Tense and Negation in Serial Verb Construction of Student Pidgin English in Ghana

Abstract

This paper describes some aspects of the Serial Verb Construction in Student Pidgin English spoken by Ghanaian students. It focuses on the tense markers and negation in the Serial Verb Construction (SVC). Recorded interviews and focused group discussions on different issues discussed by some 20 selected students who are competent speakers of Student Pidgin English from the University of Ghana and Koforidua Polytechnic were transcribed for analysis of the phenomenon. The paper suggests that the Serial Verb Construction has a massive presence in Student Pidgin English (SPE) and shows tensing by the use of particles/words and, in some cases, the pitch placed on the particles. The study mentions that the particle ‘dey' is used in Ghanaian SPE to indicate the present tense in structures while ‘go' can be used to indicate the past and future tense depending on the pitch placed on it: a rising pitch on the particle ‘go' signals the past tense while a falling pitch signals the future tense. Also, negation is always indicated by the use of the word ‘no' and it is always placed before the verbs in the series.