THE NZEMA EMBEDDED CLAUSE

JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.

Introduction

A clause is a group of words consisting of a subject, a finite verb and a complement, or an object
(if necessary) (Annan, 2014). This suggest that for a group of words to be considered a clause, it
must have a performer of an action (subject), a verb that inflects for person, number and or tense
and that makes it meaningful.

According to Charlton (n. d), however, a clause is part of a sentence in the same way that a
phrase is, and plays the same part in a sentence as a part of speech. He adds that, it contains a
finite verb, but may not make a complete sense.

Charlton (n. d) draws on the functional property of the clause just as the phrase does. However,
while Annan (2014) contends that finite verbs make clauses independent and therefore
meaningful, Charlton (n. d) sees a possibility of clauses not making sense at all times.

In generative grammatical terms, embedding is a process by which a unit is included in another.

Thus, an embedded clause is a clause that is included in another clause (Carnie, 2002). The
process of incorporating a clause in another is also called nesting (Traxler, 2012).

The clause in which another clause is nested or embedded is the main clause or matrix clause
(Wardhaugh, 2003).

This work discusses the types of embedded clauses and their functions as they occur in the
grammar of Nzema.

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
ABBREVIATIONS

1PL First Person Plural

1SG First Person Singular

3PL Third Person Plural

3SG Third Person Singular

AUX Auxiliary verb

DEF Definite Article

DEMON Demonstrative

FUT Future

IMPER Imperative

INDEF Indefinite Article

NEG Negation

NO Number

PSN Personal Name

PERS Person

PART Particle

PERF Perfect Tense

POSTP Post Position

POSS Possessive Marker

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
1.0 Classification of embedded clauses.

It is worth noting that all embedded clauses are subordinate clauses and so the clause types to be
discussed here will be solely subordinate or dependent clauses.

According to Annan (2014), there are three important ways in which clauses may be described
and classified and they are: In terms of the clause elements (subject, verb, etc) from which they
are constructed, In terms of what kind of verb phrase (if any) acting as its verb elements and In
terms of its function in the sentence. Subordinate clauses are recognized in part by their function
(Annan, 2014). Hence our focus will be on the latter category of classification for the discussion.

2.0 Types of embedded clauses in Nzema.

The Nzema embedded clauses are; Nominal, Adverbial and Adjectival or Relative (Essuah,
1965). Kwaw (2008) however adds Comment clause and Comparative clause as part of the
embedded clauses in Nzema.1

2.1 Nominal embedded clause.

The nominal clause is generally introduced by ‘Kɛ’ (how, that), and ‘Mͻͻ …’ (who, which,
what, etc). It may function as the subject, object or the complement of the verb.

2.1.1 Examples of nominal that-clause (Kɛ …).

a. Meze [kɛ Kofi ɛnle kpalɛ].

1SG.know that PSN NEG-is good.
‘I know [that Kofi is not good.’]

1
I will not argue with kwaw (2008) at this point as my focus is on the former by Essuah (1965).
However, upon careful scrutiny and further research, I hope to make valid comment in support or
against his stance on the added two clause types.

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
b. Yɛhendɛle [kɛ ͻkɛra.]
1PL.wait-PAST that 3SG. FUT.come.
‘We waited [that he will come.’]

2.1.2 Examples of nominal wh-clause (Mͻͻ …).

a. Awie ɛnze [mͻͻ vale esiane ne rale a.]
INDEF-PERS know-NEG what cause-PAST accident DEF come-PAST PART.

‘No one knows [what caused the accident.’]

b. [Mͻͻ hunle kakula ne la,] awie anga.

What kill-PAST child DEF PART, INDEF-PERS say-NEG

[‘What killed the child,] nobody said it.’

From the examples, it is clear that in 2.1.1 (a) and (b), the embedded clauses in square brackets
are functioning as the objects of both clauses. In 2.1.2, the embedded clauses are functioning as
the object and subject of the clauses respectively.

2.2 Adverbial (embedded) clause.

This dependent clause functions as an adverb in the clause. To give examples, but few, let us
consider the following:

2.2.1 Place

The embedded clause that functions as the adverb of place is introduced by:

i. Ɛleka mͻͻ … la (where …)

ii. Ɛleka biala mͻͻ … la (wherever (that) …)

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
a. Kͻ [ɛleka mͻͻ ͻwͻ la.]

go place (that) 3SG.AUX PART

‘Go [where he is.]

b. Bɛhͻle [ɛleka biala mͻͻ bɛtͻne bie la.]

3PL.go-PAST place INDEF (that) 3PL.sell INDEF-NO PART

‘They went [wherever they sell some.’]

2.2.2 Manner

The manner in which an action was done is introduced by ‘Kɛ’ and usually follows its principal
clause. When it precedes, however, the principal clause is introduced by ‘zͻhane … ala.’

a. Bɛyɛle gyima ne [kɛ mͻͻ ͻhilele bɛ la.]

3PL.do-PAST work DEF how (that) 3SG.show-PAST 3PL PART

‘They did the work [as he instructed them.’]

b. Koame kɛlɛ [kɛ ͻ ze la.]

PSN write-PERF how 3SG father PART

‘Koame writes [as his father writes.’]

2.2.3 Time
This type of (embedded) clause is usually introduced by ‘Sumunli kɛ …’ (since),

‘Dahuu biala …’ (whenever), ‘Kenle biala …’ (whenever), ‘Mekɛ mͻͻ …’ (when), Saa … a’
(when).

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
a. Yɛnwunle ye [mekɛ mͻͻ yɛkͻ sua nu la.]
3PL.see-PAST 3SG time (that) 3PL.go house POSTP PART

‘We saw him [when we were going home.’]

b. [Kenle biala mͻͻ ͻkɛra la,] maa mende.

Day/time INDEF (that) 3SG.FUT-come PART, IMPER 1SG.hear

[‘Whenever he comes,] let me know.’

2.3 Relative (Adjective) clause.

The relative clauses are special subordinate clauses that modify nouns. For this reason, some
grammarians call them adjective clauses (www.umaryland.edu).

The Nzema relative or adjectival clause is joined to its main clause and other clauses by means
of the relative pronoun, ‘Mͻͻ …’ (which, who, that).

a. Sua ne [mͻͻ Aka dͻle la] ɛne.

house DEF which PSN buy-PAST PART DEMON

‘This is the house [which Aka bought.’]

b. Nrenyia ne [mͻͻ rale ɛke la] le me ze.

Man DEF who come-PAST here PART AUX POSS father

‘The man [who came here] is my father.

Conclusion

It is obvious that embeddedness, as far as clause subordination is concerned, is a common

phenomenon that features widely in many languages which Nzema is no exception. The other
two forms; comment and comparative clauses posited by Kwaw (2008), would be investigated
into following further research.

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JOHN NYAME, M.PHIL GHANAIAN LANGUAGE- UEW April 11th, 2018.
References

Annan, J. C. (2014). Analysing and using English: A handbook of English Grammar for students
of English as a second language. Accra: Luckyfour Publishers.

Carnie, A. (2002). Syntax: A generative introduction. Wiley-Blackwell.

Charlton, J. M. (No Date). Clause-Analysis for General Certificate of Education.

England: James Brodie Limited.

Essuah, J. E. (1965). Nzema Grammar. Ibadan: Claverianum Press.

Kwaw, F.E. (2008). Nzema Aneɛmɛla Tagyee Ne. Accra: Atwe Kotoko Publications.

Traxler, M.J. (2012). Introduction to Psycholinguistics: Understanding Science.

Wiley-Blackwell.

Wardhaugh, R. (2003). Understanding English Grammar: A Linguistic Approach. Wiley.

https://www.umaryland.edu>oaa>clauses. Retrieved on March 25th, 2018.