ASPECTS OF THE VERB PHRASE
OF YIWOM LANGUAGE
BY
AKOGUN RASHEEDAT IYABO
07/15CB034
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE
DEPARTMENT OF LINGUSTICS AND NIGERIAN
LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF ART, UNIVERSITRY
OF ILORIN, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (HONS)
IN LINGUISTICS.
JUNE, 2011.
CERTIFICATION
This essay has been read and approved as meeting the
requirements for the award of Bachelor of Arts (Honors) Degree
in the Department of linguistics and Nigerian languages,
University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
___________________
Mr. S. A. Aje
Supervisor
___________________
Date
____________________
Prof. A.S. Abdulsalam
Head of Department
___________________
Date
___________________
External Examiner
___________________
Date
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to Almighty Allah, the provider
and sustainer, and to my dearest parents, Alhaji AbdulRauf .J.
Akogun, Mrs Risikat .L. Akogun and to my entire family.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, my appreciation goes to Almighty Allah, the provide
and the sustainer. All praises and adoration be unto him, I would
not have been in existence, but by this grace and mercy, he has
showered his blessing upon me.
My deepest appreciation goes to my parents, Alhaji
Abdulrauf Akogun and Mr.Risikat Akogun, who have really been
supportive morally, financially and academically. If not for them, I
would not have been in existence.
My profound gratitude goes to my able, accommodating
and industrious supervisor Mr.S.A. Aje, who despite his tight
schedule found time to read through and made necessary
corrections on this project, His suggestions and valuable piece of
advice, guided me through. May God be with you now and
forever. Also, my gratitude goes to my informant for his immense
cooperation and time during this research work.
I cannot forget to acknowledge those who built in me the
knowledge of Linguistics, The H.O.D. Prof. A.S. Abdulsalam and
all the lecturers in the department of linguistics and Nigerian
languages, am grateful to you all.
Also, my appreciation goes to my friends Laide, Biodun,
sherrif, Kenny, Tope, Tosin, Mayowa, Ibidun, Hiddy and Mariam.
Lastly, I want to appreciate the support of my lovely
siblings, Tope, Lekan, Ladi, Yetty, Yusuf, Sherif, Bola, Bidemi
and Uncle Nasir.
To everybody who has helped in one way or the other, I
appreciate you all.
AKOGUN RASHEEDAT IYABO
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
SVO
Subject- Verb- Object
NP
Noun Phrase
N
Noun
NI
N-Bar
VP
Verb Phrase
PP
Prepositional Phrase
AP
Adjectival Phrase
IP
Inflectional Phrase
SPEC
Specifier
CP
Complimentizer
C
Compliment
I
Inflection
ADJ
Adjective
DET
Determiner
VI
V-Bar
PREP
Preposition
TNS
Tense
PRES
Present
PSR
Phrase Structure Rule
GB
Government and Binding Theory
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
List of abbreviations
v
Table of contents
vi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1
1.1
GENERAL BACKGROUND
1
1.2
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
1
1.3
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
2
1.4
SOCIO-CULTURAL PROFILE
2
1.4.1 CULTURAL PRACTICE
2
1.4.1.1 RELIGION AND FESTIVALS OF
YIWOM PEOPLE
1.4.1.2 MARRIAGE RITES
3
4
1.4.1.3 OTHER CULTURAL PRACTIES
5-6
1.4.2 SOCIO-LINGUISTICS PROFILE
6
1.4.2.1 ATTITUDE OF NEIGHBOURS TO
YIWON LANGUAGE
7
1.5
GENETIC CLASSIFICATION
8-9
1.6
SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
10
1.7
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
11
1.8
JUSTIFICATION OF STUDY
11
1.9
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION
12-13
1.10 DATA ANALYSIS
13
1.11 REVIEW OF THE CHOSEN FRAME WORK
14
1.12 SUB-THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT AND
BINDING THEORY
15
1.12.1 X-BAR THEORY
16
1.12.2 CASE THEORY
17
1.12.3 GOVERNMENT THEORY
18
1.12.4 CONTROL THEORY
19
1.12.5 BINDING THEORY
19.22
1.12.6 BOUNDING THEORY
22
1.12.7 THETA THEORY
23-24
CHAPTER TWO
2.0
INTRODUCTION
25
2.1
DEFININE PHONOLOGY
25
2.2
YIWOM VOWEL SYSTEM
26-31
2.3
YIWOM CONSONANT SYSTEM
32-36
2.4
TONE SYSTEM
36-38
2.5
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF YIWON
LANGUAGE
38-41
2.6
PHRASE STRUCTURE RULE
41-44
2.7
LEXICAL CATEGORIES IN YIWOM
LANGUAGE
2.8
2.9
44-49
BASIC WORD ORDERIN YIWOM
LANGUAGE
49-52
SENTENCE TYPES
52
2.9.1 SIMPLE SENTENCE
53
2.9.2 COMPOUND SENTENCE
54
2.9.3 COMPLEX SENTENCE
55
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
INTRODUCTION
56
3.1
THE YIWOM VERB PHRASE PARAMETERS
56
3.1.1 THE YIWOM VERB PHRASE WITHOUT
PARAMETERS
58
3.1.2 THE YIWOM VERB PHRASE AND ITS
PARAMETERS
59-60
3.2
THE STRUCTURE OF YIWOM VERB PHRASE
61-68
3.3
CLASSES OF YIWOM VERB
68
3.3.1 TRANSITIVE VERB AND INTRANSITIVE VERB
3.4
IN YIWOM
69-75
VERBS WITH SENTENTIAL COMPLEMENTS
75-79
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
INTODUCTION
80
4.1
TRANFORMATIONAL PROCESSES IN YIWOM
80
4.2
FOCUS CONSTRUCTION
81
4.2.1 SUBJECT OF FOCUSING
81-88
4.2.2 OBJECT NP FOCUSING
88
4.2.3 VERB FOCUSING
96-106
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0
INTRODUCTION
107
5.1
SUMMARY
107
5.2
CONCLUSION
109
5.3
RECOMMENDATION
110
REFERENCES
111
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1 GENERAL BACKGROUND.
This work is on the Yiwom verb phrase. Yiwom is one of
the major languages spoken in Plateau State. It is spoken in
three local government areas, namely: the Lantang north local
government area, Mikang local government area and Shendam
local government area. Yiwom language can also be called
‘Gerka’ and the speakers are referred to as the ‘Gerkawa’.
1.2
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND.
According to oral history, Gerkawa came into existence as
a result of coming together of the Yiwom people who migrated
from Jos to Gerkawa in order to start faming. Gerkawa was a
very thick forest occupied with trees and leaves which was later
used for faming before they came about Yiwom. Gerkawa is the
real name of the people while their language is Yiwom language.
The Yiwom people were formally under Shendam local
government but they were later given their own local government
known as Mikang local government area. The Yiwom language
can also be called Gerka language.
1.3
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION.
Gerkawa is located in the northern part of Mikang local
government area of Plateau state in Nigeria. Gerkawa is in the
middle of the local government area. It is easily accessed from
Jos, Lantang and Shendam towns.
1.4
SOCIO-CULTURAL PROFILE.
1.4.1 Cultural Practice.
Culture is a particular society or civilization, especially
considered in relation to its beliefs, way of life or art. Culture
must be studied directly by studying behaviour, customs,
material culture and language and so on.
The aspect of Yiwom that we shall discuss here covers
their language, festivals, religion, marriage rites, types of food
they eat and jobs they engage in. The Yiwom people named the
place they migrated to as Gerkawa while their language is
Yiwom and this Yiwom means ‘’Leaves’’.
1.4.1.1
Religion And Festivals Of Yiwom People.
African traditional religion (ATR) was the indigenous
religion of the Gerkawa people at the initial stage. The coming
together of Christianity and Islam into the area started to see the
conversion of the people to these two religions. Today, the
predominant religion of the Yiwom people is Christianity. The
following religions are practised by Yiwom people, namely:
 Christianity
 Islam
 African traditional religion (ATR).
CHRISTIANITY: This is the major religion practiced by the
Yiwom people and it is the predominant religion today because
they have about 65% among the speakers.
ISLAM: Islam is being practiced by few of the speakers and we
have about 20% which are Muslims among the Yiwom people.
AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RELIGION (ATR): Although, (ATR)
was the indigenous religion of the Gerkawa at the initial stage
but it is now practiced by minority. We have about 15% that are
traditional believers.
FESTIVALS
There are various festivals in Gerkawa, these festivals
include harvest festivals, installation of chiefs among others and
masquerade festivals. All these festivals is celebrated around
December and January and it is being performed by the Idol
worshippers. The two basic festivals the Yiwom people engage
in are masquerade festivals and harvest festivals.
1.4.1.2
Marriage Rites.
In Gerkawa, marriage procedure is an interesting one.
They practice two system of marriage which is the church and
mosque. Families may also exchange daughters for their sons.
The Yiwom people have traditional marriage too but the major
marriages practiced are church and mosque marriage.
1.4.1.3 Other Cultural Practices.
FOOD
In Gerkawa town, the favourite food of the people is tuwo
with draw soup. This can be prepared with fish, meat or chicken
if available but they also eat food like rice, beans, millet and yam.
MODE OF DRESSING
The mode of dressing in Gerkawa land is the general
northern mode of dressing that is, wearing of ‘’babariga’’ by men
while the women put on Ankara wrapper with ‘’buba’’ but in the
olden days, they put on ‘’bante’’. It is very compulsory for the
women to cover their hair.
JOB
The Yiwom people engage in farming because farming is
their major occupation. They also engage in trading and
government work. Yiwom people are friendly to strangers.
BIRTH, DEATH AND BURIAL
The Yiwom people found it very interesting and happier
when a new child is given birth to. They see it as a source of joy
among themselves, the naming is done on eight days in the
morning or evening time where a lot of people come together to
dine and wine. Prayer is been done by pastor or Alfa and the
family members of the father and mother are invited on that day.
When somebody is deed among Gerkawa, the corpse is washed
immediately, wrapped in a white cloth and prayed for the corpse
before taken to the cemetery. The corpse is normally buried
immediately after the prayer.
CIRCUMCISION
The Gerkawa has culture which they hold onto traditionally.
Circumcision is not done for the female child but very
compulsory to circumcise the male child.
1.4.2 Socio-Linguistics Profile
Yiwom language is used as a means of communication in
schools, churches and market place. Yiwom language is spoken
in Mikang local government area of Plateau state. Though it was
said that Hausa language has in one way or the other
contributed to the death of many languages spoken in Northern
part of the Nigeria. Hausa is used as the medium of instruction in
schools while English language is learned as the target
language.
Socio-linguistically, the status of Yiwom language is low. In
other words, it is a minority language owning to the dominant of
Hausa language speakers in the community. Furthermore, the
speakers of Yiwom language are few compare to those speaking
a majority language: Hausa. Another reason is the fact that it
does not quantify to be a language of instruction in schools
rather it is used as a means of communication in schools.
1.4.2.1 Attitude of Neighbours to Yiwom Language.
The neighbouring villagers of Yiwom speakers have a
good communication with the speakers of Yiwom people due to
their good character in terms of hospitality, friendliness and
peace keeping. As a result, they have a positive attitude towards
the language. Due to these reasons the neighbouring villagers
speaks Yiwom language which is not even their own native
language.
Conclusively, Yiwom language has a positive attitude
within it speakers.
1.5
GENETIC CLASSIFICATION
According to Derek Fivaz and Patrica E. Scott (1977),
Gerka was classified under Plateau group (platoid). The Plateau
group is a sub group of the Afro-Asiatic. The classification is
diagrammatically shown below.
Africa Languages
Nilo-saharan
Afro-Asiatic
Chadic
Be r be r
Kotoko
Group
Western
Group
Egyptian
Beta-tera
Group
Baba gisiga
Matakam
group
Khoisan
Niger-Congo
Semitic
Cushitic
Mandara
Group
Gidder
Bolewa plateau group
Bana Group
Sahel Group
Musgu
Hausa
Group
Ngizin
Group
Warjawa-Gesawa
group
Omotic
Fig. 1 Genetic classification of Yiwom (Fivaz and Scott,
1977:319).
1.6
SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION
OF STUDY
Bolewa sub- group
Plateau sub- group
Ron sub- group
This research is aimed at discussing the Verb phrase of
Yiwom Alanguage
using the Government and Binding theory. This
nkwe
Angos
Bwol
Chip
Tal
Miriam
Jorto
Gerkchapters
a
Sura
research work is divided into five
which
are relevant
aspect of the theory of syntax.
Chapter one which is the introductory part include: the
General background of the study, the historical background,
socio-cultural profile, genetic classification of the language,
scope and organization of study as well as the theoretical frame
work, the data collection method and data analysis and lastly, a
brief review of the chosen frame work.
Chapter two shall focus on sound inventory, the basic
syntactic concept such as phrase structure rule, lexical
categories, basic word order and sentence types.
Chapter three contains the main aspect of the study which
is the Yiwom verb phrase. In this chapter, the nature of verb
phrase in Yiwom language and the processes that are attested
will be discussed.
Chapter four will examine the transformational processes
such as focus construction and passivization.
Chapter five which is the last chapter will present a brief
summary of the whole research and also the conclusion and
recommendation based on such finding.
1.7 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK.
The theory to be adopted in this research is the
government and binding theory in the analysis of verb phrase in
Yiwom language.
1.8 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY.
The study of Yiwom language is very important because to
be the best of our knowledge, no work of this type has been
done on it. This work will therefore help in preventing the
language by committing it into writing and providing an
orthography for it. It will also promote future work on this
language as the present work can be used for further research
into the language.
1.9
METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION.
In a research, the kind of data to be collected determines
the techniques to be used in collecting them. The data used in
this research work are based on contact method, using oral
interview and Ibadan word list of basic items.
In this research, two literate native speakers of the
language were used to collect the data. Hence, questions were
asked in English language and answers given in Yiwom
language.
Particulars Of The Informants.
NAME: Mr. Michael Krombet.
AGE:
50 years.
SEX:
Male.
OCCUPATION: Military personnel.
RELIGION: Christianity.
YEARS SPENT IN HOMETOWN: 24 years.
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Hausa and English language.
NAME: Mrs. Cecilia Michael.
AGE:
37 years.
SEX:
Female.
OCCUPATION: Trader.
RELIGION: Christianity.
YEARS SPENT IN HOMETOWN: 15 Years.
OTHER LANGUAGES SPOKEN: Hausa, English and Lantang
language.
1.10
DATA ANALYSIS.
In order to have accurate analysis for this research, the
Ibadan four hundred word list was used to elicit equivalent
meaning of the items in Yiwom language.
Also, the frame technique used in this research is by
framing of sentences in English language and the translation of
these sentences into Yiwom language by the informant. This
enables the researcher to determine the actual underlying form
of a word, constituent and possible syntactic classes to which
each word belongs to in Yiwom language.
1.11
REVIEW OF THE CHOSEN FRAMEWORK.
The theory to be used in the analysis of verb phrase in
Yiwom language is the Government and Binding theory (GB).
This theory is a modular deductive theory of universal grammar
which posits multiple level of representation related by the
transformational rule. Government and Binding theory was
formulated by Noam Chomsky in (1981).
Sanusi (1996:21) explain that government and binding
theory greatly dominates proliferation of transformational rule:
passive, verb-number agreement, question formation, equi-NP
deletion, raising permutation, insertion etc.
Heyman (1991:13) defined government and binding theory
as a theory of universal grammar which is the system of all the
principles that are common to all human languages. Government
and Binding theory is otherwise known as principle and
parameter theory. In Government and Binding theory, the
grammar is a continuous interaction between component and
sub-theories embodying different component and sub-theories
embodying different principle and parameters.
1.12 SUB-THEORIES OF GOVERNMENT AND BINDING
THEORY.
Horrocks (1987:29) stated that, the core grammar of a
given language is derived from the interaction of sub-theories of
universal grammar. These sub-theories are inter-related that
each
of
them
can
account
for
grammaticality
and
ungrammaticality of any sentence. These sub-theories are:
1. X-bar theory
2. Case theory
3. Government theory
4. Control theory
5. Binding theory
6. Bounding theory
7. Theta theory
The above listed sub-theories are diagrammatically
represented below to show the inter-relationship among them.
1.12.1
X-Bar Theory
Based on the appropriate analysis, for this research work,
X-bar is the theory to be adopted for comprehensive analysis.
According to Cook (1988:103) a theory of the phrase
structure of the D-structure of the sentence is defined as the Xbar 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 adverb) is the head of a structure
dominated by a phrasal node of the same category. X-bar theory
defines possible phrase structure configurations in language.
Horrocks (1987:39) also states that the core of X-bar
theory is the recognition of the fact that most phrase have
‘’head’’ upon which other elements in the constituents are
dependent. Chomsky (1981:29) says that representation at each
syntactic level is projected from the lexicon, in that they observe
the sub-categorization properties of lexical items.
Horrocks (1989:99) also states that X-bar theory tells us
that a lexical head (X) its complements form a constituent (X1)
and that any specifier of this form with a high level constituent
becomes (X11).
1.12.2
Case Theory
According to Cook (1988:34) explains that case theory
deals with the assignment of a particular ‘‘case’’ to noun phrase
in the sentence.
Kristen (1991:496) states that case theory deals with the
principle of case assignment to constituents. The basic principle
is that case theory is assigned under government, the choice of
case being determined by the governor in any given example.
For example, V or P may be virtue of governing NP, assign say
accusative case to that constituent. In the context of GB theory,
the essential point is that there can be no case-marking without
government; un-governed position cannot receive case.
The three common cases under Government and Binding
theory are;
 Nominative case assigned by tensed INFL
 Accusative case assigned by verb
 Oblique case assigned by prepositions.
1.12.3
Government Theory
Government theory deals with the relationship between the
head of a construction and those categories depending on it
(complements).
Cook (1988:36) refers to the government theory as a
particular syntactic relationship of high abstraction between a
‘governor’ and an element that it governs. In other words,
government ensures that the word gets an appropriate case.
Yusuf O. (1998:140) says Government theory is a principle
theory in that, it is a long known fact of grammar that a verb
governs its object (where the object could be NP, PP, and CP---)
while the pre/post position governs its object verb. Also, Madjaer
(1991:495) says Government theory is concerned with the
relationship between a head and its complements, and defines
relationship in other sub-theories.
1.12.4
Control Theory.
According to Carnie(2007: 412-43), control theory deals
with the subject of infinitival clauses. It deals with the way in
which sentences with verb taking infinitival complements that
have null. Subjects are constructed or come about. Control
structures are structures in which relationship holds between a
subject or the matrix plus the subject of an embedded infinitival
clause. It focuses on an element called PRO, sometimes called
big ‘PRO’ to contrast it with the PRO. PRO is restricted to the
subject position in non-finite clauses.
PRO can only occur in the subject position of non-finite
clauses; it is banned from all objects and subject position of a
finite clause as there is no governor for its position (Carnie 2007:
412-413).
1.12.5
Binding Theory
Madjaer (1991:46) refers to binding theory as a theory that
is concerned with the systematic domain in which NP can and
cannot be constructed as co-referential.
Yusuf O (1998:45) in his own view states that binding
theory is concerned with the relationship of NP participants in the
sentence. Precisely, could sum NP be related to another NP by
being co-referential in the sentence.
Chomsky (1988:52) submits that binding theory deals with
the connected among noun phrases that have to do with such
semantic noun properties as depends or reference, including the
connection between the pronouns and its antecedents. The
implication of the above definition is that binding theory deals
with the co-referential relationship among NPs in the same
sentence. That is how NPs co-referred or co-indexes one
another in a simple sentence.
NPs that are argument are assumed to fall into one of
these three categories.
 Anaphors
 Pronominal
 Referential expressions.
ANAPHORS: - These are the type of NP that must have
antecedents. They depend on one for existence in some definite
place in the sentence. Reciprocals and reflexive pronouns fall
under this class.
E.g.
Bidemi hurts herself.
‘’Herself’’ in the above sentence refers back to Bidemi,
therefore Bidemi is the antecedent which license its existence.
PRONOMINALS: - These are NPs that lack specific lexical
content and have only the features; person, number, gender and
case. They either refer to individual independently or co-refer to
the individuals already mentioned in a given sentence.
E.g
Ladi greeted his father.
‘’His’’ may refer to the individual denoted by Ladi or
another individual not mentioned in the sentence.
REFERENTIAL EXPRESSIONS: - These are NPs lexical heads
which refers to something. Referential expression is also known
as R-expression and they are NPs with lexical ability to refer to
something without necessarily having any antecedent to license
their existence.
E.g
Mariam says Bola should be flogged.
‘’Mariam and Bola’’ in the above example denotes two different
persons. That is they are not co-referring each other.
1.12.6
This
Bounding Theory.
theory
aims
at
limiting
the
displacement
of
constituents by transformational rule of move α.
According to Horrocks (1987) it is a way of constraining the
movement rule move α.
Movement rule within the GB theory is assumed to the
following.
 An extraction site, i.e., where an element is being
removed.
 A landing site, i.e., where the element moved to.
 An intervening gap, i.e., the space between the extraction
between the extraction site and the landing site of an
element.
Bounding theory do not only monitor the extraction and the
landing sites for an element but it also placed or constraint and
limits on the element that can be moved, where it can be moved
to and how far the element can be moved.
1.12.7
Theta Theory.
Kristen (1991:493) states that θ theory deals with the
functional relationship between a predicates and its argument. It
is concerned with the ‘’thematic roles’’ such as agents, patients
(or theme) beneficiary e.t.c. Theta theory assigns theta roles to
elements of the structure of the sentence.
Horrocks (1987:102) further states that the main principle
of theta theory is the theta criterion which requires each thematic
role to be uniquely assigned; that is each constituent denoting an
argument is assigned just one theta role and each theta is
assigned to just one argument-denoting constituent no sentence.
Theta theory also indicates how lexical items behave, for
instance, the verb ‘’gives’’ always has a recipient.
Thematic rules mean what have been called semantic
rules such as agents, patients, beneficiary etc. It is assumed that
they are assigned to the compliments of the lexical items as a
lexical property.
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS.
2.0
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, some insight into the phonology of Yiwom
language is presented. This includes the sound inventory, the
tone inventory and the syllable inventory. Also, the basic
syntactic concepts, phrase structure rules, lexical categories
basic word order and sentence types are discussed.
2.1
DEFINING PHONOLOGY
Phonology deals with the function and patterning of
sounds. Oyebade (1988:2) says that phonology is the scientific
study of the arbitrary vocal symbols used in human speech and
the patterns into which these symbols enter to produce intelligent
utterances. Specifically, phonology is concerned with the
function, behaviour and organization of sounds as linguistic
items.
The sounds of languages are organized in such a way that
linguists can discover underlying processes and patterns. We will
now examine Yiwom sounds, beginning with the vowel sounds.
2.2
YIWOM VOWEL SYSTEM
Yiwom language attests seven oral vowels and seven
nasal vowels. The vowel charts in Yiwom are shown below:
High
Mid high
Front
i
Central
Back U
e
O
Mid low
ε
Low
a
ORAL VOWEL CHARE
(i,e,ε,a,U,O,‫ )כ‬are oral vowels in Yiwom language. They are
exemplified in the following words: -
[ i ] High-front unrounded vowel
Yiwom
Phonetic representation
Gloss
Lis
[lis]
‘Tongue”
Kim
[kim]
“Calabash”
Yit
[jit]
“eye”
Dil
[dil]
“penis’
Mil
[mi]
“vagina”
[ e ] mid-high front unrounded vowel
nkie
[Jkie]
“egg’
Hae-ne
[hae-ne]
‘heart’
Lemu
[lemu ]
‘Orange’
Kiyare
[Kijare]
‘thatch’
[ ε ] mid-low front unrounded vowel
shém
[Sεm]
‘blood’
télé
[téle]
‘géét’
kél
[kél]
‘knifé’
yem
[jem]
‘Iron’
[ á ] Low central vowel
Hák
[hák]
‘Belly’
Pak
[pak]
‘mouth’
Gár
[gar]
‘stick’
Ákái
[ákái]
‘head’
[ U ] high-back round vowel
Diaum
[diaum]
‘jaw’
Tùwótik
[tùw‫כ‬tik]
‘hair’
Shepwùs
[Sepwus]
‘firewood’
Krùm
[krùm]
‘person’
[ O ] mid-high back rounded vowel
Sùró
[ Sùró ]
‘Ókró’
Góró
[góró]
‘kólanut’
Klóp
[klóp]
‘bag’
[ ‫ ]כ‬mid-low back rounded vowel
Mór
[m‫כ‬r]
‘millet’
Bómmi
[b‫כ‬mmi]
‘palm-wine’
Sóni
[s‫כ‬ni]
‘eat’
Rámó
[rám‫]כ‬
‘look for’
Front
Central
Back
High
ĩ
ũ
Mid high
ĕ
õ
Mid low
ε
‫כ‬
ã
Low
NASAL VOWEL CHARE
(ĩ, ĕ, Ē, ά, ‫כ‬, õ, ũ) are oral vowels in Yiwom language. They are
exemplified in the following words: [ ĩ ] Nasalized-high front unrounded vowel
Dink
[dĩηk]
‘nose’
Fin
[ fĩ ]
‘grinding Stone ‘
Yin
[ jĩ ]
‘show (something)’
Shin
[ sĩ ]
‘toad’
Yákpiyinl
[jákpĩjĩ]
‘room’
[ ẽ]
Nasalized mid-high front unrounded vowel
Lengzer
[lẽgzẽr]
‘spin’
vienpekamie
[viẽpẽkanmi]
‘turn round’
[έ ] Nasalized mid-low front unsounded vowel
Fiέn
[fiέ]
‘rain’
Diéndie
[diέdiέ]
‘urinate
Mùén
[mùέ]
‘bee’
Isenle
[Tsέle]
‘jump’
[ ã ] Nasalized Low central vowel
Kwando
[kwãdo]
‘Basket’
Báng
[bãy]
‘father’
Mánja
[mãdza]
‘oil palm’
Yánmiát
[jãmùãt]
‘female’
[ ũ ] Nasalized high back round vowel
Wùn
[wũ]
‘mud’
Dun
[dũ]
‘sleep’
Kùn
[kũ]
‘three’
Kùntùn
[kũtũ]
‘climb’
[ Õ ] Nasalized mid high back rounded vowel
Ronxil
[rõxil]
‘dust’
Wong
[wõg]
‘song’
Yárong
[járõg]
‘children’
Tárbronpunt
[tárbrõpuat]
‘ninety’
[ ‫ ] כ‬nasalized mid low rounded vowel
Króng
[kr‫כ‬g]
‘crocodile’
Tarónkóng
[jar‫כ‬k‫ כ‬g]
‘chicken’
Bónyir
[b‫כ‬jir]
‘needle’
Kón
[k‫] כ‬
‘get (obtain)’
2.3
YIWOM CONSONANT SYSTEM
Yiwom language attests the following consonants. They
are shown according to their articulatory features.
Bilabial plosive stops (P,b)
/P/
Yiwom
transcription
‘Gloss’
Pák
[pák]
‘mouth’
Páni
[páni]
‘know’
Bam
[bam]
‘ear’
Bábáp
[bábáp]
‘hawk’
Mùér
[mùέr]
‘fat’
Mùtonk
[mùt‫כ‬ηk]
‘wine’ (beer)
Nbóntil
[nb‫כ‬til]
‘buttock’
Nshám
[nsám]
‘louse’
/b/
NASALS (m, n, y)
/m/
/n/
/y/
Ankwa
[άηkwά]
‘dwell’
Ngùlùk
[ηùlùk]
‘vulture’
Kùm
[kùm]
‘navel’
Kel
[kel]
‘knife’
Giwá
[giwά]
‘elephant’
Gbák
[gbak]
leg
tist
[tist]
‘man’
tik
[tik]
‘body’
Diaùm
[diaùm]
‘jaw’
Diak
[diak]
‘remember’
Velar stop (k, g)
/k/
/g/
Alveolar stops (t, d)
/t/
/d/
Palatal Alveolar Fricative /s/
/s/
Shép
[Sέp]
‘tree’
Shém
[Sέm]
‘blood’
Labic-dental fricative (f, v)
/f/
Fim
[fim]
‘thread’
Fin
[fĩ]
‘grinding
Sim
[sim]
‘skin’
Sám
[sάm]
‘yam’
{dάmisá}
‘leopard’
Hak
[hάk]
‘stomach’
Hae
[hάe]
‘neck’
[vùvùk]
‘glass’
stone’
Alveolar fricative /s/
/s/
/z/
Dámisá
Glottal fricative /h/
/h/
Labio-dental Fricative
/v/
Vùvùk
Alveolar trill /r/
/r/
Rógó
[rógó ]
‘cassava’
Rigiyá
[ridzijά]
‘well’
Alveolar lateral /l/
/l/
Lep
[lep]
‘take’
Léyán
[lέjά]
‘give birth’
Palato Alveolar Affricates /ts, dz/
/dz/
Jáki
[dzάki]
‘donkey’
Jiká
[dzikά]
‘wet’
[tsέté]
‘jump’
Yém
[jem]
‘iron’
Yakpiyin
[jάkpiyĩ]
‘room’
/ts/
Chenle
Palatal approximate /j/
/j/
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
MANNER
OF
BILABIAL
ARTICULATION
LABIO-
ALVEOLA
PALATO-
DENTA
R
ALVEOLA
L
VELAR
P, b
t, d
k, g
NASALS
m
n
y
f, v
GLOTTA
L
L
R
STOP
FRICATIVES
PALATA
s, z
AFFRICATES
S
h
ts, dz
LATERAL
l
TRILL
r
APPROXIMATE
j
S
CONSONANT CHART OF YIWOM LANGUAGE
2.4
TONE SYSTEM
According to pike (1948:43), a tone language is the one
that has a contrastive and lexically significant but relative pitch
on each syllable.
In the languages, Welmer (1977:77-05) observes that pitch
plays a phonemic role because it serves to make meaning
distinction. In individual morphemes, such tone distinction
indicate lexical contract among words in tone language.
Yiwom is atone language and so has a tonal system. In
Yiwom, pitch is used to make a distinction between one level of
meaning and another.
We have two types of tone namely 1.
register tone
2.
contour tone
Yiwom language operates the register tone pattern.
Register tone appears to have a fixed pitch level such that, we
can have following: i.
High tone (D O \)
ii.
Mid tone (R E - )
iii.
Low tone (M I / )
Tone can be used to distinguish between two words of
same spelling.
Examples of word with high tone (Do) in Yiwom language.
High tone (DO /)
i. Báng
[bãg]
‘mat’
Báng
[bãg]
‘father’
Mid tone (RE – )
Tir
[tir]
‘in-law’
Tir
[tir]
‘push’
Yán
[jã]
‘child’
Yán
[jã]
‘son’
Low tone (m /)
2.5
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF YIWON LANGUAGE
A syllable can either be of the following:
i.
Mono-syllabic
ii.
DI- syllabic
iii.
Tri- syllabic
Mono-syllabic word are words that have a ingle syllable.
Examples
Yit
[jit]
‘eye’
Bam
[bάm]
‘ear’
Hak
[hάk]
‘belly’
Di- syllabic words have two syllables.
Examples
Rógó
[rógó]
‘cassava’
Shida
[sidά]
‘pepper’
Vùvùk
[Vùvùk]
‘Grass’
Tri – syllabic are words that have three syllables.
Examples
Tùwótik
[tùwótik]
‘hair’
Tákátis
[tάkάtis]
‘right’
Yiwom language operates the following syllable structure.
i.
CV structure
ii.
CVC structure
iii.
CVCV structure
iv.
CVV structure
v.
CVCC structure
Examples of syllable structures are shown below
CV STRUCTURE
i. fin
‘grinding stone’
[fĩ]
cv
ii.
wun
[wũ]
Cv
‘mud’
iii.
shin
[sĩ]
cv
‘frog ‘
CVC STRUCTURE
i.
Kùm
[kùm]
VC
‘navel’
ii.
Shép
[Sέp]
CVC
‘tree’
iii.
Pák
[pάk]
CVC
‘mouth’
CVCV STRUCTURE
i.
rógó
[rógó]
CVCV
‘cassava’
ii.
Tibá
[tibά]
CVCV
‘tobacco’
iii.
Séni
{séni}
CVCV
‘cotton’
CV V STRUCTURE
i.
Tau
[tau]
CVV
‘arrow’
ii.
Hae
[hάe]
CVV
‘neck’
iii.
Láa
[lάά]
CVV
‘cow’
CVCC STRUCTURE
i.
Sánk
[sάηk ]
CVCC
‘sweet’
ii.
Lẹng
[lέηg]
CVCC
‘swallow’
iii.
Tist
[tist ]
CVCC
‘Man’
a.
PHRASE STRUCTURE RULE
Phrase structure rules are rules that describe what a
grammatical sentence in a language looks like, Cook (1986:86).
Phrase structure rule of the sentence is a hierarchy that
proceeds from the largest constituent, until only single terms are
left. Phrase structure rules are expressed as phrase markers,
marking out various syntactic constituents. The constituents are
realized finally as phrase makers, shown in the form of tree
diagrams.
They
break
down
structure
into
their
major
constituents, which are further broken down into smaller nodes
or strings.
In this research, the Government and Binding version of
the transformational generative grammar will be used to examine
the Yiwom verb phrase. The Yiwom verb phrase can be
summarized as follows: Ci
-
spec CI
Ci
-
C Ip
IP
-
spec
Ii
-
I VP
I
-
Tns Agr
VP
-
spec V
Vi
-
V (NP) (PP) (ADVP)
NP
-
spec Ni
Ni
-
(Det) N (ADJP) ( PPi ) ( Si )
ADJC
-
Spec A
Ai
-
Det A
PP
-
Spec F
Pi
-
P NP
The above may be represented diagrammatically as follows:
C P
CI
C
Spec
C
IP
Spec
II
I
VP
NII
Spec
spec
Det
PP
NI
N
ADJ
spec
PI
P
NP
Example in Yiwom language
Mizeng
yaduom
haat
Mizeng
hate
dog
Mizeng
hates
dogs
IP
Spec
II
I
VP
Tns Agr
{tpres}
spec VI
V
NP
NI
N
Mizeng
b.
Yaduom haat
Mizeng
hate
dog
Mizeng
hates
dogs
LEXICAL CATEGORIES IN YIWON LANGUAGE
Lexical categories in Yiwom language are listed below: i.
Noun
ii.
Adjective
iii.
Preposition
NOUN
In Yiwom language, it is an element that functions as the
subject or object of a verb or preposition.
Examples of noun in Yiwom language are:
NP
N (Det)
i. Bang
Father
ye
my
‘My father’
ii.
A krum
The man
‘The man’
iii.
Peri ka piya
NP
Horse the white
‘The white horse’
NI
Spec
N
AP
Det
AI
Peri
Ka
piya
Horse
the white
The
white horse
NP
NI
Spec
Det
A
The
‘The
N
krum
man
man’
ADJECTIVE
Adjective qualify a noun in Yiwom language. They perform
lexical and grammatical functions. The following adjective shows
the examples in Yiwom language.
AP
A (NP)
i.
krum
Man
“Short
gup
short
man”
ii.
klup
Bag
“Small
pasi
small
bag”
AP
Spec
AI
NI
NP
Klup
bag
“Small
A
Pasi
small
bag”
AP
Spec
AI
NP
A
NI
Krum
man
“short
gup
short
man”
PREPOSITION
In Yiwom language, noun or pronoun is the one that ends
the preposition in a sentence.
Examples in Yiwom language
PI ( N )
PP
i.
yak piyin
Inside house
“Inside the house”
ii.
hil siminti
On floor
PP
“On the floor”
iii.
pak piyin
By door
“By the door"
Spec
PI
P
NP
NI
pak
Piyin
by
door
“by the door”
PP
PI
Spec
P
NP
NI
.
siminti
Hi
floor
On
“on the floor”
PP
Spec
PI
P
NP
NI
yak
Piyin
Inside
house
“Inside the house”
c.
BASIC WORD ORDER IN YIWON
Just as language can be classified in terms of their genetic
relationships, they can equally be classified with reference to
their typological classes and orders.
Crystal (1985:389) describes word order as the sequential
arrangement of words in a sentence.
Greenberg (1966) explains that word is the manner, the
subject, verb and object co-occurs in any simple declarative
sentence.
According to Tomlin (1986:102), 45% of languages are
SOV, 42% are SVO, 3% are VOS, a percent VSO and less than
1% are OVS and OSV.
This clearly means that there are six different possible form
of word order in human language.
Yiwom language operates SVO i.e. subject, verb, object
word order. The subject occupies initial positive indicating the
first referent in the sentence while verb is the element that
assigns functional roles to the subject and object in a
construction. The object comes after the verb that assigns role to
both of them. Examples to illustrate this are shown below: i.
Kromsing
Kromsing
S
“Kromsing
ii.
Mizeng
Mizeng
S
“Mizeng
dip
moto
buy
car
V
O
bought a car”
dik
eluk
build
house
V
O
built the house
iii.
Krombet
Krombet
S
Krombet
tuk
zaki
kill
lion
V
O
killed a lion
IP
IP
Spec
II
Spec
I
Tns
VP
Agr
Spec
NP
VI
I
NP
N
moto
car
a car
Spec
VI
Past
NP
NI
N
dip
buy
bough
Agr
V
NI
Kromsing
Kromsing
Kromsing
VP
NI
Tns
V
II
N
Mizeng
Mizeng
Mizeng
dik
eluk
build
House
built the House
IP
II
Spec
NP
I
VP
NI
Tns
N
Agr
Spec
VI
Past
V
NP
NI
N
Krombet
Krombet
“Krombet
d.
tuk
zakk
kill
lion
killed a lion”
SENTENCE TYPES
Sentence is described classical grammarians as a group of
words, which make a statement, a command, expresses a wish,
ask a question or makes an exclamation (Yusuf 1998:101).
Pink and Thomas (1970:81) states sentence is a group of
words makes a complete sentence with a least finite verb or
main verb.
Winter and Murray (1985:512) says traditional grammarian
classified sentence into three different types of simple,
compound and complex sentence.
i.
Simple Sentence
Simple sentence contains one independent clause and no
subject and predicate.
Pink and Thomas (1970:12) defined simple sentence as
just containing only one finite declarative verb. Examples of
simple sentence in Yiwom are: (1)
Shemuk
so rim.
Shemuk
eat beans.
“ Shemuk ate beans.”
(2)
Krombet tang sobesono
Krombet finish lunch .
“Krombet finished the lunch”.
ii.
Compound Sentence
Winter and Murray (1985:513) defined compound sentence
as what made up of two or more independent clauses but no
subordinate clause.
Close (1974:40) defined a compound sentence as a kind of
sentence that has two or more clauses that are linked by
coordinating conjunctions in the same was as the separate part
of a single clause.
Yusuf (1997:129) defined compound sentence as a kind of
sentence recursion. The same clausal category re-occur over
and are all linked by conjunctions e.g. ‘but’ or ‘and’
Examples in Yiwom language
i.
Mizeng lam mukrum walko, korasa yarda.
Mizeng deceive people and lose trust
“Mizeng deceives the people and loses their trust.”
ii.
Lokochin son aruni anani
When I entered I saw him
“When I entered, I saw him”
iii.
Complex Sentence
Winter and Murray (1985:513) defined complex sentences
as sentence that composed of one independent clause and one
or more subordinate clauses.
According to Yusuf (1977:63), a complex sentence is a
sentence embedded in one of the phrase categories NP or VP.
Complex sentence are these sentence that can be analyzed as
consisting of a number of simple sentence with WH-structure
such as who, whose, where and with.
Examples
i.
Akrum son lukye idong sosai ne mut kajenmu
Man whose house beautiful die (ed) yesterday
“The man whose house is beautiful died yesterday.”
ii.
Shemuk tulk bakanye mukel
Shemuk kill (ed) goat with knife
“Shemuk killed the goat with a knife”.
CHAPER THREE
THE YIWOM VERB PHRASE TYPES
3.0
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we shall investigate the nature and
structure of verb phrase in Yiwom language. The syntactic
position of verb within its phrase as well as the logical possible
satellites which can co-occur with verb to form a phrase shall be
examined as well. Also, the phrase structure rules describe what
a grammatical sentence in a language is and analyze utterance
in terms of syntactic constituents.
3.1
THE YIWOM VERB PHRASE PARAMETERS
In Yiwom verb phrase the verb contains at least a head as
well as other constituents. The concept known as the head
parameter In Yiwom language specifies the order of element in a
sentence.
Examples are shown below in Yiwom language.
I. Mang
carry
Kuati
box
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS.
2.0
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, some insight into the phonology of Yiwom
language is presented. This includes the sound inventory, the
tone inventory and the syllable inventory. Also, the basic
syntactic concepts, phrase structure rules, lexical categories
basic word order and sentence types are discussed.
2.1
DEFINING PHONOLOGY
Phonology deals with the function and patterning of
sounds. Oyebade (1988:2) says that phonology is the scientific
study of the arbitrary vocal symbols used in human speech and
the patterns into which these symbols enter to produce intelligent
utterances. Specifically, phonology is concerned with the
function, behaviour and organization of sounds as linguistic
items.