Akan Teleteaching Course

Unit 9.5: Notes on grammar

Sentence combining 1 - Complementation

I. Types of subordinate clauses:
1) Complement clauses
2) Adverbial clauses (-> Unit 10)


1. Complement clauses (-> cf. Osam [1998])

1.1. Complement-taking verbs

Perception-cognition-utterance verbs
anä gyeá be glad, happy
bisaá ask
buaá reply, answer
dweáne think, consider
frñá call
gyeá dä believe, think, be sure
gyeá toá muá be convinced
hþ/hunu see
hyñá bõá promise
kæé say
kæé kyerñá tell
kaeá remember, recall
nim know
paá kyñáw beg, plead
srñ beg, plead
suroá be afraid
suásu imagine
teà hear
Table 1a: Perception-cognition verbs

Verbs expressing modality
bõá mmõáden try (hard)
gyaeá stop
pñ it's necessary that, must, should; want to, would like to
Table 1b: Modal verbs

Verbs expressing evaluation
ñsñ it's necessary that, must, should
ñwõ
ñtwaá
ñnsñá it's not necessary that, must not, should not
Table 1c: Evaluative verbs

Verbs expressing manipulation
boaá help
hyñá  force
maá kwaán allow
Table 1d: Manipulative verbs

1.2. Complementiser sñâ ('that, whether', etc.)

Examples
English translation
1. M'anä agyeá sñâ woáaàbaá. "I'm happy that you're here (lit. = that you've come)."
2. Kwaåmeà dweáne sñâ Afuáa na õfaáaà sikaá noá. "Kwame thinks that it was Afua who took the money."
3. Megyeá dä sñâ õbñába nnñá. "I am sure that (s)he'll come today."
4. Yñagyeá toá muá sñâ Onyankoápõán wõ hõá. "We're convinced that God exists."
5. Ïbaáa noá hunuu sñâ õbaräma noá redaaádaàa no. "The woman saw that the man was deceiving her."
6. Ïkæé sñâ meámmra ntñám. "(S)he says that I should come quickly."
7. Ïkæé kyerñáñà yñn sñâ õbñába õkyeána. "(S)he told us that (s)he would come tomorrow."
8. Mepñ sñâ mñákõ Nkran. "I'd like to go to Accra." (lit. "I want that I'll go to Accra".)
9. Wõsuásu sñâ woábñba aábñboa wõn. "They imagine that you'll come to assist them."
10. Ñsñ sñâ woábñba. "You'll have to come." (lit. "It's necessary that you'll come.")
11. Ñnsñá sñâ wõkaá akyä. "They mustn't be late."
12. Bõ mmõáden sñâ woábñàboaá yñn. "Try to help us!"
13. Mennäm sñâ õbñába anaáa. "I don't know whether (s)he'll come (or not)."
14. Mennyeá nnä sñâ õnoá neá õheáne. "I'm not sure whether he's the chief." (lit. "I'm not sure whether it's him who is the chief.")
15. Ïbisaáaà me sñâ mñába. "He asked me whether I'd come."

1.3. Complementiser maà

Osam (1998) is the first Akan linguist to suggest that there is another complementiser apart from sñâ, which is maà. The latter is derived from the verb maá 'give' and occurs with manipulation verbs:
Verbs expressing manipulation
boaá help
hyñá force
maá kwaán allow

Examples
English translation
16. Aémmaá hyññ Kofä ma õdäì aduaneá noá. "Kofi forced Kofi to eat the food."
17. Esä maa Kofä kwaán ma õkõáõàe. "Esi allowed Kofi to go."
18. Kofä boaáaà Esä ma õyñáñà adwuáma noá. "Kofi helped Esi to do the work."

These manipulation verbs, however, can also occur with the complementiser sñâ:
19. Aémmaá hyññ Kofä sñâ õánni aduaneá noá.  "Amma forced Kofi to eat the food." (lit. "…that he should eat the food")
The difference between (16) and (19) is that in (16) the manipulation is successful, whereas this is not necessarily the case in (19).
20. *Aémmaá hyññ Kofä ma õdäì aduaneá noá, nanáso õannä. *Amma forced Kofi to eat the food but he didn't eat it.

An utterance like (20) is not acceptable as the agent of the main clause is successful in getting the agent in the complement to carry out the action.

-> Go to exercise 1
-> Sentence combining 2 (Unit 10)

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