Access the full text.
Sign up today, get DeepDyve free for 14 days.
Loading next page...
/lp/de-gruyter/verbal-alternations-in-akan-xvapMir1zy
References (3)
-
Adam Kern (2000)
Studies in the Comic Spirit in Modern Japanese Fiction . By Joel R. Cohn. Harvard-Yenching Institute Monograph Series, 41. Cambridge.: Harvard University Asia Center, 1998. xvii, 253 pp. $40.00.The Journal of Asian Studies, 59
-
J. Bresnan, Lioba Moshi (1990)
Object asymmetries in comparative Bantu syntaxLinguistic Inquiry, 21
-
David Perlmutter (1978)
Impersonal Passives and the Unaccusative Hypothesis, 4
- Publisher
- de Gruyter
- Copyright
- ©Walter de Gruyter
- ISSN
- 0167-6164
- eISSN
- 1613-3811
- DOI
- 10.1515/JALL.2008.003
- Publisher site
- See Article on Publisher Site
Abstract
It has been recognized (Levin 1993) that the variation in the expression of the arguments of a verb (verbal alternation) is based largely on its meaning. This paper explores the relevant alternations that verbs in Akan, a Kwa language of Ghana, participate in. The following alternations are identified as being applicable to verbs in the language: Causative/Inchoative Alternation, Unexpressed Object Alternations (made up of Understood Object, Unspecified Object, and Reflexive Object Alternations), and Ditransitive Alternations (consisting of Optional Theme Ditransitive and Definite Theme Ascension Alternations). There are also alternations that involve Non-Causative Verbs of Emission and Verbs of Spatial Configuration. An important observation arising out of the study is the interaction between certain types of alternations and a particular form of serial verb construction in the language.
Journal
Journal of African Languages and Linguistics – de Gruyter
Published: Jul 1, 2008