Abstract:
This study provides an overview of the Noun Class System of Nawuri; one of the
Guang languages which is a closely related group of languages, spoken largely in
Ghana, Cote d‟Ivoire, Togo and Benin. The study presents the analyses of nouns into
classes in Nawuri. It examines the various mechanisms and motivationg factor for
Nawuri nominal classification. The study further looks at the patterns of inflection
and derivation in Nawuri. Data were collected from primary and secondary sources.
The primary data were collected through interviews, self-generated and recordings of
spontaneous speech, daily conversations, folktales and songs in Nawuri. The
secondary data were collected from Nawuri books. The study shows that Nawuri
nouns can be derived from other lexical word classes such as verbs, adjectives and
other nouns. It also shows that Nawuri Noun Class employs a mix of phonological
and morphological assignment criteria to divide Nawuri nouns into twelve classes
based on the similarity of both the singular and the plural affixes. The study showed
that Nawuri has eight singular prefixes, ten plural prefixes and one plural suffix. It
was established that the motivation for noun classification in Nawuri is mainly
morpho-phonological. It is hoped that the findings will contribute to studies on the
typology of noun classification
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of APPLIED LINGUISTICS, Faculty of FOREIGN
LANGUAGES EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION, submitted to the
School of Graduate Studies, University of Education, Winneba, in partial
fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the MASTER OF
PHILOSOPHY IN APPLIED LINGUISTICS
AUGUST, 2017