ASPECTS OF YESKWA VERB PHRASE
ADEYANJU OLAITAN JENNIFER
07/15CB021
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF LINGUISTICS
AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF
ILORIN, ILORIN, NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD
OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS B. A. (HONS.) IN LINGUISTICS
JUNE, 2011.
CERTIFICATION
1
This essay has been read and approved as meeting the requirements of
Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara
State, Nigeria.
_____________________________
MR. S. A. AJE
____________________
DATE
_____________________________
PROF. A. S. ABDUSSALAM
____________________
DATE
_____________________________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
____________________
DATE
Project Supervisor
Head of Department
2
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to Almighty God and also to my lovely mother, Felicia
Titilayo Owolabi, whose love for me, made her provides all at her reach to get me
educated to this level.
3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would not have soared this high without the mighty hands of God; I would not
have climbed to this cadre in my academic career without His faithful hands. I give
glory, honour and adoration to the Lord for the hands He used to bear me up till this
moment and who has been there for me even in my lowest ebb. I thank God for being
by my side in the deepest of water, in the darkest of moments and in the furry of
storms. I cannot thank Him enough for the journey mercy, sustenance, love,
knowledge, and wisdom; neither will the papers in the whole universe contain my
words of gratitude to Him.
My sincere gratitude goes to my project supervisor and lecturer, Mr. S. A. Aje,
for skillfully and painstakingly ensuring that I do not only complete my project, but have
a quality project. This project emanates from your good counsel, fatherliness and
simplicity. May Almighty God continue to shower His blessings on your family. May I
also use this medium to express my profound gratitude to all my lecturers in the
Department of Linguistics and the Department of English. No amount of gratitude can
measure or equate what you have deposited in me!
Also, worthy of appreciation is my mentor for the past four years, Mr. B. O.
Ogundare and his wife, Mrs. B. A. Ogundare. I have never been so loved by anybody!
May God bless you and provide for your family. And to the entire Ogundare family in
Bode and Bode community at large, I am fortunate to have associated with you!
4
To my father, Mr. Marthins Ademola Adeyanju, thanks for all I have made you
gone through throughout the period of my four-years sojourn in Kwara State to earn,
for myself, a University Degree. May the good Lord reward you mightily!
And to my mother, a fighter, I remain grateful for all you have given me and also
for that initial risk! May God reward your labour of love. May you live long to reap what
you have sown!
This section would not be complete without me acknowledging another man,
mentor and father; Mr. S. A. Saka. I remain humble and loyal to you. For all you have
done for the past five years, I remain grateful. God bless you!
Deserving profuse thanks also are: Mr. Akinnubi Olayinka, for your love, Mr.
Lawal, for his initial efforts and advice. Your confidence in me in superb; and that alone,
I remain humble!
I also acknowledge the contribution of Mrs. Oduyemi (even in death); Mrs.
Bamgbola; Mrs. Oyetoro, Directress Sammic Nursery and primary School, my aunty,
Mrs. Ore Owolabi; Mr. Oyadara Bukola; Mr. Olode Kehinde Caleb; Mr. Olodo Taye; Miss
Yemisi Olasinde; my informants, Mr. Andrew and Mr. Ayeme Efuna.
I will never forget the impact Joseph (and even in death), has made in my life. I
remain grateful for all you have done. May your gentle soul rest in the bossom of the
Lord. Amen. Also, Pastor Oyelona Femi, I say thank you for making me this far, I am
sure that God in His infinite mercy will see me through the remaining phase of my life.
5
I will not forget to appreciate the support and contribution of my closest friends
Ogundare Patience Iyinoluwa and Ajisoodun Emmanuel. I have no regret having you as
friends. And to all my colleagues in the department, I love you all! I will not forget Mr.
Gabriel Agboola for painstakingly ensuring that my project is well typed.
Finally, and to those who this victory truly belong; my siblings: Adeyanju
Oluwaseyi, Adeyanju Eunice, Edward and Francisca Adeyanju. They were all incredible
in their support and love. Indeed I am grateful to you. I appreciate the love and
contribution of Williams Azibaoguanasi, and Balogun Fulani.
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS
ADV
-
Adverb
Advp -
Adverbial Phrase
AP
-
Adjectival Phrase
ADJ
-
Adjective
Aux
-
Auxiliary
Agr
-
Agreement
Conj
-
Conjunction
DET
-
Determiner
D-S
-
Deep-Structure
FC
-
Focus Construction
IP
-
Inflectional Phrase
[]
-
Represents Phonetic Boundary
[/]
-
Represents High Tone
[\]
-
Represents Low Tone
Ø
-
Null/Zero
Θ
-
Theta
Move -
Move Alpha
I
-
Co-referentially
t
-
Trace
GB
-
Government and Binding Theory
NP
-
Noun Phrase
N
-
Noun
PP
-
Prepositional Phrase
P
-
Preposition
Pres
-
Present
7
Pro
-
Pronoun
VP
-
Verb Phrase
V
-
Verb
P
-
Phrase
P-M
-
Phrase Marker
P–S -
Phrase Structure

-
Re-write arrow
S-S
-
Surface Structure
SPEC-
Specifier
()
-
Brackets
TNS
-
Tense
UG
-
Universal Grammar
8
LIST OF CHARTS
Map of Yeskwa
Genetic Classification of Yeskwa
Consonant Chart of Yeskwa
Vowel Chart of Yeskwa (Oral Vowels)
Vowel Chart of Yeskwa (Nasal Vowels)
The Structure of the Syllable
9
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgements
iv
List of Abbreviations and Symbols
vii
List of Charts
ix
Table of Contents
x
CHAPTER ONE: GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
Introduction
1
1.1
General Background of the Language
1
1.2
Historical Background of Yeskwa Speakers
2
1.3
Sociolinguistic Profile of Yeskwa People
3
1.4
Socio-Cultural Background of the Speakers
3
1.5
Objectives and Research Questions
7
1.6
Justification of the Study
7
1.7
Genetic Classification
7
1.8
Scope and Organization of the Study
9
1.9
Theoretical Framework
9
1.10
Data Collection
9
10
1.11
Data Analysis
10
1.12
Review of the Chosen Framework
10
CHAPTER TWO: INTRODUCTION TO YESKWA PHONOLOGICAL AND
SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS
2.0
Introduction
23
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts of Yeskwa
23
2.2
The Yeskwa Tone System
35
2.3
The Syllable Structure of Yeskwa
36
2.4
Lexical Categories in Yeskwa
39
2.5
Conjunctions
47
2.6
Basic Word-Order in Yeskwa
55
2.7
Sentence Types in Yeskwa Language
58
2.8
Functional Classification of Sentences Yeskwa
61
CHAPTER THREE: YESKWA VERB PHRASE
3.0
Introduction
66
3.1
Yeskwa Verb Phrase
66
3.2
Structure of Yeskwa Verbs
70
3.3
Verbs of Sentential Components
78
3.4
Serial Verbs in Yeskwa
87
3.5
Verb Phrase and Head Parameter in Yeskwa
89
11
3.6
Aspects in Yeskwa Language
90
CHAPTER FOUR: TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES
4.0
Transformational Processes
93
4.1
Question Formation in Yeskwa
93
4.2
Negation
103
4.4
Focusing in Yeskwa Language
106
CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, OBSERVATION, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction
110
5.1
Summary
110
5.2
Observation
111
5.3
Conclusion
111
5.4
Recommendations
112
References
113
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
Introduction
In this chapter, basic information about the language of study (Yeskwa) shall be
given. The chapter centres on background information about the language, the
historical background of speakers, sociolinguistic profile of the people as well as, the
genetic classification of Yeskwa language. We shall later proceed to scope and
12
organization of study, theoretical framework, data analysis, data collection and later to
basic syntactic concepts. We shall finally focus on VERB PHRASE in Yeskwa language
and application of transformation rules to Yeskwa language.
1.1
General Background
Yeskwa is a language spoken in Kaduna, Nassarawa and Plateau States. The
name Yeskwa was originally called ‘Nyankpa’ meaning ‘to know leaf’, but it was later
changed to Yéskwá by the missionaries who could not pronounce the name well.
Yeskwa speakers in Kaduna state can be found in Kagoma District of Jema’a
Local Government Area. In Nassarawa state, Yeskwa speakers are found in Panda
district of Karu Local Government Area while in Plateau state, they do not have a
district of their own neither do they have a Local Government Area of their own
because they are mere settlers.
Yeskwa speakers in Panda district of Karu Local Government Area are popularly
known as Nyankpa people. Yeskwa speakers form 60% of the populace while the other
take up the remaining 40%. This clearly indicates that the speakers of the Yeskwa
language in Panda district of Nassarawa state are more than any other people in the
district.
Since speakers of the Yeskwa language happen to live in a predominantly Hausa
speaking community, it then follows that the Hausa language is usually the second
13
language of every Yeskwa native speaker. Hence, the majority of Yeskwa native
speakers also speak Hausa fluently.
Yeskwa language is still spoken currently and it is not threatened by Hausa
people. However, from a brief visit, there is every evidence that the language continues
to flourish and is spoken by the young people in the settlement.
1.2
Historical Background of Yeskwa Speakers
Yeskwa speakers claimed to have originated from Darigo in Kaduna state. From
available corpus of oral evidence, the first Nyankpa man who lived during the prehistorical period originated from a place called ‘DARIGO’. The mystical place which is
itself name after the founder of the language, is up to date, faithfully behaved with
certainly, up to form part of the areas around the hills situated North, East and West of
the present Kwoi, now in Kaduna state across the Gitata, Bagagji up to Uke areas of
the present Nassarawa state.
A permanent foot mark and other archeological evidence of this pre-historic
advent of Nyankpa language can still be found at this orally authentic place of origin
called (Darigo). Darigo, the first Nyankpa man had a wife called Obiche with whom they
had several children. among these children were Ovurgbe, Ontat, Onok (all males) and
Oching (female). Each of them had his or her own children who grew into the various
clans we have in Nyankpa land both home and in Diaspora today. The offspring from
Ovurgbe became the Ovurgbe clan. Those of Ontat form the Ontat clan while those of
14
Onok are believed to be founders of the old Nok of famous archeological monuments
and indeed its surrounding towns up to Kafancha, Kagoro and Zunkwa area in the
present Kaduna state.
Oching the only female is believed to have married probably to a different
language called Zho, then living at the foot of the hills where the present Kwoi town in
Kaduna state is situated. She had children with him out of whose lineage the present
Mada and Eggun language are believed to have sprung from. The Nyankpa people are
thus one of the proud archeological ethnolinguistic clusters of the famous Nok area.
15
1.3
Sociolinguistic Profile
The people have their own distinct culture and general way of life. The Nyankpa
people have been generally known in the literature as Yeskwa, a Hausaised form of
their name.
Although there are native speakers of Yeskwa in Kaduna, Nassarawa and Plateau
states, they do not form a single speech community across these states because of the
phonological and morphological differences. These differences do not interfere with
intelligibility. They have a common history and share similar social and cultural
ideologies.
Yeskwa is conventionally divided into twenty mutually comprehensible dialects
and Titatara is said to be the main dialects.
As par the role of Yeskwa language in education, the research conducted by the
researcher revealed the important role play by Yeskwa language in the area of
education. It is a language used in elementary and secondary schools. The language
used as a language of instruction or taught as a subject within both primary and
secondary schools in the language area. However, it has said not to attained a high
level of standardization nor has it been studied in the Nigeria Universities.
The role of Yeskwa as a language in the field of
commerce cannot be
overemphasized. Its role is as old as the existence of the Anyankpas. Yeskwa language
16
is used by the majority of people to transact business between each other or among
one another.
Above all, Christian broadcasts scriptures in Yeskwa language. Hence, the
majority of Yeskwa native speakers also speak Hausa fluently.
1.4
Socio-Cultural Background of the Speakers
This section centres on the socio cultural background of Yeskwa speakers in term
of their occupation, religion, administration, population, festivals marriage, burial rites,
culture.
1.4.1 Occupation
The major occupation of Yeskwa speakers is farming and rearing of animals.
They produce both cash and food crops, among which are; cocoa, bananas, cotton,
oranges, yam, millet, maize, guinea corn, beni seed, rice and eshun. Eshun is said to be
good for stomach upset patients. Some who have the means and resources rear cows.
1.4.2 Religion
The Yeskwa people practice three types of religion Christianity, Islam and
Traditional religion. The traditional worshipers worship a main god called NAN and some
worship other gods like Ofu, Juju, sticks, stone, tree, earthen pots etc. The priest in
charge of the worshipping is Odyong-Utep. In those days, a kind of initiation was done
for male adults in the community, for seven days. There is no circumcision. The priest is
usually assisted by a selected few elders called “Asacisa”.
17
Christianity was introduced when the Christian missionaries came to the area in
1912. The indigenes were converted and they have helped in spreading the gospel of
Christ.
Islam was introduced during the Jihad of Usman Dan Fodio.
1.4.3 Administration
The system of government in Yeskwa community is monarchical, with the king as
the head. The king is known as Odyong Nyankpa.
The first Odyong Nyankpa who ruled the entire Nyankpa chiefdom was probably
Ovurgbe and oral tradition put the period as well before 12th century. His kingdom was
said to extend as far as present Suleja to the North.
Odyong Nyankpa who is presently Joel Sabo Awinge is the name of the ruler in
Yeskwa community. Odyong Nyankpa is the representative of the whole Odyong
Nyankpa community. He is a first-class chief. He is said to be the district head. There
are also family heads called Doinyankpa, who are in charge of the small villages around.
The youth are always engaged with the community labour. Eighteen years and
above pay tax in Odyong Nyankpa community.
18
1.4.4 Population
Yeskwa speakers form 80% of the population in Kagoma district of Kaduna while
they are the leading 40% of the populace in Panda district of Nassarawa state. Though
they do not have a local government area or district in Plateau state, they do not exist.
The confirmed total number of speakers was that given in the SIL website
ethnologue which puts the total number of speakers at 52,000 (2009, UBS).
1.4.5 Festivals
In addition to popular Christian and Islamic festivals, the native speakers of
Odyong Nyankpa have their own traditioned festivals. For instance, the ‘Nyanpa day’
festival which brings speakers together once a year. On this day, different masquerades
like Ofuleng, Gbato, Awuya, Odagba, Ochekpai, Furunze, Pasagari, Osaku, Terefu,
Kakayawa, Anuwabe join the people to celebrate the festival. Another popular festival
among the Odyong Nyankpa people is ‘Ekokop”. It is a festival that held when you have
four grandsons. During the Ekokop festival, Odyong Nyankpa speakers go around
blowing cow horns, zithers, made from split guinea-corn stalks and trumpets. This
“Ekokop” festival is however not as prestigious as the Nyankpa day festival.
19
1.4.6 Marriage
In Yeskwa community, when wooing a lady, both the lady and her family must
give their consent to the proposal. After that, a big he-goat would be taken to the inlaws’ house along with other things culture demands, such as a jar of wine known as
Obam, two sheep and this such of introduction may last for a good three months.
On the era of the wedding known as Lagyale Ezam, the youth from the groom
and some women will go to the wife’s family. People engaged in fight and beatings so
as to get the lady away from the house, because her family would be very reluctant in
releasing her to the groom’s family. Further still, she can be snatched by the groom’s
friend on her way away from the house. If they succeeded, the wife would be taken to
the groom’s house. During this send forth, bride price known as “Amfibi Ezam” would
be paid together with three bags of salt. A day after the bachelor’s eve, the lady will
then be taken to the church for the wedding. Pre-marital and extra-marital sex are
forbidden.
1.4.7 Burial Rites
When an elderly person is dead, information is sent to the relations. If the
deceased was an active member of the secret cult, the cult takes charge of the burial,
they put the corpse inside a room called Okunma for necessary final send forth.
Whatever may be the case, a goat is slaughtered and blood is shed. The grave is
dug as a shaft some feet into the ground and a tunnel is made out from the side of it
20
where the corpse is laid. The corpse is buried prostrate. For men, the right hand serves
as a pillow and for women it is the opposite.
After the burial, the Ntamu prayer for the dead is held after four days. The
widow remains in mourning until the last stage of mourning feast which is signified by
the removal of the skull for observation three months after burial. If there are holes in
the skull, the deceased was a witch but if there are none, the deceased was good. The
deceased possessions are inheritable.
1.4.8 Mode of Dressing
In the past, Nyankpa people put on Aso Oke known as “agan sake” and abound
of leaves to cover their private parts, woven baskets for the bottom while they leave
their chest bare. But the present day outfit used in the community is wrapper and shirt.
There are also different dresses for different occasions.
1.4.9 Culture
Yeskwa community is very rich in culture. They have different kinds of traditional
dances like Zeregbam, Afakpa, Ashakata etc. Drums; Flutes, Wooden Pipe, Cow horns
and the like are the instruments used for the dances.
Yeskwa people in those days, used leaves to cover their private parts, woven,
basket for the bottom. Red chalk was also used to rub their legs. This was their own
dress code. Even to day, during the Nyankpa day festival, the old people insisted that
21
girls should dress in the native way using Agan sake for the festival. Their tribal marks
consist of an inverted three, a perpendicular line and an E on either side of the nose.
The Ayankpas eat all kinds of food but their main foods are Shoyu, made from
wheat; Tempeh, made from sesame seeds; Quinoa, cooked in the same way as rice;
Buckwheat, made from grain and Adzuki beans which also made from beans.
1.5
Objectives and Research Questions
In this study, an attempt shall be made to identify the following:
The pattern and arrangement of words in Yeskwa language i.e. word order
-
Identify the lexical categories of Yeskwa
-
State the transformational processes in Yeskwa language
-
Identify how words are combined to form phrases and sentences language
-
State the rules applied to structure of phrases in the language
-
To know the classification (verb) that exist in Yeskwa
22
1.6
Justification of the Study
Though the language is codified, there are limited published works in aspects of
Yeskwa verb phrase. This project addresses this aspect with the aim that it will serve
as a reliable source to current and further researchers of Yeskwa language including all
lovers of linguistics and linguists in general.
1.7
Genetic Classification
The essence of a genetic classification is to trace the origin of the language and
show its relationship with other languages. Yeskwa language belongs to the BenueCongo group, which is a sub-family of Niger-Kordofanian (Williams, 1982: 102). A detail
classification of Yeskwa based on the model proposed by the above source is given
below:
23
AFRICA
Afro-Asiatic
Khoisan
Niger-Kordofanian
Niger Congo
Mande
Nilo-Sahara
Kordofanian
Gur
Kwa
Kainji
West-Atlantic
Igboid
Plateau Platoid Group
Benue-Congo
Platoid
Western Plateau Group
Adamawa Eastern
Nupoid
Benue-Congo Platoid Group
Northern Western Group
Western Group
Proto Koro
Tinor
Ashe
Yeskwa (Nyankpa)
Fig 1.7.1: Genetic Classification of Yeskwa
(Williamson, 1982: 102)
Oko
24
Idu
Gwara
1.8
Scope and Organization of the Study
The main objective of this project is to, study in detail the verb classification that
exists in Yeskwa language. This research project is divided into five chapters. The first
chapter is purely an introductory. It begins with a general background of the language
of study. It also looks at the historical background of the speakers, their sociolinguistic
profile and the genetic classification of the language. Also present in chapter one is the
theoretical framework adopted in writing this project, method of data collection, data
analysis, and a brief review of the chosen framework.
Chapter two presents a phonological overview of Yeskwa language and the basic
syntactic concepts like phrase structure rules, basic word order, lexical categories and
sentence types. Chapter three is on the verb phrase in Yeskwa language.
Chapter four introduces us to transformational processes like focus construction,
question formation and relativization. Finally, chapter five, which is
the concluding
chapter, is centrally a recap of all that have been said about verb phrase of Yeskwa
from the previous chapters as well as major findings about the language including
recommendation(s) and conclusion.
1.9
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework to be employed in this work is Government and
Binding (GB)
Theory Government and Binding Theory is a model of grammar
propounded and developed by Noam Chomsky. This is done with the aim of covering
Universal Grammar (UG) that is, the system in principles, conditions and rules that are
elements or properties of all human language.
1.10 Data Collection
The method of data collection used in this project is contact/informant method.
We collected linguistic data for this study by making use of language informants/helpers
who are native speakers of Yeskwa language. The data were collected through the use
of frame technique and the Ibadan Wordlist of 400 Basic items. The researcher also
consulted secondary sources such as the internet, relevant texts, etc. retrieve useful
information about the language.
For the primary source data, the researcher contacted two language helpers;
Ayeme Efuna, a 34 year old state security officer and Zakaria Muhammed, 30. The
latter works with NNPC. The language helpers hail from Kondoro in Karu Local
Government Area of Nassarawa state. Both speak English, Hausa, Gbagi and Eggon
apart from Yeskwa. They have spent averagely 25 years in their home town.
xxvi
1.11 Data Analysis
To ensure an efficient data analysis in this research, the researcher listens to the
recorded tape and then transcribes the words phonetically. The morphemes that made
up the phrases and sentences are also carefully glossed. The data collected are worked
upon according to how the native speakers use it without imposing any extraneous
rules or norm of correctness.
1.12 Review of the Chosen Framework
The framework adopted in this research work is the government and binding
(GB) theory. This is the theory that captures the similarities which exists between
different categories of lexical phrases by assigning the same structure to them rather
than having different phrase structure rules for NPs, VPs etc.
Government and Binding theory deal with transformation. According to Radford
(1988: 419), transformation is the rule that deals with the act of changing the structure
of one sentence to another structure through the concept of movement known as
move-alpha (move-). This theory (GB) was developed to correct the lapses in
transformational generative grammar.
xxvii
MODULAR THEORY OF GRAMMAR
X-BAR Theory
D-STRUCTURE
PROJECTION
PRINCIPLE
LEXICON
Move-a
(Bounding)
Ө-THEORY
(Ө-CRITERION)
CASE-THEORY
(CASE FILTER)
S. STRUCTURE
ECP
CONTROL
PHONETIC FORM
BINDING
LOGICAL FORM
Government and Binding Theory posit seven sub-theories of theory of grammar.
The sub-theories of government and binding theory are:
i.
X-BAR THEORY
ii.
THETA (θ) THEORY
iii.
CAE THEORY
xxviii
iv.
BINDING THEORY
v.
BOUNDING THEORY
vi.
GOVERNMENT THEORY
vii.
CONTROL THEORY
1.12.1
X-Bar Theory
Lamidi (2000: 150) states that X-Bar theory is base 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 Adverb) are the head of a structure dominated by a
phrasal node of the same category. (Noun: NP, Verb: VP, Preposition: PP, and
Adjective: AP). In essence it defines possible phrase structure
configuration in
language. For instance, the phrase; ‘The big boy’ consists of a head ‘boy’ while ‘hit a
boy consists of a head ‘hits’. Other examples in Yeskwa language are given below:
1.
lĩtí
óvet t
extinguish fire
the
‘put out the fire’
‘lĩtí’ is the head in the phrase above
xxix
VP
V
NP
N
Det
lĩtí
óvet
t
extinguish
fire
the
xxx
2.
late aŋa
big
house
‘the big house’
‘látè is the head
AP
A
NP
N
látè
aŋa
big
house
1.12.2
Projection Principle
Chomsky (1981: 29) states that ‘representation at each syntactic level is
projected from the lexicon, in that they observe the sub-categorization properties of
lexical items. Projection principles require lexical properties to be projected to all levels
of syntactic representation i.e. 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;
xxxi
X”
Maximal projection level
X’
Intermediate projection level
X0
Core projection level
Horrocks (1987: 99) states that X-bar theory tells us that at a lexical head (X)
and its complements form a constituent (X’) and that any specifier of this form with a
high level constituent (X”). Thus:
X”
(Specifier)
X’
X’
(Complement)
(Radford 2002: 229).
xxxii
The principle of head parameter
The principle of head parameter specifies the order of elements in a language.
The basic assumption of head parameter is that sentences may be broken into
constituent phrase and structural grouping of words.
Lamidi (2000: 105) says that the head is the keyword in a phrase and the words
can be pre or post modified. IN essence, the head of a phrase is very important in Xbar theory and the parameter that distinguished languages that incorporate the head of
the phrase to the right or left is known as head parameter. That is, head first.
X’
X0
Comp
OR
X’

complement
X0
X’
Comp
X0
To accommodate specifiers, it requires a second level of structure. Putting the
levels of specifier and complement together, the order of the head and specifier could
be set separately from the order of the head and complement. Thus:
xxxiii
X”  Spec X’
X’  X0 Comp
X”
Spec
X’
X0
Comp
All we have been discussing on X-bar theory (phrase structure) are lexical
phrases, and the type of head in lexical phrases is related to word classes. Lexical
phrases invariably have heads that are lexical categories linked to lexical entries.
Another type of phrase is the functional phrase. Functional phrases are the
phrases that are build ground functional heads.
Cook (1996: 150) says that inflection phrases are built around functional heads,
which may contain lexical materials such as morphological endings but are not required
to contain lexical material. The top levels of the sentence have been unified with the
rest of X-bar theory. The maximal level of a sentence is called inflection phrase (IP) in
X-bar theory. IP consists of specifier and I’, I’ in turn consists of I and a complement
thus;
IP

Spec I’
xxxiv
I

I Comp
IP
Spec
I’
I
Comp
Other functional phrases include complementizer phrase (CP):
xxxv
CP

Spec C’
C’

C IP
CP
Spec
C’
C
IP
Determinant Phrase (DP)
DP

Spec D’
D’

D NP
DP
Spec
D’
D
NP
xxxvi
1.12.3
Theta (θ) Theory
Theta (θ) theory deals with the functional relationship between a predicate and
its arguments; a predicate is said to assign theta-role to each of its arguments (Kristen
1991: 493). It is concerned with the assignment of what Chomsky calls ‘thematic roles’
such as agent, patient (or theme), beneficiary etc.
The NP complements (direct object) is assigned the role of patient, the PP
complement is assigned the role of locative while the subject NP or the sentence is
assigned the agent role.
The main principle of θ-theory is the ‘θ CRITERION’ which requires each
thematic role to be uniquely assigned i.e. each constituent denoting an argument is
assigned just one θ-role and each θ-role is assigned to just one argument denoting
constituent. For example;
1.
Ahmed dзòdзé
légs mé
εvom
Ahmed travel
Lagos by
car
‘Ahmed travel to Lagos by car’
xxxvii
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ past]
N’
N0
V
V0
PP
NP Spec
N’
P’
P0
NP
N’
N
Ahmed
dзòdзé légs
Ahmed
travel
Lagos
mé
by
xxxviii
εvom
car
In the above example; Ahmed is assigned the role of the agent, while ‘Evom’ is
assigned the role of the instrument and leg’s is assigned the role of locative.
2.
Evom ulátá tásu
car
hit
onèt
blind man
‘a car hit the blind man’
The above illustration indicate that, ‘Evom’ is the agent, onèt’ is the patient who
received the action of the agent.
3.
Sarah pere εdól
Sarah kill sheep
‘Sarah killed the sheep’
The above example shows that, ‘Sarah is the agent, ‘while Edói is the patient
that received the action of the agent in the sentence.
In the illustration above, verb phrase assign agent role of the object NP. Verbs
assign patient role to the object of the verb, preposition assign locative role to its NP,
while adjective assigns patient role to its NP.
1.12.4
Case Theory
Case theory regulates the distribution of phonetically realized NPs by assigning
abstract case to them (Kirsten 1991: 496). It deals with the principle of case
assignment to constitutes. Horrock (1987) says the basic idea is that case is assigned
xxxix
under government i.e. the choice of case is determined by the governor in any
sentence. For instance, a lexical head X may be said to govern its sisters in X-bar and
certain lexical heads also have the power to casemark certain of their complements.
Thus, NP subjects is assigned nominative by INFL, verb assigns accusative case to
object of the verb while preposition assigns oblique case to its object let’s use the
Yeskwa sentence below as an example;
xl
Azeezat
àgbóí
Èvóm n
Azeezat
buy
car
a
‘Azeezat bought a car for mama’
gbé
for
mama
mama
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ past]
NP
V
V0
PP
NP Spec
N’
Det
P’
P0
N
NP
N’
N
Azeezat
Azeezat
àgbóí Èvóm n
buy car
a
xli
gbé
for
mama
mama
1.12.5
Binding Theory
It is concerned with the relationship of NP participants in the sentence. As
preliminary, there are three types of NPs which are relevant to the Binding Theory.
Thus;
1.
Anaphors
2.
Pronominal
3.
Expressions (Referential Expressions)
The locations of antecedents that count for Binding theory are defined in three
Binding principle. Viz;
a.
Anaphors must be bound in their local domain
b.
Pronominals must be free in their domain
c.
Referential expressions must be free
The term, bound based on principle A, simply refers to the conjunction of C-
command and co-dexing thus;  bind , if and only if;
1.
 C-commands 
2.
 and  are co-referential
In principle , the terms ‘free’ simply means not bound-principle C refers to
elements such as names and other referential noun phrases.
xlii
CHAPTER TWO
INTRODUCTION TO YESKWA PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS
2.0 Introduction
This chapter introduces us to the phonological and syntactic concepts
of Yeskwa language. It focuses on phonological issues like sound system,
tonal inventory and syllable structure rules, and syntactic issues like phrase
structure rules, lexical categories, basic word order and sentence types.
2.1 Basic Phonological Concepts of Yeskwa
Yeskwa language has forty-one sounds made up of twenty-seven
consonants, seven oral vowels and seven nasal vowels. Yeskwa attests the
following consonants: p b, t d, k g, kp gb, bw, f v, s z, t dз, з, m n, ŋ, nŋ,
h, r, l, j, w and fw. The above consonants are represented in a chart thus:
xliii
Manner of Articulation
Labialized
bw
Kg
Kp gb
Glottal
Palatal
Palatoalveolar
Alveolar
t d
Labiovelar
P b
Velar
Plosive
Labiadental
Bilabial
Place of Articulation
Plosive
Fricative
f
Labialized
fw
v
sz
h
з
Affricate
Affricate
Nasal
t dз
m
n
Lateral
l
Liquid
r
ŋ
Glide
j
2.1.0 The Consonant Chart of Yeskwa
2.1.1 Distribution of Consonants
Plosives
/p/: Voiceless Bilabial Plosive
Initial
Pìlípìlí ‘kite’
Medial
mípít ‘beat’
xliv
w
òmpε ‘mat’
pìlípìlí ‘kite’
Final
Òvεp ‘thief’
ozp ‘iron’
okop ‘monkey’
/b/ Voiced Bilabial Plosive
Initial
bébétere
‘bad’
bá
‘come’
bóm
‘song’
Medial
abé ‘ground’
ebusú ‘he-goat’
òtábá ‘tobacco’
ábε ‘breast’
Final
ózáb ‘soup’
égàb ‘body’
/t/ Voiceless Alveolar Plosive
Initial
tòréà ‘jump’
tátì ‘throw’
tεp
‘break’
Medial
ólató ‘ear’
εtá
‘stone’
étí
‘work’
Final
épεt ‘kill’
ózεt ‘beard’
óvùt ‘skin’
/d/ Voiced Alveolar Plosive
Initial
dě
‘ask’
dók ‘send’
do
‘burn’
Medial
xlv
édεm
‘penis’
adá
‘matchet’
ndεrεmù
‘chin’
/k/ Voiceless Velar Plosive
Initial
kúmà
‘finish’
kétékpé
‘yam’
Medial
èksu
‘eye’
ókó
‘orange’
ékε
‘fry’
Final
ézók ‘guinea fork’
ésák ‘man’
èfk ‘cock’
/g/ Voiced Velar Plosive
Initial
gã
‘tear’
góy ‘buy’
góysì ‘sell’
Medial
lógò
‘cassava’
ògórò
‘kolanut’
ògεk
‘hawk’
/kp/ Voiceless Labio-Velar Plosive
Initial
kpa
‘make’
kpusú
‘remember’
Medial
dεkpò
‘dwell’
àmùkpé
‘dawn’
fεkpògbak
‘blow’
/gb/ Voiced Labio-Velar Plosive
Initial
gbikpá
‘pull’
gbagba
‘duck’
Medial
ògbègbé
‘groundnut’
ògbesè
‘head’
xlvi
ègbε
‘leopard’
/f/ Voiceless Labio-Dental Dricative
Initial
fárá ‘pour’
funá ‘cover’
fεkpá ‘blow’
Medial
ófúb ‘bone’
ófε
‘soon’
èfk ‘cock’
/v/ Voiced Labio-Dental Fricative
Initial
vk ‘grind’
vm ‘weep’
varú ‘return’
Medial
ávè ‘vomit’
évúm ‘roast’
èvì
‘snake’
/bw/ Voiced Labialized Bilabial Plosive
Medial
óbwá ‘native doctor’
èbwàp ‘lies’
/s/ Voiceless Alveolar Fricative
Initial
Sεsε ‘dance’
Sósò ‘bath’
Sĩm ‘dig’
Medial
és
‘sew’
ówsak
‘name’
ósák
‘man’
èkósu
‘eye’
/z/ Voiced Alveolar Fricative
Initial
zèzè ‘good’
zámú ‘marry’
Medial
Õz ‘thread’
xlvii
òzàt ‘hoe’
ózp ‘iron’
/t/ Voiceless Palato Alveolar Affricate
Initial
tε
‘carve’
tútú ‘open’
tiá ‘untie’
Medial
ótú ‘mortar’
tátì ‘throw’
étĩm ‘puton’
/dз/ Voiced Palato Alveolar Affricate
Initial
dзé ‘go’
dзara ‘walk’
dзa ‘has’
Medial
adзí ‘blood’
edзút ‘heart’
òdзì ‘elephant’
//
Voiceless Palato-Alveolar Fricative
Initial
ómèka
‘defecate’
ĩ
‘plait’
Medial
óít
‘tail’
èbóára
‘goat’
torea
‘jump’
/з/ Voiced Palato-Alveolar Fricative
Initial
Зεt
‘dance’
Зé
‘stop’
Medial
óзò
‘smoke’
Õзàgo
‘basket’
nεз
‘urinate’
/h/ Voiceless Glottal Fricative
Medial
xlviii
hula ‘hat/cap’
Nasal
/m/ Bilabial Nasal
Initial
mãmbó
‘dog’
mũz
‘spin’
movò
‘ball’
Medial
kúmà ‘finish’
ámù ‘mouth’
amà ‘mother’
Final
ónùm
‘day’
óbóm
‘song’
èvóm
‘nose’
/n/ Alveolar Nasal
Initial
námajũkpε ‘sister’
ntáp
‘greet’
ntát
‘three’
Medial
óná
‘daughter’
énε
‘stink’
ènàk
‘cow’
eni
‘elephant’
/ŋ/ Velar Nasal
Initial
ŋgeke
‘here’
ŋkÕm
‘calabash’
ŋkútI
‘small’
Medial
εŋr
‘swallow’
eŋara
‘laugh’
εtεŋá
‘piece’
Final
mbãŋ
‘bush’
ésεŋ
‘swell’
ódyŋ
‘chief’
/nŋ/
xlix
Initial
mft
‘belly’
Medial
fmftĩto
‘nail’
liquid
/r/ Voiced Alveolar Liquid
Medial
varú
‘count’
fárá
‘pour’
ogburú
‘vulture’
/l/
Voiced Alveolar Lateral
Initial
lεlè
‘dream’
lógò ‘cassava’
lũm ‘pound’
Medial
élot ‘bite’
élát ‘hot’
elεrú ‘taste’
Glide
/j/ Voiced Palatal Glide
jútá ‘push’
jìtásì ‘forget’
Medial
òjàjà ‘pepper’
εjĩ
‘fear’
àjàbà ‘banana’
/w/
Initial
wák ‘wash’
wátá ‘descend’
wεmajà ‘mother’s brother’
Medial
Ówε ‘son’
íwétI ‘child’
εwĩ
‘bee’
/fw/ Voiceless Labialized Labio-Dental Fricative
Initial
l
fwá ‘drink’
Medial
Ãŋgáfwa
‘wine/beer’
gádáfwy
‘crab’
2.1.2 Yeskwa Vowel System and their Distribution
Yeskwa language consists of fourteen vowel sounds; seven oral vowels and
seven nasal vowels. The phonemic vowel charts of the language is given below;
YESKWA ORAL VOWELS CHART
Front
High
Back
i
Mid-high
Mid-low
Low
Central
u
e
o

ε
a
2.1.2.0 Yeskwa Oral Vowels
YESKWA NASAL VOWELS CHART
li
Front
High
Central
ĩ
Mid-high
Mid-low
Back
Ũ
ề
ồ

ε
ã
2.1.2.1 Yeskwa Nasal Vowels
2.1.2.1 Distribution of Vowels
/i/
High Front Unrounded Vowel
íwétI ‘child’
ìárá ‘black’
Medial
gbikpá
‘pull’
tềkìt
‘break’
vitá
‘return’
Final
odarí ‘hundred’
étí
‘work’
òdзì ‘buffalo’
/u/ High Back Rounded Vowel
Initial
úvũgà
‘back’
úfánĩga
‘right’
úvεp
‘arm’
Medial
nùk ‘weave’
évúm ‘roast’
edзút ‘heart’
lii
Final
ámù ‘mouth’
èvùrù ‘snow’
ènùnù ‘bird’
/e/ Mid-High Front Unrounded Vowel
Initial
ènàk ‘cow’
ègbè ‘leopard’
ébó ‘mosquito’
Medial
ótésak
‘wife’
áwétI
‘children’
ògbesè
‘head’
Final
ogadзé
‘friend’
ògbègbé
‘groundnut’
dě
‘ask’
/o/ Mid-High Back Rounded Vowel
Initial
óvùt ‘skin’
óbε ‘husband’
ózá ‘rope’
Medial
ekót ‘mouse’
dók ‘send’
ódóp ‘market’
Final
ébó ‘mosquito’
ékó ‘get’
ègò ‘mountain’
/ε/ Mid-Low Front Unrounded Vowel
Initial
εwà ‘war’
εlĩmba ‘word’
εjà
‘horse’
Medial
úvεp ‘arm’
édεm ‘penis’
ádεt ‘jaw’
liii
Final
àmε
‘water’
èbuε
‘meat’
òvmε
‘well’
// Mid-Low Back Rounded Vowel
Initial
bám
‘palmwine’
gnátì
‘government’
Medial
vm
‘weep’
frtì
‘take off’
édy
‘soak’
Final
al
‘sleep’
ồz
‘needle’
és
‘sew’
/a/ Low Back Unrounded Vowel
Initial
áŋá ‘house’
ábε ‘breast’
álũm ‘farm’
Medial
εgbámε
‘water pot’
gbagbá
‘duck’
ózámε
‘in-law’
Final
ónà
‘grinding stone’
adá
‘matchet’
fúdзàra
‘tortoise’
Nasal Vowels
/ĩ/
High Front Unrounded Nasal Vowel
Medial
lĩtì
‘extinguish’
álĩmbá
‘tongue’
úfánĩgya
‘right (side)’
Final
εwĩ
‘bee’
ĩ
‘plait’
èjĩ
‘know’
liv
/ũ/ High Back Rounded Nasal Vowel
Initial
ũsát ‘feather’
mũz ‘spin (thread)’
lũm ‘pound’
ésũk ‘ask (question)’
Final
évũ ‘beat (drum)’
àdзũ ‘village’
éŋũ ‘pass (by)’
/ề/ Mid-High Front Unrounded Nasal Vowel
Initial
ềkpεt ‘spear’
ềmbút ‘back’
ềsók ‘name’
Medial
tềkìt
‘break’
àbεmedзìnềgba
‘mud’
/ồ/ Mid-High Back Rounded Nasal Vowel
Initial
ồz ‘needle’
ồзàgo ‘basket’
ồtítí ‘stick’
Medial
bồm ‘sing’
ókồm ‘corpse’
ồtồm ‘horn’
/ε/ Mid-Low Front Unrounded Nasal Vowel
Initial
εwĩ
‘bee’
εjà
‘horse’
Medial
àwεg
‘was’
εtεŋá
‘piece’
ésεŋ
‘swell’
Final
jε
‘carry’
~
//
Mid-Low Back Rounded Nasal Vowel
lv
Medial
évm
‘weep’
ntvà
‘seven’
ồзз
‘charcoal’
Final
es ‘sew’
/ã/ Low Back Unrounded Nasal Vowel
Initial
ãзì
‘wine’
ãsũ ‘fetish’
ãgà ‘firewood’
Medial
mãmbó
‘dog’
tãŋ
‘shoot’
eзãkí
‘donkey’
Final
gã
‘tear’
2.2 The Yeskwa Tone System
Tone is described as a phonemic or contrastive pitchy. A tone language has a
language significant or contrastive pitch on each syllable (Pike, 1943). A tone language
is also considered as a language in which pitch phonemes and segmental phonemes
enter into the composition of morphemes (Welmers, 1957: 2).
Yeskwa attests three register tones, which comprises of high, mid and low tones.
High tone is orthographically represented as [/], low is represented as [\] and mid is
generally left unmarked. It also has the contour tone, which comprises of rising tone,
orthographically represented as; [v]
The data below attest to high, mid low and rising tones.
High Tone [/]
[εf]
‘baboon’
[εmε]
‘year’
lvi
[ékó]
‘seed’
[ókók]
‘thigh’
[ézεt]
‘star’
Mid Tone
[εta]
‘stone’
[eat]
‘root’
[okputu]
‘crocodile’
Low Tone [\]
[εdk]
‘thorn’
[ègò]
‘mountain’
[ènàk]
‘cow’
[ènùk]
‘elephant’
[òdзì]
‘chicken’
[dò]
‘burn’
Rising Tone
[ěvmε]
‘well’
[lě]
‘follow’
[lĩtì]
‘extinguish’
[jε]
‘carry’
[gã]
‘tear’
2.3
The Syllable Structure of Yeskwa
Ladefoged (1976: 26) defines a syllable in terms of the inherent sonority of each
sound. It marks a peak of prominence involving a vowel or syllabic consonant (Hyman,
1975: 189). A closed syllable is that syllable that ends with a consonant. While an open
syllable is that which ends with a vowel marked respectively as VC or CVC and VCV, CV
and CVV.
Yeskwa exhibits both open and close syllable structure. The syllable structure
may be described and represented as VC, CVC, VCV, and V syllables. Examples of words
in the language with their syllabic structures are given below;
lvii
2.3.1 Mono-Syllabic Structure
These are words that have a single syllable. Examples include: CV structures:
1.
2.
3.
[jε]

CV
[dò]

CV
[tí]

CV
‘carry’
‘burn’
‘run’
Close Syllables (the VCV syllable structure)
1.
2.
3.
CVC Structures
[fúk] ‘old’

CVC
[dók] ‘send’

CVC
[vk] ‘grind’

CVC
lviii
2.3.2 D-Syllabic Words
There are words that have two syllable. They may include V-CV, N-CV and CV-CV
syllable structure, are:
1.
2.
3.
[eko] ‘get’

VCV
[ékε] ‘fry’

VCV
[al] ‘sleep’

VCV
Examples of words with N-CV syllable structure are;
1.
2.
3.
[nt] ‘neck’

NCV
[nnà] ‘four’

NCV
[njí] ‘one’

NCV
Examples of words with CV-CV syllable structure
1.
2.
3.
[lógò]

CVCV
[maté]

CVCV
[sεsε]

CVCV
‘cassava’
‘cut’
‘give’
lix
2.3.3 Tri-Syllabic Words
These are words with three syllables. They may include CV-CV-CV and V-CV-CV
syllable type. Examples of words with CV-CV-CV syllable structure are;
1.
[dз írígàmε] ‘boat’
 
C VCVCVCV
2.
[pìkípìlí]
‘kite’

CVCVCVCV
Examples of V-CV-CV syllable structure
1.
[èksu]

VCVCV
‘hair’
2.
[ólató]

VCVCV
[òtábà]

VCVCV
‘eye’
3.
‘tobacco’
2.3.4 Quadri-Syllabic Words
These are words with four syllables. Examples are:
1.
2.
[ówεsak]

VCVCVC
[ótεsak]

VCVCVC
‘male’
‘wife’
lx
2.4
Lexical Categories in Yeskwa
Horrocks (1987: 33), describes the lexical categories as those which have as
members sets of lexical items. Lexical categories are traditionally referred to as parts of
speech in classical grammar. The grouping of words in a language is based on
functions. Technically speaking, a word does not belong to any class until it is used in a
particular context. This is because one word can perform more than one function.
For convenience, however, words are traditionally grouped into eight parts of
speech, i.e. the eight lexical categories are as follows;
1.
Nouns
2.
Pronouns
3.
Verbs
4.
Adverbs
5.
Adjectives
6.
Prepositions
7.
Conjunctions
8.
Exclamation or Interjection
These eight lexical categories will be described in respect to Yeskwa language.
lxi
2.4.1 Nouns
Nouns are characterized as the class of words whose members characteristically
refer to thing that takes a plural inflection and most importantly function as head of
noun phrases. It is subject and object slots in sentences (Jackson, 2003: 35).
There are different types of nouns in Yeskwa language among which are;
1.
Proper nouns
2.
Common nouns
3.
Concrete nouns
4.
Abstract nouns
5.
Collective nouns
6.
Countable nouns
7.
Uncountable nouns
2.4.1.1 Proper Nouns
Proper nouns specify people places and the like. They denote one particular
thing. The following are examples in Yeskwa.
1.
2.
3.
[ềsók]
[ãdзũ]
[ebusú]
‘name’
‘village’
‘goat’
lxii
2.4.1.2
Common Nouns
Common nouns denote general category of things i.e., occupation or trader
names or names of animals.
Examples of common nouns in Yeskwa:
1.
2.
3.
[èbuε]
[ógyáp]
[ãŋá]
‘meat’
‘hunter’
‘house’
2.4.1.3 Concrete Nouns
Concrete nouns are nouns that can be seen, touched or measured. Examples of
concrete nouns in Yeskwa are;
1.
2.
3.
[ồŋgà]
[énép]
[ósák]
‘tree’
‘beans’
‘man’
2.4.1.4 Abstract Nouns
Abstract nouns refer to intangible things i.e. things that can not be seen or
touched. It has to do with feelings, emotions etc. Examples of abstract nouns in Yeskwa
are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
[buma]
[gwềjĩ]
[εmì]
[vwmε]
‘like’
‘fear’
‘hunger’
‘thirst’
2.4.1.5 Collective Nouns
lxiii
Nouns in this class express many members of a group in one name. They are
also some times called class nouns, examples of collective nouns in Yeskwa include;
1.
2.
3.
[oзềgbé]
‘police’
[awesujáfã] ‘church’
[èkátara]
‘world’
2.4.1.6 Countable Nouns
These are nouns that can be counted i.e. the determiner ‘a’ or ‘an’ can be used
with it and plural marker can easily be added to their singular forms. Examples in
Yeskwa are;
1.
2.
3.
[ódзéy]
[èdbwétà]
[òdзù]
‘egg’
‘lizard’
‘axe’
2.4.1.7 Uncountable Nouns
These are nouns that can not be counted. They can not be qualified by numerals
or other qualifiers. They are also not take or be used in plural. Examples in Yeskwa are:
[nεзi]
‘urine’
[atéí]
‘oil’
[awãŋ]
‘salt’
[ãŋgúí]
‘millet’
2.4.2 Pronouns
lxiv
A pronoun refers to a word acting for a noun, or that can be used instead of a
noun.
Pronoun can be classified according to their use into the following types.
Singular
Independent
Object
Subject
Possessive
1st person
I
Me
I
Mine
[εmà]
[mà]
[εmà]
[nkεma]
You
You
You
Yours
[εnù]
[mù]
[εnù]
truly,[nkεmu]
He/she/it
His/her/it
He/she/it
His/her/its
[εnì]
[nì]
[εnì]
[nkeni]
Plural
Independent
Object
Subject
Possessive
1st person
we
us
we
ours
[εmbi]
[mbí]
[εmbi]
[nkεmbi]
you
you
you
yours
[εní]
[mí]
[εní]
truly,[nkεmi]
they
them
they
their
[εmbε]
[mbε]
[εmbε]
[nkεmbe]
2nd Person
3rd Person
2nd person
3rd person
Interrogative Pronouns
lxv
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
2.4.3
[εε]
[nε]
ĩa
[njεε]
[ŋkã]
[nàne]
[εmε]
Verbs
‘what’
‘why’
‘which’
‘who’
‘when’
‘how’
‘where’
According to Obafemi (2003: 49), ‘verb is the word that tells what a subject does
or expresses a state of being’.
Verbs are classified as either main or auxiliary. The main verbs can stand alone
as their verb element. Auxiliary verbs are of two types, primary and modal auxiliary
verbs.
We also have two main classes of verbs, which are transitive and the intransitive
verbs.
2.4.3.1 Transitive Verbs
According to Fowler (1980: 14) ‘a transitive verb is one that has an NP object
and it requires direct object to make the meanings complete’.
Examples of transitive verbs in yeskwa language;
lxvi
1.
[íí]
‘wring’
mã
ísí
agá
I
wring cloth the
n
‘I wring the cloth’
IP
Spec
NP
Pron TNS
I’
TNS
VP
AGR Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
Det
aga
n
mã
isi
I
wring cloth
lxvii
the
2.
[gya] ‘eat
as in;
Asàbé gyà áŋkásì n
ne
Asabe eat
rice
the
‘Asabe ate ricer with her spoon’
sok
with
ní
spoon her
lxviii
IP
Spec
I’
NP
N’
N
I
Tns
VP
Agr Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
PP
Det
P’
P
NP
N’
Det
N
Àsàbé
gya
áŋkásì
Asabe
eat
rice
n ne sok
ní
the with spoon her
‘Asebe ate rice with her spoon’
lxix
3.
4.
[pyére]
‘hit’
Ibrahim pyere εbó n
Ibrahim hit goat the
‘Ibrahim hit the goat’
[gyóísì]
‘sell’
Jumáí gyóísì ãgàtim
Jumai sell cloth
‘Jumai sold the cloth’
nji
the
2.4.3.2 Intransitive Verbs
According to Fowler (1980: 14), intransitive verbs are verbs that make complete
statement without the help of an object or complement. Examples of some intransitive
verbs in Yeskwa are:
[l]
‘sleep’
as in;
1.
2.
3.
4.
njí
l
she sleep
‘she slept’
[bobóm]
wá bobóm
he sing
‘he sang’
[lεlè]
Tola lεlè
Tola dream
‘Tola dreamt’
[nεзì]
man nεзì
I
urinate
‘I urinated’
‘sing’
‘dream’
‘urinate’
lxx
2.4.4 Adverbs
Adverb is a word or group of words that describes or add to the meaning of a
verb, an adjective, another adverb or a whole sentence (Adegbija, 1987: 103).
Examples of adverbs in Yeskwa are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
[kpaferem]
[úzèzè]
[nózò]
[eférém]
‘quickly’
‘very well’
‘slowly’
‘easily’
2.4.5 Adjectives
Adjectives belong to the part of speech whose members qualify nouns (Adegbija,
1987: 100).
Examples, in Yeskwa include;
1.
2.
3.
4.
[ára] ‘black’
as in;
ówε ara
boy black
‘black boy’
[dr]
‘tall’
nátε dr
girl
tall
‘tall girl’
ágá tara
dress white
‘white dress’
[ŋkúfá]
‘new’
àbáòvò
ŋkúfa
shoe new
‘new shoe’
lxxi
2.4.6 Prepositions
Preposition relates a nouns to a verb in terms of location, direction, state,
condition etc. (Yusuf, 1997: 97). Examples in Yeskwa are shown below;
1.
[mú] ‘on’
as in;
mú
ngè denàgà
on
the
table
2.
[dó] ‘to’
as in;
dó
òdop n
to
market the
‘to the market’
3.
[deka] ‘out’
déka àŋa
out
house
‘outside the house’
4.
[nó] ‘with’
no
òbè ĩ
with grass dark
‘with dark grasses’
2.4.7 Conjunctions
These are words that are used to indicate the relationship that exists between
two or more elements; conjunction in Yeskwa include;
1.
2.
3.
2.4.8
[kó]
‘or’
– correlative conjunction
[katusu]
‘and’ – co-ordinating conjunction
[amá]
‘but’ - subordinating conjunction
Interjection
An interjection expresses emotion. Examples of interjections in Yeskwa include;
1.
2.
3.
[janε!]
[gne!]
[o!]
‘yeh’
‘waoh’
‘oh!’
lxxii
4.
2.5
[tò!]
‘ah!’
Phrase Structure Rules in Yeskwa Language
As pointed out by Yusuf (1997: 6), ‘Phrase structure rule is a set of rules which
generate together to forma unit) of that group together to form a unit) of a phrase or
clausal category’. A phrase structure rule is a part of the grammar of both syntactic
structures and aspects. An important feature of this type of rule system is that it is
capable of describing language with infinitely many sentences because rules are
‘crecursive’ or ‘circular’ in a certain harmless but important sense.
In the Government and Binding framework, X-bar is a theory of the phrase
structure of the D-structure. It describes the structure of the phrase (for example, the
head parameter) and it replaces larger number of idiosyntactic rules in the general
principles. The following set of rules indicates that all the categories on the right.
The Phrase Structure Rules
CP

Spec C’
C’

C
IP

Spec I’
I’

I
VP
I

Tns
Agr
VP

Spec IP
V’

V(NP) (PP)(ADVP)
IP
lxxiii
NP

Spec N’
N’

(Det) N(ADJP) (PP)(S’)
ADJP 
Spec A’
A’

DEG
PP

Spec P”
P’

P
A
NP
In X-bar, phrase structure is a comparative simple system derived from a few
principle and a setting of certain parameters. An essential requirement of the X-bar
syntax is that, the head of phrase must belong to a particular categories related to the
type of phrase. A noun phrase NP and a verb (VP) always contain a verb, VP  V. It
can never be vice-visa as seen in an ungrammatical sentence. The head of a phrase is
not arbitrarily related to the phrasal type. This general principle can be formalized as;
Government and Binding theory claims that there are two levels necessary for all types
of phrases.
lxxiv
XP
Spec
X’
X0
Complements
In the above, the lowest category is X0, the category of the lexical item. XP is the
maximal projection, X’ is an intermediate phrasal category. Chomsky (1970),
distinguishes sets of selectional restrictions in terms of what level the target category
combines with head of a phrase.
2.5.1 Phrases
According to Quirk et al., (1985: 346), ‘a phrase is defined as a constituent that
function as part of a clause structure. It is the most essential and common constituents
of grammatical structure of any language. They are noun phrases, verb phrases,
adjectival phrases and prepositional phrases.
2.5.1.1 Noun Phrase
The Noun Phrase is headed by the noun or pronoun. It is by virtue of this
headedness that the phrase is called noun. The head of a phrase is the single word that
can stand for the whole construction.
Below are examples of Noun Phrases (NP) in Yeskwa language;
lxxv
1.
ónè
t
man
the
‘the man’
1.
NP

N
Det
NP
N’
Spec
N
Det
ónè
t
man
the
‘the man’
lxxvi
2.
látè
aŋa
big
house
‘the big house’
NP
N’
ADJP
Spec
N
A’
látè
aŋa
big
house
3.
εbó
n
goat
the
‘the goat’
4.
ówε n
sá
vεp εvm
boy the
who steal car
‘the buy who stole the car’
lxxvii
2.5.1.2 Verb Phrase
Jackendoff (1977: 40), emphasized that verb and its complements together form
verb phrase, and the constituent can be equally expanded by the addition of
appropriate specifier.
The lexical category ‘verb’ is the head of the verb phrase that selects its own
complement and optional element to project its maximal phrasal category (Yusuf, 1996:
27). Example:
1.
lál zèzè
‘sleep well’
VP
V’
V’
ADVP
A’
V
A
lál
sleep
zèzè
well
lxxviii
2.
dзa
зnùnú-lè
have day
úzèzè
nice
‘have a nice day’
VP
V’
V
NP
N’
AP
N
A’
A
dзa
εnùnù-lé
úzèzè
have
day
nice
3.
εvéph àmfíbí
steal money
‘steal the money’
lxxix
4.
éŋáí
mu
sósò
take
your
bath
‘take your bath’
5.
lĩtí
óvε
t
off
fire
the
‘put off the fire’
6.
búε
àmε
mú
nyì
gòysì nkígya
fetch water for
the
food
seller
‘fetch water for the food seller’
2.5.1.3 Prepositional Phrase
Jowitt and Nnamonu (1985: 228) observed that preposition are frequently used
to form idiomatic phrase, which functions as adverbial of time, place or manner. The
prepositional phrase is headed by a preposition, which comes before the noun in
Yeskwa. Example of the PP in Yeskwa are;
lxxx
1.
mũgè fεkpògbak
on
fan
‘on the fan’
PP
P’
P
NP
N’
N
mũgè
fεkpògbak
on
fan
lxxxi
2.
mũ
ígba
in
pot
‘in the pot’
PP
P’
P
NP
N’
N
mũ
ígba
in
pot
3.
4.
dásù ámúdé
njikεi n
in front
gate the
‘in front of the gate’
mánĩ vítá ódóp
from coming market
lxxxii
5.
‘from market’
muvat ãgye denàgà
under
table
‘under the table’
2.5.1.4
Adjectival Phrase
An adjectival phrase, as pointed out by Awolaja (2002: 27), does the work of an
adjective. It usually qualifies or modifies a particular noun.
The phrases given below are examples of adjectival phrases in Yeskwa language.
1.
nátε zeze
girl
good
‘good girl’
2.
látè aŋa
big house
3.
òbè sĩ
grass dark
‘dark grasses’
èbárá àbaòvò
red
shoe
4.
2.6
Basic Word-Order in Yeskwa
Ayodele (1999: 51) describes basic word-order as the permissible sequence or
arrangement of lexical items to form meaningful and grammatical sentences in a
language.
A sentence in any language must follow a particular basic word order. The basic
word order expresses how subject, verb and object co-occur in any basic grammatical
sentences.
lxxxiii
Rillium (1977: 253) recognizes six possible word order in languages namely;
Subject
-
Verb
-
Object (SVO)
Subject
-
Object
-
Verb (SOV)
Object
-
Verb
-
Subject (OVS)
Verb
-
Subject
-
Object (VSO)
Object
-
Subject
-
Verb (OSV)
Yeskwa language exhibit SUBJECT-VERB-OBJECT order in its sequential structure
i.e. SVO; for example;
1.
S
V
O
Zainab
g
εbuε
Zainab
buy meat
‘Zainab bought meat’
lxxxiv
IP
Spec
I’
NP
I
VP
Tns Agr Spec
NP
V’
[+past]
N
V
NP
N’
N
Zainab
g
εbuε
Zainab
buy
meat
lxxxv
2.
S
V
O
Danlad
ápεt εkpí
Danlad
kill
rat
‘Danlad killed the rat’
n
the
IP
Spec
I’
NP
I
Tns
NP
VP
Agr Spec
V’
[+past]
N
Danlad
Danlad
V
N
ápεt
kill
lxxxvi
N’
Spec
N
Det
εkpí
rat
n
the
3.
2.7
S
V
O
Khalijat
kyε
εbĩ
Khaliyat
fry
fish
‘Khaliyat
fried fish’
Sentence Types in Yeskwa Language
A sentence is a group of words, which make a statement, a command, expresses
a wish, ask a question or make an exclamation (Yusuf, 1988: 101). A grammatical
sentence must always contain at least one finite or main verb. As points out by (Yusuf,
1998: 6), there is taxonomy of sentence types; hence there are structural types and
semantic types.
The
sentence
types
include;
declarative,
interrogative,
imperative
and
exclamatory. Along the structural dimension, we have simple, compound and complex
sentences.
2.7.1 Simple Sentence
A simple sentence is made up of one NP subject and a predicate. Below are
examples of the simple sentence in Yeskwa language.
lxxxvii
1.
Nasir àukpási
nge
Nasir throw
the
‘Nasir threw the ball’
movo
ball
IP
Spec
I’
NP
I
Tns
NP
N
VP
Agr Spec
V’
[+past]
V
NP
Spec N’
Nasir
Nasir
àùukpási
throw
lxxxviii
Det
N
nge
the
movo
ball
2.
Mohammed a
njikáìlam
Mohammed is
farmer a
‘Mohammed is a farmer’
wò
IP
Spec
I’
NP
I
Tns
NP
VP
Agr Spec
V’
[+past]
N
V
NP
N’
Spec
N
Det
Mohammed
a
njikáìlam
wò
Mohammed
is
farmer
a
lxxxix
3.
Toba adta ŋkigya
n
Toba eat
the
food
‘Toba ate the food’
2.7.2 Compound Sentence
As pointed out by Yusuf (1997: 61), a compound sentence is formed when two
or more simple sentences are conjoined by a co-ordinating conjunction. Below are
examples of compound sentences in Yeskwa language.
1.
Tade àgbì movo ka-tusu
góísì εvóm n
Tade buy
sell
car
and
car
the
‘Tade bought a car and sold the car’
2.
mã
bá
túsú mã
I
come and
I
ja
òne
t
see
man the
‘I came and I saw the man’
3.
Rasaq
tã
ŋgé
movò túsú εbúεlum
edзut nì
Rasaq
kick
the
ball
catch it
and
animal
‘Rasaq kicked the ball and animal catch it’
2.7.3 Complex Sentence
According to Yusuf (1997: 63), ‘a complex sentence has a sentence embedded in
one of the phrasal categories VP or NP. Traditionally, the complex sentence is described
xc
as the main clause and a number of the subordinate clauses. Examples from Yeskwa
are;
1.
mã
njí
óne
t
I
know man the
sa
goi
who buy
ngãfo
car
‘I know the man who bought the car’
2.
a
samp aganí ĩá
he
tear
sa
dress which she
ã
wear
‘he tore the dress which she wore’
2.8
Functional Classification of Sentences Yeskwa
This section examines the functions that sentences perform in Yeskwa language.
On the basis of this, Yeskwa sentences can functionally be classified as;
a.
Declarative
b.
Imperative
c.
Interrogative
d.
Exclamatory
xci
2.8.1 Declarative Sentence
Declarative sentences are statements. They normally assert the truth or falsity of
a thing (Adedimeji and Alabi, 2003: 55). In Yeskwa, their subjects precede their
respective predicates. Examples in Yeskwa language include;
xcii
1.
Aminat
dyà
Aminat
eat
‘Aminat ate rice’
ãŋkásí
rice
IP
Spec
I’
NP
I
Tns
NP
VP
Agr Spec
V’
[+past]
N
V
NP
N’
N
Aminat
dyà
ãŋkásí
Aminat
eat
rice
xciii
2.
mã
nji
oné
I
know man
‘I know the man’
t
the
2.8.2 Imperative Sentence
This is used to express a command or make a request (Adedimeji and Alabi,
2003: 56). Examples in Yeskwa are given below;
1.
2.
3.
sεt
ŋgábem
sit
down
‘sit down’
bál
come
‘come’
fu
àmfíbí
bá
bring money come
‘bring the money’
2.8.3 Interrogative Sentence
An interrogative sentence is used to make or enquire or ask questions, which
demand some sort of response from the addressee. However, it could be rhetorical
(Adedimeji and Alabi, 2003: 55).
1.
2.
3.
mu
dзé ŋkã?
You go
when
‘when did you go?’
mu
dyã nãga?
You eat
what
‘what did you eat?’
εmbε tèré εmé?
They live
where
‘where did they live?’
xciv
2.8.4 Exclamatory Sentence
Exclamatory sentences express strong feeling of surprise (Adedimeji and Alabi,
2003: 54). Examples in Yeskwa language are:
1.
2.
3.
nãga!
What
‘what!’
ógyó afã ma!
God
my
‘my God!’
o!
ódyóafã
àwε
oh
God
is
‘oh God is great!’
njíàgòmì
great
xcv
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
Introduction
This chapter attempts to bring out the Yeskwa verb phrases transformation using
the Government and Binding, version of Transformational Generative Grammar.
3.1
Yeskwa Verb Phrase
The Yeskwa verb is the head of the verb phrase. It is present with or without its
satellites. Yeskwa has two kinds of verbs; the transitive and the intransitive verbs.
3.1.1Transitive Verbs in Yeskwa language
The transitive verb is one that has an NP object. Examples of transitive verbs in
Yeskwa include the following;
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
góí
àboàvò
buy
shoe
‘buy a pair of shoe’
tútú amudè
open door
‘open the door’
gbésí obe
n
cut
grass the
‘cut the grasses’
égyá àjàbãŋãkpá
eat
plantain
‘eat the plantain’
xcvi
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
góí
àboàvò
buy
shoe
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
tútú
amudè
open
door
xcvii
3.1.2 Intransitive Verbs in Yeskwa
The structure of the intransitive verb is represented as;
V;
+
[………………………………… ø]
This implies that the intransitive verb does not sub-categories verb require to be
followed by PP. The PP typically indicates a location.
Below are some examples of intransitive verbs in Yeskwa;
i.
kpo
‘die’
wá
kpó
she
die
‘she died’
VP
Spec
V’
V
Kpó
die
xcviii
ii.
tòróà ‘jump’
as in
Alijat tóróà
Alijat jump
‘Alijat jumped’
VP
Spec
V’
V
tòróà
jump
xcix
ii.
iii.
v.
3.2
lál ‘sleep’ e.g.
sá
lál
she sleep
‘she slept’
lèláì ‘dream
Asàbé lèláì
Asàbé dream
‘Asabe dreamt’
wá
bobom
he
sing
‘he sang’
Structure of Yeskwa Verbs
As partially indicated, Yeskwa verb may take a variety of complements
depending on its inherent features. However, there are verbs that have zero
complements represented by a slashed ‘o’ [ø]. Example of Yeskwa verb with zero
complements
3.2.1 V: T [……………………..ø]
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
bobom
‘sing’
mã
bobom
I
sing
‘I sang’
bá
‘come’
àdà má
bá
father my
come
‘my father come’
nεзì ‘urinate’
e.g.
mã
nεзì
I
urinate
‘I
urinated’
dзé ‘go’ e.g.
ónè t
dзé
man the
go
‘the man went’
c
v.
vyéí ‘fight’ e.g.
Asabe vyéì
Asabe fight
‘Asabe fought’
vi.
tóró ‘cook’ e.g.
Bòlíyát tóró
Boliyat cook
‘Boliyat
cooked’
3.2.2 Verbs with Complements in Yeskwa
In Yeskwa language, the verb (which is the head of the VP) sub-categorizes for
the following complements.
a.
i.
VP

V
ègyồ ồmbei
take food
‘take the food’
NP
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
ègyồ
take
ồmbei
food
ci
ii.
εdεéré
dàgya
walk
home
‘walk home’
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
iii.
εdεéré
dàgya
walk
home
mũgè fekpògbak
on
the
fan
‘switch on the fan’
cii
B.
i.
VP
sère
sit
‘sit on

V
Prep
mũge danaga
on
table
the table’
VP
Spec
V’
V
PP
P’
P
NP
N’
N
sère mũge
danaga
sit
table
on
ciii
ii.
iii.
iv.
dзé àbe odóp
go
to
market
‘go to the market’
зé
gbe ma
wait for
me
‘wait for me’
tòróa áfã
jump up
‘jump up’
VP
Spec
V’
V
PP
P’
P
NP
N’
N
dзé
go
àbe
to
odóp
market
civ
C.
i.
VP

V
dene ngefame
put
cup on
‘put the cup on the
NP
Prep
mú
ngèdanaga
the
table
table’
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
PP
P
NP
N’
N
dene ngefame
mú
ngèdanaga
put
on
the
cup
cv
table
ii.
iii.
iv.
D.
nàsε àmfibí àbe gònasàgà
give money to
trader
‘give the money to the traderr’
kònásé
nji
vóvéògyóafã awa búraasù
greet
the
pastor
in
church
‘greet the pastor in the church’
fawá òku àde odoph
take orange to
market
‘take the orange to the market’
VP

V
NP
Prep ADVP
The above captures the phrase structure rules in Yeskwa language. This can be
shown through the pgrases below;
i.
ii.
bá
dágyà no
nátε múde
come home with baby now
‘come home with the baby now’
gyà ãkásì ne
sok
εferem
eat
rice with spoon quick
‘eat the rice with spoon quickly’
cvi
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
PP
N
P’
P
AdvP
NP
A’
A
bá
dágyà
no
nátε múde
come
home
with
baby now
cvii
3.3
Verbs of Sentential Complements
Verbs of sentential complements are verbs that tell us about situations such as;
1.
Appearance verbs; seem, appear
2.
Epistemic verbs; know, believe
3.
Desirative verbs; want, desire, expect, demand
4.
Reporting verbs; say, claim, report
5.
Causative verbs; cause, make, force
Using X as any verb here, we could say that X is a verb that takes a clausal
complement, a description which is formalized with a sub-categorization frame as;
X: V; [………………………………. S’]
Allied to the above, these verbs are also attested in Yeskwa. Examples of verbs
with sentential complements in Yeskwa are;
i.
ii.
iii.
Appearance verbs i.e. seem, appear
kàté ‘seem’ as in,
kate Aisha bá
seem Aisha come
‘it seems Aisha has arrived’
úbà káté nk a
ji
òvεsùku
appear
that they
know story
‘it seems/appears that they know the story’
kàté òkó sízézebè
seem orange
bad
‘it seems that the orange is bad’
cviii
n
the
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
NP
N’
N
Kate
Aisha
ji
ni
Seem
Aisha
know
her
cix
i.
I
‘know’
mã
jí
vεna ogyoafã
I
know that God
‘I know that God is good’
áwε
is
zeze
good
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
ADJ
A’
A
dзí
vεna ogyoafã
know that God
áwε
is
cx
zeze
good
ii.
mã
ji
vεna ónet mú
I
know that
man the is
úwεna
alive
‘I know that the man is alive’
C.
Reporting verbs i.e. say, claim, report
i.
òvεh ‘say’
e.g.
Kalijat òvεh nà
ji
dзodзé
Kalijat say
she
travel
that
‘Kalijat said that she is traveling’
cxi
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
VP
V’
V
òvεh nà
ji
dзodзé
say
she
travel
that
cxii
ii.
òjε
‘claim’ as in;
Mohammed òjε
katé
Mohammed claim that
a
njí
koãga
he
know everything
‘Mohammed claimed that he knows everything’
iii.
Boliyat ojε
katé
Boliyat claim that
jìnà
áwε
teacher is
ŋgobe
there
‘Boliyat claims that teacher is there’
D.
i.
Desirative verbs i.e. want, expect
agyεp ‘want’ e.g.
Kafilat
agyεp sa
gya
εgyεta
Kafilat
want to
pass
examination
‘Kafilat wants to pass her examination’
ii.
nátε t
agyεp sa
εfwá àmε
baby the
want to
drink water
‘the baby wants to drink water’
cxiii
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
VP
V’
V
agyεp sa
εfwá
àmε
want to
drink
water
cxiv
iii.
ojε
‘expect’
Aisha ojε
vεna Audu wá
Aisha expect that
Ausu she
gya
láŋálε
win
game
‘Aisha expected that Audu will win a game’
E.
Causative Verbs i.e. cause, make, force
i.
ã
‘cause’ as in;
ovè
t
ã
man
the
cause food
ŋkígya sa
dòk
to
‘the man caused the food to spoil’
cxv
spoil
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
VP
V’
V
ã
ŋkígya
cause food
cxvi
sa
dòk
to
spoil
ii.
fútùro ‘force’
Tade a
fútùro aã
Aisha a
зèзèt
Tade he
force
telling Aisha to
dance
‘Tade forced Aisha to dance’
3.4
Serial Verbs in Yeskwa
Serial verbs get their name from the way they occur in strings or series of two or
more per sentence (Awobuluyi, 1978: 4, 7 -8). It is a situation whereby, there is a
single subject NP but a number of BPs ranging from two to possibly as many as our
meaning will allow (Yusuf, 1997: 33).
Examples of serial verbs construction in Yeskwa are:
i.
Fatimah
fù
ŋgé
gbàgà a
Fatimah
use
cutlassto
gbásù
cut
grass
‘Fatimah used cutlass to cut grasses’
ii.
sá
fù
áteì
a
kye
εbĩ
t
she
use
oil
to
fry
fish
the
a
tègyà εbĩ
‘she used oil to fry the fish’
iii.
Bashirat
fù
εdé
Bashirat
use
knife to
‘Bashirat
used knife to cut the fish’
fish
cxvii
òbe
VP
Spec
V’
V
CP
Spec
NP
C’
C
N’
N
Tns
IP
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ pres]
V
NP
N’
N
fù
ŋgégbàgà
a
gbásù
òbe
use
cutlass
to
cut
grass
cxviii
3.5
Verb Phrase and Head Parameter in Yeskwa
We can say that the head parameter in Yeskwa is a way of knowing the
structural grouping or arrangement in the language, thereby seeing the position of the
verb in receiving its constituents.
In Yeskwa, the verb, which is the ‘head’ comes at the initial position while the
object follows. This can be exemplified as follow:
i.
εpéré εbuε
kill
animal
VP
Spec
V’
V
NP
N’
N
εpéré
εbuε
kill
animal
cxix
ii.
iii.
3.6
égyá àjàbãŋãkpá t
eat
plantain
the
‘eat the plantain’
εvép àmfíbí
steal money
‘stole the money’
Aspects in Yeskwa Language
Aspectual verbs are the form of verbs that shows whether the action happens
once, completed or still continues. Aspectual verbs could be progressive or perfective.
In Yeskwa language both progressive and aspectual verb are attested.
Examples in Yeskwa language are;
3.6.1 Progressive Aspective Marker
i.
mã
àwε
dзódзé
I
am
travel
‘I am traveling’
ii.
mã
àwε
ba
I
am
come
‘I am coming’
iii.
wa
úwε
зéзé
she
is
dance
‘she is dancing’
cxx
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
N’
Pron
mã
àwε
dзódзé
I
am
travel
cxxi
3.6.2 Perfective Aspective Marker
wã
wònε dзé
I
have go
‘I have gone’
ii.
Muslimah
jí
vita
Muslimah
has
arrive’
Muslimah has arrived’
cxxii
iii.
wá
ji
dзódзé
she was travel
‘she has traveled’
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
N’
Pron
mã
I
àwε
have
dзé
go
cxxiii
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
Transformational Processes
This chapter will examine transformational processes that exist in Yeskwa
language. Transformational processes in Yeskwa; a formal operation which mediate
between the deep structure and the surface structure of sentences include: Question
formation, Negation and Focusing.
4.1
Question Formation in Yeskwa
Questions in Yeskwa language involves the ways or manner in which a sentence
or phrase is used to ask for information for some entities. One major typological
devision for example is between YES/NO question and WH-questions.
4.1.1 YES/NO Question
They are the type of questions that will require a YES/NO answer. YES/NO
sentences are derived in Yeskwa as a result of transformation.
Examples of such sentences from which questions are derived in Yeskwa are:
1a.
b.
2a.
b.
Jí
gya ákãsi n
She eat
rice the
‘she ate the rice’
jí
gya àkãsi n
She eate rice the
‘did she eat the rice?’
jí
ni
sósò
he
had bath
‘he had a bath’
jí
ni
sosò kó?
He
had bath QM
kò?
QM
cxxiv
‘did he had a bath?’
3a.
ónũm màì ulãŋ
sun will
shine
‘the sun will shine’
b.
onũm t
ma
ulãŋ a?
sun the
will
shine QM
‘will the sun shine’
4a.
Aisha vεph ngé gyèta
Aisha steal the
biro
‘Aisha stole the biro’
b.
Aisha vεph ŋgé gyèta
Aisha steal the
biro
‘did Aisha stole a biro?’
4.1.2 WH-Questions
In WH-questions, the speaker is requesting information about the identify of
some entity in the sentence. WH-questions in Yeskwa are so called because they
typically involve the use of interrogative words beginning with ‘WH’.
Examples of WH-question in Yeskwa, asking for information about the identity of
a particular person that did something is given below:
ia.
Jamoh pεrε
εm até
Jamoh kill
cat the
‘Jamoh killed the cat’
b.
òjè
pεrε
Who kill
εmaté?
cat the
‘who kill the cat?’
cxxv
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
NP
N’
N’
Spec
Pron
N
Det
Jamoh
pεrε
εma
té
Jamoh
kill
cat
the
cxxvi
Derived sentence
CP
Spec
C’
C
QM
IP
Spec
I’
I
VP
NP
Tns Agr
N’
Spec
V’
V
N
òjè
who
ei
NP
N’
Spec
N
Det
pεrε εma
té
kill
the
cxxvii
cat
2a.
b.
3a.
b.
Bájŋ
εvεph ŋgé gyèta
Báyong
steal the
biro
‘Bayong stole the biro’
òjé
vεph ŋge gyèta?
Who steal the
biro
‘who stole the biro?’
nmá mìpí uwεtI n
mama beat child the
‘mama beat the child’
òjè
mípí úwεtI n?
who beat child the
‘who beat the child?’
4.1.3 What-Question
1a.
Ìbrahim
gói
ồmbenásárá
Ibrahim
buy
bread
‘Ibrahim bought a loaf of bread’
b.
εε
naŋ
What did
Ibrahim
goí?
Ibrahim
buy
‘what did Ibrahim buy?’
cxxviii
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns
Agr
VP
V’
NP
[+ Pres]
NP
N’
N’
N
Ìbrahim
gói
Ibrahim
buy
ồmbenásárá
bread
cxxix
CP
Spec
QM
C’
C
IP
Spec
I’
I
Tns Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
V
εε
naŋ Ibrahim
What did
2a.
goí
Ibrahim
buy
mã
gè
εmì
I
am
hungry
‘I am hungry’
cxxx
b.
ĩε
awε dàki εdзut mu
what is
problem
your
‘what is your problem?’
3a.
a
pεrε εbó n
he
kill
goat the
‘he killed the goat’
b.
ĩε
nãŋ jí
pεrε?
What do
he
kill
‘what did he kill?’
4.1.4 Where-Question
1a.
à
dзé Ilorin
he
go
Ilorin
‘he went to Ilorin’
b.
a
dзé mε
he
go
where
‘where did he go?’
2a.
Boliyat góí
ồmbenásásá wε
ódoph
Boliyat buy bread
in
market
‘Boliyat bought a loaf of bread in the market’
b.
Boliyat góí
ồmbenásásá t
mádзì mε?
Boliyat buy bread
the
from where
‘where did Boliyat buy a loaf of bread?’
3a.
mã
dзòdзé
awágyεta
I
go
school
‘I am going to school’
b.
mú
dзe mε?
You go
where
‘where are you going?’
cxxxi
Basic sentence
IP
Spec
I’
I
VP
NP
Tns
N’
Agr
Spec
V’
V
NP
N
N’
N’
PP
N
P’
P
NP
N’
Boliyat
góí
Boliyat
buy
ồmbenásásá
bread
cxxxii
wε
ódoph
in
market
Derived sentence
IP
Spec
I’
I
VP
NP
Tns
N’
Agr
Spec
V’
V
NP
N
N’
N’
N
CP
Det
C’
C
Boliyat
góí
ồmbenásásá
t
mádзì mε?
Boliyat
buy
bread
the
from where
cxxxiii
4.2
Negation
Negation is a means of converting a sentence S1, to S2 such that S2 is false while
S1 is true.
Negation applies to statements in Yeskwa language. This implies that deep
structure can at the surface structure be negated. This is done using the negative
marker ‘BE’ at the end of a statement. Below are examples of sentence negation in
Yeskwa.
1a.
mã
sĩ bùmá
katakpe
I
like
yam
‘I like yam’
b.
mã
sĩ bùmá
katakpe
bé
I
like
yam
neg
‘I do not like yam’
2a.
wá
zè
dзé
she
can
go
‘she can go’
b.
sá
ze
dзé
bé
she
can
go
not
‘she cannot go’
cxxxiv
IP
Spec
I’
I
M
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
N’
Pron
mã
ze
dзé
I
can
go
cxxxv
Derived sentence
IP
Spec
I’
I
M
Agr
VP
Spec
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
Neg P
N’
Neg’
Pron
Neg
mã
zé
dзé
bé
I
have
go
not
cxxxvi
3a.
b.
4a.
b.
4.3
sá
ze
toró kétékpé
he
can cook yam
‘he can cook yam’
sa
ze
tóró kétékpe
bé
she can cook yam
neg
‘she can not cook yam’
danlad sà
vεp àmfibí
Danlad
he
steal money
‘Danlad stole money’
Danlad
sà
vεp àmfibí bé
Danlad
he
steal money not
‘Danlad stole not the money’
Focusing in Yeskwa Language
A focus sentence can be seen as a sentence in which attention is drawn on the
agent, patient or the team in discourse. In relation to our research work, we may see
predicate cleft as a way of normalizing a verb through verb focusing. The focus marker
in Yeskwa is ‘ka’
Below are good examples from Yeskwa language:
1a.
à
tore
εnéph
she
cook beans
‘she cooked beans’
b.
tóràgà ka
gép
tore
εneph
cooking
foc
she
cook beans
‘it is cooking that she cooked the beans’
cxxxvii
IP
Spec
I’
M
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ Pres]
NP
V
NP
N’
N’
N
à
tòré
εnéph
she
cook
beans
cxxxviii
Derived sentence
FP
Spec
F’
F
IP
NP
Spec
I’
N’
Tns
I
VP
Agr
V’
[+ past]
NP
tóràgà ka
V
NP
N’
N’
N
N
gép
tore
εneph
cooking foc she
cook
beans
cxxxix
2a.
ónè
t
pεrε
εdi
man
the
kill
sheep
‘the man killed the sheep’
b.
peregya
ka
ónè
pεrε
εdì
killing
foc
man
kill
sheep
‘it is killing that the man kill the sheep’
3a.
mã
goy
ókó
I
buy
orange
‘I bought orange’
b.
goigo
ka
mã
goy
oko
buying foc
I
buy
orange
‘it is buying that I bought orange’
4a.
jí
fa
óbám
he
drink palmwine
‘he drank palmwine’
b.
εfwa
kà
á
fwá
òbám
drinking
foc
he
drink palmwine
‘it is drinking that he drank palmwine’
cxl
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, OBSERVATION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.0
Introduction
This chapter sets out to give a summary of the entire work, observation,
conclusion and also some recommendations.
5.1
Summary
This research has been able to analyse verb phrase in yeskwa. It started with an
introductory aspect which includes the historical background of the language and the
geographical location of the speakers of the language and speakers of the language
and speakers are majorly from Karu Local Government Area of Nassarawa State,
Nigeria.
Sociolinguistically, the people have their own unique culture and a monarchical
system of government. Christianity, Islam, and African Traditional Religion (ATR) are
the religions practiced by the people. Among the festivals are Nyankpa day and
‘Ekokop’. The economic system of Yeskwa hinges on agriculture and transportation.
Yeskwa is under North-Western group of platoid branch of Benue – Congo of the
Niger-Kordofanian phylum in the genetic tree.
The project is theoretically modeled according to the principles of government
and binding. Meanwhile, the data used for the project were collected from native
cxli
speakers of the language. The data were then analyzed using the principles of data
analysis identified by generative grammarians.
Chapter two was basically an introductory to Yeskwa phonology and syntax. Its
focus was on phonological concepts like the sound system, tonal inventory and
structures and syntactic concepts like phrase structure rules, lexical categories, basic
word order and sentence types.
The central focus of the project ‘Yeskwa Verb Phrase’ were examined in chapter
three. The structures of verb phrases were also examined. It also discussed verbs and
their various complements. Finally some aspects of Yeskwa verb phrase were also
exposed.
Chapter four discussed transformational processes such as question formation
and negation. These transformational processes involve verb phrases in Yeskwa
language.
The last chapter which is the concluding chapter gives the summary and
conclusion of other chapters contained in the research.
5.2
Observation
It was observed in the course of this research that Yeskwa language attests SVO
i.e. subject verb object basic word order.
cxlii
Yeskwa language has a nominal class affixes. The class markers consist of CV
structure ‘a-‘ has been observed to occur with mass noun class markers. These are
clearly reminding of Proto-Bantu classes.
Proto – Bantu
Yeskwa
mu-/ba-
u-/a-
mu-/mi-
o-/e-
ka-/ma-
u-/a-
in/i-
e-/e:It was also observed that Yeskwa shares a number of lexical items with other
languages of the North-Western sub-group.
5.3
Conclusion
Man depends largely on his ability to interact with fellow human beings and he
uses languages to achieve this. Yeskwa language like every other language, serves as a
means through which its speakers express their feelings. This research looked critically
into Yeskwa language with a view of analyzing and describing verb and its complements
in the language using Government and Binding theory.
By and large, as it is a common axiom in language study that “Language cannot
be over-studied”. It is my hope that further studies would be carried out on Yeskwa
language using other levels of linguistic analysis. This will augment my contribution
which should serve as a search light to any further researcher.
cxliii
5.4
Recommendations
In respects of this rather foundational work, the following recommendations will
be useful. Language policy markers in Nigeria should accept the linguistic diversity of
the country and the fact of cultural and linguistic relationism and should therefore
evolve policies that will foster the growth and propagation of every Nigerian language.
Hence, languages like Yeskwa spoken by the minority in the country should be given
some measure of consideration in the policy.
Language teaching at the primary and secondary education level should be
consciously bi-dialectal whereby the English language and the first language
predominate in an area should be used as the languages of education. These languages
e.g. Yeskwa and Eggon languages should be allowed to thrive in every aspect where
the three major language; Yoruba, Hausa and Igbo thrive as well.
Teachers should also ensure that deviant forms of these languages in the
process of development is encouraged. The use of restrained, creative, rhetorical, and
functional styles in diction, syntax and semantics should be encouraged in accordance
with Yeskwa cultural practices.
Government both at the federal and state levels should encourage Nigerian
authors to use Nigeria’s vast cultural and linguistic experiences in transforming Yeskwa
into a cultural tool for the education of many more Nigerians. This will raise the status
of every Nigerian language such that the situation of language atrophy (where
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languages lie fallow and might go into extinction) will be remedied. Finally, there should
be a psychological grooming of children and parents to appreciate their mother tongue.
cxlv
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Ode