This study explores Adzagbe, a youth language based on Ewe, spoken in Aflao, Ghana. It aims to uncover how this code is created and the reasons behind its development among Aflao's youth. Data was... Show moreThis study explores Adzagbe, a youth language based on Ewe, spoken in Aflao, Ghana. It aims to uncover how this code is created and the reasons behind its development among Aflao's youth. Data was collected through recorded conversations, interviews, and observations across four key zones of Adzagbe speakers: Zorokpome, Dekeme, Atisukorpe, and Border. Findings show that Adzagbe is formed through the manipulation of Ewe, combined with elements from some Ghanaian and West African languages, English and French, resulting in unique lexical items spanning nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These manipulations include morphological changes like prefixation, suffixation, and reduplication, as well as phonological adjustments such as clipping and metathesis of word syllables. Semantic alterations involve metaphor, euphemism, and narrowing. Adzagbe idiomatic expressions are creative, often humorous, and rooted in Ewe, reflecting the speakers'identity, which is distinct from the older generation and mainstream Aflao culture. The language and associated culture are male-dominated, with practices like nicknaming, flamboyant fashion, and rebellious music. Displays of wealth, drug use, and attention-seeking behaviours such as hair dyeing and splurging on expensive vehicles are common in public settings. Adzagbe is also gendered and ageist, attracting criticism from the older generation, particularly towards its female speakers. Show less
This dissertation concerns the description of possessive constructions in Tongugbe, one of the many dialects of the Ewe language, which is spoken in south-eastern Ghana, along the Volta River.... Show moreThis dissertation concerns the description of possessive constructions in Tongugbe, one of the many dialects of the Ewe language, which is spoken in south-eastern Ghana, along the Volta River. It presents a detailed description of the constructions; and explores the relationship that exists between clausal possessive constructions and locative and existential constructions. In addition to this, the work presents a first outline grammar of Tongugbe. The grammar presents notably preliminary findings on the duration contrast in tones of Tongugbe and a rich demonstrative paradigm. The possessive constructions can be grouped into attributive, predicative and external possessor constructions. It is shown that the structural configurations of attributive possessive constructions are functionally motivated. It is also demonstrated that structural variations in predicative possessive and external possessor constructions correspond to differences in meaning. Finally, it is argued that, synchronically, clausal possessive constructions and locative and existential constructions are not reducible to a single structure. The view supported here then is that each construction is a form-meaning pair. Show less
