SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Two closely related languages, Ga and Adangme, are analyzed and compared, in respect of their phonologies and portions of their grammars involving the verb and its components. Synchronic, typological comparisons and also diachronic comparisons are made. The work is in three sections. The first treats the phonology of each language and proposes a reconstruction of the proto-Ga-Adangme phonemic system on the basis of regular correspondences between the two systems. The second section describes, and discusses the diachronic significance of, the phonological and grammatical structure of the verbal base. The third section describes structures which involve the verbal base, namely the verb, the verbal group, and non-verb words which contain verbal bases. Conclusions are drawn concerning the structure of the verb and related structures in the proto-language, and the probable sources of typological differences in the modern languages. In the final chapter conclusions of a general nature are drawn with respect to method and problems encountered, the influence of other languages on the development of Ga and Adangme, and the typology of the changes that are reconstructed in the main body of the thesis.