Distributed morphology of Akan-Twi plurals

Abstract

Following the discussions of Bodomo and Marfo’s (2002) morphophonological analysis of Akan and Dagaare noun class system using number marking: singular and plural within Lexical Phonology theoretical framework, the present study seeks to provide a broader analysis of Akan-Twi plurals based on Distributed Morphology theoretical framework provided by Halle and Marantz (1993, 1994). The core issue of this paper is to account for whether the attachment of the prefix a- and the suffix -foɔ on some stems in Akan is due to the spell-out of vocabulary item (VI) or due to other morphological operations such as fission. Moreover, the paper attempts to address the context in which the Vocabulary Item /a-/ applies