DESCRIPTION MORPHOSÉMANTIQUE DES INTERJECTIONS DANS LE PARLER AGNI: LE SANWI
MORPHOSEMANTIC DESCRIPTION OF INTERJECTIONS IN THE AGNI DIALECT: SANWI

Summary/Abstract: The status of the interjection has undergone several changes. It has been treated as a cry prior to the word, or as a word in its own right, or as a phrase. The fact that interjection appears in the nomenclature of lexicographical works argues for its effective recognition as a word class within which various grammaticalization results take place. Researches on interjections in Sanwi show that these expressions are relegated to the background in linguistic reflection. Considered as elements conveying individual reactions of an affective type, they have received little attention from linguists. Among all the questions raised by the interjective phenomenon, from the linguistic point of view, the main one is to the point of doubting that of its morphosemantics. Indeed, the morphological and semantic treatment of the interjection differs from that of the substantive, the adjective, the verb. What should be the most suitable line of research for the analysis of this grammatical category? This article proposes, in the light of functional theoretical perspectives, to elucidate such a problem and to deal with the morphological characteristics of interjections, namely simple and complex forms. The application of morphological classification criteria leads to the recognition of simple and complex interjections in Sanwi. These linguistic forms convey clues about their triple semiotic anchoring – indexical, symbolic and iconic – while fulfilling expressive, conative and phatic functions. However, interjections occupy a borderline area of grammar, distinguished by their structural and positional autonomy, to the extent that they can function independently as isolated utterances. Their use reveals how much linguistic form can be shaped by interaction between speakers.

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