Towards identification of argument structures of verb classes: A question of syntactic alternations and verb semantic classes
Keywords:
Akan language, argument structures, verbs of cutting, verbs of perception, semantic characterisationsAbstract
There is the general consensus among linguists today that verbs, to a large extent, are used in virtually all sentences in all languages. This study aimed to identify the argument structures of the verbs of cutting, verbs of contact by impact, verbs of change of state and verbs of perception. The sources of data for the study included written texts, conversations and my own introspection as a native speaker of Asante Twi. The study revealed that the patient argument which undergoes the change of state can only be expressed as theme. This study serves as a useful resource in classifying Akan verbs of cutting, contact, change of state and perception into their respective units. This will help learners and the language users in identifying various semantic characterisations of the various categorisations of verbs in the Akan language.
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