Prof. Samuel Alhassan Issah
Prof. Samuel Alhassan Issah is an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Indigenous Languages with speciality in the structure and literature of Dagbani and related Mabia languages at the University of Education, Winneba. He obtained a BA in Linguistics with English at the University of Ghana, Legon in 2004. Owing to his interest in Linguistics and language related issues, he did his national service with the Ghana Institute of Linguistics, Literacy and Bible Translation (GILLBT), where he was assigned to the Safaliba Language Project. In March 2006, he won the prestigious Quota Scholarship of the Norwegian government, which enabled him to pursue a programme at the University of Tromsoe, Norway, leading to the award of Master of Philosophy in Theoretical Linguistics in 2008.
After his graduation from the M.Phil programme, Prof. Issah was appointed a Lecturer in October 2009 in the Department of Gur-Gonja Languages Education at the University of Education, Winneba and promoted to the rank of Senior Lecturer in January 2014. He teaches various courses at both graduate and postgraduate levels within the faculty of Ghanaian Languages Education and the Faculty of Foreign Languages Education, University of Education, Winneba. In February 2015, Prof. Issah again won the DAAD Scholarship to pursue a Doctoral Programme in Linguistics at the University of Frankfurt, Germany. He graduated from his Doctoral Programme in June, 2019.
His research focuses on the structure and literatures of Mabia (Gur) languages, descriptive and theoretical linguistics (syntax), information structure (focus realizations) of Dagbani and related languages, the structure of Dagbani and related languages (Kusaal, Gurenɛ), the syntax of elliptical phenomena, the syntax of anaphoric elements and negation in Dagbani and areal languages, language endangerment and language maintenance, language use in education. He has authored several articles, and book chapters, covering these aspects in Dagbani and other genetically related Mabia languages in both local and international journals. Prof. Issah also serves as a reviewer for several prestigious journals addressing issues of language in both local and international journals, He is a member of several professional bodies within the domain of linguistics including:, Association of Contemporary African Linguistics (ACAL), the American Names Society (ANS) and the Linguistics Association of Ghana (LAG), just to mention a few.
