Causatives in Kwa: An intragenetic typology

In Causatives in Kwa: An Intragenetic Typology Reginald Akuoko Duah presents a rich description and analysis of the formal types of causative expressions found in the different Kwa languages. Using a variety of language-internal tests, the book brings to light the features which make these languages similar in certain respects and different others. The book represents a fresh approach to the study of serial verb constructions (SVCs) and demonstrates that cause-effect serial verb constructions are a type of causative constructions and that analytic causatives lie outside realm of serial verb constructions. 

Causatives in Kwa is grounded in the theory of Force Dynamics the book addresses the relation between linguistic form and function and proposes an approach to modelling the semantics of causative expressions predicated on the major event types. Duah’s clear exposition coupled with numerous illustrations make this book accessible to readers with minimal expertise in linguistics. Causatives in Kwa will serve as a useful reference source for students and researchers interested in the linguistics of Kwa languages.

Reviewer’s Comments

‘Causatives in Kwa’ presents an excellent and very useful overview of causative constructions in Kwa languages, provides lots of interesting data, and also offers insightful, theoretically informed and original analyses of the syntax of analytical causatives in Akan and the semantics of different causative event types.
Professor Jochen Zeller, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

Duah’s book provides an excellent excursion of causatives and serial verbs in Kwa languages with good evidence to demonstrate how the two constructions differ. He methodically and systematically offers acute evidence to demonstrate that these two constructions may superficially look similar but are nonetheless syntactically different.
Professor Rose Letsholo, Tafila, University of Botswana, Botswana

Part of the African Humanities Series