Abraham kwesi bisilki | The University of Hong Kong (original) (raw)
Papers by Abraham kwesi bisilki
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpal... more This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpaln, a Gur member of the Niger-Congo phylum, spoken mainly in the northern parts of Ghana. It focuses on the addressive usage of kinship terms. I use observation (both participant and non-participant) as a principal ethnographic data collection technique, supplemented by the semi-structured interview, informal conversation and my native speaker introspection. The analysis of data is informed by Dell Hyme's ethnography of communication as a theoretical frame. Based on the data analysed, I argue that kinship addresses in Likpakpaln can be categorised into three major types: agnatic, matrilateral and affinal kinship address forms, of which matrilateral and affinal kinship addresses are by complementary filiation. I also show that communicative ends have a significant influence on the vocative usage of kinship terms in interlocution among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba people). I further argue that the repertoire of Likpakpaln kinship addresses and the pattern of usage of these kinship addresses in communicative interactions is greatly tied to the Bikpakpaam kinship structure and social universe. Finally, I observe that there is a perceptible level of intercultural intrusion on the kinship address terms used among the Bikpakpaam.
Language Sciences
Abstract This paper is a contribution to the intellectual discourse on prototypical as well as em... more Abstract This paper is a contribution to the intellectual discourse on prototypical as well as emerging paradigms in African anthroponomy. It cross-sectionally examines traditional personal names among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba), a Gur ethnolinguistic group in northern Ghana. Situated within the general theoretical notion(s) of language-culture interface, the study adopts a mixed-method approach (using both qualitative and quantitative analyses) in describing Likpakpaln traditional personal names. Drawing on a stratified sample size of 600 personal names, the scope of this paper subsumes the typology, the changing patterns, the linguistic structure, and the communicative usage of personal names in the Bikpakpaam linguistic context. Typologically, the paper argues that indigenous Likpakpaln personal names can be categorised into six classes, of which insinuating/proverbial names constitute the preponderant category. Further to this, it is observed that there is particularly a contemporary shift towards what I call bearer-oriented insinuating/proverbial personal names. This shift in personal name preference hinges on a relatively novel cultural philosophical conviction of the Bikpakpaam that names have the power of de/constructing the personality and the trajectory of life of the individual. Also, importantly, the paper reveals that structurally, Likpakpaln personal names are predominantly clausal structures, although there are also names in phrasal and word forms. Ultimately, I show that the explication of the communicative usage of personal names among the Bikpakpaam as provided in this paper sets a stage for fashioning a cultural script for an aspect of addressing among the people.
This paper is a descriptive study on lilantaŋal/liyaataŋal ‘the proverb’ in Likpakpaln. The metho... more This paper is a descriptive study on lilantaŋal/liyaataŋal ‘the proverb’ in Likpakpaln. The methods employed included both participant and non-participant observations and the semi-structured interview. Also, a secondary material (a list of some proverbs in Likpakpaln) published by the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) in 1985 was consulted. The data ascertained through these procedures were filtered through informal conversations and by native speaker introspection. The paper discusses the conceptual meaning, functions, contexts of use and the artistry of the Likpakpaln ‘Konkomba’ proverb. In addition, a brief morpho-semantic analysis of the term, lilantaŋal is done in order to enhance the understanding of the concept. Firstly, the study establishes that the proverb as an oramedia tool in Likpakpaln permeates as many discourse platforms as exist among the Bikpakpaam (Konkomba people). Also, the paper observes that the use of proverbs as well as...
Contemporary Journal of African Studies
This paper describes an aspect of language use in the Ghanaian academic community, specifically i... more This paper describes an aspect of language use in the Ghanaian academic community, specifically investigating the use of evaluative speech acts in the review language of graduate students at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). The study is situated in Hyland’s (2004) conceptual framework of evaluative language. Using a content analysis approach to corpora, the study revealed that the reviews of the graduate students contained both positive and negative evaluative speech acts as well as linguistic mitigating strategies meant to soften criticisms that were face-threatening. However, it is worthy of note that the positive speech acts or praises were recorded in a higher proportion than were the criticisms. More intriguing was the discovery that much more of both the praise and the criticism were focused on the text, rather than on the author. Overall, the pattern of evaluative language use discovered in this analysis, if generalisable, renders the academic discourse culture of the Ghan...
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a littleresearched Mabi... more In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a littleresearched Mabia (Gur) language known as Līkpākpáln (Konkomba). Līkpākpáln is often associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it noticeably spreads beyond that. This study dwells on a corpus drawn from both natural discourse and elicitations. With only very minimal theoretical inspirations, the study observes that the morphological as well as the syntactic features of nominalised posture verbs are, largely, compliant of the generally known linguistic characteristics of Līkpākpáln nouns. Thus, the obligatory feature of affixation, simple and non-simple stem types are attested in the derived nominals. The syntactic idiosyncrasy of nominalised posture verbs is, however, their defiance to function as nominal modifiers in NP structure. In nominalisation strategy, I argue that Līkpākpáln posture verb nominalisation sees a preponderant synchronisation of the processes of prefixation and a reduplication of the posture verb base. Another relevant finding of this study is that the figurative uses and meanings of nominals derived from Līkpākpáln posture verbs reinforce the claim in Newman's (2002) socio-cultural domain of the semantic frame for the analysis of postural senses.
Legon Journal of the Humanities
This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. I... more This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. It makes a contribution to the policy research and dialogue component of a National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP), which is currently the school language policy strategy in Ghana. Through the use of structured questionnaires and a statistical analysis, the study assesses how the NALAP is being implemented in a scarcely referenced rural Nkwanta North District. A conclusion is reached that the NALAP is reduced to a mere ideological notion rather than an effectively run language policy in the Nkwanta North. The study also contends that any hope of the NALAP succeeding with its educational agenda in the Nkwanta North requires critical reforms in the local implementation framework, with some support from relevant central bodies.
Language Matters
Abstract Likpakpaln is a little-described Mabia (Gur) language of northern Ghana. Drawing on prim... more Abstract Likpakpaln is a little-described Mabia (Gur) language of northern Ghana. Drawing on primary data, this first study of adjectives in Likpakpaln concludes that the language has a small, closed adjective class of about 20 members that shares grammatical properties with nouns and verbs to varying degrees. Contrary to what is the case in other Mabia languages, Likpakpaln adjectives lack inherent class markers. We identify three types of adjectives, distinguishable from nouns and verbs on morpho-syntactic and semantic grounds. Type 1 items lean towards nouns and never function as predicates of verbal clauses. Type 2 consists of one item, possibly a loan, and appears in a predicate adjective construction typical of languages with large adjective classes. Type 3 adjectives lean towards verbs and may form the predicate of verbal clauses. An understanding of Likpakpaln adjectives can contribute to refining our current knowledge of the genetic and typological position of Likpakpaln in the Mabia family.
Legon Journal of the Humanities, 2018
This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. I... more This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. It makes a contribution to the policy research and dialogue component of a National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP), which is currently the school language policy strategy in Ghana. Through the use of structured questionnaires and a statistical analysis, the study assesses how the NALAP is being implemented in a scarcely referenced rural Nkwanta North District. A conclusion is reached that the NALAP is reduced to a mere ideological notion rather than an effectively run language policy in the Nkwanta North. The study also contends that any hope of the NALAP succeeding with its educational agenda in the Nkwanta North requires critical reforms in the local implementation framework, with some support from relevant central bodies.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpal... more This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpaln, a Gur member of the Niger-Congo phylum, spoken mainly in the northern parts of Ghana. It focuses on the addressive usage of kinship terms. I use observation (both participant and non-participant) as a principal ethnographic data collection technique, supplemented by the semi-structured interview, informal conversation and my native speaker introspection. The analysis of data is informed by Dell Hyme's ethnography of communication as a theoretical frame. Based on the data analysed, I argue that kinship addresses in Likpakpaln can be categorised into three major types: agnatic, matrilateral and affinal kinship address forms, of which matrilateral and affinal kinship addresses are by complementary filiation. I also show that communicative ends have a significant influence on the vocative usage of kinship terms in interlocution among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba people). I further argue that the repertoire of Likpakpaln kinship addresses and the pattern of usage of these kinship addresses in communicative interactions is greatly tied to the Bikpakpaam kinship structure and social universe. Finally, I observe that there is a perceptible level of intercultural intrusion on the kinship address terms used among the Bikpakpaam.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 2019
In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a little-researched Mab... more In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a little-researched Mabia (Gur) language known as Līkpākpáln (Konkomba). Līkpākpáln is often associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it noticeably spreads beyond that. This study dwells on a corpus drawn from both natural discourse and elicitations. With only very minimal theoretical inspirations, the study observes that the morphological as well as the syntactic features of nominalised posture verbs are, largely, compliant of the generally known linguistic characteristics of Līkpākpáln nouns. Thus, the obligatory feature of affixation, simple and non-simple stem types are attested in the derived nominals. The syntactic idiosyncrasy of nominalised posture verbs is, however, their defiance to function as nominal modifiers in NP structure. In nominalisation strategy, I argue that Līkpākpáln posture verb nominalisation sees a preponderant synchronisation of the processes of prefixation and a reduplication of the posture verb base. Another relevant finding of this study is that the figurative uses and meanings of nominals derived from Līkpākpáln posture verbs reinforce the claim in Newman's (2002) socio-cultural domain of the semantic frame for the analysis of postural senses.
Journal of West African Languages, 2019
In this paper, I provide a preliminary discussion of body-part terms in a scarcely researched Mab... more In this paper, I provide a preliminary discussion of body-part terms in a scarcely researched Mabia (or Gur) language known as Likpakpaln (Konkomba). Likpakpaln is often traditionally associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it significantly spreads beyond that region. The analysis is from a descriptive point of view and dwells on a multi-source corpus through a triangulation of oral texts, observation, the semi-structured interview and direct elicitation. Where necessary, I also employ cognitive linguistic notions to explicate phenomena. The study covers the Bikpakpaam (native speakers of Likpakpaln) concept of the human being and the morphological characterisation of body-part terms as a basic category. Structurally, the lexicalisation of body-part terms into other derived expressions is also considered. The semantics and pragmatics of the lexicalised target domains are equally discussed. Analysis of data reveals embedded cultural models in the Bikpakpaam concept of the human being. The morphological patterns of body-part words are also observed to be congruent with those of prototypical nouns in the language. These body-part nouns are not inherently inalienable, since they have to be deliberately marked for possession. Furthermore, the data shows that body-part terms constitute a productive lexical domain. The operationalisation of body-part nouns in the grammatical system of Likpakpaln follows a lexicalisation process that mainly results in relatively more complex expressions that denote concepts as emotions, predispositions, affective states of being, character traits and other abstract concepts such as hope, distress and haughtiness among others. The semantic shift from the original concrete meaning of the body-part noun to a more abstract concept in the output expression is a trace of desemanticisation. Finally, I argue that an appropriate understanding and interpretation of a body-part derived expression is heavily reliant on the pragmatic context and knowledge of the cultural models of the Likpakpaln native speakers.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpal... more This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpaln, a Gur member of the Niger-Congo phylum, spoken mainly in the northern parts of Ghana. It focuses on the addressive usage of kinship terms. I use observation (both participant and non-participant) as a principal ethnographic data collection technique, supplemented by the semi-structured interview, informal conversation and my native speaker introspection. The analysis of data is informed by Dell Hyme's ethnography of communication as a theoretical frame. Based on the data analysed, I argue that kinship addresses in Likpakpaln can be categorised into three major types: agnatic, matrilateral and affinal kinship address forms, of which matrilateral and affinal kinship addresses are by complementary filiation. I also show that communicative ends have a significant influence on the vocative usage of kinship terms in interlocution among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba people). I further argue that the repertoire of Likpakpaln kinship addresses and the pattern of usage of these kinship addresses in communicative interactions is greatly tied to the Bikpakpaam kinship structure and social universe. Finally, I observe that there is a perceptible level of intercultural intrusion on the kinship address terms used among the Bikpakpaam.
Language Sciences
Abstract This paper is a contribution to the intellectual discourse on prototypical as well as em... more Abstract This paper is a contribution to the intellectual discourse on prototypical as well as emerging paradigms in African anthroponomy. It cross-sectionally examines traditional personal names among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba), a Gur ethnolinguistic group in northern Ghana. Situated within the general theoretical notion(s) of language-culture interface, the study adopts a mixed-method approach (using both qualitative and quantitative analyses) in describing Likpakpaln traditional personal names. Drawing on a stratified sample size of 600 personal names, the scope of this paper subsumes the typology, the changing patterns, the linguistic structure, and the communicative usage of personal names in the Bikpakpaam linguistic context. Typologically, the paper argues that indigenous Likpakpaln personal names can be categorised into six classes, of which insinuating/proverbial names constitute the preponderant category. Further to this, it is observed that there is particularly a contemporary shift towards what I call bearer-oriented insinuating/proverbial personal names. This shift in personal name preference hinges on a relatively novel cultural philosophical conviction of the Bikpakpaam that names have the power of de/constructing the personality and the trajectory of life of the individual. Also, importantly, the paper reveals that structurally, Likpakpaln personal names are predominantly clausal structures, although there are also names in phrasal and word forms. Ultimately, I show that the explication of the communicative usage of personal names among the Bikpakpaam as provided in this paper sets a stage for fashioning a cultural script for an aspect of addressing among the people.
This paper is a descriptive study on lilantaŋal/liyaataŋal ‘the proverb’ in Likpakpaln. The metho... more This paper is a descriptive study on lilantaŋal/liyaataŋal ‘the proverb’ in Likpakpaln. The methods employed included both participant and non-participant observations and the semi-structured interview. Also, a secondary material (a list of some proverbs in Likpakpaln) published by the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT) in 1985 was consulted. The data ascertained through these procedures were filtered through informal conversations and by native speaker introspection. The paper discusses the conceptual meaning, functions, contexts of use and the artistry of the Likpakpaln ‘Konkomba’ proverb. In addition, a brief morpho-semantic analysis of the term, lilantaŋal is done in order to enhance the understanding of the concept. Firstly, the study establishes that the proverb as an oramedia tool in Likpakpaln permeates as many discourse platforms as exist among the Bikpakpaam (Konkomba people). Also, the paper observes that the use of proverbs as well as...
Contemporary Journal of African Studies
This paper describes an aspect of language use in the Ghanaian academic community, specifically i... more This paper describes an aspect of language use in the Ghanaian academic community, specifically investigating the use of evaluative speech acts in the review language of graduate students at the University of Cape Coast (UCC). The study is situated in Hyland’s (2004) conceptual framework of evaluative language. Using a content analysis approach to corpora, the study revealed that the reviews of the graduate students contained both positive and negative evaluative speech acts as well as linguistic mitigating strategies meant to soften criticisms that were face-threatening. However, it is worthy of note that the positive speech acts or praises were recorded in a higher proportion than were the criticisms. More intriguing was the discovery that much more of both the praise and the criticism were focused on the text, rather than on the author. Overall, the pattern of evaluative language use discovered in this analysis, if generalisable, renders the academic discourse culture of the Ghan...
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a littleresearched Mabi... more In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a littleresearched Mabia (Gur) language known as Līkpākpáln (Konkomba). Līkpākpáln is often associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it noticeably spreads beyond that. This study dwells on a corpus drawn from both natural discourse and elicitations. With only very minimal theoretical inspirations, the study observes that the morphological as well as the syntactic features of nominalised posture verbs are, largely, compliant of the generally known linguistic characteristics of Līkpākpáln nouns. Thus, the obligatory feature of affixation, simple and non-simple stem types are attested in the derived nominals. The syntactic idiosyncrasy of nominalised posture verbs is, however, their defiance to function as nominal modifiers in NP structure. In nominalisation strategy, I argue that Līkpākpáln posture verb nominalisation sees a preponderant synchronisation of the processes of prefixation and a reduplication of the posture verb base. Another relevant finding of this study is that the figurative uses and meanings of nominals derived from Līkpākpáln posture verbs reinforce the claim in Newman's (2002) socio-cultural domain of the semantic frame for the analysis of postural senses.
Legon Journal of the Humanities
This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. I... more This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. It makes a contribution to the policy research and dialogue component of a National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP), which is currently the school language policy strategy in Ghana. Through the use of structured questionnaires and a statistical analysis, the study assesses how the NALAP is being implemented in a scarcely referenced rural Nkwanta North District. A conclusion is reached that the NALAP is reduced to a mere ideological notion rather than an effectively run language policy in the Nkwanta North. The study also contends that any hope of the NALAP succeeding with its educational agenda in the Nkwanta North requires critical reforms in the local implementation framework, with some support from relevant central bodies.
Language Matters
Abstract Likpakpaln is a little-described Mabia (Gur) language of northern Ghana. Drawing on prim... more Abstract Likpakpaln is a little-described Mabia (Gur) language of northern Ghana. Drawing on primary data, this first study of adjectives in Likpakpaln concludes that the language has a small, closed adjective class of about 20 members that shares grammatical properties with nouns and verbs to varying degrees. Contrary to what is the case in other Mabia languages, Likpakpaln adjectives lack inherent class markers. We identify three types of adjectives, distinguishable from nouns and verbs on morpho-syntactic and semantic grounds. Type 1 items lean towards nouns and never function as predicates of verbal clauses. Type 2 consists of one item, possibly a loan, and appears in a predicate adjective construction typical of languages with large adjective classes. Type 3 adjectives lean towards verbs and may form the predicate of verbal clauses. An understanding of Likpakpaln adjectives can contribute to refining our current knowledge of the genetic and typological position of Likpakpaln in the Mabia family.
Legon Journal of the Humanities, 2018
This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. I... more This paper relates to the broader purview of educational language policy in an African setting. It makes a contribution to the policy research and dialogue component of a National Literacy Acceleration Programme (NALAP), which is currently the school language policy strategy in Ghana. Through the use of structured questionnaires and a statistical analysis, the study assesses how the NALAP is being implemented in a scarcely referenced rural Nkwanta North District. A conclusion is reached that the NALAP is reduced to a mere ideological notion rather than an effectively run language policy in the Nkwanta North. The study also contends that any hope of the NALAP succeeding with its educational agenda in the Nkwanta North requires critical reforms in the local implementation framework, with some support from relevant central bodies.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics
This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpal... more This study, synchronically, describes and explicates the phenomenon of kinship terms in Likpakpaln, a Gur member of the Niger-Congo phylum, spoken mainly in the northern parts of Ghana. It focuses on the addressive usage of kinship terms. I use observation (both participant and non-participant) as a principal ethnographic data collection technique, supplemented by the semi-structured interview, informal conversation and my native speaker introspection. The analysis of data is informed by Dell Hyme's ethnography of communication as a theoretical frame. Based on the data analysed, I argue that kinship addresses in Likpakpaln can be categorised into three major types: agnatic, matrilateral and affinal kinship address forms, of which matrilateral and affinal kinship addresses are by complementary filiation. I also show that communicative ends have a significant influence on the vocative usage of kinship terms in interlocution among the Bikpakpaam (the Konkomba people). I further argue that the repertoire of Likpakpaln kinship addresses and the pattern of usage of these kinship addresses in communicative interactions is greatly tied to the Bikpakpaam kinship structure and social universe. Finally, I observe that there is a perceptible level of intercultural intrusion on the kinship address terms used among the Bikpakpaam.
Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 2019
In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a little-researched Mab... more In this paper I, mainly, examine nominal derivation from posture verbs in a little-researched Mabia (Gur) language known as Līkpākpáln (Konkomba). Līkpākpáln is often associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it noticeably spreads beyond that. This study dwells on a corpus drawn from both natural discourse and elicitations. With only very minimal theoretical inspirations, the study observes that the morphological as well as the syntactic features of nominalised posture verbs are, largely, compliant of the generally known linguistic characteristics of Līkpākpáln nouns. Thus, the obligatory feature of affixation, simple and non-simple stem types are attested in the derived nominals. The syntactic idiosyncrasy of nominalised posture verbs is, however, their defiance to function as nominal modifiers in NP structure. In nominalisation strategy, I argue that Līkpākpáln posture verb nominalisation sees a preponderant synchronisation of the processes of prefixation and a reduplication of the posture verb base. Another relevant finding of this study is that the figurative uses and meanings of nominals derived from Līkpākpáln posture verbs reinforce the claim in Newman's (2002) socio-cultural domain of the semantic frame for the analysis of postural senses.
Journal of West African Languages, 2019
In this paper, I provide a preliminary discussion of body-part terms in a scarcely researched Mab... more In this paper, I provide a preliminary discussion of body-part terms in a scarcely researched Mabia (or Gur) language known as Likpakpaln (Konkomba). Likpakpaln is often traditionally associated with the Northern Region of Ghana, although it significantly spreads beyond that region. The analysis is from a descriptive point of view and dwells on a multi-source corpus through a triangulation of oral texts, observation, the semi-structured interview and direct elicitation. Where necessary, I also employ cognitive linguistic notions to explicate phenomena. The study covers the Bikpakpaam (native speakers of Likpakpaln) concept of the human being and the morphological characterisation of body-part terms as a basic category. Structurally, the lexicalisation of body-part terms into other derived expressions is also considered. The semantics and pragmatics of the lexicalised target domains are equally discussed. Analysis of data reveals embedded cultural models in the Bikpakpaam concept of the human being. The morphological patterns of body-part words are also observed to be congruent with those of prototypical nouns in the language. These body-part nouns are not inherently inalienable, since they have to be deliberately marked for possession. Furthermore, the data shows that body-part terms constitute a productive lexical domain. The operationalisation of body-part nouns in the grammatical system of Likpakpaln follows a lexicalisation process that mainly results in relatively more complex expressions that denote concepts as emotions, predispositions, affective states of being, character traits and other abstract concepts such as hope, distress and haughtiness among others. The semantic shift from the original concrete meaning of the body-part noun to a more abstract concept in the output expression is a trace of desemanticisation. Finally, I argue that an appropriate understanding and interpretation of a body-part derived expression is heavily reliant on the pragmatic context and knowledge of the cultural models of the Likpakpaln native speakers.