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Classroom:LING2208 - Annotating Ga

Revision as of 19:54, 4 March 2014 by Mark Nartey (Talk | contribs)

--Mark Nartey 13:54, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Agreement

Eyɔse efufeemɔ feesɛɛ kɛkɛni eyimli ni emli ewola ni erɛɛehoehe, shi ekolɛ ni ehiɛ etɛŋ fe tsutsu.
“He later realized his folly and he left angry and sad, but perhaps a little wiser than before.”
Eyɔse
eyɔse
3SGrealizePAST
V
efufeemɔ
efufeemɔ
POSSfoolishness
N
feesɛɛ
feesɛɛ
later
ADV
kɛkɛni
kɛkɛni
 
CONJC
eyimli
eyimli
3SGwent_away
V
ni
ni
FOC
PRT
emli
emli
POSSinside
N
ewola
ewola
angry
ADJ
ni
ni
FOC
PRT
erɛɛehoehe
erɛɛehoehe
sorrowful
ADJ
shi
shi
 
CONJC
ekolɛ
ekolɛ
perhaps
ADV
ni
ni
FOC
PRT
ehiɛ
ehiɛ
POSSface
N
etɛŋ
etɛŋ
wise
ADJ
fe
fe
CMPR
PRT
tsutsu
tsutsu
before
ADV


Within the domain of the construction above, i.e. the sentence, there is an agreement relationship with respect to the features NUMBER (singular) and PERSON (3rd). This is a referential chain where the head of the chain, a pronominal (e - 'he') which has been integrated into the verb (eyɔse – 'he realized') agrees with the following pronouns in NUMBER and PERSON: e - 'his' and e - 'he' (also the second and third subjects).

Clause Linkage

Ena loohɔlɔ ko shwapo kɛkɛni ebote mli oya kɛkɛni eyaju wu fɛɛfɛo dɔkɔdɔkɔ agbo ko ni ka shɛɛfi lɛ nɔ.
“He saw a butcher's shop and (he) went quickly in and (he) stole a nice fat juicy bone from the shelf.”
Ena
ena
3SGsee
V
loohɔlɔ
loohɔlɔ
butcher
N
ko
ko
INDEF
DET
shwapo
shwapo
shop
N
kɛkɛni
kɛkɛni
 
CONJC
ebote
ebote
3SGenterPAST
V
mli
mli
inside
Nrel
oya
oya
quickly
ADV
kɛkɛni
kɛkɛni
 
CONJC
eyaju
eyaju
3SGPASTsteal
V
wu
wu
bone
N
fɛɛfɛo
fɛɛfɛo
nice
ADJ
dɔkɔdɔkɔ
dɔkɔdɔkɔ
sweet
ADJ
agbo
agbo
big
ADJ
ko
ko
INDEF
DET
ni
ni
FOC
PRT
ka
ka
layPAST
V
shɛɛfi
shɛɛfi
shelf
N
FOC
PRT
surfaceLOC
N


The clause linkage above is indicative of parataxis, i.e. structural equality. There are three independent clauses which have been conjoined by the coordinating conjunction kɛkɛni. Hence, there is neither a form of integration or embedding nor reduction or downgrading. We can see that the clause linkage is explicit since the connective device (here, kɛkɛni) is present, hence syndesis or syndetic coordination.

Ga Focus Markers

Focus marker What the focus marker indicates
It follows a noun phrase and introduces a noun (usually, things and concepts) that is being fore-grounded. That is, it puts the noun in question in focus.
ni It can follow a noun phrase and it is used to focus time or a period.
ni It can be found between two verb phrases and is used to establish hierarchical prominence with respect to the two events, usually bring the first event to the fore.
ni It can be found between two elements (where both elements are verb phrases or noun phrases) or between a noun phrase and a verb phrase. Here, it indicates that there is more to the previous action. That is, there is more information (usually in the second element) that needs attention and so must be focused.

--Mark Nartey 16:48, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

The Pronoun e in Ga

In Ga - unlike in English for instance - the same pronoun e is both subjective and genitive. Also, like most pronouns in Ga, e is written together with the noun phrase or verb phrase it relates to. The sentences below illustrate this phenomenon:

Enyiɛ adidɔ lɛ sɛɛ.
“He is going after the fly.”
Enyiɛ
enyiɛ
3SGwalkPROG
V
adidɔ
adidɔ
fly
N
FOC
PRT
sɛɛ
sɛɛ
back
N


Miikwɛ fiimi ko ni kɔɔ Simon kɛ ealɔnte.
“I am watching a video of Simon and his cat.”
Miikwɛ
miikwɛ
1SGPROGsee
V
fiimi
fiimi
video
N
ko
ko
INDEF
DET
ni
ni
FOC
PRT
kɔɔ
kɔɔ
 
PRT
Simon
simon
 
Np
 
CONJC
ealɔnte
ealɔnte
POSScat
N


In the examples above, it can be seen that the pronoun e in both sentences has been combined with the respective verb phrase and noun phrase they relate to, hence enyiɛ - 'he is walking' and ealɔnte - 'his cat' in sentences one and two respectively. However, we notice that while e in sentence one is subjective, e in sentence two is genitive or possessive.