Samuel Gyasi Obeng, D.Phil., FGA
Distinguished Professor of Linguistics

Academic Director, IU-Ghana Gateway

Director, West African Languages Institute (WALI)
Linguistics Department
Ballantine Hall 519
Bloomington, IN 47405-7005, USA
Office Phone: (812)-855-8199

"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnows; the liberty of some must depend on the restraint of others" Sir Isaiah Berlin (1960/1969)

In this class, we will learn about ways of/for obtaining linguistic data about Ano, a language spoken in Cote d’Ivoire, West Africa, that is unknown us (you and me). We will work with an informant to obtain a corpus of data by learning how to elicit, organize and analyze the data. Specifically, we will do a survey of techniques of data collection and analysis based on work with a native speaker of Ano. Specific problems and issues in data collection, observing, recording and interpreting will be identified and explicated. Such issues will relate to aspects of core linguistics such as phonetics, phonology, prosodic morphology (specially verb and noun morphology), semantics, and syntax (e.g., word order parameters, NP, VPs, intensifiers, interjections, ideophones, focus marking, adjectival, adverbial and complementation phrases, as well as simple, complex and compound sentences), inter alia. You will get an opportunity to investigate any aspect(s) of Ano on your own, share your findings with the class, and also write a short phonological and/or grammatical description based on your findings.