Vol. 27 No. 4 (2018): Nordic Journal of African Studies
Linguistics

Underapplication in an Akan language game

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  • Kwasi Adomako
Kwasi Adomako
Department of Akan-Nzema Education, College of Languages Education, University of Education, Winneba
DOI: https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v27i4.398

Published 2019-05-21

Keywords

  • Underapplication,
  • Akan Pig Latin,
  • OT,
  • palatalization,
  • language game

How to Cite

Adomako, K. (2019). Underapplication in an Akan language game. Nordic Journal of African Studies, 27(4), 25. https://doi.org/10.53228/njas.v27i4.398

Abstract

This paper discusses the phenomenon of underapplication of palatalization in a Pig Latin game in Akan, a Niger-Congo (Kwa) language. Akan Pig Latin (henceforth APL), which is popularly known in Akan as Megesege, is a language game played usually by Akan youth. The game is played by appending the velar consonant /ɡ/ to the right of every vowel in the input word or phrase and then copying the vowel of the base syllable to form a CV structure. Whenever the base syllable contains /i, ɪ, e/ or /ɛ/, the manipulation performed by the game creates a palatalizing environment, in which a velar segment is followed by a front vowel. In regular Akan phonology, such sequences tend to undergo the process of palatalization. This paper provides evidence to show that in the forms produced by APL, palatalization fails to apply in the expected contexts. The underapplication of palatalization is accounted for within the framework of Optimality Theory. It is argued that the process is blocked by a high-ranking OCP constraint that bans adjacent [Coronal] segments in neighboring syllables.

 

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