Research Project Overview and Description
This project explores the grammatical structures of nonverbal predication in the Gur and Kwa language families of Ghana. It utilizes community-based linguistic fieldwork and typological methods to document and analyze how these languages encode semantic relations—such as location, possession, and identity—without the use of standard verbs. By comparing different languages within these subgroups, the research seeks to identify cross-linguistic patterns in information structure and the use of copulas, juxtaposition, or inflectional strategies in nonverbal predicates.
This project explores the grammatical structures of nonverbal predication in the Gur and Kwa language families of Ghana. It utilizes community-based linguistic fieldwork and typological methods to document and analyze how these languages encode semantic relations—such as location, possession, and identity—without the use of standard verbs. By comparing different languages within these subgroups, the research seeks to identify cross-linguistic patterns in information structure and the use of copulas, juxtaposition, or inflectional strategies in nonverbal predicates.
Research Outcome
The project is expected to deliver a comprehensive typological survey and morphosyntactic analysis of non-verbal predication strategies—including copula, juxtaposition, and predicative inflection—across the Gur and Kwa languages of Ghana. Key outcomes include the documentation of linguistic structures and the development of a comparative framework that contributes to the broader understanding of Niger-Congo language families. The research is anticipated to lead to peer-reviewed publications, such as book chapters in comparative linguistics handbooks, and provide a foundational dataset for future historical and typological linguistic studies.
About the researcher
Dr. Darius Adjong is an Adjunct teacher in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Hong Kong. He holds a PhD from the University of Hong Kong and previously earned an M.Phil in Linguistics from the University of Ghana. His research interests encompass language documentation, linguistic typology, and contact linguistics, particularly regarding the Gur and Kwa subgroups of the Niger-Congo family. His work employs community-based linguistic fieldwork and sample-based typological methods to analyze grammatical structures and the outcomes of language contact situations.
Fund Source
N/A
For enquiries
please contact at atlabhku.hk