Abstract:
The focus of this thesis is to offer an analysis of the syntax and semantics of phrasal
verbs in Nzema, a Kwa language spoken mainly in southwestern Ghana and Ivory Coast,
by about 330,000 people. This study demonstrated that the Nzema phrasal verb has two
compositional elements: a verb and a postposition. It further showed through the
principle of transitivity that Nzema phrasal verb can occur in intransitive, transitive and
in both transitive and intransitive constructions. In addition, it demonstrated that the
possibility of separating the particle from the verb or otherwise is dependent on whether
the phrasal verb is used transitively or intransitively. Whereas the particle can be
separated from the verb when used transitively, there cannot be any separation when the
phrasal verb is used intransitively. Based on semantics, it showed that Nzema phrasal
verbs express literal, metaphorical, idiomatic and polysemic meaning. Data for this
thesis are drawn from both primary and secondary sources. I use two theoretical
frameworks, the X-bar theory by Chomsky (1969) and the Conceptual Metaphor Theory
by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as analytical tools for the syntactic and semantic aspects of
the thesis respectively.
Key words: Nzema, phrasal verb, transitivity, idiomatic, polysemy, metaphor, syntax.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Akan-Nzema Education, Faculty of Ghanaian Languages
Education, Submitted to The School of Graduate Studies, University of Education,
Winneba, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Philosophy
in Ghanaian Language Studies, (Nzema Option) degree.
2020
