This paper discusses the song riddle (Tuya duɣibu) among the Dagbamba in the Northern Region of Ghana. Data for this study were taken from recordings of interviews as well as native speaker intuition and analyzed within the theoretical framework of Jacobson’s Ethnopoetic Theory. The paper shows that the Dagbamba song riddle has the antecedent and a response as its parts. I show in the paper that the Dagbamba song riddles have alliteration and pilling as a repetitive pattern. Again, the paper shows that the dominant ratio of the number of elements (elements pattern) employed in the Dagbamba song riddle performance of both the antecedents and the responses is 2:2. It is also shown in the paper that there is no syllabic equivalence in the Dagbamba song riddle, but short and open syllables are most prominently employed in both the song riddle antecedents and responses. Also shown in this paper is the opening formula. The song riddle is peculiar because, apart from it being sang as a song, it is also accompanied with gestures and dance during its enactment. As a relationship, the Dagbamba song riddle cautions the Dagbamba society against divorce didactically. The paper serves as a way of documenting the knowledge of literature and augmenting the existing knowledge of literature among the Dagbamba since modernity is seen as a threat to Dagbamba folklore.
Published in | International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation (Volume 6, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11 |
Page(s) | 59-67 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Riddle, Ethnopoetic, Dagbamba and Antecedent
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APA Style
Mohammed Abubakari Rashid. (2020). Ethnopoetic Analysis of the Dagbamba Song Riddles. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation, 6(3), 59-67. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11
ACS Style
Mohammed Abubakari Rashid. Ethnopoetic Analysis of the Dagbamba Song Riddles. Int. J. Appl. Linguist. Transl. 2020, 6(3), 59-67. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11
AMA Style
Mohammed Abubakari Rashid. Ethnopoetic Analysis of the Dagbamba Song Riddles. Int J Appl Linguist Transl. 2020;6(3):59-67. doi: 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11
@article{10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11, author = {Mohammed Abubakari Rashid}, title = {Ethnopoetic Analysis of the Dagbamba Song Riddles}, journal = {International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation}, volume = {6}, number = {3}, pages = {59-67}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijalt.20200603.11}, abstract = {This paper discusses the song riddle (Tuya duɣibu) among the Dagbamba in the Northern Region of Ghana. Data for this study were taken from recordings of interviews as well as native speaker intuition and analyzed within the theoretical framework of Jacobson’s Ethnopoetic Theory. The paper shows that the Dagbamba song riddle has the antecedent and a response as its parts. I show in the paper that the Dagbamba song riddles have alliteration and pilling as a repetitive pattern. Again, the paper shows that the dominant ratio of the number of elements (elements pattern) employed in the Dagbamba song riddle performance of both the antecedents and the responses is 2:2. It is also shown in the paper that there is no syllabic equivalence in the Dagbamba song riddle, but short and open syllables are most prominently employed in both the song riddle antecedents and responses. Also shown in this paper is the opening formula. The song riddle is peculiar because, apart from it being sang as a song, it is also accompanied with gestures and dance during its enactment. As a relationship, the Dagbamba song riddle cautions the Dagbamba society against divorce didactically. The paper serves as a way of documenting the knowledge of literature and augmenting the existing knowledge of literature among the Dagbamba since modernity is seen as a threat to Dagbamba folklore.}, year = {2020} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Ethnopoetic Analysis of the Dagbamba Song Riddles AU - Mohammed Abubakari Rashid Y1 - 2020/06/08 PY - 2020 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11 DO - 10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11 T2 - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation JF - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation JO - International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation SP - 59 EP - 67 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2472-1271 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijalt.20200603.11 AB - This paper discusses the song riddle (Tuya duɣibu) among the Dagbamba in the Northern Region of Ghana. Data for this study were taken from recordings of interviews as well as native speaker intuition and analyzed within the theoretical framework of Jacobson’s Ethnopoetic Theory. The paper shows that the Dagbamba song riddle has the antecedent and a response as its parts. I show in the paper that the Dagbamba song riddles have alliteration and pilling as a repetitive pattern. Again, the paper shows that the dominant ratio of the number of elements (elements pattern) employed in the Dagbamba song riddle performance of both the antecedents and the responses is 2:2. It is also shown in the paper that there is no syllabic equivalence in the Dagbamba song riddle, but short and open syllables are most prominently employed in both the song riddle antecedents and responses. Also shown in this paper is the opening formula. The song riddle is peculiar because, apart from it being sang as a song, it is also accompanied with gestures and dance during its enactment. As a relationship, the Dagbamba song riddle cautions the Dagbamba society against divorce didactically. The paper serves as a way of documenting the knowledge of literature and augmenting the existing knowledge of literature among the Dagbamba since modernity is seen as a threat to Dagbamba folklore. VL - 6 IS - 3 ER -