Felix Ameka
Emeritus Professor Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Diversity in the world
- Name
- Prof.dr. F.K. Ameka
- Telephone
- +31 71 527 2727
- f.k.ameka@hum.leidenuniv.nl
- ORCID iD
- 0000-0001-9442-6675
Felix Ameka is Professor by Special Appointment and Senior University Lecturer at the Centre for Linguistics.
More information about Felix Ameka
News
-
Six NWO grants for FGW researchers: this is what the scientists are going to do -
Dutch people should stop ‘politely’ switching to English -
Leiden research projects awarded NWO Open Competition grants -
World Congress of African Linguists (WOCAL): A conference like no other -
Felix Ameka: ‘Multilingualism is the answer to many problems’
PhD students
Fields of interest
- Descriptive and documentary linguistics
- Semantics and Pragmatics
- Linguistic typology
- Anthropological linguistics
- Ethnography of communication
- Language contact and areal linguistics
- West African languages
Research
My primary research interests are the quest for the meaning of linguistic signs and exploring their use in social interaction. I am also interested in how and why languages vary and chagne over time and space, also in the reflexice relation between language, culture and cognition. I am concerned with questions of how cultural factors and cognitive processes as well as contact shape meanings and structures of languages. I work with primary data collected using ethnographic and experimental methods. My empirical specialisation is West African languages, mainly Kwa languages and other languages of wider communication, namely, Hausa and Fulfulde. My focus is on Gbe, i.e. Ewe, Gen Aja and Fon; Ghana-Togo-Mountain languages, especially Likpe; Guang and Akanic languages.
Teaching activities
Courses I teach include: Communication in Africa
Language Use and Diversity
Words and Meaning
Anthropological Linguistics
Language, Culture and Cognition
Curriculum vitae
| 1991 | Ph.D (Linguistics), Australian National University, Canberra |
| 1986 | MA (Linguistics), Australian National University, Canberra |
| 1980 | BA (Linguistics Major), Honours 1, University of Ghana, Legon |
Emeritus Professor Ethnolinguistic Vitality and Diversity in the world
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Univ Centre for Linguistics
- LUCL T&C van Afrika
Researcher
- Faculty of Humanities
- Leiden Univ Centre for Linguistics
- LUCL T&C van Afrika
- Parafita Couto M., Bellamy K.R. & Ameka F.K. (2023), Theoretical linguistic approaches to multilingual code-switching. In: Cabrelli J., Chaouch-Orozco A., González Alonso J., Pereira Soares S.M., Puig-Mayenco E. & Rothman J. (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of third language acquisition and processing. Cambridge (UK): Cambridge University Press. 403-436.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (2022), Research on language and culture in Africa. In: Völkel S. & Nassenstein N. (Eds.), Approaches to language and culture . Anthropological Linguistics no. 1. Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter Mouton . 339-383.
- Ameka F.K. (2020), “I sh.t in your mouth”: areal invectives in the Lower Volta Basin (West Africa). In: Nassenstein N. & Storch A. (Eds.), Swearing and cursing: contexts and practices in a critical linguistic perspective no. 22. Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton. 121-144.
- Ameka F.K. & Hill D.L. (2020), The comparative semantics of verbs of ‘opening’: West Africa vs Oceania. In: Bromhead H. & Ye Z. (Eds.), Meaning, Life, and Culture: In Conversation with Anna Wierzbicka.. Canberra: ANU Press. 33-59.
- Ameka F.K. & Terkourafi M. (2019), What if…? Imagining non-Western perspectives on pragmatic theory and practice, Journal of Pragmatics 145: 72-82.
- Seyfeddinipur M., Ameka F., Bolton L., Blumtritt J., Carpenter B., Cruz H., Drude S., Epps P.L., Ferreira V., Galucio A.V., Hellwig B., Hinte O., Holton G., Jung D., Buddeberg I.K., Krifka M., Kung S., Monroig M., Neba A.N., Nordhoff S., Pakendorf B., Prince K. von der, Rau F., Rice K., Riessler M., Szoelloesi Brenig V., Thieberger N., Trilsbeek P., Voort H. van der & Woodbury T. (2019), Public access to research data in language documentation: Challenges and possible strategies, Language Documentation & Conservation 13: 545-563.
- Ameka F.K. (2019), "The nut opens" and "Hunger ends": Verb constructions at the syntax-semantics interface. In: James Essegbey, Dalina Kallulli & Adams Bodomo (Eds.), The grammar of verbs and their arguments: a cross-linguistic perspective no. 59. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. 59-84.
- Ameka F.K. (2018), Ghana-Togo-Mountain languages: a socio-cultural, a typological or a genetic grouping?, Afrika und Uebersee 92(2015/2016): 1-12.
- Ameka F.K. (2018), From comparative descriptive linguistic fieldwork to documentary linguistic fieldwork in Ghana, Language Documentation & Conservation 15(Special Publication): 224-239.
- Ameka F.K. (2017), The Ghana-Togo Mountain Languages: introduction, STUF – Language Typology and Universals 70(2): 239-244.
- Ameka F.K. & Essegbey J. (2017), Divergence and convergence among the Ghana-Togo Mountain languages, STUF – Language Typology and Universals 70(2): 245-271.
- Ameka F.K. (2017), Logophoricity. In: Aikhenvald A.Y. & Dixon R.M.W. (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of linguistic typology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 513-537.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2017), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton.
- Ameka F.K. (Ed.) (2017), The Ghana-Togo Mountain Languages. STUF – Language Typology and Universals. Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton.
- Ameka F.K. (2017), Meaning between algebra and culture: auto-antonyms in the Ewe verb lexicon. In: Reckman H., Cheng L.L.S., Hijzelendoorn M. & Sybesma R. (Eds.), Crossroads semantics: computation, experiment and grammar. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 227-261.
- Ameka F.K., Essegbey J. & Mclaughlin F. (2017), Organization Summer School on Language Documentation and Data Management in West Africa (National Science Foundation) (University of Education). [other].
- Ameka F.K. (2017), In Memoriam Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu, The Journal of West African Languages 44(1): 1-5.
- Ameka F.K. (2016), The uselessness of the useful: Language standardisation in multilingual contexts. In: Percy C. & Tieken-Boon van Ostade I. (Eds.), Prescription and Tradition in Language: Establishing Standards across Time and Space. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 71-87.
- Ameka F.K. (2016), “Child of” is a universal molecule too. Comment on Anna Wierzbicka’s Back to ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’: overcoming ethnocentricism in kinship studies through eight lexical universals, Current Anthropology 52(4): 421-422.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2016), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton.
- Ameka F.K. (2015), Unintended consequences of methodological and practical responses to language endangerment in Africa. In: Essegbey J., Hendersen B. & McLaughlin F. (Eds.), Language documentation and endangerment in Africa. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 15-35.
- Ameka F.K. (2015), “Hard sun, hot weather, skin pain”: The cultural semantics of temperature expressions in Ewe and Likpe (West Africa). In: Koptjesvakaja-Tamm M. (Ed.), The longuistics of temperature no. 107. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 43-72.
- Ahadzie S., Ameka F.K. & Essegbey J. (2015), Language use at home and performance in English composition in multilingual Ghana, Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online 2015: .
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2015), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2014), Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Merolla Daniela, Ameka Felix K. & Dorvlo Kofi (2013), Researchers as griots? Reflections on multimedia fieldwork. In: Turin Mark, Wheeler Claire & Wilkinson Eleanor (Eds.), Oral literature in the digital age: archiving orality and connecting with communities. Cambridge UK: Open Book Publishers.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2013), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2013), Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. & Essegbey James (2013), Serialising languages: Verb-framed, satellite-framed or neither?, Ghana Journal of Linguistics 2(1): 19-38.
- Ameka Felix K. (2013), Three place predicates in West African serializing languauage, Studies in African Linguistics 42(1): 1-32.
- Huttar George K., Aboh Enoch O. & Ameka Felix K. (2013), Relative clauses in Suriname creoles and Gbe languages, Lingua 129: 96-123.
- Ameka F.K. (2012), Ewe: its grammatiocal constructions and illocutionary devices. Munich: LINCOM Europa.
- Merolla D. & Ameka F.K. (2012), Reflections on Video Fieldwork: The Making of Verba Africana IV on the Ewe Hogbetsotso Festival. In: Merolla D., Jansen J. & Naït-Zerrad K. (Eds.), Multimedia Research and Documentation of Oral Genres in Africa - The Step Forward. Köln: Köppe Verlag.
- Ameka F.K. (2012), Posserssive constructions in Likpe (Sɛkpɛlé). In: Aikhenvald A.Y. & Dixon R.M.W. (Eds.), Possession and ownership: A crosslinguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 224-242.
- Amha A., Ameka F.K. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2012), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2012), Three place prediactes in West African serialising languages, Studies in African Linguistics 41(2): .
- Huttar G., Aboh E.O. & Ameka F.K. (2012), Relative clauses in Suriname creoles and Gbe languages, Lingua : .
- Ameka F.K. (2011), L'éwé. In: Bonvini E., Busuttil J. & Peyraube A. (Eds.), Dictionnaire des langues. Quadridge: Presse Universitaire Français. 79-85.
- Ameka F.K. (2011), Les langues kwa. In: Bonvini E., Busuttil J. & Peyraube A. (Eds.), Dictionnaire des langues. Quadridge: Presse Universitaire Français. 76-78.
- Amha A., Ameka F.K. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2011), (Co-)Editor. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K., Duthie A.S., Essegbey J.A.B.K., Dorrvlo K., Amuzu E., Ofori K.A.G., Agbedor P., Dzameshie A. & Agbetsoamedo Y. (Eds.) (2011), Ewe encyclopedia dictionary of health. Legon-Accra: Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana.
- Merolla D., Ameka F.K. & Dorvlo K.G.E. (2010), Hogbetsotso: celebration and songs of the Ewe migration story. Interview with Dr. Datey-Kumodzie. In: Merolla D. (Ed.), Verba Africana series - Video documentation and Digital Materials. Leiden: Leiden University.
- Ameka F.K. (2010), Information packaging constructions in Kwa: micro-variation and typology. In: Essegbey J. & Aboh E.O. (Eds.), Topics in Kwa syntax. Dordrecht: Springer. 141-176.
- Ameka F.K., Amha A. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2010), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2009), Access rituals in West African communities: an ethnopragmatic perspective. In: Senft G. & Basso E.B. (Eds.), Ritual communication. Oxford: Berg. 127-151.
- Ameka F.K. (2009), Likpe. In: Dimmendaal G.J. (Ed.), Coding pparticipant marking: Construction types in twelve African languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 239-279.
- Ameka F.K. (Ed.) (2009), . The Journal of West African Languages.
- Ameka F.K., Amha A. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2009), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2009), Verb extensions in Likpe (Sekpele), Journal of West African Languages 36(1-2): 139-157.
- Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (2008), Introduction. In: Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (Eds.), Aspect and modality in Kwa languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1-7.
- Ameka F.K. (2008), He died old, dying to be dead right: Transitivity and semantic shifts of ‘die’ in Ewe in crosslinguistic perspective. In: Bowerman M. & Brown P. (Eds.), Crosslinguistic perspectives on argument structure: Implications for learnability. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Earlbaum. 231-254.
- Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (2008), imperfective constructions: Progressive and prospective in Ewe and Dangme. In: Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (Eds.), Aspect and modality in Kwa languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 215-289.
- Ameka F.K. (2008), Aspect and modality in Ewe: a survey. In: Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (Eds.), Aspect and modality in Kwa languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 135-194.
- Ameka F.K. & Kropp Dakubu M.E. (Eds.) (2008), Aspect and modality in Kwa languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
- Ameka F.K., Amha A. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2008), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2007), The coding of topological relations in verbs: the case of Likpe (Sekpele), Linguistics: an Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences 45(5/6): 1065-1104.
- Ameka F.K. & Levinson S.C. (2007), Introduction–The typology and semantics of locative predicates: posturals, positionals and other beasts, Linguistics: an Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences 45(5/6): 847-872.
- Bohnemeyer J., Enfield N.J., Essegbey J.A.B.K., Ibaetxe-Antunano I., Kita S. & Ameka F.K. (2007), Principles of event segmentation in language: the case of motion events, Language 83(3): 495-532.
- Ameka F.K. (2007), Grammatical borrowing in Likpe (Sekpele). In: Matras Y. & Sakel J. (Eds.), Grammatical borrowing in cross-linguistic perspective. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 107-122.
- Ameka F.K., Dorvlo K.G.E. & Merolla D. (2007), Ewe stories and storytelling. In: Merolla D. (Ed.), Verba Africana series - Video documentation and Digital Materials. Leiden: Leiden University.
- Ameka F.K., Amha A. & Kossmann M.G. (Eds.) (2007), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. & Levinson S.C. (Eds.) (2007), . Linguistics: an Interdisciplinary Journal of the Language Sciences.
- Huttar G., Essegbey J.A.B.K. & Ameka F.K. (2007), Gbe and other West African sources of Suriname creole semantic structures: implications for creole genesis, Journal of Pidgins and Creoles 22(1): 57-72.
- Essegbey J.A.B.K. & Ameka F.K. (2007), "Cut" and "break" verbs in Gbe and Sranan, Journal of Pidgins and Creoles 22(1): 37-55.
- Ameka F.K. & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (2007), Cut and break verbs in Ewe and the causative alternation construction, Cognitive Linguistics 18(2): 241-250.
- Ameka F.K. (2006), Grammars in contact in the Volta Basin (West Africa): On cntact induced grammatical change in Likpe. In: Aikhenvald A.Y. & Dixon R.M.W. (Eds.), Grammars in contact: a crosslinguistic typology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Ameka F.K. (2006), Interjections. Östman J.-O. & Verschueren J. (Eds.), Handbook of Pragmatics 2006. . Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 1-22.
- Ameka F.K. & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (2006), Elements of the grammar of space in Ewe. Levinson S.C. & Wilkins D.P. (Eds.), Grammars of space: Explorations in cognitive diversity. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 359-399.
- Ameka F.K. (2006), Ewe serial verb constructions in their grammatical context. Aikhenvald A.Y. & Dixon R.M.W. (Eds.), Serial verb constructions: a cross-linguistic typology. . Oxford: Oxford University Press. 124-143.
- Ameka F.K. (2006), Real descriptions: Reflections on native speaker and nonnative speaker descriptions of a language. Ameka F.K., Dench A. & Evans N. (Eds.), Catching language: The standing challenge of grammar writing. . Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 69-112.
- Ameka F.K., Dench A. & Evans N. (Eds.) (2006), Catching language: The standing challenge of grammar writing. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Ameka F.K. & Amha A. (Eds.) (2006), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2005), Multiverb constructions on the West African littoral: microvariation and areal typology. In: Vulchanova M. & Åfarli T.A. (Eds.), Grammar & beyond: essays in honour of Lars Hellan. Oslo: Novus Press. 15-42.
- Ameka F.K. (2005), Forms of secondary predication in serialising languages: on depictives in Ewe. In: Himmelmann N.P. & Schultze-Berndt E.F. (Eds.), Secondary predication and adverbial modification: The typology of depictives. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 355-378.
- Ameka F.K. (2005), "The woman is seeable" and "The woman perceives seeing": Undergoer voice constructions in Ewe and Likpe. Kropp Dakubu M.E. & Osam E.K. (Eds.), Studies in the Languages of the Volta Basin 3. Proceedings of the Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project 18-20 January 2005. Proceedings of the Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project 18-20 January 2005. Legon-Accra: epartment of Linguistics, University of Ghana. 43-62.
- Ameka F.K., Amha A. & Mous Maarten (Eds.) (2005), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (2004), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. & Breedveld J.O. (2004), Areal cultural scripts for social interaction in West African communities, Intercultural Pragmatics 1(2): 167-187.
- Ameka F.K. (2004), Grammar and cultural practices: The grammaticalisation of triadic communication in West African languages, Journal of West African Languages 30(2): 5-28.
- Ameka F.K. (2003), "Today is far": Situational anaphors in overlapping clause constructions in Ewe. Dakubu M.E.K. & Osam E.K. (Eds.), Studies in the languages of the Volta basin I. Annual Colloquium of the Legon-Trondheim Linguistics Project , 4-6 December 2002. Legon, Accra: Dept of Linguistics, University of Ghana. 9-22.
- Ameka F.K. (2003), Prepositions and postpositions in Ewe(Gbe): empirical and theoretical considerations. Sauzet P. & Zibri-Hertz A. (Eds.), Typologie des langues d¿afrique & universaux de la grammaire, Volume II Benue-kwa, Wolof. . Paris: L'Harmattan. 41-67.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (2003), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (2002), The progressive aspect in Likpe: its implications for aspect and word order in Kwa. In: Ameka F.K. & Osam E.K. (Eds.), New directions in Ghanaian linguistics: essays in honour of the 3Ds. Accra: Black Mask. 85-111.
- Ameka F.K. (2002), Constituent order and grammatical relations in Ewe in typological perspective. In: Davidse K. & Lamiroy B. (Eds.), The nominative & accusative and their counterparts. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 319-352.
- Ameka F.K. & Osam E.K. (Eds.) (2002), New directions in Ghanaian linguistics: essays in honour of the 3Ds. Accra: Black Mask.
- Ameka F.K. (2002), Cultural scripting of body parts for emotions: On "jealousy" and related emotions in Ewe, Pragmatics and Cognition 10(1-2): 27-55.
- Ameka F.K. (2001), Ideophones and the nature of the adjective word class in Ewe. In: Voeltz E.F.K. & Kilian-Hatz C. (Eds.), Ideophones. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 25-48.
- Ameka F.K. (2001), Ewe. In: Garry J. & Rubino C. (Eds.), Facts about the world's languages: An encyclopedia of the world's major languages, past and present. New York: New England Publishing Associates. 207-213.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (2001), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (2000), Journal of African Languages and Linguisitics. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
- Ameka F.K. (1999), The typology and semantics of complex nominal duplication in Ewe, Anthropological Linguistics 41(1): 75-106.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (1999), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (1999) recensie. Review of: Kropp Dakubu M.E. (1999), Korle meets the sea: a sociolinguistic history of Accra no. 1. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 62: 198-199.
- Ameka F.K. (1999), Spatial information packaging in Ewe and Likpe: a comparative perspective, Frankfurter Afrikanistische Blätter 11: 7-34.
- Ameka F.K. (1999), Partir c'est mourir un peu: unversal and culture specific features of leave-taking, RASK 9-10: 257-283.
- Ameka F.K. (1999), Interjections. In: Brown K. & Miller J. (Eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of grammatical categories. Amsterdam: Elsevier. 213-216.
- Ameka F.K. (1998), Les particules ènonciatives en Ewe. In: Platiel S. & Kabore R. (Eds.), Faits de languses: Les langues d'Afrique subsaharienne. Paris: Ophrys. 179-204.
- Ameka F.K., Mous Maarten & Essegbey J.A.B.K. (Eds.) (1998), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. & Mous Maarten (Eds.) (1997), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (1996), Chapter 17. Semantics. In: Goebl H. (Ed.), Contact Linguistics. An international handbook of contemporary research. Berlin: NN. 130-138.
- Ameka F.K., Dimmendaal G.J. & Mous Maarten (Eds.) (1996), . Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.
- Ameka F.K. (1995), Body parts in Ewe grammar. In: Chappell H. & McGregor W. (Eds.), The Grammar of Inalienability: A typological perspective on body part terms and the part-whole relation. Berlin: NN. 783-840.
- Dimmendaal G.J. & Ameka F.K. (Eds.) (1995), Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. NN: NN.
- Ameka F.K. (1995), The linguistic construction of space in Ewe, Cognitive Linguistics 6(2/3): 139-181.