Author: Lebene Phillipe Bolouvi
ISBN No: 1-919799-03-6
Cost: 28.50
In addition to the importance generally associated with language in African cultural practices, there exists for the linguist a question concerning the origin, the construction and functioning mechanisms of the linguistic materials used. Among the Fons (Ghana, Togo, Bénin), the communities that worship the original Voodoo use, in different versions, a language generally referred to as vodugbè or yè·ègbè, i.e. “the language of voodoo” or “voodoo language” which appears to be a “cocktail” of several dialects. Using a collection of materials of this language as the starting point, this paper attempts to a) identify the dialects which are part of this linguistic mixture, and b) describe their functioning. Three methods of “lexical mixing” have been outlined, namely “morphological camouflage”, “lexical substitution” and “periphrastic or metalinguistic differentiation”.
ISBN No: 1-919799-03-6
Cost: 28.50
In addition to the importance generally associated with language in African cultural practices, there exists for the linguist a question concerning the origin, the construction and functioning mechanisms of the linguistic materials used. Among the Fons (Ghana, Togo, Bénin), the communities that worship the original Voodoo use, in different versions, a language generally referred to as vodugbè or yè·ègbè, i.e. “the language of voodoo” or “voodoo language” which appears to be a “cocktail” of several dialects. Using a collection of materials of this language as the starting point, this paper attempts to a) identify the dialects which are part of this linguistic mixture, and b) describe their functioning. Three methods of “lexical mixing” have been outlined, namely “morphological camouflage”, “lexical substitution” and “periphrastic or metalinguistic differentiation”.
