Dagbani language
[3] Dagbani is the most widely spoken language in northern Ghana, specifically among the tribes that fall under the authority of the King of Dagbon, known as the Yaa-Naa.
Allophonic variation based on tongue-root advancement is well attested for 4 of these vowels: [i] ~ [ɪ]/[ə], [e] ~ [ɛ], [u] ~ [ʊ] and [o] ~ [ɔ].
Dagbani is written in a Latin alphabet with the addition of the apostrophe, the letters ɛ, ɣ, ŋ, ɔ, and ʒ, and the digraphs ch, gb, kp, ŋm, sh and ny.
[9][10] This percentage is expected to rise as Dagbani is now a compulsory subject in primary and junior secondary school all over Dagbon.
There is insight into a historical stage of the language in the papers of Rudolf Fisch, reflecting data collected during his missionary work in the German Togoland colony in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, especially the lexical list,[12] though there is also some grammatical information[13] and sample texts.
[16] Various editors added to the wordlist and a more complete publication was produced in 2003 by a Dagomba scholar, Ibrahim Mahama.
[17] According to the linguist Salifu Nantogma Alhassan,[18] there is evidence to suggest that there are gender-related double standards in the Dagbani language with "more labels that trivialise females than males".
[19] Meanwhile, the data was electronically compiled by John Miller Chernoff and Roger Blench (whose version is published online),[20] and converted into a database by Tony Naden, on the basis of which a full-featured dictionary is ongoing and can be viewed online.
While there is no morphological differentiation between grammatical cases, pronouns can occur in different forms according to whether they appear pre- or postverbally.
[24] Bi-sochildŋʊnRELzusteal.PFVbaadoglaDETtʃaŋ-ja.go-PFVBi-so ŋʊn zu baa la tʃaŋ-ja.child REL steal.PFV dog DET go-PFV„The child who stole the dog is gone.“[24]Ti1PLɲasee.PFVbi-sochildŋʊnRELzusteal.PFVbaadogla.DETTi ɲa bi-so ŋʊn zu baa la.1PL see.PFV child REL steal.PFV dog DET„We saw the child who stole the dog.“[24]The relative pronouns in Dagbani are not obligatory present and can also be absent depending on the context, as the following example illustrates.
[23] Bi-achildsoproŋʊnRELzusteal.PFVbaadoglaDETtʃaŋ-ja.go.PFVBi-a so ŋʊn zu baa la tʃaŋ-ja.child pro REL steal.PFV dog DET go.PFV„The child who stole the dog is gone.“[24]Su-aKnifeʃɛliprodinRELpabeteebʊlʊtable.SGzʊʔʊheadmaaDETkabiya.break.PFVSu-a ʃɛli din pa teebʊlʊ zʊʔʊ maa kabiya.Knife pro REL be table.SG head DET break.PFV„The knife which was on the table is broken.“[24]Source:[25] Interrogative pronouns in Dagbani make a distinction between human and non-human.
[26] Demonstrative pronouns in Dagbani make a morphological difference between the singular and plural form.
[23] In order to express an indefinite like "something" the inanimate singular form is combined with the noun bini ("thing").
In the canonical sentence structure, the verb precedes the direct and indirect object as well as adverbials.
NapariNaparida-Øbuy.PFVlaFOCloori.lorryNapari da-Ø la loori.Napari buy.PFV FOC lorry„Napari has bought a lorry.“[28]NapariNaparida-Øbuy.PFVloori.lorryNapari da-Ø loori.Napari buy.PFV lorry„Napari has bought a lorry.“[28]Ò3SGnyú-r-ídrink-IPFV-CONJkóm.waterÒ nyú-r-í kóm.3SG drink-IPFV-CONJ water„He is drinking water.“Ò3SGnyú-r-á.drink-IPFV-CONJÒ nyú-r-á.3SG drink-IPFV-CONJ„He is drinking.“Ò3SGnyú-Ødrink.PFV-CONJkóm.waterÒ nyú-Ø kóm.3SG drink.PFV-CONJ water„He drank water.“Ò3SGnyú-yá.drink.PFV-CONJÒ nyú-yá.3SG drink.PFV-CONJ„He drank.“In Dagbani, the question word can either appear in situ or ex situ.
