THE ADIM VERB PHRASE
BY
IPADEOLA, AZEEZAT ABISOLA
07/15CB060
A LONG ESSAY SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
LINGUISTICS AND NIGERIAN LANGUAGE, FACULTY OF
ARTS, UNIVERSITY OF ILORIN, ILORIN.
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF
ARTS (B.A (HONS) LINGUISTICS
JUNE, 2011.
CERTIFICATION
This essay has been read and certified as meeting the requirement of the
Department of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages, University of Ilorin, Ilorin,
Nigeria.
------------------------------Mr. M.A.O. Oyebola
Project Supervisor
---------------------------Date
------------------------------Prof. A.S. Abdussalam
Head of Department
---------------------------Date
------------------------------External Examiner
---------------------------Date
ii
DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to Almighty Allah, the one who gave me life.
He deserves all praises. I will also like to dedicate this work to my husband,
who has indeed being my pillar of strength.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Thanks be to Allah, the beginner and the finisher of all creations,
without whom I will not have being able to finish this research work and
indeed my course of study.
Through hail and storm, the following people have fulfilled God’s work
in my life: My parents Mr. and Mrs. Ipadeola. My husband Abdullahi
Ndanusa, my sisters Omobolanle and Olaide Ipadeola and both my paternal
and maternal grandparents whose life have being extended to see the
completion of my university studies, Allamdullilahi.
I will not have being able to succeed this far without the ability of my
able lecturers in the Department. Many thanks to my project supervisor Mr.
M.A.O. Oyebola who has been patient without reasonable doubt, the H.O.D. of
the Department Prof. Abdussalam, and my level adviser Mr. K.A. Rafiu. Great
appreciation goes to Dr. R.K. Omoloso and Dr. Ore Yusuf who went the extra
mile for my academic life to be a success.
To my friends: Ebere Ikeokwu, Tolulope Kayode, Shakirat Akinlawon,
Ibraheem Moyosore, Sheriffdeen, Femi, Sunkanmi, Dare, Mayowa, Tosin,
Patience, Tobi, and indeed the whole class: you are all jewels of inestimable
value in my life.
iv
My lecturers in other Departments, especially the eloquent Dr. T.A.
Alabi and Dr. V.A. Alabi, thank you so much. To my friends from the
Department of English Language thanks for being friends indeed. My
informant Mr. Edet Usani and the typist Mr. Kunle I thank you so much for all
your efforts in the completion of this research work. God bless us all.
Thank God.
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
i
Certification
ii
Dedication
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
Table of contents
vi
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
Introduction
1
1.1
Socio-cultural Background of the Language
1
1.2
Genetic Classification
5
1.3
Scope and Organization of the Study
7
1.4
Methodology
7
1.5
Data Collection
8
1.7
Data Analysis
8
1.6
Background to the study
8
1.8
Theoretical Framework
9
vi
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS
2.0
Introduction
17
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts
17
2.2
Basic Syntactic Concepts
19
2.3
Phrase Structure Rules
23
2.4
Basic Word Order
32
2.5
Lexical Categories
33
2.6
Some Basic Syntactic Concepts in Adim Language
37
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
Introduction
42
3.1
The Verb Phrase
42
3.2
The Head Parameter and the Verb Phrase
43
3.3
The Structure of the Verb Phrase
43
3.4
Classes of Verbs in Adim Language
53
3.5
Verb Serialization
61
vii
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
Introduction
66
4.1
Transformational Components
66
4.2
Predicate cleft in Adim language
69
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0
Introduction
79
5.1
Summary
79
5.2
Conclusion
80
REFERENCES
82
viii
CHAPTER ONE
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
1.0
Introduction
This research work is aimed at studying the verb phrase of Adim
language. Adim language is spoken by the Adim people in Northern CrossRiver state, Akamkpa Local Government Area. This research will take a look
at the structure of the verb phrase and the transformational processes
embedded in Adim language.
This chapter intends to examine the socio-cultural background of the
Adim people, their geographical and historical background which will include
their marriage system and religious belief. Also, the genetic classification of
the language will be treated; objectives of the study and theoretical framework
are focused on in this chapter.
1.1
Socio-cultural Background of the Language
The Adim people are found in Northern Cross-River state of Nigeria. At
the last census, they were about 16,000 in population. They are under
Akankpa/Akamkpa Local Government Area and could also be found in Biase
Local Government of Cross-River State.
They are also known as Orum or Arum people. The people share a name
with their language. Some of the villages surrounding them include: Ugep,
1
Idomi, Abini and Abi. They have cordial relationship with their neighbors.
Their languages are mutually unintelligible. Efik language is used to
communicate with other tribes.
1.1.1 Historical Background of Adim People
According to oral history, at about the 1950s, a group of people lived
together in a village called Edem Omere Akpa. Their compounds were built
with a group facing the East and the others facing the West. They lived
backing each other. They did not live in peace because the group facing west
was always attacking the ones facing east. This happened mostly when
children go to defecate in the bush. This went on for a long time until the
people facing east decided to retaliate.
They retaliated by throwing hot boiled coco-yam on the children
thereby peeling the children’s skin. This led to a war. The people on the left
side won and the ones facing east decided to relocate. Even with their decision
to relocate, they were not left alone. They were chased by their enemy until
they came to a hill and were forced to climb the hill. Still the enemy did not
relent.
In the night when they were fast asleep, the enemies decided to creep in
on them. An old man unknowingly woke up to urinate and saw them creeping
2
up the hill. Using wisdom and knowing that to wake others will cause a
commotion, he used the tip of his leg to roll a stone. This piece of rock
gathered momentum and other stones rolled with it thereby causing boulders to
tumble and kill all the enemies.
From the hills, the people now known to be Adim people started
spreading. The first place they settled was called Idomi. Then they spread to
Ugep. Some of their descendants are still found in Ekori. All of them are found
in present day Cross-River state. Ugep is in Yakkur Local Government, Idomi
and Ekori in Ekori Local Government while Adim is in Akamkpa and Biase
Local Government.
Though these languages came from a common origin, they are now
mutually unintelligible except for a few lexical items.
1.1.2 Marriage and Naming Ceremonies of Adim People
Adim people practice both monogamy and polygamy. They marry
according to their wealth. The first man that practiced polygamy married ten
wives. To ask for a girl’s hand in marriage, only a keg of Palm-wine is
required. After agreement is made, the items taken to the bride-to-be’s house
are: Kola nut, Palm-oil, Yam, Garri and the bride price.
3
When a child is born, the whole village comes together to donate food
items for the naming ceremony. The food items to be donated include: Garri
and Yam. The food items donated are given to the family of the new born
baby. The whole village comes out to celebrate the baby.
1.1.3 Religion and Way of Life of Adim People
The Adim people were originally idol worshippers until the advent of
Christianity and Islam. Their arch god was called obolose, the god of the land.
After the civil war in the early 70’s, Christianity was introduced to Adim. The
first church built was a Presbyterian church and then the Catholic church and
then the Assemblies of God church. In the mid 80’s, Islam was introduced to
Adim village. Till date it is still practiced there. Every district has its own
mosque.
Adim people primarily have farming as their occupation. They also
hunt, do gold-smithing and engage in palm-oil production. They have festivals
like the New Yam Festival mostly associated with eastern Nigeria. Obolopon is
the title of their ruler. The council of elders of the Adim people is known as
Kepol. Okpeibili is the name of the high priest. They have masquerades called
Etangala and Lobo
4
1.2
Genetic Classification
Genetic classification is the grouping of languages into families based
on shared similarities in their features. According to Ruhlen (1987:1), the idea
that groups of languages share certain systematic resemblances and have
inherited those similarities from a common origin is the basis for genetic
classification. This is the basis for the relevance of giving the genetic
classification of Adim language. Below is the family tree of Adim language:
5
Niger Kordofanian
Niger Congo
Mande
Gur
Kwa
Bantu
Cross River 1
Yakkur
Ekori
Kordofanian
Adamawa Benue Congo
Plateau Benue Congo
Delta Cross
Adim
Adapted from Kenneth Katzner (1995:7)
6
West Atlantic
Cross River
Upper Cross
Abini
Jukonous
Benue Congo
Lower Cross
1.3
Scope and Organization of the Study
This research work aims to study the verb phrase of Adim language.
Chapter one gives the socio-cultural and historical background of the language
speakers, it also gives the genetic classification of the language and the scope
and organization of the research work. Furthermore, the theoretical background
of the research work is given in chapter one.
Chapter two will deal with basic phonological and syntactic concepts.
Chapter three will give the analysis of the verb phrase of Adim language while
chapter four will describe the transformational processes affirmed in the
language while chapter five will be the summary of the work and conclude the
research work.
1.4
Methodology
The methodology implored for this research work is direct data
elicitation from the native speaker of the language being worked upon. The
informant speaks Adim language, Yakkur language and English language.
The Ibadan 400 word list of lexical items, a tape recorder and the frame
technique were used for data elicitation. The name of the speaker is Mr. Usani
Edet Eyong. He lived in Ijiman, Adim town for 20 years before joining the
Nigerian Air Force. He currently lives in Lagos.
7
1.5
Data Collection
In the course of this research work, the informant method was used. The
informant method requires a native speaker of a language giving copious and
illuminating data. According to Samarin (1967), the kind of data collected by a
field researcher depends on the technique adopted. Thus in addition to the
word list and tape recorder used to elicit data, a frame technique was also used
to observe the syntactic elements in the language.
1.6
Data Analysis
The analysis of the Adim verb phrase is going to be done with the use of
sentences elicited from the informant. Since the crux of our analysis is the verb
phrase, the researcher elicited about fifty sentences, about fifteen verbal
clauses, ten questions, and twenty verb phrases.
In this research work, for the actual analysis, about fifteen of the verb
phrase, five of the verbal clauses and ten of the sentences were utilized.
1.7
Background to the study
The verb phrase is an aspect of syntax which is a branch of linguistics
that studies the grammar of a language. The verb phrase is part of a sentence. It
is headed by the verb. It is the action carried out by an entity, usually a noun,
which is referred to as the subject of the sentence.
8
The verb indicates the role of the nominal in a sentence. The verb notes
the nominal syntactically either as the subject or object in the sentence. The
head of a verb phrase, which is the verb, is obligatory. It can serve as the only
entity in the verb phrase. Other satellites are not obligatory. Verb satellites
could be complements or adjuncts.
In studying the verb phrase of Adim language, this research work will
look at the transitive and intransitive verbs, complements of the verb, phrase
structure rules of the verb phrase and serial verbs in the language. The verb
phrase is that part of the sentence that entails the action carried out and the
object that receives the action. In some cases, only the action is in the verb
phrase.
1.8
Theoretical Framework
Haegeman (1991:13) regards 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. The GB theory is also known as the Principle
and Parameters theory. In his submission, Sanusi (1996) maintains that the GB
theory is a modular deductive theory of universal grammar which posits
multiple levels of representation related by the transformational rule ‘move
alpha’. However, it is a more advanced theory of Universal Grammar.
9
In GB theory, the postulation of “move alpha” dramatically illustrates
the attempt to reduce the expressive power of transformations and to shift the
descriptive burden to highly general universal constraints. It consists of one
universal rule, move alpha, and three universal constraints: subjancency, the
specified subject condition and the tensed-s condition (Riemsdijk and
Williams, 1986:127). In line with the above, Sanusi (1996) concludes that GB
theory greatly eliminates proliferation of transformational rules like passive
construction, affix-hopping, verb-number agreement, question formation, equiNP deletion, raising, permutation and insertion.
Government and Binding theory operates through seven sub theories of
grammar which include: theta theory, case theory, government theory, binding
theory, bounding theory, control theory and X-bar theory. These sub-theories,
according to Horrocks (1987:29), are interrelated that each of them can account
for grammaticality and ungrammaticality of any sentence. Below is a
diagrammatical representation of the modules of grammar:
10
X-BAR THEORY
Projection Principle
D-STRUCTURE
Case Theory
(Case Filter)
Lexicon
Move α
(Bounding)
Θ- Theory
(Θ- Criterion)
S-STRUCTURE
ECP
CONTROL BINDING
PHONETIC FORM
LOGICAL FORM
Modules of Grammar (Adapted from and Cook (1988)).
For the purpose of this research work on Adim verb phrase, the X-bar
theory is adopted, but we shall take a look at the other sub-theories and give a
summary of their tenets and principles.
1.8.1 Theta Theory
The rationale behind this theory is the assignment of thematic roles to
sentential constituents. According to Yusuf (1998:23), “a lexical category will
have θ-attribute either as a receiver or an assigner”. These thematic roles
include agent, patient, beneficiary, locative, goal and instrument.
11
Also, Horrocks (1987) opines that the main principle of θ-theory is the
θ-criterion which requires each thematic role to be uniquely assigned, i.e. each
constituent denotes an argument that is assigned just one θ-role and each θ-role
is assigned to just one argument denoting constituent.
1.8.2 Case Theory
According to Horrocks (1987:102) the case theory deals with principles
of case assignment to constituents. This means that, certain lexical heads have
the power to assign or determine the case of their NP complements which they
govern. For instance, a ‘V’ or ‘P’ which governs and ‘NP’ complement will
case-mark that constituent.
Basically, the assignment of case is done under government theory in
which the choice of case is determined by the governor. Horrocks (1987)
asserts that in the context of GB theory, the essential point is that there can be
no case-marking without government; ungoverned positions cannot receive
case. Yusuf (1998) submits that “adjacency is required for case assignment”.
This is to say that case assignees and assignors must be contiguous with no
barrier blocking the abstract case.
12
1.8.3 Binding Theory
The Binding theory is a theory that is fundamentally concerned with the
syntactic conditions under which “NP’s” can be interpreted as co-referential
with other ‘NPs’ in the same sentence. This in summary means, that an NP
argument in a sentence may or may not be a co-referential constituent with
other NPs in the same sentence. For this reason, the binding theory proposes
three categories into which an argument NP can fall:
(i)
Anaphor: which must be bound in its governing category i.e.
dependently co-referential.
(ii)
Pronominal: which must be free in its governing category i.e. it may
either refer to an individual independently or co-refer to an
individual already named in a given sentence.
(iii)
Referential expression: which must be free everywhere i.e.
potentially referring to something (Horrocks, 1987).
1.8.4 Bounding Theory
According to Horrocks (1987:128), “the bounding theory is concerned
with the limitations to be placed on the displacement of constituents by the
transformational rule schema ‘move α’”. In a similar vein, Kirsten (1991)
submits that bounding theory is concerned with the way movement rule ‘move
13
α’ can be constrained. In essence, the bounding theory, as its name implies,
bounds movement rule by constraining what constituents to be moved from
where it is to be moved and the actual site to which it moves.
1.8.5 Government Theory
Government is a traditional notion involving the delimitation of the
sphere of influence of a particular category with respect to adjacent categories
(Horrocks, 1987:103). Horrocks further stresses that the government theory
defines the syntactic relationship between a governor and the element that is
governs.
Thus: α governs β if and only if
(i)
α and β mutually C-command each other
(ii)
α is a governor (e.g. Noun, Verb, Preposition and Adjective).
(iii)
α governs β, then governs the specifier of β (Lamidi, 2001:98).
The theory of government also defines the relationship which exists between
the other sub-theories of GB.
1.8.6 Control Theory
This theory is concerned with the way in which subjectless infinite
structures are construed. It focuses on an element called PRO. PRO is
restricted to the subject position in non-finite clause (Culicover, 1999:55). This
14
sentence can be illustrated with this example: “I wanted to go”. This example
gives a reason to believe that there is really a subject to the clause ‘to go’ but
the subject is invisible. PRO can only appear in the subject position of nonfinite clause, it is banned from all object positions and from the subject
position of finite clauses as there is no governor for its position.
1.8.7 X-bar theory
The x-bar theory can be described as the central module of the principle
and parameter theory. Haegeman (1994) agrees that the X-bar theory is the part
of grammar regulating the structure of a phrase. The core of X-bar theory is the
recognition of the fact that most phrasal constituents have ‘heads’ upon which
the other elements of the constituents in question are dependent (Horrocks,
1987:63). He further submits that items which are involved in subcategorization, and which are in most cases interpreted as arguments of the
head, appear with the head X in a phrasal category. X is called a phrasal
projection of X, in this case the smallest constituent containing X as a subconstituents (Horrocks, 1987:64).
From the above, the cover symbol ‘X’ stands for the set of lexical
categories which head phrases, as in V for Verb, N for Noun, Adj for
Adjective, P for Preposition, Adv for Adverb, such that N heads the NP, V
15
heads the VP, A heads the PP, Adj heads the AdjP and Adv heads the AdvP.
This implies that all phrasal categories have heads that belong to the same
category as the phrasal category (Akmajian, 2001:215).
Thus, the general phrase structure rule schema for phrasal categories
would be:
XP
X comp.
Where ‘comp’ stands for complement which could be PP or an NP with
‘X’ standing for a lexical category e.g P, V, or N.
In summary, the major concern of the X-bar theory is to describe the
syntactic and formal (that is, form of notational conventions) structures of
phrases and the inherent general characteristics they have in common.
16
CHAPTER TWO
BASIC PHONOLOGICAL AND SYNTACTIC CONCEPTS
2.0
Introduction
This chapter will focus on the basic phonological and syntactic concept.
The basic phonological concepts to be examined are: sound system in term of
the vowels and consonants attested in the language and a phonetic chart of
both. The syntactic concepts to be examined are sentence types the basic word
order, phrasal categories and lexical categories.
2.1
Basic Phonological Concepts
The basic phonological concepts examined in this chapter are the sound
system in lieu with the vowels and consonants attested in Adim language.
2.1.1 Vowel System in Adim Language.
Ladefoged (1975) describes a vowel sound as that sound produced
without obstruction of the air coming from the lungs. The air passes without
restriction in the vocal chords through the oral cavity in the production of
vowel sounds.
17
The vowels in Adim language are: a, i, e, e, o, o, u.
Front
High
Central
Back
i
Mid-high
u
e
Mid-low
o
ε
Ð
a
Low
Nasal vowels
Nasal vowels are vowel sounds produced through the nasal cavity. In
the production of nasal vowels, the air passes through the nasal cavity because
the velum is raised and the air escapes through the nose. In Adim language,
there are five such vowels. They are: an, en, en, on and un.
Front
High
Central
Back
un
Mid-high
en
Mid-low
on
εn
an
Low
18
2.1.2 Consonant System of Adim Language
Consonant sounds are those sounds produced with little or total
obstruction of air stream passing through the vocal chords. According to
Ladefoged (1994), the airstream coming from the lungs cause vibration when
obstructed by closing of the vocal chords which results in voiceless sounds but
when not obstructed, voiced sounds are produced.
The consonant sounds in Adim language include: p, b, t, d, s, g, k, γ, kp,
gb, l, r, m, n, f, w, j, ʤ.
Bilabial
p
b
Plosive
Fricative
Affricate
Labio-dental
f
Alveolar
t
d
S
Palato-alveolar
Palatal
Velar
k
g
γ
Labio-velar
kp
gb
ʤ
Nasal
Lateral
Approximant
2.2
m
n
l
r
j
w
Basic Syntactic Concepts
Syntax is that branch of linguistics that studies the sentence structure in
a language. Basically syntax studies the arrangement of sentence constituents
in a language in studying this, syntax takes a look at how words are arranged in
19
sentences to make meaning in a language. This chapter shall look at the
sentence types, basic word order, phrasal categories and lexical categories.
Sentences can also be classified based on how they are constructed.
Also they can be identified purely on the analysis on the number of verbs in the
sentence, based on this analysis, sentence types can be of three types; the
simple sentence, the compound sentence and the complex sentence. The
complex sentence can be expanded to give what is called the ‘compound
complex sentence’.
2.2.1 Sentence Types
Sentences can be classified according to their structure and what they
are used for. This leads to a classification of sentences according to their and
the functions they perform. In the following we shall look into sentence types
and sentence function.
2.2.1.1The Simple Sentence
Yusuf (1997:59) describes a simple sentence as one which is made up of
one NP subject and a predicate. Only one action is relayed by the sentence in
essence, it contains only one verb. Examples include:
i. I went home
ii. Ade are rice
20
iii. Olu killed the goat
2.2.1.2The Compound Sentence
A compound sentence according to Yusuf (1997:61) is a sentence which
contains two or more predications coordinated by the lexical category known
as the conjunction. In other words, a compound sentence is that sentence that
tells of two actions being carried out within a sentence. For example:
i. Mummy bought some rice and cooked it
ii. Bola went to school but did not meet the Principal
iii. Ade broke the table and ran away
2.2.1.3The Complex Sentence
According to Yusuf (1997:63) a complex sentence has a sentence
embedded in one of the phrasal categories VP or NP. It could also be described
as a sentence with a main clause and a number of subordinate clauses. The
main clause is called the matrix clause and the subordinate, the embedded
clause.
The main clause is the main idea of the sentence while the embedded
clause is additional information about the preceding NP or VP. Examples
include:
i. [mcThe man (scwhose house was burgled) is here]
21
ii. [mcThe teacher (scwho beat the child) had an accident]
2.2.1.4Declarative Sentences
This is the type of sentence that is used in making simple statements.
This type of sentence can be exemplified as follows:
i. Olu went to the farm
ii. Ade broke a chair
iii. Bola drinks water everyday
2.2.1.5Interrogative Sentences
These are sentences used in asking questions. They are also used to
make enquires. Examples are:
i. Where are you going?
ii. When will you be back?
iii. How old are you?
2.2.1.6Imperative Sentences
These are sentences used for command and/or to express a wish.
Examples are:
i. Come!
ii. Stand up!
iii. Run!
22
2.2.1.7Exclamatory Sentences
These types of sentences are used in expressing sudden emotions or
exclamations. The following are some examples:
i. Oh my God!
ii. What!
iii. Oh, what a mess!
2.3
Phrase Structure Rules
The phrase structure rules can be described as a set of rules which
generates the constituents of a phrase or clausal category (Yusuf, 1997:6).
According to Cook (1988:86), a phrase structure can be defined as a way of
capturing the structural relationship of a sentence through the concept of
“consist of”.
Government and Binding theory uses the phrase structure rule to parse
sentences. It helps in identifying which class of words is directly related to
each other by their positions in the phrase structure. The phrase structure also
helps in the concept of case assignee and assigner, for example, it is an
adjacent verb that can assign the case of agent to the adjacent noun.
Horrocks (1987:31) submits that phrase structure rules are simply
formal devices for representing the distribution of the phrases within a
23
sentence. The phrase structure of sentences in languages can be described as a
hierarchy that proceeds from the highest constituents in the sentences
downwards. A phrase ‘A’ may therefore consist of ‘B’ and ‘C’ as exemplified
by the diagram below:
A
C
B
This diagram could further be broken down into ‘B’ consisting of ‘D’ and ‘E’
A
C
B
E
D
The ‘consist of’ relationship can also be expressed as a re-write rule or
formal statement which has the constituents on the left consisting of the
elements on the right. e.g.
A
B
BC
DE
24
meaning that ‘A’ is made up of ‘B’ and ‘C’ and ‘B’ is made up of ‘D’ and ‘E’.
Within the chosen framework of analysis, the X-bar theory under the Principle
and Parameters theory, the phrase structure is a way of capturing the structural
relationships of sentences. It is a comparatively simple system derived from a
few principles and settings of certain parameters.
The following are the phrase structure rules (they are basically
universal):
CP
Spec C1
C1
C IP
IP
Spec I1
Iˈ
I VP
I
Tns Agr
VP
Spec V1
V1
V (NP) (PP)
NP
Spec N1
N1
N (AP) (PP)
PP
Spec P1
P1
P NP
The Phrase Structure written in formal statement from the highest level can
also be diagrammatically shown as:
25
CP
C1
Spec
IP
C
I1
Spec
VP
I
Tns
Agr
V1
Spec
NP
V
N1
Spec
PP
N
NP
P1
Spec
N1
N
26
Chomsky (1986:6) proposes that within the X-bar convention, all
maximal projection (XP) has a specifier of X1 position and intermediate level
that projects serving as the XP’s core. The X-bar theory proposes that all the
phrasal categories shown in the diagram above share cell-like structures with
two levels one of which X1 consists of the head X1 and possible complements
(Cook, 1998:100). This description of the X-bar structural representation leads
to the discussion of the Phrasal Categories.
2.3.1 Phrasal Categories
There are six phrasal categories realizable in the X-bar convention of
the Government and Binding theory. These six are universal i.e. they can be
found in any given language. They are: the Complementizer phrase, the
Inflectional phrase (this is equivalent to a complete sentence i.e. in the X-bar
convention, the sentence is regarded as an inflectional phrase), the Verb
phrase, the Noun phrase, the Prepositional phrase, and the Adjective phrase.
While these phrases are universal, their complements or satellites vary
from language to language. For instance while some languages have
determiners as satellites of the Noun phrase, some languages do not.
27
2.3.1.1
Complementizer Phrase
A Complementizer phrase is that phrase structure that accounts for a
sentence that has and embedded structure. A good phrase structure should be
able to account for all constituents of the sentence. Thus a complementizer
phrase structure accounts for the complex sentence. For example:
i. The woman who bought the house
ii. The boy who saw in the morning
iii. The house that was destroyed
CP
Cˈ
Spec
Det
N1
C
The
N
that
IP
I1
Spec
house
VP
I
Tns
Agr
Pst
(ed)
28
was
destroyed
2.3.1.2Noun Phrase
A Noun Phrase is a phrasal category headed by a noun. It is a category
that can function as the subject, direct object or indirect object i.e. the object of
a preposition in a sentence. For instance in English:
i. The shirt
ii. The white shirt
iii. The white shirt is on the table
NP
2.3.1.3
Spec
N1
Det
N
The
shirt
Prepositional Phrase
A Prepositional Phrase is headed by a preposition. In a sentence, a
preposition can function as a complement, adjunct to the noun head or the
verb. It can also quote the semantic information like location and manner. A
29
preposition that heads a Prepositional Phrase locates an NP i.e. it gives the
location of and NP. For example:
i. in the bag
ii. on the table
iii. under the chair
PP
P1
Spec
NP
P
in
2.3.1.4
Spec
N1
det
N
the
bag
Adjective Phrase
An Adjective Phrase is headed by an adjective or an adverbial. It is a
phrasal category that qualifies an NP or a VP. e.g.
i. beautiful woman
ii. big bag
30
iii. handsome tall man
iv. walk slowly
AP
Aˈ
Spec
NP
A
Nˈ
beautiful
N
woman
2.3.1.5Verb Phrase
The lexical class verb heads a verb phrase. The verb tells the roles of the
nominal in a sentence. It is the verb that assigns the θ-role of nouns and assigns
case to the object NP. Examples are:
i. run
ii. collect the book
iii. cut the meat
31
VP
V1
Spec
NP
V
collect
Spec
N1
Det
N
the
2.4
book
Basic Word Order
Wales (1991:479) defines word order as “that aspect of syntax
concerned with the arrangement of words in clauses and sentences”. Thus, a
basic word order is the elementary position of lexical items in sentences and it
is language specific. By being language specific it means that each language
has a peculiar way or arrangement of lexical items it follows in sentence
construction.
There are three basic word orders universally. They are:
i. SVO: Subject Verb Object order; exhibited by languages such as
English, Yoruba, Igbo, Adim and Hausa
32
ii. SOV: Subject Object Verb order; exhibited by languages such as
Japanese, and Chinese
iii. VSO: Verb Subject Object order; exhibited by languages such as Arabic
and Hebrew.
2.5
Lexical Categories
A lexical category is what is also called the ‘parts of speech’ in
traditional grammar. According to Awobuluyi (1978:1), a word class can be
described in terms of the part of speech in which words of the languages are
grouped. Most lexical categories have inherent features that can be verified in
their various uses in the sentences. This means that the position a word takes
and the role it plays in a sentence can determine its part of speech or lexical
category.
Universally there are seven lexical categories: Nouns, Verbs, Pronouns,
Adjectives, Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions. For the sake of this
research work, all the lexical categories will be discussed.
2.5.1 Nouns
Stockwell (1977:49) defines a noun as a “symbol for entity whether
abstract or quantity, countable, or uncountable, human or non-human, animate
or inanimate”. A noun can also be described as the name of any person animal
33
place or thing; abstract or concrete. e.g. table, ideas, jet, bed, communication,
independence, information, Ade, John, Elizabeth and news.
i. Ade ate the yam
ii. The table is mended
iii. Did you get the information?
2.5.2 Verbs
Stockwell (1977:38) defines verbs “as symbols for events and actions of
human beings as for speaker-intentions and attitudes (promises, commands,
hopes and expectations)”. Radford (1988:57) also sees verbs as words that
denote actions. Simply stated verbs are action words stated in sentences. They
are the action carried out or performed by an NP on another NP. Examples
include: sleep, run, jump, slap, sweep, serve, cook, eat, drink and shake.
i. I sleep well
ii. John jump up
iii. I eat everyday
2.5.3 Pronouns
Pronouns can be described as words that are used to replace nouns.
Stockwell (1977:56) describes pronouns as complete replacement of the noun
phrase by substitute words (usually referred to as anaphors). They are often
34
used to replace nouns to avoid repetition. Examples include; he, she, it, they,
them, their, us and ours.
i. They came here
ii. She went home
iii. It bites when provoked
2.5.4 Adjectives
Adjectives are those lexical items that give more information about the
noun. They also give insights on the degree of the state of a noun. Radford
(1988:57) defines adjectives as the class of words that denote the state of a
noun. e.g. sad, happy, ill, rich, poor, beautiful, pretty, big, small, and all
manner of colours.
i. The happy family
ii. The big beautiful baby
iii. The yellow dress
2.5.5 Adverbs
Alebiosu (1996:81) describes this lexical category as “words that give
information about verbs, adjectives, or other verbs”. Also Radford (1988:57)
submits that adverbs could be described as “the manner in which something is
35
done”, meaning that adverbs tells manners in which an action is carried out.
Examples include: quickly, very slowly, quietly, interestingly and amazingly.
i. She walks very slowly
ii. They run quickly
iii. The dress was amazingly gorgeous
2.5.6 Prepositions
This part of speech expresses the connection/link/relationship between
two nouns or objects in a sentence. A preposition as defined by Alebiosu
(1996:79) are “words used to show the relationship between two nouns or
pronouns, or between a noun and a verb”. For example: in, with, outside, over,
on and under.
i. I am with the book
ii. John is outside the house
iii. The dog is under the table
2.5.7 Conjunctions
Conjunctions could be described as words that join two or more
sentences. According to Awobuluyi (1978:104), conjunctions are “words that
are used to indicate the relationship that exists between two or more elements”.
For example: but, or, because, and, and also.
36
i. I went but I did not participate in the conference
ii. She was unhappy because she lost her husband
iii. Bola ate the food and drank some water
2.6
Some Basic Syntactic Concepts in Adim Language
2.6.1 Basic Word Order
(i)
Kate sira
eto ma
Kate sweep floor the
‘Kate swept the floor’
S
(ii)
V
O
Wendo ma wilika bol ma
Boy
the kick ball the
‘The boy kicked the ball’
S
(iii)
V
O
O gene ewura
She wear dress
‘She wore a dress’
S V
O
37
2.6.2 Lexical Categories
Nouns
Yonu ‘salt’
Keti ‘stick’
Busi ‘cat’
Efem ‘crocodile’
Lejau ‘rope’
Adjectives
Ghana ‘long’
Yiyi ‘beautiful/fine’
Mma ‘old’
Adverbs
Epah ‘quickly’
Isel ‘yesterday’
Verbs
Gene ‘wear’
Oto ‘carry’
Koike ‘wash’
Paike ‘break’
38
Sira ‘sweep’
Pronouns
O ‘he/she’
O ‘he/she’
Koi ‘you’
Prepositions
De/do ‘to’
Ko ‘on’
Da ‘in’
2.6.3 Simple Sentences in Adim Language
(i)
Kuwo kele
ma
Open window the
‘Open the window’
(ii)
Yanen
ma oji
yejo
Girl
the eat
yam
‘The girl ate yam’
(iii)
O
paike isowo
ma
She break water-pot the
‘She broke the water-pot’
39
2.6.4 Phrases in Adim Language
Noun Phrase in Adim Language
(i) Wendo ma
Boy the
‘The boy’
(ii) Yanen mma
Woman old
‘Old woman’
(iii)
Ewura Ghana
Dress long
‘Long dress’
Verb Phrase in Adim Language
(i) Oto keti
Carry firewood
‘Carry the firewood’
(ii) Koike nko
Wash clothe
‘Wash the clothes’
(iii)
Kuwo kele
ma
40
Open window the
‘Open the window’
Prepositional Phrase in Adim
(i)
Ko lose
On ground
‘On the ground’
(ii)
De etowene
To school
‘to the school’
(iii)
Da ilori
In lorry
‘in the lorry’
41
CHAPTER THREE
3.0
Introduction
The previous chapter discussed basic syntactic concepts and
phonological concepts in Adim language. This chapter is going to be
based on the research focus which is the Adim verb phrase. The syntactic
concept to be used in analyzing the verb phrase in Adim language is the
Government and Binding theory.
3.1
The Verb Phrase
The verb phrase is that phrasal category headed by the verb. The
verb can either constitute the verb phrase as the case of the intransitive
verb or have satellites as the case of the transitive verb. Altogether the
verb phrase tells the action carried out in the sentence.
The verb phrase as described by Yusuf (1998:46) is the phrase that
is subject to the phrase structure rules with the head verb, complements
and an infinite number of adjuncts. This in essence means that the verb
phrase is the compulsory constituent in the verb phrase. It could have
complements or satellites and as many adjuncts as the language can
42
accommodate. The main function of the verb phrase is to indicate the
action carried out in the sentence.
3.2
The Head Parameter and the Verb Phrase
Each language has its peculiar arrangement of constituents. While
some languages exhibit the head first like most African language (e.g.
Yorùbá), some exhibit the head last (e.g. English). The Adim language
exhibit the head first parameter. The head first is characterized by the
lexical item coming after its satellite within the phrase.
According to Chomsky (1970), the positions of heads could be
specified once for all phrasal categories in a given language. This in
essence means that all phrasal categories exhibit the same head parameter
in a language i.e. if an NP has a head first, then the CP, PP and Adjp. are
expected to be the same for the language.
3.3
The Structure of the Verb Phrase
Using
the
x-bar
convention,
diagrammatically shown like:
43
the
verb
phrase
can
be
VP
V1
Spec
V1
V
PP
Comp
The verb phrase can also be referred to as the predicate of a
sentence. According to Yusuf (1997: 21), “the verb phrase is
transitionally called the “predicate” because it has the sentence
predicator, namely the verb. The verb is the head of the VP, it is
obligatorily present with or without its satellites. Verb satellites could be
complements or adjuncts”.
The constituents of a VP can be written in a formal notation,
whereby the V is obligatory and an ‘X’ can be used to represent its
variable complements/satellites.
VP  V (X)
44
3.3.1 Structure of Adim Verb Phrase
There are lexical items that can be inserted at the deep structure
level in accordance with the order of the language to give various surface
structure representation. In Adim language, the head verb can be subcategorized for the following complements;
(a)
VP  V (NP)
(i)
/Kom kÑpo/ kom kõpo
bring cup ‘bring the cup’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
kom
bring
kópo
cup
‘bring the cup’
(ii)
/géné
èwùrà/
‘gene ewura’
wear dress’
‘wore a dress’
45
VP
V1
Spec
V
VP
géné
wear
èwùrà
dress
‘wore a dress’
(iii)
/paìkiè
ìsòwómá/
paike ìsòwómá
break
water pot the
‘broke the water pot’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
Spec
paike
isowo
det
ma
break
waterpot the
‘broke the water pot’
46
(b)
VP  V [PP NP]
(i)
/ÑtÏ kÑ
lÐsè/
õtô
kõ
lösê
fall
on
ground
‘fell on the ground’
VP
V1
Spec
V
õtô
fall
PP
P
NP
kö
löse
on
ground
‘fell on the ground’
47
(ii)
/ÑkÐì dó
õkôi
lòwí/
dó lówì
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
õkôi
go
P
NP
dó
lówì
to
river
‘Went to the river’
(iii)
/ÑkÏi dÜ
etówènè/
okoi dë
VP
V1
Spec
V
õkôi
go
PP
P
NP
dë
çtówènè
to
school
‘goes to school’
48
etówènè
(c)
VP V (NP) (PP)
(i)
/óʤí
yeʤo
dá moto/
VP
ójí
yejo dá moto
eat
yam in car
‘ate yam in the car’
1
Spec
V
V
oji
eat
NP
N1
N
PP
P
NP
yejo
da
moto
yam
in
car
‘ate yam in the car’
49
(ii)
/géné nèkpá
εplai/
dÜ
gene nèkpá
wear shoe
dë ëplai
to market
‘wore shoe to the market’
VP
V1
Spec
V
géné
wear
NP
N1
PP
N
P1
NP
nèkpá
shoe
P
N1
P
N
dë
çplai
to
market
‘wore a shoe to the market’
50
(iii)
/pÐlí ÜtiÜnmá
tó
kénkõ/ polí
çtien má tó kénkòn
Cut meat the with knife.
‘cut the meat with a knife’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
polí
cut
N1
N
PP
Spec P
NP
etien ma tó
kénkòn
meat the with
knife
‘cut the meat with a knife’
(d)
VP  V (ADVP)
(i)
/waí epál/ wai
epál
VP
V1
Spec
V
Advp
waì
run
epál
fast
‘run fast’
51
(ii)
/dÑwákØ
àkólò/
VP
V
/wílíká
sleep
well
Advp
dõwákë
sleep
(iii)
àkólò
‘slept well’
V1
Spec
dõwákë
àkólò
well
wutÐwa/
‘slept well’
wílíká
wutöwa
kick
hard
‘kick hard’
VP
V1
Spec
V
wílíká
kick
Advp
wutöwa
hard
‘kick hard’
52
3.4
Classes of Verbs in Adim Language
There are two major classes of verbs: the transitive verb and the
intransitive verb. Transitive verbs require objects onto which then actions
are passed while the intransitive verbs are those actions which do not
require objects. Yusuf (1997:21) describes the transitive verbs as the one
that has an NP object while the intransitive verb do not take an NP
complement.
3.4.1 Transitive Verbs in Adim
This class of verb are those that have an object NP which the
action is carried out. Drum and Miller (1992: 62) submits that transitive
verbs results from the fact that “the action of the verb is passed over from
the agent subject NP, to the patient object NP”. It is wrong to regard a
verb without an NP object as a transitive verb. Examples in Adim
include:
(i)
/óʤí jeʤo/
oji
yejo
‘eat
food’
‘eat the food’
53
(ii)
/ótó
jetí/
ótó
yeti
carry firewood
carry the firewood
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
ótó
N
yeti
carry
firewood
‘carry the firewood’
(iii)
/óduí wená/ óduí wean
beat child
‘beat the child’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
odui
beat
wena
child
‘beat the child’
54
(iv)
/wílíká
bÐl/ wílíká böl
kick
ball
‘kick the ball’
VP
V1
Spec
V
NP
wílíká
N
böl
ball.
‘kick the ball’
kick
3.4.2 Intransitive Verbs in Adim Language
The intransitive verbs do not subcategorize for an NP object. The
satellite of the intransitive verb include the prepositional phrase (PP). The
PP indicates the location of the action carried out. For example:
(i)
/gàbà/
ô
gàbà
He
jump
‘He jumped’
55
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
Pro
TNS Agr
V1
ö
He
ø
V
gàbà
jump
‘He jumped’
(ii)
/óteí jùtótóm/
óteí
yùtótóm
She
dance
‘she danced’
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
Pro
TNS Agr
V1
ótéi
she
ø
V
ø
yùtótóm
dance
‘she danced’
56
(iii)
/ínkõ yide/ ínkõ yide
I
dream
‘I dreamt’
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
Pro
TNS Agr
V1
ínkõ
I
ø
V
ø
yide
dream
‘I dreamt’
Examples of verbs in Adim language with PP complements
(i)
oʤí dá ilori/
ójí
dá
ilori
eat
in
lorry
‘ate in the lorry’
57
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
oji
eat
P
NP
da
in
N
ilori
lorry
‘ate in the lorry’
(ii)
/ÑtÏ kÑ
lÐsÛ/ õtô
kõ
lose
fall
on
ground
‘fell on the ground’
58
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
P1
ötö
fall
P
NP
kõ
on
N
lösê
ground
‘fell on the ground’
(iii)
/àjà
dé
êtëmì/
àyà
dé
come to
ètémì
house my
‘came to my house’
59
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
P1
àyà
come
P
NP
dé N Spec
on
èté det
house mi
my
‘came to my house’
iv.
/ákÑ dó
lòwí/ ákõ
go
dó
lòwí
to
river
‘went to the river’
60
VP
V1
Spec
V
PP
P1
ákõ
go
P
NP
dó
to
N
lòwí
river
‘went to the river’
3.5
Verb Serialization
Serial verbs refer to a situation whereby there are a single NP and
more than one verb (VP). According to Yusuf (1997: 32) there is a single
NP but a number of VPs ranging from two to as many as possible as long
as the meaning is a single action. The structure of serial verb is given as:
VP  VP (VPn)
61
The superscripted (^) means we may have many number of VPs as
demonstrated in the tree structure below:
VP
VP1 VP2 VP3 VPn
3.5.1 Serial verbs in Adim language
Serial verbs are so called because of the way they occur in a stringlike way in a sentence. Examples of serial verbs in Adim include the
following:
Ekaete
akö
koike yçpo ma
Name
go
wash plate the
62
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N
V1
I
TNS
Agr
Ekaete
Ekaete
VP1
akö V
go
koike
wash
VP2
NP
NP
Spec
N
det
yçpo
plate
‘Ekaete go and wash the plates’
(2)
Ekaete
tó
fúkèn wen ma
dó
lòwí
Ekaete
take come baby the
to
river
‘Ekaete brought the baby to the river’
(3)
Yànèn
túm gáikë yebú ma
girl
run
carry goat the
‘The girl carried the goat in haste’
63
ma
the
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
N
I
TNS
VP
AGR VP
VP
V1
V1
V1
V
V
PP
NP Spec
P1
N1 det P
NP
N1
N
Ekaete
tó fúkèn wen ma dó
Ekaete
take come baby the to
‘Ekaete brought the baby to the river’
3)
Yànèn
túm gáikë yebú ma
girl
run carry goat the
‘The girl carried the goat in haste’
64
N
lòwí
river
IP
I1
Spec
NP
N1
N
I
TNS
VP
AGR VP
VP
V1
V
Spec
V1
V
yànèn
túm
girl
run
‘The girl carried the goat in haste’
NP
N1
Spec
N
det
gáiké yebú
carry goat
65
ma
the
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0
Introduction
This chapter aims to look at the transformational processes that
take place within the verb phrase. In doing this the framework Chomsky
discussed in his work ‘Barriers’, about the x-bar convention and its
theory of movement in communicating the landing site of both
substitution and adjunction is used. This demonstrates how the movement
theory accounts for various types of transformations in a given language.
This chapter will then look at such transformations involving
movement within the verb phrase in Adim language.
4.1
Transformational Components
The major transformational concept is ‘movement’. Yusuf
(1997:74) submits that “some elements are moved from their basic
location in a linear order as generated by the phrase structure rules and
adjoined unto some other categories”. Also Horrocks (1987) points out
that Chomsky proposed that the phrase structure rules (and lexicon)
generates the deep structures of sentences and that the rules of
transformational component of the syntax map these into the surface
66
structure. In other words, every sentence has a deep structure and a
surface structure. And surface structures are derived from deep structures.
According to Malmjear (1991), transformational rules or processes
consist of two parts: a structural analysis (SA) specifying the input
structure to which the rule applies a structural change (SC) in turn
specifying the output structure. The structure that emerges after the
operation of all transformations is known as the syntactic surface
structure. This goes off to the morphophonemic components to receive its
final phonological form.
Underlying Structures

Transformations

Surface Structures

Phonological rules
The trace is a feature of transformational component. In the early
80’s Chomsky developed the trace theory, i.e. it came before GB theory.
67
Trace is very important is transformations because iot identifys the ‘aftermovement’ gaps. When an element is moved during a transformational
process, it leaves behind a ‘space’ or ‘syntactic scar’ known as ‘trace’.
The trace is represented by the notation tj and the co-indexed antecedent
i.e. what the element lands, is identified with the rotation lj.
Below is a diagrammatical representation of the D-structure in its
transformation to the surface structure through transformation.
D-Structure
- Lexicon
-Lexical rules
-Categorical rules
-Strict Sub-categorization
Phrase structure rule
Transformations
(move )
S-structure
Phonetic
Form
Logical
form
Adapted from Chomsky (1986a)
68
The transformational processes that are attested in Adim language
include Relativization, question formation and focus construction.
However focus construction in respect of predicate cleft otherwise
known as verb phrase focusing is the only transformation relevant to our
study. This is because it involves wholly the verb phrase. Thus predicate
cleft is the transformation looked at in this chapter.
4.2
Predicate cleft in Adim language
Focusing according to Stockwell (1997: 157) is seen as a way of
introducing special marking into the surface structure of the syntactic
element or constituent being focused Stockwell also equates focusing
with assigning prominence.
While in some languages like Yorùbá, and Igbo focusing is done
with a syntactic element known as the focus marker, English language for
instance uses what is known as intonation to focus. This is done with an
increased pitch level on the part of the sentence that is focused e.g.:
i.
Joe saw BILL
ii.
JOE saw Bill
69
The capitalized entities in the two sentences above are the part of the
sentence being focused. Yusuf (1989:87) observes that focus is a kind of
emphasis
that
is
syntactically
marked
through
a
movement
transformation. Focusing is one of the transformational process that is
universal. The reason for this is that it is normal for a speaker of any
natural language would want to emphasize a specific aspect of his
message while communicating with his/her interlocutor without
necessarily changing the substance of his message.
In predicate cleft or verb nominalization, the verb is focused. The
process of nominalizing a verb is by having a normal construction in
mind as the unmarked sentence from which the marked or focused
sentences are derived.
Examples:
/oʤí kØ
1.(a) ó
He
loʤí/
ojí
kë
túm
runs
‘He runs’
70
lojí
(b)
túm
gùmá ó
túm
running
FM
runs
He
‘It was running that he ran’
2(a) wendó
boy
ma
ójí
yejö
the
eat
yam
‘The boy ate yam’
(b)
ójí
gùmá wendó
eating FM boy
ma
ójí
yejö
the
eat
yam
‘It was eating that the boy ate yam’
3(a) ô
He
gàbà
jump
‘He jumped’
(b)
Gàbà
gùmá ô
gàbà
jumping
FM
jump
he
‘It was jumping that he jumped’
4(a) Kate koike
Kate wash
yepho
ma
plate
the
‘Kate washed the plate’
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(b)
Koike
gùmá kate koike yepho ma
Washing
FM
kate wash plate
the
‘It was washing that kate wasted the plate’
5(a) ó
She
gene èwùrà
wear dress
‘she wore a dress’
(b)
Géné
gùmá ó
gene èwùrà
Wearing
FM
wear dress
she
‘It was wearing that she wore a dress’
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5a.
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
V1
Spec
N1
TNS
AGR
V
NP
Pron
N1
N
ó
she
géné
wear
‘she wore a dress’
73
èwùrà
dress
(b)
FP
F1
Spec
F/m
IP
NP
I1
Spec
N1
I
VP
NP
N
Spec
N1
TNS
Pron
V1
AGR
V
NP
N1
N
Géné
Wearing
gùmá
ó
géné
FM
she
wear
‘It was wearing that she wore a dress’
74
èwùrà
dress
2(a)
IP
I1
Spec
I
IP
NP
Spec
V1
Agr Spec
N1
V
N
Kate
Name
koike
wash
‘Kate washed the plate’
75
NP
N1
Spec
N
det
yepho
plate
ma
the
(b)
FP
F1
Spec
F
IP
NP
I1
Spec
N1
NP
I
VP
TNS AGR Spec V1
N
N1
V
NP
N
Koike gùmá kate
washing FM kate
N1
Spec
N
det
koike yepho
wash plate
ma
the
‘It was washing that kate washed the plate’
76
3. (a)
IP
I1
Spec
NP
I
VP
V1
Spec
N1
Spec TNS
AGR
V
N
NP
det
N1
N
Wendó ma
boy
the
ójí
eat
‘The boy ate yam’
77
yejö
yam
(b)
FP
F1
Spec
F
IP
NP
I1
Spec
N1
NP
I
VP
TNS AGR Spec V1
N
N1 Spec
V
N
NP
det
N1
N
ójí gùmá wendó ma
ójí
eating FM boy the
eat
‘It was eating that the boy ate yam’
78
yejö
yam
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
5.0
Introduction
This chapter is the final in this research work. It gives the summary
of the research work and then concludes it.
5.1
Summary
This research work is about the verb phrase of Adim language. It
started with the first chapter which gave an introduction to the entire
work. The first chapter also gave the historical background of the Adim
people, the genetic classification of the Adim language and a brief
description of the syntactic framework used in the analysis of the Adim
verb phrase.
Chapter two gave basic phonological and syntactic concepts that
makes the understanding of language easier. The sounds of Adim
languages represented by the vowels and consonants sounds were
identified and also the phonemic charts of both were given in chapter
two.
79
Chapter three examined the structure of Adim verb phrase. The
verb phrase showed the verb as the ‘core’ of the phrase with its
complements or satellites. It showed the subcategorization of both the
transitive and intransitive classes of verbs which are attested in Adim
language, verb serialization which is one of the peculiar properties of
African language, also attested in Adim, was discussed.
Chapter four showed how the movement theory (move ) accounts
for predicate cleft (also known as focusing) in Adim language while
chapter five gives a summary and conclusion of the research work.
5.2
Conclusion
This research made an attempt to analyze the structure of the verb
phrase in Adim language. In doing this it was discovered that Adim
language exhibits the head first parameter as one of the principle of
universal grammar states.
Adim language does not distinguish between past and present tense
with any nominative element. It does it by using time reference like
yesterday and today. Adim language does not mark tense. It was
80
interesting to discover that there has been a bible translation into the
Adim language and there are many Adim people who are scholars. This
is encouraging because it means the development of the language is
eminent. Although it was disturbing to discover that Adim people rarely
leave their homes to other towns and cities which labels them as
introverts and leaving their language secluded with no other language
coming into contact with it except Efik, the lingua franca of Cross-River
State.
81
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Grammar:
An