On tone and segmental processes in Akan phrasal words: A prosodic account

Based on where and how phonological rules apply, studies in Lexical Phonology (Mohanan 1986; Kiparsky 1985; Pulleyblank 1986; etc.) distinguish between two levels in the phonology; namely, lexical and post-lexical. At the post-lexical level, the various phonological rules normally require particular domains, without which they fail to apply. The question that follows is where and how we define these domains. Considering Akan Noun-Noun and Noun-Adjective phrasal word (compound) constructions in prosodic phonology (Selkirk 1986, Nespor and Vogel 1986 and Hayes 1989; etc.), this paper touches on some aspects of the prosody-syntax interface on the idea that the domain of a post-lexical rule is drawn from the prosodic component, an intermediate phase of interface analysis. The rules that come to bear are tonal (i.e. H-Deletion, H-Insertion and Boundary assimilation) and segmental (i.e. Prefix deletion and Diphthong simplification) ones that apply on the dictates of particular prosodic domain attainment. Thus, this paper argues that the syntactic structure influences these phonological rules, but indirectly through the prosodic structure (Inkelas 1989). Finally, the paper claims that with the prosodic domains occurrences are better defined and accounted for

THE MORPHOPHONOLOGY OF THE AKAN REDUPLICATED VERB-FORM

This paper discusses the interaction between constituent formation and alteration of sounds (i.e., morphophonology) in Akan reduplicated verb-forms. Specifically, we strive to look into two issues; the morphology of reduplicated verb stems and how the morphological manifestation(s) affect certain target sounds. With its morphology, we observe that reduplication of the Akan verb-stem is generally total and, through the Morphological Doubling Theory (Inkelas 2005; Inkelas and Zoll 2005), reduplication of Akan verb-stems is viewed as the double (or multiple) occurrence of a morphological constituent meeting a particular morpho-semantic description. That is to say, while there could be differences in structure between the reduplicant and the base, they are subject to a common phonology that determines a resulting shape of an output. With morphophonology, we observe that three issues are relevant in the discussion of the phonology of the reduplicated verbs in Akan. These are the application of vowel harmony, vowel shift in terms of height, and the realization of tonal semblance. Through thorough discussions, the paper finally explains that reduplication of verb-stems in Akan is morphophonologically driven

Managing workplace conflict in the school environment: Challenges, rewards and the way forward

Conflict is a normal and natural part of our workplaces and lives.  As people with diverse background come together in a working environment, differences in opinion, attitudes and beliefs are bound to occur as they interact.  How such differences are managed determines the impact they can have on productivity and therefore organizational goals. Recognizing and addressing the factors that give rise to potential conflicts can have a positive impact on the workplace and productivity. Conflict, if constructively handled, can be very helpful in making necessary changes within the work environment. However, poorly resolved or unresolved conflict can result in feelings of dissatisfaction, unhappiness, hopelessness, depression, and other emotions.  It can even lead to resignation from jobs, dissolution of personal relations, aggression, and even violence.Key words: Conflict, Management and Workplace

Optimal Inflections as Symmetry between Nominal and Verbal Reduplications in Akan

This paper discusses two issues in nominal and verbal reduplications in Akan, a language which is widely spoken in Ghana. These are the respective morphotactic structures of the two reduplications and the claim that an asymmetry obtains between nominal and verbal reduplications in the language. The issues are discussed in connection with a distinction in inflection for the nasal prefix /N-/ in nominal and verbal reduplications of Akan which, respectively, impute negation and plurality and how the individual inflections underscore and inform the morphotactic structures of the two reduplications. Analysis of issues will be done in the light of the Morphological Doubling Theory (Inkelas and Zoll 2005, Osam et al. 2013) and will further be captured within Optimality Theory (e.g. Prince & Smolensky 2004, McCarthy & Prince 1999). The discussions will particularly be narrowed down on the more interesting morphotactics of the verbal reduplication and its inflection for other verbal affixes (besides /N-/). Establishing the suggested asymmetry, we will also endeavour to show the general order of inflection in the verbal reduplication as opposed to what obtains in the nominal reduplication following structural well-formedness in both reduplicated forms

Behind the Box: A Sociological Analysis of Theft, Tampering and Mishandling of Postal Packets

There is no gainsaying the fact that besides the physical requirements of food and shelter, man has another fundamental need, the need to communicate with his fellow human beings. The urge for communication is natural, primal and, in our modern interdependent world, a necessity. Indeed, our social life revolves around communication since it is the cement that holds society together. It is for this very important reason that postal service was developed to provide the indispensable link between people living in different parts of the world. Thus, through postal service people separated by hundreds and thousands of miles can be brought together. However, over the years, there have been malpractices in and against the Ghana Post Company Limited. These have resulted in numerous complaints, which constitute an indication of the public dissatisfaction with the performance of the organization. The study revealed that indeed mail theft, pilfering, tampering and mishandling of postal items are present at the Post Offices in Ghana. Among others, we identify factors such as social solidarity among workers, social pressure and ‘conducive’ working environment as contributing to mail theft, pilfering and mishandling of postal packets.   Key words: Postal service; Pilfering; Tampering; Mail theft; Devianc

ANALYSING PRESUPPOSITION: A STUDY ON PRESIDENT AKUFO-ADDO’S STATE OF THE NATION ADDRESS (SONA), 2022

Presupposition can be said to be an assumption of a speaker prior to making an utterance or an implied claim of an utterance. Using qualitative method, the researchers examined various language structures that give rise to presuppositions. This was pursued by exploring the State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered by President Akufo-Addo of Ghana on 30th March 2022. The analysis of the SONA, as the data of the study, revealed the utilization of a number of presupposition triggers – such as possessive construction, “one” construction, definite noun phrase, adverbial clause, relative clause, “even” construction, iteratives, change of state verbs, and factive verbs or phrases – under the existential, structural and lexical presuppositions. The article thus opines that the enactment of presuppositions, through the identified forms, affords the President the opportunity to disseminate his message with a higher degree of veracity on the conditions and happenings of the Ghanaian state

THE HOMONYMIC CHAIN MODEL (HCM) AS A TOOL FOR MULTIPLE SENSE ANALYSIS

Many scholars – e.g. Glover (2005), Sekyi-Baidoo (2006) and Falkum (2010) – have expressed some concerns about Word Sense Multiplicity (WSM), which explains multiple meanings as part of a word. In other words, WSM is an integral part of any natural language including Akan on which this paper concentrates. As Agyekum (2002; 2005) and Levin (1993) observe, with WSM, users and researchers of language dwell on a particular sense of a word deeming it as an underlying representation of all other senses. In this paper, however, from the perspective of the homonymic and polysemic nature of a word, we seek to explore the Homonymic Chain Model (Oppong-Asare, 2012) as a tool for expressing the multiple meanings words in languages in descriptive terms. The model attempts to simplify the understanding of the various meanings of a word by conceptualizing its diverse senses. As will also be exhibited pictorially, the Homonymic Chain Model (HCM) also explains that a particular word may have two or more distinct meanings and each of the meanings may also have other related senses. As part of our conclusion, we contend among others that apart from aiding students and language learners to recognize and comprehend different senses of a word more clearly, HCM could also facilitate the work of translators working with Akan

A Discourse Pragma-Stylistic Analysis of Invective Expressions in Ghanaian Politics

Decent use of language has been a common trademark in communication. It is such an aspect of human development that has been an important part in our societies since time immemorial. In recent times, this practice has contemptuously gone amiss due to our demanding need for democratic development. Recent development in politics in Ghana has witnessed a total change in the use of decent language to achieve the intended purposes in political communication. It is in this regard that the present study sought to examine the use of invectives in political communications in Ghana. The study adopted Fairclough’s (1995) Critical Discourse Analysis theory to analyse the data gathered, which spanned from 2011 to 2016 and were taken from statements made by politicians that had been covered as major news items in the print media and online networks. In all, one hundred and fifty (150) bulletins of such invectives were identified and further categorised into descriptive, attributive and symbolic forms. Our findings showed that many of the noted politicians in Ghana made frequent use of invectives to seek political recognition that will prepare them for better political fortunes should the party they represent come to power in the future. It was further identified that all of these invectives were meant to cause emotional and psychological pains and also to lower the social status of the affected individuals so as to make them politically ‘dirty’ and irrelevant

Examining graphemic and lexical anglicisms in Twi for academic purposes in textbooks written in Twi

This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on Clyne’s (1977) Borrowing Typology and Haugen’s (1950) Borrowability Scale. Three key findings emerged from the analysis. First, the study yielded that in TAP two letters (<v>,  and <j>) are borrowed towards empowering Asante Twi to enable it to account for words that contain these letters. Second, at the lexical level, it was found that the borrowed words were either integrated or adapted into Asante Twi linguistic environment. The final point was that all the lexical items realized were nominals affirming the primacy of noun on borrowability scales. The findings have implications for developing Ghanaian languages for academic purposes.This paper examines graphemic and lexical borrowings in Twi for Academic Purposes (TAP). Textbooks written in Asante Twi by some renowned scholars in the language constituted the dataset for this study. The textbooks were read and all instances of anglicisms or English features borrowed into Twi were collected. The borrowed-features were identified by drawing on our native speaker and scholarly competencies. The dataset was analyzed by drawing on Clyne’s (1977) Borrowing Typology and Haugen’s (1950) Borrowability Scale. Three key findings emerged from the analysis. First, the study yielded that in TAP two letters (<v>,  and <j>) are borrowed towards empowering Asante Twi to enable it to account for words that contain these letters. Second, at the lexical level, it was found that the borrowed words were either integrated or adapted into Asante Twi linguistic environment. The final point was that all the lexical items realized were nominals affirming the primacy of noun on borrowability scales. The findings have implications for developing Ghanaian languages for academic purposes

Nitrogen availability determines the long-term impact of land use change on soil carbon stocks in grasslands of southern Ghana

Enhancing the capacity of agricultural soils to resist soil degradation and to mitigate climate change requires long-term assessments of land use systems. Such long-term evaluations, particularly regarding low-input livestock systems, are limited. In the absence of suitable long-term experiments, this study assessed the outcome of C inputs and outputs across an array of plant functional groups in arable and permanent systems of a tropical savannah after more than 50 years of consistent land use. Soil samples were taken (0–30 cm depth) from arable crop fields, grazed–seeded grassland, cut–use permanent crops and native grassland. Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks ranged from 17 to 64 Mg SOC ha−1 (mean ± sd = 32.9 ± 10.2 Mg ha−1). SOC stocks were lower for grazed–seeded grassland relative to cut–use grass, legume trees and shrubs. Accordingly, while the conversion of the native grassland to grazed pastures caused an estimated loss of 44 % of SOC over the period, the conversion to woody legumes resulted in slight (5 %), incremental gains. Within sown systems, nitrogen (N) availability seemed to be the most critical factor in determining the fate of the SOC stocks, with the soil N concentration and SOC being highly correlated (r – 0.86; p < 0.001). In total N, P and K were significant predictors of SOC density in the soils. Moreover, secondary plant metabolites in legumes, namely tannins, were identified as having an impact on SOC. The results from this study provide the theoretical basis for testing the hypothesis that improved soil fertility management and the use of tannin-rich plants have the potential to promote long-term SOC storage in the savannah ecological region