THE MERNYANG VERB PHRASE
OLAOYE OLUWATOSIN IFE
07/15CB081
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGES, FACULTY OF
ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN, KWARA STATE
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR
THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS
(HONS.) IN LINGUISTICS
MAY, 2011
CERTIFICATION
This essay has been read and certified as meeting the requirements of the department
of Linguistics and Nigerian languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria.
________________________
____________
DR. (MRS.) B.E. AROKOYO
DATE
PROJECT SUPERVISOR
_________________________
____________
PROF. A.S. ABDUSSALAM
DATE
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT
________________________
____________
EXTERNAL EXAMINER
DATE
ii
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to Almighty God, who has kept and preserved me all
through my year of study in this University; He is my rock, my refuge, my shield and
provider.
I also wish to dedicate it to the memory of my late parents (Late Mr. and Mrs.
Olaoye).
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
My sincere gratitude and appreciation goes to the alpha and omega of my life, who
through his infinite mercy guided me and make me whom I am today, without Him behind
me, my success in education wouldn’t have become a reality – God, I’m so grateful. Also, to
my wonderful and ever remembered parents (Late Mr. and Mrs. S.O. Olaoye), I say a big
thank you for putting my feet on the path of success through education.
I am also indebted to all the members of Agape Baptist Church for their kind
gestures in prayers and otherwise. Indeed, it is truly one Lord, one love and one baptism.
May the Almighty God uphold his church and take it to a greater height.
My heartfelt acknowledgement and appreciation go to the Adekeye family and
Olaoye/Banigbe royal family, most especially to Mr. Kayode Adekeye for the fatherly role
he played throughout my education period, may God continue to meet your needs. You are
truly a father.
My special thanks goes to all the lecturers in the department of linguistics and
Nigerian languages, who in their wealth of academic proficiency and knowledge have
enriched my life this far, especially to my project supervisor (Dr. B.E. Arokoyo) for
everything she did for me as a mother, lecturer and supervisor, I say the Lord will reward
you real good. I am highly grateful ma.
Also, to all the 400 level linguistics students, most importantly my three greatest pal;
Oyinloye Mayowa, Adeleke Ridwan and Olorunoje Kazeem, I say thanks for always being
there for me, truly, you are friends indeed. Special thanks to Akogun Rasheedat, Adefila
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Rasheedat (Alja) and Abioye Halimat (Hajia lima), without you girls, school life would have
been boring and miserable. And to the fair, glittering and beautiful angel – Precious, you are
special, thanks for your all time concerns and support in making this project a huge success.
Lest I become an ingrate, I appreciate Pastor Ajilore for his all time prayers over me,
and Mrs. Oludare (Iya – Kpee) for her care and motherly roles. May Almighty God reward
you exceedingly.
Lastly, I am profoundly grateful and full of appreciation to my loving, caring and
amiable sisters and brother (Olaoye Omotayo) for their support and words of encouragement
all through my studying day, specially to Mrs. Omolara Adefila, I am unreservedly grateful
for sacrificing your time and energy for me in writing this project – you are wonderful,
Okun omo iya wa ko ni ja o. to the entire people of Pan Kingdom (Mernyang speakers) most
especially Long Kwa I am grateful unto you for the accommodation, help and concern,
indeed, you have made this project a huge success. God in his infinite mercy will reward
you. Thanks a lot.
And to every other people that have contributed to the success of this project, I say a
mega thanks to you all.
v
LIST OF SYMBOLS
IP
Inflectional phrase
Spec
Specifier
I
Inflection
NP
Noun Phrase
N
Noun
Det
Determiner
VP
Verb Phrase
V
Verb
PP
Prepositional Phrase
P
Preposition
Adj. P
Adjectival Phrase
Adj.
Adjective
TNS
Tense
AGR
Agreement
FP
Focus Phrase
Adv.
Adverb
FM
Focus Marker
CP
Complementizer Phrase
C
Complementizer
GB
Government and Binding
Means rewritten as
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title Page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
List of Symbols
v
Table of Contents
vi
CHAPTER ONE
1.0
General Background to the study/Introduction
1
1.1
Historical Background of the people (speakers)
1
1.2
Socio-cultural profile of Mernyang speaker
2
1.2.1 Occupation
2
1.2.2 Belief
3
1.2.3 Religion
3
1.2.4 Kingship and leadership
4
1.2.5 Marriage
5
1.2.6 Food
6
1.2.7 Festivals
6
1.2.8 Dressings
7
1.3
7
Genetic classification of the language
vii
1.4
Geographical location of the speakers
8
1.5
Scope and organization of study
9
1.6
Data collection
9
1.7
Data analysis
11
1.8
Brief review of the chosen framework
11
1.8.1 X-bar theory
14
1.8.2 Theta (Ө) theory
16
1.8.3 Case theory
17
1.8.4 Binding theory
18
1.8.5 Government theory
19
CHAPTER TWO
2.0
Introduction
21
2.1
Brief phonological analysis of Mernyang language
21
2.1.1 Mernyang sound system
21
2.1.2 Sound distribution
22
2.1.3 Tonal system in Mernyang
43
2.1.4 Syllable structure of Mernyang
44
2.2
48
Lexical categories
2.2.1 Nouns
48
2.2.1.1
49
Proper Nouns
viii
2.2.1.2
Common Nouns
49
2.2.1.3
Concrete Nouns
49
2.2.1.4
Abstract Nouns
50
2.2.1.5
Collective Nouns
50
2.2.2 Pronouns
50
2.2.3 Adjectives
51
2.2.4 Adverbs
52
2.2.5 Prepositions
52
2.2.6 Conjunctions
52
2.2.7 Verbs
53
2.3
Phrase Structure Rules (PSR)
53
2.4
Phrasal Categories
54
2.4.1 Noun Phrase
55
2.4.2 Adjectival Phrase
56
2.4.3 Prepositional Phrase
57
2.5
Basic Word Order
58
2.6
Sentence Types
60
2.6.1 Simple Sentence
60
2.6.1.1
Declarative Sentence
62
2.6.1.2
Imperative Sentence
62
2.6.1.3
Interrogative Sentence
63
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2.6.1.4
Exclamatory Sentence
63
2.6.2 Compound Sentence
63
2.6.3 Complex Sentence
64
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
Introduction
66
3.1
Verb Phrase and Head Parameter
66
3.1.1 Lexical Verbs
67
3.1.2 Auxiliary Verbs
68
3.1.2.1
Primary Auxiliary Verbs
68
3.1.2.2
Modal Auxiliary Verbs
69
3.2
Nature of Verbs
70
3.2.1 Transitive Verbs
70
3.2.2 Intransitive Verbs
71
3.3
72
Structure of Verb Phrase
3.3.1 Structure of Verb Phrase in Mernyang
72
3.3.2 Verbs with Sentential Complements
83
3.3.3 Verbs with Sentential Complements in Mernyang
84
3.3.3.1
Appearance Verbs
84
3.3.3.2
Epistemic Verbs
86
3.3.3.3
Reporting Verbs
88
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3.3.3.4
Desiderative Verbs
90
3.3.3.5
Causative Verbs
92
3.4
Phrasal Verbs in Mernyang
94
3.5
Verb Serialization in Mernyang
96
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
Introduction
99
4.1
Transformation
99
4.2
Predicate Cleft in Mernyang
100
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0
Introduction
109
5.1
Summary
109
5.2
Conclusion
110
5.3
Recommendations
110
Reference
111
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CHAPTER ONE
1.0
GENERAL BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION
In this project, I shall be examining one of the levels of linguistics that deals with the
arrangement of words to form sentence, that is SYNTAX, and my focus shall be on ‘Verb
Phrase’ an aspect, which can be referred to as the apex of syntax, with examples from
Mernyang language to buttress and establish my facts.
By definition, Yusuf O. (1997:1) says:
Syntax is the aspect of grammar, which deals with how words are put
together to form sentences and how such sentences are interpreted in natural
languages.
In the same vein, Horrocks (1987) defines syntax as the study of how sentences are
formed and understood.
From the above definitions, it can be gathered and submitted that syntax as a level of
linguistics is concerned with the study of how words are strung together in an agreeable way
to form acceptable and grammatical sentence in a language.
Like I have earlier said, I shall be looking at the Verb Phrase with examples, from
Mernyang language as a language of study in this research.
1.1
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
Oral history have it that the Mernyang people are descendant of Kofyar people who
lived on top of the hills in Qua’anpan Local Government Area of Plateau States.
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Mernyang people were said to leave the top the hill and come down to the ground
because of their desire to cultivate and toil the land, which is certainly not possible on the
hill. As a result of the height of the hill from the ground and the hardship faced by the
people when climbing the hills, some decided to stayed back and make an abode for
themselves on the plane ground, while those that have the strength to climb the hills still
took the top of the hill as their residence. Despite this, the Kofyar and the Mernyang people
still see themselves as one and their bond of unity wax stronger everyday.
Presently, of all the villages and communities under Qua’anpan Local Government
Area, Mernyang standout to be the dominant group, and they are known as ‘Kwa chiefdom’
by the neighbouring villages, while they officially call themselves Pan people.
2005 National census states that the community has 10,000 people living within it,
and they have about 95,000 speakers of the language scattered round the nooks and crannies
of Plateau (Jos) State.
1.2
SOCIO-CULTURAL PROFILE OF MERNYANG
This has to do with the relationship between the society and culture. It is also
concern with the people’s ways of life like; Marriage, Occupation, Religion, Belief,
Kingship, Festivals, Dressings.
1.2.1 Occupation
The major and predominant occupation of the Mernyang people (speakers) is
agriculture. That is farming and animal rearing while the women only lend hand during
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harvesting period. They plant crops like; millet, guinea corn, maize, tubers etc and rear
animals such as; cow, sheep and fowls.
The people also engaged in hunting and trading especially during the dry season
aside farming and animal rearing which are well and properly practiced during the raining
season.
1.2.2 Belief
Just like the Yorubas, the Kwa people (Mernyang speakers) also belief in the
reincarnation. They belief the ghost of their ancestor did not depart from them after death,
but still very much around them.
In honouring and acknowledging this fact, a dance festival called SualBeets is
usually organized at the middle of each year to celebrate the presence of their dead ancestor
with them. This dance (SualBeet) is usually in the company of masquerades who are not
regarded as human beings, but spirit of their living dead.
1.2.3 Religion
Before the coming of the white missionaries, the Mernyang people are Idol
worshippers and they have different shrines where they worship their numerous deities.
However, the arrival of the catholic missionaries in the first decade of the 20th century
altered a paid visit to the people with the aim of Christianizing them. Also, the people’s
encounter with the Hausas and Tivs during hunting expedition and trading licensed Islamic
religion in the community.
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Today Kwa chiefdom and its people are known to be a community of both Muslims
and Christians, with the Muslims taking the lead.
1.2.4 Kingship and Leadership
The process of ruling in Kwa Chiefdom could be described as Monarchial in that
new king is appointed after the death of another one, and democratic in that the
enthronement of a new king after the death of another is not based on mere appointment but
on election and voting by the members of the community.
After the death of one king, interested and rightful people from the next royal family
(i.e. family which is the next to produce the successor to the throne) are made to come out
publicly and declare their interest to the entire community, while the people of the
community will thereafter vote for the one they think is responsible and capable for the task.
After this, the kingmaker will interview and assess the person presented to them by
the members of the community in order to be sure and ascertain of his competence to deal,
control and lead the community. If in the course of their (i.e. the kingmaker) assessment,
they discovered any shortcomings in the person presented to them, they returned him back to
the people and ask them (member of the community) to vote and present another person for
the post (i.e. throne). However, if no shortcoming is found in him, the kingmaker will
consult their oracle, carryout all the necessary rites on him and thereafter announce him as
the king of the community.
The village head is called ‘LON GWA’ which means the king of lawa chiefdom
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1.2.5 Marriage:
Marriage in Kwa community is very simple and straightforward. As usual the man
and the woman met, the man proposed and when they had both reach an agreement, they
went for the marriage ceremonies and celebration.
Before the woman is given to the man, the following steps are taken:
Firstly, the man who wants to marry will go in the company of his friends to his inlaws house to present his interest in their daughter and also to seek their approval. When
going, the man will take along with him a jar of their local gin ‘brukutu’ (properly called
‘i’skolo’ among the people in the community). In response to the man’s proposal, parent of
the bride will ask their daughter if she would take the man as her husband. If the girl admits,
they ask her to collect the jar of ‘brukutu’ brought by the man as a confirmation of her
interest to marry him, and if she doesn’t, the jar of the brukutu will be rejected and the man
will be sent away.
After this, the next step will be, asking the man to bring his parent so that the two
families will both dialogue and choose the day for their traditional wedding.
On the day of the traditional wedding, items such as: A keg of palm oil, a bag of salt,
3 cartons of magi cube, 5 goats and 2 rams, 10 fowls and a basket of Benny seed (their local
seed meal) will be brought by the groom’s family for the bride price
After the payment of the bride price and every other requirement, the groom’s family
will take their wife home. They may thereafter go for religious wedding if they so wish and
xvi
if they don’t, they may not go. What is important is that, traditional wedding has given them
the right to be husband and wife.
The above listed items are the common items demanded by the bride’s parent for the
bride price in the community. However, some families may want more or less of those
items.
1.2.6 Food:
As I have earlier said, the Mernyang speakers (Kwa people) are predominantly
farmers and they grow plant such as millet, maize, Benny seed, tuber etc, which are all used
in making their meals.
Some of their favourite meals include:
CHUGUM: It is made form millet or guinea corn, grounded with groundnuts,
melon, fish and mixed with palm oil and meat cut into pieces. It is made into a thick paste,
folded in corn leaves and cooked. The meal to them is nourishing, lasting and easy to
convey on a very long journey.
Other menu (food) items of the people are: Bala, ishang, gung-gugut, muos, maar,
hwan, jituon, chagar etc.
1.2.7 Festivals
Among many festivals that the community observed, the most important and most
celebrated are the ‘Shikaam’ and the ‘Sual-beet’
xvii
Shikaam Mernyang as it is called by the people is a festival that is staged by both the
Muslims and the Christians in the community in thanksgiving to God for his mercies and
blessing over them. The festival brings the sons and daughters of the community from all
walks of life together and thus, provide an avenue for them to rob mind together on what
could be done to ensure peace, unity, growth and development in their community. The
festival holds on every December of each year.
Sual-beet on the other hand is staged and embraced by the traditional worshippers.
The festival is used to celebrate and pay homage to their dead father (heroes) who according
to them do not leave them but still looking after them and prospering their ways after death.
The festival holds in the middle of the year (June/July) at the market square of the
community. The festival is done in the company of masquerades who are regarded as the
living dead.
1.2.8 Dressing
The peculiar mode of dressing of Kwa people (Mernyang speakers) is similar to that
of the Hausas. The men dressed in ‘babarija’ or ‘dansiki’ with a cap, while the woman
dressed in ‘iro’ and ‘buba’, tying the ‘iro’ around their waist in such a manner that it will
leave the calf of their leg uncovered.
1.3
GENETIC CLASSIFICATION
According to Greenberg (1996:129), African languages are classified into four (4):
Afro-Asiatic, Niger-Kordofanian, Nilo Sahara and Khoisan, while each has sub-families.
xviii
Niger Kordofanian is the largest with two sub-families namely Niger Congo and Niger
Kordofanian
The diagram below shows the sub-family where Mernyang language belongs.
AFRO-ASIATIC
Ancient Egytian
Semitic
North Chadic
West Chadic
Chadic Berber Cushitic
East Chadic
A2
South Chadic
A3 (Angas-Gerka)
Angas proper
1
Cakfem-mushere
Bwal
Doemak
Jorto
Goram
2
Kofyar
Miship
Jepal
Kofyar
Mwagharul
Kwalla
MERNYANG
Figure 1: Genetic classification of Mernyang
(Adapted from www.ethnolgue.com/show=language.asp? Code-kwl
xix
Ngas
1.4
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE LANGUAGE/PEOPLE
Mernyang is located at Kwa district of Qua’anpan local government area of Plateau
state. They line in the southern part of plateau state, north of Nazarawa State and southeast
of Kaduna State.
Mernyang is along Lafia/Jos road. From Jos, it is 200km and 120km from Lafia
(Nazarawa State).
1.5
SCOPE AND ORGANIZATION OF STUDY
This project work aimed at examining the Verb Phrase of Mernyang language.
Other aspects that are probed into in this work includes; the phonological concept of
the language. For easy, proper and convenient assessment, the work is divided into five
chapters with each chapter having its own peculiarity.
Chapter one introduced the language of study with respect to its historical
background, socio-cultural profile and genetic classification. It also covers the research
methodology as well as the review of literatures.
Chapter two deals with the phonological concept of the language and the basic
syntactic concept peculiar to the language.
Chapter three introduced and analysed the research work, which is the Verb Phrase
of the language.
Chapter four examines the major transformational process that has to do Verb
Phrase, which is predicate cleft.
xx
The summary of all the chapters, conclusion, recommendation and list of references
make-up chapter five.
1.6
DATA COLLECTION
The method employed in collecting important linguistics information about the
language of study is the use of the Ibadan 400 word-list of basic items and frame techniques
method (i.e. construction of simple phrases and sentences in English language)
The word list helps to obtain both phonetic and phonemic consonants and vowel
system of the language, while the frame technique helps to get the basic syntactic concepts,
which the word list cannot provide in the language. All these are made possible through the
help of bilingual informant who are also native speaker of Mernyang language.
Below are the profiles of my language helpers.
INFORMANT 1
NAME:
Mr. Amos Datugun
AGE:
40 years
SEX:
Male
OCCUPATION:
Nurse
LANGUAGE:
Mernyang
HOME-TOWN:
Kwa
NUMBER OF YEARS SPENT IN HIS HOME TOWN: 35 years
xxi
INFORMANT 2
NAME:
Mr. Michael Loetan
AGE:
50 years
SEX:
Male
OCCUPATION:
Civil servant
LANGUAGE:
Mernyang
HOME-TOWN:
Kwa
NUMBER OF YEARS SPENT IN HIS HOME-TOWN: 40 years
1.7
DATA ANALYSIS
In order to achieve the goal set before this project work, X-bar theory, which is a
module/sub-category of government and binding theory is employed in the analysis of the
data collected through frame technique method from my informant.
The reason for using frame techniques is because this research work is based on
syntax.
At this juncture, it is important to point out that all the information on the historical
background and socio-cultural profile of the language and its speakers as contained in this
project are provided (narrated) by one of the village elders in the community in person of
Alh. Mahama Dapele.
xxii
1.8
BRIEF REVIEW OF THE CHOSEN FRAME WORK
Like I have earlier mentioned, the theoretical framework adopted in the analysis of
data in this research work is Government and Binding theory.
This theory which operates through the modules of grammar, x-bar, case, control,
binding, bounding, government and movement theories was propounded by Chomsky in
(1981).
Haegeman (1994:3) defined Government and Binding theory as a theory of universal
grammar, which is the system of all principles that are common to all human languages. GB
theory is a radical revision of Chomsky’s earlier theory in (1981) and was later revised in
the minimalist programme of (1993).
Government and binding theory is a theory of syntax in the tradition of
transformational grammar, and it is a more advanced theory of universal grammar. GB
theory greatly eliminates proliferation of transformational rules like, affix hopping,
passivization, question formation, equi-NP deletion, verb number, insertion, agreement etc.
In the current Government and Binding framework, distinction is made between the
two types of categories we have;
i.
Lexical category
ii.
Functional category
Lexical category in any human language includes, noun, verb, adjective and
preposition, while functional categories includes elements like; complementizer, tense,
inflectional, determiner focus, agreement etc.
xxiii
Syntactically, while the lexical categories projects up to a single bar level and
terminate there, thus making endless reason possible with the aid of elements like
complements and modifiers, the functional categories project up to the specifier of XP level
thus sealing off the projection. A specifier is an element that closes off a category projection.
Lexical categories are represented with the aid of tree diagrams below:
NP
=
N” (XP)
Spec
N
Det
N0
The
boy
VP = V”
Spec
AP
V’
Spec
V0
dance
PP = P”
Spec P’
P0
In
xxiv
=
A”
A’
Det
A0
very
well
Functional categories are also represented with the aid of diagram below:
FP
DP
F1
Spec
O1
Spec
F
IP
D (head)
NP
I
IP
CP
I1
Spec
I
Spec
VP
C1
C (head)
IP
V1
V
NP
The maximal projection of a lexical node is the phrasal node with the maximum
number of that level. For example, the maximal projection on N is N”
Since the Government and Binding theory is a modular deductive theory of
grammar, it has some sub-categories (theories) with which transformation operates.
The sub-theories of GB are:
-
X-bar theory
-
Theta (Ө) theory
-
Case theory
-
Control theory
-
Bounding theory
-
Government theory
xxv
X-BAR THEORY
PROJECTION
PRINCIPLE
D-STRUCTURE
LEXICON
Move – α
(Bounding)
Ө - THEORY
(Ө - CRITERION)
Case theory
(case filter)
S-STRUCTURE
ECP
CONTROL
BINDING
PHONETIC FORM
LOGICAL FORM
Figure 2: Modules of Grammar
(Adapted from Sells (1985) and Cook (1988)).
xxvi
The above listed sub-theories of GB are briefly examined below:
1.8.1 X-Bar theory
The central core of x-bar theory is the recognition of the fact that (most) phrasal
constituents have head upon which the other elements of the constituents in question are
depended.
Horrocks (1987:101) submits that, x-bar theory provides principles for the projection
of phrasal categories from lexical categories and imposes conditions on the hierarchical
organization of categories in the form of general schemata. X-bar theory makes expiate the
notion ‘head of a phrase’.
According to Chomsky (1986:13), x-bar theory makes a distinction between lexical
and non-lexical categories.
Cook (1988:103) states that X-bar is a theory of the phrase structure of the deep
structure of a sentence. The x-bar theory proposes that all phrases in all human languages
share a simple cell-like structure with two levels, of one of which consist of the ‘head’ (X’)
and the possible specifier. The other consists the head and the possible complements. The
separate principle for expanding X” and X’ may be combined together in a single formular.
The x-bar theory also uses bar for S to distinguish between S and principles of X-bar theory.
XP
X
X”
Specifier X’
X’
Complement
XP represent any phrasal categories like NP, VP, AP, PP etc.
xxvii
Below is the tree diagram that illustrates Noun Phrase: the driver of the king.
N” (NP)
N’
Spec
Det
P”
N
P’
V”
P
The
driver
of
Spec
N’
Det
N
the
king
1.8.2 Theta (Ө) theory
Another module under GB theory is theta theory. The submission of this theory is
that a lexical category will have Ө-attribute either as a receiver or an assigner.
Horrocks (1987: 101-102) says, Ө-theory is concerned with the assignment of what
Chomsky called ‘thematic’ roles to sentential constituents. By thematic roles, Chomsky
means that what have been called semantic roles such as agent, patient, thema etc. It is
assumed that these are assigned to the complements of lexical items as a lexical property.
For example:
Play the ball on the pitch
The NP complement ‘the ball’ is assigned the role of patient or theme, while the PP
complement is assigned the role of location.
xxviii
In all, the fundamental task of Ө-theory is to determine the circumstance (i.e. the
syntactic position) occupied by an NP as well as the governor of such position in the
sentence.
Examples
The goalkeeper threw the ball to the opponent
The goalkeeper
subject
The ball
direct object
The opponent
indirect object
The main principle of Ө-theory is Ө criterion, which requires each thematic role to
be uniquely assigned. This is to say that, ‘each argument bear one and only one Ө-role and
each Ө-role is assigned to one and only one argument’ Yusuf O. (1998:24). The commonly
expressed roles are: agent, theme, instrument, locative, (goal, source, direction) and a few
more.
Yusuf stressed further that participants are assigned these roles in the D-structure.
Whatever it is, the V or P, assigns Ө roles to their governed complement while the INFL
assigns a role to the subject NP.
The thrust of Ө-criterion is that every argument (be it subject, direct or indirect
object) must have a Ө-role.
xxix
1.8.3 Case theory
According to Horrocks (1989:102) case theory deals with the principle of case
assignment to the constituents.
Yusuf O. (1998:26) defines case theory as a theory that do primarily with the forms
that NPs take in different syntactic enthronement.
Basically, the assignment of case is done under Government theory in which the
choice of case is determined by the governor.
Yusuf went further to say that adjacency is required for case assignment. This is to
say that, case assignees and the assignors must be contiguous with no barrier blocking the
discharge of the (abstract) case.
He also makes it clear that, the case assignors are always head of their phrases and
are adjacent to their complements that receive the case (Pg. 28)
The three common case under Government and Binding theory are:
-
Nominative case assigned by tensed INFL.
-
Accusative case assigned by verb
-
Oblique case assigned by preposition
1.8.4 Binding theory
Madjaer (1991:46) refers to binding theory as a theory that is concerned with the
syntactic domains in which NPs can and cannot be construed as ‘co-referential’
xxx
Yusuf O. (1998:45) in his own view states that ‘binding theory is concerned with the
relationships of NP participants in the sentence precisely, could some NP be related to
another NP by being co-referential in the sentences.
Chomsky (1988:52) submits that building theory deals with the connection among
Noun Phrases that have to do with such semantic properties as dependence or reference,
including the connection between the pronouns and its antecedent.
The implication of the above definitions is that, binding theory deals with the coreferential relationship among NPs in the same sentence. That is how NPs co-referred or
indexed one another in a simple sentence.
NPs that are argument are assumed to fall into one of these three categories:
-
Anaphors
-
Pronominals
-
Referential expressions
1.8.4.1
Anaphors
These are NP types that must have antecedents they depend on for existence in
some definite place in the sentence. Reciprocals and reflexive pronoun fall under
the class. E.g.
Ade hurts himself
‘Himself’ in the above sentence refers back to Ade. Therefore Ade is the
antecedent, which licenced it existence
xxxi
1.8.4.2
Pronominals
There are NPs that lack specific lexical content and have only the features,
person, number, gender and case. They either refer to individuals independently
or co-refer to the individuals already mentioned. E.g.
Bola greeted her another
‘Her’ may refer to the individual denoted by Bola, or an individual not
mentioned in the sentence
1.8.4.3
Referential expression
These are NPs with lexical heads, which potentially refers to something.
Referential expression is also known as R-expression and they are NPs with
lexical ability to refer to without necessarily having any antecedent to license
their existence.
Bola says Kunle should be flogged
‘Bola and Kunle’ in the above example are two different persons. That is they are
not co-referring each other.
1.8.5 Government theory
Madjaer (1991:495) says Government theory is concerned with the relationship
between a head and its complements and defines relationship in other sub-theories. Yusuf O.
(1998:140) says Government theory is a primitive theory in that it is a long known fact of
xxxii
grammar that a verb governs its object (where the object could be NP, PP, CP ----) while the
pre/post position governs its object also.
The implication of this is that verb will govern the NP object that directly followed
it, while preposition governs it own NP object. Thus, verb like come, write, break etc govern
their NP object, and where preposition is found, (i.e. preposition like in, on, under, to etc),
the NP that follows is govern by such preposition and not by the verb.
Government theory is extended through the principle of proper govern, which nonlexical categories do not.
According to Chomsky (1986) cited in Yusuf O. (1998:42) the principle of proper
government proffers that;
β is properly governed by α if it is governed by α and a certain kind of connection
holds between α and β.
xxxiii
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPT
2.0
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will first explore the basic phonological concepts such as sound
inventory, tonal system and syllable structure of Mernyang language in that the language has
never been worked upon before. Thereafter, the chapter will examine the syntactic concepts
like; lexical categories, phrase structure rules, basic word order and sentence types of the
language.
2.1
BRIEF PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF MERNYANG
Mernyang language consists of forty-four (44) sounds with twenty-eight (28)
consonants, eight (8) oral vowels and eight (8) nasal vowels.
2.1.1 Mernyang Sound System
Using the international phonetic alphabets (IPA) chart, the consonants and vowels
sounds of Mernyang are illustrated in the chart below:
xxxiv
CONSONANT CHART OF MERNYANG
PLACE OF ARTICULATION
MANNER
OF
bilabial labio-
ARTICULATION
STOP
alveolar
dental
IMPLOSIVE
d
b
NASAL
k g
v
s
z
AFFRICATE
∫
LATERAL
l
CENTRAL
r
ROLL
r
w
j
Figure 3: Consonant chart of Mernyang
THE ORAL VOWEL CHART OF MERNYANG
High
Mid-high
Mid-low
Low
Central
Back
i
u
ə
e
palatalized
velar
velar
kw
kj
Glottal
gj
h
t ∫ dЗ
Front
labialised
ŋ
n
f
APPROXIMANT
velar
d
m
FRICATIVE
palatal
alveolar
t
b
p
palato-
o
ε
‫כ‬
a
Figure 4: Oral Vowel Chart of Mernyang
xxxv
THE NASAL VOWEL CHART OF MERNYANG
Front
High
Central
Back
˜u
˜i
Mid-high
Mid-low
o˜
˜ə
˜e
ε˜
‫˜כ‬
Low
ã
Figure 5: Nasal Vowel Chart of Mernyang
2.1.2 SOUND DISTRIBUTION
[p]
Voiceless bilabial stop
word initial
pang
pan
pogovœl
[pãŋ]
[pã]
[p‫כ‬g‫כ‬vəl]
‘iron (meta)’
‘ram’
‘seven’
word medial
gœpang
lœparr
dapit
[gəpãŋ]
[ləpar]
[dapit]
‘house’
‘night’
‘monkey’
word final
chirep
dœp
sheep
[t∫irεp]
[dəp]
[∫eep]
‘fish’
‘penis’
‘firewood’
xxxvi
[b]
Voiced bilabial stop
word initial
bau
biat
bœtlœ
[bau]
[biat]
[bətlə]
‘bow’ (weapon)
‘cloth (material)
‘wall (of house)
word medial
nbom
yaba
dœba
[nbom]
[jaba]
[dəba]
‘palm wine’
‘plantain/banana’
‘tobacco’
word final
barb
[t]
[barb]
‘arm’
Voiceless Alveolar stop
word initial
tọọk
tagam
tœng
[t‫ככ‬k]
[tagam]
[təŋ]
˜
‘neck’
‘blood’
‘tree’
word medial
shitah
lœtuk
amtœ
[∫itah]
[lətuk]
[amtə]
‘pepper’
‘market’
‘thirst’
word final
ayit
bœt
li’it
[ajit]
[bət]
[li’it]
‘eye’
‘belly (external)’
‘elephant’
xxxvii
[d]
Voiced Alveolar stop
word initial
dagarr
dang
dakabal
[dagar]
[dãŋ]
[dakabal]
‘star’
‘tail’
‘crab’
word medial
dadœn
dœduan
kœdœgœn
˜
[dadə]
[dəduã]
[kədəgə]
˜
‘bat’
‘old person’
‘enter’
word final
The language does not attest voiced alveolar stop [d] at word final position.
[k]
Voiceless velar stop
word initial
kọm
ka’ah
kum
[k‫כ‬m]
[ka’ah]
[kum]
‘ear’
‘head’
‘navel’
word medial
kwakaptœn
tọkia
dakur
[kwakaptəŋ]
[t‫כ‬kia]
[dakur]
‘bark (of tree)’
‘okra’
‘tortoise’
word final
wœak
nœlœk
chak
[wəak]
[nələk]
[t∫ak]
‘seed’
‘thorn’
‘knife’
xxxviii
[g]
Voiced velar stop
word initial
[gãŋ]
[gən‫כ‬k]
[gor‫כ‬h]
gang
gœnọk
gorọh
‘mat’
‘back’
‘kolanut’
word medial
vugum
kọgọp
shagal
[vugum]
[g‫כ‬r‫כ‬p]
[∫agal]
‘hat/cap’
‘shoe’
‘money’
word final
komtœg
bugattœg
[kw]
[t‫כ‬mtəg]
[bugattəg]
‘leaf’
‘tie rope’
Voiceless labialised velar
word initial
kwak
kwakaptœg
kwuat
[kwak]
[kwakaptəŋ]
[kwuat]
‘leg’
‘bark (of tree)’
‘pay (for something)’
word medial
suankwa
wukwaat
[f]
[suãkwa]
[wukwaat]
‘maize’
‘hunter’
Voiceless labio-dental fricative
word initial
fu’uh
flak
fœrœm
[fu’uh]
[flak]
[fərəm]
‘mouth’
‘heart’
‘knee’
xxxix
word medial
pangfin
gœfur
lœfu
[pãŋfĩ]
[gəfur]
[ləfu]
‘grinding stone’
‘town’
‘word’
Voiceless labio-dental fricative does not occur at word final position in the language.
[v]
Voiced labio-dental fricative
word initial
vugum
vang
[vugum]
[vãŋ]
‘hat/cap’
‘wash (thing)’
The occurrence of voiced labio-dental fricative is restricted to the initial position in
the language.
[s]
Voiceless alveolar fricative
word initial
sarr
sua
set
[sar]
[sua]
[sεt]
‘hand’
‘guinea corn’
‘sell’
word medial
fuusban
bœsœng
lœsœh
[fuusbã]
[bəsəŋ]
˜
[ləsəh]
‘sunshine’
‘horse’
‘sing’
word final
agas
liis
muọs
[agas]
[liis]
[mu‫כ‬s]
‘teeth’
‘tongue’
‘wine/beer’
xl
[z]
Voiced Alveolar fricative
word initial
[zεl]
[zugum]
[z‫כ‬g‫כ‬p]
zell
zugum
zọgọp
‘saliva/spit’
‘cold’
‘pound (in mortar)’
word medial
gœzœm
mœzœp
dyigœzœng
[∫]
[gœzəm]
[məzəp]
[djigəzəŋ]
˜
‘rat’
‘guest (stranger)’
‘urinate’
Voiceless Palato Alveolar fricative
word initial
shim
shitah
shagal
[∫im]
[∫itah]
[∫agal]
‘yam’
‘pepper’
‘money’
word medial
nœsham
[nə∫am]
ndœkgœshak [ndəkgə∫ak]
[t∫]
‘louse’
‘gather (thing)’
Voiceless palato Alveolar affricate
word initial
chigœn
chi
chirep
[t∫igə]
˜
[t∫i]
[t∫irεp]
‘nail (finger/toe)’
‘thigh’
‘fish’
xli
word medial
nakupchis
nchugar
[nakupt∫is]
[nt∫ugur]
‘snail’
‘duck’
ˆ
[dЗ]
Voiced palato-Alveolar affricate
word initial
ˆ
jagam
[dЗagam]
ˆ
jang
[dЗãŋ]
ˆ
jem
[dЗεm]
‘jaw’
‘calabash’
‘matchet’
word medial
ˆ
[wagədЗi]
wagœji
‘come’
Voiceless palato-alveolar affricates and its voiced counterpart do not have word final
occurrence.
[w]
Bilabial approximant
word initial
wus
wang
wan
[wus]
[wãŋ]
[wã]
‘fire’
‘village’
‘mud’
word medial
luwa
lua’awang
guwi
[luwa]
[lua’awãŋ]
[guwi]
‘meat’
‘animal’
‘donkey’
Bilabial approximant has only word initial and medial occurrence in the language.
xlii
[m]
Bilabial nasal
word initial
muọs
mọọr
mar
[mu‫כ‬s]
[m‫ככ‬r]
[mar]
‘wine’
‘oil’
‘millet’
word medial
lemu
kọmtœg
kambil
[lεmu]
[k‫כ‬mtəg]
[kambil]
‘orange’
‘leaf’
‘basket’
word final
tugulam
kum
tagam
[n]
[tugulam]
[kum]
[tagam]
‘water pot’
‘navel’
‘blood’
Alveolar nasal
word initial
nœng
nœmuat
namat
˜
[nəŋ]
[nəmuat]
[namat]
‘cow’
‘toad (frog)’
‘woman’
word medial
gœnọk
chini
nœgœnœ
[gən‫כ‬k]
[t∫ini ]
[nəgənə]
‘back’
‘day’
‘mother’
word final
pangfin
[pãŋfin]
‘grinding stone’
xliii
[ŋ]
Velar nasal
word initial
[ŋkia]
nkia
‘vulture’
word medial
pangfin
nangpeli
manglee
[pãŋfin]
[nãŋpeli]
[mãŋlεε]
‘grinding stone’
‘greet (salute)’
‘carry (load)’
word final
niang
tang
tung
[j]
[niãŋ]
[tãŋ]
[tũŋ]
‘refuse’
‘look for’
‘fry’
Palatal approximant
word initial
yaba
yil
[jaba]
[jil]
‘plantain/banana’
‘ground’
word medial
wuyon
ayit
liyak
[wujõ]
[ajit]
[lijak]
‘senior/older’
‘eye’
‘fight’
Palatal approximant sound has no word final occurrence in the language.
[r]
Alveolar trill
Trill does not began words in Mernyang language.
xliv
Word medial
barb
chirep
gorọh
[barb]
[t∫irεp]
[gor‫כ‬h]
‘arm’
‘fish’
‘kolanut’
word final
kugur
gœfur
mọgor
[r]
[kugur]
[gəfur]
[m‫כ‬gor]
‘charcoal’
‘town’
‘lick’
Alveolar roll
Roll like trill is not also attested at the word initial position in Mernyang language.
word medial
erem
fœrœm
warrœ
[erem]
[fərəm]
[warə]
‘beans’
‘knee’
‘arrive’
word final
shar
sarr
dagarr
[l]
[∫ar]
[sar]
[dagar]
‘friend’
‘ten’
‘star’
Alveolar lateral
word initial
liis
lau
lœtuk
[liis]
[lau]
[lətuk]
‘tongue’
‘bag’
‘market’
xlv
word medial
nœlœk
fœlœ
bœlak
[nələk]
[fələ]
[bəlak]
‘thorn’
‘door (way)’
‘hunger’
word final
zell
dakabal
vœl
[h]
[zel]
[dakabal]
[vəl]
‘saliva/spit’
‘crab’
‘two’
Glottal fricative
Glottal fricative does not begin words in Mernyang language.
Word medial
lahkœnœ
kahtep
[lahkənə]
[kahtεp]
‘say (direct speech)’
‘plait (hair)’
word final
sœh
rogoh
lœsœh
[dj]
[səh]
[rogoh]
[ləsəh]
‘food’
‘cassava’
‘sing’
Voiced palatalized Alveolar stop
word initial
dyip
dyigœzœng
dyidœrr
[djip]
[djigəzəŋ]
̃
[djidər]
‘feather’
‘urinate’
‘remember’
word medial
ndyik
peedye
[ndjik]
[peedje]
‘build (house)’
‘dawn’
The occurrence of this sound is restricted at word final position
xlvi
[kj]
Voiceless palatalized velar
word initial
[kjãŋ]
kyang
[gj]
‘hoe’
Voiced palatalized velar
word initial
[gjara]
gyara
‘dance’
The voiced and voiceless palatalized velar have only word initial occurrence in the
language. They did not occur elsewhere than this position.
[b]
Voiced bilabial implosive
word initial
bœlang
ba’ang
bugattœg
[bəlãŋ]
[ba’ãŋ]
[bugattəg]
‘work’
‘red’
‘tie rope’
word medial
mọrbang
dœbel
[m‫כ‬rbãŋ]
[dəbεl]
‘oil palm’
‘lizard’
Voiced bilabial implosive occurs at word initial and word medial in the language. It
has no final occurrence.
[d]
Voiced Alveolar implosive
word initial
dong
dempee
[dõŋ]
[dεmpεε]
‘well’
‘want (desire)’
xlvii
word medial
wu’udak
[wu’udak]
‘doctor (native)’
Voiced alveolar implosive [d] does not have word final occurrence in the language.
DISTRIBUTION OF VOWEL SOUNDS
ORAL VOWELS
[a]
Low back unrounded vowel
word initial
ayit
amtœ
am
[ajit]
[amtə]
[am]
‘eye’
‘thirst’
‘water
word medial
kam
jagam
ka’ah
[kam]
[dЗagam]
[ka’ah]
‘stick’
‘jaw’
‘head’
word final
sua
tọkia
yaba
[e]
[sua]
[t‫כ‬kia]
[jaba]
‘guinea corn’
‘okra’
‘plantain/banana’
Mid-high front unrounded vowel
word initial
The sound [e] is not attested at word initial position in the Mernyang language.
xlviii
Word medial
piep
ndieyel
sheep
[piep]
[ndiejεl]
[∫eep]
‘wind’
‘smoke’
‘firewood’
word final
peedye
nangmœbe
ndemande
[ε]
[peedje]
[nãŋməbe]
[ndemande]
‘dawn’
‘ask (request)’
‘surpass’
Mid-low front unrounded vowel
word initial
ess
[εs]
‘bone’
ep
[εp]
‘door’
emnœgœnœn wuleeh [εmnəgənə
̃ wulεεh]
‘sister (younger for man)’
word medial
[lεp]
[sεt]
[piεp]
lep
set
piep
‘reply’
‘sell’
‘beard’
word final
dempee
na’ame
gœme
[i]
[dεmpεε]
[na’ame]
[gəmε]
‘want (desire)’
‘choose’
‘one’
High front unrounded vowel
High front unrounded vowel is not attested at the word initial position in the
language.
xlix
Word medial
liis
li’u
piep
[liis]
[li’u]
[piep]
‘tonge’
‘snow’
‘wind’
Word final
[t∫i]
[niali]
[guwi]
chi
niali
guwi
[o]
‘thigh’
‘needle’
‘donkey’
Mid-high back rounded vowel
Mid-high back rounded vowel is not attested at the word initial position in the
language.
Word medial
nbom
rogoh
goroh
[nbom]
[rog‫כ‬h]
[gor‫כ‬h]
‘palm wine’
‘cassava’
‘kolanut’
word final
mugo
dago
ufo
[‫]כ‬
[mugo]
[dago]
[ufo]
‘person’
‘man’
‘new’
Mid-low back rounded vowel
word initial
ọk
ọgọt
[‫כ‬k]
[‫כ‬g‫כ‬t]
‘dig’
‘cover (in hand)’
l
word medial
muọs
mọọr
kọm
[mu‫כ‬s]
[m‫ככ‬r]
[k‫כ‬m]
‘wine’
‘oil’
‘groundnut’
word final
Mid-low front does not end words in the language.
[u]
High back rounded vowel
word initial
ufo
urọk
[ufo]
[ur‫כ‬k]
‘new’
‘sweet (tasty)’
word medial
kut
kuuo
luwa
[kut]
[kuuo]
[luwa]
‘cool’
‘darkness’
‘meat’
word final
lemu
bau
lau
[ə]
[lεmu]
[bau]
[lau]
‘orange’
‘bow (weapon)’
‘bag’
Central vowel (schwa sound)
word initial
œk
[ək]
‘goat’
li
word medial
pœs
bœt
mœgœr
[pəs]
[bət]
[məgər]
‘pierce’
‘belly (external)’
‘fat’
word final
sœ
tœ
lœ
[sə]
[tə]
[lə]
‘eat’
‘kill’
‘mouse’
Nasal Vowels
It is discovered in our data that nasal vowels do not begin word in Mernyang
language. However, they have medial and final occurrence in the language. Thus, it can be
submitted that the phonotactics of the language prohibit (or constraint) the occurrence of
nasal vowels at word initial position.
[ã]
Low back unrounded vowel
word medial
gandasœ
mandœr
tang
[gãdasə]
[mãdər]
[tãŋ]
‘right (side)’
‘forget’
‘look for’
word final
muan
chan
sagan
[muã]
[t∫ã]
[sagã]
‘go’
‘hoe’
‘bud’
lii
[ε]
̃
Mid-low front unrounded vowel
word medial
teng
tenkaah
[tεŋ]
[tεkaah]
̃
̃
‘rope’
‘fetish’
word final
[npε]
̃
npen
[õ]
̃
‘hear’
Mid-high back rounded vowel
word initial
[lõŋ]
[tõŋ]
long
tong
‘king’
‘sit (down)’
word final
wuyon
beuyon
[‫]כ‬
̃
[wujõ]
[beujõ]
‘senior/older’
‘big’
Mid-low back rounded vowel
word medial
[d‫כ‬ŋ]
̃
[k‫כ‬ŋ]
[t‫כ‬ŋ]
̃
dong
kong
tong
well’
‘river’
‘dwell’
̃
word final
mu’uon
[ĩ]
[mu’u‫]כ‬
̃
‘bee’
High front unrounded vowel
word medial
chindœgœl
shing
[t∫ĩdəgəl]
[∫ĩŋ]
‘play (games)’
‘mortar’
liii
word final
[t∫ĩ]
chin
[ũ]
‘make’
High back rounded vowel
word medial
[wũŋ]
[‫כ‬rũŋ]
[tũŋ]
wung
ọrung
tung
‘grass’
‘dust’
‘fry’
word final
lœgun
tugun
kun
[ə]
̃
[ləgũ]
[tugũ]
[kũ]
‘dry season’
‘push’
‘three’
Central vowel (Schwa sound)
word medial
dœgœnlœ
tœng
dœgœnbœt
[dəgələ]
̃
[təŋ]
̃
[dəgəbət]
̃
‘room’
‘tree’
‘stomach (internal)’
word final
chigœn
kœgœn
kœdœgœn
[t∫igə]
̃
[kəgə]
[kədəgə]
̃
‘nail (finger/toe)’
‘salt’
‘enter’
̃
[ẽ]
Mid-high front unrounded vowel
word medial
yagalgœteng [jagalgətẽŋ]
‘fly’
liv
word final
[∫ẽ]
shen
‘give’
2.1.3 TONAL SYSTEM IN MERNYANG
Another important feature in the phonological concept of Mernyang language is
tone. According to Crystal (2008:486), tone refers to the distinction pitch level of a syllable.
In other words, tone can be described as a phonemic or contrasting pitch. In a tonal
language like Mernyang, tone is used to create difference in the meaning of two or more
words that have the same graphical representation. That is, words that have the same
spelling or form.
Mernyang language makes use of three distinctive level tones. They are:
High tone [ / ]
Mid tone [ unmarked ]
Low tone [ \ ]
Examples of distribution of tones in Mernyang language are:
High tone
kọm
gœn
tọọk
pang
warr
[k‫כ‬m]
[gə]
[t‫ככ‬k]
[pãŋ]
[war]
‘ear’
‘chin’
‘neck’
‘iron (metal)’
‘road’
[mar]
[kugur]
[kam]
[nəgənə]
[piã]
‘millet’
‘charcoal’
‘stick’
‘mother’
‘break (a stick)’
Mid tone
Mar
Kugur
Kam
Nœgœnœ
Pian
lv
Low tone
Piep
Yaba
Sep
Flak
Lọk
[piεp]
[jaba]
[sεp]
[flak]
[l‫כ‬k]
‘beard’
‘plantain’
‘axe’
‘heart’
‘wet’
2.1.4 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE OF MERNYANG
According to Crystal (2008:467); syllable is a unit of pronunciation typically larger
than a single sound and smaller than a word.
In other words, syllable can be defined as the smallest unit of linguistics expression
that can be articulated at once.
Mernyang language operates the syllabic structures that can be described as: VC,
CV, CVC, CVVC, CVCV, VCVC, CVV, and CCVC.
Examples of words with VC structure:
ass
[a s]
‘dog’
vc
œk
[ə k]
‘goat’
vc
am
[a m]
‘water’
v c
lvi
Examples of words with CV structure
sœ
[s ə]
‘eat’
cv
wœ
[w ə]
‘snake’
c v
Examples of words with CVC structure
kọm
[k ‫ כ‬m]
‘ear’
cv c
teng
[t ̃
ε ŋ]
‘rope’
cvc
jem
ˆ
[d3 ε m]
‘market’
c vc
Examples of words with CVVC structure:
biat
[b i a t]
‘cloth (material)’
cvvc
mọọr
[m ‫ כ כ‬r]
‘oil’
c vvc
piep
[p i ε p]
‘beard’
cvvc
lvii
Examples of words with CVCV structure:
luwa
[l u w a]
‘meat’
cvvc
lemu
[ l ε m u]
‘orange’
cvv c
dœba
[d ə b a]
‘tobacco’
cv vc
Examples of words with VCVC structure
erem
[e r e m]
‘beans’
vcvc
agas
[a g a s]
‘teeth’
vc vc
ayit
[a j i t]
‘eye’
v cv c
Examples of word with CVV structure
bau
[b a u]
‘bow (weapon)’
cv v
li’u
[l i’ u]
‘snow’
cvv
muan
[m u ã]
‘go’
c v v
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Examples of words with CCVC
flak
[f l a k]
‘heart’
ccvc
plang
[p l ã ŋ]
‘living (cloth)’
c cv c
Examples of words with syllabic nasals
nda
[n d a]
‘father’
Nvc
npen
[n p̃ε]
‘hear’
Npv
nkia
[ŋ k i a]
‘vulture’
Ncvv
nbom
[n b ‫ כ‬m]
‘palm wine’
N cvc
From the foregoing, it will be observed that Mernyang language operates both open
and closed syllable pattern.
2.2
LEXICAL SYNTACTIC CONCEPT
Lexical categories as it is called by the modern linguists is traditionally known as the
part of speech and it refers to the major classes of words used in sentence construction.
lix
According to Luraghi (2008:147), lexical categories (part of speech) are classes of
lexical items that display the same morphosyntactic behaviour. Duntoye (1997:1) defines it
as the functions or uses of words that make up any sentence.
From the above definitions, we can view lexical categories as referring to a class or
group which words that are used in forming a sentence belong to, as well as the function
performed by each of such words in a sentence. The traditional grammarians identified
seven parts of speech, which are: Noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition and
conjunction.
2.2.1 Nouns
Noun according to Duntoye (1997:1) is a name given to a class of things such as
persons, places, objects, ideas etc. nouns are also classified into types which includes:
2.2.1.1
Proper Nouns
These are nouns of a particular or specific things, people, places, animals etc.
Examples of proper noun in Mernyang:
Kyang
Chak
Bœsœng
Nœng
Long
‘hoe’
‘knife’
‘horse’
‘cow’
‘king’ etc
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2.2.1.2
Common Nouns
These are names given to a class of things, person, ideas, places etc. Examples of
common nouns in Mernyang:
Luwa
Mugo
Amgœfe
Nu’adana
Mueb
2.2.1.3
‘animal’
‘person’
‘colour’
‘shape’
‘thing’ etc
Concrete Nouns:
These are nouns that relate to things that can be seen, torched and not imagined or
thought of. Examples of concrete nouns in Mernyang:
‘stone’
‘mountain’
‘water’
‘sand’ etc
Pang
Gọgọt
Am
Ess
2.2.1.4
Abstract Nouns
These are names given to things that are not seen but are imagined or thought of. In
other words, abstract nouns relate to things that are not tangible.
Examples of abstract nouns in Mernyang:
Tokpiya
dongbœt
Lugut
Bœlak
Niangyit
‘happiness’
‘joy’
‘fear’
‘hunger’
‘hatred’ etc
lxi
2.2.1.5
Collective Noun:
These are nouns that refer to a group of similar objects or people in similar
circumstances or ranks. Examples in Mernyang:
Gœshak
Mœbœlang
Kangfupe
Lœnœng
Lœlœnglœ
‘gang’
‘staff’
‘army’
‘herd’
‘community‘
2.2.2 Pronouns
According to Duntoye J.A. (1997:4); Pronoun are words used instead of a noun to
avoid monotony or the repetition of nouns. Examples of pronoun in Mernyang are:
A
‘I’
An
‘me’
Ma’an
‘my’
Gœ
‘you’
Mak
‘your’
Nyi
‘he/him/his’
Yi
‘she/her’
Mœn
‘we/us’
Nœmaun
‘our’
Mœndik
‘you’
Nœmak
‘your’
Mœp
‘they/them/their’
Yigœshik
‘herself’
Nyigœshak ‘himself’
Mœngœkasut ‘ourselves’
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2.2.3 Adjectives
Tallerman (2005:30) defines adjectives as describing words that modify a noun. In
other words, adjectives are words that qualify, describe and give more information about a
noun in a sentence.
Examples of adjective in Mernyang:
Ure’et
Tagan
Kœp
Ba’al
Ũfo
Bia’ang
‘good’
‘heavy’
‘short’
‘strong’
‘new’
‘red’
2.2.4 Adverbs
Adverbs are words that modify verbs. Examples from Mernyang:
La-lani
Wuret
Bal
Lelile
‘gently’
‘well’
‘fastly’
‘slowly’
2.2.5 Prepositions
According to Akande (2004:27) preposition is derived form Latin and it means
‘something placed before a noun’. Thus, prepositions are words that show the relationship of
nouns/pronouns to other words in a sentence.
Examples of preposition in Mernyang:
Gœ
Dœgen
Bœder
Shi
Digœn
‘on’
‘in’
‘under’
‘with’
‘at’
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2.2.6 Conjunctions
Conjunctions according to Yusuf (1995:97) join words, phrases or sentences
together. Examples of conjunction in Mernyang:
The only word used as conjunction in Mernyang language is “Mœn” and it mean
‘and’ and ‘but’ respectively in the language.
2.2.7 Verbs
According to Yusuf (1998:21), Verb is a lexical category that tells us what the
participatory roles of the nominals are in the sentence, say as semantic agent, patient,
locative, experiencer etc. The verb will also indicate the role of such nominals, syntactically,
either as subjects or objects. Verbs play an important role in a sentence by lining the action
that has taken place between the subject and object. That is, the one that is showing an
action between the agent and the receiver of an action (patient). Examples of verbs in
Mernyang:
Yakgœsœ
‘run’
Gapinaparr
‘fly’
Bœn
‘touch (with hand)’
Bii
‘think’
Suarr
‘laugh’
Shie
‘learn’
Lœsœh
‘sing’
Wal
‘weep (cry)’ etc
Every other thing on verb is reserved here to be extensively discussed and analysed
in chapter three.
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2.3
PHRASE STRUCTURE RULES (PSR)
According to Carnie (2007:66), Phrase Structure Rule is a rule that generates the
phrase structure tree of a sentence. Yusuf (1997:6) says ‘Phrase Structure Rules are set of
rules that generate the constituents of a phrase or clausal category. They are also set of rules,
which generate structure description of sentence.
Horrocks (1993:31) refers to phrase structure rules as a formal device for
representing the distribution of phrases within sentences. According to him (Horrocks), PSR
have the following sets:
S
NP VP
VP
V (NP)
NP
(DET) (ADJ) N (PP) (RC)
In all, Phrase Structure Rules can be defined as the rules that generate constituents of
phrases from lexical category. Constituent according to Carnie (2007:64) is a group of
words that function together as a unit. Carnie went further to state that the head of a phrase
is the word that gives the phrase its category. Thus, the implication of this is that, Noun
Phrase will be headed by Noun, Prepositional Phrase will be headed by preposition etc.
2.4
PHRASAL CATEGORIES
Phrasal categories are the syntactic categories, which the phrase structure rules
operate with.
lxv
Phrasal Categories includes:
Noun Phrase
Verb Phrase
Adjectival Phrase
Adverbial Phrase
Prepositional Phrase
2.4.1 Noun Phrase
Yusuf (1997:8) defines NP as the category that codes participants in the event or
state described by the verb. NP can also be defined as a word or group of words that can
function as the subject, direct object and indirect object of a sentence.
The most important and significant word whose occurrence is obligatory in this
Phrasal Category is the Noun. It is a single word that can replace the whole phrase.
Examples of Noun Phrase in Mernyang:
i.
Dago wufefer
man tall
‘The tall man’
ii.
Ass chip
dog black
‘The black dog’
iii.
Larep wudong
girl beautiful
‘The beautiful girl’
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Tree diagram for NP
Larep wudong
girl beautiful
‘The beautiful girl’
NP
N1
N1
Adj.P
N
Adj.
Larep
wudong
Girl
beautiful
‘The beautiful girl’
2.4.2 Adjectival Phrase
According to Durotoye (2004:19), an adjectival phrase qualifies nouns like ordinary
adjectives. Adjectival Phrase obligatorily has adjective as the head.
Examples of Adjectival Phrase in Mernyang:
Dago lœ kœp dokimọk
Man very short old
‘A very short old man’
lxvii
‘Lœ kœp dokimọk’ is an adjectival Phrase.
Tree diagram
Adj. P
Adj.
Deg
Adj.1 Adj.2
Lœ
kœp
dokimọk
Very short old
‘A very short old man’
2.4.3 Prepositional Phrase
Yusuf (1997:53) defines Prepositional Phrase as words that indicate directions with
an NP. The Prepositional Phrase has the obligatory prepositional head and other satellites.
Examples of Prepositional Phrase in Mernyang:
i.
Digœn lœtuk
at market
‘At the market’
ii.
Bœder betong
under chair
‘Under the chair’
lxviii
Tree diagram
PP
P1
P
NP
Digœn
lœtuk
At
market
‘At the market’
2.5
BASIC WORD ORDER
All languages of the world have a different and unique pattern, ways or order in
which they arranged their words to form sentence. In forming a grammatical and acceptable
sentence, it is observed that the order, which is peculiar to a particular language must not be
violated, rather, it must be strictly followed.
Thus, Basic Word Order can be defined as the order or pattern of word arrangement
peculiar to a particular language in the formation of a sentence.
Tallerman (2005:18) describes Basic Word Order as a term, which is used to discuss
the order in which the three main parts of a sentence occur in a language.
Yusuf (1997:34) says ‘Basic Word Order of a language is the same as the syntactic
position of lexical category in a language’.
Basic Word Order tells whether a lexical category is in subject, object or object of
preposition position. It is referred to as BASIC in that, the arrangement of words differs
from one language to another.
lxix
Tallerman outlines six different word orders, which are:
Subject Verb Object (SVO)
Subject Object Verb (SOV)
Verb Subject Object (VSO)
Verb Object Subject (VOS)
Object Verb Subject (OVS)
Object Subject Verb (OSV)
Among these six Word Orders identified by Tallerman, Mernyang language like
languages such as Yoruba, English, Igbo, Efik to mention few, operates that Order of
Subject Verb Object (SVO). In this case, subject, which is usually an NP comes first,
followed by a verb and the complements and sometimes the verb may be followed by a
preposition.
The following examples show the Word Order of Mernyang:
i.
ii.
S
V
O
Charity muan karatu
Charity go school
‘Charity went to school’
S
V O
Sule tœ namus
Sule kill cat
‘Sule killed the cat’
lxx
iii.
iv.
v.
2.6
S
V
O
Larep tal nœgœnœ
girl greet mother
‘A girl greeted her mother’
S
V
O
Na’an chin gœyil
God create world
‘God created the world’
S
V
PRE
Mahmud sa’am gœ peteer
Mahmus sleep on bed
‘Mahmud slept on the bed’
SENTENCE TYPES
Classical Grammarians analysed and described sentence by breaking it down into
subject and predicate. They see sentence as comprising NP, AUX (i.e. INFL) and VP.
However, Crystal (2008:432) defines sentence as the largest structural unit in terms of which
the grammar of a language is organized.
Duntoye (2004:5) defines sentence as two or more words that are put together in
such a way that they make complete sense and express thought.
Majorly, sentence is divided into three types, depending on the number of verbs in it.
The three major types of sentence we have are:
Simple sentence
Compound sentence
Complex sentence
lxxi
Interestingly, the three above listed types of sentence are attested in Mernyang
language.
2.6.1 Simple Sentence
Olvipe (2006) cited in Ede (2008:110) defines simple sentence as one which may
range in length from two words to as many words as the writer can control, provided that
there is only one verb in it.
The above definition implies that, a simple sentence has only a single predicate and
expresses single action or information.
Examples of simple sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Michael din tat jang
Michael TNS kick calabash
‘Michael kicked the calabash’
ii.
Nœgœnœ din shen beyilpe e’an
Mother TNS give book me
‘My mother gave me a book’
iii.
A din set ugum
I TNS buy car
‘I bought a car’
iv.
Larep din tal Nœgœnœ ni
Girl TNS greet Mother her
‘A girl greeted her mother’
lxxii
v.
Halima din pian kam
Halima TNS break stick
‘Halima broke the stick’
Simple sentence is also classified into types based on the function they perform.
The following are the types of simple sentences:
Declarative
Imperative
Interrogative
Exclamatory
2.6.1.1
Declarative Sentence
This type of simple sentence makes a statement or an assertion about the truth or
falsity of particular phenomenon Adegbija (1998:114).
Examples of declarative sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Dapit vang biat gœfe shibiet-shibiet
Dapit wash cloth his everyday
‘Dapit washes his cloth everyday’
ii.
Fan din la’ee dendœden
rain TNS fall yesterday
‘It rained yesterday’
2.6.1.2
Imperative Sentence
Adegbija (1998:114) refers to this as a sentence that gives command or make
request. This is to say that, the speaker of this type of a sentence intends to make somebody
to do something.
lxxiii
Examples of imperative sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Shen jang e’an
give cup me
‘Give me the cup’
ii.
Mu lapyil Na’an
AGR praise God
‘Praise the Lord’
2.6.1.3
Interrogative sentence
These are sentences that are used in asking question about something or somebody.
Examples of interrogative sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Swum gœ amie?
Name you what?
‘What is your name?
ii.
nde a sa’am gœ peteer mah?
Can I sleep on bed your
‘Can I sleep on your bed?
2.6.1.4
Exclamatory Sentence
This type of sentence expresses sudden or surprise events, which could be pleasant
or unpleasant.
Examples of exclamative sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Kai Na’an ma’an!
O
God my!
‘O my God!’
lxxiv
ii.
Adie wangwawu! Kamal warœ yagurum
Hurray!
Kamal reach twenty
‘Hurray! Kamal is twenty!’
2.6.2 Compound sentence
In Ede (2008:112) Fakuade describes a compound sentence as being made up of two
or more coordinated simple sentences. Each of the conjoined clauses of the sentence is
independent of each or one another.
The implication of this is that, compound sentence unlike simple sentence has two or
more predicates and expresses more than one action.
Compound sentence is the coordination of more than one simple sentence by
conjunction.
Examples of compound sentence in Mernyang:
i.
Na’an din chan gœyil mœn dago din dik gœkang
God TNS create world but man TNS make street
‘God created the world but man made the street’
ii.
Kamal din wawul beyilpe mœn din dang biyilpe
Kamal TNS return book and TNS borrow pen
‘Kamal returned the book and borrowed a pen’
iii.
Ahmed din muan mœn din lep larep gœpang
Ahmed TNS go and TNS bring girl home
‘Ahmed went and sent the girl home’
iv.
Yuosuf igap shim mœn din sœ
Yousuf cut yam and TNS eat
‘Yousuf cut the yam and ate’
lxxv
2.6.3 Complex sentence
According to Sharndama (2008:113), complex sentence is a type of sentence that
have a main clause and one or more subordinate clauses. The main clause normally contains
the most important information on which the subordinate clause or clauses begin.
Yusuf (1997:63) defines complex sentence as a sentence embedded in one of the
phrasal categories NP or VP. Traditionally, a complex sentence is described as a main clause
and a number of subordinate clauses.
From the two definitions above, it is clear that complex sentence unlike compound
sentence has subordination of clause(s) rather than coordination of sentences.
Examples of complex sentence in Mernyang:
i.
A mann dago wu ndyik gœpang
I know man who build house
‘I know the man who build the house’
ii.
Kat din a gœ shagal din ga se’et bimuangœtœg
If AGR I have money will AGR buy Aeroplane
‘If I have money, I will buy an aeroplane’
iii.
Ni beyilpe wu gœ din shen an gœn wat
The book which you TNS give me has steal
‘The book which you gave me has been stolen’
lxxvi
CHAPTER THREE
VERB PHRASE OF MERNYANG
3.0
INTRODUCTION
This chapter focuses on the Verb Phrase of Mernyang language. Under it, we will
look at verb and it head parameter, the various complements of the verb, phrasal verbs, and
serial verbs construction. All these are going to be exemplified and structurally represented
with the aid of tree diagrams.
Before we go into all of these, it is important to know what a phrase is. Thus, what is
a phrase?
Phrase according to crystal (2008:367) is a term used in grammatical analysis to refer
to a single element of structure typically containing more than one word and lacking the
subject predicate structure typical of clause(s). Luraghi (2008:152) refers to a phrase as a
group of words or constituents that form a syntactic unit other than a sentence or clause.
From the above, it can be submitted that a phrase is a group of words that function
together as a unit. A phrase is never a sentence. Carnie (2008:66) submits that the head of a
phrase is the word that gives the phrase its category. This implies that phrases are named
after a word that heads them.
Having examined what a phrase is, I shall turn the attention on the research topic,
which is the Verb Phrase of Mernyang language.
lxxvii
3.1
VERB PHRASE AND HEAD PARAMETER IN MERNYANG LANGUAGE
According to Luraghi (2008:154), Verb Phrase is a group of words that indicate a
property of an entity or a relation among entities in a sentence. Yusuf (1998:21) refers to VP
as the predicate because it (VP) has the sentence predicator (i.e. verb), which tells us what
the participatory roles of the nominals are in the sentence as well as showing the syntactic
role of such nominals.
Verb Phrase can be regarded as the apex of a sentence because it determines the
meaning, message or information trying to be conveyed in a sentence. It is not an argue fact
that without a VP, there is no sentence because the message, thought or information
conveyed in a sentence are embedded in VP.
The most important word whose occurrence is obligatory in the VP is the verb. This
is because verb is a single word that bears crucial semantic information, as well as
determining the meaning of the entire phrase. Jackson (2002:45) says ‘the obligatory
elements in a sentence are determined by the (sense of) main verb’. This implies that, it is
the verb that chooses other lexical category that will make up a sentence with it.
TYPES OF VERB
3.1.1 LEXICAL VERBS
Crystal (2008:149) defines lexical verbs as type of verbs that express an action,
event, or state. In other words, lexical verbs are the verbs that convey the main idea,
information or event in the sentence. Lexical verbs can stand alone in the verb element of
the sentence.
lxxviii
Examples of lexical verbs in Mernyang:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Shen
Liyak
Gyara
Tœ
Niang
‘give’
‘fight’
‘dance’
‘kill’
‘refuse’
E.g.
i.
Charity din shen e’an biyilpe
Charity TNS give me book
‘Charity gave me the book’
ii.
Ni din niang gyara
She TNS refuse dance
‘She refused to dance’
3.1.2 AUXILIARY VERBS
Crystal (2008:46) says auxiliary verbs refer to the set of verbs subordinate to the
main or lexical verb, which helps to make distinction in mood, aspect, voice etc.
Auxiliary verbs are further divided into two namely:
i.
Primary auxiliary verb
ii.
Modal auxiliary verb
3.1.2.1
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
Primary auxiliary verb in Mernyang includes:
diye
gun
A
din ‘a’
gœn
din gœn
‘am’
‘are’
‘is’
‘was’
‘has/have’
‘had’ etc.
lxxix
E.g.
i.
Yemi gœn tung aass
Yemi has fry egg
‘Yemi has fried the egg’
ii.
Muop gun n’ lœsœli
They are PROG sing
‘They are singing’
3.1.2.2
Modal auxiliary verbs in Mernyang are:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
katkat
binami
nokden
katkot
kotkan
‘will’
‘must’
‘may’
‘can’
‘shall’ etc.
E.g.
i.
A katkat muan lœtuk
I will
go market
‘I will go to the market’
ii.
Nyi nukden chimdœgœl shi mœn
She may
play
with us
‘She may play with us’
It is important to note here that, the major difference between the primary and modal
auxiliary verbs is that, while the former can also be used as lexical verb in some instance,
the latter cannot. Thus, modal auxiliary verbs functions as semantic marker rather than tense
marker in a sentence.
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3.2
NATURE OF VERBS
3.2.1 Transitive Verbs
Radford
(2002:36)
says
transitive
verbs
are
verbs
that
have
two
participants/arguments; the agent and the patient. Jackson (2007:17) defines transitive verbs
as verbs that are followed by an object slot.
From the above definitions, it can be inferred that a verb is transitive if the action in
a sentence proceed from the subject to the object, which receives the action.
Examples of transitive verbs in Mernyang:
tœ
se’et
wat
tung
tal
pian
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
‘kill’
‘buy’
‘steal’
‘fry’
‘greet’
‘break’
E.g.
i.
Aliu din pian jang
Aliu TNS break calabash
‘Aliu broke the calabash’
ii.
Dapit din se’et motœ pia
Dapit TNS buy car white
‘Dapit bought a white car’
3.2.2 Intransitive Verbs
Radford (2002:37) defines intransitive verbs as verb that have only one participant or
argument; verbs that have agent but no patient. Jackson (2007:18) says intransitive verbs are
lxxxi
verbs that do not have an object slot. In other words, a verb is intransitive when it action is
not transferred from one element to another but still remain with the subject of the sentence.
Examples of intransitive verbs in Mernyang:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
gyara
sa’am
wagœji
suarr
wal
‘dance’
‘sleep’
‘come’
‘laugh’
‘weep (cry)’
E.g.
i.
Nyi din sa’am
She TNS sleep
‘She slept’
ii.
Mœn din wagœji
We TNS come
‘We came’
3.3
STRUCTURE OF VERB PHRASE
Verb as the head of VP is obligatorily present with or without its satellites. Verb
satellites could be complements or adjuncts. Be it as it may, the formal notation for the
expansion of the Verb Phrase rewrite it as an obligatory V and complements. That is:
VP
VX
The X variable stands as the complements. Crystal (2008:87) defines complements
as the major constituents of sentence or clause structure traditionally associated with
‘completing’ the action specified by the verb.
lxxxii
According to Government and Binding (GB) theory, Verb Phrase can be represented
diagrammatically as:
V11
V1
Spec
V0
Complement
3.3.1 Structure of Verb Phrase in Mernyang
In Mernyang language, verb, which is the head of VP sub-categorizes for the
following complements.
A.
VP
V (Adv.)
i.
Laleofu wuret
Speak well
‘Spoke well’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
Adv.
V
Laleofu
wuret
Speak
well
‘Spoke well’
lxxxiii
ii.
Muan lelile
walk slow
‘walked slowly’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
Adv.
V
Muan
lelile
Walk
slow
‘Walked slowly’
B.
VP
V (NP)
i.
Sœ chigum
eat bread
‘eat the bread’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
Spec
N1
N
Sœ
chigum
Eat
bread
‘Ate the bread’
lxxxiv
ii.
Chit ni larep
slap the girl
‘Slapped the girl’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
Spec
N1
Det
N
Chit ni
Slap the
‘Slapped the girl’
C.
VP
i.
Sa’am geo benchi
Sleep on bench
‘Slept on the bench’
larep
girl
V(PP)
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
Spec
N1
N
Sa’am
Sleep
geo
on
‘Slept on the bench’
benchi
bench
lxxxv
Gyara dœgen lœtuk
Dance in market
‘Danced in the market’
VP
ii.
V1
Spec
V
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
Spec
N
Gyara
dœgen
lœtuk
Dance
in
market
‘Danced in the market’
D.
VP
V (Adv. P)
i.
yakgœsœ bal bal
run
fast fast
‘ran extremely fast’
VP
V1
Spec
V
Adv. P
Adv1
Spec
V
Deg
Adv.
Yakgœsœ
bal
bal
Run
fast
fast
‘Ran extremely fast’
lxxxvi
Muan lœ lelile
walk very slow
‘walked very slowly’
ii.
VP
V1
Spec
V
Adv. P
Adv1
Spec
V
Deg
Adv.
Muan
lœ
Walk
very
‘Walked very slowly’
E.
i.
lelile
slow
VP
V (NP) (PP)
tœ leit shi kọp
kill lion with spear
‘Killed the lion with a spear’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Tœ
Kill
leit
shi
lion
with
‘killed the lion with a spear’
lxxxvii
kọp
spear
ii.
Kat e’an digœn marr
Meet me at farm
‘Met me at the farm’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
Spec
N
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Kat
Meet
e’an
digœn
me
at
‘Met me at the farm’
lxxxviii
marr
farm
F.
VP
V (Adv) (PP)
i.
bœlang wuret geo marr
work
well on farm
‘Worked well on the farm’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
Adv
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
bœlang
Work
ii.
wuret
geo
well
on
‘worked well on the farm’
marr
farm
Sa’am ure’et bœder tœng
Sleep good under tree
‘Slept good under the tree’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
Adv
PP
P1
Spec
P
NP
N1
N
Sa’am
Sleep
ure’et
bœder
good
under
‘Slept good under the tree’
lxxxix
tœng
tree
G.
VP
V (NP) (Adv P) (PP)
i.
biang shim lœ wuret dœgœn tugul chet
put
yam very well
in
pot cooking
‘Arranged the yams very well into the cooking pot’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
V
Adv P
NP
Spec
Adv1
Spec
N1
Deg
PP
P1
Spec
Adv.
P
NP
N
N1
Spec
N1
N
AP
Spec
Adj1
Adj.
biang
shim
lœ
put
yam
very
wuret
dœgen
tugul
chet
well
in
pot
cooking
‘Arranged the yam very well into the cooking pot’
xc
ii.
vang biat la-lani shi am wuss
wash cloth gently with water hot
‘Washed the cloth gently with hot water’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
V
Adv P
NP
Spec
PP
Spec
Adv1 Spec
N1
Adv.
P1
P
N
NP
N1
Spec
N1
N
AP
Spec
Adj1
Adj.
Vang
biat
la-lani
shi
am
Wash
cloth
gently
with
water
‘Washed the cloth gently with hot water’
xci
wuss
hot
H.
VP
i.
mandœrr sugun kawace
forget
V (NP) (Adv P)
dream completely
‘Forgot the dream completely’
VP
V1
Spec
V1
V
Adv P
NP
Spec
Adv1
Spec
N1
Adv
N
mandœrr
forget
sugun
dream
‘forgot the dream completely’
kawace
completely
3.3.2 Verbs with Sentential Complement
Yusuf (1997:28) says among the possible complement of verb is a full clause, which
has sentential complement such as:
Appearance verbs: seem, appear
Epistemic verbs: know, believe
Reporting verbs: say, claim, report
Desiderative verbs: want, desire, expect
Causative verbs: cause, make, force
xcii
3.3.3 Verbs with Sentential Complement in Mernyang
The following are some of the verbs in Mernyang language which sub-categorize for
sentential complements:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.
3.3.3.1
gœnayo
langdọk
funa
mann
lakœnœ
mang
dempee
tang
sa
chin
‘seem’
‘appear’
‘believe’
‘know’
‘say’
‘claim’
‘want’
‘expect’
‘cause’
‘make’
Appearance verbs: These are verbs that show what somebody or something
appears or seems to be.
Examples
i.
gœnayo shikwup diyan
seem
AGR tired
‘Seems to be tired’
xciii
i.
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
TNS
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V
Gœnayo
Seem
shikwup
AGR
NP
Spec
N1
N
Adj
diyan
tired
‘seems to be tired’
xciv
ii.
langdọk ndœgen tokpiya
appear
AGR
brave
‘appears to be brave’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
TNS
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V
NP
Spec
N1
Adj
langdọk
ndœgen
appear
AGR
tokpiya
brave
‘appears to be brave’
xcv
3.3.3.2
Epistemic verbs: These verbs are concerned with the logical structure of
statement, which assert or imply that proposition are known or believed. Crystal
(2008:171)
Examples
i.
Funa na’an na’a dip
believe God see everything
‘believe God sees everything’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
N
I
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
Funa
na’an
na’a
dip
Believe
God
see
everything
‘Believe God sees everything’
xcvi
ii.
mann yet Mœgœme a kagam
know that Jesus
is alive
‘Know that Jesus is alive’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
N1
N
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
N1
Spec
N
Adj.
Mann yit
Mœgœme
a
kagam
Know that
Jesus
is
alive
‘know that Jesus is alive’
3.3.3.3
Reporting verbs: These are verbs that are used to make claim, give account and
also give information about something.
xcvii
Examples
i.
…lakœnœ nyi jep gœnœ ehunbiche dœgen gœbang
say
his children will school
in
London
‘…says his children will school in London’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
Spec
TNS AGR
N1
VP
V1
Spec
V1
MODAL
Det
N
PP
P1
Spec
V
P
NP
Spec
N1
N
Lakœnœ nyi
say
jep
his
children
gœnœ
will
ehunbichi
school
‘…says his children will school in London’
xcviii
dœgen
in
gœbang
London
…mang wagan dœgœn pogovœl blem a amœbiyil ure’et
claim that agenda seven point is plan good
‘…claims that the seven point agenda is a good plan’
ii.
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
Spec
I1
NP
I
VP
N1
Spec
N1
AP
Spec
N
V1
Spec
V
Adj.
Adj.
NP
Spec
Adj.
N1
N1
Adj.
N
Mang
Claim
wagan dœgœn
that
agenda
pogovœl
seven
blem a
point is
amœbiyil
plan
ure’et
good
‘…claims that the seven point agenda is a good plan’
3.3.3.4
Desiderative verbs: These verbs are used for the expression of wants and
desires. Crystal (2008:140)
xcix
Examples
i.
…dempee gœ se’et bimuangœtœng
want
to buy aeroplane
‘…wants to buy an aeroplane’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
TNS
VP
V1
AGR Spec
V
NP
N1
N
Dempee
Want
gœ
se’et
to
buy
‘…wants to buy an aeroplane’
c
bimuangœtœng
aeroplane
ii.
…tang dago gœ shen an shagal
expect man to give me money
‘…expects the man to give me money’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
VP
V1
AGR Spec
N1
V
N
Tang
Expect
dago
man
tœ
shen
to
give
me
NP
Spec
N1
Det
N
an
shagal
money
‘…expects the man to give me money’
3.3.3.5
Causative verbs: Tallerman (2005) says a causative construction is one in which
an event has been caused to come about by some external agent. A verb denoting
ci
a meaning such as the ‘cause’ or ‘make’ someone do something. It may be
represented by a lexical verb or via verbal morphology.
Examples
i.
Sa gœpang ship
cause house collapse
‘Causes the house to collapse’
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
VP
AGR
Spec
V1
N1
N
V
Sa
gœpang
ship
Cause
house
collapse
‘causes the house to collapse’
cii
Chin gœ fuœlang bœsœng kape
make you work
donkey like
‘Made you work like a donkey’
ii.
VP
V1
Spec
V
CP
C1
Spec
C
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
VP
AGR
N1
V1
Spec
V
N
NP
N1
Spec
N1
Pro
Chin
gœ
fubœlang bœsœng
Make
you
work
donkey
Adj.
kape
like
‘made you work like a donkey’
3.4
PHRASAL VERBS
Crystal (2008:367) defines phrasal verbs as verbs consisting of a sequence of lexical
element plus one or more particles. In other words, phrasal verbs are type of construction in
which a verb is followed by particles, which could be an adverb or a preposition.
ciii
The meaning of a phrasal verb may easily be known from the independent verb and
particles fused together. However, many phrasal verbs have idiomatic meaning, which may
not be understood or known from the meaning of the verb and particles joined together.
Examples of phrasal verbs in Mernyang
gong mœwung pœt
drive demon out
‘drives the demon out’
i.
VP
V1
Spec
V1
PART.
V
NP
Spec
N1
N
Gong
mœwung
pœt
drive
demon
out
‘drives the demon out’
civ
lang gœtœng biyongpe
hang up
phone
‘Hanged up the phone’
ii.
VP
V1
Spec
V1
PART
V
Lang
Hang
NP
Spec
gœtœng
up
N1
biyongpe
phone
‘hanged up the phone’
3.5
SERIAL VERBS
According to Luraghi (2008:104), serial verbs are strung of two or more verbs
occurring in the same clause with no coordination markers, sharing the same subject and
possibly the same object, and agreeing in tense, aspect, mood, and polarity. Crystal
(2008:434) defines serial verbs as a type of construction for a sequence of verbs or Verb
Phrases within a clause (or sequence of clauses) in which the syntactic relationship between
the items is left unmarked. On this premise, Yusuf (1998:32) submits that serial verbs is a
situation whereby there is a single subject NP but a number of VPs ranging from two to
possibly as many as our meaning can allow.
Serial verbs as a syntactic phenomena is peculiar to African languages, in which
Mernyang is no exception. What is paramount to this type of construction is that, it utilizes
cv
many verbs to convey a simple meaning that would have been conveyed using only one verb
by most European languages.
The structure of serial verbs is given as:
S
NP, VP
VP
VP (VPn)
Examples of serial verbs construction in Mernyang:
i.
Kamal din muan yepini wagœji gœpang
Kamal TNS go
child come home
‘Kamal brought the child home’
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
TNS AGR
N1
Pst.
VP
Spec
V
N
VP
V1
V1
Spec
NP
V
Spec N
Spec
N
Kamal
Kamal
din
NP
N1
N
muan
yepini
go
child
wagœji
come
‘Kamal brought the child home’
cvi
gœpang
home
ii.
Mahmud yakgœsœ shen nyi karatu
Mahmud run
give his school
‘Mahmud runs for his school’
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
VP
N1
Spec
VP
V1
V1
Spec
V
N
V
NP
Spec
N1
N
Mahmud
yakgœsœ
shen
karatu
Mahmud
run
give
school
‘Mahmud runs for his school’
cvii
CHAPTER FOUR
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROCESSES
4.0
INTRODUCTION
This chapter will examine focus construction in respect of predicate cleft known as
Verb Phrase focus as the transformational process in Mernyang in that, it is the only process
that have a lot to do with the topic of research (i.e. Verb Phrase).
According to Culicover (1997:20) transformational process is the displacement or
movement of constituents or elements of a sentence from one syntactic position to another
position in conformity with certain principles. In other words, transformational processes are
the processes that derived surface structure from the deep structure by certain rule called
transformation.
4.1
TRANSFORMATION
Lamidi (2000:27) defines transformations as the devices, which are used to change
the form of one linguistic structure to another forms. Yusuf (1992:138) refers to
transformation as a way by which we relate some sentences to some other basic sentences,
claiming that some sentence types are derived from the basic one. For instance, an active
sentence can be changed to a passive one, or a simple declarative sentence to an
interrogative one through transformation.
Transformation as a syntactic structure can also be defined as a rule that move,
remove or add elements to the D-structure in order to derive the S-structure through
cviii
transformational rules unlike phrase structure rules (PSR) account for the S-structure
because it contains supplementary rules which are not as constrained as that of PSR.
The major syntactic process in which an item is moved from its original site to
another site is referred to as movement, and the transformation are called transformational
processes. Among the transformational process attested in Mernyang language are Question
Formation, Relativization and Focus Construction. However, Verb Phrase focusing, which is
relevant to our work shall be extensively exemplified with data from Mernyang language in
this project.
4.2
PREDICATE CLEFT IN MERNYANG LANGAUGE
Focusing is a type of transformational process in which an element is moved in order
to be given prominence over other elements in the sentence. Sher (1997:11) says focus is the
constituent of sentence, which the speaker intends to direct the attention of his/her hearer to.
In his own submission, Yusuf (1989:87) says focus is a kind of emphasis that is syntactically
marked through movement transformation.
Focusing rule introduces special marking into the surface structure to set some
elements as important; they assign prominence to the part of the message which the speaker
wants to place in the foreground and they distress that part of the message, which confirms
the presupposition that are shared. On this premise, Tallerman (2005) submits that focused
phrases move to sentence initial position. In other word, the element or constituent that is
being focused assumed the subject position of the sentence.
cix
Like we have earlier state, we shall be considering the focus construction that have to
do with Verb Phrase, which is otherwise known as predicate cleft. Predicate cleft is the
process of nominalising verb by having a normal construction in mind as the unmarked
sentence from which the marked or focused sentence is derived.
Below are the examples of predicate cleft (i.e. nominalised Verb Phrase focus) in
Mernyang language subject position.
1a.
Basic sentence
A din sœ kapa
I TNS eat rice
‘I ate rice’
b.
Derived sentence
n’sœ ayin A din sœ kapa
eating FM I TNS eat rice
‘It was eating that I ate rice’
[
1.
Basic sentence
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V
Pro
NP
Spec
N1
N
A
I
sœ
eat
din
kapa
rice
‘I ate rice’
cx
Derived sentence
FP
F1
Spec
FM
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP TNS
N1
VP
V1
AGR Spec
Pst
V
Pro
NP
Spec
N1
N
n’sœ
ayin
eating
A
din
I
‘I was eating that I ate rice’
2a.
Basic sentence
nyi din tœ namus
she TNS kill cat
‘She killed a cat’
b.
Derived sentence
n’tœ ayin nyi din tœ namus
killing FM she TNS kill cat
‘It was killing that she killed the cat’
cxi
sœ
kapa
eat
rice
2a.
Basic sentence
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
N1
TNS AGR
V1
Spec
Pro Pst
V
NP
N1
Spec
N
nyi din
tœ
She
kill
‘She killed the cat’
namus
cat
Derived
FP
F1
Spec
FM
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP TNS
N1
VP
V1
AGR Spec
Pst
V
N
NP
Spec
N1
N
n’tœ ayin nyi din
tœ
killing
she
kill
‘It was killing that she killed the cat’
cxii
namus
cat
3a.
Basic sentence
Ali din se’et kyang
Ali TNS buy hoe
‘Ali bought a hoe’
b.
Derived
n’se’et ayin Ali din se’et kyang
buying FM Ali TNS buy hoe
‘It was buying that Ali bought a hoe’
Basic sentence
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V
N
NP
Spec
N1
N
Ali
din
Ali
se’et
kyang
buy
hoe
‘Ali bought a hoe’
cxiii
Derived sentence
FP
F1
Spec
FM
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP TNS
N1
VP
V1
AGR Spec
Pst
V
N
NP
Spec
N1
N
n’se’et ayin
Ali
buying
Ali
se’et
din
buy
‘It was buying that Ali bought a hoe’
4a.
Basic sentence
Aminu din tung aass
Aminu TNS fry egg
‘Aminu fried the egg’
b.
n’tung ayin Aminu din tung aass
Frying FM Aminu TNS fry egg
‘It is frying that Aminu fried the egg’
cxiv
kyang
hoe
Basic sentence
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V
NP
N
N1
Spec
N
Aminu
Aminu
din
tung
fry
aass
egg
‘Aminu fried the egg’
Derived sentence
FP
F1
Spec
FM
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
Spec V1
V
N
NP
Spec
N1
N
n’tung ayin Aminu din
tung
frying
Aminu
fry
‘It was frying that Aminu fried the egg’
cxv
aass
egg
5a.
Basic sentence
Ni din sa’am geo gang
He TNS sleep on mat
‘He slept on the mat’
b.
Derived sentence
n’sa’am ayin ni din sa’am geo gang
sleeping FM he TNS sleep on mat
‘It was sleeping that he slept on the mat’
Basic sentence
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
V1
Spec
V1
PP
Pro
P1
Spec
V
P
NP
Spec
N1
N
Ni
He
din
sa’am
geo
gang
sleep
on
mat
‘He slept on the mat’
cxvi
Derived sentence
FP
F1
Spec
FM
IP
I1
Spec
I
NP
TNS
N1
Pst
VP
AGR
Spec V1
V1
Pro
PP
P1
Spec
P
V
NP
Spec
N1
N
n’sa’am
sleeping
ayin
ni
din
He
sa’am
geo
gang
sleep
on
mat
‘It was sleeping that he slept on the mat’
From the above, it will be discovered that predicate cleft (Verb focusing) in
Mernyang is formed by moving the nominalised verb to sentence initial position, closely
followed by the focus marker without having behind a trace in the surface structure.
cxvii
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0
INTRODUCTION
This chapter gives the summary of all the syntactic features examined in this
research work, the conclusion of the whole work as well as the appropriate
recommendations.
5.1
SUMMARY
Using the theoretical framework of Government and Binding (GB) theory, this
research work has presented the syntactic analysis of Mernyang Verb Phrase. It started by
given information about the language, which includes the historical background of the
language, geographical location of the speakers in which we established that the language is
spoken in Plateau State, Nigeria (Qua’anpan Local Government to be specific), the genetic
classification and other relevant information about the language and its speakers are
provided. In addition, the chosen theoretical framework was reviewed in the first chapter.
In chapter two, the basic phonological concepts such as sound inventory, tonal and
syllable inventories in the language were discussed. From this, it was observed that the
language attests a total of forty-four (44) sounds, which are twenty-eight (28) consonants,
eight (8) oral vowels and eight (8) nasal vowels. Also, in this chapter, we examined the basic
syntactic concepts like lexical and phrasal categories, phrase structure rules, Basic word
order and sentence types. It is discovered that the language operates the subject, verb and
object (SVO) pattern of the word order.
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The analysis of Mernyang Verb Phrase was carried out in the third chapter. We
probed into the various syntactic structures of Verb Phrase in the language. Phrasal verbs
and serial verb construction were also exemplified in this chapter.
Chapter four focused on predicate cleft, which is the on transformational process that
has to do with Verb Phrase as obtained in the language.
Summary of the research findings, conclusion of the work and the possible
recommendation were drawn in chapter five which is the last chapter of the research work.
5.2
CONCLUSION
The focus of this research project is on the Verb Phrase of Mernyang language. It has
been observed that in the structure of Verb Phrase in Mernyang, the head word, which is the
verb appears on the left side before the attachment of other possible satellites.
5.3
RECOMMENDATIONS
Since efforts have been put together in this research work to investigate the syntactic
properties of Mernyang language, I am of the opinion that further researches should be
carried out on the phonological, morphological and other aspect of the language. Also, this
project does not exhaust all the syntactic features of the language, therefore, more research
should be carried out on the syntax of the language in order to bring out more interesting
linguistic facts. To achieve this, it is believed that this research work can be useful for
further research on the syntax of Mernyang language.
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