ASPECTS OF KORO MORPHOLOGY
BAKARE, Bimbo Mary
07/15CB046
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS
AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF
ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS B.A. (HONS.) IN LINGUISTICS.
JUNE, 2011.
CERTIFICATION
This research work has been read and approved as meeting the
requirements for the award of Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics and Nigerian
Languages, Faculty of Arts, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
___________________________
DR. ISSA O. SANUSI
____________________
DATE
___________________________
PROF. A. S. ABDUSSALAM
____________________
DATE
___________________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
____________________
DATE
Project Supervisor
Head of Department
DEDICATION
This project work is dedicated to the God Almighty, the beginning and the
end, the Lord that have started a good thing in me and has perfected it, the one
who gives knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My profound gratitude goes to the Lord Almighty for seeing me through
my studies at the University of Ilorin. He has been my help, encourager and
spring well of wisdom. He alone deserves my praise.
Also, my sincere gratitude goes to my parent, Mr. and Mrs. S. A. BAKARE
for their love, care, advice, and guidance and for providing for my educational
needs. The Lord will surely reward you and enable you to eat the fruit of your
labour (Amen). You are wonderful, you are the best parent in the whole world.
Also, I appreciate the invaluable efforts of my able supervisor, Dr. ISSA O.
SANUSI, who guided me through in my research work, he gave me his time even
when is not convenient and fatherly assistance. May the Lord reward you
(Amen).
I want to also appreciate the love and prayers of my siblings BAKARE
ADEBUKOLA, BAKARE TAYE, BAKARE KEHINDE. And my uncle Professor and
Mrs. Akanmidu and also my Aunty Mrs. Ojo and all well wishers. You have all
been wonderful.
My sincere gratitude goes to my able informants Dr. Muammed Ijakoro(the
emir of Bwarri), Mr. Abubakre Sadiq Ijakoro, Mr. Ibrahim Adamu, who tirelessly
supplied me with copious data during this research, may the Lord reward you
richly (Amen).
Also, I appreciate my friends: Adebayo Funke, Odebode Akeem,
Babatunde Tobiloba, Olaosebikan Ife, Benedict and those who have in one way
or the other contributed to the success of this research.
Thank you all.
LIST OF LANGUAGE TREES, CHARTS AND SYMBOLS
i.
Ija-Koro Genetic Tree
ii.
Ija-Koro Consonant Chart
iii.
Ija-Koro Oral Vowel Chart
iv.
Ija-Koro Nasal Vowel Chart
v.
Syllable Structure
vi.
Morpheme Structure
LIST OF SYMBOLS
[]
-
Phonetic Representation
//
-
Phonemic Representation

-
Rewrite Rule
[/]
-
High Tone
[\]
-
Low Tone
+
-
Morpheme Boundary
( )
-
Parenthesis
C
-
Consonants
V
-
Vowels
H
-
High
L
-
Low
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgements
iv
List of Language Trees, Charts And Symbols
vi
List of Symbols
vii
Table of Contents
viii
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0
General Background
1
1.1
Historical Background of the Koros
2
1.2
Origin
2
1.3
Socio-Cultural Profile
5
1.4
Cultural Values
6
1.5
Administrative System
6
1.6
Religion and Festivals
8
1.7
Festivals
9
1.8
Geographical Location/Population
10
1.9
Economy
11
1.10 Marriage System and Rites
11
1.11 Burial Rites
13
1.12 Education
14
1.13 Data Collection
17
CHAPTER TWO: BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
2.0
Introduction
19
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts
19
2.2
Sound Inventory of Koro Language
19
1.13 Distribution of Consonants in Koro Language
21
2.4
Vowel Segment in Koro Language
37
2.5
Distribution of Vowels in Koro Language
40
2.6
Tone Patterns
50
2.7
Distribution of Tones in Koro Language
51
2.8
Syllable Structure
53
2.9
Language Typology
60
2.10 Isolating Language
61
2.11 Inflectional/Fusional Typology
63
CHAPTER THREE: BASIC MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
3.1
Morphemes
67
3.2
Types of Morpheme
67
3.3
Free Morphemes
68
3.4
Lexical Morpheme
69
3.5
Functional Morphemes
70
3.6
Bound Morpheme
72
3.7
Derivational Morphemes
73
3.8
Inflectional Morpheme
75
CHAPTER FOUR: MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES
4.1
Introduction
78
4.2
Compounding
78
4.3
Borrowing
80
4.4
Affixation
81
4.5
Refashioning
84
4.6
Reduplication
85
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0
Introduction
87
5.1
Summary
87
5.2
Conclusion
88
References
89
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0
General Background
This research work is based on the aspects of morphology of Koro
language.
By Morphology we mean the study of words formation rules in languages,
Bushman (1976:314), says it is “the study of forms”, and also the study of word
structures and description of the minimal, meaningful forms in a language. Yule
(1997: 73)
The central of the core of morphology is morpheme. hence, morphemic
analysis together with the types of morpheme shall be extensively discussed.
Much attention shall be placed on bound morphemes and morphological
processes like, affixation, compounding, reduplication, borrowing, clipping etc. in
Koro language. These and many more morphological concepts shall be discussed
in the subsequent chapters.
Also in this chapter, we shall examine the historical background of Koro
language, socio linguistics profile under which we shall discuss the origin,
religion, festivals, occupation, marriage, culture and belief, burial rites,
educational, language status, the genetic classification of the language.
1.1
Historical Background of the Koros.
There are many version of the origins of the Koro. Some primary and
secondary sources of oral tradition, assumed monolithic origin for the Koros.
However, all these contradictory versions reflect migrations and inter relations.
1.2
Origin
According to the story of the origin of Koros narrated to us by Sariki
Muhammed Yawa, the present village head and 14th chief of Ija-Koro village, he
said a group of Koro left Zaria area on a hunting expedition to old Abuja emirate,
years before the Hausa Zazzau came to Abuja (Suleja) under the leadership of
‘Shiwoyi’ who later became the first chief of Ija-Koro.
They later discovered that the land was blessed with thick foliage and
more game, the Koros decided to settle very close to the Gbagyi people who
they met there and who also welcome them without any bitterness or rancour.
After living with the Gbagyi for many decades they left their former abode
to where they presently occupy in Tafa local government area of Niger state.
They later divided into two villages, Gbaraku and Ija-Koro with Ija-koro as the
senior of the two. Today Ija-koro is made up of ten wards which include, Kacha,
Kachago, Kachadato, Kugawa, Kugu, Adidipu, Gbaraku, Adiotolafu, Adesa and
Tungan and Ladan. Ija-Koro is one of the ten villages under Bwarri district until
the creation of federal capital territory Abuja.
Also according to Na’ibi and Hassan in their book ‘a chronicle of Abuja’ the
Koro of Ija came from Jaban-Kogo in southern Zaria under the leadership of
Idrisu who left Jaban-Kogo because of chieftaincy dispute. He traveled with his
people through Jere and Garam and then settled on.
Another popular legend of the Koros claimed that they were evidently
influenced by the attempt to link their origin to the universal perspective and
centers of old civilization. This legend claimed that one koro and his younger
brother ‘Jukun’ were born east of Mecca and settled in “Apa” which became the
capital of Kwararafa Kingdom. He was blessed with four children named Igala,
Nupe and two daughters. Igala in turn begot Alago and Idoma. One of the
daughter of Jukun begot Bachama, while the second daughter begot Ankwe
(Gojeh, Jatau and Mamman, 1998:9) from linguistic evidence, the legend of Koro
and his brother Jukun were not from Mecca. Infact, some Koro, Kanuri, Jukun
and Arab do not belong to the same linguistic group as evidenced in the recent
linguistic classification of Gordon (2005).
The above legend contradicts the oral accounts narrated by Sarki
Muhammed Yawa.
Linguistic consideration strongly point to the fact that all Koros couldn’t
have one origin nor came together into central Nigeria, as they do not speak
same language. Infact the difference in dialect from one Koro group to another
further points to the fact that they have different origin.
Meek quoted by Goje, Jatau and Mammah (1998:18) classified it simply as
“Nigerian semi-Bantu with no further refinement” Godon’s (2005) linguistic family
tree traces Koro to have originated from among the Niger-Congo group of
languages through the Atlantic Congo, Volta-Congo, Benue-Congo, Plateau
Western to North-Western Koro. They are known with the dialects, Koro-Ija,
Ashe, Gbegbe-Ejar, Koro Panda, Koro Ache, Koro Tandili, Koro Adong, Koro-Ujiji
or mijiji. Koro is a cover term for the several dialectical groups while some of
them have other names like Koro-Eger, Koro-Makama, Koro myamya, Koro
miamiya, Koro-lafiya, Koro gbegbere and Koro Ala.
1.3
Socio-Cultural Profile
The Koros are known for unshakeable peace and unflinching tolerance even with
other distinct neigbours. They believe that this two things (peace and tolerance)
are one of the things human being needs to survive and have a productive life.
The puzzle of Koro social psychology attracts scholarly interest to examine the
binding forces. Other groups are most comfortable with them for their strong
believe or humour, human relations, accessibility, peace and docility. They are
identical through joking relation, common facial marks, sharing of foods,
traditional/cult consultation, moving together in the market or social occasion
and sometimes forging common origin.
1.4
Cultural Values
Cultural values are the cherished traditions and ethos, which are desirable
to the society (Koro community) and taken as normative civilization. They value
submissive character, readiness to obey orders, and fulfill responsibilities. Their
expectations and practices that make life meaningful and anticipation of better
tomorrow. One observable cultural value of these people is good mind and
behaviour and predisposition to work as demanded. This is reinforced through
organization of age-grades. A well-behaved man is favoured while there is also a
severe punishment for the deviants. They also love organizing their societies with
structured authorities some of which one religious and some administrative.
1.5
Administrative System
The unit of authority starts from the house hold under its house-head
called “Pinwada” or “Ikpunkiya”. The house hold heads are answerable to the
clan-head (ebe-tuko) or ward head. All the village head are answerable to the
chief (Osu) and the house hold head are also answerable to the village head.
The Osu or Ghere-Ghabin is turbaned like an Emir since colonial days. Title
holders have overlapping roles in the palace, but the most important ones are
the secretary, Sarkin Pada, ‘Bochi-zaki’ (adviser) and Sarkin Dorgarau (in charge
of security). Some of the earliest palace titles are, padawa or Sopada  The
chief of palace officer.
Gaduma/Adogo – The judge.
Unir – ghokuci – Heir to the throne and disciplinary officer.
Tulaci/wuzili – Information or protocol officer.
Madachi – Treasurer and custodian of the armory and calvary
Zhekada – Tax collector
Sarkin muma – Judge over land
The committed leadership attracted the admiration of Arab and European
writers, and remarked that “they were world famous is governance, better than
European Asian, or American systems. Ibn Batuta, a famous historian observed
in Western and central Sudan in 1352 that;
“The Negroes possess some admirable qualities. They are
seldomly unjust and have a greater abhorrence of injustice
than any other people. Their Emir shows no mercy to anyone
who is guilty of the least act. There is complete security in
their country. Neither traveler nor inhabitant in it have
anything to fear from robbers or men of violence.
They do not confiscate the property of any man... They are
careful to observe the hours of prayers.”
(Okoye 1964:72)
The traditional institution was not corrupt, it protected the weak, dealt
with criminals particularly aimed robbers and could stop any violent clash.
However, the Koro system of government was found under confederal
arrangement for sporadic consortium against invaders. In attempt to account for
the semi – autonomous nature of the village groups, some information simply
submitted that they were kingdom independent of external control and reduced
every big settlement into a kingdom.
1.6
Religion and Festivals
The Koros are dominantly traditional worshippers with every families
having its own ancestral shrine. They also have clan shrines (ebe-tukwo), town
shrines and individual or town cults and sanctuaries (ashmaukuk). Many precolonial polities were purely exercising cultural and religious control over tribes
while excluding non-tribe even in the same settlement. Hence, individuals and
families paid more respect to their kin and cultural cum religious head. Recently,
the influence of Arab traders have firmly establish the religion of Islam. With the
dominance of Islam, the Koros are very careful to observe the hours of prayers.
Be that as it may, individuals and families paid more allegiance to their kin and
cultural cum religious heads.
1.7 Festivals
Festivals are organized to unite all their kins form far and near. The chief
priest is regarded as the ruler of the tribe only, but without defined territory.
Ceremonies were some of the arenas for hosting neighbouring groups. Some of
these ceremonial are burials, turbaning marriages and animal festivals e.g Ghetiri
– Nengwezi, Kebere, Ukodogu, Mwamwa, Usor, Ghokonor and of course, the two
most popular festivals “Zhiba - je” “Zhiba means” ‘settlement’ while “je” means
‘beer/ceremony’ put together to mean town festival. It is usually celebrated after
the harvest of guinea corn and when the first rain has dropped around March.
Till today, the Koros are culturally vibrant. The second intriguing and popular
festival is ‘Kuye’.
This festival (Kuye) is celebrated to the remembrance of the death of
“Najaja”, the great hunter who emancipated the Koros from the shackles of
invades and led them to their present location. An antelope must be killed as the
festival’s rite, however, some of these festivals have reduced in importance
because of the influence of Western education.
1.8
Geographical Location/Population
The Koros are found in the federal capital territory Abuja (FCT), Niger and
Kaduna state respectively. In Kaduna state, they live together in Kagarko local
government area (L.G.A). Koro and Jere chiefdoms.
In Niger state, they live together in Kuta, Suleija and Chanchaga. In the
federal capital territory, they are found or are living in the whole of Bwarri and
Abuja municipal area council (AMAC).
The population of the Koro speakers
dwelling in Kaduna was given by Barret (1972) as 45,000. There was no estimate
for the Koros in Kefi local government, Nassarawa state in Panda, Karu. The
population of Koro of Niger state was conservatively put at 150,000 in 2007.
1.9
Economy
Agriculture is the main stay of Koro economy. Commercial and subsistence
farming are what they do most. Yam and maize are the major thing they sell and
it is their major articles of trade in their place. The land has varying proportion of
Silica, suit, nitrogen and phosphorous. It is alluvial and sticky in the paddy areas
and sandy on the up-lands. They make plant grow well. The boom in agricultural
production is related to the fertility of the soils. It is interesting to note here that
farming in this region is of great antiquity.
The ethnobotanical and archaeological findings suggest that farming dates
back to 3,000 BC. Therefore, agriculture here doesn’t possess the rich
potentialities that belong to it in the other regions. Agricultural produce are sold
in a weekly market called “Ija-Koro market”.
1.10 Marriage System and Rites
Marriage is a necessity to every human society. It is the only formal
universal approach to procreation. The Koros make marital negotiations between
both party in an highly confidential manner. The bride and the groom are
excluded from this arrangement in other to avoid premarital sex and other forms
of immorality that may perspire by virtue of their knowledge. Besides, premarital
sex is forbidden and frowned at. The bride as a matter of tradition must undergo
different physical fitness exercises like, carrying of wood for seven days. This
exercise is meant to ascertain her level of fitness.
Marriage ceremony in Ija-Koro is usually elaborate, it is accomplished or
organized with traditional display of all sorts. It is intriguing that, it may attract
the attention of on lookers. The most frightening aspect of this display is the
physical combat between young boys of similar weight. Unlike in other parts of
Nigeria where marriage is celebrated in the daytime, in Ija-Koro, celebration
galore starts at night with intriguing traditional dances. Maiden (s) are no ground
to entertain guest with terrific dance step. One distinct thing about their
marriage system is that a girl of 14 or 15 may be given out in marriage. Every
father in Koro sees it as a pride to witness the marriage of his son. The father
may cast a cause on the son if he decided not to marry at the appropriate time.
1.11 Burial Rites
Death is accompanied just like any other tribes with sorrow and agony.
Anytime a person travels to the world beyond, people gather at the village
square to sympathize with the family of deceased. Interestingly relatives of the
dead come out in mass with different masquerade and these masquerade are
traditionally expected till dawn. Before the corpse is deposited in the grave,
several processes are involved, first the masquerade jumps over the corpse
seven times as farewell message. The body of the corpse will be designed with
ashes culturally regarded as “Kaji”. After which a well fashioned clothe called
“shachi” is designed for the burial of the corpse. As part of the burial rite, a
mortar is placed at the front of deceased’s house, one of his relative sits on it
while the corpse is placed at the front of the mortar like a living being. Relatives,
friends, sons and grandsons, honour the corpse with money at his forehead. It is
expected that, the money will serve the benefit of transport faire to his
ancestors. Moreover a masquerade gives a violent shout to indicate or shows
readiness for burial. All females are banned from staying outside during the
burial proper. Before the female are sent indoor, a group of females traditionally
called “Alarache” will bid a farewell to the corpse with their song. A goat and a
fowl are slaughtered as burial atonement. The corpse will later be carried
shoulder high in readiness for the grave. The specialists known as ‘Abuya’ are
waiting by the grave side to do the final part of the burial. At the end, the two of
the corpse relatives are called upon to bid the deceased goodbye seven days
with dancing and a formal ceremony will be inaugurated as final relecdictory
service.
1.12 Education
The Koros are fairy educated. This is not to say that a limited number of
the people are not well educated. However, the acquisition of Islamic education
is placed at priority than any other forms of education. The submissiveness and
readiness of the Koros to aquire Western education in something to note. Infact,
the researchers of this work found as many as possible fluent English speakers.
within the native community. Though, these set of people acquire their education
outside the community. A survey of Ija-Koro primary school located at Tafa local
government of Niger state points vividly to the fact that 65% of Ija-Koro children
enroll as a starter in 2008/2009 academic session. This is indeed an evidence of
a potential educationally developed community.
Genetic classification of Ija Koro Language
Niger Kordofanian
Niger Congo
Kordofanian
Mande
Atlantic Congo
Atlantic
Kru
Kwa
Defoid
Ijoid
North
Volta Congo
Volta Congo
Edoid Nupoid
Idomoid
Benue Congo
Igboid Cross-River Bantoid
Kanji
Platois
Tarokoid
Bernoic
Yeskwa
Koro-Zuba
Southern
Indunic
Gyonic
Alumiu
Ninzic West East North
Koro Hyamic
Koro-Ija
Jiju Tyap Irigwe
Jijilic
Adapted from Roger Blench (2006).
1.13 DATA COLLECTION
The data is collected through contact or informant method. Linguistics
data is collected for this study by making use of a proficient informant from the
native community. The Ibadan four hundred wordlist and a framework
techniques are the basic instrument of data collection. The framework
techniques form a crucial part of research because the wordlist cannot capture
all the morphological processes. Three informants supplied this research with
sophisticated data. Below are the information of the informants;
1.
Name:
Dr. Muhammed Ijakoro (The emir of Bwarri)
Sex:
Male
Age:
71 years
Occupation:
Traditional ruler
No of years spent in ijakoro:
65 years
Other languages spoken: English, Hausa, Nupe and Igala, Gwarri,
Ganagana, and
2.
Name:
Chief Muhammed Bawa Mákère
Sex: Male
Age: 57 years
Occupation: Blacksmith
No. of yrs spent in Koro: 45 years
Other languages spoken:English, Hausa, Nupe, IGala, Gwarri, Ganagana,
Gwandala etc
3.
Name: Mr. Abubakre Sadiq Ijakoro (and members of his age
grade)
Sex: male
Age: 45 years
Occupation: Farmer
No of yars spent in Koro-Ija: 45 years
Other languages spoken: Haua, Igala, Gwarri, Ganagana, Gwandala and Nupe
etc.
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
2.0
Introduction
The aim of this chapter is of two folds. The phonological and the
morphological discussion of Koro-Ija language. The basic phonological, total
system and syllable structure of words, which are found in Koro language and
language typology will be discussed.
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts
Phonology is sub-discipline within linguistics. It is the study of sound
patterns and how speech sounds structure are studied with their functions in
language, how they are used in conveying meaning in language.
2.2
Sound Inventory of Koro Language
Every natural language has it own inventory which has to do with the
nature and types of sounds in terms of their phonetic properties in a language –
sounds in a language can be classified into consonant and vowels. The sound
inventory used in Koro language is identified below;
Koro attests twenty-seven (27) phonemic consonants including implosives (sounds produced
with ingressive air stream) used in conveying meaning of words they are;
/p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/, /kp/, /gb/, /kw/, /gw/, /gh/, /m/, /n/, /f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /h/, /s/, /з/, /ts/, /t/,
Plosive
P
t
k
d
b
Nasal
Fricati
m
f
g
k
p
w
g
g
b
w
s
gh
z
Affrica
t
te

g
j

з
palatalize
d velar
glottalize
d velar
Glottal
k
n
ve
v
labialized
velar
labio
velar
velar
palatal
alveolar
Palatal
labio
dental
bilatial
alveolar
/dз/, /l/, /r/, /j/, /w/.
h
d
з
Lateral
l
Trill
r
Appro
ximant
j
w
1.13 Distribution of Consonants in Koro Language
It is observed that consonant begin almost all words in the language. it
occur freely word medial position too.
The language operates closed and open syllable, it allow word initial and
word medial consonant. the following is their distribution i.e how they occur in
word;
[p] voiceless bilabial stop in word- initial position as in:
[p]
‘lick’
[piakula]
‘ask’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kìpepa]
‘paper’
[kap]
‘farm’
[mìpa:]
‘snail’
[kìp‫כ‬r]
‘sweet’
[òpí]
‘finish’
Word-Final Position as in:
[kipepa]
‘paper’
[b] Voiced Bilabial Stop
Word-medial position as in
[kwùbù‫]כ‬
‘greet’
[kùbúbú‫]כ‬
‘black’
[nba:]
‘two’
[kùзìbìd]
‘witch’
[mèb‫]כ‬
‘buffalo’
[t]
Voiceless Alveolar Stop
Word-Initial Position as in:
[tákòúá]
‘sing’
[tr]
‘tie rope’
[t]
‘send’
[tnú]
‘sew’
[tá]
‘put on’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kìtámabì‫]כ‬
‘buttocks’
[kikpuakitukwã]
‘breast’
xxxii
[kùtné]
‘ear’
[kùtàkàlàmi]
‘shoe’
[kuta]
‘stone’
[d]
Voiced Alveolar Stop
Word-Initial Position as in:
[dúá]
‘make’
[dá]
‘father’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kìtàd:]
‘hundred’
[ètàdba:]
‘two hundred’
[ètàdéna:]
‘four hundred’
[mìdó‫]כ‬
‘horse’
[dtũkwa]
‘rope’
[k]
Voiceless Velar Stop
Word-Initial Position as in:
[katĩjã]
‘hair’
xxxiii
[kùtné]
‘ear’
[kìdзíwó]
‘jaw’
[kugbágj]
‘chin’
[kùbí]
‘stomach’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kúk‫]כ‬
‘that’
[kukárã]
‘charcoal’
[kúkũ]
‘boat’
[màkíề]
‘saliva’
[úkũkwákwá]
‘kite’
[g]
Voiced Velar Stop
Word-Initial Position as in:
[gã]
‘jump’
[gÍ]
‘wash’
[gà‫]כ‬
‘refuse’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kìgirì]
‘calabash’
xxxiv
[kìg]
‘town’
[rìgề]
‘rainy season’
[kùgbàsà]
‘bag’
[kàmágúru]
‘cat’
[kp] Voiceless Labiovelar Stop
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kikpuakitukwã]
‘breast’
[kúkpá]
‘bark’
[[kùkp‫]כ‬
‘thorn’
[okpã]
‘rope’
[kùkpùkpã]
‘bat’
[gb] Voiced Labio-Velar Stop
Word-Initial Position as:
[gbá:]
‘plant’
[gbãrã]
‘open (door)’
[gb]
‘close’
xxxv
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kugbagj]
‘chin’
[migbá]
‘seed’
[kugbá]
‘lizard’
[rìgba]
‘fetish’
[kigbítí]
‘mould’
[kw] Voiceless Labialized velar in
Word-Initial Position as in:
[kw‫]כ‬
‘throw’
[kwàkba]
‘moon’
[kwùbù‫]כ‬
‘greet’
[kwilá:]
‘sleep’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kàtúkwúrí]
‘short’
[etwíkwig]
‘chief’
xxxvi
[ètíkwã]
‘senior’
[kwã]
‘wife’
[tukwã]
‘female’
[gw] Voiced Labialized-Velar
Word-Initial Position as in:
[gwìwã]
‘return’
[gw]
‘buy’
[gwarềề]
‘reply’
[gwárã]
‘like’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[ògw‫]כ‬
‘hunger’
[kùgw‫]כ‬
‘old’
[ngw]
‘take’
[gh] Voiced Glottalized Velar
Word-Medial Position as in:
[mìghã]
‘medicine’
xxxvii
[èghama]
‘king’
[gj] Voiced Palatalized Velar
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kugbagj]
‘chin’
[m] Voiced Bilabial Nasal
Word-Initial Position as in:
[mìtĩ]
‘eye’
[mijĩ]
‘teeth’
[màjĩmau‫]כ‬
‘blood’
[màtna:]
‘fat’
[mãwá]
‘wine’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[evúma]
‘nose’
[kìtámabì‫]כ‬
‘buttocks’
[màjĩmau‫]כ‬
‘blood’
[ềúma]
‘meat’
xxxviii
[kìlèmu]
[f]
‘orange’
Voiceless Labio-Dental Fricative
Word-Initial Position as in:
[fĩ]
‘cover’
[fú]
‘say’
[fúé]
‘spit’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[èfu]
‘friend’
[èjĩròfúa-kũma]
‘brother’
[‫כ‬fumudI]
‘wall’
[kujufũ]
‘maize’
[v]
Voiced Labio-Dental Fricative
Word-Initial Position as in:
[ví:]
‘choose’
[ví]
‘take off’
xxxix
Word-Medial Position as in:
[òví]
‘pull’
[èvúma]
‘nose’
[mibiav‫]כ‬
‘oil palm’
[ruv‫כ‬:]
‘play’
[kùvúvú‫]כ‬
‘red’
[òvu]
‘wind’
[s]
Voiceless Alveolar Fricative
Word-Initial Position as in:
[s‫]כ‬
‘drink’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kakáso]
‘matchet’
[kùsú]
‘mortar’
[kùgàsà]
‘bag’
[kus‫]כ‬
‘house’
[kúsã]
‘mountain’
xl
[h]
Voiced Glottal Fricative
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kùhĩĩ]
‘seven’
[míáhũ]
‘taste’
[t]
Voiceless Palato Alveolar Affricate
Word-Initial Position as in:
[tì]
‘blow’
[t‫כ‬:]
‘divide’
[tĩ]
‘soke’
[t:]
‘shoot’
[t]
‘pay’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[òtí]
‘push’
[màtĩ]
‘weep’
[mìtĩ]
‘eye’
[rìnt]
‘head’
[kàtĩjã]
‘hair’
xli
[l]
Voiced Alveolar Lateral
Word-Initial Position as in:
[lIla]
‘lie’
[lé]
‘hold’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kìlèmu]
‘orange’
[kùtàkàlàmi]
‘shoe’
[kúlá]
‘thing’
[kúlátr]
‘animal’
[kulà:]
‘dream’
[n]
Voiced Alveolar Nasal
Word-Initial Position as in:
[nnú]
‘one’
[nba:]
‘two’
[nná:]
‘four’
[ntàr‫]כ‬
‘three’
xlii
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kwánrán]
‘gather’
[ògwún-un]
‘get’
[jnrn]
‘show’
[mane:]
‘oil’
[rùnú]
‘soup’
Word-Final Position as in:
[jÍn]
‘beat’
[tn]
‘split’
[kkùzun]
‘pierce’
[tÌn]
‘soke’
[gbánrán]
‘open’
[r]
Voiced Alveolar Trill
Word-Initial Position as in:
[rùnú]
‘soup’
[rìfun]
‘body’
[rìbí]
‘belly’
xliii
[rìdnu]
‘heart’
[rĩt]
‘head’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kuru:n]
‘knee’
[okárãзe]
‘turn round’
[òbári]
‘urinate’
[orír]
‘swallow’
[èmirì]
‘heavy’
[j]
Voiced Palatal Approximant
Word-Initial Position as in:
[jĩ]
‘beat’
[jĩkùla]
‘breath’
[jr]
‘show’
[jnĩ-ĩ]
‘bite’
[jíjè-lafa]
‘ask (question)’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kòjí]
‘lose’
xliv
[gbáj]
‘wait’
[njeiri]
‘extinguish’
[màjĩ]
‘water’
[kìbjã]
‘thigh’
[w] Voiced Labio Velar Approximant
Word-Initial Position as in:
[w:]
‘count’
[wá:]
‘sell’
[wã]
‘call’
[w‫]כ‬
‘learn’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kÌdзÍwó]
‘jaw’
[kÍwó]
‘navel’
[mãwá]
‘wine’
[kuwíĩ]
‘feaces’
[òw‫כ‬-‫]כ‬
‘kill’
xlv
[dз] Voiced Palato Alveolar Affricate
Word-Initial Position as in:
[dзó]
‘go’
Word-Medial Position as in:
[kÌdзÍwó]
‘jaw’
[kũdзề]
‘egg’
[ódзá]
‘word’
[zedзa]
‘story’
[èdзÍ]
‘smoke’
[z]
Noised Alveolar Fricative
Word-Initial Position as in:
[zedзa]
‘story’
[zúe]
‘follow’
[zr]
‘burn’
xlvi
2.4
Vowel Segment in Koro Language
According to Roach (1998), vowels are sounds produced when there is no
obstruction of the flow of air as it passes from the tongue to the lips.
Yusuf (1999: 29) also defines vowels as sounds produced with very little
obstruction to the air passage in the vocal tract. None of the articulators come
close enough to air flow.
Vowels usually constitute the core on the nucleus of the syllable. They are
described along the following parameters.
The part of the tongue used (i.e. front, central, back). The height of the
tongue to the roof of the mouth (i.e. High, Mid, Low).
The roundness of the lips (i.e. Rounded, Unrounded) vowels are also
classified based on the position of the velum. Thus:
Oral vowels
Nasal vowels
Oral vowels are produced with the air passes from the larynx through the
oral cavity. While nasal vowels are produced with the velum lowered so that the
air escapes through both the nose and the mouth.
xlvii
Vowels can also be classified based on the length which deal with the time
it takes to produces a particular vowel. Thus, we have long vowels and short
vowels.
Koro language attests seven [7] oral vowels and six [6] long vowel and
also seven [7] nasal vowels.
The vowels are:
Oral Vowels
[a, i, e, , o, ‫כ‬, u]
Long Vowels
[a:, i:, e:, :, o:, ‫כ‬:, u:]
Nasal Vowels
[ã, ĩ, ề, , ồ, ‫כ‬, ũ]
xlviii
Koro-Ija Vowel Charts
Front
High
Central
Back
i
Mid-high
u
e
Mid-low
o

ε
Low
a
Koro-Ija Long Vowel Charts
Front
High
Back
i:
Mid-high
Mid-low
Low
Central
u:
e:
o:
:
ε:
a:
xlix
Koro-Ija Nasal Vowel Charts
Front
High
Central
Back
ĩ
Mid-high
Ũ
ề
ồ


Mid-low
low
ã
2.5
Distribution of Vowels in Koro Language
Just like consonants, vowels sounds can also occur in all or any of the
possible environments of occurrence in a word. For instance, a vowel can begin a
word (i.e. initial position). And a vowel can also occur medially or at the end of a
word.
l
In Koro language, these are the distributions of vowels:
[i]
Front High Unrounded Vowel
It occurs in word-medial position as in:
[rìkú]
‘steal’
[rìd]
‘spin’
[òpí]
‘finish’
[kikú]
‘carve’
[katta]
‘stink’
It occurs in word-final position as in:
[tì]
‘blow’
[mí]
‘swell’
[òtí]
‘push’
[gí]
‘wash’
[ví]
‘take off’
[e]
Front Mid High Unrounded Vowel
It occurs in word-initial position as in
[èvúma]
‘nose’
li
[ènú]
‘mouth’
[eta:]
‘hand’
[ènúma]
‘meat’
[erú]
‘neck’
It occurs in word-medial position as in:
[kìpepa]
‘paper’
[kìlèmu]
‘orange’
[mèb‫]כ‬
‘buffalo’
[mèkára]
‘monkey’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[mitíe]
‘ten’
[ótè]
‘God’
[òkújè]
‘dawn’
[kùkike]
‘axe’
[kugje]
‘grass’
It occurs in word-initial position as in:
[d]
‘cloth’
[jámì:]
‘in-law’
lii
[káwa]
‘doctor’
[zamaзama]
‘hunter’
[ekwã]
‘wife’
It occurs in word-medial position as in:
[zr]
‘burn’
[àtr]
‘untie’
[kólátr]
‘animal’
[kùtr]
‘bush’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[rìd]
‘spin’
[‫כ‬t]
‘cook’
[òpí]
‘finish’
[t]
‘pay’
[atr]
‘untie’
[ềw]
‘sun’
liii
[u]
Back High Rounded Vowel
It occurs in word initial position as in:
[ùdi]
‘room’
[úkũkwákwá]
‘kite’
It occurs in word medial position as in:
[kúkũ]
‘boat’
[kùta]
‘stone’
[ruw]
‘ground’
[òkújè]
‘dawn’
[‫כ‬fumudi]
‘wall’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[kìrú]
‘he goat’
[kùú]
‘mortar’
[kàmagúru]
‘cat’
[nnú]
‘one’
[uu]
‘sit’
liv
[o]
Back Mid-High Rounded Vowel
It occurs in word initial position as in:
[òkpã]
‘rope’
[òlá]
‘fire’
[òwá:]
‘give birth’
[òbári]
‘urinate’
[oj]
‘eat’
It occurs in word medial position as in:
[kòmua]
‘mat’
[mìgór‫]כ‬
‘kolanut’
[tákòúá]
‘sing’
[kòsísá]
‘new’
[ètoítna]
‘mother’s brother’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[kùpàko]
‘door’
[kakáso]
‘matchet’
[kùdùmùro]
‘millet’
[kùrógo]
‘cassava’
lv
[kùkwo]
[‫]כ‬
‘bone’
Back Mid Low Rounded Vowel
It occurs in word initial position as in:
[‫כ‬t]
‘cook’
[‫כ‬k]
‘fry’
[‫כ‬зềrề]
‘roast’
[‫כ‬t‫כ‬-‫]כ‬
‘pound’
[‫כ‬t]
‘weave’
It occurs in word medial position as in:
[kĩját‫כ‬r‫]כ‬
‘chicken’
[kú‫כ‬r]
‘vomit’
[kìp‫כ‬r]
‘sweet’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[m‫]כ‬
‘break’
[òw‫כ‬:]
‘(be) rotten’
[t‫כ‬:]
‘divide’
lvi
[gà‫]כ‬
‘refuse’
[mìdó‫]כ‬
‘horse’
[a]
Central Low Unrounded Vowel
It occurs in word initial position as in:
[àkũ]
‘fight’
[ata:rĩ]
‘arrow’
[àkíbí]
‘money’
[ajĩmi]
‘rubbish heap’
It occurs in word medial position as in:
[gbáj:]
‘wait’
[kàsó]
‘weep’
[tákòúá]
‘sing’
[míáhũ]
‘taste’
[òbári]
‘urinate’
It occurs in word final position as in:
[tá]
‘put on’
[jĩkula]
‘breath’
lvii
[bákùla]
‘break’
[katíta]
‘stink’
[òtúmá]
‘work’
[i:]
Long Back Mid Low Rounded Vowel
It occurs in word final position as in:
[mikwí:]
‘rat’
[ejami:]
‘in-law’
[kwí:]
‘die’
[kájì:]
‘fall’
[kòjí:]
‘lose’
[o:] Long Back Mid High Rounded Vowel
It occurs in word initial position as in:
[òfó:n]
‘tail’
lviii
[:]
Long Front Mid Low Unrounded Vowel
It occurs in word final position as in:
[t:]
‘shoot’
[w:]
‘count’
[gbaj:]
‘wait’
[kin:]
‘bird’
[kìtad:]
‘hundred’
[a:] Long Central Low Unrounded Vowel
[gba:]
‘plant’
[‫כ‬á:]
‘grind’
[kula:]
‘thing’
[òwá:]
‘give birth’
[kwilá:]
‘sleep’
It occurs in word medial position as in:
[ata:rĩ]
‘arrow’
lix
[‫כ‬:] Long Back Mid Low Ronded Vowel
It occurs in word final position as in:
[t‫כ‬:]
‘divide’
[òw‫כ‬:]
‘(be) rotten’
[ruv‫כ‬:]
‘play’
[w‫כ‬:]
‘learn’
[‫כ‬n‫כ‬:]
‘know’
[e:] Long Front Mid High Unrounded Vowel
It occurs in word final position as in:
[mane:]
2.6
Tone Patterns
Pike (1957) notes that, “Some languages that have lexically significant,
contractive, but relative pitch on each syllable are said to be tone languages”.
Tone can further be defined as a system of pitch change centered around the
nucleus: A tone language is therefore a language in which both composition of
the same morpheme can be lexically contrasted in a given phonological
environment. Welmers (1959: 2).
lx
However, contrastive tones are mark over the vowels which are properties
of the syllable or marked on syllabic nasals, Koro has three level tones known as
low tone (marked by a grave ancient [\], a high tone marked by an acute tone
[/], and mid tone [-] which is left unmarked.
Both register and contour tones are attested in Koro language. Register
tone language is a language with tones at various pitch height distinguishing the
features which a contour tone language is a tone change pitch by “rising”,
falling, Koro language attest only falling tones which is marked thus ().
2.7
Distribution of Tones in Koro Language
High Tone [/]
[p]
‘lick’
[t]
‘pay’
[ké]
‘carry’
[tà]
‘put on’
[uí]
‘take off’
Low Tone [\]
[tĩ]
‘soke’
[tì]
‘blow (of wind)’
lxi
[kùko]
‘burn’
[kùta:]
‘six’
[wã]
‘come’
Mid Tone [-]
[eã]
‘run’
[ruv‫כ‬:]
‘play’
[mibiav‫]כ‬
‘oil palm’
[kus‫]כ‬
‘house’
[kibõ]
‘knife’
Falling Tone []
[kin:]
‘bird’
Tones are combined in various ways in Koro language
H for example
[tá]
‘put on’
HH
[mr]
‘rinse’
HL
[kkùzũ]
‘pierce’
lxii
LML
[òtumà]
‘walk’
LL
[wà]
‘come’
LHM [òpío]
‘hot’
LH
[òwá:]
‘give birth’
2.8
Syllable Structure
A syllable consists of the peak of prominence in a word which is associated
with the occurrence of one vowel or a syllabic consonant that represents the
most primitive in all languages (Hyman 1975: 189).
However, a syllable consists of phonological units such that have larger
utterance with constraints of a given language and with distinctive features
which are phonemes with concentrated sequences. It consists of three phonetic
part which are:
i.
Onset
ii.
Peak or nucleus
iii.
Coda
i.
Onset is usually at the beginning of a syllable
ii.
The peak is the nucleus of the syllable
iii.
The coda is at the closing segment of a syllable usually a consonant
lxiii
Also, a syllable must contain a vowel sound. The most common type of
syllable in language also has a consonant before the vowel, often represented as
CV, (George Yule 1947: 57). The basic elements of a syllable are onset, rhyme or
nucleus and coda.
This can be illustrated diagrammatically.
Syllable
Onset
Rhyme
Consonant(s)
Peak (Nucleus)
Coda
Vowel
Consonant(s)
Syllable Structure Rule
This is the rule that states the possible sequence of sounds or segment in
a syllable.
Koro language attests three major syllable structures. They are:
i.
CV
ii.
CVV
iii.
VCV
lxiv
This is how they occur in the language, CV (sequence of consonant and
vowel).
[tá]
‘put on’
[ví]
‘take off’
[gí]
‘wash’
[lé]
‘hold’
[tì]
‘blow’
This is also shown in a tree diagram.
(i)
[tá]
(ii)

[ví]
(iii)

[gí]

O
N
O
N
O
N
C
V
C
V
C
V
t
á
v
í
g
í
lxv
(iv)
[ié]
(v)

tì]

O
N
O
N
C
V
C
V
i
é
t
í
ii.
CVV (Sequence of consonant, vowel, vowel)
[zúe]
‘follow’
/zú/e/


O
N
N
C
V
V
z
ú
e
lxvi
(ii)
[mìà]
‘touch’
/mì/à/


O
N
N
C
V
V
m
ì
à
(iii)
[dúá] ‘make’
(iv)
[gà‫‘ ]כ‬refuse’
/gà/‫כ‬/
/dú/á/




O
N
N
O
N
N
C
V
V
C
V
V
d
ú
á
g
à
‫כ‬
lxvii
(iv)
(i)

VCV (Sequnece of vowel, consonant, and vowel)
[d] ‘cloth’
(ii)
[ùdi] ‘room’
//d/
/ù/di/



N
O
N
N
O
N
V
C
V
V
C
V

d

ù
d
i
(iii)
[ódзá]
/ó/dзá/

‘word’
(iv)

[èlá] ‘sleep’
/è/lá/


N
O
N
N
O
N
V
C
V
V
C
V
ó
dз
á
è
l
lxviii
á
(v)
[òvu]
‘wind’
/ò/vu/


N
O
N
V
C
V
ò
v
u
There are various types of syllable in the language. They are:
(i)
Mono Syllabic
CVC
[wán]
‘call’
[tn]
‘send’
[gán]
‘jump’
[tìn]
‘soke’
[tì]
‘blow’
lxix
(ii)
Disyllabic
[gbã:rá]
‘open’
[t:r]
‘tie (rope)’
[lí:là]
‘lie’
[rì:d]
‘spin (thread)’
[kù:tó]
‘skin’
[rì:kú]
‘steal’
(iii) Trisyllabic
[ku: jín: mí]
‘cold’
[ká:ma:tìn]
‘good’
[kì:p‫כ‬:r]
‘sweet’
[ka:tí:ta]
‘stink’
[rì:tín:ján]
‘hair’
2.9
Language Typology
Greenberg (1974: 55) states that language typology is based on the
assumption that the ways in which languages differ from one another are not
entirely random, but show various types of dependencies among these
properties of languages. Languages are classified according to their properties
lxx
(i.e. their structure). The linguistic structure includes-sound system and pattern
(phonology) word formation processes (morphology) sentence information order
or rule (syntax).
Typology simply means the classification or categorization of things into
different types-thus, language typology, simply refers to classification of
language into different types based on their varying structures.
Before the advent of language typology, the classification of language was
largely genetic i.e. based on the development of language from older source
language.
The different classes which language can be classified or categorized
structurally are, agglutinating, isolating, inflectional or fusional language.
Koro language is an incorporating language, it has isolating features as
well as some inflectional features. We can therefore classify Koro language as an
isolating language as well as an inflectional language.
2.10 Isolating Language
This is the term used to refer to a language where each word typically
expresses a distinct idea, capable of inflection or formal variations, variations are
lxxi
determined by word order and separate participants, thus the sentence consists
of strings of formally independence words (Pike 1966: 134).
Isolating language are also language that show grammatical relationship
through the use of word order. In other words, word in these languages are
invariable i.e. each word is usually both a word and a morpheme. These
languages code a unit of meaning per-word. Chinese is a typical example, Ebira,
Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo and Koro language and several other South-East Asian
language are good example of isolating language.
Example of isolating features in Koro language include;
i.
kàchúyé
ka
mi
cup
is
my
‘the cup if my’
ii.
èyànkúmána
e
wan
boy
will
come
‘the boy will come’
iii.
mi
kuila manare
I
sleep usually
10pm
‘I usually sleep at 10pm’
lxxii
iv.
e
kún
kitún
náàyé
1970
he
had
started
since
1970
‘he had started since 1970’
v.
la
yan
wàn
‘they we come’
2.11 Inflectional/Fusional Typology
Inflectional languages are languages which are marked with inflection.
Inflections are those appendages or bound morphemes which convey
grammatical information like tense, number or modal but do not alter the
meaning of the affected words. A language is said to be inflectional when
morphemes in the language are represented by affixes, i.e. one in which it is
difficult to assign morpheme precisely to different parts of the affixes. Languages
that are inflectional are also fusional. The underlying morphemes cannot be
easily segmented.
lxxiii
No matter how minute or negligible an inflection could be, it has a
semantic role to play. English language is a typical example of inflectional
language; e.g.
Cook
cry
Arrive
Cooks
cries
Arrived
Cooked
cried
Arrival
Cooking
crying
arrives
Note: in inflectional languages, the affixes do not change the word-class
but add more to its meaning.
Koro language attests inflectional morpheme.
Inflectional examples in Koro with respect to tense.
[gũn]
‘see’
[ègũ]
‘saw’ (‘e’ is the inflection)
[súnsũ]
‘sit’
[esúnsũ]
‘sat’ (/e/ is inflectional)
[kál]
‘easy’
[èzá kál]
‘uneasy’ [èza is inflectional)
lxxiv
[kj‫]כ‬
‘correct’
[èzakj‫]כ‬
‘incorrect’ [èza is inflectional)
[kikópi]
‘cup’
[kikópij]
‘his cup’
[j is inflectional)
In the examples above, prefixes or suffixes encode information that are
related to tense, negation, or possession without changing the lexical categories
to which the words belong.
lxxv
CHAPTER THREE
BASIC MORPHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS
Morphology is the study of words formation rules in language, Bushman
(1976: 314), says it is “the study of form”, for instance the sub discipline of
inflection as well as the study of word classes and their classification. It is an
important term in linguistics and it may be seen as a cover term for inflection
and word formation.
Radford (1997: 1) defines morphology as “the formation and interpretation
of word. It is also defined as the system of categories and rules involved in word
formation and interpretation.
Nida (1946: 1) also defines morphology as “the study of morphemes and
their arrangement in forming words”. Authors like Mattew (1974), Fromkin and
Rodman (1978), Oyebade (1992), Tinuoye (2000) are unanimous on what
constitutes the morphology as the process of word formation.
Morphology is the branch of linguistics that studies word formation rules of
language (Crystal 1980: 60).
lxxvi
3.1
Morphemes
In morphology, the most important component of the word structure is the
morpheme. It is the smallest unit of language that carries information about
meaning or functions. It is also the core or the central part of morphology. A
morpheme, no matter how negligible or small, it carries a semantic information.
Nida (1946: 6), defines a morpheme as the ‘minimal meaningful unit of
grammatical analysis’, it is a word or part of a word. A morpheme constitutes
lesser units. Gleason (1974: 11) defines a morpheme as “typically composed of
one of several phonemes”. The morphemes differ fundamentally from the
phonemes which has no such relationship with content, for instance phonemes
have no meaning and morphemes have meaning.
Fromkin and Radman (1988: 2) states that a morpheme is the minimal
linguistic sign, a grammatical unit that is an arbitrary union of sounds and
meaning components sometimes, morphemes are strung together to form a
word also a word could consist of just a morpheme (i.e.) mono-morphemic.
3.2
Types of Morpheme
A diagram shall be drawn below to show the types of morphemes that we
have and the examples we be given in Koro language.
lxxvii
Morpheme
Free
Bound
Derivational
Lexical
Inflectional
Functional
Morphemes are basically classified in to free and bound morphemes.
3.3
Free Morphemes
Yule (1997: 75), defines free morphemes as morphemes which stands by
themselves as single word. A free morpheme is a type of morpheme that can
stand on its own without the support of any appendage(s). This category of
morphemes are otherwise known as independent or matrix morpheme. Lexical or
content words and functional words fall under this category. They are
morphemes that can exist in isolation.
Example of free morphemes in Ija Koro language include:
i.
[ruwá:]
‘dance’
ii.
[òtúmá]
‘walk’
iii.
[mìt∫é]
‘tree’
lxxviii
iv.
[èjãtúk‫]כ‬
‘girl’
v.
[èkúma]
‘man’
vi.
[kìkà]
‘hoe’
vii.
[mèz]
‘market’
viii.
[kùp‫]כ‬
‘car’
ix.
[kùvúa]
‘book’
x.
[guw]
‘buy’
They are independent in form and meaning. They act as root and are
ready to take any additional morphemes.
The free morpheme can be sub-divided into two viz;
i.
Lexical morphemes
ii.
Functional morphemes
3.4
Lexical Morpheme
Lexical morphemes as defined by Yule (1997: 76) are set of ordinary
nouns, adjectives and verbs which we think of as the words which carry the
content of the message we convey”. They belong to the open class of words in
the language and they are used to form words of different grammatical
categories.
lxxix
Examples in Koro language include:
i.
[gã]
‘jump’
ii.
[kàtákàdá]
‘book’
iii.
[t∫ákátá]
‘big’
iv.
[kuw]
‘bad’
v.
[kúláj]
‘food’
vi.
[kìká]
‘hoe’
3.5
Functional Morphemes
These are known as closed morphemes, they are those non content words
such as conjunctions, prepositions, articles and pronouns. Because we almost
never add new functional morphemes to languages, they are described as
“closed” class of words. Examples in Koro language include:
i.
Articles
[è]
‘the’
[èjãtúk‫כ‬è]


girl
the
‘the girl’
[èjãkúmaè]


boy
the
‘the boy’
lxxx
[è]
‘a’
[ki]
‘an’
[kùvúaé]


man a
‘a man’
[mìró

Elephant
ki]

an
‘an elephant’
[kùndƷế ki]


egg
an
ii.
‘an egg’
Preposition
[nìt∫ĩ]
‘under’
[kukolo

ball
nìt∫ĩ kupja]


under table
‘the ball is under the table’
[nijã]
‘on’
[nijã kupja]


on table
‘on the table’
iii.
Conjunction
[kúmá]
‘and’
[èjãkúma

boy
kúmá èjãtúk‫]כ‬


and
girl
‘a boy and a girl’
lxxxi
[a

I
3.6
mata kùsuwa
kúmá maséruwá]




can sing
and dance
‘I can sing and dance’
Bound Morpheme
Bound morphemes cannot exist independently for instance, they are by
nature parasites they depend on their host for survival, they are never words,
they can only form part of words. They are basically affixes.
Yusuf (1999: 83), states that
a bound morpheme does not occur in
isolation, but can only be meaningful when joined to other morphemes. Bound
morpheme can occur before a host morpheme or after a host morpheme, these
are technically called prefix and suffix respectively. Below are examples of bound
morphemes in Koro language.
Singular
i.
[mìrúwá]
‘fish’
ii.
Marker
[erúwá]
e
‘fishes’
[mit∫ié]
‘tree’
iii.
Plural
[et∫é]
e
‘trees’
[[kìkã]
[èká]
è
lxxxii
‘hoe’
‘hoes’
iv.
[kùké]
‘basket’
v.
a
‘baskets’
[kùgàsà]
‘bag’
vi.
[aké]
[àgàsà]
à
‘bags’
[kùtàkàlàmi]
‘shoe’
vii.
à
‘shoes’
[mímá]
‘goat’
[àtàkàlàmi]
[èmá]
è
‘goats’
According to Yule (1997: 76), the set of affixes which falls into the ‘bound’
category can also be divided into two types.
i.
Derivational morphemes
ii.
Inflectional morphemes
3.7
Derivational Morphemes
It is used to form new words in the language and it’s used to form words
of different grammatical categories from the stem.
lxxxiii
Yule (1997: 76) states that derivation is accomplished by means of a large
member of small bits which is called affixes. The affixes are divided into four (4),
they are:
i.
Prefix
ii.
Infix
iii.
Suffix
iv.
Suprafix
In Ija-Koro language, we have prefix and suffix as their affixes.
Prefix: is a process whereby some affixes are added to the beginning of a word.
Examples in Koro language
Prefix (èzanì)
i.
[gwarã]
[ezanì + gwarã]
ii.
[èzanìgwarã]
‘disloyal’
‘friendly’

[èzanìòmá:]
[òvuwa]
[èzanì + ovuwa]
iv.

[òmá:]
[èzanì + òmá:]
iii.
‘loyal’
‘unfriendly’
‘favour’

[èzanìovuwa]
[ògía]
‘disfavour
‘like’
lxxxiv
[èzanì + ògía]

[èzanìògía]
‘disfavour’
Suffix: are the affixes that are added at the back of a word.
Examples of suffix in Koro language,
lxxxv
Suffix (mì)
i.
[kùgàsà]
‘bag’
[kùgàsà + mì]
bag
ii.
[kú∫‫]כ‬
house

‘my house’
my
book
‘book’
[kalagìéw‫כ‬mi]
‘my book’
my
[kigbítí]
‘pot’
[kigbítí + mi]
3.8
[kú∫‫ כ‬+ mì]
[kalagìéw‫]כ‬
pot
‘my bag’
‘house’
[kalagìéw‫ כ‬+ mi] 
iv.
[kùgàsàmì]
my
[kú∫‫ כ‬+ mì]
iii.


[kigbítími]
‘my pot’
my
Inflectional Morpheme
According to Yule (1997: 72), inflectional morphemes are not used to form
new words. Rather, to indicate aspects of grammatical functions of a word. They
can be used to show if a word is singular or plural, if it is past or present tense
and if it is comparative or possessive form.
lxxxvi
Aronoff (2005: 151) also discussed the issue of inflectional morpheme.
According to him, the word ‘itself’ comes from traditional Latin grammar. It root
flect, which we see in English word flex, means ‘bend’, or perhaps more clearly,
altering the shape of a word so it will fit in a particular position within a
sentence.
Examples of inflectional morphemes in Koro language are given below in a
tabular form;
Prefix/Suffix
Meaning
Inflectional affixes
Prefix
Past tense
‘slept’
i. [è-]
Marker (-ed)
/è + kùwíla/  [ekuwila]
-ed sleep
ii. [è-]
Past tense
/e+ gun/  [egũ]
-ed ‘see’
‘saw’
/à t∫ú/  [à∫ú]
-s ‘mortar’
‘mortars’
/ + l/  [t]
-ed ‘cook’
‘cooked’
/ + ∫ũ∫ũ/ ‘[∫ũ∫ũ]
-ing ‘sit’
‘sitting’
Marker (-ed)
iii. [à-]
Plural marker
(-s)
iv. []
Past tense
Marker (-ed)
v. []
Present continuous
Tense marker (-ing)
vi. [‫]כ‬
Pre. Continuous tense
marker (-ing)
vii. [o]
Pre. Continuous tense
lxxxvii
/‫ כ‬+ wi:/  [‫כ‬wi:]
-ing ‘sweep’
‘sweeping’
/o + gũ/  [ogũ]
-ing ‘see’
‘seeing’
marker (-ing)
viii. [a]
Plural marker (-s)
Suffix
Class marker (-est)
ix. [zĩ]
(superlative)
x. [ni]
Pre. continuous tense
/a + ké/  [aké]
-s ‘basket’
/esáãsara + zĩ//
fast
-est
 èsáãsarazĩ]
marker (-ing)
xi. [ni]
Pre. Continous tense
marker (-ing)
xii. [ni]
Pre. continuous tense
marker (-ing)
lxxxviii
‘baskets’
‘fastest’
/je: + ni/  [je:in]
go -ing
‘going’
/we + ni/  [wni]
come –ing
‘coming’
/j + ni/  [jni]
eat -ing
‘eating’
CHAPTER FOUR
MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES
4.1
Introduction
Human language makes use of a variety of operations or processes that
can modify the structure of a word, either by adding some elements to it or by
making an internal change in order to express a new meaning or to make a
grammatical contrast (such as past versus non-pas, singular versus plural,
feminine versus masculine, subject versus object, noun versus verb and so on
(O’ Grady and Guzsman 1987: 142).
There are different ways through which the lexicon and lexical items of a
language can be formed. Hence, the significant of this chapter is to show how
words are formed in Koro language and the type of word-formation rules that
are obtainable in the language.
4.2
Compounding
This is morphological process which involves the combination (or joining of
two or more separate words to produce a single form (Tomori 1977: 27)
Adedimeji and Alabi (2003: 40) describes compounding as the combination of
two or more words. The combined words can be with or without a hyphen.
lxxxix
A compound word is therefore one formed or derived by joining two or
more stems together without necessarily changing the syntactic class.
Compounding is an important morphological process, which involves the
formation of words through the combination of free morphemes to desire words
in a language lexicon. Example of compounding in Koro-Ija language are given
below:
i.
ii.
/kigbítí
+
majĩ/
pot
+
water
/èjã
+
boy
iii.
t‫כ‬/
work
house
wife
iv.
/kugama
+
banana
v.
vi.
/mitề +
olatl:/
wood
fire
/èjã
boy
+
‘waterpot’
túma +
/nurũkuwa +
kùg/
t‫כ‬/
[kigbítímajĩ]

[èjãtúmat‫]כ‬

‘house boy’
[nurũkuwat‫]כ‬

house
‘housewife’
d‫כ‬r‫כ‬d‫כ‬r‫כ‬/ 
[kugamad‫כ‬r‫כ‬d‫כ‬r‫]כ‬
long
‘plaintain’
[mitềolatl:]

‘firewood’
[èjãkùg]

bush
‘village boy’
xc
vii.
/nurũkúwá +
wife
viii.
4.3
t‫כ‬/
[nurũkúwát‫]כ‬

house
/màjĩ +
mav‫כ‬/
water
red
‘house-wife’
[màjĩmav‫]כ‬

‘blood’
Borrowing
This is a morphological process that involves taking items from one
language to another, borrowed words are known as loan words which are made
to adapt to the phonological structure, more or less of the recipient language
(Tomori 1977: 31). For instance, English language has many loan words from
virtually all languages, e.g. restaurant (from French) mosquito (from Spanish),
Piano (from Italian) Zebra (from Bantu), etc.
Borrowed words are made to adapt to the phonological structure of the
host language incases where it needs to undergo phonological modification.
Borrowing in Koro Language
The following words in Koro language are borrowed from Hausa, and
English language respectively:
Borrowed words in Koro language from Hausa language will be shown
below in a tabular form:
xci
Koro-Ija
Hausa
i.
[òláfíà]
‘peace’
[láfíà]
ii.
[kàdá]
‘cutlass’
[àdá]
iii.
[kùkolo]
‘ball’
[kóló]
iv.
[kilě:mà]
‘umbrella’
[lě:mà]
v.
[kihullá]
‘cup’
[hullá]
vi.
[kùmót‫]כ‬
‘car’
[mót‫]כ‬
vii.
[kùtàkàlmí] ‘shoe’
[tàkàlmi]
Koro-Ija
English
i.
[kùbúrdì]
bread
ii.
[kùtébùrù]
table
iii.
[kùvídìò]
video
iv.
[kùtívì]
television
4.4
Affixation
This is a process by which bound morphemes are added before, within or
after the root/free morphemes. In order words, it is the process of word
xcii
formation by prefixation, Infixation and suffixation. Through this process lexical
and grammatical information are added to the sense of the root.
Prefixation
Adedimeji (2005: 7) asserts that prefix is a bound morpheme that came
before the base form or root. However, prefixes can be deduced from the above
as affixes that are added before a stem or root morphemes.
Prefixes change the meaning of the word they are added to because of the
information carried by the morphemes added to such word to derive a new
word. in Koro language, the following are examples of prefixes:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
èzanì +
máa
un
friendly
ezanì +
gwarã
dis
loyal
èzáni +
vuwa
dis
favour
èzáni +
kál
dis
respect

[èzanì máa]
‘unfriendly’

[ezanìgwarã]
‘disloyal’

[èzánivuwa]
‘disfavour’

[èzánikál]
‘disrespect’
xciii
v.
èza
+
dis
vi.
è
kj‫כ‬

[zakj‫]כ‬
‘dishonest’

[èũũ]
‘sat’

[egũ]
‘saw’
honest
+
ũũ
past tense marker
vii.
e
+
gun
past tense marker
Suffixation
Suffixes are affixes that are added after a stem or a root morpheme. The
following are suffixes in Koro language.
i.
kùgàsà
+
bag
ii.
kalagìéw‫כ‬
iv.

[kùgàsàmí]
‘my bag’

[kalagìéw‫כ‬mì]
‘my book’

[kús‫כ‬mì]
‘my house’

[kigbítímì]
‘my pot’
my
+
book
iii.
mí
mì
my
kús‫ כ‬+
mì
house
my
kigbítí +
mì
pot
my
xciv
v.
d
+
cloth
4.5
mì

[dmì]
‘my cloth’
my
Refashioning
This is a morphological process whereby a foreign invention (or concept) is
given (or labeled) or a local name considering the function of the item in
question. For example, in Koro language, words are coined from the function of
the object. the following are such words:
i.
ii.
kula +
majĩ +
jĩmi
thing
water
cool
kùpàtíz
+
box
iii.
iv.
àfú
[kulamajĩjĩmi]

‘refrigerator’
[kùpàtízàfú]

sound
kũkũ +
té
carry
air(up)
kula +
kutiákù
something give
‘radio’
[kũkũté]

‘aeroplane’
+
jĩmí [kulakutiákùjĩmí]
cool ‘aircondition’
xcv
4.6
Reduplication
The term reduplication has been variously defined in linguistic study with
the central point of duplication, copying or repetition as the basis of all the
definitions.
O’
Grady
and
Guzman (1981: 43)
state
that
another
common
morphological process in certain languages (but not English) is reduplication,
which duplicates all parts of the base to which it applies to mark a grammatical
or semantic contrast.
Descriptively, reduplication is a morphological process whereby there is
repetition of redial element or part of it, usually occur at the beginning of a
word, occasionally within the word (Pei 1966: 202).
If we look at reduplication throughout the world languages, we encounter
what at first seems to be a great variety of types. The reduplication can take
place to the left of the root as a prefix, to the right as a suffix, or inside the root
as an infix. The material reduplication can be a whole word, a whole morpheme,
a syllable or a sequence of syllables.
xcvi
Reduplication may be complete or partial. It is complete or full if the entire
word is repeated or copied to form another word. In contrast, it is partial if a
part of the base or word is copied.
Reduplication in Koro language. Below are examples of reduplication in
Koro language:
i.
[máĩmaĩ]
‘beautiful’
ii.
[dúmúdùmù]
‘wonderful’
iii.
[ètĩwĩwĩ]
‘educational’
iv.
[áráàrà]
‘fastly’
v.
[várívàrì]
‘neatly’
vi.
[ũũ]
‘sit’
vii.
[kuww]
‘bad’
viii.
[píopío]
‘hot’
ix.
[bw‫כ‬tjbw‫כ‬tj]
‘gently’
x.
[‫כ‬k‫כ‬k]
‘fry’
xcvii
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0
Introduction
This chapter gives the summary of the study. It also contains the
conclusion.
5.1
Summary
The focus of this study is on the morphology of Koro language. The
research work contains five chapters. Chapter one accounted for historical
background of the speaker of Ija-Koro language. It observes that the language
and people are located in Tafa Local Government of Niger State. The
sociolinguistic profile of the Ija-Koro people reveals their culture, marriage and
religious practices. Ija Koro is a member of the Niger Congo Phylum. Chapter
one also discusses the literature on morphology.
The second chapter focuses on the phonological and system of the
language showed that the language do not allows consonant clusters, it exhibits
both closed and open syllable system. It also exhibit CV, CVV, VCV syllable
structure. The language make use of three tone levels viz, high, low, and mid.
The morphological concept discussed include the morpheme, types of
xcviii
morphemes, among others. Ija Koro language is an inflectional language.
Inflectional language in the sense that morphemes in the language are
represented by affixes, that is one in which it is difficult parts of the affixes.
Chapter three looked at the morphology in Ija-Koro language and it was
noticed that Koro language has free and bound morphemes.
Chapter four examines the morphological process that are attested in IjaKoro language, the process are compounding, borrowing, reduplication,
affixation, refashioning.
Finally, chapter five which is the concluding chapter consists of the
summary, recommendation, and conclusion.
5.2
Conclusion
From the forgoing, it is Crystal that we have been able to focus on the
morphology of Ija-Koro language, thereby bringing to the fore various
morphological process of Ija-Koro language. it is therefore hoped that, this
research work will provide a spring board to other prospective researcher to
begin further study on the language.
xcix
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