Liberal Arts and Sciences
James Essegbey Research Group
Led by James Essegbey · Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
What we study
Dr. Essegbey documents and describes endangered and understudied West African languages, especially the Gbe languages (Ewe, Gen, Aja, Fon), Akan and the Ghana-Togo Mountain languages. He also studies how African languages shaped the creoles of Suriname and English spoken by people of African descent; he co-oversees the Linguistics department's Language Documentation Laboratory.
What working here is like
- Fieldwork
- Surveys & interviews
- Human participants
- Papers
- 5
Recent papers, explained
- Language use at home and performance in English composition in multilingual Ghana
2025 · AAeO - Afrikanistik-Aegyptologie-Online
Investigates whether using Ghanaian languages at home improves English performance.
- Catching and classifying fish among the Dwang
2024 · Culture and language use
Describes an old fishing method and how the Dwang people named and classified fish.
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- Towards a unified account of na in Akan
2024 · Glossa a journal of general linguistics
Groups different forms of 'na' in Akan language into one category with shared meaning.
- From injecting to planting
2024 · Studies in language companion series
Explains the multiple meanings of the Ewe verb 'dó'.
- Moving from verbs to prepositions in Gbe
2024 · Studies in language companion series
Shows how verbs become prepositions in Gbe languages.
Plain-language summaries are AI-written and reviewed by us; check the paper for details.
How to reach out
James Essegbey hasn't set up this page yet. Their UF Scholars profile lists their publications.