View source for Talk:The Akan verb kɔ

I think the '''kɔ''' in the cases where it occurs before the main verb and after the subject should be glossed EGR for egressive, parallelling '''ba''' INGR ingressive.  In the other cases where it follows another verb it is undoubtedly an independent verb in a serial construction.  (Mary Esther Dakubu)


The term ''sɛnkuo'' is used in Akan to refer to all stringed instruments(chordophones) including the piano and keyboad. ''sɛnkuo'' could therefore be used to refer to a sanza!(John Ganaah)

Between the INGR for ingressive and EGR for egressive glossing of '''kɔ''', the lexical semantics of '''kɔ''' suggests an 'exiting' from the action than 'entering' into the action.Deitically speaking, '''kɔ''' expresses movement away from the speaker. I therefore think along the same lines as the contributor Mary Esther Dakubu, that '''kɔ''' comes out better glossed as EGR than INGR.(John Ganaah).

I was wondering whether these are all the meanings associated with the use of '''kɔ''' in Akan? The reason is that '''kɔ''' can also occur in verbal compound constructions such as '''Yɛ didikɔ''' meaning we keep on eating and '''Yaw kikakɔ''' meaning Yaw keeps saying,where it does not just indicate directionality but intensity and continuity of the action?(John Ganaah).

Secondly, I see that '''kɔ''', apart from occuring in simplex sentences as the main verb or head, it can also occur as an adjunct. For example '''bɔkɔ''' meaning '''play away''' and '''dɔkɔ''' meaning '''weed away'''.(John Ganaah).


There are also some nominalised constructions in which '''kɔ''' occurs and the meaning it elicits can be described as euphemism associated with an idiomatic use. An example is '''Nana no kɔakuraa''' literally meaning the chief is gone to the village but euphemistically means the chief is dead. Couldn't this be another way to construe the meaning of '''kɔ'''?(John Ganaah).

In annotating '''kɔ''' as an aspectual marker, the question for which I seek clarification is this "Where should we look at in determining the aspectual marking of verbs in Akan- the lexical composition of the verb or aspectual affixes?"(John Ganaah).

My suggestion is that, if only a few verbs in Akan are lexicalised as stative verbs expressing lexical aspect, of which '''kɔ''' is not part, it presupposes that all other verbs including '''kɔ''' depends on the right verbal affix to express one form of aspect or the other. In that case, I think that what type of aspect '''kɔ''' expresses depend on its combination with an aspectual affix. (John Ganaah).