Elision in Dangme

This paper examines elision in Dangme, a Kwa language spoken in parts of the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions of Ghana. The paper aims at accounting for vocalic, consonantal and syllabic deletions in Dangme. This study is formalized within the Autosegmental theoretical framework with tools like association lines linking segments to their CV tiers and also delinking tools showing segmental and syllabic deletions where applicable. The study shows that in Dangme, syllabic and segmental elision is realized within a lexical item, a morpheme or word boundary, and word finals. We further demonstrate that elision in Dangme is a morpho-phonological phenomenon as established in several other languages. Morphological factors that trigger elision in Dangme include compounding with specific reference to clause compounds, reduplication involving numerals and adjectival elements, and nominalization. Some specific pronominal objects and postpositions at morpheme finals also trigger segmental deletion. Elision in Dangme could be leftward or rightward at morpheme boundaries where either V1 or V2 could undergo elision depending on the contexts. The study also shows that syllable deletion is realized in some compound names where either CV1 or CV2 may undergo elision. Compensatory lengthening is realized when CV1 undergoes the elision process in such contexts.