Noun phrase and clausal connectives in Akan

Abstract

This paper explores the semantics and pragmatics of noun phrase and clausal connectives in Akan (Niger-Congo, Kwa branch), highlighting dialectal variation. In Fante, noun phrases may be conjoined by nye which encodes comitativity, or na, which is underdetermined between comitative and coordinative meanings. Asante, on the other hand, uses the underdetermined noun phrase connective ne. The interlocutor in Asante thus relies on contextual information to determine the intended interpretation. Clausal conjunction in both dialects is performed by na, but a temporal marker can be aptly used in certain contexts as an alternative to the clausal connective. This situation, where the temporal marker functions as a clausal connective, is more general in Fante where the temporal marker is even used in certain contrastive contexts. This phenomenon demonstrates the close conceptual affinity between temporal markers and clausal coordinators.