A Grammar of Akoose: a Northwest Bantu Language (SIL International and the University of Texas at Arlington Publications in Linguistics, 143)

Akoose is the language spoken by approximately 100,000 Bakoosi people who live in southwest Cameroon. The language is located near the northwestern range of narrow-Bantu languages.

Grammar of Akoose: A northwest Bantu language, by Robert Hedinger describes the grammatical structure of Akoose, an SVO language. It has a typical noun-class concord system with agreement in noun class within the noun phrase and subject-verb agreement marked on the verb.The book will appeal to a local audience interested in their own language as well as to linguists with an interest in African languages.

Topics covered

• Phonology sketch.
• Nouns, including the typical Bantu noun class system.
• Noun phrase, including various noun phrase types, noun modifiers--both those that agree with the head noun and those not manifesting any agreement--associative noun phrase and the semantic relations expressed.
• Verbs, with derivational suffixes and their effect on valence, tense, aspect, mood and negation. All verb forms are illustrated with paradigms, showing a complex verbal system.
• Verb phrase, including auxiliary verbs, which have an interesting range of functions.
• Clause types and their constituents.
• Sentence modifications, such as questions, topicalization and relative clauses.
• Complex sentences: reported speech, indirect questions and other clause combinations.
• Negation: clausal, non-clausal and lexical.
• Appendices, giving lists of ideophones, exclamations, comparative wordlists, loanwords and an interlinerized text.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction and Outline of Phonology
2. The Noun
   • Classes
   • Genders
   • Agreement or noun class concord
   • Internal structure
   • Diminutive
   • Negative
   • Compound
3. The Noun Phrase
   • Introduction
   • Structure
   • Noun modifiers
   • Other elements
   • Negation
   • The associative
   • Possessive
   • Coordinate
   • Prepositional phrases
   • Question phrase
   • Pronouns
4. The Verb
   • Introduction
   • The infinitive
   • Subject markers
   • Verb stems
   • Extensions and valency changes
   • Tense, aspect, negation and dependent forms
   • Verb moods
5. The Verb Phrase
   • Introduction
   • Simple
   • Serial
   • Split
   • Phrasal verbs
   • Infinitives and the verb phrase
   • Echo verbs
   • Intensification
   • Auxiliary verbs
6. The Clause and Clause Constituents
   • Non-verbal
   • Verbal
   • Active
   • Oblique phrases
   • Subject repetition for emphasis
7. Sentence Modifications
   • Introduction
   • Questions
   • Topicalisation
   • Relative clauses
   • Fronting
   • Vocatives and politeness adverbs
8. Complex Sentences
   • Analytic causatives
   • Reported speech
   • Indirect questions
   • Sentence pro-form
   • Other clause combinations
   • Comparative clauses
   • Summary list of conjunctions
9. Negation
• Clause negation
• Non-verbal clauses
• Lexical negation
• Miscellaneous negative items

Appendix A: Lexical Notes and Special Word Forms

• Numerals: Used for counting and Used in a noun phrase
• Ideophones
• Exclamations
• Loanwords from English, Douala, German, Efik, French, and Portuguese
• Seasons
• Kinship terms
• Colour terms

Appendix B: Swadesh 100 Comparative Wordlists

Appendix C

Text

Bibliography

• General works
• Works written in Akoose