Konkomba language
Geography
Konkomba is spoken in Ghana, and Togo.Dialects and literature
The Konkomba language, known natively as Likpakpaanl, is spoken by the Konkomba people, who are also known as the Bikpakpaam. The Konkomba language has several dialects, including, but not limited to, Lichaboil, Ligbeln, Likoonli, Limonkpeln and Linafeel.The dialects of Konkomba emerged because different families and groups settled together and adopted unique pronunciation and vocabulary patterns, forming what could be called uniform dialect groupings. For example, "map geek" in, "may LAK Iya", and "many men" all mean "I don't like that". This type of variation can be heard in Likpakpaanl, depending on the geographic area or what clan is dominant in a particular settlement. However, Lichaboil dialect is the written variety. Other Bikpakpaam dialects classifications include Linankpel, Likpalil, Linandeln, Lisagmaln, and Linalol.
A reasonable amount of Likpakpaanl literature exists. This literature includes primers for teaching, a dictionary, storybooks, and folk tales. There is also a full translation of the Bible in Likpakpaanl, created through the work of GILLBT and GIL, Mary Steele, and RILADEP. Work on the Likpakpaanl Bible translation was started by Mary Steele in 1962 when she arrived to work with the Wycliffe Bible Translators.
Classification
Konkomba is a Gur language. It is related to the Bimoba language spoken by the Bimoba people of Ghana, to the Moba language spoken by the Moba people of Togo and Burkina Faso, and to the Bassari language spoken by the Bassari people of Togo and Ghana. It is part of the Gurma subgroup, which also includes several other languages such as Gourmanche and Miyobe.Orthography
Alphabet
Capital letters
A, B,, CH, D, E, F, G, GB, I, J, K, KP, L, M, N, NY, Ŋ, ŊM, O, Ɔ, P, R, S, T, U, W, Y.Lower-case letters
a, b,, ch, d, e, f, g, gb, i, j, k, kp, l, m, n, ny, ŋ, ŋm, o, ɔ, p, r, s, t, u, w, y.The orthography follows that used in the literature currently in print in Likpakpaanl. Under the current convention, long and short vowels are distinguished by the use of single and double letters respectively.. Tone is not marked, but where two words contrast only in tone and the context is unlikely to indicate a distinction in meaning, an "h" is added after the vowel in one of the words.
Certain variations that may occur in the a given speaker's speech. For example, sometimes a speaker may use the /r/ sound and sometimes the /l/ sound. Also, there may be variations between one speaker and another within the same village. This is, however, at the phonological level and does not affect semantic interpretation.
The letter c outside the digraph ch is listed by GILLBT's Likpakpaani Dictionary, but not in other sources.
Phonology
Vowels
Nasalization among vowel sounds is also heard when preceding nasal consonants.Grammar
Lexical Tone
Differences in tone can change the lexical function of a particular word. In contrast to many other Gur languages, Likpakpaanl tones have no grammatical function.Grammatical Tone
There are two-level tones; low and high, which are used to distinguish between perfective and habitual aspects. The tones do not change regardless of the person specification of the noun or a pronoun.Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns can either occur preverbally or postvebally. In both cases, there is an additional distinction in the third person with regard to animacy.Preverbal
Preverbal personal pronouns are used as subjects. Which form for the first person pronoun is used, depends on the phonology of the following word.
| Person | Singular | Plural | Gloss |
| 1st | m/n | tì | I/we |
| 2nd | à | nì | you/you all |
| 3rd | ù | bì | he/she/they |
| 3rd | ù | ì | it/they |
Postverbal
Postverbal personal pronouns are used as objects.
| Person | Singular | Plural | Gloss |
| 1st | mì | tì | I/we |
| 2nd | sì | nì | you/you all |
| 3rd | ù | bì | he/she/they |
| 3rd | ù | ì | it/they |
Emphatic Pronouns
Emphatic pronouns are formed by a personal pronoun and an additional suffix. This suffix is in singular -ìn or -mà, whereas in the plural the suffix is -mì or -mà.| Person | Singular | Plural | Gloss |
| 1st | mìn | tìmì | I/we |
| 2nd | sìn | nìmì | you/you all |
| 3rd | ùmà | bìmà | he/she/they |
| 3rd | nìma | ìma | it/they |
Reciprocal Pronouns
There is only one reciprocal pronoun tͻb in Likpakpaanl.Reflexive Pronouns
Rflexive pronouns are formed by the personal pronouns, to which the suffix -bà is attached to.| Personal Pronoun | Suffix | Reflexive Pronoun | Gloss |
| m/n | -bà | m-bà/n-bà | myself |
| à | -bà | à-bà | yourself |
| ù | -bà | ù-bà | himself/herself |
| tì | -bà | tì-bà | ourselves |
| bì | -bà | bì-bà | yourselves |
| ì | -bà | ì-bà | themselves |
| nì | -bà | nì-bà | themselves |
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive pronouns in Likpakpaanl have the same morphological form than the preverbal personal pronouns. In special contexts, the prefix -aa can be attached to the possessum in order to emphasize the relation between the possessor and the possessum.Relative Pronouns
Relative pronouns are dependent on the prefix of the noun that indicates its noun class. The relative pronoun is thus a reflection of the noun class and functions as a resumptive pronoun.Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns are formed by the noun class prefix of the particular noun and the suffix -mìnà. Likpakpaanl makes a distinction between proximal and distal demonstratives.| Demonstrative Pronoun | Singular | Plural | Gloss |
| Proximal | ùmìnà | ìmìnà | this/that |
| nìmìnà | tìmìnà | this/that | |
| kìmìnà | mùmìnà | this/that | |
| Distal | ùè | íè | these/those |
| nìè | nìè | these/those | |
| kìè | mùè | these/those |
Syntax
Word Order
Likpakpaanl is a Subject–verb–object language.Verb Phrase
The VP consists of the main verb and preverbal particles encoding Tense, Aspect and Mood.Preverbal Particles
Aspectual ParticlesThere is a distinction between perfective and imperfective aspect. The perfective is not explicitly marked, while the imperfective is expressed by the particle -bì.
Tense Particles
There are five distinct tense forms that are morphologically realized by an individual particle. Likpakpaanl marks immediate past, remote past, hesternal past, future and negative future. The particles for the particular tense form also immediately precede the verb.