Components of the Nominal System of Nandome

Abstract

The paper discusses the components of the nominal system of Nandome. Nandome (a dialect of Dagaare) is a Gur language spoken in north western Ghana (the Upper West Region). The paper looks at the prototypical and the non-prototypical nouns of Nandome, how they are classified generally in terms of how they are perceived in the world and how they are classified in terms of the natural classes that exist due to linguistic influence.  On the non-prototypical nouns the paper touches on; the pronouns, the nominalizations, and the noun clauses. Determiners, adjectives, units of measure and locatives are also discussed as the modifiers that are part of the components of the nominal system. These discussions would set the bases for a later discussion of the syntax of the nominal system of Nandome. Data was taken from the SIL African wordlist. The nouns were observed and the identified trends help make the paper. Focus group discussions, observation of natural discourse and intuitional knowledge were also used.

Keywords: Nominal system, Noun, Nominal, Nandome, Gur, Deternimer, Adjective, Units of measure, Locative