1887
Volume 15, Issue 2-3
  • ISSN 1018-2101
  • E-ISSN: 2406-4238

Abstract

The linguistic phenomenon of recurrence is identified in two aspects; either as a repetition of an action or a restoration to a former state. This paper examines two lexical items, an auxiliary verb and an adverb , which encode this phenomenon in Akan. The recurrence marker is claimed to be the output of a grammaticalization process which has as its historical input a phonologically identical lexical verb with a restorative meaning. Even though the recurrence marker is diachronically associated with restoration, its use gives rise to either a restorative or a repetitive assumption, in the form of an implicated premise. This assumption forms part of the context within which the utterance containing is interpreted. Thus its function coincides with that of , except for one particular use of the latter, associated with its occurrence at utterance-initial position. The almost identical functions of these two markers reveal the close conceptual relationship between recurrence of the repetitive and of the restorative type.

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2005-01-01
2025-02-16
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Akan; Grammaticalization; Implicature; Recurrence; Relevance theory
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