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- Language Family: Kwa
- Topic #1: Possession
- Topic #2: Dialectology
On Kinship Terms and Adnominal Possessive Constructions: Insights from Tongugbe a Riverine Dialect of Ewe
Abstract
This paper explores the distribution of kinship terms in a dialect of the Ewe language, Tongugbe. I attempt to account for the idiosyncracies that can be noted in the distribution of the terms in the adnominal possessive constructions of the dialect via functional notions such as linguistic conventionalization, iconicity and semantics of control. The aim is to present a coherent account of the distribution. Thus, I first of all present the different kinds of kinship terms in Tongugbe. I then present the distribution of the kinship terms in possessee slots of adnominal possessive constructions. I show that the different terms distribute differently in the alienable and the inalienable constructions. I then attempt to account for the distribution, and argue that the distribution of kinship terms in Tongugbe is motivated by an interaction of various functional factors.