù-tú ǹ-wúrá nó.
child defprog-redu-uprootpl-weeddef
‘Thechildisremovingtheweeds.’
AkanalsohasaHabitualaspectwhichisrealizedbytone(seeDolphyne1988formore
discussiononthis).
(5) a. Òkùàfónó kɔ̀ hàbáńmùànɔ̀pá bíárá.
farmer defgo;habfarm in morningevery
‘Thefarmergoestothefarmeverymorning.’
b. Akosuatɔ̀ǹ ǹdzɛ́ḿbáwɔ̀ gúá-mú.
Akosuasell;habthings in market-in
‘Akosuasellsinthemarket.’
Twooftheaspects,theContinuativeandConsecutive,aretreatedasderivedaspects.
The Continuative is used for stative verbs where the Progressive is used for dynamic
verbs. The Consecutive aspect applies to non-initial verbs in a serial construction in
whichtheinitialverbisineithertheProgressiveaspectortheFuturetense. Generally,
theConsecutiveisrealizedasalowtoneà-.
(6) a. Àbòfránó tsè dùá nó ásé.
child defsit/conttreedefunder
‘Thechildissittingunderthetree.’
b. Kwesigyìnà fíé nó ényíḿ.
Kwesistand/conthousedeffront
‘Kwesiisstandinginfrontofthehouse.’
(7) a. Bànyíńnó bɛ́-sáẃ à-kyèrɛ́ dɔ́ḿ nó.
man deffut-dancecons-showcrowddef
‘Themanwilldanceforthecrowd.’
b. Kofirè-náńtsèẁà-kɔ̀ skúùl.
Kofiprog-walk cons-goschool
‘Kofiiswalkingtoschool.’
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ThereareverbalconstructionsinAkanwhichsometimeshavetwoprefixes,bɛ-and
kɔ-.Theseprefixesarisefromtheverbsfor‘come’and‘go’,respectively.Ihavereferred
totheseasMotionalprefixes(Osam2002).Theyreflectthemovementtowardsoraway
fromadeicticcentrewhereaneventtakesplace. Movementtowardsthedeicticcentre
ismarkedbythe‘come’verb;andawayfromthecentreismarkedbythe‘go’verb.
(8) a. Amabɔ̀-sɔ́-ɔ̀ gyáwɔ̀ dáń nó ékyìr̀.
Amacome-light-complfire at buildingdefback
‘Amacameandlitafirebehindthebuilding.’
b. Esikɛ̀-fá-à èkùtú nó bá-à fíé.
Esigo-take-complorangedefcome-complhome
‘Esiwentandbroughttheorangeshome.’
Even though it is too early to say that Akan has a prospective aspect, the language
hasthemeanstoexpressprospectivemeaning. Thisisdonethroughacombinationof
theProgressiveandthe‘come’Motionalprefix.
(9) a. Ɔ̀màǹpànyíńrè-bɔ́-sɔ́ŕ.
president prog-come-stand
‘Thepresidentisabouttorise.’
b. Hyɛ́ń nó rè-bé-gyíná.
vehicledefprog-come-stop
‘Thevehicleisabouttostop.’
Thelanguagemakesatwowaydistinctionintermsofmood–theindicativeandthe
Imperative.TheImperativehastwomanifestations;whatwemaycallImperativeproper
andtheOptative.WhereastheImperativehasnosegmentalrepresentation,theOptative
isrealizedthroughtheuseofahomorganicnasalwithahightone,ń-.
(10) a. Gyàè!
stop/imp
‘Stopit.’
b. Yɛ́-ń-kɔ́.
1pl-opt-go
‘Let’sgo.’
Thelanguageusesahomorganicnasalprefixtoexpressnegation.
(11) a. Mì-ǹ-nyím̀ èdwúmáâ ɔ́-yɛ́.
1sg.subj-neg-knowwork rel3sg.subj-do
‘Idon’tknowwhatworkshedoes.’
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E.KwekuOsam
b. Mààménó à-ǹ-ká àsɛ́ḿ nó à-ǹ-kyèrɛ́ né ḿ-bá
womandefcompl-neg-saymatterdefcompl-neg-show3sg.posspl-child
nó.
def
‘Thewomandidn’ttellherchildrenaboutthecase.’
2.2 Verbalreduplication
ManyverbsinAkanaresubjecttothemorphologicalprocessofreduplication.Generally,
verbal reduplication is required where the event is iterative and/or where either the
SubjectorDirectObjectNPsorbothareplural.
(12) a. Áféí ǹ-nàm̀fò yí kyìǹ-kyíń-ń à-dɔ́fó kàkráâ wó-níḿ
nowpl-friendtheseredu-roam-complpl-loverfew rel3pl.subj-know
wɔ́ń nó sò krá-krà-à wɔ̀ǹ.
3pl.objdcmonredu-bid.farewell-compl3pl.obj
‘Nowthesetwofriendsvisitedsomeoftheirfriendstobidthemfarewell.’
(Adi1973:41;Ak)
b. Né nà nà n-égyà é-wú-wú.
3sg.possmotherand3sg.poss-fatherperf-redu-die
‘Bothhismotherandfatheraredead.’(Martin1936:24)
2.3 Akanclausestructure
ThesyntaxofAkandistinguishesgrammaticalrelations,ashasbeendiscussedinvarious
studies(Osam1994a;1996;1997;2000;2004).ThelanguagehasSubjectandDirectObject
withNominativeAccusativemarkingthatisrealizedthroughwordorder. WordOrder
inthelanguageisstrictlySVO,withverylittlevariation.
2.3.1 Transitiveconstructions
The prototypical Akan transitive clause has A (as Subject) and O (as Direct Object) as
corearguments.TheAargumentprecedestheO;andeachcanberealizedasfullNPor
asapronominalelement.
(13) a. Akosuakyè-è àkókɔ́ nó.
Akosuacatch-complchickendef
‘Akosuacaughtthechicken.’(As)
b. Ò-kùà-fó nó á-dáá-dàà ɔ̀-bɔ̀-fó nó.
sg-farm-idmdefperf-redu-deceivesg-hit-idmdef
‘Thefarmerhasdeceivedthehunter.’
If the O argument is inanimate, it is not represented by a pronominal form unless
someotherclausalelementcomesafterit.
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(14) a. Ò-wíà-à náḿnó.
3sg.subj-steal-complfish def
‘Hestolethefish.’
b. Ò-wíà-è Ø.
3sg.subj-steal-compl
‘Hestoleit.’
c. Ò-wíà-à nò ńdédà.
3sg.subj-steal-compl3sg.objyesterday
‘Hestoleityesterday.’
AtransitiveclausecouldalsohaveoptionalObliqueelementsexpressedbylocational
(bothspatialandtemporal)phrases. Itcouldalsobeapostpositionalphrase. Generally,
obliqueswouldoccurinclause-initialorclause-finalpositions.
(15) a. Mààménó sí-ì dáń ḿfédà.
womandefbuild-complhouselast.year
‘Thewomanbuiltahouselastyear.’
b. Ḿfédà mààmé nó síì dáń.
last.yearwomandefbuild-complhouse
‘Lastyearthewomanbuiltahouse.’
2.3.2 Intransitiveconstructions
Thesingleargumentofanintransitiveclause,theSargument,alwaysprecedesthepred-
icate.
(16) a. Èdzìbàńnó á-bèǹ.
food defperf-be.cooked
‘Thefoodiscooked.’
b. Ɔ̀-sɔ́-fó nó wú-ù ńdédà.
sg-pray-idmdefdie-complyesterday
‘Thepriestdiedyesterday.’
2.3.3 Ditransitiveconstructions
Akan has ditransitive constructions in which there are three core arguments, agent,
benefactive and theme. In ditransitive constructions, the NP in the immediate post-
verbal position is grammatically the Direct Object and semantically the benefactive.
The entity that is transferred, the theme, occurs after the benefactive NP. I have re-
ferredtothisastheAsymmetricalObject (Osam2000).
(17) a. Mààménó má-à m̀-bòfránó èdzìbáń.
womandefgive-complpl-childdeffood
‘Thewomangavethechildrenfood.’
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E.KwekuOsam
b. Pàpánó kyɛ́-ɛ̀ hɔ̀ǹ sìká.
man defgift-compl3pl.objmoney
‘Themangavethemmoney.’
2.3.4 Serialverbconstructions
One feature of Akan syntax crucial to valency discussions is serial verb constructions
(SVC). Akan serialization has been studied extensively (see, for example, Lord 1973;
Schachter 1974; Essilfie 1977; Forson 1990; Osam 1994a,b; 1997; 2004; 2014; Agyeman
2002;Hellan,Beermann&Andenes2003;Kambon2012).Withoutgoingintothedetails
ofAkanSVCs,itisimportanttoidentifysomesalientfeatures.
Subjectmarking: thesubjectmaybeaNPorapronominalformthatoccursononly
theinitialverb.
(18) a. Yaakwan-ábákáń gyínà-è yɛ́-ɛ̀ kyèámé bɔ́-ɔ̀
Yaakwa3sg.poss-first.bornstand-complbe-complspokespersontell-compl
fíé àmàǹdzɛ̀ɛ́kyérɛ̀-ɛ̀ à-hɔ́hó nó.
homenews show-complpl-visitordef
‘Yaakwa’seldestsonstoodasthespokespersonandbriefedthevisitors.’
(Krampah1970:83)
b. Wɔ̀-twé-è nó gyìná-à ǹkyɛ́ń.
3pl.subj-pull-compldefstand-complaside
‘Theypulledhimaside.’(Adi1973:31;Ak)
Generally,thereisuniformityintense/aspectcoding,asshownintheexamplesabove.
However,mixedtense/aspectispossibleinsomeSVCs.
NegationMarking:acrossalldialectsofAkan,eachverbintheseriestakesthenegation
prefixwhenthesentenceisnegated,asin(19).
(19) Mààménó à-ǹ-tɔ́ èdzìbàńà-m̀-má né ḿ-bá nó.
womandefcompl-neg-buyfood compl-neg-give3.sg.posspl-childdef
‘Thewomandidnotbuyfoodforherchildren.’
In some serial constructions, the initial verb is de/dze. This is a form with reduced
verbalproperties.ThedeisusedintheTwidialectsanddzeisusedinFante.
(20) a. Wɔ̀-dè àsɛ́ḿ nó kɔ́-ɔ̀ àhèm̀fíé.
3pl.subj-takematterdefgo-complpalace
‘Theytookthecasetothepalace.’(Ak)
b. Ɔ̀-dzè n-áhòɔ̀dzéń nyìnáyɛ́-ɛ̀ èdwúmányá-à sìká.
3sg.subj-take3sg.poss-strengthall do-complwork get-complmoney
‘Sheworkedveryhardandmademoney.’
The de serialization is also relevant in the expression of agentive arguments in the
caseofverbsofspatiallocation.Thiswillbefurtherdiscussedin§5.2.
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3 Akan verb classes
Basedontheirargumentstructure,varioustransitivityclassesofverbscanbeidentified
inAkan.Somearestrictlyintransitive(§3.1),somearestrictlytransitive(§3.2),someare
ditransitive (§3.3), and some have varying expressions of arguments. Verbs of the last
typeareaddressedin§4and§5.
3.1 Strictlyintransitive/monovalent
Monovalentverbsoccurwithasingleargument;theSargumentonly(Table2).
Table2:Monovalentverbs
béń ‘becooked’ bèr̀ ‘beripe,befairincomplexion’
dwó ‘cool’ fé ‘becomesoft/smooth’
hóń ‘swell’ hwéḿ ‘blowone’snose’
hwèǹtsì ‘sneeze’ péŕ ‘struggle,rollaroundduringsleep’
prɔ̀ ‘rot’ húŕ ‘boil’
(21) a. Èdzìbàńnó á-bèǹ.
food defperf-cook
‘Thefoodiscooked.’
b. Àǹkàá nó á-prɔ́.
orangesdefperf-rot
‘Theorangesarerotten.’
3.2 Strictlytransitive/bivalent
Thereareverbsthatrequiretwoarguments,AandO(Table3).
Table3:Bivalentverbs
bòr̀ ‘beat’ dààdàà ‘deceive’ hyìrà ‘bless’
ká ‘bite’ kú ‘kill’ kyé ‘catch’
nyɛ́ń ‘rear’ pàà ‘curse’ sànè ‘infect’
sìè ‘bury’ táń ‘hate’
(22) a. Ɔ̀-bɔ̀-fóɔ́ nó kú-ù ɔ̀sónó.
sg-hit-idmdefkill-complelephant
‘Thehunterkilledanelephant.’
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E.KwekuOsam
b. Abamsíè-è né mààmé.
Abambury-compl3sg.possmother
‘Abamburiedhismother.’
3.3 Ditransitive/trivalent
There are verbs that are ditransitive or trivalent. These require three core arguments
(Table4).
Table4:Trivalentverbs
kyɛ́ ‘togift,giveasagift’ gyé ‘charge’
má ‘give’ kyèrɛ̀ ‘teach,show’
(23) a. Ńtsíɔ̀-má-à nò à-hɛ́ń èbìásá.
so 3sg.subj-give-compl3sg.objpl-boatthree
‘Soshegavehimthreeboats.’(Martin1936:8)
b. Esikyɛ́-ɛ̀ pàpánó sìká.
Esigift-complman defmoney
‘Esigavethemanmoney.’
4 Decreasing valence
There are morphosyntactic processes that reduce verb valence. In various languages,
morphologicalderivationsareutilizedinreducingthevalenceofaverb.Butashasbeen
pointedoutintheliterature,verbscanalsomanifestachangeinthevalencestructure
withouttheapplicationofanymorphologicalprocesses:“Alternationsinaverb’svalency
patternarenotnecessarilytheresultofamorphologicalderivationalprocess. Verbsor
wholeclassesofverbsmayhavealternatevalencypatternswithoutanychangeintheir
formalmakeup…”(Haspelmath&Müller-Bardey2004:1131).
4.1 Reflexivization
Reflexivization in Akan is marked by the use of a possessive (poss) pronoun and the
morphemeho‘self’.
(24) a. Kofié-kù Yaw.
Kofiperf-killYaw
‘KofihaskilledYaw.’
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