Adjaye, Sophia
Dr. Sophia Adjaye, a native of Ghana, is Associate Professor of English at California State University, Bakersfield, where she has been teaching linguistics, phonetics/phonology, sociolinguistics, and history of the English language. She received her M.A. in Phonetics and Ph.D. in Phonetics and Linguistics, both from University College London. Dr. Adjaye formerly lectured in English at the University of Ghana. Her research interests include English accents, English-Akan contact and Akan phonology.
2005 0-7734-6208-2This book is intended to help meet the need for published works on African Englishes in general and Ghanaian English in particular. To date it is the most comprehensive analysis of the English accent used by Ghanaians, an accent that differs in a number of significant ways from the varieties of English spoken in the majority of West African countries. Using empirical phonetic data collected from a representative group of informants, the volume discusses segmental, contextual and suprasegmental features of Ghanaian English. This entails a thorough examination of the range of variant pronunciations for each consonant and vowel phoneme and of such processes as assimilation and elision. Word accentuation (stress) and intonation are also analyzed to reveal the established Ghanaian accentual patterns as well as the interaction between word-level pitch movement and sentence-level pitch contours. The comparative/contrast approach used helps identify standardized forms in the Ghanaian English accent while at the same time noting regional and/or educational variation. The analysis therefore highlights the existence of a cline of phonological systems based on the socio-educational backgrounds of Ghanaian speakers.
This book will enhance the literature on World Englishes in addition to being a great help to teachers and students of Ghanaian English. The volume also appeals to a wide range of linguists, including phoneticians and phonologists, dialectologists or sociolinguists and individuals interested in English studies or second language acquisition.
Price: $239.95