Year: 2015
Type: article
Abstract: IntroductionThis paperaddresses duabc 'grievance imprecation' asaverbal tabooamong theAkan of Ghana.Akan belongs to the Kwa group of languages found in West Africa.It is the indigenous language with the largest number of speakers in Ghana.The paper addresses the notion of the magical power of the spoken word with regard to duabc.A linguistic analysis of duabc will be presented in terms of its etymology, morphology, typology, syntax and semantics.In the framework of the ethnography of communication, this paper looks at the pragmatic features of duabc, the participants and its performative aspects.It also discusses the situations under which the verbal taboo is mentioned and it considers the sanctions involved.All this is supported by empirical data collected among the Akan in 1994.1Verbal taboo is an important aspect of the Akan language and culture.There are varieties of verbal taboos in Akan.They include ntam'reminiscential oath', duabc 'imprecation', nsedie 'self-imprecation', atennidie 'invectives' and ammodin 'unmentionables' (see Agyekum 1 996).This paper, however, concentrates only on duabc.Duabc'grievance imprecation by invocation' is a type of religious verbal taboo which involves the employment of magical and supernatural powers to cause harm to one's addressee.Duabc is normally related to supernatural powers which people consider as valuable and powerful.Duabc normally occurs where there is a grievance between a speaker and his victim.We shall be looking at the types, functions, structures and the prototypical language used in duabc.We will also look at the categories ofcommunicative participants connected to this type of speech communication.There is a Ghanamap atthe end of the paper that shows some of the towns, villages and rivers mentioned in the text and their relationship with Kumasi and Accra, the capital of Ghana.1. Theoretical framework Duabc can best be analysed in the communication.Hymes (1972) proposes account the various factors that come into put in an acronym, SPEAKING: general framework of the ethnography of an ethnographic framework which takes into play in speaking.These factors are summarily I This paper is a modified form of a chapter from Trondheim.
Author: Kofi Agyekum
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2329748348