This article examines how indigenous language and music are used to promote the education of the Kusaal-speaking communities within the Upper East Region of Ghana on the COVID-19 safety protocols. Using the framing theory, the study conceptualises how the music composer frames COVID-19 safety protocols in a very practical yet entertaining manner to evoke adherence by natives to the protocols through a local musical performance called . The singer who doubles as the composer employs several language, linguistic and literary techniques to communicate the major themes (COVID-19 protocols) of the song. Further, the music communicates hope and promise in the capacity of ancestral deities to step back into time during periods of catastrophe to alleviate the sufferings of their subjects. The paper is entirely qualitative; it deploys the parallel text approach in transliterating the song. This study is the first of its kind in Kusaal and in the Mabia languages of West Africa and it has the potential of contributing significantly to debates around the subject matter. Future studies could examine how other local languages could be adopted as edutainment tools in the fight against global pandemics.

This paper investigates phonological variation in British Sign Language (BSL) signs produced with a '1' hand configuration in citation form. Multivariate analyses of 2084 tokens reveals that handshape variation in these signs is constrained by linguistic factors (e.g., the preceding and following phonological environment, grammatical category, indexicality, lexical frequency). The only significant social factor was region. For the subset of signs where orientation was also investigated, only grammatical function was important (the surrounding phonological environment and social factors were not significant). The implications for an understanding of pointing signs in signed languages are discussed.

In this paper, we compare so-called "classifier" constructions in signed languages (which we refer to as "depicting constructions") with comparable iconic gestures produced by non-signers. We show clear correspondences between entity constructions and observer viewpoint gestures on the one hand, and handling constructions and character viewpoint gestures on the other. Such correspondences help account for both lexicalisation and de-lexicalisation processes in signed languages and how these processes are influenced by viewpoint. Understanding these processes is crucial when coding and annotating natural sign language data.

While numerous publications have shown that apes can learn some aspects of human language, one frequently cited difference between humans and apes is the relative infrequency of declaratives (comments and statements) as opposed to imperatives (requests) in ape symbol use. This paper describes the use of declaratives in three language-competent apes and two children. The apes produced a lower proportion of spontaneous declaratives than did the children. However, both groups used declaratives to name objects, to interact and negotiate, and to make comments about other individuals. Both apes and children also made comments about past and future events. However, showing/offering/giving, attention getting, and comments on possession were declarative types made by the children but rarely by the apes.