Associate Researcher, Université de Lomé, Togo (5 year agreement)

I am very happy to announce that I have just signed (as of today, Friday, September 18, 2026) an agreement with the Université de Lomé in Togo in Togo for the next five years. This is the realization of a dream that I have had for a very long time to try to give back academically to the Togolese community where I got started in linguistics as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1985-1987. I think this plan is a perfect way for me to start winding down my career doing fieldwork in Africa. I thank Komlan Essizewa, my student at NYU and my longtime friend, for making this possible.

Here is a summary of the agreement (produced by Gemini on the basis of the original signed agreement in French):

Under the Agreement for Scientific Collaboration and Affiliation as an Associate Researcher (Convention de Collaboration Scientifique et d'Affiliation en Qualité de Chercheur Associé), running from September 1, 2026, to August 31, 2031, I am officially partnering as an Associate Researcher with the Research Team on African Languages in Mutation (ERELAM) at the Université de Lomé in Togo. In collaboration with Professor Komlan Essowè Essizewa, this five-year partnership includes an extended residency in Togo from June 2027 through July 2028, followed by subsequent summer visits in 2029, 2030, and 2031 to co-teach intensive Master's-level generative syntax courses, lead research seminars, and mentor graduate students. Joint academic research produced through this initiative will proudly feature dual institutional affiliations with both New York University and the Université de Lomé.

Peanut Butter Town

We left the village at around 11:00am Sunday, and raced back to Lome, our driver honking his way around motorcycles and other cars. We sped along making great time. But then, about halfway to Lome, our car broke down (picture posted).

Uses of the Kpelegbe Dictionary

 Why am I investing so much time and effort in a Kpelegbe dictionary? 

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe (publication version, JWAL)

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe

Abstract

Based on a survey of some Ghanaian and Togolese dialects of Ewe, this paper shows that there are features that distinguish dialects of Ewe spoken in Ghana from dialects of Ewe spoken in Togo. These features include lexical items, syntactic constructions, pragmatic uses of certain expressions and a hand gesture. Because of these systematic differences, Ewe dialects spoken in Ghana are collectively referred to as Ghanaian Ewe, and those in Togo are collectively referred to as Togolese Ewe.

Keywords: Ewe, dialect, Ghana, Togo

Nugɔmekuku totoɖeme To ŋuɖoɖo siwo Eʋegbedola aɖewo na tso Eʋegbe kɔtagbe siwo le Ghana kple Togo ŋuti dzi la, nugɔmekuku sia ɖee fia be dzesidede aɖewo li si fia be vovototo le Ghana Eʋegbe kple Togo Eʋegbe dome. Dzesidede siawo kuɖe nyawo, nyagbetutuɖowo, nyagbɔgblɔ aɖewo zazã kple asiʋaʋã ƒomevi aɖe ŋu. Le vovototo siawo ta la, woyɔa Eʋe kɔtagbe siwo katã le Ghana ƒoƒui be Ghana Eʋegbe, eye woyɔa esiwo katã le Togo ƒoƒui be Togo Eʋegbe. 

Nyatiwo: Eʋe, kɔtagbe, Ghana, Togo

Magic Words for Language Learning

I have discovered a magical phrase that increases my ability to learn Ewe in the field by at least 100%. It took me years to discover these magic words, so pay attention.

In Togo, the assumption that Togolese make in starting a conversation with a white person (yovo) is that the conversation will be in French. They do not really have the idea of a white person speaking Ewe (or Gengbe), perhaps because not many white people do so. If they approach you, the conversation automatically goes to French.

Magic words: “I don’t speak French” (said in Ewe)

Actually, I do speak French, and my French is pretty good, albeit with a very strong west African accent, since I learned to speak French in Togo as a Peace Corps volunteer. I remember when I was in graduate school, the other graduate students would make fun of me. Obviously, I knew how to speak French (even better than they did) but I had a thick accent. So for them, with their ultra-narrow world views, it seemed funny.

But in Togo, I simply refuse all French, except maybe the occasional “bonjour”. Anything past that leads to “Nyemedona Frasegbe o” (I don’t speak French). Then comes the blank stare for a moment, while the person processes this bizarre and unexpected information. Occasionally, there are follow up questions or comments. Here are some I have gotten:

“You are lying.”

“Then, what do you speak?”

“Where are you from?”

“How many years have you been in Togo?”

Once we get past the bewildered stares and clarificational comments, we can start to talk. 

I have learned so much in this way, including the fact that many people in Togo do not speak Ewe all that well, but are forced to try. This happens especially for people from the north who have recently come to the south. They all speak Ewe to some degree or the other, but not all of them are fluent speakers. I am now witness to this great variation in linguistic ability.

I have also learned quite a bit of Gengbe in this way. Anybody in southern Togo will usually speak Gengbe. It is the lingua franca of southern Togo. I do not really speak Gengbe, but by forcing these conversations I am learning more and more.

Would these magic words work for other people in other countries? 

I think that if I had been courageous enough, they could have helped me with Setswana in Botswana, where I faced a similar problem. People automatically assumed that I did not know any Setswana and would speak English. In retrospect, I could have tried “I do not speak English” (Ga ke itse Sekgoa.) That would have been a much harder sell in Botswana. Also, I have less confidence in my Setswana than I do in my Ewe. So it would have been harder to manage. But I should have tried.

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe (prepublication draft May 21 2026)

Abstract

Based on a survey of some Ghanaian and Togolese dialects of Ewe, this paper shows that there are features that distinguish dialects of Ewe spoken in Ghana from dialects of Ewe spoken in Togo. These features include lexical items, syntactic constructions, pragmatic uses of certain expressions and a hand gesture. Because of these systematic differences, Ewe dialects spoken in Ghana are collectively referred to as Ghanaian Ewe, and those in Togo are collectively referred to as Togolese Ewe. 

First Steps: Writing the Kpelegbe (Ewe) Dictionary

Kpelegbe is a dialect of Ewe spoken in Togo on the road from Kpalime to Atakpame. I started learning Ewe in Togo the Peace Corps (1985-1987). Then, I wrote my thesis on the syntax of Kpelegbe (MIT, 1993):

Evedada -- A Traditional Ewe Game

 July 22, 2025 Tuesday

It rained all morning, so we could not really do any serious lexical recordings.  It was a tropical raining, beating down heavily. The background noise on the recordings was just too great. Instead, we decided to play the game evedada (eve-throw-throw), which is a traditional game amongst Ewe boys and men. We got a video of the game. The players had a great time.

Here are my notes. This is the first time I have studied the game, so there are probably a few misunderstandings.

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe

Abstract

Based on a survey of some Ghanaian and Togolese dialects of Ewe, this paper shows that there are features that distinguish dialects of Ewe spoken in Ghana from dialects of Ewe spoken in Togo. These features include lexical items, syntactic constructions, pragmatic uses of certain expressions and a hand gesture. Because of these systematic differences, Ewe dialects spoken in Ghana are collectively referred to as Ghanaian Ewe, and those in Togo are collectively referred to as Togolese Ewe. 

Keywords: Ewe, dialect, Ghana, Togo

Nugɔmekuku totoɖeme

To ŋuɖoɖo siwo Ʋegbedola aɖewo na tso Ʋegbe kɔtagbe siwo le Ghana kple Togo ŋuti dzi la, nugɔmekuku sia ɖee fia be dzesidede aɖewo li si fia be vovototo le Ghana Ʋegbe kple Togo Ʋegbe dome. Dzesidede siawo kuɖe nyawo, nyagbetutuɖowo, nyagbɔgblɔ aɖewo zazã kple asiʋaʋã ƒomevi aɖe ŋu. Le vovototo siawo ta la, woyɔa Eʋe kɔtagbe siwo katã le Ghana ƒoƒui be Ghana Ʋegbe, eye woyɔa esiwo katã le Togo ƒoƒui be Togo Ʋegbe.

Nyatiwo: Eʋe, kɔtagbe, Ghana, Togo

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe (version 2)

Ghanaian versus Togolese Ewe (Version 1)

Speaking Ewe: The Three Dialect Rule

To speak Ewe in Togo, you need to know at least three separate dialects. Ewe is also spoken in Ghana and Benin, but I am not sure whether this discussion carries over to those countries.

First, there is the dialect of the village. For example, a person may come from a village in the Kpele canton, in which case they probably speak Kpelegbe, which is a dialect of Ewe. Some other dialects of Ewe of Togo include: Agu, Avenɔ, Be, Togo, Danyi, Kpesi, Vo, Waci, Wudu.

Second, in Togo you need to know the lingua franca, which is Gen/Mina (also called Ewe). This dialect originates in Anecho, but through commerce has spread throughout the entire country (especially in markets). In Lome, it is the dialect of all communication outside of the home. It even dominates French, which is the national language. People do speak French in Lome, but nowhere near as much as Gen/Mina.

Gen/Mina differs lexically, syntactically and phonologically from other dialects of Ewe. If I had to estimate I would say that the difference is a little greater than the difference between a dialect of American English and a dialect of Scottish English. Mutual comprehension is high, but there are still many opportunities for miscommunication. 

A simple example: When I went to buy a hat on the side of road, I asked the vendor if he sold ‘hat’ kuku (MH). He thought I was talking about chickens. When I told him in French that I wanted a ‘chapeau’, he corrected my Ewe pronunciation to kuku (HH). MH is the Kpelegbe pronunciation. HH is the Gen/Mina pronunciation. But just the difference between MH and HH blocked all communication between us.

Third, you also need to know standard Ewe, which is taught in schools and used at church. The bible is written in standard Ewe, as are any other Ewe books. The daily news is also broadcast in standard Ewe.

Even somebody born in Lome, who only speaks Gen/Mina will also understand standard Ewe (through school, church and the radio). Their parents or friends probably speak another dialect (e.g., Aflaogbe, the original Lome dialect) and they will be familiar with that as well. So they also obey the rule of three.

To give an example of the differences, consider the sentence ‘Where are you going?’:

a. Kpelegbe: Gane yi e-le? (lit. where go 2sg-cop?)

b. Gen/Mina: Fike wo-le yi o? (lit. where 2sg-cop go particle)

c. Standard Ewe: Afika yi-m ne-le? (lit. where go-prog 2sg cop)

Even from this simple example, it can be seen that there are major differences between the dialects. For example, in the progressive, the verb follows the question word in Kpelegbe and Standard Ewe, but not in Gen/Mina. Also, Gen/Mina has a sentence final particle for wh-questions, but Kpelegbe and Standard Ewe do not. The word for ‘where’ in Kpelegbe is quite different from the word for ‘where’ in the other two dialects. 

But any Kpelegbe speaker will easily understand all three (a-c).

In addition to these three dialects, people might know others. For example, a young man I know in Lome speaks Gen/Mina fluently. His mother and father both speak Kpelegbe, so he also speaks Kpelegbe. He has friends in Lome who speak Aflaogbe, so he also knows that. And of course, like everybody else he understands standard Ewe.

More generally, many people in Lome will recognize the Kpele dialect as Kpalimegbe, meaning one of the dialects spoken in and around Kpalime Togo (southwestern part of country).

If a person from Kpele moves to Lome, they will continue to speak Kpelegbe at home, and their children will therefore acquire it as a second language (second to Gen/Mina). Their children will be competent speakers of Kpelegbe. But their grandchildren will definitely not speak Kpelegbe at all (although they will still understand it).

Outside of the home, the Kpelegbe speaker will mix dialects. Pure Kpelegbe spoken on the streets of Lome will give rise to difficulty in communication (like the one sketched above), and remarks like ‘You speak Kpalimegbe?’. 

All of Lome has bought solidly into the idea that Gen/Mina is the lingua franca. Even speakers of totally different languages from the north, like Kabiye or Tem or Moba will come to Lome and speak Gen/Mina as the lingua franca.

In neighboring Ghana, roles are reversed. The lingua franca is Twi (Akan), and Ewe is clearly a minority language. In Togo, it is relatively rare for an Ewe speaker to speak Twi, unless they happen to have worked in Ghana during their lives. But in Ghana, it is very common for Ewe speakers to speak Twi.

The A'-Quadrangle: From Ewe Dialects to UG (Selikem Gotah)

 Selikem Gotah's doctoral dissertation on Ewe syntax.

https://lingbuzz.net/lingbuzz/008408

Abstract:

"This dissertation argues for an Ā-quadrangle, which unifies the treatment of wh-questions and relative clauses, following extant proposals for the cross-linguistic analysis of wh-questions (Cable 2007, 2010). The Ā-quadrangle makes a case for a subsystem of Universal Grammar. Exploring some Ā-phenomena in Ewe through the lens of micro-comparative syntax (Kayne 1996, 2005), the dissertation argues that the core elements in the syntax of wh-questions and relative clauses in three dialects of Ewe are related to one another in a principled way, where elements relatively farther away from wh-words and relativized DPs, i.e. focus markers and the relative particle, are the outer elements and those closer to them, i.e. the wh-particle ka and relative pronouns, are the inner elements of the Ā-quadrangle. It is demonstrated that the relation between the inner and outer elements of the quadrangle and wh-words and relativized DPs in the derivation of wh-questions and relative clauses is mediated by the Agree and EPP feature mechanisms (Chomsky 1995, 2000, 2001), where the outer elements are goals attracted by C heads to the left periphery. It is argued that focus movement, which is integral to wh-questions, and relativization involve the projection of a FocP and RelP within the extended projection of focused categories and relativized elements, where the focus and relative heads form a constituent with the focused categories and the relativized elements. The resulting larger constituent is attracted to the specifier of CP. The current proposal allows for interposition of focus markers and relative particles internal to the moved constituent. The proposal is empirically superior to the existing analysis of argument focus in Ewe (Badan & Buell 2012), which adopts Aboh's (2004) account for deriving focus movement in Gungbe, a sister Gbe language. Crucially, the dissertation postulates a principle of UG according to which Ā-movement entails an outer element, like FOC and REL, which is the goal for agreement with C. This outer element determines pied-piping. This principle holds for all I-languages. Languages that lack an overt outer element like FOC and REL have null outer elements."

Congratulations to Selikem Gotah on successful dissertation defense!

Congratulations to Selikem Gotah for passing his NYU doctoral dissertation defense "The A'-Quadrangle: From Ewe Dialects to UG"! I attach a screenshot. Lots of interesting Ewe dialect data, with very important theoretical implications for A'-movement (e.g., extending the Cable/Sulemana system to relativization and arguing against the Rizzi/Aboh analysis of focus particles).

Book Proposal: A Grammar of the Kpele Dialect of Ewe (Kpelegbe)

Ewe is a Kwa language spoken in West Africa in Ghana, Togo and Benin. Kpelegbe is a dialect of Ewe spoken in Kpele canton in Togo, on the road from Kpalime to Atakpame. While there is quite a bit of linguistic literature concerning standard Ewe, there is far less documentation of the many Ewe dialects.

I propose to write a comprehensive grammar of the Kpele dialect of Ewe. It will be at around 500 pages long (single spaced, 12 font), and will include a phonological sketch. All words and phrases in the grammar will be tone marked, and there will be a complete account of tone.

Proposal: Ewe Dialect Map (Eʋe Kɔtagbewo ƒe Tata)

 Summary:

We propose to develop an interactive map of the Ewe (western Gbe) dialects of Ghana, Togo and Benin. The map will interface with a detailed database of morphosyntactic information about the Ewe dialects. The map will be freely available on the Internet. 

An Interview with Selikem Gotah on the Ewe Language.

This is an interview with Ghanaian Selikem Gotah about the Ewe language. The interview took place over e-mail from November 9, 2021 to January 21, 2022. Then there was a follow up later starting from September 10, 2022 until November 16, 2022.

Interview

Nominal Possession in Tongugbe (Collins and Gotah)

 Abstract: Kpoglu 2019 notes that the choice of possessive markers in the Tongugbe dialect of Ewe depends on the plurality of the possessor. Building on his observations, we investigate possessive makers in Tongugbe in the case of plural mismatches, defined as cases where the DP is plural, but does not have a final plural marker. We show that both subject clitic doubling and possessor clitic doubling are obligatory in the case of plural mismatches.

Nominal Possession in Tongugbe

Ewe Cultural Universe on Video

Compiled by Chris Collins, Spring 2021

During my Spring 2021 seminar "Structure of Ewe", I started every class with a five minute cultural video. I thought this would help the students get a flavor for Ewe culture, and that might make them more interested in the linguistic structures we were investigating. I repeated the exercise during my Fall 2021 Field Methods course (on Pekigbe, a dialect of Ewe). 

Here are the results of my efforts.

The Factive Construction in Kwa (Collins 1994)

This paper gives a preliminary analysis of factive constructions in Kwa languages, including Ewe (Collins 1992), Fon, Yoruba (Bamgbose 1975) and Igbo (Nwachukwu 1976). Differences between the factive constructions of these languages will be analyzed in terms of independent differences. 

The Factive Construction in Kwa

Syllabus: Structure of Ewe (Spring 2021)

 Here is the syllabus for my Structure of Ewe course. It is meant for grads and advanced undergraduates. 

Syllabus: Structure of Ewe (Spring 2021)

Topics in Ewe Syntax (Collins 1993)

This thesis analyzes a number of problems in Ewe syntax. Its goal is to show how several difficult problems in Ewe syntax have natural treatments in the generative grammar framework, and how these problems bear on current theoretical issues.