This page was created as an in-classroom exercise in LING 2208, NTNU
By Mercy Motte and Mango K. Bodua
EWE NOUN PHRASES
NB: Some linguists have done some studies in this area.
1. A noun phrase can be a single word. Eg.
agbà “load”
2. A noun phrase can be followed immediately by a determiner. Eg.
nyɔnu la “the woman” meaning the noun phrase is left headed.
3. The plural suffix is ‘’wo’’ which is normally attached to nouns as a suffix. For example,
Ðeviwo “children”
However, anytime there is the presence of definite (la), this contracts to ‘’a’’ and then infixes itself between the noun and its plural suffix. Eg.
Ðeviawo “the children”
Ðeviawo
“the children”
| Ðeviawo |
| Ðevi | a | wo |
| child | DEF | PL |
| N |
4. All post noun modifying elements for example, adjectives in the noun phrase precede the definite marker or the demonstrative. The noun phrase is left headed. Egs.
Ðevi sue sia“this small child”
Ðevi sue sia
“this small child”
Ðevi lolo la “the big/fat child”
Ðevi lolo la
“the big/fat child”
5. Some noun phrases in Ewe are actually prepositional phrases in English. This is interesting. Find an example below.
Le nukpɔkpɔ me la
“In the video”
6. Complex nouns exist in the Ewe language made up of different and unique morphemes. Compound words have this phenomenon. One can do a morphology of these complex nouns. See the breakdown of an example below.
xexeame
“World”
| xexeame |
| xexe | a | me |
| outside | DEF | LOC |
| N |
The example above is made up of the noun - outside, the AFFIRMATIVE (Det) marker - a (this is the contracted form of la and the LOCATIVE- me
6b. The Morphology of some complex nouns. See examples below.
gaƒoɖokui
“clock”
| gaƒoɖokui |
| ga | ƒo | ɖokui |
| metal | beat | self |
| N |
aba-dzi-vɔ
“bed spread”
| abadzivɔ |
| aba | dzi | vɔ |
| bed | on | cloth |
| N |
aliblaka
“belt”
| aliblaka |
| ali | bla | ka |
| waist | tie | rope |
| N |
nuŋlɔti
“pen/pencil”
| nuŋlɔti |
| nu | ŋlɔ | ti |
| something | write | stick |
| N |
7. Orthography of the LOCATIVE me in noun phrases
In one context as below:
xexe-a-me agama-agbalẽ-e
“the world is the skin of a chameleon”
| xexeame |
| xexe | a | me |
| outside | DEF | LOC |
| N |
| agamaagbalẽe |
| agama | agbalẽ | e |
| chameleon | book | FOC |
| N |
The LOCATIVE me is written as part of the main noun.
In another context as below:
Le nukpɔkpɔ me la
“In the video”
The LOCATIVE me stands all alone; not attached to the main noun.
This is so because orthographically it is allowed and again, the context for their usage is also different. In one context, it helps create a complex noun and in the other context, it behaves as a unique morpheme, standing all alone to make the phrase complete.
8. Some Noun are polysemous. See examples below