Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in Niger-Congo languages

Akinbiyi Akinlabi (ed), Sampson Korsah (ed), Sharon Rose (ed), Abdul-Razak Sulemana (ed)

Synopsis

This volume contains a selection of papers that were originally presented at a workshop "Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in African languages", held in Porto-Novo, Benin in 2022. Eight papers explore information structure in Niger-Congo languages from different linguistic angles: phonetics, phonology, syntax and semantics. The papers address a range of topics in different Niger- Congo languages from both junior and senior scholars in the field of linguistics, reflecting both the diversity of languages and scholarship in African linguistics.

Chapters

  • Introduction
    Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Sampson Korsah, Sharon Rose, Abdul-Razak Sulemana
    Chapter 1
  • The syntax of focus in Ìkálẹ̀
    Daniel Aremu
    Chapter 2
  • Prosody of topic and focus in Tira
    Nina Hagen Kaldhol, Sharon Rose, Mark Simmons
    Chapter 3
  • Tone-intonation interactions in Ede Chaabe
    Tajudeen Mamadou
    Chapter 4
  • DP-internal focus affects agree
    Insights from Bamileke Ngemba
    Leonel Tadjo Fongang
    Chapter 5
  • Definitely a question
    Definiteness markers in Akan ex-situ questions
    Augustina Owusu
    Chapter 6
  • The descriptive and syntactic properties of the ànáá particle(s)
    Comfort Ahenkorah
    Chapter 7
  • Verb phrase ellipsis in Likpakpaanl
    Samuel Owoahene Acheampong
    Chapter 8
  • On the clausal syntax of Dschang predicate focus doubling
    Colin Brown , Harold Torrence
    Chapter 9

Biographies

Akinbiyi Akinlabi

Akinbiyi Akinlabi is a Professor of Linguistics at Rutgers University, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (FNAL). His interests are in phonological theory and linguistic fieldwork. His research is primarily on Benue-Congo languages, especially on tone and vowel harmony, based on primary data collection. He has taught at Rutgers University since 1989, where he was Department Chair from 1998-2001. In 2015–2016, he was a Fulbright Professor at Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire. He co-founded the African Linguistics School in 2008. He served as WOCAL President from 2009-2015; and as ACAL President from 2017-2021.

Sampson Korsah

Sampson Korsah is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His research broadly focuses on theoretical issues in the syntax and morphology of Kwa (Niger-Congo) languages of West Africa, especially Gã and Akan (both spoken in southern Ghana). He has worked on a range of topics, including pronouns, clausal determiners, marking definiteness, polarity, and inherent complement verbs, among others.

Sharon Rose

Sharon Rose is Professor in the Linguistics Department at the University of California San Diego. Her research investigates the phonology of African languages, and its interaction with phonetics, morphology and syntax. She has researched long distance consonant and vowel harmony, dissimilation, tone, and intonation. She is currently working on Moro, Tira and Rere, three Heiban languages of Sudan.

Abdul-Razak Sulemana

Abdul-Razak Sulemana is a Lecturer in the Linguistics Department at the University of Ghana, Legon. His research interests include syntactic theory, syntax of African languages and its interface with phonology and semantics. He has researched on non-finite complementation, passive constructions, A-bar constructions, tone processes, temporal markers, and structure of the determiner phrase. He is currently working on nominalizations and indefinite DPs in Buli, a Mabia language of Ghana.

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Published

March 4, 2025
LaTeX source on GitHub

Series

Contemporary African Linguistics

Print ISSN

2511-7726
Cite as
Akinlabi, Akinbiyi, Korsah, Sampson, Rose, Sharon & Sulemana, Abdul-Razak (eds.). 2025. Cross-disciplinary approaches to Information Structure in Niger-Congo languages. (Contemporary African Linguistics 13). Berlin: Language Science Press. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.16686876
Copyright (c) 2025 Akinbiyi Akinlabi, Sampson Korsah, Sharon Rose, Abdul-Razak Sulemana; Daniel Aremu, Nina Hagen Kaldhol, Mark Simmons, Tajudeen Mamadou, Leonel Tadjo Fongang, Augustina Owusu, Comfort Ahenkorah, Samuel Owoahene Acheampong, Colin Browna, Harold Torrence

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Details about the available publication format: PDF

PDF

ISBN-13 (15)

978-3-96110-536-6

doi

10.5281/zenodo.16686876

Details about the available publication format: Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN-13 (15)

978-3-98554-156-0 (

Physical Dimensions

180mm x 245mm