Focus marking and dialect divergence in Līkpākpáln (Konkomba)

In this paper, I discuss some salient aspects of focus marking in Likpakpaln, a Mabia
(Gur), Niger-Congo language spoken mainly in the northern parts of Ghana. I
compare focus marking in two dialects of Līkpākpáln, namely, Līnàjùúl and Līchábɔ́l.
I treat the notion of focus from the angle of Dik (1981). Data draws from a
multi-source corpora digitally recorded from stimuli-based elicitations and other natural
discourse settings. Following the analysis of data, the study reveals that the use of
focus particles constitutes the most significant means of focus marking in
Līkpākpáln as that focus strategy is shared by both Līnàjùúl and Līchábɔ́l. Also, a common
feature for both Līnàjùúl and Līchábɔ́l is that there are syntactic restrictions for
the distribution of various focus particles in the sentence. On the question of diver-
gences, I note that sentence final vowel lengthening also assumes a focus function
with respect to Līnàjùúl. Also, the focus markers in Līnàjùúl (ń, ńká and a sentence
final focus particle of varied phonological shapes) differ in form from the focus
markers, lé and lá in Līchábɔ́l. Finally, I suggest that the focus marking differences
between Līnàjùúl and Līchábɔ́l possibly stem from the fact that Līnàjùúl appears
to have innovated a complex focus system vis-à-vis focus marking in the Mabia
languages of Ghana. However, more thorough investigation into focus marking in
other dialects of Likpakpaln and Mabia is recommended. This will help establish
whether the Līnàjùúl case is an isolate system or not.