Topic marking in Kusaal and selected Mabia (Gur) languages of West Africa
Domaine:
natural language processingType de record:
paper
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Éditeur:
Wal
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Abstract
This article looks at topic marking strategies in Kusaal and related Mabia (Gur) languages: Dagaare, Buli, Moore, Dabgani, and Gurene, spoken in Ghana, Togo and Ivory Coast. It is generally observed that these languages use left dislocation as a topic coding strategy. They either use topic phrases or particles, which may be obligatory or optional. It is argued that the languages under discussion cannot be fully classified as subject prominent languages alongside other Niger-Congo languages. It is shown that these languages demonstrate features that put them in between subject prominent and topic prominent languages. To identify a topic constituent in these languages, three tests are suggested: the if+be test, the “aboutness test” and the use of left dislocation accompanied by a resumptive pronoun.
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