Some word formation processes in Dagaare

Abstract

The research investigates word formation processes in Dagaare, a Gur language spoken in the Upper-West Region of Ghana. The word formation processes that were looked at include; derivation, compounding and reduplication. The research briefly touched on borrowing, clipping and coinage. The study notes that, there are a number of processes that take place during derivation. Thus, abstract nouns are derived from nouns by the addition of suffixes like –lυŋ, -luŋ and –nυŋ. Furthermore, the suffix -rԑ which is an agentive suffix is added to the duplicated form of a verb to realize a nominal. The suffixes –bu/-bυ, -mυ/-mu are also attached to verb stems to derive nouns. In the nominalization of adjectives, we have the suffixes: -lυŋ, -luŋ and – ruŋ. During the combination, deletion of syllables occurs. Even though Dagaare nouns are not automatically divided into masculine, feminine or neuter forms, a few words are attached to nouns to denote gender. These include: [-daa], [-pͻlee], [-dͻͻ], [-nyaŋaa], [-pͻge] and [-saraa]. These words have been referred to as suffixes by Bodomo (1997) and Dong (1977) whereas they are not. These are words on their own that can stand and make meaning. In the formation of compound words, Dagaare compounds undergo certain phonological processes such as vowel harmony, homoganic nasal assimilation, loss of final vowel bof final syllable among others.