Abstract
This dissertation discusses language contact and change in Akan as spoken in
Accra, the national capital of Ghana, which is linguistically very heterogeneous.
This heterogeneity has resulted from migration of people with different ethnic and
linguistic background from all parts of the country. This includes people who
speak different varieties of Akan, one of the major indigenous languages of the
country. This dissertation, therefore, explores the sociolinguistic profile of Akan
migrants in Accra as they come into contact with people with different ethnic and
linguistic backgrounds, and the Akan variety they speak. Do the linguistic and
ethnic backgrounds of those they directly interact with in their social network
have any influence on this variety? Based on selected lexical, morphosyntactic,
and phonological variables, the Akan variety of the Akan migrants in Accra is
discussed in the context of New Dialect Formation or Koineisation, a research
area that that has received little attention on the African continent, although
widely explored in Europe and the United States of America. The analysis is
based on fieldwork data collected from Akan migrants in Accra in general, Akan
second generation migrants in Accra who are ethnically Kwawu and Asante, and
residents of Kwawu and Asante rural communities.
