Cosmas Rai Amenorvi

Born in Aflao, on the Ghana-Togo border, a vibrant, cosmopolitan town and a melting pot of many West African languages, English, and French, Cosmas developed a keen interest in language contact and sociolinguistic variables such as age, gender, power, attitude, and identity, and how these factors influence the languages and cultures of a people. Pursuing his passion for the study of languages, he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English and Ewe, followed by a Master of Philosophy in English from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He later earned a PhD in Linguistics from Leiden University in the Netherlands. Cosmas is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Languages and General Studies at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Ghana. 

With nearly two decades of experience in teaching and research, he has contributed extensively to the field, publishing in journals such as the South African Journal of African Languages, African Identities, Multimodal Communication, and the Ghana Journal of Linguistics. A highly creative thinker and prolific writer, Cosmas also writes prose and poetry. His research interests span English, Sociolinguistics, Contact Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Literary Criticism, Multimodal Communication, and Youth Language.

Recent publications:

Amenorvi, C. R. (2024). Cultural metaphors of death in some Ewe proverbs. South African Journal of African Languages, 44:3, 349-356.

Amenorvi, C. R., & Diaba, K. D. (2024). Hahaha! Unmasking sexual humour in some Ghanaian and Nigerian YouTube comedy skits. African Identities, 1-24.

Amenorvi, C. R. (2024). Some metaphors of anger, fear, happiness and love the Ewe live by. Journal of African Languages and Literary Studies, 5(1), 5-19.

Amenorvi, C. R. (2024). Context-created ideophonic insults among some Aflao-Ewe. Ghana Journal of Linguistics, 13(1), 106-129.

Amenorvi, C. R. (2024). A Multimodal Analysis of Bob Marley’s “Natty Dread” Album. Multimodal Communication, 13(2), 1-17.