Reflexivity in Dagaare

Abstract

The focus of this thesis has been to examine the morphology and syntax of reflexive pronouns in Dagaare, a Mabia language spoken in the Upper West Region of Ghana and some parts of Burkina Faso. Regarding the morphology of the reflexives, I showed the reflexives are complex items since they comprise of two different morphemes, which are the personal pronoun and a reflexive morpheme -meŋɛ. This observation made me to conclude that the reflexives are bimorphemic in Dagaare since it has two different morphemes in the morphological composition. In addition, I demonstrated that the reflexive morpheme does not mark for number in the language. On syntax, I showed that the reflexives are bound to a preceding noun, termed as antecedent in generative syntax. Thus, the number, and person features of a reflexive pronoun is dependent on that of the antecedent. I analyzed the syntactic features within the theoretical framework of the Government and Binding Theory proposed by (Chomsky 1981), and concluded that Dagaare reflexives are required to be in the same clause as in the theoretical assumptions of the Binding Principle A. Data for the study were drawn from four different sources including: natural text, elicitations, recording of speeches, as well as native speaker intuitions as a native speaker of Dagaare. I also attempt to discuss the distribution of pronouns and emphatic reflexives (intensifiers) and compare that with reflexive pronouns.