Abstract—This paper analyses the influence of the
imperfective verb form of Dagbani a Mabia (Gur) language,
spoken in Northern Ghana- on the English tense. Dagbani and
English have been in contact for decades; they exhibit
differences grammatically and phonologically. Scholars have
discussed the grammar of Dagbani. However, no scholar
addressed the influence of Dagbani imperfective on the use of
English. Considering the fact that there is a strong interplay
between English, as the official language of Ghana, and
Ghanaian languages in the socio-economic, political and
educational sectors of the country, teachers and curriculum
developers need to pay attention to how these languages
influence each other with specific focus on how to cater for
these influences during classroom interactions. This paper,
therefore, analyses the influence of the Dagbani imperfective
form on English tense, taking into consideration the
progressive aspect and the habitual present tense of Dagbani.
The study sets to find out if educational levels of people affect
the influence of the Dagbani imperfective on English tense.
Data for the study were collected through sentence translation
and picture description from (89) students in Tamale and
Yendi. The data were analysed within the framework of
grammatical replication theory by Heine and Kuteva, based on
Weinreich languages in contact. The data are analysed based
on the respondents’ levels of education (Basic, Secondary, and
Tertiary). Findings indicated that the progressive aspect of
Dagbani imperfective verb form overshadows the habitual
present, as Dagomba(s) speak English. Irrespective of
Dagomba’s educational level, they replicate the Dagbani
imperfective use in English; however, the influence minimally
reduces as speakers climb the academic hierarchy.
Index Terms—Dagbani, grammatical replication,
imperfective, Mabia (Gur) language.
Sheini Memunatu is with University of Bayreuth, Germany (e-mail:
sheinibiafeli@gmail.com).
[PDF]
Cite:Sheini Memunatu, "The Influence of the Dagbani Imperfective Verb Form on Dagomba‟s Use of the English Tense," International Journal of Languages, Literature and Linguistics vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 86-93, 2021.