Florence Dolphyne

Florence Abena Dolphyne (born in 1938) is a Ghanaian linguist and academic. She was the first female professor[1] and first female pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana.[2]

Florence Abena Dolphyne
Born
Florence Abena Akesson

1938
Gold Coast
NationalityGhana
OccupationLinguist
Lecturer
Years active1965 to 2001
Known forFirst female University Professor in Ghana
TitleProfessor
Spouse(s)Kofi Dolphyne
Academic background
EducationUniversity of Ghana
Alma materSchool of Oriental & African Studies
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Ghana

Early life and education

Florence Dolphyne hails from Akyinakrom in the Ejisu-Juabeng District of the Ashanti Region.[3] Her primary school education was at the Wenchi Methodist Primary School. She continued at Achinakrom Methodist Primary School as her family had moved there. She had to sell bread and kenkey after school due to the family's low income. Her next school was at Mmofraturo Girl's Boarding School at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region as her father was then a Methodist minister at Manso Atwere.[4]

Florence Dolphyne had a senior high school education at the Wesley Girls Senior High School, Cape Coast.[5] Her sixth form education was at Mfantsipim School at Cape Coast in the Central Region of Ghana. This was then a boys' school with a mixed sixth form section. She distinguished herself there by being the first female student to win a prize at the school.[4]

Dolphyne entered the University of Ghana in 1958 and graduated with a BA(Hons) degree in English in 1961.[6][7] She obtained a scholarship[4] which enabled her to pursue postgraduate studies at the School of Oriental & African Studies of the University of London in the United Kingdom where she obtained her PhD in Phonetics and Linguistics in 1965 with a dissertation entitled "The phonetics and phonology of the verbal piece in the Asante dialect of Twi".[8][9]

Career

Florence Dolphyne was a lecturer and researcher.[7] Her first job was as a teacher at the Labone Senior High School in Accra for a year. After her postgraduate studies, she joined the academic staff of the University of Ghana in September 1965. She was one of the founding members of the Department of Linguistics and Ghanaian Languages of the University of Ghana. She was joined by one other Ghanaian, Lawrence Boadi and some expatriates, Alan Duthie, Mrs. McCallien, Lindsay Criper and Helmut Truteneau.[10] She rose to become the Head of the Linguistics Department, a position she held on two separate occasions. She also became Senior Tutor and Warden of Volta Hall, the only female hall of residence at the time.[4] Florence Dolphyne was appointed Professor of Linguistics in 1996.[11] She also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the university. She was awarded an honorary doctorate (D.Litt) by the University of Ghana in 2004.[8]

Other activities

Florence Dolphyne was a founding member, with Mary Esther Kropp Dakubu and others, of the Linguistic Circle of Accra in 1967, which evolved into the Linguistic Association of Ghana.[12] She was also involved with the West African Linguistics Society[8] and served as its President.[13]

Florence Dolphyne has been the chairperson of the National Council for Women and Development in Ghana. She has also been one of the commissioners who sat on the National Reconciliation Commission (2002 to 2004) which looked into the effects of military rule on people in Ghana.[4] She has also been first and second Vice President of the Bible Society of Ghana. She was also a member of the Methodist University College Council and has been a Conference Member of Methodist Church, Ghana since 1999.[8]

Dolphyne has also held visiting scholar positions at various institutions including University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Fourah Bay College in Sierra Leone, Michigan State University and University of California, Los Angeles in the United States. She is a Fulbright Senior Scholar. She has been the Chairperson of the Ghana Education Service between 2002 and 2006. She has also been a board member of the Ghana Education Trust Fund and VALCO Trust Fund.[8]

Honours

Florence Dolphyne was the first woman to be appointed a Professor in Ghana.[6] She was the first female pro-vice chancellor of the University of Ghana as well.[14]

The University of Ghana organised an event themed “New Frontiers in Language Studies in Ghana” on the occasion of her 80th birthday to honour her.[6]

A special issue of the Ghana Journal of Linguistics dedicated to Professor Dolphyne appeared in 2018.[15]

Family

Florence Dolphyne was the first surviving child born to her parents. Her father was a Methodist minister from the Nzema people of Esiama in the Western Region of Ghana. Her mother was from Achinakrom near Ejisu. She had a sister and three brothers. She married Kofi Dolphyne, an aircraft engineer whom she met in London.[4]

Some publications
  • Dolphyne, Florence Abena (1 January 1988). The Akan (Twi-Fante) Language - Its Sound Systems and Tonal Structure. Ghana Universities Press. ISBN 978-9964301590.
  • Dolphyne, Florence Abena (20 October 1998). A Comprehensive Course in Twi (Asante) for the Non-Twi Learner. Ghana Universities Press. ISBN 978-9964302450.
  • Dolphyne, Florence Abena (5 September 2000). The Emancipation of Women: An African Perspective. Ghana Universities Press. ISBN 978-9964301880.

See also

References
  1. Amoako, Kwesi (2008). Quest for excellence : biographies of 15 successful Ghanaians who passed through Legon. p. 7. ISBN 9789988111830.
  2. "Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs - MOWAC". www.femaleachievers.org. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  3. "The Ark Foundation,Ghana". www.h-net.org. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. Tawiah, Augustina (26 October 2005). "Prof Abena Dolphyne". Junior Graphic (261). Accra: Graphic Communications Group Ltd. p. 6. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  5. "Wesley Girls High School - Past Students". wesleygirls.edu.gh. Archived from the original on 1 September 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. "Professor Dolphyne Honoured on Her 80th Birthday". ug.edu.gh. Legon: University of Ghana. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  7. Ofori, Porcia Oforiwaa (2 March 2018). "Professor Dolphyne honoured for dedicated service". graphic.com.gh. Graphic Communications Group Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  8. Adika, Gordon S.K., ed. (24 December 2018). "Profile of Professor Florence Arena Dolphyne". Ghana Journal of Linguistics. Linguistics Association of Ghana. 7 (2). doi:10.4314/gjl.v7i2 (inactive 18 January 2021). Retrieved 13 June 2020.CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of January 2021 (link)
  9. Dolphyne, F. A. (1965). The phonetics and phonology of the verbal piece in the Asante dialect of Twi (phd thesis). SOAS University of London.
  10. Connell, Bruce; Akinlabi, Akinbiyi (13 June 2019), Wolff, H. Ekkehard (ed.), "African Linguistics in Official English-Speaking West Africa", A History of African Linguistics (1 ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 153–177, doi:10.1017/9781108283977.008, ISBN 978-1-108-28397-7, retrieved 20 June 2020
  11. Owusu-Ansah, David (28 February 2014). Historical Dictionary of Ghana. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 117. ISBN 9780810875005. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  12. Ekkehard Wolff, H., ed. (18 July 2019). A History of African Linguistics. Cambridge University Press. p. 164. ISBN 978-1108417976. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  13. Quampah, Dela (20 August 2014). Good Pastors, Bad Pastors: Pentecostal Ministerial Ethics in Ghana. Wipf and Stock. p. 36. ISBN 978-1625640512. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  14. "Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs". femaleachievers.org. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  15. "Vol. 7 No. 2 (2018): Ghana Journal of Linguistics 7.2 (2018) Special Issue Dedicated to Professor Florence Abena Dolphyne | Ghana Journal of Linguistics". laghana.org. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
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