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Classroom:LING2208 - Annotating Ga

Revision as of 16:49, 28 February 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

--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: