Classroom:Ewe Noun Phrases
GENERALISATIONS – Some Ewe linguists have already looked at these.
1. A noun phrase can be made up of a single word. Eg. agbà “load”
| agbà |
| agbà |
| load |
| N |
2. A noun phrase can be followed immediately by a determiner. Eg.
nyɔnu la
“the woman”
nyɔnu la
nyɔnu la
woman AFFMT
N DET
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3. The plural suffix is ‘’wo’’ which is normally attached to nouns. For example, Ðeviwo “children” Ðeviwo Ðeviwo children N
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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
Ðevi a wo
child AFFMT PL
N
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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
Ðevi sue sia
child small this
N ADJ DEM
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Ðevi lolo la “the big/fat child” Ðevi lolo la Ðevi lolo la child big AFFMT N ADJ DET
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