Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah

Education

BA (Ghana), M.Phil, PhD (Trondheim)

Specialization

Pragmatics (language use in context)

Research interests

• Pragmatics (and semantics) of function words
• Information structure
• Grammaticalization
• Language use in specific domains (health, gender, religion and migratory contexts)

Current Research Projects

• Language and Communication in Specific Domains: Negotiating Multilingualism and Constructing Identities (PI; an Andrew Mellon funded project under the University of Ghana Project titled Re-invigorating Humanities Research at UG)
• Patient-provider Communication in Chronic Disease Management in Ghana (Co-investigator; PI – Dr. Ekua E. Houphouet)

Courses

LNGS 101   Introduction to Linguistics
LNGS 303   Phonetics and Phonology of a Ghanaian Language (Akan)
LNGS 304   Morphology and Syntax of a Ghanaian Language (Akan)
LNGS 324   Introduction to Research Methods
LNGS 405   Language in Business
LNGS 412   Semantics of a Ghanaian Language (Akan)

TESL 643   Morphology of English
LING 645   Research Methods
LING 658   Cognitive Semantics
LNGS 604  Seminar in Semantics and Pragmatics
LNGS 607  Research Methods
LNGS 701  Advanced Research Methods

Thesis Supervision

Doctoral dissertation

1. Dankyi, Beatrice (In progress) Culture, language and health: A linguistic investigation of communication strategies in gynecological consultations in Accra, Ghana. Department of English, University of Ghana. (Principal Supervisor)
2. Eshun, Emma Sarah (In progress) Expressions of perception and cognition in Akan. (Co-supervisor)
3. Abigail Ayiglo (In progress) Acquisition of English prepositions among young native Ewe speakers. (Co-supervisor)
4. Abunya, Levina Nyameye (Submitted) Aspects of Kaakyi Syntax.
5. Duah, Reginald Akuoku (2013) Force dynamics and causation in Akan.
6. Muhammad, Ango Aliero (2013) Aspects of the morphology of C’lela.
7. Kambon, Obadele (2012) Serial verb nominalization in Akan. (Won the VC’s award for best thesis in the humanities 2012-2013)
8. Afreh, Esther (2011) The expression of motion in Akan. (Won the VC’s award for best thesis in the humanities 2011-2012)

MPhil thesis

1. Asantewaa, Priscilla (In Progress) Exclusives and additives in Akan. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
2. Bimpeh, Abigail Anne (2016) Semantics of Ewe exclusives. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
3. Mawutor, Komla Agbaku (2015) Sociopragmatics of requests in Logba, Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
4. Klidza, Anthony (2014) Analysis of gender bias and stereotypes in junior high schools English language textbooks in Ghana.
5. Broohm, Obed (2014) Information structure in Esahie. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana
6. Owusu, Augustina (2014) The linguistic expression of modality in Akan. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
7. Nutakor, Yvonne (2014) Linguistic socialization in multilingual environments: A study of children in compound houses in Accra. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
8. Apenteng, Monica A. (2013) A morpho-phonological study of Akan loanwords. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana. (Won the Dean of Arts Thesis Grant)
9. Cobbina, Eugenia (2013) Question formation in Efutu. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana. (Won the Dean of Arts Thesis Grant)
10. Asare-Nyarko, Charlotte (2012) Akan-English code-switching in some selected churches in Accra. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana. (Won the Dean of Arts Thesis Grant)
11. Dogbe, Esther (2012) The semantics and pragmatics of emotion expressions among the Anlo. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana. (Won the Dean of Arts Thesis Grant)
12. Anim-Ayeko, Joyce (2012) Metaphor in politics: A verbal and non-verbal analysis of selected political advertisement in the Ghanaian print media. Department of English, University of Ghana.
13. Adusei, Dorothy Pokuaa (2012) The semantics and pragmatics of some Akan verbs of consumption. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana
14. Adjei, Susana (2011) Aspects of Dεg (Mo) phonology. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
15. Abunya, Levina (2010) Aspects of Kaakyi morphology. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
16. Vanderpuiye, Joanna (2010) Ga-English codeswitching in radio and television advertisements. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.

MA thesis

1. Mortem, Favour M. Randy (2008) The impact of the communicative approach in the teaching of English listening comprehension in Senior High Schools. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
2. Dzorkpata, Michael Komla (2008) A study of the mis-use of vocabulary in essays of first year students of Nkwatia Presbyterian Senior High School. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.

Undergraduate Long Essays

1. Tampour-Kuupol, Veronica (2004) The use of indirection in some contemporary Akan highlife and hiplife songs. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
2. Appah, Collins (2004) The impact of Asante on the Bono dialect of Akan. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
3. Ofoe, Levi Chrie (2003) Verbal indirection in Akan: A case study of some talk shows in the Ghanaian mass media. Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.

Publications

Journal articles

Nutakor, Yvonne E. & Nana Aba Appiah Amfo (2018) Language socialization practices of children in multilingual Accra, Ghana Legon Journal of Humanities 29 (1)166-198.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah, Houphouet, Ekua Essumanma, Dordoye, Eugene & Rachel Thompson (2018) “Insanity is from home”: The expression of mental health challenges in Akan. International Journal of Language and Culture 5 (1): 1-28.

Agyepong, Dorothy P., Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah & E. Kweku Osam (2017) Literal and Metaphorical Usages of ‘Eat’ and ‘Drink’ in Akan. Nordic Journal of African Studies 26 (1): 62-78.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2016) “I am a pastor…not a politician”: Language, politics and religion in Ghana’s 2012 elections campaign. Issues in Political Discourse Anaysis 4 (2), 135-153.

Kambon, Obadele, Osam, Kweku & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2015) A case for re-visiting definitions of serial verb constructions: Evidence from Akan serial verb nominalization. Studies in African Linguistics 44 (2), 75-99.

Diabah, Grace & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2015) Caring supporters or daring usurpers?: Representation of women in Akan proverbs. Discourse and Society 26, 3-28.

Apenteng, Monica Amoah & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2014) The form and function of loanwords in Akan. Nordic Journal of African Studies 23 (4), 221-242.

Abunya, Levina & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2013). Grammaticalization in Kaakyi: From a temporal adverb to a future marker. Acta Linguistica Hafnensia 45(1), 126-139.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2011). The Dangme clausal connective nɛ. Journal of West African languages, XXXVIII (1), 53-68.

Fretheim, Thorstein, Nana Aba A. Amfo & Ildikó Vaskó (2011) Token reflexive, anaphoric and deictic uses of ‘here’. Nordic Journal of Linguistics 34 (3), 239-294.

Appah, Clement K. I. & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2011). The morphopragmatics of the diminutive morpheme (-ba/-wa) in Akan. Lexis, 6: “Diminutives and Augmentatives in the Languages of the World”, 85-103.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2010). Indefiniteness marking and Akan bi. Journal of Pragmatics, 42 (7), 1786-1798.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2010). Lexical signaling of information structure in Akan. Linguistics, 48 (1), 195-225.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2010). Negation in Akan: Linguistic convention versus pragmatic Inference. Journal of Asian and African studies, 80, 97-112.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2010). Noun phrase conjunction in Akan: The grammaticalization path. Pragmatics, 20 (1), 27-41.

Amfo, Nana Aba A. & Stella B. Norgbe (2009). Comparing demonstratives in Kwa. Legon Journal of the Humanities, 20, 181-211.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2007). Clausal conjunction in Akan. Lingua, 117 (4), 666-684.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2007). Explaining connections in Akan discourse: the role of discourse markers. Languages in Contrast, 7 (2), 185-202.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2007). Noun phrase and clausal connectives in Akan. Studies in African Linguistics, 36 (1), 1-27.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2005). Modal marking in Akan: The case of anka. Journal of Pragmatics, 37 (7), 997-1013.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2005). Recurrence marking in Akan. Pragmatics, 15 (2/3), 151-168.

Book

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah, Omoniyi, Tope, Tagoe, Nii Teiko, Kambon, Obadele & Kofi Korankye Saah (2018) Therapeutic Communication Competencies for Nurses and Midwives. Accra: Digibooks.

Edited books

Yankah, Kwesi, Saah, Kofi K. & Nana Aba Appiah Amfo (eds.) (2014) A Legon Reader in Ghanaian Linguistics. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke Publishing Company.

Lauer, Helen, Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah  & Joanna Baompong (eds.) (2013) The One in the Many: Nation Building through Cultural Diversity. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers.

Lauer, Helen, Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah & Jemima Asabea Anderson (eds.) (2011). Identity Meets Nationality: Voices from the Humanities. Accra: Sub-Saharan Publishers.

Nilsen, Randi A., Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah & Kaja Borthen (eds.) (2007). Interpreting Utterances: Pragmatics and its Interfaces, Essays in Honour of Thorstein Fretheim. Oslo: Novus.

Book chapters

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2018). The encoding of information structure in African languages, in Agwuele, Augustine and Adams Bodomo (eds.). The Handbook of African Linguistics. pp. 243-261. Oxford: Routledge.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2014). The semantics and pragmatics of sentential coordination in Ga and Ewe, in Yankah, Kwesi, Saah, Kofi K. and Nana Aba A. Amfo (eds.) A Legon Reader in Ghanaian Linguistics, pp. 68-86. Oxfordshire: Ayebia Clarke Publishing

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2013). The triumph and prosperity of education in Ghana, in Mwamwenda, Tuntufye & Phindile Lukhele-Olurunju (eds.) The Triumph and Prosperity of Education in Africa, pp. 249-274. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa.

Fretheim, Thorstein & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2008). ‘Abroad’ and semantically related terms in some European languages and Akan. In Gómez González, María de los Ángeles, Mackenzie, J. Lachlan & Elsa M. González Álvarez (eds.), Languages and cultures in contrast and comparison, pp. 173-191. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Fretheim, Thorstein & Nana Aba A. Amfo (2008). Reference, determiners and descriptive content. In Klinge, Alex & Henrik Høeg Müller (ed.), Essays on nominal determination: from morphology to discourse management, pp. 339-366. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2007). Interpretive use marking in Akan. In R. A. Nilsen, N. A. A. Amfo & K. Borthen (eds.), Interpreting Utterances: Pragmatics and its Interfaces, Essays in Honour of Thorstein Fretheim, pp. 108-126. Oslo: Novus.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2006). Syntactic variation versus semantic uniqueness: A study of the multifunctional marker no in Akan. In Vold, Eva Thue, Lyse, Gunn Inger & Anje Muller Gjesdal (eds.), New Voices in Linguistics, pp. 211-224. New Castle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah & Thorstein Fretheim (2005). A relevance-theoretic approach to linguistic signaling ;of the cognitive status of discourse referents. In Vulchanova. Mila & Tor Anders Åfarli (eds.), Grammar and Beyond: Essays in Honour of Lars Hellan, pp. 43-68. Oslo: Novus.

Conference proceedings

Amfo, Nana Aba A., Boateng, Stella A. & Yvonne A. Otoo (2007). A comparative study of the morphosyntactic properties of adjectives in three Kwa languages. In Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu & E. Kweku Osam (eds.), Studies in the Languages of the Volta Basin 4, Proceedings of the Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project, pp. 61-73. Accra: Linguistics Department, University of Ghana.

Amfo, Nana Aba Appiah (2007). Akan Demonstratives. In Doris L. Payne & Jamie Peña (eds.), Selected Proceedings of the 37th Annual Conference on African Linguistics, pp. 134-148. Sommerville: Cascadilla Press.

Edited conference proceedings

Kropp Dakubu, Mary Esther, Amfo, Nana Aba A., Osam, E. Kweku, Saah, Kofi K. & George Akanlig-Pare. (eds.) (2010). Studies in the Languages of the Volta Basin 6, Proceedings of the Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project Part 1 Verbs and Adjectives.. Accra: Linguistics Department, University of Ghana

Kropp Dakubu, Mary Esther, Amfo, Nana Aba A., Osam, E. Kweku, Saah, Kofi K. & George Akanlig-Pare. (eds.) (2010). Studies in the Languages of the Volta Basin 6, Proceedings of the Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project Part 2 Nominals, the Lexicon and Phonology. Accra: Linguistics Department, University of Ghana.

Working papers

Amfo, Nana Aba A. & Thorstein Fretheim (2005). On the non-existent role of implicatures in signalling the cognitive status of discourse referents. Working Papers isk, 2 (NTNU), 61-74.

Amfo, Nana Aba A., Boateng, Stella A. & Thorstein Fretheim (2004). Markers of recurrence in two European and two African languages. Working Papers isk, 1: Special Issue on Contrastive Lexical Pragmatics (NTNU), 1-24.