VERB PHRASE IN KURAMA
ADEGBITẸ, ADEBUSAYọ ọLAJUMọKẸ
07/15CBO16
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF
ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, KWARA STATE, IN PARTIAL
FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS.) IN
LINGUISTICS
MAY, 2011
CERTIFICATION
This essay has been read and approved as meeting the requirements of the Department
of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
…………………………..
Dr (Mrs.) B.E AROKOYO
………………
DATE
……………………………..
………………..
PROF A.S ABDUSSALAM
DATE
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
…………………………..
……………
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
DATE
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to the lord God almighty, the fountain and sustainer of
my life, who has made it possible for me to complete my study.
Also to my Sweet Mum, Mrs. S.N Bello
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I owe much gratitude to Almighty God, the Alpha and the Omega, the sustainer
of my life, who in his infinite mercies has given me the grace to live to write this
project.
I am grateful to my able and dynamic supervisor Dr (MRS.) B.E Arokoyo,
whose comments have undoubtedly done much to improve the quality of this work. I
pray God will perfect everything concerning you.
I also express my profound gratitude and sincere appreciation to my darling
parent. Firstly to my mum, Mrs. S.N Bello who has been supportive spiritually,
financially and morally to me from the beginning of my life and also to my father, Mr.
R.A Adegbite for his fatherly care. May almighty God grant them long life to eat the
fruit of their labour (Amen)
My deep appreciation to my siblings, Mr. Bidemi Bello, Mr. Wale Bello, Mr.
Sola Bello, Mrs. Doyin Agaku, Mr. Bolaji Bello, Miss Folawe Adegbite, Mr. Deola
Adegbite, for their moral, spiritual and financial support throughout the period of my
study. May God Almighty continue to support them in all their endeavours. (Amen)
I also appreciate my friends who supported me one way or the other in the
course of my study. May almighty God crown your efforts with success (Amen).
Finally, I thank God almighty, the giver of life, my hope of eternity, for giving
me the opportunity to get to this stage in life.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
i
CERTIFICATION
ii
DEDICATION
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
iv-v
TABLE OF CONTENT
vi-x
LIST OF CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVATIONS
xi-xii
CHAPTER ONE
General Background of the Study
1.0
Introduction
1-2
1.1 Historical Background
2-3
1.2 Sociolinguistic Profile
3
1.2.1
Marriage
3
1.2.2
Religion
4
1.2.3
Mode of Dressing
4
1.2.4
Language Status
4-5
1.2.5
Occupation
5
1.3 Genetic Classification
5-6
1.4 Data Collection
6-7
1.5 Data Analysis
7
1.6 Brief Review of Government and Binding Theory
8-9
1.6.1
X-bar Theory
9-10
1.6.2
Projection Principle
10-11
1.6.3
Case Theory
12-13
1.6.4
Theta Theory
14-15
1.6.5
Binding Theory
15-17
1.6.6
Government Theory
18
CHAPTER TWO
Basic Phonological and Syntactic Concepts
2.0 Introduction
19
2.1 Sound Inventory of Kurama language
19
2.1.1
Oral Vowels of Kurama language
20
2.1.2
Nasal Vowels of Kurama language
20
2.1.3
Consonant Chart of Kurama language
21
2.1.4
Sounds Distribution
21-24
2.2 Tone Inventory
24-25
2.3 Syllable Inventory
25-27
2.4 Lexical Categories
27
2.4.1
Noun
27-29
2.4.2
Pronoun
29-30
2.4.3
Adjectives
30
2.4.4
Adverb
30
2.4.5
Preposition
31
2.4.6
Conjunction
31
2.4.7
Verb
31-32
2.5 Phrase Structure Rule
32-33
2.5.1
Noun Phrase
33-34
2.5.2
Verb Phrase
34-35
2.5.3
Adjectival Phrase
35-36
2.5.4
Prepositional Phrase
36
2.6 Basic Word Order
36-37
2.7 Sentence Type
37-38
2.7.1
38
Simple Sentence
2.7.2
Compound Sentence
38-39
2.7.3
Complex Sentence
39-40
CHAPTER THREE
VERB PHRASE IN KURA MA LANGUAGE
3.0 Introduction
41
3.1 The Verb Phrase
42
3.2 Subcategorization of Verbs
42-43
3.2.1
Transitive Verb
43-45
3.2.2
Intransitive Verb
45-49
3.2.3
Complex Transitive Verb
49-51
3.3 Verbs with Sentential Complement
52-54
3.4 Phrasal Verbs
54-55
3.4.1
55-56
Transitive Phrasal Verbs
3.5 Causative Verbs
56-58
CHAPTER FOUR
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES IN KURAMA LANGUAGE
4.0 Introduction
59
4.1 Transformational Processes
59-60
4.1.1
Focus Construction
60-72
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0 Introduction
73
5.1 Summary
73-74
5.2 Conclusion
74
References
75-77
LIST OF CONVENTIONS AND ABBREVIATIONS
Det
–
Determiner
Adj
–
Adjective
S
–
Sentence
Cp
–
Complementizer phrase
V
–
Verb
VP
–
Verb Phrase
V1
–
V-bar
NP
–
Noun Phrase
N
--
Noun
N1
–
N-bar
Aux
–
Auxiliary
IP
–
Inflectional Phrase
Spec
–
Specifier
TNS
–
Tense
Agr
–
Agreement
FP
–
Focus Phrase
PP
–
Prepositional Phrase
Tι
–
Trace
Q
–
Null element
INFL –
I
–
Inflection
I-bar
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
This research work is on the aspect of the syntax of Kurama language. By
Syntax we mean the branch of linguistic analysis which involves the branch of
linguistic analysis which involves the arrangement of words to form grammatical
sentences in a rule governed way.
Syntax is also the study of the way in which different meaningful units of
language can be constructed and combined to form larger units such as sentences and
the interrelationships of the these larger constructions. According to Yishai Tobin
(1990) it should be noted that there are many aspects of syntax but this research work
will specifically focus on the verb phrase of Kurama Language.
A phrase could be described as a group of words that form an integral part of a
sentence. There are different types of phrasal categories, for example; Verb, Noun,
Prepositional, Adjectival, Adverbial Phrases e.t.c. Each phrasal category is headed by
its name. A Verb Phrase is headed by a Verb which may also have many satellites.
In this chapter, we will look at the historical background of the language,
sociolinguistic profile under which we shall discuss the marriage, religion, mode of
dressing, occupation, festival, language status, the location as well as genetic
classification of the language. The research methodology used is the frametechnique
while government and binding theory is used to analyze Kurama verb phrase.
1.1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF KURAMA PEOPLE
The tribe known generally as Kurama, but who call themselves the Akurmi
(singular Bukurmi) or the north and the North-West of the Katab in the Zaria provinces.
They number between 11,000 and 12,000 persons, and are administered by the Emir of
Zaria.
They claim a traditional collection with Kano, and in proof of this claim assert
that the Kurmi market at Kano derived its name from them (Viz the Akurmi). The more
learned among them that is those most influenced by contact with the Muslims, profess
to be able to trace the wanderings of the tribe back to the time when they dwelt at
Medina.
There in the early days of Islam the tribe was partially exterminated as a
punishment for their habit of giving false measures of corn. The more honourable
among them were allowed to depart, and came to Bornu, where they dwelt for 730
years.
Thereafter they proceeded to Kano, and occupied the Dala district of the city for
431 years, being driven out by the Kutumbawa, some say for refusing to accept Islam,
others for refusing to give their daughters in marriage to the Kutumbawa who were not
prepared to perform the marriage rites.
1.2
SOCIOLINGUISTIC PROFILE
The language (Kurama) is used as a means of communication in the market and it
is also used in teaching primary school. The language is spoken in many town in
Kaduna and Kano States, some of which are; Ikara, Saminaka, Tudunwada etc.
1.2.1
MARRIAGE
The normal mode of obtaining a wife among the Kurama people is through
agricultural service whereby the husband to be will labour on the farm for the father of
the bride. The man will also make cash available and other payment to the girl’s parent
or guardians.
A bride price of 40,000 - 60,000 cowries, one basket of rice, one pot of honey,
these gifts were given during the concluding or final rites. Intermarriage with close
relatives of the mother is prohibited by tribal custom.
1.2.2
RELIGION
Muhammadanism is spreading and those who have not embraced it practice a
lackadaisical form of ancestor worship in which, as so often among the Semi-Bantu
speaking tribes.
1.2.3
MODE OF DRESSING
Dressing is an important aspect of any culture. Your dressing will speak for you
that is the tribe that you belong to.
The Kurama people dress according to oral history, like the Hausas.
1.2.4
LANGUAGE STATUS
Kurama language is spoken in the northern part of Nigeria. The population of the
speakers in Nigeria as at 2000 is 40,300.
The Kurama language is a language within the sub groupings of the Benue Congo group of languages, which are in turn the largest branch of the Niger-Congo
language family. The language is indigenous to Nigeria, with a little over 40,000
speakers (2000 estimate).
Kurama speakers are found in the central Northern Nigeria states of Kaduna and
Kano.
The alternative names for the language are; Akurmi, Akurumi, Azumu,
Bagwama, Bukurumi, Tikurami (by non-native speaker)
The language is spoken in Saminaka and Ikara local government area of Kaduna
state and Tudunwada Local Government Area of Kano State. “Akurumi” the people,
“Tukurami” the language and “Bukurumi” is the speaker.
1.2.5
OCCUPATION
The people of Kurama are mainly Agriculturist. They plant crops like Maize,
Beans, Millets, Guineacorn, Yam, Melon, Wheat (Alkama) and Vegetables. Some of
them engage in bush hunting and craft making like mats, image, and skin (for shoes
and bags).
1.3
GENECTIC CLASSIFICATION
Genetic classification is based on the assumption that the language have diverse
from common ancestors. This method used in classifying language genetically is based
on resemblance found in language.
Kurama language is from the largest language family in Africa, that is, Niger
Kordofanian.
AFRICAN LANGUAGES
Afro Asiatic
Niger Kordofanian
Nilo Saharan
Niger Congo
West Atlantic
Khoisan
Kordofanian
Mande Gur Kwa Adamawa Eastern
Beune
\
Bantoid
Jukunoid
Cross River
Plateau
Bantu
Gyena
Rumaya
Taura Chawai
(Group)
Gure
Northern
(Group)
Ruruwa
Bunu
Central
(Group)
Kurama
Source: Derek, Fivaz (1977) African Languages’
1.4
DATA COLLECTION
The method of linguistic data collection used in this work for the purpose of
obtaining illustrating data is through the use of an informant whose name is Mr.
Yohanna Yusuf, a native of Yarkasua in Kaduna state and he is 25years old. Ibadan 400
wordlist was used to obtain data. We also made use of frametechnique.
Frametechnique could be described as the syntactical analysis of language data,
using sentences and not just morphemes like wordlist. In frametechnique, words are not
considered in isolation.
Wordlist could be described as the medium through which a researcher or
investigator collect information on the language being studied through the help of an
informant or language helper. The use of wordlist appears to be the quickest form of
obtaining linguistic data. By it application, a linguist is able to obtain both phonetic and
phonemic consonant and vowels in that language.
1.5
DATA ANALYSIS
It should be noted that the statistic of the data collected has a linguistic
significance to this work, with the use of Ibadan 400 wordlist; we were able to collect
to two hundred and forty-nine (249) Nouns, one hundred and twenty-eight (128) verbs
and, twenty two (22) adjectives with the help of the native speaker. Twenty sentences
were collected which includes verb phrase which comprises of transitive and
intransitive verbs.
1.6
BRIEF REVIEW OF GOVERNMENT AND BINDING THEORY
The theory was made known by a popular American linguist called Noam
Chomsky just to eradicate the lapses discovered in the structural grammar. He
published a book in (1957) titled “Syntactic structures” which established the idea of
generative grammar itself. Another greater research was made by him which led him to
the publication of a book known as “Aspects” it is really called “Standard theory” in
(1965) purposely to make a clear distinction between the deep and the surface
structures. “Deep structures” is an abstract level of structural organization which deals
with meaning while
“surface structures” is thereby dealing with the phonetic or
spoken form of every sentence (Horrocks, 1987:2, Cook 1988:28)
During the 1970s, this led to the extended standard theory referring to the types of
rules that were employed which now developed into the Government and Binding
theory named after” Lectures on Government and binding “Chomsky 1981a, Cook
1988:1) G.B Theory/Model is a Chomsky overall theory involving abstract and difficult
sub theories, creating a new simplicity and capturing the internal and universal
knowledge of language using small numbers of properties. The following are the subtheories of Government and binding theory:
1.
X- bar Theory
2.
Bounding Theory
3.
Case Theory
4.
Control Theory
5.
Theta Theory
6.
Binding Theory
7.
Government Theory
The above sub-theory of G.B will be explained respectively purposely to know
the importance of each and how they are applied.
1.6.1
X-BAR THEORY
Lamidi (2000:150) states that x-bar theory is based on the theory of phrase
structure. It defines the nature of the type of syntactic categories available to any
language. The central notion of x-bar theory is that each of the major lexical categories
(Noun, Verb, Preposition and Adjective is the head of the same category (Noun; NP,
Verb; VP, Preposition; PP, Adjective; AP). In essence, X-bar theory defines possible
phrase structure configuration in language for instance, the phrase.
“A new bag”
lijaun asawa
bag new
“Eat the food”
Ùlíyá apúwuniya
Eat
food.
In the above phrases, “a large bag” consists of a head “bag” while “eat the food”
consist of a head “eat”. Horrocks (1987) also states that the core of x- bar theory is the
recognition of the fact that most phrases have head upon which other elements in the
constituents are dependent. The x-bar theory projects from the core projection level to
the maximal projection level. This is called Projection Principle.
1.6.2
PROJECTION PRINCIPLE
Chomsky (1981:29) says “representation at each syntactic level is projected from
the lexicon, in that they observe the subcategorization proper of lexical properties to be
projected to all level of syntactic representation for instance, a lexical item projects
from its zero bar level to one (single) bar level which is optional, then to double bar
level. The zero bar level is referred to as the core projection level, the single bar level is
referred to as the Intermediate Projection Level and the double bar level is referred to
as the Maximal Projection Level. The illustration is shown below.
X11 Maximal Projection level
X1 Intermediate Projection
Level
X0 Core Projection level
Horrocks (1987:99) states that x-bar theory tells us that a lexical head (X) and its
complements form a constituent (Xi) and that any specifier of this form with a high
level of constituent (Xii) thus:
X11
X1
Spec
X0
1.6.3
Comp
CASE THEORY
Case theory regulates the distribution of phonetically realized NPs by assigning
abstract case to them. It deals with the principle of case assignment to constituents.
Chomsky assumes that all NPs with lexical contents are assigned (abstract) case is
assigned by a set of case assigners to the governed. Horrrocks (1987:103) says the basic
idea is that case assigned under the government for instance the choice of case is
determined by the governor. In any sentence, that is, lexical head X may be said to
govern its sister, in X-bar and certain lexical heads also have power to case mark
certain of their compliment. Thus, NP subject is assigned nominative by INFL, (Tense,
Agr), Verb assigns accusative case to object of the verb while preposition assigns case
to its object.
The relationship between the empty position (trace) and its binder is deemed to be
Transformational in the example below:
Book comes outside everyday on top Francis and John
“A book comes out everyday about Francis and john”.
In this example, a distinct type of A-binding associated with the right heads
movement of the PP modifier of “a book” known informally as “extra position from
NP”
The following sentence can be taken as an example.
Sheu inwẹh Audu mandẹ
Sheu kill Audu goat
“Sheu killed the goat for Audu”.
IP
Spec
11
NP
Tense (Past)
N1
VP
V1
N
V
NP
N1
Sheu
Nominative
N
inweh
Kill
N
Audu Mande
Goat
ACC
The subject Sheu, being the subject gets Nom (nominative case) from
(INFL+TENSE), verb assigns Accusative case to the object Audu.
1.6.4
THETA THEORY
Theta theory deals with the functional relationship between a predicate and its
arguments. It is concerned with the assignment of what Chomsky calls “thematic roles”
such as agent, patient (or theme), beneficiary e.t.c. It is assumed that theta roles are
assigned to the complements (direct object) is assigned the role of patient; the PP
complement is assigned the role of locative while the subject NP of the sentence is
assigned the agent role
The main principle of the Ө- theory is the Ө CRITERION; which require each
thematic role to be uniquely assigned, that is, each constituent denoting constituent for
instance, in English language;
“Johnson went to the village by bicycle”
Johnson Ùdúra Ùkáuye nu keke u
Johnson go village with bicycle the
In the above example, Verb Phrase assigns agent role to the subject NP (Johnson),
verb assigns patient role to the object of the verb (Village) and preposition assigns
Locative role to its NP.
IP
11
Spec
NP
Tense (past)
VP
N1
V1
V1
N
Johnson
V
PP
NP
P1
NP
N1
N
ùdúra
go
P
N1
N
ùkáuye nu
keke
village with bicycle
Det
U
the
Every argument have a role. The NP here is the agent, the NP (Johnson) is
assigned theme role from the verb (Ùdúra) ‘go’ while Ùkáuye “Village” gets assigned
locative role from the verb (Ùdúra “go”). The preposition (nu “with”) assigns the
instrument role to (keke u) “the bicycle”
1.6.5
BINDING THEORY
The theory deals critically with the relationship between grammatical elements.
That is, it is concerned with the relationship of NP participants in the sentence.
Horrocks (1987:105) states that “It is concerned primarily with other NPs interpreted as
co-referential with other NPs in the same sentence:
There are three types of NPs which are relevant to the binding theory thus:
1. Anaphors
2. Pronominal
3. R-expression (Referential expression)
The anaphors are the NPs that cannot have independent reference such as
reflexive and reciprocal pronouns for example:
“Joseph beats himself on the leg’’
Joseph jaga wọh ashini u úkazah
Joseph beat itself ontop leg.
“Himself” is relaying on “Joseph” in the sentence, hence, it can’t stand
on its own unless it relay on “Joseph”.
Pronominals are NPs that either refer to an individuals independently or co-refer
to individual already named in a given sentence. They may refer to another NP that is
not in the sentence for example:
“Mary says she loves dancing
Mary ìnkúná lìchìlúbόn ti tírígá
Mary say person love dance
“She” in the sentence may refer to two things
a. Mary herself
b. Mary reporting somebody (like joy)
By using “she”
R-expresssion are NPs with lexical heads which potentially refer to something.
The location of antecedents that count for binding theory are defined in the three
binding principles;
1. Anaphors must be bound in their local domain
2. Pronominals must be free in their domain
3. R-expression must be free
The term “bound” based on principle one (i) simply means conjunction of ccommand and co-indexing thus;
A binds β; if and only if
1. α c-command β
2. α and β are co-referential.
In principle two (ii) the term free means not bound. In principle three (iii), the
term free refers to element such as names and other referential noun phrases.
1.6.6
GOVERNMENT THEORY
Yusuf (1998:140) says Government theory is a primitive theory in that, it is a long
known fact of grammar that a verb governs its object (where the object could be NP,
PP, CP ……..) while the pre/post position governs its object also.
The implication of this is that, verb will govern the NP object that directly
followed it, while preposition governs its own NP object. Thus, verb like come, kill,
write, break e.t.c. govern their NP object; and where preposition is found (i.e.
preposition like in, on, under, to etc.), the NP that follows is govern by such preposition
and not by the verb.
According to Chomsky (1986) cited in Yusuf (1998:47) the principle of proper
government profers that;
β is properly governed by ∝ if it is governed
By ∝ and a certain kind of connection holds between ∝ and β
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS
2.0
INTRODUCTION
The essence of this chapter is to give an insight into the description of the basic
syntactic concepts which includes; phrase structure rules, lexical categories, the basic
word orders, sentence type as discovered in the language Kurama. All these concept
will be explained citing examples from the language under study. But we will first take
a look at the phonological concept of Kurama language which includes; sound
inventory i.e. consonant and vowel sounds that are present in the language. Also the
tonal and syllable inventory
2.1
SOUND INVENTORY OF KURAMA LANGUAGE.
This includes the consonant and vowel sounds that exist in a particular language.
Kurama language has 7 oral vowels and 7 nasal vowels. There are 23 consonant sounds
in Kurama language. They include;
b, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, ∫, t, v, w, t∫ ,dʒ, ʒ, kw, gw , ŋ
The oral vowels include a, e, ε, i, o, ɔ, u, while the nasal vowels include; ã, ẽ, , ĩ, ,
ũ
The chart below illustrates the sound inventory that exist in Kurama Language
2.1.1
Front
High
Mid high
Mid low
Low
Central
Back
i
u
e
o
ɔ
ε
ã
ORAL VOWELS
2.1.2
Front
Central
Back
ĩ
High
ũ
ẽ
Mid high
õ

Mid low


Low
 
ã
NASAL VOWELS
2.1.3
Bilabial
Stop
p
Labio
dental
b
Fricative
Alveolar
t
f
v
d
∫
s
Affricate
Nasal
Palate
alveolar
Palatal
Velar
Labialized
k g
kw
ʒ
n
Glottal
gw
h
t∫ dʒ
m
Labio
velar
ŋ
Lateral
‫ﺎ‬
Tap
r
Approximant
2.1.4
j
SOUND DISTRIBUTION
/a/ word-initial
Medial
Final
/e/ word-medial
final
/ε/ word-medial
Final
/ì/ word initial
medial
final
/o/ word-initial
medial
final
/ɔ/ word-medial
final
/u/ word-initial
word-medial
final
/ã/ word-medial
final
/ẽ/ word-medial
final
// word-final
/ĩ/ word-initial
medial
[apúwunija]
[ídáwá]
[ikúwá]
[liʒeréh]
[uwule]
[ĩvεʒá]
[ũáʒε]
[í-gwárɔℎ]
[ì∫íná]
[ú∫í]
[olaimu]
[úgόrό]
[urago]
[ubɔrɔh]
[ulamtɔ]
[urigija]
[abutáh]
[wijarú]
[ùʒãkε]
[birã]
[ajẽeh]
[ĩdarẽ]
[díj]
[ĩ mai]
[ut∫ĩdáh]
‘food’
‘guinea corn’
‘fish’
‘needle’
‘song’
‘weep’
‘four’
‘seed’
‘millet’
‘five’
‘orange’
‘kolanut’
‘sheep’
‘mat’
‘sweet’
‘well’
‘short’
‘dry’
‘donkey’
‘rain’
‘teeth’
‘bush’
‘one’
‘oil’
‘mortar’
w
final
/õ/ word medial
// word-medial
final
/ũ/ word-initial
medial
final
/p/ word-medial
/b/ word-initial
medial
/t/ word-initial
word-medial
medial
/d/ word-initial
medial
/k/ word-initial
medial
/g/ word-medial
/f/ word-medial
/v/ word-initial
medial
/s/ word-initial
word-medial
/∫/ word-initial
medial
/ʒ/ word-initial
medial
[t∫írĩ]
[ĩtõte]
[dkε]
[lìt∫ìlúb]
[ũima]
[úwũda]
[lidʒaũ]
[lìpárè]
[lípúm]
[bugau]
[alabàrε]
[tarreh]
[ùtárɔ]
[ĩtarε]
[díj]
[idah]
[kãtε]
[ĩkúná]
[úgόrό]
[bugau]
[urigija]
[ikúrfé]
[uʒáfε]
[vana]
[livijau]
[ĩvεʒá]
[súwá]
[súgá]
[ukasúwà]
[ùsájí]
[∫ìná]
[ú∫í]
[ì∫ĩá]
[ʒíʒá]
[íváʒόh]
‘black’
‘send’
‘show’
‘person’
‘animal’
‘road’
‘bag’
‘hoe’
‘body’
‘axe’
‘story’
‘hand’
‘three’
‘want’
‘one’
‘ground’
‘pull’
‘say’
‘kolanut’
‘axe’
‘well’
‘money’
‘hot’
‘son’
‘neck’
‘weep’
‘drink’
‘friend’
‘market’
‘cold’
‘cook’
‘five’
‘millet’
‘sell’
‘beans’
/h/ word-initial
medial
final
/m/ word-initial
word-medial
word –final
/n/ word-initial
medial
/l/ word-initial
medial
/j/ word-initial
medial
/r/ word-medial
/w/ word-initial
word-medial
/t∫/ word-initial
word-medial
/dʒ/ word-media
/kw/ word-initial
medial
/gw/ word-medial
[liʒereh]
[hah]
[uhada]
[líwijáh]
‘neddle’
‘they’
‘matchet’
‘rope’
[mεh]
[impumpúwà]
[ĩt∫am]
[nĩká vara]
[tũnε]
[lìpárè]
[lìt∫ìlúb]
[lílúh]
[jeh]
[wijarú]
[líjíʒí]
[úrúme]
[ùkúrkí]
[wijarú]
[wàsε]
[írúwáh]
[úwah]
[t∫írĩ]
[t∫ùgé]
[lít∫íjè]
[tít∫íjé]
[lìdʒárɔ]
[lidʒaũ]
[kwìʒe]
[íkwámá]
[akwabta]
[bugwámá]
[ĩgwabá]
[ĩgwah]
‘I’
‘cloth’
‘jaw’
‘farm’
‘soup/sauce’
‘hoe’
‘person’
‘knee’
‘come’
‘dry’
‘eye’
‘tall’
‘tortoise’
‘dry’
‘dog’
‘heart’
‘skin’
‘black’
‘dwell’
‘head’
‘hair’
‘calabash’
‘bag’
‘wash’
‘hunger’
‘shoe’
‘chief’
‘yam’
‘blood’
[kwa]
‘take’
/ŋ/ word-final
[úwaíŋ]
‘sun’
2.2 TONE INVENTORY
Pike (1948) defines a tone language as a language having significant but
contrastive pitch on each syllable. Also Welmer (1949) view tone language as a
situation whereby segmental phoneme and suprasegmental phoneme enter into the
composition of some morpheme.
Tone brings about change in meaning. It also perform grammatical and lexical
function.
There are 3 types of tone in Kurama language. They are high, mid and low tone.
Example of words with high tone in Kurama language.
[tít∫íjé]
‘hair’
[ĩjárɔh]
‘buttocks’
[úráwáh]
‘river’
[útálε]
‘stone’
[súwá]
‘drink’
[súgá]
‘friend’
[úvú]
‘wall’
[úkúrá]
‘house’
Example of words with low tone
[ìkwàmà]
‘taste’
[àjàbà]
‘plantain’
[tìgjìʒàh]
‘vomit’
[t∫ùwànà]
‘carry’
[ìmbìjà]
‘pay’
Example of words with mid tone
[jeh]
[asawa]
[ahua]
[nne]
[tarreh]
[tigure]
[litau]
‘come’
‘new’
‘dream’
‘give’
‘hand’
‘left’
‘thigh’
2.3 SYLLABLE INVENTORY
Native speaker of a language can determine with high degree of reliability how
many syllable are in a particular word. Syllable represent a level of organization of
speech sound of a particular language
Adegbija (1986:41) says syllable is a dinstinctive unit of sound that can be
combined to form a word.
Syllable has its own internal structure. It has an onset, a peak and the coda. The
onset is the beginning, the peak is the nucleus or highest point of the syllable while the
coda is the end of the syllable.
Syllable
Onset
C
Peak
V
Coda
C
The syllable structures found in Kurama language are: CVC, VCV, and VCVCV.
Example of words with CVC structure
[yeh]
‘come’
[hah]
‘they’
[wọh]
‘he’
[mẹh]
‘I’
[wah]
‘them’
[nẹh]
‘it’
Example of words with VCV structure
[uka]
[ùní]
[úvú]
[àrá]
[ùtí]
‘medicine’
‘bird’
‘wall’
‘bad’
‘carve’
example of words with VCVCV structure
[ùwázú]
[ùwúlé]
[ídáwá]
[asawa]
[ápíyé]
[ikúwá]
‘grind’
‘sing’
‘guineacorn’
‘new’
‘town’
‘fish’
2.4 LEXICAL CATEGORIES
Lexical categories are traditionally known as the existing parts of speech, meaning
that they are words or categories which could be grouped together in deriving
sentences.
Lamidi (2000:30) describes lexical categories as phrasal categories which are
traditionally eight in number namely: Noun, Pronoun, Adjective, Verb, Adverb,
Preposition, Conjunction and Interjection
2.4.1 NOUN
Stockwell (1997:48) states that a noun is originally defined as the name of person
(John), animal(Dog), place(Ilorin) or thing(Pencil). It can also be described as symbol
for entities, abstract, concrete, countable or uncountable (mass), human or non-human,
animate or non-animate.
Mark c. Bakers (2002) also states that: A noun is a word used to name or identify
a person, animal, place or thing which may include object, qualities, actions, ideas or
concept.
CONCRETE NOUNS
concrete noun as the name implies, refers to names of objects or things generally
that could be held or touched thereby felling what they are made of. The following
examples are taken from Kurama.
ín gwabá
urago
úkúrá
únúwẹ
ubiyandu
“yam”
“sheep”
“house”
“mouth”
“basket”
ABSTRACT NOUNS
Abstract nouns are those things or objects that could only be felt but cannot be
touched or even seen, they are things that exist around human but not touched by them.
Examples in Kurama language are as follows:
íwáirẹ
líyée
úwáing
úwáih
“star”
“night”
“sun”
“wind”
COUNTABLE NOUNS
They are nouns that could be counted or represented by the use of number. These
are examples from Kurama language:
unima
όlaimú
úkúrá
akwabtá
“animal”
“orange”
“house”
“shoe”
UNCOUNTABLE NOUNS
These are things or object that cannot be counted because of the way they are.
Examples are cited from Kurama language:
intua
ullan
isharọh
ín mai
ín wúwẹ
“ashes”
“fire”
“sand”
“oil”
“salt”
2.4.2 PRONOUN
A pronoun is generally known to be word that could be used in place of noun, in
this case it will not be modified (Yusuf 1997:5). In Kurama language the following are
examples of pronouns.
SUBJECT
{mẹh} “I”
{bọ} “You”
{wọh} “he/she/it”
1. meh ma mande
OBJECT
{mẹh} “me”
{-bo} “you”
{wọh} “him/her”
POSSESSIVE
{ham} “mine”
{nọbọ} “your”
{anọh} “his/hers”
I kill goat
“I kill the goat”
2. A ure ham
He is mine
“He is mine”
3. Bọ ti
riga
You love dancing
“You love dancing”
Examples of interrogative pronouns.
[àyínàh]
“What”
[újaw]
“Which”
[ánnàh]
“Who”
2.4.3 ADJECTIVES
An adjective is a word that modifies a noun or other substantives, that is a word
that is used with a noun to describe or qualify a noun.
Lamidi (2000:73) says that an adjective is a category that can tell more about the
noun and can also be premodified by adverbials. Examples of adjective in Kurama
language are given below:
[ulámtọ]
[ughásọ]
[abutáh]
[àkόnáh]
“Sweet”
“Strong”
“Short”
“Old”
2.4.4 ADVERB
According to Lamidi (2000). An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another
adverb. It also indicates time, manner, place, cause or degree.
An adverb is to verb as an adjective is to noun. Below are examples of adverbs in
Kurama;
[yare]
[nubai]
“Quickly”
“Yesterday”
2.4.5 PREPOSITION
A preposition usually has a nominal or pronominal complement and it shows
direction as well as locating the direction with an NP (Noun Phrase) (Yusuf 1997:53).
Examples of preposition in Kurama language are as follows:
[ashinu]
[na]
[nu]
[liya]
“On”
“Under”
“With”
“To”
2.4.6 CONJUNCTION
conjunction as the name implies are categories used in connecting or joining
words or group of words together in a sentence. The following are examples of
conjunction in Kurama language:
[né]
[kό]
“and”
“or”
2.4.7 VERB
A verb could be described as a category that express action or one’s state of
being. According to Yusuf (1997:21) a verb tells us what the participatory role of
nominals are in the sentence. It explains the semantic positions of nominals in sentence
for instance agent, locative, patient, experience e.t.c. The verb also indicates the role of
nominals syntactically either as subjects or objects.\
A verb could be transitive or intransitive. A transitive verb select an NP object
or two while intransitive verb co-occur with or without adverbials (Lamidi 2000:80-81)
Examples of transitive verbs in Kurama language:
súwá
utanah
ùlíyá
kìlúmá
“drink”
“swallow”
“eat”
“bite”
Examples of intransitive verbs in Kurama language:
ahlla
ńlah
ùsallẹ
úgwàhnè
“dream”
“sleep”
“jump”
“die”
2.5 PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES
Phrase structure rules according to Lamidi (2000:31) “involve the linear
analysis of a structure, the rule states the constituents that make up a structure and their
order in the structure.” Tomori (1977:61) also says that phrase structure rules are rules
that analyze utterances in term of their syntactic constituents. In a nutshell, it is
discovered in the phrase structure rules that a sentence of any type should atleast be
rewritten as S-NP INFL VP, that is to rewrite the sentence as consisting of the NP
which is Noun Phrase, the INFL which is the same as “AUXILLIARY” and may
consist of the following information: Tense (TNS), agreement (AGR), Modal (M) and
Aspect (ASP) as well as the VP which is the verb phrase.
According to Yusuf (1997:6) phrase structure rules are a set of rules which
generate the constituents (that is, the items that are grouped together to form a unit) of a
phrase or clausal category. The meaning of this phrase structure could be explained to
be the type of rule which tells whichever items or categories that exist in a sentence
without leaving anyone out. There are many phrasal categories which could be
explained one after another.
2.5.1 NOUN PHRASE
This is a phrase headed by noun. It is the element that functions the subject,
object of a verb or preposition. It is defined by Stockwell (1977:110) as clusters of
words in surface structure of which the nucleus is a noun.
Yusuf (1997:8) says a noun phrase is usually headed by the lexical categories
“Noun” which may also be headed by a pronoun but will not be modified. It is the
“Noun” itself that is obligatory which is the headword and may consist of satellites like;
determiners,(Det), Adjective (Adj), and sentential complement or clausal category ( S’).
It should be noted that these satellites are not obligatory because a single noun may
represent the whole phrase. The following are examples of noun phrase in Kurama
language:
1. Líchárọ àrá
Child
bad
“The bad child”
2. U
takar
The book
“The book”
3 úkúrá àkόnáh
House
old
“Old house”
4. Lijaun
asawa
Bag
new
“New bag”
The schema for NP reads;
NP
(Det) (Adj) N (S’)
2.5.2 VERB PHRASE
The verb phrase consists of a verb alone or a verb with a complement or an
adjunct. Whichever situation obtains, the verb serves as the head of a VP. This is to say
that other categories that modify the VP are not obligatory as the head verb. The verb
phrases is usually headed by its name “Verb”
Yusuf (1997:21) says the verb phrase is traditionally called predicate because it
has the sentence predicator, namely; the verb. These are examples of verb phrase in
Kurama.
1. ùlíyá anúwá apuwuniya
Eat good
food
“Eat good food”
2. tama ukwallo
Kicked ball
“Kicked the ball”
3. kwìze u lìjárό
Wash the calabash
“Wash the calabash”
4. ìnjàgá
wah
Beat
them
“Beat them”
The schema for VP thereby reads.
VP
V (NP) (PP) (S’)
2.5.3 ADJECTIVAL PHRASE (ADJP)
Adjectival phrase occurs before NPs (as attributes) and after verbs as predative,
also an adjectival phrase is usually headed by an adjective. It is optionally followed by
modifying elements like degree “adverbs” .
These are examples of Adjectival Phrase in Kurama.
1. ùchara bilọmẹ
Old
man
“Old man”
2. Avowá
úkúrá
Red
house
“Red house”
3. Chírin usawo
Black car
“Black car”
4. Àmálá
wàsẹ
Big
dog
“Big dog”
2.5.4 PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Lamidi (2000:73) describes prepositional phrase as a syntactic category that is
generally used to express location, manner, directions and instrument of an NP.A
Prepositional phrase consists of an obligation head (preposition), which may come after
NP in some languages that at least a post positional phrase. Examples of prepositional
phrase in Kurama;
1. liya
sallachi
to
mosque
“to the mosque”
2. nu
adda
with cutlass
“with the cutlass”
3. na
aji
under
tree
“under the tree”
4. ashinu
table
On
table
“on the table”
The schema for (PP) according to the examples
PP
P (NP).
2.6 BASI.C WORD ORDER
Word is not just put together randomly, they are systematically joined or
structured, that is, they followed particular pattern, rule or system. This pattern or rule
which guides the formation of sentence in a language is known as word order.
According to Sanusi (2006), “the dominant surface order of grammatical
constituents in a simple declarative sentence with no special focus of topicalisation
features is referred to in the linguistic literature as the “basic word order” in a given
language. A simple declarative sentence typically consist of the subject(S), verb(V) and
object(O). The most common word orders are; SVO as in English, Yoruba and French.,
VSO and SOV as in Nupe, Greek and Japanese.
Kurama language attest the SVO word order, that is, in a simple sentence, the
subject is the first element followed by the verb then the object.
Sentences in Kurama language for illustration
1. Mẹh shìná ívázọh
I
cook
beans
S
V
O
“I cooked beans”
2. Gwa inwẹh mándẹ
Gwa kill
goat
S
V
O
“Gwa killed the goat”
3. Yusuf ìnjàgá ujarọ
Yusuf beat
ujarọ
S
V
O
“Yusuf beats ujarọ
2.7 SENTENCE TYPES
A sentence is defined as a group of words that begins with a capital letter and
ends with full stop. A sentence is a group of words which makes a single complete
statement and contains a “verb”. In the conventional treatment of sentence, these types
are identified in Yusuf (1997:58) namely; simple, compound and complex sentences.
2.7.1 SIMPLE SENTENCE
Yusuf (1997:59) says the simple sentence is made up of one NP (noun phrase),
object and a predicate; traditionally regarded as a single verb. Simple sentence is the
most basic types of sentence which learner of any language seems to get first (easily). It
is the type of sentence we normally say in our day to day conversation. The examples
below illustrate simple sentences in Kurama language;
1. Solomon nnẹ mẹh ikúrfé
Solomon give me money
“Solomon gave me money”
2. Abubakar ùlíyá apúwuniya
Abubakar eat
food
“Abubakar ate the food”
3. Lìchìlubọn
íntarẹ ùlíyá íngwabá
Person
like
eat
yam
“He/she likes eating yam”
2.7.2 COMPOUND SENTENCE
Compound sentence can be describe as the combination of either two or more
verb phrases(VPs) or sentences through the use of lexical category called conjunction
(Yusuf 1997:61).
When clauses are joined in such a way that each retains an equal and separate
identity with none dominating the other, the result is a compound sentence. The
following sentences indicate the attestation of compound sentences in Kurama
language.
1. Abubakar né jamiu ti awah búruwátà
Abubakar and jamiu love their mother
“Abubakar and jamiu love their mother”
2. Gwa shìná ívázọh né hah ùlíyá
Gwa cook beans and they eat
“Gwa cook beans and they ate”
3. Lìchìlúbọn ńlah né ahlla bá mẹh núbài
Person
sleep and dream of me yesterday
“He/she slept and dreamt of me yesterday”
2.7.3 COMPLEX SENTENCE
Yusuf (1997:63) states that complex sentence has a sentence embedded in one
of phrasal categories; either verb phrase or noun phrase (VP or NP). Traditionally, the
complex sentence consists of a main clause and a number of subordinate clauses. In this
types of sentence, there is usually a matrix clause and a number of embedded clauses’
When a sentence makes more than one statement and contains more than one
statement and contains more than one verb, it is called a complex sentence. Examples
of complex sentence in Kurama language.
1. Burai ánnàh yeh núbài
tìrígá anúwá
Woman who
come yesterday dance good
“The woman who came yesterday danced well”
2. Impumpúwà újaw bọ ìnjàná àrénọ ìnházá
Cloths
which you buy
are
tear
“The cloths which you bought are torn”
CHAPTER THREE
VERB PHRASE OF KURAMA
3.0 INTRODUCTION
The focus on this chapter is to discuss what verb phrase comprises of in Kurama
language. The chapter aims at carrying out syntactic analysis of verb phrase as a
phrasal constituent, describing and accounting for different possible structures which a
verb phrase may have. The approach of x-bar syntax (a sub-theory of government and
binding theory) is used to show the relationship between the verb phrase and the other
elements or constituents within sentences in Kurama
In this chapter, we turn to consider the internal constituent structure of verb
phrase. Verb phrases have a complex structure comprising of an inner VP and an outer
VP shall, and that some e.g (Agent) argument originate within the outer VP shall while
other(e.g theme) argument originate within the inner VP. The verb phrases sometimes
contains verbs with a single complement, such verbs can easily be accommodated with
the binary branching frame work since all we need to say is that a verb merges with its
complement to form a V-bar constituent.
3.1
THE VERB PHRASE
According to Baker (1978) a verb phrase may consists of a verb alone or a verb
and a noun phrase or a verb alone or a prepositional phrase or a verb and statement of
this sort can be formalized in what is known as phrase structure grammar. Grammars
constructed within the phrase structure frame work consist of a set of rule having a
single symbol on the right. An example of a grammar based on this frame work is given
below.
S
NP Aux VP
This verb phrase can be captured as.
3.2
VP
V
VP
V NP
VP
V PP
VP
V NP PP
SUB CATEGORIZATION OF VERBS
Verbs can be classified (subcategorized) into Transitive, Intransitive complex
transitive, serial or those with sentencial complement depending on the inherent
properties of lexical entry of the verbs in the lexicon. It is interesting to note that each
of these classes of verb influences and predetermine the structure which a verb phrase
takes or is likely to take since the verb select the element or constituent to collect with a
sentence.
3.2.1 TRANSITIVE VERBS
The transitive verb is the one that has a noun phrase (np) object (Yusuf, 1997.21).
A transitive verb can also be explained to be part of its lexical properties before the
complete sense of the construction can be established. It means therefore that there
must be an argument receiving the action. The following illustration can be made as a
resultant verb phrase structure suggested by transitive verb in Kurama language.
1. Kwize impumpuwa
Wash cloth
“wash a cloth”
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
N
Kwìze
imumpuẃá
Wash
Cloth
“wash a cloth”
2. inweh mande
kill
goat
“kill the goat”
3 ùliya ívazόh
Eat
beans
“eat beans”
VP
Spec
V1
V
NP
N1
N
ìnwéh
kill
mánde
goat
“kill the goat”
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
N
úlìyá
eat
ìvazόh
beans
“eat beans”
3.2.2 INTRANSITIVE VERB
This is the opposite of transitive verb. The intransitive verb does not require a NP
(noun phrase ) object. It can stand alone making complete sense without an argument
np( (Yusuf, 1997.21) (Horrocks, 1987.34). The implication of this type of verb in any
phrase structure is that of one without a complement as exemplified in the following
examples,
1. Yahaya nlah
Yahaya sleep
“Yahaya sleeps”
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
I
TNS
VP
Agr
Spec
V1
N
V
Yahaya
Yahaya
nlah
sleep
“Yahaya sleeps”
2. hah ahlla
they dream
“they dreamt”
3. Abu usalle
Abu jump
“Abu jumped”
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
I
TNS (tpast) Agr
VP
Spec
V1
N
V
hah
they
ahlla
dream
“they dreamt”
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
N1
TNS(tpast) Agr
Spec
N
V1
V
Abu
Abu
úsallé
jump
“Abu jumped”
It is very important to note that an intransitive verb may as well take prepositional
phrases or adverbial as its complement which is optional. They are usually referred to
as adjuncts.
The examples below illustrate the position at which the adjuncts could be
found or used.
1. umyana yare
Walk
quick
“Walks quickly”
VP
V1
Spec
V
Advp
Adv1
Spec
Adv
Uwyáná
eat
yare
quick
“walks quickly”
2. Uyeh bio nin kauara
Arrive from farm
“Return from farm”
VP
Spec
V1
V
PP
P1
Spec
P
Uyéh
arrive
bio
from
“walks quickly”
NP
Spec
N1
N
Dìnkávara
farm
3.2.3
COMPLEX TRANSITIVE VERB
This is regarded as extension of the transitive verbs that requires not a direct
object but also a locative complement (most especially in the form of prepositional
phrase) as part and parcel of their inherent properties (or features) what this means is
that the additional locative complement is obligatorily needed to ascertain the complete
sense of the contraction for example.
1.
nne ikurfe liya meh
give money to me
“give the money to me”
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
Pro
nné
give
ikú-fé
Uyá
money
To
“give the money to me”
2.chai lijaun ure tabu
Put bag on
table
“put the bag on the table”
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
meh
me
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Chai
put
3.3
lijaun
ure
bag
on
“put the bag on the table”
tabu
table
VERB WITH SENTENCIAL COMPLEMENT
They are sets of verbs which select or require compulsorily a full clause as
complement. Horrocks (1989.34), if the complete semantic meaning is to be
established, the lexical entry must be accommodated at the surface structure.
Example of such verbs with sentencial complement are given below.
1. intare wefi anan kai
want close door
“want to close the door”
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
NP
N1
N
Intaré
want
wefì
anankai
close
door
“want to close the door”
2. intuna ujaw a yeh
remember that she come
“ remember that she came”
3. intare chuge nag
want stay outside
“want to stay outside”
VP
Spec
V1
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
intuna
ujaw
remember that
V1
Spec
V
CP
Spec
C1
VP
Spec
V1
Pro
V
a
she
yeh
come
“remember that she came”
VP
I
C
NP
N1
N
Intaré
want
chuge
stay
nag
outside
“want to stay outside”
3.4
PHRASAL VERBS
Palmer (1988) says that essential characteristics of compound verb is, of course,
that they consist of two elements, a verb and a particle, phrasal verbs have the further
characteristic that the particle may take one of two positions, both before and after the
object noun phrase.
Palmer (1965) says phrasal verbs consist of a verb and a particle that is clearly to
be treated as an adverb.
3.4.1 TRANSITIVE PHRASAL VERBS
Transitive phrasal verbs always allow the preposition to be placed after their
object NP. These verbs single lexical items comprising of a verb and a preposition, for
example break off, put on, take off, pull down, pick up, put out e.t.c. Below are
examples from Kurama language;
1. Yusuf chwana arashe anoh akwabta
Yusuf take off his shoe
“Yusuf take off his shoe”
VP
V1
Spec
V
Part
NP
Spec
N1
Det
N
Chwuna arashe
anọh
take
off
his
“take off his shoe”
2. Abu kante kepun u utee
Abu pull down the tree
“Abu pull down the tree”
VP
V1
Spec
V
Part
NP
akwabtá
shoe
kánté
pull
kepun
down
Spec
N1
Det
N
u
the
utéé
tree
“put down the tree”
3.5
CAUSATIVE VERBS
Tallerman (2005) says a causative construction is one in which an event has been
caused to come about by some external agent. A verb denoting a meaning such as to
“cause” or “make” someone do something. It may be represented by a lexical verb or
via verbal morphology. A causative agent is added to the verb’s argument structure
Examples of causative verbs found in Kurama language
1. Woh inyale meh tizowa
He make me laugh
“He made me to laugh”
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
Spec
C1
C
IP
I1
Spec
NP
ìnyalé
make
V1
Pro
V
méh
me
tizowa
laugh
“made me to laugh”
V1
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
VP
N1
2. Uwage inyale meh invyasa
Fear makes me cry
“Fear made me cry”
VP
Spec
I
IP
I1
Spec
NP
ìnyalé
make
I
VP
N1
V1
Pro
V
méh
me
ìnvyásá
cry
“made me to cry”
CHAPTER FOUR
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES IN KURAMA LANGUAGE
4.0 INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines the transformational processes in Kurama language. This
chapter demonstrates how transformational processes manifest the concept of move
alpha (move-) through the act of changing the structure of one basic sentence (i.e. deep
structure) to a derived sentence (i.e. surface structure)
4.1 TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES
Cook (1998:119) stated that just as the development of x-bar syntax gradually
eliminated the peculiarities of individual rules, so the general principle of movement
subsumed many separated rules previously known as Transformations.
What is common to the grammar of every language is the utilization of a finite set
of rules to derive an infinite set of sentences, and again, the ability of being able to
generate novel sentences from a limited set of formal and substantive universal sets of
vocabularies. This is however, made possible by the underlying principles which is the
abstract level of grammatical representation and this rule is generally referred to as
Movement Transformation or Move alpha.
Tomori (1977:66) describes transformation as underlying principle operating on a
given string with a giving constituent structure and converts it to a new string with a
newly derived constituent structure.
Some concepts identified in the literature as syntactic processes underlaid by
movement transformation are focusing, passivization, affix hopping, relativization,
question formation, raising e.t.c.
These transformations shall be discussed in the following sections of this chapter.
4.1.1 FOCUS CONSTRUCTION
Focus construction is a concept in linguistic theory that deals with how
information in one phrase relates to information that has come before.
Giving a pragmatic definition, stockwell (1977:157) considers focus as a process
whereby a special marking is introduced into the surface to make some element new or
important.
Every constituent of a sentence can be focused. That is, the subject can be
focused, verb of a sentence can be focused, object of the verb can be focused, and
object of preposition can also be focused. In other words, we would have subject NP
focus, object NP focus, verb focus and object of preposition focus which is otherwise
known as indirect object NP focus.
It should be noted that when the verb of the sentence is focused, there is no
movement, but what we have is called nominalise verb. The focus marker in Kurama
language is “nu”. Let us take a look at the basic sentences below:
1. Abu òjàná útabá mu kasúwá
Abu buy tobacco at
market
“Abu bought tobacco at the market”
2. Ali inwéh mánde nu adda
Ali kill
goat with knife
“Ali killed the goat with the knife”
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS(+past)
VP
Agr
V1
Spec
V
NP
Spec
N1
N1
N
PP
P1
spec
N
P
NP
N1
N
Abu
kasúwá
Abu
όjáná
útabá
buy
tobacco
“Abu bought tobacco at the market”
mu
at
Examples of focus construction in Kurama language include the following.
(A) VERB FOCUS CONSTRUCTION
Ábanòjàná nu Abu όjáná útabá mu kasúwá
Buying
foc Abu buy
tobacco at market
“It was buying that Abu bought tobacco at the market”
market
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
IP
NP
Spec
N1
NP
I1
I
VP
N
TNS (+past) Agr
V1
Spec
N1
V
NP
N
Spec
N
Abu
όjáná
útabá
Abu
buy
tobacco
“It was buying that Abu bought tobacco at the market”
(B) SUBJECT NP FOCUS
Abu nu (ti) όjáná útabá mu kasúwá
Abu foc
buy tobacco at market
“It was Abu that bought tobacco at the market”
FP
ábanòjàná
buying
nu
F1
Spec
Foc
IP
NP
Spec
N1
NP
N
I1
I
TNS (+past) Agr
NP
Spec
V1
N1
PP
mu kasúwá
at
market
N1
V
NP
N
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Abu
Abu
nu
όjáná
buy
[tj]
útabá
tobacco
mu
at
‘It was Abu that bought tobacco at the market’
(C) DIRECT OBJECT NP FOCUS
Útabá nu Abu όjáná [t;] mu kasúwá
Tobacco foc Abu buy
at market
“It was tobacco that Abu bought at the market”.
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
IP
NP
Spec
N1
NP
I1
I
NP
kasúwá
market
N
TNS (+past) Agr
Spec
N1
V1
V
N
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
útabá
nu
tobacco
όjáná
buy
Abu
Abu
[tj]
“It was tobacco that Abu bought at the market”
(D) INDIRECT OBJECT NP FOCUS
Ukasúwá nu Abu όjáná útabá [tj]
Market foc Abu buy tobacco
“It was at the market that Abu bought the tobacco”
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
NP
IP
Spec
I1
mu
at
N
kasúwá
market
N1
NP
N
I
NP
TNS (+past) Agr
N1
Spec
V1
V
NP
N
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
kasúwá
market
nu
όjáná
buy
Abu
Abu
“It was at the market that Abu bought the tobacco”
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
N1
TNS(+past)
VP
Agr
Spec
V
V1
NP
útabá
Ø
tobacco
[tj]
N
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Ali
Ali
inwéh
mándé
nu
kill
goat
with
“Ali killed the goat with knife”
(E) VERB FOCUS CONSTRUCTION
Inwena nu Ali inwéh mándé nu adda
Killing foc Ali kill goat with knife
“It was killing that Ali kill goat with a knife”
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
NP
IP
Spec
I1
adda
knife
N1
NP
N
I
VP
TNS (+past) Agr
V1
Spec
N1
V
NP
N
Spec
N1
N
owénà
killing
nu
Ali
inwéh
mándé
Ali
kill
goat
‘It was killing that Ali killed goat with a knife’
(F) SUBJECT NP FOCUS
Ali nu [t;] inwéh mándé nu
adda
Ali foc
kill
goat with a knife
‘It was Ali that killed goat with a knife’
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
IP
NP
Spec
N1
NP
N
I1
I
TNS (+past) Agr
NP
Spec
V1
PP
nu
with
adda
knife
N1
V
N
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Ali
Ali
nu
[tj]
inwéh
kill
‘It was Ali that killed goat with a knife’
(G) DIRECT OBJECT NP FOCUS
Mándé nu Ali inwéh [tj] nu
adda
Goat foc Ali kill
with knife
“It was goat that Ali killed with a knife”
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
NP
IP
Spec
I1
mándé
goat
nu
with
adda
knife
N1
NP
N
I
NP
TNS (+past) Agr
Spec
N1
V1
V
N
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
mándé
goat
nu
Ali
Ali
inwéh
kill
‘It was goat that Ali killed with a knife’
(H) INDIRECT OBJECT NP FOCUS
Adda nu Ali inwéh mándé [tj]
Knife foc Ali kill
goat
“It was with knife that Ali killed the goat”
FP
F1
Spec
Foc
NP
IP
Spec
I1
[tj]
nu
with
adda
knife
N1
NP
N
I
TNS (+past) Agr
N1
NP
Spec
V1
V
N
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
adda
knife
nu
Ali
Ali
inwéh
kill
mándé
goat
Ø
[tj]
“It was knife that Ali use to killed the goat”
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0
INTRODUCTION
This chapter is the conclusion part of this research work. This chapter attempt to
give the summary and the general conclusion of the whole research work. It also
includes the list of references and appendix.
5.1
SUMMARY
This project has talked on the structure of verb phrase, types of verb sentences
and the possible transformational processes in Kurama language.
This research work is divided into five chapters, chapter one is an introductory
chapter which covers the general introduction of the study, the historical background
and the socio-cultural profile of the Kurama people which makes us to know the
religion, mode of dressing, occupation and marriage system of the people.
Also chapter one contains the genetic classification of the language, data
collection, data analysis. Finally a brief review of the chosen framework that was used
in analyzing the language is presented in this chapter.
Chapter two serves dual purpose. On one hand, it examined the basic
phonological concepts such as sound inventory, sound distributions, tonal inventory
and syllable structure of Kurama language. On the other hand, it examined the basic
syntactic concepts like phrase structure rules, lexical categories, phrasal categories,
basic word order and sentence types of the language are equally examined.
Chapter three gives a critical analysis of verb phrase in Kurama language. The
chapter examined subcategorization of verbs in Kurama language, verbs with sentencial
complement, phrasal verbs and lastly causative verb
.
Furthermore, the transformational processes that are attested in Kurama language
were critically examined in chapter four. This transformational processes include focus
construction.
Chapter five gives the summary and general conclusion of the research work.
5.2 CONCLUSION
This research work has looked into the verb phrase of Kurama language, a
minority language spoken in Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria.
However, an attempt has been made in this research work to discuss some linguistic
phenomena of Kurama language so as to make the language known to people.
This research work has looked into the structure of verb phrase in Kurama language
like transitive, intransitive, and complex transitive verb. The language through its
combinative word uses the subject, verb and object (SVO).
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