The Structure of the Dagbani verb phrase

Abstract

This thesis examines the structure of the Dagbani verb phrase, a Mabia language spoken in Northern Ghana within the framework of Functional Grammar (FG). The goals were to examine the various elements that occur within the Dagbani verb phrase and their roles. The data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through unstructured interviews and focus group discussions while the secondary data were elicited from existing Dagbani literature. The study revealed that the pre-verbal particles are used to indicate future tense, negation, marking of habitual action, emphasis, condition, hypothetical and assertiveness in Dagbani. The pre-verbal ni and yɛn are used to mark the future. Also, negations are marked by ku (future-negative), bi (past negative) and di, while emphasis is marked by the pre-verbal particle jɛndi. The study also shows that yaha marks habitual whereas naan, shiri and yi mark hypothetical, assertiveness and conditional respectively. The thesis also looks at the post-verbal particles, it shows that, sa/ha and na function as a post-verbal particles performing various roles such as marking of deitic reference whereas hali marks emphatic. The study concludes with the interaction between pre-verbal and post-verbal particles.