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Difference between revisions of "The Akan verb kɔ"

 
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One of the difficult issues when annotation Akan is to decide how to annotate the two verbs ''bɛ''  and '' kɔ''. Both verbs occur as independent verbs, meaning ''come'' and ''go''  respectively and as verbal prefixes adding aspectual information. '' Kɔ'' may in addition occur in connection with a noun denoting a place or a location. In the latter case it seems to express directionality.
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[[User:Dorothee Beermann|Dorothee Beermann]]
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(2012)
  
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TypeCraft hosts at present 37 sentences from Akan and Abron (Bono), one of the dialects of Akan, that contain '' kɔ''; either as an independent verb or as a verbal prefix. You can easily verify this by going to [http://www.typecraft.org/tc2wiki/Special:TypeCraft/SearchPhrase/ Search for Phrases] where you enter '' kɔ'' in the field: 'Extract morpheme' under the heading '''Morpheme Level'''.
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'''To cite this page see footnote <ref> Dorothee Beermann. 2012. The Akan verb ''kɔ''. TypeCraft Grammar squib. http://www.typecraft.org. Accessed [DATE].</ref>'''
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Sentence (1) and (2) exemplify the use of '' kɔ'' as in independent verb meaning ''go''.
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===The verb '' kɔ''===
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'''A mini grammar squib'''
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The verbs ''bɛ''  and '' kɔ'' occur as independent verbs, meaning ''come'' and ''go''  respectively. Sometimes however they are used to convey functional information of aspectual nature, or information tied to deixis. There is a third use of '' kɔ'' which occurs when it preceeds a noun denoting a location. In this case '' Kɔ'' seems to express directionality. In the following we will only discuss '' kɔ'', leaving the discussion of ''bɛ'' for another occasion.
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This squib was based on the TC Akan corpus from December 2012. At that point the database hosted  41 Akan sentences  containing '' kɔ''. By now the public TypeCraft Akan corpus, which  is an improved version of the older open-end corpus, contains 174 instances of  '' kɔ''.
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''Kɔ'' either is an independent verb, or a verbal prefix.
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==== Kɔ as an independent verb====
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Let us first look at sentence (1) and (2) which exemplify the use of '' kɔ'' as a main verb meaning ''go''.
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The first sentence is a negated imperative while the second shows '' kɔ'' as the main verb.
 
(1)<Phrase>370</Phrase>
 
(1)<Phrase>370</Phrase>
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In (2) the verb is glossed as a past tense verb following standard annotation practice. It has been argued that Akan has an Aspect based verbal inflection system (see for example <ref>OSAM, E. Kweku. 2003. An Introduction to the Verbal and Multi-verbal System of Akan. In Dorothee Beermann and Lars Hellan (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Multi-verb Constructions. Trondheim Summer School 2003. Available from: http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/tross/TROSS03-toc.html</ref>
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(2)<Phrase>8963</Phrase>
 
(2)<Phrase>8963</Phrase>
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The next three sentences illustrate that '' kɔ'' may describe manner of movement as well as the directedness of the movement towards a given endpoint. Using terminology introduced by Talmy one could say that '' kɔ'' is neither head nor satellite marking but instead combines both functions by indicating manner and path of movement in one lexical item. Notice that the English translations given by native speaker annotators try to capture this fact, leading to slightly awkward translations such as '' He left Accra to Kumasi'' (meaning: going to Kumasi) or '' He passed by the school to church'' (meaning: going to church)
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In (3) ''kɔ'' is the V3 in a 'Clause Chaining' verb serialisation 
  
 
(3)<Phrase>9038</Phrase>
 
(3)<Phrase>9038</Phrase>
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(3) is interesting for others reasons too. Ato is said to have taken his piano to town. I was wondering if ''sɛnkuo'' possibly refers to one of the African instruments shown in the picture of African music instruments to the right? --[[User:Dorothee|Dorothee]] 00:04, 4 June 2009 (CEST)
 
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[[Image:Ainstrument.jpeg|thumb|right|Could Ato's piano have been a Sanza? ]]
 
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The read square-shaped instrument in the middle of the picture is a Sanza which is a small thumb piano. The white element fixed to the body of the instrument are depressed and released to produce the sound. This would be an instrument that easily could be taken along by the player.
 
  
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Perhaps somebody reading this knows the answer?!
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Sentence (4) illustrates an 'Integrated' serialisation.
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(4) <Phrase>42240</Phrase>
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''Kɔ'' combines with a manner of movement verb "si" ''descend''. There seems to be a certain similarity to a satellite marking pattern, using Talmy's terminology [[http://www.typecraft.org/tc2wiki/Norwegian_Expressions_of_Motion_and_Space_-_Bibliography|Talmy 1975]].
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However, neither of the verbs expressing the descending motion is the head per se, but both verbs are serialised.
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So far we have seen ''kɔ'' as an independent verb, but when part of a serialisation ''kɔ '' may also  appear as  a verbal prefix, expressing the onset of an event. When  occuring in this capacity, it is annotated as INGR, standing for ''ingressive''. Its function then is that of an aspectual verb or an aspectual marker.
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(5) to (8) shows ''kɔ '' as an aspectual verb/prefix
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Sentence (4) below shows clearly that '' kɔ'' remains a verb since it does inflect for past tense also in its function as a spatial expression.
 
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(4)<Phrase>9030</Phrase>
 
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(5)<Phrase>9029</Phrase>
 
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Although as discussed above '' kɔ'' may combine the expression of  manner of movement and path of movement this is not always the case. In (6) below Akan used '' kɔ'' together with the verb  expressing manner of movement, just as if it were a well-behaved satellite marking language, again using Talmy's terminology. The only difference to Germanic satellite-marking languages in this case is that the 'satellite'-expression is headed by a verbal predicate rather than a prepositional one.
 
  
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(6) <Phrase>9021</Phrase>
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(5) <Phrase>8555</Phrase>
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Let us know identify a third function of '' kɔ'', which the annotator has chosen to gloss with INGR standing for ''ingressive''. ''Ingressive'' in this context refers to a situational aspect and means 'entering into an event'.
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(6) <Phrase>8376</Phrase>
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(7)<Phrase>6491</Phrase>
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(8)<Phrase>6471</Phrase>
  
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We are at this point not sure if this is the right annotation and invite comments that will help us to better distinguish the different meanings of '' kɔ'' and in particular to identify correctly the aspectual use of this verb. So please consider example (7) below
 
  
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(7)<Phrase>8603</Phrase>
 
  
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====References====
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<references/>
  
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<Phrase>8583</Phrase>
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[[Category:Grammar squib|Akan]]
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<Phrase>8553</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8546</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8575</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8555</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8497</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8493</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8469</Phrase>
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<Phrase>8376</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6456</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6501</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6491</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6471</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6470</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6464</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6463</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6443</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6440</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6428</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6427</Phrase>
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<Phrase>6426</Phrase>
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<Phrase>373</Phrase>
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Latest revision as of 23:09, 20 December 2017

Dorothee Beermann (2012)

To cite this page see footnote [1]

The verb kɔ

A mini grammar squib

The verbs bɛ and kɔ occur as independent verbs, meaning come and go respectively. Sometimes however they are used to convey functional information of aspectual nature, or information tied to deixis. There is a third use of kɔ which occurs when it preceeds a noun denoting a location. In this case Kɔ seems to express directionality. In the following we will only discuss kɔ, leaving the discussion of bɛ for another occasion. This squib was based on the TC Akan corpus from December 2012. At that point the database hosted 41 Akan sentences containing kɔ. By now the public TypeCraft Akan corpus, which is an improved version of the older open-end corpus, contains 174 instances of kɔ.

Kɔ either is an independent verb, or a verbal prefix.

Kɔ as an independent verb

Let us first look at sentence (1) and (2) which exemplify the use of kɔ as a main verb meaning go.


The first sentence is a negated imperative while the second shows kɔ as the main verb.

(1)
nkɔ
“Don't go.”
n`kɔ´
nkɔ
NEGIMPgo
Vitr


In (2) the verb is glossed as a past tense verb following standard annotation practice. It has been argued that Akan has an Aspect based verbal inflection system (see for example [2]

(2)

In (3) kɔ is the V3 in a 'Clause Chaining' verb serialisation

(3)

Sentence (4) illustrates an 'Integrated' serialisation.

(4)
hwansena no akɔ si papa no atifi.
“the fly has gone to sit on top of the man's head”
hwansena
hwansena
3SGSBJ
N
no
no
DEF
DET
akɔ
akɔ
PRFgo
V1
si
si
descend
V2
papa
papa
man3SGOBJ
N
no
no
DEF
DET
atifi
atifi
headtop
Nrel


Kɔ combines with a manner of movement verb "si" descend. There seems to be a certain similarity to a satellite marking pattern, using Talmy's terminology [1975]. However, neither of the verbs expressing the descending motion is the head per se, but both verbs are serialised. So far we have seen kɔ as an independent verb, but when part of a serialisation kɔ may also appear as a verbal prefix, expressing the onset of an event. When occuring in this capacity, it is annotated as INGR, standing for ingressive. Its function then is that of an aspectual verb or an aspectual marker.

(5) to (8) shows kɔ as an aspectual verb/prefix


(5)
Mmrahyεbεdwani he de nkondwa akɔma asɔre he.
“The member for parliment has donated chairs to the church.”
Mmrahyεbεdwani
mmrahyεbεdwani
lawmakecouncilNMLZ
N
he
he
DEF
DET
de
de
use
V
nkondwa
nkondwa
PLchair
N
akɔma
akɔma
PFVINGRgive
V
asɔre
asɔre
church
N
he
he
DEF
ART
(6)
Bɛɛkɔhwe aburaa no.
“They are going to drain the stream.”
bɛɛkɔhwe
bɛɛkɔhwe
theySBJPROGgodrain
V
aburaa
aburaa
streamOBJ
N
no
no
the
DET
(7)
Monkɔ nkɔkyeakyea.
“Go and greet them.”
Monkɔ
monkɔ
2PLSBJOPTgo
V
nkɔkyeakyea
nkɔkyeakyea
OPTINGRgreetgreet
V
(8)
Boakye rekɔgye aba abεdi.
“Boakye is going to collect it, come back and eat it.”
Boakye
boakye
B.SBJ
N
rekɔgye
rekɔgye
PROGINGRcollect
V
aba
aba
CONScome
V
abεdi
abεdi
CONSINGReat
V



References

  1. ↑ Dorothee Beermann. 2012. The Akan verb kɔ. TypeCraft Grammar squib. http://www.typecraft.org. Accessed [DATE].
  2. ↑ OSAM, E. Kweku. 2003. An Introduction to the Verbal and Multi-verbal System of Akan. In Dorothee Beermann and Lars Hellan (eds.), Proceedings of the Workshop on Multi-verb Constructions. Trondheim Summer School 2003. Available from: http://www.ling.hf.ntnu.no/tross/TROSS03-toc.html
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