<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This paper examines the linguistic means by which spatial relations are expressed in Dagbani, a Mabia (Gur) language spoken in the northern region of Ghana (West Africa). I pay particular attention to the grammar of Dagbani “postpositions” demonstrating that the system of locative expressions comprises words that share heterosemic relations with some body parts and landmark terms. I show that although these locative expressions are related both segmentally and suprasegmentally to the nominal items they might have developed from, they are distinct in terms of their semantic, syntactic and morphological properties. Consequently, I conclude that the body-part nouns in locative constructions are distinct syntactic categories due to the morphosyntactic and semantic differences they exhibit. These body-part nouns are thus analysed as grammaticalized items, which function as postpositions and instantiate a postpositional phrase (PostP) category. Finally, I propose possible series of semantic changes that could account for the development of the body-part terms as postpositions.</p></abstract>

This paper examines the linguistic means by which spatial relations are expressed in Dagbani, a Mabia (Gur) language spoken in the northern region of Ghana (West Africa). I pay particular attention to the grammar of Dagbani “postpositions” demonstrating that the system of locative expressions comprises words that share heterosemic relations with some body parts and landmark terms. I show that although these locative expressions are related both segmentally and suprasegmentally to the nominal items they might have developed from, they are distinct in terms of their semantic, syntactic and morphological properties. Consequently, I conclude that the body-part nouns in locative constructions are distinct syntactic categories due to the morphosyntactic and semantic differences they exhibit. These body-part nouns are thus analysed as grammaticalized items, which function as postpositions and instantiate a postpositional phrase (PostP) category. Finally, I propose possible series of semantic changes that could account for the development of the body-part terms as postpositions.

On body-part nouns and the expression of spatial and locative reference in Dagbani

Topics in Linguistics

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This paper examines the linguistic means by which spatial relations are expressed in Dagbani, a Mabia (Gur) language spoken in the northern region of Ghana...

On body-part nouns and the expression of spatial and locative reference in Dagbani

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 41 - 61

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2020-0009

Keywords
Dagbani, lexical category, grammaticalization, postpositions, Mabia, spatial reference, location

© 2020 Samuel Alhassan Issah, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

On body-part nouns and the expression of spatial and locative reference in Dagbani

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 41 - 61

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/topling-2020-0009

KeywordsDagbani, lexical category, grammaticalization, postpositions, Mabia, spatial reference, location

© 2020 Samuel Alhassan Issah, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Dagbani, lexical category, grammaticalization, postpositions, Mabia, spatial reference, location