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Difference between revisions of "Classroom:Ewe Noun Phrases"

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7. Orthography of the LOCATIVE '''me''' in noun phrases
 
7. Orthography of the LOCATIVE '''me''' in noun phrases
 +
In one context as
 +
<Phrase>11827</Phrase>
 +
The LOCATIVE '''me''' is written as part of the main noun.
 +
In another context as
 +
<Phrase>18859</Phrase>
 +
The LOCATIVE '''me''' stands all alone; not attached to the main noun.
 +
This is so because orthographically it is allowed and again, the context for their usage is also different. In one context, it helps create a complex noun and in the other context, it behaves as a unique morpheme, standing all alone to make the phrase complete.

Revision as of 15:11, 7 April 2011

This page was created as an in-classroom exercise in LING 2208, NTNU

By Mercy Motte and Mango K. Bodua

GENERALISATIONS – Some Ewe linguists have already looked at these.


1. A noun phrase can be made up of a single word. Eg. agbà “load”

agbà
“load”
agbà
agbà
load
N




2. A noun phrase can be followed immediately by a determiner. Eg. nyɔnu la “the woman”


nyɔnu la
“the woman”
nyɔnu
nyɔnu
woman
N
la
la
AFFMT
DET



3. The plural suffix is ‘’wo’’ which is normally attached to nouns. For example, Ðeviwo “children”

Ðeviwo
“children”
Ðeviwo
Ðeviwo
children
N


However, anytime there is the presence of definite (la), this contracts to ‘’a’’ and then infixes itself between the noun and its plural suffix. Eg.

Ðeviawo “the children”


Ðeviawo
“the children”
Ðeviawo
Ðeviawo
childDEFPL
N



4. All post noun modifying elements for example, adjectives in the noun phrase precede the definite marker or the demonstrative. The noun phrase is left headed. Egs. Ðevi sue sia“this small child”


Ðevi sue sia
“this small child”
Ðevi
Ðevi
child
N
sue
sue
small
ADJ
sia
sia
this
DEM



Ðevi lolo la “the big/fat child”

Ðevi lolo la
“the big/fat child”
Ðevi
Ðevi
child
N
lolo
lolo
big
ADJ
la
la
AFFMT
DET


5. Some noun phrases in Ewe are actually prepositional phrases in English. This is interesting. Find an example below.

Le nukpɔkpɔ me la
“In the video”
L è
l è
PRES
 
nukpɔkpɔ
nukpɔkpɔ
video
N
me
me
inCTed
PPOST
la
la
DEF
DET


6. Complex nouns exist in the Ewe language made up of different and unique morphemes. One can do a morphology of these complex nouns. See the breakdown of an example below.

xexeame
“World”
xexeame
xexeame
outsideDEFLOC
N

The example above is made up of the noun - outside, the AFFIRMATIVE (Det) marker - a (this is the contracted form of la and the LOCATIVE- me

7. Orthography of the LOCATIVE me in noun phrases In one context as

xéxéáme agamagbalẽé
xéxéáme
xéxéme
outsideDEFcontaining.region
N
agamagbalẽ
agamagbalẽ 
 chameleonskin 
N
FOC
CL

The LOCATIVE me is written as part of the main noun. In another context as

Le nukpɔkpɔ me la
“In the video”
L è
l è
PRES
 
nukpɔkpɔ
nukpɔkpɔ
video
N
me
me
inCTed
PPOST
la
la
DEF
DET

The LOCATIVE me stands all alone; not attached to the main noun. This is so because orthographically it is allowed and again, the context for their usage is also different. In one context, it helps create a complex noun and in the other context, it behaves as a unique morpheme, standing all alone to make the phrase complete.