A Morpho-Syntactic Study Of The Buli Verbal Group

ABSTRACT

This thesis explores the Verbal Group (VG) of Buli, a Gur language spoken in northern

Ghana, with focus on three main aspects: the morphology of the Buli verb, the

grammatical functions of Buli verbal particles, and the distribution of such verbal

particles in Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs). Having its underpinnings in Functional

Grammar (and skewed towards Functional Typological Syntax), a theory that views

language as a set of tools for communication, its data is drawn mainly from naturally

occurring spoken texts (spontaneous speech) which was recorded from a range of

communicative contexts in Buli-speaking communities. The oral data, which was taperecorded

from informal communication contexts and controlled formal interactions

(where necessary), was then transcribed for the analysis and description. These spoken

texts were supplemented by elicited data, as well as data based on my native speaker

intuition. The analysis is purely descriptive, with data drawn from other better-studied

Gur languages (e.g. Dagaare, GurunE, and Dagbani) in order to set the discussion in a

broader context. The findings show that although affixation is generally minimal in

Buli, a dichotomy can be drawn between dynamic and stative verbs on morphological

grounds; while the suffix {-i} is attached to the roots of most dynamic verbs, the suffix

{-a} is attached to the roots of most stative verbs. Also, the study reveals some Buli

verbal particles and discusses the grammatical functions that each of them performs.

The findings further indicate that, verbal particles generally manifest once (before the

first verb) within SVCs, and have scope over any other verb that follows. Also, a

mixture of some functional categories, specifically the progressive and the perfective

aspects, is permissible in Bul, and it is possible for the two morphological units of the

progressive marker bóràà (i.e. existential bóró and the aspectual marker à) to be split

between two serialized verbs in an SVC.